My Dark Mirror, My Light Reflection

This chapter takes place immediately after the events of One Year Flight. So it might contain a spoiler or two, but I doubt anyone will catch them, and if they do it is unlikely they will understand the full scope of the story. This chapter I have feared writing for sometime now, ever since writing The Darkest Day, The Brightest Night actually. You'll understand, just one word of advice, when reading the first few paragraphs, keep your mind out of the gutter, it's as far from that as you can get.

Disclaimer: I do not own Storm Hawks, and never will. They are the property of Asaph "Ace" Fipke and made by Nerd Corps Entertainment, however I DO own Kai, the Shadow crystal and this story.

"Speech"
"Thought"
Sound

She still couldn't believe it. Sure, she had known that he had potential, but what she had seen was far beyond anything she had ever expected. Normally this would have been a source of great joy, after all, how many people could claim to have had a hand in training someone that had managed such a feat. But this was not so for the young woman.

Instead, it brought her nothing but pain, deep emotional pain, guilt beyond that of any before her, and shame greater then any to come after her. She had committed one of the greatest sins imaginable.

She had killed a child.

Not in a literal sense. The boy was still alive, and he was hardly a little kid. He was sixteen now, a legally registered, known, and recognized adult as far as any court in Atmos was concerned. But that still didn't change the fact that what had happened was entirely her fault.

She listened to the quiet sound of his breathing, and watched the gentle, ever so slight rise and fall of his chest proving that he was in fact breathing. But looking over his form, it took everything she had not to cry. His right arm was in a sling, he had binding wrapped around his chest to keep his ribs in place until they could heal, and almost every inch of his body was covered with scratches, bruises, burns, and even a few stitches. But there was one thing that kept running through her mind, the single thought that keep plaguing her.

"It's all my fault. I did this to him." Starling couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of guilt as her eyes scanned the broken and battered form of the young boy who she had once called her friend, who stood by her no matter what, who did everything in his power to help her and keep her going, who now lay in the infirmary of the Interceptors HQ on terra Mesa.

She would not cry, she had to be strong. Part of her training as a member of the Special Forces was to suppress emotion, to mask thought and feeling. Though she could feel the wall crumbling, she could feel the tiny chinks and cracks that would take months to fix. She remembered to gall of the Sky Council. Congratulating her not only for his performance, but hers as well.

"Performance!? What performance!? Helping to beat the life out of a child!?" Starling's breathing was becoming labored, it took everything she hold back the wave, to keep anything from escaping. Looking back up at her young ward, she reached out to brush the hair out of his face. "He looks so different; I can hardly even recognize him."

Starling remembered the events that had transpired yesterday. She remembered that moment, when Kai came flying out of the dense brush and landed in the opening before her. He was no longer the happy, smiling young boy whom she had known for so many years. His face was a blank mask, showing no emotion, not allowing a single thought to be revealed. When he rose from his crouched position, she could see the muscles that had developed over the course of his year in hiding. While not even close to what one would call 'buff', his frame was no longer that of the same scrawny child, and his arms and legs were no longer sticks. Rather, his slim form was now coated with lithe muscles; his muscles were like liquid steel, coiled into a tight spring and ready to release at a moments notice.

She couldn't help but chuckle as she recalled her friend Suzi-Lu's reaction. It was a simple wolf whistle, followed by an equally wolfish grin.

The most unsettling thing though, had been his eyes. The others had told her that they were now a dull shade of gold, almost like a lizard. But it wasn't until she saw them for herself that she was truly able to understand that it hadn't been the change in color they were talking about.

When he fought, it was like trying to stop a runaway train with your bare hands, or block a monsoon with cloth sails. His eyes never blinked, they showed no emotion, they were simply cold, murky depths that seem to draw a person in to a watery grave. It quickly became apparent that his training had been borderline torture. He didn't seem to tire, even after nearly half an hour of fighting several opponents; he didn't run out of breath, despite running at top speed for almost ten whole minutes.

But the worst part if it all was his resilience.

It nearly pushed her over the edge, both then when it happened, and now just thinking about it. Watching such a small boy, a young child get hit with such ferocity and such power, only to have him shrug it off like he wasn't even hit. To see him get thrown to the ground, and hear the dreaded snap crack, only to see him rise up a second latter completely ignoring broken bones. To see him become completely engulfed in flame, only to see him remove and discard his shirt without stopping for even a second. Blast scores were ignored, cuts and slashes were given as little mind as a gentle breeze, and electrical shocks only affected him until his muscle control returned.

She had killed a child, and created a monster from its ashes.

