Author's Note: Sorry for the long update again! Okay. 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 Diva and Starr.
Please R+R. Thank you. ~~ Imagen ~~
*** Chapter 16: "Invisible"
THWACK!!!!!!!!!!!!
"Wait....." Fox whispered as he breathed what he thought was his last. "That's not the sound an ax makes when it severs flesh..."
Fox couldn't believe his eyes once they opened. Falco was lying on the ground, the ax dropped onto the ground with him. A large shiner was made over both his raptorial eyes, stars flying around his head as he lay there, dazed and definitely confused.
"Who's there?!" Peppy shouted, taking out a SharpClaw Mace from his overcoat, Slippy doing the same with a sword. "Show yourself!"
Fox shook when he heard a large crack sound out as Peppy fell backwards to the ground, his nose cracking and blood gushing out as if something slugged him on the face... but there was nothing. Slippy grunted as his face flushed read and spit flew as he flinched as if the wind kicked him in the gut, then fell back as if an uppercut was thrown on his chin. Both Peppy and Slippy lay on the ground, as dazed as their feathered comrade.
The fox shuddered as his world became hazy. His head felt like spinning, and he felt like he was going to topple. Krystal released the staff as she screeched, lifting in the air. Fox looked back. The blue vixen's feet were off the ground, and it looked like an invisible opponent was clutching her by the throat. The vulpine lost his balance on his squatting, and he nearly fell sideways when he felt a hand lift him back up. Fox looked to where he felt the hand. Nothing. Was the wind holding him up? Fox was too much in pain to even think about it.
"Don't worry..." the soft, gentle voice of a woman spoke... it sounded like Krystal... but Krystal was hanging in the air... who could that be...
Fox screamed bloody hell as he felt the staff pull from his body quickly yet smoothly, more crimson flying, adding to the already shed blood. He immediately fell down on his puddle, his world going black again since the crashing of the Great Fox as he watched his Team run...
***
"Mama! He's awake!" Fox heard Starr yell as soon as he awakened. He did not open his eye immediately, however. He decided to just lay there and let his ears hear his surroundings. Birds singing. Flies buzzing. Water flowing. The soft voices of Diva and Starr conversing. Fox wanted to open his eyes, but even they felt heavy after a long sleep. Yet how did Starr know Fox was awake? Probably because of the mournful moaning of a leader who lost his team to mutiny.
Fox can still feel the sharp pain on his chest and shoulder. He survived? Fox didn't think so. Yet he can thank God for watching over him, that he has decided to stretch his hand to the young leader who's life is in peril. Yet why didn't He let live his closest friends? Only God Himself knows... it is not Fox's right to ask... someday, he'll know.
The young vulpine Lylatian could feel the coolness of a damp rag carefully placed on his weary head. "See, Fox?" Diva whispered in his twitching ear. "I warned you about them..."
"How..." Fox choked as teardrops fell from his closed eyes. "Why...?"
"The Krazoa... they just want shells to experience life, how outsiders of Dinosaur Planet live... that could explain why they chose your Team instead of dead dinosaurs... plus they need to rebuild the Krazoa Palace."
"Them..."
"Why not? Your friends are incredibly smart and strong... plus, they associated with the Great Fox McCloud who reunited them in the Krazoa Palace."
"Krazoa..."
"Now they're out to kill you too, plus one more guy... and I'm afraid I know who that'll be."
Fox stopped murmuring. Starr sat by his mother, asking her as he tugged on her skirt. "Who, Mama? If they kill Fox, who will the sixth Krazoa try to take?"
Diva gazed into her son's eyes sadly. Starr shook, receiving the hint his mother gave him.
"Starr, watch over Fox for now," she told her son as she stood up. "I'll be back to get him some more water."
This sounded all too familiar to Fox. He opened his eyes and quickly sat up then shouted, "Watch out for that-!"
His warning came in too late. Diva already fell off a ten foot cliff and knocked her out.
Starr turned to Fox, "Wait, how did you-"
"If I know your mother," Fox sighed, "something like that would guarantee to happen..."
***
During the bloody fight of Fox and his Team, Tricky did his usual hide-and- wait-until-everything-stops routine whenever his hero would battle. When the screaming and blood shedding stopped, Tricky stepped out of the bushes where he hid.
All he saw where puddles of blood and abandoned weapons. Tricky flustered, looking in all directions of his furry companion. "Fox? FOX!!!!!"
"He's with Serena... don't worry, Tricky. He'll be fine," a gentle voice that sounded like it belonged to an aging man spoke to Tricky.
Again the EarthWalker prince looked in all directions. Nothing. Nothing but trees, shrubs, bushes, grass, leaves, birds, bees, and so on, but that was it. Tricky shivered and whimpered, then cried out, "WHO ARE YOU????? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH FOX?????"
