Well, I'm having so much fun with my first fic that I decided to plunge into another. This will be a collection of short stories, all of which will feature Stork as the primary character. Each story will follow some event in his life and will be one or two chapters long. I'll try to keep them in chronological order, for the sake of convenience (may have to rearrange things later if necessary).
Because I can cover so many different little Stork stories, I encourage anybody who reads to suggest scenarios they might find interesting, dramatic, fluffy, or fun. I'll use any that tickle my fancy, and I've already got a few more shorts in the works.
So. There you have it. Enjoy!
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Story 1 - "Terra Souk"
The red-head stepped out onto deck and shielded his eyes from the blaring summer sun. A tall man followed him out and waited impatiently for the youngster to retrieve his payment. Aerrow offered up a nervous smile and rummaged in his pockets, eventually pulling out a handful of coins.
"Is this it?" the man asked, taking the money regardless of the answer he received.
Aerrow sighed, "That's all I have."
"Well then for your sake I hope you find a pilot here that will work for damn cheap," the older man laughed and collected his bags, heading out. "Or else get comfy."
The red-headed teenager remained standing on the deck of his run-down ship, staring out over the bustling trade kingdom that was Terra Souk. He'd only had enough money to pay a pilot to take his ship somewhere close to where he'd started. Of all the potential stops, this seemed the best place to find a few people with similar interests.
It seemed as good a place as any to start searching for a squadron.
OoOoO
On Terra Souk, it was impossible to tell who was native to the land. Species and races from across the Atmos lived and traded there, and at least a dozen claimed the terra as their original home. In truth, Terra Souk had always been uninhabited, and then one afternoon many hundreds of years ago, a market sprang up out of the soil.
The rest was history.
But as easily as different species and cultures mingled in the expanse of tents and hangars and produce stands, it was still obvious when someone didn't belong there. There were at least several such aliens walking the streets at that moment, each for their own intents and purposes.
Stork and Piper were two of them. They were making their way through a district known for its crystal collectors, and Piper was none too happy with the reception they'd received.
"Are you kidding me?!" she hissed, "That's robbery!"
"Piper..." Stork stood just behind her, hand in the air. He was hoping the pure waves of his anxiety would compell her to give up.
The large blonde man inside the tent was not willing to budge. "That eez offer. You no like? Go speak to crystal man down street! 'E give you shiny apple for broken crystal. I give you money!"
Piper's frown deepened. "This crystal isn't broken! This is the Light half of a Balance Crystal. It needs the Dark half to work. It's extremely rare!"
The man laughed and paused to speak with one of his associates as though Piper wasn't even there. After a moment of letting her fume quietly, he leaned forward again. "My brudder say you telling stories, but I nice guy! Same offer. You take!"
Piper looked ready to start shouting again, but Stork intervened. He sidled a little closer to her, though seemed to keep a purposeful boundary between them all the same. "It's the best offer we've had, Piper..." he whispered through clenched teeth.
Her hard exterior melted away into a heavy sigh. She'd been so thrilled to have found that crystal, and Stork was well aware of that. But survival was important now, and they were completely broke. One half of a Balance Crystal wouldn't do much to keep them fed and sheltered.
She gathered up the meager supply of coins in a cloth bag and wandered back out into the street. Stork followed at a careful distance, completely on edge. Every little noise and movement was causing him to jump, and Piper hadn't seen his eye stop twitching since she'd first met him a few days before.
She sat down under an empty tent and the wary Merb stood just outside of it. Piper shook her head. "You should know by now that I'm not going to bite you."
Stork's voice shivered. "Yeah, but... I don't know what you might be carrying. Uh, no offense."
"None taken," she rolled her eyes. She'd read about Merbs and their propensity toward extreme caution, but having now met one, it was a little unbelievable. Piper was technically homeless, but she was hardly so impoverished as to be carrying diseases.
But then, Merbs rarely left their home terra. From what she'd learned, Stork was a true oddity among his people. Though he hadn't said much about how he'd come to find himself wandering the outskirts of Terra Amazonia, what he had made clear was that he couldn't go back home. Whatever he'd done had assured his exile from Terra Merb, and Piper didn't want to ask questions (rather, she desperately wanted to ask questions, and she would, but she'd wait until Stork had confirmed to himself that she wasn't the harbinger of death and sickness). For the time being, she understood that he was entirely out of his element, and tried to respect that.
"Well, we should probably find a place to stay for the night," she said after a while.
Stork looked uncomfortable. "Are you sure about this, Piper? You sold your crystal for that money... and, um, you hardly know me."
