Winds of Change Book II Distant Thunder

by RGZ Archer

Kai has assembled his team, and the group of seven must now race against both Cyclonia and time itself to prevent a weapon of unimaginable power from falling into the wrong hands. But just whose hands are the wrong hands? Who is their true enemy?

12. Past Pains, Future Gains!

Winds of Change Book II: Distant Thunder

Chapter 12: Past Pains, Future Gains!

AN: Ok, I'm BACK! (Ducks glass bottles, bricks and rocks) Hey, if you guys don't stop, then I'll stop posting! (Ducks thrown cat) Ok ok ok! Here it is sheesh. I'm that THAT evil am I?

Audience: YES YOU ARE!

Uh, ignore them. Anyways, I know I left you guys (and girls) on one heck of a cliffy last time, but this time around, things are going to be different. (snickers) Quite a bit will be revealed. I'll warn you all right now that one character is going to get dragged through the mud for a while, but I have my reasons. Also, despite it being my all time favorite episode, I've never actually seen the last five minutes of 'Storm Hawks Seven' so I had to wing it. (No pun intended)

Also don't forget check out Arashi21's new story: Fighting Wings! Which ties in with the Winds of Change serie, but is told through the eyes of Kestrel!

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

Morning came quickly to the trio, or rather, too quickly for their taste. After a silent breakfast, they went their separate ways once again and went back to work fixing the battered freighter that served as their base of operations.

Starling went to work on fixing the ships outer hull, since it was the one thing she actually felt comfortable working on. Tigger was taking care of anything mechanical in nature; since it was her specialty and was the most important part needing repair.

And Kai…well, both Starling and Tigger saw fit that he finish rewiring the systems. This was because it was mostly easy, and neither one of them wanted to do it. But most importantly, since Kai had built the ship, he was the only one that actually knew how. The fact that it also meant he would be on his knees and back for hours on end and in tight cramped conditions served as a bonus (for the girls).

All three were focusing mostly on the work at hand, but not entirely. They each had other matters weighing on their minds.

Sighing, Starling shook her head as she closed yet another panel. Most of the ships topside was now finished, and she knew the bottom was relatively undamaged. This left her with the sides, which she knew she could have finished by the end of the day.

"Why did I open up like that? I know that I can trust Tigger, but I hardly even know her."

Pulling down her visor, Starling cut on the welding rig and started by fixing the smaller holes first.

"I told her things that I've never told anyone, even Kai. And yet, I've spoken with the boy who works the fly through at Sky Burger more times than I've spoken with her."

Despite being generally friendly in nature, Starling was hardly one that people would call 'open' with others. Her past, combined with her training made it more than just a little difficult for her to openly express her thoughts or feelings on any subject other than fighting. So for her to willingly lower her defenses, even for just a little while was extremely confusing to her.

And, if she was being completely honest, she would have also admitted that it frightened her quite a bit too.

Growing up, it had been just her and her parents, and then it was just her and Kai. But for the second part of her life (everything after being knighted) it had largely been just her. She had her squadron, that was true, and Kai was still there, as well as Suzi, but things were different. As a child, she was shy, and hid behind a wall of fear. Now, as an adult, she was cold and hid behind a wall of duty. (Or so she told herself)

What was even more confusing was the fact the not only had she completely lowered her guard yesterday, but she actually felt better after doing so. The feeling that she received just from having Tigger listening to her brought back memories from long ago, memories she had completely forgotten about.

Between her dedication to her duty, and her desire to protect her friends, she had gotten used to keeping everyone at arms length, so that they wouldn't get hurt, or hurt her.

That night as she lay trying to fall asleep, she thought back and tried to remember if it had always been that way. As far as she could remember it was, she had been the same ever since a little after she turned sixteen. Not exactly cold, just a bit….cool towards others.

Then she remembered.

In the depths of her mind, in a place she hadn't visited since its creation, a single memory arose. One that caused her more pain than any other, including the loss of her parents.

There was a brief moment in time that she had not been wrapped up in her duty. A tiny fragment in her life where she had once again become her original self.

It had been five years since she was knighted. For five years she was like a 'robot' as Kai had put it. True, she did express emotion, but those incidents were always few and far between. For the most part, she was passive, but after five very long years of trying, Kai had managed to break through the wall she had constructed while in training. Five years of aggravation and annoyance, five years of jokes, pranks, and in her own words, tomfoolery, he had managed to relight the tiny spark within her.

For one week, she was her normal self. The week before Kai's final attempt at the Sky Knight trials. She had enjoyed that week immensely, despite the effort it took to prove to her squadron that she was not under some form of mind control or had received a concussion of some sort; she had a genuine good time.

The day after Kai left for terra Atmosia however, that all changed. What was once a wonderful dream quickly transformed into a horrible nightmare.

Thunderclouds rolling in, lightning streaking across the sky. Rain poring down so hard it seemed to be trying to wash the terra itself away.

She could hear the crystal fire over the thunder and lightning. She could hear the panicked cries of the civilians as she took to the air, she could still smell the burning flames that forever changed the face of terra Mesa, and even taste the salt from the tears that streaked down her face. The assault on her senses was absolute, but by far, the worst attack, was the one on her eyes.

