Note: Oh my, it feels like I'm almost done with the Adventures portion of this story. I've got chapters left, I know, but I think that I can plow through this part. I might give the actual Star Fox Adventures a try if I ever get a copy of it, as well as a GameCube. It's a really underrated game, even if it doesn't involve the traditional Star Fox gameplay. Personally, I always found it ridiculous how people get mad over Fox being able to leave his Arwing, but they don't complain about the characters of Star Wars, Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica doing the same thing. Anyway, enough of that, it's time to move on with the story. Before we officially get started, I want to say something to two reviewers.
Plague Doctor 2035: Honestly, man, if you want to keep me blocked, that's fine. I admit, I did make a fool of myself when I gave a criticism for your story in mine. However, thanks for your review. I actually didn't expect you to respond to my note to you in the previous chapter, but I'm glad that you did. You're right when you say that you like my story, even going so far as to point out the pacing issues. I wish you luck on your story, though. Take care!
The White Wolf named Alex: Don't worry, Krystal isn't the kind of girl who would willingly go along with an arranged marriage. Besides, this is a prequel to Lucky Rabbit's Foot. I hope that you enjoy this chapter.
Now that I've done that, it's time for chapter eight.
Chapter 8: Dreams of a Lonely Vixen
After taking the SpellStone of LightFoot Village to the Ocean Force Point Temple, Star Fox and Krystal made their way back to LightFoot Village, where Chief LightFoot was waiting for them. While Krystal sat near a boulder with Peppy, Fox and Slippy spoke with the Chief.
"So, have you gotten the SpellStone back?" The LightFoot asked.
"Yes," Fox said, "but we took it to one of the Force Point Temples."
"What?!" The Chief spat.
"Come now, Chief, it's necessary to save Sauria by doing such a thing!" Slippy cheerfully said.
"Fine then," the Saurian said, "but don't think that this clears up any of the wrongdoing you've done in the past."
"Hey, it's not like Sauria has everything we need for our missions!" The toad complained.
"Slippy, don't escalate tensions!" Peppy yelled at him.
"Sorry!" The amphibian said.
"Let's go somewhere quieter." Fox said as he lead Slippy and Chief LightFoot to another area.
Over at the boulder, Peppy was talking with Krystal.
"Oh, those boys, they haven't changed much from when they were little!" Peppy said.
"We all have a bit of a child within us, Peppy." Krystal spoke.
"You know what they say, 'boys will be boys'!" The hare told her. "Did you ever get in mischief with someone, Krystal?"
"Not really." The cobalt vixen yawned. "My little brother, Beryl, was the jokester of the family, as well as the family favorite. I did hang out with boys when I was at school, though. It was one of the only places where Sabre wasn't near me."
"Who's Sabre?" The lepus asked, intrigued. "Was he an old flame?"
"No," the Cerinian said, sounding sleepy, "he was a Knight of Cerinia. He wasn't an old flame, but he was like an older brother to me. Last time I saw him, he was with Randorn, his grandfather, and they ..."
Krystal then fell asleep, holding her head in her hand as she drifted off. Peppy looked at the cobalt vixen in concern, being somewhat surprised by her behavior. While he knew the younger female less than Fox, the hare felt as if she wasn't in good health. Not only did she have a breakdown after helping Star Fox to take down King RedEye, but now she had fallen asleep. Seeing as the vixen would eventually fall on her side, Peppy caught her, holding her in his arms. Fox and Slippy then came up to them, having finished their conversation with Chief LightFoot.
"Hey, boys, this isn't what it looks like." Peppy said, hoping that they wouldn't get the wrong idea.
"Is Krystal okay?" Slippy asked.
"Yes," the hare said, "but she just fell asleep all of a sudden. We were just talking, and, out of nowhere, she just dozed off."
"Krystal must have been exhausted after a long day like this." Fox stated. "Along with that, she probably wore herself out when she had that outburst in the Walled City."
"What should we do with her?" Slippy asked.
"Well, let's go somewhere safer." Peppy said as he held the sleeping Krystal.
