My very first atempt at a Storm Hawks fanfiction.

Storm Hawks is own and copyrighted by Nerdcorp.

I own nothing save my OCs.

Curse of the Crystal Spire

Chapter 1

7 years ago

Piper yawned and stretched as she tried to stay awake. She was just returning with her mom of an expedition on Terra Barborosa, where the ruins of an ancient civilization were discovered. However, instead of taking her out into the fieldwork, her mother confined her to the ship's quarters, studying up on her history. It was bad enough when you have homework, but it's even worse when your own mother is the teacher.

The almond skinned young girl absently tapped her pencil on the back of her textbook, thinking of what she could do if she could just go out there and explore the world…learn history on her own. All the adventures she could have, the excitement, just like her father. She glance down at the photo she kept to mark her place in her textbook. In the picture stood her mother, with Piper nearly a year old cradled in her arms. At her left side stood Piper's father, a tall and broad shouldered gentleman, tan and smiling. His arm was wrapped around her mother's waist, and his eyes gleaming with fatherly love.

It had been nearly a year since they last heard from him, when he sent them a letter of his findings. He gave to Piper a small blue crystal, knowing how much she adores them. She always kept it on a string wrapped around her neck, to remind her that her father would come home. However, they've not seen another letter since, and worry about him.

Piper stared out into the dusk ridden sky, wondering what did happen to her father. She watched as the clouds swirled and tumble in the skies of Atmos. If only they had a clue of his where about. Her thoughts were interrupted, however, by a distant red light, blinking beneath the clouds. She studied it for a moment, before recognizing the light. It was a distress beacon from an emergency blimp. Whoever was out there was in deep trouble.

The young girl jumped from her bed, running to the intercom. She had to let her mom know. What if it was Daddy? "Mom!" she shouted, "Mom! There's an emergency blimp drifted out there!"

Alarms began to sound, and the ship awoke to the sound of the crew hurrying along the deck. Piper herself came out of her room and rushed toward the bridge, where her mother would be. She saw here by the wheel, staring out upon the red beacon. Piper stood by her, her eyes too fixed on the red glow, as a group of scouts set out to check on the situation. She stared up at her mother, a look of concern in her hazel eye. "Mom, do you think it could be Daddy?"

Her mother looked down upon her child, her face placid. "I wouldn't get our hopes up, little one."

Coming in closer upon the beacon, they found the blimp was in fact holding a number of people aboard, many of them villagers by the looks of their attire. "Get those people on board this instant!" Piper's mother ordered, taking full command of the situation. Piper watched as Skimmer after Skimmer took off into the sky toward the blimp. Soon the blimp was haul and the passengers safely on board.

Piper and their mother rushed to the hangar to check on them, the young daughter hoping to find her father amongst them. Her golden eyes scan through the group, hoping above hope her father was with them. It was only moments however that she realized it wasn't true. She sighed, her head sagged in depression, and she felt she would never see her father again.

She shook out of her mood when mother gently touched her on the shoulder. "Piper," she said, turning her daughter to make eye contact. "Go and help the children, dear. We need to have everyone's mind at peace so we may find out what has happen." Piper nodded, her mood vanished. They had a responsibility for the survivors' safety.

The children were gathered into a group, many of them no more than four years old. They would cry, yelling "where's mama, where's daddy," looking this way and that.

"Alright, settle down," Piper said, trying as best she could to calm the kids down. "Look everything is alright now. You're safe with us."

"Safe, safe?" a young boy shouted. "We'll never be safe if we don't get out of here! Pirates attacked our ship! The squadron never had a chance!"

"Just stay calm," Piper repeated.

"No! We'll never get away from them. It's over man! Over!"

Piper was losing her patience with the boy, until she heard someone else speak up. "No it's not!" another voice spoke. Piper turned to the direction of the sound, and spotted a redhead young boy, no older than she was, gazing around the group of children. She could tell from their sudden silence when he spoke. These children knew and respected him. His green eyes shone with an aura of command, his look of firm determination. He glanced around, making sure he had their attention before continuing. "Now listen, we've got to keep out heads together if we want to make it through this. Those pirates may still be out there, but I assure you, as a son of a Sky Knight, I promise you they won't get us."

Piper gasped, her eyes widening. This boy is the son of a Sky Knight? She knew that the Sky Knights were protectors of free Atmos, soldiers who fought against the tyranny of Cyclonia, an all other rogues of the sky. "There were pirates in this quadrant?" she asked.

