Chapter 38- recovering part 2, release

A little while later, Samara, Orion and Zephyr were back in their cages once again though they continued to talk with Aurora, Ahsoka and Sirius. After all, they could not leave the Aviary until their wings and leg healed completely but they, together with Celeste who also couldn't leave the Aviary because of her tail that needed to regrow, were quite impatient for though they had now grown a little accustomed to being in a human's place, they did not like being in one for too long. However, their human-raised friends assured them that they could trust Tulio and company here as they knew what they were doing. Samara continued to talk with Sirius.

"You know, once my leg heals, I'm outa here," she said, her slightly sour gaze on her left leg in its cast, "I'm sorry but I'm not keen on staying in a human's place for too long unlike you."

"I know how itching you are to be back in the jungle, Samara, but you need to trust our human friends until your leg fully heals," said Sirius, "You cannot return to the wild with an injured leg, and Zephyr and Orion CERTAINLY cannot return to the wild with broken wings."

"A broken wing is often a death sentence to a flying tree-dwelling creature if they live alone," said Samara, "Which is why in our mixed-species tribe there are tribe nurses and healers that specialise in treating such injuries. Celeste has some knowledge in that area as her mother was a wing nurse."

"Really?" asked Sirius with intrigue.

"Really," said Samara. She then gazed in the direction of the artificial habitat chamber, a look of remorse and guilt coming upon her face.

"That area, where we first met, was where you and I got off on the VERY wrong talon when I attacked you and almost strangled you, Sirius, when you and your three friends mentioned the breeding subject and I just exploded," she said with true regret before a glare formed on her face, "Don't get me wrong, it was UTTERLY stupid for your human friends to expect us to just 'pair up and have offspring' especially just to save our species but pairing up does NOT work like that."

"I know, it was downright silly," said Sirius, "THAT will be one of the things I will totally disapprove of our human friends and I think Aurora, Ahsoka and Milo would agree that it had been TOO soon to expect us to start a family."

"Like Orion said," said Samara, "You have to get to know someone first before taking the relationship further. Friendship MUST always be established first and believe me, we had NOT been friends for the first couple of days."

"Indeed we weren't," said Sirius in agreement, "I was nasty to you too, even to the point of threatening to attack you at times."

"I was indeed a jungle brat," said Samara before she turned to Jewel as she talked to Celeste while Blu talked to Milo. Nearby, Carla, Bia and Tiago talked with Nico, Pedro, Orion and Ahsoka, her face looking on with remorse once again, "And I was UTTERLY nasty to Jewel over there as well. When we were chicks and before we were torn from our tribes by that fire, we NEVER got along. At one point she even threatened to 'claw my stinkin' nasty face in' if I didn't leave," she then turned to Sirius himself, "And on top of that, I UTTERLY despised human-raised animals like you, Milo, Aurora, Blu and Ahsoka, often referring to them as 'mud-pets' but that was how some of my glaucous clan including my nasty mother Tremaine treated the members of Augustus and Melissa's mixed-species tribe with human ties and origins back in the Amazon. However, I now know that regardless of whether you are born and raised in human captivity or as a pet, or born in the wild, we are NO different from each other and are equal. Like in our case, we are BOTH glaucous macaws. Must have been the series of misadventures we have had together that has prompted us to change our views on humans or even widen our perspectives..." she then smiled at Sirius, "And I will CERTAINLY never forget us being chained together."

"Indeed," said Sirius, "This series of misadventures has changed us and hopefully for the better."

"Especially me," said Samara, "Before, I was a ROTTEN jungle brat like you said but now, I have become a better macaw with greater respect, and I will certainly NEVER forget Blu over there risking his life to save Jewel when she suffered a damaged wing..." she nodded to the male Spix macaw, Sirius also gazing at him with a smile. Then Sirius turned back to Samara.

"So, what's next for you, Samara? Still intent on returning to the wild by yourself as you initially wanted to? After all, you still aren't keen on humans and human places."

"Nah," Samara replied, "I'm not gonna do that though it would have been the case if I had NOT changed my tune. It would be a lonely and miserable life, especially since I'm the only female glaucous macaw known. And speaking of humans, I have grown to respect some of them, such as that bird doctor who fixed my leg and Zephyr's wing and also that owner of yours who raised you and Aurora. What was his name again? Brandy?"

