Sibling Rivalry

A/N I don't own the storm Hawks. I got this idea in the middle of the night. I hope it's good. :D

Snipe smiled to himself as he knelt before Master Cyclonis. He had just successfully completed his mission and delivered to her a crate load of rare crystals. She was pleased with him, something that didn't happen often. To top it off, Ravess had just failed her own mission.

Ravess, perfect Ravess failed while he, stupid Snipe, succeeded. His smile widened as he waited for his sister to show up. He could just imagine Ravess's face when Cyclonis praised him, but scolded her. Finally after all these years of Ravess being better than him it was going to turn around. Perhaps he would even get a promotion. Perhaps he would soon rank higher than his perfect sister.

"Master Cyclonis, you wished to see me?" Ravess's voice held a barely perceptible amount of nervousness. Understandable considering she had failed her mission. What that mission was, Snipe had no idea. Nor did he care. She knelt next to her brother and glanced at him. In that glance, Snipe could detect the fear in his sister and that filled him with glee. He could barely contain himself.

Master Cyclonis turned to face the two, the expression on her face unreadable. "Snipe... You succeeded your mission. You did it quite well, in fact. I think a promotion is in order."

Snipe felt thrill tear its way through him. He was just barely able to contain himself. "Yes, master. Thank you." He couldn't wait to rub this in Ravess's face after they left the throne room.

"Ravess..." Cyclonis's voice was cold.

"Yes, master?" Ravess managed to keep her voice calm.

"You failed," she said. "Again."

"Yes... Yes, master. I did. I am sorry."

"Sorry? Is that what you have to say?" Master Cyclonis's dangerous eyes narrowed.

Here it comes, Snipe thought. He noticed Ravess trembling beside him.

"You've failed me for the last time, Ravess!" Cyclonis held a crystal out before her and a fiery hand grabbed Ravess and smacked her against a pillar in the throne room. It held her there, pressing against her.

Snipe tipped his head to the side to watch his sister squirm. He knew what Cyclonis was doing. She was scaring her so she would be to afraid to fail again. It was also supposed to send Snipe the same message. Ravess stared down at him with terrified eyes. He smirked. It served his sister right for being so darn perfect all the time. She was going to learn that she was not above failure.

Something was wrong. Shouldn't Cyclonis be letting Ravess down now? Snipe frowned in confusion until he realized what was going on. Cyclonis was really going to kill his sister. Without thinking- because he rarely thought anyway- he rose to his feet and turned towards his sister. She had fallen unconscious, her face pale. Cyclonis didn't notice Snipe stand; she was too intent on watching Ravess's last moments.

Without even knowing what he was doing, Snipe was running towards Cyclonis, his energy mace out. She didn't see him coming until it was too late. She half turned to see the head of his mace come flying towards her head. It hit and she fell to the ground. The crystal fell out of her hand and he heard Ravess crash to the ground.

Snipe stared down at Cyclonis's unconscious form in terror. What had he done? If anyone found him, they would kill him. His eyes narrowed. Cyclonis deserved it. No one was allowed to hurt his sister except for him. Turning, he walked over to Ravess's unconscious form. His sister who had always been the one in control; who had always been strong, prepared for everything, suddenly looked so weak and fragile.

Scooping her up and throwing her over his shoulder, he turned and ran from the throne room. He was lucky Cyclonis had dismissed her guards before seeing him, but he didn't have much time. As soon as she awoke, she would send someone after him. Maybe even the Dark Ace. He sprinted towards their chambers which happened to be right next to each other. Any Talon he came across was smart enough to scramble out of his way. Bursting into Ravess's room, he grabbed her bow and quiver. Seeing that he could carry one more item he turned to go to his own room, to grab something of his, when he spotted it, sitting in a corner.

Ravess's violin. He remembered how important it was to her. It was the last thing linking her new life on Cyclonia to her old life. He remembered how many times he had wanted to burst into her room and throttle her for practicing the darn thing in the middle of the night. Remembered how annoying her theme-song playing Talon who followed her around was. Grabbing the violin and hastily throwing it in its case, he departed from the room. He sprinted towards the skimmer bay and tried to do some math in his head. How long did it take him to reach Ravess's room? How long would Cyclonis stay unconscious for? He had no idea, so he gave up on trying to figure out how much time they had left. Figuring things out had always been Ravess's thing.

Ignoring anyone who asked him where he was going, he arrived at the skimmer bay and reached his Heli-blade Elite. Slipping Ravess on in front of him and piling the stuff in front of her, he roared out of the hangar. Switching to flight mode he left Cyclonia behind him, confused Talons staring after him. They would know soon enough though.

He wrapped a protective arm around his sister as he felt her shift her weight to keep her from falling off.

"Brother... What did you do?"

Snipe looked down at Ravess as she awakened. "I attacked Cyclonis... She's not dead though."

"She'll send Dark Ace after us, you know. He'll kill us both."

"Bah, I'm not afraid of him. I'll just give him a good smashing. No one, not even the Dark Ace is stronger than me." Snipe flexed his muscles to demonstrate that point.

"Snipe?" his sister looked up at him. "Risking your life for me... Throwing your career away..."

"Yes, Ravess?"

"That was stupid."

"Love you too, sis."