Kerja watched over the Red macaw kapoks, her expression holding it's usual grimace. In the Kapoks below, her tribe members were practicing - throwing their human knives at the targets, painted on the tree trunks. To Kerja's satisfaction, many knives were striking the targets. They were using the Kapoks as a training centre, for now - the cave was too small and dark, and out here, they could celebrate in their victory.
The night they had driven the Reds out, they had spent hours celebrating their victory, while others moved the dead bodies away. They had suffered no fatalities, although, somehow, several had been terribly injured. They had driven out the so-called 'powerful' Red tribe - they had their trees, their fruit, something they didn't have a lot of in their own territory. As soon as the war had been won, Kerja's growing tribe would have their pick of three places to live - the Spix's ravine, the Scarlet and Green-Winged's kapoks, or the flowery territory of the Blue-and-Golds. The Hyacinths would be feared throughout the entire Amazon.
Their own territory was sparse - food pickings were slim, trees barely had any decent hollows for them to live in, and it couldn't sustain her expanding tribe for much longer. Kerja would have normally set her sights elsewhere, rather than other territories - but the four tribes in this area of the Amazon were protected from the infectious touch of humans. What a better fate for their unfortunate neighbours - struggling in a dangerous jungle, while Kerja and her tribe didn't have to listen out for machinery or human voices. But her territory expansion was also a golden opportunity - an opportunity to put something in the past to rest, something Kerja had never let go of.
Kerja's mother had died before she had hatched, so her father had raised her. Jorge had been her entire world - the only family she had. But he had been stolen from her - slain by Eduardo. Mina had tried to tell her that it was self-defence, being the sympathetic macaw she was - that one suggestion had earned her a claw to the cheek. Maybe that was true, but Kerja didn't care. Eduardo had killed Jorge in cold blood, in her mind. She was obsessed with avenging her father - an unhealthy obsession, for she had dreamed of vengeance everyday for over fifteen years. Kerja had long tried to form the perfect revenge plan - and this time couldn't have been more perfect. Not only could she finally avenge Jorge, but she could give the Hyacinths the home they deserved. It was like killing two birds with one stone.
Kerja focused her attention on the training below - they were still throwing knives at targets. Meanwhile, others were using branches to mimick the idea of slashing a weapon - they were going against each other, slashing and blocking each other with branches. Kerja spotted two teenaged Hyacinths, in the corner of her eye - chatting away without a care in the world. She narrowed her eyes.
"Oi!" She shouted, and the pair jumped. They whirled round, quickly bowing at the sight of their matriarch. "How dare you - relaxing, while we prepare for something that could effect the lives of your descendants?" She narrowed her eyes again. "You know what? Prove to me that you're determined. Either you get back to work, or you fight each other, right now."
"What?" Asked one, eyes widening in shock. "No way! He's my best friend, I can't do that." All eyes turned to them, and the air became horribly tense. Kerja flew over to them, the branch shuddering as she landed. She leaned forward, speaking in a dangerously soft voice.
"You saw what happened to Felipe's female healer. Do you want to suffer the same fate?"
"Uh... no?" Replied the other Hyacinth, seeming to shrink as Kerja leaned toward them. The entire tribe seemed to hold their breath, as they waited for Kerja to reply.
"Then get back to training!" Kerja barked, spittle flying, and the two seized their sling-shots, hastily beginning to aim and shoot at berries. Satisfied that they were definitely going to train, Kerja flew back to her perch. She would've preferred the younger Hyacinths to use something more lethal in battle, but Mina had convinced her that there was no point in risking the younger macaws. Kerja didn't personally think that a Spix's macaw could beat a young Hyacinth, but it had gotten Mina to shut up.
Kerja could never understand Mina. Why she hated the idea of a fight was a complete mystery to her. She had raised her on stories of gore, like how many other Hyacinth parents did, but Mina had been horrified by the tales. This was a common case with other chicks, but they eventually grew out of it, learning to love the horror stories of their parent's past battles. But for some reason, Mina only seemed to get even more horrified with every story Kerja had told her. To make things worse, Mina had sympathy for the other tribes. It was actually embarrassing for Kerja, as well as Mina's physical appearance.
As her only offspring, Mina was supposed to be her heir - she didn't exactly look the part. Why Mina was small was unknown, but it was probably something to do with Kerja's own deformity. She looked down at her gnarled, twisted foot, where it was awkwardly wrapped around her pocketknife. It had to be something genetic - a faulty one, something missing or added. The foot didn't bother her anymore; she had learned to live with it, after years of struggling to adapt. When she was younger, she had been like Mina - struggling to keep up with others, laughed at by other kids for her foot, but Jorge had taught her to fight back. Mina, meanwhile, had befriended other species growing up, including a young Glaucous macaw, before Kerja had driven them out. Thinking back to Mina, Kerja began thinking about her other issues. As well as being short, she had no scars to make her look fierce. Of course there was an option in the Hyacinth tribe - something her father had suggested when he was alive.
