Winds of Change Book II: Distant Thunder
Chapter 10: Sandstorms and Shenanigans!
AN: Alright, I know this chapters a bit late, but things have been busy…again, and I was stuck fighting a cold all weekend sob but I hop you will enjoy it. Also don't forget check out Arashi21's new story: Fighting Wings! Which ties in with the Winds of Change series and was updated last night.
Oh, and in case anyone didn't know, I still accept anon reviews!
Disclaimer: I do not own Storm Hawks, and never will, also I do not own anything related to Legend of the Dragoon or Legend of Zelda. They are the property of Asaph "Ace" Fipke and made by Nerd Corps Entertainment, Sony Entertainment and Nintendo, however I DO own Kai, Rose, the Shadow crystal, the Wasps, and this story.
Shadow,Griffy and Nagera are the property of ShadowQueen25
Tigger belongs to Mrs J Black
Marina is Star Wars Nut's
Rondana was made, and is owned by MissDedodakes
Scarlett is the creation of Love Flame
Cracking one eye open, Kai groaned.
"Oh come off it you big baby."
Kai's response was another groan followed by a sharp hiss.
Once again he found himself in what had become a very familiar spot aboard his ship. A place that he had come to hate with every fiber of his being.
The floor.
More specifically, the floor of the girl's cabin.
Again he lay wounded on the ground and was once again playing the role of the patient.
"At least this time the view is different," he mused. Instead of staring up at the drab grey ceiling, he was looking at the drab grey wall and dull grey floor.
"Ouch!"
Tigger snickered at his outcry. "Aww, is the baby ok? Come on, your supposed to be the guy around here remember? Toughen up!"
With an irritated growl, Kai responded.
"Let's see you get shot in the back, then have someone pour disinfectant on it. I'd bet a bag of gold that you wouldn't do much better," Kai shot back.
With a sly grin, she squeezed the bottle a little harder and dumped a large glob in the middle of his back.
"AAAHH! COLD!"
Fingernails digging into the metal, Kai did his best to hold back a shudder. Not only did the stuff sting like crazy, oh no, that would have been bad enough, but it had to be cold as ice and smell like rotten fruit too.
"Your enjoying this aren't you?" Kai asked with narrowed eyes.
"Oh? Why would you say that?" Tigger asked a little too innocently.
"Maybe because you have to fix the ship again and this is about the only way you can get back at me?"
"Ohhhh that's right, I forgot all about that. You know, trashing the ship again and forcing me out into the scorching hot sun to fix it. Hang on a sec, I'm going to get some salt."
Eyes wide Kai was about to jump up when he heard the girl break into a fit of giggles.
"Not funny," he muttered under his breath.
"Alright, I've got to get back to work. Starling will finish you up, and when she does, I expect you two to help out. If we want to get out of here before next month, I'll need a hand."
Kai groaned in response, causing Tigger to roll her eyes before leaving.
Entering the room with a large bowl of warm water and wash rag in hand, Starling shook her head at what was becoming a rather common sight aboard the ship.
"If you wouldn't mind, could we hurry up please, this floor is cold," came Kai's muffled voice.
With a light chuckle, Starling set about cleaning the wound as carefully as possible. She knew all to well that burns were not the same as a normal wound. They were very tender, and caused a person far more pain since they left the nerves exposed.
"I swear, it's like he was born under a thunder cloud sometimes," Starling thought.
She could feel her friend tremble ever so slightly as the rag moved over the burn mark, the mark that was meant for her, she thought sourly.
"Kai, one of these days you're going to get yourself killed," she said sternly.
Turning slightly, her friend looked over his shoulder with a sad smile. "I told you already that I don't care. Remember?" He asked pointing to his now barely visible black eye.
Starling's head lowered at the memory of what happened just a few days ago. Had he not brought it up, she probably would have forgotten it completely.
Flashback
Marching to the crew quarters, Starling balled her fist as she barged into the room and slammed the hatch shut behind her.
