Well, the journey has begun!

Roy: Oh boy! I've never been in space before!

Marth: So much like a little kid...

Ardath: Oh Marth, stop acting like a grouchy old fox.

Fox: Hey, that's rude!

Ardath: Oh sorry Fox. Our special guest today is the one, the only, Ephraim!

Ephraim: Hello there. I'm Prince Ephraim from Renais.

Roy: Hello Ephraim. I'm General Roy, son of Marquess Pherae.

Link: Would someone please just disclaim?

Ephraim: Pyromaniac Aru doesn't own us. Nintendo does. Suing her is pointless. You will recieve nothing worth your time and life.

Marth: Good job, Ephraim.

Young Link: Onward to Chapter two!

"Look up, I look up at night,
Planets are moving at the speed of light.
Climb up, up in the trees,
every chance that you get,
is a chance you seize.
How long am I gonna stand,
with my head stuck under the sand?
I'll start before I can stop,
before I see things the right way up." -Coldplay, Speed of Sound
2. Memories: Journey to Hyrule

Falco lead the way through the building, his boots clinking on the steel floors. Only several minutes on the Star Fox, and Roy was wishing he could be on Elibe, or Hyrule, or Nintendo, with grass under his feet and fresh air to inhale. Marth looked like he was thinking the same thing, his brow knotted up. But Fox and Falco looked more at home with the artificial air.

Falco opened a sliding door and allowed Marth to step inside. He followed, nodding to Fox, who grabbed Roy's shoulder.

"Can I talk to you about something, Roy?" Fox asked.

"Sure." Roy stopped and let the door close. "So what's on your mind?"

"Samus. We haven't been able to contact her at all. Then you tell us not to mention Samus. Do you know something we don't?"

"Yes." Roy's face darkened. "Remember the last Christmas?"

"The White Christmas, three and a half years ago." Fox nodded. "Hard not to remember."

"Well…" Roy hesitated. "Samus was killed shortly before the white light came."

"Killed?" Fox's eyes widened in shock, then narrowed. "How?"

"There was an old man, he used to work at one of the malls in Smash City. We met him on the day that Bowser broke the heater. He backstabbed us, and took over Luan's body. He shot Samus so near to the heart that she died soon after. Marth then… sort of lost it… and killed both Luan and the old man."

Fox narrowed his eyes even further. "I see." He sighed. "Well, that explains why we couldn't contact her. We couldn't even find her ship. We did pick up signals from her suit, though we couldn't find it."

Roy nodded. "It was after that that the white light over took all of Nintendo, sending us back to our homes. But like I said earlier, Katan didn't come home. Her Lord, my uncle, even searched for her, even a body, but he didn't find a thing. Only her little sculptures and several of her daggers." His heart ached for her love to return. It was hard recovering, even if they had only known about their infatuation with one another for only a day.

Fox looked thoughtful. "I see. I'll tell Falco in a bit. But for now, lets take a break. I'm a bit exhausted, having looked for a planet since I woke up this morning."

Roy nodded. Fox opened the door, and saw that Falco had just finished chatting with Marth. What about, Roy wouldn't know.

"Anyone hungry?" Fox asked.

"I know I am." Falco's stomach growled, confirming his statement.

"I'm kind of hungry myself." Marth patted his stomach.

"Same here." Roy sat down next to Marth.

"Alright." Fox disappeared into the hallway, probably to fetch some rations.

Silence ensued. Falco studied one of his flight feathers, while Marth habitually messed with Samus's bracelet, the one she had given him for Christmas. When she gave it to him, Roy had no idea when.

"So, what have the two swordsmen been up to?" Falco asked, trying to start a conversation.

"Not much." Marth replied. Silence ensued again.

"How about you, Falco?" Roy asked.

"Oh, I've been on missions with the Star Fox Team. Fox is the leader, just like his father James was. Then we also have Slippy on the team, and Peppy retired from the team. General Pepper told him he could retire any time he wanted. He's about fifty-five now, and he's retired. I'm not going to retire until I can no longer hold a gun anymore."

"Or until Death takes you?" Marth asked.

"Yeah, more or less. I've already come in several close calls, but Fox has gotten even more. I'm a born Arwing pilot. Fox himself says I'm better in flying an Arwing than him."

