Except for the sounds of the rain outside and the fire at the far wall, nothing else was heard.

She made a soft sound of clearing her throat before speaking up:

"How far is the Netherworld from here?"

"Rather far," spoke a blonde girl at the table. "It isn't safe either."

"I think we could've guessed that, though," said the blue-haired boy a bit behind her.

The brown-and-redhead who spoke first felt that the uncomfortable silence was directed toward her and no one else. She shifted in her seat and gazed at the fire.

"Has anyone ever fought an enemy like this before?" she asked.

"Well…" began a girl with very bright red hair. "There were wars like this on Earth. Sure, I never actually fought in one, but I know how they're fought. Both sides gathered up armies and used the same kind of weapons to fight. Although sometimes…" She trailed off for a bit, frowning in her pause. "Sometimes one of the sides' power can get out of hand and kill lots of innocent people."

"That's out of the question," said the girl who spoke first. "We're the only ones who can really fight here. And we're up against a very large group of people." She frowned, part in determination, part in thought, part in confusion. "How can we win this…"

A clang of metal rattling and the thud of something hard against wood made the four heads turn to yet a fifth person, a boy, who looked very irritated at the moment. His fist still rested on the table; his glare was set on the last girl who spoke.

"Showing us your own insecurities isn't exactly helpful, Sora," he said almost harshly.

Sora blinked once to clear her thoughts. "I'm not. I'm just thinking out loud."

"Like you've been productive here tonight, Kumo?" the other redhead said to the dark-haired boy in the same tone he spoke to Sora.

"Stop it," Sora cut in forcefully. "No one is going to help by fighting." She looked at the two who had been quarreling. "Kumo, I am not showing you my insecurities. I'm presenting you with the facts. All of us need to hear the facts, no matter how obvious they are."

Kumo sat back in his chair and turned his head to the window, hints of a glare still in his eyes.

"Now, I'll ask again: How might we be able to win without a massive army?"

Thunder rolled outside again, accentuating the pause. Sora sighed and looked a bit helpless when she found no reply.

"You guys… We have to do this together." She turned to the redhead. "Caroline, do you recall any battles won by small groups of people?"

"Well, yeah, a scarce few… but that was ages ago, and they all used firearms or other weapons and killed lots of people," said Caroline.

Sora winced. 'Killing' was something she was planning on not having to do.

"The only way we can win," Kumo said, and everyone turned to look at him, "is if we throw out all the fears we have and concentrate on the task at hand. It's the only way."

"Kumo, would you just —"

"Caroline, stop it, he's right."

Everyone looked at Sora now.

"What?" Caroline walked over to the Princess and leaned down a bit. "Listen, just because he's being so obnoxious doesn't mean you have to give in. You don't have to make him happy if his ideas conflict with your plans."

"No, his ideas fit perfectly with my plans," Sora said. "I wasn't saying it out of self-pity. I meant that he's absolutely right and we have to focus."

"I say we throw pies at 'em," the blue-haired boy named Ryo said, smiling a goofy grin.

Kumo cast a glare at him. Meian looked impassive.

"I can hold two dozen back while you all fight," Meian said. "But only two dozen."

"That sounds good," Sora said. "Buying us time. We don't even have to hurt all of them. Just getting past them will do."

"They'll come back."

Meian's comment was almost too quick, and given the current weather (thunder crashed softly just after she spoke), everyone turned to face her. The look on her face was distant, and her eyes looked glazed. It was almost like she wasn't there.

"Even if we pass them, they will return. We must defeat them at once, or we will all die."

She blinked twice and looked at them. "Then there will be chaos."

Sora stood, frowned, and breathed deeply.

"No. We — We won't let that happen. We'll just have to be very fast, that's all. And we can do that."

"I have to disagree there," Caroline said, looking guilty at having to do so. All eyes were on her now.

"How so?" Sora asked, in part unsure she should ask and in part wanting to hear the answer.

"Well… obviously, we're considerably unprepared, and we have to take past battles into consideration so we can make better plans. And… well, seeing how things at Arctica went, we're really, really unprepared."

"That's an understatement —"

"Would you stop that already?"

This time Ryo was the object of Kumo's glare. The blue-haired boy had his eyebrows raised in a statement of defiance.

"I'm serious," Ryo said. "If you keep interrupting we won't get any ideas out, and then we'll really be in trouble."

"Like you can say anything. You could've gotten us killed!" Kumo shot back.

"Stop it!"

Sora's violet-eyed glare was strong. Nobody had seen her angry like that before. Granted, they hadn't been together for too long, but that only made it more intense.

"We are getting through this together. Too much is riding on this mission for us to just let it go! We have to fight, no matter how much we may not want to." She paused, sighing shakily. "Tomorrow morning, right at daybreak, we're leaving for the Netherworld. No questions asked. I don't care if we have to improvise again — we are not letting the Sky Realm down!"  

"What did you just say!?"

