Author's Note: I don't anything here. All related to StarFox and StarFox
Adventures belong to Nintendo and Rare. Otherwise the only thing I own here
is the plot and the falcon woman, Serena, and her son, Starr. Thank you. ~~
Imagen ~~
*** Chapter 4: Repossession
"Fox, what if that strange woman was right?" Krystal said with a worried tone in her voice. "I mean, after all, I did sense something wrong when your Team returned..."
"Look, that funny lady must have hit her head REALLY hard when she fell into many holes, got ran over by a stampede, got hit by a stray missile, and so on. She's just crazy, and besides, what's so wrong about Peppy, Slippy, and Falco returning? Did you really think they DIDN'T survive the crash?" Fox said as he headed back to the EarthWalker Palace with the blue vixen and EarthWalker prince.
Krystal placed the tip of her index fingers together sheepishly, "Well, sort of..."
"Fox! Krystal!" the voice of Queen EarthWalker suddenly sounded out. When they heard how high her Royal Highness raised her voice, they made haste to the Palace, Peppy, Slippy, and Falco doing the same.
Queen EarthWalker was on her stomach, her face to the ground. She cried, "Oh, it's terrible! The Krazoa Palace..."
"What about the Krazoa Palace?" Fox questioned, a panicked tone in his voice.
"I... I don't know..."
"But I can sense it....." the Queen continued. "The Palace... something terrible has happened to it... I don't know... please, StarFox... check it out..."
"What have you got in it for me?" Fox said, crossing his arms.
"I'll fix up the biggest feast you'll ever have!"
"Let's go, guys!" Fox said as he waved his arms while running out, the thoughts of lots and lots of food dancing in his head.
***
Everyone arrived outside the Krazoa Palace, excluding Tricky who had to stay with his mother. As soon as the warp was complete, Fox noticed something strange already happening. It stopped raining. And the open roof of the Palace... it was fill with smoke.
"Oh, gawd..." Krystal gasped as soon as she caught sight of the rising thick smoke. "The Queen wasn't kidding!"
"There must be some kind of fire in the Palace... But the smoke is only rising from the roof! We have to find a way to put out the fire, but we must find a way to open a way there first..." That's what Fox expected Peppy to lecture him about. But he was surprised he didn't say anything. Fox turned to the rabbit, who stood there calmly with his hands behind his back. "Well?"
"Well, well what?" Peppy asked.
"Aren't you going to say it?"
"Say what?"
"....... Like tell me what to do?"
"You're the leader of the Team, Fox. I'm sure you know what you're doing," Peppy said smiling.
Fox turned back to the view of the rising smoke, shocked of what Peppy just said.
They made their way to the entrance, which was bolted down by a giant boulder. Fox noticed a deep crack in it, and he knew what to do right away as he remembered a Fuel Barrel lying around here somewhere. He commanded, "Falco, get me a Fuel Barrel near that pillar over there, post haste!"
"Yes, sir!" the blue falcon saluted as he ran to that pillar where the Fuel Barrel sat. Fox stared, *with a sweat drop on his head.*
"What's wrong, Fox?" Krystal asked.
"I didn't have to tell Falco twice... plus he called me, 'Sir!' SIR!!! SIR!!!"
"............ Assuming... this was the first time..."
"Exactly! That overgrown walking feather duster never really gave me the respect I ever deserved!"
"In which, in many cases, is none, right?"
Fox gave her nasty face, "Shaddup."
Falco came back with the Fuel Barrel on his shoulders. He said to Fox, his usual grumpy tone somehow turned into a... well... what Fox noticed to be a not-so-grumpy tone. "Shall I throw this Barrel at the boulder, sir?"
"You do that."
Falco immediately threw the Fuel Barrel at the boulder, everyone taking cover as soon as it made impact and exploded. Chips of rock flew in many directions, some of them managing to fly into Fox's forehead and cause multiple lumps on his head. As soon as the smoke cleared, only most of the boulder was demolished. A larger crack was made, but the remaining part of the rock was thin, almost red with heat.
"What the..." Fox muttered. "I thought it would destroy the whole thing..."
