A/N: Sorry this took so long. Life has been…confusing lately. Now that it's settled down, I should be updating more regularly. Well, hope you enjoy!

Update: Oops. Forgot to mention. I'm having a bit of a dilemma right now. It probably won't happen for a while either way but I'm debating whether or not I should put my own little twist in this story or just do a pure novelization. I know more people read this then those who review so I would appreciate your input in the matter. Please tell me your opinion in a review or a pm. I won't say what the twist is or it would be a spoiler if I go that way.

Chapter Six: The Prince Tricky

When Fox could finally feel his body again he was standing on a warp pad in a frozen cave. The air in the cave chilled him and his breath misted in the air. Pulling his vest tighter around his furred body, Fox wished he had brought warmer clothing.

Stepping off the warp pad, he placed his foot on the floor of the cave and almost slipped. He regained his balance quickly and glanced down at the floor under his feet. It was slicked with a thin layer of ice that creeped up the walls as well. He would have to be careful where he stepped or else he might find himself flat on his back.

Slowly and carefully Fox made his way up the sharply slopping tunnel. Strangely, it was lit with the odd torch here and there. He hadn't thought this place would be used much, but perhaps he had been wrong. Maybe the warp pad linked to more places then just the WarpStone. Fox knew that there would probably be trouble as soon as he left the cave so he reached for his blaster before once again realizing he did not have it with him. He would have to get used to this soon. Instead, he readied his staff in preparation to fight.

When he had made his way to the mouth of the cave, he quickly stopped then pulled back out of sight. Ahead of him was a clearing filled with snow and ice. An odd brush plant stuck up through the snow here and there, but that was not what stopped him. In the middle of the clearing two large blue SharpClaw stood with maces. Suddenly a large steel airship soared over them and stopped. The bottom hatch opened and a ball of light descended down to the jeering SharpClaws below. When Fox looked closer he saw a young purple EarthWalker inside the light. He looked terrified and Fox realized that he was the Prince Tricky.

Once Tricky's feet touched down on the frozen earth the light around him disappeared, immediately he began to cower and whimper, looking up at the SharpClaw in fright. The airship above them wheeled away and soared off into the distance. The two blue SharpClaw began hopping up and down in excitement, waving their maces in the air. The young prince whimpered again and tried to back away from the two crazed beasts only to be prodded with a mace. He whined at their torment, which only provoked them more. Soon they were flailing their maces and beating the helpless EarthWalker.

With a sinking feeling, Fox realized he couldn't take much more of this. Just as he was about to jump out of hiding to help, the prince took off at a run. The SharpClaw cheered and gave chase, herding him into a cave. As soon as they entered the cave, a large metal door descended, locking them in and Fox out. Sighing, Fox stepped out from behind the wall. Now he would have to find a way to open the door.

Fox took a few steps then stopped again. In the distance he heard what sounded like a small explosion. Looking up he saw a cannon ball soaring through the sky towards him. Not an explosion, he thought in alarm. Cannon fire! Fox dove out of the way and rolled into a crouching position, drawing his staff. He looked around and spotted the cannon quickly. It was manned by a single SharpClaw who was now furiously trying to turn the cannon in Fox's direction. He almost laughed. The SharpClaw had next to no idea what he was doing.

Standing, Fox put his staff away and continued his exploration. As long as he kept moving, there was next to no chance of him being hit. First, he walked over to the door of the cave. He pushed on it and pounded it with his staff but nothing happened. He would have to find an opening mechanism somewhere else before he could get in.

He walked along the icy path, looking for something that could give him a clue as to what to do next. Eventually he reached a stone ledge that acted as a natural wall between him and whatever lay beyond. About halfway he found an opening in the wall but it was blocked by a large pile of stone blocks. They were too heavy for him to push over and even his staff was useless against them.

