~ Broken Girl ~
Why does it have to be snowing all the time? The Merb wondered, his arms wrapped around middle in a futile effort to keep warm.
"How you holding up, Stork?" a female voice asked.
"Oh, fine, j-just fine. Especially now that I can't f-feel my toes," he ground out from his shivering teeth.
He just got an exasperated sigh from Piper. That put guilt wiggling in his stomach. The girl had enough to worry about as it was, he shouldn't be bitching.
"Just a little longer, and then I should get this fixed. Then we'll be good."
Fixed, was a misuse of the word. The Condor, his precious baby-girl, was far from fixed. The windows had been shattered inward from the impact, and snow was filtering in through the open maw of the observation deck. Instruments were shattered, and scattered, and now at risk from the elements. Very delicate and precious instruments, for that matter. And that was just one part of the ship. He wanted to cry when he thought about the rest of her.
He didn't know where to start, or what to finish. Heat and light had been Piper's priorities and they been his compass, and he almost was there.
Piper wore a tight smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Thanks, Stork," she reached out and patted his shoulder. A sign of affection that didn't have the same usual warmth.
A question was sticking to the back of Stork's throat, but he loathed to ask it. He did anyways, because his uber paranoia and obsessive concerns wouldn't let it go.
"Piper? How's Junko?"
"He'll be good once the heat and lights are back on."
Stork could taste the lie, it was ash in the air. It was inescapable, like the haunted look in Piper's eyes.
~ A Little Longer ~
Everything was cold. It had seeped into his bones. In his head. His heart.
The meagre warmth from a solaris crystal did little. Finn could still feel it, the cold coiling deeper and deeper inside him. The only warmth he felt was from Junko's giant paw of a hand. But then, even it was cold. Colder than it should have been. Wallops had a high body temperature, they were always hot to the touch. Junko's hand was lukewarm.
"How is he?" someone asked softly. Finn smelled Piper, then felt her body heat, as she got close. Those two things alone would have gotten his blood running hot, but now all he felt was an empty coldness.
"Well, enough."
He felt a brush of her lips against his temple. He knew she was trying to be comforting, but nothing could break through the coldness that had settled over him.
"You should rest." Cinnamon-skinned hands skimmed over his arm. It had been broken in two places. The chilling atmosphere of Circini made the breaks in his bones ache.
"I'm fine for a little longer," he said, shrugging off her hand, refusing the escape she had offered.
Piper nodded, turning to leave. She didn't mention that he had been keeping vigil for nearly a day and a half. That he hadn't eaten anything. Or slept. That, in order for the rest of them survive, he should being doing something productive.
The piece of twisted pipe thrusting through the Wallop's gut, the blood-soaked bandages, the drugged-silence of the sweet-tempered Storm Hawk: they were proof against any argument Piper might provide. So she didn't bother. Finn appreciated it.
Besides, a distant and cold part of Finn noted, what was so important that couldn't wait a couple days?
~ Keeping Records ~
Squadron Log...
We've crashed landed on Circini, successfully evading capture. We took heavy damage. The hull, observation deck and cargo bay all have gaping holes. The floatation balloon is also torn. Stork was able to repair the circuits for the heat and lighting. The crystal energy is dangerously low, probably won't last more than two or three days. We're also running low on painkillers; we have to keep Junko constantly sedated.
He isn't doing well could be better. We don't have the proper medical training or supplies to treat him. I'm worried he's going to
Our food stores are good for a month. But with our crystal energy so low; well it could get dangerous. We risk hypothermia in these sub-zero temperatures.
All our equipment is busted. We don't know our coordinates. We have no idea how close we are to where we're supposed to be. We've sent signal flares once we sure the group chasing was gone. We haven't gotten a response, even though we know they're expecting us.
I'm scared they won't find us 'til it's too late
I hope we haven't gotten too far off course. We don't have the resources to go looking for them. Hopefully we have the same luck as last time we escaped from here. We need their help. I don't know what to do.
A/N: Yeeeeeah, the Storm Hawks are having shit luck aren't they? On another dreary note, I apologize for the slow update. Blame my school. I'm there from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm working on homework. I have NO free time. You can see how updates time suffer as a result, yes? (And, hint, this will likely continue 'til the end, seeing as we're working on final projects and such now-ish). But don't despiar! You guys finally found out what happened to the Storm Hawks! And they're alive and well... mostly.