Your Current Location is Chaos Keep : Stories : Vikky's Stories : Something Blue

Something Blue
A Star Fox Adventures Fanfic

1: Home Again, Home Again

All Fox could see were the stares, from every member of the team. Their eyes were wide as they watched their friend walk across the bridge, the metal of the decking echoing through the silent room with each step that Fox took.

The jukebox was silent, powered off, it added to the strangeness of the situation. Slippy was standing next to the machine, his wide mouth hanging open in shock. Peppy sat in his own chair, the light of the reconstructed planet below him outlining the old hare's fading fur. He squinted through his glasses, looking amazed. Falco was sitting in Fox's chair, his fingers folded into his lap, and a confused look on his face.

Fox stopped at the door of the bridge, and sighed, watching the stares. Everything had changed in the last few days, and not for the better.

Falco, the long lost member of the team, now returned, was the first to speak up. "Fox, what the hell happened to you?" he asked, the crest of feathers on the falcon's head fanning forward. "I knew there was something wrong when I talked to you in the fighter, but nothing like this."

"I'm not sure I accept your explanation of Magic," Peppy said, adjusting his glasses on his short muzzle. "I doubt it exists, and if it does, how could it do this to you? I mean Fox... You're..." the hare gulped, his ears dropping.

"You can say it," Fox said with a soft sigh, "I've been turned into a vixen."

Everyone in the bridge nodded in agreement.

Fox sighed, and looked down at her paws, the familiar red- tan fur gone, replaced with a soft blue. The same soft blue fur that covered the vixen named Krystal, the vixen who was now her identical twin.

She tried hard not to cry, her shoulders shaking softly. It was impossible to believe that just two weeks ago, she had been living her usual life, flying along in the rust bucket that The Great Fox had become.

That all changed with a single job. It had come with a fat paycheck, but one that wasn't worth this.

She tugged at her shirt, the one she normally wore under her flight suit, most of which she'd had to abandon as her body had changed. The lower part of the shirt had been torn away, used by Fox to hold parts of her new form in place but leaving her midriff bare.

The lower half of her flight suit remained, but the legs were cut away just above the knee, giving her room to move in them, without tripping herself.

At least her vest still fit, even if it did hang strangely over her new breasts. It was a familiar weight on her shoulders when everything else had changed.

Falco stood up, and motioned for Fox to take her chair at the center of the bridge. She smiled and walked over, settling down in the slightly too large seat.

It didn't escape her notice that Falco moved to stand as far away from the transformed vixen as he could get, while still staying on the bridge, barely.

"It really is you, isn't it, Fox?" Slippy asked, a frown pulling down the toad's large face.

She nodded, adjusting herself in the chair. "Yes, it is."

Falco crossed his arms, "What exactly happened down there?"

Fox sighed, and folded her paws into her lap. "I'll try to explain, but it won't be easy. We know how it started, when we got the call from General Pepper about the trouble with Dinosaur Planet. Things went fine on the way down, a bit tricky with the debris field around the planet, but I got there in one piece."

She closed her now blue eyes, a match with the rest of her body. "It was when I landed that things started to change."

2: Landfall

Fox let out a warm sigh as the canopy on his fighter slid open, and fresh, clean, unrecycled air blew over his face and through his fur for the first time in nearly a year. The air was full of new scents that tickled his whiskers as he stood, stretching out his arms. It felt good, and gave him an extra spring to his step.

Flicking his nose, he climbed out of the fighter and jumped onto the ground. With a few punches on his wrist control the cockpit closed with a hydraulic hiss.

"So, now to find the Queen EarthWalker," he said to himself, glancing around the glade he had landed in. Tall walls lined the area blocking him in, and a low stone building stood off to the side. A few ThornTails, large reptilian animals with spikes on the end of their tails, grazed on the grass around him, hardly noticing his arrival.

He had a simple mission: to save the planet from destruction. That was easier said than done, the planet had started to break up, four large sections having already been thrown into orbit. General Pepper was worried that if the world was destroyed, it would start a chain reaction that would destroy the whole Lylat system.

So Fox had been sent down to try and fix it, however he could manage that. The General was sure that the means to fix the world were already there. He had sent Fox to find the Queen of the EarthWalker tribe, who would be giving him help.

Fox walked briskly to the closest dinosaur to where he landed. Standing by his head, he waited to be noticed, at the same time he opened a communication link up to the ship.

"Slippy, you read to translate?" he asked.

"Ready and willing," the amphibian's voice said over the line.

He nodded, and tapped his foot on the ground. Finally he resorted to throwing a rock at the forehead of the ThornTail, who slowly lifted his head to look at Fox.

"I'm looking for the Queen EarthWalker," he said.

The dinosaur blinked, and rambled out a couple sentences in a language he didn't understand. A few seconds later Slippy's translation came down the line.

"You are a very rude creature. If you must know, the Queen has been locked in the Temple by the SharpClaws, and she is very ill. Now leave me be," he said, then turned away from the vulpine.

Fox glanced over to the only building in the area, and assumed it was the temple. It was a large stone structure built into the side of one of the cliff walls. A large door hung between the two walls. A small section in front of it was fenced in by a low stone wall.

He moved quickly towards the door, only to discover that it was made of heavy stone, to heavy for him to move on his own, and there didn't appear to be any method to open it. He could have opened it with his blaster, but thanks to the General's orders, he had to leave it in his quarters on the ship.

Damn Pepper and his orders.

Leaving the temple for the moment, he walked around the glade, trying to see if there was anything he could use to open the door. There wasn't much he could do, and what exits he could take out of the hollow we're all blocked by heavy steel gates.

That wasn't true, there was one way out of the hollow, but it didn't go anywhere of use. Just into a store run by a creepy old lady who seemed to float in the air. Not that it mattered to him, she wouldn't take the money he had.

It did annoy him that some of his own equipment, which Slippy ordered the dumb robot to drop for him, had found its way into the store. He was going to have to go back for it, when he could find some of whatever passed for money on this world.

He was starting to get frustrated. He had a job to do, and money riding on that job. If he couldn't get to the Queen, he wouldn't get paid.

Fox walked back to the locked temple door and placed his paw against it, feeling the cold stone. He rapped his knuckles against the surface, trying to estimate just how thick it was. He wasn't much of a judge, but he thought he could blow the door open with the plasma cannons on the fighter.

With a smile on his muzzle, he started back towards the ship, running a few calculations in his head about how much power he would have to use. He had just about decided that he would start on the lowest power setting, and work upwards, when he caught his foot on something.

Fox yelped, wind milling his arms to try to regain his balance, but it was already too late. He took an ungraceful fall, crashing forward into the growth around him. He landed on something long, thin, and hard, with a sound of a muffled crack.

For a moment he wondered if it was his ribs, but the only pain he had passed in a few moments. Climbing to his feet, grumbling to himself, he looked for what he had tripped over.

It took a few seconds, but he finally found what had caused all his trouble. A long silver staff was buried in the grass, its shaft painted in intricate patterns that seemed to reflect the light of the sun.

At one end was a sharp point of metal, thin like the shaft, but looking deadly enough. The other end was capped by a golden headpiece, which held a large blue gem.

"Who left this laying around?" he wondered, not really expecting any of the dinosaurs to respond. Grasping the staff, he heaved, and pulled it free of the ground cover.

<<If you are receiving this message, then I am in great danger, and I need your help,>> someone, a female someone, said, her voice echoing through Fox's skull. <<The staff you hold in your paws is a powerful weapon. You must learn to use it wisely. It will give you guidance when its powers can be used.>>

"Guidance, what kind of guidance?" he asked the disembodied voice.

<<My staff's main use is in combat, but you can also use it to explore the world around you. I'm sure that you will find it useful. Take care of my staff, and it will take care of you.>>

Fox blinked as the voice faded away, then shook his head, trying to clear it. The weight of the staff felt heavy in his paw. It was such a cumbersome weapon, he couldn't imagine it ever being useful in combat.

He looked closer at it, brushing the dirt and grime from the shaft. A small part of the headpiece fell away, broken loose from when he landed on it.

With a twist of his paw, he collapsed the staff. The move was so sudden, it caused him to jump back. He had no idea how he knew to do that, but he did.

A second later, he was distracted by a low rumbling sound echoing though the glade. Spinning on his heel, he watched as the temple door slide open.

He rushed forward over the grass, keeping his eyes on the door as it opened fully. Four new creatures shuffled through the door. All were bipedal dinosaurs, about fox's height and build, dressed in leather armor, and armed with blunt weapons. He recognized them from the pictures General Pepper have provided.

SharpClaws. The ones responsible for the imprisonment of the Queen EarthWalker, and suspected of being the cause of the planet's breakup. When they saw him, they all rushed forward, waving their weapons wildly, and bellowing out a yell as they charged.

"Fox, they are going to kill you," Slippy said, translating over the link.

Fox grunted at the obvious statement, and reached for his blaster, only to feel his fingers bush against the green fabric of his flight suit. That left the staff, still held in his paw, as his only weapon.

With a flick of his wrist he extended it once more, and held it in both his paws in what he hoped was a defensive posture. He was jittery, and it showed in the staff, the headpiece waving around in the air. With a flash, the gem in the staff caught the light from the sun, and blue light fell over Fox's face.

In that moment, he knew exactly what to do and how to do it. It was almost as if the knowledge had been dropped into his mind. He held the staff steady and watched as the SharpClaws ran towards him, screaming at the top of their lungs.

The first one came in fast, waving his mace in the air. Fox went low, swinging the end of the staff around, and cutting the sharp point across his chest, through the soft armor. The end cut in, digging into the skin and rending him open.

He crumpled to the ground, as Fox spun his staff towards the second guard. He clocked him in the muzzle with the head piece, sending him spinning back, and falling to the ground, out cold.

The third SharpClaw finally had enough time to react, bringing his mace around to block Fox's swing. The two weapons crashed into each other with a dull clunk. Twisting the staff, he pulled the mace down and out of the guard's hands.

Flipping the staff around, he brought the sharp end against the guard's neck, slicing up across his throat, blood spurting out as he fell to the ground.

The last SharpClaw pulled back, holding his mace against his chest.

"You might want to run away," Fox said, spinning the staff around, and pointing it at the guard. Blood dripped from the point.

The guard shifted on his feet, a look of worry in his eyes. It glanced at his fallen comrades and said something in the local language. Then let out a scream as he rushed forward, weapon waving in the air.

Fox twisted to the side, sweeping his staff down over his legs, slicing across the knees. Blood splashed out as the dinosaur folded, landing hard against the ground. With a spin of the staff, Fox used the crystal end, and cracked it against the back of the guard's skull, ending the battle.

Panting, he took a step back and wiped the bloody end of the staff against the grass. Two guards were dead, one wounded, and the last out cold. The last one was someone he wanted to talk to, who could perhaps answer a few questions about what was going on.

Except that the guard was gone! In fact all of them where gone, even the blood. It was as if they had never been there in the first place.

"What the hell?" he asked, touching the flattened grass with his foot.

<<This message will play only if my staff feels that you are ready to become its master,>> the voice said, echoing once again in his mind. <<Before the staff becomes your own, you must see and feel it's call though your paws. Follow its call and discover what lies beneath.>>

Fox blinked as the words fell away. Grasping the staff tighter, he felt it start to tug in his paws. He ignored it for a moment, looking back at the temple door, only to find that it had closed again during his short battle.

He looked back down at his staff, and shrugged. Letting the pull lead him, he followed it across the hollow. It took him across the stream, around a stone enclosure, and finally to what had once been a stone wall.

It had changed, A round door had opened to reveal a tunnel, lit by a soft green glow. At the end of the tunnel was a simple cave, with only a single large stone that rested in the center of the room.

The staff was almost shaking in his paws as he stood over the stone. He could see a green glow emanating from underneath it. Spinning the staff around in his paws, he wedged the end under the stone. With a loud grunt, he heaved, and rolled the stone away.

Under where the stone once sat was a pool of green light, illuminating the whole of the cave. Now that it was uncovered, the staff seemed to shake violently, tugging him towards it.

He tucked the staff under his arm, and with a breath, stepped onto the portal. In an instant his vision was filled with a bright white light, but it was gone before he could even react.

As his vision cleared, Fox found himself in a new tunnel, which lead a few dozen feet downwards, and into a second cave. His curiosity getting the better of him, he marched forward, staff still under his arm. He regretted it as soon as he stepped into the new cave. A door, made up of crossed steel bars, crashed down behind him, just inches from his tail.

"Damn it!" he said, spinning around to look at the door. Gabbing the bars, he shook them, only to discover they didn't budge. He tried lifting them with his paws, and then using the staff as a lever, but to no effect.

