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
Greetings all, I'm back, I've noticed there seems to be a distinct lack of dark and feels in the latest chapters - barring Lightning's death of course - so it's time to dive back into the abyss a bit, nothing too heavy, but should have quite a few feels
Also I'm aware I may have made a mistake last chapter when Eyeball acknowledged Scabulous' orders, and what he should have said was 'Aye aye' not 'Eye eye' bad Stormhawk fan, bad
anyway, lets get this show back on the road
Ladies and gentlemen, Boys and girls, Dear Readers (and Mortals) all, welcome back to... The Storm and the Hawk
P.s. I'm introducing something new to the show, Chapter songs, for chapters that I thought came together particularly well, this is the first that I felt like doing this on, so here goes, today's Chapter Song is... Lullaby for a Princess, by PonyPhonic enjoy
Chapter 8: Nightmares and Demons
An un-named Terra, two days after fighting the Murk Raiders
Lark's eyes blinked open, she stared at the bulkhead ceiling, wondering why was she awake, she slowly sat up in bed, as she did, she heard a noise come from further down the hall. Her head whipped to the door, her heart suddenly racing, it had to be the early hours of the morning, everyone was asleep
"Piper," she hissed, "Piper, I think someone's on-" but her words died mid sentence as her gaze traveled to Piper's bed, which lay empty
Now Lark was starting to panic, the sheets of Piper's bed were strewn about, as if she'd been dragged out of her bed, but if that was the case, why hadn't Lark been abducted. Confused and afraid, Lark carefully, and quietly, slipped out of bed and made her way to the door
She pressed her ear flat to the cold metal, trying to listen for any sound, she could just about make out an indistinct voice – no, voices – she cautiously began to open the door, being careful to minimise the sound it made, then stepped out into the hallway
The voices were louder now, but she still couldn't make out what was being said, or the words they were saying. She could however tell that they were coming from the bridge, so she began to cautiously make her way there
The closer she got to the bridge, the louder the voices became, yet they remained indistinct, however, she could make out the speakers now. Starling's voice seemed dominant, but she also picked up snippets from Aerrow and Dove, as well as the occasional comment from Junko or Stork. Piper's voice was strangely absent
She was just a few steps away from the bridge when a new voice entered the conversation, a voice she recognized, and true terror gripped her as the words finally resolved in her mind
"You've done well my servants; she'll make an excellent addition to my collection of Crystal Mages... what of Subject C?" Long Feng asked
"Still asleep, shall we bring her?" Starling replied
"No need, she's already here."
Suddenly, the door in front of Lark burst open, and light poured in, Lark shielded her eyes from the harsh light, once she had adjusted, she stared into the bridge, and her eyes widened with horror. In front of her stood Long Feng, clad in his black robe, flanking him, were Starling, Aerrow, Dove, Junko and Stork, all wearing the grey featureless armour of the guards from his facility – minus the helmets – and on the floor at Long Feng's feet, was Piper, bound and gagged, eyes wide and tears streaming down her cheeks
"Subject C, so good of you to join us," Long Feng said with a sneer
Suddenly Piper got her gag loose, "Lark run!" she yelled before Aerrow gave her a vicious kick to her stomach to silence her
Lark didn't need telling twice, she turned on her heel and sprinted back the way she'd come, even as she did however, the hallway leading back to her room seemed to stretch, and her legs felt like lead
"Now now, Subject C, you know running is futile, there's nowhere for you to go where you might escape me," Long Feng called after her
As he said this Lark suddenly felt the floor disappear beneath her, and she fell, now through open sky towards a large lake. She braced for impact as the water rushed up to meet her, instead, she collapsed onto a concrete floor, with harsh, stark, white lighting overhead, and a very familiar chair sitting next to her
Then, a long black robe with two black shoes poking from the hem appeared in her vision; she looked up, straight into the eyes of her tormentor. "Welcome home, Subject C."
Lark woke with a start, sitting up in bed as the memory of that man's sneer lingered in her mind's eye, she quickly realized she was covered in sweat, and breathing rapidly. She looked over to Piper's bed, relieved to see the girl still there, and fast asleep
Lark lay back, and stared at the bulkhead ceiling, as her heart rate began to calm, and she lost the Adrenalin rush, the sobs began. Turning on her side, with her back facing Piper, Lark began to cry, muffling herself as best she could
It wasn't quite good enough, Piper's eyes flickered open, awoken by the noise, she looked over to Lark, seeing her back turned to her, and her shoulders shaking with the sobs. Piper felt her heart break, even in her sleep she can't escape what Long Feng did to her
"Lark, you okay?" Piper asked, her voice filled with concern
Lark's sobs abruptly stopped, after a few moments, she replied, "I'm fine Piper, go back to sleep."
"You sure?" Piper pushed
Lark lifted her head so she could glance over her shoulder, but not too much, so as to keep her face hidden, "Yea," she said nodding, "It was just a nightmare, I'm fine, really."
