Chapter 37- recovering part 1
Blu and the others continued to wait for Charon who was still in surgery, worry for him plaguing them. It was clear that based on the surgery taking longer for the young raven implied something far more serious but Blu and Sirius already knew why. Blu stood with his family while Sirius, Milo, Ahsoka and Aurora stood with Celeste, Brisa and Orion and Samara in their cages. Zephyr was still groggy from the anaesthetic and it will be a while until he became fully alert and the group had planned to explain everything to him once he was this. This Spix macaw had been fortunate; he had only got away with a broken wing but the same could not be said for Charon. Aurora and the others with her looked on at Jack and Jill as they anxiously waited for their raven friend, the former pacing back and forth with his arms folded and the latter sitting on a seat playing on an Iphone one of the employees had given her to allow her to pass the time.
"I know how those twins feel," said Aurora. Celeste shot her a surprised look.
"Those two humans are twins!?" she asked.
"That's what we heard," said Sirius, "But Jack and Jill are not identical twins, but fraternal twins."
"I thought humans only had one baby at a time like bats," said Samara, "and not litters like most mammals such as cats."
"Humans have been known to have more than one baby per pregnancy," explained Milo, "When a human woman is pregnant with more than one baby, it is often referred to as a multiple pregnancy. Twins are the most common multiple pregnancies but are rarer than singletons or babies born singly."
"How can they have twins then?" asked Orion.
"Boy, this is a question for Blu," said Ahsoka. Then the female ginger bat, now formerly-flightless, entered thought. She had limited knowledge of human reproduction but she understood the basics so she began to do her best in explaining the biology of human twins. "From what I remember from the human books about human babies and how they are formed and born, identical twins originate from the same fertilised egg; one sperm fertilises one egg but that egg splits into two babies, resulting in the twins looking the same due to having the same DNA hence the name identical. For fraternal twins, they come from separate eggs fertilised by separate sperm at roughly the same time. They both develop together in the mother's womb but they are no different from siblings born one at a time in terms of sharing genes..."
"Wow, you are quite knowledgeable in the area, Ahsoka," said Aurora with amazement.
"Sort of like Blu," put in Sirius.
"Must be her time spent under her human friend's care," added Brisa. Ahsoka humbly smiled.
"Not to the same extent as him," said she, "But he did tell me the technical terms for a fertilised egg, and identical and fraternal human twins: zygote, monozygotic and di...zygotic..." she struggled a little to remember the last term. Titters rolled through the macaws and Orion.
"Blu's intelligence is certainly contagious," said Aurora with a smile.
"Definitely," said Milo.
"Never heard of such words," said Brisa.
"Humans honestly come up with the most complicated terms," said Celeste.
"I'm wondering if Bia, one of his and Jewel's daughters, will have a good grasp of such terms," said Samara.
"Well, if that is the case, then I wouldn't be surprised," said Ahsoka, "She is like her father after all."
More titters rolled through the little group, briefly dispelling the worry for Charon for a few seconds. Suddenly, the door to the operating theatre clicked open, seizing the attention of Aurora's group as well as that of Blu and his family and Jack and Jill, the latter putting aside the Iphone. Emerging from the door to the operating theatre was Tulio, once again dressed in his surgical outfit and in his arms once again was a bundle. Immediately, Jack and Jill went to him but were barred from seizing his surgical gown by some of his assistants.
"Is our raven okay, sir?" asked Jack as a woman commanded him and Jill to stay back and make way for the lead ornithologist.
"Let Tulio take Charon to a recovery cage first," said she. When Ahsoka heard this, she nodded to the macaws and they, apart from Celeste who couldn't fly properly due to her missing tail, took off from near Samara and Orion's cage and flew to Tulio where they were joined by Blu and his family. Tulio came by, a sombre look on his face as he gazed at Jack and Jill. He then went to a recovery cage and placed the bundle wrapped in a towel, which was indeed Charon, into there. He then checked the food, water and bedding, took the towel and closed the cage and left to speak to Jack and Jill. Immediately, Blu and the others flew over to Charon, Celeste joining them but flying clumsily. She struggled to land properly and crashed right into Jewel to her annoyance. Carla, Bia and Tiago jumped onto Ahsoka to avoid the clumsy Lear's macaw.