Kai turned towards her, slightly startled.
"Uhh…good to see you?" He said slightly confused regarding her current state.
Through half clinched teeth, Starling spoke. "Why didn't you tell me that you broke your ribs? In fact, just what did you do in the first place?!" She hissed.
"Do when? Star, what are you talking about?" Kai asked, now even more confused.
"Don't even try that Kai, I've known you for too long. Tell me what you did back at the Phoenix Den, now!"
Blinking, it took a second for Kai to understand her request, be once he figured it out; he explained how he did his best to hold back the Virage until they were a safe distance away, and how he then set off the charges to seal it inside the buildings ruins.
"Idiot," Starling whispered. "You idiot."
"Hey, I was doing the best that I could with what I had. If I had know that thing was there I wouldn't have brought you guys with me in the first place…..and I probably would have just bombed it from the air….err upper stratosphere if given the choice," Kai said leaning against one of the bunk beds.
"Kai, I can't believe you would….why? Why do you keep doing this?"
Rolling his eyes, Kai answered, "I told you it's my job, if I don't do it, Cyclonia might find something too powerful for you guys to handle."
"I understand that Kai, I know about duty." Pinching the bridge of her nose, Starling continued. "What I don't understand is why you don't care about what happens to you. You're doing everything in your power to help us, yet you continue to let the Council paint you as some…some sort of common criminal!"
Kai grinned. "Oh I don't know about that, if my new bounties anywhere close to the original one I'm anything but common," he joked.
"Please try to be serious about this Kai. You were willing to die back there, but you do nothing to defend your image? Nothing to protect your name?"
Kai looked up at his friend sadly. "Star, it is my mission to prevent the mistakes of the past from being repeated again, and doing so, I will protect my friends in any way I can. If to serve that purpose I am despised, my body scorched and blackened, then so be it."
Clinching her teeth, Starling's hand shot forward like a cobra and nailed him square in the eye.
With a deep breath, she turned and left the room, but not before saying one last parting remark.
"If that's the way you feel, then you have a very cold and lonely road ahead of you."
Flashback end
Still looking at her hands, Starling sighed. "Look, about that, I'm…..I'm sorry," before she could continue, Kai cut her off.
"Don't worry about it. Like I said, my body reacted on its own," he said getting up. "Now hurry up and wrap me up, I want to get those bugs out of my ship before they start stinking up the place."
With a small smile, Starling shook her head and picked up the bandaging tape.
Shadow poked her head outside of the tent flap. She was groggy and still half asleep, but the smell of breakfast cooking was more than enough to pull her from her dreams, no matter how good they were.
"Morning sleepy head," Piper teased.
Frowning slightly, the younger girl climbed out from the tent and stretched.
"Took you long enough, I was going to reeve my skimmer if you weren't up in another two minutes," Marina joked.
Turning her head, Shadow looked out across the desert. "The suns not even up yet, why should I be?" She asked rubbing her eyes.
"We have to get an early start if we want to catch the winds," Marina replied as she started breaking down her tent into its bag.
"Winds? What are you talking about?"
"Marina said that she feels a sandstorm brewing, and that we might be able to use it to get in the air," Rondana said handing her a bowl of instant oatmeal.
Hearing a snicker, she turned to Piper with a half glare. "What?"
It took a few seconds, but Piper pointed at Shadows hair and spoke. "You might want to do something about that," she said smiling.
"Huh? Do something about what?" Looking around she caught sight of her reflection in the large cooking pot they had used for breakfast.
"AHHHH! My hair!" Covering her head with both arms the young girl ran back into the safety of her tent.
Hearing the combined snickers and giggles of the others outside, she stuck her head out through the flaps once again. "Sorry Piper, but not everyone can make bed head look fashionable!"
Piper stopped laughing for a moment and turned to the other two. "Does my hair really look like bed head?"
Marina coughed into her hand several times before going back to her breakfast, while Rondana just pulled out her book and started whistling as she read.
