Rio: Predators

This is a story I made based on the animated film "Rio." This is my first story and I hope you like it. I have no ownership of the film or anything to do with it. This story is basically fanmade.

"This is story occurs during the time after Blu and Jewel escape the illegal bird smugglers and get lost in the deep Brazilian jungle of Rio De Janeiro."

Verbal Dialogue: "…"

Mental Dialogue: "[…]"

In order to avoid human contact and the bird smugglers hot on their tail feathers, Blu and Jewel, two rare Blue Macaws, were forced to find refuge in the jungles of Rio, much to Blu's dismay. Since Blu is "unable" to fly and that both he and Jewel were still chained together, they're, for the moment, grounded. They've have been walking for nearly two hours now and had no luck finding shelter so far.

"Blu, will you take it easy, we'll be fine," said Jewel in annoyance of Blu's constant frantic behavior.

"Sorry Jewel, I'm just trying to be alert" said Blu nervously.

Unfortunately Blu always had a number of phobias since he started living with his owner and best friend, Linda. Certain phobias including Hylophobia (fear of forests or rainforests), Phagophobia (fear of being eaten alive), Zoophobia (fear of animals; predators in Blu's case) and Ophidiophobia (fear of snakes).

Jewel: "Trying to be alert for what? There's nothing out here"

"And how do you know that?" said Blu as he looked at Jewel questioningly.

"Blu, I've been living in the jungle for as long as I can remember, ok? I have always fended for myself and always steered clear of predators" stated Jewel proudly.

"That's only because you can fly and there aren't many predators that can fly in Brazil. Plus, its pitch black out and that just adds to the danger. And for the time being, we're stuck together and I can't fly." said Blu as looked over his shoulder to make sure nothing was behind him.

Jewel just looked at Blu as if he didn't know what he was talking about.

"And whose fault is that?" Jewel said as he stared Blu down.

Blu didn't know what to say at this point. Finally he managed to muster up a response.

"I'm sorry?"

Jewel didn't listen; she just turned around and continued to walk. Blu just stood there feeling very hurt by Jewel's comment.

"[I know my first impression wasn't my best, but was that really necessary. Well, less than my best is probably an understatement since I tried to kiss her. And, basically I have no one to blame but myself for not learning how to fly. I hope she doesn't hate me for it after what happened]"

Blu sighed sadly as he looked at the ground. Than something tugged at his leg and he was pulled forward. Blu realizes that it's the chain the smugglers attached to his leg and Jewel's.

"Come on Blu" shouted Jewel angrily as she yanked the chain. "We haven't got all night!"

"Coming" said Blu as he trailed forward.

As Blu walked on, he passed a peculiar looking tree-root that seemed to stand out. He stopped to observe it closely, but decides to catch with Jewel. As he leaves the supposed root began to move.

"What kept you?" said Jewel annoyed that Blu hung back so long.

"Sorry Jewel, I thought I saw something" said Blu slightly scared.

Jewel rolled her eyes yet again and sighed. "Like what, another stick?" she said.

"No, Jewel! I'm serious, I really did see something. Who do you think you are! We may have gotten off on a rocky start but that doesn't give you the right to…'" yelled Blu impulsively, but suddenly stopped, realizing what he was doing.

Jewel just looked at him with a hurt expression. She never saw Blu so angry before, actually she hasn't seen him for very long. Blu than realized what he's done and his facial expression softened into one of a remorseful nature. Blu didn't mean to yell at Jewel like that, he was just so lost in his emotions and accidently expressed them the wrong way without thinking.

"Jewel, I'm…I'm s-," said Blu but was cut off when Jewel raised her wing to stop him from speaking.

"I don't want to hear it. Let's just find someplace to sleep so we can get out of here and get this thing off. Than we can go our separate ways, you go home to your owner and I can go home. And then we never have to see each other again, sound good?" Jewel said mockingly, obviously emotionally hurt.

Blu looked at Jewel for a moment and nodded his head. Than Jewel turned around and continued to walk. Blu just looked down at the ground as he followed Jewel. Now he felt worse than ever.