I'm getting no where! Fox thought angrily. He continued to follow the wall until he reached a dead end in the path. He was about to cry out in frustration when he noticed a familiar patch of dirt on the ground. Bending down, he brushed away the light covering of snow to reveal an area to plant a bomb spore. Looking at the wall more closely he noticed a fissure in the stone. Fox grinned and planted a bomb spore which immediately sprouted. The wall that would be affected was not part of the same wall he had been following but perhaps he would be able to find something else beyond it.

Backing up, Fox readied his staff and fired. He was rewarded with a satisfying explosion. When the smoke cleared and the rubble set, Fox hurriedly walked into the new opening, hoping to find something useful. Inside, he found a Fuel Cell and what looked like a well. Picking up the Fuel Cell, he leaned over the edge of the well and looked in.

A croaking voice called up to him. "That'll be twenty Scarabs, and I'll give you a cheat token." Fox almost threw a rock down the well instead. What in the world is a cheat token and what would I need it for anyways?! So much for finding something useful.

With a sigh, Fox walked back to where he started. Coming back from this direction he noticed that what he thought was a simple outcropping of rock before was in fact a small wall of stone. The entrance was visible from this direction so he walked over, hoping to finally find something he could use.

His efforts were rewarded. Inside he found an explosive device. Beneath it he saw a pad that looked like it would automatically regenerate the exploding cylinder after the previous one detonated. When he picked it up a red light on the top flicked on and started flashing as a beeping sound started. He realized now that this was a time bomb. Suddenly he remembered the impenetrable stone blocks before and decided to try his luck.

It didn't look like he had much time so he ran as fast as he could towards the opening in the wall. With mere seconds to spare, Fox tossed the explosive at the blocks which were immediately engulfed in the explosion. Instead of turning to rubble, they simply disintegrated. Spying SharpClaw inside, he dashed in with his staff ready.

The SharpClaws were startled by the explosion and were slow to react to Fox's arrival. He was able to dispatch with them quickly, but the more pressing matter was the cannon that resided on a ledge just above him.

Quickly he took cover against the rock directly beneath the cannon where it would be unable to take aim at him. Before he could do much else, a rumbling sound caught his attention. It was coming from over by the cave where Prince Tricky was being held. Ignoring the cannon, he ran over.

Above the door now was a red switch. He decided to call them Blast Pads, since using his Fire Blaster was the only practical way to activate them. He guessed the death of the two SharpClaws he had killed must have triggered its appearance. Steadying his nerves, Fox took aim at the Blast Pad and fired.

The door began to open and Fox ran towards the entrance. Peering around a bend in the tunnel, he saw the two SharpClaw still tormenting the young prince. Tricky said something Fox did not understand but it was clear he was begging them to stop. The SharpClaws just laughed and continued beating him.

Fox stepped out from behind the bend and ran up to the SharpClaws. "Hey, scaleface!" he called, trying to bait them. "Pick on someone your own size!" The SharpClaws wheeled around to face him. Stalking up to him, they began talking; not that he could understand them.

"I am Fox McCloud, lead pilot of the Star Fox team," he said proudly, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "I have come to take the prince back to his…" The prince took advantage of the distraction and ran out of the cave. "…home?" He turned around to chase after him but was hit from behind by one of the SharpClaws. "Hey, wait!" he called to the prince. Stumbling, he tried to go forwards but the blow had disoriented him and was then bowled over by the second SharpClaw. Slightly dazed, he watched as the SharpClaw mounted two sleds and took off in pursuit of the escaped prince.

Once Fox's head had cleared enough for him to stand he clambered to his feet and looked around. Not far from him rested a third sled. Quickly, he jumped on it and tried to figure out the controls. They were simple enough. Press this to turn it on, turn this to accelerate and turn this to brake. As soon as he turned it on he took off after the SharpClaws.

A wooden fence he had seen earlier was now broken, obviously by SharpClaw. Accelerating, he followed their trail. When they were within sight, he had to think of a plan. The prince had gotten a fairly good head start on them but they would catch up to him eventually. He didn't see any weapons on his sled and he highly doubted he would be able to aim, shoot and drive all at once. It would have been a different matter if he had his blaster but he needed far more concentration to make the staff work. That left him with two options; run them off the road and damage their sleds enough where they would have to give up the chase, or simply beat them to the fleeing prince. Either one would work.

