(A/N) Here we go- getting back to some characters we haven't seen or heard from for a few chapters. I really need to pick up the pace with the updates.
Enjoy!
Pikachu gasped for air, pushing her wet hair out of her eyes. She grasped the side of the river and pulled her body out of the current, wheezing tiredly as she flopped onto the grass. She shut her eyes and allowed her mind to wander and rest, forgetting the impending danger that had just chased her and caused her to end up soaked.
Her ears reactively twitched to the sound of another body lying down next to her. Her companion breathed heavily on her face, making her wrinkle her nose in discomfort.
"Are you okay?"
Pikachu nodded, keeping her eyes shut. "I'm fine. How are you holding up Fox?"
Fox rolled over from his stomach onto his back, shielding his face from the sun that was making its way up into the sky above the two. "I'm just fantastic."
The girl couldn't help but giggle quietly at the vulpine's snarky remark. She opened her eyes into tiny slits, assessing her companion.
"You look ridiculous."
Fox turned his head to look at Pikachu, noticing the girl's blonde hair matted to her face. She had a smirk on her face, and appeared to be holding back laughter. He chuckled in response. "You're not looking any better you know."
The StarFox leader knew he probably looked like a wet dog, his fur slicked down and smooth from being completely soaked. Pikachu was in no better condition than him- both of their outfits were dripping wet and sticking to their bodies.
Pikachu sighed in content. "Let's just stay here for a few minutes and enjoy having nothing trying to kill us." Fox couldn't help but smile, and shut his eyes.
"Fair enough."
A few hours earlier…
Pikachu's head fell to the side, causing the girl to jolt abruptly, now completely awake. She squinted at the dim light in front of her from the crackling fire, and shifted with the intent to readjust her position into a more comfortable one. The girl leaned back on the log she was sitting in front of. She stared at the fire, watching the orange embers rise into the air, floating around as though they were dancing.
A few moments passed, and Pikachu decided to speak up.
"I can keep watch."
Fox grunted, reaching down to the side of him and picking up a few sticks, tossing them lazily into the fire. "It's fine. I got it."
"You need to rest," she informed, scowling at the vulpine's resistance. "You sleep for a bit. I'll keep watch."
Fox looked over at her, and she froze. His eyes were tired but firm, and he had no readable expression on his face. Both remained mute, and after a few minutes of nothing, Pikachu was about to give up and lay back down to return to sleep.
"Okay," Fox sighed, slumping down into a more relaxed position, crossing his arms over his chest. "Wake me up if something goes wrong."
Pikachu nodded at him. "Okay."
Fox quickly fell asleep she noticed, confirming her assumptions that the pilot was overworking himself for the sake of keeping her safe. Pikachu found herself feeling both flattered and insulted by the gesture.
She snagged a lone stick off of the forest floor, and began to poke the fire with it.
"I can take care of myself…" she grumbled, stealing a glance at her sleeping companion. She frowned, taking in his appearance once again.
His flight jacket was dirty and torn, and his fur was no better- unruly and messy looking, sticking up in several different directions in a few places. Pikachu had to resist from smoothing out his fur herself. He had large bags under his eyes, likely due to sleep deprivation.
An hour passed of absolute silence.
Pikachu found the prospect of sleep threatening to overtake her as her eyelids began to get heavy and droop down, interfering with her vision. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, and opened them widely with hopes of waking herself up. She suppressed a yawn and instead opened her mouth, no noise coming out. Pikachu reached her arms above her head, pulling and stretching her limbs before repositioning herself with her chin propped up on one of her hands balled up in a fist.
Fox shifted slightly, gaining her attention, and she watched the vulpine move around in his spot briefly before becoming still once again. His body moved up and down with each intake and release of air, showing a constant rhythm of breathing. Pikachu returned her attention to the crackling fire in between the two, the once strong light source now dying down to a dim luster.
She huffed out, mildly annoyed with herself for offering to stay awake when there was nothing more she wanted than to fall asleep like herself, even if it was just for the sake of passing time and having the sun be there the next time he opened her eyes.
