A/N: Howdy y'all.
After a hiatus for spring break and a week of sun-drenched beaches and ice-cool surf (not gonna lie; it was pretty sweet), I'm back with the next entry to my story (and it only took me about four times as long as I originally intended...whoopee?).
Many thanks to my reviewers; there're no words to express how happy I am to know that my first chapter garnered some interest. But, to see my attempts at finding said words anyway, look at the end of this chapter for individual replies.
I will say this in regards to a point brought up in some of my reviews though; things may be slow for the first few chapters. It'll pick up eventually, but especially here at the beginning, a lot of it'll be on themellow side. Probably should've clarified that last time. Sorry.
And, just before we begin; like almost every author before me who has promised to update once a week, I'm afraid I may have to cancel my earlier statement. Due to having chapters already written, I've had to split my writing time between reviewing and fixing those while at the same time continuing the story itself with new chapters. I thought such a set up might speed things up a bit, but if anything, it has only succeeded in slowing it down. My apologies.
Chapter 2: Reunion
"Krystal?"
The cerulean vixen nodded meekly and Fox's eyes widened in surprise as he smiled with her; his mind so clouded with emotion that he completely forgot he was still pinning her down. A lock of hair, deeper in hue than the rest of her azure fur, fell from her emerald eyes as she turned her head slightly to the side, glancing at where the gloved and orange shaded paw grasped one of her own. Finally, feeling a bit a resistance to both his grip and in her stomach through his knee, he quickly realized what he was doing and sprang off her, blushing furiously. After helping Krystal up, he sputtered out an apology.
"I-I'm uh…sorry about that."
She rubbed her wrists where the fur had been pushed out of place and replied with a smile, "It's okay Fox; it's not your fault."
Her voice, even in such a short statement, was melodic to the vulpine, bringing back the thoughts he had told himself to forget minutes ago, and with a peculiar accent that only added to its beauty. He noticed she was still wearing the same clothes that she wore on Dinosaur Planet, which didn't help his blushing any; but, before he could say anything else to greet her, Falco burst through the doorway, blaster held at the ready, and leveled it at Krystal.
"Hey! Falco, long time no se…" Fox started as he recognized the voice and shape of the new occupant of his room, raising a hand for a casual shake before being cut off by the avian.
"Fox! Get down!" he called out from the threshold, prepared to stun the vixen again.
Fox raised an eyebrow in confusion for split-second before he caught on to the implication and, without thinking, quickly moved in between the blaster and its target.
"What? Oh, no, Falco, she's okay."
He slowly lowered his weapon and looked at Krystal with a suspicious eye. The other was still black from the kick he had received just recently.
"You sure?"
"Yeah, she's okay," he repeated, his companion peering over his shoulder at the avian with a look of slight apprehension.
"…Alright then," he said, holstering the blaster, "Peppy wanted to see you, both of you, in the lounge."
Falco stared again past the vulpine at Krystal and looked like he was about to apologize, but decided not too; he was still apparently mad about the nasty bruise she had given him, and instead just snorted and left.
Fox cocked his head to the side slightly before he turned back to Krystal, motioning towards the door and inquiring, "What was that about?"
The two foxes walked out of the room and into the lounge, Krystal filling Fox in on what had happened since she had arrived. As he listened, he couldn't help but notice the semi-primitive way she described everything; the way she spoke as if she didn't know the names for simple every-day devices. He held his tongue about it though, as there didn't seem to be a point in correcting her at the time.
The lounge of the Great Fox was located on the bow of the ship on the second floor, just behind the two main guns. Serving as both the entertainment room, with a flat-panel TV against the far wall, and as the mess hall, with a small kitchen in the back left corner, it was the hub of the vast majority of the crew's off-duty activities. A hub that they had been using more than their financial situation would've allowed for in the past year or so for want of jobs. In the middle of the room was a low table surrounded by a number of comfortable looking chairs; it was here the rest of the crew was waiting for them.
The first thing Fox noticed as they walked in was Slippy, who was holding a large icepack to his face. He turned to his companion and had to keep himself from laughing as he asked, "I take it that's your handy work?"
She gave a small smile and nodded meekly, as if to say 'oops' as they continued to the ring of chairs and took their own around the table. Nobody responded with a greeting or welcome; no-one had really given the matter any thought, as everything had happened so quickly. There was a short silence before Peppy spoke up, stating what seemed to be the general thought in the room.
"So…how shall we start?"
"How about this," Falco said irritably and turned to Krystal, having suddenly come up with an idea for conversation, "Who are you, and what the hell are you doing on our ship?"
"Come on Falco; that wasn't necessary," Peppy said tiredly.
"No, it's okay," Krystal responded, surprising both of the previous speakers, "I probably should explain myself."
She paused for a second of recollection before explaining to the crew everything that happened on Dinosaur Planet after she had landed on it, gaze shifting between the three faces and one icepack. Given the fact that she was trapped for most of the time the Starfox team had been present near the world, her story was fairly short, while the explanation of what happened before they arrived was practically non-existent. When she got to the part where Fox had taken off to fight Andross, she turned to the vulpine and continued.
"I waited for a few minutes before realizing you weren't coming back, or at least not immediately. So I jumped on a passing Cloudrunner and headed towards a hill near the Palace, where I left my ship. When I arrived, I found a few Lightfoot poking around inside, pulling wires and making a mess of things; they ran when they saw me, but as I started up the craft, I noticed a few of the systems were damaged."
"That's probably why we didn't notice you on our radar," Slippy said, words muffled by the pack still covering his face, "They must've done something to your ID transponder."
"My…what?" Krystal asked, giving Slippy a questioning look.
"Your Transponder; you know, the thing that lets everyone know where and who you are," Slippy replied, but after removing the pack enough to see her retain her confused face, he sighed, "Never mind; keep going."
She nodded slowly, still bearing a slightly confused face, and continued with her story.
"So, as it lifted off, I saw a massive explosion in the sky, but as it broke out of the atmosphere, I only saw one ship, which was this one." She gestured around her. "Seeing no other options, I headed here. My ship seems to be considerably slower than yours though, and it took awhile to reach it. I'm…sure you know the rest."
