"What just happened?" Caio asked, still trembling from the whole thing. Bia was chasing Caio for his annoying antics, but while they were rushing around, a random old Spix's macaw popped out of nowhere, and then presented a set of creepy questions and observations, that still chilled the two to the bone.

"I have no idea," Bia replied, peering around, hoping that she wouldn't return. "Come on, let's get back to the others."

"Bia, you're clutching my talon, I can't walk," Caio pointed out. Bia reddened a little, and let go. She must've grabbed onto it while she was talking to the creepy macaw. Caio smiled a little, and he couldn't help but stare.

She's so cute when she's blushing...

"Hey, stare more, and you'll be as creepy as that macaw," Bia poked his forehead, snapping him out of his trance.

"Oh. Right," he coughed, and the two headed back to Tiago, Carla, Ana and Bruno.

"Really?" Bia asked, edging away slightly as Tiago poked at a colorful tarantula, which was squirming around the same spot.

"Tiago! Anytime now, that tarantula will..." Before Bia could finish, the spider seemed to blast hairs from its back, using its hind legs as two launchers. Tiago yelped in shock and screwed his eyes shut as the little irritants flew in his face. The spider fled as Tiago was reeling, disappearing into the undergrowth. Tiago rubbed his face furiously, trying to remove the little bits here and there, and when he finally finished, his nose twitched and he soon let out a loud, heavy sneeze.

"Ugh, it got in my nose," Tiago groaned, face scrunched in discomfort as his sneeze failed to expel all the irritants from his nostrils. He poked his nose with a wing, but it only served to irritate his nose more, and he sneezed again, this time at Carla's wing.

"Don't sneeze at me! I don't want your sick spider hair!" Carla immediately wiped her affected wing against Tiago.

"You're lucky you closed your eyes in time. You would go blind for a few minutes if it got in your eyes," Bia stated, crossing her wings.

"Why in the world do you read about spiders if you hate them?" Tiago asked. Bia shrugged in response.

"Just interested, I guess."

"It's evening soon. Maybe we should head back," Ana reminded, peering at the sky. It was a mix of blue and crimson, signifying the approach of evening.

"Ladies first," Caio smirked as he signaled for Bia to go first.

"Why aren't you going first then?" Bia retorted, before spreading her wings and taking off. Everyone else chuckled at Caio's face, and soon followed.


"What happened is not your fault, Eduardo!" Mimi argued as her younger brother still refused to get out of his room. "It is all Crystal's crazy mind, doing crazy things!"

Eduardo seemed to look up a little, as if instinctively reacting to an insult directed at his former mate. He flopped down again when he decided not to defend her.

"She used to mean the world to me," Eduardo murmured. "After she left, I felt empty for ages. It got better over time, and Jewel's return healed it completely. But now that I saw her again... What has she become?"

Mimi's frustration seemed to evaporate, and she sighed. It was nearly as hard for her to see Crystal in her new state. Before the incident that took Jewel away, Crystal was one of Mimi's best friends.

"If we're lucky, she would come back to her senses," Mimi hoped.

"That is false hope. A leader wouldn't abandon his tribe, and Crystal isn't one to break anything close to that," Eduardo sighed. "I've wasted enough time brooding in this hole, I have to get back to the tribe. Check on Jewel for me."


"Guys, you think Caio has a thing for Bia?" Tiago asked, out of earshot of the two he mentioned.

"You only knew now?" Carla asked, half dubious. It seemed pretty obvious since she first saw him.

"It isn't just a joke or something?" Ana asked. Carla looked at all the blank faces, and groaned.

"You all seriously didn't even consider it?" She huffed.

"I did. But yea, I thought it was a joke as well," Bruno replied.

"I'm curious. Does Bia like him at all?" Tiago asked, regarding Carla as some sort of relationship expert.

"If she does, she's hiding it very well," Carla replied. She didn't really notice anything that could suggest something from Bia to Caio.

"What are you all talking about?" Bia called from the front. The discussion ceased, and everyone assumed innocent looks. Bia frowned, but decided that it wasn't important, and continued on her way. Caio was still leading, already way ahead.

