Chapter 2
"lt was nice of you to join me for dinner. l often eat alone. B-Because, of course, my work!" Allura chuckled.
"l thought l was the bird nerd until l met you." She said to Shiro. He laughed.
"Yes, right. Do you have a favorite bird?" Allura smirked.
"Well, obviously, l'm a blue macaw kind of gal." She said, pushing her hair back to make a dramatic effect. Shiro laughed at that.
"That makes sense. They are very handsome birds." The altean girl chuckled.
"Actually, it's the brains l'm more attracted to. l'm not so impressed by fancy feathers." She said. He perked up.
"l know exactly what you mean. My favorite bird is the spotted owl. l've always been mesmerized by those big... round, intelligent eyes..." The two stared in each others eyes when the waiter came.
"Chicken hearts?" He asked. Allura laughed awkwardly.
"Chicken hearts! Oh, gosh." The man set the tray on fire and Allura gasped in surprise. They put the hearts on her plate and she had to blow until the fire was off. That's when Shiro's phone started ringing.
"Hello?" He asked. His smile slowly dropped as he looked at Allura. Something bad happened.
"Oh Lance....We should have never left Moose Lake. This is all my fault." Allura said, sobbing in her hands, as she was sitting on the stairs of the place.
"No no no, Allura. This is not your fault!" The altean girl frowned.
"That's right....IT'S YOUR FAULT!" Shiro backed away as Allura jumped up.
"What?" He asked surprised.
"Yes, YOU! With your little bird talk. And that whole "save the species." Well, you know what? Squawk, squawkity, squawk, squawk!" Allura then covered her mouth, Shiro staring with big eyes at her.
"l'm sorry. l didn't mean to curse." She said, looking away. Shiro sighed and frowned in thought.
"l don't understand. Sylvio is the best guard in the business..." He said. They both looked at the guard that was in his carnival clothes, talking to a officer.
"So, let me get this straight. You were attacked by a little white bird?" The officer asked, scratching his head with his pen.
"Yes, with this rag. He held it to my mouth like this." Sylvio took the rag and put it on his mouth. He fell unconscious to the ground. The officer picked it up and sniffed. He fell as well. Allura smacked herself with both hands.
"We're doomed..." Allura said, more to herself.
"Okay. There's no place like home, there's no place like home. How l wish l was back in my own cage with my mirror and my swing, and my little bell. How l miss my little bell--" Lance said, having a small panic attack as the person that caught them was walking with them in a cage. Pidge looked through the bars and ripped some of the sheet covering the cage. She saw a door getting closer and turned to Lance, shutting him up.
"Play dead." She said as she dropped limply to the ground. Lance looked at her amused.
"What? l don't need to play dead, l'm about to have a heart attack--!!" Pidge snarled at him.
"Just do it!" She said to him. He rolled his eyes and dramatically pretended to die choking or something. But he kept twitching. Pidge was growing annoyed with this guy.
"Stop twitching!" She said through her teeth. Lance pouted.
"Come on, it's the twitching that sells it." But he stopped as the kid that caught them got to the door and knocked.
"Come on in, kid." Said a gruff voice. The kid pushed the door opened and Pidge peeked through the hole. Three galrans. They were smugglers.
"Well, what do you know? Good work, Fernando. You see, boys? What did l tell you about this one?" Said the biggest of the three, the other two being girls.
"That you were going to pay him half as much as you said?" Said the galran with longer hair. The other girl snorted. The man smacked her.
"No, you idiot. That he reminds me of myself when l was that age. Smart, resourceful. Here you go, kid." Said the galran as he gave the altean kid the money.
"Hey. This really IS only half of what you promised me." Fernando protested.
"Shut up, kid. What the-- l thought l told you l needed these birds alive. Tell me, Fernando...does this look alive to you?" The man said as he took off the sheet and then took Pidge out of the cage. Pidge immediately came back to life and bit him. She fluttered her wings and looked for a way out. A fan!
"Get her!" The man yelled. The two women started chasing her.
"Pidge!" Lance called out to her. Pidge gritted her teeth as she focused on the task at hand. The man frowned and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, Pidge got tackled by something. Lotor. The bird with white long hair that looked so roughened up. He smirked as he immobilized her and started choking her.
