DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN RIO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS IN IT. ALL RIGHTS GO TO BLUE SKY STUDIOS. THE ONLY THING I OWN IN THIS STORY IS OZ, MY OC.

This story takes place after the end of Rio, many months before Rio 2.

To Walk Without: Light

Chapter 1: Life As Usual

Blu awoke with a yawn to the sunlight shining through the hole in their hollow. Next to him was Jewel, his gorgeous mate, still sound asleep. A gentle smile found its way onto Blu's face as he admired her lovely, radiant features.

Her plumage? Breathtaking. A perfect shade of blue, and cleanly groomed.

Her beak? Perfectly curved. The faded black facial feature glowed like polished leather.

Her eyes? There are no words. He thought to himself. Everything about her made his heart feel light and warm.

Gently kissing her on the cheek, he got up slowly, tip-toed past his chicks, and stepped out of their hollow. He still couldn't believe it. His chicks. He was still feeling the lingering elation of becoming a father.

Him, a father!

Mates with the love of his life!

Living in Rio!

If he could go back in time one month and tell himself what his future was like, he would've thought he was crazy. Yet here he was, and he's never been happier. But, as in everything, all good things have a catch. With fatherhood came fatherly duties. One of which was to gather food. Not too far away, he spotted some mangoes. Jewel's favorite. He hummed happily as he plucked the plump and juicy fruit from the tree, all the while, counting his blessings and reflecting on how lucky he was.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

A while later, Jewel had awoken. Her half-asleep eyes caught a blurry vision of Blu peeling a plump mango. "Good morning, Jewel. I got your favorite for breakfast." He said, smiling at her. Sluggishly getting out of their nest, she walked over to Blu, wrapped her wings around him, and gave him a light kiss on the cheek, causing Blu to blush. However, her sweet hug had quickly become a near futile attempt to stay awake and standing as she leaned heavily against Blu. "Zuh…mornn…Bluuu…thenks…frthmang…" she mumbled.

She's still asleep. He thought, laughing slightly.

"Hzzs…glrb…check…onthkids…"

Blu looked over at their children. They were asleep, safe and sound.

"They're fine, sweetheart. Go back to sleep."

As if on cue, Jewel fell to the ground, fast asleep. He carried her back to their nest and laid her down on the soft rush-like straw. It wouldn't hurt to do some flight practice before the kids wake up. Before he left, he plucked a leaf from their tree and scratched a note into it that read:

Kids,

If I'm not home before your mother is awake, you may help yourself to the peeled mango. Share it FAIRLY. I don't want your mother to wake up to a fight over portions of the mango. And make sure you leave plenty for your mother when she gets up to eat breakfast.

-Dad

He shivered with delight as he wrote "Dad" on the note. He hoped the elation of being a father would never wear out.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Blu, though he was able to carry Jewel to safety after the whole falling-out-of-the-plane affair, was still relatively new to flying. He practiced when he could, to get more used to it, to get that feeling of freedom. He shut his eyes and felt the wind move through his feathers, letting it carry him. His mind was drawn back to the time when he first learned how to fly; his and Jewel's first kiss. He remembered it so clearly, as if it was happening all over again. This was the feeling he'd experience every time he took to the skies. Lost in thought, the wind carried him as he soared gently through the-

"CRAPCRAPCRAPLOOKOUT!"

Blu jolted awake from his daydream. The call came from a Scarlet Macaw, wildly spinning out of control, mere inches away. The red bird came crashing into Blu, knocking them both to the ground with a rather hard "thud." When Blu hit the ground, he dead stopped, but the red bird kept skidding a good two feet away. However, almost immediately, he recovered and ran over to Blu. Dizzy from the impact, Blu had difficulty standing, so the bird helped him get some stability. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of his dizziness. When it finally did clear, Blu looked over to the red bird. Its eyes were lavender and, unlike most scarlet macaws, all of his feathers were a bright crimson, as opposed to having blue and yellow feathers here and there. A small tuft of feathers partially covered his left eye. He was a bit more shapely, like a female, but other than that, the bird looked a lot like Blu.