The sight of her squad mates, her friends, the only family she knew fall one by one, all by his hand. It stabbed her deeper than any physical weapon could. What hurt the most of all however, was the knowledge of why they died. Seeing it pained her, but knowing why, scarred her, branded her for life.

"Why? If they had just followed my orders, if they had followed the evacuation shuttles as I told them to…"

Fist clinching, Starling punched the ships hull with all her might.

"I wasn't worth it. Four lives aren't worth losing just to save one blast it!"

Eye's wide, Starling was assaulted by a sudden flood of memories, memories she had locked away and forgotten completely.

Waking up under a pile of rubble, searing pain flashing through her system, a calm voice whispering words of comfort, black silence, a cry of anguish followed by worried shouts of her name, blackness, waking up to a clear night sky, feeling nothing, empty, a worried voice calling her name, blackness, an unfamiliar ceiling, her decision.

"That….that was the last time I saw him."

Starling felt her chest tighten at the memory. All but ordering Kai to leave her as she lay in a hospital bed. The look of pain and betrayal that flashed across his face before leaving, she had forgotten so much about that day.

The day she made her oath. To avenge her squadron, or join them trying.

Her next mission, the infiltration of terra Cyclonia was supposed to be a long term intelligence gathering operation. She had successfully snuck her way in, even making it to the position of throne room guard before Lark's first plan was put into motion.

She knew what she had to do, but someone else beat her to the punch. She had heard the rumors about the resurrection of the Storm Hawks, but only scoffed at the notion. Aerrow's knighting was a televised event, so she knew of it, but never could she have imagined him forming a squadron independently of the Councils doing. Even more surprising was the fact that a ragtag group of teenagers had invaded Cyclonia, something that up until then only she could claim. The mission was mostly a success in the Council's eyes, but to her, it was a complete success. Lark had been stopped, her operations temporarily halted, and the Aurora stone was destroyed. She and many of the other Sky Knights feared what would happen should it fall into the wrong hands. Now, that was impossible.

After that was the rescue mission she received, which she used to further her own goals. She could have completed the mission given her with no help at all, but for what she wanted to do, she knew she would need help. Suzi was out of the question, and at the time she had all but forgotten about Kai. That left her with only one option. The Storm Hawks.

Driven by her need for some form of revenge, she sought them out, and like she had Kai so many years ago, used their kindness and generosity for her own ends. It was difficult however, something prevented her from staying with them afterwards, from using them as she would any other tool, but she was unsure what it was. She had complete mastery over her mask, and only allowed emotion out when she deemed it safe or necessary at the time. She had fully intended on staying with them, and using them to further her goal of revenge, but something pushed her away, prevented her from carrying out that plan, and so she left confused, but sated for the time having reclaimed her shield.

A little over a month later, after resubjugating her emotions to her will, she found yet another excuse to meet with the fledgling band of wannabes. Polaris Point. Her mission was destroy the base stationed there, and, if possible destroy the mountain itself. She could have infiltrated it on her own, just as easily as she had terra Cyclonia, but for her to gain the tools needed for her revenge she would need to gain the kids trust. She knew that she had their respect, but they were very cautious for a group so young. (Something that annoyed her greatly then, but at the same time gave them quite a few marks in her book) So again she sought them out.

Again, the mission was a complete success on all counts. The base was destroyed and the terra had lost all strategic value. Even better, they finally opened up to her and welcomed her with open arms as though she was one of their own.

Flashback

"Today, we fly as the Storm Hawks seven!" Aerrow said pumping his fist into the air.

"Seven? But there are only six of you," Starling replied, suspecting her plan had worked, but not getting ahead of herself.

"You're one of us too," Aerrow replied before taking off.

Starling waited for a moment before grinning and taking off after them.

"It worked," she thought as her grin grew wider.

Flashback end

While pleased that her plan had worked, she couldn't help but feel uneasy. She dismissed the strange queasy sensation as her stomach attempting to digest the lunch she had been served earlier. But this proved to be false no more than an hour later.

Flashback

"What is this?" Starling asked as Aerrow opened the door to what she knew to be an empty room used for storage.

"This Starling, is your room," he replied as he pulled open the door and sweeping out his hand with a flourish.

"They want me to stay? Then, that means…it worked! With their help, I will get my," Starling's train of thought was thoroughly derailed when she caught sight of her reflection on the rooms mirror.

She saw herself, same as always, but it was what else she saw.

Them

On the opposite wall was a large poster of her former squadron. She remembered the day it had been taken very well due to some…mishaps which she knew Kai was somehow involved in, but on the other side was the mirror. In its reflection she saw herself and her old squadron, their smiles showed not happiness, but pride. Pride over their station as protectors of Free Atmos. Looking away, she wiped away a few stray tears before turning to the others.

"I…I'm afraid that I must decline. But I thank you for your effort, and your aid. I don't think I could have completed the mission on my own."

Grinning, Aerrow shook his head. "Don't worry about it. This room will always be open whenever you need it."

"Yeah drop by sometime! I'll have my guitar fixed and I'll even get Stork to fix the speakers!" Finn jumped in with his usual goofy grin.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay here?" Piper pleaded, giving her best pout.