Pouting, Piper put down her bowl and ducked back into her and Shadow's shared tent.
"Geez learn to knock will ya?" Shadow said with her back facing the door.
Piper snorted. "Kai's not even here and all you're doing is brushing anyways…..where is my bag?"
Shadow grinned. "What bag?"
Raising an eyebrow, Piper looked down. "The one you're using for a seat cushion," she said yanking it from under the younger girl.
With a yelp Shadow fell over and glared. "You could have just asked you know?"
"Aw, where would the fun be in that?" Piper said back sweetly as she searched through the bag.
Shadow's eyes bugged.
"Did she just say what I thought she said? Since when did Piper care about having fun?"
"Hmmm, Ponytail? Or Pigtails?" Piper said pulling her hair down behind her.
Shaking her head to try and clear it, Shadow again found herself in a state of complete shock.
"Who are you, and what have you done with Piper?" She said with a confused tone.
Piper looked at her like she had grown a third head, but Shadow noticed she was wearing a small smirk. It was tiny, and barely visible, but a smirk none the less.
"What? I can't go around looking like I just woke up all the time. Sides, I haven't done anything with my hair in ages."
"But? Who…why…what?"
Piper snickered before turning back to the pocket mirror she had sat on the floor. "Hmm I've done Pigtails before, Aerrow said they reminded him of when we were little….I wonder what I would look like with a ponytail?"
Finally giving up on figuring out what was happening, Shadow decided to just go with it.
"Go with pigtails for now, your hair isn't long enough for a ponytail."
Looking over her shoulder, Piper shot Shadow a curious look. "I've seen people with short ones all the time, what's wrong with me doing it?"
Shadow crouched behind Piper, and after swatting away her hands grabbed the older teen's hair close to the base.
"See? Your hair sticks up like a giant cowlick. If you put it in a ponytail, it'll look like one of Junko's bonsai trees. If you let it grow out a little longer then its weight will help with that."
Piper frowned at the sight in the mirror. Her hair did indeed stick up like a giant cowlick.
"How did you know it would do that?"
Grinning Shadow let go of her hair and reached for one of the small scrunches Piper was holding. "Kai told me once about how a few years back Starling was caught in a training accident," feeling Piper startle, Shadow continued to tell the story and pulled Piper's hair into a part at the back. "She was ok of course, but her hair got a little…singed." Pausing she twisted one of the scrunches and pulled Piper's hair through it.
"What happened?"
Setting to work on the other half pigtail, Shadow continued. "Well, he said that she had to cut it pretty short, a little shorter than yours actually, and it stuck straight up for a month until it got some length to it. That's why she's always got it so long now, if something were to happen again, she'd have more to spare."
Piper tried to imagine what Starling, Sky Knight, hero, survivor, and her personal idol, had looked like with a slightly shorter version of her own hair.
Of course she broke into a fit of giggles along with Shadow at the mental image.
Scrunching up his nose, Kai dragged the insect corpse down the hallway of his ship to the loading ramp.
"I knew this would happen, I knew it," Kai said under his breath.
"You try to kill me, you try to kill my friends, you bust up my ship, and then you turn out to weigh almost as much as a skimmer."
Dropping the insect's legs, Kai turned and kicked the corpse several times.
"And what in the unholy name of Junko's cooking is that smell?!" He shouted after the fifth kick.
Watching from a few feet away, Starling covered her mouth with one hand, disguising her laugh with a cough.
Looking up at Starling with a slightly worried look, Kai was about to ask if she was alright when she spoke up.
"I'm fine I'm fine, just get these things out of here, they smell worse then Finn's gym socks."
Nodding, Kai continued to drag the larger than himself dead bug to the ramp to toss out, all the while muttering things varying from curses to pleadings that he had enough air fresheners onboard.
This of course made Starling laugh even more, which she continued to cover with more coughing.
Several minutes later Shadow and Piper emerged from their tent, no longer laughing, but still grinning widely with a small snicker every now and then.
