To The Rescue

Chapter 5 is finaly here!

This chapter is the longest chapter in this story so far, so enjoy!

The conclusion to the rescue will be in chapter 6, though it's not the end of the story...The Volcano has yet to erupt.

Blu felt the wind in his feathers and the usual enjoyment he felt when flying. Blu, Rafael, Nico and Pedro had all been flying for half an hour now, and they had only flown half of the required distance. The sun was high in the sky, and Blu could tell that it was a little past midday.

"How much more do we have to keep this up?" shouted Rafael over the roar of the wind.

"We've nearly reached the mountains," Pedro replied.

Blu's stomach started to churn like it did when he had forgotten something.

"Don't be silly," he said to himself. "I haven't forgotten anything this time."

They soon reached the mountains, or close to them anyway. They looked far away with all the mist and you could hardly make out the shape of them through the clouds.

"Let's assess our position," said Nico. "We're halfway there, and so far, so good. Now we need to turn north and fly straight towards Nigel. Of course, we will need a proper plan. I have one. Pedro, you and me will fly above and distract Nigel. Rafael will then rush in and grab King Mauro with his feet and throw him away somewhere far in the trees. All the marmosets will rush to the aid of their leader, so Blu can go in and rescue Jewel and Rafael's family with help from Rafael. Perfect, isn't it?"

"There's only one problem," pointed out Blu. "What about Nigel? What if he comes after you?"

"We have planned something special for that occasion," Nico and Pedro winked at each other. "Now let's put this plan into action!"

They all took off and started the second part of the journey.

After flying for another twenty minutes or so, they reached Nigel's hiding spot. Nigel wasn't exactly hiding, for you could see him in one of the trees, even from a far distance. His feathers shone in the daylight.

"It's time." Rafael muttered under his breath. Nico and Pedro split up and went to distract Nigel. Blu and Rafael went down to the ground and waited in the hidden canopy of a tree.

Blu watched Nigel sitting on a log, Jewel's cage directly above him. He wanted to go rush out at Nigel and stab him with a nearby branch and rescue Jewel, though he knew that he wouldn't have a chance, and it would ruin Nico's plan.

Instead he waited, waited, waited for the signal that would tell him to go and rescue Jewel.

Blu heard a shout. It was Pedro, calling down to Nigel. Step 1 of the plan. Nigel immediately spread a wide grin across his face and flew away, towards the source of the shout. Blu could not see any sign of King Mauro, though he signalled to Rafael anyway. This was Rafael's part of the plan, and for the plan to work it needed this part.

Rafael nodded and flew down to the cage that Jewel was in. Step 2 of the plan. Rafael disappeared in the mass of trees, leaving Blu to wait alone.

Minutes passed by, though it felt more like hours for Blu. He sat in the tree, waiting for his cue. After about another 10 minutes had passed, worries started to creep into Blu's mind. What if Rafael didn't find King Mauro? What if King Mauro bested Rafael? Rafael could be lying in a cage somewhere now, or worse, dead.

"And I'm sitting here like a fool in this tree," he thought to himself. "I'm going to see what's going on."

Blu flew down from the tree, to the floor below. Suddenly he heard a cry and shriek, like an injured bird calling for help. He slowly made his way to Jewel's cage and looked around.

That's when he realised something was terribly wrong.

Rafael was sitting in the tree and Blu was in the next. He was waiting for a signal from Blu so he could and teach King Mauro a lesson.

"I'll show those marmosets for birdnaping my family," he thought.

Rafael looked down to get a closer look at King Mauro, but couldn't see him.

Suddenly there was a shout. It was Pedro calling down to Nigel. Step 1 of the plan. Rafael saw Blu's signal and nodded in return.

"Here I go," said Rafael.

Rafael landed where Nigel had been moments before. The ground was moister under his feet than it usually was, as this was a denser part of the jungle.

"Where is that marmoset," Rafael looked around with no luck.

An idea suddenly came to his mind. He had forgotten all about Jewel! Rafael stepped out of the shadow of the cage, and saw Jewel curled up in one corner of it.

"Jewel!" Rafael shouted. She immediately got up and looked at him with wide eyes.

"You shouldn't be here Rafael!" Jewel said anxiously. "It's a trap! Where's Blu? Is he ok? Please tell me if he is ok!"

"Calm down Jewel, everything is going to be ok," Rafael said in a reassuring voice. "We'll get you out of here. I need to ask you something, Jewel. Do you know where my family is, and what ambush is awaiting me? Are the marmosets hiding somewhere?

