Never Give Up
Chapter one
A girl with long red hair sat by herself at a desk trying not to let her face show. If her face had been visible you would have seen big, beautiful emerald green eyes that were currently red from crying. Tears traced their way down her cheeks.
A round, silver locket hung from a long leather cord around her neck. Painted on it was the blue symbol of the Storm Hawks. The Storm Hawks had all died eight years ago in a fight with the previous Master Cyclonis. The leader of them had been her father.
His name had been Aerrow.
Her mother had been the navigations expert of the team. Her name had been Piper.
The girl was the only surviving decent of the Storm Hawks and the original Storm Hawks before them. Her name was Kailey. Or Kale for short. No one called her that anymore now that her parents were gone. She was rightfully the heir to the Storm Hawks and if she didn't rebuild the team the new Master Cyclonis the previous one that her mother and father had dealt with's daughter would rebuild her empire and conquer the Atmos and all that her parents had fought and died for would have gone to waste.
No one knew the Storm Hawks had an heir. She had been born on the Condor and spent most of her time there as well. When her mother and father had gone off on missions they would often leave Kailey on Terra Neverlandis with Radarr's son Seeker.
Don't ask about a mother Kailey had no idea.
She had been living alone on Terra Neverlandis with Seeker for years until she had a close encounter with some Cyclonians and came here to Terra Atmosia and guess what? She had been sent to school! Seeker had to hide in the woods until she was finished each day so he wouldn't give them away. If people knew who she was Master Cyclonis would find out and come for her. Kailey wasn't sure she was ready for that quite yet.
She was crying because she had been shoved off the bleachers outside at recess again by Cole. Her lip was bleeding slightly along with her nose and her left hand was red and a little swollen. No one had bothered to help her though. Her red hair was matted with mud from where she had landed and her hands and face were scraped up and dirty.
"alright division two!" the teacher Miss Quant was saying "have a good day!" they exited the classroom, the boys pushing and shoving each other while the girls talked about boys and make up and how hard their lives were. Kailey huffed and blew her hair out of her eyes. They thought their lives were hard? Ha! They should try living her life for one day!
When she turned around Kailey came face to face with Eva. "Um…hi?" she said timidly. She had never really liked Eva she didn't really seem like a nice or friendly person. But Eva wasn't looking at Kailey she was looking at Kailey's necklace. She held the pendant in her hand. "That's a…interesting necklace." She said.
Kailey didn't like the way she said that. All Eva had to do was open the locket and she would discover Kailey's secret. Inside the locket she kept a Solaris crystal fragment. Part of the crystal her parents and the other Storm Hawks had used to escape the Black Gorge back when they were teenagers. She also kept a photograph of herself when she was five sitting on her father's shoulders in front of the Condor with her mother and Uncles Junko, Finn, Stork and Radarr. Baby Seeker sat perched on Kailey's shoulder hanging onto her back.
Kailey slipped the locket out of the other girl's hand. Eva was younger but still anyone who found out Kailey's secret could tell Master Cyclonis and Kailey defenatly didn't trust Eva. "thanks." She said. "But I really have to get home now." she turned to leave but Eva grabbed her arm. "Why does it have the Storm Hawks symbol on it?" she questioned.
For the first time in her life Kailey wished that she didn't look so much like her father. "Oh it's just an old locket I found in the market." She lied. Luckily for her Kailey was the best liar on the Terra. "The Storm Hawks did so much for us I thought it might be nice to keep something about them with me." Eva didn't seem to believe her.
Kailey did the only thing she could. She turned and ran. She bolted down the stairs and tore through the halls not stopping until she was safely in the forest. Seeker jumped onto his normal place hanging onto her back. "Hey Seeker." She said. "Someone almost opened my locket today." Seeker let out a distressed cry. She gave him a week smile. "It's okay. I stopped her."
She reassured him. "But we have to find a way out of here. Things are getting worse." As if on cue Cyclonian Talons flew overhead. Kailey cursed under her breath and Seeker hissed.
"Come on boy lets go." They hurried down a steep ravine and ducked under mossy overhangs. Here in the Lost Forest a place Kailey and Seeker had found when they first came to Atmosia was the place Kailey had set up her home and more importantly hid the last thing she had from Terra Neverlandis. It was a rusty old skimmer.
Her shoes were probably worth more than the skimmer was. She didn't care that it was a complete piece of junk. She knew how to fly and she knew she had to get out of here.
"Wait!" someone called as Kailey started the engine. Seeker's ears perked up and Kailey turned around. A girl probably about her age with light orange hair and pale green eyes wearing glasses was running toward them.
She wore a fuzzy purple sweater and brown pants that looked only slightly less handmade then the clothes Kailey was wearing. She also wore black boots and a back pack. "Who're you?" Kailey asked as the girl reached her side. "Madeline." She panted. Kailey wasn't sure about this. "What do you want?" Madeline looked at her with eyes that seemed to hold so much happiness and excitement and at the same time so much sadness and doom.
"I want a way out of here." She said. "My family was captured by Cyclonians. All I need is a ride to the nearest Terra. When I saw you had a skimmer I decided to ask you to help me." Kailey glanced at Seeker. "How do I know you're not working for the Cyclonians? Or even worse for Master Cyclonis herself?" Madeline scowled.
"We don't have time for this! They're coming! You're just going to have to trust me!" Kailey didn't think it was a good idea but then she thought about what her parents would have done. She sighed. "Climb aboard." Madeline grinned and scrambled up behind her. Seeker hissed. Madeline didn't seem to care.
They flew (every once in a while dropping a few feet) over the side of the Terra. "So where exactly are you going?" Kailey called over the wind. "I have no idea!" Madeline said. "I don't have anywhere else to go!" Kailey and Seeker exchanged looks and made a split second decision. "Hey Madeline?" she asked. "Yeah?" Madeline answered. "How would you like to come with us back to our Terra?" Madeline's smile was answer enough.
Somehow they made it to Terra Neverlandis. The old Storm Hawks flag still flying. They set down and just in time to because the skimmer finally gave out and fell to pieces at their feet. "Crap…" Kailey muttered. Seeker whined and jumped onto her back. "Sorry about your skimmer." Madeline said. Kailey just shook her head. "Don't be. It was a piece of junk anyways. We found it on a garbage barge. We can try to fix it again later. Wanna come see my home?"
They trudged up the path that led to the only thing on the little Terra. A huge old willow tree with a fortress built around it and tree houses in its branches. As they approached the gate Madeline asked in awe "how many people actually live here?" Kailey kept walking. She opened the gate and stepped inside. "With you included….three."
That night they sat perched on a platform high up in the tree's branches so they could see the moon and stars. "So that necklace…." Madeline began. Kailey smiled weakly. She knew this would come up eventually. She removed the necklace and held it tightly in her hand. Keeping her eyes fixed on the stars she began her story.
"My mother and father gave me this necklace on my first birthday. They said that if I kept it close to me that they would always be with Me." she smiled sadly at the memory as her eyes began to tear up.
"They promised that they would always be there for me. Storm Hawks stick together they always said." Madeline stopped her there with wide eyes. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Kailey looked at her new friend as tears began to run down her cheeks. "yup." She sniffed clicking the locket open to reveal the picture and crystal fragment.
Madeline looked at the photo and almost couldn't believe her eyes. There was a little five year old girl who had to be Kailey. She was sitting on the shoulders of someone everyone in all of the Atmos would recognize. Aerrow of the Storm Hawks was Kailey's father. And Piper the Crystal Mage must have been her mother. "You're the heir to the Storm Hawks. Aren't you?" Madeline asked.
Kailey wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and smiled dryly. "Why? Wanna join?"