"Well I'm not going to just leave you out here to starve," she came back. "Besides, you fixed my heliscooter. I owe you one!"
He still looked unsure, but when she left the tent he continued to follow her like a lost puppy.
It was a chance in a million that she'd found him at all. Days before, she'd been starting out on a casual ride when a storm had materialized out of nowhere, hitting her hard. The pummeling rain and swirling wind had forced her to land on the nearest terra, which happened also to be the one she'd just left. She crashed on the far side, in the thickest of jungles and an area devoid of any settlements, and found shelter in the trunk of a tree. The next morning she'd awoken to discover a completely bedraggled-looking and mud-covered creature crouching over her heliscooter. Thinking Stork was trying to steal her ride, she'd chased after him with a heavy tree branch. It was only when he regained consciousness later that she realized he was just trying to help.
The most she was able to learn from him was that he'd been stranded on the terra for a few weeks, that he was sure he had something called 'bog fever', and that he hadn't slept in days due to a family of giant sloths that had apparently taken to hunting him day and night for amusement purposes.
Piper and Stork reached the end of the street. In front of them was a three-story building made of white stone and draped in blue and green tapestries. It was the only inn Piper was familiar with, and the lobby was already getting crowded. Stork's eyes moved skyward as another carrier approached and headed to the outer rim of the terra. He watched the ship until it disappeared behind the horizon of colourful tents, and then gave a heavy sigh.
Piper watched him with immense curiousity. When they'd arrived on Terra Souk, it had taken hours to pull him away from the landing strip. He'd gone from one ship to another, rhyming off an endless list of mechanical specifications and explaining to her why one ship performed better than the next. He'd only been drawn away when the lot owner received complaints that some green kid was making the other customers uncomfortable.
He seemed an utter paradox. Someone who, by instinct, was terrified of the world and its dangers, but also maintained some odd desire to speed dangerously through it.
"We'd better hurry if we're going to get a room," she said.
He hesitated. "Is that really... appropriate?"
Piper sighed and grabbed his wrist, dragging him forward into the throng of customers. Diseases be damned! She'd lost a priceless crystal and was going to sleep under a roof tonight if it killed her. Stork quickly found the only empty corner in the room and stood there flinching while Piper made her way to the front desk.
Aerrow was just beside her. They arrived at the desk together.
He spoke before she did, holding out a palm full of small, silver medals. "Excuse me... do you accept Valor Marks as payment?"
Piper cleared her throat, "I think I was here first."
Aerrow stared at her, and then drew back. He nodded. "Sorry. Go ahead."
"Uh, thanks." She eyed him strangely, half-expecting him to have fought her for the first place in line. Her eyes then landed on the medals in his hand. Absent-mindedly, she spoke to the innkeeper. "One room, please. With two beds, if it's possible."
She handed over a few coins and received a key in return. Her eyes were still on Aerrow. "The emblem on those Marks..." she muttered.
"No more rooms!" The innkeeper began to shout over the crowd and was met with a number of groans and shouts of frustration. Aerrow was among the disappointed. He turned with a sigh to follow the mob back out onto the street. At least he had a ship to act as temporary housing, as much as it was ready to fall apart at the seams.
"Wait!" Piper called after him. "That insignia! It's the symbol of the Storm Hawks!"
Aerrow turned back to her. The lobby quickly emptied behind him. He gave her a scrutinizing look. "You've heard of them?"
"Are you kidding? Who hasn't?"
The red-head's face lit up with a huge smile. Piper was taken aback to see such a genuine smile. She gave a bashful grin in return, but caught hold of herself. She returned to the matter at hand. "But why do you have them? Those Marks were given to the Storm Hawks for acts of selfless bravery! They should have been passed down to their families!"
Aerrow continued to smile. He pocketed the Marks.
Piper gasped. "You! Really? But then..." she gave him a sad look upon realizing what that meant. The Storm Hawks had all fallen. Their children would have grown up without them. "I'm so sorry."
Aerrow shook his head. "It's all right. But that's kind of why I'm here. My name's Aerrow. I'm restarting the Storm Hawks."
"You are...? Aren't you a little--"
"Young, yeah. I get that a lot. But I've been training all of my life. I've got what it takes. I just... don't have a squadron yet." He gave a nervous laugh, "I need a pilot more than anything. I don't know the first thing about working the Condor."
Stork's ear perked. He lifted his head and caught sight of the kid talking to Piper. The crest Aerrow wore was unmistakable. Within seconds, Stork was at his side, much closer to another living creature than he'd ever allowed himself to be since Piper had found him.
"Did you say... the Condor?" he twitched.
Aerrow had stepped back a bit from surprise. "Uh, yeah."