They were passing through a narrow valley now. Rough stone walls surrounded them as the snow spray from his slide flew up and around him. The cold air stung his eyes as he sped through the valley but he ignored it. He had to pass through tunnels, dodge around rocks and trees and try to keep the SharpClaws in sight the whole time. At one point they passed through a monstrous cavern and Fox had to be careful to not fall off the ledge he was riding on while maintaining speed.

Just as he exited the cave, something nearly exploded in his face. He jerked his sled in time to avoid it but lost some valuable ground. He looked ahead and noticed the SharpClaw dropping bombs behind them. "Oh, come on!" he shouted at no one, the wind whipping the words away as quickly as he uttered them.

Looking around he spotted what he hoped was a short cut. He decided to risk it and maneuvered his sled towards it. It was a tunnel burrowing into the rock wall and seemed to lead to a point further down the path. Once again outside and racing through the valley, he looked behind him to see the SharpClaw raising their fists at him in anger. A fierce grin played itself across his face and he looked forward just in time to go hurtling over the ledge in front of him.

Yelling in panic, Fox flew off the sled and fell towards the hard ground below. Thankfully he landed in a pond so his fall was softened. He expected a biting cold sensation but was surprised to find the water warm. Groaning, he stood up and looked back up at the ledge to see the SharpClaw sitting on their sleds glaring down at him and yelling. Glancing at the edge of the water he noticed Prince Tricky shaking himself dry. Walking over to dry land he kneeled and started breathing heavily. Even though the fall wasn't as bad as it could have been, the vulpine still felt bruised and tired.

After recovering a small bit of strength, he turned to the prince EarthWalker. Before he could say anything the small dinosaur started talking. For all the good it did him, Fox's translator still wasn't ready yet.

"What?" Fox shouted in confusion.

Tricky looked at him as if what he said had been the most obvious thing in the world. He repeated what he said before, expecting Fox to understand him this time around.

"I…I can't understand you!" Fox said, raising his hands above his head in distress.

Tricky sighed and once again started to repeat what he had said, enunciating carefully. At first he was nothing but gibberish to Fox but suddenly his translator kicked in. "…hot spring or you'd be frozen by now." The young prince proceeded to laugh at Fox.

Fox suddenly wished his translator didn't work so well. "Why you little…" Fox raised a fist at the smart-alecky prince, more for effect than to actually do anything.

Tricky backed away. "Hey, I wouldn't if I were you," he said defensively. "My dad's the King EarthWalker and he'll bash you up."

Fox's anger vanished at the young boy's words. Slowly he knelt in front of Tricky but could not look him in the eyes. "I don't think he'll be doing any bashing," he said sadly. "He's been captured. That's why I've been sent to rescue you."

Tricky looked at Fox in shock. "He's been captured?" he asked, a note of alarm in his voice.

"That's right," Fox confirmed. "It was your mother that sent me to find you."

"Is she… okay?" He was clearly worried about her. Despite his attitude, he seemed like a good kid who looked up to and cared for his parents.

The Queen's condition hadn't been great when he left and Fox didn't imagine that it had improved. It would do no good upsetting Tricky by telling him this. "She'll be just fine," he said. "But we need to get you home."

Tricky didn't argue any further so Fox looked for an exit. They seemed to be deep in the mountains now but there was a pass just behind them. Stuffing his hands in his vest pockets to stave off the cold, Fox started down the path with Tricky following closely behind.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"Out of here," Fox replied simply.

"How?"

"By going wherever this leads." Fox seriously hoped that Tricky's questions would not persist for very long. Fox was a mercenary, not a babysitter.

Eventually they reached a large hole in the ground. It was more like a pit than anything. Down in the bottom of the pit, lava bubbled and hissed with steam rising into the air, heating it to an almost uncomfortable temperature. The wall of the pit was rough and could be easily scaled but there was the little problem of getting over to the other side. The walls were only good for climbing directly in front of them and directly across. The larger problem was that there was no way around the pit.

