A/N: "Oh my God! Oh my God! Ok it's happening!" -Michael Scott (The Office)
Yes, thank you Michael, I only wish the link had worked. Oh well. Anyways, after many months, moons, seasons, and whatever else you'd like to call it I am proud to show you the sequel to Cerinian Adventures, Dinosaur Planet. This story went through about four or five different versions, as my beta readers Xengo and Nail Strafer can attest to. But now, finally, it's ready to be released out into the wild.
In the end I approached writing this as a fanfiction, and to that end I have made it as lighthearted and enjoyable both to read and to write as possible. So, sit back and get ready for an adventure full of fun, humor, fluff, action, and some serious moments. Oh, and of course, romance! I hope you all enjoy it!
-general whitefur
Scales hopped off of his galleon and took in the sight of Krazoa Palace. Storm clouds gathered above it and thunder rumbled in the distance. EarthWalker soldiers, sent to guard the Palace against his advancing army, lay dead, their blood ready to be washed away by the storm. His own soldiers, his fighting SharpClaw, stood arrayed and waiting for him. Scales made a fist with his one remaining hand and lifted it into the air, roaring triumph. "Find the Krazoa! Drive them from this place! Our victory is at hand!"
His men cheered and tore off into the Palace, their taloned feet thundering over the smashed gates. Scales followed them, walking slowly, casually, surveying the Palace as he walked inside. The interior was warm, heated by torches and braziers that cast the place in a flickering light. Scales knew where to go.
He turned a corner and proceeded down a hallway. It came to a dead end, a solid wall carved with Krazoa runes faced him. Scales knew this wall. He had seen it in his dreams. His visions. Visions given to him by the one who would make him king of Sauria, and would make Scales and his SharpClaw a conquering force that would go beyond this world and conquer all the stars in the sky.
Tracing the talons of his good hand across the runes he began to whisper the incantation his benefactor had taught him in his visions. The words were similar to what the Krazoa Spirits often murmured to themselves. A language sacred and yet unlearned to all the dinosaurs. The words Scales spoke could have been gibberish for all he knew, but he knew better. These were the words taught to him. Words of Power. They would turn away this barrier.
Scales came to the end of the first incantation and proceeded with the second. In the distance he could hear his soldiers screaming out the Words of Power he had taught to them, words that would strike such fear into the Krazoa that they would flee to their Shrine deep underneath the mountain their Palace stood on. Once they were gone, cowering in their shrine, Scales would be free to do what he came to do.
The second incantation came to an end and Scales began the third and final one. He could see the runes on the door beginning to glow a bright red. The last words left his mouth and he watched as the stone wall disappeared in a burst of orange flame. A smile curled his muzzle, the dreams had been true after all. He would not have admitted it to anyone, but he had felt doubt at times. After all, what man believed the things he heard in his dreams? But the shamans of his tribe had been certain. Certain that the visions and dreams given to him, Scales of House Scales, were meant to guide their people to the heights of glory, and that if were he to ignore them he would be both a fool and traitor. Scales didn't feel doubt after that, shamans always spoke the truth after all.
Scales heard taloned feet rushing up behind him. He turned to see two of his warriors approaching. "What have you to report?"
"The magic words worked my lord!" One of them said. "The Krazoa have all fled."
"Good. You are dismissed." Scales turned away from them, his smile turning into a grin. The Krazoa had fled before his warriors. Fled! Terrified of the power his people now held. The power of their most ancient enemy, and the SharpClaw's newest friend.
Scales looked down and saw that in the space the wall had occupied a thin line of energy now glowed. The threshold. If he crossed this there would be no going back for him, and there would be no going back for his tribe. He would gain the power to rule over all the SharpClaw, even those who still venerated the Krazoa as the true gods of Sauria. All would bend to the will of the only being who could make the Krazoa show fear.
He stepped across. The red energy rose up and began to bind to him, suffusing his scaly hide. Scales began to feel the energy as it burned itself into him, he grimaced in pain as he took another step. The pain grew worse. Another step. Agony. The room seemed to blur and Scales felt as if the whole world were bending. Then in a flash of light and one last burst of agony he found himself in another room.
