A/N There was a mix-up in the previous chapter, and Jewel's mother ended up getting two names (Joanne and Crystal), and I corrected it all to Crystal. Sorry for any confusion.


Bia felt a wave of unease the moment she stepped into the hollow. Carla's music was barely audible, and she couldn't hear her sister humming or singing, and that jutted out like a rock from Carla's normal habits. Tiago was in his room early, and was making way too little noise for comfort. Blu was in the room, and Bia could hear faint mumbling from within, and Jewel was pacing around near the entrance, murmuring about something.

"What's going on?" Bia asked, to no one in particular. Jewel snapped out of her murmuring and Blu and Tiago peeked out from their rooms. Carla probably didn't hear her over her music. A momentary silence was present as everyone hesitated to say anything.

"Okay, never mind," Bia slowly walked to her room, looking in confusion at her family members.

"We have a grandma that probably just killed someone," Tiago blurted out, causing Blu and Jewel to groan at his direct answer.

"We have a what that what?!"

Bia's screech was loud enough for Carla to notice, and she looked out her room shortly after.

"Look, this is a complicated situation, please don't poke around it," Jewel sighed, rubbing her head, trying to ease away the gnawing problems.

"We have a grandma?" Bia asked again, ignoring what Jewel had warned.

"Bia, it is overly complicated," Jewel still refused to say anything. Bia frowned. She would have to get it out of Tiago or Carla now.


"Madame, what is our first order of business?" A scarlet macaw asked her group's new matriarch.

"Why don't we pay our neighbors a visit? I'm sure they miss us," the Outcast matriarch smirked.

"It's time to cease our dormant state. It's time to take our revenge, bit by bit. Let's start with that ridiculous little pit. It would make a fine outpost."


"Let me get this straight... Jewel's mother is alive, and you and Carla saw her kill an Outcast tribe's old leader, and now she's the Outcasts' new matriarch, and she would most likely attack us?" Bia asked, somewhat worried, hoping that Tiago was exaggerating somewhere.

"Yeah, that's what I heard," Tiago replied, slowly nodding.

"It's something I hope I can forget," Carla shivered at the memory.

"I can't believe that's...our grandma," Bia admitted, unable to believe that an Outcast's daughter would be a near direct opposite.

"Well, there is a small chance that it isn't," Tiago stated. "We only know the new leader is a female Spix's macaw."

"I am going to go out and get some fresh air. Maybe meet with the others to forget about all that," Carla turned to leave. Bia and Tiago followed, hoping to do the same.

To the kid's relief, Bruno, Ana and Caio had no idea about the recent news, and soon, the siblings had managed to shove the worrying thoughts into a corner, temporarily forgetting them as the group commenced a game of catch. Jewel watched from the hollow, worrying about future events. It would be terrible for something to happen. After so many years, she couldn't imagine her caring, loving mother being anywhere as barbaric as what Eduardo described. And yet she supposedly murdered two birds already. The scarlet macaw tribe's Andre and the old Outcast leader. Jewel couldn't imagine her mother's normally smiling face to be full of evil and hate, and she couldn't imagine what she could be right now. And most importantly, if she saw her mother in a fight with her father, what would she do?


"Boo!" Caio lunged from behind a shrub, right in front of Bia's face, causing her to screech in shock, and almost lose her balance.

"You're it!" Caio poked Bia's forehead as she flailed to balance herself, and she fell fell back with a yelp. Caio shot off laughing, while Bia crawled back up and gave chase. Soon, Bia gave up trying o directly chase Caio, and managed to catch Bruno in an unexpected swerve. The only person that remained uncaught throughout the game was none other than Tiago, who was easily the fastest and most agile. Bruno noted this, and immediately tried to break Tiago's record. Tiago easily shot away from his reach continuously, and it became clear how one sided the chase was when Bruno started to tire. Tiago effortlessly zipped around the trees, consciously avoiding Bruno only by a short distance as a display of arrogance.

"Okay, he's getting annoying," Ana admitted, watching the two.

"Let's intervene," Carla suggested, and together, the two disappeared into the trees.

"No way you can catch me!" Tiago laughed more, flying backwards as Bruno struggled to catch up. As he flew with his back facing forwards, Tiago didn't see the trap Carla and Ana had created for him, and got tangled within, yelping in surprise. He thrashed around like a stuck fly within the web of vines, but his actions only served to entangle him more and more.

"Looks like I caught you," Bruno smiled, flicking Tiago's beak, and then smugly flying off, leaving Tiago stuck in the vines.

"Hey! Don't just leave me!" Tiago called out.

