Disclaimer: I do not own Storm Hawks.

Here is an update- sorry for not updating sooner. Writer's block sucks. I want to thank all of the people who read and reviewed. Also, I want to thank Green Peridot for editing and stuff! Please enjoy chapter three:


Discussions and Escape

Finn watched Tamar's expression turn from suspicious to horrified. She slowly placed the letter on the small side table next to his bed. Once she had taken the letter and began to read he had returned to the swivel chair. He sighed. This was way over his head. The simple fact that Master Cyclonis had written to him was mind blowing, but the news was depressing. All these years he had dreamed of seeing Rin again and holding her in his arms, but now he couldn't. But then he thought of the news that he did learn that was exciting. He had a daughter.

"We have to tell the others," Tamar decided and stood up to go to the door. He launched out of his chair and grabbed her by the arm before she managed to reach the door.

"No, we can't," Finn pleaded. "She wrote that she wouldn't guarantee your guys' safety. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to one of us and it was my fault."

Tamar frowned. "They would not appreciate the fact that you kept this information away from them," she reasoned. "It would be good to have more than you looking for her."

He muttered a profanity under his breath. "What will they think?" he asked. "I mean, I got a personal letter from the ruler of Cyclonia!"

"Aerrow would not forgive you," his sister growled. "Neither would the other Storm Hawks. Must I remind you that they are your friends?"

He narrowed his blue eyes at her. "You do not need to remind me," he hissed. At times she got on his nerves, but he reluctantly had to agree with her. If he didn't tell the others they would never forgive him. "But still, what happens after they find out about this?" He was still slightly worried about their reactions.

"Aerrow and Piper deserve to know," his sister said. "Aerrow's children were threatened and if you didn't tell him-" she paused to catch her breath. "He would explode. Then there is the matter of your daughter. She is all alone out there and we are having this discussion." She glared at him.

"Fine," he replied. He let go of her arm and then took to strides over to where the letter lay unfolded and slightly wrinkled. He grabbed the piece of paper and then exited his room. He found Tamar waiting impatiently outside his door. She grabbed onto his wrist and then dragged him along to the Condor's bridge.


Tessa glared at the bulky man who sat inches away from her thick barred cage. With all her might she restrained herself from formulating plans that consisted of beating the crap out of the man before her. She had to focus on a plan to escape. The man was always there, so she had no time to turn into a mouse and seek out. And she imagined the possibility of him finding out her ability. She shuddered.

Her long Fennec ears were flat against her head and her teeth were bared. This place sent shivers up and down her spine and the presence of evil unsettled her. Being nine years old she was relatively wiser for her age, but she felt like breaking down. She didn't feel like holding back the flood anymore, she didn't feel like putting on a brave face, and she definitely didn't feel like being older than her years.

Desperately she wanted her mother. She wanted the warmth of her mother's tight embrace, she wanted to hear the angelic voice that soothed her when she was scared, and she wanted to see her mother's beautiful smile once more. And then a disturbing flash of memory shot through her brain.

She watched her mother's face twist in pain and through the glass she heard her mother gasp. All she could do was watch as her mother's life was drained and her skin paled. Tears fell from her watery eyes and she sobbed heavily as she saw her uncle's blade protruding from her mother's chest. With widened and haunted eyes she watched her mother's eyes cloud never to sparkle or see again.

A small pathetic whimper escaped through her fox mouth. The man who had captured her glanced back at her. She growled menacingly, or tried to, and her hackles rose. His response was unexpected- a booming laugh echoed throughout the tent. Tessa backed into a corner of the cage and couched lower to the floor. She wanted her mother. Suddenly anger surged through her little frame and intense hatred for her uncle blossomed. A thought disturbed her- if she ever saw her uncle again she would kill him.

