"Pretty girl is suffering while he confesses everything/ pretty soon she'll figure out you can never get him out your head."
- "Pretty Girl" by Sugarcult.
OoOoO
Omniscient.
"Terra Bogaton…"
Aerrow glanced over at Repton, who had his softly-purring Bone Wing parked next to his Skimmer. Aerrow revved his Skimmer a little, the silence of Bogaton getting under his skin. The last time he had been there, he hadn't realized there was more to the Terra than just Repton's stronghold. Small villages permeated the dry, scrubby landscape, and it was in one of these that they had decided to first stop.
"Where're all the people?" Junko pondered out loud, his grey eyes wide to show the innocence of his question. The village was completely deserted. He hopped off his heavy, metal-plated Skimmer and casually walked further in. "Is this like a ghost town or something?"
"Yes," Repton answered, his tail rhythmically swishing from side to side, his tongue flickering out in agitation. "You'll find no raptor cities or towns any longer, Sky Knight. The smart ones have all gone into hiding."
Junko chuckled, waving Repton away like an abashed maiden. If he noticed the somber attitude that permeated the very air around the Raptor, he might have kept his mouth shut. "I'm no Sky Knight! I'm just-"
"All the rest are dead," Repton finished without a flourish, or a dramatic low pitch. He simply stated the facts. Leugey, Spitz, and Hoerk were gathered behind their leader and brother, gripping the handlebars of their Bone Wings tightly. While Repton was coolly uncaring, they made no attempt to hide their fear, indignation, and resentment towards the Sky Knights.
There was a click as Finn undid the safety on his crossbow. Repton snorted at that, crawling forward at a snail's pace on his machine. The rest of them followed, listening as he spoke. "You've nothing to fear, Sky Knight. The Interceptors aren't likely to put you down."
"Hey man, I'm not a Sky Knight ei-" Finn started, but Aerrow cut him off. Putting on a small burst of speed until he was cruising alongside the raptor, he fixed the taller humanoid with an unreadable glare.
"What did you say?" he asked. "What did you say their name was?"
Repton's mouth curled up in a smile. "You mean you didn't know the Interceptors have been re-formed? Much like your beloved Storm Hawks, a group of punks figured they had the right to take on the name."
"But there's still an Interceptor!" Junko protested from his position at the rear of the pack, protecting their backs. "Starling-"
"Don't make me laugh," Repton said, shaking his head with amusement. "One person can't make a squadron. Starling is a ghost. When the sun hits her she'll fade away like the rest of her friends did, fifteen years ago."
Without warning, Aerrow swerved his Skimmer to the side and blocked Repton's way, scarred face grim. "Let's set down a few rules if we're going to be working together, Repton," he said. "We're going to meet each other half-way in this. I treat you like you treat me, understand? Didn't your mother ever teach you manners?"
"Don't be so touchy," Repton said.
"He wouldn't have to if you weren't such a dick," Finn snapped.
Repton's long tongue flickered out, but he said nothing. Spitz was more than happy to take up the gauntlet in defense of his brother, though. He revved his motors loudly, hissing at the blond . "Oooh, I'm tho thowwy, the widdle baby can't handle tough talk? We hurtin' yo' feeeeeelingths, Thky Knight?"
Finn bristled. "No, I'm just not gonna stand here and let you talk shit, raptor. We're helping you. Show us some respect."
"I'll show you respect," Hoerk rumbled, his muscles bulging in preparation for a brawl.
Repton finally snapped "Oh, shut up, all of you!" he said, irritated. "Grow some brains already."
"Yeah!" Junko set his face into a firm frown of disapproval. "Finn, you've got to behave yourself, too, you know. Repton is our friend now, and friends don't act like this."
Everyone stopped what they were doing to shoot him incredulous glares of anger.
"We are not friends," Aerrow said.
Repton said nothing, merely steering around the Sky Knight to lead the pack once more.
"We have a truthe," Spitz said. "Tho for now, we ain't enemieth, but we thchure ath hell ain't friendth, neither. The Raptorth need thum help on the right thide of the law, ya undastand? You chumpth have half of Atmothia under yer thumb. You do the math."
"Just talking to the Interceptors might be enough," Aerrow conceded.