"Hello...pretty bird~ What's the matter? Cockatoo got your throat?" He said, squeezing harder. She gagged and choked. The galran looked at the two birds.
"Lotor! Alive." He demanded.
"To be continued." Lotor said with a scoff and picked Pidge up, pulling her after him and then violently shoving her back in the cage. She hit the wall and let out a pained gasp. Next, the bigger galran girl chained them togther by their legs. Lance rushed to her side to help her up.
"Pidge!" Lance said. Then he remembered he was mad. He frowned.
"That was your plan? To take off and leave me? Gee, thanks." He said crossing his arms. Pidge frowned, rubbing her head.
"Well, why didn't you follow me?" He looked off to the side, rubbing his neck.
"Well..."
"Nice work, Lotor." The galran man, named Sendak, said. Lotor sitting on his shoulder.
"Yeah, nice work, Lotor." The smaller girl said, Ezor. The other girl, Zethrid, frowned at her. Sendak smirked with greed.
"The last blue macaws on earth. These are worth a fortune...Hey, Fernando, hang these up in the other room." Sendak said to the boy. The small altean boy came and took the cage. The boy opened the room and showed a bunch of cages. Pidge covered her mouth in horror. Lance felt he will be sick. Pidge looked around and then they both looked at Fernando as he left. As soon as the kid got to the galrans he asked:
"So, what's going to happen to them?" He asked. Sendak smiled fakely.
"Don't worry, we're going to find good homes for them." He said. Fernando opened his mouth but Sendak pushed him out.
"Now go home to your mama." He frowned.
"But l don't have a mama." He said.
"Father?" Fernando frowned even more.
"Brother?" He shook his head.
"Goldfish?" he shook his head again. Ezor gasped.
"Can we keep him, boss?" The boy perked up. Sendak looked at him then turned expressionless.
"No." And slammed the door.
"So, Sendak, what's really going to happen to those birds?" Asked Zethrid. Sendak scoffed.
"Plucked, stuffed, eaten, who cares? All l know is we're going to be rich." Fernando listened to the door and gasped. He frowned and left.
"We're gonna be rich!" Ezor said, happily. That's when she looked at the clock and gasped.
"Come on, come on! The game is starting!" She said and the two galran girls sat down to watch the big football match that night. Sendak left to make a phone call.
"Yes, you were very clear.
Tomorrow or the deal is off.
Of course l have both the macaws.
Yes, l will deliver them myself." Sendak ended the phone call and looked at his two workers.
"All right, you two...you load the truck tonight. And first thing in the morning, we bring those birds to the airport. You got it?" The two however were absorbed in the match on TV.
"Yeah, sure."
"All right. Heard you." They both said.
"And one of you, feed Lotor." The two galrans stiffened and gulped. Lotor smirked in satisfaction.
"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" The two said as Sendak left and they shook fists.
"Yes!" Ezor said cheerful as she got rock. Zethrid frowned.
"Nuh-uh, scissors cuts rock." She said to the smaller girl. The smaller one's face dropped.
"Oh, man. How come you always win?" She asked. Zethrid shrugged. The galran woman got up and started walking towards where Lotor was.
"Nice birdie. Here you go." Lotor stole the chicken leg that Ezor handed him. She immediately retracted her hand and frowned.
"Cannibal." She said in horror as Lotor tore into the meat like a ferocious beast. In the other room however...
"Okay, pull it together. The key is not to panic." Lance said. Pidge raised a brow at him.
"l'm not panicking." She said. Lance laughed.
"l wasn't talking to you, l was talking to me." He said, his voice cracking. Pidge was walking and looking around the room their were in.
"But it's okay, because any minute now, Allura will find us." Lance said confident. Pidge frowned at that.
"Great. And then she'll stick us behind another set of bars, right?" She said, sarcastically rolling her eyes.
"Yeah. l mean, no." Lance said, his excitement going down a bit.
"Look, pet, cages might work for you, but l don't want to belong to anyone--" Suddenly the door opened and every avian shrunk as hard as they could. Pidge and Lance both snarled as they recognized the guy in the door-way. Lotor. He walked, hitting the cage with a bone. Pidge felt sick.
