Disclaimer: I don't own the characters nor the rights for Vivo, those rights are owned by Sony and Netflix and a few others. I DO own a few characters in this fic, though.
A song of the heart
The atmosphere was monotonous and plain.
It threatened to suck out all the remaining optimism that Vivo had left as he lay on the steely cold bottom of his confinement, still huddled in the corner he was earlier. His eyes were bloodshot, puffy and the whites of them were rimmed with a scarlet ring due to the crying he had done earlier. He sung a low hum that had nowhere near as much energy or enthusiasm as his songs normally did.
His poor stinging eyes were lidded in boredom.
With nothing better to do, he lazily whirled his own tail with his paw, making it spin like a helicopter propeller —the sound of his which spinning created a soft "whooshing" sound that somehow harmonised with his depressed humming.
Vivo didn't know how long it had been since he had come to after the soporific effects of the dart had worn off (unbeknownst to him, it had been ten minutes) but what he did know was that he was bored out of his skull and he was worried sick for his family; he really hoped that Gabi, Rosa and Esteban were left out of this messy affair…or whatever this situation could have been called…
He kept humming that same low, bored tune as took to rolling over to lay on his back and then he stared up at the ceiling with those same half-lidded eyes.
There was nothing to do in this cage expect for drinking from the small bowl of water in the corner or eating some strange pellets that he ate purely and only out of the need to stave off his boredom and was unfortunate to find that it tasted as though it was made out of clay. He remembered the feeling of vomit trying it's best to trickle into his mouth from the back of his throat.
He wanted to go home…
He just lay there…until he spotted someone enter the room.
His eyes widened and he frantically scrambled to stand up on all fours and his jaw dropped when he saw a familiar man enter the room.
It was Rico Avaro!
The large and imposing man wore a sleek black tuxedo and his footsteps were so heavy that they practically shook the room, he had to frantically grab the cage bars to keep himself righted and not to fall under the quakes rumbling from below. A panicked yelp tore from his throat as he held on fast and tight, even using his tail to coil around the one bar he had managed to latch on to in his frenzied state.
Nevertheless, Vivo never tore his gaze away from the man headed towards him whilst he promptly traipsed over to his cage peered in to stare at him with a look that the Kinkajou didn't quite recognise.
He could sense a mix of resolve and determination but there was something else.
Could it have been pity?
Maybe regret?
The male Kinkajou felt his back arch and his eyes grow wide with terror.
He finally let go of the bars and backed off.
He wanted to back away further from this fearsome man but each time he tried he'd only feel his back hit the cold steel of his cage. The finger belonging to the man inched towards him and Vivo's discomfort heightened, his body grew more and more tense as the seconds passed and, unlike last time during his exploration of the city, he wanted to abide the overwhelming urge to curl into a small ball and hide.
The man in front of him began to speak and, despite feeling terrified, he tried to speak.
"Wh-What are y-y-you doing here?" He whimpered "S-S-Stay back!"
The man stopped right in front of the cage, his face practically inches from the cage door while his glaring eyes bore holes into the musical Kinkajou's soul. He couldn't help but feel a strong tremor crawl up and then down his back whilst goosebumps prickled across his arms —although they were hidden beneath his thick ember orange and purple fur. He couldn't keep from trembling as he kept his fearful eyes trained on his apparent captor, never blinking and never making a sound aside from the tiniest whimpers that emanated from the deepest of chasms deep within his throat.
It would have seemed that his initial impressions on this man were accurate…
"Ahh." Said Rico, his tone as chilled as the subzero temperature that suddenly occupied this space. "There's one of my golden stars."
Vivo never let his guard down, not for an instant.
Especially not when the man undid the latch on his cage, reached in and grabbed Vivo in a way that he made sure his arms were stuck by his sides and he couldn't squirm free.
The Kinkajou wanted to wriggle out of the clenched fist he was trapped within and he couldn't help but gulp nervously whilst keeping his eyes trained upon the man who held him; this reminded him of being wrapped up in Lutador the python's coil two years ago as the all-too-familiar feeling of helplessness came back like a crashing tidal wave as he looked into this man's indiscernible eyes.
"You probably don't know about this, my little friend, but I'll finally be able to fulfil my daughter's final wishes with your help. You and these animals—" Mr. Avaro proceeded to turn Vivo to show him the other animals in the other cages "—will finally be able to make it all worthwhile."
Vivo didn't know how but he hadn't really noticed now.
After getting a second good look around, he saw that there were other animals occupying cages that were far below him.
