Chapter 27: A Destiny
For every soul, there is a guardian watching it.
~The Qu'ran
While Junko grabbed Finn, Jet, Jay, and Kite had a time with Piper. She gave them a little in the face, a little in the legs, and had about taken them down when Junko beat his hoof against the ground, causing it to shake and for her to lose her balance. Then the other three boys had no trouble grabbing her, and from then on it was just a matter of holding her. They led two to where Grimsley stood holding down Aerrow and Twister held a moving sack.
Piper didn't know what to think or really had any idea what was going on. All she knew was that these boys had attacked their home and taken them captive. And this burly, fat kid who held Aerrow's arms too tightly behind his back seemed to know Aerrow. And Finn, his eyes wide, seemed to recognize the kid, too.
Piper searched through everything Finn and Aerrow had told her about their prison life. After all, that was the only life Aerrow and Finn had known together before they met Piper. This fat boy had to fit in there somewhere, didn't he?
There was something about a mean kid who had a gang and would pick on other boys. His name sounded a lot like his personality. But try as she might, Piper couldn't place the name.
Whatever it was, Aerrow should have been giving the guy one of his meanest death glares. That's what Aerrow did. But Aerrow looked as if he was in daze. Had he gotten hit over the head again? Honestly, at this rate he was going to have permanent brain damage!
But there was no blood, no bruise, not even a growing welt on his head. He simply seemed to be thinking about something besides the situation they were in.
Which, considering the situation they were in, was really not helpful.
Two of the boys were holding Piper . . . the ones who didn't have their sleeves cut off. She kept trying to shake them off, but that only made them hold tighter to her. Finn had long since stopped fighting the Wallop and now was simply trembling in his grasp. Strangely enough, that seemed to make the Wallop even more uncomfortable.
The fat kid grinned at all of them. "We did it, boys!" he said.
That's when Aerrow finally glared at him the way Piper expected him to. He had that look in his eye with a hint of red gleaming, as if he could rip the fat boy's throat out.
That only made the fat boy twist Aerrow's arm, forcing him to knees with a painful gasp.
The fat kid grinned wickedly. "Told ya, Aerrow. Crow food. That's all you are!"
Aerrow groaned and tried to rise to his feet, but he only grimaced in pain when the fat boy tightened his hold on him again. Piper wanted to beg him to stop, but she doubted it would do any good.
She struggled against her captors again, but they held firm. She found it most unnerving that they wouldn't speak. It's as if the fat boy in charge had taken their tongues. He spoke for all of them, and that was that. Even the Wallop bended to him.
Aerrow glared at up at the fat boy again. "You're a bully, Grimsley," he growled. "That's all you've ever been."
Grimsley. The name was jogged in Piper's memory now. He was the guy who Aerrow had fought with in prison for trying to take Finn's food.
But if that was so, what in the world was he doing here?
Grimsley twisted again, shoving Aerrow forward. He looked up at the Wallop. "Junko," he said, "go get the cage."
"What about him?" the Wallop, Junko, asked, nodding to Finn in his arms.
Grimsley looked pointedly at the one guy not holding anyone. "You, take him," he said. "Blondie won't do anything."
"It's Finn," Finn muttered quietly, as if they'd had this conversation before.
While Jet took hold of Finn and Junko left the fort for their "cage," Grimsley turned back to Aerrow. "You had a chance to be part of this, you know."
Aerrow's eyes flashed. "Never gonna happen," he growled.
"Actually, we should be thanking you," Grimsley said smugly. "Thanks to you, we get to be Talons at last!"
The word "Talon" seemed to ripple through Aerrow, and his expression was so cold and full of hatred that even Piper was frightened. It was as if he radiated fury. Piper knew he hated anything Cyclonian, a hatred so strong that it had always surprised her, since Aerrow seemed so optimistic about everything and everyone else. Perhaps Grimsley was part of the reason. Or maybe it was simply he was transferring all that hatred onto Grimsley, as if making him embody all that was Cyclonian.
When Junko came back with the cage, he tied a rope to the top of it and then swung the rope over a branch of the willow, so that the cage could be hung up. Piper, Aerrow, and Finn were all tossed roughly inside. Then Twister opened up the sack and sent a growling Radarr rolling in after them, landing on Finn's head. The four of them groaned as they sat up, only to look over the edge as the cage was raised slowly off the ground.
"Uh!" Finn groaned in disgust. "It smells like chickens in here!"
"That's because we're in a chicken coop, Finn," Piper pointed out to him in a bratty tone as if to acknowledge his stupidity. Finn glanced up at her and gave her his "you can't be serious" look. Piper only nodded slightly. They were indeed imprisoned in a chicken coop.