"Something seems to be on my face. Would you mind?" He said to a smaller avian. The small guy reached and tried to wipe it. Suddenly he shut his mouth, almost catching his hand in. Pidge covered her mouth. If she was out? She's claw this fuckers eyes out. Lotor got to their cage and smirked as he sat on it.
"I know l'm not a pretty birdie... but l used to be quite a looker. A star. Lights, camera, action." He said pointing to a poster.
"But they replaced me... they got a pretty parakeet to fill my shoes That's why l am so evil, why l do what l do." Pidge frowned.
"Because of a stupid show? Grow up." She said. Lotor jumped, the cage swinging thanks to the fact it was hanged by a hook. Lotor reached in the cage and caught Pidge's hand. Lance gasped.
"You little whore...You're lucky to have such a pretty face. But train that mouth of yours." He pushed her and Lance caught her by the arms. He frowned at Lotor. The white avian just laughed at them.
"l will make you ugly too. Hey! Sweet nightmares." Lotor said and left laughing like a maniac. Pidge growled.
Not cool, man! Scary, but not cool! Hey, are you okay?" He asked her. Pidge pushed herself off of him and ran a hand though her hair.
"No, l am definitely not okay!" She backed away and then started to slam into the cage, making it swing from side to side.
"Wait. What are you doing?" Lance asked. Pidge rolled her eyes at the stupid question.
"Getting out of here. Are you going to help me or what?" She says. Lance frowns a bit in thought.
"Isn't it more wise to sit and wait for help to come...?" She face-palmed when he said that.
"No one is coming! We are on our own and if we just sit here, we're going to die!" She said. She started slamming again. In the other room, Lotor heard them. He shut off the football match for the two galran girls.
"LOTOR! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! COME HERE YOU LITTLE--" And the two jumped Lotor. Lance was watching as Pidge was just a bit further away from hurting herself. Lance groaned.
"I wish we could just open the door." Pidge's eyes widened. She looked at the mechanism and smirked.
"We can." She put her hand through the bars and slid the bolt to the side. The door flew open. Lance was impressed.
"Come on! Let's fly!" She said as she swung the cage to a window with bars, however as Pidge got out through the bars and was now flying outside, Lance was holding onto the bars.
"What are you doing?!" She asked, exasperated.
"l can't." He said. Pidge frowned.
"You can't what?!" She asked.
"I CAN'T FLY!" The door flew open and Lance gasped, letting go. Pidge got dragged down thanks to the chain. They both fell on a line for hanging clothes and the chain started sliding. They were hanging upside down.
"You couldn't tell me this before now?!?" She asked. Lance groaned.
"lt didn't matter before now!" They both hit the wall at the end and fell into a box next to the trashcan. Pidge looked at Lance and frowned.
"l hate you. ls there anything else l need to know?" She asks. Lance gets out of the box.
"Yes, l can't fly, l pick my nose and once in a while l pee in the bird-bath. Happy?" Pidge scrunched her face up at the last two and then they heard a familiar voice.
"There they are!" Yelled Zethrid. Pidge hissed.
"We got to get out of here! Just move! Move!" Pidge said, but they kept tripping and the chain was hardening the whole thing. Pidge stopped him.
"OK PIGEON BRAIN! Listen. Inside leg, outside leg, inside leg, outside leg. We need to coordinate to manage to run!" Lance nodded and started mumbling as the two of them run, Pidge holding the chain so it didn't get stuck in something or they won't trip on it.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" They could hear people cheering all around them thanks to the open pubs. Ezor almost was left behind thanks to it. They had however a problem, the two galrans were catching up. Lance saw a cat and started barking. Pidge looked at him, a bit impressed.
"I'm bilingual too!" He said. Pidge would have laughed at the dumb joke if a lot of things today WOULDN'T have happened.
"This is great! l'm chained to the only bird in the world who can't fly!" Pidge said.
"Actually, there are more flightless birds. Thanks." Lance said. Pidge gasped.
"Duck!" She said. Lance looked at her, a bit confused.
"I'm pretty sure duck can fly though--" Pidge snarled.
"i mean DUCK!" Lance shrieked and lowered his body in a limbo move as Pidge slid down on her knees in a dance type of move, avoiding getting hit by a box. Lance whistled.
