Chapter 21: Reunited once more

Two days. Two days and then the Carnival Show in the Amazon under the theme 'Echoes of the Amazon' was going to begin. The excitement amongst the animals was getting higher and higher with each passing second.

Jewel was flying through the Amazon rainforest in the early hours after sunrise. Although that she was the one today who would search for food for her family, she couldn't help but enjoy the glory of the Amazon.

"Woohoo! What a glorious morning in the jungle!" Jewel exclaimed happily as she flew under a tree branch.

She flew a bit further until she reached the eastern borders of the spix macaw tribe's territory. There, she perched herself unto a branch where some mangos were hanging. They looked pretty fresh, and Jewel was eager to bring them to Blu, her kids, Jasmine and Thomas.

Before she plucked them, however, she looked at the southeast. There about 2000 miles parted from here, lies Rio de Janeiro, the city where she had been living in for most of her life in a sanctuary and 4 years with her husband and her 3 children.

Although she was happiest here in the jungle, she couldn't help but smile as she thought of the wonderous times they had in the colorful and musical city.

Just as she was about to pluck 7 mangoes and take them to their family, she saw something on the horizon. It looked like a speck. But when it came closer, it looked as if it was a flock or something. A flock of birds about her size…

Jewel was getting a bit nervous. Should she tell her dad? She was completely frozen in her thoughts and because of that, kept staring at what was coming to her.

Eventually, the flock came really close and from what she could make out, it looked like blue macaws, more specifically, spix macaws. It was a big flock, with around 500 to 600 birds.

Are there more of our kind in the wild? Jewel thought to herself.

Suddenly, the first 2 birds on the front gave a signal to the rest to halt. They stopped for a moment but then 5 birds, 2 adults and 3 chicks flew towards Jewel. Had they seen her?

Jewel snapped out of her stance and first thought about leaving and telling her dad, but then her second thought said that she should stay, because maybe these birds needed help.

Then, the 5 macaws stood/flew in front of her. One was a muscular male with dark blue feathers and the other was a muscular female with light blue feathers, similar to Jewel's, whilst the chicks, also a bit muscular, looked like 2 boys with dark blue feathers and a girl with light blue feathers. The one thing they had in common, though, were their eyes. They were all as blue as an ocean.

"Uh, hello there." Jewel said a bit nervous, though not as nervous as Blu might sound when faced with newcomers.

"Good day, madam." the male said in a tone that didn't sound Hispanic at all.

There was a small pause, until the female broke the silence.

"Are you a spix macaw like us and our clan?" the female asked.

"Yes, and I'm not the only spix macaw here in, I live in an entire tribe." Jewel said.

The 5 spix macaws looked confused and shocked. Was there another spix macaw clan nearby?

"Well, we'll finally see a lot our distant kin again, mom and dad!" the female chick exclaimed happily.

Distant kin? Jewel thought to herself.

The father chuckled and said: "Easy now, Astrid, remember, we are on a quest to search for our old home."

Then, another light-blue male spix flew towards them, clearly impatient.

"Andor, Amalia! What's taking you so long? Everyone is growing impatient, including my-" the macaw said, but then he noted Jewel.

"Oh. I'm sorry, I thought that my sister and brother-in-law were searching here for something, I didn't think it would be a bird they would talk to." the male spix said.

"Yeah, and she just said that she's a spix like us!" the smallest chick, one of the boys, said happily.

"Our distant, kin, uncle Willfried!" the other boy, the tallest of the brood, exclaimed.

"Thank you for telling me, Bruno (the small one) and Henrik (the tallest), but is there truly a tribe here?" Willfried asked Jewel.

"Yes, there is I'm even the chieftain's daughter." Jewel replied.

"Well, then, that makes it more interesting." Amalia said.

"Just hold on a second." Jewel asked. "What were your names again?"

Andor: "I'm Andor."

Amalia: "Amalia."

Willfried: "Willfried."

Bruno: "Bruno."

Astrid (politely): "I'm Astrid."

Henrik: "And I'm Henrik, the oldest of the three."

Jewel thought for a moment, she had definitely heard the names of the adults before. Then it suddenly hit her, and she gasped.

"Wait a second, are you and your flock the Azul Clan?" Jewel asked them.

the 6 spix macaws looked dumbfounded to each other with open eyes. They had never met Jewel, and she knew about their clan, the one that had been isolated for nearly 2 centuries from their kin?

"How do you know about our clan?" Willfried asked confused and eyes wide open.

"It was the brother and sister of my husband who told me, my family and some of our friends." Jewel replied.

