The morning was quiet in the usually bustling city, the sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon, casting a pink-orange hue over the vast capital and the only people out and about were the street cleaners and the few early risers on their way to work. A small number of birds that hadn't been partying all night were already out and about, going about their usual morning routines. It was peaceful.

But two shadows slinked through the dawn, their only purpose; to ruin the peace the early morning brought.

Silently they moved, perfectly in sync with the other and what they were thinking. As one, the pair snuck round the corner and through a hole in a roof of a tall building. Inside this attic space were to rows of eight nests, of various sizes. Only six were taken, all by fairly small birds, save one, holding a rather oversized pigeon.

The two figures crept towards the closest occupied nest, both sets of wings closed over a creature desperate to escape.

They drew ever closer, grins pulling at their beaks and the urge to giggle almost unbearable.

They held their clasped wings over their unsuspecting victim.

And let go.

The screech that echoed around the city was loud enough to wake the dead.

Or at least those who slept like the dead.

Nico awoke so suddenly and with such a start at the sound brutally attacking his ears that he fell out of bed. Resisting the urge to curl into a tight ball and go back to sleep, the small bird let out a small groan and pushed himself up off the ground to see what was going on and why there was so much noise so early in the morning.

The sight that met his eyes was one of both amusement and confusion.

A young pure white dove, not that much bigger than Nico himself, was chasing Joe and Josh around the room, screaming and yelling in what sounded like Portuguese at the top, or what he hoped was the top of her voice. The pair of owls were doing everything they could to get away from the smaller bird, looking absolutely terrified.

With one eyebrow raised, Nico looked to his left with a yawn, seeing the girl's empty nest, covers thrown back, a rather large spider standing on top, it's eight eyes glittering with amusement. Nico, who didn't have a problem with spiders (unless they were poisonous or bothering him), simply rolled his eyes, looking around the rest of the room, seeing the rest of the birds looking up from their beds all looking rather irritated and exasperated, some dropping back into their nests and burying their heads in their wings.

"Joshua, you idiot!" Joe yelled to his brother who was right behind him, "I can't believe you got the wrong bed!"

"I got the wrong bed?"Josh squawked indignantly, "You were the one who insisted, I told you it was the next one across."

This did nothing to stem the girl's fury and Nico, who was about to go and help them, immediately stopped, looked at the bed, which was on the end of the row, frowned, and sat back down on the bed to watch the chase.

It ended, much to Nico's entertainment, with the two owls being pinned down by the much smaller bird, the young dove screaming in their ears in very fast Portuguese while she bent their wings behind their back in what looked like a very awkward and painful angle.

This went on for about another five minutes, most of the room looking confused at the words coming out of the small birds mouth, obviously having no idea what she was saying, though Nico almost couldn't contain his laughter at some of the insults, threats and downright astonishing swear words that she was deafening them with.

Ten minutes later the young dove was sitting in her nest, calmly examining her feathers like nothing had happened. Meanwhile, the twins were whimpering in the corner, clinging on to each other like it was their only lifeline.

Most of the room were steadily ignoring them, chatting between them, and the large pigeon had rolled over and was snoring away once more. Nico however, was watching the pair with raised eyebrows, trying to think of just who they reminded him of.

"I don't even know what she was saying," one was saying.

Nico couldn't help but laugh at that, covering his beak with his wing as he heard a stifled snort from somewhere to his left. The twins looked at them, eyes wide with fear. Nico smiled, trying to look completely innocent.

"Trust me," he said, breaking into a grin, "you don't even wanna know."

"You know what I was saying?" the high-pitched and thankfully much quieter voice of the dove questioned, in English, and Nico turned to see her inquiring gaze.

"Every word," Nico replied, switching to Portuguese, a playful and now rather awake smile on his face. She couldn't help grinning in return, relief and happiness shining in her eyes.

"My name's Adriana," she said, holding out a wing.

"Nico," he replied, reaching over to shake it. "Where ya from?"

"Mozambique," she told him settling back in her nest, "I got separated from my parents, and I'm trying to get back there at the moment, but got slightly sidetracked with those two about a week ago," she sighed dramatically, shaking her head.

"We're in slightly similar situations then," he chuckled at her puzzled look, "I'm from Rio, was taken by bird smugglers about two months ago, and trying to get home. Though, I'm a little worried about escaping those two now."

