Star Fox: ELPH - Chatper 11

Story by Shin Kerron on SoFurry

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This. Took. SO LONG to get write. Multiple writers blocks kept getting in the way, and largely the sharpclaws were to blame. I feel like maybe this is on the shorter side, and maybe needs more polish or development, but I reached a natural stopping point, and going past it would be like trying to shove two chapters together. So sorry that more plot development is gonna have to wait till I can get another chapter going. Now is the question of if to keep or drop the sharpclaws when writing them was such a hassle.

Sorry this took so long everyone!


Fox went over the mental checklist one more time, trying to find something to ease his nerves in the routine. Pre-mission checks were a familiar tedium that could help calm down his racing thoughts, among other things, that were distracting him. Everything going on was giving him a headache. He grunted in irritation as he forced himself not to linger his gaze on the patch of fur on his wrist that had already become a faded dark violet. Tug on the gloves to the security gear they'd managed to scrounge up. Body armor was lacking on this one, but it was better than walking around totally naked.

Although- Nope. Nipping that thought in the bud he growled as he tightened the belt around his waist. Much as he was enjoying having such regular 'intimate company', it was getting hard to focus on the real objective of finding a way to not only escape, but also shut down the malicious core AI. As high as his sex drive had been since waking up on this station, whatever that crazy split-box AI had done to him had him feeling more insatiable than a teenager just discovering PlayVix for the first time. And that meant focusing on what lay ahead of them was difficult. It didn't help that his mate seemed to feed off his own horny thoughts, and the way Wolf snarked at him and practically begged him to assert his dominance over her by bending her over and- FOCUS. He smacked himself on both cheeks lightly. His mind already proving his point by trying to wander back to sex. He was a proud mercenary leader and ace pilot. And he would be damned if he couldn't handle keeping his 'flightstick' in his pants for two minutes. Back to the checklist.

Security baton, little more than a plastic and metal stick without a charge for it's shock functions, but it was better than going in purely bear knuckles if he was going to have to deal with dinosaurs. Even if only by the smallest of iotas. The gun from before was long gone, lost when he had been abducted by the robots. Not that it would have helped without finding another ammo clip for it, and even then he'd prefer to talk it out with anyone they came across. From what Krystal had told him, most of Sauria's dinosaur population was sentient and capable of communicating. Granted all of it would be in another language, but Krystal spoke the language well enough, she could play interpreter if need be. Or maybe he could try this telepathy thing? The thought made him mentally wince. Trying to concentrate and fight off his own horniness was already giving him a migraine. Trying to get a handle on these new psychic powers was only making it worse. Didn't help that he was starting to feel like the strange 'sixth sense' part of it no longer had an off switch and was bombarding him with entirely too much stimulus all the time.

"Fox?" Speaking of, the azure vixen knocked on the door to the room he was dressing in. He'd stepped out for all of them to change separately, lest their preparations end in another orgy. "Are you alright in there?" Concern flooded through their mental bond, and he silently cursed himself for worrying her again. "I'm fine. Just a headache," He reassured her, finishing zipping the suit all the way up to his neck. "I'm decent," he added, realizing she wanted to come in.

He returned his mind to the plan. Get through the Saurian Biome, head to the communications deck through the staff passages as quickly as they could, and reach out to the Great Fox. From there, prepare to shutdown the Core AI while awaiting extraction from the rest of his team. They could deal with the station itself once they were no longer held prisoner aboard it. A basic plan without much in the way of solid details yet, but given what information they had it was the best they could do at the moment. Maybe if they could find whoever had deleted that data and they'd be willing to lend a han-

"Kxuk ujj..."

Fox turned to face Krystal just in time to catch her snapping her gaze back up to his face. "...Did you really just comment on my butt?" He asked with a snort and a half smirk. The vixen returned his grin as she sashayed her way over to his side. "Can you blame me? That outfit doesn't leave much to the imagination. Not that it stops mine.~" She gently poked his nose. "Or yours it seems."

Fox held back a blush and cleared his throat, quickly trying to think of the coldest shower he could as he forced his eyes away from how the shiny black suit hugged his pregnant mate's curves in a way that made her seem like divinity incarnated to his little copilot. Much like his own, the security gear was lacking in actual body armor, and served more to try and keep the two from spending what of the time before their escape plan was discovered being horizontal with one another.

Fox shook his head, wincing internally as it made his head throb from the sudden motion, but managed to get himself back on topic. "A-anyways. I'm ready to go, how's Wolf?"

