"Oh no? Part of a Squadron then, are you? Oh, yes...not the Third Degree Morons, by any chance?" The Dark Ace snarled. Weaver shuddered, broke the blaze of eye contact between hated crimson and terrified brown.
"I'm not part of any squadron! I told you lot, I'm just from round here!" There was nothing else for it. She was pretty much between a rock and...a sharp implement whether she lied or not.
"Oh, of course. Well I'll just let you be on your way then, shall I?" He seemed to relax.
Weaver felt hope spring up, "that'd sure be--"
The Dark Ace flicked his blade away. His free hand caught around Weavers throat; she felt her breath hitch and then stop. She tried to thrash but the pressure in her head, the red and black that shadowed across her vision, the burning ache in her chest made it impossible.
"Normally I prefer to defeat enemies in the sky...but if you insist you're a civilian..." that voice was...almost hot with anger, but so calm...
She could feel her face going red. Her hands were scrabbling against the cliff, gouging into the soft red rock. Coherent thoughts were slipping away into shadows...if she could just force her body to respond, use the frantic adrenaline pounding in her veins...
"Dark Ace, sir! An airship has been detected in the immediate airspace. We believe it's the Condor!" The Dark Ace snarled, relaxed his grip for a moment. Weaver gasped, her lungs fighting for every second of that breath. Her knee snapped up; and she felt for a moment as though time froze. Then the hand wasn't around her throat, and she was slithering downwards onto her knees, throwing herself away from the hunched figure of the Dark Ace.
She had to get up that cliff, had to, or she'd never get away at all. Her mind didn't engage with her legs as she pelted up the tiny path, and flung herself onto her skimmer. She stopped, for a fraction of a second; peered into the mining crater. Grinned to herself, and winked. She didn't think anybody would see.
* * * * * * * * * *
"Piiiiper! Where are we?"
"Finn! You asked me that two minutes ago!"
"So? Where are we now?"
"Argh! Finn, we're two minutes closer to Terra Saharr than we were when you last asked! Now go...play guitar or--" Piper tried to stop herself, but it was too late; she'd already said it. Guitar.
"Hah! Yes! You gave me permission, now you can't complaiiin!"
Piper cradled her face in her hands and sighed. She felt a warm hand on her shoulder, and looked up into Aerrow's green eyes. They were glinting with amusement. She risked a tiny smile.
"Stork, what is our status?" Aerrow asked the Merb, who was hunched over the flight instruments of the Condor, eyes flicking rapidly between them.
"Fuel is fine...speed is about average...everything seems to be fine, except for the geyser which is about to destroy us...." Storks eye twitched and he placed his hands almost reverently on the Condor's controls. Geysers were fairly easy to avoid, really, but you never could be sure, with giant spouts of water...
"What?" Squeaked Piper, "what geyser? Stork, can you get us any closer so I can check it out?"
Aerrow leaned against the observation windows of the bridge. "Hey yeah, it looks like some kind of giant water feature on Terra Saharr! And there's a skimmer heading right for us!"
"Could be some kind of Cyclonian trap...I knew it. We're doomed."
"Aerrow," said Piper, "they're coming this way. It looks like they're in real trouble. We should help."
Aerrow's brown furrowed, minutely. He swept a hand across his red hair. "You're right, Piper. It could be a trap but we can't risk it...Sky Knights are meant to help. Stork, can you pilot the Condor nearer to the skimmer?"
* * * * * * * * * *
The skimmer shuddered, sparks and smoke dancing across the engine. The machine, and Weaver, were saturated. She clenched her teeth against the freezing cold rush of air that was washing over her soggy form. The airship was getting closer. It would have to be the Condor, wouldn't it? And the Condor was piloted by the Storm Hawks. That at least sounded hopeful.
The airship loomed up out of a cloudbank. Sun glinted off its metal hull and the huge glass panes of the bridge. Dully, Weaver realised she was going way too fast- the ship's runway was surging up towards her. With cold, slow fingers, she clutched at the breaks. The skimmer slowed, loosing height and lift, and she retracted her wings; the tyres swung out, in time to hit the runway and squeal as they skidded on an angle towards the air skimmer bay. The skimmer swayed and then toppled and Weaver was flung off. Her entrance could have, perhaps, been a little more graceful.
She got up, groggily. She wasn't alone.
There were five...well, kids, standing by their own skimmers, watching her warily. The biggest one- wait, a Wallop- was staring at her mangled skimmer with a horrified fascination.
"Cool landing, dude!" The voice was enthusiastic, and belonged to a blond boy, who was grinning. Weaver returned a feeble grin.
"I'm Aerrow, Sky Knight, and this is my squadron, the Storm Hawks. Who are you?" The voice was young, but brimming with confidence. Weaver glanced over the one who had spoken- red hair, sharp green eyes, a blue, err, thing on his shoulder. He stood easily with his arms crossed.
"Weaver. I don't have a squadron, but I did train under the Interceptor for a year." She caught the glance between Aerrow and the girl. It said can we trust her?
"I'm sorry about, err, dropping in so uninvited. I was doing some recon, and, well, sabotage on a Cyclonian mining camp on Terra Saharr. The Third Degree Burners are missing, too...and then I had a slight run-in with the Dark Ace and a geyser crystal." She brushed damp strands of hair off her face, and glanced back at her skimmer. It was ruined. "If you could drop me off at the next wayside, I'd be entirely grateful...I'd be off now, only my skimmer is...well, you can see it."
"No way! You gotta stay for a while! Junko here's an excellento mechanic! He can fix up your skimmer, right buddy?"
"Uhm, sure Finn, but Aerrow..." So Finn was the blond, and Junko was the Wallop. And Aerrow was definitely the leader.
"Aerrow says that's fine," smiled Aerrow. So they trusted her. That was a relief. "Weaver, did you know the Third Degree Burners escaped from Zartacla just a few days ago? And Starling was on the Condor, oh...two weeks ago, was it Piper?"
"Yeah, 'bout that," confirmed the girl.
Weaver heard the words like tiny stings. "Oh. I didn't know she was out of Cyclonia."
Saw Aerrow and Piper frown.
"She helped us get the Aurora stone back off Master Cyclonis, and she went to Terra Atmosia to see the Sky Council with us. But...she's probably been very busy." Piper tried to soften the blow. It wasn't working.
She'd been on Terra Atmosia, and she hadn't told Weaver that she was back? Why?
"Ah, okay. Look, thanks for your hospitality but the next wayside is fine, really..."
Piper took her by the elbow, and smiled at her. "Oh, no Weaver, we wouldn't dream of it!"
* * * * * * * * * *
Ahhh that's done. Don't know how well I managed to write the Storm Hawks. Ehh.
This is just a notice for those who've been reading- I've just gone back to school so please excuse the longer than usual gap between chapters. =]