AN: Hello again,

For anyone actually still reading I thank you, even if not still gonna keep writing; even if not as often as I'd like. Keep in mind this is more a filler chapter than anything else. Unfortunately, I've got a lot of things planned for this particular story, so either it'll be multiple stories, or like Chains of Fate, I'll just drag it out. Not sure yet. Anywho, thanks again for reading and all the support.

~The Footsteps in the Darkness

SkullFox


-Oribtal Gate Station-

As predicted by his mother, Marcus's recovery was purely superficial, mostly because there were no real physical injuries sustained; however, despite everything else it became very clear that his mind seemed somewhat distracted even when he seemed to be with Sierra and Maryk waiting for a clean bill of health from the scientists on the station. Fox and Krystal on the other hand seemed to occupy themselves with the thought of whatever the strange ship was that had appeared over the surface of Titania. There had been an uproar aboard the station, and luckily for Marcus there seemed to be no real word of Skye's ship, only the word of his father that everyone seemed to be fine. It was late afternoon several days after he'd woken when Marcus had found ample opportunity to train, luckily the security force of the Station were equipped with a top of the line training facility. Everything he'd heard about ascension and the prices it came with were roiling abound in his head, it almost tormented him. Who were the two in his mind? Why did he feel as though he knew them even though he had never met them? Why was the white one the only one that spoke? Part of him wanted to ask his mother about it, but, another part of him wasn't sure he wanted to know the answers. For Marcus everything that had recently happened simply couldn't stop connecting; it angered him to a degree that his strikes against an unfortunate training dummy began to draw blood from his knuckles as well as stuffing from the striking dummy, drawing in a fair crowd. The last thought as a particularly hollow sounding kick lashed open the fabric of the dummy, was of the strange pair of Cerinians he'd met. The female had called his mother her sister, did that somehow mean that his mother actually did have a sister she'd never told them about? Standing by it quickly became obvious to Marcus that the crowd had not only gathered but also dispersed leaving only a small group whom stood to either side of a rather imposing figure. He wasn't very tall but, his build was slightly more impressive than Fox's, his body was covered in a mild layer of charcoal black fur similar to Sierra's while his long hair partially blocked view of the leather patch over his left eye. He wore a red sleeveless hoodie with dark gray jeans, and oddly at his side he carried a katana of all things. The familiar figure was one that he'd met several times before, though he didn't directly remember any of the times he'd met him, Dravyn was a very close friend of his mother's, and tended to stand out in a crowd, what he was doing on the Gate Station however Marcus simply wasn't sure…

Approaching the black furred fox Marcus, "Mister Dravyn?" He asked, "no offense but…what the hell are you doing here?"

"Well," He sighed heavily, "let's see. First of all, my only daughter is on this station after possibly going through some…let's say intense circumstances. There's now a derelict ship that we cannot identify now resting in orbit over one of the most resource rich planets in this system; and to top it all off, if your incident report is correct we've got a pair of renegades Cerinians that may want to end most of the life in this area."

Dravyn's penchant for acquiring information was legendary considering what he'd heard from his mother, "Last I heard you were nowhere near this system, how did you even get that information?"

"I make it my business to know these things," Dravyn responded with a sigh, "what about you? I heard you were going through a few things lately. Before you ask your mother confides a lot in me about her day to day. It actually used to concern me, but, these days it's just someone to vent to I guess."

Marcus sighed a bit, "Mom sent you didn't she?"

"You're very astute," Dravyn replied, "speaking of which have you seen either her or Sierra anywhere?"

Marcus shook his head, "Last I heard they were planning a little get together with Sierra's mother. Something about one of Katina's moons."

Dravyn's normally stoic expression seemed to show a glint of something for a moment as he looked away, "I see…probably Hurth. She…really loved it there."

"You know?" The young Cerinian pointed out, "you could always go see them, I'm sure mom and Sierra would love to see you. Pretty sure your wife would too."

The ebony vulpine held up his bare right hand, "We…never married. Sort of one of those mistakes I need to get to work on some day. For now, I'd like to make certain this star system is still here tomorrow. Any idea where I might find your old man?"

Marcus shook his head, "Not really but, if I were a betting man, I'd say he was with the Professor overseeing what information they've gathered so far on that derelict that warped in near Titania. On top of that there was a massive explosion on the surface that seems to have left a enormous crater."

"I guess this means you're on your way to the Colletta then?" Dravyn asked with a smirk.

Marcus sighed as he shook his head, "No idea. I've been going through so many different situations here that I don't know what I'm gonna do. Or even where to find the Colletta if I wanted to. Besides…"

Dravyn waved a hand gesturing for Marcus to follow him as they began to walk through the halls, "So, I guess that crush of yours on the O'Donnell girl finally came full circle huh?"

