Coasting along the wavy sands of Dastin was actually a somewhat enjoyable experience for Wolf. Miyu's desert buggy traversed the smooth desert just as easily as it did on the rockier flat land a few miles back. The wind in his fur, the sunny weather that day...it all made up for a pleasant feeling that helped Wolf ignore the rather dry heat.
Wolf leaned his cheek against the seat's headrest, watching as the short lumps of sand were gradually replaced with larger dunes. Now fully dressed and well over his headache, one would never have been able to tell that he'd been involved in a crash landing. The two of them have been driving for a while now, headed towards the wreckage of Wolf's ship at the insistence of the outlaw.
Miyu had her hands on the wheel, arms casually bent and occasionally steering them onto easier land. She looked relaxed and well in her comfort zone, driving the vehicle like she had years of experience on her belt. Glancing over at Wolf, she decided to make some conversation with him. "So, are you bored of this whole place yet?"
Wolf brought his cheek away from the headrest and adjusted himself in his seat, looking ahead at the endless sea of sand. "Well, it's got a little more variety than Aquas. I guess that's something at least kinda good about this place."
"There isn't much else to see either. Sand and more sand. There's a couple areas with decent land like my place, and one of the only settlements I know about here is a couple miles to the west of home." Miyu brushed some sand off of her shoulder and shrugged, tapping her fingers on the wheel. "If you're ever gonna get out of here, that town's got a dealer for ships and stuff. Considering the location, it isn't too shabby either."
"A dealer out here?" Wolf asked with a mildly surprised tone. "Kind of a weird place to set up a business like that, don't you think?"
Miyu responded like she had known he was going to ask that question. "People from both neighboring systems come and go for a couple different reasons. There's some good minerals deep in the ground for solo expeditions, valuable exoskeletons from the fauna make pretty nice furniture, you get the gist of it. Need a repair? Need a new ship? There's a dealer ready to help out...this place is also probably a good haven for criminals like yourself too."
Wolf raised an eyebrow at Miyu upon hearing this. He was met with a content grin from the lynx, who continued to tease him with, "Hey, maybe you'll find a new outlaw buddy here, Wolf. Never say never!".
"Uh huh, hilarious." Wolf said flatly and rolled his eyes. He rested his arm on the passenger side door. "Speaking of which, don't you have a problem with all this?"
Miyu looked over at Wolf briefly with confused eyes. "Hm?"
"You're seriously okay with being around, well...me?" Wolf asked more directly this time, gesturing to himself with his thumb.
"Well…" Miyu curled her lip while thinking and peering out ahead of the buggy. She straightened her arms out and veered off to the left. "The only thing I saw when I found you last night was someone in need of my help. Once you're off on your own two feet again, you won't need my help anymore."
Inwardly, Wolf appreciated her sentiment. Considering the kind of business he was in, that attitude was like a rare gem. He felt glad to have been found by someone with a good heart like Miyu.
He didn't deserve that kindness. He knew he didn't.
"Miyu?" Wolf asked for her attention with a relatively polite voice. She turned her head to look at him with silence, waiting for whatever it was he had to say. He swallowed softly and seemed to have trouble figuring out how he wanted to put his thoughts into words she could understand. Alas, Wolf abandoned his original idea and grew a half-smirk. "I'll be out of your hair as quickly as I can manage. You won't have to deal with me for long hopefully."
Miyu forced a weak chuckle as she looked down at her lap. She knew that was exactly what was going to happen, but oddly enough, it didn't sound as nice coming from Wolf himself. There was a short period of silence after that, with neither of them having much else to say. Eager to fill the silence, Wolf stretched his arms out and leaned them behind his neck in a comfortable posture as he asked, "So how long have you been working on that bike back at your place? Looks a little beat up to me.".
The lynx grinned slightly to herself. "That old thing? Heheh, I picked it up a few weeks ago when I went into town. 'Bargain deal' is what the guy who sold it to me called it. I'm not that into bikes, but I figured it'd be good for some entertainment. Y'know, when I eventually get it up and running that is."
