Chapter 2

Trouble at the border Part 2

Disclaimer

I do not own Rio.

The rays from the rising sun penetrated through the jail tree's small but numerous cracks, waking up the occupants inside from their restless slumber. Although none of the five scarlet macaws could explain it, they felt as if the rays foreshadowed something bad, the air just felt heavy. They shook their heads to rid themselves of these feelings. The birds really hoped their situation was not real and was just a really bad dream, but unfortunately for them, reality was often disappointing. Their day couldn't have started worse, the macaws were both hungry and thirsty, since the blues barely gave them any nourishment.

"How long is this going to continue?" A red macaw broke the eerie silence after who knows how long, not caring about the no speaking rule imposed by the blue macaws. He looked outside but didn't find any guards around who would enforce it, so it didn't matter, at least for now. Another red snickered at the question.

"Who knows? The blues didn't and will not believe our story. They view us as liars and thieves. I won't be surprised if they use torture or possibly even murder to get what they want." The second macaw spoke up, but the negativity in his voice annoyed the rest of his team. It certainly didn't raise their morale which was a pretty important thing right now.

"Don't be such a fool. Torture and murder would be an instant act of war. Eduardo is a level headed bird who always brokered peace. He was the one who managed to stop the military and blue yellow macaws from going to war after all. Something everyone else including Felipe's father thought impossible at the time." A third bird joined in the conversation, attempting to be the voice of reason. The others did not share this view, believing it was too naive in the world they lived in.

"They will reasonably think this was a prelude to a war. Our well being is the least of their concern right now. Besides, if we just 'bow' down to them, that will mean they broke our will power. We have to stay strong, we swore an oath to the tribe. We must retain all information even if it means torture." The forth captive chimed in, countering the argument with valid points which made perfect sense given their current situation.

"Just because they are Spix's macaws doesn't mean they are savages. Eduardo let a lot go during the first few years lead by Felipe. No matter what we do or say, we did trespass…" The third one disagreed with an annoyed undertone, pointing out what they did in 'legal' terms. This did not bid well with the rest.

"Traitor! Who's side are you on?" The second exclaimed with anger so intense, his face turned crimson. The emotions were starting to resurface inside him, meaning the blue macaw's tactics to break them mentally started to work pretty well on this particular scarlet bird. The bird who's loyalty was questioned glared back, feeling insulted by the accusation.

"I'm on the scarlet side of course. But we need to look at this logically. Playing stupid and disrespecting them is only going to worsen our situation..." The third couldn't finish his statement because the second one interrupted with a raised voice, clearly not caring about the guards who will probably hear them now.

"It was your fault we are captured to begin with. If you hadn't started arguing, the blues wouldn't have jumped us."

The third was silent for a few seconds, formulating his response carefully. He was about to reply and defend himself but a blue macaw flew up from nowhere and smacked a big stick against the tree wall to silence them up. "No speaking!" The guard yelled, causing the red macaws to shut up once more, neither wanting to get into a fight unnecessarily.

The uncomfortable silence continued for about ten minutes, until they could hear a group of macaws flying towards the entrance. They landed one after the other and the scarlet captives could now identify them. In the lead was the Spix's macaw leader with multiple unknown guards around him, flanked by familiar faces like Esteban and Roberto. Eduardo was pissed, his mood yesterday night was nothing compared to this one. The anger radiating from his form like the blazing heat from the sun. He looked around the room to find the five macaws in question. A moment later he found what he was looking for. "Bring them here." He spoke up with venom so pure and deadly, it could kill if it somehow materialized.

The blue macaws all around him obeyed his orders and flew up towards the cells. They opened them up with little difficulty and held the reds down as their partners tied them up with vines once again. "Hey! That's too tight!" One of them complained as the vine was giving him difficulty to breath. The blue macaw ignored it and finished tying the captive. After they were all immobilized and secured, they were flown down to the bare floor in front of Eduardo.

"Now, I want answers to my questions with haste and accuracy." His deep voice rumbled throughout the hollow with an impatient undertone, making some of them shake in fear. The scarlet macaw who had the emotional outbursts however was not intimidated by the blue macaw. To the dismay of his team mates, he actively tried to oppose him by taunting.