"Wait what?" Marcus asked with a shocked look on his face.

"What?" Dravyn asked with a chuckle, "I guess you don't recall it. I thought your memory went back further than that; but, when you, Sierra, and O'Donnel's kid were still incredibly young. You three were pretty much inseparable for a time. At least until Wolf died, and I was forced to take Sierra away from Corneria. You were quite the lady's man when you were so young."

Marcus shook his head with a somewhat depressed sigh, "Skye doesn't agree with that concept, even if that statement was true," He sighed managing to chuckle to himself as he rubbed the back of his neck, "besides that, if I ever did manage to get into her good graces I think Sierra might actually try to kill me."

Dravyn laughed at the notion, "No, I doubt that. That kid is way more understanding than you might know, on top of that you might not know this about her yourself," He said looking over his shoulder to the young Cerinian, "don't tell her I told you so but, she's kinda swung both sides of the fences for years. I used to think it was a phase when it first came up but, now that I think about it…she's always liked the idea of having a wide array of options. She's always been like that really, sort of like her mother."

Hearing such things about Sierra gave Marcus a list of other things to think about, however, as they continued to travel through the nearly empty halls, he could not help but worry about all of his friends and what they might be going through at the time. It worried him deeply to consider what had gone down on Titania, how was it that so shortly after his incident with his supposed Aunt that such a horrible series of events could take place? He'd already been certain that something was going horribly wrong with the way things were, now it only felt like every incident only added to the fire. The act of pulling down that catwalk with his mind was something that even now confused him, after all he'd not been capable of repeating the act thus far; as far as he was aware his telekinesis was only just as strong as it had ever been. He'd never been able to create force with his mind, only manipulate the kinetic energy that was already present, yet, on that day he'd been capable of creating enough force to rip an entire catwalk out of a hanger…tons of steel and wire torn from it's housing. He wondered if that power was still somewhere inside him, but, as they approached the Professor's office, there was a familiar banter between two voices; one clearly that of Fox McCloud and the other that of Professor Slippy Toad. As he made his way into the office, Dravyn looked over his shoulder signaling for Marcus to stand where he was beside the door. He was only standing there for several moments before a familiar black furred wolf came to a rest opposite his positon leaning against the wall at the other side of the door with a calm look on his face as he leaned there with his massive arms crossed over his chest waiting to hear what everyone had to say…

"Alright what's the news?"Dravyn's voice echoed into the hall.

Slippy was the first to answer, "Well, I've been given more than enough information about that abandoned ship. It will just take some time to go over it. Fox's biggest concern though is that fuel depot that was blown up on Titania. How long had that structure been there before Skye's crew found it?"

"Krystal had some alone time with Marcus while he was unconscious," Fox chimed in, "apparently the Cerinian she saw in his mind was called Anaya, her younger sister."

Dravyn audibly scoffed, "I'd have thought Krystal to be the younger of the two if I'd have known about this before. Question is, where did her and lover boy get off to after your boy brought the roof down on his head?"

Fox seemed to sigh heavily, his voice clearly showing concern, "That's the biggest issue we have right now. If I fully understood Krystal's warning, her sister can fully take control of your free will so long as it's given to her…and apparently she can be…incredibly manipulative. She and I are still trying to think why exactly her sister would simply vanish after imposing such a huge presence, but, I think it's still all got something to do with her little robotic puppets. Right now, our biggest issue is the fact that no matter what the crew of the Colletta do, we have reason to believe there is a spy on the ship."

Dravyn seemed to hesitate for a moment, "Is that why I was called here?"

"Partially," Fox replied, "I'm actually sending Marcus and Maryk to handle the problems aboard the Colletta. Alternatively, there has been some trouble as well regarding Krystal and this sister of hers. You'll find she took Sierra to Kew, I guess she's going to show her around Kursed's old stomping grounds."

Dravyn chuckled, "Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. I sure hope Carter and Emett aren't there anymore."

"You honestly think either of them would try anything dodgy with Krystal around?" Fox replied, "maybe Emett but that's a long call these days. She doesn't know you're coming, so take it however you want."

Turning to Maryk, Marcus shook his head, "Looks like neither of us is going to have a very fun time here," He sighed waving Maryk along causing the two to begin their way down the halls, "I've got an in depth profile on the Vina Colletta; we'll go over the documents on our way there."

Maryk nodded in agreement as they walked, "You gonna be alright with this?" He asked, "sort of had a hard time with this Skye girl back on Katina."

"Don't worry," Marcus replied, "part of making the plan I have in store work will be keeping her out of the loop. She can NOT know that it's me under any sort of circumstance. Clear?"

"As crystal," Maryk replied turning down a branching hall, "I'll report to the armoury and head back once we're fully supplied."

