Hey. I finally got the motivation to do a fanfic! Yay! Anyways, this is my first fic and therefore probably not the best thing that you've read on this site. Enjoy my first chapter of my first fic!

Robert Byrne - "The purpose of life is a life of purpose."

Natural Medicine

Chapter one

Fox was sick of it all. He was tired of fighting. He wanted to be done with killing. He didn't want to be used by the government anymore. He hated having all of his ships becoming rusty. Fox was sick of being depressed.

Not many would think someone like Fox would be depressed. Many would give almost everything that they had to be as famous as the vulpine. Hardly anyone looked at his past and saw how painful it must have been for him. How painful it still must be.

The only good thing that Fox could think of was that he was going to get paid. But then, he started thinking about how the government was using him to do their dirty work, and then how nobody would ever know how much he did to complete this mission.

That was the problem of looking at the bright side of life. It seemed like with every good thing that happened, two bad things came with it.

Fox was snapped out of his thoughts by the warning lights on his Arwing. Already irritated with the flashing light, he quickly turned off the alarm for low fuel. Fox wasn't worried about that. All he had to do was check the Krazoa palace to see if that mysterious vixen had gotten away from the planet safely. Then if she wasn't there, he would just head back to the Great Fox.

Fox was surprised at how far his battle with Andross had taken him. The Great Fox must have tried to help the vulpine defeat Andross because it sure wasn't in orbit around Sauria any more. He had been flying for about ten minutes and was only now entering the planet's atmosphere. He flipped two different switches to adjust the arwing to the gravity and started heading towards the general direction of Krazoa palace.

Fox started thinking again. He knew that this vixen was truly beautiful. Then again, it was spring, aka "mating season". The stupid phrase that some scientist made up when hormones suddenly fluctuate really made Fox mad for some reason. He felt that if a scientist had that much free time, then he could have figured out that Andross was still alive.

Fox shook his head vigorously for a couple seconds. Yet another thing that he was tired of. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stay focused on one thing for very long, unless it was something that was very interesting to him. That whole thing had started out thinking about Krystal and then about mating season and then about some random scientist who was probably dead.

Fox started thinking about the vixen again. It had been a very long time since he had even considered having a girlfriend. He just didn't see the point in those kinds of relationships. Usually, all Fox wanted was a friend, but with his fame, it seemed as if all every girl wanted was a chance to touch him. Usually below the waistline. After a while, he just tried not to pay attention to his female fans unless he was saving their lives.

Fox sighed inwardly as he came to the conclusion that the only girls who wouldn't know him would be in some other solar system. All of the females that he had met since two years after the initial defeat of Andross were crazy over him. Sometimes, he didn't want to go down to the surface of planets in the Lylat system for fear of being swarmed.

Fox had been staring at his joystick, lost in thought, but looked out the canopy to check if he was near the palace.

He was, but it seemed as if the place had been swarmed by another Sharpclaw army! There had to be at least fifty of the brown-scaled reptilians on the roof alone.

Thinking fast and expecting the worst, Fox started to hover over the palace to strafe the roof, but something held him back. He looked closer and it seemed as if they were jumping for joy and not doing any fighting at all. A sharplcaw that was a bit larger than the rest was holding a huge belt in victory for something.

Fox knew that belt. It was the same one that General Scales wore. That little grunt was taking all the credit for killing the General!

Anger washed over the vulpine and with it was the decision on whether or not he should vaporize the reptilian with his powerful laser cannons or not. Suddenly a more pressing matter came to his mind.

What happened to Krystal?

She was here at the temple when Fox had left to slay Andross. Now, however, the vixen was nowhere to be seen.

Fox growled in frustration, the only sound he had made since he defeated Andross. He didn't have enough fuel to look for the other vulpine, but if he did save her, he might get another bonus from the Cornerian general.

With that thought in mind, Fox set off towards the Great Fox to fuel up. He tried to get more comfortable for the semi-long trip back to the carrier. The little grunt could wait a little longer to be vaporized.

Once he got comfortable and on course to his destination, the weary vulpine started thinking back to his second fight with Andross.

The mad simian was even crazier than before. Instead of just wanting to rule the Lylat system, he had wanted to destroy it. He had gotten a lot more powerful, too. The ape would have eaten the red fox if it wasn't for Falco.

