Yey! I'm back! You're back too! (Obviously- you couldn't be reading this otherwise, could you?)
Sooo… erm, yeah, sorry about the wait - writer's block and all…
I would once again just like to thank SH_StarKnight_1127 (I think the new name works well btw :D) this time for giving me the inspiration I needed to carry on. I think you'll find some elements of your suggestion in these upcoming chappies - it wouldn't be fair to steal it completely ;) And don't worry; Ember's got a few chapters to go yet :)
Oh, and I don't own Storm Hawks. This should hopefully make up for all those times I didn't put a disclaimer on… Ooopsy. Nerd Corps, in the slightest chance you're reading this, I'm sorry. Serves you right though…
Anyways, as much as I'd like to sit here babbling, it's time to get on with the story. Please welcome, the one, the only, the amazing, Chapter 7!
….
That night was awkward for everyone on board the condor.
Ember and Jake had to stay on the ship; their home had been partially destroyed after all, and the Storm Hawks couldn't just refuse them a place to sleep, especially after the help Ember had given them all.
But then, there was the issue of trust. Ember found it difficult to trust the Storm Hawks now that she knew of their origin - they were practically aliens. Jake found it difficult to trust Ember, now that he knew she had been keeping something this big from him all these years. But most of all, the Storm Hawks also found it difficult to trust her. She just reminded them so much of their greatest foe, in both appearance and mannerisms, though they all knew it would be extremely unlikely for the Dark Ace to actually be anything to do with her.
The morning came far too quickly for Ember's liking.
A single blade of light pierced through the gap in the room's curtains directly into her ruby coloured eyes. This didn't wake her; she'd not gotten to sleep in the first place. Thoughts about the other side of the Atmos had filled her mind for the majority of the night, wondering about the place these people had come from and how they had got here. The rest of the time, she was either thinking about how she was going to apologise to Jake, or about whom this 'Dark Ace' person was.
The only thing that shook off her thoughts were the sounds of Stork trying to get the engines to work - by kicking the control panel, then yelping in agony, and hopping around on his good foot from what she could hear.
Ember smiled. "Serves you right for pouring that gunk over me."
She got up. No chance of getting any sleep now that stork was tinkering, and the rest of the squadron were having an in-depth discussion about some unknown topic on the bridge. Not to mention Jake's snoring.
After getting dressed and putting her hair into two low bunches, she walked into the discussion.
"Well, Well. Look who's here…" said Finn, looking her up and down with his signature grin, obviously forgetting what happened last time he tried to flirt with Ember.
"Umm, hi. I'm not interrupting, am I?" she said, supressing a large yawn and ignoring Finn.
"Actually, we've all been talking and we have a proposition for you." replied Aerrow, with a charming smirk.
"O-Kay… what is it then?"
"You know how we've come from the other side of the Atmos?"
"Uh-huh…" Suspicion was written on every feature of her face.
"Well - we're completely lost here. That's one of the reasons why we crashed in the first place and we need an expert of the area to help Piper with the navigation… So we were wondering whether you'd consider helping us out by becoming an official member of the Storm Hawks."
After a moment for the information to sink in, a small, shy "Yes." and a nod was all she could manage through the mass of emotions she was feeling. "Yeah… sounds great! Thank you so much…" her smile dropped into a disappointed frown "But what about Jake? He's useless… would you let him stay too?"
"It's me who convinced them." Jake's voice came from the doorway "Wait a minute; did you just call me useless?" but a thank you hug later, all was forgiven.
Six hours had passed. The engines were in full working order, and the Condor was flying once again.
Finn had played a 'welcome to the team' prank (He had poured a glass of icy water down her back.) Junko had cooked an… interesting meal, but most importantly, Aerrow handed her a box.
"What's this?" Ember curiously looked at the pile of objects that had been placed on her lap.
"This is a box of things collected by the original Storm Hawks. See, there was a squadron called the Storm Hawks before us, and if you're going to be part of the team, you'll need to know a bit about them." Aerrow smiled, unsure of how to handle a late addition to the squadron. "Feel free to rummage through it all. Call if you have any questions." He walked off, leaving Ember to educate herself on squadron history, for which she was thankful - things were still a little awkward between them.
After scanning the log books and admiring the photos, she came across a diary.
A scruffy, leather bound book with a broken version of the squadron's emblem fixed to the front.
She opened the cover to see equally scruffy hand writing, that said,
"If you're name isn't Ace, you know you shouldn't be reading this.
When I find out you have, you'll regret ever being born."
"Yeah well, what are you going to do about it?" she laughed, but then something struck her. "Wait a second… Ace? As in the Dark Ace that everyone keeps mentioning?"
This realisation provoked her to continue flipping through the diary, until a small photo slipped out from between two pages. It was a picture of a beautiful young woman with golden hair and rich brown eyes.
After looking at the picture for little more than a second, a wave of memories flooded into her mind…
…..
Mwahahahah! Cliff hanger! Got to love 'em.
Phew, that was long chappie, wasn't it?
StarKnight- (is that right?) Don't panic… I'd be publishing without reviews; I need to get this stuff out of my head before it explodes…
But don't go thinking that that means you shouldn't review, by all means! Please do!
Hope you enjoyed it :) see you soon,
Ta-ta, Kezzy xxx
P.S. The next one's going to have a very important flashback that's crucial to the plot :)