Hey guys and gals! Here I give you another chapter. This chapter is pretty good if I do say so myself, so enjoy! Happy Thanksgiving, and thanks for reading!
Special Notice: I would like to thank Assasins Creed Master for his generous offer to make me a specialized cover art for this story! He is another great author and you should check out his work and keep the community going! Once again, thank you Assasin for your picture.
Guest Review Responses:
Fanfiction guy: Wow, that's crazy that he thought Carlos wrote the story! I guess he was confused or mislead somehow. I guess that's a good thing for you since other people think it's that professional sounding. :) And as for what the key is for, you can find out now! Unfortunately I do not own a PS3/PS4 but do play on steam, wii u, and occasionally live for 360 (if they give out free or discounted gold). You are a nice person too man, I and look forward to hearing from you.
The sun was setting over the city of Rio de Janeiro. Blu was flying over the city, looking for a certain jeep with a certain ornithologist driver. He scanned the ground below him as he glided around with a key clutched in his right talon. This was no ordinary key however. Blu felt that this key was very important to his ornithologist friend Tulio. He couldn't explain it, but Blu could feel it in his heart that the very key he had was special. Even though he was in a hurry, Blu couldn't help but be taken by the beauty of the city. The bright city lights encompassed the nearby region, and their reflection visible in the ocean in the distance. The sight helped Blu remain calm despite his current situation. For the time being anyway.
Elsewhere in a dumpster outside a Brazilian restaurant, a peculiar and somewhat neurotic bird was searching through human refuse for things to accentuate her beauty. She slowly and softly spoke to herself as she sorted through the garbage.
"I am such a pretty bird. Know why? Because who's a pretty bird? Hmmm?" She asked aloud, while looking at a broken shard of glass showing her reflection. The military macaw got mad, and narrowed her eyes.
"Hey you, bird that looks like me! I asked you a question! Who's a pretty bird?!" She angrily demanded from her reflection while stomping her left talon and ruffling her chest and neck feathers.
After a moment she assumed that the bird was so lost in her beauty she couldn't reply stupid and answered for her.
"IM A PRETTY BIRD! HAHAHAHAHAHAH!" She laughed insanely and began running around in circles without moving her head. This caused her neck to twist like elastic. Just then she noticed something shiny in the mirror. The military macaw stopped running around and quickly looked into the mirror. She squinted and focused on the moving image. She gasped in stared intensely at the mirror. It showed a blue macaw with the most attractive, shiny, mesmerizing thing she ever saw.
"Sooooo preeeeettttyyyyy…" She drooled as a crooked smile formed on her beak.
"Oh Tulio, where are you Tulio?" Blu said to himself as he scanned the moving vehicles below. There were so many of them moving around like insignificant specs on the twisting roads. Blu was finding it very difficult to locate his target. The blue macaw was so focused on finding his friend, he didn't even noticed the deranged military macaw heading right for him.
Out of nowhere another bird slammed into Blu, causing both of them to spiral out of control. Fortunately, they were both at such a high altitude that even Blu had ample time to react. After catching himself, Blu hovered in midair and looked behind him to see the rude bird that just collided with him flying away.
"Hmp, some birds just-" Blu eyes widened in shock as he opened and closed his talons, feeling that he no longer was in possession of the key.
"Oh no!"
To add some irony to the situation, Blu found himself right outside the hotel at which Linda was staying. He even saw Tulio getting out of his jeep in the parking lot!
At this point Blu had two options. He could either go to his human friends for help, or try to apprehend this key snatcher himself. As much as Blu would love to have Linda and Tulio help him, by the time he found them the macaw that he bumped into would be long gone. Blu swallowed heavily and made a difficult decision.
"I really hope this is worth it." Blu whined to himself as he darted in the opposite direction than that of Tulio. He was now in pursuit of the talon picker.
Blu sped ahead, trying to catch up to the military macaw.
"Hey! *huff* Hey, c-come *huff* back!" Blu desperately cried out to the macaw, but his pleas were in vain.
"No! I'm a pretty bird, and only pretty birds get pretty things!" The macaw defiantly replied.
