A/N: Hey everyone! Here's the next installment of First Contact: Nocturne! Yes, I know it's rather late, some RL stuff and some laziness I don't really have an excuse for is to blame for that. All I can really say I'm sorry and I hope this chapter is up to snuff. If any of you are wondering about Age of Eternal War the next chapter has hit on something I need to handle delicately, so that may be a while longer.
Another violence and gore warning on this chapter. Just giving you a heads-up.
Disclaimer: See Prologue.
And without further ado please read, review, and enjoy!
**General Pepper's Flagship**
"Vince!" the loud shouting voice startled the arctic fox from some well-deserved sleep, "Vince we've got a situation topside, we need you now!" The shout was then accompanied by a frantic banging on his door. Galvanized into action, Vince slapped on his transmitter and haphazardly started pulling on his lab coat, having slept in his clothes as he went to answer the door.
The one to greet him was his blue jay comrade Arthur, the avian looking much more ruffled than was normal.
"What is it Arti?" Vince said, still rubbing some sleep from his eyes.
"Follow me, I'll fill you in on the way," the avian said, already turning on his heel and practically jogging down the hall. The arctic fox continued fumbling with his coat as he hurried after him.
"What's got your feathers ruffled friend?" Vince said, finally managing to get his coat on.
"We've got two ships down, one last night and then not even half an hour ago the Zoness was brought down," the avian answered.
To say that this news startled Vince would be an understatement, "A Destroyer was downed, by what?" His voice betrayed his puzzlement.
"We're not sure, Pepper sent a team to recover the logs from the Destroyer now, hopefully it'll tell us something," Arthur answered, "Pepper wants us to get to the bottom of the first disappearing ship, then he'll make an announcement when we figure out what took down the Zoness."
The two made good time to the communications room on Pepper's flagship, and they found a room buzzing with tension. Everyone was speaking quietly, speculation on what happened, what it meant for the direction of the war and other various things. The arctic fox could swear that some speculated that there was a new human weapon in play.
"What's going on here?" Vince said after a quick salute to the General which spurred a dark-furred canine named Travis to motion him over.
"We've got the data here Vince, as little as it is," the canine said, already moving out of the way so the arctic fox could get a better glance at the information on the screen.
"You got any idea where the Arwing came down Trav?" Arthur said, moving in on the other side of the two, eyes already glued to the images and words on the screen. The canine was quick to swipe a map onto the screen, a red blinking blip showing the downed craft's location as well as information on the area.
"Colorado Springs, that's not a place Pepper plopped down, is it?" Vince said.
The avian shook his head, "Nope, he had them down here," he replied, pointing further south on the map, "didn't want us going into the mountains yet. That was Star Fox's job."
"Could that be one of their Arwings?" the arctic fox replied with concern in his voice.
Travis didn't need any more encouragement, bringing his transmitter to his muzzle, "Peppy, do you read? This is Pepper's comms room, we've got a missing aircraft, is all of Star Fox accounted for?"
The hare's voice gave a quick reply from the transmitter, "Missing aircraft? We haven't launched any of ours yet, so that's a negative. You're saying you're missing a ship?"
"We lost contact with a ship late last night," Travis explained, "We're trying to decipher who it was."
"Well, Star Fox is all accounted for here," Peppy said, "I'd love to help but I didn't know about a missing ship until just now, sorry 'bout that."
Travis sighed, "Oh well. We'll figure it out, thanks Peppy."
"He didn't know either?" Vince said to Travis as the canine lowered his transmitter.
"Nope, it wasn't Star Fox, but… who would be in that area?" the canine replied.
Vince pulled over a spare chair, moving Travis aside so he had full access to the holographic display, "What's the Arwing's serial?" he said as he pulled up the correct screen.
"Should be in the corner," Travis said, pointing at the spot on the screen. After a nod of thanks the vulpine quickly ran a backward check on the code.
"Alright, it's a 2C model, who runs those?" he said to his two companions.
"Star Fox rocks the 2A's," Travis chimed in, rubbing his forehead with a paw, "2B's are reserved for scouting missions, I think Husky and Bulldog run the 2C."
"Run some back checks on Husky's fighters," Arthur said, though Vince was one step ahead of the blue jay, pulling up information for all of Husky's registered Arwings. He felt his stomach drop when he found the code of the downed Arwing matched that of Husky 1.
