Well now, figured I would jot this down before I forget. Once I get an idea I think is really good going in my head I absolutely have to write it down. It's funny how Phantoms of the Past is up and this story is set to take place before that and this, along with chapter two of Phantoms of the Past being written in the process.
In Phantoms of the Past, I had stated that I wanted to make a story specifically for Krystal set in that AU. As Krystal's origins, lets be real, are almost non-existant in the Star Fox canon. I've seen different takes on her origins, a lot of them beautifully done, so why not give her my one of my own? Once again, I'll be borrowing some snippits from other fan works. I'll probably be borrwing names as well, because if I'm being honest, it's hard to come up with names for any characters on the world of Sauria as not many have actual names with the exception of Tricky, Gerunda Te, Princess Kyte, Sabre, Randorn (Back when SF: Adventures was Dinosaur Planet)... so yeah, since this is an AU anyway, I'm probably gonna abandon a lot of naming conventions here, as well as a giant chunk of the original canon. It's also been a very long time since I've played Star Fox Adventures, so that's also a factor.
Also the prologue for this is going to have a very similar start to PumpkinSoup's take on Krystal's origin from the Star Fox Adventures webcomic she made, which unfortunately isn't finished. Go give her webcomic a read. Despite it being unfinished, it's a very good take on Krystal's origins as well as Fox's place in that story.
However, Krystal will be the sole focus of this story. So if you were expecting Fox to show up here, spoiler warning and sorry to disappoint you, but he's not going to be anywhere in this story. But don't worry, he'll appear at some point in this AU. I mean he has to if it's taking place in the same AU as Phantoms of the Past lol.
Also some stuff is gonna be translated into saurian, be warned lol.
Anywho, lets do this.
Disclaimer: The following is a fan-based work. Star Fox Adventures, Star Fox, and all related characters are all owned by: Rareware, Nintendo, Shigeru Miyamoto, and Takaya Imamura. Please support the official release.
"I'll solve my mystery. An outcast, I don't care, I know I came from somewhere." - Came From Somewhere by NerdOut!
Lightning crackled across the dark skies as the rain pelted a flock of armored pterodactyls, flying in a V-formation above the thick jungle below. To one of them, it seemed unwise to fly in the midst of a storm. The risk of being struck by lightning was far greater in the air than it was on the ground, and the risk was even greater with the metal armor they wore. One of them, a female pterodactyl named Kyte and the youngest of the squad, began protesting. She pleaded with the rest of the group, stressing the dire need to land and seek shelter from the raging storm. The logic was sound, but to the others, the urgency to continue moving outweighed the potential danger.
"You are a fool!" the one named Kyte shouted, barely audiable through the thunder and rain. "What good are we to the Cloudrunner Tribe if we all die in this storm?!"
The head of the formation, a much older pterodactyl male as indicated by the wrinkles around her eyes and beak, looked back for a moment to see Kyte trying to break formation and catch up to him. He shouted at her angrily and gave her a glare, scolding the young pterodactyl for daring to break away. "What good is a weak Cloudrunner to the tribe?" shouted the older one. "We would've done better to just leave you behind!"
"Only one such as you would dare abandon a member of our Clan!" Kyte shouted back as she shook the rain from her face, getting it out of her eyes so she could see in front of her.
"If it means that the rest of the tribe will be safe, then I would gladly abandon a member of our Clan!" he shouted.
Another member of the squad quickly flew up to the elder, squaking at him angrily and glaring at him just as hard as he was glaring at Kyte. "She makes a good argument, Han!" he shouted. "The storm is only getting worse! Lightning is striking the ground more and more!"
"You dare side wi-!" Han was cut off, dodging to the left and almost crashing into the other member as a bolt of lightning missed him.
"We've had far too many close calls like that!" the other said, turning to the rest of the squad. "Pretty soon, our luck will run out! What will we do then?!"
Han looked around to the rest of his squad, and then to the scroll that was tucked under his wing. The old pterodactyl sighed and looked down towards the jungle below. His old and tired eyes spotted a small clearing, big enough for them to land and take shelter until the storm had passed. He pointed his beak downwards and dove towards the ground, the rest of the squad following suit behind him. Thunder boomed across the sky, the force powerful enough to shake him from his flight path but only for a moment. Despite his age, he was still flying gracefully through the air.
