"You can never let anything go, can you?" mused Azure, following Bia. Other than her sweet nature, eruditeness and her beauty, that was one of things he loved most about Bia - she was determined, and she never gave up.

"Hey, it's getting on my nerves!" Bia protested. "I don't know, I just have a… bad feeling about the sick bird. He's been missing for days now, and I want to find out what's wrong with him. That's why we're doing this." They both lighted down at the entrance, which was littered with blue and yellow feathers. She took his wing from where they stood. "Ready?"

"Ready." Azure nodded, and they walked toward the cluster of leaves, where there was the sound of chatter and laughter. Azure pushed the leaves apart, and they both gasped. Bia and Azure had heard about the Blue-and-Gold macaw tribe's living area, but neither had imagined it looking so beautiful. Many, large trees that were practically bursting with vibrant colours that were flowers. Not entirely covered, like Mimi's tree - but balanced in with the leaves so that it wasn't too much. Orchids, passion flowers, bromeliads and hibiscus - it seemed as though every kind of Amazonian flower was here.

"Woah." Whispered Bia, in awe, reminded of her great-aunt's fondness for flowers. "I think that this is Mimi's idea of heaven." The Blue-and-Golds cherished colour, peace, and kindness, and they would provide help to anyone who needed it. They believed in acceptance, and from birth they were taught to be kind to everyone around them. They saw no requirement for borders - while they were in place, the Blue-and-Golds went where they pleased. Being the most harmonious tribe, they did accept rules of other tribes - not taking food from other territories, but they were by all means allowed to visit. Except by the Hyacinths, of course.

"You know these guys love flowers and all things pretty so much, that it's their body decoration for their special dance - males included?" Azure was turning in a circle, so that he could see everything. Blue-and-Gold macaws were looking down at them from the flowery trees, with friendly smiles and eyes.

"That's true." Said a silky voice, and they both turned to see a lovely-looking Blue-and-Gold macaw. She was, without doubt, the leader - Johanna. Bia was quite surprised; Johanna was said to have been leader for years, but she looked incredibly young - like Blu and Jewel's age. Her parents had retired early, so Johanna had taken on the responsibility from a young age.

Johanna had warm, green eyes, ones that reminded Bia of a rare plant she had once seen. Like all Blue-and-Golds, Johanna had a blue back, tail, wings, along with the back of her neck and head. The underside of her wings and tail, chest and belly were yellow; but there was something unique about the hues. Johanna seemed to have a slight tint of cream to the yellow feathers, something that neither Bia nor Azure had seen on a Blue-and-Gold. The top of her head was a pretty green that was darker than her eyes. She had white skin around her eyes and beak, with swirling black lines, and a black mark on her throat. Long, flowing feathers formed the ruffle on the back of her head, wavy and reaching the bottom of her neck. "You're Eduardo's granddaughter, aren't you? Bia?" Johanna smiled, extending her wing.

"That's right." Bia smiled back, shaking Johanna's wing. Johanna then turned to Azure.

"And I'm assuming one of Sophia's and Roberto's sons? Which one is it?"

"I'm Azure." Azure grinned, also shaking Johanna's wing.

"Welcome, both of you." Johanna nodded. After several moments, she tipped her head to the side. "So, why are you here?"

"We're here to ask a couple of questions." Bia replied. "Can we talk with you in private?"

"Of course." Johanna nodded. "Follow me." Bia and Azure then followed Johanna, across the trees. Johanna flew with confident wing strokes, making barely a sound as she flew into a vine-draped, flowery tree. "Please, do make yourself comfortable." Johanna indicated around the nest, which was decorated with flowers and plants, rather like Roberto and Sophia's. Bia and Azure sat down on a springy patch of moss, taking in the hollow.

It wasn't quite immaculate - littered with moulted feathers and leaves, but it wasn't too messy. They watched Johanna flitting about, hiding the remains of Brazil nut shells. "Sorry, Alejandro always forgets to tidy up." She said, in an apologetic tone. Despite her rush, Johanna moved with such grace.

Finally, she sat down in front of them, pushing over a passion fruit shell that was filled with the passion fruit flesh. Accepting the offer, Bia and Azure took out some of the fruit, helping themselves to it. After they were done, Johanna took away the shell, tossing it outside. "So, what's on your minds?" she asked.

"You tell her, Bia." Azure said. "You're better at explaining things like this."

