Winds of Change Book II: Distant Thunder
Chapter 21: Problems, Pains and Poisons!
AN: Ok, I'm back! This chapter, like a few of my others will be a bit of a rollercoaster, but, it will be different regarding the 'temperament'. This is my first serous attempt at writing something…romantic esq. I've been practicing with my Digimon fics, but this is my first 'dive' into the strange, confusing, and all around annoying world of romantic writing, so I ask that you bare with me as I try too feel my way around in the dark here. I only have the most basic of understanding in writing this, and that comes from reading other peoples work.
Oh, and don't forget check out Arashi21's profile for his work as well as a few that we are joint writing.
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 or the 'Deathclaws'. They are the property of Asaph "Ace" Fipke and made by Nerd Corps Entertainment, Sony Entertainment Nintendo and Bethsaida (I think) however I DO own Kai, Rose, the Shadow crystal, Kanin, Tsuki, Majah 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
Kai narrowed his eyes in annoyance at the red clad form of Kanin as he once again leapt up onto a high branch and jumped from tree to tree.
"He's doing this on purpose, I know it," Kai thought as he watched the 'Werewolf' leap ahead by another twenty meters.
Since they had left the village a little over an hour ago, the young warrior had made it a point to keep as much distance between himself and the other two as possible. Only staying within sight, but far enough away to be a nuisance.
"Come on Star, where are you." Kai's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of heavy breathing coming from behind.
Looking over his shoulder, he saw Starling come out from behind one of the thousands of identically dead tree's that littered the terra, obviously out of breath.
He knew that she was in top shape, but there was still one unarguable fact, and that was that she was human. That meant she had limitations as far as endurance and stamina were concerned that Kanin didn't. Kai himself was only able to keep up because of his powered armor suit.
Two level five Nimbus crystals in the boots gave him jumping capabilities close to Kanin's 'natural' (if being a six foot seven sliver furred Werewolf is considered normal) abilities.
"Star, if you need to stop, I can get Kanin to…"
"No….don't….bother…with….him," Starling cut him off between breaths.
"Star, you can't keep this up. You'll wear yourself out. Kanin said that its still a ways off, you won't be able to help us much if you can barely stand," Kai pointed out, feeling bad for his friend.
Taking a deep breath, Starling glared at him.
"I am fine Kai, you need to stop worrying about me and focus on the mission. If you can't keep your priorities straight, then you'll never be able to work effectively in a team," Starling lectured.
"Even when she's exhausted, she can find the strength to patronize me," Kai chuckled mentally.
"Still…this is going to be a problem. What can we do to…" Kai remembered something similar to this happening back quite some years ago, but now the roles had been reversed. He and Starling had been exploring terra Mesa, but had gone just a bit too far out. Since he was younger and smaller than her at the time, Kai had tired out quicker, and needed a hand getting back home.
Coughing into his hand to hide the pink tinge spreading across his face, Kai turned away from his friend.
"Star…I…uh…would you like…I mean, if you wanted, I could give you a hand," Kai offered, making sure that he was facing away from her.
Rising an eyebrow, Starling crossed her arms and leaned against a nearby tree. Though she didn't say it, she was grateful for the short respite to catch her breath.
"And just what did you have in mind?"
"Well….remember back when we were kids…and…" swallowing, Kai continued. "Remember when we found those old mines?"
Starling's eyes narrowed, trying to figure what her ex-apprentice was getting at.
"The mines? That was years ago, what is he…oh…OH," Starlings eyes widened just a tiny bit.
"Kai, I don't think that would be a good idea," Starling replied as level as she could.
Still not turning to face her, he tried again.
"If you keep this up, there's a good chance that you'll get hurt Star. It was hard enough to fight those things at full strength; do you want to risk fighting a cave full of them when you're worn out?" Kai countered.
"He's right about that….but still…I don't like this." Starling weighed the two options out. On the one hand, Kai was right about her needing to conserve her energy. She was pushing herself as it was, and she doubted that she could keep up a pace like this for much longer.
