"Fox…you saved me…"
"You…never let me down…do you Fox?"
"That voice…why won't it stop? Why won't it just leave me alone?"
"Fox…I completely understand how you must feel…merely the fact that you were no longer alive gave me almost the exact same feeling."
"I don't want anything like this to break us apart ever again Fox."
"You…get out of my head. Your voice, it's…not real, it's just an illusion…"
"…But now, through the predictions of an ancient scroll and fate's desire, I think I've found the one that I will pass my parents gift on to…"
"Stop it…right now. I don't want to hear anymore…I don't want to remember…"
"Fox, I want to remain by your side for as long as my life lingers within this galaxy. And I…would take it as the utmost honor if you would take me as your wife. Not only so that we may stay together for as long as we live, but so that as time continues to slip through our fingers as it has, we may look back and be content in that we were able to share it with one another."
"Fox…my love…don't ever give up. I…eagerly look forward to the day…when we are reunited…but until that day comes…remember…I love you, Fox McCloud…don't ever forget that…"
"Shut up! I'm not going to take this from you anymore! No matter what I do I'll…"
The vulpine abruptly cut himself off as he now found himself standing, his fist clenched tight at his side. There was a combination of rage and sorrow flowing through him as he gazed desperately out his large bedroom window, a perfect view of the rising Cornerian sun resting beyond its clear surface. His focus eventually strayed from this sight, instead placing it on the mountains that sat peacefully in the distance, their surfaces reflecting brilliant colors as the gentle rays of the sun reflected off their snowy and distant faces. This seemed to anger the vulpine even further, just as it had every morning since that day. He quickly turned from the window, disgusted by the sight that lay beyond, and placed his focus instead on the firmly closed fist that sat at his side. For a moment, he remained in this spot, his mind devoid of anything accept this overwhelming anger that he felt within himself. But suddenly, the fingers that sat within his furry palm suddenly loosened, his anger seeming to vanish as soon as it had come. He raised his hand up to his face, seeing the red marks he had left due to the great compression his fingers had been under. This was all he knew, this feeling of desperation, hopelessness. These strange fits of anger and sorrow that were now so familiar to him, they all came from that single moment, one that, despite how hard this vulpine may try, would never leave him. With a quiet and frustrated sigh, he lowered his hand back to his side, speaking under his breath as he did so.
"No matter what I do, I'll always be alone…"
Team Star Fox in:
A JOURNEY APARTChapter 1: A Team Divided
"Great, that was perfect! We'll take those cuts and send them to our studio. While we get that ready, you can prepare for your final shoot for the day, alright? We'll be waiting for you at Location 7."
She gave a passive nod as she exited her pose and regained her regular posture. Shortly after doing this, she quickly walked across the large studio floor, several animals giving her approving nods and compliments as she passed by. She did nothing in retaliation to this however; there was no reason for her to do so. Having been in this type of business for so long, she knew she had fans, even among her co-workers, and taking the time to stop and chat to these fans was never one of her favorite things. So instead, she merely continued walking until she found the reprieve of her generously large dressing room.
Once inside, she was met by her personal crew of stylists and designers, each of them showing the pink feline with praise as soon as she set foot in the room. To this praise the feline was much more receptive, due mostly to the fact that she had a more professional relationship with each of these girls. The feline let off a grateful smile as she made her way towards her makeup station, quickly removing whatever powder and other highlights remained on her face from the previous shoot. As she did so, one of the felines associates approached her and commented calmly, "Alright Katt, your next shoot is at Location 7. You shouldn't have much of a problem there, that's your forte shot, isn't it?" The pink feline turned slightly from the mirror, speaking quietly as she continually ran a slightly moist cloth against her face to remove whatever makeup still remained, "Ya, Location 7, that was my first cover shot, the one that made me famous." She paused slightly before continuing on as she reached back into her not to distant memories, "It's hard for me to believe, but it's almost been a whole year since then. Isn't it crazy how that works?" Her assistant nodded with a smile, continuing on with that same smile, "When I first saw you, I never thought this would be possible, not after all you went through on that mission with the Star Fox Team. I didn't think…" Katt abruptly stood in a successful attempt to stop this animals speech, after which she quickly commented in a voice that had become suddenly angry, "Hey, I don't really want to hear about that right now. It's in the past and we don't have to talk about it, ever. Alright? Let's just get ready for this next shot so we can go home." The feline's assistant watched hesitantly as her suddenly irritated client walked off to another part of the room, but despite the slight confusion that had arisen within this animal due to Katt's sudden outburst, she quickly forced these thoughts from her head as she followed a short distance behind her client.
