After some searching, Blu, Jewel and the rest of the group managed to find Eduardo on the outskirts of the sanctuary.
"Whoa, where's the fire? You guys all look like you're in a hurry to get somewhere."
"We're sorry about that sir, but we have an emergency." said Blu.
"What kind of emergency?"
"The kids are gone! They disappeared this morning, and we haven't seen them anywhere around the sanctuary." said Jewel.
Eduardo's eyes widened in surprise as he learned about this turn of events.
"If they're not in the sanctuary, then they're probably somewhere in the depths of the Amazon by this point. You're going to have a lot of ground to cover."
"That's why we came to you. We were hoping that you and the rest of the macaws would be able to help us out searching for the three of them." said Rafael, who came up next to Blu as he spoke.
Eduardo paused as he thought about his choice. He definitely wanted to be able to find the kids, considering he didn't want to lose them so soon after finding out he was a grandfather. However, the safety of the rest of the flock was way too important for him to agree to send the other macaws in hundreds of directions where they could get captured, or worse.
So, reluctantly, he turned towards the rest of the group with a sad look on his face.
"I would love to be able to help you guys out, but I can't risk sending everyone out into the forest."
"Come on, daddy! Our kids are out there probably lost and very afraid, and the more birds we have out there searching, the quicker we can bring them back to safety. Do you want them starving to death on your conscience?"
Jewel gave her father a distraught look, hoping to convince him to change his mind, but the older bird turned away, not able to look at his daughter.
"I'm sorry, Jewel. I can't. Roberto can go with you, but that's all I can compromise on."
As the rest of the group looked on, Jewel stared at her father, unable to say anything. Finally, she turned away from Eduardo to face Blu, looking like she was on the verge of tears.
"Let's go find Roberto. I want to start searching as soon as we can."
Without waiting for an answer, Jewel flew off, leaving everyone else standing there, trading looks between Eduardo and the disappearing form of Jewel.
Blu, meanwhile, looked at the distraught Eduardo, studying the expression on his face. While he did feel some pity for the predicament he was in with trying to protect the sanctuary from smugglers and other predators, he did wish that Eduardo would have found it in his heart to let some of the other macaws help find the kids. But Blu sighed to himself, knowing the past was the past, as he turned towards the rest of the group.
"Come on, you guys. Let's go find Roberto as well so we can get the search started."
Rafael walked up and placed a comforting wing around Blu's shoulders.
"We're with you, buddy, through thick and thin. Isn't that right, you guys?"
Pedro and Nico responded in the affirmative, and Blu gave the three of them a small smile. As the four of them flew off, Blu couldn't help but look back at Eduardo, and he was able to catch the forlorn look Jewel's father gave them before he flew off in a different direction.
The guys finally managed to catch up to Jewel just as she found Roberto hanging out in a tree over near the waterfall.
"Are you doing alright, Jewel?" asked Blu as they all landed not far from where Roberto was.
Jewel paused, letting out a shuddering breath before turning towards Blu.
"I'll be alright. I just needed to get that out of my system."
Blu wrapped his wings around Jewel, and the two of them stood there for a few seconds while everyone else looked on.
"Don't worry, we'll find them. I know we will."
Finally, Blu let Jewel go, and they were about to join Roberto when Jewel suddenly spoke up again.
"I really should apologize to my dad. I know that he means well, even if his priorities aren't always completely straight."
"Good idea, but let's worry about that once the kids are safe home, alright?" asked Blu.
Jewel nodded, and they finally flitted up to the tree branch Roberto was on.
"What's going on, you guys? You look like you two have got something on your minds."
"Let me just get right to the point, Roberto. Our kids are missing in the jungle, and Jewel's dad wants you to come with us to help find them." said Blu, who still didn't trust Roberto being around Jewel despite it really being the wrong time for jealousy.
As for Roberto himself, his beak fell open in surprise temporarily before he closed it again, adopting a determined look on his face.
"Say no more. I'm with you guys all the way. We'll bring the kids back no matter what it takes."
"Thank you, Roberto. We really appreciate it." said Jewel, hugging Roberto while Blu looked on desperately trying to hide the feelings of jealousy that was cropping up in his chest.
Finally, Blu had had enough, putting himself between the two of them and separating them with his wings.
"Alright, you two. I think we should probably get going. We're already losing time."
Although Jewel gave Blu a small glare for the interruption, they both nodded and the six birds flew off, heading into the jungle.
An hour passed, and there was still no sign of the kids anywhere. As much as Blu wanted to stick together so they don't get lost, he knew that they would never get anywhere if they flew in one big clump.
