Chapter Four: Comfort

Darkness.

It felt like I was trapped in shadows. I heard small snippets of sound; explosions, screams, all muffled and far off. Then, silence.

Conciseness came back slowly. I don't even remember hitting the ground, just the massive ache that consumed my body as I started to wake up. Opening my eyes a bit, I was met with a pink glow. Instantly awake, I jumped back, scrambling as far away from the hellish light as I could.

I backed into something, stopping me going further. Looking up, I saw that it was one of the massive trees that made Terra Amazonia their home. Unable to back any further away, I forced my eyes back to Master Cyclonis demonic creation.

The staff stood impaled in the ground, less then three feet from where I had landed, the pink crystal on top glowing brightly in the increasing darkness. If I had fallen just a little bit more to the left...

I cringed at the thought, quickly looking away from the staff. However, that made my gaze fall on something put a different kind of fear in me:

Master Cyclonis.

The once proud ruler of Cyclonia now lay sprawled across the forest floor. Her sinister cape had been torn off, now dangling in the trees above, shredded by the branches. What truly made worry well up in me, however, was a long gash across her forehead, blood trickling down her face.

"Oh no."

I tried to stand up, but pain and lack of blood to my head made me fall forward. Shaking the wooziness from my mind, I got back up and knelt next to her.

I put two fingers to her neck and felt around. Relief washed over me as I felt her pulse, beating slow but strong. Gently I tapped the side of her face.

"Cyclonis?" No response. I tapped a little harder. "Time to wake up." Nothing. "C'mon honey, please wake up..."

Honey?

The word just slipped out, and I felt my cheeks grow hot when I realized what I said. I couldn't dwell on it, however, because Cyclonis started to stir.

Her eyes fluttered open, now back to their usual shade of violet. Confusion was in them as she focused on me. "Where...?" Then her eyes snapped shut. She let out a groan, grimacing in pain. "Oh, my head..." She put a hand to her head. Her eyes snapped open again in shock. Slowly she moved her hand in front of her. Seeing the redness of her own blood on it, her breathing quickened. "But...how...why...?"

Before she could go into a full panic attack, I put my own hand on her forehead. "Shhhhh..." I hushed her. "Calm down. You just hit your head." Reaching up, I pulled down a few strips of her ruined cloak. Wadding a few up, I carefully dabbed at the wound, wiping away the blood.

Cyclonis cringed at the contact. Feeling sorry for her, I gave her a small smile. "Sorry." To my relief, the wound wasn't that bad. It was pretty much just a long scratch from temple to temple.

As I worked at cleaning the wound, Cyclonis stared at me in what looked like a mix of confusion and shock.

"Why are you doing this?"

I jumped a bit at her voice. I hadn't realized how silent it had gotten until she spoke up. Pausing, I looked her in the eyes, her expression blank.

That was a really good question. Why was I helping her like this, and being so gentle and careful while I did?

All in all, only one thing really made sense. Giving her an awkward smile, I answered, "I like to help people. It's just who I am." Her wound clean, I took a long strip of cloth and gently wrapped it around her head. She made no move to stop me, instead just giving me an odd look as I worked. Once I had tied the makeshift bandage tightly together, I leaned back and looked her in the eyes.

Cyclonis was still giving me that odd look. After a few moments of awkward silence, I looked away and finally took a look at where we were, a narrow path through the vast forest around us. Pieces of twist metal lay all around us, the result of The Blood Crow's insane attack. Looking up through the branches, all I could see was the empty evening sky.

Wait...evening?

No mistaking it. The sky painted a deep orange, slowly fading darkness of the approaching night sky. We'd been unconscious for hours. And if a rescue party hadn't come by now...they weren't coming at all.

With that happy thought in mind, I struggled to my feet. My head was still a little fuzzy, but better. Cyclonis looked up at me quizzically.

With a sigh, I offered her my hand. "C'mon, we should find some shelter for the night."

Cyclonis raised an eyebrow. Then she scoffed. "I'm not going anywhere."

I pulled my hand back. Now it was my turn to be confused. "What? Why?"

She looked at me like I was stupid. "My forces will be here any moment to pick us up. This will be the first place they look."

For a moment, I just stared at her, trying to figure out weather or not she was serious. "Um, Cyclonis? Maybe you didn't notice, but it's almost dark. We've been out for hours. The ships are long gone."

Cyclonis' smug expression faulted a bit as she looked to the quickly darkening sky. After a few seconds of silence, she looked back to me her smug smile lessened. "W-Well, once Dark Ace finds out what happened to the Tempest, he'll come and rescue me."

A pang of dread ran through me, as that was a possibility. The fact that she had said 'rescue me' instead of 'rescue us' was not lost to me either. However... "And how exactly is he going to know where you are?"