"…Well gee, that's really swell and all," said Falco after a beat, obviously still steamed, "But you didn't answer my questions; who are you, and what are you doing here?"
"Oh…I'm sorry. My name is Krystal," she stated, blushing slightly.
"Krystal…what?" Falco said, revolving his hand and expecting the full name.
"…I'm not sure I understand," she replied, giving Falco a perplexed look.
"Your last name," he said, now sounding a little frustrated, "What is it?"
"My…last name?" she struggled out, saying the words as if speaking them for the first time.
"I don't think she has one," Fox offered, quiet and lost in thought up until this point in the conversation. Krystal looked at him; grateful for his interjection, but still perplexed as to what they were asking for.
"Wha…uh, fine, whatever," Falco said, tilting his head and wanting to inquire further, but stopping after hearing a discreet grump from the hare seated next to him. He looked at Peppy for a moment, silently asking him what he did wrong, before turning back towards the female, "Okay, now why are you here?"
"Well," the vixen replied, turning again to Fox, "I came…because of you." Falco snorted and let out a sarcastic 'awww', but if Krystal heard it, she ignored it and continued, "I never got a chance to thank you for what you did."
"H-hey, no problem." Fox stuttered out, nervously scratching the back of his head. With Krystal speaking directly to him and giving him her undivided attention, he completely lost his previously calm demeanor. "I mean hey, I couldn't just leave you stuck there, ya know?"
Krystal brought her hand up to her mouth and laughed, oblivious to the effect she was having on Fox, "Yes, and I'm certainly glad you didn't."
The male vulpine melted, dumbstruck by her majestic laugh. He followed with a quiet chuckle of his own, careful to go too loud for fear that his voice might betray his feelings, and unaware that it already had to everyone but the vixen. Both luckily and unluckily for Fox though, Falco abruptly and rudely broke the spell.
"Wait, hold up; you came all the way here to thank somebody?" he asked in disbelief, "Why didn't you just contact us over the com?"
"Well, that wasn't the only reason…and to be honest, I'm not sure how to," she confessed a little sheepishly, retreating from her former manner a bit as Falco's accusing speech had blunted her mirth.
There was a short, stunned pause before the previously silent Peppy spoke.
"For a person who owns and operates her own ship, you don't seem to know a lot about it…or its technology."
"Yeah, and I noticed when you were telling your story, you said that 'it' took off, and 'it' cleared the atmosphere; weren't you flying it?" Slippy commented.
"Erm…yes and no," Krystal replied, sounding unsure of herself, "I can control it fine in space and in general flight…but for landing and taking off and other complicated maneuvers, the ship seems to take care of itself." There was another short silence before she admitted, lowering her eyes, "I…I'm not from around here."
"No," Falco said as he crossed his arms, voice dripping with sarcasm, "There's something nobody knew. By the way, your accent and clothes; totally don't give it away."
"Yes, I've been wondering about that as well," Peppy said, leaning further back into his chair and stroking his chin. "Where, exactly, are you from?"
"I…um…" Krystal started. She had a look of indecisiveness about her, not sure if she should tell these, for the most part, complete strangers about her past, partially due to the fact that she was unsure how to explain everything even if she was going to. She didn't understand a lot of it herself. Before she could continue though, Fox politely interrupted.
"Hold on now," he said, regaining his usual confidence and looking at the still downcast vixen, "Krystal, you don't have to tell us that if you don't want to. After all, you barely know anybody here."
She looked up at Fox and smiled, causing the same reaction within him as it did before, although his outward appearance held up surprisingly well. Peppy and Slippy nodded with understanding, but Falco still wasn't satisfied. He began to protest, but abruptly stopped due to an unseen kick in the shin from Peppy, who then turned back to the vixen.
"That's perfectly understandable and we won't pry anymore than is necessary." He paused and nodded in response to Krystal's thanks before continuing, "But if you don't mind me asking…a little earlier you said that thanks weren't the only reason for coming here. Why else did you come?"
She stalled quietly for a moment or two, unsure as to whether or not it would be right to say what she was going to say; she wasn't even positive if she meant it. So she stared silently at the ground, forming the words in her head and taking a breath before replying.
"I want to come with you," she said bluntly.
Peppy and Fox leaned forward with surprise, and Slippy lowered the icepack from his face; even Falco raised an eyebrow at the statement. No one had expected such a request, although a certain vulpine was certainly pleasantly surprised. He was about to accept and welcome her onto his ship and into his life, but then common sense returned to him like a shot to the gut.
While he had hoped for this moment ever since he first laid eyes on her, he knew he couldn't stand to take the risk his lifestyle entailed. The thought of having her by his side for any period of time was something that he would've given close to anything for; but at the same time, the thought of being responsible for her pain, her suffering, or worse as a result of a botched mission or the like was itself practically unbearable. After sighing with true disappointment as he chose his decision, he told her.
"I…I'm sorry Krystal, but with our line of work…I can't let you to join us. You could get hurt."
A wave of sadness seem to sweep over the vixen's body as it slumped a little in her chair; but before she totally gave up hope, she asked one more question, both out of curiosity and even a bit of suspicion.
"Well, what exactly do you do?"
Now it was Fox's turn to pause and think of the words to say. He was pretty sure what her reaction would be to his response; it would probably be the same as his first response to his father's identical job, but he saw no other way around it. If he wouldn't allow her to join them, he could at least tell her the truth.
"I'm…we're…mercenaries."
Krystal gasped. Her gaze pivoted to each of the assembled team members, each of them nodding silently in confirmation of their captain's statement. Even with her limited knowledge of technology and the like, she knew what mercenaries were, and if nothing else she knew what their land-based cousins were like back on her home planet. Rumors abounded throughout the system of the usually nefarious deeds of these 'Soldiers of Fortune' and how they performed cold, merciless acts for nothing more than a paycheck. She suddenly saw the people in the room around her in a slightly different, more threatening light; she became more alert and began to tense up, breathing a little harder than usual.
"You're…" she trailed off.