"Good," Marcus sighed as he continued to walk, "You've got ten minutes, we leave in fifteen."

It was not very long before the two were met up back in the docking bay of the small Space Station; all of their gear packed away into their small ships while Marcus and Maryk went over details. Before climbing into his personal fighter, the young Certinian signaled for a young collie in a brown jumpsuit over to him, "Tell the Professor and my Dad that Maryk and I overheard everything and that we're already on our way to rendezvous with the Coletta. If they have any further information, I'll have our Com channels fully open just in case. Looks like we'll be headed somewhere out near Sauria."

It would be a matter of time before Marcus would arrive at the Coletta's location; he'd already formulated a plan of attack when it came to sniffing out the spy however, it was a matter of Skye's opinion whether or not it would work. His faith in her still rather unshaken as it stood, he was certain she'd make the right choices, it was only the matter of whether or not it would be at his request...


-Several hours later-

-Sauria-

-Somewhere between Thorntail hollow and Earthwalker Temple-

As per request of the ship's engineers Skye had requested a landing area for the bulk of Coletta forces. Now formed into a large camp area which was being care taken by the Earth Walker king Tricky, who'd made no short mention of his dealings with Fox McCloud in his youth. After such circumstances as the Titania incident there wass a lot of information to be hand, as well the sudden emergency jump to warp speed had seriously taxed the Coletta's engines, as a warp jump of a ship of such size was no easy task, especially for engines that size. The only result being the Coletta being left dead in orbit, while the engineers worked tirelessly without distraction to get the ship back up and running, guaranteeing Skye that it would only be a matter of days to make the proper fixes. Fortunately, after everything that had taken place on Titania, this all felt like a much deserved rest for her crew. Even Skye herself had found a place to rest herself, her mind had recently been at work attempting to understand just how it was that Fox and Krystal had done this for all their years without loosing their minds. A small cliff overlooking a fairly deep pond in the hallow, that was her reprieve, the first time she'd worn a swimsuit in what felt like forever, not that it was something that she ever bothered wearing. Males always stared, people in general stared at her more often than she'd have liked, being alone out there however, brought back all the memories of how much she loved the water. Swim teams, diving teams, she'd been through all of it at one point but, it all just seemed to fade out the more time went on. Leaning there against an ornately carved totemic brazier of some kind the young canine looked off into the distance where a familiar gray wolf was slowly approaching. Even from a distance Dax seemed to stand out, so far he seemed to be one of the few people she'd come to fully trust with any of her own personal insecurities, he was one of the only people that didn't care one way or the other...

"You know?" He called from a distance holding up a small basket, "lotta girls would pay good money to look like that in a two piece. You're pretty lucky."

Skye scoffed, "What luck?" She asked, "the only ones complain about this kind of shit in the first place are the ones too lazy or stuck up to bother doing the kind of harsh workouts I do on a regular basis," She huffed kicking a small rock off the ledge into the water below, "instead you get these wack jobs obsessed with makeup and boys and parties, push you out of the circle and call you a freak or some other stupid shit because they're all so stuck on themselves that they can't accept someone that actually works for everything."

Dax shifted his gaze from one side to another, "Um, I'm picking up a little hostility here. Is this a good time to bring you lunch?"

"Sorry," Skye sighed shaking her head, "just been thinking about a lot of stuff," She chuckled lacing her fingers beneath her chest and pushing up her breasts twice, "I'm also not too used to stuff like this. Brings back a lot of memories of trying to fit in in school and shit."

Dax chuckled as he sat down the basket he'd been carrying, "Look I'm not trying to butter you up or anything," He sighed sitting down beside her, "but, if all this time has taught me anything about you, it's that you think too much. Especially about shit like this. Think of it this way for once. Why do you think those girls you're talking about pushed out out of their circles and such?" He paused not receiving a response before he gently tapped the back of his hand against Skye's defined abs, "it's got nothing...well almost nothing to do with this. It's more the fact that they know, deep down that you do more hard work in a single afternoon then most of them do in an entire year. Because they know, that at any point in their miserable little lives you could pick them apart like they were made of paper machete, and just as much so because you could get all the looks and attention that they want without so much as swiping your tail in any direction. It's because you scare them, your existence instills in them all of the negative things you feel about yourself. I on the other hand think I prefer the you that I saw back on that ship; full of confidence and determination. Suits you better."

Skye chuckled a bit brushing a bit of grass from her fur while inspecting the small baby blue top she wore, "You know, my roommate back in the Academy used to tell me," She sighed, "she'd say "if I had a body like that, I'd be rich, Magazine covers, photo shoots, expensive food and high-rise penthouses." I always told her she was out of her mind but, to be honest...I sort of liked hearing it once in a while."