Normally Aerrow would have been monitoring that "conversation" to be sure it didn't turn into a hissy fit contest. But right now, all he could think about was the three cloaked men. "If those three weird bird guys hadn't gotten in my way . . ." he thought. Then, realizing he was talking aloud, he turned to Piper and Finn. Both of his human friends looked surprised and confused. Piper even looked a little concerned. "Okay," Aerrow began with his explanation, holding up a finger, "this is gonna sound crazy."
His friends raised eyebrows waiting.
Aerrow exchanged a glance with Radarr. After all, Radarr had been there. He had seen.
Aerrow took a breath and then explained, telling them about the three cloaked figures.
Grimsley and his boys put down the Storm Hawks flag and raised a Cyclonian one, showing that this terra had been conquered.
Below the flagpole sticking out of the top of the willow, the Cyclonian Youth Brigade was in the house that Aerrow and his friends had made their home.
There was also a large teddy bear that Twister grabbed just for the heck of it. It was a weird thing to find . . . it was like it didn't belong in their world where everyone always seemed at odds with someone. But he was pretty sure it was Junko who brought it there.
He and Jay sat on the coach, which had the soccer ball sitting on it. Junko leaned on the top of the couch, while Kite and Jet stood in the back. They all watched as Grimsley used the radio, calling into a Cyclonian base.
"This is Airman Grimsley of Cyclonian Youth Brigade O five niner," Grimsley said. "We've captured Terra Neverlandis for the glory of Cyclonia. Awaiting further instructions."
There was a crackle at the end of the radio, and then a voice from it said, "Hold on. I'll get Snipe." Then there was a crackle, and the voice disappeared.
Grimsley couldn't believe his luck. "Oh, man!" he cheered in disbelief as he turned around to his boys with a smile. "I'm gonna get to talk to Snipe!"
All of the boys cheered . . . except for Junko. He smiled a fake smile, but even so he glanced behind him guiltily as he thought of the inhabitants of the terra who were now locked up in a chicken coop.
While Aerrow explained, questions rose in his own mind, questions he'd been wondering but was unable to think them through due to all that had been going on. The silver one had called him "the last descendent." He said he to find some ship and rebuild some team. And something about a destiny.
His friends were as bewildered as he was. They stared at him like he was crazy, and Piper even had a concerned look on her face as if she wanted to check his temperature. Only Radarr seemed to think him sane, but he probably would have thought Aerrow was crazy, too, if he hadn't been there himself.
"I'm serious!" Aerrow insisted. Radarr nodding encouragingly. "Look," Aerrow said, "they even gave me this!" He pulled out the golden rod for them to see.
Piper's eyes lit up. "Whoa," Finn gasped.
Aerrow smiled. Now they would believe him!
Finn looked around. "So where'd these men go?" he asked.
Aerrow blinked at them, getting ready to lay his next fantastic fact on them. "They're shape changers."
"No way," Finn gasped.
Aerrow nodded. "They turned into these birds. They were big and mutli-colored."
Radarr pointed to the head of the rod in Aerrow's hand. Aerrow nodded, telling the little guy he understood. "They're heads looked like this," he explained, pointing to the bird head on the top of the rod, "only they weren't gold. They were green in pink and purple and yellow . . ."
"Are you sure you didn't see a flying rainbow?" Finn asked skeptically, earning him a glare from both Aerrow and Radarr.
But Piper was studying the lid of the rod. "Mynall bird!" she said.
All the boys turned to her. "What?" Aerrow asked.
"They turned into Mynall birds," Piper explained. "Haven't you ever heard of the warrior trainer Arygyn? That's exactly what he does! He turns into a Mynall bird!"
Finn raised an eyebrow. "So you mean that a bunch of guys who can magically turn into Mynall birds came and told Aerrow he had a destiny? Are you crazy?"
"No, listen," Piper insisted. "There's more." Her face was vibrant with excitement, and Aerrow couldn't imagine what was on her mind. "There's a legend. A group of shape changers who try to calm the evil in Atmos. They're called the Guardians of Atmos."
"Very original," Finn grumbled.
"Don't you see?" Piper exclaimed. She turned to Aerrow. "What if the legend is true? What if the Guardians came to you?"
Aerrow looked at the rod in his hand. "I guess there is one way to find out . . ." he said hesitantly.
As if sensing what he was saying, Finn's face lit up. "Open it!" he said excitedly. "Go on!"
Carefully Aerrow lifted the lid off the rod and poured some of the contents in his hand. A blue crystal key that had the Storm Hawks emblem on the handle fell into his hand.
Before Aerrow had time to even comprehend what these could be, Finn snatched the key out of his hand and held it up. "Cool!" he said.
Aerrow was about to ask for that back; after all, who knew what it went to or what it could do? But he was distracted by something else he saw sticking out of the rod. He pulled out a rolled-up piece of parchment. Piper leaned her head close to his to see as he unrolled it.