"We saved him, you little brat!" another voice called out, speaking like a New York gangster. "If you want to look for him, look for Diva! Gawddammit, if it weren't for us, Fox would have met the same fate we had!"
"The same fate..."
"That reminds me," a third voice spoke, a rather high-pitched, sort of squeaky voice. "How come you refer Diva by her real name, Peppy?"
The first voice answered, "Because it sounds prettier, Slippy. Besides, I have no idea why Falco called her Diva in the first place-"
"Because she struts her stuff all the time back in Zoness!" the second voice shouted. "Gawd, she gets on my nerves like a little sister!"
Tricky whispered nervously to himself, "Peppy... Slippy... Falco?"
The young dinosaur felt a hand touch his shoulder. Tricky faced where he felt the hand, but he saw nothing... as if the hand was invisible. Yet he recognized the feeling of the small, furry hand. "Krystal?"
"Don't worry about a thing, Tricky..." Krystal's voice spoke. "We'll make sure the Krazoa will never lay a finger on him ever..."
***
"Can I ask you a question, Starr?" Fox asked the little boy as he recovered from his fatal wound days later, watching him draw a picture on a rock with a black clay crayon.
Starr smiled, "Sure."
Fox began his question, "How long have you been on Dinosaur Planet?"
"All my life," the child said as he picked up a yellow crayon.
"You're serious?"
"Dead serious!" the little boy responded while coloring a part of his drawing yellow.
"You can't be... how old are you again?"
"Nine."
"So you've been here for the entire nine years of your life?"
"You'd better believe it, fuzzball!"
'Oy, that's what your mother called me...' Fox thought as he shuddered. He continued his conversation, "And your mother... how long as she been in here?"
"Nine years."
"Nine years?" Fox repeated. "Did she have you here on Dinosaur Planet?"
Starr remained quiet for the next five minutes as he used blue and red crayons to continue his coloring.
"Well?"
"I... dunno..."
"Really, huh?" Fox paused, as if trying to think of another question to ask. "Were you-?"
"You said you wanted to ask ONE question!"
"Okay, fine," Fox sighed, knowing he shouldn't argue with a kid. "May I ask a series of questions?"
"Depends!" Starr dropped his red and blue crayons and moved on to the green. "What's on your mind, McCloud-san?"
"Were you guys the only... um... outsiders here on Dinosaur Planet?"
"My papa was here for seven years."
"Really? Seven? Where is your father now?"
"Burning in hell!"
'Is he really a nine-year-old kid?' Fox shuddered as he pondered. He sighed and continued, "I take it you... don't like your father-"
"He dirtied Mama."
"What?"
Starr glared daggers into Fox's eyes. "You heard me. He dirtied Mama."
Does he mean what it sounds like? No... it couldn't.... "Who told you that?"
"No one. I saw it with my own eyes."
"Do you even know what that means- OW!!! OW!! OW!!!"
Before Fox would even finish off, he felt the crayons thrown at his head like bullets from a machine gun. Fox flinched and held his head, then started barking at the little boy, "Geez, kid, WHAT IS YOUR PRO-"
Fox's barking was cut off by the sobbing from Starr's crying. Was it something Fox said that hurt the little boy?
Starr wiped his tears then kicked Fox in the shins, causing the vulpine to hop around in pain. He screamed out as he cried, "MY PAPA RAPED MY MAMA, AND THAT'S WHY I WAS BORN HERE ON DINOSAUR PLANET!!!!!!!! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW????!!!!"
Fox fell and sat on his rear, then shot back at the wailing boy, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down, kiddo, do you even understand what you've just said???"
"I'll tell you what I've understood!" Starr said as he walked to the fallen fox. "That blue vixen..."
"Krystal?"
"Yeah, that warrior-vixen babe, Krystal... be honest, Fox, how far did you go with her? Did ya actually get to see her naked or what? What? C'mon, tell me, are he boobs all foine and her @$$, is it-"
"ARE YOU REALLY A NINE-YEAR-OLD KID???????!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
***
Despite Starr and Fox's bickering (hey, put that together, what do you get?), Diva sat quietly on a tree branch far away where they rested. Even though she was at a safe distance from their squabbling, she could hear their topic of *unintended* choice. She sighed sorrowfully then looked up to the sky with gloomy eyes, horrible memories returning her mind... memories that she wished she'd either forget or die... but she has a son who needs her... a son who was born from lust and greed...
