Well... here's the next chapter of the Storm Hawks Eight. I hope you likey! Please R&R!
The next morning, Aerrow's emerald eyes fluttered open.
"Wow," he mumbled, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head, "that was a good night's sleep, right Radarr?"
He looked around after noticing that there was no reply from his furry blue co-pilot.
"Radarr?" he called, "Where are you?"
He climbed out of bed, dressed in a clean pair of his uniforms and looked all around the room. He got himself ready and came out of his room, and soon, one-by-one, the others all got out of their rooms too, except for Kara.
"Morning, everyone," Aerrow greeted.
The rest of the team said 'good morning' and had a quick conversation on how they slept last night, and Kara walked out of her room, not dressed in her uniform, but in a long-sleeved, plain dark blue dress that complimented her curves. It had a V-shape neckline, revealing the light blue, star-shaped pendant hanging around her neck, and the dress just reached her ankles. She was wearing a pair of light blue slippers that made her footsteps silent.
Adrian, Aerrow, and Finn all gave her long, low whistles, making her flush in embarrassment.
"Very nice," Piper stated, grinning.
"It's cute," Junko added, smiling.
Kara smiled back. "Thanks guys. The maids came to my door early this morning and insisted I wore this," she explained.
Without warning, Radarr came out of Kara's room.
"There you are, Radarr! I was wondering where you've been," Aerrow said, "I'm guessing you stayed in Kara's room for the rest of last night."
Radarr nodded, running up to him.
"You look beautiful," Adrian complimented to Kara.
"Thanks," she replied back, blushing slightly.
Finn grinned at her half-jokingly, "Hey. If you ever are in need of a date, I'm here for ya."
Kara laughed, "Thanks Finn. I'll keep that in mind."
Adrian walked over so he stood in front of her and gave a cheezy bow, then offered his arm out to her. "May I be given the high honour of escorting you, Milady?" he asked in both a teasing tone and a noble accent.
Kara stifled a chuckle, and slipped her arm through his. "Why, yes you may, kind sir," she replied in the same sort of tone and accent.
The rest of the Storm Hawks laughed.
"So, are we going to go to the Dining Hall before Queen Arra has our tails for being late?" Adrian asked with his normal voice, his arm still slipped through Kara's.
"Let's get going," Aerrow said enthusiastically, offering his arm to Piper, which she took with a laugh.
"The Love Bug will infect us all!" Stork exclaimed, following behind them at the end, "I should get us all repellents before it's too late…"
"Awww…" Finn muttered to himself, "Why don't I get any of the girls?"
"Come on, Finn!" Junko stated happily, "Let's go!"
"I tell you… Mindworms," Stork said, his eyes flashing around warily, though no one heard him.
When they arrived in the Dining Hall, they were warmly greeted by Queen Arra.
"Good morning, Storm Hawks!" she exclaimed enthusiastically.
"Good morning, Your Majesty," they replied curtly.
Arra's eyes flickered over Kara's form. "You look lovely!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands in delight.
"T-Thanks," Kara stammered, her face beginning to turn as red as Aerrow's hair.
A chuckle escaped from Arra, and then she addressed them all.
"Now, come join me for breakfast," she insisted, leading them over to the large wooden table that had tons and tons of food on it, such as fruits, pancakes, waffles, eggs, jam, syrup, sausages, sandcakes, and other breakfast foods.
While Finn and Junko were busy stuffing themselves with food, Aerrow, Piper, Kara, and Adrian were sitting with the queen, chatting while they ate. Stork excused himself from breakfast, claiming to be busy fixing up something.
"So… what's this 'sacred ritual' I have to perform?" Kara questioned.
"It's a performance of a sacred dance on the Lake of Purity. It has been told that one chosen person will successfully perform it. Many have tried, all have failed," the queen explained.
"Did you say, 'on the lake'?" Aerrow questioned.
Arra nodded.
"But, how is that possible?" Piper asked, confused, "The only way you could walk on water is by using a floater crystal or something similar."
"Not necessarily," Arra disagreed, "that is why this is a sort of test in ways too. Only the true chosen one can walk on the Lake of Purity without the use on any crystals."
"But why me?" Kara implored.
"Two reasons: One; out of all the Storm Hawks, only you know the sacred dance, because you learned it when you were younger, and two; you're the Guardian of Atmos, so we're hoping you might be the one," Arra explained.
"Pardon me, Your Highness," Adrian addressed politely, "but what is the meaning of the ritual? What is it suppose to do?"
