Very sorry for the wait, everyone. This week has been hectic.

Sunshine meets Darkness

Kai

I was starving. Kept up in the bathrooms way past lunch and dinner, I missed my only chances for a meal. My stomach cried as I laid quietly in the darkness, awaiting the morning bell. I didn't sleep well that night, either… Awake on and off throughout the entire night, I gave up when the slightest hint of the sun peaked through the crack in the bunker door.

Scaring me in my half-awake state, the girl on the bunk above me leaned over the edge, waving to me. "Hi!" she whispered loudly.

I rubbed my eyes, making sure it wasn't a dream. "Hey… Why are you up so early?"

"I find it traumatizing to be yelled awake. So I get up just before they walk in!" The girl then silently mouthed the words, "Three… two… one…" Before I could grasp what she was saying, The pink-haired chief, who called herself Ravess, barged in through the door and ordered everyone to get up.

My heart began to race. The blond girl on the bunk above me smiled. "See?" she whispered. "Much better." Like a sky monkey, the girl swung around and jumped down to the floor, helping me out of bed. Things were rushed, I was forced. The chief wanted us out of our beds and lined up before she reached us…

"We have a special treat for all of you!" she laughed. "After breakfast, you will all be joined in the arena. You shall have an extra hour to eat this morning because we have…. Well, it's even a surprise for us. We have a bit of work to do ourselves."

I smiled, sighing.

"What? You have something to say?"

"Thank God for breakfast!" I laughed.

The lady reached out and smacked me before bringing a finger to her lips. "Shh!"

I grabbed my cheek, taking two steps back. Elle stepped back with me, reaching a hand around my shoulder.

"Are you all right, Zee?"

"It's… Zaria…"

"I know… Zee just sounds so much better!"

Ravess blabbered on for only a moment more before taking her leave. My face stung with the new injury.

Elle looked at me for a moment. "Promise to keep a secret?"

My eyes widened. To be honest, I thought she was going to tell me she was a spy… just like me. I nodded slowly and watched her every move.

Elle looked left, then right. She noted the students were much too busy with the news of more time at breakfast to watch us. She reached into a drawer next to my bunk and pulled out a smooth-looking crystal. "Here, hold it to your skin," she reached out, pressing it against the injured skin on my face.

A cold sensation ran through the veins in my skin, the slight injury no long apparent. When she pulled it away, I could feel the blood rushing back. She stashed the crystal in a hurry, looking back with a smile. "Isn't it amazing?"

I smiled, nodding. "Thanks… What… is that thing?"

"It's some sort of… crystal… I'm not an expert on them. I barely keep track of the Cooking crystals in the cafeteria!"

I reached over and pulled open the drawer, searching for the crystal. Uncovering it only slightly, I scanned the object. "Looks like… a frost crystal?"

She cocked her head to the side in question.

"We used to use them to protect crops from fire…"

She smiled, sitting down. She gently took my arm and sat me down on my bunk next to her. "I'm from Terra Mesa…" ((Ignore the lack of reference on the SH website. It used to be there. I don't know what happened…)) "There isn't much that happens over there."

I lowered my eyes, looking around. She was becoming a bit too friendly for comfort. "Atmosia…," I added cautiously.

"But… you guys don't have crops…"

I nodded. "We have a very large amount of green surrounding the homes. If a fire were to strike anywhere that could endanger the homes, they would freeze the surrounding greens."

She looked confused. "But… crops?"

"Wrong word, wrong word, forget I said it. I was too starving to say anything else."

She stood up quickly. "Then let's get you some food!"

Stuffed, I leaned far back in my chair, waving to Elle behind the cafeteria counter. Finn, who had been watching me from across the room, rushed over the second he was done.

"Can I go now?" he asked quietly. The boy look traumatized.

I laughed. "We're not even close to done. One day and you already want out?"

He nodded furiously.

Elle jumped over the counter, joining in the conversation.

"Finn, Elle—Elle, Finn."

Finn smiled. "I'm being serious Kai, I want to leave!"

Elle looked at him sideways. "Kai? I thought your name was—"

"Shiiitt…," Finn whined.

I let my head fall back. We were both already screwed. Without realizing, I'd introduced the boy to her as "Finn."

Finn grabbed Elle's wrist, pulling her off. I left the rest of my breakfast on the table—not that I had any more room for it—and followed after the two. Finn pulled her past the doors and stopped, pacing.

"We can't tell her."

"We should."

"But Aerrow—"

"Screw him, this is our mission!" I growled. It wasn't as if a little slip up was a bad thing. In fact, if the girl didn't seem suspicious I would've let things lie.

"Tell me what the hell is going on!"

Finn and I froze, turning to look at her.

"We're… from the Storm Hawks," I sighed.

"No way… You're that Finn?" she grinned, turning toward the boy.

With a smug smile, he laughed. "Yeah, well…"

I smacked the back if his head, getting him to focus.

"If he's Finn, who are you?"

I looked away. "I'm new. Ignore that, though. You won't tell anyone, will you?"

She whined, her brows tugged together. Looking around the empty hallway, she sighed. And with a confident smile, she turned towards us and nodded. "You can count on me!"

You could feel the tension instantly drop—Finn and I were relieved. "I… haven't noticed you around the training ground," I noted.

She nodded. "I just work here. I help out… Like the cafeteria? Yeah… They decided I really couldn't pass as a talon but I had nowhere else to go. So I stuck around, doing odd jobs."

I smiled. "Can you get into the communications room?"

Finn looked at me, curious.

She nodded. "I send out weekly signals to the other talons."

"Could you possibly send one out to the Condor?" Finn asked.

She nodded.

"Five-six-one-one-zero," he told her, numbers that would've otherwise been absolutely useless to me. "Tell him Kai's in for trouble today."

