First off, I'd like to thank everyone who voted for the next fic. Second, I'm sorry I took quite a while to update. I have kept busy these past months. Not to mention I also blame Team Fortress 2 a lot…and guys. :P Anyway, here's the next chapter.

A Hero's Creed

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Ragnell and Four Sad Tales Part Three

"What is that?" Boyd asked as he poked at the unconscious Fox. Mist slapped his hand away.

"He's Fox…and right now he needs to rest," she replied.

"That's fine and all, but can someone explain to me how he grew…and why is he on MY bed?"

Fox was resting peacefully on Boyd's bed. The rough blanket kept not only him warm, but also covered his rather nude body at the moment. Only the red bandana around his neck seemed to be the only article of clothing he had. Mist quickly rushed downstairs to fetch a bowl of water and a small cloth. She approached Fox and knelt down beside the bed. "I don't know what happened," Mist said, "All I can think of…is that the curse that was on him was broken somehow."

Boyd sighed as he walked off, leaving Mist alone with Fox. Mist dipped the cloth into the water, soaking it lightly. She twisted the cloth then placed it on Fox' forehead. I hope he's alright, she thought as she checked up on him. He saved my life and I don't know how to thank him…I just hope that you can still be my friend after this. Mist's eyes scanned Fox' features. He wasn't as fluffy as he was before. His body seemed more human than animal at this point. His chest rose up and down slightly. Mist ran her fingertips on Fox' forehead; feeling warm fur underneath. He's still very soft, she thought.

"Mist!" Rolf called out.

Mist quickly pulled away from Fox. "Rolf?" she asked.

"How is he doing?" Rolf asked as he approached them both.

"He is still out," Mist responded, "However, he's breathing lightly, so at least we know he's still alive."

"Is he…going to be unconscious for a long while?"

"I don't think he will be. I think he passed out due to exhaustion and some loss of blood. I'm sure he'll be awake by morning…I hope."

"I hope so too…especially since his curse is broken…" Rolf's soft eyes trailed from Fox' unconscious being over to Mist's frail face. "How did you break the curse?"

Mist gave Rolf a rather confused look. "I really don't know," she responded before she looked back at Fox, "I really don't know how it happened. I was attacked tonight. I was rather frightened…unable to do anything. He stayed behind and fought off those monsters. I thought I lost him…but instead he turned into this. I have yet to figure out how it happened, but one thing is for sure is that at least he's alright."

Rolf nodded in agreement. "You're right," he said, "though, I'm curious…did he always look like this? I thought he would be…well…Beorc like us. At the moment, he looks like a Laguz."

"Maybe he is one. He probably was cursed to be stuck in his animal form until it somehow broke. Though, I have never seen a fox Laguz before."

"Mist? Rolf?" called out Oscar. "It's getting rather late now. You two should have a good rest. We have much to do tomorrow morning."

"Okay!" Rolf replied, "Mist, you should take a break too."

"I'll go to sleep in a bit," Mist said, "I just want to watch over him for a bit."

"Alright, if you say so," Rolf replied as he left the two of them alone. Mist spent a bit more time watching over the unconscious fox. She checked his vitals and replaced the towel that was on his forehead. Eventually Mist had grown tired. Her sparkling green eyes grew heavy as sleep enveloped her. Her frail body slouched over before she lay completely on the floor, next to Fox' bed.

The following morning came. Mist stirred in her sleep. The wonderful aroma of Oscar's cooking teased her nose, causing her to slightly open her green eyes. As her vision came to, the young brunette noticed the humanoid vulpine that was sitting upright on the bed. Fox had not taken notice of Mist waking up beside him. Instead, he focused more his attention on the fact that his paws now had opposable thumbs and longer fingers. He smiled slightly as he continued to touch his arms and muzzle, hoping that this was not a dream.

Mist's eyes opened widely as she watched Fox before her. For that slight moment, she had forgotten that her tiny, adorable companion was actually a young man who was cursed and recently had his curse broken. Mist sat right up, took a deep breath and screamed as loud as she could. This alarmed Fox who screamed slightly back at her from the shock. The screaming alarmed the remaining mercenaries in the small home which were Oscar, Rolf, and Titania. Titania quickly left Greil's side to comfort Mist. Rolf dropped his bow and headed towards the room, leaving Oscar in the kitchen. Having kitchen duties, Oscar couldn't leave the food unattended.

"Might as well leave Rolf to figure this one out then," he said as he smiled and continues to cook breakfast.

"Mist? What's the matter?" Titania asked as she grabbed the young Cleric.

"Wh…who and what is that?!" Mist let out as her eyes never left Fox. Fox slightly frowned at her comment.

Rolf quickly arrived by Mist's side. "Mist, you don't remember?" he asked, "That's Fox! You know…our friend, Fox. You broke his curse last night, remember?"

Mist tried to calm down. She took deep breaths as she tried to remember what happened last night. Once all the memories came back to her, her heart slowed down, she stopped shivering as she was finally calm. She looked at Fox and noticed that he seemed slightly hurt. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said, "I forgot that all that happened for a moment."

"Its fine," Fox replied as he looked away.

"You don't seem fine…" Mist said, "I really didn't want to offend you."

"You didn't…I…am just lost in thought. I have been thinking a lot lately, especially now that one could say, I'm back to normal."

"So this is what you look like?" Rolf asked.

"Yeah," Fox responded.

Rolf giggled slightly. "You're still so fluffy!"

Fox looked at Rolf and slightly smiled at the younger mercenary.

"So tell us," Titania said, "How did this happen to you? Where did you come from and all?"

Fox sighed softly as he looked at the ceiling. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, but I came from a place called Corneria."

"Corneria?" Mist asked, "Where is that?"

Fox pointed up at the ceiling. Titania, Mist, and Rolf looked up at it.

"You came from the ceiling?" Rolf asked.

"No…I came from another planet…beyond the stars."