On the other hand though…
"Forget about it, it was a stupid idea. Sorry to bring it up," Kai said before starting to move out.
Biting her lip, Starling balled her fists and let out a sigh of frustration.
"Wait a second. Kai, it's not a…stupid idea. It….it…actually would make a lot of sense."
Swallowing nervously, Kai waited.
Moving towards her friend, Starling placed one hand on his shoulder.
"Do…you think you can do it? I mean, it wouldn't be too much trouble would it?" She asked slightly flustered.
Kai shook his head.
"No, not really. Not as long as I got this thing on…err…uh; I wouldn't be a problem, no, not at all. Just…what do you want to do?"
Thinking for a moment, Starling groaned. "I guess I'll go for the back. It would be awkward for you to try…the other way."
Nodding, Kai dropped to one knee, still facing away from her.
Not needing an invitation, and knowing that the situation was just as uncomfortable for him as it was for her, Starling wrapped her arms around his neck. As soon as he felt her grip was secure, Kai stood up and reached out to grab hold of the outsides of her legs, and secured them to his sides.
"Hang on."
It was the only warning she got before he took off running at top speed into the 'dead' forest.
When he jumped for the first time, Starling closed her eyes. It wasn't that she was afraid of heights, far from it. But the long jumps made her feel nauseous. Going up about ten or so feet, then coming back down with a thud was not easy when you were piggy backing someone. She mused that it wouldn't be as bad had she been jumping like this herself, but hanging onto someone's back like a piece of luggage while they were doing it felt like riding a skimmer with a busted transmission.
"I can't remember the last time I got motion sickness this bad," Starling thought to herself as she tightened her grip slightly. Since they had started, Starling had gone from slightly nervous to feeling queasy and nauseous.
"I think…I'm coming down sick…" Starling thought as she started feeling hotter than the overcast weather could be blamed for.
Kai wasn't doing much better himself.
He had always prided himself on being able to 'keep his head in the game'. But right now, a rather annoying voice (that ironically sounded a lot like Ayrgyn) was causing him quite a bit of grief.
"Aw, how cute. Nice job by the way. Didn't think you'd ever get the guts to try something like that."
Scowling, Kai ignored the voice as best he could.
"Her arms around your neck, you holding onto her by the legs. You can even feel her breath on your neck cant you? Tisk tisk tisk, what was that oath of yours? Something about mission first, others second, self last? Looks like you managed to flip the order around and keep it the same at the same time. Gotta give you points there kid."
Scowl deepening, Kai decided to give this Ayrgyn a piece of his mind. Something he had never been able to do with the real one.
"Shut up! This was to help her! I don't want her getting killed out here!"
"Oh sure, sure, I know. But face it, your not exactly finding this to be torture are you? You're enjoying it, admit it!"
"…So what if I am? Nothing will come of it, so it doesn't matter. Neither of us have time to waste on something like that, with each other or anyone else. So it's not worth even considering," Kai said forcefully.
"Oh, I don't know. You've seen plenty of other people juggle the two. Why should you be any different?"
"We're different because those people don't have the same responsibilities we do. The mission comes first, before ANYTHING else. We're in a war, and when your fighting, sentiments and emotions only cause you more pain that anything else."
"Oh? Then what about when the mission is over? When the war ends? What about then?"
Kai's eyes narrowed.
"My mission ends when my life ends. Besides, she holds nothing of the sort for me. You're wasting your breath, and my time. Be gone annoyance."
Landing, Kai looked around, trying to catch a hint of where Kanin had gone off too. Seeing a large figure jump in the distance, he followed it. Keeping the mission as his sole focus, and ignoring the feeling of Starling's face in the crook of his neck, and blocking out the lavender scent he knew was hers.
Piper groaned.
"This is hopeless," she muttered under her breath.
She had hoped that the woman of the village would be able to lend a hand, but none of them we even willing to look her in the eye. It was like they were afraid of her for some reason.
Feeling a hand on her shoulder Piper spun around on reflex, coming face to face with the gentle smile of Majah.
