Fluff train still isn't done yet.
Thank you to all who have reviewed my previous stories! All your words of encouragement are very valuable to me. And remember, if you find anything that I could improve upon, don't be afraid to tell me! This website is a good resource for having other people critic your writing and tell you what you ought to do to get better, and I want to take full advantage of it.
Now on to the story
Originally, I had planned for this to be another one shot. Then I realized that the transitions in certain parts of the story would seem choppy if I didn't utilize chapters. So this story will be three chapters long, I believe.
Please enjoy! Have good day, be safe, and God bless.
Also, I'm looking for anyone who would like to beta-read/edit my stories. If anyone knows someone with a good grasp of English, please let me know.
In Our Dreams
Warm air, air that felt tropical and humid, blew through Fox's fur. When he opened his eyes he was facing a beach with blinding white sand accompanied by water the color of turquoise, with the clearness of glass. Waves gently rolled on up to the beach, and they created an utterly soothing and relaxing sound. More relaxing than the sounds of waves on Corneria beaches, even.
Fox did not know where he was. But he was keenly aware that he was dreaming. A fuzziness, a strange sort of sensation, flowed through his body that made him know that all that was before him was not real. But that did nothing to destroy the beauty of it all.
"Amazing…" he murmured.
Turning around he saw what looked to be a tropical forest, overgrown with palm trees and shrubs. A path, not a natural one but one that looked like it was made by the stomping of paws over time, winded through the sea of bark and leaf. An inexplicably, Fox felt a pull to this path.
A part of him was apprehensive. Perhaps his own subconscious was smart enough to lay a trap for another nightmare. But he felt no sort of darkness here. Only the warmth of the sun and wind. And the pull of the trail did not feel foreboding at all.
So he walked into the forest, following the trail for sometime. Before long he heard the murmur of voices and hustle and bustle. All at once the forest gave way to what Fox realized was a village.
A village occupied by violet furred vulpines, fur the color of a certain someone.
He gaped. They all wore clothing that could be called primitive. Loincloths for the men, and the addition of a bra-like top for the woman. They all hurried about, smiling to each other and going about their day, buying things at what Fox thought were market stalls, playing with children – Parents with their children and children with other children – and with all of this Fox felt a great sense of community here, the kind that he had felt with Star Fox was a full team.
It wasn't a very big village. He could see what looked like fifteen buildings that appeared to be homes. Smaller buildings dotted the area, the market stalls. Some sat right next to homes, fitting the definition of "family business" perfectly. These stalls sold what looked like food, clothing, and an assortment of spices.
The buildings were made with a glossy white stone, beautiful feats of craftsmanship adorned with the markings of a language Fox did not recognize immediately. He stared at the symbols, creasing his brow in thought. And when he finally realized where he had seen those symbols before, the force of his realization gave him pause. Those symbols, painted in blue upon the stone, were symbols Fox remembered Krystal writing with from time to time. Even more, they glowed upon the walls, giving off a comforting light.
Staring at those symbols, Fox thought hard about how they could turn up here. Krystal used them, and of course Krystal had come from a planet far from-
And the realization hit him square in face, a fist to the proverbial jaw.
This place...he was on Cerinia. It was such a ludicrious realization that Fox did not accept it at first. But upon re-realizing that this was indeed a dream, it became a lot easier to swallow.
Still, it made no sense. How could he be seeing this? Fox had never been to Cerinia. COULD never go to Cerinia. Krystal had told him the planet had been destroyed through mysterious means. Hearing that story had made him shiver a little bit. Anything with enough power to wipe out an entire planet was not an enemy he would wish on anyone.
"And why aren't they noticing me?" he muttered. Indeed, nobody seemed to notice him or look at him. He received another shock when, upon politely reaching to tap one of the locals on the shoulder, his finger passed right through. It was as if he touched a hologram. He blinked. Hard.
Dream logic was weird, Fox decided.
Fox figured he might as well take this odd opportunity and do some exploring. He walked through the village streets, smiling at the cheerful residents. The roads were made of stone, and Fox could see intricate designs woven into the rock. This, combined with the stunning designs on some of the tents, led Fox to believe that the Cerinians were certainly a very creative people.
