Don't Lose Your Way

by OrangeMacawWorld

3 years after Rio 2, Blu and Jewel find themselves in the midst of an investigation for kidnapping before being captured themselves aboard the USS Great White. Left stranded on the Samoan island of Tutuila, they must find a route of escape to the Amazon (note: this is a canceled and unfinished work from 2017.)

3. A Gray Flight

Chapter 3 - A Gray Flight

An hour had just now passed from when Roberto had requested the favor of Blu, volunteering to go with him on a patrol in the afternoon. It was now about ten-thirty in the morning, but even though it was so early, and not even past noon, the sky was as dark-gray as Spix's Macaw's beak. A dark-blue gloomy tint was also injected into the dreary gray coating from a needle of which, did not exist.

A heavy rainstorm was on the way in less than an hour, there was no doubt. Even with the horrible weather that looked to be ahead, Blu had still promised Roberto that he would volunteer to go on patrol with him. Because of this, he basically had no choice. Even if Roberto was still a rival in the eyes of Blu, he would have to do it anyway, otherwise Eduardo would think of him as a "yellow-belly," something Blu would never want. Even in his undeniable nervousness, he still had plenty of time before one o'clock, so at least with that, he could ease himself slightly.

In the Gunderson hollow itself, everyone was rather quiet at the moment, but still enjoying themselves independently. Blu was calmly and silently sitting in his large, portable nest that was about half a meter back from the hollow entrance. Jewel, asleep, was propped up against him, her head comfortably tucked into the right side of Blu's feathery neck, as her smooth and silky head feathers on the back of her head lightly brushed against Blu's face. It reminded him of the first few months he and Jewel had been together. Even though he was happier now than he had ever been in his life, he still truly missed those old and past days, longing for at least a glimpse at his old memories.

"Sim, Mãe, as estrelas," Jewel mumbled in her peaceful sleep. Blu's eyes turned to her, still feeling an unbreakable warmth within himself that he loved to experience. Even though he thought it was rather odd for her to talk in her sleep, he recognized the words. In English, the words Sim, Mãe, as estrelas translated to Yes, Mother, the stars. It was the phrase that had been written on Anita's coffin, in both her and Jewel's memory by Eduardo, as Jewel had said the phrase, and at the time, she had gone missing and been presumed dead by virtually every member of the tribe, until she had returned. Eduardo had told Blu the secret about the written phrase on the coffin, but he had never gotten the chance to tell Jewel about it. In Blu's mind, it would be more appropriate to tell her at Anita's memorial party anyway.

Then, Jewel quietly murmured the phrase again, still asleep. Her soft head nudged Blu's face, making a wide smile creep up onto his beak. Even though snuggling with his mate was one of his favorite things to do, he just couldn't sit around in the same spot all day. At the very least, he had to be doing something productive, even though it was tempting to sit around, especially because of the approaching storm. He looked to his right below him, and saw his that his fanny pack was sitting on the floor collecting dust, next to the nest. His neck twisted over to the left, and he grabbed it with his strong, gray beak by the slightly torn strap, lifting it up, and then settling it down in his lap.

He unzipped it with his beak, digging his wing in the pouch for his weather encyclopedia that he normally had stored at the bottom of the fanny pack. After he plucked the book from the bottom, he silently threw the fanny pack to the side, while he opened the book, and scanning the chapter selection with his eyes. He flipped through the pages continuously, until he reached Page 341, which was part of the chapter about precipitation and rain storms.

Meanwhile, in her room, up the stone stairway leading down to the floor of the hollow, Carla was still laying down in her bed made of leaves, her head swinging side to side, and her toes tapping as she quietly resumed her marathon of listening to Samba music. Now, she was listening to classic Samba songs from Bahía, some of her favorite music. Even though Carla loved the dancing styles of the songs of Rio, she was captivated and inspired more by the music of Bahía, just like Nico and Pedro, her two "uncles."

