Wow, it has been forever since I have posted something! I'm sorry for the long absence. I'm still alive! Just not focusing on my writing much. That, and I had a huge block trying to get the next chapter of Blood and Silver out... that hasn't gone so well. Just a quick peek at what is to come tonight. Please keep an eye out for me. I might update when you least expect it!

The sky above is dark and filled with a million bright lights. The only interruption to this background is the Sky River, its ever present beauty only adding to the majesty of the night. This is the view that only moments ago was marred by the bird. The bird of metal and lights had appeared from the heavens and seemed intent on attacking the City before it veered off and vanished above the jungle... and he had watched it all.

The man flinched as the heavy wooden door to the Chamber of Meetings swung harshly in and an older soldier, long sword in hand, rushed up the steps and across to the balcony where the watcher stood.

"Highest, did you see it?" The soldier asked between barely slowed breaths.

The watcher merely nodded as the soldier swallowed hard and continued. "If it was the Dark Ones, they now know the location of the City! We must make preparations at once if we are to- "It wasn't..."

The Soldier's words caught in his throat.

"... the Dark Ones."

The two men shared a moment of silence punctuated only by the sounds of their own breath.

"It was different, both in design and color, than anything we have seen the Dark Ones use."

The watcher folded his arms across his chest. His cerulean fur bunched awkwardly across his arms as he breathed deep of the moist evening air.

"Furthermore, it was not so much flying as it was falling. It was greatly damaged. This means I am right and it was not a Dark One vessel or it means there is a force out there that have the will and capability to fight against them. Either way, it is not a mystery that should go unsolved."

As he finished his statement, the watcher turned and strode into the Chamber of Meetings, his steps measured and calm. He made for an ornate trio of chairs set at the head of the room and continued.

"It is near the first hour of morning. The Keeper of the Wall will change soon. Order the new Keeper to prepare a scouting party. No more than fifteen or twenty warriors equipped for speed. They will depart as soon as they are ready and search for the ship. Have them bring back anything that they deem useful. See to it personally, Mer'Tiss."

The Soldier, Mer'Tiss, his sword now missing, fidgeted nervously before he spoke.

"Highest-"

"If you mean to disagree with this course, old friend..." The man turned and set himself into the largest of the three chairs; the one in the center. "...could you please make it quick. My mate is likely growing impatient with my absence from our bed." The Watcher smirked at Mer'Tiss, who smirked back.

"I am sure." Mer'Tiss chuckled. "I do not intend to disagree... it is just... well, the Princess is next as the Keeper of the Wall."

The Watchers Vulpine ears twitched quickly and then settled. His eyes grew concerned as he sighed deeply.

"I did not know if that fact would change your... course, Highest."

The Highest nodded.

"Very well. Thank you, T'Im, it does. Have the Second of the Wall lead the party. Same numbers and-"

"Marcus."

A firm, feminine voice interrupted the Highest before he could finish and the attention of both men was drawn to the Vixen entering the chamber. She stepped up the entry stairs with as much grace and purpose as the Highest had used when he stepped across the room. The moonlight glinted off her eyes and her silver gown in equal measure.

"Please tell me you do not intend to change your mind just because it is our daughter who will be carrying out your wishes."

Marcus' ears gave the slightest hint at drooping before he sat straighter in his seat and narrowed his eyes at his mate.

"I simply thought, Keisa, that-"I know full well what you thought, My Only." The Vixen interrupted Marcus again, voice steady and low. "And I think it is high time that you stopped thinking that way."

She stopped just left of Mer'Tiss with her hands clasped gently in front of her waist. Her intense blue eyes locked with Marcus' piercing green eyes. Mer'Tiss' broken breathing showed quite clearly that he was uncomfortable with what he was now in the middle of. He continued to fidget.

Marcus' sigh broke the silence as he brought his face down to his left hand so that he could rub his obviously tired eyes.

"Please, Keisa, I don't want to fight about this. Allow a Father his right to shelter his child."

She was smirking when he raised his eyes to meet hers again.

"If 'your child' was a son, you would not be so quick to shelter him. Rather, you would be throwing him towards the trees every chance you got. You would relish the thought of a pack of Legion Fangs so that you could have him prove his bravery and warrior spirit!"

She stepped forward.

"Our daughter has that same spirit, Marcus... and you are stifling it. Consider what would happen if you were to die in your sleep tonight. She would rule in your stead and be able to place herself in all the settings that you seek to protect her from. Only then, she will not have experienced them and will be lesser for it."

Now standing directly in front of him, she knelt and sat comfortably on her feet. She grasped his hand and squeezed it affectionately.

"Let her be the warrior, My Only. She can take care of herself and our people. You need not fear for her safety."

Marcus held her gaze for several long seconds before he sighed again and shook his head.

"Why do I even bother taking any other side but yours?"

She smiled warmly at him.

"Because you are a man and men never learn their lessons the first time."

He smiled back at her and leaned forward to put his forehead to hers. Then he sat up again and directed his attention back to the unnerved soldier still in the room.

