A/N: I've been waiting for the longest time to update this chapter in particular. It was finished for quite a long time, and I was waiting patiently for the opportunity to upload it. So far, this is my favorite chapter to date, and I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did.
Also, holy ship this is a hella long update. Over 11K words in total, and it covers a lot of material. I wanted to try and find a place to split it, but just could not find a way to do so... Guess you guys get an extra long update today! You're welcome! ;)
Anyway, being that this is a pretty long and important update, I'd love to hear what you guys have to say about it. I apologize for the sprawling length of it, but again, it's a really important update that you guys will not want to miss out on. So please, tell me what you guys think, cause there's a lot to think about in this one... ;)
Take care you guys; I'll see you next time
CMD Fortuna – Cornerian Military Destroyer 2 (Airspace of Des Moines, Iowa)
"You see that?" a lupine scientist asked, pointing to a spot on his screen. "Got something brewing about 20 kilometers down. Looks pretty bad."
"What is it?" an avian pilot asked, inching closer to his screen.
"Low pressure system," the wolf answered, running his claw down a line on his map screen. "Pretty nasty one at that. Might interfere with our flight course."
"It's just rain," the white feathered avian assured, patting the small wolf's back. "We'll just tank through it. We'll be fine."
"Alright," he responded hesitantly. "What about our bomber squadrons though? They're supposed to hit that area down there."
"We're no exception. If we can fly through nasty storms on Zoness without any issues, we sure as hell can deal with a supercell here."
Almost as if on cue, a quiet buzzing alarm resounded on the ship to grab the occupants' attention, then a harsh, feminine voice came over the intercom system. "Assault squadron E, prep for immediate engagement. Please report to hangar three in five minutes."
"Obviously they aren't worried about the rain," the pilot said with a grin. "We've got some pretty talented pilots on board. Nothing we can't handle."
"You do make a point," the lupine agreed. "I'm just gonna keep an eye on this system; make sure it doesn't escalate any further."
"Sound's good," the pilot said, then spun around and started walking away. "I gotta prep for the assault. Oh, make sure Commander Corax knows the situation."
"Okay, sure thing. Stay safe Kurt," the lupine said as the relatively large avian walked out and towards his quarters. The white avian swiftly rushed towards his quarters and slipped inside, then started throwing on his equipment. They called for a swift bomb run of a few adjacent cities towards the middle of the nation, considering they found some pretty dangerous military bases in that area. It was only supposed to be a quick hit-and-run mission, which was the white feathered pilot known as Kurt Hawkins' favorite style of attack.
Hawkins was a pretty big pilot, standing at an even six feet and weighing roughly 180 pounds, but his size doesn't hinder his piloting skills. Granted, it was a Cornerian stereotype for the birds to become pilots, as well as the dogs becoming ground soldiers, and Kurt was no exception to the stereotypes. He enlisted in the flight academy at the youngest age possible, and at his current age of twenty-four, he's one of the more talented pilots the CDF have. Although he hasn't worked his way to a higher military position, he's got a shoo-in for the job once the opportunity arises. He rivaled James McCloud's piloting records which were set when the vulpine himself was enlisted in the academy several years ago, which was quite an accomplishment in and of itself.
Kurt stripped of his civilian red sweatshirt and dark blue slacks, and quickly donned his trademark CDF flight suit. Being that is was considerably dark outside due to the impending storm they were about to encounter, they had special reflective bright orange patches on their shoulders and boots just in case one of them went down and they had to find them. Granted, it made him look like a construction worker, but if it meant he would be safe if something unexpected happened, he'd quickly put it on in a heartbeat.
After slipping his pilot's helmet with his specially tinted visor over his blue eyes, he quickly activated the recently introduced CDF HUD panel. That was an experimental device that was put together by Vince's team a few months prior, which was the same team that invented the Cornerian translator and the hybrid body armor. The panel included a pale blue LED imagery system displayed on the visor itself which showed a small map that could point out locations of interest, a radio line that could support visible head views of up to six other pilots, as well as an experimental targeting device that would aid in aiming the Arwing's weapons. It was probably the most technologically advanced piece of equipment the Cornerian Army had behind the transmitters and the Arwing herself.
As soon as Kurt zipped up his dark green flight suit, the Destroyer herself shook slightly. The avian staggered a bit, then quickly rushed up to the window to see what the issue was. His beak opened wide at the extremely dark, almost black clouds that covered the sky, and the numerous flashes of blinding light and faint rumbles sounding like explosions off in the distance. There were also large droplets of water pelting his window relentlessly and making it almost impossible to see the ground below. He went to turn around to get to his door, but another, much harsher wave of jerky movements from the Destroyer made the avian loose his footing and fall onto his bedside.
The faint buzzing alarm returned again, as well as the feminine intercom voice. "Pilots, be advised; we are dealing with some minor weather interference, please stand by for further instructions."
Kurt ruffled his feathers as he stood up and brushed off his flight suit. "It's just a storm guys, chill out," he mumbled to himself as he opened the door to his quarters and slowly made his way down to the hangar. About a quarter of a way down the long hallway, the ship lurched again, this time much more violent than before as the avian was thrown up against the wall as if he had gotten hit by a car. He grunted as he inadvertently slammed his shoulder into the wall, then proceeded to rub the impact site of his arm as he carefully attempted to traverse the remainder of the hall.
A door opened in the hallway a few feet in front of Kurt, revealing a rust colored vulpine wearing the same clothing as the avian, just add a thin white jacket on top of the flight suit. The fox was much shorter than the avian, and his dark blue eyes matched Kurt's exactly. His jet black hair was slicked back behind his black tipped ears and ended just at the base of his head. He turned his cream colored muzzle to the avian and smiled.
"Some storm eh Kurt?" the tod asked with a smirk, adjusting his jacket.
"I'll say," Kurt responded, walking over to the vulpine. Right as the avian was about to put a wing on his shoulder, the ship unexpectedly jerked sideways, tilting the hallways at about a fifteen degree angle which tossed both pilots against the opposite wall. Kurt managed to keep his footing, but the rusty vulpine wasn't as lucky as he fell to the ground after forcefully impacting the wall.
"Dammit," the avian winced as his other shoulder started hurting just as bad, if not more than the other one. "You okay Brendan?"
"I'm alright," the fox replied, rolling over and attempting to stand up. Just as he made it to his knees, the ship vehemently rocked again, sending both pilots sprawling to the cold steel floor again. The alarm started blaring in a much louder and more annoying tone, and some red bulb lights on the ceiling began to bathe the hallway in a pale crimson light. A loud clap of thunder deafened the hall and made the vulpine Brendan cringe and cover his ears. The sound of heavy rain pounding against the cruiser sounded like a swarm of bullets pelting her frame relentlessly and attempting to puncture the hull.
