Two Brothers
Staris
"It was that point what I realized I had done, I had given Fox to a darker power. But, it was the right decision…right? I mean, I did the right thing?"
-Sal Chon
I awoke the following morning and I looked over at Vixy, her entire form looked tired and I smoothed out the fur on her face as she opened her eyes.
"Hey James." She moved closer to me and I looped an arm around her as she buried her face in my chest fur.
"It's eighteen years, Vix." I said and she looked up at me.
"James, have the police stopped looking?" The awful truth hit me and I held back the sadness, it gathered within me with the other sadness and I pressed it down.
"Yes, they closed the case a few years ago…I just didn't have the heart to tell you." I replied and she started it cry.
"James, why didn't you tell me?"
"I couldn't." That was all I could say and I felt her tears leak through my fur as I held my mate tighter. It was winter and snow fell outside as school was out, it was Christmas Vacation, an Earth tradition. It had somehow melded with my society and now we took it off. I gently ran my tongue over her face and tried to comfort Vixy as she wept but it was no use; Vixy pushed away from me as she threw the covers off her. I watched as she sat on the edge of the bed, her black fur glinting dully in the dim light of the late afternoon. Her face was buried in her paws and her tail spasmodically twitched on the bed as I moved next to her. I placed my paw on her knee but she did not respond to it and her claws came out, she swatted at me but I caught her paw and she looked at me. Her eyes were blood shot and tears ran down her face as she lowered her muzzle.
"Dammit James, damn the animal who took Fox to Hell. I miss him so much." She whispered and I rubbed her paws until the claws retracted.
"We still have Staris, he will never leave us." I said and she nodded, she gathered her nightgown to her form and I walked out into the hallway as I checked to see if my son was awake. I gently eased the door to his room open and he was lying on his side, his eyes closed and his arm under his head. I walked toward him and I touched his paw as he awoke.
"Hey dad." He sat up and I squeezed his paw.
"Staris, do you what today is?"
"Eighteen years, for me and since my brother was taken." He replied and I nodded.
"Yes, your mother is terrified of losing you."
"JAMES!" I heard Vixy's scream and I immediately ran into our room, she held my Comm in her paws and her jaw was quivering as I sat down beside her.
"What Vix?" She wordlessly handed me the Comm and I looked, on the plasma screen was a picture of our lost son, Fox. He was obviously sleeping on a bed, only his face was showing and his expression was dark, like something was troubling him. "Did I receive a message as well?"
"Yes, but it's in a language that I can't understand." She replied and there was a message written on the bottom of the screen.
C'est lat'lo sariso…ratlo f'ajko. It was in the ancient language of Venom, I couldn't believe anyone spoke it anymore. I haven't had to use the language files in my neural implant in a long time; it reminded me of an old enemy.
"What does it say?" Vixy asked and Staris walked in.
"Hey dad, whatcha got?" He asked and he saw the Comm in my paws. "Hmm, he is like a son to me…my old enemy." He said and my jaw dropped.
"What did you say?" I asked and Vixy also was confused as he smiled slightly.
"I've been playing around with my neural implant and I uploaded some language files that were in your space on the PC. I didn't know what they were until now." The neural implant was standard for all Cornerians when they were born, they were surgically put in but the newer models far outdistanced the older ones.
"What are they James?" Vixy asked and I put down the Comm.
"Ancient Venom, it's rarely spoken anymore. I had to use the files when the last Venomian-Cornerian War, that was when I took down Andross." I said and Staris sat down next to me. "When Andross was taken down he was replaced by his apprentice, a female panther. I had a few encounters with her, she must be the one who took Fox or she had someone else take him and now she is raising him." I said and I took the Comm. "Fox, I will find you."
The panther slowly walked down the hallway of her craft, her claws glistened in the dark light and she purred quietly as a door slid open at her presence. Fox was sitting with his legs crossed on the floor; she had stripped him of everything and left him alone for a week. It was the first test that she required.
"Fox, it is over." He remained with his eyes closed and his paws in his lap, his tail twitched from time to time and his claws were out. "Fox, respond to me now." She ordered and he looked at her, his blue eyes stared intently at the panther and they burned with a fire.
"Master, have I passed?" He asked and she placed her paws behind her back.