She tilted her head to the side, confused. "What do you mean?"

I was quickly losing my patience. No one, not even Finn, could possibly be this naive. "Look, you went to all this trouble to steal my memories..." Saying that out loud sent a shiver down my spine, the memory still fresh in my mind. To my surprise, Cyclonis seemed to flinch a bit at my words, too. I ignored that and continued. "...so use them. What do Murk Raiders do with captured ships?"

Cyclonis fidgeted a bit. I don't think she was used to someone talking to her like she wasn't in charge. All the same, she looked up at me with an intelligent glint in her eye. "They rip out all the working and valuable components, steal anything of value from the crew, then take the ship back to Terra Deep, where they leave it impaled as a trophy."

I nodded, a little creeped out. That was exactly what I would have said. Word for word.

I shook that thought off. "Okay. Now, what will they do with the crew?"

She smirked, like I was asking her the most basic of questions. "After taking their valuables, they'll either sell them back to they're home Terra to make a profit, or they'll keep...them...as..." Her eyes lowered and her voice slowed as realization sank in. "...slaves."

My heart felt heavy as she said finished. All those Talons, all those people, all counting on going home...

Once again, I shook off the thought. Not the time.

I took a step closer to Cyclonis, who's eyes seemed to be getting flatter, less lively. "Now, assuming that the Murk Raiders don't keep the crew as slaves..." I took another step, now standing right in front of her, "...and that Cyclonia is willing to buy them back..." Cyclonis jerked her head up, her anger obvious, but she stayed quiet. I knelled down so that our eyes were level. "Assuming all that, how long would it take for the crew to tell Dark Ace we're on Amazonia?"

I could see her try to hold onto her anger, try keep hold of that smugness she always had. But as reality begin to set in, the anger in her eyes seemed to ebb away, leaving them looking empty and flat. After trying to hold my gaze, she lowered her head and spoke, her voice less then a whisper. "F...fou..." She took a reluctant breath. "...four days."

Looking at her then, I felt a pain in my heart. Cyclonis looked so...broken. There really are no other words to describe it. I felt so bad I was tempted to put a hand on her shoulder, tell her everything would be alright.

Stop it, a part of my mind ordered. This is Master Cyclonis, not some innocent little girl. Why are you even trying to convince her? If she wants to sit here and rot, let her! She wouldn't be doing this for you.

As I listened to my psyche berate me, I tried to think of what I should do. As a Skyknight, I had sworn to give help to those who needed it. At the same time, however, a Skyknight was suppose to fight against Cyclonia, "Every step of the way," as I'd heard so many say before. So what am I suppose to do when the leader of Cyclonia needs my help?

Apparently Mother Nature decided to help me choose. A boom of thunder sounded in the distance. Looking up, I could see grey storm clouds rolling in over the faintly lit sky. Being stuck outside at night was bad enough. Out at night in a storm? Not going to happen.

I looked back at Cyclonis, who still had her eyes to the ground. Reaching out, I put a hand on her shoulder. When she looked up, I stared directly into her deep violet eyes. "Cyclonis, we need to find some kind of shelter before that storm hits." I gave her a small half-smile. "Unless you want to get caught in the rain?"

For a brief moment, I thought I saw the corner of her lip twitch. Then her eyes seemed to darken all at once, becoming pitch black, then switching back to violet in less then a second. Cyclonis looked away from me, shrugging my hand off her shoulder. "Fine." She said under her breath. She pushed herself to her feet. Once she was standing, however, she swayed a bit, then suddenly fell forward.

Thinking fast, I grabbed her before she hit the ground. I felt my face grow hot when I realized that the position we were in had her head pressing against my chest.

The same thought seemed to cross her mind, as she quickly pushed off of me, her pale cheeks a deep shade of red. Composing my self, I asked, "Are you okay?"

She didn't look at me. "I'm fine." She snapped. Then her voice softened. "Just a little light headed." She walked over to her staff and pulled it from the ground. Looking at me out the corner of her eye, she asked, "So where do we go?"

Not to sure about that myself, I looked around. In the growing darkness, I couldn't see very far through the mass of trees around us. That just left the option of following the path we had fallen into. Looking down the long opening of trees, It seemed like the forest thinned slightly further down.

I pointed that direction. "Let's try this way."

Cyclonis fallowed my arm. She gave me a scrutinizing frown. "Why should we go that way?"

Normally, I would get angry at someone asking something obviously just to anger me. But after everything I had suffered through today, I was too tired to argue. Instead, I let out a deep breath and gave her a sidelong look. "Do you have a better idea?" I inquired, keeping my voice as calm as possible.

Cyclonis glared at me briefly, before looking away, defeated. "No..." She mumbled.

