Chapter 4: Retribution

(Marcel's P.O.V.)

We have finally captured that little shit, after all the money, pain, and humiliation he has brought on us, I will finally be able to do the same to him! But first, we must expose him to the public, or better yet, the world… I looked down at the two Hyacinth macaws trapped in the cage; one was hiding in the wings of the other one, and I knew as I glared at the unconscious one, that it was Wolf. Sneering, I turned away and faced my fellow smugglers and clenched my fists and said, "Grab their cage, we will deal with them when we get back to the warehouse. Nigel!" I held out my arm so my faithful, and dangerous, cockatoo could land, and as I picked a few stray feathers from his pelt, I added, "But Nigel and I will have dibs first… after we deal with those two," I jabbed a finger towards the cage Armando had picked up, "we will go after those Spix macaws, and round up a hefty price from anyone who is still bidding on them, got it?"

Armando and Tipa both quickly nodded, and as I turned around and started to walk away from Cristo de Redentor, I couldn't help but smirk as I planned on what to do to Wolf and his friend. As for what Nigel would do was beyond me, but I know he was planning something big, since I could see a fire burning in his eyes, and they seemed to be licking up with unpronounced anger and bitterness. "Who shall go first Nigel; you or I?"

Nigel screeched softly and tapped one of his talons on my shoulder, and I grinned as we continued onward, planning what we would do separately to each of our guests…

(Azure's P.O.V.)

I didn't like the way the lead smuggler had talked towards, and about us, but I wasn't too worried about what he was going to do. Nigel kept looking back at us, but his gaze would always linger on me, and I was becoming more nervous as time ticked by, and Wolf still hadn't stirred. I looked up and saw Nigel eyeing me again, so I willed myself to turn away and bury myself under Wolf's wing, and I silently cried as we were being taken to who knows where. Wolf, you must wake up and save us… I don't know what I can do, and I'm scared… please Wolf… please, I'm frightened…

When I felt the swaying cease, I dared to take a peek out from under Wolf's wing, and I saw a massive building looming ominously above us, and it had rust covering the metal alloy all around the edges. I looked down and saw the head smuggler holding some keys up to what seemed like the door of the building. Wolf groaned and started to move around, and I jumped when I felt his wing slide under me. I looked down and grabbed Wolf and gave him an extremely tight hug, but not before I dug my head under his lower beak and felt myself shiver. I felt Wolf slowly wrap his wings around my smaller frame, and he made shushing noises as he ran his wings through my feathers, and he asked, "Are you ok Azure, have they harmed you?"

When I shook my head, I tried to dig myself into his feathers more, and I murmured quietly, "N-No… but I'm s-s-scared." I pulled my head away, and as I looked up and into his feathers, I opened my beak and said, "Wolf, I always have, but I just feel I must say this, but I lo-" I was interrupted as a beak jarring crash separated us, and as I fell away from Wolf and towards the back of the cage, Wolf fell backwards, but towards the now open door. I nearly screamed as a needle was shoved into one of Wolf's wings, but I gasped as I felt something tightening around my throat, and something hauled me up to the cages wall. I was choking to get some breath, and just as black spots started to appear in my vision, I could feel myself getting weaker as I struggling less and less. Just as I thought I was going to pass out, all pressure was removed, and I fell to the cage floor gasping and heaving in beakfuls of air. My vision started to return, and as it did, so did the feeling of something wet moving down my neck. I looked towards Wolf, who didn't have the needle in his wing, but he appeared extremely weak as he struggled towards me. I stood up, but as I did, I fell forward, and Wolf was just able to catch me, and I heard a voice above me say, "Now that I have a sample of Wolfs' blood, we can see why he can do what he does. Nigel, go ahead and have some fun with them, I can't do anything or I will risk damaging them too much. Just try not to kill them… we may need them…"

(Wolf's P.O.V.)

