A New Beginning
Chapter 2
Fox felt like a stuttering and blushing idiot. Twenty-six was too old to get this nervous talking to a woman... even if she was the most gorgeous vixen in the universe... who wore practically nothing... and he had spent the past four months alone with Slippy and Peppy in space or on a planet populated by dinosaurs.
She carried herself with an effortless elegance that accentuated her slim but toned figure, her every motion smooth like the flow of water. Long legs. Thin neck. Delicate wrists. Flawless curves. If Fox had ever seen perfection, this was it. Her shiny, blue fur gave her an almost otherworldly beauty. Luckily, she had marvelous eyes. It made it easier to keep his where they were supposed to be.
"So, uh, you're not from Sauria, are you?" Fox said. Outwardly, he had regained his composure, but his brain still felt as if it was short-circuiting.
"How very astute of you, Fox. She's not a dinosaur," Falco remarked.
Peppy watched them with a good-natured smile. "Krystal spoke to me while you and Slippy were in the hangar. She got stranded on this planet."
"Stranded?" Fox's voice rose in pitch. "And no one came to search for you? Which planet are you from?"
Krystal seemed to hesitate. "I'm not from the Lylat System."
"From another solar system?" Slippy asked, his eyes growing big with wonder, "You need to tell us everything about it!"
A hint of discomfort showed on her face. "... That's... a long story..."
"All in due time," Peppy interjected as Slippy opened his mouth to shower her with more questions, "Don't overwhelm her."
"Not from the Lylat System - in that case, we should head for Corneria first," Fox thought out loud, "We can figure everything else out when we get there. Do you have the coordinates of your home-world?" A sinking feeling spread throughout his stomach. If she was from another solar system, she'd surely want to go back. It almost annoyed Fox how much this bothered him. He didn't even know her.
"Where are your manners, boy?" Peppy asked, "Don't you want to offer our guest something to eat or drink?"
"Yes, of course. Would you like some coffee, Krystal? Water? Beer? Or... I'm sure we still have something edible in the larder."
Krystal responded with a small giggle. "That would be wonderful."
"Okay, the kitchen's that way," Fox said. He slid his arms out of his jacket and offered it to her. "In case you're cold or want to cover yourself."
Krystal hesitated for a moment, apparently unsure if she should take it. "I'm fine, actually, but thanks."
"Are you sure?"
"Why? Is there anything wrong with my outfit?"
Falco shrugged. "It certainly doesn't bother us."
Fox discreetly shot him a glare before he proceeded to lead Krystal to the kitchen. "No, everything's fine."
To his dismay, however, she caught sight of his calendar on the wall next to the bridge door and started to leaf through it. "Who are those women? Do you know them?"
"No, that's– it's just a calendar."
"You put pictures of strangers on your calendars in the Lylat System? Why?"
"I don't know. We just do."
"But they're dressed like me. I don't see what's wrong with my clothes," Krystal said.
"Yes, um, in those photos, that's not normal Cornerian fashion."
"Then why are they dressed like that?"
"That's complicated."
"No Fox," Falco said with a snicker, "it isn't."
"Alright guys, we're all hungry, aren't we? Can we just go eat?" Slippy tried to change the subject.
Fox nodded at him to express his gratitude, and they walked down the corridor. However, Falco didn't seem to get the hint to drop the topic, or more likely, he just didn't care. While they got into the elevator, he motioned towards Krystal's outfit with casual curiosity. "Is this what you wear in your home-world? And you're a spacefaring society?"
"No, this is Saurian," she explained, "They custom-made it for me. And the technology of my people works in a different way than the technology in the Lylat System."
"Different how?" Slippy asked.
"I don't know, because I don't know how yours works. Ours utilizes the same energy you can find on Sauria – the one my staff is powered with – but it seems like people from your world aren't very familiar with it?"
