"You can't be serious!" Felipe protested, running after Roberto. "You're going out continuously! When was the last time you sat down?"
"My mate and daughter have been missing for almost a day!" Roberto retorted, whirling round with an angered expression. For the first time in over a year, the two males were glaring at each other with genuine hostility. They had been arguing for hours now. "Do you really expect me to sit down and wait patiently while Sophia and Bromeliad are missing, in a Hyacinth-infested jungle?"
"But you'll exhaust yourself!" insisted a new voice; Blu was standing there in the entrance to Roberto's nest, his face creased in concern. It was one of those rare times that he wasn't at Jewel's side. She had reached a stable condition, so he had reluctantly dragged himself from her side to try and help out with the Hyacinth situation. Johanna had given Jewel some more of her 'atraso', and there was no fresh blood coming from her eyes or beak. She was okay - for now, at least. "Look at the state of you - have you looked in your reflection lately?" Roberto hadn't slept since Sophia and Bromeliad had been reported missing, and he was running around or flying constantly, refusing to rest until he found them, but it was taking its toll on him. Roberto's feathers were dusty and strewn with forest debris, and the areas beneath his eyes were stained grey, from exhaustion and stress. He kept staggering, or struggling to fly from how tired he was, and if he didn't rest at some point, Johanna was sure he would collapse.
"I don't care! They're doing nothing to find them!"
"Nothing? Eduardo's sending out patrols every five seconds! It's not their fault they can't find them." Azalea said from the back of the nest, before her voice began to lower, for the sleeping Adele and Leti had shifted in their sleep. "Look, we want to find them as much as you do, but running yourself ragged isn't helping." Azalea had wanted to go out, to look for Sophia, who was perhaps her closest friend, but her daughters were having sleepless nights, since what happened a few days ago.
"Tell you what. Jewel's awake, so you keep her company while I'll help look." Blu offered.
"No -" Roberto began, but then there was a commotion outside. Macaws were gasping, whispering in fear, and from inside the nest, they saw that several Red macaws were diving into the trees, concealing themselves. Isaac then came skidding into the nest, with wide, blue-green eyes. He looked disturbed, and confused.
"There's a Hyacinth in the ravine!" he exclaimed, breathlessly. "It - it's standing on top of the ravine cliffs!" As he said this, Adele and Leti's heads whipped up.
"What?" wailed Leti, in a terrified voice.
"I won't let them here!" Adele exclaimed, bravely. "They don't scare me."
"Don't be silly, Adelaide!" Azalea scolded her youngest daughter, but there was no mistaking the fear in her voice. Felipe looked at them once, before he began stalking up to the exit, clearly headed for the Hyacinth in question, a look of thunder on his face. Felipe wanted blood, it was clear - around a dozen of his tribe members were dead, his female healer included, and his daughters had almost been thrown to their deaths. Blu tried to intercept, protesting - Felipe against a Hyacinth? No matter how angry he was, there was no way Felipe could go against a Hyacinth and get away unscathed. But then, outside, Eduardo's booming voice rang out, making them all jump. Looking outside, they all saw Eduardo, followed by Mimi, flying swiftly up to the cliffs.
"Nobody touches her!" Eduardo commanded, his pale green gaze raking over the trees. "Mina's on our side." All of the macaws in Roberto's nest looked at one another; Mina? The one who had saved Blu's life? What's she doing here? Daring, thought Blu. Outside, there was a great muttering - protests, hisses of anger. Of course nobody trusted a Hyacinth, regardless of how she had saved Blu - especially since Mina was the daughter of the tyrant leading their nightmare neighbours. Blu, Felipe, Roberto, Isaac and Azalea crowded in the entrance to Roberto's nest, all of them clearly wanting to get a look at Mina - she was flying this way, between Eduardo and Mimi, flinching every time there was a jeer or a hostile squawk from the trees. Why are they coming over here? Thought Blu, puzzled. Surely, if Mina was here to see Eduardo, wouldn't she be flying toward his tree? Flying over to Roberto's was risky, since it was currently being shared by the angry and unforgiving leader of the Red macaws. Felipe was simmering in silence, the white skin of his face a violent red that wasn't unlike his feathers. It was clearly taking him a lot to resist the urge to throw himself into a fight, to make the Hyacinths pay for everything they had done. Azalea put her wing across his path, blocking him, just in case.
"We should avenge Catia, and the red macaw tribe members who died!" shouted someone across the ravine plunge pool - and this was followed by many other shouts of agreement. Some were rather chilling, actually quite shocking. Blu had always thought that his fellow tribe members were kind and peaceful, but he was shocked to hear what comments they could come up with.
"Break her wings and blind her! It's Kerja's daughter!"
"What are you waiting for? We should kill her now!"
"We should put her corpse at the border! Show Kerja that we're not weak!"