The first thing he felt was the heat. Boiling heat. He looked around and saw that he had been transported to a platform, a lake of flaming, bubbling lava beneath him. He knew this place as well, had seen it in his dreams. This was where the Krazoa kept their enemy. Locked away in the core of Sauria for a million years. Scales walked up to the altar at the center of the platform. There it sat, the KeyStone. Nestled in a slot in the middle of the brown stone altar. He locked his hand around it and pulled with all his might. The KeyStone resisted, trying to remain in place. But the red energy that had suffused his body lent him strength, and with a mighty roar he ripped the KeyStone from the spot it had rested in for one million years.
He regarded it in his hand for a moment. It had the shape of a hexagon, but with the two flanking sides longer than the other. It felt light in his hand, not nearly as heavy as he'd expected. Only one thing left to do. Lifting it above his head Scales threw it to the ground. With a loud smash it hit the stone of the platform, breaking into four pieces. The pieces glowed, whined, and disappeared. Scales' breath came rapidly as he looked around, awaiting the appearance of the one who had led him to this place. After several minutes of nothing Scales called out, "I have done all you asked! You are free! Now repay your debt!"
The platform began to shake beneath Scales' feet. Running to the edge he looked down to see the lava begin to bubble madly. Then, in a torrent of fire and molten rock, the flaming head of a long dead, long imprisoned spirit emerged. The head floated over the lava, regarding Scales. The SharpClaw general saw that it looked quite a bit like his own people, but with a more pointed muzzle and a spiky crest at the back of its skull. "You are the one who freed me." It didn't frame it as a question. It's voice, deep and commanding, echoed inside Scales' head. "General Scales of the SharpClaw, leader of House Scales, and soon, all the SharpClaw, all the dinosaurs, and all this world. I am The Dragon."
Scales kneeled before the frightening visage. "I am the one you called for."
"Yes. Scales. I require one thing more. One thing I did not tell you of."
The general looked up The Dragon, his eyes curious. "What is it you need?"
"You!"
Star Fox: Dinosaur Planet
Chapter One
New Home
"Help us!"
Krystal looked around her, these were not her quarters on board the Great Fox. She felt something wet pattering against her fur. Looking up she saw rain coming down, and she could hear thunder and lightning in the background.
"Help us!"
She turned in the direction of the voice. What she saw was a massive stone and iron structure, a palace of some sort, and behind it the peak of a mountain. New sounds greeted her ears, the sounds of battle. Cries of agony and anger filled the air. She looked and saw a group of reptiles, one of them stood on all fours and had what looked to be a massive crest on his head with horns. The others walked upright and had long, blunt muzzles filled with razor sharp teeth, they wielded clubs and axes.
"Help us! Please! They want to take them!"
Krystal saw now that the one addressing her was the four legged reptile. He looked at her with a pleading, desperate look, one born of fear. Krystal made to grab her staff where it hung at her side, but suddenly a pair of arms grabbed onto hers. She struggled but couldn't break free. She felt herself shoved to the ground and something hit her over the head. The last thing she saw before she passed out was a glowing, purple being float by her, and it said, in a whisper of a language she didn't know but somehow understood, "You cannot do this alone child." Then everything went black.
Krystal's eyes opened, her chest heaving, she could feel sweat on her fur. She frowned, for a moment it almost felt like the rain water on her fur, but it certainly didn't smell like it. "Not again." She mumbled to herself. "That's the third time I've had that dream." Rolling over in bed she checked the time on the clock by her bed. 2:00 AM ship's time. "Blast. Same time every night. This is getting weird."
Back on Cerinia she'd had the occasional recurring dream, but nothing like this, nothing this vivid, and nothing that she could recall in perfect detail whenever she woke up. She remembered her mother telling her stories of how the ancient priestesses were said to commune with the goddesses in their dreams, but those were just stories. At least that's what Krystal had always believed. Come on girl, you don't really think it's someone trying to contact you. Do you?
Krystal sat up and swung her legs over the bed. She didn't feel like going back to sleep, not right away, and she felt an urge to see the stars. Stretching she reached for her robe. Getting out of bed she put it on and quickly slipped on a pair of panties as well, remembering that, unlike on Cerinia, nudity was somewhat...taboo in Lylat. Modesty remains a challenge. She thought to herself with a smirk as she tied her robe around her and stepped out into the dimly lit halls of the Great Fox.
She and Fox had made it to the Lylat system a few days after they'd saved Cerinia. They would have been there sooner if not for the Kathari's insistence that they stay for the victory celebrations. Fox had been hesitant, still not fully trusting the Kathari after they'd shot him down when he first arrived at Cerinia, but Krystal had insisted. Besides, the Kathari were offering them a rare honor, it seemed downright rude to just jet off right away. As she walked down the halls she smiled and blushed a bit at the memory of her giving Fox a rather long, sloppy, and somewhat tipsy kiss in the presence of the celebrating warrior felines. The females fighter's crude reactions nearly set poor Fox's fur on fire. If I need to learn modesty I only need to learn from him.
