DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters, locations, equipment etc used in this story, it exists purely because I want it to

WARNING: This Story contain themes of violence, torture, segregation, slavery and death (not necessarily in that order). Graphic content has been kept to a minimum to avoid M rating, even so, viewer discretion is advised

Ok, I think I now know how other authors on this site feel, if only a little bit, I have NO idea why this one took as long as it did, it shouldn't have but it did. Yea I know I'm making a big deal about this when its what, only been a little over a week since the last update, where as most stories take MONTHS to update, but for me, this was just FRUSTRATING. While I was writing this I got several ideas for new stories, but I don't want to start them until I finish this one, I like remaining focused on one project at a time so it means I have to push these new ideas to the side for now and make sure I don't forget them (sigh)

Anyway, I FINALLY got this chapter finished, for those of you who are wondering, this chapter takes place the day AFTER the events in the prologue, while the events in chapter 1 are all from the past, in addition please note that I' am NOT going to be writing Dove's accent phonetically, instead I will be taking ques and advice from stuff I have found from my research to write her accent, this includes adding or taking out small words that might otherwise be included in a sentence, swapping some words around, or even including words from Dove's native language (in this case French). If you want to know how the accent might sound, a good bit that I found is that the H in most English words for someone with a french accent is silent, so 'Happened' becomes 'Appened' and words like 'think' become 'tink' instead. Again I will NOT be writing the words as they SOUND but there are other strategies that I will be using to display Dove's accent.

Finally this will be the chapter where things start getting interesting, no real action yet but this will be the set up for the action to come, and I think most people will be able to predict the majority of the next chapter, so have fun and enjoy

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Dear Readers (and Mortals) all, welcome back (finally) to... The Storm and the Hawk

P.s. I will be including translations for the French words Dove uses at the end of the chapter (as well as any others she speaks in)

Chapter 2: Taking a Chance

End of year exams at Traven Academy was always a hectic time, students rushing between classrooms and the library, teachers carrying stacks of test papers everywhere, entire rooms being devoted to tests with rows of desks and chairs filling them. While all this went on, normal routine had to take place as well; the younger students (the first and second years) had already had their end of year exams a few weeks earlier, so they had things like taster lessons where they got to see what their future classes were like, and what subject they wanted to pursue. Then there were mealtimes, laundry, general cleaning for the whole Academy, it was complete bedlam, and yet there was a sort of ordered chaos to the whole thing, no deadlines were ever missed, and nothing was left by the wayside, this was after all Traven Academy, the highest funded educational institution in all Atmos.

As for Piper and her friends, this was one of their more important end of year exams, this being their 5th year meant they were at the mid way point of a long road to deciding their futures, and how well they did in these exams could well determine those futures... so as you can imagine they were pretty tense. Well, Dove and Aerrow were tense, but it seemed like nothing could faze Piper, she was bouncing around from one exam to the next a broad smile permanently plastered on her face

"How in Atmos do you do it Piper?" Aerrow asked as they finished yet another exam (a mathematics one) and walked out into the bright afternoon sun

"Do what?" Piper asked putting on an innocent look

Aerrow didn't buy it for a second, "I mean stay so happy and cheerful during one of the hardest times of the year?" Aerrow stated

Piper giggled, "I just like the challenge, it invigorates me," Piper replied, in the months before this she had been studying non-stop, Dove and Aerrow had called her mad... well, look who was laughing now

"Hello guys," Dove said as she joined them, her accent still distinctive despite her years away from her family and Terra. It had gotten less thick since coming to the Academy, but it seemed she would just never lose that distinctive tone in her voice, what's more, Aerrow and Piper had gotten used to it over the years, so now it was just the way she naturally talked as far as they were concerned. She had just come from a micro-biology exam (Dove was interested in becoming a doctor)

Piper turned to Dove smiling, "Heh Dove, how'd you think you did?" she asked smiling

Dove smiled back "Okay I think, we shall see in few days yes."