As she was browsing through more and more of the music, she turned to a song that she very well recognized. It had been sung to her by both her mother and her "Aunt" Eva when she was in Rio. Even though Eva singing it had made one of Luiz's glass window inventions shatter to the ground, the song itself, made Carla whistle along with the slow and soothing lyrics.

Meu irmão

Chegamos tão longe

Não importa as probabilidades

Eu estarei contigo

Alto meu céu

Acima das montanhas

Subindo pelo mar reluzente

Nossa jornada há muito terminou

Meu irmão

Venha até mim

Te vejo onde você estiver

The song then repeated itself several times in the same melody, but with different lyrics.

After the song was finished, Carla kept searching for more Samba music.

Next door, in Bia's large room full of books and arachnid and insect specimens, she was in her bed, with Tiago across from her. She was teaching Tiago about the human history of Brazil, which was his favorite type of history - although he did not favor history all that much, other than the history and beginnings of all the macaw tribes, especially the Spix's and Scarlet Tribes. However, he also enjoyed the human history of the country as well, mainly the stories of the Brazilian Empire, ruled under Dom Pedro II. Bia was the only one in the family that knew very much about the subject, as Jewel only focused on the history of the macaws, and Blu focused either on European or American history, as he was from the state of Minnesota.

Tiago's main reason why he enjoyed these stories was so that he could visualize his "Uncle" Pedro as an emperor, which was such a ridiculous thought to begin with, as Pedro himself was a dancer and a singer, not to mention the part-owner of the Samba Club in Market Forro, along with Nico and the roseate spoonbill, Kipo. Strangely, all three of the kids barely knew anything about Pedro, Nico, Rafael, Eva, or even Luiz, even after knowing them for so long, and visiting them just about every summer. Not even Blu or Jewel knew much about them, and the first two of which, Blu had known them longer than he had known Jewel.

After Blu had finished reading a few paragraphs of the rain section of the encyclopedia, he set the book aside, a foot away from his nest, turning his eyes to the hollow entrance.

The sky which was cerulean only an hour ago, was now turning grayer and grayer by the minute, and the clouds were turning more and more jagged-edged and blade-like. The fresh, wild air that was circulating from outside that entered the hollow was also increasingly getting colder, and so was the wind. Just a few minutes before, the air had been the normal humid temperature. Now, the wind was blowing so loudly that it could clearly be heard from the inside of the hollow, almost like the wind Blu had originally lived with in the winter seasons in Moose Lake.

There was no doubt, a heavy storm was coming in, very shortly.

"Aw, great," Blu groaned, cupping his wingtips around his facial area.

"What's the matter, my One-and-only?" Jewel's head lifted upwards, now awake, her eyes opening wide to their full extent.

"From what I can tell, a hard-hitting storm is hitting real soon. I tell you, one of the good things about being with Linda was that you could always tell what the weather was going to be like, by just turning on the weather channel on the TV. That's only the icing on the cake. At around twelve-fifty, I have to hurry over to Roberto's. He's waiting for me to go with him on patrol duty."

"That's pretty unfortunate that you have to go on patrol while getting soaked and pelted with rain droplets all day. Promise me you won't get pneumonia after this."

"I'm honestly impressed, you just read my thoughts, Jewel. I was just about to say that myself. Oh, well, it's not like there's anything else for me to do anyway. It would be impossible right now in these conditions to hang out by the waterfall and play a game of tennis."

Then, without any warning whatsoever, Blu's heart and entire body jumped, as the crackling sound of cannon-like thunder hit his eardrums. He started to panic, thinking that the lightning might've struck one of his fellow tribe members' trees. After all, a tree was one of the worst possible places to hide during a lightning storm.