"Things not working out the way you had hoped?" He asked knowingly.
Piper looked away to hide her sour expression.
"They won't even look at me, no way they'd listen to anything I have to say. We don't have a prayer of pulling this off on our own. We need help!" Piper growled.
Majah shook his head sadly. "It is our way Piper. The women of our village have never fought before; they are used to the men handling that, along with the hunting."
Piper glared at the old man, but he didn't seem to be phased by it in the least. She could have sworn that there was a flicker of mirth burning in his tired old eyes.
"We're going to be fighting creatures that are more than a match for your best fighters, and all we have to work with is me, the rest of the crew, ten guards, and a dozen or so guys. Not exactly the kind of odd's I would be willing to bet my life on," Piper said dryly.
"What would you suggest then?" Majah asked curiously.
Sighing, Piper looked at the village around them, and shook her head. "The best thing I could think of would be a tactical retreat. To abandon the village and try to regroup somewhere to launch a counter attack. But we don't have the time or the resources to do that. All we can do…is fight to the last man…and hope that a miracle happens. Otherwise, we're going to be the Deathclaw's diner," Piper said with a shrug.
Majah's face scrunched up in confusion.
"How can you say that so easily?"
Piper laughed dryly. "When you're used to putting your neck on the line, the thought of death really doesn't seem as frightening as it once did. You get used to it after a while. I can't even tell you how many times I've almost died just on this mission alone," she said matter-of-factly.
Her gaze settled on the rather ornate armband on Majah's right arm. Thinking back, she remembered seeing Kanin having one very similar himself.
"Come to think of it….all the males in the village have them," Piper though as she stared at the armband.
It was made of cloth, but it was made up of many thick bands of cloth woven together. Majah's was mostly dark blue, but it had a decorative red design that ran along the outside edges.
"What are those for?" Piper asked, pointing at Majah's forearm.
Majah smiled. "These are for when we need them," he replied with a shrug.
"Need them? Need them for what?" Piper asked, focusing intently on the mans face. She could tell that there was something else at play here, something big.
"Piper, what do you know about Werewolves?" Majah asked thoughtfully.
That caught Piper off guard.
"Werewolves? Where did that come from? Ok, think Piper. What did those old books used to say about them? Big, strong, claws, allergic to silver, transform wherever there is a full moon….wait a minute, I saw some of them transform during the raid, but it was broad daylight. How could they have…the armbands! That must be it!"
"I know a little, but I'm not sure how your guards were able to transform during broad daylight, unless that thing about the full moon is bogus," Piper said casually, not wanting to 'tip her hand' quite yet.
Majah nodded, impressed by the girls keen perception.
"You are correct Piper. We do require Lunar rays from the full moon to transform, but we have found…ways of getting around that," as he spoke, Majah removed his arm band and held it out towards Piper.
Still trying to figure out where this was all going, but at the same time intrigued, Piper took the armband in hand and examined it more closely. She had been right, it was made of some sort of cloth, but there was something else. In the middle of the cloth, about half the size of her palm was a hard lump.
Turning it around, she found a strip of cloth that ran from the inside of the armband and stuck out of one end by just a tiny bit. It was frayed, apparently from being pulled or tugged frequently over the years.
Pinching the cloth strip, Piper pulled on it, and was surprised to see a whitish grey glow come from inside the armband. Turning it inside out, she found the source of the glow.
A Lunar crystal.
Looking back up at Majah, Piper's eyes widened.
"Of course! That's it!" Tossing the armband at Majah, Piper took off for the medical cabin that the others were staying in. She had been looking for something, ANYTHING to use to build a plan around, and now,
She had it.
Majah chuckled as he folded the cloth strip back into place before turning the armband right side in again, and slipped over his hand.
"Smart girl, it didn't take her as long as I thought it would," Majah said before walking off towards the main gate with a smile.
"I can't believe I'm doing this," Starling thought with a groan. She was a highly trained Special Forces operative, she was a flight lead and commander of the Interceptors, she was a highly decorated war hero.
