2

The Lost Girl

"We're not Cyclonians!" Aerrow said, getting a little tired of always having to explain that.

"That's what they all say." The girl muttered, eyes roving from Aerrow to Finn, who was picking himself up from the ground to Piper, who was crouching next to Stork.

"We're not Cyclonians, we're the Storm Hawks" Aerrow persisted, turning to show her the emblem on his armour.

The girl stared at him for a moment before laughing bitterly. "Nice try. I know for a fact that the Storm Hawks are dead. They were all destroyed by the Dark Ace and the Cyclonians."

"The old ones were, yes. But we're the Storm Hawks reborn, the new Storm Hawks squadron." Aerrow explained.

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Really." She didn't believe them.

"Look, if we were Cyclonians don't you think we would have killed you by now?" Aerrow asked, starting to lose his patience.

The girl seemed to consider this. She glanced over at Junko, who was still holding her against the tree. "You don't have to squeeze so tightly you know." She said to him.

"Oh, sorry." Junko said, loosening his hold slightly. It was actions like that that were going to get the soft hearted Wallop into trouble one day, Aerrow realized with a sigh. The girl wiggled a little into a more comfortable position against the tree. As she did so the strange cat suddenly sprang forward and stood protectively in front of her with a soft growl.

"Ok, so you're not Cyclonians. But aren't you all a little young to be a Sky Knight Squadron?" she asked sceptically.

"If I had a dollar for every time I heard that one," Aerrow sighed.

"We're sixteen!" Finn said hotly, rubbing his neck. "How old are you, twelve?"

The girl glared at him. "Sixteen," she corrected and Aerrow blinked in surprise. To be fair she didn't look twelve, but he'd never have guessed she was the same age as them. She was shorter then Piper, although not by much, and despite the fierce scowl on her face and her gleaming eyes, her face still held the look of a child.

"We're the Storm Hawks, no matter how young we may seem." Aerrow declared. "And we've fought our fair share of Cyclonians. We've even gone up against the Dark Ace."

The girl's eyes flared suddenly. "You've fought against the Dark Ace?"

"Oh, sure, you've heard of him." Finn muttered.

"Oh, I've more then heard of him." the girl said. "Well, anyone's who's against the Dark Ace is a friend of mine. Brotherhood of the Wing and all." Her voice had lost its icy suspicion now and actually sounded fairly nice. "I'm sorry if I may have startled you; I didn't think you were Cyclonians, but you can't be too careful these days."

Aerrow nodded in understanding. "Sorry if we surprised you by showing up uninvited. We had to make an emergency landing and this Terra was closest."

"I know. I saw the whole thing. I wanted to come and make sure everyone was alright after the crash, but I didn't recognize your air ship; it must be an older model. I thought it might be a trap so I waited nearby until I could find out more. I saw you all head out into the jungle and decided to follow you. I figured by then that you probably weren't Cyclonians, but just to be sure I sent Falshade down ahead of you to see how you'd react." The girl paused here and stroked the large cat's head "He wouldn't have attacked you, by the way." She added. "It was just a test. Talons would have attacked out right, but you guys didn't. I was about to come down to introduce myself when you pulled out the crossbow." She turned her gaze to Finn now, looking apologetic. "I couldn't let you shoot poor Falshade, so I jumped you. I'm sorry."

Finn never was one to hold a grudge, especially against a girl. "Hey, don't worry about it." he said with a wave of his hand.

"Wait a moment! Why are you so quick to forgive someone who tried to strangle me?" Stork said suddenly, jumping to his feet awfully quickly for someone who had indeed been strangled.

"Oh, that. I'm sorry about that too. But I knew after I attacked you you guys might hit first and ask questions later. I grabbed the Merb to try and do some hostage negotiating, but it didn't go exactly as I had planned." the girl said, motioning to Junko at the last part. "I wasn't expecting a Wallop."

"We weren't expecting crazed jungle girls." Stork muttered and the girl laughed.

