"Hey, sis!" Tiago called, from the back. "Do you want me to take over the front, now? You've been flying there for half an hour, and the wind's picking up!" Bia was flying at the head of the 'v'. On the right 'V' branch, flew Bruno, Orchid, and Azure, on the left branch of the 'V', flew Carla and Tiago. There was always on empty space at the back, for only one macaw flew at the front of the 'V'.
"That would be fantastic, Tiago!" Bia sighed, before she slowed, allowing the others to pass her. She got into her position in their formation, at the back, behind Carla, while Tiago flew to the front. Flying in the classic 'V' formation had been Orchid's idea, as it, apparently, eased the flight for those behind the bird in front. It was true indeed, for as Bia moved to the back of the formation, she felt the drafts of air from her friends ahead of her, allowing her to relax a little more. Azure looked over his shoulder from where he was on her right, smiling at her.
"How are you holding up, Bia?" he asked. They all knew that it was hard for Bia - she did have the smallest wings of them all, so her wings got tired easily.
"I'm great!" she insisted, flapping her wings a little faster to keep up. She didn't want to feel like a disadvantage to the group.
"Sure you don't want me to carry you?" Azure teased, and Bia snorted with laughter. His blue eyes were bright with amusement - everyone's eyes were the brightest they'd been since Jewel's diagnosis. This journey had given them fresh hope. "Want me to carry the bag?" he offered.
"Thank you." Bia smiled, grateful, before tossing him the bag in her talons. Azure caught it easily, securing the two vine loops around his ankles, before resuming his flight. Bia had made two loops in the vine, both of which slipped over two ankles - it saved holding it in one's talons, and it meant that there was less of a chance of it being dropped. Ahead, Bia heard the conversation.
"Ugh, I miss my iPod." Carla groaned, scratching the feathers around her ears, as if feeling for the headphones. On Carla's right, Bruno looked at her, rolling his eyes in amusement.
"Come on, it's only for a few weeks at the least - when we get home, you have your iPod again." He reminded her, but Carla still looked unsettled. Bia knew how her sister was feeling - she was already missing her books. But it would slow them down, carrying a heavy book along. Carla had been tempted to bring the iPod, but she had decided not to risk losing it. An iPod was hard to replace, and besides, that one had all her six-hundred-odd songs on it. Imagine downloading every song back onto a new iPod. That was too risky, when Carla downloaded all her songs from a laptop at the Spix's Wing headquarters. It would be such an effort, downloading every single song again.
"Hey, guys!" Orchid piped up, from where she was flying. "How about a game of I spy? It'll take our minds of how much we miss home."
"Great idea, Orc!" Tiago looked over his shoulder, grinning at her. "I'll go first. I spy… someone pretty."
"Aww." Orchid flushed with embarrassment, while the others laughed.
"Tiachid are an adorable couple!" Azure teased. Orchid rolled her eyes - that shipping name was irritating, to her.
"What are you really spying?" she asked.
"Ha." Tiago chuckled. "Fine - I spy something beginning with… 'B'…" while the others began speculating on what he was spying, Bia looked down at the compass in her talons. They were still on the right track - they were, at this point, flying West-ish, to reach the Peruvian border. They were following the Amazon River, which lead directly into Peru. If they followed the river, they'd find themselves in Iquitos, hopefully. According to the map, there was a small train line that could, if Bia was correct, travel further then they could fly in a day. They'd catch the train and it would save them several kilometres of flight. At the moment, if Bia's calculations were correct, they had a maximum of three days to go until they reached the Peruvian border, and get out of Brazil.
But there was one last question - Peru was massive. Where were they going to find a little plant in a country that was roughly 1,285,216 square kilometres large? They had put forward their suggestions of where this comet fragment had landed, and they all agreed that it had to be either in the rainforest, in the hills, or on a mountain somewhere. Mountains and hills were higher than rainforests, so they were probably the most likely landing spot for a comet fragment. Deciding to put her mind on something else, Bia started scanning the view for something beginning with 'B'.
Meanwhile
Jewel was barely awake, but she was stirring every so often. A drop of blood seeped through her closed eyelids, again, much to Johanna's discontent. The feathers under her eyes were now stained a dark crimson, and the feathers around her beak were the same colour, for the blood-filled coughs were still going strong. Johanna bit her lower beak, fearing the worst when she reached for Jewel's left foot. She turned Jewel's limp talon over, inspecting the infected wound that had allowed the disease initial access to her bloodstream. It was still as black as before, and it showed no sign of closing. No matter what Johanna applied to the wound, it wasn't shrinking or showing signs of healing. Johanna was now noticing something else - more and more cerulean feathers were appearing in Jewel's nest, from where a few of her feathers were starting to fall out. Even more worrying was that Jewel was refusing to ingest anything. A couple of times, Johanna had had to force the medical plants down her throat - trying to get Jewel to eat food was worse. Anything too acidic made her sick, but a large amount of the macaw diet contained acids. Johanna was feeding Jewel a few plant shoots, the mildest thing, but plant shoots lacked the nutrients Jewel desperately needed to stay strong.