"Shall we ask?" Tiago laughed, as Bia went out of range again. Carla chuckled at the thought of her sister vehemently denying it, while Bruno and Ana didn't really react. They didn't know Bia well enough to predict her reaction.

"She might attack you. Now that'll be worth watching," Carla smiled.

"I've never seen Bia mad enough to attack people," Ana commented.

"If Tiago asks, it might happen," Carla promised.

"We've got to try it!" Tiago laughed, speeding up as his enthusiasm to ask Bia increased.

"Wait up! I've got to see this!" Bruno speed up as well, followed by Carla and Ana.

Carla and Ana were giggling a little as they watched Tiago intercept Bia. Bruno was hiding somewhere else, as the current hiding spot could fit them all.

"So, what do you think of Caio?" Tiago asked casually. Bia looked up, seemingly weirded out by the question.

"Why would you ask?" She retorted, not putting down the book she was reading at the moment.

"Just curious," Tiago tried to justify the question. Bia looked in suspicion, expecting some kind of trap. But she didn't spot water, mud, out-of-place vines, or spiders anywhere.

"He is a new brand of annoying. He does resemble you a lot ," Bia replied finally, returning to her book.

"Are you saying I'm annoying?" Tiago asked, amused at his status.

"Yes, yes I did," Bia idly replied.

"Tiago is changing the topic," Ana groaned from her cover.

"Wait, do you see what I see?" Carla interrupted, looking elsewhere. Ana turned her head to her direction.

"Wow," she murmured. Half concealed behind some leaves, Caio was eavesdropping on Bia and Tiago as well.


"Outcast, what do you want?" A large bat spat, glaring at Crystal with two red, burning eyes.

"I only want to propose a plan to you, where we both gain," Crystal replied, her voice incredibly calm, whilst the danger around her loomed. Countless bats glowered from the darkness, waiting to pounce on their chief's command. Crystal peered around in disinterest, and continued. "I know that the Pit of Doom is an insult to your tribe. You are all fierce warriors."

"The Pit of Doom is not as honorable, but it is a feasible way to settle disputes. Why would I risk the lives of my warriors, when there is a safer way of doing it?" The chief asked, though he didn't sound entirely honest about his opinion. Crystal took it as a green light, and proposed her plan. The chief listened intently, but didn't respond.

"The early phases of the plan is being executed. You have a week or so to make up your mind," Crystal blatantly stated. The chief didn't stop her for her lack of respect, but glared as she took her leave.


Eduardo had been requested for over at the Scarlet tribe, and Roberto tagged along with him as he departed. The silence seemed eerie, almost discomforting. Eduardo frowned as they passed the Brazil nut groves of the scarlet territory. Not one bird in sight. Only disturbingly empty feeding grounds. Something just seemed wrong.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Roberto murmured, peering around, still trying to spot a sign of a scarlet macaw. Eduardo opened his beak to answer, but distant arguing caused him to pinch his beak shut and listen intently.

"We should get a move on," he whispered, and the duo doubled their pace. The arguing got louder and louder, and finally, they saw the situation. Felipe was yelling at a group of birds of mix species, and two bats. Eduardo took a sharp breath when he saw the Spix's macaw among the group. Crystal was staring in contempt as Felipe as he raged on at her.

"You have no right to waltz in here, and just take all the food you want, and attack my tribe's young!" Felipe spread out his wings in aggression, seemingly tripling his size. Crystal looked unimpressed, and grunted in reply, only serving to infuriate Felipe even more. The whole scarlet tribe was probably there, glaring at the outcast group, but when Eduardo closely observed the scarlet macaws, a dozen or two battered and bruised macaws were resting in a hollow, with a few others tending to them. Roberto looked in worry as he noticed one or two kids among the injured, and he bristled in anger at the outcasts. The two still remained out of sight, spying from the cover of the trees.

"Well Felipe, your screaming is completely interesting me, but quite frankly, I don't care about your tribe's welfare. The tribes strip the areas of food, so we take some from you," Crystal replied calmly. Felipe's already livid face turned into a nasty shade as his blood boiled above the maximum point.