"Oh yeah, that's right, you thought I was a Rear Hook Fanged Python, didn't you?" she said with a grin that showed off strangely sharp teeth. Stork's eye twitched.

"So, the Storm Hawks, huh?" the girl said and she stuck out a hand around Junko. "My name's Wing."

"Aerrow." said Aerrow, shaking the girl's hand, which was strong and rough with calluses. "I think you can let her go now, Junko." he added and Junko released her.

"I'm Junko" he said, shaking Wing's hand and causing her head to rattle atop her shoulders.

"Finn." Finn said with a sly little grin. Aerrow could only guess what was on his mind.

"I'm Piper. "Piper introduced herself with a warm smile. "And this is Stork." she prodded his shoulder and made him scowl at her.

"I can speak for myself." he said "What about him? The one with all the teeth?" he said, jabbing a green finger at the jungle cat.

"This is Falshade." Wing said, stroking the cat's head again. "What about him?" she asked, stretching out her fingers for Radarr to sniff. Aerrow was glad to see he didn't growl at her like he had "Lark".

"This is my co-pilot, Radarr." Aerrow spoke for his little blue friend. Wing smiled as Radarr let her give him a quick scratch behind the ears.

"So tell me, what did you all go traipsing off into the jungle for in the first place?" she asked them, picking up her fallen scimitar.

"We were looking for some help. We need parts to fix our airship." Aerrow explained.

"What kind of parts?" Wing asked.

"One, really. A CEBC?" Aerrow asked hopefully.

Wing thought for a moment then nodded. "I'm pretty sure I've got one of those kicking around somewhere."

"Seriously?" Aerrow said. He couldn't believe their luck.

"Yeah. I've got tons of parts back at my garage. Come with me, I'll get you everything you need."

Aerrow glanced at the others, who all nodded, except for Stork, who shook his head frantically. Aerrow gave him a "you're out-voted" look and turned back to Wing. "Ok, lead the way."

Wing smiled and turned to leave it was then that Aerrow noticed the tattoo on her neck, just under her right jawbone. Until now it had been hidden beneath to hood of her overcoat. It looked like a sleek flying animal, half cat and half eagle. It was piecey, like a Sky Knight squadron emblem and Aerrow thought he should recognize it from somewhere.

"Hey, what's that?" Finn asked suddenly and Aerrow wondered if maybe he'd seen the tattoo too.

"What?" Wing asked.

"That…those, on his back." Finn said, motioning to Falshade.

"Are those wings?" Piper asked, crouching next to the cat.

"Yup." Wing said and Piper let out a squeal. Aerrow leaned closer and saw what were indeed wings folded compactedly along Falshade's back.

"Oh my gosh! He's a panthera! I thought they were extinct!" Piper exclaimed, cautiously reaching out to touch Falshade's back. Falshade didn't seem to mind; rather he stretched out languidly and bumped up against Piper like a house cat rubbing around its owner's legs.

"Really? That's odd. There's a whole colony of them here. Most of them stay up by some rocky clefts on the west side of the Terra. I found Falshade as a baby and he's stuck with me ever since." Wing said, rubbing Falshade's head affectionately.

"A whole colony?" Piper gushed "Oh, wow! I'd really like to see them!"

"Well, if you have time before you go, I can take you there. They're pretty easy going about visitors, as longs as you don't get too close to their nests."

"That'd be awesome!" Piper said, smiling from ear to ear.

Stork cleared his throat obviously. "I hate to break up your nice little chat, but we do have an air ship to repair."

"Stork's right. Let's get that part first and talk about the pantheras later, alright Piper?" Aerrow said.
"Ok. Lead the way, Wing." Piper said and they set off again. That's when Aerrow noticed something else about Wing. Strapped across her back was a huge broadsword. It was nearly as long as she was. Aerrow could barley believe her small frame could carry it, let alone wield it. He saw Finn oogling, his face looking as amazed as Aerrow felt. The large sword barely seemed to hinder Wing, though. She weaved her way through the jungle at a swift pace as if she'd done nothing else all her life.

