Lights outcast shadows chapter 10

Krystal sat up and was quickly laid back down by the stern nurse by her side. "Sorry Miss but I can't let you get up. Doctor's orders are that after waking up from that coma you shouldn't stress your body. That means you're not getting out of bed for some time now."

Krystal was still slightly drowsy from her long sleep but gathered her wit for a quick retort. "Really, because I'm pretty sure it's my call whether I get up or not. I haven't done anything in who know how long!"

While Krystal's plea had a visual effect on the nurse she remained adamant. "I'm sorry Miss but my orders are to make sure you stay resting. I understand your predicament but I'm really not allowed to let you leave."

Krystal heard a very soft knock on the door. "Come in." the nurse said, curious of whom it could be; as far as she knew her shift wasn't over for some time to come.

Fox walked in and when he saw Krystal awake he ran to her. Krystal jumped out of bed at the sight of Fox and ran to him before the nurse could stop her. They met in an embrace. Fox shuddered in happiness as her arms came around him, he couldn't believe how happy he felt; it was like all his childhood birthdays combined plus more. He could feel his eyes watering. As they moved away Fox quickly brushed his eyes against his sleeve. "I'm so happy you're all right. I was so scared when Blaze told me what happened to you." Fox paused for a second and then looked to the nurse. "Could you excuse us please?"

The nurse looked as if she would have a tantrum but then walked out of the room mumbling to herself about young people and respect. Fox looked slightly taken aback considering he was as polite as he could possibly be. When she finally slammed the door walking out Krystal giggled. "Well that did the trick; I've been trying to get rid of her forever." Krystal looped her arms over Fox's shoulders and rested herself on his chest. "I missed you. It seemed so long since I last saw you; you wouldn't believe how slowly time passes when you have little to no contact with the outside world. I had no idea how long I'd been out, I needed to ask that nurse if the war had already passed or not."

Fox chuckled and sat down on the bed Krystal was sleeping on, bringing Krystal down to sit on his lap still holding her hands behind his head. "Far from it, we just won our first battle. We even have a plan to take out Ferrier."

Krystal smiled. "Well that's good, but I didn't care so much about that as that you were alive. Now how bout we talk politics later?" Krystal pushed Fox's chest down onto the bed and brought her face to his. "So tell me again, how much did you miss me?"

Fox smiled. "More than you could know, but one thing first… Did you know what was going on in your head before you battled Andross in your mind, because I really would have liked to have known about something so serious."

Krystal drew herself away from him. "Well… I thought I could handle it; I didn't want you to worry. I just thought it was my problem to take care of; I never expected it to get out of control like this."

Fox sighed. He knew that Krystal didn't want to worry him but he also knew that she knew how big a danger Andross was. "Alright, but if anything like that is ever going on in the future try to tell me about it okay?"

Krystal laid her head on Fox's chest. "Ok and I'm sorry about not telling you what was happening. I'll know better next time, even if I think it's something I can handle, a little help won't hurt."

Fox kissed the top of her head and closed his eyes. With all that was going on he found sanctuary with Krystal; one that, no matter how much he wanted, could not last forever. Fox knew that in what would seem like seconds he would be fighting again, but for now his heart and mind were with love.

Katt lay on the floor of her cell; she was in so much pain for so long that she was almost numb to it now. She didn't have the heart to look at her legs; they felt as though they were smashed to bits. She was pretty sure that her tear glands had run out, she felt as though she were crying but all she could feel was the pain in her legs and stomach. She looked around the dark cell for anything to give her a life line to the real world. There was nothing, she could see nothing. There was nothing but pain. Her mind was a weakened shield from insanity; with nothing to keep her, her shield was quickly fading. There was no concept of time down there. For all anyone knew a second could last an hour, it was a hopeless pit of confusion, fear, and pain. Katt was one of the lucky ones if you could think of it that way, her broken legs did not allow for suicide…

Blaze placed his device down on the table in front of him. He looked it over in satisfaction. "Finally done." It resembled a large black ball with gaps running across it horizontally emanating an odd red glow.

Falco pushed the door open hastily and entered the room. He seemed slightly peeved. "Hey Blaze didn't you hear that Krystal was awake? She wanted to see you."

Blaze didn't take his eyes off his device. "Oh yeah I knew but I just really needed to get this done, we are kind of fighting for the future of everyone you know."

Falco looked at the device and scowled. "Humph! Looks pretty low tech to me. You're plan was to throw a ball at the wormhole and hope we get back on a fluke?"

Blaze frowned. "I couldn't even begin to explain to you all the technology that is in this device, besides I'm not sure you're taking this as seriously as you should be. Aren't you worried about Katt?"

Falco looked ready to explode. "Why don't you tell me psycho boy?"

Blaze sighed. "Alright calm down, I realize that was a low blow but you shouldn't have insulted my portal bomb like that. I've spent so many hours on this thing."

Falco fumed off speaking angrily over his shoulder. "Whatever get that thing down to Bill, and god damn it go see Krystal!"

Blaze stared at the door Falco just burst through. He didn't understand how someone so much older than him could be so much touchier.

Jensen Ferrier emerged from the door to the lower levels of the government building, rubbing his hands against his pants. A soldier ran up to him and saluted quickly. "Sir, our forces were defeated on Titania."

