Author Notes: Well this has so far been a good week for me. I'm working on that last paragraph of a Shattered Hopes chapter, finished one for Second Chances, actually got something out for Tails's Luck 2, and now chapter five of this one. Well hope you all enjoy the fic and the chapter. Have a nice one...
The Footsteps in the Darkness ~ SkullFox
Frag the weak, hurdle the dead ~ Mykll
Chapter 5: One's sin is another's burden……
The pale furred vixen shook her head of the cobwebs that came from her sleep; she hated it when she dozed off in the kitchen of her ship. This time she found herself face down on the table she'd been sitting at, with a foul taste in her mouth and a familiar smell bothering her nose. She slowly stretched her back as she arched her head back over the headrest of her chair looking out a window behind her. The window offered her a broad scope of a small, closed off hanger that sat around her ship…and with that notion in mind she pulled herself upright……
"I hate Kew." She sighed.
Her mind was drawn back, she had spent so much time in this city as a bounty hunter; it seemed like the place itself was nothing but a pestilent cesspool of sin, and crime. It was here that she'd contracted most of her higher paying jobs; it was also the very first place she'd ever run into what she considered nothing but the decay of modern society, rapists. They were one of the majorities of scum that used this once fair city as stalking grounds, and now that Andrew declared this place to the Venomian Empire, it seemed to only worsen. Rape, murder, drugs, crime itself seemed to run Kew now, and the police seemed to just give up once the local gangs went out of control. In the three years she'd been Kursed now, the internal social order of the city itself, if it ever had one, crumbled down around the citizens' ears. She wondered if this place could ever find a means by which to become civil but, at the moment she could care less. After a shower and a change of clothing, the vixen made her way to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. Here it was better to not go about in her current attire; a dark gray tank top, with a slightly tight fitting pair of jeans, and a familiar short sleeved green flight jacket seemed enough for this place, aside from the pair of fingerless black gloves she donned. Kursed paused as her nose warned her of a familiar smell emanating from the jacket she wore. The old denim jacket seemed to be Fox's pride, along with a pair of sunglasses that she pulled from the pocket of the thing. Placing the dark shades over her eyes, the vixen looked about a bit. Even thought it was scorched here and there, and one of the arms of the shades was partially melted, the two objects made her feel closer to her old captain. The coat had been Fox's treasure as long as she knew him, and the glasses had been a gag gift from Peppy, a shot at how much he looked like his father James. She often wondered what Fox would think of her if he'd managed to see her dressed the way she was. He'd declared before that he liked strong women, though she was certain that she was never meant to hear that particular conversation with Peppy and Falco…
She sighed looking to her paw, "I'm strong now Fox. I just wish you were here to see me."
The vixen cleared her throat before picking up her weapon, and heading out the bay doors of the ship. As she stepped out into the hanger, she noted that there weren't as many ships as usual in port, though she really didn't care. She could tell by looking outside the old hanger that the place still carried the sickly red-orange color of a dying sunset, thanks to the planet's atmosphere. It was as she stood there that Kursed noticed a slightly older, yet well built ram approaching her. He was of average height, maybe a bit taller, with thick brown fur, and short black hair; pair of horns curled back around his tiny ears in a small spiral, his deep set brown eyes were focused on the vixen. His intentions were clear as he carried a large tool chest in one hand. In Lylat in general this was a standard occupation; freelance mechanics practically lived in the star ports, waiting for a ship owner that needed cheap repairs done…
"You look fairly competent." Kursed said as he approached her.
The ram curled his lip in distaste, "Gee thanks." He half mumbled, "While we're being so civil. Can I help you? I hope."
Kursed chuckled, he was good, and he even managed to keep his cool, sort of, "Some problems with the Geosynch, port side stabilizer is a bit off for some reason, and I don't know why, but, it seems a bit choppy on atmospheric entry."
The animal sighed setting his tools down for a moment, "That could take a while." He said folding his arms across his chest, "Can't promise it'll be cheap either." He grinned, "But, for Kursed, I seriously doubt that'll be a problem."
With a sigh the vixen reached to her back pocket handing the ram the photo that Zang had given her…
"You haven't seen this girl have you?"
The animal studied the photo for a moment, "Phew. Sweet little thing; wouldn't wanna be in her shoes in this city that's for damn sure." He said passing the photo back, "Wish I could say I had, but, you know how it is. With all the bodies coming and going through here, I'm surprised I remember any faces at all. Know why she'd come to this circle of hell in the first place?"