"Nice moves."Pidge rolled her eyes at him. They kept running with Lotor on their tails. They fell off deeper into the streets and managed to trip on some roofs. They were now sliding on a piece of metal with Lotor flying after them. They screamed almost the whole time. They were going straight for a power line. Pidge got an idea. Last minute, she leaned on Lance, making him lean with her and they both changed directions. Lotor's eyes widened as he didn't have time to stop and ran straight into the power line, frying himself like a kentucky chicken, interrupting right when Brazil was about to score. Everyone started protesting at that. The groans were ringing through the whole city. Next thing Lotor knew, he woke up in the trash with chickens looking at him. He shooed the girls away and snarled at them. They started running. Lotor rearranged his ruined hair and tried to fly away, but from time to time the mini-shocks would hit him.
So now, Pidge and Lance were somewhere in the forest. Pidge was walking and had to constantly pull on Lance so he would walk since he was pretty scared. He would jump at everything.
"What was that?" Pidge looked at him unimpressed.
"A stick." She said. Then there was another sound.
"A-And that?" He asked, voice cracking.
"A rock." She said, unimpressed.
"Is that a spider on my back?" He asked, his voice cracking even worse. Pidge was fuming.
"Will you quit it? lt's just a leaf. Turn around." He did. But there was a spider. Pidge's eyes widened. She coughed and hit the spider.
"Leaf, told you." She said, nonchalantly, hiding the fact he DID have a spider before.
"Now, come on, we need to find a safe place to spend the night." She said, pulling on the chain. Lance paled.
"Safe...? safe?!" He said. Pidge rolled her eyes again.
"We are in the jungle!" Lance said. Pidge sighed.
"You know when people say, "lt's a jungle out there"? Well, l'm pretty sure they don't mean it as a good thing!" Lance added. Pidge facepalmed.
"Look, l hate to break it to you, but this is where our kind naturally lives." Pidge said at him, spitting the last part. Man, he was getting on her nerves!
"Hey, don't talk to me about nature. I watch Animal Planet. l know all about the food chain. You see? Out here, l'm just an hors d'oeuvre. Nothing more than a feathery spring roll!!" Lance said, hugging himself in fear. Pidge looked at him as they arrived next to a big tree.
"That is why we stay in the trees and not on the ground. After you." She said, pointing up. Lance frowned.
"No, l don't think so. No. l would feel much more comfortable in something man-made." Lance said. He looked around and spotted it. A watch-tower. Lance lit up.
"Hey, how about up there?" They both walked towards it and Pidge scoffed.
"l can't believe l have to drag your clumsy butt up there." She said. Lance chuckled.
"Drag me? Watch and learn." Lance said. He rubbed his hands together and started climbing. Pidge gasped as the chain dragged her after him. He was climbing fast.
"Lance?! Lance! Woah!" They got to a corner where Pidge rested a bit. Lance hanged upside down and looked at her, amused.
"Who's dragging whose butt now?" He said with a smirk. Pidge rolled her eyes.
"Very funny." She said sarcastically. He looked at her, annoyed and pulled on the chain, making her drop upside down. He laughed and pulled her to the top. In the end they got to the bars suspending the roof. They sat there and Pidge sighed in relief.
"You see? Who needs flying?" Lance said. Pidge frowned.
"Flying is...lt's freedom and not having to rely on anyone. Don't you want that?" Pidge asked. She smiled at the part with freedom then her face dropped at the last part. Lance rubbed his neck.
"l don't know. lt sounds a little lonely." Lance said. Pidge looked away.
"Let's get some sleep." Pidge said. Lance nodded as she leaned against a bar and closed her eyes.
"l'm probably going to be up for a little while. Because l'm still on Minnesota time." Lance said. Pidge looked at him amused and closed her eyes.
"Good night." She said. Lance looked at her and sighed.
"Good night, Pidge..." He said, looking up. Then he closed his eyes as well.
"Good night, Allura." He muttered.
Allura and Shiro had spent the whole night trying to find the two birds. Nothing...It was the next morning when Fernando came to them.
"Lady! American lady!" He said. Allura and Shiro dolted awake.
"H-Huh?! Lance?!" Shiro snorted and woke up.