Jade shot Slam a look that would hurt him severely if it could.

"Shh! Keep it down!" she whispered harshly.

Slam, however, continued to glare at the cape-wearing former prince in front of the five. His hands were fists at his sides, and he was very much prepared to send Sky Clone flying into the wall.

"What do you mean we can't see her yet!?" he intoned in a lower voice than before, managing to keep all the anger in it.

Sky Clone remained unfazed.

"If you free her now it will only get worse," he said seriously. "Skyla will be safer here than outside where she could easily be recaptured. You five would be taken with her and by then I'd be too dead to help you."

Jade, Angelica, and Camille winced a bit at that. Breeze remained calm. Slam just looked angry. He tensed up and shook, squeezing his eyes shut to contain himself as he thought. Then he breathed out and let his hands rest at his sides.

"We'd come so far…"

Everyone found his behavior surprising — perhaps Breeze found it a little less shocking than the rest —, but it was Jade who was truly moved. Slam had never been that emotional before. She walked over to him, eyes wide and looking like glass, and offered him a very weak, very small, very tired smile.

"We have to take the chance," she said softly. "Sora doesn't know what she's up against. Even we were struggling when it was just the Horrorcanes. Can you imagine going up against an entire army?"

By the time Slam looked up the others had gathered around them. The redhead lifted his head and looked at the tired-looking Sky Clone.

"Cover us," he said. "We're leaving right now."

Sky Clone nodded once. That was all the five needed to see, the only signal they were waiting for. They glided through the halls so they wouldn't make any sound, ducked behind corners when lone soldiers would pass by, and finally managed to get outside the globe.

The dark clouds surrounding it were darker than normal, and lightning flickered in them every few seconds.

Camille glided over to Breeze. The look on her face was serious, almost fearful.

"I didn't want to say anything before," she said to the Native American, "but there's always the chance that we're being tricked by him."

Breeze didn't nod to agree, nor did he shake his head to disagree. He just looked forward.

"It wouldn't exactly help him if he kept us as prisoners," he said. "Not anymore. I've always believed there's good in everything, like in nature. I think what happened was that, faced with death and betrayal, he saw a picture of what he did to his brother and he realized his mistake."

Light from the Sky Realm was now beginning to poke through the clouds — they were less than a mile away from the Netherworld.

Camille sighed.

"That's true…" She paused, staring out at the clouds that shone gold in the setting sun. "I also didn't want to say so before, but… I'm afraid."

Breeze let a few seconds pass by without anything being said.

"We're all scared, Camille," he said gently.

She nodded. "Mm-hm."

'We're all so, so scared.'

The five New Wave Sky Dancers set out just as planned — right at dawn.

The trip was silent. Nobody dared say anything. Caroline and Ryo looked somber. Meian looked, as was to be expected, indifferent. Kumo looked his usual non-cheery self. Sora, however…

Determined though she might have tried to be, her visage didn't lend credibility to her attitude. It seemed as though she hadn't slept very much, or had slept badly. That was part of the reason no one thought it right to speak out. She was, after all, their leader, and moreover, she was their Princess.

So whenever any one of them looked at her, they would look worried — the degree of worry varying from person to person.

Strangely, Kumo actually looked most worried, and because of that he only snuck glances at Sora when no one else was looking.

But not only his behavior was odd…

Meian — usually emotionles Meian — looked as though she knew what Sora was going through. She, astute like the black-haired boy with the power of fire, waited for the right times to look at the Princess.

Caroline, the opinionated redhead — had anyone seen her when she glanced at Sora, they wouldn't have thought it was her. The look in her eyes was of pure determination. She wanted to protect Sora at all costs.

Ryo — playful Ryo — looked gravely worried.

It was strange… Nothing was like it seemed…

Had anyone noticed, they might have been able to predict what would happen later that day.

But no one noticed. They took a rest at the Plateau of Reflection before setting off only shortly after.

They flew nonstop until they reached the Borderclouds (1). There were two groups — one coming and one going.

Both were composed of five Sky Dancers each.

Breeze was ahead of the group of more experienced members. He felt and heard something ahead of them and held up his hand. Those behind him stopped.

"Take cover," he whispered.

They followed his lead, ducking behind some clouds. Slam tried to peek but was quickly pulled down by Jade and Breeze, the former of which gave him a glare. The redhead shrugged. Meanwhile, Camille, who arranged the clouds around herself to keep from being spotted, looked out at the area in front of them.

In the other group it was Sora who noticed something out of the ordinary just ahead of them. Caroline, however, was the one to point it out. The hid behind a cloud wall from which they could clearly see the gradual descent of color from pure white to purple-gray. Since Kumo had the fastest reflexes, he was selected to be the lookout.

For a while, both groups remained silent, just looking and planning. Finally their leaders (or, in the first Sky Dancers’ case, the one everyone was following because of his level-headedness) decided it was time to go for it.

