Eduardo seized the branch Johanna had thrown him, before turning, and swinging it with all his power. It crashed into his attacker, who only wrenched the branch from his grasp. Eduardo was then sent flying as it whacked him, and he crashed onto a rock. The patriarch wasn't getting any younger - his bones ached, jolted with the impact of the rock, and he wasn't as strong or fast as he used to be. Recovering, Eduardo forced himself back into combat, taking a rock shard and facing his opponent. Mimi had advised against him taking part in the battle, but he couldn't let his headstrong sister take over this time. He had to take part - it was his fault, after all.
Eduardo did regret killing Jorge all that time ago, but he hadn't a choice. Jorge would've torn him apart - it had been self defence, but Kerja hadn't seen that. There had to be something wrong in that brain of hers. Over fifteen years of plotting revenge was extreme, and it was a bit weird, that laugh of hers. It wasn't normal - it was just plain evil and insane. Thinking of that, where was she? Eduardo had imagined them facing off in a one-on-one fight, but she wasn't here. This angered him - was she too lazy to do her own dirty work? He remembered how Blu and Jewel were hidden in the forest, and had a dreadful image of what would happen to them if Kerja found them.
"Eduardo! Look out!" Roberto shouted, from somewhere. Eduardo snapped out of his thoughts, and suddenly realized that his opponent now had a glass shard in talon, and was flying at him at full speed. But it was intercepted by something yellow and blue. Johanna grabbed the weapon, and began trying to wrestle it off the Hyacinth, who angrily tried to keep hold of his possession. They were both trying to hold it so tightly that it cut into their talons, and the glass turned red; finally, Johanna saw an opportunity, and let go. Not expecting it, the Hyacinth fell backwards, spinning and flailing through the air. She turned to Eduardo.
"We need more help!" Johanna insisted. She looked from the battle to the ravine exit, thinking, and then she reached a decision. "I'll be back soon, okay?"
"What?" Eduardo asked, but before he could say anymore, Johanna had vanished. Eduardo turned his attention to the battle again - he had to focus. Seeing Roberto struggling with a larger opponent, Eduardo threw himself back into the fight.
Meanwhile
Blu could hear the distant sound of battle going on, and he was terrified. Terrified of that, and terrified of what was happening to Jewel. Something was different - she was usually near-lifeless. But now she was moving; she was jerking every few moments, as though having a weak fit. It wasn't as dramatic as what had made her heart stop not that long ago, but her organs were probably beginning to fail by now. Johanna had told him that organ failure occurred as the disease process completed. Her heart was weakening, as were her lungs, and more blood was making it's appearance. Her eyes were now glassy and half-shut. She couldn't move intentionally - it was as if she were paralyzed. Blu held Jewel tightly in his wings, trying not to break down. Everything was too much - Jewel, the battle, their kids being gone - it was pushing him to the brink.
They were hidden in a palm tree, the large leaves concealing them. Blu was on edge - jumping at the slightest sound. The deranged matriarch could be lurking anywhere, and she was after Jewel. He had to hope that she was busy in the battle, and wasn't looking out here for her target. She would surely search the ravine first - right?
Blu pushed the leaves aside, peering out as far as he dared. The forest was silent, other than the sound of the struggle in the distance. It was getting darker as evening took hold, made even darker by the storm overhead. It wasn't raining yet, but based by the black clouds, it wasn't far off. Thunder rumbled occasionally, and lightning illuminated the sky every few minutes. Not a shred of sky was visible - this storm had been building up for weeks, with the dry spell. It hadn't been as terrible as the heatwave a few months back, where the river level had been so affected it had dropped a few metres, but this rain was going to be heavy.
Behind him, Jewel coughed, and he heard the leaves stir as she moved. When he turned, he was shocked by what he saw - she had managed to stand up, but shakily. While this was a good sign, Blu knew she had to conserve her energy. "Jewel, you have to rest -" Blu began, but then Jewel fell over, stumbling on the palm and landing on her front. She muttered something weak and inaudible. She lay there, slumped, wings hanging over the palm leaf. Blu went to help her up, but she was looking below. She opened her beak, and made a high-pitched sound, looking frantically and weakly at him. With a frown, Blu followed her gaze - then he felt his blood go cold.
Something dark blue with a twisted foot was standing directly below their tree, looking up with piercing grey eyes, examining the palms that surrounded them all. Blu felt faint - but he managed to remain calm. Blu had to be quiet - quieter than he ever had been. It was said that Kerja had supreme hearing and eyesight, so the slightest mistake would give away their place. Blu couldn't believe she was there - how had she tracked them down, to this part of the forest, of all places? Had he been spotted somehow?
Blu slowly edged along the palm, flinching everytime he brushed a leaf, until he was beside Jewel. They had to get away from the palms, quickly. Jewel looked up at him with delirious, yet terrified eyes, as he wrapped his talons around her, trying to figure out if they could fly away unheard and unseen. But as Blu turned to go, his wing brushed something on the tree trunk.