"Pigtails?"
Turning to Rondana, Piper shrugged. "Why not? I'm usually surrounded by a bunch of guys, so I don't even think about it."
Shrugging her shoulders, Rondana went back to her book.
"Where was I? Oh yes, that's right, the burning rope bridge over the Alligator Parana lake with the angry natives on both sides."
Marina tossed a bundle to Shadow and Piper, before pulling out two more from her skimmers side compartment.
"What is this?"
Marina turned to Piper with knowing grin.
"Storm sails, I'll show you how to put them on, but first you need to hurry and pack up. The storm will be here soon."
The group quickly went about packing the rest of their gear, while Piper went back over to the insects corpse.
"Anyone got a cutter blade on them?" She asked.
Marina pulled one from her boot and tossed it to Piper. "Never leave home without it."
Thanking the older woman, Piper activated the blade and crouched down. She knew that they didn't have much time, but she was going to take advantage of it all the same.
Picking up one of the creatures limbs, she put the blade at the top and slid it down to the elbow, bisecting in half.
"If this thing fires crystal bursts, then it must have crystals in it somewhere."
Grunting, she tried to pry the arm open, but was unable to do so. Feeling a tug on her waist, she looked down to see Radarr, who held up a Swiss army knife and pointed to himself.
"You want to help?" Piper asked, slightly surprised.
Nodding his head, Radarr flipped out a small blade of his own which he slipped down the cut Piper had made before letting go.
Piper figured out what he was doing and slid Marina's blade behind his, coming to a stop several inches away. The two then worked together to try and pry the arm open like a clam, using the two blades as shuckers.
Snap pop
Giving way, the arm cracked open.
Scrunching her nose, Piper waved her hand. "Geeze, that's almost as bad as Finn's socks! Good thing it was just one of them."
Kai sneezed, dropping his current 'cargo' and causing its head to land on his foot. Scrunching his eyes shut, and counting down from ten, Kai picked up the creature by the legs and continued dragging it down the hallway.
Starling of course was sporting a ghost of a smile.
"Oh, bad! Piper! What did you eat last night girl?!" Shadow shouted.
"Hey! It wasn't me, it's the bug thingie!" Piper shouted indignity.
Shuddering, Marina muttered under her breath. "I guess it's a good thing we didn't try to cook it last night after all."
Again, Kai sneezed, this time slamming the back of his head into the bulkhead behind him, and again dropped the creature onto his other foot.
Starling broke into a 'mysterious' fit of coughs as she tried to help him up.
Breathing through her mouth, Piper peered down at the now open arm with a mix of fascination and disgust.
She could see where, and how the mechanical parts had been grafted onto the creatures limbs. It was a technological marvel, but at the same time she felt sick that something like this had been done to a living creature at one time.
"Kai was right, some things are best left unknown," Piper thought shaking her head.
Looking closer, she studied the weapon system. "I was right, it is crystal powered," she thought as she handed Radarr back his knife while using hers to pry the crystal free. "It looks like the crystals energy is focused through a series of lenses inside the arms, concentrating it and giving it maximum penetration power." Shuddering, Piper imagined what would happen if it had hit a person not wearing body armor.
Looking at the crystal, Piper frowned again. "I've never seen a crystal like this before, but I don't have time to look for the others….." Looking down at the dead creature, then back to the crystal, Piper grinned.
"But I can take some samples." Flipping Marina's slicer blade out, she cut out the sections in the remaining legs around the area she had pulled the first one from, and put them in her, rather Kai's, skimmers saddle bag.
"I'll just take them apart later," she thought as she handed Marina back her knife.
"How many of these things got inside last night?" Kai asked with a grunt as he tossed what seemed to be the hundredth one out the ramp and onto the sand below.
"I'm not sure, but there cant be many more left," Starling said with a yawn.
"You alright?"