"Are you okay?"

"I, uhh... yeah, I'm fine." he said, a slight slur in his words. A sudden jolt of dizziness returned, but the bird caught Blu before he could fall.

"I am so, so, so sorry... I was trying to do this silly little stunt thing."

"It's alright... I was flying with my eyes closed, so I'm just as much at fault as you."

"I guess it was just a case of 'wrong place, wrong time' huh?" The bird laughed a bit.

Blu thought the red bird had a pleasant voice. It had a child-like tone to it that made Blu feel happy and at ease. He wasn't sure how to describe it, but if he were to compare it to something… he'd compare it to something sweet. Though the bird's voice was a bit high pitched, he could tell he was a male, maybe only slightly younger than himself.

"You sure you're okay?"

"Y-Yeah."

Blu stretched out his wings, and felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his left wing.

"Aah!"

"What is it?" Oz looked over at Blu's wing.

"Oh my god! There's something stuck in your wing!" Blu looked over and saw a rather large splinter in the joint of his wing, which was now bleeding quite a bit.

"Ah! Oh god, oh god, oh god!"

"Don't panic! I'll, uhhh... I'll get it out!" Blu's eyes widened in alarm.

"W-Wait a sec!" The bird didn't hear him. He held Blu down, and yanked the splinter out, without restraint.

"AAAAAAH!" The bleeding quickly worsened, and the red bird had run off into the brush. He sat there wondering if the bird had abandoned him, if he had left him to die of blood loss. To Blu's relief, he had not. He soon returned with a variety of leaves.

"Just relax." He said. Blu tried with all his might to calm down. The bird began wringing out the smaller leaves, which extracted some droplets of oil. A minty smell wafted through the air as he worked with the leaves.

"This might sting a bit." He rubbed the oil over Blu's wound. And it did sting. Sweet Christ, it stung like no one's business.

But a split-second later, the pain was all but gone. Blu let out a heavy sigh of relief.

"What was that stuff?" Blu asked as the bird wrapped the larger leaves around his injured wing.

"Brazillian mint. It's a great painkiller, and can also be used to brew a mean cup of tea." He said with a wink. Blu realized at that moment it was late in the afternoon.

"Thanks. Well, I have to get home. Nice meeting you, whoever you are." But the moment Blu tried to take off, the stabbing pain returned.

"Do you need some help?"

"My wing hurts too much to fly."

"Well, there is a giant wound in it. How about I carry you?"

"I-I guess so… Hey, wait a second, you crashed to the ground just like me. Are you sure you're really feeling well enough to carry me?"

"I've crashed tons of times trying to do my little stunts, so I've learned to shake off the pain pretty easily." Once again, Blu became alarmed, and the bird could tell.

"Don't worry. If I'm just flying normally, I have complete control." Blu still wasn't sure, but he needed to get home. If being carried there would get him home faster, he'd have to take the chance.

"U-Umm... alright. Just be careful, okay?" The bird smiled widely.

"Roger Dodger!" He wrapped his talons around Blu.

"Here we go."

And with that, the bird took off with Blu in tow. Blu was taken off-guard by how the bird made it seem so effortless to carry him.

"So, where to?"

"W-What?"

"Well, it isn't like I know where you live, silly!"

Blu felt a bit stupid for being so confused by his predictable question. Blu took in his surroundings. He knew where he was. He may have been flying with his eyes closed, but he still knew which way home was.

"A little more that way." He said, motioning his head to the left.

"Okay."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

The bird swooped down to a nearby branch outside of Blu's nest… First, he carefully released Blu from his talons, then gently landed next to him.

"Thank you. I would have gotten back way late without you."

"Happy to help, though you wouldn't have needed it if I hadn't hurt your wing like that."

"I think the splinter did more damage than you did." Blu said with a laugh.

"Still, I'm very sorry."

"Blu!"