"How big is this Terra?" Finn asked after some time of trekking through the jungle.

"Not very big, actually. We'll be there in a minute, don't worry." Wing said from ahead, slicing expertly through the foliage without actually cutting anything.

"There wouldn't happen to be a restaurant there, would there? Like a McFaughn's Deep- Fry Hut?" Finn asked hopefully.

Wing laughed. "I've never heard of one of those, but I can assure you we don't have one."

"You've never been to a McFaughn's? Were you raised under a rock?" Finn asked, sounding dumbfounded. Wing just laughed again and then turned onto a footpath that suddenly seemed to sprout from the jungle floor. They only had to follow it for a minute before the jungle seemed to evaporate around them and they were standing at the base of a small, cleared hill. Atop the plateau sat a lonely house and large barn.

Wing was still leading them up the trail as if there were nothing unusual about the lack of buildings. Aerrow and the others, however, were very confused.

"Dude, where's the rest of…everything?" Finn whispered.

"I don't know." Aerrow whispered back and then he called ahead to Wing "Hey, Wing?"
"Yeah?" she asked, looking back at him.

"Is this, um, it? Like, there's no city or anything?" Aerrow asked, sounding rude without intending to and feeling like an idiot. His felt his face flush.

Wing didn't seem offended though and smiled to let him know she knew what he meant. "Nope. This is it." And she continued up the hill. Aerrow led the others onward, feeling more confused then ever. If this was it, then where were the rest of the people?

He opened his mouth to ask when Piper suddenly elbowed him in the ribs and pointed off to the side. Aerrow looked in the direction she was pointing and his blood ran cold.

Over to the side of the barn was a row of eight grave stones, each with a set of weapons crossed over the front: there was a colossal double headed axe, a pair of scimitars similar to Wing's, a pair of short swords, three different long swords and a jagged looking blocking staff. The thing that disturbed Aerrow the most though was the weapon at the very end of the line. It was a massive broadsword and it was almost identical to Wing's.

Aerrow looked back at Piper, a horrible thought dawning on him. He could see the same thought in her eyes. Finn was looking unusually sombre and Junko looked like he was trying to come up with a better answer then the one he'd already arrived at. Stork had lost the suspicious look in his eye and was starring after Wing with an unreadable expression on his elongated face.

"Don't ask her anything." Aerrow whispered and they all nodded.

"You guys need some new legs along with that CEBC?" Wing called down to them and they all jumped like guilty children caught in the act. "Do you want something to eat before you get that part?"

"No thanks, we-" Aerrow began, but he was run over by Junko and Finn.

"FOOD!" they both cheered, thrusting fists into the air. Piper covered her face with her hands and groaned.

"You two won't starve." she muttered, sounding mortified.

"I keep telling you, it's the Maurvian Gut Worms." Stork muttered.

Wing was laughing. "Come on in, there's no point working on an empty stomach."

Junko and Finn were beside her in an instant. "I like this girl!" Finn said, putting an arm gamely around her shoulder. "You could learn a thing or two from her, Piper!"

"She'll change her mind when she's sees how much you two eat." Piper said defensively.

"Don't let him bug you, Piper. Come on, maybe having something to eat first is a good idea." Aerrow said, following Wing, Junko and Finn towards the house. Piper followed and Stork trailed along behind her nervously.

The inside of the house was welcoming and lonely at the same time. It was almost like it wasn't used to occupancy but it still longed for it. It was sort of haunting in a way and Aerrow noted that this didn't go unnoticed to Stork. He hesitated in the doorway and glanced around like he expected something to spring from some dark corner and devour him. He began muttering to himself about possible booby traps.

"Stork, get in here!" Piper hissed, hauling him in by the arm.

"I don't know about you, but in my survival guide it clearly states to keep on your guard around people who've tried to kill you." Stork said snarkily.

