Chapter 2: The Sanctuary

It was around noon of the next day before we reached anything of note.

Both Blossom and I were exhausted. We haven't slept since the night before the last, haven't been able to find any fresh water, and only found a few small things to eat.

If we didn't find anything soon, we were dead.

Well, either dead, or captured, which is what spurred us on for so long.

The jackets didn't help our situation, either. We couldn't fly, so we were stuck to the ground, which we didn't move very fast on, and they trapped heat way too well. I was burning up in the thing, and, looking at Blossom, she wasn't very comfortable, either.

But we finally found something of note.

Well, if you call "something" a wire and chain fence.

It looked at least twenty feet high, and went on through the forest in both directions, and we couldn't see the end of it.

I saw a sign nearby and looked at it.

"Blu Bird Sanctuary."

Sanctuary?

A bird sanctuary?

And why did they purposefully misspell blue?

That doesn't matter at the moment, though.

"We need to get to the other side of this fence as fast as possible," I mumbled to myself.

"What was that?" Blossom asked.

"We need to find a hole big enough for the both of us to fit through," I told her. "You know, you might be on the slim side, but my domesticated self is a bit chubby."

Blossom laughed and I smiled. Thus far, I was able to make my jokes, lame as they be, work in lightening the mood.

Even with this, a feeling of overwhelming fear and dread still hung over us, like a raincloud that never goes away. Fear that we would get caught again, and dread of what would happen afterwards.

So we pushed on, no matter the obstacle that we faced.

This was the reason that we are still alive, I feel.

We found a large enough whole practically right away, which we were both thankful for.

We got to the other side and continued to trek on, with the scenery being much the same as on the other side of the fence.

After walking for two more hours, we reached a stream, which we were unimaginably joyful about. We took turns drinking from the stream, with the other person looking out for any predators around.

We only stayed for about five minutes before continuing on. We wanted to keep moving to keep ourselves from being caught by any smugglers.

Being caught trespassing in federal lands is punishable by some large fine and a few years in prison, but for that to happen, you have to get caught, and, in this situation, the reward is way better than the risk.

And that sickened me.

We continued on, and the sun went down. We had to find shelter somewhere, and fast. I saw a tree hollow, and climbed up the tree to it, much to Blossom's annoyance.

But, then again, who does like being repeatedly slammed against a tree or dangling a couple feet off the ground, being unable to do anything when, usually, you can.

The hollow was, thankfully, unused, but was a bit small. We ended up having to sleep with one of us practically on top of the other.

It was not at all comfortable for either of us.

The next morning, we got out of the hollow, I lowered the both of us down, we stretched our stiff limbs, and headed out.

It was five minutes before my stomach started grumbling.

"Aw, shit," I murmured to myself, and Blossom stifled a giggle.

After that, Blossom showed me what wild Spix Macaws eat, what they don't, and what eats them. Well, for the last thing, she just told me about them, not actually showing me them.

That would've ended poorly.

We got on our way soon after that, still wanting to cover some more ground before midday.

And at midday, things got interesting.

We walked into a clearing, and I immediately got suspicious. Something wasn't right with this area.

Or, at the very least, there was something different about it.

Blossom must've felt it, too, as I noticed that she got closer to me. Unconsciously or not, she was using me as protection, as she was unable to do anything to any predators that appeared.

Of course, anything that I could do would be minimal, as well. But, I guess, I was the male, so I had to be a big boy.

God, I love being sarcastic. Or something like that.

We continued through the clearing before stopping in the middle.

I watched as Blossom looked around the clearing. Nothing seemed suspicious.

We continued forward and got to the other side of the clearing without a problem.

"It felt like someone was watching us," I whispered to Blossom.

She nodded. We kept moving.

It was around four when things between us completely broke down. We got into an argument over...something. I can't quite remember what it was.

"Come on!" Blossom shouted. "We have to keep moving!"

"Don't you think we've traveled far enough today?" I yelled back. "I think it's time we find somewhere to sleep for the night!"

Right. I wanted to stop, she wanted to keep going. That was the argument.

"That is completely idiotic!" Blossom shouted back. "What, are you a chick, and need rest every five minutes, always complaining that you don't get enough?"

"What the hell is up with you?" I yelled explosively at her. "I'm just trying to keep our sanity up and stress down by resting, and this argument isn't helping either of them."

What happened next was unexpected.

A pair of talons grasped my neck, and, the next second, I was in the air.

Blossom was as well, but she didn't seem very comfortable, swinging in the air below.

Of course, neither was I, with my throat being grabbed and it being very hard to breath.

I looked up to see who was trying to pick me up, and, by extension, Blossom as well.

It was a bird. A black and white bird of prey.

Fun.