Keeping my face expressionless, I looked on ahead. "Then lets get going."

Walking through the forest was pretty uneventful. The sun was completely gone, what ever light it might still have shown now blocked out my the sea of grey above us. The only source of light was from her staff, the pink crystal on top bathing us in a bright glow. It honestly was a nice way to cut through the gloom, covering everything around us for twenty feet in a bright pink light. Had it been coming from any other source, it might of helped calm me, but just being around that crystal made my skin crawl.

A bolt of lightning lit up the forest. A few seconds latter came a thunderous boom. The time between the two was getting shorter each time, so I knew we had to find shelter. Fast.

I glance back at Cyclonis, as I had been every few minutes. Though she seemed very composed on the outside, it was clear that she was on edge. Her eyes kept sweeping back and forth, searching for any sort of danger in the shadows. She had a death grip on her staff, like she was scared of what might happen if she let it out of her sight.

Looking back ahead, I thought I could see an opening in the trees ahead. A flash of lightning confirmed it. I called back to Cyclonis. "I think there's a clearing up ahead."

She didn't respond aloud, but gave me a sharp nod. She kept eying the sky warily, like she was daring it to defy her.

I couldn't help but chuckle. Cyclonis was just so out of her element. It was kind of cute.

Wait...cute?

I must be more tired then I thought.

We finally reached the edge of the forest. I was about to walk on through the clearing when another bolt lit up the sky. I jumped back upon seeing what was in front of us.

What I had thought was a clearing was actually a large lake. One more step and I would have fallen face first into the dark water.

Cyclonis stepped closer so we were side by side. "Now what?" Her snarky tone was ruined by the shade of uncertainty that shown through her words.

Not really having an answer for her, I stared off into the darkness, waiting for another flash of light. Come on, I thought desperately. Show me something.

The sky lit up, followed immediately by thunder. Wait, was that...? I wait a few seconds. Another flash. Yeah, it is!

A little ways down the lake shore was a large cliff-face, acting like a wall preventing you to walk around the lake. In the rocky landmark was the opening to a small cave. Admittedly, it shouldn't have been anything to get excited about, but after everything I had gone through over the course of just a single day, it might as well have been castle.

I point it out to Cyclonis. "There's some kind of cave over there."

Cyclonis gave me disdained look. "A cave?" She didn't sound angry, or even annoyed, just kind of...put off.

Annoyed, but trying to keep the piece, I flash her half-smile. "It's better then sleeping outside." I grimaced a bit at a memory. "Trust me."

She tilted her head to the side. "What do you...?" Then her eyes widened a bit. A soft gasp escaped her lips. She quickly shook her head, her eyes dropping to the ground. "Never mind..." she mumbled under her breath.

That was...odd. Before I could dwell on that, the sky was once again lit up. I looked back to her. "Let's get in there before..."

Splash!

"...that."

Why, of all the Terras, did it have to be Amazonia?

We broke into a run, bolting towards the cave. In a matter of seconds what started as a slight drizzle turned into complete downpour. By the time we were safely inside, we were both soaked.

There was nothing outstanding about the cave. It was fairly large, with the back wall a good fifty feet from the entrance.

Once inside, Cyclonis leaned up against the back of the cave, clutching her staff. Her entire body completely waterlogged, her cloths must have weighing an extra twenty pounds. I know it felt like mine did.

I turned away from her, back towards the entrance. Rain was coming down in sheets, the occasional lightning bolt engulfing the area. I took my head band off, my hair instantly falling to my shoulders in a sopping mess. I tried to brush some of the water out with my hand, but my soggy clothes made movement uncomfortable. When I put my arm down, it made a wet slapping sound against my side.

Okay, this is just ridiculous.

Without thinking, I griped the bottom of my shirt and pulled. When I'd pulled it up to my neck, I heard a gasp.

Cyclonis was staring at me, her face a deep shade of scarlet. "W-What a-are you d-doing?" she stammered.

I felt a bit of heat go to my own cheeks as well, though I'm not sue why. We're both girls, so why does it matter? I pulled my shirt the rest of the way off and started wringing out the water. "I'd rather not sleep waterlogged," I explained. I groaned mentally. What is the bad jokes? I'm turning into Finn!

Cyclonis quickly turned away, though I thought I could see her looking at me out the corner of her eye. There was really something odd about her. Y'know, other then all the odd stuff that came with being an evil tyrant. I noticed that she was shivering a little, rubbing her arms.

Feeling bad for her, I suggested, "Maybe you should wring out your clothes, too." I couldn't help but laugh at her baffled expression. "You're gonna catch a cold if you stay waterlogged all night."

