ZOMG this place is dusty, isn't it? Sorry I haven't updated for over a decade, but, I was busy during the weekend, and I was playing world of warcraft, and blah blah blah. I also realized that I hadn't put much of Van and Fiona in, so here it is people. I hope it doesn't suck as much as I think it does. Well, at least the grammar is good. :D

ShadowRebirth37 – thank you for coming back! I'm glad you liked it, I had a really hard time with the Raven/Reese part though, it was rewritten at least five time before I got it like that. I don't think I put nearly as much effort into this chapter, you might not like it. O.o

C-Teck – Yippee! Don't worry, I don't mean to push their characters, well, at least not Raven, I think Reese would be fine with it all, lol :P You can only become good with a person's character if you're the kind of person who obsesses, and obsesses, and obsesses. That's me. XD I didn't obsess with Van and Fiona, so this chapter might suck.

Kyuubilord – no, no, no, its spelled "yayz" y-a-y-z… lol

Read it or die, read it and die. Either way, you die. XP

Disclaimer: I don't own Zoids, so sue me. Wait, don't sue me! THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT OF THIS STUPID DISCLAIMER, YOU TWITS!

Chapter 3

Rolf glared at the tiny pink thing in front of him. He didn't want to wake her up; he knew he'd get in trouble if he did. But…there was that nagging want to just play, and playing with babies was a lot of fun. Well, he thought so anyway.

He was about to poke the sleeping baby when his mother walked in. She gave a squeak. "Rolf!" He knew it was time to run, and run he did.

Rolf slipped out of his mother's arms and ran as fast as he could to his room. The five-year old scrambled under his bed and waited there. Eventually he heard the door open and footsteps coming towards the bed. A face appeared in front of him.

"Rolf, you can come out now, I'm not mad."

"I'm sorry mommy," he said as he crawled out, "I just wanted to play with Tala."

His mother sighed and sat down beside him. "Honey, your sister is still very little, and needs to get lots of sleep."

"But why does she have to sleep all the time?"

"She doesn't sleep all the time, just most of the time. You've gotten to play with her a lot more this week. Remember last week?"

But Rolf just sat there and pouted. After some time, he began to yawn.

"Well, mister, it seems you need some sleep too."

"But I'm not tired mommy."

She laughed. "Of course you're not, Rolf. But if you take a nap, maybe Tala will be awake when you get up."

Rolf then made a big, theatrical yawn. "Okay mommy, I'll go to sleep, but you wake me up when Tala's awake too."

"I'll be sure to do that."

--

It was almost lunch-time, and Rolf was really hungry. He thought he might sneak a cookie, just to tide himself over. But, alas, there was now someone to tell on him.

"You no ea cookies Wolf! We've go do ea wunch fuist!"

"Shh, Tala, you're going to-"

"Rolf! No cookies before meals! You know that."

Rolf looked shamefully up at his mother. "I'm sorry mommy. I'm really, really sorry."

His mother sighed, "Just don't do it again. Lunch will be ready soon."

As his mom walked away, Rolf glared at his sister. "Why'd you tattle on me Tala? You almost got me in trouble!"

Tala stuck her tongue out at him, and then started to make shapes with it. "Tong, tong, tong."

"It's tongue. Why can't you say anything right? My name is Rolf, not wolf."

"WOLF! WOLF! WOLF! WOOF! WOOF!"

"What are you? A dog?"

"Noooooo, I'm, a, wolf! Aroooooooooooo…"

"How do you know about wolves?"

Tala shrugged, she then went to see what her mommy was doing.

Rolf watched her go. She's way too smart for her own good.

--

Tala yawned, showing her strangely sharp, white teeth. She was waiting for her brother to come home from school, or rather, pre-school. Being only two years old, she couldn't go herself, even though she was almost as smart as Rolf.

He suddenly burst through the door, dripping wet. "Is it raining outside, Wolf?"

"No, of course it isn't." Rolf said through clenched teeth. "And I thought you could pronounce your R's good now, why are you still calling me wolf?"

"I like to call you that, like a nickname."

