(Chapter 2) Encounter Tiago:
"Haha, finally! I'm gonna play in the big leagues!" Tiago flew as fast as he could towards the local trap area of Rio De Janeiro. "This is where all the big games happen." At the arena surrounded by birds, the scene was vibrant! The games took place in the courtyard of an abandoned apartment complex. Multiple games went on at once, using broken third story windows across from each other as goals. Tiago felt slightly nervous. Afterall, he was a little kid, and the birds playing ranged from teens to local professional adults!
Tiago saw a team of younger players and the team leader immediately granted his request! "Nice to meet you and sorry if I forget your name. Your jersey number is 14. You'll be on left offense!" the captain said. "Oh, I never introduced myself. I'm Tiago! And you areee?" "I'm DeAlba. Mexican. Good to have you lil bro. We needed an extra guy."
"Team Talon Slashes, you've been called to the bull pen to begin your match!" came a squawk over the PA. "Hey Tiago, that's us!" Tiago smiled as his teammates welcomed him and flew to the bull pen, where players geared up and met their opposing team. "Today, I'm showing the world!" Tiago yelled. He flew off and caught up with his team and found himself face to face with a large team of crows, bluejays, and robins. "Whoa, these guys aren't native!" Tiago whispered to a teammate. "Yeah, they're the American Grackles! Their whole team is from North America." Said the teammate in response.
As the ref explained the rules and such, Tiago sat checking to make sure his jersey wouldn't fly off. "Wow, my first shirt ever!" He thought to himself. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Grackle's team leader staring at him. The leader, a monstrous bluejay, rolled his eyes, laughed audibly, and whispered to the co-captain. Tiago knew what was going on. He would easily be the smallest bird in the air since he was so young, but that wouldn't stop him!
As the ref went to clear the field of celebration from the previous game, the large bluejay stood up tall and started speaking calmly to the Talon Slashes. "Well, well, well, boys, look what we have here. Another bunch of dirty stank ass n*ggers from Brazil, for us to destroy." The grackles erupted into laughter, pointing and screaming hysterically. "C'mon DeAlba! So desperate you're putting little kid n*ggas on your team?" DeAlba waved his team to the field, and they went as the grackles laughed.
Tiago felt awful. Nobody had ever said anything to him like that before. "Don't worry lil' T!" DeAlba said. "Lets show 'em how its done!" DeAlba shouted to the team. The grackles flew out into the field and the surrounding crowds roared. It was as if the talon slashes had already lost.
"Nice clean game, remember boys?" the ref said as he tossed up a miniature football. In bird football, the goal was to dribble the ball through the air towards the goal, and score. Not to different from normal football, except you're flying! The grackles seized the ball and started advancing! "T, he's headed your way man!" said a teammate to Tiago. "They're coming my way because they think I'm an easy target! Well, I'll show them!" Tiago thought! He charged forward with ferociousness and captured possession of the ball and started dribbling perfectly. Dodging in and out of dangerous positions and shot the easiest goal of his life. The crowd was shocked but still erupted in excitement! "I've never seen such a quick goal! That was amazing!" said the PA announcers. "You've clearly never played against an amazonian team, have you?" Tiago said snarkily to the bluejay.
The game went on and Tiago scored 3 more goals in the next five minutes. It was as if they were going easy on him. "Is this some of joke you guys?" Tiago said, genuinely confused, to DeAlba. His teammates were in shock. This was going to be their first win of the season. Right as everything was going well, there was suddenly screaming and birds taking to the sky. Tiago looked around to see what was going on and could only see 100's of birds flying from windows, courts, and roofs towards the skies. "What's going on?! Somebody help!" Tiago yelled as he was pummeled by panicked birds. As he flapped his best to ascend, something caught him by the leg. Looking down, he saw a macaw head holding him, but it was attached to a long fleshy cord coming from a window.
As Tiago was pulled into the building, he shouted for help, but it was too late. Pinned to the ground, he whimpered as a two headed beast with a third head on a tail stood over him. "A lil' bit past your bedtime, innit?" said the tail head. "Hello Tiago, pleased to meet you." Said the head on the left. Tiago screamed, terrified. A paw of talons immediately crushed his mouth, silencing him. A voice from outside called through the window "Hey, I think that was that little blue n*gger from the game. Let's get him!" The bluejay and a crow flew in, shocked at the sight. Immediately, the head tail shot upwards, and Tiago could only watch as the bodies of the two birds fell to the ground, with their heads missing. "The head on the right leaned in close to Tiago. "Wow! Look at you! You're so much better in the flesh! Your feathers are so beautiful! No need to render them." "Hey, that's enough Spixii." Said the orange head on the left. "Lets hurry and take him so we can get this done. "What blokes those were, blimey!" said the tail head as it descended. "Their heads tasted bloody great though through the taste you could sense how daft they were. Shtewpid Americans!" The strange beast dragged the terrified Tiago away.