While Eduardo, Roberto and Blu were in pursuit of the alarmingly ill Orange-Winged Amazon, Sophia and Jewel continued gossiping while eating strawberry guavas. Bromeliad, having grown bored, decided to wander off and explore the group of trees. She didn't have much interest in finding a boyfriend, like so many girls she knew did - she was in no rush.

Orchid had Tiago, Azure had Bia, and Isaac was often seen flirting with girls - but Bromeliad brushed off comments from hopeful males. She'd meet the right one before beginning a relationship. Bromeliad still couldn't believe that Orchid had one before she did, however. Who'd have thought it? My baby sister getting a boyfriend before I did.

Orchid's hatching seemed like yesterday; her egg had hatched last, after a few tense days of waiting and hoping. Bromeliad had stayed up for ages, watching the unmoving egg and hoping for a little sister. She had been born first, Isaac second, and Azure third. She was a little older than her siblings, by almost a week - it had been a surprise when three more eggs had appeared in the nest. Listening to the two baby brothers bawling in the night had been annoying. What would a sister be like? A sister had been what she wanted, more than anything.

Three eggs laid at the same time, anyone would expect them to hatch within minutes of each other. Azure and Isaac's had hatched minutes apart; Isaac first, and then Azure came around three minutes later. However, Orchid's egg had been rather small, and Sophia and Roberto had been worried when there had been no signs of life after the hatching of Isaac and Azure. They had watched and waited for days, hoping and praying. Then, after almost a week of tension, the egg had moved slightly. Bromeliad had been so shocked, she had screamed for her parents. Roberto and Sophia had rushed in, followed by the clumsy steps of baby Isaac and Azure, before staring at the final egg. It had been true - the egg was hatching at last, and within minutes, Bromeliad had a baby sister named Orchid. It had been a joyous occasion, one of her fondest memories.

Since the fire a few months back, Bromeliad had really matured. She had once been rather snooty, criticizing Bia for her seemingly endless knowledge, but when Bia had saved her life by pulling her out of the path of some flaming, crashing branches, Bromeliad had felt so much gratitude. A few months on, she was now much more thoughtful and accepting of anyone. She had, however, inherited Sophia's feistiness and her spirit for things, and she could be sharp-tongued.

Bromeliad halted on a branch, some metres from the strawberry guava grove. A ripe, delicious-looking piece of passion fruit was dangling about her; her favourite fruit. Bromeliad proceeded to reach up and pluck it from its branch, but she then paused, upon hearing the rustle of leaves. She looked around, trying to locate the source of the sound, before her eyes landed on an Orange-Winged Amazon. Bia had once showed Bromeliad an image of one, in one her books. But this one looked far from the healthy one in the book. This one had heavy eye bags, he was alarmingly thin, with a red smear on his face and beak that Bromeliad hoped was simply fruit juice. His feathers were ragged and patchy, and she could see that some had fallen out. His eyes were bleak-looking, and he was shivering uncontrollably, like he was freezing. Bromeliad had never seen a sicker-looking creature.

"Sir?" Bromeliad asked, feeling a pang of pity. "Are you okay? You look a little…"

"Unwell?" rasped the Amazon, looking up with enraged eyes. Bromeliad blinked in surprise, alarmed at the look of anger. What's your problem? She thought. I'm trying to be nice. The Amazon suddenly lurched, and red liquid flew from his beak, onto the branch between them. Shocked and alarmed, Bromeliad staggered backwards to avoid being touched by the blood.

"Well… yeah." Bromeliad's heart was beginning to go faster, as she saw the blood splattering onto the wood. The Amazon looked up, as if not noticing what had come out of his beak, continued scowling at her, as if she'd insulted him greatly.

"Why… of all… is everyone asking me how I am?" the Amazon was speaking in a slow, quiet voice, dangerously quiet. "First that idiot with the feathers on his head… now this thing."

"Thing?" repeated Bromeliad, her ocean blue eyes sparking with outrage. "What cheek!" she exclaimed. "How dare you, for your information, I'm not a thing, I'm a Spix's macaw. And you have no right to -"

"Shut up, kid." Snarled the Amazon. "You're starting to annoy me. Keep your beak shut, or I'll shut it for you."