Piper wanted to push harder, this wasn't the first night she'd had a nightmare, but this one seemed like it had been particularly bad. On the other hand, they'd been making really great progress so far with restoring what made her human, Piper didn't want to jeopardize that, and she feared that pushing too hard, would cause Lark to clam up
So, against Piper's better judgement, she let the matter drop, "Okay..." before going back to sleep though, Piper added something, "But you know... if you ever need someone to talk to..." Piper trailed off
"I know," Lark replied, still not looking at Piper, "And thank you."
Piper nodded, then sighed, and went back to sleep
Only once Piper's breathing had become regular, did Lark dare to turn around, her cheeks lined with tear tracks, and fresh ones brimming in her eyes. She tried to get back to sleep herself, but was afraid to, afraid that if she fell asleep again, she'd find herself in that chair, with Long Feng standing over her
Lark covered her face with her arm, silent tears now streaming down her cheeks
The next day
"Aerrow, on your left!" Starling yelled
Aerrow yanked on his handle bars as he narrowly avoided an ALF skimmer filling him full of crystal shots
Uttering an angry growl, Aerrow drew one of his blades, flipping his ride to bring him towards his new attacker, blade slashing across the shoulder of his opponent, causing him to lose control of his ride and bail from the fight
As Aerrow righted himself he looked to Starling, "Thanks Starling."
Starling nodded, then turned to assess their current situation. Currently, two ALF cruisers – no doubt following information given by Scabulous and his band of mercs – were hanging over the Terra that they had been taking shelter on, preventing them from escaping
Starling and Aerrow were currently trying to buy time for Piper to figure a way out, while Dove and Junko supported them by using the cannons to keep the enemy skimmers away from the Condor. The only reason Starling could imagine that the cruisers themselves had not opened fire, was that the Senate wanted them alive, most likely for a biased trial, followed quickly by an execution
"Come on Piper, we can't do this forever," Starling prayed, as she drew her Nun-chucks and prepared for the next wave
Piper was on the verge of tearing her hair out in desperation at their current situation, despite still having Leechers left; they had no way to get them to the enemy cruisers. No easy way at least, and Starling and Aerrow couldn't move from their current position, or the Condor would be exposed, which meant they couldn't cover Piper if she attempted to get to the cruisers, there were too many enemy skimmers
"Come on, there HAS to be something!" she exclaimed
"We're running out of crystal charge for the cannons Piper, we need to get out of here quickly!" Stork warned
"I'm trying, but unless we disable those cruisers, we'll be blasted out of the sky the moment we try to take off," Piper replied
"Arrete de discuter et pense a une solution!" Dove yelled
Lark watched the argument go back and forth, all the while a headache formed, slowly getting worse. She hadn't been able to get back to sleep after her nightmare, which still lingered in the back of her mind
"Guys, do we have something yet, Starling and I can't keep this up forever, there are too many of them!" came Aerrow's voice over the radio
"I'm working on it Aerrow," Piper answered
"Well work faster!" Starling exclaimed
Lark gritted her teeth as their yelling made her headache worse, finally she'd had enough, and stood up, "I'm going out there."
Everyone suddenly turned to her, "What!?" Piper cried as Lark began marching out of the bridge
"Absolutely not!" Starling yelled into the radio, "I lost you once Lark, I'm not risking losing you again, you STAY on that ship!"
"You're not my mother, as much as you try to act like it, and I don't believe you're my sister, which means you can't just keep me confined," Lark snapped back
A couple moments went by as Starling avoided more attacks from the enemy skimmers, before replying, "Fine... but I' am the Commander of this crew, we voted on it, so I'm ordering you to remain on the ship!"
"So you and Aerrow are allowed to risk your lives fighting, Piper comes up with our plans, Stork flies the ship, Junko keeps it in the air, Dove patches everyone up... and I what... help when it's convenient, or doesn't put me in danger... how is that fair!?" Lark replied angrily, sparks dancing around her now clenched fists
Piper blinked, now that she thought about it, Lark had a point, Starling wasn't having any of it though
"I don't care if you believe you're my sister or not, you are, and if something happens to me, you're the last hope for our people!" Starling answered, "You're too important to risk losing Lark."
"If I don't help now though, we could all end up dead or captured," Lark argued, "Either we take the risk, or this is where it ends!"
Silence met her words; the only sound was that of the battle outside and Aerrow and Starling's efforts. Finally Starling gave an exasperated sigh, "Lark... we'll find a way... I can't lose you-"
"She's right Starling," Piper interrupted
All eyes turned to Piper, "What!?" Starling exclaimed
"She's right, we've got no way out of this... none that I can see anyway," Piper now looked to Lark, making sure their eyes made contact, "But if Lark can clear the way for us, we might just make it... it's a long shot I know, and I'd never suggest taking this risk if there was any other way... but there isn't, and we're out of time."