"Sheila," the arctic fox muttered under his breath, "That's Spitz's Arwing!"
Today couldn't have gotten worse, though when a soldier burst in through the doors, looking green even through his fur Vince thought he may have decided too soon. "General Pepper, sir, we've recovered the logs from the Zoness!" the bulldog nearly shouted, clearly flustered as well as nauseous.
Vince soon understood the nausea, the canine reeked of a smell that took the arctic fox a moment to identify, 'Blood,' was the only word that ran through his mind as a chill ran down his spine. The soldier didn't seem to have any blood on him though or any wounds.
"What do you have to report Major?" Pepper said, his calm tone also calming the soldier.
The other canine took a deep breath before speaking up, "The Zoness went down with all hands, sir."
The room became so silent one could hear a pin drop. After an agonizingly long moment Pepper replied, "Explain," his tone deceptively calm, but Vince could see that the older bloodhound was anything but calm on the inside.
The bulldog only raised his transmitter and tapped a few icons, the large display usually used to communicate with the rest of the fleet soon lit up with a recording, likely taken from a heads-up display. The recording showed a squad of Cornerian soldiers disembarking from a shuttle onto the downed Destroyer. The cameraman soon panned the view over the interior of the docking bay, which seemed to have remained intact. The Destroyer appeared to have landed on its belly, or at least come to rest that way judging from the fact that the squad advanced across the floor of the hangar.
There were mercifully few Arwings still left in the hangar, which likely meant most of the Zoness' aircraft were out when it crashed. The ones that were still there had fallen onto the hangar floor, smashed. The soldiers didn't waste any time, forcing their way deeper into the interior of the ship.
The sight that met them caused many to gasp and some to gag. Vince was sure he heard someone further back in the room vomit into a trashcan.
The corridor's floor was slick with blood, and there were pieces of Cornerian everywhere, some larger and more identifiable than others. In a moment of morbid fascination, Vince was able to pick out an arm in the muck. Many exclamations and protests over having to tramp through blood and body parts came through over the recording. One of the soldiers went rifling through the mess for tags, to identify who had gone down.
Things didn't get any better as the recording showed the squad moving deeper into the ship; if anything they got worse, Vince felt like throwing up himself when he saw a crewmember torn in twain lying in a pool of blood, the remainder mauled beyond recognition. Thankfully the arctic fox kept his lunch in place at the sight, though he couldn't say the same for many others as the horrors only kept coming.
The squad finally came to the bridge, where more devastation would have been only more desensitizing to the many traumatized Cornerians. But the bridge was different; it looked to be the sight of an explosion, though the exact reason wasn't noticeable. However, at a spoken command, the recording showed the final horror. A pile of bodies, some the charred remains of the bridge crew, others likely having been dragged, was set right in the middle of the ruined space. And slathered in blood on the floor in front of the gruesome pile was a single word.
Nocturne.
After showing the word for a moment longer, the recording cut off. Everyone in the room remained silent, some recovering their wits, others too shocked to speak.
"What is the meaning of this?" Pepper's voice jolted Vince out of his stupor, "Do the logs reveal anything?"
"They do sir, there's no video, but the audio is fine. This is from right before the Zoness came down," the soldier replied, and the speakers came to life.
"Brigadier Koval, we're, getting slaughtered down here," a voice said, one Vince recognized as Sergeant Rayes' voice.
"Say again Sergeant?" said Brigadier's voice answered.
"Sir, we're getting reports of our ground forces being assaulted by what sounds like mobs of humans, our squads can't regroup," a female voice Vince didn't recognize chimed in on the recording.
"No substantial resistance could exist after that bombardment," the arctic fox heard Koval say, the deceased gecko's voice sounding completely baffled. Vince couldn't help but share in that bafflement, the last he'd heard Koval's detachment had had smooth going.
"Sir, we've got a large congregation of wildlife, looks like bats, they're near one of our squad's positions," another voice butted in that he recognized as belonging to Major Hall, the commander of the Zoness' squadron.
There was a slight pause before Koval's voice spoke over the logs again, "Keep an eye on those bats, but be careful, something isn't right here."
"Roger that sir," Hall's voice responded.
The next thing Vince heard over the recording was Pepper's own voice, surprising the arctic fox somewhat, "What is it Koval, I thought things were going smoothly?" he heard the bloodhound say.