"She insisted on getting her jacket. Seems it makes her feel more secure with it on."

"She tell you that?"

"Her mind did. I chose not to address it for the sake of speeding us along and not making her wear it and nothing else while I-"

"Krys!"

"What? You were thinking it first~."

Fox smiled but let out an exaggerated groan. "I surrender. Clearly I am nothing more than a hopeless pervert and you are the true master of my mind. Long may you reign." Krystal stifled a giggle and instead put her fists on her hips with her elbows out. "That's right McCloud, bow before your psychic overlord mate!"

The two of them lost it at that, laughing at one another to the point she ended up leaning against him to stop from falling over in hysterics. Fox had been tempted to tickle a spot in her side he had discovered she was incredibly sensitive to hear more of her melodic laugh, but was snapped back to attention by another dull throb of his head.

"You two done?" Wolf asked, the broken helmet she had worn prior held under one arm as she appeared in the doorway. "As funny as your comedy act is I'm sure, I'd rather NOT end up trapped forever as a lab animal by some freaky abandoned science project of Andross. So can we get moving already?" She glowered at the both of them, before shuffling awkward when they did not look away from her gaze. "Please?" She muttered, trying to sound sarcastic.

"She's right," Fox sighed and rolled his shoulders with a soft crack from his back. He felt like he was a getting taller on top of everything else, growing aches in his bones and all. "Cai says this biome's night-phase should be about on par with it's day-phase for what kinda aggressive specimen we might encounter, but I'd rather take my chances with the day-phase." Nocturnal though their ancestors might be, no sense in passing up a full day's worth of extra visibility if speed was their goal.

"Once you enter the enclosure, it should be a straight shot across to the door on the other end of the biome. Depending on your pace it should be easy enough to reach in a day's time, but the flora in here has been left to grow wild and uncontrolled. It might be a maze in there." Cai's hardlight hologram informed the trio as they made their way to the lab exit. "Remember, the doors to the staff-only areas have been damaged, so you can't trust those to be 'safe. It's possible that the specimen have moved into them as well, so stay alert even once you've gotten out."

"Alright everyone, final check. If we're all good, let's rock and roll." Fox grinned as he punched the command pad to open the door. He felt wolf roll her eyes at him, muttering something about 'how cheesy can you get?' Krystal on the other hand fell into step alongside him, feeling her mate's mind finally free of the chaos that had been plaguing him all day. He was a leader, and without even realizing it his mind was already syncing up with hers and Wolf's, bringing them together as a team with a goal. The safety of the labs was left behind as they fell into march, braving what unknown might await them.

As they made their way through the dim-lit hallways, soon enough rejoining with the familiar cargo-passage that Krystal and Wolf had gone through the day prior, at each intersection Fox would wordlessly command them to cover the side paths as they moved. He had a map in his head, taking the diagrams and structure-plans that Cai had shown them and combining that with everything they saw as they walked. Even things that he didn't see himself would be filled in by what the two women at his side did. Potential ambush locations, places they could fall back to and hold if they were attacked, quick escape routes if they had to get out of the line of fire, each of these things were taken in and added to his perception of their surroundings as they went. Krystal had to admit it was impressive, until another pang of pain shot through Fox's head, disturbing this intricate mental cartography before he would quickly try to fill it back in.

"Your headaches-" Krystal stopped herself. Telepathy, perhaps any of her psychic powers directed to him, was only exacerbating Fox's pain. "Your headaches are getting worse." She spoke quietly. Fox nodded, but remained silent otherwise, trying to keep himself centered on the mission for the moment. "...Don't push yourself. Let us know if you need to stop." Wolf added, her head on a swivel. Her own instincts were clear on keeping together, and her m- The Pup, she corrected herself, was their leader at the moment. Forcing him to march if he couldn't would just leave them vulnerable. Fox gave another nod. "I'll be alright. Let's keep going, we need to cover as much ground as we can."

The ladies exchanged a look before falling back into formation alongside Fox. ("His attention is compromised, and he's ignoring whatever the root of the problem is.") Wolf thought to herself, not at all surprised when she felt the presence of Krystal in her head. _"He's struggling to remain in control of his own mind today... It's concerning. I haven't observed this kind of stress in him before."_Wolf remained silent, trying to focus on keeping pace and staying alert. Without realizing it she had started closing her left eye to better focus on her surroundings.

"You're still not used to it."

("It's fine. Stay out of my head and worry about Fox.")