"Who were they?" Amalia asked.

Jewel then placed a smug on her face and said: "You're not believe this… but Thomas and Jasmine are alive and well."

Andor's, Amalia's and Willfried's beaks dropped open. And even the children were a bit shocked.

"Wait, dad!" Bruno said. "You mean, our Aunt Jasmine and Uncle Thomas, who perished because of those floods?"

"How can they be alive?" Andor asked Jewel.

"They had held themselves on one of the temples' rocks and then fainted, when they woke up, the floods were gone." Jewel replied.

"Have they told you everything about them being in our ancient home?"

"Of this Xlaxlan Twelve Peaks? Yes, everything, the good days and that one year of bad things." Jewel said.

Suddenly, Willfried dashed towards the clan and when he arrived before them, he yelled: "AZULS! THERE IS A SPIX MACAW CLAN NEARBY, OUR DISTANT KIN! AND YOU'RE NEVER GONNA BELIEVE WHO'S LIVING THERE! THOMAS AND JASMINE!"

There were lots of murmurs within the clan and they all came closer towards their chieftain and chieftainess.

Andor then looked at Jewel and asked: "And that husband of yours, is that their long-lost brother Alejandro and Camila called 'Blu'?"

Jewel smiled and said: "Indeed and we even have three children like you do. Our 2 daughters and son are about the age as your children."

Amalia had so much wonder in her eyes and asked: "Can you take us to Jassie and Thomas, miss, uh…?"

"Jewel." Jewel replied. "My name is Jewel."

"Take us to them and your father, Jewel, please." Andor asked.

And with that, Jewel took off with the mangoes she wanted to collect and with an entire clan behind her, going through the trees towards the center of her tribe. Many spix macaws of Jewel's tribe noticed this and started questioning if there were more spix macaws than them.

Eventually, Jewel saw Blu, the kids, Thomas and Jasmine perched on a tree.

"Wait here, until I say 'surprise!'." Jewel told them.

"Alright." Andor said. "I'll go out first, then you Amalia and then you, Willfried."

Jewel flew to her family, and they noticed her.

"Oh, morning, honey!" Blu said, whilst kissing his wife.

"Mom!" Bia, Carla and Tiago said.

"Morning, Jewel." Jasmine said.

"Morning." Thomas said and then he noticed the mangoes. "Oh, mangoes, delicious!"

"Yes." Jewel said. "But there will be something that will cease you hunger immediately, Thomas and Jasmine."

"Oh, and what's that?" Thomas asked.

Jewel smiled and said: "Thomas, Jasmine… URPRISE!"

And then, Andor came flying down from the tree he was hiding on and landed in front of Thomas and Jasmine with tears in his eyes.

Thomas and Jasmine then gasped.

"No…" Jasmine gasped. "Tell me this is a dream…"

"No, brother and sister, it's not a dream…" Andor said.

"A-, Andor?" Thomas stuttered. "Is it really you?"

"Yes, it is…" Andor said with tears in his eyes.

"It… It is truly you, brother!" Thomas exclaimed, whilst he and Jasmine ran to him and hugged him tightly.

They hugged for around 20 seconds, before they let go and Andor said proudly: "Look at you two. Alive and save. Mom and dad would have been proud of you."

Jasmine and Thomas smiled at this.

"How did you actually survive that flood, Andor?"

"Well, many clan members did not, but all the survivors of the clan were dragged all the way to where the Amazon River arrives at the Atlantic Ocean." Andor said with some sorrow in his voice.

Andor: "And then we went from place to place in the span of 6 years, never staying at a place for more than a month or maybe two."

"How many clan members are there still in total?" Jasmine asked.

"In total, 565." Andor said.

Jasmine and Thomas gasped for a moment. 565?! That's about half of them since the last battle was fought in Xlaxlan Twelve Peaks.

"Yes, and now, for 2 years already, we are searching for our ancient home and rebuild our clan." Andor replied.

Suddenly, flapping of wings was heard and Amalia's voice happily said: "I can't wait for this anymore! Jasmiiiinnnne!"

Jasmine gasped and said: "Amalia? AMALIA!"

Then Amalia hugged her friend tightly and they even spun a few times on the ground.

"Oh, Amalia! I missed you so much!" Jasmine said.

"My adoptive sister-in-law is alive and well!" Amalia exclaimed happily. "I thought you and Thomas had perished."

"No, Amalia, we survived." Jasmine assured her friend.

"And we aren't the only ones now, Thomas and Jasmine." Andor said.

