Carla, followed by Eduardo, Blu, Mimi, Roberto, and Sophia, flew as fast as she could, her wings straining in her desperation to get back to her mother. When Jewel had crashed to the floor, Carla and Bruno had frantically tried to wake her, but to no effect. She was still alive, but she had had dark circles under her eyes, and her feathers were ruffled and dirty.
Bruno had sent Carla to find help, for she was faster than he was - and the first ones she could think of were Blu, Eduardo, and Mimi, or Roberto and Sophia. Now, all five were following her, frantic and asking her what had happened, but Carla had no idea why Jewel had collapsed. Up ahead, she saw Bromeliad, Isaac, and Orchid, perched on a branch, and she began shouting at them.
"Guys!" Carla yelled, and they looked up, in surprise. "Where's Bia and Tiago?" she demanded.
"Azure and Bia are at the star fruit grove, and Tiago went to get some water - why, what's the matter?" Isaac replied, looking baffled as to why the six macaws were in such a rush.
"No time to explain, Isaac!" Roberto shouted at his eldest son. "Find them, and bring them back to the ravine! This is important!"
"Why?" Orchid asked.
"Just find them!" Sophia cried, her expression filled with dread; she knew what was wrong with Jewel. "Hurry!"
"Okay, okay, we'll be as fast as we can!" Bromeliad spread her wings, looking disturbed by their behaviour, before turning to her younger brother and sister. "Come on! You two spilt up and find Tiago; he'll be harder to find. I'll get Bia and Azure. Vamos!" While Bromeliad sped away to the star fruit grove,Isaac and Orchid went their separate directions, heading for water sources that Tiago would've gone to.
Carla was relieved when the outside of their home melted into view, and they flew through the thin ravine that was the entrance. It opened up, and the plunge pool, waterfall, and dense trees came into sight. There was a small crowd around Blu and Jewel's home, craning their necks to see inside. Very few macaws were in the ravine today, so there were only a few dozen or so. As they got closer, the crowd turned, and moved apart to make a pathway. With Carla in the lead, the six dashed through the crowd, and they rushed into the tree. There she was, still on the floor, with Bruno crouching beside her, calling to her.
"Finally!" Bruno exclaimed, looking relieved, when he spotted them. "Everyone's refusing to touch her, because most of them are afraid of being infected!"
"Jewel!" Blu landed on the floor, running over to his mate's side. At Blu's voice, Jewel twitched slightly, muttering something that sounded like his name. Eduardo too ran to his daughter, calling her, and Jewel began making more signs of life, mumbling. Her eyes pried open a little.
"Guys…" she muttered, in a slurred voice, as she looked at them all. Blu whirled round, to Eduardo.
"Help me get her, she can't stay on the floor." Blu said, staring with desperate eyes. Without hesitation, Eduardo took Jewel's wing, and Blu took the other, and together, they half-dragged, half-carried Jewel to the nearest room, a small, unused one hidden by some kind of climbing plant.
"I'll get some moss, to make her comfortable!" Mimi said in a rapid, frantic voice, before disappearing. They all jumped when they heard Mimi shouting. "Oi! Get out here! She needs space! Go on, shoo!" there was the sound of many wings as the tribe scattered, swiftly obeying Mimi's demand.
"She needs water, too." Roberto stated, staring down at his unmoving friend, before darting away to get some. "And I'll get the healers!" he shouted back, before vanishing. Sophia whirled round, noticing Carla and Bruno, who were standing there, unsure what to do.
"You two wait outside." She said, pushing them out and closing the curtain-like climbing plant, ignoring Carla's protests. Sorry, kids - you can't see this. Sophia turned back, running to her friend. Her eyes had closed again, and Jewel was still mumbling and muttering. Blu was holding her face, talking to her, trying to get her to wake fully, but It wasn't working.
"I- I don't understand…" Eduardo whispered, looking stunned beyond belief. "What's wrong with her?"
"You don't know?" Sophia said, staring at them both. "We just told you what she's got."
"But she can't -" Blu stammered. He didn't want to believe it. He didn't want to believe that the sweet, loving Jewel could catch a disease like that bird's. "How? You haven't got it, so how could she? You attacked him as well." but it occurred to Blu and Sophia. Sophia may have landed a few scratches on the Orange-Winged Amazon, but she didn't have any open or healing wounds. They both looked at Jewel's foot, which was huddled up to her, as she were cold.
"What's wrong?" asked Eduardo. Neither Blu nor Sophia replied. Slowly, cautiously, Sophia took one of Jewel's talons, and turned it over, so that the sole faced upwards. Over a week on, and the little wound from the thorn was still there. But it wasn't red, or pink. It was black. The wound was pure black, darker than the grey of her foot, and the black was blooming out on the skin, like a cloud.
"This is why." Whispered Sophia. The three macaws stared at each other, horror slowly beginning to build as they recalled the incident with the Orange-Winged Amazon. The pool of blood on the branch.