"We'll all move out at once," Breeze stated.

"Nobody goes off until I give the signal," Sora said.

"Ready…"

"Set…"

And, simultaneously, "NOW!"

Both groups flew out.

The redheads from both groups (Sora could be more accurately considered as a brunette, given the darker hue of her reddish hair) were the front line fighters. They didn't use words but a battle cry to announce their movement. The other four in the groups followed, looking determined. But when they met…

"Caroline?"

"Slam?"

…they were puzzled, shocked, and then relieved.

Camille managed to get past the little cluster between the former hiding places. She flew over to Sora, hugging her tightly when she was within range. The Princess returned the embrace with equal strength.

"You're okay! You have no idea how worried about you we were."

"We were on our way to rescue you guys. You just made it so much easier for us!"

Both girls sported tearstains on their cheeks when they separated. The older Sky Dancers gathered around Sora. Seeing this, the younger, more inexperienced team glided to and joined the group.

Congratulations, salutations, and introductions were exchanged within the circle. They spoke for quite some time before something rather obvious dawned on Angelica.

“Hey, guys, I’m not exactly a leader or strategist, but I think we shouldn’t just be out in the open like this with our backs to the rest of the Sky Realm, y’know?”

The smile on her face and the eyebrow she raised earned a her a laugh from the group.

"She's right, though," Caroline said. "And we're way too close to the Netherworld, which makes it that much worse. There's a cloudcity (2) nearby. We could go there."

"No." Breeze shook his head. "It's still too close. We need to recharge and fast. We should head as far back as the capital, or, at least, the cloudcity just past the Plateau of Reflection. We need rest — all of us."

With that in mind, the group of ten left, heading for Volcania.

Skyla was roughly pulled up to standing by her wrist.

As if the rude intrusion hadn’t been enough, now he was showing complete disregard for politeness and manners.

So when she was able to meet his cold blue eyes, she glared into them with her own.

Even with such a mighty stare in front of him, Garent's anger was not showing signs of subsiding.

"You," he began, his tone low, whisper-like, and icy. "You and your little protectors are much more trouble than you're worth."

The Queen did not try to pull her arm away.

"To put a price on human life is but a sign of your inability to think of yourself as worthy of life," she said in an valiant, almost calm voice. Almost calm because the rage inside her was so great she could hardly keep it back.

The silver-haired man's response was to shove her against the wall with force, his grip on her wrist tightening.

"Your strength may bring about the respect of other people, but you must realize I only see it as pride." He leaned forward and now their faces were inches apart. "You are nothing without your Sky Swirl Stone."

Saying this he lifted his free hand, showing her the back of it, where the stone was. He made a fist with the hand and then, with surprising gentleness, pressed her shoulder against the wall.

Though she did feel fear, Skyla did not let it show. Instead she looked firmly up at him.

"I don't need to show force to be obeyed," she spoke. "I have my people's respect and trust."

She turned her face away and looked at him only with her eyes when he began to stroke her cheek with the back of his gloved fingers. Then he stepped back and turned around. She took a cautious step forward.

"Obedience out of fear —" she wasn't exactly sure why she was speaking, but she felt the words come and just let them flow "— results in a tyranny. Is that what you're after? What if there were a war and your people rebelled? What then?"

He spun and backhanded her so swiftly that it took several seconds for her to realize what had happened. When she did she stared him down, a delicate hand resting on her stinging cheek.

He simply glared.

"I did not capture you for you to be my advisor," he declared, his voice satured disdain and perhaps even hate. "The moment you outlive your usefulness is the moment you die."

"And when will that be?" the Queen dared to ask.

He placed his gloved hand just below her neck and pushed her back, once more leaning forward so that their eyes were as close as they could be.

"Whenever I decide."

She breathed deeply. He sneered.

With a short, malicious chuckle, he walked away, but not without a final glare at Skyla.

When he left the room, the woman slid down the wall and sat, casting a tearful gaze at the roof.

"Hurry, my Sky Dancers." Tears fell freely from her eyes.

"Please hurry…"

***

To be continued…

(1) - Borderclouds - I figure there's got to be a notable difference between the clouds you see everywhere else and the clouds in the Netherworld, which are gray and storm-like. Also, there must be a limit to the Netherworld and a place where the Wingdomers (my word, heh ^^) won't cross over. That place is known as the Borderclouds. ^_^

(2) - Cloudcity - or cloudtown, or cloudvillage — whichever works for a given situation. It's more fun to call them this than just "city" or "town" or "village," dont you think so? ^_^

In the next "episode"…

The team's all together now, but there are still little differences.
If they don't get over them, they can't win.
The quest for unity begins!

Next episode: …Comes from Within…

Is the title incomplete? What's going to happen?

You'll have to keep reading to find out! ^^

"Once you have wings, you can do anything!"

AN: The next three chapters' titles will form a sentence, so watch for it! ^_^ Reviews and constructive criticism always appreciated.