Piper nodded smiling back, and then the lunch bell rang across the Academy, "Yes! Lunch break, come on, I think its burger day today," Aerrow said excitedly

Dove and Piper both rolled their eyes, they both liked Aerrow and thought he was a good friend, but he could still be a typical boy sometimes

The lunchroom was a madhouse, more so than usual as many students had brought along their study stuff to prepare for the exams after lunch, there were some exceptions to this and Dove, Piper and Aerrow were among them, not only had they already studied to completion for any academic exams they had left, but they each only had one or two of them left, their last exams were their Skyknight exams. Aerrow had gone and focused into this not long after starting at the Academy pursuing subjects towards that end, Dove and Piper while they had thought the idea of becoming Skyknights interesting, had other things they wanted to pursue. Nevertheless they had still opted to apply for the basic training lessons in order to leave their options open, and if they found they wanted to join the Skyknights as well they could pursue that path in the following years.

The exams for the Skyknight training were of course practical exams and involved physical exercise and work rather than sitting indoors doing test papers, this meant there was only one way to study for these and that was, practice, practice and more practice. So as you can imagine, Aerrow was the most confident out of the three of them for these tests, Piper and Dove meanwhile were confident in their abilities but were still nervous as both were sure they'd missed something during their practice sessions. There were plenty of other students who were also excited or nervous about the upcoming Skyknight exams, the only ones who weren't were the Cyclonians, as part of the conditions that had allowed them to get into Traven Academy, Cyclonians were not allowed to take any Skyknight training classes, the self-defense classes were fine, but that was the limit. As such, the Cyclonians would not be participating in the last few exams, all of which were for the Skyknight classes

As such Starling and the other Cyclonians weren't really around during the end of the day, in fact, Piper had seen less and less of them as the day had gone by, and she was beginning to get worried. While she couldn't really call Starling a friend, she was still someone she got along well with after the event three years ago, so her absence had Piper concerned, she brought these concerns up with both Dove and Aerrow

Aerrow's reply was "The Cyclonians have always been outcasts Piper, nothing we can do to change that, if they want to disappear to have some quite time after finishing their exams I don't see anything wrong with that, don't bother them and they won't bother you."

While Dove, "J'admet, it is strange that they would just vanish, but I do not think we have to be concerned, they are all capable of taking care of themselves."

But Piper was concerned, and as more time passed with no sign of Starling or the other Cyclonians, Piper only became more concerned

Then just as Piper finished getting changed into her blue and orange sports jumpsuit for participating in the Skyknight exams and was leaving the changing rooms, she heard someone call her name

"Piper!"

Piper looked round to see Starling leaning against the corridor wall next to a corner that went deeper into the building towards the classrooms, "Starling heh, where have you been?" Piper asked relieved as she walked up to her

"Around... listen could we talk, in private?" Starling asked with a look on her face that Piper had never seen before

Piper looked around the empty corridor, "More private than this?" she said waving her hands around

Starling just nodded a serious look on her face before turning around and walking down the corridor behind her without waiting to see if Piper would follow, which Piper did. She was curious, Starling was acting weird... well, weirder than usual. Piper followed Starling to an empty classroom, at this time of day most students had finished with either classes or exams and everyone was heading out to the sports fields to either take the Skyknight exams, or watch, the Academy buildings were practically deserted. Inside the classroom Piper was surprised to find all of the Cyclonians waiting, and they seemed tense, some of them giving Piper odd looks that Piper couldn't gauge

"Everyone but Ravess and Snipe out, the Academy is deserted now so get ready, we move on my mark," Starling said crisply to which each and every Cyclonian instantly obeyed. To see two older students take orders from Starling was one thing, to see nearly a dozen. Piper stared in amazement as the Cyclonians filed out before Snipe closed and locked the door.

"What's this about?" Piper asked, a small twinge of nervousness creeping into her voice

Starling turned back to Piper and looked her dead in the eye, "I need your help Piper," she said simply

Piper breathed in relief, for a moment there I thought I'd done something wrong, "Of course, what do you need help with, is someone giving you a hard time or..."

"No nothing like that," Starling interrupted, then she took a breath, "I'm going to tell you a secret about me Piper, a secret that if it ever got out to the public would make me the victim of a witch hunt."

Piper raised an eyebrow at Starling confused, Starling then seemed to steel herself before continuing, "You know what my last name is right?" Starling asked

Piper nodded, "Yea, Swiftflight right."

