A/N: I'M REALLY REALLY SORRY! I'm sorry I didn't update when I thought I could. But Thanksgiving plans just got in the way. Sorry to keep you waiting, hopefully, hopefully, I can update a little sooner. Now that most the Holiday chaos is over!
Chapter 10: Questions A New
Aerrow leaned against the doorway, his eyes darting from the corridor to the caffeinated merb standing by the controls and urging the Condor through the clouds. Radarr had grown bored upon his shoulder and had scurried off to the kitchen. But apparently the small mission specialist had not found what he was looking for there, for he came back only minutes later and settled himself in one of the seats of the bridge, keeping a wary eye on Stork.
The red head took a moment or two to study his green friend. After the pilot's greeting, Aerrow had been reluctant to tell Stork about Draven. In fact, he kept telling himself it was probably better if Piper was here with him. Piper would be able to handle whatever would go down and probably calm Stork (whom Aerrow did not doubt was most likely going to bring up horrible stories about Draven. The hatred between the two brothers was always clear when the two were together.)
Soft footsteps made their way to the Sky Knight's ears as he stared at Stork. Slowly turning his head, Aerrow saw Piper jogging happily down the corridor. She was now dressed in her usual Storm Hawks' uniform and her hair was back to being its spiky self. Giving a small smile as the girl made her way up to him, Aerrow pushed off the doorway and stepped just outside the bridge.
Piper stopped before him and asked anxiously, "Well, how did it go? What does he think?" Before answering, Aerrow took a look over his shoulder to see Stork's ear twitch a bit, indicating that he at least knew Piper had joined them. Whether he heard what they were talking about, Aerrow didn't know and he didn't want to upset Stork at the moment.
Taking hold of Piper's elbow, he gently pulled the girl down the hall and into the kitchen. Bumping a couple of pots as he stepped around Piper and shut the kitchen door, Aerrow turned to face the dark skinned girl. "What? What's wrong? I take it Stork didn't take it-" But Aerrow interrupted Piper before she could go any further. "Well I haven't told him yet!" Piper put on a look of disapproval, "I think he's been flying all night!" Aerrow added hastily in a whisper. "What?" was all Piper could say.
"Stork, I think he's been flying all night. We're only a couple of hours from Atmosia instead of nearly half a day," Aerrow watched as Piper's eyes widened in surprise then softened with understanding. "I don't really think he's doing this because he wants to help Draven…" Aerrow let his words sink in and Piper nodded.
"Yeah, unless he helps him right off this ship!" Piper kept her voice as calm as possible. It was true that Stork was her friend, but she was angry at him for being so stubborn. The navigator was also just remembering the altercation they had had the other night about Draven. "Stork just can't let things go. I know Draven's going to be a great help to this team!" Piper stated defiantly, turning to the stove. She thought she might as well get started on breakfast while she was in the kitchen.
Aerrow let out a sigh and moved to the cupboard to get out some food for the girl. "I know, I know." The two teens left it at for a few moments while Aerrow pulled out eggs, bacon, and some bread. Piper grabbed some leftover ham and other different ingredients to make omelets with. After everything was out, Aerrow stood back and watched the navigator suddenly turn into a chef.
As Piper began to make the omelets, Aerrow decided he should get the people for whom the breakfast was being made. Sliding out the kitchen door, the red head made his way down the corridor, the slight smell of the eggs chasing after him. Taking in the scent with his eyes closed and soft smile on his face, Aerrow felt a little better, even though he still felt a bit anxious about how Stork would react to the news. Taking in a small breath and letting it back out, Aerrow decided he would deal with it after breakfast.
-(SH)-
Looking down into the tin cup, Stork stared into the remnants of his coffee. The cold liquid swirled slightly with the moving of the Condor. There was a slight reflection, Stork's yellow eyes appearing on the black surface. Little ribbons of cream twisted in the dark pool. The pilot's grip on the tin cup tightened as gave one last look into it and then set it down on the floor.
Returning his free hand to the controls of the Condor, Stork stood there, his mind only thinking of one thing. Just a bit further, only an hour or so before we get there. Then he'll be gone, he'll be gone…The last words echoed in the merb's otherwise empty mind. However, the pilot's silent thinking was broken by the sounds from the Corridor behind him. Stork's green ears twisted slightly to hear a bit better. Aerrow's fist rapped on one of the doors and there came a long, tired moan. Stork couldn't help but give a small smile as he heard Aerrow yelling at the lazy blonde behind the door.