"Brandon," corrected Sirius.

"That's it," said Samara before a scowl formed on her face, "But the humans I and also Zephyr, Birsa, Orion and Celeste will ALWAYS despise are the poachers and loggers except those who leave those environment-destroying roles like how Jack and Jill have done..." her face then removed its scowl, "And besides that..."

"Besides what?" asked Sirius.

"Well," Samara said, her gaze at him, "You remember when we were forcibly chained together? Well, we still are but not physically. For the ENTIRE time since I was torn from my glaucous macaw clan until now, I have NEVER met another glaucous macaw like how Jewel, Zephyr and Brisa have NEVER met another Spix macaw until meeting Blu and Aurora, and Orion with another Amazon flying fox until his meeting with Ahsoka..."

"You're essentially a parallel to Jewel and eventually Orion," said Sirius, "Like her, you are INCREDIBLY lucky to meet another glaucous macaw just as she was in meeting another Spix macaw (Blu) and Orion, another Amazon flying fox (Ahsoka). The same can be said for Zephyr, Brisa and Aurora though Blu and his family were first known of the Spix macaw species."

Samara smiled and nodded. Although she knew that she and Sirius never got off on the right foot, she was actually glad to have met Sirius and further, she had even begun to develop feelings for him though she was a bit shy in admitting them.

A few minutes later again, Ahsoka spoke to Orion in his cage. Zephyr in the cage next door to Orion was taking a short nap.

"Well, now that you have finally learned to fly, Ahsoka," said the male flying fox in his cage, his left wing in its cast, "Once I'm better and it is time for us and our macaw friends to return to the jungle, I want you to join me."

"I guess so," said Ahsoka with a sigh. She was still reluctant to leave Joanna's side but she knew she had to. Orion then put a comforting wing-thumb, his right one, onto Ahsoka's wing through the bars.

"Listen," said he, "Remember what we told you during our adventures in this human's place: a human's home is NOT the place for bats like us. Your Joanna friend has looked after you long enough. It is time for you to leave her home and make the jungle your new home for the rest of your life. After all, it is where you belong."

As he said this, Aurora walked in after checking on Zephyr. She was still missing her left pigtail.

"Indeed," said she, "And Joanna DOES want you to leave her side and house to live in the jungle as well and she will be more than happy if you visited."

Ahsoka exhaled and reluctantly agreed to this fact. Her learning to fly had been the final target she had to achieve and now that she has achieved it, it was time for the beginning of a new chapter in her life. The ginger flying fox gazed at the medical room filled with various animals undergoing treatment, most of them being birds due to it being mostly an Aviary. Ahsoka then felt it was truly time to move on from being a foster bat to being a wild bat living in the jungle. However, she had to wait until Orion's wing had healed first and once that was done; she will be joining him and their macaw friends in the jungle.

Time goes on

Zephyr, Orion, Samara and Celeste continued to stay in Tulio's Aviary, their injuries continuing to heal and Celeste's tail beginning to re-grow its new feathers. The rest of the group, among them Blu and his family, had been on outings and spending time with their human friends. Ahsoka continued going out on flights with some macaw friends accompanying her to get her used to jungle life and to also practice her flying skills. Though she was able to fly, Ahsoka still had to master a few aerial skills like flying through a cluttered environment and flipping upside down to roost. However, she continued to learn these skills with a breeze which was impressive considering the fact that she had remained flightless for the first 12 years of her life. Blu told her that it took him a while to get used to flying for he, too, had been grounded for the first 15 years of his life but eventually, he had soon got used to it. Milo also continued to visit his mother Zira who, to the surprise of everyone including Blu and Jewel who didn't like the now-old Lear's macaw, was glad that Milo was alive and reconnection had taken place and soon, Ahsoka, Aurora and Sirius met her during one of their trips. However, Zira wasn't keen on humans and preferred to stay out of their sight. While Ahsoka and also Milo, Sirius and Aurora continued exploring the jungle to get used to their upcoming jungle life and also spend some time with Zira, Tulio had formulated a plan to build a special aviary for Aurora, Zephyr, Brisa, Samara, Sirius, Milo, Celeste, Orion and Ahsoka to keep them together due to their rarity. The aviary will have some natural tree hollows for them to stay in and will always have an opening for the nine to come and go as they please, especially to forage when they have chicks and pups. Though some weren't keen on the idea of living in a manmade aviary, they soon came to accept it as the aviary will keep them together like a family and extended family. Blu and his family however didn't need an aviary for they already had a birdhouse built for them, that birdhouse nailed to a tree outside the garden of Tulio and his family's cottage. Additionally, another enclosure, the enclosure for permanently maimed animals too damaged to return to the jungle to be built next to Tulio's Aviary, was planned and construction work of the place will soon begin.