Blu had never imagined what kinds of things they would think of - such terrible ideas. Had Kerja's actions caused them to become like this? So cruel with words? Eduardo and Mimi neared the tree, flanking Mina - probably to protect her, if a foolish macaw tried to attack on sight. Blu then realized that Mina was carrying something - something small and periwinkle-blue. Then he understood why Eduardo and Mimi were bring Mina here.
"Dad, look!" Isaac gasped, seizing his father's shoulder and pointing. "It's -"
"Bromeliad!" Roberto spluttered, shoving past Felipe and Blu. Isaac ran after his father, tripping as he did, and they rushed outside to meet Eduardo, Mimi and Mina as they landed. Mina gently put Bromeliad down, stepping back as Roberto and Isaac pushed between Eduardo and Mimi to reach Bromeliad. Bromeliad gave them a weak, pained smile, as her father and brother reunited with her, pulling her into a relieved embrace. For a few moments, they remained there, before Roberto and Isaac finally let her go, realizing that she was in pain. There was a half-healed wound on Bromeliad's head, a dark bruise blooming under the feathers like a passionflower. Her beak was gritted, as though she was doing everything not to let out a sound of pain. "Where on earth have you been?" Roberto demanded, sounding both angry and relieved. "And... what happened to your head?" he looking accusingly at Mina, who stepped back, but Bromeliad shook her head.
"It wasn't her. She saved my life," she explained. This earned a few shocked and doubtful murmurings from the trees.
"Where's mom?" Isaac asked, looking around hopefully. Bromeliad went silent, a look of fear entering her eyes, before tears began spilling over her cheeks. She looked at Mina, who looked away, a look of guilt on her face. Bromeliad looked at the ground, not wanting to imagine the look on her father and brother's faces.
"We need to talk." Mina murmured.
Meanwhile
"Come on!" Tiago cried, leaping from the nest, making a beeline for Carla and Bruno. "Stay together!" without hesitation, Carla and Bruno threw themselves into flight, before whirling round and plunging into the trees. Tiago looked over his shoulder, where Azure was following at least a foot behind him. To Tiago's dismay, Azure wasn't alone - their hunter was perilously close already, and she wasn't the only one. Flying beside her was a smaller one, presumably a male, from Tiago's knowledge of these creatures - but just as dangerous. The larger female had sharp, penetrating yellow irises, while the male had brown - almost red-tinted - eyes. And both pairs of orbs were burning with hunger. Both of them had similar feathers - slate-grey, white undersides, with black-bands on their wings. Their feathers were patchy and ragged, the ones around their beaks stained a brownish-red with the blood of prey. Crests spiked up violently on the back on their broad heads, which were armed with cruel, hooked beaks. Their claws were like jaguar teeth in sharpness, curved and glinting like metal in the sun.
"I thought Harpy eagles didn't live this far into Peru!" Bruno exclaimed, looking under his wing with a frantic expression.
"Apparently they do!" Carla snapped, shoving him to the right so he didn't crash into an outstretching branch. "Just fly faster, for goodness sake!" at the back, Azure and Tiago were struggling to keep up with Carla and Bruno, for they were a good few metres behind them - just a few feet ahead of the two Harpy eagles. Harpies were brutal hunters, often a macaw's worst nightmare - a wingspan twice the size of a Hyacinth's height, and many times the weight of one. They usually hunted sloths and monkeys, but they clearly fancied a bit of macaw flesh today. Hopefully they wouldn't get to. It seemed as though the jungle was doing its best to drive them toward the Harpies - vines crossed their paths, trees and branches slowed them down, and the storm had restarted - fat, heavy raindrops, dropping into their eyes. The wind battered at their feathers, piercing and making them lose control of their flying. But the Harpy eagles weren't fazed by the turn of weather - their wings were only beating harder and faster, driving them closer and closer to their prey.
"We can't outfly them!" Tiago exclaimed. "We've got to hide!"
"You must be joking!" Carla retorted, but then she vanished into some branches, concealed by the leaves. Her green eyes blazed with fear in her hiding place, but the Harpies hadn't seen her. They were still chasing Bruno, Azure and Tiago - they had to hide close together, so not to separate. Tiago shot into a small hole in a tree trunk, vanishing out of sight, remaining Azure and Bruno - the Harpies were getting closer by the second, and they couldn't lead them to Carla and Tiago. The smaller the group got, the more difficult it was to slip away unseen.
"Move!" Bruno gasped; then Azure felt the breath driven out of him as Bruno suddenly barrel-rolled his way, crashing into him. The male Harpy had slashed at Bruno, missing him by inches, but a couple of blue feathers had been lost. Then they were plunging toward the ground, unable to regain control of their flying, while the Harpy eagles followed. Azure didn't see where Bruno had landed, but as he hit the floor, the impact knocked the breath out of him. He could only lay there on his back, stunned, as the ferns around him shuddered from the eagle wing beats. Then talons hooked onto his wings - he cried out in fear and shock, but then he realized the talons were too small to be an eagle's. "Quiet!" Bruno whispered, terror making his voice shake. Then Azure was being dragged into a hollowed-out log, and they were crouching there together, the blood roaring in their ears. They became silent as they heard movement around their hiding place - they both stifled gasps as the thin wood of the log shook. The frail wood above them groaned with the weight of the eagle, and a few splinters fell onto the two boys' heads. It's directly above us, thought Azure.
