Author's Note: This is my first Storm Hawks fic (I don't think I need to tell you that.) and I think I'll do okay on it.

Disclaimer: Storm Hawks and all characters belong to Nerd Corps Studios and Cartoon Network. I own the main character, and my friends own the main character's friends.

Part One: Mammalia

Chapter One

Ibis sighed and watched her breath ripple the surface of the foam on her coffee. The little caramel swirl that the barista put on it didn't move with it. She felt like that swirl: Colorful, sweet, unwilling to bend to much of other peoples' wills, but sinking to the bottom of the cup fast and not making the coffee around her sweet with her sugar as she went. She had just graduated from the Skyknight Academy not three months ago, and she was already considering resigning her armor and weapons. Her counselor, her teachers, the upperclassmen before her, they had all said that as soon as she graduated, she would be plucked away from the earth and swept into action within weeks. Unfortunately, nearly all of her graduating class had been 'swept away' and left her flapping with cardboard wings.

It wasn't that she barely graduated, far from it. It turned out that she hadn't been the youngest Sky Knight ever; a youth named Aerrow had beaten her to it by a few years little more than five years previous. But she had come out as one of the most accomplished students in her class, and in the top ten in the academy overall. She had high degrees in combat, self-defense, history, engineering, mathematics, biology, first aid, and even cooking. She was pretty much certified to be anything on a crew. The trouble was that none of the new crews had even glanced her way, so to speak. She tried not to think of the dream she had had the night before her graduation, for she thought it was the reason no one had chosen her, the one where she tried to walk forward with new and exciting prospects beyond her wildest wishes…a pair of rough, loving lips kissed her own tenderly…

…And then her clothing was torn from her body, she felt cold and hot flashes rip over her spine, her teeth itched and she felt sharp-as-needles canines draw blood from her lips as she closed her mouth, her heels disappeared into her calves and her toes became three instead of five, her spine crackled and shot out into a whip-like tail behind her, her insides writhed and almost made her sick, her face mashed inward and elongated to the sides and her ears disappeared into her head, her blood turned to ice in her veins, and her hair fell out and in its place her body sprouted thick plating that cascaded down her naked, vulnerable flesh. Once that horrifying transformation was complete, though, she felt large, warm hands on her shoulders, helping her up, showing her the way into the shadows and away from her old life…

It was very strange, that dream. She almost felt like calling it a nightmare, but at the end, she felt a feeling of…completion. Like she had finally come to face what had always made her so different from the rest of her peers, why her beliefs were so uncommon, why she had an inborn determination that drove her beyond what should have been her limits as a human…into something more? That dream, that vision, had given her hope. For the life of her, though, she couldn't place what it could mean…

"Ibis? You okay?" Startled, Ibis looked up. Her friend Xandra had just returned from getting a pastry from the counter. The sounds of the café came back slowly to Ibis's ears, and she blinked a few times.

"Uh…yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Why?" Xandra sat down across the little table from her and bit into the pastry. It looked moist and warm from here. In fact, Ibis could smell it, and it smelled like fresh pumpkin bread.

"You look sad, hon." Ibis shrugged and lowered her eyes. "Is it 'cause the mighty have fallen?" She smiled at that joke though. Xandra, like Ibis, had been among the top ten in the academy and the top three of their class. It was because of their strange personalities that they became friends, and somehow both of them managed to excel in the same combat specialty classes. The two opposing classes had a tournament among the students in the individual classes, then the winners from both would face off to determine who would receive the highest marks and special, up-to-date equipment. Xandra and Ibis had come out on top, one from each class. The fight had been to third blood, and with seven hours past, each girl had gotten second blood, but no farther. They were exhausted but they kept pushing on, determined to win that title. The instructors had stepped in and stopped them at seven and one half hours, declaring them both the winners. So, since they referred to themselves as the mightiest of their classes, their failure to secure a crew at all was their "fall". The phrase was suiting.

"Kind of. It could also be this mocha. I think the barista put whole milk in it." Xandra nodded in understanding. She knew her friend was seriously lactose intolerant. "I'm okay though."

"Yeah, well…" Xandra took another bite and gazed out the window they sat next to, looking a little bored.

"Sorry I can't be more entertaining," Ibis muttered in a jokingly accusatory tone. Xandra looked up at her and smiled when she saw her grin.

"No, hon, it's okay. I'm just thinking. How are we going to get a crew? We can't just sit around forever."