Krystal decided to step closer to the boulder to check it. She slowly took baby steps to the large crack, her staff held tightly in her small, blue hands. Her emerald orbs squinted as she gazed into that crack, the sliver of rock just blocking her and the StarFox Team from entering the Krazoa Palace. Suddenly that sliver burst, and a backdraft of flames quickly rushed out to the Cerenian vixen. The StarFox Team watched in horror young fox felt the fire singing then massively burning her clothes and skin. She could see red and black everywhere, her eyes burning along with the rest of her body, feeling the fire destroying every part of her being. She could feel her fur singing, her clothes disappearing, her skin, flesh, and bones being eaten by the jaws of fire, the red flames consuming her in extremity of heat and destruction. She could no longer feel, nor hear, nor see, smell, or even taste. All her senses were blocked by the flames, no longer sensing anything...
"Oh, no... not again..." Fox gasped as he watched Krystal fall to her knees screaming then toppled to her belly and face. The StarFox leader cried as he screamed out her name, "KRYSTAL!!!!"
***
"Krystal... please... I beg you... please... don't die..." Fox murmured as he kneeled by Krystal's side in the EarthWalker Palace.
Krystal lay on a cot, her body badly burnt almost to the crisp. When Fox extinguished the flames using the vixen's staff's ice blast and Peppy checked on her, the old rabbit indicated she was barely alive. Without a second thought of looking back into the burning Krazoa Palace, Fox, Peppy, Slippy, and Falco rushed Krystal back into ThornTail Hollow, where the Cerenian woman received medical treatment.
It has been three days, however, and the young girl has not even stirred. Fox even cried as time passed by slowly, very slowly. He almost lost his Team. Now he is about to lose another close friend...
"Krystal, please..." Fox whispered as if praying to the dying vixen while gripping her charred hand. "If you die... I... don't know what I'll do... please..."
What he didn't know was that just several minutes before Fox checked on her for the morning, Krystal had already taken her last breath.
***
Only the harsh, cold winds blew against the rubble on which what used to be the Krazoa Palace. Remains of the smoke rose from the collapsed stones atop the tall pillar that held the Palace once upon a time. Every thing else was still, save three figures that walked toward the ruins.
As soon as those three figures came into view, movement other than the blowing winds and rising smoke stirred in the rubble. Stones lifted then were thrown off as three Krazoa Spirits rose high into the sky, angered and saddened at the same time. Each of them growled in fury then looked down to the figures, who kneeled next to the ruins.
"Why, brothers... why... did you let this happen...?" one spirit asked, both enraged and disappointed.
One figure spoke, a short, fat figure with long ears. "We had to work along with the great Fox McCloud to prevent suspicions... his companion, the woman who encased me once upon a time and returned me into the shrine... she burned........... now who, brothers... who did this?... and why did YOU let this happen?"
The second Krazoa sighed mournfully and said, "One who encased me... the one who invaded this planet... he did this..."
The second figure, also short and fat but with large eyes on top of his head, opened his mouth to speak. "It seems he has returned for revenge..."
The third Krazoa took his turn to speak. "Because the Palace is now destroyed, our beings are weakening... we need shells... like the ones you possess... we need it so we can repair the Palace ourselves... we now need you to help us find three more shells so we can roam about with solid bodies to hoist the stones of our home and fix it as our spirits rejuvenate."
The tall, lean, feathered third figure looked up to the floating Krazoa. "The girl... the one who encased our brother when she came... tragedy has fallen upon her from the fire..."
The first Krazoa flew by the second figure. "Ah... a shell has already been made for one of us... yes... I'll take her."
"As you wish, brother," the three shadows replied as they stood up then turned, heading to ThornTail Hollow.
***
"Fox?" Tricky muttered as he walked into the room where Fox and Krystal were later that afternoon. The young EarthWalker prince noticed the stillness of the blue vixen and the heaving of shoulders of the red fox. Tricky gasped as he slowly approached the StarFox hero, "Is she..."
Fox looked up, his eyes red and streaming with tears, "She's gone..."
As soon as the vulpine mouthed those words, Peppy peered into the room. Fox and Tricky turned their heads to glance at the old rabbit. Peppy bowed his head, closing his eyes, Slippy and Falco behind him and doing the same. He said, "Fox... Tricky... do you mind if you both leave the room?"
The young fox wiped his eyes with his arm as sobs rose from his throat, stuttering, "Sh-sh-sure... go ahead..."
Tricky lead the grieving Fox out of the room before Peppy, Slippy, and Falco stepped in. Slippy slowly and quietly closed the door, then waited for a while, counting silently to himself one to ten. He then locked the door beyond Fox and Tricky's knowing. Placing his green slimy hands to the closed door he turned to his comrades, "All right... we're ready..."
