Fox, Krystal, and Tricky ran through a stone corridor, turning at a few corners, and as they ran, Fox felt like he was getting tired out pretty quickly. By the time the trio exited the tunnel, Fox slipped out of Krystal's grasp, stumbled onto the ground, and struggled to catch his breath. Krystal became pretty impatient due to the fact that the CloudRunner Queen was in peril; she just shouted, "Fox, get a move on! We have a queen to rescue!"

Fox panted in exhaustion, "I… (huff) know… (huff) but…(huff) you're (huff) going (huff) too (huff) fast…"

"The CloudRunner Queen might die if we keep procrastinating!"

"I agree. I just think that you need to slow down just enough so that I could keep up with you. After all, we're in this together."

Tricky said, "He's got a point. And I started to get pretty exhausted too."

Krystal didn't want to wait any longer. She wanted to get over to Cape Claw immediately so that she could rescue the CloudRunner Queen, but she didn't want to abandon her two new allies, especially not Fox himself. She reluctantly accepted. "All right. Now, let's get going."

The trio took a path to the right and jumped down to a small pond down a cliff, swam around a corner across said pond and walked up a slope leading them back to dry land. After they finished walking up the slope, they turned to their right and walked down a similar stone-walled tunnel to the one they just left. As they walked through that tunnel, Fox asked Krystal as he and Tricky followed her, "You seem to know your way to Cape Claw. How did you know how to get there?"

"When Kite and I escaped from Krazoa Palace and evaded that evil phantasm's grasp, he said that he and I should return to CloudRunner Fortress, but when we attempted to reach there, it was already lifted off the ground, and we couldn't get there. All we saw was a crater the size of a mountain. Kite and I flew to Cape Claw to gather supplies from it the shuttle that I used to flee Cerinia when it collapsed. But we were tired so we decided to rest before planning our next move. After a nice dinner and some sleep, unfortunately, we were ambushed by a group of SharpClaw soldiers. I fought them off as well as I could, using the silver staff that you wield now as opposed to my golden one, but they captured Kite and stole my shuttle." The group then walked out of the stone hallway and a more regular tunnel with a more circular structure, with some vegetation on the sides near the walls, including glowing orange bulb-like plants. "I tried to rescue him but it wasn't even a contest. There were just too many SharpClaw standing between me and Kite. By the time I finally reached the shuttle, it was already taking off. I lost everything I had on there. My ship, my supplies, and worst of all, my partner. The HighTop at Cape Claw told me how to get to ThornTail Hollow, and that was where I met you."

"I'm sure we'll find a way to rescue him eventu…" But then, the team walked into a small forest sandwiched between stone walls, where some of the trees had orange target signs painted on them. Fox stopped and walked toward one of the trees, examining the target sign. "What is this? It doesn't look all that good."

"This is the outskirts of LightFoot Village. Thankfully all the LightFoot people are past a nearby gate, and as long as we stay away from it, we should be fine. Like I said before, they hate seeing others walk in on their territory. But as long as we stay away from that gate, we should be fine. Not the gate straight ahead. That takes us to Cape Claw. But the gate to the right of us at the center of this path. As long as we don't go near it, we'll be okay."

"Okay. Now, I feel much safer. Thanks, Krystal."

"You're welcome, Fox. Now let's not waste anymore time. We have a queen to rescue."

After Fox and Krystal walked a bit further on the path, they came across a SharpClaw lurking in the woods. Fox drew his staff and beat down on it, then charged up and uppercut, knocking it on its back. They advanced forward, and after a few more seconds of walking, came across another SharpClaw. Krystal drew her staff and backflipped above the SharpClaw, landing behind him, then grabbed it from behind, putting it in a chokehold, and tightened her grip until it passed out. When they got to the gate at the other side of the path, it was closed. Krystal yelped, "What!? What is this!? The gate was open when I left Cape Claw the first time! What is this!?"

Fox noticed a pedestal resembling one of the scarabs right in front of the gate. "Maybe this thing has something to do with it." He crouched down in front of it and examined it.

But the pedestal started talking, "Pay sixty Scarabs to enter Cape Claw!"

Fox stumbled back. "Whoa! Did this thing just talk!?"