Dax laughed reaching into the basket and handing her a rather large sandwich, "Well, in her defense," He chuckled exhaling sharply while looking her over, "you do look pretty amazing with this much fur showing."

Skye laughed as she pointed her food at him, "You know, I'm gonna give you that one."

"Why is that?" Dax asked, "because of the food?"

The young O'Donnell chuckled jabbing his ribs with an elbow before taking a bite of her food, "Maybe I'm just starting to like you."

Dax smiled, "Well damn, and we haven't even had a first date yet."

The two seemed to enjoy their lunch for a moment before Skye chuckled, "Dating is overrated Dax. Trust me, if I were ever interested I think you'd know about it pretty quickly," She replied, "Why? Do I need to start locking my quarters door before taking a shower anytime soon?"

Dax chuckled a bit to himself as he stood and stepped toward the cliff edge looking to Skye for a moment, "Let's face it, I'd be worth it."

With a smile Dax simply fell backward off the elevated platform and into the ice cold water below with a heavy splash before Skye laughed as Dax's voice shouted out across the Hollow, "Mother fucker that's cold!"

Laughing to herself Skye took another bite of her food, "Should have asked why I was up here."

An hour or so managed to go by in a flash, their lunch gone, the two found enjoyment under the hot afternoon sunlight. It was some time after their lunch was all gone however that Dax made another drop from the cliff, this time however, Skye found there was no splash. The thought crossed her mind that the idiot had finally jumped too close to the ledge and was now stuck hanging just near the ledge. Unfortunately as she approached the ledge the sudden and powerful grip of a familiar gray hand shot up taking her by the wrist before whipping her off the cliff, plummeting wildly to the waters below. The instant sting of ice cold water surrounding her body caused the young canine to shoot up back through the surface of the water only to watch Dax's body impact the surface of the pond sending another wave of water rushing over her. A bit panicked and freezing, Skye lurched out the moment he broke the surface of the water, shoving him hard toward the shore only to stop as he stood there smiling...

"Sorry," He chuckled, "but, I just had to find a way to get you in the water."

Skye stood there for a moment before shaking the water from her body the best she could, "Was it worth it?"

"Well," Dax stopped himself, tilting his head as Skye noticed his head long stare, "I'm not gonna complain anytime soon."

A stiff breeze was enough to attract her attention to the light blue bikini top floating in the water before directing her gaze back to Dax before oddly breaking into a fit of laughter, "I thought it was a little drafty out here."

As the two approached the shore Skye stopped again shaking herself as she climbed onto the solid ground again after a moment she began to walk back toward the cliff before Dax pulled her back, for a moment she only stood there until noticing the blue top in his hand. She wasn't certain why the urge was so strong, possibly because of his way of handling the situations as they happened, or perhaps even the fact that he was much more respectful than she often was used to seeing. Whatever it was, in that moment she found herself drawn closer to him, so close that their lips finally met. She'd lost count of the number of months she'd been captain of the Colletta, and despite all the bullshit, despite all the hassle and all the trouble, Dax had always been there even when he didn't need to be. Maybe that was the reason such a thing simply felt right, for the very first time feeling female didn't bother her so much...


-Meanwhile-

Marcus and Maryk arrived nearby luckily landing near Cape Claw before running ground near the Colletta's crew's camp; fortunately Fox had sent word ahead of the two to be expecting them, unfortunately however, they'd come to the ship only to find that it was missing four individuals. The captain, her second in command, and a pair of mechanics had all gone out some number of hours ago. For Marcus the whole of the matter was getting to the bottom of it all and finding out what exactly was going on before getting back to his own agenda with his team. Very little time had gone by so far and he already missed having Sierra around, talking to her was so much easier in past weeks. The two were on their way toward Thorntail Hollow when Marcus finally stopped at a crossroads...

"The Hollow is this way," He sighed pointing east, "you head toward Cape Claw see if you can find those mechanics. I'm gonna head toward the Hollow and check on their captain."

It was a fairly long walk, but, the scenery was something that Marcus found amazingly peaceful, a person could easily get himself lost in such a place. The wind blew through his fur in a way it never did on Corneria; his father and mother once said that he'd been there before but, it was clearly at a point in his life that he didn't remember. The smell of the air even relieved most every insecurity he had about the situation almost as if the planet itself was telling him that it would all turn out in the end. He walked through a glade which caused him to suddenly stop; the description was a match to what his father said was the most beautiful place in Lylat. A small, closed in alcove of trees closed off from the Hollow and the Lightfoot Village with a small outcropping of rock atop which a wooden brazier rested in the shade. His dad often talked about the very spot, something about putting a cabin nearby and living out retirement there...it was a settling thought. As he headed into the Hollow however, something struck the back of his mind, it was a familiar thought pattern though currently in a state of euphoria much like something he'd felt before, around his parents. As he broke through the trees the scene was fairly clear as off in the distance he could make out a familiar body, it's motions mixed with those of the other involved making it clearly adamant what was happening. Gently clearing his throat the young Cerinian turned only to be met with the familiar face of a black wolf whom had just rushed into the glade...