She was piggyback riding her childhood friend.
If she looked deep enough, she was sure that she would find some 'divine reason' of 'lesson' to learn from the experience. She just hopped that it wasn't that destiny, fate, chance, luck or whatever higher powers there were DID have a sense of humor. Oddly, Finn came to mind when she considering that train of thought.
At first she had just felt a little bit ill, but that gradually went away.
Sadly, it was replaced with something that in her opinion was far worst.
Fluster
For the last thirty minutes, she had been hanging onto her friend like a backpack as he ran and jumped through the wood like some kind of armor clad Tarzan.
Her queasy feeling had settled once she pressed her head into the crook of his neck to try and block out the sight of the ground beneath them. Of course, while she could no longer see anything, she could still hear, feel and smell.
The first thing that had assaulted her senses was smell. She knew that Kai had a scent; she remembered it vaguely from when they were younger, when she would hold him at night if he had a nightmare or if it was an especially cold night. But now….now it was different. It was not a 'foul' odor, but it was far stronger than she remembered it being. There was the familiar mix of air and earth, but there was also just a touch of ash, like the remains of a campfire one woke up to in the morning. It was a warm, almost comforting smell.
She unintentionally rubbing her head into the crook of his neck as she tried to block out that line of thinking, however, she only seemed to make her predicament worse.
Her head was now close enough to him that she could actually hear his breathing.
She knew that the suit was doing a majority of the work, but she could still hear his deep intakes and exhales. It was a calming rhythm that she found to be oddly soothing. She actually had to fight to keep herself alert and fight off the drowsy fog clouding her mind. Not wanting to risk falling, she tightened her grip with both her arms and thighs. It was just a slight bit, but the added contact proved to be the final 'pin' in the cushion. She was now not only able to feel his breathing, but also his muscles at they moved beneath her securely locked limbs.
Again, she felt it. His chest might have been covered by armor, but his back had only an X strap going from the hips to the shoulders holding it in place. Every time he jumped she could feel the muscles in his back move. She didn't know why, but this flustered her more than anything else. She could take his scent, she could take the sounds of his breathing, but this was just too much.
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! SNAP OUT OF IT!"
Mentally she was pounding herself mercilessly, but it didn't seem to be helping matters in the least.
"Pull yourself together! You're a soldier! There is a mission at hand; there is no time for this!"
Her thoughts were jarred when they hit the ground from Kai's previous jump. She actually felt the muscles in his back stretch and roll under her.
Groaning mentally, she felt her face heating up.
"This is wrong, wrong, wrong! He's my friend, and this is a mission not a date!"
Starling was not blind, she knew that Kai far from ugly, and that he had in the past dated around a bit, but she doubted that he had done anything of the sort in over a year.
"Not like I can say anything though, it's been…what, five? Six years since I ever bothered trying?"
Eyes widening, Starling and to fight to not fall off from her position.
"Where the blazes did that come from! Why do I care how long its been since either of us….GGRRRRAAH!"
Taking a calming deep breath, Starling gathered the broken remains of her 'mask' and forced them back into place.
"He's almost five years younger than me, it wouldn't be right. He's better off with someone his age. Besides, he sees me as a big sister, nothing like….that," Starling thought as she felt control returning to her and away from her emotions.
The past thirty minutes had been nothing short of pure, agonizing, torture to Kai.
It was bad enough that he was on one of the few terra's he had little esteem for, and was stuck with Kanin of all people as a guide, but what made it a thousand times worse was Starling.
He had offered to give her a ride to where they were going, and he knew it would be…uncomfortable, but he had no idea that it would be this bad. A part of him was debating on just giving her the armor to use and they continue separately.
But there was this tiny little part of his mind that wouldn't let him voice that thought.
The most 'contact' he had with Starling in the last three years was a handshake, that was it. Now he had her clinging to his back like a Kola cub.
What he hated about the current situation however was that he was enjoying every last second of it.
