A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed, I appreciate it. Anyway, this chapter focuses on our thief (actually, thieves). And yes, this one was inspired by Disney's Aladdin. Well, let's get started.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Starfox, Nintendo and/or Rare do. Any relation to my characters in anyway is entirely coincidental.

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Chapter 2: Sly Foxes

The two foxes were swift and cunning, and now was one of those times when they needed those traits. As the light brown fox looked behind him (or bright orange, your choice) he could see that the King's guards were gaining on him. The market place was full of furs shopping and looking around for their own food and jewelry, Fox didn't do that. Instead he used stealth techniques to steal from the shop owners. Food, bread, and sometimes money. Right now his partner wasn't here and he was about to trap himself in an alleyway.

"That's as far as you go rodent." The captain of the sharp claws snarled. The captain wasn't a bad fur at heart but he did uphold to his duties. His name was Shannon and his job meant everything to him. "Come quietly and perhaps you won't undergo MUCH punishment." He emphasized the word 'much' because he knew that regardless of which the punishment would be the same.

The vulpine stared at Shannon and the two guards that had accompanied him. "All this for a loaf of bread and a mango fruit?" He looked up and saw a rope slithering down like a snake towards him. "Sorry but it's not worth it to rot in a dungeon for that!" He said and the rope was dangling over him.

Shannon and the two guards rushed toward him, but it was too late, the fox had grabbed the rope and was ascending the side of the building. "Hurry! Let's go around, we can probably find a way up the side. Don't let him get away!"

***

On top of the building, Fox looked at his partner and smiled. "Let's hurry home before they find a way up here."

The black fox looked at Fox and then to the ground where the guards were already making their way around. It wouldn't be long, and a few more guards had already appeared out of nowhere. They were all over the town and somehow, Fox or Shane had never been captured.

Shane, Fox's best friend and partner in crime, opened up a sack, "Lighten your load and give me the mango fruit. You take all the bread and we'll split up and rendezvous at 'home.'"

Fox dumped the three pieces of mango fruit in Shane's awaiting sack just as Shannon and six additional guards were on the rooftop with them. Nine total and all were angry as can be.

The two foxes made a beeline for it, Fox to the right, Shane to the left. They both jumped the roof and down to the streets below. "Don't let them get away!" Shannon called out and the guards scattered.

***

Shane came down with a soft landing in front of a fish stand. The putrid smell of the fish was enough to knock him unconscious but he didn't have any time for that right now, he could faint some other time.

He slowly began pushing his way through the crowd of people, holding on to the sack of mango fruit. He got a few grunts and furs screaming at him, but the guards were doing far worse. They were, literally, trampling all over everyone if they didn't move. The only thing that mattered to the guards was getting Shane.

As the crowd parted for the guards to come through, Shane had already hidden himself in an overly large basket. Not to dark as the weaves in-between allowed light to penetrate its thin surface. He'd probably be safe for the moment. From inside he could see only four guards. The immediate question was "where was the captain?" Thinking could wait however; first he had to ditch the guards.

'Stop moving!' his mind told him. If he moved too much it would give him away. But it was hard not to make some sort of motion.

Shane's breathing began to soften a little; his heart was still pacing, however and each second seemed longer than the last. He began to think he would be found. When he looked through the weaves there were no guards, so he assumed the coast must be clear.

As Shane started to open the top of the basket a sword had pierced it and the blade was right in front of Shane's eyes pointed straight at his nose. The sword was repelled and Shane ceased his motions in opening the basket. A part of him wanted to turn the basket over and begin rolling along, and another part wanted to stay put.

The sword didn't pierce a second time, thank goodness. He heard footsteps running past him. He slowly climbed out of the basket. He put back on the top but as he did so he felt someone grab his shirt and whip him around. To Shane's dismay, it was Shannon. Not good.

"You'll spend a long time in the dungeon for this!" Shannon growled.

