'Eclipse' (Part One)

I decided to make a story about life and the inevitable.

In this I want to show both perceptions/reactions of death. Sadness and peace. Things will be elaborated on in the story.

Anyways, lets get on with it! Enjoy or suffer.

26/12/2020 (Published 29/12/2020)

Nothing lasts forever. There will come a time where we'll have to part with something or someone, and there'll be a time where we ourselves will part.

There'll be a time when the sun runs out of hydrogen, growing into a red giant and swallowing the Earth, before shrinking down into a white dwarf. It'll use less and less stable and energetic particles until it eventually dies.

But in cosmic bodies, it takes anywhere from millions to scientific notations of years for them to die. Things on our scale, or life as we know it, lasts far, far shorter.

But with death must come its opposite: Birth, or life. Everything has a beginning and an end, and life does too. From a seed, or a clone of a pre existing organism, they'll develop into an adult and will find a mate and spread their genes, continuing the cycle that had spanned countless generations before and will span countless generations after.

For now, we'll see the beginning of life. Or, when it finally comes out into the world…

Through the window in the brown/white wall, came a stream of sunlight, like a million bright ambassadors of morning, illuminating the room inside with its warm light.

The room was a special place for a very special bird. That bird is one of only two birds of its kind known to man, although that number will soon rise to five special birds. Her name was Jewel, and she laid in a cosy man-made nest built specifically for her, keeping her precious eggs and the babies inside of them warm with her soft, fluffy cerulean blue feathers and warm body.

The warmth from the sunlight streaming in through the window was very comforting, and its light shone into Jewel's closed eyes, stirring her awake from her peaceful slumber. She groaned in a mix of tiredness and annoyance.

She slowly opened her eyes, revealing her beautiful turquoise coloured irises, which went along with her cerulean blue coloured plumage quite well. A yawn escaped from her grey beak, as she smacked it together, and shuffled her wings a bit, getting some movement into her limbs she hadn't used all night.

Once her eyes adjusted to the light, she saw her mate, another blue bird like her, although his plumage was a darker shade of blue. Which is his name, minus the E at the end. Blu was sitting by, reading a book like he usually does when he has nothing else to do. Jewel smiled at her nerd bird.

''Morning Blu…'', Jewel affectionately crooned. Blu took his eyes off his book and met them with Jewel's. His chocolate brown coloured eyes affectionately gazed into her beautiful turquoise coloured eyes, which complimented his chocolate brown eyes and vice versa.

Blu warmly smiled at his beautiful mate, which he hoped could become his wife also. Yes, he wanted to marry her. As if being mated with her wasn't enough, but Blu loved her so much he'd marry her even if it would be considered pointless in the eyes of other birds. It wasn't in his eyes though.

Every photon that bounces off of you and into my retina fills me with dopamine, you are so beautiful, Jewel… Blu thought, but Blu didn't say it as it was too technical for Jewel to understand, apart from the last part about her being beautiful. Instead he said something more simple and straight to the point.

''Morning beautiful.'', Blu responded back with a smile that Jewel found adorable, as was his nerdy and shy personality, which contrasted and complimented Jewel's rather confident and spirited personality, ''Did you sleep well?'', Blu asked. Jewel rested her head down a bit,

''Mhm.'', Jewel responded, ''I slept well, even with our little babies here.'', Jewel crooned, lovingly and lightly nuzzling one of the eggs with her beak, her eyes closed and with a smile on her beak as she did so. Blu moved a bit closer to his mate, and looked at her affectionately, like he always does,

''I'm so glad you came into my life.'', Blu said affectionately, and Jewel let out a brief and rather quiet giggle,

''And I'm so glad you came into me.'', Jewel cheekily responded, and it took a quick second for it to register in Blu's mind what she had said. His eyes widened, and his feathers stood up a little bit more in the equivalent of a blush. He nervously chuckled, and Jewel giggled playfully.

Blu and Jewel remembered that night, it was a cool and rainy night when they decided they'd take the big step and become mates. Blu was so nervous, and Jewel loved his cute nervous personality. Jewel may have done it before, but not out of love like this. The other times were lust, but the act between her and Blu was of passion and love. So, what was a cool night for most was a hot night for them.

And that moment, Jewel remembers it still when they reached the end of their lovemaking and Blu released the seed that made this all possible. It felt like heaven. And Jewel remembers feeling the eggs develop inside of her, it felt so surreal and magical to know that the seeds of life were growing inside of her, until they were ready to come out and germinate into their little babies.