"In your dreams, blue. Our beaks are sealed shut."

The leader was not impressed at the taunt at all but chuckled in response. He surprised everyone when he lunged forward and grabbed the bird in question by the neck, slowly but steadily raising him up to his eye level. The air supply was suddenly uncomfortably limited, but the blue macaw made sure to not cut it out all right. "You… You will tell me what happened to Jewel and Melisa before I personally squeeze the life out of you." Eduardo threatened the scarlet macaw, who finally understood the blue macaw was not joking and now fully regretted his outburst.

"W-w-what are you t-talking about. We d-didn't do anything to t-them." He retorted, struggling to speak with so little air available. Unfortunately, this was not the answer the elderly macaw wanted. Eduardo made sure to relay this fact by squeezing his air pipe a bit more.

"Don't play games with me. I sent them after you were captured and they never got back."

"W-we were s-sent to scout t-the territory. W-why would we c-capture b-blues?" The red tried to reason with the macaw, but it fell on deaf ears. Eduardo didn't accept the answer. According to the theory he made, they had very good reasons for the capture and he wanted to know what it was. He was willing to go as far as injuring the captives. He wanted his daughter found no matter the cost.

"I think you are lying. They never returned from the patrol after your capture. How do you explain that?"

"M-maybe they were incompetent and got e-eaten by a predator?" The red shot back, fed up with the accusations and chocking. It was only later he realized the mistake's magnitude he just made when insulting the elderly macaw's daughter. Hearing the remark, Eduardo's expression darkened like a suddenly formed tropical storm.

"What did you just say?" He snared, bringing his face closer to the intruder's with a quick jerk.

"Uh n-nothing." The macaw tried to remedy his situation but it was too late. The blue macaw finally snapped and fully gripped the helpless macaw's neck, cutting off the air flow completely at last.

In response, the red started to choke, his body desperately fighting for oxygen but the vines and Eduardo's strength was too much to defeat. Slowly his face started to turn bluer and bluer. The choking macaw's fellow team mates were shocked that the leader was about to suffocate their member while they were unable to do anything. Even the blue macaws around them were disturbed by the action. This was not the Eduardo they knew. The red macaw kept struggling, growing more desperate by the second. A small glimpse of hope appeared when their ordeal was suddenly interrupted by a new voice coming from behind them. Everybody was so distracted they failed to acknowledge wing flaps and the sound of talons hitting the tree bark.

"Eduardo. Stop this right now." Eduardo turned around to find the source of the new feminine voice. He saw his older sister, Mimi standing there with her wings folded and a clear disappointing look on her face. "This will get us nowhere." She added impatiently with a judging tone, and the leader knew exactly what she was talking about. He turned back to face the still suffocating red macaw who was now silently begging for his life.

He growled before releasing the pressure on his air pipe and throwing him towards the others, making sure the landing was especially painful. The macaw hit the ground with his right wing, and a light snap echoed around the hollow. This was followed by the bird's yell mixed with gasping as his lungs finally got the much needed oxygen. The injured macaw's fellow birds flinched at the thought of what pain he experienced at the moment.

"Felipe was contacted and demands to know why his men are kept here. He is on his way towards the Pit of Doom right now." Mimi explained the reason for her visit once the injured macaw gone silent, but the news enraged Eduardo even further.

"Demands?! The nerve he has!" He practically yelled, but knowing the context it was not directed at the female.

"Grab them. We are going to the Pit." He looked towards his guards before ordering them. They just nodded before picking up the prisoners and the small group took to the skies. The trip was spent in complete silence, minus the occasional grunting from the red macaw Eduardo interrogated and injured.

The lack of conversation started to bother her, so Mimi flew closer to her younger brother who was eerily mute. She felt bad for him, barely able to imagine the pain he must be going through. She remembered when the macaw almost broke after his mate suddenly died. The only thing that kept him sane was his daughter, the duty towards their tribe and her to some extent. Still, she knew she cannot allow him to act so recklessly in a situation so important as this one. After all, as an older sibling, it was her duty to talk sense into her 'little brother'.