"Oracle forgive me, they're children! How could I even think about using them like…like…common tools?! I need to get away from here before I do something I'll regret."

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Starling waved them off. "I'll see what I can do. I might stop by, but I'm not making any promises," she said with an authoritative tone.

Grinning, Aerrow held out his hand. "If you ever need a hand, or are in the neighborhood, drop by alright?"

Biting her lip, Starling nodded her head, and gave his hand a firm shake before marching to the hanger and taking off.

Flashback end

After that day, she spent an entire week staring at the ceiling of her rebuilt base. Her mind was once again a battleground, but instead of there only being two clearly defined sides, there seemed to be many small groups fighting for her attention, fighting for control. One part argued that she had what she wanted, what she needed to begin working on her revenge, that part however was under direct assault from every other faction. Part of her said that she should be ashamed of herself for what she did, another told her to return and join them. Another part however, the one that seemed to be the largest and most powerful told her to just leave them be, and remain as she was. It was true that she had done something despicable, but better she not do anything else and hurt them. They were the future of Atmos, and needed to keep that frame of mind.

Despite winning, that side's victory was far from complete. She could still recall the night she was flying back to base after a mission and saw the Condor out of the corner of her sight. She was tired, her skimmer needed some repairs, and despite not being in critical condition, she herself needed some repair work done herself.

"They did say anytime," The little voice in her head suggested. Normally she would have simply continued on her way, just as she had on the few occasions their paths crossed before. But this time, the combination of being tired, cold, and hungry overruled the part of her brain that normally made her run.

Hailing the Condor, she radioed in a request for clearance to land. The quick and rather lively response she got surprised her, but she felt a tiny flicker of warmth all the same.

After Piper finished treating most of her injuries (being the only female crewmember) Stork came in and gave her a few stitches before leaving. She was about to leave when Piper stopped her and 'insisted' (read as she took Red Streaks keys) that she stay for the night. Not having the energy to fight the young teen, Starling relented and was shown her room. She was surprised to see that despite the length of time it had been since their last encounter, that they had left her room exactly the way it had been before, even cleaning it regularly as they did the rest of the ship.

That night, for the first time in many, many months, she slept soundly. When she woke, she was shocked at what she saw on the room's small clock. She had slept until nearly noon, a feat she hadn't accomplished since she was fifteen.

Alarmed, she bolted for the bridge and demanded to know why they had let her sleep in. Their reply was that she looked like she needed it, so they let her. Again, her mind was divided. The strict regimented part of her wanted to scream, while another, now far stronger part told the other one to take a long walk off a short plank.

After thanking them and eating lunch, she took off for her base, confused at why she felt as though several pounds had just been lifted from her shoulders. At the same time, she kept telling herself it was a one time thing. A fluke, something that wouldn't be repeated.

That lasted a little over a month.

Again, she was returning from a mission and saw the Condor. This pattern continued for close to six months, after which she actually would seek them out at least once a month. Before long, she was staying for two days, then three, and finally made it to where she was now spending one full week a month with the young squadron.

She couldn't explain it. One minute she was waking up doing her morning stretches, the next thing she knew she was landing in the Condor's hanger. It had become part of her usual schedule.

The first few times were difficult, true. But that quickly passed. It just took a while for them to find and come to terms with her boarders. She would train with them as long as it had some form of benefit in her eyes. She would eat with them as long as the food was properly cooked. She would tell them stories about her past as long as they didn't ask questions or try to dig too deep, and Finn would be tolerated as long as he respected her privacy and was at least a tiny bit tasteful.

After these boundaries were recognized and respected, she became one of them. She of course had to learn their own as well, but they were much smaller and easier to avoid clashing with. (Other than Stork that is)

The only problem was that every time she visited them, her mind was in a constant state of battle. She could see a large wall surrounding her that went as high as the heavens themselves, blocking out most of the light and leaving her mind in a dark grey state. Written across the wall were many words, words she recognized to be her own which wrapped around the wall like chains. Some were very small and thin chains, chains saying things such as 'They are just a bunch of kids' or 'I don't have the time'. Others however were much larger. Two in particular had individual chain links bigger than herself.

'Attachments will only lead to failure, use them only to future your goals' This was the mantra she was taught during her one year of special training. It had been drilled into her that she was to view people as tools and use them as such. To cast them aside when broken or of no further use.

The other however, was by far the largest, and it was one of her own creation. Its links were, in her mind, unbreakable.

'You should be ashamed of yourself for what you have done, you are unforgivable' This one came from what she had done in the past with Kai, then again with the Storm Hawks years later. Really and truly, she was ashamed of herself, mainly because they didn't even know she had done it. Only she did.

Under normal circumstances everything was quiet in her mind. But when she was around the Storm Hawks, Kai, or Suzi, she could hear pounding coming from the other side of the wall. Along with the pounding she would see cracks in the mortar and on rare occasions, some of the smaller chains of words would actually break. Sometimes she would even see a brick or two come loose and fall to the ground.

This would both confuse and frighten her, leading her to withdraw from them until her wall was repaired and the chains were back in place.

