Their first morning in Peru was a little different to those of Brazilian mornings. It didn't look different, but it certainly felt different. The sky was a pale blue, covered in shredded, snowy-white cloud, and the sun was usually covered or peeking out from them. A fresh breeze blew through the train, which was rattling along the tracks. It was slightly less humid today - at least it seemed like it, with the swiftly moving train.
When she had woken that morning, Bia was made aware of the fact that there seemed to be an air of tension between her sister and Bruno. They weren't talking much, and any exchanged conversation was a little awkward-sounding. Carla in particular was being a little distant, and Tiago had noticed it too. He leaned toward Bia's ear to whisper, so that their older sister couldn't hear. "What's up with them?" he inquired, indicating toward Bruno and Carla, or 'Brula', as Tiago and Bia called them. For each of them, the other two siblings had created such names. The two sisters had invented 'Tiachid' for Tiago and Orchid, and Carla and Tiago had thought of 'Azia' for Azure and Bia. Bia looked at her brother, answering him with a shrug.
"I don't know. Maybe they had a fight last night, while we were sleeping." She suggested, and Tiago nodded, showing that he shared her idea.
"I hope it wasn't anything big." Tiago commented, sounding concerned. "They're so good together." Behind them, Azure and Orchid were leafing through Bia's sketchbook, astounded by the quality and accuracy of each one.
"Seriously, Bia -" Orchid said, sounding amazed. "How do you do this stuff? It looks so real - you can see all the filaments of the feathers, and every little piece of bark in a tree trunk. It's amazing!"
"Thanks, Orc." Bia said, blushing at Orchid's praise. She walked up to Azure and Orchid, before flipping forward a few pages. "This is where we were born." She said, meaning herself, Tiago, and Carla. "I believe this is the view from a building called the Vista Chinesa - it's Rio." Bruno then wandered over, to have a look. The three wild-born birds couldn't take their eyes from the page - it showed the Redeemer statue, the city and the ocean view. Bia had drawn the image from the screen background of a computer in the Spix's wing, a few months back, in that time when she had been healing from her burn injuries.
"What a weird-looking mountain!" Bruno mused, indicating toward one that looked like half an oval. Carla giggled, forgetting the tension between her and Bruno.
"That's Sugarbread Mountain, or something…"
"Sugarloaf Mountain, sis." Bia reminded her, and the others chuckled at Carla's mistake, who rolled her eyes. Bia then closed the sketchbook, dropping it back into the bag. It was rather breezy, so it was a good idea to ensure that there was no chance of any pages getting blown away. Tiago looked outside, where the trees were bending in the wind.
"So," he said, fluffing up his feathers. "When do we get off this thing?" all eyes turned to Bia, who remembered what it said on that sign, at the train station.
"Well, I'd say a few hours. We don't have to worry about waiting for the next train for a few days, since another one comes along every two hours. I'd suggest getting off when we reach somewhere that's got more hills. It's not likely to have landed in the lower rainforest - somewhere higher above sea level. If we have no luck, we can catch the next train." Bia replied.
"Great plan. Don't think of me as silly, but I have a feeling that… we'll know when we're near it - we'll know not to board the next train, to keep looking. Get what I mean, or do I sound plain weird?" Azure wrapped his left wing around Bia as he spoke.
"I think it makes sense." Bruno said, and the others nodded in agreement. The group then gradually dispersed, to have a look around the train box. It was fairly old; the wood was rotting in places, and cobwebs were stretching from the corners. At the sight of this, Orchid winced a little, and started looking around the floor, nervous. Tiago poked her playfully in the ribs.
"What, scared of spiders?" he teased, brown eyes dancing with mischief.
"I'm not scared of them…" Orchid objected. "They just creep me out. They're hairy, with those spindly, freaky legs… do you know what Isaac and Azure did, when we were little? I wasn't that old, only a week or two - they were playing this game with Bromeliad. It was a load of pebbles, all stacked up - small ones supporting heavy ones, and so on. I tripped and knocked it over, by accident. When it was bedtime, Azure and Isaac thought it would be very amusing to put a huge spider in my nest. Mom and dad were furious, since I was so little compared to them." When Tiago started laughing, she narrowed her eyes. "It wasn't funny - it was a hideous spider - and don't think it'll be funny to play a prank on me."