Mist looked at Fox with a surprised look. "You came from beyond the stars? How?"

Fox dropped his paw down before turning his full attention to Mist. "You could say that on my planet, our people are far more advanced than this world. Compared to my world, this world is very primitive, which is what scared me the most. Not that I can't survive on a primitive world, but rather I don't have the resources or technology to communicate with anyone from my world. On my planet, we can travel to different planets via ships that we constructed using the latest in technology that being the G-Diffuser system implanted as the new energy source for my Arwing…uh…"

Fox stopped for a moment as he saw the confused looks on all three Greil Mercenaries. He cleared his throat as he tried to find a way to explain everything he just said to them in a manner that they could understand. When he couldn't he sighed. "Alright, maybe I'll try to explain all that technological crap some other time," he said, "I suppose what's more important is how I got here. Well…I suppose how it goes is that my father was a mercenary, much like Greil. My mother died when I was really young then my father was taken away from me on a mission to stop an evil tyrant who wanted to control our universe. The entire mercenary company: Star Fox, was handed over to me, much like how the Greil Mercenaries is handed over to Ike since Greil is unable to lead at the moment.

"I was very young when I became a mercenary…I was twelve when I was trained by my father's best friend and my guardian, Peppy. At the age of fourteen I had recruited two new members: Falco and Slippy. I'm sure you have met Falco…he's that bird that's with Sheik all the time."

"So that bird is your teammate?" Titania asked, "What of the wolf that's with Zelda?"

"That wolf…" Fox said, "I'll get to him in a bit. He's a whole other story. How this entire mess started…it started four years ago. My first mission was when I was fourteen and with a full team at the time. Some other pilots would mock and ridicule my company on the account that I was a rookie pilot with hardly any experience at all and the fact that I was very young to be a leader. That didn't stop me from trying to land jobs to pay off the debt my father owed on the Great Fox, our base."

Fox sighed as he ran his clawed fingers through his small head fuzz. His lean, yet petite body was clothed by an olive green body suit. A grey jacket kept his upper body warm. Around his tender neck was a read bandana which he kept for good luck. He looked over at the paper in his other paw, trying to calculate how much he had left to pay off. He tapped his dark, grey and black boots against the floor as he noticed he had quite a way to pay off. "How much will I have to pay off after this?" he asked a rhetorical question. However, his question was heard. Standing next to Fox was a middle aged grey rabbit. His long ears, droop down to his pudgy face. His red body suit clung loosely around his rather round body as his long, grey trench coat hung close.

"I really wouldn't know, Fox," Peppy replied, "Depends how much we're going to get paid for this job."

"I know, but I mean…it has to be a lot, isn't it?" Fox asked, "We are getting a job straight from the Cornerian Army itself. This job has to be some sort of high priority job in which, we, the Star Fox team, a specialized mercenary team can only do!"

"Or it could be a menial job that they don't want to bother with," replied a rather agitated Falco. The young blue jay leaned against the cold, dark wall. He crossed his arms. His grey jacket was as messy as his blue feathers. His dark red body suit clung tightly upon his body, showing off his rather bulkier figure. "Face it, who'd want to give us something really meaningful to a bunch of kids? And when I mean kids, I mean you and Slippy."

"Hey! I'm not a kid!" shouted a rather stubby, green frog. Poking his head out from the control panel room, Slippy approached the group. He fixed his red cap followed by the black belt that hung onto his blue body suit. His grey jacket had small black blotches from the oil that was squirted on him while he was fixing the equipment. "I'm fourteen years old. That's just one year younger than YOU, Falco."

"Hey, I'm still older and once you're fifteen, you're considered an adult."

"No you're not!" Slippy retorted, "It's when you're eighteen!"

"Alright! Enough, boys!" Peppy let out with a huff, "Neither of you is considered an adult. You're still just teenagers and rookie pilots for that matter. Now we have a job to settle so listen to Fox."

Fox was taken back slightly. He wasn't too used to being the center of attention, much less from a group of mercenaries…well, mercenaries in training. The young vulpine knew that he had to be ready to say what needed to be said if he was to become a great leader like his father. Fox scratched behind his head. "Well, the job is simple, I guess," he said, "They are deploying us to take care of some rebel group of mercenaries that are hired by the Venomian Army. I know I heard the name before somewhere, but they're called Star Wolf."

"Great…just what we need, some other team to copy our name," Falco said, "Let me guess…the leader is a wolf?"

"Well, with a name like Wolf O'Donnell, one could assume he IS a wolf," Fox replied, "Though…" I don't know why, he thought, but that name sounds familiar. I think I heard Dad say it one time, but I can't for the life of me remember if it was that name or not.

"So where are they situated at, oh fearless leader?" Falco said in a rather teasing yet mocking tone.

Fox just gave Falco a slight glare before ignoring him. He knew better than to follow Falco's antics. His blue companion loved to fight. He lived for adventure especially if it were to lead to brawls. Hence, Fox would take the hint that's one reason why Falco decided to follow him and join his group. The blue avian knew that mercenary companies equal fighting, or at least usually missions that require combat. When there wasn't a job available, Falco would try his best to rile up any of the Star Fox crew in hopes that someone would give him a good fight. However, he would find himself disappointed as Slippy detested fighting, Peppy would usually ignore him, and Fox caught on to his antics after the first few fights he had with him.

"We're going to a planet called Fischina," Fox replied.

"Fischina?"

"It's a desolate arctic wasteland," Peppy said, "Due to such harsh climate; there aren't any residents there, only military bases. However, soldiers on hand are very scarce, which is why a rogue team like Star Wolf would be attacking that base in the name of the Venomian Army."

"Alright then…let's head out!"

The Great Fox set a course to the tundra planet, Fischina. The harsh blizzards almost blinded the giant ship as it tried to reach its destination. A rather large, dome type base was round in a small crater surrounded by mountains and high fences. Four grey and red ships emerge from the base. They sped at a high speed. The Great Fox opened its hatches and out flew four Arwings. The steel, blue ships flew through the harsh winds, following the rogue Wolfens.