He sighed, and ran his fingers through his short hair. "Great, I've been on this planet for twenty minutes, and I've already been in one fight, and walked into an obvious trap," he said.

With nothing else left that he could do with the door, Fox turned back to the cave he had been trapped in. It was a large room, with a domed ceiling that rose high over his head. A large spire of some kind of jewel hung down in the center of the room, glowing with a soft blue light.

It was the same kind of jewel that was in the headpiece of his staff.

The perimeter of the room was lined by a series of tall flowers, each one glowing a different color, adding light to the pale darkness. The light flickered off a large pool that filled the center of the room.

In the middle of the pool, directly under the large jewel, was a raised platform. The edges were wet from the splashing water, and gave off a yellow beam of light that reflected onto the stone ceiling.

For a moment, curiously got the better of him. Putting the staff away in his backpack, he took a running leap from the edge of the pool, and sailed over the water, landing on the center platform. He skidded slightly on the wet surface, but kept from falling off into the water.

Standing up on the platform, he looked up at the large jewel, as the compressed staff started to shake against his backpack.

He slid the staff free and expanded it in his paws. Spinning its shaft around he saw the headpiece was glowing in time with the hanging jewel.

Lifting the staff high over his head, he looked at both the headpiece and the jewel, held next to each other. The light in the staff seemed to grow stronger, the whole shaft glowing now.

In an instance, a bolt of lighting arched down from the jewel and crashed into the staff. Fox could feel the power rushing down through the staff and into his paw. It rushed over his body, his fur standing on end as it tickled the ends of his nerves. Lighting played over his eyes and into his mind.

Then like that it was gone, and Fox collapsed to his knees, the staff clattering to the ground at his feet. He panted hard, looking at his paws as they held his weight. Shaking his head he sat back and tried to catch his breath.

There was something new in his mind, the same way he had known how to fight with the staff. He knew of a new ability in the staff, a new power; he now knew how to send blasts of fire from the gem in the headpiece.

Standing up, he picked up the staff, and twirled it in his paws. Pointing the end at the far wall, he fired a bolt of fire. It streaked across the gloomy room and crashed into the stone wall, spraying out dirt and rock. It left behind a crater almost two feet wide.

"Now that's more like it," Fox said with a pleased smile. It was hardly his plasma gun, but it would do in a pinch. Tucking the length of the staff under his arm, he fired three shots at the top of the steel door.

The stone blasted away, raining down on the ground below, and exposing the top of the grate. With one last blast the steel creaked and crashed forward, bouncing on the stone floor.

With a smirk, he folded up the staff and tucked it into his backpack, heading back towards the surface. He was nearly strutting as he walked out of the room, never noticing the white markings that had appeared on his upper arms, or the tinge of blue in his short hair.

3: Mushroom Hunt

"Tricky!" Fox called out as he rushed down the ice and snow covered hill. The young EarthWalker plowed forward ahead of him, sliding down slope and letting out a cheer as his three-horned head plowed through the snow, sending it flying back over the crest of bone behind his head.

Half way down he caught his paw on a stone, and twisted, starting to spin on the ice. He sped up, falling off his feet and onto his belly as he spun, then crashed into a bank of snow. He flipped onto his back, landing in the snow, as a pile of the soft powder fell down on top of him.

Fox laughed as he rushed down after the dinosaur. He couldn't help it, he looked so silly lying there in the snow. He had been sent by the Queen EarthWalker to rescue young Prince Tricky from the SharpClaws. They had imprisoned the prince in the mountain that he and Fox were coming down.

Tricky shook his head, looking up as the vulpine stopped in front of the snow bank. Fox shook his head he crouched down, looking at the young dinosaur.

"Can you help?" Tricky asked, "I can't up."

The vulpine smiled and reached down into the snow, picking up the young man, and setting him upright, then brushing some snow off the large plate that arched off the back of his head. "You may be the Prince of the EarthWalkers tribe, but you need to work on keeping your feet on the ground."

The prince snorted, blowing snow out of his nose, but still looked indignant.

Fox smiled and dug out a few mushrooms from his pack. They were Tricky's favorite, and he begged for them constantly. He perked up instantly, and rushed forward, eating them rapidly out of the vulpine's paw.

Shaking off the last of the snow, Tricky trotted out over the ice to look around. They had come to a small glade, filled with ice and snow, and the only way out was the way in. There was a large SnowHorn standing near the edge of the glade, a wooly beast with a long trunk and large curling tusks. He was looking bored and not giving either of them any of his attention.

Fox started walking towards the large animal when Tricky called out, "Look at this!"

With a sigh, he turned and headed towards where the Prince had started to paw at the ground. The young quadruped was always so excited about every small thing they found. None of it had been of any real use to Fox, and it was sometimes annoying.

It only took a moment for him to realize that this time it was different, as his staff started to shake as he approached. Reaching back, he removed the staff from his backpack and held it in his paws as he came up to the Prince.

The young dinosaur's digging had already exposed part of the familiar green portal he had first seen just hours before. The last time he had learned of the fire blaster, which allowed him to open the temple where the Queen EarthWalker had been trapped. Once she was free, she had sent him off to rescue her captured son, not that he needed it in the end. The trek back had brought them to here.

He had a feeling that whatever was down there, it could be of use to get him out of the glade.

Using his foot, he swept off the last of the dirt. "I'll be right back," he told Tricky, and stepped into the light, vanishing into the glow.

The Prince jumped back with a yelp, narrowing his eyes and glaring suspiciously at the now dark portal. "Fox?" he called, taking another step back. "Where are you, Fox?"

He took a few breaths, and gathered himself. It was just a simple portal, just like the Warp Stone. That meant that Fox had gone somewhere else. It also meant that he would be coming back, hopefully soon.

He didn't like being out here by himself, it was cold, and wet, and made him shiver. He had snow behind his head plate, and he didn't like the look that the SnowHorn on the other side of the glade was giving him.

Then, with a flash of red light, Fox reappeared, his staff held in his hand, and a slightly annoyed look on his face.

"What happened?" the prince asked his friend.

Fox sighed and shook his head. "Nothing useful," he said. It had been the same all over again--the same room, but without a pool. The only thing he learned was how to bring out more power from the staff, which was not very useful.

He brushed a lock of hair away from his eyes, and snorted slightly in annoyance; he was going to have to get it cut again. He preferred to keep it short, and out of his eyes. He had no idea how he had let it grow so long. To add to his annoyance he noticed there was now ice in his hair, giving it a light blue color.

Glancing down at Tricky, he gave him a smile. "Don't worry about it, it wasn't anything important. Did you find anything else while I was gone?"

"I haven't looked," he replied.

"Why don't you look around, see if there is anything else. I'll go talk to the big guy over there," he said, and motioned to the SnowHorn with his head.

Tricky ran off, exploring the glade as Fox talked with the large mammal. Not that there was much to say, it was simply grumbling about being hungry.

Luckily his sidekick had discovered a few buried roots that the SnowHorn took, and at least stopped whining. With a little help from the big beast, they were able to climb over the wall and continue down the mountain.

As they walked down the snow-covered path, he glanced down at Tricky. The young dinosaur was shivering in the cold, his breath trailing out from his muzzle.

Fox sighed, and pulled them both to a stop. "Here," he said, pulling off his vest. His arms, even exposed in the short sleeves, were still kept warm enough by his fur. On the other hand, all Tricky had was his scales.

The prince looked up at Fox as he bent down and helped him into the vest. It wasn't a perfect fit, but he could still move around in it. Zipping it closed, Fox smiled at him, "There, that should help you stay warm."

He nodded and shook himself happily, the vest settling down over his shoulders. "Thanks Fox, that's a lot better."

The vulpine smiled, and scratched the scales of the young man's head with the tips of his claws. "No problem kiddo, I don't want you to freeze out here."

Still smiling, they continued back down the hill. Fox had to admit that the kid was starting to grow on him.

The rest of the trip was thankfully uneventful. They reached the bottom of the hill in one piece, and bribed their way past a SharpClaw guard who seemed more interested in the money than in following the orders of his leader.

After a short hike through a mountain passage, they eventually came to a closed grate in ThornTail hollow. Fox took a couple of blasts at the door, knocking it down, and letting them into the hollow.

Tricky, still wearing Fox's vest, rushed forward over the grass. He hurried past the ThornTails, who hardly seemed interested in him, and right to the Temple where the Queen was.

The vulpine followed behind the Prince, jumping briskly through the small stream in the middle of the hollow. Shaking his feet, trying to get the extra water off, he entered the temple himself.

The Queen was lying on the floor inside, resting on her side, her breathing labored and her tongue hanging out of her mouth. She had been ill when he first arrived, but now she was much worse.

If Fox had to guess, he didn't think there was much time left for her.

Tricky was nuzzling her face, looking worried. "Fox, we need to help her!" Tricky cried out as soon as he realized his new friend had arrived.

"What can we do?" he asked, biting the edge of his lip.

The prince turned, and rushed over to Fox, "White grub tubs, that's what she gives me when I'm sick."

He nodded, running his fingers though his hair, feeling the long strands slide between them and over the tips of his claws. To be honest, he was already used to it, and he pondered keeping it that way. "Where can we find them?"

"I'll show you!" the prince said, then turned and rushed out of the Temple.

Fox hurried after him, finding it hard to keep up with the young prince when he got something in his head. They ran across the glade, over the stream once more, and towards the stone enclosure where the first staff portal had been.

"It's in here!" Tricky said. Panting hard he clawed at the large stones that had fallen over the entrance.

"All right, all right, let me handle this one," he said, expanding the staff. Tricky took a few steps back as Fox used the end of the staff to wedge at the stones.

With a few minutes of levering, and a little help from the prince, the largest bolder rolled away. It created a small opening, just large enough for them both to slip through.

Climbing down onto his hands and knees, Fox wiggled his way through the tunnel. On the other side was a small platform, with a ladder dropping down a hundred feet into a large open cave.

"Another cave," he said with a soft sigh. He was starting to get used to them. Turning around, he glanced at Tricky as he wiggled through the wall. "You're going to have to stay up here. I'll get the mushrooms, you keep guard."

The young dinosaur started to pout and opened his mouth to protest.

"No Tricky, you can't climb down there," Fox said, turning around and grasping the ladder. "So, keep an eye out up here, ok?"

The prince sighed and nodded his head.

Satisfied with that, Fox got a firm grip on the edge of the ladder. He slid down its length, landing firmly on the ground below.

Looking around the room, he could see where he needed to go. It was high up on the side of the wall, higher than he could jump. He glanced around, trying to find some other way--some boulder he could slide over to stand on, or a ledge he could jump from.

Instead he felt the shaking tug of the staff, telling him that another portal was near by. Taking the staff into his paws, he followed it until he found the source, a patch of freshly turned soil.

Digging at it with the end of his staff, he exposed the glowing green portal. Stepping onto it, the now familiar sensation of being teleported tingled over his fur.

He arrived in a familiar passage, leading down to the cave. The last one, where he had gotten more power for the staff, didn't have the pool. This one did. He went right to the center platform and raised the staff over his head.

The power rushed down into him, sending him to his knees once more. Prepared for it this time, he didn't fight the rush of new knowledge into his mind. It was worth it this time, as he learned how to use the staff to boost himself into the air.

He walked back up to the portal, and returned to the cave. With a new sense of purpose he headed towards the ledge. Shoving the staff into the ground, he used his new knowledge. With a blast he was thrown into the air. Spinning he landed on the ledge.

Tucking the staff away, he headed into the darkness. One paw idly pulled at the legs of his pants, where the once loose fabric had grown tight over his hips.

4: Times, They Are a-Changing

An hour of exploration netted him half a dozen white mushrooms. He wasn't sure if it was enough for the Queen, but that was all he could find.

With them safely tucked into his pack, he climbed back up the ladder. Tricky was waiting for him at the top, a worried look on his young face. "Did you find them?" he asked.

Fox nodded as he stepped off the ladder, "Six, will that be enough?"

"I hope so," he said, and turned to crawl back though the small tunnel. Fox followed a few feet after him, feeling his hips rub against the edges of the rocks. He tried to shift himself to prevent it, but the tunnel still seemed smaller than it had before.

Once they were back into the hollow, they started back to the temple. Fox was fiddling with his clothing, trying to get comfortable in them as they chafed. "I must be getting fat," he said to himself. He knew he wasn't in the prime of his life, having turned forty a few months before, but he didn't expect to get out of shape so fast.

"Hey Fox," Tricky said as they crossed the stream, "Your tail is blue."

He blinked, looking back down at his friend. "Blue?"

The dinosaur nodded, "Ya, it's blue now."

Stopping for a second, he flicked his tail around, holding it in his paws. Tricky was right, there were streaks of blue through the fur. It wasn't a stain; the fur itself had changed color, all the way down to the root.

