Slippy finished ejecting the ship's garbage, he sighed in relief, some of these heaps were questionable enough to see, but they'd make some interesting material for several off-guard jokes.
He entered the main cockpit again, to his surprise, it became silent, both devoid of music and fellow teammates, with exception of ROB. But the ship's operator and processor can hardly be called a "teammate", a "caretaker" would generally be the better one-worded description.
"Where's everyone?"
"FOX AND FALCO KEPT ARGUING OVER WORK, PEPPY CALMED THEM DOWN AND MADE THEM TO GO TO A NEARBY ROOM FOR COUNSELING, PEPPY WENT WITH THEM THERE."
"Oh... thanks ROB." Replied Slippy, he secretly knew this would happen, the brotherly-like rivalry was always there, but it doesn't go well when the team doesn't spend some time having fun with each other.
Slippy thought for a moment, he liked to be the member on the team who liked to lighten up everything. Even though Krystal started to take on such matters as the team's telepath with her spiritual ways, it was still Slippy's priority. He was more gifted comedically and knew how to make everyone smile, even if it's through pity from cocky arrogant birds.
Suddenly, a comical idea sprung into his head, he smiled faintly at the thought of it.
He went into his room and opened his computer, now what's something the entire team finds amusing? Fox's shyness and blush towards Krystal? The troubles and trials Falco get in due to his cockiness and arrogance? Slippy's semi-innocent nature that makes him take himself and his work a little too seriously sometimes? Or the endless times Peppy holds his naps sacred? or the endless times he mentions Fox's father out of longing to Fox's dismay?
...No, actually the last one isn't so funny, but the rest is promising. So Slippy put the pack of ONO cards on the table, opened his image modification program and got to work on his ambitious material, it was bound and planned to be a great R&R night.
But fleetingly, he thought how more fun it'd be if Krystal was here.
* * *
As she walked across LightFoot Village, the rain calmed a little and was replaced with small inconsistent droplets due to the tall bushy trees that was covering the place. Krystal searched every nook and cranny for scarabs, she managed to gather enough to complete the difference after the unfair transaction.
"...Why do I sense mischievous thought patterns?" That's when she thought to herself, before she was ambushed by a half a dozen young LightFoots.
They began talking with their typically incomprehensible language by the Lylat System's standards, with some of them sounding higher in pitch than a short red-dressed Italian plumber. Conveniently, Krystal did know their language, after all, she had her CloudRunner friend who helped her getting to that distress signal last time the planet was in disaster.
"Well, well, well... looks like we have an intruder in our village." Said one of them menacingly
"An intruder? No, no! I'm Krystal of the Star Fox team, I'm just here in search for an artifact!" Said Krystal cautiously.
"Don't try and fool me, intruder! What'd someone like you be doing here other than stealing our treasures?" Said a tall seemingly juvenile LightFoot standing in the middle of the other five. He had a taller neck, and a shorter torso than the others, and seemed to carry primal-made tools around a rope-belt tightened around his waist.
"I'm not here to steal anything, please!" said Krystal with more caution, but as she inched her hand closer to her staff to protect herself, the others noticed, which inadvertently intimidated some of the less defensive LightFoots, causing the tall one to jump forward to strike.
But before the LightFoot could land a blow, he was grabbed by the neck by a bigger LightFoot, who seemed to have overheard everything before his sudden appearance.
"How can one be so out of touch with his tribe?" spoke the big LightFoot slowly, staring and scowling at the tall one in his grip.
"Uh... W-w-what are you talking about?" The tall one spoke with some fear in him of what'd happen if he asked.
In response, the big LightFoot threw the tall one against a tree, with a branch and a few fruits falling heavily on his head as a result.
"If it wasn't for them, our planet would still be in distress!" Said the big Lightfoot fiercely after turning to the other five.
The other LightFoots were unsure of what to say or do, as there could be more beat-ups as a result, so the five either ran or bounced in different directions. As for the tall one, he stayed and watched. Fear and curiosity were fighting for dominance in his head, his curiosity won; He may be out of touch, but he liked to learn his lessons.
