Chapter 14: The birth of Big Bad Thom
Three days had gone by since Thomas and Jasmine told the story of how they had lived 13 years with the isolated spix Macaw clan, known as the Azul Clan.
Although everyone who heard it was intrigued and also a bit shocked by what they have heard, all of them decided not to tell this story to other spix macaw tribe members, since Thomas and Jasmine would possibly be overwhelmed by questions from countless birds.
Instead, everyone focused more on their personal interests, with Carla still leading the auditions with Nico, Pedro, Rafael and Eva; Bia and Miguel would were still exploring the secrets of nature and would ask Jasmine sometimes if they had any connections to one of the runes that she had explained them earlier; Tiago and Skye were keeping themselves fit, by racing and training in the Pit of Doom.
Roberto meanwhile was feeling something he never felt before. This feeling came around the time when he first danced with Jasmine in Beautiful Creatures, but it became even greater after he heard her singing voice at the auditions. At the same time, this feeling has become bigger due to the fact that Jasmine is such a kind and understandable bird. Roberto thinks he's in love with Blu's older sister. Although he could be suave around many female spix macaws, he never truly created feelings for them. Roberto had however one problem: he did not know how to approach her and tell it to her, nor the exact method to do it. Roberto did however say to himself that it was too soon to admit those feelings to Jasmine and decided to simply watch her and admit those feelings at the proper time.
Blu, Jewel and Mimi were like usual going about their daily lives, whilst Eduardo and Sapphire enjoyed every single moment they spent together after years of being parted by the loggers.
Jasmine and Thomas spent most of their time exploring the areas of the spix macaw tribe and were also searching for personal hollows, since they knew it would be inappropriate to live permanently with Blu and Jewel. After 6 years of hardships and loneliness, everything would finally seem to get better with Blu's elder siblings. All bad things would finally fade away.
But on the fourth day after the story was told, Blu and his family would see that not everything is what it seemed…
Thomas was flying fast through a vast, yet also empty space with grey clouds in the background. He eventually landed on the ground, truly panting heavily and to catch his breath.
Suddenly, a dark voice spoke: "Thomas…"
Thomas beak went wide open in horror.
"Thomas…" the dark voice said ominously.
"No! Keep away! Leave me alone!" Thomas yelled and then started to fly away again.
As Thomas anxiously flew away, the voice spoke up again: "Hehe Hehe. Where are you going, Thomas? You can't escape from me."
Thomas stopped before a bird his size, who was standing in the shadows. Thomas let out a yelp of fear.
"See what I mean?" the bird said in a dark voice.
"Stay away! I want no part of you!" Thomas exclaimed.
The bird, even though in shadow, looked evilly towards Thomas and held out his right talon. It held some sort of knife, made out of a wooden hold and a very hard and sharpened rock that serve as the 'blade'.
The bird clangs the 'knife' to the ground, this clearly seemed to scare Thomas.
"No-" Thomas said, holding both wings up his head.
The bird came closer and did it again.
Thomas (anxious): "Stop it! Stop it, I said!"
"It's time, Thomas. It's time…" the dark voice of the ominous bird said again.
The bird once again lifted the stone knife up and was about to smash it on the ground once more…
"Thomas? Thomas? Wake up, everyone has had their breakfast and already left. You should start the day too." Blu said to his brother whilst Jewel stood beside her husband.
Suddenly, Thomas yelped out of his sleeping stance and yelled: "NO!"
This caught Blu and Jewel completely off guard and shocked them as they saw Thomas was panting.
"Uhm, Thomas?" Jewel eventually said.
Thomas looked around and saw his brother and his sister-in-law looking shocked at him.
Thomas panted still before saying: "Oh, brother. Jewel. It's you."
"Are you alright, big brother?" Blu asked.
"Yeah." Thomas said. "Slept well, but just got a very bad dream. Nightmare if I must say."
Blu and Jewel gave a concerned look at each other, for the past few days Thomas didn't have any nightmares of some sort, and suddenly he had them now.
