Fox had never been a gecko before.
However, certain things were necessary to get within close range of their target, and assuming the form of one of Rankous's clients was a sure way of doing that. It was easy to adopt Mr Tenacity's identity with Krystal's magic staff, as it was able to cast illusions around the user or onto other things―and even onto other people if they so desired. Fox had pulled this trick off numerous times before when espionage was called for like now as he was about to come face-to-face with the notorious kingpin himself.
Fox began his infiltration of a small outpost nestled high up in a range of snowy mountains. It was nighttime, so only mobile lighting units illuminated the premises, which was the unloading and processing site of an abandoned mine. There was considerable activity here; intergalactic criminals were shipping goods into containers and extracting them from others. Upon the time of arrival at this now-disclosed location, two other intergalactic crime lords were participating in an exchange with Rankous Bugatti and were having their respective goons conduct the manual trade.
"I wonder if any of these other big honchoes have bounties on their heads also…" Fox thought to his wife as he navigated through the commotion of crooks of many species pushing hover carts of supplies to and fro across the snow-laden site.
"Undoubtedly, but we shouldn't get greedy," Krystal advised. "Rankous should remain our primary target. Distractions may give him an opening to apprehend and kill us."
Kyrstal was one to never underestimate her enemies, which was plenty wise. She out of anyone would know how to gauge what they were able to handle and what they were not. She wouldn't have survived so long on her own without knowing when to relent, so Fox didn't argue with her.
"Fair enough," he replied in his thoughts. "We take this guy down first and then scrounge up whoever's left, right?"
"Maybe," Krystal said, though the teasing tone she had signalled that she likely wasn't opposed to the idea. "We'll take back as many as you can stuff in your wing should fate be so generous."
"I got three extra pods on my wing," Fox reminded. "Plenty of room for the other kingpins and one lucky lackey."
"We'll see at the end of all this, all right?" Krystal considered, daring to humour such a thing with tempered enthusiasm. "Now, let's both remain on task. These rocks are quite brittle and I need to concentrate."
"Roger," Fox complied, glancing up at the steep rocky slope of the rising mountain to the left of him. Krystal was currently up there and out of sight from the lot down where Fox was, traversing across the rocky terrain undetected by the parties below. Their plan was somewhat developing as it went, but there was a general execution in mind. Fox would keep Rankous busy―most preferably by talking―while Krystal would situate herself high up on a ledge out of sight and sedate their target with a tranquilliser dart―with a much heavier dosage of xylazine in her rounds for their hefty target.
Krystal was much better at long-range shots compared to Fox, so she was naturally suited for this task. Fox only hoped that she stayed safe high up on those ridges. Losing her footing would be bad enough, but should any loose rocks tumble down the mountainside and stir up some commotion, it would most certainly entice the crooks here to look up at where they were coming from.
Before long, Fox eventually managed to forge his way to the far end of the site, which happened to be a harrowingly steep cliffside that dropped many metres down a ravine, lit up by a stunning backdrop of Kew's moon currently in one of its gibbous phases. Rankous Bugatti was easy to single out amongst the trio, and Fox likely would have spotted him much sooner had there not been so many people bustling about. He was having a merry laugh with his like-minded fiends, sharing lit cigars and discussing all of the dastardly feats they committed―at least that's what Fox supposed.
Rankous was a sight to behold on his own; he was easily twice as big as the other two crooks, which were roughly Fox's size, and that heavy furred coat only seemed to make the brutish hippo look larger. Rankous could easily bite Fox's head off just by looking at those jaws of his, so there was no real point in departing from the plan, especially if Fox wished to keep his head on his shoulders.
Fox's approach did not remain unnoticed by the group for long, and the hippo inevitably saw "Mr Tenacity" peering his way out of the commotion. "Ah, there's that sly bastard," Rankous's beady eyes glimmered darkly. It only took a few visual cues for Fox to understand that this guy was a special kind of bad.
"So sorry I'm late, everyone," Fox said in Tenacity's voice. "My canopy had a hard time opening up in this weather."
"Didn't we tell you to lube up the pistons before coming here?" one of the other bosses ridiculed, a meerkat with an unfetching mohawk. "You knew this place would be a freezing no man's land."
