Guest Review Responses:
Fanfiction guy: Thanks, glad you liked it. I think Blu's backstory would be something that should be introduced in later story, but you never know. I like the idea of using another villain to explain Blu's parent's disappearance though. This next chapter, and subsequent ones, will revolve more around the other characters. Thank you for the ideas, and for reading my story!
The two lovebirds have woken up from their relaxing sleep. Halfway through the night Blu though he heard a cat running around in the jungle. Jewel assured him that it was nothing, but Blu began to panic. Jewel finally conceded as they both walked up into the tree hollow using a wooden ramp. Tulio had installed it so Jewel could get to a higher point in the jungle without exerting too much energy. Since it was essentially a plank, Blu kicked it away so the "cat" couldn't use it to reach them.
As the two Blue Macaws shook off their sleepiness, Blu flew down to the jungle floor to retrieve the plank. As he landed, Blu looked both ways, as if he were going to cross a street, to be sure that there wasn't a cat nearby. When he felt safe, Blu darted to the wooden ramp and grabbed it in his talons before flying back up to Jewel. As he leaned the plank against the tree, and ensured that it was stable enough, he turned his attention back to Jewel.
"Ok. According to my calculations as long as there isn't any seismic activity greater than or equal to 7.1 Mw within the next three and a half minutes you should be…fine? Jewel? Jewel are you listening? Our window of opportunity is closing!" Blu panicked, afraid of even the smallest chance of his precious Jewel being harmed, even in the slightest. However, Jewel was oblivious to Blu's warning.
Without much thought, Blu realized what the matter was. Jewel was starting up at the artificial tree canopy, slightly, almost unnoticeably actually, moving her gaze around in different shapes. Blu was able to pick up on this and knew that she had to be imagining what it wa like to fly around.
Jewel was interrupted from her thoughts when she felt a slight pressure around her body, and the sound of flapping wings. She looked up to see Blu had grabbed her in his talons, not to different than when he was carrying her to the dismantled airport, and was ascending.
"Woah, Blu!"
Blu began flying around the perimeter of the room with Jewel secure in his talons.
"This, this is amazing! Haha!" She yelled, now elated.
"Wooohoooo!" Jewel continued while extending her neck.
Blu chucked and looked down at his passenger. Jewel now had her eyes closed ans was enjoying the air rubbing against her feathers. Blu was so lost in her beauty, he forgot to bank and nearly collided with a wall. Fortunately, he quickly recovered without Jewel noticing. After a few minutes, the lovebirds landed on the Jungle floor.
"So how was your flight?" Blu asked while saluting and puffing his chest, pretending to be a military pilot.
Jewel giggled in response.
"It was nice, but next time try to watch where you're going. OK?"
Blu returned to his normal posture.
"Oh, that. Hehe. I guess you noticed?" Blu said nervously while rubbing the back of his neck.
"Well, when I didn't feel you turning when you should have, it was a little bit of a giveaway." She explained while placing a wing on her hip and arching the feathers around her eye.
"But your eyes were closed, how did you-"
"Experience Blu. Something you are lacking in." She explained while returning to her normal pose.
"Well actually Jewel, um, I'd hate to go off on a tangent, but you don't end a sentence with a preposition." Blu replied, trying to change the subject as he knew where this was going.
"Oh no you don't Blu. Don't change the subject on me!" Jewel retorted, faking irritation.
Blu did not pick up on this though, and he started to fear for his neck. He rubbed around throat nervously, afraid that Jewel might pin him down again.
"Blu, you need to get some practice." Jewel mandated while pointing a wingtip on Blu's chest.
"And the only way to do that is outside." She concluded while moving her wing towards a wall, signaling Blu should go outside.
"Ohhh, I was afraid you would say that." Blu moaned while clenching his beak.
"Come on, it will be good for you. And If you don't go on your own, I'm gonna kick that blue butt of yours out there."
Blu knew he had no choice.
"Ok fine. I'll go later today." Blu conceded while hanging his head.
"That's my Blu!" Jewel said sweetly.
A muffled voice coming from behind a wall was soon heard.
"Let him -?! But that would -!" Blu and Jewel managed to hear by cupping their wings around their ears.