"Yes, but it's not like that," Fox quickly said, seeing her reaction, "We don't accept just any job that comes our way." He tried to give a reassuring smile and finished, "I guess you could call us…moral mercenaries."
Her expression lightened slightly after hearing this, but just as quickly she returned to her previously downcast state as she remembered Fox's earlier decision. A tight emptiness flowed through the room as she once again locked her sight with the floor, and the occupants glanced at each other with a variety of meanings and implications. Falco's was most recognizable as he stared at Fox and Peppy with impatience, expecting them to do what seemed obvious and kick the stranger off the ship. Fox on the other hand, looked almost imploringly at the hare; the vulpine may've been the official captain of the team, but he almost always followed the elder's advice, and now wasn't any exception.
"You know," Peppy offered, breaking the silence with a sigh as he made up his mind, "She doesn't have to join us; she could just come with us."
The words cut through her sorrow like a beam of light as vixen looked up at the hare, eyes full of hope, and then quickly shifted to Fox, who was apparently thinking about the new possibility. Of course, he already new what his answer would be; he just didn't want to seem too eager about it.
"I suppose that could work out," he said, careful to hide his enthusiasm. He then nodded and returned Krystal's gaze. "What do you think?"
Krystal wasn't so conservative.
"Yes!" she almost shouted, causing the unsuspecting crew to jump slightly. She caught herself though, and after a little red made its way to her cheeks, she tried again, "I mean…of course."
"But I have to warn you," Fox added, "Things can get dangerous; we are a mercenary unit after all, and it kinda goes with the territory."
"That's okay," Krystal replied after regaining her composure, "I've been taking care of myself for quite a while; I'm not completely helpless."
"No kiddin'…" Falco muttered, rubbing his bruised cheek, followed by a grunt of agreement from behind the icepack.
"Well then it's settled," Peppy said, "Miss Krystal, I'm sorry, but we don't currently have any extra rooms. We're due to arrive at Corneria in about…" He glanced at his wristwatch, "Two hours though, so until we get there and make arrangements to include a little remodeling with our refit, feel free to explore our humble abode."
"Thank you…uh…"
"Peppy, Peppy Hare. Oh that's right; we still haven't been properly introduced. That's Slippy," he said, gesturing to the toad, who removed his icepack and gave a polite 'hello' before replacing it, "And the bird over there is Falco." Falco acknowledged her with a jerk of the head. "I'm sure you know Fox," he finished with a knowing smile and pointed to him.
She nodded and, after greeting everyone else, took Peppy's offer and headed for the hallway, eager to see the rest of her new, if not possibly temporary, home. Fox mouthed a visibly heartfelt 'thank you' to the hare as she did so, who responded with a smile and a wink. The other two were watching their guest exit, and therefore didn't see the exchange.
"One more thing Fox," Peppy said aloud after Krystal left the room, "General Pepper contacted us after you returned and said he wanted to talk to us once we reach Corneria."
"Really? Sounds promising," the vulpine said dryly, remembering how long Pepper's famous debriefings usually took. "Anything else?"
"Nope, I think that's it for now; make sure you two are ready to leave in an hour and a half."
"Gotcha…wait, what do you mean 'you two'?"
"Well, Krystal certainly isn't going to know where everything is right off the bat, is she?"
Fox turned a little red, almost forgetting about who was probably still waiting for him outside the lounge. He hurried out to the corridor, where she was indeed waiting and curiously looking around, seemingly fascinated just with the features of the hallway.
"Sorry 'bout that," he said, jogging up to her and coming to a halt.
"That's okay," she responded, her wandering gaze returning to the vulpine. "So, where do we start?"
"Start?" Fox said, again losing his presence of mind around her, "Oh, yeah, the tour. Well, I think we should get your stuff off your ship first; there's no telling what Slippy will do once he gets his hands on a new chassis, now that you're staying and everything."
"My ship? What's he going to do to it?" She asked worryingly as they walked down the hallway, towards the auxiliary bay.
"Nothing bad," Fox quickly reassured her, "He's probably just gonna…fix it up a little."
"Oh," she replied, not fully understanding what he meant, but trusting what he said.
Along the way, they passed Krystal's still-extended staff lying on the floor, unmoved from where she dropped it when she was stunned. In her hurry to escape her 'assailants', she had instinctively decided to leave it behind, knowing that the extra split-second needed to pick it up could cost her everything. Now, she was too absorbed by the previously hostile hallway to notice it, leaving the vulpine to retrieve it.
"Hey, it's my staff," he said jokingly, referring to his companion's seemingly overdramatic sense of relief in finding it, on him, back on the planet after he freed her.
"Your staff? Its mi-" she began, suddenly defensive but stopping when she saw his expression of humor. She too remembered her reaction at seeing it again on Sauria and laughed as he handed it back to her in its retracted state. "Thanks," she managed sheepishly, still a bit embarrassed by her adverse outburst.
They crossed the threshold into the hanger and, after Fox activated the huge overhead lights, proceeded up to the only craft in the bay. Now fully illuminated, the sorely outdated shuttle looked even more out of place in the pristine hanger, which had been kept clean through utter lack of use. He noticed this and decided to venture a question while Krystal hoped up inside the ship and began retrieving her belongings.
"So, uh…how long have you been flying this ship?"
"Ever since I left home," she replied, slightly muffled due to the metallic barrier of her vessel between them, "So a little over a decade."
"And you never thought of trading it in for anything…newer?"
There was a short pause as she considered the question, "Not really; this has always been able to service my needs. And besides, I wouldn't know where to start looking for a new ship."
'Wow,' Fox thought to himself, 'She wasn't kidding when she said she wasn't from around here; I can't walk for two minutes on Corneria without seeing some sort of ad for a 'new' craft.'
A crashing noise returned the vulpine's focus, and he quickly boarded the shuttle from which the noise had originated. When he finished hauling himself up into it, he was met with a strange sight. Large, acorn-like nuts were scattered throughout the floor of the cabin underneath an open wall compartment, along with a sack of what appeared to be her stuff, consisting only of her staff, a few other assorted items and a couple changes of clothes (although they could barely be called that), similar to what the vixen was wearing at the time. He noticed as well that she had taken off her shoulder and forearm guards, which were also visible in the bag.