Lightning struck the ground below, barely missing Kyte as she struggled to keep up. The pterodactyl began to panic as she flapped her wings harder in an effort to keep up with Han and the others. Luckily, she managed to clear the top of the trees in the jungle and land with the rest of the squad. Moving quickly with them to take shelter underneath one of the trees. The avian could feel her heart race before relaxing, her heartbeat slowing as she counted her blessings and thanked the gods she was able to make it to safety.
The one called Han approached Kyte, a glare in his eyes and a hiss in his voice as he looked down at her. "We will take shelter here for now." he said, eye-level with Kyte. "But should anything happen to even one of us, I will make sure that you will meet the same tenfold." he stepped away from her, his back turned. "You may be the daughter of the Queen, but that changes nothing. The safety of the clan is my priority." was the last thing he had said as he walked away, his voice becoming faint in the distance. "Set up camp. Narr, you're on the first watch for the night."
Kyte looked over to Han, glaring at him while his back was turned "Ect visb" she said under her breath, making her way to the others. Kyte made no effort to make any kind of conversation with them as she was far too tired to hold one. After a while, camp was made and a fire was going, she perched herself on the ground and quickly allowed sleep to take her, the world fading from sight into an endless black void.
She didn't get any restful sleep throughout the night, her rest plagued with nightmares of her world engulfed in flames. The Cloudrunner Capital, crumbling into pieces as it began to fall from the mountains it rested on top of. The oceans began to rage, leading to the destruction of many villages and tribes on the surface... but a welcoming warmth began to take hold as lights, similar to that of an aroura borialis flooded the sky and the carnage and destruction that was taking place had frozen. Kyte could hear faint whispers and chirps from some kind of unknown entity, followed by the sound of the cry of a baby... but the destruction soon continued after she blinked, finding herself in the capital where a tall humanoid figure stood over the body of her mother, flames spewing from it's mouth as it and many others displayed the bodies of other cloudrunners and the servants of the fortress.
Kyte awoke, taking in a long gasp and quickly looked around to find herself back in the camp. Rain and thunder still being dominant in the sky, but was much calmer than before. The fire in the center of camp was becoming much weaker, as she saw everyone else, but Narr, still fast asleep. The petrodactyl sighed in relief, but the dream continued to haunt her. Everything she was worried about, everything she was fighting against, the world as she had known it, all destroyed in her dream. But what was that light? What was with the cry of a baby?
Almost as if to answer her, she felt a twinge in her mind followed by the echo of a baby's cry. Kyte looked around but nothing stood out amongst the foliage of the jungle, nothing seemed out of the ordinary with exception of the other cloudrnners. She relaxed herself once more, hoping to fall back to sleep and get some rest before her watch. But just then, she felt the twinge and heard the echo again, this time much louder as if it were to get her attention.
Okay, I'm not sure if I'm imagining things or not. she thought, getting back to her feet and walked over to Narr, who sat perched in one of the trees above them. "Narr?" she called. "Do you hear anything strange?"
Narr looked down to see Kyte looking back up at him, he shook his head. "I don't hear anything but the sound of the rain." he told her.
Kyte looked down at the ground, an inquisitive look on her face as she began to think back to her dream. She wasn't sure why it lingered on her mind, she was certain she would have forgotten it by now... once more she felt a twinge in her head, only this time it was much stronger and the cry of a baby much louder as it sounded like it was coming from deep within the dense foliage of the jungle. "There! You hear that?" Kyte said in a loud whisper.
"I don't hear anything, Kyte."
Kyte looked towards the foliage where she was certain the cry was coming from, but she also wasn't certain if it was all in her head or real. But her instincts were telling her otherwise and as a result, she was compelled to investigate. Looking up to Narr, she had told him "Wait here, I'm going to see what that is."
"Kyte! You need to stay here!" said Narr, but his pleas fell on deaf ears as Kyte pushed her way through the jungle towards who-knows-where. Narr cursed to himself and debated weather or not to wake Han and the others, but pushed the thought aside, knowing Han wouldn't bother to look for her. I can only pray she knows what she's doing, my lady.
Deep within the foliage of the jungle, Kyte made her way through being driven by both curiosity and some other unseen force, the light of the night sky was not even penetrating the leaves of the trees above the petrodactyl. Thankfully, she was one of the few blessed with sight that could see better in the dark as she made her way through with ease. What was making that cry? She didn't know, but she did have to know weather or not it was real. Pushing her way past sharp and prickly vines, scraping her wings, but only enough to emit a grunt of pain from the avain.
