SchmEthan here:

Wow, I'm on a roll... ANYWAY, I'vedecided to continue this story on the side, so the updates are probably gonna be a bit sporadic, but it'll be here!

Sorry, Broken Wolf, but it's happening = P

SchmEthan.

P.S. Reviews = CAKE!!!

"Remember it," Fox finished, before allowing the driver to scramble off through the forest with a jerk of his drawn bow. He released his pull on the string and returned the arrow to his quiver. He quickly sniffed the air, not detecting any hostility, before heading back towards his allies.

"When you gonna introduce us, Fox?" asked Falco in a half-joking manner.

"I'll remember next time, alright?" came the reply with a chuckle.

"I did stop him from getting away and all..." the avian continued.

"Please," Peppy interrupted, "spare us."

"Alright, old man," snapped Falco.

"That's enough, you two!" stated the vulpine, walking towards the stationary carriage. "Could I have a hand with this chest?"

Falco, Peppy and Fox all held their breath as they heaved the dense, wooden chest from the back of the carriage before it landed with a THUD on the dirt below.

"Slippy," Fox gestured to the frog, "would you be so kind?"

"Always a pleasure," he replied with a smirk, before trotting over to the chest, crouching down and drawing a pouch from his over-filled belt. As he unstrung the sack, Falco grinned and nudged Peppy. "I love this part," he whispered, almost forcing Peppy's eyes to roll.

Slippy removed a pinch of red powder from the pouch and carefully sprinkled it into the keyhole on the padlock. He allowed the powder to settle for a bit, before simply spitting into the keyhole and swiftly jamming a small stone in after it. Falco couldn't help but laugh at Slippy's methods. Peppy folded his arms and glanced at Falco. "Must you?" he asked, exasperated.

"Every time, man!" was the only reply he received.

Slippy allowed himself to chuckle at the avian before backing off. "Alright, it's coming."

At first, a small amount of red slime dribbled from the keyhole, before the small amount became larger and larger until it started to leak out of any other crevices in the lock. Slippy was by far the best alchemist within a hundred miles of Venom, and he knew it. He once practised for the Sheriff himself, until he wasn't even allowed to cure his own ailment, despite the Sheriff having the same problem cured not a week before by Slippy's hand. Instead, Slippy 'accidentally' made the infection worse and fled. He ran and ran through Papetoon. However, he soon realised that he was entirely lost...

"Oh no... Oh no..." I muttered. "I KNEW this was going to happen! WHY couldn't you have just lived with a cold for a week or two? Ugh..."

In my hurry, I really wasn't looking where I was going. I tripped and fell over what I thought was just a pile of leaves. But it wasn't...

"A chest? On its own? Out here?"

I carefully looked around. I doubted there would be anyone for miles, anyway. I took my inflation powder from my belt (my own concoction) and broke the lock open with ease. When I managed to open the chest, there was enough gold in it to support Katina Village for years. I literally didn't know what to do. I was frozen. Which was lucky, I guess.

"How did you do that?" came a voice from behind me. I was shaking now I still couldn't answer. When I felt something cold and hard touch the back of my neck, I knew this man meant business. "I said, how did you do that?"

"I...erm... It's a... potion of sorts... It... uh... swells up when you spit into it. I'm an alchemist, I-I made it."

"And why did you open that chest?"

"Because I could!" I shrieked, just before realising that it was the wrong answer. "I need some food anyway; I was hoping that there might be some."

"Well," the voice appeared much closer now, "You won't be hoping for anything for much longer."

There was a swoosh of air as the cold, hard object left my neck, and I was once again paralyzed with fear.

"Falco!" a voice shouted from a cluster of bushes, not too far away. I cringed as I waited for the blow to come, but it never did. I opened one eye to see a fox walking slowly towards me. HE crouched down so that he was level with me, what with my height. "Hello. I'm Fox McCloud. And you are?"

"Fox McCloud?!" I gawped. "The outlaw? The hero?" This wasn't what I expected. I had looked up to Fox whenever he had done anything courageous or selfless or anything like that. Not only was he a hero. He was my hero.

Fox gave a low chuckle. "Yes, the very same."

By now, I had completely forgotten about the man behind me. The avian walked past me and proceeded to empty the chest, along with a grey-furred hare who seemed to appear out of nowhere. "I'm Slippy Toad. I have so much respect for you, Mr McCloud! I mean, stealing from the rich to give to the poor? I wish I could do all that stuff!"

"Please," he insisted, "just call me Fox. And, well," he glanced over at the now open chest, which was being slowly emptied by the hare and the blue bird, "with a skill like that, you probably could."

That confused me. "What?"

"Tell me, what do you do?"

I told Fox about my escape from Venom and how my powder worked.

"Alchemy and goodwill!" Fox cried. "We could use that. How would you like to join us, since you have nowhere else to go?"

I'm sure there was a grin across my face at that, but it was far overshadowed by my excitement at being in the company of Fox McCloud. "Of course! Anything you need, Mr Mc- Fox, and I'll be there!" I extended my paw to him, still beaming.

Fox stood up and shook my paw firmly. "Welcome to Papetoon. You're gonna love it here..."

BANG

The lock had shattered, and Falco eagerly opened the chest to reveal two sacks. Upon closer inspection, one was full to the brim with money, and the other, food. The men hadn't eaten in quite a while, and they were glad of a little food.

"Well, Slippy, you've done it again," Fox pointed out, folding his arms.

Slippy mirrored Fox's actions. "All in a day's work, eh?"