"That's strange," he said, dropping his tail. Turning back around he walked back to the stream. Bending down, the sun at his back, he looked into his reflection in the rippling water.

Blue. Streaks of it running though his hair, and the tips of each ear had changed completely. There was a fuzzy line where the blue ended, and his normal color began. His hair had been cut short when he had landed on the planet, and there had never been a touch of blue in his fur before. Now there was. "I'm changing," he said, brushing his paw though his hair.

"Changing?" The prince asked.

Fox nodded, "The blue fur, and my hair is longer," he said, looking back at his refection, his green eyes catching the sunlight. "I wonder why, and how."

Tricky didn't say anything.

He stood up, brushing off the pants of his flight suit. "If you see any other changes, tell me right away, OK?"

"Sure thing, Fox," he said, as they started towards the temple.

Fox felt confused as they walked, trying to work it out in his head. The changes in his fur made him worry. He didn't know how it could have happened... maybe it had something to do with the 'magic' this world had.

He started to mentally compose a message to Peppy, asking him to look into it as he ran through research on the planet. He hoped the old hare could find an answer.

As they walked back into the temple, Fox started to wonder if they were too late. As he walked over to Queen, he saw that her chest was slowly lifting, fighting for every shallow breath she took.

Digging into his pack he pulled out the mushrooms, and sat down next to the Queen. "I got these for you," he said, gently touching the side of her face.

The Queen's eyes flicked opened, looking up at Fox. She looked confused for a moment, until he held up the mushrooms up for her to see. She seemed to understand, she closed her eyes, and opened her snout, her tongue falling out with a wet thump.

Fox placed the half dozen white mushrooms into her muzzle, and held her mouth closed. She halfheartedly chewed on them, managing to swallow them down on the third try.

Tricky rushed forward, and nuzzled at his mother's face. Walking back to the edge of the temple, Fox sat down, and watched them, waiting for any change in the Queen's condition.

He checked his communicator as he waited, only to find that the thick walls of the temple kept him out of contact with his ship.

With a sigh, he dropped his arms over his legs, and glanced at the prince. A smile crept over his muzzle as he realized the young dinosaur still had on his vest.

"Hey Tricky, you must be hot, come over here and I'll get that off of you," he said.

The prince turned, and looked at Fox, then back at his mother. With a shrug he walked over to the vulpine, and rolled onto his back so he could get at the zipper.

"Don't worry," Fox said as he took the vest off, "your mother will be fine."

"I hope so," he said, as Fox dropped the vest at his side. The prince sat down next to him, resting his face on his forelegs, and watching his mother.

Reaching down, Fox idly stroked the young EarthWalker's head as they waited for something to happen. Soon after the soft wheezing from his mother grew softer, as her airways cleared. She fell into a normal sleep.

Both Fox and Tricky eventually slipped off on their own, as the sunlight faded into darkness. Soon enough the sun rose again on the small world, shining down into the temple through the open roof.

Fox blinked his eyes open as he came awake. The young prince was curled up at his side, using his thick bushy tail as a pillow. He smiled to himself and stroked a paw down over his back, then glanced at the Queen.

She was on her feet, her eyes clear, and a smile on her face.

"Feeling better?" he asked.

She nodded, and smiled, tilting her head, "Yes I am, Fox McCloud. I thank you for helping me, and for helping my son. I see that you are taking good care of him."

He blushed, glancing away and rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, ya. He's a nice kid," he admitted.

Hearing his mother's voice, the young man came away, jumping off of Fox's tail and ran over to her, and rubbing up against her leg.

"We still have to get the planet back together," Fox said, standing up. "Where do I go next?"

She glanced up at the sky, "You must return the SpellStones to the ForcePoint Temples. The GateKeeper in the SnowHorn Wastes will tell you how to get to the first one."

Fox blinked, and tilted his head, pulling himself up to his feet. "Most of that made no sense, if you could explain it to me, please?"

The Queen nodded, "Our world is filled with magic. The power is constantly pushing at the surface of our world, trying to tear it apart. Many centuries ago the Krazoa spirits created the four SpellStones, and placed them into the ForcePoint Temples, holding the power inside. When General Scales took the stones from the temple, the power was released, ripping our world apart. If you want to reform it, the stones must be returned to the two Force Point Temples."

He nodded, thinking it over. It did explain both why the world was breaking apart, and why General Pepper thought he could fix it on the world.

"The Stones have been returned to the land they were created from, a land which is now separated from our world. They are protected by the stream of magic that is forcing them off the world. The GateKeeper will be able to open a hole in the stream, allowing you to go to the Dark Ice Mines and retrieve the stones."

Fox nodded as the Queen explained the quest to him. It made sense, in a strange sort of way that wouldn't have worked on any other planet in the system.

The Queen turned around, and nosed at a small key that had been hidden under her. "This will allow you to free the GateKeeper."

"Thank you," Fox said, taking the key.

"Take Tricky with you. He knows the world, and can help you find your way."

Fox blushed slightly, then nodded as the prince let out a cheer.

"Let's go, Fox!" he called, rushing forward.

The vulpine glanced back at the Queen, and shrugged with a smile. the Queen nodded in return. Unspoken words passed between them as he scooped up his vest, and followed after the young Prince.

They were halfway across the hollow when the staff started to shake once more.

"Wait up," Fox said, pulling the staff free. "There's another portal around here," he said, holding it in front of him, walking in a circle.

"Where?"

He widened the circle until the pull on the staff grew stronger. It led him to a stone cliff, just high enough for the staff boost to get him up onto it.

"Up there," Fox said as he expanding the staff, burying the point in the ground, "I'll be right back," he said, and activated the power. It thrust him high into the air and over the top of the cliff.

This time the portal was in the open, tucked into a small notch in the cliff wall. Through the portal was the same familiar room, with no pool, and another increase in power for his staff.

He jumped back to the ground and tucked the staff away. Looking back down at Tricky, he saw the young dinosaur looking back up at him, his mouth hanging open.

"What's wrong," he asked.

The Prince turned around, and rushed forward to the stream. Fox followed after him, stopping at the edge as the Prince looked into the water.

A bad feeling settled into his stomach as he looked down into his reflection in the surface of the water. More changes had come over him, his ears had become all blue, from a light almost white blue to a softer powder blue. His hair had changed to match.

"Oh god," he gasped, reaching up to touch his paw to his muzzle.

"Your tail, too," Tricky said in a quite voice.

Pulling the limb around, Fox looked at it. The blue fur had spread like an infection, covering all the fur of his tail. There was not a single hair of red left.

"Did this just happen?" he asked, holding the tail, like it wasn't part of his own body.

The prince nodded his head.

Gulping, Fox took out the staff, and looked at it. "This happened when I was in the cave, when I learned more about the staff. It didn't just give me the knowledge, it changed me somehow."

He dropped the staff on the ground, and took a few steps back, feeling panicked.

"What do we do?" Tricky asked.

He shook his head, "I don't know," he said, trying to catch his breath, and to keep himself calm. "But we have to fix it somehow!"

"How?" The prince asked.

Fox took a deep breath, and tried to get his mind in order. "I don't know, but we have to do something. This world has magic, it has to be doing this."

"The SpellStones keep the magic from destroying the world," his friend replied.

He nodded, "We have to get those Stones."

Looking down at the staff, Fox reached up and pulled down a lock of his new hair, looking at the blue color. He gulped and took a step forward; the staff was his only weapon, his only way of defeating whoever might be guarding the Stones.

He needed the Stones to turn himself back, he needed the staff to get the Stones. If the changes continued on the way they had, he would have to accept it, there was no other choice.

Picking up the staff, he twirled it in his paw and collapsed it down. "Let's get going Tricky, we have a lot of work to do," he said, stalking towards the pass to the Wastes. He didn't notice that he was swaying his hips with each step.

5: Ice in Fire

"I never want to be eaten again," Fox said with a laugh as he and Tricky walked towards the Volcano ForcePoint Temple. The weight of the SpellStone heavy in his backpack as the moonlight light their way.

The young prince laughed, "You don't have to tell me twice!"

"I was the one eaten twice," he replied, plucking at his arm. "The acid is murder on my fur," he sighed and shook his head.

"Still, that was a great fight! You kicked that monster's ass!" Tricky said, hopping along.

"Tricky! That's no way for a Prince like you to speak," he said, but with a smile. It had been a nasty fight against a monster that spat balls of fire, and had eaten Fox twice. He had nearly been burnt by one of the fireballs, only being saved by his flight suit. It had destroyed the upper half, forcing him to cut it away, leaving him in just his gray shirt.

There had been no more changes in the last two days, and no new powers for the staff. Fox was grateful, but worried, he was finding gaps in his understanding of the staff's powers, places where new powers would fit in. He knew that there would be more for him to learn, and that he would be changed more each time he did.

But changed into what?

The moonlight was fading as they approached the entrance of the temple, fire glowing from the entryway. "This is it," Tricky said, as they stepped inside. It wasn't a cave this time, which pleased Fox.

Once they got inside, things got a bit more complex. When the SharpClaws had been there before to steal the Stones, they had done as much damage as they could on their way out.

So, the straight path was out of the question. Instead they had to take the back way in. It wasn't easy--there was a lot of lava, and it involved a lot of jumping.

Eventually they came to a room dead end, a room with a ledge wrapping around the top edge. Four statues stood at four corners on the ledge, each one holding a brazier that burned bright blue, adding to the light of the room.

A ladder was propped in the corner of the room, leading up to the ledge. Fox scrambled up it, leaving Tricky on the floor for the moment. The ledge wasn't complete; a large section was missing near the entrance to the room. Someone had carved a pair of doors on each side of the gap, which were connected by a small room.

He walked through the room, and continued along the other side of the ledge, to a third door, hidden from view below. As he approached it, the staff started to shake once more.

He came to a stop, fear setting in as he held the staff in his paws, trying to quiet it. From below Tricky saw his hesitation and called up, "What's wrong Fox?"

Looking back down at the price he gulped. "It's another portal," he said, an edge of panic in his voice.

"Can you skip it?"

Fox looked into the room, it was a dead end, the only thing inside was a stone covering the portal. "I don't think so, there's no way out of this room."

"We can keep looking," the prince called up.

He bit his lips and gulped again. "Damn, all right, I don't think we have a choice. Wait for me," he said and walked into the room. Uncovering the portal, he stepped onto it.

Once more it was the same room, and the same actions. As he recovered from the surge of power, and the new knowledge that rushed though his mind, he examined himself.

Another change, this time more obvious. The fur on his arms had changed, tinges of blue fur streaking over them. Their shape had changed as well; they were thinner than before. His fingers had changed also, becoming longer and more elegant.

The pants of his flight suit billowed out over his legs, and the fur on them tingled. Rolling up the pants he saw the blue fur was there as well and more physical changes. If anything the legs were shorter, the calves more prominent.

He sighed, and stood up, the cuffs of his pants hanging down over his feet. Picking up the staff, he took a single step, and tripped over the hanging cuffs, tumbling forward into the water.

Gasping he climbed back out of the pool, and sat on the edge, panting and wet. He gave his pants an accusing look, then with a sigh dug out a knife from his pack. He cut away the fabric, just above his knees, and slid them off, revealing his transformed legs.

They looked like they belong on a girl, not him.

At least he had a new power for the staff. An ice blast that would let him through a couple places where his way had been blocked by fire.

Picking it up, he walked back towards the entrance. There was more to do, and he didn't have time to sit around, worrying. He would have all the time in the world for that once he was done.

6: Spirit Aid

"I'm really sorry Fox," Tricky said as they walked out of the Force Point Temple. The young prince's shoulders were slumped forward as he padded along the ground.

The vulpine shrugged his shoulder. "It's ok. I wasn't expecting you to know how to use the SpellStone to turn me back, and I'm not mad because of it. To be honest, I'm just glad we have the Stone back in place, which brings us one step closer to saving your world."

"Still, I just wish I could have helped you," he said.

Fox shrugged. "We have more Stones, and others who can use them. We just have to find them first."

"Right, but still--" he started, but was cut off as a new voice echoed though the canyon.

"Help me!"

Fox stopped, and glanced around. "That voice..." he said.

"Please, someone help me!" the voice cried again.

He stood, his mouth hanging open, it was the same voice he heard in his head when he had first picked up the staff, and she was in danger.

"Who are you?" He called out, taking a step forward.

"She is Krystal," a new voice said, booming out from behind them. They both turned around to face a giant spirit that stood in front of them, towering thirty feet into the air. Its three glowing eyes, two in the regular place, and one on its forehead, looked down at the pair.

"A Krazoa," Tricky said, rushing back to hide behind Fox's legs.

"How can I help her?" Fox asked.

