Chapter 40- epilogue part 2
When Samara had laid her eggs, there had originally been six in the clutch but laying them had exhausted Samara like how Aurora's laying of the seven eggs had exhausted her. Due to there being six eggs, Sirius and Samara had been expecting six chicks rather than five. Lapis Lazuli, Levi, Azul and Sapphire hatched normally but the fifth one which would hatch into Trixie was delayed and the parents had been utterly concerned. However, Trixie did hatch but she required help breaking out of her egg and her smaller-than-average size was revealed. After this, the glaucous macaw parents waited for the sixth egg to hatch. That egg sat in their nest for several weeks and never did show any signs of life. Eventually, the parents had no choice but to dispose of it after realising that the egg was infertile. After all, they had their other five chicks to focus on and raise, especially Trixie. It had been heartbreaking but Samara had noted to Sirius that she and her two brothers had an egg that didn't hatch and that infertile eggs sometimes did happen. But despite not having one egg hatch, Tulio and his team were elated to see five more individuals added to the glaucous macaw population, their goal achieved. Sirius and Samara set to raising their five chicks especially Trixie. Samara did NOT want to just abandon Trixie despite it being UTTERLY difficult in accepting that she was born unusually small and potentially weak as she remembered how her wicked mother Tremaine had done just that to an older brother who had also been born unusually small, and also because of what Zira had done to Milo as a chick before he was adopted by Erico and Clarinda, Aurora's now-deceased parents. And against all odds, Trixie continued to thrive and had been managed to learn to fly. However, she had to be carried by her parents for she could not yet keep up with the other chicks due to her small wings. Trixie was quite self-conscious over her tiny size but she had the support of her older siblings and parents. She was also very timid and easily nervous and she showed no particular favourite subject as of now.
Lapis Lazuli, Levi, Sapphire and Azul began to chase their Spix macaw 'cousins' around the trees while Trixie hovered with her parents. She was currently too small to fly at that speed and agility due to her dwarfism and sometimes had to have help from her parents to fly though at times she tried to join in the fun at her parents' encouragement. However, as Trixie tried to play with the other kids, some of the toucan kids, among them Marco attempted to make fun of her small size but Diantha and Virgil came in and rebuked him harshly, together with Rafael, Eva, Blu and Zephyr. Though the macaw chicks were accepting of Trixie and her small size, some of Rafael and Eva's kids weren't and they thought Trixie's smaller size was funny and odd. And despite the rebukes they got from their parents and family friends, they still teased Trixie over her small size and this had forced Sirius and Samara to keep their youngest daughter away from the toucan kids. Only a few of the toucan kids like Diantha and Carlos, were accepting of Trixie and her small size.
"Marco, you come here this MINUTE, son," Rafael yelled, "YOU lot as well," prompting Marco and the siblings with him to fly to him while Trixie returned to Sirius and Samara. The glaucous macaw couple looked on in disapproval.
"When is Marco gonna learn to accept that Trixie was born just the way she is?" hissed the mother disgustedly. Sirius just looked on with an angry glare as Rafael began to have a serious word with Marco and his group, Lapis Lazuli, Levi, Azul and Sapphire flying in. Trixie, however, just returned to her mother, a downcast look on her face.
"You told us that sometimes you get babies in a clutch born smaller than their siblings, right?" asked the oldest one.
"Yes, Lapis," said Sirius, "Just like how all eggs may not hatch sometimes."
Lapis Lazuli looked on as Samara comforted Trixie over her hurt feelings. Then once things had settled down, the glaucous and Spix macaws resumed their play with only a few toucan kids including Diantha among them this time for Rafael and Eva had called some of their 20-plus children back to them to give some space for the macaws. Nico and Pedro continued to dance and sing.