"No, you have not." Fox did not ask why and he lowered his muzzle as. The panther sighed; Fox had been a difficult prospect, having been able to resist everything she tried to make him do. "Fox, I can feel you are resisting me, why is that?" She asked and the male waited awhile before answering.
"It is not my nature to kill like you have asked me to." He whispered and the panther bent down so that her muzzle was close to his.
"Fox, you will kill when I tell you or you will lose your life to me." She whispered in his ear, her voice was dark and deadly. "I will be most disappointed if I have to kill you Fox." She continued and Fox closed his eyes again.
"Master, who would you replace me with?" She laid her paw on his head and her claws came out, they gently eased into his head and blood ran through his fur as Fox did not flinch. She withdrew her claws and slowly licked the blood off them as Fox made no move to clean his head.
"I wouldn't. Fox, you have passed this test but I have a far more important one. Look at me, now." He opened his eyes and she squatted down. "The last Venomian-Cornerian War was before you were born, almost twenty years ago. Andross, my Master, was taken down by a Cornerian war hero by the name of…" She stopped and reworded her sentence. "Andross was taken down and Venom was shamed greatly. The war hero presently has a son and a mate." On her back under a cloak that the panther was wearing she drew out his blade. "Take this, kill his mate and then return to me."
"Where do I start Master?" Fox asked and she gave him a data pad.
"Map of Corneria, the target's residence and other coordinates are loaded on. But we need to change a few things first." She took his head with her paws and kissed him fiercely. Fox was taken aback but soon he gave in and their tongues mingled as one of her paws drew a needle from a pouch in the cloak. She slammed it into his calf and Fox let out a muffled moan as she pressed him to the floor. The panther broke the kiss and she licked the blood off his head and his face as he struggled against the nerve drug. The nerve drug was only temporary but it would work long enough for him to complete his task. "Shh, just relax; it will all be over soon." Fox was a fighter and he did his best to resist but it was too much and his eyes remained open as he lost consciousness. The panther smiled a rare one and she watched as his physical persona was changed, his orange fur became dark, the white vanished to be replaced by red and his eyes changed to black, thoroughly changing his appearance. She ran her paws through his fur but then stopped, physical interaction would be inappropriate since she was his Master.
At least until later, yes later.
Sal Chon awoke and his neck was sore, he straightened up and rubbed it thoughtfully with a paw.
Damn seat, I need to get better padding. He thought and Sal booted up the console of his fighter, he was still close to Titania but he wanted to leave that place. His conscious started talking, which was odd since he had suppressed it quite a few years ago.
Sal…why did you give him to Talia?
Dammit, I didn't have a choice. She would have killed me and Fox if I didn't.
You could have stood up to her; you could have released yourself from her grip.
What the… who the Hell is in my head? The voice stopped and Sal Chon thought he was going crazy.
"Christ…" He typed in coordinates and Chon's craft vanished as it warped to Venom.
Vixy lay on the bed with the Comm clutched in her paws as she gazed at her lost son, her muzzle fur was matted with tears and she tried not to cry again. It was useless and she wept for her son as she held the picture to her chest. Her clothes consisted of a wrinkled shirt, pants, and no shoes.
"Fox, I miss you so much, why were you taken?" She writhed on the bed and fell onto her side as there was a knock on the door. Vixy quickly dried her eyes and placed the Comm beside her as she sat up. "Yes, come in." Staris walked in and he sat down beside his mother as he frowned.
"Hey mom."
"Hey Staris, come here." He moved over by him and she embraced her son as he arranged her hair neatly.
"Mom, have you been sleeping at all?"
"No. Fox has been on my mind and I can't get it out of my head that he has died."
"Died? Where the Hell did that come from?" Staris asked and Vixy shook her head.
"I don't know, Staris…I really don't know." She said and the snow fell harder, night was falling and there was a knock at the door.
"Can I come in?" James asked and Vixy nodded as he sat down with his family. "Staris could you leave us?" He nodded and walked out of the room as James moved over to his mate. "Vixy come here." She did and he gathered her up in his arms.
"James, I feel that Fox has been killed somehow."
"Vixy, why are you thinking that?" She didn't respond and he nuzzled her face as she closed her eyes.