"Your people figured out how to harness this strange power and make it usable for technological applications?" Amazement resonated in Slippy's voice. "Cornerian scientists have been working on this for decades, and they've not been making any progress. Except for Andross, of course. He had a secret breakthrough shortly before he was banished, but no one's been able to replicate his research yet. At least that's what my dad says."
"I don't know if I'd call it science," Krystal said, "It's more like a connection we feel to this power."
"A connection?" Slippy looked dumbfounded. "Alright, what exactly do you mean when you say a connection you feel to this power?"
"What can I get you to drink?" Fox asked Krystal as they entered the kitchen. With an uncharacteristic amount of relief, he noted that the room was in passable condition. No egregious number of stains and crumbs on the kitchen cabinet or floor, and no empty packages lay around.
The Great Fox was too huge to clean manually, and several of the cleaning drones were broken thanks to some experiment Slippy had used them for. Although the cost of repairing them hardly mattered compared to the costs of maintaining the Great Fox and the Arwings, it didn't have any priority when money grew tight, and until Krystal had arrived, the dust on the floor hadn't bothered Fox much.
Krystal looked around indecisively. "I'll take the same as you."
"Please sit down wherever you want," Fox said. While he was preparing the coffee, Falco and Slippy left for the larder and returned with several bags of potato chips, a box of cookies and frozen pizzas they put in the oven. However, something Krystal had said wouldn't leave Fox alone. If she wore Saurian clothing, then... "If you don't mind, for how long have you been stuck on Sauria?"
"For almost a year," Krystal replied, nibbling at a potato chip.
"A year. Wow, that must've been tough, all by yourself."
"It wasn't that bad. Once I arrived on Sauria, I wasn't all alone. I found friends, and I found a purpose. I could help people. I could protect."
Fox returned her smile. A comfortably warm sensation spread throughout his body. A little bit, she reminded him of himself, only more beautiful and pure. He hadn't been all that confident when he absorbed his first Krazoa spirit to release it at the palace. Their standards for what counted as pure of heart must've been rather low. However, when he looked at her angelic face and listened to her soft, calm voice, he wouldn't have doubted her for a moment.
"So, uh, did I get that right?" Slippy asked, "You were stranded on Sauria, but you haven't been to any other planet in the Lylat System?"
"Yes," Krystal said. She tried one of the cookies. Her eyes lit up, and she reached for another.
"Then how come you speak Cornerian?"
"There were visitors in my home-world. They didn't have good intentions."
"Cornerians?" Fox asked.
Krystal seemed to contemplate his question. "No. They were the same people that gave the Sharp Claw superior weapons to wage war against the other tribes. I don't think they liked Corneria."
As she said those words, an expression of pained realization came over Peppy's face, but what it was he had realized, Fox couldn't tell. He was far too occupied with his own realization to spare another thought on it.
"Someone gave the Sharp Claw those weapons?" He should have known. The mismatch between the technologies the Sharp Claw used was blatant. They fought with axes and maces, and yet they had spaceships – primitive as they may be. The strange magic all over the planet had blinded him to the obvious. He had even fought mutated bioweapons. A side-effect of the magical catastrophe that unfolded around him, he had assumed, but in hindsight, it bore Andross' signature. "I'm sorry to be this pushy when you've just arrived, but this is important. What do you know about those people? Were they Venomians?"
Recognition showed on Krystal's face. "Yes, Venomians."
Fox carried the steaming coffee pot over to the table and poured everyone a cup, except for Falco, who had gotten himself two bottles of beer. Krystal sniffed her coffee quizzically. "Milk? Sugar?" Fox asked her.
"I'll drink mine the way you drink yours," she said.
"Alright." He sat down, added a spoonful of sugar and a sip of milk to his coffee and handed her the milk bottle and sugar bowl. As she reached out to take them, her fingers brushed against his, and she smiled at him. She had a wonderful smile.