The spirit tilted its head, looking curiously at the changing vulpine. "She freed me from my shrine, and returned me to the Palace. For her aid she was trapped, and is dying. If you take too long she will die."

He gulped, "I don't want her to die, whoever she is."

The spirit nodded. "You can help her by finding the other five Krazoa spirits, and returning them to the Palace. Only then will she be freed." As the spirit spoke a stone door appeared in the cliff wall, and slid open.

Fox wanted to protest that they didn't have time to go off to rescue a damsel in distress, but another part of him urged him to help her. "All right, but how do we find the other spirits?"

The spirit just pointed over a large cliff face, too high for him to use a staff boost to get over. It then just faded away into nothing.

Fox sighed and placed his paw against his head. "Well, that just made things more complex."

"The Warp Stone can get you to the Krazoa Palace," Tricky said, coming out from behind Fox's legs.

He nodded, and smiled. "That's good to know. We just have to find these spirits," he replied, looking up at the sheer cliff face. "But how do we get up there?"

"What about the door?" Tricky asked.

Fox nodded, glancing over at the now open wall. "Right, that makes sense," he said, feeling a little silly for having forgotten it. When he got within a dozen feet the staff started to shake again.

He gulped, and looked down at the staff, grasping it tighter in his paws. "Maybe I can power up the boost on the staff, that could get me over it."

"Are you scared?" the prince asked, seeing the staff shake, and his reaction to it.

Fox focused his eyes on the open cave, blue light flicking inside of it. The staff was shaking in his paws, no matter how tightly he tried to hold it. "Yes," he said, the words cutting at him as they past over his lips.

Tricky nodded his head, and nuzzled gently against Fox's bare legs. "It's okay," he said, sounding very understanding.

The vulpine turned away and walked back towards the cliff face, the staff quieting in his paws as he walked away. He touched the wall, running his fingers over the surface. It was perfectly smooth, not a single place to hold on.

Looking upwards, he tried to see if there were handholds higher up, something that he could boost up to, but with just as much luck.

"Fox," Tricky called out from behind him, it wasn't his usually excited tone of voice, in fact he sounded serious.

He turned around, and yelped, rolling to the ground as a blast of green fire streaked inches away from his face. He came up, staff in hand, and started blasting fire at a large monster that had burrowed up through the ground a dozen feet behind them.

The blast of fire just fell away, with no damage to the creature. Thankfully it distracted the beast from Tricky, allowing the small dinosaur to get away.

Fox kept firing at it, switching to the ice blaster, but all that did was generate a pile of snow around the hole it had come out of.

"You have to hit it in the back!" Tricky shouted.

He snorted, walking around the beast, ducking from another blast of fire. "That would be nice, but it's not letting me near it," he said through clenched teeth.

Tricky ran around the back of the monster, trying to get its attention, but the creature had apparently decided Fox was the more interesting prey and didn't take the bait.

He grunted and keep firing, swapping between fire and ice, "This isn't working, I need to distract it," he glanced back at the cave. "Get out of here Tricky, I don't want you to get hurt."

"Never, Fox," he called, "we're a team!"

He smiled, it was nice that the Prince was so loyal to him, but it could hurt him. "Into the cave!" he ordered, and started back towards the opening, blasting at the creature with each step.

Tricky rushed passed him, and dashed down the short tunnel. With one last blast of fire, Fox turned and ran after him.

Each step made the staff shake more, added to it were the blasts of the creature's fire as it bounced into the mouth of the cave. The narrow tunnel turned twice, keeping them safe for the moment.

They came to a stop in a small room, once more with a single stone in the center. They both stopped, panting hard. A moment later the tunnel behind them collapsed under the creature's constant bombardment.

"Well, that could have gone better," Fox said with a sigh, brushing his blue hair out of his eyes.

The young dinosaur nodded, exploring the room, nosing at the stone that clearly covered a portal. The staff was starting to violently shake in his paws.

"Maybe we can pry the stones free," Tricky suggested.

He nodded, glancing back down the fallen tunnel. "Probably, but the monster is still out there."

His sidekick nodded, and lay flat next to the stone.

"You know, these portals all lead to the same room, or close to it," Fox said, walking back towards the stone. "Maybe they are all connected. If so, we could find a way to another one, and get out that way."

"That sounds pretty complicated, Fox."

He sighed and nodded, wedging the end of his staff under the stone. "It's the only way we can go right now, so if you have a better idea," he said with a grunt, flipping the stone over.

The prince shook his head.

With a twist, he compressed the staff, and tucked it into his backpack. Bending down he held out his paws. "Jump in, Tricky," he said.

The prince leaped happily into his arms, and nuzzled up against the material of his shirt. Holding him firmly in his paws, he took a step forward, and into the portal.

With the now familiar light, they teleported out of the cave and into another, drifting down to the floor of the now very familiar passage way.

"That was so cool!" Tricky said as he leapt from Fox's arms.

Fox laughed and followed the eager young Prince as he ran down the passage. "You've never done that before?" he asked.

"Nope," Tricky said, then came to a skidding stop at the edge of the water. "Wow, this place is neat!" he said, looking around, and batting at his reflection in the water.

With a smile on his face, he walked down to stand next to Tricky, "I'm glad you like it. So would I, if bad things didn't happen to me each time I came here."

"And where do you get the powers?" the youngster asked.

"In the middle of the lake," he said, pointing to the platform, "and I don't get the power, I learn how to bring it out of the staff."

Tricky nodded, and jumped into the water, happily treading water.

Fox chuckled and sat down at the edge of the lake, watching the kid play. "I'm glad to see you're enjoying yourself," he said, if a little snidely.

The prince just flipped in the water and dived down to the bottom.

He watched with a sigh, and ran his fingers though the long hair, then looked back down at the blue fur that spider-webbed over his paws.

Every time there was a pool of water, he learned a new ability for his staff. Usually they came in handy fairly soon after he got them. There was a good chance that whatever the power was, it could help them get past the monster.

And he had to get past the monster, to find the spirit. Standing up, he took a few steps back then ran forward. He leapt over the water, and Tricky's head, to land on the platform.

The prince lifted his head out of the water, and looked at Fox, "What are you doing?"

He sighed, and pulled the staff free. "Doing what I have to. Whatever power is here, it probably will help us on the other side of the portal. If I want to save your world, if I want to save that girl, I have to do this."

Tricky nodded, and swum closer to the platform.

"No, you stay away. I don't want this to affect you," he said, then glanced down at the water. "Maybe you should get onto the shore, just to be safe."

Tricky pouted, but swum to the edge of the lake and pulled himself onto the dry ground, watering dripping from his hide.

Taking in a deep breath, Fox steadied himself, and lifted the staff into the air.

It was stronger this time, stronger than ever before. The power coursed though his body, arching over his fur and between his ears before it finally faded way. A moment later he folded to the ground, unconscious.

7: Critical Mass

"Wake up, Fox," Tricky said, crying into his ear. Fox blinked, and whimpered. Pain lanced over his chest and muzzle.

He groaned. His eyes fluttered open, and focused on the young EarthWalker.

"You're awake, hooray!" the prince cheered.

Fox nodded, and reached up to rub his nose. "What happened?" he asked, feeling slightly ill.

"You passed out when the lightning hit you," Tricky explained, which was pretty much what Fox had already worked out for himself.

In the back of his mind, he realized he knew how to use the staff to cause earthquakes--minor ones, but enough to move rocks, and maybe even stun monsters.

He blinked, as he looked at the back of his paw, it was all blue now, as was the whole of his arm. Sitting up he sighed, looking at the other arm.

"Your face has changed too," the prince said.

Fox nodded, and leaned forward, looking at his own refection in the water. His muzzle was longer, more elegant looking, with blue fur scattering over his cheeks and around his eyes. Even the color of his nose pad had changed, becoming lighter.

There was something else, a weight on his chest that felt wrong. Sitting upright, he looked down at himself. His shirt was pushed out, over a pair of... of what looked like breasts!

He'd had his paws on enough women to know what they should feel like, and as he grabbed himself, that was exactly what he felt. More than that, he felt both sides of it, they were real, and they were his.

That wasn't all though, he realized with a gulp. Not only had something been added, but something else was missing. With Tricky staring on, he reached down and felt himself, and felt his fingers brush against something that should never have been there.

"Oh God, I'm a girl," Fox said with a whimper.

"What?" Tricky asked, not quite understanding the importance of that statement.

Fox gulped and pulled her paw away, looking down at it. "I've been turned into a vixen," she said with a whimper.

The prince turned his head, and frowned, "Are you sure? You don't look like a girl."

"Not your kind of girl, my kind." Fox looked back down at her chest again and sighed, feeling like she wanted to cry. She sat down, dropping her feet into the water and placed her head in her paws.

"Fox?" the prince asked, nuzzling up to her side.

She sighed and looked at Tricky, "I'm sorry, I'm just... I don't know. It's just, this feels so wrong," she shook her head.

The prince nodded and licked her paw. "What do we do?"

She looked down at the small dinosaur and pulled herself to her feet. "If we don't save your world, no one will. We've got to do it, we just have to." Brushing her hair from her face, she looked down at her reflection in the water.

The hair, the face, the changes all now looked right on her new body. It was the old red and tan fur that looked wrong on her. The shape of her arms and legs, the hips, which he once thought were just fat, all look correct on her transformed body.

With a leap, she jumped across the pool. "I think I know how to get past the monster now," she said, walking back towards the portal.

"Oh?" Tricky said, not really aware of the war going on in Fox's head. His youth hid how much was tied up in a person's sexual identity; he didn't understand how the sudden loss of her gender was affecting Fox, or how strong a face she was putting on.

Reaching the portal, she scooped up the prince, and held him in her arms as they were teleported back to the cave. When the world reformed, she put the prince down, and walked over to the cave-in.

The sound of the monster's attack had faded away, though the creature was still probably out there, waiting for them.

Flipping the staff around in her paws, she smiled. "Let's see how well this works," she said, and crashed the headpiece into the ground.

With a rumble, a wave of power blasted out of the staff, crashing into the pile of stones. They rippled, shifted, then fell forward, clearing the way.

"That worked perfectly," she said, gingerly picking her way over the loose stones. Outside she could see the hole the monster had come through. It was covered over with fresh dirt, but she doubted it had moved on.

A doubt which was proven a moment later as it once more burst from the ground. Its claws lunged towards them, a blast of fire streaking from one.

She rolled to the side, away from the blast. Then jumping to her feet, she smashed the headpiece of the staff to the ground at the monster's feet. A wave of power rolled over the ground, and crashed into the monster, throwing it back into its hole. It slumped to the side, its eyes glazing over, stunned.

Running around the body, she spun the staff around and buried the end into a large soft spot on the back of its head. With three blasts of fire the creature seemed to explode into smoke.

"Good job, Fox!" Tricky called he ran out of the cave.

She nodded, tucking the staff away. "Thanks, but it leaves us with our original problem; how do we get up the wall?" She paused, and rubbed her chin. "I could try a ground quake, see if I can knock some rocks loose, something we can climb up with.

"How about this?" Tricky said, nosing his way over where the creature had died.

Fox walked over and bent down to look at what he had discovered. Sitting in the middle of the hole was a strange looking plant seed. It was large, two paws wide, and curved like a crescent moon. Picking it up, she balanced it in her paws; it was heavy, and vibrating like it was trying to move in its own.

"What is it?"

"A MoonSeed," he replied with a nod.

She lifted her eyebrows, "I see, and what does it do?"

"It's a vine, you plant it against the wall, and it will grow.".

A very female laugh escaped from Fox's lips. "We don't have time to let it grow, Tricky, we have to get up over that now."

The youth laughed and nodded. "If I flame it, Fox, it will grow really fast."

She nodded, carrying the seed over to the rock wall. "How fast?" she asked, burying one end of the seed into the loose soil of the ground.

"Watch," he said, and trotted over. Lining himself up, he dropped his head, wiggled his tail, and blew a gout of flame out onto the seed.

The seed shook, and almost exploded upwards, a thick vine rushing up the wall. Large leaves flared out along the length of the vine, digging into the stone of the cliff as the tip crested the top of the wall.

"Wow," Fox said, amazed, looking up at the vine as she rubbed the back of her neck.

Tricky grinned and pranced back over to Fox, a smirk on his face. "See? Now we can get up."

She nodded, "So I see." Then she reached down and picked up the prince, letting him climb into her backpack. He wiggled in and curled up; they had done this enough times by now that he knew just where to sit, without causing Fox any problems.

Grabbing the vines firmly in her paws, she gave them a strong tug, and found them very stably dug into the wall. Thinking about it for a second, she kicked off her boots and handed them to Tricky to hold. She was going to need her feet and toes for this climb.

