Chapter 8: Return

The Storm Hawks had searched high and low for their leader, but with no such luck. It was ridiculous, really; they had seen him many times before, but now that they knew who he was, they couldn't find him. It was almost as if he was hiding which, in the light of recent events, might not be too far from the truth. If would have been one of them and were trying to stay low again, that's probably what they would do. Then again, it was Aerrow, which meant anything could happen.

The team regrouped in a tavern in the city. It was a checkpoint every so many hours where they'd meet if they found Aerrow, or if not compare locations. However, none of them had found him and were waiting for Avior and the rest of the Red Eagles to come, mostly likely in the same situation. On cue, the members of the Red Eagles came in and by the looks on their faces, they had no better luck. They all sighed heavily. They wanted to desperately find Aerrow and continue with their job of protecting the Atmos, but they couldn't do that without him.

Before anyone could say anything, another member came running in looking excited, "You guys all want to see this!" Following him out of the tavern, they stopped and could hardly believe their eyes. Walking towards the tavern, talking casually with Avior, was their Sky Knight and friend, Aerrow. The pair stopped a few feet away and looked at the group before them. A wide smile spread across Aerrow's face, "Hey, guys. Long time no see."

After a split moment of hesitation, they all cried out in joy and rushed at Aerrow. Radaar got there first, running back up to his spot on Aerrow's shoulder. Aerrow barely had time to say, "Hey, buddy," before Piper hugged him fiercely, followed closely by Finn, and finally knocked down all together by Junko as he wept. Though slightly crushed under Junko's weight, they all burst out laughing, completely happy in their reunion. Stork was smart enough not to join the huddle, but a smile crept onto his face as he saw his leader safe and sound. Red Eagles even joined into the laughter, with Avior mentally marking how incredibly close the team was. A moment's worth of struggle and the team was back on their feet.

Once standing, Piper couldn't stop herself from launching a million and one questions at Aerrow. She was asking them in such a wild frenzy that everyone feared that she'd might forget to breathe. Aerrow was trying to comprehend what she was asking him, but was thankfully saved by Finn, who put a hand on Piper's shoulder, "Breathe, Piper. He's not going to be able to answer with you constantly talking." Piper apologized sheepishly.

Aerrow took notice of the behavior and laughed slightly, "Since when did Finn become the voice of reason?" The team was about to object when they stopped and looked at one another. Come to think about it, Finn had been the voice of reason for quite some time now. None of them could figure out how that happened, not even Finn. Even Stork was confused as he realized the truth of the matter. Aerrow, who had intended the comment as a joke, was also surprised as he'd never thought that that would happen.

"Whatever, so what happened to you during the storm?" Finn asked.

Happy to obliged, Aerrow began his account of what he was doing for the last year. Once outside the Condor, the storm had it. As he tried to control his skimmer, a viper bat caught in the winds slammed into him, nearly cutting him in two with its claws. After that he wasn't sure if he fell unconscious or not, but eventually he woke up in a bed with no clue where he was. The home owners had found him on the verge of death not only from falling who knows how far from the ground, but also from the poison in his veins from the viper bat's claws. Once recovered, he learned that the storm that nearly killed him and separated him from his team was a storm between the borderlands of the Atmos and the Far Side called the Dark Year: every so often the conflicting central energies between the two sides of the world build up to incredible levels until they have to be released. The result is a violent storm that's impossible to travel through. Also, the release of energy is beyond predictability. This is also a reason why the two have been separated for such a long time. No one wanted to risk the chance of being caught in that. After it was explained that he couldn't back until a year passed, Aerrow decided to make the best of the situation and train while he waited.

However, his training didn't go as planned. He had wanted to repay the people who had saved him so he offered to work on their farm. While the couple was nothing but kind and caring, the husband's father, Marco, was an eccentric old man who insisted that he work with him with the chickens. The only problem was that the chickens on the farm weren't the typical small white birds that strutted around everywhere: they were giant, dangerous feathered creatures that were incredibly difficult to take care of. This was his "training".

The teams laughed loudly until they saw that Aerrow was absolutely serious. He smirked a little, "Laugh all you want, but believe me, I've never had to fear for my life before then. And after the "chickens" were tended to, Marco helped to train me as well. He may be an old geezer, but the guy is ridiculously strong. He's probably the strongest guy I know."

"So you did this for a year?" Junko asked.

"Yup, as soon as the storm passed I asked to have a message passed on to you as I left for the Atmos. Not long after I got back, I ran into a few small-scale Cyclonian invasions. They weren't that difficult to deal with, but that's why I was a little late."

"So… is there a reason for why you're half naked?" Finn asked smirking.

Confused by the question, Aerrow answered, "Just habit now I guess."

Everyone's face was a question mark. Aerrow struggled to explained, "Well, dealing with the chickens tended to destroy my shirts everyday so I just stopped wearing them."

Not sure if to buy it, the team began to tell Aerrow of their trails after the storm. Horrified by the fact he wasn't there, Aerrow apologized.

"Don't worry about it, dude," Finn said, "We got out just fine, so it's no big deal."

"So, what are you going to do now?" Avior asked.

"Well, I guess we've got a job to do," Aerrow casually said. Avior nodded, he expected as much.

Just then the terra's invasion sirens blared through the streets. They all looked up and saw what looked like a small army coming towards the terra. A Red Eagle looked through a pair of binoculars and saw a bunch of rogue squadrons all flying the Predator symbol.

"Guess that Gunner guy was keeping his promise," Aerrow stated vaguely.

"Avior, what are we going to do?" a Red Eagle asked, slightly worried.

Before Avior could answer, Finn piped in, "We'll get rid of them for you."

They all looked at the Storm Hawks, wondering if they were serious. Not one of them had a worried look on their face, in fact; they looked excited.

"Good idea, I'll go get my stuff and meet you up there," Aerrow said, walking away.

"Nah, you already had your fun, let us deal with these guys," Finn stated.

Aerrow looked at them for a moment, then broke out in a smile, "Sure, why not?"

The Red Eagles just looked at them as if they were crazy, "Are you sure you don't need-"

"They can handle it," Aerrow said firmly.

The fight lasted about twenty minutes. The entire army was shot down by the team with amazing ease. The people of Atmosia were in complete awe. They didn't trust their eyes because they saw the Condor and skimmer completely destroying the rogue army in minutes. First of all, the Condor was destroyed in the Far Side. Second, how could any team defeat an entire army, let alone with such ease.

Whispers of the Storm Hawks spread across the terra like wildfire. They began to question if the Storm Hawks previously on the terra were real and these were the real ones. One man said that he met one of them as he came out of an inn with nothing but a backpack and an air board. Despite the chaos above him, he acted if it was a normal day. When the man asked if the mysterious man knew about the fight above them, he merely smiled and said he did and that it would be done shortly. Sure enough, it was.

After the fight, the Condor left the terra. Avior and the Red Eagles saluted it as it made for a new course. "Good luck, Storm Hawks."

Again, sorry for a boring chapter but explanations are needed.

Disclaimer: I don't own Storm Hawks

Hope you enjoy and please review!