Chapter 3: The Encounter
It had been two hours since Cyclonis had fallen asleep. Piper had spent the whole day watching over her, trying to keep her out of all kinds of trouble. To begin with, Cyclonis had been mucking around with Piper's crystals, causing an explosion which did more damage to the Condor than it had done to her. Then, she managed to get in a row with Stork for messing about in the engine rooms when she decided to be curious and see what made the whole ship tick. At another point, she almost lost Aerrow's skimmer because she decided to try some 'repairs' on it.
If anything, Piper was just glad that this day had come to a halt. Her shift was over, and it was time for Stork's night-watch to start. Piper felt that Stork would have been the perfect candidate for the job because he was more reliable than the other crewmembers. For instance, Finn would have just wandered off to do something more interesting, and Radar would have been too curious for his own good. Stork however, was neither too curious or too thrill-seeking to give up on a good opportunity to sit down and read a few books while making sure his captive wouldn't pull any tricks, and with his still changed attitude, he'd be far more likely to stand up to troublemakers given the chance.
There was a knock on the door, making Cyclonis turn over to face the wall. The door opened to reveal the green skinned Merb, holding a set of small books. Piper gave a relieving sigh and stood up from the chair she had been sitting on.
"Are you sure that you're ok with staying up all night? You do know that we'll need you to pilot the Condor in the morning?" she asked, stretching her arms out until they cracked. Stork nodded.
"D…Don't worry." He replied semi-confidently. "I'll be fine w…watching over her for a few hours." Piper smiled at him.
"Ok. Thanks for helping out. I didn't want to have to ask Finn to do guard duty. God knows what we'd be in store for tomorrow if he was watching her."
"I…It was nothing, really."
"Hey, come on. Give yourself some credit already. You've earned it for all you've done for the team." Piper took hold of Stork's shoulder and smiled at him gently. Stork's face lit up a little and he took her hand.
For a while now, Stork had taken note of how kind Piper had been to him throughout his changes. She'd helped him with chores, given him time off, and just six hours ago, she had given him a chance to actually assist the rest of the team in a sortie. Over his long dilemma, he'd grown closer to her, and he felt like it was something a little different than 'just friends'. He felt as if he really liked her, as in 'liked' her. He couldn't help but hope that she felt the same, hence the fact she'd been so kind to him aver the last few weeks. Stork broke out of his thought and let go of Piper, who was now also blushing.
"Uh, P…Piper?" Stork stuttered as his face lighted up a little more. He turned his head slightly to hide his cheeks. "I need to t…tell you something, um, important." Piper looked at him again kindly.
"What is it?" she asked. Stork gulped and was just about to say something when Cyclonis turned over again in her sleep, curling up in discomfort. "Well?"
"Um…" Stork took another look at Cyclonis, and then back to Piper. "…Actually, n…never mind. It's not that important." Piper took a look at Cyclonis again and then back to Stork.
"You do know you can tell me anything, right? After all, that's what friends are for." Piper whispered, making sure that Cyclonis wasn't disturbed again.
"Nah." Stork replied softly. "I…its ok. Don't work yourself up about it." Piper nodded and headed out of the door and down the hallway to her own room. Stork sat down on the seat and sighed sadly. He looked at his books, and then smacked them over his head. 'Damn it Stork! That was the worst timing EVER!' he thought to himself, slumping back onto the seats back. "I've got the most horrible feeling that it'll be a long night tonight…"
The next day…
Aerrow, Piper, Finn and Junko were all awake at seven o'clock in the morning. Radar was sleeping on Aerrow's skimmer bike, and Stork was sprawled out across the chair he'd been sitting on the previous night, still holding his 'survival guide for the common Merb' book. Cyclonis was still in bed, in a comfortable sleep. Piper was busy cooking breakfast, while Aerrow checked the map and Junko and Finn started helping with the Condor's maintenance.
A loud crash sent Radar flying into the air with fright and Stork, who had spent some few hours resting darted upwards, hitting his head off the room's piping, and Cyclonis did the same, only she thumped her head off the railing above her bed. Stork threw open the door, rubbing his head and holding out his wrench.