There weren't thousands upon thousands of animals or anything but a good few that were so silent that he hadn't even taken note of them before now and, from what he could see, these animals were either exotic or common species such as birds (parrots), cats, a fox, dogs and there was even a Caoti. However, they seemed sad and sullen, not making a sound due to the defeat that was clearly written all over their faces; they all looked as though they had their spirits smashed to bits some time ago and had done all they could to get free but simply couldn't due to the complicated mechanism that was the cage lock.
It was a disheartening sight, to be honest…
Vivo had to wonder why they were even here?
Why he as even here?
The thoughts racing through his mind started to make his skull ache...
"Anyways." The man's voice brought Vivo back to what was happening in the present. "I have big plans for you, little guy, and I'll make it all worthwhile."
Vivo didn't know what was going on right now, he didn't know what this man was talking about and he didn't want to…he just wanted to be with his family again and he wanted to go home. His eyes were wide and full of fearful panic and his heart had dropped into his stomach.
Without another word, Rico put the Kinkajou back into his cage and shut the door.
Nevertheless, Vivo was determined.
He couldn't let this chance literally pass him by, this was his only shot.
Composing himself, the kinkajou started to slam his side against the cage door. Each time he would ram into the bars, he would let out a pained grunt as he winced from the pain. He knew that this would probably result in some sort of bruising to his shoulder and his side but he didn't care…he needed to break free, find out where he was, get out, find Gabi and finally make it to that concert/competition!
With as much effort he could manage, he slammed against the door again and again.
Slam!
Slam!
Slam!
Slam!
Slam!
But, no matter how many times he'd body check the cage door, the lock just wouldn't give way…
Vivo stopped and stared at the door with eyes full of dwindling hope, his emotions began to go haywire and his eyes also began to well up with humongous tears. He bit down on his lower lip as he bit back the urge to collapse into a ball of heavy sobs —his chest felt tight and his bloodshot eyes pulsated as more tears threatened to spill over.
He couldn't….he couldn't get out….he was stuck in this cage….he….he was probably going to be made into a coat or something as equally as terrible….
He sunk to the ground and curled right back into a ball as he buried his face in his knees, he broke down into a mess of sobs and sniffles; his heart had snapped in half and the tears just kept flowing down his little Kinkajou face. His little pink nose wouldn't stop wiggling. The tears just kept on cascading down his face like little waterfalls.
"Pssst…!"
Vivo raised his head slightly after hearing something, his eyes still sore from all the crying he'd done.
He looked left and right to find that it wasn't one of the animals down below and next to him.
He snuffled and sobbed a tiny bit as he made an attempt at drying his eyes.
Then the noise sounded again.
"Pssst….Vivo? Vivo, are you here?"
Vivo perked when he heard that familiar voice call out to him; he immediately recognised the voice and who it belonged to —it sounded so angelic to him as his heart skipped a couple beats as he knew exactly who the voice belonged to…but he almost couldn't bring himself to believe it.
"M-Marie! Is that you? H-How did you-?" He responded, surprised.
However, Marie cut him off as her voice echoed all around the room.
"Just listen for a second, Vivo. I need you to describe the cage you're locked in in full detail for me."
Vivo was mildly confused at the request but understood it somewhat, why would she want to know? She couldn't see so she'd probably want to get a mental image on what his type of confinement was like but that didn't really explain why she needed to know the details about this cage.
He briefly wondered if the reasons for her needing to know were a personal matter?
Then he stopped pondering over this.
Why wonder when he could ask?
"….B-But….But Marie, I don't-"
He was cut off a second time by the female Kinkajou before he could even attempt to ask the questions bouncing around in his own mind. Both of his own ears twitched and his eyes widened when he heard the surprise sharp snap in her usually calm and collected voice (with the exception being when she became fearful or upset) and he even jerked back a bit.
"Just do it, Vivo!"
"Uhh…okay?" Vivo replied, a note of reluctant uncertainty weighing heavily in his voice.
Then he looked around to study the details of the cage he was trapped in, and started to verbalise what he saw.
"….The cage has quite thin bars that are in a meshed pattern, the bars are close together to the point where it's difficult to slip one of my paws through, the ground is all metal and hard and there's this lock on the door that seems to be able to slide from left to right. Usually, I'd try and squeeze my tail through but the bars are too small and close together."
Marie had a thoughtful expression plastered upon her face. She put a hand to her nonexistent chin for a second before she smiled a self-confident smile while she snapped her fingers in triumph as her unseeing eyes lit up in a strange blend of recognition, nostalgia and joy.