"I don't think this is an ordinary storm," Kurt said skeptically, pulling the vulpine off the ground.
"No shit," Brendan grumbled, rubbing his black tinged forearms. "Come on, let's get to the hangar."
Kurt nodded, but right as he spun around a loud explosion reverberated in the cruiser, and another violent rocking spell plagued the Destroyer. Kurt was sent staggering beak first into the ground, while Brendan stumbled backwards onto his dark tipped tail. The avian groaned as he rubbed his beak and sat back up against the wall.
"You alright Hawkins?" Brendan asked, trying to hide his grin.
"Damn that hurt," Kurt said nasally, holding a wing over his beak. The ship unexpectedly tilted downward, rolling the pilots down the hall for a few feet before the cruiser finally leveled out again. After the ship had finally put herself back on course, Kurt shot up and rushed towards the hangar with Brendan hot on his tail feathers. They staggered in after another swift, jerky lurching movement from the ship and crawled towards a large raven.
"Dennis, what's– umph… going on?" Kurt asked, crouching a bit to keep his footing on the swaying ship. Dennis himself faltered a bit when the ship shifted again and responded.
"We've got ourselves into quite the mess," he said with the slight hint of a smirk. "From what I've heard, this large supercell formed practically right on top of us, and we couldn't pull away to get away from it in time. We just had to tank through it."
"But, why's Fortuna shaking so badly?"
"The electrical surges from this storm are messing with her G-diffusers," Dennis responded, putting a wing up against the wall for leverage. "Zoness storms don't have this bad of electrical surges, so we don't really have protection from something this strong. Granted, they're still working, because they're keeping us from falling to the surface right now, but the shaky turbulence shit doesn't get cleared up that easily."
"Is our raid still on?" Brendan questioned.
"Of course," Dennis replied, gesturing to the Arwing grid. "The storm shouldn't mess with your fighters. We've got some guys going out right now, so go ahead and get your ships warmed up."
As the raven was explaining, two Arwings on the farthest side of the ship disengaged from the holding grid and warmed up their G-diffusers for launch. As the fighters hovered in the air inside the hangar waiting for the instruments to warm up, the ship violently faltered again. This time, the Destroyer dipped downward significantly as an abnormally large lightning bolt struck one of the G-diffusers on the cruiser herself directly. As the cruiser plunged suddenly and violently due to the malfunctioning G-diffuser, the Arwings prepping for takeoff didn't abide by the same gravitational laws and stayed suspended in the same spot. The ceiling of the hangar came down on the Arwings harshly, causing them to crumple into the cruiser ceiling like soda cans in a can crusher and lose control. The one fighter closest to the far wall instantly erupted into flames as the fuselage sparked and vehemently jerked backwards; slamming into the back wall of the hangar and bathing it in a huge blaze of fire. The massive explosion within the hangar sent the pilots awaiting to climb into their fighters sailing through the hangar onto the unforgiving steel floors.
The other Arwing didn't have the same course after it buckled against the ceiling of the cruiser. The left G-diffuser malfunctioned as it drilled into the cruiser, and the angle that the Arwing collided with the cruiser sent the crippled fighter on a collision course with the other four Arwings still locked in place. The wing of the crushed Arwing sliced the lock on the closest docked fighter's grid, letting that one fall to the ground and leaving a giant indentation in the steel floor. After that fighter fell, the spiraling and sparking Arwing collided directly with the next Arwing in line, causing a massive eruption of flames and heat from the G-diffuser's fuselages; completely bathing the rest of the Arwing grids in extreme fires and temperatures. The third Arwing in line that had been unexpectedly severed from the locking grid grinded against the ground, creating a loud screeching metal sound that reverberated throughout the hangar as the cruiser attempted to level itself out. The Arwing then slipped out of the hangar with many of its instruments completely unresponsive.
The continued string of bad luck only escalated as the Arwing that inadvertently slid out of the hangar managed to acquire a collision course with one of the Destroyer's main G-diffusers right outside the hangar. Once the Arwing came into contact with that engine, it instantly detonated in a cataclysmic explosion, causing the Destroyer itself to continue faltering at a harsher and more significant pace. If the dip in the Destroyer was bad when the lightning bolt struck, then the plunge it was making as the engines began to fail made that first dip seem like a playground slide.
Kurt picked his head up and saw Brendan lying flat on his back and completely motionless. He carefully slid over to his unmoving frame and slapped his face a few times, letting a few drops of blood from a cut on his muzzle splatter on his flight suit and the floor.
"Brendan, come on, get up," Kurt pleaded, making the vulpine cough and stir momentarily. Kurt sighed as he noticed the vulpine was still alive, then lifted the small tod onto his shoulder in a fireman's carry and staggered out of the hangar. He quickly shot down the tilted halls and towards the other hangar on the other side of the Destroyer to find at least one way of getting off the ship alive.
"All hands, Fortuna compromised; brace for impact!"
Kurt ignored the ill-minded intercom message and continued to stumble around the halls towards the other hangars with the unresponsive vulpine on his shoulder. The ship was indeed losing altitude, and fast. The avian could feel the gravity of the compromised Destroyer weigh him down and try to prevent him from getting to his destination, but that didn't deter his will to survive. He managed to climb into the second hangar on the opposite side of the cruiser, and exhaled in relief when he saw an open and unoccupied Arwing that was awaiting takeoff. Kurt managed to throw the fox into the back of the fighter, then slipped into the cockpit and primed it for launch.
Kurt noticed that a piece of smoldering Arwing remains were leaning up against the far wall of the hangar with a fire just underneath the right G-diffuser. Another closer look revealed that the fire was just next to the G-diffuser's fuselage, and it was another violent explosion waiting to happen. He quickly tried to disengage the fighter, but the locking mechanism had malfunctioned due to the electrical surges of the storm and kept the Arwing locked in place.
"Fuck. Come on; let me out!"
The Destroyer only progressed in steepness, inadvertently tilting the Arwing towards the ceiling as it stayed suspended in the lock. Pretty soon, Kurt's straight shot turned into a difficult maneuver as he needed to instantly tilt his fighter down about twenty-five degrees before he could throttle out of the compromised frigate.
The smoldering Arwing in the corner finally detonated, shaking the avian in the cockpit as he heard something snap above him. He instantly felt gravity acting against his fighter and impulsively pushed the joystick forward and pushed the throttle to the floor. He needed to instantly travel over one hundred feet in his fighter before he was out of clearance of the hangar walls that were quickly caving in on him. Right before the Arwing cleared the hangar, a piece of the hangar doors came unhinged right at the perfect moment and sliced half of Kurt's left wing off of his fighter. He cursed and tried to stabilize the fighter, but inadvertently put it into a spiral as the Arwing inched closer to the ground below with no indication of it letting up.