Shane stepped on his foot but that didn't seem to hurt him at all. Now Shane kneed him and that proved much more effective. Shannon let him go and groaned in agony as Shane ran off. 'Regroup at home.' He kept telling himself.

Running through the market place as well as the kingdom of Cerina proved to be a marathon for Shane. He'd be lucky to reach the outskirts where his home was.

Shannon trailed closely behind him as Shane ran up the stairs along the side of another building. The four guards followed him up the stairs and into the vicinity of the home.

No one lived in the home but that's not to say it was the best place to hide. Shane hid himself behind a curtain by the window. The windows had no glass or anything of the sort. There was nothing there, but it wasn't like Cerina ever got cold anyway.

'Only one thing left to do.' Shane thought to himself and let him fall backwards. Before the guards could notice him he'd already began to plummet head first to the ground below. Still, Shane landed on his feet.

The four guards jumped out the window after him, despite the fact that Shannon had ordered them not to.

Continuing down the street of Cerina, Shane was starting to loose them. He was faster and more agile, which gave him the advantage. He ran up a pyramid of boxes, letting any tumble behind him, anything to get the guards off his back. One crate managed to knock one guard out cold.

Shannon continued his sprint to freedom it wouldn't be long now.

***

Fox was having a few problems of his own at the moment. Shane was faster, but Fox was much more stealth like. As he bounced off the cloth of one of the booths in the market place, he quickly hid himself in the shadows of an alleyway and watched the four guards pass him by.

He knew he couldn't stay, the shadows were a good place for hiding but his fur didn't blend in. The vulpine crept out of the shadows and made a dash down the street, keeping his sack in tow. He jumped into an unoccupied booth where he hid for another moment. The guards were marching up and down the streets looking for him. Fox was lucky that these streets weren't nearly as crowded as the streets that Shane had ventured off to.

As Fox hid, he helped himself to a small piece of bread. Sure he had no butter, but at least the taste wasn't bitter or stale.

He slowly made a dash for the other end of the street as fast as he could. All this time he felt calm and collected. If his nerves were racking that meant he was sure to fail. He couldn't afford to be nervous.

Fox leaped in a jar headfirst and it fell over. He curled himself up and somehow managed to look down and see if any of the guards were watching for him. No guards seemed to be looking. Actually, they'd all stopped in their patrol. Fox then decided to stand up while he was still in the overly large jar and begin his own little trek. Whenever he felt the presence of a guard watching he dropped and curled up again.

Fox was slowly making his way through the streets of the market place. Stop, drop, curl, LOOK! Fox was very cautious, as he did this every few seconds or so. He finally decided that he should just run for it. After all, the guards would have to take the jar off of him in the first place. Still keeping the sack in tow he made a dash for it with only the sight of the ground to guide him.

Like out of a cartoon he kept running… until he bumped into something but he didn't seem to feel the impact and for that he kept on 'running' away from his pursuers. When he finally realized he was in the same place he stopped. Without warning the jar was suddenly floating off of him and he was staring a sharp claw in the face. He grinned widely.

Fox scurried under the sharp claw's legs and ran off. Witnessing that his prey was getting away the sharp claw tossed the jar without a care in the world, which in itself was a bad idea. The jar landed on one of his comrades.

Fox made a mad dash through the market place. He'd soon be to the outskirts.

Soon Fox came to what seemed like a dead end. There was a door but it was locked. He jiggled the handle of the door just a little bit and pretty soon it just swung open. On it's own? Not particularly.

A young vixen that looked a lot like Fox screamed at the sight of him. Fox didn't seem to notice, nor did he care as he bolted through the door followed by three guards. There was no back door and so the only thing he could rely on were the stairs to take him to safety.

On the second floor he looked out the window. It wasn't a long drop and he could now see Shane making his way through the streets. There was a close line leading from the window to the other building. What choice did he really have?