Next was Junko's room, the wallop being much easier to wake. Although, Junko sounded tired and irritated, he hastily opened his door (apparently fully dressed by Aerrow's shocked silence) and headed down the corridor towards the bridge. Then Stork's smile dispersed as he heard Aerrow knock on one more door. An alert voice answered him and the door opened. Draven's calm words rang inside the merb's ears. "Good morning Aerrow!" They sounded a bit happy and the carrier pilot could just picture the innocent smile his older brother was trying to put on.
However, instead of a cheerful greeting back, Aerrow's voice went into a hushed whisper. At this, Stork strained to hear, turning his ear further towards the corridor and leaning a bit to his right. Yet he was still not able to catch what the red head was saying. Becoming a bit irritated and a little paranoid, the merb stood back in his spot and waited for the others to join him. He was tired and grouchy, and now he his anger was directed at Aerrow and Draven. Why would they be whispering? Did Aerrow know he was eaves dropping? Well, trying to eavesdrop was more like it.
It was these few facts that made Stork turn on Junko when the wallop walked into the bridge and gave a bright, "Morning Stork!" Turning sharply and holding that crazed look in eyes, Stork glared at Junko. The wallop stopped, his hand in mid wave. Looking a bit scared, the mechanic began to step back a little as the merb's yellow eyes narrowed. Gulping a bit, Junko turned around completely and sat at the table, his back to stork.
Turning himself back around, Stork hunched his shoulders a bit and slowly increased the Condor's speed.
-(SH)-
"Good morning Aerrow!" Draven had just heard the knock on his door. He had been expecting Piper, who had awoken him the last few days. However, Draven's look of surprise was only for a second as he put on a cheery face and greeted the Storm Hawks' leader.
The older teen made to say something when Aerrow suddenly held up his hand for silence and moved in closer to the doorway. Putting one arm against the doorway and keeping his other hand close to his chest, the red head looked up from under his brow and spoke in a soft whisper. "Look, Piper told me about you wanting to stay and I accepted. I mean, how could I not? But that's not why I'm whispering," Aerrow added the last bit, seeing Draven's confounded look. Continuing, "Please refrain from talking it over with Piper or anyone else. Stork doesn't know yet and-"
"Don't worry, I understand!" Draven interrupted (whispering as Aerrow had), his charcoal eyes had darted over to the green merb at the controls. Stork seemed to be leaning a bit to his right. "But thank-you for allowing me to stay with you guys. I really do miss being part of a team… Anyway," straightening up, Draven pulled his somewhat ruffled shirt tight and held his chin up a bit. The red head did likewise, but only lifted his chin to look up at the slightly taller teen. "I think I smell a delicious breakfast awaiting us!"
Nodding with a satisfied smile upon his face, Aerrow turned to head down the corridor. "I guess we should go eat it then," and he stepped away from the door completely and headed for the bridge. Draven seemed to hardly move as he gently stepped behind Aerrow. A malevolent smile parted across his face and faded almost immediately.
-(SH)-
It was only three seconds after the initial incident that Aerrow wished he had not been the one to give the news. But all in all, it had to be done and seeing as Junko and Finn weren't the most sensitive people, and Piper might come around a little harsh, and if Draven had spoken to him things would be much worse, it only made sense that Aerrow should do it.
The red head had decided to tell Stork about his brother half way into breakfast, while he was distracted by eating and not in such a foul mood as he had been a few moments ago. Eating his own omelet rather quickly, Aerrow took the last mouthful off his fork and set it down on the plate with a small clink. At this, Piper only glanced up at him, then looked up again, this time for a solid minute. Just seeing the girl's own expression, he knew he wasn't hiding his anxiety very well.
Clearing his throat, and looking away from the nervous look that had now spread to Piper's face, Aerrow caught Stork's eye as the merb looked up with the rest of the Storm Hawks. Once Finn had taken another large mouthful and had looked up as well, Aerrow cleared his throat again and tried to keep his voice happy and calm. He succeeded, "Finn, Junko, Stork, I have some… um… good news. We have gained another member!" Finn and Junko's eyes went wide with excitement, while Stork's turned into suspecting yellow slits. "Draven has agreed to join our ranks!" Aerrow said quickly, hoping that Finn and Junko's excitement would wash out Stork's anger. Unfortunately, the two found this the perfect time to be silent in surprise.
There was a loud crack and all eyes traveled from Draven's happy face to where the young carrier pilot was sitting. The merb's own eyes where upon his brothers, old hatred and loathing plainly showing in the two yellow orbs. A shaky hand held onto Stork's fork as it quivered between the pieces of his plate, which he had broken in his anger. For a moment, every one just watched Stork. Aerrow couldn't help but feel a bit of fear. He had been bracing himself for an outburst, not this this quiet anger.
