A/N: I see how popular this story is for all of one person. I know you guys are out there, and it really doesn't take long to leave a comment. Anyway, I'd like to know what my readers think of Rykah. Do you like her? Hate her? Does anyone want me to add some Fox/Krystal romance as well? Enjoy the second chapter!
Fox jogged down the metallic corridor, searching for Krystal and Rykah. He felt a guilty pang in his heart every time he thought of Falco's downcast face. He really screwed things up this time, but how was he supposed to know that Rykah would be frightened of the notion that someone liked her? Fox shook his head and came to an abrupt halt. He was at the door to Krystal's room and there was audible conversation coming from the other side. It wasn't in English, so he had no idea what the two girls were talking about. Plus, he wasn't keen on eavesdropping. Fox knocked softly on the door and Krystal opened it. He spied Rykah sitting on the bed behind her with a contemplative expression.
"Hey Krystal, Rykah. How are you two doing? I didn't go too far, did I?" The brown vulpine asked as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
Krystal turned to Rykah and asked her opinion in Cerinian. Rykah replied in the same language and the vixen translated, "Rykah says she's very surprised and a bit shocked to hear that Falco thinks of her like this. Since he already scared her before, this is just confusing. Plus, where she comes from, romantic feelings are respected and not treated like a game." Her condescending tone on the last phrase made Fox's ears droop in shame.
"Alright, alright I feel bad enough already. I just need to know if Rykah will give Falco a chance. I've never seen him this down about a girl." Fox explained quickly, tail lashing impatiently.
He looked to Rykah for an answer, but Krystal flipped her short hair and snorted, "That's because he's never had a girl." She turned around and addressed the female falcon on the bed, "Rykah, do you want to see Falco?"
Rykah thought for a moment, and then hesitantly nodded. Krystal smiled excitedly and took her by the wing while Fox sighed in relief. The trio walked quickly down the hall towards Falco's room. When they arrived, the brown vulpine rapped on the door, but there was no answer. He waited for a minute, and then tried again. When there was still no reply, he shrugged and turned to Rykah and Krystal. "Either he's ignoring us or he's not there. I don't know; I saw him go in this direction before I came to find you guys. It could very well be the former; you know how he isolates himself when he's upset.
"I'll try and contact him. He couldn't have gone far." Krystal offered. She closed her eyes and furrowed her brow. She stood completely still for a full minute and a half before she opened her eyes and confirmed, "He's in the training room, but doesn't want to see you, Fox."
Fox rolled his eyes and chuckled a bit. "I figured as much. He usually takes his frustration and anger out on the punching bag in there. I wasn't planning on going in myself, anyway." He commented as he started walking again.
"Oh?" The sapphire vixen behind him raised an eyebrow, "Then how are you going to make amends with him?"
"This isn't about me. I've already apologized, and we both know who's at the root of this problem." Fox replied matter-of-factly.
There was a short silence and then Rykah broke it. "Me?" She said timidly from beside Krystal.
The brown vulpine nodded. "Yes, Rykah. You're the only one who can fix it. Of course, Falco will forgive me eventually, but this is faster. It also lessens the chance of him wanting revenge. You never want to see Falco angry, it's downright terrifying." He shuddered a little, and looked at Rykah to see if she understood.
"I make Falco angry?" Rykah asked in slight confusion.
"No, no. You'll make Falco happy. If you give him a chance, he'll be very happy, and I won't get very injured." Fox clarified.
Rykah smiled as she understood. The rest of the trip to the training room was quiet, and finally they arrived at their destination. Krystal went to follow Rykah into the training room, but the orange falcon held a hand out to stop her. "No, Krystal. I go only." She smiled confidently. Krystal nodded and went to stand by Fox. Rykah pressed the button on the wall and the metal door slid open.
Rykah gave a start and backed up against the wall once the door shut behind her. Falco hadn't noticed her come in, as he was in the process of mercilessly kicking a red punching bag set up in the far corner of the spacious room. The chain that held it to the ceiling rattled noisily each time the falcon's leg impacted it. Beside the punching bag was a series of mats along the length of the wall. On the opposite side was a shooting range with cardboard targets. Assortments of weapons, mostly blasters, were on a rack in the corner.