"O'Donnell!" Fox shouted through the communicator.

"Well, well," came a rather deep, rough voice, "If it isn't McCloud's pup…coming to take over Daddy's business. Aren't you a little too young for this, junior?"

Appearing on the screen in front of Fox was the image of a scruffy looking wolf. Upon his left eye was a black eye patch. His crimson colored suit went perfectly well with his rather bloodied looking right eye. Covering his body suit was a long, brown trench coat. He smirked in a menacing way which brought chills to Fox.

"You…you're under arrest! We are here to…"

"Blah, blah, blah…" Wolf interrupted, "Just like a pup…all bark and no bite. If I were you, I'd be more concern about what's going on in the base."

Before Fox could respond to that, another call was on the line. He quickly changed from Wolf to the other call to reveal a tall robot. "Rob!" Fox said, "What's going on?"

"Our scanners located a foreign object inside of the Fischina base," Rob said, "It appears that there is a bomb planted at the base."

"A bomb?!" Fox let out.

"Fox! We have a dire situation at hand!" Slippy let out as he appeared on the monitor, "It seems Star Wolf has taken some vital information about the Cornerian Military that was kept in this base for safe keeping and they're going to take it back to Venom with them! What do we do?!"

"Oh…whatever will you do, pup?" Wolf chuckled.

Fox shook slightly in his Arwing. This was his first mission and already he was put in a life threatening situation. On one hand, if he were to pursue Wolf and his gang, the base would blow up and dozens will die in the process. However if he went back to deactivate the bomb, Wolf would run off with the intelligence, causing the Venomian Army to have an advantage over them. He had to think hard and make a decision now.

"Peppy!" Fox shouted, "You and Slippy stay behind and deactivate the bomb! Falco and I will go after Wolf and his gang."

"You got it!" Slippy replied as he flew towards the base.

"Good luck, Fox," Peppy said as he flew behind Slippy.

"Alright! Time for some action then!" Falco chuckled as he pursued the Wolfens.

"I hope what I decided…was the right decision…" Fox mumbled softly as he followed Falco.

Wolf noticed that the Star Fox team had split into two groups. He growled slightly then smirked. "I could easily take out the brat and his friend…but Andross wants that base to blow the hell up, so I can't let the other two deactivate the bomb," he said in a growling tone, "Pigma! Andrew! I want you two to go back to the base and make sure that bomb goes off!"

In two other Wolfens were situated a plumpish pig and a young, snowy white monkey. Both of them looked at each other then back at their leader. "You gotta be kidding me!" Pigma snorted, "You can't expect us to go back there and make sure the place goes boom! We'd be risking our lives and for what?!"

"They won't be able to deactivate the bomb in time!" Andrew let out, "We might as well just take care of these punks and…."

"Listen…and listen well," Wolf snarled, "It's either you go back there…and stop those two or you have to face ME. It's your choice. Leon and I will handle the pup and his chicken."

Both Pigma and Andrew froze at Wolf's tone. Neither of them wanted to face Wolf when angry. Both of them obeyed and left the group, leaving only Wolf his and his chameleon companion, Leon to face Fox and Falco.

Both Fox and Falco eyed the two ships that were leaving the group. Curios, Fox approached Wolf. "What's the meaning of this?" he asked.

"I was sent to blow that place up," Wolf said, "I gotta make sure your little buddies don't ruin that for me. So I'm doing you a favor."

"You're not going to get away!" Fox let out.

Fox boosted his Arwing. Once he was in range, he locked onto Wolf's ship. He fired away, only to have his shots miss. Wolf u-turned behind Fox, did a sharp turn, and shot him. Fox jerked in his Arwing as the lasers started to eat away his G-Diffuser shield. Fox barrel rolled, deflecting the lasers. He did a sharp turn before he looped behind Wolf. Fox managed to shoot at him, causing Wolf to be more surprised than anything.

Meanwhile Falco was keeping himself entertained. His opponent was a sly, chameleon whose dark purple body suit and grey jacket couldn't define his rather strange behavior. He eyed Falco's movements, trying to counter them as much as he could. He followed Falco's flight pattern, shooting at him whenever he could. Falco hissed each time he was shot by the deranged chameleon.

"Kehehehe," cackled Leon, "I'll be sure to take care of you, you miserable little bird!"

"Heh," Falco sneered, "Don't underestimate me, just because I'm young. I'm just getting warmed up!" Falco took the time to steer sharply to the right. His Arwing just missed the wings of Leon's Wolfen as he got around shooting widely. Most of the shots missed Leon, but the ones that hit caused him to growl in pain. Leon spun his ship around, colliding against Falco's. The impact almost cracked through his window shield. Falco glared at Leon who continued on with his assault. Falco jerked his head slightly as he barrel rolled Leon's lasers. The red beams of light bounced right off the steel wings of the Arwing. Falco hissed slightly. He had to think of a way to beat Leon before his shield would break.

Fox grunted as he is met with a barrage of red lasers. Trying to keep them off from his Arwing was much more difficult, especially when one would start to feel the effects of doing somersaults and barrel rolls. Fox' vision was starting to get slightly blurry as he felt sick to his stomach. With insufficient training, this was starting to be a difficult mission already. He jerked roughly as another laser hit his tail, causing one of his exhaust pipes to blow out. Fire and smoke slowly consumed the Arwing's tail. No…he thought, it can't end like this. I can't lose to him. I…I have to be strong…I have to be like Father. I know I can't take him head on…but maybe if I outsmart him. He seems too concentrated on wanting to destroy me than taking that intelligence to Andross…maybe…

"Falco!" Fox shouted, "Follow me!" Fox took flight, leaving behind Fischina's atmosphere and out into space. Falco snorted slightly as he flew behind Fox, leaving behind Leon and Wolf. Both older pilots pursued the younger ones, wanting to make sure they do not reach salvation. Fox fought as much as he could to keep his vision straight. His entire body ached at that moment. His ship could not handle much more abuse at the moment. One laser shot right through Fox' right wing, piercing through the metal as the G-Diffuser shield was weakened. The wing sliced off completely, causing the Arwing to fly crookedly.