"That's got more to do with the cheap craft I was forsaken with. Cut me some slack," Fox rebuffed, which wasn't a total lie. He got a good look at Tenacity's cheap spacecraft when he and Krystal socked him and assumed his identity―which was in the same secluded area where Krystal hid the Cloud Runner. He noted that it lacked certain applications that would have made it better withstand the freezing environment. It served as a convincing excuse if nothing at all, which seemed to work.
"What matters is that you made it," Rankous rebuked, turning around to face the disguised Fox fully, really showing off how enormous he was in comparison. "Had you not shown up, I would have concluded that you caved and alerted the authorities of our conduct for a cheap reward. I know that ain't your style, but I take no chances."
Rankous smiled and gave the impression that he was playing it off for laughs, but his dark eyes remained unwaveringly murderous, affirming that he meant what he said. Fox had fought, captured, and even killed many murderous scums in the past―many that were objectively far more dangerous―but none made his whiskers flare quite like how Rankous did. Nonetheless, Fox remained poised.
"Good. I wouldn't take any chances myself," he replied with a straight face, which made Rankous laugh billowingly in appreciation.
"Attaboy," he snickered, exhaling clouds of smoke through his nostrils, almost like he could breathe fire, which Fox truly hoped wasn't the case.
"So then, now that you are here," the third boss spoke up, a wolverine wearing shades at night, "here's what's gonna happen next. In case you haven't noticed by now, we have already begun our mutual exchange. You're the trusted mediator to make sure all is traded fairly." He then reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a closed holo-tablet. "So, mediate."
Cautiously receiving what was offered to him, Fox then opened up the tablet to see its holographic screen filled with graphs and a set of three numbers that were fluctuating. These number sets were all in the twelve-figure category and were rising and falling incessantly. Fox was direly perplexed for just a couple of seconds, but he realised quickly that these were the off-world accounts belonging to these crime lords.
The containers that were getting their contents withdrawn and stockpiled had sensors that were reading hidden barcodes that detailed their values, hence why the numbers on the tablets were fluctuating while generally remaining in the same range. Though friendly with each other on the surface, it seemed this trio of crime lords could not trust that the other wouldn't cheat their exchange, so they settled on a reliably honest third party to manage their unfolding affairs. Fox had experience in managing supply shipments, so he knew what to look at and what disparities in the numbers to look for.
He could feel all three kingpins watching him expectantly―and Fox could have easily mistaken Rankous's gaze as the feeling of a blaster poking the back of his head if he had not turned to make sure it was so. "He relishes the power he asserts," the telepathic voice of Krystal whispered in his mind. It was such a reassuring thing to hear while amid these vile people.
"Yeah, I've noticed," Fox replied, multitasking between examining the continuously updating shipment data and coordinating with his wife. "Are you in position, Honey? You safe?"
"As safe as one situated up here can be," she answered. "And to answer your first question, yes, I have a clear shot of Rankous. Keep him occupied; I'll let you know when I fire. I must time this perfectly."
It was nice having a guardian angel when surrounded by these scheming individuals―especially one with a rifle. "You lot have quite a bit of merchandise going around," I noted as I monitored the trade, appeasing Rankous more so than the others.
"It's all about keeping confidences, my boy," Rankous chuckled, strolling up next to Fox, producing the same kind of comfort a tornado does when ripping up the house next door. "It's important to remain tight with each other when branching out as far as we are. A little seed here and there spurs a long and healthy hedge to keep the nosey neighbours out. All in good faith, right gentlemen?"
"Indeed," the meerkat agreed, though not quite as enthusiastically as he watched the three camps mingle, puffing more smoke from his cigar. "A pity that insurance comes out of my expenses. I work too hard to see my wares get carted off like common luggage."
"Always a frowner, aren't you Brandine?" Rankous chuffed, amused by the meerkat's discontent far more than he was offended by it. "I'm pitching my lot too, aren't I? I'm sure there's some gratefulness deep inside you somewhere."
"Perhaps," the meerkat shrugged, making the impression that he stopped feeling most things since investing in the criminal underworld.
"I, for one, mind very little what it takes to wipe the sand off our tracks," the wolverine in the shades smirked as he too looked out at all the activity. "Although, surveillances have admittedly been much less cumbersome since the ones that poured through the cross-rip were eventually subdued. They made Lylat bleed in a way that I have never seen before."
"Even still," Rankous added, "I don't take chances. Feds are feds, no matter where we go or how strained they are."