Queen Arra's eyes dimmed. "To release the souls trapped in the lake, and awaken the spiritual guardians of Foresta, who were put into a deep sleep by an evil Cyclonian sorcerer, who, sadly, escaped and fled back to Cyclonia," she replied.
"Hey, Arra?" Kara asked suddenly and informally, "Is Chase still on Foresta? Does he know we're here?"
Arra nodded. "Lord Chase is currently setting a perimeter around the Lake of Purity and gathering people to watch. He knows you're here, and has much faith in you. He'll be joining us for the ritual."
"Who's this 'Lord Chase'?" Adrian asked, a tint of jealousy in his voice.
"He's a friend of mine. We were introduced when I crashed here three years ago. He helped me train to become a Sky Knight," Kara replied, "He's a few years older than me, and boy, was he one harsh instructor. Probably lost some of his edge over the years though."
Aerrow smiled. "I see your memory of this place has come back to you," he teased.
Piper giggled, "I wonder if he'd be able to beat Adrian, Kara and Aerrow."
"You've no idea how many bruises I've received from that man," Kara groaned, "It's far too easy to underestimate him. Trust me, I've made that mistake before."
"But then again, your skills must have improved from then," Adrian said.
She shrugged. "I suggest that Aerrow goes against Chase. He's better at Sky Fu than me."
"Not true," Aerrow disagreed," If it's a Sky Fu battle, I vote Piper. She is the master out of all of us."
Piper flushed in embarrassment, but all the Storm Hawks knew it was true.
"I agree," Adrian chimed, "But if it's a Sky Knight duel, it's Aerrow all the way."
"Obviously," Kara agreed, "Chase probably knows most of my moves."
Queen Arra laughed. "Oh, I can see that all of you are very good friends!"
Kara raised an eyebrow. "Do I suspect a double meaning in those words?" she accused suspiciously.
Arra smiled. "All in good time," she replied simply.
She sighed, "Very well then."
"So… when is the ritual?" Piper questioned.
"In about 7 hours," Arra answered, "Kara will be dressed in a special outfit, and will need a special staff, but those are all ready for her."
"Wait…" Kara paused in shock," that outfit?!"
The queen nodded. "You have to wear it," she informed her.
"No! I really, really don't like that outfit! It looked so bad on me before!" She protested.
"That was before, and this is now. You can't have looked that bad," Aerrow countered.
"Heck, yes I can! Well, I did," she replied, "but still…"
"Besides," Adrian interrupted, "you'd probably look great!"
Kara rolled her eyes. "Can we please talk about a subject that doesn't involve me?" she pleaded.
The had all finished eating now at this point.
Arra looked at Aerrow. "So, how did the present Storm Hawks come to be?"
"Well…" Aerrow began, "I'm the last descendant of the original Storm Hawks, and so I was given their mission to defend and protect Atmos from evil, beasts, rogues, and Cyclonians. Piper, Finn, Junko, Stork, Radarr and I soon came together and we became the Storm Hawks. We met Adrian and Kara on Terra Neon just a few weeks ago, after they helped save Stork, and we asked them to join us, which they accepted."
"Obviously," Piper added, rolling her eyes at Aerrow, "Or else none of us would even be here on Terra Foresta."
He laughed, "Right!"
Adrian, Kara, Piper and Arra joined in the laughter.
Suddenly, Finn, Junko, and Stork came up to them.
"Um… mindworms…" Stork muttered.
"So… now what are we going to do?" Finn questioned.
"Hey, can we take a look at your training place or training room?" Aerrow asked Kara.
She gave an easy shrug. "Sure, if you want to."
"Is it still there, over all those years?" Junko asked, eyes wide.
Finn scoffed and rolled his blue eyes. "Dude, good buddy, it's only been three years. Of course its still there." Then he looked at both Kara and Queen Arra. "Right?"
Arra chuckled, "Of course. Kara, if you don't mind, do you want to take them to your training room? I have some matters to attend to."
She shook her head. "I don't mind at all. I'll see you at the Lake of Purity late then," she said, walking off with the rest of the Storm Hawks.
The queen dipped her head once, then left in the opposite direction. "Of course. Until then."
Well... that's it for now (the chapter, I mean, not the story, d'oh), and I'll update as soon as possible. Just to tell the readers out there, I already have some of the story written on paper, and I just type it up online. So I can actually update sooner than I usually do, but you have to review and tell me what you think to do that! lol. And for those of you who DO review, thank you so much (in advance), and I really appreciate the reviews!!!!!!!!