"I'm hungry," Tricky complained suddenly.

Fox stopped and turned to the young prince. "Well what am I supposed to feed you?" he asked. "I barely have enough food for myself."

Tricky looked around and spotted some mushrooms nearby. He ran up to them and turned to Fox. "These Blue GrubTub Fungus are an EarthWalker's favorite food," he told Fox. "Problem is they're too hard for me to catch." He gave Tricky a dubious look. What was so difficult about catching a mushroom that couldn't move?

Walking towards the GrubTubs he realized why they were so difficult to catch. These mushrooms weren't rooted down and seemed to be alive. As he approached, they hopped away. "Try stunning them with your staff," Tricky continued. "I'm feeling real hungry."

Sighing, Fox took out his staff and used it to stun the GrubTubs. Once they were subdued, he picked them up and handed them to Tricky who ate them hungrily.

"That's better," he sighed when he had finally finished. "Now I'm feeling strong enough to do some work."

"What kind of work?" Fox asked, suddenly intrigued.

"First we need to look around for a crack in the ground. Once we find one I can dig through it and find what's underneath. There is usually some really valuable stuff hidden in the ground. Maybe I'll uncover something cool!"

It didn't take them long to find what they were looking for. In the ground next to a burned out campfire, a crack in the ground was barely visible beneath a layer of snow. After clearing away the snow they realized how soft the earth around the fissure was.

"Well, let's see what you can do." Fox motioned for Tricky to start digging.

As Tricky dug through the dirt a large switch pad was slowly being uncovered. When it was fully visible, Tricky stepped forward onto the switch. A loud clank brought their attention to a gate blocking a cave they hadn't noticed before. Together they walked over to investigate. Just before they arrived the gate closed again.

Fox turned to Tricky. "Go back there and stay on that switch until I can find a way to keep the door open." Tricky did as he was told and sat down on the switch. The gate opened again with a clank and Fox glanced around for something to keep it open. He spied a stone nearby that looked the perfect size to jam the gate. Once he had the rock in place he beckoned Tricky into the cave. Inside was what looked like a switch but with no lever. There was a light beside the small opening where the lever should have been. Currently the light was red, indicating the mechanism it controlled was not active.

"What's this?" Tricky asked.

"I know as much about it as you do," Fox replied. Probably less, since you live here. He didn't say that aloud however. The last thing he wanted to do was provoke the young EarthWalker into gloating.

Fox inspected the small hole for a moment before remembering his staff. It was about the right size to fit in the hole. Taking it out from behind his pack, he looked at it for a moment before inserting one end into the hole and pushing down on it. Something clicked inside the machine and they heard a loud noise like stone grinding against stone from somewhere outside.

Quickly, the pair ran back to the pit they had seen earlier and were surprised to see that a pillar of rock had appeared in the middle of the lava pit. It was in the perfect position for them to jump across. Climbing down onto a small ledge, Fox glanced up at Tricky. "If you jump down I'll catch you," he called.

"You've got to be kidding me," Tricky mumbled but he closed his eyes and jumped off the ledge. Fox caught him and placed him down on the ledge.

"Can you make it across yourself?" Fox asked.

Tricky scoffed, rolled his eyes and jumped across to the far ledge. Fox almost laughed and followed the energetic child across. Once they were both on the far ledge Fox realized they had a bigger problem then they thought; how was he going to get Tricky up onto the path above? They stood and thought about it for a bit before they resigned themselves to the fact that Fox would have to carry him up. Fox knelt down and let Tricky climb onto his back. He settled himself on top of Fox's pack and braced himself against his shoulders. He was a little heavy, but not unbearable. With that problem solved Fox began his ascent.

When they reached the top they continued down the path, but only for a moment, before they reached a dead end. Fox rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. This was becoming far too annoying.

"See that crack in the rock?" Tricky said. Fox looked up to see that the young prince had moved over to the wall. "I can try to dig through that if you'd like."

