Chapter 10: A great familial day
The twilight rose early over the eastern parts of the Amazon rainforest and all the animals were once again getting ready for a new day.
In Blu and Jewel's hollow, Jewel was the first one to open her eyes as the first rays of light entered their home.
As she woke, she yawned and saw that her husband was still sleeping peacefully. Jewel chuckled and said to herself: "Oh, Bluey, you're such a sleepyhead."
She then heard breathing from her right and for a moment, she thought that a stranger was inside their hollow. Dread filled her for a moment, but it quickly faded when she saw 2 other spix macaws sleeping peacefully.
These were her brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Thomas and Jasmine. The way Thomas was sleeping looked extremely similar. Heh, that's something both Blu and Thomas might have in common, sleeping well. Jewel thought to herself, but then remembered Jasmine's word from last evening, that Thomas hadn't had a full night sleep without any nightmares in 8 months.
Maybe this time Thomas was able to sleep the whole night through due to the amazing day he had yesterday.
She then heard some yawning from out of the rooms. Her kids seem to be waking up all at once.
Tiago was the first one to leave his hollow, followed by Bia and then Carla.
"Morning, mommy!" Bia said.
"Morning, Bia, Carla and Tiago." Jewel replied.
"Dad is still sleeping, I see?" Carla said when she saw her father still in a heavy sleep.
"Should I wake him up, mom?" Tiago said eagerly.
"Alright, but do it quietly, please, because your aunt and uncle are still sleeping peacefully, remember?" Jewel said.
"Maybe I should do it." Bia urged. "Because you usually don't wake up people quietly, Tiago."
"Fine." Tiago grunted.
Bia stepped over to Blu and gently patted on his belly.
"Daddy, wake up, please."
Blu groaned a bit, but still didn't open his eyes.
Bia patted again, this time a little harder.
"Dad, please." Bia said.
This seemed to have done the trick and Blu yawned, waking up.
"Morning, sweetie, is it day already?" Blu asked.
"Yup, but I am still a bit tired too, dad, especially after all the celebrations from yesterday." Carla told her father.
Blu stood up, but then realized that his brother and sister were still sleeping peacefully.
"I'm going to search for food, guys." Blu said but then quickly turned back. "Kids, try to be a little quiet, so that you don't wake up your aunt and uncle."
"Okay." Bia, Carla and Tiago said at the same time.
And with that, Blu flew off in search for food.
After about 20 minutes of waiting and chatting quietly, Jewel and the kids heard flapping from the outside. Blu had returned with some berries, Bia's favorite food (starfruit) and even 3 Brazil nuts.
"Oh, berries!" Carla and Tiago said at once.
"Starfruit!" Bia said eagerly.
As Blu placed all the food on the nest's ground, another flapping was heard from outside the hollow.
As Blu, Jewel and the kids looked at the hollow's entrance, they saw 2 familiar faces.
"Morning, mommy. Morning, daddy." Jewel said happily.
"Morning, pop-pop and Granny Sapphie!" the kids said.
"Morning, sir. Morning, ma'am." Blu said, smiling.
"Morning, everyone." Sapphire said happily. "Oh, I see Thomas and Jasmine are still sleeping."
Eduardo chuckled and looked at Blu. "It seems you're not the only heavy sleeper in the family, Blu."
Blu gave a small laugh.
"Well, daddy, I think they deserve some rest. They told us they haven't slept in a hollow for weeks now and Jasmine told us that Thomas hasn't had a full night sleep in 8 months." Jewel told her parents.
Sapphire's eyes widened. "Eight months? Even though I had bad nights of sleeps when I was alone, I did have at least 3 times a week a full night of sleep."
"On top of that, Granny Sapphie, Auntie Jassie told us that in those eight months, Uncle Tommy's nights were also constantly filled with nightmares, making him wake up screaming." Bia told her grandparents.
"Has he screamed this night from a nightmare?" Eduardo.
Everyone looked at each other and shrugged.
Tiago: "I didn't hear anything this night."
"Me neither." Jewel said.
Then, the spix family heard some groaning and yawning. Thomas and Jasmine were waking up.
"Good morning, Jasmine, good morning, Thomas." Blu said joyfully.
"Morning, everyone." Jasmine said, but quickly looked at her older brother. "Thomas, how did you sleep this night?"
Thomas yawned and said: "Like a little chick and I also dreamed well about the celebrations from last evening."