Jensen held a hand up to silence the soldier. "Yes, I know that, but you have more to tell me. You need to tell me about their numbers, their skill, and their resources. What have we learned?"

The soldier nodded. "Well sir I think it would be best for you to hear it from The Commander, but he told me one really important piece of information to give to you. Star Wolf was docked at the rebel base, The Commander suspects double-dealing. The Commander is already in your office to fill you in on the details."

"Excellent, get back to your post soldier." Jensen watched as the young soldier rushed back to his post. Something held Ferrier rooted to the spot, he didn't really want to see "The Commander" in person, even he was slightly afraid of him, and even he didn't know his true name. Against a portion of himself Ferrier pushed himself up the stairs to his office for his imminent meeting. He remembered The Commander as he had last seen him, almost a year before his overthrow of the government. In the same lower corridors he was leaving is where he met the man. Much older than he and probably much wiser too, Jensen thought with grudging respect. He was a completely gray furred fox with a firm set jaw and muscular features, unusual for one of his years. The only thing that really frightened Ferrier about him was the look in his eyes. They were darker than the deepest reaches of space and seemed to go on forever, Jensen could remember looking into those cold dark eyes and feeling as though his soul would be lifted out of his body. Ferrier shivered, it was not a memory he enjoyed recalling. Jensen almost felt lucky when The Commander shared his views on economy and politics and agreed when he said they needed a new leader. The Commander explained to Jensen the plan that he had hatched so long ago to overthrow the government. This always came to one undeniable problem for him though, while The Commander had wit, intelligence, and political knowledge he had not been gifted with speech-craft, he doubted his own ability to lead the people after the act he was ready to commit, and that's where Ferrier came in. Ferrier knew it was just a matter of time until The Commander tried to take him out too and so he devised his own plan to take care of The Commander, he wanted to move himself from what felt like figure heading the government to being in complete and total control. Jensen walked into his office with a smile on his face and spoke to the old gray fox that now sat in his chair. "So I heard you have some good news for me my friend." …Anyone who has had power has known that silence is a plot against you and friendship is the worst thing anyone could ever offer you.

Krystal sat on the hospital bed with her legs crossed underneath her staring intently at the door in front of her. Then the door swung open, just as she knew it would. Blaze came in and looked over to her bed, he managed a weak smile. "Hey it's good to see you're alright again."

Krystal lifted a corner of her mouth, her absentminded attempt at a smile. "Thanks, but are you alright?"

Blaze cocked his head slightly in confusion. "Well yeah, I guess I'm alright I'm still a bit tired but that's about it. Why do you ask?"

Krystal fully grinned this time and blew off the question altogether. "Oh no reason at all really, well Fox did tell me you were in a battle but he already told me you were okay, I guess I'm just worrying too much."

Blaze still didn't really understand what Krystal was so flustered about. "Hey where's Fox?" He mostly just asked this to get the conversation somewhere other than where it was.

"He's going to go get me something to drink since I'm technically not allowed outside this bed for awhile still. Do you mind filling me in on some of the things I missed while I was out? Oh, actually, even better, describe the fight to me!"

Blaze smiled embarrassedly. "Alright but I think you'd get more information out of anyone but me, I hardly knew what was going on half the time."

Bill poured over all his notes and strategies he had written out over the past few days, his mind turning with the thoughts of the coming battle, or if they do it right, their escape. He placed a hand on the sphere that Blaze had given him and sighed. He was placing everyone's lives in the hands of a kid that he hardly even knew. No, Bill thought. "I'm putting my trust in Fox and Krystal, they believe him and so should I." But Bill knew that what he should do and what he would do were all too often different.

Falco knocked softly on Bill's door and came in as he was beckoned. The Avian sat down in the chair in front of Bill and stared down at the desk with his eyes glazed over. Bill looked up at him questioningly and when it seemed he had lost all track of where he was Bill cleared his throat meaningfully. Falco snapped his gaze up to Bill and remembered why he had come into his office. "Bill I have a favor to ask of you."

Bill was surprised to see Falco so somber and thoughtful. All he could do to reply was nod his head.

"We need to start Blaze's plan as early as possible, I know we need to hurry; there is no time to waste. I can tell you're skeptical about the kid's plan and I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't, but it really is our only chance. What we saw today was so few of Corneria's military I can't help but wonder why they even sent them, they can crush us at any time they chose, we need to get this done."

Bill seemed to grow older as Falco spoke. "I know, I was thinking the same thing but what if it fails? All that death will be at my hands!"

Falco frowned. "And if you don't even try it then we're all dead anyway, don't be afraid to fail, it wont get you anywhere."

Bill stood with a sigh and looked out the window of his office to the swirling orange sands of Titania. "Let everyone know we'll be heading out tomorrow eleven o'clock sharp. I'm trusting your decision here."

Falco smiled slightly. "No you're trusting your own decision that you were too afraid to make by yourself."

A/N: Very sorry for the lack of new chapters for 3 and a half months, I am a lazy sack of crap with an X-Box 360 so yeah. __ Lots of skipping around in this chapter, had a lot of stuff I needed to wrap up in this chapter as well as the introduction of the commander and a major theme that I've been thinking a lot about lately. Hope you enjoyed, also I hope I won't be so long next time. : P