Starling chuckled, "Yea that... I'm afraid Piper that Swiftflight is just a cover... my real last name is Cyclonis."

It took Piper a moment to realise what Starling had just said, when it clicked, Piper felt like she'd just been hit with a ton of bricks, "C-Cyclonis, as in the Cyclonis family, the family who lead Cyclonia during the war!?" Piper exclaimed

Starling just gave Piper a wry smile, "The very same, I' am the eldest daughter of Corvin and Cecilia Cyclonis and the granddaughter to Master Anarchis Cyclonis... I' am the Cyclonian heir apparent."

Piper just stared at her dumbfounded, on one hand, Piper was incredibly touched that Starling had chosen to share this information with her when Piper knew full well that many people who heard this would immediately report her to the authorities and as she had said, start a witch hunt. If the Senate ever learned this, they wouldn't rest until they had caught her, or worse. At the same time however, Piper couldn't understand why Starling was telling her this, what was going on here

"I don't understand, why tell me this, what's going on?" Piper asked, incredibly confused

"It's quite simple Piper, I need your help to pull off an operation right here on Atmosia, an operation that if it succeeds could very well safeguard the future of my people," Starling replied

"Operation?" Piper asked nervously

Starling nodded, "About 9 years ago the Cyclonian resistance was effectively crushed and our fates were left up to the Atmosian Senate, we found other ways to fight back and reclaim some of our rights but even then we get harsh restrictions imposed on us, and many Terra's still treat us like slaves or even animals," she explained. "That's not freedom Piper, nor is it any way for a person, heck a people to live... but that wasn't all that was done to us."

Now Piper was lost, but before she had a chance to speak, Starling continued, "Atmosia's lead agent, Long Feng, stole my little sister, Lark Cyclonis. He kidnapped her and made her a prisoner in his facility right here on Atmosia and began experimenting on her, turning her into a weapon... I'm going to take her back, and at the same time give hope back to my people that Cyclonia still lives."

Piper could hardly believe what she was hearing, this went against everything she'd ever been told about the Atmosian Senate, surely they wouldn't condone the kidnap and torture of a six year old girl. Starling saw the conflict in Piper's eyes and kept going, "Piper you have no idea what the Atmosian senate is capable of, trust me, this isn't the worst they've done, just the latest crime on a very long list."

Piper finally found her voice, "And you want me to help you break your sister out!?" she said disbelievingly

"Not break her out, rescue her, she's been a prisoner against her will for 9 years and she has never done anything to deserve it!" Starling snapped back her temper flaring

Piper ignored Starling's temper however and began pacing back and forth, on the one hand she felt bad for Starling and her sister, this wasn't something they deserved and it was only right that they be reunited... but breaking into a secure secret facility, freeing a Cyclonian prisoner from the Atmosian military, these were all acts of treason, even if the prisoner in question had done nothing wrong, the authorities would only view it as treason. Piper thought about everything that could go wrong, even if they were successful and got Starling's sister out, if Piper was identified then her life was effectively over, she'd be branded a traitor. That would have serious repercussions for her family, it might even put them in danger, and then there were her friends, what would happen to them, what would they think of her? In fact, if Piper wanted her life back afterwards, she'd be betting everything on the Cyclonian resistance winning, and with how much Piper had to lose, she wasn't sure if she was ready to risk that

"Well, Piper, what's your answer?" Starling asked, breaking Piper from her thoughts

Piper stopped pacing and looked at Starling, then she took a deep breath as her eyes found the floor, unable to look Starling in the eye, "I'm sorry Starling, but..." Piper trailed off unable to even finish the sentence

Starling got the message though and sighed, "No it's ok, I understand, unlike Ace you actually have things to lose if you join us, the risk is far greater and doesn't just pertain to you alone." Starling then turned and began walking towards the door, which Snipe unlocked as she and Ravess approached

"I'm really sorry Starling, I know I said that..." but Piper was again unable to finish, this time out of shame that she had broken her promise

"It's alright Piper... good luck in the Skyknight exams, I wish you the best. If fate is kind to me today however, then I pray we never meet on the battlefield, because if we do, my duty to my people will force me to kill you," Starling replied, her tone even and neutral, despite the words. Then she, Raves and Snipe all left, leaving Piper alone

Subject C stared at the wall as she lay curled in her bed, tears tracked silently down her cheeks but she hardly noticed them, she'd been a fool, she shouldn't have disobeyed orders, the man was probably dead by now anyway, it would have been far easier and simpler, just to kill him herself and spare her the pain Long Feng inflicted.