"YOU LEAVE HER ALONE!" I shouted from the cages side. When Marcel had taken my blood, he had done so greedily, and the result was I was extremely weak. Nigel had beaten me up, and I had been powerless to do anything when he had gone after my dear Azure. He was currently on a table halfway across the room from where I was, and I could hear her crying out in pain every so often. I dropped my wings to my side and felt my tears soaking into my feathers as I continued to sob angrily. This all is because of me… if I hadn't come to Rio, this never would have happened. Or if I could have killed them, then this woul- "WOLF!" I heard Azure scream out, and I felt my blood run cold. I saw a flash of silver, coated in red, flash from the area Nigel had taken my mate. "No… no no, no…" with renewed energy, I flapped my wings off the table, and towards them the best I could.

When I got closer, I yelled in anguish and pain; Azure was lying in a small puddle of blood… but Nigel was holding what looked like a scalpel in his talons as he slashed another streak across one of her bloody wings. When he turned to face me, his beak was twisted into a sinister smile, and I charged towards him. His eyes switched from pleasure and malice to fear and surprise when he fully registered what he was seeing, but I had pushed the scalpel back and shoved in into his gullet as he roared in astonishment. I couldn't care less as I rushed towards Azure and bent over her crying form. I picked up her head as she whimpered, and I didn't care about the blood getting in my feathers. I leaned my beak forward, and rested it onto hers. As she opened her beak, I heard a gurgling behind me, and when I turned my head to see what it was, I saw Nigel had fallen forward, and the scalpel had imbedded itself into his body, but at an angle. I gently lowered Azure back to the table as I walked towards the slowly dying Cockatoo.

I didn't feel one ounce of regret, pity, or disturbance as I grabbed Nigel by his neck, and with all my strength mixing with my adrenaline, I bashed the back of his head into the table top and tightened my grip around his throat tightened. He started to sputter and gasp, but that soon died out also as I continued to tighten my claws around his throat. He started to twitch as his wings and talons punched or slapped at me, but the rage behind my eyes was nothing to beat. Even after his movements had grown still, I continued to tighten my grip, pain and suffering coursing through my veins as I thought about Azure, about my mate, my love… in so much pain. The tears were flowing heavily down my cheeks as I glared at Nigel, and when I heard a whimper behind me, a loud pop issued from under me where my claws were clenching down.

I whipped around and ran up to Azure, and as I looked down towards her, she seemed to be struggling. The wounds she had sustained were shallow mainly, but a few were deeper, and it was there that I saw that she had lost most her blood, "W…W-wolf, I-I-I l… lo-"

My heart felt like it had just snapped in two, and I laid my wing over her beak and said, "Everything is going to be alright baby… I swear. Let me just get you outside first…" With great difficulty, I managed to place Azure on my back, and I could feel the slick stickiness of blood running through my feathers, but I didn't care as I flew off towards the far side of the hanger, near a rectangle of light. "DAD!"

I stopped in midair, and turned my head towards the source of the noise, and I saw Gabriel and Luke standing on top of some boxes. I flew towards them, and as I got closer, I could see they were mostly unharmed, except for a few cuts and scratches here and there. "Stand still, I'm going to pick you up…" I yelled as I flew towards them.

When I was closer, I had grabbed them both in a talon each, and took off towards the entrance as I heard some shouting from deeper in the warehouse…

As I set both Gabriel and Luke on the ground, I hovered over a little bit before I settled down, and gently laid Azure down on the ground in front of me. The dazzling rays of early sunlight were filtering into the clearing I had landed in, but I was too busy to admire their beauty as I gazed into the eyes of Azure. She was breathing shallowly, and I looked up for a brief second and spied a familiar looking Military Macaw eating something above us. "Hey! PLEASE, come her!" I shouted through my pain, and winced as pain throbbed into my wing. The macaw turned around, and I recognized it as one of my old stalkers. She dropped what she was eating as she stared at us, but I said again, "Please, I need help!"