He and Jewel both turned to look at the palm fruit, which were barely attached to their pods - they were ready to fall. And his wing had shaken some loose. Jewel feebly reached out to try and catch them, but she had no strength left in her wing to grasp. They bounced off, and fell toward the forest floor. They landed right at Kerja's feet. She looked up slowly, feathers rising with hostility. Blu and Jewel stared down through the palm leaves, Blu's heart thumping and Jewel's ever-weakening heart attempting to beat more strongly as she got frightened. At first, they thought they hadn't been seen. But then Kerja spoke loudly.
"I must say. A very, very clever hiding place. Plenty of leaves to hide yourselves... it truly was a clever idea. Unfortunately, it hasn't worked." Kerja spoke in a casual, yet grating voice. Blu and Jewel were frozen, unsure over what they should do. "I'm going to give you two a three second headstart." Kerja said, folding her wings.
"What the..." Blu said, to himself. He peered down the palm.
"One." Kerja said. Blu hesitated. In his talons, Jewel was struggling, weakly telling him to go. As Kerja said 'two', he came to his senses. Blu grabbed Jewel, and leapt off the branch. At first, the surroundings were silent - then Kerja shrieked the third number, and the air behind him stirred with large wingbeats. Blu didn't dare look back - he flew faster than he ever had in his life. Behind him, Kerja began to chase them, with an ear-splitting squawk.
Meanwhile
Isaac dived under a plant, missing the diving Hyacinth by inches. It's talons scrapped the air where he had stood seconds before, before the Hyacinth cursed and flew higher, scanning for more victims. Their adult guides were being restrained by several other dark blue birds, pinned down and protesting. "Take us!" Cried Isabella, struggling violently. "They're only kids! Just let them go -"
"Shut it!" Snapped her restrainer, kicking her hard in the side, and Isabella gasped in pain, falling into silence. The others hissed and continued to struggle and protest, and their captors ignored them, only trying to help their companion in scanning the undergrowth. There were several holding the guides, and one, a large, scarred male, was stalking the undergrowth, searching. Underneath the dense ferns, teenagers were running, gathering the terrified chicks and returning them to the main group. Thankfully, it seemed as though no-one had run off into the forest - but they still had a problem. Isaac looked to the right, peering through the ferns, where he could just about make out the first trees of the Blue-and-Gold territory. They were at least thirty metres away. He wanted to shout and curse his frustration - they were so close, but they couldn't escape to the safety.
"Isaac!" Hissed a voice. A female Spix's macaw named Floresta, a friend of his, was pointing outside the ferns, to something behind Isaac. Isaac turned, and his heart sank as he saw it. Bromeliad's ocean-blue eyes were visible under a nearby dip in the forest floor - vines criss-crossed over the dip, concealing her, but she was two metres away with a large open space between herself and the others in the ferns. To make things worse, she wasn't alone.
Adele and Leti were cowering under her wings, along with two other Spix's chicks. Beside Bromeliad, Augustus and a teenaged Green-Winged Isaac didn't recognize were also hidden, with visible terror. But their spot was frighteningly close to where the Hyacinths were restraining the adults. The searching Hyacinth moved closer to the fern canopy, beady eyes piercing into the ferns as he looked. The teenagers were clinging onto the chicks, hugging and trying to reassure them, but the ferns moved with the slightest movement.
"Look..." whispered Isaac, flinching as the ferns shuddered directly above him. He spoke to the split group and the ones around him. "We need to..." but then his voice cut off. The scarred male was walking, directly between their ferns and the vines where Bromeliad and the others hid. No one dared to move. A chick that couldn't be more than a few weeks old clung to Isaac, shuddering and crying silent tears. Isaac put his wings at it's shoulders to try and reassure it, while locking eyes with Bromeliad, mouthing the words "be quiet and don't move"; then, a tiny sound came from one of the Spix's chicks by Bromeliad - a sob that faded as it regained control.
The scarred Hyacinth then turned. It's eyes were set on Bromeliad and the others' hiding place - from above, it just looked like a pile of vines. But it had clearly heard something. To Isaac's horror, it walked toward the spot, slowly, it's feathers lifting. Isaac had to do something. He plucked up the chick clinging to him, and put him into a Scarlet macaw's wings. As he prepared to leap out of hiding, something happened, stopping him in his tracks. A squawk Isaac hadn't heard in weeks rang out, and then a shadow grew over the scarred male.
Tiago flung himself directly at the Hyacinth, his claws coming into contact with it's head. Shocked, it leapt at least a foot into the air, before staggering over to it's companions who were restraining the adults. Distracted from their prisoners, they looked up in startled surprise. Taking this opportunity, the adults surged upwards, dislodging their captors enough for them to scrabble away. Immediately, they turned to the undergrowth, their first priority being the kids they had been entrusted with.