"Fox!" Falco shouted, "Hang in there! I hope your plan works."

"Believe me Falco…." Fox responded, though in a whisper, "I'm trying to formulate it as I go."

"Do you know where we're going?!"

Fox looked around. He saw a small blue planet at the far end of his path. "Falco!" he replied, "There! We have to go there! We can lose them in there then ambush them in surprise."

"What if we get lost?"

"We won't! Just trust me!"

Fox sped down towards the small blue planet with Falco. Wolf and Leon weren't too far behind. Fox embraced himself as he entered the small planet's atmosphere. Usually the impact would only be a lightly shake, but since his shield was almost depleted, the Arwing shook violently. Fox was bounced around slightly, hitting against the walls and the roof of his Arwing. He was amazed at the sight he was seeing. The planet he was on, seemed very green. Foliage was everywhere as far as his eyes could see. Corneria was a mildly forested planet, but not as much as this one. He could not see any signs of civilization at all. Just then a rough hit from behind caused Fox to bump against the window shield. Wolf managed to ram into Fox, breaking the last bits of his G-Diffuser shield. "I can't stay here anymore," he said, "Falco! I'm abandoning ship!"

Fox undid his seatbelt, and then opened the cockpit of his Arwing. He climbed over to the nose of his ship and hung on as much as he could. Falco flew next to Fox. Fox had to take the risk and jumped from his ship onto Falco's. He landed roughly against the steel wing, bruising his chest and stomach. He hung on dearly for life as he climbed on the wing.

Wolf growled as he saw Fox escape from his grasps, he tried to shake the burning Arwing off from his Wolfen, but could not make it budge. The fires from the Arwing grew seriously close to the engine of the ship. Fire burst through the several parts of the Arwing, sending pieces of metal plummeting towards the ground. Wolf undid his belt, opened his cockpit and abandoned ship. As Wolf plummeted towards the ground, both his Wolfen and Fox' Arwing exploded right behind him. The lupine could feel the fires touch his back. His dark figure fell through some trees, disappearing into the forest.

Fox and Falco watched as the two ships exploded. "What…what happened to Wolf?" Fox asked as he watched Wolf disappear amongst the trees. "Is he…dead?" Fox nearly fell off from Falco's Arwing as Leon continued with his assault. Falco cussed as he knew they were sitting ducks. He couldn't fly faster nor could he do any sorts of loops or rolls in fear of letting Fox slip and fall to his death.

"Crap!" Falco let out as he noticed that his G-Diffuser shield was at its limit. "One more hit and we're toast!"

"Hehe, I hope you two have said your prayers," Leon chuckled as he locked onto the Arwing, "You'll need to in order to save yourselves this time." Leon shot at the defenseless Arwing. The two lasers broke Falco's exhaust pipes, causing a massive fire to start at the tail of his ship. The Arwing lost altitude, making it quite difficult for Falco to steer.

"Hang on, Fox!" Falco shouted, "I'm going to try to land this!" Fox watched as the endless blue sky was engulfed by green leaves. The branches scratched and swatted Fox. Due to the speed, Fox was losing air. He felt lightheaded and suffocated. He closed his teal eyes as he lost consciousness.

Fox' limped body slid off from Falco's wing and landed in a deep part of the Lost Woods. Fox slipped in and out of conscious. He swore that he saw what appeared to be a woman of long, blue hair, standing before him. He had never seen anything so beautiful in his life; however, she didn't seem too pleased with him. She extended her hand at him. "For breaking my law and disrupting my peace," spoke the woman, "You are to be punished as I am justice. I am the goddess that created the law and all creatures must uphold the law. You will remain in that form…a beast…for your insolence."

Fox felt a surge course through his body. His eyes opened widely as he felt such pain. He rolled on the ground and tried to get, but could not lift himself up. He felt his very bones pop and crack. His yell echoed through the woods, but no one would be able to answer his call. His clothes slid off his now small body. Fox wobbled as he fell upon the green grass, unable to move.

The vulpine laid on the grass for what seemed to be forever to him. He felt much too weak to even think at the moment. From the corner of his eye, he saw a faint figure approach him. He was not too sure what it was or if it was a friendly figure or not. Am I…going to die here? He thought as he saw the figure approach him. A pair of soft, yet small hands touched his side, causing the small fox to recoil slightly.

"Calm down," spoke the young, gentle voice, "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm a friend." Fox tried to make out the figure next to him, but his vision was so blurred, he could not make out her expression. The young girl continued to pet him gently, as if trying to calm him down. "I'm Saria, the Sage of the Forest," she said, "I'll take care of you. You seem quite injured. Anyone who gets lost or injured in my woods I shall help. I can sense that you have a strong curse on you. Though my goddess did pass judgment on you for disrupting the peace, it was not your fault. This curse can be broken, however I do not have the power to do it alone. I'll need the strength of another goddess to do it. I will do my best to ask one of the other two. If I can not do it alone, I shall ask a mortal who might be able to. They might appease the gods more."

"For the next years, I've spent them with Saria, helping her watch over the forest," Fox said, "It was a responsibility I wanted to do since she was trying her best to help me. My mind still wondered though…mostly if Falco was alright and if Wolf was still alive. Just until recently I have been worried about them, but I'm glad I am reunited with Falco."

"That's quite a story there," Titania said, "Though I wonder…who was that blue haired woman you talked about?"

"I don't know. Whoever she was, she was quite different. Like just her presence felt different."

"Sorry to interrupt," Oscar said, "But breakfast is ready. Come eat, please."