A few months later

The time finally came for the casualties to leave Tulio's Aviary. Zephyr and Orion's wings were fully healed and the male Spix macaw and male Amazon flying fox respectively were able to fly once again. Celeste had also re-grown her tail and was able to fly properly once again and Samara regained the use of her left leg. Charon had also recovered from his injuries and was back with Sunspot, Katrina, Jack and Jill. However, he was missing his right leg, that limb having being reduced to a mere stub where Tulio and his surgical team had amputated it due to it being damaged beyond repair. Charon also bore a set of scars, another result of Vecna's wrath on him during the fall but not only did the young raven suffer from physical damage from the swan, but also psychological trauma; he had been suffering with vivid nightmares about Vecna for many months and with the help of his new family including Blu, Jewel and their chicks (who had thanked him frequently for saving their lives), he was slowly starting to overcome his fears. As for Vecna, he was nowhere to be seen though a few white feathers, many of them charred for Vecna had been zapped by lightning, had been found in the crash site where he plunged with Charon in his final attempt to seize one of the macaws to kill but could not fly with a broken wing inflicted on him by Blu during the final fight. However, since he was nowhere to be seen, the swan had pretty much faded from the worries of the group and they had hoped to NEVER meet that nightmare swan EVER again. Vecna had indeed been one of the most violent and nightmarish birds the group, particularly Blu and Jewel, had EVER met and Carla, Bia and Tiago had also been traumatised by the swan. As for Mauro who had also been kidnapped by the poachers and had battled Vecna, he had received his reward from Blu and company in the form of plenty of fruit for his clan; this disappointed Mauro as he had expected the reward to be a pile of valuable knickknacks, but Blu and company were unwilling to give him any valuable whatsoever and Mauro was forced to learn to accept it.

As Zephyr, Orion, Celeste and Samara recovered, they soon paired up with Aurora, Ahsoka, Milo and Sirius respectively to the UTMOST gladness of Tulio and the others and they looked forward to seeing new chicks and a pup and thus more Spix, Lear's and glaucous macaws and Amazon flying foxes, appearing. Aurora's left pigtail had also regrown its feathers and soon, Brandon's Spix macaw soon had both of her pigtails present once again. Milo continued to visit and spend time with Zira, now with Celeste by his side but one day, something happened which resulted in things taking a turn for the worst for Milo and Celeste, regarding Zira. When Milo and Celeste dropped by Zira's hollow for a regular visit, they were greeted not with a friendly old female Lear's macaw like they had always done previously, but an incredibly HOSTILE bird with an uncaring and nasty nature and I am sorry to say but these were her true colours for Zira was an INCREDIBLY cruel Lear's macaw. She demanded that Milo and Celeste leave her hollow and NEVER return to their confusion. Zira went on to unashamedly say that she dropped Milo (whom she called was a piece of burdensome trash rather than his name or the name Erico and Clarinda had given him, 'Bruno') away once and she will gladly do it again, along with his 'lil girlfriend'. The moment those scathing words came out of his mother's beak, Milo was UTTERLY devastated and realised that Zira had MEANT to throw him away and leave him to die as a chick before Ahsoka's father Alberto found him and Erico and Clarinda took him in and adopted him. Celeste, however, was UTTERLY furious and she threatened to attack and claw the old macaw for doing such a HORRIBLE thing to her OWN son. However, she and Milo had to beat a hasty retreat when Zira lashed at them and attempted to brutally claw them, especially Milo and she managed to claw his left wing. However, it didn't stop there. Zira continued relentlessly chasing Milo and Celeste until they eventually flew into Audrey, Joanna, Brandon, Fernando, Jack and Jill who were taking a group walk into the sanctuary's forest with Blu, Jewel, Aurora, Zephyr, Brisa, Sirius, Samara, Orion, Ahsoka, Charon, Sunspot and Katrina. Carla, Bia and Tiago had been left in the care of Alabaster and Poppy to give Blu and Jewel a break and some couple-time while Samara, Orion, Brisa and Zephyr decided to spend some time with their soon-to-be-mates' human friends. Milo and Celeste had left to visit Zira before this group had left but now they were on their way back to their group. When Zira saw the group; that was where the fruit was flung at the fan.