"Somehow I doubt that," Repton said. "But I'll let you find that out for yourself, Dark Ace. And this…" He stopped, looking up at the walls of his former stronghold. Rage burned in him at this low point he had reached, but he refused to show it. "Is where we part ways for the moment. The Interceptors have taken up residence here. It was… available, after I fled the Terra when I saw things were getting too hot under our feet."
"We smuggle stuff back every now and then," Leugey said in what he hoped was a helpful tone. "You know, food and, like, crystals and food and stuff, and all the other raptors are always happy to see us, and they always has like-"
"Thchut yer pie hole, Leugey! Nobody athked you nothin'!"
"Duhh, but, ain't we supposed to tell 'em stuff so they can help us, bro?"
"We'll go to them," Aerrow said to Repton. The two of them ignored their squadrons behind them, concentrated on the mission ahead. "And even though I don't trust you, if we get into trouble I'll send a blue flare up. It'll be your decision whether to help us or not- but remember, we're your best hope for getting out of this mess."
Repton snorted derisively. "Raptors are not cowards," he said, "But I'm not stretching my neck out for you. I'm no Sky Knight."
"And that's what makes us so different." Letting his engine roar, Aerrow shot away from the cover of the dry forest and his two crew mates followed him, making as much ruckus as possible to let the Interceptors know they were coming. The raptors stayed behind, melding seamlessly into the foliage.
OoOoOo
"Piper, I think we need to talk."
Piper looked up from the Sky Knight roster, which listed every Sky Knight since the days of the original Rex Guardians. Though it was unlikely that she would find Nova's name among them, from what she had heard she knew he had official training. The way he had disarmed Finn was something no novice could do. Plus, she knew she had heard his name before, somewhere, but every book she poured through never revealed a Nova. If he was anyone important in contemporary history, he had long since been wiped off the books.
"Hmm?" she said, only half-listening to what Stork had to say.
"Do you like me?"
Her heart stopped for half a beat before she gave herself a good mental slap. Piper yawned. "Yeah," she said, stretching her arms high above her head. It was a weird time, she thought, for Stork to be feeling insecure about his place on the ship. "Sure you can get on my nerves with your paranoia, but I'd go crazy myself if you weren't around. Plus, there was that whole thing with the mind worms- I might have died if you weren't prepared for an infestation. So why do you ask? Something wrong?"
She glanced over at him, curious, but his back was turned. His one-hand (the left hand, the one not chewed in half) grip on the steering wheel loosened from its former tight clench, his tense shoulders relaxing somewhat.
"Ah…" he said quietly. "I see. That's good then."
Piper smiled, shaking her head at him in amusement. "You're so weird, Stork. But I guess that's what I like about you."
Stork's lips curled up in a bitter smile. "Well, of course. What do you expect from a half-breed freak?"
Her smile was wiped away. She blinked in shock. "Half-?"
"It's nothing," Stork said quickly, checking their course on the map he had pinned to the glass in front of him. "Just a… joke." His eyelid twitched, though she couldn't see it. "Anyway, in answer to your previous question, for a while now I've thought you harbored romantic feelings for me, Piper. And since hoarding your feelings inside is a sure fire route to self-destruction, I wanted to know for sure so that the air could be cleared."
Silence reigned supreme within the Condor. For a moment Stork thought all was at rest but then he realized Piper was silent not because the conversation was over but because she was in a state of shock. He flipped on the auto-pilot switch, his ears standing erect on his head as he turned to face her, his head tilted in confusion.
"Something wrong?" he asked the dumbstruck girl, unconsciously echoing her previous words.
Piper's mouth dropped open. "What?" she said.
"What, what?" Stork asked, honestly confused.
"You… you thought I…"
"Yeah?"
"You thought I liked you?"
"Well, yeah. What did you think I meant?"
"I thought you just wanted to know if I liked you. Not… like liked you."
"Well, do you?"
Piper went on the defensive, crossing her arms. "Do you?" she asked instead of answering, honey eyes narrowed.
"Aaaahh," Stork said, nodding wisely, eyes heavy-lidded and smiling in satisfaction. "I knew it." The merb shrugged and turned back to the controls, switching out of auto-pilot without further ado. "For several months now you've been acting strangely towards me. Didn't take me long to see it was a crush. That, or the Pelanian Snickerbobs." His eyelid twitched again. "So. Now that the air is all clear, let's decide what to do about this."
Piper threw her hands into the air, her face on fire. "About what?" She demanded.
