Star Fox Adventures and all its characters are property of Rare and Nintendo. They are used without their consent and well.. shrugs
Just read on.
All right, I just wanted to apologize beforehand for the long delay between the last chapter and this one. School has kept me very busy and progress has been slow overall, but... Let's not even go there instead...
So, just to clear some things up, as you know, chapters 1 through 9 are the first story part, chapter 10 is mostly like a prologue to the second story while chapter 11 is like the passage between the prologue and the actual story and if you ask me, here is where we actually start to put things into perspective...
The Fox and the Vixen - Chapter 12 - Unplanned Vacations.
Alkurm... There better be a place here that I can repair the ship or we are going to be in serious trouble... Fox paced around the cockpit of the Great Fox as Wesley stood impatiently by the glass in hopes to see his beloved. Krystal kept her sight fixed on Fox, who to her, looked troubled at the situation and she couldn't blame him. Judging from how he was feeling back at the time of the Venomian war in Corneria this should have him more stressed than usual.
The mission has dragged along endlessly. At first, it was just to recover and take back a lost pilot, from which the request to look for another ship came. Fox thought on it and didn't seemed like such a big deal, what could go wrong? -- But if only he knew... On the way to where Wesley had told them they were ambushed, for the first time in their lives, the Great Fox crew had to retreat miserably, not once had this happened and this had Fox on his nerves to say the least. Even though that was the last of his problems at this moment.
"We are nearing the signal," Slippy announced, "Less than a minute away." At his comment Wesley got even more impatient and started to jump slightly which made Krystal let out a small giggle at the sight.
Wesley turned around and was about to come back at her but the sight made his mouth remain widely open and hanging down. Krystal, at the change in his facial expression surprised her and turned around to look ahead to see the reason of his surprise. Fox somehow took notice of the sudden silence that came after than and joined them too.
Slippy brought the Great Fox to a stop in front of the disaster that stood in front of them. It was a small piece of land surrounded by water and upon it were at least three or five ships strewn in pieces and a small mother ship also pretty wrecked up, all visible thanks to the headlights of the Great Fox as it was already pitch black outside.
"Angela..." Wesley muttered in dismay as Krystal padded closer to him and laid her right paw upon his left shoulder.
"Don't give up, I'm sure she must be okay. At the very least we should go down and ch- Hey! Wait!" Krystal tried to comfort him just before he went into a mad dash to the lower exit of the ship in order to survey the scene.
"Come on, let's get going too," Fox said as Krystal nodded in responder before they followed Wesley through the Great Fox. When they finally caught up to the arctic fox he was frantically yelling all over the place. Fox took a few seconds to look at what he could of the Great Fox, and it indeed looked in a bad shape...
"Angela!" He shouted with all his lungs and waited no more than two seconds before sending out another "Angela!!!" into the air. He waited another second and attempted a third time, but after that he sunk to his knees in the floor and laid his head down. "Please..." He muttered, "Answer me..."
Fox and Krystal nodded to themselves and started to move the scrap from the ships away and started to look not only for the source of the signal but for any life signs. "What are you... doing...?" Wesley asked in a dark, sad tone.
"Looking for any life signs of course. You should try helping, maybe we can find someone," Fox said back at him as he tried pushing a rather big heap of metal away under the spotlight of the unmoving Great Fox.
"Why... It will be in vain... You are seeing this scene, it's unlikely someone survived..." He didn't lift his face at all, he still remained as when he first fell.
Krystal couldn't understand the fox at the time. She knew that if something ever happened to her Fox would go crazy looking for her, she was completely sure of it, but if this fox claimed to love the lynx as much as he did, then why was he giving up now. Her face angered up a little as she walked closer to Wesley and stood in front of him.
Wesley, at the sight of her feet found the will to look up, but was quickly forced to look at a side as a loud slap brought the attention of the red fox to watch what had just happened.
There, in the middle of the scrap stood Krystal with a paw straightened out to a side and Wesley's head looking to the other side. The arctic fox brought up a paw to his cheek. "I can't believe what you are saying!" Krystal shouted at him.
"Wha..." Wesley, still in disbelief looked up at her.
"You claim you love her so much. You told us about many times you were together and how much you cared for her. You even say she was the reason you joined the Liberian Army and yet..." she paused, "And yet you don't even try searching for her!"
"Krystal..." Wesley muttered back.
"You can't say for sure she is dead. So what if this place isn't the best place to be, you were also attacked and managed to survive, what makes you think she couldn't!"
