Aerrow, Finn, Piper and Radarr were inseparable. They played together almost constantly, most often about sky knights, and would go exploring Terra Sparrow, getting into all kinds of mischief. Their small adventures sometimes brought them to the small town nearby, though not often. They were most comfortable with each other, even Finn, who had lived on Terra Sparrow his whole life. However, that had to come to an end once they began school. Much as the children were reluctant, as all children are when going to school, and no matter how much they begged Tempo to teach them at home, they went, as all children must. It wasn't as bad as they thought; in fact, it made them appreciate their freedom of playtime even more.
Several weeks after school had started, the four friends (including Radarr) sat in the grass behind Tempo's house, looking up as the clouds chased each other across the sky and talking.
"All I'm saying is that he doesn't have to be such a show-off about it." Finn said, referring to one of their classmates. "Sure, the mayor's his dad, but he won't stop reminding us of it!"
"You'd show off if your dad was the mayor." Piper pointed out.
Finn made an indignant gasp.
"No I wouldn't!"
"Yes, you would!" said Aerrow. "If your dad was mayor, you'd never let us forget it!"
It was two against one. Make that three if counted Radarr. Faced with such opposition, Finn had to back down.
"Okay, maybe I would," he shrugged. "But I wouldn't know. I never knew my dad."
Piper blinked in surprise at Finn.
"You didn't know your dad either?" she asked.
He nodded.
"My grandma told me about him though. She said he died before I was born when his terra was invaded by cyclonians. Kind of a cool way to go, actually," then, seeing the look of disbelief mixed with slight indignation on his friends' faces, he added quickly. "I mean, it's not cool that he's dead, but he died fighting. That's a lot better than dying 'cause you got sick or something."
"But, aren't you sad about it?" Piper asked, sounding incredulous at Finn's nonchalance. "I mean, he was your dad. Don't you even care?"
Finn jumped at the small outburst.
"Of course I care!" he said. "But he died before I was even born. I never knew him, so I don't really miss him or anything."
Piper's hackles went down. It made some sense: how could you miss someone you'd never known?
"What about your mom?" asked Aerrow.
"Don't remember her either. She died giving birth to me. Grandma told me that too."
Finn was as untroubled about his mother as his father. Untroubled and free the heavy weight of care. The two children found themselves envying him.
"I wish I had a grandmother to tell me about my mother." Piper said.
Finn looked over at her sympathetically.
"Oh, did your mom die giving birth to you too?"
Piper shook her head.
"No, she abandoned me." she said sadly.
Beside her, Aerrow gasped.
"Abandoned you?" he asked, incredulous. "That's horrible! Why would she do that?"
The girl shrugged.
"I don't know."
"What about on your home terra? Did anyone take care of you there?"
This time, she nodded.
"A woman named Ciel looked after me. She was a widow and had three kids of her own, but she told me that my mother dropped me off at her doorstep one night, so she decided to keep me. But she wouldn't tell me anything else about my mother, and nothing about my father. That's one of the reasons I ran away: I wanted to find them, maybe try to convince them to take me back."
She trailed off, as though she knew how foolish that hope had been: a little girl with nothing but a skybike and a backpack full of things, trying to find her estranged parents in the wide world of Atmos. It sounded almost impossible.
"It was kind of a silly dream." mumbled Piper.
Aerrow put a hand on her shoulder.
"No, it's not." he said, making her look at him. "You didn't find them before, but who knows? If you start searching again, I'm sure you could find them somehow. And you'd have some help this time."
"Yeah," Finn added, slightly hesitantly, for this still sounded like a wild goose chase to him.
Radarr chirped enthusiastically. Piper smiled.
"Thanks guys," she said. "But you're all the family I need now."
A little flutter of warm happiness bubbled inside Aerrow at her words. Family: yes, that's what they were.
"What about you, Aerrow?" Finn asked. "Do you remember your parents?"
He looked at Aerrow expectantly, and Piper too was curious. The red-haired boy suddenly felt strangely shy under the combined gaze. Radarr, on his lap, put his little, comforting paws on Aerrow's hand.
"I...don't remember my parents either." he said.
That wasn't enough. Just saying he couldn't remember his parents couldn't convey the whole truth.
"Actually," he amended. "I don't remember anything from when I was little."
This caught their attention. Both children now stared at him.
"What do you mean "anything"?" Finn's blue eyes were wide with disbelief. "Like, you really don't remember anything?"
Aerrow shook his head.
"What happened?" Piper asked, sounding so dismayed and worried.
"I don't know," Aerrow reached up to scratch the back of his neck. "I think I was four or something when it happened. I remember running and a lot of fire and smoke. Then I was knocked out and, next thing I knew, I woke up and had no idea where I was or who I was. Anyway, Radarr managed to sneak into my cell and find me. I didn't recognize him at first, but then it came back to me. I remembered who I was and who Radarr was, but that's pretty much it."
Piper frowned.
"Wait, a cell?"
Radarr's ears perked up and he looked up at his boy. Would he tell them? But Aerrow had flinched, as though the word brought back memories he'd been trying so hard to bottle up, to keep from rising to the surface.
"It's nothing."
"Doesn't sound like nothing." said Finn.