He grabbed hold of the close line and made his way across swiftly and landed in the other home. Carefully, letting his teeth carry the sack (bread really isn't heavy) he made his way across. There was a hound with two little pups and they all screamed as he ripped through the curtains of their home. "Sorry, I didn't mean to--ow!" Fox screamed when he felt a broom hit him in the back. He almost dropped his sack, but knew he couldn't afford to be caught now. He made his way to their window and without a single thought as to what was below he jumped.

***

As Shane continued his run he could hear the voice of someone above him shouting, "Look out!" and by the time he looked up it was too late. Fox had already landed on him and the guards now had them. Shannon along with at least seven other guards looked at them with displeasure.

Shannon smiled, "Well, well, well, it looks like we have you now." The guards surrounded them.

"I guess so huh?" Fox smiled.

Fox's smile made Shannon's fade as barrels were dropped on each guard one-by-one. Now what?

Fox and Shane looked up and saw a human…a thief? Standing in the window. A bearded man. He looked at the two foxes and smiled and waved them off. It wasn't the first time this man had saved the two, and somehow they knew it wouldn't be the last.

***

Fox and Shane were on their way home, walking through the main road of Cerina. The road that they followed home all the time. It was either straight to the outskirts where they lived or straight to the palace. There wasn't even the slightest thought that they'd ever wind up at the palace, but it was always nice to imagine.

The main road was crowded with people. For what? As the two made their way through they saw why.

A coach was passing by with two horses pulling it along. "What do you think is going on?" Shane asked.

"Another suitor for the princess I suppose." Fox eyed the carriage. A Frisbee landed in front of the carriage and two kits ran by and tried to grab it. As you might have guessed, two kits coming from out of nowhere scared the horses to death.

The young bear cubs looked up at the horses, stunned with terror; they couldn't find the will or the strength to move.

The horses calmed down just as the door on the carriage opened and a gray wolf stepped out. The wolf had a patch over his right eye. He looked pretty mad. For his first action he walked up beside the horses and decided to comfort them a little. "Did those mean 'old' cubs scare you?" He talked to his horses so lovingly and with a grin on his face.

Once he turned to the cubs, however, that grinned turned into brimming hatred. "Cubs like you shouldn't be playing in the middle of the street!" He walked up to them and grabbed their Frisbee. "Instead you should play some place safer!" He flailed it out of the way. The Frisbee didn't get too far before Fox caught it.

The wolf then reached for his whip, ready to lash the cubs. "You need some discipline!"

As he cracked the whip, Shane had appeared just in time and he received a blow to his face. It left a scratch, but luckily it wasn't hard. "Who do you think you are!?" Shane screamed. "They're just cubs they didn't mean any harm!"

Wolf was disappointed this black fox had stepped in his way. "You best learn to stay out of the business of others, or I'll make sure this whip takes off your head!" Wolf shoved Shane aside as he made his way back to his carriage. The two cubs got out of the way as the carriage continued toward its destination, The Palace.

Fox gave the cubs their Frisbee back, but the cubs were too scared with fear to even urge the slightest "Thank-you." Fox looked at Shane and sighed. "Come on, let's go home."

***

The sun was slowly dipping behind the mountains to the west. The sky was now a golden yellow and the perfect sunset. It was beautiful and exactly what Fox and Shane needed at the moment.

"Some furs can be such assholes sometimes!" Shane huffed.

Fox had stuffed another piece of bread in his mouth. "I know what you mean. But you can't let it get to you."

Shane knew he was going to say something like that. "Another suitor for the princess I guess. Every prince that comes to town is a jerk."

The two walked to what was their 'home'. An abandoned adobe building. The walls were a clammy violet color with several cracks. They didn't have a door on their home but they had a raggedy blanket. That could be a door, right?

The outskirts were where all the thieves and outlaws lived. They weren't usually welcomed in the heart of the Kingdom. The King had made it that way, and for that Fox despised the King. Shane didn't seem to care much. Shane liked the action and the thrill of getting caught.