This bird obviously had more endurance than Blu, and an aerial chase appeared pointless as time went on and Blu became fatigued. Blu stopped and landed on a nearby rooftop. After taking a moment to catch his breath, Blu put his wing under his chin and thought. He soon realized that he was going about this all wrong. Instead of relying on physical means, Blu should use his greatest strength, his brain.
"Let's see, if my calculations are correct, then she is traveling on an arc. If I go straight, I can cut her off up ahead." Blu thought aloud while rubbing the feathers under his beak.
After a minute or two of flying, the military macaw looked over her shoulder to find that the blue bird was no longer chasing her.
"Ha! I guess I was too much for him. Just goes to show, pretty birdies always win." She arrogantly said to herself while slowing down and stroking her crest feathers with her left talon.
Blu was hiding behind a nearby bush, waiting for his target. As soon as he saw the green macaw flying above him, he gingerly strolled out from the bush and walked on an adjacent sidewalk.
The military macaw was interrupted from her narcissistic self-accolades when she noticed Blu. She gasped, and froze in midair.
"H-how did he find me?" She whispered to herself in disbelief.
Blu looked up at her.
"Oh no, he saw me. I better-" She was baffled by what Blu did next. The macaw just waved in a friendly manner and turned his attention to something in his wings. The military macaw was absolutely confused.
"H-How dare he just ignore me! I'm too pretty to be ignored like this!" She said with rage before she flew down to the blue macaw.
She landed down on the sidewalk, not too far from Blu, and marched in his direction.
"Hey! Who do you think you are ju-"
"Oh hello there! How's that shiny key of yours?" Blu inquired after turning around to face the angry macaw.
"Oh, well it's pretty. Just…like…me? Hey, are you listening?" She asked, now vexed after seeing that she had lost Blu's attention.
"Hm? I'm sorry, I was just busy looking at my new bow." Blu apologized as he redirected his attention back to the military macaw.
"A bow? What's that?" The military macaw queried, now interested in what Blu had.
Blu smiled, knowing now that he had piqued her interest.
"Well you see, it's something that human women put on their head to make themselves look pretty. You see, I made this one out of a leaf." Blu explained.
The female macaw's eyes widened in excitement, like a child on Christmas morning.
"Really!? Can, can I try? Just for a little?" She begged, taking a step closer to Blu.
"Hmmmm, I don't know… What if you break it?" Blu asked, pretending to be concerned for his bow.
The macaw tapped her beak with her left talon, trying to think of a way she could have the bow. The macaw perked up when she thought of a way to get the bow.
"I know, what if we trade? I'll give you this key for that bow! Waddaya say?" She offered and smiled.
"I'm not too sure." Blu replied.
"Pleeeeeaaaasssseeeee." She pleaded, giving Blu puppy eyes.
"Oh, ok." Blu finally conceded, lowering his head.
The female macaw squealed in delight.
"Yes! Ok, gimmie!" She demanded, placing the diamond studded key in front of her so Blu could take it.
Blu happily took the key and gave the military macaw the bow. The green colored macaw euphorically lifted the bow up to her head and stuck it in her feathers.
"Hehe! This is so awesome! Thank you sooooo much, uh, what's your name?" The female bird asked.
"Blu, you know like the, um, like the color but without the 'e' at the end." Blu responded, trying to come up with a more efficient way of explaining his name.
"Nice to meet you Blu! My name's Carla." Carla said, offering a talon shake.
Blu accepted the shake and they both shook talons.
"You know Blu, you seem familiar. I just can't put my wing on it." Carla said while sorting through her memories in an attempt to remember where she saw this bird before.
"I know you will remember soon enough. I actually have to go, see you around Carla!" Blu bid farewell as he took off, heading towards the hotel where Lind and Tulio were located.
Carla watched Blu fly away. The rays from the setting sun reflected off his blue feather as he soared in the sky.
"You know, that Blu guy is the nicest bird I've ever talked to. Actually, I think he's the only bird I've ever talked to. Hehe. Wait, I-I talked with another bird! That means I'm not worthless! Maybe the cockatoo was wrong, m-maybe I'm not stupid."