As Piper finished, she pointed off the Terra, the others followed her finger, and saw a third cruiser on course for their location, no doubt their assailants had called for reinforcements the moment they found them
Starling stared at the cruiser, feeling her heart sink as it grew closer, the moment it was here, more skimmers would join the battle. The Condor's cannons were already low on crystal charge, the moment they depleted, Aerrow and Starling would be overrun
Starling clenched her Nun-chucks as she angrily twisted her Slip-Wing through the air and took her anger out on the closest ALF skimmer. "Alright, fine," Starling finally said, "But Piper, you are to protect her at all costs!"
"Understood," Piper replied before turning to Lark, "What do you need?"
"Just a power boost, as much as you can give me," Lark replied while walking past Piper towards the door
It wasn't lost on Piper that Lark's eyes had suddenly turned a shade darker, and colder, they weren't quite the emotionless orbs they had been when they first met, but they weren't far off. I hope I don't regret this
The Commander of the main ALF cruiser examined the course of the battle, the young rebels were putting up quite the fight, if not for the live capture orders however, this would already be over. Now that their reinforcements were here however, he doubted this would last much longer
"Get our reinforcements into the battle ASAP, remember, disable their skimmers, and prevent the ship from taking off at all costs, they must be captured alive."
"Sir, we have movement on the ship's runway!" one of the crew yelled
"Show me!" the Commander ordered, a moment later, the main screen was filled with an enhanced image, showing two girls, one dark skinned, in a blue and orange jumpsuit, the other pale, in grey prison fatigues
"What are they up too?" the Commander muttered, then turned to his men, "Be careful not to hit them in the crossfire, but try to apprehend them!"
"Sir yes sir!"
Lark and Piper walked out onto the Condor's runway, the battle raging above them, their appearance immediately garnered attention, as ALF skimmers attempted to reach them. Dove and Junko saw to that however, forcing the skimmers to abandon their approach
"We're really low on ammo here guys, whatever you're going to do, do it fast," Junko said into the radio
"Understood Junko," Piper replied, then looked to Lark, "So... what is the plan exactly?"
Lark glanced at her, then looked back to the enemy cruisers, "You can channel the energy in those yes," she said, gesturing towards the Firebolts that Piper had brought with them
Piper looked at the crystals, then to Lark, she was already having second thoughts about this plan, Lark was deliberately keeping it from her for one, meaning whatever it was, Piper was not going to like it. Still they were out of options, it was either this, or be captured
"Yes," she sighed, "I can."
"Then give me everything you've got," Lark said
Taking a deep breath, Piper picked up a Firebolt, and began drawing on its energy, she had read the theory behind energy transference – also known as the Binding – a powerful Crystal Mage ability, it didn't come without a price, prolonged use was dangerous, sometimes even fatal, but for something small like this, it shouldn't cause anything beyond moderate fatigue
With severe reservations, Piper pushed the energy out, and towards Lark, who immediately began absorbing it, her body rising a few feet off the deck, radiating a pulsing red aura from the crystal's energy
"Another," Lark said, her voice slightly strained as she held the energy within her body
Reluctantly, Piper snatched another Firebolt from the small bag she'd brought, and repeated the process, causing Lark's aura to grow brighter, and pulse faster. They repeated this a further three times before Lark finally focused her attentions on the cruisers
"Tell Stork to get ready to take off," Lark said, her voice now being squeezed out through gritted teeth
The Commander watched as the two rebel skimmer pilots and gunners continued to cover the two girls on the ship's runway, then, one of them began to glow, a deep fiery red, his eyes widened in panic. "How long before those reinforcements get here!" he yelled
"Three minutes and counting," came the reply
That's not going to be quick enough
"All skimmers, take out those two on the runway, hang orders, and take them out NOW!"
The Condor's engines fired as Stork prepared for takeoff, as he did, Lark drew the energy from the Firebolts into her hands, to form a ball of pulsing red fire. Before Piper could speak, Lark launched her attack, turning the ball into a focused beam of energy that ripped through every skimmer in its path, before slamming into the side of one of the cruisers. The beam then punched through the other side, as secondary explosions began tearing through the ship as it fell from the sky
For a moment, all was still as they stared at the stricken ship, awed, and terrified by the power that had just been unleashed. Starling was the first to recover, "There's our opening, Stork now!"
After a moments fumbling, Stork got into gear, and the Condor began to rise, something which did not go unnoticed by the remaining ALF forces
The Commander stared at where one of his ships had just been, then back to the rebel ship, which was using the confusion to make good on its escape
"Don't let them get away, open fire!"
The cruiser and its skimmer squadrons began firing, Stork did his best to avoid the attacks, but he couldn't dodge everything, especially while still picking up speed. Lark was not done however; she still had plenty of power left. Bracing herself on the deck of the ship, she raised her arms towards the approaching ALF skimmers, electricity sparking along them, her eyes cold and emotionless
Piper felt her stomach flip, "No Lark wait!"