Krystal looked up at Fox from a surprised crouching position among the scattered suppliesfor a second, and then burst out laughing, her chimes echoing into the hanger. Fox quickly followed suit; it wasn't all that funny, but he didn't want to embarrass her further by letting her laugh alone. He bent down to help clean them up and while doing so, asked what they were for.
"Well, I figured I should bring some food for the journey into…uh…Cor-ner-i-a," she responded, sounding out the last word.
Once again, the tables flipped and now Fox had to keep himself from laughing.
"Don't worry about that; there's plenty of food on the planet." He said, trying as best as he could to hold it in. After a pause allowed by a deep breath, he calmed down and added seriously, "You really aren't from around here, are you?"
She had finished placing the nuts in a rough pile in the corner of the ship and was listening to Fox's last comment when she shook her head in a slow, almost sullen way. If he had known what his next question would result in, he probably would've let the subject drop there.
"If you don't mind me asking," the vulpine continued, standing with her to full height, "What were you doing all the way out here before you were captured?"
Krystal knew that the question was going to come up sooner or later, and so had a response at the ready. She did want to tell him the full truth, but at this point she wasn't sure if that would be a good idea. She had to keep reminding herself that he was technically a stranger until less than a day ago, and that no matter what her conscious told her about him…he was still a mercenary, and not to be fully trusted.
"Well…I was looking for some clues as to what happened to my parents," she replied smoothly, a result of the numerous times she had practiced it in her head. Her statement was partially true, as she had lost both her parents some time ago and was still curious about the circumstances of their demise; but the full truth was much more horrifying than that.
"Really? What happened to them?" Fox asked unwittingly, too eager to make conversation to notice what he was asking.
"They…died several years ago."
There was a long, drawn-out and awkward silence between them as the vulpine's grin of friendship faded into surprised horror. Krystal gloomily stared straight into the floor, her previously light and joyous eyes now clouded with memory and remorse, while Fox was in shock over how badly he could've missed where their dialogue was headed.
"I…I'm sorry," he managed to softly say after a moment or two.
"It's fine," she replied, never moving her eyes from their spot on the floor, "You didn't know."
Another period of uncomfortable silence and standing passed before Fox, desperate to get off the subject and back on to happier things, abruptly shouldered the sack of Krystal's few possessions and jumped down to the deck, beckoning her to follow. She gave a weak smile and complied, ignoring or completely missing his offered hand of assistance for the leap down. As they walked to the hanger bay door, he decided to mention something he usually didn't in front of strangers, or anybody for that matter; only doing so because in a way, he felt the same as what he was about to say.
"Hey, Krystal…if it makes you feel any better," he began, conscious of her slowly falling behind in step, "…I lost both of my parents a while ago too."
She kept her eye glued to the deck and replied, "Why would knowing that make me feel any better?"
"Well, maybe because now…you know you're not alone in being without them."
She halted and stared at Fox, who stopped walking a few steps later and turned halfway back to her. As their gazes met, she dipped her head a bit below his sight level and her eyes began to dart around in thought and confusion. Never once in her travels had she ever considered that someone else might share even a fraction of her pain at the loss of her family. The fact that it was no longer true produced an odd, strangely relieving feeling within her; something that she had never remembered experiencing before.
"…Yeah," she said, embracing the new emotion and coming out of her downcast state, "I guess you're right. Thanks, Fox."
"Glad to be of help," he responded, smiling.
She caught up with him and they proceeded into the hallway, Krystal regaining her normal, upbeat attitude. Fox halted for a second and grabbed the light switch as they left the hanger, and the great room behind them was plunged into darkness; lit only by the shaft of light from the corridor the pair's silhouettes were becoming lost in.
"You can't be serious."
"Aren't I always?"
"Well, yeah, but we don't even know her, and yet you allow her to instantly board with us."
"Well obviously Fox knows her, and she doesn't exactly seem dangerous."
"Are you kidding! You were there when she attacked us!"
"Seriously Falco, you should try thinking these things through; she attacked us out of self-defense and if she had wanted to harm us, she wouldn't have let Slippy shoot her in the first place."
Falco sighed and turned away from the hare. He knew Peppy was right, as usual, and that he was just being territorial with his old home; reluctant to share it after having so recently regained it. But that itself wasn't the only think to irk the avian; there was something else that wasn't quite right.
"What about Fox? She was practically trying to seduce him. Slippy, you saw…" he stopped, noticing the icepack still over his teammate's face, "…absolutely nothing…but Peppy, you can't look at me and honestly say she wasn't trying to pull something on him. You said they know each other, and c'mon; who flies around in a freakin' bikini!"
"Someone who doesn't have anything else," he responded, his face contorted in thought, "I think I may have an idea as to where she's from."
"Oh, well then, please enlighten us, great knower of knowledge," he said sarcastically, bowing down in his chair.
"Not yet; I want to be absolutely sure before I say anything."
The avian sighed again, this time more out of anger and defeat. Peppy's evasive manner of speaking didn't help his irritated mood any, "At least you didn't let her join the team; that was a smart move."
"You should really be more trusting Falco; it'll get you far in life."
"Pfff, who needs trust," he asked rhetorically, leaning back in his chair and giving up the initial topic of the conversation, "I got myself and you guys; that's all that matters."
"I'll tell you who," Peppy replied, "Remember back before you joined the team, when you were in the academy, failing and about to be kicked out?"
"Yeah, the Dean really had it out for me."
"You were part of a gang, Falco," he said, to which the avian merely shrugged, "Anyway, remember when Fox vouched for you, and me and Slippy had to trust you and Fox's word that you'd be okay on the team? Even though the authorities practically had a warrant out for you? We had our reasons for not being certain about you, just like you have them for her. But that didn't stop us from letting you join us, since Fox seemed to trus-"
"Alright," he said angrily, cutting off that hare but cooling off a little before continuing, "Alright, you've made you're point; she can stay."
"It wasn't really your decision, Falco," Slippy commented.