Rolling her eyes, Starling leaned against the ships hull and gave a tired glare. "I almost got shot in the back, then I had to man one of your ships turrets, followed by taking over for you and fly…well…drive until you got back, and then I had to try an sleep freezing cold ship full of holes and large dead insects. I would say that given the circumstances, I am doing beautifully."
"Yeah…sorry about last night….." Kai grinned nervously. The plan HAD worked, it did kill all the bugs, but unfortunately he had underestimated just how much damage would have been done to the ship in the process. The lights still worked, and so did most of the systems including the heat.
The problem was that there were several skimmer sized holes in the ceiling that pretty much rendered said heating systems useless.
"If you two are done taking out the trash I could use a hand up here!" Tigger shouted.
"I thought you said that you didn't need any help with repairs?" Kai shouted back.
"I don't!"
Kai raised an eyebrow as he climbed up one of the ladders that led to the top of the ship.
Opening the hatch, Kai groaned at the sight before him.
For every dead bug that that gotten inside the ship and died, three had died on top of the ship.
"I just can't get a break can I?" Kai said as his shoulders sagged and head dropped.
Marina pulled the cloth fabric out and stretched it over her skimmers closed wings.
"Make sure you don't put it on backwards, the cloth it tougher on the back side so that the sand won't rip it to shreds," she said wiping her hands off on her leg.
"So when the wings are deployed, this will be between the wings right?" Shadow said looking Marina's skimmer in understanding.
"Correct. The material covers the space between the wings and catches moving air, just like on an old sailboat."
"Uh girls, I think we have a problem." Rondana said pointing behind them.
Turning around, they were met with the sight of an enormous wall of sand coming their way.
"WHAT IS THAT?!" Shadow shreaked.
Marina's smirk grew into a full blown grin. "That's our ticket out of here."
Piper's eyes widened. "You expect us to ride that thing! It's huge!"
"Which means that it's also very strong. We should have no trouble reaching takeoff speed with it." Seeing the others doubting looks, Marina smiled warmly. "Trust me."
Running to their skimmers, the group hopped on after sliding the storm sails Marina had given them over their wings. They only had a few minutes, but they were all used to being rushed for various reasons.
Once again donning their cloaks, the group lined up their skimmers behind Marina in a diamond formation. Piper and Rondana to the sides, with Shadow taking the rear.
"You ready buddy?" Piper asked nervously.
Radarr let go of his goggles, which snapped onto his face and gave a thumbs up before grabbing onto the sidecars rim.
Since he couldn't actually wear a cloak, Griffy just got down into the sidecar of Shadow's skimmer and pulled his overtop like a tarp cover.
Shadow looked down at the sealed container that her friend had made for himself and couldn't help but wish that they could switch places.
"Remember, when I say hit it, deploy your wings and gain altitude as quickly as you can. If you don't break through the storms ceiling the sand will strip you down to the bone in no time!" Marina called out over the skimmers engines.
Behind them the sandstorm came thundering towards them like a freight train, paying no heed to what lay in its path.
"Floor it now!" Marina shouted taking off at top speed.
The others followed her example and slammed the accelerator to full.
"Are you sure this will work?" Shadow called out.
"Of course! Back on Gerudo we do this all the time!" She called back.
Closing her eyes, Marina listened to the rumbling thunder of the storm as it got closer and closer.
"Just like old times, huh dad?"
"It's gaining on us!" Piper shouted more than just a little alarmed.
Grinning, Marina looked over her shoulder, first at Piper, then at the storm.
"No ship on Atmos can outrun one of these things! But were not trying to outrun it are we?!" Marina shouted. Then looking further back, she felt a slight tremble pass through her body.
Not one of fear mind you, far from it. Even though she had seen several people die attempting what they were doing, this was one of Marina's favorite sports.
Naboroou was one of the few who shared this love of the extreme with her; she had actually been the one who got her hooked on it in the first place.
"Go big, or go home," Naboroou had said grinning the first time she showed Marina how to harness what only the Gerudo knew to be 'True Desert Power.'
