Wow... She's beautiful... - Fox McCloud
November 16, 2799, Dinosaur Planet, two days after it was ripped into five chunks
Krystal gasped as she opened her eyes. Sweat was beading from her forehead and she felt very hot. She then noticed what had woke her. It was her staff. It was calling for her. Krystal quickly grabbed it and asked it (psychically, of course) what was wrong. It shuddered and shook. It had received a message.
Brushing the warm liquid from her hair, Krystal closed her eyes and let the signal come to her. Suddenly, a picture formed in Krystal's mind. There was a leathery face. It had blue eyes and two horns. It seemed panicked.
"Please help..." he said in his native language, little bursts of blank, silent spaces covering his voice every now and then. Surprised that a dinosaur was able to send a distress signal to her staff, Krystal squinted her eyes and let the magic flow from her staff to her. The dinosaur was getting more and more aggravated by the moment, "SharpClaw...Attacking! Queen CloudRunner, if you can hear me...please...send us help!" Suddenly, an explosion rocked Krystal's mind as the background behind the dinosaur was swept by an orange flame. The dinosaur was hit from behind. He groaned, but went on.
"General Scales has launched a full...invasion against Krazoa Palace! Please...we're in a mountain...a storm is always brewing here, hiding us...How did they mange to find us?" The dinosaur suddenly screamed, and the vision went blank.
Krystal, after hearing the message, felt even more uncomfortable than before. Getting up from her shelter under the small tunnel, she saw that dawn had already broke. She looked behind her to see that the dinosaur mother was still asleep, protectively close to her five eggs. Sighing, Krystal exited the short tunnel and stepped into the sun. She could hear the distant yells of dinosaur soldiers; they were planning to open the gateway to Dragon Rock.
The big rock was still in its position in the centre island in the pond. Krystal mentally smacked herself. Of course it was! It was a rock. But then again, she could've sworn that it moved the other day. Krystal blinked as the stone statue seemed to mumble 'dratted noisemakers'.
Two days ago, Krystal felt a strange wave of magical energy coursing throughout the Lylat system. Curious, she decided to teleport there. Lucky for her, she missed a poison mushroom as she fell down onto the lushly vegetated planet called Dinosaur Planet. The mushroom, to her horrible luck, decided to shake off a cloud of powder anyway. Krystal had immediately gotten dizzy and sick. She remembered vomiting several times before a friendly dinosaur handed her a odd, oval fruit, and it didn't taste half bad.
Thinking that she could lend a hand to the EarthWalkers at Krazoa Palace, Krystal went around the pond and jumped off the waterfall (the good route out was blocked by a pile of rocks and a lazy ThornTail). She landed with a splash at the bottom, staff and a rolled up blanket in tow. To her surprise, ThornTail hollow was completely filled with all kinds of dinosaurs. Krystal could see the CloudRunners and the EarthWalkers carefully avoiding each other, the ThornTails engaging in theological discussions, and a couple of SnowHorn looking very worn out and warm. With their wooly mammoth fur and shape, they were bound to be hot in the morning sun.
The lead general appeared to be a ThornTail in smart armour. He was looking very confident of himself, chatting with three of his buddies: A HighTop, an EarthWalker, and a CloudRunner. They were making plans for the attack on General Scales' projects and armies at Dragon Rock. The CloudRunner looked as if he could help.
"Excuse me?" Krystal said loudly in dinosaur language, walking up to the four. The CloudRunner turned around and smiled, which looked weird, because his beak was preventing his mouth from curving.
"What's the problem, miss?" He squawked.
"The SharpClaw are attacking Krazoa Palace. I need a lift there," Krystal said over all the commotion behind her. The four dinosaurs froze. Quickly, they got into an argument on wether they should send a group to help, or just go on as planned. The EarthWalker also implied that Krystal had too much Dumbledang pods, making her slightly mad. Finally, they came to the conclusion that Krystal wasn't bloated and that they could not divert any more forces. The CloudRunner agreed to give Krystal a 'lift'.
"Just to tell you," he said looking at Krystal's body, "Two garments aren't gonna keep out the freezing rain in Krazoa Palace, or that's what I've heard about it."
"Be careful, Dallan!" The ThornTail shouted as Krystal quickly climbed onto the pterodactyl. Dallan nodded at his friends and flapped his wings, taking off to the north, Krystal observed.
**
"Tell me!" Dallan shouted back at Krystal, "How did you know that Krazoa Palace was under seize?"
"I received a garbled distress signal," she answered, the wind blowing in her hair and the rain splattering all over her as they flew, "It said something about a mountain hidden in a storm." Dallan heard this, and screeched in reply. Krystal wasn't at all prepared for the little battle that ensued.
(A/N: You know how this ends. Krystal's staff gets knocked out, she meets General Scales, she gets thrown overboard, my Dallan saves her behind, Krystal gets to Krazoa Palace, sees the dying dino, and retrieves the spirit. I want to leave this part out, partly because it'll take too long, and partly because I can't remember all the dialogue. Let's skip to the part where Krystal is gonna release the spirit, OK?)
**
Krystal gasped and groaned, feeling as if her bones were tearing from her flesh, or vise versa, whichever was more painful. In the reflection of the marble stone floor, she saw that her eyes were purple. Right below her, the glass bump was shining a intensely bright light. Krystal didn't note that, because the air seemed to be sucked out of her lungs. Dropping to her knees, Krystal doubled over in agony. Suddenly, a whispering voice inside her head told her to let go. The only other voice that had ever spoke to her like that was her staff.