Falco ignored his statement, "But regardless of all of that, you gotta admit; she's pretty far out there."
"That, I can agree with you on." Peppy responded, laughing a little.
"Hold up a sec."
Fox doubled back to his room after passing it by a few steps, having suddenly remembered something, and put the sack down outside his door as he began entering his code into the keypad. It occurred to him as he was doing so that he didn't recall having locked it, but he just passed it off as Falco's doing.
"I uh…I just gotta grab a few things before we start," he explained to his companion, who had a curious look on her face, "I'll probably forget them if I wait 'till later."
Krystal responded with a nod of comprehension and peered over his shoulder, watching him enter the series of numbers. For purely innocent reasons, she read off each digit in her mind as his finger struck them, and memorized the combination, not quite catching the importance of it along the way. Fox took a half-breath like was about to say something back over his shoulder, but when he turned, he saw her face only inches away from his.
"Hey, Krys-Whoa!"
She unknowingly looked towards him, further closing the gap between their muzzles and cocked her head to the side, "What is it, Fox?"
He stared at her for a second, the gears in his head having frozen in shock, before jumping back and gasping to catch up with his heart, which was racing miles ahead. The vulpine's eyes were wide and his ears were perked, giving his shear surprise and touch of terror away to even the most casual observer. Krystal saw this and became concerned, although still naïve to the effect she and her unintentionally personal behavior were having on him.
"What's wrong?"
"I…whew…um, no offense Krystal, but I need a bit of personal space here," he panted, struggling just to talk.
"A bit of what?" she asked quizzically.
He stalled again, catching her confusion like a disease, before he remembered what had come up during the conversation in the lounge a few minutes ago, "Did you…have any sense of…uh…privacy where you came from?"
"…What do you mean?" she questioned again, not catching on.
"Well, um, did you…" he began, opting for a different tactic, "Did you own your own stuff?"
"…No, not really; we shared almost everything," she replied, adding with a little worry, "…Did I do something wrong?"
"No, it's just…around here, we have private rooms and property, and it's considered rude to invade upon them without asking permission of the owner," he explained, making a connection that he felt would make sense to her, "Same goes for…personal space."
"That's a little weird," she said, her confusion giving way to a slightly amused expression.
"Yeah, well, that's kinda how it works around here," he breathed, "So you might want to consider that if you're going to be living with us."
"Al-right; I'll try to respect that rule from now on."
"Thanks…I appreciate it," he finished, finally recovering from his near-heart attack enough to speak with any semblance of confidence.
He turned from the genuinely apologetic vixen to the keypad, and entered the final digits in his code, proceeding into the now open room. Krystal began to follow him but, remembering what she was just told, stopped and waited outside, not wanting to offend her new home's customs further. Fox noticed this and smiled, now back at relative ease.
"Krystal, it's okay," he said, motioning her in from a few steps inside, "You can come in; I just meant in a general sense what I said a minute ago. Around our ship you can usually go wherever you want, just knock before going in personal rooms."
"Oh…okay," she said, still slightly confused as she walked into Fox's room.
The first thing she noticed as she crossed the threshold was the overall order of the space; everything seemed to be placed where it was for a reason; she hadn't really seen much of the room on her first, unintentional visit, being preoccupied with other things. The room was fairly small, but had room for a bed, bathroom and a desk and chair. It was very hotel-like, although she didn't recognize it as such, with the bathroom immediately to the left as she walked in, the bed against the far side wall and the desk against the closer side wall. The one thing that stood out the most, or the least, about the space though, was the lack of any windows in the room. 'Or anywhere else,' she thought to herself.
Her visual sweep finally fell on Fox, who was grabbing his belt off of the desk and fitting it around his waist. Krystal noticed another of those strange, stunning objects in a holster on the belt, along with a few other pockets. He also strapped on a strange band around his forearm, something she noted due to its odd look; unlike the cloth armbands she was used to, his appeared stiff and hard, and he clicked it into place with a snap.
"It's a very nice room," she said, glancing at some of the pictures and various trophies around the walls and on the desk when he looked up.
"Oh, thanks," Fox replied, watching her look around his room again before focusing and touching a few keys on the 'armband'. He wasn't used to people giving him compliments about his room; he wasn't used to having people in his room for that matter.
"If you don't mind me asking though…," she started, her curiosity overriding her limited knowledge of manners. She continued after a 'not at all' from Fox, letting his banded arm fall to his side and giving her his full attention, "What's that glass over there for?"
She pointed to a large pane of the said substance mounted on the far back wall, seemingly offering a view only into more steel. Fox followed her motion and saw what she was pointing to.
"That's just the window," he shrugged, looking back to what he was doing and picking up a few more things of the desk, placing them in various pockets; unlike the vixen, he considered the topic done.
"That's a window?"
"Yeah…oh, it's not open," he responded, catching on to what she was getting at, "You want to see it?"
"Sure."
Fox strode over to the control panel on the inside of the door, turning sideways past Krystal who was still standing in the short entrance hallway. He tapped a switch and turned back towards the window to see the protective blast doors on the other side of the glass abruptly part about a foot for a moment before opening smoothly the rest of the way. Krystal exhaled in surprise when she saw what was on the other side.
Instead of the usual black backdrop dotted with stars and various vapor formations, she saw a light red, almost pinkish streak stretch across the entirety of her windowed view. The unexpected swirl and splash of color and its alternatively fading and intensifying motion captured her, the gentle pulsing seeping its way through the glass until she could feel it within her own body. Her ring adorned tail slowly fell limp and her mouth hung open in awe. Fox walked back up to stand beside her, and noticed her expression.
"What, you've never seen omni-space before?"
She just shook her head slowly, as if in a trance, while the vulpine considered her response for moment. 'She must've seen it at least once,' he thought, 'How else could she have gotten all the way out here?'
"Well how'd you get way out here then?" he asked, his internal monologue getting the better of him.
"I…don't know; I just flew, I guess," she responded, still mesmerized by the color outside the window.
"Oh."