Fox narrowed his eyes at that name.

Falco. The blue feathered avian who had abandoned him and left without a trace. Just like his father and mother and most of his past friends had abandoned him.

That was the real reason to why Fox felt angry at the bird. Falco had known how much pain betrayal brought to him. Falco had known that he was betraying the vulpine. Falco hurt Fox knowing that he was doing it.

From the angry glare at his consol, Fox let his eyebrows go back to their resting place on his forehead and became more sad than angry. He should've tried harder to keep his best friend from leaving. The vulpine could've done something more to keep Falco on the team.

Fox was wrenched from that depressing train of thought by the arwing's comm. system.

"Fox here," was his prompt reply.

Peppy's aging face appeared in the hologram projector. Before he could ask something, a worried look crossed his face "Are you ok Fox? You seem a little depressed."

Fox's temper flashed but he was able to keep it under a reasonable amount of control. "Thanks for the news Peppy," the vulpine said sarcastically. "I've only been like this for six years! I would have thought you had noticed that by now."

"Sorry Fox! Geese! I was only trying to be a friend and care."

Fox sighed, immediately feeling regretful for what he said, "Yeah, I know. It's been a long week and I'm just a little wore out."

At that comment, Peppy chuckled. "I would be surprised if you weren't tired, Fox. You just walked over the entire planet in one week!"

The vulpine suddenly got a very serious look as the Great Fox came into view through all the asteroids. "Hey Peppy.

"What is it?"

"Is Falco there?"

"Nor has he been for the last four years. Why do you ask?"

Fox sighed and looked even more depressed than before and replied, "No reason, just curious is all."

Peppy didn't believe that at all but didn't push it. Instead he changed the subject, "Anyways, Fox. Why did you not answer the comm. line when we called you after the fight with Andross?"

"I had to go check on the Krazoa palace to see if everything was alright," Fox quickly lied.

"Hmm. If you say so"

"Just open up the hangar doors, okay."

The vulpine sighed as he cut the line. If Peppy or Slippy found out that he went searching for Krystal, then bad things would happen to the vulpine. They would probably assume that he liked the vixen. Then they would try to force him to date her to get Fox over his depression.

That of course would fail because girls were the initial reason for this depression. Fox tried to get away from that train of thought. He tried to focus on the present rather than the past. It hurt too much to think about what had happened to him.

And then Falco wasn't at the Great Fox. He must have left again to go back to whatever life he had now.

He glided his arwing into the launching bay and landed it flawlessly. A grin played on his face. At least he had his arwing and his team. Well, most of it.

Fox popped the canopy open and jumped out. He nearly collapsed as he landed, though, as a knee gave out from exhaustion.

He groaned as he stood back up. Everything was sore. His legs and feet hurt from all the jogging he'd been doing, his arms hurt from whacking sharpclaws with Krystal's staff, his torso hurt from bruises from being on the receiving end of head-butts, and now, the vulpine had a headache.

He walked as best he could toward the bridge. At least now the vulpine didn't have to worry about being ambushed.

He stepped into the elevator near the entrance to the hangar and tapped a button to go to the bridge. He immediately started moving upwards. After a bit, the elevator jerked and moved horizontally the rest of the way to his destination.

The elevator doors slid open to reveal a large, rather tidy room with Rob64, Peppy, and Slippy all inside. The vulpine was immediately greeted by cheering by the enthusiastic frog. "Hey Fox!"

"Yeah. Its good to see you too Slippy," replied the less enthusiastic vulpine as he walked over to them.

"We did it Fox," said Peppy.

Sauria is saved! All thanks to you," replied the amphibian, Giving Fox a low five.

"You should be happy," the hare added. "Not many people get the chance to save a star system and this is the second time that you did. Andross is defeated once again. Now you're an even bigger hero!"

At that last remark, Fox visibly flinched. He didn't need more fans. He already thought that there were too many of them.