Krystal walked toward the pedestal. "Well, if this thing can talk…" She crouched down next to Fox, leering at it. "Then it has some explaining to do. Out with it. You weren't here when I was leaving Cape Claw long before today, so why are you here now? And why are you refusing to let us pass unless we give you Scarabs?"

"I'm hungry. Give me Scarabs to enter Cape Claw."

"Did somebody put you here? Did the SharpClaw place you here just to waste our time and resources? Do you have any idea how much danger the CloudRunner Queen is in!?"

"Give me sixty Scarabs or go away!"

Krystal groaned. "Fox, let's just give him the stupid Scarabs."

"Well, all right." Fox opened up his Scarab bags and looked inside. "Okay, I found three yellow scarabs, those are worth ten Scarabs each so that makes thirty," he put them into the pedestal's mouth, "five red scarabs, each red scarab is worth five scarabs to that's twenty-five more…" he put them into the pedestal's mouth as well, "so, thirty plus twenty-five is fifty-five, so…" then he put five green scarabs into the pedestal. "Five more, and we're good to go."

"Thanks, Fox." Krystal then leered at the pedestal. "Satisfied,"

The pedestal let out a large burp. "Go on. In you go." The gate opened behind it, leading to a small maze.

Krystal rolled her eyes at the fact that the pedestal was there to begin with, but she, Fox, and Tricky walked through the gate.

As soon as Fox, Tricky, and Krystal waked into the maze, Fox asked, "You know your way around this? If not, I could use my PDA to get us to the other side."

"I do know how to get across. It'll be a bit of a walk to get there, but…" Krystal started walking in a sultry manner, swaying her hips back and forth, all the while smiling at him flirtatiously and saying, "...I know how to make it less boring."

Fox, blushed intensely, upon hearing Krystal saying that. It was almost unfathomable to him that she would outright invite him to ogle her. Then again, she did have incredibly flirtatious interactions with him and even expressed an interest in seeing him naked, so, Fox thought why not and went along with it. But while he did enjoy, looking at Krystal's derriere as she playfully wiggled back and forth, he did check his PDA every few seconds to check to see if they were going in the wrong direction. And every time he noticed them taking a wrong turn, (which happened a grand total of twice due to Krystal's keen intuition) he was sure to remind Krystal and inform her of the direction they were supposed to go and she would change direction accordingly. After they finished getting out of the maze, they passed through a few more brick hallways, with Krystal briefly looking back at Fox, saying, "Keep staring, Fox. You wouldn't want to look at boring brick walls on this trip, would you?" Fox blushed, but kept looking at Krystal's butt until they exited the corridor and approached what appeared to be a well, surrounded by a fence, with a ladder leaning downwards. It was at that moment, when Fox snapped his attention back to the environments around him.

Fox peeked at what was below them. "It looks like that ladder is going to take us to Cape Claw. Alright, ladies first."

Krystal knew exactly why Fox made that suggestion this time. In contrast do going up a ladder, if Krystal goes first when she and the rest of the team go down a ladder, with Fox following after her, Fox would be above her and unable to get a perverted peek at her. Krystal slid down the ladder first, then Fox followed her afterwards, carrying Tricky on his back. The ladder took them to a wooden catwalk where they came across another ladder and descended that ladder in the same order as before. They walked along the lower catwalk to yet another ladder leading upwards at the end of the walkway. Fox did notice a hole in the catwalk with yet another ladder, but he figured it would be best to check it out later. He went up to the ladder and climbed up it, with Tricky on his back, with Krystal following him, and then the trio walked through a short, brief tunnel. .

Once our heroes exited the tunnel, they reached a slope leading down to what appeared to be a beach below. They excitedly ran along the downward pathway leading to Cape Claw, until they stumbled upon a large SharpClaw wielding an axe. Fox and Krystal readied their staffs as the creature dashed towards them. The SharpClaw swung its axe at the two vulpine warriors, but they dodged the soldier's blow and attacked it from each side, giving it almost no room to breath before they killed it. With the large SharpClaw dead, they continued onward. They walked along the slope, but then, Fox briefly noticed what appeared to be jail bars off in the distance along what appeared to be the base of a cliff. He felt that it looked pretty suspicious, so, he took out his Hi-Def Display Device and zoomed in on the bars. He could see the CloudRunner queen very clearly behind them. He noticed in detail that she was crying. "Krystal, I see the CloudRunner Queen. And…" Fox zoomed in even more. He saw that the Queen's eyes were blackened, and she had wounds on her wings. "What have they done to her!?"