***
((Told from Diva's POV))
I grew up in the streets of Kosaku City, Zoness. There, I met Falco Lombardi. He was the one who gave me the nickname 'Diva'. From then on, I was known as Diva Jenson instead of Serena Jenson... not that I disliked the name 'Diva,' though. I didn't meet Falco until a year before he joined the StarFox Team. Until then, we were mortal enemies. I earned my nickname because that hotheaded bird thought I was always strutting my stuff. Sheesh! He should talk!
We met each other in the streets at least once every day... and at least once every day we'd get into a fight. I never knew why we would fight in the first place, except I remember this-I hate him, and he hates me. I still don't know why he hates me, but then again, I don't know why I hate him. I'll bet he feels the same way too.
Yet despite of our hate, we never let anyone battle against us. I remember one time I was being mugged by a bunch of thieves. Falco fought them off. I recall yelling at him, 'Why did you do that, you punk! I could have fought them off myself!' He yelled back at me, 'Sure, like you would.' Days later, I returned the favor when a bunch of drunks involved him in a knife fight. I didn't know why I helped him in the first place, but I guess it was because of the mortality of my heart that I assisted an enemy. Perhaps from that one time that blue-feathered b@$t@rd helped me it showed he too also has some good in him...
Then... one day... it... happened...
It happened when both Falco and I were nineteen years old. I was walking casually in the streets when a golden eagle and a red-tailed hawk attacked me. They were much stronger and faster than me, and I couldn't fight them even with all the strength I had. They eventually overcame me. I wondered why they didn't kill me, though, they beat me badly, almost crushing my skull and breaking every bone in my body. I had money, but they didn't take it. I had jewelry, but they didn't take it either. Why didn't they steal my money and jewelry?
What they really had in mind was not stealing my money or my jewelry, but what they were really aiming for is stealing my virginity. The eagle didn't have any interest me, so he only held me down and stripped me. And the hawk... he... he...... it was so horrible, so frightening... the screams... the cries... the voices of the hawk and eagle... those demonic eyes... his lustful glare... the curses... the pleadings, the tears... I was emotionally and physically scarred, I wanted to die... I'd rather die than be sullied!
When the hawk was finished doing his thing, Falco came in. He fought them, but he only managed to chase them away. When they were gone, it was too late. I couldn't move... I couldn't breathe... I couldn't blink or speak... I couldn't do anything but just lie there and stare.
For the next several weeks, I stayed in Falco's friend Katt's house. There, Katt gave me companionship that came from a fellow woman, probably because she knew that if I came across another man I'd either lash out or go crazy. But then, Falco did come to comfort me. I guess from there we finally befriended each other. For those several weeks I looked up to him like my big brother. He and Katt gave me food. Shelter. Of course, at the first few days I didn't eat or sleep... I just lay there, dazed. I couldn't think but only recall every single moment of the violation. Katt and Falco understood. They gave me shoulders to cry on. I gave it all out. I cried out a river that could flood the entire planet. Yet they never abandoned me. I owed them everything, everything I had. But I had nothing to give them but my utterance of my thanks.
It was not until after those several weeks when I laid my and the hawk's egg.
Of course, I was afraid, at first. I couldn't believe it, I was knocked up! I was terribly confused of what to do, whether to abandon the egg, leave it in an orphanage, or simply smash it in abortion. But no, I couldn't... I dunno, I guess it was an automatic feeling that I wanted to keep my egg, probably because I was being a mother for the very first time. I couldn't get rid of my child, my child born of hate... even before Starr hatched I grew to love him.
After Falco left for the StarFox Team and Katt for Zonessian Alliance, I no longer engaged into fights. I had an egg waiting to hatch, and I cannot take it out of my sight.
And then... he... that hawk... came again.
He wanted me. He wanted to mess me up again. I remember those words he uttered out when he ran into people in search of me: 'Where's my woman?' Of course, he didn't know my name, but he knew my body... he knew it moment he saw it. I ran.
I finally fought off the golden eagle accomplice and drove behind his ship. I didn't know how to fly it at the time, but it was the only way. I had to run away to someplace distant. I thought of escaping to Macbeth, so I jet off with my egg and headed straight to that planet. Boy, that was the biggest mistake I ever did. Why? That hawk followed me closely (and why not? I was using his friend's ship!). He literally chased me half-way across the galaxy, using up his friend's fuel. I had to make an emergency landing, but I was already too far away from the other planets.
That's when I landed in Dinosaur Planet.
Because of the lack of experience I had in piloting, I made a crash landing, therefore completely destroying the ship. I survived, of course, and so did my egg. Days passed, and I haven't encountered that hawk ever since. I was relieved. I thought he'd never find me here on Dinosaur Planet.