The feline easily made her way towards another section of the somewhat large room, quickly finding herself surrounded by several greatly varying styles of cloths and mirrors that sat in a slightly disorganized fashion throughout the entire space. Katt purposefully made her way past the more disheveled parts of this room towards the far wall, where a few of her designers stood, each looking in her direction with subtle anticipation in their eyes. Almost immediately after the pink feline walked within speaking distance, one of the designers stepped forward, holding out a small article of clothing in her arms as she spoke in a voice that mirrored her expression, "Hey Katt, I heard from the director that this next session will be the debut shoot of your new fashion line, isn't this just so exciting?" Katt merely nodded, never having been the one to outwardly display any type of emotion, and commented shortly after, "Ya, I've been waiting for this for a long time. I mean, we've been working on this for a while now, I figured it wouldn't be long before that director of ours finally gave us the thumbs up." As the feline finished, she looked down towards the small piece of clothing that the animal held in her arms and questioned flatly, "So this is that new swimsuit we designed, right?" Her associate nodded happily, speaking out shortly after in a cheerful tone, "Yep, this is the one. It's been a drawing for so long, but now we can finally see what it looks like in person. Why don't you change and see how it looks, then you can head over to Location 7 and take those last few shots for the day." Katt made no reply, but merely took this small piece of clothing in her own hands and quickly made her way behind a small curtain-concealed room that sat at the very end of her large dressing room.
Once fully behind the protection of this curtain, she promptly shed the cloths that she had worn during her previous session, feeling greatly relieved as she did so due to the fact that they had made her feel slightly warmer than her liking. It was at that moment that it all came back to her, just the mere mention of that mission had now consumed her thoughts completely. The feline looked a short distance towards a full-body mirror that sat within this small curtained room, seeing nothing but her own almost completely bare figure in its reflection, but at that same moment, she found that the reflections in her mind came in a greatly different form. It was as if it had all become fresh in her mind, as if that whole ordeal had only happened a few days ago, causing this feline's focus to hesitate as it all flooded back into her thoughts. As strange as it seemed, the feline seemed almost overwhelmed by this sudden resurgence of her memory, and with a slight amount of difficulty, she took a few hesitant steps towards an undersized bench that sat within this small changing room, upon which she quickly took a seat. Katt then eagerly leaned her head back against the wall that sat immediately behind this small bench as she tried to center herself, but not unlike her similar attempts in the past, it served to be too great a challenge for her to overcome. At this point, she leaned her head away from the wall and instead placed it inside her hands, her mind quickly became enveloped in those memories, ones that she had tried so hard to forget ever since that day, the day when Fox McCloud returned.
I can't believe it. I can't believe…that got brought up, just when I thought I finally had it out of my system. I guess there's just no way around it though, I'll never be able to forget all the stuff that happened on that mission. Not that I really had any part in the end, but it's wasn't really the mission itself that was hard for me to get over, it was what happened when Fox came back, after he had defeated that Scales guy and returned to Corneria. I remember him walking off that gangway, pretty much the entire planet had come to see him…and not just to cheer him on because he had saved the galaxy again, they wanted to see with their own eyes that Fox had somehow come back to life. Pretty much everyone figured he was gone forever, but there he was in all his glory. There was something different about him then, something I'd never really seen in McCloud before. Even though the entire planet rolled out the red carpet for him, he seemed…distracted, maybe even a little sad, despite all that was happening around him. I didn't know it then, but he had lost something during the time he was away. Maybe no one noticed it because of the successful mission, or maybe everyone was too surprised by Fox's revival to even remember, but there was another member of our team, and she never walked off that ship…
Katt hesitated in her thoughts slightly as she realized a small amount of sweat accumulating on her face and her furry palms. Immediately after realizing this, she quickly removed her hands from their current position and quietly rubbed them against each other, gradually eliminating the moisture that lingered within. After doing this, she leaned her head against the wall that sat behind her, staring up at this small room's ceiling with a hesitant sigh as her thoughts continued on.
