"Fox! A blizzards coming. We have to go." Slippy said.
"We can't leave him. He'll freeze."
"We need to go now. How is Falco suppose to depend on you if you get hurt as well?" Peppy asked.
I became aware that I was on a soft surface. There was a voice.
"Falco? Falco can you hear me?"
"Give it a rest Blank. He's unconscious. He's not going to respond."
"I'm just worried about him Faded."
"*Sigh* So am I."
Blank... Blank Hunigan? And Faded Stephenson? I opened my eyes to see Blank looking in the direction that Faded left in. I was in my room on my old ship that was now theirs. Max XD001. This ship in my opinion is way better than Max XD002 or 6 or 400. Can't beat the original. Blank seemed kind of surprised but at the same time relieved.
"You're awake." Blank breathed. Almost like he had been holding his breath for awhile. Faded dashed into the room. His ears like radars picking up the slightest sound.
"He's awake? Falco?"
He could see Blanks relieved face turn serious. That protective spark in his eyes flashing. That spark that he got when he was protecting or going to get revenge for someone he considered to be in his pack or pride or whatever lions called it.
"Falco what happened? Who was chasing you?" Blank asked.
"...Chasing...me?" I questioned trying to remember what had happened in that blur of a moment.
"Yes. Chasing you. Your ship was in it's speed form and was in a two mile ditch. There was damage to the right wing. That leads me to believe that you were being chased and someone hit your wing causing you to crash. Who hurt you?" Blank elaborated.
"...(What happened?...Fox. We were racing to the shadows. Fox hit my wing. I got through first so I won!... But I crashed. Lanna. My ship. She's damaged.)"
I sat up quickly in a rage.
"That bastard!"
I fell back quickly realizing my mistake as pain shot through me. I flinched in pain.
"Hey! Calm down. You need to take it easy." Blank stated as Faded nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. You're hurt pretty bad." Faded added. "Just relax."
I flinched again.
"Everything hurts."
Blank sighed. Faded sat down at the end of the bed.
"...I'm sorry to keep pushing you for answers here but who's the 'bastard'? First and last name please." Blank pressed unwilling to let it go.
"Fox. Fox Mc'Cloud. It's fine though I-"
"No. It's not fine. He almost killed you." Blank interrupted.
"It was just an accident. We were racing-"
"Accident?"Blank interrupted again. His voice harsh as he thought of his new prey. "If it was such an accident why did he ditch you there? Judging by your wounds you were down there for a day or two at the very least."
He could just about see Blanks anger rise in his face. Faded the husky was watching knowing exactly where this was going to go but unsure how to direct the conversation somewhere else.
"(They ditched me... Damn. I'm tired of this.) Blank just don't. I'll take care of the situation."
"No I'll take care of it. I have to take care of my pride."
"Blank."I said sternly. "I'm a bird not a cat. I am not a lion. I can't be a part of, what do you call it? A pride? I have told you this several times before."
"You're already considered a part of my pride and so is Faded. The rest of the pride accepts you. Why can't you?"
"Because that means that you'll try to help with my problems and I can't do that..."I hesitated. " I guess that I just don't like to burden you two with my problems."
"I know that." Blank said that with a sort of sullen tone.
Blank seemed to be studying me. I stifled a yawn. Blanks serious gaze softened. Blank looked away.
"I'm sorry. I'm keeping you from getting the rest you need." Blank apologized.
"I'm fine Blank."
"*Sigh* No you're not. You even said 'everything hurts.' so quit trying to act tough." Faded stated bluntly.
Blank and Faded stood.
"I won't bother you anymore. Just sleep." Blank stated as he walked out with Faded.
The light switched off and the door closed. I slowly let my eyes close. With the room dark I quickly fell asleep. Out of reality and into a nightmare. The murder of my parents. I was two. My brother that had disappeared was five. Bloodshed. I couldn't see the murderers face. I just couldn't remember. I ran. My mother screaming for me not to look back. My brother. What had happened to him? My parents were the only two that were found dead. Did the murderer take him? Did he get away? I ran through the forest that was behind our house. The unmistakable sounds of claws ripping through flesh. Claws... What else was there? I clutched the wound on my left side as I ran. It wasn't that bad but it still hurt. How had I gotten the wound? I crawled into a narrow space in the rock wall at the back of the forest. Little creatures rushed out. There I had fallen asleep and woke latter to a flashlight shining in my face. A cop.
"Hey guys! I found him!" He yelled behind him.
