Note: Don't let the title fool you, this will be a basic adventure story. Despite being a Star Fox fanfic, this will not feature a majority of the characters from the series. However, it will mention a character or two who won't make a physical appearance in the story. In fact, a supporting character will make an appearance in this fanfic as an ally to our heroes. Alright, let's get on with the story.
Chapter 1: Calling Card
The surface of Fortuna was glistening with the various forms of life on the planet. The planet was especially beautiful this time of year, as it was summer on the surface. All of the creatures on the planet were at peace, as no new threats to the galaxy were around. In fact, the plant life was perfectly intact. The sea of the planet glistened under the sun, reflecting the star on the water. It would seem like everything was okay.
That was until ...
"Come on Randorn, speed it up!" A young man's voice rang out.
That voice belonged to a brown wolf who was dressed in a chest plate, a tunic, leggings, and boots. This wolf also had a scabbard on his back. Behind him was a much older wolf, who was wearing a cape, a shirt that went down to his thighs, leggings, a belt, and black shoes. This older wolf was Randorn, and the younger one who was in front of him was his grandson, Sabre.
"I'm doing my best, Sabre." Randorn spoke, "And to think, there was a time when I could outrun you."
"You've got magic," Sabre said, "you can use it to teleport back to our place if you're tired."
"I'll be fine." The older wolf smiled.
As the two wolves continued to walk, they were unaware that there was something hiding within the jungles of Fortuna. This something was a creature in a suit of cybernetic armor. The being remained hidden, not wanting the other creatures to see her.
Sabre and Randorn walked on to a broken down spaceship: their home for the time being. It had been their home for a year, and it probably would be their home for the rest of their lives. Once they were inside, Randorn sat down at a couch while Sabre stood up.
"That was a fun walk." Randorn said.
"It wasn't really fun," Sabre stated, "it was more of an exercise."
"Wish that I could exercise more frequently." Randorn stated.
"There's plenty of exercises for you to do, grandfather." Sabre noted.
"Like what?" The older wolf asked his grandson.
"Push-ups and sit-ups." The younger wolf smiled.
"Sabre," Randorn sighed, "you know I can't do exercises all the time. I'm a wizard, after all."
"You could have continued in your magic training had Cerinia not blew up." Sabre sighed.
"Please don't bring this up again," the lupine wizard said, "I don't want to remember how it happened. I'm still mad too it too, Sabre, but there's a better way to get through the day without mourning."
"The worst part of losing Cerinia is that we lost Krystal." The younger wolf said.
"Her mother sent her to another planet," Randorn calmly assured his grandson, "but we shouldn't worry about that girl. Krystal's one of the smartest girls that we knew, and her telepathy could be useful in any given situation."
"How can we not be worried about Krystal?" Sabre asked, "The poor girl got sent to Sauria. How do we know that she's okay?"
"If we had telepathy as well," the older wolf stated, "we could communicate with her. If Krystal's on Sauria, she might be able to fight off her attackers. With that staff her mother gave her, Krystal is the kind of girl who wouldn't let a couple of big lizards walk all over her. Didn't I mention her smarts and telepathy?"
"You did," the younger wolf said, "but Krystal has never really fought with a lot of guys. Keep in mind that most of the people she got into fights with were girls."
"I feel like she was just afraid of fighting guys." Randorn noted, "Who can blame the girl? After all, her father -"
"Let's not talk about the King of Cerinia." Sabre hung his head.
"Why not?" The lupine mage asked.
"Because," the younger wolf growled, "he was a terrible man! Just because he was the King, doesn't mean that he should have treated Krystal the way he did! He yelled at her and hit her for the stupidest reasons, not to mention that he locked her in a dark room for standing up to him! Some King, he was! Krystal and her siblings deserved a better father than him!"
Randorn sighed at his grandson's outburst. Sure, he didn't want to see him angry, but the younger wolf had every right to be angry: Krystal was treated horribly by her father, Cerinia was destroyed, and they were essentially refugees. The worst part was the fact that they might never see Krystal again. Not only was she one of Randorn's best students (whenever she wasn't in school), but the vixen was like a granddaughter to him. Pulling out a picture, the older wolf looked at it. On the picture was him with Sabre and Krystal when the two were little. He could remember the day it was taken so well.
Randorn patiently waited for both Sabre and Krystal to enter his tent. Sabre had just turned twelve while Krystal's birthday was a month ago. He loved the both of them, even if Sabre was kind of a handful. The younger wolf was the first to arrive in the tent.
"Come on, Krystal!" Sabre called out to the cobalt vixen.
Krystal was walking behind him while looking down. The vixen was absolutely forlorn, looking like she was about to start crying. Upon entering the tent, the younger female sat down. As she did that, Randorn could see that she had a cut on her lip and a few bruises on her arms.
"Krystal, are you okay?" The lupine wizard gently asked.
"Of course not," Krystal whimpered, "my father hit me in the back with a glass bottle. After that, he pinched me on my arms and told me to get out."
"Oh, I wish that I was there to help you out." The mage said as he had the vixen sit on his lap.
"It's okay," the cobalt vixen sighed, "I don't think that my father would tolerate someone walking in while he was shouting at me and hitting me."
"Don't worry, Krystal," Sabre put his hand on her shoulder, "you can stay with us for as long as you want."
