... I've been gone for WAYYY too long. Oh my goodness.
My life's been an endless roller coaster these days. I'm ready for a break.

ANYWAY, here's Chapter Ten...
And a HUGE thank you to those who were patient enough to wait for it!

.

.

.

.

StarFox Adventures

The Secrets of Dinosaur Planet
A Tale of Destiny

Chapter Ten: "Cryoshock"

Krystal's eyes fluttered open. The warm, bright sunlight of Thorntail Hollow filtered down through the dumbledang trees, dappling her fur. With a soft moan, she stretched, feeling her stiff joints and aching muscles.

I'd forgotten what it was like to be possessed by a Krazoa. She grinned ironically, surprised at herself. Seems like something one wouldn't forget.

"Hey, Fox!" Tricky's voice was a short distance away, eager and relieved. "She's waking up!"

The Earthwalker rushed over to her, causing the ground to shudder. She smiled up at him, wincing a bit at the pain behind her eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his childlike eyes wide with worry.

Krystal nodded. "I'll be fine." Her eyebrows gathered a little as she squinted up at him, getting to her feet. "Can you take me to my brother?"

"I'll do it," rang Fox's voice, and she looked up to find him standing beside her.

He looked stiff, tense. Unsure of himself.

It was a demeanor she'd forgotten he possessed.

At the sight of his nervous, awkward stance, the first weeks of their acquaintance rushed through her mind. Fox's shy advances, their endless flirtations, each one begging the other to make the move that would change everything…

She shook her head. Don't think of that now.

Fox frowned down at her. "You … don't want me to take you?"

Krystal glanced up at him, wide-eyed. "Oh no, no… I wasn't…" She shook her head again. "I was thinking of something else. Please, take me to him." She stared up into his eyes, and he stared back.

He looked strangely pained. "Okay," he murmured. "Come with me."

The three of them walked the short distance to the warm, dry cave where Sabre and his companion lay. Fox stepped in first, going to kneel beside the restless slumberers. Krystal followed, the bitter taste of fear filling her mouth. Tricky waited outside, peering in.

Fox's shoulders were squared, braced.

He didn't meet her eyes as she knelt beside him, staring down at her brother.

"Sabre?" she whispered, her voice raspy with terror. She spread one of her hands on his chest. His heart thumped underneath it, slow and labored. "My brother," she breathed, leaning down over him.

Fox started to reach out to touch her back, wanting to comfort her, to take away the edge of pain in her voice. But then he withdrew.

This is her moment, he thought. I have no right to interrupt.

Her shoulders heaved forward as she gave a quiet, dry sob.

Oh, my brother… Why haven't you woken?

Her mind nudged for his, pushing against the barrier of his cryogenic sleep. Don't make me lose you again. Not after I've only just found you.

He twitched, his face twisting. She stared down at him.

"Sabre?" she whispered, louder this time.

His eyebrows twitched.

She closed her eyes, focusing. Sabre. I know you can hear me. Twin tears pooled along her lashes, trickled down her cheeks. Wake up, my brother. Let me see your eyes. Let me hear your voice.

He frowned, tossing his head like a disturbed dreamer.

She pressed her hands on either side of his dark-furred face, leaning over it.

"Wake up," she whispered. Wake up.

Her tears dripped onto his cheeks.

Then she kissed him.

.

.

.

Fox watched, stunned, as Krystal leaned down slowly, touching her tiny white muzzle to Sabre's brown one. But he had no time to react, because then Sabre's entire body contorted. Fox watched as he twisted on the cave floor, coughing and wheezing, eyes blinking wide and blank with pain.

Krystal tried to stabilize him, but Sabre seized, throwing her off.

Fox reached out and pulled Krystal away. She writhed in his arms, murmuring something unintelligible, reaching out for her brother who now lay twitching, wide-eyed, on the ground.

"Sabre!" she screamed. "Sabre, can you hear me?"

His golden brown eyes squeezed shut, and he gave a great, heaving cough. A mangled sound erupted from his throat, somewhere between a word and a growl.

Krystal scrambled out of Fox's arms, curling over her brother's body. Her hands pressed through the fur on his cheeks, smoothed back his ears. "Sabre, Sabre," she was murmuring, kissing his face. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks. "You're going to be okay. I'm here."

Fox watched, and even as pleasure and relief flooded his body, an irrational surge of jealousy rushed through him. He wished he was the one waking up.

Sabre moaned, lifting unfocused eyes to look at his sister. He looked scared. He opened his mouth to speak, and a raspy wheeze came out. Krystal stroked two fingers up his dark muzzle. "Shhh," she whispered, her eyes flickering between his.

But he shook his head, frowning. He blinked up at her, still not quite seeing.

She frowned back. "What is it?"

He closed his eyes, shaking his head again. His breathing was labored.

"What do you need?" Krystal's voice had that hint of panic again. "Tell me," she whispered.

He reached up with a weak, shaking hand, and she grasped it in her own. His eyes opened, and he fixed her with his dull, pained gaze. For a while, he just stared at her, his eyes straining with effort.

His body tensed.

"Gemma," he rasped.

Krystal frowned. "I'm not…"

Then she gasped, looking at the girl that lay beside him.

What should have been marbled, frost-colored fur was matted and dusky. Gaunt and grimacing, in her torn warrior clothing, she was utterly unrecognizable. But now Krystal knew.

"Gemma," she breathed, reaching out a hand to touch the sleeping girl's face. She twitched.