"Sounds like Tulio." Blu said like it was obvious.
"What do you think he's talking about?" Jewel asked her lovehawk.
Blu didn't have time to respond as the door to the room was opened. Tulio walked in and kneeled down in front of Blu and Jewel.
"Ok Jewel, it's time for a checkup." He said while extending his hands so Jewel could get into them.
Jewel hopped into his hands and signaled for Blu to come with her. Blu obeyed and wedged himself next to her.
"Oh, Blu. I'm sorry, but Linda insisted that you saw her. I know you two want to be with each other right now, but she twisted my arm." Tulio explained compassionately. He soon noticed the two lovebird's saddened expressions.
"Hey, don't worry. You guys will be back together in no time." Tulio assured them.
"Hey Jewel, if you really want I can-"
"No Blu, don't try to get out of that whole flying thing.' Blu was cut off by Jewel.
"This is the perfect time to go. I'll be fine. Go, enjoy yourself." Jewel insisted while shooing him with her good wing.
As much as Blu wanted to argue, he really wanted to see linda, and he knew that being apart was sometimes god for a relationship.
Blu sighed.
"Ok. I'll be back before you know it." Blu said while smiling warmly.
"Of course you will." Jewel replied. She leaned forward and pecked Blu on the side of his beak.
During their conversation, Tulio had walked into the Aviary entrance room. Blu walked over to the edge of Tulio's hand, and took off to go find Linda.
"Come on Jewel, time for that checkup. Blu should be back when you are done." The ornithologist reminded.
"Ugh, I hope Blu hurries." Jewel mumbled to herself.
Blu was flying though the hallways, searching for Linda. As he turned the corners, he caught some of the employees off their guards.
"Waaaa! Don't hurt me!" One of the aides yelled while covering his head with his arms.
Blu just merely flew over him.
"Man, where does Tulio find these people? The Ornithophobia convention?" Blu said to himself while rolling his eyes.
Blu flew past an alcove in one of the hallways and noticed a familiar Minnesotan sitting on a chair.
"Linda!" Blu exclaimed, now elated that he had found his owner.
Linda heard Blu's squawk and turned her head from what she was doing to greet her companion.
"Blu!" She said in reply with an arm out so her aviary friend could perch himself.
"How's my big brave boy been doing?" She asked as she pet Blu with her free hand, pushing down his feathers and watching them pop back up as her hand slid across his back.
Blu remained there for a second with his eyes closed, enjoying Linda's warm hand. He then open his eyes and replied.
"Everything is great!" Blu squawked happily with a smile across his beak.
Linda just laughed, happy that she was once again in the company of her lifelong friend.
Blu wanted to ask Linda something very specific. It was going to be hard to do that, considering that she didn't speak bird. Blu couldn't understand why it was so easy for him to understand human, but no person could understand bird. That was a question for another day. Blu flew off Linda's arm and landed on a coffee table nearby that had a pen and notepad. Blu was going to write a note in English for linda, but if he did that then he would have to explain how he could write. The Blue Macaw didn't want to start a whole conversation about how he took an online English course when Linda was away camping, so he decided on something simpler. He drew a picture of the Christ the Redeemer statue, which in his opinion looked pretty good, and held it next to his head. He then began flapping his wings, without actually flying, and moved the picture past his head as if he were flying past it.
"Oh, I get! It's like charades! What is it, what is it? Hmmmm." Linda pondered for a moment while putting her fist up to her mouth.
Blu repeated his actions hoping that Linda may get it if he tried again.
"Ohhh, I know this." Linda said to herself.
Her feathered friend realized that this was not going anywhere and instead ripped the picture out of the book and placed it on Linda's shoulder. Blu then leaped into the air and flew around her.
"Oh I get! You want to see something!" Linda exclaimed when she though she figured it out.
Blu hovered in front of Linda and shook his head up and down, showing approval.
Linda took the picture off her shoulder and examined it.
"The Christ the Redeemer statue?" She thought to herself.
"What? You want to go flying to see the statue?" Linda inquired.
While this wasn't exactly what Blu wanted, he took what he could get. Blu squawked and shook his head again.
"Oh Blu, are you sure? I don't think this is such a good idea. Remember back in Minnesota, when you wanted to go ice skating on that pond?" Linda tried to convince Blu.