"Well, you better than eat something and begin your day. We can't sleep all day, can we?" Jewel said.
Thomas regained his senses a bit and agreed to that. He ate rather quickly and after just 7 minutes he left the hollow.
Thomas flew towards the place where the Carnival performers would train their singing and dancing skills. He saw Nico, Pedro, Eva and his niece Carla at the stone table, commenting on the performances of the animals who trained their talents.
"Morning, Uncle Tommy!" Carla said happily.
"Morning, Thomas!" Eva, Nico and Rafael said at the same time.
"Yo, Thomas! Ready for another day of hearing and seeing some musical talents?" Pedro said whilst wanting to give a high-five to Thomas.
"Sure I am, Pedro." Thomas whilst he gave him a high-five. "I truly want to see what the performers got in them."
And so, the 5 watched as countless performers trained intensively on their musical and prowess, all for the good of the Carnival show that will be arriving in 1 week and a half. At one point, though, the 4 judges and Thomas were getting a bit thirsty.
"I'm going to get some water, alright?" Thomas said.
"Sure, thing, Thomas. I'm kinda thirsty too." Nico admidded.
Carla: "Me too."
Eva: "Same here."
Raphael: "Yup, same here."
"And don't forget me." Pedro said.
Thomas chuckled and said: "Alright, I'll fetch some water for all of you."
But just as he was about to leave, someone bumped into him. It was an Amazon Parrot that was about 15 cm smaller than Thomas.
Thomas: "Oh, excuse me, I didn't see you there-"
Parrot (angry): "How dare you dumb into me like that?!"
"Whoa, there, fella, it was an accident." Thomas said.
"Don't care if it was an accident, you should take a look onto your eyes. I need to be here for the auditions, since I'm new and I don't want it to be ruined by some spix bumping into me!" the parrot said.
Then suddenly, the parrot spat into Thomas' face, with the saliva ending onto Thomas' beak.
"HEY!" Carla yelled.
"What?!" the parrot exclaimed annoyed.
"That's my uncle you just spat upon! And you have a problem with him, you got one with me, one of the judges of the auditions." Carla said angrily to the parrot.
"And don't forget us." Pedro said, frowning to the parrot alongside Nico, Rafael and Eva.
"Ah, great, now the judges conspire against me?"
"You can only get into these auditions if you apologize to him, now." Carla said sternly.
"What are you gonna do, chubby? Ban me form it and have a hit less?" the parrot said.
Carla had heard the words 'tubby', 'chubby' or 'fat lady' said to her by Antonio before. But she had grown immune to those words and said: "I truly might not let you in and neither do my fellow judges here."
The 6 stared at each other with narrowed eyes, but then out of a sudden, an angry growl was heard from the behind the parrot.
As the parrot looked behind, he was instantly and tightly grabbed by the neck by a talon. It was the one of Thomas.
"Hey!" the parrot yelped out.
before the parrot could react, Thomas had him instantly pinned against a nearby tree, the talon still tight on the neck.
"YOU LITTLE WEASEL! I'LL TEAR YOU APART!" Thomas said in an extremely angry voice, almost making his voice sounding completely different.
"GET HIM OFF ME, HE'S CRAZY!" the parrot yelled in fear.
"SPITTING IN MY FACE AND INSULTING MY NIECE NOW, DO YA?!" Thomas yelled in an almost demonic way.
Thomas stood a bit up and tightened his grip on the parrot's throat, almost like… he was going to break it.
"HELP!" the parrot screamed.
Suddenly, Thomas was being pulled away by a force, catching him off guard and lost his grip on the parrot's throat. When he was turned around, he saw the narrowed eyes of Rafael.
"THOMAS!" Rafael yelled as he held him tightly. "Get a hold of yourself!"
This seemed to have Thomas lose his angry feelings and he snapped back to reality.
Thomas (startled): "Rafi, I… I…"
He then suddenly saw all the faces of the performers. Shock and even some fear was written all over them. When he noticed, he anxiously looked around and saw that Nico, Pedro and Eva had a similar face. And then he spotted Carla, the lips of her beak were trembling, her pupils were dilated, and she was even shaking a bit.
