"Dude... Is she okay?"
The six members of the Storm Hawks looked over at the unconscious female; whom Aerrow caught falling through the air after he saw her knocked off of a Cyclonian aircraft by the driver.
Her skin was a fair tone of brown; and her hair was dark brown with red highlights. Her clothes were dark green and were partly covered with dark gray armor on her shins, forearms and upper torso.
Aerrow watched the girl concerned as she laid on the couch.
"I saw her attacking one of our enemies, and she looks like she could be one of your kind, Stork."
Stork leaned in to get a closer look but from a safe distance. "Yeah, she's definitely a merb," he confirmed. "But what was she thinking to even leave her terra for a such a short, hopeless fight? That's an action that wouldn't be commonly played out... by Merbs, of course."
"But she was on a Cyclonian destroyer," Piper mentioned. "What if she was fired or something, and was fighting to keep her place?"
Stork looked to the side. "Eh, I doubt that a Merb would ever want to come into contact with Cyclonian forces, on purpose..."
"So, what do we do when she wakes up?" Junko asked.
"Until then, we'll ensure her that she's safe here, if she happens to be as paranoid as you, Stork. Then we'll take her to her home terra," Aerrow insisted.
His team nodded in agreement, then left the resting merb to resume their activities. A moment after, Aerrow thought as he looked at the girl, and then at Stork who was proceeding to fly the Condor.
"Oh, and Stork!" he called, stopping him. "I'd like you to watch over her until she awakes."
Stork blinked. "Watch? Her? She probably won't wake up for hours! Possibly days, if the blow was hard enough..."
"It wouldn't hurt to be sure," Aerrow replied. "And besides, she may loosen up to see a face of her own species."
Stork sighed. "Fine... Just in case she has a thing for attacking humans... in general."
The Condor was heading back for Terra Atmosia, and on the way, Stork would check on their passenger now and again, just to do what the leader ordered. The female remained motionless for the whole ride.
After the condor reached its destination, Aerrow and the others went to retrieve a few things. Stork, of course, stayed behind. He went back to find the girl still asleep on the couch.
"I knew that she would be out of it for a while," Stork whispered to himself.
He slowly crept forward, getting a closer look over the female merb. She looked rather peaceful to him, and it's been a while since he has met a female of his race. He smiled to himself as he took pleasure over admiring her face.
In an instance, her eyes shot wide open.
Stork jumped back, but she had already grabbed his neck and tackled him to the ground.
"You have three seconds to tell me who you are, where I am and why I'm here or I choke you to death!" the merb hissed violently.
Stork panicked. "I-I'm Stork, pilot of the Storm Hawks! This is the Condor! We just recently landed on Terra Atmosia! My leader saw you falling from a Cyclonian Destroyer to your doom and rescued you and brought you here!" he wheezed, having the cold hands gripping his narrow throat.
The female glared coldly at her victim, making him shudder. Her tightness relaxed after she accepted his answer.
"He didn't have to do that," she said, finally shoving Stork to the ground. She stood up and looked around, trying to look for any threats.
"So," Stork said between coughs. "Since you spared me, would you explain why you were on a Cyclonian ship?"
She avoided eye contact with him. "It was almost like a form of suicide," she began. "I had no weapons and I had no choice. They wiped out my family and I want revenge."
Stork stood up. "When the others comes back, we were going to take you back to Terra Merbia; assuming that's where you live?"
"What's the point?" she growled angrily. "It's no longer a home, now with my family and friends gone."
"I'm... sorry to hear that. But where else could you go?"
The short-lived calm atmosphere began to end once the sound of footsteps were heard.
"Someone's coming!" the girl said, putting her arm around Stork's neck.
"What're you!? Not again! I answered your questions!" Stork struggled.
"Quiet!" the girl sneered.
Startled by Storks grunts, the other Storm Hawks rushed to find their pilot held hostage by the passenger.
"Stork!" Piper cried. "Hey, let him go!"
"Ma'am, we don't want to hurt you, we can take you back home," Aerrow reasoned.
"I'm not going back home!" the girl shouted. "I want you to take me to Cyclonia, or you lose your best pilot." Her grip tightened as Stork looked up at his teammates for help.
"Cyclonia!?" Finn said, shocked at her request.
"And why do you need to go there?" Aerrow asked. "It's very dangerous."
"I'm going to end my life in honor. I want to take down all of them!" the girl explained.
"They wiped out her family," Stork squeaked.
"Cyclonis is our enemy, too. But we can't take you there to fight on your own with no weapons, against some of the most powerful forces of the Atmos." Aerrow explained. "You wouldn't stand a chance; and who would we be to let that happen to you?"
The merb's voice began to break. "I... have no purpose but that now. What more can I do?" Her grip loosened on Stork's neck.
"We can help you," Aerrow said as he approached her slowly. "We're the Storm Hawks and our objective is to rid the Atmos of all evil, including Cyclonian forces. You're welcome to stay and learn from us."
The others looked around, thinking if that was a good idea; since she still had their pilot by the neck. Stork was tempted to protest, but he didn't want to risk his throat for a few words.
"So, what do you say?"
The girl glared at Aerrow, wondering if she could trust him; but at this point, who would be able to guide her? Her stern look softened. "Alright... I'll do it."
"Great, now please let me go," Stork said, still shaken at being nearly choked to death twice.
She finally released him from her grasp, looked at him with pity, then gave him a quick hug.
"Ugh, clingy isn't she?" Stork mummbled sarcastically.
"So, what's your name?" Aerrow asked.
"...Crowe." the girl answered.
"Welcome to the team, Crowe. We'll show you around."