"Good idea." Fox said.
Using WarpStone, Fox, Peppy and Slippy found themselves in Moon Mountain Pass. The night sky was above them, with Sauria's moon shining its light. Walking to a cave, the three found a place to stay for the night. In Fox's arms was Krystal, who was still sound asleep. Sitting down, the orange tod lie the cobalt vixen on the ground. In response, Peppy handed him a sleeping bag, allowing him to cover up the Cerinian.
"We're putting Krystal in a sleeping bag?" Slippy asked.
"It's better than just having her lay on the ground." Peppy said.
Once Krystal was covered up, Fox, Peppy and Slippy watched over her as she slept. The three even kept an eye out for anyone who would attack them. Luckily, nothing attacked the group throughout the night. Knowing that they were safe, Star Fox continued to watch over Krystal. The cobalt vixen didn't respond to the noises that they made while keeping an eye out for enemies. In fact, she slept no matter what happened.
"Krystal's kinda cute when she sleeps." Slippy whispered.
"I don't think we should be near her, though." Fox whispered.
"She's out cold, guys, she can't really hear us." Peppy softly said. "Besides, it's better to let Krystal get some rest instead of trying to disturb her."
All of a sudden, Krystal moaned, her face straining as she did so. The cobalt vixen moved around in the sleeping bag, almost exiting it. Fox and Peppy looked on in concern, with Slippy kneeling down beside her. The toad held her in his arms, rubbing his hand down her back.
"We didn't mean to bother you, Krystal." Slippy whispered. "Pay no attention to us, head back to sleep."
Krystal didn't stop moving, nor did she relax. Rather, she started to mumble as she slept. A tear even went down the cobalt vixen's face.
"No!" She moaned. "No, please! Don't do it!"
Alarmed by this, Fox, Peppy and Slippy surrounded Krystal. Slippy in particular stopped holding the cobalt vixen, letting her lay on the ground. However, she continued to twitch and moan, with her moaning giving way to whimpers. Fox, Peppy and Slippy were concerned, as if they were a father who knew his child was in danger.
"She must be having a nightmare!" Slippy whispered.
"It's a really intense one, too." Peppy softly said. "Poor thing must have some troubled thoughts."
"Considering what she said in the Walled City, I think that she's been through more than the destruction of Cerinia." Fox stated. "But how will we know what she's dreaming about?"
Slippy reached into his pocket and pulled out a device. Said device was green, had a red light and a blue light, and resembled a tiara. The toad carefully put it on Krystal's head, pressing a button on the side.
"Never thought that we would use that." Slippy said.
"Slippy, what is that thing?" Fox asked.
"It's a dream-scanning machine that can show you what someone else is dreaming about." The toad said. "When the blue light glows, that means that the dream can be displayed. If it's red, however, that either means that the dream cannot be displayed, or that the machine is on low power."
"I thought that General Pepper banned those from use after several reports of insomnia." Peppy said.
"Don't worry, this is the most recent update, it won't cause anything like that!" The amphibian happily stated.
After nearly a minute, the blue light on the device blinked. Upon seeing that, Slippy pressed a button that was on top of it. When he did that, a blue, holographic screen materialized. Next, there was a loading screen that showed the progress, mainly how much time was left. Then, the screen finished loading and displayed Krystal's dream. The screen displayed a younger version of the vixen, who was dressed in a gown and surrounded by darkness.
"That's what Krystal's dreaming about?" Fox asked.
"Hold on, there might be more." Slippy said.
All of a sudden, the screen showed Krystal looking around, as if she were looking for something. Before she could look for longer, she stopped in her tracks and stood back. The cobalt pup let out a scream and started to run from something.
"Help!" Dream Krystal cried. "Somebody help me!"
"What's she running from?" Peppy asked.
"It's not on the screen yet, but it will show up." Slippy said.