Blu smiled and said: "I'm glad that you didn't have a nightmare this time, bro."
"Oh." Jasmine noted. "I see that breakfast is already here."
"Oh, yeah, I brought 3 Brazil nut. One for Jewel and 2 for the two of you."
"Aw." Jasmine said. "You shouldn't have, little brother."
"Anyways, what are you all planning to do this day?" Eduardo asked curiously.
"I'm once again going to observe and study some insects and plants with Miguel and Auntie Jassie agreed yesterday to come with us." Bia told her grandfather.
"I'm going to look at the auditions with uncle Pedro, Nico, Rafael and Aunt Eva, to see if the performance for the show over two weeks goes smoothly." Carla said.
"Let us hope she doesn't scare the performers away with her voice." Jewel chuckled sarcastically.
"And I am going to the Pit of Doom with Uncle Tommy, to show him the sporting event we and the scarlets hold there. I will ask Skye if she would come too." Tiago said.
"Mind if I join the ball game at the Pit of Doom too?" A sudden voice said from the entrance of the hollow.
"Uncle Beto!" Tiago said as he flew towards him and gave him a high five with his talons.
"It would be awesome if you could show Uncle Tommy how the game is played." Tiago said enthusiastically.
"Alright, then, T-Bird. I'm going to the Pit of Doom and wait there until you, your Uncle Tommy and Skye are there." Roberto told Tiago and took off.
"I wish to fly with you today, Blu." Sapphire said. "I want you to show me around, so I could know the lands and even you better."
"Oh, uh, ok then. I'll fly with you after breakfast, Sapphire." Blu said a bit nervous.
Eduardo then chuckled and said: "Don't give my wife such a hard time like I did on you that first day, Blu."
"Oh, don't worry, sir, I won't." Blu said with a smile.
"Why? What happened that day?" Jasmine asked.
"Oh, let's just say that I went a bit too extreme with the training that day…" Eduardo said with his eyes looking at the ceiling of the hollow.
"A bit, sir? You call being almost swallowed by a snake of bitten by caimans a bit?" Blu asked sarcastically.
"You know what I mean, Blu." Eduardo said humorously.
After about 10 minutes of eating, everyone set out to leave. Tiago and Thomas went to search for Skye, Carla went to search for Nico, Pedro, Rafael and Eva, whilst Bia and Jasmine went to search for Miguel at the borders of the scarlet macaws' side. Jewel went with Eduardo to Mimi, whilst Blu decided to show Sapphire the territories of the spix macaw tribe.
Blu and Sapphire first flew at the waterfalls and the clay banks, where countless spix macaws were eating of clay.
"Hello, Sapphire! Good morning, Blu!" some spix macaws exclaimed.
"Morning, everyone!" Sapphire told them.
"As you can see, Sapphire, here we have the clay banks, a resource that is good for our digestion as Mimi told Bia, who told me and even put some in my mouth." Blu told his mother-in-law.
"Did you enjoy it?" Sapphire asked joyfully.
"Nah, I'll pass." Blu said quickly.
They flew a bit further and came up at the Brazil nut trees of the spix macaw tribes.
"And these are our Brazil nut trees. Fascinating, aren't they?" Blu asked.
"These trees are the key to our survival." Sapphire said.
"So I was told by your husband when he took me on training the first day." Blu said.
Blu: "And over there, north of the river, that lies before us. lies the territory of the Scarlet Macaw Tribe, led by Felipe."
"I heard that you once had a rivalry with them and ended when you fought off the loggers, right?" Sapphire asked.
"Yeah, on the second day at the tribe, I accidentally trespassed onto their territory to get a Brazil nut for Jewel, which only got worse when I accidentally let loose of that branch, which hit Felipe in the face." Blu told her.
"Oh… He didn't take that well, did he?" Sapphire asked.
"Nope, he declared a war, which would be 'fought' in the Pit of Doom, which more looks like a soccer match." Blu declared.
"What's soccer?" Sapphire asked.
"Oh, yeah, it's a human sport, where they try to get the ball into the goal of their opponents, using their feet for most parts."
Sapphire thought for a moment and asked: "How about when we fly, you tell me more about how you got together with a human companion and eventually met my Jewel?"
"Oh, that sounds great." Blu told her.