"What do you mean?" Thomas and Jasmine asked in unison.

"Henrik! Bruno! Astrid! You can come!" Amalia yelled.

Then, Thomas and Jasmine their beaks fell open and gasped. They saw 3 chicks flying towards them and they instantly knew that this were their children.

"Hello, auntie Jasmine and Uncle Thomas!" Astrid said happily.

"Are you truly the cool uncle and aunt that mom and dad talked about so much?" Henrik asked smoothly.

"You truly look the way that mom and dad described you two." Bruno said.

Jasmine and Thomas wasted no time in hugging their adoptive nephews and niece.

After loosening them, Jasmine asked something to Andor and Amalia.

"Do mom or dad fly with you?" Amalia asked.

This dropped Amalia's and Andor's smiles, and they both shook their heads.

"Oh…" Jasmie said disappointed. "That's a pity, because then they would have seen our little brother…

"OH! HAHAHA!" yelled Willfried, seeing Thomas. Thomas' gaze turned to Willfried and his face went up.

"Mornin', Thom, it seems that I was wrong that I would never see your ugly mug again." Willfried said humorously.

Thomas chuckled with a big smile and said: "By my feathers, you're bigger than the last time we saw each other."

"Bigger, but not wider." Willfried said, but then jokingly said: "Sharp enough for both of us."

Both of them started laughing and placed their wings on each other's shoulders. Suddenly they did something only Jasmine, Amalia and Andor expected to do. They butted their heads against one and other in a hard way. But Thomas and Willfried just kept laughing at it.

After some more laughing, Willfried greeted Jasmine too, hugging her tightly. And before they all knew it, many Azuls arrived at the scene, greeting their long-lost members with much joy and some even with tears.

Whilst Thomas and Jasmine were being greeted by many Azuls, Bruno, Henrik and Astrid were already talking with Bia, Carla and Tiago and Andor observed the 2 other macaws, Blu and Jewel.

"So, you must be Thomas' and Jasmine's younger brother, Blu, right?" Andor asked Blu.

"Uh, yeah, that's right." Blu said shyly.

"Your father, my adoptive one, told me about you. How you were born and how they lost you." Andor said.

"Oh, really? Well, Thomas and Jasmine told me, Jewel, the kids and my friends a bit about you. How you were just a child when your real father died and how you looked at my father as your second biological one." Blu replied.

Andor looked a bit proudly in the air and said: "Yeah. I never called your parents my adoptive ones, even if they were. I always called them 'dad' and 'mom' and your siblings were like biological ones to me.

"And that makes my husband your third adoptive sibling." Jewel said playfully.

Blu blushed a bit, whilst Andor gave a chuckle.

When Jasmine and Thomas were being greeted by many Azuls, some Azuls began also talking with other spix macaws from Blu's tribe. They greeted them politely and told them about how they were distant kin to each other.

After about 5 more minutes, however, Eduardo arrived at the scene with Sapphire, Mimi and 4 sentry macaws.

"I heard there was a lot of commotion here. What's going on?"

Jewel stepped up and said: "Daddy, this is the Azul clan, a spix macaw clan that we thought had perished, because Thomas and Jasmine were members of it."

Eduardo looked shocked and asked: "So this is the clan that made the two of you into such fierce warriors that can easily take on 6 scarlet macaws alone?"

Thomas and Jasmine nodded.

"Who's your leader or who are your leaders?" Eduardo asked.

"We are." Andor and Amalia said in unison as they approached Eduardo.

"My name is Eduardo, and this is my wife, Sapphire. We are the leaders of this spix macaw tribe." Eduardo told them.

"And I'm Mimi, Eduardo's older sister. Thomas and Jasmine told me also what had happened to your home. Such a tragedy." Mimi said with compassion in her heart.

"It is, Mrs. Mimi, but we're now looking back for it and when we find it, we'll rebuild our clan." Amalia told her, trying to put a smile on her face.

"Anyways, how can we help your clan?" Eduardo asked.

"We would gladly need a place to take shelter for a week or maybe two, with food if possible." Andor said.

"How many members does your clan have in total?" Sapphire asked.

"565." Amalia replied.

Eduardo looked a bit shocked. His tribe had in total 712 members and adding 565 more would come onto a total of 1267 spix macaws.

Eduardon thought for a moment but then said: "I may squeeze you all in the eastern parts of our territory from where you all just came from, there is food there, but there won't be any hollows.

"That doesn't matter Mr. Eduardo, we're used to sleep in the open, even if it rains." Willfried replied.