The primitive nature of the people struck him as odd, considering the the technology he knew the people had; their staffs, which were wonders all on their own, and their space craft. Fox knew they had access to space travel, being that Krystal had told him she had used a ship to travel to Sauria. And of course, she used that same ship to board the Great Fox I after Sauria had been saved, in order to pay the team a visit and thank Fox for his help.
It was while he was walking that a group of three children rushed passed him. Two boys and a girl. And while they rushed in front of him the girl looked his way suddenly and actually stopped and stared at him. Her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped slightly. Fox mimicked her.
He knew it was she the moment they made eye contact. Standing in front of him was a younger Krystal, maybe barely older than ten years old.
They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity.
"Who are you?" she asked, in a language Fox guessed was Cerinian. Somehow, however, he was able to understand it. The words melted into his mind, and he heard a lighter, younger version of the voice he was so familiar with. A voice he so loved.
"I'm...a visitor?" Fox replied, not exactly how to respond to that. The surrealness of this situation was again at the forefront of his mind.
That, and he couldn't help but think Krystal used to be a pretty cute kid. Her beauty would only increase, of course.
"A visitor?" she repeated. She looked him up and down. "You don't look like you are from around her, certainly. That's a strange fur color to have. Is it a disease?"
Fox smirked. Might as well roll with it.
"Says the girl with violet colored fur." he replied.
"Hey!" she replied, looking indignant. And Fox chuckled to himself.
Then put her hands on her hips and stuck her tongue out. "Are you done making fun of me?" she asked.
Fox stopped chuckling and gave her a sincere smile. "Yeah, I'm done. I'm sorry if I did hurt your feelings," he said.
Krystal looked him dead in the eyes, and upon seeing the sincerity of his look, she smiled too.
"So, where are from?" she asked, curious.
"Far away." He replied.
"I should think so, considering how you look."
"We don't have any violet colored vulpines where I come from, so I would say that this place is far away from my home." It was a good guess. Krystal had said she hailed from outside the Lylat System. Wherever Cerinia had been, it hadn't been in his backyard of stars.
"Then how did you get here?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.
"I...don't know." Fox replied honestly.
"Then it's a mystery." she replied, smiling brightly.
Indeed it was.
"Wanna walk and talk?" she chirped.
Fox smiled warmly. "Sure," he replied.
The following few moments proved to be quite relaxing for Fox
This younger...dream...version of Krystal talked about her life on Cerinia, including about her parents and friends. Her mother and father were warriors, the strongest in the village, and were seen as major protectors of the people. No wonder she was so strong willed. Also, one of her favorite things to do was walk through the safer parts of the forest and beyond, along with her friends. Through that, Fox could tell that even at this age Krystal had a very realized sense of adventure.
Much like he had, when he was a kid.
"Do you like to wonder around?" she asked him.
"Every so often. Nowadays I would like to travel around with a…special friend of mine." he replied.
"How special is this friend?"
"She's very, very special."
She smiled at him.
They walked and talked some more, until somehow they found themselves back by that beach were Fox had first found himself in this dream. The water was still pristine looking, and the sun had dipped lower in the sky. Evening was approaching.
"Sometimes, I wonder what else is out there..." she murmured.
Fox ruffled her hair. "Don't worry. You'll find out someday."
"Really?" she looked at him, excited.
"Yup! And then you'll eventually discover that the world out there can be rather boring at times," he teased
"No, that can't be. There are many, many things to do on Cerinia. Surely there are even more things out there, right?
Fox couldn't argue with that. Space was a rather big place.
He smiled brightly at her, and she smiled back at him.
This had been a pleasant dream.
And the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end when he felt it. It was subtle, a small change in the air around him. He looked and saw that night had fallen, and that a red glare had placed itself in the sky, like a smear of blood upon a ruined canvas. Something was wrong. Very wrong, and when he looked over at Krystal to see if she noticed it too, he gasped in shock.