Rolf wasn't sure what to do, he didn't want to walk on the carpet all wet like this, but he wanted to get into some dry clothes. "Well stop calling me that, I don't like it. Besides, I think it suits you better, that's what your name means, you know?"

Tala's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yes, really, now can you go get mom? I want to change, my clothes are all wet and I'm afraid my backpack is too."

Tala went to fetch her mom, as Rolf inspected his bag.

When Rolf was all dry, he asked, "Mommy is daddy home yet?"

"No, but he'll be home soon."

Later that evening:

Rolf heard someone open the door. A small figure walked into the darkness of his room. Before the door closed, he was sure he could hear shouting. Then, something crawled into bed with him. "Rolf, mommy and daddy are fighting again. Can I sleep with you tonight?"

"Sure, sis, that's fine." Rolf felt his sister curl up beside him, and he patted her until she fell asleep. Poor Tala.

--

Tala was caught between the wall, and the towering figure in front of her. "Tala, sweetie, it's me, your daddy."

She wasn't quite sure what to do. A body lay a few feet away, and Norman wasn't back home. The shock from her mother's death still paralyzed her.

"TALA, RUN!" a voice yelled.

Something in Tala broke, and she quickly took hold of the situation. Her father turned around towards the voice, which gave her ample opportunity for a well aimed kick.

As he writhed on the ground, she quickly ran to the window from which the voice came from. "Rolf! I can't believe it!"

Rolf was holding what looked like a grenade. He had a surprised look on his face. "Well, I was going to throw a smoke bomb at him, but your plan works too."

Their father was getting back up. Tala looked at her brother, and quickly scrambled out the window. "Throw it anyway, before he catches us!"

As they ran from the now smoking house, Rolf talked rapidly to his sister. "Tala, we cant stay here, he'll just come back and we wont be safe. We've got to keep moving."

"But, what about Norman?"

"He'll be fine."

"That's not what I meant, and you know it."

He ignored her and they continued to run. Tala finally couldn't run anymore, she was too out of breath. "Rolf, we can't survive on our own, we don't have any money, any means of transportation, anything!"

"Wrong, I have money with me; I always have some in case of emergency. And I've got transportation set up." He paused. "I had hoped to show you this on a lighter occasion, but I guess now's as good a time as any."

Tala didn't say anything, but followed her brother to the outskirts of the town. There, behind some rocks, was…nothing.

Rolf climbed up onto seemingly nothing. It was almost as if he was floating. What he was on top of soon revealed itself, however. It was a giant, black wolf.

"Is that…a Zoid?" Tala whispered.

"Ha! Ha! Yeah, it sure is. It's called a Konig Wolf."

--

As they traveled, Tala had the feeling she was forgetting something. Their mother had died… The thought began to sink in, and she was suddenly seized with terror. She began sobbing.

Rolf didn't say anything, he had the feeling they were on the same track. The thought disturbed him as much as it did her, but he knew crying would do no good. Even so, a few tears leaked out while they continued on.

--

"Van?"

"Mmhmm, what is it Fiona?"

"Do you think Herman doesn't trust Tala? Is that why he's given us this mission?"

Van thought for a moment. "No, he trusts her well enough, I think. We just don't know anything about her, aside from her name. Tala Calhoun."

"I don't think he does. If he really trusted her, he wouldn't be sending us out to gather information on her." Fiona glared down at the floor.

"Well, it gives us something to do. Everyone else is still recovering from the fight." He paused. "Even if Herman doesn't trust her, you can't blame him, can you? There were five of us, two had organoids, and we couldn't beat that Zoid. Suddenly, Tala comes out of nowhere and fights off that Zoid easily. I don't care if she's a really good pilot, or if that sniper rifle was at point blank. There are still missing pieces."

Fiona sadly looked out at the desert. "She's not untrustworthy, but she is hiding something. When I talked to her, there were many feelings radiating off of her. Pain, despair, rage…all buried deep, yet all clearly showing. It must be something she doesn't feel we need to know, or it pains her too much to think about it."

Van hadn't known any of this. It didn't change the suspiciousness of the fight, but it did put a different perspective on things. He couldn't think about it now though, they had to focus on the mission at hand. "Unfortunately, the only Tala ever registered was a Tala Dallon, who lived in Gale Colony. The records say that she disappeared 12 years ago."

