Chapter twelve
They were winning the battle against Master Cyclonis's invasion force. Everyone did their part and now all they had left to do was drive them back into Cyclonian territory. It turned out to be a lot easier said than done. They were all holding their own pretty well until a fresh wave of Nightcrawlers attacked. Thanks to Rinjiin's dragon ship they were doing pretty well. Master Cyclonis had joined the fight as well though which defenatly wasn't good. Aerrow looked down and saw something that scared him so much he almost fell off his skimmer. Piper and Master Cyclonis were fighting on the small Terra below them. From his skimmer Aerrow could see what Piper couldn't. Cyclonis was backing her into a small building.
At first Aerrow had no idea why but he knew it couldn't possibly be good. He flew toward her, hoping that he could reach her in time. Radarr was getting ready to retract the wings and go into bike mode. But as they neared the Terra, Master Cyclonis already had Piper backed into the door way. "Now!" Cyclonis cried and shoved the Crystal Mage into the building before diving out of the way just as a Talon pressed a button and the building caught fire. "No!" Aerrow cried, going into bike form and speeding toward the building. Master Cyclonis was already making her getaway and he didn't stop her. Ignoring Radarr's squawks Aerrow jumped off of his skimmer as soon as they stopped moving and ran into the burning building. "Piper!" he called desperately. "Piper! Please! Where are you?" there was no answer. Aerrow could hardly see because of the smoke and it was getting hard to breathe but he didn't give up. A beam creaked and fell in front of him, showering him in sparks. None of them caught fire though so he kept searching.
"Piper!" the sounds of the battle outside were dying down so Aerrow assumed Cyclonis had called the retreat after she had disposed of Piper. Aerrow started coughing. His red hair was stained with soot that covered his whole body. More beams began to fall and still there was no sign of Piper. "Piper!" he called again but it came out quietly and he had to break off to start coughing. The smoke was so thick it was like trying to see out of a window covered in cement. "Piper please!" he cried falling to his knees coughing. "Please…." But of course there was no answer.
Junko smashed down one of the walls with his knuckle-busters. Finn, Radarr and Junko hurried into the burning building to Aerrow's side. Junko picked him up and they ran back outside again. "Junko…." Aerrow panted. "Piper….she's still in there…" Finn ran alongside Aerrow with Radarr on his shoulder. "Aerrow…if she was then…." That's when Aerrow started to tune the sharpshooter out. He didn't want to hear that Piper was gone. He coughed again painfully. "It'll be okay." Junko tried to reassure but the wallop was already crying and his big tears were falling gently on Aerrow's dirty face. Aerrow closed his eyes and let darkness over take him.
Finn was trying hard not to cry as they ran to where the Condor was landing. Piper was gone? He refused to believe it. He didn't want to believe it. Sure they got on each other's nerves all the time but that didn't mean that they cared about each other any less. Finn and Piper had always been like brother and sister. And now she was gone. Junko was already in tears and Radarr was howling softly in despair. Aerrow was coughing but he wasn't crying even though he looked like he wanted to. Finn was worried when the Sky Knight closed his eyes, but the steady rise and fall of his chest assured him that he was still alive.
When Aerrow opened his eyes he instantly wished that he hadn't. The memories of what had happened washed over him in a huge wave of grief. Piper was gone. There wouldn't even be a body. Aerrow sat up and realized that he had been laying on his bed in his room onboard the Condor. Radarr wasn't in the room but right then Aerrow was glad to be alone. He put his head in his hands and cried. He let all of the emotions flood out. Sitting here, alone in his room with no one else around he was wasn't afraid to cry. He hadn't cried this much in years. Not even when Radarr had been kidnapped. Yeah, Aerrow thought. Because you knew you could save him. It's too late for Piper. You failed her. You failed all of them. Aerrow squeezed his eyes shut as voices upon voices washed over him.
"You're the last descendant of Lighting Strike! Aerrow, you're a Sky Knight!"
"It smells like chickens in here!"
"That's because we're in a chicken coop Finn!"
"Just a second! It doesn't have a full charge yet!"
"On second thought, that's enough!"
"Finn can be in charge."
"Maybe when he realizes how much work it is, he'll stop asking."
"A whole year of Finn doing all the cleaning? That's gonna be one dirty cruiser!"
"No thanks. I'm quitting."
"Okay, I'll stay."
"It's beautiful. Wish I could rub it in Domiwick's face!"
"You fight like a girl!"
"I'm so sorry Piper."
"Be sorry later!"
"What if it's wrong?!"
"Piper! I trust you."
The voices belonged to Finn, Princess Peregrine and Aerrow, but mainly it was Piper's. And that's what hurt the most. He was never going to hear Piper's voice again. Aerrow opened his eyes and clenched his fists. This was Master Cyclonis's fault. If it wasn't for that little….then Piper would still be here. Aerrow wiped his eyes and headed to the bridge.
"Hey Aerrow." Junko said tearfully from his place on the couch. The big guy had obviously been crying and was currently hugging a teddy bear. Finn stood off to the side, staring out the window. Aerrow tried to make it to where Junko was but his leg had started to hurt again and on the third step it finally gave out. He fell but Finn was there in an instant. The sharpshooter caught the Sky Knight and helped him over to the couch. "Thanks." Aerrow panted. Finn just sat down next to him. Tears were rolling down his cheeks and Junko had started down right bawling. Stork stood at the controls, his shoulders shaking. Radarr whimpered and sniffed. "Are you okay?" Finn asked. Aerrow had no idea why he was being asked this question. He was the only one not crying even though he wanted to. "I…I just can't believe it really happened." He said at last. And with that sentence he realized just how horrible it was. He buried his face in his hands and his shoulders slumped. "If I had just gotten there in time…" Radarr hugged Aerrow's arm.
Stork turned away from the controls and came to stand in front of Aerrow. "Aerrow." He said. "Listen to me. This is not your fault and you know Piper would never want you to blame yourself. What happened to her was Master Cyclonis's fault. No one else's." all four of them stared at Stork for a minute with wide eyes. "What?" Stork asked defensively. "I can't be sentimental when I want to be?" Aerrow felt tears start to run down his cheeks again and this time he let them come. Junko dropped his bear and wrapped Aerrow, Finn, Radarr and Stork into a bone crushing group hug. Not even Stork seemed to care about the close proximity this time.
And there, on the bridge of the Condor the five remaining Storm Hawks, the youngest squadron ever to register, led by the youngest Sky Knight ever to register, flying through the air to somewhere they could be away from the war for a while, held each other and cried.
And on a Terra a few miles behind them, a girl, with midnight blue hair and dark skin opened her startling orange eyes.
A/N: DUN DUN DUN! Ha! I bet you guys actually thought that I was going to kill off Piper! No. I' known amongst my friends for the fact that I can't kill off people in stories. It's so hard! And I like Piper just fine. I'm not going to kill her or anyone else. Maybe. Normally I would've given them like five minutes in-between sad thing but I decided to be mean. Oh and to address a review for an earlier chapter, the reason why I chose Radarr to be kidnapped by the Nightcrawlers was because Master Cyclonis didn't care who from each squadron was taken and Radarr would've been the easiest target because he's small and light. Plus it added a little more drama to Aerrow's life and I'm just that mean. Anyways please review! Bye for now!