They sat in silence for a moment, dialling down from the small rush of excitement and emotions from Jewel's tongue-in-beak remark, before Jewel broke it with a happy sigh.

''I wonder when they'll hatch…'', Jewel sighed, rhetorically. Blu looked at her,

''It shouldn't be too much longer.'', he answered, with a hint of anticipation and excitement in his voice. As if God (or the Gods, or Goddesses, or whatever) himself was listening, or fate decided to have it time perfectly, Jewel felt a vibration in the eggs she was laying on. Her eyes widened, as excitement began to surge through her.

''Oh my God!'', Jewel squawked, ''The eggs! I think they're hatching!'', Jewel exclaimed in excitement. Blu lit up like a lightbulb, as excitement swept over him. Jewel got off, as she felt them vibrate again.

''Oh my God, oh my God, I'm going to be a father!'', Blu cried, excitement and a bit of anxiety figuratively coursing through his veins. Jewel sat next to Blu, who was now looking at their eggs in anticipation, as they vibrated more.

The two soon to be parents huddled next to each other and eagerly over their nest, with their eggs that are about to hatch. A small crack formed on one of the eggs, which sent more excitement through them. Blu and Jewel's hearts were racing fast, and for Blu, the emotions were almost overwhelming, giving him butterflies in his stomach.

The crack grew larger, and a tooth was visible, trying to break free of the egg that had contained it for so long. The sight of it was so exciting.

''Come on, you can do it…'', Blu encouraged the chick, his eyes beginning to get moist from all the emotions he felt. The chick broke small bits of the eggshell, and Blu even wanted to help it, but knew it would be for the best if it did it on its own. Although this could also be out of fear of him hurting it.

The chick broke through but was still not out of its shell. But the little chick did get its first true glimpse of the world outside the egg, or it would if it weren't blind.

''Welcome to the world…'', Blu crooned, his eyes watery. The chick soon successfully broke free and gently fell onto the soft down covered nest. Blu and Jewel's hearts skipped a beat, as Jewel reflexively and silently cooed, or, let out an "awwww…" without making a sound. With her wings, she cradled the newly hatched baby, which was completely featherless, pinkish reddish in skin colour and its yet to be fully developed eyes appeared huge in proportion to its head and brought it closer to her.

''Its so adorable…'', Blu cooed, lovingly looking at his first hatched child. His eyes were tearing up, as he softly cried in happiness. The chick let out a small chirp, and Jewel smiled,

''It's a girl.'', Jewel whispered, meeting her watery eyes with Blu's far tearier eyes. Blu cocked his head curiously,

''How can you tell?'', Blu asked.

''It's the sound they make. I just… know it's a girl.'', Jewel answered. Blu figured it must be this "instinct" that he doesn't seem to have at all. Jewel cradled the small featherless chick close to her soft, fluffy breast, providing her baby comfort and warmth from her mother.

''Oh, she's just so cute!'', Jewel softly exclaimed in a baby voice, and softly and loving nuzzled her beak gently against the baby, ''I think we should call her Carla, don't you think Blu?'', Jewel suggested, turning her head to look at her mate.

''Carla…'', Blu whispered, considering the name. He began to nod and smile, ''Hm, Carla's a great name.'', Blu agreed. So, their first hatched child would be named Carla. Blu got closer, and Jewel moved her wings a bit, letting Blu see his daughter better.

''Hello Carla, I'm your daddy.'', Blu introduced himself, tears trickling down from his eyes. Baby Carla didn't really seem to respond to her father's introduction, simply moving closer to her mother's warmth, ''She's definitely going to be a mama's girl.'', Blu joked, ''If that's a thing.'', he awkwardly added.

But there are two other eggs, and they noticed one of them was vibrating too.

''Look, another one's hatching!'', Jewel exclaimed. They huddled around it, just like they did with Carla, who was still cradled in her mother's wings. Just like with its sister, the egg formed a crack that grew larger, with a tooth cracking through the eggshell.

''You can do it…'', Blu whispered. The baby was making quite good progress on the eggshell, and the chick managed to break off a good chunk of the eggshell, revealing itself to the outside world and its loving parents. The chick peaked its head out, ''Hello little one…'', Blu cooed, smiling widely. Blu was so tempted to reach over and help it get out, but his worries about hurting it outweighed his desire to help it get out. And so far, it was doing good.