Blu just looked up at her with puppy eyes while frowning.
"Not the puppy eyes. Ohhhhh, fine." Linda finally conceded.
Blu perked up and chirped happily.
"Tyler Blu Gunderson! Promise me you'll be back within the hour." Linda demanded.
Blu nodded and flew up onto Linda's shoulder. He rubbed his head into her neck as a way of saying thank you.
"Ok, ok Blu. I get it. You're welcome." She responded before scratching her feathered friend's throat.
Linda walked through the hallways with Blu on her shoulder until she made it to the aviary entrance. She pushed the door open so she could take Blu outside.
"Remember what I told you Blu." She reminded her friend.
Blu nodded to tell her that he understood the terms. He made some last minute check before taking off.
"Ok, Flaps open." He opened his wings.
"Perfect. Landing gear." He examined his talons.
"Check. Tail flaps." He looked back at his tail.
"Operational. And actually...not bad, again." He chuckled as he reminisced about the time in minnesota when he reviewed the same checklist.
"Except this time everything is going to work out."
"Positive reinforcement, accounted for." He added.
"Ok, lets fly." Blu said determined and excited.
This was going to be his second time flying outside, so he was still a little nervous. He shook his body and leaped forward before flapping his wings and taking flight into the skies of Rio.
As Blu was making his way upwards, he could hear Linda's voice calling out to him.
"Goodbye Blu!" She called out.
Blu's owner remained there for a moment watching her companion fly into the sky.
"Be careful." She said quietly to herself.
Blu was finally airborne. He felt the air brushing against his feathers as he took a deep breath. The fresh air filled his lungs with oxygen, fueling his body for flight. Today was absolutely beautiful. The sun was shining, the ocean was glistening, the city was bustling, and a bird was coming right for Blu.
"Hey you! Look where you're go-"
Blu and the other bird slammed into each other causing them to spiral out of control.
"Waaaaa!" Blu yelled.
"You moron!" The bird screamed while pushing himself away from Blu.
Both Blu and the other bird instinctively extended their wings as to recover from their fall. More so for the bird Blu bumped into, due to the fact that Blu essentially lacks any natural instincts.
"Who do you think you are just flying around like that!? What, the sky isn't big enough for you!?" The bird vociferated. This bird was a macaw, but it wasn't like any Blu had read about. Blu spent a great deal of time learning about all of the types of Macaws, so that in the event he met one so he wouldn't look stupid asking what species they belonged to. So much for that.
"I-I apologize sir. I didn't mean anything, I just don't have much experience." Blu explained.
"What, do I look like I was born yesterday? Next are you gonna tell me today is your first day flying?" The bird replied sarcastically.
"Not exactly. Yesterday was." Blu responded while chuckling nervously.
"Wait, how does a bird YOUR age not fly until yesterday?" The bird questioned, now becoming irritated.
"It's kind of a long story. I'm one of the last of my kind and was never taught how to." Blu tried to summarize.
For some reason the bird's expression softened. His eyes lost their fury, and became more compassionate.
"Oh, well I'm sorry to hear that." The bird apologized.
"Don't be. Everything worked out in the end. Now I'm with the most beautiful bird in the world, and have some new friends as well." Blu explained while smiling happily.
"Sounds like you have an interesting story to tell, eh?" The bird said while arching the feathers around his left eye.
"I guess you could say that." Blu responded while laughing a little.
"Oh, where are my manners? Names Paris." Paris smiled and introduced himself while extending a talon (due to the fact that they were still hovering in midair).
"My name is Blu. You know, like the cheese with mold on it. Smells really bad?" Blu responded while accepting Paris's talon shake.
"Heh, I like you." Paris laughed, thinking Blu's mannerisms were funny.
"Hey, how about we go to the fruit market so you could tell me more about this girl of yours. My treat." Paris offered.
"Well, I don't see why not. But first can we stop by the Christ the Redeemer statue? I promised someone I would go there."
Paris, my first Rio OC, is here! Who is he? Is he good or evil? Will Blu ever stop using cheese to describe his name? All of these will be answered! (well maybe not the cheese one). Thanks again for your reviews! And as always, have fun and keep writing!