"Yeah, the Physics Academy."
The old goat chuckled, "I'd start there then. Just be careful…" He said, "I know you're Kursed and all; but, the Emperor's men have been in that area looking for candidates to replace some of the scientists that he recently lost, or killed, or whatever the hell happened to 'em. Least that's what I heard. Some of the other shit I heard 'bout why they're here just ain't right."
Kursed thought for a moment, "What else have you heard?"
The animal went to looking over the vixen's ship, "Well…as I'm guessing you already know, Star Wolf and some others were appointed by the Emperor as some high ranked officials in his army." He said looking over her ship's engines, "Word has it, that every so often Wolf's little family decides to go out looking for a few pretty things to……" The animal froze as he was about to use some language that he wasn't sure the vixen would appreciate, "……well keep them company at night. Not necessarily of their own free will. And with a looker like the little panda, she'd better watch out for Caruso…the man's sick in the head."
Kursed smiled, this animal was more than a good mechanic…he was a profitable little information hub himself. Though he didn't realize it, the vixen slipped a few credits into his tool box for the information before leaving the hanger and looking out into the city. To this city, sirens were an eternal ambiance, the voice of the city crying out in pain at all hours of the day. The city seemed worse off than she ever seemed to recall; there was the constantly smell of bloodshed and gunpowder, even despite the heavy rain that fell. The rain felt as though it fell from the heavens, as if the city itself tried to wash away the filth that had come to line its streets. The air was thick with pollution and even the buildings were covered with horrible graffiti whose paint ran like blood against the falling rains. She imagined that at one point, this place would have been considered beautiful…but, maybe she was wrong, maybe this was simply the nature of this city….
"Whoa whoa whoa…" The mechanic yelled from behind her rushing over, "Take a jacket or something, you'll catch your death out there."
Kursed chuckled, even here you could find at least one animal that cared, however she sighed walking out into the rain, "Thanks for the concern…" She said, "…but, I don't get sick."
The ram simply watched her as she crossed the street outside the hanger, only to see a large truck fly by blocking his view from her. He was surprised to see that she was gone as soon as the vehicle was no longer there; he supposed most animals would have been shocked at how quickly she'd vanished from sight, but, in his many years he'd seen far stranger things happen and right now his only real concern was getting his job done before the vixen could return. Kursed in the mean time decided to stick to the main roads, she normally would have gone through the alleyways, but here alleys were a festering roach's den full of slime and filth; and though she had no fear for the rapists and muggers that called the alleys home…she didn't want to draw attention to herself just yet, not while knowing that any number of Andrew's Generals were here in the city, she was sure she wanted to keep a low profile. She'd met one member of these generals already; Panther Caruso. Her nightmares of the silver tongued feline still haunted her, and the thought of him being the one of the Generals supposedly here.
The vixen shuttered at the thought of running into the animal. She'd done so just short of a year ago on Corneria even then his presence made her skin crawl. Willing to try anything she could to wipe the image of the filthy animal. It took some time of trying her hardest to count the falling raindrops to get the panther off her mind, before she found herself perched atop a building across the street from the Academy. Here she sat under a small awning clearly made for some homeless animal, which seemed to have at least stepped out for the moment. Her mind wandered while she scoped out the academy grounds using her binoculars, while fishing blindly for a French fry from a small bag that sat in front of her. It had been a very long time since she'd eaten a hamburger, in fact not since Fox had gotten her to try one shortly after she'd joined Star Fox. She didn't want to admit it, but, she'd had a craving for one for some time now, and now that she actually had one in front of her was seriously thinking about buying one on her way off of the planet. Right now however she simply waited, she wanted to finish her job but, in the end there was something else bothering her. She'd been in this position and so far the only heads on the academy grounds she'd noticed were all Venomian troops…
"I don't like it…" She told herself taking the device from in front of her face and eating another fry, "…no students going in or coming out. You can't tell me they don't have families to visit."