The chick soon broke free, gently tumbling down onto the soft down of the nest. It let out a coo, as it moved around a bit. The baby was a bit smaller than its sister, Carla. Jewel identified the baby as being a girl,

''It's a girl, Blu…'', Jewel told her mate. Blu smiled,

''Wow, I hope the other's a boy or we're going to have some problems.'', Blu joked, but nerve was in his voice. Blu picked up his second daughter with his wings, gently bringing her closer to him. He looked at her, snuggling into his soft chest feathers, as she laid in his wings. The sight of this made the butterflies in his stomach go wild. He brought his face closer to his daughter, hugging it, as tears fell from his eyes.

Jewel was surprised by how much Blu was crying. She knew he was a bit of a softie, but she had no idea just how utterly ecstatic he'd be to see them. She smiled at the sight.

''Daddy loves you…'', Blu crooned, sniffling from all the tears he's shedding. He moved his head a bit and gave his newly hatched daughter a kiss. He did so as gently as he could, so as not to hurt the delicate little baby, ''What should we name her?'', Blu asked Jewel, as he propped his head up to look at her, still cradling baby Carla.

''I was thinking… Bianca…'', Jewel suggested after thinking for a moment. Blu gently shook his head,

''I think Beatriz would be better, or Beatrice.'', Blu suggested. Jewel disagreed,

''No, I still think Bianca's a better name.'', Jewel countered. Blu thought for a moment and had a great idea.

''How about we call her Bia?'', Blu suggested, hoping this middle ground could solve the issue. Jewel thought, and nodded,

''Yeah, I think Bia's a good name.'', Jewel agreed, and so it was settled. Their second daughter, or middle child, would be named Bia. Blu turned and looked at baby Bia, who was still snuggling into her father's soft and well-kept chest feathers.

''You hear that Bia? Bia's such a cute name, which is fitting for someone as cute as you…'', Blu crooned, and planted another soft and gentle kiss on her. Jewel noted just how affectionate Blu was to Bia. She knew full well at this point that Blu would make for an amazing and loving father. Not that she doubted it before, but this show of love was the confirmation.

And there still laid the third egg that both Jewel and Blu hoped contained a boy. Luckily, they needn't wait much longer as the egg began to vibrate, indicating it was about to hatch.

''Blu, its hatching!'', Jewel squawked. Just like before, they gathered around the egg, eagerly watching it as a small crack started to form, hoping that a boy would come out. Just like its 2 older siblings, the chick inside managed to form a larger crack. The chick inside, managed to break a decent sized piece of the eggshell, revealing itself to its parents, or at least the beak.

''You can do it…'', Blu affectionately and encouragingly crooned, just like he did with his two daughters. He still cradled baby Bia in his wings, holding her close to his soft and warm chest. The youngest chick made good progress on breaking through the eggshell that had contained it for weeks.

Eventually, just likes its siblings, the chick broke through the eggshell, and softly tumbled onto the soft nest.

''And lucky last…'', Jewel chuckled. Blu carefully picked up their youngest child with his wings and cradled it alongside its older sister. Jewel huddled alongside Blu, who was currently affectionately and gently nuzzling his two babies, as his beak quivered, and tears flowed down from his eyes.

After so many years of being alone, and without a family, he finally had one with the most beautiful bird in the world. Never in his life up until he came to Rio did he ever think he'd be a father, let alone to such adorable children with a beautiful mate.

The newly hatched (yes, the others are also newly hatched, but the one in question is the youngest) chick let out a chirp, which Jewel identified as a boy. Jewel rested her head on Blu's shoulder,

''It's a boy…'', Jewel whispered, smiling, and with joy-filled tears in her eyes. Blu looked over at Jewel, and their beaks drew closer together, until they met, sharing a passionate celebratory kiss.

''I love you Jewel.'', Blu whispered affectionately as he nuzzled his beak against Jewel's,

''I love you too, Blu.'', Jewel responded. They both looked at the babies cradled in their wings, smiling with happiness and fulfilment, with tears of joy trickling down from their eyes.

''This is the happiest day of my life…'', Blu purred, sniffling, as he softly cuddled with the little featherless babies in his wings. With their talons, Blu and Jewel quickly cleaned the eggshells out of their man-made nest, and Jewel laid down in the cosy nest. Blu carefully joined her, cuddling into her, as he let the babies snuggle with their mother.

After spending so many years without their family, or a family of their own, Blu and Jewel had finally had something they've wanted for so long: A family. Jewel prided herself as being independent, but deep down she knew she wanted a family, both a family of her own and her family she lost back in the Amazon all those years ago. She always locked that part of herself away deep inside of her, and only now did she let it free after so many years.