"You -" Bromeliad tried to find a scorching comment, but nothing could have prepared her for what happened next. With a squawk of fury, the Amazon threw out his wings, and launched himself at her with outstretched talons. Overwhelmed with shock, Bromeliad only just missed his slashing claws. She didn't have much fighting experience - and she wasn't touching this diseased bird. "Mom!" Bromeliad screamed loudly, desperate to alert her mother as she tried to dodge his swipes. Back in the strawberry guava grove, Sophia's head whipped up at the shriek.

"Bromeliad!" she cried, dropping the strawberry guava in her talon, and racing toward the direction of her eldest daughter's scream. Jewel gasped, and launched herself into the air, after Sophia. Sophia, being a faster flier, got there first, and she, without a second thought, flung herself between Bromeliad and the infuriated Amazon.

"Get away from my daughter!" Sophia shouted, using her claws to swipe viciously at the Amazon's head. Bromeliad staggered back, scrabbling away from the fighting, and Jewel rushed up to her.

"Bromeliad, are you alright?" she demanded, and Bromeliad nodded shakily. Jewel whirled around, where Sophia was still trying to rip the Amazon apart. "Sophia!" she exclaimed. "Don't!" Jewel grabbed her friend, dragging her away, but Sophia put up a fight, straining against Jewel to get at the Amazon.

"I'll kill him!" Sophia declared, her temper flaring even more by Jewel's restraint. "I'll tear out his eyes and -"

"It won't make it better!" Jewel was trying to calm her. "Just see to Bromeliad -" suddenly, the Amazon lunged forward, squawking. Jewel, without thinking, shoved Sophia aside, before leaping up with extended claws. "Don't you dare!" Jewel's talons made contact with the Amazon, as she embedded her claws into his wing.

She had fought many times in her life - she could handle this. Jewel pulled fiercely at the Amazon's wing, keeping her grip secure so that she wouldn't go flying with the Amazon fighting back. That had happened a few years ago, and the result had been terrible. She still remembered being thrown against the plane wall by Nigel, the cage falling and crushing her wing. Jewel heard the Amazon screech as she pulled his wing, and she heard a click; she must have pulled the wing from the socket. Jewel began, viciously, tearing out talonfuls of green feathers, barely aware of a dark blue streak in the corner of her eye.

"Jewel, what are you doing?!" she felt talons fasten into her shoulders, heaving her back, while Eduardo flung himself onto the Amazon. She spun round, and found herself staring wildly into Blu's brown eyes. Upon seeing him, she calmed down, and stopped trying to attack the deranged Amazon. Eduardo's talons were aiming for the bird's throat.

"Eduardo, don't!" Blu then shouted. "He's sick, you might catch it!" at this, Eduardo stopped, and backed away. His green eyes burned fiercely; he wasn't letting this numbskull lay a claw on his only child. There was a whoosh of air as Roberto rushed past them, making a beeline for Sophia and Bromeliad.

"Are you both alright?" he asked frantically, scooping Sophia into a hug, and then Bromeliad.

"We're fine." Sophia muttered. "He was trying to attack Bromeliad, but then we…" Sophia wasn't allowed to finish, because they were distracted by the Amazon.

"Fools!" he hissed, glaring at his dislocated wing. He looked up at Jewel with bloodshot eyes. "You'll regret this, just you wait and see."

"I hope your wing hurts." Jewel hissed, spitting onto the branch between them.

"Get out." Snarled Eduardo, breathing heavily. "And don't come back, because if you do, I'll throw you into the middle of the river." The Amazon looked at them all, outnumbered - before clearly admitting defeat by stumbling away, into the branches, clutching his dislocated wing. As soon as the Amazon disappeared, she heard her mate's voice in her ear.

"Jewel, are you hurt?" Blu asked, looking fretful.

"I'm okay." Jewel eased herself out of his wings, stepping back; she then felt something wet under her talon, and looked down. She was standing on a small patch of blood, the talon on which she had trodden on that thorn with a few days back. "Ew." She groaned. Jewel quickly rushed down to the forest floor, sticking her talon into the stream, relieved when the traces of blood washed away. Jewel lighted back down on the branch, her heart beginning to resume to its normal pace.

"Thank goodness everyone's okay." Roberto sighed, where Sophia and Bromeliad were still locked in his embrace.

"Daddy, it's great that you love me and all, but would mind letting me go so that I can breathe?" Bromeliad squeaked, and Roberto immediately released her and Sophia, who continued hugging him.

"That was so horrible." Whispered Sophia into Roberto's ear. Jewel looked into the leaves, where the bird had vanished. She closed her eyes, wrapping her wings around her head to try and calm down. After a few moments, she felt Blu tugging at her wing.