"About your crush of course."
"I do not have a-"
Stork whirled around, his yellow eyes as wide as dinner plates. "Oh god," he said, anxiously rubbing the stumps on his right hand. "So you're saying it is the Pelanian Snickerbobs after all?! I'm such a fool! We'll need to contact a heart surgeon immediately!" Rapidly setting the Condor to auto-pilot once more, Stork scurried away from the steering wheel, headed towards the door.
"Wait, stop!" Piper lunged to her feet, grabbing his upper arm and pulling him back.
Not taking to kindly to this, he wriggled in her grasp, his green face twisted with worry. "Piper, what are you doing? It might already be too late to save you!"
"Don't be an idiot, Stork!" the girl snapped at him, angry from a mixture of embarrassment and shock. "I don't have the Peruvian-"
"Pelanian."
"Whatever. The Snickerbobs, I don't have them. I…" Taking a deep breath, she stuttered. "I do… have a… kind of… a little tiny crush… o- on you. I know it's stupid, but I do. I don't care that you're a merb, either, before you say that. It's- well, it's what makes you you." She hung her head, face aflame. She had been denying it for the longest time- obsessing over it, more like, but it had never taken such a direct form. The form of him confronting her about it. Since he didn't move or say anything, she hugged him to avoid looking at his face. This would be his opportunity to show if he reciprocated her sudden feelings- and he didn't take it. He quite purposefully put his arms at his sides, and kept them there.
Stork waited, angular face patient. Piper visibly deflated, letting him go. In despair at her situation, she had no idea what to say next. All she could do was wait for Stork to speak. When he did, he said something she never expected.
"…Mountain," he said.
She blinked. "Wha-?"
"MOUNTAIN!!!!" he said again, lunging at the controls and bringing the Condor up. Piper lost her footing, flying back into the walls of the ship as the bird's nose turned sharply up. The hull of the carrier ship screamed as it was grazed by the tip of the rocky outcropping, the entire frame of the bird shaking like crazy. Clutching onto anything that seemed stable, Piper closed her eyes as the tense seconds went by and then… they were free, soaring above the cloud line.
Stork flopped against the controls of the Condor, leveled her out, and had her cruising again at a more normal speed. Then he started to groan, holding his injured hand against his chest, leaving a smear where the blood began to seep through the bandages. He'd reopened the wounds. Heart pounding in her ears, Piper slowly got to her feet and smoothed out her hair, picking up books and charts that had scattered about the bridge in their surprise encounter with yet another mountain. Always, always, always a mountain. Cyclonia might be gone but nooo, not the mountains.
"I'll…" Piper held her books to her chest, staring at Stork's hunched back. She couldn't see the injury. "…I'll go to my room now." She turned to leave, but another sudden lurch sent her flying once more. This time, the nose was pointed down.
She heard Stork speak, his voice faint. Pressing his injured hand against his chest, he gripped the steering wheel with the other. "No. I'm not done with you yet."
In a moment of panic she thought Stork was making another suicide turn to avoid some other natural disaster. She lost her books again, thinking oh god I'm going to crash through the front glass when she was snatched out of the air by a green, prehensile foot. Even though the ship was completely vertical, Stork seemed quite at home, standing on the floor- which was now the wall- on only one foot as though gravity didn't hold sway over him. The Condor was on auto-pilot, so his left hand was free to hold her face.
"You understand, Piper," he said softly, long fingers in her hair, his eyes gentle and tender and completely contrary to the words that were coming out of his mouth. "That you need to do your best not to like me anymore?"
Her heart was beating again, hard. Like drums. "Stork," she said hoarsely, mouth dry. "Stork, put the ship back to normal."
"Only when you promise me, Piper. Hate me, fear me, whatever. But don't love me. If you love me, that spells disaster for us both." His grip tightened, fingers tightening on her chin now. "All right?"
"Stork, we are going to crash if you don't put the bird the way she's supposed to be! Now let- me- go!" Stork forgot she was a master of Sky-Fu. With a complex move she had broken free of him and knocked him off his feet. Or rather, foot. He flipped in midair, landing on the glass of the Condor window on all fours like a lizard, startlingly sinister yellow eyes looking up at her from behind a curtain of thick green hair. She clung to the controls, vertigo almost claiming her before she used her training to snap into focus. Forget that you're upside down, she tried to tell herself. Switch it around. Adapt.