Now however, things were different. The pounding was now like thunder and echoed throughout her mind, and holes that a person could almost squeeze through were becoming visible. By strange occurrence, she noticed that wherever one of these holes would appear, one of the chains would move and close off. Though it was holding, she could see the cracks from stress spider webbing outwards across its surface, and some of the smaller chains had now completely fallen off.

The two large ones however, were a different story. No matter how loud or powerful the pounding from the outside was, no matter how much stress was put on them, they never budged a single inch.

Yesterday's conversation with Tigger had changed that.

The smaller of the two now had a single dent in one of its links. It wasn't much, but it was more than she had ever seen before in the last eight years.

Again, she heard a loud bang at her minds wall, this one like that of a giants fist pounding at a castle gate. And just as all the times she had heard it before, she stepped away from it a safe distance.

"Yo Star! You alright up there?!"

Jumping at the sound of the voice, Starling fell off the side of the ship to the ground below.

"Hey watch out! UGMP!"

"Shadow! Shadow can you hear me?!" Now frantic, Piper kneeled down beside Shadow's still form trembling.

"No…no no no! Come on! You have to be ok! Aerrow will kill me if Kai doesn't first!"

Shaking her still friend, and now near panicking, Piper almost didn't see it until it was too late.

HIISSSSSSSS

"No! Not now!"

Ducking to the side, Piper rolled to avoid a stream of incoming crystal fire.

"It's another one of those bug things! I don't have time to fight this thing right now! Shadow needs my help!"

Just as she dodged the next burst of fire Marina and Rondana rushed in and attacked.

"GET AWAY FROM HER YOU OVERGROWN COCKROACH!" Marina shouted as she attacked with a flurry of strikes.

Rondana, despite wanting to help Shadow, knew that unless the bug was taken care of first, there was a good chance that they would be joining her.

The three attacked it from every angle they could, but nothing seemed to be working. Its armor deflected everything they threw at it, and they had to be careful since it had managed to get between them and Shadow.

"GRRRRRR BACK OFF!"

HIISSSSS

"Ugggghhh, you ok?"

It took a second for Starling's brain to register what had happened. She was on top of the ship, someone had called out her name, she fell, and now she was on the soft ground below.

"Wait a minute, since when was the ground soft?"

Looking down, she saw the back of Kai's flight suit.

Once second passed.

Two seconds passed.

Three seconds passed.

Jumping like a scared rabbit, Starling tried to help Kai up.

"I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened, are you ok?"

Clinching his teeth shut, Kai nodded before speaking in a hissing tone.

"Tigger said lunch is ready. She sent me to get you."

"Oh…well…thank you," she replied.

Seeing Kai limp away, she called out to him. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"Just….peachy!" Kai shouted back before muttering about sand in his shorts.

"If he hadn't been there, I know I'd be laid out for at least a few days….his back!" She had completely forgotten that Kai was still injured, healing from the blaster wounds to his back, which she had just landed on after falling close to seven feet.

"Kai wait up!"

Seeing him stop suddenly, she was about to continue when he held out his hand.

"Don't worry about it, I'm fine. I just want to stay off my back, stomach and or knees for a little while and get some food in me. After that, we'll see, but I'm not doing anything until after I eat ok?"

Starling nodded slowly, and then followed him into the ship.

"Grrr. I don't know how much more of this I can take!" Tigger shouted mentally. The three of them were eating lunch together, and just like last nights dinner, the rooms other two occupants were silent.

"I've got to get them talking or I'll go insane! How can they stand this much silence!"

Looking for something, anything! With which she could start a conversation, she found a tiny detail that had caught her attention on more than one occasion.

"Kai?"

The older teen stopped chewing and swallowed before responding.

"Hm?"

"Why don't you ever take off your gloves?"

The effect was immediate. Both Kai and Starling stiffened ever so slightly, but a lifetime of mechanical work had her trained to notice such fine details.

"Why does it matter?" He asked before taking another bite.

"I don't know, I was just wondering. I mean, in all the time I've known you, I've never once seen your hands. You wear them everywhere, even eating! I bet you sleep with them on too!"

Kai swallowed. "So? What if I do? There's no law against wearing gloves is there?" He shot back.

"No, but I doubt that'd matter to you would it?"

Kai responded by shaking his head while he chewed.

"Come on! Take'm off!"

Kai raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. I said take'm off! I want to see whatever tattoo you've got hidden under those things!"

Starling looked back and forth between the two, her discomfort now coming off in waves.

"Come on Starling! You hold him down and I'll pry them off!"

"Uh, Tigger, why don't we just," she was cut off by Kai before finishing however.

"Look, I wear them because I want to, just finish eating then get back to work ok?"

Tigger grinned. "Uh un, your not in charge anymore, remember? I don't have to take your orders, but you have to take hers. Isn't that right?" She asked nodding towards Starling.

"Tigger, perhaps we should respect his wishes. It is such a small thing, and besides, we still have a lot of work left to finish."

Pouting, Tigger sighed. "Fine! Whatever."

Getting up she grabbed Starling's plate the stepped towards Kai who held his hands back.