"Your mind isn't used to the information coming from that eye, even if all the physical connections are present it's as if there's a phantom wound keeping your mind from-"

("Listen hotass- I mean asshole! Talking about it inside my own head isn't exactly helping anyone right now. So forgive me if I'd rather just squint one eye shut and worry about Foxy than try playing psycho analyst over whatever this place did to me. Suddenly having an eye I didn't before ain't exactly the most jarring change that happened in case you forget.")

It was silent between them again. Artificial sunlight was visible near the end of the hallway and Fox's pace picked up.

"Then why exactly does the eye bother you more than the idea of being a woman?"

"Oh for the love of-"

Fox whipped his head back, his hand instinctively grabbing the baton at his side at Wolf's outburst. "What happened?!" He asked, shifting to face them as if expecting a threat. Wolf grunted and turned away, hiding a blush as she realized she'd just made him more distracted. Fox's jaw had clenched, something he'd started doing since that morning whenever he was trying to hide another ache from the migraine. "Nothing. Just... Keep going we're almost to the biome right?"

"Right... Right." Fox took a few calming breaths and closed his eyes to try and restore his focus.

"Okay, Fox, no. We need to stop and address this 'headache' of yours. It's not like a normal migraine clearly," Krystal spoke, stepping towards him with a hand on her hip. "I can feel your developing powers are reacting every time and you're trying to clamp them down along with the pain. Talk to me, to us. We're in this together and-"

Krystal's words were cut off. Multiple figures rounded the corner, swinging blunt clubs or their scaled fists to smack them off their feet. Sprawling to the ground, Fox's held back the urge to vomit as the impact made his vision swirl. His head felt like it was on fire, and to make matters worse a foot stomped down on his chest, forcing the breath from his lungs while he was pinned to the ground. They had come so close to the biome, they had gotten distracted and started making noise. He cursed himself, they had been sitting ducks for the ambush.

"Hnnnr, Nxuk uho kxojo? Oloh joo eikjatoh cabo kxaj?"

"Mummucj, joo kxo0 viqq0."

"Kaja edo xulo noufed. Jkifat noufed rik noufed."

Fox groaned and tried to turn his head to see their assailants, but grunted as the foot twisted down, leaning more weight onto his ribs to keep him pinned. From the grunts and cries of pain he had to guess that Krystal and Wolf were in similar states.

"Mummucj nuhm, jevk. Jop0 kee." A horse laugh went round, a mix of men and women, Fox felt something wet brush his ear and he flicked it in response, trying to bring his arms up to grab at the leg on his ribs. Quickly this was met with his arms pinned down.

"0ei boof 0eih xudtj evv ev xam!" That was Krystal's voice. A smack of flesh on flesh told him her outburst was met with similar consequence. "Kxaj mummuc bden Saurian. Nxe uho 0ei wahc?" A deeper voice spoke up, Fox guessed a male as his vision finally started to get into focus again.

"No kubo kxom ke Scales. Xo vadt eik nxe kxo0 uho."

"Jiho jiho. Rik ak ebu0 av no fcu0 nakx jop0 mummucj vahjk 0oj?"

"0oj, Scales caboj ak nxod don ke0j uchout0 rhebod ad. Udt vomucoj kubo kihdj fcu0 nakx muco mummuc kee."

Another round of laughter and again a wet brush, this time along the length of his face. "Xo kujk0, no xulo cekj ev vid rhoubadw xam." Fox snarled and glared up as a reptilian face came into focus above his head. "Get the hell off me," He grunted. "I'm not going to be anyone's toy to brea-" His words were smothered as the, now clearly female, saurian forcibly grabbed his head and shoved her tongue in his mouth. Fox heard both Krystal and Wolf struggle at this sight before they too were silenced. Damnit, even with Wolf's larger size some of these lizard people were big enough to pick them up and toss them around with one hand. Fox was dragged along by his head, the claws at the end of each fingertip digging into his scalp and making his migraine all the worse.

But more concerning, he was starting to understand them. Bits and pieces, not their words exactly, but the intents. The women looked at him like a toy to use. There were men too. They were already groping at Krystal and Wolf as they dragged them into the biome, dirt and rocks digging at them through their security gear, the claws of their captors ripping into the material with each snag and jerk. They were shoved atop of mattresses of woven leaves and some sort of grain reed. Fox's vision swam again, and with a grunt he felt the female return to pinning him as she began shredding away more of the gear as if she were pealing a fruit. Some sort of hut from the looks of it. Made of wood and bone. Gods, were they killing one another for building materials?!