"What??" Fernando looked at her.
"l know where your birds are." He said. Allura jumped up.
"You found Lance? Are you sure?" Fernando nodded and took out a blue feather with a green tip.
"lt's his!" Allura said, with a gasp. Shiro took the feather and frowned.
"You're right." He said.
"Okay. Where is he?" Allura asked.
"Come on, let's go! l'll take you to him." Fernando said, grabbing Allura and pulling her after him. Shiro stopped her by the shoulder.
"No. No. Allura, wait. We don't know this boy. We can't trust him." Shiro said. Allura looked at him and sighed with a sad look.
"l have to trust him. l don't have a choice..." But meanwhile, at Sendak's office, Sendak was furious, looking at two blue dyed chickens. He snarled at Zethrid and Ezor.
"Do you think l'm an idiot? They were two birds...chained together in a cage. How could you lose them?!" He yelled. Zethrid gulped. Ezor shrunk.
"They outsmarted us, boss. But don't worry, we'll get them back. l have a plan." Ezor said. Sendak frowned.
"Great. What are you going to do? Wander the city calling "Here birdie, birdie. Here birdie"?" He asked. Ezor looked down.
"Well, anything sounds dumb when you say it like that..." She said. Sendak growled and slammed a small cage on her head. Zethrid started snickering.
"Okay. We have to get the birds to the airport tonight..." Sendak said.
"But it's Carnaval. All the roads will be blocked by the parade." Ezor said. Sendak was shaking in rage.
"And that's why l wanted to go this morning. LOTOR! This bird is 1 0 times smarter than the two of you combined!" Ezor frowned as the bird landed on his hand.
"Yeah, well, if he's so smart, then why don't you put him in charge?" She asked. Sendak looked at her unimpressed.
"l am putting him in charge. Go find them, Lotor. lf we can't get through the parade, we'll have to be in the parade." Sendak said, as the bird took off.
"Um...Are you sure this is going to work, Pidge?" Lance asked. She scoffed.
"Positive. Check out my math." She said, pointing to the ground where she wrote something in the dirt. Lance frowned.
"Yeah, that's comforting. Thank you." He said, sarcastically.
"Look, let's just get this chain broken." Pidge said. Lance nodded.
"Right. Then we can go and find Allura." Lance said. Pidge scoffed.
"No, you can go find Allura. Once this chain is off, l'm going to go back to being free in the jungle. Deal?" Lance rolled his eyes.
"Deal." Lance said back to her. He was about to reach to the rope of the mechanism- but the rope accidently caught onto his hand and it dragged him along with it. They landed on top of the rock meant for breaking the chain. Lance scoffed.
"Nice going, brainiac..." Lance said. Pidge growled at him, frowning. What an ass....
"l think something is watching us..." Lance said, sitting up. Pidge raised a brow. Suddenly, two kids came out. Pidge snorted.
"Be careful. They might strangle you to death~!" She said, wiggling her hands. Lance narrowed his eyes at her, but turned to the kids.
"Come here~" He said, opening his arms. The kids let out a sharp scream that made them both cover their ears and another 5 kids came.
"lntruders!" The kids jumped them and started fighting them. They weren't necessarily hard to fight. They were just caught off guard and the chain wasn't helping. The kids managed to get them both on the ground and rolled the chain around them, Lance being on top of Pidge. They flushed but kept fighting the little kids. That's when they heard a voice.
"What's going on down there? Go, go. Off with you!" The kids gasped and started jumping around.
"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" They all climbed on a man. A tukan. Pidge and Lance looked at the person who just saved them. The kids were climbing him like a toy.
"l've told you a thousand times-- Manoela, Sofia, come on now, listen to me- Oh, yeah, right in the eye-- OW!" He said. Pidge and Lance managed to slide off of the chains and Pidge pushing Lance off of her.
"Precious, aren't they?" Lance said with a chuckle. The man laughed a bit.
"Kids? Seventeen of them and one on the way-- Hey! He's not a maraca, stop shaking him!-- They're giving me gray feathers!! This papa needs a break." Pidge giggled. The father turned to them and smirked.
"So, you two lovebirds headed for Carnaval?" Pidge and Lance flushed again.