"Celeste, what have we told you about trying to fly until your tail re-grows!?" Blu asked angrily, the others looking on in annoyance. Jewel then brushed herself of the dust and rebuked Celeste as Ahsoka handed her chicks back to her.
"I-I-I was only trying to join you," Celeste protested.
"Well, next time, get one of the macaws able to fly to pick you up," Ahsoka scolded.
"Yes, remember you cannot fly on your own due to your missing tail ballast," put in Milo.
"Especially since it is important in helping us land without crashing," added Brisa. Celeste exhaled in defeat and turned her attention to Charon. Like Zephyr, the young raven was groggy from the anaesthetic and it will take him a while to fully come to but when the group gazed at him, their faces fell and Celeste put her wings to her beak. Blu and Sirius, however, did not react for they knew that the raven was not going to be left with many good results.
Charon was bandaged head to toe with only his eyes and beak visible from the suit of medical dressing. Both of his wings were set in casts much like Zephyr and Orion's broken wings. Like Samara with her left leg, Orion's left leg was in another cast. These casts indicated to Blu and the others that the poor raven had suffered fractures in both of his wings and his left leg. However, they noticed something completely wrong.
"Oh, no," whispered Aurora with disbelief. The others looked on and saw that only Charon's left leg was visible. Where was his right leg? Blu and the others looked on, hoping that it wasn't true or that Charon's right leg was tucked under his suit of dressing but when they saw no signs of his other foot; they arrived at a terrible conclusion. Then they heard Tulio describe Charon's condition to Jack and Jill who were weeping. Blu and the others turned to the lead ornithologist as he gazed sadly at the weeping twins.
"It appears that Blu and Sirius had managed to hand your raven to us in the nick of time such that we were able to rush him into surgery," said Tulio, "He was barely clinging to life. The damage he had suffered possibly in the fight against the poachers was severe and he had suffered fractures in both wings and legs as well as external injuries and I believe it was the work of that savage swan those poachers had as there is no evidence of claw marks which would have suggested either another raven, crow or one of the cats or even a macaw that would have attacked him like that. Thankfully we were able to save both of his wings and his left leg but... the damage to his right leg had been too severe and... I'm sorry to say, you two... we could not save it..."
Blu, Jewel, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Milo, Sirius, Aurora, Ahsoka, Brisa and Celeste gazed on as the twins then broke down and wept. From their cages, Samara and Orion looked on sadly and in horror at Charon's news. However, Blu and Sirius did not react as much as the others.
"He WAS in VERY bad shape when we found him," said the former.
"Vecna certainly has done a good job in savaging him during the plummet," said the latter.
"That would have been you, Blu," said Jewel, her gaze on her mate, "Had he not pushed you out of the way when that savage swan lunged at us to seize you."
Blu gazed back at his mate with sadness. It was clear that Charon had sacrificed one of his legs and almost his own life to save him from Vecna but it came at a terrible price and the group dreaded Charon's reaction when he came round to find his right leg missing. Tulio continued to Jack and Jill as they gazed at him with tearful eyes.
"However, there is hope for your raven," he added, "We have managed to fix both of his wings so he should be able to fly still and one of my employees named Reynaldo is also a mechanic and prosthetic maker and he makes prosthetics for both humans and animals, including birds (though he cannot make artificial wings for birds). He will be able to make a prosthetic leg for your raven but it won't be until he's an adult when he's done with all the growing..."
Jack and Jill felt their grief for the raven begin to dispel somewhat but they still felt very upset over Charon's condition. They loved their raven friend dearly and didn't want him to suffer. Sadly, Tulio gently lead them to outside so that they could have some space. Blu gazed at the others.
"At least Charon has some hope in getting a replacement for his lost leg," said he.
