Time passed as Blu and Jewel's group continued to follow the trail of destruction through the bushes. As they continued to fly along the path, they noticed that the damage to the bushes was getting worse the farther they went, which made the two blue macaws nervous.
"I don't like the looks of this." said Blu as he turned towards his mate.
Jewel didn't want to think about what might have happened, so she pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind and changed the subject.
"Let's just keep going. Worrying about her is just going to make things more difficult on us."
Eventually, the four birds finally passed into Nico and Pedro's section of the jungle, and by sheer luck, they managed to run into Nico and the two scarlet macaws that were with him as they somewhat aimlessly looked around.
"Whoa, where are you guys going?" asked Nico as he noticed the four birds flying towards them.
"We found a trail. Hopefully it might lead us to Bia." said Jewel as she stopped in her tracks.
"Well, do you want us to come with you? We haven't exactly had any luck here so far today."
Blu and Jewel traded looks, unsure if adding three more birds would be a help or a hindrance.
"Are you sure that you guys haven't missed anything? There's nothing wrong with having another look around the area." said Blu as he made an attempt to shoo them away.
"No, I'm sure. The three of us were covering the area pretty thoroughly."
Blu sighed.
"Alright, I guess there's nothing wrong with you guys coming along. Just…stay behind us when we're following the trail. We're already kind of cramped up here, and we could use some more eyes to double check what we've already went through."
"Yes sir." said Nico, playfully saluting before signaling for Alejandro and Carlos to follow him behind the others.
The now seven bird group continued following the trail of destruction, keeping a close eye around the area for any sign of their remaining missing child. However, to Nico, it seemed like the trail went on forever, even reaching the far end of his section as well.
"Man, you'd think that at least one of them would have given up at this point."
He didn't get an answer, though, as Blu and Jewel were too busy concentrating on the path. As for the scarlet macaws, they just gave Nico a look before returning to their duties.
Sighing, Nico decided not to try and get an answer out of them, knowing that it was obviously going to be pointless.
Eventually, the trail led them to where the divide was between the section they were in and Rafi and Roberto's section.
Everyone was about to keep going and not try to convince themselves that it was worth continuing on, but before they could do so, Nico suddenly noticed that it was starting to get dark.
Worried, he called out to the rest of the birds.
"Hey guys, it's getting dark. Shouldn't we be getting back to the sanctuary?"
Both Blu and Jewel stopped, finally noticing that it was getting dark as they looked up to the sky.
"Maybe we should be getting back. It's already getting kind of tough to see the trail." said Blu, glancing in the direction of the sanctuary.
"We can't stop now, Blu! We're so close! All we have to do is keep following the trail, and we'll find her."
Blu looked at Jewel like she was crazy for a moment, but as he got a good look at her expression; he noticed that she looked like she was fully invested in Santiago's idea even though there still wasn't a very high chance that Bia was going to be at the end of the trail.
As much as he wanted to go back where they would be able to spend the night in relative safety, he decided that he needed to put finding Bia over his fears of getting lost.
Sighing, he turned towards his mate.
"Alright Jewel, if you think that's best. Let's work quickly, though. I don't want to waste too much time."
Jewel nodded before turning towards the others who were watching the exchange from off to the side.
"Don't worry about trying to find her along the trail. Just focus on getting to the end as quickly as possible. Do you guys understand?"
The other five birds nodded, determined not to waste any more time. With a new resolve, the group picked up their pace, knowing that they needed to get to the end of the trail as soon as possible if they wanted to be able to find Bia.
Rafael and Roberto's group were already heading back to the sanctuary after they noticed the sun disappearing over the horizon. After failing to come up with any clues, the two of them were disappointed, as they were hoping to find at least something with the fervor they've drummed up earlier.
Still, they knew that something was going to come up eventually, as they still haven't given up on the fact that Bia was probably somewhere in their section.
Anyway, as Roberto led Rafael, Felipe and Rodrigo back in the direction of the sanctuary, they were suddenly stopped in their tracks as seven birds suddenly flew in front of them.
"Watch where you're going!" yelled Rafi at the retreating group.
Annoyed, Rafael returned to focusing on getting back to the sanctuary, only for his beak to nearly drop in shock as a voice he recognized called out to him.
"Rafi, is that you?"
Rafael stopped in his tracks as he recognized Blu's voice. Turning towards where the sound came from, he realized that the entire rest of the search party was hovering in front of the four of them.