"This Mammal, Fox."

"This one Fox too. But she leaky."

"Milk? She like cow!"

"Cow-Fox. She must be with child!"

"Cow-Fox and bastard in belly belong to Sharpclaws now. Our toys!"

Fox stared in horror as he realized that he was not physically strong enough to shove off the dinofolk that were undressing him, or the males of the species that were stroking their lengths while one shoved their dick down Krystal's throat.

Krystal choked at the bitter taste of bile as her gag reflex tried to shove out the rough bumpy lizard dick the sharpclaw was forcing down her throat. The flavor was foul, the rough points felt like sandpaper, and the smell alone was enough to make her sick. Her staff was so god damn close to her fingertips, if she could just reach it she'd castrate this damn reptile and his friend currently pawing at her ass.

A muffled yiped came as one of them shoved a claw against her tailhole. Their namesake was ripping holes through the security suit, reducing it to tatters. If not for the strong grip on her jaw forcing her mouth open she would try biting down on her assaulter. The nightmares of her start on this station all too real in her memory, and if she could just budge her limbs against the iron-like grips...

Sharpclaws, they were always brutish and were known for their aggression. They managed well enough with the other tribes of Sauria in the past, but before she had left she had been hearing rumors of greed and wrath seizing their kind more. More instances of violence and pillaging, harassing the more 'civilized' tribes, taking small villages and homes abandoned after their attacks for themselves. This however was worse than she ever could have predicted. This had her wishing she could manifest enough psychic power to implode the damn lizards playing with her body. The worst part of it was how some small, primal part of her mind, wondered just how it would feel. The rough bumpy manhoods, the slick cool scales against her hot flesh. It disgusted her, but part of her was enthralled by the combined lusts of all the different minds in the room focused on her and hers. She shoved that feeling down as with a gag she tried to pull away from the dick she was forced to deep throat, only succeeding in making it's owner harder. Anger, anger could help keep things clear through the sexual fog trying to overwhelm her.

What made her rage more than anything was the females of the tribe forcing themselves on Fox as much as these males did her. One had his head pinned to her crotch, cutting off his air as she forced his muzzle into her slit, tongue rolling out of their jaws as she forced him to eat her out by squeezing at his cheeks. Another was ripping away at his pants, her elongated tongue playing with his balls as a third rubbed his tail between her legs, slicking the fur down with her fluids as she humped it. Their bond was in utter chaos, the rush of everything happening making it too hard to concentrate and reach out to him, her own anger wanting to turn her powers to a more violent use if only she could. She felt her psychic energy flare and rage against some metaphorical wall as she struggled against the sharpclaws' strength.

Wolf still was fighting back, snapping her jaws at any hand that came close to her face and clawing desperately at the thick scales of the sharpclaw that had her pinned to the ground even as a hand sank into her pants. She snarled and yiped as clawed digits spread her pussy wide as her outfit was torn off in bits and pieces. ("Savage assholes! With the spirits as my witness you'll all-")

Krystal's thought was cut short as the dick in her mouth was thrust into her throat and started forcing her to swallow thick foul smelling seed. She gagged and coughed for breath as the male withdrew, arrogantly smirking as he stroked himself to cover her upper body in a few more ropes of his cum while his companion that had been grinding his cock between her ass cheeks did the same to her backside.

"Cow-fox is our fucktoy now." The male grunted to his companion. A smirk crossed the sharpclaw's face as he grabbed his still hardened cock and aimed at her pussy. "We fuck bastard out of her, maybe she lay eggs like proper whore."

That was when one of the females came flying across the hut, smashed against the male that had been lining himself up and crashing them both into the wall. Wet coughs forced nasty sharpclaw cum out and fresh air in, Krystal's fingertips managed to brush against her staff. She wanted to bring it up to smash at the disgusting male that had forced his meat into her muzzle, only for the dino to suddenly grab his own skull and start screaming. The male fell to the floor as blood flowed out his nostrils and the corners of his eyes, his cries of agony silenced by his death.

Fox was upright, eyes unfocused, another sharpclaw woman picked up by unseen force, and thrown from him and over at wolf's attackers. Krystal felt her telepathic bond with him forced wide open almost painfully. His mind was burning with the psychic powers thrust upon it, raw instinct tossing their attacker around with psychokinesis as higher thought functions were engulfed by the blazing inferno his brain had become. His powers began to manifest on the visual spectrum, resembling bright flames that did not burn his flesh, but seared the attackers that had instigated his wraith. Fox had no control, only rage, and one thought over and over.