Sure enough, the screen zoomed out to show several ships flying above the young Krystal. Fox, Peppy and Slippy only watched in horror, having recognized the ships that were chasing the younger Cerinian. The ships were a fleet from Venom's Army. On top of the commanding ship was a familiar face: Andross. The former good-intentioned scientist evilly glared down at Krystal, ordering the other ships trailing her.
"Keep following the Cerinian, men!" He ordered. "Once we corner her, we will make sure the Cerinians are extinct!"
As Peppy and Slippy watched Krystal's dream in utter horror, Fox's face contorted into a snarl. It angered him to see the face of Andross again. The bastard had already murdered his parents and threatened the Lylat System, which gave the orange tod enough reasons to hate him. But, now that Krystal's dream was showing the disgraced scientist commanding the Army of Venom to attack her, that hate was turning into rage. All Fox wanted to do was fly in with his Arwing and attack Andross and his forces, but he couldn't. All he could do was watch helplessly, alongside Peppy and Slippy.
"I figured that something destroyed Krystal's home planet, but I didn't want to admit that it was Andross!" Peppy quietly said.
"Of course he destroyed her home planet!" Fox growled. "Andross would've done anything for power, including ruining entire planets for the sake of his own agenda! If he were still around, I'd make him suffer, not just for my parents, but for Krystal's planet!"
"Fox, giving someone a slow and painful end is not the answer." Slippy calmly said. "Besides, Andross is gone."
"But how can we be sure that he's gone for good?" The orange tod asked, calming down.
"If he's not gone, we can search for him." Peppy said. "All we need to do is take a few guys from the CDF with us, like Bill."
"That's a good plan, and Krystal could even join us on the mission." The vulpine stated. "She just needs to take flight lessons and get her license."
"Hopefully General Pepper will let her go to the Cornerian Flight Academy." Slippy said.
The holographic screen cut to static and retreated back to the device. Knowing that Krystal was waking up, Slippy carefully took it off her head, putting it back into his pocket. Opening up her eyes, Krystal looked up at Fox, Peppy and Slippy. The three were sitting near her, giving off friendly smiles.
"Hi Krystal!" Slippy cheerfully greeted.
"Guys," she said in a groggy tone, "I -"
"We know, Krystal, you were having a bad dream." Peppy calmly said.
"And we know how your home planet got destroyed." Fox added. "Sorry we had to use a dream-scanning thing on your brain."
"No, I'm sorry if I never told you guys anything else about myself." Krystal said. "I'm somewhat secretive about certain things."
"Well, is there anything else off the top of your head that you can tell us?" Peppy asked.
Krystal then explained how she saw soldiers from Venom in her youth. Visitors from other planets had been rendered near scarce by the time her father had married her mother. The only time someone would come to Cerinia was usually for trade or military purposes. However, those who had come from Venom were not opposed by Krystal's father, as he saw them as allies to Cerinia. Many other Cerinians, including Krystal, saw Venom's Army and industries as nothing but trouble. Sure enough, Cerinia would fall to Venom, being destroyed by the Army from the planet the King of Cerinia saw as an ally.
While Peppy and Slippy figured that Venom would be up to no good when it came to their true motives for Cerinia, they were somewhat surprised when Krystal told them that General Scales was once a member of Venom's Army. The cobalt vixen even told them how different than how he is in the present. Venom's Army was discriminatory, being consisted of those who came from Venom, and was usually consisted of cold-hearted soldiers, so it would be somewhat odd for them to recruit a Saurian, let alone a SharpClaw who was kind enough to give a little girl fruit, into their ranks. Peppy and Slippy wanted to come to the conclusion that Scales' time with Venom's Army turned him into the soldiers that the rest of the Lylat System would be at odds with, but they didn't. Something told them that something else was a factor to Scales becoming who he is.
"Gee, Krystal, it's kind of hard to imagine all that stuff happening!" Slippy said.
"Yeah, and General Scales was a member of Venom's Army, too?" Peppy asked.
"I know that this is kinda hard for you to swallow, guys." Krystal said. "I just wished that I told you everything beforehand, so that I would've let you know what you wanted. Oh, if only Cerinia had a better way of fighting off Venom!"