This snapped her from her daze, and as she flew down towards us in a hurry, she gasped as she saw Azure, and I asked, "Do you remember where I live?" as she nodded her head, I said, "Take my sons back there, that's all I ask. Can you do that?" she nodded, and I looked over at my crying sons, and said, "Go with her, your mother and I will be back later…" I cast a sorrowful glance towards the female macaw next to me, and as she looked into my eyes, she quickly turned around and said, "Come along boys, we must get you home…"

I looked down at Azure, and felt my heart skip a beat as she looked up at me. I couldn't hold them back anymore, so as I started crying, I leaned by beak against hers and looked deeply into her eyes. She started to cry to, but she started to shiver as well. I gently picked her up and wrapped my wings around her smaller body, and felt how cold she was. I held her closely and rocked back and forth, sobbing as I listened to her heartbeat, struggling as it was, to pump what blood was still there.

Azure gently nuzzled into my feathers, but she soon pushed away weakly, and as she weakly opened her beak, her normally silky voice croaked out quietly, "W-Wolf… I-I-I love y-you…" her beak was being pressed against mine tenderly, and I could feel her slowly relaxing in my wings. I pressed harder into the kiss, and as I did, I felt Azure's beak twist upwards into a smile, and as she sighed happily, I felt her go limp as she leaned forward into my body.

The wracking sobs that engulfed me were loud and heartbreaking, and I saw a few birds land in branches above me, but I paid no attention to them as I continued to hold my dead mate in my wings. As I continued to sob, I saw a few tears fall from some on the others eyes as well. Why did I have to get her involved? She was innocent, and now she is dead, because of ME!

I heard someone land nearby, but my eyes were closed as I held Azure to my body ever tighter, and I felt a wing being placed on my wing, somewhere where the blood hadn't reached. The sobs started to die down as the wing was removed, and when I opened my eyes, I looked up and saw a black toucan, and I heard it ask, "Tell me Amigo… what happened…?"

Rustling and the sound of twigs echoed into the clearing, and when I looked over, I saw a fat man, a skinny man with an afro, and Marcel, with his shades on as he smirked towards me. I gently lowered Azure's lifeless body to the forest floor as several birds took off, and I said, "They happened!"

I shifted into a human, and staggered towards them. They smiled as the saw me stumbling towards me. I noticed the gun strapped to marcels hip, but he never reached for it, instead, he started to walk towards me; along with his two henchmen.

When I was standing in front of them, I slowly slid one hand behind my back as I jabbed a finger in Marcel's face and said, "You ruined my life, and now I'm going to give you your… Retribution…"

As he chuckled, I wrapped my hand around a metallic grip, and slowly pulled it out from the back of my pants as he chuckled and taunted, "How are you going to do that when you can barely walk?"

Chuckling, I brought my hand out from behind me, and slammed it down into his chest, and grabbed his pistol from his hip, and whispered into his face, "Just… like… that…"

I yanked my bloodied knife back, and I pulled his pistol out as he fell down, and when I was looking towards the two stunned henchmen behind him, I lifted my arm up and squeezed off two shots, one for each head, and turned around. I shoved the pistol into my empty Hollister, and as I did that, I shifted until I was a bird, and I stumbled and landed on the ground, right next to Azure's Body. I looked up, and saw the shocked face of Rafeal, and I asked, "If you can, please watch over Azure and I…"

He cocked his head sideways, and he asked, "Why is that?"

"I'm about to pass out…" I felt a wave of dizziness sweep over me, and as I crawled over to Azure's body, I wrapped my wings around her, I pulled her closer, and kissed her beak softly as I felt black sweep over everything, and I was drifting in nothingness…

A.N.: Oh No… Azure has perished… tell me what you think in a review, and I might post another chapter before I leave for Europe in 9 days ;-).

I have been feeling emotionless lately, so I couldn't get into a mood, be it happy or sad, while writing this. I just felt dull…