Chapter Nine: First Fire
Sky ended up staying with Blade for most of the night, the two sitting in silent comfort as they watched the lightning storm come through. She dozed off who-knows-when, and when she woke up she was in Maru's garage. The tug reported that Blade had him bring her back here to rest, but gave no indication he knew about their conversation last night. Sky shrugged it off, spending the rest of the morning with the Air Attack team.
Then, the siren went off.
As Patch made her announcement, Blade lowered himself onto the base runway. Windlifter, Dusty, Sky, and Dipper came up to meet him. "Lightning storm started a whole slew of spot fires and they've merged. This is a big one."
If that first fire Dusty and I saw was normal, what is a "big one" going to look like? Sky wondered.
"Skylar, you're with me." Blade said.
"You got it!" Sky said excitedly, almost not noticing Blade call her by her actual name.
"Dipper, you and Windlifter load up." Blade ordered. "Champ, wait in the hanger."
"What?" Dusty asked, disappointed. Sky paused as she was about to jump into Blade's hoist hatch.
"Blade, Dusty's been practicing so hard." Dipper protested.
"This ain't no campfire." Blade growled.
"Come on, I can do this!" Dusty insisted.
"You're not certified." Blade snapped.
"Neither am I." Sky pointed out.
"You're not the one dropping retardant." Blade countered.
"Just give him a shot." Dipper practically pleaded.
Blade cast her a glare. "He's not certified!"
"We need every plane we've got." Windlifter finally said. Blade regarded the larger helicopter for a moment before turning his gaze to Dusty as the racer approached.
"I want to help." Dusty said firmly.
Sky looked to Blade. The helicopter stared at Dusty as he started up his rotors, turning to fly off. "Raven, in the hatch. Maru!"
"Yeah, Blade?" Maru asked.
"Load him up!" Blade ordered, flying off with Sky in tow.
Finally, Sky and Dusty understood what a "big one" meant. This fire was much larger than their first fire, almost twice the size. Immediately, everyone got to work. Blade kept his hoist hatch open enough for Sky to lean out, scanning the area and keeping tabs on everyone. So far, everything seemed to be all right. The Smokejumpers did their jobs, the aircraft did theirs. But the fire wasn't going out as quickly as she had hoped.
I wonder if Mayday ever had to deal with fires this big. Sky thought. She kept her radio on, listening through the stations.
"Dipper, move into position." Blade ordered. "Split load. Coverage level eight."
"Dipper copies!" Dipper reported, dropping her load of retardant around the fire.
"Come left one wingspan on your next drop." Blade said. "Champ, tag on and extend. Split load."
"Copy that." Dusty said, moving in for a drop. Unfortunately, he didn't fly low enough and his retardant blew away in the wind.
"Too high!" Blade barked. "It all dispersed! Windlifter, finish off that ridge."
"Windlifter copies." The Skycrane said.
"Come on, Dusty." Sky sighed. All right, just keep your head on. It's our first fire, after all. She resumed her lookout, but movement below caught her eye. At first, she assumed it animals trying to escape the fire. Well, they were animals, if you counted the wild threesome of Blackout, Avalanche, and Drip. "Blade, Smokejumpers are on the move."
"Copy that." Blade said.
"Blade!" Dynamite suddenly called into the radio. "The wind shifted. The fire jumped the line."
"Can you make it to your safety zone?" Blade asked.
"No, our escape route is blocked!" Dynamite said. "We need a drop."
"Copy that." Blade said.
Sky caught sight of the Smokejumpers, a large, burning tree right in their path. "Blade, Smokejumpers at twelve."
"I see them!" Dusty suddenly said, diving down. "I've got it!"
"Dusty, wait!" Sky called, watching the orange and white plane shoot towards the Smokejumpers' position. Then, Sky smiled at the sight of Dusty perfectly dropping his retardant and snuffing out the flames around the Jumpers (while also staining the vehicles bright red). But they were clear and could get away with ease.
"Champ, load and return." Blade ordered. "We still got a lot of work to do."
"Copy that!" Dusty turned and hurried back to base.
"Raven, I'm gonna drop you off with the Smokejumpers." Blade instructed. "Do what you can to keep the fire away from their safety zone."
"I thought you said I wasn't supposed to drop retardant." Sky said.
"The fire also wasn't supposed to jump the line." Blade countered, flying after the Smokejumpers. "You gotta learn to be flexible."
"Right. Copy that." Sky nodded, grabbing the hoist. Blade opened the door wider and Sky swung out, the cable lengthening out to lower her down to the ground. Her feet hit the ground, her still-healing ankle throbbing a bit, and she unclipped the hoist from her harness. Blade flew off, and Sky hurried over to the Smokejumpers. The vehicles rested on a small, sandy area next to the lake, the fire coming closer to their area.
"Just stay near the lake, Skylar." Dynamite said, her voice fully serious. "Not much we can do now until it burns over."