"Ok! What….what the hell?" Cyclonis mumbled, rubbing her eyes and looking at the ground. The whole hall floor was covered in spare nuts and bolts, extra pipes, some broken or damaged armour and several wooden planks.
"Anyone mind telling us what's going on?" Stork growled, moving over into the bridge and stepping over Finn, who was lucky enough to doge Junko as he tripped over him. He was soon followed by Cyclonis, who was fortunate to be given a disguise in the form of a Storm Hawks costume, however much Piper disliked having to make it for her. Aerrow turned away from the map.
"Stork! Just the man I need. Have you got any idea where we are?" Stork put his hand to his chin and looked at the map, and then out of the windscreen. The clouds were unusually thick, and there was an area on the map where there were no Terras marked. He pressed his finger on the area and kept thinking.
"I'd imagine we're here, since the clouds are far too dense and there aren't any Terras in sight." He replied. Aerrow looked out of the windscreen suspiciously. He had the feeling that they were being watched. He didn't know who by, and if it was Cyclonians, then the Condor would have already been attacked. Cyclonis walked up beside him.
"I don't trust this." She whispered. Aerrow turned for a moment with a raised eyebrow, and then turned back. He knew that she felt the same way he did about this blank spot on the map. "I've got a really horrible gut feeling that we're being watch…" There was a rumble and a loud 'BANG'. The Condor swayed to the left and then to the right, sending Piper reeling off her feet and Fin rolling from one side of the hallway to the other. Stork and Aerrow grabbed onto the steer and pulled to the left as hard as they could, for the Condor was spiralling out of control to the right, sending everyone off their feet and into a heap on the ground. Eventually, the ship stopped turning. In fact, it stopped moving.
"What was that!?" Junko shouted, putting on his knuckle dusters and running to check on the skimmers and Radar. Cyclonis hauled herself onto her feet and grasped her arm with a hiss of pain. A piece of Spare metal had flown across the deck and cut into her arm just above the left elbow.
"Damn! Just when you get that feeling, huh?" she shouted, ripping her left sleeve off and wrapping it tightly around her arm.
Stork took out his ex-ray binoculars and surveyed the area, trying to see if he could get his vision past the clouds, and surely enough, there was something down there. A single skimmer, white and gold, well armoured and standing upon it was a knight like figure, covered in thick, durable armour which was the same colour scheme as his bike.
"I think we have a…a big problem." Stork stuttered out, pointing forwards at the approaching sky knight. As the skimmer came into view for al to see, it stopped. The rider placed his sword blade-down on his bike and stood there, unflinching and emotionless. Aerrow peered out at the figure and surveyed his lack of movement.
"If I'm not mistaken, I'd believe he's waiting for us to come to him." He said, looking behind him to find his other blade. Finn shook his arms towards Aerrow.
"No! Absolutely not! I'm not going up against some guy that can take down the whole Condor in a single attack!" Piper hit Finn square in the chest leaving him wheezing for a moment. "Ok, I'll do it! I better get a reward if we take this guy down though." Stork glared at the figure and growled.
"Stork, we need you to watch the Condor while we clear the path. Can you handle it?" asked Aerrow. Stork gave Aerrow a scowl and turned back to the steering wheel, now holding a sad, longing face. He always watched them go into battle, and it was the same story every time; He had to watch the ship. Aerrow raised an eyebrow at him and turned to exit the bridge. Piper gave a sad frown and followed Aerrow out, leaving Stork alone with Cyclonis once again.
The four sky-knights readied their vehicles and darted off the edge of the deck, releasing their wings and soaring towards the armoured man. When they arrived, the knight was still perfectly still. For about five minutes, they just hovered there, waiting for the first move. There was then a muffled 'Humph!' noise and the knight flew forwards at a tremendous speed, drawing his blade from underneath him and slamming it against Aerrow's twin blades. The energy that the opposing knight's blade gave off crackled with power, and in a single swipe, Aerrow was sent flying from his Skimmer and into the air.