"Hey," He called, "thought I'd catch up. The mechanics met me half way so I sent them back to the..." He paused as Marcus walked past giving him a distant view of the scene unfolding out in the Hollow, "Oh fuck," He half exclaimed before turning back toward the glade, "Marcus..." He stopped himself, walking into the glade again with his fingers rubbing his temples, "...my god I'm gonna need therapy dealing with these guys I swear."

It took nearly a full two more hours to find Marcus, and unfortunately it would be in the one place he'd have never really searched had it not been for Maryk having spent so much time with his captain. It was a fair distance back toward their landed Arwings but, in the end it was really the only place he could think of that Marcus could go to. It was remarkable to see how well the blue of his fur blended in with the paint along the G-diffuser of his arwing, where he found the young vulpine sitting a small but, familiar bottled drink in his hand. The much larger wolf made his way over, clambering up the side of the fighter where he came to a rest alongside his captain whom very shortly handed him one of the small drinks. It felt like forever went by as they sat there staring at the sky...

"Thought you said you were too young for this stuff..." Maryk chuckled.

Marcus chuckled a bit himself, "Well maybe I should reprimand you for having alcohol stowed away in your cargo bay."

"You wanna talk about it?" Maryk asked taking a long sip of his drink, "I know someone that looks like I do might not seem like they have a lady problem but," He gestured to himself, "this didn't sprout up overnight you know. Still finding your girl like that..."

"She wasn't mine," Marcus shook his head swirling his bottle about, "never was. Guess you'd call it one of those stupid ass pipe dreams kids have. Just a stupid promise...all it was...I guess."

Maryk sighed, "Well if it makes you feel any better," He replied tapping Marcus's shoulder with this bottle, "I can promise you that it does stop hurting; the heart. You eventually pick up the pieces and, hopefully with help find out what goes where. You're a good guy Marcus, you always have been, just do me a favor bud. Don't dwell on this thing. If she's your friend think about her happiness and let that make you happy for her," He scoffed before bumping Marcus again with his drink, "besides, you still got Sierra, I don't think her opinion's gonna change anytime soon."

Marcus chuckled to himself a bit with a smile, "Yeah, maybe I've just been looking in the wrong direction is all. Whatever the case is, she's still my friend and I still have to pull her ass out of this fire. You already let everyone in on why wer're here?"

"Course I did," Maryk replied, "some of 'em are a little upset that my Captain isn't present at the moment but, then again you're in a better position than their captain is right now."

Marcus scoffed a bit, "Which position?"

There was a stale pause as the two looked to one another before erupting into laughter, before Maryk finally tossed his empty bottle patting Marcus's should before sliding to the ground, "Alright Mr. Comedian, let's go. This mean you're gonna make an appearance or what?"

Marcus shook his head as he joined the muscle bound wolf, "Nah, I think the real me would only complicate matters further. Right now we're just a team sent to cap a field report on this issue by my dad. Nothing more."

The two walked away from their ships, luckily the camp located not far from their current location was already prepared to have them report in; in fact there was a moment before they arrived that Marcus really did consider showing himself however, he did in the end decide against it. Some time after their arrival at the camp Marcus and Maryk were given their own tent, it was there that Marcus went over file after file that Maryk had put together referencing every person in the camp. He was actually amazed, there were names he'd never heard of, names that he'd only heard of and even washed up Powerballers, Professional T-boarders, stunt drivers, pilots, missing people...some of the names even supposedly those of people that were long dead. It was no real surprise that the team aboard the Colletta was such a well guarded secret his dad had been hiding for all the years he'd had it planned. He wanted to avoid the difficult part if possible but, looking through all of the files he had in the tent it seemed like there was going to be no alternative, even though a scan of so many minds would take some time to complete.

Over the course of the next few days, Marcus stood by mentally leaping from one mind to the next, skipping through minds and thoughts and yet not one hint toward his culprit. With Maryk going over file after file, Marcus continued to sit by a cold drink his only direct companion as he continued to filter through minds. Though his telepathy was somewhat more powerful that Krystal's, he found that his mind lacked the overall refinement of his mother's...most times he could only sort through between ten and fifteen minds before he began to feel overwhelmed. In accordance to Slippy's warnings, when he started to experience nose bleeds it was clearly far too much strain, and after his recent incidents Marcus refused to push the envelope on the issue. His only thoughts at rest "there has to be a quicker, easier way" but most of the time he found it difficult to come up with even the slightest of ideas. With many of the camp's residents sleeping, Marcus found it easier to filter through thoughts while they slept but, after prolonged hours of probing mind after mind, it was nearly impossible for him to stay awake at night, and unfortunately when he did sleep he only saw the same scene over and over again; Skye, by the pond, with...him. His mind quickly wandered whenever he thought about it; would have been pretty exceptional form an enemy standpoint to have an inside man right next to the leader of the group you're keeping tabs on. Shaking his head Marcus started slapping his head between his palms...