Falco had his eyes closed this whole time. When he opened them, his eyes, instead of green, his pupils, irises, and whites, were purple, of different shades of violet and amethyst.
Peppy and Slippy stood as they watched Falco fall to his knees in pain. The tiercel kneeled on the dusty floor, groaning and flinching, his body slightly twisting. What felt like needles and thorns pricked through his spine and bones repeatedly, and his muscles felt like they were tightening and cramping together. Sweat fell from his brow as he panted, being short of breath as his throat closed together, disabling him to breathe. Finally he threw his arms out, like wings of an angel, then screaming out in pain. Light glowed from his body, bright, blue light. It came out of him, a spirit, a face with a crown and tentacles, appearing from the young falcon's body. It shot out quickly then hovered there, as if looking around. Invisible eyes caught sight of the late Cerenian's burnt body, then flew to it, its spirit dissolving with the mass of charred flesh. The blue light then glowed within that body as breath returned to Krystal, the black and red disappearing and new fur growing as her body began to heal rapidly. The vixen felt the pain vanishing, and in relief she sat up. Looking into her hands, she gazed into her furred paws and closed her eyes. She could feel it. Blood flowing. Heart beating. Lungs breathing. Her skin can feel, her ears can hear, her eyes can see, and her tongue can taste and speak. She reopened those green orbs, gazing into the standing rabbit and frog and kneeling falcon.
Krystal threw the blanket that was laid on her as she stretched out her legs to feel the floor. Falco stood up, breathing well again and the pain long gone. He asked, "Well?"
"It felt good, brother," the vixen spoke with her own vocal cords of a woman instead of a Krazoa spirit. "I can feel the life that woman once had... It feels... wonderful... now I, too, can satisfy my curiosity. However..." she turned to also Peppy and Slippy. "We must not dilly-dally now. Even with a body, we must rebuild the Krazoa Palace in order for us to rejuvenate. Our two remaining brothers still need shells for them to possess."
Slippy nodded. "May I make a suggestion, brother... or should I say, 'sister?'"
"It is rather odd," "Krystal" said as she looked at herself. "I do feel rather strange being in a woman's body," she said as she placed her hands over her bosom. The three men turned their flushed red faces to another direction. Krystal continued, "What is that suggestion... Slippy, right?"
"Yes. There is Fox McCloud himself... he'll make a great shell."
"Fine then... we shall wait 'till nightfall, when he sleeps..." Krystal said as she bent down by her bed and took hold of her staff, knowing what she will do with it once night does fall...
***
Cold, clean, pure water fell quickly from a cataract, gushing out with beauty and energy as mist rose while the waters landed into a flowing river. There, a small child ran to that flowing river and raced it as he held a spear and bowl.
It was a young eyas boy of nine years of age, with purplish-brown down and amethystine eyes. He wore a large, loose, woven shirt made of beige hemp, with shorts and a bandanna made with the same material. Blue and silver beads were worn around his neck, and colored stripes were painted on his cheeks aside his beak, making him take the appearance like some sort of jungle native.
The boy finally remembered why he came to the river in the first place. He placed the wooden bowl on a boulder then squatted by the flowing water. He watched the river run along the bank, keeping his raptorial eyes on the bottom of the streams, gazing the waving seaweed and swimming pollywogs as he held his spear high. He waited there... waited... waited... he waited until his prey came into view. As soon as he saw a big, plump, rainbow- colored trout swimming along like it was just enjoying life as it is, the eyas stood up and hurled the spear into the water. Bull's eye. Blood ran along with the river as the spear's razor sharp obsidian impaled through the trout's body, dying slowly and painfully. The child then pulled the spear back into dry air, the fish squirming and twisting at the weapon's end. He grabbed the wooden bowl then walked back to where water fell and mists rose, then scooped up fresh, clean water from the cataract. With food and water in his possession, he hummed a little tune as he proudly strutted into the forest.
After walking for five minutes, the child ran into a woman... a purple peregrine falcon woman whom once wore a burlap cloak and approached Lylat's greatest hero in a peculiar fashion. The boy smiled, watching her sit by the campfire, warming her up. Finally, the eyas spoke, "Mama, I caught the fish, and I brought you some fresh water from the waterfall."
The falcon, the eyas's mother, smiled gently as she turned to gaze into her son's eyes. "Thank you, Starr," she said as she reached for the fish and water.