"I-I..."
Fox walked closer and placed both paws on Krystal's shoulders. "She makes a very valid point here, you know?"
Wesley stood up and Krystal started to visibly relax as her breathing and face complexion returned to normal. "I'm sorry for that Wesley, but you left me no choice in your current state."
The fox shook his head, "No, I had that one coming. Thank you, Krystal." She smiled to that. "Come on, we should head to the remnants of the mother ship. The signal must have originated from there."
"That Krystal..." Peppy muttered to himself from inside the cockpit.
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"Well, this place doesn't looks so bad on the inside as it did from the outside..." Fox exclaimed as they entered the blackness of the mother ship. Several wrecks in the outer hull allowed some of the light that the Great Fox produced to filter through. The current situation wasn't of some much problem for their innate night-vision trait.
"The main computer room should be down here..." Wesley announced, "Damn, it's blocked." A pile of scrap blocked the only entrance to the room.
"Hold on," Fox said as he pulled out his blaster and started to send off a few shots at the metal, blowing up some pieces here and there. "Ok, now, lets try to pull it out of the way. Wesley, take that side. Krystal, help me over here," he said as the three foxes worked in union to move the obstacle.
"Now that that is out of the way, lets g-- Angela!!" Wesley scram in horror at the sight of his girlfriend strewn upon the floor of the chamber. He quickly rushed to her side and much to his content, she was still breathing. Her clothing was torn up in various places and several spots were stained with blood. Her fur was mangled up but thankfully, it seemed like she didn't had any lethal wounds.
"Angela! Angela! Answer me!"
The lynx stirred up very slightly and opened an eye. "Wesley? Is that you?" He grabbed her right paw and stroked her head reassuringly.
"Yes, it's me. Everything will be fine now, just hold on."
"I'm so glad... you came... I could barely..." She stopped there.
"Angela!" Wesley shouted as the vulpine couple in the back took a few steps closer.
"She is still alive, but her vital signs are weak. We should get her back to the Great Fox quickly and have ROB treat her while we get her to a hospital."
Wesley picked Angela up and started to walk at a faster pace as they headed out. Please hold on... Please hold on...
----------
The trio of foxes ran frantically through the hallways of the Great Fox as they made their way to the med room. As they ran, Fox pressed one of the buttons on his wrist-comp and yelled into it, "Peppy, Slippy, anyone, send ROB over to the med room, quickly!"
Slippy answered back from the other side, "Ahead of you Fox, he is already on his way."
Wesley heaved a sigh of relief as he heard that. "Thanks, Slip," Fox's voice cut through his thoughts as he then closed the link to the cockpit of the Great Fox. "Just bend to the right here and we are there."
Just as Fox said, Wesley turned around to the right and entered the only room in the vicinity, only to be surprised by the presence of ROB.
"Please lay miss Angela in the table," he ordered in his robotic voice as Wesley complied without question.
Fox entered the room and led Wesley out of it. "It's best that you let ROB work." At Wesley's expression he quickly added, "Don't worry, ROB has treated us many times and we are as good as new, she is in good hands."
Wesley took a few seconds to think on it but believed in Fox's words and headed out. "You should probably go rest, it's getting late after all."
Wesley shook his head, "No, I'll wait here."
Krystal was about to protest against that but Fox motioned to her not to. It was Wesley's decision after all to remain here and both knew he wanted to see her the first minute he could. Both Fox and Krystal started to walk away.
----------
"I'm going to make a quick stop by the bridge and then gonna grab something from the cabin," Fox spoke as they walked through the gray-colored hallways of the Great Fox. "You rather meet me in the room or follow?"
Krystal hummed, "I'll meet you at the cabin, I'll fix up some quick late dinner," she kissed him in the cheek before they parted ways.
Fox entered the cabin only to find Slippy sleeping in his chair. He approached him and nudged him in the shoulder. As he stirred in his place and opened an eye, Fox spoke, "You better sleep in your own bed or you are going to end up with a sore back. Don't worry about the Great Fox, there's nothing we can do right now."
It took Slippy a few seconds to grasp all that in, "Oh ok, thanks Fox," he said before standing up and groggily walk away. Fox chuckled at the sight before he jumped on his seat, brought his terminal to his side and typed in a few things. After a couple of seconds he left his chair and the cabin altogether; making his way down to the cabin.
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"Gotta love your idea of late dinner," Fox laughed as he entered the cabin, looking at one of those 'instant' pizzas one could prepare in just matter of minutes.