"Didn't I say I was sorry about that? And I wouldn't have killed you, by the way. Maybe made you a little blue in the face, but that's about it." Wing said, not seeming at all bothered by Stork's obsessively paranoid personality.

"Oh, well, that clears that right up. I feel much safer now." Stork said, sarcasm thick enough to cut with a knife. Wing just grinned playfully at him and Aerrow swore he saw a tiny fleck a pink colour Stork's green cheeks.

It was then that Wing took off her over coat and hung it on a rack near the door and the Storm Hawks finally got a good look at the strange girl. She didn't wear the skin tight clothing that they did, which was supposed to help you slice through the sky without so much drag. Wing wore a baggy pair of dark cargo pants that looked like they could have fit two more of her in them. They ended just below her knees, where they were tucked into her worn black combat boots. Her belt was extremely bulky and made her look bigger then she actually was. Her shirt clung to her comfortably, a few places supporting protective metal armour. She had a hard looking face with a strong jaw line and straight nose that curved up just slightly at the end. Her hair was black, a glossy sort of black that matched Falshade's coat. It hung down a little past her shoulders in jagged chunks, except for a section at the back, which fell all the way down to her waist. It was her eyes that caught Stork's attention though. They were what he'd seen flash beneath her hood when she'd rolled over him, and they were indeed electric blue. The colour seemed to leap out dramatically from under her dark hair.

"Go ahead and sit. I know you were hoping for something deep-fried, but will sandwiches be alright?" Wing asked.

"Oh yeah! I think this calls for a Hero Max-Pack Triple Decker Finn Supreme!" Finn declared, making himself at home on one of the kitchen chairs. "Do you have any roast beef?"

"I've got some rothe I can cut up." Wing said, digging around in an ancient looking refrigerator.

"Rothe?" said Finn, Junko and Aerrow at the same time.

"Free-range jungle cattle." Wing explained with a grin, putting a plate on the table that had a strange looking chunk of meat on it. It wasn't green in colour or anything, but it didn't look like your average piece of roast beef either.

"I'm actually surprised you guys didn't run into any of them. Or rather, none of them ran into you. They're very territorial. Makes 'em easier to hunt though." Wing said as Radarr hopped onto the table and sniffed curiously at the rothe.

"Radarr! Get off the table!" Piper exclaimed. Falshade, who was tall enough for his eyes to be level with the table top, growled at Radarr, who stubbornly growled back, despite the fact that Falshade could probably swallow the furry little devil whole.

"Hey!" Wing said to Falshade. "Manners! Don't worry about him by the way." She added to Piper, who was still glaring at Radarr. "He can sit up there if he wants."

At that moment Radarr tore a hunk of the meat off with his teeth and sat back on the table, gnawing on it happily. Piper winced and gave Aerrow a look. He took the hint and accepted the knife Wing handed to him and said to Radarr "Here, buddy, I'll cut you a piece off, alright?"

Shortly they were all sitting around the table, making strange arrays of sandwiches. Junko's towered about eight layers high while Stork nibbled cautiously at a plain piece of bread.

"What are these?" Piper asked, picking up a bright red fruit from the bowl on the table.

"Dracos Berry Fruit. Eat it, you'll like it." Wing said, taking one for herself. She pulled it apart at the top to reveal a sticky, gelatinous substance inside, dark red and sprinkled with tiny black seeds. She demonstrated how to eat it by scooping some out with a spoon. Piper eagerly split open her own Dracos Berry and dug into it with a spoon. She smiled widely when she stuck it in her mouth. "Wow, that's really sweet!" she said. "I've never heard of these before."

"You've never heard of them? Mark the calendar, people!" Finn teased her around his second Hero Max-Pack Triple Decker Finn Supreme.

"Ha ha. I guess that means they only grow here." Piper said.

"Maybe. Anyways, if you guys are done we can go look for that part now. It may take awhile to find, I've got tons of junk in that old barn out there." Wing said, pushing her chair back and getting up. "Just leave the dishes on the table, I'll clean up later."