Blu's desires for a family were more centred around having another bird in his life. He had one, but it took 15 years to get there. In that time, the memories of his family when he was a chick had faded away, and he'd face loneliness in all those years. He had Linda, the closest thing he had to family and he still regards her as his mother. He just keeps that to himself.

Their attention was turned towards a human who entered the room with a tray of fruit and berries for the two macaws. He placed the tray down, before realising that the eggs had hatched. His eyes widened and he exclaimed something in Portuguese. He raced off to go find Tulio, who was accompanied by Linda, Blu's former owner.

Jewel and Blu couldn't help but giggle. Although they were nice and cosy in their nest, all huddled together as a family, with the food tray there and their appetite, as well as their babies, they knew they'd have to get up and eat.

''I'll get up first, I guess.'', Blu told Jewel, and carefully stood up and got out of the nest. He brought the tray a bit closer for Jewel, so she could get some more easily. Eyeing a berry, Jewel decided she'd give her babies their first meal, but nothing too big. Blu saw this, and picked up a berry, ''You want this?'', Blu asked, holding the berry for Jewel to see.

''Yeah, thanks.'', Jewel answered, as Blu passed her the berry. Jewel chewed on it until it was sufficiently mushy, and hovered over the beaks of her babies, who were a bit hungry. Blu saw this, and decided to just look away, finding it to be rather disgusting.

Jewel locked beaks with Carla, and let the prechewed berries go into her beak, and she moved onto the others, feeding them. Once they were all finished, Jewel swallowed the remaining mush in her beak. She saw Blu looking away, and giggled,

''Don't worry, you can look now.'', Jewel said teasingly. Blu turned his head back to face Jewel,

''Thanks, I'd rather not see you regurgitate pre-chewed food into their beaks.'', Blu chuckled sheepishly. Jewel rolled her eyes,

''Well, its how you and I were fed when we were young.'', Jewel argued. Blu raised a talon to speak, but dropped it, nodding in acceptance,

''Yeah you're right.'', Blu sighed, defeated quickly, ''But its still gross.'', Blu added. Jewel shook her head playfully, amused by him. All of a sudden, two familiar people came rushing in. A tall, tan skinned man with glasses and slick back hair, accompanied by a fair skinned (white) and literal red-haired woman with big round glasses. The latter of whom elicited an excited squawk from Blu.

''Linda!'', Blu cried, happy to see his best friend and former owner. Linda was also excited, but for a different reason. She looked in the nest, and gasped, despite already knowing the news. As did Tulio, as they saw the breeding programme was a success, with 3 little featherless chicks. Linda and Tulio didn't exactly find them cute, as they were rather weird looking as featherless birds do.

''Oh, my Blu is a dad!'', Linda cried, as she hugged Blu, who sheepishly smiled as he was near Jewel, but was still happy to be near Linda. Jewel didn't really mind, seeing how it would be pretty rude to interrupt this moment.

Tulio himself felt pretty overjoyed, as his mouth was open, and he was all giddy, but no noises were coming out. That was until he let out an "Eeeeee!" squeal of joy, to which he quickly paused and blushed in embarrassment as Linda turned back to look at him after he squealed like a giddy schoolgirl.

''I'm sorry, I'm just so…'', Tulio excused himself, but was just so excited that he couldn't even speak. But his body language spoke louder than words, as did his squeal.

Jewel laughed at Tulio, and rolled her eyes, softly nuzzling her babies with her beak,

''Mummy will always love you; I'll make sure you all are safe and happy. I promise.'', Jewel whispered to her babies, smiling warmly, as Blu watched on. It was like it was just them, and nothing else mattered. Which, in this moment, was quite true.

One could describe it as the happiest day of their lives…

On a relatively cool, soft grey skied morning in the Amazon, the early risers were waking up. The lush green leaves of the various species of foliage, and the ground too, were covered in a mixture of morning dewdrops and raindrops from last night's rain. The streams were carrying the excess runoff, providing rather clean and fresh, cool water for the various animals and plants that lived there.

The sound of the runoff and spring fed streams cascading over the rockface and down into the deep, cool and calm splash pools beneath could be heard for a fair distance around. This morning, and like all mornings and days after the frequent rains, the waterfalls roared louder from the runoff they collected from their small tributaries, which all make their way to the grand Amazon River.