On their flight, Blu told her about his years with Linda in Minnesota, how Tulio came and brought him to Rio de Janeiro, how Blu and Jewel's first meeting turned out to be a disaster, but they eventually fell in love at the end of their wacky adventure in Rio. He also told Sapphire about Nigel, the evil cockatoo that hunted them. He then told her about the years he and Jewel lived in Rio with their friends and how their children were born, much to the awe of Sapphire. Then he told her about that they one day heard news that there might be other spix macaws in the amazon rainforests and told everyting that had happened inside the jungle on those few days (basically the events of Rio 2 in a nutshell) and some stories from the year he had been living here.
"Wow, Blu, that is quiet a story. I especially loved the part where you jumped after Jewel, knowing you would possibly die and she kissed you, making you fly for the first time. And, oh, that story of how your kids were born… I wish I could have been there…" Sapphire told him with much awe.
Blu blushed a bit and awkwardly said: "Ah, thank you Sapphire."
"Say, what about your past? The days when you were separated from the tribe, what about them?" Blu asked curiously.
Sapphire hesitated, her eyes clouding with memories. "Blu, I appreciate your curiosity, but my past holds too many traumas. I'd rather not talk about it, I only said some things to Eddie, but not the biggest details."
Blu nodded understandingly. "Of course, I respect that. Just know that we're here for you, whenever you're ready."
Blu and Sapphire flew further, until they reached the Pit of Doom, where a few familiar birds were playing.
Meanwhile, Bia and Jasmine had flown to the border of the scarlet macaw territory to find Miguel. They found him perched on a branch, examining a brightly colored beetle.
"Morning, Miguel!" Bia called out, landing beside him.
Miguel looked up, his face lighting up with a smile. "Morning, Bia! Morning, miss Jasmine. Look at this fascinating butterfly I found."
Jasmine leaned in for a closer look. "That's a Blue Morpho Butterfly, did you know that they mostly eat of rotten fruits that fell on the ground and they do not appear in the middle of the wet season because the heavy rain can cause physical harm to their wings?"
Bia and Miguel exchanged impressed glances. "Wow, I didn't know that." Miguel admitted. "You're full of surprises, miss Jasmine."
Jasmine smiled. "Well, I've spent a lot of time observing and learning from the forest. There's always something new to discover."
They spent the next few hours studying various insects and plants. Jasmine shared her extensive knowledge, revealing secrets even Bia and Miguel didn't know. She showed them a plant that closed its leaves when touched and explained how certain ants farmed fungi underground.
"You two are quite the team," Jasmine observed. "With your knowledge and curiosity, you'll uncover many more secrets of the amazon forest. Maybe I'll learn you one day the runes that connect nature."
"Runes?" Miguel said.
"I kinda know what runes are, but what do they have to do with nature?"
"Well, Bia, before we came here and before your uncle and I were alone, we had lived in a tribe where they were able to carve runes on rocks and used it to write in the sand. Most of these runes had a meaning regarding nature or their gods."
"Wow. I wanna see what that alphabet is like and compare it with the alphabet my dad taught me when I still lived in Rio."
"I'm also interested." Miguel asked.
"Alright then, I'll show you."
Jasmine, who had learned the Roman alphabet by now during her travels with her brother, made a comparison to the alphabet she had known for years. It was also that she didn't begin whit an 'A', but she began with an 'F', much to Bia's confusion. In the end the following stood engraved into the sand:
ᚠᚢᚦᚨᚱᚲᚷᚹ
ᚺᚾᛁᛃᛇᛈᛉᛋ
ᛏᛒᛖᛗᛚᛜᛟᛞ
This translates to:
futharkgw
hnijaepzs
tbemlngod
Jasmine also told what letter every rune was.
"Wow, that's really fascinating…" Miguel said.
"Indeed, it is…" Bia said. "Can you tell us what each rune means when it comes to nature, Auntie Jassie?"
"Of course, I will" Jasmine said and began to explain the runes one by one:
ᚠ (Fehu) - Flight, freedom, exploration
ᚢ (Uruz) - Strength, power.