I decided that, even though it would cause Blossom more discomfort, the best way to make him let go was through my own talons.

So I attacked him with my own.

With struggle, I was able to get my talons up to about his chest, to which I started stabbing him with them.

He squawked, then let go of me.

Welp, that problem is taken care of.

I looked down and saw a lake approaching quickly.

Oh, for fuck's sake!

We hit the water with a large splash, then propelled ourselves to the surface.

As in kicked our legs frantically trying to get air.

"Shit!" I yelled as soon as we got to the surface. "Can't swim!"

"Help!" I heard Blossom yell. "Help! Anybody!"

The chain wasn't helping the situation either. It was just dragging us farther down into the water, keeping us from staying at the top.

The jackets were going to be the death of us as well. They must have been cotton or wool or something, because they kept gaining water until they weighed at least three times that we did.

If nobody helped us soon, we were totally and completely screwed.

Of course, I didn't like that, so I tried my best to do what I felt like I could in the situation.

I tried to kick in the opposite direction of shore, just like I saw my owner do in the swimming pool.

Of course, I didn't have arms.

And I was basically wearing clothes.

And I never swam before.

I had no chance of making it.

Absolutely no chance.

"Roy!" I heard Blossom shout, though through ragged breaths. "Look up!"

I did so, and almost beamed at what I saw.

Two birds were flying our way.

Our last possible hope.

We had to get their attention.

We started to yell louder, trying to get their attention.

I started to get weaker, my strength ebbing away. The adrenaline from seeing the other two birds was trying to help, but it wasn't enough.

My body was dropping lower and lower into the water, and I couldn't keep up shouting for long.

I decided that I would stop shouting to keep water from going down my throat.

Just as I decided that, a wave of water poured over the sides of my beak and down into my lungs.

I spluttered and coughed as I tried to remove the water from my lungs, but it just ended up making things worse, as water kept going down my throat.

A surge of panic entered my mind. I hated it when this happened. When this happened, my mind stopped thinking.

That was the only good thing that it does to me.

Instead of thinking, I'm doing. I'm doing what I can to survive, to keep myself awake.

When I panic, I lose what makes me me. Though I panic for a reason, I never like it.

It makes me feel weaker than I am.

It makes me feel useless.

And that's exactly what I was at that point.

Incapable and useless.

When put up against a situation that I can't beat, my mind panics.

When my mind panics, I cower.

When I cower, I can't do anything.

And now is not the time to do nothing.

But it's no use. My head eventually falls under the water.

I look up and see the sun up in the sky, glistening through the water.

My lungs are begging me to swim up, to let me survive.

But I can't.

I'm useless.

If I can't survive for five minutes in a lake, how will I survive in the wild?

I guess I'm better off dead.

And, if I'm dead, I'll be able to see my owner again, at the very least.

With that thought in mind, I slipped into unconsciousness.

I inhale.

Instead of water, air goes into my lungs.

I still feel the water in my lungs, and my breath stops.

I start coughing.

I feel pain on my left side, gravity acting its force on my body.

I'm alive.

Alive.

But how?

How did I survive that?

I shouldn't be alive!

A voice.

Distant, but there.

How do I explain how it sounds?

Like an angel?

I guess that would be a good comparison.

The voice gets louder, and I hear others as well.

"Roy?" I hear the angelic voice question, worriedly. "Come on, Roy, wake up!"

"Is he alive?" I hear another voice, obviously male, ask.

"Of course he's alive!" the angelic voice snaps at him, venomously. "Roy wouldn't die this easily! And didn't you hear him cough a few seconds ago?"

"She has a point, Blu," another female voice told the male, obviously named Blu.

That's funny, I thought to myself. Why is he named a color.

I found this so funny, for some reason, and began to laugh uncontrollably, to such a point that I started to cry.

Even though my eyes were closed, I tried to stand up, even though I was still laughing.

I fell down the first time without even getting both my feet under me. All of the talking had stopped, and I felt all of their eyes on me.

But I didn't care.

I was having the time of my life.

I attempted to stand up again, and actually got both feet under me.

I couldn't stay balanced for long, and began to fall to my right.

Somebody caught me, though, so I didn't get very far.

"I guess this is what it's like to be drunk," I said. I recognized that my voice was slurred, and heard everybody else start to laugh, so I decided to laugh as well.

I tried to open my eyes, but had to close them due to the blinding light.

It took me a few minutes, but I was able to keep my eyes open without any problems.

I then looked around and saw who were most likely my saviors.

I guess that my mind was still delusional, because I felt no surprise when I saw two more Spix Macaws standing in front of me.

So much for a near-extinct species.

When I finally got my bearings, I realized that I was still leaning up against someone.

I felt like I knew who it was, but decided to turn to my right.

And saw Blossom's face only a couple inches from mine.