It was rough adjusting to live with the dinosaurs at first. I had to grow accustom to their ways of life, but before long, it became a pretty comfortable and carefree way of life, and pretty soon I felt I was in paradise. My son even hatched a week later, and I named him Starr. I dunno, at that time I've heard of the StarFox Team's great deeds of Lylat, and I guess because of Falco's company during my time of need I decided to name my son after the entire Team (why didn't I name him after that blue boy? Maybe I still hated him a little back then...). For seven years Starr grew up to be a strong, smart, and healthy boy, educated and a fantastic warrior. I felt as if I was raising what could be Dinosaur Planet's future hero.
My nightmare came true again when I encountered the hawk in Starr's seventh birthday. I thought I'd never meet him again, but it turns out he's been hiding in Dinosaur Planet all these years. I thought I might have to force myself into falling in love with him, marrying him, and letting him father our child. I was wrong. He wanted only me. My body. He was full of lust, yet also full of seething hatred. He kidnapped me in the party and violated me again in Cape Claw. That's when Starr came in hopes to rescue me, but he had front row seats of witnessing his mother's violation.
I guess it was of the boy's spirit and youthful courage that caused him to throw his spear at his own father... of course, at that time Starr didn't know that the man who was 'dirtying' his mother was his own father. For some reason, Starr chased away the hawk, running after him for hours. I lay there in Cape Claw for those few hours before I got up to look for them. Sure enough, I found Starr and his father, but at a most traumatic position. A RedEye was feasting on the body of the hawk as Starr was kneeling by the pool of his papa's blood.
Two years later, Starr brought up everything he saw on his seventh birthday. I didn't know what I should do, so I just told him. Told him everything that happened. Now he knows... and I wished I never, ever told him what happened to his mother.
***
((3rd Person Omniscient))
That night, Fox decided to walk around the forest after a day from arguing with Starr. He felt sorry and upset for the boy. He shouldn't have talked. It was painful enough already for the boy to go through his stranding on Dinosaur Planet.
Fox found a patch of grass underneath the starry sky and lay there. He felt the coolness of the grass intertwine with his fur as he laid, his foxy eyes gazing at the stars. As he watched every little star twinkle and sparkle, memories of his late father came to mind... how he showed him the stars and what it meant to be a hero. Fox admired his father for so long even after his tragic death when Pigma Dengar betrayed the StarFox Team. Whenever he was out there, fighting in a war, battling against his opponent, laying out a battle strategy plan, or simply hanging out with his Team, he would think of James McCloud. It is truly a tragedy to see that a little boy name Starr would develop a seething hatred towards his dead father.
Suddenly he heard the voices of Diva and Starr. It was Diva who spoke first, whispering to her child, "What is it?"
"Nothing, Mama. I just had a rough day."
"Oh, really?" Soft kisses were heard, and Fox smiled, knowing that only Starr's mother would be the one to comfort him.
Fox could hear movement stirring, and he assumed that it was Diva putting Starr to bed and laying a blanket over him. He then heard the boy, "Mama, can you sing me that one song?"
Which song?"
"The one you loved when you were still in Zoness."
'She was from Zoness???' Fox thought to himself.
"All right, son, but I'll have to do it quietly," Diva said. "Fox might be asleep."
"Okay."
Fox's ears twitched then lay back when he heard Diva starting to sing softly and beautifully to her son. Some lullaby. In fact, it isn't even a lullaby. It was a song composed by Edwin McCain and very well a tad bit of an old song, but it was a good one. A beautiful one, in fact. The perfect one to hear from a mother who's son was born from hate yet raised with love.
~*~ Lying here with you
Listening to the rain
Smiling just to see the smile upon your face
These are the moments I thank God that I'm alive
These are the moments I'll remember all my life
I found all I've waited for
And I could not ask for more
Looking in your eyes
Seeing all I need
Everything you are is everything to me
These are the moments
I know heaven must exist
These are the moments I know all I need is this
I have all I've waited for
And I could not ask for more
I could not ask for more than this time together I could not ask for more than this time with you
Every prayer has been answered
Every dream I have's come true
And right here in this moment is right where I'm meant to be
Here with you here with me
~*~
Fox sighed again, his eyes feeling heavy with sleepiness. What a song to sing to one's child. A song of appreciation... that's a song that should be sung from a mother to a child, the appreciation of a child born to that mother despite the chaos and trauma.
***
"Fox! Where are you?" Tricky screamed out amidst the quietness of the forest.
The voice of Falco hushed the yelling dino. "Be quiet, foo! People could be sleeping!"
"B-But-"
"Rest now, Tricky," Peppy said, patting the prince's back. "You'll see him soon enough. Now get some rest. Tomorrow's a big day."
Tricky decided to just give in and lay down. As his eyes gazed into the sky, he noticed three stars disappearing and three darks ones "shining" in their place.
((to be continued...))
