As Fox flew toward ThornTail Hollow, Fox checked his map to see how close he was to his destination. He looked worried. To him, it seemed that they were still quite a few was away. This distressed him. He turned behind him. "How is Sabre holding up, Krystal?"

"Not good. I could only fight off his infections for so long, but if we don't clean his wounds soon, his condition could get worse."

Fox slightly turned up the speed on his Arwing, hoping to get to ThornTail Hollow faster, but hopefully not fast enough to make the ride rough for Sabre. Fortunately for him, he checked his map again and the results seemed to brighten his spirits this time. "We'll be in ThornTail Hollow in a few minutes."

"Good." Krystal continued trying to fend of Sabre's infection, as Fox approached Thorntail Hollow, hoping he and Krystal could help Sabre in time.

Prince Tricky was lying down on the grass in ThornTail Hollow as the sun was setting. He was starting to get impatient. He knew that Fox and Krystal had a valid reason to leave him behind while they were at CloudRunner Fortress, but going for too long without seeing them again just irritated him. But then, all of a sudden, he heard a very low wooshing noise up in the air. He looked up. He saw what looked like Fox's starship. It was slowly lowering to the ground. It was them! They're back! Tricky was happy!

As soon as the aircraft lowered to the ground, Tricky stepped away, but was still excited that Fox and Krystal were finally back. The Arwing landed, the cockpit opened, and Fox jumped out of the ship to the ground. Tricky cried, "You're back! I missed you so…"

Fox turned back to Krystal, saying, "All right, Krystal, let's bring him here." Krystal lifted up her brother with all her strength and put his body in front of the Arwing. Fox took Sabre by the chest and then lowered him gently to the ground. Fox then said to Krystal, "Good. Now get me the first-aid kit. It's to the right of the pilot seat of the Arwing."

"On it!" She looked to the right of the pilot seat of Fox's Arwing, and found a box of medical supplies. She grabbed it and jumped out of the cockpit to Fox's side.

"Good."

Tricky asked "What's going on here?!"

Fox replied, "I'm sorry, Tricky, but this man needs our help. He's badly wounded and we have to patch him up."

Krystal added, "I know you're excited to see us again, but this is important." She then turned to Fox. "Shall we take him to the upstream side of the river?"

"Sounds like a good idea." The vulpine duo moved Sabre to the waterfall pouring out of the Warpstone's garden. They put Sabre's body from the neck down into the river below with his head beneath the waterfall, washing away all the dirt and grime that may have gotten into the gartanguan wound on his forehead. Fox told Sabre, "This will hurt a little, but we want to make sure you don't get infected, so bear with me."

Sabre nodded. Fox started brushing away at any dirt that may have gotten into the wound on Sabre's forehead. It was slightly painful for Sabre, but nothing too serious. Nothing he couldn't handle. As soon there was no more dirt and grime in that wound, Fox and Krystal moved Sabre's head away from the waterfall and rested it on the shore to the river, opened the First-Aid kit, and put the disinfectant into the wound, and after spreading it around, wrapped a bandage around his forehead. Fox said to Krystal, "Keep watch over him. I have a perfect solution for those burn marks on his chest."

"Okay." Krystal continued to watch over her brother while Fox walked over to Prince Tricky. He took out one of the MoonSeeds that he collected back at Moon Mountain Pass and put it in the dirt.

"Tricky? You mind doing me a little favor?"

Tricky saw the MoonSeed. Fox stepped back and Tricky immediately breathed fire on it. A MoonVine grew out of the seed and then Fox briefly thanked Tricky before grabbing some large leaves from the MoonVine, briefly thanking Tricky, and regrouping with Krystal and Sabre. When he got back to them, he put a MoonVine leaf into the water, and it grew in size slightly and turned pink. Krystal lifted Sabre out of the water for a moment, and Fox put the leaf on one part of his chest. He repeated the process with numerous other leaves and put them on other parts of his chest, then his back, then his arms and legs because he wanted to save up on the bandages in his first-aid kit, especially considering the state the Star Fox team was in right now. WIth Sabre's wounds mended, Fox and Krystal placed him on the land area near the river, and put him so he could lie down and rest.