"MINE."

Fox strode over to her, the cerinian power burning through him tossed every sharpclaw wayside or shattered their minds from the inside out, an eerie fulfillment of her panicked wishes for her own powers moments ago. This power was raw, destructive, and would boil his own brain too if left unchecked she knew. His mind had been altered on the genetic level to have all the power and potential of her race, but had not been given the time to adjust or develop means to keep this newfound power from harming itself. Yet there was a need, a way she could bring him back from this edge of hell he walked. His instinctive rage still recognized her as his mate, his equal and other half. She reached out for that part of him, welcoming him rather than rebuking.

His mate was in front of him, these damn lizards had dared to touch her. Their smell was on her. On him. This was WRONG. Their own scents needed to push out the wimpy dinos. He felt his mate trying to reach out to him. Later. More important. Had to show these weaklings who they belonged to. His mate and their pet were HIS. And he was HERS. Had to get the damn dino smell out. Snuff it out with their own. His cock was at attention already thanks to the lizards. Maybe they'd breed a few of them later. Show them real dominance, him and her together. Give pet new playthings too. For now though, he approached his mate, silhouettes of his movements in blue contrasting the red flames as he crossed the distance in an instant, his hands pulling her towards him. Every thought hurt. Ached. BURNED. She would help. He would take her in front of them, be taken by her. That would put it right. Cover their scents with his own. Get her smell on him too. His mate understood. She already was swallowing his manhood, soothing presence of her mind understanding him even as his thoughts burned, too painful to vocalize what he, they, NEEDED. They'd do the same with their pet later. First the two of them needed their bond. Needed to shove the weak claims of the lizards into the dirt, make them know who were the breeding monarchs.

Krystal couldn't help but touch herself as she gulped down Fox's rod. It was hard to keep her own thoughts in order. As she had told him many a time, his mind blazed like a star, usually her beacon in the dark of this place. But now that star was like a supernova, and it scorched any attempt to suppress the raging power that had been awoken. Fox had been forced to become Cerinian without having time to come into the psychic capabilities of one. He was experiencing what should have been years of development to his brain's new higher functions in moments and it was too much for him. The anger he had felt at their collective assault by the sharpclaws had pushed him too far... But by the spirits grace he knew her. He knew what she was to him and he to her. The only way this storm would calm would be to embrace the instincts he ran on, and the raw desire he had to fuck her until every inch of each other was covered in their fluids and scent had her feeling his need as if it were her own. And despite what had happened, her mate's overwhelming lust was burning away any trauma. The fear and rage at being used subsiding as her own thoughts grew hazy. They would not allow the sharpclaw to taint the sacred act of breeding for either of them. Their dominance was the only one accepted here. The mental fog of their combined lust a welcome blanket that made the sharpclaw's perverse desires a discarded rag in comparison.

He pushed her back as the first rope of cum escaped his tip, splattering over her face before picking her up and shoving himself into her tight hot tunnel. Yes. Yes this was how it should be. He was the male. She was the female. Her legs wrapped around him as he began to thrust deeper into her, trying to push his seed into her deepest reaches even as he still climaxed. There would be no need to recover. He would simply keep going, again and again, until there was no question of their status to one another. Her hot tunnel would drag as much seed out of him as she demanded, and he would meet those demands, pushing to plant that seed into her. Their kit was already within her, and yet they fucked as if intending to have a whole litter join him still.

Some of the Sharpclaws had started getting back on their feet, staring at their slain fellows in horror, and yet in awe at the impassioned display the two mammals put on. Some of them felt their own thoughts and desires become as buzzing flies in their ears, drowning out the melody the coupling sang. Submission. Yes, yes that was right. This was right. The fellows that turned tail and were running were wrong. Submission to this pair would be so much better. A male and a female stayed while the others ran, crying out something about a report. It didn't matter. The two mammals weren't toys, they were. And they wanted to be used.

Wolf was all too glad to take a fistfull of the hair-like feathers of the female that had bowed down before her, mouth agape, silently begging permission to worship. She might be the 'pet' of the two fucking like feral jack rabbits, but she was still higher on the pecking order than these lizards... Damnit, she might not be psychic, but seeing those two going all out like this had her hot and bothered enough as is. She roughly yanked the female to her own crotch and barked "LICK" at her even knowing they spoke different languages. If this lizard wanted a piece of the top pair, she had to earn it through her first. And judging by how that forked tongue slithered over her dripping wet lips, she just might get there sooner than later.