"It's a shame that up-starters are as brash as they are," the wolverine said. "If only they had the sense to be humble enough to hear advice like that."
"There's a reason why I've outlasted everyone," Rankous smiled devilishly, tapping some ashes out of his cigar. "Like what you said, Gracon, humility has its uses. It breaks my heart to let my precious diamond go like this, but I remain assured that she will be going to a caring owner such as yourself."
The wolverine grinned, bearing his fanged jaws hungrily. "Oh, you have my undying word, Mister Bugatti. She will be worth every credit spent…"
Maybe Krystal's renowned intuition had been rubbing off on Fox a little because something about this diamond they were discussing made him uneasy for some reason. He couldn't afford to pause and think about it because the topic of conversation found its way back to him seconds later. "How are the stats of things, Mister Tenacity? Any foul play between business associates?" Rankous asked, like thundering crackling in the distance.
"It would've been mentioned if it were spotted," Fox replied, maintaining the 'going through the motions' attitude he had been keeping up. "But everything seems to be checking out nicely. Equally portioned between the three of you. Will give a final assessment once all the transfers are wrapped up."
"Excellent," Rankous cooed with approval, adjusting his giant furry coat, which could easily drape over Fox from head to toe. "We'll have everything wrapped up soon enough. I must thank you gentlemen again for your courteous exchanges. I'm positive that this will cement our alliances for solar cycles to come."
"Aye. It's all a matter of good faith, Mister Bugatti," the wolverine agreed.
"That's the goal, I guess," Mister Brandine shrugged, quite indifferent either way. but Rankous paid that no mind.
"I'm about to fire now. Be ready for anything, love…" Krystal suddenly announced in Fox's mind, which made his heart skip a beat. The rush often created by the prelude of a battle was a feeling Fox knew all too well. It was one of the things he lived for. Still, he maintained his ruse and kept his eyes on the tablet.
"Make it a clean one…" he thought back, awaiting the yelp of surprise that Rankous would inevitably come once pinned.
"So," Gracon spoke, "what will you do now that we will part?"
"Get off this backwater planet for one," Rankous thundered. "Will continue situating off the grid in this system unless I truly have to―HICGH?!"
Rankous jerked forward in surprise, nearly timbering over, which startled his unsavoury associates tremendously. And especially Fox, for the hippo would have fallen and crushed him, but he jumped out of the way before either thing could happen. Rankous stumbled for a bit before quickly reaching behind his open neck and pulling out the syringe stuck to his neck. He looked at it and saw that it was completely drained.
"SNIPER!" Gracon hollered like a honey badger on dash, fleeing for cover as the criminal crews moving the supplies stopped dead in their tracks, looking at all the commotion from their bosses.
Rankous grinned with terrible fury and threw the dart into the snow before whipping his head around up at Krystal's general direction. "FIND AND KILL THAT TWIT!" he roared with terrible resonation, making Fox fear that he could actually cause an avalanche with that kind of voice.
All the crooks immediately drew their holstered blasters to answer that threatening command, but Fox was already ahead of them. He had thrown the tablet aside and drew his wife's staff, making his disguise shimmer for a brief second. Having a generous amount of power stored inside it before arriving on Kew, Fox knew that he had more than enough to disarm the goons in one swift motion and then some.
Within four seconds total, Fox extended the staff and unleashed powerful tendrils of electricity to all of his desired outlets―the specific alloys that comprised the guns belonging to the goons. He caught all of them in his crackling field, lighting up the old mine site with intense flashes of light from the continuous electrical arcs. The goons and their bosses were blown off their feet in a daze as Fox hoisted the staff over his shoulders, taking on the weight of all the weapons he now honed in his conductive field and hurled them all over the chasm and into the ravine below.
Fox heaved with temporary exhaustion. Krystal's staff had learned a few new tricks during her more recent misadventures, but it still required much of one's stamina to pull them off. Fox hardly had time to recover his breath one danger crept up on him again.
"Fox, behind you!" Krystal wailed in his mind, but Fox's ear had already alerted him.
"You filthy traitor!" Gracon shrieked with outrage as he jumped out of his cover and attempted to bludgeon Fox with an old iron bar he found in the snow.
Fox's reflexes were sharp and swiftly punted the weapon out of the wolverine's hand and bashed him a few times on his back and the sides of his body―mainly due to the initial rush needing satisfaction. Gracon fell but was still conscious as he looked up to see Mister Tenacity standing over him with a magic weapon in his hands, though seeing no point in maintaining it any longer, Fox cancelled the illusionary spell, and his true vulpine form had been realised for all now to see and fear.