Sabre felt more relaxed. He opened his eyes slightly. He saw Krystal right before him. He felt overjoyed at what he was seeing. "Krystal… you're alive…"

Krystal smiled, "Sabre. I was afraid I lost you." Tears formed in her eyes. "I'm so happy you're alive."

"Well, if it weren't for you or your friend there, I wouldn't have been for long. Thank you so much." He then turned his head to face Fox. "And I'm grateful for you too, Fox McCloud."

"Uh… You're welcome. But how did you know my name?" asked Fox.

"I heard those Venomian brutes talking about you. I heard them curse your name. I heard them rant about how you stopped them from murdering many innocents in the past, and prevented many slaughterings that they intended to use as a means of demonstrating power. I felt that maybe you could provide a glimmer of hope for us."

"Us?"

"Krystal told you about when our homeworld was destroyed, did she not?"

"Yes. She did."

"Well, apparently, I don't believe she herself knew that there were survivors besides her. She was stressed when she fled Cerinia, after all. But after she escaped, I was captured by those Venomian mongrels before they escaped our crumbling planet."

Krystal started forming tears in her eyes.

Sabre continued, "I was prepared for a warrior's death, but while most of us were killed by those brutes, there were a few of us that they thought they had a use for. So they captured those few of us, including myself and my wife, Elysia, and took us unto their ships, and left the planet before its collapse. They took us to some of their bases and began running experiments on us."

Krystal gasped in horror at what she just heard. To her, that was horrific for two reasons; one, because of the torture that her people went through during those experiments and two, because of the idea of the Venomians using the powers that her people had for evil. She let it sink in for a moment. And then she felt her blood boiling. A seething rage quelled up within her. Hearing what Venomians have been doing to her people including her brother as well as what they would have to gain by doing so skyrocketed her hatred for them long past the breaking point. Being responsible for her homeworld's destruction was already enough of a reason for her to despise Venom to the point where she would start convulsing but now she felt that their detestiblity knew no bounds. If only she were given an opportunity to confront a Venomian soldier. If such an opportunity were to arise, she'd rip them limb from limb.

Fox asked, "What's with the huge injury on your forehead?"

Sabre answered, "The Venom freaks implanted devices into our foreheads that prevented us from reading the thoughts of others and it made our own thoughts unable to be read by others of our kind. With the device in me, I was unable to read the thoughts of others, nor could I send messages to my fellow warriors telepathically. I tore out these implants when I escaped so I could save Elysia when they took her so they could move her to another location. They refused to tell me what they were planning to use her for. But I knew she was in danger. So I escaped and ripped the infernal device from my face and struggled as hard as I can to escape. But I didn't make it far. And then, you two found me. And for that, I couldn't be more grateful."

"Krystal and I would do anything to help those in need."

Krystal then added, "Ever since Fox and I realized that you were in grave danger, I wanted to save you. For years, I thought I lost you forever the night Cerinia was destroyed. But Fox helped me prevent that from truly being the case."

"And for that I am grateful to him. My life was saved by both my sister and the very man that those Venomian scum despise more than anyone else in the universe."

Fox replied, "But you said that device implanted into your forehead blocked your fellow Cerinians' ability to sense your thought patterns. You ripped it out and that was what allowed Krystal and me to find you. You played just as big a role in your salvation as we did."

"You speak so kindly, Fox McCloud. Those Venomian filth destroyed our planet, slaughtered our people, and ran horrific experiments on the ones that they didn't kill. And now my sister has fallen in love with the mortal enemy of those monsters."