After a few more hours of being trapped in the cage and trying to formulate a plan that would work night fell. She glanced at the tent flap and saw darkness on the other side. Tessa then looked around and watched the man put wood in the fireplace. Curiously she watched him fiddle with the flames and then she saw him put things in a sack. Is he going somewhere? her mind asked. Her heart leapt. Then she would get her chance to escape. A plan was already formed in her mind.


Everyone was gathered in the bridge with all their eyes trained on the blond sharpshooter. Finn glanced at Tamar who was right beside him and frowned. He didn't want to do this, but he had to. His sister seemed to notice his discomfort and snatched the letter away from him. She planned to do the job for him. He was silently thankful.

"I know all of you are wondering why we called you all here," she stated. He smiled sheepishly. "Finn has received a letter from an unlikely person and he has some news that he wishes to express." His gaze landed on her. He wondered if she was just starting it off and did not intend to let him off the hook. She grinned at him and handed the piece of paper back.

Piper was holding Kara on one of her hips and Tyler was sitting on a chair by the table. Finn watched the boy amused. The small boy was fiddling with a contraption. Finn wondered if the boy was actually fixing it, making it, or destroying it. "What is it that you have to discuss?" Piper asked, she was slightly impatient- she had to go back to getting her children ready for bed.

"Uh, how do I put this?" he started. "As you all know, I got a letter." He held it up. "And unfortunately, it's from, uh…" He glanced at his sister. She nodded and he gulped. "Master Cyclonis."

The next few seconds were almost hysterical. Piper almost dropped Kara; Junko dropped his pile of scrap metal; Silver tripped over some of the metals; Stork grimaced and plugged his ears with his fingers; and Aerrow's expression was priceless- it was a mixture of surprise and hatred. And the only one who was completely clueless of what was going on was Tyler who stared wide-eyed at the scene before him.

"What!?" Aerrow questioned. The sky knight advanced forward and Finn put Tamar between him and the red head. "What do you mean the letter is from Master Cyclonis?" Finn could understand why he was angry, but he was still fearful of Aerrow's explosion. Aerrow had gone through lots of suffering where Master Cyclonis was concerned.

"I just found it today," he said. "Here you read it." He handed the piece of paper to Aerrow. "At first I didn't want to tell you guys about it, but Tamar convinced me." He glared at his sister with something close to contempt. After Aerrow read it he dropped it on the floor and then slumped into the couch behind him.

Piper went over to Aerrow and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "What did the note say?" she asked. "Read it out loud."

Silver picked it up and began to read, "Master Cyclonis to the blond idiot of the Storm Hawks. I will waste no words. I write to you under extreme circumstances, as I never would have lowered myself so otherwise. Rin is dead by Dark Ace's hand three days prior to your reading these words…" Silver skimmed through the letter. "One order I have for you: leave Dark Ace to me. If you interfere with my revenge on him, I will kidnap those two brats of Aerrow's and kill them…" She glanced at Finn and then at Piper who had gone pale. "She is nine years old, around four feet seven inches tall, has black hair, and blue eyes… and she has her mother's abilities."

Finn watched Silver place the letter on the table. All of the Storm Hawks stayed in complete silence for a few minutes. "What does this mean?" Piper asked, she was looking at the letter herself. She had just figured out that Silver hadn't read it all.

"It means that Rin is dead and I have to find my daughter who is missing," Finn replied. He was frowning. Long ago he would have been smiling and completely goofy, but now he was more mature and this was a serious situation. "And if we do anything to Dark Ace, Tyler and Kara might be, um…" He stopped his thought.

"It also says that Master Cyclonis wants Tessa back after we find her," Tamar informed. "But we can't do that. We have to fight for her."

"We have to find her first before we think of that," Silver included. The white haired woman sat down on a wooden chair. "Where do you think she could have gone?"

"Some place close to Cyclonia," Stork muttered. Finn could tell that the merb wasn't at all too happy. Stork was still the paranoid merb he used to be but now after many years have passed he was a whole lot better. "Do you want me to set a course near to that terra?" The question was directed towards Aerrow.