The moment Zira flew at the group, she began SAVAGELY attacking them, going mostly for Audrey who was Milo's human friend. While Zira mercilessly raked her claws and over Audrey's face and arms and clamped her beak on the latter, Joanna, Jack and Jill immediately seized Sunspot, Katrina, Charon, Orion and Ahsoka, as well as the injured Milo and frightened Celeste and carried them away to safety while the rest of the group sought to driving Zira away. Brandon had tried driving Zira away with a stick but Zira clawed his face. Fernando tried seizing the savage Lear's macaw but she bit his hand. Once their human friends were injured, Zira went to attack Blu and company but Blu, Jewel, Aurora, Zephyr, Brisa, Sirius and Samara fought back and began to drive her away. It took some wrestling but after a claw swipe from Blu, Samara, Zephyr, Brisa and Jewel and a fierce tackle from Sirius and Aurora, Zira eventually gave up and tore off into the jungle but she issued a vitriolic parting shot that if ANY of them EVER set foot ANYWHERE near her hollow again, there will be NASTY consequences. After Zira was driven away, Milo was rushed to Tulio's Aviary where he got his claw marks on his wing stitched up. Thankfully, the damage wasn't too serious but as for Audrey, she had to go to hospital along with Brandon and Fernando to receive treatment for their injuries inflicted on them by the savage Lear's macaw. Then after Milo's clawed wing was treated, he and Celeste talked with Blu, Jewel, the others and also Tobias and Alice, explaining to the two blue-and-gold macaw friends about what had happened to the HORROR of the pair. After this, Blu encouraged Milo to move on from his mother as he now had a new family in Aurora and the others, especially Celeste, and Aurora reminded Milo that he was her adopted Lear's macaw brother, having been taken in by her parents when they were chicks. Aurora had been glad that Ahsoka's father Alberto had found him and that her own parents Erico and Clarinda had taken in Milo (whom they named Bruno) otherwise the outcome would have been much different for poor Milo. It took a while for Milo to overcome the serious rejection from his own mother but he vowed he will NEVER visit Zira again and certainly NOT take any chicks he had to see her for safety reasons. Orion, Ahsoka, Aurora, Zephyr, Samara and Sirius also vowed the same as Zira was, after all, an incredibly uncaring macaw and a nasty piece of work. Zira's behaviour had reminded Samara of how she used to be before reforming during the Rio adventures but she was also reminded of her cruel mother Tremaine, especially based on how Zira had left Milo for dead as a chick. Like what Zira did to Milo, Tremaine had once left an older son or one of Samara's older brothers from an older brood, for dead due to him being born unusually small. Then after recovering from Zira's rejection and his clawed wing was healed, Milo, now able to fly once again, was dismissed from Tulio's Aviary.