Adriana laughed, "oh don't worry about them, they like to prank, I think they just like to see how far they can push people before they snap. I've just been sightseeing, taking advantage of the fact that my parents aren't around."

"I see they found your snapping point," Nico teased, his voice light and joking. Adriana glowered, rolling her eyes and glaring at the pair of owls, who had gotten over their backfired plan and were happily chatting away in the corner, looking for all the world completely innocent, though both Nico and Adriana suspected otherwise.

"Let's just say I have a very short temper, I don't like spiders in any way, shape or size, and I like my sleep far too much," she huffed, crossing her wings over her chest, "that's the second time they've done something like that to me."

"It was meant for me," Nico explained, "I don't know if you heard that over your screaming, they got the wrong bed."

Adriana snorted, "seriously? Well, they seem to do it to everyone, I've been sleeping here a week. But if there's one redeeming feature about them it's that they will help you out, no matter what," she smiled, "they're plane experts, no matter where in the world you want to go, they will get you there. They also know this city like they know each other, and know almost every permanent resident, bird or otherwise, and can usually point you in the right direction to whatever it is you need."

Nico smiled, "they sound like guys I could get along with," he paused, looking over at the pair, who had found a couple of matches. A worrying combination from what he had seen so far, "you know, if they weren't constantly trying to kill us."

Both canary and dove snapped their heads in the owl's direction when they heard the sound of a flame being lit.

"NO!"

Four rather blackened birds traipsed into the empty club, each reacting to the situation in different ways.

The twins seemed torn between guilt and amusement, giving each other small smiles as they sat on the bar. Adriana was on the verge of murder, tight-lipped and a look of pure annoyance on her face. The last, Nico, looked a little shell-shocked, though there was a growing smile on his beak.

"Well," he said once they were all sat down, "that was fun."

"Cosa รจ successo?!"

The twins grinned at each other and Nico resisted the urge to smack them both round the back of the head. Adriana had no such resistance.

"They," she explained to the shocked barkeep, "burnt down seven buildings."

Ant's wide eyes narrowed as he turned to the owls. He stared them down, completely silent.

"We didn't mean to," Joe pleaded, cracking under the stern gaze.

"It was an accident," Josh cried.

Nico just snorted as Ant began yelling in very fast Italian, rolling his eyes and looking to Adriana, who raised her eyebrows at him and shrugged, annoyance at the pair ebbing away. Those two were a hopeless case. They are who they are, and nothing they did would ever change that. Besides, Ant seemed to be berating them enough.

Not that Nico or Adriana understood a word that was being exchanged. Their attention was very quickly distracted by a large group of identical redstart birds filing in through the back door, talking quietly. Their sleek black, white and red feathers made them look very smart, which matched their very uptight attitude as they landed in three neat rows of five. Ant looked over at their arrival, giving them a quick nod of approval before going back to yelling at the twins.

"Hey, they were the guys singing last night," Nico commented, tilting his head, "very good, but the song choices were a bit..." he trailed off, the word on the tip of tongue, but just out of reach. He didn't want to be too harsh, considering the fact that they had actual talent.

"Crap?" Adriana put in with a smile, "I know, I heard them a few nights ago, they're Irish I think. If I had any ounce of musical talent I would go over and do something. Half the crowd walked out when I saw them."

Nico winced, "they've got potential though," he said as they warmed up. He was astonished at how well their voices blended, so perfectly in sync that they sounded as one. As impressive as it was, Nico couldn't help but wonder just how much more they could do, with the right guidance. He crossed his wings, watching them with a thoughtful expression. They could use the song choices they've got, he thought, they just need to mix it up a bit.

"What're you thinking?" Adriana asked, sounding a little suspicious.

"That they have the potential to be the very best," Nico said with a small smile, standing up, "they just need a small push."

"What's he doing?"

Adriana turned at Ant's voice, giving him a half smile. "I think he's trying to help," she said, turning back to the scene across the hall, where Nico and the lead singer of the group seemed to be in deep discussion. The other members of the group seemed to be talking quietly, half seemed excited, some a bit anxious and one looked outright furious.

"Please tell me he has some sort of musical talent," Ant said, "I give those guys a spot because they're old friends, and they're good, but they need to amp it up a bit for this place."

"Or, you know, most places," Adriana giggled, "and as for talent, I have no idea, we'll see."