"Eddie. I cannot even start to imagine what you are going through right now… But you need to put your personal feelings aside. If your theory is correct, Felipe wants to use Jewel to emotionally manipulate you. I always knew Felipe was arrogant, but never thought he would do something like this. Nevertheless, you injuring that captive will only weaken our position." Her soft and caring voice broke through his mental blocks, and as much as he wanted to argue, she was right, and he knew it.

"It was my fault, Mimi. I was the one who let her join that patrol. Now she is held hostage, and the only reason is because she is related to me." He confessed to his sister, feeling as if a huge boulder was relieved from his shoulders. He did make sure to speak quietly though. He couldn't afford to let his tribe or the enemy see this side of him, only his family could. He couldn't help but feel guilty for allowing Jewel to go, knowing she is in danger because of him.

"I was never a parent, and like I said before, I cannot imagine it. But it is time for you to let go. My little wildflower is an adult, a beautiful grown up woman. You cannot protect her forever and she must make her own decisions… And joining that patrol was her decision. Just like Melisa's." She tried to comfort her younger brother, and after a long pause it seemed to have worked somewhat. Silence took over the scene once more and didn't change for the remainder of their trip.

Soon after, the group arrived at the bottomless looking pit. A good chunk of both tribes gathered around the edge to observe what was going on. They ignored the crowd and made their way towards the inner region. They could already see the red macaws standing at a cliff's edge, waiting for them a bit impatiently. The red delegation was rather small, only about a dozen scarlet macaws with Felipe in the center. The blues landed in front of them, and after the reds saw their tribe members tied up they were concerned but not surprised. What changed their attitude completely was seeing one of them who now had a swollen wing, which indicated the wing was probably broken. This infuriated many of them and caused them to angrily glare at the blue delegation.

"Eddie! What is the meaning of this?!" Felipe walked in front of his delegation, eyeing the older blue macaw in the process. During their trip here, Eduardo managed to collect himself and bottle up his anger, since this was a diplomatic situation and he cannot afford to be a hypocrite. However, he would not tolerate disrespect.

"First off, that is Eduardo to you. Second, I've been settling disputes between our tribes long before you were even laid, son. I know every trick in the book, and you dare ask me what is the meaning of this?!" He started speaking with a slow and calm voice, but the near silent yet still present angry undertone made the scarlet group uneasy. Felipe was about to retort but Eduardo cut him off, continuing by pointing out the red leader's behavior. "You violated our treaties time and time again. Now you send entire intruder teams?" He pointed a wing towards the five captives to prove his point.

Felipe glanced at them with a disappointed face, before turning back to look the blue macaw in the eyes. "You have no proof of that. You could have just snatched my people for ransom. Now hand them over and I'll ignore this hostility for once." The scarlet macaw exclaimed with an impatient tone, hiding any hint of lying. This boiled the blue's blood but he knew he had to keep it hidden.

"Oh, no. I think you mixed up your 'facts'. I dispatched a special patrol group to find out what happened, because I've been getting reports all month. Guess what? They were caught red handed." He paused for a second, allowing the information to sink in. "You expose yourself like every liar does. Twisting your own actions to fit your agenda and paint me as the villain." For an untrained eye, it looked as if the scarlet macaw was not phased at all. But Eduardo could see his opponent mentally start to crack, and it started to show up both on his speech and body language.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Although it was now clear as day that he was lying about the secret intruders, Felipe honestly had no idea what the blue macaw was further implying. His less than professional response started to take a toll on the elderly macaw's patience. Eduardo was losing his temper by the second and that worried the red macaw. The situation was escalating fast and nobody liked that.

"We discovered your intruders. As a response, you captured two of our patrol birds, taking them hostage. Jewel and Melisa." The accusation puzzled Felipe to say the least. Nothing that even remotely resembling the story matched what he ordered or knew about. The scarlet macaw thrown a confused look which looked genuine enough, but Eduardo was not believing it after the lies he previously made.

"Felipe. The only reason we are not already at your hollows with spears and claws is because of the respect I hold towards your father. We never saw eye to eye, but he could put his pride aside when it came to political matters and innocent lives. How about you grow a spine and do the same? Or did honor die in your family with his death?" This caused the red macaw to blow up with fury.