No longer was Krystal the sweet and innocent looking ten-year-old he had discovered here. She had, in the seconds he had looked away, seemingly aged many years and now looked just as he had found her, in that crystal cage on Sauria. She had that familiar loincloth and top on, and her staff was hooked on her back.
But what scared him was her expression. Her eyes, once happy, were wide and terrified. Her mouth was open slightly, like she had lost the ability to speak. Her hands held her head, and she was shivering.
A rumble in the distance shook the air. The air smelled of sulfur, and something else. Screams pierced the air, and forests burned in the distance. That other smell, pungent and horrible, suddenly Fox knew exactly what that smell was. In his line of work, he had smelt it a number of times. It was the smell of death.
And all at once Fox realized what was happening.
Cerinia's final hour had come. And he was seeing at as she had.
Now it was time to help her in a dream, just as she had. He knew it wouldn't be much, but there was no way he was leaving her here alone.
"Krystal," he said comfortingly, putting his hands on her shoulders, "It's okay, I'm here. Let me-"
"We need to go!" She cried. And she took his hand and pulled him into the woods.
Fox strained to keep with her. It felt like his arm was being yanked out of it's joint, but he ran. And while he ran he nearly screamed in shock when he saw that what was on either side of them as they ran was not a forest, but swirling images, distorted but miraculously still intelligible.
In one, he saw Krystal running through the village as what he thought was lazer fire buzzed around her. In another he nearly cried when he saw her gaping at the burned bodies of what must have been her parents, charred with blaster wounds and their fur covered in dried blood. Her gaze was disbelieving, horrifically disbelieving, and all around her the world was ending. Cerinians chassed by figures armed with blaster rifles were shot on the spot. Men, woman, children, anyone, it made no difference. An image on the left showed her running to what appeared to be a space craft, tears in her eyes, staff bloodied.
And the sounds! Screams, moans, whimpers, they all surrounded them, a hoard of unspeakable terrors that chilled him to the bone. He kept his eyes straight, focusing in her, and beside himself he yelled.
"Go, Krystal! I'm here! Keep going!"
And it was if the universe was waiting for those words, because the moment he finished speaking them, the scenery changed.
Now, instead of the sounds of screams and whimpers he heard the quiet whirring of systems one would hear on a ship, and when he looked around he saw that he was indeed inside a spacecraft. The cabin for passengers, he guessed. It wasn't too large, but was bigger than a personal craft. Recalling the image of Krystal running to a ship, he guessed this must be the same spacecraft, the craft she had escaped the planet in on that horrible day.
But his mind no longer focused on that when he noticed Krystal was no longer next to him.
He looked around frantically, and saw that she was up in what looked like the cockpit, sitting at the controls, and shivering. She was looking off into space.
He approached her quietly, looked to where he was staring, and felt horror creep through his body.
What was out there was a planet in its death throes, red and crackling and breaking apart. A red giant screaming in agony, it's howls lost in the uncaring silence of space. Krystal suddenly screamed in pain, holding her head in her hands. Looking at the planet again, and then back at her, he connected the dots and felt a shiver rocket up his spine.
She was feeling Cerinia die. Feeling the last, painful cries from all the denizans of the planet. All that pain and suffering as a neural cloud swelling in her mind, her telepathy succumbing to all of it.
Fox did the only thing he knew he could do. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, hoping that his presence could offer some sort of comfort. It seemed so trivial compared to what she must have been going through, but he would be there for her regardless.
She leaned into the embrace, and the two of them just there in the quiet of space.
"I remember it..." she said quietly, "I remember it like it was yesterday."
Fox didn't know what to say.
"And no matter how many times I see it...It's always so horrible."
He hugged her tighter.
"I'm here, though," he said.
She nuzzled his cheek, and he did the same.
"I may not be able to shoulder all the pain, by remember..." and then he kissed her on the cheek.
"I'm always here."
As a note: I was vague on who was responsible for destroying Cerinia on purpose. While writing the story I wasn't sure who to have responsible for the act, be it Andross or someone else. I'm not ready to make a call on that, as I might very well end up writing a story about the team finding out more info about Cerinia's destruction.