Blu dug into the soil, pulling out a plant shoot and adding it to the pile. His efforts were half-hearted and slow, because he knew how plant shoots lacked in the nutrition Jewel needed. But Johanna had told him that anything too acidic would make Jewel sick - they couldn't afford any energy being wasted. She needed to keep all her strength up in order to make it long enough, despite Johanna's atraso plant. When it came to healing Jewel and keeping her alive, Blu's initial thought had been to take her to the Spix's Wing, the little animal hospital in the sanctuary. While Linda and Tulio were back in Rio, keeping contact with the sanctuary headquarters via phone and email, it was run by a few zoologists and animal nurses, equipped to treat sick and injured birds and other animals. But then Blu had had a thought. If they saw Jewel in the terrible condition she was in, with an incurable disease absolutely none of them had seen or heard of - chances were that they'd decide to put her out of her misery and euthanize her. As he'd realized this, he had immediately placed the idea as out of the question. Blu couldn't let them do that - not only would it tear his heart beyond repair, but none of the tribe would ever trust well-meaning humans again.
Behind him, he could hear Mimi and Eduardo talking in hushed voices. They were bottling up their grief for Jewel, and trying to focus on him. Blu knew what they thought about him - his emotions were fragile at the moment, and they didn't want him to do anything he might regret. He wouldn't plan on doing anything while Jewel had a chance - but if she did die, he knew how tempted he'd be to end it all. Blu wasn't the only one who'd thought about ending it, with the loss of someone he loved - Roberto had told him about Felipe's former significant other, Adelaide, about how Felipe had had dark thoughts when she died, at the time of when Blu was probably a chick. Felipe had been devastated, but he had been supported and brought back. But Blu didn't think that he could get over Jewel, let alone take another mate, like Felipe had. He could never do that.
Meanwhile, Mimi and Eduardo were still watching him, as well as discussing his future. Eduardo was still sceptical and angry about his grandchildren's 'reckless' decision - and while Mimi was less pessimistic, she was terrified of the dangers they could encounter. They were so young - together, with Azure, Orchid, and Bruno, they were all roughly between one and two years old. Inexperienced, under-cautious, and they didn't always think before they did something. They could be in danger as they spoke.
"I'm seriously worried about him." Eduardo sighed, watching his son-in-law digging up plant shoots. Eduardo was sitting there, with a brazil nut opened but untouched. He looked like he could hardly concentrate - he was thinking about his daughter's death, as well as Blu's well-being. "We know what it feels like... losing someone."
"We do." Mimi agreed, remembering everyone they had lost. As kids, they had lost their parents, their uncle. And as adults, they'd lost Tia. So many loved ones - gone forever. Was another one about to join the list? "I know how you feel, about the kids leaving. But don't assume the worst. You never know, it could exist."
"Don't talk such -" Eduardo began, but Mimi cut him off.
"Don't be rude to your sister." She retorted, making Eduardo mutter and look away. There was a long silence, but before either of them could try to break the icy atmosphere, Eduardo stiffened. "What is it?" she asked, puzzled. He raised a wingtip to his beak, before he slowly pointed to something a couple of metres away. Mimi looked up, and felt a shiver run down her spine. Four Hyacinths were in the branches, watching Blu with cold eyes. It looked as though they hadn't noticed Eduardo and Mimi, but their glistening gazes were fixed upon the lone Spix's macaw. Mimi had to suppress a gasp as she noticed their human weapons; two had shards of the transparent thing Blu, Jewel and the kids called glass, and the other two had sharp silver things Mimi had seen humans using to eat food with. This was a contributing factor as to why Eduardo had used to despise human objects - their Hyacinth neighbours had used them against the Spix's macaws in the past. Human weapons could spell fatal consequences - Eduardo knew that, from an incident between him and the last leader of the Hyacinths.
Neither Mimi nor Eduardo dared to speak, to risk revealing themselves. They were outnumbered. Below them, the unsuspecting Blu picked up the plant shoots, and turned, looking up at them - confusion entered his eyes when he saw their frozen expressions of horror. Behind Blu, the four Hyacinths landed heavily, the ferns around them moving wildly from the drafts their wings had created.