It was Falco's sheer strength that made Rykah's previous confidence disappear. Every time he kicked the punching bag, she swore it would fly off its chain. Falco had abandoned his usual jacket and shirt, even his bandana. They were lying in a crumpled heap nearby. Rykah could see the muscles in his back and wings tense each time he prepared for another kick. She felt heat rise to her cheeks at the sight, but quickly chastised herself for acting so foolish. She barely knew the falcon's name!
"Falco?" Rykah called out shyly, edging closer to the blue avian.
Falco stopped attacking his inanimate victim, but he didn't turn around. "Krystal, I don't care how sorry Fox is. Get out before I decide to turn him into a punching bag."
The orange falcon cocked her head. "Krystal?" She repeated, slightly perplexed. Why did Falco think she was Krystal?
The blue avian sighed and spun around on his heel, a sarcastic comment ready in his mind. It dissipated as he saw Rykah. He gave a slight start of surprise at the sight of the female falcon on the other end of the room. "Oh, it's you. Sorry, you and Krystal sound the same. Your name's Rykah, right?" Falco stated in a bored tone as he strode across the room towards Rykah.
Rykah nodded and smiled a little. She flinched as Falco grabbed her hand to shake it, and he smirked as he properly introduced himself. "Falco Lombardi, ace pilot of the Star Fox Team. Pleased to meet you, Rykah." He released her hand and crossed his wings over his chest, characteristically impatient. "So, what do you want? As you can see, I was in the middle of training." He tapped his foot on the metal floor.
The flame-coloured falcon furrowed her brow in concentration as she thought of the words she wanted to say. Krystal couldn't translate for her this time, and it didn't help that she could feel the heat radiating off of Falco's body, due to his intensive workout. The smell of sweat mixed with his scent only made it harder to find the English words. "I want to…give you chance. Yes?" She said slowly, the foreign words coming out awkwardly. Was that what Fox and Krystal kept talking about? Giving Falco another shot?
Falco's smirk widened into an amused smile as he rolled his shoulders back and forth. "You don't speak English very well, do you?" He commented non-chalantly. Rykah shook her head. "You understand me though, right?" Falco continued with a raised eyebrow.
Rykah nodded her head fervently. "I know in here," she pointed to her head, "but I not speak."
The blue avian tapped the fingers of one hand on the upper wing of the other. "Fine, I accept. Is that all?" He confirmed, glancing back and forth between Rykah and the punching bag.
Rykah shrugged and Falco wordlessly turned around, eager to get back to training. He may have looked as bored as hell on the outside, but on the inside he was rejoicing. He would thank Fox later. As he got back into beating the punching bag, he forgot that Rykah was still in the room. In all honesty, he expected her to leave.
The tangerine falcon didn't mind that Falco wasn't paying attention to her anymore. She wandered over to the rack of weapons and inspected it. There were about six different guns on the top section of the rack, all one size larger than the one next to it. Below that were long, metal staffs and the final section was composed of a couple of unstrung aluminium alloy bows and two quivers of arrows. She decided to pick up the smallest blaster. The one beside it looked like the ones she had seen Fox and Krystal use when the team broke her out of the cell.
Rykah weighed the weapon in her hands and curiously looked it over. It looked easy enough to operate, and it was very light. She walked quietly over to the shooting range and disengaged the safety. She pointed the muzzle at a target and pulled the trigger. A red laser shot out, and the recoil was stronger than she thought. Rykah stumbled back a few steps, and froze as she heard Falco's voice from across the room.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? You wanna kill somebody with that thing?" The blue avian's tone was angry as well as rude. Rykah lowered her wings and put the safety back on. She had shot a gun before, but that didn't mean she was any good at it. She ducked her head as Falco came up beside her. The female falcon expected him to strike her, as all the male guards did on Macbeth, but instead he gently took the blaster from her now trembling hands.
"Look, this is how you shoot properly." Falco's previous anger had disappeared considerably, and his voice was now irritated more than anything. Rykah was surprised at the sudden change in his tone, even if it was still a bit rude. She brought her head up and watched as the blue falcon cocked the gun, aimed, and fired. The red laser hit the same target, only square in the chest. It was much better than her shot, which she now discovered barely clipped the hand of the target.