"How dare you speak of my father?!" He snared at the blue macaw after the mention of his father, but got no emotional reaction from the blue macaw at all. Instead, the response caused Eduardo to come forward and stop inches from the scarlet leader. Both sides raised their claws, anticipating attack but neither leader flinched. Eduardo was a bit bigger than Felipe which did cause the red macaw to mentally hesitate for a moment. The blue macaw leader saw this and used the opening.

"You trespass, capture one of ours after we apprehend your intruders and you are mad? Last warning, Felipe. Give us back the women, or else…" The scarlet leader was not happy at the threat. The still lingering anger caused him to puff his chest.

"Or else what?" He challenged the older bird, who still held eyes full of determination and zero emotion.

"War." The singular word sent chills down every bird's spine in the immediate area. It felt like the temperature dropped thirty degrees in a second. The blue macaws knew exactly that Eduardo never joked around, especially with that word. This caused Felipe to take a step back as he processed the response. His eyes widened at the realization what the implications of that was. His anger instantly vanished and was replaced with shock and worry.

"Last time. We don't have your daughter!" Felipe desperately retorted, but by this point his voice started to tremble. He's ego was always big and he loved to annoy the blue leader, but war was never something he actually wanted. Eduardo on the other hand was strong and well collected, even though inside he was burning with fury. Still, he held himself much better than Felipe did in the showing emotion department.

"So be it." Eduardo announced coldly. His deep voice rumbled throughout the pit, and every macaw was shocked at the decision. The mixed group of blue and red macaws just stared at the leaders in total disbelief. Tensions were always high between them and although the possibility always lingered, neither side thought it would ever happen. Especially initiation from Eduardo. Both parties slowly started to take a few steps back, distancing themselves from the new 'enemy'. It was very clear the negotiations were over. Before they could do anything else, a new but familiar feminine voice echoed through the Pit of Doom.

"DAD!"

Earlier, a few kilometers north of the Pit of Doom

The darkness that clouded Jewel's mind slowly started to dissipate. As she regained consciousness, she could finally feel her environment around her. Instead of the soft texture of a nest or branch, she felt ice cold metal underneath. She picked up slight vibrations and bumps in irregular intervals. Soon after her hearing slowly came back, allowing her to hear the foul rumbling of a human truck. This was accompanied by crying as well as panicked voices all around her.

She slowly opened her eyes, needing little time to adjust to the low brightness. She blinked a few times to clear her blurry vision and that was when her memories came flooding back to her like a tsunami. Scarlet intruders. Strange chiming noise. Humans, a net, and later a cage. She quickly stood up but her legs wobbled because her balance was not yet perfect. Ignoring this, she ran forwards towards the only source of light, but was halted by multiple iron bars blocking her exit. It was obvious now, she was stuck in a cage.

The gap between the bars was big enough to fit her head and neck through. It was now that she could associate the ambient noises clearly. She could see dozens of cages of various sizes. Some below, some above, some across from her. What horrified Jewel was the fact all of them were occupied. Birds of all kinds were trapped inside, the metal contraption serving as their prison cells. Most of them were either sulking or silently crying while others were trying to sleep away the depression.

"Don't worry darling. We will be OK. Mommy will make sure of it." A female red fronted macaw tried to calm a small bundle between her wings. Jewel was mortified when she realized it was a chick, barely old enough to fly. These humans captured families without a single thought what it will do to them. What made her blood freeze was when she examined the mother's face. It was not one of fear, it was one of grief.

Macaws rarely laid one egg, it was mostly either two or three. Couple that with the fact she couldn't see any other red fronted macaw, she quickly came to a dark conclusion what might have transpired. It made her want to vomit but she fought off the urge, figuring humans would not care to clean it up. The next thing she figured out was that these humans must have come from really far away, because this is the first time she actually saw a red fronted macaw. Her tribe knew of their existence but they lived so far away it was virtually unreachable.