Fox and Krystal smiled at Sabre's kind words. Sabere then continued. "Which is why I was wondering if she ever got a little taste of your…"

Krystal then blushed and said, "Uh… he he he… Fox, it's getting dark out. You mind gathering some firewood for tonight."

Fox blushed intensely as well. "Uh… yeah! Great idea, Krystal! I'll be back soon!" And Fox then ran off to get what he could use for making a campfire for the evening.

After Fox left, Krystal then turned to Sabre, saying, "Sorry about that. Normally, I'd be fine with you encouraging me to sleep with a man I'm getting along with, but Fox isn't exactly of a 'free love' culture like the one we used to hail from. I think that his culture prefers to do anything related sex specifically behind closed doors. And that includes talking about sex. So, you mind not trying to pry him into 'doing it' with me? I don't need you trying to rush our relationship and its development. That could scare him out of it."

"Okay. I understand. He must be a benevolent person if you're trusting him as much as you are."

"He is. He fought in wars against the armies of Venom, and has saved countless lives. I have been mistrustful of others since I fled Cerinia and had to break our tradition of not reading others' minds because I needed protection from their dubious intentions. But after I looked into his heart, I found him to be trustworthy."

"Well, if he weren't worthy of your trust, he wouldn't have helped you save me."

"Anyway, he did agree to give me a midriff massage, so that could indicate that our relationship is making quite a bit of progress. But that's as intimate as our relationship has gotten so far, and I don't think it's a good idea to push it further or mention to him that I let some of the men in our tribe touch the more… sensitive parts of my body. It might scare him off."

"Oh. I see. Well, you have always checked other cultures and taught us how to blend into them back home as well. You're always so considerate, Krystal."

"Thank you, Sabre."

The leaves crumbled off Sabre's body. His wounds on his body became healed, but the one on his head still needed the bandage that Fox applied to him, so he kept it on, and he still felt weary.

Krystal was quite happy. She placed her hand above Sabre's forehead and started using her healing magic. "Well, I'm glad to see that you're feeling better."

"And I'm glad that my sacrifice to save you wasn't in vain."

Fox carried a few logs the size of footballs to the circle of dirt that wasn't being used as a landing pad by Fox for his Arwing. He put them down, then set one up so that it was facing vertically. Tricky sat a few feet from him to his left as Fox got ready to chop up the wood. He then said to Tricky, "Sorry for giving you the short shrift. We just had something urgent that needed tending to." He started chopping the log.

"Who was that injured man you and Krystal took out of the Arwing earlier. He looked kinda similar to her."

Fox chopped the log again after rotating it ninety degrees, then added it to a pile in the center of the dirt mound, saying, "He's her twin brother. His name is Sabre." He took another log and chopped it too.

"I thought Krystal was the last of her kind."

"Apparently she did too. But then we found out that others of her kind, including her brother, Sabre, were captured by the Venomians before they fled Cerinia as it crumbled." replied Fox as he sliced the log again after rotating it ninety degrees. As he added the sliced log to the pile. "And it turned out that Krystal's brother, Sabre, was one of them. And how we found him contributes to part of the reason why it took longer for us to get back from CloudRunner Fortress than we hoped."

"Thank you! I was about to ask you what was taking you and Krystal so long!"

Fox felt that he already chopped enough wood for a fire. He looked up and saw the sun setting. "When Krystal and I were heading back here, we were shot down by a rival pilot named Pigma Dengar. We defeated him, but while we were heading back, Krystal sensed that her brother was in danger. We battled hard to rescue him and then we brought him back here."

"I see…" Tricky was awfully empathetic for a small child.

"Well, it's getting dark out. I set up a fire, so do you mind lighting it?"

"Okay." Tricky breathed fire on the wooden pile that Fox set up. As the sun was ebbing away, Fox walked over to Krystal and Sabre to call them over to the campfire.

As Fox, Krystal, and Sabre, sat around the campfire after night fell, they each told their stories of how they got to where they are now, while Tricky took a nap on the side of the dirt mound opposite from them. Krystal concluded hers, "When I found out about the distress signal on Sauria, I came to investigate it, and discovered that the Krazoa Spirits were dying."