"Ah-hah!" Cried Marie enthusiastically. "I knew it! It sounds exactly like the cage that my membros da família and myself were trapped in when I escaped the humans who took me!"
Vivo blinked.
So that's why she was so interested to know whether or not this was the cage she was familiar with! But he had to wonder how she knew to ask that to begin with? It couldn't be a coincidence could it? He strongly doubted it. Nevertheless he couldn't help but feel his own heart skip a beat when he heard that this was very likely the exact same type of cage that Marie had been trapped within a long time ago, back when she was a baby.
His honey brown eyes lit up like fireworks exploding in the night sky.
He was quick to ask "So does that mean you can free me?"
Before Marie could even answer, a different voice rang aloud.
"Hey! Wait! Come back!"
Vivo froze when he heard that newer voice.
His ears wiggled.
To him, this voice was as sweet as a river of honey…except for Marie's voice as her voice was angelic.
His eyes widened and he immediately hastened towards the front of the cage door without as much of a second thought and looked down from the shelf his cage was resting on top of. That spark of optimistic hope reignited in his eyes, they started shimmering like the warm glow of a flame being lit in the arctic.
He watched as none other than Gabi came into view as she chased after Marie, she was breathlessly panting as she finally stopped next to Marie whilst doubled over and grasping both knees as she tried to recover from having to run unexpectedly. She kept her head down as her knees threatened to buckle straight out from underneath her where she stood while she huffed and puffed through lungs that felt as though they were blazing hot.
She was breathing so deeply that Vivo could see her chest violently heaving in and out…
Marie gave a sharp squeak to get the girl's attention (which it did) and skittered up the twelve-year-old's arm and sat down on her shoulder and then she pointed up in the direction she heard Vivo's voice. In response, Gabi followed the female Kinkajou's pointed finger and her eyes widened when she saw her best friend in a cage high up on top of a shelf.
"V…V-Vivo!" She cried, still a bit breathless.
Without a second thought, the male Kinkajou scrambled to get to the front of the cage and grabbed the bars while he peered down further to see his best friend there. His entire facial expression brightened instantly after seeing the girl standing far below him…but his face full of joy immediately shifted into a face full worry and concern for the girl's wellbeing.
He didn't know why Gabi had to be involved in whatever this was
"Gabi!" He cried back despite knowing she couldn't understand him. "I can't believe you've been caught up in all this too, I really hope that they didn't hurt you!"
Gabi heard the worry in her best friend's chirps and squeaks and nodded up at him assuringly.
"Don't worry, Vivo, it's okay. I'm fine!"
The relief he felt was immeasurable upon hearing that, he was glad that Gabi wasn't hurt.
Gabi then tried to stand on her tip-toes to see if she could reach up to grab Vivo's cage and, maybe, perhaps, unlock it. She stood as tall as her legs would allow and she stretched her arms upwards to the point where she could feel the tissue within her arm muscles begin to tear and it hurt. She reached and stretched…but it made little to no impact whatsoever.
"Oh no!" She exclaimed in dismay.
Vivo looked down at her from the shelf and the concern was written plainly across his cute little honey bear face.
Gabi decided to elaborate.
"It's far too high for me to reach and get you down from here!"
That was when Marie jumped up and down from the shoulder she had taken to using as a perch.
Gabi looked over to see why Marie was trying to get her attention by hopping up and down on her right shoulder and her eyes widened when she caught sight of the female wearing a strange facial expression.
She asked the female Kinkajou with a perplexed look etched upon her face.
"Hmm? What is it now, girl? You got an idea?"
Marie nodded.
She pointed to Gabi herself and then towards the other animal cages, afterwards she pointed back to herself and then up towards the shelf where Vivo's cage was stored; it became obvious that she was trying to tell the girl to see if she could free the other animals locked in here while she went ahead and tried to free Vivo herself. The twelve-year-old hesitated for a few moments, unsure whether she should leave the blind Kinkajou to her own devices…then she nodded and let Marie climb up her arm so she could launch herself up into the air in order to reach the shelf.
Gabi ran off and left the blind Kinkajou to clamber and heft up on the surface of the shelf.
Marie groaned and grunted as she breathlessly regained her bearings.
She perched on the shelf and didn't waste any time in proceeding to fiddle with the cage lock.
Scrabble.
scrabble.
Fiddle.
"Urrrgh!" Marie muttered beneath her breath as she kept fiddling with the lock keeping Vivo locked up. "Come on…Come on, come on, come on! I know I could see when I last did this but I've gotta try!"