Her arms were laced around his neck securely, but not tightly. He could still move his head and neck just as easily as he could normally, and thanks to the armor, he didn't feel an ounce of weight from her, only her contact with him.
And that was the problem.
Her legs were wrapped around his waist, with his hands holding onto the underside of her thighs for added support. He tried earlier to let go, but the result was her tightening her grip around his neck, nearly choking him. Due to this hold however, he could feel the firm muscles in her upper legs in his hands. He knew from personal experience just how much power she packed in her legs. Her punch could knock the wind out of you, but her kicks could knock you out cold in one hit.
Oh yes, he knew that very well.
Above this problem however was her head. He couldn't figure out why for the life of him, but she had her head down between his neck and shoulder, using the crook as a pillow of sorts. This caused several issues. First was her hair. It might look spiky and course, but the tresses of her bang felt like the finest silk against his neck. It wasn't uncomfortable at all, the smooth texture made a cold chill run down his spine every time she moved her face. Along with this was the torture of her breathing. At first she had been breathing through her mouth, still trying to catch her breath from running he figured. He swore to build several temples to Ayrgyn once she stopped that and began breathing normally again.
This however presented a new problem. Her light breathing, combined with her continuing 'nuzzling' were continuously tickling his neck. He knew that it wasn't her fault, she had to breathe after all, but this he decided was preferable to how she had been breathing when he first started carrying her.
The final issue however was the one he had completely forgotten, and it was causing him the most grief.
Though the straps running from his shoulders to his hips were surprisingly thick, he had to remove the plate he normally kept on his back to secure the added armor.
This made him acutely aware of Starling pressing into his back.
"GAAH! I don't know how much more of this I can take! Is she trying to kill me or something?! She's my friend, nothing more! No! Not friend! Family! She's family! She thinks of you as her little brother, or annoying cousin, nothing more, nothing!" Though he was successful in regaining complete control, he felt oddly saddened by that thought.
Rushing into the cabin, Piper grabbed Tigger by the arm and yanked her up out of her seat.
"ComeonTiggerwedon'thavemuchtimewehavetohurry!" Piper shouted as she dragged the confused girl (who was still holding a fork in one hand) towards Kai's ship.
When her brain finally rebooted, Tigger dug her heels into the ground and brought Piper to a halt.
"What?! Piper, what are you going on about?" The young blond asked, not very happy about having her lunch interrupted.
"We have to hurry, I have a plan on how to make all the villagers transform, you see they need Lunar rays to transform but only the men have Lunar crystals, but then I remembered that Kai's ship has Lunar crystals all over the hull to help keep it charged while its flying at night, so then I remembered that the polarity of a charging crystal can be reversed and that instead of absorbing Lunar rays we can make them give off Lunar rays which would transform all the villagers into their Werewolf state and give us a chance to fight and actually win against the Deathclaws!" Piper said in one breath before panting to catch her breath again.
Tigger blinked.
Then blinked again.
"Uhh….Piper…are you supposed to be on some medication that you didn't tell us about?" Tigger asked worriedly.
Piper scrowled.
"Tigger, the people of this terra are Werewolves, we've seen that. They transform when their bodies are hit with Lunar rays, most likely from a full moon. The males all have special armbands with Lunar crystals in them, that's what lets them transform. Kai's ship is COVERED in Lunar crystals. If we can reverse the polarity of those crystals, and make them give off Lunar rays instead of absorbing them, we can transform all the villages people into Werewolves simultaneously. That would give us the numbers we need to fight off the Deathclaws!" Piper said (slower than before, but still pretty darn fast).
It took a moment for Tigger to figure out what Piper was trying to say, but when she did, her passive face broke into a smirk.
"They'll never know what hit them!" Tigger said as she twirled her prized wrench from her belt between her fingers.
"Let's do it."
Marina scowled. She was not in a good mood. The men of the village did nothing but tick her off, and the woman were so pathetic it disgusted her.
"If they're too frightened to take their freedom, and control of their lives into their hands, then they don't deserve it," Marina muttered to herself.