As she pushed deeper and deeper, turning back to see that the light of the camp was now lost from her sight. Despite this, she kept pushing forward and this time, she felt the twinge once again but now, the cry was not in her mind but she could physically hear it. She picked up the pace and moved in the direction it had come from, pushing past many vines and foliage until she had come across a clearing. A crater was formed where something larger than her, looking like a giant metal bird was lodged deep into the dirt. She saw a large hole in the side of it, lights flickering about from within as she heard the cries once more.
Kyte's instincts told her to run as fear began to overtake her senses, but she powered through, the curiosity proving to be far stronger than that of her own fear. She inched closer to the bird, watching each and every careful step she made. Soon she made her way to the opening, peering inside to see the flickering of lights as well as what she assumed to be guts of the bird itself. A cry began to echo throughout the inside, so closely, Kyte's head quickly snapping to the direction it was coming from. Treading carefully, she inched over through many of the innards and metal guts of the bird. She came to another opening, looking inside to see flickering square lights on the walls with letters on the sides, none of which she could understand. At her feet, she saw two blue furred figures, lifeless on the ground with one on top of another.
Kyte wasn't sure what she was looking at, but was certain they were not of this world. Furry things were not uncommon on Sauria, but these were not of this world. She pushed on, muttering a prayer for the two she had come across, hoping they would find peace in the afterlife. But one thing that was left unanswered: where was the sound of the cry she heard?
As if to answer her, she heard it again but only this time at her feet. Underneath the arm of one of the figures was a dirty cloth, it moved about beneath the two almost as if something was inside it. Kyte carefully moved the arm away, getting a better look at the cloth as a head poked out, with the same blue fur as the two figures. It really was a baby. Kyte thought, looking down at the bundle beneath her. The ball of fluff opened it's eyes, revealing them to be a deep ocean blue as it looked up at her.
Kyte once again felt a strong twinge in her mind. The voice that echoed in her mind was that of unintelligable babble mixed with a soft feminine voice. "Krystal" she could hear the other voice say. "Krystal...?" she muttered before looking at the small ball of fluff, who only cooed in response. "Is that your name, little one?" she asked, fully aware the baby couldn't answer her back.
Once more, crying began to fill the silence as Krystal squirmed about in the cloth. Kyte responded by reaching out her wing and lightly touching her, with Krystal responding by wrapping a few of her appendages around the sharp end of her wing. Krystal felt very cold to the touch. "You're cold..." she muttered. "... and probably hungry too." Kyte looked around the inside of the metal room even more, sounds of metal scraping getting her attention as loud growls could be heard from the outside. "Jxak!" she said under her breath. Without thinking about it, she tried her best to wrap the bundle of fluff in the cloth. She made sure Krystal was secure inside before picking it up with her beak, then making a mad dash towards the exit.
Krystal let out another loud cry as her arm had gotten free, reaching out towards the lifeless corpses that had gotten farther and farther away from her.
Kyte saw this, her heart shattering at the sight, finally clicking in her head that the two were the baby's parents. She could feel the twinge in her head once more, almost as if begging Kyte to stop and bring her parents with her. Tears welled up in the petrodactyl's eyes as she kept moving, the sound she heard on the outside making it clear she could not afford to stay idle. "I'm sorry, little one, but we cannot take them with us." she thought, pushing the sound of the crying out of her mind as she quickly made her way out.
After getting outside, she was greeted with a group of large bipedal lizard men, all wearing heavy armor and carrying axes and and maces. They made a mad dash at Kyte, making futile attempts to strike her down before she managed to get in the air. She was met with arrows whizzing past her, narrowly missing her as she did a series of ariel manuvers, but it was rather difficult while holding Krystal, who was still crying, weather out of fear or anguish, Kyte was not sure. She quickly made her way back to camp, as the lizard men who attacked her were now out of range and sight of her.
"Where did Kyte go, Narr?!" asked one of the cloudrunners who interrogated the first watchman.
"I told you, she went off on her own!" Narr said defensively, his back up against the tree he was perched on.
"Bah, leave her." Han scoffed. "She's been nothing but dead weight to us."
One of the other cloudrunners angrily walked up to Narr, scorn in her voice as she shoved him. "The queen will not tolerate the loss of her daughter!" she said. "Are you really as heartless as you are stupid, old man?!"
"Child, I am not heartless or stupid!" Han said with disdain in his voice, clearly directed at the other cloudrunner. "I am pragmatic!"
"Your so-called "pragmatisim" is going to get us killed, mehedl!"