She lifted herself upwards, shoved her foot into the vines, she gripped them with her toes, then pulled herself upwards again. The vines were deeply embedded into the stone and easily held her weight. It turned out to be easy going, dense enough that she had plenty of handholds. They thinned out the last few feet, and she had to scramble to get over the top edge of the cliff. Once she pulled herself up, she lay on the ground, panting. "That was a very good idea," she told Tricky.

The Prince handed her boots to her and clambered out of her pack and onto the ground, looking very pleased with himself. At that point there was only one way for them to go, and that was deeper into the mountain.

"Come on," she said after putting on the boots, and stood up. They walked down the slope, moving in silence. Fox had to take short, dropping steps which made her new breasts bounce under her shirt, and it hurt.

Fox sighed as they reached the bottom, rubbing her chest with a paw. "Wait here for a minute Tricky, I have to do something."

The dinosaur nodded and curled up on the ground, not minding being left alone for a short time. Fox pulled out a small ball for the prince, and placed it down in front of his paws. His eyes lit up and he let out a happy squeal, and started to throw it around.

She laughed, and started back up the hill, looking for someplace fairly private. Not that the young EarthWaker would understand what she would be doing, or why it had to be private.

When she was out of view, she shrugged out of her vest and pack, setting them on the ground at her feet. A moment later she pulled off her shirt, and shivered as her new fur and flesh were exposed to the chilled air. The fur was blue, naturally, and everything looked correct for a female, and perfectly real.

A sigh escaped her lips as she examined herself. She wasn't large, only slightly more than a paw full. They were the kind of breasts that would have barely attracted her attention as a guy, and now they were hers.

Flipping her shirt around, she ran the tip of her knife around the waist, cutting though the fabric with ease. When she was done she was left with a gray strip, six inches wide. She sliced down the width of the fabric, breaking the circle.

She held the cloth in her paws, and pressed up against her chest, pulling it back around behind herself. The two ends of the fabric just barely overlapped, but not enough to tie together. Taking off the bandana she wore around her neck, she tied one end to the end of the cloth. Wrapping it back around herself, she tied the other end of the bandana to the other end of the fabric.

She adjusted the material, making sure it held herself firmly. Taking a few jumps, she was satisfied that it made a serviceable bra.

Fox turned, picking up her things, and started back down the slop, pulling her shirt back on as she went. It was a much more comfortable trip now that she was restrained, though her shirt left her midriff bare. A mix of blue fur showed over her belly button, and red under it.

She pulled her vest back onto her shoulders, and followed that with her backpack as she walked up to Tricky. "Ready to go?" she asked him.

He looked up and nodded, the red and yellow ball held tightly in his mouth. "Yep," he said, his voice muffled by the toy.

The vixen laughed and took the ball from him, wiping the slobber off on the remains of her pants, then put it pack onto his pack. "I guess we go this way," she said, pointing though the mountain pass.

He nodded, and ran forward, just as eager as ever to continue the adventure.

Fox wished she could be as sure of success as he was.

8: Kiss the Girls

Flying on air was nowhere near as exhilarating as flying in her fighter, but Fox still enjoyed herself as the large shaft of air lifted her upwards, as the walls of the Krazoa temple passed around her.

The only problem was how hard it was to control her flight. The columns of air were very narrow, and sometimes it was a challenge to jump between them. She was also left with the problem that if she missed, she would fall to the ground almost three hundred feet below.

At least she was solo. The WarpStone couldn't warp dinosaurs, so Tricky had to stay in the hollow. This brought a mix of emotions to her, she was a bit sad about leaving him behind. He had been turning out to be a good sidekick, and she found his constant presence comforting.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she slipped off the air and back onto solid ground. She was on the top landing of the large open room, one of many rings of stone that encircled it.

Yet she wasn't high enough, and she knew it. The Krazoa spirit that moved behind her eyes was drawing her ever higher, so there had to be one more lift.

Walking around the circular ledge, she watched the walls for another opening. The purple glow of her eyes gave the light around her an eerie quality, mixing with the natural colors to make something more orange then any other color.

It was because of her lack of attention that she didn't notice the SharpClaw until it was on top of her. She only blocked his first attack by instinct, bringing the staff around without even thinking about it.

As the two weapons connected, his mace skittered down her shaft and towards the ground. Fox looked into his eyes, and saw the familiar look of anger, worry and hatred inside of them. The hatred was never directed at her, it was usually more like worry and pity.

She twisted her staff once more, pinning his mace down onto the ground. She held it there as the SharpClaw tried to pull it free.

"You can run away you know," she said, her voice quite out of place with her new body.

The reptile blinked and snorted. "He will know, he will hurt me," he hissed, fear showing in his eyes.

"Who?" she asked, holding his weapon fast as he tried to tug it free.

Dropping the mace, he balled up his fists. "General Scales; he will kill me if he finds out I let you go."

She shrugged, "So don't let him find out. If things go as planned, he'll be out of a job anyway."

"You will stop him?" he asked, with a long hiss and a flick of his tongue. "He is more powerful than you think."

Fox blinked, and relaxed her staff slightly. "Powerful how?" she asked, once more her curiosity getting the best of her.

The lizard flicked out his tongue and shook its head. "He is allied with someone strong, someone who has given him power. They are working together to destroy this world."

This was quite a bit more information than Fox had ever gotten out of any SharpClaw, even the ones who were only interested in money. She pulled her staff back and held it at the ready, but away from the soldier. "I will not kill you unless you force my hand. Tell me what you know, and I will allow you on your way."

He shook his head, picking up his mace, and taking a step back. "No, I have to kill you or he will kill me. No choice," he said, flicking his tongue. "No choice," he repeated, then lunged forward, swinging his mace wildly.

Fox countered, half prepared for the attack. She spun the staff around, sweeping it behind the guard's leg, catching the back of his knees.

The guard stumbled forward, his mace falling to the ground as he spun his arms.

She planted her staff into the ground, and used it as a lever, jumping in the air and planting both feet on the SharpClaw's back, shoving him forward. He tripped on the edge of the platform, and fell over, into the center of the room.

Returning to her feet, she rushed to the edge and looked down. The guard was floating in a column of air almost at the bottom of the room. A little shaken up, but alive, and looking angry.

She kicked the mace over the edge, and watched as it tumbled down though the shafts of air and crashed into the ground below.

With a smile, she returned to her search for a way to go higher. The answer came a few moments later, as she came to a small alcove, which was hiding another shaft of air. Stepping into it, she felt herself lifted high into the air, through a narrow shaft of tightly laid stones.

She came out on the roof of the palace, a wide open expanse of stone with a large covered platform in the center. On one side she could see a large statue of a Krazoa rising high into the air. On to the other side was a small building, barely visible over the high walls.

There was room to land her fighter here, if it came to that. For the time being she would rely on the Warp Stone. It was quick, if a bit annoying to talk to. It also allowed her to conserve fuel, something of which she was finding herself in short supply.

A crash of lightning arched over the sky, jumping from cloud to cloud, sending white light over the whole of the roof. The light caught in something on the raised platform, giving off a soft bluish glow.

The glow faded way as the sky opened up and rain crashed down, soaking her fur in seconds. She gasped, and lifted her arm over her head, and rushed towards the only cover on the roof, the raised platform. Rushing up the ramp, she blinked water out of her eyes. She never noticed what was on the platform until she was standing in front of it.

It was a large crystal hanging in the air, spinning slowly over a large opening in the floor leading down into the large room below. The crystal was blue, but only a hint of it colored the light as it passed through the structure.

And inside... inside was a young vixen, maybe twenty-five years old. She was dressed in a loin cloth, and a bra that barely seemed to fit. But it was the face that got Fox's attention. It was the same face, and much of the same body, that she was now wearing.

The staff clattered to the ground. She wasn't even aware that it had fallen from her fingers. Her mouth hung open as she watched the vixen. The spirit of the Krazoa was circling around her.

"This is Krystal," the spirit said, it's voice echoing throughout the temple.

She gulped and turned away from the crystal-encased vixen. "Why am I turning into her?" she asked.

The spirit floated around, stopping in front of Fox and looking her in the eyes. "I do not know," it said in a soft voice. "Her staff was imbued with some of our powers, she can channel it, control it. Somehow it's affecting you, changing you every time the power courses though it."

Fox slowly nodded her head, as Krystal's words surfaced from her memories. "Become its master," she whispered. "Oh no, that couldn't be what she meant." She looked up at the spirit, plainly waiting for her to say something. "Can you change me back?" she asked.

It sighed, a very strange sound from a non-corporal entity. "Not at this moment, as I am unsure why the change is happening, but we have time. There is very little of it, but it maybe enough. Return the spirit within you to the palace, and we will work to help you."

"Thank you," she said.

The spirit gave a curious smile. "Do not thank us yet, there maybe no solution to your problem. It will take much study. Now go, release your spirit and return to ThornTail Hollow. You still have much work ahead of you."

With that said, the spirit vanished once more, leaving behind a confused vixen. Slowly she turned back around to look at the woman she was becoming and sighed, sitting cross legged on the ground.

A small part of her noticed it was easier for her now that she was smooth between her legs. Resting her head in her paws, she looked up at Krystal, watching her as she hung motionless inside the stone.

She was attracted to her, that much was clear, but a part of her felt conflicted by her new gender. Was it right for her to feel that attraction? Was she attracted to men now? How much change went with the body?

A dark thought rushed through her mind, causing her to gasp, holding her paw to her muzzle. "If I'm becoming her, how much of me is me? Am I getting her memories too?" She paused, and closed her eyes, thinking back over her past.

The loss of her father, living on the run before she was recruited to fly the FX Fighters against Androse. Saving the Lylat system. The wormhole, finding The Great Fox, Androse's return, when Falco left the team.

She didn't remember anything that she shouldn't have. Everything inside of her head was her own, from before she had ever stepped foot on this planet.

"Who are you?" she asked the encased vixen. "And why did you come to this world? Did you follow the distress call, or did something else draw you here? Where are you from, and why do you dress like a savage?"

Naturally no response was forthcoming, and the spirit locked behind her eyes was starting to grow inpatient with her dallying.

With a sigh she stood up and stretched her arms. Picking up the staff from the ground, she collapsed it, tucking it back into her pack. She would be back here soon enough, and hopefully she would be back to her old, male self by the time that happened.

Now she just had to return the spirit to its proper location, wherever that might be. She walked down the platform, and into the pouring rain. The spirit pulled her along towards the far side of the raised platform.

There she found a pool of water hanging on the side of the wall. Rising out of the pool was the head of a Krazoa statue. The falling rain dripped down the neck of the statue, and into the pool of water, like it was in its own gravity field.

Reaching out to touch the statue, she felt the spirit rush out of her body and into it. The stone glowed for a few moments, as the spirit joined its brother, circling over the platform around the crystal.

With a sigh Fox turned, and walked back the way she had come. She had a second SpellStone to find and return.

9: Home Call

"Excuse me Fox," ROB said, interrupting her story, "but General Pepper is on the line for you, again," the robot said, with a touch of annoyance in its vibrating voice.

Fox sighed and placed her paw against her forehead. "That's the sixth time so far," she said, looking up at the clock on the flight controls. "In four hours," she said and blinked in surprise, "maybe it's time to take a break."

"You sure?" Peppy asked, adjusting his glasses.

She nodded, "Yes, I'm sure. I need to get something to drink, and some food. I've been eating nothing but nuts and eggs for the last two weeks. Real food would be in order, something cooked," she said with a soft smile, the thought of that pleased her.

"And what about the general?" Falco asked, sitting against the flight console, still keeping his distance from the vixen.

Standing up, she stretched, arching her back and pressing her breasts forward. With her new body she was by far the youngest member of the crew, and attracted a not so subtle look from the older hare.

Flicking her tail out in annoyance, she walked across the bridge. "I'll deal with the general, in my own way. You guys meet me in the mess hall in half an hour, I'll be done with the debriefing by then."

The falcon chuckled, "It seems to me you've already been debriefed."

A growl rose up in the back of her throat as she spun around, glaring at her returned friend. Then with a snort, she turned on her heel and stalked out of the bridge.

"That was uncalled for," Peppy said, heaving himself up out of his chair. His old bones ached in the artificial gravity of the ship.

The bird-man shrugged, fanning out his crest, "She took it in the spirit it was intended," he said.

"We don't know how much she has changed. That sort of thing may have been fine with the old Fox, but we have no idea how this one will react," he walked over to his old teammate. "And what do you have to say about it anyway, you've been gone for eight years!"

"Hey, don't yell at me," he said, holding his hands up in his defense, "It was because of Fox I left, and it's because of Fox I came back. It was my choice both times."

