5 ALW; NORTH OREDO BAY, CERINIA
They walked the rugged Cerinian shore, the sand beneath their feet ebony and vaguely damp from the aftermath of the lethal storm. The ocean had calmed now, leaving a disquiet that sent a shiver down her spine. It was hard to think that just hours ago, this land had been bathed in darkness- both from the seas and the skies both. A tsunami had struck, crashing through a seaside village and obliterating any who had not been fortunate to seek higher ground in time.
This was not an accident. This was what happened when the balance of power shifted- when the elements were not aligned. This was an unnatural occurrence and she could taste the lingering effects of water magic in the air. The vixen stepped around part of a small wooden boat that had been splintered by the rocks and gales both.
"It's so hard to think that water could do this," Krystal said, looking over her shoulder to her mentor. "Water is a bringer of life. And yet… I've never seen this level of destruction."
"Just as water can bring life, it can take it away. The calm pool and the raging ocean are but two sides of the same coin," Randorn replied. "Just as fire can destroy, it can also be the lively warmth that banishes winter's cold. Nothing is ever simple in this world."
The vixen stared out at the ocean, watching the stormy gray waters recede and surge forth. Each wave was topped with white foam. She could see rubble adrift in the water. No doubt there were bodies there too. The vixen felt nauseated at the thought and averted her gaze from the wreckage. Barely anything still stood of the village. The only sound in the silence was the gentle roar of the waves yards away.
"It's just as the elders said. There's someone messing with Cerinia's elemental balance," Randorn said after a few long moments. "Only someone practiced in the magic arts could do this. We had best return to deliver our report."
"Shouldn't we search for survivors?" Krystal asked, ears perked with alarm.
The brown wolf looked at her sadly, then turned away.
"You know it as well as I do. Search for any thoughts or emotions here, Krystal. You will find none. There's no one left."
9 ALW; EARTHWALKER TEMPLE, SAURIA
They ran in tandem down the ruined hall of the EarthWalker ziggurat. Fox outpaced her just a hair, his blaster held in both hands. Crackling over the communications channel let them know that they would lose signal if they kept to their current path. Krystal tapped a button to reload her connection to the channel but it did nothing to help with the buzz of static. A few steps later and she turned it off. The noise was distracting her far more than it was helping.
"Tricky!" Krystal screamed down the hall, desperately feeling out for the EarthWalker king as she turned the corner. She couldn't sense him. She couldn't sense anyone but Fox's own festering fears as they ran.
Three aparoid grunts stood in the halls, clicking as they turned to greet them with their sharpened feelers. Fox was first to open fire and Krystal quickly followed. The aparoids were reduced to scrapmetal after a few seconds and Fox turned to her. His uncertainty was clearly written across his face but she could sense it. It dug deep into her heart like barbs and hurt. Spirits, did it hurt… She could feel his memories of the EarthWalker threatening to bubble over and overwhelm his mind.
"Can you sense him?" the vulpine asked between pants.
"No," Krystal shook her head.
Memories filled her vision. She saw Fox fending off blue-scaled SharpClaw in the snow as Tricky hid behind his leg. She saw Fox freeing him from a cage in a lava-filled mine. She saw Fox hugging him just before he left Sauria. His anguish was unbearable and she withdrew her telepathy. The vixen rubbed her forehead, feeling the humidity cling to her azure fur.
"It's possible they fled before the invasion got here," Fox said. Krystal knew he wasn't just trying to reassure her.
"We've got to keep going. The main chamber's walls could be thick enough to block out my telepathy," Krystal replied.
Fox nodded and they were off again. The ziggurat had been carved similarly to the rest of the EarthWalker structures- layered with nearly identical levels cut in a square-like pattern. The same sun and moon patterns flashed by as they ran. It felt like they were getting no where until light broke through the ceiling and the two foxes soon found themselves nearing the top of the ziggurat.
Above, a battle raged on. Slippy and Falco were fending off the aparoids as best as they could but even at a glance, the vixen could tell they were sorely outnumbered. If they did not act fast to repel the aparoids, the entire planet could be lost. With her heart racing, Krystal ran for the door into the central chamber. She grabbed near the bottom of the sun emblem, trying to force it open. It would not budge. Fox ran to help her and together, they were able to force it upright.
Inside was a grim sight. EarthWalker corpses lay scattered about, their blood staining the white stone floor. Aparoids were crawling everywhere. Small orblike sacs were clustered in the corners of the grand room. An aparoid was digging into the flesh of one of the EarthWalkers, clearly trying to merge with the lifeless body. The vixen felt a gasp fall from her lips. Fox was deadly silent next to her but she could taste his horror like a numbing freeze of ice.
When the nearest aparoid soldier took note of them, Fox leapt into action. He hurled a grenade inside and opened fire. Krystal found herself following suit- firing into the room as the aparoids made their charges towards them. As their lasers blazed through the violet metal that made up their insectoid bodies, the vixen felt a rush of hatred that blinded her. She bared her teeth in a snarl as she fired into the nearest soldier.
It took her a moment to realize that the searing rage was not just her own.
Fox lunged forward at the soldier, rolling another grenade under the creature's feet. It exploded, its body shooting towards the ceiling before crashing back down. He pivoted on his right foot then spun around to blast through the nearest cluster of aparoid larva. After the last soldier had fallen, Fox continued to fire until the eggs had become nothing but smoldering ash. He rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand, glaring down at the destroyed aparoids with such intense loathing that the vixen flinched for a moment.
Krystal ran to the nearest EarthWalker body, putting a hand on his flank and feeling for any sign of life. There was none. Tears flaking her lashes, she looked at the others- the ones with the torn throats, the lifeless eyes, the blood that pooled in impossible amounts around them. There was nothing. It had been a complete bloodbath- one that had likely happened just moments before. Too late, the vixen cursed quietly. They had been too late.
"Damn it all," Fox seethed. He turned and punched the nearest wall with such ferocity and suddenness that Krystal jumped.
"Is… is he…?" Krystal managed to ask, looking at Fox as he hung his head.
"No," Fox said after a moment. "Tricky's not here."
She breathed a shuddering sigh of relief, wiping her tears away as discreetly as she could. Though she had not personally known any of these EarthWalkers, she felt their lingering fear taint the air. Their regrets twisted her emotions into knots and she tried her best to detach from the situation. But spirits was it hard. It was so, so hard… She forced herself not to cry. She pleaded with herself to stay alert. They were still in the middle of a battlefield.
"Krystal, we need to go. There's no one left," Fox said to her. "The others are gonna need our help soon. The skies will be overrun."
"Y-yes…" the vixen replied with a nod.
They departed the room with the massacre in silence. Silence that felt all too familiar in a situation that just felt more and more terrifying. The vixen stared ahead, that numbness never quite going away even as they departed the ziggurat. She readied her blaster as soon as the waning sunlight came into view, but her breaths were shaky.
"What is it?" He asked her.
"I just… I've never seen you like that before," Krystal said quietly.
"Like what?" Fox asked with concern.
"So angry," the vixen answered breathlessly, her words trembling.
"I…" His tipped ears went back for a moment. "I'm sorry if I scared you."
"It's fine," she answered, steeling her words. "Even the most gentle person can get angry sometimes."
Like water, she realized. Fox was like water. His tide pulled people in. His resolve, his current, moved his team forward. He could be as calm as a serene pool. Or as wrathful as a tidal wave.
She continued, shaking herself back into focus. "And that… that was awful. But he could still be out there. We just need to keep trying."
"We'll find him," Fox said confidently. He gently touched her shoulder for a moment. Then, they were off once more- plunging through the humid jungle with the sounds of war all around them.