He looked at the big fellow in front of him. Despite being curious, he was too careful to speak immediately, and all he could start with was a soft "S... Sorry."
"...Who are you?" Said the tall LightFoot as he turned to Krystal inquiringly, his manners here seemed less rude than the average LightFoot.
"I'm Krystal of the Star Fox team, I'm here in search of a few lost artifacts from planet Cerinia. My home planet which was destroyed."
"The Star Fox team... yes, just as I thought." Said the big LightFoot. His tone saying "just as I thought" sounded out of authority and sounded cheerful instead, like correct-answer-cheerful. "My memory was a bit blurry, but I thought I knew who you were. I am RedFoot, I used to be one of the guards here."
"Wouldn't your name be BigFoot? Because of how big you are?" The tall LightFoot was careful as he said this.
RedFoot turned to the tall LightFoot with a small stern scowl and a flowerish-red face, then replied: "The name 'BigFoot' was taken."
Lightfoots were notorious for their unwelcoming manners, even everything they owned was unwelcoming to see or enter; Their village, their belongings, and especially their treasure. If a dinosaur tribe was ever most likely to initiate a war against even their own rulers, it was this village of bouncing hostile Ornitholestes-looking thin-tall-necks.
But these two seemed alien to that stereotype. Counter-pointing RedFoot, both of them looked like they were out of touch to their tribe, who (even after their planet was saved from that giant enslaving SharpClaw and his army) continued their reclusive hostile act. Both looking like they're continuously hiding that alien nature to either save face or stay in an acknowledgeable position in the tribe. But the biggest pro of that whole misunderstood business was their more original opinions and their far more open mind (which, for anyone who had such a thing, like a mechanic childish toad for example, would be very advantageous).
The tall LightFoot stepped forward cautiously and tried to break the ice between him and RedFoot by responding with a self-deprecating joke before introducing himself: "I understand, the name 'TallFoot' was taken as well. I am FireFoot... sorry about what we did earlier."
"It's okay, I understand you had good intentions, you wanted to protect the village's treasure." Krystal replied. Despite disagreeing with his method (It's freaking Sauria) There was a tone of reflection in her last sentence, almost as if the whole protection from invasion thing was poetic. She was better composed in her panic and reply this time, causing FireFoot to get a bit rosy, after all, shy beings are always overwhelmed when complements on their forward actions are involved, no matter what the species are.
"There were some artifacts we've seen hidden amongst these trees near our gate after General Scales was defeated." RedFoot said. "During my time as a guard for Chief LightFoot, I took on the responsibility of safekeeping them. I could show them to you to see if one of them is what you're looking for. Count it as a small favor done for saving our planet."
"That would be wonderful, thank you ever so much!" said Krystal with small smile forming on her face.
The three moved towards the village and went towards RedFoot's small wooden house on one of the stilts. The wooden house was full of out-of-place astronomy stuff that seemed to work with magic more than actual science:
1 - Boxy telescope.
2 - a few small navigation globes (one's of Sauria).
3 - a carpet-sized navigation map of Lylat hanged on the wall.
The varied artifacts were kept in a safe cage made of stone, one of which was a golden sphere that looked perplexing when scrutinized.
"Isn't that red pyramid a key?" said FireFoot skeptically, turning his head around one of the artifacts.
"Yes, it is. A primitive ancient one." Answered RedFoot.
"...and you found it lost somewhere?" said FireFoot, raising his eyebrows upwards.
"Yes, we did."
"I bet there is some door out there that we could use this on!" said FireFoot excitedly, his excitement over treasure influenced in tone.
"I don't think so, the doors made for it were ceased of making."
"But... surely there is a door out there that can be open with it?" Here, FireFoot got a little skeptical.
"Perhaps..." Said RedFoot inconclusively.
"I think I recognize this sphere..." Said Krystal thoughtfully, as she recognized the golden sphere artifact.
"That's the Golden Perplex" Answered RedFoot with some directed interest.