The black entity eased through the snow under the cover of night, it camouflaged his fur effectively and he crouch walked through the snow as he came to a window. The male looked through it and his enhanced eyes roved the room, there were no occupants and he drew his blade as he sliced a hole with the keen blade. He removed the glass and slipped his lithe body through as he dropped to the floor silently. The vulpine assassin kept his blade out and he eased the door open of the room and he looked through a dark hallway, a light was coming from underneath two of the doors in the hallway and he drew out his data pad.
He scanned the screen with his eyes and found the target, she was with another life-sign and he kept his back to the wall as one of the doors was open as he listened. His sharp ears picked out music and the assassin poked his muzzle into the room, Staris was on his bed with his eyes closed with a pair of earphones on. The assassin crept over to Staris and he held the samurai sword over him; the assassin stopped though and he could not drive the blade to kill the fox. He silently spun the blade and he slammed the hilt on Staris's head as he knocked the vulpine out with one hit. His muzzle went limp and it opened slightly as the assassin touched his face with a gloved paw.
Why do I feel like I know you? Why can't I kill you? He thought and the assassin walked out of the room, he walked to the other door and placed his ear against the door. There was no sound and he kicked the door open, the sword was up and he saw his target with another fox.
"Who are you?" The male asked and he leapt up, a blaster in his paw. The female target saw the assassin and she leapt off and cringed in the corner as James raised the blaster.
"I have come to kill her." The assassin said as he pointed the blade at Vixy. "I have to kill her you must understand me."
"She's my mate; the only one that is going to die is you." James said and Vixy took a step forward.
"James, please don't let him kill me." She said and the assassin smiled.
"Vixy, just stay back." James asked as he took a few steps back. The assassin raised his blade but could not avoid the stun beam nailed the assassin in the chest. He gritted his teeth and fell to one knee as James kept the sustained beam on him as the assassin seemed to brush it away. He bent the beam with the blade of his sword and yelled as he sliced the weapon in half. James rushed the assassin and they fell to the floor as he lost the sword, the black figure took out a knife and slammed it into his side as James screamed. They broke their entanglement and James clutched his side as crimson liquid flowed from his wounded side.
"James are you ok?" Vixy asked and the assassin picked his sword up as he threw the knife with a lightning move, it was a human blade and composed of metal. Had it been a Cornerian energy blade, Vixy might have been killed right there; the blade drilled into her upper right chest and missed her heart by mere inches. She fell to the ground with a scream and James rushed to her as the assassin spun his blade.
"Vixy!" He yelled and she was screaming as the knife dug in with a serrated edge. "Don't move, it will only make it worse." He said and the assassin raised the sword.
"Now you will both die." He said and there was another voice.
C'set tnoi'loty salchi'no latoly. You have no power to take someone's life assassin. The figure turned and Staris had a prototype energy sword in his paws, the blue blade hummed lightly in his paws and he walked into the bedroom as the assassin turned.
D'eso tatioly falsot, eseto esto? Do you want to die as well, my little vulpine?
"You will leave my parents alone." Staris said.
"Staris, no, get out of here!" James said and Staris did not back down.
"No, I will face this assassin who comes to kill, now come on." He said and the assassin paused.
"Staris…I feel as though I know you as…if you were my brother." The assassin said and he lowered his blade. Staris also paused but he launched an attack with a yell, the assassin blocked it and threw him back.
"Die you bastard!" Staris yelled and the assassin blocked the blade strikes as he kicked Staris in the chest, the fox flew back and the assassin sheathed his blade. He pulled a blaster and shot out the window of the bedroom, he started to climb out when police sirens sounded.
"We have the house surrounded, don't make a move or we will fire on sight!" A voice yelled and the assassin looked back at James. A Comm was in his paws and it was on the emergency band as James smiled.
"I'm sorry; I can't let you leave here."
Tesa's ginot merlot'd. Walls do not confine me. The assassin said and he drew his blade, Staris was rising and he whipped the blade into the young fox, slicing him across the chest. Staris fell with a scream and the assassin dashed off the way he came.
"Staris!" James yelled and he struggled to get to his son. The slash was serious and blood was already running down his chest. "Staris, say something!" James yelled and a few seconds later, the paramedics rushed in.
"Sir, stay calm, are you hurt?" A female feline asked as he stood up.
"Am I hurt! Dammit get my family out of here and to the hospital!"
"Sir, calm down, keep your stress levels low." She tried to calm him down and James touched his side, it was slick with crimson liquid and he calmed himself down.