"I believe you. You're a falcon, after all." Roy commented. "My grandfather died to protect his homeland, and he was only about forty eight."

The door slid open again, revealing a pink cat humanoid, and Krystal the fox humanoid. "Hey, Falco." Krystal smiled her sly smile.

"Falco, how are you, dearest?" the cat bounced to Falco and hugged him.

"I'm great, Katt. Do you remember Roy and Marth?" Falco turned to the two.

"Yes. Weren't they…?" Katt was interrupted when a frog entered the room.

"Is Fox in here?" the frog asked. It was Slippy Toad. He wore a baseball cap that reminded Roy vaguely of Ness.

"He went to get some food." Falco told Slippy. "He should be back soon."

"Oh good. I wanted to tell him the Transports are almost ready." Slippy moved out of the doorway and to the left.

"Good. We'll leave after we get a bite to eat." Falco announced.

"So you're leaving again?" Katt asked, giving Falco puppy dog eyes. (How ironic…)

"Yes, we want to move as fast as possible. The enemy won't simply wait for the smashers to assemble." Falco sighed.

"And there have already been reports of wire frames on a couple of planets, including Mushroom Kingdom and Hyrule." Fox spoke as he entered the room. "Things are already getting grim. Zelda and Ganondorf are holed up in Lon Lon ranch, while Link and Young Link are in Kokiri Forest. Mushroom Kingdom can hold off for a while longer. Meanwhile, Kirby has sent in reports of a mystery planet. He doesn't want to risk going to it by himself, though he might be able to stand up to what ever is on it. He left us the coordinates before going back to Popstar for a new ride."

"That doesn't sound good." Marth hissed.

"What do you have there?" Roy asked, pointing to the food.

"Ah, some fresh bread, cheese, and some cider." Fox announced, laying the snack on the little steel table in the room. It was devoured quickly, while Fox took Krystal into the hall to "talk" to her.

As the last cider was downed, Fox came back in. "Well, Slippy?"

"Ah, the Transporters should be ready by now." Slippy saluted.

"I told you you don't have to salute to me." Fox grinned at his friend. "Well, I guess we'll be on our way."

"Bye, Katt." Falco nodded to his girlfriend. She sniffed.

"Come back safely, Falco dear." Katt called softly after him while the four ex-smashers followed Slippy to the hanger.

The Transporters were like larger versions of Arwings, but they could hold up to five people in each. Before they got into the transporters, Fox and Falco gave Roy and Marth their very own headphones, similar to Fox's.

"Well, We'll report back soon, hopefully, and in one piece." Fox called to Slippy.

:You had better, Fox McCloud. Your father and Krystal would be angry with me if you don't.: Peppy laughed over the intercom.

"See you later, Fox, Falco." Slippy called before deserting the hanger. Roy climbed into the co-pilot seat of the transporter. Buttons surrounded him. He didn't touch one, in fear of messing the Transporter on.

Falco and Marth's holograph faces appeared in mid air. :Ready to go?: Falco asked.

"We were born ready." Fox replied with a grin. "Peppy, open the hatch."

:Yes sir.: Peppy's face had appeared momentarily before disappearing again. The hatch slowly opened as Fox revved up the Transporter's engine. It whirred into life, and lifted into space beyond the hatch, following Falco, who was already out and drifting towards Hyrule.

Once again, they were surrounded by the desolate and unmerciful space. Fox pushed his transport towards Hyrule. Roy looked out to Elibe, but he couldn't recognize any of his world from above. He turned to Hyrule, which began to loom closer and closer. The closer they got, the faster they went. The atmosphere pulled them in gently, as if unsure of the intruders. Fox began to press buttons rapidly, so that they wouldn't make a deadly crash landing on Hyrule's plains or Kokiri Forest.

Link had told Roy and Marth about his homeland. It was almost totally green, with brown-gray mountains to the north east. In the middle of the plains was a castle. It was closed up. Roy noted grimly that an army of the creatures called Wireframes had set up their camp outside. Fox and Falco flew the transports south, to avoid the sentries set to watch for reinforcements. They flew fairly low towards a hill that turned into a steep plateau. A single path had been cut through to a hollow in the plateau. More Wireframes were here, attacking a boulder that stood stubbornly in their way. Beyond the boulder was a farm. A single chestnut horse with a coal black mane was grazing in the pasture, her ears turned to towards the boulder. Several cows were grazing nervously, and a cloud of chicken like birds were stalking around the edges of the fence. There was a store tower beyond the fence, a barn and a small house near the entrance. The cows scattered when the transports landed in the field. The horse readied to charge, while the cuckoos already began to charge. Link had told them how those deadly creatures had almost killed him once, had Malon, the ranch owner's daughter, not saved him by calming the cuckoos.