"Okay." Bia cleared her throat. "You're a healer as well as a leader, aren't you, Johanna?" the Blue-and-Gold macaw nodded in reply, before Bia carried on. "We're hoping that you can answer our question. It's being really driving us up the wall. Alright - there as this Orange-Winged Amazon the other day. He was… really sick. According to Azure's sister, my dad, and some other witnesses, he had the most unusual symptoms. He was… shaking violently. Feathers falling out, painfully thin. Foul-tempered, red patches around his eyes… and he was coughing terribly. Coughing up…" Bia paused. "…blood. He was vomiting, too, according to my dad. Our question is - have you ever heard of such a disease? None of our healers have." Bia looked up, hoping that Johanna would nod to show she understood - but she looked very confused. "We were hoping you knew what it may be."

"Um… no. Never. Hold on." Johanna turned, and headed over to a large leaf on the floor, before picking it up. Johanna then began shifting through a hole, which had been covered by the leaf. Bia and Azure looked at each other, before walking forward and craning their necks to see inside. Some flat, smooth pieces of wood that varied in size, with tiny black markings that they could identify as writing.

"These are my lists of rare diseases." Johanna explained. "Each piece of wood for one illness. It's got everything there is to know about it - what it's called and why, the symptoms, and the cure for it… if there is a cure, that is. This greenish one is just a list of certain plants that help with general things, like fighting infection and stopping bleeding." Johanna then began muttering to herself as she read the pieces of wood, searching for a match. "No, not that one… no… no…" after a few minutes, Johanna came back up. "Bingo." she began reading out a piece of wood. "The… Morte Incomum."

"The what?" Bia blinked. Mimi and Jewel had taught her, Carla, and Tiago some Portuguese, but not those two words.

"It's Portuguese for 'Uncommon Death." Azure stated. As he said this, Azure and Bia looked at each other. Johanna then handed them the piece of wood, allowing them to read.

Morte Incomum - 'Uncommon Death'.

Symptoms - coughing, vomiting, difficulty breathing, fever... (the rest of the symptoms listed there were almost impossible to read - whoever had written this had loopy, fancy-looking letters that were hard to distinguish)

Rarity - exceptionally rare. Just under half a dozen cases have been confirmed in centuries, with other rumoured cases over some decades.

How it is spread - blood or bacteria of the infected making contact with that of another individual. Cannot be spread any other way. Do not touch the patient if you have any scabbing or open wounds.

Cure -

"What's the cure?" asked Azure, immediately. "It's been rubbed off or something..." Johanna opened her beak, about to reply, but at that moment, there was a commotion outside. A male Blue-and-Gold bursted into the hollow, breathing heavily. Bia and Azure exchanged looks of alarm, stepping back as Johanna rushed up to him.

"Alejandro!" Johanna exclaimed. "What happened?" Bia then remembered Eduardo stating that Johanna had a mate, her childhood sweetheart, named Alejandro. Alejandro was tall, with a few feathers lying on the back of his head. He had the same colours in the same places as any Blue-and-Gold, with light grey eyes, and a scar over one eye. It looked as though someone had lashed at his eye with one talon, but he had closed his eyelid just in time, preventing the claw from touching his eye, but etching a scar onto the eyelid and the area around the eye. A second too slow, and he could have damaged his eyesight.

"We've found a case of... what that patrol warned us about." Alejandro blurted out, trying to catch his breath. "The Spix's patrol warned us of a diseased Amazon a few days before today... we found his body." Johanna gasped, alarmed, looking back at Bia and Azure, before turning back to her mate.

"Show me."

Later

There he was - the Orange-Winged Amazon. Frothy, blood-spotted saliva had dribbled out of his beak, and his eyes looked like they were made of glass. Johanna buried her face into Alejandro's chest, trying not to be sick. According to Alejandro, the bird had started having a seizure, before he finally died in the most gruesome way. Johanna didn't even want to hear the details, but she was relieved that she had sent Bia and Azure back to their tribe, preventing them from seeing the corpse. They would've had nightmares.

"Johanna?" said a young female Blue-and-Gold. "What do you want us to do with him?" Johanna thought over the options, pausing for several moments as she tried to get over the vile scene.

"Roll him in the biggest leaves you can find." Johanna managed to say at last. "Anyone with the tiniest paper-cut goes nowhere near the body. Touching only the leaves, I want tribe members with steady stomachs to dispose of it. Don't put it in the river, because that could infect the water and any creature that tries to ingest the body. I'll tell you what - find some flint, and burn it."