Later

The time came to finally release Aurora, Zephyr and Brisa the Spix macaws; Sirius and Samara the glaucous macaws; Milo and Celeste the Lear's macaws (once Milo had fully recovered from being clawed and rejected outright by his mother Zira) and Orion and Ahsoka the Amazon flying foxes, into the Blu Bird Sanctuary with Blu, Jewel, Carla Bia and Tiago. On the Vista Chinesa, the gazebo monument rebuilt into a lookout with the circular plaque with Blu's face in the centre and the words 'Blu Bird Sanctuary' written around the outer circle. Tulio had planned to add pictures of the main nine later. At the Vista Chinesa were gathered Tulio, Linda, Fernando, Audrey (who had recovered from Zira's savage attack. Tulio had tried to track down the savage Lear's macaw but could not find her but if she was found, she will be caught and relocated. After all, Zira was part of the critically endangered Lear's macaw species and Tulio did not want to put her down), Joanna, Brandon, Luca, Jack and Jill, together with Sunspot, Charon and Katrina and they were prepared to bid Blu and his family and Aurora, Zephyr, Brisa, Sirius, Samara, Milo, Celeste, Orion and Ahsoka goodbye and their departure to the jungle to start their new life chapters. Blu, Jewel, Carla (whose leg bitten by Dooku had also healed), Bia and Tiago were the first to be released. Tulio, Linda and Fernando bade the Spix macaw family of five with Linda doing her usual fist bump with her Spix macaw friend. Following this, Blu led his family into the sky. After seeing Blu and his family off, Tulio and his family turned to release the remaining nine. Tulio then gently picked up Samara and lifted her up to allow her to take off and she did. As she flew off into the sky, Tulio picked up Zephyr and Brisa and raised them into the air as well, allowing them to take off after Samara. Then the three hovered in the sky to wait for Sirius and Aurora who were perched on Brandon's arms. Brandon went to the edge of the gazebo and its railings and had Aurora and Sirius step from his arms onto them.

"Goodbye, you two," said the young man tearfully, Jack and Jill looking on with Charon, Sunspot and Katrina nearby and with that, he hugged Sirius and Aurora and they returned the hug. After breaking the hug, Brandon continued, "Be strong and sure of wing, and follow your new mates," he gestured to Zephyr, Brisa and Samara in the sky. Sirius and Aurora exchanged smiling looks, turned to the sky and took off after the sister and brother Spix macaw duo and Samara. Next, Francisco came in with Celeste, now with her tail fully restored. Brandon stepped aside to allow the ornithologist to hold Celeste into the air. As he did so, Celeste stood up, flashed Francisco a smile and with a flap of her wings, was airborne. Then she hovered to wait for Milo as Audrey came forward to release him.

"S-s-s-see you, M-M-M-Milo," said she and with that, she petted him on the head while Milo nuzzled against her cheek to her amusement, "I'm g-g-g-gonna miss you."

"Celeste's waiting for you up there, Milo," said Charon who sat on Jack's shoulder, his left leg holding him and a few scars marking his jet black plumage, and with that he nodded to the female Lear's macaw in the sky. Milo then turned to Celeste and launched from Audrey's arm after her. Last of all, Orion and Ahsoka were released. Luca came forward with Orion hanging by his feet from his arm. The lead chiroptologist then extended his arm with Orion hanging from it over the railing of the Vista Chinesa and allowed Orion to drop into flight. Orion flashed the man a smiling look and then released his foot claws from his arm and fell. After this, he ascended into the air and hovered to wait for Ahsoka who also hung from Joanna's arm by her foot claws. Joanna went to the railing and gazed with a smile at Ahsoka.

"Goodbye, Ahsoka," said she, "That's my big brave girl," and with that she offered her now-former foster bat a piece of dragonfruit, Ahsoka's favourite, as a parting gift. Ahsoka gladly took the piece of bright magenta fruit and ate it. After this, Joanna extended her arm out from the Vista Chinesa and allowed Ahsoka to drop into flight. Ahsoka then released her feet from her arm, fell and then flapped upward after Orion. As she joined Orion, the male bat flew off with her in tow. Joanna then smiled on as Brandon, Audrey, Luca, Francisco, Tulio, Linda, Fernando and Jack and Jill with their pets Charon, Sunspot and Katrina, came in to see off the nine. Aurora flew after Zephyr and Brisa while Sirius flew after Samara, Milo after Celeste and Ahsoka after Orion.

"Th-th-there they go," said Audrey.

"Yep," said Luca.

"And we shall be looking forward to the appearance of more Spix macaw chicks, some glaucous macaw and Lear's macaw chicks and the first flying fox pup appearing," said Tulio with a smile. Jack then sniffled a little, wiped a tear from his eye and gazed after the nine as they receded into the distance. The other humans also looked on, their goals of establishing a breeding pair of Lear's and glaucous macaws and Amazon flying foxes and a second breeding pair of Spix macaws finally achieved.

Almost to the end. Just one more chapter to go. ;)