Voila! Now that I've finished Chapter 6, what do you think? Please review and let me know!
*** Chapter 16: "Invisible"
THWACK!!!!!!!!!!!!
"Wait....." Fox whispered as he breathed what he thought was his last. "That's not the sound an ax makes when it severs flesh..."
Fox couldn't believe his eyes once they opened. Falco was lying on the ground, the ax dropped onto the ground with him. A large shiner was made over both his raptorial eyes, stars flying around his head as he lay there, dazed and definitely confused.
"Who's there?!" Peppy shouted, taking out a SharpClaw Mace from his overcoat, Slippy doing the same with a sword. "Show yourself!"
Fox shook when he heard a large crack sound out as Peppy fell backwards to the ground, his nose cracking and blood gushing out as if something slugged him on the face... but there was nothing. Slippy grunted as his face flushed read and spit flew as he flinched as if the wind kicked him in the gut, then fell back as if an uppercut was thrown on his chin. Both Peppy and Slippy lay on the ground, as dazed as their feathered comrade.
The fox shuddered as his world became hazy. His head felt like spinning, and he felt like he was going to topple. Krystal released the staff as she screeched, lifting in the air. Fox looked back. The blue vixen's feet were off the ground, and it looked like an invisible opponent was clutching her by the throat. The vulpine lost his balance on his squatting, and he nearly fell sideways when he felt a hand lift him back up. Fox looked to where he felt the hand. Nothing. Was the wind holding him up? Fox was too much in pain to even think about it.
"Don't worry..." the soft, gentle voice of a woman spoke... it sounded like Krystal... but Krystal was hanging in the air... who could that be...
Fox screamed bloody hell as he felt the staff pull from his body quickly yet smoothly, more crimson flying, adding to the already shed blood. He immediately fell down on his puddle, his world going black again since the crashing of the Great Fox as he watched his Team run...
***
"Mama! He's awake!" Fox heard Starr yell as soon as he awakened. He did not open his eye immediately, however. He decided to just lay there and let his ears hear his surroundings. Birds singing. Flies buzzing. Water flowing. The soft voices of Diva and Starr conversing. Fox wanted to open his eyes, but even they felt heavy after a long sleep. Yet how did Starr know Fox was awake? Probably because of the mournful moaning of a leader who lost his team to mutiny.
Fox can still feel the sharp pain on his chest and shoulder. He survived? Fox didn't think so. Yet he can thank God for watching over him, that he has decided to stretch his hand to the young leader who's life is in peril. Yet why didn't He let live his closest friends? Only God Himself knows... it is not Fox's right to ask... someday, he'll know.
The young vulpine Lylatian could feel the coolness of a damp rag carefully placed on his weary head. "See, Fox?" Diva whispered in his twitching ear. "I warned you about them..."
"How..." Fox choked as teardrops fell from his closed eyes. "Why...?"
"The Krazoa... they just want shells to experience life, how outsiders of Dinosaur Planet live... that could explain why they chose your Team instead of dead dinosaurs... plus they need to rebuild the Krazoa Palace."
"Them..."
"Why not? Your friends are incredibly smart and strong... plus, they associated with the Great Fox McCloud who reunited them in the Krazoa Palace."
"Krazoa..."
"Now they're out to kill you too, plus one more guy... and I'm afraid I know who that'll be."
Fox stopped murmuring. Starr sat by his mother, asking her as he tugged on her skirt. "Who, Mama? If they kill Fox, who will the sixth Krazoa try to take?"
Diva gazed into her son's eyes sadly. Starr shook, receiving the hint his mother gave him.
"Starr, watch over Fox for now," she told her son as she stood up. "I'll be back to get him some more water."
This sounded all too familiar to Fox. He opened his eyes and quickly sat up then shouted, "Watch out for that-!"
His warning came in too late. Diva already fell off a ten foot cliff and knocked her out.
Starr turned to Fox, "Wait, how did you-"
"If I know your mother," Fox sighed, "something like that would guarantee to happen..."
***
During the bloody fight of Fox and his Team, Tricky did his usual hide-and- wait-until-everything-stops routine whenever his hero would battle. When the screaming and blood shedding stopped, Tricky stepped out of the bushes where he hid.
All he saw where puddles of blood and abandoned weapons. Tricky flustered, looking in all directions of his furry companion. "Fox? FOX!!!!!"
"He's with Serena... don't worry, Tricky. He'll be fine," a gentle voice that sounded like it belonged to an aging man spoke to Tricky.
Again the EarthWalker prince looked in all directions. Nothing. Nothing but trees, shrubs, bushes, grass, leaves, birds, bees, and so on, but that was it. Tricky shivered and whimpered, then cried out, "WHO ARE YOU????? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH FOX?????"