Wolf crossed his left leg over his right and clicked his tongue, exhaling right before leading into his next words. "You're gonna have a blast with it once you fix it up. As soon as I walked in the garage and saw the thing sitting right there, it reminded me of my own bike from wayyy back in the day."
Miyu opened her mouth and shot a look at Wolf before laughing and shaking her head. "Wolf O'Donnell on a hoverbike? Wow, not surprised at all honestly. Of course you'd own one at some point."
Wolf shrugged and snickered to himself, nodding as he thought about his beloved vehicle. "It was a Jirekanu 3000, one of their legacy models. Man, I had some fun with that thing...and boy did it get me into trouble sometimes."
"So you were always some sort of 'bad boy', hm? Also not surprising in the slightest." Miyu commented with a smile and relaxed her posture, seeming more nonchalant now that they had a decently enjoyable conversation going.
Wolf leaned his head back and looked up into the sky, now wearing a full fledged grin. It felt good to talk to someone about little things that were actually interesting. After what felt like an eternity of nothing but business talk during the war, the casual conversation was a welcome change.
It made it all the more painful to know that he shouldn't be getting used to it.
Miyu had a way of talking like they were old friends even though Wolf was fully aware that they were the exact opposite of that. She was a part of Star Fox, and he was one of the many outlaws her team intended to take down. The more Wolf thought about it, the faster his happy grin disappeared. He turned his head to the side and faced the repetitive desert scenery, feeling an unwelcome gloomy sensation come over him.
He still didn't know what she was doing here in the first place. He had to remember they weren't friends. Despite the kindness Miyu had shown Wolf, his mind convinced him he had to find out what she was doing here away from Lylat. It hurt him the more he thought about asking, but it needed to be done.
Just before he could start asking questions, Miyu whistled and began slowing down. "Look, there's your ship! Well, what's left of it at least."
Wolf turned his head back to the front of the buggy and looked to see his wolfen lying crooked with a mounting pile of sand beginning to surround the vessel. Pieces of its' hull and window were randomly scattered around the sand. What was once a gracefully crafted flying machine had been reduced to an ugly wreckage that was already starting to be swallowed by the sands of Dastin, soon to be forgotten entirely.
Once they were a few meters away, the buggy came to a halt. Miyu turned the engine off and unbuckled her seatbelt, kicking back and setting her legs up on the dashboard. She glanced at Wolf and gestured towards the wreck with her snout. "Hopefully you find whatever it is that you're looking for. It would suck if this was all for nothing."
"Oh I'll find it, don't worry." Wolf assured her as he hopped out of the vehicle and landed on his feet. As he trudged towards his ship, he looked back at Miyu and pointed to the big circular transmitter installed on the back. "You're gonna use that thing again if something pops out of the ground, right?"
Miyu scratched her neck and shrugged at Wolf as she responded with calm sarcasm. "Meh, I'll think about it."
Wolf rolled his eyes and continued walking. As he got closer, he slowed his pace considerably and scanned the area with caution. He didn't want a repeat of his arrival; approaching with care was the best way to go about it. Under his foot, he felt oddly solid resistance with his next step.
He immediately lifted his foot off and looked down to see a handle half-buried in the sand. Just by the look of the sleek black grip, he instantly recognized his blaster and bent down to retrieve it. Wolf stood back up and blew the sand off of the gun, examining it briefly before putting it back onto his belt with a relieved breath of air. It felt good to be armed again.
Miyu called out to Wolf as she watched from the buggy, "You already found it? I knew it'd be quick, but that was a lot faster than I expected.".
"Nope, just got my gun back." Wolf replied as he tread closer to his vehicle, nearing the front of it now.
The lynx had something to say about that of course. "Ohhhh, you're not gonna kill me with it, are ya?"
Wolf paused and sighed as he hollered back to her, "Miyu, if I wanted to kill you, there's a hundred different ways I could've already done it.".
"Fair enough." Miyu's short response was rather smug, knowing she was messing with him.