"Very well... Mer'Tiss, have the Keeper... have the Princess lead the party. Same numbers; twenty to twenty-five men, equipped for speed. They leave as soon as they are ready."

T'Im Mer'Tiss nodded and knelt on one knee.

"It will be done, Highest."

Silently, he rose and retreated through the open door, leaving the couple alone in the Chamber.

"So, the same number was it? Twenty to twenty-five?" Keisa raised a suspicious eyebrow at her mate, who simply looked off toward the balcony as he answered.

"Of course! Can't be too careful with the Dark Ones. We need to act with safety in mind and there is safety in numbers."

Keisa narrowed her gaze again, clearly not fooled by Marcus' statement. He responded by meeting her gaze, his head still turned away. There was a hint of mirth in his gaze. At his mirth, her gaze softened.

"Come, My Only. It's time for sleep. There is nothing more needs to be done today." She rose and drew Marcus up by his hands. He sighed wearily.

"Very well, My Flower. Lead on."

Silently, the pair made their way arm in arm out of the Chamber.

There was sound... noise really. Drifting in and out of dreams and deliriums, Fox could neither comprehend or care for the passage of time. His existence was a fog, a gray haze permeated by sounds that he thought he recognized, but could not truly identify in his stupor. He did not care for this life, but he could not muster the will to seek anything different. Then all at once, his gray facade shattered and Fox wished he could return to the nothingness. He had never been in so much pain!

The first thing he registered was the certainty that he was still alive. There was no other way he could describe the incredible pain he was feeling. Most of his body was sore. He could feel the bruises and cuts that covered his body. He could feel the moist sensation of blood trickling down his arm and his face. But these were merely backdrops to the searing light that filled his vision and the cold that pierced his head.

His eyes were open, or so he thought. He could not focus on anything outside of the pain. His eyes were barely registering the flickering lights and metallic gleam of his console. His vision seemed to pulsate in time with the surges of pain ripping through his ears and his he... No, not pain. Sound. There were sounds all around him. Halfhearted beeps and roaring klaxons alike all vied for space in the small cockpit, filling it with a painful blare. And Fox felt every decibel as he squirmed against his restraints, trying desperately to clear his mind and focus his thoughts.

One sound out of the cacophony caught his attention. A small sound, but one that he remembered was very important. His sensitive vulpine ears isolated the sound to his left and Fox turned his pounding head. The left side of the console wasn't even lit. There was so much damage that the power was off to that section completely. The only light he could focus on was a bright rectangle attached to his chair... not the chair, to his arm. His Gauntlet.

With slow, almost mechanical movements, Fox turned his arm and stared at the screen. His vision did not respond well. It would only clear for maybe a second before it would blur over again. It took what seemed like hours to catch even a few details. There was a red tab on the screen... it had a word on it... Conjugation ... Conclusion... Con-con-concus... !

'Concussion'

The word slipped into his mind unbidden, all the medical knowledge he had crammed into his head was returning automatically to his conciseness. He had a concussion! His brain had suffered severe trauma and that was the cause of all his pain and lack of focus! He had to act or things would only get worse for him.

With staggering effort, he raise his right hand, intent on touching the red square with the word and its terrible meaning. 'If he could just activate the touch screen.' was the voiceless insistence that drove his actions. Something would happen if he touched the button. Something good? Something bad? Something had to be better than the pain!

As it had been with every other action he took since waking to this nightmare, using his hand to touch the gauntlet proved more of a challenge then it should have been. Fox knew this, but he could not seem to comprehend how it should be different. Everything else was hard, so it made sense that this was also hard.

"Bleeep! Shwwiiss!"

As one finger lightly drew across the surface of the blood colored rectangle, the gauntlet beeped and a sound like rushing air accompanied a jerking movement at the base of the console.

'Something there...' thought Fox vaguely.

'Something' was important to him... for some reason... he couldn't... remember why. Shouldn't it be easier to lift his arm? What could have caused him to lose so much mobility? It should be easy to reach for the drawer. ?! Drawer... is that what this is... popping out of the console? Drawers hold things... what's in there?

Fox continued to struggle with his arm as he tried to reveal the contents of the hidden cubby. It would have been so much easier if the noises would stop noising and the lights would stop blinding.

There!

The drawer was now completely open, reveling a gray device that was roughly blaster shaped. But it was also all wrong. The trigger should be under the barrel, not behind it. And why did he think it was a good idea to shoot himself in the neck with it. That would kill him, right? Then again, maybe that was the point. The damage was too great... too damaged... He couldn't think of another reason for the pistol-thing, but he knew, somehow, that shooting himself was the right thing to do. It may have made no sense, but neither did the frost that was building under his ears. Wait, when had he picked the neck blaster up? Huh, didn't matter. Just have to... get... it up tooooooo... my, neck!

As the barrel of the device touched his neck, Fox again heard rushing air, but this time it was accompanied by a strange pain and sensation that flowed into his neck. It wasn't near as intense as the screaming in his head and it even somehow felt pleasant, but it was all just too much to take in. So much... pain...

Fox faded into blackness, again.

Well, what do you think? Thoughts? Questions? Predictions?! Leave a comment!