As the Spix and glaucous macaws continued to play with some of the toucan kids who were kinder to and accepting of Trixie, from the trees, Milo and Celeste looked out with a smaller bundle of navy blue feathers on the latter's back with smiles on their beaks. The bundle of feathers on Celeste's back was her and Milo's chick, a daughter they had named Hauyne. Hauyne was the youngest of the blue macaw chicks, having been born only recently. She was still young and resembled Carla, Bia and Tiago in body shape when they had been young chicks. Hauyne's features were underdeveloped but she did have the characteristic dark teal facial markings, yellow eye rings and beak lappet and a small tuft of feathers behind her head. Her eyes were lime green, correlating closer to her father Milo's green than Celeste's violet, which was really quite a rare colour. Hauyne was too young to fly at the moment but she was not too far away from the milestone. There was a big reason for Hauyne being still young while Sirius, Samara, Zephyr and Aurora's chicks were older fledglings with developed features as well as the ability to fly.
When Milo and Celeste went to conceive a brood of chicks, they soon found that it was taking them longer to do just that while Zephyr, Aurora, Sirius and Samara soon had their clutch of eggs and Ahsoka was soon pregnant with her and Orion's first pup. Eventually and after some examination from Tulio and his team, Celeste was diagnosed with infertility. This led to heartbreak for the couple, worry for Tulio and his team and sorrow for Audrey for she wanted her macaw friend to have chicks. Despite this, the Lear's macaw couple continued to try for a clutch of eggs. Their struggles continued while Zephyr and Aurora's clutch of seven eggs hatched along with five of Sirius and Samara's eggs in their clutch of six, the glaucous macaw chicks hatching at roughly the same time as the second Spix macaw clutch. At the same time, Ahsoka had had her first ultrasound scan of her unborn pup at the hands of Luca, Joanna and their chiroptology team as they checked for her and Orion's pup's health even before it was born. When these three couples and also Blu and Jewel saw that Milo and Celeste were having trouble conceiving, they were utterly sorrowful for them. Eventually however and to the joy of Tulio and his team, Audrey and Blu and the others, Celeste did manage to lay a clutch of three eggs but then she underwent a life-threatening situation exclusive to female birds: egg-binding in which an egg got stuck in the female's reproductive tract. To save her life, Celeste had to have her reproductive system removed, but it came at a cost. It had been an UTTERLY difficult decision but Tulio knew that Celeste's survival was more important, especially regarding the three successfully-laid eggs and the Lear's macaw couple had hoped for three chicks. After having her system removed, Celeste was rendered permanently infertile and will NEVER lay any more eggs or conceive chicks again but despite this heartbreaking decision, she remained focussed on raising the ONLY three eggs she had managed to lay. However, out of the three eggs, only one, a daughter, had hatched, the chick the couple had named Hauyne after another blue gemstone. Having one chick was better than having none and Tulio and his team had been utterly glad to have a Lear's macaw born in Rio's area of Brazil. Since then, Hauyne had been diligently looked after by Milo, Celeste and their friends and the Lear's macaw couple were UTTERLY glad to become parents, even if it was just of one chick. However, Hauyne will NEVER have any brothers and sisters from now on due to Celeste's surgery to save her life. Celeste had plans to have more chicks in the future but that was not to be. Right now and forever, she will just have to be happy with one chick. She had feelings of jealousy towards the other couples but the couple she envied most were Rafael and Eva, the interspecific toucan couple having pumped out clutch after clutch of eggs hatching into their 28 offspring, and it made her heart ache even more when they planned on yet having ANOTHER clutch. Celeste always saw the toucan couple as outright show-offs despite the sympathy she got from the couple and at times, she did not get along with Eva. Back with Hauyne, Celeste had hoped that she had not inherited any fertility troubles in case she wanted to pair up and have her own chicks when she became an adult. After all, infertility was a common thing in Celeste's family line, especially among the females on her side. She remembered her maternal aunt struggling to conceive eggs.
From their tree, Milo, Celeste and Hauyne waved at the glaucous and Spix macaws as they flew past with some of Rafael and Eva's chicks. As they passed over the Lear's macaws, Diantha gazed down at them.
"Why aren't Aunt Celeste and Uncle Milo joining us, Uncle Zephyr?" asked she.
"Hauyne's too young to fly currently, Diantha," Zephyr replied.
"Yes, she hatched only recently," added Blu.