To reassure himself that none of his friends had been killed by the thunder that had just boomed, he stared out into the foggy, gray sky, to see a blue-ish bolt of lightning appear and touch a tall, large tree, appearing to be more than four miles north, just two-hundred feet from the entrance to the Spix's Macaw tribe. The noise had also made Jewel hurtle up, out of the nest, and it had even slightly shaken the tree. Cries could be heard from Bia, Carla, and Tiago, in their fear. After a moment of silence, and all of the family now up and alert, now not only the blood-curdling sound produced by the thunder rapidly increased, but a swish sound suddenly appeared: it was most certainly rain.

"I guess we're not going outside at all," Blu sighed. "Except for me."

Carla then settled down and resumed listening to music, and Bia continued her history lesson with Tiago. Jewel layed back down in the nest, back to sleep. The next ten minutes were long and miserable for Blu, as all he could think about his fear in going with Roberto in this kind of rain. At the same time, he was also struggling to even hear himself think, as the heavy swish sound caused by the monsoon pelting everyone and everything beneath the clouds never ended.

Another five minutes slowly passed, and Blu was still both anxious and restless. Coping with both feelings simultaneously, while the sky was still the ugly, dreary gray, was simply not possible. I should really get some sleep, I might as well use my time well Blu thought. He then raised his right wing, and wrapped it around Jewel next to him, and he pushed himself closer to her, before slowly closing his eyes. As he waited for his mind to shut off, he was still somewhat listening to the outside. But now, swish was not the only thing he could hear.

But out of nowhere, he could catch the sound of flapping.

Someone was coming. He opened his eyes, and slowly raised himself upward, before standing up and looking out the entrance. A dark-blue figure was approaching, directly heading for the hollow entrance. Blu peered at the figure more closely, and noticed it bore pale-blue eyes that glowed as bright as a lantern. It was undoubtedly Roberto, but why was he so early?

In seconds, Roberto turned upwards to slow himself down as he approached the front of the tree, and his talons wrapped around the edge of the doorway. He was absolutely drenched in rain. His feathers were soaked and creased, and his crest feathers were completely flattened across his face, which was annoying as he couldn't see a thing. His wingtips reached over to his face, grabbing the edges of the crest feathers, pushing them out of the way of his view.

"Olá, Blu," Roberto panted, still shivering like a wet rat from the cold of the rain.

"Roberto, wait, why are you here? It's only ten forty-five."

"Whoah, wait, Beto?" Jewel awoke again, raising herself up. "What's the matter?"

"Blu, Ju-Ju, I know I was scheduled to arrive here in the afternoon, so I'm terribly sorry for interrupting your living. The reason I'm here so early is because Eduardo flew to my secondary hollow just before this dreary storm, complaining, and yelling at me to get all the decorations set up for Anita's memorial party, right now. To be honest with you both, even though many call me the best party bird in the tribe, there's no way I'll set up everything myself. I already asked for help, and Mimi, Enéida, and Alberta all volunteered, but I still require some more wings for assistance. Plus, by now, they've probably declined without telling me, as they are a bit cowardly when it comes to heavy rain. Blu, I figured since you're good at building great structures from nothing, and Ju-Ju knows how to set up a good Samba party, you could both help me setting up all of my stuff. Please."

"Roberto, thanks for the offer, it was pretty nice, but uh -" Blu's beak opened.

"It'd certainly be a wonderful pleasure, Beto," Jewel agreed. "Anything for an old friend of mine. Blu?"

Jewel then turned Blu's way in place. She could obviously tell he didn't like the idea, as he purposefully stared off into space, whistling to himself as if he were on a long morning flight.

"Blu, please do this," Roberto begged. "I really need you."

Blu thought about it for a moment. He would be completely out in the open while flying to Roberto's secondary tree, setting up countless decorations, while in the middle of a thunderstorm. It put deep stress on his mind, but he knew that not only would refusing to simply decorate a hollow during a storm would make him look weak, he knew he had gone through countless situations that this didn't even come close to. And he had survived all of them in the end. Besides, he was going on patrol anyway.

"Alright, I'll do it, I suppose decorating a house wouldn't be so bad, even in these conditions," Blu almost grumbled, his wings horizontally folded across his chest.

