Dawn had been swept over the Amazon in a golden curtain. Despite the honey-tinted light pouring over the trees, with the sun beginning to creep into the sky, the rain was still present. It had been pouring torrential rain throughout the last week, and now, it was a light pattter, easy enough to fly in without much trouble. With the rain, the Amazon had bursted it's banks, but it wasn't too bad. They had seen worser floods than this, flooding where the water spread deep into the rainforest. The Amazon had swollen by a few metres, touching the trees that framed its banks, but again, it didn't pose a threat to most animals. Based on the light and ever-cloudless sky, the rain would stop in a few minutes. Tiago had been away for almost a week, apparently in Manaus. Nobody knew why he was there - Carla thought it was a gift for Orchid, but they couldn't be certain. Whatever it was, it had to be important, for him to be away from Orchid for so long.
Meanwhile, it had been assumed that it was safe enough for everyone to go home. Felipe, Azalea, and their tribe had gone back to the Kapoks - they had come to Eduardo yesterday to report the situation. The Kapoks were empty and relatively unchanged, with the exception of blue feathers, which were being found and taken away. Names of the deceased tribe members had been added to the names on the wall, within the Red tribe's meeting cave. Tribe tradition was for the name of every macaw who had died to be carved into rock, somewhere close to the main tribe home. The Spix's macaws had this too, within the waterfall cave - Eduardo, Mimi and Jewel still went there to look at Tia's name, which had been carved into the wall for almost twenty years.
All eggs that had been hidden there had been returned to their relieved parents, as had the evacuated chicks. The Spix's macaws had resettled into their ravine, and they were there to stay. Families had moved back into their hollows, and life was already beginning to revive. Even the weather showed it - in the dark period of time where the Hyacinths had been hatching their plots, the sky had been grey and clouded. When it was blue, it was a pale blue - but not a nice pale blue. Some pale blues were beautiful, but this one had been cold and almost 'empty'. But now, in the first time in what felt like forever, it was a constant, warmer blue that was rich and bright.
In the ravine, life was surprisingly like it had been before, when everything had been good. Kids and teenagers were skiing on the giant lilypads and chatting. Parents were awaiting the hatching of eggs, and teaching their chicks to fly. Eduardo was sending out patrols, and Mimi was snoring in her sleeping spot. The only real sign of battle lay within the numerous healing cuts and scratches present on some of the adults. Now that Jewel was healed, she and Blu had gone onto a human boat to contact Rafael, Nico and Pedro in Rio. They hadn't spoke in a long time, and the three city birds would be wondering what had kept them away for so long. Back in their tree, Carla, Bromeliad, Bruno, Isaac and their friend, Gabriel, were finishing a task.
"Okay, Bruno, Isaac, Gabriel -" Carla and Bromeliad surveyed the build up of mud and earth. "The block looks great - let's just put this slab of stone in place..." The two females stood back, as the three males got behind the wide stone slab. They put their wings against it, and prepared to push.
"Alright, lads - heave!" Isaac began to push at the stone, and so did Bruno and Gabriel. The slab pushed into the mud, and they kept pushing until it was fully wedged. The boys stood back, dusting off their wings while admiring their work. The spare room in Blu and Jewel's tree, the one where Jewel had suffered weeks with a fatal disease, had been blocked off. It was useless, anyway, and had too many bad memories. They had piled the entrance with earth and mud until it was blocked, and then put the stone there for good measure.
Isaac and Bromeliad had helped because they wanted to take their minds off what had happened to Orchid, and to make things more depressing, she refused visitors. At least Sophia's wing feathers were almost long enough for her to fly - her wounds were fully healed, her bruises fading, and it would be a matter of a few days until she was released. Everyone in the tribe was getting excited for her release - she was, as their scoremarker and a well-known singer across the Amazon, a beloved member of the tribe. And, of course, everyone felt sorry for what had happened to her.
"Thank you, guys, I really appreciate it." Carla smiled at the three boys and at Bromeliad, before dancing up to Bruno, kissing him on the cheek. Bruno looked incredibly surprised, but pleasantly so. "Come on, you - I haven't listened to my music in weeks, and we're reopening the club soon! We need something fresh to welcome our partiers back - we need something fun, something that puts you in a great mood... I'm thinking a song by..." Carla's voice faded into the tree as she lead Bruno to her room to discuss the matter of music. Bromeliad, Isaac and Gabriel rolled their eyes at one another in amusement, before making for the exit.
"Bye, Bromeliad." Gabriel said, giving her a smile, before leaving. Bromeliad turned, smiling back before he left. The areas above Isaac's eyes rose, and he gave her a playful nudge.
"He likes you." He teased. The skin around Bromeliad's beak flushed cerise, and she gave him an irritated, embarrassed look. "Gabriel often talks about you, you know... he thinks you're 'amazingly pretty'."
"No he doesn't..." but Bromeliad had a small smile creeping at the corners of her beak. "Anyway, did you see mom and Orchid earlier?" At this, their high spirits fell. Bromeliad suddenly regretted asking, as she remembered everything Orchid would have to suffer with. Adjusting to having half her life in the dark. Looking at her reflection and seeing the mutilation, every day. Putting up with insensitive strangers who forgot to hide their horror at what they saw.