Quickly recovering, he tried to hide his worry and patted his teammates on the shoulder, forcing a grin. "You all did a great job. If it wasn't for you guys, then I would've been dead before I even reached Andross in the venom war. And this last mission was really confusing, but you guys helped me through. I would still be down there if it wasn't for Peppy telling me where to go. And it would've taken me many times longer to figure out all the puzzles if it wasn't for you, Slippy. Thanks guys."

"Wow. Your welcome Fox. That was quite a speech for you, wasn't it," joked Peppy, quite pleased with the praise.

Slippy, on the other hand, started blushing and said, "It's nice to know that you still like me, even though you have to save me multiple times on a mission."

Before Fox had a chance to respond, though, Rob suddenly said, "Warning! Urgent incoming message!"

"Put it on the projector," replied Fox, crossing his arms.

"Affirmative." Within the second, a 3d face of an aging hound appeared in the middle of the room.

"General Pepper here. Good work Starfox team. The planet is now as stable as it was before. I received a message from the king and queen earthwalker thanking you for saving their world. They speak for all of the dinosaurs of Sauria."

Fox wasn't exactly sure if the redeyes would appreciate him freeing the walled city and killing their leader. He continued to listen to the general, however.

"Oh and Tricky says hi," Pepper put in as an afterthought. "I was, however, very surprised to hear that Andross was still alive."

Trust me, not as much as we were. We were there when Fox killed him for the first time," Slippy replied. "I just wish we knew how he got resurrected so it wouldn't happen again."

"It seems that Andross discovered the ancient power of the Krazoa before he died the first time and by trapping Krystal, who had the ability to channel this power, he was able to use this energy to revive himself," answered Fox, as he walked forward to emphasize what he was saying.

"And how would you know that?" asked a very confused Slippy. "And if Andross was dead, how did he trap that vixen?"

Fox thought for a moment and then slowly replied, "I just sorta… know, I guess. I don't really get it. Andross could have sent his spirit to Sauria after he died. Then, it could have been using the magical energy to strengthen itself until he, uhh, it trapped her. After being the host for five different spirits and then fighting Andross again, this isn't that unlikely of an idea for me."

" Well, at least this time we'll have seen the last of him. I'm transferring your fee as we speak. Good luck Starfox team. Pepper out."

"Woohoohoo! Yeah! We're getting paid!" shouted the amphibian.

"We can finally repair the ship!" added the aging hare.

"And I can really use some oil. These joints aren't what they used to be," replied Rob. As if to emphasize his point, his left arm started falling down until Rob caught it with his other hand and put it back into the socket.

"And I can't wait to get back with the Starfox team," a familiar voice said from the other side of the elevator door. It opened to reveal a familiar blue feathered falcon who walked in and said, "Hey guys. You don't mind if I hang with you again, do you?

Slippy and Peppy gasped as they saw Falco. Fox, however, just crossed his arms and looked over the blue avian. He had a small mohawk and was wearing a white headband with a dark pair of shades covering the front of his head. He was wearing a white T-shirt with a black leather jacket over it. The sleeves were covered with what looked like shoulder pads on his biceps. Right were the pads ended, a black gauntlet with golden trim started. It had two spikes on the top and the gauntlet itself ended at the wrist. There was a loose belt with a golden buckle on top of his black pants. He had knee high boots that ended with more golden trim.

With a serious appearance, Fox finally said, "You ditch us for no apparent reason, you didn't tell your team where you were going, you haven't made contact with us for the past four years, and now you expect to join Starfox just like that?"

"Well, uhh, y-you see," the falcon started

Fox suddenly smiled and said, "Sure Falco. It's great to have you back."

Slippy smiled and hollered, "Yeah! The Starfox team is back together again!"

"Well I would love to sit here and chat, but I need to go help our future bonus," the vulpine said as he started walking towards the elevator.

"What do you mean by that," asked Slippy.

"I don't think that Krystal made it off the planet. I'm going down there to rescue her and maybe we can get even more money for her safety."

"Oh Fox! I almost forgot! I received a messaged from Krystal. Guess that my age is catching up with me," Peppy said, chuckling.

Fox sighed as he and Falco walked to where the holo-projector was facing and said, "Alright Peppy. Let's hear it."

An enlarged head of the beautiful vixen appeared and she had a smile that made Fox grin as well. Falco looked at the vixen, then at the fox and smirked before listening to what she had to say.