"Get me to the hospital." He said and they carried his family out as he lost consciousness in the ambulance.
The assassin's fighter shot over Corneria and he engaged the cloaking device, the fact that he didn't kill the vixen weighed heavily on his mind. He thought about Staris, he looked so familiar and he hoped he didn't kill him.
Fox, you needed to kill that vulpine, your nature is to kill!
No, I couldn't. My nature is not to kill; my Master will kill me though when she finds out. Plus the vixen might be dead anyway since I did hit her pretty close to the heart.
She is not dead, you know she is not dead Fox McCloud.
Listen whoever the Hell you are, get the Hell out of my head.
No, I am your conscious and you need to listen to me you stupid son of a bitch. The panther will be your downfall, you have to get out, get away from her.
Don't you tell me what to do; you are in my mind and only in my mind, leave me alone! Fox yelled in his mind and the voice was silent. He set the ship on autopilot and looked at his paws, they were entirely black and the nerve drug was wearing off. They began changing and his physical persona was changed back to normal, he shook violently for a few seconds and then the only sound was the fighter as he looked at his paws.
Fox, just get back to your Master. He said and he leaned back into his seat. His fighter broke the atmosphere of Corneria and he input the heavily encrypted coordinates of his Master's ship. His craft vanished and space was bent, broke, and shattered even as colors of the Light Drive melded into his vision.
I walked with my mate, Vixy, in the park and our two kits ran around as I had my arm around her. She smiled at me and I kissed her briefly as we watched our kits run around us, they laughed and we sat down on a bench as I looked at her.
That's how it should have been, but the scene faded and was replaced by the assassin, his pitiless eyes stared at me and I tried to back up as he drew his blade. It was dripping with blood and his black clothing was covered in the crimson liquid as he walked toward me. His footprints left blood on the floor in the shape of bloodied paw prints.
"I have been ordered to kill your mate but you will have to do." His words were in the ancient language of Venom and I took a few steps back as his blade was raised, he let it down and I felt heat travel across my neck. I fell to the ground and blood exploded from y neck as the blade cut me again, I felt I pierce my chest and he smiled at me. "Never take a life in vain but in passion."
I opened my eyes and a breath came into my lungs as I shot up, a scream shot out of me and I felt wires in me. I ripped them out and a human nurse tried to calm me down as I looked around wildly for my son and mate.
"God dammit let me go!" I yelled and she took out a needle. I quickly took it and I threw it across the room as I pushed her away. "Don't touch me!" I yelled and I leapt off the bed as I was in an isolated room. "Where the Hell is my family?" I asked and the nurse held up her paws as she slowly approached me.
"They are in another room, now just calm down and relax." She took out another needle and I bared my teeth, the human took a step back and I unsheathed my claws as the doctor came in, he was also human and he must have been used to dealing with hostile Cornerians.
"James, I'm not going to try to subdue you. What do you want?" He asked as he motioned for the nurse to leave.
"Don't you fucking humans listen! I want to see my family!" All the suppressed emotion was coming out from Fox being gone for eighteen years and the human doctor nodded.
"Ok, follow me." He said and we walked down the hall, my shirt was gone and my bare paw pads hit the floor silently as we walked down the hall. I was still seething that the nurse had tried to subdue me and the doctor stopped me. "Now, I'm sorry about the nurse. Please if there is anything, ask for Dr. Leo." I nodded and we walked into the room. Vixy lay on the bed, her eyes closed and my son lay next to her in another bed. I rushed to them and the doctor pulled a clipboard from Vixy's bed. "She has sustained a serious injury above her heart but give her a few days and she will recover fully but with a scar that will not go away. Now your son, he is a bit of a different case, his wound is very serious. One of his lungs was punctured, one of his ribs was shattered and it has pierced his heart. He is only here as a waiting room, the surgeons should he ready soon."
His Comm beeped and he looked at it, I saw him punch a few buttons and four medics came in, they were mixed Cornerian and humans and they took my son to the operating room.
"Will he be ok?" I asked and the doctor sighed as he slipped the clipboard back into the holder on Vixy's bed.
"We will see." He replied and the doctor walked out of the room. I pulled up a chair and I took Vixy's paw, she stayed asleep and I kissed it as I felt tears come to my eyes.
"Vixy, Staris will come through, I know he will." I felt tired and I rested my head by hers as I fell back into a troubled sleep.