Aerrow hesitated. He didn't like talking about what happened. It was like trying to open a small crack in a dam to let some water leak out, but risk letting out the entire flood. He glanced up at his friends. They were watching him expectantly, but also worriedly. Finally, as though pulled by an invisible string, the words forced themselves out, before Aerrow could hold them back any longer.
"My terra was attacked by cyclonians. Not a lot of people survived. Those who did got thrown into cages."
Piper and Finn's faces changed from concern and curiosity to shock, dismay and fear.
"You were prisoners?" asked Piper, her orange eyes wide.
Aerrow nodded, biting his lip. The dam was dangerously close to breaking. Then he felt Radarr nudged his soft head under his hand. He looked down, and met his best friend's gaze. His big, yellow, worried eyes, the eyes that had seen the same horrors he had and had lived through them with him, brought a gentle wave of calm, and even dimmed the terrifying memories enough for the boy to smile and scratch the animal's ears. Radarr relaxed and rumbled softly at the gesture.
"Dude..." Finn breathed, breaking Aerrow from his trance.
He looked at Finn. He was staring at Aerrow in awe.
"How did you escape?" he asked.
The memories were still rather painful to recall, but not as bad as before. And besides, thinking about his and Radarr's escape made Aerrow feel better.
"We ran." he explained. "We got away from the guards that were taking us back to our cell, then we climbed over the wall. When they started chasing us, we found an old skyride and flew away. Then we were free." he smiled at the last words.
"Wow..." Finn breathed.
Piper's mouth was slightly open as she listened to the tale. She was impressed too. Finally, though, she asked:
"When did you escape?"
"A few months ago..."
"Whoa..."
Finn was still lost in admiration for Aerrow's escape.
"So that really wasn't a long time before you met me." said Piper.
"Yeah, I guess it wasn't."
Aerrow wasn't exactly sure when he had escaped from his terra, but surely it wasn't very long before he did meet Piper. He remembered first landing on Terra Muggen, one of the first terras with people on it that he'd ever seen apart from his former home. He remembered feeling a bit frightened by the thought of entering the town at first, then only a lingering wariness, because the people were unfriendly, but at least they weren't cyclonians.
"And what about your memories?" asked the girl, to which Finn finally snapped out of his slack-jawed state. "Have you gotten any of them back?"
Aerrow shook his head.
"Not really."
Then, he thought about it.
"But, sometimes, I get sort of...flashbacks or something. Mostly when I'm sleeping. But they're all really fuzzy, and I can't understand them."
"Have you tried looking for answers? Tried to find out about your family, your parents, your childhood?"
"I've never thought about it." he admitted.
Piper seemed shocked.
"Why?" she asked, sounding genuinely confused.
"Oh, give him a break, Piper!" Finn interjected. "Aerrow doesn't have to find out why he's forgotten his parents! He just escaped from a cyclonian prison! He escaped the cyclonians! I've never heard of anyone doing that! Especially not a kid! That's awesome!"
Aerrow looked at the blond in surprise.
"I guess it is pretty awesome when you put it that way." he said, a smile starting to grow on his face.
Finn nodded, grinning.
"Yeah it is!"
Piper didn't seem quite as enthusiastic.
"But what is Aerrow going to do now that he HAS escaped?" she asked, effectively stamping down the smiles of the two boys. "I mean, you can't just spend the rest of your life running away from what happened."
Aerrow frowned. The way Piper said it made him sound like a coward little boy. He hadn't been a coward! He'd escaped! And he hadn't been running away, he'd been enjoying his freedom, something he hadn't had since he could remember! Piper had been lucky, she'd run away before the cyclonians invaded her terra. She hadn't seen her home be burned and reduced to rubble. She hadn't been locked in chains. And Finn had never seen what the cyclonians could do. Not in person. They had been free for their whole lives. Aerrow and Radarr hadn't. Why should they have to do anything when they finally managed to get their freedom back? Piper saw the look on Aerrow's face, clearly seeing he was upset, and added:
"I'm just saying...it doesn't sound like living to me."
This made Aerrow pause.
"What do you mean?" he asked, now curious rather than angry.
Even Finn looked at Piper questioningly. She explained:
"Well, when you escaped, you just flew away from your home terra. You and Radarr became drifters and learned how to survive on your own, but that's pretty much all you did: survive and fly away from the cyclonians. It's like...you think you're free, but you're really just stuck in a new kind of cage, one that you can't escape from because it's always following you: the fear of being caught again. So you're really just as trapped as before."
She paused.
"Does that make sense?" she asked.
Aerrow thought it did. In fact, when he thought about it, Piper's description fit perfectly. He and Radarr had done nothing but fly away from their former home. They were always flying, always running away, always trying to stay as far away from what happened. And it sounded no better than being a prisoner. But still, it had to be better than what they'd left behind, right? After all, just the thought of what they'd been through, what the cyclonians had done to their home, to all those innocent people...Aerrow shivered. It was too horrible. Aerrow suddenly realized that his friends had gone quiet. They were looking at him with worry etched into their faces.
"Okay," he said, "so maybe I was running away, and I was scared, and afraid. But what else could I do? When you're a prisoner for so long, and then you escape, how can you do besides run away? And how do you just stop being scared that it'll happen again? That they'll go after you and catch you and...ground you again."