Not sure if Stork was okay, Piper gently reached out to the merb sitting just across from her. However, when her hand was mere inches from his body, Stork's eyes twitched and the pupils darted to look down at the girl's limb. Then his mouth twitched and Piper looked up from her hand. Withdrawing her hand, Piper sat straight up in her chair, unfortunately, she squirmed a bit in discomfort as Stork's eyes followed her hand and then fell upon her face.
"Stork?" Draven asked innocently, easily hiding the excitement he felt. Stork's head jerked towards Draven, the deep loathing still present in his look. Taking in a deep breath, Stork kept his eyes on Draven as he pushed away from the table, his chair making a scraping sound. Finally dropping the fork from his hand, the green merb stood silently from his seat and moved around the table. Six pairs of eyes were upon him as he disappeared into the corridor.
-(SH)-
The girl's knuckles rapped upon the door for the umpteenth time. She let out a frustrated sigh and called with exasperation, "C'mon Stork, you can't stay in there all day! I mean, who's going to fly the Condor?" Piper's voice rang through the corridor and into the bridge. Her words had grown from pleading to annoyed in the past half hour she had been trying to urge Stork out of his room. But the merb's muffled reply would come through the door and cause Piper to fabricate another reason for him to come out. As was the case for her latest plea.
"Draven's already proved he can fly a carrier ship without my help. And maybe next time you'll have him put the Condor in hover before telling me you need someone to fly her!" Letting out an exhausted sigh, Piper slumped her shoulder and stared at the metal door before her. She had thought about breaking into Stork's room a couple of times, but then realized that would only set of God-only-knows how many alarms.
"Fine!" Piper yelled angrily at the door, her arms flung up into the air. "Stay in there and sulk! But that's not going to get rid of Draven! Either you accept the fact that he's changed and he's one of us now, or you at least tolerate him. I mean, c'mon Stork, what's your problem?" Waiting for a response from her friend, Piper stood there glaring at the door, as if she hoped her vicious stare would make it into the room and to the merb. However, when there was nothing but silence, Piper gave a rather disgruntled cry and stormed off.
-(SH)-
On the other side of the door, two thin, pale green hands were spread across the metal door. Stork had the side of his face pressed gently up against the door with the touching ear straining twitching from how cold the metal felt. With a searching look upon his face, Stork listened as Piper gave her cry and went back up to the bridge.
Once the girl's footsteps were soft enough, Stork let out a small sigh and pulled away from the door. He was still feeling angry and wasn't sure he could forgive Aerrow and Piper so readily. They had completely ignored him. They never asked how he would feel about Draven joining them. Draven, after all, was Stork's adoptive brother and he knew more about the older teen than the others.
His fingers curled into his palms against the door. Seething with anger, Stork stepped a few feet away from the metal entrance, his back toe landed on something smooth and almost slippery. Looking down with a bit of curiosity, Stork found himself looking into those charcoal eyes that belonged to Draven. They smiled back up at him, young and innocent at the time.
Not bothering to pick up the pictures from the other night, Stork turned to his bed and sat down. The bed springs gave a slight grown from age and something slid down the mattress to bump gently against Stork's leg. Only giving one of his inventions a quick glance, the merb blindly picked up the small object and tossed it back into the pile of inventions that he had made against the head board.
Letting out one last sigh, Stork decided he might as well stay in his room until they got to Atmosia. This would give him time to calm down and think things over. A constant battle had been going on in his mind. His experiences with Draven were fighting his love for his friends. On one hand, he knew Draven was up to something, and that something was not good. Then there were his friends, whom were so ready to trust the older teen. He appeared harmless to them and accept for that small incident in the merb's room a few nights ago (which the others knew nothing of), Draven had not done anything to make them think otherwise.
Trying to calm the storm in his head, Stork reached over for one his less successful inventions and began to play with it. Soon the merb teenager was completely distracted with the task as he unscrewed things, took some features out and added new ones. It wasn't long before merb lost track of time.
Snapping shut the back panel of the small invention that laid in his open palm, Stork finally looked up at his clock that sat on the displaced dresser. Nearly four hours had gone by… four hours! Stork jumped to his three toed feet and threw the invention unceremoniously onto the bed. By now they were a mere two hours from Atmosia.
Even though he knew he would not be rid of his brother, he would at least be able to walk the Condor without having to worry about bumping into Draven. After all, the older teen would have to give a full report on his mission that concerned the stolen beetle.
Most likely, Piper, Aerrow, Finn, Radarr, and Junko would leave the ship with him for a little stretch. After all, they spent almost all their hours upon the ship or at least in the air. However, Stork was in no mood to join them if they went and felt like he needed to just be alone on the Condor for a while.