Krystal growled, "Those evil beasts! They'll pay for what they've done to her! Let's go, Fox! She needs our help."

"You hear the lady, Tricky, we've got a Queen to save!"

Tricky was kind of reluctant at first. "Me!? Save a CloudRunner!? You gotta be joking!"

"I am not!" barked Krystal, enraged that the EarthWalker and CloudRunner tribes were still behaving like petulant children, "People's lives are at stake!"

"Fine. Save her without me. Just don't drag me into..."

"No! We're bringing you along with us! The petty disputes between your tribe and hers is no different from a spat between two children! And I need both of your tribes to get over it! You're coming with us and that's final!"

Krystal's fiery tone intimidated Tricky into complete silence. Then he just said, "Yes, ma'am."

"Good." The group then progressed further along the cliffs surrounding Cape Claw. They spotted a somewhat cut-off bridge and a Fire Blast switch nearby. Krystal shot at it with her FIre Blast, and the bridge extended so that the group could cross it. They continued walking down the slope, leading to a stone walkway, then walked along the stone walkway and down a ramp leading to the beach. Fox noticed that the waters of Cape Claw looked beautiful and felt it would be wonderful to swim in them, but he kept those thoughts to himself. He and his teammates had a Queen to rescue.

As soon as the group finished walking down the ramp and onto the beach, they walked right up to the bars of the cell Fox noticed earlier. They could see the CloudRunner Queen trapped in her prison, terrified and battered. But the Queen had a reaction of relief upon seeing the group. "K… Krystal!? You're alive!"

"We're here to save you, your majesty," replied Krystal.

"Krystal! Thank the Krazoa Spirits you're okay! I was worried you may have been killed! But why is Kite not…" The Queen started to worry again. "What happened to Kite!? Is he alive!?"

"Yes, your highness. He is alive." The Queen expressed a sigh of relief. But Krystal clenched her fist, tightly before saying, "But a group of SharpClaw soldiers have captured him." The Queen's eyes and mouth widened in terror. "I tried to rescue him, but there were just too many of them. You're not alone in fearing for his safety, your excellency."

Fox decided to intervene. "Excuse me, your majesty, but you mind telling me what happened here? Why would General Scales lock you in here?"

The Queen smiled. "It appears as though Krystal has a new partner now. And your name is..."

"It's Fox. My name is Fox McCloud. Now, what did Scales want with you?"

"He has a harsh grudge against the other tribes of Sauria. Especially the two most powerful Tribes; the EarthWalkers and the CloudRunners. He would do anything to crush them under his heel. If the injuries on my body are any indication, he is even more than happy to resort to torture if given the chance. Peasantry, royalty, they mean nothing to him aside from how drastically the tribe's morale plummets. As well as that, in addition to being their queen, I am also the GateKeeper of CloudRunner Fortress. Scales saw this and used my powers to open a path to the CloudRunner Fortress. I must return there to help my tribe."

Krystal kneeled in reverence. "We'll get you out of there, your majesty. Come on, Fox. Let's look for a switch that opens up her cell."

Fox replied, "Got it."

Krystal pointed to a wooden walkway next to the stone walkway they passed by earlier. "I think there's a switch over there that might help us free the Queen."

Fox pointed to a cave close to the Queen's cell. "Or maybe the switch is in that cave over there."

Tricky snidely remarked, "Count me out. That hag can rot in her cell for…"

Krystal quickly growled at Tricky, her muzzle retracted back, baring her very sharp teeth, her eyes widened and turned bloodshot. Tricky whimpered and took a few steps back. He knew that if Krystal got angry, there was no use in talking back to her. In fact, doing so could be dangerous. He knew his place. Krystal quickly calmed down and turned back to the Queen saying, "Pardon us, your majesty, but I forgot to tell you. We brought an EarthWalker youngling with us. Please forgive his rudeness."

"It's all right. I shouldn't be too surprised if an EarthWalker were to slander me like that. His father has probably been saying bad things about me."