"Oh boy, breakfast!" Rolf said as he left the bedrooms and ran down to the dining area. Titania excused herself soon thereafter. Mist played around with her fingers. She looked at Fox who still had a pensive look on his face.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Now that I'm back to normal…how can I go home?" Fox asked.

"Fox…" Mist said, "I…I want to help you get back home."

Fox cocked his head slightly at Mist. He chuckled softly. "That's very kind of you, but I think this sort of thing might be beyond your powers."

"How so?"

"It's hard to explain, but at least I appreciate the offer," Fox placed his paw on Mist's hand, "Thank you, Mist." Mist looked at her hand before she blushed slightly. She smiled back at the vulpine in response. Her eyes fell upon his tail which was slightly wagging, causing Mist to giggle a bit.

Back in Hyrule Castle, Sheik had been monitoring the place. Since the Pit incident, the young Sheikah had kept quiet and has been more dedicated to her work. She had been pacing back and forth through the castle grounds, rooftops, and garden. Falco stood by her side, making sure that she didn't work herself to death. He flew over the castle rooftop and perched himself on Sheik's shoulder as she sat on the edge of the roof, which overlooked the courtyard. Her eyes wondered over to the figures of Ike and Zelda. The princess was seated down on one of the chairs, drinking tea.

"You sure you don't want any?" Zelda asked, "The tea is quite nice today."

"No thanks," Ike replied, "You know I'm not into the sweet stuff."

"I know…but, I thought I could use your company," Zelda smiled sheepishly.

Ike cocked his head slightly before he chuckled. He approached the princess. In one quick movement, he carried her off from her seat. Zelda yelped in surprise as she held onto him. She dropped her tea cup which fell on the table, spilling its contents. "I-Ike!" she let out, "What…what's the meaning of this?"

"You said you could use my company," Ike replied, "And I think it's too much of a nice day to be kept in the castle. What do you say we go out?"

"Go out?" Zelda asked, "But what about my lessons? What about your training? What if Impa needs me to do something? What if…?"

"What if we stay here and get bored?" Ike smirked.

Zelda sighed softly. She smiled at Ike before she hugged him. "Alright, let's go somewhere…just the two of us. Oh, but Ike, are you going to be carrying me the entire way?"

Ike looked down at her. "Well, if you want me to," he said, "I don't mind carrying you, but I think people will think I'm kidnapping you. Not every day you see a Beorc carrying a Hylian princess."

"I don't think Father will approve of such things. Even more so, should I have at least a cloak? Since of recent activities, we should be more careful. I don't think it would be wise to be seen in public."

Ike slowly placed Zelda down. He undid his blue cape and wrapped it around Zelda, making a cloak with a hood to cover her face. Zelda clung to the cape. She smiled at how big it was and how much it covered her, most importantly, she enjoyed how warm it was that the moment. "This cape is beautiful," she said in a hushed tone.

"I think it suits you," Ike responded as he lifted her hood slightly, "I think blue looks nice on you."

"Oh? You think blue suits me better?"

"Well, anything looks nice on you," Ike said, "Just for some reason; blue makes your eyes shine. I don't know why."

Zelda giggled at his comment. She did admire when Ike tried to be romantic, even when he didn't realize it. She didn't mind that at times, he was dense about things or needed to be told bluntly what he wanted, as long as she had him by her side, she was happy. She wrapped her arm around his arm and leaned on him. Ike was slightly stunned for a moment before he started to walk her out of the castle.

Sheik kept her eyes on the couple until they had left the castle grounds. She frowned at how happy those two seemed, but was glad that the princess was enjoying herself for once. Falco was usually clueless when it came to other people's feelings, however being around Sheik for quite some time, actually allowed Falco to learn empathy. Somehow he could tell how Sheik was doing just by being near her. Aside from it being quite obvious that the guy she was in love with won't touch her with a ten foot pole, Falco could tell that watching the princess and the mercenary breaks her heart.

The blond guardian sighed as she continued to guard the castle. As she walked through the garden, she took notice of Link. Link smiled softly as he was able to take off the bandages. He examined his left arm, though it felt strange when he moved it slightly, he had to get used to it. He thought it was far too long since he had the chance to train and this time, he had to get into better shape if he were to become a competent guardian for the princess. He took hold of the Master Sword's hilt and unsheathed it. He winced slightly at how heavy he found it. "Ugh…arm is still weak," he said.

"Maybe you should rest then," spoke a soft voice. Standing behind Link was Samus. The blond huntress leaned against the wall, watching the younger warrior's movement. "You barely took those things off an hour ago and now you want to train."

"I have to get back into training," Link replied, "I don't know when Ganondorf's forces will strike again so I have to be prepared to fight them."

"Link, you almost died last time, remember?" Samus said, "It was by some miracle that you lived."

"I know…I don't know what would have happened if I did," he said, "But still, I'm glad you came back for me. You were worried about me, weren't you?"

Samus blushed at the comment. She looked away and huffed. "Don't be ridiculous," she said, "It was out of mere curiosity to find out what was going on. You just so happened to follow me. So YOU were the one that was worried."

"I was," Link said.

Samus blushed even more. She had to turn away from him to cover up her rosy cheeks. "Oh, it's nothing, really. Don't let this get to your head."

Link smirked as he walked towards Samus. "Admit it, you were worried about me," he said in a sing-song tone, "You were worried because you care about…" Link was roughly cut off by Samus grabbing onto his tunic. She brought him close to her, glaring at him. Link cowered thinking that he had pushed the line with the huntress. Just as he was about to apologize, Samus brushed her lips against his lips, causing Link to almost melt in her arms both from relief and because of the action.

Samus pulled away slightly. "Will that shut you up?" she asked.

Link was far too stunned to give her a verbal response. Instead, he just nodded.

"Good," Samus said as she released Link, "You need to start from little things then work yourself up to your sword. If not, you're going to hurt yourself again." Samus was heading out of the castle. Link quickly grabbed his sword, sheathed it then followed her.

