"I'll flay that Kerja, if I see her again!" Azure vowed, his blue eyes losing their serenity and becoming filled with fury. Bia didn't blame Azure for his anger - she too was shocked, when Blu had told Azure and her what Sophia had gone through. It was horrifying - Bia loved Sophia, and she couldn't imagine her going through such hell. They had been told the whole story on the difficult flight through the rain - the death of Catia in a savage attack, the seige on the Kapoks in detail, the truly brave and selfless Hyacinth named Mina, and the whole plot with Azure's family members, at how they had been targeted. Isaac had almost been captured, and Bromeliad had escaped death with a rock to the head, only for Sophia to be taken and undergo days of torture in the caves. Azure was simmering with anger, and he looked worried sick.
"We'll take you to your mother once we find your siblings." Jewel promised, looking concerned. "And it shouldn't be too far." She glanced at Blu, who also looked worried. Eduardo's question about Roberto's hasty getaway was playing on all their minds. Occasionally, a group of Hyacinths would burst from the nearby trees, but they never even looked at the four Spix's macaws, instead disappearing toward the border.
The flowered trees finally melted into view, pink and purple and yellow, their buds bouncing in the wind and heavy rain. Bia held the bag underneath her more closely, to try and protect her drawing pad within from the weather. The trees' petals had closed since darkness was now upon the Amazon, and the Blue-and-Gold sentry duties, perched in the most sheltered trees, looked a little miserable and half-asleep in the bad weather. Upon seeing the four Spix's macaws approaching, they jolted from their sleepy moods. A male Blue-and-Gold with a vertical scar over his eye area flew to greet them as they crossed into the new territory; Bia recognized him as Alejandro.
"Good evening." Johanna's mate and deputy looked tired and weary - he had been in charge of his entire tribe for weeks without Johanna there to help him, and Alejandro was exhausted and missing her. Despite his fatigue, however, Alejandro was still smiling. "I trust you all got here safely without problems? We were told you might all be coming."
"Yes, we did." Blu nodded. Bia was relieved none of them had mentioned the mess with her and Kerja - she was too exhausted to talk about it. As they flew, Alejandro complimented Jewel's newly recovered health, and the three adults began talking about the floral miracle. Bia and Azure flew at the back, flying close together. Azure was silent, and Bia couldn't blame him - so much had happened so quickly. Almost having his throat slit, losing her, and now learning all his family troubles. He was probably exhausted. Alejandro kept looking back at him - he clearly knew something about why Roberto had rushed off.
"So, what of the Hyacinths?" Alejnadro prompted, clearly wanting to forget that thought. "Kerja's bodyguard was the one who gave me this, you know." He pointed up to his scar. "Tried to get at my eye, but I got back before he could."
"Well, my dad and Mimi went back to make sure, but when they left the ravine, not many were left." Jewel said, sounding brighter. "Then we heard cheering afterwards - we think they're retreating. We saw plenty flying away as we came here."
Bia began to feel familiarity with the surroundings, remembering how she and Azure had come here to see Johanna, to find out more about the mysterious disease. The pretty flowered and fruitful trees were a comfort, and made her feel safe. After what had just happened in the stream and plunge pool, she felt uneasy. Ahead, they could hear the murmuring of macaws. Alejandro, Blu and Jewel flew through the gap in the trees, and Bia and Azure followed.
Blue-and-Gold macaws were seen in the rain, looking cheerful and carrying fruit and nest material. A few elderly Blue-and-Gold and Spix's were seen in the nearby trees, exchanging stories of their younger days. Meanwhile, young chicks were in the care of either elderly relatives or Blue-and-Golds, or playing happily with their neighbouring chicks, their worries about their home and parents forgotten.
Alejandro motioned to a tree ahead. "They're all there. If any of you need anything at all, just ask."
"Thank you, Alejandro." Jewel said, gratefully. Alejandro nodded, before flying over to a group of his tribe members, who had waved him over. Jewel looked nervously at Blu, who brushed his wingtips over her wing.
"Ready to see our other two again?" He asked. Bia felt that wave of nerves at the thought of seeing Carla and Tiago; how would she explain that business with Kerja? And there was Bruno, Orchid, Bromeliad, and Isaac. Now, they were in sight - sitting on one branch. Bruno and Carla sat there, with the latter leaning on the former, who's wing was wrapped over her shoulders. Adele and Leti were both asleep beside Carla, who had one wing draped around the two chicks. Carla had always had that maternal instinct - she was good with children, and their neighbours had frequently asked her to babysit. And... that was it? Where were Tiago, Orchid, Bromeliad, Isaac? Other than Bruno and Carla, a couple of other friends were present on other branches - all looking... what? Sympathetic? And Bruno and Carla both looked depressed and sombre.
Carla then looked up. She leapt to her talons, with a gasp, the cloudy look in her eye fading at the sight of her parents and sister. Adele and Leti stirred, and raised their heads sleepily. Bolting from Bruno's side, Carla darted through the air, straight for her parents. "Mom! Dad! Bia!" She went straight to Jewel first, naturally - afterall, her mother had been the one who had nearly died. Jewel enveloped Carla in her wings, and the two spun through the air. For a few moments, they remained there, before Blu and Bia joined in. Smiling at the reunited family, Azure turned and flew toward the others.
"Hey, buddy." Azure said, grinning as he saw Bruno safe, before he and Bruno shared a friendly wing-bump. Adele and Leti awakened fully upon seeing him; they were family friends, afterall. Once he had greeted the two chicks, Azure felt confusion. "Bruno... where are the others?" Upon saying this, Blu, Jewel, and Bia landed beside him, looking around with similar expressions. Carla backed up to stand with Bruno, Adele and Leti. They stared at the others, shuffling their talons, unsure how to explain.