Krystal, who was currently in the kitchen section, turned around, "Well, I did said quick late dinner and you know I can't cook really well," she said adding the finishing touches to their 'quick dinner'.
Fox walked to her side and helped her bring the plates to the nearby table, "I don't have anything against it, but that's pretty much what everyone has as a quick, late dinner back in Corneria. You just nailed it," he pulled Krystal's chair for her to sit down once he had placed down the plates. Once the vixen took her place, he sat in the chair next to it.
They started to eat quietly after Fox had poured both of them a drink. They continued in silence for a few moments before Krystal broke the silence, "So what happens now?"
Fox raised a finger in wait because he had a piece of a slice inside his mouth, after a few seconds he gulped it down and answered, "I pretty much don't know. For now, we have to find a place in this planet that can hopefully repair the damage the ship suffered, or at least patch it good enough to reach Liberta... After that, it's pretty much up to the Liberians on what to do, since Peppy did asked of us to assist them..."
Krystal pondered on that a little, but before she could speak, Fox added, "But don't worry, for now, I suspect we are going to have to remain on this planet for another day or two. I asked Wesley about this place and he said there are a few good things here, even though it's mostly desolated."
Krystal cocked her head to the side, "So we are taking an unplanned vacation?"
Fox's eyes sparked up, "Hey, now that you mention it, that's a nice way of putting things," he paused. "I suppose you are right though. This will give time for Angela to recover as well."
At the same time, the cerulean vixen had finished her last piece, and Fox did as well. "I hope she gets better soon. Wesley... He seems to be very attached to her, especially because of the way he acted when he thought it was all over..."
"By what he told us, he really seems to care for her," Fox said trying to stifle a yawn. He looked at the clock in the wall to his right and read 11.38 PM. "It's getting late, we should go to sleep."
The vixen yawned behind her paw as she looked at the clock. She looked in surprise to find out it was this late already. She sipped down the last of her drink, the same as her dinner partner and both stood up taking the dishes back to the automatic washer in the kitchen and left the cabin, paws interlocked.
As they walked through the corridors, Krystal stopped at an intersection, "You think we should go with Wesley?"
Fox shook his head, "It's best if we let him be for now. He has much to cope with right now." Krystal nodded.
"You are probably right," she stifled another yawn under her left paw. They continued walking through the dull corridors before they stood in front of the entrance to Fox's room. The door slid open automatically and both entered. As their paws left their embrace, Krystal entered the bathroom while Fox started to change into his sleeping clothes, which consisted on a pair of green boxers and a white shirt.
He walked to the window of his room and gazed to the stars in the atmosphere. After a few moments Krystal entered the bedroom once again, now in her sleeping cloth, a full-length, sky blue nightgown. Fox turned around while Krystal walked towards him. They kissed briefly and after a "Good night," from both, they crawled into bed and went to sleep.
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In the other end of the Great Fox, Wesley had started to walk impatiently in a straight line from one place to another and backwards. Time seemed to slow down in where a minute seemed like an hour to him.
He couldn't take much more of this. He was about to head inside the room but just before he stood in front of the door, it opened and ROB was at the archway. "Subject Angela is now recovering from her wounds. She will need rest for a day or two before she is fully operational again," ROB spoke.
A smile crept its way into Wesley's face in less than a fraction of a second as he heard this. "Ca-can I see her?!" He asked anxiously.
"Affirmative," ROB answered, "Be sure not to disturb her much, she isn't fully recovered yet and is very weak." The robot moved out of the way and Wesley entered the room. ROB left after that.
Wesley knelt next to the bed were Angela laid. She wasn't looking that bad. Most of the wounds she had were hidden under bandages, and some were stitched with perfect precision. Wesley took one of Angela's paw between his own and kissed it gently. "I'm so glad you are okay," he sighed in relief.
Angela stirred slightly in the bed. She opened an eye and tilted her head enough to see her boyfriend there. "Wesley," she spoke in a low, faint tone.
The arctic fox looked up at her in surprise, with a face that spelled joy all over the place. "Shhh, don't talk. Just lay back and rest."
If Angela could shake her head, she would have done it. "I-I'm okay... Sort of... But... Where am... I?" She managed to ask.
Wesley stroke the back of her paw reassuringly, "Don't worry. We are inside the Great Fox, the ship of the Cornerian squad that was assigned to rescue us. We are currently on Alkurm, still in front of the place where we found you."