Krystal let out a scream, a bright blue ghost erupting from her chest as she threw her torso out toward the carved face of the Krazoa. The spirit whispered a word of comfort to her and entered the head. The figure of the Krazoa trembled, and suddenly, the eyes of the face lit up and a bolt of magic energy escaped from its mouth. Weirded out, Krystal stumbled to her feet.
"Huh?" Krystal mumbled to herself, reaching out to touch the energy. Before she could even properly raise her arm, a shuffling sound behind her caught her attention. Turning around, Krystal saw the hideous face of... Something. Gasping in recognition, Krystal screamed at it, "It's you!" The thing grinned, and shoved Krystal into the shaft of light. Screaming in pain, Krystal was thrown backward nearly thirty yards, through the liquid barrier, and right into a container shaped like a crystal. How ironic.
As Krystal was raised by the crystal to the top of the palace, she heard a voice cackle with laughter.
**
November 29, 2799, Dinosaur Planet, Krazoa Palace
Krystal suddenly got the shivers. Goose bumps appeared on her flesh below her fur, and she suddenly felt very cold. Her mind was suddenly aware of the flaky dryness in her mouth and the emptiness of her stomach. Despite being in a stupid glass case like a little doll for half a month, Krystal didn't feel like she was going to die any time soon. She couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't smell, and she couldn't taste. The only thing she could do was feel the thirst in her throat and the hunger in her belly. The thing was trying to keep her miserable.
Come on, princess. You can't be dead, can you? I can feel your life force. And I know that you can feel mine. Can you hear me?
Krystal nearly laughed in relief. Her staff was back! But how? It had magic. It had the spirit of a warrior in it, but it certainly couldn't walk, much less fly a few thousand miles over the ocean to meet her.
In her mind, the vixen could see the raging storm tearing relentlessly on the stones of the palace. The statue of the Krazoa God was just in front of her, as if mocking her. She could smell the salt air, the crashing of a waves against the walls of the palace far, far below. The only thing that she paid attention to was a twinkle of energy coming from something, or someone, looking up at her from below.
You are not dead. Close to it, but not dead. Are you having dreams? The dreams are because of the shield that he put up. Only something very powerful can break it apart again, like the spirits that inhabit this place.
He's looking at you, princess. Both of them. One looks at you with his selfish eyes, wanting, ravenously, the power that resides inside of you, me, and the spirits. The other looks upon you with innocent lust. He feels compassion for you. He wants you to be free.
If Krystal had any more blood able to flow around her veins and arteries, she would've blushed. The staff was a strange creature, indeed, but definitely Cerinian. It spoke wise words, but it could only talk to her. It only wanted to talk to her.
Don't give up. We're going to set you free. We're going to stop him. Elias would've been proud of your bravery, Krystal, Princess of Cerinia. Elias would've wanted you to be strong. He would've.
Krystal strengthened her resolve, and tried to think of something positive, like a knight in shining armor smashing through the crystal and picking her up. The staff had left. All Krystal had now was a dream.
**
Krystal shivered in her mind. Darkness plunged her into its own deep recesses. She was trapped inside another one of her visions. Krystal suddenly felt very cold. In front of her, she saw a heroic figure. He was dressed in a godly cape and a regal shirt, a deadly golden sword at his hip. Five more knights were standing behind him, his followers, his allies.
Even farther behind the lord, there were two ghosts, beaming with pride from under their white cloaks. They were his former king and queen, and they were both dead. They knew that the lord was doing his duty with honor and grace. They were watching over him, his eternal guardians.
Krystal suddenly felt very small with her puny armor. Surprised, the lord walked up to her, a smile playing on his muzzle. He took her in his arms and held her in a loving embrace. Krystal sighed, very happy for the first time in thirteen days. The lord stroked her hair, smiling. Krystal was dismayed that she could not see his face, as the hood of his cape covered his eyes. Lost in her own thoughts, she straightened up to kiss him. As she did so, however, the lord did something very strange.
He screamed, dropping to his knees and clutching his head with his gauntlets. Krystal found herself pushed back as the lord allies swarmed around him, asking in strange, worried whispers. The lord moaned in pain, and Krystal ached to comfort him. The ghosts hovered above him, watching, faces contorted into expressions of hatred. Then, Krystal noticed how they were not looking at the lord, but some distance away from him, where a shadow was clutching him with its claws.
Krystal cried out, rushing towards the shadow, ready to strike it, but it was already too late. The shadow had invaded the lord, and the lord was slowly turning into something more dark. More vile. As the lord finally stopped groaning, his followers stepped back in shock. The lord bent up, revealing what he now was. His cape was a flag of death, his sword no longer golden, but black and full of hatred. His lips were pulled back in a horrible face of hate, and finally, Krystal saw his eyes. They were darker than night, as the rest of him.
She screamed, backing away from what was the lord. His followers shuffled back in shock, and Krystal tried to turn around and run, but something stopped her. It was his hand. It was clutched tightly on her shoulder. Krystal screamed again, because he was causing her pain. The lord laughed maniacally, and unsheathed his sword. He brought it up to Krystal's chest; her heart.
He shoved it forward with all his might.
**
A/N: Anyone care to guess who the 'lord' is?