The children all winced lightly at the word. "Grounded" was atmosian slang for being caged or trapped or even defeated. It brought the image of a bird with its wings clipped off. It was the worst thing anyone could imagine. The four were all silent for a while, until Piper scooted over to Aerrow and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. He looked up, into her warm amber eyes, and she smiled at him.
"Well, you don't have to be afraid anymore, Aerrow." she said. "Those cyclonians won't get you, I promise. And even if they do, this time, you'll have us."
"Yeah!" Finn said. "You can count on us, Aerrow! We're there for ya!"
Radarr nodded. His boy wouldn't ever have to be alone and afraid anymore. Not if he had anything to say about it!
"You promised me that you'd never leave me, Aerrow. Well, I'm making the same promise."
Aerrow beamed at his two friends.
"Thanks, guys," he said, wrapping them all in a hug.
But even as Aerrow got into bed that night, he couldn't stop thinking about the day's conversation. Unable to sleep, he lay awake, eyes wide and staring at the ceiling. He'd been running away. Up until now, from the moment he'd gotten off of his terra, he'd been running, like a scared, helpless little child. Nothing but running and not dying. Looking back, it seemed like a lonely, empty way to live.
He sighed. At least he wasn't living like that anymore. He was free; he had a home, and friends who were like a family. So what would he do now? What could he do now? Aerrow's eyes widened as he realized he could do something now that he hadn't been able to in all those miserable years on his terra: he could hope, and he could dream. He could think of the future. And out here, out in the whole of Atmos, the future was without boundaries. There wasn't anything stopping from doing...anything. The possibilities were endless and unlimited, and Aerrow's heart fluttered at the thought of it all.
But then it sank as he thought, once more, about his old terra. He was free, but the other prisoners weren't. They couldn't dream of what the future held for them. They didn't have unlimited possibilities ahead of them. Instead, they were trapped...chained...grounded.
This made Aerrow feel sadder than he'd ever been in his life. What the cyclonians had done wasn't just to him. It had been his whole terra, and more. Who knows how many people were sitting in their cells, miserable and without any sign of hope? It broke Aerrow's heart, just thinking about it. But what could he do? How could he help all of those prisoners? What could he do? What could he do?
And then it came. And as the idea came, Aerrow slowly sat up in bed. Then he dropped onto the floor. His blood was dancing with fire. He couldn't keep it inside, he had to tell someone. Carefully, he opened his and Finn's bedroom door and creeped out to Piper's bedroom.
"Piper?" he knocked gently at her door. "Are you awake?"
There was a moment of silence, then the soft padding of feet on the floor, and then the door opened. Piper looked back at him, in her patched, soft grey pyjamas, her untied hair sticking up vertically on her head.
"I am now." she whispered, then looked at him in concern. "What is it, Aerrow? Can't sleep?"
He shook his head. Before he could ask if he could come in, Piper opened the door further to let him inside, the shut it softly behind him. The two climbed onto Piper's bed and sat in front of each other.
"I was thinking about what you said today," he said, "about running and being afraid."
Piper nodded.
"M-hm?"
Aerrow looked at his hands.
"And you were right. Always running away and always being afraid, that wasn't living. It was just...not dying."
"You mean surviving." Piper corrected.
Aerrow nodded, then he looked up at her, and Piper saw a bright determination shining in his green eyes, so bright it could've lit up the room.
"And I'm tired of it." he said, his eyes still glowing with that bright determination. "I'm tired of running and being afraid. So I'm not going to run anymore."
"But what happened to you and your terra-?" Piper began.
Aerrow shook his head.
"I don't want it to happen ever again. But I don't want it to happen to anyone else either. No one else should have to see their terra destroyed, or have to lose their parents like that. That's why I'm not gonna run from the Cyclonians. I'm gonna stand and fight them back!"
Piper stared at her friend with awe and amazement.
"How?"
Aerrow grinned.
"I'm gonna be a sky knight!" he said, proudly.
The words were a joy to speak, and they filled him with something new, but comforting: purpose. He felt braver, stronger, just being saying them. Of course, he had fancied the notion of becoming a sky knight before. But it was a child's dream, one that was born of their games and all the things Aerrow had heard about them. A pretend-dream from a pretend-game. But now, the dream was solid, the drive and the ambition real. He wanted to be a sky knight. He would be a sky knight. It felt so right saying it, thinking it, believing it at last. Piper's eyes widened further at Aerrow's declaration.
"Really?!" she squeaked, trying to keep her excitement as whisper-quiet as she could. "But you don't know how to fight." she pointed out.
"I'll learn how," Aerrow vowed, "just like I learned how to fly."
"It'll be dangerous." Piper said, for though she was impressed by Aerrow's ambition, and wanted to encourage him, she also wanted to caution him.
Protecting the people of Atmos came with great risks, dangers and responsibilities, and Piper hoped Aerrow could grasp that. But Aerrow smiled at her, and there was reassurance in his voice as he said:
"Doesn't matter. I'm still going to do it."