Across the room, the leader was smiling as he talked, so whatever Nico was saying to him he at least was agreeing to. They talked a bit more, shook wings and parted ways, Nico flying back to Adriana and the leader back to his group, who immediately surrounded him, talking over each other to see what had been said.

"Never let it be said I don't know how to charm," Nico said with a smirk as he landed. Adriana immediately sidled up next to him as he sat, looking eager with anticipation.

"What happened? What happened?" she asked.

"Meeting up tomorrow to talk tactics," the canary replied, trying not to look smug, "he seemed quite excited."

"Same can't be said for all of them," Ant said with a warning tone, "one or two looked pretty mad that you were interfering."

"Yeah, Colin mentioned something like that," Nico mused, "but then he also said to screw it, anything to get them better known." He grinned at Adriana, who was bouncing on her seat in excitement.

"Can I come with you?"

"Alright guys! I know some of you aren't exactly happy with this whole arrangement, but you're just gonna have to suck it or we're never gonna get anywhere."

It was one of those gloomy days that promised rain, but it never seemed to come, only serving to bring down the mood of everyone in the city. Nico and Adriana however, couldn't be more excited as they listened to the announcement Colin made to his group. Not even the grey clouds above them could bring down their moods. The miserable looks of the faces of the band though, that was starting to.

"So listen up, we're gonna give him a shot, so listen and do what he tells you to do, alright?" There were a few half-hearted mumbles of agreement, and Colin sighed, clearly trying not to show his frustration too much, "alright?" he repeated with a slightly more forceful tone. There was a chorus of 'yes's, and Colin gave a serene smile, turning to Nico, who had fluttered over. "We're at your mercy."

"Okay," Nico grinned, taking a deep breath, "look, here's the deal, you guys are awesome," this elicited a few smug smiles, "seriously, I've never heard any group sing together as flawlessly as you guys, and I will admit now, I don't have much," he paused, "well, any experience with acapella."

This caused a bit of a stir, and a few dirty looks were thrown at both Colin and himself.

"But," he said a bit louder, getting their attention back, "if there is one thing I do know about, it's music, and I do know, that if you want to get anywhere in the music world, you are going to have to take risks, raise the bar, do something that hasn't been done."

"Have you?" came the question from the back.

"What? Done something that hasn't been done?"

"Yeah."

"I did a fifteen minute set on the spot and off the top of my head. Pedro, who sings with me, had no warning and improvised around it perfectly," he said with a grin, remembering the elation of that moment and the way they had practically fallen off the stage at the end, adrenaline pumping and in absolute hysterics. "I don't know if it's not been done, but I've been working the music rounds for years and haven't seen anything like it yet.

"I'm good with making music that others like, you're good at singing it. I'm not saying your song choices are terrible, but they could do with some work."

"We know we can do those though," one of the birds piped up, looking a little anxious.

"Exactly," Nico said with a flourish of his wing, "you're playin' it safe, which is why you've not gotten anywhere. You don't even need to scrap the songs you know, you just need to add stuff, mix in something else, jazz it up, you get what I'm sayin'?"

There were a few small nods, but mostly blank faces. Colin was doing all he could not to slap the lot of them. He sighed, stepping forward and looking Nico straight in the eye.

"What do we do?"

A week later, and they were ready.

It took blood, sweat and tears, mostly on Nico's end, but he got through to them, teaching them everything he knew about original music, even helping them write a few songs of their own. Alongside that, he worked on helping them mix songs they already knew with something new, mashing old and new, changing tempos, bass-lines. He even discovered a few hidden talents within the group, working them quickly into their advantage.

By the end of the week, they had a set-list that would, with any luck, wow the crowds and set them on their way to stardom.

"So, 'stereo-hype' huh?"

Nico grinned at Ant as he leant against the bar, accepting the drink the bartender offered. "They chose the name, I gave them free reign with that one, though I had to turn down a few, they were just too..." he waved his wing, trying to find the right word.

"Uninteresting?" Ant offered, smirking.

"Something like that, either way, birds better stick around for them now, they're awesome."

Ant laughed, "they better be, we've done a bit of work and they'll be live on the net by midnight. Someone's nicked a camera, they're filming the whole thing."

"Oh wonderful, now I'm nervous," Nico said with an anxious grin, turning back to the stage, where the lights were dimming, "here we go."