So, he signaled for the rest of the team to land, and they did so on a tree branch.
"Is there something going on, Blu?" asked Nico.
"As much as I hate to admit it, we're not getting anywhere with the six of us together. We should be able to cover more ground if we split up into groups."
"That's actually a pretty good idea." said Rafael, nodding.
Everyone else nodded in agreement as well, so Blu took it as a signal to continue on.
"Alright, so Jewel and I are going to be in one group. Nico and Pedro are going to be another, and Rafi and Roberto are going to be the last group. Any questions?"
Pedro raised his wing.
"I think you would probably know about this already, but that's only three groups and still a lot of ground to cover. Are you sure that doing it solo wouldn't be better?"
Blu sighed before replying.
"While I do agree that it would work better that way, the Amazon is massive, and I'm pretty positive Roberto is the only one of us that actually has any idea of where things are. Isn't that right, Roberto?"
Roberto shrugged.
"Not everything, to be honest. But it's enough to get around."
"Not exactly what I expected, but it still proves my point. Searching in pairs should help us cover more ground without getting ourselves too lost." said Blu.
Blu looked at the rest of the team, waiting to see if there were any more questions. When none came, he straightened up.
"A couple more things I want to say before we split up. I'm sure all of you don't want to be out here after dark, so start heading back to the sanctuary when the sun starts to set. Also, if any of you guys manage to find the kids, take them back to the sanctuary and stay with them. I don't want to risk anything else happening. Everyone understand?"
Everyone replied in the affirmative, and they finally split up into their groups, heading in different directions to begin their search.
As Blu and Jewel flew off to their section of the jungle, Jewel couldn't help but point out something she saw from Blu.
"Wow, Blu, you really know how to take charge."
Blu nervously coughed, not expecting to get complimented like that.
"Really? Uh…thanks, Jewel. I guess when you put your mind to it; you can pretty much do anything, especially if you have such great friends like we do."
Jewel smiled as they continued on, calling out for their missing children the entire time.
Meanwhile, not far from said tree, Nigel was busy making his way through the jungle on top of Charlie the tamandua. As for Gabi, she was perched on top of Charlie's hat, her eyes focused entirely on Nigel.
"Ugh, where is that blasted bird? I swear, the Amazon feels so much larger than it really is." said Nigel.
"I know where one bird is." said Gabi, sighing as she looked at the mangled cockatoo.
Nigel glared at Gabi, realizing who she was talking about.
"Not me, you dolt! I'm talking about that blue bird that ruined my life!"
Gabi continued to stare at Nigel for the next few seconds, before suddenly realizing what she was supposed to be doing.
"Sorry, Nige. I'll make sure to keep a lookout for him."
The poison dart frog faced the other way and began looking around if there was any sign of Blu, but not before looking back at Nigel one more time and sighing in content.
Suddenly, a rustling noise came from the trees above. Hearing the noise, Nigel looked up and saw a streak of blue, followed by separate streaks of yellow, red and black. Realizing he may have found them, Nigel quickly looked forward once again.
"Follow those birds, Charlie! Yah!"
Nigel slapped Charlie on the butt as hard as he could with his mangled wings, and the tamandua rushed off as quickly as possible, barely managing to keep up with the birds.
Unfortunately, Charlie began to wear out, allowing the birds to pull ahead.
"Come on, move! They're getting away!" yelled Nigel.
Finally, Charlie slowed to a stop, collapsing to the ground and breathing heavily.
"Agh, you stupid animal! What are you even worth to me anymore?" said Nigel, giving Charlie a swift kick as he dismounted him.
Nigel looked up at the swiftly disappearing flock of birds, wondering just what exactly they were in such a hurry to do, when Gabi suddenly spoke up, having hopped up on to a log next to the cockatoo.
"So, what are we going to do now, Nigel? With the speed they were going, it's probably going to take a while if we even hope to catch up to them."
Nigel paused, considering his next course of action.
"Well, we're not going to be getting anywhere with Charlie in the state he's in, so I suppose we're going to have to spend the night here. Hopefully they still have a place to go to at night so we have an idea of where they're at."
Gabi nodded even though her eyes were still staring dreamily at Nigel, unable to focus on anything else besides him.
As the three evil-doers prepared to spend the night, Nigel's thoughts returned to what was so important that Blu needed to fly at those kinds of speeds for. He was admittedly curious.
However, he was rudely pulled out of his thoughts when Gabi began loudly eating a fly she caught with her tongue. Sighing in disgust, Nigel fell asleep, thinking that he would be able to get some answers tomorrow.