Bromeliad and Isaac moved through the forest, eyes on Adele and Leti, trying not to lose them in the crowd. Their escorts, older macaws, were flying along the sides, guiding them and keeping an eye out for enemy Hyacinths. So far, they had encountered nothing, which was a huge relief. The number of adults were small, and most of the crowd were too young or inexperienced to fight. The teenagers could, but most had not been taught adequate self-defence. Isaac and Bromeliad, as well as Azure and Orchid, had been taught by Roberto and Sophia, but not many of the others' parents had bothered.
Suddenly, ahead, the escorts halted. Through the trees, the first flowery tree of the Blue-and Gold territory was visible. But this wasn't why they had stopped. Instead of moving forward, the terrified kids dived under a nearby fern patch as dark blue shapes melted from the shadows.
Meanwhile
"I, I -" Orchid was stammering. "I think we lost them..." The group finally slowed down, panting and trying to catch their breath. The sound of arguing Hyacinths faded away, and they could focus on the distant sound of eerie Hyacinth chanting, toward the direction of the ravine. The six exchanged worrying glances, and fearful ones. All their parents were there - and the Hyacinths were stopping them getting back. Bia looked into the bag with worry. They were so close, and Jewel could be in a terrible condition by now. They were blocked by a Hyacinth barrier, and the ravine would soon be filled with battle.
"I think they're gone too." Tiago agreed, watching the trees where their pursuers had disappeared. At first, there was great relief - but this was then replaced by the worry of their new problems.
"Okay, we need a carefully organized, structured plan..." Bruno began, but his voice faded as he had no ideas. There was a moment of silence, before he turned to the others with a helpless shrug. "Any bright ideas?"
"It's simple - we need to help the kids, protect them until they get to the Blue-and-Golds, and someone needs to find mom." Carla said, with determination. "Okay, I think it's best if four of us go to the kids, and two find mom..."
"Only two?" Asked Azure, startled. "There's a whole tribe of Hyacinths out there!"
"Think about it, Azure!" Carla turned to him. "The less go to find mom, the less chance of delays and getting noticed by Hyacinths - and the adults can look after themselves. More of us have to go and protect the kids! The teenagers there might not be adequate at keeping the little ones together - we're pretty much the most sensible, other than Isaac and Bromeliad... four of us need to be there. Ten Hyacinths may not sound like much, but there are some seriously tiny kids out there! They'll go running in all directions, and they could get hurt."
"She's right, Azure." Bia reminded him - eventually, Azure saw sense. "I'll go to find mom." Bia volunteered. She turned to Azure; what would he do? Go with her, or help the others with the kids? His brother and sister were amung those kids, too, so it had to be a hard decision.
"I'm going with you." Azure said, firmly. Bia felt a sense of relief at this - of every one here, she wanted him most by her side.
"Are you sure?" Asked Tiago, glancing in direction of the ravine. "It could be dangerous..."
"Look, we'll be fine. Just go and find the kids." Bia insisted, looking over her shoulder as she heard the Hyacinth cheering yet again, felt her skin prickle. She tightened her grip on the bag. "Let's go, Azure." Before they left, Bia and Azure quickly hugged their friends. Azure spoke quietly to Orchid, and then to Tiago; she heard him ask Tiago to look after Orchid, who protested at this.
"For the last time, we'll be fine! And I'm not a baby, for the thousandth time!" She protested, indignantly. "I may be your baby sister, but I can take care of myself."
"Okay." Bia said, pulling out of Carla's embrace. She faced the others with Azure, biting her lower beak. "See you later, okay?" Bia didn't dare say what she was really thinking. I hope we'll see you later.
Watching Bia and Azure go, Bruno, Carla, Tiago and Orchid reluctantly turned away, flying toward the Blue-and-Gold territory. They had to forget about Bia and Azure for now, and focus on finding those kids.
Meanwhile
"At least two macaws to every one Hyacinth!" Eduardo barked, trying to convince himself that Jewel and Blu would get back unscathed. "They may be stupid, but they are very powerful! If you are too injured to carry on fighting, you must flee - don't worry about anyone else, we have to prevent fatalities. Do not attack Kerja - if you see her, stay away from her! She will be guarded as she fights, most likely - stay out of her reach, unless you want to be torn apart! And if you see a Hyacinth headed for the cave, stop them! Do what you must to prevent them touching the eggs!" Every macaw that flew by nodded to show that they understood. Then a new voice sounded, making every Scarlet and Green-Winged macaw stop what they were doing. The Spix's macaws also turned.
"Everybody, listen to me! We are survivors, all of us here!" Felipe shouted, at the top of his voice, as more and more macaws gathered over the plunge pool, hovering with grim expressions. "We've survived two fires! Battles with each other, humans, Hyacinths! We survived then, so we can survive this!" Azalea stood beside him, with a worried expression. Felipe took her wing. "Hyacinths may have feathers and wings, but that does not make them macaws! We are better than them, because we are united! They're on their own, and always will be!" The Red and Spix's macaws all looked at each other. Felipe was absolutely right - they could - no, would - survive this. Felipe looked at Eduardo, who nodded in respect. Felipe then turned to Azalea, speaking quietly. Azalea was shaking her head, before she gave her mate a hug. Felipe was probably trying to get her to seek safety with the Blue-and-Golds, but based by Azalea's shaking head, she was refusing to leave him.
"We're in this together." Her voice was heard by the rest of the macaws. This line was just as inspirational to them as Felipe's speech. Then they all heard it. The chanting.