The Brigadier's recorded answer was hesitant, "They were. But it seems we missed some, our squads are getting ambushed by humans, and it seems things aren't going as smoothly as before, we're suddenly losing people left and right."
Hall's frantic voice cut in, "Sir, we're under attack, one got on Roberts' Arwing and he's down, panicked and nosedived."
"Brigadier, do you know what's going on?" Pepper's recorded inquiry piped up.
"I wish I knew sir," Koval's reply was slow, "Put all stations on high alert," an alarm klaxon soon rang in the background of the recording, "Get all of our ground forces out of there, we're going to glass this place."
"When you're done withdrawing, I want a full report, all the data you can gather," Pepper's voice said.
"Yes, sir," Koval replied, his tone betraying the late Brigadier's frustration.
"Sir, you may want to see this," the same feminine voice spoke up slowly, seeming in awe of something.
There was a brief pause before Koval could be heard practically shouting, "What are you waiting for, shoot it down!"
Before any of the background communication could dissipate, the recording cut off with the sound of a loud BOOM.
Everyone was silent for what felt like a long moment. Then Pepper spoke up.
"Hail the rest of the fleet, tell them that the humans are now using bats to deliver some kind of weapon and that they used it to take down the Zoness."
"Yes sir," Vince answered immediately, hoping that was all that was going on.
**Outside Colorado Springs, Colorado**
Sheila was bored.
She and Cordelion had been walking for what felt like hours to the husky, even though every time she checked her transmitter it had only been a few minutes since the last time she'd checked it. Thankfully she could judge the distance they'd traveled by how much the town had moved. Whatever had been in the Regent's blood that had given her plenty of energy unfortunately didn't give her any extra patience. The vampire now walked beside her, to her right and only half a step behind, skirting her personal space as always.
Acting on an impulse, the husky decided to ply her assigned companion with a question, "So, how many "covens" are out there?"
"Many," was her only answer. Sheila groaned, hoping for something more specific, though she guessed it made sense, she was essentially an enemy combatant after all. Better to give her a non-specific answer rather than give her superiors something useful.
Again, she wondered if she could get away with trying to look for Wolf and tell him she was sorry for what she said to him on the Destroyer. A wave of sorrow washed over her, making her falter a little in her steps as she remembered the incident, her breath catching in her throat. She could sense Cordelion's own steps slowing to match her own and the husky quickly returned to her previous speed.
"Something troubles you," the vampire's simple and completely serious statement made Sheila stop in her tracks.
"How?" she said, turning to face him, unsure if she should be unnerved or annoyed at the vampire.
Cordelion looked her in the eye, "You just told me," he said, an impish glint in his eyes even if he didn't show any other outward sign of amusement.
This did annoy the husky, though she only let out a small low growl, 'Must have gotten that from his mother,' she thought to herself. With an exhale through her nose, she let it go and continued walking. "What's it matter to you anyway?" she couldn't help saying as she stepped away, the vampire no doubt following right after.
"Emotional uncertainty means conflict, and an emotional conflict during war is disastrous," Cordelion replied, his voice not betraying any offense, "You came out here alone for a reason, Ms. Spitz, away from the rest of your kind. The coven knows why, but I do not know what you intend to do from here."
Sheila nearly yelped as the vampire suddenly sped up, stopping in front of her with his arms crossed as the husky also stopped. The two of them were nearly even in height, Cordelion only slightly taller than the husky. His eyes bored into her own as he spoke, "My mother has her plans, and though I don't normally agree with them, circumstances demand we work for our continued survival regardless of our differences before."
"Wait, what?" was Sheila's only response. Did Cordelion just tell her he didn't agree with his own mother? After thinking about it a moment, she guessed the Cornerians' arrival must have caused quite the shock to everyone, and that included the vampires.
She didn't get a chance to continue talking, as Cordelion took a step towards her, making her take a step back, "And I need to know how you intend to move forward, or there will be problems." The vampire's words held an edge to them that made Sheila take another step back as he continued, "Do you intend to find this 'Wolf' and any answers he may have or do you intend to deliver my mother's message right away?"
The moment of silence afterward left Sheila's mind racing. On the one hand, any answers Wolf may have may also be of use to the vampires as well. On the other, any delay may mean the Regent would send others after her and Cordelion, or worse after any Cornerians they found in their territory. That included Wolf.
"I intend to find him, anything he can figure out may be of use to you too," she finally said, choosing her words carefully.