Aerrow wasn't blind to the risks Piper was concerned about. He had heard over and over from Piper's book and from school that being a sky knight was dangerous work. He knew it meant going into battle and fighting for your life, possibly going to war, and perhaps even, in the end, having to sacrifice your life for Atmos. He knew all that, but he couldn't let that deter him. He remembered the fire and the fear and the screaming, and, afterwards, the despair in the faces of the other survivors, their chains clinking, their faces streaked with tears, mourning the ones they'd lost and the lives that had been snatched away from them. He couldn't bear the thought of that happening to anyone else: to other kids like Piper and Finn, to be orphaned and thrown into cages that reeked of fear. He couldn't let that happen. He couldn't EVER let that happen. Not if he could stop it.
"Are you sure, Aerrow?" Piper asked him.
He nodded.
"Positive,"
She searched his eyes, and it seemed to dispel her fears. She smiled.
"I think you'll make a great sky knight, Aerrow." she said.
The praise lifted Aerrow's spirits so they spread their wings and soared throughout him. He beamed.
"Thanks, Piper."
His friend's smiled widened, then she yawned. Aerrow realized it must've been pretty late, and he was keeping her up. He slid off her bed and tiptoed to her door. Piper followed though, to whisper a small "Goodnight," as Aerrow stepped into the hall, and to receive Aerrow's soft "'Night," in return before he closed the door. Aerrow tiptoed back to his room and snuck in. Finn let out a sleep-ridden mumble, but didn't stir further, just rolled over and continued snoring. Aerrow slid under his covers, slightly nudging Radarr who kicked his back foot in protest before his boy brought him close. The animal churred contentedly and snuggled close, still sleeping. Aerrow fell asleep too, eventually.
Junko knew he was the biggest or the strongest wallop on Atmos. He'd known it his whole life. That didn't stop the other wallops from reminding him, though.
So when Junko came back from school with his glasses broken and his clothes and books a mess, you could pretty much guess why it was so. The wallop dropped his bag of ripped tatters formerly known as books onto the floor, causing a loud thump. Sighing, he picked up the strap and dragged it behind him. Hearing the thump, and the dragging, a large, formidable-looking female wallop peeked out from the kitchen door.
"What's with the long face, Junko?" she asked, stepping out and brushing crumbs off of her apron.
"Nothing, Aunt Eunice."
Junko pulled out a chair and slumped into it. Eunice, unconvinced, pulled a second one out for herself.
"Nothing doesn't break your glasses." she said.
She reached out and gingerly removed them from her nephew's face before reaching into her pocket and extracting a brand new pair. Junko brightened at the sight of them.
"Thanks," he said, putting them on.
"I had a feeling you'd need some new ones soon." explained Eunice. "We're really going through a lot, aren't we?"
Junko nodded, shrugging his shoulders apologetically.
"Sorry, auntie."
"Don't be sorry," Eunice said. "Tell me instead what's happened today."
"Well," Junko started, brushing the dirt from his clothing, "we had this history lesson in school, and the teacher told us about a test coming up-Ow!" he yelped as Eunice punched his shoulder.
"I didn't say "Tell about your lessons", Junko; I said to tell me what happened! Why did your glasses break? Why are you all dirty and dusty? And what's happened to your books?!" she grabbed the school bag and emptied its contents on the table for emphasis, then set back down and looked intensely at her nephew. "What happened today, Junko? Tell me."
Junko told her. He told her about the bullies who'd tracked him down during lunch, who'd laughed at him and called him a gleep over and over. He told her that he tried to make them stop, but how they beat him up for his efforts. When he was done, he was quiet, with his head hung and his ears drooping. He never liked talking about those school bullies. It was an all-too fresh reminder of how weak he was.
"I...I wish I was strong like them, aunt Eunice." he said, looking up at her at last.
"Why do you want that?" she asked, to her nephew's shock.
"Well...well because if I was strong like all the other wallops, then they wouldn't pick on me!" he said, the words almost bursting from his mouth. "They'd have never picked on me if I was big and strong like them! Then they wouldn't tease me and pick on me and call me a gleep..."
He trailed off sadly. Thinking about gleeps reminded him of Manky, the timid little creature he'd befriended as a child. But little Manky had passed on, and Junko still felt sad that he was gone. That gleep had been the only friend he'd ever had.
"Junko,"
He felt his aunt's hand rest gently on his shoulder. He looked up at her.
"Junko, you are a strong wallop. Maybe not that much on the outside, but on the inside," she tapped a spot on his chest, right over his heart, "you're bigger and better than any wallop on this terra."
"How can you know that?" Junko asked her.
"Because I'm your aunt, and you're my nephew, that's why." she said. "I know you, Junko. And I know that it doesn't matter how strong you are, because you've managed to put up with all that bullying your whole life. That means you got something most wallops don't. You've got real heart, Junko, and you've got brains to go with it! You're smarter than most adult wallops I know. So who cares about your muscles! You've got something more important, Junko, you hear me? Don't listen to those bullies, because they can't hold a candle to what you've got."
Junko did feel better, hearing this praise.
"You really think so, auntie?" he asked. "You really mean all that?"
"Of course I mean it!" she said. "I don't talk for the pleasure of hearing my own voice!"
This was indeed true, Aunt Eunice didn't believe in empty flattery. Junko smiled a bit, but he sighed.
"It's just..." he faltered a bit, then said: "It's just that I'd still feel better, you know...if I actually was strong like you say I am."
Eunice was quite for a long time, then she stood.
"Come on," she said. "I want to show you something."