"We saved him, you little brat!" another voice called out, speaking like a New York gangster. "If you want to look for him, look for Diva! Gawddammit, if it weren't for us, Fox would have met the same fate we had!"
"The same fate..."
"That reminds me," a third voice spoke, a rather high-pitched, sort of squeaky voice. "How come you refer Diva by her real name, Peppy?"
The first voice answered, "Because it sounds prettier, Slippy. Besides, I have no idea why Falco called her Diva in the first place-"
"Because she struts her stuff all the time back in Zoness!" the second voice shouted. "Gawd, she gets on my nerves like a little sister!"
Tricky whispered nervously to himself, "Peppy... Slippy... Falco?"
The young dinosaur felt a hand touch his shoulder. Tricky faced where he felt the hand, but he saw nothing... as if the hand was invisible. Yet he recognized the feeling of the small, furry hand. "Krystal?"
"Don't worry about a thing, Tricky..." Krystal's voice spoke. "We'll make sure the Krazoa will never lay a finger on him ever..."
***
"Can I ask you a question, Starr?" Fox asked the little boy as he recovered from his fatal wound days later, watching him draw a picture on a rock with a black clay crayon.
Starr smiled, "Sure."
Fox began his question, "How long have you been on Dinosaur Planet?"
"All my life," the child said as he picked up a yellow crayon.
"You're serious?"
"Dead serious!" the little boy responded while coloring a part of his drawing yellow.
"You can't be... how old are you again?"
"Nine."
"So you've been here for the entire nine years of your life?"
"You'd better believe it, fuzzball!"
'Oy, that's what your mother called me...' Fox thought as he shuddered. He continued his conversation, "And your mother... how long as she been in here?"
"Nine years."
"Nine years?" Fox repeated. "Did she have you here on Dinosaur Planet?"
Starr remained quiet for the next five minutes as he used blue and red crayons to continue his coloring.
"Well?"
"I... dunno..."
"Really, huh?" Fox paused, as if trying to think of another question to ask. "Were you-?"
"You said you wanted to ask ONE question!"
"Okay, fine," Fox sighed, knowing he shouldn't argue with a kid. "May I ask a series of questions?"
"Depends!" Starr dropped his red and blue crayons and moved on to the green. "What's on your mind, McCloud-san?"
"Were you guys the only... um... outsiders here on Dinosaur Planet?"
"My papa was here for seven years."
"Really? Seven? Where is your father now?"
"Burning in hell!"
'Is he really a nine-year-old kid?' Fox shuddered as he pondered. He sighed and continued, "I take it you... don't like your father-"
"He dirtied Mama."
"What?"
Starr glared daggers into Fox's eyes. "You heard me. He dirtied Mama."
Does he mean what it sounds like? No... it couldn't.... "Who told you that?"
"No one. I saw it with my own eyes."
"Do you even know what that means- OW!!! OW!! OW!!!"
Before Fox would even finish off, he felt the crayons thrown at his head like bullets from a machine gun. Fox flinched and held his head, then started barking at the little boy, "Geez, kid, WHAT IS YOUR PRO-"
Fox's barking was cut off by the sobbing from Starr's crying. Was it something Fox said that hurt the little boy?
Starr wiped his tears then kicked Fox in the shins, causing the vulpine to hop around in pain. He screamed out as he cried, "MY PAPA RAPED MY MAMA, AND THAT'S WHY I WAS BORN HERE ON DINOSAUR PLANET!!!!!!!! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW????!!!!"
Fox fell and sat on his rear, then shot back at the wailing boy, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down, kiddo, do you even understand what you've just said???"
"I'll tell you what I've understood!" Starr said as he walked to the fallen fox. "That blue vixen..."
"Krystal?"
"Yeah, that warrior-vixen babe, Krystal... be honest, Fox, how far did you go with her? Did ya actually get to see her naked or what? What? C'mon, tell me, are he boobs all foine and her @$$, is it-"
"ARE YOU REALLY A NINE-YEAR-OLD KID???????!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
***
Despite Starr and Fox's bickering (hey, put that together, what do you get?), Diva sat quietly on a tree branch far away where they rested. Even though she was at a safe distance from their squabbling, she could hear their topic of *unintended* choice. She sighed sorrowfully then looked up to the sky with gloomy eyes, horrible memories returning her mind... memories that she wished she'd either forget or die... but she has a son who needs her... a son who was born from lust and greed...
***
((Told from Diva's POV))
I grew up in the streets of Kosaku City, Zoness. There, I met Falco Lombardi. He was the one who gave me the nickname 'Diva'. From then on, I was known as Diva Jenson instead of Serena Jenson... not that I disliked the name 'Diva,' though. I didn't meet Falco until a year before he joined the StarFox Team. Until then, we were mortal enemies. I earned my nickname because that hotheaded bird thought I was always strutting my stuff. Sheesh! He should talk!