Cordelion looked into her eyes a moment longer, and then finally nodded, "Acceptable," he replied, then reached for her gun. He unhooked the holster from his belt, and then held it out towards her grip first. The husky looked at the weapon, eyes narrowed, wondering if she dared to reach for it that the vampire would snatch it away from her. She hesitantly reached for it, and then took it from the vampire. It felt good to have the familiar weight on her hip once again as she hooked it to the belt of her flight suit.
"Why?" she couldn't help but say to the vampire, cocking her head to the side a little as she did so.
"Better you are armed if we run into any trouble, you are more familiar with it than I," was his reply.
Sheila couldn't help but wonder why he was so trusting of her so suddenly; then again if he could be out in the sunlight, he may still be faster than her and stronger for all she knew. And his close proximity meant he could likely disable her if she tried to harm him, especially since he was still facing her.
"We shall start there," Cordelion said, startling Sheila out of her thoughts, the vampire pointing towards the town, "I have a faint smell of rogues from that direction, they may know more."
Sheila squinted as she looked into the distance, "And what do you propose we do when we get there?"
"Be discreet," was the only answer she got.
"And how do we get there before sundown?" she retorted, and then sighed as Cordelion closed the distance. "Really?" she said, though Cordelion nodded to her again. The husky let herself be hefted almost effortlessly into the vampire's arms, Cordelion taking off into a light run, noticeably faster than what she could achieve herself.
They made quite good time, the human town becoming visible within two hours. Cordelion seemed almost tireless, though he did slow down to a jog after the first hour, then put her down to walk the rest of the way as they got much closer. Details were soon visible as they closed in on the suburbs, Sheila could begin to make out buildings, though there were very small due to the distance. The two still set a quick pace; keeping a set distance from any roads so they wouldn't be spotted.
As they closed in, Cordelion increased his pace until he was walking slightly ahead of her, and his posture became stiff and his shoulders raised, the vampire was definitely on edge. She unconsciously put a hand on her gun; whatever could be making him uneasy was more than likely trouble.
With a raised hand, Cordelion called a halt, "We're not alone," he said.
Sheila immediately scanned the surrounding area with her eyes, looking through the vegetation and rocky areas for anything out of the ordinary. She couldn't detect anything, and that made her even more nervous. She slowly drew her gun and held it at her side as she noticed Cordelion drawing his own weapon.
She heard the faint sound of a rock shifting behind her and she immediately turned, her handgun raised. But there was nothing there, only rocks and grasses. Just as she started to get her breathing back under control, there was another sound, a rustling in the grass off to her left. The husky whirled on it, trying to detect where it was coming from. But again she couldn't get her eyes on whatever was making the noise.
A hiss to the front drew her attention, where two people suddenly walked out of cover, one popping out of a particularly tall stand of grass and the other from behind a rock outcropping. Their eyes burned a hateful red, claws extended from their fingers. "Rogues," Cordelion muttered, his gun already trained on the advancing pair. Sheila quickly pointed her own weapon at them as well.
"What is this? One of Regent Eveline's accompanying an invader?" one of the rogue vampires said, a tan-skinned woman with light brown hair, glaring daggers at Cordelion. Sheila realized that must be the Regent's name.
"Has she thrown her lot in with them?" the other rogue, a pale man with a dark crew cut spat.
"She carries a message for her kind," Cordelion said, his voice cold, his aim not wavering.
The other man took a deep inhale through his nose, "She carries the coven's scent," he said, which stopped the pair's slow advance.
"They've claimed her," the woman said, her voice whisper-like, but then she hissed, "Your precious Regent is too late; Regent Tobias' coven has already brought down one of their massive ships an hour ago."
Sheila's eyes nearly bugged out of her skull, "They brought down a Destroyer?" she couldn't help blurting out. This seemed to cause the rogue pair some amusement, the two vampires snickering and grinning widely, showing off their fangs.
"That ought to send them the message loud and clear," the man said, his mirth still evident.
To her even further surprise, Cordelion nodded, "Then there's no use for a message, but there may be answers to find yet. One of her own is somewhere on Earth, he may hold answers to why her kind is here." Sheila wasn't sure whether to be grateful the vampire was sticking up for her or annoyed he was talking about her as if she wasn't there.
"Why? There's no reason to drag her around, I say we kill her and leave her body for them to find," the woman said, baring her fangs.