"Oh, yeah. Wonderful parenting," said Fox sarcastically. Then with a straight tone, "I agree with Krystal. Your tribes need to set your disputes aside, especially now that we are facing a common foe. All right, Krystal, let's split up to find the switch to the Queen's cell."

"Let's do this, Fox."

"And Tricky's coming with me."

Tricky was baffled. "You're serious!? You're expecting me to help you free the…"

"Yes!" Fox snapped. "Maybe you didn't hear Krystal when she said that the tribes need to cease their squabbles and work together to help us save the planet. Is that clear?"

Tricky was intimidated into silence yet again. "Yes, Fox. Perfectly clear."

"Good. Let's move out!"

Krystal walked along the stone ramp that led her and the rest of the group to the sandy beach where they met the CloudRunner Queen, then walked on the wooden walkway to her right. She climbed a ladder at the end of the walkway and turned to her right, and noticed a switch where she could use her staff as a lever. She took a quick glance at a stone door on the opposite side as the switch, which had a picture of a SharpClaw on it and a stone tile in front of it with two glowing spots on it. She payed it no heed, and used her staff to activate the switch, then noticed a gateway nearby the cell open up. She was amazed at what she saw. She slid down the ladder and used her telepathy to communicate to Fox what she saw.

Fox and Tricky walked into the cave next to the Queen's cell. Fox noticed a suspicious patch of dirt and asked Tricky to dig it, thinking that a key might be there. Tricky dug up the hole and found a few fuel cells. Fox put them in his backpack thinking that they might come in handy. Then he looked to his right and noticed a strange-looking door and wondered about it. The door was purple, with a cybernetic-looking design to it, with a circle in the center that had a black hole in the very center that appeared to be an opening for Fox's or Krystal's staff. Fox tried putting the tail end of his staff into the hole, then he tried twisting it. It didn't work. It frustrated Fox, but then he thought, Maybe Krystal would have better luck if she were to try it.

Suddenly however, he heard Krystal's voice in his mind. Fox! Look at this. I found something. Run up the stone ramp to where I am. Fox dashed out of the cave and across the beach and up the stone ramp, then turned to his right and found Krystal on the wooden walkway. "All right, Krystal, what did you find?"

"The switch I activated up there opened that gate. I think it leads to where saving the CloudRunner Queen."

"Well, let's go then!" The trio hopped to a nearby platform and ran along the cliffside into the tunnel into a large circular room with four blocks surrounding a square pillar in the center of the room. They didn't see anything particularly special in the room. "You sense anything, Krystal?"

"I don't think so. I think if we…" But then the stone door closed behind them. Fox gasped in terror after the door was shut and the four blocks in the center of the room moved from their initial spots and into the corners of a blue square grid in the center of the room. Green gas started entering the room from the four spaces next to the square pillar.

Fox coughed. "Crap. Poison gas. Krystal. Lend me a hand here!" He made a mad dash to one of the blocks in the room and pushed it so that it would be in front of the pathway in front of the gas vent. Krystal ran up to another block and pulled it in front of the pathway to one of the other vents. Fox and Krystal then pushed the blocks onto two of the vents with all their strength and finally got them clogging up two of the vents, preventing any more gas from leaking out of them. The two vulpines dashed two the other two blocks and performed the exact same actions on those. As soon as the last two vents were plugged up, gas stopped entering the room. Fox and Krystal breathed a sigh of relief. "Now that was a close call. Now if only there's a way in this room to unlock that cage."

Krystal looked around the room, but then quickly spotted a yet another lever switch for her staff. She activated the switch, opening both the stone door to the room, and the bars down below. She sensed that the bars were open and the Queen was safe. "We did it, Fox. Now let's go back down there and talk to the Queen."

Fox and Krystal dashed out of the tunnel and headed back down to the beach where they met up with the CloudRunner Queen. The queen limped onto the beach, weary from the torture that the SharpClaw soldiers have subjected her too. Krystal and Fox dashed down to the beach where she lay limping with Tricky staying up at the stone ramp, keeping his distance from the Queen. As soon as Fox and Krystal approached the Queen, the Queen coughed, "Fox… Krystal… Thank you so much for…" But she coughed again, before she could finish.

Krystal placed her hands on the Queen's body and closed her eyes. Her hands started to glow as energy from her started to flow through the Queen's body. The injuries on the Queen's body started to close up, and all the pain she felt started to vanish. As soon as the Queen was completely healed, Krystal took her hands off the Queen. The Queen, now healed, hugged Krystal, saying, "Thank you again, Krystal. You're truly a hero among us."

