Storm Hawks Fan 3rd Season

Episode 62 - Part 2

Episode 62 - The Journey Begins

Part 2 - Pranks, Plans and Pals

It was night, explosions could be heard in the distance coming from the bombs being dropped by the enormous airships that were invading Terra Merbia. It was storming a lot, the winds shook the trees and lightning lit up the sky. A lone merb came out running from the woods and reached the edge of the terra. He had black hair, green skin, yellow sclera, and black irises. His clothes had shades of brown and blue, with a blue belt, beige fingerless gloves and two piercings on his left ear. He halted his steps, panting a lot, then glanced back. He cringed as a loud thunder made its presence, then he turned back to see the silhouettes of switchblades coming closer. His eyes widened and his breath went shallow. No, he couldn't take it. Against all that he had been taught about avoiding danger, he jumped and sank below the clouds. Then he pulled a cord and a balloon was released, so he could float in the treacherous skies of the Wastelands.

He drifted for a good while, hoping not to be attacked by dangerous creatures. But suddenly, his balloon collided with one of the pointy rocks, which poked a hole on it. The merb looked up and gasped, then screamed as the air coming out of the balloon propelled him in all directions uncontrollably. Finally, he landed roughly on the ground, sliding a few feet forward face down. He laid there for a moment, then tiredly pushed himself up when he took a glance at something that made him blink. Right there, in front of him, was none other than the Condor, the legendary ship of the Storm Hawks squadron. It was badly damaged from its fall and the years it spent abandoned in there, but with some care, it could shine again, good as new. He stood up, hesitantly looked around, then ventured into the ship.

~~~

Four years had passed since Aerrow and Radarr met. The two grew inseparable. The boy worked really hard on the mines and usually got really tired, but he was starting to get used to it. The little animal helped him out by snatching extra food from the kitchen and scavenging the area around the prison, looking for cool stuff or maybe even tools that could help Aerrow escape.

A few weeks after the red-haired kid had turned eleven, the prison was receiving a big amount of prisoners that had just been captured from their most recent invasions. There were so many new people that they didn't have enough cells to keep everyone individually, so they'd have to make many of the prisoners share their cells. And Aerrow was one of them.

He and Radarr were just playing a little during the morning, right before the shift, when they heard the steps of the Cyclonians and the animal quickly hid in the air duct and closed its grate. The soldiers walked to the door of the cell and proceeded to open it.

"Because of the large number of new prisoners, many will have to share their cells now." - one of the talons said - "Here, you have company."

They pushed another boy who was about his age into the cell, then locked the door behind him. The kid was Caucasian, blue-eyed, with blonde hair and wore a Cyclonian uniform already.

"The shift is about to start, you better get going at once." - the other man said.

"By the end of the day, there'll be another bed in the cell." - the first talon told them, then both left.

The blonde just sat on the ground where he had been pushed to and didn't move. He was studying Aerrow to determinate whether he was a cool inmate or... His worst nightmare. The green-eyed boy glanced at him, then at the corridor and, once he made sure there was no one within earshot, he moved behind the bed to grab three berries Radarr had gotten earlier that day. He tossed one of them to him and kept the other two for later, just in case. The kid grabbed the food gratefully and ate it voraciously. Was he hungry, he had been without anything to chew for hours!