Rafael saw that Thomas had calmed and said: "Come on. You don't need this kind of publicity; it doesn't go well with the auditions."
The parrot, who could breathe more anxiously said: "I'm outta here, this place in the jungle is full of maniacs!" and flew off.
There was murmur between the crowd as Rafael, Carla, Nico, Pedro and Eva lead Thomas a bit away from the performers.
"Meu deus, Thomas. What in the name of heavens did you think you were doing?" Nico asked startled.
"I-, I don't know. I think he just… pressed the right button." Thomas said, still nervous. "I think I need some water and to clear my mind."
Thomas then flew away.
"That's one heck of a button…" Carla said, still startled as she watched her uncle fly towards the direction of the waterfalls.
The day passed by without any more strange or odd things in the Sanctuary. Before everyone knew it, it was already evening, and the sun was setting.
Blu had gathered some food for Jewel, his kids and his siblings. As they ate, Tiago and Bia talked a lot about what they did this day, with Jasmine, Blu and Jewel listening attentively. Carla and Thomas on the other hand, were awfully quiet. Eventually, Bia was the first to notice something was not right with her sister.
"Uhm, Carla? Are you alright?" Bia asked.
Carla nearly jumped, but quickly said: "Uh, yes, Bia, yes, we had some great auditions today again."
Bia, Blu and Jewel, however, were able to see through her fake smile.
"Carla, that kind of smile really says something has happened today. Come on, dear, you know you can tell us." Jewel said.
Carla hesitated at first, but then said: "Alright, then."
Unnoticed by everyone, Thomas made a small gulp.
Carla told about how the auditions went great, but then that Amazon Parrot bumped into Thomas, insulted him, called her names and that Thomas attacked the parrot until Rafael could get him off.
All eyes were pointed at Thomas.
"Did you really stand up like that for our sister?" Bia asked.
"Wow, Uncle Tommy, you really are someone who protects his family no matter what it takes." Tiago said with much amazement.
"Thank you, Tiago." Thomas said nervously.
"But isn't attacking a bit too far?" Jewel said.
"Well, you did attack me the first time we met, remember Jewel?" Blu told her.
Jewel rolled her eyes.
"Uncle Tommy, I appreciate that you stood up for me, but the way you talked at that bird. It was like…" Carla paused for a moment.
"… like you were completely different person." Carla finished.
Jasmine, who was drinking from a wooden cup of water, when hearing 'a completely different person', suddenly widened her eyes and then choked from the water.
Jasmine coughed extremely hard; the water had clearly entered her lungs.
Jewel, who was beside her, patted Jasmine on her back, trying to get the water out of her lungs.
Eventually, Jasmine stopped coughing and softly said: "You can't be serious, Thomas…"
Thomas head went a bit down.
Jasmine looked at her brother and said: "After all the good days we had this week, without any problems at all, you let him temporarily take a hold of you?"
Him? Blu and Jewel thought to themselves.
Thomas said nothing and kept staring down. Jasmine was beginning to get irritated.
"Thomas!" Jasmine suddenly yelled. "Answer me if I ask you about it!"
Thomas, however, didn't take his sister's yelling too well this time and began to speak loudly as well.
"I don't know why it just happened, Jass. That parrot had it coming. Spitting in my face was bad enough, but insulting Carla, calling her a 'chubby' was enough for me!" Thomas exclaimed.
"Does that mean that you needed to attack him? You could have seriously wounded him or worse!" Jasmine told her older brother, with her eyes now narrowed.
Thomas thought for about 10 seconds and then he decided to do something no one expected.
Thomas: "Þú skalt muna, systir, at hann enn býr í mér." (English: "You must remember, sister, that he still resides in me.")
Jasmine and the rest were a bit confused. Why did Thomas speak in Azul language? But then it hit her. He didn't want that Blu, Jewel and the kids could understand what he was saying, and she decided to speak in the other language she had learned at the Azul Clan.