'Whoa,' he thought, staring at her, staring at the omni-space, 'That must've taken at least three or four months from even the closest station…I gotta remember to ask her about that later.' Fox let her staring go on for a bit longer, unwilling to break the peaceful look on her face, before finally interrupting.
"Well, I suppose we should get started then."
Her nod in response was sluggish and detached, as if moving in slow-motion. She made no discernible effort to move away from her stare of wonder, and it wasn't until Fox poked his head into her field of vision and called her name that she blinked a few times and regained her presence of mind. He repeated his statement as a request.
"Oh…yeah," she answered as soon as she understood, taking one last look at the window.
He nodded with a smile and led her out to the hallway, grabbing the lights on the way out. The corridor was still relatively quiet; quiet enough to hear snippets of the rest of the crew chatting about something in the open lounge.
'Probably talkin' about Krystal,' he mused, not realizing how right he was. His companion, and the subject of his friends' largely unheard conversation, had proceeded a bit ahead of his position just outside his room when she stopped and turned around towards him.
"What about my things?" Krystal asked, remembering that Fox had dropped them off by his door.
"They should be okay back there," he responded as he crossed the hallway and hit the elevator call button. He got no verbal reassurance from the vixen, but her physical expression as she arrived next to him told him that she was fine with where her belongings were. The doors opened and they stepped inside as Fox finally began thinking about the 'tour' he was supposed to be leading, "You've seen most of the middle floor, so we'll start up top."
"Alright," she replied, and then looked around the small room they just entered. The compartment they had just entered was smaller than any space she had seen so far on the Great Fox, and its purpose escaped her, "What is this place?"
His finger stopped at the control panel before touching any of the buttons; surprised at himself for forgetting something that was obviously below her level of technological comprehension. He couldn't go as far as to blame himself though, as he, like every other being in the Lylat System, took the machine he was about to explain for granted. "This," he began, "Is a lift. It…well…lifts things up and down between levels in a structure."
"Huh," she reflected, glancing at the plain and undecorated walls that betrayed none of the machinery beyond, "How does it do that?"
"Well…" He did have a general idea of how they worked, but got the feeling explaining it would only confuse the vixen more, "Here; I'll show ya."
After pressing the top floor button, the doors began to close, stirring within Krystal a little uneasiness as they slid shut; being essentially locked within a relatively small space, she didn't quite know what to expect. Then, the room around her began to hum slightly, and with a lurch the lift raced upwards. Krystal cringed as if she expected something bad to happen, but then returned to normal, feeling nothing different except a barely noticeable pressure pushing her down. The elevator arrived a few seconds later at the designated floor, and came to a slow, smooth stop. Fox glanced over at Krystal and gave her a smile as the doors opened.
"That wasn't too bad, was it?"
"No, not at all," she replied, looking around the new setting that they walked out into with a slight sense of awe. With no windows or methods to measure their movement other than the slight feeling of pressure, it appeared to her that the doors had closed and reopened without the room really moving. It was…odd, to say the least.
"Good, 'cause that's another thing you're going to have to get used too; we use those in practically every building and ship."
She nodded again, absorbing what he had said while at the same time taking in her new surroundings. They walked down the fairly short, monochrome hallway, very similar to the one they had just recently left, to the bridge, passing a pair of doors across from each other along the way.
"What are those rooms for?" Krystal asked as they passed them.
"That one's the armory, and that one's storage," he said, stopping and pointing to each door in turn, "Although both are almost empty right now."
"Why?" Her curiosity seemed almost insatiable.
"Well, we had to sell a lot of stuff to keep this thing flying," he replied, slapping the bulkhead affectionately, "At first it was just excess, then it was stuff we didn't really use…eventually it got to a point where we sold anything we didn't absolutely need. Even so though, we…we're still in some hard times."
"So what's going to happen?"
"We're actually getting a fairly hefty paycheck for the mission we just completed yesterday," he said, speaking as though he was just considering the thought for the first time, "So we might not be so bad off as we used to be; hopefully we'll have enough cash left over after we refit the Great Fox to restock at least the armory. "
She nodded, and was about to ask a question about what the other room was for, but then a thought came to her. "…Mission?"
"Hm? Oh, yeah that's right; I never told you. The whole reason we came to Dinosaur Planet was because we were given a mission to put it back together; our employer felt that the fact that it was falling apart was a danger to the entire system, even with its remote position," he explained, continuing with the slight start that came with discovering a connection, "Oh, that's the kind of thing I meant when I said we were 'moral' mercenaries."
"Hm," she responded, suddenly seeming a little sad; the expression of reserved wonder falling a bit into concern, "So…the only reason you helped was because of the money you'd get?"
"Not entirely," he replied with a bit of a frown, seeing and understanding her change in mood, "I mean, initially, yes. But after a day or two, it became more about saving the planet; the reward was just a bonus."
She nodded and seemed to return to normal again after hearing this on the outside, but inside she was still apprehensive. Every time the fact that Fox and his team were mercenaries was brought up, she became a little nervous; even though she felt she knew them, or at least him, well enough to know they were good people at heart. It was something that the vixen knew she would just have to get over if she was going to stay with Fox and his friends for awhile. She shook the feeling off though, and tried not to think about it too much.
"Ready to move on?" Fox asked, motioning towards the bridge doors.
"Yes; let's go."
They covered the short distance to the bridge and passed through the automatic doors. Krystal stopped for a second as the doors opened seemingly by themselves, but continued on, mentally adding this occurrence to the already long list of things that amazed her. This wasn't the only thing she added though, as when she walked onto to the bridge, the 180 degree view of omni-space out the viewports immediately caught her eyes.
From the front, the reddish ebb and flow looked more like a hollow tube, where a source of the onrushing color could clearly be made out far off in the distance. The greater degree of exposure that the much wider pane allowed created a strange shadow on the pair's faces, with the crimson hue dancing across them like sun-induced water effects. Fox once again noticed her trance-like state, and politely waited a half-minute before attempting to break her out of it. However, much to his surprise, she broke herself out of it first by asking him a question, still facing out the windows.
"What is omni-space?"