She was too late, lightning erupted from Lark's fingertips, boosted by the energy of the Firebolt crystals, their range was far extended, and once they connected with the nearest enemy skimmers, they began jumping from one to the next. Unfortunately, Aerrow and Starling were still out there in the middle of it all, trying to keep the skimmers at bay
"Whoa!" Aerrow yelled as a blot came narrowly close to clipping his ride, Starling was likewise having to focus on dodging the storm of lightning
Seeing their comrades being electrocuted before their eyes, the rear most elements turned away before they could suffer the same fate. That just left the cruiser, a second ball of fiery energy formed in her hands
Piper's eyes widened as she realised what Lark planned to do, "No Lark stop!"
"It's them or us Piper," was the cold and emotionless reply
"Killing isn't the answer, aim for their engines, their weapons, anything that will disable the ship, not destroy it!" Piper exclaimed
But Lark wasn't listening, "No, I won't go back, he can't make me!"
Piper was struck dumb, the voice in which Lark had just spoken was unlike anything she had heard from her before, dark, and resonant, it seemed to echo in the very air and thrum through her entire being, instilling all of her primal fears at once. It was a voice of power, and not to be trifled with
Piper watched helplessly as the ball of fire grew, knowing that at any moment, it would be released, and dozens of people would lose their lives
Piper's mind screamed at her to do something, anything. Gritting her teeth, and knowing that this was a terrible idea, she jumped forward, just as Lark released the bolt of energy, and jolted her, throwing off her aim
The beam, flew towards the ship, but rather than hit it directly, it grazed along the side, damaging the engines in the process, forcing the ship to make an emergency landing, on the Terra they had just vacated
The third ship, wisely, did not attempt pursuit as the Condor made its escape, and thankfully, Lark had used all of the energy from the Firebolts. That didn't mean she was bereft of her own however, a fact Piper was well aware of as she rounded on her
"How dare you!" Lark snarled, her voice pulsing through the air as though it were a physical force
Piper wilted before her, holding her hands out pleadingly, "Lark, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that, but we've discussed this, killing is wrong, even in self defence you should always try to find another way."
Lark merely growled as she advanced on Piper, suddenly however, the squeal of tires interrupted her as Starling masterfully steered her landing between them
"Lark stop!" she barked, putting all her authority into her voice
Lark simply glowered at the two of them, her hands sparking with electricity
Starling held out a hand calmly, like one would to a spooked or aggressive animal, "Just calm down, we're only trying to help."
Piper knew the words wouldn't work, no matter how Starling said them, she got the idea behind Starlings actions, she was trying to use animal trainer tactics to get Lark to back down. The problem with that, was Lark was far more powerful than any of them, if the pale girl wanted to, she could kill them all with a snap of her fingers
Then Piper noticed movement behind Lark, it took everything Piper had for her to investigate it, so as to not tip Lark off
Before Lark could lunge for Starling and Piper, Aerrow had come up from behind her, pinned both her arms with one of his, before delivering a sharp blow to the back of her head, knocking her out cold, he caught her as she crumpled to the ground
Starling breathed a sigh of relief, "Get her to the med-bay and have Dove see to her," she said to Aerrow, who just nodded, before picking Lark up, and carrying her inside the ship. Starling then turned to Piper, "Now," she began, "What in the wastelands was all that!?"
Piper cringed, how did I know I'd regret this?
Darkness, it was everywhere, surrounding her, holding her tight in its grasp, and Lark sobbed. What had she done, she'd killed before, but that was in self defence, and as much as she tried to convince herself that this was the same thing, she knew it wasn't
All those people... I killed them... I murdered them
"Yes, you did, and it was magnificent," came a cold, familiar voice from the darkness
Lark looked around wildly, searching for the source of the voice in the blackness, before shouting back, "What! It was horrible, I'm a monster, I killed those people in cold blood... why? What's happening to me!?"
A chuckle emanated from the dark, before Lark saw herself emerge from it, but different, this version had dark rings around her already dark violet eyes, making them almost appear black. She wore flowing dark purple robes, with a hood that hid most of her face, and she wielded a spiked staff, with glowing crystals at either end
"You're fulfilling your destiny, you're becoming the force of destruction you were always meant to be... the perfect weapon."
As Lark's doppelganger said the last three words, a second figure emerged from the darkness, it was Long Feng, he was smiling, and had his hands on her doppelganger's shoulders
"You are mine, Subject C, you shall always be mine, you shall destroy this world in my name, and then help me build it anew, as a loyal citizen, of my Empire."
Condor's Med-bay
Lark woke with a start, moving to sit up, a dull throb at the back of her skull however caused her to cringe in pain, and force her to stop halfway. Then a gentle hand on her should slowly pushed her back down
"Non, you need to lie down and rest Lark."
Lark looked up to see Dove standing over her, a concerned look on her face. Lark groaned as her head gave an additional throb from the bright lights of the Med-bay. "What happened?"
As she spoke, the sound of Starling's voice came from the corridor outside, "Nightmares!?"