Slowly, carefully, Azure began moving along the log wall, aware that the Harpy eagle above his head was beginning to realize where her prey had gone. Through a tiny gap in the ceiling, he saw her placing the side of her head on the log beneath her talons, while the male stalked along the side, a low, gravelly sound coming from his throat. The two Harpies knew that Azure and Bruno were hiding here, and it would be only a matter of time until they spotted the gap Bruno and Azure had used to enter their hiding place. They'd be trapped - nowhere to flee. "Any ideas?" Bruno whimpered, meekly, as the eagles moved closer to the entrance. Azure tried to think - maybe one of them could be spared, if they did what he was thinking. It wasn't worth having them both fly out of the entrance - only one was needed drive the Harpies away.
"I've got something, but it's... mad." Azure whispered, shaking slightly. "Get Carla and Tiago, and don't lose me - but stay out of their sight." Bruno's eyes flashed in confusion, not understanding what Azure meant.
"Huh? What do you…" then realization dawned upon Bruno, and he frantically shook his head. "No way… you're not - if you think for one minute that I'm letting your sacrifice yourself, you're wrong."
"I'll lead them away." Azure replied, not listening. Bruno ran at him, clearly to stop him - but too late. Azure rushed from the log entrance, waving his wings frantically to get the Harpies' attention. "Hey!" he shouted, as loud as he could, and the eagles' heads whipped up, their moon-like eyes fixed upon him. "Hungry? Come and get me!" Azure whipped around, before he began flying, faster than he ever had in his life, praying that the eagles wouldn't realize that Bruno was still hidden somewhere they could easily trap him.
Meanwhile, Bia and Orchid stood on a branch, sheltered from the rain by leaves. Orchid was bouncing impatiently on her toes, while Bia's wings were crossed, her eyes dull. They had been looking for hours, but everything was going downhill. The weather was only getting worse, they hadn't seen so much as a glimpse of their lost friends, and Orchid had been attacked by flying branches multiple times. The smaller, younger macaw didn't have good coordination, so she couldn't dodge out of the way quickly enough whenever a branch blocked her path. Bia had had to pluck out a few splinters from Orchid's face and wings, and there was still a neat pile of wood splinters sitting between her and Orchid. Bia was twirling a blue feather in her talons, running a claw over the silky filaments. She used it to mark an unfinished drawing within her sketch book - it was one of Azure's feathers, and it made her miss him even more. Bia missed Azure so much - no matter how young she was, she knew she loved him.
"Bia -" Orchid began, but Bia shook her head.
"Orchid, I checked - for the last time, there's no chance you have any splinters left…"
"No!" Orchid replied, and Bia looked up. Orchid's eyes were blazing with excitement and relief. "Did you hear that? I heard it! I'm telling you!" Bia frowned, before she strained her ears, hoping to hear whatever it was Orchid had heard. Then her eyes widened - Azure's voice, echoing through the trees. She sprang to her feet, stuffing the feather back into the bag, before Orchid picked it up, and slung it around her own shoulder. But then the relieved smiles on their faces faded. Azure was shrieking. A chill ran down Bia's spine - whenever she heard him shrieking, she had chilling recollections of the fire that had almost killed her and Azure. Bia didn't look at Orchid - instead, she threw herself into flight, desperate to reach him. Orchid gasped, shouting that she wait for her, but Bia didn't listen.
"Azure!" she cried, as loudly as she could, desperate not to lose him. Azure's shrieks stopped abruptly - he had heard her. And then he was calling her name, sounding shocked.
"Bia?" he shouted back, disbelief in his voice. Joy flooded through her, and she suddenly forgot that he had been screeching just moments ago. Suddenly, he burst from the trees - feathers drenched in rainwater, his wavy head feathers now straight and flat from being soaked, but Bia knew him all the same. He had the same blue eyes, with their amber fleck, the thin scar on his wing. It was definitely him. But why did he look so terrified? "Fly!" Azure pleaded, flying straight at her - but at that moment, Orchid emerged from Bia's left, coming between the two.
"Watch out -" Bia began, but her warning came too late, as Azure was flying too fast to slow down. He crashed straight into his sister, who gasped in surprise. They crashed into some vines, and in their struggle, became tangled up in the green tendrils. It was funny at first, for Azure was hanging by one foot, and Orchid was upside-down, but then Bia saw the horrified look in Azure's eyes. He was looking at something behind her, and as he did, Bia heard a screech that chilled her bones.
"Bia! Look out!" Azure cried. Bia turned, but as she did, she found herself staring into two yellow moons. No, not moons. Eyes. She wanted to turn and fly. But she was frozen, unable to acknowledge the large claws that had risen, that were slashing toward her. Then her blood flew into the air. "Bia!" Azure shrieked in horror.