Cops flocked over to my hiding spot.
"Come on out. We're not going to hurt you." The bear stated.
I stayed put. Not moving. My gaze never leaving them.
"Come on kid. You're bleeding."
One of them reached a hand into the space. I had retreated deeper into the space. Pushing myself up against the cold stone wall flinching as I did.
"Would you guys back up?!" A female cop approached and looked in at me. "It's ok. Come on out Falco. That your name right? Falco?"
I had managed a frightened nod. The images of the murder flashing in my head.
"My names Ana. I just want to help you. Everythings going to be alright. You're safe now."
She held out her hand. I stayed for a moment hesitating then inch forward a bit before stopping. I flinched holding the wound.
"Thats it. I know you're hurt. Just a little more Falco."
I moved forward slowly and gripped her hand. She pulled me out.
"Now let's do something about that cut." She said softly.
I gripped Ana's hand as the wound was cleaned and patched. That was when they started questioning me.
"Where's your brother? Do you know where he went?"
I shook my head. I hadn't seen him. I just ran.
"What about the murderer?-"
"John!" Ana shouted alarmed.
Tears ran down my face as I shook my head.
"Shhh. It's ok sweetie."
Ana had held me close as I cried. So much blood. Mothers terrified screams. All I remembered was mother doing all she could to hold off the attacker. I awoke with a painful start. It was still dark. I took in a few deep breaths and slowly fell back to sleep. It took some time but I finally healed and was back on my feet.
"Thanks guys. I don't know how I'm ever going to repay you." I stated.
"No need. You're our friend and you were hurt. That's all we needed to know." Faded replied.
"So what were you two doing at Fichina?"
"We were basically exploring other planets to see how far this shadow infestation had spread. Lucky for you we stopped by that frozen hell of a planet." Faded answered.
"Wheres that ditch? I need to go drag Lanna out of it."
"No need. I did that three days ago. I even cleaned out the blood." Blank said. "It's in with the other ships."
"Alright I'd better fix her up."
I started walking.
"Wait. Where do you plan to go after you fix Lanna?" Blank asked.
I paused for a moment thinking.
"I don't know. Wherever there's something exciting going on I guess."
"Well you could drop by Home. There's always something going on there. You could see Keyakku. Then there's Lu. Hint hint." Faded suggested.
"I guess it couldn't hurt."
It didn't take too long to fix Lanna. She was a tough ship and there hadn't been much damage. I searched her inside. Where was it? Where did it go? Did Blank take it
out? I went and found Blank.
"Hey Blank. Did you by chance see a black notebook in Lanna while you were cleaning it?"
"No... There was one when we first found you I thought. Faded. Did you take the black notebook?"
"Ummm. Blank notebook? No. Was I suppose to?"
"No just checking."
So someone besides Blank and Faded took my notebook. Well that sucks... I stood over Max's familiar controls. Without much thought I walked back to my room. I was going to need a new notebook since my old one decided to vanish. I entered and observed the familiar surroundings. I walked over to the desk and pulled out a red notebook with the number 180 on it and a sharpened pencil that said .com USA Gold then a blue number two. The eraser was slightly used but that didn't really matter. I walked back and Faded spoke as I walked in the door.
"A transmission's coming in from Home."
"Patch it through. Oh sorry who's the leader here?" I said.
"No one really."
Faded patched it through and I was kind of surprised to see General Hacuro. He spoke in the planet's native tongue but from being from there and my uncle's constant yelling more that teaching years ago I learned it and understood.
"We need you two to get back to Home now."
"What's the problem General?" I asked.
General Hacuro seemed kind of surprised as he took notice of me.
"You two found Falco? Nevermind. We need all the help that we can get. The shadow forces are starting to overwhelm us."
"Shadows?! We'll be right there sir." Faded said.
"Where do you want us dispatched sir?" I asked.
"The capitol. Now hurry."
The transmission ended.
"Alright. Full speed ahead."
Max blasted forward after his form changed. We reached Home within four hours. I felt angry that these things even dared to attack my home planet. We landed outside the capitol. We started running. We entered the city. Shadows flooded the streets. We drew our blasters and attacked. We split up and took out as many shadows as we could. Once I cleared the shadows out of one area then I moved on to the next. The shadows lunged at me. Bang! The creatures guts splattered on the city streets. I scanned the area around me and started running again but stopped. That voice.
"Where have you been hiding Falco?"
I turned and took a step back surprised. No. It couldn't be.