After a moments hesitation, Cyclonis tentatively gripped the bottom of her shirt. She gave it a small tug, then stopped. She looked up at me nervously. With a chuckle and a shake of the head, I turned around, giving her her privacy. This was a side of Cyclonis I never imagined existed, much more timid and innocent then the girl that tried to zap me every time we'd met. It was kind of a nice change of pace.

After getting as much water out that I could, I unfurled my damp shirt. I grimaced as I was immediately greeted with the symbol of Cyclonia. With a quick movement, I flipped the shirt inside out and slipped it on. A little less comfortable, but better on my psyche then the alternative. My pants weren't near as soaked as my shirt had been, so I left them alone.

Behind me I could hear water hit the stone floor as Cyclonis wrung out her shirt. I had the sudden impulse to whirl around to her, an impulse I immediately fought down, wondering what the hell caused it.

When the splashing stopped and I heard Cyclonis grunt as she pulled on her shirt, I called behind me. "Safe to turn around now?"

A small "y-yes" was my only answer. I turned to her to see her siting cross legged against the wall, her staff laying across her lap. A small blush was still in her cheeks. I was tempted to ask her about it when a massive yawn welled up inside me. This must have been the longest day of my entire life, just one wrong turn after another. I was ready for it to end, even if it had to be on the floor of a cave with the queen of Cyclonia.

That came out wrong. I seriously need some sleep.

I said so to Cyclonis. She simply nodded and laid down where she was, facing the wall and laying her staff in front of her. I found a spot on the other side of the cave and tried to make myself as comfortable as possible. After a few minutes, weariness overcame uncomfortableness, and I slowly sank into the darkness of sleep.


A whimper.

That's what shook me from my dreams. Somehow a single small whimper managed to pull me back to the waking world.

Looking around, I was greeted by darkness. Through hazy eyes I looked out the cave entrance. The storm was down to a steady rain shower, forming a constant soothing thrum in the background.

Another sound made me look to the back of the cave. The pink crystal atop Cyclonis' staff was glowing faintly. What I saw in it's light broke my heart.

Cyclonis was laying on her back, her arms twitching at her sides. Her head was swing side to side, small sobs escaping her lips at every movement. Her body was trembling, not from cold, but from something worse. Tears slid silently down her cheeks from closed eyes.

Feeling a sharp pain inside me, I slowly got to my feet, fighting off my exhaustion. I knelt next to her. I put a hand to her shoulder, shaking her lightly. My intention was to wake her up and ask what was wrong/ "Cyclonis? Wake up..."

Instead of waking, Cyclonis suddenly turned on her side, her arm draping around me. On contact with me, Cyclonis leaned forward in her sleep, putting more weight against me. The sudden movement caught me by surprise and I fell to my side next to her. She wrapped her arms around my waist and squeezed closer to me.

I froze,one of my arms pinned while I held the other in the air. I didn't know what to make out of this. It didn't fell real. Then Cyclonis buried her head in my chest, still asleep, still sobbing. I could feel her tears soaking through my shirt.

That did it. All my confusion melted away then. This wasn't Cyclonis anymore, at least, no the on I had always seen her as. This was a scared girl in need of comfort. And I was the only one who could give it.

Tentatively, I wrapped my arms around her, aware of the burning sensation in my face. My hands seemed to move on there own, one rubbing small circles on her back while the other cradled the back of her head. Cyclonis pressed herself even closer, almost like she was trying to hide in my arms. I rested my chin on the top of her head and tried to comfort her. "It's alright, honey. Your okay..."

Minutes passed. Eventually her sobs subsided, along with the trembling. Her breathing started to even out, but her hold didn't lessen. If anything, she held onto me even tighter, not wanting to let me go. And oddly enough...I was okay with that. As much as I knew how wrong this was, especially given who she was, holding her in my arms, it felt strangely...right.

How did my life get so screwed up over the course of a single day? I survived a Cyclonia trap, a mental attack, and a Murk Raider raid, not to mention going into the literal heart of Cyclonia and coming out unharmed, (at least physically) and now...well, there was no other way to put it; I was cuddling with Master Cyclonis, while she was asleep.

A soft sigh from the girl in my arms silence my thoughts. These questions could be answered in the morning. Right now, I was going to enjoy this, however weird it might be.

As I drifted of to sleep, listening to the sounds of Cyclonis breathing and of the rain softly coming down outside, I couldn't help but smile.


A/n: Please be kind. This is my first time ever writing anything along these lines. Pretty much just a bunch of...fluff, is that the word?

On another note, I worked really hard to get this chapter out this week. Why? It's my birthday! ...or at least, Monday was...yeah, I'm a little late. Whatever, A birthday review would be best present I could ask for.

Y'know, other then the rights to Storm Hawks. Then I could make this canon!

...

Yeah, probably best I don't get that. XD