In a large tree situated near a clear rocky stream that fed into the larger stream that the waterfalls were fed by, this stream was a popular bathing and drinking spot for the birds and animals living near it, laid an old couple in a cosy nestroom.

The male woke up, slowly opening his wrinkly eyes. Next to him was a cerulean blue woman. Her feathers weren't as vibrant as they once were, and were faded with age, just like her beak, which was once dark grey but was now a lighter shade of grey. Her feathers also were a bit less fine looking but were still nice and soft to snuggle into.

The male, named Blu, shared similar traits in age. His feathers were faded, and were a lighter, fainter shade of blue, which is where his highly creative name was derived from. Just like his mate, Jewel's beak, his once darkish grey beak was a lighter shade of grey.

The couple had been mates for 18 years and were now at the old age of 33. Blu planted a kiss on his sleeping mate's head, which unintentionally woke her up. Jewel stirred awake, as Blu smiled sheepishly at his mistake.

''Sorry honey, I didn't mean to wake you up.'', Blu apologised. His voice was raspier and a bit fainter, but still sounded like him, retaining the accent and pronunciation he always had. Jewel moved her head to face Blu, opening her eyes.

Despite their other features fading over time, their eyes were still the same, just a little less good at seeing. Not to say they couldn't see well, but Blu found that it was a bit more difficult to read things. Luckily, he had managed to get glasses from the humans he still had contact with.

''Its alright Blu…'', Jewel sighed, snuggling into Blu's chest as she closed her eyes, smiling in content. Blu rested his head on top of Jewel's head, shuffling it a little bit in affection.

''I love you Jewel…'', Blu purred, ''I love you too, Blu.'', Jewel responded. The two rested there for a few moments, before the flapping of wings caused them to part and look in the direction of the noise. A beautiful cerulean blue woman landed, with hazel eyes and feathers fanning back. Her expression was that of mild embarrassment and concern,

''Oh, did I interrupt anything?'', she asked, slightly ashamed. Blu and Jewel smiled, shaking their heads,

''No, not really Bia.'', Blu assured, ''What brings you here this early by the way?'', Jewel asked. Bia, their now fully grown daughter, paused for a moment, standing upright a bit more.

''Well I was just heading out to collect breakfast for Francie and my kids, and I thought I'd stop by and say hello.'', Bia told them, smiling happily as she thought of her family. Blu chuckled,

''You sure do love Francisco, don't you?'', Blu chuckled. Bia smiled sheepishly, shuffling a bit on her feet, and blushing a bit,

''Yeah, I do.'', she responded, chuckling as well, ''By the way, would you like to head over to my place?'', Bia asked, ''Of course, if you don't mind.'', Bia quickly added. Blu and Jewel smiled,

''We'd love to.'', Jewel answered, and Blu nodded in agreement, ''Yeah, they love their grandpa.'', Blu laughed.

''And their grandma.'', Jewel added, as she playfully nudged Blu, who let out a small yelp,

''Hey! Don't go nudging me, or I'll have to punish the naughty grandma.'', Blu said seductively, to which Jewel chuckled. Bia stood by awkwardly, she cleared her throat, disrupting her father and mother, who quickly stopped, sheepishly chuckled and blushed in embarrassment.

''Sorry about that.'', they both apologised. Bia smiled, shaking her head,

''Eh, its alright. I'll probably be the same when I'm a grandma.'', Bia responded humorously. Blu slowly sat up,

''Well, I guess we better get going.'', Blu grunted as he stood up, tensing his wings up and stretching them. Jewel followed suit, with the help of Blu.

''So, I'll meet you at my hollow.'', Bia told them, ''Well I better get going, I don't think Francie or the kids will be too pleased I was late to get them breakfast.'', Bia chuckled, before flying off. Blu and Jewel followed suit, flying off into the direction of Bia's hollow, so they could spend some time with their grandkids, daughter and her mate.

Well, that wraps up part one, I hope you enjoyed it!

I decided to start the story with a happy and pleasant first part, before the darker stuff happens next chapter.

By the time this is posted, I would have written most, if not all of part two, so it shouldn't take too long to come out.

Also I did make some Pink Floyd references in the story, including the title of this story. I wonder if you can find them all. (Hint: There's 3, including the title, as far as I remember)

BONUS ROOM DESCRIPTION THAT I COULDN'T FIND A GOOD SPOT TO INSERT: The room was separated from the main aviary and is a special nursery place for Blu and Jewel. The furniture was made to make them feel a bit more comfortable, although many of the furniture there was for Blu's comfort.

Until next time, goodbye.