"Wait!" he said, "Maybe we can train together. You seem to know a lot about fighting hand to hand and such."

"You want me to train you?"

"If you don't mind," Link said, "Plus, it could give us a chance to patch things up. That way I can apologize to you properly."

"You really don't have to," Samus replied, "What's done is done and there is nothing to change that."

"I know, but I feel like that isn't good enough. I always wanted to tell you that I care about you," Link said in a serious tone.

"You care about everyone, I'm no different," Samus retorted.

Link grabbed her hand gently. "No…I mean I really care about you," he said, "Believe me, its hard to tell the difference about my level of affections, but above everyone else, you're the one I really like."

Samus looked at Link's hand then back at the Hylian. A small smile followed by a chuckle emitted from her lips.

"What's so funny?" Link asked, "You're not laughing at me, are you?"

"No, I just find this adorable in a way," Samus replied, "I'm not mocking you or anything. Just that, the way you put things, they just sound adorable." Link smiled at the comment. "Alright then," Samus continued, "Let's get to training. I have much to do to get you back to your normal strength, but I'm not going to push you hard until I know you're at least able to hold that sword with ease again."

The two of them walked off to go train out in the field, leaving a rather dishearten Sheik in the castle. She felt quite alone and cold that moment. Falco chirped sadly as he tried to think of what he could do to cheer up the girl. After all, she has done quite a lot for him since he arrived.

"Crap!" Falco shouted as he tried to take control of his Arwing. He tried to pull up, but couldn't. The branches of the trees managed to break through his window shield. Glass shards flew everywhere. He closed his eyes, trying to protect them from the shards. He slowly opened one of his eyes, trying to see where he was going. He slowly looked toward the right and noticed that Fox was no longer on his wing. "Fox!" Damn it! He thought, where could he be? I hope he isn't…

Falco's Arwing crashed into the ground. Upon impact, he was sent flying out of the cockpit. He smashed against a tree then fell on the ground. His body ached, he was losing his vision as well as losing a bit of blood, his breathing softened as he tried to remain conscious. He tried to move his right arm but couldn't. He had to contact the other Star Fox team members and tell them what happened, however, he was too weakened to move much.

A bright light appeared before Falco, almost blinding him. The light dimmed down, revealing a blue haired woman. Falco wasn't too sure if it was the light that was beaming through the treetops, but he swore that the woman in front of him glowed. She approached Falco, extending her hand to him. She really didn't look pleased at the sight of the injured avian. "You have broken my law," she said in a slightly harsh tone, "For that, you will remain as a beast. Never to speak to beings ever again."

Falco couldn't keep himself awake. He slowly closed his eyes, passing out in front of the way. A while later, Falco felt something wet touch his head. He slowly opened his eyes only to be greeted by a large, pink tongue. The blue avian grunted in disgust as he saw a rather large dog licking his face. Falco tried to get up and move away from the dog, however, he was in much pain, though he noticed that he felt the lack of clothing on his body.

"Shoo!" said a foreign voice. The dog perked up its ears then ran off. Falco sighed in relief as the dog left him. Though, he wasn't ready to relax yet. A dark shadow loomed over him. A giant hand wrapped itself around his body and lifted him up from the ground. Falco panicked and struggled to get free, but noticed the lack of strength in his arms and legs. In fact, upon looking at his body, the blue avian took notice of his strange body transformation.

"What is this?!" Falco shouted, "Is this a dream?! What the hell?!"

"Shh, calm down," said the voice again, "Relax, I'm not going to hurt you." The woman holding the small bird seemed to have almost her entire face covered. Only rogue strands of blond hair peeked through her turban. Her bright red eyes looked gentle and rather inviting. "I'm Sheik and I'll be your friend. I promise I'll take care of you, little bird."

Sheik took Falco out of the forest and brought him to Kakariko Village. There, the young Sheikah nursed him back to health. Falco was still in shock. He had no idea what was going on and was still under the impression that this was some sort of dream which he was having since he lost conscious during his crash landing. As time went by, Falco figured out that this was not a dream. He became rather agitated at Fox then he started to worry. His mind began to wonder if his companion even made it out alive. He could care less if Wolf lived or died, but Fox was his friend. He had no way to get in contact with the other two, even more so, if he did find his communicator, he wouldn't be able to talk to them. He had more than enough trouble trying to talk to Sheik with chirps. "I'm doomed, aren't I?" he asked himself.

That was four years ago. Falco chirped slightly. He had came to the conclusion that he will be stuck on this planet and be stuck in this form forever. He got used to being Sheik's companion and was glad to have been found by her. He wanted to find a way to stop her moping, but how? Falco thought long and hard about this one. He wasn't too sure what would make the blond happy again except for having Pit talking to her, but how could he make him do that? That asshole has avoided her this entire time, he thought, I know he doesn't remember her, but damn, the least he could do is try to get answers out of Sheik instead of just roaming around like a complete moron.

Falco flew in front of Sheik and chirped loudly at her. Sheik looked at Falco who was behaving rather odd at the moment. "What's the matter?" she asked him.

"Come on!" Falco chirped, "If I can't bring that boy to you, I might as well lead you to him!" Falco took off; flying in hopes that Sheik would follow. Sure enough, Sheik did leave the castle and decided to follow her feathery friend. She wasn't sure where Falco was taking her, but it was a slight relief from being in the castle. Falco flew through the town market and into the field. He stopped for a moment as he tried to figure out where Pit could have gone. The most sensible place would be Kakariko Village. As Falco was about to fly towards the direction of the village, he noticed a lone, pale figure off towards the south of the field. He flew towards the small figure out of curiosity.

Standing out in the field was Pit. The brunette seemed rather lost in thought that he didn't notice Sheik nor Falco coming at him. Sheik approached him with caution, not wanting to upset him.

"Pit?" Sheik asked.