"Piper!" he shouted at her, breaking her train of thought. "Now you've gone and done it. All you had to do was promise- is that really so hard?" he wriggled forward, trying to reach the controls.
Piper ignored him, eyes taking in the controls to the Condor. She found was she was looking for and jabbed the auto-pilot button, turning it off. Bracing herself against the glass, she yanked the controls down and whoop! Vertigo rushed through her as the Condor righted itself, sending both her and Stork to the floor of the bridge. Her head cracked against the metal floor and even though she managed to stagger to her feet she still saw stars. She faced off with Stork- imagine that, facing off with Stork. How had such a seemingly innocent conversation turned into a battle? The only battle they'd ever had? The only time she had ever thought of Stork as "the enemy"?
She took him in, now, as she never had to before- looking for a weak spot, looking for his strong spots, keeping in mind that he had four grasping appendages while she had only two. Keeping in mind that she still had her red striker crystal hidden in her utility belt, and her energy staff as well. And only then did she notice the wound on his hand, weeping red blood.
"Why did you do that?" she said, shaking from head to foot even though she tried to tell herself not to. The sheer insanity of what was happening- the impossibility of it- was almost too much to handle. One thing she thought she could always count on was that Stork would be her friend- him, and all the other Storm Hawks. Even Finn. "Why did you do that?"
"To show you the severity of our situation."
"Show- what? You were the one who made it severe by almost crashing us into the Wastelands!"
He scoffed, blowing his green hair back for a moment before it flopped back over his eyes. "I would never do that to the Condor. She's under my complete and total control."
"You moron!" she said, shoving him backwards. He let her, stumbling backwards without fighting back. "Of all the crazy things you've ever done, I've overlooked them and embraced them because they were to keep me- and the rest of the Storm Hawks- safe. Safe. What was safe about what you just did? What possessed you to do that? That is so out of character for you!" she held herself because he would not, her eyes clenched tightly shut. "I was scared."
He blinked… and then smiled. "Good. Because now maybe you'll be a bit more paranoid like what's good for you. My father was murdered right before my eyes because he had an affair with a human woman, and that's only the tip of the iceberg. Your side of the spectrum has similar stories, you know. You know humans would hate you for it as well. Even if I'm not a real merb." He turned his bitter, sneering gaze upon the floor, muttering, "A half-savage, half..."
Perhaps realizing what he was saying, he nervously glanced back up at her, his ears falling flat against his head. "I'm here with the Storm Hawks for my own reasons," he said. "And I've never made that a secret. So, even though I never thought any sane human would ever get close enough to me for me to say this, I'm going to have to give you my first and only warning. Do not get attached to me, Piper. Because you will suffer from it."
He turned away from her, hands at his sides. "I'm just… not worth the risk."
"Stork-"
"You understand, don't you?" he asked, looking up at the sky now, gazing through the massive front glass window. It was still smudged from when he had landed on it earlier. "Sure, it might seem harsh to say so now," he kept on with his eyelid jumping. "When you probably don't even love me. But in order to keep us both safe, the problem needs to be nipped in the bud. You can't like me. Not in any way. Right?" He looked to her for confirmation. "You don't want to end up like Olive."
Piper, to say the least, was the most confused she'd been since the aftermath of "Lark's" not quite betrayal. The way she always did when her emotions were conflicting, she got bossy, putting her hands on her hips and trying not to seem like this radical behavior from her friend was driving her mad. "I think we're more likely to die by Peruvian Snickerbobs than get lynched because I have a crush on you." It was odd to say it like that. Just to say it- I have a crush.
His eyes grew wide, ears flittering between standing erect with horror or flattened against his skull in anger. "Oh really?" he said, holding himself again with a shudder. "Though that is true, it still remains a fact that any romantic relations between us would spell out disaster for the Condor and everyone in it. It's inevitable… doom."
She tried to understand his logic. She really did. But the more she looked at it, the more it seemed like unresolved childhood issues taking the form of breaking apart their friendship in the here and now. "…Fine," she said, surprising herself. She held up her hands for peace. "Have it your way, for now. While we're waiting for our-" She made finger quotations. "'Inevitable doom'", though? We need to make some minor repairs to the Condor cause of that nasty mountain just now. Set a course for the nearest garage."