"You know," Maryk's voice suddenly caught his attention, "I was thinking..."

Marcus looked to where the wolf lay tossing a roughly head sized orange ball up repeatedly into the air, "I told you before that's dangerous work without the proper equipment."

"Ha,ha,ha,ha..." Maryk mocked him before tossing the ball in his direction which quickly stalled in air before hurling back in his direction., "...shyut the fuck up, and listen," He said catching the ball, "what if we gathered all of these people in one big open area and you just hit them all at once?"

Marcus shook his head, "Maybe if mom was here," He replied, "but, power I've got...it's control mom says I lack. I've done a wide area scan before, but she was the3re to keep me stable."

Maryk suddenly dropped his ball before looking back to Marcus, "What if they formed like a chain? You know everyone holding hands or some shit like that? You told me before that it works best with physical contact right?"

Marcus shook his head, "Nah, not for a group this size it'd still take forever," He replied, "think. If you were trying to hide something from an enemy where would you hide it? Right in plain sight obviously, especially when you have no idea what the object in question looks like. A person; have to be trustworthy, loyal, seem friendly enough, and possibly charismatic to some extent. I've got some ideas but kind of hope I'm wrong."

Maryk suddenly sat up on his cot, the thought was fairly clear, "You're talking about lover boy back in the Hollow?" He sighed, "Marcus are you sure that's because he's suspect...or because you want him to be suspect?"

Marcus stood up kicking his chair away before walking about with his hands on his head, "Look I'm not saying that it doesn't look suspicious on me either," He replied, "and yeah, some part of me wants this guy to be the spy but...what if it is him? I mean, he seems like a decent guy, so maybe they're forcing him or something..." Marcus paused as he looked to Maryk, who'd begun to wear a fairly concerned expression, "...look I know how this sounds but, this isn't about me. Skye is my friend, best friend I've ever had...and if something out here is going to threaten her, it's going through me first. I just have to get him away from her first, I haven't been able to explain it yet, and I haven't told mom and dad but, every time I get near Skye..." He shook his head, "...I don't know, it's like there's some sort of interference everything comes in all muddled and fuzzy."

"Are they together right now?"

Marcus closed his eyes for a moment before wincing and shaking his head, "Yeah, sleeping."

Maryk nodded as he stood up cracking his knuckles as he left the tent, "Then I'll be right back."

It only took a few minutes for Maryk to slip out unnoticed with rather graceful ease for someone so large it was only another ten minutes or so before he returned with a wriggling blue, maggot looking sack over his right shoulder. He didn't stay to ask questions or even think about the idea, unfortunately even as they were approaching Marcus had his answers, or at least most of them. Maryk left him with the cinched up sleeping bag laid to rest on his cot it took only a few moments before the top of the bag burst open with a panicked Dax flailing about for a moment causing him to fall from the cot. For a moment he looked stunned, he'd seen Maryk for a single moment before he'd been snatched away, which frightened him more than anything considering the ease and speed at which it was done. Likewise he was now concerned that he was looking over the form of a young blue fox instead of the panther he'd known to be Maryk's captain. There was only a brief moment before he looked to Marcus; in a brief instant his eyes darted back from Marcus to the looming shadow of Maryk against the backdrop of the canvas tent. It was in that moment that he felt it, a rather strong pull at the back of his mind. It really wasn't hard to see exactly why he'd been kidnapped in the middle of the night, though he was still slightly frightened at how quickly and silently it all had happened. He struggled to move, wanting nothing more than to be out of such a situation but, no matter what happened, no matter what he tried, his body simply refused to move. He understood mental paralysis when he saw it but, to feel it was something completely different altogether it was horrifying; like being trapped as a prisoner behind his own eyes, capable of hearing and seeing, fully perceiving the world around him but, in no way being capable of interacting with it. As Dax was forced to sit there Marcus finally stood and began to pace back and forth from one end of the tent to the other. Of course the words would be difficult, after all he did not want anyone to get hurt but at the same time he wasn't fully certain whether or not this individual could be trusted. After a few minutes, Marcus finally exhaled heavily before spinning his seat about sitting down and resting his arms on the back rest while staring his captive in the eyes...

"Do you see it?" He asked.

Feeling his paralysis leave him Dax gently nodded his head, "You're the McCloud kid, right?"