Marie stuck her tongue out the side of her mouth as she concentrated on letting her paws soaking in the sensation of the lock; she closed her eyes (in spite of it having no bearing on her vision) and ran her tiny fingers along the edges of the lock and taking in every single detail of it so she could have an idea of how to unlock the mechanism.
She kept hooking and tracing her tiny fingers along the edges until…
Ker-click!
After that last noise, the cage door swung open and Vivo was in a state of disbelief.
That was incredible!
Marie hadn't seen such a lock in years but she still concentrated on it until she solved how to unlock it, that was not only impressive but Vivo also couldn't help but swoon and marvel at such quick and on-your-feet thinking there.
Marie, upon hearing the sound of the door being unlocked, bent down a bit and offered Vivo a literal helping hand —her outstretched hand had began to wobble a bit due to the fact that she wasn't even sure if she was facing the male Kinkajou properly for him to take her hand. She wanted to imbue that spark of optimistic behaviour that she knew she could reignite within the male Kinkajou, she wanted to see the Vivo she knew and lov-uhhhh….she knew.
She didn't know why she almost thought that she was quick to amend it within her own head.
Vivo took her hand in his.
The two kinkajous kept a steady stance while balancing on top of the shelf where the cage was resting on top of. They had a bit of difficulty due to the cage taking up a lot of room on said shelf and made it hard to navigate along —let along on how they were going to get down safely.
Vivo decided it was his turn to take initiative and he grabbed hold of Marie's hand.
The male Honey bear peered over the shelf ledge and looked down towards the ground as he tried to find some way that could hopefully be used as an alternate way down. Seeing how high they were from the floor, neither Vivo nor Marie fancied their chances should they have decided to try and take a literal leap of faith so they knew that a different method was most definitely called for.
Besides, he don't know if he could hold on to Marie whilst scaling down…
He had an idea.
He dropped down on the shelf to sit back on his haunches as he turned to face a confused-looking Marie.
"Marie?" He called out to her.
"Yeah?"
Vivo exhaled deeply, his lungs deflated in his chest like a pair of saggy balloons and his muscles relaxed and his head ducked in between his shoulders as he eased his mind. He knew what he had to do and he was confident in his decision. He needed to make Marie his priority and get her to safety first before he could rescue himself…but he absolutely knew that he wasn't going to like this, he knew that.
"Bite down on my tail."
"Wait." Marie did a double take "What?"
Vivo could understand her shock.
He didn't exactly like the idea of someone biting down on his tender tail, he remembered how much it hurt after he got it caught in the zipper of Andrés' music case and he made a policy to not let his tail get into a position where it could cause him extreme pain. However he knew full well that this was the only plan he could come up with since Gabi couldn't reach up and grab them both and she was busy with unlocking the other cages….or, at least, trying to get busy in unlocking the other cages. Not to mention the fact that Rico could come back anytime and he didn't want him catching them out of their cages!
He steeled himself, strengthening his resolve, as he placed his own tail in front of her.
"C'mon." He urged, using a soft and gentle tone of voice. "Just bite down hard and I'll lower you down."
Marie hesitated on doing that, clearly not washing to hurt him, while she cocked a brow at him with an expression full of skepticism.
"B-But…won't that hurt? I don't really want to hurt you."
Vivo sensed the reluctance coming from the blind female and decided to try and ease her concerns.
"I appreciate you're worried about my well-being but we can't waste any time here, I'm tougher than I look." To emphasise his point, Vivo puffed his chest out and flexed his muscles to appear more muscular. "So please just bite down on my- OWWWWWW!"
Vivo didn't even get to finish his sentence as Marie bit down as hard as she could on to the tip of his tail.
He was quick to throw his tail over the side of the shelf, with Marie clinging on, and he couldn't help but grimace so hard as he felt her canine teeth dig and burrow into the skin and he let out a soft pained whimper whilst he tried hard to fight back tears of pain. Lower and lower his tail went with Marie biting on it as Vivo tried to forge on through the pain as he shakily looked behind him, throwing on a poor attempt at a grin which looked more like a squiggly line than an actual smile.
"Ughm werry s'ghrry…" Marie muttered, her voice muffled due to her jaws being clamped down upon Vivo's poor tail.
"It's…It's okay, it's fine…" Vivo replied, speaking through clenched fangs.
He kept a hold of the shelf ledge as he lowered his tail down with Marie attached to it as though it were a rope. He knew that it wouldn't reach all the way down but, at least if she were to let go, the fall below wouldn't be nearly as harmful as it would have been should they have jumped down from the shelf itself. Just the thought of him going "splat" on the ground made his internal organs shudder in discomfort whilst he cringed inwardly.