With a sigh she removed the wrapper from the sandwich she'd bought at a small stand on her way there. It wasn't until she was several blocks from the hanger that she realized that she'd not eaten in quite some time. She closed her eyes as she took her fist bite; savoring the small meal as though it were her first true meal in years. Something however captured her attention, causing her to reach for her specs again. While taking another bite of her sandwich, she scoped the area one more time, she'd have used her telepathy to search the area but, with all the crime and pain in the city it would have been nearly impossible to zero in on anything in particular. It was as she scoped the area however, that she caught something through the scope of her binoculars, and pressed a small button to zoom in on the scene. A young male fox rushed out into the academy grounds, which was situated in a circular area surrounded by the ring shaped building arrangement of the school. He didn't make it far however before his knee buckled under him causing him to fall to both knees, as a spray of blood shot from his left leg. He attempted to crawl away on his paws and knees, before a wolf in Venomian uniform flipped him over with his foot. The animal was clearly begging for his life before a silent blast of the soldier's weapon sent the vulpine into a small fit of convulsive fits. Kursed looked away as the wolf took him by the ankle dragging him back toward the doors of the main office building. This was more than she wanted to see…
"ROB…" She said turning her attention to the communicator on her wrist, "Run that last security protocol that Slippy gave you. I need you to gather video feeds on the old academy just north of my position."
There was a momentary pause before the robot's voice came back, "Security protocol Omega accessed. Scan will take approximately five point seven minutes."
Kursed sighed, "I can wait…just make it fast."
Though it took a bit longer than five minutes, the vixen was eventually regaled with the bot's voice again, "Files found and video feeds tapped. Rerouting primary video feeds to your communicator."
Kursed sighed, "Thanks ROB……make sure the ship's systems are running at full." She said, "I have this sneaking suspicion that I'm gonna be moving fast when I get this Lin kid out of here."
The vixen then flipped open the top of her small communicator, and pressed a few buttons causing a small panel of different video feeds to be listed. She touched one of the small images bringing up an image of what looked like a ruined professor's office of some kind, there was really nothing much out of place except the mess of books and papers that scattered the floors, she pressed another to bring up another image, this one however was something she really didn't want to see. A familiar black furred feline moved across a hall, he was only there for a moment but, it was a short enough time for her to know that it was the former member of Star Wolf, the animal that had haunted the deepest fears of her mind. The vixen didn't want to see him, because of the fact that the sheer thought of him made the memories come back, but, she simply did as her mind told her was right and tapped her claw against the next icon on her touch screen. This one overlaid another place entirely; it looked like one of the academy classrooms…filled with row after row of seats fashioned in a half circle in a steady incline down to the bottom where the professor of the class would hold his lectures. At the base of the room however stood an animal she was not familiar with; a slightly short Lynx woman, with dark red fur covered in black stripes…she differed slightly from a girl Fox had introduced her to long ago named Miyu, whom she was certain was taller than this woman, and had slightly shorter hair…
The vixen went over the different video feeds from the school until she managed to find three different rooms full of students. She feared what may have become of the rest of the students. She sighed however, she knew what it was she had to do; she had to get in there and get the students out of the building before anything could happen to them. However, as the rains began to fall again Kursed looked out over the building…
"What would you do here Fox?" She sighed.
Asking herself this, Kursed's eyes locked onto a tower that rose from the center of the roof of the main building. It was a high point, allowing a good view of the place, as well as a possible entrance to the building below. If she had to she could use the small tower to get to just about any of the other buildings, using the rooftops. Chances were that the Venomians inside were trying their hardest to keep a low profile, but, Kursed was also certain that they wouldn't care about public eye for putting a bullet or two in her head. She took a moment to finish her food, and licked her claws clean before picking up her weapon. It wouldn't be easy to get through this unnoticed, in fact chances were that she'd not get out of this unharmed but, at the moment something picked at the back of her mind. What would Fox do? The answer was simple; regardless of the cost, he'd stop at nothing to save every animal he could…and that was exactly what she was going to do……
******
Kursed found herself crouched behind the slightly tall wooden rail that kept any in the tower from falling over and down the roof. She peeked over the rail down over the roof, only to see a Venomian soldier point a light up toward the roof. She'd almost slipped, when making the jump to the roof of the academy from the tree in the courtyard, rousing the ape's suspicions. She leaned back exhaling a bit before something caught her attention. It was definitely the sense of a complicated mind very close to her, and yet, oddly she couldn't sense anything else from whoever it was…it was as if this animal's mind itself was blocking her out…
"That was careless." A light raspy voice said from behind her.