"What?!"

"The boys were saying they were going to iron out the kinks in one of the rebels and from what they were saying, I assumed it was you. Trust me, Kai… today won't be fun for you." He turned back toward the girl. "Also, tell him nothing's changed and we'll stick it out a bit longer."

"You… don't want me to tell him that you guys screwed up and got a talon involved, do you?" She laughed. "No, I'm kidding. I won't betray your trust, you guys don't have to worry."

I nodded.

"You should get to the training grounds. Breakfast is almost over and you'll want to be there early for this one."

"What about you?" I asked as she began walking away.

"I have a message to deliver."

ooo

I noticed both the groups of trainees were here—male and female. All the girls I had trained with were here, some I hadn't, and all the boys. Two elder Cyclonians stood by Ravess, and another older male that looked like a trainer, dressed very similar to her as well.

Once Ravess and the other Talons were able to calm us down and get us quiet, she began speaking. "We have quite a surprise for the lot of you. Just sit tight, all right?" Walking off, she took the other Talons with her. With no one in front of us for a minute or more, we began to get anxious. Mixed chatter filled the air until a stony silence hit me like a rock.

I looked around, wondering why the chatter was cut off so suddenly. Finn looked quite a bit unsettled, everyone shifting in their seats.

That's when I saw him.

A prestigious-looking Talon walked in from stage right, taking the spotlight. He wore some sort of… metal headgear, stood tall and proud, decked out in Cyclonian armor. Whoever he was, he was high in the ranks. If there was anyone to get to know to get higher up, it would be him.

I glanced over to Finn who was furiously trying to get my attention.

"That's Dark Ace!" he mouthed, his eyes wide.

My eyes froze, my body locked up. I looked at the man, then back at Finn. Taking another look toward the supposed Dark Ace, my beloved Cyclonian Talon was walking before me. Against everything they stood for, Dark Ace was still someone to admire. No matter what he stood for, his training, his tactics… they were astounding. Only having heard stories, it was almost an honor to meet him.

Yet so devilishly dangerous at the same time…

Frozen in my place, I had nothing else to do but watch the events unfold. Who exactly was he, if he was the Dark Ace? What made him tick, what motivated him?

"Good morning…," the man smiled, giving a generic stare out toward the large audience.

I fazed out, thinking of everything that could possibly happen from this moment onward. What was he here for? Why hadn't anyone told me? Wouldn't Elle have known? Maybe it was a surprise… Maybe he wasn't supposed to be here? Did Ravess even know? I sighed quietly before someone gripped my shoulder from behind. I flashed back to reality, turning around as I was startled 'awake.'

"He's glad you're okay," Elle giggled.

"Aerrow?" I smiled. News of the red-headed boy brought my heart up from the sunken levels.

She nodded. "You two are close, aren't you?"

I shook my head, neglecting to pay attention to the famed talon. "No, not really. We only met a few days ago."

She hummed. "…You like him," she sang quietly.

I blushed, smiling as I looked away, toward Dark Ace. "He's… interesting. He's not a bore to listen to and not too bad to look at."

She nudged me. "You like him," she sang again.

I shrugged, nodding lightly. "…Give or take a few words, I have some interest in him."

She smiled, giggling. "I knew it!" She grabbed my arm, standing on her toes to see over the crowd. "Isn't he darling?"

"Dark Ace?" I asked. "He's the head Talon… Darling and evil don't mix very well."

She slapped my arm. "I didn't mean like that! I don't like him like you like Aerrow." Elle furrowed her brow, stumbling on her words. "Too many like's…" Shaking her head, Elle focused on the speech and advised me to do so as well.

"None of you know this," the man said confidently, "but my crew and I will be working with you strenuously for the next week."

"That means they're out of work," Elle giggled.

Ace's gaze shot over to us. "In… any… case…," he continued seriously. "One of you will have the pleasure of working with me. Who, of course, is the question."

The students became even more unsettled than before. Did they have a deep respect for him… or was it fear? The question of excitement was thrown into play. Excitement was my most questioned emotion, and that was evident.

I grabbed Elle's arm without realizing, staring at the dark-haired Talon.

"You want to work with him, don't you?"

I jumped, seeing I had gripped onto Elle. I laughed nervously, rubbing my neck. "You have no idea what that would do for our mission."

Elle glanced over her shoulder before staring at me with a mischievous smile. "Let me see what I can do." And with that said, the girl ran off.

Ravess walked in from stage left, holding a few stacks of papers. "Well, well… If I knew you'd be showing up, I would've been more careful with my choices."

So… Ravess didn't know he was showing up?

She handed him the few sheets and stood beside him. "All of you are to be on your best behavior… If I hear word one of any of you acting out, you will lose your lunch and dinner for a month."

That's when the silence really set in.

With a dark laugh, Ace gave a malevolent smile as he read off the picks. He quietly ordered Ravess to gather his entourage. While we waited only a minute or more for others to join us, Dark Ace began the first of many mind games. "I'm quite surprised who I will be working with. A freshman?" He laughed.

Quiet groaned filled his audience. My initial thought of a rookie audience fled.

"Said to be 'the most defiant' in their group. Possibly… the entire academy?" Now he seemed a little doubtful. "Well, I can say you won't be graduating with flying colors," he laughed, speaking to whoever had been chosen. "Only a few days here and your record is already quite blemished. I'm proud," he smiled, staring intently at the documents.

"I'm sorry, friend, I couldn't do anything." Elle returned, a grim expression on her face.

I sighed. "It was worth a shot."

"However…," Elle began.

As the other Talons entered stage right, the head Talon announced just who was going to be working with him. "Everett?" he looked up.

"That doesn't mean they didn't already have your name written down," she giggled.