ᚦ (Thurisaz) - Giant, thorn, challenge, defense
ᚨ (Ansuz) - God, divine, communication, inspiration
ᚱ (Raidho) - Journey, travel, movement, evolution
ᚲ (Kaunan or Kenaz) - Torch, knowledge, creativity
ᚷ (Gebo) - Gift, generosity, partnership
ᚹ (Wunjo) - Joy, happiness, pleasure, harmony
ᚺ (Hagalaz) - Hail, disruption, natural forces
ᚾ (Nauthiz) - Need, necessity, constraint
ᛁ (Isa) - Ice, standstill, challenge
ᛃ (Jera) - Year, harvest, reward, cycles
ᛇ (Eihwaz) - Canopy, shelter, protection
ᛈ (Perthro) - Mystery, chance, secrets
ᛉ (Algiz) - protection, defense
ᛋ (Sowilo) - Sun, success, vitality, guidance
ᛏ (Tiwaz) - The god Tyr, justice, sacrifice, victory
ᛒ (Berkano) - Nest, family, home
ᛖ (Ehwaz) - Wind, communication, messages and loyalty
ᛗ (Mannaz) - Man, self, interdependence
ᛚ (Laguz) - Water, flow, intuition, emotions
ᛜ (Ingwaz) - Fertility, new beginnings, potential
ᛟ (Othala) - Ancestral property, heritage, inheritance
ᛞ (Dagaz) - Day, dawn, awakening, breakthrough
Bia and Miguel looked astounded by the knowledge that Jasmine was giving them and enjoyed the rest of their noon.
On the other side of the grove, at the Pit of Doom, Tiago, Skye, Roberto and Thomas were getting ready to start their training for soccer.
"Welcome to the Pit of Doom, Thomas!" Skye said.
"Wow. This truly looks like a soccer stadium but made for birds, of course." Thomas beamed at the sight of the Pit of Doom.
"Have you seen a real soccer stadium that humans use, Uncle Tommy?" Tiago asked him enthusiastically.
"Once, with your auntie, when we were in the city of Fortaleza." Thomas replied.
"Did you watch that match?" Tiago asked.
"Yup, the whole of it and I always wondered if birds could have their own type of soccer." Thomas told them.
"Well, today you're gonna see how birds do it." Roberto said.
Roberto told and even showed Thomas how the game is being played and what the rules were. Thomas observed and quickly memorized everything, for even though his sister might have a vaster knowledge of the secrets of nature, Thomas was quicker in learning the arts of sports and even fighting.
"Ok, I believe I get how this works, guys." Thomas said after about 15 minutes of observing and listening attentively.
"Alright, then? Thomas, show us what you got." Roberto said smoothly.
But just before they were about to start, the 4 of them heard flapping coming from the west.
"Hey, yo, Roberto!" a voice said.
Roberto looked to his left and saw an all-familiar face.
"Felipe." Roberto said.
"I see that you guys are training, today?" Felipe asked them.
"Well, we are showing Uncle Tommy how we play soccer here, or our 'war' as we called it." Tiago told the scarlet macaw leader.
Then Felipe noticed Thomas and said: "Ah, looks like Thomas here already wishes to see how we channel our friendly rivalry."
"That's right, Felipe but I would like to see how it would be played against an opponent and not just as training." Thomas said.
Felipe thought for a moment and asked: "Say, what do you say we join your training and see what the score might give?"
"Oh, yeah! That sound like a great idea!" Tiago said but quickly noticed something. "But we're in total then only with 7 and 2 of us are still kids…"
This made the macaws wonder how they would find a solution to it, but then Thomas spoke up: "How about this: Roberto will serve as the coach and I will play with Tiago and Skye against you and your men, Felipe."
Everyone looked a bit dumbstruck. Did Thomas just wish that two children would play beside him against 2 (3 if you include the keeper) adult scarlet macaws?
Tiago however was excited and said: "Yeah, why not? I wanna see what you are really made off, Uncle Tommy, I mean, you do look as muscular as Uncle Beto."
Skye then nodded her head in agreement and Felipe said a little bit confused: "Uh, alright then, I'll go to the pillar and discuss the tactics with Mario, while Cesar will be the keeper."
After Felipe, Mario and Cesar were a bit further, Roberto approached Thomas and asked: "Are you sure of this, Thomas? Felipe is a very skilled player and so is Mario. Do you really think you can take them on alone?"
Thomas then turned to Tiago and Skye, put a wing on their shoulders and asked: "Kids, do you both trust me?"
Tiago and Skye smiled, looked at each other and nodded: "Of course we believe in you, Uncle Tommy, even if it is your first time."
Thomas smiled and said: "Then let us show them that size doesn't matter. Will is everything!"
And after discussing the tactics (which would be a very offensive one), Thomas flew to the pillar, where Felipe was standing. Tiago flew behind his uncle, while Skye stood at the net.
