As always, I begin with a big thank you to my reviewers: The ever-faithful WhispertheWolf and pluvia somnium, and a new reader WishfulTrance, whom I hope they continue to enjoy reading past chapter 2!
Also, thank you WhispertheWolf for pointing out my mistake in spelling Grimsley's name. In truth, I totally guessed the spelling because I couldn't find it anywhere. I never thought of your bright idea of looking at the spelling in the credits! I'll keep that in mind in the future, could come in handy! I'll go back and fix the spelling in the last chapter asap!
Another Whoops! As I was rewatching "Origins" (I've been doing that a lot lately, to get facts straight), I noticed that there is nothing at the end of terra that Finn, Aerrow, Piper and Radarr live on. I originally thought there was a cave or something there, because the gaurdians have a big, shadowy thing in the background, but I guess it may be a tree. But the tree isn't shown at the end of the terra either, so I think something got switched up, changed or forgotten in the animation processes. But I've not changing the story, if for the fact that the Storm Hawks needed something to live of off. So, I blame the creators for not covering all their bases and forcing me to add something in! Although, I'm now a bit bothered that my facts stray from the actual show... of well, nothing I can do now.
And finally, I want to let my reviewers know (especially my faithful ones) that I have every intention of reading and reviewing some of your Storm Hawks fanfictions, but that unfortuntely won't be until this fic is complete. I'm not sure if any of you are in this boat, but I don't read any fanfiction from the same series I have an ongoing story in. This is because I pride myself on originality, so if I somehow end up writing something similar to another work, I can confidently say it was a total fluke! But don't worry, I've been 6 months now without reading any Storm Hawks fanfiction, so once I finish this, I'll definitely need my fix! I'm especially looking forward to reading other's versions of the Storm Hawks' pasts (which are probably much better and less tragic than mine)!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Storm Hawks, nor the song "Shattered" by Trading Yesterday. I am, however, extremely good at writing horribly long author's notes!
Chapter 10: This War's Not Over
All is lost, hope remains
Finn woke cold, with a stiff neck and aching back. He groaned as he rolled over, blinking sleep from his eyes as his mind tried to catch up with the rest of him. He had a moment of confusion, when his hazy vision focussed to reveal dark rock all around, brightened by the early morning light that shone through the gaping mouth of the cave. He didn't recall sneaking down here to avoid work and take a nap. It was odd too, that he couldn't hear Piper's shrill complaints that usually awoke him.
A soft snore broke the near silence and Finn turned in surprise. Aerrow and Piper sat asleep against the wall not a foot away, the girl using the boy's shoulder as a pillow and he her midnight locks. It was then that Finn remembered the evening before, when his friends' now soft and relaxed features were twisted—one in pain, the other in anger—as Piper sobbed uncontrollably, her face tucked into the crock of Aerrow's neck. Aerrow still held one of Piper's hands tightly in his own, their stiff grip the only evidence of the previous night's raging emotions.
Finn pulled himself to his feet and ran outside, needing to confirm his memories. He soon discovered that seeing really was believing. Their home was in ruins. From where he stood, Finn could see that only the wall built up against the willow was still standing, and probably because the large trunk was holding it up. There were no signs of the upper floor, nor any defining shapes among the pile to debris.
Not wanting to see anymore, Finn turned back to the cave, his stomach grumbling for nourishment. He stopped for a moment when he came to his sleeping friends. They both looked cold—especially Piper, whose lips had a slight blue tint to them—and he wished he had a blanket to lay over them. But they were back—again—to having nothing, so Finn had to settle with brushing some of Piper's unruly hair away from her twitching nose.
He'd watched helplessly the night before as she cried herself to sleep, feeling useless. A quick glance at the pained look in both Aerrow and Radarr's eyes had told him they felt the same. Finn hadn't cried. In truth, he had been waiting for something like this to happen, almost expecting it. He'd had too many dreams that resembled this reality.
Not that he hadn't been sad, or scared. He'd shock with the fear. Oddly, it had mostly vanished after Aerrow's crazed defence mission that better resembled a suicide attempt. Finn had only felt numb after that.