"So that means you've been at least moderately trained against Telepathy," Marcus chuckled, "and who taught you?"

Dax turned his head away, "You know the answer."

"Good then I'll refrain from any further questions," The young Cerinian replied, "so from this moment on I'll do the talking and you'll sit there and listen. There are at least three people in this crew that I would gladly die for, as of recently you became uncomfortably close to the one I hold closest of all. I'm going to admit that I'm not very particularly fond of you at all, in fact I could say that I hate you completely if not for the fact that I've never really known you that well but, involving Skye in this is more than enough. So I hope you take this as seriously as I'm going to give it to you," He sighed leaning in uncomfortably close to Dax's face, who'd once again lost his ability to move, "I warn you right now that I have never been more serious about anything else in my entire life, but, if I should even think for a moment that you have done something to hurt her...even a thought that you might have, and I will be back here. At this point even if it causes her to hate my guts for the rest of my life, I promise that I will tear away every one of your senses, and leave you wallowing in the bottomless hell of your own mind for the rest of your days. You'll wander; blind, deaf, dumb, and lame, completely incapable of escaping your own mind until someone finally gets tired of looking at your face, and puts an end to you. So in not so many words," He sighed standing and setting his seat back near the desk he'd been using before allowing Dax to stand, "I will rip your entire fucking world asunder. I will fuck every preconceived motion of reality you have ever believed in. And I will sodomize your entire existence in this life," He sighed heavily as he lay his hands on his desk before lowering his head, "when you get back there, tell Skye to come to this tent. I need to fill her in on some details about this situation with that ship over Titania. As for your little retort..." He paused causing Dax's step to become anchored in place, "...ever say anything regarding your relationship with Skye to my face; and you'll watch me removed whatever parts of you I can to make you useless to a female. Now get the fuck outta my sight before I change my mind and turn your sorry ass in for treason. Cuz I would love to put you on Styx myself."

As Marcus slumped into his chair he could hear Maryk shuffling about before finally a large black hand placed a small glass in front of him, before a small square bottle filled it halfway full of a thick brown liquor, "I know you have qualms just drink it, you'll stop shaking."

It wasn't until now that Marcus noticed his hand as he reached for the glass, quaking so violently that his elbow rattled against the desk as he picked up his drink, "Is it always like this?" He asked taking a long drink from his glass, finding the drink hard and spicy but, rather sweet at the same time.

Maryk patted the young fox's back, "You handled that better than most," He replied setting down his own empty glass, "I'm personally not sure I could have refrained from breaking him in half myself if it was regarding someone I cared that much about," He chuckled patting his back once more, "I'm proud of you Cap, for whatever good that's worth."

Looking now to a familiar silhouette appearing against the tent, Marcus looked to his black furred friend, "It's worth a lot more than you think," He sighed, "get the ships ready we'll leave once I'm done here."

Maryk took no time gathering up their little amount of things before rushing off only to allow the young cream furred canine into the tent. It took a moment but, it was clear she'd only just woken up when she was sent to speak with him, and sadly she still saw the illusion of a black panther seated in Marcus's seat. Unwilling to say anything at first, Skye simply sat down. She knew why it was she was called, it was only clear that the captain of the Viper unit intended to tell her first hand who the spy was and what they intended to do about it but, after several long minutes they remained seated there in complete silence. He finished with a few more documents before finally sighing and shaking his head...

"Hope you realize I'm putting a lot of faith in the word of someone that's not even given me his full name." Skye suddenly pointed out.

With a chuckle Marcus shook his head, "I had hoped that, of all people, you'd see through The Veil better than anyone else but, I guess the truth is you really don't wish to see the real me, no more than this image of me you're being fed," He said turning around with a rather odd smile before resting his arms atop the backrest of his seat again, "I'll give my report but, first I'd like to teach you a little trick that not too many people know about."

Skye smiled and rested her hands on her thighs while leaning forward a bit causing her arms to mash her breasts unknowingly together, "Okay try me, I'm always game for learning something even if it is a bit early."

Marcus sighed as he nodded to her, "Alright, close your eyes," He replied getting a spry grin before she did so, "now the trouble I found dealing with a lot of people is that they only see what's in front of them, never what they really need or want to see. So has your mind ever been invaded?"

Skye shook her head, "I wouldn't say invaded … willingly plucked around inside of."

"Fair enough," Marcus replied, "but that's not the point right now," He said pulling himself closer to her, "what I want you to do now is picture a wall, an immense wall, incredibly thick, that stretches on forever in all directions. Now push that wall to right...here..." He finished tapping his index finger against her forehead, "...and open your eyes."