The group quickly looked up towards the sky in the clearing, the sound of wings flapping as well as the sound of a crying infant could be heard. It was Kyte, quickly decending down towards the ground as she carried a ball of cloth in her beak. She set it down softly on the ground as it continued to cry, Kyte attempting to comfort her to no avail. The cloudrunner looked up, with one of them trying to ask her a question but cut them off. "There's an advancement of sharpclaws just north of here, we need to move! Now!" the petrodactyl said frantically.
Han walked up to Kyte and glared at her and then the bundle on the ground beneath them. "What is that?" he asked.
"A baby I found while scouting the jungle... I couldn't leave her there." Kyte told him. "That is where I also found the sharpclaws, surrounding the giant metal bird I found her in."
"And you lead them here?! Are you insane?!" Han shouted, looking down at the ball of fluff. "We should leave that thing here, it'll draw the shaprclaw away from us!"
Kyte looked over at Han angrily and stepped towards him, forcing the old cloudrunner to move back out of fear as Kyte now intimidated him. "I am not going to leave her here to fend for herself!"
"Her?" Han said, his voice full of scorn. "We don't even know what it is!"
"I don't care what you think you old wind bag!" Kyte growled. "Like it or not, she's coming with us!"
"You dare to-" Han tried to say before being forcefully shoved by Kyte.
"The longer you sit here arguing with me, the sooner those sharpclaw will be here! She is coming with us!"
Han stood in silence for a few moments before turning his head towards the rest of the cloudrunners, giving them all an authoritative glance. "We need to go. We're making our way back to the capital!"
All of them made absolutely no objections to the statement and quickly flew into the air, Han staing behind to glare at Kyte once more, watching her pick up the bundle by the cloth in her beak. The old pterodactyl snarled before flapping into his wings and flying up into the air.
Kyte followed quickly behind, taking care to ensure that Krystal was secure inside her blanket before taking off towards the sky.
The courtyard within the cloudrunner palace was lively, a heated exchange taking place between Kyte and Han. The blue bundle of fluff, known as Krystal, sat in the center of the two as they continued to argue amongst each other. The smal child looked up at the two petrodactyls in curiosity, one would assume she was begining to ponder what exactly were these things around her and why many more were looking at her. She didn't know why she was here, or where even was here exactly... but one thing she did know these things were much larger than she was.
The noise within the room became much louder as more and more people began to debate, Krystal's small blue eyes began to dart about as everything began to catch her attention. The yelling of the two avains above her, the avians and other creatures in the background who stared at her and talked idly amongst themselves, mainly about her, then there were the the voices and whispers that only Krystal herself could hear. Soon, the noise and the cramped blanket became far too overwhelming for the small fox. Soon, she let out an ear piercing shriek that turned into loud sobs, it was so sudden that it quickly stopped whatever heated debate Kyte and Han were having. The two looked down at the poor kit, both unsure of what to do.
"What is going on in here?" said a voice from across the courtyard. The sound of the voice quickly getting everyone's attention and silenced all commotion within, even Krystal's crying stopped momentarily. Her loud crying turning into soft sobs.
Kyte turned to see, standing in the doorway was another cloudrunner, but this one was clothed in a purple cape with a gold trim and adorned with a crown with a red gem in the center. "Mother!" she said, a mix of both joy and dread in her voice.
"Your majesty!" said Han, quickly bowing his head in a sign of respect. "You humble us with your presence."
Queen Cloudrunner moved about the room, her posture exuding both authority and grace as she got between Kyte and Han. She looked down at the bundle of cloth below, eyeing it with curiosity as it stared back at her, with the same amount of curiosity. The queen looked over at Kyte, who stood in silence as if she were waiting for permission to speak and then to Han, who did the same thing. The queen looked down at Krystal once more before turning to Kyte. "What is this?" she asked. "Why is it in the palace?"
"Milady if I ma-" Han attmpted to speak before a wing was shoved into his face.
"I am speaking to Kyte." The queen said firmly, her voice turning soft when she eyed Kyte. "What have you brought back to the palace, my dear?"
Kyte looked down nervously at the bundle that squirmed about on the ground, blue eyes staring back into her own. "A baby, Mother."
"A baby?" the queen asked.
"Yes... I found her inside a metal bird deep within the jungles on the surface."
Murmurs could be heard from the others within the courtyard, some in awe of what was told while others could be heard muttering about an omen, the latter recieving a scoff from Kyte as she looked at her mother.