"I need to know everything that happened on Sauria," Fox said. He was certain Corneria hadn't been as clueless as he had. They must have noticed an outside force had meddled in the war. However, if they had known Venomian remnants were involved, they'd have acted sooner, and if the Venomian remnants had managed to provide the Sharp Claw with weapons right under Corneria's nose and not raise any suspicion, they were better organized than anyone would have expected.
"I'm afraid, I don't know much," Krystal replied, "They arrived half a year ago, gave the Sharp Claw those weapons and left without a trace. They promised General Scales power over Sauria in exchange for carrying out their plan. Only, they failed to mention the planet wouldn't survive it."
"Half a year? I thought the war had been going on for at least two." Corneria didn't pay much attention to Sauria. They didn't get involved in their internal affairs, and their news didn't cover what happened on Sauria. However, Fox meant to remember a side note that travel to Sauria had been further restricted, beyond the rigorous regulations that were always in place.
"Do you mean half a Cornerian year or half a Saurian year?" Slippy inquired.
"A year on Sauria," Krystal said, "I don't know how long a Cornerian year is, but a Saurian year is longer than a Cerinian year."
Wait. If she was talking about Saurian years, then the one year she had been stranded on the planet was actually at least four Cornerian years. She looked as if she was barely an adult. Just how young had she been when she arrived? Alone in a spaceship. Carrying a weapon. What kind of world had she lived in?
"In that case, the timelines do match," Slippy explained, "Sauria is a fascinating place. It's actually outside of Lylat's habitable zone. The strange powers that can tear the planet apart if they go out of balance also brighten the sunlight and regulate its climate. That's why..."
"Jeez, Slippy, don't give us a lecture," Falco interrupted.
Curiously, Krystal took a sip of her coffee, screwed up her face and almost spat it out again. "Ugh, that's..."
"Are you alright?" Fox asked.
"Coffee takes some time to get used to," Slippy said, "Try putting more milk and sugar in it." Of course, if she wasn't from the Lylat System, she had likely never had coffee before. Fox felt like a fool because he hadn't thought of this.
"Is there anything else you can tell us about the Venomians?" he asked Krystal, "Any place they hide, or names of their leaders?"
"I really don't know a lot, but I've heard someone mention an Emperor Andrew."
Now it was Falco who almost spat out his drink. "Emperor what? You must be kidding me."
"Andrew is an emperor now?" Slippy looked astonished.
"No, seriously, that sounds like a bad parody of the Lylat Wars. Are we sure this isn't some other Andrew?" Falco said.
"Destroying a planet. Now he's really gone off the deep end." Slippy lowered his head, a sad expression on his face.
Krystal looked back and forth between the two of them, apparently trying to infer the context of their conversation. While she watched, she lifted her cup, took a tentative sip of her coffee and made a visible effort not to grimace.
"You don't have to drink it if you don't like it," Fox said. He got up to fetch a can of water, a carton of blueberry juice and a glass for her.
Peppy let out a heavy sigh. "If what you're saying about the Venomian remnants is true, we're headed for another war or at least a bigger insurrection. We need to inform General Pepper. Won't this system ever get some rest?" He sounded tired and older than ever before.
"So what?" Falco asked, "That's good news for us, isn't it? Something needs to pay the bills, and if I look at this rust-bucket here, you've not been doing too swell while I was away."
"A war is good news for you?" Krystal looked at him incredulously. The expression of disgust on her face gave Fox a sting.
"Sure thing. We're mercenaries," Falco said, comfortably leaned back in his chair.
"Mercenaries?"
"Yes, we're mercenaries, but that's not as bad as it sounds," Fox hastened to explain, "You saw us save Sauria, didn't you?"
"I know you saved Sauria, and I'm grateful you did," Krystal replied, "but if you're mercenaries, wouldn't it only depend on who pays you if you fight for a just cause or an abhorrent one?"
"You're right in principle. That's what mercenaries do, but we can reject a mission if we don't agree with it. We don't do every job we're offered."
"Which is why you were broke," Falco said.