Adriana watched with amusement and exasperation as she watched Nico get tackled to the ground by fifteen over excited birds, all of them high on adrenaline. They were a babbling mess, all talking over each other.

But over it all, she could hear Nico's laughs and slightly panicked yells to 'get off!'

"Alright boys, don't suffocate the kid, he's had enough to deal with, what with the twins and all," Ant landed nearby, grinning from ear to ear.

One by one, the birds climbed off, leaving a gasping and laughing canary sprawled on the floor. He tried to talk, failing a few times, still trying to catch his breath. Eventually he was able to get a few sounds out, sitting up and slowing his breathing.

"You're welcome," he choked out, grinning at the group.

Ant strolled over and offered a wing to help him up. "I must admit," he said, "I am bloody impressed, I've never seen anything quite like it, you have some talent kid, I wouldn't mind seeing how you perform at some point."

"Hey, you could sing with us," a voice piped up from the middle of the newly-appointed superstars. This immediately set them off again, and Nico had to take to the air to prevent getting crushed again.

"Actually," Adriana said over the babble, flying up next to him, "these guys are about to go global, this might not be a half bad idea, the chances of your family seeing it are probably higher than the message from Paris."

Nico stared at her for a moment, contemplating her suggestion, before breaking out in a wide grin. "Adri, you are a genius," he laughed, landing back on the ground, "alright guys, tomorrow, we'll put together a little something and I'll make a cameo appearance in show two, sound good?"

Going by the cheers, they could only assume they agreed.

Adriana winced softly as she bent over to pick up the bottle cap, once sat on a certain canary's head, now lying on the floor after being used as a Frisbee to try and decapitate at least one of the owls. She gingerly rubbed the still slightly singed spot on her wing as she watched a dripping wet canary tackle both owls to the ground and then promptly sit on them.

Just another normal day.

And Nico was not impressed at having been woken up at six in the morning.

He was meeting Stereo-Hype at ten, but had intended on getting out of bed at the very last minute, no earlier than he absolutely had to.

Joe and Josh had other ideas.

With an amused sigh, Adriana wondered over to the trio and placed the cap back on Nico's head. He gave her a quick grin before glaring back at the pair below him. Adriana briefly wondered why they hadn't thrown the canary off yet, he was after all, half their size and weighed almost nothing. She shrugged it off, grinning in return before hopping back to her nest and lying down. Of the six birds that had been there when their original home had been burnt to ash, her and Nico were the only ones left, though they had taken on a purple martin who was migrating back to central USA after spending his winter with friends in South Africa, a female woodpecker who was beginning to drive them all insane and a seagull who generally kept to himself, only appearing when he wanted to sleep and spending the rest of the time out and about. They guessed he was on holiday or something.

"You alright?"

She looked up as he flopped down in the nest next to her, adjusting his cap, and surprisingly smiling.

"Yeah," she grinned, looking to the twins, who were trembling in the corner, "I think those two truly are a lost cause."

"That's one way of putting it," Nico laughed, "batshit crazy is another," he sighed, shaking his head, "I'm going out to get breakfast, want to come?"

"If it gets me away from these two, I'm down."

Nico sighed happily, sat on the edge of the Colloseum with Adriana, eating some grapes and strawberry they had swiped from a open stall in the streets. It was still early, still quiet, with the sun only just risen. He was to perform that night, and be on a plane home the next morning.

He almost couldn't remember the last time he was on a stage. Not properly anyway.

"He could be anywhere in this damn city, I can't believe you lost him!"

Nico froze at the voice from the other side of Adriana. He didn't even have to look around her to see who it was, the vast eagle towering over them all.

On second thoughts, he was screwed.

"Adriana," he hissed, inching closer so he could hide, "don't move."

"What?"

"Shh, just don't move and be quiet."

Liana clearly had no idea they were there, and carried on talking.

"He's one bird, and you lost him," Liana was seething, "I can't believe you let him escape in Paris, and now you've done it again."

"There were too many birds around," the eagle complained, "you could have gotten away with it, but it would've been too obvious for me."

"I wanted you to follow him until he was alone, not kill him there you idiot."

"Again, too obvious, I couldn't really hide there."

The guy had a point, he wasn't exactly subtle, considering his size.