Finn continued on towards the pool, knowing food and fresh water awaited him. He didn't make it there, however, because he met Radarr halfway. The sky monkey was trying to carry four wooden glasses of water and two tins of food in his arms while balancing a large bowl of berries on his head.
Finn couldn't help but laugh at what appeared to be some odd circus act. Radarr didn't seem to pleased at this and gave the blonde an annoyed glare, so Finn snatched the bowl off the creature's head and popped a few berries into his mouth. Radarr growled and Finn grinned. The normality of it was wonderful. This realization hit the boy like a slap in the face and he was awed by how easily they reverted back to routines and normalities. It felt so much different from before, when he was alone and everything had changed and become different.
Radarr led the way back to the cave's entrance, where the pair propped up against the wall were still snoring softly. After gulping down their glasses of water, they left all but one can beside their friends. Radarr was somehow able to open the tin with his teeth and the two took turns sipping on the cold soup preserved inside as they made their way up the hill. Finn wasn't quite sure why he'd suddenly become the sky monkey's shadow, but the boy really didn't have anything better to do, and he needed something to keep his mind busy.
Finn stopped a few strides from the wreckage of their home, not wanting to get any closer. He watched as Radarr carefully began to sift through the rubble, lifting boards and rocks out of the way while he stood on tiptoe to avoid stepping on any nails or pointy shards. Time didn't seem to exist as Finn watched Radarr search. The relative silence was broken only by Radarr's excited chirps when he came across something that was recognizable and in fairly good condition. First was the old radio the sky monkey was constantly fiddling with. Next, the story book Piper had read to them on dark nights. With each discovery, Radarr would make his way back over to Finn to show the boy what he'd found. It was the bundle in the sky monkey's arms on his third trip back that made Finn's heart stop momentarily.
Although it was dusty, tattered and in two pieces, Finn knew right away it was Grace's quilt. Radarr handed the patchwork to Finn with the care one would a baby, and the blonde cradled it in his arms as if it was. A shaky finger traced along the seam that held his favourite piece in place—a part of Grace's purple polka doted sundress. Finn blinked, trying to hold back the tears that stung his eyes.
"I can fix it for you, if you'd like."
Finn turned abruptly upon hearing Piper's offer. He'd been so focussed on the quilt, he hadn't heard her and Aerrow come up behind him. Piper had her hands on her knees, bent down to look over Finn's shoulder.
"A good wash and some thread and a needle can work wonders, you know." Piper continued, giving Finn a gentle half-smile.
"I guess it couldn't hurt," Finn said thoughtfully, a grin beginning to appear, "but with you, Piper, who knows. You might actually make it worse."
The girl straightened with an annoyed humph, crossing her arms over her chest. Finn caught Aerrow's soft chuckle and shaking head as the redhead whispered to himself, "Some things never change, do they?"
Finn found himself desperately hoping that they wouldn't, as Aerrow strode forward and called out to Radarr.
The sky monkey clambered over, jumping into his best friend's awaiting arms. "Thanks for all your hard work, Radarr," Aerrow said as he hugged the little blue creature.
"Yes," Piper added, looking at the small pile of belongings next to Finn, "You've really found a lot of stuff. Maybe it's not as bad as it looks!"
With a bright chirp of remembrance, Radarr moved to sit on Aerrow's shoulders as he rummaged through his pockets. After a few moments, his paw emerged holding what appeared to be two pieces of paper. Jumping down to the ground, the sky monkey held one up to Piper and the other to Finn.
The boy and girl shared a questioning glance before accepting the papers from a beaming Radarr. The pair gasped simultaneously. Each held their family photograph they'd kept on the mantle.
"Oh Radarr, thank you!" Piper's eyes brimmed with happy tears as she knelt to wrap the sky monkey in a tight embrace.
"Did you get those on the way out?" Aerrow asked, sounding impressed.
When Radarr nodded energetically, the redhead questioned, "How?"
The sky monkey started his charades, running in place as fast as he could.
"Yes, you must have been really fast," Piper laughed, tousling the fur between Radarr's ears.