"But she will take her first flight soon," added Sirius with a smile. Diantha turned and gazed at Milo's little family and continued playing with her remaining siblings and the Spix and glaucous macaw chicks. Behind the group, Rafael, Eva and the rest of their kids followed with Nico and Pedro. Soon, the macaws and few toucan kids were joined by a pair of large dog-faced fruit bats. Orion and Ahsoka appeared and playfully cried, "Boo!" to the playful startle and amusement of the birds and immediately, the winged mammals joined them. Ahsoka had something clutched to her breast, a furry bundle with wings who was also too young to fly. Orion and Ahsoka had become proud parents to their first pup, a son they have named Sandalwood who was the bundle on Ahsoka's breast. Sandalwood was currently very young and could not yet fly, so he had to be carried by his mother until then when the family went on flights out. Sandalwood was quite different from his parents in terms of physical traits. Instead of brown fur like his father or ginger and red like his mother, Sandalwood's fur was a golden yellow or amber colour with his ruff being deeper yellow. He had a white patch on his front, black membranous wings, a ruffle of fur on his head similar to Orion, a fairly stocky build and blue eyes, a trait he had inherited from his mother Ahsoka though her eyes were more cyan. A few relatives in Orion's family line had amber and yellow fur so he must have passed on the trait to Sandalwood. Orion and Ahsoka planned to have more pups in the future once Sandalwood was weaned and was able to fly on his own. Flying foxes could only bear one pup at a time, similar to humans with their babies, rather than clutches like birds though sometimes twins were an occurrence among them. Sandalwood was quite like Bia in terms of interests. Like Bia, he liked the sciences, especially biology, astronomy and maths to the amusement of Orion and Ahsoka. Sandalwood was essentially like the flying fox version of Blu and Bia and he would sometimes tell scientific facts about various things. Sandalwood was also protective, at times immature and is quite bold. Although he was a bat, he saw the macaw chicks like cousins since after all, Orion, Ahsoka, Aurora, Zephyr, Brisa, Celeste, Milo, Sirius and Samara had become like a family which included Blu, Jewel and their chicks, Rafael and his big family, Nico, Pedro, and also Charon, Sunspot, Katrina, Alabaster and Poppy.
Orion and Ahsoka, with Sandalwood clutched to her breast, then flew with their macaw friends, Sandalwood watching on and looking around as his mother carried him. Like how the macaw couples had brought joy to Tulio and his team in giving their species a new lease on life (and establishing a Lear's macaw population in the case of Celeste and Milo despite them having one chick), Orion and Ahsoka had given their species, the Amazon flying fox, a second chance at life as well. The birth of Sandalwood had been a great joy to Luca and his chiroptology team and becoming a mother had been an important milestone for Ahsoka in addition. However, the couple did NOT want to have pups just to save their species, especially Orion and he saw the conservation project as silly but he didn't mind having his pup[s' health examined for he was now friendly with humans and trusted Luca for fixing his broken wing months ago. Now that Luca and his team including Joanna had a breeding pair of Amazon flying foxes established on the sanctuary, their priority was now checking the health of any pup conceived and born. As Ahsoka flew alongside the macaws, some of them gazed on at Sandalwood with a smile.
"I can't believe he looks so different to you two," said Blu.
"I would have expected Sandy to have brown fur like you, Orion, or ginger fur like you, Ahsoka," said Sirius.
"He's as different to you two as Eustace is over there to the rest of us with his midnight blue feathers," said Zephyr as he flew alongside Aurora, a nod to his unusually dark son as he chased Carla and Bia with Astrid and Bellatrix. Samara, Jewel and Brisa looked on in agreement.
"Oh, I've had amber-coloured relatives in my family," said Orion as he gazed proudly at his yellow-furred son on Ahsoka's breast, "My paternal grandfather, my father Augustus' father, has had amber fur."
"We look forward to seeing you have more pups once Sandalwood is weaned," said Aurora but Zephyr shot her a disapproving glare at this statement. However, the flying fox couple didn't mind.