The vixen quickly turned around, only to find that behind her stood a familiar looking animal dressed in white cloak. The very same one that had left her standing nude on a rooftop just over six months ago…
"You…" She growled.
The animal held up a gloved paw, "Stop…they find us up here. We're both dead and so are the students inside."
The vixen gritted her teeth, he was right; too much commotion and the Venomians inside would definitely know they were there…
"Believe it or not we're here for the same thing." He said with a light cough.
The vixen sighed looking over the rail, "Fine. There's a classroom……"
"West wing, east wing, and a big group of the students in the gymnasium." The assassin interrupted her, "Exactly 35 guards not counting Caruso and Verra. Six guards in the quad just below us, and two at each building's entrance." He said, "I was waiting for a friend to show up, but, seeing as how you kicked Creed's ass I guess you'll do for now."
Kursed gave him a questioning glare…
"Fine then…don't believe me…" He said leaping up onto the rain before coughing into his fist, "…Lin's in the East Wing…at the very least get her out of here. Apparently you can't put anyone's safety above your petty ideals."
Before the vixen could do anything to stop him she found that he'd already vanished from sight. Swore under her breath at her misfortune, her chance at retribution for leaving her naked in the middle of a city that night and it happened to be in a position in which she couldn't even attack him. Some of the things he said though, made her wonder what Fox would think at the moment about what she'd been doing. Like anyone else he could be a vengeful person, but he once told her that he didn't like seeing her angry as she'd gotten pretty heated over something Falco had mentioned toward her one day. She remembered that being the first time he'd ever actually touched her……
******
Flashback…
******
It was only about two months after she'd joined the team when it happened, the first time she'd actually been approached by Falco. He made his standpoint clear though, telling her that he knew she was there to take Fox away from the team, using words and terms that she didn't fully understand at the time, and others that made her blood boil. The bird smirked at her while leaving the vixen standing in the kitchen, with a stream of angry tears in her eyes, while biting her lip to keep from saying anything. It was as she stood there like that, that Fox had entered the room. She wasn't sure why he'd reacted to seeing her so angry the way he did, she was looking at the floor when he'd entered the room. Her face must have felt like it was on fire when she felt his paw on her cheek…she slowly drew her face up to meet his gaze as his thumb wiped away a tear…
"Don't let him get to you." He said with a light smile, "Anger really doesn't suit you."
******
Kursed shook her head realizing that she was a bit misty eyed from the reminiscent thoughts of her friends again. She silently cursed at the assassin that left her standing there, for bringing back such memories. Her mission right now however was much more important than her own feelings. Even though she'd come here to do a job, she felt an unnatural need to help all the animals kept inside. Her main problem was getting into the building without being noticed right now. With her weapon there was little to no way of getting in through the ventilation system…she could just sneak in but that would run the risk of a fight breaking out and giving the soldiers a chance to start killing the students. She thought about leaving her scythe behind, but to be honest she felt naked without it; there was little she could think of to actually get into the building. She sighed as she found herself with little to no recourse toward doing something she'd only had to do once before. She'd found some time ago that using her telepathy she could convince the minds around her that she was not actually there, her only problem was how long she could keep it up. When she'd first invented the technique she could only keep herself hidden for about two minutes before she nearly blacked out, erasing your image in so many minds all at once was anything but easy on the mind. There was one inevitable side effect however, within the first few seconds the stress on her mind would make her vision go, and her sight wouldn't be worth shit for a short time after she stopped the ability…
The white furred vixen made her way to the roof of the main building of the East Wing, it was a much smaller building; only three stories, and with three exits like most of the other buildings, one back, one front, and one very small door on the roof that served as a service exit for roof maintenance. She figured that this was most likely her best possible course of insertion. The roof was rather wide and long however, giving her a scope of just how large this building really was. She sighed a bit as she recalled one small problem, no matter whether or not the Venomian soldiers couldn't see her, her footsteps were still perfectly audible. There was only one guard on the roof however, and he didn't look like the brightest thing on two legs. She reached for a small chunk of brick lying on the ground tossing it off across the way. The wolverine quickly shot to attention rushing across the rooftop toward the direction the object had impacted the roof. Kursed took the moment to get through the door and down into the building.