Blu froze, suddenly looking frightened, as he realized that something had landed a few feet away. Blu turned, and upon seeing the four Hyacinths and the weapons they held, he dropped the plant shoots in his shock. With his back to them, Eduardo and Mimi couldn't see his expression, but they could guess that he was terrified. "Uh… hey." He said in a strangled voice, taking a step back. Please, please, please… don't say or do anything stupid! Mimi and Eduardo were both thinking. Blu was so clumsy with words, he could unintentionally say something that could put him in jeopardy.
"You're Eduardo's son-in-law. Aren't you?" said an older male, in a grating, icy voice. Both Mimi and Eduardo looked at each other. They should've gone down there moments ago, taken off with Blu while they had the chance, but they hadn't dared. Three Spix's macaws against four huge Hyacinths? Unlikely. Don't say yes. Don't say yes. They both willed, hoping that Hyacinths were too stupid to see a lie, even from someone with as much candour as Blu.
"Uh… yes?" Blu squeaked, and Eduardo and Mimi both groaned. The four Hyacinths looked at each other, shrugging - before a young male raised his shard of glass.
"You're coming with us, city boy." He snarled, the glass only inches away from Blu's throat. Under his fear, Eduardo felt confused. City boy? They know he's not entirely wild? How could they know? At this, he blinked. How many times had he caught them trespassing recently? He'd lost count - it would be so easy for them to overhear something. Below, Blu was petrified - his life was resting in this young male Hyacinth's talons, since he held the shard of glass inches from his throat.
"Uh… we can work this out…" Blu tried to look brave, but he wasn't that kind of bird. He couldn't conceal fear at all. "If you just turn around and fly away, I won't tell Eduardo that you trespassed. What do you want? A few Brazil nuts? There's a really nice mango grove around the corner… does Kerja like mangos?" The four Hyacinths looked at each other again, looking amused. Blu was slowly stepping back, one foot at a time, but the glass shard followed him, the young male stepping forward as Blu retreated.
"Looks like we're going to do this the hard way." Said a female, simply. The four opened their wings simultaneously, and the other three reached for their weapons. But then something extraordinary happened. Eduardo and Mimi gasped. Out of nowhere, a small, purple streak appeared, seizing Blu as it passed. Blu squawked in shock, and the four Hyacinths stared in bewilderment as their target was carried through the air at alarming speed, by a strange-looking species none of them had seen before.
"Let me go! This has happened to me twice!" Blu cried, as he was dragged backwards through the air by his talons. Blu's voice faded as the bird darted through some branches, further away. On the ground, the four Hyacinths launched themselves into flight, after them. Eduardo and Mimi were, initially, too surprised to move, but then they snapped out of it. Having exchanged bewildered and frightened glances, they began following the chase. Ahead, the purple bird, with Blu in tow, was flying at full-speed, somehow managing to stay ahead of the four pursuiters as well as holding onto Blu, who was struggling to free himself. The purple bird never looked back, but it was flying extraordinarily fast - Eduardo and Mimi were finding it difficult to keep up, despite being fairly speedy for their advanced ages. Ahead, the four Hyacinths were breathing heavily, and slowing down. Their size was a disadvantage - when you were small, it was easier to be swift, but, the larger you were, slow speed was typical. Eduardo and Mimi, realizing that they would soon pass the Hyacinths, flew upwards, soaring above their heads as the four darker macaws stopped, hovering in the air to catch their breath. Up ahead, the purple bird and Blu had long gone, Blu's voice fading through the trees.
"Forget it," gasped one of them, fighting to catch his breath. "Kerja didn't want him, anyway - let's look elsewhere." Eduardo and Mimi didn't know - or care - whether the Hyacinths had left or not. Their primary concern was catching up to the purple bird and Blu. A couple of minutes later, Blu was still trapped in the purple bird's talons, shouting all sorts of things - protests, curses, and while his mind had been focused entirely on Jewel and his missing kids as of recent, it was now focused on getting away.
"For goodness sake, let me go -" Blu would have done something like claw or bite his captor, but he couldn't reach. After struggling with all his might to free himself, he was unprepared to be dropped. He squawked as he tumbled through the air, too disoriented to fly. Blu soon met the forest floor, crashing into a patch of ferns. Rolling across the ground, Blu finally stopped, sprawled in a mud puddle. Dizzy and confused, he was briefly dazed, unable to do anything but lie there, face-down in the mud.
