Note And Poll:
Keep forgetting to say this, there is a pole on the SyxxFox profile at the very top, and you can vote for your favorite Rogue Fox Original Character! The main Slayers are on there, Pyro, Syxx, Cobalt, and even Kyla. As well as there are some others. Go ahead and vote! This is a blind poll, and the results will be revealed late 2012. I encourage everyone to vote!

Thanks everyone for all the reviews, the support and the media!
I honestly, would not be continuing on with this story, if I didn't think I had as many fans as I do! This is for you, guys.

-sx

Rogue Fox Spare Your Soul
XXVI
Hunted
SyxxFox

"Untangle me from my detest now,
Untangle my death,
Breath of the breathless onto my end,
Choking the truth within,

Alive inside,
Never thought I'd get back here,
Starting at the bottom,
Life extinguish life,
Life extinguish life,"

36 Crazyfists – "Mercy and Grace"

The vixen's eyes fluttered open. Everything appeared blurry to her. Though her nostrils were filled with the fresh scent of green vegetation and soil, in her mouth she could taste blood, and lingering smoke in the air. When her vision finally returned, she could see the smoking remains of the Hook Echo. But she was lying face down in the soil, outside the F1. Drag marks were present on the forest floor where her heals dug into the dirt as she was pulled. The vixen moaned, as she tried to pick herself up, but froze as she could hear voices around her. Her body quickly tensed up, and she didn't move. She just listened, as her heart beat increased, and her claws lightly sunk into the soil. She tried to peek out through one eye, to see if she should spot anyone.

"I don't think she's one of them, man. She's got tattoos, but not the one that they all have. These ones are all different. No armour. No specialty equipment. The only thing that connects her is that ship."

"She was flying that F1. That's nothing that we've got. Look it's even got the Slayer's symbol on it. She has to be a Slayer."

"Should we just leave her then?"

"The Aparoids are going to be here soon, and if she's a Slayer, they'll tear us limb from limb. They won't attack her. And there'll be Slayer hunting us, and our chances of surviving that are pretty low. We've seen those things up way to close. And we're damn lucky that they didn't see us."

"What's the plan then?"

The sound of a mechanical clank echoed in Krystal's head. She continued to hear the voices. "We kill her. One less Slayer hunting us. All the better. If she's not one, then we'll add her to the body count. She doesn't have dog tags. Besides what's one more life? Can't go wrong."

Krystal moaned, "Slayer?" she slowly lifted herself to her knees. She was still greatly confused. She stared at the path of destruction that she had left through the woods. A clear cutline was plowed through the trees, and a long trench where the ship had slid through the dirt, cutting up roots, and rocks, which all lead to a path were the smoldering Hook Echo laid in its shallow grave. The F1 smoldered, and smoked. It was finished.

"She's up!"

Krystal rolled over onto her back, as she was confronted with two massive German Sheppard's, in camouflage uniforms. She scrambled on her forearms, crawling on her back, baring her teeth in fear and confusion. She scrambled backwards, until her back was pressed up against a tree, where she made her final stand; only able to growl up at the two men.

One of the soldiers approached her. "Wait right there missy." He pointed a weapon at her.

Krystal's glassy blue-fire eyes looked up at him. She wasn't able to say a word, as she stared down the barrels of two firearms.

"Whoa… something ain't right about you!" He pointed his gun down at her, placing his finger inside the trigger guard, and flicking the safety up and off with a thumb.

"She's infected." The other man said.

Krystal put a paw up in front of her face, closed her eyes and looked away. "Wait!" She barked. Her paw bled bright red, and slowly dripped onto the dead leaves beneath her.

The other man, approached. "Hold up. Her blood is red. She can't be infected. Their blood's blue." He pushed the barrel of his comrads rifle toward the soldier's boots. He kneeled in front of Krystal. "Who are you?"

Krystal slowly opened her eyes, putting her arms down. "My name is Krystal. I'm not a Slayer. I'm a member of StarFalco."

"StarFalco huh? Yeah we know you. Where did you get that ship?"

"And what's with your eyes?" The other man asked.

"I stole it. And, it's a long story, but I need your help. I need to get back to Corneria."

The dog's eyes snapped open. "You were on Corneria!?"

Krystal nodded. "Yes. I have what we need to stop this war. I need to get back to Corneria, and stop Syxx."

"Who the h-ll is Syxx?"