There was the option of deliberately giving scars to young Hyacinths. Many parents, however, were horrified by the idea, refusing. But it was a wide practice within the higher ranks. They had tried that with Mina, as a teenager, years ago. Kerja had ordered someone to hold Mina, while another slashed a wound into her side. But it hadn't worked, like Kerja had hoped. Mina's wound had healed unbelievably fast, instead - it hadn't even left a major scar. It was only visible if the feathers were pushed back. Her recovery had mystified the tribe, but Kerja had discovered some odd plant leaves in Mina's nest, explaining it - she had healed herself. Other young Hyacinths would pick and scratch, leading to an ugly, thick scar, but Mina had been sensible. She hadn't touched it, other than applying that medical plant. So Kerja had given up trying to scar her. Even if she didn't feel that much affection for Mina, it would just make her look like a savage, to try inflict a more serious wound on her own daughter.
If Mina couldn't look fierce with scarring, she had to at least look sophisticated - this often gave the impression of power. Mina wasn't anything like that. She looked childish, even though she was now over fifteen years old. A rounded face, with fluffy feathers? She just looked like a larger teenager with an adult build. They'd be ridiculed by the other tribes. Mina wasn't much larger than Johanna and Alejandro, who were among the largest of macaw leaders. Those ditzy Blue-and-Golds would be laughing at the very idea. At least they won't be here to see it - not only will I refuse to let Mina take my place, but they'll be out of this Amazon. Mina would refuse the position as successor anyway - when Kerja had spoken to her about it, she had objected, stating that she wasn't leader material.
Kerja would get rid of the Blue-and-Golds as soon as the Spix's and Reds were gone - leave the easiest until last. Kerja would've organized attacks on Blue-and-Gold patrols, but she only had so many macaws. They had to focus on the Red and the Spix's until they weren't a problem. Many of her tribemates thought that by the time the Spix's and the Reds were driven out of the sanctuary, the Blue-and-Golds would have already fled, too afraid to stay.
And that was probable - Johanna was absent, and with that Alejandro not doing a good job of leadership himself, the Blue-and-Golds would likely flee for their own safety. Kerja had been told at how useless Alejandro was without Johanna, and she had gone to see for herself. She had seen the entire Blue-and-Gold tribe in the middle of a meeting, arguing about something, but they weren't listening to Alejandro' s commands of silence. Instead, they had continued arguing. It had taken several of Alejandro's right-wing birds to get them to shut up and listen. He wasn't strong enough alone - they needed another leader, one like Johanna, to keep them in order.
Kerja didn't know what Johanna was doing in Eduardo's ravine - she hadn't left it since Kerja's spies had watched the Blue-and-Gold matriarch flying in there. What was she doing there? Discussing Kerja and her tribe? Plotting their retaliation? Unless she was caring for a sick or injured bird, as this was rumoured. That wouldn't surprise Kerja - Johanna was frequently called by other tribes, those outside the sanctuary, to help the more complicated of disease and injury. That often didn't take long, but this time, Johanna had been there for a few weeks. Kerja didn't know for certain if all this was true, but maybe their guest could shed some light on that.
It had been over a day since they had captured Sophia, but she hadn't so much uttered a word of useful infomation. She was refusing to tell them anything about her tribe. Maybe they should've taken the girl, instead - the teenager was probably more willing to cooperate, while Sophia was as stubborn as a Brazil nut shell. Kerja couldn't help but admire her loyalty - Sophia was tougher than she thought. But based on what her body guards, Aloisio and Emerico, had told her, they were coming close to finding some valuable infomation. After all, with what else they had planned, Sophia couldn't keep silent forever.
"Kerja!" said a voice, above her. Kerja only allowed those of higher ranks or those closest to call her by her name - for others, it was Madam. Beryl, one of Kerja's right-wing birds, was hovering in the air before her, several other patrol members behind her. Beryl looked deeply troubled, and the macaws behind her were pacing in the air, flying back and forth, clearly restless.
"What's happened?" Kerja asked, glancing up.