Finding a small oasis however perked her mood considerably. Water wasn't exactly rare on terra Gerudo, as they did have was to make it or reach it, but to find a natural body of water was something of a legend. Kai had once told her of a terra that was nothing but water, and at first she thought he was joking, but when the others confirmed it she found herself speechless. Not even the Zora Kingdom was 'completely' water; it just had a lot of water.
Smiling to herself, Marina debated on jumping in or not. She wasn't tired, but she was feeling fairly stressed out, and a cool swim sounded like just the thing to help her relax.
Taking a few steps back, she charged full speed, thinking about how much she was going to enjoy taking this little dip.
Or rather, she had thought it.
Right before she jumped in, she saw something that stopped her dead in her tracks.
A dead bird.
And not just any bird, but a dead buzzard.
Being a desert dweller, she knew full well how resilient the creatures were to dying from anything short of a fireball, and even that was up for debate.
"What in Din's name could have done this?" Stepping towards the dead bird carefully, Marina surveyed the area closely, trying to see if there was anything around that might provide her with a clue.
"It's quiet…too quiet. I know this terra lacks variety in wildlife, but I remember hearing insects back at the village. There should be even more around water though, not less." Frowning, Marina took her gloves from her belt and put them on before kneeling down next to the bird.
"Strange, no sign of external damage. No holes, no claw marks, no teeth marks, every feather is still perfectly in place." Rolling the bird over, she gave it a once over from beak to tail feathers, but that only made things even more confusing.
"The feathers are healthy, its not molting, and it doesn't look like something exploded inside of it…what would have caused a healthy bird, a buzzard at that to just suddenly drop dead?"
Removing her gloves, Marina moved closer to the lake to wash off her hands and stopped.
She was able to see her reflection perfectly.
"That's odd….the water is…shining? Water doesn't shine, not unless it's from one of the Great Fairy Wells." Picking up a nearby stick, Marina moved it around in the water a bit, and was surprised to see that the water itself was not 'shining' but that there was a reflective coating of 'something' on top of the water.
Pulling the stick up, she watched as the reddish silvery film ran down the stick back into the water like a thin stream of syrup.
"What the…it stuck together in one piece?" Thinking back, Marina tried to remember if she had seen anything like this before, but she couldn't come up with anything even close.
That was when she became aware of the fact that she was no longer alone. One did not live long as a ruler of thieves and hunter of large prey without developing a sixth sense.
"Whatever it is, its not moving….but it is watching me…but why?" The feeling was making her skin crawl; she was a predator, not prey. But whatever it was that was watcher her, was at least her level, if not greater.
Standing up slowly, bent down and quickly tore off the left leg of her pants and wrapped it around the dead bird. She kept her head down, but was scanning the area around her the entire time. She knew the 'law of the jungle' well, and was not going to die here.
Pulling back on her gloves, Marina carefully picked up the dead buzzard, and stepped away from the oasis facing it. She hated having to be submissive, even if it was only for a few moments, but right now, she knew that to do otherwise would be a mistake. It wasn't just her life on the line now, it was an entire village, and that came before pride.
Watching from a discreet distance, a pair of milky yellow eyes watched the red haired woman back away. Growling, it clinched it teeth in anger. It knew that now was not the time, but soon.
Soon it would be.
End chapter 21
AN: Ok, I know this chapter was a bit short, but I felt that this would be a good place to stop for now. The next scene will be with Kai, Starling and Kanin, and it didn't fit too well here, so it will be the start of the next chapter, and will pretty much be the entire next chapter. I hope my first serious attempt at something romantic' wasn't too bad, I'm still laying out the ground work for the actual relationship, this was more or less the 'spark' that will get things starting beyond what they normally are. But, quite a bit has been revealed in this short chapter, but even more questions are not at hand *I love being evil lol* And I'll go a step further now.
Look out for the next chapter:
'Horrors of the Ancients, Kai's Mission Revealed!'
Soon!
Till next time, Ja Ne!