Author's note: Hey I'm back :), and with a new story! I'm really excited. I love the idea for this one. Okay first off, this is going to be a long author's note because I've got a lot to say.

Firstly, this is a prequel to my other story Nightingale, meaning that they are linked. However, this one doesn't have much to do with the other one (apart from little references), it doesn't even have the same OC's and bad guys in it, so it makes perfect sense standing individually. This means you don't need to read Nightingale first (though you can if you want to). I am, however, thinking of doing a sequel to both of them, linking characters from both this one and Nightingale, so you'll need to read both if you want to read that one (Btw, I'm a little hazy on the storyline atm so any ideas would be greatly appreciated).

Secondly, to anyone who did read Nightingale (firstly thanks for reading it :) ), I'm afraid this one isn't the same genre so some of you may not like it as much. Nightingale was more of a Romance/ Adventure whereas this one is more of a Suspense/ Action/ Family one. Both do have fluffiness and this one does have a little romance here and there. But I'd just thought I'd give you a heads up before hand (And I hope people enjoy it as much as Nightingale).

And thirdly, I know there is a story about musically talented birds being captured already, Birds of a feather by Strykeruk, but I'm confident that this one is different enough and the author doesn't mind if I publish this.

Phew, now, sorry about all that, I'll try to make sure the other A/N's aren't as long. Thanks for getting through all of it. Hope you enjoy the story. :)

BTW, I don't own Rio or any of it's characters only my story and my OC's - this will stay this way for the remainder of the story.

Rafael landed outside the darkened hollow and sighed when he heard the light snores coming from within. He let his gaze wander over the surrounding forest, admiring the sun as it fell through the trees and adding a sparkle to the peaceful lake down below. At the same time, a soft breeze rustled through the leaves, cooling the warm but not stifling hot morning. Figures they would be sleeping on such a beautiful day as this.

He hopped lightly into the hollow. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness he began to make out the two sleeping forms. Pedro lay in a perilous position, with the lower half of his body barely in his nest while the rest of him hung off the side. Other the other hand, Nico lay spread out on his stomach, his bottle cap blocking his face from the entrance.

"Ay Caramba!" Rafael called. "You two still sleeping?"

The sudden shout woke Pedro up with a start, causing him to fall out of his nest. Nico, however, simply lifted up his bottle cap to look at Rafael with bleary eyes. "Hey Rafi," he yawned, "What brings you here so early?"

"Yeah," Pedro pouted, rubbing his head, "a little warning would've been nice."

"Early?" Rafael squawked. "Have you two seen the position of the sun? It's an absolutely beautiful day and you guys are sleeping it away. You really need to get out more."

"Hey, we're free birds," Pedro shot back. "We should be able to get up and go to bed when want."

"Speaking of which," Rafael narrowed his eyes. "How late did you two get back from the Branch last night?"

Nico and Pedro froze, obviously fake smiles plastering themselves on their faces. "We didn't get back late," Pedro smiled.

Rafael simply narrowed his eyes further, being the father of eighteen chicks was paying off. "How early?"

The two of them began to sweat until finally Nico broke, "Alright. We got back at 3 o'clock."

"In the morning!" Rafael exclaimed.

"Nice work there," Pedro muttered to Nico.

"Hey at least I didn't bring up the topic."

"Amigos!" Rafael broke in. "You've got to stop doing this. It's not good for you. And neither is sleeping cooped up in here all day. So I'm putting my foot down." Pedro and Nico looked at each other apprehensively, knowing that there was no way to get out of whatever Rafi had in mind. When Rafael put his foot down, he put his foot down – no exceptions. "You're going to come to the beach."

"Hey Blu! Jewel!" Rafael shouted as he saw the two blue macaws soaring overhead. Recognising his friend, Blu glided to the ground. "Rafael, it's good to see you, how've you been?"

"I've been good. Well, as good as you can get with eighteen chicks. I've got a couple more grey feathers but I haven't lost any this week so I can't complain. How about you?"

While they were talking, Jewel glided down, doing a couple of loops and twirls on the way. With one final spin, she landed gracefully on the ground. "Hey Rafi," she smiled.

"Jewel," Rafael hugged her. "I see you're making full use of your wing again."

"Whatever gave you that idea?" she winked.

"She's been acting like this for a whole week now," Blu commented to Rafael.

Jewel nudged him. "Why shouldn't I? After being grounded for a month, being able to fly is absolutely exhilarating."

Blu smiled, "As has being able to fly with you."

A soft smile lit Jewel's face as she gazed into Blu's large brown eyes. However, realising they were not alone she quickly shook herself off and continued, "Besides, the weather has been absolutely beautiful. Who wouldn't want to spend all their time out in the open air?"

"Well for starters: them."

Blu and Jewel followed Rafael's gesture, causing their slightly confused expressions to become amused. Sprawled out on his back, Pedro lay sound asleep; one wing on his stomach and the other splayed out above his head. Propped up against him lay Nico, his bottle cap covering his face, and his body gently rising and falling with the motion of Pedro's belly.

"They've been like that ever since we arrived at the beach," Rafael commented.

Jewel stared at them incredulously, "How can they be asleep on such a beautiful day?"

"Well that's what happens when they're at the Branch all night," Rafael shrugged.

"Again?" Blu gaped. "You know, despite it being biologically impossible, I'm starting to think those two are becoming nocturnal."

"Not on my watch they're not," Jewel stated before flying off.

"Ah Jewel?" Blu asked as he hopped after her. "What are you doing?"

In front of him, Jewel was struggling with a child's bucket half buried in the sand.

"Blu, come on: help me with this."

"I'm not sure this is a good idea," Blu commented as he helped her pull it up from the sand.

"Aw, come on Blu, live a little," Jewel said to him lifting the bucket up and over to the water. "It's not going to hurt them. And you can't tell me they don't deserve it."

Blu looked between Jewel and the two sleeping figures a couple of times before he grinned, "Why not."

Nico and Pedro woke up with a start as they were drenched in cold water.

"Aaaaahhhh!"

After the initial shock was over, they glared at Jewel, Blu and Rafael who were laughing their heads off at them, the former two leaning against a now empty bucket.

Pedro looked between them and his drenched feathers. "Not cool man. Not cool," he pouted.

"Yeah," Nico agreed, crossing his wings with a scowl. "That wasn't fair at all."

Despite how serious they were trying to seem, their dripping wet feathers made them look quite comical, causing the three larger birds burst into a new round of laughter. Eventually their laughter subsided and they turned back to the still glaring, still sopping wet pair.

Blu smiled at them, "Oh come on: it wasn't that bad was it?"

"I don't see you soaking wet," Pedro returned.

Jewel shook her head, "Come on guys, what did you expect? You were sleeping at the beach at 1pm in the afternoon: you had it coming."

At her words Nico and Pedro's eyes went wide and they glanced at each other nervously. "Wait," Nico asked. "It's 1 o'clock?"

Blu nodded, "Well, according to the lifesaver's clock it is now two minutes past one."

The two birds shared another horrified look as Pedro moaned, "Oh we are so dead."

"Wait, what's going on?" Rafael asked.

"Can't chat now, we're late!" Pedro called as he and Nico took off in a hurry, wet feathers forgotten.

"Hurry up Pedro!" Nico called. "We're going to be late enough to our performance as it is."

"I'm flying as fast as I can!" Pedro retorted as they flew out of sight.

Jewel shook her head, "Will they ever learn?"

Rafi looked at her with a smile, "Would you really want them to change?"

She gave a rueful laugh, "No."

And there you have it :) The first chapter. Sorry about it being so short, I promise to make the next one longer. Hope you liked it.