Brightness.

Darkness.

I couldn't tell what I was seeing. The world seemed to be shining white, yet everything was dark. There was noise, but I couldn't make anything out. I couldn't feel my body, but I seemed to feel the world. It was peaceful, but it felt like the eye of a hurricane.

At first this is all I was. A blob of sensation in the vast realm of nothingness. Then I started to dream.

At first all I would see was a flash of color, just a glimpse and it was gone, then it started to creep in from the edges of my vision. My consciousness was a canvas of ever changing colors, bringing a dull senses of peace, panic, or anger. I watched the colors swirl lazily in my subconsciousness. They brought reason and life to my sphere of half-conciousness.

The rainbow of colors shimmered and circulated, circling like the liquid of a stirred pot. I watched lazily as they slowed and stopped, then started in the other direction. They swirled faster and faster, panicking my subconsciousness with its sudden violence. It twirled faster and faster, becoming a blurred circle, the colors becoming brown, and then suddenly it all sucked into a black sphere in the middle of the swirl. The sphere glowed black, but was webbed with pulsing blood-red veins. It seemed to hold immense power, which radiated off of it.

I felt a pinch in my brain and another stream of consciousness merged with my own. It was vast and dark, filled with cold anger. It sent a wave of feelings and pictures to my mind, making me realize that I was on the verge of death. It sent feelings of urgency and need, as well as pictures of myself, lying dead on the ground. My tired mind knew this was truth, but I was so tired. There was no way I would be able to wake myself up. I have enough trouble when I'm fully alive and well. My mind started to wander again, and the colors started swirling back out from behind the sphere. I enjoyed them, their calming dance, their soothing colors, the feeling of peace, and my mind started to slow down as it prepared for it's final sleep...

Star Fox and the prisoner kid stood over the battered body of Kevin. His breathing was shallow and quick, and the gashes covering his body slowly oozed blood, which was soaking into the bandages wrapped around him. The medic bot was patching up the worst of the gashes, stitching up the deep ones, and smearing healing salve over all of them. The six companions watched in silence as the heart rate slowed and the brain activity started to diminish. Yet no tears were shed. He was new, and although he had been good to have on the team, nobody had really bonded with him except for Fox, and he had to stay strong for his friends.

Fox eventually broke the silence, bringing the others from their silent contemplations.

"He was a good soldier," Fox said quietly, "I only regret not being able to fight beside him."

The others nodded, remembering the last moments of the battle with the Beast. The human had killed the beast, something almost unbelievable. Krystal sniffed once, and Fox stormed out of the room, breezing past the other prisoner, who was lying on the other medic bed, it's strong and steady pulse a bitter contrast to Kevin's.

The rest of the group lingered for a few moments, quietly paying respects to the dying warrior. The little kid was staring at his body silently. He hadn't spoken a word since being rescued.

The medic bot finished it's work and with a light beep, it folded away into the wall. The kid watched it incomprehensibly, far off in his own mind. He drifted away to the side of the other prisoner's bed, and after feeling their forehead, he drifted out after Fox. Krystal, having noticed his strange actions, went to see if he was doing Ok, as well as to get away from the dying person in front of her. Slippy and Falco followed a few minutes later, leaving a fading body behind.

My mind got slower and slower, feeling more and more tired, and I felt at peace as thoughts faded and my life dimmed. I felt a breif nagging in the back of my mind, but I ignored it. I was ready. There was a warm void awaiting me, an endless rest, a deep peace. The feeling got stronger and stronger, almost feeling like a worm wriggling on my brain. It brought me to my senses slightly, as if arousing me from drowsiness. I tried to push it away, annoyed, but it persisted through my efforts. I felt a twitch in my pelvis - which was wierd, because I couldn't feel my body - and a spear of fire shot up through my belly and up my throat, piercing my brain with painfully pleasing force.