"Hi Fox. I really appreciate what you did for me. I'm just so sorry we didn't get much of a chance to talk. I left with just one thing to do."

"That's it?" Fox asked in an annoyed tone after waiting a few seconds. Inwardly fuming, the vulpine ordered, "Ok guys let's go to Corneria and get our ships repaired."

"But Fox," complained Slippy. "What about Krystal? She's still trapped on the planet!"

"Wrong." Growled the vulpine, already losing his patience.

"Huh?"

"How would she send that message if she didn't have a ship? Hurry up. Let's get…" The vulpine was interrupted by a loud bumping sound. Everyone in the bridge looked around trying to find out where the sound had come from.

A quite hiss from the elevator door opening made him look that way. His jaw dropped slightly and his eyes widened, if only for a moment.

"And that one thing, Fox, is to say 'Thank you'," said Krystal, drawing out each word while walking slowly toward the surprised vulpine.

As soon as the elevator door opened, Fox found himself staring at the stunning vixen. She had blue hair that reached to the upper neck area and a tiara of golden beads that ended in a diamond shaped ruby on her forehead. Most of her face was a silky white until it faded into a beautiful shade of blue. She wore what looked like a golden bra with four white triangles that pointed down on both sides. Also, a white loin clothe with golden trim that showed off her strong, yet delicate legs and an odd, white tattoo. It spiraled from the center out and had small triangles on four sides. Thick, white bands separated her tail into three parts, making her even more beautiful. She had golden shin and wrist gaurds and strange symbols that were etched into her skin that went all the way around the biceps.

"Well, uh, ok. I mean, sure no problem," Fox stumbled while trying not to look at anything inappropriate.

Slippy saw this and laughed, "Ha ha ha! You're not shy, are you Fox."

Fox turned to give the frog a heated glare. Once his back was turned, though, Falco elbowed him and smiled. He loved giving Fox a bad time. He backed up a bit to give the two vulpine more space.

Before the fox could say anything back, Rob spoke up and said, "My sensors indicate that Fox's temperature is rising. Are you ok Fox?

This, of course, made everyone laugh at the embarrassed red-orange vulpine.

Trying to keep his composure, Fox decided to play along and sarcastically responded, "I'm going to be just fine."

Falco started chuckling and said, "Yeah sure you are Foxy. Just don't get too frisky tonight!"

Becoming pissed, Fox turned to the rude avian and growled, "Insulting your captain within an hour of being hired isn't a very good idea, Falco. Especially when I'm your captain." He then addressed his whole team, still annoyed. "I just walked across an entire planet, killed two fifty foot monsters, a bio-weapon, fended off the entire sharpclaw army, and defeated the giant head of a crazed monkey in the course of one week. I'm going to bed."

With that the vulpine walked to the door that would lead him to his room. "Wow. After all this time, that fox is still depressed," Falco stated.

"It's not like you helped him at all. You just left," stated the annoyed amphibian.

"Hey! If he wasn't so sad all the time then I would've stayed!"

"Whatever Falco." With that, Slippy left as well.

"Hey! Get back here!" yelled Falco as he ran after Slippy.

Peppy just sighed and turned toward Krystal. "Sorry you had to hear all of that. Falco just got back on the team and everyone's kind of uptight right now,"

"It's fine," replied the less-than-enthusiastic Krystal. "I said what I wanted to and I guess I should go now."

"You don't have to do that. We'll take to where you need to go. It's the least I could do for making you witness all that."

"I-I don't really need to go anywhere."

"What do you mean?"

"My… home was destroyed a long time ago. I've just been wandering around in different systems."

"Oh. I'm so sorry, Krystal. You can stay with us as long as you need to."

"Thanks Peppy, but just drop me off at Corneria"

"Ok. Just make yourself at home and I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight Krystal."

"Good night Peppy."

I hope that you like this. If you don't, then you should comment and let me know what I'm doing wrong. If you do like it, then you should comment and let me know what I can improve. Did I do well in: description, plot, characters, background info, or as a story overall? Did I use words or phrases too much? I really need to know these things so that I can get better. You can be as mean or nice as you want. As long as it's constructive criticism, than I really couldn't care less about how rude you are.