"I've got some moss!" they were startled by Mimi's voice, and the short, female macaw came rushing in, her wings full of moss. Mimi, however, took one look at the black would, before she dropped the moss to the floor, speechless. "What… in the name of…" before anyone could tell Mimi about the thorn and the blood, Roberto's silvery voice reached their ears.
"She's right this way, guys… excuse me, Carla, Bruno. Just wait out here, okay?" Roberto quickly entered the room, followed by a few of the healers. They halted a few feet from Jewel, the medical plants in their talons falling to the floor as they saw the black wound. Blu looked up from Jewel, seeing the plants scattered across the floor like the confetti of Linda and Tulio's wedding. The hope he had vanished as he looked at the clueless healers' faces.
"Well?" demanded Eduardo, glaring at the newcomers. "You're healers, get cracking." But the healers looked speechless, and began shuffling their feet.
"Uh…" said one. All of them stared, bewildered by the look of bafflement on all the healers' faces. "We… haven't… seen it before…" there was a long silence. "We don't know how to treat it." He confessed. Eduardo wasn't satisfied by this answer, however. His pale green eyes slitted, resembling pale green ice chips, and Blu knew how that look felt. It was like being thrown into a freezing lake - he had known from experience, in the days after they had found the tribe.
"You listen to me, Mateo." Snapped Eduardo, seizing the healer by the beak. "You look in your herb stores and find every scrap of information on this, or you kiss your 'healer' status goodbye."
"But Eduardo, we don't know!"protested a female one. "We're sorry, but we don't know. We generally treat wounds and minor illness, not serious, rare disease." Losing patience, Sophia's periwinkle-tinted blue feathers fluffed up, making the healers cower even more so.
"She needs a proper healer." The score marker hissed, glowering at the unprepared healers. "Our ones are just bumbling fools." Her scathing comment had clearly stung the healers, for they flinched at her tone of voice. Sophia took her mate's wing. "Come on, Roberto. We're going to pay our Red friends a visit. At least they've got a decent healer."
"Excellent idea." Roberto nodded, before turning back to them. "We'll be back as fast as the wind can carry us." He promised, before looking down at his still-unconscious childhood friend. His crest feathers were lifted with tension and panic. "We can't lose her. Not again." Roberto and Sophia quickly left the room, before they remembered Carla and Bruno. Carla was pacing, her wingtips buried in her head feathers; upon seeing them come out, she whipped round, with a hopeful expression.
"What's happening?" Carla begged. Sophia and Roberto looked at each other, not entirely sure what to tell the pair.
"Your mother's a bit sick." Sophia finally said. "Wait for a bit, and then ask if you can go in, okay? Our healers are clueless, and we're seeking the help of the Red tribe's healer." Carla's eyes blazed with anger, that she was being shut out, before emotion took them over. She turned, pressing her face into Bruno's chest, trying not to cry. Bruno wrapped both his wings around her, looking at Roberto and Sophia.
"Go." He murmured.
Meanwhile
Bia was nestled very comfortably, against Azure. The remains of a half eaten star fruit lay a few feet away. Star fruit was one of their favourite fruits, but strawberry guavas were undoubtedly their favourites. But everyone seemed to want to avoid it, since a week or so ago. Bia and Azure also wanted to steer clear of it, for another few weeks at least. It had even been advised in an official speech, by Eduardo. Just in case some of the Amazon's bacteria still lingered, if it made contact with someone's blood. Johanna had told them - the smallest cut, and you caught it.
"You know," said Azure, gazing at the blue sky. "I've always wondered what the world looks like, outside the Amazon. I've heard of the human cities, but surely that can't be all? Hey, when you fly from here to Rio and back, what do you see, other than cities?"
"There's the valleys in Bahia," Bia stated. "It's gorgeous - we pass through it, whenever we go to and from Rio. There's other grasslands, and there's other rainforest… the coast is stunning. I'd love to explore outside Brazil some day. Maybe I'll go travelling through a few countries, for just a few weeks. You could go with me, if you want…" Before any of them could say anymore, however, there was the sound of panting. Bromeliad exploded into the star fruit grove, looking very unsettled, and worried. Bia and Azure looked at one another, bewildered, but Bromeliad began speaking before they could ask her what her rush was.
"Thank goodness!" Bromeliad gasped, staggering as she landed.
"Woah, what's wrong?" Azure asked, blinking at his older sister. "You look… panicked."
"You've got to come back," Bromeliad exclaimed, leaning against a tree trunk to catch her breath.
"What?" asked Bia, frowning at her friend. "Why?"
"I don't know, but my parents, Carla, Eduardo, Mimi, and Blu were in a heck of a rush to get back home." Bromeliad answered. "I'm not sure but… I think it concerns Jewel, because she wasn't among them." Bia looked at Bromeliad, this information being absorbed in her brain, before she felt a sickening feeling of dread.