It was only now that she realized her fate and it sank in fully. The worst was that she didn't see her friend anywhere. Her mind started to race with thoughts but she suppressed those as well, trying to spare her consciousness from more pain. She just lowered her head and closed her eyes in defeat.

"Do Spix's macaws always give up so quickly when faced with a hard challenge?" She couldn't sulk in peace, because a masculine yet teasing voice spoke up next to her, causing Jewel to raise her head. She was quick to do so but was annoyed at the sight next to her, if not out right afraid of it. A harpy eagle. Just great. She through to herself as she rolled her eyes and looked the giant predator with a burning inferno in her irises.

"How about you mind your own business, murderer!" She shot back with venom and hatred, but it did not phase the raptor one bit. It remained calm and calculated, shrugging off the insult like it was nothing. It made sense, the poor creatures who ended up as his dinner probably said very nice things to him before their life was over. Still, the calmness crept her out. The stare of a predator instinctively conjured fear in macaws, but she tried to keep her cool.

"The tone of the response is expected, but I'm afraid your hatred is misplaced. I'm not the enemy here. They are." The eagle pointed his big wings towards a few humans who were currently sleeping on an old couch, snoring loudly in the process. She recognized them as the poachers who caught her and Melisa earlier. What she wouldn't do to get out of this cage and claw their eyes out… But right now she had other, much more pressing matters to attend to.

"Wrong. Both of you are my enemies. So how about you leave me alone before I make you regret your very own birth." The eagle laughed at the empty threat, making Jewel's skin crawl under her feathers. "I doubt that."

"About your second statement, I concur. You see, me and you share a connection which is as old as time itself. Hunter and the hunted, the endless circle of life. It is a balance nature upholds very carefully… But in the eyes of these humans, both of us are just birds. Life they deem less valuable than their own. To them, we are just an easy money grab." He added shortly after, attempting to explain his views to the female who while was not incredibly accepting listened non the less. It might had to do with the fact she was stuck next to him with no way out.

"Money?" She questioned with a puzzled expression but still maintained her distrusting nature.

"It is their measure of wealth. Insignificant pieces of green material similar to leafs they don't even eat. They do not respect nature, unlike us. We collect fruit or hunt prey to survive, and only enough to survive. They do it in massive quantities for this money."

"And what am I supposed to do about it?" Jewel replied with the same hate in her voice as before. Even though the eagle made sense, she couldn't believe she was having conversation with a predator. The worst was that she had no idea what his game was. Harpy eagles are not known to converse much at all. Especially not with animals they considered prey. Which was pretty much the whole jungle.

"Well, you are in a unique position. If you are up to the task, you can release all of us from these cages." The eagle answered her question, and this raised her curiosity even further. She removed her gaze from the sleeping humans and looked at him once again in the eyes.

"What are you talking about?"

"The humans made a mistake placing you next to me. Look here, my cage's lock is within your reach." He placed a giant claw on the lock but due to his size there was no way for him to unlock it. She immediately shook her head when she realized what the raptor wanted her to do.

"Absolutely not. You'll just grab my neck and suffocate me. I'm not stupid." She finally turned away, walking back inside her cage to sit down and brainstorm about what she could do. To her dismay, the eagle didn't give up so easily.

"And what good will that do, my dear? I'm also not stupid. I would kill my only chance for freedom."

The response made her think. Every fiber in her being screamed it was a trap, but she weighted her options objectively. She would die if she stayed in the cage, no doubt. Even if the eagle was lying and ends up killing her, at least it will be swift and the potential suffering will end. On top of that, there was always a small chance he would keep his word. She sighted heavily, before she walked up to the bars and poked her head out once again. "Fine." She agreed to help, but a new and familiar voice grabbed her attention.

"Jewel! Don't!" The distinct voice of Melisa rang through the holding space. She looked up and saw her in a cage just like hers. "He will just trick you!" She added trying to be the voice of reason. The commotion woke up or caught the attention of other trapped birds. Everyone now looked towards her and the eagle with a probably well earned mistrust.

"That woman must have lost all hope to trust a harpy." A few muffled voices echoed around her, as the other birds murmured their thoughts about her decision. She felt insulted, and made sure to glance around, trying to find a lock close enough to other cages. Turned out the predator was not lying, she was the only one who could pull this off.