Curious, Junko got up and followed his aunt to another room. In the back, there was a shelf with a box on top of it. Junko had glimpsed this box several times in the past, but had never seen what was in it. Now, his aunt Eunice took the box down from the shelf.
"You know, Junko, I was actually a lot like you when I was your age." she said.
Junko blinked up at her in surprise.
"You...how?" he asked.
"I mean that I wasn't the strongest wallop in the world either when I was little." she smiled.
Junko gasped.
"But-But you're the toughest brawler ever!" he protested.
His aunt chuckled.
"That's true." she admitted. "But I had something to help me."
She opened the box and Junko saw, nestled inside, the two most beautiful things he'd ever seen in his life!
"Whooooaaaa..." he breathed.
Eunice grinned.
"These are knucklebusters." she said. "They've been in our family for generations."
Junko stared at the wondrous objects with awe. He reached out and gently brushed a hand on one of them, feeling the cool, silvery metal under his fingers.
"I want you to have them, Junko." Eunice announced.
Junko's gaze snapped up to meet hers.
"I want you to have them, and I want you to use them, and use them well."
He stared at her.
"You...you're giving these knucklebusters...to me?"
She nodded, holding out the box. In a trance, Junko gently, carefully pulled them out and put them on. He stared at his hands. They looked different with the busters on. He felt different too. He felt stronger, bigger, better. He slammed his fists together. The busters glowed with a beautiful, bright green light!
"This is amazing!" Junko beamed. "Thank you! Thank you, Aunt Eunice, thank you!"
He wrapped his hands around his aunt and hugged her tight!
"Whoa! Easy Junko!" his aunt said in a strained voice. "You're going to crush me if you hug me with those!"
Immediately, Junko released his aunt, apologizing profusely. And yet, he couldn't stop smiling. He just felt so happy! This was the beginning of a new life for him! No more bullies, no more torment, no more ridicule! He, Junko, was a new wallop, and wasn't ever going to be weak again!
Finn squinted at his target. This was an operation that required maximum precision. He pulled back the elastic band. His weapon was fully loaded. He aimed carefully for another second, and then let go! The little pebble flew through the air with a small Whoosh!
PINK!
"Ow!" Piper yelped as the pebble hit her high on her forehead.
"Oops!" Finn lowered the sling-shot. "Sorry Piper!"
The amber-eyed girl rubbed the spot where the pebble had struck and frowned at Finn. The apple perched on her head remained untouched.
"You okay?" Aerrow asked, standing as he was outside of Finn's line of fire.
"I'll be better once Finn stops missing." said the girl.
Then she saw Finn pull back once more, and closed her eyes, anticipating another sharp blow. Finn let go of the band, and this time, the pebble found its mark and knocked the apple off of Piper's head!
"Yes!" he whooped, pumping his fist in victory.
Piper opened one eye, then felt the top of her head. The apple had indeed been knocked off. She sighed in relief. Aerrow cheered.
"Nice shot, Finn!" he said, giving the blond a sky-five. "You're getting really good at this!"
Indeed he was. Finn's aim and skill with a sling-shot had much improved from the days where he would always strike them in the nose or the eye. 4 years had passed with golden tranquility on Terra Sparrow. With school, playtime and the occasional trip to other terras with Tempo, the lives of the inseparable quarto were rather happy and peaceful. And so, they started growing up. The three children had grown taller, and Aerrow now had some muscle to match his height. He wasn't as skinny as he used to be either, though he still had a wiry frame. Finn wasn't as tall as the redhead, but he was only a few inches shorter. Piper too had grown, and even quicker than the boys. She was now at eye-level with Finn, and with Aerrow if she stood on her tip-toes. Radarr hardly changed at all. He did get a little bigger during their first year on Sparrow, but then it seemed his growth spurts were over, for he hadn't gotten any bigger for the past few months. At least now, Aerrow could carry him on his back with more ease than before.
But there was more than height involved. As the four got older, their obsession with sky knights had increased. They now had small toy weapons to go with their playing, and they'd often spend hours just practicing with them with no game in mind. Aerrow had a small sword, though after a while, he got a second one, and had been using both of them ever since, Piper had a staff, and Finn a slingshot. A slingshot which had been the cause of several black eyes for the other two children for the past few days, and so Piper was not fond of this slingshot.
"I really don't like this game all that much." she said, walking over to join the two boys as they all sat in the grass.
"It's not a game, Piper," Aerrow pointed out. "It's practice. If we're going to be a sky knight squadron, Piper, we have to be ready to fight."
"A sky knight squadron," Finn sighed reverently. "We're going to be our very own sky knight squadron."
He shook his head.
"I still can't believe it!"
"I know, me too!" Aerrow nodded. "But you'll see. It'll happen, I know it!"
"There is an important thing we have to decide, though."
Piper looked over at the blond curiously.
"What's that, Finn?"
He stared at her as though the answer were obvious.
"What are we going to be called?! We need to have a really awesome name for our squadron! That's super important!"
Piper shook her head and Radarr rolled his eyes. Really? That was Finn's biggest concern? Their squadron name?
"I think there's something else we have to decide," said Aerrow, "but don't worry, Finn; we'll think of a name soon enough."
Finn huffed.
"Who's going to be the sky knight?" Aerrow asked.
"I think you should be, Aerrow." said Piper.