A sudden realization turned up inside Krystal's brain, even though it's been a while since her planet were destroyed and all its artifacts were either destroyed or lost or forgotten, she did remember a time where those very spheres were used to tell the history of Cerinia.
"The Golden Perplex... of course!" She said with her excitement rising up, she found her first lead in years
"What IS the Golden Perplex?" FireFoot asked as the one oblivious member of the three.
"It's a souvenir-like sphere that tells Cerinia's history in just a few carving illustrations... I've never thought I'd see one of these again..." Said Krystal, admiring her first lead in a while.
"When I found it, I thought it was a decorative antique, I almost decided to give it as a gift to Chief LightFoot" Said RedFoot jokingly, almost as a self-pity on his past ignorance.
"Well, thankfully you didn't." Said FireFoot sarcastically
"Thank you, RedFoot. I've been looking for something like this for ever-so-long! This will definitely help me on my quest!" Said Krystal gratefully as she placed it in her inventory.
"You are welcome, Krystal of Star Fox... I suppose you'll be on your way to find the rest?" Inquired RedFoot.
"Oh! Right, I should get going, goodbye RedFoot, goodbye FireFoot!"
"Goodbye Krystal, and may the stars guide you!" RedFoot said as he was waving.
"Goodbye Krystal!" Said FireFoot, waving along with the big red fellow, before turning to RedFoot and asking sarcastically:
" 'May the stars guide you'? "
"It's an expression I've heard from telepaths, I saw the staff and figured it's appropriate." Said RedFoot as he was scratching his head awkwardly.
"Also, how the hell did you know its name when you found it?" asked FireFoot skeptically with a small hint of sarcasm.
"It was carved into its bottom..."
"Oh, okay... " Said FireFoot before thinking for a moment, then inquiring "You know, despite being a 'souvenir-like sphere', it must be involved in something big... like a puzzle or something."
"I don't know, FireFoot. It seems too unlikely to be a part of an irrelevant puzzle relating to a destroyed planet." Said RedFoot as he was the navigation map hanged on his wall, with red crosses on planets that became history. Of course, Cerinia's one of them. But no one who saw the map ever inquired about the unique yellow question mark over Venom of the Lylat System.
Krystal turned her destination to ThornTail Hollow, even though she only intended to seek scarabs for the Mind Crane, she was glad luck was on her side with this first step of the search, who knows what else luck could bring further?
* * *
Tricky had a few hiccups making his way to ThornTail Hollow, but after his last adventure, he got to know his own various abilities and their usage better. Even though he has never tried to travel there without the use of Fox's Arwing, he knew his path, which (as he considered) one of the few advantages of being a young prince.
After such hiccups, and a few close calls, he managed his way to ThornTail Hollow, now that's a place he knew very well! He looked around and observed ThornTails sleeping, eating, or resting under nearby trees in the rainy weather; ThornTail Hollow seemed as quiet and normal as ever.
Then, the sight of a familiar ship caught his eye... it was Fox's ship! ...At least, that's what he thought he saw until he came closer to observe it better.
"...That's not Fox's ship." Tricky thought, it looked like the rainy cloudy weather distorted his first observation.
Now, it was true that Tricky was very familiar with the place, he was with Fox in almost every nook and cranny in it... Except for that giant rock-made building, which he always saw Fox going in during their last adventure.
"I wonder..." Tricky thought to himself as he came closer looking at the building's giant middle door, he did know it was a shop, but he could never actually see for himself; The entrance leading below was definitely not designed for a dinosaur in mind, let alone an EarthWalker.
After thinking for a bit, Tricky had an idea. He looked around and observed the lonely rocks around the hollow, then he started pushing them towards the entrance, some of them were unexpectedly heavy and were clogged due to their weight, the mud around them, and the small scarabs living underneath them, which were trying to get out.
Each rock landed below with a heavy blow, enough to shake the ground a little bit; after a while, Tricky dropped enough rocks below to break his fall pain-free and boost him up the cliff which decline leads down to the shop.
