As Zane stood up from the bed he slowly flexed and felt multiply joins pop and squeak as they moved for the first time in a week. After a few moments of stretching Zane began to feel more like himself so he donned his cloths that had been left out for him. As Zane dressed himself he noticed that the doctor stayed in the room and continued to jot down notes as he observed Zane.
"Ever heard of privacy doc," Zane asked as he slid a solid black shirt over his head.
"I have but I need to make sure you are one hundred percent before I allow you off the ship."
"So you watched me get dressed," Zane asked slightly annoyed.
"The process of clothing oneself requires a great deal of coordination, so by observing this process I am able to discern a great deal more about your condition."
"I thought you did that by pissing me off doc," Zane asked with a grin.
"There are many tests that I do to discover my patients state of health."
"Kind of low tech if you ask me but hey what ever floats you boat or fly's your ship or whatever you furs say," Zane laughed as he sat down back on the bed. "So I never asked what your name was."
"True," the doctor nodded in agreement.
"So…" Zane paused and stared at the Shepard.
"So what," he asked in return.
"Aren't you going to tell me your name," Zane muttered.
"You never asked," the dog barked back.
Zane stared for a moment before he burst out laughing. "Well I guess you're right, so in that case what's your name"?
"Robert Hawthorn," the Shepard said quickly.
"Well Doctor Hawthorn I can't say I've enjoyed my trip here but I can say I enjoyed meeting you," Zane said as he extended his hand out.
"The same is like wise," Hawthorn replied as he took Zane's hand and shook it firmly, "May we meet again real soon."
"Hopefully under better circumstances doc," Zane said quickly.
"Very true," Hawthorn said laughing as a knock came from the door. As they both turned to face the door a pair of guard foxes entered and motioned toward Zane. Zane gave a quick nod to Hawthorn before he departed with the two foxes. As Zane exited the room he was ushered down the plain metallic halls as fast as possible. After what felt like an eternity to Zane, the two foxes lead him into a small room that contained a fox in a captain's uniform and a silver-blue metallic doorway with pale white light flashing within it. When Zane caught sight to the door he backed up a step shaking his head vigorously.
"I'm not getting in one of those again," he stated quickly as the two guards moved to block his escape.
'Don't worry I have had the ship's tech crew look over this one so that no mistakes will be made," the captain said with a toothy grin, Zane just stared at him.
"If you would rather my guards do a full strip and body cavity search instead," the captain said softly while the two guards flanked Zane.
"I think I'll go with option a then," Zane muttered worriedly as he stepped toward the scanner. As he entered the doorway a low buzz filled his ears as the machine revved up. Zane bowed his head and closed his eyes as a light tingling sensation covered his whole body and the light grew bright enough to be seen through is eye lids before it winked out suddenly.
"That wasn't so bad now was it," the captain asked sarcastically?
"No guess not," Zane muttered as he stepped out of the scanner. A low rumble ran through the ship and Zane turned to look at the captain.
"Nothing to worry about, we've just landed on Corneria, guards please escort our guest to where he is to meet the fine furs he will be staying with." Both guards gave a quick salute and nudged Zane toward the door. "A moment with one of you," The captain muttered as Zane exited the room. "Make sure you drop that things possessions off at quarantine." The guard gave a salute before he exited the room.
Fox fidgeted in his seat while he tried to find some way to eliminate his boredom. "Any reason we came so early for this," he muttered under his breath.
"Intersystem travel is a little imprecise Fox, you should know that," James muttered as he shifted in his seat.
"What ever," Fox muttered as he trained his eyes on the door across the room. After another moment the handle jiggled and the door slowly opened. A pair of foxes exited followed by one of the strangest creatures Fox had ever seen. The human, was Fox's best guess to what it was, was about his height but that's where the similarities ended, the human appeared half there, with long skinny arms and legs and short shaggy brown hair. The human smiled and stepped toward Fox and his family with and arm out stretched. "How ya'll doing the name's Zane, it's a pleasure to meet you."
