Kidnapped: Chapter 6

A/n: Sorry this took me so long to update. Dx

Moss crossed his arms, watching as the Storm Hawks and his men combed through list after list of Sky Knight squadrons, both retired and in service. He didn't know what good looking at a list of names would do, but apprently it ws doing something, because Piper was periodically crossing the names off the list.

"Murk Raiders," Aerrow said suddenly.

"What now?" Moss stirred from his place to look over at the Sky Knight.

"What if the Murk Raiders took him? That sounds like something they'd do... You've probably arrested some, right?"

"So you think they're the ones who did it?"

"Makes more sense than the Sky Knights," Aerrow replied with a nod.

"Zartacla's an awful far way away from Terra Deep," the Cyclonian replied pensively."Have there been any sightin's of 'em?"

"Not that I know of..."

"Well, we'll add the ta the list o' suspects, but we can't jus' assume they're the uns who did it."

"We need to have a better way of figuring this out," Piper decided. "We've only narrowed it down to twenty squadrons- and that won't do any good if he wasn't actually taken by a Sky Knight!"

"Well what else can we do?" Moss demanded. "I was gonna search every terra and ship I found, but you probably wouldn't like that either!"

"No," she admitted. "I wouldn't..." She was quiet a few moments. "Did Hamish make any enemies?"

"Hamish? Naw, it's impossible ta hate the boy.... Even the pris'ners liked 'im," the warden replied. "He's jus' too... Hamish-like..." He furrowed his brow for a moment, thinking. "But there was... Naw, probably not... They wouldn't know who he was any more...."

"What?" Piper asked, staring at him intently.

"Jus' this Sky Knight that killed Hamish's ma fifteen years ago... Never found out why he did it... Could've had a grudge against the family, but there's no way they could possibly know who he was or that he was on Zartacla."

"Well? Who was it? Maybe they could have figured it out somehow! What squadron was he from?"

"I don' remember the squadron," he admitted. "But I remember the boy's name... Jack... No wait... Jax, that was it. Jax."

"A Sky Knight? Killing a kid's mom? I don't believe it!" Aerrow exclaimed.

"Believe it son," Moss countered. "Because it happened. Not everyone you freed on Zartacla were political pris'ners, you know. There were murderers, thieves, and the rest o' that sort of trash... Course Jax wasn' one o' those... He only served a year of his sentence before being exchanged for Cyclonian pris'ners... Despite my objections..."

The Sky Knight shook his head, still obviously disbelieving.

"Peh, fine. Don't believe me, boy. It's the truth either way..." He sighed, closing his eyes as he thought about that day.

Hamish stared after Jax, frowning. What was that guys problem? Why was he so against him and Mr. Moss? He never did anything to anyone, and yet, there he was, locked in a closet.

Saying that he was out of his element was an understatement. He had always relied on Mr. Moss to tell him what to do, but now... It made him feel insecure, that was for sure...

"I can't jus' sit around doin' nothin'!" he told himself sternly. "I need to git out of here!" But how? What could he possibly do to escape? It's not like they just left the door unlocked, right? Standing up, he stretched his muscles before walking over to the door. He pressed his ear to the door, listening as the Sky Knight's footsteps faded away. Well, he might as well try the door. Shrugging, he put his hand on the doorknob.

The door opened. "What in Sam's hill...?" Was this some sort of trap? Did Jax really forget to lock the door?

Hamish hesitated, trying to think of what to do. What would Mr. Moss tell him to do? He closed his eyes, trying to heard the warden's rough voice in his head.

"Hamish! What in the Atmos are you doin' jus' standin' there? You got ta get outta there and clean those Occucrow cages!"

At this, Hamish frowned. "Now that ain't fair, Mr. Moss! Cain't I have a day off after bein' kidnapped and all?"

"Those cages ain't goin' to clean themselves, Hamish. Ya might want ta feed them there trackbeasts after you get back to... They're gettin' kinda ornery..." What are you waitin' for? Go!"

"Yes sir, Mister Moss, sir!" He saluted before running out of the closet. Running blindly, he ran through twisted corridors, hoping to find the skimmer bay. When he finally did so, he hesitated; how did skimmers work? He never flew one before... He wasn't allowed within fifty feet of Bessie. Deciding he would just have to chance it, he mounted the skimmer and turned it on. Trying to remember how Mr. Moss flew, Hamish took off, hoping he wasn't going to crash.

In the corner of the skimmer bay, Alia smiled. "Good luck, Hamish."

"ALIA!" Jax roared.

She winced, then turned to face the angry Sky Knight.

"Where the hell is Hamish?"

"The closet, isn't he?" she asked, trying to keep her nerves from her voice.

"No, he's not! Someone helped him escape!" He brought up his hand and back handed her across the face, eyes smoldering with rage. She fell to the ground, letting out a small cry.

"Jax! What the hell are you doing?" Osprey demanded, springing forward.

The Sky Knight's rage suddenly vanished, and he looked horrified at his own actions. "Alia... I'm sorry... I was just angry..." He offered her his hand.

She flinched away from it, but then took it. "I... I understand, Jax..."

"Good... Now you stay here. Osprey and I are going to hunt that brat down. And when we find him?" He smirked and drew his energy blade. "We're going to teach him a lesson."

Hamish gritted his teeth, fighting against the turbulence. Why was he doing this? He didn't know where he was, or how to fly properly... Why didn't he just wait for Mr. Moss to come rescue him? It probably would have been smarter...

But when did he ever do the smart thing?

His eyes widened as another strong wind blew his skimmer asunder. He was losing control and had no idea how to gain it back! He let out a scream as his skimmer hurdled into the terra below, vision fading away into nothingness.

His vision returned as he was aware of himself on the ground, a sharp pain in his side. The last thing he could recognize was a dark shape leaning over him before his vision faded away again.

A/N Oooh, who is that dark shape? Any guesses?