The female Kinkajou kept her mouth clamped down on the male's tail (much to his half-dismay and half-relief) while she was slowly lowered down towards the ground below.
After a few terse moments of gradually lowering his tail with Marie hanging off it by her mouth, she was eventually given the signal to let go and she plopped to the ground with relative ease.
She even landed on all fours in a cat-like manner and wore a small triumphant smirk on her face.
Needless to say, Vivo felt overwhelming relief as he pulled his tail back up and clutched it tight in both hands in hopes that the searing stinging pain would ease. He gave a low hiss of a noise as he waited for a couple of moments for the pain to subside whilst he idly tapped both feet against the surface of the shelf which his cage was perched upon.
His eyes opened, though, when he heard a familiar voice ask him something in a taunting tone:
"…Soooo are you going to come down anytime today?"
Vivo looked down and saw that Marie had cocked a brow teasingly whilst looking up in his direction.
The male Kinkajou rolled his eyes and shook his head at the female's tone.
Without wasting one more second on this shelf, Vivo leapt to the side and scaled the wall. He gripped the wall tight and then he proceeded to slide down it and made his way towards the ground below —he made his way down slowly and steadily and he could feel Marie's eyes on him even though he knew she couldn't see him.
This was it.
This was his chance to free himself!
Vivo was poised after finally making it and letting go of the wall and then landing rather gracefully.
"Uuuugh!"
A shout disturbed both Vivo and Marie.
They both glanced at one another and then looked over and saw Gabi who was stood in front of a cage near Vivo's —it was Rufus' cage! The golden retriever with white fur was sat back on his haunches and he stared at the girl with a bored yet blank expression, his sitting position was tall and his back was straight. He looked like he'd rather be doing anything else right now but didn't want to be rude and simply kept his mouth closed…even if he could talk to the human girl.
Vivo wanted to smack his own forehead.
"….Seriously, Gabi?" He deadpanned, his tone and facial expression as blunt as the dull blade of a sword.
He felt his heart break for Gabi and he just found himself in a bit of a self-debate on what he should do about the twelve-year-old's difficulty as the purple-haired girl pulled and yanked at the lock on one of the cages that was next to Vivo.
Should he leave her to figure it out herself?
Perhaps…but she was clearly struggling with it, maybe he should lend her a hand?
That man could be back at any moment!
Nevertheless, his heart just wasn't made of stone.
Gabi caught the expression her best friend was giving and retorted.
"Hey! I thought these things would be easy, it looked easy to do in the movies!"
Vivo sighed inwardly.
He really loved Gabi but he should have known that she would have difficulty understanding that not everything works like it does in films.
He got down on all fours and ran over to where the cage was without wasting another second.
He jumped up, climbed her back, hefted himself over her shoulder, slid down her arm and grabbed hold of the outside lock. The male musical Kinkajou quickly grabbed hold of said lock in one hand while he used the other hand to reach under his hat and produce a safety pin from within which he then used to insert into the lock itself and, after hearing a loud click, he watched with satisfaction as the lock undone itself and dropped to the floor.
He gave a self-satisfied smirk as he turned to Gabi.
The twelve-year-old, in turn, rolled her eyes but smiled too.
"Okay, fine, we'll do things your way. Mind giving me that paper clip?"
Vivo obliged and handed it to her and then dropped back down to the ground where he skittered towards another cage and went to go and unlock it. He grabbed at the lock and went to work on trying to figure out the mechanism by pulling and poking at it. However, as he did so, his heart started to pound in his chest. He quickly realised that he inadvertently started to create a tempo-like rhythm as he worked on the lock.
His eyes went wide with shock.
A small smile curled at the corners of his lips.
His tail curled up into a roll and started to bang on the bars of the cage, creating a beat.
He didn't know when his musical mojo returned but he wasn't going to complain as he was still determined to get to that concert in spite of everything that had transpired. It didn't really matter to him whether or not Rico Avaro was a madman, he learned long ago that he shouldn't let any inconvenience get in the way of him doing what he loved:
Entertaining and making people happy…
Vivo passed the other cages, looking into each one as he traipsed by, and he started to speak.
"I…I don't know what's going on here, but I know that none of us belong in any of these cages. Some of us were tricked or just plain captured and it just isn't fair…but I promise that we don't have to accept whatever fate has in store for us. We can nd we will find a way out of this but only by working together. I won't rest until all of you are back where you belong and my human and I are singing are lungs out in that concert so…I need you all to trust me."
Every animal remained silent during Vivo's speech, unsure of whether to agree to put their hopes in this Kinkajou or to just surrender and accept whatever untold yet horrid fate is awaiting them.
