A/N: Well I usually do this after the chapter but meh. Like I said this is mainly a filler chapter between parts, but at least it's a nice break with some action. BTW you have been warned there is a bit of pain near the end...^_^
Chapter 13
(July 21st)
(5:06am)
The shock of the Dragoon entering Sauria's atmosphere shook the Krystal from her sleep, she sighed rather deeply as she got dressed in her old uniform; her form fitting blue jumpsuit who's color was broken here and there by black accents, then layering over it small blue plates of armor. On covered her breasts and most of her chest, another smaller set covered her shoulders,one against her back, and a much smaller one against her abs. The boots that went to the uniform were build in with their own armor and she retrieved her helmet which was equipped with a small black blast visor...she hadn't worn Kursed's outfit in a long time. Her last steps were to make certain that she had her weapons on her, all of them; two small knives in her boots, three blasters one on her thigh two hidden in small panels on her armor, and of course her spear. Krystal made her way into the kitchen where she, to no surprise, found Aryn sitting there. He now wore a long coat, black and without sleeves, the shirt underneath was also the same color as his fur, as were the jeans he wore, she was certain that if he removed the coat you wouldn't be able to even notice the rest of the clothes. There was a small breakfast set up with a hot cup of coffee seated across from the dark vulpine that was busy eating...
"You may want to eat, this is gonna be one hell of a day."
"Thanks..." Krystal said sitting down.
After a short while of sitting and eating NAV informed the two that they had completely landed on Sauria's surface. Aryn sighed before nodding to Krystal who returned the gesture, he didn't know how to explain it but there was a strange but, familiar smell about the air that he couldn't quite put his finger on. He managed to push the rather pleasant smell aside so that he could concentrate on the task at hand...he didn't feel like doing the calculations to find out how much time their jump had bought them to find some sort of place to make this a fair enough fight. As they stepped out into the open air of Sauria Krystal and Aryn were drenched by a heavy rainfall. Aryn shook the rain off of his fur for a moment, for what little good it did him, before pulling his wrist communicator to his muzzle...
"NAV...activate cloaking mask." He said lightly.
At his words the large ship behind them seemed to dematerialized right before their eyes, it was illegal technology but, Krystal seriously doubted that Aryn really gave a crap. As she looked about she could tell that they were in Thorntail Hollow, or what was left of it, the trees were cut down, the old well was devastated and even the old hag's store in the middle of the hollow had been destroyed...
"What happened here?" Krystal asked herself.
"A general named Scales came through here a few years ago...tore everything apart looking for someone. I was unfortunate enough to be here when he came through."
"I thought Scales was dead. Fox was sure that he was dead."
"Did you see the body?" Aryn asked scouting about the area.
"No."
"Emilia always said that assumption is the mother of all fuck ups. Come on this way." Aryn said leading her off toward the Lightfoot Village.
"Why are we headed toward Cape Claw?" Krystal asked running behind him.
"More space to hide...we want to take them by surprise." Aryn replied, "Gang members are one thing. But, trained mercenaries are another. We may have our paws full here. They aren't like those morons back on Xenass these ones have guns and know a lot about using them."
The rains seemed to be accompanied by short flashes of lightning and the near deafening roar of rolling thunder; the smell wet grass and sand filled the air as a chilling wind tore through the land. Not much time passed before the two foxes found themselves in the forest that was the entrance to Lightfoot Village. As they rushed through the lush green forest they were happy enough to see that the place was still unchanged, but that wasn't Aryn's intention, he kept moving on through the gates to the village, the gate that would have once protected the Lightfoot was now destroyed, and only a few of their little two story hut's which were held out over the waters of the swamp my large stilt like poles were remaining. Krystal could only guess that this was also the work of the general. After a bit of time Aryn led Krystal to a large tree and signaled for her to start climbing. Krystal found that being in the top of the tree reminded her of when she spent time in the trees on Cerinia, and at least the tree itself gave her time to shake the water from her fur.. After a short while she realized why he had pulled into the Village and hid. Apparently the group after them managed to get clearance much faster than Aryn had expected, they had landed in Cape Claw after a short time of being in the tree Krystal could see several figures. One however, caught her attention as a well timed flash of lightning highlighted a familiar gray furred face left eye was replaced with a small red spot withing a metal fixture, the fur of tail as well as that on the back of her neck fared out angrily as she bared her teeth at him from the hidden distance...
"I KNOW YOU TWO ARE HERE!!!" Wolf shouted out above the rain and thunder.
"How?" Aryn asked himself.
"I'M SURE YOU NOTICED BY NOW THAT THAT BITCH WITH YOU IS IN HEAT!!! I CAN SMELL HER A FUCKING MILE AWAY!!!"
It was only then that Aryn looked to Krystal who lay her ears flat against the top of her head that he realized what the smell was that he'd ignored back on the ship, "Don't worry about it..." He said with a light sigh, this was going to be a bit more difficult than he though, "Isn't there a way to cover the smell?"