"NO!" snapped a voice inside Subject C's head, a voice she had thought Long Feng had long silenced, "You mustn't give up, you need to fight, stay strong or you will be a slave forever!" the voice shouted in her head

Would that be such a bad thing Subject C thought, I' am fed well, and so long as I behave and do as I' am told they treat me well. I' am not beaten or abused; I have everything I could ever need

"Except a life!" came the voice again, "You're a prisoner inside your own head, devoid of emotion, feeling and even memory, you're a blank slate that Long Feng can paint how he wants! YOU NEED TO FIGHT, FIND THE HAWK, AND SET YOURSELF FREE!"

Subject C gripped her head in pain as the voice increased in intensity, she was broken from her thoughts however by a noise outside her door, it sounded like voices, then shouts and finally two thuds against the wall outside, and then silence. Subject C stared at the door waiting to see what would happen, there were no scheduled appointments for today, Administrator Long Feng was out on business. Then the sound of the door being unlocked echoed around the room before the door opened and in walked one of the facilities guards... only he had his helmet off and Subject C could see his face which was fair and relatively handsome, he looked to be in his early 20's, his hair was black and spiked and his eyes red, upon his back he bore a long two handed blade that was currently sheathed.

Upon sighting Subject C he entered the room and made his way over to her, Subject C tensed ready for a fight, but then the man went down onto one knee, head bowed

"Princess Lark Cyclonis, my name is Ace, I may not be a Cyclonian, but I owe my allegiance to your sister Starling Cyclonis. I' am here to rescue you, your Highness."

Piper walked out onto the sports fields almost numb, it felt like a part of her had been ripped out of her by her own folly. Breaking her promise to Starling that she would help the Cyclonian if she ever needed it was causing a mental battle inside of Piper. Logic was arguing that the risk was too great and the cost of failure or even discovery would be her life, her future, possibly even her family and friends. But Piper's heart argued that it was the right thing to do, despite the risk and that no one, deserved what Starling's sister had gone through. Currently logic was winning, but only just, and it was tearing Piper apart inside

Piper was broken from her thoughts by the sound of her friends voices

"Piper there you are, what took you so long?" Aerrow asked as he and Dove came jogging up to her

Piper quickly thought of something to say that they would believe without giving away too much of what she had learned, "Oh, I ran into Starling as I left the changing rooms," she said

"You did, bein, see I told you they can take care of themselves," Dove said a smile on her face

Aerrow nodded, "Yea, I don't know why you were so worried Piper."

Piper just rolled her eyes, "Yea go on rub it in," she replied jokingly, but inside, her mental war raged anew because of what she knew over her friends

"Come on we should get ready, the exams are about to start," Aerrow said as he pointed his thumb over his shoulder at the grounds behind them

Piper nodded and they were about to make their way over when a voice interrupted them, "Ahh, Piper there you are, do you mind coming with me for a moment, there's someone here who wants to meet you," said Principle Traven as he made his way over to them

Piper glanced at him and then her friends and nodded for them to go on without her, then turned to the principle "Sure no problem sir," she replied and followed him towards where a group of teachers were forming

To Piper's surprise they actually went past the group to where a man with black hair styled in a way that left his forehead and crown bald but gave him a long ponytail down his back, he was dressed in a black robe with gold trim and also bore a neatly trimmed moustache and goatee combo.