Jasmine: "Þú leyfðir honum aldri at taka yfir þegar þú varst móðgaðr, Þómás! Það var alltaf tengt orrostu!" (English: "You never let him take you over when you got insulted, Thomas! It was always battle-related!")
Thomas: "Hann móðgaði fjölskyldumeðlim sem ek vissi eigi í mörg ár, Jásmine! Hvernig bjóst þú annars við at ek mundi bregðask?!" (English: "He insulted a family member that I didn't know for years, Jasmine! How else would you expect me to react?!")
Jasmine (very irritated): "Eigi sem eigi at drjúgmæltr fylgja væri í þér, sér í lagi eigi fyrir fjölskyldumeðlimi ok vini sem vér kunnum bara í fáeina daga!" (English: "Not like a demon is possessing you, especially not in front of family members and friends we only know for just a few days!")
Thomas (frustrated): "Ó, við Óðsen, Jásmine, þú hugsar um þetta of mikit!" (English: "Oh, by Odsen, Jasmine, you're overthinking it too much!")
Jasmine (frustrated): "Nei, ek em eigi, stóri bróðir!" (English: "No, I'm not, big brother!")
This fighting continued for about 2 minutes, with Thomas and Jasmine arguing in a language completely alien towards Blu, Jewel and their children. The kids were however a bit scared, since they haven't seen their aunt and uncle fighting.
Eventually, Jewel had enough of it and stepped in to both of them, parting them with her wings.
Jewel (frustrated): "STOP IT! BOTH OF YOU! You are adults and you're acting like children even younger than our kids!"
Thomas still looked very frustrated and quietly said to himself in disgust and anger: "Hví skylda ek taka boð frá einum er eigi trúir ok lofa eigi goðin Valhallar?" (English: "Why should I take orders from someone who is an unbeliever and doesn't praise the gods of Valhalla?")
Jewel didn't know what Thomas had just said, but Jasmine had heard it clear and stepped to her older brother.
Then, she gave him a hard slap on the face, to which Thomas lost his balance a bit. Everyone gasped, especially Blu, since he never would have thought that his sister would hit his brother like that.
Jasmine looked furious to her older brother and said: "You're lucky that Jewel didn't understand a word of what you just said, but I'm extremely disappointed in you, big brother."
Thomas then suddenly roared and went to the hollows entrance.
"Hey, everyone!" Mimi said as she entered the hollow, but she was quickly shocked when she saw that Thomas was angrily dashing for the exit and flew out of the hollow.
"What was that with Thomas?" Mimi asked dumbfounded.
Nobody said a word, particularly the kids, since they had been in complete shock of what they had just witnessed.
"Hello, everyone." Roberto said as he also entered the hollow, but then quickly saw something was off.
"What's going on here and why isn't Thomas here?"
Then suddenly, Jasmine collapsed on her knees and started crying.
Roberto's first instinct was to give Jasmine a hug and patted her on her back until she calmed down. Jasmine told Roberto and Mimi about what had happened, still sobbing tears.
"Now, now, Jasmine, dear, I surely believe your brother didn't mean all of that. He just lost his temper at that Amazon Parrot, that's all." Mimi said reassuring.
"I also believe that Thomas wouldn't mean any of that." Roberto said, smiling at Jasmine.
"No." Jasmine said sad and still in tears. "But you don't know what's all behind that anger."
"What do you mean, Jasmine?" Jewel asked
"Guys, you may not see it…" Jasmine paused a moment. "…but Thomas suffers from a split personality, more specifically the one from his inner demon."
This made everyone gasp. Did Thomas really struggle with a split personality disorder?
"Can you tell us how Uncle Tommy got that anger, Auntie Jassie, please?" Tiago asked with some puppy eyes.
Jasmine hesitated at first, but then said: "Alright, I'll tell you. But I'm warning you, each of you will be in complete shock when I finished the story."