"Are you sure?" Piper said, jumping to her feet. "Because we can give you a hand in here before-"

Wing shook her head "Nuh-uh, I don't think so. I can look after it, don't worry."

"Helpful hint number two, Piper." Finn whispered to her as he got up. She scowled at him. Junko shoved the rest of his sandwich in his mouth and nearly tripped over Falshade as he stood up.

"Whoops, sorry buddy." he said around a mouthful of bread and rothe and whatever else he'd packed into his sandwich. Falshade just ruffled his wings in what almost could have been a shrug and followed after Wing as they left the house.

From the top of the hill you could see the rest of the Terra spread wide beneath them, jungle sprawling untamed as far as the eye could see. Aerrow couldn't even see the clearing where they'd left the Condor and he was surprised at just how far they'd really come. Still, the view was fantastic and Aerrow looked back up at the house, thinking there couldn't be a better location to build a home. But who had built it and where we they now? Aerrow's eyes crept back over to the row of headstones and he couldn't help but wonder…

Wing stooped in front of the large barn door, which had the same emblem as Wing's tattoo painted across it. Piper's eyes suddenly widened as they scanned over the emblem.

"You're a Sky Knight!" she exclaimed and Wing turned abruptly to look at her.

"What?" she asked and her voice had taken on a steely edge.

"Well, it's…" Piper faltered "It's just that I recognize that sign. It's the crest of a Sky Knight squadron called the Shadow Strykers. Nobody really knew too much about them, but they were always there to fight when they were needed. Their emblem was a black Gryphyn, with the eagle representing fierce loyalty and the lion representing strength and courage."

"You sure know your stuff. But I'm not a Sky Knight. What else do you know about the Strykers?" Wing asked, not necessarily sounding threatening but not sounding friendly either.

"Well, I, um… nobody really knows how…they… I don't think I remember anymore" Piper said in a small voice. Wing glared at her for a second and then her face lost its frostiness.
"Sorry. I get a little touchy when the Strykers are brought up. Let's get you that part." she said, hauling open the door to the barn. Several bats came screeching out through the door and streamed down towards the jungle. Stork dropped to the ground faster then if he were on fire and put his hands over his head.

"I told you I needed the Bat Repellent!" he cried at Piper, who just hauled him back to his feet and dragged him into the barn as Wing clicked on the lights.

The barn was bigger on the inside then it seemed from the outside, and it resembled a once often used hanger. There were work benches and toolboxes and pieces of equipment strewn everywhere. In one corner there was a stack of crates all filled with crystals and at the back was wall to wall shelves filled with boxes and engine parts. And in a clear space in the middle of it all stood a skimmer.

"Sweet! Is that yours?" Finn asked, ducking over to get a closer look.

"Yup, that's my baby." Wing said proudly, running a hand affectionately along the skimmer as she past it on her way to the shelves. It looked like a standard Ultra that had been tweaked a little here and there. It had black runner boards with grey tips and fronting. On each side was a patch of electric blue with a Stryker's Gryphyn scrawled in the middle.

"Alright, the CEBC is most likely back somewhere back here, but if you guys see anything else you need go ahead and take it." Wing said, pulling a box off a shelf and rifling through it.

"Are you sure?" Aerrow asked, not wanting to take advantage of Wing's generosity.

"Oh, yeah, I won't be using it anyways. Except skimmer parts, run those by me first, please."

"Ok, if you're sure. Thanks a lot."

"No problem. Brotherhood of the Wing."

"Alright, Stork, you know what a CEBC looks like, why don't you go give Wing a hand while we sort through some of this stuff." Aerrow said. Stork gave him a pained look.

"She's not going to kill you, Stork." Aerrow added a bit more forcefully.

"She's tried once." Stork reminded him, but Aerrow was already sifting through a pile of parts with Finn and Junko.