Slippy sat up, a glowering look on his face. "I can't believe how you two are taking this. Fox is our friend, and to see him like this," he waved his web paw. "I can't deal with this! How come you two can?"

The two other members of the team looked at each other, and shrugged, "It's not easy, but it's still Fox," the hare said.

"Are you sure? She doesn't talk like Fox, she doesn't look like Fox, she doesn't sound like Fox. From what I can see, the only way we know she's Fox is because she says so, and I don't think it's enough."

"What else do you want? All we have to go on is her word, and she knew all the codes to get onboard the ship. She even knew Fox's personal access codes to fly his fighter." Peppy sighed, "If she's not Fox, then who is she, and why would she claim to be otherwise?"

The toad sighed and shook his head, "I don't know. Maybe she's crazy, because I think her story is. I'm going to need a lot more proof than just the word of some crazy vixen to accept this."

Falco shrugged, "I have one question to ask her. If she knows the answer, then I'll know she's him."

"And what question is that?" he demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.

The flacon snorted, and snapped his beak. "That isn't any of your business."

His response was another snort.

Peppy sighed, nothing had changed with falcon in the years he had been gone. The hare had hoped that he would have mellowed with time, but that was clearly not so. "I'm going to get something to eat," he said, walking past the other two as they glowered at each other. "Join me when you've concluded your fight."

They paused, and watched the old man leave the bridge. His footsteps echoed as he stomped across the steel floor, only to be cut silent by the door closing behind him.

Falco sighed and shook his head, "This is going to be hard," he said.

No reply was forth coming from his former partner.

"I didn't see you out there fighting Androse. I was surprised by that," he said, trying to make small talk.

"I've turned in my wings," the toad replied, "I've gone into engineering instead."

He nodded, clicking his beak gently. "You were always good at that, and I guess Peppy is too old to fly now, just leaving Fox for the team."

"If he ever comes back," Slippy said, and turned, heading for bridge door.

Falco watched him go, and shook his head with a sigh. He had thought that he would come back, save Fox's tail, and be welcomed with open arms. He had been waiting months for the proper moment.

What he had walked into was far from what he had been expecting, and Fox's change was already causing tension between everyone on the ship. It would only get worse as things went on.

"They are going to need me here," he said to the empty room, and shook his head. "Maybe I shouldn't have come back." He sat in silence for a few moments, before shrugging his shoulders, and following the rest of the team out of the bridge.

The mess hall was cold as he walked in, the other two team members had taken a seat at the single table, but they were both avoiding eye contact with each other. There was no sign of the vixen that Fox had become.

Hoping things were still in their familiar places, the falcon walked over to the cupboards and started to pull together a small meal. He had been living on preprocessed rations for the last three months, and food with taste was a godsend.

And the coffee! Bitter, black coffee! Just the way he liked it; strong enough to block plasma fire. It had been almost a year since he could last afford it fresh. Pouring himself a cup from the ever present pot, he gulped it down.

"I see you're making yourself at home," Slippy said with a snort.

He shrugged. "It's good to be back," he replied. Filling his mug a second time, then scooping up his food, he strutted over to the table, and dropped down into a chair.

Silence filled the room as the three of them waited for Fox to return. Falco finished his meal in record time, and relaxed back in his chair, picking at his beak.

Just over half an hour passed before Fox waked into the room. She looked even more haggard than before, if that was possible. Trails of light blue ran down the side of her muzzle, the dirt in her fur having been washed away. She was wiping her cheeks with the back of her paw, and holding back a frustrated look.

"How did it go with the general?" Peppy asked, watching her as she walked across the room. She, like Falco, went right for the coffee, picking up her mug and filling it to the brim.

"It could have gone worse," she said, turning around to lean on the counter, taking a deep breath of her drink. "It could have gone better. It took some time, but I was able to convince him I was me. Had to pull out most every security code I know, and a few facts about his wife."

She sighed, and took a sip of her coffee, then scrunched up her face. "This is nasty! What did you put in it Slippy?"

The toad shrugged, "The same thing I always do," he replied.

Fox glanced down at her mug, then set it down on the counter. "I guess it's just not to my taste anymore," she said with another sigh. "Do we have anything... softer?"

"My tea," Peppy answered. "It's in the top left cupboard."

She nodded, and rooted around, finding a fresh bag. Filling a new mug with hot water, she drop it in, and walked over to the table. Dropping down into a chair, she let out a sigh.

Falco scooted back in his seat, once more distancing himself from Fox. She glanced up at him, making a face, but said nothing. Instead she focused on the tea bag, playing with the string as she bounced it in the water.

"Pepper approved our paycheck," she said.

This brought a smile from everyone on the team. "We can finally fix up the ship," Slippy said, sounding excited.

Fox nodded, "And there are a few weapon upgrades I've been keeping my eyes on."

Things settled down to silence again, as she continued to play with her tea. Evenly she took a sip of it, and nodded. "That's nice," she said.

No one replied.

Dropping the tea bag in the trash, she looked out over the table at her friends. "The next two days were pretty normal," she told them.

Everyone perked up, realizing that she was returning to her story.

"Well, as normal as things were for me. I picked up the second SpellStone, even if Tricky got a bit touchy about it. The Stone was in the CloudRunner temple, a flying species with whom The EarthWalkers don't get along. When he found out I was going to help him, he decided to stay in the hollow."

She rested her arms on the table. "Slippy, the SharpClaw disguise you sent me helped a lot, it allowed me to rescue the CloudRunner queen when she was taken prisoner. Something I can thank my changes for; if I had been my normal self I probably would have run out and tried to fight Scales then, and gotten myself killed."

Slippy nodded, but didn't say anything.

"I knew when you sent me the disguise that it wasn't a normal staff power; that was new knowledge for me, but an addition to the staff. Even so, there was still a part of me that hoped that it meant that my changes were over."

"After returning the Stone to the Force Point Temple, I tracked down the next Krazoa spirit. That wasn't easy. It was a test of my level of fear," she sighed, this time it carried a lot of weight. "It ran from the SharpClaws to Androse, and then, this," she said, waving at herself. "Never being changed back was my greatest fear at the time. It's now my truth," she sighed again, and shook a little, once more holding back tears.

Fox composed herself, taking in a deep breath, and holding it inside for five heartbeats. "I returned the spirit, and once more talked to the first one. He reassured me that the changes were just in my body. My thoughts, my memories, may become female, but by mind would not change.

"It was when I got back to ThornTail Hollow that things started to fall apart."

10: Bottom Rung

Fox climbed down from the WarpStone, her feet landing in the soft grass as water fell from her fur. It was still raining at the Krazoa Palace, and all the water she soaked up while on the roof stayed with her on the way back.

Rolling her shoulders, she ran her hair though her fingers, wringing out the water. The move was almost effortless after having spent the last two days growing familiar with her new body. The new size and shape of it, how it moved and flowed as she walked felt natural to her at that point - not right - but natural.

"Fox!" Tricky called, rushing across the glade, kicking up the grass as he hurried through it.

She bent down and offered out a paw, filled with the mushrooms that the prince liked so much. He saw the food, but ignored it for a few seconds, instead nuzzling up against her side. Once that was done, he ate his snacks.

"I guess you missed me," she said in her still male voice.

He nodded, licking his lips clean of the dark blue fungus. "Of course, Fox!"

She smiled and ran the tips of her claws behind the large plate of his head, then stood and started towards the still open temple. "I need to talk to your mother, she should know where the next SpellStone is."

The young prince nodded, and started to trot across the grass, towards the temple.

"Any new SharpClaw attacks while I was at the palace?" she asked as they walked, glancing down at him to make sure she didn't step on his tail.

"Nope, they seem to be staying away from here. Mom thinks they are all afraid of you."

She smiled and nodded her head. "At least it keeps them away, but at the moment I'm not that frightening."

The young dinosaur laughed and shook his head as he trotted along next to her. "Oh I don't know. I think if I didn't know you, I would be scared of you."

Fox looked down, a smile on her muzzle. She was truly starting to enjoy his presence, and the banter they had, if juvenile, was something she looked forward to. "And what about you? You're my sidekick, and you've kicked just as much SharpClaw ass as I have. Maybe they are scared of you?"

He perked up, and started to jump though the grass. "I bet that's it, that they are all afraid of me!" he laughed happily.

Shaking her head, she smiled, flicking her tail behind herself. "I'm sure they are," she said as they approached the temple.

"Hey, mom," Tricky called as they walked inside, rushing forward to see her, "Fox is here!"

"Good," the queen's voice said, echoing around the stone walls, "I've been wanting to talk to him about the third SpellStone."

Fox paused, standing just around the bend from the queen. She hadn't been in the temple since she had been given the mushrooms. The queen hadn't seen any of her changes, and didn't even know about the new gender.

The queen noticed the pause, and said, "Fox? Is something wrong?"

She bit her lips, and gulped hard. "A little, be prepared for a small shock," she said, then slowly walked around the corner.

The Queen's eyes narrowed as she focused on the vixen, then went wide as she understood. "Fox? What happened to you?" she paused for a second, realizing how obvious the question was. "Why is it happening to you?" she amended.

"It's hard to explain," Fox replied, running her paw through her hair, and flattening her ears down. "There isn't much I can do to stop it, but the spirits think they can fix it, I hope."

"Can they?" the Queen asked.

"They said as long as I still had some of my male self, they should be able to change me back. They are working on it right now... that and freeing Krystal."

The Queen tilted her head, "Krystal?"

She nodded, and waved down at herself. "She is who I'm becoming," she explained.

The Queen glanced at her son. "Tricky, could you go outside and play? Fox and I need to talk, in private," she put a lot of stress on the last two words.

He glanced up at his mother, and frowned. She gave him a strong look in return. Eventually he backed down, and walked slowly out of the temple.

She turned her gaze back to Fox, "How are you taking this?"

With a blink, she sighed. "I don't know, no one has asked that yet," she said and dropped to the ground, yelping softly as she landed on her tail.

"You clearly have asked yourself."

She nodded, "I've asked, but ignored the answer," she gasped softly and dropped her face into her paw. "Oh God! I have no idea what to do. Right now the only thing that's keeping me together is saving your world."

The queen stood up, and walked the few steps to be next to the vixen, then settled back to the ground. "How far have the changes progressed?" she asked.

"It's almost done," she replied, "all the really important things have changed now. Only a few things are left, but when you get down to the gender, I'm female."

"I see," she replied, her concern heavy in her voice.

Fox tried hard not to cry, feeling embarrassed that she had so little control of her emotions. Things had gone too far though, too far for her, she had to change back, she had no other choice.

She nuzzled the vixen's shoulder, "I'm sorry your aid is costing you so much."

"It's not your fault, it's not anyone's fault. It's just something that's happening to me," she sighed and pressed her paws tighter to her face. "I just want it to stop."

"Can it?"

She shook her head. "No, there's still something left, some power." She paused, looking into her mind, feeling the gaps in the knowledge she was given, then corrected herself. "Two powers left that I don't know how to use. Two powers that will change me more," she lifted her head, looking into the Queen's eyes. "I wonder if there will be anything left of me by the time I have them."

"You're too strong to simply vanish, Fox. If you weren't, you would never have returned two of the SpellStones."

"With your son's help," she admitted. "I really don't think I could have done it without him."

The Queen seemed to beam at the statement, pride showing over her face. "And you have helped my son, he has grown more in the last week with you than ever before. You have become quite the mother to him, and now I understand why."

Fox blushed though her blue fur. "Oh?"

She nodded, "Yes, Fox, I noticed when you first brought him to me. You have taken good care of him, and taught him respect for life, and all of those around him."

The vixen blushes even more. "By killing everything I've come across," she mumbled.

"But only if you must," the queen said, "He tells me how you avoid hurting those you can, and how you go out of your way to help others. Even the CloudRunner queen. Tricky may not understand the importance of that, but I do, and someday he will as well."

"Once more, I'm sorry that your helping us is causing you so much pain, and I hope the spirits can return you to your proper form."

"You're not the only one," Fox replied with a sigh.

The Queen stood up and shuffled her feet on the ground. "If you need my help Fox, if there is anything I can do for you, please ask. We owe you so much already."

"Thank you, Your Highness," she replied, remaining sitting on the ground.

"Come, Fox, I have something to show you," the queen said, walking deeper into the temple.

Standing up, and brushing the dirt from her fur, Fox followed after the large dinosaur, surprised at how gracefully she moved.

"As you can see, ThornTail Hollow is not the home of the EarthWalkers," she said as they walked down the winding tunnel into the mountain side. Soft yellow lamps lit their way. "Our home is the Walled City, which currently is high above us, its SpellStone removed from the Volcano Force Point Temple."

Fox nodded, glancing upwards, seeing nothing but the roof of the tunnel above her, but understood that the queen meant the land was one of the four orbiting the world. "So we need to find the Gate Keeper," she said.