No bugs seemed to be inside of Wolf's ship, thankfully. He leaned half of his body inside the cockpit and peered around, searching for a small latch on the right side of his seat. Once he spotted it, he slipped it open to reveal a small hidden compartment that acted as a pocket for the object of his search. And once he saw the small blue metallic card sitting there, he grinned widely and wasted no time in grabbing it.
Wolf leaned out of the wreckage and sighed contentedly. He turned back to Miyu and held up the card with his hand as he declared, "All done! I told you it'd be worth the effort.".
Miyu yawned and narrowed her eyes, trying to see what Wolf was going on about. "Cool I guess, what is that?"
Wolf rubbed his snout with his finger and put a hand on his hip as he began walking back to the buggy, slipping the card into his left pocket. "Pretty simple, really. It's a nice big sum of—"
He stopped and felt his heart drop as he witnessed a long ripple in the sand chugging straight towards the back of the buggy, breaking into a frantic run as he yelled, "MIYU!".
Right at that moment, the sand beneath the rear bumper of the vehicle burst like a geyser, launching the buggy forward with terrifying power. Miyu was thrown out the front immediately and cried out in shock from the sudden force, landing on the sand and rolling a few feet. The vehicle bounced when it hit the sand again and rolled forward, nearly crushing Miyu as it sped past her.
A colossal worm-like beast reared up from the sands and bellowed a strained gurgle that sent a chill down Wolf's spine. It wriggled its head around in the air as the top layer of skin peeled back to show off a grotesque dark green mouth oozing with bile, complete with rows of filthy uneven teeth. Miyu turned on her back and watched with horror as she scrambled back on her elbows, unable to stand quickly enough. The creature tossed its head back down to the sand and opened wide to consume the lynx.
Miyu felt Wolf's arms wrap under her own and yank, tossing both of them back as the worm's maw slammed onto nothing but sand. She landed on top of Wolf, who quickly stood the two of them up and muttered to her ear, "Almost even now…".
The two of them raced towards the buggy which had stopped some distance south of their position. As they ran, the beast refocused and pursued them at an alarmingly fast pace, catching up in no time. Both Miyu and Wolf looked behind them to see it lunge for them, leaving the two no choice but to leap in different directions. Wolf threw himself to the left while Miyu jumped to the right, both of them successfully evading the worm.
As it slithered and wriggled past them, Wolf met Miyu's eyes and pointed towards the buggy as he drew his blaster from his belt, prompting the lynx to follow up on his improvised plan. He stood up and hollered out to the worm, firing off a few meaningless shots at its thick hide to grab its attention.
The head of the worm did a u-turn and growled at Wolf, who backed away aiming his pistol at the beast. Even without a true face to look at, the worm's pulsing jaws were more than enough for Wolf to pray that Miyu could run fast. The creature slithered towards him slowly, sizing up its prey.
Wolf managed to keep his composure, refraining from making any further sudden movements as the beast approached. When it got too close for comfort, he grimaced and shot straight at its mouth. Unfortunately for him, the worm's thick skin closed over in reaction and rendered his shot ineffective. Wolf bit his bottom lip and gradually began to retreat, realizing that the monster couldn't be harmed by his puny weapon.
Right then, a booming shockwave blew from behind the worm, startling Wolf and causing him to cover his ears from the sheer force. The beast emitted a fleshy screech as it thrashed around, sending sand flying everywhere in its apparent fit of discomfort.
Miyu stood on the back of the buggy, operating the kinetic weapon and shutting it off briefly to shout, "Wanna hurry it up?!".
Wolf holstered his weapon as he sprinted past the worm, narrowly avoiding being crushed by its body. The adrenaline running through him made the sandy terrain hardly impactful to his speed. When he saw Miyu ready up the weapon, he knew what was coming as she shouted to him, "DUCK!".
With a herculean leap, Wolf landed on his chest as he heard a second shockwave rip through the air, followed by another fearsome screech from the worm. He crawled the rest of the way to the buggy and climbed into the driver seat, wasting zero time and starting the ignition.