Stepping into the lift she said, "Social deck." The lift began moving. After they'd finally managed to get away from the parties and after being assured by the Queen that she would send Krystal's regards to her family she and Fox left on their transport vessel bound for Lylat. They'd been met by the Great Fox on the edge of the Lylat system and were now making their way ponderously towards Corneria. Fox had explained that there shouldn't be too much of a rush, he would submit his report to someone called general Pepper that the weapon had been neutralized, and then they would head back to Corneria for a debriefing. Fox, in the meantime, wanted to introduce Krystal to the beauty of his solar system, and had charted a course back to Corneria that would allow them to do a bit of stargazing along the way.
The lift door opened and Krystal stepped out into another corridor. Several doors lined the walls, and Krystal headed for the one marked "observation deck." Opening the door she smiled at the sight of the stars through the massive window. The observation deck had been converted into something resembling a lounge, with couches and chairs, as well as a small bar. As she made her way towards the couch she noticed someone else sitting there. "Fox?"
The tod's ears perked up and he looked over at her, a smile on his muzzle. "Hey Krystal. What's up?"
Krystal sat down next to him and immediately snuggled up to him as he put his arm around her. "Couldn't sleep."
"That dream again?" Fox asked, a note of concern in his voice.
"Yeah. Same one. Exactly." Krystal said, leaning her head on his shoulder and drinking in his strong vulpine scent, a scent she'd come to associate with safety, friendship, and love.
"Do you think it means something?"
"I don't know." Krystal replied honestly. "It could. Then again I've had strange, recurring dreams before and they turned out to be just dreams. You never know. What are you doing up?"
Fox took a sip of something from a mug. "Nothing really. I uh...I got the feeling it might happen again so..."
Krystal brought her head up and kissed him on the cheek. "You waited up for me. That's very thoughtful." Her nose twitched. "What's that in the cup?"
"This? Hot chocolate." Fox replied, offering her the mug. "Want to try?"
Nodding she took the cup from him and sipped once. Her eyes widened and she sipped again. Her lips curled upward and she said, "That's wonderful."
"I know isn't it?" Fox answered, taking the cup back.
The two of them sat there for awhile and gazed out at the lazily moving stars. They passed the mug of hot chocolate between them, Fox being more than willing to share with her, and soon Krystal felt her eyelids begin to droop. She knew the dream only came once a night, so it wouldn't repeat if she fell asleep again. Yawning she rested her head on Fox's lap, her tail wagging tiredly as he scratched behind her ears.
"You going to fall asleep?" Fox asked her.
"Mmhmm." She mumbled, her eyes shut now. She didn't hear his response, instead she simply slipped into a blissful, happy sleep, content in the embrace of the person she loved.
Sweat beaded on Krystal's forehead as she parried a blow from Fox. The two of them were in the gym aboard the Great Fox engaging in a practice match. Fox had finally begun to take to his sword in the past few days of practice, and Krystal found her skills being tested for the first time since she introduced him to the weapon. "Good." She said as she deflected another blow. "Now defend."
Fox stepped back and took up a defensive posture. Krystal came at him with several long, sweeping arcs, punctuated with a sudden, unexpected thrust. Fox managed to block the blows before dodging the thrust. He then came back at her with several swings of his own. The sound of sword against alloy staff filled the gym.
As Fox made another thrust Krystal sidestepped around it, spun on her heel, and got behind him. She landed the first touch of the match as she hit Fox right across the shoulder blades. He yelped and turned to face her. "Ow."
"Part of the game Foxie." Krystal smirked. "Want me to go easy on you?" The challenge in her voice came through loud and clear.
"Not a chance." Fox replied, his tone defiant as he charged her.
Smiling she sidestepped once again and stuck her staff in front of Fox's legs. The tod tripped and fell in an undignified mess on the floor. Krystal pounced on him the moment he rolled onto his back, straddling his hips and holding her staff gently against his neck. "I win."
Fox smiled up at her, a blush coming to his ears. "Uh, I guess so. You want to get off of me?"
"Not yet." Krystal gazed down at him, her eyes full of vixenly mischief. Her tail swayed behind her as she leaned in for a kiss.
