Hey peoples!

I come from the Pokemon section, so therefore this is my first Star Fox piece. I've been noticing people saying that the section lacks good PantherxKrystal stuff, so since I like the pairing I thought I would give it a try. This is just a oneshot, but who knows? If people like this, I might write more.

Now please note that I haven't played the Star Fox games in a somewhat of a long time, so if some stuff in here isn't accurate just say so and I'll try to fix it the best way I can. If you also see any normal writing mistakes, just say so and I'll fix those too.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox.

-ooo-

Among the dark, isolated streets of Corneria a young blue anthropomorphic fox stood still, her hands grasping tightly onto her arms to preserve heat. It wasn’t long before she started to scowl herself for wearing her usual simple garments, which exposed most parts of her body and therefore allowed the cold winter that was enshrouding Corneria to blow across her fur.

Slowly raising her head she eyed the towering skyscrapers that were camouflaged among the dying day, the obsidian of the night enshrouding them in a veil of darkness. Then again, the lights of the other buildings reflected off of them, causing their windowed walls to light up with a gold hue. The loud roars of ships soared through the air as the flying vehicles flew by overhead, instantly reminding the blue fox – Krystal – of why she had come to a deserted park on the somewhat-outskirts of Corneria for.

Her comrade, Fox.

They both were members of the heroic team, Star Fox, who were protectors of the galaxy, or something like that – she didn’t really care at the moment. Instead she started to regret ever asking Fox on a date so they could spend time together, as it was quite obvious that he wasn’t going to come. As expected, or as always for that matter, the leader of Star Fox had let his job get the better of him – making him forget the special night that Krystal had been waiting impatiently for.

So now the young blue fox had been standing out in the cold of Corneria in the middle of the night, waiting for her comrade who wasn’t even going to come due to his forgetful attitude. She wouldn’t be surprised if he was in the middle of saving a planet on the other side of the galaxy, but despite his heroic deeds she couldn’t help but feel anger towards him for always letting her down.

She was even certain that he was beginning to push her away.

Krystal sighed, her exhale escaping her mouth in the form of a misty cloud. She knew that he wasn’t going to come; she knew that they wouldn’t be spending a fun night in the town together; she knew that she was going to be alone for another night, forced to go to bed early in the act of hiding her depression from her other teammates.

However, instead of leaving like her mind urged her to, she stayed still for a few more seconds, letting the last inch of hope she had left dissipate over time. Yet again she was giving him another chance, but, as expected, he wasted it.

She didn’t hate Fox – she could never hate him. Just the idea that they couldn’t be together because of the distraction of their jobs made her think that their supposed relationship wasn’t worth the hassles. In fact Krystal was quite convinced to break up with Fox right after she got back to the HQ, although her heart didn’t want her to.

Sighing once again, she told herself that he wasn’t coming, and therefore she turned around, ready to head out of the garden and back into noisy downtown Corneria to return to the HQ. She couldn’t do anything apart from that, right?

“What’s a lonely girl like you doing in an isolated place like this?”

Apparently not.

Krystal snapped around, her narrowed eyes peering into the shadows as she searched for the owner of the powerful voice. She knew it wasn’t Fox, but she was also aware that it could be an enemy, and therefore she backed away, although she displayed her bravery all the same.

It remained silent, as if the voice had been nothing but the wind, or a figment of her exhausted imagination. With her eyebrow still quirked Krystal relaxed her muscles, eyes still locked onto the night’s encompassing darkness.

She suddenly jumped back, though, when the firm, rich man-like figure of her rival, Panther Caruso, emerged from the darkness. The moon’s light bounced off his ebony fur, his yellow eyes glowing with brightness as his long tail swished around smoothly. A smirk was planted across his snout, his eyes expressing arrogance.

“You!” Krystal spat, her defensive mode of clenched fists revealing itself to the member of Star Wolf, who raised his gloved hands in defense, although he didn’t seem intimidated at the least.