"You're welcome, your majesty. Anyway, I have something urgent to report."

"Proceed."

"When Kite and I entered Krazoa Palace, we discovered that the EarthWalkers that have been stationed there have been attacked by some unknown enemy. Only two of them survived, and I was barely able to help one of them. He said to me that General Scales unleashed a great evil into Krazoa Palace, one so powerful and so evil that the SharpClaw feared it. He told me to find their captain, the other survivor. When I found him, he told me that he was the one who sent the distress signal and that he was hoping it would reach Corneria.."

Fox had something to say. "General Pepper told me about the crisis on Sauria before I took off, so maybe it did reach Corneria."

"The dying EarthWalkers told me that General Scales unleashed a being of pure evil into Krazoa Palace, one that was able to frighten the SharpClaw. After releasing the first Krazoa Spirit, I was attacked by that same evil being, and it was the same one that destroyed my homeworld, Cerinia. The lone surviving EarthWalker sacrificed his life to save mine and I barely fled with my life. Kite and I tried to report all of this to you but CloudRunner Fortress was already lifted from the earth and floating up there in the sky. I attempted to use my shuttle as a means of reaching you so I could report to you, but I was attacked by SharpClaw soldiers and they hijacked my shuttle and abducted Kite."

The Queen looked down pensively. "I see. It seems like the situation is even more dire than I thought."

"We're coming with you to CloudRunner Fortress. If there is anything you need our help with, we'll gladly provide it, your majesty."

Fox stepped in. He typed a program into his wrist-bound PDA summoning his Arwing to Cape Claw, targeting a waypoint on a stone platform in front of a large statue of a Krazoa Spirit. "We'll also need that SpellStone so we could bring the planet back together. We've already recovered the first one and put it back into the Force Point Temple, but we need the last three as well as the Krazoa Spirits. The planet depends on it, so we'll help you out."

"I am truly grateful to the two of you. Thank you so much." The Queen started flapping her wings and ascended into the air. "I'll meet you at the Fortress. Good luck!" The Queen flew off into the sky and a blue light enveloped around her. She flew up into the sky, leaving behind what looked like a giant portal in the air.

The Arwing landed. The two foxes walked up to Tricky to get him ready. Fox said, "All right, Tricky. Ready to head off to CloudRunner Fortress?"

"Are you kidding me!? You expect me to gladly walk into CloudRunner territory!? Nuh uh! No way!"

Krystal felt irritated yet again. "Oh, I'm sorry, did my advice do nothing to convince you to set your petty squabbles aside for the…"

"Krystal, please stop."

"But Fox…"

"I'm sorry. But while the Queen is willing to tolerate Tricky's presence, a favor that I agree that he should start repaying…" he gave Tricky "the look" as he said that, but then stopped while saying, "...I believe that the other CloudRunners are willing to peck away at him the moment they see him. I suppose that letting him stay behind might be for the best. We'll drop him off at ThornTail Hollow before heading off to CloudRunner Fortress."

The group approached the Arwing and Fox activated the opening of the cockpit. Krystal hopped into the space behind the pilot's chair, then Fox hopped into the chair itself and buckled up. "All right Tricky, since we think it's a pain to walk all the way back to ThornTail Hollow just to get to the Arwing, I'm gonna use it to drop you off at ThornTail Hollow before Krystal and I head off to CloudRunner Fortress. Is that alright with you?" Tricky nodded. Fox opened the bomb chute and Tricky crawled inside. After the bomb bay closed, Fox lifted off in the Arwing, elevating just high enough to be in the skies of Sauria, and flew over to ThornTail Hollow.

Once the Arwing landed in ThornTail Hollow, Fox pressed the button on his PDA opening the bomb chute. Tricky crawled out of it, and as soon as the EarthWalker Prince returned to solid ground, closed the bomb chute and got ready to take off again. "All right, Tricky, now be a good boy and behave yourself while we're gone. All right?"

"All right, Fox."

Fox lifted the Arwing further up into the air, then pointed it upwards while it was high enough above the ground, and soared into the starry skies above. Off to CloudRunner Fortress they went.