"And you are?" Eduardo asked sternly.

"Willfried, brother of Amalia, brother-in-law of Andor here and Thomas' best friend." Willfried said with some humor in his voice.

"I'm very grateful for the aid you are giving us, sir. We promise that we will stay only temporarily. I'll send some scouts in each wind direction, who need to come back in at least 4 days and then we'll see where we're heading, but most of the time we fly westwards. Because we believe that our ancient home lies there." Andor said to Eduardo.

"You're welcome Mr. Andor." Eduardo replied.

"Great!" Carla said. "Now we'll have even more guests for the celebrations within 2 days!"

"Celebrations?" Astrid asked.

"Ever heard of Carnival?" Bia asked.

"Yeah, I've heard about it by some birds. It's all about music and dancing, isn't it?" Willfried asked.

"Right you are and you wanna know something? Uncle Tommy and Auntie Jassie even sang 2 songs in Azul language!" Tiago said.

Henrik laughed a bit and said: "Auntie Jassie and Uncle Tommy. I like that."

His siblings nodded in unison.

Amalia looked in awe and asked: "Which songs did you sing?"

Thomas: "Óðal and Helvegen."

Carla (excited): "And those two songs will also be sung at the Carnival Show!"

Amalia squealed in happiness and said: "When this Carnival Show would begin in 2 days, I too have an Azul song that we might sing, if everyone agrees of course."

Everyone smiled and nodded in agreement.

"What song do you have in mind, Amalia?" Jasmine asked.

"Remember Norupo?" Amalia asked.

Thomas', Jasmine's and Willfried's faces turned into a smile and Jasmine said: "Oh, then, the two of us will make a great duo, with Thomas and Will making the perfect noises for the song in the background!"

The two friends hugged themselves happily at the proposal. Carla said she couldn't wait to hear what this song would look like.

And with that, the Azul clan was shown where they could nest for the coming days. Andor had sent 4 Azuls to each wind direction in order to find a suitable location for them to nest there for another period. They had to return in at least 4 days.

Meanwhile, Carla, Bia and Tiago befriended Astrid, Henrik and Bruno, whilst also showing them Renaldo, Miguel and Skye. Andor, Amalia and Willfried were also presented to Rafael, Nico, Pedro and Eva, who all agreed with the performers that the Azuls may also sing their other language songs in the Carnival Show in the Amazon. They were also presented to Roberto, who once again blushed as he saw Jasmine. Amalia was the only one who seemed to notice that and already thought that Roberto would be the perfect match for Jasmine, although she didn't say anything about it.

For Jasmine and Thomas, though, this day couldn't have been better. They found out that the clan they had been living at for 13 years was still alive, although their numbers seemed to have been halved due to the flood disaster form 6 years ago.

As Blu's family was readying for dinner, when suddenly Roberto flew in with a Brazil nut in his right talon.

"Oh, evening, Beto." Jewel askes.

"Evening, Ju-ju, evening everyone."

Everyone greeted Roberto and saw the Brazil nut in his talons.

"Are you eating with us, uncle Beto?" Tiago asked enthusiastically.

"No, T-bird, I'm on patrol tonight. I plucked this Brazil nut for your aunt." Roberto replied.

"Oh." Jasmine said surprised. "Why the gesture?"

Roberto was a bit nervous until he said: "Jasmine, you danced pretty well at the song Beautiful Creatures, and I wanted to ask if you could be my dance partner tomorrow at the Carnival Show."

Jasmine blushed a bit and said: "Well, of course, Beto, I don't see why not. But remember, I will preform with the Azuls and Thomas when we sing our Azul songs."

"Don't worry I will." Roberto said suave.

The two said nothing for a while, only blushing a bit. Thomas and Blu seemed to notice this and gave a smug to each other, knowing fully well that Roberto had feelings for their sister.

Eventually, Roberto said: "Alright everyone, I'm going on patrol. And remember, if you still haven't found a home, you can always stay at mine, Jasmine and Thomas. Mi casa es su casa (English: My home is your home)."

"Bye, Beto!" Jasmine said and all the others bade him farewell as well.

"Wow, Jasmine. Being Beto's dance partner. I mean he is pretty good at it." Jewel said to Jasmine.

"He's also a very nice bird." Jasmine said. "Was he always like this?"

"Since we were kids." Jewel said.

After that, Blu's family ate their dinner, watched the sunset and went to sleep, preparing themselves for the day ahead. All of them couldn't wait for the day after that, because then it was party time at the Carnival Show.

To be continued…