"Nice try, but I invented that trick," he said with a small grin.

Tigger growled before grabbing the plate and tossing them into the sink and left the room.

Biting her lip, Starling turned to Kai.

"Perhaps….perhaps it would be for the best if we…eh, you told them the truth."

Kai raised an eyebrow. "Star, are you sure that you didn't hit your head out there?"

Taking a deep breath, she continued. "If we are going to be working together for several more weeks, then…we should at least try to meet them halfway, don't you think?"

Kai mulled the idea over a bit before letting out a sigh. "Fine, but only after we pick up the others. I'm not telling the same story twice."

Starling nodded her head in agreement. "I'm sorry Kai, I really am."

Waving his hand, Kai rose from his seat. "It's not your fault, nor is it your problem to worry about. I'll just think of it as a bad dream and treat it the same."

Now that she was alone in the kitchen, Starling stared down at her feet.

"I wish I knew what on Atmos I was doing." Shaking her head, Starling left for the roof access hatch so that she could get back to work.

Piper, Marina and Rondana all stood with gaping jaws.

"Stupid bugs, catching me off guard then trying to hurt my friends!" Shadow shouted as she rose from her kneeling pose and spinning her crystal ax around her hand several times.

"Shadow! Don't move!" Rondana shouted as the three ran to their friend.

"What is it?! Don't tell me it's another one!" She shouted with a fearful expression.

"No stupid! You've got a hole in your back the size of a softball! If you keep moving you could make it even worse!"

Shadow's eyes widened and she dropped her ax to the ground.

"What am I supposed to do?" She asked with a squeak.

"Marina, you and Piper help her lay back down, Shadow, I need you to keep as still as possible ok?"

Shadow nodded slowly as the other two slowly lowered her to her stomach.

"It's a miracle that you're even alive, how'd you do that?" Piper asked as she took one of the scared girl's hands in her own.

"I don't know! I saw it, then ducked under its arm and well…you know the rest." She squeaked.

Piper looked over her shoulder at the now deceased insect. It had been cut clean through from its belly to its head. Bisecting it to the point that the two halves fell in opposite directions to the ground.

"Radarr, you and Griffy watch it ok? If it so much as twitches, you let us know ok?"

The two animals nodded in affirmation before running up to the fallen animal.

"I need to get the top of her flight suit off," Rondana said biting her lip.

"YOU WHAT?!"

"Shadow, quiet," Piper said squeezing her hand tight.

Marina pulled her slicer blade from her boot and activated it. "I've flayed fish with this thing plenty of times; this is about the same right?"

Shadow felt a combination of tears starting to fall down her face. She wasn't sure if it was from fear or the absurdity of the situation though that was the source.

"Just be careful that you don't cause more damage ok?" Rondana said as she opened her medkit.

"Just squeeze my hand ok Shadow?" Piper said softly.

Shadow responded by doing said squeezing.

"Alright, here it goes. Try not to flinch ok?" Marina said before lifting the back of Shadow's neckline.

"You don't have to cut the entire back, just a little below the wound," Rondana said as she took the frightened girls other hand in her own.

Nodding, Marina started the delicate procedure. Going from the neck, down the shoulders with a wide curve, then stopping at her mid back before cutting to the side, then up back to the neck.

"Ok, Shadow, you're not going to like this sound, trust me, just try…humming ok?"

"Why? What sound?"

"Please Shadow, just trust me, ok?" Rondana said softly.

Obliging the request, Shadow tried humming to herself as she felt two icy cold fingers slip down the neck of her shirt and start peeling it downwards. It took a few seconds, but then she understood why she was told to hum.

Even over the sound of her humming she could hear it. The sound of cloth being pulled free from wet blood. It was a sickly squishy sound that made her toes curl and stomach feel ready to hurl.

"Ok, Marina, I need you to try and wash the area around the wound as best you can ok?" Rondana said as she passed a canteen over Shadow's now half exposed back.

Shadow decided that this was by far one of the worst things she had ever been through in her life, and now understood why Kai had a fairly thick armor plate on the back of his flight suites. It was one thing to see people working on you, or being out cold when they did. But to be able to hear them and not see was borderline torture.

"Ok, um…Shadow, this is going to be very, very cold ok?"

Shadow's only response was a whimper and tightening of her hold on the other girl's hands.

Marina lowered the canteen so that it was only a few inches away from her skin, then tipped it over slowly, only allowing a few drops to fall onto her skin.

Normally, Shadow would have jumped several feet in the air at feeling the cold water slid down her back, but she was held in place by fear.

"Ok, here it goes," Marina said poring out a little more as she moved her hand around the area covered with blood.

"What in Naru's graces?"

No longer feeling the cold water roll down her back, Shadow spoke up.

"Is…is it really bad?" She asked with a frightened tone.

"Bad? Shadow…I….I don't really know how to explain this," Rondana said moving one hand to the girls back.

Shadow swallowed, having her worst fear confirmed.

"It must be really bad." Tears welled up in her eyes, but she refused to cry. Not in front of the others. They wouldn't see her break.

She was shocked to feel a sudden cold wave spread across her back, up to her shoulders then down to her pants.

