Crap Crap Crap, and double crap, [Insert more words not safe for a t rated story here]. I wanted to have this uploaded yesterday but I forgot to get it up before I went to bed, and don't even get me started on the day before. So, real quick, here is the break down for you as to the yet another drop off in my posting rate.

I got promoted again, so yay money, and good bye to a lot of my free time. My manager told me it would only pick up for a few weeks. That was last month ha ha.

The other thing is a gamer related things, the Destiny Beta is up and I've been playing the ever living crap out of that, cause its awesome.

Anyway, speaking of work, I've got to get going, so enjoy the chapter, it's a little short, but I didn't want to bloat it with anything that didn't belong.

-Chapter 21: Lost Destiny-

Cold, and pressure on her lower body, a heavy pressure. She tried to move her legs but to no avail, all she was able to do was twitch them slightly. The next thing her brain registered was the pain, the ache that covered everything below her breast, and the sore back from when she landed out in the rain.

Rain?

She forced her eyes open, the world slowly coming into focus as she stared up into the dark and cloudy sky. She blinked against the drops of water that were still coming down as she looked around, trying to push herself up with her arms. That was until she tried to put weight on her right arm and a bolt of agony fierce enough to pierce right through the fog of her brain shot through her entire body. She couldn't help but cry out in pain as she dropped back down to the ground.

Cold.

That was when it clicked. She was on Fichina, the last thing it should be doing is raining. Even with the weather center operating at max, it never got warm enough to rain. As she realized that, she looked over at the wall she was near, tracing a pipe up the wall to where it was burst open, hot air rushing out and melting the falling snow above her. As she stared at the hole in the wall, she remembered.

She had been running through the military laboratory hidden away in the wastes of Fichina when a stray shot hit...something...that exploded, the force knocking the wall out and blowing her out through the hole, she hit the wall and it flipped as she fell, she landed hard on the ground, the air knocked out of her battered body, only to be blasted into unconsciousness as the rubble from the wall landed on top of her.

She looked down and let out a soft gasp, her entire body from her breast down was buried under rubble, her left arm was trapped underneath some girder of some sort, and as she twisted her head to stare at her right arm she felt her eyes go wide when she was what direction it bent. The sleeve of her jump suit ripped into tatters and exposing the fur of her arm.

As if being buried under rubble outside in Fichina was bad enough, she felt water rising up her legs and she saw another pipe that was belching water out into the small crater she had landed in. To make things worse, the rain that was falling on her was slowly freezing on her fur, further lowering her body temperatures. She shivered once as a terrible though ran through her head.

I'm going to die here. There is no way out.

Kursed leaned her head back with a sigh, staring up at the clouds as that realization thrummed deep inside her chest. She knew that there was no help coming from the facility, they only had a small number of guards stationed in the place, and she had killed all of them. The one who had caused the explosion had been a scientist who had never fired a blaster before completely missing her. There was a military base on Fichina, but this outpost was unmarked on a map, hidden deep in the wastes, and she knew that only one group would be responding to any distress call. Even if they had been biding time waiting for something to go wrong, they would be at most thirty minutes out, twenty if they burned hard into space and came back down over the facility.

She blinked a drop of water out her eye as she stared up into the sky. After all this time, to think that it would end like this. When she took up the mantel of a Bounty Hunter, she always expected that she would die in a fight with a target, not buried in the snow outside on Fichina, cursed to die from some bad aim that some no name scientist had.

She took in a ragged breath and let out a small huff of laughter, laying in the wastes talking about how she was cursed. It fit when she had chosen that as her new name, but now it just mocked her. For the first time, in years she let her mind drift back to the years before she was Kursed. The people she called friends, and the one she had considered her mate.

As if by magic, his voice reached out and touched her ears. "I thought you were my mate as well."

Kursed blinked and turned her head to the side as Fox McCloud walked out of the falling snow and stopped at the edge of the crater she was in. She blinked twice at him before she shivered from the cold of the rising water. After a moment she swallowed and spoke quietly. "Great, now I'm seeing things."

Fox frowned at her. "How do you know I'm not real? Maybe I just tracked you down."

Kursed turned her face back to the sky. "Just in time to save me...right...if you were real you would have done something by now. You're just a figment of my imagination, brought on by the circumstances."

Fox sighed and sat down at the edge of the crater. "Yeah, you're probably right."

Kursed stared up into the sky as the water continued to creep up her legs. She closed her eyes after a moment and spoke up. "I thought you would remember the promise you made."

Fox raised an eyebrow at her. "Hmm?"

Kursed felt her lips tick up. "You promised you would never leave me alone in the rain."