"Lovebirds?!" Pidge asked in disbelief.
"We're more like acquaintance-birds." Lance said. Pidge rolled her eyes and raised her foot.
"Not even that, we're more like chained-to-each-other birds." She said. Lance frowned a bit. Ouch...That's when something pulled his tail. He shrieked and jumped up. He looked back and saw a kid with his feathers in his mouth. Lance rubbed his bum and frowned.
"What is it with this kid and the feathers?" He asked. The father shrugged.
"We have no idea. We're having him tested." He responded. Pidge looked at the chain.
"So, do you think you could help us get this thing off?" She asked. The man hummed and smiled.
"Lucky for you, you know Rafael, and Rafael knows everyone! OW--! Again with the eye. Okay, want me to call your mother?!" The father said to his kids. They ran like burned.
"NO!" The children yelled and Pidge snorted. Lance turned to her with a raised brow. She looked away and went back to being stone-cold.
"Works every time. They're scared to death of her." Rafael told them. Pidge and Lance smiled. That's when another tukan came.
"Call me for what?" She asked, with arms crossed. The man jumped up in fear and turned to his wife, tensely.
"Eva, my love...l must take this young couple to see Coran!" The woman scrunched her face up. Pidge and Lance shrunk down a bit at that. Oh oh...
"Coran! You don't fool me for a second. You and your amigo just want to sneak off to Carnaval." She said to her husband. Pidge and Lance looked at Rafael.
"Carnaval. That magical time when l met the most beautiful bird in the world. l still remember the song that was playing when l first laid eyes on you.
Tall and tan and
young and lovely
The girl from lpanema
goes walking--
Come on, baby, sing it!" The woman opened her mouth and the sound that came out-- Horrified the two young birds. They had to cover their ears.
"And when she passes,
each one she passes goes, ah!
Like a river of the sweetest honey." Pidge used her pinkie to try and unclog her ears and stop the ringing.
"l guess love is deaf, too." She muttured. Lance shot her a look and turned around.
"Come here!" Rafael said to Eva as he bent her back and kissed her. Pidge gasped and covered her mouth as Lance looked away, shielding his eyes. The kids, up in the branches, all made disgusted grunts and sounds in protest. As they broke the kids, the two tukans giggled.
"Okay. Take them to Coran, but hurry back." Pidge and Lance smirked. Rafael winked.
"You are an angel. l'll miss you my juicy little mango~" Pidge tilted her head and smiled. Lance couldn't help but not catch the way she melted at this type of stuff. Guess she was a romantic after all.
"l'll miss you my pudgy papaya. Hey! Marco! Carlos! Put your brother down, now!" Eva yelled and took off to get the kids.
"l can't believe she actually let me go!" Rafael told them as he put both hands around them. Rafael was as tall as Lance, leaving Pidge being small as she is. He was dark haired but had paler skin than Eva who was blonde with darker skin like Lance. He had the marks of a tukan on his jaw. Pidge looked at him and decided to ask:
"So, how far is this 'Coran'?" Pidge asked. Rafael hummed.
"Not far. Thirty minutes as the crow flies." Pidge and Lance both looked at each other. Lance laughed awkwardly.
"And how long as the macaw walks...?" He asked. Rafael stared confused. Pidge crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.
"Bobo here can't fly." Rafael's eyes widened, his feathers ruffling a bit in surprise.
"But he's a bird!!" He said. Pidge shrugged. Lance frowned.
"Not all birds fly!" Pidge nodded a bit as in a way of saying 'Yeah, i get your point.'
"There are ostriches..." She said. Lance perked up. She the looked at him, neutrally.
"You're not an ostrich." She then said. Lance frowned and pouted.
"Not technically, but--" Rafael shook his head.
"Wait. My friends, l want to help, but to walk the whole way...lt can't be done!" He said. That's when the kids started asking for their father in the distance and Eva was trying to calm the tiny demons. Rafael hissed.
"But, hey. We might as well give it a shot. Let's go quickly." He pulled them by the shoulders to move forward. Lance and Pidge tried to look back but Rafael turned their heads.
"No, don't look back. They sense fear!" The tukan warned them. They let themselves be guided away by the other bird. Maybe they shouldn't look back....