"Oh, you've gotta be–"
Peterson Air Force Base – Colorado Springs, Colorado
CRACK
Sheila bolted awake as a loud clap of thunder shook her dim prison cell and rattled the iron bars on the far side of her bed. She would've screamed or yelped, but with her immense pain she was still struggling with, all she did was let out a quiet whimper and curl up on her rock-solid bed.
It was a cold cell and an even colder cot, but at least she was more adequately clothed. She had a bright orange jumpsuit with a few words and numbers she didn't understand covering her shivering and aching frame. They had to improvise a tail hole for her by slicing a small incision in the rear of the suit for her to just barely squeeze her light copper tail through. She also had to go barefoot as the humans stole her boots and didn't have anything to improvise for covering her white furred dog-like feet-paws.
She felt awful. Not only had she been beaten and interrogated to tears, but she had been physically abused twice. Twice the man had stormed into the room and abused her relentlessly. His anger was limitless and unbounded, and she was absolutely sure he violated numerous prisoner-of-war rules. He had mentioned that the rules didn't matter anymore, but there was still a moral law that she knew well and that he had failed to uphold.
It made her feel even worse knowing that there was no way of her to stop him. She could only sit there, bound tightly to a metal chair while that demented human had his way with her. She was awake for the entire ordeal too. Every smack, every punch, and every illicit and unlawful act conducted against her still stung hours after it had been over and done with. She felt like a tool; an animal as the human called her, and felt absolutely worthless on top of it all.
It was her own fault too, and she knew it. She was practically kicking herself knowing that she caused her own torture. She left her Destroyer without authorization or a productive motive behind it. She violated specific rules that were set to protect her, and now she had to deal with the hell that ensued from it.
If the hell could catch up to her.
She managed to calm down from the sudden clap of thunder, then sat up and stretched her arms. She licked the hole in her teeth line where the human had ripped the canine tooth out, making sure it had finally stopped gushing blood, then stood up and padded over to the thick bars that were on the opposite side of the room. She managed to stick her muzzle through the bars and whimpered audibly, catching the attention of one of the prison guards.
"Whada'ya want?" the guard asked loudly in an acidic tone, walking over to the imprisoned husky. Sheila placed a paw over her stomach and crouched down, making a slight growling sound in the back of her throat. After the soldier stood there and did nothing for a few seconds, she glanced upward and stared intently at the guard, shaking the hair out of her eyes. The guard let out a slight grin, looked in both directions around himself to check and see if anyone was within earshot, then nodded.
"Yeah, I'll get you some food," he whispered, then walked off to the side and towards the doors on the left side of the room. About three or four minutes later, the guard came back with a tray that had a few suspicious looking morsels on it, and shoved the tray underneath the bars.
"Please don't tell anyone I did this," the guard pleaded in a low voice, watching the female anthro husky snatch up the tray and jump up onto her bed. Her tail was flicking wildly as she pulled the plastic fork out of something that looked like mashed potatoes and started wolfing down the food like it was her job. In between large bites of food, Sheila nodded and gave a half-assed smile to the guard. The guard gave his own smile back and left the husky to scarf down the food in privacy.
"How can these humans eat this?" Sheila whispered to herself, choking down another bite. She kept struggling with the food due to her missing canine tooth, but she was absolutely starving and managed to fight through the pain. For her, the food tasted terrible, but it was a godsend for her since she hadn't eaten since before the first attack the day prior. She felt significantly weaker, which was probably why she couldn't break her bonds in the interrogation room when she was stuck in there.
Once the food was nothing more than crumbs on the tray, she silently laid the tray on her bedside, then walked back over to the bars and started grunting and groaning, clawing at the metal bars as she sat on the ground. The same guard caught her noises and quickly rushed up to the light copper husky.
"What's up now?" the guard asked. Sheila instantly noticed the guard had a handgun holstered around his leg.
Perfect. I know you just helped me, but I'm sorry; I have to do this.
Sheila quickly pounced upward, grabbing the guard's jacket and forcefully jerking him into the bars. The human instantly faltered in surprise, and as he tried to regain his bearings after being stunned she instantly lashed out with her other paw and chopped the back of the man's knee. He fell all the way down on the floor, allowing the copper husky to swipe the guard's weapon from his pants. Her first shot with the weapon tore through the guard's left eye, instantly quieting his agonized groaning.
She instantly felt accustomed with the handgun after that one shot. The recoil was a thing she needed to get used to, considering Cornerian weaponry has virtually no recoil at all, but the accuracy of the weapon was unparalleled with anything she had fired before. She took aim again and shot right through the lock on her cell. The husky needed no extra moment as she instantly bolted out the cell and made a beeline for where the guard had brought her the food from.
Sheila silently crept around the numerous rooms of the prison without drawing any attention from the guards. She knew there were cameras around, so she had to make her escape quickly to avoid grabbing the attention of the other guards, and silent for the same reason as well. The gun's discharge echoed throughout the halls as well, so that was another reason to bolt from the human prison as quickly as possible. She located a map hung up on the wall, and quickly scanned it to try and find the nearest exit. As soon as she located the exit, a deep voice shouted out faintly behind her where she was previously locked up.
"That damn dog escaped! Get after her!"
Sheila bolted from her spot and silently rushed through the winding hallways with the security guards hot on her light copper tail. She spun around a corner and instantly raised the handgun up, putting two shots into two guards' skulls. As their corpses fell to the floor, the husky vaulted over them and spun down another hallway. Only a few more feet and she was home free.
The guards began to open fire as she wound the second to last corner before the final exit. They didn't care if she survived or not; she was hostile and claiming lives one after another as she continued to run for the exit.
Sheila took another tight corner, practically slipping on the slick floor because of her padded feet and put her tail up against the wall. There were a few guards closing off her intended destination, and she needed to remove them from their position. She took a deep breath, then poked her light furred muzzle and the black handgun around the corner and fired.
Two guards instantly fell to the ground, while a third and a forth crumpled down and yelled out in agonized pain. One after another, Sheila expertly and efficiently took down her opposition with barely any difficulty in doing so. She was taking advantage of her training in a good way; easily eliminating her opposition like it was a training exercise. Right as the last one fell, Sheila noticed the gun was completely dry and had no shots remaining. She threw the weapon at the computer at the main desk, which toppled over onto the gate mechanism and opened the gate for her escape. She swiped another handgun from one of the human corpses as she shot out of the building and into the chilly, rainy, suburban Colorado neighborhood.
General Pepper's Flagship
"You seeing this too Arti?" Vince asked, pointing at his screen. The blue jay sitting next to him nodded in approval.
"Destroyer 2 has been screaming those alarms for five minutes now. What's going on over there?"