Angela sighed as much as her current situation allowed her to, "What about... the rest?" She asked.
Wesley shook and hung his head, "There was no one else. You were the only one we found inside the mother ship, the rest of the crafts were reduced to nothing but scrap metal..."
Angela laid her head back, somewhat shocked that her whole squad was reduced to only two in just seconds... "What is... the Liberian..." She started to speak but Wesley cut her.
"Don't worry about that now. First comes your health, then we can worry together about what the Liberian Military has to say about this," he kept rubbing the back of her paw affectionately, "For now, just try to rest. I'll be here if you need anything," he smiled to her as he stood up, placing her paw to her side before kissing her in the cheek.
"Thank you, Wesley..." she muttered before she passed out. Wesley knew it was for the strain, so he didn't worry. He grabbed a nearby chair, placed it next to the bed and laid his head next to hers as he tried to sleep.
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"Krystal..."
The blue vixen stirred slightly before opening an eye. She quickly opened the other as she found herself in a void of darkness. "What? Where am I?" She asked to no one in particular.
"Krystal..."
"Who are you?" She snarled, entering into a fighting stance in her place.
"Do not fear," the voice repeated and a faint figure encased in a blue light appeared in front of them. Krystal receded back into her normal stance, if only a bit agitated. "You, who come from the long chain of Cerinians possess powers you are not even aware of," the voice went on.
"Powers? What do you mean...?" Krystal took a step closer, slightly intrigued by this subject's words.
"Us Cerinians have possessed a special kind of powers ever since we came to be, and so have the Inferians."
"Inferians... Those black foxes? Who are they?" Krystal asked, forgetting about this 'power'.
"For centuries, Cerinians had been fighting a war with the Inferians, the inhabitants of the only moon of Cerinia," he started. "The reason of the conflict was forgotten long time ago, both races fighting only as their hearts told them too to follow their heritage," he spoke.
Krystal nodded dumbfounded, not really getting all of this, "Then perhaps it were the Inferians the actual culprits for destroying Cerinia?"
The figure nodded, or so Krystal thought, "In a matter of speech. Inferians were skilled in mind affecting abilities, such as switching themselves with another entity, or simply taking over it if their will is too low, this is how they made this Scales destroy the planet, as well as by taking control of several Cerinians who had become aware of their plans."
Krystal hung her head, Then, Scales wasn't really guilty... I always wondered about what he meant when he, or whatever possessed him said that it wasn't over yet... I suppose this is what it means... "But why are you telling me this?"
The figure shook his head, "You will see soon enough, for now, remember that you alone are the last hope of the Cerinians to win this conflict, you possess powers that can rival those of the Inferians. I'm saddened to admit this, but when we found out that you had these powers, we thought about raising you as a fighting machine..."
To say that Krystal was shocked at the sudden explanation would be an understatement. "So that's it? I'm no more than a fighting machine?!" She yelled.
The figure shook his head once again, "In the end, we didn't do anything. But have you not found a reason for your life?" He asked; Krystal knew exactly what he was talking about.
"Fox..." She whispered, "But still..." She lowered her head.
"Focus Krystal, whenever you two are in a dire situation; focus, and you'll know the meaning of your power," the aura encasing the figure faded, leaving a tall, blue fox dressed in a white robe with a red cape on top, lined with several golden trims. "I'm sorry I can't tell you more, but you'll figure it out. You always made your father proud..."
Krystal raised her head in a heartbeat, recognizing the figure immediately, "Fa-father!" The figure started to walk away from her. She tried to pursue him, but as hard as she ran, she never seemed to get closer. "Father!" She called, "Father!"
"I'm sorry, Krystal..."
----------
"Father!" Krystal jumped into an upright position in bed, jolting awake the fox sleeping next to him. She was panting heavily, making her chest rise and fall violently and visibly, even in the darkness that shrouded the room.
"Krys," Fox stifled a yawn, "You alright?" He asked.
She turned around to look at his worried face. She smiled vaguely and nodded, "Yeah, don't worry... Just... Just a bad dream, we'll talk about it tomorrow," she answered.
Fox sat next to her, placing his left paw over her right shoulder, "You sure? We can talk right now if you wish to," he offered.
Krystal shook his head, placing her left paw over the one Fox placed in her shoulder, "Yeah, thanks for offering, but don't worry."
Fox eyed her carefully but sighed in defeat, "If you say so," he said but never laid back. He waited until Krystal started to lay back before following her. And in the end, she was able to fall asleep, if only after so much thought on whatever the dream meant...