Rykah nodded and Falco handed her back the gun. She cocked it and aimed, but she was interrupted by the male falcon before she could pull the trigger. "Look down the barrel of the gun, not just at the target. And relax your back; you look more uptight than General Pepper." Falco advised sarcastically. Rykah was about to ask who General Pepper was, but she decided against it. She let the muscles in her back loosen up and stared straight down the length of the blaster, just like the blue avian had told her. She fired, and the laser made a hole below Falco's, to the right a bit.
"Good. Try again." Falco encouraged curtly.
The flame-coloured falcon stuck her tongue out in concentration as she aimed for the target's head. Since the head was smaller than the torso, she had more trouble focusing. Finally, she fired another shot, and the laser made a sizable hole in the cardboard cut-out's forehead. Rykah smiled at Falco and he chuckled quietly in approval.
"I see you're not as bad as I thought you were. Let's try multiple shots. Pull the trigger more than once as you shoot." Falco instructed seriously.
Rykah aimed the gun at the head of her target, but Falco pointed it down a little with one finger. She glanced questioningly at him and he explained simply, "Don't get ahead of yourself." Rykah turned her attention back to her blaster and fired two shots in rapid succession. The recoil of the first shot made her step back and the second one hit the target's torso a few inches to the left of the first shot.
The blue avian put a hand on her shoulder to get her attention. Rykah frowned as he shook his head in disappointment. "Tensing up after the first shot will only make it worse. It could mean the difference between a hit and a miss. Here, let me show you." He took the gun from her hands and re-enacted her mistake on a new target. The shots were more than a few inches apart. "Now, if I don't tense up and let my back absorb the recoil, this is what happens." Falco fired two shots, but it only looked as if he had fired one larger laser. He gave the gun back to Rykah, who fired again.
This time she fired two shots, and kept her back relaxed. The first one hit the target, but the other also went through the same hole in a perfect line. The wall behind the targets was metal, so the laser bounced off of the wall and straight back at Rykah. Before she had time to react, she suddenly felt herself being pinned down on the floor and heard Falco shout, "Get down!" Rykah couldn't move her head as Falco had it held down with his wing. She could only hear the ping as the laser bounced off the opposite wall, and then the familiar sound of it hitting the target.
Falco released her with an annoyed growl. "Never do that again. I have enough near-death experiences in the air without some newbie trying to shoot my head off with a blaster." His harsh tone lightened as he continued, "I have to give you credit for accuracy, though. Nice work." He gently took the gun from Rykah's shaky hands and put the safety back on. Once he returned the weapon to its rightful place on the rack, he turned around to face Rykah again.
The tangerine falcon merely stood there, quivering slightly. Then she walked the few steps between them and nuzzled her head against Falco's chest, cooing gratefully a few times.
"Whoa, hey; hands off, I don't do no sentimental stuff." The blue avian hurriedly pried her feathery fingers off of his shoulders. "Plus, Fox and Krystal would have killed me if they knew you got shot in the face on my watch. Uhh…anybody give you a tour yet?" He changed the subject as he jogged across the room and put his shirt, jacket, and bandana back on.
Rykah shook her head and Falco smirked. "Right, then let's get started. I want to get this done before dinner. Now that we have more money, I won't have to eat crap anymore." He said and strode off in the direction of the door. Rykah followed without hesitation. When they were in the hallway again, she discovered Fox and Krystal had left. She felt a lot more vulnerable and awkward without Krystal as her translator.
Falco and Rykah walked further into the depths of the Great Fox. After about five minutes of silence, the male of the two queried, "How do you like it here? Krystal's letting you borrow her stuff, huh?"
The orange falcon nodded and replied hesitantly, "Here is wonderful. I have food and clothes. I sleep in bed. Krystal is good person."
"Yeah, she's the best thing that ever happened to Fox. She always watches out for the rest of us, not to mention she can kick ass with a staff, too. She always beats me when we spar together." Falco explained, only to have Rykah cock her head in confusion again. Sighing, he clarified, "Krystal is a good fighter."
The flame-coloured avian nodded in understanding and complimented shyly, "You good fighter, too. You very…strong? Yes, strong."
"Uhh, thanks. Damn, we really need to teach you English. The government will provide you with English courses when we get to Corneria, but it's better to learn early." Falco chuckled, and then halted. "Well, here we are. The hangar, where all the Arwings are kept." He pushed open the heavy double doors and Rykah followed. She gasped in awe once they closed behind her.
