Ok, the next chapter is up. Don't want to keep you too long, so here are the guest review responses:
Fanfiction guy: Thanks! Glad you liked it. Yeah, it's important to keep the characters' personalities constant. The next chapter should have more of Blu talking about his concerns for the future, so stay tuned for that. Sure, I'd love to read your ideas. I guess you will be posting them here? Also, I know how you feel about exams. I am in the same boat. ;) School always comes first. Hope you enjoy this next chapter, and as usual thanks for the review.
After flying for a minute or two, Blu and Paris arrived at the Christ the Redeemer statue. The two birds perched themselves on the statue's left arm with Blu on the right of Paris, closer to the head.
"Wow, this is amazing." Blu said in amazement while looking out over Rio.
"Yeah" Paris replied while stretching his wings above his head. He exhaled deeply as his stretch finished and his wings returned to his sides.
"You don't really get used to a view like this." Paris added.
The two remained there for a few moments, taking in the beauty of Rio; It was comprised of manmade architectural wonders and the natural aura of the jungle.
"So, you're a Blue Macaw then?" Paris asked after turning his head towards Blu.
"Um, yes. How did you know?" Blu said while turning his head to Paris's.
"Hehe. You don't visit the city without catching up on the local news." Paris chuckled.
"What do you mean?" Blu asked, now a little confused as to why HE was on the local news.
"Your face was kind of plastered everywhere. I'm surprised I didn't recognize you sooner. Some anemic lady and her crazy friend put up pictures of you everywhere. That guy just wouldn't keep quiet with all of those weird squealing sounds." Paris rubbed the temples of his head as if he had a headache.
"Oh, that must have been Linda and Tulio. And she's not anemic, there just isn't much sun in Minnesota." Blu retorted sternly, a little offended.
"Oh, sorry man. I-I didn't know that they were your friends." Paris apologized, now embarrassed, while rubbing the back of his neck.
"It's ok, wait you are ok with humans?" Blu said with his eyes wide open in shock.
"Yeah. I mean your friends are your friends, and your enemies are your enemies. Doesn't matter who you are." Paris shrugged and tilted his head a little as if to indicate it wasn't a big deal.
"Maybe he should talk to Jewel when her wing is healed. Right now, the only human she really trusts is Tulio. What if something happens that needs Jewel to trust other humans?" Blu thought to himself.
"So, Blu. You wanna grab something at the fruit market now?" Paris said and interrupted Blu's thoughts.
"Oh, yes. I'm actually quite hungry." Blu said while rubbing his belly.
"Ok Great! I know this one place that has all the best fruits." Paris said while dreamily looking off into the distance and licked his beak.
"That sounds nice. Um, Paris? Is it ok if I ask you a question quickly?" Blu requested.
Paris broke out of his fruit fantasy and looked at Blu with a more serious expression.
"Sure, I guess." He replied somewhat skeptical.
There was one thing about Paris that bugged Blu. He had no idea as to what type of Macaw he was. Blu needed to find out.
"You already know that I'm a Blue Macaw. So I was just curious. What are you?"
After hearing Blu's question, Paris became very tense. His shoulders were as stiff as a rock, and his eyes dilated from anxiety.
"Oh, Um. Well you see, I-I'm a, uhhhh, Scarlet Macaw. Yep, all my life. Being, uhhh, scarlet. *achm*" He faked a smile as he pretended to be honest.
Blu could sense that Paris was very uncomfortable with this question. Even though he did share some features with Scarlet Macaws, Paris was definitely not one of them. However, Blu felt it was best to drop the question.
"Ok. Thanks." Blu thanked.
Yeah, no prob. Hey, come on! Or else I'm gonna eat all the fruit!" Paris then took off from the statue. He seemed to be returning to his normal disposition, but was obviously trying to get away from Blu long enough for the conversation to die.
"H-hey! I hope you're not serious! Eating too fast can cause indigestion, acid reflux, and general gastrointestinal discomfort!" Blu warned while trying to catch up to Paris. This was proving difficult as this "Scarlet Macaw" had a great deal more experience than Blu.
Paris looked over his shoulder back at Blu.
"Heh, I like you. Nothing you say makes any sense!" Paris chuckled.
Blu rolled his eyes.
"So I've been told." He mumbled to himself.