I guess just the fact that I'm thinking back to that day is gettin' me kinda tense, but everyone was that day…well, everyone on the team anyway. Everyone else on Corneria pretty much had one huge party because of the fact that Fox defeated Scales. But then that's where it got kind of weird to me. Even though all this was going on, Fox wasn't anywhere near any of the celebration. Actually, I don't think anyone had seen him since he'd walked off the Great Fox. It didn't really matter though, the planet just kept partyin' without McCloud, and I guess no one really cared. Well, they might not have, and maybe the crew just wanted to leave him alone, but I was worried about him. I mean, there'd been times on that mission where Fox had helped me with problems…and I thought that maybe I could do the same for him, maybe I could help him like he helped me. It took almost five full days of searching, but I finally found out where he was. McCloud was living in a really secluded part of Corneria on a huge property, of course, this place was really out of the way, but I still wanted to see him, not like I really had anything better to do back then anyway. I was really surprised by how big his place was when I arrived, I mean, for a guy living on his own, I didn't think you'd need a mansion, but with all that money, I guess he could do whatever he wanted. I walked up to the front door and rang his doorbell, having absolutely no idea what to do if he actually answered. It took a while, but after a few minutes I heard the door slowly open, and then I saw him standing there, his face looking exactly like it did when he got off the Great Fox. It right there, looking at McCloud's bummed out face, that I realized something. This was exactly how…she had looked when we all thought Fox was dead. His expression never changed when he saw me standing there, he just shook his head and turned around, closing the door behind him without saying a word. It's been almost an entire year since that day, and no one's heard from McCloud since…
"Hey Katt, is everything alright in there? Do you need some help or something?"
The pink feline abruptly snapped from her thoughts, quickly remembering that her day still wasn't over. She hastily stood up and replied calmly as she removed what little clothing still remained on her body, "No, it's alright, I'll be out in a second." Almost immediately after saying these words, she found herself garbed in her new outfit, the first of her soon to be released fashion line. She gave a quick look over towards the mirror that sat within this small room, checking to make sure it met her expectations. She found herself now garbed in a white, one-piece swimsuit. One that was accented by both a large empty oval that had been removed from the back of the swimsuit, making the entire area of fur above the top of her hip and the bottom of her neck completely visible, as well as a well-sized cut-out diamond shape that sat in the middle of her chest, exposing that area with not the most modest of coverage. It took the feline only seconds to give herself the once over, and after finding the outfit to her liking, she quickly stepped free from the small changing room to reveal the design to the rest of the room.
Almost immediately upon doing so, Katt was met with several of her associates, all of whom began showering her with complements. The feline may have responded back to them all with a smile, but her mind was no longer solely focused on these things, but rather, her mind wandered back to the place it had been only seconds ago, a place within which she found a strange type of comfort.
I wonder what Fox thinks of me now…now that I'm one of the most famous animals on Corneria…or maybe he hasn't even noticed at all. I know he's out there, I know he's probably still trying to deal with her death, but I'm gonna be the one to change that. One of these days, I'm gonna find a way to help McCloud. It's the least I can do after all he's done for me…Just wait a little bit longer Foxboy, don't give up on me yet. She might be gone, but you still have me. I hope that'll be enough to get you through this…
(Inside East Docking Bay 2)
The large doors of this recently erected hangar slowly opened, allowing entry for a ship that appeared only to be slightly smaller than the Great Fox in size. It was only seconds after this ship came into sight before it gently landed inside this large docking bay, the doors it had just entered through coming to a close as well. For a few moments, nothing happened. Nothing besides a few excited screams and yells that erupted from a large crowd of animals that stood impatiently outside the docking bay, each of them waiting eagerly for the emergence of their new hero.