The cracking of a twig caused Pikachu's head to snap up, and she whipped her head around to the direction where the source of the noise came from. She narrowed her eyes, attempting to focus and make out the cause of the noise in the dark.
Another footstep had her clenching her fists, holding her breath to hear the intruder better. Pikachu lifted herself up off the ground, hands raised in front of her in a defensive manner. She waited as she spotted the individual standing back in the bushes.
They made no further movement, and Pikachu gulped nervously. "Hello?"
The individual suddenly sprang forward, their fist thrown out in front of them. Pikachu flinched, moving her head to the side quickly. The person skidded past her, narrowly missing by a few inches, and Pikachu stared at them as they turned around to face her again. Pikachu gasped as the dim fire lit up their face.
"No way!" She cried, shocked. Her head went back and forth between the intruder and Fox, who was still on the ground unconscious. She focused back on the intruder again, jaw dropped in amazement.
The person standing in front of her sneered, and rushed towards her, twisting their body upwards in a kick. Pikachu gritted her teeth as their boot made impact with her gut, and she fell back onto the forest floor. They walked forward and lifted their boot, preparing to bring it down it down. Pikachu reacted quickly, throwing her arm in front of her, releasing an electric shock. The force of the shock sent the intruder flying backwards, landing on the ground with a loud thump.
"Fox!" Pikachu yelled, diving next to the vulpine. She grabbed his shoulder and started shaking him back and forth violently. "Wake up!"
The vulpine's eyes snapped opened, and he looked to the girl who had a death grip on his arm. "What…?" He rasped, and Pikachu pointed to the intruder, who had gotten back onto their feet. Fox felt his blood become cold.
He found himself staring at what appeared to be an exact replica of him, as though he were looking into a mirror. His copy had a few stand out differences- instead of golden/orange colored fur, the copy's fur was dark, almost gray. Their eyes were cold and lifeless, and they had a dark black aura floating around the edges of their body.
Fox growled to himself, hopping onto his own feet as they copy rushed forward. He kicked his leg out, catching the copy's own and making him fall to the ground. Fox whipped out his blaster, firing at the copy. The shots struck the copy, making it snarl at Fox. It rushed forward again, throwing its own leg out, connecting with Fox's jaw, dropping his blaster in the process. The two foxes tumbled on the forest floor, wrestling and throwing punches at one another.
Pikachu gaped at the scene in front of her. She watched the copy throw Fox over his head, and the pilot yelped in pain as he made impact with the ground. A glint of silver caught her eye, and she noticed the blaster on the ground next to the almost dead fire. Pikachu rushed over, snatching the gun off of the ground and whirled around to face the copy. She bit down on her lip and pulled the trigger.
The shots from the blaster connected with copy, making it howl in pain, and it burst into dart particles, fading away. Pikachu clutched her chest to slow her breathing, pushing her bangs out of her face. She winced when she saw Fox lying on the ground, and got down on her knees next to him.
"Are you okay?"
Fox let out a large breath and sat up, nodding at the girl. "I'm fine. We should get moving."
"Now?" Pikachu questioned. Her brow was creased with concern. "But you're hurt. Shouldn't we wait for more sunlight?"
He shook his head at her and pushed himself off the ground. He winced at the stinging sensation in his arm, and shook his arm, attempting to numb the pain. "It'll be up soon, don't worry."
Pikachu glowered at the vulpine, but kept mouth shut as she handed over his blaster. He mumbled a 'thanks' as he put it back in his holster. Fox kicked a pile of dirt at the dim fire, putting the rest of it out. He stepped over the pit and made his way over to the opening in the trees.
"Let's get going."
"Fox."
Fox McCloud kept his head straight as he continued walking through the forest. The morning sun was beginning to make its way up into the sky above, beams of light peeking through the branches and leaves, illuminating the forest floor. The sight was truly breathtaking to some, but neither individual was taking the time to stop and witness the beauty of nature make itself present in front of them.
"Fox…"
The voice calling to him fell deaf upon his ears. McCloud's pace did not stagger for a moment as he weaved through the bushes, coming to another dirt path like the one he was just on. He began to walk again.