Stepping up to his door, the merb quickly unlocked the combination and headed for the bridge. However, for some reason, he decided to take a longer route. Piper might still be seething over their arguments and he didn't want to be bombarded with concern from Aerrow at the moment. Letting out another little sigh, Stork turned and headed down the other end of the corridor, turning right before reaching the back of it that lead to Piper's lab and other such rooms.
Walking down the small hall, Stork closed his eyes for a moment and listened to the pipes in the room next to him. There was an occasional hiss as some steam was released and then the hum of the engines working, then another hiss of steam and pressure. Junko usually took care of any damages, since Stork was typically flying the Condor. However, seeing as Draven was currently flying the ship, Stork decided a little check up couldn't hurt.
Coming out of the small hall, Stork easily located the door that lead to the pipes and opened it. Almost immediately he was blasted with the humid, hot air of the steam. Pulling the door shut behind him, Stork located a tool box and pulled out a wrench. Standing by the toolbox, the merb took in the scene before him. Many of the pipes were either a rusted brown or a dark gray. Shaking his head a bit at seeing the rust, Stork stepped into the maze of pipes.
Banging his wrench here and there, the merb took mental notes on the condition of the pipes and whether the heat was traveling through them properly. Several times Stork shook his head as he realized the pipe had had just inspected would need repairs or be replaced. Moving away from a particular group of bad pipes, the merb headed for the more crucial areas. A certain system of pipes near the back of the ship kept the engines from overheating by channeling energy from a frost crystal into the large engines.
Suddenly, Stork's trained ears twitched. There was something wrong, he could tell. By the sound of it, air was being released between longer intervals than normal. Plus, the air seemed rather warmer near these crucial pipes than the rest of the room. This was particularly odd because of the amount of frost crystals in the area. Moving further back towards the pipe, Stork stopped in his tracks as the orange haze of the room was suddenly disturbed by a white light shining in from the door.
Stepping out of the shadows and towards the door, Stork's yellow eyes caught the glimpse of Junko's tan skin moving towards another part of the pipes. A sigh escaped the merb just as another valve let out some more pressure and steam. Moving through the jungle of pipes, Stork gave a small "Hi," to the wallop as he walked past and him and out the door, not allowing Junko to respond at all.
Back in the hallway, Stork wiped the sweat from his face with his sleeve. He didn't understand how Junko could spend hours at a time in there. Moving off back down the hall, Stork stuck the wrench he had taken from the toolbox, into his belt and decided he should probably head back to the bridge. However, his little trek was interrupted by the sudden blare of the alarm and a flashing of red light.
-(SH)-
"We've got Talons coming up from behind!" Pipe pulled away from the periscope and watched as Aerrow, Finn, Radarr, and Draven all ran for the hanger. She then turned towards the controls of the Condor. Stork had yet to reach the bridge and the girl had enough training to fly the carrier ship (although her movements were a bit jerky). Taking hold of the handles Piper prepared to turn the Condor around and fire upon the Cyclonian carrier. But just as she went to pull left, a green hand fell upon hers and removed it from the handle.
A bit surprised at first, but thoroughly relieved, Piper allowed herself to be pushed aside as Stork took her position. Wrapping his green fingers around the handles, the merb looked more at place then she ever could. With a twist of the controls, Stork turned the carrier ship around. Piper fell to the periscope once again as her friend positioned the Condor. Looking into the instrument, the teen soon spotted the five Talon Skimmers and the Cyclonian carrier following from a rather unusual distance. Usually the larger ships were right behind the skimmers, but this one was barely in firing range of the Condor. Why was it slacking?
However, before the girl could ponder on this for another moment, four dark blurs cut across her vision and sailed towards the Talons. Piper smiled as the four skimmers slowed and she could easily make out the faces of Aerrow, Draven, Finn, and Junko; all four boys were hovering in the air, waiting for the Talons to get close enough. Taking in a breath of anticipation, Piper waited, along with the boys, for the first shot to be fired… but there was none.
Instead, the five Talons hovered back. They just sat there on their skimmers, staring back at the Storm Hawks. They seemed to be anticipating some command that would never come. Then, one of the Cyclonian warriors put a gloved hand to his helmet. His head nodded slightly in conformation, and he pulled on the handles of his skimmer. The others did the same and turned their bikes around. As quickly as their skimmers could go, the group of Talons retreated towards the carrier, which was slowly turning as well.
Confused, Aerrow looked from Finn, on his left, to Draven, on his right. Both of the other Storm Hawks shrugged and gave him a quizzical look. Slowly dropping his altitude a bit, the red head leader turned his own skimmer around and headed for the Condor. The others followed in suit. It was only a matter of second before the four boys had landed and were rushing towards the bridge.
-(SH)-