Vivo, however, was having an internal panic himself…
Doubt started to creep into his mind and clutch his soul in a vice-like grip. He looked down to the ground as a billion thoughts swirled inside his head and created a cacophony of uncertainty and unsorted feelings which soon started to whirl around and around like a tornado.
How could he do this?
How could he lead so many animals, especially when they were relying on him?
What if he failed?
What if…what if something bad happened and everyone got recaptured?
He squeezed his eyes shut to prevent oncoming tears from leaking out and he wrapped his own arms around himself as those thoughts bounced and spun around in disorganised chaos. He couldn't do this! How could he do this!? How could he do this without putting everyone in harms way —especially Gabi and Marie and the humans whom were trapped here!?
It was a dark and stormy night…
Rain hammered hard against the windows, battering and pelting the glass violently. Each little droplet of rainwater created a "tap" sound and some droplets even pounded the acrylic so hard that it even caused the window itself to rattle. The dimness of the main room of the musicians upstair flat was quite soft and there was very little light shining in through the thin fabric of the soft velvet curtains that were draped over the windows —they blew and fluttered against the wisps of wind that slithered into the room, creating a slight draft.
It was late into the night, probably around 1 o'clock in the morning and there was only one person who lay awake in what passed as a bed for him which was an old and torn cats bed which looked as though it had been torn to shreds before ever being used.
Vivo was the Kinkajou equivalent of an eleven year old by this point and was bare of his bandanna and hat.
Even though he tried to be brave and mature and refuse to let silly things like thunderstorms scare him…it just didn't work. He found it silly and he couldn't help but shake and shudder but still wear a glare of annoyance.
He had just finished learning how to play the drums and he was scared of a little noise.
He was old enough not to be scared…but then why was he?
"I'm…I'm a big Kinkajou…I'm not…I'm not scared!" He whispered to himself in defiance, but the tremble anchoring his tone couldn't be helped.
As if trying to prove him wrong, thunder rumbled in the distance.
Vivo felt his heart fall through the floor when he head that and his eyes flickered from left-to-right as a haze started to cloud his rational thoughts.
His stomach had twisted in a large pretzel knot and he could have sworn that he began to feel sweat seep through the palms of his paws, his fur began to stand on end as though his whole body was rubbed with a large balloon to give his fur a static charge and his breathing went from calm to quick and panicky. He couldn't control the tears that began to ooze from his eyeballs and he had to bite his lower lip to keep from sobbing outright.
He scuttled back away from the window and sat back on his haunches, grabbing his own tail to keep from losing his mind to fear.
That's when it happened:
The lightning flashed and created a loud blast of a noise while it cracked like a whip.
KRACK-THOOOOOOOOM!
Vivo couldn't help but give a small cry of fright as he scrambled to get away from the window where that awful light suddenly blasted, his eyes wide and full of fear as he ran for cover. His ears were ringing and whimpers tore from his throat. His arms and legs moved involuntarily as his own brain didn't have time to command them to move properly so he darted all across the main room in blind panic.
His breaths were sharp and shallow.
He couldn't remember the last time he was so scared.
That "big boy" bravado had flown away now.
He needed to find Andrés and hide!
"I…I-I gotta find Andrés!" He cried, running and scurrying as fast as his legs could carry him.
It was so dark that it was a miracle he didn't run into anything in his blind haze of youthful fear.
However, he stopped when he spotted a familiar silhouette of a shape in the darkness. It was unmistakable seeing it filled him with a twinge of relief and his heart stopped dead in his chest as he hurried further into the room and his eyes had to adjust to the additional darkness of the room once he entered.
The atmosphere was stifling and he felt as though his insides had frozen over.
A second crash of lightning lit up the room for a solid second, giving him both confirmation that the shape was the armchair he sought out and a near heart attack!
The young Kinkajou decided that under the armchair that Andrés sat in was the perfect place to hide now that it was confirmed and, without warning, the Kinkajou ducked down and slid beneath the armchair and curled up into the tiniest ball possible. He could no longer keep those sobs and sniffles restrained as he bawled from under the chair.
Poor little Vivo hadn't even noticed the chairs occupant due to how scared he truly was!
"Wha…? What…?"
The sound of an abrupt snorting accompanied by a confused mumble coming from above momentarily confused Vivo as he kept curled up into an even smaller and tighter ball.
His tightly-shut eyes kept oozing tears as he sobbed and snivelled hard.
"…..Vivo…..?"
Vivo's sniffles died down a bit when he heard Andrés voice sound from overhead and he uncurled from his ball slightly, but he didn't stop shaking.