"If I had to guess, I'd say this was the biggest one I've ever seen." Marina thought as her gaze traveled up, up and up to the top of the sandstorms crest. Feeling the tremble in her body increase, she didn't try to suppress her grin from turning wicked at the least. She couldn't even remember the last time she had this much fun.
"Ok, deploy wings and wheelie! Get your nose's up now!" Marina shouted.
Following the order given, the others popped up the front tires of their skimmers and deployed their wings.
"Of course! Sandstorms are driven by the wind, but since the sand is so heavy, it trails behind the guest itself! Marina, you're a genius!" Piper thought as she saw the front tire of her skimmer lift higher and higher off the ground.
Seconds later all four of the skimmers were off the ground and rising steadily. Pulled out of her revelry, Marina remembered that this was the first time the others had done this, so they still had no clue what to do.
"Climb now! We have to get over the wall or it'll catch us! And trust me; that won't be a pretty sight!"
Eyes wide, Shadow pulled back on her controls and pulled straight up, followed by Rondana and Piper. Marina, who had done this several times before, rose up at a much calmer, but still speedy rate.
Once the four skimmers reached the top of the sandstorm, Marina told them to sit back and enjoy the ride, since the winds were still blowing strong and their sails were intact, they could 'piggy back' it for a while.
Dropping yet another dead bug off the side of his ship, Kai sunk to his knees panting.
"I think Tritonn said it best," clearing his throat, Kai did his best impression of the Sky Knight. "Daarrr this blows matey, arrrhhre."
Tigger snickered while Starling just smiled rolling her eyes.
"Well since you seem to have so much energy left, why don't you head below and start working on fixing the ships internal damage? Tigger can't fix this whole thing herself," Starling said with a mostly business, but slightly joking tone.
Shoulders slumping, Kai turned to the ships lift and slammed the control.
"Yes dear," he said in a defeated and somber tone facing the other way. Of course he was grinning like the cat that ate the canary, but he wasn't going to let her see that.
Tigger nearly dropped her wrench at seeing Starling's red gaping face.
"Hmmm Starling? You ok?" She teased as she poked the older woman's shoulder several times.
"I I wha he jus…drrrrrrr! Insufferable little weasel. He's been practicing again I know it." Starling muttered to herself as she walked to the other side of the ship and fiddled with some of the ripped armor plating.
Tigger smiled at this development, recalling Rondana's little plan from what seemed so long ago.
"Look's like she was right after all." Then, her warm smile turned into a large grin.
"This is going to be sooo much better then those dumb soaps mom was always watching."
Kai smirked as he got off the lift and stepped out onto the floor. "Kai one, Starling zippo." Taking another step he was met with a squishy sound, one that he knew all to well.
"Arygyn, this is your doing, I know it," he said scraping his boot on the floor. "Now I have to toss these out."
Piper looked around with a sense of aw. She had never seen a sandstorm before, and never thought she would, well, scratch that, she never thought she would see one this close up. Surrounding them on all sides was a carpet of moving sand that rose several hundred feet into the air. It was, for all intents and purposes, a tiny, mobile terra.
Shadow and Rondana, while still amazed, preferred to avert their eyes from the ground and only look straight ahead. To be so close to something that was a known danger didn't sit too well with them.
Marina closed her eyes as she felt warm memories of the past flood her.
"Marina! You have to feel the storm, not fear it! How many times have I told you that?"
"Ye..yes father. I will try harder next time."
"Marina, you are my daughter, and heir to the throne. People will see me when they look at you, people will remember me when the look at you. Do you want me to be remembered as weak? Do you want to be known as weak?"
Knowing that her pride rivaled his own, Marina's father goaded her again.
"The future barer of Din's Fire, a coward, and afraid of the power she is supposed to wield as her own?"
That made her ears perk.
"I am not a coward father! I'll show you!" Pulling away from her fathers grip, Marina jumped onto her skimmer and raced to catch up to the group that was about to brave the large storm.