As Skye followed his instructions her eyes doubled in size; the image of the black panther in front of her was hazy and faded for a moment before seeing the young Cerinian that sat in front of her. To his surprise she leaped forward dragging him and the seat both into a welcoming embrace, "Marcus!" She shouted, "I can't believe it's yo..." She paused for a moment before her expression twisted with a hint of anger causing her to tighten her grip around his head, "..it was you this whole time!? I've been worried about you, you unsympathetic shithead!"

Pushing both hands against her chest Marcus took a gasping breath as he pushed her away, "Air..." He stammered for a moment, "...and like I said before. We see what we want to see. What I just taught you is just a way of blocking out intruders."

Skye looked confused as she shook her head, "What are you talking about, I've been thinking about you all the time."

"Unfortunately thinking about me and wanting to see me are nowhere near the same thing," Marcus replied, "if you'd wanted to actually see me, that little parlor trick never would have worked."

Oddly enough, the young canine looked a bit hurt as she was taken aback by his statement, "Marcus, why are you being so cold? We haven't seen each other in forever. Did I do something to you?"

"Nothing you would understand," Marcus replied shaking his head, "but, it's mainly because I'm about to tell you something that you don't want to hear; and you'll get angry, and you'll yell at me, then you'll tell me to get out of your sight, even though what you mean to say at that point will be that you hate me." He finished with a shaking voice.

Skye shook her head, there was nothing that could cause her to do such a thing, "Marcus, what could you ever say to me that would cause me to talk to you like that?"

Marcus turned his eyes back to her before cutting his gaze toward the door of the tent she'd entered through and back to her again. There was an instant of concerned before she narrowed her eyes at him, "We were looking for you when we first arrived," He sighed, "I thought I'd be in a different state of mind but...I'm happy that he managed to get you to open up that side of yourself. I know how much you hate the idea of feeling like some feeble, weak female. Of course after seeing you two in the Hollow together, he was the last person I wanted to scan but, it all just made too much sense in the end. After all...where's the best place for a spy...if not right under your nose?"

"That's not fair Marcus," She stammered a bit, "I'm sorry if you happened to stumble onto something you weren't meant to see but that is no excuse.."

"To what?" Marcus retorted angrily, "go ahead and say what you're thinking."

Skye's face twisted into an expression of anger, "No reason for you to act like this just because you're jealous."

Marcus laughed out loud, "Yeah!" He half shouted, "I'm jealous. I'm so in love with you that I can't fucking think straight even half the time I'm around you, even if something around me smells like you. I can't get through a single day without you running through my fucking mind. From the minute I first met you," This time he stood sliding his chair back causing Skye to fall back a bit at the sight of a rather well built blue fox she'd never known, "I can't get you out of my head and it's driving me out of my god damn mind!" He finally managed to calm himself down inhaling deep through his nose, "Worst of all, I recently found that I actually love you so much...that I'd forgo every responsibility I've ever had to by like my father, to see you happy. That I'd leave this decision up to you, rather than turn a filthy piece of shit like him over to the military. The strongest, smartest person I know, and I can already see that you intend to let him off scott free...because you're fucking him."

Skye's expression suddenly flared from anger to fury as she stood up, "Marcus get out of my..."

"Sight?" He finished with a nod as he turned and pushed away the opening of the tent, "you're not the only one that has dreams Skye. I've been having them my entire life...only difference is my keep coming true," He said looking back to her with clear tears in his eyes, "funny thing is what you said back at the academy was just a silly promise but, it gave me hope that maybe just once. It'd be wrong," He sighed as he stepped out of the tent, "good bye Skye. I'll leave the rest of this matter to you."

Having been so taken back by his predictions, Skye had fallen back to her seat, however now that he was gone she quickly shot up and rushed outside, "Marcus!" She shouted not seeing him anywhere, "Marcus I didn't mean it! I'm sorry!" She tried to call out to him again but, a fit of sobs brought her to her knees robbing her of her voice. It wasn't so much that she had said what he'd claimed she would, it was the fact that at that moment her thoughts had been just as he'd predicted even if it was out of anger.

The wolf and fox were both long into orbit before she was capable of finding their landing site, still wrought with fits of labored breaths and with tears still stinging her eyes; Skye was forced to come to terms with what she'd just done. Not only had she broken the poor boy's heart for the last time, but she'd broken his spirit and his hope as well. She'd never meant for everything to travel south so quickly and now that it had she felt like there was no coming back...all she could do was sit and watch the tides of what she'd done swell and grow bigger, while she simply waited for the waters to completely take her over...


AN: Well if you haven't noticed by now, I kinda yank Marcus around in this story a bit, but, he's a main character so he's supposed to go through some shit. Anyhow, things are always meant to go south before they can head north right? Remember, even a bad review can only serve to help for the better in the end. Have a great day and I hope to have the next chapter up soon...