With a sigh Stork went over to assist Wing at the back of the garage. He noticed with distaste that there was a thick coating of dust over most of the boxes, as if they hadn't been taken off the shelves in years. This could take hours to find the right box, assuming Wing really did have a CEBC. This could all be a very clever trap… Stork began to think of what sort of drugs Wing may have slipped into their food and wished he hadn't eaten so much bread.

Wing was pulling down a second box now. "I have a feeling it'll be on one of the lower shelves. You wanna start down at that end?"

"Why don't you start at that end and I'll stay here." Stork suggested. Ha.

Wing shrugged. "Whatever. Just watch for rats."

"Rats?" Stork's eye twitched like mad but Wing was already heading down to the end of the row, and he could swear she was giggling to herself.

"Falshade'll get 'em" she called back to him.

Stork eyed the panthera as he sat down on a work table nearby and he didn't feel at all comforted by the notion. He wanted nothing more to be back on the Condor and so he started taking down boxes so he could hunt through them. Most of them were full of random smaller parts that had been collected and thrown together in one box. Stork felt an itching desire to sort out all the pieces or at least put some labels on the damn boxes. He tried and failed to not inhale too much dust and just knew he was going to develop chronic asthma. And he was sure he saw a very tiny spider bite him and then disappear behind the shelves. There wasn't actually any puncture wound or a bump, but it was a very tiny spider mind you. And the tiny ones were the most dangerous.

Sucking on his finger to try and draw the poison out he nearly jumped out of his skin as when Falshade brushed past him and stood on his hind legs to peer onto one of the shelves.

"Oh, no…" Stork said, backing away. "Please tell me there is not a big, disease packing rat in there."

As it were, there wasn't a rat on the shelving. There were three of them.

Falshade caught the first one in his powerful jaws and pinned the second one under his claws. The third one, however, came flying off the shelf and tried to make a get away between Stork's feet. He yelped and leapt backward, staggering into the work table and falling backwards into a pile of junk.

"Uhhhhhhhhg." he groaned, starring at his own green toes which dangling a few feet above his face.

"Hey, nice fall. I'd give it a nine and a half. You ok?" Wing was looking down at him looking concerned and amused at the same time.

"I'm fine. Disorientated, bruised and breaking out in a strange rash, but I'm fine." Stork said. He tried to roll over and get up but ended up falling right back down into the junk again.

Wing fought back a laugh to spare to Merb's feelings and grasped his four fingered hand. She yanked him to his feet with more strength then Stork would have guessed and turned back to the shelf he'd been searching. She scanned the array of boxes and suddenly cried "Aha!"

Standing on tip toe, Wing reached up for large box on a higher shelf the Stork had been looking on. She grasped it with her fingertips and pulled it back from the shelf and got overbalanced. She stumbled and Stork shot out a hand to grasp her elbow and catch her. He let go again almost immediately, feeling foolish. Wing just cocked an eyebrow at him and set the box down on the table. "I think this is it. I remember it for some reason." she blew a layer of dust from the top and opened it carefully. Stork wrinkled his nose as the dust floated past his face and squinted into the box.

"Bingo!" cheered Wing, pulling out what was indeed a CEBC. "Alright! Hope it still works, this thing looks ancient. Then again, it's probably newer then your airship." she said with a chuckle.

Stork scowled. Some people had their skimmers, he had the Condor. It was his baby and he didn't appreciate it being poked fun of. "I don't recall making any nasty remarks about your skimmer." he growled.

Wing nodded. "You're right, I'm sorry. Old or not, that thing took that landing better then your average airship. Who's your carrier pilot? I thought you guys were goners, but that landing was something else."

Stork felt a little heat rise to his face. "I'm the pilot." he muttered.

"Seriously?" Wing's eyes widened. "Wow, you're amazing! Did you go to like a top secret school for pilots?"

"Er, no, I never had any training in my life." Stork said, fiddling with his sleeve awkwardly.

"You're kidding, right? Dude, you've got some serious skill!"

"I prefer a strong desire not to crash and burn."