Cordelion took a step towards the pair, "She is under the coven's protection, I will not allow that to happen," he said, his gun not lowered in the slightest.
"And since when were you doing any Regent's bidding, let alone your mother's, the famous Rogue Cordelion, fallen so low as to kneel before a Regent," the woman said, her tone taunting and a sneer curling her lip.
Bang bang bang!
The woman shook and fell backward, blood spraying from the middle of her chest as the three shots rang out. She didn't get back up.
A loud hiss was the only warning before the man leapt on Cordelion, the vampire's gun being knocked from his grasp or discarded as it went flying. Sheila hardly had any time to process the motion as the two devolved into a flurry of swinging limbs and a storm of impacting claws that sent small clouds of bloody mist into the air.
As she watched, Cordelion flung his opponent off of him, jumped to his own feet and then lunged at the rogue with fangs bared. His fangs snapped together with an audible clack on empty air, the rogue vampire having barely leaned out of the way. The other man tried to swipe with his claws across Cordelion's back, only for his arm to be caught and wrenched away. The long-haired vampire used the motion to swing his opponent into a large nearby rock with enough force to crack it and send up a small cloud of dust. With so much motion, Sheila couldn't get a bead on either fighter.
The two vampires continued to fight like rabid animals. Each strike sounded like it broke bone, yet the two continued on, continually withdrawing then lunging. Dust was kicked up and rocks were smashed by one combatant or the other being slammed into them. Blood would mist only to be carried away by the wind.
After what felt like forever to the spectating husky, though it was likely a minute or two at best, Cordelion got the edge. The long-haired vampire latched onto his opponent's arm with his claws and yanked, the arm being torn free at the elbow in a horrendous ripping of flesh. As the rogue let loose a bestial screech of pain, Cordelion smacked him once in the face with his own limb, knocking the rogue on his back. Taking advantage, Cordelion leapt onto the rogue, straddling the other vampire and unleashing a barrage of claw strikes that sent blood flying with each strike. Sheila numbly noted that a bit of it splashed near her feet as she continued to stare.
After leaving the rogue's face a torn mess, Cordelion seemed to decide his opponent had had enough. The vampire got off of the rogue, walking slowly back towards Sheila, various wounds on his body and tears on his clothing, though the least severe looking inuries were already healing up. She slowly lowered her gun, then a rapid movement behind Cordelion caught her attention and she raised it back up.
Bang!
The rogue fell backward, a new hole in his chest. He landed flat on his back and didn't move again.
Cordelion looked between her and the fallen rogue, "Thank you," he finally said as he went to retrieve his gun. Slightly taken aback by the statement, Sheila could only nod silently in response.
"Should we, bury them?" she asked, seeing as plenty of evidence was still left around.
Cordelion only shook his head, "Mother Earth knows our touch, and takes the proper steps to make sure we don't overstay our welcome in her grasp," he pointed to the woman's body, which Sheila saw had already started to rapidly decay, practically disintegrating as she watched.
Intrigued and disgusted at the same time, Sheila decided to leave the matter alone as she looked away from the decaying bodies. Cordelion quickly left the scene, prompting her to follow, glad to be rid of the quickly stinking corpses as she holstered her weapon.
The two again set a quick walking pace, making good time towards the human town. "What's this place called anyway?" Sheila couldn't help but say to pass the time.
"Colorado Springs, though I don't know much more than that," Cordelion replied. Just as Sheila was able to make out details of the beginnings of the suburbs, Cordelion stopped again, the vampire sniffing at the air audibly.
"What is it?" Sheila said, slowly reaching for her gun again.
"A scent I'd thought I'd never smell again, an old friend," was the vampire's only answer as he again set a quick pace, with more enthusiasm than before the husky noted.
**Suburban Colorado Springs, Colorado**
"Guys, we're coming into the city. Keep your heads down," Nathan said to the two Cornerians with him as he tried to guide the truck through the streets as quickly and discreetly as possible.
The two were quick to try to conceal themselves as best they could. The smaller vulpine Fox had thrown on an old hoodie of Nathan's, which was almost comically big for the young tod, the hood hiding all but the tip of his muzzle from view. The larger lupine Wolf in the passenger seat next to Nathan had lowered his seat and covered himself with a blanket from the glove box.
"How far away?" Wolf said, his voice muffled by the blanket over his face.
"Not far," Nathan answered, chuckling as he made a sharp right turn, "Just down here and off to the corner."