"And at least he will still be able to fly," put in Milo.
"It's a miracle he didn't lose one of his WINGS and his ability to fly," said Aurora in astonishment, "Normally a young bird savaged like THAT by a vicious swan like Vecna risks going through that heartbreakingly permanently grounding process..."
"It would have been totally devastating for him and his owners," said Sirius.
"Katrina and Sunspot are gonna be UTTERLY distressed and upset when they hear Charon's harrowing news," said Ahsoka in a whisper of dread.
"They, too, had been so brave in standing up to Vecna as well," said Celeste, "Though I particularly worry for the spotted city dog puppy as he had suffered the most damage at the wings and beak of that ROTTEN swan."
"Katrina had been the most fortunate," commented Brisa, "She had only managed to escape with a bitten tail."
"And Jack with a bitten arm as well," said Aurora, her gaze on the young boy as he and his sister went past with Tulio. He still had a band aid on his arm where Vecna had bitten him. The others looked on and couldn't help but agree with Aurora's statement. Of the five traitors who helped to turn their group in, Katrina, Jack and Jill had got off luckiest. Then as soon as Jack, Kill and Tulio had left the medical room, Blu and company decided to keep themselves occupied until Charon and Zephyr came round.
Later
The anaesthetic lingering in Zephyr and Charon's bodies had finally worn off and both the male Spix macaw and young raven were finally fully awake and alert though they were initially a little confused as to where they were. Blu and his family, together with Aurora, Ahsoka, Milo, Sirius, Celeste and Zephyr's own sister Brisa, had been catching up to him including describing Charon's state. When Zephyr heard how Charon had lost his right leg and almost one or both of his wings, he had been UTTERLY horrified and saddened that the young raven had suffered more than he, Samara, Celeste and Orion combined. He had also seen Jack and Jill gaze at their raven as he lay wrapped in his suit of bandages and casts. As for Charon himself, he had been UTTERLY upset over the loss of his right leg but Blu had assured him that a prosthetic was planned for him when he was older. However, this didn't ease Charon's feelings of distress over the loss of his right leg. It was going to take the poor raven a long while before he can recover from the loss, alongside some physiotherapy to get him used to living with just one leg and eventually his prosthesis.
"Charon, despite the loss of his leg, is INCREDIBLY lucky to be alive, you know," Zephyr said as he stood with Aurora and Brisa, his fixed right wing in its cast to which the pair had nodded in agreement. He was out of his cage along with Samara and Orion for Tulio and his team were going to check on them and also to allow them to interact with their friends in person without any bars separating them. The three Spix macaws gazed at Charon as he lay on his back gazing at the ceiling of his cage, refusing to interact with any of the other birds or Ahsoka due to how upset he was.
"I actually thought he wasn't gonna survive based on how he was wrapped in that leaf by Blu and Sirius when they found him," said Aurora, "I don't think Vecna would have survived that fall, however..."
"Blu and Sirius told us that they couldn't find that vile swan anywhere in the crash site," said Brisa, "They only found Charon and that was it."
"The poor raven will also likely bear some scars on his plumage," said Zephyr, "But unlike the hideous Vecna who earned his scars and that damaged left eye by fighting parrots on purpose, his scars will be testament to his saving of Blu and his life from his wrath."
"He has actually been welcomed into our group, didn't you know, along with Katrina and Sunspot," said Aurora, "Blu and Jewel told me and your sister."
"However, he said that he didn't deserve it as he had been a smuggler's pet," said Brisa. Aurora rolled her eyes in disgust at the calling of the ravens and crows 'smugglers' pets'.
"I don't think those corvid birds make technical pets anyway," she said, "Blu even told me that it is even illegal in the US to keep ravens and crows as pets because of their complex lifestyle needs."
"I thought ravens could be kept as animal companions like macaws can," said Brisa. Aurora shook her head.
"To keep a raven or crow as such is not the same as keeping a macaw," she replied in disagreement. Zephyr then gazed at Charon.