Fox chose to ignore him. "That thing which took over the Krazoa statue, Andross, we've fought him before."
"You have?" Krystal's voice took on a surprisingly alarmed tone. "Has he destroyed any more planets in the Lylat System?"
"No. He wasn't this ghost-thing. He was a person. A criminal, who tried to conquer the Lylat System. A mad scientist, who turned himself into a bio-weapon."
"So, he indeed came from this solar system. How did he turn into a spirit?"
"We don't know. We defeated him. We thought we'd killed him, but somehow he must've survived his own death and came back as this spirit creature." Sometimes, Fox wondered if the same was true for his father or if everyone lived on as a ghost after their death. But if that was the case, why didn't ghosts interfere with the world of the living more often?
Krystal closed her eyes, an expression of somber acceptance on her face. Fox couldn't tell what was going on in her mind, but he knew it had to be something profound.
"Anything the matter?" he asked.
"No," Krystal said. Her voice was soft and warm, but she seemed deeply conflicted. "If Andross had paid you to fight for him, would you have accepted?"
"Of course not!" Fox couldn't hide the revulsion in his voice. Just the thought of him working for Andross made him sick. "Andross was a monster! The worst kind you'll find in this galaxy! I would never have worked for him."
Krystal flinched, slightly taken aback by his outburst, but she seemed satisfied with his answer. "Tell me about him."
"Andross started out as a brilliant scientist. He could have used his gift for good, but instead he chose to conduct dangerous and illegal experiments that laid waste to large parts of Corneria's capital. When he was banished from Corneria, he started a war to take revenge for his well-deserved punishment. He used weapons of mass destruction with zero regard for civilian lives, exploited the population of planets he conquered and killed them en masse, used hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war in his sick experiments and caused environmental destruction that makes you wonder what even the point of his conquest was, because he turned everything into a toxic wasteland. I guess when I said he didn't destroy any planets, I meant he didn't tear them apart like he would've with Sauria, but Zoness is a far cry from what it used to be." And, of course, Andross had killed Fox's father, which had been Fox's initial motivation to join the war.
"I'm sorry if I sounded harsh," Krystal said, "I shouldn't have doubted you. The Krazoa spirits found you worthy. You protect the Lylat System, and that's an admirable cause."
Fox covered his awkwardness with a chuckle. "Well yeah, it's not always that grand. Sometimes, I protect the Lylat System from destruction. Sometimes, I protect a cargo-ship from pirates on its way from one planet to another."
"Don't be so modest. You saved a planet. How many people can say that about themselves?"
"Not a lot, I guess, but this is my job."
"A job you chose to do."
"That's true." Fox smiled at her. He was quite used to being regarded as a hero, or to the occasional random person on the streets who walked up to him to ask for an autograph or express their admiration. It was empty and sometimes a little annoying. However, coming from her, those words filled him with pride.
"Say, how did you decide to become protector of the Lylat System? Slayer of fake gods. Savior of all dinosaurs." She looked at him with curiosity, head cocked to the side. However, the way the corners of her mouth curled upward told him she was slightly teasing him.
"You make it sound like I woke up one day and decided I'd be the one to save the Lylat System."
"And? Was that not the case?" The feigned surprise in her voice elicited a small laugh from him.
"No, not exactly." When Fox had gotten started, he had been full of doubt, unable to imagine he could truly live up to his father's legacy. "Although, I suppose my father paved the way for me. There was never anything else I wanted to be. When I was a child, he was my role model – the kind of person I aspired to become. Alright, that sounds corny, doesn't it?"
"Not at all."
"This ship, everything you see around you, I inherited it from him," Fox said, "Well, technically, it's not fully mine because my father had to take out an obscenely high loan to be able to afford it. Maybe we wouldn't have needed a ship quite this big."
Peppy nodded knowingly. "Indeed, James was not smart with money. When it comes to financial decisions, I'm glad you're not more like your father, Fox. In today's economy, this team would not have survived his spending habits."