"What's going on? Why are all you guys together?"
"Blu and Jewel found a trail. They think that it might lead us to where Bia is." said Nico.
Rafi and Roberto traded surprised looks at this newest information.
"Well, what are you guys waiting for? Let's go find her!" said Roberto, only to be stopped by Blu.
"Listen guys, I appreciate the help, but we already have too many of us following the trail. You guys should head back to the sanctuary and see if Pedro needs any help. How does that sound?"
Although the two birds were disappointed that they wouldn't have a chance to find Bia, they were both happy that they had least had some way to be useful.
Nodding in agreement, Roberto continued to lead his group back to the sanctuary, leaving the others to continue following the trail.
However, as Nico, Alejandro and Carlos were about to follow the others, Blu flew in front of them, stopping them in their tracks.
"What's going on? We're kind of wasting valuable time here." said Nico, giving the blue macaw a curious look as he flapped in place.
Blu sighed before speaking.
"Look, I've been giving it some thought, and I think it might be best for you guys to head back to the sanctuary as well."
All three of the birds opened their beaks to argue, only for them to fall immediately silent as Blu held up a wing.
"I know! I know I told you guys that you could come along, but we're already risking too much by staying out here in the dark. I don't want to have to worry about all of us keeping track of each other."
Nico was slightly annoyed that he was being forced to go back, but before he could try to argue, Carlos stepped between the two groups of birds. As he began leading Nico and Alejandro back towards the sanctuary, he turned back to face the other group.
"We're just gonna head back. Sorry about all this."
After they were far enough away from the others so that they would not be heard, Carlos finally let Nico go, but instead of continuing on, Nico rounded on the scarlet macaw as Alejandro looked on from nearby.
"What the heck was that all about? We can't just let them be out there on their own!"
Although Alejandro was slightly taken aback by the tone that Nico adopted, he slowly breathed in and out to keep himself calm before replying.
"Look, I understand how much you want to help out with finding their kid. Believe me, we're happy to help as well. There's a point, though, when you have to remember that you're risking your own life as well as everyone else's."
Nico opened his beak to argue once more, but Alejandro decided to interject.
"Hey, Blu's just looking out for everyone's safety, you know? It's hard to keep track of seven birds at once."
Knowing that he no way to argue the points of the two scarlet macaws, Nico sighed in defeat.
"Alright, let's just head home. I think Pedro's probably missing me right now."
Nodding, Carlos and Alejandro led Nico back to the sanctuary, leaving him to head back to their home once he was close enough to find his own way back.
The world around him was a blur as Charlie continued to run as fast as he could in the direction where Gabi pointed them to. The only thing the tamandua could hear was the rush of the wind, which was unfortunate, as Nigel was trying to get him to stop so that they could take a look around the area.
Eventually, Nigel got annoyed enough that he roughly pulled back on Charlie's neck, bringing them to a complete stop and getting him and Gabi thrown off of the tamandua's back.
Thankfully, they didn't land too far from where Charlie was, although Nigel ended up getting a face full of dirt.
Coughing, Nigel picked himself up and tried his best to brush off all of the dirt that accumulated on his body.
"Eugh…disgusting."
After getting as much of the dirt off as he could, Nigel took a look around the area and found it to be completely empty of anything recognizable.
"Oh, for the love of…there's no one here!"
Angry, he turned to face Gabi, who somehow managed to remain attached to Charlie's hat, even though it was even further away than where Nigel landed.
"I thought you said that bird was heading this way!"
Taken aback, Gabi took a few seconds to reply.
"I did! Or, at least I thought I did."
Slightly confused, Gabi took a few seconds to look around the area as well.
"To be honest, I'm not even sure we're still on the same path."
Nigel stared at Gabi for a few moments, fuming. Eventually, Nigel sighed in defeat, knowing that it was pointless to start yelling.
"Come on, let's just go. There's no way we're going to find them at this point."
As they went over to where Charlie was, Gabi spoke up.
"So…are we going for the sanctuary again?"
"Yes, we're going for the sanctuary again."
Unfortunately, when they finally got a look at Charlie, the tamandua was on his side, completely worn out.
"And of course he's worn out! That's just wonderful!" said Nigel, throwing his wings up in the air in disgust.
Not knowing what else they could do, Nigel decided just to go ahead and rest for now. Pushing Charlie up near a tree, Nigel leaned up against him and closed his eyes, Gabi doing so as well once she managed to drag Charlie's hat over to them.