Fly

Chapter one - Taken

        Birds. That's all I remember that day. I was about 8 years old, an orphn, and left alone in the jungles of Rio. I was surrounded by trees and vines, crying, by myself. As hours passed by, feathery wings started to go by. My stomach slowly started to growl when I stopped crying, and as time went on, it got louder. But then multiple birds begin landing with small bits of food. Nuts cracked open, edible fruit, such as mangos. They sat by me and some put the food into my hands. Those ones nudged my hands, as though they were telling me to eat. I smiled to them. Not a big smile, but a small, soft one and nodded my head in thanks.

        As I ate I felt something twitch against my back. I stopped moving and slowly turned my head to see giant wings, the color of crystal clear water. I gasped and stumbled to my feet, startling the two parrots resting on my shoulders. I twisted around, trying to look at them all the way. I twitched my back muscles and the wings expanded. They were huge! They streatched across the big cleared space I was in, from one edge to the other. I realized that they weren't just blue, but green and yellow too. They were beautiful. I glanced around at all the birds around me, and they squawked and cawed in surprise. I suppose they had never seen a human with their species wings.

        A toucan flew down from the greenery above me, and I twirled as it flew around me, studying. It finally flew up to the lowest branch of a tree near me. And to my surprise as a young girl, it spoke. "We all see you are alone, little one. We will take you in, teach you our native tounge. But we have one condition. You must never kill any species of bird. Duck, eagle, parrot, ostrich, or even penguin. None." He spoke, his deep voice resounding in the small clearing.

I nodded and said "I promise. As long as I live.". He flew down to me, landing on the top of my wing. His gaze landed on all of the birds, and he spoke.

"This girl is our family now. Eveyone must treat her as one of our own. She has just gotten her wings, and cannot fly. Such as a newborn can't. We must teach her to use her wings, talk our language, and in return she will not kill a bird, ever." He looked to me and softly said "Tell them your name. Go on.". I looked around at the beaked faces.

"My name... is Zemira." I said. I felt nervous, and scared.

"Welcome to our family Zemira." The toucan said. The birds cheered, taking flight and zooming around in the air. "My name is Cal, if you were wondering." The toucan said from my side.

"Nice to meet you, Cal." I lifted my hands and picked him up. "Thank you." I spoke, and hugged him carefully. He nuzzled my chin and I giggled.

"No problem, little one."

....................................................................6 years later.........................................................................

I laughed as I flew through the trees, side by side with my friends. We did flips and spun through the branches, careful not to get tangled in vines. Going down, we made sharp turns to avoid running into leaves and larger animals. After a couple minutes we arrived at our destination, the clearing I had been found in. I had made it into a hidden fort for me to hide when people came into the jungle. Making it so you had to crawl into it from under, and fly to get out. On the outside, the parrots had helped me lay sharp, thorny branches on it so no one could touch it. No normal human being could get in.

"I win again!" My friend Armon said as I crawled up. He's a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo. He flew around, cawing his victory.

"Oh, shut it." I say sourly. I fold my arms across my chest, my wings compacted tightly against my back as i pout.

"Aww. Don't be a party-pooper. Be happy! Maybe next time you'll beat him." The twins, Maca and Aca said from beside me. They were Shining Honeycreepers, with bright blue feathers and a long black beak. Three more flew up out of the crawl tunnel and went beside me. A Monk Parakeet, Scraw, a Scarlet Ibis, Rol, and a Crimson-bellied Parakeet, Den.

"It's not fair, I agree with Zem. Armon always wins." Den says. Rol and Scraw nod in agreement.

"Come on guys, let's forget it until next time. For now I have to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow, k?" I say, smiling at my friends. I hear a chorus of 'goodnights' and 'see you'. I grin and lie down on my bed made from giant leaves from palms and long, spongy vines from the jungles. I softly sigh and close my eyes, wrapping my wings around myself, safe from danger. Or so I thought...

Later That Night

Light from the moon shone on my face suddenly, jolting me awake from my dreamland. People were talking outside my hidden room, and there was now a hole by the top. "Look at the work of the thorny vines. Protecting what hides inside!" A loud voice says right beside the hole. All of a sudden an eye peers inside, and when it turned towards her, widened. "Ahh!" The voice yells and the eye dissapears, a thud following the dissapearance.

Then a sentance I have always had nightmares about. "Break it open! There's someone inside there!" I whimpered and then screamed as a sharp metal axe sliced through my safe haven. "Hurry!" I backed away as it destroyed the wall, creating a giant hole where several people peered their heads in. Their faces protrayed shock and they slowly approched where I cowered. "Shh. I'm not gonna hurt you." A red-headed woman said and she came closer than the rest. She slowly reached out her hand, and after hesitating, I touched it.

She smiled and kneeled down next to me. "My name is Leana. Do you understand me?" She said slowly, as if I were dumb. I decide to mess with her and just stare blankly at her. She looks at the other 4 and mouths something.

That's when I freak her out by saying, "I'm not dumb. I can understand you perfectly fine." She jumpsand swings her head around to look at me. She stumbles over her words as she stays in shock. When she finally gets her voice back, and courage, she smiles again.

"I see that now. Anyways my name is Leana, and this is Bob, Gali, Richer, and Fresi. We work at a wildlife rescue and research center." Leana says and points at each person. I nod.

"What do you want with the jungle? Leave my friends alone. If you take the birds you take me!" I say forcefully. Richer looked startled at my outburst.

 "Well, we only take injured birds, or new species that we've never seen before. Not healthy birds. Why?"

I hesitated, feeling contradicted with myself. I wanted to show them, but i didn't want to tell them what I am. I started sweating a little and stood up. They did as well and backed up a bit, giving me some space. I walked towards the giant hole they had made, frowning. Then, i unfolded my wings from my back and jumped taking flight through the opening. Gasps came from my what I once called a hideout. But they knew where it was now, I had to find a new one. It would be difficult to stay away from now on; I had lived there for 6 years.

I flew away, pumping my wings up and down, trying to get away as fast as I could. Out of nowhere I was blinded by a bright light from above me. I looked up, and saw a helicopter above me. I screamed and flew again, going even faster than ever before. I zoomed through the air as the whirring sound coming from the blades followed me. After three minutes I heard a shot, a pain apearing in my left thigh, and then a net caught me. I yelled out as i fell down, fast. I closed my eyes tightzly and then snapped them open as I landed on something soft. I looked around myself, seeing the people I had just flown away from. I glanced down at my thigh and saw a dart sticking out.

Leana and Richer and whoever they were shushed me as I ripped it out, feeling dizzy as I did. I fell foward off the blanket, which I had landed on, and into someones arms. My eyes drooped as I glanced at the person carrying me and then darness surrounded me.