Robin awoke with a groan as he began to take in his surroundings, the first thing that got his attention was the MASSIVE structure towering over him. He was in the middle of several moss covered pillars leading up to it, with some of them broken around halfway up. Above the entrance were three imposing statues; each one cloaked in robes with glowing eyes and a gem embedded into their heads… or were those supposed to be masks? Whatever the case they were round at the top, but they indented slightly upwards around the middle before forming a long chin that went down to their chests. These figures somewhat reminded the tactician of Validar which only made his situation even more uncomfortable, but Robin was given some relief when he made out the figures of his wife and their twins at the foot of the temple. They also took notice of him and beckoned Robin to join them, but as he did the sounds of battle could be heard in the distance.
"This is why we don't jump into strange looking Outrealm Gates Morgan." Robin sighed
"We should make our way inside the structure, it seems abandoned and it'll be easier to hide or defend ourselves from any potential combatants inside."
Lucina, Marc, and Morgan all agreed, with Morgan pouting a little over getting singled out. The family of four felt like insects in such a grand space. The ground went from grass to sand as they hurried through the light green and golden arches with an occasional room now and again, and after a few minutes the ground once again changed to stone that pulsated with an otherworldly aura, not soon after the walls began to do the same. As they approached the passageway's exit, they heard a feminine scream followed by hoarse yelling.
"For the last time, bring me the Spellstone!"
The first voice bellowed in pain before a cacophony of strange zapping noises drowned it out. A younger voice yelled in pain but before the quartet could see what was happening outside, they heard something running towards them from behind. It looked almost like a strange wyvern and horse mixed together but two or three times bigger with a blur of orange and blue on its back as it charged past them to the exit. Just where in Naga's name were they? As if that sight wasn't strange enough, as they reached the exit, they saw the same creature being attacked by numerous two legged reptiles with strange projectile weapons and clubs, a giant stone titan that bore the same mask/face as the statues from outside, and what appeared to be dead wyverns scattered all over the battlefield.
"We should stay away and not draw any attention to ourselves. We have no idea what's going on… Lucina?"
Robin saw his wife's gaze on the single wyvernlike creature flying away from one of the many that lay on the ground motionless.
"Robin, that creature's in pain, and the one that just passed us is being attacked from all sides. They seem to be allies and the weapons these lizards have are making the same awful noise we heard silence what may very well be the one the wyvern mourns for. We have to do something."
Robin just wanted to keep his family safe but he knew that Lucina had a point, and even if he objected it wouldn't stop her from running in to help, with the twins almost certainly in tow. The best thing for him to do was fight alongside them.
"Ok, but be careful. We have no idea what any of these creatures are capable of."
Lucina took point alongside Marc, both charging in with their blades drawn while Robin and Morgan readied their tomes to cover them. The strange reptiles were so focused on the large creature trampling their forces that they failed to notice Lucina and Marc until the former slashed one down the back while the latter ran another through. As the lizards turned Morgan cast Bolganone which summoned a pillar of flames so great it caught two other targets she hadn't even been aiming for.
"WOAH! Did anyone else see that?!" the younger girl exclaimed.
Robin nearly paused in awe of what his daughter just did, but the adrenaline rush of battle prevented him from stopping even for a moment. He saw two lizards moving to flank his wife and son, so he fired a burst of Thoron at them. The bolt of lightning was so massive the force of it threw him to the ground while the actual electricity itself atomized its unfortunate targets. At this point they had gotten the attention of both the lizards and the creatures said lizards were fighting, though the golem paid them no attention as it continued to attack whatever was closest to it. A voice from the stampeding creature called out to them.
"Whoever you are, try and focus on the Sharpclaw while we handle the Sentinel!"
"And let you have all the fun? No way, I'm going for that thing too!" Morgan yelled back as she readied her next spell.
"Morgan!" Robin yelled and got his daughter's attention "That thing could crush any of us with a single blow, but these allies of ours are able to outmaneuver it with ease so they have the best chance of taking it down. We need to focus on what we can do and protect your mother and Marc."
"Awwwwwwwww fine!"
"Also switch to weaker tomes, something about this place is amplifying our magical attacks and we don't want to hit the other two by mistake."
Morgan didn't need to vocalize her further displeasure for Robin to know she wasn't happy with his instructions, but he knew she'd listen. Lucina and Marc weaved through these Sharpclaw while Robin and Morgan picked off any that weren't too close to the sword fighters. The Sharpclaw were numerous but lacked discipline or even decent coordination with each other, they swung clubs or fired strange weapons with poor aim making them easy pickings for the family of warriors.
By the time the last of the Sharpclaw were finished, the stone Sentinel and the spirit controlling it had been vanquished as well. For the first time since they had seen these creatures, the quadruped one slowed down and the two smaller riders on its back were much easier to see.
"Are those Taguel?" Marc asked
"If they are either their beast forms are very humanlike, or their 'human' forms are very beastlike." his mother answered.
"Whatever they are, we should still be careful. We don't know anything about them or this world." Robin added
The family of four slowly approached where the large creature was beginning to stop. The two furred riders hopped off and the orange one began to speak.
"Dinosaurs, Spellstones, giant golems possessed by ghosts, and now strange hairless apes… what else does this crazy planet have in store?!"