The two turned to face Jewel, standing in the door of the hovel, looking more worried than angry. Behind her were Blu's children. Not noticing the red bird behind Blu, she went straight over him, her face painted with concern.

"Where have you been? It's almost sundown." She said, pulling into a tight hug.

"Ah!"

Jewel quickly released him.

"Did I hurt you?"

"No it's just... this." Blu extended his wing as far as he could. Jewel's eyes widened. A small spot of blood seeped through his leaf-bandage.

"Oh my god! Is it broken?"

"No, I don't think so..."

"What happened?"

It was then that Jewel noticed the red bird behind Blu. He waved, smiling weakly.

"Hello..."

It took Jewel only an instant to connect the dots in her head. In the same instant, she tackled the bird to the ground, strangling him without mercy. Blu let out a small panicked scream, and quickly tried to pry Jewel's talons off of the bird's neck.

"Go Mom!" One of the chicks called.

"Tiago, hush!" Blu called back. Blu finally managed to pry Jewel off of the bird, but he still had to struggle to hold her back.

"I'M GOING TO RIP OUT EACH OF YOUR FEATHERS ONE BY ONE AND SHOVE THEM STRAIGHT UP YOUR-" Just in the nick of time, Blu covered Jewel's mouth with his wing, preventing their chicks from hearing something they really shouldn't

"Jewel! Stop... and listen... for a second!"

After explaining what happened, Jewel calmed down, but a only a little. She glared at the red bird, perched comfortably a little ways away from her. He didn't notice, however. He was too busy staring with childlike fascination at that butterfly that landed on his beak some time ago. Jewel let out a small sigh and walked over to the red bird. His gaze instantly went to Jewel, and the butterfly flew away.

"If it really was an accident, then I forgive you. And... thank you for carrying him back home."

"It was the least I could do after what happened." The red bird cleared his throat, straightened his posture, and held out his wing.

"My name is Oz. I'm very pleased to have met you, your mate, and your adorable children. Want to be friends?" Jewel was caught off guard by Oz's pleasant demeanor and warm smile. She extended her wing to meet his with slight hesitation, and shook.

"It's... very nice to meet you, Oz. I'm Jewel, and this is Blu." Blu walked over and shook wings with Oz as well. Three small pairs of eyes appeared from behind Blu.

"And these are our chicks. The two girls are Carla and Bia. And this little guy..." Blu scooped the smallest chick into his arms.

"... is Tiago." A blush came on to Tiago's cheeks as she stared at Oz, half scared, half curious.

"Hi there, guys." Oz said softly.

Tiago buried his face in his father's shoulder, and the two girls retreated back behind him as well. Oz giggled, and then his attention turned to the skies.

"I should get going... It was very nice meeting you."

"Y-Yeah. You, too."

Jewel shooed the children inside as Blu walked behind her. He turned his head to look back at Oz, but he was already a ways off. Off in the distance, he watched Oz twirl and tumble through the air... and then he crashed into some tree branches, causing a nearby bird to squawk in confusion. He faintly heard Oz yell "Sorry!" before the far away bird was back into the sky. Blu laughed a bit, hoping that he would run into him again soon... but not literally.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Menacing amber eyes glowed in the night as they watched the happy Blue macaw family eat dinner. He'd been watching that wretched gaggle of squabs since the early in the morning. Peering from a bush close to the ground, the creature watched in disgust as they laughed and ate dinner.

"With his perfect little home, and his perfect little life, with his perfect little mate." The creature growled.

"And now, he has a new friend. How perfectly wonderful. Makes my damn stomach turn. Just you wait... I'll have my revenge. Even it takes me until the day hell rises... I'll find a way to drag you and your pathetic family down with me."

And with that, the creature took off, leaving a trail of stark white feathers in his wake...

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

So, Yeah! This is Chapter 1 REVAMPED, BITCHES! For those of you are just starting this story, there was a much crappier version I had written. It was very rushed because I wanted to hurry up and get to the sexy time between Nigel and... well, you'll just have to stay tuned and find out!

Stay awesome! ~ritez