Author's Note: I do not own Storms Hawks, I do own all original characters.

Chapter One - Different Paths

Fifteen years have passed since the fall of Cyclonia. He was the one who bears both the glory of the final battle and the shame of the aftermath. He still remembered that day well as the palace collapsed around them and he stood over her.

Gripping the wound at her side, she stared at him, "So, are you going to leave me to die?"

Without saying a single word, he put away his weapons and walked away.

Steela was a normal teenage girl. She was never part of any adventures or lived a life aboard a ship. She lived a peaceful life on Terra Tecnos, a gigantic floating city and the only artificial terra ever made. Heading to school early, she decided to drop by her favorite place in the whole city, a small garage called the Merb-ous Mechanic.

She entered through the front door and placed her bag on the bench in the waiting room before approaching the front desk.

She rung the bell, "Hello, uncle Stork? Are you there?"

She heard a sudden bang, "Ow."

A moment later, Stork got out from underneath the skimmer he was fixing while rubbing his forehead.

Steela giggled, "Sorry."

"No, no, no, I had it coming. I knew this morning was going too well. So why did you drop on by?"

"You weren't home and you always see me off to school."

"Sorry, Kiddo. Not today, I have too many skimmers that need upgrades for the Tecnos Grand Slam Race happening tomorrow. Though, I don't know why they bother. With as dangerous a race as this one is, they are all doomed."

She chuckled, "Why do you always say such funny things?"

He smiled a little, "Just an old habit from my youth."

"Well, I don't want to keep you, so I will see you at dinner?"

He looked at the clock, "We'll see."

Her smile left her face as she sighed, "Okay…"

She walked out of the garage as the little bell above the door chimed. He too sighed and ran his fingers across his scar that ran from ear to chin, "Piper."

"Piper…Piper…are you okay? Please tell me you are not affected by Zambian Sleeping Fever." She heard Stork's voice as she started to awaken, she felt the soft grass brush against her hair.

"Stork…" her voice strained before coughing from the smoke, "…what happened?"

"It is bad, really bad. The Condor is a wreck and fire is everywhere, I managed to salvage some supplies, but we were hit real bad."

"How did I…?"

"I don't know, but I found you with your heli-scooter a few yards behind those rocks. It is a miracle you are alive. By the way, I will fix it after I am done with the Condor."

"Did the others make it to the rendezvous?"

"No idea, I guess we are on our own and you know what that means…"

"Yeah, yeah, doom. Oh my god, Stork…your cheek." She pointed at his cheek.

He swiped his fingers across his cheek and saw his blood stain his fingers.

Broken out of his reverie, Stork stopped stroking his old scar, "It has been so many years and still that memory haunts me like a chilling wind that never leaves my side. Why now of all times?"

One of the many passenger cabins aboard the merchant ship Zephyr lit up with the rising sun piercing through the blinds of the windows. The teenage boy within this particular cabin stirred beneath his burlap cover as he awoke, it has been a long journey for him to get here.

"Mother…this is where you wished me to go?"

He pulled back the blinds to see that the ship was docking in the port of Terra Tecnos. He stood up and threw the cover to the floor and got his case. The case he hoisted over his shoulder was his height and width while being slender otherwise. He got in line with the rest of the passengers as it moved slowly down toward the exit.

"Wait, you!" said one of the crew pointing at the boy. The passengers split up against the hall as the crewman came closer. The boy didn't turn to face this person.

"I don't recognize you during boarding. Show me your ticket."

The boy smiled devilishly, "Sure. It is in my case."

He placed it down on the ground and unclasped it, the lid opened up and an immense purple light shone from within the case. Everyone except the boy covered their eyes from such a blinding light. When the crewman's sight returned, the boy stood firmly before him with the tip of his purple crystal zanbatou beneath the man's chin.

"This is my ticket, understand?" He growled.

Everyone backed away from him as he grabbed the handle of his case and dragged it to the exit with his weapon resting on his shoulder. For the first time during this long trip, he breathed in the fresh air that the port offered and smiled as he walked down the dock.

"God, I hate taking 'Atmos History', I can never remember the dates and places." Steela said walking down the hall to her next class.

Her friend, Lily, laughed, "Well at least, you rule at 'Crystal Analysis and Research'. Now that class is a killer."

Steela held her books against her chest, "Uncle Stork said I get that from my mother. He told me that she was an expert with crystals and I look like her too. He says especially the skin color and the hair."

"It sounds like uncle Stork was taken in by her."

She shook her head, "Nah, he found her fascinating as an intellectual equal, but no attraction otherwise."

Lily stroked a small piece of her friend's hair, "So where do you get these?" She commented on the red strains mixed in with the blue hair.

"He says I get those from my father."

"Where are your parents? You never seem to talk about them."

Steela exhaled deeply before answering, "My mother died in childbirth and I never knew my father. He wasn't even there to see me born. If it wasn't for uncle Stork, I would have died."

Lily frowned, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"It's okay. Come on or we are going to be late for our next class."

The girls giggled as they ran down the hall. A small draft blew through the air spending shivers down Steela's spine, she felt something wasn't right as if this would elude to events that would come.

The end of the first chapter of my first Storm Hawks fic. I had four different ideas, so I went with this one.

Also before I get reviews saying why I named the main character Steela. It was because Stork was the one who named her, so he chose to name her after the strongest thing he could think of, so she could be "Not Doomed" as he would put it.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed reading this.