"It doesn't work like that Aryn." Krystal replied feeling a bit at fault.
"It's not your fault...we'll just have to find a way around this. I know the rain has to be fucking with his sense of smell at least a little, otherwise he'd already know we're up here." It was as Aryn sat there and Wolf's small party searched the area that the dark furred fox developed an impish grin, "Say...how good are you at running?"
After a bit of searching the gray lupine noticed something in the air, the enticing smell of Krystal's sent had shifted...his canine nose twitched against the air a few times before he called the small four man group back to him. Her scent was not coming from the village anymore, rather it was wafting in from the forest they had left behind. As Wolf rushed out into the open he shot his head to one side as a blaster shot tore into his right ear, after the initial attack, the blue furred assailant rushed off into the woods, toward Cape Claw, soon having the four rushing after her. She made certain that Wolf couldn't loose her sent by fanning her tail about as she ran...unfortunately being obsessed with the blue wonder that ran from him, Wolf had lost all thought of Aryn. Soon as they rushed through the woods something shot from the darkness dragging the black cat at the rear of the group into a nearby bush a short blade in the paws of a black fox driven through the animal's skull. As Aryn pulled his blade free another of the small group rushed over but, before he could say or do anything blood shot from his throat from an almost unseen move that sprayed Aryn's face with a fountain of blood as the ape dropped his weapon grasping at his throat with both paws. "Get the fuck outta my way!" Aryn said sternly pushing the animal to the ground to allow him to bleed to death as he rushed back off following after his distraction.
Krystal was still a little unsure about Aryn's plan, using her as a distraction while he took out the ones that lagged behind, but she had no better ideas and to her liking his plan left Wolf all to her. As she rushed forward she took a quick glance over her shoulder noticing that there were only three animals behind her which meant that Aryn's plan was obviously working.. Wolf had no idea what the blue vixen was doing heading toward Cape Claw but, he had no complaints, as he and his remaining team rushed into the well that separated the forest from Cape Claw. Wolf and his me froze as they saw Krystal leap up onto the wooden rail of one of the planks about the inside walls of the large hole in the ground taking a massive leap from one side to the other, her leap nearly missed but she crashed through the rail of the far plank and rolled into the far stone wall of the well before shaking it off and rushing up the ladder that led to the beach. Her pursuers were forced to go around taking a ladder down onto a lower planking then up another to the spot that led out of the well. Wolf was the first to get to the top exiting the well but as the second that followed behind him had just reached the latter when he noticed an odd sound like a piece of cloth flapping in the wind. The last thing the animal saw was the form of a black fox soaring across the gap much the same way Krystal had with a long sword drawn high over his head.
Wolf had exited the well and headed down toward the beach, the rain had picked up substantially but, fortunately he could still smell the vixen that he pursued so haplessly. A smile washed over his face as he noticed that vixen for whatever reason had stopped running, staring at him with murderous intent as he cleared a corner. They were standing on a stone walkway just in front of the large Ocean Force Point temple, he had to admit that she was much faster than he was but, he also had her outnumbered...or at least he used to. As the wolf turned around the only thing behind him was a black furred fox holding up the severed head of one of the last two animals that he'd killed. Aryn looked to the head, then to Wolf shaking his head as he tossed the severed lump out into the water...
"Looks like you should have been concentrating on more important matters." The black fox smiled.
The gray lupine looked to Aryn's bloody sword with a hint of worry...
"Oh don't you worry about me. I'm sure she wants you all to herself..." Aryn said looking past the wolf, "Isn't that right Krystal?" He asked putting his sword away.
To Wolf's surprise as he turned to face Krystal she slowly removed her weapons one by one dropping them to the ground, he had no idea how long she'd waited for this...after everything that he and his team had done to her it was finally time for the pay back that she'd wanted so badly for all of these years. As he watched on the blue vixen removed the panels of her armor dropping them next to her weaponry before taking a familiar looking fighting stance. Wolf quickly turned to Aryn who gave him a rather discerning look...
"All of yours too...I see a weapon and I'll kill you myself."
