Star Fox: Eclipse

Chapter 7: A Dangerous Secret

Fox felt disappointed to return to his team with such little information gathered from his visit to Sargasso. Unfortunately, Wolf knew nothing of Oikonny except that he must have stolen his ship from the Sargasso Hideout sometime during the aparoid invasion while both Star Fox and Star Wolf were occupied.

The lead pilot returned to The Great Fox, landing his fully repaired Arwing in the hangar bay. He then proceeded up the elevator to join the rest of the Star Fox team, who were waiting for him in the control room where he had left them. Stepping from the elevator, he shook his head to inform the others that his trip was not highly informative.

"No word from Corneria yet. Did you manage to find Star Wolf?" Falco asked. Fox was sure that he was curious about the possible survival of his rivals, and hoped that they were alive as he did. From Fox's expression, Falco must have assumed he didn't find them at all.

"Yes, I found them. They are alive, taking refuge in the Sargasso Hideout once again. They are well, all in one piece and recovering well from the aparoid invasion by the look of it," the lead pilot replied.

Looks of approval were shared among the four who were gathered. Slippy had joined them after repairing Fox's Arwing, but Krystal was still missing. Fox felt deep sadness grip him, wishing that she would finally come home to him. It was approaching two days since she had left, with still no word or sign of her other than the message she had left behind.

"Well, what did you find out? Are they with Oikonny or not?" Katt asked the question that must have been on all their minds. She still sat beside Falco, her tail tip occasionally resting on his shoulder.

Fox paused, deciding how to begin. He still had so many questions about Oikonny's reappearance, and was determined to discover how he had returned to lead Andross' armies in battle against Lylat. Just as he began to speak, a sliding door sounded from behind him. When the eyes of Falco, Katt, Slippy, and Lucy widened, Fox hesitated to turn and face the pilot who stepped out of the elevator. He knew that it could only be one vixen. Krystal had returned!

He spun around and faced her, suddenly lost for words and breathless at her appearance. Krystal seemed to be very worn and exhausted; her hair was a mess, her space suit looked like it had just recently finished drying out, and her right arm was covered in a strange moss wrapping. It looked as if there was a deep wound beneath it, just beginning to heal. Her blaster was missing from the holster on her hip, and a small blue rod replaced it.

"Krystal," Fox stumbled, "what happened to you?"

Krystal said nothing, but partly walked, partly limped, to stand face to face inches from his nose. She stood at his height, staring at him with her beautiful turquoise-blue eyes. Fox wished that he could tell her how sorry he was for everything that had happened leading up to her decision to leave, but before he could voice a single apology, she threw her arms around him and leaned her head on his shoulders.

Fox returned her embrace, caught off guard by her friendly return. He expected that she would be angry at him for what he had done by putting her on missions with Falco only, but all of that seemed to be years behind them. Fox felt as if this moment could have lasted forever.

"Fox, you'll never guess where I've been! I have been through so much, and I want to tell you all about it!" The vixen backed away and smiled at her friend.

"We have a lot to tell you, too." Fox could not have been happier to finally see her after leaving on such a harsh note.

Behind him, Falco sighed, "Hey, cut it out, Foxy. You had something you wanted to tell us?" He leaned to his side so he could address Krystal alone from behind the lead pilot, "and you have some explaining to do. You can't just walk out on us when we need you and expect to come back without a good explanation!"