"What in the name of Zelda's garter belt are you girl?" Marina asked as she rubbed her hand across the middle of Shadow's back.

"What is it?" Shadow asked, now even more frightened.

"This makes no sense, all that blood, her skin turning blue, it just doesn't make any sense," Rondana said adding her own hand to move across the younger teens back.

"What is wrong with me?" She asked, tone now much higher and fear clearly evident.

"But, when I got here, I thought, I thought she was already dead? What happened?"

"WHAT THE OBLIVION IS WRONG WITH ME?!" Shadow shouted, now afraid, cold, and tired of being ignored while the other three poked and prodded her back.

"Shadow…there's nothing there," Rondana replied without thinking.

"My entire backs….gone?" She squeaked fearfully.

"No! No no no no! I mean there is nothing wrong, no wound, no hole, no injury, no nothing! Just pale white skin in bad need of a tan." Rondana said as she once again poked said spot.

"Then….YOU RUINED MY SHIRT FOR NOTHING!" Shadow shouted, leaping to her feet and about to continue before squeaking and crossing her arms to prevent her shirt from falling off.

"Shadow, your backside had blood all over it, and a hole the size of Junko's fist, if you don't believe me, look," Rondana said holding up the cut out piece of cloth.

Shadow shivered and gagged as she saw thick strands of blood dripping down from the bottom of the cloth to the cave floor.

"But…if that's true, then why don't I have a huge gaping hole in my back?" She asked as she slid down to her butt.

"We were hoping you could tell us that actually," Piper said tearing her gaze away from the bloody strip of cloth with a shudder of her own.

"What do you mean?"

"Where were you all this time? Why did you go this far from camp without letting one of us know?"

Shadow furrowed her brow. "What are you talking about? I told Griffy to stay with you guys."

"Griffy was here with you when I got here," Piper said pointing over the confused teens shoulder.

Turning slightly, Shadow eyed Griffy for a moment. "I told him to stay." She said before turning back to the others.

"Ok, but still, why were you all the way out here? This is pretty far from our campsite," Marina asked sternly.

Shadow scuffed her boot and looked away from the others before speaking.

"Griffy was acting up….he….sensed something nearby and I went to check it out."

"YOU WHAT!"

Shadow cringed at the three's outburst, but continued.

"I was gonna call for help if I needed it! I'm not stupid you know!" Shadow retorted.

"That remains to be seen," Piper said shaking her head. "Look, every terra that we visit is going to be a death trap at best. We can't afford to take careless risks. Do you want to end up like Kai?" Piper asked.

Shadow almost snickered at the comment, but seeing the looks on the others faces killed off any humor in her system.

"Hey it's not like I didn't find anything of use! Tell them!"

"Uh, Shadow, tell who?" Rondana asked, starting to think that the girl wasn't as 'well off' as they believed and had suffered some sort of concussion.

"Who? Uh, them…..of…course…" Shadow looked behind herself, then around the room. "Where'd they go?"

"Where who go?" Piper asked, remembering the song she had heard while running down the passage.

"The…girl….and the guy…I know they were here just a second ago," Shadow said confused.

"Ok Shadow, I think you had better start from the beginning. Tell us exactly what happened." Marina said with a mix of aggravation and concern.

Nodding her head, Shadow looked around the room. "Uh….first…did any of you bring an extra shirt?"

Rondana, Piper and Marina all face planted at this.

"No Shadow, you'll have to make due with that."

Shadow gaped and paled at the same time. "You can't be serious! I'm not walking around like this!"

Before the situation could progress any further, Piper stepped in. "Shadow, come here."

Piper grabbed the younger girl by the arm and dragged her to a secluded are of the cave.

"We'll be back in just a second ok?"

Marina and Rondana nodded dumbly, not knowing what else to do and waited.

A few minutes passed before the two reemerged. Shadow was now wearing Piper's 'borrowed' flight suite top and Piper was wearing Shadow's 'damaged one. It had been modified however as the sleeves had been cut off and tied around her to hold it up. One sleeve was a little above her waistline and the other wrapped underneath her arms.

The other two just shook their heads but said nothing, wanting to find out what had happened.

"Ok, now that that's been taken care of, start talking," Marina ordered.

Shadow nodded.

"Well, at first I was just following the tunnel to see where it led. Since there was only this one passage I knew that whatever it was I was following couldn't ambush me. I don't know how long I was walking, but eventually I came to this room. I was about to enter when I heard someone talking."

"Someone? Not something?" Piper asked.

"Hey I'm telling the story ok? Now, like I was saying before, I heard somebody talking,"

Flashback

"I know it's been awhile. I'm sorry that I haven't visited," came a soft female voice.

"There's more of them? This is bad!" Just as she turned to leave, she heard the voice continue.

"I miss you….but...you knew this would happen….you knew it from the very beginning."

Stopping, she turned back and decided to listen a bit more. It was almost like something didn't want her to leave.

"I…I'll never be able to thank you enough…for everything….I wish…..I wish we could still….be together….but…you knew…it wouldn't last."

"It sounds like…she's talking to…"

Looking down, she saw a faint blue glow from under her shirt, and felt a strange warmness. Reaching inside her neckline, she pulled out her necklace, and was surprised to see the Griffin stone glowing faintly, bathing her in an icy blue light.