Another voice then spoke, but they couldn't make out what was being said, Lark recognized Piper's voice though, and realised she was being interrogated over what happened by Starling
"How long!?" came another loud exclamation from Starling
Piper gave another quiet reply, followed by another yell from Starling, "Two days! she's been having nightmares since we escaped and you've said nothing!?"
Lark winced at Starling's words, her head throbbing from the noise, then Dove spoke, in a much quieter voice so as not to agitate her patient's condition. "We are still trying to figure that out, in the meantime, rest, you have been through a lot today," the girl gave a small comforting smile as she spoke
But Lark was anything but comforted; memories of what had happened slowly began to filter back into her mind. The ALF cruiser going up in flames, ALF skimmer pilots convulsing as lightning coursed through and over their bodies, the sheer terror in Piper's eyes as Lark had rounded on her after Piper had thrown off her aim
Lark let out a choked sob, I almost killed her... I almost killed the one person who's shown me any kindness in the world... what's happening to me?
Finally, it seemed Piper had had enough of Starling's lecture as her own voice rose in volume, "Look I know I messed up alright, I get it, but I didn't want Lark to close down on us, not when we were making such good progress on her recovery, so I didn't push her, I thought to myself 'She'll talk when she's ready, not before'."
"It was a stupid mistake and I should have told you, but telling you wouldn't have changed anything, it might have even made it worse, so I'm not going to apologise, at the end of the day, all that matters is that we're alive and still free and can make sure something like this doesn't happen again!"
Silence followed Piper's outburst, Lark was expecting Starling to utter a retort, but then Aerrow's voice joined the conversation, "Alright that's enough, Starling I know you're the leader, but you need to let this drop. Piper's right, we got away, unharmed and unhurt, so now we have the chance to make sure this doesn't happen again. To do that, we need to start finding out where we need to go to reach the resistance so we can get away from ALF forces."
A pause followed before Aerrow spoke again, "And Piper, keeping information like this from us puts the entire crew in danger, you knew what Lark was capable of when we all got on this crate, and we all just saw her power. And yes, I know she's not entirely to blame considering that level of destruction and death is exactly what Long Feng was trying to use her for, but living with her is like walking around with a live grenade in our pocket. If it goes off and we're not ready for it, we could all end up seriously hurt."
Another pause, "I get that your trying to help her, but you have to think about the safety of the rest of the crew as well-"
"I'm not abandoning her!" Piper suddenly shouted, interrupting Aerrow
"I'm not telling you to, just making sure you understand that we're all in this together, we have to depend on each other to survive, and if one of us – who has the power to kill us all with a click of her fingers – snaps and turns on the others, we're all dead. We need to be more careful, and we need to make sure that we're safe from each other, as much as anything else that could threaten us."
More silence followed, and then Aerrow sighed, said something too quiet for Lark to hear, before a knock sound on the door. "Dove how is she?"
Dove sighed and moved to the door, opening it, Lark saw Aerrow standing in front of it, with Starling and Piper slightly behind. "Awake, but a little shell-shocked, she needs rest right now so no visitors-"
"Wait," Lark called, all eyes turned to her, "I want to talk to Piper, please."
All eyes now turned to Piper, who seemed a little surprised, Dove just sighed and nodded, "Ten minutes, then she needs to sleep," Dove replied strictly
Piper nodded and moved past her and Aerrow into the room, Dove meanwhile, stepped out, pushing Aerrow and Starling out with her, before closing the door. As it closed, Starling looked on, an expression Lark couldn't read, etched on her face
Piper came and sat on the edge of Lark's bed, her face filled with concern, "Heh, how you doing?"
Lark tried to stay strong, tried to hold back the flood gates, but now that she was alone with Piper, she simply didn't have the strength. She cried, harsh sobs racking her frame, as, heedless of her headache, she flung herself upwards and wrapped her arms around Piper, burying her head against the other girl's shoulder
"I killed them... I slaughtered them... like animals... I nearly killed you... I'm a monster..." Lark cried between sobs, tears flooding down her cheeks
Piper, after a moment's shock, wrapped her own arms around Lark's sobbing frame, placing one hand on the girl's head, and stroking her hair while making gentle soothing sounds, "Heh, it's okay, you didn't kill me, I'm still here, and I'm going to help you, you're not a monster, okay, never say that about yourself."
"But I-" Lark began, but Piper cut her off
"No," Piper said, her voice strong, but not hard, or uncaring, "You're not a monster, you're a girl just like me, who was tortured for most of her life, brainwashed into believing that you were nothing but an object rather than a person. You've been torn down and rebuilt so many times, but that doesn't make you a monster... it makes you a victim, but I promise, I'm going to help you, we all are, we're going to undo what the true monster, Long Feng did to you, then we're going to make him pay, he'll answer for all of his crimes, I give you my word Lark."