"And this is your home? You live on board this ship?" Krystal asked. She took a sip of the blueberry juice – her second glass. It had left a small purple stain on the fur above her lip, which twitched whenever she smiled, and for some reason, Fox couldn't help but think it looked incredibly cute.
"We do stop by on planets, but yes, this is my home. We travel wherever we're needed," Fox said, "But enough about me. Tell me more about you. You're some kind of warrior as well?"
"In my home-world, I was training to become a Spirit Guard," Krystal replied, a wistful look in her eyes.
"A Spirit Guard?"
"Yes, that's..." she paused, appearing to contemplate how to best explain this to Fox. "The same energy that flows through Sauria flowed through my home-world, and we had spirits similar to the Krazoa. A Spirit Guard is someone who serves the spirits and protects the energy that gives life to the planet. It's not like a warrior who goes to conquer, but someone who preserves, who protects and maintains the balance on the planet."
"Sounds like a big responsibility." Her world and the life she had led seemed completely alien to Fox. Exotic, in a fascinating way. Even after the time he'd spent on Sauria, it was so very different from everything he knew.
"It is."
"And how does that look on a day-to-day basis? What did you have to do?" he asked.
"We listen to the planet and monitor the energy that transfuses everything around us with our minds to notice if it goes out of balance. We guard the temples from intruders or malignant forces, both on a physical and on a spiritual level. We make sure no one abuses the energy for selfish reasons or upsets the balance on the planet. Or at least that's what I would've been doing."
"What do you mean, that's what you would've been doing?"
"I never got to finish my training, and once I arrived on Sauria, I took on the role of something more like a diplomat – at least until the Sharp Claw attacked." The wistful expression disappeared from her face, and a joyful one replaced it. "Turns out the Cloud Runner and Earth Walker would rather talk to an alien and send them back and forth to pass on messages than directly talk to each other."
Fox chuckled. "I can imagine that. Tricky totally freaked out when I decided to go to the Cloud Runner Fortress, and he refused to come with me."
"Maybe that's for the better," she said with a warm smile. Fox felt like he could sit there and get lost in her gaze all day.
"Why the fuck is there no pepperoni on the pizzas!" Falco exclaimed.
And the moment was gone. "Well, excuse me for not shopping for your taste while you were gone for four years," Fox said, maybe a bit more snappish than he had wanted, but Falco didn't seem to notice.
Meanwhile, Slippy got up and hurried over to the oven to help Falco take the pizzas out and carry them to the table. Once they had cut them into slices, Krystal took one and sniffed it curiously. She took a bite, her eyes grew wide with delight, and she wiped a thread of cheese off her nose. "This strange cheese-bread disc is delicious."
"If you love this junk pizza, wait till we get back to Corneria and you can taste the real thing," Falco said.
"Yes, we should totally do that!" Slippy chimed in, "Once we arrive on Corneria, we should all go eat pizza together, and then we can show Krystal Corneria City. Krystal, have you thought about what you want to do when we get to Corneria?"
Krystal shrugged. "To be honest, I haven't had the time to think about it yet. I guess I'll just have to figure out how to live in that world."
How to live in that world? "You're not going back to your home-world?" Fox asked. His voice sounded more hopeful than intended.
Peppy gave him a stern look, as if he was extra slow on the uptake.
"There's nothing to go back to," Krystal said.
"Oh." The truth hit Fox like an icy shower. Peppy was right. He was an idiot. "That is... I'm sorry to hear that."
"We are, of course, happy to help with anything you need," Peppy said, "Adjusting to a new planet can be overwhelming. The bureaucracy can be confusing and can make you want to pull your hair out. Don't feel like you have to do it all alone."
"Yes, absolutely," Fox hastily agreed, "We're here to help. We'll figure this out together." Suddenly, he was glad the Great Fox would have to stay docked on Corneria for resupplies and repairs for a few weeks.
AN: I decided to continue this story, but updates will stay sporadic.