A discrete crack in the bushes was heard behind Krystal. She spun her head around, as the two large men lifted the tip of their weapons, pointing them into the woods, stepping toward the noise. The silence consumed them, as the two men circled around her. One had a long sniper stretched across his back, and wielded a Blaster. He leaned down, and grabbed Krystal's paw, pulling her up.

"We'd better get moving. There's no way the Aparoids could have missed that crash. They'll be on us within the hour if we don't make some miles. We should be getting close to that trunk road soon."

Krystal wearily got to her feet with the help of the sniper. He smiled at her. "Don't worry Miss. We'll get you out of here safely. You're damn lucky that we found you first. Before the Aparoids did. I'm Sergeant Richards. This over here is Stagg."

He gently smiled, and spun his head, "Hey," before once again looking back into the woods searching for the Aparoids through the sights of his rifle.

Richards smiled. "Forget about him. We've been roaming these forests for a few weeks now. Lucky we found you before the Aparoids did. We'd give you a weapon, but we're nearly out of ammo, Miss."

"I hate to break up a warm reception, but we've gotta' get going. The Aparoids will be on us soon." Stagg growled.

"One second." Krystal stumbled to the over turned fighter, and reached through the broken glass, pulling her staff out of the machine, and her credit holding card. She mashed the button, and the staff swiftly extended to its full length. She jumped off the fuselage, stumbling from her weakness, and gave the fighter a last look over. The engines slowly smoldered, letting black smoke plume into the blue sky above. The silver wings had been ripped off the black hull, and lay in ruins in their own craters, and inside the trench that the crashed ship had created. She was lucky to have survived. The Arwing wouldn't have held up near as well, but at least in the Arwing, she wouldn't have gotten shot down in the first place.

They disappeared into the woods as the Hook Echo smoldered, and crackled.

"Where exactly are we?"

"Somewhere on the Eastern Slopes. West of The Katina Post."

The other man, Stagg answered as well. "We've been running around in these woods for weeks, trying make our way back to regroup with our forces. We came across some old settlement maps, in one of the abandoned villages. It says there's an old trunk road, just a few clicks east of here. We're hoping the Army is using it for fuel transport. Maybe we can hitch a ride."

"Ever since the Slayers took Outpost thirteen, we've been on our-"

"Shhhh!" Richards hissed. He motioned his paw toward the ground. Krystal took knee after she noticed the other warriors doing so.

Richards pointed his paw tips to his own eyes then forward. Krystal slowly peeked around the corner of a tree to see a dog in green camouflage dressing and hat stumbling through the aspen ahead. Stagg holstered his pistol, and slowly reached over his back, letting the sniper down in his arms. He raised the rifle to his shoulder, and stared down the scope.

Stagg whispered. "Infected. Four spotted." He let down the rifle. "I didn't think they'd find us that quick, I thought they were all still west of us! A few more minutes, and they would have walked right in on us."

"This forest is infested."

Krystal murmured to the sniper. "What's wrong?"

He passed the large sniper to her. It was heavy. Larger than any weapon she had ever carried. She lifted it to her shoulder, and stared down the scope. She was shaky at first, but soon steadied out. Her left arm shuttered as she struggled to hold up the heavy armor piercing rifle.

Stagg let her rest the rifle over his shoulder, so she could get a steady look. "You really are from Corneria. Look at their eyes. Look at the way they walk."

"We've got to keep heading East." Stagg growled. "We'll have to go through them."

Richards took the sniper back from Krystal. "I've only got ten rounds left. And I know you're on your last battery."

"Yeah but check it out." He pointed forward. "One of them still has a rifle slung over his back. Maybe they have ammo too. One's a medic. Probably got bit trying to help them out. Watch out for the wolf though. He's gonna' be a fast mover. He's more mutated than the rest."

"Orders are to cure the infected! We can't just go shooting them! There's still people inside there!" He hissed in a whisper.

"We've been disbanded for weeks! We don't know what the hell orders are! People or not." the other scout paused. "They may be alive inside, but we're here staring at the bottom. This is what we are trained to do. Life, extinguish, life.

He growled. "I don't know…"

"They had their chance. Now let us have ours."

"Yeah. Fine. You're right." The German Sheppard looked at the empty ammo satchels on his belt. "There's four of them, three of us."

Krystal's heart started to race. She remembered the infected in the First Aparoidian War. She had forgotten that they would return, as soldiers, and citizens alike became infected with the virus. "They're not that strong. I remember the first war."

"You really haven't been around have you?" Stagg growled as he put his back up against the tree, holding his rifle to his broad chest.