Sabre asked, "Krazoa Spirits? Just like the ones back on Cerinia?"

"Yes. This world has its own Krazoa Spirits and they are dying just like the ones on Cerinia did. I released the first spirit, but the demon that was there when Cerinia was destroyed came out and attacked me. I escaped, but saw that the planet was beginning to fall apart. Then I found Fox, and he was on a mission to restore the planet, so I decided to work with him."

"So, what were your adventures like before you finally came here?"

"I had to keep my guard up at all times. I broke our tradition and looked into the minds of others just so I wouldn't be taken advantage of, but I kept my power a secret. I felt that those who don't know about my culture would simply ostracize me for my power because, well…" She briefly turned to Fox, asking him, "Tell me, Fox. Would you feel comfortable around someone who could know what you're thinking every waking moment?"

Fox blushed, "Well, to be honest, Krystal, I feel quite comfortable around you but I started off pretty nervous. But now, I'm pretty comfortable with you."

Krystal smiled warmly. She turned back to Sabre, saying, "Even though I've been keeping my guard up, I have still been fighting cruel tyrants and helping those in need."

"Well, I'm glad you still have the same principles that you've always had. Tell me, though, Krystal. Did you use… that power at any point of your journey?"

Krystal replied, "Only two, thankfully."

Fox felt a bit tense. "You mean the one that makes a victim's head explode!?"

Sabre replied, "Yes." She then said to Sabre, "A rebel leader I was trying to help out was about to violate me, so I made his head explode just to protect myself."

Fox then added, "The other time she used it was today, when we were rescuing you. One of the Venom soldiers tried to strangle me to death. If Krystal hadn't used that terrible power, to kill that guard, I would have been dead."

Sabre replied, "Well, at least I'm grateful that she hadn't abused that power, and I'm quite sure that she is too. Did she ever tell you about the first time she used that power?"

Fox then replied, "No, she didn't."

Krystal then replied, "It was when Sabre and I were fighting a wicked sorceress that terrorized our tribe. We infiltrated her lair and killed her minions. Then, we faced… her…"

A vicious female leopard with orange skin and fur in a red loincloth with yellow borders and a yellow-and-black pattern in the middle reaching to her shins with a halter top to match formed a fireball in her hand at threw it at Krystal, but Krystal instantly dodged the sorceress's attacks and shot her Fire Blasts at her. The sorceress summoned a shield around her nullifying the effects of Krystal's Fire Blasts, remaining unscathed by them. Krystal stopped firing blasts, after hearing Sabre's war cry as he charged at the sorceress from behind, dropping her barrier in the process, and by the time, she knew that Sabre was charging at her, it was too late. Sabre struck her across the face with his staff. She was knocked back tremendously, but she furiously unleashed a major shockwave knocking both Sabre and Krystal back with tremendous force. Sabre and Krystal came crashing against their walls. The evil leopard sorceress raised her hand in the air and it glowed. Krystal quickly looked behind her, and saw that a nearby statue of a fearsome warrior came to life and quickly grabbed and restrained her before she could even react. As soon as the living statue grabbed Krystal by the wrists, she struggled to break free.

Sabre cried out Krystal's name. "Krystal!"

Krystal cried back, "Sabre!"

The wicked sorceress pinned Sabre to the ground. "Now you're mine!" She started stroking Sabre's chest. "Such a nice, well-toned body. So wondrous…" She pulled her arm back, and then grabbed the belt-area of Sabre's loincloth and prepared to rip it apart.

Krystal shouted "No!" and her eyes glowed cyan, as she bared and gritted her teeth. The sorceress quickly let go of Sabre's loincloth and put both of her hands on her head. She felt a pain within her skull and she felt it getting worse and worse after each nanosecond. She kept screaming louder and louder until her head exploded, splattering her brains and blood all over the place. Her decapitated body collapsed to the floor, and the living statue that held Krystal crumbled to dust. Krystal rushed over to Sabre. "Sabre! Sabre, are you okay?" She held him upright.