Fox just stared at Zane while his mom and dad stood up and took a step toward him. "James McCloud," Fox heard his father say with formality as he took Zane's hand in a quick paw shake. "My wife Vixy," James muttered as Zane shook her paw, "and my son Fox." Fox stood and extended his paw as Zane did likewise. Fox gave a small grin and began to apply pressure to his grip.
Zane saw Fox grin a bit before he felt his hand being squeezed tightly. Zane returned the smile and applied more pressure to his own grip, after a moment Zane felt the vice grip on his hand wane and he did likewise. James watched to two boys with a wary smile until they released one another, at that moment he clapped Zane on the shoulder.
"Well I'm sure you've had a long trip and are eager for a place to rest up," James said as he started to lead Zane out of the room.
"No not really," Zane said quickly, "I'd rather see a bit of Corneria if you don't mind."
"Oh," James said a little surprised, "All right then, well we'll grab your bags and head out. Any particular place you want to see"?
"Not really, just want to get a feel for the place, you know what I mean"?
"James we could show him around the commercial district," Vixy offered.
"Fine by me," Zane said quickly.
"Fox," James asked?
"Eh I don't care, might run into Falco there," Fox muttered.
"Then it's settled," James said, "we'll grab your stuff and be on our way."
They made their way toward the cargo area and started to search for Zane's stuff. After several minutes of fruitless searching Vixy suggested that they go to the help desk. Upon arriving Zane asked the wolf behind the counter," Excuse me ma but I can't seem to find my luggage."
"Do you have a claim number"?
"No I don't, sorry," Zane said with a weak smile.
"Then I can't help you," the wolf then turned away from them and went to typing on a computer.
"Hey wait a minute I got off of the military ship it can't be that hard to find can it," Zane said annoyed.
"One moment," the wolf went back to typing for several minutes before she finally said, "You baggage has been placed in quarantine because of an unidentified organism."
"What, that's impossible I had it scanned before I got to the damn ship in the first place," Zane said with his voice rising.
"I'm sorry but protocol is protocol."
"If I may…" James started to say but Zane cut him off, "No never mind I got some cash I can get some stuff in the commercial district, you don't know when I might get my stuff back do you"?
"Most quarantines last about a week."
"I would like to speak with someone in charge please," James said stepping forward.
"Don't worry Mr. McCloud, I don't need the stuff just yet I can wait."
"Still I would like to speak with someone about this," James said as the wolf's computer beeped.
"There does seem to be some good news for you."
"What," James and Zane said together.
"A package was shipped for you, you can pick it up in shipping."
"All right, thanks," Zane muttered as he turned away before adding, "For everything."
When the group reached shipping Zane was handed a fairly large box. Setting the box down he tried unsuccessfully to pry open the lid.
"Let me," Fox said after several minutes as he stooped down and slide a claw under the box's seal.
"That's useful," Zane muttered as he rummaged through the box. Several sets of cloths made up the majority of the box but nestled the bottom was a small metal hilt. "You're kidding me," Zane muttered as the gripped the hilt and slid his middle finger into a ring. He grinned as he spun the object around a few times before he sheathed it into his pocket. Digging further he discovered a small clear data card which he pocketed as well. At the bottom a small note was tucked away and after a moment to unfold it he read what it said.
Hey man you forgot a lot of stuff. So we shipped it to you. Hope it all comes in handy.
The gang
Thanks guys you have no idea Zane thought as he repacked the box and sealed it.
"If you don't mind me asking," James said standing over Zane, "Who sent you this stuff and what is the stuff you pocketed"?
"My friends back home, as for the stuff just a data card and a good luck charm," Zane said quickly, "Anyways lets get out of here before they put this stuff in quarantine too."
Author's notes: Sorry it took so long for the chapter. And sorry if it sounds rushed. Not much time to write and I'm going through some tough stuff right now. Hope to have the next chapter up is a few days so until then review please.