Vince only grunted as he skimmed through the information on his dual screens and attempted to put two and two together. He suddenly gasped and tilted his paper-thin screen towards the avian next to him.
"Here," Vince pointed at a section of the screen where the Destroyer supposedly was. "Massive low pressure system formed literally right in front of them. Might just be dealing with a bit of weather interference."
"Is it a supercell?" Arthur asked, using his transmitter to copy the holographic information to his own station next to the white vulpine.
"Doesn't look like it; just a really strong electrical storm," Vince answered, still eyeballing the radar on his screen. The precipitation indicators had finally loaded, showing a long band of a dark red indicator, with large patches of yellow and green indicators behind it. Those colors determined the severity and intensity of the precipitation; red being the heaviest and most dangerous. Vince growled softly as he continued to gaze at his screen.
"This area they're in is also known for forming nasty storms too. These plains are breeding grounds for supercell storms and tornadoes because of the different temps in air masses that collide with each other right at the perfect time. You'd think I was a meteorologist with all the stuff I know about this."
"This planet has tornadoes too?" Arthur asked with an eyebrow raised, covering his beak to hide his grin.
"Must be so," Vince said, completely unfocused on speaking. He zoomed out his radar screen, then gasped at another site off to the left side of his screen.
"Looks like there's another storm over where we tracked Sheila to as well," Vince said as he pointed at an area close to the mountain range, with those same colored indicators swarming that area. He picked up his head and shouted across the room. "Someone let that search party know not to go out there to look for her just yet. Nasty storm would probably interfere with progress."
"Sure thing Vince," a voice yelled back from the other side of the room. Arthur hummed as he looked at his screen again.
"When did you find Sheila?"
"Just a few hours ago," Vince answered. "Used the humans' satellites and her tracking chip to triangulate her location. We had a plan to get a search party to look for her, but we can't now because of this weather."
The alarms from the second Destroyer suddenly intensified, cutting the vulpine off and sending the room into a state of confusion.
"Why is the Destroyer sending so many alert messages?" Travis asked in the station behind the arctic fox. "Are they really having issues with an electrical storm?"
"They shouldn't be," Vince answered. "Looking at this radar here, this storm isn't as bad as the squalls that can form on Zoness, and those Destroyers have flown through those storms with ease."
Arthur hummed and rubbed his short beak. "How high is the electrical readings on this storm?"
Travis furiously started typing at his station, but the arctic fox in front of him was just a few steps ahead. Vince gasped at the number revealed on his screen.
"Holy shit," Vince gapped. "This storm has almost triple the electrical readings of the highest recorded level on Zoness! What the hell are they doing just tanking through that storm?"
"Obviously something's going wrong," Arthur stated, continuing to gaze at his screens. "They've had these alerts for eight minutes now."
"Someone contact them," Vince commanded, raising his muzzle upwards.
"I've already tried," Travis responded humbly. "Those electrical currents are interfering with our comms lines."
"Damn," Vince swore, lightly rapping his claws on the table. "I'd love to know what's going on up there…" he mumbled to himself, then felt his transmitter buzz. He exhaled through his nose once he noticed an orange vulpine on the caller ID. He pulled his specially designed green tinted eyepiece from his pocket, wired it through his sleeve and into the transmitter, and then accepted the call after he slipped the device around his snowy white vulpine ear and lowered the microphone attachment.
"What James?" he questioned impatiently, fondling his white muzzle.
"Vince, I need you to track someone for me," James requested, causing Vince to roll his eyes slightly.
"Well, I'm sorry, I can't do it right now. I'm a little busy at the moment," Vince explained, continuing to eye his screens. The eyepiece he had thrown over his right eye started enhancing data on the screens with small and numerous holograms, making it easier for the vulpine to deal with the copious amounts of information on his screens. However, there was so much information that was popping out at him that he eventually was swimming in holograms.
"It won't take any more than a few seconds. Please, I need this."
"Ugh, fine. What?" Vince asked scornfully, practically drowning in the holographic information.
"I need a location on Wolf. We're speculating he's with Fox, and I need to know where he is so we can track him down."
"Wolf with Fox?" Vince asked with an eyebrow raised. "How do you know?"
"Alex called me last night, told me that Wolf stole a Husky Arwing, and when we went to rescue Fox we saw that same Arwing in the parking lot near the building he was supposedly in. We'd use Fox's transmitter but that one is in pieces now. We're using Wolf because he's got that tracker on him."
"Alright, one sec James," Vince said, then had his eyepiece display the map tracker for their pilots. He poked his paw around, making the hologram scroll down to where Wolf's name was, but saw the word 'disconnected' under where his coordinates would have been. His eyes narrowed as he angled his maw towards the microphone dangling from his eyepiece. "Says here Wolf disconnected his. Sorry buddy."
"How does he disconnect his?" James asked with an acidic tone.
"He must've gotten another transmitter to disable it."
"Well, can't you track the transmitter he used?"
"We could, if we knew which one he was using," Vince explained while drumming his paw on the table impatiently. "We can only track the transmitters if we know the serial, or whoever was commissioned the device itself. Looks as though Wolf's transmitter was destroyed too, because that one isn't popping up either."
"Damn," James grumbled. "How about trying–"
"James, I can't try anything right now," Vince half-shouted. "I'm busy trying to track Sheila and our Destroyer right now; I can't help you buddy. I'm sorry."
"Wait, Sheila?" James questioned. "Where's she?"
"We tracked her to a place up in the mountains. Her ship must've gotten shot down, but our search party is on hold right now because there's an electrical storm in that area."
"So? Can't our Arwings–"
"They would, but there's another storm on our other Destroyer right now and they're apparently having issues with it," he grumbled skeptically with a sour inflection, shrugging his shoulders and flicking his paws around his face slightly in frustration. "We don't want our Arwings getting damaged because of a storm."
James sighed as he realized he couldn't argue against the arctic fox. However, one of James' spontaneous ideas came to mind right at the perfect moment.
"Where is Sheila exactly?" James asked. Vince lifted an eyebrow as he responded.
"About halfway in sector seventeen. Why?"
James exhaled and waited a few seconds before explaining. "I'm gonna find her."
"What? Why?"
"Don't you get it Vince? The only way Wolf would have been able to turn his tracker off without his transmitter would be if Sheila was there with them. If I can track her down, I can track Fox and Wolf too."
Vince faintly drummed his claws on the table as he adjusted his eyepiece around his ear. "I like the idea James, but that'll have to wait. There's a nasty storm over there right now. We need you to stay on the Great Fox to stay safe."
"Vince, that's my kit out there," James deadpanned. "I'm not leaving him alone longer than I have to. I'm going out there now."
"No, James, please stay there," Vince pleaded. "I don't want you getting hurt."
"I'll be fine, Vinny," James assured. "It's just rain. If I get there before it clears up, I can easily fly through rain."