"We plan on giving our son his first brother or sister but it won't be IMMEDIATELY after he is weaned," said Ahsoka with a smile.
"Yes, unlike you birds who have your chicks in your eggs which you lay in nests," said Orion, "Mother-to-be bats have to fly while pregnant."
"And then once the pup is born," added Ahsoka, "We mother bats have to carry them like you see here with Sandalwood," she nodded to her amber son as he let loose a yawn.
"Fly while pregnant?" asked Bia nearby. Blu and Jewel turned to her as she flew alongside Carla, Tiago and also two of Zephyr and Aurora's chicks, Justin and Virgil and Azul, one of Sirius and Samara's chicks.
"We'll tell you fully when you are a bit older, daughter," said Jewel gently.
"Yes, it's a topic not really for kids," said Orion, "But all you need to know is we bats do NOT lay eggs like you birds do."
"It's because you're mammals and they bear live young," said Bia.
"Correct," said Ahsoka.
"Um, Uncle Milo did tell me of some mammals that DO lay eggs," said Bia, "They're the platypus and the echidna. They're called monotremes."
"There are mammals that lay eggs?" asked Orion with surprise as Ahsoka left to show the other chicks Sandalwood.
"Let's leave that for another discussion," said Blu, "For now, I would like to continue to play."
Orion smiled and with that, the group resumed their play with Ahsoka, with Sandalwood on her breast, and the chicks soon joining along with Rafael, Eva and the other toucan kids joining once again. a little while later, the chicks began to dance but then Carla soon found herself doing a dance battle against Astrid, the pair trying to outdo each other to the slight annoyance of the others. Bia, Tiago, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil and Eustace rolled their eyes as the pair continued their dance battle while Bellatrix simply looked on. Then the pair broke up the dance battle and continued their play, their siblings following.
While the macaws, toucans and flying foxes continued to play with Nico and Pedro, from their branches, Milo and Celeste watched on with little Hauyne when suddenly, two cockatoos, one white and yellow and the other white, pale pink, salmon pink and with a vivid white, red and yellow crest, appeared with a black raven missing his right leg.
"Hi, Alabaster, Poppy and Charon," said Milo with gladness as the three touched down near him, his mate and daughter, "How are you three doing?"
"Oh, we're fine, thanks, Milo," said Alabaster.
"So are Jack and Jill, Sunspot and Katrina," said Charon, "However, Sunspot and Katrina have become sterilised so that they cannot conceive puppies and kittens, something they are actually glad for as they do not want to pair up and have offspring."
"Wait, Jack and Jill considered breeding Sunspot and Katrina?" asked Celeste with surprise.
"Yes, they initially wanted to be dog and cat breeders as part of their new lives alongside their roles in wildlife conservation," said Charon, "However Francisco, their adopted father, explained to them the complex responsibilities involved in being dog and cat breeders such as sufficient care for the kittens and puppies to sell to aspiring dog and cat owners. After Jack and Jill heard all this, they changed their minds and put it off altogether. Besides that, Sunspot and Katrina don't want to breed anyway as they don't want their offspring bearing the negative legacy of their parents being former poacher's pets."
"That's a shame," said Milo, "We would have loved to have seen our Dalmatian and calico cat friend have their own families."
"Indeed," Charon agreed, "And as for me, pairing up with a female raven and having my own chicks is a DEFINITE no-no."
"You don't want your own offspring either?" asked Celeste. Charon shook his head.
"I'm on the same perch as Sunspot and Katrina," said he, "But most especially me. Having a family is NOT an option for me at all. After all, I am still despised by some of the jungle residents for my participation in catching them along with that hideous swan Vecna and his cat, dog and corvid underlings, all who had been UTTERLY cruel to them apart from Sunspot and Katrina, and I do NOT want my chicks to carry such a horrific legacy," the young raven then exhaled and frowned, "And please do NOT get me started on that knucklehead Lil' King Kong Mauro and his group. That lot DESPISE me like I'm a fly buzzing around a dung heap (and yes, Mauro hurled that insult to me as he, his son and underlings chased me away). I tried to greet them once but they threw stones, pieces of fruit and mud and human knickknacks at me to drive me away..."