It was not long after this ship first came into view that the crowd finally got what they had come to see. A narrow gangway slowly extended up from the floor, soundly attaching itself shortly after onto a section that sat mid-way up the hull of the impressive vessel. Once this was completed, a small door opened from just above this newly appeared gangway, and almost immediately after, the crowd could see several shadowed figures approaching the now open surface of the ship's hull. It was at this moment that the comparatively calm outbursts of the crowds suddenly erupted into uncontrollable cheers and shouts as these formerly shadowed figures walked into the light, giving everyone that stood in the crowd a glance of their new hero, one whose blue feathers and cocky expression seemed to perfectly complement the ship he had just exited.
This avian stood center stage for only a moment, waving at his many adoring fans as he did so, after which he began to slowly walk down towards the floor of the docking bay, allowing the few animals that stood behind him to exit as well. The blue avian was trailed most closely by a familiar green toad, who was then followed by only two other animals. One of these animals was a generically colored female wolf, one that by merely the expression seen on her face made it evident how much she loved the attention. Shortly after her arrival, another female member emerged, this time it being a young tiger, her fur being that of a pure white color with the occasional black stripe emerging from the parts of her body her uniform did not cover. This animal seemed to linger behind the group instead of walking with them, making it easy to tell that attention from so many people was not as desirable for her as it was for the first few crewmembers. Despite this, it was only a matter of seconds before all four animals completed their walk down the gangway, and once they had, the crowd of cheering animals quickly tried to push their way closer, each wanting a better glimpse of this brave band of heroes.
This group of animals cautiously made their way through the wave of both supporters and newscasters towards a parked limousine that sat only a few feet from the docking bay. They were making relatively good time through the mass of animals, but about halfway to their intended destination, this teams leader stopped walking, his attention squarely focused on a group of attractive fan girls, who had each been eagerly calling his name ever since he emerged from the ship. He let off his trademark smirk as he spoke to these animals, "Hello ladies, it was nice of you to come out and see me tonight. Anything I can do for you?" Upon hearing this, every single one of these over-anxious females began to giggle uncontrollably, which several of them followed up by holding out their own copy of a large poster, each with a different picture of their favorite avian. Falco nodded and quickly revealed a small permanent pen from a pocket of his uniform, never being the one to be caught unprepared for his fans. The avian took each one of these posters and quickly signed each of them, the fan girls continuing their giggling the entire time he did so. After finishing, he returned each of their posters with his completed signature, and shortly after doing so, one more of the fan girls pushed her way to the front, asking in a somewhat seductive tone of voice, "Hey Falco, you think you could sign my shirt for me? I'd really appreciate it." The avian's smirk seemed to widen as this female made the offer, his response coming shortly after in a restrained yet eager sounding voice, "Sure babe, Falco's gonna make all your girlfriends back home jealous, alright?" The female animal nodded and willingly allowed the blue avian to craft his signature squarely on the chest of her shirt, which both of the animals seemed to be enjoying to a great extent. Once finished, the avian gave a slight chuckle before adding, "You've got a nice body babe, maybe we should hook up later and get to know each other a little better." The animal let off a soft giggle, but said nothing as Falco gave a slight wave of his hand to this group of fan girls and continued on his way, along with the rest of his crew, towards the curb that sat just outside the docking bay.
None of the animals that followed the avian seemed to be in the least disturbed by his actions. Perhaps at first they had been, but after assuming the role as leader of this newly assembled team, the avian had begun to take a much greater interest on the female population. And because of the avian's increasing fame, the female population was also becoming more interested in him, allowing the blue avian almost instant access to any girl he wanted, which he often times took complete advantage of. Whether it be during a mission to another planet, or if he was just walking around his home planet of Corneria, he almost had the ability to point to a girl and instantly capture her heart, and because of this, Falco had quickly gained the reputation of being a complete ladies man. Many on Corneria, as well as the rest of the universe, found his acts to be completely disrespectful, not only for himself and the women he constantly found himself with, but for the planet of Corneria itself. Falco of course did not find himself too greatly concerned about their opinions, finding that there was little anyone could do to stop him because of his lofty status. So because of all of this, there was nothing for the animals that accompanied him to do but accept the avians new personality and move on.