Sabre coughed, nodding. He tried to speak again, but his voice was a raspy wheeze.

Krystal shushed him. "It's okay. We're going to take care of both of you." She glanced back at Fox, who was staring blankly at the two of them. "Fox?" she murmured.

His eyes flickered up to meet hers, and his eyebrows raised.

"Would you come watch my brother while I try to rouse Gemma?"

Fox nodded, crawling over.

There's so much I still don't know about her, he thought bitterly. Who was this Gemma girl? How did Krystal know her? Of course she was from Cerinia, but …

As he knelt beside Sabre, Fox wished he could see inside of Krystal's mind, the way he knew she could see into his.

Krystal was touching Gemma's face now, running her fingers through her matted fur, stroking her velvet, foxish ears. "Gemma darling, wake up," Krystal murmured. Then she closed her eyes, growing silent.

Fox watched as Gemma seized, less violently than Sabre. Her body twisted over to the side, and she moaned, curling up into a ball.

Krystal ran soothing hands down her back. "Shhh, Gemma, it's okay," she murmured. The girl coughed, shuddering. Her entire body convulsed, and she turned wide, storm-blue eyes to stare up at Krystal.

"Krystal?" she rasped, barely audible.

"Yes," Krystal answered softly, nodding. She smiled. "You're doing better than Sabre already."

Gemma's eyes were bloodshot with pain and cryogenic sleep. "Better?" she gasped.

Krystal looked over at her brother, who lay on the cave floor beside Fox. He was staring at his surroundings with wide, terrified eyes, recognizing nothing.

Not even me, Krystal realized, her heart twisting.

Cold, weak fingers touched her arm. Gemma. "Better?" the girl repeated, her voice weak.

Krystal nodded. "I'm afraid so," she whispered.

But mostly…

I'm afraid.

.

.

.

Sabre sat in the far corner of the cave, holding his uneaten meal in trembling hands. He glanced nervously between Fox and Krystal, his face a mixture of panic and confusion. He'd scrambled away from them as he'd been able to move. For the past hour, he'd been unable to speak, frozen in fear. It had taken much coaxing to give him the tray of food, and even after they'd left him alone, he hadn't touched it.

"He has cryoshock," rasped Gemma, looking at Krystal with sunken storm cloud eyes.

The girl still seemed tired and sick, but the past few hours had made a significant difference.

Krystal turned sadly to her brother, looking him over. "What is his prognosis?" she asked, her voice soft.

Gemma coughed, taking a long sip of broth, shaking her head. "We never know. Not in most cases. Not in this case." She looked suddenly exhausted, as though even this short conversation was draining all of her energy. She closed her eyes. "Only time will tell," she whispered, strained.

Then her empty broth bowl tumbled from her hands, and she slumped over, spent.

Krystal crawled over to her, collecting the bowl and wrapping her in a blanket.

Gemma moaned, curling closer to Krystal's body heat.

Fox frowned. "Can I help?" he asked, uncertain.

Krystal glanced up at him, her lovely eyes sad. She shook her head. "I'm afraid not. Only rest will help at this point." She rubbed Gemma's back, and the girl sighed in her sleep, nuzzling into Krystal's lap.

Fox glanced over at Sabre, who was watching Krystal with a wary, frightened gleam in his eye. He tried edging closer to the cryoshocked cat, but when Sabre noticed Fox drawing nearer, a wave of terror crossed his face. His hands shook so hard that he dropped his tray, which landed with a clatter on the cave floor. Broth spilled everywhere.

Krystal looked up quickly, rushing to Sabre's side. He hissed, recoiling.

She looked at him with sad eyes. "Don't you remember me, brother?" she whispered, staring into his face. He avoided her gaze. She stared at him a moment longer before kneeling down to clean the mess.

Fox's heart twisted.

This was wrong. Krystal's reunion with her brother should be happy, not mournful. Fox frowned, staring at his hands. What was cryoshock, anyway? He'd never heard of it. Granted, he'd never known anyone that had been cryogenically frozen, either. Maybe Cerinian technology was flawed somehow.

His eyes sparked.

"Slippy," he murmured.

Slippy would know. Slippy knew about even the most obscure technologies. Extinct technologies.

Fox looked up.

Now Krystal was wrapping Sabre in a blanket. Still, he jerked away from her gentle, mothering touch, warring emotions of horror and gratitude twisting his features.

"Krystal?" Fox murmured.

She glanced his way, meeting his eyes for a brief moment. "Yes?" she asked, her voice soft and soothing. Sabre winced.

"I was thinking," Fox began, uneasy. Sabre was making him nervous. "Maybe Slippy can help us with… all this." He scratched his ear. "He knows about all kinds of weird technological things."

Krystal nodded gently. "That's a good idea, Fox," she said softly. Then she turned to Sabre, who jerked away as though she'd touched him. "Did you hear that?" she asked, her voice comforting and patient. "Fox has an idea that might help you feel better."

Sabre shivered, glancing between them, still terrified.

Krystal gave him a small, sad smile, which she turned to Fox.

"I hope he can help," she murmured, and Fox saw the tears glittering in her eyes.

"Me too," he murmured. "Me too."

.

.

.

.

Once again, a HUGE thank you to those who are reading (especially after I went MIA for so long).
I love you guys so much. I really hope I can continue to deliver now that I'm back.

Comments, suggestions, questions?
Review please! I'll listen to your words!