Blu was running. He couldn't fly - it was just like what he used to be, unable to. No matter how much he flapped his wings, he couldn't lift off the forest floor. The tangles of creepers and vines were snagging his feet, making him fall, and all the while, he could hear Jewel's weak, terrified voice, ahead. He couldn't see her - no matter how much he ran toward the source of her voice, the further away it seemed to get. Jewel was screaming, and weeping - pleading for him to save her. "Jewel!" Blu cried, desperate now.
"Blu! Hurry! I can't hold on..." Jewel's voice grew even weaker. Blu knew what she meant - she was clinging onto her life. "Tell the kids I love them..."
"No!" Blu shouted. "No, Jewel! You - you can't!" He bursted from the trees, finally seeing her. Jewel was lying on the ground, struggling to breathe, blood trails streaming from her eyes, ears, beak. Her feathers had lost their silky shine, and were now dull, ragged, patchy. Her eye whites were red with blood, and she was lying at the talons of a large, black silhouette, with eyes like polished grey stones. Blu tried to reach Jewel, but invisible talons were dragging him back. Mocking laughter flooded his ears, and his mate's tortured screams. Then Jewel's wails cut off. Blu let out an ear-splitting shriek, his world shattering like glass. "Jewel!"
"Wake up!" Small talons were shaking him. Blu leapt to his feet, staggering across the room, crashing into the wall. Breathing rapidly, Blu whirled around, eyes bulging with fear. His racing heartbeat slowed, at the sight of little Leticia. Leti's eyes were rounded, innocent, and her face filled with curiosity. The hazel flecks of Azalea's irises were fanning out from the black pupils, surrounded by a thicker border of Felipe's green. "Mr Blu? Are you okay?" Leti inquired, in a polite, yet concerned voice. Blu stared at the little chick, eyes wide, the sound of Jewel's shrieks still echoing in his mind. "Mommy and Daddy asked me to wake you up, as Mr. Eduardo wants your opinion on a plan in rescuing Auntie Sophia. You were screaming, are you alright? Do you want me to fetch Miss Johanna?" It took Blu a few moments to take in Leti's words, to understand, the reality of his nightmare fading.
"No, thank you... I'm fine, just a horrible... dream." Blu stammered, covering his face with his wings. Tears welled up, but he brushed them away. Leti tipped her head to side.
"I had a nightmare, the other day... a big Hyacinth threw me and Adele out of our nest, when we couldn't fly... anyway, Mr Eduardo wants to speak to you."
"Okay, okay, just tell him I'll be there in a minute." Blu said, hoping to slow down his racing heart. Leti nodded.
"Okay-dokey. Come on, Adele!" Leti bounced outside, carefree, forgetting Blu's shaken state, before Adele's head came through the entrance. Her coconut-brown eyes were filled with sympathy.
"Get well soon!" Adele chirped, before chasing after Leti. With a jolt, he remembered that he had fallen asleep at Jewel's nestside. He turned, where Jewel was sleeping, her chest rising and falling slowly as she breathed. Blu felt a surge of relief. She was alright - she wasn't in critical condition just yet, but he had heard them whispering - it could be soon that she slipped out of stable and into critical. Blu had prayed every night - to Tia, begging her to watch over her daughter, and keep her with him. He had no idea if his prayers were heard, but he had to cling onto the one thing he had left - hope. It was the only thing that could save Jewel, if the kids didn't come back sooner.
Blu's heart sank, remembering how much he missed them. He loved Bia, Carla and Tiago beyond compare, but losing Jewel... Blu shook his head to himself, not wanting to think about it. He had been having these nightmares for days - dreaming of Jewel dying, and him not being able to reach her in time. There were times where they were running toward one another, but she collapsed and died millimetres from reaching him. That was probably the worst one, but the nightmare he just had wasn't far behind.
He stumbled out of the room, onto the nest entrance, squinting as the sun poured into his eyes. He spotted a friend of theirs, Manuela, the mother of Carla's ex-boyfriend, Augustus. "Manuela! Would you mind keeping an eye on Jewel, for five minutes?" Thankfully, Manuela nodded, flying past him and disappearing into the nest. Blu waited until his dream had fully faded, before flying for Eduardo's tree. While he didn't feel as terrible as he had a few minutes ago, the fear for Jewel's health still remained.
Meanwhile
It had been almost a day since they had began gravitating up the mountain, the one Tiago, Orchid and Azure were certain they had seen the blue light. The sky was liquid gold from the setting sun, and the forest view from above was incredible - a mottled green blanket, spreading as far as the eye could see, broken only by a glimmer of the Peruvian Amazon river. Flecks of colour, of birds, were moving below, like tiny insects. The mountain base had been as tropical as the jungle below, but soon, it had turned to flat grassland. They had searched the grasses, but Orchid and Tiago were positive that the blue light had been further up, around the rockier area.