Wolf turned back toward Krystal dropping his blaster, a knife from his boot, a pistol from under his denim jacket, and another blade from under his coat behind his back. Before he could realized that the fight had started the blue animal shot forward with a burst of speed unlike anything he'd ever seen, of course it was nothing compared to the speed Aryn was known to move at but, impressive nonetheless. Wolf's upper body folded forward causing him to let out a silent scream as Krystal's knee was driven into his gut forcing the air from his lungs, he'd never felt anything so painful in his entire life, even Fox had never hit him with so much force. The stunned wolf had no time to retaliate against the attack as the blue fox broke into a rapid spin swiping his legs from under him before driving her fist into his gut sending him several feet into the air where, upon his decent, Krystal leaped into a back flip slamming both of her feet into the animal's face sending him spiraling into the air where he landed in the mud a few feet away from Aryn, who had to admit that he found the spectacle rather entertaining, he had no idea that Krystal was such a gifted fighter. As the blue vixen approached Wolf who still lay there attempting to catch his breath, the Wolf's breathing suddenly became normal before he drove his boot into the blue vixen's stomach causing nearly the same reaction that her first attack had in him. Wolf leaped from his paws and knees position driving his fist into the fox's chin sending her sprawling to the stone, the wet ground causing her to slide several feet away. As Krystal attempted to get up from her paws and knees, her lupine opponent's boot forced her onto her back with a rather powerful kick to her ribs that instantly sucked the air from her lungs. The next kick he delivered to her side caused the vixen to cough up a large spot of red that washed into her white muzzle against the rain. To Wolf's surprise however Krystal still refused to go down and began to get to her knees, Wolf approached her and taking a paw full of her long, blue, muddy hair dew back his fist, but before he could do anything Krystal's fist struck him between the legs with ever ounce of force in her body, standing as she did so flipping the wolf into the air landing him on his back. In mid flight Wolf let out a pain filled howl that sent chills down Aryn's spine. Krystal took a moment to take a few deep breaths but, as she noticed Wolf was attempting to crawl away she rushed forward dropping to her back while driving both feet into the side of the wolf's head. The impact forced his limp body to spin through the mud until he finally came to a stop more than a yard away. Krystal took a step forward but found that the fight had exhausted her, Aryn managed to catch her before she collapsed to her knees...
"Is he...dead?" Krystal asked trying to catch her breath.
"No..." Aryn replied noticing that the wolf's chest still rose and fell at a steady rate, "...he's just unconscious."
"Good...I haven't heard him scream yet." Krystal replied as Aryn helped her to her feet.
Wolf groaned heavily as he finally opened his eyes to a blurry and spinning world that was entirely upside down. As his vision cleared his concussion let him know that he'd more than lost the battle, he was about to loose the war as well. A familiar blue face sat nearby studying his face. I was only as he fully came to that he realized that his feet were bound and he was hanging upside down from a tree, and his arms were equally bound. As he struggled for a second something dripped onto his nose...syrup? He then looked up, or down to him, only to notice that he was bare ass naked while hanging there with his...genitals covered in something...
"Syrup? Huh...kinky." Wolf smiled.
"Not for me Wolf..." Krystal said pointing her pinky finger toward the ground below his head, "For them."
Wolf angled his head toward the ground only to notice a large round spot of red that seemed to be moving about on the sand...
"Lava Ants. I was fortunate enough to find them here when the rain stopped last night." Krystal said, "You know...what you and the others did to me, it's nothing new. Even on Cerinia we had lowlifes like you. You even want to guess what the punishment was for a rapist on Cerinia?"
"I suck at guessing games." Wolf smiled.
"Good cuz I can guarantee you won't be smiling for much longer." Krystal replied, "On Cerinia, if you were found guilty of rape...it was all removed. In the worst possible way, however the chief thought would cause the man the most pain. Unluckily for you my mother was the village chief, and she came up with something that nearly eliminated the problem altogether. When she found someone had done such a thing, he was hung in the square in the same manner you are for the entire village to see. See, Lava Ants are attracted to anything that smells sweet, unfortunately they also happen to be flesh eaters. If you look down you'll notice them gathering under you...that's because they can smell the syrup...and right now that sweet smell is driving them nuts."
Wolf's expression went from cocky to worried, "Flesh......eaters?"
"That's right..." Krystal said tying a small length of rope to the ones that bound his wrists together before dropping the end into the pile of small red insects below him, "Try not to pass out form the pain. I'd really rather hear you scream." As she said this Wolf began to struggle attempting to knock off the small red insects that began to flood over the rope and onto his arms, "Won't do you any good O'donnell. The only way to get them off is to kill hem, little claws on the bottoms of their feet keep them from falling off."
"You're sick..." The wolf said as he finally stopped struggling.
"Of course I am...I learned from the best..." She replied pointing to Wolf, "No shut the fuck up and start screaming."
Wolf tried his hardest not to, but soon his screams were heard all throughout the forest. Aryn sat by reading over some papers that he'd found on Wolf's ship. As the ants began stripping away his flesh Wolf's screams grew louder and louder until his voice completely gave, it was the worst sort of pain anyone could ever imagine. Krystal's expression didn't change for one second, she had told Aryn that she wanted to hear the wolf scream and she was going to sit on the small boulder that was her seat until she found she grew tired of hearing it...
A/N: So I'm happy I got out of my little writer's block funk. So thanks for reading chapter 13 "Revenge"...aka; Best served with syrup. Sorry that was a horrible joke. Anyhow thanks for supporting and R&R.
PS: No real animals were actually eaten alive in the making of this chapter...
The footsteps in the darkness- SkullFox