Bootprints tracked in the fresh white snow as Fox trekked down the sidewalk. It had stopped snowing earlier in the day but it was still freezing cold out, everything on the ground now had a small layer of crunchy frost over it that made a satisfying sound when stepped into. Despite this, Fox wasn't in a particularly joyful mood. Bundled up layers topped off with a black winter coat kept him warm as he made his monthly visit to his father's grave, reflecting on his life and the more recent events he'd been wrapped up in as he walked. They never recovered James's body but an empty grave marker had been erected in his honor regardless. It was right in the middle of a graveyard close to Fox's childhood home, just the journey there alone brought back memories.
The streets and sidewalks were devoid of life, even in a big city like Corneria most people were smart enough to stay home when it was this cold outside. To Fox however, it just meant a bit more privacy, some nice time he could enjoy to himself. Taking a gloved hand out of his pocket he worked the latch on the cemetery gate and helped himself inside. The rusty old hinge disrupting the winter silence with a sharp creek.
James's gravestone was impressive but not overburdening, just like the man himself. It was a tall polished marble slab with text engraved on the front. Stone replicas of his scarf and pilot's helmet were affixed to the top made to look like they had been hung there unceremoniously. "In memory of the great Captain James McCloud" it read, "Lest we forget the hero that fought valiantly for Corneria until the bitter end."
Fox let out a visible exhale; he was always at a conflict with the words that the General picked. They felt too formal, lacking the emotional drive to portray the magnitude of James's achievements or even the legacy he left behind. It was the definition of a military grave which didn't reflect on the kind of man that he was. Nonetheless, the grave was for more than just Fox. James was a hero of the people and while it wasn't meant to be any kind of public monument Fox was well aware that he wasn't the only one who visits. Sometimes he would find little gifts left there by others, mostly just flowers or framed pictures of his father in his heyday.
"...Dad?" Fox said as he stood in front of the stone, hanging his head with his hands buried in his pockets. "I miss you… Corneria misses you, hell the whole solar system misses you. We need your guidance now more than ever… I'd do anything to speak with you again." It never took Fox long to start tearing up during his visits, he blinked a few times to try and stifle it. "Everything's changed and... I don't know what to do. The Lylat War is over. Andross is gone and his army's crumbling apart bit by bit. Technically we won, but… It doesn't feel that way." Fox's nose started to quiver. "Things are different. Pepper has changed and… and I don't think I agree with his methods anymore. I know you followed him loyally, but… I'm struggling. Something about that war did something to us all, it changed him. I want to do what's right, just like you I want to help make the galaxy a better place. But I guess… I just can't say that I know what's right anymore."
"Nothing is." A gruff voice spoke from behind. Fox jumped in surprise and made a short yelp, he thought he was all alone in the graveyard and certainly hadn't heard anyone come in.
"Goodness you scared-..." Fox stammered out as he turned around. His words were quickly silenced as he saw somebody familiar standing next to him, a certain one-eyed wolf had somehow crept up on him here of all places. The canine was dressed in a black suit and red tie with a long peacoat protecting him from the cold. For somebody with such infamy he cleaned himself up well. Fox, being caught off-guard, felt the pangs of panic crawl through him. His paw slowly gravitated towards his hip where he normally holstered his gun but instead of landing on the pistol's grip it simply brushed up against his slacks. He normally came out here unarmed out of respect for the dead and this time was no different.
"Wolf please I-I don't have a weapon just-"
"Calm down. You think I would fight you here? I came to pay my respects, just like you."
"...You pay respects to my Dad? But, how did you get here?" Fox asked, paws shaking nervously- he was unconvinced that a simple visit was the man's only motive. Wolf ignored his question however, instead choosing to continue calmly staring at the prestigious gravestone.
"James was a good man, Fox. He fought for what he believed in; putting the good of the galaxy, the good of his people, before anything else. Do you see what happens to good men in this world?" Fox took a moment to process the question. He breathed deeply and relaxed his posture, looking up at Wolf and then back towards the monument. His adversary had his guard completely down, even going so far as to be standing with Fox in his blind spot. He was clearly here for something other than violence, perhaps he was telling the truth.
"...You killed him, Wolf." Fox answered; the greymuzzle next to him shook his head disappointingly.
"Did I kill him, Fox? Or was he dead long before Star Wolf even got there?" Wolf pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his jacket pocket and placed one in his mouth, casually lighting the end and taking in a pull before continuing. "That hit was being passed all over Venom, I'm just the one who took it. James was a marked man and if my team hadn't killed him, somebody else would have done it anyways. The end result is still the same. His bounty killed him, not us. I was just doing my job." Fox was silent, Wolf had something resembling a point but that didn't excuse his actions.
"Is that what you tell yourself to help you sleep at night?" He retorted, Wolf cocked his head at the response, empty socket glaring at the boy through his eyepatch. He wasn't in the mood for games.
"I'm not here to argue with you, McCloud. I'm here to warn you. You and I have a lot more in common than you think; enough that I felt compelled to seek you out and talk to you like this."
"Oh? What's there to warn me about?" Fox asked, there was something amiss about this whole conversation and he felt it may be in his best interest to play along.
"Men like us, we're too stubborn to admit when we're in way over our heads. You and I didn't get the opportunity to learn from our fathers and eventually that catches up to you." Wolf took another long drag off of his cigarette, "For me that came in the form of this." He said, pointing a claw to his missing eye. "I was lucky. For you, however… You'll be paying with your life, just like James did. You may not see it coming, but it'll happen. It happens to everybody like you."
"Like me? What do you mean?"
"Sometimes I wish I were ignorant like you again. You experienced the death of your father and still can't see that you're following directly in his footsteps, can't see further than your own whiskers. You're too good to be just another military puppet." Wolf sighed up into the cold air, a billowing cloud of smoke contrasting against all of the white. "No cause, no nation, none of that is worth your life or the lives of your teammates, McCloud. You're only here for so long, make the best of it. Carve your own destiny away from where the Cornerians want you. Unlike James here, your future is yet to be set in stone but wait too long and it might be."
"Andross is dead and Oikonny's Army is falling to pieces. We finished the fight, there's nobody left in the Lylat System who wants me dead except for you." Fox stated with confidence, Wolf chuckled at the idea.
"I'll bet you wish that were the case."
"Did you just come here to scare me? Because it's not going to work. I'll fight alongside General Pepper and the Cornerian army until the day comes where we find peace in the galaxy. I can't just stand by on the side lines and let everything play out like you do. You need to BE the change you want to see."
"I figured." Wolf huffed. His cigarette was only halfway burned but it was already clear to him that this was a lost cause, he was wasting his time here. "Sometimes I pity you but then I remember that pity has no place on the battlefield. Humor me. What do you think waits for you at the end of all of this conflict? What do you think you'll find there?" Fox took a moment to consider, that wasn't something he'd seriously thought about in a while. Being so wrapped up in the conflict made it tough to remember sometimes what this was all for. Regardless, he decided to answer the question as honestly as he could.
"Peace." He replied. Wolf dropped his cigarette into the snow and stomped it out under the sole of his black dress shoe.
"No, it'll be me. I'll be waiting for you, there at the end. Just like I was there for your father and just like I'll be there for your son. I am the only thing you're guaranteed in this galaxy." A cold, uncomfortable tingle traveled down through Fox's spine as the words seeped into his ears. He didn't like what he had heard.
"Wolf stop-" He replied, turning to look towards the man standing next to him.
But he was all alone. Wolf had already begun to walk away, leaving behind only his smoldering cigarette butt and the dark ominous cloud over Fox's head.