Kursed found that the building was very elaborately decorated, with red carpets on most of the floors, tapestries hanging from the walls, and photos of what she'd guessed were animals of importance. In checking the different dorms and classrooms of the building, the vixen simply pressed up against a wall to keep out of the way of a passing soldier or two if they happened by her. It was as she passed onto the second floor of the building that the vixen placed a paw on the side of her head; her vision was going a bit blurry, and she could feel a slight trickle of blood run down the front of her muzzle, which she quickly licked away. It was still however a bit of a distance down to the last floor where the students were being kept. She did however manage to suck it up, and quickly headed downstairs, to the final floor. A small congregation of soldiers informed her when she'd approached the proper room. The vixen however had a slight idea, if she waited for the assassin to make his move on the West Wing, she was certain that a number of the animals here would rush off to help keep the students. She was right, not too long after she came to the room the Lynx woman she'd seen on the video feeds stepped out…
"You four…" She said pointing to a small group of soldiers at the other end of the hall, "…get over to the West Wing. There's been some kind of disturbance, some of the men over there aren't responding to their radios." She said, "Find the cause and take him or her out."
The four soldiers stood at attention, "Yes General Verra." They said rushing off.
The Lynx turned and walked back into the room, Kursed following slightly behind her. The vixen was amazed to see the lax security in the room itself…there were only two animals other than her in the room at all that weren't students or professors. Kursed shook her head as she realized that there was no way she was going to hold out much longer this was her only real chance. She followed the Lynx down the incline to the middle of the room where the feline froze in place…
"Listen real close…" Kursed whispered in her ear making certain that the Lynx felt the blade of the weapon pressed against her throat, "…make one move, say one word that I don't tell you to, and you're dead."
As the lynx stood there the vixen faded into view to every eye in the room, the two guards instantly zeroed their weapons in on her, causing the lynx to hold up her paw, making them lower their weapons…
"Smart move." Kursed half growled trying her hardest not to show that she was half out of breath, "Now……you're gonna tell these guards to get down here and stand behind the desk."
Kursed knew she'd comply, she was far too worried about her own hide, and her mind was as weak as any she'd ever scanned…
Verra sighed nodding to the two soldiers, "Now what? You think you're going to get away with this?" The lynx chuckled, "The emperor will have your head by the end of the week."
Kursed sighed looking to the students, "Who's got something like a rope?"
A young male wolf stood up, "There's electrical cord all over the place. They used it to tie up Deric cuz he wouldn't shut the fuck up."
Kursed chuckled, "Good then get some and tie these two up."
Suddenly the lynx took a risk pulling the scythe away while turning to face the vixen behind her only to fall back with a shocked gasp. Kursed simply smiled as the lynx tripped over the bottom of the steps that lead up to the door of the room. The vixen's reputation among scum bags actually spread further than she'd thought. Seeing the fear in that animals' eyes brought a delectable smile to her face…
"You've heard of me." Kursed said, "I'm flattered…and somewhat disgusted at the same time." She chuckled laying her weapon across her shoulder, "Why are you people here torturing these students?"
The lynx glared at the vixen while she realized that her body seemed to refuse to move of its own free will, she was absolutely petrified. Kursed's reputation as the Angel of Death preceded her, never once had she ever brought a bounty in alive, and besides that, she'd built a reputation for herself in little more than three years. She'd never known that it would be this frightening to have her life standing on such a thin margin…
"This isn't like you…" Verra said, "You're a bounty hunter why are you here?"
Kursed chuckled while crouching down in front of her, "I'm no bounty hunter, I'm a mercenary…and at the moment you're just an obstacle between me and my job." She said with a sick grin, "I don't like obstacles."
The animal was clearly in a panic as she lunged forward slamming her head into the vixen's face, causing her to fall onto her backside. This moment wasn't used to free her own men, or go for a weapon, instead the lynx rushed up the stairs toward the door. She didn't care about anyone but herself, a point she displayed as she threw a young vixen to the ground on her way up the stairs. Just as the animal reached the door however, something struck the back of her neck, pinning her to the wall. It wasn't a powerful hit but, it did hurt, and she turned only to find that Kursed's weapon was embedded in the wall next to her with its shaft holding her taught against a door that opened toward her. Kursed waited for the moment the lynx turned around to face her before she made a motion of her paw, causing her scythe to, as if of its own free will, dislodge itself from the wall and spin through the air returning to her grasp…
"Did you really think that after all those years of hunting criminals I didn't learn how to keep them from getting away?" The vixen asked making another motion of her paw causing the lynx to fly through the air stopping with her muzzle inches from the vixen's, "Why do you think they call me the Angel of Death? You can't escape Death's grasp……or mine."