Opening her eyes, Marina recalled every detail of her first storm run. The fear, the excitement, the adrenalin! Storm running had become something very special to her, as it was one of the few things she ever got to enjoy with her father, the one bridge between the two.
"Marina! Look!"
Snapping out of her thoughts at Piper's outcry, Marina looked up at what was before them. A huge wall of rock that seemed to cover from one end of the entire terra to the other loomed before them.
"We can't climb over that! Even with skimmers!" Shadow shouted in alarm.
"We won't have to! The logbook said that there was a network of canyons that ran through it like a spiders web. We just need to find the entrance!" Piper shouted.
"We can't turn with the storm surge pushing us Piper! We need a plan B!" Marina shouted back.
Watching the wall of rock grow ever larger and closer, Piper pulled out her binoculars and scanned ahead.
"Ok, it looks like there is a small cave just ahead. If we can get inside it we can wait out the storm and find one of the entrances after is passes us by."
"I see a cave up ahead! We'll use it for shelter until the storm passes over ok?" Piper shouted.
Seeing that they had no other choice, the others agreed and made their way to the cave.
Closing one of panels, Tigger stretched her now sore back.
"Why oh why did I sign on with you guys in the first place?" She asked no one in particular.
"Don't look at me. I didn't even volunteer for this one, I was drafted," Starling said getting up and brushing her hands on her pants.
"You mean you wouldn't have come if Arygyn hadn't made you?" Tigger asked genuinely surprised.
The older woman shook her head. "Actually, I don't know. I can't say for certain if I would or would not have come had Kai asked me himself."
Tigger dropped her tool belt and glared.
"You were best friend! Why would you have turned him down if he asked you for help?" She asked angrily.
Starling raised a single eyebrow at the small blond's outburst.
"Were is the operative word Tigger, were. Aside from the…Cabion incident, we haven't spoken to each other for close to two years. Added to that we have to war to deal with, and Kai seems to have picked up his own…line of duties, we just fell out of contact I guess," she said simply.
"That's just an excuse and you know it. Sky Knights are allowed to take breaks Starling. Aerrow takes his squadron to terra Neon at least once every other month."
Starling smiled. "True, but the Storm Hawks are a free range squadron; they don't have a terra to watch over."
"Why does this seem so familiar?" Shaking her head, Tigger pressed forward. "So? What about the Absolute Zero's? They get together with the Nord's and have their little X game challenges every season? The Screaming Queen's have a festival every solstice, and the Neck Deeps have their mammoth mouth bass runs every spring. Why can't you take a break?"
Starling shot the younger girl a weak glare, more out of annoyance than actual anger before responding. "Look, I just happen to be rather busy alright? I keep myself that way because I happen to prefer it. And I do take breaks. You can ask Piper if you don't believe me."
"Oh dear lord. Now I know where he got it from." Mentally face palming; Tigger realized that she was talking to an older, more experienced female version of Kai.
"This is going to be a lot harder than I thought." Taking a deep breath, Tigger gave Starling's armor a good first whack.
"Look, I can understand wanting to do your part in the war and all, but just keep in mind that even Lark gives her generals vacation time, and she's a tyrant." With that, she walked off, knowing that she hadn't even cracked the older woman's armor, but hoped that she had made a good sized dent in it that the others could work on.
Snorting, Starling walked back over to the spot she had been working on and sat down on the towel she was using to separate herself from the ships now hot outer skin.
"Even Lark gives her generals vacation time," she muttered. "What is she trying to imply? That I don't know how to have fun?" Popping the plate up, she groaned at the sight of fried wiring.
"Great, this will take at least another six hours, and now I can't even focus."
"Now it all makes sense. Starling and Kai are both identical as far as traits go, they just happen to have completely opposite personalities. They both drown themselves in work to keep occupied and hide themselves from view around people. Kai with humor and Starling with stiffness. I can't see those two being anything more than casual acquaintances at best, let alone best friends."