"Get out of my land, before I personally kick you out myself," he ordered, in a quiet and deadly tone. Crystal turned to leave, and her escort followed suit. As she prepared, she looked back, straight at Felipe's eye.

"It won't be your land for long," she teased, before taking flight. The scarlet macaws glared at the leaving group, some already shaking in pure anger. Eduardo wondered why they hadn't charged at the Outcasts yet. They already looked fit to burst as little bombs.

"Felipe, what happened?" He asked, revealing himself from the trees. Felipe turned to see Eduardo, and he seemed to get a minor shock. The once bright and proud Scarlet chief seemed to have a tired and sickly look, making him seem many years older than he was. The macaws around them dispersed, giving the three some privacy.

"The situation is getting out of hand," Felipe admitted. "A patrol caught the Outcasts stealing large amounts of food from the Brazil nut groves, but when the patrol confronted those thieves, they attacked. Those thugs even hit children they passed! When I led a second escort, with double the numbers, they were beaten up badly as well."

Eduardo looked at the hollow he had noticed earlier on. He couldn't see the few dozens of injured patients from his current angle, but he could easily visualize them, all bruised and battered. He turned to look at Felipe, and noticed a strange patch of red that stained his feathers, that wasn't visible from far. As Felipe turned to look at the injured, the Spix's macaws couldn't help but notice that he was limping heavily.

"Felipe, you're bleeding," Roberto murmured, peering at the unnaturally red patch of color on the scarlet macaw's feathers.

"I'm fine," Felipe brushed off the issue, without even stopping to look at the wound's condition.

"No you're not fine. Get into the hollow, let your tribe healers patch you up," Eduardo helped to support Felipe, as he limped half heartedly toward the hollow from branch to branch.

"Crystal is becoming more and more of a problem. We need to do something about it," Eduardo sighed to Roberto after Felipe finally lied down inside a hollow to rest.

"What can we do? That little group there bested over thirty scarlet macaws!" Roberto reminded.

"We need to make sure that the entire tribe knows how to fight well. I will announce it today, and we should start by tomorrow."


Crystal watched in silence, observing her tribe idling around the trees. The land the Outcasts were allocated had almost no inhabitable hollows, and most had to live in spaces under the trees, where the roots provided minimal protection from weather. The Pit of Doom was a waste of space. The sturdy ledges present could easily work as homes, and there were easily accessible food sources and water sources within a minute's flight. Crystal considered the pit to be a rich area, that was hopelessly wasted on a weak and disgusting way to settle disputes. The scarlets she attacked with her escort were weak, unaccustomed to any fighting, and she could easily cripple any of them. Even Felipe was not too much of a challenge. If she had brought her tribe along, the scarlets would have been done for. Pathetic weaklings. That's what the tribes were made of now. It was like a disease. And she was going to purge the jungle of the disease, bit by bit. She watched as a scarlet chick and a small bat wrestled on the ground, rolling around as they fought. The bat was hurled upwards, and kicked, causing him to slam into a root, but he got up, laughing. Crystal's thoughts seemed to clear, as the young ones reminded her of her own offspring. She could still remember that fateful day when it all came crashing down. The last time she saw Jewel before she disappeared was when she charged into a bat, narrowly saving him from a burning branch that fell from the trees. Just like that, Jewel had vanished into the smoke and fire, never to be seen again.

What if I meet her in battle?

The painful thought echoed all over Crystal's skull, causing her to shut her eyes tightly, as if to make the thought go away. Jewel was the only one she couldn't hurt without flinching. She was the only one that still made her feel something, something among all the layers of grief and anger. Seeing Jewel after all the years... somehow made her feel more joyful.

She isn't your daughter anymore. She is Eduardo's daughter. Her mind reminded her. She didn't think of Eduardo the same way any longer. He used to be the star of her life. Now he was just another competitor, and she planned to swipe him aside like the unworthy chief he was. And it wouldn't be long before she had the chance to.