Just as their lips were about to meet a voice came through the room's intercom. Slippy. "Hey Fox, Krystal, can you come up to the bridge. I think I have this translator all figured out but I need you guys to test it."
Krystal groaned and rolled her eyes. "He has the most impeccable timing."
Fox, his face nearly on fire, simply nodded. "Yeah. He does. We uh, we better get up there?"
Krystal couldn't help but smile at the fact that he actually framed it as a question. "Yes. We should." She got off of him and then helped him to his feet.
They walked over to the comm panel and Fox told Slippy they would be right up before slinging his sword into the sheath on his back. They walked out of the gym and to the lift, Fox wrapping his arm around Krystal's waist. A bold move coming from the tod, especially considering she only wore her brass top and loincloth. She felt a little shiver at the feeling of his palm resting against her bare fur.
"So, how far were you about to go in there?" He asked, managing not to stutter.
Krystal smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "I don't know. I was just having fun. You look so cute when you blush." As she said it she reached down and patted him gently on the bottom.
That move managed to make Fox blush again. "Thanks."
Smiling even more she leaned into him as the lift doors closed and they began moving up to the bridge. Her thoughts traveled briefly to the fact that they had admitted their love for each other not too long ago. It had been something of a spur of the moment decision, with Fox taking the lead quite to her surprise. Not that she minded, she liked that he'd managed to grow a little bolder around her. She would be lying though if she said she didn't feel tempted to find out just how far she could get him to go. One of these nights she planned to make his ears burn for real.
"You know the translator is going to take all the fun out of teaching you to speak Cerinian." Krystal said.
"I suppose. But you can still teach me." Fox replied. "Slippy just wants to make sure the translator is as up to date as possible."
"Do you still want to learn?" Krystal asked, looking up at him.
"Of course." Fox nodded. "You have to have someone you can talk to in your own language. I'd be worried you'd get lonely if you didn't." He gently rubbed her flank affectionately as he said it.
"You're a dear." She replied, nuzzling him as the doors opened.
Rather than being greeted by the usual beeps and boops of the bridge controls, both Fox and Krystal found themselves blasted by a wall of noise from the bridge jukebox. Krystal couldn't quite place all the instruments, but whatever they were they certainly sounded loud. Both vulpines immediately plastered their ears against their heads as they stepped onto the command deck.
Krystal walked over to Slippy, noting the vibrations in the deckplating as she did so, and said, "Slippy, how can you even hear yourself think over all that?"
The toad looked up at her and shrugged. "I don't know, it just helps."
"Well it doesn't help me." Peppy groused from where he sat looking out the viewport. "Isn't this music getting on your nerves?"
Fox walked over to the jukebox and turned the music down to a tolerable volume. "Yeah Slip, keep in mind there are foxes present."
"Fine." Slippy said, handing Fox a data chip.
"Is this the new translator?" Fox asked, taking it and slotting it into his wrist comm, a download began immediately.
"Yep. It should be fully programmed with Krystal's language now." Slippy told him. "Just put the earbud in and we'll give it a go."
Fox took the wireless earbud out of its socket and placed it in his left ear. Nodding to Krystal he said, "Go ahead and say something."
Krystal thought for a moment, then, her vixenly mischief returning, she said, "Den oei sud vaducco xouh me calling you a studly fox."
Fox's eyes widened and he looked at her mouth agape. "What? Say that again."
Smirking Krystal repeated herself. "Now you can finally hear me calling you a studly fox."
"Yeah, that's what I thought you said." Fox's cheeks looked like they were burning.
"My sensors indicate Fox's temperature is..."
"YES ROB! I KNOW!" Fox yelled at the robot.
Krystal, Peppy, and Slippy all laughed. It wasn't the first time the robot had told everyone just how much Fox was blushing out of a misguided sense of concern for his welfare. "Sorry Fox." Krystal apologized. "First thing that came to mind."
Fox groaned and rolled his eyes. "We haven't even done...that yet."
"I have a good feeling about you." Krystal said, sidling up to him she whispered in his ear, "My future stud and a half."
"Ok ok calm down." Fox said, pushing her away even as he smiled.
Krystal giggled and winked over at Peppy and Slippy. Peppy smiled back at her, one of those warm, caring, understanding smiles that he did so well. She knew just how happy the hare felt that Fox had finally found someone special to him. He'd told her as much the moment they'd told him about their relationship.