"Well, know that you have your bearings..." she said, and I got suspicious...

...before she roughly shoved me. I fell to the ground, but got up quickly, irritated at Blossom, before finding the humor in it and laughing.

Everybody ended up laughing with me, and I felt better.

At the very least, I could still make people laugh.

I was still a bit embarrassed at how I had to use Blossom for support, and even more embarrassed that I wouldn't have minded staying in that position for a while longer.

I shook my head before looking at the other two Spix Macaws.

There was the taller one, who had a vibrant blue color, and had orange eyes

The other one was shorter, had a more sky blue color, and had green-blue eyes.

Turquoise, I think the name is.

No, too blue of a color for turquoise.

Fuck it, I have no idea.

Now that we had a time to relax, I thought about how Blossom and myself looked to the other two.

Blossom had a light blue, not as light as the other female, but still light, and green eyes. She taller than the other female, but shorter than the other male.

Then, there was me.

I had a darker shade of blue than all the others, more hazel-colored eyes, and stood at least two inches taller than the other male.

I towered over all the others.

And, all of a sudden, I felt very uncomfortable.

Was I a freak?

They all had different colored eyes than me, not even close to what I had.

Mine were nearing brown, theres were orange and blue.

Was I unnaturally tall?

They all seemed so short in comparison to me.

Are my feathers darker than they are supposed to be?

How will I fit in?

How can I make this area into a new life for me?

I calmed my mind. I would be able to make this work.

My owner was always able to do this, and he was about as bad with these things as me.

I would be able to do this.

I hope.

I looked at Blossom, seeing of which of us were to talk first.

She looked at me, and I knew that she wanted me to talk.

So I did.

I looked at the other two macaws and attempted a personal thank-you.

"Thank you, very much, for saving us," I started. I thought about making a joke, but decided against it. "If it wasn't for you two, both of us might not be alive at the moment."

"It's not problem," the shorter one said. So she's the other female, I thought to myself, and then became even more embarrassed when I realized who the angelic voice from before was from. "We just happened to be passing by when we saw you two."

"May we get the names of our saviors?" Blossom asked, going along with how I talked. I was liking her more and more every day.

"Yeah, sure," the female bird said. "My name is Jewel, and his is Blu."

"Wait, Blu?" I asked. "As in, the name of the sanctuary?"

He looked abashed. "Well, yes." Blu then looked at me. "Wait, you can read?"

I nodded. "It's a good thing it's in English and not Portuguese, otherwise we would've gone right around it."

Blu chuckled nervously. "Yeah, I guess that's a good thing."

I had been listening very carefully to his voice. It seemed so familiar.

Then, I realized what it is.

I stepped forward to close the distance between us.

"You're not native here, are you?" I stated. His eyes widened and pupils shrank before he finally answered me.

"No, I'm not. How could you tell?"

"Your accent. It's Midwestern, not..." I thought for a few seconds. "...whatever the name of the accent is down here."

"So, how did you realize that he has a different accent?" Jewel asked.

"Well, I was trying to figure out what sounded very familiar to me, which had to be his accent," I answered. Looking back at Blu, I asked, "What state are you from?"

"Minnesota."

"Minnesnota?"

"What?"

"Don't worry about it, just a joke," I said. "Anyways, I'm from Wisconsin."

"Right next to Minnesota?"

"That's right."

"So you're domesticated as well?"

"Yup."

"Where's your..." he thought for a few seconds on what to call it. "...owner, then?"

My throat caught up, and my eyes started to water before I was able to answer him. "He's not...here anymore."

"You mean that he left you here?" Jewel asked.

"More like I left him," I replied.

Jewel looked at Blu before looking back at me. "He must've been horrible to you. Good for you for escaping."

I kept my expression on the outside, but, on the inside, I cringed.

That wasn't what I meant by that.

"Anyways, it looks like you two will still need some help," Blu said, breaking the tension. "We'll get some friends that we know and they can get you out of the mess that you're in."

"That would be great!" I said, speaking for both Blossom and I. "Thank you!"

"It may take a while for them to get out here, but, if you stay put, we'll lead them to you."

"Alright, we'll stay in the general area," Blossom stated, returning to my side.

"See you soon!"

And with that, they were gone.

I looked at the sky and saw the sun falling.

"Well, I guess we're staying," I stated.

"Yeah, I guess we are."

We said nothing but watched the sunset for the next five minutes before Blossom asked me another question.

"Why didn't you correct Jewel when she said that your owner was bad?"

I shrugged. "They didn't need to know what happened to him yet. Saying I left him when I liked to be with him was asking for trouble."

Blossom rolled her eyes before walking away. "Come on, we need to find a place to sleep."

I took one final look at the sunset before following her.