Lark wept, both from guilt over what had happened, and from relief at Piper's words. Despite everything, Piper wasn't abandoning her, had promised to help her, however she could. Lark cried, and kept crying, until finally, she had cried herself to sleep in Piper's arms
Later
Piper stood outside the door, her stomach churning as she once again debated on knocking. Lark was sound asleep in the Med-bay, Dove watching attentively over her, which left Piper with the task of finding a way to help Lark overcome her inner demons, before they got into a situation like the one they'd just escaped, again
She had puzzled with the thought for some time, both while Lark had held on to her, sobbing, and afterwards while wondering the Condor. Her thoughts, and her feet, had eventually lead her to Starling's cabin door, and Piper's current predicament. Starling probably knew more about Lark, than even Piper did, being her older sister and all, the problem, the argument they'd just had, currently, Starling was not happy with Piper, Lark had been suffering and Piper had neglected to share the information
Since Aerrow had defused the situation in front of the Med-bay, Starling had apparently locked herself in her cabin, and hadn't come out since. Piper could only imagine that Starling was just waiting for her to happen by and attack her
Piper shook those thoughts from her head, while they hadn't been close friends, Piper and Starling had still got along over the last three years at the Academy. One silly little argument wasn't going to change that... was it?
Piper got her answer, when the door suddenly opened before Piper could even touch it. Starling stood in front of her, the girl's face stony – no – storm like, as her emerald eyes bored into Piper's amber ones
"What is it?" she asked, her voice hard and clipped, like it had been three years ago
Piper hesitated, then, taking a deep breath, she spoke, "I'm sorry, I should have told you, I was worried about Lark and... I'm sorry," Piper's eyes fell to the floor as she finished speaking, before moving back up to stare into Starling's once more
Starling studied her a moment, staring hard at her, before her eyes closed as she gave a sigh, when they opened a moment later, they were softer, and the warmth they usually held had returned. "I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have yelled at you, not when it was my sister you were trying to help."
Piper looked up hopefully at that, "Truce?" she asked
Starling nodded, "Truce," she replied
"Good, because there was something I wanted to ask you," Piper continued
Starling raised a brow here as Piper explained, "I don't know what's going on with Lark, whatever Long Feng did to her is way outside my expertise..." Piper trailed off here, making sure all her thoughts were gathered before she continued. " But I do know conditioning when I see it, it's a basic science lesson, conditioned response, and this to me looks like fear conditioning," Piper said
Starling blinked, then tapped her chin in thought, "You think so?" she asked
Piper nodded, before Starling continued, "Then all we have to do is find the fear and show Lark she doesn't need to be afraid, like helping a child cope with the fear of a monster under the bed."
Piper cringed slightly, and Starling noticed, "What?"
Piper sighed, "If only it were that simply, like I said, I don't know how Long Feng has done this to her, or what fear he used, all I know is the basic cause, and the effect it has on her."
Starling leaned against the door frame, brow furrowed in thought, "Okay, so what do we know?"
"I was kinda hoping you'd help me with that," Piper answered, at Starling's questioning look, Piper explained, "She's your sister, you know what she was afraid of, what she likes, what makes her happy, sad, everything."
Starling looked at Piper shocked for a moment, then looked away, "We were apart for nine years Piper, a lot can change in that time."
"She's still your sister though right?" Piper countered
Starling thought for a moment, thought back to before nine years ago, everything she and Lark had ever done together. One memory stuck out more than the others, like a beacon in the distance, "She always loved to draw, was good at it too, she was always looking for more paper and pencils, always drawing something, even if it was just idle doodles."
Piper blinked, a thought suddenly sparking in her mind, then a slow smile spread across her face and she turned away, "Thanks Starling, I think I got it from here."
Starling did a double take, "Wait what? Got what?" she called back
Piper just looked over her shoulder and gave Starling a reassuring smile, "Don't worry, you'll see, trust me on this one."
Un-named Terra – Crash site of the Blood Crow
Scabulous growled angrily as he inspected his once proud ship, "I'm going to find those brats, and I'm going to make them pay!"
The Blood Crow had been forced to make an emergency landing on the very Terra that their quarry had left the same day they had encountered them. The Murk Raiders had been stuck there for the better part of two days, making repairs
"How much longer Eyeball!" Scabulous snarled
"We're going as fast as we can Captain, those Leechers really did a number on the engines, and we gotta fix the damage from the crash as well," Scabulous' first mate Eyeball replied
Scabulous marched up to him, an angry glower on his face, "I don't want excuses Eyeball, I want this ship in the air again!" he shouted
"Aye aye Captain," Eyeball answered, and quickly scuttled off to motivate the crew
Scabulous gave a frustrated sigh, and then heard the sound of Skimmer engines. He looked up to see two figures riding in towards him, a young man, and a young woman, both with dark hair and eyes, the young man had a burn scar on the left side of his face and a dull, almost dead look. The woman, by contrast looked sharp, intelligent, and dangerous, three things he disliked about women, as it usually ended up with him hurt
He turned towards them as they approached; they were dressed in black combat armour, and their rides were top of the line, whoever they were, they were important, and seeing as he and his crew were in Atmosian territory, he knew he had to play the civil card, unless he wanted to be arrested
He straightened himself up, and took a few steps towards his guests as they landed, all smiles, "Well good morning, and what might I do for you?" he asked politely
Both the woman and her companion dismounted, the woman then turned to Scabulous, and the pirate got a good look at her. She was incredibly beautiful, in the way a Black Widow was beautiful, but also, deadly. He gulped unconsciously, he was in the presence of a top predator, and he knew it
He could only imagine that her companion was extra muscle, he had no doubts that the woman could handle herself, so the only reason he would be here was that he was meant to handle the more mundane menial tasks
The woman then spoke, "We're from the Senate, we have a few questions regarding your contract with them."