"Oh boy," he muttered as he tugged at the vines constraining him. He heard giggling from above him, and he turned up to look, only to see Bruno, Carla, Ana, Caio and Bia staring in amusement, and laughing at his current state.

"Not funny," he grumbled as he shifted around in the vines, only making the rest laugh more.

"At least help me out?" Tiago requested, but his plea fell on deaf ears as everyone chuckled again.

"That's what you get for being so full of yourself," Carla smiled sweetly, causing Tiago to bristle in annoyance.

"Well, Tiago can be the catcher now," Ana commented.

"Do I have to?" Tiago groaned, but everyone nodded enthusiastically. It would be interesting to have the fastest as the catcher. The moment Tiago was freed, he began counting, and everyone shot off in different directions to get as far away as possible. Tiago spread his wings, and scanned around, before deciding to chase after Caio or Bia. He zoned in, and soon caught up with the two. Caio and Bia shot apart in two different directions, and Tiago, willing to do anything to remove his catcher status, went after Bia. He soared through the openings, getting closer every second, until Bia was just in front of him. He flew faster, reaching out a talon to tag Bia, when Caio burst out of a side, and accidentally rammed into Bia, causing the two to tumble into the undergrowth. Tiago hovered nearby, and peered in slight worry. The worry soon dissipated as he saw Bia's look as she tried to untangle herself from Caio, and the surrounding plants.

"Get off me!" She huffed, squirming around as her right wing was tangled with Caio's wing, and her talon was stuck in a fern's large leaf.

"Daw no hurry," Caio laughed, not really trying to get out, which made Tiago laugh harder. Bia's face turned beetroot, and then she looked livid, and plucked at Caio's wing with her beak, effectively causing him to retract and and attempt to scramble off.

"Ow! Ow! Hey! Okay! I'm off!" Caio managed to roll away from Bia, rubbing his wing where she had plucked at, grumbling in annoyance. Bia got her talon out of the fern, and peered around. Tiago used the time while the two bickered, and tapped Caio, before zipping off, laughing as usual.


"If the Outcasts were to attack, we'd need more fighters. We should start training some," Roberto insisted. Blu, Jewel, Eduardo and Roberto were having a heated discussion about the brewing situation, which only seemed to be getting worse and worse.

"For so many years, all the macaws have learnt to do is how to avoid humans, not how to fight," Eduardo raised. "It would be a difficult task trying to teach them all." It was partly true. Nobody had any reason to learn to fight, and those that could were probably the seniors.

"We should still try. It's better than not doing anything at all," Jewel argued. The discussion was rudely interrupted when a macaw rushed into the hollow, almost crashing into a wall in the process of his hurried landing.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Eduardo boomed. The macaw started stammering haphazardly and it was needless to say that nobody could understand.

"Calm down! What happened?" Roberto asked firmly. The macaw took in a deep breath, and started his report.

"It's an Outcast escort. Their matriarch is here to see you, Eduardo."

Nobody had any hesitation, and got out of the hollow. As expected, there was a group of a mix of species, which Blu assumed to be the Outcasts. They were a rugged bunch, most of large build and with signs of past fights scarred all over. The least scarred among them was a Spix's macaw, a female, with a coat of dulled feathers that looked as though they were once bright and vibrant. The rest didn't look too elegant themselves, with two large bats, and seven macaws of different species. Blu noted that there was only that one Spix's macaw in the group.

"Eduardo, what a pleasure to see you," the Spix's macaw greeted in a seemingly forced respectful tone. It came across to Blu that she sounded like a cross between Jewel and Eduardo, but yet with an added cold that Blu had never heard of. Eduardo exhaled, and his face seemed to scrunch into a toxic glare.

"The pleasure is one sided. What do you want?" Eduardo spat, his tone just as poisonous as his glare. The Spix's macaw landed on a branch below her, casually observing the surrounding curious Spix's macaws.

"That isn't a way to give a greeting isn't it?" She replied idly, giving a disturbing look of contempt at her surroundings.

"Stop toying around. Get to the point," Eduardo growled. Blu couldn't help but noticed how he was refraining from using the macaw's name. Jewel was strangely silent, watching in a somewhat nervous state, and this only helped to put Blu more on edge.

"Get to the point you say?" The macaw paused briefly, as if pondering if she should. "There is no significant point. I simply heard a rumor. That Jewel miraculously returned. I simply want to see for myself."

Jewel bristled as she realized that her own mother didn't even recognize her at all. Then again, if she didn't get the hints before, she wouldn't have recognized her either. Even her once warm and comforting voice seemed to be gruff and harsh.