"Well," Krystal said, "Now that we have that translator I'm beginning to wonder how I'm going to get away with swearing as much as I used to."
Slippy looked at her wide eyed. "You swear Krystal?"
"Not as much as I used to." Krystal told the toad with a chuckle. "Though my sister and I used to be rather well known in our town for being able to outswear a sailor. Kazo, you have no idea how bad we were."
Fox glanced at her. "I didn't quite get that. Kazo? Is that Cerinian?"
"Yes." Krystal nodded. "Why? Is it not translating?"
Fox shook his head and looked at Slippy. The toad shrugged. "I never said it was perfect. Give it time, the translation matrix self-updates, it'll get better as it hears more. Then again there might just not be a direct translation."
Looking at Krystal, Fox asked, "What does that word mean?"
Krystal shrugged and flicked her tail. "If it doesn't have a direct translation then trust me you don't want to hear me explain it."
"Not even a hint?" Fox prodded.
"Well I suppose a hint couldn't hurt. It has to do with..." Krystal named a rather complex series of anatomical positions that left Fox, Peppy, and Slippy staring at each other in shock. "What?" Krystal asked, looking between them. "I told you it was a dirty word."
Fox, his eyes wide, just shook his head. "Yeah but, all that in four letters?"
Krystal smirked and took a seat at one of the bridge consoles. Tapping into the ship's onboard database she said, "My language can be quite eloquent when it comes to obscenities. Though I rather like the euphemisms you have in your language." Pulling up a section of the linguistic database that Slippy had shown her at her request she said, "For instance..."
Looking over her shoulder Fox saw what she intended to read off and clamped a hand over her muzzle. "No no. None of that. Why don't you teach me some more practical words in your language instead?"
"Mmph mmm hmmmph." Krystal responded, glaring up at him until he removed his hand. "Fine. Disable the translator though, no cheating."
"Fine." Fox took the earbud out of his ear and deactivated the translation program. "Where should we start?"
Krystal tapped her chin and thought about it for a moment. She'd never taught someone a language before, she concluded that it would be best to keep things as simple as possible. "Let's just start with some vocabulary." Tapping Fox on the chest she said, "Vep."
"Vep." Fox repeated. "Fox?"
"Or vulpine, but yes. You and are vepes." Looking around for another object she picked up a pen resting on top of a control panel and said, "Fod."
Fox repeated the word and correctly guessed the meaning. They soon fell into a rhythm, Krystal pointing out objects and identifying them in Cerinian, and Fox repeating the Cerinian and translating it into his own language. Krystal made sure to repeat some to see if he remembered, he almost always did, and she gradually moved to harder words and objects.
After about an hour she held up a hand and said, "We should take a break."
"Want to get something to eat?" Fox asked.
"Sure. I'm feeling a bit peckish." She replied.
They arrived at the mess hall a few minutes later and promptly began rummaging around the cupboards for snacks. Krystal grabbed the first bag of potato chips she found and headed for one of the tables. Fox joined her, carrying water and a plate with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on it. Arching an eyebrow at her bag of junk food he said, "I'm going to have to get you to eat healthier at some point."
"Are these not healthy?" Krystal inquired, crunching on a handful of the salty snacks.
"Not in the slightest." Fox told her. "Absolute salted junk."
"Mmm. Well they're delicious despite themselves." Krystal said with a smile, continuing to munch her way through the bag.
"They are that." Fox conceded, biting into his sandwich. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"This dream you keep having. How does it end? I don't think you've ever told me." Fox said, looking at her intently.
Krystal took a breath. She hadn't told him because she didn't want to make a big deal out of a dream. At the same time though she knew that if she kept it a secret he would just start to worry. And it was just a dream, and that meant nothing really to worry about. Nothing at all. Except for the fact that it comes every night at the same time, like clockwork. She thought to herself. "Well, it usually ends with someone grabbing me from behind and pinning me to the ground."
"And then?"
"And then some sort of spirit, or ghost, floats by and tells me that I can't do this alone." Krystal told him. It seemed silly. It must have just been her subconscious giving her nightmares about the fact that she was without her family, without her people. Banishment could have that effect on people. "I know it sounds silly."
"No. It doesn't." Fox shook his head. He took her hand in his. "It might just be a dream, but I want you to know, while I'm alive, you'll never have to face anything alone if you don't want to."
Krystal smiled at him. Banishment didn't seem so bad with him there to keep her company. Leaning across the table she kissed him gently on the lips. "Thank you."