Wing laughed and Stork realized he liked to hear it, which made him all the more unnerved.

"This will fit your ship, right?" she asked, examining the CEBC. "I don't know too much about carriers."

"It's kind of a one size fits all thing. This will work, considering it's functional." Stork said, holding out a hand so he could inspect the CEBC.

"Found it!" Wing called to the others while he did so and they all let out a whoop.

"Great!" Aerrow said, coming over and stepping around Falshade, who was gnawing on a rat's carcass. "Will it work, Stork?"

"Theoretically, yes, that's the idea."

"Perfect! So lets take it back to the Condor and get her fixed!" Aerrow said.

"Aw, man, does that mean we have to trek back through all that jungle?" Finn asked, a grease smudge smeared across his cheek.

Wing seemed to think for a second before brightening with a sudden idea. "Hey, I got an idea. I can fly one of you back on my skimmer and we can pony back the rest of 'em. It's much faster to fly over the jungle then to hike through it."

"I'll go." Aerrow volunteered. Wing nodded and walked over to her skimmer and wheeling it out of the garage.

"Aerrow, does the word KAMIKAZE mean anything to you?" Stork demanded, clutching the CEBC gingerly as though he thought it would explode at any moment. "All it takes is to kill the engine and she takes out you and the Condor in one fell BOOM!"

Aerrow sighed. "Stork, I trust her. And besides, she's really helping us out here. Why would she go to all this trouble just to kill us later? She could have really had us in the jungle back there-"

"She had me in the jungle." Stork pointed out.

"Nothing's going to happen to me, Stork." Aerrow said in a "end of discussion" tone.

He headed over to where Wing had kick started her skimmer and slid on behind her.

"We'll be back in about ten minutes. Make yourselves at home!" Wing called over the rumblings of her engine. And with that she gunned it across the plateau and snapped out the wings of her skimmer as she and Aerrow reached the lip of the hill. Then they were soaring out over the canopy and back to where they'd left the Condor.

Falshade let out an indignant roar after the skimmer and sat dejectedly on the grass. Piper went over to him and scratched him behind the ears. "I guess you're used to flying along with her, huh?" she said to him in an adoring voice. She'd always had a thing for large cats.

"Hey, look at this!" Finn said, dragging a large chest out from below a bench. It had the black Gryphyn inscribed on the lid.

"Finn! Put that back right now! Whatever's in there belongs to Wing, and I'm sure she doesn't want you snooping through it!" Piper said, hurrying back over to them.

"Hey, she said to make ourselves at home." Finn said, opening the trunk and looking inside.

"Finn!" Piper cried exasperatedly.

"Check this out! Medals! A bunch of them! These are the kind they give to Sky Knights!" Finn said, totally ignoring her and pulling out several medals. "Whoa, this guy's a hero! All these medals are for extreme acts of bravery in the line of duty and whatever, to some guy named Falco Ravencroft. Ever heard of him?" Finn asked.

"It sounds familiar. I think he must have been the leader of the Shadow Strykers." Piper said, curious despite herself.

"There's some diplomas in here too, from the Sky Knight academy. And some registration forms... boring stuff…lots of miscellaneous stuff too… I wonder why it's all in here." Finn said, holding up an old scrap book and some sketches. "Ooooooooh, love letters!" he said, dropping everything else and pulling out a bundle of letters all tied together.

"Finn, put those back!" Piper snapped.

"I just wanna know who they're from." Finn whined, but Piper snatched them away.

'That's going too far! This is someone's private things! How would you like it if someone went looking through all your things?"

"I'd like it fine!" Finn argued, reaching back into the chest and pulling out two thick old books. One was a collection of fairytales and Finn tossed it on the ground without a second glance. Stork bent down and picked it up, tracing a finger along the picture on the cover.

"Check it out, this is the Squadron Log! Bound to be something good in here!" Finn said, flipping open the leather bound cover.

"Hey, what's that?" Junko asked, looking over Finn's shoulder and pointing at a corner of paper that was sticking out from the rest of the pages.