"Seriously, James, don't go out there. You don't know if he's actually there or not."
"I know he's out there," James reiterated, getting angrier by the syllable. "I'm getting him away from those damn humans."
"Please, just wait a little bit until the storm clears up. You don't know what you'll get yourself into."
"I'm not telling you again, Vince," James stated impatiently. "I'm going out there."
"James, just–"
"I'M NOT LEAVING MY KIT ALONE OUT THERE!" James barked angrily. "Dammit Vince, you're no different than the rest of them! You don't care what happens to him, just as long as the missions are successful without any casualties! I thought you cared!"
"I do c–"
"Bullshit!" James snapped harshly. "You know what? Fuck it! I'm going out there to rescue him, whether you agree with me or not. I don't care if I'm putting myself at risk; he's all I have anymore. He's worth the risk. If I lose him, I'll have absolutely nothing. He's the only one I have left, and I'm not gonna let those aliens take away the last thing I love. Goodbye Vince."
James abruptly hung up the call, making Vince growl softly and slouch in his seat with a paw over his forehead.
What was he thinking? Was he really going to risk his life in a nasty storm just to try and attempt a rescue mission that for all he knew wasn't true? Maybe Sheila was down there, but he couldn't prove she was with Wolf. He couldn't even prove that Wolf was with Fox. They didn't know anything, and he just seemed to act on impulse.
Vince's blue eyes shot wide open as the last word echoed in his head.
"Impulse," Vince muttered under his breath. Was that what it was? Was that the answer for their questions about this war? Was this an impulsive war? Now that he thought about it, the impulse option started making more and more sense. It was true; they had acted on impulse.
Wolf was right.
Everything Wolf had said at Pepper's house started making more sense. They had acted on impulse, automatically assuming it was an attack because of wanting revenge. They threw rationality out the window. They completely disregarded peace and just thrown war into this world. They never sat down and thought. Whenever they did, they were just so wrapped up in blind rage that the first option that came to mind was a retaliatory measure. They never took into consideration the other side's argument. It was true; they had instigated this planet without a solid reason, and they were about to deal with harsh repercussions.
All of a sudden, Wolf's warning about not listening to him made much more sense. He knew what was going to end up happening, and he knew that it was wrong. No wonder he had thrown his opinion on the table, and backed it up even though everyone else had disagreed. He knew he was right although no one backed him up. He was just trying to help everyone. His emotions, his attitude, his actions; they all suddenly made sense.
That's why Wolf was presumed to be helping the humans. He wanted everyone to know he was going to side with the side that was right, even if it was going against everything he loved. He was going against his family, his friends, his entire planet, and everyone on said planet just to prove his point. He was making sure that the pro-war officers knew that they had the wrong idea.
Pepper's decision was wrong. His own decision was wrong. Everyone needed to know. Pepper specifically needed to be told what the actual situation was, and be told that his choice to start the war was an impulsive decision. Impulse was the key to everything.
"Vince!" a German shepherd shouted, holding up a dark paw. "I've got a camera on the Destroyer!"
"How?" Vince questioned, shaking himself out of his thoughts, then shot up and walked over to the canine.
"I tapped into a security camera on the roof of a nearby building. I've got a clear view of her."
Vince wound the large desks and came up behind the small-ish German shepherd, then his maw opened wide at the sight the camera was displaying. The camera was heavily watered down and noticeably pixelated, but Vince could still make out a large Cornerian frigate on the screen. The sky around it was almost as dark as the cruiser itself, and bright flashes of light popped up spontaneously and sporadically around the cruiser. It looked perfectly fine, except for the large orange blaze pouring out from the hangar on the side.
"What's going on?" Vince asked with urgency.
"Looks to me that something happened in hangar three. Maybe a stray lightning strike hit an Arwing fuselage. You know how volatile those things are."
"No shit, Brock, I designed them," Vince retorted, inching closer to the screen with eyes narrowed. "They shouldn't conduct electricity though. They're made of specific materials that repel electrical currents. That's one of the reasons why the CDF started using them for everything now was because of their reliability and safety. Why do you think they dropped the dangerous and less efficient Cornerian fighters for these Arwings?"
Right as the shepherd Brock was about to throw in his two cents, something slipped out of the hangar with it sparking wildly.
"The hell was that?" Arthur asked, popping up behind the white vulpine.
Brock shrugged. "Was that another Ar–"
BOOM
The Destroyer's G-diffuser instantly detonated, shrouding it in flames and smoke as the unknown object got sucked into the engine and ignited the fuselage. As soon as the massive black cloud dissipated, the flaming Destroyer dipped down and kept inching dangerously close to the ground. The scientists could only stare at the screen helplessly and silently with unhinged jaws, watching the compromised cruiser plummet.
The seconds stretched on. Painfully long seconds turned to minutes as the cruiser continued to drop without any indication of it letting up. Two full minutes after the G-diffuser combusted, the cruiser finally impacted the ground. Even at the crazy distance the camera was away from the cruiser, it still shook violently as the cruiser burst into a cataclysmic explosion and shook the ground with the force of a 9.2 magnitude earthquake. That was an estimated 100 tons of blazing Cornerian engineering slamming into the ground and erupting into a massive fireball reminiscent of nuclear bombs minus the radiation.
Vince ripped the eyepiece off of his ear and carelessly tossed it onto the table, not breaking his stare on the fireball. "Where did that cruiser come down?" he asked emotionlessly, still absolutely stupefied of the explosion.
"Ten kilometers east of the target city," Brock responded in his own stoic voice. Vince lowered his ears until they were practically flat, then spoke in a hollowed voice.
"I'll get Pepper right now," Vince announced, slowly padding over to the doors. The entire room was still deathly silent because no one dared make a sound as the immensely depressing incident took full hold of the scientists. Right as Vince grabbed the handle, he cranked his head around to the room.
"Keep an eye on that storm. Once it clears up, get another search party out there and scavenge the area around the impact site. If there are any survivors, bring them in."
A few scientists nodded as Vince spun back around and stepped out as the door closed behind his white tail.
Colorado Springs, Colorado
"It's just a little bit of thunder, Fox," Nathan chuckled, sitting on the couch near the vulpine who had just buried himself in a large light blue flannel blanket that was draped over the smaller couch. Fox was trembling noticeably, faintly shaking the couch he was lying on.
"I hate thunderstorms," Fox announced pitifully, muffled by the blanket and the heavy rain pelting the windows of the house. Nathan patted the vulpine's blanketed frame with a smile.
"It's alright," Nathan assured. "Colorado storms are nothing compared to the storms we can get back at Rockford. You'll be fine."
Fox poked his head up from the blanket with his ears folded behind his head. Nathan couldn't keep a straight face as Fox looked like the definition of a normal feral red fox on Earth.