"You're right. We can't just sit here; we need something to amuse ourselves." Ibis held her chin in her hand and let her eyes examine the world beyond the glass. A few moments later she became aware of a set of eyes on her. She glanced at Xandra and saw the mischievous smile on her face. "What?"

"Boys," her friend stated without moving her gaze. Ibis's instant reaction was to look around and behind her. "Not here, though." Ibis gave her a confused look. "We need boys to amuse us."

"Ugh, you're so dirty sometimes." Xandra let her teeth show in a predatory smirk. Ibis rolled her eyes. "What, are you suggesting we go out and get boyfriends or something?"

"Maybe."

"Xan, that's the last thing we need right now. We need to find a crew, not boytoys." Xandra just lifted her eyebrows and got up to leave the café, forcing Ibis to follow.

Walking down one of the main street of Terra Atmosia next to the Academy was…nice, Ibis decided. Trees and foliage and flowers all blooming and thriving in this late spring season preceded the park nearby. Soft breezes with the spicy sweet scents of blossoms floated leisurely past and put her in high spirits for the moment. Boys were the last things on her mind, but if Xandra had her sights set on a guy, she'd most likely get one within a few hours, if not within the next hour. Xandra had a very appealing figure, Ibis thought. She wasn't too tall, or terribly thin, but her curves were always something Ibis envied. Most of the time Ibis thought she herself looked a little emaciated because she had been so thin in her earlier adolescent years, but only recently had she filled out into the moderately modest curves of her adulthood. But Xandra had developed early on, gaining luscious curvature rapidly then smoothing out later.

Her shoulder-length black hair was cut into a choppy, whippy hairstyle with white-gold streaks, giving her a punkish air. She was a little shorter than Ibis, but only because of her genes, and possibly because of Ibis's strange habit of wearing big shoes to compensate for her own short stature. The way she walked with such assurance and confidence made Ibis envious…but it also made her want to either outdo her or match her. That same compulsion was what had driven Ibis to the tops of her classes. She hated being anything less than amazing compared to someone who was right behind her or above her, skill-wise. So she slowly worked her way to the top and defended what she believed was her rightful and well-deserved position fiercely.

Xandra's pretty visage was suitably pale, her fair skin virtually freckle-less. Her hazel eyes shone brightly. She nearly always had a smile softly stretching those kissable pink lips of hers when she was in a mood like this. The way she swung her hips now accentuated the uniform they were required to wear at all times when looking for a crew. It made them easy to spot in a crowd of civilians. Her uniform was a hip-hugging silver and black body suit, as was the latest standard uniform. But the nice part about the body suits was that once a student graduated, they had the choice of either keeping the default black that the suit came in or choosing a secondary color to go along with the black. A slight cliché drawback to that latter choice was that your weapon's crystal was altered to have the exact same shade as your secondary color. So if you thought you'd look good in brown, your weapon's iridescence would be brown too. (Luckily for Ibis that she both looked good in her secondary color and didn't mind the color of her upgraded weapon.)

On Xandra's wrists thick leather bands sported dangerous-looking spikes, and on her left hip she had her customized laser whip, one of the weapons she had received at the end of the combat class tournament. Its sinuous length was dotted with what looked like strange little lumps, but if activated, the lumps extended into thorn-like projections that could send even the toughest enemy into paralysis. It had impressive voltage for a weapon with ordinary electro-crystals. But the key was that the electro-crystals were tiny sharpened fragments that were invisibly embedded in the tips of the thorns. They could reach past the skin and hit the nerves. If not utilized with a practiced hand, someone could end up losing the function of whatever body part was hit for life. It could even kill. Therefore, Xandra had had to be specially trained to control the great responsibility of death in her hands.

Then suddenly through the haze of catcalling and whistling that they both got, Ibis heard a distinct voice from around the next corner. Astonished that she could hear something that well from such a distance, she sped up and turned to go around the corner…

And smacked into the thick breastplate of someone whose chest was at her eye level. Her forehead throbbed for a moment as she cupped it with her left hand and looked up to apologize. A Wallop with tan skin and turquoise hair stared down at her. Kind brown eyes that reminded her of a dog's blinked a split second before he smiled at her. "Are you okay, miss?" His broad smile was gentle. The world narrowed for a moment while Ibis took in the strangely out-of-place gesture of politeness. She rubbed her forehead again, and then nodded as her hand dropped.

"Yes, thank you." Xandra rounded the corner looking distressed.