"Behind you!" Jewel screamed.

Sure enough, King Mauro and an army of marmosets were waiting for him.

Rafael knew what to do. He grabbed King Mauro and flew.

"What are you going to do with me?" panicked King Mauro. "I didn't do anything wrong! Nigel forced me to do what he wanted."

Rafael didn't listen. He just kept on flying until he reached a height that suited him.

He was just about to let go of King Mauro...

"Please, Rafael"

Rafael then realised what he was doing. King Mauro was pleading for his life.

"I'm not a murder," he though. "By dropping King Mauro I'll just become as bad as Nigel. King Mauro didn't birdnap my family on purpose, Nigel forced him to."

"I'm sorry King Mauro," Rafael finally said out loud. He started to fly back down to the ground. "It wasn't your fault."

As Rafael's feet touched the ground, a sigh of relief crossed the marmosets' faces, glad that their leader was ok. Rafael let go of King Mauro and he joined the other marmosets.

"Charge!" yelled King Mauro and a grin crossed his face. The marmosets began closing in.

A look of shock crossed Rafael's face.

"What are you doing?" Rafael said worriedly. He tried to fight back, but was caught off guard. He was unprepared, as this was not part of the plan. Somewhere a bird shrieked with agony in the distance.

"I'm going to teach you birds a lesson!" King Mauro shrieked with glee. The marmosets piled on top of Rafael, and the last thing he saw was the outline of another bird.

Blu, Rafael, Nico and Pedro were flying in the sky.

Nico spotted Nigel somewhere below, and Rafael noticed him too.

"It's time." Rafael muttered under his breath.

"Come on, let's go," Pedro said to Nico and they flew towards Nigel.

"Pedro," said Nico anxiously, "What if the plan doesn't go accordingly?"

"Everything will go fine," Pedro said reassuringly. "Let's do this thing!"

"HEY NIGEL!" Pedro shouted. "Come and get me! Over here you silly bird!" Pedro waved his wings so Nigel could see him in the clouds.

Nico and Pedro watched as Nigel took off and zoomed towards them.

"What do we do now!" said Nico worriedly.

"Fly away!" replied Pedro. "Nigel will then chase us, giving Blu and Rafael more time to escape with Jewel!"

Nigel was nearly upon them. Nico and Pedro started to fly away from Nigel. That was the start of the chase, that was the start of step 1 of the plan.

Nigel was gaining on them. His face was twisted into a gnarled smile.

"Let's loose him in the trees below," suggested Nico.

"Good idea," replied Pedro.

Nico and Pedro flew down to the trees and started darting through the canopies. Nigel followed them, but was having trouble keeping up because he needed to swerve left and right to avoid tree trunks.

"Now this where I beat those silly birds," said Nigel.

He plucked a few of his feathers and threw them at Nico and Pedro like darts. Two found their targets, and soon Nico and Pedro were falling towards the ground. As one last action to oppose Nigel, Nico threw his bottle top hat at Nigel. It missed. Nigel caught it in mid-air and flew towards the ground just as Nico and Pedro hit it. This was not part of the plan.

"So, now the tables have turned, haven't they?" Nigel squawked at Nico and Pedro. "You thought you could fool me!" He released a hoarse cackle.

The two injured birds lay coughing and spluttering on the ground. One of Nigel's feather-darts had hit Pedro's wing, and another had hit Nico on the leg.

"What do you want with us?" pleaded Pedro. "Why did you birdnap Jewel and Rafael's children?"

"I want my revenge!" Nigel replied.

He went over to Pedro, who was lying on the ground, already in unbearable agony. Still with the bottle top in his hand, Nigel cut Pedro's side.

Pedro shrieked in agony and the jungle echoed with his cries. Fresh blood oozed from the wound and Nigel laughed. "Who's a pretty bird now?"

He hauled Pedro and Nico back to where Jewel's cage was, and to his delight, the marmosets had amassed on top over another bird. He hoped it was Blu.

"Get off him you silly animals!" Nigel said. The marmosets immediately got off and tied the bird up. It was Rafael.

"Surely, Blu must be here somewhere," Nigel though. "All his friends are here."

Sure enough, Blu stepped out of the trees, and shock crossed his face. He didn't know what to do. He saw Nico and Pedro behind Nigel, and it made him want to cry. He looked up at Jewel in the cage.

"What have I stumbled into?" Blu thought.

Nigel grinned. This was the moment he'd been waiting for.