Whisper: Beats me torturing Aerrow like usual I'll bet =D

Rita: That's what your stalkers tell me lol

Glitter: If they weren't, it would be a rather redundant story wouldn't it?

Doilan: Now you feel our pain. How are you doing btw?

Rose: I know it would make me pretty knarked if someone did that to my mum

DancingSpy: I know, I thought they would do well together

Piper's POV

"Don't let go."

"Why would I let go?" I resisted the urge to scream. Again. Luke had pulled out the parachute from the side compartment when their skimmer failed. I looked at the smoking wreck of both of the skimmers and a tear trickled down my face. Finn and Lily must not have known about it. I was hanging onto Luke for dear life, floating above the clouds and totally at the mercy of the winds. If the winds had been blowing the wrong way we would have been knocked off course and I would have been dangling like this forever. But luck was on our side.

"We should probably talk about what happened at the camp?" I groaned. We had been riding in silence up till the skimmers had failed and I had preferred it that way. Not the silence but having something underneath my feet.

"Can't we talk about this later Luke?" There was a pause. I don't know what he was thinking about but I couldn't really think about it right now.

"Now, Piper. Or I'll tickle you." I tried to guess if he was joking. He probably was but I was so scared that I started talking.

"Fine, I felt angry. What if Aerrow is dead? And at that point I wasn't even sure if there was an island here." Something occurred to me. "Shouldn't we have been spotted by now?" Luke shrugged. This made the whole parachute tilt to the left and I let out a little squeak. "Please don't do that."

"Why are you so hung up on Aerrow?" It sounded like an accusation rather than a question. I looked at Luke's face and saw that he was looking at mine. "Why does he matter so much to you and Finn? That's what I don't understand." I smiled a little. Was Luke jealous?

"He looked after us Luke. He's so selfless. All he wants to do is to help people." Luke nodded with a grim expression on his face. "Something wrong Luke?"

"Where are we going after this, Piper?" he asked and I opened my mouth to say something when I realised. I had no idea. All I had thought about was getting to Aerrow and letting him out and not about the afterwards. I needed to be prepared. I looked at Luke and he smiled. "I thought so. Maybe we should head to the crystal mines to see if we can help there."

"Why?" I said, confused. "That's a huge place, Luke. Much bigger and more guarded than a stupid little camp. There's no way that we could get everyone out from there." Luke smiled at me like I had just said the funniest joke in the world. I suddenly had the feeling that I wasn't going to get the joke. Then I realised. "Luke, let go off the parachute."

The reply was immediate. "What? Are you nuts?"

"Luke look down," I said, calmly and he looked. We were hovering over a bay of skimmers. If we were any closer I could kick the handlebars of one with my shoes. I dropped off and Luke unbuckled the parachute from his shoulders and just let it drift away. "Remember where this is when we leave," I joked but the look Luke shot me was totally serious.

"Right. If we leave." I shrugged. I knew my plan would work. What plan? said some inner voice. You've got no plan and no idea what you're doing. For all you know you could be looking for a corpse. You're the reason why Finn and Lily are dead. You saw the crashed skimmers and you didn't even point it out to Luke. How are you going to explain that to Aerrow? How will you even be able to look at him at what you let happen? How will you be able to look at yourself? Even though I wanted toI didn't scream or clutch my head like a crazy person (although hearing voices couldn't be the best of signs). But I didn't stop the tears as the slid down my face.

Luke's POV

Even when she was crying, she looked radiant. And all she could think about were those losers: Finn, Lily and Aerrow. How could her world not revolve around me like my world revolved around her. I put my arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a hug. It felt so right, her warm body pressed against my side. She looked at with those amber eyes and for a second I couldn't focus. I was just taken in. Then my little daydream shattered with a single sentence:

"Shouldn't we start looking for Aerrow?"