As he entered, he was fascinated by the orange lights and the lanterns lighted with fire. But his fascination was cut off by the scowling shopkeeper floating towards him fiercely.
"Hey! Are you the vandal who's dropping rocks down my shop's entrance?" Said the shopkeeper angerly.
Despite his nervousness from getting startled, Tricky tried to lie, as he wasn't looking to buy something
"Um... I wanted to buy something, but I couldn't get-"
"I don't do any business with vandals!" Exclaimed the shopkeeper angerly in interruption "Take these rocks back outside and get out!"
"But I... I-"
"GET OUT!"
Tricky frowned, he hoped that he would find the owner of the Arwing here. But, as he stepped out frowning and looking down, he bumped into a familiar figure...
"You really should design your shop's entrance better." The familiar figure protested smugly.
It was Krystal! She was confronting the shopkeeper with a small smirk on her face, Tricky was so excited and happy to see her.
"Krystal! It was you who landed here! I missed you so much!" Said Tricky, he couldn't have been happier than a small electrical yellow mouse out of its red-ball-cage if he tried.
"I've really missed you too, Tricky. You have grown so much since we last saw each other." Said Krystal as she was kneeling down to pet Tricky.
"You two take your wholesome nonsense outside and take the rocks with you!" Said the shopkeeper fiercely, interrupting the brief reunion.
"I'm here for the Mind Crane, Shopkeeper. This time I do have enough Scarabs." Said Krystal.
"I DON'T SELL MY ITEMS TO VANDALS!"
"Well, no one would've vandalized the entrance if you didn't make it hard to enter your shop, would they?" Krystal, with a faint wisecracking yet adamant expression, stood her ground.
The shopkeeper stayed silent for a few seconds, he did want to sell the Mind Crane for its price, the scarabs could really pay off with such a cost. But his greed conflicted with his ego, as he did want his point to stand.
"Okay, I'll sell it to you..." He began "On one condition, you'll have to win a game first."
"What's the game?" The heroine vixen asked.
"Go into this room" Then he pointed to one of the various openings which was labeled "Scarab room", as the two went there, the shopkeeper followed suit.
"I'll take half your scarabs and throw them into this cave, and you have to collect them all within my time limit. If you win, I'll sell the Mind Crane to you, but if you lose, I'll collect the scarabs I threw."
Krystal thought for a bit. Even though this matter was unfair from the very beginning, she wasn't going to let this opportunity slide again.
"Can I help you, Krystal?" Asked Tricky nicely
"No, Tricky, I will handle this on my own."
Tricky frowned slightly but understood Krystal's order. He then stepped aside and let Krystal start the game.
The shopkeeper threw half of her scarabs all over the cave, and she began at once to collect them one by one. Thankfully the time limit here, unlike everything else in this shop, was moderately fair.
"Go Krystal!" Encouraged Tricky, jumping up and down as he did, causing the shopkeeper to take a glimpse at him in annoyance, then turning back to his watch.
As the last 10 seconds closed in, Krystal struggled to catch the last scarab.
5... 4... 3... 2... 1...
Tricky really couldn't handle the counting, he suddenly snapped and jumped forward, inadvertently pushing Krystal towards the last scarab.
"Hey! This isn't fair! YOU CHEATED!" Yelled the shopkeeper, but then... as his anger faded, he smirked slightly. He thought he won and got to keep his good and take a payday's worth of scarabs out of this.
"Your luck didn't align with you this time, eh? I'll take your scarabs!" He said, as he began collecting them.
But, as Krystal got up, Tricky ran towards the shopkeeper and stopped him. She wanted to stop Tricky from doing anything foolish, but she wasn't quick enough.
"No! She didn't cheat, it was my fault!" Yelled Tricky, trying to confront the shopkeeper, as some frightening thoughts went into his head, did he inadvertently obstruct Krystal's mission? Did this mission involve a giant threat to Lylat?
"Step out of my way, swindler!" The shopkeeper said in agitation, enunciating 'swindler' accusingly.
"No!" Tricky yelled again, he was adamant to admitting his fault... as he was hesitating and thinking about another counterpoint to level the situation, he thought of something he never thought would be of use.