"Splendid!" Roberto said, ecstatic. "Before we leave though, I recommend you tell all your kids first that we're heading out there."

Blu shifted backward, turning his head towards the corner of the room, where Carla still sat. "Carla, Bia, Tiago! We're leaving! Jewel'll be back in a couple of hours! I'm going on patrol!"

"Okay, Dad!" Carla, Bia, and Tiago all called back in unison. He turned backward, facing Roberto again.

"Well, now that we've got that out of the way, I suppose we should be on our way immediately, because the storm might get worse," Roberto said, making Blu gulp slightly. The blue downy feathers littered around his neck area puffed up in fear of the storm. Jewel's eyes widened.

Roberto shook himself, getting some of the water out of his feathers. After he had somewhat dried himself, he flew out of the hollow, before Blu and Jewel followed suite around twelve seconds after he had taken off. As the three had entered the outside, usually it was easy to navigate. However, because the sky was so dark and gray, even Blu could barely see a thing.

Even though they couldn't see where they were going, Roberto lead the group, by flying straight ahead, in the northward direction, which would eventually lead to the general area of Roberto's palace.

Below the beard-gray abyss of which the three flew, Blu could make out a small array of Babassu palm trees scattered around the surface of the ground. Roberto's home was close by, as it was only a hundred meters away from these Babassu trees.

"Hey, Blu, are we there yet? I can't see a darn thing that's further than three feet!" Roberto complained.

"Roberto, I see the Babassu trees below, don't worry we're close," Blu informed, looking up from the surface of the ground.

"Well, that's good, because I think I just saw the surface of the skyline glow a hue of turquoise," Jewel screamed from behind Blu. "Wait, blue on the surface of the skyline - oh -"

A loud boom! set off from directly above, as a large, blue zig-zag shape touched a tree nearby, scorching it's wood, and turning it into a charcoaled black.

"Oh crud," Blu muttered. "Let's hope I was right about the Babassu trees. I'm afraid if we get too close to the skyline, we'll be reduced to fried crispy duck… Wait, no, fried macaw. Is that even human menu item?"

Jewel sighed, rolling her eyes at Blu. "Blu, focus! I'd like to point out we're still in the middle of a friggin' lightning storm!"

"Oh, right, right, right, crud!" Blu screamed as another burst of lightning descended from the sky. He again started peering out into the gray nothingness, still searching for any sign of Roberto's tree. "Sorry. Can't find it. Jewel, Roberto, I believe that the only way we'll find the palace is by diving down. We're too high up!"

"He has a good point, you know!" Jewel said to Roberto, whose crest feathers swayed back is the strong winds kept whistling. "What are we waiting for?"

"Dive!" Blu commanded. All at once, he, Jewel, and Roberto's heads sunk downwards, diving at a rapid speed. The high winds combined with the turbulence their speed, all of them could feel the air grabbing them by their feathers, trying to pull them back. Despite the wind's efforts to pluck the blue feathers from their very bodies, the three macaws remained untouched once they were close to the forest floor.

"Blu, you're our navigator, lead the way!" Roberto cried. Blu rushed ahead of Roberto, flapping his wings frantically and turning his head from side to side, looking for Roberto's tree. In the gray darkness, at first, Blu saw absolutely nothing but row after row of tall Babassu trees, all of which swayed side to side in the wind.

"Look, guys, it's Blu!" a male voice called. Blu recognized the sharp and clear voice. It was his personal doctor, Rostagno.

"Hey, Dr. Rostagno!" Blu screamed as he wandered around aimlessly in the wind, almost blind. " I need a little help here!" Then, he felt something wrap around his feathery elbow, as he was dragged through the air, even further downwards. But it wasn't Jewel, nor Roberto. It was most likely Rostagno, as he was the only voice that could be heard besides them. Blu's eyes slit, as he caught sight of Jewel and Roberto, both of whom were caught by the branches of a Babassu tree, about fifteen feet away.