Tulio had called Linda's room through the front desk and was sitting in a black leather wingchair while waiting in the lobby for her to come down. Tulio anxiously looked down at his watch. It was only a few seconds since the last time he checked, but it felt like an eternity. Then, the elevator chimed. Tulio stood up from his chair and looked at the elevator. An elderly lady walked out. That was it. The ornithologist sighed deeply before returning to resting in his chair. As he waited, Tulio tapped his fingertips on the chair's leather arm and listened to the rhythmic sound it produced. He stared at his fingers and became lost in his thoughts.
"How is she going to respond to all this? How can I expect her to say yes? We haven't even known each other for a full month yet." The bird doctor thought to himself as he waited. He was so lost in his thoughts, that he didn't even notice someone walk up in front of him.
"Uh, Tulio?" A muffled voice penetrated Tulio's thoughts. He groggily looked up to see Linda standing over him. His eyes shot wide open as he sobered up from being lost in his mind.
"Woah!" He nervously responded, not expecting Linda to come out of nowhere (Even though she casually walked up to him).
Linda cautiously took a step back.
"I-I'm sorry Tulio, I didn't mean to scare you." Linda apologized as she adjusted her glasses with her left hand.
"Oh, no no no. You didn't scare me. I was just, unprepared." Tulio replied comfortingly as he stood up. He then took Linda's hands in his.
They gazed into each other's eyes for a few moments.
"Um, Linda? There is something important I need to talk to you about. D-do you mind if we step outside for a moment?" Tulio inquired.
"Oh, yeah. Sure." His girlfriend answered.
The two walked through two automatic sliding doors out of the hotel, and out into the parking lot.
"So what did you want to talk about Tulio?" Linda asked.
"Linda, I just want to thank you." The ornithologist simply said while looking at Linda.
"Thank you? For what?" The Minnesotan asked while chuckling, finding it cute and slightly humorous that Tulio would thank her for no apparent reason.
"For being part of my life." Tulio genuinely replied.
"Awww" Linda giggled.
"You coming to Rio was the best thing that ever happened to me." Tulio added while digging into his back pocket. His eye grew in shock when he realized that he had lost something. Before he had time to react further, a familiar squawk hit his eardrums. Tulio promptly turned around to see Blu coming towards him. In a matter of seconds, Blu had perched himself on Tulio's shoulder.
"B-Blu? H-How did you…" Blu stopped Tulio from talking when he extended his right talon out. In his grasp was a key. Tulio gasped. There wasn't any time for questions. The Brazilian just accepted this strange twist of fate and gladly took the key from Blu's talon. Tulio then looked back at Linda and resumed.
"And, I want you to be able stay here." He said while holding the key out for Linda to take.
"Tulio? What, what is this?" Linda anxiously asked as she took the key from Tulio.
Tulio smirked.
"Instead of telling you, how about we go see it now?"
Linda nodded in agreement. The group of three made their way towards Tulio's jeep, where they found a familiar car parked next to it.
Standing outside the small automobile was Amanda, the receptionist from the aviary.
"Amanda? What are you doing here? And why aren't you looking after the aviary?" Tulio asked strictly, a little angry yet not really that surprised that one of his employees left their post.
"Listen, I can explain. These two Blue Macaws came to me with this weird key and told, well, wrote, that we needed to get it to you. But the blue dude got away, and it felt like the little girl bird was just complaining about my driving the whole ride over here." Amanda explained as she opened the front passenger side door to show a dizzy Jewel stumbling on the car seat.
Blu became very concerned and flew down from Tulio's shoulder to Jewel. He landed down next to her and put a wing around her.
"Jewel, what happened?" Blu worriedly asked his girlfriend.
Jewel rubbed her face with her good wing before using it to point to Amanda.
"Her" She simply said.
"Whatever this thing you left me in is called. Stop and go stop and go stop and go. She obviously can't use it without getting others sick." Jewel added after shaking her head to fight off the dizziness.
Blu chuckled, happy to know that Jewel was all right. Jewel smiled and pulled Blu into a tight hug.
"Hey, I'd hate to ruin such a nice moment but I need you to come with me and Linda. Without you two we wouldn't be here right now." Tulio interjected.
Jewel looked up at Blu with scared eyes.