Scabulous put on his best diplomatic face, "Oh but of course, far be it from me to go against the Senate," he cleared his throat, "Ask away lass."
The woman's eye twitched at the word 'lass', but she pressed on, "We understand your hunting a group of renegades yes?"
"Aye, that's correct, bunch of brats, we caught up with them about two days ago, had them right where we wanted them, then they start filling me ship full of Leechers and pluck us out of the sky," Scabulous ranted, gesturing at his ship as he did so, "Even had the gall to gloat about it as they got away."
The woman ran her eyes over the Blood Crow, "Impressive, for a bunch of teenagers, did you see which way they went?"
Here Scabulous paused, as much as he wanted to be diplomatic, he also didn't want to lose his prize to two government officials, "Well, ya see, the thing about that... we was having some difficulty staying in the air, took us everything we had to set her down here, so we didn't right see which way they went."
The woman scrutinized Scabulous for a moment, before coming to a decision, "Very well then, in that case you're no use to me."
As if on some unspoken signal, the young man marched up to Scabulous, drawing a Firebolt as he did, and using it to ignite a blade of flame in his hand, raising it up over his head to strike
"WAIT!" Scabulous cried, throwing his hands up in defence, in the same instance, the young woman held up a hand, causing her companion to stop, flame blade still raised
"Do you have something for me?" she then asked Scabulous sweetly. As he heard them, Scabulous wondered how her words could sound so threatening at the same time
"There... there was a shuttle," Scabulous panted, fearing for his life, "A Cyclonian shuttle, they unloaded supplies from it, that's all I know I swear, I really didn't see which way they went, even if I did I couldn't give you a heading from here, we're in the wrong place... but you might find something on the shuttle, that's the last place they were before we encountered them."
The woman smiled, "There now, was that so hard." She then nodded to her companion who raised the blade a little higher
"Wait I told you everything, you can't just-" but he never finished, as the blade came down and sliced across his throat
Scabulous crumpled to the ground, the woman meanwhile was already walking away, her companion following. They soon reached the shuttle, it wasn't anything special really, just a standard cargo shuttle, they found some damaged supplies that had been left behind, as well as the graves
The young man brought in the tags while the woman was busy at the ship's computer, "Azula, look at this," the man said emotionlessly as he handed her the tags
Azula took them and held them up to the light, she saw nothing of interest, until, "Lightning Strike," Azula lowered the tags, staring into space, "Well, isn't that interesting, if I'm not much mistaken, our study of the facility security cameras revealed that his son, Aerrow Strike is with the rebels."
"Along with Dove Gale, Piper Peregrine, Stork Phobia, and Junko Ton," the man replied
Azula nodded, "Indeed Zuko, not to mention our two princesses, Starling and Lark Cyclonis, what are the chances that such a group of people could be gathered together, and that they'd run into one of their parents during their flight?"
"Not high," Zuko replied
Azula nodded again, "Yes, not high at all... I wonder..." Azula thought for a moment, then her eyes sparked with inspiration, "Which of their home Terra's is the closest?"
Zuko thought for a moment, before robotically replying, "Terra Mesa, Piper Peregrine's home Terra."
Azula smiled, "I think we've found our next lead," she said standing
Zuko looked confused for a moment, "But sister, won't they be trying to return to the resistance?"
"Then why haven't they already done so, ergo, they can't, if they had the option, they'd have gone straight back, not leave themselves targets to bounty hunters," Azula replied, "They don't know where the resistance is hiding – makes sense seeing as Starling has spent the last nine years in deep cover on Atmosia – so their trying to find them, and while they do that, they're going to need a place to lay low, what better place than where you have family and friends who might shelter you."
The two of them walked back to their rides, the Murk Raiders - still busy with repairs - had not noticed the fate of their Captain yet. They mounted, and took off once more, climbing into the sky, before they left though, Azula turned her ride around, and pulled out a light blue crystal, it's surface seeming to dance, shimmer and flicker. "But before we leave, let's take care of any witnesses, and interference."