It was no more than a few seconds after Falco's momentary delay before they found themselves standing in front of their intended destination, that being the patiently idling limousine that sat on the edge of the wide Cornerian street. With little hesitation, each animal that belonged on this new team slowly filtered into the craft, all of them leaving the still cheering crowd behind as the previously open door to the vehicle came to a solid close behind them.
Once inside, the four animals immediately found themselves face to face with General Pepper, but not in person, rather his face was seen thanks to a large flat screen that sat at the opposite end of the craft, allowing all the animals that now sat within the limousine a perfect view of their General. As the vehicle gradually began to hover away from the docking bay, General Pepper spoke in a subtly pleased sounding voice, "Welcome back to Corneria you four. Judging on what I've heard from my secretary, you're mission was a success. Let me be the first to congratulate you all." Falco nodded towards the screen, responding in a slightly arrogant voice, "Thanks Pepper, but don't make it sound like it was such a big deal. You just send us that check and we'll take that as your thanks." General Pepper's face cracked as a slight smile broke across his brown, furry visage, which he followed up shortly after by speaking in a tone that matched his amused look, "Of course Falco, I know much better than to go without repaying our debts to you and your team. Your fee should arrive at your team's headquarters within the next few days." The General paused for a moment, his expression seeming to quickly fade as he did so, continuing on shortly after in a much more solemn sounding voice, "I'm greatly relieved to find that this ordeal is finally over. It has been over a year since we first got word of these controls, but now every one of those unfortunate planets have finally been freed. It seems like such a long time ago since…" It was at this point that Falco abruptly cut off the General with his own defensive words, not liking where his train of speech was headed, "That's alright Pepper, we took care of the problem so we can just forget about the whole mind control thing, alright?"
After these words were spoken, there was a brief silence held within the limousine, every animal that sat within seeming to be surprised at the sudden emotion the avian had just displayed. But even so, it was very understandable, even coming from Falco. Both he and Slippy had been on the original mission to end these very same mind controls, and the memory of their former leader returning from that mission after having defeated General Scales almost an entire year ago was still imbedded in their minds. No one had seen him since then, nor had anyone even heard of where he had gone after departing from the Great Fox that day. The only thing they knew was that he was gone, and they would probably never see him again.
If there was one animal inside that limousine that could understand the now deep-rooted unrest that came as a result of all of this, it was General Pepper. He took the opportunity to break this silence, concluding in an even voice, "Yes, it would be best if we just placed this entire ordeal behind us. All we can do now is look forward and hope for the best. So for now, I want all of you to return to your headquarters and get some rest. There are no missions of outstanding importance at the moment, so I would like for you all to relax, you've earned it. I'll contact you if anything comes up. Pepper out." With those words, the screen faded out, leaving nothing but a black void present on the large monitor.
Because of this, the animals that sat within this craft were left to nothing but the sound of the quickly passing scenery and the vehicle's running engine. Both Falco and Slippy held their heads down, their focus seeming to be diverted to what General Pepper had brought up about the past year. Because of this, the wolf, who had been observing the ordeal in silence hesitantly stood up from her seat and made the short journey over towards the seats that were located opposite of herself, shortly after taking a seat next to the tiger, who had also been silent during the time of General Pepper's words. There was only a brief moment of stillness between them before the wolf slowly leaned over towards the tiger and asked in a whisper, "Hey Kaya, did you catch any of that? Sound's like Falco gets a little emotional when that guy McCloud gets brought up. You have any idea why?" The white feline did nothing but shake her head in silent response, which spurred the former animal to continue on, "No idea? I can't really figure it out either. You think maybe McCloud owes our captain some money or something?" The tiger remained silent, merely shrugging her shoulders in reply. The gray and white canine shook her head as she looked back at her leader, adding shortly after, "Huh…well, I know that guy better than anyone else on this planet, but I've never seen him get so worked up about something like this. Maybe I should go ask him…" There was a short moment of inaction from the wolf as she said this, but only seconds after she once again stood from her seat, making her way towards a different place within the limousine.