When they brought him back to the HQ, Starling was a nervous wreck, but it became even worse after they had cleaned him up and put him in the infirmary. She insisted that she work on him alone, and she had. It had taken nearly five hours, but in the end, all his cuts, scrapes, and burns had been cleaned and bandaged. His bones set, and stitches put into place. The entire time she had to fight to keep her focus on the job at hand, and not allow her mind to contemplate the numerous scars that now riddled his back, the markings on his arms, or the half healed wounds that covered his chest and legs. These, she knew had been there long before the fight.

"What did you put yourself through Kai?" Her gaze then came to rest on a single item, she glared at it as though it were the single most foul thing in all of Atmos.

Attached to a gold necklace around his neck, was a black crystal, the Shadow stone. She didn't know how it was attached, she recalled watching Kai remove it from his staff and place it in the small claw like piece that hung from the bottom, but how it was attached, and why it didn't fall out was beyond her.

It was then that she heard it.

Thump………thump

Thump…………………….thump

Thump……………thump

"What is that? It sounds like a heart beating." Looking around for the source of the strange noise, her ears led her back to Kai, or to be more accurate, the crystal around his neck. Looking at it she could see that it seemed to pulsate. Every few seconds a light black pulse of energy would radiate, and then fade away. It was hard to see due to the lack of light, but Starlings eyes were trained for such things. Darkness and shadows was her domain, it was what she was trained for.

She reached down to touch the crystal to see if she could feel anything, but as soon as her hand came within an inch of it she was stopped by a hand grabbing her wrist. Looking down she saw it was Kai, but his eyes were closed and his breathing had not changed. "He's still asleep. He must have developed his instincts as well." She of course knew a way around this; after all, she was the same way.

"Kai, it's me, Starling, don't you remember?" Sure enough his hand let go and fell back to the bed. She knew from experience, that particular reaction was based on two senses. Touch, and sound. The person felt the air currents above them or around them move, or they heard a particular noise. They would respond with a grab, a strike, or by rolling to one side. The trick was that the same principle could be used to disarm it. If a person the individual trusted spoke, they would release the hold, or go back to a relaxed state. "Well, at least this proves that he still trust me." Starling thought bitterly.

"Foolish hatchling, of course he still trusts you."

"Who-" Looking around she was unable to find the source of the voice. But in her haste to turn around her hand fell onto the shadow stone and she felt a slight shock, similar to that of a static jolt. "Ouch, what was…that…" Starling found herself looking at…well…herself.

Standing before her was herself, her hand on Kai's chest touching the Shadow crystal. But everything looked, different. For one thing, everything was a light off shade of dark blue.

"It's nice to finally meat you." The voice called out again.

Starling spun around and dropped into a defensive stance, but she was bewildered by the sight before her.

There, standing with a slight smile was herself. At least at first glance it seemed to be.

"Hatchling, you have nothing to fear from me, in fact, you are probably the last person on Atmos that has any reason to fear me." The woman said shaking her head.

"Who said I was afraid?" Starling replied, still in her defensive stance.

"Well, aside from the fact your in a purely defensive stance, I can hear your heartbeat from over here, and I can smell it, your fear, your guilt." After pausing for a moment she continued. "Even your shame."

Starling's eyes widened before shifting to a glare. "How dare you!" She broke into a full out run and was about to strike the look alike, until the woman disappeared from view. It was not in a cloud of smoke, or even a jump, she simply faded.

"This is my realm child. Here you are of no threat to me. In fact you should feel honored." The voice seemed to be echoing from every direction, but unlike a normal echo, this one actually had force to it. Starling felt as if she was standing under a ringing bell.

"Honored!? Honored for what? Who are you? Show yourself!" Starling dropped back into her defensive stance and waited.

"And there you go again. What have I told you child. You are safe here. For me to strike you would be to sign my own death warrant." The voice called out again.

"Show yourself!" Starling shouted, completely ignoring what the strange woman had said.

"Very well. Is this to your liking?" Starling was shocked to hear the voice come from behind.

Turning around she came face to face with herself. However, this time instead of attacking, she took the opportunity to study the other her. The face and body were identical in every way. She was the same height, her shoulders were the same width, also her hair was both the same length and style. She was nearly identical.

Keyword, nearly.

There were some subtle differences however. For instance, her hair was several shades darker, a light purple rather then purplish blue. Also her skin was paler, it almost looked like porcelain. But the biggest difference, were her eyes.

They were the same dull gold color as Kai's.

"Who are you?" Starling asked. She had accepted the fact, that if this woman had meant her any harm, then she would have done so by now.

"I have no name, but in the past, I have been referred to as Rose. You may call me by that name if you so desire." The woman replied.

"Lets cut to the chase, who, or to be more accurate, what are you? Why do you look like me, and why is there another me standing over there?" Starling finished pointing at the third her that was standing motionless above Kai.