"[Now she really does hate me, what was I thinking? That's not how I'm supposed to treat people, sure Jewel wasn't too nice at first, but what I did was just plain mean and uncalled for. Those two geese back home treated me better than I just treated Jewel. Nice work Blu, you're a real love hawk.]"

As Blu was walking in his self-loathing, he heard some bushes rustle. Feeling scared he began to walk faster. He looked forward and then realized there was no sign of Jewel. She wasn't on the path and was gone from Blu's sight.

"Jewel, you still there?"

Blu called out to her but she didn't answer back.

"[Where is she? Is she playing a joke on me? Is this payback for before? But she's still chained to me so I can find her easily, not so sneaky Jewel.]"

Blu begins to follow the chain towards Jewel's current location.

"Ok, Jewel. I'm very scared right now, completely terrified" said Blu, playing along with Jewel's supposed joke. Blu creeps closer in Jewel's direction using the chain to find her.

"Where did she go? Where did she...Gotcha!" shouted Blu gleefully as jumped through the bushes, hoping to surprise Jewel.

Blu completely froze with a horrified expression.

It felt like his heart stopped beating in his chest as he looked upon the scene in front of him.

There in front of him was Jewel…..wrapped in the coils of a Boa Constrictor.

Jewel's eyes were wide open with terror and twitching as she desperately tried to breath, but couldn't due to the tight, scaly constrictions around her body and they were getting tighter. Her face began to turn bluer than it's supposed to. It was only a matter of time before Jewel would completely suffocate and then she would become an evening meal for a hungry snake.

Blu didn't dare to move for he was frozen with fear, but he had to think of something fast in order to save Jewel.

"[Ok, just calm down, calm down! Think, think, think, think, think! Ok, that's a Bolivian Boa, a non-poisonous constrictor, meaning there's a chance for Jewel and I'm not at risk of being poisoned. And they prefer dry climates meaning there shouldn't be other Boas nearby. Ok, just look around quickly; there must be something I can use.]"

Blu searched his surroundings desperately for some form of defensive tool he can use.

"[Come on, there must be…Aha! There, that should do nicely.]"

Blu looked upon a particular branch of spiny-surfaced fruits and picked it a ripe one off.

"[A Datura plant, here in Rio of all places, very good timing. My knowledge learnt from the Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants will finally pay off, thank you Linda!]"

(Note: Datura is a genus of nine species of vespertine flowering plants belonging to the family Solanaceaethat. Found mainly in Latin and South America. It is known for growing a particular fruit that when ingested, it can cause the consumer to suffer hallucinations.)

Jewel's eyes began to roll back and her head fell forward, passed out from lack of oxygen. Blu was running out of time, he needed to act now. He was preparing to throw the Datura fruit into the coiled serpent's mouth, forcing a powerful hallucinogen down the monster's throat.

"[Alright, one shot, make it count, don't miss!]"

The Boa began to open its jaws in order to swallow its cerulean prey whole. Blu was determined at this point and with a well-aimed throw, the spiny fruit was thrown in the monster's jaws. Since snakes have strong jaws, it was able to crush the fruit and swallow it down.

The snake turned his attention to Blu with a look that could kill, or in this case, paralyze. Blu stood there completely terrified, praying that the Datura would take effect quickly. Than the snake's eyes began to change, this was the sign of the fruit taking effect. The snake began to sway and its coils loosened, releasing Jewel. Blu ran to Jewel and raised her head.

"Jewel, can you hear me?" She didn't answer, she just laid there completely motionless. Blu picked her, put her wing around his shoulder to support her and carried her off, away from the highly-dosed, frantic serpent.

Blu carried Jewel to nearby river and laid her down. Blu laid his head on her chest to check her vital signs. He couldn't hear a heartbeat or anything.

"Oh no. Jewel, stay with me! " cried Blu desperately.

Blu took some water from the river and splashed it on Jewel's face, hoping it would help her wake up. It didn't help her one bit, she didn't show one sign of reaction. Blu thought hard and came down to one solution. His eyes widened at the thought.

"[Oh no, I already got my tail feathers kicked for even trying to put my lips on her. But if the risk of receiving bruises is what it takes for saving her life then it's worth it.]"