"And this guy is tiny, following him wasn't exactly easy. But they said he's performing at the club tonight, go again, get him alone then or something."

Nico nudged Adriana, who was both confused and a little bit frightened by this point. "Let's go, we need to get out of here."

As quietly as they could, they edged backwards, aiming for the club in the arena. Adriana quickly understood what they were after and shielded him with her wing. They made it to the edge and quickly flew down to the entrance in the hope they hadn't been spotted.

"I've got to leave," he muttered as he landed.

"What?" Adriana squeaked, "no, you- you can't leave yet."

"Adri, I can't risk anyone getting hurt," he said, turning back to her, "I've got to get home, this girl is crazy and doesn't care about hurting others to get what she wants."

"And what is it she wants?"

"My head on a platter," Nico said bluntly. Adriana's face fell as realisation dawned that the situation was much more serious than she thought.

"Ah, right, but what about tonight?" she asked, "you promised you'd sing."

"I'll just have to do a rain check, I can do it another time," he sighed sadly, "this girl makes the twins look sane."

"Bloody hell," Adriana raised her eyebrows, "better get out of here then."

Stereo-Hype were very understanding, at least once Nico explained the situation. They went on to tell him about the response they had received from the video online, and the fact that they were planning on doing some travelling and performing around the world. Nico promised to sing with them when they came to Rio.

And so that was how he found himself standing in the airport with Adriana and the twins, ready to board the aircraft that would take him home.

"So this is it huh?" Nico said as they watched the planes land and take off.

"Uh huh," the twins monotoned simultaneously, nodding as one.

Nico turned to Adriana, his expression a mixture of sadness and joy. "Well, my plane's about to leave," he said, sniffing a little, trying to cover it up with a cough, "so, I suppose," he paused, looking at the plane the twins now seemed to be dancing around the one that would take him home, "I'll see you around."

"Yeah," Adriana smiled, somewhat shakily.

"Come and visit for carnival one day," he said, "it's the biggest party in the world, you'll love it."

"I'm sure I will," Adriana grinned, "Maybe in a few years." The pair looked over to where the twins were standing not too far away, yelling something at them in English. Though what neither could quite make out.

"I think it's time for me to go," Nico couldn't help but chuckle at the twins frantic jumping and waving, and if they weren't smiling he would have been worried something was wrong. Adriana turned back to him, smiling shyly and looking at the floor. Then, without warning, she darted forward, wrapping her wings around him in a tight hug.

"Get home safe," she whispered, pulling back, giving him a quick peck on the cheek as she did so. Ignoring the shocked look on Nico's face, she stepped aside, taking off to go and perch on a sign some distance away to watch the take off. Nico shook his head, fixing his cap more firmly on his head and quickly flew over to the twins.

"Well, I'll be off then," Nico said, looking up at the vast plane, "I would say see you around, but I kinda hope we don't, unless you're planning on dropping the pranks," he grinned at their over-dramatic shocked and hurt faces.

"Well then," Josh said, sniffing loudly while his brother faked a sob, "if you go up there," he pointed to the door they were loading the luggage though, "there should be a compartment they tend to put the pets in that is locked and the air pressure fully stabilised."

"They always make sure it's locked, even if there are no animals on board," Joe continued, "So you should be safe in there, you better hurry though."

Nico smiled, nodding. "Thanks you two," he said, "despite everything, thank you."

"Don't mention it."

"Just go!"

"Is that plane going in the right direction?"

"Don't worry, they all take off going that way, it'll turn around in a moment."

"..."

"Joe, it's not turning round."

"Why is it not turning around, Brazil is the other way."

"We did put him on the right plane, right?"

"I think so."

"You're sure that wasn't the plane coming FROM Brazil?"

"Maybe?"

Adriana dropped her head into her wings, groaning. She may not speak the best English in the world, but she understood the gist of the conversation.

"I'm going to kill you two."

Well, sorry that took so long, I kept getting distracted, and I've gone back to college, which may sound like a step in the wrong direction considering I was at University last year, but hey ho, I'm training to be an air hostess, which is brilliant fun. It's also kept me very busy.

So here's chapter five, which has some major edits, including the introduction of Stereo-Hype, who will be back, and more of Ant, who I wanted to have more of in the last version, but never got round to. So I hope you enjoyed, and please do leave a review, Reviews are what keep me going :)