His ear fluttered as he heard the sound of the floorboards creaking (it more sounded like Andrés had got out of his seat and knelt down on the ground) and he heard the sound of soft groaning as Andrés tried to kneel down despite his old and slightly arthritic bones creaking. His voice sounded so soft to Vivo and way less harsh than the thunder and lightning pounding outside.
Before he even realised it, he felt a large hand slide under him and unrolled himself.
Vivo blinked and was soon staring into the face of the man who took him in and raised him with every ounce of love he could muster.
Andrés picked the little Kinkajou up off the floor and cradled him close, holding him against his chest in a way that made it so he could curl up in the elderly man's strong arms. He tried to resist the urge to scratch his arms when he took note of the fact that the little Kinkajou's auburn orange fur was tickling his forearm.
Nevertheless, that didn't stop a very tender smile from blossoming across his lips.
"That's right, little Chiquito…" The old man soothed. "Just close your eyes. I know that there will be times where you get frightened but just know that I'm going to be with you, even when there comes a day where I might not be physically with you anymore…you are going to be so strong."
Vivo's eyes felt really heavy and his hearing was fading as the black void of slumber was finally beginning to overtake him. He used to have a difficult time admitting it but he always knew that one of the safest places that he knew of were in Andrés arms.
That soothing warmth would always envelope him and put him right to sleep and it would also chase off any fears that might have been troubling his heart and mind.
His heart felt full.
Vivo stood there with his mind overactive.
Then two different words of wisdom rang in his mind like a bell ringing thunderously in a belfry.
One from his mother…and the other from Andrés:
"Just remember baby that you can do anything you put your sweet little mind to just as long as you be brave."
"I know that there will be times where you get frightened but just know that I'm going to be with you, even when there comes a day where I might not be physically with you anymore…you are going to be so strong."
Those words sparked something inside of him.
The confidence returned to his eyes and a smile stretched on his little muzzle.
His posture straightened and he was practically beaming with self-confidence.…so much so that he started to sing! His tongue curled as he purred out his B's in a trill before smacking the spot beside him to produce a loud pound of a sound.
"Bbbbbbbbbbrap-a-tap-tap!"
Vivo ran on two legs as he strode along the aluminium floor, past the cages, causing everyone to stare at him incredulously. Their eyes were wide and they clearly weren't expecting the Kinkajou to burst out into song like that —nevertheless, they were intrigued.
"Make some noise, my friends, we're gonna bust out
and now ain't the time to sulk or doubt
so we gotta shout!"
Happy that all eyes were trained on him, Vivo kept walking down the hall until he reached the end. He abruptly whirled on his feet and faced the caged animals, whom started to look enthusiastic instead of downcast and solemn. They roared, screeched and made their own miscellaneous calls as they seemed to be in support of Vivo and they even cheered.
"So what do we do?
Simple!
We're gonna rattle these cages
and shake 'em like maracas,
while we spit rhymes left an' right like a hard of alpacas!"
Vivo jumped up and pointed to each cage whilst in midair, his eyes narrowed and his mouth spread in a big smirk. The male Kinkajou was spreading his enthusiasm through the room as he pointed at each cage and cell while he was airborne, he even snapped his fingers while he kept singing —everyone else started to sing and rap along with him in harmony.
He was so cool that he looked similar to a war general right now.
"We're gonna need to make an all out stand
and this ain't gonna be a one man band!"
Vivo tipped his hat towards Marie, whom smiled incredulously in his direction while she made work of trying to unlock some of the cages by fiddling with the locks like she had done on Vivo's cage a couple of minutes ago. She was so focused on the musical number that she almost forgot what she was doing until she almost loosened her grip on the cage and fell to the ground.
Now she was working on Nick's cage.
Nevertheless, the male Kinkajou then diverted his focus to the few caged animals around him and pointed to them and then to his ear while he rapped.
"Okay, everybody,
lend me your ear
and tell us what your talents are
for all to hear!"
Vivo looked left and right to the caged animals whom bowed their heads reluctantly.
That was when a loud "bark" broke the momentary silence and everyone turned to face the cage belonging to none other than Rufus. The white golden retriever simply rammed his furry body against the cage door so he could lunge out of his confinement like some wild animal. It didn't take much longer before he burst out of his kennel/cage/prison cell and, the second he had done so, the dog raised his head up high into the air whilst he nodded with a self-confident smirk.
His posture was bold and full of pride while his feathery tail was set awag.
Rufus started to sing loud and proud.