"We were in Eduardo's Brazil nut grove, when we overheard a Spix's patrol passing - we would have attacked, but we were too heavily outnumbered." Beryl began. "Their patrols are now massive. Anyway, Rodrigo heard them talking. It seems as though the daughter survived - the Spix's macaws know we've got Sophia." Below, the fighting practice stopped, and Hyacinths turned to listen. There was an uneasy muttering at this news. Kerja blinked at Beryl.
"Go on." Kerja nodded, her expression unreadable, and Beryl carried on talking.
"But the thing is, the daughter didn't go back herself. She had help. Rodrigo only heard fragments, but he heard a few words -" Beryl looked back at the male Hyacinth, who nodded, allowing her to tell Kerja. "He only got the words 'Hyacinth', 'Helped', and 'Bromeliad', who we're assuming is the name of Sophia's daughter. Do you know what that could mean?" Beryl looked around the kapoks, eyes raking over every Hyacinth. "Someone here... now bear in mind that we didn't hear it all... could be helping the Spix's. We don't know if it's a one-off or what, but... it means that there could be a traitor in our midst." Kerja said nothing for a few moments - outside, she looked unchanged. But inside, there was a flame of outrage, flaring and burning. Then it exploded, as she then shouted, her voice echoing around the Kapoks.
"Every one of you spread out and get everybody back to our cave! Our calling shells are at the entrance. Take one and start using it, so we can get everybody back. We're having a tribe meeting." Immediately, her tribe scrabbled to obey her commands, rushing to the entrance. Kerja seized one such shell, before abandoning her perch.
Meanwhile
"Hold still, Bia! You'll make it worse!" Carla fretted. They'd been doing this for at least an hour, and Bia wasn't cooperating. She was in too much pain to hold still - and Bruno was worried that the claws had damaged more than her flesh. Even with two macaws pinning her wings, Bia wouldn't keep still. It was threatening to restart the bleeding, and Bruno had just got it to stop.
"Enough of this." Bruno muttered. He disappeared outside - and then he returned with a few odd-looking berries.
"What is that?" Tiago asked, craning his neck to see. The hollow was too small to fit them all in, so Azure and Orchid were waiting outside, trying to not panic. Tiago, Carla and Bruno just about fit, with Bia lying on the floor.
"A little thing my mom calls 'dreamberries'." Bruno replied. He turned to Bia, where Carla was struggling to keep Bia still. "Bia! Listen to me..." when Bia didn't reply, he sighed. "Great." Bruno then had a lilac berry in one talon. As Bia's beak opened, he darted forward, dropping the berry in. Bia's eyes opened in surprise, but Carla acted quickly, forcing her beak shut so that she had to swallow. Eventually, the berry went down Bia's throat. For a few minutes, she carried on struggling, before she slowed down. Her movements became much slower and smaller, her eyes clouding with fatigue, before her eyes slid shut. "Finally." Bruno sighed. Carla and Tiago looked at him, puzzled, so he began to explain. "Basically, it's some berry my mom found... she used it when I was little, to help me sleep, since I used to have trouble drifting off. The berries send you to sleep."
"How long will she be knocked out for?" Tiago asked, eyes fixed on the now-sleeping Bia.
"Well, when mom first gave it to me, I slept for way too long - over twelve hours. She had to half the berry. It was probably because I was so small. As for Bia, I guess, since she's a small teenager... maybe six hours? Okay, we need to see this wound." Bruno walked up to Bia's side, before peering closely at the wound. It hadn't got much better, but at least it had finally stopped the constant, heavy bleeding. Now, the wound was pink, but still as angry-looking as before. Bruno then shuddered. "Oh, no..."
"What?" Tiago shot forward, trying to see whatever Bruno had. Bruno picked up a twig, before pointing it at the wound.
"You see this?" He asked. Carla crept forward, crouched next to Tiago, dreading what she would see. The twig was hovering a centimetre above the torn flesh, where the brother and sister could see a small flash of white through the pink. "It's a rib. The eagle cut as deep as her bones." Bruno stepped back, wings wrapped around his head. "At least the claws didn't break one - then it could have injured her lungs. If that had happened, I doubt she'd... still be with us." Not daring to look at the horrified expressions of Carla and Tiago's faces, he picked up a different leaf - the one that could help heal it. "Would one of you mind telling Azure and Orchid?"
"I'll... I'll do it." Tiago volunteered, before turning and leaving the hollow, moving in a trance-like way. Carla got up, walking over to and sitting beside Bruno. Her voice shook as she spoke.
"Will she be alright?" Bruno didn't know how to reply to that - he himself didn't know. But then he heard her voice in his ear. "Whatever happens, you saved my sister, Bruno. And for that, I'm more grateful than you can ever imagine."