"A-a-as the prince of the EarthWalkers, I-I order you to allow Krystal another chance!"
"Oh... I've never seen a prince acting so nervous." Said the shopkeeper in a quiet sarcastic tone, he still had his grin of arrogance on his mouth. But, as he thought further into this, he realized the royal relations could benefit more than a comparably-small sized pile of scarabs.
"Alright! I'll sell you the Mind Crane!" He turned to Krystal. "On the condition that you get me in contact with your father... and get these rocks out of here."
"Um... s-sure." Said Tricky, as a wide smile of acceptance formed on his face. Knowing well that he'll get the rocks out, but'll never even mention the damn floaty dino to his pa.
A bit of time afterwards, when the two finished getting the rocks out, and the sky of ThornTail Hollow was cleared of rain and semi-cleared of clouds, leaving a semi-clear sunset, Krystal and Tricky were walking towards the Arwing.
"Sorry for the trouble I've caused, Krystal." Said Tricky with a frown.
"It's alright, Tricky... you did help me afterwards anyway, thank YOU for that."
"Thanks, Krystal... but, what did you want that headband for?" Tricky asked curiously, unaware of its purpose and nature as far as to call it a headband.
Krystal sighed, then explained: "I've recently found there are ancient artifacts here from my home planet Cerinia, I need to find them to find out what happened to my planet after it was destroyed."
"Oh... sorry about your home planet, Krystal." This was the first time the little EarthWalker was ever informed of that backstory.
"It's okay" she replied silently, then smiled in assurance.
"Can I come along and help? Please?" Tricky said, desperate of another adventure outside of his young-prince-life. Also persuaded by his vixen friend's backstory.
"Um..." Krystal hesitated a bit, then asked in a parental tone: "Well, would your parents mind that?" as she couldn't say no to the small pleading dinosaur, after all, he did help her earlier... in a way that is up for debate on whether it was necessary.
"Uh..." He remembered the note he left earlier this morning "No, they don't, Ma and Pa trust me completely!" Said Tricky, following it by an unsure smile.
"Then let's go!" Said Krystal with a smile and a determined tone.
"Yay! Thanks, Krystal!" Said Tricky as he bounced around in joy.
As they reached Krystal's Arwing, Tricky reminisced of his earlier stand: "I think that's the first time I used my status for something other than finding pathways around the planet."
"But you're not going to abuse it like earlier, are you, Mr. Crooked-Little-Prince?" Krystal teased like a big sister before chuckling, placing her hand on her mouth as she did.
"Um... I'll try my best, Krystal." Said Tricky as he flushed a bit, causing Krystal to laugh and Tricky to follow it with a shy quiet laugh as they enter the Arwing to head to the next destination, using the Mind Crane to lead the way.
* * *
Back in Walled City...
"Why would he go on his own?! He might get in trouble!"
King Earthwalker woke up to find a note on Tricky's bed, he got a bit angry.
"He won't be in trouble, he said he will only go to ThornTail Hollow." Said the Queen EarthWalker, trying to calm her king husband.
"But what if he went through the path surpassing Cloudrunner Fortress? He can't go there!" Here, he started talking out of sense.
"He can't, he would have to grow wings to reach it." The queen pulled him back into sense.
"A rouge CloudRunner could abduct him!" The king tried to counter.
"He's grown enough to defend himself! They won't dare lay their red little toes on him." The queen countered calmly again, insisting he should dump the old worries.
King EarthWalker walked around thinking for a bit, he was unsure of what his course of action is towards this. in a moment of thought, Queen EarthWalker smiled faintly, then walked closer to him to try and confront him.
"We should trust our son, dear, one day he will be in our positions now, he should get to know his own planet." Said the Queen EarthWalker, who was secretly more insistent on her son's friendships, that honorary badge wasn't given for nothing, after all.
King EarthWalker sighed and said something inadvertently more prophetic than he'd have thought: "Whoever Star Fox member is that, I hope they're taking care of him."