"My howling voice rocks the world to this core
and, by my side, sings my girl whom the world adores.
We rock and we sing and we jump and spin,
I'm telling you that when we sing together,
we're thicker and braver than sharkskin!"
Vivo, grateful to have the dog by his side, ran over to the pooch and then proceeded to climb up one of Rufus' forelegs and then settled himself on to the pooches' shaggy back, using him as a mount, while he leaned forwards slightly and grabbed fistfuls of his Snow White furry body whilst being careful not to grab too tightly that would hurt him.
Rufus didn't seem to mind being ridden like a show pony and just smirked back at the Kinkajou.
Then Vivo decided to refocus the singing on to Nick, whom was still locked in his cage as Marie was still making a valiant attempt at breaking the lock by fiddling with it —the blue jay looked bored about how long is taking for him to get his freedom.
His head turned away and his eyes narrowed and shut.
Nevertheless the small blue and white bird started to sing and rap, his words interlaced with a heavy Spanish accent.
As the seconds ticked by, a smile grew stronger and stronger on his little gray beak.
"Nico and I weave music and magic,
we are a duet of talent!
And we Spaniards flow like
a breeze flowing off a topgallant.
We are a pair of magicians and we bedazzle our stage
and we sing and dance and we represent a new age!"
"Wait."
Everyone paused and looked over at Rufus whom looked quizzically at the blue jay, whose smile vanished and was replaced with annoyance.
"Wouldn't it be simpler to just say that you and Nico are a duo?"
"Hmm?"
"I mean, saying that you're both "a duet of talents" sounds a bit off so why not simply phrase it as "we are a talented duo" because wouldn't that make things much easier?"
Nick seemed stumped by that question for a moment or two before he gave an over-dramatic harrumph while he turned away and folded his blue and white wings across his plumage-covered chest.
"…It wouldn't rhyme if I phrased it like that now, would it?" The blue jaw snipped rhetorically.
A short-lived silence brewed between the group.
Vivo decided to break it.
He then nodded his head over to Marie whom had resumed working on the lock in an effort to get the pompous bird out of his confinement.
"So, Marie? Would you say what your talents are?"
Marie grinned in response and started to sing in a lithe, sweet voice that glided through the air like a bird taking flight. Her voice was so angelic and light that it made Vivo swoon and almost knocked him not only off his feet but also off of Rufus' back —that didn't stop him from wearing a lovestruck expression on his face, however.
"I've overcome trial after trail,
My blinded eyes make me look rather frail.
I've mastered the art of pickpocketing
and survived on the streets with all the
big cats and dogs and, let's face it,
those guys are so lazy that
they all might as well be sawing logs!"
Unbeknownst to Marie, Vivo was staring at her with an awestruck expression and his smiling mouth hung open. He couldn't help but be impressed with how well she sung and how sweet her voice was, even while rapping as well as singing and that just increased his fascination towards her and made his heart grow to an extraordinary size inside his chest.
Marie finally got that infernal lock off and swung the cage door open, letting Nick out and then she slid back down to the floor. Her eyes were narrowed and held a slightly mischievous glimmer within them, she even tucked her prized flower further behind her ear.
"I look my fear in the eye, my guys,
this is a serious situation so let's do or die!"
She rolled one hand into a fist and smacked it against the other open paw, wearing an opportunistic grin.
As if gaining some courage, all the surrounding animals started to cheer and sing too. The still-locked up-animals were rearing backwards and raising their heads in triumph as they sang loud and with their voices ringing through the entire area. Their paws, wings and legs drummed against the ground which caused it to shake wildly.
"Make some noise, my friends, we're gonna bust out
and now ain't the time to sulk or doubt
so we gotta shout!"
Vivo gently kicked Rufus in the side to prompt him to gallop forth much like a horse, his loud singing voice overpowering the crowd of other animals singing and all of the now-freed animals started to run alongside Rufus in a stampede that shook the ground below like an earthquake —their eyes were narrowed into slits of determination.
Upon both finally finishing their work with unlocking all of the other cages, both Marie and Gabi went over to join Vivo whom continued to ride away on Rufus' back as though he were a heroic cowboy; he just needed a rope and a more appropriate hat and the scene would be complete.
Vivo finished the song with Gabi, Rufus, Nick, the other animals and Marie by his side.
"It's time to break out!"
Vivo finished the musical number with a final shout and a snap of his fingers.
A/N: Hi, everyone!
Sorry this took awhile, I've had writers block for awhile and I struggled a bit where to take this chapter but I am very happy with how it ended up.
Btw, happy (late) saint Patrick's day!
-Chloemcg