"Jewel, we have to go… you need to be checked over, and he might come back."

Midnight

"So, you're telling us that you were attacked, for no reason whatsoever?" Isaac's blue-green eyes were wide with shock, mirroring that of everyone else's. Most of the tribe were sleeping peacefully in their hollows, but not all of them were so at ease - some of them were still awake, uneasy from the earlier incident. News spread like wildfire.

It was around midnight. It was dark, with a glass jar of fireflies in the middle of them providing light. Bromeliad, all her siblings, and Bia, Carla, Tiago, and Bruno were sitting around the light source in a circle, in a small, unused tree. They liked staying up late, and their parents didn't mind as long as it wasn't all night long.

Bromeliad had spent most of the day being examined by their team of healers. The healers were rather loose-knit, and weren't that organised, but due to the seriousness of today's incident, they had been more focused. Most tribes had one or two main healers, but their tribe didn't - just an unreliable group. Bia had shown interest in healing, and Bromeliad knew that Bia would love to become the tribe's main healer when she was older. This was a good thing - they needed someone who was focused and dedicated to their job. The healing team was just all over the place.

They had asked her many questions, and Bromeliad had insisted that she felt fine, that she hadn't contracted any infection or virus from the sick Amazon - but they had kept her under observation, just in case. Better safe than sorry. It had been nightfall before they had decided that she was fine. The same had gone for Sophia and Jewel, with the all-clear. They were all being kept an eye on, though.

"Yes." Bromeliad answered her brother."You should have seen mom - she went ballistic. She even tried to kill the guy, but Jewel stopped her before attacking him herself." Bromeliad turned to Bia, Carla, and Tiago. "Your mom was amazing, honestly - she dislocated his wing."

"Really?" Carla's green eyes were round with awe. "Gee, I knew she was a good fighter, but I didn't know she was that good."

"You kidding?" Bruno looked at Carla, from where he sat next to her. "My mom and dad were friends with her, when she was younger - you know she fought back against the leader of the Red tribe? He was some guy called Rojo, back then, apparently - Felipe's dad. Real ugly brute, more like a Hyacinth in personality and size, according to mom and dad. He attacked Jewel for accidently crossing the border of the Brazil nut grove. She was only a foot or so in their side! She was a chick, just a new flyer, but she clawed him pretty good."

"Seriously?" Tiago exclaimed. "Our mom is awesome!" Azure nodded in agreement, before looking to his right, where Bia was leaning over open book. Her claws were running over the page, under each sentence, searching thoroughly. Her hazel eyes were piercing, scanning each word.

"Anything?" Azure asked, but Bia shook her head.

"No. It's so frustrating!" Bia slammed the book shut, shaking her head in frustration. "I've been looking up bird illnesses non-stop since Bromeliad described the symptoms, and nothing. This is the complete book of bird diseases, and there's no such thing in it. Apparently such an illness Bromeliad described either doesn't exist, or is so rare it's not been discovered by humans." She sat down, sighing. Azure put a wing around her, and she leaned against him with a sigh.

"It's gotta be the latter." Orchid suggested, and there were murmurs of agreement from everyone.

"My question is, how did he get it in the first place, if it's so rare?" Isaac murmured, half to them, and half to himself.

"Poor guy must've been the unluckiest one in the entire Amazon." Bromeliad commented. "He was deranged - the illness had driven him mad. Either that or he had serious anger issues. Dad, Blu and Eduardo encountered him before I did, and apparently he was incredibly rude and short-tempered."

"Hmm." Azure was frowning, and looking through the index section of Bia's book.

"Anyway," Tiago said, after a few moments of silence, before leaning forward. "What's the news on the sick guy?"

"Well, last time I heard…" Bromeliad searched her memory. "He hasn't been seen since the incident today, but they're tracking him, and ensuring that he doesn't find his way here."

"Good." Sighed Bia. Her expression then turned serious and - to Bromeliad's alarm - slightly fearful. She looked Bromeliad up and down, as if expecting her to cough up blood like the Amazon had done. "Wait - how much contact did you have with the Amazon, Li?"

"Um… not much, I guess." Bromeliad shrugged. "I didn't touch him, I ducked his attacks. As for mom and Jewel… don't worry, they'll be fine. The healers looked us over, anyway, so they would've known if something was amiss." there was several moments of silence before anyone spoke again.

"Well…" Isaac rose to his feet. "It's getting late. Can we discuss this again tomorrow?"