A special power... That will help me protect myself and Fox...
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A faint knock in the door to Fox's room made the russet-gold fox stir in his sleep. He opened an eye and blinked a few times to clear the blur of his vision before a second set of knocking came with a faint, "Fox?"
The fox carefully removed his arms from around the vixen's body as he moved out of bed and went to the door, where he found Slippy, "What is it?"
"Peppy says breakfast is ready and Wesley is going to help us find a place to fix the ship."
Fox nodded, "Great, we'll be down there in a few moments." Slippy acknowledged that and walked away. Fox headed back to his bed where Krystal still laid sleeping. He nudged her slightly in the shoulder to wake her up. After the third try, she finally opened an eye.
"Come on, we have to get ready. Breakfast is waiting for us and after that we are moving in search of a place to repair the ship," Fox said as Krystal sat upright in bed, stretching out with a small yawn.
"I guess I'll head to my room to get ready, see you at the cabin in a few moments then?" She strolled in front of Fox.
"Of course," they kissed briefly before Fox grabbed a quick change and entered his bathroom while Krystal put on a bathrobe and headed outside the room, making her way to her own.
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Fox was sitting in one of the chairs near the counter in the kitchen as the door slid open, from which Krystal entered a second later. She smiled at Fox, who was wearing a pair of black pants, with a plain white t-shirt and seemed to be waiting for her to eat together. Krystal was wearing a pair of blue jeans with a somewhat tight black blouse, topped off with all her usual accessories; you know, bracelets, necklaces, the jewel in her head...
Fox got up and walked around the counter and pulled two dishes covered with a silver plate on top of them. Krystal sat in the table and Fox placed a dish in front of her and the other next to it. Krystal took the silver plate on top off to reveal a couple of pancakes lined one on top of another. Fox took the time to head back to the fridge.
"Milk or juice?" He asked.
Krystal turned her to the side, "Milk please," she answered as Fox nodded before pulling off a carton of milk and pouring down two glasses to the brim with it. He put the carton inside the fridge again and walked back to the table, setting a glass next to Krystal's plate and the other next to his as he sat down.
They started to eat in silence, and after about fifteen minutes, they were done. "Who made breakfast by the way?" Krystal asked as she helped Fox place the dishes in the automatic washer.
"Peppy."
"Remind me to thank him later for a great breakfast then," she smiled before they started to head up to the bridge.
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The metallic doors slid open as the vulpine couple entered the bridge, where Slippy and Peppy were already checking through some stuff.
"Sorry for the delay, where's Wesley?" Fox asked.
"Right here," came from behind them. "Sorry, I was just checking on Angela to see if she needed anything."
Krystal's smile faded slightly as her expression turned into a worrisome one, "How is she doing?" She asked as Wesley started to head down the stairs.
"Good," he smiled, "Very good," he reached the base of the stairs before Fox and Krystal headed down as well.
Jumping in his chair, Fox brought his terminal to his side, "All right, lets get going with this..." he said. "According to the maps we were given, these should be our current coordinates..." He said typing a few things.
Wesley walked closer and looked at the screen. He nodded looking at the overhead view of the planet. "If I remember correctly, the biggest settlement here in Alkurm should be about..." he brought his paw to his chin. Two seconds later he snapped his fingers, "About one-hundred-ninety miles to the east of here."
He seems like a totally different fur now... Fox thought before he snapped back to reality, "Err, sorry, about two-hundred miles or less to the... east right?"
Wesley nodded, "Pretty much, give or take a few. I haven't had to come here very often actually."
"Setting straight course towards the east of our current position," Slippy announced from his terminal, "Given our current situation, we should be able to make it in..." he paused, awaiting for ROB's input.
"To avoid mechanical failures in the ship, the speed must be decreased. Increasing travel time to approximately one hour, twenty-five minutes," ROB finished Slippy's sentence.
"Lets get moving then," Fox said typing a few things in his terminal before the Great Fox started to hum from the engines starting up as the metallic mass hovered over the ground. After a few more seconds it elevated to about a hundred miles above the surface; and with a small lurch, it turned around, and once it was pointing to the east, it started to move forward; at first slowly, but gradually picking up the pace. But still slower than it could normally reach.
"Fox," Peppy spoke from his chair as Fox turned to look at him with an inquiring face, he continued, "I'm afraid this will drain most of our resources unless we ask for an advancement pay, and you know how Pepper is about that..." he trailed off.