Occasionally, they would stop to eat, before resuming their expedition. Bruno had offered to carry their food supply; some strawberry guavas, and some kinds of nuts, all neatly wrapped in an exceptionally large leaf. Shared between them, they had a few days worth of food, but then what? Would they have to keep flying back to the jungle to refill their supply? Or salvage what they could from the sparse hills, where pickings were slim? They were macaws; they didn't belong in the mountains. None of the plants were suitable for their diets. Without Bia's knowledge, they were helpless and guessing over what they could eat.
Bia was still awake, but her fever was only getting worse, and Bruno hadn't known any infection-beating plants. He knew some that tackled the symptoms, rather like pain-killers, but they hadn't been able to find any. All the while, Azure had carried her, despite the strain and humidity. Her wings and head were hanging down, and she felt limp in Azure's talons. The thoughts racing through his mind were implanting terrible scenarios - Bia dying of infection, and him going insane because of it. Azure was petrified of what could happen, and he knew that Blu was probably feeling the same way, about losing Jewel.
Azure, carrying Bia, flew in the middle. Carla and Bruno brought up the rear, while Orchid and Tiago flew in the front, looking hard to find what they desperately needed. Below, ground animals were looking up, berry-bright eyes filled with curiosity. They were probably wondering what six colourful birds were doing here - they were probably the first ever macaw visitors in a while, if ever. There were few birds up here, although they had seen a Mountain Caracara once or twice. Luckily, it had ignored them, flying on without causing them any trouble.
Now, the grassland below had faded to scrub, and, not far ahead, lay a more rocky stretch of land. The mountain, being as low as it was, lacked snow. Behind it, giants stood, their tops capped with white; this smaller mountain wasn't tall enough to entirely escape the high temperature, although it did feel significantly cooler.
"Hold it." Tiago said, and they slowed to a hover. He was looking up and down the mountain, and then back to the forest, measuring the distance, thinking. "Maybe we should stop and poke around this area."
"Yeah, this looks like the area..." Orchid was nodding, and, before they could stop her, Orchid was making a bee-line for some nearby rocks. Tiago rolled his eyes, following her.
"Stay together!" Carla shouted, stiffening when her voice echoed. "And come back to this bush, if you have no luck!" She pointed down to an unusual-looking bush below, the only one that was growing in sight. She turned to Azure and Bia. "Azure, stay with Bia by this bush. Don't leave her on her own." Carla instructed, before turning to Bruno. "Come on, let's check out those cliff faces, up there." Bruno nodded, before placing the leaf bundle down beside the bush, opening it. A few strawberry guavas rolled out, and Bruno quickly caught them before they went bouncing down the mountain side. He held up a few leaves.
"Okay, you'll have to chew the leaves and then use a leaf or feather to apply it to her wound. It'll ease the pain, and I should warn you, it might sting a little." He informed Azure. He stole a glance at Bia's wound, wincing as he did, seeing it's state. "The infection... It's..." He shifted with discomfort, before turning and hastily following Carla. Azure sighed, pushing a wing through his dense head feathers, before sitting down beside Bia, who was lying there, shivering again. He knew what Bruno would've said.
Seeing the girl he loved in agony was breaking his heart. Bia was constantly sweating hot and cold, her damp feathers plastered to her skin, and her breathing was heavy and laboured. And the wound was terrible - the shade kept shifting from violent red to a sickly greenish, and it kept leaking a white, yellowish fluid. It made him feel sick, looking at it, and he couldn't imagine how Bia felt about it. She had that vile wound on her chest, and it was giving off the sour scent of infected flesh.
Azure, desperate to ease her pain, picked up the leaves Bruno had given him. The surface was smooth, shiny, and olive-green, and he didn't recognize it. He had to thank Bruno at some point, for caring for Bia. Azure began chewing the leaves, like his friend had said, until it had formed a paste. Spitting it out, wincing at the sharp taste, Azure plucked one of his feathers. Plucking feathers did hurt - but the leaves of this scraggly bush wouldn't be much good. Gently, he touched Bia's shoulder, and her eyes slid open. "Hey... I'm going to have to put this on your wound. Bruno said it might sting a little." Bia nodded slowly to show she understood, before turning to him, so that he could see her wound. Azure tried not to wince at the sight of it now - red, dried bubbles of blood, and that filmy cream-coloured substance. It claimed most of Bia's chest, three ragged clawmarks, with the tiny glisten of visible bone.
"Bad, isn't it?" Murmured Bia. Azure couldn't bring himself to reply, so he didn't. He picked up the plucked feather, dipping it into the leaf pulp, before focusing on applying it. The moment his feather brushed onto her wound, Bia drew in a sharp breath, gritting her beak as it stung. "Ouch." She muttered.
"I'm sorry." Azure apologized, trying to rub the leaf into the raw flesh without hurting her. Bia nodded again, her beak still clenched. She was squeezing a pebble in her talons, probably to help get through the pain. Finally, the last of the leaf was gone, and the wound looked less dry and angry. Azure exhaled, tossing his plucked feather to the side, where it was caught by a sudden wind. The feather was carried into the air, spinning and dancing until it floated out of sight. He looked at Bia, where her eyes were now closed. "You've been so brave, you know." Azure said, softly, sitting down beside her.