Starr sat by his mother and leaned his tired head on her as she set the fish aside and began drinking the water from the bowl. She was halfway when all of the sudden she gasped, her eyes shrinking and her hands dropping the bowl, the water her son got for her spilling all over the grassy forest floor.
The boy looked up to his mother, "Mama... what's wrong...?"
The mother stood up, looking down to the ground. "I have to go to ThornTail Hollow."
"Why?" Starr questioned. "You just got back from there to here at Cape Claw!"
"I know, son, but..." she said with a worried tone. "Something terrible is going to happen at ThornTail Hollow... your uncles were right... Fox shouldn't learn the hard way about his team..."
Starr gazed at his mother then looked down and sighed, knowing exactly what she's talking about. He started to shudder then yelled at his parent, "Please don't go, Mama! What if the RedEyes come here and eat me like they did for Papa-"
"I told you already, there are no RedEyes in Cape Claw, no matter where you look," Starr's parent comforted her child. "Besides, your uncles will be here to protect you. At least our fellow falcon can fight as well as the great Fox McCloud."
Starr turned around and glanced at where several trees grew tall. The three haloed shadows sat there as if sleeping. One of them had the appearance of a falcon, just like Starr and his mother.
The woman turned around and started walking but still had her eyes on her son, "I'll be back as soon as-"
"Wait! Mama, you're going to-"
Too late. The falcon woman fell off the ten-foot high cliff without knowing it. Starr finished his sentence with a sigh, "... fall..."
***
"Krystal! You're alive!" Fox exclaimed with joy and relief when the lovely blue vixen approached him outside the EarthWalker Palace. He was, however, shocked with how she recovered so quickly and suddenly. "How did you..."
Krystal merely smiled. "Peppy learned a healing spell from a wizard near Mount Moon while he was roaming about searching for a potion to heal burns (Shabunga told him it was near Mount Moon since he didn't have any potions... whatta loser...). However, the spell cannot work with someone watching, and Slippy and Falco had to assist Peppy in casting the spell. I revived and healed up before anyone knew it."
"I'm so relieved, you're okay, Krystal!" Fox sighed as he threw a bear hug around Krystal. Krystal shuddered and smiled nervously and patted his back. The Krazoa within her felt sick.
Slippy also smiled, his hands folded together. "Our dear commander Fox, you must feel exhausted. You must rest."
"Me?" Fox pointed to himself. "I'm not tired."
"Oh?" Slippy murmured. "Are you sure?"
"A little hungry, perhaps..." Fox said nervously as his stomach growled like a bear.
Krystal turned to Falco and Peppy, "Shall we prepare a luxurious dinner for our friend Fox?" Both the rabbit and falcon bowed, Slippy joining them.
Fox sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. "You guys..."
"I mean it!" Krystal said as placed her hands on Fox's shoulders. "All that grieving was for naught, and you must be starving. Please, a good dinner should relieve you more in your vain lamenting."
"Um........ thanks..."
As Krystal, Peppy, Slippy, and Falco lead Fox back into the Palace, Tricky peered at them from behind the fence. He was also lamenting over Krystal, but when he heard Krystal coming back he didn't come running to her right away. Something was wrong. What's this strange feeling? Tricky remembered feeling it when Fox's Team returned to him after everyone thought they died, and with that strange message from the beautiful yet clumsy falcon woman... what does it all mean?...
***
Night fell, and Fox quickly went to bed, sleeping on a mat rather then on a bed. A thick, white quilt was laid out on the tired Fox, who was snoozing peacefully. He mumbled something about in his sleep, but no one could quite make out what he said-it was too quiet and low to be heard. He just lay there, resting, sleeping ever so peacefully like a little puppy by a hearth, just lazily lying there and enjoying the warmth, cloaking him as the moon hovered high into the night sky, the white speckles of stars glistening beautifully like natural night lights for those afraid of the dark.
Krystal, Peppy, Slippy, and Falco waited for this moment. They waited for everyone to sleep, for Tricky, for Queen EarthWalker, everyone. They even waited for the ThornTails, the flying creatures, even that ever-irritating Shabunga, for they need not a witness to watch their dirty work. Krystal held her staff close to her heart, then knelt to the resting Fox. She softly stroked his soft, rusty red fur, smiling as she watched the Lylatian hero sleep like a cherubim on a cloud in heaven.
"Look..." she whispered. "Look how he sleeps... just a puppy..."
"Too bad," Falco said, shaking his head, "that he'll never wake up..."
Krystal nodded in agreement, then stood up and raised her staff, the sharpest end pointed down toward Fox's heart...
