I know that many, many Star Fox fans (myself included) thought that Dinosaur planet would have done much better than Star Fox Adventures. And while I think Krystal despite her Suzie cream cheese attitude is a great addition to the team; alot of people don't feel that way, they are entiteled to their opinions as are we all. But if you are a Krystal fan; or one of those people who thinks of Adventures as the black sheep among Star Fox: this story was written for you. Enjoy. Review. Obsess. And thank God in heaven that Star Fox Wii U was announced at E3!
Sometime after the Aparoid invasion; the Star Fox crew is celebrating the victory for the Lylat system aboard the Great Fox.
"Man that was totally nuts when the queen came outa her shell, wasn't it?" Falco said giving Fox a great slap on the back.
"Ahh, yeah…" Fox agreed looking like the wind was just about knocked out of him.
Fox looked around at his crew; finally able to take a breather after all of the crap that had been thrown at them. Peppy and Slippy were sitting at the ships bar talking about something technical that Fox didn't feel like pretending to understand. And then he looked over at the back of a lovely blue vixen staring out of the Great Fox down on Corneria with its eerie glow.
"Some day huh?" Fox said joining Krystal in leaning elbows on the ridge near the window.
Resting her cheeks in her palms she shifted her aquatic eyes to give him a sunny look.
"Not the strangest day I've had." She giggled.
For a moment Fox realized exactly how little they still knew of their newest recruit; aside from the fact she was fantastic in hand to hand combat, uncommonly kind; and really freaking stubborn. Virtually everything about her past and where she was from was a complete mystery. Then Slippy interrupted his thought with a loud inquiry;
"Hey Krystal, you want to try a Tequila sour?"
She turned away from Fox and strolled over to the bar, her tail swooshing elegantly with her movements behind her. Fox mentally cursed Slippy; hating to see Krystal torn from the moment they were about to have. But he loved to watch her leave, something he didn't notice until Falco shot him a 'yeah keep it together lover boy' kind of look. A bit flustered Fox made his way to the sunken in couch around the hollow-projector.
They all sat down in the circle talking, Fox half distracted with his wrist gear checking the Star Fox account, where the Cornerian government had given them a fat payday for the Aparoid home-world destruction.
"You're always all business man; can't you enjoy the moment?" Falco said perking his avian lips up at the edges in a smile.
Then they both turned hearing Krystal's conversation;
"Yes Slippy we had alcohol on Cerinia, but nothing like this…" She squeaked making a face one would from something overly bitter.
"Yeah, speaking of that." Fox said seeing his chance to learn a bit more about her.
"Why don't you tell us a little more about that planet?"
Krystal looked down with a sort of wince. Clearly she was still raw from its destruction; I mean who wouldn't be?
"Oh, no you don't have to, really." Peppy interrupted shooting Fox a 'what the hell are you thinking' glare.
Fox just shrugged looking confused, and Falco raised his feathered fingers in a facepalm.
"No it's quite alright. I imagine it is simply natural curiosity." Krystal said looking at Fox.
For a moment he almost felt her. Of course he could feel her there next to him, but this was something else; like she was inside of his head. She knew exactly how to look right through him, whether or not it was the telepathy each time he couldn't tell. Then the pleasant grip was gone.
"It's perfectly reasonable to want to know more of people you like…" She said staring through him with those bright eyes.
"Well," She began turning her attention towards the whole group not just him.
"I could go on for days and days about the beauty of the place. I could even tell you my whole life story; but the thing I wish to discuss at the moment is… the great mysteries that surrounded the connection my people had to the sphere itself."
"What do yah mean there Krissie?" Falco said sipping at a straw in his drink.
"Well; all planets have their own… I wouldn't call it awareness. One could almost say it's a pulse. A pulse that every being who calls the rock home is in tune with; no matter if they are aware of it consciously or not. And the people of my bloodline…" She placed a hand on her hip where her white tribal marking remained since the day of her birth.
"Let's just say we took it seriously. Now Fox; earlier I told you that was not my strangest day; indeed nothing could quite top my strangest day." She giggled in an airy way that had Fox tuning in and out just looking at her.
There had always been an airy sort of perfume about her that made him feel befuddled; he wondered if it was just him.
"No; the strangest day of my life was when I was eleven years old. I was wondering through the woods, like I used to do. I was excited because the days were finally getting longer…:
Little Krystal wandered through the woods adorned in her little gold dress. She was excited because it was only a couple more years now until she was passed down the very same staff her father had used to defend their homeland so many times before. Looking up at the yellowy blue sky she danced around like little kids do when they are happy.
Raising up her hands in the air and spinning around on her toes through the forest brush. Humming some strange tune she would hear her mother hum from time to time; she watched the sticks and leaves scatter from her sweeping feet. Then feeling dizzy she stopped and held her head trying to get it to be still as well; that was when she caught movement from the side of her eye. Flicking her ears up to attention, she heard a giggle that didn't sound all that different from her own.