Blu dragged Jewel to a flat-surfaced stone and laid her down on her back.

"[Alright, just like that Medical journal in Linda's library affirmed, 30 chest compressions and 2 rescue breathes. Wait, that's for grown humans! Oh, geez! I don't have time to think about this, I need to act now!]"

Blu positioned Jewel's head upright to open the airway, and prepared to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

"[Ok, but I will need to be gentle; she may have a cracked rib from the constrictions.]"

Blu placed his wings on Jewel's chest and pressed firmly, but not too hard. After 30 compressions, he positioned Jewel's head to perform a rescue breath.

Reluctantly, Blu locked his beak with Jewel's and gave oxygen to her. And then felt something come into his mouth and he realized that Jewel coughed into his mouth. Blu opened his eyes in shock to find Jewel looking at him with a similar expression. Looks like Blu's first aid worked, sort of.

Jewel immediately shrieked and pushed Blu off of her as she attempted to catch her breath. She looked at Blu and then searched her surroundings as if looking for something. Blu got up and approached Jewel to make sure she's alright.

Jewel: "What do you think you were doing!"

Blu: "Saving your life of course." With that said, Jewel started to calm down a bit.

"Jewel, are you okay?" asked Blu with concern in his voice.

"I think so, what happened?" said Jewel as she rubbed her head.

Blu hesitated to answer her question. If he told Jewel exactly what happened, it would force her to relive that horrific experience and he didn't want her to be even more upset than she is now. It would do more harm than good. So Blu decided to make up a lie until Jewel was ready to hear the truth.

"You got hurt as we were walking along the path, you tripped over a ledge and fell" said Blu trying to sound convincing.

Jewel raised an eyebrow, not buying Blu's claim.

"If that's true, why can't I remember anything?"

Blu was confused at first, but he replaced it with a sound theory.

"[She probably can't remember to the oxygen cut off from brain during that little encounter with that boa.]"

"You must've hit your head as you were falling, but that's not important right now. Can you stand up, Jewel?" asked Blu.

"Yeah, I think…arrghh." As Jewel tried to get up, she moaned in pain as she clutches her left abdomen. Blu went to her immediately.

"Where does it hurt?" asked Blu, hoping he could treat Jewel's injuries to the best of his knowledge.

"I'll be fine, it's a just a bruised rib."

"Are you sure? Do you need anything?" said Blu, insisting on helping Jewel.

"No Blu. I'm fine, really, thank you." As Jewel tried to get up, she moaned in pain once again and doubled over. Blu ran to her and caught her. The two macaws look at each other as their faces were centimeters from each other. Their feathers ruffled from embarrassment from being so close to each other.

Blu nervously cleared his throat before he spoke.

"Jewel, clearly you need my support. You're not going to be able to walk straight with a busted rib. Will you please accept my help? If you strain yourself, your injury will only get worse. Please Jewel, will you trust me?"Blu looked into Jewel's eyes as he told her this with a pleading look in his eyes.

"[Does he really care about me that much, despite everything that has happened? I thought he didn't like me.]"

"Ok, Blu. I trust you." said Jewel calmly as she smiled slightly at Blu. She relaxed herself, giving Blu permission to check her injuries.

Blu smiled and spoke in response, "Alright, let's have a look at that."

Few minutes later….

"Alright, that should do it" said Blu as he gently tightened the rib harness around Jewel's waist. Blu constructed a rib harness mainly made from some palm leaves he found and used vine fibers to tighten the leaves.

"Wow. Blu, where did you learn to do all this?" said Jewel with a grateful tone.

Blu laughed a bit in embarrassment. That was probably the first praise he got from Jewel since they met.

"Uh um, we'll, you see…(exhales nervously). Let's say that when I was living in Minnesota, I would always read in Linda's bookstore in my free time. I've read this very important medical manual and it had this article on how to make a homemade rib harness or a handmade rib harness in the wilderness, much like the situation we're in."

Jewel was in awe at this point, she didn't realize how smart Blu was. After everything she said to him, all the insensitive comments he gave him, he still went out of his way to take care of her.

Blu begins to clear his throat nervously as he spoke, "Jewel, we should get going and find a safe place to crash. We don't want to run into more trouble tonight."