Aerrow stared at her.
"Me?"
She nodded.
"It was your idea in the first place, Aerrow. And you're kind of already the leader, at least to us."
Finn and Radarr nodded in agreement. Aerrow was speechless for several minutes.
"You really think so?" he finally asked, a small smile forming on his face.
His friends nodded.
"You'd be the best sky knight out of all of us." Finn admitted.
Aerrow's smile broadened.
"Thanks, you guys," he said.
Fire roared across the landscape, swallowing everything in its path. People screamed and ran as talon soldiers herded them back into the destruction. Aerrow was frightened, terrified. He heard a shriek and whirled around! It was Radarr! He ran to him, but the animal was grabbed by a talon and thrust into a cage!
"NO!" Aerrow cried.
Another scream. He saw Piper and Finn, running, reaching desperately, crying out for help. He practically threw himself at them, but there was a flash of light, and they disappeared! No! This couldn't be happening, it couldn't be! Then there was the roar of a skyride! He looked up, into a pair of evil, red eyes! He screamed and bolted upright, knocking Radarr off of him and almost falling out of bed!
"What the-" Finn sat up in the next bed. "What is it, Aerrow?"
Panting, Aerrow looked around. It was his room. He was in his room. And there was Finn, looking at him with worried eyes, and there was Radarr, climbing over the blankets towards him. It was a dream. It was just a dream. He was alright, everything was okay.
"Aerrow? Aerrow, dude, are you okay?"
Aerrow turned to Finn. The boy had gotten out of bed and was staring at him, very worried. Radarr crawled into Aerrow's lap, chittering softly. The red-haired boy wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"I…I'm alright."
"You sure?" Finn put a hand on his shoulder. "You sounded like you were having a nightmare."
Aerrow gave him a small smile, the corners trembling just a little.
"I was. It was just some memories of when-"
BOOM! CRASH!
The ground had started shaking!
"YAH!" Finn yelped. "What's happening?!"
Aerrow lept to his feet and ran to the window, Radarr on his heels. He gasped in horror at what he saw.
"…the cyclonians…" he murmured. "…attacking…"
In the distance, Aerrow could see the town surrounded by cyclonians! Their skyrides hovered over the blaze they were creating like vultures over a kill! Even from here, Aerrow could faintly smell the smoke, hear the screams, and feel the heat of the flames!
"COME ON!" he scooped up Radarr and ran!
They burst out of their room to find the others! Piper's door opened and she tumbled out, eyes wide and frightened.
"It's the cyclonians! What-What're we gonna do-"
"We gotta get out of here!" Aerrow cried. "We gotta run!"
"Where?!"
"Wait, where's Tempo?!" Finn looked about wildly for their guardian.
The front door burst open! The children whirled around. It was Tempo!
"Come on!" he beckoned.
His voice, normally so calm and steady, was frantic. They ran to him.
"Tempo, s-sir, what are we-"
"No time for talking," Tempo interrupted Aerrow and nudged him forward. "Just follow me! And quick!"
They did as they were told. Tempo hobbled on his cane as fast as he could, away from the attack. Behind them, Aerrow heard the crashing and clattering of buildings falling. He looked over his shoulder, and saw the talons blasting the town to cinders! They were destroying everything! Just like back home…And he was running away! Again! He had to do something!
"We have to help!" he cried out, but Tempo hurried him on.
"No time!"
"But all those people! We have to-"
"You have to survive, Aerrow! You must!"
Tempo pulled Aerrow along, but Aerrow looked back again. Everything…Everything was falling apart, and all he could do was watch helplessly while running away!
"Aerrow!"
Piper's voice. He turned, saw her. She reached out a hand. He grabbed it. She pulled him along and he ran with her and the others up, up the hill. There was the shed! Tempo opened the door. The skyride! It was still there!
"I don't think that ride and carry all of us!" Piper said.
But Tempo passed by the skyride without a second glance. He got to the corner of the shed and kneeled down. His fingers found something invisible to Aerrow's eyes, and he struggled to lift something. At last, he succeeded, and the grass and soil lifted up in a square-shaped panel. A trap door!
"Quick! Climb down! Now!" he urged.
They scrambled toward the door. Finn dropped down the small ladder first, and Piper hurried after him. Radarr jumped down into the hole, and Aerrow followed. Before he reached the bottom, though, he looked up at Tempo. The old man wasn't climbing down with him.
"Tempo, what-"
"Listen to me, Aerrow." Tempo cut him off. "You and the others will be safe down there, but you have to be quiet, and whatever you do, no matter you hear, don't come out. Do you hear me? No matter what, don't come out!"
Aerrow's eyes widened as he realised what Tempo was saying.
"Tempo, wait!"
He reached out, but it was too late! Tempo closed the door. Aerrow climbed the ladder pounded his fist on the panel, but it wouldn't budge!
"TEMPO! TEMPO NO! COME BACK!"
Aerrow pushed against the panel. It was stuck! He pushed harder, but it wouldn't give.
"Aerrow, he said not to go out!" Piper called from the bottom of the ladder.
"But we have to help him!" Aerrow braced his shoulder against the panel and pushed, but in vain. "We've got to help him! And all those people! We can't just let them-"
"Aerrow! We have to stay down here!"
