Wayward Son: Grounded

Chapter 8

"Whoa."

Aerrow raised a hand to shield his eyes from the sun.

"What's the matter?" asked Piper with a smile. "Did you forget how bright the sun was?"

"Yes!" replied Aerrow. "I've barely even seen it for the past few months, remember?"

"Yeah, why is it always so bright?" asked Junko as he too raised a hand. "I get that it's the sun and all, but surely it doesn't have to be this bright all the time!"

"And anyway, it's so warm today!" Finn complained, tugging on his shirt collar. "We could have gone literally anywhere. We could have gone sky-surfing around Amazonia or actual surfing on Tropica, and where are we? Rex. The Land of Slow and Boring. And the squadron here are a big bunch of sissies! Why the hell are we here?!"

He would have ranted further, but the rattling of an engine prevented this as a second Sky Knight landed nearby.

"While I understand there are many places you'd rather be," said Starling as she dismounted, "I'm afraid your assistance is required."

"We received your message," said Aerrow as Piper tried to compose herself in the presence of her second-favourite Sky Knight. "What do you need help with?"

Starling looked him up and down. She definitely hadn't forgotten the state he had been in the last time they met.

"Follow me," she said eventually.

O-o-O

"I'm assuming you all know what happened several months ago," she said as she led them through the bizarrely quiet streets. "The people of this terra have only recently finished rebuilding after the damage caused by those quakes and I've been lending a hand wherever it's needed, and it's been needed in quite a few places in the past couple of weeks."

Finn kicked a stone aside.

"Looks pretty much the same to me," he commented.

"People on Rex take great pride in their architecture," Piper helpfully informed him. "And in their clothes and hair... and their gardens... and decorating... pretty much anything to do with appearances."

"Where's Harrier?" asked Aerrow. "I thought he'd be the one to come and greet us."

"That's why I called you here," Starling explained. "While they may have caused widespread destruction across the Atmos, the quakes had the added effect of unearthing a series of caves that nobody on this terra even knew existed. Until recently, that is. And so yesterday a certain semi-brainless dolt decided it may be a good idea to go down and explore them."

"Isn't that usually Domiwick's area of expertise?" asked Piper, who looked disgusted at having to say the explorer's name.

"Maybe, but you know Harrier," said Starling. "He'll be buggered if he lets anybody steal his glory."

Junko quietly asked Finn what 'buggered' meant and Finn whispered his reply, and both of them sniggered.

"Here it is," said Starling as she stopped walking. "He's somewhere down there."

They were faced with a well, its surrounding wall still cracked from the quakes and ivy growing up the wooden frame supporting its roof. It was about as cliché-looking as an old well can get.

Aerrow leaned over its wall and looked down.

"Hello?" he shouted.

"Is Little Timmy down there?" asked Finn with an obnoxious smile.