Pit finally looked in her direction, not really making eye contact. "Oh, it's you," he said, "What do you want? I thought I told you to leave me alone."

"I know, but Pit…" Sheik said, "Please let me explain to you what happened…"

Pit didn't seem amused. He wasn't in the mood to have another person to annoying him. Before he could say something, a bright light appeared behind Pit. A teleport symbol appeared on the ground. As the light dimmed down, the Black Knight appeared. "Seems I finally found you," the Black Knight said, "Medusa has been asking about this angel for a while. Yet, where are his wings? Did I really cut them off that badly?"

"What are you talking about?" Pit asked, "Who are you?"

"Forgive my rudeness, but I'm in a hurry," replied the Black Knight, "Medusa has been getting suspicious of me recently."

"I'm not going with you!"

"I wish you would come quietly, I do not wish to harm you, but if you insist…" The Black Knight unsheathes Aldonite and pointed the tip of the blade at Pit. "Come now…"

Sheik took out her whip chain, wrapped it around Aldonite and pulled on it, moving it away from Pit. "You best leave him alone!" Sheik demanded, "I'll be sure to finish you off if you touch him!"

"I admire your bravery," the Black Knight said, "However…" using hardly any of his strength, the Black Knight pulled on his sword sending Sheik flying over him. She landed on her back on the grass. Just as she was about to get up, the Black Knight pushed her back down. "It seems this time, you aren't going to be saved," he said as he lifted the Aldonite. Sheik closed her eyes, waiting for the strike to hit her. However, something pushed her back to the ground. She opened her eyes to see Pit on top of her.

"Pit?" Sheik let out.

"I don't know why…" Pit said, "But something inside of me clicked. This looked too familiar…and I couldn't let you get killed. I don't know why I felt such fear…"

"This does look familiar," said the Black Knight, "You two seem to care about each other. I wish I could sympathize with this, but I have my orders."

Falco flew to towards the Black Knight. He chirped, scratched, and pecked at the knight, blocking his vision. The Black Knight stammered back, trying to swat at the blue jay. Pit took the opportunity to get off from Sheik. He took her hand and pulled her off from the ground. "Come on!" he shouted as he dragged her off. Sheik looked back at Falco who was trying to keep the Black Knight distracted. The Black Knight swatted at Falco, knocking him towards the ground. The small bird chirped in pain.

"Seems your distraction was well planned, little bird," said the Black Knight, "Sadly, where do you go from here?"

Sheik pulled away from Pit as she saw Falco in danger.

"What are you doing?!" Pit shouted.

"I have to go save him!" Sheik replied as she ran towards Falco. She scooped up the fallen bird into her arms as she threw a dagger at the Black Knight. She held onto Falco for dear life as she took out her chain whip. She twirled it around, keeping it in ready mode, in case she had to strike him down. "Sorry, but this bird is my friend. And I'll fight for him and Pit."

The Black Knight was losing his patience with this group. He was sent on a short mission to retrieve Pit, but instead was facing this nuisance of a girl. He really did not want to hurt her, but her distraction was far too much to lose the young angel. He glared at the girl. He swung his sword at her, though it did not connect, the energy wave was enough to knock Sheik off her feet. Pit couldn't do anything except watch in fear as wave upon energy wave hit Sheik. One energy wave managed to hit her across the face, ripping her face mask slightly. The cloth slid off, revealing her slightly burned face. She got up on her feet, still holding onto Falco. She quickly ran to her left, but was stopped by another energy wave.

"You stupid…why did you go back for him?!" Pit shouted to her from a distance, "Why…why would some risk their lives like that?" Pit held onto his head as he felt tears trailing down from his eyes. He wanted it all to stop. He didn't know why he felt such pain. His back started to hurt immensely. His entire body burned up. As he saw Sheik's face, everything just clicked.

Sheik limped slightly. She faced the Black Knight, but nothing seemed to be working. She threw daggers at him and they would bounce off his armor. She whipped him constantly, but her whip didn't even make him flinch. She held onto Falco tightly, protecting him from all the energy waves he threw at her. Just as the Black Knight slashed at her, a white bolt flew across the field and lifted her up into the air. Sheik stared at a pair of white wings that were connected to a familiar boy.

"Pit…your wings…" she said.

"They grew back!" Pit smiled at her warmly, "I'm going to get you out of here…don't worry." Pit took a deep breath as he carried Sheik across the field. He had to nimbly fly through the sky, avoiding any of the energy waves the Black Knight was throwing at him. Once they were out of reach, the Black Knight teleported out of the field, disappearing into unknown lands.

"Pit…" Sheik said, "How did they grow back?"

"I don't know," Pit replied as he continued to fly, "All I know…is that I had to save you. When I was mortal, I didn't know how to react when I saw you protecting Falco. I didn't understand why anyone would risk their lives, knowing that they couldn't stand a chance. Then I felt such anger and fear, yet I didn't even know why. It was like, I wanted to do something, but I know I couldn't. My body felt like it was on fire. I saw your face and suddenly I remembered that I once touched it and called it pretty. Suddenly memories came flooding back in. I was so confused, my head started to hurt. Then my wings sprouted out. I had to take action and come and save you."

"So now…you remember me."

"Yes…and Sheik…I'm sorry for the way I acted. I…I would never want to push you away especially since I lo…"

Before Pit could finish his sentence, he felt his load suddenly get heavier. The weight was enough to pull him down to the ground, crash landing onto the ground. Sheik tumbled slightly as her tiny bird had suddenly gotten bigger. As she came to, she noticed that she was currently resting her head upon a rather lean, feathery blue chest. She looked up to see a nude anthropomorphic version of her dear pet, Falco. "What the?!" Sheik let out.

Falco groaned slightly as he sat right up. He crossed his legs, covering up whatever he didn't want to show Sheik and Pit. "Listen, after you're done asking questions and taking in what just happened," he said, "I would appreciate it if one of you guys would give me something to wear."