((to be continued...))
Whew! Now that I've finished Chapter 4, what do you think? Please review and let me know!
*** Chapter 4: Repossession
"Fox, what if that strange woman was right?" Krystal said with a worried tone in her voice. "I mean, after all, I did sense something wrong when your Team returned..."
"Look, that funny lady must have hit her head REALLY hard when she fell into many holes, got ran over by a stampede, got hit by a stray missile, and so on. She's just crazy, and besides, what's so wrong about Peppy, Slippy, and Falco returning? Did you really think they DIDN'T survive the crash?" Fox said as he headed back to the EarthWalker Palace with the blue vixen and EarthWalker prince.
Krystal placed the tip of her index fingers together sheepishly, "Well, sort of..."
"Fox! Krystal!" the voice of Queen EarthWalker suddenly sounded out. When they heard how high her Royal Highness raised her voice, they made haste to the Palace, Peppy, Slippy, and Falco doing the same.
Queen EarthWalker was on her stomach, her face to the ground. She cried, "Oh, it's terrible! The Krazoa Palace..."
"What about the Krazoa Palace?" Fox questioned, a panicked tone in his voice.
"I... I don't know..."
"But I can sense it....." the Queen continued. "The Palace... something terrible has happened to it... I don't know... please, StarFox... check it out..."
"What have you got in it for me?" Fox said, crossing his arms.
"I'll fix up the biggest feast you'll ever have!"
"Let's go, guys!" Fox said as he waved his arms while running out, the thoughts of lots and lots of food dancing in his head.
***
Everyone arrived outside the Krazoa Palace, excluding Tricky who had to stay with his mother. As soon as the warp was complete, Fox noticed something strange already happening. It stopped raining. And the open roof of the Palace... it was fill with smoke.
"Oh, gawd..." Krystal gasped as soon as she caught sight of the rising thick smoke. "The Queen wasn't kidding!"
"There must be some kind of fire in the Palace... But the smoke is only rising from the roof! We have to find a way to put out the fire, but we must find a way to open a way there first..." That's what Fox expected Peppy to lecture him about. But he was surprised he didn't say anything. Fox turned to the rabbit, who stood there calmly with his hands behind his back. "Well?"
"Well, well what?" Peppy asked.
"Aren't you going to say it?"
"Say what?"
"....... Like tell me what to do?"
"You're the leader of the Team, Fox. I'm sure you know what you're doing," Peppy said smiling.
Fox turned back to the view of the rising smoke, shocked of what Peppy just said.
They made their way to the entrance, which was bolted down by a giant boulder. Fox noticed a deep crack in it, and he knew what to do right away as he remembered a Fuel Barrel lying around here somewhere. He commanded, "Falco, get me a Fuel Barrel near that pillar over there, post haste!"
"Yes, sir!" the blue falcon saluted as he ran to that pillar where the Fuel Barrel sat. Fox stared, *with a sweat drop on his head.*
"What's wrong, Fox?" Krystal asked.
"I didn't have to tell Falco twice... plus he called me, 'Sir!' SIR!!! SIR!!!"
"............ Assuming... this was the first time..."
"Exactly! That overgrown walking feather duster never really gave me the respect I ever deserved!"
"In which, in many cases, is none, right?"
Fox gave her nasty face, "Shaddup."
Falco came back with the Fuel Barrel on his shoulders. He said to Fox, his usual grumpy tone somehow turned into a... well... what Fox noticed to be a not-so-grumpy tone. "Shall I throw this Barrel at the boulder, sir?"
"You do that."
Falco immediately threw the Fuel Barrel at the boulder, everyone taking cover as soon as it made impact and exploded. Chips of rock flew in many directions, some of them managing to fly into Fox's forehead and cause multiple lumps on his head. As soon as the smoke cleared, only most of the boulder was demolished. A larger crack was made, but the remaining part of the rock was thin, almost red with heat.
"What the..." Fox muttered. "I thought it would destroy the whole thing..."
Krystal decided to step closer to the boulder to check it. She slowly took baby steps to the large crack, her staff held tightly in her small, blue hands. Her emerald orbs squinted as she gazed into that crack, the sliver of rock just blocking her and the StarFox Team from entering the Krazoa Palace. Suddenly that sliver burst, and a backdraft of flames quickly rushed out to the Cerenian vixen. The StarFox Team watched in horror young fox felt the fire singing then massively burning her clothes and skin. She could see red and black everywhere, her eyes burning along with the rest of her body, feeling the fire destroying every part of her being. She could feel her fur singing, her clothes disappearing, her skin, flesh, and bones being eaten by the jaws of fire, the red flames consuming her in extremity of heat and destruction. She could no longer feel, nor hear, nor see, smell, or even taste. All her senses were blocked by the flames, no longer sensing anything...