"You disgust me! You can't even recognize her when she's standing right in front of you!" Eduardo yelled in an outburst, ready to attack already. Roberto held him back, knowing that it would be plain suicide if Eduardo did attack. Blu's suspicions were confirmed at the statement, and he gaped at Crystal. Appearance wise, she didn't really look like Jewel, other than her supposedly light blue feathers.

"It has been more than a dozen years," Crystal seemed to be slightly agitated upon hearing Eduardo. Even she wasn't too glad that she couldn't recognize Jewel. Her eyes seemed to take around the group, and she nearly immediately pinpointed Jewel. Jewel and Crystal locked gazes momentarily, and Blu saw a warmth in Crystal's eyes that wasn't present before. But just as quickly as it came, it vanished.

"How unfortunate that she had to return to you instead," Crystal glared sharply at Eduardo. Jewel looked uncertainly between the two, not sure how to react.

"You've seen what you wanted. Get out," Eduardo hissed, his glare intensifying at every second. Crystal nodded curtly, and signaled for her escort to follow. The tension seemed to ease significantly when her group went out of sight. Eduardo said nothing, and retreated to his hollow. Jewel remained at the same spot, staring sadly in the direction where Crystal left.

"So much happened when I was separated," Jewel murmured, sighing as she continued staring. Blu simply stood by her, keeping in her presence.


"Return to the tribe. I will follow soon enough," Crystal ordered. Her escort obeyed, and took off without her. A wave of nostalgia had hit her on the way back. And soon, she noticed that this was the very spot where the old Spix's macaws lived. This was where her home burned before her eyes. Through the years, the charred trees were populated with creepers and mosses, and many new ones had grown. She explored the new area, painful memories flooding her thoughts as she saw every bit of the charred barks. As she stroked one of them, the noise of arguing caught her attention. From above, she looked at the direction where the noise was coming from. Soon enough, two young Spix's macaws, with one chasing the other, burst from the hollow.

"Get back here!" One of them yelled, while the other one genuinely looked afraid.

"Hey! Hey! Go chase someone else!" He gasped as he shot away from the other, though visibly, he wasn't using his full effort. Crystal observed the two in slight curiosity- There was no way they could see her from below through all the plants, unless they really squinted.

"Stop running! I still want to rip your eyes out!" The chaser growled. The one trying to get away started circling around the same area, and the chaser continued to follow. Crystal could easily see the two going in circles over and over.

"Stop chasing me, Bia! Just forget it!" The one trying to escape yelled as he popped around a tree for the umpteenth time.

"Stop running, Caio! I can make you forget it too!" Bia threatened, still hot on his tail. "As the granddaughter of the tribe patriarch, I order you to stop!"

At the 'order', Crystal's eye widened slightly. Eduardo's granddaughter. Her granddaughter.

"You can't order me to do anything, Bia!" Caio laughed, and for the moment, he failed to see where he was going, and rammed into a tree. Shortly after, Bia rammed into him, and the two tumbled into the ground, and began bickering the moment they recovered. They soon stopped when they heard someone landing nearby. Bia and Caio stared, in slight fear, at Crystal as she stared back.

"Bia, is it?" Crystal asked, in the most warm and calming voice she could conceive. Bia nodded, and still appeared rather fearful. It came to Crystal that her 'warm' tone was too obviously fake.

"Well then. Is Jewel your parent?" She asked calmly, but decided to drop her fake tone. Her now rough voice seemed to unsettle the kids more.

"Why do you need to know?" Bia replied, somewhat timidly.

"Do I take that as a yes?" Crystal challenged in a more threatening tone.

"Why don't you ask her?" Bia seemed to translate her fear into agitation. Crystal was taken aback, but didn't show it physically.

"Because I am asking you," she replied in a cold tone, her talons slowly tapping the ground to subtly remind the child who was more superior. Caio seemed to notice, and shrunk back a little more, trying to warn Bia in whispers. Bia glared at Crystal, but Crystal saw right through her mock confidence. Bia was scared out of her wits, and was trying to shove it deep down where nobody could see it, but Crystal knew where to look for fear. One's eyes would always give it off, and Bia's eyes were literally screaming for her to run. Crystal found herself amused at the display and chuckled dryly. Bia looked slightly annoyed when she understood that Crystal was laughing at her.

"If Jewel is your mother, you are trying much too hard to be like her," Crystal growled. Bia's glare soon dissolved, and she hesitated. Caio was still behind her, itching to pull her away and escape. Crystal grunted and flew off, leaving the two confused and frightened.