After a few short steps, she had successfully found a seat directly next to her avian captain. Despite the fact that she sat only inches from him, he still did not look up from his comatose stare. After noticing this, the wolf reached out with her arm and wrapped it around the back of his neck, hoping that it would bring him out of his inactive state. This action did prove successful, but as she saw him give a slight jump as a result of the sudden contact, the wolf could not help but let out a surprised chuckle, as if that was the last thing she would have expected from him. He looked over at her with a perturbed glance, only to have it melt immediately after with a hint of embarrassment. The canine's smirk held as she spoke, "Wow Falco, what was that? You nervous or something? I mean, I've never seen you act like this the entire time I've known you. What's wrong babe?" Falco hesitated a moment, not sure what he could say. But it was only seconds after this initial hesitation before he answered with a smirk of his own, "Ah, it's nothing. Just having a little flashback for a minute there." The wolf wasted no time in replying after the avian finished, "A flashback? About what? Are you thinkin' about the old team from a while back?" Falco once again hesitated slight before answering, but did so shortly after in a voice that did not falter, "Ya, I guess so. It's been a while since I've seen Fox, I was just thinkin' what the heck he's doing now a days. I mean, no one's heard from him for a good piece of time and I'm just…"
Before he could finish, the wolf retracted the arm she held around Falco's neck, bringing his head somewhat abruptly against her shoulder as she spoke, "Hey, don't worry about that past. You can't change any of that. Pepper even said so, and you can't sit there and tell me that the good General has a better head on his shoulders than you. Come on baby, you gotta cheer up. You're gettin' everyone depressed in here, and right after that great mission we had too." The avian paused for a moment, giving himself the chance to think on his teammates words, and shortly after, a smirk once again broke across his face. In one abrupt motion, the avian's head shot free of the wolves shoulder, an action that was followed immediately after by Falco using his own arms to quickly reign her head into his chest, speaking shortly after in a voice that seemed to have lost it's more quiet demeanor, "Heh, you're right Ayame, I got enough to worry about now, so it's really not even worth the time to worry about what happened back then. Besides, I'm sure McCloud can take care of himself just fine." The wolf, who had only been partially listening to the avian due to the fact that her grunts and yelps that resulted from her trying to escape from Falco's grasp had hindered her from hearing much at all, gave up on her futile efforts to free herself and said in a playful voice, "Ya sure, just wait until we get back to headquarters before you get too aggressive, alright? I don't know if you want to get carried away in front of everyone." At these words, the avian released Ayame's head and said in passive submission, "Alright, whatever, just be ready for me when we get back to HQ and we won't have a problem." The wolf rolled her eyes, but no response, leaving the limousine in silence once again as it slowly drifted across the peaceful streets of Corneria.
(The Spirit Realm)
A never-ending expanse of gently flowing blue, that was all anyone could see. It was not an unfamiliar place to her, but it was one that she had not wished to see so soon. It seemed like so long since that day, she had no idea how long, but she did know one thing. It had been too long. Too long since she had seen anything but this endless blue, too long since she had been able to feel the ground beneath her feet, too long since she had seen him. Months, years, centuries, all terms that seemed to have to purpose to this abandoned vixen. She had been alone for so long, it was almost as if time no longer mattered. All she knew was this eternal sea of blue, a color that could not better describe her feelings. Every fleeting moment without him, every second that passed seemed like an eternity. This desolate feeling of loneliness that she had never before known, it was now commonplace as she sat, her head buried in her arms as the tears flowed without ceasing. It had always been that way, ever since she came to this place, a place that she had so often seen in her dreams. But this time there would be no escape from this place; she could not merely open her eyes and be gone from this place. She was stuck here with no way to leave, that is, there was no way for her to leave by her own will. The only one that could save her from this loneliness existed somewhere below, the one she had been crying for all this time, herself longing to find herself once again among his warm, calming presence. And as time passed, that feeling continued to grow stronger, her mind and body wanting nothing more than to be freed from this place and find their way back to him, but as of now, that was nothing more than a distant reverie. And so, as her memories continued to plague her, the vixen could do nothing but go on shedding more hopeless tears, knowing that there would be no one coming to comfort her in this dreadful place, surrounded in blue.