I hope he's dead like his stupid little yellow friend and Lily. "Of course. Sorry, I was just thinking of the others. They're probably okay Piper, please don't cry. C'mon let's get moving. I guarantee we'll see those two again. You can't keep Finn down. I should know. I've tried." But him being encased in a fiery metal tomb does help. Oh good she stopped sobbing like a sucker. At least she won't break our cover with her crying. That would be too easy. We need to find Aerrow's corpse first. Then we'll get caught. I'll make sure of it. Hey, maybe when we get caught they'll let us share a cell. Oh who am I kidding? They aren't going to imprison me. And in a couple of year, Piper will emerge from prison and right to me. Behind Piper's shoulder I thought I saw something move but it must have been a trick of the light as we moved into a little tunnel carved into the rock face.

Suddenly something blue jumped onto Piper's shoulder. "Radarr," she exclaimed. "Oh my gosh, I thought you were with Finn. And why are you so burnt?" Because I told Finn we would take him and then I threw that stupid little pest into the Wastelands. How the heck did it follow us? The stupid blue mutant gave me a crooked grin. I really wanted to throw it into the lava again. Stupid, smug little idiot. Then he started to growl at me. Uh-oh.

Piper turned the freak around and looked it in the eyes. "What's wrong, Radarr?" He glared at me. I was so busted unless-

"Piper, I smell like a Talon. Wouldn't you be a little on edge if you could smell the enemy?" Piper slapped her hand to her forehead. Saved. That was some quick thinking. I was actually really pleased with myself. Piper tried for a wasted five minutes to explain to the overgrown rat that I was a friend. Radarr and I knew better. He would have to have a little accident later on. I couldn't have Piper catching on. Radarr stayed resolutely on Piper's shoulder which was fine by me. I had hated having him on my shoulder. I just did it to impress Piper. It was horrible: my shoulder ached for ages and blue fur fell into my shirt and it itched. I think I might be allergic to something on it but I thought asking Piper if her precious Aerrow's blue malformed mutt might have ticks would upset her.

As we walked down the corridor, the blue annoyance had enough foresight to stop growling so that we wouldn't draw any attention. "The last thing we needed at this moment is a swarm of Talons," said Piper like she was speaking aloud. I loved it when she did that. From the moment she stepped onto the terra, I could tell I was going to like her. She was tough, unafraid and easily manipulated. Until Aerrow somehow managed to get his hooks into her. Just like my brother before him. But he ran away. Aerrow knows it as well as I do. I think it kills him that my brother refused to take him with him and Amber when they escaped but he said that his lil' Aerrow would have to stay and keep this place going. He was too old: almost old enough to become a Talon.

I heard all of this and called the real Talons but my good for nothing brother had disappeared. So the guards were a little rough with the remaining Aerrow. Do I care? No. He deserved it. And from the moment Finn joined on him, he was on top of the world. And it was so easy for him to gain supporters. I had to fight for every single one that I gained. No way was I giving up my pudding for a few snivelling brats. I made alliances with the biggest but not the brightest. My army.

Piper was supposed to be my second-in-command. And, I thought with a smile, she still could be. That stupid story he had fed her before. Nothing but lies. Luckily, Aerrow hadn't told Finn about it. Finn wasn't all that bright but he had been a good archer. Shame I thought. As much as it pained me to admit it there was no one quite as good as Finn out there.

Suddenly the last thing I wanted to hear rip through the corridors like a pair of scissors severing my plans.

"Aghhh!"

"Aerrow!" cried Piper, running down the corridor. Screaming I thought Good.

Piper ran to the end of the corridor. The screams were coming from a room with a door, slightly open. Piper grasped the handle and threw the door open with a loud bang. I winced. She was going to get herself caught. With me. I needed to disappear but not before I made sure Aerrow wasn't getting out of that cage. There was a Talon staff, abandoned, presumably by the guard. Piper rushed into the room with Radarr. I stayed behind. The Talon staff had appeared at an opportune moment.

"I am soo sorry, darling," I muttered, picking up the staff. The crystal glowed red in the darkness. "But you need a little more training."

Junko: So Luke is a jerk... for definate this time?

Blue: Yep, I know it has been a bit up in the air, is he nice or is he scum?

Stork: So he's scum.

Piper: With a capital S

Blue: R and R guys