"Not this again." The eagle grunted with annoyance at the mass's reaction. He turned towards Jewel and looked her in the eyes, but what shocked the blue macaw was the expression in his stare. For the first time in her life, she could see emotion on a predator's face. It was no longer a cold, calculated killer's face but a depressed and trapped soul's. He was pleading for her for help.

"How do you unlock it?" She simply asked, ignoring her friend's and the other birds screams and protests. The eagle smiled at the cooperation and hastily explained it with as much detail as possible, raising his own voice to drown out the chatter around them.

"It is a turn and slide lock. Turn it and slide it towards yourself. Pretty easy to do."

She closed her eyes, taking a long deep breath. This will either be her ticket to freedom or her end. She opened her eyes and slowly but surely extended her neck as much as possible, grabbing the lock with her beak a second later. The other occupants gasped at the action, but Jewel ignored them. Every instinct screamed at her to pull back. Having her neck exposed like that literally centimeters from a deadly predator increased her heartbeat to levels she never thought was possible. The disgusting metallic taste didn't help either.

She turned the lock and started pulling on it. At first it didn't move and looked like it was stuck, but after jerking it a few times with more force it started to slide. One final pull later the contraption unlocked with a faint click sound accompanying it. She let got of the metal bit and pulled her neck back as fast as possible. The eagle kicked the cage's door with as much force as he could muster, and his reward was the door opening up. He laughed with delight at the newly acquired freedom. The others were not so happy and it became apparent why.

The giant bird flew off but made a U turn and landed perfectly on Jewel's cage, his weight shaking the whole contraption, causing her to step back until she was against the wall. The powerful claws grabbed the iron bars, allowing him to remain steady. He lowered his head and his eyes focused on her, the predatory hunting instincts kicking in. The raptor unlocked the lock without much effort and opened up the cage.

Jewel was paralyzed as she realized she was still trapped as the eagle blocked her only exit. Now there was nothing stopping him from capturing the blue macaw and she could barely hurt him in such a tight space. The piercing predatory gaze suddenly vanished before he could go in and catch her. He just glanced at her before jumping off, flying to the opposite side to another cage.

The occupant screamed in terror, thinking the predator came to eat him next. The harpy eagle performed the same procedure and flew off to another one after it was done. It was only then she realized he was opening up everyone's cell. After Jewel regained her composure, she leaped away from her prison and landed on Melisa's cage.

"Jewel! You are mad!" Melisa exclaimed, she couldn't believe her friend would risk so much with so little trust. But she couldn't argue with the results, the light blue macaw was free and still alive after all. Jewel didn't bother to respond as she was busy opening up the lock. Using the same technique, she got her friend free from the metal cage.

The blue macaws could have flown off, but the predator's little speech made them realize they were all from the same jungle, and by that extent form of a big 'family' against humans. They assisted the eagle in freeing the remaining captives. It was truly a bizarre sight to behold for any outside observer, predator and prey working together in peace. The miracle was over in less than two minutes, the end result being that everyone was now free.

Their timing couldn't have been more perfect if they tried. One of the humans finally woke up from all the commotion and was horrified at the sight before him. Dozens of exotic and very valuable birds were outside, free from their metal cages. "HOW DID THEY GET FREE?!" He yelled in panic, causing his partner to wake up as well. This was the cue the birds were waiting for. The group took off towards the back of the truck as fast as possible. The dozens of wing flaps even drowned out the still moving truck's engine noise, which was a great distraction. Marcel and Tipa were unable to stop the flock, they could only watch as their fortune flew away.

The makeshift flock stayed in formation for a long time, and when they were a safe distance away from the humans, Melisa could finally look back to see what was their position. It was only then she realized where the humans were directly heading.

"Oh no! Jewel! The humans are going towards the tribe!" She exclaimed with a horrified expression. This caused Jewel to panic as well. The loggers and poachers were practically next to their border. She wanted to fly back but realized they would just get captured again. Meanwhile the predator flew next to them but still didn't attack.