Gracon trembled with confusion and terror, only vaguely recognising the individual sabotaging his business exchange, but whether he did or not mattered little, for he knew there was no chance of escape. "Sorry, pal, but you and your friends here are fresh out of time…" Fox declared as chillingly as the mountain snow around them.
It only took a firm bonk on the head with the spear-end of Krystal's staff to effectively incapacitate the wolverine, knocking him out cold in the snow. If only the big guy would go down as easily as this one. Having a suspicion that the noxious serum would take a while to work its way through Rankous's system, the hippo in question was not down for the count yet as he stomped to his gargantuan feet, shaking the snow off his coat.
"You…" he growled so coarsely Fox believed that a rockslide may have been coming down the mountain, but he turned around to see Rankous glaring hot daggers at him, which was honestly much worse. "I'll rip out that little tail of yours along with your spine!"
Rankous charged with thunderous fury, nearly running on his hands and feet like a ravenous beast as he intended to make tomato paste out of Fox. However, Fox noted the luminous glow of Krystal's gyro pack rocketing towards them from the side of the mountain where she was stationed and knew that it was time to return what belonged to her.
"Ef him up, Honey!" Fox hollered, throwing his wife's staff up in the air like a javelin before leaping out of the way of Rankous's path. Krystal caught her returned heirloom in midair as she soared over the commotion. Her entry did not go unnoticed by the ranging kingpin as he abruptly stopped his charge, sliding across the snow as his attention was now redirected entirely unto the blue vixen wearing a gyrating hover pack flying up into the air along the mountainside.
At about eighty feet, she quickly flipped around, touching the rockface briefly as she coiled her legs before springboarding herself back down towards their angry bounty, striking him brutally on the head with her enchanted weapon. It wasn't enough to knock him out, but it left a nasty bruise on his bald leathery head. Krystal landed and then began attacking the hippo head-on. Fox allowed her to resume what he had started; she had taken on bigger and more dangerous threats by herself when she was only seven years old, so he did not worry for her safety. He instead now had to deal with the dazed possie, who had just now started to rise to action after their daze and charged at Fox.
Prepared for many occasions like always, he whipped out a holstered compact rapid-fire laser gun that lit up the snow site with bright flashes of bold green, gunning down all the dummies that yet insisted on running straight into the gunfire. Fifteen or so men collapsed to the ground again with fresh searing wounds, making the remaining thirty flee for their lives now that they were defenceless. Having marked certain areas as useful contingencies before even meeting the kingpins, Fox knew precisely where to shoot his laser blasts to create small but useful avalanches around the inclining terrain, burying most of the fleeing convicts underneath the snow and trapping in those who remained, about ten, and Fox quickly knocked them all out with another barrage of laser fire after swapping in a fresh energy carriage from his belt.
While effectively taking care of every threat on site, Fox had no time to admire his handiwork as Rankous's rampage found its way back to him. "Fox, he's waning!" Krystal hollered from behind, getting loud each second. Fox peeled out of the way just in time to see Rankous stumbling around in raging fury as Krystal rode on his back, pulling her staff's shaft into the hippo's neck up towards her.
Krystal gritted her teeth as she pulled with all her might, trying her hardest to bring this beast of a man down, and she was eventually successful. Fox watched with morbid curiosity as Rankous's eyes began to turn bleary as his rampage dwindled to a stumble, which was the point where Krystal relented and hopped off, but the stress of the strangulation worked and brought him crashing down into the ground. Krystal did not kill him, nor did she plan to; she simply had to rile him up just enough so that the tranquillizer serum worked its way faster throughout his system, and cutting off his airways for a brief time was to make him lightheaded enough to bring his incapacitation on faster.
Fox ran to his wife's side and aimed his gun at the staggering hippo on the ground, and Krystal too held her staff up close as it crackled with surplus energy. Rankous was moments away from passing out, but he was conscious enough to give one last murderous glare at the vulpine couple. "I'll…crush yer skulls…for this…" he wheezed vengefully, seconds before his eyes rolled upward and promptly collapsed, finally giving out.