Stork gasped as he watched Radar speed over and catch an unconscious Aerrow. Cyclonis gave a frightened 'eep!' and put her hands to her mouth. She had a price on her head, and if this was a mere bounty hunter, then she'd surely be dead before the next morning. Finn, Piper and Junko all backed away as Radar headed back to the Condor with Aerrow. The knight then returned to his pose, now retracting a long, thick piece of metal from his upper and lower arm, creating a two-piece shield. Stork gave an irritated growl. He was the only other person on the ship who had his own ride and he was the only other person on the ship that could possibly try and fight, since Cyclonis was to scared to step outside in case someone tried to assassinate her.
Stork let go of the wheel and darted down through the doors and into the hangar, where his Stork-Mobile lay, clean and untouched. He grinned and revved the engine loud, which brought a smile to his face, and then drove over the deck and into the fray. Cyclonis watched closely as stork pulled a thick, metal, makeshift lance from the side of his Skimmer, setting it up, aiming it for the knight's chest. Darting down at a great speed, Stork unfolded the rotors on his wheels and boosted his speed, sending him directly towards the white-clad knight below. With the blink of an eye, Stork's lance hit the unsuspecting knight in the chest, sending him hurtling down through the clouds.
There was a faint crash sound from below. Piper, Stork, Finn and Junko all slowly lowered their bikes and the sight that revealed itself to them was astonishing. Below them was a city of marble, and gold and silvers, laced with expensive looking decorations and foods, huge buildings and a large wall surrounding the city. In the wall was what a gate was once. The whole left side was shattered and strewn across the ground and the knight was struggling to regain his balance.
There was complete silence as everyone but Stork's jaw dropped in awe. Stork was grinning wickedly, with his bent and buckled lance by his side. Piper blushed and looked at stork, whose sleeves were pulled up, revealing not so much, but not too little muscle. There was a cheer of "Way to go Stork!" from Junko and the horn of the Condor sounded, because Cyclonis had found It the night before when she leant against it.
The group headed to the Condor and escorted it down to the city, looking in amazement at the surroundings. When the team landed the ship, they were quickly surrounded by soldiers. Finn, Stork and Junko all raised their arms, and Cyclonis hid behind the metal girding below the windscreen. There was a metallic rustle as the knight stood back up, his breastplate falling to pieces and his helmet and shield cracked. For a moment the knight stood and stared at Piper, then Junko and Finn, and finally Stork, in which he gave out a cheerful laugh and patted him on the shoulder.
"Bravo, bravo!" he said from behind his cracked mask. "…It's an honour to have such noble and powerful sky-knights join us in our great city." Piper and Finn simultaneously looked at each other, as did Stork and Junko, along with Cyclonis and Radar.
"What do you mean by 'Join you in your great city'?" Piper asked curiously, gripping her weapon tightly. The knight gave out another small laugh.
"Don't be alarmed, please. We mean it as a gesture of passage into and from Terra Mystica, without any further battles." Piper's face lit with glee.
"Terra WHAT!?" she shouted, smiling so much that Stork was pretty sure it was hurting her face. "Oh my God! THE Terra Mystica? Home to some of the greatest crystal producers and wielders on the planet?! Awesome!" she continued to squeal. Aerrow awoke and looked up just as the knight took of his damaged helmet. Slicked-back blonde hair shone in the sunlight and the pattern from the man's eye continued down the side of his face and onto his neck. He grinned and swept his hand over his hair again.
"Of course m'lady. I am sure that there will be something here for all of you're friends here too. We have the 'Golden Star' inn, the many street markets, and of course, our pride and joy, the Holy Temple of Arterios." The Knight was suddenly cut off from his speech by the sound of a smashing bowl. A boy, around fifteen in age, with strikingly light blue, long hair which was tied in three points and wearing clothes that could pass as sky knight's basic armour stood staring into the windscreen of the ship at Cyclonis.
"Cyclonis?" he said, a smile brewing on his face. "…no way…"
I'm very happy with those of you who have helped me with problems in my previous storis and also for those of you who have taken the time to read my story.
Anyways, chapter four should be coming out very soon, so keep on watching, i'll be writing for you...
