The Silver Raiders...

I turned around and saw a tall figure, about two or three years older than me. He wore a silver gear shaped eye patch over his left eye. Other than that, he appeared to be an average citizen. His messy dark brown hair hang in his face and his one green eye glowed like an LED light. He smiled and held out his hand. "Ashton Sparkstein at your service. Welcome to the home of the Silver Raiders!" He said with a warm smile. I shook his hand and smiled awkwardly back. "I'm Kailee Janstern. Nice to meet you. By the way, what am I doing here?" I asked nervously, tieing my jet black hair in a ponytail.

"Let me show you around, Kailee." Ashton said, leading me towards the entrance of the balloon. On the outside it looks like a shaggy bunch of metal scraps melted together, but on the inside, it was beautiful. Green plants in chrome pots hung from the ceiling and objects of all sorts decorated shelves on the walls. Metal creatures wandered around freely, making strange sounds. I had never before seen anything this awe inspiring. The hot air balloon had to be the size of a large mansion. A weird looking ostrich with horns and an utter approached me. I glanced at Ashton. He smiled and nodded. Slowly, I reached out to touch it.

"That's a Croosk. It's an ostrich that gives milk." Ashton said, ruffling it's metallic feathers. Who would have known that these kind of creatures existed outside our world?

"What about that creature that brought me here? What's that?" I asked politely as the Croosk left. Ashton explained that it was called a Manalar. It was a cross between a lion, bird and bat.

"His name is Russell." He explained, leading me down a hall. Small hamster looking things scuttled past, squeaking at us in delight. At the end of the hall there were three rooms.

"One is for weapons, one is for the younger Raiders and one is Mr Janstern's." said Ashton.

"Mr... Janstern?" I asked. I only knew of two Jansterns. Me and my mom, who had passed away four months ago. Could this be my dad, I thought excitedly. I pushed open the door and peered inside. A man about 40 years old was sitting at a wide table. His nose was practically touching the screen of his computer. He looked up and saw me.

"Kailee?" he asked, smiling happily. I nodded. He ran towards me and enveloped me in a hug. I was so happy I had found my dad! After all these years, he's finally here. "I've missed you, Dad!" I cried. Mr Janstern looked down at me with a worried expression.

"Oh, um... I'm not your dad. I'm your uncle. The names Sam Janstern. I was your dad's brother."