Walking down the hallway to the kitchen, Tigger pondered over this latest development. "At the same time, the tension between those two could choke the Leviathan. They miss each other, and want to at least speak to each other freely, but what's stopping them? Their no different than Finn and Piper, and those two are like brother and sister!"
Opening the door, she was surprised to see Kai reaching inside of the refrigerator with a guilty look on his face.
"What?"
Eyeing him for a moment, Tigger went though all her memories regarding the older teen. From when they first met back on terra Cyclonia, to all the missions they had worked on together. He was always so confident, so assured that everything was going to work out. Never once could she remember him holding back and not giving it his all.
"He's the kindest most loyal friend a person could ask for. He'd do anything for one of his friends, and God have mercy on anyone that hurts someone he cares about."
She had to suppress a small chuckle at the memory of how she had to actually beg him not to beat Aladd to a pulp when he forgot their first anniversary as a couple.
"The only reason Aladd's not pushing up daisies or eating through a straw right now is because I asked him not too."
Tigger's eyes widened.
"Be…cause….I…asked…him…too…oh no..Starling..you didn't?"
"Yo, Tigger you ok?" Kai asked, concern clear in his voice.
"Look, if you wanted the last chicken leg all you had to do was ask, you don't need to cry over it. Here, take it." Kai said pushing the salad bowl out towards the girl.
"Wha?" Reaching up, she felt a single tear on her cheek. Shaking her head, Tigger grinned. "Naa, you've already got it. I was just…remembering something. I guess the smell triggered a memory," she said lamely.
"The smell of chicken salad triggered a bad memory?" Kai said skeptically.
Tigger nodded and wiped her eye.
After a few tense moments passed, Kai chuckled.
"Man, I don't think I could live if I were you," Kai said closing the fridge door with his foot and heading over to the table.
Letting out the breath she had been holding, Tigger thanked the powers that be that Kai had actually bought her lame excuse.
Pulling out a bottle of water, she watched as Kai made short work of his chicken salad sandwich, and frowned. "Kai….did you try already?"
The thought made her chest clinch tightly. Despite how much it hurt, she pursued the thought to its end.
"If he…if he did try, and she shot him down….he would have kept trying. Kai never gives up on anything….but if she asked him….if she asked him to…"
Now things were becoming a bit clearer. She didn't have all the pieces, and the image was still fuzzy, but things were starting to come into focus.
"It looks like Kai's not the only one keeping secrets around here." Narrowing her eyes, Tigger decided that she was going to need Starling's help with repairs after all, and that Kai would be very busy rewiring the inside of the ship.
"That's not a cave! That's a crack!" Shadow shouted at seeing where they were heading.
"It's the best we can do, or do you want to be a smear on the wall?" Piper asked irritated.
"But!.....Fine! But if I crash, you're explaining it to Kai the Keizer, not me." Shadow said sticking her nose up.
Rolling her eyes, Piper took point and led the group into what would serve as their shelter until the storm passed over. After landing and coming to a stop inside the surprisingly large crevice, Piper deployed a portable shield around the entrance to keep out the storm.
From an outcropping of rock not too far away, a lone figure watched with interest as the four skimmers flew into the cave.
"It's been awhile since anyone came to visit here," the figure said with a small smile. Pulling the two swords out of the ground and spinning them around, the figure slide them into the holsters on her back.
"I just hope their not here to cause trouble," she said running forward and jumping from the rock platform to the next one some twenty feet away.
End Chapter 14
Ok, like I said, I know this one was a bit late, but I hope it made up for that. This story is going to have a lot of characters in it, some good, others bad. But I want to assure my readers (if there are any left) that I'm not flooding it with OC's. I'm trying to write this out like a book or RPG, which means minor characters, will appear from time to time. I hope to get the next chapter out soon, but I'm not making any promises.
Till next time, Ja Ne! (You were right! Ja Ne does appear on it's own page lol)