Fox hesitated at opening the cockpit, but Falco jumped out immediately, and raised his feathered hand. The cuckoos froze, unsure of whether they should attack the intruder, or leave him be.

Suddenly, Falco was set upon by the charging horse. She was a smart mare. Roy hit the open button and jumped out, leaving his headphones. He reached the stampeding horse and whistled a tune to it. Link had told him about his horse too. The horse would only calm if her song were played, whistled, or hummed. Epona calmed down a bit. Falco spat out a clod of dirt.

"What a welcoming." He coughed out a feather.

"Are you okay, Falco?" Fox laughed. "I thought you had everything figured out. Good thing Roy's here."

"Good thing Link told me about his horse." Roy stood up for Falco. Marth slid out of the cockpit.

"Oh my god, its you!" came a familiar feminine voice. Zelda attacked Marth with a hug, knocking him to the ground.

"Mmfh!" Marth tried to speak, but his face was buried in cape and grass.

"Zelda!" another voice called. A girl, about Zelda's age, with rust colored hair, sky blue eyes, and a beige peasants' dress had come from the barn, bow in hand, short sword at her side. "What are these things?"

"These are my friend's rides. Its futuristic stuff." Zelda explained, getting off Marth, who coughed indignantly. "This is Prince Marth, General Roy, Fox McCloud, and Falco Lombardi."

Fox and Falco nodded to Malon. Roy gave a curt bow, while Marth dusted himself off.

"I'm Malon. Its nice to meet you all." She looked at Fox and Falco the most. Zelda smiled.

"So? Did you come to save us?" Zelda turned back to her friends, a grim look on her face. "I heard what happened to Samus. I'm sorry, Marth."

"Mm." Marth looked away. He stroked Samus's bracelet out of habit.

"Where's Ganondorf?" Falco asked. "Wasn't he supposed to be with you?"

"He was… until this morning. He just… disappeared. The boulder he and I put in the entrance is still there, and he can't move it by himself. So… we're not sure what happened to him. Then we can't reach Young Link or Link. We could send a cuckoo to them, but they never have trusted those sweet creatures." Something in Roy wanted to make him laugh at this comment, but he kept his cool.

The four nodded grimly. "So Ganondorf has gone missing… and no doubt the stupid Wireframes saw us come in here. We'll have to fly to them.

Zelda nodded grimly. "We also need to get Malon and Talon to safety."

"What this about getting old Talon to safety?" came another voice. Malon smacked her forehead.

"Sir, its too dangerous to stay here any longer. We can take you and Malon to Hyrule Castle. Its safer there." Zelda turned to an old man. He looked similar to Malon, only more masculine and older.

"I'm not leaving my cows or Cuckoos behind. And what about Epona? She not just Link's horse." Talon nodded to Malon. "But sir-" Zelda took a step forward. "I said no, and you're not going to change my mind. Malon can go to Hyrule Castle, but I was born here, and I'm going to die here." Talon crossed his arms and stalked off to the house. Zelda looked downcast. Malon sighed. "Poppa has always been stubborn. He loves the Ranch." Malon touched Zelda's shoulder. Zelda turned, a fierce look in her eyes."We need to find Link. We're going to take back Hyrule." She growled.
Well, that will be fun writing. The next chapter will have some fighting in it! Yayness!

Roy: Finally, some good fighting.

Marth: My blade, it thirsts.

Link: Where have I heard that from before... I know I've heard "My blade, it thirsts" somewhere else...

Ardath: same here.

Roy: From Morrowind? That MMORPG game?

Roy, the G means game.

Roy: Oh.

Marth: I can't remember. Anyone who knows gets to hug Roy!

Link: Oh, that's good.

Roy: Hey, that's not fair!

Pichu: Read and Review and you get free anytime hugs from Roy!