"No, not again. Not another one of those…those sick machine things." Jewel pleaded.
"Don't worry Jewel, I'm sure Tulio is a much better driver." Blu lovingly comforted.
The two couples eventually made it into Tulio's jeep, and started driving somewhere. Amanda left for the aviary, and everything seemed calm now.
Tulio pulled up in front of a building. Blu and Linda got a very potent feeling of nostalgia from it for some odd reason. Blu and Jewel perched themselves on Linda's right shoulder, and the group of four exited the jeep and walked up to the building.
Tulio excitedly looked at Linda.
"Ok, go ahead. Use the key." He pushed anxiously.
Linda took out the diamond studded key from her pocket and nervously unlocked the door. She opened it and walked into the building. Tulio was the last to enter, and after he closed the door he turned on the lights. As the room was flooded with light, Blu and Linda's mouths were left wide open in shock. They found themselves in an EXACT duplicate of Linda's bookstore from Minnesota.
Linda looked over at Tulio with watery eyes. She was touched that he had gone to such lengths to do this for her.
"Now, Linda, you can stay in Rio. The bookstore is yours, all expenses paid!" Tulio proudly said.
"Oh Tulio!" Linda cried happily as she pulled her love into an emotional hug.
"I-I can't accept this. It must have cost a fortune!" Linda said declining the bookstore.
"Don't worry Linda, it didn't cost me anything! I convinced our funders that you needed a place of permanent residence so Blu wouldn't suffer from depression." Tulio explained, still holding onto Linda.
Blu coked his head. "Depressed? I'm not depressed." He mumbled to himself.
"And that's not the best part." Tulio added, helping Blu and Jewel down onto a nearby table. The ornithologist directed Linda to a countertop with a book on it.
Linda sniffed and curiously looked at the book. The two walked over to it. Linda picked up the book and read the cover.
"To My Love"
Her hands trembled as she opened the book to the first chapter. It said, "Chapter 1: I give you my heart, my love, and myself."
Other than that, there wasn't anything else written in the book. Linda flipped through all the pages searching for something else. She finally reached the last page. There were four words written in bold at the end.
…
…
…
…
…
"Will you marry me?"
Linda gasped as if she was winded. The book fell from her hands and onto the counter. She slowly turned around to see Tulio bent down on one knee, with an open black box in his hands. Inside the box was a ring.
Linda held her hands up to her face, not believing what she was seeing.
"So, will you marry me Linda? Tulio asked.
Linda's lips trembled as she lowered her hands.
"OH OF COURSE I WILL TULIO!" She cried out in pure euphoria.
The two hugged, and then pulled each other into a long passionate kiss.
Blu and Jewel were both holding on to one another, crying tears of joy.
Yes, tonight was indeed a joyous one. Finally the two bird nerds were engaged. It was a night to remember, the night of the proposal.
After all of the excitement had died down a little, the four returned to the aviary where Bu and Jewel were brought back to their room. The two snuggled together as they prepared to drift off into a peaceful sleep.
"So, you're ok with cars now?" Blu asked, breaking the silence.
Jewel looked up at him.
"Oh, don't worry Blu, I'll get you back. When you least expect it." She sighed happily.
"Ohhhh, why can't you just do it now and get it over with?" Blu groaned.
"Because. Then it wouldn't be fair. Also, you're cute when you're paranoid. And I can't miss that." Jewel concluded before falling asleep.
Blu smiled in contentment. He closed his eyes and started his journey into sleep. A few thoughts ran through his mind before he fell asleep.
"Thank you Jewel. You have given so much to me, I just want to give something to you. I just want to make you feel like the most special, important, loved bird in the world. I need to tell you. I can't do this anymore. I will tell you Jewel."
There we go, finished! Well, Lind and Tulio are finally engaged. AND, we got to see Carla the Military Macaw. At first she seems crazy, but maybe that's because she was never treated with kindness. Maybe, all she needs is a friend? I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It is one of the last. Actually, I only have two more planned. So get ready for the grand finale! I am absolutely amazed by the sheer amount of support you guys have given. As usual, any and all reviews are greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next chapter!
Egil out!