Thomas knew what had to come next, he had to say 'heads' or 'tails'.
"Tails." Thomas said.
"Heads" Felipe said.
Roberto then threw the yellow-and-orange bird (who had reluctantly volunteered to be a part of the match again) in the air and it dropped on her back.
"Ugh, I hate my life…" the bird groaned.
And with that Felipe passed the ball to Mario, who quickly went besides Tiago and kicked the ball a the net, but it was caught by Skye.
Skye then passed the ball to Tiago, who quickly flew passed Mario and Felipe and passed the ball to Thomas.
"Go, Uncle Tommy!" Tiago yelled.
Then something happened no one could have foreseen; Thomas already kicked the ball towards the net where Cesar was positioned with the use of a strength that no one had seen before.
The ball dashed towards the scarlet net and Cesar was caught off guard.
Cesar (startled): "OH, SHOOT!"
But before he could react, the ball was already in the net.
"Goal!" Thomas yelled, but Roberto, Felipe, Mario and even Skye and Tiago looked shocked. They had imagined Thomas to be strong, but not that strong.
Where did he get that kind of strength from? Roberto thought to himself.
Tiago and Skye then cheered for their 'captain' to score, whilst the scarlets still looked dumbfounded for seeing such physical strength.
The match went on and it was clear that the spix macaws had the upper hand, scoring 4-0 in the process, with the fourth goal being scored by Tiago after getting an assist from his uncle.
Felipe then decided to get serious and had to use every bit of strength in his body to take the ball from Thomas and eventually he scored, making it a 4-1.
However, both Felipe and Mario were getting tired. Never had they played against such a formidable opponent that didn't seem to get tired at all.
"Alright, this is it, Tiago, one more goal and victory is ours." Thomas told his nephew quietly.
"Go for it, Uncle Tommy. I wanna see that unholy strength of yours again." Tiago urged.
Mario and Felipe were getting close to the net of the spix macaws, with Skye preparing herself to catch it, but then Tiago saw how weary Felipe looked and was able to catch the ball with ease.
"I'll take that." Tiago said and passed the ball to his uncle.
Thomas had the ball in his talons and had the intent to even score from the middle between the Spix macaw net and the pillar.
(all of this happens in absolute slow motion)
The world around Thomas seemed to turn black for a moment, but in his heart, he could feel the strength of the nature spirit flowing through him. In the blackness that was behind him, a white rune took the form of a 'ᚢ', which Thomas always has known as the 'Uruz-rune', the rune that gives him inner strength. The Rune suddenly glowed heavily white and then the world around Thomas came back.
He kicked the ball with such strength, that even a small crack formed into it. The ball flew with even more speed than the first one and Cesar, who now was fully aware of his opponent's strength, was prepared. But the ball narrowly flew past his feather tips and into the net. It was 5-1. The spix macaw had won.
"Yeah! Woo-hoo! We won!" Tiago cried out.
Skye then flew to him and hugged her boyfriend and said: "Yeah! With a 5-1 even! I've never seen anything like it."
"Us neither." said a voice from behind.
Tiago and Skye looked around and saw Blu and Sapphire.
"Dad! Granny Sapphie!" Tiago exclaimed; "You really should have seen how Uncle Tommy had been playing today!"
"We had been for a while, Tiago." Sapphire said.
"I have also seen such similar strength, but that was all with-" but then Sapphire suddenly stopped talking and looked a bit nervous.
"Uhm, is everything alright, Sapphire?" Blu asked.
Sapphire snapped out of her stance and said: "Yeah. It's nothing."
"Hey, hey, Thomas." Roberto said. "I knew that you looked like a strong bird, but I never thought that you would be that strong."
"Same thing here." Felipe said, holding the ball that Thomas last kick, the crack clearly visible.
Blu looked a bit shocked when he saw the crack in the ball and asked: "Where did you get that kind of strength?"
"I'll tell you more about it after Jasmine and I heard your and Jewel's story of how you got here." Thomas replied.
"I wish to see how my granddaughter Carla is doing with her auditions for the Amazon Carnival show within 2 weeks." Sapphire said.
"Yeah, I'm also interested, especially since she has such a talent for singing and preforming." Roberto said.
And with that, everyone, including Felipe and his two men, who were also interested in this musical performance, left to search for Carla, Rafael, Nico, Pedro and Eva.
To be continued…