Love Hawk
Chapter Two: Love at First Sight?
After a long plane ride, Blu and Linda arrived in Rio. After meeting up with Tulio, Linda placed the caged Blu in the back of the ornithologist's jeep. After applying some sunblock, she did the same to Blu, leaving a white splotch on his beak.
As they travelled toward their destination, Blu took a moment to survey their surrounding. Closing his eyes, Blu felt the tropical wind on his face. For some reason he couldn't explain, he felt as if there was something familiar about the place. Blu was shocked out of his musings by masked dancers.
After recovering from that shock, he heard a canary singing in portuguese atop his cage, batting a bottlecap like it was a tambourine, alongside a dancing red-crested cardinal.
"Oba! Lay, lay, lay, ey, ey, ey!" Sang the canary.
Noticing Blu, the two flew down and addressed him with more portuguese.
"E ai!" Smiled the canary. "Tudo bom?"
Blu, in preparation for the trip, had read some english-to-portuguese dictionaries, and answered them in kind.
"Ola, amigos." He said confidently, before chancing some english. "It's great to be here in your wonderful country."
"Hey Nico, he's a tourist." The red-crested cardinal said to the canary.
"Funny, you don't look like one." Nico told Blu.
"Really?" Asked Blu, looking at himself. "I don't?"
"Except you got pigeon doo-doo on your nose." Said the red-crested cardinal, fingering his own beak.
"No, it's just SPF 3000." Said Blu haughtily, wiping the white splotch off his beak.
"So, you here for Carnival?" Asked Nico.
"No, I'm here to meet a girl." Blu said smugly.
"Oh, a girl?" Smiled Nico. "Little word of advice: Brazilian ladies respond to confidence." To accentuate his point, Nico spun his friend around, who then fell into his wings like a swooning girl.
"Yeah, it's all about swagger." Said the red-crested bird. "You gotta puff out that chest, swing out that tail, eyes narrow, like some kinda crazy love hawk. AARAWWK!"
"Thanks for the advice, guys, but I think I got the whole confidence thing covered." Blu said smugly.
"Well at least let us help bust you out." Nico declared.
"Yeah." Agreed his friend. "I'm gonna pop that cage open like a soda can!"
The red-crested cardinal rammed the cage, trying to break it open, but to no avail.
"You call that poppin'?" asked Nico.
"This thing is robust!" The cardinal panted.
"Relax guys, I'm fine." Blu told him. "The cage is great. Love the cage."
"Ah well." Shrugged Nico. "Suit yourself."
As he and his friend flew off, Nico called "Bem-vindo!"
"Bem-vindo to you too!" Blu called back.
All too soon, the jeep arrived at it's destination: Tulio's aviary. As they entered, Tulio began talking.
"This is the heart and soul of our aviary: the treatment room." He was saying, before calling over the patients with bird calls.
"They really like you." Noted Linda, before a whole bunch of birds swarmed over him. "A lot!"
"Yes." Smiled Tulio, birds of every shape and size clinging to him. "I'm their great big momma bird."
Tulio poured some bird seed in his mouth, chewed it up, then opened wide to allow the birds to eat it.
"Eww." Grimaced Blu, disgusted.
"Oh, wow." Chuckled Linda.
"Want some?" Tulio offered, mouth still open.
"No thanks, I'm good." Linda cringed.
As they walked through the room, Tulio continued talking about his work.
"Many of the birds here were rescued by smugglers." He explained.
"Smugglers?" Asked Linda.
"Yes. and unfortunately, the poor birds are hurt, or even killed in the process." Tulio said sadly. "But with proper care, they can be saved."
The three came upon a dishevelled-looking sulfur-crested cockatoo.
"Look here." Said Tulio. "This poor guy was found last night."
The cockatoo turned towards Tulio, squawking feebly.
"Hey, buddy." Tulio said kindly. "You're looking great today." He stroked the cockatoo's head. "Much better, much better."
As they moved on, Blu called "Get well soon.", to which the cockatoo responded with an unfriendly glare.
'What's his problem?' Blu thought to himself.
"So, where's Jewel?" Asked Linda.
"Oh, we have a special place for her." Said Tulio. "She's a very spirited bird."
"Oh, I'll say." Groaned one of Tulio's interns, turning to reveal a badly scratched face.