Fox and Krystal held their readied stances for a moment longer, not entirely letting their guard down as Fox stepped over and lightly tapped the hippo's shoulder with his boot for safety's sake. "He's down for the count," Fox relented, lowering his arms.
"I knew that," Krystal said surely, her telepathy confirming as such, planting her staff's end into the snow. Now that the hard part was over, it was a matter of getting everybody of note rounded up and in stasis pods, but compliments had to be exchanged first.
"That was more brutal than I usually see from you," Fox commented, a bit taken aback by the level of ferocity displayed by her. "I'm sure there were more humane ways of tiring that galoot out."
"When did I suggest I would be gentle with him?" Krystal asked. Hearing this made Fox smile; seeing the often sweet and compassionate love of his life turn into a ferocious fighting machine never failed to bewitch him. She carried all the grace and elegance of a figure skater dancing across the ice while simultaneously breaking ribs, kneeing groins, and spewing actual fire. She effortlessly hit so many of the right buttons.
"Well," Fox mused, "I never knew you were holding back so much grit. I guess that now makes my own neck off limits whenever next time you've got to hold onto something."
Krystal grimaced at this comment, but a brief orange glow flickered on the gems of her staff, coyly reflecting the warmth flushing across her face. His juvenile comments on such doings never failed to make her fluster; one of many endearing things Krystal loved about him. "Oh, you cheeky tod," she giggled impishly, gently placing her hand behind her husband's neck. "You know I would never dare give you more than you can handle."
They could have discussed frisky matters over the unconscious body of a notorious criminal all day, but they still had a job to do. Remembering that they were still on the job after briefly forgetting, Fox pulled out a small communicator from one of his coat pockets and held it to his lips. "Okay, ROB, it's done," he radioed their robot navigator. "You can send over my wing now."
"As you wish, Fox," ROB answered cordially. "Remote guidance systems activated. Arrival time estimation: four minutes."
"Thanks, old pal."
"It is always my pleasure, sir."
The next four minutes turned out to be far less relaxing than the vulpine couple anticipated, for it was not long before Krystal began sensing a disturbance close by. Even when not deliberately using her innate telepathic abilities, a portion of it was always running in the background, giving her a much wider perception of what dwelt or lurked around her without being seen. It was not so obvious to her at first with all of the activity going on down here before she and Fox apprehended everyone, but a single ping of psychic distress persisted, even after the befallen silence.
While Fox was coordinating with ROB, Krystal began looking around once the ping became truly apparent. Not everyone here was incapacitated or dead. Strangely, Krystal traced this ping over to one of the large shipping containers situated at the holding bay closest to the cliffside―the only one that had been closed since they arrived. Finding this rather unusual, Krystal instinctively trudged over in its direction to investigate without Fox's awareness.
After finishing up his call with ROB, who was now contacting regional authorities to extract and detain all the remaining cronies, Fox finally realised that his wife was no longer by his side and was now wandering towards the cliff. "What's up?" he asked, quickly able to gauge she sensed something amiss by her body language as he jogged up to join her.
"There's someone else here," she informed a little spaciously, clearly preoccupied with using her telepathy more thoroughly. Able to sense Fox drawing his gun again, Krystal quickly put a hand on it. "No. Not an accomplice to these fiends," she stated, certain of that much. "It's coming from over there. By the container."
"Hiding?" Fox wondered, curious about this unfolding situation.
"I don't think…" Krystal's words trailed off as she began to squint her eyes, apparent to Fox that she was now picking up a much more informative psionic signal. Her face then suddenly changed to one of utter horror. "Someone's in there…"
Krystal took off faster than a LightFoot for the container. Fox ran closely behind her, already knowing that whoever they would find inside would not have a pleasant origin of being there. Krystal ran up the ramp to the platform where the container was fixed and placed both hands on the icy sealed door.
"Hello? Who's in there?" she called urgently to whoever was inside, pounding her hand on the door. Though muffled to a good extent, Fox could hear frantic shouting coming from inside in reply to Krystal's call. Where undecipherable voices failed her, Krystal's telepathy filled in the blanks, and her eyes grew wide as dinner plates as she listened―much to Fox's dread as he watched it happen. "It's a girl…"
Fox hardly needed further context to this, for he already knew a few reasons why a girl would be locked up in a crime boss's box of stolen goodies. "Stay calm. We'll get you out of there!" Krystal yelled back to whoever was in there, putting her face close to the door.