"A- Are you sure?" Fox asked in a shaky voice. Another clap of thunder made the vulpine tense up and bury himself back into the blanket. Nathan smirked slightly and sank back on the couch.
"You can trust me, right?"
"I dunno, can I?" Fox asked in a sudden hostility-filled voice. Nathan cocked his head slightly with a startled expression.
"What's wrong Fox?" he asked softly. Fox shivered slightly as the man inched a bit closer. "Is… something bothering you buddy?"
"Just leave me alone," he mumbled under the cover of the blanket. Nathan instantly turned his head and raised an eyebrow over to the lupine on the other couch.
"He's still a little freaked out about what you did yesterday," Wolf said, almost drowned out entirely by the sound of rain outside. Nathan exhaled a bit and turned to the vulpine.
"Hey, don't worry about that," he assured calmly. "There is no way I'd actually do that to you. I mean, why would I kill any of you guys? I didn't do anything wrong that wasn't my fault, and neither did either of you that wasn't yours either. I told you Fox; I'll protect you. I won't let anything bad happen to you."
Fox's trembling stopped, but his head did not poke out of the blanket. Nathan patted at his right pocket on his jeans and spoke up.
"Ya know what, Fox? I want you to have something," Nathan said, resulting in the vulpine hesitantly tossing the heavy flannel aside and scooting closer to the human.
"What is it?" Fox asked skeptically. Nathan grinned as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a thin gold necklace with a small charm hanging from the bottom in that same color of glimmering gold.
"It's a necklace with a cross," Nathan explained, unhooking the chain and fitting it around the vulpine's furry neck. "My father gave me this necklace many years ago on my first day of combat. For me, It was a good luck charm; a symbol of bravery and dedication. I wore this every day when I was in combat, and it kept me safe."
Fox used one claw and lifted the small, sleek gold cross on the bottom of the necklace up towards him. The light from the lamp in the corner of the room reflected off of it, casting an almost unnoticeable glint on the vulpine's cream colored muzzle. Fox wrapped his paw around the cross and looked back at the human.
"Why are you giving me this?" Fox asked.
"Exactly for the same reason I had it," Nathan responded, putting an arm around the humanized fox. "A symbol for bravery and dedication. If something happens, just keep that in your mind and have courage and faith. If you truly believe, it'll keep you safe, just like it did to me. If I can't do my job of keeping you safe, then you need to just have faith that you will. That's what I did a long time ago."
"Did you have a lot of faith?"
Nathan glanced at the necklace, then lifted his head back up and smiled at the tod. "Yes… I did. I still do. I wouldn't be here right now if I didn't have faith. I just had to trust my instincts."
"That's what my dad tells me," Fox said, pawing the necklace around his neck.
Of course he does, Nathan thought with a faint chuckle.
"He tells me to trust in myself and the things around me. Is… is that what faith is?" Fox asked intently.
"For the most part," Nathan answered, patting the fox's back. "Faith, trust, and instincts. Those three things are what my life is centered around. If you can do the same with your life, Fox, you will be just fine. I promise."
Fox tensed up as another crack of thunder sounded from outside the house, but he didn't completely flip out like he had done before. Fox smiled a toothy smile as his tensions with the human melted away, lunging forward and hugging the human unexpectedly. Nathan was caught off guard momentarily, then shrugged his head and returned the friendly gesture.
"Thank you Nate," Fox said whole-heartedly. "And thank you for this," he added, holding up the small, gold cross. "It's beautiful. I'll take good care of it."
"Just remember what I told you about it, m'kay?" Nathan reminded. Fox nodded with another grin plastered on his muzzle.
"I will," Fox assured, then held out his orange furred arms again. Nathan chuckled and leaned into the vulpine's grasp. They stayed in that position for a few long moments until another voice's chuckling caught their attention.
"Now only if my kind could see this," Wolf stated, popping up from the other couch and trotting up to the other two frames. "They'd actually sit down and think about this situation."
"No kidding," Nathan said, scratching his beard. "I'm still in shock that your government acted on blind rage and not actual facts."
"So was I," Wolf said, sitting on the table in the middle of the room. "Apparently the word 'forgiveness' is not in their vocabulary."
"I still want to see if this is true," Nathan stated, eying the phone laying on the couch next to him. "I want to call my buddy, but like you said, we can't get an actual call through without them finding us."
"Oh well," Wolf said with a shrug. "We'll just have to sit tight and wait for something to happen."
Nathan nodded and stood up off the couch. "If that's the case, we'll need more supplies. Food, water, the necessities; I'll have to go out and get more," he stated, grabbing the car keys off the table. "You two stay here and stay hidden. Don't answer the door for anyone. I'm the only one with the key. If anyone comes to the door and it's not me, let me know," he commanded, poking at his transmitter. Wolf nodded in approval.
"Got it. We'll be right here."
Nathan smiled as he grabbed a thin jacket from the coat rack and stepped out into the rainy suburban neighborhood. He quickly slipped into the silver car and within moments he had a beeline towards the city.
It was starting to get dark, so he needed to make his trip quick. Granted, it was only a quarter to eight at night in suburban Colorado Springs, but the storm darkened the sky significantly. He needed to grab the supplies and get back to his house before it got too dark. He had no idea what was going to happen, so he needed to spend as little time as he could away from the anthros in his house.
As Nathan drove around a winding road on the outskirts of the city, he noticed a swarm of flashing red and blue lights off to the side of the road about a quarter mile down. Perplexed, he slowed significantly and deviated from his lane to allow the officers to work. Along with five or six small squad cars, there was a massive flatbed truck off to the shoulder of the road. Right as Nathan was about to pass by harmlessly, a police officer held up his arm and signaled for the driver to stop.
Nathan rolled his window down in the rain as the officer approached. "Everything alright, officer?" he asked, scratching at his beard.
"Where are you headed?" the officer asked firmly.
"Just heading to the store for a few things. Is that alright?"
"Of course," the officer replied. "We're just trying to avoid any crowds gathering around here, so we're regulating who can travel around here and who can't."
"Why? What's up?" Nathan asked.
"Just a little accident," the officer stated. "Nothing of importance to see. Take care sir."
"Um… thanks. You too officer," Nathan said hesitantly, rolling his window up and continuing down the street. As he sped away, he noticed a crane off in the ditch lifting a large blue tarped object from the ditch. He instantly knew it was too large to be any kind of civilian car, but he still didn't know what it was.
"That was strange," he murmured to himself, continuing down the street in silence since the radio broadcasts were down as well. Wolf was right, they took out any and all satellite related communications; civilian or not. It was kind of boring, driving down a deserted country street in silence, only hearing the loud pounding of rain up against the car and faint rumbles of thunder that had dissipated somewhat since the storm had started.