My brain jolted into wakefulness, scrambling around with a strong sense of urgency and need. I immediately banished the colors to the Netherlands of my mind. I pushed against sleep and forced my tired body to continue. A trickle of warm sensation brushed against my consciousness, and when welcomed, a flood of pain and soreness flooded my sensitive mind.

I clenched my teeth and bore it, knowing that if I let go, I would die. I clenched my hand as hard as I could and made it close, but there wasn't very much pressure behind it. I surfaced my mind long enough to open my eyes before they fell shut again.

My inner struggle happened seemingly endlessly. I was fighting with everything I had, and I surfaced in and out of bodily consciousness repeatedly, twitching something, opening my eyes for a split second before all control left and all I knew of the outside world was the faint feeling I felt of my back against a soft bed. I was weary beyond belief, and was getting even more tired.

I felt my mind slip for a second, and with a pulsation of fear and surprise, I reached deep within myself and pushed harder than ever. I felt my pulse beat in my temple slowly, like a drum, and the noise in my erase became defending. My pelvis twitched once more, and I felt an indescribable warmth and strength seem to infuse with my very bones.

My eyes shot open and I forced the immense effort to sit up. As soon as I did, my whole body started responding once more. I felt my pulse start to speed up and my vision flashed and went dark before slowly fading in. I swing my feet over the edge of the bed, laying my feet on the ground, feeling the cold floor through the tatters of what was left of my shoes. I stood slowly, keeping my hands on the edge of the bed in case I wasn't strong enough or my vision blanked again.

After successfully propping myself onto my feet, I started to shuffle to the door.

Star Fox and their rescued victim were sitting in the eating hall, small portions of untouched food sitting in front of each of them. Even Slippy, who was known for his ginormous appetite, hadn't touched his food. Fox and Falco were discussing how to get revenge for their fallen comrade, Slippy was throwing in some suggestions here and there, while Krystal tried to get the little cat to eat the food that he was staring at so glumly. They had been in this room for a few hours since leaving the nearly dead human in the infirmary.

"There's no way we can fight them in a head on battle!" Fox suddenly yelled, breaking the silence of the mostly quiet room, "Did you see all the cannons that they were firing at us on our way out?"

"Yeah, I did bozo," Falco yelled back, "An' I'm telling you, I could take out most of those motherfuckers by myself if you had the balls to let me!"

Everybody's attention was drawn by this commotion, and nobody noticed as a deflated looking figure shuffled his way to the table.

"This isn't about you!" Fox yelled, standing up and slamming his hands on the table, "Why can't you pull your head out of your ass long enough to see that!"

"DON'T. TALK TO ME. ABOUT HAVING THINGS. UP MY ASS." Falco bellowed, standing up and getting right in Fox's face.

"HEY! JUST BECAUSE–"

"Guys? Guys? GUYS? GUYS?!" Slippy piped up, his high pitched voice drawing Falco's anger.

"SON OF A BITCH SLIP–"

"MY MOM WAS NOT A BITCH!" Fox howled, cutting him off.

"I WASN'T TALKING TO YOU ASS HOLE!"

"Guys?"

The room suddenly got deathly quiet as the shriveled looking human made himself known at the table. He eased down into a chair and pulled the nearest plate to him.

"I've got a massive headache right now that you wouldn't believe. Could you all please be a little quieter?" he rasped quietly.

Everyone stared at him, open mouthed and speechless as he mumbled a brief thank you and started eating.

Hey guys. Finals are over! Woohoo!

So I started this chapter with no real goal in mind, and that's why it's so short. I now have a vague idea of where I want to go. I know it's been forever since I started asking, but I'm still not sure if I want to make Kevin Anthro or not, but I promise, I will tally votes and make a decision by next chapter. Sorry for my shortness of chapters, but honestly, I wanted to have this split into two, leaving some kind of cliff hanger when Kevin seemed like he was going to die. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, and I hope I can get another chapter up soon, assuming the teachers don't start piling on the homework soon.

DisturbedFire