"Blu, where on earth did you go?" Jewel cried, struggling in the branches.

"Rostagno, we have to go back, Jewel and Roberto are stuck in the branches of that nearby tree!"

"Blu, I'm not Rostagno," the figure catching Blu's wing spoke. Blu then urged himself to look away from his wife and Roberto. When the strong wind almost twisted his neck backward, he now faced the figure. It was Cristiano.

"Whoah, whoah, wait, Cristiano, please, they're caught!" Blu pleaded.

"I know, Blu, please hang on for a second, Rostagno and Marianão are coming to rescue them. We're actually only about ten meters from Roberto's hollow. It's eastward. Vamos!"

"Who's Marianão?"

"He's an officer of the Spix's Macaw Tribal Army, and he's a friend of mine by the way. Nice guy."

Cristiano dragged Blu by the wing across the gray void, as both of them whirled around in the air, due to the high winds.

Blu, being dragged and whirled, felt as if he were a worm on a fishing hook being cast into the water. And it was a very unpleasant feeling.

The wind thickened by the minute, and the clouds were now pitch-black. He looked back at the tree of which Jewel and Roberto had been caught in. Suddenly, loud thunder emerged from the sky, and the black clouds possessed streaks of light-blue along its surface. A bright, curved, streak of lightning dived down and struck the tree, right in front of Blu's eyes.

"Oh, no, no, no, NO!" Blu panicked. "The tree! Where's Rostagno?"

"I don't know, but we're almost there, look!" Cristiano pointed ahead, struggling to see, due to the rain catching in his eyes. Blu struggled to look forward, and his eyes caught it. Atop a cliff, sat Roberto's massive palace. Finally.

Blu let out a heavy sigh of relief, only for his hope to be crushed when another burst of lightning hit another nearby tree in the distance, making his feathers expand like a puffer fish's spines.

As the two made it to the top of the cliff, Cristiano, with one wing, latched onto the the exposed lip of the entrance, and placed his talons onto the side of the tree. He tossed Blu over his back like a ragdoll. Blu went flying, landing face-first onto the floor. At least he was finally inside. Cristiano then used his other wing, and pulled himself up above the lip, climbing down onto the floor next to Blu.

"Where is Jewel?" Blu panted, breathing in and out heavily, tears almost swelling up into his eyes at the thought she could have been hit by the lightning and killed. His eyes then turned a pinkish-red, as the tears rushed down his eyes. Cristiano placed his wing around Blu's shoulder.

"Now, Blu, don't worry, Roberto and Jewel were surely rescued by Rostagno and Marianão. It might take a while for them to get back though, so I recommend you be very patient in the meanwhile."

"Or, you could also just look above your heads," Jewel's voice spoke from above. Blu raised himself off the floor, noticing Jewel laying down in one of Roberto's six extra bedrooms, with Rostagno examining her for any injuries. After all, branches could cause serious wounds to a macaw. Roberto was resting in the bedroom directly below Jewel's, and Marianão was massaging his talons, as he laid back peacefully.

"Rostagno, is she hurt?" Blu called from below, his eyes turning back to their normal hazel color.

Rostagno took one final look at the back of Jewel's neck for any wooden slivers, but found none at all. "No, Senhor Blu, she's perfectly fine, aside from the fact she's soaked in rain, like the rest of us. But, I found no wooden shards or anything. Jewel, you can get up now."

"Thank you, Doctor," Jewel said, before rolling out from her spot, and descending to the ground by wing. She lighted down next to Blu, tapping him on the shoulder. Blu could not explain how relieved he was.

Jewel was often a lucky bird, and this was no exception. However, even though he now had no worries on his mind about Jewel any longer, he still had to prepare the decorations. After all, he knew the wrath of Eduardo if he was angry. And Anita's memorial party was one of the top priorities of the tribe at the moment.

Blu's eyes shifted upwards to Roberto, who was still being massaged by Marianão. Blu sighed, covering his face with his wing.