Sabre struggled to regain his footing. "Urgh…. I think so… Krystal, what did you..."

Krystal gasped. She knew that she just used a terrible power in order to prevent the sexual abuse that the wicked sorceress intended to put Sabre through. She knew that today she used it for a noble cause, but feared that she would end up using it for a cause that isn't so noble.

"Before then, I never realized that I had such terrible power in my hands. I feared that I could end up abusing such power. But it seemed to me like it only activated when the situation became truly desperate."

Fox replied, "I think that power activates whenever either you or someone you care about is in great danger."

"True, but I'm afraid that committing a small slight against me would trigger this horrible power. I don't want to end up with that being the case."

Fox embraced Krystal. "I'm sure it won't."

Sabre said to Fox, "Thank you for being there for my sister. After what happened to our people, I figured that she would be on her guard, and suspicious of others, but you've shown yourself to be worthy of her trust."

"I promised her that I'll never betray her trust. She's been alone for too long. She found someone to be there for her, and I'll see to it that she'll never be alone again."

Krystal's heart was set aflutter hearing those words coming from Fox, therefore wrapping her arms around him.

Sabre just replied to Fox, "I think you've made some steps to that already. When she realized that I was alive, you helped her save me. My torment would have been insufferable if you two hadn't saved me."

Krystal then said to Sabre, "I'm just grateful that you're alive."

"And I am that you are too."

Krystal smiled. Then she and Fox moved slightly apart from each other. She gave him a flirtatious smile. "So, Fox, how about that midriff massage?"

Fox blushed intensely. "Uh… Sabre's here and I'm not sure if he would…"

Sabre then stepped in, saying, "It's okay, Fox. Krystal often invited the men of our tribe to caress her body."

Fox was kind of puzzled. "She… did?..."

"Yep. She always loved it when our men touched her beautiful body. And she seems eager for you to touch her as well."

Krystal continued flirting with Fox. "So, how about it? You up for it?"

Fox still blushed but decided to go along with it. "Okay." He sat on the log opposite the one Sabre sat at with Krystal sitting on her lap not long afterwards. Fox felt a huge surge of arousal, and consequently embarrassment, from having a sexually attractive, skimpily dressed, and flirtatious young woman being in very close contact with him. He took a deep breath, let it out, and began putting his hand on Krystal's tummy and stroking it gently and lovingly. She liked it and even said, "How would you like to massage my legs, too?" Fox then put his other hand on the side of Krystal's thigh and caressed it too. Krystal said, "Oh, yes. This feels good."

"Indeed it does, but I find it kind of weird that a woman would outright ask me to touch her like this. I mean I enjoy this, but this isn't something I would think would happen."

"Well, it did, so I hope you consider yourself fortunate."

"Well, you are a great woman, so why not." The way Krystal's skin felt beneath Fox's fingers felt so good. Her skin had such a smooth texture that made it tantalizing for him to stroke his fingers across. He kept moving his fingers across Krystal's beautiful belly in such a gentle and majestic manner, much to her delight. She enjoyed the feel of Fox's fingertips as they glided all over her tummy. She loved the way Fox touched her thighs too, as it triggered a lustful sensation within her, and while she didn't think Fox thought he was ready to start touching her private parts, she could already feel herself wanting to orgasm. Feeling Fox touching and stroking her thighs made her anticipate the day he would end up feeling her loins but she thought that asking him to do so would creep him out, so she refrained from it. Fox started putting his finger into Krystal's belly button and started twirling it around.