"Don't you worry, I won't." Tiago assured her, before remembering another spider-related funny story. "It's funnier when dad gets scared by them. I told you about the first night I was here, right? Before you were born. Did I tell you about the first time I went outside, at a few weeks, maybe days old?" when Orchid shook her head, Tiago stared grinning. "I was a hatchling - all covered in baby feathers. I saw this spider, but I wasn't scared. I just picked it up and went back into our birdhouse, thinking that he'd be interested. I said, 'Daddy, look -' and he turned round and practically screamed."
"No way." Orchid began giggling, before it turned to musical laughter. "Are you serious?"
"Of course I'm serious! Mom had to get rid of it." The excitement from Tiago's voice then faded, as he remembered his mother. Orchid stopped laughing, and her icy-blue eyes flooded with sympathy. Jewel had been healthy, back then - eyes bright and clear, always smiling and laughing. But now he could barely remember the last time he saw Jewel's smile. She hadn't laughed for weeks, with her illness setting in. Just the memory of her happier times made his eyes glisten with tears. He blinked rapidly to hide it, and sniffed. Orchid gave his wing a gentle squeeze.
"She'll get rid of another spider for him again." She said, comfortingly. But Tiago couldn't be fully convinced - this was a shot in the dark, this journey. From as early as he remembered, he was almost fearless, but now, he was a little daunted by the idea of venturing into a strange country - but he was most daunted by the thought of the cure. Like his sisters, he shared their doubtful view on how this myth could prove real. The Estrella sounded rather fabricated - like a story a parent had invented to get their chicks to sleep. Hoping to forget it, Tiago pushed it to the back of his mind, desperate for a subject change.
"How do you think your family's getting on?" Tiago asked, turning his eyes to the outside.
"Oh, I don't know…" Orchid sighed. "I miss them all so much. Mom, dad, Isaac, Bromeliad… and I'm missing home already." Orchid's expression was nostalgic and distant - thinking of them, as well as home. Tiago missed his family too; of course he had both his sisters with him, but he had left Blu, Jewel, Eduardo and Mimi behind. He missed home as well, like Orchid - he missed everything. He missed seeing his untidy bedroom, hanging out with his other friends, and sneaking onto the tourist boats to call Nico, Pedro, Rafael and the others in Rio. But most of all, he missed his mom and dad.
He knew that he and Orchid weren't the only ones feeling nostalgic. Carla sometimes uttered lyrics in her sleep, clearly remembering singing in the club and listening to her iPod, while Bia often murmured quotes from her favourite book, The Fault in Our Stars. Bruno was quiet for long periods of time, eyes misty with memory, while Azure was often awake for several hours before drifting off, lost in thought. These were clear indications that they were missing home and their families. Orchid then sat herself down on the edge, patting the wood beside her invitingly. Tiago sat himself down, and Orchid leaned on his shoulder, eyes closing as she sighed. "I can't wait to get home." She murmured. Tiago couldn't wait, either. He had been thrilled at the prospect of adventure at first, but now he just wanted to find the cure and go back to Brazil, where he belonged. He also felt incredibly unsafe - Peru was full of danger, and now that there was no sanctuary to guarantee their safety, anything could happen.
On his shoulder, Orchid had drifted off, and was sliding toward the floor as sleep took over her body. To make sure she didn't fall off the edge, he edged them both away from it, so that a few more inches were between them and the edge of the train. Orchid, now in deep sleep, was now lying on her stomach, wings under her chin like a pillow. She always slept like that, with her head feathers cascading over her eyes. As she breathed, one of the longest feathers floated up and down. For some reason, that one was about an inch or so longer than the rest of them. That was one of the things Tiago loved about Orchid - she was a teenager, but she still acted and appeared so childlike. Everything from her rounded face and tousled feather style to her behaviour habits, he found adorable. She always brightened up his day, when he was feeling a little blue.