"In your dream, you seemed lonely, why is that?" Fox asked.
"I didn't have a lot of friends while I was growing up." The cobalt vixen said. "Outside of my family, I rarely interacted with anyone on Cerinia. All the kids at school thought that I was just some spoiled, stuck-up brat because I was the Princess of Cerinia, but I just wanted to make friends."
"I'm sorry." The orange tod said.
"It's okay." She said. "At least I've made some actual friends since my time on Sauria, my fears of being lonely having been pushed to the side. I just wish that I had a family that I could call my own, even if it's not the one I had on Cerinia, or any of the tribes on Sauria."
Fox, Peppy and Slippy then hugged Krystal. In response, the cobalt vixen hugged them back. A tear trickled down her cheek, but she wiped it away. Her allies stopped hugging her, allowing her to stand up.
"You'll find a family, Krystal, you just need to find a place where you feel at home." Peppy said. "And even then, you managed to come to Sauria and find shelter with the EarthWalkers!"
"You're right about that, Peppy." Krystal stated. "It's just too bad that some of the tribes on this planet aren't willing to take in outsiders."
Fox, Peppy, Slippy and Krystal then shared some good-natured laughter. However, it was cut short when applause rang into the cave. It wasn't energetic or happy, however, it was slow and sarcastic. Upon hearing it, Star Fox turned around and saw a lizard dressed up as a soldier. This soldier was from Venom, no doubt one of the remnants of Andross' forces. Fox, Peppy and Slippy gave off threatening glares, while Krystal looked like she would tear the enemy's throat out.
"Well, well, well, look what we've got here!" The Soldier sneered. "I was just taking a walk through this place, and look what I find: Star Fox and a chick! Hey, isn't she a Cerinian? I thought that we blew that planet to pieces! Looks like today's my lucky day!"
Krystal growled at the Soldier, getting ready to draw her staff. However, Fox stood in front of her.
"I'd suggest leaving and going back to whatever patrol you are in!" Peppy warned. "We don't want this to end in violence!"
"I'm by myself, so it wouldn't take long for the three of you to kill me!" The Soldier said. "But, if I killed all of you now, I'd go down in history as that one soldier from Venom who brought down Star Fox! As for the girl, I suppose that I could give her to an organ harvester or an executioner!"
"That's not going to happen!" Krystal spat.
"So, you think that you can take me down?" The lizard snorted. "Well, come on and show me what you got!"
Without warning, Krystal jumped at the Soldier and punched him in the face. In response, the Soldier kicked at her, only to get grabbed by his leg and thrown to the ground. The cobalt vixen then beat the lizard, repeatedly punching him and giving him little time to react. However, he pushed her off of him. Before he could walk away, the Soldier then received a powerful kick to his gut, being unable to dodge the right hook he received to his head. Now that he was on the ground, the Soldier then attempted to crawl away from Krystal.
"Stay away from me, you savage!" He cried.
"Says the Soldier of the Army that destroyed my home planet." Krystal said. "You and your allies are the true savages, as you killed so many innocent people without remorse, guilt or concern for their well-being! For my people, you will pay!"
Before the Soldier could try to run, Krystal blew his head up with her staff. After that, Fox, Peppy and Slippy came up to Krystal, looking down at the Soldier.
"I was kinda hoping that you would let him live, Krystal." Peppy said.
"Yeah, he might have had info on him!" Slippy said.
"Don't worry," Krystal said, "he might have information stored on a device with him. Just check for one!"
As Peppy and Slippy searched the dead Soldier, Fox spoke with Krystal.
"You really got that out of your system." Fox said.
"Yes," Krystal said, "but I don't feel like it makes up for the destruction of Cerinia."
"If it makes you feel better, I took down Andross a few months back." The orange tod said. "Even if I didn't know about Cerinia at the time, I guess that I avenged your planet."
Krystal kissed Fox on the cheek, wrapping him into a hug shortly after.
"Thank you, Fox!" She said. "If only my fellow Cerinians were around to hear the news!"