"Yeah, go for it." Fox watched as Tricky burrowed his way through the stone wall. This young princeling was definitely helpful. When Tricky called to him from the other side he crawled through the small tunnel he had made. The other side was pretty much the same; a narrow mountain pass with the walls closing off at the top, mostly obscuring the sky. They rounded a bend in the path and their surroundings immediately changed.

Fox and Tricky stepped into a wide path now, though they were still surrounded by mountains. Large coniferous trees grew along the path with the odd torch that was already lit here and there. Fox wondered why the torches were lit since it was still daylight and sunlight streamed from the now visible sky.

"This is the SnowHorn Wastes!" Tricky said excitedly. "We're getting closer."

"Well at least you know where we are," Fox grumbled. "Because I have no idea." It had been poor planning on his part, really. He should have bought some of those maps he had seen at the store back in ThornTail Hollow. He would have to remember to do that when they returned.

They took a few more steps forward then heard clawed feet crunching in the snow. It was then that the duo noticed the SharpClaws patrolling the path. Tricky whimpered and hid behind Fox. "I don't like them," he whined. "They're scary and mean."

"Don't worry," Fox reassured him. "I can deal with them easily enough." Tricky held back doubtfully as Fox advanced to deal with the SharpClaws. It was easy enough. They obviously weren't very skilled and had no chance against a trained fighter. When he was finished disposing of the SharpClaw, he continued down the path. Eventually it opened up into a large clearing that may once have held a small lake. Now it was all ice and snow. In the middle of the clearing, a group of SharpClaw ran in circles. He thought it was funny at first until he realized with dismay that they were chasing Tricky. He looked around and realized the young EarthWalker must have run ahead while he had been dispatching the SharpClaw. The only thing lift to do was help him.

Running towards them he dealt the first one a massive blow from behind, knocking him out cold. The second one attempted to block him with his mace but Fox managed to get behind his guard and hit him under the chin with the butt of his staff, snapping his head back. As he fell, Fox gave a roundhouse kick to the head to the third SharpClaw. He followed in quick succession with his staff and knocked him out as well. Once he was sure that all three would not bother them again for a while he returned his staff to his pack and turned to Tricky.

"Tricky, are you crazy? Just leave the SharpClaws to me."

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry." He looked down at the ground, ashamed.

Fox sighed. "It's okay, kid," he said. "Just be more careful next time."

"Alright Fox."

With that settled they took a closer look around the clearing. There wasn't anything special about it; a geyser shot up out of the ice and there were camp fires scattered across the snow. There was one thing that caught their eye though.

"Hey, that's a SnowHorn," Tricky pointed out. "Maybe we can ask him how to get out of here."

Fox agreed and they walked over to talk to the lone SnowHorn. "Excuse me," Fox said.

"I'm too hungry to talk to strangers," the SnowHorn said irritably. He turned away from Fox and Tricky and lay down in the snow. Fox began to grumble. This was the second time he had to go hunting for food just because someone was hungry or lonely. He wasn't an errand boy; he was the lead pilot of the Star Fox team on a mission from General Pepper of the Cornerian army. But if he wanted to complete this mission he had to get the SnowHorn some food.

"Do you know what SnowHorns eat?" Fox asked Tricky.

The young prince thought for a moment before he nodded excitedly. "They eat Alpine Roots. I should be able to find a couple by digging." Fox nodded and together they searched for the Alpine Roots.

It wasn't an easy task. There tried digging in many different places but most of the time they came up empty. As they were wandering through the clearing, Fox felt the staff begin to pull him somewhere as it had when he found the upgrade that gave him his Fire Blaster.

"What is it Fox?" Tricky asked when Fox stopped walking.

He was looking around, trying to find the source of what was calling him through the staff. "I'm trying to find something," he stated simply. He looked around until he found another crack in the ground. "Tricky," he called. When the prince was standing beside him he indicated the cracked ground. "I want you to dig here."

"Sure thing Fox." He started digging. It didn't take him long. Soon enough there was a hole in the ground emitting green light, the same as last time.

"Wait here," he told Tricky and hopped down the hole.

End of Chapter