Krystal saw what Fox was doing with her navel and gave him a flirtatious smile. "I hope that qualifies as potential foreshadowing…"

Fox blushed. "Erm… uh…. Well, it probably might…" Fox twirled his finger around as it stayed in her belly-button and he and Krystal enjoyed the belly-button play. Krystal can't help but feel lustful feeling Fox's finger in her navel. She couldn't help but fantasize about engaging in sexual pleasure with him. And Fox felt a bit of anticipation for such a moment as well, but he felt that their relationship hasn't gotten strong enough yet. Even so, with Krystal allowing him to touch her like this, he felt that it would only be a matter of time. But he felt this would be a good opportunity to ask Krystal and Sabre about their lives back home. He asked, "So, what kinds of adventures did you two go on back on Cerinia?"

Sabre replied, "Krystal and I went on all sorts. Exploring the jungle, protecting small villages, finding relics, rescuing children, all sorts of things."

Krystal added, "We even killed many monsters while we were exploring the jungle like flesh-eating plants and giant spiders. Sometimes we even competed to see who killed more monsters."

Fox then switched hands, putting the hand that was on Krystal's thigh on her midriff and the one on her midriff on her other thigh. She lifted her leg up just slightly, and then Fox caressed the underside of her thigh. Fox asked, "So, Sabre, how did you and Elysia first meet?"

Sabre answered Fox. "It was when Krystal and I rescued her from a ruthless and sadistic warlord named Kaijira."

Krystal added, "Elysia was once the princess of the Nemeria tribe, but Kaijira invaded the Nemeria and captured all of their women, including their princess, Elysia, and made them their slaves." Fox's fondling of Krystal's body started slowing down to a crawl. "Kaijira's henchmen 'owned' the common women of the tribe, while Elysia was made 'property' of Kaijira himself. They used them as tools to satisfy their… carnal desires..." Fox then moved his hands away from Krystal's body. "Seeing them treat their women as… Fox, why are you… Oh. Right. Not an appropriate story for me to tell while you're doing… that. Let's cut to the happy ending."

"Yeah, but I'm not sure if I should keep…"

"Fondling me? No, it's okay. Keep at it."

"But you said that this warlord guy…"

Sabre said, "Don't worry about it. You're nothing like Kaijira. My sister's consent matters to you. So, go ahead. We'll skip the part where we save the day."

Fox kept on caressing Krystal's legs and belly. Krystal then continued, "Anyway, Sabre and I battled and defeated Kaijira and his soldiers and freed the women that his tribe captured. Alysia became Sabre's wife of her own free will."

Sabre replied, "And ever since then, I have been trying to help her through her emotional struggles, but after everything those Venomian scum have been doing, I think I may have to start over. Krystal? Fox? I need the two of you to save her for me. I'm too weak to do it myself. The experiments that have been run on me back in the Venomian base I escaped from took a severe physical and mental toll on me. Even with your help, I still haven't recovered, and much of my Krazoa Energy has been drained, rendering my power useless. That's why I didn't ask you for my staff back. And with too little Krazoa energy, I can't recover quickly enough. So, I'll let you hold onto my Krazoa staff a bit longer."

Fox started rubbing Krystal's shoulders. "Thanks, Sabre, but won't you want your staff back eventually?"

Sabre replied, "I will, but now I am in no condition to use it. Without the Krazoa energy to power it, it's as effective as a twig."

"But I don't have Krazoa energy and I've been using the powers of the staff quite well."

"All forms of life have Krazoa energy. It's just that very few species in the universe possess the ability to channel that energy for usage without a powerful Krazoa weapon, such as our staffs. You needed a staff such as ours to use your Krazoa energy, but because you don't have natural abilities that use that energy like we do, the spells you cast with my staff are less powerful than when I use it. Since I am nearly depleted, I can't use my staff and I think it would be better off in your hands for now. All I want right now is a safe place to..."

But then, all of a sudden, an Arwing, just like the one Fox flew around in, swooped into view and landed close by. Fox blushed, nervous, afraid that his friends would see him as a lecherous pervert. When the Arwing landed, Slippy stepped out of it, and saw Fox having his hands on Krystal's body, Krystal immediately before Slippy could even attempt to call Fox out on molesting her, said, "It's okay, Slippy. He has my consent."