"Can I stay?" The vixen asked.
"Of course," Randorn stated, "but you need to get to school by yourself in the morning. Also, you'll have to walk home, because I'll be busy with my magic."
"And you can sleep in my room," Sabre told their new houseguest, "I'm fine with sleeping on the sofa."
"Thank you." Krystal said as she hugged her friends.
Later that night, Krystal was fast asleep, holding a stuffed cat plushie in her arms as she was covered up and comfy. As she slept, she could sense someone walking into the room. Waking up, she saw that Randorn was standing near the bed.
"Randorn, what's going on?" Krystal asked.
"I just wanted to check on you and see if you were okay." The wizard calmly stated.
"I'm okay." The cobalt vixen answered.
"Are you sure?" The lupine mage asked.
"Yes." She said.
"I've got something to ask you." Randorn stated.
"What is it?" Krystal asked.
"A cameraman is coming by tomorrow," the wizard said, "would you like to join us in a photo?"
"I don't know," the vixen sighed, "I'm not a member of your family. I don't think that my parents would like it if I was in a picture with other people, especially not my father."
"He doesn't have to know, Krystal." Randorn said, "I'll make sure that your family doesn't find out about this."
When the day came, Randorn had both Sabre and Krystal sit in front of him as the cameraman arrived. The moment they were ready, the cameraman took the picture and promised not to tell the King of Cerinia. After he left, Krystal looked at Randorn.
"What is it, Krystal?" The mage asked.
"Can I have the picture when I grow up?" Krystal asked.
"Sure," Randorn said, "I'll even keep it fresh for you."
Randorn sighed, knowing that he never got the chance to give the picture to Krystal. Worst of all, the vixen was on another planet where she could be hurt or killed.
"We never got the chance to give this picture to Krystal." The older wolf sadly stated.
"If we ever see her again," Sabre said, "we can give it to her."
"That's the problem," Randorn stated, "Krystal might not even be alive."
"Don't say that," the younger wolf said, "she could just be in the care of a nice family."
"If that's so," the lupine mage said, "how come she hasn't used her telepathy?"
"She might think we're dead as well." Sabre sighed.
"Poor thing." Randorn looked down, "If we had telepathy, we could tell her that we were okay."
"I'm sure we'll see her again," the younger wolf said, "we just need to launch a flare or something."
"I could cast a message spell for her to see." The lupine wizard suggested.
"That's not a bad idea," the other lupine said, "we just need to -!"
There was a noise outside of the ship.
"What's wrong?" Randorn asked.
"There's something coming!" Sabre said as he unsheathed his sword.
All of a sudden, someone in cybernetic armor burst into the ship. This person was wielding a blaster and had their face hidden by a metallic mask.
"Who are you?!" Sabre asked.
No answer came from the potential threat.
"Alright then," the lupine swordsman said, "I am Sabre Glidewell: a former Knight of Cerinia. Seeing as you are a threat, that means that we need to fight."
The armored figure nodded before running towards Sabre, only to be knocked down. Before they could get up, Sabre took the figure outside of the ship and placed them on the ground. However, the unknown figure ran towards the former Knight of Cerinia. Before Sabre could react, the armored being got him in a chokehold. Unable to get them off of him, the lupine felt like he was going to die. That was until a magic bolt threw the armored figure threw them off of him.
"Hands off my grandson!" Randorn warned.
"Thanks!" Sabre rubbed his neck.
"No problem!" The wizard said.
The armored figure got up and looked at the two Cerinians. Much to their surprise, their attacker was a female rabbit with a scar on her face. In addition, she had no buck teeth and whiskers. Her eyes were a violet color and her ears were formed into a V shape.
"You're a girl?" Sabre asked.
"Why were you attacking us?" Randorn asked.
The rabbit did not answer. Instead, she ran off, leaving a small piece of paper behind. Sabre picked it up and looked at it.
A calling card? The former Knight thought. He was surprised that their attacker left a calling card behind. Reading it, Sabre saw what the card displayed.
Who I am is not important, but I am a bounty hunter. This is one of my calling cards, so that you can contact me if you know some scum that need to be cleaned up. I fly a ship called the Lucky Rabbit's Foot, so it should be easy to find me.
Here's my phone number: 555-7380
"What does it say?" Randorn asked.
"Apparently," Sabre stated, "our attacker from earlier is a bounty hunter."
"Why did she attack us?" Randorn asked, "We're not her enemies, are we?"
"I don't know," the younger wolf said, "but we need to find out who she is before she kills us or someone close to us."
"How are we going to do that?" The older wolf asked.
"We need to give her a call." Sabre stated.
Note: Okay Sabre, probably not a good idea to give a bounty hunter a call shortly after she tried to kill you, but you could tell her that you aren't one of her enemies. If you're wondering why I changed some things about Sabre and Randorn from Dinosaur Planet, my take on them are basically reboots of those characters. I did that to have them fit into the Star Fox universe, especially when you consider that Krystal started out as a character in Dinosaur Planet. Hell, I gave both Sabre and Randorn the surname of Krystal's current voice actress: Alésia Glidewell. What did you guys think about this chapter? Let me know when you leave a review or give a constructive criticism. Until next time guys, peace!