All four of the silver and blue aircraft were lined up along the width of the hangar. Falco smiled and strutted over to the second one from the left, which is the side they had entered on. He patted the nose of the Arwing, like one would do with a trusted workhorse. "This one here is my pride and joy. These things are all getting old, needing repairs and whatnot. They still fly, though. Through that giant door there is where we take off, and behind us is the Landmaster. Personally, I hate that bulky piece of junk. I'd take the air any day." He scoffed as he pointed a thumb over his shoulder.
Rykah wandered over to the tank, which wasn't much bigger than the Arwings. The cannon on the front looked terrifying, and she instinctively shied away from the vehicle, only to back up into Falco. "The tank isn't going to come alive and shoot you to smithereens, you know. Only Fox and Slippy use it, really. C'mon, we have lots of other stuff to cover." He stated sarcastically, pivoting on one foot. Rykah trotted up beside him as he marched out of the hangar.
"So, I assume Krystal already gave you a room?" The blue avian inquired once they were on their way again. Rykah replied with a nod. "Good, that's one less thing I have to do. By the way, how old are you? You look pretty young for an ex-prisoner." He stated as he looked Rykah up and down, trying to guess her age.
Rykah smiled and replied, "First, you."
"Ah, you're getting the hang of talking to me! I'm twenty-three, going on twenty-four. Now you." Falco answered with an eyebrow cocked in intrigue.
The tangerine falcon fell silent for a moment, thinking of the number. "Twenty…two." She said, not entirely confident that was the right number. She was sure she was a year younger than Falco, though.
The blue avian nodded and focused on the hallway ahead of him. He didn't notice that Rykah was stealing glances at him. After a while she asked timidly, "Is Krystal mate of Fox?"
Falco almost burst out laughing at that question. He answered as he held back a snicker, "No, no, no, those two are only boyfriend and girlfriend. I wouldn't be surprised if they did become mates, though. How about you? A pretty thing like you must be taken already." He could have kicked himself for that remark. He hadn't considered the notion that Rykah might have a boyfriend somewhere, just waiting to be reunited with her again.
To his inner-most relief, Rykah shook her head. She furrowed her brow as she read Falco's mind about the matter. "You happy I not have a mate yet. Why?" She asked innocently, but she already knew the answer.
"What? I never said I was happy about…Oh wait, you're a magical bird. Does that mean you can read minds, too?" Falco said dully.
"Yes, I read minds like Krystal. Why you happy I do not have a mate?" The female falcon repeated in a firmer voice.
Just like the first time, Falco shut his beak and looked away. He focused on something else entirely to block his thoughts. He did the same whenever he didn't want Krystal to know what he was thinking. Rykah merely giggled and dropped the subject. She knew how Falco felt about her, and she was a bit wary because of it, but she found it amusing that he was too proud to say that he had taken a liking to her.
Soon enough, they had come to the same door that Rykah, Fox, and Krystal had stopped at earlier. Falco pointed to the door. "This is my room. Don't ever go in there, unless you have my permission. That will probably never happen. We also have our own bathrooms, so you don't have to share. I assume you already know where the infirmary is, and Krystal's room, so I'll just show you Fox's room in case you need to see him about whatever. Slippy and Peppy's rooms aren't important." He explained and strode off, eager to get the tour over with.
When they arrived at the door to Fox's room, Falco knocked on the door. He got no answer, and an evil smile crept across his face. He pressed the button on the wall and the door slid open. Rykah frowned as she observed Falco steal inside the room. He glanced around the immaculate dwelling of the Star Fox Team leader and picked up his can of body spray. The blue falcon sprayed a bunch of the stuff on the mirror and wrote on the now cloudy glass, "Falco and Rykah were here."
Rykah gaped at the blue falcon, peeved that he would take her down with him. Falco pocketed the spray and closed the door. The female falcon looked disapprovingly at the can in his pocket.
"Oh, what now? I steal it from him all the time! It smells better than mine, anyway." Falco shrugged and then sniffed the air. "I smell food. Let's go before it's all gone." He said urgently and broke into a jog, heading for the command room. Rykah followed, rolling her eyes. Falco sure was an odd bird in her mind. He would be sarcastic and rude one minute, and a carefree prankster the next.