It was a map, of all things, and it had a picture of an airship on it at one point. Aerrow couldn't possibly fathom what any of this meant. Why would strange bird guys talk about destiny and then give him a key and a map?
But Piper, the most knowledgeable and who, in Aerrow's opinion, had the most trustworthy opinion, seemed to know. She gasped as soon as she saw the map. She placed a hand on Aerrow's shoulder and the other under the map, moving it closer to their faces. "Aerrow, do you have any idea what this means?" she said with an excited smile on her face.
"Uh, no," Aerrow answered, raising an eyebrow. Should he?
"You're the last descendent of Lightning Strike!" Piper said, poking the map. She gestured to him. "That means, by right, you take leadership of the Storm Hawks!" She gestured out to the skies. "Aerrow, you're a Sky Knight!"
"I am?" Aerrow exclaimed in surprise. He jumped in the air in shock. "Ow!" he exclaimed as his head hit the ceiling of the chicken coop.
Finn was just as surprised. "He is?" he exclaimed, only to hit his head on the ceiling, too. "Ow!"
Radarr churred, as if to say, He is? Afterward, he winced and squeezed one eye shut, looking around suspiciously with the other, bracing himself for hitting his head like the other two, but it never happened.
Aerrow rubbed his head, which was throbbing, and not entirely from the blow to the head. He, Aerrow, the poor orphan, a Cyclonian prisoner escapee, a Sky Knight? And not just a Sky Knight, but a Storm Hawk, the greatest Sky Knight squadron of all. And the famous Lightning Strike's blood ran through his own veins. He stared at Piper, as if trying to believe everything she was telling him. All he could say was, "Ah, seriously?"
"Um-hmm," Piper answered.
Aerrow's eyes widened, and he smiled. "Cool!"
But Piper wasn't done with her revelations yet. She held the map up to Aerrow again. "And this map," she said, tapping the picture of the ship, "it leads us straight to the Condor!" She turned to him, excitement glowing in her eyes. "As in, the Condor!"
Of course, Piper was probably thinking of the many legends of the famous Condor, a great ship in its prime. It was built just for the transport of a Sky Knight squadron and had been made even more famous and great when it became the ship of the Storm Hawks. There was none faster, and although it must be over a hundred years old now and neglected for ten years, it was still the Condor.
However, Aerrow was only of the practical mind. He had to be, after all these years of taking care of himself, and the first thing he thought of when he thought of the ship was the assets it would give them. "With that kind of firepower," he said, his face brightening, "no one would mess with us here!"
This was his chance! He was willing to take it on: find the Condor, rebuilding the Storm Hawks, all of it. It all sounded too good to be true. He was not afraid. How could he be? It sounded a lot safer than the situation he was in now and quite tame compared to some adventures he'd had before. And it even made sense. Lightning Strike had come from Terra Nimbus, just like he did. And what about his outfits that he and his friends were wearing? Uniforms, of course!
But their great jubilation was interrupted by a voice that Aerrow was really coming to hate. "Guess what, worms," Grimsley said as he and his boys approached the cage. One of his boys was giving him a thumb up. When Grimsley starting speaking again, Aerrow found out why. "I just finished talking to Snipe," the Youth Brigade leader said. He raised an eyebrow at them, his eyes finding Aerrow's. "The Talon Snipe," he reminded them. He pointed to the ground. "He's coming here personally to give us our wings!" At this, he turned around to his boys and clenched his fists in anticipation.
Aerrow and Finn clutched the bars as they peered down at the Cyclonians, and Piper and Radarr peered around them. Aerrow didn't like the sound of this. Snipe was one of the worst Talons in the skies. He was a mace-wielding bully with strength to boot. And he was in charge of Terra Nimbus. Aerrow found a little ironic that the Talon commander who was now in charge of his home terra was coming to take his new terra.
"That's after we do one last thing," Grimsley continued. He slammed his fist into his hand as he smirked at Aerrow and his friends. "Get rid of you!"
Aerrow didn't even have time to be scared before one of the Cyclonian boys pulled a lever on the chain holding up the chicken coop, and Aerrow and his friends cried out in fear as the cage fell and slammed on the ground. The four of them fell forward onto the door as it opened and landed on the bars, with Piper landing on the two boys.
Aerrow had hardly gotten his bearings when he saw Grimsley standing over them, pointing to them. "And Snipe's orders," he said, "were to throw you into the Wastelands!"
All the Cyclonian boys laughed . . . except Junko, who stood in back, looking down at Aerrow and his friends worriedly. "The Wastelands?" he repeated softly in disbelief.
The Wastelands. The very world they just escaped from would be the death of them.
It was like Fate was playing some sort of cruel joke on them.
"Seriously not good!" Finn whispered.