"She did that?" Asked Blu, temporarily perturbed. "No problem. So she's a little feisty? I can deal with that."
A short time later, Blu was pushed through an entry chute into the specially prepared habitat. As he took in his surroundings, he saw in the reflection of the metal panel that Tulio had fluffed out his head feathers.
'What has he done to me?' Blu gasped inwardly. 'I look ridiculous!'
After fixing his feathers, Blu went looking for his intended lady friend. As something whooshed overhead, he looked up, and saw Jewel, the ceiling lights showering her with radiance.
'Whoa, she's beautiful.' Blu thought, stunned. 'She's like a gorgeous blue angel. An angel that's getting really close...'
Jewel tackled Blu, pressing her foot onto his neck.
"Quem é você?" She spat. "Que que você tá fazendo aqui?"
Blu made a series of choking sounds.
"Que?" Asked Jewel.
"Você está em pé garganta." Blu gasped.
"Quem é você?" Jewel repeated.
"Estou Blu, de américa." Blu wheezed, running out of air.
"Oh, you're an american?" Asked Jewel, finally releasing him.
"Thanks." Groaned Blu. "Need my throat for talking. Anyway, as I just said, my name is Blu. And you must be Jewel. I can see why they call you that, for your beauty shines like the most perfect gem."
Jewel examined Blu closely. "You look like me." She declared.
"I wouldn't say that, gorgeous." Blu grinned suggestively. "My good looks, great as they are, pale in comparision to yours."
"Come on." Said Jewel, taking his wing." We don't have much time."
"My thoughts exactly." Smiled Blu, allowing her to lead him to a nearby tree.
"You ready?" Jewel asked, as they reached the top branch.
"You bet." Blu grinned, leaning forward to kiss her. Unfortunately, the kiss fell short, as Jewel backed away at the last second.
"Whoa, hi." Said Jewel, pushing Blu away. "What are you doing?"
"What do you think, gorgeous?" Blu winked suggestively.
"You actually thought we were gonna kiss?" Asked Jewel, outraged. "We just met!"
"Hey, easy." Said Blu, trying to calm her down. "I was told..."
Before he could say another word, a disco ball dropped from the ceiling, and Lionel Riche's Say You, Say Me starting blaring out of the speakers.
"Okay, I had nothing to do with that." Said Blu. "But you have to admit, it's a pretty good song." He started dancing in place and singing along with the song. "Naturally... Sing it, Lionel."
Angered beyond reason, Jewel tackled Blu off the branch. On landing, they tumbled, Jewel ending up in Blu's wings. Grinning, Blu leaned forward for another kiss attempt. Jewel responded by dragging him into the undergrowth, resuming her attack.
"Will you get off me?" Yelled Blu, pushing her away.
But no matter how many times he tried, he just couldn't get Jewel away from.
'I know I wanted her to be all over me, but this is ridiculous!' He thought.
Unfortunately for Blu, by that time, Tulio and Linda had left the observation room, leaving a security guard in charge of protecting the aviary. The guard, hearing a noise in the treatment room, found the cockatoo on the floor, chirping quietly. As he tried to help, the cockatoo leapt up and wrapped a chloroform pad around his face, knocking him out. Taking the guard's keys, he then opened the door for a mysterious visitor.
Shortly, back in the habitat, a battered Blu was trying to get some rest, but was kept awake by Jewel's attempts to pry open a grille with a rock.
"Hey gorgeous, do you mind?" He said crabbily. "I'm trying to get some sleep!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, sleepyhead." Jewel said sarcastically. "I'm trying to escape!"
"Why?" Asked Blu, mystified. "Do you not like my prescence in this place that keeps us together?" He winked cheerily.
"No, actually." Jewel snorted. "I have better things to do with my time then be stuck in an oversized box with such an obvious pet."
"That's companion, gorgeous." Blu corrected her. "Speaking of which, I think you could use a little companionship of your own." He made a clicking noise with his tongue. "Whattaya say?"
Jewel shook her head in disgust, before hearing the door open. She flew towards it, leaving Blu alone.
"Is that a no?" Blu asked, before hearing Jewel cry out. "Jewel?"
He then noticed a human approaching.
"Hi there." He said brightly.
A second later, Blu saw nothing but darkness.
To Be Continued...
(Rio and all associated characters are the property of 20th Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios.)