A/N: The first chapter was just an introduction to Wolf. This next continues on about Wolf just a bit. The main focus on the last chapter was the flashback. I'll also introduce the old characters as well. And again this does NOT take place in the Starfox timeline.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Star Fox, Nintendo and/or Rare do.

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Chapter 2: New Beginnings

He wasn't exactly a humble lupine at first glance and he liked it that way. Those that actually saw Wolf in the forest would fear him. These are my woods! No one should be trespassing on MY property! Wolf told himself. He was sounding more and more like the hunter he encountered five years ago. Too bad Wolf couldn't remember the name. But Wolf managed to remember a distinct trait about the hunter. His eyes were not like many human eyes. Human eyes were mostly brown. The human eyes that Wolf saw at least. This hunter's eyes were blue. Not just any blue but a soothing crystal blue that even Wolf could see the sparkle in his eyes.

Wolf didn't usually leave his mansion unless it was to go to the market in Zoness. Even then he didn't stay long and he wouldn't interact with the other furs. He spent his time trying to avoid Jade. Of course if they ever did run into each other they'd exchange a greeting and sometimes even the 'How do you do' but ever since a tragedy in their relationship, Wolf had grown to despise her.

On this particular day there was a certain aroma in the air that called to Wolf. He was actually taking this moment to venture through the woods today. He'd forgotten just how beautiful the woods were. Since his incident with the hunter he'd made it a point to stay inside at all times. Wolf also carried around the dagger dropped by the hunter as well. He made sure that he could always defend himself.

There was a beautiful scent in the woods that Wolf couldn't throw away. The wind whistled a lovely tune to his ears. Wolf felt relaxed right now. The rays of sunshine that made the leaves on the trees sparkle with a sort of magic that he hadn't seen since his days as a kit.

From where Wolf was the lake of Zoness wasn't far. It was called Lake Zoness. The lake was the largest lake in the known world and was Wolf's source of water. But this time Wolf was venturing to the lake because he wanted to…not because he had to. It was unlike him these days.

As he made his way to the lake he could hear voices. Someone in the woods now? Wolf thought. No one came out into the woods this early in the morning. The sun had just now gotten to a full rise. Keeping to himself Wolf went on until the lake came into view. As the lake came into view, the voices grew louder. Some else was at the lake.

From the trees Wolf overlooked the lake. He took a breath of fresh air. He didn't see anyone at the lake but still heard voices. He kept himself confided in the woods until the voices were no more. As his eyes veered from left to right he suddenly saw who was at the lake. It was…a pink cat. But whom was she talking to?

Why should I care whom she's talking to? Wolf asked himself. It was probably better to ignore but kept his eye on her anyway. She stood there with the wind only revealing more of her outer beauty. To Wolf it didn't matter.

As he watched the one she was talking to came into view. It was…a human? Why was she with a human? The sight made Wolf little angry. He growled lowly at first but then toned it down a little. He was going to stay low for the moment. It didn't seem as if the human were going to harm her but he kept a sharp eye.

Wolf got a little closer so that he could at least make out what the two were saying. Sure he shouldn't be ease dropping like so, but then again they shouldn't have trespassed on his land, or so he felt it was.

He leaned in a little closer and tried to listen to them. He had good ears.

***

"I shouldn't be wasting my time here." Jon spoke softly to Katt. Jon was a tall man with a good build. He'd shaved his beard now and was on a 'mission' as he called it. He was wearing a red plaid shirt with a light jacket over him. His pants were a tan brown. At the time he was barefoot relieving himself on the sandy shore of the lake.

"Then why haven't you or Shane left yet?" Katt asked him. "I thought we were all starting a new life? Me here in Zoness, you and Shane go on your 'mission' to spread furry peace and love and--"

"I can't go on that mission without Shane." Jon cut in. "I'm waiting for him." He sat down on the shore watching the waves of the lake. "He seems to be having second thoughts on traveling outside of Zoness."

"Why would he be having second thoughts?"

"Seems the vulpine likes it here. Rich clean town with few problems. Beautiful furs for him. It's the perfect place for him to start a new living as well."

Katt sat down next to Jon and sighed slowly. The ocean was hypnotizing to her. "Shane can't stay here…" Katt stated. "He just can't."

"But why? I mean I'd much prefer he'd go with me but I can't control his destiny. I have about as much control over Shane as you do. After his incident in Corneria I think he'd like to get a new start on things."

"Shane still can't stay." Katt repeated.

"You still didn't answer why."

"He's a burden on me." Katt swallowed.

"Pardon?"

"He's a burden on me. He's so…him. He's changed over the course of the last few years. It doesn't feel right to have him here. I feel like he's out of place for some odd reason." Katt turned to the woods and saw a wolf in the shadows and stopped. Then it happened, the wolf's eye sparkled and then he disappeared. She blinked a few times.

"What's wrong?" Jon interrupted her thoughts. "You kind of trailed off."