Fox only smiled, watching as Peppy pulled a device off of the dead soldier. The hare then got out his communicator out and contacted General Pepper. After a few minutes, the General said that he would send a pilot from the CDF to gather the device. Once the pilot arrived, Peppy handed the device to him. After that, a strange light then floated above Star Fox and Krystal. Luckily, it was only a Krazoa Spirit.
"Well, there's the Spirit that's supposed to be in LightFoot Village!" Peppy spoke.
"Who's going to get it?" Slippy asked.
"I'll get it!" Fox said, letting the Krazoa Spirit phase into his body.
"Now that that's out of the way, we should get out of here." Krystal said.
"Yeah, this place gives me the creeps!" Peppy said.
"Too bad too, Moon Mountain Pass is such a peaceful place at night!" Slippy said. "Then again, it is where the SharpClaws came from after a meteor crashed into Sauria."
"Let's just go, guys." Fox said.
"Yes, we shouldn't waste anymore time." Krystal added.
After returning the Krazoa Spirit to Krazoa Palace, Star Fox and Krystal went back to ThornTail Hollow, where they were greeted by Tricky, Queen EarthWalker and King EarthWalker. Upon getting reacquainted with them, Fox, Peppy, Slippy and Krystal saw that Kyte had arrived there, with permission from Queen CloudRunner. Once they saw her, the young CloudRunner spoke with them before going back to CloudRunner Fortress. Now that they were alone, Star Fox was given shelter by the EarthWalkers, with Krystal even being given a Bafomdad. Needless to say, Fox, Peppy and Slippy were spellbound by the small furry creature.
"What is that, Krystal?" Slippy asked.
"It's a Bafomdad!" Krystal said, holding it while gushing. "They're adorable little creatures that will let anyone touch them! They can even revive someone who has just been fatally wounded!"
"That's a little creepy, Krys." Fox said.
"Sorry about that." The cobalt vixen stated.
"It's okay, let's just think about our next step in saving Sauria." Peppy said.
While still holding the Bafomdad, Krystal joined her allies in planning for tomorrow. That day, they would go around the planet to look for the sole remaining SpellStone and the Krazoa Spirits they hadn't found yet. With that in mind, their minds were now focused on the primary objective: stopping General Scales and saving Sauria. Even if the adventure would be over, the four would have saved a planet from being destroyed. From there, Star Fox would be paid and Krystal would go back to her peaceful life on Sauria. It would all be simple from that point on.
Note: I feel like I might be ruining the story as I write it. I sure hope that I'm not. Now that I've finished up with my finals for the Fall Semester, I feel as though I can rest easy. Of course, I realize that I have more years of college to go through before I get my degree, but for now, I can take it easy. We'd all feel like that when we get through the semester at either school or college.
If you're reading this, CometEJay00, I'm sorry if you had the misfortune of seeing how I acted in the past, I've been trying to act better. Your story is kinda okay, though, as you feature Fara as a member of Star Wolf. As for you, Plague Doctor 2035, I hope that you're doing okay. I've been reading your story, and while it's still not one of my favorites, I can see that you're tearing through it and that it's getting a little better with each chapter. I hope that the both of you are doing okay outside of your stories. Christmas is coming, after all.
As Nintendo has yet to release a new Star Fox game, I might as well talk about Star Fox: Event Horizon, which is a fan game by UndyingNephalim. It might seem unnecessary for me to talk about it here, but I just want to give my honest opinion on it. I personally don't like it, as I find the character designs kinda ugly, the story a convoluted, and I feel like the PC is hardly a system for a Star Fox game to be on. While it's only a fan game, I don't find myself playing it anytime soon. If you want to play it, there's a website you can download it off of. If you like it, that's fine.
Now that I've finished this chapter, I'm signing off the story for the year. I shall continue writing it when the new year comes rolling around. Stay tuned for it, as I don't know what month the new chapter will be released in. Until next time guys, this is Newcomer24, signing off. Peace, and have a Merry Christmas!