"Well…nobody really knows that for sure," Fox replied, trying to keep the already limited explanation simple, "But we do know that it propels whatever the omni-drive is strapped onto to incredibly fast, yet controlled, speeds. We use it to get…around…the system…"
He trailed off as he noticed she wasn't responding to his explanation, still captured by the hypnotic sight of the crimson streaks rushing past the bridge. It was weird for the vulpine; he remembered his first experience with the odd vista of color onboard the Great Fox many years agobut he never remembered being enamored by it like she appeared to be.
"Uh, Krystal?"
She shook her head clear of whatever was working on her and turned back towards Fox, who was standing in front of the few steps to the raised platform. "I'm sorry Fox," she apologized, looking back once more before she continued, "It's just so…beautiful."
"Yeah…" he agreed, trailing off for a second, "But don't worry about it; I did practically the same thing when I first saw it; it seems to have that affect on people." He waited for her to follow him up near his chair before beginning his tour in earnest. "Anyway, this is the bridge. This is where most of the important stuff happens: piloting, commanding, communicating, things like that."
Krystal looked around the room at the various consoles and touch-panels, initially still hesitant to break the window's hold on her, but eventually committing and responding, "It all seems so complicated." It wasn't like she hadn't seen this sort of stuff before; her shuttle carried a little of the same equipment. It was simply the shear amount of it that surprised her.
"You'll be surprised how quickly it becomes second nature. C'mon, I'll show you a bit."
He spent the next hour or so teaching the ever curious vixen several of the basic controls of the bridge, surprising himself with how calm he was around her. It seemed that when he was in his element, helping someone understand what he already knew, he was much more at ease. He made note of the fact and filed it away; anything that didn't make him so socially stiff, like he was prone to being around her, was something to remember for later.
'Not that this is exactly first-date material,' he thought of what they were doing, realizing it was more practical than entertaining, 'But then again, this ain't exactly a first date.'
The time seemed to fly by as fast as the streaks of red outside the Great Fox. Soon though, the crimson river outside the ship gradually began to thin as the carrier decelerated. Eventually, the red disappeared altogether, replaced with the familiar black background and bright stars; however, this time, in the dead center of the bridge viewport, was the massive blue and green planet of Corneria, dotted with other space-borne ships and space stations.
Fox saw this and mentioned it to Krystal, who also looked up from a console she was being shown and out the windows. The globe she saw before her was strangely familiar-looking, like she had seen it or something like it a long time ago, just beyond the range of memory. It was like a shadow over her mind, and just as she was on the verge of recalling it, the bridge doors slid open, disrupting her thoughts and revealing a now fully dressed Peppy.
"Hm, that took a little shorter than I thought it would," he commented to nobody in particular, walking into the room. He noticed the two foxes with a grin and approached them, climbing onto the slightly raised platform and leaning on the side of the railing, "So, Miss Krystal; I trust Fox hasn't bored you with our bridge yet, has he?"
Fox caught the implication immediately and mentally chastised himself for staying in one place the entire time, and not showing her the rest. Even more so, he realized, he had taught the vixen a bunch of random stuff about the Great Fox, and hadn't really done much else. Krystal, on the other hand, smiled in return to Peppy's question and replied.
"Not at all," she said, "I mean, some of it's confusing, but it's all so fascinating at the same time. It's going to take some time getting used to this place."
"Indeed, it probably will be like that at first," he said, trying to reassure her, "But feel free to talk to any of us if you need clarification on anything."
"Thank you," she replied.
During the entire conversation, Fox noticed that despite his fears, all of Krystal's comments seemed genuine. 'You got lucky,' he told himself, silently vowing to make sure he didn't accidentally do something like that again.
Peppy smiled and nodded before he turned and strode over to his post at the front of the bridge, sitting down and entering a few commands into his console. He opened an audio channel with the planet, speaking into nothing in particular, as if he were talking to a person in the room.
"Corneria, this is the Great Fox, requesting permission to land."
There was a short pause on the other end of the com line before a calm, feminine voice responded. "Great Fox, this is Cornerian Control. Permission granted; proceed to CANF Headquarters. General Pepper is expecting you."
"Already? I thought we had another day or two."
"With all due respect sir, I suppose he changed his mind; he expects you in an hour."
"Alright," he said a little tiredly, "Thanks Control, Great Fox out."
Peppy flipped a switch, severing the line, before he got up and went over to where ROB sat, still in shut down mode; which to Krystal, who was watching, seemed like a hunk of metal parts. Fox realized with a start that he hadn't even mentioned ROB to the cerulean vixen and, given her apparent lack of familiarity with the rest of the tech he was so used to, the first experience with him might shock her a little; in a bad way. So, when Peppy activated the robot, and it assembled itself, she was understandably quite…surprised.
"ROB online, systems functioning at sixty percent," the metallic voice rang out. His head scanned around the room, stopping suddenly on Krystal, who was wide-eyed by now, and continued in a more aggressive tone, "Unknown being detected onboard, initiating auto-defense procedures."
Fox made a motion to move towards the robot, placing himself between it and Krystal, but before ROB could do anything, Peppy literally dove to turn him off. More than anything else, the quick athletic prowess of the aging elder caught the foxes off-guard, especially the male. The robot powered down once again, his eye dimming to darkness, and the hare sighed as he picked himself up from the floor.
"I'm sorry about that Krystal," he said while trying to regain his breath; at his age, the short and sudden exertion took more than he would've liked from him, "We really need to get him fixed."
The vixen was too terrified to respond. What had once been inanimate metal had become what appeared to be a living, breathing organism, and then returned just as quickly back to a group of lifeless parts. She turned to Fox, who hadn't realized that his step had placed her behind him, and asked in a voice that was both relieved and still frightened at the same time.
"W-what was that?"
"I'm sorry, Krystal," he replied apologetically, "That's ROB; I…probably should've warned you about robots."
"… Is he…alive?"
"Well, technically no; he's not AI if that's what you mean."
'Ah, did it again,' he thought, knowing that Krystal probably wasn't sure what 'AI' meant. He had had enough of his own incompetence with explanations, and was about to apologize once and for all for saying such unclear things over and over, when she began to speak before he could start, doing the clarification work for him.