Wolf stepped on the pedal and jerked the car into motion, almost causing Miyu to fall off. She regained her footing on the back and exclaimed, "Sheesh! Easy on the gas!".
"Are you serious?!" Wolf called back as he sped off into the desert, still hearing the shrill cry of the beast back at the crash site. He kept the vehicle going at full speed, wanting to be sure that they'd gotten away from the worm for good. It wasn't until he heard Miyu telling him to slow down that he eased pressure on the pedal, traveling at a moderately fast pace.
Now that they had time to breathe, Wolf exhaled sharply and wiped his brow, blinking several times to get some sand out of his eyes. He managed to stabilize his breathing and called back to the lynx for assurance. "Y-You okay back there Miyu?" He turned his head back to glance at her. She leaned against the cannon with slow blinking eyes, nodding and holding a thumbs up. In her head, she knew that was the most stressful situation she'd been in for a long time.
Though reluctant to stop, Wolf brought the buggy to a gradual halt but kept the engine running. He took a moment to collect himself before opening his door and stepping out. Miyu hopped down from the back of the car and stood beside Wolf in silence. After a short time passed, she nudged Wolf's shoulder and got his attention, saying with a quiet voice, "Gonna be honest...I've never seen that kind of bug, heh…".
Her comment made Wolf smile a little, nodding as he walked around to the passenger door of the buggy. As he stepped inside, he said with a kind yet urgent voice, "Then let's not wait around for any other new bugs you haven't seen. Take us back, please…".
When they arrived back at Miyu's home, daylight was beginning to wane. The sky wasn't orange quite yet, but the position of the sun let the planet know that it would soon begin settling down for the day. The temperature had lowered to a gentle warmth now, making way for the breeze that would come with the arrival of the night.
Miyu parked the buggy around the side of the house. She sat in the car with Wolf, meaning to say something to the outlaw. When she felt ready enough to speak, she turned to Wolf and gently bumped her knuckle against his shoulder and spoke. "Now I guess I'm the one thanking you for saving me back there."
Wolf looked over at her and closed his eyes, nodding in acknowledgement as smiled. "Hmph...guess I just saw someone in need of my help." He opened his eyes to see Miyu scoff softly and shake her smirking head. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the blue card he retrieved from his ship, holding it between two of his fingers and showing it off. "I have twenty-five thousand credits on here. It's all the money I managed to save for the past few years, all cooped up on this little card."
Miyu couldn't help but whistle, widening her eyes in surprise. "Damn, looks like you'll be fine for a while huh? I'm a little jealous actually." She unbuckled her seat belt and snickered; it seemed that Wolf would be heading out soon with that respectable amount of cash on his hands. He didn't need any further help from her, he could probably even leave that night if he felt well enough.
Wolf shook his head and sighed a little, still smiling at the lynx. She stopped getting out of the car and looked back into his eye, which seemed suspiciously...friendly. Miyu cocked her head and asked with a quiet voice, "W-Wolf? Are you okay…?"
He lowered the card and set it down in front of her on top of the dashboard. She stared at it for a few moments before hearing Wolf say, "For saving my life, Miyu...I think this is sort of good enough to repay that debt.".
Miyu looked to Wolf in disbelief. He had to be kidding, right? He wasn't of course, she knew that already...he seemed genuine with his decision, not even giving the card a second look as he opened his door and exited the vehicle.
The lynx remained sitting where she was and took the card in her hands, looking down at it with wide eyes. Twenty-five thousand...it may not have been a whole lot of money to an average Cornerian, but goodness...this was the only thing Wolf still owned besides the clothes on his back.
Miyu opened her door and stepped out, still looking down at the card before murmuring audibly, "Wolf...you need this money. How else are you gonna—".
"I'll find a way." Wolf assured her as he straightened out his wrinkled shirt, nodding and accepting the choice he was making. "I won't burden you any more than I already have." He looked over to Miyu, who met his eyes with her own.