"Piper, might I introduce you too..." Traven began, but Piper beat him to the punch

"Administrator Long Feng!" she exclaimed in surprise, Piper like many people had heard of the exploits of the man standing before her and had recognized him instantly – a part of her mind also reminded her of the new information she had learned about him, and warning bells started ringing in her head – this was the first time Piper had met the man face to face, normally it was on TV or from a distance. Now his cool grey blue eyes turned towards her, regarding her with a stare that made Piper feel extremely uncomfortable

"I see you know of me," Long Feng stated calmly

Piper quickly recovered herself and made sure to try and keep her emotions in check, not an easy thing, as his gaze was making her feel like a rabbit staring down a fox. "Uh yes, well what I mean is I've done a lot of reading on you and your achievements, your knowledge of Crystal Magecraft, your innovations, their all fascinating," Piper said quickly trying to get her heart – which was thumping hard against her chest out of fear – under control

Long Feng gave her a cool smile, "An academic I see, interested in the sciences?"

Piper nodded, and was relieved when Traven answered for her, "Piper is a straight A student in all her science classes and does well in every one of her other academic classes, no grade lower than a B-. She's also a model student, is kind and caring to everyone around her and doesn't even let past grudges affect how she treats others."

Long Feng continued to smile, and while he listened and acknowledged Traven's words, his eyes never left Piper, "And what about your interest in Crystal Magecraft is that merely a hobby or..."

"Piper is a Crystal Mage yes, and quite a brilliant one at that," Traven interrupted, though something about how Long Feng had asked the question made Piper feel like he had already known she was a Crystal Mage

Now Long Feng's gaze finally left Piper and went to Traven, "And how exactly have you been teaching her that subject, as I' am led to believe, there are no Crystal Mages in your staff?"

Piper didn't know why she did it, but she suddenly spoke up, instantly gaining Long Feng's attention again, "I've been teaching myself," she said and quickly closed her mouth again to stop it from saying anything else

"Really? You are aware of how dangerous that is?" Long Feng commented

Piper nodded "I take a lot of precautions and Principle Traven has lent me the use of one of the old sheds at the bottom of the grounds for practice, as well as any books from the library that I might need to learn about different aspects of Crystal Magecraft," she replied, choosing her words carefully

Now Long Feng seemed impressed, and his gaze on Piper intensified, making her feel even more uncomfortable, "Is that so, and how are your studies progressing?" he asked

Despite the uncomfortable feelings this man was causing Piper, she couldn't resist retelling some of her latest successes. "Well I recently was able to find a work around to the problem that occurs when a crystal begins to be taxed in either extreme heat or cold," she stated

"Really... please continue," Long Feng said

Piper gulped, "Well when a crystal gets too hot, the bonds that make it up begin to warp out of place, this changes the internal structure and consequently causes the crystal to stop working, the same applies for cold which will cause any liquid in the crystal's makeup to begin to freeze, and when liquids freeze they expand which again deforms the internal structure," Piper began. "Now we already know that when submerged in certain fluids that have higher boiling points and lower freezing points it's possible to prevent this from occurring... however, those same liquids can often be extremely volatile with certain crystal types and cause an explosive reaction, so the problem is, how to gain the benefit of these liquids without causing an explosive reaction."

Long Feng merely nodded, this was a problem that had vexed him for years and had prevented many projects he'd been working on to proceed past the planning stage

"The answer is to work the liquids into the crystals themselves as they are forming," Piper said, a pleased as punch look on her face

Long Feng now frowned, "How does that help, wouldn't that just cause the crystals to explode upon their formation?"

Piper shook her head "No it doesn't, I had to do a lot of trial and error to get this right, nearly cost me my eyebrows on several occasions too, but basically as I was experimenting to find a work around I noticed something interesting," Piper explained

Long Feng again gestured for her to go on

"The parts of the crystals that are responsible for their power lie just outside their cores and go all the way to their surface, these are also the parts that react with whatever the crystal touches and so are the cause of the explosive reaction when they are submerged in the liquids designed to either keep them cool or warm, depending on the situation," Piper said, "However, the cores are completely inert and do not react, but instead contain the foundation matrix for the crystal, if you combine the molecular structure of the liquids that we want to use to prevent overheat or freeze effects to this matrix, then that will be incorporated into the rest of the crystal during its formation allowing it to resist both greater heat and cold, preventing the warping or deformation of its matrix."