"Where's your brother?" Asked Jewel, frowning at Carla.
"And mine, and my sisters..." Azure added, looking around. Carla looked up at Bruno with a sorrowful look. Adele looked as though she were about to burst into tears; this was out of character, since she was usually tough, like her father.
"A Hyacinth grabbed Adele..." began Leti, in a small voice; this was all she managed to say before beginning to cry. Carla wrapped a comforting wing around Leti, and looked up at them with dark eyes.
"Like Leti said... the group of kids got attacked by Hyacinths... eventually we made a break for it, but just before we crossed, Adele was caught..." Carla paused, glancing up at Azure, unsure how to continue. "When that happened, we all froze... we didn't know what to do. But Orchid went forward, and attacked the Hyacinth until he dropped Adele. But then he grabbed her, instead..." there was a dreadful silence, as they absorbed this information. No-one spoke for a few moments.
"Carla." Azure said, quietly. "What happened to my sister?" Carla turned her face away, into Bruno's chest. He looked up, but couldn't make eye contact with any of them.
"She was so brave... but the Hyacinth clawed her pretty bad... on the face. Some of Alejandro's tribe managed to pull him away before he could do anything else, and the Hyacinths retreated. There was a lot of blood... but they took her away, to the Spix's Wing. We don't know how bad the extent of the damage is, but... Tiago, Bromeliad, and Isaac are down there now."
Meanwhile
A small group of Hyacinths crouched by the stream, close to the water. A young female stood over her brother, who kept wincing as she began cleaning the blood from his wounds. Their other companions were discussing the battle that had just ended. The rain was heavy, but the tree canopy provided some shelter from it. "Hold still." Said the female, rolling her eyes as her injured brother jerked a bit. "I told you not to participate in that stupid battle."
"Sorry, but you know what Kerja was like!" The male protested, flinching as his sister started dabbing his wound with water-soaked moss. "She said I'd regret it if I didn't help out..."
"Oh, you shouldn't have listened to her, bro. We should've done what the others did - pretended to go in, and during the charge, we could've quickly disappeared into the trees or something." His sister shook her head. "I knew Mina was right. I knew it, and dad told us to stop being stupid. What happened to him, anyway?"
"I think he stayed till the end... oh well, either he'll come crawling back to us or he'll go off and find some new family." Said the male, dully. He glanced at an older female, talking to another female with two chicks. "Hey, mom! What happens now?" The older female turned, looking tired and weary.
"Well, Emiliano... since Kerja is gone and left no heir... I doubt the tribe will come back together." Their mother shrugged. "It's too much hassle, electing a new leader when half of them will fight for the position... and I'm sick and tired of those creepy stories Kerja got us to tell the littl'uns. It didn't really make them fierce, to be honest... it gave you and Marcia nightmares..."
"Too right it did." Muttered Marcia, tossing the piece of moss away and searching for a fresh one.
"Anyway, either we'll join one of them little groups or form one ourselves, or we'll just live in our little families. And like that little Spix's girl said, there's plenty of free territory for us all..." their mother then looked around. "What was that?" The rest of the group became quiet to listen. It was a grunting sound, the scrabbling of talons on stone. The group paused, and looked down the stream.
"Is that..." a male squinted downstream. "Is that Kerja?" Indeed it was. Their former leader was scrabbling at some rock and a vine that drifted into the water, trying to drag herself out of the stream, but she couldn't get a firm grasp. The darker stream swirled further down, emptying into the main river. The waters in the Amazon river were choppy and wild, the wind whipping across it and promising drowning to any unfortunate soul who was carried into it. "What should we do?" He asked, frowning, as they watched Kerja struggle. There was a moment of thought. They felt no loyalty to their tyrannical leader anymore - so why should they do anything?
"Do? Nothing." Hissed a younger female. "Why should we? She's not our matriarch anymore, and if you ask me, it's better for everyone if she's dead. You know what she'll do, if we help her. She round up the tribe again and only send us into another pointless war. I'm sorry, but I have better things to do than be forced into a fight that isn't ours."
The group continued watching Kerja. Kerja could barely see - mud and water had made her vision blurry. She couldn't get a grip on the slippery rock beneath her, and her talons couldn't get a grasp through the rushing water. The vine in her beak was flimsy, and kept drifting this way and that in the tossing current. She grunted, trying to drag herself further up toward safety, but only to be pulled further back again by a rush of water. Her feathers were pulling her down, dragging her repeatedly under the surface. Water kept rushing into her lungs - her strength was sapping away, and the vine had a small tear that kept growing. She was biting it too much.
Kerja let a high-pitched screech - begging somebody, anybody, to help her. Her former tribe members didn't move to help. That was it. Suddenly, the vine snapped, for her beak had bitten too hard and severed it completely. Her flimsy grasp on the stone wasn't enough, and she was torn away from her one lifeline. She was dragged into the deeper current, which lead into the main river. Kerja saw it ahead, and floundered desperately - every cry for help was smothered by water, and then something crashed into her wing. Her screech of agony was unheard under the water, and then she sank more, as her broken wing couldn't help her.
Kerja then collided, head-first, into rock that jutted out into the river. Her mind went absolutely blank, and spots appeared in her vision. Control of her body seeped away as her struggles did. Her head reappeared once - her beak was open, but she couldn't take the opportunity to fill her lung. She wanted to breathe, but she couldn't. She slid under the surface, and the current pulled her eyelids open, letting them see the murky water that surrounded her, but then her eyes stopped moving - the light died in them, and the grey irises became lifeless. Kerja's body then drifted down, through the water and into the darkness.