Amazon Adventures
Chapter Six: Pranks A Lot
It was morning in the Amazon. As Blu rolled over in his sleep, he felt something on his back. Groggily, he tried to push it off with his wing. As the wing pushed against it, he felt several legs, and a large, fuzzy centre, almost like a big...
"Aah!" Blu leapt to his feet. "Spider!"
The "spider" fell out Blu's back, and was revealed to be a collection of twigs and moss, lashed together with vines. Suddenly, the sound of laughter filled the hollow, as Tiago flew down.
"Gotcha, dad!" Tiago chortled.
"Tiago!" Blu growled. "That was not funny!"
"Ah, lighten up, dad!" Tiago flew outside, still laughing.
"What am I going to do with that kid?" Blu sighed, kicking away the twig spider.
"Oh, he's just playing." Jewel told him, having been woken up by the noise. "Nothing to worry about."
"I hope you're right." Blu nodded.
Later on, Carla decided to take a dip in the hollow's bird bath. Leaping in, she got an unpleasant surprise; The bath was filled, not with water, but berry juice.
"Uggh!" She groaned. "What th-"
Tiago came out of hiding, laughing hysterically.
"Gotcha!" He pointed.
"Oh, you are so dead!" Carla growled, lunging for her little brother. Her juice-soaked talons caused her to slip up, allowing Tiago to make a clean getaway.
Out in the jungle, Bia was observing the local arthropods.
"Fascinating..." She smiled as she gazed at an Amazonian beetle.
"Hey, sis." Tiago landed next to her. "Watcha doin'?"
"Examining this beetle." Bia declared.
"You really like bugs, don't you?" Tiago asked.
"I'm partial to them, yes." Bia nodded. "Why do you ask?"
"Cuz I saw this really neat-looking butterfly, right over there." Tiago pointed a few trees away. "It's huge, and green!"
"Hmm, I've never heard of a butterfly like that." Bia mused. "Maybe it's a new species!"
"Maybe." Tiago shrugged. "Follow me. I'll show you right where it is!"
Tiago took off, and Bia followed. They landed on the lower branches.
"It's right there." Tiago pointed.
A strange green butterfly was indeed perched, upside down, on a branch above them.
"What an interesting specimen..." Bia looked up. "And yet, there's something... off about it."
"Really?" Tiago smirked. He tugged on a vine, and the "butterfly" suddenly came apart, showering Bia with leaves and tree sap.
"Ew!" Bia cringed.
"Gotcha!" Tiago guffawed. "Took a while, but it was totally worth it!"
"Very funny, bird-bird." Bia fumed.
"Ah, grow a sense of humor!" Tiago snorted, before taking off.
As Bia struggled to get the leaves off her, Carla joined her, her feathers still stained from the berry juice.
"You too, huh?" She asked.
"Oh, yeah." Bia nodded. "Is it just me, or has Tiago been on a pranking tear lately?"
"Tell me about it." Carla rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's go clean up in the lake."
While Bia and Carla were washing the sap and berry juice out of their feathers, they heard a commotion from above; Antonio, his feathers caked with mud, flew overhead.
"Where are ya, you little runt?!" He raged. "I'll give you something to laugh at!"
"Again?" Carla frowned. "Not that Antonio doesn't deserve it, but isn't Ti taking this a little too far?"
"He always does." Bia sighed.
Tiago's pranking didn't stop there. As he played with Roberto, he pointed out a Brazil nut.
"Hungry, uncle Beto?" He asked.
"Actually, yeah." Roberto flew over to the nut. "Thanks for the heads-up, T-Bird."
"No problem." Tiago stifled a chuckle.
Roberto ripped the Brazil nut free. The vine it was attached to suddenly unwound, and a shower of berries dropped on Roberto's head.
"Aw, not the crest!" Roberto groaned.
"Gotcha, uncle Beto!" Tiago guffawed.
"Yeah, you did." Roberto said, utterly humorlessly.
As Tiago flew by the clay banks, he saw Mimi, her face covered in a mud pack, fruit slices over her eyes. Sniggering, he placed a leaf over her face. It stuck to the mud firmly.
"What?" Mimi sat up. "I'm blind!"