Fox sunk his head in his paw in thought... "True," he lifted his head, "But do we have any other choice than repairing the ship? If something were to surprise us again, you know as well the ship won't make it through..."
"You are right," Peppy said in defeat. "Let's just try to stay out of trouble for a while..."
Fox jumped off from his chair, "Tell that to whoever attacked us," he smirked. "Well, take some time off you two, it's not like we can do much in our current situations, and the repairs might take a while, so use this time to wind off," he said as he started to walk up the stairs.
"Catch you in a few," Krystal whispered to him as he passed by. Wesley had taken the set of stairs on the other side of the bridge and left the room slightly before Fox. She turned around to the frog, hare and robot. "How much do you think we'll be in this planet?"
Slippy turned around in his chair as he shrugged, "Honestly, can't say for sure. The damages are quite extensive in the outer hull..." He motioned to the monitor behind him giving a general status report of the ship, in which several areas of the outer hull were flashing red. "At the very least, a day or two," he spun around in his chair back to the terminal.
"Why do you ask?" Peppy asked from Krystal's side.
"Oh, no particular reason, just wondering," she smiled before she started to stroll towards the exit of the bridge.
Krystal walked through the inner hull of the Great Fox, not really paying attention to where she was going... That dream... I doubt Fox had it as well... Perhaps, no... She shook her head. I suppose he is down in the cabin. I better tell him about this. She took a few seconds to figure out where she was before making her way to the cabin, where sure enough, he found Fox looking through the window, seeing the surface of the planet pass by.
He turned around, but before he could say anything, Krystal spoke. "Fox, about today in the morning..."
Fox walked towards her, leading her to one of the couches in the middle of the room where they sat, "Yes?"
"Did you had another dream?" She eyed him carefully.
The russet-gold fox shook his head, "No, the last one I had was the one about the war scene. Why? You had another dream?" He asked curiously.
She nodded weakly, "Sort of... Now I know the real culprits of the demise of my planet... The black foxes, the Inferians were actually behind it..."
"What did you saw in the dream?"
"My father..." A tear dwelled up in her right eye, "My father spoke to me. He told me about several things on Cerinia and the Inferians..." She decided to leave the part about her powers out of the subject for now, she still had to find more about it first.
Fox carefully wiped off the tear from his eye, "But how did they managed to destroy your planet? I mean, I saw some parts of it on the fourth dream, but I still have no idea what that was about," he declared.
Krystal sighed, "All I know, is that Inferia was a moon of Cerinia, in which these black foxes lived. My father didn't tell me of the reason, he said the purpose of their fighting had been lost in time, but that the Inferians possess a certain type of mind controlling abilities, which is how they managed to get Scales to do part of their bidding."
Fox laid back in the couch. So in the end Scales wasn't actually the real culprit... But even if he was being possessed, he still gave a hell to her... "But what is all that supposed to mean?" He asked, but before her answer came he quickly added, "I mean, why now?"
She shook her head, "I don't know. My father just said that, and then he faded away. I tried chasing him in vain and that's when I woke up."
Fox was about to speak but the door of the cabin opened at the time as Wesley walked in. Fox decided to keep silence; no sense I'm mixing up someone else about their dreams for now.
"Oh, sorry, didn't knew you were here," Wesley said and started to backtrack.
"Ah, don't worry," Krystal announced, agreeing with Fox's thoughts, "We were just talking," she smiled.
Wesley stopped in his place, "Oh, Angela seems to be doing ok and is sleeping right now, so I decided to head up here for a while," he started to walk towards the couple.
"So how is Angela doing?" Fox asked, trying to steer away the conversation from their previous topic.
"She should be able to come along with me into land once we reach the settlement, besides, she needs to get a new set of clothing for now," he said. Her current attire, was, well, torn in several places from the hits, cuts and scratches she suffered on the 'landing' of her ship.
And so they continued making small talk until the last hour to reach the settlement passed by, at which time Wesley headed back to the med room to get Angela as Fox and Krystal waited for them before boarding off.
----------
Fox was already waiting by the exit before Krystal came running, "Sorry for the wait."
"Oh, don't worry, they aren't here yet," he noticed she had her staff attached to her right thigh, as she did in previous times. He frowned, "Why are you carrying your staff?"
She smiled, "You never know," she declared casually.
Before Fox could retort to that, Wesley and Angela came from around a corner. Angela still seemed slightly weak and was using Wesley as a support.