"Ibis, what the he-." She cut herself off in the middle of her sentence as she saw whom her friend was talking to. Then her focus shifted to someone Ibis hadn't even realized was standing next to the Wallop. Taking a second to glance at the youth, Ibis guessed that he was in his late teens, very early twenties, and much shorter than his friend. He had carefully managed, golden blonde hair that stood in defiance of gravity off his skull, and a fairly outdated marksman body suit with a blue insignia painted on the left shoulder plate. His bright blue eyes were fixed on Xandra. "Oh, hi…" Xandra seemed at a loss for words.

"Hey," he replied. With that one word, he apparently made up his mind and his face split in a grin not unlike Xandra's own from the café. His thick eyebrows and half-lidded eyes only added to his seductiveness. His voice was about a tenor, Ibis guessed, maybe a bass. She always used vocal vocabulary to describe someone's voice. But she couldn't just assume from the one word he'd said. The young man's eyes flicked to Ibis for a moment and then moved back to Xandra. "Where'd you two sweet things come from?" Xandra giggled in a darkly inviting way.

"Around. You?" She batted her eyelashes softly at him. Ibis looked away and at the ground, the flirtatious body language making her uncomfortable. She wrapped her arms around herself and sighed quietly. She could feel Xandra's hot eyes on her now, and prepared to be introduced. Whenever Xandra met someone when Ibis was around, she would try to include Ibis in the hopes that maybe she wouldn't feel outshined. It didn't work very much, but the gesture was nice.

"My name's Xandra."

"I'm Finn. It's a pleasure to meet you."

A silence hung over the four of them. Ibis could tell Xandra was waiting for Finn to ask her friend's name. But she could tell that his attention was set on her. "So…you wanna go for a walk?" Ibis let out another sigh, this one heavy with the sound of reluctance.

"Uh…Finn, this is my friend Ibis." Ibis looked up shyly and blushed, embarrassed, as Finn's eyes scanned her up and down and then developed a look of disinterest. He couldn't care less. When he looked back to Xandra, Ibis felt the wordless dismissal hit her pride and knock some dust off of it. That familiar lump in her throat came back painfully, but she swallowed hard to keep it down. Her eyes remained dry.

"Nice to meet you, Ibis." Ibis blinked and frowned; that wasn't Finn's voice. She peered up from under her magenta-pink bangs and locked eyes with the Wallop. He seemed a little troubled by his friend's rudeness, but he smiled encouragingly. She felt herself smile. "I'm Junko."

"Junko? It's nice to meet you too…" Feeling touched by his acceptance, she let her arms fall from her torso in an unconscious show of comfort and relief. She bent her arms slightly and locked her fingers behind her back. In the back of her mind, she knew that baring her stomach was an invitation, a sign of extreme trust, as it was with all creatures. She couldn't help it; that smile of his was so welcoming.

Xandra beamed at Ibis's look of pleasure. She silently thanked the giant Wallop for his kindness and turned her attention to Finn, whose image in her mind was already a bit tarnished by his disdainful snub. "Sure. A walk sounds nice. Maybe you boys can help us poor little girls out while we talk?" She turned and waited for Finn's reaction.

"We can definitely do that, huh, Junko?" He elbowed his friend lightly in the arm.

"Yeah, we don't have to be back on the Condor for a few hours. What do you need help with?" They lined up along the walkway, Ibis and Xandra sandwiching Junko and Finn between them. That was Xandra's technique: surround them with beautiful girls and you had already won.

Approaching the park, Xandra introduced their problem. Ibis watched as Finn's eyebrows rose slowly, and she could read those blue eyes of his. He was hatching a plan.

"You know, we sure could use some extra help around the Condor. That sounds like the perfect job for fresh graduates like you. I don't think Aerrow would object too much. What do you think, buddy?" She could also see the facial cue directed at Junko. The hint was obnoxiously obvious.

Junko glanced at Ibis for a moment, and his thoughts were plain on his face as well. He clearly found her attractive (which was a big plus on her self-esteem), and it wouldn't hurt to see if Aerrow would allow them to stay on for a few days, if only to help them out. He nodded. "Sounds good to me." Suddenly, a device went off on one of the boys' belts, and Finn grabbed a small portable radio from his right hip.

"What's up, Aerrow?" A tinny voice crackled over the frequency for a moment. Then he answered, "Sorry, Piper. Yeah, yeah, we're on our way back; don't get your panties in a knot. We're not that far away…" He listened again, and then smiled at Xandra. "Hey, Piper, tell Aerrow we found some priceless treasures while we were out. He's definitely going to be interested in what we found."