The queen bent down to eye the blue bundle carefully, making sure she didn't move her beak too close to the baby as she eyed her back with just as much curiosity as her. After moments of staring at her, the queen felt a twinge in her head that the queen was certain came from the child; she heard the sound of faint and unintelligible whispers that made her step back in surprise. She looked at the baby, not out of fear or disdain, but out of worry. Something about this small child was very special - she was blessed with a gift that only a rare few could obtain, a gift that was seldom seen used by the Krazoa who lived in the palace far out into the sea, though few dared to visit it.
"Mother?" Kyte called, looking towards her mother who appeared to be transfixed by the blue bundle on the ground.
The queen broke out of her trance and then looked over to her daughter. "You say you found her in the jungle?" she asked.
Kyte nodded.
"Let me ask you something, Kyte." the queen stated before straigtening herself. "Do you have any attachment to this child?"
Kyte looked her mother in the eye before turning her head to the baby, her ocean blue eyes staring back at her own. "Yes... I do. However, I don't know why."
"Do you have any desire to keep her safe?"
Kyte once again nodded.
The queen could only nod in response to Kyte, looking her in the eye with an authoritative stare that still exuded the comfort only a mother could give to one's own child. "Then I shall charge you with the care of this little one." The queen said before returning her gaze to the child. "She has a very rare gift, one that the sharpclaw clan will certainly be hunting for."
Han indignantly spoke up, making his anger known to both the queen and Kyte. "Milady are you mad?!" he asked loudly. "You would really allow some... some otherworldly thing into our city? We don't even know what it is!"
"That "otherworldly" thing's name is Krystal." Kyte responded angrily. "You were willing to leave it to the sharpclaws to save your own hide!"
"You are willing to risk the lives of all your fellow kin to save a child you do not know?!" Han shouted. "If it has a gift the sharpclaws are after, surely bringing it here would draw their attention to us."
In a fit of anger, the queen struck at Han, knocking him to the ground and stood on his wing. "The fact you were willing to allow an innocent's blood to be spilled is far more appaling than your insinuation that I've been driven mad." the queen hissed, her forhead now pressed against the elder petrodactyl's head. "Weather it'd be for the safety of our tribe or for the safety of your own skin is irrelevant. We. Do. Not. Harm. Innocents." The queen pulled back and turned her attention to another one of the cloudrunners, one dressed in the same kind of armor as the others, but adorned with gems and a red scarf around their neck. "Take Han and lock him in the dungeon, some time alone might do him some good."
As the guards dragged Han away, Kyte moved back over to Krystal and looked at her in bewilderment as she slept soundly inside the soft bundle of blankets. "Mother..." Kyte turned back to the queen. "... thank you."
"Think nothing of it, my dear," the queen replied, bowing her head. "I will consult the scribes about this gift the little one has, see to it she gets the proper care and a place to sleep." The queen soon flew off, leaving the courtyard and Kyte to care for her new adopted daughter.
Kyte stepped over to Krystal, being extra careful to pick her up by the long piece of cloth that stuck out. Rather than fly back to her chambers, Kyte opted for walking as it would not disturb the young one's rest. I wonder what she can eat... Kyte thought to herself ... perhaps some mashed fruit? Kyte continued to brainstorm ideas of what to give to Krystal.
After a long while of walking and with a little assistance from the servants in the palace, Kyte was able to make it back to her chambers where one of the servants had already made a crib for Krystal, though it was more of a nest, but still. Kyte softly set Krystal down inside the nest, taking care to ensure her head rested on a soft pillow while she slept. She sighed, looking out a window that gave her a nice view of the many mountain tops their palace rested upon before turning back to Krystal, who still slept peacefully. "I may not be your mother... nor have I been a mother myself, but I will still care for you the best I can." Kyte told herself, feeling another twinge in her head as she looked down at the baby. She nuzzled her head before stepping away. "I will keep you safe no matter what."
Okay, gonna end this prologue here. I will not lie to any of you, this prologue was very hard to write and I wanted to make sure I got it down before I lost interest in writing it. My biggest struggle thus far has always been worrying weather I'm over-explaining or not explaining enough, I don't want to be too descriptive and bore you all with just a giant wall of text but I also don't want to jump to the point too early. Trying to find that balance here was very hard, and I still don't think I pulled it off. Either way, I will continue my work on Phantoms of the Past, so expect my focus to be soley on that for the time being.
Anyway let me know what you think, leave some ideas for me if you'd like (Not gonna lie, would be really thankful if you did lol), and I'll see you all next time!
Peace out!