"Oh, no... not again..." Fox gasped as he watched Krystal fall to her knees screaming then toppled to her belly and face. The StarFox leader cried as he screamed out her name, "KRYSTAL!!!!"
***
"Krystal... please... I beg you... please... don't die..." Fox murmured as he kneeled by Krystal's side in the EarthWalker Palace.
Krystal lay on a cot, her body badly burnt almost to the crisp. When Fox extinguished the flames using the vixen's staff's ice blast and Peppy checked on her, the old rabbit indicated she was barely alive. Without a second thought of looking back into the burning Krazoa Palace, Fox, Peppy, Slippy, and Falco rushed Krystal back into ThornTail Hollow, where the Cerenian woman received medical treatment.
It has been three days, however, and the young girl has not even stirred. Fox even cried as time passed by slowly, very slowly. He almost lost his Team. Now he is about to lose another close friend...
"Krystal, please..." Fox whispered as if praying to the dying vixen while gripping her charred hand. "If you die... I... don't know what I'll do... please..."
What he didn't know was that just several minutes before Fox checked on her for the morning, Krystal had already taken her last breath.
***
Only the harsh, cold winds blew against the rubble on which what used to be the Krazoa Palace. Remains of the smoke rose from the collapsed stones atop the tall pillar that held the Palace once upon a time. Every thing else was still, save three figures that walked toward the ruins.
As soon as those three figures came into view, movement other than the blowing winds and rising smoke stirred in the rubble. Stones lifted then were thrown off as three Krazoa Spirits rose high into the sky, angered and saddened at the same time. Each of them growled in fury then looked down to the figures, who kneeled next to the ruins.
"Why, brothers... why... did you let this happen...?" one spirit asked, both enraged and disappointed.
One figure spoke, a short, fat figure with long ears. "We had to work along with the great Fox McCloud to prevent suspicions... his companion, the woman who encased me once upon a time and returned me into the shrine... she burned........... now who, brothers... who did this?... and why did YOU let this happen?"
The second Krazoa sighed mournfully and said, "One who encased me... the one who invaded this planet... he did this..."
The second figure, also short and fat but with large eyes on top of his head, opened his mouth to speak. "It seems he has returned for revenge..."
The third Krazoa took his turn to speak. "Because the Palace is now destroyed, our beings are weakening... we need shells... like the ones you possess... we need it so we can repair the Palace ourselves... we now need you to help us find three more shells so we can roam about with solid bodies to hoist the stones of our home and fix it as our spirits rejuvenate."
The tall, lean, feathered third figure looked up to the floating Krazoa. "The girl... the one who encased our brother when she came... tragedy has fallen upon her from the fire..."
The first Krazoa flew by the second figure. "Ah... a shell has already been made for one of us... yes... I'll take her."
"As you wish, brother," the three shadows replied as they stood up then turned, heading to ThornTail Hollow.
***
"Fox?" Tricky muttered as he walked into the room where Fox and Krystal were later that afternoon. The young EarthWalker prince noticed the stillness of the blue vixen and the heaving of shoulders of the red fox. Tricky gasped as he slowly approached the StarFox hero, "Is she..."
Fox looked up, his eyes red and streaming with tears, "She's gone..."
As soon as the vulpine mouthed those words, Peppy peered into the room. Fox and Tricky turned their heads to glance at the old rabbit. Peppy bowed his head, closing his eyes, Slippy and Falco behind him and doing the same. He said, "Fox... Tricky... do you mind if you both leave the room?"
The young fox wiped his eyes with his arm as sobs rose from his throat, stuttering, "Sh-sh-sure... go ahead..."
Tricky lead the grieving Fox out of the room before Peppy, Slippy, and Falco stepped in. Slippy slowly and quietly closed the door, then waited for a while, counting silently to himself one to ten. He then locked the door beyond Fox and Tricky's knowing. Placing his green slimy hands to the closed door he turned to his comrades, "All right... we're ready..."
Falco had his eyes closed this whole time. When he opened them, his eyes, instead of green, his pupils, irises, and whites, were purple, of different shades of violet and amethyst.