Kursed chuckled as the animal began to writhe and squirm in her psionic grip, like a worm caught in the clutches of a bird. She screamed and yelled for help only to realize that she'd sent her men away as she was ordered to do. The vixen laughed again as she noticed the animal's limbs had gone limp, and took the moment to inspect her…
"Humph……fainted." She scoffed allowing the animal to fall to the ground, "I need to see a panda girl named Lin!" She called out over the class.
There was a hushed silence for a moment before a white paw reached up over the crowd, "Um……" A very light voice said, "I'm Lin."
The petite panda girl almost perfectly fit the image of the niece that was in Zang's photo; she was shorter than Kursed, if only by a few inches, and was much more feminine in the ways of her build. Like all the female students here, she wore a tan skirt that reached to her knees and a matching short sleeve shirt, her eyes were incredibly bright blue, and her hair was rather short, aside from other pandas that the vixen had seen this girl had one white ear however. She seemed to take her steps very shyly as she walked down toward the vixen who handed her the photo from her pocket…
"Your uncle Zang sent me." She said, "He wants me to get you someplace safe."
The black and white furred bear looked to the photo, "Uncle Zang? Father said that……"
"Never mind what was said…" Kursed sighed placing her weapon back to the holster on her back, "All of you…I'm getting you out of here too…"
A young female collie stepped down, "No you're not." She said, "You can take Lin……take her as far away as you can…but, if we leave the Emperor will just come after our families." She said looking at the ground, "I'd rather be a slave than watch my family die."
The vixen sighed, she could see into their young minds and hear their thoughts, they had no intentions of trying to stop her, but, they had no intentions of leaving either. This is what the Lylat system had come to; young animals giving up their civil freedom in order to protect their families. Kursed turned to see that the lynx had come around however…
"Good you're awake." She said, "Trust me when I say this…" She said, "If I hear that even one of these kids is hurt. You'll be the first one to see my shadow. Understand?" She said kneeling down causing the lynx to close her eyes as she rested her muzzle next to her ear, "Tell Andrew that Star Fox is still alive."
In an instant Kursed reached around Lin's waist and rushed toward the window of the room; using her head and shoulder to cover the panda's face as she leaped through the pane of glass. She rushed off into the city without looking back, there was little to no way she'd have convinced the others to come with her. She looked over her shoulder toward the academy, trying her hardest to comprehend what had happened. Every student in that room was willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of the one's they loved. It was no different than what she'd sworn to do in killing the Wraiths. It was as she stood in front of her ship that the vixen let the panda in her arms go and bent over placing her paws on her knees gasping for breath…
"No luck I take it?" A familiar voice asked from behind her.
Kursed still gasped for air, "They……won't leave……they're afraid for their families." She gasped, "…and what Andrew will do if they escaped."
Without warning the vixen spun swinging her scythe in a brutal upper swipe that could have easily rent the animal in two. However, as the blade passed in front of him, the assassin swung down and to the right, throwing the vixen to her back where she found the point of her own weapon at her throat…
"What are you waiting for?" She asked.
"I don't kill without a reason…" He said pulling a mass off dog tags from around his neck and dropping them so that their chains fell around the vixen's head, "…these are all the lives you ruined. All the innocent lives that you took. They should be weighing you down……" He said standing up and throwing the weapon to the ground, "…not me. I have enough burdens to bear."
The vixen leaped to her feet only to find that the animal had already left. She felt her neck for injuries but only found the string of tags that dangled from her slender neck. The vixen turned to Lin as she claimed her weapon with a sigh…
"Come on…" She said boarding the ship.
She'd been given a third chance, and failed again…she wondered if it was possible for her to beat this strange animal. However, it was as the small ship pulled away from the planet that she sat in her ship's kitchen, looking over the mess of tags that lay before her. Twenty three. Had she really killed that many? She wondered if they really were innocents, if the assassin that had spared her life when he could have taken it for these people was right. She was happy that the panda in her care was taking a shower at the time; the vixen couldn't handle the stress of not knowing. Her mind began to twist and wrench at itself in an attempt to think this through…but, in the end simply laid her head in her paws trying her hardest to forget…