"Well, even if he doesn't want to join our group, he's always welcome to visit us," said he, "After all; he has done a lot for us such as setting us free from those HORRIBLE poachers' cages and helping us to deal with Vecna."
"Including helping to save Blu and Jewel's three chicks Carla, Bia and Tiago," added Aurora. Brisa and Zephyr nodded in agreement to this. The three Spix macaws admired the young raven's bravery throughout the whole ordeal but they believed that his bravest acts were seizing Carla, Bia and Tiago from his now-former comrades and tackling Blu out of the way of Vecna's beak when he tried in a last-ditch effort in savagely mauling one of the macaws. It was going to take a long time for poor Charon to recover from taking Vecna's wrath, however, especially over the shock and sadness of losing his right leg in the process.
Somewhere else in the medical room, Ahsoka talked with a group of three blue-and-gold macaws, one of them named Tobias who was one of the Gabriel's friends as well as one of Ahsoka's rescuers and macaws who gave Ahsoka to Joanna and her group when she was a pup. Tobias and the other blue-and-gold macaws who had been Gabriel's friends had been mourning the loss of Gabriel who had been fatally attacked by Vecna to rescue Rafael during the fight at the airport. However, they were explaining to Ahsoka a bit more about how she had lost her parents and little clan as a pup.
"So apparently, my parents got separated from the rest of the clan during a hasty evacuation from those poachers' ravens and also Vecna and Nigel?" asked the ginger bat.
"Yes, according to some monkey witnesses," said Tobias. Like Gabriel, this macaw was well on in his years and had silver strewn through his once-vibrant aqua blue, dark blue and amber plumage and he had bags under his eyes. "When those poachers invaded our jungle home to capture some of us for their rotten business in trading us like mere items, some of their ravens and crows, together with that vicious swan and cockatoo, had been sent to invade and pillage your clan's tree to capture some of the individuals. Their invasion lead to their hasty evacuation with those monkeys attempting to help only to be injured and/or caught. We weren't there to witness the incident as we had been busy looking for survivors in another part of the jungle where those poachers invaded. But when we finally flew into your home area and tree to look for any flying fox survivors and found you as a pup along with your deceased mother Lily and then father Alberto, both with claw marks all over their bodies, we came to the conclusion that some of those ravens and crows had chased your parents down in an attempt to capture them before dying at their clutches by fighting against those marauders to protect you."
"We believe that your father had died first and then your mother," said one of Tobias' companions, a female, "As when an Amazon flying fox family is under attack, it is almost always the male and father that confronts the threat first."
"Sort of like in some birds like macaws," said Ahsoka to which the three blue and yellow birds nodded. Then Ahsoka went on to voice her disagreement of her parents' killers being some of the poachers' ravens and crows to the blue-and-gold macaws' surprise. "But as for who killed my parents; when I participated in the rescue of Blu sand Jewel's three chicks when that vile swan Vecna and some of his raven and crow underlings took them hostage and to kill despite still not being able to fly back then, when one of the ravens lunged at Erik, the green-winged macaw carrying me and attacked him, I got a flashback of a white bird with a hooked black beak like a macaw and a yellow crest, sort of like Alabaster but paler. I also got a series of flashbacks of that same white parrot killing my parents when I was freefalling before Orion came and rescued me..." Ahsoka then shuddered and wept, "It... was... SOO vivid, honestly... that freefall had triggered the flashback of me seeing my mother getting killed by that white bird..."
Tobias and the other two blue-and-gold macaws looked on with surprise and sympathy just as Blu, Jewel, Carla, Bia and Tiago touched down. Ahsoka took some time to weep and then recovered, wiping her eyes of the tears with her black skinned hand-wings. Blu and Jewel wore surprised looks as well when they heard Ahsoka's description of the bird that had killed her parents and it fit a familiar cockatoo they had to deal with when they faced the first band of smugglers.
"B-b-but I thought Nigel only dealt with birds and not bats," said Blu, "Though his smuggling group did have a bat of the little white-shouldered species caught among us but he was the only one."