Looking at his friends smiling faces, Finn knew they'd be alright. Sure, they were faced with another setback, but they'd all experienced this before and this time, they were together. Somehow, Finn knew if they could just keep smiling, even through the pain, there was no telling what they could do.
And this war's not over
Radarr sat high in the tree branches, surveying the small terra. The light dimmed in the shadow of a late summer thunderstorm that the sky monkey could feel approaching from behind him. The leaves seemed to ripple in slow motion in the telltale wind that blew the clouds towards their home. Below, Radarr heard the thuds and clanks of doors closing and latches being fastened.
Radarr knew he should go inside. He could smell the rain coming and was certain to be drenched in the impending downpour. But the fresh breeze was oddly comfortable, clearing his mind. He wanted a few more minutes alone, to think.
It had been a hard few months. They'd worked tirelessly on rebuilding the fort. By some miracle, the tree had suffered relatively minimal damage in the attack. The stone walls had taken most of the impact, so apart from some pieces of bark that were ripped off, the willow was strong and healthy. So they'd decided to reconstruct their home where the previous one had been.
Aerrow had been adamant in a change in design, and it hadn't taken much to win the others over. They'd started by building a high outer fence using stones, wood and steel. The only entry points were two gates that were firmly boarded for fortification. They'd built another platform up in the tree, but this one served more as an observatory tower, with walls that only came up halfway, so they could have a full view of the surrounding area at all times. The walls of the main building were twice a thick as before, with only a few windows that had equally thick shutters. Their carpentry skills improving, the group had even been able to make some basic furniture for their new home.
They had made good time, finishing all the major work on the fort just over a week ago. They had been extremely lucky that the skimmer hadn't been damaged—Radarr wasn't sure what they would have done if it had. It was now kept in the cave, along with Piper's books, notes and crystals. Although the boys felt safe enough to keep their belongings in the main building, Piper was still weary.
They had all been on edge for weeks, waiting for another attack to finish them off. They'd had a few lively discussions on the subject, and once Finn had told them about once hearing Talons talking about a "three-sweep policy" of invading Cyclonians and Piper had mentioned their attackers had only used stones, they'd decided that the destruction of their home had been for one of two reasons: Either the Cyclonians were trying to scare them away, or they didn't realize the terra was inhabited and were simply doing a sweep to clear away unwanted infrastructure. Whichever the reason, once the Cyclonians discovered their new construct, they would know that the terra had inhabitants, and they had no intentions of moving.
"Radarr!" the sky monkey looked down to see Aerrow's smiling face a few branches below.
Giving a chirp of recognition, Radarr hopped down to his friends awaiting shoulder.
"Hey buddy," Aerrow greeted, "Were you planning on staying out and getting soaked or something?"
Radarr shook his head, unable to stop the grin that spread across his face. The boy's joy and optimism had always been contagious, and for the past few weeks, so had his determination. He'd led them as he always had, emerald eyes unendingly bright. And the others seemed to be responding even better than ever before, more willing to share their fears and hopes, allowing Aerrow to comfort and encourage.
But Radarr had caught the light leaving Aerrow's eyes, when the boy thought he was alone. The sky monkey always made sure to give the redhead a big hug at times like that, and Aerrow always brightened immediately. It saddened Radarr to see Aerrow's sparkling innocence being replaced by a dull weariness. He wasn't a little child anymore.
Radarr felt an odd foreboding as lightning began to shoot across the sky, followed soon after by rumbling thunder. The sky monkey paused just outside the door as he caught the outline of a large bird illuminated against the murky clouds. Radarr shivered, somehow knowing this was a sign of more hardships to come.
There's a light, there's the sun
Junko watched the four companions working diligently in their small vegetable garden. The girl seemed the most intent on picking the crop, her determined gaze set on her nibble fingers. With her dark skin and hair, Junko's first impression had been that she was rather pretty, but he was becoming weary of the glares she occasionally sent towards the two boys working with her. The redhead seemed content enough with the gardening, when he wasn't being distracted by the other boy. The blonde was lively and animated, ready to do anything but what he was supposed to. The furry blue creature that accompanied them also appeared to be easily distracted, currently watching a large bug crawl across his nose.