"You're right, let's get going. Umm, Blu?" said Jewel in a soft voice and Blu turned to face her.

"Yeah?" he said.

Jewel: "Could you…could you support me? It will be kind of hard to walk with a bad rib."

Blu just smiled and offered her his wing.

"Of course." He said.

Jewel took his wing and Blu gently helped her up. He put her wing around his shoulder and lifted her slightly so she could walk easily. Than the two take a wide path towards a less populated forest in hopes of finding a vacant tree they can sleep in.

Less than an hour later (This occurs after they find the tree house and decide to sleep in it)…..

Blu: "Goodnight Linda."

Blu decided to stay awake since his sleeping pattern is still zoned in Minnesota, while Jewel slept soundly. Soon Blu began to hear whimpering sounds coming from Jewel. He turned to see she was shaking slightly and then she suddenly shot up and screamed, frightening Blu.

Blu: "Jewel, are you ok, what's wrong!"

Jewel: "I remember what happened. I saw it in my dream and it was real."

Blu knew what she was talking about; she remembered everything that happened earlier and her flirting with death.

"We were walking along the path. I heard something in the bushes and..." Jewel froze in the middle of her sentence with a look of horror on her face. She remembered everything, every single detail: getting caught by the snake and nearly having the life crushed from her.

Jewel began to hyperventilate from the traumatic recollection, but Blu caught on quickly and sat her down, trying to calm her.

Jewel: "I have never been so scared in my life. Those eyes, those horrible gray eyes, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't breathe! I thought I was going to die!"

Jewel's precious sapphire eyes began to cloud with tears and it wasn't long before they rolled down her cheeks. She began to sob loudly and Blu did his best to comfort her. He put his wings around her and let her cry into his shoulder.

"Jewel, it's ok, you're alright. Nothing's going to hurt you" said Blu softly and he rubbed Jewel's back.

Blu's feathers were beginning to get soaked for Jewel's tears, but he didn't care. All that mattered right now was looking after Jewel once again.

After a few minutes, Jewel's sobbing began to soften. And then she began to speak.

Jewel: "Blu, I'm sorry."

Blu: "Sorry? Sorry for what?"

Jewel: "Since we got into this mess, I haven't been that nice to you. I'm sorry for saying all this is your fault and for not taking you seriously."

Blu frowned, he was just as sorry as she was for yelling at her earlier.

Blu: "Don't worry about it Jewel and I forgive you. And I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier, it was uncalled for and I didn't mean it."

Jewel: "It's ok Blu. At least you had an excuse for being angry and I don't, but only cuz I'm thoughtless."

"It's ok, it's ok Jewel. What's done is done. I forgive and I know you're sorry. And I'm so sorry for what I did too" said Blu with sincerity in his voice.

"I forgive you too Blu."

For some reason, Jewel felt very safe at this moment. She wanted to repay Blu for all the kindness she expressed towards her.

"Thank you Blu. I would've been snake-food if it wasn't for you. Thank you so much for taking care of me" said Jewel as she laid against Blu's shoulder causing him to flinch a bit.

Blu: "Uh, eh..yo-ou're we-elcome. Anytime, I'm happy to help."

Jewel giggled a bit, finding Blu's panicky behavior amusing.

Jewel: "We should get some sleep now; we'll still need to figure how to get this chain off."

Blu: "Sure, you go ahead; I'll sleep in a bit. Are you going to be ok?"

Jewel: "Yes Blu, thank you."

Blu: "Good night than."

Jewel: "Good night."

Blu waited a few minutes until Jewel was fully asleep and then laid her in a comfortable position. She looked so peaceful in her sleep and the moonlight added an illumination to her, making her just as beautiful.

"[She looks just like an angel and I almost lost her tonight.]"

Blu looked out into the night sky and then the city of Rio, admiring how beautiful it looked at night. But nothing could compare to the beauty he's watching over tonight.

"Good night my angel" said Blu as he laid down close to her and finally fell asleep with greats hopes for the future.

There you have it people, my first fan-made story. Hope you liked it and I look forward to writing more stories very soon. Thank you.