"You guys!" Piper exclaimed, losing her cool. "Just leave it alone and put everything back!"

"It's an old photo." Finn said, ignoring her again and extracting the picture from between the pages. Piper leaned in a little, her curiosity getting the better of her. Stork glanced over too, holding the CEBC in one hand and clutching the book of fairytales to his chest with the other.

Finn tilted the photo so they all could see. In it was a group of seven people, all men except for one. Well, two of them were men; the other four looked like grown up little boys, all smiling widely and with mischievous gleams in their eyes. The one on the end had messy blonde hair and clever blue eyes, and he had his arm around the shoulders of another boy, maybe a year or two younger, who had black hair and brown eyes. His face was blockier then the boy beside him, but they shared the same smile. Behind them stood a tall, lean man with floppy black hair and clear blue eyes. Next to him stood the other man, with the same unruly black hair but grey eyes. He had his hand on the shoulder of another boy, this one with brown hair and grey eyes that matched the man's. He looked different from the other two bys, but you could pick out some similarities, like the life in his eyes and the curl of his smile. Beside him was another blacked haired boy, this one with electric blue eyes and supporting the most intoxicating smile of them all. He looked even younger then the second boy, and he had his fist dug into the scalp of the girl was standing in front of them all, who was also smiling and looking over at the boy who was giving her a nuggie. You could just make out a tattoo on her neck and the long 'ponytail' of hair at the back.

"That's Wing!" Junko said, stating the obvious.

"Look at the rest of them. They all look kinda alike." Finn said, peering down at the picture intently.

"Look what they've all got on them! It's the Stryker's crest!" Piper said, pointing at the Gryphyn on the blonde boy's shoulder armour, similar to Aerrow's.

"If they've all got the crest, then these must be…" Finn began.

"The Shadow Strykers!" Piper finished excitedly.

"What are you doing?"

They all jumped. They hadn't heard Aerrow and Wing return with the skimmers, so rapped up in their own discovery that they were. Stork dropped the fairytale book guiltily, but there was no way for Finn to hide what he was holding. Piper jumped up in alarm and backed away from Wing, who was starring at them all with an unreadable expression on her face. Aerrow was behind her, looking ashamedly at his squadron.

"We…we…we were just…" Piper stammered.

"It was Finn's idea!" Junko said, jumping away from him.

"Thanks, guys." Finn muttered.

"Why are you looking through my stuff?" Wing demanded.

"I was just curious?" Finn said lamely.

Wing sighed. "I think you know the one about curiosity."

Stork gulped.

"Look, I'm sorry, I just saw the chest and wanted to know what was in it." Finn said hurriedly "I'll put it all back right now."

"I don't think so. Put the photo down and leave it. I'll put it back."

"Ok." Finn said, laying the photo down carefully on the floor of the garage. "Is…that's you in the picture, isn't it?" he asked cautiously.

"No, it's my evil twin." Wing said sarcastically, although her anger sounded like it was dissipating.

"Then if it is you then those people must be your squadron. You may not be a Sky Knight, but you are a Shadow Stryker!" Piper said.

"No, I'm not. I was too young to be a Stryker." Wing sighed and bent down to pick up the picture and stare at it with far away eyes. "That's not my squadron, really. It's my family."

Author's note: Oooooooooooooh, cliffhanger! So what did you think? Thank you to all who reviewed last time: Dotskip 317, Supergirl saves the world, CraneLee, Green Peridot and Nefferduat. I appreciate the compliments and the information. I've been trying to watch some episodes on YouTube, but I've still got Windows98 and dial-up, so it takes forever. I've seen bits and pieces. But I saw Fire and Ice this weekend, loved it! Quick question: Stork and sandcakes. I heard he eats them, read about them in a few fics but I've yet to see an episode where he actually eats one. Does he? Anyways, 'til next time, peace out and remember: Brotherhood of the Wing (which is like my version of Pay it Forward)!