"In order, I am the Dragon of Shadow, I am, obviously, a dragon, I look like you because it was the most suitable form to chose from at the time, and as for the other you, that is your body." The woman replied.

"Wait, wait a minute, you're the Dragon of Shadow's? The Darkness Dragon?" Starling asked skeptically.

The woman sighed before answering. "Yes, I am the Dragon of Darkness, but I prefer the title of Dragon of Shadow."

"You don't look like any dragon I've ever seen. How do I know your telling the truth?" Starling asked.

"I don't look like a dragon because I'm not in my true form, I'm borrowing yours. As for my telling the truth, you have few options in the matter, so I would just accept it if I were you." The other answered.

"Why are you, how did you put it? Borrowing my form?" Starling asked. Taking note of every reaction the woman made. So far, she seemed to be telling the truth, that or she was a very good liar.

"I'm borrowing your form for Kai's sake. I needed to take the appearance of someone that he trusted, someone he would listen to. He wouldn't take my true form seriously; well, he wouldn't listen to it anyways." The woman replied in a neutral tone.

"So your tricking him, is that it?" Starlings voice had an edge to it, one that promised pain if she did not like the answer she received.

"No, he is aware that we are not the same individual. I altered it slightly on your behalf. It was your voice that I needed for the most part, I don't communicate directly very often in the manner that we are right now. Rather I pass knowledge and thoughts to him using your voice. To him it seems like memories, or training from you kicking in." The woman was now sitting in a chair, never once had she broken eye contact throughout the conversation.

"And why would you do that?" Starling did not like the answers she was getting. She was convinced that this, Rose, character was a threat. But she was unsure how to respond to it.

"I do so to help him. He is my scion, so why should I let him fail if I know how he could succeed?" The woman asked bluntly.

"So you are the one responsible for what he has become?" Starling's voice was laced with anger, rage, and pure hatred.

"No, not entirely. I made a few…adjustments. But he is the product of himself. He formed himself into what he has become, not I." The woman answered calmly.

Starling's fists were clinching, her teeth were grinding, you could almost see the aura of malice surrounding her.

"LIAR! There is no way that Kai would ever become that…that…that thing I fought yesterday! He's a kind and generous person, he was never even able to perform adequately in safe training, and you expect me to believe that he would do that in real combat!? I know Kai, I-" She was cut off before she was able to continue by the other woman.

"You knew Kai. You no longer know him, you knew him." The woman said getting up and walking towards Starling.

"I KNOW him; Kai would never behave in such a way! He would never attack a person unless in self defense! What I fought was a ruthless, unrelenting creature of pure instinct!" Starling yelled at Rose.

"You would be surprised what one year can do to a person." Rose said coolly.

"One year does not change a kind and innocent person into a full blooded warrior, one year does not make a person into cold blooded fighter, and one year certainly does not make a person-" She was cut off again.

"You? One year does not change a person into what you became? I exist within Kai's being. I have seen his memories, and heard his thoughts. I have seen both the day you embraced, and swore never to change before leaving for your special ops training, and the day you returned, completely ignoring the welcome home party that was thrown for you as though I was there myself. Kai is nothing more then a mirror, if you don't like the reflection you see, then you are the one that has to change it." The woman spoke with a voice that carried absolute authority. No questions could be asked, and none would be tolerated.

Starling however, was in a state of shock. "Have, have I truly changed so much? Have I become as different from my past self as Kai?" Looking up she flinched at the other woman's gaze.

"You are important to him, you still have time. Change the reflection before it becomes a photograph. I can't offer you anymore advice without influencing future events. You're on your own." The woman said with a sad smile.

"You can see the future?" Starling asked more then just slightly unnerved by this new revelation.

"No, I cannot see into the future. That would be the Oracle stone, wrong crystal." The woman said now with a small smile on her face. "What I mean is, there is much that I know, much that I have learned from Kai's memories, and thoughts that I am unable to tell you. It is not my place to do so." As the woman said this everything returned to normal. Everything was no longer a light shade of blue, and the clocks started moving again.

Starling tried to figure out the cryptic clues Rose had left her, but soon gave up. The stress she had battled for the past year, the thoughts that ran threw her mind the past month, what she had been through the past week, and the events of yesterday had finally caught up to her. Setting back down in the bedside chair, she leaned forward, being careful not to wake the boy, and fell asleep. She held his hand tightly in hers, and fell to sleep with only a single thought floating through her mind.

"Welcome home Kai."

Her eyes shut, and she soon departed to the realm of dreams. She didn't notice the small smile that now adorned the boys face.

End Chapter

AN: Not much I know, but this is mostly a teaser for The One Year Flight and how it ends. I haven't given up on the story, just haven't had time to work on it. I hope you enjoyed this little snippit, it connects in more ways than one with the latest chapter of WOC.

Till next time, Ja Ne!