The cockatoo and Lear's macaw couples flinched while Hauyne looked on.
"That's horrible!" spluttered Milo. However, Alabaster and Poppy looked on with little surprise.
"It's no surprise, really," said the former, the sulphur-crested cockatoo, dislike against the mischievous marmoset gang present in his voice, "Even though we have rewarded Mauro for his help in dealing with those poachers, especially Vecna, he's still a pain in the furry tail."
"We're not sure about his son Marty though," added Poppy.
"Tell me about it," said Charon disappointingly, "Which is yet another reason why I do not want to have chicks. The last thing I want is my children flying past those stupid marmosets one day and them jeering, 'Look, there goes the spawn of Charon the loser and feathered dung heap fly'!"
Celeste, Milo, Poppy and Alabaster exchanged frowning looks.
"Well, when we have our chicks, we are NOT gonna have them mixing with that estúpido bunch of primate thieves," growled the Major Mitchell's cockatoo disgustedly, "Poppy and I have decided that we're gonna have a family unlike you, Sunspot and Katrina, Charon."
"Blu, Zephyr, Orion and Sirius told us that they are gonna forbid their chicks and pups from EVER mixing with that group as well," said Milo, before his gaze turned to his only daughter, "And the same shall apply to our daughter Hauyne here as well. Though our rewarding of Mauro was a one off, he is still bad news and bad company. Even Rafael and Eva's twenty-plus chicks have enough sense to avoid that lot."
"You'd BETTER not," Charon warned severely, "And though I will not be paring up and having my own chicks, I am more than happy to help you guys raise yours. I'll help get your daughter airborne when the time comes if you'd like."
"Thanks, Charon but I would rather you focus on helping Zephyr, Aurora, Sirius and Samara to raise their big broods," declined Milo politely.
"Yes, they will need quite a bit of help," added Celeste. Alabaster nodded in agreement but Poppy shot the Lear's macaw couple a slight glare. Then as the Spix and glaucous macaws flew by with Orion and Ahsoka with Sandalwood clutched to her breast, Charon spread his wings and took off after them to play with them to the gladness of Blu and company with Milo, Celeste, Hauyne, Alabaster and Poppy smiling on. Then soon, Rafael and his BIG family came by with Nico and Pedro and began to playfully chase the raven. Though Charon had initially declined being accepted into the family as he felt he didn't deserve it due to being a poacher's pet, he eventually took up the offer and became a member of the extended family.
Even after becoming parents, Aurora the Spix macaw, Sirius the glaucous macaw, Milo the Lear's macaw and Ahsoka the Amazon flying fox still kept their families' dreams of finding more Spix, glaucous and Lear's macaws and Amazon flying foxes on the branch and had NOT forgotten about their parents' wishes to venture out into the rainforest to search for them. After all, there were rumours of more Spix and glaucous macaws, Amazon flying foxes and possibly more Lear's macaws in these areas of Brazil out there and the four and their mates and young had heard of tales from residents who had plucked up the courage to take daring adventures beyond the outskirts of the forest and Rio. Additionally, there were rumours of mysterious creatures also living out in the Amazon including creatures bearing beaks like birds but had membranous wings like bats. To the group familiar with dinosaurs and other extinct animals such as Blu and Bia, these descriptions fitted those of pterosaurs, extinct flying reptiles known only from their fossil remains. However, Aurora, Sirius, Milo and Ahsoka and their families' desire to venture out into the rainforest was to be put on hold for they had their chicks and pup to raise. Milo and Celeste's daughter Hauyne was still too young and was yet to fly while Orion and Ahsoka wanted to ensure that Sandalwood was settled and that they had expanded their family a bit even though the flying fox couple had no problem in simply carrying Sandalwood for the journey. To add, the Tijuca Forest-born quartet has yet to tell their chicks and pup about their biologically extended family, family members that they will never meet. Aurora was yet to tell Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil, Eustace, Astrid and Bellatrix of their maternal grandparents Erico and Clarinda and uncle Tomas, all who have died at the hands of smugglers while Zephyr and Brisa were to tell them about their own parents, or paternal grandparents, Viento and Gael and how they were torn from a tribe of Spix macaws as a family by the fire and then separated by chaos caused by poachers. Sirius would like to one day tell his chicks Lapis Lazuli, Levi, Azul, Sapphire and Trixie of his parents Alvin and Isabella and sister Belle. It was reported that Sirius' parents had managed to flee the poachers alive and had never returned, likely due to safety reasons and Sirius had hoped that they were still alive.