Walking through several large bushes off to where the sound had come from she came into a circle of stones. She looked down at the ground and saw the grasses within the circle of shiny clear stones, were much greener; and larger in general girth than the other grasses.
With a wide smile she slowly stepped into the circle, stopping in the middle to look at the sun streaming down through the break in the forests canopy. Then she heard something that sounded like wind blowing through trees, but there was no wind. She looked down to see the emerald grasses beneath her feet shivering; all on their own.
For a moment she felt very afraid; and then in a swirled shape the grass of the circle slowly lowered her down underneath the ground. She looked up; she wasn't that deep when the grass stopped and parted into an opening before her. Her fear instantly faded when she saw the little room she was in; there were shiny stones of all colors just like the ones above all over the walls giving it a ghostly glow.
She walked forward a couple of steps looking around taking all of the shiny stones into her wide eyes; there was something weird about them, they almost seemed to whisper… or maybe it was her new gifts coming in. Her mother had told her the gift presented itself in young ones around her age; and then she finally looked forward and jumped back with a start, nearly falling over.
In front of her; in the shape of a door; several of the stones were polished to a fine, sleek smoothness; like a mirror. But that wasn't what startled her; at first she thought it was someone else.., it couldn't be her own reflection. There was no way… With her mouth agape she slowly stepped up to the girl staring back at her in the mirror.
Whoever she was, she looked like Krystal… she was even wearing the same dress and shoes... But she didn't have the little mess of hair on her head Krystal did; she had some stripes of a darker color than the rest of her blue fur; they added a symmetry to her that was rather lovely in its own right. But who ever this girl was; she looked just as freaked out as Krystal…
Krystal moved a step to the left, then to the right… Then she turned to her side and swooshed her tail through the air; it was a mirror copycat alright.
"So weird…" She said; but then clasped her hands to her mouth; she had heard the reflections voice say it too: not just her own. She stared on, slowly putting her hands down.
Then stepping right up too it looked at the strange fox right in the eye, they even seemed to make the same face when they were irritated. And then they each looked down at their hands and bent their ears back in thought. With a look back at each other they raised their hands up to the barrier between them; it was warm, like there was a hand there.
Both Krystal's back away; then they turned and trotted up the swirly hill of grass. Krystal ran up out of the woods as the circle of stones closed behind her.
"Mom! You've got to see this!" Krystal shouted out of breath rocketing out of the brush into the lush valley where a blue vixen with the classic good looks she would one day posses was standing around.
"I have been looking for you everywhere Krystal… I keep telling you not to wander off into the woods like that." Her mother said brushing some locks out of her face.
"The sun is starting to set; we should go home sweetie."
But Krystal didn't hear her; she simply grabbed her by the hand and pulled her along.
"Mom you really have to see this!"
"By the time me and my mother got back to the clearing; the stones were gone… the grass didn't look so green anymore… the entire place just seemed dead." Krystal said looking up in nostalgia.
The rest of the Star Fox crew stared on with their jaws slack.
"Well; did you ever find it again after that?" Slippy asked loudly.
"No…" Krystal sighed.
"I searched and searched until the day of my coronation; but never was able to find it or anything like it ever again. And of course my parents humored me for a couple of months; but one day they told me I had just fallen asleep and dreamt it. So I pushed it to the back of my mind and forgot about it until now… curious…" She finished putting an index finger to her lower lip in thought.
"Maybe it was just a crazy day dream." Falco said scratching his head trying to get his head around it.
"I have never heard of anything like that before… although I'm not familiar with Cerinian culture so…" Peppy trailed off realizing he was about to open an old wound of hers.
"Well to me it just sounds like one of those crazy things you'll never really get an answer to." Peppy finally concluded.
"I still… just wish I knew whether or not it had been real…" Krystal said with a giggle.
"It was real." Fox said giving her a reassuring look.
"How dah yah know Foxie?" Falco scoffed.
"Okay look you guys; I never told anyone this but… after I defeated Andross on Venom… I saw my dad."
"What?!" Peppy, Falco and Slippy all said at once.
"Be serious Foxie…" Falco started.
"He's telling the truth." Krystal interrupted… Holding a hand to her chest; she could feel his honesty. He had lost his parents… something she was familiar with.
Fox looked at her and as their eyes met; there was a silent understanding between the two of them… their faces slowly drifted towards one another as the background seemed to fade out, but then Peppy cleared his throat.
"Shame shame!" Falco pulling Fox into a headlock.
"You know your name!" Slippy laughed pointing at the annoyed Fox.
Krystal burst out into laughter; and the Star Fox family stayed up the rest of the night exchanging stories from their past… stories they had never told anyone before.
And the family all begun to see one another in a new light as the music pounded quietly in the background.