The boy turned. "It was well over a few hours ago, when they took down the ship. They were looking for something specific. What it was, though, I really couldn't say." He turned his attention back to the group of kids. "Just stay calm and I promise you, we'll get through this." He placed his finger and thumb between his lips and whistled. Piper nearly shrieked when a blur of gray leapt over her shoulder and by the red headed boy. It took her a moment to realize that thing was actually a sky monkey, one of the most intelligent beasts of all of Atmos. "Radarr, stay with the group and make sure they find their parents, okay?" The sky monkey screeched, nodding and saluting, and turned its attention to the kids.

The red head smiled at Piper, and held out his hand. "My name's Aerrow," he said. "And that's my partner Radarr." He nodded over toward the sky monkey.

"Piper," she replied, shaking his hand. "It's a good thing we saw that beacon. Who knows how long it would have taken for another ship to come by here." She paused for a moment, thinking it would be too forward to ask. She did so anyway. "So, your parents were Sky Knights?"

Aerrow smile slowly faded, his green eyes lowered sadly. "Well, my dad was a Sky Knight." Was, she thought. What did he mean by that? "He was the leader of the Storm Hawks."

Piper gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. She understood then. She heard what had happen to the Storm Hawks, during an assault on Cyclonian territory. They were cut down, defeated by a mysterious adversary. So this boy, Aerrow, is the son of one of the greatest Sky Knights there ever was. "I'm…I'm sorry. I didn't…"

Aerrow smiled, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright," he assured her. "I've come to terms with what happened to him. All there is to do now and continue on." Piper nodded, understanding. This boy was very mature for his age, she thought. Then again, he'd have to be with no one to look after him. Aerrow noticed the girl in thought and decided to ask her a question. "What about your parents?"

"Well," Piper began, "My mother's an explorer, the commander of this ship, the head archive scholar of Atmosia, and…teacher as well." She grimaced slightly at the last explanation, unsure how Aerrow would react to the last part. To her surprise, he was rather impressed.

"That's pretty amazing," he responded truthfully. "You must be one of the brightest students of all Atmosia, then."

She blushed slightly by the compliment. "No, not really," she said sheepishly. "Mostly I've been interested in studying crystals and their uses. We originally lived on Terra Tropica, my birthplace by the way, where there were many different forms of crystals. I couldn't help but become intrigued by them. Unfortunately, the Cyclonians were just as interested. Terra Tropica is dangerously close to Cyclonia territory, so we would have Talons raiding our home just about every week. My parents decided to take refuge in Atmosia, so we could have a better life."

"Wow," Aerrow replied. "So can you tell me what you know about crystals and their uses?"

Piper thought for a moment, then smiled. "Sure, but only if you tell me more about your dad and his adventures!"

Aerrow smiled. "Deal!" he said, shaking her hand.

And so it was with that very meeting the two soon became best friends. Piper showed Aerrow all the crystals she had collected, and what purpose they had, while Aerrow told Piper tales of his father battling fierce Raptors, dreaded Sky Sharks, and terrifying Cyclonians. Piper spoke about her father, and how she and her mother continue to wait for word of him. Aerrow even told her of the promise he made, that he would become a Sky Knight, and lead a new generation of Storm Hawks.

"Aerrow," Piper began. "If you become a Sky Knight, would you help me find my father?"

He smiled. "I promise, if you promise to become my second in command. Together, there's nothing we couldn't face!" He held his hand out to make it a vow.

Piper giggled, reassured by Aerrow's determination. "Alright, it's a promise." She placed her hand on top of his. A third gray paw clasped on top, as Radarr added his vow with a chirp.

Aerrow smiled, staring at his two friends. "Then it's official. Tonight marks the beginning of the new Storm Hawks squadron."

Suddenly alarms began to blare, bringing the three back to where they were. Piper glanced around, seeing all the adults running to their stations. "Come on," she said, grabbing Aerrow by the hand. "My mom should know what's happening." They found her at the bridge, staring out into the dark sky, her face calm but her eyes dancing with concern. "Mom," Piper shouted, grabbing her by the arm. "What's happening?"

"Piper," she replied, not looking away, "get down below with the others, now."

"But…"

"Now! Piper, I mean it!"

Ignoring her mother's hurtful tone, Piper followed her gaze out into the horizon, and found her self in awe. A massive crystal spire shined through the night many leagues away. She couldn't help but become fixated by the glimmer, almost drawn to it somehow. Suddenly the necklace around her neck became heavy, as if an invisible hand is pulling at it. She struggled to stay upright, as her mother and Aerrow came to her side. She looked out once more, wondering if that spire had something to do with her necklace, and if so…could her father be there? She tried to speak, but found she couldn't. She could barely move.

She saw it, a huge ship rising from the clouds, looming. It almost appeared to point at her.

A voice whispered into her ear.

I've found ye.