We met each other in the streets at least once every day... and at least once every day we'd get into a fight. I never knew why we would fight in the first place, except I remember this-I hate him, and he hates me. I still don't know why he hates me, but then again, I don't know why I hate him. I'll bet he feels the same way too.
Yet despite of our hate, we never let anyone battle against us. I remember one time I was being mugged by a bunch of thieves. Falco fought them off. I recall yelling at him, 'Why did you do that, you punk! I could have fought them off myself!' He yelled back at me, 'Sure, like you would.' Days later, I returned the favor when a bunch of drunks involved him in a knife fight. I didn't know why I helped him in the first place, but I guess it was because of the mortality of my heart that I assisted an enemy. Perhaps from that one time that blue-feathered b@$t@rd helped me it showed he too also has some good in him...
Then... one day... it... happened...
It happened when both Falco and I were nineteen years old. I was walking casually in the streets when a golden eagle and a red-tailed hawk attacked me. They were much stronger and faster than me, and I couldn't fight them even with all the strength I had. They eventually overcame me. I wondered why they didn't kill me, though, they beat me badly, almost crushing my skull and breaking every bone in my body. I had money, but they didn't take it. I had jewelry, but they didn't take it either. Why didn't they steal my money and jewelry?
What they really had in mind was not stealing my money or my jewelry, but what they were really aiming for is stealing my virginity. The eagle didn't have any interest me, so he only held me down and stripped me. And the hawk... he... he...... it was so horrible, so frightening... the screams... the cries... the voices of the hawk and eagle... those demonic eyes... his lustful glare... the curses... the pleadings, the tears... I was emotionally and physically scarred, I wanted to die... I'd rather die than be sullied!
When the hawk was finished doing his thing, Falco came in. He fought them, but he only managed to chase them away. When they were gone, it was too late. I couldn't move... I couldn't breathe... I couldn't blink or speak... I couldn't do anything but just lie there and stare.
For the next several weeks, I stayed in Falco's friend Katt's house. There, Katt gave me companionship that came from a fellow woman, probably because she knew that if I came across another man I'd either lash out or go crazy. But then, Falco did come to comfort me. I guess from there we finally befriended each other. For those several weeks I looked up to him like my big brother. He and Katt gave me food. Shelter. Of course, at the first few days I didn't eat or sleep... I just lay there, dazed. I couldn't think but only recall every single moment of the violation. Katt and Falco understood. They gave me shoulders to cry on. I gave it all out. I cried out a river that could flood the entire planet. Yet they never abandoned me. I owed them everything, everything I had. But I had nothing to give them but my utterance of my thanks.
It was not until after those several weeks when I laid my and the hawk's egg.
Of course, I was afraid, at first. I couldn't believe it, I was knocked up! I was terribly confused of what to do, whether to abandon the egg, leave it in an orphanage, or simply smash it in abortion. But no, I couldn't... I dunno, I guess it was an automatic feeling that I wanted to keep my egg, probably because I was being a mother for the very first time. I couldn't get rid of my child, my child born of hate... even before Starr hatched I grew to love him.
After Falco left for the StarFox Team and Katt for Zonessian Alliance, I no longer engaged into fights. I had an egg waiting to hatch, and I cannot take it out of my sight.
And then... he... that hawk... came again.
He wanted me. He wanted to mess me up again. I remember those words he uttered out when he ran into people in search of me: 'Where's my woman?' Of course, he didn't know my name, but he knew my body... he knew it moment he saw it. I ran.
I finally fought off the golden eagle accomplice and drove behind his ship. I didn't know how to fly it at the time, but it was the only way. I had to run away to someplace distant. I thought of escaping to Macbeth, so I jet off with my egg and headed straight to that planet. Boy, that was the biggest mistake I ever did. Why? That hawk followed me closely (and why not? I was using his friend's ship!). He literally chased me half-way across the galaxy, using up his friend's fuel. I had to make an emergency landing, but I was already too far away from the other planets.
That's when I landed in Dinosaur Planet.
Because of the lack of experience I had in piloting, I made a crash landing, therefore completely destroying the ship. I survived, of course, and so did my egg. Days passed, and I haven't encountered that hawk ever since. I was relieved. I thought he'd never find me here on Dinosaur Planet.