Ike had managed to take Zelda as far as Lake Hylia. It was almost late afternoon when they had arrived. Zelda didn't mind the long trip. For Ike, it had been a while since he arrived at the lake. For Zelda, she had never once been to the lake before. She was amazed at how vast and beautiful it looked. The rays of the sun reflected off the water, making it sparkle. A couple of Zoras were busy socializing near the warp that leads them back to Zora's Domain. Two lone scarecrows were situated in the dirt, though Zelda was slightly curios why anyone would put two scarecrows if there weren't any crops for them to scare crows off for.

She ignored that small fact as she walked across the bridge. She reached the small island in the middle of the lake. She smiled warmly at Ike. "Ike, this place is so beautiful," she said, "Thank you for bringing me here."

"Yeah, no problem on that," Ike responded, "Though one thing somewhat eludes me."

"What is it?"

"Why did your pet wolf follow us?" Ike pointed to a rather irritated Wolf. He had followed the couple all day, walking through the field and to the lake.

"Aww, he must have been lonely," Zelda replied as she approached Wolf and petted him.

"Lonely?" Ike said. More like conniving, he thought.

"Well, don't let that ruin this moment," Zelda said, "Just because he followed."

Ike smiled at her. "Yeah, that is true. Besides, I wanted to take you here for a long time, but never had a chance to. This place looks really beautiful at night."

"Night?" Zelda asked. "How long are we going to stay here?"

"As long as you want. If you get hungry, I brought some food you can eat. There's also a fish everywhere, so I can get us some. We can make a small campfire and roast them."

Zelda giggled. "Seems like you have a good plan."

"Well, I do try to make this enjoyable for you. Quite frankly, I'd be just happy coming here to relax."

"You don't have to do anything for me," Zelda replied. She walked over to the mercenary and hugged him. "I'm just glad we finally had some time together."

"It's been a while…though aren't people going to be worried when they find out your missing?"

"Well, that's something you should have thought about before you kidnapped me and brought me here for a romantic getaway."

"'Romantic…getaway'?"

Zelda sighed softly. "I know people will be worried, even know I'm sure Impa must be looking for me, but I want to do this. I'm having so much fun just being here. So I don't mind if I don't show up until morning."

Ike smirked. "You're starting to pick up some bad habits," he said, "Like that 'I don't care' attitude you got."

"I think I got it from you."

"Really now?" Ike said playfully as he leaned slightly on Zelda.

"Yes, really," replied the princess as she inched closer to Ike. Zelda enjoyed his warmth. She closed her eyes as she leaned forward to kiss him. Ike got the hint as he smiled slightly. His lips connected against a piece of cloth. He opened his eyes and saw that Zelda's hood covered her face. Zelda squirmed slightly as she tried to take the hood off. Hidden in Ike's shadow, Midna chuckled darkly.

That was a close one, the Twilight Princess thought. Their romance is making me sick! Besides, I don't know what Ike sees in her. She's rather frail, naïve, and seems to be getting into trouble lately. Do guys like him like damsels in distress or what?

"You okay?" Ike asked as he helped Zelda pull her hood off.

"I'm fine," Zelda spat slightly as many rogue hairs covered her face.

Ike chuckled slightly as he moved the hairs away from her face. He held her face gently until he moved all the hairs he could in order to reveal her soft face. Zelda felt slightly embarrassed at what happened, but was glad to be touched by Ike. Her hands gently stroked his rough hands. Ike leaned in close to her and kissed her forehead. He then kissed her cheek gently, causing the princess to blush furiously at his tenderness. It was rare for Ike to be tender and to do such affectionate actions, especially in public. Both had to wait until they knew they were completely alone, so Zelda guess that he didn't mind Wolf or Midna watching them, even though both did.

"Excuse me?" interrupted a voice.

Ike pulled away from Zelda, though was secretly fuming. He looked over at the source of the voice only to find Lucario standing next to them. "Yes, Lucario?" Ike said in a rather loud tone.

"Sorry to bother you," Lucario said, "But I have a small request to ask of you."

"What is it?"

"You see…I know you lost your sword and it meant a lot to you, but I do know how you can get a replacement sword."

"Really?" Ike asked.

"The sword I'm talking about is not a regular blade. This one was blessed by the gods themselves and has been hidden from the outside world for ages. It has waited for a new master to take it up and use it. I don't normally trust hu…Beorcs. However, I can see past you that you are different. For some reason, you seem to do things for nothing in return. Everyone seems to trust you, even you had the worst of people trust you. Also…your aura…it is the same as my master's. You even look like him. The resemblance is uncanny; it's like seeing him again. Forgive me if this sounds strange."

"It's alright, really," Ike responded, "So you want to give me a sword that belonged to your old master?"

"I would like to take you to where it is located," Lucario corrected, "I do not have it with me."

Zelda stepped in. "Where is it located at?"

"The Pokemon Sanctuary. It is located deep within the forest, beyond the Hyrulean border. I can use abilities to take us there in a matter of moments, if you want."

"Well…I don't know," Ike said, "I would like to go see this blade, but do you think I'd be worthy enough to wield it? Not to mention I already had a night planned with Zelda and…"

Zelda touched Ike's shoulder. "I don't mind," she said, "It would be fun to go on an adventure. Besides, you need this sword much more than I need to spend a night at the lake. You can take me here some other time when there's less danger."

"Zelda…" Ike said, "Thank you for understanding. Lucario…take us there."

"Alright then…you better hang on tight then," Lucario said as he stretched out his arms. Zelda scooped up Wolf in her arms, though he was slightly heavy in her opinion. Ike had to hold Zelda for her support while he held onto Lucario. The fighting Pokemon took a deep breath as he used Foresight to teleport them to the forest.

End of chapter!

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Ragnell and Four Sad Tales Part Four

-"Ragnell once had a sister blade to it…I think it was called Alondite."