"Yeah, and besides that, that rotten cockatoo LOATHED colourful birds more than any other animal," put in Jewel while Carla, Bia and Tiago looked on curiously. When Charon in his cage heard this for the group was not too far away from him, he immediately raised his head and gazed at them. He lay on his back and could not move due to his wings and remaining left leg being locked in casts to allow the broken bones within them to heal and fix themselves.
"Nigel helped to catch bats as well," the young raven in his bandage and cast suit spoke, "That is until his group broke away from Frank's over dispute over profits and Vecna and Nigel's enmity. At least that's what Dooku told me when I was just a fledgling being trained in the cruel art of poaching."
"You were a poachers' raven since you hatched?" asked Ahsoka asked. Charon sadly nodded before he turned his sad gaze to the macaw family, "Seriously, Blu, I really don't deserve to be a part of your group. Even though I have saved your life from my former leader Vecna at the cost of my right foot, I still don't deserve it."
"Look, despite the fact that you grew up in the poaching business, Charon, you did our group a LOT more favours than you realise," said Tobias, before he gestured to Blu and his family, "And not only have you helped Blu and the others to deal with the poachers, but you also saved the lives of the only Spix macaw family currently in existence."
"Jewel could have lost her mate and Carla, Bia and Tiago, their father," added Ahsoka.
"Together with Sunspot and Katrina and also your owners Jack and Jill," put in Blu with a frown, "So even if you don't want to be part of our group, you will still be honoured nonetheless."
"But unfortunately, it had cost you a lot... more so than even Sunspot and Katrina," added Jewel with Carla, Bia and Tiago looking on. Charon exhaled at this and returned to resting in his cage.
"I think it's best if we let him just rest," said Ahsoka, "That poor raven teen certainly HAS been through a lot and I think it's important that he focuses on recovering, and it will be a long and difficult road for him."
"And at least Tulio's employee and prosthetics expert Reynaldo has plans of making him a prosthetic leg once he becomes an adult," said Blu with assurance, the others nodding in agreement to this. As Blu said this, the canary and the cardinal flew in and touched down, the former wearing a bottle cap hat once again. Nico and Pedro had returned from their flight out and search for a new bottle cap hat for the former and had returned to Tulio's Aviary to check on the group including the recovery of the casualties.
"Nico, you've got a new cap," said Blu with a smile when he saw Nico's new hat. Tobias and the other two blue-and-gold macaws, Ahsoka, Jewel and the chicks looked on.
"Oh, yes," said Nico as he shifted the cap into its proper place on his head, "Alabaster's friend cockatiel who is a bottle cap collector gladly lent me a replacement after I lost th' previous one in th' alley durin' our confrontation 'gainst dose pesky poachers an' their pets."
"I'm glad you've managed to replace your bottle cap hat, Nico," said Aurora as she came in with Zephyr and Brisa.
"An' I'm glad y'all managed t' survive dealin' wi' dat HORRID swan," said Pedro before he gazed at Zephyr's now-fixed right wing in his cast and also the short stitched gash on Blu's right brow, "Though some o' ya didn't get out unscathed..."
"Charon suffered the most at the beak of Vecna," said Zephyr with a nod to the despondent raven in his bandage suit, "Almost every bone in his body was broken, especially in his wings and legs and I'm sorry to say, the human doctors had to remove his right leg."
Horror and disbelief tore through Nico and Pedro with the former putting his wings on his beak but Blu assured them.
"He'll have a lot of help to get through the difficult recovery process," said he, "It will be long, painful and slow but he will need a LOT of support, especially over the loss of his right leg."
"No kiddin'," Pedro said, "We remember a Jandaya parakeet friend of ours havin' t' 'have just her toes amputated after a terrible accident some years ago..."
"Truly extraordinary how 'e survived," said Nico, gazing at Charon, "When I saw you hand dat poor raven t' our human friends wi' dat male glaucous macaw an' Hot Wing Samara's Romeo Sirius wrapped in dat leaf, we knew it was serious but not DAT serious."