"I thought I saw something in the woods."

"What was it?"

"If I knew I'd tell you." Katt shrugged it off. She'd probably investigate later on it. "It looked like a Wolf but I can't be too sure. He had one eye…and…then it…" She trailed again.

"Don't worry about it for now. Tell me more about why you think Shane is a little out of place here." Jon insisted.

"He doesn't belong in a place like Zoness. He IS out of place Jon. He wasn't even a fur to begin with. He was just a human and sometimes it seems as if he still is." She had no idea why this discouraged her.

"Don't let that get you down. You saw Shane for much more than that." Jon tried to soothe her and it seemed to be working out okay. "If there was one thing I learned about Shane's experience it's that there is a little bit of a human in every fur. You're no exception Katt."

He just had to throw that past her. "I know." Katt admitted. Katt was no ordinary fur herself. Thanks to Mia, the shape-shifting platinum vixen, Katt had the ability to change between being a human and a fur as she pleases. Zoness was her way of escaping that. She wanted to get rid of her human side, and she knew that with Shane there it wouldn't happen.

"So how is it any different from Shane?"

Katt tried to cope with herself at that moment. What was it about Shane? "Shane isn't a fur deep down inside. I was born a fur and I'm going to die as one. Shane was born a human. It just wouldn't work."

This struck Jon by surprise. "What 'wouldn't work?'"

"Forget I said anything."

"Stop denying yourself. From the moment you met Shane and interest in him was always there. Now that he's become a fur permanently you're scared, aren't you?"

"Of course I'm scared. I saw him as something else."

"You mean you saw BEYOND what he was. Forget about his past. You shouldn't be so scared of him. Shane is what he wants to be now and I think he wants you to be what you want to be as well." As Jon finished he looked into the woods and saw a wolf. His eye sparkled and he ran off. "Something is in the woods…"

The two came to a stance and started off toward the woods. They started in and it was quiet. So quiet that it seemed eerie. Too eerie in the aspect that Jon knew he saw something! It was the same wolf that Katt saw, no doubt.

They started in even further and heard the rattling of the leaves from the wind blowing. "You don't have to be scared." Katt called out. "No one is going to harm you. We wouldn't dream of it in anyway."

As they walked they looked down a path and saw a shadowy figure walking off into the distance. Before Katt could give chase Jon grabbed her arm and shook his head. "Forget about it."

Curiosity struck Katt. The wolf looked so…humble to her, yet there was nothing that she could do about it right now. Jon wouldn't let her go and she wanted so badly to follow him.

"Let's go back to the town and find Shane and Mia." Jon suggested.

***

A new life had begun for him two weeks ago. No longer human, but no longer in disguise either. He'd once been a human trapped behind the fox's eyes, but now things were clear to him and he was beginning to explore himself all over again.

Shane had been thankful for what Mia had given him. He was a black fox with a white muzzle and white tail tip. His red eye slits on his eyelids were a symbol of what he once hated and the scar across his chest showed his gift from Mia.

In a small house on the far western end of Zoness was where Shane stayed with Mia, Jon and Katt. Shane was speaking with the platinum vixen while he was decked out in his trademark black attire. He'd first given the excuse that it had to do with 'blending in with his fur.' There was no such thing as that. It was a lie and he wasn't scared to reveal himself for who he was. While the furs of Zoness were biased towards humans, Jon would be okay. As long as he stayed with Katt, Mia or Shane that is.

Mia was sitting in a chair in the middle of Katt's living room reading a book entitled "Beauty and the Beast." She'd never really heard of it before but Shane insisted that she get it and read it. It got Mia's mind off of the entire incident that had happened just two weeks ago.

Mia turned a page and then looked up at Shane who was rested in front of the fireplace. "Do you miss her?" She asked.

Shane knew whom she was talking about and didn't want to answer at first. His ears lowered and his eyes grew weary. "Of course I do. But it was for the best I guess. I'd have only caused more trouble."

"That's not true now." Mia said closing her book. "You managed to prove Corneria wrong about you and Fox didn't kill you so everything should be okay for you."

Things were looking good at least. A rather large affair had happened back in Corneria. Something that Shane was going to try hard to forget. He'd told the kits that story in a much nicer way though. It was nothing more than a love triangle. Fox and Krystal were one of a kind and Shane knew that now. He had grown to love Krystal but it didn't last. After going through such an affair, it made Shane rethink his life.

Shane had once lived in a mansion just north of Corneria. He left the mansion now and he felt that it was the best move for him. His story had a happy ending for Fox, but not for him. Shane wondered what it would've been like to spend the rest of his life with Krystal instead of being in Zoness.

But Shane no longer wanted to intervene in her life. Her heart was with Fox now and he felt that if he went back for her it would only start the cycle over again. After all, Fox had tried to kill him for Krystal. But it wasn't just for Krystal…but Corneria. Fox had a valid reason at least. Because I tried to be something I wasn't then. Shane answered himself. It haunted him a bit but he had to admit that Fox was right. Fox's job then was to protect Corneria from any sort of danger, including humans.