Krystal then began fiercely tugging on the latch that sealed to door to find it locked tight. Fox intended to help her in the process, but he realised that perhaps this was not the best course of action when he finally heard decipherable words screaming from inside the container. "No! Don't!"
In one second, all seemed steady, but the very next second, Fox and Krystal found themselves flung backwards as a series of hidden charges exploded around the outer rims of the container. They slid across the snow but were back on their feet in seconds to see the rocky surface beneath the platform fracturing as the plumes of fire subsided. The container itself was scorched but otherwise unharmed, however, its condition was hardly going to remain that way for much longer, for the ground beneath the platform began to split and fracture, showing obvious signs that the whole thing would give out and send the platform and the container it held careening down into the chasm over the cliff.
Figuring out how and why those charges were there was beyond Fox and Krystal's priorities, for they had to stop that metal prison from falling over and free the hostage. "Keep it from falling over!" Krystal shouted in a panic, tossing Fox her staff before running back to the door of the container. Fox understood what had to be done and extended the staff before running a few yards over to the side to give himself ample room.
While Krystal was attending to breaking the door open, Fox pointed Krystal's magic heirloom at the whole of the container and conjured a wavy stream of particles that encased itself around the hull of the container in almost a gel-like motion. This was one of the few new tricks that the staff had learnt in the recent past, and it was certainly a handy one in tense situations. As nifty as Krystal's staff was, it had its drawbacks in some instances.
The magic in it, once summoned and deployed for the desired usage, was a pretty radical thing, but it could come at the cost of the user's stamina. The more magic you summon, the more strain it puts on yourself. The staff may conjure magic, but it requires the user to breathe in as much life as they can feasibly share.
Nevertheless, Fox gave it his all as he maintained the field, holding the container steady while Krystal worked vigorously to unlock the door. Despite being in a hurry to save this girl's life, she still had to remain meticulous. Should she rush the lock-picking process, she risked breaking it entirely, ensuring the girl's death inside this casket.
She sensed too that Fox only had the strength to keep the container from falling and nothing else; there was bound to be loads of heavy cargo in there, adding to the overall weight, thus making the feat impossible. She could run to his side and put in her energy to strengthen his own, but she feared there was no time to do so. She sensed her husband's energy draining rapidly, corresponding with an unsettling dip in the container's positioning. This was a make-or-break moment for Krystal, but fortunately, the only thing that ended up breaking was the lock itself as she finally managed to disengage it.
She heaved the heavy doors open individually, Fox's arms began to tremble violently as his strength waned. He tried with all his might to stay standing, but he soon fell to his knee, unable to keep providing the amount of stamina the staff's magic demanded. "Krystal! Hurry!" he screamed, feeling he was moments away from giving out.
Krystal understood this perfectly and looked to the inside of the now-open container, which was packed with sturdy crates which one lone occupant was taking shelter behind, revealed only by the reflective glow of her irises. "Come on! You have to jump!" Krystal yelled to the hostage, who was panicking at the worsening situation, defaulting to an instinct to hide behind cover.
"I…! I can't―!" her plea was interrupted when the container briefly crashed down onto the crumbling ledge, making more rocks fall down the ravine. Krystal looked to see Fox in a state that resembled near-death, practically on both hands and feet as he honed in the last ounce of his strength to keep the container relatively levelled for just a few more seconds. She knew he would end up killing himself if it ended up giving the extra needed push, and Krystal could not afford to let that happen.
"JUUUUUUMP!" she shrieked at the girl in one last desperate force, just as much of a plea for the girl to save her own life as it was for her to save the life of her husband.
The girl inside then made a mad dash for the opening, just barely able to escape its mouth by a mere second before Fox finally lost control of himself and crashed into the snow. The girl flailed in midair for a terrifying moment, momentarily revealing to be a canid of some kind, and she would have still fallen to her death had Krystal not reached out and grabbed her arm and the very last second, stabilising herself with the help of her reactivated hover pack.
Dangling over the ledge, the two women dangled in silence as they watched the container descend into the black abyss below, followed by a sickening crash that occurred somewhere down in the depths of the darkness. The echo of the ensuing incident resounded across the narrow mountain ranges as the former hostage in Krystal's grip finally looked up to see her saviour. The two of them regarded each other for a moment; the girl was a slender border collie with brown and white fur, wearing nothing but a thin tattered skirt and a shabby top. Her nose was pink and speckled with several freckles, her triangular ears were long and drooped halfway over her forehead, and her enormous amber eyes hardly looked like they fit inside her skull as they looked up in disbelief.