Blu and the others nodded in agreement but then a shout exploded across the room in response to what Nico had called the shouter.
"I HEARD that, canary," Sirius, who sat with Samara, yelled, "I am NOT Samara's Romeo."
"Ah, ya soon will be, Siri," Nico crooned in return.
"Yes, th' bond between ya IS stronger dan ever," said Pedro with a wide cheeky smile and a wink. The two glaucous macaws rolled their eyes and continued talking.
"Those two may be good friends but they can be UTTERLY annoying over this dating and romance stuff," muttered Samara to which Sirius nodded in agreement.
Close by the glaucous macaws on the window ledge, Milo gazed through the artificial material called glass at the sea of trees surrounding the premises of Tulio's Aviary. Celeste appeared, having been hoisted onto the window ledge with the help of a parakeet so that she could not crash-land due to her missing tail. However, Milo already spotted her out of his peripheral vision.
"Well, now that we have dealt with the poachers and we have recovered, we will soon be facing the next chapter," said he.
"Yep," said Celeste. Then Milo turned to look at her directly.
"By the way, you wanna return to the wild with Samara, Zephyr, Brisa and Orion once your tail fully regrows all its feathers?" he asked.
"Well, I am a rare Lear's macaw after all," Celeste replied, "I should be with another Lear's macaw... don't you think?"
"Well, unless..." Milo then entered into a pause.
"Unless?" asked Celeste. Milo then began to stammer as his tongue got stuck.
"Well... I was... what I was gonna say is... um..." he continued to stammer with Celeste looking on until finally, he managed to formulate a sentence and had his beak form it, "I hope you'll settle back into the wild and freedom with your friends... and have a good life."
This reply made Celeste lower her head with disappointment and sadness.
"Well, I hope you'll do the same with Sirius, Aurora and Ahsoka," she said and with that, she left, dejected while Milo continued to gaze sadly out of the window. Celeste then called for a macaw to come to her and carry her from the windowsill to a worktop and she did. However, his sadness was not because of his having to leave Audrey for he knew the time has come for that and he was willing to accept it. From their spots, Sirius and Samara looked on with Zephyr, Brisa and Aurora, some of them with slight disapproval and disappointment in Milo's decision to push Celeste away. Immediately, Sirius and Aurora flew over to the despondent Lear's macaw.
"Listen, we know the three of us and Ahsoka have been through an AWFUL lot during our short time here," Sirius said, "And you have had a more complex backstory during your time in Australia than me and Aurora in London, the UK, such as learning to fly and covering the ENTIRE span of the continent to find and reunite with Audrey..."
"And Ahsoka with Joanna in this very city," added Aurora, "But what has changed all of us the most is this recent chapter of us meeting, meeting Samara, Zephyr, Brisa, Orion and Celeste (though some of us didn't get off on the right foot), our adventures in Rio, meeting Blu and his family and dealing with those poachers. Ahsoka has finally learnt how to fly and we are just beginning to bond with Orion's group."
"Exactly," put in Sirius, "So you need to let go of your past and start facing the future."
Milo turned to the male glaucous and female Spix macaws as Nico and Pedro flitted in.
"Go after ya Hot Wing, Milo," said the canary.
"She needs ya after all," said the cardinal. Then Blu came in and added to the encouragement.
"Like us, she, Jewel and also Zephyr, Brisa, Samara and Orion have been through many tragedies as well," said he, "And since you're the only other Lear's macaw besides her in this part of Brazil, so as Pedro said, she'll need you."
Aurora and Sirius looked on with agreeing faces as Milo felt his sadness dispel like grey clouds from the encouraging words.
"Okay, I will," he said and with that, he opened his wings and took off after Celeste, shouting her name. Celeste, hearing Milo call for her, looked up and saw Milo fly towards her. However, as Milo flew towards Celeste, he touched down with such excitement that he misjudged how fast he was flying and ended up falling forward at Celeste's feet! Celeste flinched and immediately went to help Milo to his feet, an annoyed but amused look on her face.