Slippy felt a bit of relief that Fox wasn't sexually harassing her. He walked up to Sabre. Fox said to Krystal, "Thanks for sticking up for me."

"You're welcome, Fox." replied Krystal.

"But, you mind getting off my lap for a moment? I need to help Slippy put Sabre into his Arwing."

Krystal then got off Fox's lap and then Fox walked up to Slippy and Sabre. Slippy said to Fox, "I got your message, Fox. You're right. Sabre's hurt badly. We'd better take him to the Great Fox so he could recover."

Sabre was on-edge towards Slippy. Fox said to him, "It's okay, Sabre. He's with me. He helped me fight the Venomian army in the Lylat wars." Sabre eased up a bit. Fox continued, "We are the Star Fox team. We go around the galaxy fighting for justice and protecting the innocent. We're just like you." He then turned to Slippy and gave him the device that Sabre tore out from his forehead. "Slippy, I need you to analyze this device that the Venomians implanted into his forehead." Slippy took the device and put it in his pocket.

Sabre got up. Slippy activated the steps to his Arwing and Sabre walked up them while Fox helped to keep him steady, and Sabre slipped in behind the seat of the Arwing. He said to Fox, "I am grateful to you for taking good care of my twin sister. But promise me that you two will save my wife and all the other captives back at that base."

Fox replied, "I've already taken steps to ensure their safety. As for Elysia, Krystal and I will get her back. We promise."

Slippy hopped into the pilot seat of the Arwing. "Thanks for letting me know that you found a man who needs medical attention. We'll send him to our infirmary so he could make a recovery."

"Okay. Just send me an update when he's feeling better."

"We'll do what we can."

"And did Peppy receive my message about that Venomian base?"

"Yep. He's contacting General Pepper and letting him know about the base and its captives as we speak. By tomorrow, Pepper's going to send a rescue platton to take down that base and save the other Cerinians in it. He'll give us a call when it happens. See ya!" Slippy then closed the cockpit of his Arwing and took off, returning to the Great Fox.

Krystal walked up to Fox and asked him, "Do you think Sabre's going to be okay?"

"Yes. He's a strong-willed and resilient warrior just like you."

Krystal smiled. "Well then, How would you like to touch me some more?"

"That would be nice,but aren't you worried about Elysia?"

"I am, but letting that worry get to me isn't going to be good for me. So how about it?"

"Well, okay." Fox and Krystal lay down their completely unzipped sleeping bag and sat down on top of it, while Fox continued stroking Krystal's legs and midriff, much to her delight. "You know, Krystal, that brother of yours is a good man. Always fighting to help those in need, protective of his friends and family, the two of you do exactly what being a warrior of the Crimson Sun was all about."

"Thank you so much for helping me rescue him, Fox. And thank you for making sure that my fellow Cerinians would be rescued as well. I haven't been in a mood this good in a long time."

"You're quite welcome, Krystal." Fox then put his hands off Krystal. "But we have a SpellStone to return tomorrow. We'd better get some rest before we head off to the Ocean Force Point Temple. Good night." He lowered his body down on his half of the sleeping bag before falling asleep.

"Good night," replied Krystal. She lowered herself on her half as well. She was happy that her brother was safe, and that there were survivors of Cerinia just like her, and she enjoyed the midriff and leg massages that Fox gave her. But then she started to worry about what kinds of treatment Sabre and the others were going through back in that Venomian base. She started to think that the experiments run on them qualified as absolute torture. The thought of what those experimentations were like terrified her, as did the uncertainty of Elysia's fate. And with one of those mind-blocking devices implanted into her, Elysia couldn't telepathically call for help to Fox and Krystal. Struggling not to worry too much, Krystal tried to fall asleep.