Everyone once again sat in a circle, with Jasmine with her back to the hollow's entrance. She took a deep breath before she spoke.
Jasmine: "It all happened at the end of the fifth month of the conflict in Twelve Peaks…"
(Flashback to the past)
It was night in the Amazon Jungle and the darkness had fallen over Xlaxlan Twelve Peaks. It was quiet for a place where conflict would rage, there was no sound on the side of the Azuls, no roaring at the side of the Emberwings or chittering by the side of the Svaken.
Somewhere within the Underpassage, Thomas and 3 other Azuls named Áki, Haraldr and Leifr, were patrolling a tunnel.
It was lit with some torches and mostly with fireflies, but it was still dark. In ancient days, these tunnels were full of life and song, now it was dead silent, waiting for a battle to rage there.
Thomas and the 3 other Azuls flew towards the center of the tunnel, more specifically to the ground in order to catch their breaths, since they had been flying non-stop for about half a day.
"Phew! What a day, patrolling almost non-stop." said Leifr a bit tired.
"I too can get some rest." said Haraldr.
"It's like I told you…" Áki said to Thomas, "… there's nothing here, no Emberwing nor vermin."
"Stay focused guys, much can still happen." Thomas said as he held his stone knife.
Then, the torches suddenly went out. The four spix macaws' alert button went on and even the lights of the fireflies became dimmer.
Then, Thomas heard something from the distance before him. It came from out of the dark, but the spix macaws couldn't see anything.
The atmosphere truly became ominous and Thomas and the 3 Azuls eventually stood with their backs against each other, each facing a different direction. The tension was rising and rising, and they could feel the dread in their veins rise as well.
Suddenly, out of the darkness, a yell was heard and the 4 spix macaws saw an Emberwing charging at Thomas.
He reflexed quickly and was able to cut the orange macaw back off of him with his knife. When the 4 spix macaws stood face to face with the Emberwing, they saw that out of the darkness 6 more Emberwings came, ready to fight.
The Emberwings and the spix's macaws stared each other down in the dim, flickering light. Thomas gripped his stone knife tightly, his heart pounding in his chest. The Emberwing that had charged at him initially was recovering, shaking its head and baring its talons, ready for another assault.
With a fierce cry, the Emberwings attacked. Thomas and his companions met them head-on, talons clashing and beaks snapping. The tunnel echoed with the sounds of battle, a cacophony of screeches and growls. Leifr lunged at an Emberwing, managing to land a blow with his beak, but the orange macaw retaliated swiftly. It slashed at Leifr with its talons, cutting deep into his chest. Leifr gasped, his eyes wide with shock, before collapsing to the ground.
"Leifr, no!" Haraldr shouted, but there was no time to grieve. The Emberwings pressed their attack, and the surviving spix's macaws fought with grim determination.
Thomas felt a surge of anger and sorrow at the sight of Leifr's lifeless body, but he forced himself to stay focused. An Emberwing lunged at him, and he parried its strike with his knife, slashing it across the wing. The Emberwing screeched in pain and fell back, giving Thomas a brief moment to catch his breath.
The battle raged on, with the Spix's macaws and Emberwings locked in a deadly struggle. Suddenly, the ground beneath them seemed to come alive as forty Svaken poured into the tunnel, screaming, their red eyes gleaming in the dim light. They attacked both the macaws and Emberwings indiscriminately, adding to the chaos.
Thomas fought with all his might, his knife flashing as he struck down a Svaken that had leaped at him. Beside him, Áki was grappling with another rat, trying to fend off its sharp teeth and claws. But the Svaken was relentless, and it managed to sink its teeth into Áki's throat. Áki let out a choked cry, blood pouring from the wound as he fell to the ground, his life ebbing away.
"Áki!" Thomas screamed, the sight of his fallen comrade fueling his fury. He slashed at the Svaken, cutting it down with a savage strike.