Krystal had no desire to literally keep this girl hanging, so she retracted herself and her rescued captive back over the remaining leverage of the ledge with the aid of her gyrating hover pack. Both found themselves on their knees in the snow before each other, giving each other a moment to recollect themselves after a truly terrifying sequence of events as Fox regathered his strength as well, much to Krystal's relief. The girl's gaze had not deterred from Krystal's in the slightest, remaining intensely fixed on her like she was the most amazing thing she had ever seen.
Krystal likely was given the horrid circumstances that dared not ask about at the moment, and instead put her hand on the girl's shoulders. "Are you all right?" she asked, still heaving her chest a little as the adrenaline started subsiding. The unending stare and the silence that still accompanied it persisted as the girl yet answered her question. Her shock truly must have been great and perhaps would last a long while after such a harrowing escape from death, but Krystal still desired at least some responsive feedback. "Dear?" Krystal nudged gently, abruptly managing to break the girl's daze as she blinked profusely.
"I… I… Oh… Sorry, I just…" the girl stammered, her long ears folding down her head. Her voice was quite gentle and reserved, almost blending it with the breeze blowing around them. She looked like she was about to answer when she looked at her surroundings, taking key notice of the ruined worksite and all of the unmoving bodies lying around―taking special interest in the unconscious body of Rankous, and her face turned shocked all over again.
"You… You… What did you do?" she quivered, looking at Krystal desperately.
"He's of no worry anymore," Krystal reassured, rubbing the girl's shoulders tenderly as she tried to redirect the conversation back to her wellbeing. "Are you hurt in any way?"
That question was a broad one for sure, for it was obvious that quite a plenty had been afflicted on her, but the collie managed to state a current ailment. "I'm cold…"
Given how cruelly light her skimpy attire was, this was far from surprising. It had to have been freezing inside that box as well. Without a word, Krystal removed her thick wholly jacket and fitted it around the girl tentatively. She was wearing her thermal pilot's suit underneath, so she still had some resistance to the nipping mountain weather. "Thank you…" the girl shivered. Though the collie wasn't quite smiling, Krystal sensed her gratitude.
"Of course," Krystal said. "Now, who are you, dear? What's your name?"
"Faith," the girl answered, with a hint of reluctance. "I'm… I'm Faith."
Krystal smiled warmly. "That's a lovely name," she said. "Where are you from, Faith?"
"Corneria," Faith answered, her eyes getting a little wide again. "It's… I-It's a planet in the Lylat System."
Krystal pondered for a short moment. "Do you miss it?"
Faith began to shiver again, but Krystal was able to tell that it wasn't entirely due to the cold. "I… I do, ma'am. I really do…"
Krystal nodded silently. "Then say no more, Faith," she assured. "We're going to take you back."
A cascade of emotions suddenly flashed across the girl's muzzle. "You…would…?" she asked, tears already leaking from her eyes.
"You're going home."
It was those three words that shattered Faith completely. The monsoon of jubilation was simply too much for her and broke down in a bawling wail as if a tragedy had befallen her, but a miracle happened for once instead, and these were tears of pure joy. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you~!" she cried over and over again, almost tackling Krystal to the ground by how hard she embraced her, but the vixen's strong legs propped both of them up.
Krystal closed her arms around the weeping collie, coddling her weary head in contented silence. For her own sake, just as much as it was for Faith's, Krystal walled off her relatively new empathetic abilities that made her more sensitive to people's emotions. Krystal ran the risk of crying her eyes out in an identical manner to Faith if she didn't. Faith needed a stoic but supportive person to lean on at the moment.
Krystal allowed their new friend to unload years of withheld despair for a few moments longer, gently caressing the fur along the back of her head as Fox trudged across the snow to meet up next to her, dragging his wife's staff along. Krystal looked up and saw that Fox looked utterly drained, but his eyes sparkled like the stars as he looked on at what he was seeing. Even though he looked like he hadn't eaten in weeks, Fox remained quite the dreamy sight for Krystal.
"Well…how about that," Fox thought through their telepathic link, shifting his gaze to her with an exhausted smile. "Maybe coming to Kew was predestined to happen after all."
"I believe you may be right, Fox…"