After finishing Piper was beaming, impressed with herself, Traven was also smiling, proud of his number one student, Long Feng meanwhile was staring at Piper in both shock and amazement, then his expression shifted, a smile forming once again

"Most impressive, and you figured this out all on your own through trial and error?" he asked

Piper nodded and Long Feng seemed to be thinking about something, "Well I must say the reports I read about your Crystal Mage abilities certainly did not exaggerate, I shall definitely be keeping my eye on you young Piper, and when you graduate, I shall very much like to run an offer by you that will open up many doors in your future."

Piper felt that uncomfortable feeling return, "Erm, thank you Long Feng sir," Piper replied, Long Feng just nodded, then gave a gesture towards Traven

Traven nodded and lent towards Piper, "You can go now Piper, good luck in your exams."

Piper just nodded and left, relieved to be away from Long Feng, though she felt his eyes on her all the way back past the crowd of teachers

Traven turned to Long Feng, "I think it's only fair that you know I will be petitioning the Senate to keep you from taking her," he said coldly

Long Feng stared Traven in the eye coolly, "Really, we've been down this road before Traven, you should know by now that I always win."

Piper rejoined Aerrow and Dove who looked at her worriedly as she returned and immediately went to lean against the shed they were next too

"Piper what happened?" Dove asked

Piper took a few deep breaths before responding, "I just met Administrator Long Feng."

Dove and Aerrow looked at one another, and then Aerrow replied, "That's good though right, you've always gone on about his achievements and inventions and how you'd like to follow in his footsteps right?"

Piper shook her head, "After what Starling told me about him, I was starting to question that, after meeting him..." Piper trailed off as she gave a shudder then continued, "The whole time he was looking at me, I felt like I was being appraised, like I was some animal or object he might buy at the market, then when I told him about my little pet project, he got this look in his eye... it was like he wanted to drag me away there and then, claim ownership of me... make me his slave."

Now Aerrow and Dove were thoroughly confused, this couldn't be the same Long Feng that Piper had sung the praises of surely

Before either of them could speak Piper continued, "I've been such a fool, idolizing a man I barely knew anything about," Piper then looked back towards the Academy, a hard stony look on her face, "I never should have broken my promise," she breathed, before marching off back towards the Academy

Aerrow and Dove both stared at her for a moment before racing to catch up with her, "Whoa heh Piper where are you going?" Aerrow asked as he tried desperately to get her attention

"Something I should have done half an hour ago," Piper responded as she now broke into a run towards the Academy buildings

Dove and Aerrow, glanced once at each other, then took off after their friend

Subject C looked down at the man before her, Sister, Princess, what was he talking about?

Suddenly, noises from outside caught the man's attention, "We need to go your highness, we have to get to the rendezvous in time and link up with your sister and the rest of our forces, follow me," he said as he stood and made his way back towards the door, he stopped when he realized that his charge was not following

"Your Highness please we need to go," he insisted

"Why do you call me that?" Subject C breathed

Ace ground his teeth in frustration, Osprey mentioned a lack of memory, I'll have to improvise, "Because you are a Princess of Cyclonia, and it is my sworn duty to protect you, now if you want to be free we need to leave, right now," Ace declared

Free, could that even be possible, can I really be free? Subject C thought, she looked up at Ace as he held his hand out to her, then her eyes glanced at the open door, a feeling then overcame her, a force that began pushing her to walk out that door. She stood and made her way to Ace who smiled at her, the smile vanished however as a flash filled the room and Ace was thrown into the wall by the door before collapsing to the ground. He rolled onto his side and looked down at himself to see a scorch mark across his side, then the pain hit and he gritted his teeth to keep from crying out, he then felt a shadow cross over him, and looked up to see his charge walking past him and out the open door

"Why?" he croaked

"Thank you, for releasing me, but traitors to the Republic must die, starting with you," Subject C replied in a robotic voice, devoid of emotion

Then she was gone, and Ace curled into himself as the pain overwhelmed him, what's going on here, why did she attack and then leave... Ace struggled to keep his mind focused through the pain, then the answer came to him, you bastard Long Feng, what did you do... what have I done... Atmos, I'm sorry your highness, I failed, then Ace lost consciousness.

To be continued dear Mortals, Mwuhahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Stay tuned for Chapter 3: A desperate assault

Please feel free to leave a review if you like this chapter and as always constructive criticism is welcome, until next time ; )

J'admet = I admit

bein = good