Before Robin or Lucina could answer, the beast they were riding spoke up.
"Hey where's Kyte?"
"Did that thing just TALK?" Morgan blurted.
The blue mammal was about to interject before Lucina pulled Morgan aside and spoke to her daughter.
"I think we should give these four a moment dear. Look." Lucina pointed to their wyvernlike companion who was now roosting towards the center where the bodies of her kin lay.
"She's dead… she's… dead!" it sobbed over the lifeless body.
"Agreed." Robin turned to look at their supposed allies "Take the time you need, we'll introduce ourselves when you all are ready."
—
Once this wyvern or 'Cloudrunner' finished putting her mother to rest, the group found a place to make camp. After the fire was started (and Morgan was prevented from 'helping') a conversation began with the walking blue fox being the first to speak.
"Before we start, I just wanted to thank you for your assistance on behalf of the house of Randorn, regent of Sauria. My name Krystal of the house of Randorn, traveling with me is the Cloudrunner princess Kyte, the Earthwalker prince Tricky, and Fox; son of the great James McCloud: ace pilot of-"
"They get it Krystal. Now how about we let them say hello?" the other fox named… Fox cut her off.
Krystal seemed annoyed, but kept her feelings to herself.
"Ok, this is gonna take a lot of explaining." Robin began "My name is Robin, this is my wife Lucina and our two twins Morgan and Marc."
"Wait a second, they're your children? Unless your species ages incredibly slowly, they look barely any younger than you!" Fox interrupted again.
"Did they not teach you manners on Corneria? I apologize for my ally, he's not very polite." Krystal said as she bowed her head "Continue."
"That's what I was about to get to, they're our twins from another timeline. It's a long story how they ended up with us but that's not important. What is important is that the four of us all came to this world together through something called an 'Outrealm Gate' and we don't know how to get back."
"Is that why you helped us back in that temple, scratch our back and we scratch yours?" Fox questioned.
"Truthfully, I wanted to stay out of it. I'm not normally one to leave a situation like yours alone, but I was with my family in a strange world filled with combatants and weapons I've never seen anything like. I wanted to help but my first priority is to my family, it was my wife that forced me into action by running to your aid."
"Fair enough. Happy wife and all, but then why did she decide to help?"
"Must you always be so pessimistic? They helped because they're good… what is your species called?" asked Krystal.
"Most worlds refer to our species as 'Humans' though we've seen one that uses the name 'Beorc'." Lucina answered "Is your friend, I think you said her name was Kyte, is she going to be alright?"
Krystal's face fell as she responded "She just lost her mother after finally reuniting with her."
"Would it be ok if I spoke with her?" Lucina asked.
"It would, right this way." Krystal motioned to where Kyte was perched and Lucina walked over.
Fox, Krystal, and Robin continued talking while Lucina sat next to the Cloudrunner princess.
"May I sit here?"
Kyte just shrugged (or at least did what Lucina assumed was a shrug) and the blunette took a seat.
"I'm sorry about your mother. It's hard losing a parent like that."
A quiet 'thank you' was all Kyte responded with as she looked into the distance.
"I lost my mother when I was a child, but I didn't see it with my own eyes. I can't imagine what you must feel. If there is anything I can do to ease your burden please do not hesitate to ask."
"Does it stop hurting?" Kyte asked.
"No." Lucina replied "But it becomes easier to live with, and you meet new people to brighten the rest of your days."
"Thank you for your honesty… I'm sorry, what is your name?"
"Lucina, and I'm glad I could offer at least that. I'm going back to join the others at the fire, I'm sure they'd love for you to join when you're ready."
"I will."
Lucina stood back up and returned to Robin and the others. She could see the gears turning in her husband's head and she knew he had learned of a possible lead back home while she was with Kyte.
"So this 'Warpstone' might be able to help us?"
"Correct, and we're planning to head his way to gather the Earthwalkers in our fight against the Sharpclaw. We'd be happy to take you with us." Krystal answered.
"I'd better not be the one who has to carry them all!" Tricky yelled.
"Come on, you could totally carry the four of us. I barely even weigh anything!" Morgan huffed.
"I'm sure we'll all figure something out." Marc interjected "I saw some strange metal flying things with the Sharpclaw earlier. Fox, Krystal, would either of you know how to use them?"
"Heh, she's never even seen a hovercycle before. I could handle them if we get our hands on one again, but that means running into more Sharpclaw." Fox replied.
"Regardless, we'll figure something out." said Lucina.
"I agree." came Kyte from above, "We'll help you all find your way home, just like we'll stop General Scales and save Suaria."
The Cloudrunner gave Lucina a look of gratitude as she descended, and then all eight of them discussed how they would proceed in the morning.
I finally had an excuse to mix my childhood OTP with my adulthood one, it was fun writing the interactions between the two groups. Also big shoutout to UndyingNephalim for all the work he's put into Star Fox Event Horizon, I've posted a link to his channel and the video where this chapter takes place below. I'm also thinking of continuing this as for future Robcina Weeks or maybe even as its own thing, so that's something to look out for.
https/ UndyingNephalim/featured
https/watch?v=volPEJRHc6o =726s