It was rough adjusting to live with the dinosaurs at first. I had to grow accustom to their ways of life, but before long, it became a pretty comfortable and carefree way of life, and pretty soon I felt I was in paradise. My son even hatched a week later, and I named him Starr. I dunno, at that time I've heard of the StarFox Team's great deeds of Lylat, and I guess because of Falco's company during my time of need I decided to name my son after the entire Team (why didn't I name him after that blue boy? Maybe I still hated him a little back then...). For seven years Starr grew up to be a strong, smart, and healthy boy, educated and a fantastic warrior. I felt as if I was raising what could be Dinosaur Planet's future hero.
My nightmare came true again when I encountered the hawk in Starr's seventh birthday. I thought I'd never meet him again, but it turns out he's been hiding in Dinosaur Planet all these years. I thought I might have to force myself into falling in love with him, marrying him, and letting him father our child. I was wrong. He wanted only me. My body. He was full of lust, yet also full of seething hatred. He kidnapped me in the party and violated me again in Cape Claw. That's when Starr came in hopes to rescue me, but he had front row seats of witnessing his mother's violation.
I guess it was of the boy's spirit and youthful courage that caused him to throw his spear at his own father... of course, at that time Starr didn't know that the man who was 'dirtying' his mother was his own father. For some reason, Starr chased away the hawk, running after him for hours. I lay there in Cape Claw for those few hours before I got up to look for them. Sure enough, I found Starr and his father, but at a most traumatic position. A RedEye was feasting on the body of the hawk as Starr was kneeling by the pool of his papa's blood.
Two years later, Starr brought up everything he saw on his seventh birthday. I didn't know what I should do, so I just told him. Told him everything that happened. Now he knows... and I wished I never, ever told him what happened to his mother.
***
((3rd Person Omniscient))
That night, Fox decided to walk around the forest after a day from arguing with Starr. He felt sorry and upset for the boy. He shouldn't have talked. It was painful enough already for the boy to go through his stranding on Dinosaur Planet.
Fox found a patch of grass underneath the starry sky and lay there. He felt the coolness of the grass intertwine with his fur as he laid, his foxy eyes gazing at the stars. As he watched every little star twinkle and sparkle, memories of his late father came to mind... how he showed him the stars and what it meant to be a hero. Fox admired his father for so long even after his tragic death when Pigma Dengar betrayed the StarFox Team. Whenever he was out there, fighting in a war, battling against his opponent, laying out a battle strategy plan, or simply hanging out with his Team, he would think of James McCloud. It is truly a tragedy to see that a little boy name Starr would develop a seething hatred towards his dead father.
Suddenly he heard the voices of Diva and Starr. It was Diva who spoke first, whispering to her child, "What is it?"
"Nothing, Mama. I just had a rough day."
"Oh, really?" Soft kisses were heard, and Fox smiled, knowing that only Starr's mother would be the one to comfort him.
Fox could hear movement stirring, and he assumed that it was Diva putting Starr to bed and laying a blanket over him. He then heard the boy, "Mama, can you sing me that one song?"
Which song?"
"The one you loved when you were still in Zoness."
'She was from Zoness???' Fox thought to himself.
"All right, son, but I'll have to do it quietly," Diva said. "Fox might be asleep."
"Okay."
Fox's ears twitched then lay back when he heard Diva starting to sing softly and beautifully to her son. Some lullaby. In fact, it isn't even a lullaby. It was a song composed by Edwin McCain and very well a tad bit of an old song, but it was a good one. A beautiful one, in fact. The perfect one to hear from a mother who's son was born from hate yet raised with love.
~*~ Lying here with you
Listening to the rain
Smiling just to see the smile upon your face
These are the moments I thank God that I'm alive
These are the moments I'll remember all my life
I found all I've waited for
And I could not ask for more
Looking in your eyes
Seeing all I need
Everything you are is everything to me
These are the moments
I know heaven must exist
These are the moments I know all I need is this
I have all I've waited for
And I could not ask for more
I could not ask for more than this time together I could not ask for more than this time with you
Every prayer has been answered
Every dream I have's come true
And right here in this moment is right where I'm meant to be
Here with you here with me
~*~
Fox sighed again, his eyes feeling heavy with sleepiness. What a song to sing to one's child. A song of appreciation... that's a song that should be sung from a mother to a child, the appreciation of a child born to that mother despite the chaos and trauma.
***
"Fox! Where are you?" Tricky screamed out amidst the quietness of the forest.
The voice of Falco hushed the yelling dino. "Be quiet, foo! People could be sleeping!"
"B-But-"
"Rest now, Tricky," Peppy said, patting the prince's back. "You'll see him soon enough. Now get some rest. Tomorrow's a big day."
Tricky decided to just give in and lay down. As his eyes gazed into the sky, he noticed three stars disappearing and three darks ones "shining" in their place.
((to be continued...))
Voila! Now that I've finished Chapter 6, what do you think? Please review and let me know!