"So, it's like a ship computer?"
"Sort of," Fox replied, nodding and content to leave the subject there, his surprise at her knowledge well hidden, "He's usually a lot more, er, friendly, but I think he's got a few bugs we need to work out."
"A-ah," she said, comprehending the comparison she had made for herself, but still understanding little of what had just happened.
"Erm, right; so now that autopilot is out of the question, are you gonna pilot this old girl down or am I?" Fox asked Peppy after a short pause. He intentionally worded his question over-casually in an attempt to both leave the whole ROB deal behind, and come off as confident.
"I'll do it," the hare said with a grin, noticing the language used, "I mean…who better to pilot an old girl than an old man?" The males chuckled as Peppy returned to his chair and grabbed the control apparatus that sat on the console in front of him.
The background humming of the bridge ramped up as the carrier came alive at the elder's touch. He pushed the throttle forward, revving the massive thrusters and speeding up from the idle that the Great Fox had retained from the exit from omni-space. The G-diffusers performed their duty well, minimizing the acceleration effect on the passengers as the ship sped towards the green and sapphire planet of Corneria.
A/N: To be honest, I personally see this as sort of a filler chapter. Nothing all that important happens, but I felt that I had to have something between Krystal's arrival and the team's arrival at Corneria. Hopefully it wasn't too bad.
Review…reviews (yeah, that sounds good)
AntiGravity 5-1-0
Ah, my first reviewer. I can never truly express my full gratitude for your response; it…it inspired me to keep writing. I know that sounds corny, but that's the truth; when I posted that first chapter, I stopped writing until I got the first review. I figured if it (the chapter) was bad enough, I would stop working on other chapters and instead re-edit my first one; but that review told me that at the very least, I was doing something right. And another thank you for bringing up the error with thought portrayal; I think I got it covered this chapter.
…ah hell, thanks one more time.
Fox The Cave II
Wanna hear a funny story? When I first opened the review alert for this review, I literally turned to my brother (he doesn't really follow any of this; he just likes to know how my story's doin') and said, "It's him." No joke. Anyway, from what I could see, there were four main problems you mentioned:
-The description style, I'm sorry to say, might be present throughout the story. No disrespect to you FtC, but that's kinda my unconscious method of writing. I will go through my drafts that one extra time to try to root it out though.
-The boring part in the middle was just the set up of the chapter's events I guess. I have an outline set up forthe first part of my story (1 Part roughly 10-15 chapters), and a lot of the events are rather mundane; the ones that go into a chapter all depend on where the section breaks on the timelike happen to fall. Take this chapter for instance; nothing of real, flashy action happens, but it's kinda necessary anyway. Again, I'll be sure to try to spice things up a bit, but for at least the early chapters, don't expect too much.
-Yeah, the time-jumping part. You're right; that was a bone-headed mistake. I kinda rushed to post that chapter before I left for spring break, but I'm honestly surprised at myself for missing that. But, no worries; won't happen again.
-And of course, the small, easily fixed proof-read problems.
A million thanks for the review, FtC.
RedBay
I knew it was a good idea to leave the anon. reviews open. Thank you Rb (sorry if you don't want your name abbreviated; lemme know and I won't do it again; it's just kind of a reflex), I love long reviews, and you certainly delivered. Let's see…
-The shorter sentences deal you mentioned is true; I can see how longer sentences can drag down the pacing. I'll definitely consider it for future action scenes.
-I think I get the general gist of what you're trying to say with the combining of description and action, and again, I'll see what I can do in my next chapters.
-Don't worry 'bout using examples n' stuff like that; whatever makes it easier for you.
-Like I said earlier, that timeline deal was a stupid mistake on my part. I'm glad you weren't thrown off by it, but it shouldn't happen again. Scout's honor.
-I agree with the cheesiness; it just wouldn't be Starfox without it, right?
-Dude, don't kick yourself about your grammar and stuff; it's not that bad, and I would gladly take a review from someone of your caliber over a quick, illegible one-liner any day.
-Hate to say this, but I'm afraid I've never heard of a book called Irish Red. My penname came from heritage and hair color; sorry man.
Thanks again RedBay; I'm glad that you liked it, and am honored that you would spend the time to type up a lengthy review like that.
SF Ghost
Howdy SF; right off the bat, I gotta say that I'm reading your story and it's lookin' pretty good so far (I'm on chapter 3 right now). A lot of people try reality-to-StarFox crossovers like that, and yours is head and shoulders above the usual stuff that comes down the pike; keep it up man. I'll be sure to leave a review the instant I finish reading all of it. Back to your review though…
-Wow; heh, you definitely get the award for most enthusiastic reviewer. I'm glad you liked it, man.
-It's true; the cliché-edness of the first chapter is pretty blatant. But, hopefully, and within couple more chapters, I should be able to divert off the beaten path of the average Post-SFA fanfic.
-And no, I don't mind being abbreviated in the least (besides, 'IR' kinda has a ring to it…yes, I know it's only two letters; but still).
Thanks a lot for the review SF; coming from a well-established author, it really means a lot to me.
A Note on reviews: If my response to your review (both here and in the future) is a little on the short side compared to others, it's only because the points you bring up have already been brought up in earlier reviews (and thus, have already been answered). No offense intended or anything.
One last thing before I finish up here. You've probably noticed that I use the term 'omni-space' to signify the usual 'hyper-space' or 'warp' deal. My original intent was to do something other than what everyone else was using for the method of getting around space fast, but I'm thinking that it doesn't really flow too well. So, if you're leaving a review (not saying you have too), please let me know whether or not I should keep it, or change it to something else. Thanks y'all.
Alright, I think that should do it for now. I've already started to revise the next chapter, so hopefully, it'll be up sooner than it took to get this one posted. And again, reviews are always appreciated, no matter the size, length, or grammar quality. In other words, don't think that based on my first group of reivews you have to right a long, insightful review; just do whatever feels like enough to you (which includes not leaving a review at all if you don't want to).
Next chapter: Turbulence
-Irish Redd