Johanna had discovered a strange new plant a few months ago, and it had worked wonders for some of her patients. She had dubbed it 'atraso', Portuguese for 'delay'. Like the name suggested, it slowed down the progress of a disease, adding a few weeks on the patient's life expectancy. In Jewel's case, and the violent nature of her certain illness, atraso would give her at least a week. Johanna had been told where Blu and Jewel's three kids had gone, and she wasn't sure what to believe. Was the trip in vain, or would it prove life-saving? Johanna did believe in some myths, this one included, but the future was uncertain for Jewel. The Blue-and-Gold macaw kept looking at Blu, to see what he was doing - and he wasn't doing anything. Staring at Jewel, waiting for her to wake up - he had to tell her where their brood had gone. The Blue-and-Gold macaw didn't know how he was feeling, and she couldn't guess.
Blu had been having terrible thoughts. He kept imagining things he wouldn't dare consider dreaming of - he was thinking about death. What was waiting for Jewel? A happy afterlife, where every tree was covered in blossoms, and she would be reunited with her dead loved ones? Or just a wall of darkness, oblivion? Surely it wasn't born, live, and then lights out, forever? To sum everything up, Blu was wondering if suicide meant he could be with Jewel again. It would be so easy - there were hundreds of ways to die in the Amazon.
He'd do anything for her - she was the light of his life. Jewel was the macaw who had stolen his heart from the moment he first laid eyes on her. But if she died, so would his heart. He would break far beyond repair, and he knew that not even the thought of Bia, Carla and Tiago would mend him. As much as he loved his children with all his heart, Blu knew that he couldn't live without Jewel. Some would call him selfish for what he was planning, but he couldn't help it. With suicide, he could be with Jewel again and he wouldn't have to live the rest of his many years alone. Watching his friends go on to have second broods, loving each other even after they grew old and grey, while he was alone, living a half-life until he died. When Jewel's life ended, so would his. Suicide was the only answer.
But, regardless of these thoughts, Blu was still hoping. Clinging onto a thread no thicker than a spider's silk. There was a tiny chance of the myth existing - it was the only thing he had left. Blu rose to his feet, and sat down at Jewel's side. He reached over, taking one of her limp wings, which caused her to stir. Jewel's eyes fluttered open, and she blinked up at him.
Johanna looked over her shoulder, from where she had been searching for a herb that eased pain. She felt a pang of sorrow. She'd seen so many macaws die. So many of her tribe members, all of which she had been desperate to save. She'd comforted countless widows and widowers, treated their mates before they died. Each time, she'd felt guilty for being unable to save the patient's life. Blu and Jewel were, by far, the best and most devoted couple she'd come across. It was horrible, seeing this - it was the most painful case she'd come across.
"I know where the kids… have gone." Jewel murmured, in a barely audible voice, to Blu's surprise. "The distance between… our tree and Roberto and Sophia's… isn't that big." Blu looked away, trying to bring himself to look at Jewel. I can't look at her like this. He hadn't leapt out of a plane five years ago for nothing. He hadn't battled the odds to be with her, only for her to die five years later. Blu couldn't face the motherless Bia, Carla, and Tiago. The myth has to be real. Finally, he forced himself to look at her. He took both her wings in his own. He couldn't lose her - not now, not ever. She had to stay alive until the kids returned.
"Jewel, I want you to… promise me something." Blu said, quietly. He felt the tears in his eyes, and his throat felt thick as he held back his sobs.
"Anything…" Jewel replied, closing her eyes while she listened to what he had to say.
"I need you to promise me that you'll fight this disease. You're a survivor, and I know you can pull through this, no matter what. Promise me that you won't let go, that you'll hang on until our kids come back, with your medicine. Fight this with everything you've got - do you understand, Jewel? If I lose you, I won't be able to live anymore. Think about your father and Mimi. Our friends, here and in Rio. Me, Bia, Carla, and Tiago. Your mother wouldn't want you to end up like this. You can't leave us. We didn't raise three beautiful kids, only for everything to come crashing down. Promise me, Jewel - promise me that you'll hang on until they come home." Jewel could hear Blu's voice fading, as she felt an unconscious spell tug at her mind, dragging her toward it. Before Jewel spiralled into another sea of blackness, she managed to give Blu a reply.
"I promise, Blu." She whispered. Jewel opened her bloodshot eyes, looking at Blu's blurry outline -before she closed them again, tumbling into now-familiar darkness.