Suddenly, as if in her imagination, a gentle voice echoed towards her. Not once, but twice did she hear this entity, and a third time as well. Her tears ceased to fall as she heard this quiet voice calling out to her. After a great amount of hesitation, the vixen raised her head from her now tear-soaked arms, slowly scanning the area to find who was calling out to her, and it took little time for her to discover who. Almost immediately after opening her eyes, she noticed two faintly distinct figures approaching her from a short distance away. Through her tear-ridden eyes, she could not effectively identify these figures, but after wiping them clear with whatever part of her hands that still remained somewhat dry, she could easily tell who these figures were.
The vixen hesitated slightly as she recognized these approaching figures, which was followed shortly after with a somewhat clumsy attempt to stand. After successful doing so, she could only watch on as they continued to advance toward her even further, until these two almost imaginary figures stood nothing more than a few feet in front of the vixen. It was here that she took her first steps within this sacred realm, closing the distance between herself and these newly appeared entities as she spoke in a fatigued tone of voice.
"Mother…Father, I'm…I cannot stand it. If this is the place of Cerinian rest…why must I endure…all of these emotions…why do I feel tired…?"
The vixen's departed parents looked upon her with great sympathy, as if they wanted to reach out and help their child, but strangely enough, they did not. Her Father shook his head, his eyes seeming to reflect the news he was about to impart on his daughter. He took a single step forward, as if her were about to reach out and take her in her arms, but this is where he stopped, speaking in a voice that seemed to hold no emotion at all.
Daughter, it is so good to see you again…even if this is not the greatest of circumstances. Your mother and I are very proud of what you have done for the universe…
This time is was the vixen's turn to shake her head at her Father, speaking a voice that seemed almost slightly irritated, "You…do not want to tell me. Why am I like this? Why do I carry on…after all you told me about this…terrible place? How come I am not…at peace here?"
The vixen's mother closed the distance between herself and her husband, causing the young vixen's attention to be drawn to her. When this illusionary figure saw the glare her daughter was giving her, it seemed as if it was impossible to try and protect her from the truth any longer. The vixen's mother lowered her head, speaking in a quiet and somewhat regretful voice shortly after.
It is true that the Spirit Realm is a place of Cerinian rest, but you, my daughter, are not yet a part of us. You may reside with us, you may be able to converse with the residents of this place, but there is one thing that you do not share with us of the Spirit Realm, and that is simply the fact that you are not dead. It is as if you are living in an eternal dream, or in your case, an eternal nightmare.
The young vixen was greatly taken aback by her Mother's words, even though she did not fully understand what that meant. An eternal dream, one that she could not exit no matter how hard she struggled. It was not completely clear, but she did understand one thing, she wanted out. The vixen's expression faded from that of aggression to more of a look of hidden desperation, an expression that perfectly matched her tone of voice as she spoke in reply, "If I am not dead, as you say, then why am I here?"
This question was quickly answered by the vixen's Father, which he did so in a simple voice.
You are here, my daughter, because this is where Fox needs you the most. You see, in the realm of the living, there exists a evil so great, that it is impossible for any you reside there to destroy it. Perhaps it has appeared to have been done away with, but each time it reappears, as if nothing ever happened. That is because he, or rather, his spirit resides in both realms. Because of this, he is able to reek havoc on both worlds, and no one will ever be able to stop him. That is, until you appeared. The cooperative effort of yourself and Fox McCloud is the only thing that can truly destroy this evil...a force that we here in the Spirit Realm have come to know as Andross.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Yo! Dis is mixmaster FoxMC thowing some new, totally phat Star Fox action in yo grill! It's gonna be sick dawgs! Yep, and man it feels good writing some good ol' Star Fox fanfiction. I'm really looking forward to this new story; I think I've got some great stuff in store for the readers. Anyway, the team sure is different these days, eh? This chapter was pretty much just a glance at what the heck happened to everybody between EotF and this story. I hope I made everyone hate Falco! I love to make people hate Falco! Or maybe you like him like this…uhh, that's cool too I guess. I don't know how long updates will be this time around, but don't be surprised if it's a month or more between updates. School and stuff, sorry.