"What is this?"

"Of all the things we faced….I guess, time was the only one we could never defeat…no matter how strong we were back them."

Swallowing a large lump in her throat, Shadow stepped forward.

"Um…hello?"

The speaker spun on their heel and faced Shadow with a startled look on their face.

The person had very short hair, shorter than most guys she knew. The only reason she knew it was a female was their body's curves. If she had to guess, she would say they were in their early twenties.

"Leave this place now. I do not wish to fight you, but if you will not leave me alone I will defend myself!" The woman reached behind her back and pulled out a single blue glowing katana.

"I don't want to fight you! Honest! I was just…"

Hisss

"Look out! Behind you!"

Shadow tried to turn, but the next thing she felt was a sharp pain in her back spreading like wildfire. The pain was so intense that she was only able to cry out once before being reduced to tears.

Pain overwhelming her senses, her vision faded in and out between darkness and consciousness.

She vaguely saw the woman land and bring her free hand back. Shadow then heard something like a static buildup and saw an orb of reddish pink energy form in her hand.

Next thing she heard was an explosion followed by a roar of pain.

"Ugghh."

"Shhh. You're injured, don't try to move ok?"

Shadow did the only thing she could, and nodded her head tiredly.

"You're friends are coming, but their not going to make it in time."

Shadow blinked her eyes and let out a groaning whine. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the person looking down at her. She couldn't see much since the light was so dim, but she could make out what appeared to be body armor of some sort. Judging by the voice, she thought it might be a girl close to her age, but everything was just so fuzzy, she couldn't tell.

Slowly, the person knelt down on their knees beside her, and placed both hands on her back.

"Ahh!"

"Shhh sh sh sh, I know it hurts, but it'll be alright soon, I promise."

Shadow whimpered as she felt something cool touch the center of her back and spread outwards like a large piece of ice melting.

Then, everything faded to black.

Flashback end

Piper, Marina and Rondana's jaws were again hanging wide open.

"If what you're saying is true…Shadow…that woman saved your life," Rondana said quietly.

"Oh come on, it wasn't really all that bad was it?" Shadow asked nervously.

"Actually, it was. Shadow, what you just described were symptoms of extreme blood loss and trauma. If you had been alone, you would have died from that one injury, even if the creature had left after inflecting it."

Shadow's face drained of all color. (Hey, it wasn't everyday that you found out you had nearly died.)

"Wait a minute; you said there were two right? You never said anything about a guy in your little story," Piper pointed out.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot. He didn't come until later."

Piper raised an eyebrow. "Later? Shadow, when I got here, it was just you and Griffy. I would have seen anyone here when I arrived."

"Hey, I know what I saw ok! The woman was here, I don't know where she went, but I know that she and the guy were here!"

"What guy? Shadow, you haven't said anything about a guy." Marina stated.

Groaning, Shadow continued.

"It was after I blacked out ok? And no! It wasn't a dream!"

Flashback

Everywhere she looked, Shadow could only see black emptiness.

"Wow, you really had a close one there didn't you?"

"Huh? Who said that?!" Shadow hopped up and drew her crystal ax.

"Hey, hey! No need to run and get something pointy! Besides, it's not a good idea to run with pointy objects, trust me, I know."

"I don't like this, I can't see a thing and this guys is taunting me, I know it."

"Actually, I'm not taunting you, just pointing out the obvious. As for not being able to see, well, you should try opening your eyes."

"Opening my…my eyes are open! Get out here and show yourself! What are you, yellow?"

"Hmm no, not really. A little maybe, but I'm mostly blue and purple."

Shadow's eye twitched.

"Sheesh, why are all girls so temperamental? Even Princess is snippy all the time now."

"I wouldn't be so temperamental if you'd come out of hiding and showed yourself!" Shadow yelled.

"Look, if you want to see me, you have to open your eyes," the voice shot back with a sing-a-song voice.

Before Shadow could shriek or scream, the voice spoke up again. "Try this, close your eyes, then focus on opening them, don't actually open them. You know, like you do when you first wake up in the morning."

Frustrated, but not really able to do anything else, Shadow obliged the voice and closed her eyes.

"Like when I wake up in the morning huh?"

Opening her eyes, Shadow nearly jumped at what she saw.

It was a young man, or older teen (she couldn't really tell) leaning against the rocky wall several feet away lazily.

"There you go, you got it. And on your very first try too."

Although she couldn't actually see his face, she knew he was smirking.

"Great, now I can see, but why did you help me? If you were trying to attack me then you would have when I couldn't see. So your either a good guy or your about to start with the whole 'come to the darkside, we have donuts' spiel."

To her surprise, the person started laughing.

"Oh man, that was a good one! I've got to remember that."

Several seconds of laughter passed before the person wiped a tear from their eye and spoke.

"No, I'm not here to recruit you; it wouldn't really do a whole lota good anyways. I'm speaking to you because I can. We don't get a lot of visitors these days. Well, aside from Princess, and she only comes here to talk to her boy toy."