With those words, Azula used the crystal to conjure a massive lightning bolt, and aimed it directly for the ship's engines; the Blood Crow tore itself asunder as the explosions ripped through the hull, fire engulfing it. There was a reason Azula and her brother were known in certain circles as the Fire Mage Demons
With the Blood Crow shattered into pieces, the Murk Raiders dead or dying, Azula and Zuko turned away from the now smoking Terra, stained with blood
Condor Med-bay – that evening
Dove had been right, Lark felt much better after some rest, it hadn't been sleep, not really, sleep would have meant dreams, it was more unconsciousness brought on from exhaustion and stress. That hadn't meant however that she woke feeling terrible, on the contrary, she was feeling good, if not fully recovered yet, Long Feng still loomed in her mind's eye, still haunted her
Suddenly, Piper stuck her head into the Med-bay, "Heh Dove, how's Lark?" she asked chirpily
"Ca va, I want to keep monitoring her for a while, but she is awake and alert, and looking much better," Dove replied
"I'm also a little hungry," Lark called from her bed, causing the two of them to smile
"Good thing I stopped by the kitchen on my way here then," Piper said, as she stepped in, carrying a tray of food, and something else under her arm
Dove chuckled as Lark's stomach growled at the sight of food, "Not a bad idea, I was feeling a little hungry myself," she said as she began making her way out, "Come get me if there are any problems d'accord."
Piper nodded, and with that Dove left them alone. Piper helped Lark to sit up in bed, before placing the food in front of her, Lark tucked in with gusto; she'd barely eaten all day. Piper just sat and waited patiently for her to finish, the item that had been under her arm now held in front of her, Lark saw that it was a pad of paper
Once she had finished eating, Lark grew sombre again, "Piper, answer me truthfully... are you afraid of me?"
Piper blinked, wondering what had brought this on, then she sighed, "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't, all that power, it reminds me of a volcano, living near it can provide lots of benefits, but you have to be ready for it to blow," Piper saw Lark twitch slightly at her words, knowing they were effecting her, but Lark needed to hear the truth, and Piper wasn't finished yet
"But I'm not going to let that get in the way of helping you, just because I'm afraid of something, doesn't mean I won't stand and face it," as she spoke, Piper carefully observed Lark's face so she could read her reaction to what she said next, "I made you a promise Lark, and I intend on seeing it through."
Lark blinked, shocked, turning to look Piper in the eye, "Even knowing I could snap and kill you, and everyone else aboard this ship at the drop of a hat?" she asked
Piper gave a small smile at that, "I don't believe you will, not when we're all trying to help you regain what you've lost," she replied, then held up the pad of paper, "Starting today," she then handed the pad to Lark, along with a case of pencils, an eraser, and a pencil sharpener, "A little something from me and Starling, hopefully, it can bring more of you back, and keep the weapon Long Feng tried to create at bay."
Lark stared at the pad and drawing equipment for a moment, her mind a whirl, Long Feng had given her drawing material as well, but that had been to gauge her mental state and to have a window into her head. This, this was a gift, and Lark could feel her chest swell with joy at having received it, she loved to draw, she didn't know why, she just loved it, and she'd been refusing to for years now
But Piper wasn't Long Feng, she was kind where he was cruel, understanding, where he was brash, Lark knew Piper wouldn't pry at her private drawings, not without her permission first. Slowly with tears beginning to form in her eyes, she held the pad and case close to her chest, before turning to look at Piper, "Thank you Piper... you... you don't know how much this means to me."
Piper smiled, already knowing her plan had been a success, this particular battle was nowhere near won, but small victories went a long way, and for this particular battle, she'd take them where she could. "Oh, I think I have an idea," she replied smiling, "I'll leave you be," then started towards the door, when she reached it she turned back, "Remember though, if you ever want to talk..." Piper trailed off as she looked back to Lark
"I know, your right here... thank you Piper," Lark finished for her, Piper nodded, and with that she left. Lark looked down at the pad and case in her arms, and gave a contended sigh, she then carefully laid the tray on the bed side table, and then settled back down to sleep
This time, when the nightmares came, in the blackness where she'd encountered her doppelganger, there was a desk behind her with a single lit lamp sitting on it, and the drawing materials Piper had given her. Lark sat down, and began to draw, much to the ire of her doppelganger, who tried desperately to get her attention, to torment her
But this was Lark's own little world of happiness, very few things made her happier than when she was drawing, expressing her thoughts and emotions on paper, especially when their focus, was a certain blue haired, amber eyed Atmosian, with the heart of an angel
And that's a wrap for now folks
please let me know what you guys think, are these chapters too short, should I make them longer and put more in them, or are they too long and be more condensed (For the record, not counting this and the note at the start, the chapter is 7999 words long)
As always constructive criticism is more than welcomed, and I'm quite happy to hear your thoughts and feelings of the chapter as well
Now, the French translations (nowhere near as many this time thank Dieu ; P )
Arrete de discuter et pense a une solution = Stop Arguing and think of a solution
Non = No (that's an easy one)
Ca va = Just fine
D'accord = Okay
With that, I bid you all Au Revoir, and I'll see you all next time ; )