"The virus must have evolved since last time. They're stronger now. They don't think. They just attack. Don't let one even touch you. We don't have the anti-virum."

"They used to shoot. Why aren't they using their weapons?" She asked.

"They're not quite that smart." He smiled. "Not usually anyway. But they are a lot faster. So keep your eyes on."

Stagg looked down at them. "Try to stay out of sight kid."

Krystal mumbled. "I can handle myself."

Richards placed his rifle over his back, wielding his pistol. "Moving in, to engage." He whispered fiercely.

They quickly pranced through the woods, over fallen trees, and into trenches, hunched over as they ran. They took cover each behind their own tree. Richards lifted the pistol, and quickly rattled off three shots, each hitting their mark on the chest of the infected lynx, and making him fall to the ground. The other infected took notice immediately. The three remaining soldiers all spun toward them. Two took off immediately, running straight toward the three stranded. The third infected screamed at the top of his lungs, letting out a deafening high pitched screech into the woods. Immediately after with unreal strength, he jumped upward, and disappeared into the tree tops above.

Stagg covered his ears. "That's not good!"

Another infected ran on all fours. His eyes glowed electric blue, and teeth dripped with saliva. The Marines opened fire on him, but the infected dodged swiftly, jumping against a tree. His longs claws tore bark off the trunk, and he leaped for the kill. Only to be met by a hail of fire by Krystal's staff. Red balls of fire emitted from the emerald of the staff, each shot making a swooshing, and scorching resonance. He fell limp in midair, and the blue fox sidestepped as the dead infected went plowing into the bushes behind them.

Richards nabbed the M27 off the dead body. "Hey kid, catch."

Krystal's paw gripped the front stock of the rifle and caressed it into her shoulders, slipping her staff away. She spun on her heals, pointing the weapon toward the second assailant. She pulled the trigger, and saw the plasma bolts tear right through the man's torso, painting the tree behind it burnt red. It nearly split him in half.

"Sh-t. Anybody see that fourth one?"

"It's that damn wolf isn't it?"

They all looked up into the tall thick trees, putting their backs together in a triangle. They listened to the branches above them rustle with movement.

"Anybody see it!?"

A tree branch rumbled as the infected wolf landed on it. He perched himself on the branch like a bird. His claws dug into the bark, as he stood up on two legs. He threw his head back, and clenched his paws into tight bloody fists. It drew in a long breath, and screeched at top of its lungs. The sound was deafening, and ripped through their heads, scoring their senses.

Stagg powered through the shriek, and hip fired the rifle until the plasma tracers ripped across its body. The infected tumbled off the branch, and fell onto a log below, snapping it's back over the rotting trunk. It took a moment for Krystal's ears to stop ringing. When they did, it caused them all to freeze in their steps.

Another scream echoed through the forest. This one was father away, but it was the direction that the Hook Echo had crashed. They all stared into the forest, in the direction they had come, but saw nothing but the endless weave of sticks and trunks that lead into the dark abyss. The howl stopped and the resonance bounced through the forest, echoing around them.

"Grab their weapons and ammo!" Stagg barked. "We've gotta go now!"

Krystal collected all the magazines and batteries off the fallen, and inspected the rifle. "What's going on?" She asked. "What's wrong?"

Richards smiled subtlety. Krystal sixth sense ran through his mind, reading his thoughts. She could tell his heart was racing. She could tell something was wrong by his suddenly scattered and distressed thought patterns. "You're scared." She said.

"We're being f-ck-ng hunted."

Stagg growled. "If we're coming across infected here. This doesn't look good for our chances of finding Marines on the trunk road."

The scream came once again. It echoed through the woods. It sounded closer than it had just a few moments ago. Their hearts all raced.

"Come on!" Richards nearly yelled.

They didn't hesitate for another second. They all started to run. They're boots crunched on the fallen leaves, and Krystal batted branches out of her face, before she ran through the gap of the trees. They ran at full speed for over fifteen minutes. Every time that they heard the shriek, it would sound closer and closer. Before long, it sounded as if it were right behind them. Krystal, even with her gift, couldn't tell who it was, or what was chasing them. She was scared though. She didn't care what it was; she didn't want to meet it. She was getting tired though, and so were the Marines, and when it felt like the creature was screaming right in her ear, they had to stop.

They took cover behind a large over turned tree. They leaped over it, and hid on the other side, pressing their backs to the trunk. They all panted, and swallowed hard, trying to speak to each other, and trying to keep their breathing low enough so they could still hear.