They went up the stairs of their home. Everyday it seemed to look worse and worse. "This isn't going anywhere, Shane." Fox sounded.

"I know. There are some things that the rich don't want to see." Shane agreed.

"You'd think they'd want to help some of the poor get back on their feet! But they don't see poor furs. They see only what they want to see. We're either beggers or thieves."

"I'd take the life of a thief any day." Shane replied as the two sat down. "If that damned King of ours didn't spend so much time giving MORE money to the rich…"

Fox was about to hush him, but he knew that Shane was right. The King of Cerina didn't tax the rich he taxed the poor. If you had your own booth in the market place you weren't taxed. If you didn't, you were. There weren't that many jobs open up. You could help someone run their shop and get paid a low wage or you could forge weapons. Some wrote stories that sold pretty well. But what it came down to was that there was a barrier in Cerina. You either had money or you didn't.

Shane wasn't even done yet. "One day, one of us thieves will be King, you'll see. The King doesn't see it but we do. We know what's going on. Those in the palace don't see this part of the Kingdom. They only see what their eyes lead them to see. You think any rich fur would come around here? No!"

"They won't open their eyes." Fox closed his eyes.

Fox then remembered something. It was a little unimportant and was way off subject but it had been bugging him. "Who is that human?"

"What human?"

"The one who saves us all the time? When we get into trouble, he's usually there to save us."

Shane rolled his eyes. "Oh, him. He owns a shop in the market place. He sells necklaces that he makes himself. His name is Jon. He's one of the few who actually SEE us for who and what we are."

Fox smiled. "Not many humans here in Cerina."

"Yeah, but when they come they're more than welcomed. Any fur will do anything to help a human get on their feet."

Fox took out some fruit and cracked it on his knee and gave Shane half. "They won't do it for us though. They look at us and won't do anything about it. The gap between the rich and the poor only grows."

Shane sucked on some of the juices and licked his lips each time. He looked out the window and eyed the palace. It was a beautiful sight. From the window the marble was golden brown and it always dazzled Shane. "What do you think it would be like to live there?"

Fox had dreamed of a life in the palace before. It was one thing that every commoner wanted, but wouldn't get. The King or Queen either appointed you or you had to be a Prince to live there. "Well, we'd never have to live here ever again. We'd have all the food we want… plenty of servants waiting on us hand and foot."

"Hey Fox," Shane wondered.

"What?" Fox hummed.

"Have you ever actually SEEN the princess before?"

The question caught Fox off-guard. "I don't think anyone has… why?"

"Imagine what SHE has to be like. Her father is a self-centered jerk who only cares about getting money for the inner kingdom. Greed runs in everyone's family. Imagine how bad it must be!?"

Fox laughed, "Shane, one day we're actually going to be there!"

"Yeah, in the after-life."

"No, I mean it. One-day people will address us and KNOW who we are. We won't just be 'those two thieves'. We'll actually be Fox and Shane."

"You mean Shane and Fox. You're the sidekick remember?"

Fox smirked. "The Princess can't be that bad, is my point. Remember what we read about the history of Cerina?"

"You mean Mia?" Shane recalled reading of her.

"She was the greatest ruler that Cerina ever had. Any girl would die to be her, ya know? What if the princess is one of those girls?"

"We'd be better off. But Mia lived over 100 years ago. She's long gone." Shane stated and laid back. He noticed Fox hadn't had any fruit. "Are you going to eat that?"

Fox didn't even realize he was holding it anymore. "I guess I'll save it for breakfast."

Shane pulled a blanket over him. "Do what you want, I'm going to sleep."

Fox looked at Shane and then to the palace. Just before Shane drifted off into dreamland Fox had said once more: "Someday that's where we're going to be."

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A/N: Pretty long chapter. Next chapter we'll see just how Krystal is dealing with this forced marriage and we'll also see what kind of character she is as well as Wolf.