"Blu!" cried two voices, after several moments. Blu finally stumbled to his feet, staggering a little, before his head stopped spinning. His face and the majority of his front were now smeared with mud, the rich blue replaced by brown. As his head cleared, Eduardo and Mimi landed on the floor beside him, asking if he was alright.
"I'm fine…" he protested, wishing that they'd stop fussing. Embarrassed when he realized that he was covered in mud, Blu raised his wing to try and shield himself from view. Through his wing feathers, behind Eduardo and Mimi, he could make out a purple shape. This mystery bird had saved him from those four Hyacinths - whatever they were planning. Eduardo and Mimi whirled around, feathers rising in hostility as they saw it.
"Who are you?" demanded Eduardo, with clear mistrust. As the stranger came closer, they realized that it was a she. She looked feminine, based by her small, light features and her visible eyelashes - she had to be female. She was grey-eyed, probably Eduardo's height, maybe an inch taller. She seemed like a macaw - but she was purple. On closer inspection, they realized that something wasn't right. Her beak, as well as her talons, was smeared in a purple-red substance, like the colour of her plumage. That's not normal… The bird sighed, and then reached up with a wing - the underside of her wings was dark blue, like that of a Hyacinth. She wiped the underside of her wing over her face, pausing - before she let her wing drop. A purple-red substance now stained the blue feathers of her upper wing - and now, they realized that the substance was a disguise. Her face was now navy, with yellow markings by her beak and eyes. Eduardo, Mimi and Blu immediately shrank back as they realized what species she was.
"A Hyacinth!" Mimi hissed. "Clever disguise - berry paint?" But then she frowned, looking her up and down. If she was a Hyacinth, why was she so small? She didn't look that young. Mimi would've thought that she was a Lear's macaw, but this bird lacked the metallic teal hue seen in Lear's. Besides, Lear's macaws weren't a common sight in the Amazon.
"Please don't panic." The Hyacinth said, slowly, looking on edge. "I'm not here to cause trouble." Mimi and Blu looked at each other, uncertain as to whether to believe her. Eduardo, however, didn't look convinced whatsoever.
"Get out." He ordered, simply. "Get out before I drag you out." However, after several moments of thought, Blu put a wing on his father-in-law's shoulder.
"Wait, Eduardo." He said, cautiously. "She… she saved me from those Hyacinths. Didn't you?" he asked, looking up at her. The disguised Hyacinth nodded slightly. Eduardo still looked angry, clearly reluctant to allow this Hyacinth to stay in his territory for a moment longer, regardless of the fact that she had saved Blu from the four Hyacinths. "Who are you?" he asked, feeling less wary now. The berry-juice stained Hyacinth blinked, looking nervous at Eduardo's hostility.
"My name is Mina." She said. Through the trees, there was a sound, like a strange animal call, and Mina's head whipped up at it. Eduardo and Mimi recognised it as a signal that the Hyacinth tribe used to call their tribe back to their headquarters. It was some sort of shell, or carved bone, apparently. Mina looked briefly panicked - then she spun round. "Don't go out alone!" she cried. "Kerja's planning to take someone, and then drive you all out - take your territory, in revenge for Jorge!" Mina blurted out. Without warning, Mina whirled around, and tore off through the trees. The three Spix's macaws were silent, staring at one another in bewilderment, at first - then terror, as the meaning of Mina's words sank into their brains. Within moments, they were rushing back to the ravine.
"What did she mean, revenge?" Blu spluttered, as he hastily followed Eduardo and Mimi back to the ravine, struggling to keep up with them. "Who's Jorge?" he asked. The two older birds couldn't reply. They were flying too fast, but they both knew why Kerja wanted revenge. It had happened eighteen years ago.
Eduardo had killed Kerja's father.
Sorry for the delay, I've had such a busy two weeks. Anywho, the journey kicks off from this chapter! The next couple of chapters will show the epic journey. And, in case you're wondering, Jorge is Kerja's father in the last chapter's flashback.
I'm getting the idea that people don't like this story's length… does anyone mind this being almost twice as long as 'The Outcast'? It's quality, not quantity that counts, right? We'll probably end up at 30-something chapters - it's not really a problem, is it?