Peppy and Slippy stood as they watched Falco fall to his knees in pain. The tiercel kneeled on the dusty floor, groaning and flinching, his body slightly twisting. What felt like needles and thorns pricked through his spine and bones repeatedly, and his muscles felt like they were tightening and cramping together. Sweat fell from his brow as he panted, being short of breath as his throat closed together, disabling him to breathe. Finally he threw his arms out, like wings of an angel, then screaming out in pain. Light glowed from his body, bright, blue light. It came out of him, a spirit, a face with a crown and tentacles, appearing from the young falcon's body. It shot out quickly then hovered there, as if looking around. Invisible eyes caught sight of the late Cerenian's burnt body, then flew to it, its spirit dissolving with the mass of charred flesh. The blue light then glowed within that body as breath returned to Krystal, the black and red disappearing and new fur growing as her body began to heal rapidly. The vixen felt the pain vanishing, and in relief she sat up. Looking into her hands, she gazed into her furred paws and closed her eyes. She could feel it. Blood flowing. Heart beating. Lungs breathing. Her skin can feel, her ears can hear, her eyes can see, and her tongue can taste and speak. She reopened those green orbs, gazing into the standing rabbit and frog and kneeling falcon.
Krystal threw the blanket that was laid on her as she stretched out her legs to feel the floor. Falco stood up, breathing well again and the pain long gone. He asked, "Well?"
"It felt good, brother," the vixen spoke with her own vocal cords of a woman instead of a Krazoa spirit. "I can feel the life that woman once had... It feels... wonderful... now I, too, can satisfy my curiosity. However..." she turned to also Peppy and Slippy. "We must not dilly-dally now. Even with a body, we must rebuild the Krazoa Palace in order for us to rejuvenate. Our two remaining brothers still need shells for them to possess."
Slippy nodded. "May I make a suggestion, brother... or should I say, 'sister?'"
"It is rather odd," "Krystal" said as she looked at herself. "I do feel rather strange being in a woman's body," she said as she placed her hands over her bosom. The three men turned their flushed red faces to another direction. Krystal continued, "What is that suggestion... Slippy, right?"
"Yes. There is Fox McCloud himself... he'll make a great shell."
"Fine then... we shall wait 'till nightfall, when he sleeps..." Krystal said as she bent down by her bed and took hold of her staff, knowing what she will do with it once night does fall...
***
Cold, clean, pure water fell quickly from a cataract, gushing out with beauty and energy as mist rose while the waters landed into a flowing river. There, a small child ran to that flowing river and raced it as he held a spear and bowl.
It was a young eyas boy of nine years of age, with purplish-brown down and amethystine eyes. He wore a large, loose, woven shirt made of beige hemp, with shorts and a bandanna made with the same material. Blue and silver beads were worn around his neck, and colored stripes were painted on his cheeks aside his beak, making him take the appearance like some sort of jungle native.
The boy finally remembered why he came to the river in the first place. He placed the wooden bowl on a boulder then squatted by the flowing water. He watched the river run along the bank, keeping his raptorial eyes on the bottom of the streams, gazing the waving seaweed and swimming pollywogs as he held his spear high. He waited there... waited... waited... he waited until his prey came into view. As soon as he saw a big, plump, rainbow- colored trout swimming along like it was just enjoying life as it is, the eyas stood up and hurled the spear into the water. Bull's eye. Blood ran along with the river as the spear's razor sharp obsidian impaled through the trout's body, dying slowly and painfully. The child then pulled the spear back into dry air, the fish squirming and twisting at the weapon's end. He grabbed the wooden bowl then walked back to where water fell and mists rose, then scooped up fresh, clean water from the cataract. With food and water in his possession, he hummed a little tune as he proudly strutted into the forest.
After walking for five minutes, the child ran into a woman... a purple peregrine falcon woman whom once wore a burlap cloak and approached Lylat's greatest hero in a peculiar fashion. The boy smiled, watching her sit by the campfire, warming her up. Finally, the eyas spoke, "Mama, I caught the fish, and I brought you some fresh water from the waterfall."
The falcon, the eyas's mother, smiled gently as she turned to gaze into her son's eyes. "Thank you, Starr," she said as she reached for the fish and water.
Starr sat by his mother and leaned his tired head on her as she set the fish aside and began drinking the water from the bowl. She was halfway when all of the sudden she gasped, her eyes shrinking and her hands dropping the bowl, the water her son got for her spilling all over the grassy forest floor.