"Got it." Sky nodded. She unloaded her fire extinguisher and blew retardant on the trees to keep the fire at bay. Then, she moved to stand amongst the Smokejumpers and watch the fire rage on. It was a little scary, seeing the flames so close to them. But Sky put on a brave face and continued to blow retardant, despite her heart racing.
Then, a tree began falling from the fire and straight towards them. "Drip, move!" Sky shouted, running towards the digger. She jumped up, ricocheting off the Smokejumper's head and kicking off the falling tree. It didn't move very far, but it shifted direction just enough for Drip to narrowly avoid it. Sky landed a little hard on the tree, slipping and hitting the sand.
"You okay?" Drip asked, helping the girl up.
"I'm fine." Sky nodded.
"Nice moves, Raven!" Pinecone complimented.
"SHE'S A KARATE KID!" Avalanche cheered, causing everyone to laugh.
"What's going on down there?" Blade's voice demanded over their radios.
"No worries, Blade." Dynamite assured. "But Drip owes Raven his life."
Sky laughed. "We're all good, Blade."
"Good." Blade said.
Sky smiled as the helicopter passed over them. I'm doing it. I'm really doing it. So this is what being a firefighter is about. I hardly even thought about doing that. I just….did it… Sky sighed softly. Max, are you watching me? Am I doing okay?
It literally took all day to get the fire under control and fully contained. By the time everyone got back, they were all pretty dirty and Sky had sweat dripping from her forehead. She sighed tiredly, but felt proud of the work they did. More than that, she was proud of Dusty. He did something right after some shaky training. But, based on Blade's glare as they walked up to said racer, something wasn't right.
Dusty and Dipper were talking, the latter looking rather proud of himself. "I saw the Jumpers in trouble, so I —"
"You broke formation in a crowded airspace." Blade chided, a stern glare in his eyes. "Could've been you spread all over the woods instead of retardant." He drove off, no doubt to hose down like the others would soon do.
"Sky?" Dusty looked to the human.
"Dusty, you did a great thing by helping the Smokejumpers." Sky reasoned. "But Blade's got a point; we're already putting ourselves in danger by fighting fires. We can't afford any more unnecessary risks."
Dusty slumped down a bit. "Ah, man."
"Come on, Blade's just telling you 'Good job' in his own way." Dipper said encouragingly. Dusty cast her a look. The sound of loud engines rang out, and they all looked up to see a jet passing over the base. "Whoa! That was low!"
"Cad's VIPs." Windlifter realized.
"He's having a big party up at the lodge tonight." Dusty remembered. "We should go!"
"Why not? Could be fun." Sky mused. "I guess I better go hose off. Meet you guys on the runway when it's time to go?"
"Sure thing, Sky." Dusty nodded. Sky waved and hurried off to the shower areas. The smallest stall was the one Dynamite and Pinecone used, so it would have to do. Sky allowed the cool water to run over her, washing away the grime from the day, and toweled off before redressing in her jeans, sneakers, and Jolly Wrench T-shirt. She tied her hair back with her bandana, like she usually did. By the time she got out, most of the base went quiet as everyone relaxed after the fire.
Sky jogged up to Blade's hanger, knocking on the doors. "Hey Blade!"
The doors opened and Blade smiled a bit at the sight of Sky. "Evening."
"Hey." Sky greeted warmly. "A bunch of us are going down to the party at the lodge tonight. You wanna come?"
Blade's face fell into a frown. "If I had to choose between going to that lodge and diving headfirst into an inferno to my fiery death, I'd take the inferno."
Sky laughed out loud. "A simple 'no' would've sufficed."
"I couldn't just say 'no.' I had to emphasize just how much I don't want to be near that lodge." Blade reasoned, a smirk on his face.
Sky rolled her eyes. "Whatever. So then what are you going to do for the rest of the evening?"
"Sleep, maybe." Blade said dismissively. "Paperwork. Boring stuff."
"Yeesh." Sky chuckled. "Need any help?"
"I thought you were going down to the lodge." Blade noted.
"Yeah, but I don't want to leave you up here by your lonesome." Sky shrugged. "Sounds like you got a lonely night ahead of you."
"I've spent quite a few 'lonely' nights up here in the past." Blade assured. "I can go through one more. Besides, with the Smokejumpers out, it's going to be nice and quiet."
"You sure?" Sky asked.
"You go have fun." Blade encouraged. "I'm sure you'll enjoy that place more than I will."
Sky laughed, patting Blade's nose. "All right. G'night!"
"Night." Blade nodded, disappearing back into his hanger. Sky had a bit of a skip in her step as she walked off. She didn't notice Dusty as the racer watched from his hiding spot, glaring a bit in irritation.
What, is she asking for permission just to be with her friends? Dusty sighed a bit before rolling out to join the group heading to the lodge. Man. One lousy Soul Connect comes along and suddenly it's like nothing else matters anymore.