Haraldr was fighting valiantly nearby, but the sheer number of enemies was overwhelming. Thomas could see the fear and desperation in his friend's eyes, and it only fueled his own rage. An Emberwing swooped down and raked its talons across Thomas's belly, causing him to stagger back in pain. At the same moment, a Svaken bit into his leg, sending a jolt of agony through his body.
Something inside Thomas snapped. He let out a demonic scream, a sound that echoed through the tunnel and sent a shiver down the spines of friend and foe alike. Bloodlust claimed him, and he attacked with a ferocity that was terrifying to behold. He tore through the Svaken and Emberwings with a single-minded rage, his knife flashing and his talons slashing. Anything that made even the slightest of movements in his eyes, was dead, anything…"
After about 20 minutes later, when the battle was over, Thomas was panting, still under the influence of an insatiable bloodlust, but unbeknownst to him, other figures had been watching everything from afar at the end of the battle.
"Thomas?" Camila's voice said.
Thomas quickly looked behind him with a growl, but then he slowly came back to his senses as he saw his mother, Jasmine, Willfried, Amalia and some other Azuls, who had shock written all over her face.
"M-mother, sis, Amalia, Willfried… What-" Thomas said, still panting.
He then looked back before him to the ground and saw the lifeless body of his comrade Haraldr before him.
Thomas gasped, realizing what had happened to his fellow clan member.
He then fell on his knees, with his wings covering the body of Haraldr. He began to sob uncontrollably, with tears streaming down his face.
Then Camila stepped towards him.
Camila: "I know that you shed blood to protect the ones and the home you love."
Then Camila spoke up more seriously: "But I would rather have had that you fled from the battlefield and called for reinforcements than to know my son had gone beserk…"
News of Haraldr death and Thomas' snapping spread like wildfire across all of Twelve Peaks, even to the Emberwings and the Svaken. Haraldr was single and didn't have any children or a wife, they were already taken by both the Emberwings and Svaken at the start of the conflict.
Although the Azuls didn't blame Thomas for his courage and will to fight, they were however shocked that he was never able to channel his anger, especially since his peers have been teaching him that.
There was but one person who couldn't forgive Thomas and that person was Thomas himself. In the first few days after the incident, he had locked himself up in his room, not wanting to eat and barely slept.
And since then, a new personality was born into Thomas, a personality that still haunts him to this day: his inner demon. And that inner demon he calls Big Bad Thom.
(Return to the present)
Jasmine: "And ever since we lived alone, he had nightmares about what had happened that day and about his other personality. It's why he barely slept the last 8 moths."
Blu, Jewel, the kids, Mimi and Roberto looked in horror at Jasmine.
Tiago was the one who looked most horrified. His cool, strong and funny uncle had a split personality that was made because during one battle he lost complete control of his actions? There was a lot going through Tiago's head and he had difficulties placing it, especially since he was still so young.
"D-, did-, did all of that really happen?" Bia asked her aunt with horror still on her face.
"*sob* Yes, Bia. I'm not making up any stories here. All of that *sob* happened back at Twelve Peaks." Jasmine said.
"That must be horrible for both you and Thomas to bear, but why didn't you tell us this before? Mimi asked.
"Because when we arrived here and when I saw that he seemed to not have any more nightmares, I thought that his double personality might finally end. But I appear to have been wrong." Jasmine said.
Blu sighed and said: "Look, we can't cast Thomas out of the tribe, since he already did great things, like the performances. And besides, he still is my older brother, and I love him no matter what he had done in the past."
"Yeah, I agree with dad." Tiago said. "We must find Uncle Tommy, tell him that we now know about this dual personality-thing and that we will be there to help him at any times, as long as he still remains loyal to us all."
Carla (determined): "Tiago is right. We have to find Uncle Tommy."
"I say that the three of us might look for him, we might be able to calm him down." Bia said.
After some thinking, the adults all agreed that they should let the kids to the job, since they are growing up after all.
"Alright, children." Jasmine said. "But be careful, you might not know if Big Bad Thom might be in control of him.
"We'll do, Auntie Jassie!" Tiago said and the 3 chicks flew off, on search for their uncle.
To be continued…