"Fox!" The voice cried for a third time. Pikachu grabbed his hand, yanking the vulpine back to a stop. He whirled around to face her, noticing the blonde's chest heaving as she panted.
"Slow down…." She breathed out, face scrunched in fatigue. He shook his head at her.
"We don't have time to slow down, Pikachu," he fought. Fox took the opportunity of the girl being in a daze and shook his own hand from her grip, moving to wrap his now-free hand around her own. He began pulling her in the direction he was heading. "We're totally exposed and we can't be sitting ducks."
Pikachu huffed. "If we keep moving like this, we aren't going to have any energy to fight if we have to. Fox, you're exhausted!" She shook her head at him despite him not seeing it due to his head turned, focusing on getting through the forest ahead.
"Doesn't matter. I'm trying to keep you safe."
"I can protect myself you know," she rolled her eyes.
Fox stopped briefly, peering over his shoulder at her. His eyes held a different emotion; one Pikachu registered was almost apologetic. "I know. Sorry. Force of habit I guess."
"Saving people?" She asked, even though she knew the answer already.
"Yeah."
Pikachu immediately dropped the subject, allowing herself to be pulled through the forest by the vulpine. She knew it was a defense tactic. She didn't question it any further.
The pair continued on, settling for being mute instead of trying to lighten the dark mood. Every so often a noise from an animal or the snapping of a branch would halt the pair's progress. Fox narrowed his eyes at the not-as-well lit sections of the forest, hand resting on the holster of his blaster, prepped to fire if need be. Pikachu chose to remain behind the vulpine and let him lead.
The area grew quiet again, and they started walking. Pikachu tapped lightly on Fox's shoulder, and pointed to an opening between some trees. The two headed towards the brighter space in the forest. They stepped over the low lying bushes on the ground, and looked around them to see an open plain with a cliff across from new dirt path in front of them. Pikachu dislodged her wrist from Fox's grip, moving around the vulpine towards the drop off at the edge of the road. He crossed his arms over his chest, watching the girl move around the clearing.
Pikachu offered him a smile. "You have to admit, this feels a lot better after what we went through yesterday." Fox shrugged at her, saying nothing.
The loud crunching of branches got his attention. Fox turned on his heel, blaster ready. His jaw dropped at the sight of another large beast like the one they faced the other night. The dark lion bared its teeth at the vulpine.
Fox chose to waste no time and fired off a few shots at the monster. It jumped out of the way and over Fox's head. He turned to look back at Pikachu, eyes wide.
"Look out!"
Pikachu yelped as she dived out of the way of the lion, it landing where she originally stood. Pikachu rose to her feet and threw her arm in front of her with a grunt, electricity wrapping its way down her arm and launching towards the beast. The shock struck the beast in the chest, but it remained unfazed, crouching down to prepare to pounce again.
Pikachu's jaw dropped. "What?" She gasped, looking over to Fox with panic.
The vulpine gritted his teeth as he ran forward, firing at the beast. The shots bounced off of its body, harmless. He skidded to a stop. Fox glanced over at Pikachu, who appeared as helpless as he felt. He looked past her, and paused for a moment when he saw the cliff.
The monster jumped up into the air and slashed its claw at Fox. The vulpine rolled out of the way and dashed towards Pikachu with a Fox Illusion. He grabbed the girl's hand and continued to run towards the cliff, his ears twitching as he picked up the sound of what seemed to be rushing water, and most likely a waterfall. The girl cried out at first, and then gasped loudly when she realized what he was doing.
"Fox! You aren't going to…."
Fox nodded his head, wrapping a free arm around Pikachu's waist. "Get ready."
Pushing off of the edge of the cliff, Fox launched himself and the girl forward, twisting his body around as the two began the descent parallel to the waterfall cascading to the river below. Pikachu's eyes bugged out at the sight of the churning waters, and she squeezed her eyes shut, preparing for impact.
(A/N) Blah. It's okay I guess. At least we now know what's been going on with these two. Running into trouble. Hopefully the others will find them soon(;
Hope you guys enjoyed the long over due update! I hope it sufficed.