Shadow could feel a mixture or humor, wistfulness and a touch of anger coming from the person, but she knew that he wasn't hostile somehow. It was like a gut feeling, she just knew it. Plan and simple.

"Ok, soo…what?"

Shrugging his shoulders, the person started walking towards her before speaking.

"Well, as much as I would love to continue our deep and philosophical discussion on the meaning of life, I think your friends need a hand," he said pointing behind her.

Turning to look over her shoulder, Shadow gasped when she saw Piper, Marina and Rondana all frozen in mid attack, along with another of the overgrown insects from the night before.

"Did you do that to them?!" Shadow demanded.

Before she could turn around, a firm hand landed on her shoulder.

"No, I can't really do much of anything other then talk, and even that's limited now. Of course the others will tell you that's all I could ever do to begin with, but they're bunch idiots. What you see here, is you're doing….sort of."

"Sort of? What do you mean?" Shadow asked.

"Well, it's all really technical and kind of complicated."

"You mean you don't know?" Shadow asked with a small grin.

"NO!....Ok, well, actually I DO know it is you, but no, I don't really know how it's done. I just have a basic understanding myself."

"But…how do I fix this?"

"The same way you 'opened your eyes'. Just focus on things moving again and they will."

Shadow swallowed before turning to look up at the person standing beside her.

His face was very pale, the same color as Starling, which told her that he didn't spend much time outside. Other than then he looked…mostly normal. Other than the fact he had several purple colored tattoos on his face, almost like stripes, and…"

"Not a word about them ok? I know, it looks weird, but I can assure you they're real," he said with a bit of annoyance.

Shadow felt her smile grow a little more as a tiny giggle escaped from her.

"Awww their so cute!"

Looking down, the young man pouted. "Why does everyone say that about them? They're just ears, jeeze." As he spoke, the two ears on top of his head twitched slightly.

"Go, your friends need help."

Shadow nodded her head. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I turn my back for one second and everything's gone to pot."

The young man snickered before replying. "I know what you mean, trust me."

Just then Shadow felt a slight pain in her shoulder where his hand was. Five tiny points of pain to be precise.

"I know what you mean. Give him one for me alright? I really hate those things."

Shadow turned and was about to ask for his help, but was surprised to find herself alone.

"Where did he? But…he was right here?"

Turning back to her friends, Shadow did as he told her and focused on everything moving again.

Seconds later, it did, and she struck.

Flashback end

The three stared at her like she was crazy.

"A guy with cat ears? You're joking right?" Piper asked worriedly.

Rondana stepped forward to feel Shadow's head for a temperature.

"I'm serious! Besides, would you really be that surprised to see some guy with cat ears when out on a mission with Kai of all people?"

"Hey, I'm the new girl, don't look at me," Marina said raising her arms in defense.

Rondana and Piper looked at each other, then at Shadow, before looking back at each other.

"She's telling the truth," they both said in unison as their shoulders slumped.

"But if that's the case, where'd they go? People cant just up and vanish like that," Piper said snapping her fingers.

Frowning, Shadow walked over to where she had seen the young woman when she first arrived in the room.

"Actually….I think they can," she said softly.

"What do you mean?" Rondana asked as she and the others moved towards Shadow.

Half turning, Shadow held up one bright blue glowing hand. In the darkness of the cave, the blue glow looked like a small sun in her hand, and illuminated the area in front of them.

The three gasped at what they saw.

"Ok, that is beyond freaky," Rondana said swallowing.

"I don't believe it," Piper said as she brought up her hand.

Marina however, crossed her arms and adopted a solemn expression.

Before them were seven large stone vaults, all of which were sealed shut.

"This isn't a cave," Piper said as her hand traced the intricate carving on the one closest to her.

"It's a tomb," Marina said as she closed her eyes and lowered her head out of respect.

End chapter 12

AN: Ok, so this could be considered a cliff hanger, but I think it was a good place to stop the chapter cause the next bit is going to be loooooong and will take up an entire chapter. I actually didn't notice until after writing this chapter that every time something big happens to Shadow, Starling has a big event as well in my work. Weird huh? Anyways, the group will be on this terra for about three more chapters. After that it's on to the next terra, which due to figuring out my first puzzle, Arashi21 got to pick out. I won't say what it is yet, you'll have to wait.

However, that doesn't mean you've got nothing to do but read (and hopefully review). Here is my second riddle which everyone (other than Arashi21) has a chance at solving (sorry buddy, but you know the answer already and you've already won once.)

Whoever gets the most correct gets to pick out which terra if visited after Arashi21's pick. I'll send the choices to the winner as a PM.

Ready? Here we go!

First: Who is the woman?

Second: Who is the cat guy?

Third: Who are in the seven sealed tombs?

I'd love to give a hint or a clue, but that wouldn't be as much fun. I've tried to write the two characters shown in this one as in character as possible (which is the primary reason for this chapters lateness) I'll accept answers in the form of PM's or reviews.

I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, I know I did! Please leave a few kind words or thoughts; they're what keep me going these days.

Be on the lookout for chapter 13: 'The Price of Power' sometime later this week.

Till next time, Ja Ne! (Dang, it didn't get its own page this time lol)