Of Past and Future: The Tale of a Traveler

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox. Period. Any characters you do not recognize most likely belong to me.

Chapter 9- Morning

Plenty of Serena in this chapter. Plenty talk, not much happenin', unlike in following chapters. You just wait..

*** Skysoar´s POV

Skysoar was awakened by a loud knock on the door. He opened his eyes.. or tried to. His right eye seemed to be glued shut. More knocking followed by a muffled female voice.

"Master Sky? Are you awake?"

Skysoar shook his head and managed to open his left eye. "Hrnf?" He was too sleepy to get anything sensible out of him. The banging stopped.

"Master Sky? 'Tis Serena. I brought you breakfast. Can I come in?"

Skysoar blinked to himself. Serena? Ah yes, the barmaid..

"Give me a second!" he called out, grabbing his trousers off the bedside pile.

*** Serena's POV

Serena had to blink her eyes some times to make sure she was not seeing things. Master Sky had opened the door suited only in his leather trousers. His chest, covered in a layer of short blue fur, was slender but very strongly muscular. As the distance between them was only some feet, Serena could see all the muscles in Sky's arms and torso move under the skin. She was sure he did not have an ounce of fat in his body. She was a good three inches shorter than him..

Serena realized she was staring and blushed furiously. Master Sky made a small bow and motioned with his right hand.

"Good morning, milady. Forgive me for the wait- you woke me up and I had to get some clothes on, for modesty's sake. Please, come in."

Serena could not hold back a smile. "Good morning, master Sky. Please, stop calling me 'milady'. Everybody calls me Serena."

Sky smiled at her, his golden eyes glittering at her.

"Milady Serena, courtesy requires me to call you 'milady' if you call me 'master' or 'milord'. I will call you Serena if you call me Sky."

Serena just looked helplessly at him. "You win, m.. Sky."

Sky smirked at her, baring rows of sharp teeth. "I always win, Serena." His expression turned suddenly serious. "Arch, but where are my manners? That tray looks heavy. Let me take it. Please, come in."

Sky took the tray from her and set it on the table. That gave Serena a good view of his back muscles. They were in just as good condition as the rest of him.

Serena scolded herself silently for behaving like an obsessed teenager and forced herself to look somewhere else.

Sky had left his travel cloak on a hook next to the door. He had left his jacket neatly folded on his bed next to his gauntlets.

"Serena?"

She snapped out of her thoughts, meeting Sky's golden eyes.

"Have you already eaten? There is more then enough food for me and Cloudkeep, and it would be a shame to waste any."

She was about to refuse politely when her stomach emitted a low growl.

"I- well.. Thank you, Sky."

Sky just smiled at her.

"Please, help yourself to it, Serena." He took a loaf of bread and broke it into two halves, handing the larger one to Serena.

"Sha´nara´chra deln."

Serena blinked. "Excuse me?"

Sky looked confused for a second. "Arch, sorry. An old ritual of my people. 'Blessed be this meal.' It is supposed to bless the meal and those who eat it." He took a bite out of his half.

"Oh. Well.. Thank you."

Sky actually made honor with a sausage. "You are very welcome. Hold on.. Cloudkeep is awake."

He rose to pick the child up from the bed.

"I hope you will not mind. I will have to feed her."

"Of course I won't mind.", Serena answered.

Sky proceeded to carefully feed Cloudkeep some soft meat and milk. The way he handled the child seemed so natural to Serena; he had a firm but obviously gentle way of treating her. She was so small compared to his strong arms..

"May I ask how old is she?" Serena asked in a low voice.

"I am not entirely sure, Serena" Sky answered, patting the child gently on the back. "She got her first teeth just recently, but she is not moving by herself yet. I would say she is maybe some four months old."

Serena was shocked. Four months? Traveling with a four months old child.. She forced her voice to stay calm.

"May I ask why is a four months old child traveling all around Cerinia in the middle of winter?"

Sky eyed her carefully, golden eyes glittering in the morning sunlight.

"I see you are truly worried for her. Very well. I had been instructed not to give this information away, but you seem trustworthy."

Serena nearly blushed again. "Thank you, milord."

Sky smiled shortly at her. "You are welcome. You will have to remember that may speak with no one- no one- except with me of this. And stop calling me 'milord'."

"The father of the child- a very distant relative of mine- is of noble blood among my people. The exact translation of the title would be meaningless to you, so I shall just refer to him as the lord. The health of the lord has been faltering lately, and he has no other children besides Cloudkeep. As it is believed that the lord- Dachar bless his soul- will not live to see the next summer, and Cloudkeep will not be able to claim her heritage for years to come, the political situation has become a rather sticky one."

Sky stopped to have a sip of water.

"The nearest relative of the lord would be his cousin, a slimy, back-stabbing rat- figuratively speaking, of course; calling him a rat would be an insult to all of rat kind- who happens to think the position of the lord would fit him quite well."

Sky's deep voice had gained strength. Not volume, but pure strength.

"There is only one thing between him and the throne. Cloudkeep, who would inherit the throne when old enough. I received a request from the lord himself that Cloudkeep should be brought to safety beyond the reach of any attempts against her."

"I was traveling with her in a caravan when we were ambushed by bandits. Long story short, I managed to escape with her- and had to wait for two long months in a mountainside cave for a passing caravan in order to get here."

Serena was nearly speechless. "Someone.. would try to kill her? Someone would assassinate a four months old girl for a title? What kind of monster.."

"The cousin of the lord" Sky interrupted. "He is widely known for his lack of any kind of moral -and for some rather.. unusual.. desires, which I could not converse of with a lady- but know this."

His voice had been stripped of all warmth it had held.

"I know his face. Ridding the world of him would be a service to all of us. Should I ever come across him, I will come prepared."

He motioned with a hand to the wall next to his bed. Serena gasped when she realized what was hanging on the wall. Above Sky's boots had been set hanging off some leather straps the largest spiked mace she had ever seen. The handle of the weapon was as black as the starless night with some silvery decorations, and nearly as long as her arm. The end of the mace was a round, black chunk of metal larger then both of her hands balled together, adorned with lethal, silver-colored spikes, all over an inch long.

"I will be prepared.." Sky rumbled almost to himself "..And so shall be the Stormhammer.."

That was it, then. Some breakfast conversation, right.. Wait for chapter Ten. That one will have action.. not THAT kind of action, mind you. I do not think that I will need to translate just a single Draconian sentence, so I will not bother.

See you next chapter.. One more thing. See the little menu below on the left? Pick 'submit review' and push the little button. Leave me a message after the beep. Flame me an' I'll sic Skysoar on you.