"Run, kids! The Blue-and-Golds are through there!" Urged one; the ferns then burst into life as blue and red blurs exploded from the fronds, the teenagers carrying the smallest chicks who could not yet fly. Confused, it took the Hyacinths several moments to realize it - then they surged forwards, only to be blocked by the adult guides. From the bushes, Carla, Orchid and Bruno leapt out of hiding to help. Carla made a beeline for the vines, to help the group out, while Orchid and Bruno began helping the last kids. Augustus emerged first; upon noticing who it was, he stiffened. Carla stared back, tense, before she rolled her eyes to herself, seizing his wing to help him out. Augustus muttered an awkward thank-you, and something else - it sounded like an apology. The hate in Carla's eyes faded a little.
"I forgive you, alright?" She said, irritably. Giving him a curt nod, Carla then focused on helping the Green-Winged out, while Augustus looked at her once, before he swiftly fled with the others. The two Spix's chicks fled upon liberty, while Adele and Leti waited, not wanting to leave the final one in the vines. Bromeliad staggered out of the vines; she then realized who it was before her, and stopped, staring in bewilderment.
"Carla?" She spluttered, in amazement. Carla grinned at Bromeliad, before quickly giving her friend a hug. Forgetting the situation, Bromeliad began asking a thousand questions. She looked around Carla, feeling delight as she caught sight of Orchid. "Did you find it? Where's Bia and Azure? What -" Carla couldn't answer them all - rolling her eyes in amusement, she put up her wings to silence Bromeliad.
"They found it, okay? They're finding mom as we speak - but we don't have time for a real talk. Let's get out of here, quickly, and we can talk afterwards!"
Meanwhile, Isabella let out a high-pitched cry, upon seeing Bruno. Bruno spun recognising it - before running to her. "Mom!" He exclaimed, running straight into his mother's wings. "I'm sorry for not telling you - you can ground me if you want -"
"Oh, I don't care, Bruno! I'm just happy you're here and safe!" Isabella replied, in sheer joy. Their reunification was brief, for the Hyacinths snapped out of their trances, beginning to put in more effort abd try and force their way past the adults, who fought to keep them back. Meanwhile, Bromeliad and Isaac ran to their sister, sweeping her off her feet in a joint hug. Like Bruno being reunited with his mother, they didn't have time for it to be proper - they had to go.
Tiago, Orchid, Bruno, Carla, Bromeliad and Isaac spun round, where the crowd of kids were now mere specks, in the safety of the Blue-and-Golds. They were shouting for them to run. The guides immediately obeyed their urging, spinning and flying as fast as they could. The remaining six, with Adele and Leti, followed close behind, with the Hyacinths in hot pursuit.
Their hearts were beating like insect wings, as they flew for their lives. The flowered trees were in sight - a swathe of Blue-and-Gold macaws were now visible, outnumbering the Hyacinths. They were there at the border, surrounding the kids, and were also shouting for them to fly faster. They were almost there - the adults crossed the border, and Bruno, who had been at Isabella's side and was a faster flier.
Suddenly, there was a powerful gust of wind. The teenagers were alright - but the two chicks were light, and had to grab onto something. Leti was faster, and grabbed Isaac by the tail before she was blown away. But Adele was too slow. She went tumbling far behind - straight into the talons of the closest Hyacinth, the scarred male, with a petrified shriek. The teenagers gasped, and stopped, spinning around to stare in horror. The Hyacinth began laughing, triumphantly, claws wrapped tightly into Adele - she began wailing and screaming in terror, struggling to free herself, brown eyes wild with fear. Leti to began shrieking her sister's name, trying to fight out of Isaac's grasp to reach her, but he couldn't let her go - she'd get herself killed. But then something happened.
Orchid shoved past Tiago, ignoring his protests. "Orchid, no!" He cried, trying to reach out and stop her, but she was flying straight at the Hyacinth holding Adele. Orchid let out a shriek of anger.
"You let her go, you dirty creature!" Orchid demanded, desperate to free the defenceless chick. She lunged, straight for the Hyacinth's face, lashing out with her talons. It cried out in pain, and, after a few moments, it dropped Adele, reaching up to pry Orchid off. Adele frantically flew away, diving into Bromeliad's wings.
"Go on Adele, Leti!" Bromeliad ordered. Luckily, the two sisters didn't hesitate, and flew straight into the flowered trees. Bromeliad snapped back around, expecting Orchid to be right in front of them, but Orchid wasn't. To their horror, the Hyacinth had snagged her from the air, had pinned her against a tree trunk. Orchid's courage was now gone - she was struggling to breathe, with the Hyacinth's talons on her throat. She began coughing, trying to push him away, but she was too weak. It loomed over her, eyes blazing with indescribable rage.
"Big mistake, little bird!" He declared, the blood from Orchid's inflicted wounds beginning to run down his feathers. He was breathing heavily, and he looked terrifying with his bloodied face, the blood that was collecting in his scars. His grip on Orchid's throat tightened. "Your efforts are put to waste - your tribe will fall!" Below him, Orchid glared back, struggling to get free. She loosened his grip on her throat, enough so that she could speak.
"Never!" Orchid declared, fiercely. She then spat at his eyes, the only defence she had in her helpless situation. That did it. With an enraged shriek and without hesitation, the scarred Hyacinth scored his claws over the right side of Orchid's face.