"Yes, but it is sadly not that simple. My husband, the king, is the Gate Keeper, and he is trapped inside the city."

"Dad's a Gate Keeper?!" Tricky said in surprise, having snuck up behind Fox and the queen.

The queen turned back to look at him, and nodded. "Yes, son, he is, and he is wise as well. Before he left to fight General Scales, he locked his power to open the gateway to the City in this temple."

The vixen smiled, and let out a sigh of relief. "That's good, I was starting to get worried."

"And there is still more to worry about," she said as they continued deeper into the mountain side. "The King locked his power away, but with the aid of another. You must find that person to unlock the power, and go to the city."

She nodded again. "Easy," she said with a smirk.

"I hope so," the queen replied, coming to a stop, and nodding towards a vine covered wall of the temple. "The power is locked behind there."

Fox nodded, and reached forward, pulling at the vines, ripping them free from the wall. As they fell away, a series of intricate carvings were revealed, twisting and turning around the wall. Eventually they all fell towards the center, and into a small hole, about a finger's length deep.

She recognized it immediately. "This is made for the staff. Krystal must have locked this here," she said, resting her paw against the wall. She had already encountered many different items that the trapped vixen had locked with her staff. Items which Fox had been able to open by using the staff again.

Taking a step back, she removed her staff, and expanded it to its full length. Flipping it around in her paws, she pressed the pointed end in the hole, and turned it, like a key in a lock.

But this time, it didn't catch. She turned it again, but with the same result.

Fox pulled the staff away, and rested it on the ground. "I can't open it, it's not keyed, not like the others. There's something in the staff that is needed to open it, something I don't have."

Tricky cleared his throat. "I know where you can find it, Fox," he said, sounding a bit embarrassed.

She glanced down at the young prince. "Really, and how do you know this?"

He shifted uncomfortably on his four feet. "Well, I found a portal while you were gone, but I wasn't sure you wanted to know about it."

Fox nodded. "I understand, where is this portal?"

"In the nesting cave," he said in a whisper.

"Tricky!" The Queen said, her voice filled with a combination of anger and disappointment. "You know you're not supposed to go in there!"

The Price lowered his head, and shuffled his feet. "I know, Mother, but the ThornTail asked for my help 'cause lizards were stealing the eggs, and she begged me to stop them, and Fox was gone in her ship, and I had to do something, so I chased after the lizards, and scared them away from the eggs, and when they went back in their holes the ThornTail helped me move stones to cover the holes so they couldn't get back in, and that's when I found the portal," he said, gasping as he spoke, having told the whole rambling story in a single breath.

His mother looked pleased as he told his tale, a smile on her snout and pride glowing in her eyes. "You really did all that?" she asked.

Tricky nodded, still gasping for breath.

She bent down and nuzzled her son. "I'm so proud of you!"

The young dinosaur blushed deeply, his tan cheeks growing bright red. He tired to wiggle away, but his mother held him tight.

"Now you go show Fox where the portal is, and she'll decide if she wants to use it," she said.

Fox nodded, gulping at the thought of facing another portal. There wasn't much of her real self left. Losing any more truly frightened her, and if she lost too much there wouldn't be any way of turning back.

"Come on Fox," Tricky called, bounding away from his mother. "I'll show you where it is," then he dashed down the hallway, towards the front of the temple.

She hurried after the small prince, biting her lip as she walked back out into the fading sunlight. Taking another portal, learning a new power, it was a big choice, but if she didn't take it, how would they ever get up to the Walled City and retrieve the SpellStone?

It was clear to her that they wouldn't, the power fields that encased each of the orbiting sections of the planet were too powerful for her to blast through. Even The Great Fox, if it could get through the debris, wouldn't be powerful enough.

So, she had to learn how to open the seal Krystal had placed on the door. For that she had to give up another part of herself, taking another step closer to the edge.

Tricky lead her through the Hollow, eventually coming to where the WarpStone sat. The prince ignored the stone for the moment, instead following the path behind it towards a small cave.

Since Fox had first landed on the world, the cave had always been blocked by an elder ThornTail, who refused to let her pass. Now the ThornTail stepped aside, letting them both through with only a sideways glance towards the vixen.

It was a small cave, maybe twenty feet across, with rocky sand covering the floor, shifting under her with each step she took. In the center of the room was a pile of a dozen speckled eggs, each as large as a football. The roof was open above them, allowing a shaft of the failing sunlight to bath the eggs.

And tucked in the back corner, glowing a soft green, was the next portal. The familiar shaking of the staff in her paws returned as she walked up to it, looking down at the spot on the floor.

She glanced at Tricky, and saw the he was looking back at her, both excitement and worry in his eyes. He knew that each time Fox went through one of these, that she came back hurt, and he didn't want her to be hurt.

"Thanks for showing me this," Fox said, and bent down to scratch the back of his head.

He blushed and turned away.

Standing tall, she took a deep breath, holding it inside of herself. With her staff held firmly in her paws, she stepped forward, and vanished into the portal.

She found herself in the familiar cave once more, so didn't spend any time looking around. She just rushed down the short hall, and into the large domed room. She leapt into the air as she came to the edge of the pool, sailing over the water, and landing hard on the center platform.

With some trepidation, she lifted her staff high above her head, her thoughts playing back to the first few times she had done this, when it excited her. Now it brought forth a great fear, which would have crippled her if she allowed herself to think about it.

As the lightning crashed down, she closed her eyes, wondering what she would see in just a few moments. As the power surged through her, she understood how to use the staff to open the door, so she could go on with her quest.

Falling to the ground, she gasped, holding firmly into the staff as her fur tingled. She keep her eyes tightly closed, trying to feel what might have changed.

A sigh escaped her lips, "I wonder--" she started to say, then snapped her muzzle closed at the sound of her voice.

She gulped, gripping the staff tighter, "I am Fox McCloud," she said, but the words that echoed around her were spoken in a female voice, one that would have been out of place before, but now matched her new form.

With another sigh, she sat back on the platform, and opened her eyes. "So now I have her voice," she said, listening to the soft tones. "At least I don't have her accent."

Fox sat, and thought for a few moments. With her voice changed she couldn't call back up to the ship, they would know something was wrong. She would have to fall back on text communications only. The last thing she wanted was for anyone on the team to know what was happening to her.

Tucking her staff away, she examined the rest of her body, and found changes everywhere. Almost every part of her was covered in shades of blue fur. The only part of her old coloring left was a band around her waist, encircling her around the base of her tail and through her navel.

Everything else had been made into Krystal.

Leaning forward, she looked at her reflection in the water, noting with some sadness that even her eyes had changed. The familiar green had been replaced by another shade of blue.

With a snap of her head, she ripped herself away from the image. "No time for this," she said, rising to her feet. "I have a world to save, and it won't happen if I sit and stare at myself all day!"

Mentally digging both paws into her quest, she held on tightly, using it as a life preserver. It literally was the only thing keeping her afloat.

11: Deeper Underground

"It's coming," Tricky said, backing around the corner, his stubby tail flicking behind him as he hurried backwards.

Fox nodded, and pressed herself up against the wall of the stone temple. She could feel the ground rumble as the large Redeye approached them.

They had been dodging Redeyes for almost half an hour, putting things together to open the temple door. Behind which, both she and the prince were sure, the King EarthWalker was trapped.

She held her breath, using her leg to tuck Tricky up tighter against the wall as the large dinosaur turned the corner of the building. Standing almost fifteen feet tall, the large animal looked around, sniffing the air. Its short stubby arms were held close to its body in contrast to its muscular legs.

It squinted with its small eyes, trying to find the source of the scent it was picking up. Swaying its head back and forth, it sent out a blast of air, trying to get whatever it was to move.

Apparently satisfied that nothing was actually there, at least nothing that was moving, the Redeye continued on its way. Its large thick tail swayed in a long arc behind it, nearly hitting the pair as they tried as hard as they could to keep from moving.

She only released the breath as the large tail vanished around another corner. "There are too many of those things around here," she said, letting Tricky free.

The prince nodded, peeking around the corner again. He was small enough that none of the Redeyes would see him, at least for the few moments he was looking.

"All clear," he said, and started loping over the grass. "The entrance is right over here."

Fox nodded, following after the young dinosaur, her staff held firmly in her paws. "And you're sure all the stuff we did will open the door?" she asked, referring to the near maze of running around they had to do, activating hidden switches. They had nearly got bitten by the Redeyes twice on the way, but they had made it.

"Yep," he said as they continued across the short cut grass, heading towards a low stone impression on the ground. The large stone cap that had previously covered it had slide away, revealing a large ramp that was wide enough for an EarthWalker to get though, but not a Redeye.

Tricky burst into a full run as he reached the ramp, rocketing down it like he had an afterburner strapped to his back. "Dad!" he called as he vanished under the ground.

Fox smiled to herself, and followed down the slope, collapsing her staff and tucking it into her pack. The ramp came to an end in a small room, where a large male EarthWalker stood. Jewels covered his horns, and the large plate on the back of his head.

Tricky was nuzzling up to his father's leg, his tail wagging happily.

The king looked up, and smiled as he saw Fox. "Krystal! I cannot tell you how pleased I am to see you."

She slowed to a stop, a few feet away, shifting uncomfortably on her feet, blushing slightly through her fur. "I'm not her," she said in a quiet voice.

He narrowed his eyes, leaning forward, looking closer at her. "Yes, I can see the difference; are you her sister?"

"Something like that," she replied, shuffling her feet.

"She's Fox McCloud," Tricky said from between his Father's legs.

The king looked down at his son, then back up at Fox, shaking his large head, he was about to say something, but she beat him to it.

"He's right, I am Fox McCloud," she said with a sigh, casting her eyes to the ground.

Taking a step forward, the king sniffed at her fur. "You smell like Krystal, but not exactly like her. There is something else there too, something that is male."

She nodded, "There's a little of me left," she replied, touching the band of fur around her belly. It made her look like some kind of strange fox sandwich, vixen on both sides, with a piece of todd in the middle.

The king nodded, "I thank you for your help, Fox. I've heard that two of the SpellStones have been returned. I suspect I have you to thank for that."

Fox smiled and nodded. "And your son. I couldn't have done it without him."

He looked down at Tricky, who blushed hard, and kind of hid his face. He glanced back up at Fox and smiled. "I am pleased to hear that."

"I'm glad I have him at my side," she said, walking over to the side of the room, and resting herself on a box in the corner. Kicking off her shoes, she rubbed the bottom of her feet. They were the wrong size now, and it was starting to bother her.

Tricky nuzzled at his father's leg once more, and looked up at him. "We need to find the next SpellStone," he said.

"Of course," the king said, looking down at his son. "But it won't be easy, you will have to kill the Redeyes before you can get to it."

"How?" Fox asked, "I've tried everything I have, but all it did was piss them off."

"Krystal was able to defeat them using her ground quake," he explained.

She nodded, pulling her staff out, and holding it in her paws. It felt heavy as it rested on her fingers, as she thought over the skills she knew, about how to create the earthquakes. There was one last skill left, one that she didn't know, and it was connected to that power.

"The one I have is not powerful enough," she said.

The king nodded. "When your twin was last here, she hid something outside the city. Some kind of power for her, incase she was captured. Perhaps you could find it?"

Fox gulped, her fingers gripping tightly around the staff, her knuckles white under her fur. Another portal, another power, one final power, and one more transformation. Would there be anything left of her if she was changed again?

"Is there no other way to defeat them?" she asked, her voice was shaking as she spoke.

The King shook his head. "Not that I know of, but we do not fight them very often. We live on separate sides of the world. They are only here to keep me inside the temple."

She sighed, and jumped to her feet. Looking down at her shoes, she decided to leave them on the floor. They had simply become too much trouble.

"I guess we have to find the portal then," she said, glancing down at Tricky.

He jumped up, and nodded quickly, "I think I know where it is, I saw something on the other side of the river, something new."

She nodded. "Let's go; we have a lot to do," she said, straining herself up and arching her back. "I'll be back as soon as I can your highness," she said, and started up the ramp.

"Hurry, Fox," he said to her retreating back. "There isn't much time left for my world."

She nodded, and flicked her tail as she walked out onto the grass. Turning in a circle, she looked for any Redeyes that may have seen her, but she got lucky, none of them had.

"Where to?" she asked, her voice still shaking as she extended her staff. It wasn't shaking yet, so the portal wasn't that close.

"This way," the young prince called, rushing forward, off the ramp, and towards a small bridge that led over the lake. She followed after him trying to keep herself composed, but was having a hard time of it.

As soon as she stepped across the bridge, she felt her staff start to tug and shake in her paws. Gulping, she held it tight, and followed its pull, which was heading in the same direction Tricky was taking her.