When Milo reunited with his biological mother Zira only to be violently driven out of her nest along with Celeste, he had hoped to introduce Hauyne to her but had immediately put the idea as out of the question due to how hostile and cruel Zira had been. She had dropped him onto the forest floor and left him for dead once. He did not want to risk Hauyne's life at her clutches so as far as Milo was concerned, Zira was nonexistent. And Ahsoka was yet to tell Sandalwood and any future pups she and Orion would eventually have about her parents Alberto and Lily and their little clan; how her parents had died to protect her from the savage Nigel when he tried to forcefully cage them and how she ended up as Joanna's foster bat. Aurora and Sirius were also yet to explain to their chicks about their time with Brandon in London, the UK and Milo, his adventures in Australia with his owner Audrey, including how he had learned to fly by himself and had covered the entire width of the continent to reunite with his owner when she moved to a city in that area. Samara, Celeste and Orion would also like to tell the chicks and Sandalwood of their backstories and how they met their mates. The nine clearly had a LOT to explain to their offspring regarding their backstories including how they met and their adventures in Rio and dealing with the band of poachers and their pets lead by the savage Vecna the swan.
Speaking of Vecna, Erik the green-winged macaw friend of the group had told Blu about his parents, his own parents having known them before their demise and Blu's smuggling as a chick. Before Blu hatched, his father died suddenly, forcing his mother to raise him alone and she did so diligently. Then when Blu was a chick, that day the smugglers came and took him, his mother was out foraging to bring back food for herself and her son. However, she was attacked by ravens, crows and Vecna from the poachers coming to capture animals (mostly birds) and she was mauled by the savage swan when she fought back. This had been heartbreaking revelation for Blu and he was saddened that he may never meet his parents but he had Jewel and his daughters and son to focus on, and while Aurora, Zephyr, Brisa and also Jewel had the dream of venturing out into the Amazon to look for more Spix macaws, Blu felt at home in Rio. However, some of the others including Aurora, Milo, Sirius and Ahsoka had told him that he will eventually have to leave behind his human comforts to live as a wild bird one day, and Ahsoka reminded him of what he told her about herself leaving behind the comforts of the human home to live as a wild bat. Blu had been reluctant to accept this but he will eventually have to, especially regarding the future of his chicks Carla, Bia and Tiago.
For now, Blu and Jewel with their chicks Carla, Bia and Tiago continued to live as residents on the Blu Bird Sanctuary with Zephyr and Aurora and their chicks Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil, Eustace, Astrid and Bellatrix and Zephyr's sister Brisa; Sirius and Samara and their chicks Lapis Lazuli, Levi, Azul, Sapphire and Trixie; Milo, Celeste and their daughter Hauyne; and Orion, Ahsoka and their son Sandalwood, their home now under the protection of their human friends as they continued their conservation efforts. However, this is not the end of the story. Who knows what adventures awaits the blue macaws and Amazon flying foxes and their friends?
And that's it, c'est fini. I like how this version has turned out and I do believe it is far better than the previous one. I like how Ahsoka has more flesh to her backstory than before and also the changes I made such as Eva and the then-25 toucan kids of her and Rafael going out on the adventure with the group. The sequel will focus on Aurora, Ahsoka, Milo, Sirius and their families following Blu and his into the Amazon where they discover more Spix macaws (and Jewel, Zephyr and Brisa's long-lost tribe). However, it might be some time before I set to writing it as I have other stories and things to focus on as well, so stay tuned.
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