Krystal was the first to speak, "Nice to see you are feeling better. You were looking pretty bad when we found you," she smiled.
Angela, the light brown, light tan furred lynx with dark brown stripes had her ears plopping down to the sides. She had several bruises along her body, some were barely visible by now, others were still cicatrizing. Her current attire, consisting on a pair of baggy pants with a camouflage design and a green t-shirt were torn up in several places. Her grey boots were intact however. Overall, she didn't looked as best as she could, that's for sure.
"Yeah," the lynx replied a little weakly, "Thanks for rescuing us, hmm..." she paused, not knowing their names.
"Oh yeah, this is Fox," Wesley pointed at the russet-gold furred vulpine, "And she's Krystal," he pointed to the cerulean furred vixen next to him.
It WAS part of the mission... "Glad to help, I guess," Fox said.
"Well, are we ready to head off?" Krystal asked.
Wesley looked around, "What about Peppy and Slippy?"
"Peppy will head down later, Slippy says he wants to help with the repairs," Fox answered as they started to head down the ramp.
Fox and Krystal were walking in the front while Angela and Wesley exchanged a few words behind them, "So what are we doing here anyway?" Angela asked to her boyfriend.
"We were attacked as well while nearing the planet and forced to come down, so they are going to repair their ship, and in the meanwhile we have a day or two to 'cool off'," he answered, "Besides, we have to find you some clothing."
Angela looked down at her clothes, sure, they were quite ragged, but she couldn't fight the temptation, "Oh come on, don't tell me you don't like seeing so much fur exposed" She teased him.
The arctic fox blushed visibly under his white coat, "Oh I don't have problems with it," he smiled, feeling slightly more relaxed, "I just don't want other furs to keep staring at you," he said. She laughed, laying her head on his shoulder.
The settlement was all that awesome in reality. It was pretty much in the open air, and the place was mostly arid. The Great Fox was stationed inside a hangar, which was in fact the only building of considerable size in the whole place. On each side of the roads you could see a few hover cars fly by, or various shops, houses, small buildings and the like.
Strangely enough, for a mostly arid planet, the air blowing by was actually refreshing. Fox and Krystal turned around waiting for the other couple to catch up, "So," Fox started, getting the couple's attention, "Any good places to visit here?"
"There's not much here in Alkurm unfortunately," Angela answered, "I was thinking of heading down to one of the clothing stores I know around here to, well... " She gestured to her current outfit. "It's not too far away, about a minute or two."
"Might as well tag along if you don't mind," Krystal said.
"Not at all," Wesley said before they resumed their walking. They continued to stroll by, making their way among the furs that they crossed paths with, Angela ignoring any sights she might be getting. There were several posts lined up by the sidewalks here and there, most of them stocked with stuff such as souvenirs, antiques and the like. While the planet had some advanced technology, yes, it seemed to be one of those who kept their customs in check.
"Here," Angela announced as they walked by a large building. They followed Angela inside. The place wasn't really busy at this time, putting aside the personal, there were only three or four furs browsing by. The place was pretty much like any clothing apparel outlet, several rackets, shelves and such with as many designs as you can think. A black female panther passed by dressed in a red, knee-length skirt and a red vest. She was about to greet their new customers before she spotted the lynx.
"Angela! Look at you," she exclaimed, looking at her from top to bottom, examining the various bruises and what not, "What happened?"
She waved her paw, "Ah, just a bad day at work," she smirked. "Think you can find my anything good to replace this?"
"Certainly, please come this way," she say as Angela let go of Wesley's support and started to walk towards her, "Wesley, you and your friends can feel free to browse through to see if you like anything," she offered.
"Thanks, Luna," Wesley answered as the panther and the lynx walked away.
"I guess I'm going to go and look around," Krystal announced as she started to walk around the rackets.
"I better try to find something, I only have this set of clothing with me and, well, you never know," Wesley said before he went to the shelves and rackets containing all of the male clothing trying to find something suitable both for him, and his species.
Fox shrugged, he didn't really felt like searching for clothing right now. He had a closet full of various things back in the Great Fox, so instead he just say down in one of the chairs near the entrance of the store. He typed a few things into his wrist-comp, making a small screen with several numbers flash. The numbers started to decrease with every number he inputted into it. "Peppy was right, if my estimate is right, this is going to kill our funds..." He sighed. He kept going through several figures before Krystal showed up sporting a long white skirt that in the left reached past the knee and was open on the side all the way to near mid-thigh and the right side only reached down to the knee, enough to cover the strap where her staff rested, she also had what looked like the combination of a vest and a top, in white color as well.