"Gotcha, aunt Mimi!" Tiago pulled off the leaf. "Pretty funny, huh?"
"Not the word I'd choose." Mimi huffed.
"Chill out!" Tiago said defensively. "It's just a joke!"
"Well, I'm not laughing." Mimi said sternly.
"Some birds have no sense of humor." Tiago shrugged.
Tiago's pranking continued unabated. No-one was safe. All his friends were pranked in some way, and even Eduardo was on the receiving end of one, splashed as Tiago surfed a lily near the shore.
"Whoops!" He feigned ignorance. "Sorry, pop-pop!"
"Not funny, little bird." Eduardo spluttered as he shook his feathers dry.
As the sun set and he returned to the hollow, Tiago noticed his sisters were upset with him, and his father seemed more distant then usual. Too tired to care much, Tiago curled up to sleep for the night, barely noticing Bia and Carla keeping their distance from him.
Waking up the next morning, he nudged his sisters.
"Wanna go have some fun?" He asked.
"And give you a chance to prank us some more?" Carla snorted. "No thanks."
"I'd have to agree with Carla." Bia nodded.
"Suit yourselves." Tiago shrugged. "I'll just go hang out with someone else."
As Tiago left the hollow, he saw Roberto flying by.
"Hey, uncle Beto!" He called. "Wanna play?"
"Can't right now, Tiago." Roberto shook his head. "I still have some gunk to clean out of my crest."
"Oh, okay..." Tiago frowned.
Tiago found his friends, but found they weren't too keen to play with him either.
"Aw, come on, guys!" He protested. "What's a couple of pranks between friends?"
"A couple?" A chick named Don snorted. "Try a dozen."
"We don't wanna play with you right now, Tiago." Said another chick, Sofia. "Go find someone else to prank."
"But..." Tiago protested as they flew away.
As Tiago flew back to the hollow, he saw Eduardo and Mimi. Though they weren't outwardly hostile, they were clearing keeping their distance from him. Once he returned to the hollow, Tiago sat down and sighed.
"What's the matter, sweetie?" Jewel asked, noticing her son's disposition.
"Everyone's mad at me, mom." Tiago murmured. "All because I played a few harmless pranks."
"Well, pranks can be pretty funny." Jewel noted. "But they can hurt a bird's feelings. You wouldn't want to get berry juice or sap all over your feathers, would you?"
"I guess not." Tiago admitted. "But it's not my fault I like to prank others!"
"Of course not." Jewel smiled. "You're a little mischief-maker, and I wouldn't want you any other way. Just... maybe dial it down a little, huh?"
"I guess so." Tiago nodded. "But it doesn't really matter, now that everyone hates me..."
"I wouldn't go that far." Blu joined in the conversation as he flew in.
"Hi, dad." Tiago said tentatively. "Are you still mad at me?"
"I can't stay mad at you." Blu ruffled Tiago's crest with his foot. "You're my son, after all. Birds of blue feathers..."
"Have to stick together." Tiago finished. "But what about the others?"
"You could try saying you're sorry." Blu offered. "You'd be surprised how well that works.
At that point, Bia and Carla flew in. With the silent urging of his parents, Tiago approached them.
"Hey, guys?" He asked.
"What do you want?" Bia glared at him.
"I wanted to say... I'm really sorry for those pranks yesterday." Tiago apologised. "Forgive me?"
Bia and Carla looked at each other.
"Yeah, sure." Carla shrugged.
"Really?" Tiago smiled.
"May as well." Carla smiled back. "You are the only brother we've got, after all."
"Even if you are a bird-brain sometimes." Bia smiled.
"Thanks, guys." Tiago hugged his sisters. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got more apologies to make. Like a few dozen more..."
"That's our boy." Jewel smiled.
"Yeah, it is." Blu grinned.
Tiago took off out of the hollow, and apologised to every victim of his pranks (although he made sure Antonio was in the presence of his parents fro his apology). To his relief, their forgiveness came as easily as his sisters (Although he could tell by the look on Antonio's face that he still held a grudge). It took the rest of the day, and wore Tiago out. But the young bird fell asleep that night with a clean conscience, and pledged to never prank so much again.
To Be Continued...
(Rio 2 and all associated characters are the property of Blue Sky Studios and 20th Century Fox.)