Later
Bia's dreams were usually pleasant. Filled with sunrays, ripe fruit, books, or those she loved. But this one was different. She was being chased by something - something large, with ragged feathers, and a harsh squawk that made her blood feel like ice melt. She could hear her name being called from her friends - they sounded terrified, shouting at her to fly faster, but she couldn't. Then something grabbed her from behind, and she was locked in a sharp pair of claws. Bia struggled against them, but the grasp was impossibly tight. They crushed her ribs, left her lungs struggling to breathe. She was shouting, crying out for help, but the claws only clutched her more tightly, cutting her off.
"Bia." said a voice, but it was distant, like a whisper in the breeze. "Bia…" it was getting louder now, and Bia could not longer see clearly as the talons spun her round. Whoever her captor was had a blurry face - but she could see the cruel, hooked beak, and the small, penetrating eyes. It opened it's beak, shrieking in her face with an ear-splitting cry. Then the distant voice was loud, tearing through her dream. The creature suddenly vanished, but Bia could still feel it's talons. "Bia! Wake up!" a pair of talons was shaking her now - real talons, but not as large as the claws in her dream. Bia jolted awake, writhing as she was still half-caught in her nightmare, and she cried out in panic, unsure what was real and what wasn't. "Sssh! It's okay! It's just a dream!" the voice washed over her, and she then recognised it as it became clear. She stopped struggling - she was tightly enveloped in silky feathers. She then realized that she was wrapped in Azure's wings, and she could feel his racing heartbeat. Bia screwed her eyes closed, shaking, waiting for the realism of her dream to fade away. After a few moments, her heart beat began to slow down. Slowly, she opened her eyes, and found herself staring at a wall of blue - Azure's feathers. He was staring down at her with wide, fearful blue eyes. "You okay?" he asked, softly.
Bia didn't reply; she simply pressed herself against him, trembling slightly, as he gently stroked her head feathers with a wing. Eventually, she managed to speak. "I'm fine." She mumbled, awkwardly. "Just a bad dream."
"You were shouting…" Azure said, looking down at the figures below. It was a miracle that the others hadn't woken - Tiago had shifted, and Bruno had muttered, but that was about it. Orchid, being a heavy sleeper, hadn't moved a muscle, while Carla was currently murmuring song lyrics in her dreams. He looked down at Bia, lightly brushing the ruffled feathers around her eyes to smooth them down. "What was it about?" he asked, worriedly. Bia did talk in her sleep, but it was usually positive. Like book quotes, or family and friend names. Nothing like this, though.
"I was being chased by something." She explained, in a shaking voice. "Something horrible, with huge claws, a hooked beak…"
"Claws, hooked beak?" Azure asked, frowning. He couldn't envision what Bia was dreaming of. "What colour was it?"
"I… I don't know. I couldn't tell." Bia was practically being held up by Azure, her wings draped around his neck. She dragged her feet into standing, so that she could stand unsupported. She pried herself from his wings, sitting down on the crate. She could feel herself sweating, and her heart was still racing, a few heartbeats quicker than normal. Azure sat next to her, draping a wing around her shoulders like a blue cloak.
"It's okay." He said, his silvery tone soothing and tender. "Sure you're alright?"
"I'm fine." Bia replied, feeling much less panicked as she heard his voice. The floor was washed with golden sunlight, and the sky was now clear of cloud. Just the view of the good weather was enough to make her feel calmer. She looked outside, and saw how the land was beginning to slope upwards. Maybe now would be a good time to begin their search. She shook off his wing, hoping to forget the dream.
Meanwhile, Azure, while assured that Bia was fine, had a weird feeling. He didn't know why it was, but he had a feeling that he should keep an eye on her. She was one of the most vulnerable of them all, with her slow flight speed and petite size. Suddenly, the journey seemed a little intimidating - Azure just had one of those feelings that something was going to go wrong.