"There's no way were going to be able to outrun that thing." Stagg gasped.

It screamed again. Richards slowly peaked over the log, but didn't see anything. He went back down. "Then we'll have to kill it." He pulled out the SA2 Sniper Rifle, and set it over the log. He slowly pulled the bolt backward, and then slipped it forward, and down. Stagg, rested his binoculars on the logs, and they stared down into the forest. They all waited in the silence, as the sounds drew closer and closer to them. Krystal put a paw on her staff, and tightened the grip on the pistol grip of the rifle. She put a new battery into the weapon, and tried to track the creature with her mind only, but she found it nearly impossible, though she could feel it tracking them. And Though she could still see into it's head, there was nothing there, there were no thoughts. It was the mind of something with only one thought. It was a hunter. And it was hunting them.

"Hey." Richards whispered. "One hundred meters, one target."

"What the f-ck is that thing?"

"I don't know. Keep quiet. It doesn't know where we are. Let's not piss it off. That thing's got some serious armour. Look at all the scoring on it. We're not the first to come by it."

They watched the creature draw closer and closer. Krystal was afraid to see what it looked like, but her curiosity got the best of her. She flattened her ears, and slowly lifted her head above the log. What she saw took the breath out of her. It walked toward them on two legs, but it was easily twice the height of either Stagg or Richards. It had large, broad shoulders, and elegant sharp shoulders flares of orange, purple, blue, and silver. Though shaped like a Lylatian, it seemed to be more like a walking tank. Head to toe it was armored with thick silver-purple, and black plating. It wore a helmet with no visor, just steel, with two slits, that came off the dark purple headdress. There were two black slits where the eyes laid back within the helmet, though they were not visible. The arms were also heavily armored. One arm had a large purple-black shield that could cover half the body easily; the other arm grasped a long, curved sword. It was thick, and wide, but the silver blade glistened, flaunting a razor sharp edge. The sward had all sorts of carvings in it. The blade was longer than Krystal was tall, and it looked like it weighed just as much as she did, and more. The creature didn't carry it. It dragged it across the ground behind it.

It looked slow, but that observation was wrong. It suddenly shrieked again. Pulling its arms, backward, and projecting its voice into the air. Even from this far away, the shriek was ear numbing, and it stunned them. When it was finished, it lifted the sword up, and bolted toward them. Fallen logs splintered under its might, and branches crumbled against its armor as it ran past them.

"Don't move." Stagg hissed.

The ground began to rumble as the creature neared them. The monster stopped when it was standing right beside them. The survivors followed it with their eyes only. Krystal could get a good look at it now. She couldn't tell if it was organic, or mechanical. Surely it was too large to be organic. It must have been another Aparoid mutation. It stopped to shriek. Krystal thought her head was going to explode. The high pitch scream cut through her. Her head pounded, but she didn't move, besides the squint of her eyes. It suddenly turned toward them, and grunted, as if it were a real life form. Krystal thought her heart was going to break through her rib cage. She wanted to cry. She had never been so afraid. It was fast. It was large. She was frozen. She didn't even want to see what it was capable of. The creature turned its head away shortly after, lifted the sword from off the ground and took off into the forest, the same direction that they were heading. The ground shook, and Krystal's teeth rattled as the creature plowed down small trees, a scored others. Soon, it disappeared into the woods, and it once again became eerily silent. Her ears continued to ring.

When the noise faded out, they all jumped over to the other side of the log, and hid once more.

Richard panted. "Holly sh-t."

Stagg hissed through grit teeth. "What the f-ck was that thing!?"

"You've never seen that before?" Krystal asked.

"No." Richards shook his head. "And I'd hope to never come across that thing again. What the f-ck do you kill that with?"

"F-ck. We finally found something more terrifying than a Slayer." Stagg huffed.

They kept their weapons upward, as they walked through the forest. They approached the tracks of the beast. They turned their heads to the east again to hear the scream get a little quieter.

"Gods..." Richards huffed. "You got that right."

The creature left a massive track on the forest floor. The print was as wide as a tank track. That wasn't all. The blade that had been drug across the ground left a four inch deep trench in the soil.

"I hope we don't have to see that again." Said Stagg

They just stood there in the silence, before it was broken with the sound of far off weapons fire, and the scream of the creature. Their heads all snapped up, and they stared at each other in horror.

Richards barked. "We gotta get moving!"