Fox stared at her for a moment before he grinned. "Yeah, I did promise that." He glanced around. "The only thing is, that was back on Zoness, during a mission where you had to stand watch out in the street while Falco and I took care of some things inside a warehouse."

Kursed took over. "I was out there for so long I thought something had gone wrong and was just getting ready to go check on you when you and Falco stumbled out, happy as could be. When you saw me, you left Falco and came over to run a thumb across my face."

"I asked what was wrong."

Kursed opened her eyes "And I told you that I was worried I was going to be alone in the rain all night."

Fox leaned forward on his knees. "Then I promised you that I would never leave you alone in the rain again." He chuckled softly before he sighed and looked up at the steam pipe that was still turning the falling snow into rain. "Guess I broke that promise." he glanced down at her. "Sorry."

Krystal shook her head slightly. "Ever since you bailed on our marriage, I got used to you breaking promises. That what I get for not understanding and being a fool around you."

Fox raised his eyebrow again. "A fool? Is that what you call falling in love?"

Kursed snorted softly. "Only a fool falls in love, my hope were just a joke to you after all."

Fox frowned, his eyes flashing with hurt. "I never thought of you that way."

Kursed turned her head away from Fox. "If you didn't think of me that way, where are you now, when you're supposed to save me?"

Fox stared at the back of her head for a moment before he sighed. "Most likely? On Corneria, dating Fara Phoenix still."

Kursed scoffed. "Right, you were broken up just like I was when we split, but you were quick to betray me, and I've run out of tears to shed over it." She turned her face back to the sky. "I changed out there you know. I'm no longer the pure princess of Cerinia. I've done things, things that flogged my soul of any remorse for things like love. Krystal died, crucified so that Kursed could be born in the darkness that dominates the criminal underworld."

Fox stayed silent for a minute after her little speech. "I'm sorry."

Kursed blinked. "You said that when you forced me off the team before you broke up with me."

Fox nodded. "This time I mean it though."

Kursed scoffed again. "Yeah, right." Fox sighed and lapsed into silence again. Kursed kept her own mouth shut, refusing to look at the phantom version of Fox that was keeping her company. After a while though, she sighed and spoke up again. "You know what's funny?"

Fox tilted his head as he stared at her. "What?"

She chuckled softly again. "I honestly can't tell whats harder to bear, me slowly dying out in the wastes like this."

Fox waited a moment. "Or?"

Kursed turned her head to look at him again. "Or you not being with me at the end." she stared at him for a moment before she let out that small chuckled again. "Dumb huh?"

Fox shook his head. "No, not dumb at all." he glanced up into the sky. "It's perfectly natural during something like this."

Kursed swallowed heavily. "Just like the hope that you are actually going to save me?"

Fox nodded. "Yeah, that too. You're reaching for anything at this point, aren't you?" Kursed nodded in return, keeping her mouth shut as the water started creeping up her ribs, she felt her heart beat heavily, slowing down as the cold reached deep into her chest. She took a deep shuddering breath as the shock reached her brain, her reaction time slowed. Fox frowned as he stared at her. "It's almost time isn't it?"

Kursed felt her entire body shaking from the cold, her teeth were starting to chatter as she answered him. "Yeah, I can feel it." she paused for a moment. "Would...would you hold my hand?"

Fox smiled sadly at her. "I'm not actually here, you know I can't do something like that."

Kursed just stared at him, longing in her eyes as her entire body shook as much as it could. Her teeth were chattering so hard she couldn't even talk anymore.

After a moment Fox sighed and moved down into the crater, sitting down next to her pinned arm, he reached out and grabbed her hand.

She hadn't known what she was expecting, but warmth was the last thing she thought she would feel from the trapped arm.

It's a trick of my mind, just like he is.

She blinked and drew in a shaky breath as the water touched her neck. She stared at the back of Fox's head as the water continued to cover her. As it rose to touch her lips, Fox spoke up. "Just close your eyes Krystal. It'll all be over soon."

Krystal tried to keep her mouth closed, but her teeth were chattering too hard.

A few minutes later, Fox stood up and looked down at the vixen whose body tried to float peacefully in the water, but was held down by all the rubble. After a minute he sniffed and wiped a tear from his eye.

"I'm sorry Krystal."

With that, he tucked his coat tighter around himself as he walked away from the pool of water and back out into the falling snow.

-Inspired By: Song: Lost by Krypteria-

Alright, you guys know the drill, sound off in the reviews, bad? Or just down right horrible? Or, was it actually good after such a long break.

Last thing, yes I remember my promises, QI, I still am reading your story, just not a lot of time to read right now. Same to you KS.

CRAP! Late!

Peace,

- Emile