Slowly, painfully, Aerrow and his friends got to their feet, although they all knew it would be no use trying to escape. Piper looked at the Cyclonian Youth Brigade in disbelief. "Throw us into the Wastelands?" she echoed, leaning away from them. "Not like you're actually gonna throw us off the side of the terra?" But Grimsley's smirk didn't change. "Are you?" Piper asked, her voice shaking.
Apparently that was the plan. Grimsley crossed his arms and glanced around. "Who wants to do the honors?" he asked his pals.
Finn and Piper glanced at Aerrow for help. He was, in a way, their leader. But Aerrow was at loss of what to do.
Junko put his hand on Grimsley's shoulder. "I'll do it!" he proclaimed, putting a hand on his chest.
Before Aerrow could make any sort of protest, the Wallop had scooped them up, Aerrow and Radarr under one arm and Finn and Piper under the other. They struggled against him, but it was no use. The Wallop walked to the edge of the terra, preparing to throw them over.
That's when Finn tried to appeal to the Wallop. "Seriously, buddy," he gasped to him, still trying to wiggle out of his arms, "you can't do this to the Finnster!"
Oh, yeah, Aerrow thought sarcastically. Don't worry about the rest of us, Finn. Just worry about yourself. That's all that matters.
But the amazing thing was, Aerrow noticed something (other than Finn's girly scream of terror). Junko actually seemed to be considering what Finn was saying. Aerrow used that to his advantage. He gasped as he tried to raise himself to get some air because the way the Wallop was holding him was making it hard to breath. "Do you really want to be one of them?" he gasped to the Wallop. "One of the bad guys?"
Junko raised an eyebrow at him before turning to Piper, who was held so that she was looking behind them. "Are they still watching?" he asked her.
Piper gasped as she tried to get herself into a position to lift her head to see. "No," she answered. "I bet they don't have the guts!"
Junko sighed in relief. "Oh, boy, that was close!" he exclaimed. And just like that, he set them down on the ground. They all sighed in relief as they were finally able to get all their air, and then as soon as their lungs were replenished, they scooted away, still not trusting the Wallop.
But Junko wasn't looking at them. He was looking over the side of the terra. "I really thought I'd have to toss ya over," he said, sounding relieved that he didn't.
Just to be sure, Finn asked, "So you're not gonna?" Then he crawled up to Junko and hugged his leg in, what seemed to Aerrow, a very pathetic way. "Oh, thank you!" he exclaimed, almost crying with relief.
Junko just looked down at him and raised an eyebrow.
Then Finn seemed to realize what he was doing. He released the Wallop's leg immediately and said, "I mean," he pointed pistol fingers at him, "alright, that's cool."
The group immediately knew they could not stay there in plain sight. They ran to the bushes next to the ancient willow and hid there, peering out to see two of the Cyclonian Youths standing out by their bikes as guards. Piper and Finn hid next to each other in the bushes, and Aerrow and the Wallop hid behind a tree. Radarr stayed close to Aerrow.
As they looked at the guards, Junko said, "Ah, I knew I shouldn't've gotten mixed up with Grimsley! I wanted to be one of the good guys."
Even if he had gotten mixed up with the wrong crowd, Aerrow had sympathy for him, and he felt he could trust him. He turned to him. "You still can," he said. "I'm on a mission to find the Condor and rebuild the Storm Hawks!" He clenched his fist to emphasize it. "We could use your help," he added.
Junko raised an eyebrow at him. "Really?" he whispered, getting eye level with Aerrow and smiling with anticipation. "Well, take my skimmer," he said. He handed Aerrow the key. "Uh, I tricked it out myself."
Aerrow smiled at him, about to thank his new generous friend, when Junko glanced out at the guards. "Uh, hurry!" he reminded them.
Finn led the run to the skyride, with Radarr and Piper behind him. Aerrow was about to follow when he remembered one little detail: Junko. He turned back to him. "We'll be back!" he promised, clenching his fist. And with that, he ran off with the others.
Junko held up a finger. "Storm Hawks," he repeated in awe, smiling. Well, imagine that! Storm Hawks were good guys, right? They were warriors. But they protected people; they didn't hurt them.
Once Junko was sure they had escaped, he headed back to Grimsley, who was lying in an inclined lawn chair with his aviator sunglasses on, reading a magazine. He turned to Junko when he approached. "Well?" he asked him.
"They're gone," Junko answered, pointing his thumb over his shoulder and making sure to tell the truth.
Grimsley laughed and turned back to his magazine. Junko scowled at him. If his new friends succeeded, then Grimsley wouldn't be hurting anyone anymore. After all, good guys were supposed to stop bad guys, and Junko had decided that from now on, he was being a good guy.
Author's Notes: Aw, this is annoying! That entire chapter was almost exclusively from "Origins"! Going to be lot of that in the next two chapters, too!