"Where are we going anyway?" Wolf said, keeping the questions coming.
Nathan suddenly had to pull over as a large truck in military camo colors sped by, likely more National Guard. "A friend of mine has a house up here," Nathan explained after the truck was gone, "He told me if I was ever in the area and needed a place to stay that I was more than welcome to stop by. We can camp out here without anyone knowing."
"And he's not home?" Wolf posed the inevitable question.
"Nope, he's off in… I think Kansas for some military training, he won't be home for a while," Nathan answered.
"Perfect, we got a way in, or are we breaking and entering?" the joking tone in Wolf's voice was distinguishable even through the blanket.
"I know how to get in," Nathan said, chuckling again at the lupine's jab.
Nathan expertly drove through the streets and the trio was soon at their destination, a small suburban house with a paved driveway that he pulled into easily. Nathan looked up at the overcast skies cast a gloomy atmosphere over everything, 'Probably going to be a storm later,' Nathan thought to himself as he observed them as he turned the car off.
"Alright, let me unlock the door first, then I'll come back," he said to the two, and after a quick look to make sure no one was watching, he popped out of the vehicle and headed towards the door. Just like he'd been told, the key wasn't hidden under the welcome mat, but instead it was under a potted plant. The door was quickly unlocked and Nathan was heading back to the vehicle in a heartbeat.
"Go inside and make yourselves at home," he told the two, "I'll grab the gear from here and I'll be back in a second." After hearing that Wolf was quick to get out of the car and then hoist up the injured vulpine, and then rushed into the house to avoid prying eyes. Nathan was soon to follow with the red-furred tod's crutches, the large black briefcase, and the large suitcase with the other supplies from the trunk.
The house itself was pretty small, with a small sitting room with two couches and a TV mounted on the wall opposite of the front door, a large glass door overlooking the deck and backyard on the same wall as the TV set off to the side of the appliance. In an adjoining hallway were three bedrooms and a bathroom. A decently sized kitchen was set next to the sitting room on the same side as the front door, separated by a wall from the rest of the house. Combined with the calm cream colored walls and oaken floors it was a nice house, if small. Nathan's friend had definitely thought ahead to the long periods of time that he'd be away; the house would make for a perfect place to unwind after long bouts of military training.
Nathan walked over to the coffee table sitting in the middle of the room and picked up a long black remote. He pushed a button and the TV came on, all that came on was white noise and static, making him wince.
"Yo Wolf," Nathan began, the lupine was throwing on a heavier jacket from his bag before his ears twitched and he turned to fact the human. "When you said your scientists hacked into our satellites, did they hack into all of them?" Nathan concluded.
"I wouldn't bet against it," Wolf answered as he flopped onto one of the couches, "They probably killed all comms for you guys on this planet to avoid the news being spread. I doubt anyone here knows what's going on in the slightest."
"We ran into an awful lot of National Guard for no one knowing anything," Nathan said, thinking back to the large presence they'd seen on the way in, "They wouldn't be patrolling the streets unless something was up. They must know something."
"Anything important up here military wise?" Wolf said as he caressed his muzzle in thought.
"The Aerospace Command Center isn't too far from here, they may have been the ones to discover the start of the attack," Nathan reasoned.
"Figures," Wolf said, the large lupine lifting his arm and starting to mess with his transmitter's settings for what seemed to be the umpteenth time.
Curiosity getting the better of him, Nathan looked over in the lupine's direction, "You've been messing with that thing for ages, what are you even trying to do?" he questioned.
"I've been trying to get a call through without alerting the guys on the ship," was Wolf's answer, not looking up from his work, "With my transmitter in pieces on the ship, and after I finally disabled that damn tracking chip the CDF has everyone get, I can't seem to get my calls to work."
A pit of worry formed in Nate's stomach, "How recently did you disable that?" he said, urgency filling his tone.
"Chill out Nate, I got it off almost as soon as we left last night," Wolf replied calmly, "They have no idea where we are. It's just a matter of telling them," he continued.
"I left them my number before we took off with Fox," Nathan blurted out, holding up his phone afterward.
"If they call you, they can easily track you, ya know?" Wolf said, somewhat skeptic.
Nathan grinned, "Not anymore," he said, "I just turned off the location services on it. We are completely under the radar," he tapped his phone for emphasis.