As he continued down the road, his headlight illuminated something humanly reflective way off to the shoulder of the road, practically in the ditch. He again deviated from his lane to avoid the person in the ditch, but as soon as he saw the figure lift a weapon up to its chest he gasped and instantly slammed on the brakes. The figure with the weapon quickly shot out of the ditch and rushed to the window. Nathan couldn't believe his eyes; the humanly figure had two pointy canine ears and a muzzle.
The soggy humanized canine slipped inside of Nathan's car with the black handgun raised to his head. "Get out," the canine growled in a feminine voice, but stopped in her tracks as she noticed the pale blue glow of the transmitter on his wrist. "Where the hell did you get that?" she questioned, not releasing her hold on the weapon.
"Woah, wait a sec, don't shoot," Nathan pleaded, causing the husky's muzzle to open wide at what she was hearing.
"You… Can you understand me?" she asked, loosening her grip on the handgun.
"Well yeah, I've got your translator on," Nathan responded, holding his right arm out so the husky could see the device. "This is what you people have, right?"
"How… How'd you get that? And, how'd you know who we are? Who are you?" she fired off each question rapidly with an eyebrow raised.
"Hold on, one at a time," Nathan said. "I got this from one of your kind, and you guys are the… Cornerians, right?"
The light copper husky's muzzle opened wide again. "How… What the… Who are you?"
"My name's Nathan," he announced, holding out his hand. The husky backed up and raised the handgun to his head again, contracting her muzzle in an intimidation attempt.
"Hey! Get away from me!" she commanded, shaking in fear. "I'll- I'll kill you!"
"But I won't," he added, keeping his hand out. "I promise, I won't hurt you… What's your name?"
The husky looked at the hand, then back at her weapon. She exhaled through her nose as she eventually lowered the gun into her lap and grasped the human's hand. "Sheila."
Nathan tried not to make an overly noticeable disgusted sound as he felt the husky's soggy paw in his hand. "Sheila… cute name."
Sheila blushed a bit through her wet fur and grinned slightly. "Oh, uh… thanks," she giggled slightly. "But… still, how do you know who we are?"
Nathan chuckled as he shifted back in his seat and put his hands on the wheel. "I've got a few of your kind back at my house. I'll take you back there so you can get yourself cleaned up. Go ahead and settle down, we'll be there shortly."
Sheila shut the door behind her and adjusted her light copper tail in the human's car. She exhaled as the car spun around and took off back in the opposite direction. As Nathan drove by the strange crash scene, Sheila instantly donned a nasty scowl and faintly held up her middle claw at the officers surrounding the scene.
"What was that all about?" Nathan asked with a grin.
"That was my ship that those asshole humans shot down," she growled, then instantly turned her head back and lowered her ears. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to call you that."
"No, it's ok," Nathan assured, glancing back at the crash scene in his mirror. "I personally don't agree with their reasoning behind some things anymore. Act on impulse more often than not."
"Impulse," Sheila repeated silently, not drawing the human's attention. "Seems as though everybody runs on impulse now." The husky raised her voice as she lifted her head back up. "Who is at your house?"
"Two guys named Fox McCloud and Wolf O'Donnell; you know either of–"
"ARE YOU FUCKIN' SERIOUS?!" Sheila practically screamed.
"Woah! What, do you know them?"
"Of course I do!" she quickly retorted. "Wolf's my boyfri–" she started but immediately cut herself off and clamped her muzzle shut with eyes still wide. Nathan could faintly detect a pale rosy pigment brewing under the husky's soggy face fur
"You're Wolf's girlfriend?" he asked with his own wide eyed stare. Sheila slowly nodded as her pale blue eyes lowered.
"Well… I… I don't know," Sheila stuttered. "I mean… we were for a while, but… I don't think he is anymore," she explained sadly, tilting her ears back. Nathan exhaled a bit then made another quick glance to the passenger.
"Did something happen?" he asked.
"I… I blew up at him…" she stated, trying to hold back her tears. "I had a rough first mission, and I was on edge for the rest of the day… I don't know what got into me… Wolf, he… he tried to help me… and I pushed him away."
Nathan opened his mouth but a quiet sob from the husky cut him off. "I called him out… I criticized him… I called him heartless…" she eventually broke down and cried softly, sobbing into her arms.
"Shh, Sheila, it's alright," Nathan assured. "I'm sure he'll forgive you if you–"
"No, he won't," she deadpanned in between sobs. "He won't forgive me after what I said to him."
"Of course he will," he said calmly. "I mean, no offense, but you're a mess. If he saw you like that, he'd know it would be a genuine apology."
Sheila sniffed and brought her muzzle out of her arms. "Do you think so?"
"Of course," Nathan smiled. "Sheila, you are absolutely beautiful. Gorgeous. Wolf would be stupid not to accept a heart-filled apology from you if you really do mean it."
Sheila smiled even larger as her face started warming up. "Really?" she asked sweetly. "You really think I'm beautiful?"
Nathan smiled back and nodded. "You'd look even better once you get freshened up. When we get back to my place you can clean yourself up a bit, and I'm pretty sure my friend's sister's clothes would fit you."
"Wow… t-thank you so much," the husky said with overwhelming gratitude. "W-why are you being so nice to me?"
Nathan shrugged. "Why not?"
"Well, we're basically attacking you for no reason," Sheila explained with her ears tilted back. "I… I was one of the people that went along with the attack. I agreed. I thought–"
"The satellite?" Nathan butted in. "Our satellite?"
Sheila jerked her head around to make eye contact. "You know?"
"Not really," he replied, scratching his beard. "I just know what's going on, not why it's even happening in the first place. Anyway, please continue, Sheila."
Sheila nodded slowly. "I was one that thought it was a missile too… I was so stupid to think like that though. I could've prevented all of this shit if I would've just opened my eyes and saw what was really going on."
"So, you didn't agree with Wolf at first?"
"No… And I was so stupid not to. He was right, but I didn't listen."
"And that's what started your fight with him?"
Sheila sighed and drooped her head. "That's exactly why… I refused to back him up, and I ended up exploding at him because of how pissed I was. I was the dense one… I was the one not being rational… I'm the heartless son of a bitch."
"Woah, Sheila, don't say that," Nathan quickly pleaded.
"But it's true," she argued, feeling the tears starting to come back. "I called him all of those things, but in reality, I'm what I called him! Dammit, I broke his heart Nathan!"
"Hey, it's ok," Nathan interjected calmly. "Once we get back to my place you two can sort things out. Honestly, I'd bet Wolf would be pretty excited to see you."
"I hope so," Sheila mumbled, slouching back in her seat and closing her eyes. Nathan coughed slightly and glanced at the husky's orange suited frame.