Stowed away in the corner of the fruit market was a local samba club for birds. It was recently dismantled by monkeys, but now it had been reconstructed by the proud owners. The proprietors were none other than the hip hop duo, Nico and Pedro. Pedro had just finished laying down a wooden board as to form a bar for birds to use to order and consume drinks. The tubby cardinal leaned against the bar, and panted a little.
"Whew." Pedro exhaled while he wiped his forehead with his left wing.
"Man, that was as hard as… uh, a rock?" Pedro tried to come up with an idiom in order to convey his point, but it just ended up backfiring when he couldn't think of anything.
Nico gave Pedro a confused look.
"What?" The yellow canary inquired, wondering what in the world his friend meant.
"Never mind, I just need a drink." Pedro replied while letting his tongue hand out.
"Now you're talkin'!" Nico chirped as he flew behind the bar.
"Now what can I get you sir?" Nico asked while deepening his voice in an attempt to seem more refined and distinguished.
Pedro chuckled. "I'll take a shot orange juice my good man." Pedro answered as he puffed his chest feathers and pointed his beak upwards to signify he was an elite.
Nico turned around and poured some orange juice, which was stored in an insulated metallic keg, into a small cup well suited for a bird.
"There you go buddy." Nico said as he slid the cup across the bar towards Pedro.
"Mmm Mmm" The cardinal hummed. He lifted up the cup to his beak.
"Look out stomach, here it-"
"Uh, Pedro?"
Pedro was cut off by Nico speaking in an aggravated tone.
Pedro looked up at his buddy over the rim of his drink.
"What?" Pedro queried, still thinking about the contents of his cup.
Nico pointed a wingtip towards the entrance of the club.
Pedro was confused as to why his friend was so upset. He followed Nico's wingtip to see a familiar face.
"Paris?" The two samba brother said in unison.
"Where you been hiding yourself bird? I thought you were dead!" Pedro called to his friend happily. He then squinted a little as he saw another figure land next to Paris.
"BLU!?" Pedro exclaimed, shocked to see these two birds together. This resulted in him spilling his organ juice on his belly because he wasn't paying attention to his cup.
"Aww man" The cardinal groaned.
"Heh, same Pedro I see." Paris laughed while walking towards the two buddies.
"Blu! Get away from him!" Nico warned and pointed at Paris.
Blu just stood there, confused and uncertain. He nervously moved his eyes from Nico and Pedro to Paris, and back again.
"Oh, don't listen to this joker." Paris suavely recommended.
"Joker!? Blu, don't let this THEIF trick you!" Nico retaliated.
"Oh come on! Are you still upset about that?" Paris asked, now getting tired of this.
"Wh-what's going on here?" Blu queried. He was shocked that Paris had actually stolen something from Nico.
"Yeah, what happened?" Pedro inquired, just as confused as Blu.
"This bird stole a strawberry right from my personal stash." Nico grumbled while giving Paris an evil eye.
"You should have seen it! That was the most perfect strawberry ever. Me and Pedro were supposed to share it, but sticky fingers got to it first." Nico added and crossed his wings.
"Wha- personal stash? It was sitting underneath a fruit cart by itself." Paris countered, now getting even closer to the canary.
"Well if you would have listened to me shouting at you, maybe you would have known!" Nico raged with his eyes narrowed, now face to face with Paris.
"You called that little chirping yelling? Maybe you should take some vocal lessons." Paris said while staring intensely into the small canary's eyes, trying his best to intimidate him.
Fortunately, Blu and Pedro pushed the two apart.
"Hey, hey. Listen Nico, I know he may have done you wrong." He quickly looked over his shoulder to check on Blu and Paris.
"But he did bring Blu with him. Maybe we should give Paris a second chance?" Pedro whispered to his cardinal friend.
Meanwhile, Blu was talking with Paris. Paris looked very frustrated with the current situation and was pacing back and forth over the span of a few inches.
"O-ok, I-I know that things may look bad, but maybe if you showed Nico and Pedro that you really are sorry they would forgive you. Maybe instead of, um, being aggressive you could be calmer?" Blu requested, really hoping he didn't go too far and get on Paris's bad side as well.
Paris sighed in defeat.
"You're right Blu." Paris admitted while looking down at his talons.