“Calm down, rival,” Panther softly chuckled, his silver spacesuit somewhat illuminating the air around him. “I didn’t come here to fight.”

Krystal snorted in what seemed like disgust. “How are you even here, anyway? Last time I heard you had quite the bounty on your head.”

Panther nodded, a frown replacing his smirk as if he found Krystal’s words offensive. “Yes, but I am a panther, after all, so I know how to sneak around. What are you doing out here at this time of night?” For once Krystal could swear Panther’s voice wasn’t filled with anger or arrogance, but instead interest, as if he really did care on what she was doing.

“If you must know,” Krystal muttered, her voice filled with annoyance, “I’m waiting for Fox…or at least I was…”

“Ah, he left you out here, I assume?”

Krystal stared at him with repugnance, although she eventually nodded her head reluctantly.

To her surprise Panther’s glowing eyes flickered downward, as if he was in the act of pondering on something. An expression of caring and bewilderment covered his face, which left the blue fox wondering what was circulating through the panther’s mind that kept him silent for the next few seconds. In fact Krystal saw his hand twitch from behind his back, and she was certain that he was hiding something in it, therefore preparing her muscles for action in case it was to be a weapon of some sort.

Eventually Panther’s eyes shot upward so that he eyed Krystal, although his stare represented that of being disappointed of something, not arrogance. The blue fox swore that she could even see a hint of yearning among the goldenrod hue of his eyes; however, she didn’t bother to pursue the matter, though, as her trusting towards her rival was still at stake.

“I don’t think you deserve to be alone out here…”

Krystal’s eyes immediately turned to Panther, who was now eyeing her with implied softness, leaving her to wonder what caused the panther’s usual arrogance to suddenly dissipate.

The panther instead turned the other way, allowing Krystal to see the walkway that led into a jungle of gardens behind him. With his hand outstretched in that direction he turned to eye her with interest. “Walk with me?”

Krystal couldn’t believe her ears. Her arrogant rival comes out of nowhere in the middle of the night in Corneria, suddenly starts to act nice as if he pities her for her obvious predicament, and now wants to stroll with her? She was aware that the panther held feelings for her, but she had been convinced for a while that he would never bother to express them, mainly because she didn’t return them.

And also because they were rivals.

Rivals don’t fall in love. It's oxymoronic.

Nonetheless, with the fact that her supposed mate, Fox, showed no signs of ever showing up, her rival’s unique offer seemed even more interesting to take. Because of this Krystal absentmindedly nodded and followed her rival to the start of the garden trail, wondering on what would happen if she went in there with him.

Was this whole thing a trap – a simple act done to easily remove a member from the Star Fox team, or possible learn valuable information for Star Wolf’s gain? Or was Panther really having intentions of being nice to her for once?

Perhaps, Krystal thought as she allowed her rival to lead her into the gardens, that Panther assumed their rivalry on the field shouldn’t affect their actions outside of it. Perhaps he assumed that they could start a possible friendship on the sidelines of their work. Knowing his and her teammates, though, they would have to keep such a thing a secret.

“So how’s the team doing?” Panther eventually asked, his powerful voice lacking feeling. When Krystal turned to him she noticed that his eyes were closed as if he was mentally debating on something.

Krystal contemplated on answering the question, but since she didn’t want it to go awkwardly unanswered, she replied, “Uh, good. Yours?”

Panther’s eyes slowly opened, his face still deadpanned. If he was trying to perform anything devious he was doing a good job hiding it. “Alright, I suppose.”

In sudden interest Krystal turned her head to him. “What are you doing out here?”

Her rival remained silent for a while, although he eventually answered, “My teammates were bickering again back at the HQ, so I just got into my ship and left. I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t even notice my absence…”

“But why come here? It’s quite a risky move, seeing as how Corneria is highly populated.”

Panther shrugged. “The outskirts of this place are as isolated as a barren wasteland at night, so I like to come here at times to help free my mind. Ironic that I would run into you in the midst of it…”

This was the only time Krystal had ever gotten the chance to spend quality time with her rival, and she was already seeing a side to him she never knew existed.