They came up to another pile of freshly turned dirt. Tricky started to dig at it, clearing it away from the portal hidden underneath.

Fox stood back, holding her staff, and gulped as she watched the green light as it was revealed. As the last of the dirt fell away, she took a second step back.

Turning around, Tricky looked up at her, and saw the look on her face. His perpetual excitement fell away, an unfamiliar look of concern crossing over his young features.

"Fox?" he asked.

She gulped and stepped back once more, the fur on her back starting to rise under the remains of her shirt. "I don't think I can do this," she said, her eyes focusing on the portal.

The prince came up to her, and rubbed against the fur of her legs. "I know you can Fox, I know you can. I can't do it without you."

She looked down at him, and held the shaking staff even tighter, so tight that her figures hurt down to the bones. "Tricky," she said, unable to find anything else to say.

"Please, Fox, if we can't kill the Redeyes, we can't get the SpellStone. If we can't get the SpellStone, we can't save the world," he said, starting to sound desperate. "Please, Fox, please!"

She gulped, and pulled the staff close, he was right, and she knew it. "OK... I'll do it," she said, her voice quavering. Reluctantly she started walking towards the portal.

Tricky keep at her feet, not giving her any quarter, as she nearly stepped on his tail. He was right there as she stepped on the portal, jumping on in time to go with her.

When she arrived on the other side, he was still there, entwined between her legs.

"Tricky? Why are you here?" she asked.

"Because you need me," the young man said, following just a few feet behind her as she walked into the cave.

This time the young prince stayed at the edge of the water, watching the vixen as she jumped over the pool and onto the center platform.

She looked up at the crystal above her, and shook her head. "I'm scared," she said. "I'm scared I'm going to lose myself if I do this."

He nodded, but didn't say a word, a look of confusion on his face. He really didn't understand what was going on, and wished he knew what to do.

Fox whimpered softly, looking at Tricky, then back up at the ceiling. Two sides of her were fighting in her mind. One side that wanted to run away, wanted to hide and never risk changing again. The other side knew she was the world's only hope, and if she didn't do this, it would be the end.

The heroic side of her won out, and she raised the staff into the air over her head. The lightning arched down from the crystal in the ceiling, rushing though her staff, and down into her.

She fell back to the floor, whimpering as her full weight crashed down onto her paws.

Gasping, she sat up, looking down at her belly, where the last of her original fur was. Where the last of her original fur used to be. There was no more tan, no more red, just blue and white, and only blue and white.

Two pure white fur markings had appeared on the outside of each thigh. They were in the shape of a double circle with four small triangles at the compass points. The same markings that Krystal had, just like the markings on her arms.

There wasn't any Fox left. She had become the vixen's twin, in every way. There was nothing male left, nothing of what she used to be anymore.

With nothing left, there was nothing that the Krazoa spirits could use to turn her back. She was a vixen, and she was always going to be a vixen.

As the realization crushed down on her, she dropped her muzzle into her paws, and started to cry.

12: Everybody Hurts

"Fox?" Tricky asked, looking across the pool as she cried. Tears ran down the edges of her paws, carving trails through the dirt caught in the fur.

She didn't respond, she just folded herself tighter, ignoring everything around her.

The prince jumped into the water, and quickly swam over to the center platform. Pulling himself up onto it he pressed his head against the vixen's marked thigh.

"Fox?" he asked again.

"It's over," she whimpered, pressing her paws tighter. "It's over and there's nothing I can do. I can't be changed back."

He frowned and nuzzled again. "It's not over, you're still here," he said.

"No I'm not," she replied, snuffling her nose. "Krystal is here, Fox is gone."

The prince sniffed at her fur. "But you smell the same, and you talk the same. You look different, but you're still the same person."

She shook her head, "How could I be the same person, every part of me has changed. If I was the same person I wouldn't be here crying like a silly girl."

"You're not silly, you're brave!" he said.

The vixen gave a strangled laugh and shook her head. "I'm hardly brave. I've barely been keeping myself together! Each time I've changed it has only gotten worse. Now I'm all gone, and there's only someone else left... someone not me."

Tricky shook his head, and nuzzled up again. "Oh Fox, you're still the Fox I know. You may look different, but you act the same. You're nice, you're brave, and you're fighting to save my world. You care for me, you help me when I'm in trouble, and you risked your live to save me, twice!"

She gulped, wiping the back of her paws over her face. "I saved you because I do care about you. You're sweet, I'm glad that you're here with me. I wasn't lying when I said I couldn't have done this without you. You are helping to save your world as much as I am."

"But still not without your help," he replied. "You're smart Fox, you don't need me, but I need you. We all need you, everyone on the planet does. My parents, my tribe, the SnowHorns, the LightFoots, even the CloudRunners. If you give up now, we'll all die."

Fox looked up at him, the fur around her eyes still wet. "I can't do it."

"Yes, you can!" he replied, nuzzling against her once more.

"I can't," she said again, wiping her face once more.

Tricky butted his head against her leg. "Yes, you can, Fox! I know you can!"

"Tricky," she said.

He hit her again, and then a third time.

"Tricky!" she said, starting to get annoyed.

He looked up at her and snorted. "I'm going to keep hitting you until you get up and get that SpellStone!"

She looked down at the prince, and shook her head. "I can't," she said once more, the protest starting to lose some of its force.

"Then tell me someone who can," he demanded.

Fox paused, his mind blanking out as she sat, staring at the young man.

He jumped up onto his hind legs, resting his forepaws on her knee. "See? You can't think of anyone else! You're the only one."

She sighed and nodded, "You're right."

Tricky let out a cheer and jumped back to the ground. "Good, so are we going to get the Stone?" he asked.

The vixen nodded, picking up her staff and rose to her feet. "Let's go get rid of the Redeyes," she said, still feeling weak. She was hanging on again, slowly pulling herself back up, for however long it took to save the planet.

After that, all bets were off.

13: Last Best Hope

The fourth Krazoa spirit weighed heavily in her mind as Fox walked along the path that led her and Tricky back to ThornTail hollow. The staff was held limply in her paws as she used it as a walking stick, feeling the shaft click against the solid ground with each step she took.

Tricky hung at her side, staying just as quiet, Fox's solitude affecting him over the last day. She had barely said two dozen words since they had stepped out of the portal, and most of them were grunts.

Now, as they trekked back to the hollow, the presence of the spirit seemed to bring her down even further. The knowledge that there was simply no hope become more real to her by the moment.

She had no idea what she would do once she got back to the ship, or what her friends' reactions would be. She doubted they would be very accepting of it.

A sigh escaped from her lips as they stepped out of the passage and into the fading sunlight. Clouds covered the sky above, threatening to rain. It matched her mood: dark and gray.

"I'll head to the palace," she said, speaking for the first time in hours. "Why don't you go visit your mom?"

He looked up at his friend, tilting his head. "Are you sure, Fox?" he asked, worried about her. "I could go with you."

She shook her head, then pushed back a lock of hair that had fallen in her eyes. "You can't, Tricky, the WarpStone doesn't work for dinosaurs."

His young face fell, "Oh," he said, clearly having forgotten that fact.

"Go visit your mother, she'll be happy to see you." She motioned towards the temple with her free paw. "I'll be back soon enough, and we can find the last SpellStone."

Tricky looked torn, trying to decide which way he should go, and instead ended up staying in one spot as Fox walked away from him. He was still sitting there as she crested the hill, walking towards the WarpStone.

The fading light had cast everything in shadows, making the world around her pale. It seemed like the only color left in the world was her blue fur, a beacon against the dark sky, marking her apart from the world around her.

She said nothing as she approached the stone. The large, living statue noticed the coldness she carried with her, and gave none of its pointless attempts at witty banter. It just allowed her to climb into its hand, and with a breath, transported her across the world.

Staff in her paw, she materialized in the palace. Holding it firmly, she casualty walked though the empty halls. It had been that way ever since she allowed the one SharpClaw to live. It seemed like after that, any that happened to be in the palace went out of their way to avoid her.

She could see signs of their presence as she rose up the air lift. Scuffs marks on the floor, chipped stone where they had hit the wall with their maces, and garbage on the floor. But no guards.

Climbing up higher in the palace, she kept a watchful eye out for any movement. Occasionally she caught something at the edge of her vision, but whatever, or whoever, it was would always vanish into the shadows.

No one came out to confront her, and she was able to make it safely onto the roof. The rain, still pouring down, soaked into her fur in moments as she walked slowly towards the raised platform.

She could see Krystal, still trapped, hanging in the center of the platform, the three freed spirits circling around her. As she neared them the fourth one, its purple light shining out though her eyes, pushed her forward.

Walking around the platform, she found the statue of the Krazoa head. Touching it, she let the spirit slide out from her body. In moments it joined the others circling around the trapped vixen.

The first spirit came down, hovering in front of her muzzle, its eyes scanning over her. "You have changed once more," it said, stating the obvious.

Fox nodded, holding her staff firmly in her paws. "Completely. There's nothing left of me now, nothing you can use to turn me back."

The spirit flew around her, looking over the whole of her body. "That is a hasty conclusion. Yes, your form has changed, but there might still be a chance for you to return to yourself."

Her eyes brightened as she looked up into the spirit's wispy face. "How?"

"I must look closer," it said, and started to float around her again. Trails of purple smoke fanned out behind it as it brushed over her fur.

She stood there, waiting in the pouring rain, shivering as it soaked down into her skin. The remains of her clothing soaked up the water as it ran down her body and pooled on the floor at her feet. The accumulated dirt of nearly two weeks on the planet was leaving trails of mud as it was washed from her fur.

Time ticked on, and she pressed her ears flat against her head, tucking her tail up under her leg. Her wet hair dripped down over her face, and caused her to sneeze as it tickled her whiskers.

After nearly ten minutes, she was starting to get annoyed. The spirit was still tickling though her fur. Occasionally it would flutter around the head of the staff.

She opened her muzzle to protest, but the spirit finally settled down in front of her face. "I was correct, there is still a hope of returning you to yourself."

Her hopes soared so high, so fast, that she was amazed that her feet remained on the stone floor. "How? You said that I had to have something left of my old self. There's none of that left now, just her," she said, pointed towards Krystal.

The spirit nodded. "True, there is nothing left of what you were in your body, but there is still a small part of your original essence inside of the staff. I have locked it inside the crystal, where it can not be lost if you change further."

Her first true smile in over a day played out over her muzzle. "Thank you, thank you so much!"

The spirit nodded. "It will be harder than I had first thought. It will take all six of the spirits to revert you to your normal self, and we cannot do it alone. Your staff will be needed for this, and it will be needed at its full power."

She nodded, holding the staff tightly.

"The staff has more power than you have access to, more strength than you yet control. You must find that strength, before you return the last spirit to the palace."

She nodded again, closing her eyes and thinking over her knowledge of the staff. There was no ability the staff had that she couldn't access, but there was something else. The spirit was correct, there was more power there than she had access to.

"I'll find the last of the power," she said, eager to begin her search for it. "Then we can finish this, and save the world at the same time."

The spirit nodded, and smiled. "Yes, you can, but hurry, there are only days left before the planet is destroyed. The longer you dally, the harder it will be to restore it."

Fox nodded, and watched as the spirit returned to the others, circling the vixen.

With a smile, she turned on her heel, and hurried off the roof. She had to find the last SpellStone, and part of her suspected that she would find the last of the staff's power on the way.

14: On the Beach

"I was told that once all four of the SpellStones were restored, the lands would return to the world," Fox said, tucking her staff away into her abused pack as she and Tricky walked out of the Ocean Force Point Temple. "So why didn't it work?"

The prince shrugged as they walked. "I don't know, Fox, but my Mom used to tell me stories about the spirits, about how they brought life to this world, and the powers that the SpellStones contain. Maybe you have to return all six to the Temple before the world can be saved?"

"I'm starting to suspect so," she said as they walked down the stone path and out into the sunlight. The distant sound of the ocean waves washing against the beach was pleasant. A dozen feet blow them, where the edge of the raised path met the water, more waves washed against the stone.

The small cape was the kind of place Fox would have liked to have visited in better times. Maybe someday she would, once she was back to normal, and the world was whole again.

"The queen said something about the next spirit. I suspect she knows where its shrine is hidden. Once I find it, I can return that spirit, and then there will only be the one left."

Tricky nodded, and started to say something, but was cut off as a dull roar began to fill the air around them. Looking around, suspecting another Redeye, she found nothing hostile trying to attack them, but instead the ground was starting to shake.

"Earthquake," she said, and crouched down as the path started to buck under her feet. Below them the waves started to crash harder against the wall, sending spray up onto the path.

The prince rushed up, and held himself against her le