The orgy finally came to a finish around Nightfall, as Fox's eyelids finally drooped shut, his cock being cleaned by the female sharpclaw and Wolf together, while Krystal grinned before pulling the enraptured male's cock out of her pussy to make it spill it's load on the ground. Her fur was matted by Fox's seed, and their combined scent had been smeared over the cool and smooth scales of the two who had stuck around and joined in. Only Fox had been allowed to climax inside of her, even as the male was used as her personal sexual jungle-gym, pinning him to the ground, a tree, against the female, anywhere she could use to get a good angle to grind her sweet spots against his cock only to clench her paw around him before he could climax, and forcibly jerk his completion out into the humid air. Judging from the grin on his jowl in his stupor, he certainly didn't mind being made a toy, maybe she could convince him to stick around once whatever effect she and Fox had cast on them wore off.

That had been... beyond anything she had been taught back on Cerinia. Somehow she herself had gotten swept up in whatever sort of storm of power Fox's overwhelmed mind had started, adding to it and dragging others into it as well. It was frightening, yet thrilling. Maybe if she could manage something like that when the two of them were still in control... thoughts for later.

For now, she snuggled up to Fox's side as he softly began to snore, his body instinctively moving to her presence. She was exhausted, and he was sure to feel something far worse than a hangover when he awoke. With a silent bid, Wolf joined them for a good post-coitus snuggle-nap. They were far off their hoped time-table at this point, but none of the three had enough physical energy left at the moment to continue their journey. And right now, making sure all of her starting little family were rested and fresh to face the newest stumbling block in their survival plan was more important.

Fox's mind may have managed feats beyond expectations. But they were feats that could have easily have done him in as easily as it had the sharpclaws that were now buried in the remains of the hut, the structure having collapsed under the multiple bodies thrown about inside of it. Another outburst of uncontrolled psychic power like that could be fatal to Fox's brain... Maybe this is why the ELPH originally was trying to change him more slowly. The abrupt strains of the new capacities and nerve connections were too much. She pushed the fear of losing him aside as his head tilted in his sleep to snuggle into her more, one hand weakly reaching for sensation of touch. Wolf fulfilled that need, Fox's subconcious pulling a weak hug around her exposed stomach.

Fox would need lessons, training, and perhaps more help than she could think of on her own, to overcome. But spirits as her witness she would not lose her mate and father of her unborn child without a fight. A fight that could wait until after this very comfortable cuddling session and sleep. And then a bath. A long, cold, bath she thought as she began to slip away into blissful slumber.

Fox stood in the darkness, himself a blaze as every step sent ripples in the nothingness, only his own light giving anything definition. A candle on the water's surface, that's wick had grown short. How long had he been here? Was he always here alone? There was something important. Someone important? Yes. Both of those things, he thought as he slowly pieced himself back together. Something had happened and he had lost himself, that much he knew as his memories pieced together like bits of a puzzle.

The space station, his new mate, their unborn kit, their beloved pet... The sharpclaws. Yes, that was what had happened. And yet everything past that point was blank.

"I must be dreaming." He decided as the liquid darkness he trekked through remained unchanged. Yet his instincts told him his small family was safe for the moment. Then why was he here? Did he black out?

"_ Fear not young warrior-prince. Your wife-queen has you well." _

Fox would have stumbled at the sudden voice. It spoke in tongues that's single words meant hundreds of things, and yet their meanings were sorted in ways he could understand for their intent. He turned, suddenly finding himself no longer the only light in this darkness.

A great face, a mask, carved from stone, cast in pale light that slowly shifted as tendrils floated like hair from behind it, a cloak of stars wrapped around the shoulders of a body the head did not have.

"_ You have grown close to where I am warrior-prince. You have nearly fallen and yet remain. Your own blade cuts your hand yet may still be wielded. And wield it you shall if you wish freedom and salvation for us all." _

"Who... what are you?"

"Krazoa." The figure nodded to him. The darkness beginning to fade as a warmth washed over Fox. "Your mate-queen-wife has caught you as you fell. You shall awaken soon young prince-warrior-savior. Find me."

_As Fox felt his dreams shift back to normalcy, the Krazoa turned as if one would leave a house, but turned back and spoke once more before the connection was lost. "There is more than one threat to quell hero-prince. Find me. Quickly." _