"Get ready!" Shouted Eduardo. Finally, all macaws were hovering, holding natural weapons - stones, brazil nuts, branches. Roberto hovered by Felipe and Azalea, holding onto a large branch. He could use it as defence, or for hitting someone. Roberto imagined his mate, his four kids, in his mind. He would see them again - he would see everyone he loved once this was over, as would everyone else. Nobody was going to die. For Sophia, he thought. The Hyacinths would pay for torturing her.
Then, at that moment, Hyacinths poured into the ravine. They did not attack on sight -instead, they halted, as if waiting for something. The chanting ceased abruptly, and they faced their enemies with wide, maddened eyes. Near the back, some muttered z before swiftly turning and fleeing. The Spix's, Scarlet and Green-Winged macaws were silent, shocked by how the Hyacinths had decorated themselves. They practically looked like flying skeletons, against a red, black and navy background. Eduardo stared at them all, shocked by their body decor, but he managed to conceal his shock. He spoke loudly, without fear, standing tall. He said it simply, but effectively. "Last chance. Go home."
"Old guy..." a greying male chuckled. "We are home." From somewhere, there was an ear-splitting shriek of a Hyacinth, sounding the signal. Then the Hyacinths charged, letting out battle cries. Eduardo and Felipe both squawked to order their tribes, who threw their wings into the air, letting out squawks of their own, before charging forward. It was like two waves rushing toward one another - one dark blue with paint and small yellow marks, and a lighter blue and red, together. It happened in slow motion; the Hyacinths flew without strategy or plan, while the other side flew with their carefully formed plans in mind. Then, finally, the waves collided. Feathers flew through the air, and screeches erupted - Spix's, Scarlet, Green-Winged, and Hyacinth, and, occasionally, the sound of the Blue-and-Gold Johanna. Weapons, both natural and human, were thrown wildly, and claws raked over skin.
Roberto lunged, swinging the branch with all his might, and felt it strike home. His chosen opponent, a young female, sqeauled sharply as she was sent tumbling both by his hit and by a sudden gust of wind. Roberto managed to stay relatively in control with the branch weighing him down against the gale, and he surged forward again - but he would miss, as the female jerked aside. But before the branch came down, there was a red smear in the corner of Roberto's eye. Felipe and Azalea shoved into the female, sending her back into the zone, and the branch came down heavily on her back. She screeched in pain, and, to their satisfaction, this was enough to send her fleeing out of the ravine, ignoring her tribe mates' protests and orders to stay. Roberto looked at Felipe and Azalea, gratefully.
"Thanks!" He exclaimed; then he saw another flying up behind Felipe, with a pair of human scissors - this was the exact same weapon and Hyacinth that had killed Catia weeks ago. "Duck!" He cried out, flying forwards with the branch. The two Scarlet macaws turned, and gasped, folding their wings and diving as the Hyacinth stabbed forward. Roberto knocked the scissors from it's grasp, and the Hyacinth gasped, watching it fall into the water below. Azalea leapt forward, claws seizing it by the wing. Clumsily, not used to fighting with bare talons, the Hyacinth swiped with inaccuracy, missing Azalea by a few feet. She was soon aided by a Green-Winged macaw, and while they drove the male away, Felipe took the end of the branch Roberto held, so it lay horizontally between them.
"This is a seriously fun way of knocking the bad guys - fly toward them with the branch like this." Felipe gestured toward three Hyacinths. Together, Roberto and Felipe flew toward the trio with the branch between them. The branch knocked into the three Hyacinths, dazing and sending them spinning.
"That's what I'm talking about!" Roberto crowed, wings flying out, but then the three Hyacinths recovered, and spun toward him and Felipe. Their triumph and amusement vanished abruptly. "Uh-oh." Roberto's sense of pride vanished as they charged toward him and his friend. Felipe grabbed him by the wing, pulling him out of harm's way. "What do we do -" Roberto began, and his question was swiftly answered.
"Get away from too much we can't handle!" Felipe insisted; with that, they turned and flew into the inferno to try and lose their three chasers. Felipe ducked as a talon aimed at his head. "And where's Kerja? Why ain't she fighting her own battle?"
"Who cares? It's a good thing she isn't here." Roberto muttered, before rolling in midair as something dark blue flew at him. But as the fight went on, Kerja was perched upon a ravine cliff, overlooking the battle. She had specifically ordered her tribe not to fatally injure Eduardo - his life was hers to take. She rested her twisted foot onto the soil, where she remembered. She was certain this was where Jorge's body had been collected and taken away by her tribe members, all those years ago.
Kerja wanted to leap into battle - she was desperate to sink her claws into enemy Spix's and Reds. But that would have to wait. Behind her, she heard a voice. "Kerja. I have some bad news... some of our members have left, during and before the fight began. During the advance, I saw around a dozen sneak away..."
"Traitors." Kerja muttered, feeling betrayed. Those cowards were just like Mina - they hadn't wanted to fight. But then her companion spoke again.
"The son-in-law and daughter are hiding in the north-east forest." It reported. "They're hiding in a palm." This was music to Kerja's ears. It was too perfect.
Nodding, Kerja waited for the Hyacinth to leave, before turning to the battle. She lifted the blade, before searching the fight, looking for someone. Eventually, she spotted Eduardo fighting alongside Johanna, who was distracting their opponent while Eduardo striked. She narrowed her eyes, before she began talking to herself. "So, Eduardo. You want your daughter to be out of pain?" Her grip in her father's pocketknife tightened, and she spoke in an acidic, scornful voice as she began to fly. "So be it."