"Roberto, hello, this isn't the spa, we're suppose to decorate your mansion, remember?"

"Oh, right!" Roberto snapped out of his trance-like comfort. He lifted himself off the bed, away from Marianão, and flew over to his water slide, landing next to its gate.

"Roberto, I believe Enéida, Alberta, and Aunt Mimi all ditched us for their safety, since they aren't here," Jewel groaned.

"Such cowards," Roberto sighed, turning his attention to Blu. "Alright, Blu, you go up into my pantry near the top, and I'll paint the walls with berry juice, as I was ordered."

"Okay, first of all: why do you even have a pantry, and what do you use it for? Second, what am I actually supposed to do up there?"

"Right, I forgot, while you're in there, you lay out all the red downy feathers on the floor. All the red feathers are filled in a small nest. In case you're wondering, I went into the Scarlet tribe to get those, as they looked nice for decorating in parties. But, besides that, just sprinkle the feathers out on the floor."

"Sounds easy enough," Blu said.

"Jewel, will you please get the yellow flowers in that other nest, to the right?" Roberto pointed to a small nest in the corner of the hollow that was filled with yellow flowers. "I need you to take the flowers and cover the walls with them."

"Yes, Beto," Jewel sighed, walking off to the nest and taking a wingful of flowers, randomly placing each one along the vines that spread onto the walls. Blu hovered upwards, higher and higher into the tree, until he looked around, and saw one large stone ledge with a roof over it made of twigs and vines. Hanging from the roof was an empty Brazil nut shell connected to a vine, and an opening was exposed at the top of the shell. It was intended to house fireflies within the inside of the shell while partygoers danced around the light on the ledge, almost like a disco ball. In the corner of the ledge was a nest full of red, yellow, and dark-blue downy feathers. This was it.

Blu landed on the ledge, just a few inches apart from the "disco ball" and next to the nest. He grabbed a large bunch of the feathers, before leaning forwards and carefully placing them one by one, on the ledge's pavement, until he was finished in about ten minutes. Immediately afterward, he helped clean many of the party attractions, placing fruit on some of the wooden stands littered around multiple sections of the tree. Another seventeen minutes had passed, just after he had finally placed a fresh mango on the final wooden stand, sitting next to the wall of which Jewel was painting on with berry juice.

Jewel, for nearly thirty minutes, had been writing out the lyrics of Don't Go Away in Portuguese all across the base of the inside of the tree. Each letter was written in the red juice, and all were neatly written, even complete with accent marks.

After Jewel had been lost from the tribe, one of the few things she had hung onto was that song. It was her favorite song as a child, and because Anita had always sung it to her in both grievous times and as a lullaby. The song had always soothed her, and during her recovery in the aviary in Rio, she had asked Blu to sing it to her. She was now muttering it to herself, as she continued to paint the lyrics on the wall.

After another hour of decorating, everything was finished. The flowers on the walls were perfectly aligned, Don't Go Away was fully inscripted across the baseline of the walls, certain sections were covered in designs, and Anita's name was written on one of the walls. By now, both Blu and Jewel had dried off, and everything was complete.

"What next, Roberto?" Blu inquired, standing by the mangos on the wooden stands. Roberto, who had finished painting more markings on some of the guest rooms heard his question, and descended down from the air, standing beside him.

"Looks like everything is finished. I enjoyed your help, and I thoroughly appreciate your generosity. Don't forget, one o'clock sharp, you should be located down in the trees below. That's where I and all my men are going to be waiting for you to show up. I'll see you later, this afternoon. Understand?"

"Yes, of course, Roberto, I perfectly understand. Just give me any updates while I'm away. Goodbye!"

"Bye, Beto!" Jewel laughed, flying out the entrance, and back into the heavy rain. Blu flapped his wings twice, pointing forward, following her.

Even though this moment was well-shared and represented Blu, Jewel, and Roberto's friendship, it more or less foreshadowed that Blu had no idea what would come.