"So, what happened with you just now?" Nathan asked, staring at the husky's soggy clothes. "That's a prison jumpsuit. Did they keep you held up after they shot you down?"
Sheila cringed as the images from earlier in the day came back. She faintly shook her head to eliminate the thoughts, then turned her head towards the watered-down car window.
"I… I can't talk about it…"
"It's alright, you can tell me," Nathan said softly, but Sheila violently shook her head again.
"No, Nathan, I can't talk about it," Sheila repeated with emphasis, letting her head fall down to the floor. Nathan cocked an eyebrow and made a faint glance to the husky next to him.
"What happened?" Nathan asked. "They… they didn't hurt you, did they?"
Sheila again cringed and held at her stomach. A soft whimper inadvertently escaped her maw as she let her head droop down again. Nathan exhaled quietly and gingerly set a hand on her leg. Sheila instantly tensed up and almost ripped the human's hand off, but realized he was trying to comfort her. He wasn't like the human that had repeatedly beat her; he was completely different. He cared.
Nathan felt the husky's leg muscles tense up, so he quickly tried to calm her down. "Sheila, it's alright, I'm not gonna hurt you. I would never hurt you. I'm only here to help, and I'll keep you safe. I promise."
Sheila took a deep breath and let herself relax as the human kept his hand on her leg. It was a reassuring touch; one she hadn't felt in a long time. She finally felt at ease for the first time in quite a long time, and that eventually caught up with her. She started to grow tired and was practically asleep by the time Nathan rolled up to the driveway of their house and turned the car off. He patted the husky's leg to get her attention and grinned once she opened her pale blue eyes.
"Time to patch things up," Nathan stated as he opened the door and trotted up to the front door of the small house. He stopped as he grabbed the handle and looked back at the husky that was right behind him. "You ready?"
Sheila sighed and pushed some of her soggy hair back. "Yes… I want to see him."
Nathan nodded and unlocked the door, and stepped through into the warm, comforting glow of the house. Wolf and Fox were sitting on the couch facing the front door, with Fox smiling as he was gazing into Wolf's open transmitter. Fox was the first to glance up, and as soon as he saw the feminine figure behind Nathan he gasped loudly and furiously smacked at Wolf's shoulder with both paws.
"Ow, Fox, what's the deal?" Wolf whined, then turned his head to what the vulpine was staring at. His light gray maw opened as wide as his eyes did, and felt his heart skip a beat.
The next ensuing seconds was the definition of an awkward moment. Wolf just sat there with a stupefied and awestruck look, while Sheila stared back at him with eyes glistening. Sheila eventually took a step toward the lupine, still not breaking her gaze.
"S-Sheila?" Wolf stuttered, not releasing his own stare into the husky's eyes.
Sheila took another step forward.
"W-what are you doing here?" he questioned, still locked in her gaze.
Sheila stayed silent, taking another step.
"She… you ok?" Wolf called out softly. "You're… You're not… are you…?"
Sheila kept taking step after step slowly, inching ever so closer to the lupine. As soon as her bare feet were within inches of Wolf's boots, she fell forward into him and attacked his muzzle with her own, forcing his head back into the couch. Wolf's eyes shot open again at her sudden attack, but eventually they slowly closed as he wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her in.
It was as if the ordeal on the Husky Destroyer never happened. She was completely wrapped up in the lupine's love and affection, which was what she had neglected after the assault. Wolf had tried to comfort her, and she pushed him away. Now, it was completely different as Sheila wanted nothing more than to be in her man's warmth for the rest of her life.
Sheila backed off after a few seconds while breathing heavily, then gave a pleasured smile to the lupine who was also trying to regain his breath. She gazed into the wolf's violet eyes, letting her smile fade as a single tear dripped out of her eye. Wolf's smile quickly changed into a concerned stare as he saw the tears flow out of her eyes. Sheila lowered her eyes, then suddenly fell into the lupine's chest.
"Wolf, I'm so sorry," she sobbed, burying herself into Wolf's jacket. "I was wrong! I was so wrong Wolf!"
"Shelia, hold on a second, calm down," Wolf pleaded calmly, lifting her tear stained face out of his chest. "What happened? How did you get here? And… what happened to you?"
Sheila sniffed as she lowered her eyes. "I… I came to look for you."
"Me? Why?" Wolf questioned.
"To do what I just did," Sheila responded as she picked her eyes back up. "I wanted to apologize to you. I should've never said the things I did. I didn't listen to you; even though I should have. You were right this whole time. I'm… I'm so sorry."
Wolf gingerly grabbed her head and embraced it gently, petting her soggy cinnamon colored hair. Sheila choked back a sob as she allowed the lupine to comfort her, but eventually pried her head out of the lupine's paws and stared into his eyes.
"Wolf… Can… Can you forgive me? Can you forgive me for being so heartless?"
"Why wouldn't I?" Wolf asked with a grin. "Sheila, you'd have to do something worse than that to get on my bad side. Yeah, it hurt me a little what you said, but the fact that you're apologizing negates everything. I accept your apology, and I forgive you."
Sheila's muzzle curled upwards as she again attacked Wolf's maw with a kiss. Wolf again allowed the onslaught and tightly embraced the light copper husky; disregarding her soggy fur. After she backed off again, Wolf chuckled and eyeballed her frame.
"You didn't answer my question about… yourself," Wolf reminded. Sheila cringed slightly and glanced down at the ground.
"It's a long story…" she mumbled, flattening her ears. Wolf chuckled and patted her back.
"You can tell me later. Right now, you think you might want to clean up a bit?" Wolf suggested with a smirk. Sheila bit her lower lip and smiled, then turned to the human who was sitting on the other couch. She cocked her head at him, making Nathan himself smile.
"Follow me Sheila; I'll help you get cleaned up."
Sheila nodded, but right as she attempted to pull herself off of the lupine he quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her in closer.
"I'm so happy you're ok," he whispered into her ear. "I couldn't imagine what I would do without you."
Sheila grinned again, making sure to hide her teeth. "I love you too Wolf."
Sheila snuck in another quick kiss on the lupine's forehead as she walked into the hallway with the human. Wolf exhaled as he let himself slouch down on the couch. He closed his eyes and sighed again, then muttered to himself under his breath with a faint grin.
"My army is growing James… You're running out of excuses…"
I took a walk around the world to ease my troubled mind
I left my body lying somewhere in the sands of time
But I watched the world float to the dark side of the moon
I feel there's nothing I can do, yeah
I watched the world float to the dark side of the moon
After all I knew it had to be something to do with you
I really don't mind what happens now and then
As long as you'll be my friend at the end
If I go crazy then will you still call me Superman
If I'm alive and well, will you be there a-holding my hand
I'll keep you by my side with my superhuman might
Kryptonite
*Kryptonite – 3 Doors Down*