A strange combination perhaps, but it looked nice on her as Fox complimented, "Looks pretty nice on you," he smiled.
"Really?" She asked and Fox nodded in response, "This place is pretty cheap in comparison to Corneria, I swear this would be at least thrice the price back there," she smiled looking at the tag from the side of the skirt.
"Hey, you look pretty well in that," Angela commented as she came from behind, wearing a pair of blue baggy jeans, a white t-shirt and a red vest, still with her grey boots. "Let me repay you for rescuing us by at least getting you something while you are here," she said.
Krystal shook her head, "Nah, you don't have to worry, I was just browsing through."
Angela shook her head in determination, "It's the least I can do for you, besides, I can really tell you like that outfit," she said, and boy was she right.
Wesley came from the side, "You better comply; if there's something to know about her, is that she is very determined," he said as a smug smile appeared in Angela's face.
"Well, I won't deny that I like this, but..." Krystal looked at Angela, who still had that smug smile, she knew by then that she indeed wouldn't give in, "Oh alright, I won't be able to talk you out of it, now could I?"
The couple shook their head in unison. "Come on," Angela said, "Lets pay for these things," she finished as Krystal followed her.
After a few moments they came back, Krystal holding a bag with her previous attire which Fox promptly carried for her. They left the building and started to walk around. "So, anyone hungry?" Angela asked.
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And so the day went by, going from place to place, looking at all the antique and souvenir stores here and there. Night was starting to roll around, and Fox's wrist-comp read 6.49 PM, but he wasn't sure if it was the same time here as in Corneria, he just knew it was getting late.
They were starting to find a place to lodge themselves. Angela, who seemed to know quite a bit of this planet took them to what in her opinion, was the best hotel in the settlement. The building, or at least the first floor was a rather large lobby. After entering, if you kept going in a straight line you would hit the counter eventually, on the left of the entrance was a lounge area that had several couches, a large plasma TV and a bar attended by a brown Shepherd. On the right of the entrance was a small fountain surrounded by several chairs. Slightly north from it was a set of stairs. On the far left were three elevators with several attendants from the hotel standing by and on the far right was an exit.
Fox pressed a button on his wrist-comp and opened a direct link with the communicator Slippy had, "Hey Slip," he called and awaited for a response, which never came. He let go of the button and pressed it again, trying again, "Slippy? You there?" And no answer came either.
Krystal looked at him with a slight hint of anxiety. "What's wrong?" She asked.
Fox let go of the button in his wrist-comp, "I don't know, but something's wrong. Slippy's not answering my call, let me try Peppy..." He pressed another button, "Peppy, you copy me?" ... No answer as well. Wesley and Angela walked closer.
"Maybe we should head back," Wesley offered.
"Ah, don't worry, we'll be gone and back in an instant, come on Krys, lets go," Fox said.
"Right, be sure to get a room for use while we are out," she said as she sprung after Fox, leaving the complex.
"You think we should follow?" Angela asked a few seconds after they left their line of sight.
Wesley nodded, "Definitely, but can you run?" He asked.
"Yeah," she answered flexing her right leg, "I'm feeling a lot better already, come on, lets go after them!" And they dashed as well, heading back to the hangar...
Alan: And finally!
Krystal: You sure took your own sweet time doing this.
Alan: You know, school and all that...
Krystal: Yeah yeah... You know, you said you weren't going to torture me in any way in this story and yet you make me go through nightmares with the image of my father...
Alan: Oh come on! That's not torture! -- I prefer the term trauma or something like that...
Krystal: Why you... Starts chasing Alan around with her staff
So anyway, hope you liked this chapter, and once again, sorry for the excessive delay. I'll try to bring the next installment a lot sooner considering I only have this and two more weeks of classes before I'm out. So yeah, thanks to Wesley for the character of Wesley Halbred and the variation of Angela Cross. And as usual, to all my readers.
If you notice any typos, discrepancies (Like calling a planet wrongly Rolls eyes) or stuff like that, please let me know. Also, any constructive (read people, read: constructive) criticism, feel free to leave me a review or a mail. Flames; well, of course I'd prefer to avoid them, but alas, if they are necessary, please send them to my mail directly. Thank you.
I'll see you all next time!
Signed as usual,
Alan "Gray Fox" Quirino - grayfox2510 (at) hotmail (dot) com
Until next time!
Wait for next chapter for an actual title.