Paris and Nico started walking towards each other, leaving Blu and Pedro respectively. They met in-between the gap reaching from Blu to Pedro.
"Hey" Paris greeted.
"Hey" Nico replied.
"I'm sorry" Nico and Paris said at the same time.
They smiled warmly at each other, knowing that their friendship may be repaired.
Before the fruit incident, Nico, Pedro, and Paris were close. They were the party trio. Paris kind of filled the void due to Rafael starting a family. Maybe, they could be amigos again.
"Here" Paris said while pulling out something from underneath his right wing with his opposite talon.
He held out a stick of Juicy Fruit.
"Thanks" Nico gladly accepted the gift.
"So, we're cool?" Paris asked, arching the feathers around his right eye and offering a talon shake.
"Yeah. Just be careful what fruit you touch." Nico replied while pointing a wingtip at Paris teasingly.
Pedro walked up to Blu and stood next to him.
"That was pretty quick." Blu stated bluntly, surprised that this feud was over so quick.
Pedro looked over to the Blu Macaw.
"Yeah, it's kind of their thing. Me and Nico have samba, Nico and Paris have arguments." Pedro chuckled.
"I just get used to it and don't ask. Paris is kinda hot-headed. I guess it's just because of his situation." The cardinal shrugged.
Blu was about to ask Pedro something, but was interrupted by Nico.
"So Blu, what brings you to paradise?" The canary queried while spinning his bottle cap on a wingtip.
"Oh, well I was wondering if there was something to eat. I'm a little hungry." Blu explained.
"Come on guys, we got some stuff stockpiled in the back." Nico said while waving a wing and walking towards the back of the club, signaling for his amigos to follow.
What the four birds did not realize, was that there were three figures eyeing their movements. The middle figure, apparently the leader, chuckled.
"We got 'em."
Back at the aviary, a certain red headed woman was in an alcove situated along a hallway. She stood looking at a vending machine, pondering which snack she should treat herself to. A tall man walked up behind her without her noticing.
"You know the caramel melts taste really good with bird seeds." The man said.
The woman stiffened.
"Oh, sorry Linda. I didn't mean to startle you. Maybe I should-"
"Really Tulio?" Linda said while turning around to face the ornithologist.
"Well, I, um" He stuttered while rubbing the back of his neck.
"Bird seeds on the choco fudge bars are way better." Linda giggled.
Tulio was shocked. There actually was someone who was like him in so many ways. He stared into Linda's big, intelligent eyes.
"Tulio? Is there something you came here for?" Linda asked even though she felt she already knew the answer.
"Oh, well I was wondering if maybe perhaps, if you weren't too busy..." Tulio trailed off. What was he doing? He couldn't chicken out (no pun intended) now. No, he had to ask.
"D-Do you want to go out for dinner tonight?" He questioned, quite nervous. His knuckles white from anxiety.
Linda was ecstatic that Tulio actually asked her out. But she wanted to be sure of one thing first.
"Why would you want to do that?" Linda inquired, trying her best to remain composed.
"Well, during our little adventure I realized how special you are. And, I like you Linda. Aaand, I was hoping that you felt the same way and wanted to go on a date." Tulio couldn't believe that he actually said that. Now there was no ambiguity. He awaited her denial and the heartache that came with it.
"Oh Tulio, I would love to out with you!" Linda replied blissfully.
"Wha- r-really?" Tulio replied, dumbfounded.
"Of course. You're the only person I have ever met that was willing to give so much for me. I really appreciate you helping me find Blu." Linda said while walking up to Tulio.
She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Tulio blushed a little, but his melanin covered much of it up.
"I need to get ready. I'll see you later Tulio." Linda said as she walked away down the hall.
The bird doctor stood there and sighed. He tried to take in everything that happened. Could she be the one? Much like Blu, could he have finally found his…
"Jewel!" Tulio exclaimed.
"I need to check on Jewel! Those aides can't take on that bird when the sedatives wear off." Tulio said to himself as he darted back to the room where Jewel was being taken care of.
Another chapter completed! Thanks for your continued support. Just by reading, you raise the number of views which helps motivate me. Review are really awesome too, so any of those are great. Oh, and if you like my writing style then feel free to check out my fictionpress account. Same name, same game. That's all for now, see you in the next chapter!