All of a sudden, a soft melody started to play from one of the speakers hanging off of a dimming streetlight. It was static-like, yet its tune soared through the deserted air with ease. To Krystal it sounded like some sort of piano finish – a requiem for something, perhaps. However, her thoughts were subsided when Panther turned to her, holding out his hand in a gentleman-like manner.

“Would you like to dance?”

Krystal stared dumbfounded at her rival, her mouth slightly agape. Panther’s expression remained gentle, as if his rival’s actions wasn’t unexpected, and instead kept his hand out in the act of letting the offer linger.

Eventually, almost absentmindedly, her delicate hand fell into his, and he grasped it softly before leading her to the middle of the garden, which sported a large, elegant fountain.

As if she was dancing with a ghost, Panther led Krystal slowly twirling across the cobblestone flooring of the garden, her feet moving to his, their gazes locked. With hands tied together they both moved their bodies elegantly to the rhythm of the piano music, their silence allowing the music to enshroud them with no troubles. It wasn’t long before Krystal got lost into the moment, a smile forming across her snout as her eyes gazed into the gentle ones of her rival. As sapphire merged into goldenrod the two rivals danced across the garden, appearing professionally trained despite that these actions were new to both of them.

“I’ve always loved the piano,” Panther commented quietly, his voice seeming to trail off with the song as it ended. Krystal remained silent, too mesmerized from his glowing gaze to respond, as he led her back into the large fountain section of the garden. Then, almost reluctantly releasing her hands from his soft grasp, he allowed Krystal to shake her head and escape her hypnotized state.

“Wow,” was all she softly mumbled after a while, earning a gentle chuckle from her rival. “I didn’t know you like music and dancing…”

“I’ve always loved it,” Panther replied, eyes gentle. “There’s a lot more to me than from what you see on the battlefield.”

She definitely had to agree with that.

“Why, though?” she asked. “Why are you being so nice to me?” After her examination of the recent moments she couldn’t come up with a plausible reason to why her rival’s change of heart, apart from the obvious conclusion of trying to get her to fall in love with him. But he was already aware that she didn’t return his feelings, and that she already loved Fox, so why bother?

Panther’s eyes turned downward, his mouth slightly contorting into that of pure sadness, although his expression lightened somewhat when he brought his eyes back to her. “I just didn’t think you deserved to be out here all alone…”

Somehow Krystal was certain that wasn’t the whole story.

Nonetheless a soft smile erupted from her snout. “Thank you, Panther,” she then cooed.

Panther sighed through his nostrils as he lowered his hand to remove the object from his pocket that Krystal had wondered about earlier. He held the beautiful object to her nose, and her eyes somewhat widened at realizing that it was…

…a rose?

Indeed that’s what it was, a large red rose with dew still covering its damp petals, and the thorns perfectly cut off from its long stem. A scent of wet freshness radiated from it.

“For you…” Panther then mumbled, arrogance seeming to return to his tone slightly, although lingering gentleness still remained.

Krystal shot a bewildered glance at him before slowly taking the delicate flower, holding it in her hands as if it was something of great importance. She froze when Panther suddenly leaned in, allowing the silky fur of his cheek to rub against hers as he softly whispered in her ear, “Don’t forget me.”

And with that he pulled back, suddenly departing from her and making his way down the deserted road, no doubly to the location of his ship – The Black Rose. All Krystal could do was stare surprisingly at her rival as he disappeared over a hill, his hand raising to give her a backhand wave. It wasn’t long before the night’s darkness swallowed him up.

All Krystal did afterwards was stare dumbfounded at the rose resting in her hands – the signature object of her panther rival. Eventually, though, a soft smile graced her lips, a blush rising from her cheeks.

Maybe rivals falling in love isn’t so oxymoronic after all.

-ooo-

That was fun. Was it good for my first PantherxKrystal?

Anyway, review if you can.