"Huh, YOU tell ME not to fly due to my damaged tail because I cannot land without crashing," she amusingly grumbled, "And yet YOU, despite having all your tail feathers, seem to do THAT yourself, so I guess I oughta tell YOU to be careful as well!"
Milo, the skin under his dark teal facial feathers flushed a deep red, shakily rose to his feet, embarrassment clearly lacing his face. Across the room, Blu and the others emitted titters at the rather comical sight. However, Milo soon brushed his sheepishness aside and gazed at the female macaw.
"I don't want us to be together because we SHOULD and/or that because we're the only Lear's macaws here," he said, "I want us to be together because we WANT to, and I wanna be with you, Celeste? What do you say about that, mate?"
Celeste's amusingly annoyed look melted to a smile.
"Well, you may be a clumsy clod at times but that will NOT stop me saying yes," she said and with that, she nuzzled beaks with Milo and he returned it. The onlookers smiled at the newly established couple. Carla, Bia and Tiago looked on from Blu and Jewel's side.
"Why are they nuzzling beaks?" squeaked the latter, the pair's only son. Blu smiled gently.
"We'll tell you when you and your sister are older, son," he said.
"Well, when we ARE older, I'm sure I'll understand," said Bia.
"Huh, I'm the eldest and I don't think I WANNA understand, even when I become a teen," said Carla with slight disgust. Blu, Jewel, Nico, Pedro, Sirius, Aurora and Brisa emitted titters in response to Carla's reply, as did Ahsoka and Orion. Then Samara called to the oldest chick.
"Well, it's an essential fact of life you'll eventually have to learn, Carla," said she, "Especially when you eventually find a nice male of your own once you're old enough."
Carla just crossed her wings and defiantly turned away to the further laughter of the others. Then a female blue-and-gold macaw appeared from another location in the medical room after being with a green-winged macaw friend and a relative of Erik, her gaze on Milo and Celeste.
"You wanna tell Milo something, Alice?" asked Sirius.
"I do," said Alice, "I've just been talking to Erik's cousin Minnie about his biological mother Zira. She and a few others have tracked her down and have managed to find her living in a tree close to the edge of one of the cliffs in our jungle. I was gonna tell Milo that."
When Blu and the others heard this, they reacted in different ways. Some, such as Samara, Nico and Pedro, were glad that Milo's mother was still alive but a few others like Sirius, Aurora, Blu and Jewel, were disapproving. For the former two, it was because of how Milo was treated as a chick before he and them were smuggled out of Rio and lost their families. However, Blu and Jewel were UTTERLY surprised at first that Zira was Milo's mother but they put that aside for now.
"Are you sure about informing him that his mother is still alive?" asked Blu.
"We've come across Zira before and she's..." began Jewel but she trailed off, not wanting to say it. Carla, Bia and Tiago looked on in wonder. Alice, however, was adamant though she felt uncertainty prick at her as she, too, was aware of Milo's said backstory before Aurora's parents Erico and Clarinda took him in. After all, she wanted Milo to hopefully reunite with his mother and had hoped that she'll have changed her tune.
"I'll see what he says," said the female blue-and-gold macaw and with that, she flew off to Milo and Celeste. Blu and the others looked on as Ahsoka and Orion came in.
"Milo has a mother?" asked the former.
"Don't ask," said Blu as he watched Alice explain to Milo that Zira was alive. The male Lear's macaw reacted in surprise and also gladness and planned to meet her at some point, Celeste agreeing to go along. "But let's hope she HAS changed her attitude like Samara has."
"You've met her before and you had to leave because she wasn't very nice to you?" asked Orion. Blu and Jewel just gazed at the male flying fox and said nothing. The couple had met Zira before but that had just been the once. Since then, they had forgotten about her and moved on with raising their chicks... WELL away from her. Despite this, they hoped that Zira and Milo would reunite and mother and son when they met.