What's Your Opinion?
In my quest for finding a better way to get the readers involved in my stories, I have decided to set up a little something for you to give me feedback on. It's easy, I'll give you a fewquestions and give you a few answers. In your review, just give me your answers. Depending on how many of each answer I receive will determine how the characters, missions, and maybe even the story itself is shaped. Not only will this allow the readers to feellike they aremore a part of the story, but I'll also force me to be more creative as an author to comply with what the readers prefer. Enough explaining, let's get down to it!
1. What's your opinion on OC's?
A. If they're well-developed and have personality, they're alright.
B. I don't want new characters added to the Star Fox universe.
C. OC's are usually lame and underdeveloped, I don'tlike em' at all.
D. I don't care.
2. What's your opinion on Fox and Krystal being apart?
A. You retard, that's the stupidest thing I've ever seen in a story.
B. That wasn't cool, but I can deal with it I guess.
C. I guess it kinda adds to the drama of the story, so it's alright.
D. It was a good idea, but I can't wait for them to be reunited.
E. I don't care.
3. What's your opinion on the content of this story?
A. I like a more storyline heavy story, it doesn't bother me that much that there's not much action.
B. This story is too innocent, where's all the blood and stuff?
C. We need more playas like Falco in this story!
D. More action would be cool, maybe lose a little bit of the descriptions and dialogue, they just seem to slow the story down.
E. I don't care.
MAIL CALL: Well, since it's the beginning of a new story, I'm only answering the reviews I got that had a question in them, because I can just say thank you to the rest of you…
Fenrir Hellfyre
Dude, I'm Bane. Just so you know. Man, it seriuosly sucks that Krystal had to die. Fox is gonna bring her back right? Like she did for him at the funeral? Anyways, can't wait for the sequel!
FoxMC: That'd probably be a good assumption that Fox'll try to bring Krystal back, but I don't think it'll be easy when he's so depressed.
Whinnie
NO! How... how COULD you? Do you torture us for flaming your story by taking Krystal out? NO!
FoxMC: Well, I guess you could look at it that way, but I had this in mind the whole time, so I guess not.
NTHRUST69
You sick little monkey! I will kill you! Just joking. Oh, didn't want to play golf so instead you made another chapter eh? Well your just taking the audience away from me. I dont blame you. I cant even think of a story and you can make a 10,0 word chapter because of all the thoughts inside your head. Whats the next chapter gonna be? The Great Fox loses cabin pressure? Rape? Um...wait...wait...its coming to me...uh? I dont know. You better give me some ideas. E-mail me. You know who I am. I just changed my fan fiction name.
FoxMC: I don't know, I guess their all possibilities, but that may all depend on the feedback to give me in the previous section. And I still don't have any ideas…Gosh!
Guest
(The same guest as always)
DIE FoxMc! YOU GET ALL THE FAME AND GLORY AND IT'S NOT FAIR FOR THE OTHER FICS IS IT...IS IT?
FoxMC: Hmm...I guess not, but it's not really my fault! If more people wrote good stories, I'm sure they'd get thier due publicity as well. So ya, I don't really want to die, thanks for the offer though.
Masterchief101
?- If you could have music in your story, what would it be?
FoxMC: I actually wanted to give this new story a theme song, but I couldn't figure out a way to do that without it looking stupid. So I'll just say that song right here. I was thinking Kelly Clarkson's, "Behind These Hazel Eyes." From Fox's perspective, I think the song is just perfect. So if your reading this story and want some music that'll go with the story, listen to that and you'll think it's even more awesome. Oh, and "My Immortal," was my inspiration for killing Fox, I thought of killing Krystal on my own…heh, RUN AWAY!