The boy looked up to his mother, "Mama... what's wrong...?"
The mother stood up, looking down to the ground. "I have to go to ThornTail Hollow."
"Why?" Starr questioned. "You just got back from there to here at Cape Claw!"
"I know, son, but..." she said with a worried tone. "Something terrible is going to happen at ThornTail Hollow... your uncles were right... Fox shouldn't learn the hard way about his team..."
Starr gazed at his mother then looked down and sighed, knowing exactly what she's talking about. He started to shudder then yelled at his parent, "Please don't go, Mama! What if the RedEyes come here and eat me like they did for Papa-"
"I told you already, there are no RedEyes in Cape Claw, no matter where you look," Starr's parent comforted her child. "Besides, your uncles will be here to protect you. At least our fellow falcon can fight as well as the great Fox McCloud."
Starr turned around and glanced at where several trees grew tall. The three haloed shadows sat there as if sleeping. One of them had the appearance of a falcon, just like Starr and his mother.
The woman turned around and started walking but still had her eyes on her son, "I'll be back as soon as-"
"Wait! Mama, you're going to-"
Too late. The falcon woman fell off the ten-foot high cliff without knowing it. Starr finished his sentence with a sigh, "... fall..."
***
"Krystal! You're alive!" Fox exclaimed with joy and relief when the lovely blue vixen approached him outside the EarthWalker Palace. He was, however, shocked with how she recovered so quickly and suddenly. "How did you..."
Krystal merely smiled. "Peppy learned a healing spell from a wizard near Mount Moon while he was roaming about searching for a potion to heal burns (Shabunga told him it was near Mount Moon since he didn't have any potions... whatta loser...). However, the spell cannot work with someone watching, and Slippy and Falco had to assist Peppy in casting the spell. I revived and healed up before anyone knew it."
"I'm so relieved, you're okay, Krystal!" Fox sighed as he threw a bear hug around Krystal. Krystal shuddered and smiled nervously and patted his back. The Krazoa within her felt sick.
Slippy also smiled, his hands folded together. "Our dear commander Fox, you must feel exhausted. You must rest."
"Me?" Fox pointed to himself. "I'm not tired."
"Oh?" Slippy murmured. "Are you sure?"
"A little hungry, perhaps..." Fox said nervously as his stomach growled like a bear.
Krystal turned to Falco and Peppy, "Shall we prepare a luxurious dinner for our friend Fox?" Both the rabbit and falcon bowed, Slippy joining them.
Fox sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. "You guys..."
"I mean it!" Krystal said as placed her hands on Fox's shoulders. "All that grieving was for naught, and you must be starving. Please, a good dinner should relieve you more in your vain lamenting."
"Um........ thanks..."
As Krystal, Peppy, Slippy, and Falco lead Fox back into the Palace, Tricky peered at them from behind the fence. He was also lamenting over Krystal, but when he heard Krystal coming back he didn't come running to her right away. Something was wrong. What's this strange feeling? Tricky remembered feeling it when Fox's Team returned to him after everyone thought they died, and with that strange message from the beautiful yet clumsy falcon woman... what does it all mean?...
***
Night fell, and Fox quickly went to bed, sleeping on a mat rather then on a bed. A thick, white quilt was laid out on the tired Fox, who was snoozing peacefully. He mumbled something about in his sleep, but no one could quite make out what he said-it was too quiet and low to be heard. He just lay there, resting, sleeping ever so peacefully like a little puppy by a hearth, just lazily lying there and enjoying the warmth, cloaking him as the moon hovered high into the night sky, the white speckles of stars glistening beautifully like natural night lights for those afraid of the dark.
Krystal, Peppy, Slippy, and Falco waited for this moment. They waited for everyone to sleep, for Tricky, for Queen EarthWalker, everyone. They even waited for the ThornTails, the flying creatures, even that ever-irritating Shabunga, for they need not a witness to watch their dirty work. Krystal held her staff close to her heart, then knelt to the resting Fox. She softly stroked his soft, rusty red fur, smiling as she watched the Lylatian hero sleep like a cherubim on a cloud in heaven.
"Look..." she whispered. "Look how he sleeps... just a puppy..."
"Too bad," Falco said, shaking his head, "that he'll never wake up..."
Krystal nodded in agreement, then stood up and raised her staff, the sharpest end pointed down toward Fox's heart...
((to be continued...))
Whew! Now that I've finished Chapter 4, what do you think? Please review and let me know!