"Set a course for Cyclonia," Aerrow said, he grimaced a little. Finn could tell that his friend had never truly forgotten what had happened about nine years ago. Finn watched as Aerrow and Piper went off to their room with the kids in tow. As he watched the red head and Piper walk off he could hear Aerrow, "I won't let anything happen to you or our kids."

Silver and Junko went into the engine room and began to check on the engine. The Condor had become very old and constantly they had to keep an eye on the engine. Tamar went over to the charts and began to map a route towards Cyclonia with Stork. Finn smiled slightly, he loved his surrogate family. He sighed as he sat down on the couch. They were going on a mission to find his daughter. A full smile spread across his face.


Tessa grinned a foxy grin as the man slipped through the tent flap into the outside world. This was her chance. She waited a whole ten minutes before she morphed into a mouse. The transformation caused pain but she gritted her teeth. Suddenly she was a mouse. She squeaked happily and then crawled through the opening between the bars.

Hurriedly she scurried out of the tent and she halted. She was in some of small town. She glanced around and then went into a dark alley. She held back a scream as pain washed through her body as she morphed back into herself. She glanced down at the clothes she was wearing and the belt around her waist. She narrowed her bright blue eyes at the weapon attached to the belt and frowned. The weapon that murdered her mother.

She walked back into the street and her ears heard cursing and shouting. Tessa went to the tent she was held hostage in and saw the man. He was staring at the cage in shock. He whirled around. His eyes narrowed at her. She backed up. She believed he was getting the wrong idea.

"You there!" he shouted. She flinched.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Did you happen to see a fox with huge ears?" he questioned. Inwardly she was relieved that he wasn't blaming her for stealing 'his' fox.

"Uh, I think I saw a critter scurrying that way," she said, pointing in a random direction. He nodded and then ran off in the direction she pointed to. She smiled; sometimes people were so gullible.

She turned around and then ambled off in some direction through the town. The streets were almost deserted, only a few people wandered around. A couple of lamps lit the way and some of the business tents were open. She glanced around; she wondered if there was any place that was selling food. Her stomach growled an instant later. She looked down at it and smiled.

Tessa spotted a tent that sold food and walked to it. Looking at it closer she thought it looked like a bar. She skidded to a stop. Did she want to go in there? She sighed and then walked through the tent flap. A bitter scent filled the air and a heavy smell of alcohol wafted to her nose. She felt like gagging. She took a big breath and then walked forward pushing and shoving her way through the throngs of people.

She found an empty booth in the corner and sat down. She sighed. She didn't know what she was going to do. She didn't even know what terra she was on. All she knew was that this terra was sand infested. She glanced around the jam-packed bar and was slightly glad that there were no Cyclonians in this joint.

She tensed when a person walked up to her. "Want anything?" the person asked. He had a pad and a pen. Her body calmed down and the tension released.

"Do you have any sandwiches?" she questioned; she was hungry, but she wasn't quite hungry enough for a huge meal.

"We have turkey sandwiches," he responded. She noticed that he was eying her uncle's blade and she smiled awkwardly.

"Um, I would like a turkey sandwich and some water," she ordered. He nodded while he scribbled down the order and he turned to leave. She put her elbows on the table and put her head in her hands. She groaned, she felt a headache starting and the throbbing intensified. Suddenly she felt a presence and she looked up. In front of her was a sitting figure.

"You are a little young to be out by yourself, are you not?" a female voice sounded. Tessa tried to see who the person was, but the lighting was dim where the figure sat. Her brain's warning signals went off. She didn't know this person and she knew she had to be cautious.

"Who's asking?" Tessa questioned, suspicious.

The figure leaned forward the light showing off her face. She had purple hair and was in a uniform Tessa had never seen before. "Starling of the Interceptors," the woman introduced.


Cliffhanger! Wow, I really wanted to do one. Hopefully you all like this chapter. I will update as soon as I can. Please review!!