"THE Condor?"
"Yeah."
Stork looked like he was either going to hug Aerrow or throw up allover him. "She's legendary!"
"Yeah..." Aerrow was starting to wish he'd picked a different inn. This one appeared to be filled with obsessive creepy people.
Piper moved between them and thrust out a hand for Aerrow to shake. "My name's Piper. This is Stork. I'm a crystal expert, and he, as luck would have it, is a pilot."
The red-head gave Stork another assessment. He'd never seen a Merb before, and unlike Piper, didn't really know the first thing about them. What he could see was that Stork's clothes were muddy and tattered, his black hair was in tangles, and he was nothing but skin and bones. He looked like he'd just escaped from a jungle.
"Uh... is he okay?"
Piper smiled, "He'll be fine. He just escaped from a jungle. So you're looking for a squadron?"
Stork butted in again before Aerrow could answer. His face was spasming manically and his fingers were tying themselves into knots. "Can I see it?"
"Easy, Stork," Piper pulled him back by the collar. She could tell the Merb was also lacking in any extended knowledge of normal social behaviours. "Tell you what, Aerrow. We'll share our room with you if you give us a chance to try out for the new Storm Hawks."
Aerrow beamed, but Stork drew back. "W-wait, what?"
"You've got a deal," the red-head smiled.
Stork twitched. "Uh, hold on, I just wanted to see it--"
"Lead the way!" Piper said, falling into step behind Aerrow.
Stork stood where he was, hunched forward and blinking helplessly. He met eyes with the innkeeper, who could only shrug. The Merb whimpered. He didn't really need to stay with Piper, did he? Certainly he was talented enough to find some work and a means of taking care of himself.
Of course, the last attempt had landed him in a forest and on the dinner menu of a family of giant sloths...
He pushed himself to follow, assuring the nagging little voice inside his head that he was simply going to take a look at the ship he'd so idolized since childhood. The Condor. There was no faster, no stronger, no stealthier cruiser in all the Atmos, as far as Stork was concerned.
He'd just look. No more than that. Just stepping foot on the ship would be more than he ever imagined possible.
He'd just look.
OoOoO
An hour later, Stork brought the Condor in for a landing. A manic grin was on his face, and his hands refused to leave the controls. Aerrow stood just behind him, eyes wide, breathless from the insane ride they'd just taken. Piper was equally surprised; to the extent that she'd found herself fruitlessly searching for a seat belt moments before and thought more than once that her judgment had been off all along and the Merb might have been trying to kill them.
"Wow. I've never seen her fly like that before," the red-head grinned. "I didn't think she could! If you're up to it, you and Piper are both welcome to join."
Piper had been sold as soon as she'd seen the lab. No more trading her precious crystals to get by. Now she could spend her days studying them properly! Aerrow had been more than impressed with her knowledge of crystals, terras, navigational charts, and of course, Sky Knights and their squadrons. He hadn't been so sure about Stork, who had remained quiet and panicky on the walk back to the Condor, only speaking up once to warn them not to inhale the fumes coming from a pot of small simmering frogs. It wasn't until they'd reached the small landing strip and Stork began to passionately describe aspects of the Condor he himself wasn't even aware of, that Aerrow finally realized he'd found the right person for the job.
Stork still hadn't moved from the controls. He probably would have remained standing there for hours if Aerrow hadn't laid a hand on his shoulder. He jumped and spun around.
"Well, what do you say?" Aerrow pressed.
Stork returned to fidgeting. His eyes darted from the panels next to him to the teenaged Sky Knight. His instincts were screaming at him to leave now, go home, and beg for forgiveness. But the annoying little spark of tenacity that had forced him to leave in the first place was telling him he was exactly where he should be and face-to-face with the opportunity of a lifetime.
He swallowed uneasily. "I'll... just be the pilot, right?"
"That's right."
"I won't have to leave the ship...?"
That struck Aerrow as odd, but he shrugged. "Not if you don't want to."
The Merb was clearly fighting an epic internal battle. He made an angry sound in the back of his throat and closed his eyes, teeth clenched and fists balled. Piper and Aerrow watched, half worried that he was in true physical pain.
Eventually, Stork choked out a response. "All right!" he winced at the sound of his own voice, "All right... I'll join. At least... until something better comes along."
"That's great!" Aerrow clapped him on the back and his new pilot flinched.
Stork hung his head, eye twitching, one hand idly stroking the control panel. Through the front windows he could see Cyclonians amongst the buyers and sellers, and he noticed quickly that Aerrow was watching them too. The Merb gave a shudder.
"I'm going to regret this decision... aren't I?"