Fiona just went along with it. "That's right, it also says she was eight at the time of disappearance."

"That fits our Tala…except she said her last name was Calhoun. Anything on a Calhoun?"

"Yes, there are a few. Nora Calhoun, who currently lives in Loramei Valley. Mark Calhoun, he was a soldier in the previous war, MIA apparently. Barry Calhoun, a farmer of the Dune Colony."

"None of them seem to fit…let's take a look at this Tala Dallon, what was her residence?"

"At the time she lived with a Norman Atlas."

--

The man known as Norman Atlas lived in a worn old cottage, someway from the town. He had moved there because his previous home had been destroyed, and he sought some peace and quiet.

Visitors did not often come, except for those who cared enough to check up on him every once in a while. It was a bit of a surprise when two people, both young, came in with a small, dragon-like Zoid behind them.

"Excuse me sir, but are you Norman Atlas?"

Norman nodded. "That'd be me, come in and sit down. From the looks of you, I'd say you were in the military, cant say the same for these others, though." He eyed Fiona and Zeek.

"Heh, well, yeah, we are from the military, and we came to ask you a few questions." Van, oddly enough, was nervous.

Zeek turned to Fiona, but she just shrugged.

"What about?" Norman sat down in a recliner and pulled out a pipe.

"Well, did you know a Tala Dallon?"

The man stared at Van for the longest time. Finally, he sighed and leaned forward. "I haven't heard that name in twelve years, son. Haven't seen Tala herself either. I assume you have met her, or are possibly chasing after her?"

"The former, however, the Tala who is currently allying with us said her last name was Calhoun."

"Yap, that sound about right. It was her mother's name, the kids both took to it, it seems. I don't blame 'em. After what their dad did…" Norman shook his head.

Before Van could say anything, Fiona asked, "Kids? Did Tala have siblings?"

"Aight, lemme start from the beginning. Tala and her family used to live way up north, beyond both the Republic and Imperial territories. Her mom an' dad had a, falling out, you could say. So, Elizabeth left her husband and brought the kids down here. Elizabeth is Tala's mother. Well, I'm Tala's stepdad. Had a right fun time with those kids, she had a brother, Rolf. They used to prank me bunches, wouldn't say they thought I was father to 'em. Anyways, a peaceful six years goes by, but after that, their dad came and found them. Killed Elizabeth, but those smart kids managed to get away from him. I wasn't home at the time, and when I get back, the house is up in flames." He paused every so often while telling them this.

"I haven't seen the kids since, but, I did get a call, 'bout three years ago. I was asked if I knew Rolf Calhoun, they told me his body was found in the desert. This gave me reason to believe Tala was still alive. Poor thing though, she loved her brother more 'an anything else in the world." Norman rambled on for some time, adding bits that made absolutely no sense.

Eventually, Van and Fiona decided that they should be going. Zeek was still listening attentively and Van had to bonk him on the head to get him to leave.

"Fiona, is it just me, or was that guy slightly, you know, out of it?"

"I think he was traumatized by his wife's death, if we can believe what he told us. Some of it still doesn't make any sense though." Fiona frowned.

"Oh well, lets just go back and report what info we've gotten."

This was surprising. "Are you sure Van?"

"Yeah. It's odd, that Herman doesn't trust Tala enough so that we need to dig stuff up. After he checked the registration records on the liger, he seemed ok with us. Irvine and Moonbay, too. It's not as if he went around asking people about us. Something's fishy about this whole thing."

Fiona nodded and smiled. "You're finally using your head, Van!"

"Uh huh, yeah, I- wait a sec."

Zeek let out a growling laugh as Fiona ran towards the Blade Liger. Van decided to give chase.

--

This chapter was a little weird, I think. All of the stuff before Van and Fiona were flashbacks, so, meh. I've got nothing much more to add, this was a boring chapter and you all had to wait almost a week for it. :P This is my raw draft, that's my explanation for as to why it sucks, I didn't revise it. Haha, I'm really tired right now, g'night all.