"Me?" Bia asked, shaking her head. "I have not been brave, Azure."
"You have, trust me."
"Yeah - brave is freezing in the path of a Harpy eagle." She sighed, her head falling back against his shoulder. Azure wanted to tell her otherwise, but he knew it was pointless. Bia never saw her own bravery. "I need a distraction." Bia said, unexpectedly. "Where's the bag?" Azure remembered that Carla had had the bag; looking around, he noticed it lying beside the food-carrying leaf. He wrapped his talons around it, before dropping it in front of Bia. She struggled to extract something, before Azure pulled out the map for her. He unfolded the atlas pages, holding it in front of Bia. She reached forward, her wing shaking a little with effort. Her wingtip rested on the very edge of the start of the mountain. "We must be right here." She determined, before falling back, exhaling with relief. "That's better. My brain's felt so empty."
Bia's face became more serene, although the look of pain still lingered. Azure wished that he could take her pain away - if he could, he would take that wound and put it in his own skin, so that he was suffering, not Bia. Bia then leaned against him, eyes shut, the sun illuminating her face. Azure turned his own face to the golden orb in the sky, eyes also closed, feeling it's warmth seeping into his skin. If it weren't for Bia's wound, this would be an extremely romantic moment. "Azure? Could you... sing to me, please?" Bia asked, sounding shy.
"You try and stop me. I'll sing you that new song Carla heard." Azure began singing quietly, and he felt Bia relax. "You're the night, you're the light, you're the colour of my blood..."
Meanwhile, Tiago and Orchid had travelled further up the mountain, past the cliff faces Carla and Bruno had been searching. Tiago wrapped his wings around himself, rubbing his feathers, as a cold wind blew. "Brr. I never thought I'd ever feel this cold, other than the time... Did I tell you about the time in Rio, when I was really little?"
"No," Orchid shook her head, scrambling up some rocks. "What happened?" She found herself smiling, knowing that it would be a funny story.
"Well, you know those three humans, who helped you after the fire? Linda, Tulio, Fernando? We went into their house for the first time, when we first learned to fly. Mom and Dad were telling Bia and Carla about some picture, and then Fernando opened the refrigerator -"
"The what?"
"Oh, sorry - It's box, basically, and it's really cold inside. They use it to keep food fresh. Anyway, Fernando left it open by accident, and I thought it would be funny to hide inside and close the door... unfortunately, I didn't realize how cold it was. I was freezing in there for around five minutes, until Dad heard me shouting in it." Tiago grinned when Orchid let out her usual musical laughter.
"You really are an idiot, some times." She carried on laughing, giving him a playful shove. Forgetting their objective, Tiago sprang at Orchid, and she leapt up to meet him, and they began play-fighting on the rocks. "You are so dead!" Orchid giggled, as they rolled across the rock ledges. But then Tiago felt the stone beneath him vanish, and he was plummeting into the dark. He landed hard on a cool, rock surface, gasping as it made his bones jolt. Orchid gasped, as he vanished out of sight, into a dark hole. "Tiago! I'm so sorry, are you okay?" She leaned over the rock ledge, squinting to see him in the dark, feeling anxious.
"I'm fine! Just a nasty bump, that's all..." Orchid felt relieved when she heard his voice, and she placed her wing over her heart, something she did whenever she was relieved.
"Thank goodness. Anyway, what's down there?" Her reply was silence. Orchid squinted again, seeing him at last - Tiago was staring at something. "T? You alright?"
"Orchid? You might want to get the others." Tiago sounded awe-struck. "This tunnel... there's ice down here."
"What?" She blinked. "Ice? It's cold, but not that cold, Tiago..." a wave of understanding washed over Orchid, and she gasped, remembering the legend. Ice was key. She stared into the hole in the rock face, eyes enormous. "Tiago?"
"Orchid? Get the others, a-s-a-p. You've got to see this!" Tiago shot out of the hole like a rocket, throwing his wings around Orchid, in pure delight. His eyes were sparkling properly, for the first time since Jewel had been diagnosed. He planted a kiss on her cheek. "Actually, you wait here, I'll get them!" He rushed down the mountain side, shrieking with excitement, calling for the others, leaving Orchid standing on the edge of the black hole. She couldn't react - she was stunned beyond belief. They had actually found it.
Then she was breathtaken, hearing it - voices. Musical voices, unfamiliar to her, but they held no malice. They were warm, welcoming, and she was itching to go into the tunnel, to find what lay within. She poked her talon down, feeling a fresh coolness. It wasn't cold enough to keep the ice frozen, but then, the ice had been here for hundreds of years. There was clearly something strange at work here. She looked over her shoulder, impatient, waiting for them.
Orchid had no idea what it would feel or look like, after venturing down this tunnel, but she knew exactly what they would find. She and Tiago had stumbled upon something magical - it felt like knocking on heaven's door. Daunting, but at the same time, she knew everything would be alright. They had finally found what they were looking for.