"Yes, I did." Isaac replied, with discomfort and sorrow. "Mom will be out in a few days... her cuts have healed, and she won't have scars, and her wing feathers are almost long enough to fly with. But Orchid... well. Her wounds are healing well, but they're deep - she'll probably be scarred, and..." Isaac didn't mention her eye. He looked away. "I tried to talk to her, but she couldn't look at me as she spoke back."
"Well... couldn't we do something to help with the scars?" Bromeliad asked, hopefully. "There are plants and fruit out there that can help them fade..."
"That may be true, but even if the scars can fade, what about the feathers? They can't grow through scar tissue." Isaac still couldn't make eye contact. "I guess she could do some fruit-paint mixing, cover the skin so it's less prominent..."
"Maybe." Bromeliad agreed. "But still, her eye..." The pair faded into silence, and Bromeliad became desperate for a subject change. "Okay, Gabriel went to the lilypads, right? Maybe we should join him... we might see Bia and Azure there."
This was true - Bia and Azure were sitting together on a branch, overlooking the game on the water. Bia loved going on the lilypads - it was terrific fun, but she wasn't sure about going near that water for a couple of days. Ever since that horrible experience with Kerja, Bia had felt a chill whenever she looked at the plunge pool. A book of Bia's lay on the branch beside her - she hadn't read a book in so long, and it was a relief. "So, when will your mom and Orchid be out?" Bia asked, looking up at him. Azure was fiddling with a dream catcher that he had been making since he arrived back in the Amazon. The ring was made of closely bound sticks, and the netting within made of thread. Bia had plenty of thread in her little sewing kit, so she had plenty to spare. Blue feathers hung onto the dream catcher, with tiny seeds thrown into the threads.
"Well, mom could be a few days... if not less. Orchid could be some weeks." Azure replied, connecting the third feather to his creation. "I hope Tiago comes back soon... Orchid needs him."
"He shouldn't much longer - he hasn't got the patience to go by boat, so he'll fly to Manaus. That takes two days to fly, probably... but it's been a almost a week since he left, so he'll likely be back by tomorrow night, if not sooner." There was a long silence. Azure looked at her, with frustration.
"Why didn't she take it?" Azure asked. Bia put her book down, and turned to face him. "I mean... maybe it can't bring the eye back... but what about the scars?"
"She didn't want to waste something so precious on a non-fatal thing." Bia's shoulders slumped. "I mean... how many petals would it have taken to heal the scarring, when the Green-Winged was bleeding to death? You know what Orchid's like. She's selfless. She didn't want to cause a death or pain because of her own problem. Besides, how do we know it would remove the scars? I mean, when I got hurt back then, it prevented a scar... I didn't have the scar beforehand..."
"Still... how long would it take for the scars to fade?"
"Let me think." Bia frowned and bit her lower beak, something she did when she was in deep thought. "Okay. New skin cells will continue to reduce it's appearance, and the scar tissue will fade over months or years... she can speed up this process with various methods. Exfoliation and lemon juice is said to help, what with the lightening properties... if she does that daily, I guess the scars can fade within two years or less. I mean, or takes that long for humans, so I guess it'll be less for a bird." Bia thought over her words, wondering if she was right. "The scars won't go entirely, but they can fade enough to be less noticeable. She should paint over the skin, to help reduce the appearance." Initially, Bia didn't mention the problem of Orchid's eye, but then an idea entered her head. "You don't suppose she could get a glass eye?"
"Would they do that for a macaw?" Azure asked, with a frown.
"Could do... but I don't know where you'd get one..." Bia shook her head and sighed. "Do you think that's why Tiago's gone to Manaus? A glass eye?"
"Does he even know that glass eyes exist? It's not a typical conversation in the Amazon... no, I doubt it. Maybe he'll find something to help cover it up." Azure guessed. "You know what, let's not talk about this... it's just making me feel depressed. I just hope he'll be back soon -"
"Hey!" Exclaimed a voice from behind them. Bia and Azure's heads whipped up.
"Speak of the devil." Azure remarked, and they turned. Tiago stood there, looking breathless. Something white was in his claws - it was a large piece of fabric, and based by the colour hints beneath, it was carrying something. They were so surprised neither of them spoke for several moments.
"What the - Tiago, what did you -" Bia looked at the bundle, trying to guess what it carried. She looked at Azure for help, but he looked as baffled as she did. Tiago rubbed his wing over his forehead, looking frazzled and tired.
"You have no idea how hard it was to get these... I got hit with a broomstick by the woman who owned the stupid stall." He pointed to the painful-looking bruise on his side, before he unwrapped the fabric, revealing what it contained. Bia and Azure blinked - multi-coloured pieces of torn fabrics, a few inches long and maybe one to two inches wide. Three lay there - a pale, cream-yellow, a lilac, and a light blue, with fraying edges. Tiago looked up at Bia, hopeful. "Bia, how good are you at sewing?"