"Do you and Jon ever plan to finish what you all started?" Mia interrupted his thoughts.

"I don't know anymore. This seems like a good place to start over, if you ask me. I don't think I want to go with Jon. Why don't you go instead? You both better strive for the same thing. You both know that there aren't many differences between the humans and the furs and you both strive to get people to know that." Shane answered.

Mia knew Shane was right but as usual, Mia knew what to retort with. "But Shane, of all the furs and humans in the known world YOU should know more than anyone! You've BEEN a human AND a fur."

"I made a poor excuse for a human. I went off and hunted all day and had no friends. Some human life that was."

Mia didn't bother to touch that one. Shane was totally right. "But you have so much potential. Why would you want to start over in Zoness?"

Shane didn't answer her but instead remind silent. He knew that Jon wanted to leave, and soon. Shane couldn't bring himself to leave. To Shane, he'd found someone else to love.

***

Fox and Krystal had decided on starting a new life. Fox was no longer in charge of Corneria. Instead he left order to Pepper. After the Shane incident, Fox finally realized just how much time he had been spending away from Krystal. He'd make sure it would never happen again.

They had come up to Shane's mansion. The beautiful mansion with the waterfall in the back was lovely and Krystal was still awed every time she saw it.

They marched up the stairs paw in paw. When they reached the front door, Fox first checked to see if it was unlocked. To his surprise it was. Shane had just abandoned his own home and for that reason, Fox and Krystal decided to inherit everything.

As soon as the two stepped foot inside the most noticeable thing was how the mansion had looked ransacked. "What happened?" Krystal gasped. When she looked up the mural of the platinum vixen was gone. "It's all ruined!"

"It looks pretty bad." Fox agreed. "You look over the west wing and I'll look over the east wing."

They both went their separate ways, but Fox wanted a look at the east wing for one notable thing. As Fox walked down the halls of the mansion, looking at the destruction it almost saddened him. The statues of the human heroes that decorated the east wing hall were shattered…destroyed.

The art gallery didn't look so good either. All the paintings…everything Shane had done was ruined. Except the painting of the old woman. That old woman being Mia's shape-shifting form. It was all gone. Who would do this to Shane? Fox asked himself. From the looks of it, a human hater did it.

***

The west wing couldn't really be explored much. There were two places that Krystal looked. The art room and the master bedroom. The art room had been completely ransacked much like the rest. Unfinished paintings were now diminished and were ruined. Paints were sprayed all over the place and bumps along the walls. The same question Fox had came to mind. Who would do this to Shane?

When Krystal looked in the master bedroom the mirror was smashed and the shards of glass lay scattered on the ground. The shards were too big, however and Krystal got the message that there wasn't anything thrown at the mirror at all. Nothing but a fist that is. Is it an anti-fur or a human hater? she worried.

Her next instinct was to go downstairs.

***

The lower half of the east wing looked just the same as it did the last time Fox saw it. The books were still there and everything. That was only the first room. In the second room the shotgun that was on the mantle was still in place. Fox didn't even bother with the third room. He was going to assume that room was the same as well. That was what began his horrible nightmare and what made Shane seem like a burden. He quickly perished the thought.

Fox left the east wing with little exploration of the bottom floor. He walked across the main hall to the west wing and once inside he saw Krystal, staring above the fireplace. "What is it?" He asked.

When Fox walked up beside her the painting of a human was in the fireplace and was being eaten by the flames. "Only one conclusion I can come to. Human haters. It would have to be." Fox said.

The answer was likely but that made Fox wonder why the lower end of the east wing was the same. Either it was just someone who just flat-out hated Shane (a human in thought) or Shane himself. But to Fox it didn't seem as if Shane would destroy his own work.

Krystal sat down in the chair and sighed. "Is this why Shane left? Do you think?"

Fox shrugged. Anything was possible at this point. It seemed like this really was the reason Shane had decided to leave.

Fox went and sat on the armrest and tried to think. "Shane said he didn't have any friends as a human so it couldn't have been a human who did this. It would have to have been a human hater."

"But Shane was a hunter in his human life. I don't think that--"

"But that's why it would be a human hunter." Fox cut her off.

It was then that Krystal felt something in the cushion of the chair she was sitting on. She reached under the cushion and pulled out a notebook. She remembered the notebook now. On her first visit to the mansion, Shane hid it from her…but why? "Look! Shane hid this notebook from me the first time I came here."

Fox's eyes grew larger. "Maybe this can help us find our answer."

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A/N: That's a good place to stop for now I think. Readers of "Behind the Foxes Eyes" do you remember Shane's notebook? The one he hid from Krystal? Well, the answer as to what's inside will finally be revealed.