"Nothing of yours can be tracked at all?" Wolf said quizzically.
"Not a single thing," was Nathan's answer, a grin on his face, "All we need to do is wait for them to call us."
Wolf smiled faintly at how things seemed to be going well, the pair sitting in companionable silence for a moment. Nathan then patted Wolf's knee and spoke up, "You hungry Wolf? I'm sure I can fix up a meal real quick."
"Yes, thank you," was the lupine's ravenous answer. Nathan quickly went to do just that, heading towards the kitchen. Though just as he was about to close the door behind him, the doorbell rang, causing everyone to freeze in place.
"You two, get down, hide," Nathan told the two Cornerians as he went to answer the door. Wolf helped Fox hide behind the other couch and out of sight before ducking down himself.
As Nathan opened the door, he immediately noticed that he had to look up. The person he was looking at was a very tall well-built man with a tight fitting white t-shirt on, dark blue jeans cinched with a belt and heavy work boots on his feet. The stranger had a very thickset face, with dark eyes that gazed shrewdly about, and it seemed absolutely no hair on his head or face.
"Hello," the man said with a very thick Russian accent, "I am Vasili, I live across the street," he continued, jerking a thumb over his shoulder at the house across the road.
"Hello to you too, what brings you here, if you don't mind me asking?" Nathan answered, slightly taken aback by the occurrence.
"I saw a strange car in the driveway, and I wondered if perhaps something was up," was the large man's answer, setting off alarm bells in Nate's head.
"Nope, nothing's wrong here, just staying over for a bit," was Nathan's answer, he sincerely hoped his nerves didn't show in his voice.
"Hmm," Vasili said, putting a hand to his chin, "You look familiar. Oh, you are a friend of Jack's yes? Your name is, Nathaniel, right?"
"Nathan, actually," was Nate's reply, then he thought for a moment, "Wait, are you that Vasili, the one he told me about, the fitness instructor down at the local gym?"
"Da, that is me," large man replied, starting to grin himself.
"Well, glad to meet you in person, Vasili," Nathan said, holding his hand out. The large man quickly gave a firm handshake. After releasing Nate's hand, Vasili gave a quick sniff, his brow creasing in thought.
"You brought dogs with you?" Vasili stated, his tone quizzical and an eyebrow quirked upward.
Nathan felt a nervous lump in his throat, "Yeah, I brought a couple dogs down with me," he replied, hoping the other man didn't notice.
Vasili leaned in towards Nathan, looking him in the eye, and then whispered conspiratorially, "Ms. Peterson down the street is terribly allergic, you'll want to keep them inside as much as possible if you can help it, she will chew you up and spit you out if she so much as catches a glimpse of them. And maybe wash your clothes, you smell like you've been sleeping in a kennel." The large man chuckled quietly, Nathan hesitantly joining in.
"I'll keep it in mind, it was nice meeting you Vasili, Nathan said.
"The pleasure was all mine," the large man answered, "If you need anything, just let me know. I would suggest hunkering down until the storm blows over though, I have a feeling we're in for quite a doozy." And with that Vasili turned and walked away, Nathan watching the large man until he had crossed the road before closing the door.
"Alright, we're in the clear guys, just one of the neighbors," Nathan said, and Wolf helped Fox back up onto the couch. "Must have seen the car in the driveway," he couldn't help remarking.
"He sounded like he knows your friend," Wolf said, having finished helping Fox take a seat, the lupine sitting down next to the vulpine on the couch.
"Yeah, Jack told me about him a couple times, he was much bigger in person than I thought he'd be," Nathan said, chuckling.
As Wolf opened his muzzle, an audible growling was heard. The trio looked between each other before a sheepish expression spread over Fox's face.
"Sorry about the distraction guys, I'll go and make that food now," Nathan said as he returned to his previous task and entered the kitchen. He may have been hearing things, but he was sure he almost heard Fox whimper as he left. Thinking to himself that Wolf would probably be able to comfort the tod, Nathan focused on the task ahead. Though he couldn't help but think of how many ways it could go wrong.
A/N: Well, that chapter is finished. I hope that was all up to par with the previous ones. This one I'll admit was hard to write because it has a couple mirror scenes from First Contact. But, I managed to finish it as you all can see. The next chapter should hopefully be interesting, though I say that with more hope than certainty.
Anyway, I'm done rambling, I'll see you all next time in the next installment of First Contact: Nocturne!