"...N-No...I can't take this from you." Miyu insisted. She shook her head and walked around the buggy to Wolf's side, holding the card out to him. When he refused to take it back, a frown began forming on her face as she said with a firmer voice, "No, that's just...insanely dumb for you to do that Wolf. Take your money, you need it.".
Wolf shook his head and stopped smiling, dismissing her attempt to reject his credits. "I know what I'm doing, Miyu. I've brought myself up from having nothing before, I can do it again. You'll probably put it to better use anyways."
"Look I'm not a charity case, alright? I'm not gonna take the blood money you've built up." Miyu growled as she felt her hand clench. Her ears pointed off to the sides, making her anger visible and audible to Wolf.
He faced her and held his hands to his sides, giving her a serious look as he argued back. "It's not charity...it's compensation. It's honor."
Miyu threw her hands up and raised her voice at Wolf. "Honor?! I'm not gonna listen to a mercenary—especially 'Star Wolf'—tell me about honor!" Inwardly, it felt wrong to be telling him off like this...despite knowing who Wolf was and how wrong it was for her to be so permissive of the outlaw, she couldn't help but feel guilty for refusing his credits. He was giving it all to her as a way of showing gratitude for keeping him alive.
Wolf blinked a few times when he heard her call him a mercenary. He closed his eye and turned his head away, speaking with a low voice. "Hm...I get it. You think I wouldn't know the first thing about honor or decency because I'm a mercenary…" Wolf paused for a moment before heaving a resigned sigh and sliding his hands in his pockets. "I don't blame you...why wouldn't you think that?
Miyu felt her fist uncurl as Wolf talked. Her anger subsided, leaving her with a somber feeling instead. Wolf looked down at his boots and kicked a few small rocks around as he went on, avoiding eye contact. "I'm not some kind of monster without feelings or values, Miyu...I don't deserve that money, I should be dead in all honesty…"
Wolf looked up and finally met with Miyu's glimmering blue eyes. "You're the only reason I'm not dead right now...and I recognize that…"
The girl held her tongue and kept her eyes locked with Wolf. Why couldn't she resent him like any "normal" person would? For goodness' sake, Star Wolf stood right in front of her. Rather than hate or disapproval, the only thing she felt was...compassion. Wolf didn't have a clean slate or a respectable background, but good God...there was a genuine quality to him that she hadn't seen in ages.
Wolf shook his head and broke eye contact with Miyu. He turned his back to her and looked out beyond her home. The daylight was beginning to weaken, yet the sun still shed beautiful rays of light on Dastin's shimmering sands. "You said the town was west of this place. I'll take your...y-your word...f-for it."
As he finished his sentence weakly, Wolf clutched his stomach and held his breath, feeling deprived of energy. He coughed into his arm and stumbled a little to his left, losing his footing and feeling his body topple over.
But instead of hitting the ground, he felt his upper body land softly in Miyu's warm arms and chest, catching him just before he fell. She struggled with him for a moment before balancing herself and questioning Wolf with a concerned voice. "Wolf? What happened?"
"I'm f-fine...just a little headrush, I think...:" Wolf slurred as he coughed again, nearly throwing up this time. Clearly, he was not fine; Miyu could tell just by looking at him.
Then Miyu remembered what Wolf had told her earlier: he'd arrived in a wormhole all the way from Lylat. Though she couldn't be certain about it, these were likely extended effects from being exposed to the anomaly. Sighing, she shook her head and gently helped Wolf stand on his own feet again, leaning him against the buggy for now. "Wolf, you're not gonna go anywhere today, not after that...just stay one more night. I can drive you into town tomorrow…"
Though Wolf had a difficult time understanding her through his sudden sickness, he managed to give her a nod as he leaned against the buggy, breathing slowly to help ease the dizziness.
Miyu put his arm over her shoulders and helped him off of the vehicle, and together, they made their way to the door of the house slowly and steadily. As Miyu reached out to open it, she looked back over at the ground next to the buggy and saw Wolf's blue card laying still.
She had dropped the twenty-five thousand credits without a second thought to help Wolf stand.