Lowering his binoculars, Junko shivered as an autumn breeze whipped around him and wrapped his thick scarf more securely around his neck. He lay on his stomach, hidden behind a large bush a little way from the bottom of the terra's lone hill. He'd flown in on his skimmer in the early hours of the morning, so not to be detected. He was here on a scouting mission for his squad—no one had volunteered to freeze overnight to get information on their target, so Grimsley had told him to go. They'd been given the mission—their first—earlier this week, and although it was too late in the year to start any assaults, they had wanted to start some planning and training over the winter months.
His elbows were going numb from being leaned on, so the wallop rolled over onto his back. He glanced at his notepad, reviewing what he'd scribbled there so far.
Inhabitants: 4
3 humans — 1 girl, 2 boys, all in early teens
1 unidentified animal — small, blue, seemingly a pet
Fortifications: good
thick outer wall — wood, stones, steel
two entries — large doors, heavily bolted
upper lookout platform — appears flimsy, may be good entry point
unsure of buildings inside outer walls
Weapons: unsure
other than heavy defence, appear to be peaceful
And they really did appear to be peaceful. Junko knew that his squad members would ignore that point, but he felt the need to write it down anyway.
However, there were some things Junko noted that he would never write down. Like how seeing the redhead's grin made him want to smile as well. Or how gentle the girl's features were when they weren't scrunched into a hardened glare. Or how he really wanted to meet the blonde boy, who seemed to be constantly having fun.
Sighing, Junko turned back over and replaced the binoculars to his eyes. Telling himself that if he collected enough information this time, he wouldn't be sent back for more, Junko convinced himself to return to his duties.
The blonde was whispering something to the redhead and both boys started to snicker. The girl sent them another stern look, but when this only increased the other's laughter, she stood and began to stomp towards them angrily. She didn't notice the blue creature bent over picking a carrot and tripped over him, falling face first into a puddle of mud. The boys were howling with laughter now. The redhead managed to collect himself and made his way over to the girl, offering a hand up. The girl took his hand, but pulled him down into the mud with her. The blonde held his stomach while he rolled on the ground in his laughter. The pair sitting in the mud shared a look before beginning to throw fistfuls of mud at the other boy, the small creature soon joining in.
Junko wondered, and not for the first time that day, why these people—these kids—were such a threat. They didn't appear to be doing anything at all, besides living. And what did Cyclonia really have to gain from conquering such a small terra?
Junko guessed he just couldn't accept the fact that the smiling faces he saw through his binoculars were his enemies. They seemed so nice, so happy. He would rather them be his friends than his enemies. They looked like better friends than he'd ever had in his life.
Junko shook his head, fighting back the urge to walk up to the other children and ask if he could join them. He reminded himself of everything he had been told. These were destructive people who opposed the government. If they had agreed to Cyclonia's terms, they could have continued to live their lives in peace.
He just wasn't used to seeing his enemies in person, Junko decided. They hadn't been real to him before, just words and concepts. Once he got over the fact that they appeared to be just like him, his mind would stop turning circles.
The young wallop had a feeling his brain would be doing a few more loop-the-loops before the day was out.
Well, there you have it, chapter 10! This is now not only my longest fanfic in word count, but also in the number of chapters!
No Stork in this chapter, but I'm sure the Radarr fans are pleased! I might as well have dedicated the chapter to the little guy (he snuck his way in and before I knew it, had practically taken over ;D)!
I mentioned before that one of the main points of this fic is not to show the Storm Hawks' suffering, but to show that they survived and made the best of the situation they were in and turned out the better because of this. I really tired to put that across in this chapter, and show the beginnings of what I always thought was the true dynamics of the Storm Hawks squadron: a group of friends who support each other in times of hardship and diversity and make the most of every situation. Because in the series, the Storm Hawks face many trials and challenges, but they always come out smiling!
Thanks for reading! Please leave a review and tell me what you think!