"Warn your tribe. Take a longer detour around the humans, you are much faster than they are. There is still time." She looked towards the harpy eagle, but he slowly broke off from the flock, flying somewhere probably far away.

"WAIT!" Jewel yelled, causing the raptor to stop in mid air and turn around. "What is your name?" She asked him, wanting to know the name of the bird who saved her in a way.

"Daniel, we are even now. Good luck with the tribe." He replied, taking one last glance at the flock before turning around and flying away.

The two blue macaws followed his example and turned around, flying towards the humans and their tribe. They made sure to take the eagle's advice and made a slight detour, neither of them wanting to risk being captured again. The women sped up, flying as fast as a bullet, ignoring borders all together. In their hurry, they flew inside a small portion of the blue and yellow macaw territory, catching their patrol's attention. The patrol wanted to pursue the invaders but were puzzled when they left their territory as fast as they entered it. It was moments later they heard the roaring of human machinery and realized what the Spix's macaws were running from.

Present time, near the Pit of Doom

Jewel and Melisa finally arrived at their territory and immediately met up with various blue macaws, telling them what happened and asking where Eduardo was. They all gave the same answer, at the Pit of Doom. Nobody believed their claims about humans though, so they flew towards the blue macaw leader, knowing the tribe will listen to him.

As they arrived at the bottomless pit, they could see both blue and scarlet macaws, in a standoff. The five captives were also there but they were not given over to the reds. Instead, Felipe and Eduardo were at each other's throats, and from the facial expressions they knew something horrible just transpired between them. But Jewel knew it was nothing compared to what is about to happen. "DAD!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, catching every bird's attention in the area.

The elderly macaw looked towards the source of the voice and his eyes widened in disbelief. He was speechless as the females landed next to the two groups, catching their breath from the intense flying they were forced to do. "Jewel! Melisa! You two are alive!" He exclaimed with relief, but their troubled glances wiped away all happiness he had in the moment.

"Dad! Humans! Loggers and poachers are coming here!" Jewel hastily told the group, who were not convinced by the warning, just like the tribe members. She was very desperate to find a way to convince them, but fortune smiled upon her. Suddenly a giant explosion rang through the jungle, causing all birds in the area to look towards the source of the deafening sound.

They could see a giant cloud of smoke rise from the horizon, before a big tree slowly fell to the side while birds desperately escaped by flying up. Without warning, other explosions followed suit and each was closer and closer to the grove. The painful memories started to flood back for Eduardo, and he kicked into overdrive, completely forgetting the war he just declared.

"Evacuation! We're leaving!" He turned around and ordered his men, who immediately took off towards the sky and their tribe. The five intruders were left alone and after they were freed from the vines by their tribe, the scarlets flew back as well to deal with the human threat their own way. Felipe stayed behind and looked towards Eduardo with a questioned look.

"Truce?" He offered, and was pleasantly surprised when the blue macaw nodded his head.

"Truce." Eduardo accepted the offer with a neutral expression, and with that settled, everyone left the cliff, leaving it deserted of avian life

...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...

OrangeMacawWorld:

Thank you for taking the time to create the detailed review, and another one for pointing out the actual positive and negative aspects respectively. It is incredibly helpful to see what was done right and wrong. Sadly (from my experience anyways) not many people dare to do this for fear of backlash or community bullying maybe? Anyways, I'm very humbled and will certainly do my best to improve in those areas and not let this get to my head.

My reasoning behind the information tab was the fact that according to my own statistics as well as other people's, most readers click on the story title and then navigate to the current chapter instead of using that small arrow. So I thought organizing news this way meant more readers actually see whatever I posted there. Then again, you are the first to comment about it, so I accepted the advice and moved it to my bio. On that note, I also dropped the responses and moved them to the end of chapters like this one.

About the grammar, sadly it is something I'm very aware of and try my best to overcome. English can be tricky for me at times. Perhaps it is time I looked into getting a beta reader in the near future.

monsterjamvadim:

Glad you like it. I don't understand what canon is referring to in this context though. The events of Rio 1 never happened, and the only event from Rio 2 was the logger attack which was used to start off the story. Completely alternate timeline.