"I can't let it happen again!" Aerrow was crying now, tears running over his cheeks, but he hardly noticed as he kept pounding at the door. "I can't run away again!"
He lost his footing. His grip slipped and he fell, almost pulling the ladder down with him, but he let go of it! Piper had tried to catch him, but she could only soften his landing a little. Aerrow got off of her.
"I can't let those cyclonians destroy my home again!"
He looked back up at the trapdoor, but there was nothing he could do. He was helpless to do anything to stop the invasion. There was nothing he could do…And that was the worst feeling in the world. Then, there was a blast from above them, and the terra shook violently. Afraid, Radarr leaped up into Aerrow's arms. He whimpered and trembled, and Aerrow wrapped his arms tightly around him.
"They're-They're going to destroy everything…"
Aerrow looked up. Finn was staring up at the ceiling of their hiding place. He was curled up into a ball, looking more terrified than anything Aerrow had ever seen. He edged closer to the boy, wanting to comfort him, when another tremor shook them. Finn let out a loud yelp or fright.
"They're gonna find us!"
"No, no, Finn, they're not." Aerrow scooted next to Finn, placing an arm around him. "They won't find us, Finn, we're…we're gonna be okay."
Finn looked at him with watery eyes and nodded, but he looked so unsure. Aerrow looked for Piper. She was huddled against the wall, tears running down her face in streams.
"Piper,"
Another blast! Another shake of their small shelter. Piper covered her ears with her hands, trying to block out the horrible sounds above them. She reminded Aerrow of himself, when his own terra was attacked. Both she and Finn had never experienced this before. They were terrified.
"Piper," Aerrow said softly.
She looked up at him. He held out a hand and she crawled over to him, grabbing his hand and clasping it tightly.
"I'm scared, Aerrow." she whimpered.
"I know," he said. "I'm scared too."
Aerrow had no idea how long the attack lasted. Had it been just a few hours? A day? It felt like weeks, down there in the dark of their shelter. At times, they'd heard the sounds of footsteps, and were afraid they'd been found. But the trapdoor remained shut. They huddled together for warmth, and perhaps comfort, though the latter was easier said than done, for the noises they heard were still terrible: the roar of fire and explosions, the zoom of passing skyrides, stampedes of running footsteps, muffled screams, splintering wood and crumbling stone. To the children, it sounded like the terra itself was being ripped apart.
Then, finally, after forever, the sounds from above quieted, and soon there was no sound at all but their own breathing.
"I…I think it's over." Finn whispered.
Aerrow looked at the trapdoor intently for several seconds. Nothing happened.
"I think you're right." he murmured.
"What do we do now?" Piper asked softly.
Aerrow turned to his friends. They were looking at him as though waiting for him to make a decision.
"I guess we go up." he said.
Cautiously, they stood and crept over to the ladder. Aerrow started climbing first, followed by Radarr. When he got to the trapdoor, he pushed against it as hard as he could. It didn't open, but he could feel it move, just a little. He tried again, and the door lifted a fraction of an inch.
'Come on, just one more push,'
Letting go of the ladder, he put both hands to the trapdoor and put all his weight against it. It gave way, and opened! Quickly grabbing hold of the ladder again with one hand, Aerrow flew the other up to cover his eyes as dirt, dust and ash rose from the trapdoor's sudden movement. He coughed and blinked through the dim light. The wooden walls of the cabin had been smashed in and were left barely standing. Aerrow crawled through a gap that had once been a door, and gasped with despair as he saw what was outside.
Terra Sparrow had been utterly destroyed. Where there were once rolling hills, there was an endless field of desolate grey. The Tall Forest had been turned into a graveyard of blackened trunks, still smoking like extinguished candles. In the distance, he could see the twisted ruin that the town had become. And their house…their perfect, tiny little house…Aerrow didn't even recognize it when he first laid eyes on it. It made him think of a broken eggshell, one that had been stamped on over and over, then ripped apart into millions of little pieces, and then been set on fire. Ash drifted slowly down from the clouds, like black snow. Aerrow could feel it land in his hair, on his clothes, on his hands, turning him as grey and dead as the landscape around him. And he felt it. He felt like his insides had been set on fire, and crushed, and ripped apart. Into millions of little pieces. His home was gone…again.
"No," Finn whimpered, breaking the spell of silence.
Aerrow abruptly turned at the sound of his friend's voice. He hadn't heard him come out of the broken cabin. Finn was staring around them at what had once been his home, and his eyes were a hauntingly familiar sight to Aerrow. They held the same shock, devastation and disbelief he knew he'd felt when his terra had been attacked.
"No, no," he shook his head, blinking furiously as tears started blossoming. "This…This can't be happening…This can't be real!"
"Finn…" Aerrow reached out slowly to his friend. "I'm sorry-"
"It can't!" Finn sobbed, turning frantically to Aerrow. "There's gotta something left! Something! Anything! Anyone! They couldn't have-They couldn't have gotten everyone!"
"Finn-" Aerrow tried again, but Finn cried out:
"Tempo! H-He gotta be here! He's always there!"
Then he ran off before Aerrow could say anything to stop him. He cupped his hands around his mouth a called out for their guardian:
"Tempo? Tempo where are you?! TEMPO!"
But Tempo was gone. Aerrow knew he was. There was no way he could've survived…this. Aerrow sniffed, and he could feel the water starting to run slowly down his cheeks.
