Clouds of Ash: Chapter 14
Aerrow and Piper just stood there for a few moments, utterly in shock.
"I'm what?" Ravess demanded, her eyes narrowing, although she was beginning to have an idea...
Harrier, however, was clueless. "What is everyone looking so shocked about?"
Piper cleared her throat. "Well Ravess... It seems that you're ah..."
"Just spit it out already!"
"You're pregnant," the crystal specialist said flatly.
Harrier paled immensely. "Sh-she's WHAT?"
"She's going to have a baby," Aerrow clarified.
"I know very well what being pregnant means!" he snapped. "I just don't see how..."
"I don't see why you're so upset about this," the young sky knight replied. "It's not like you..." he trailed off, then glanced at him questioningly.
He pointedly ignored the glance, instead focusing on Ravess. She stared up at him, her face as pale as his. He had never expected this... What was he to do? He couldn't be a father! Especially not when the mother was a Cyclonian... Chewing on his lip, he turned back to the pair of Storm Hawks. "So what are we going to do?"
"I don't see how this changes anything," Aerrow remarked. "We'll let Atmosia take care of it."
"No, I simply will not allow it," Harrier replied, looking back at Ravess. "She needs proper care, none of which she will receive on Atmosia. We'll take her to Terra Rex, where I can make sure she receives the proper..." he searched for the right words for a few moments. "Vitamins and such..." He wasn't entirely sure what a woman who was expecting needed, but he assumed it wouldn't be in the average prison meal. His tone left no room for argument, but Aerrow seemed to miss that.
"But Harrier, it is our duty as Sky Knights to inform them of the capture of a dangerous Cyclonian."
"Then we will inform them after she arrives on Rex, which is much closer, I might add. We should be able to get there within the day."
Aerrow and Piper glanced at each other, the latter just giving a helpless shrug, not wanting to argue with the stubborn Rex Guardian. "I'll tell Stork of our change in plans," she offered, leaving the room. The sky knight just followed after her, sending the blond a quizzical glance on his way out.
"So, does the Code dictate childrearing techniques?" Ravess asked with a wry grin.
"This is no joking matter!" Harrier walked closer to her cell, looking in at her, eyes tinged with concern. "What are we going to do?"
"Well we're going to Terra Rex, right? You can get me out of it there."
"But then what?" he persisted. "Are you going to return to Cyclonia?" He eyed her anxiously. "Or will you stay with me on Terra Rex?"
"Won't they find it strange that their Sky Knight has suddenly taken up residence with a Cyclonian?"
"Well, I... Yes..." Another burning question was in his mind, one that he was almost afraid to ask. "Ravess... What happened between us in the Wastelends... Was that... Was that real?"
"Real?" she echoed, eying him thoughtfully. "I..." How should she answer that? Lust, that had been what it was, she was sure... But if she told that to Harrier, he would surely change his mind and leave her to Atmosia. "Of course it was real... At least for me it was... What about you?"
Harrier played with his thumbs, not quite meeting her eyes. If she really felt that way about him... Besides, he couldn't just leave her n she would be having his child. "Yes... I feel the same."
He stared at her through the bars, turning things over in his mind. What would the Code have him do? The Code deemed it improper to have a child out of wedlock of course, but what was he going to do? Just show up on Terra Rex and have them marry him and Ravess? They barely knew each other, he reflected. Of course, he would have nine months before making such a decision, but... There was the fact that she was a Cyclonian... Why was he attracted to her? Why? This would cause him so many problems...
"They're on to us you know," Ravess pointed out, leaning into the bars of the cell.
"Wha- oh yes... Aerrow and his friend..." Harrier sighed, his eyes trailing up to meet hers. "I've noticed..."
Seeing the worry in his face, she slipped her arms through the bars, placing her hands on his chest. "Of course, they won't be a problem for us, considering what an... influential sky knight you are, right?"
He flushed slightly as she began caressing him. "Of course they won't be a problem... They're not even really on the council. They'd believe me over a group of children any day."
"Good..." She smiled at him, her gaze meeting his.
After a few moments silence he spoke again. "We still haven't decided on what to do..."
"What are the chances that they would just let me get off scott-free and return me to Cyclonia?"
"Well..." He considered the amount of influence he held over the tribunals on Terra Rex. Even then, they wouldn't let a Cyclonian go back, especially considering the Phoenix Crystal incident that had somewhat tarnished his reputation... "Ravess... Would you be willing to... Be willing to recant your allegiance to Cyclonia?"
She tilted her head to the side, regarding him. "You're asking me to change my allegiance from Cyclonia to the sky knights?"
"Well... I... uh... Yes. I mean, Cyclonia is evil- uh not saying that you are, but... If you were to renounce Cyclonia, you would be granted amnesty..."
"Wait, that's all I would have to do? Just say I don't like Cyclonia anymore, and they'd just let me off?"
Harrier blinked, then nodded. "Yes... It is written in the Code that a sky knight must offer forgiveness to his enemies, and that an enemy doesn't have to remain an enemy for life... Of course, there's a certain speech you would have to say, but that would be provided for you... Oh, and... The rest of the Atmos does no follow the Code, so technically... You'd only be safe of Terra Rex."
"So basically I'd have Cyclonia and the rest of the Atmos after me."
"Potentially, but Terra Rex would protect you- I'd make sure of that."
Ravess stared at him for a few moments, ruminating the situation over in her mind. Then she spoke. "I'll do it."