"He's gone, Finn."
Finn whirled on Aerrow, fury mingling with the already-existing turmoil of emotions in his face.
"HE CAN'T BE GONE!"
Aerrow flinched.
"NO! HE CAN'T! I JUST GOTTA KEEP LOOKING FOR HIM! TEMPO!"
He tried to run but Aerrow caught up with him! Finn struggled, but Aerrow held him down and said loudly:
"Tempo's gone, Finn! There's no way he could've survived this! No one could've! Everything's gone!"
Finn sank to his knees, weeping, and he let out a howl of pain!
"NOOOOOO!"
Aerrow too felt like weeping.
"I'm sorry, Finn…I'm sorry."
The tears were pouring down his face now, but he couldn't stop them. Finn had his head buried in his hands.
"This was our home! Our HOME! And now it's all GONE! IT'S gone!"
He trailed off into sobs of despair. Aerrow couldn't blame him. He could barely speak himself. He'd thought that when he'd lost his home, it was the worst possible thing that ever could've happened to him. But this was worse. Much, much worse. Because he could've done something. Maybe he could've pulled Tempo in with them into the shelter. Maybe he could've fought some cyclonians off. Maybe he could've bought them some time. He could've something, anything! But he didn't! Instead, he hidden away and let this happen to all those innocent people…let this happen to Finn's home, his new home, Radarr's new home, Piper's new home. Wait…where were Radarr and Piper? Weren't they supposed to be right behind them? Where were they?!
"SCREE!"
Aerrow was almost knocked over by his co-pilot, and happiness temporarily pushed back the despair. Radarr nuzzled his cheek, his little nose feeling so comfortable and familiar, and Aerrow wanted to cry from relief. He also heard footsteps and turned to see Piper running towards them. Her face was streaked with tears and her eyes were red, as though she'd already been crying a lot.
"I-Is he okay?" she asked, kneeling beside the two boys, her voice catching.
She wiped her eyes, but it did little good. Aerrow looked at Finn. He was still crying, more softly now, but it was clear that he wasn't okay.
"What happened?" he asked instead. "Why didn't you catch up with us?"
Piper bit her lip; fresh tears were already glimmering in her orange eyes.
"W-When I got out of the cabin," she whimpered, "it looked…it looked just like my home when…"
She couldn't finish. Aerrow took her hand. She clasped it tightly, so much that her own hands trembled lightly.
"It's...It's going to be okay, Piper," Aerrow said, trying to sound reassuring, though his voice shook like a leaf. "We'll be okay."
"How?" Piper choked out. "How can we be okay after this?"
Aerrow lowered his head, biting his lip to stifle a sob. He didn't know how to answer that question. How were they going to be okay? How could anyone be okay after this?! How could anything be okay?
"What's going to happen to us?" Finn finally asked.
Two big, fat tears plopped down into Aerrow's lap.
"I don't know..." he confessed, burying his face in his arm. "I don't...know..."
They sat there, crying, for what seemed like hours. Radarr howled mournfully, though for what, Aerrow couldn't be sure. For the ones who'd been killed in the attack? For Tempo? For their lost home? For them? Probably all of the above.
A noise finally pierced the aura of sorrow that had settled on the children. It was so faint Aerrow thought he was dreaming it. But it was there, real and true, and it was getting louder. The familiar hum of a skyride! No, several skyrides! They were coming closer! He looked up, and four skyrides landed not 50 meters away. He could just see the riders even through the raining ash and his tears: sky knights!
"Check to see if they're any survivors!"
"I don't know, this terra seems pretty dead. This attack was ruthless. I don't think any civilians could've stood a chance."
"Wait! Look, over there! OVER THERE! There're three kids right there! And some small animal! Right there!"
"Survivors!"
"Well, don't just stand here, let's go!"
The four figures ran over to them and knelt around them. Aerrow could feel powerful arms lifting him up as the adults carry them to their skyrides.
"They look pretty shaken, but not hurt."
"What happened here, was it cyclonians?"
Aerrow could just barely nod.
"We should try to find their families." said a female voice. "Where're your parents, little ones?"
"We're...We're orphans." he said.
He felt so small now, so weak, like he couldn't do anything except cry.
"Damn those cyclonians!" one of the adults cursed.
"What are we gonna do with them?" asked the female voice. "We can't just leave them!"
"Hey, didn't we pass an orphanage not so long ago?" said the first voice, who seemed to be the leader.
"Yeah, there's supposed to be one not far from here. It's pretty close to where I found you all. But if only I'd gone sooner, I might've-"
"We can't dwell on ifs. Don't worry; we'll avenge your squadron, my friend. But first, let's get these kids to a safe place."
"What about their little pet? Does he come-OW! Geez! He just bit me!"
"He's not a pet." Aerrow heard Finn correct. "He's a friend, just an animal. And he's the only family we've got."
Aerrow saw Radarr crawl up the leg of the man carrying him, and he cuddled him to his chest as he got to Aerrow's lap.
"I guess he comes with us too." the leader said. "Alright, let's go."
They started to walk away. Aerrow blinked up at the sky knight holding him.
"Don't worry, kiddo, you and your friends are gonna be alright. You're all gonna be okay from now on."
