; - A Star Fox fanfiction

Dusk

Why me? he thought, opening his eyes. It was the same question he'd been asking himself every morning – without fail – for the past two months. At least, he was sure it was somewhere around that time frame. He slowly sat up and looked down, seeing a shirtless, blue bird with his wing wrapped around his waist slumbering away. The faint smile on his beak was telling. Fox slid out from his grasp and into the morning air. A chill clung to the forest, light and ethereal, like the fog that hung between the trees. The sun had not yet come up, but judging by the featureless, grey sky, it wouldn't matter when it did. Fox adjusted the sleeves of his shirt and sat down by the softly smoking fire pit. The coals from the night before were long since put out, but they still whispered life. The acrid smell of smoke blew into his nose as a soft breeze blew by.

His mind wandered back to the dream that had woken him up, the horrifying nightmare that had disturbed his sleep more times than he could count:

He entered Wolf's apartment. It was dimly lit, and the large canine was sitting on the couch in a dirty, black jacket and grey sweatpants. He was swiping through his social media account, grinning mischievously at something he saw on the screen. "Long time no see, pup."

"Don't call me that," Fox instantly bit back.

Wolf threw up his paws defensively. "Jus' tryna break the ice, kiddo." After no response from Fox, other than an eye roll, he leaned forward and asked, "So I bet'cher at least a little curious why I called ya here, eh?"

"Just get it over with."

"I ain't gonna tell ya with an attitude like that," Wolf said, scratching his damaged eye. He wasn't wearing his eyepatch, so the dead, clouded eyeball was clearly visible. Fox shuddered. "I mean... is that really any way to speak to yer first lover?"

Fox sighed. "Why did you call me here Wolf?"

"Truth be told, I want'cha back."

There was a moment of silence... a long moment of silence.

"... what?"

"You heard me," Wolf sighed, leaning forward, "Now that I'm no longer an outlaw, we could go back to the good ol' days, ya know? Back in the academy? Wouldn't that be nice?"

Fox made a disgusted noise and shook his head, "Are you fucking kidding me? I trusted you and you broke my heart. After that, you tried to kill me numerous times! Do you know how much pain I've gone through because of you?! And yet, you have the audacity to beg me to come back to you?! You make me sick and I never want to see you again. I'm actually happy now... with Falco. He's been more of a partner to me than you ever were."

Wolf looked at the clock, complete disinterest on his face. "It was worth a shot..." he mumbled.

"Excuse me?"

"I tried the nice card, but since that's not gonna work..." he pressed a button on the keys resting on the table. Fox heard the door lock, "Guess I'll give it to ya straight." Wolf stood up and leaned over Fox, his foul breath making Fox cringe. "Truth is, kiddo, I'm just really horny. My usual hookup never showed up, so..." Within a split second, his massive paw was constricting around Fox's throat, "Guess you'll havta do..."

He couldn't even scream.

Fox snapped back to reality, his paws shaking violently. Why can't I just forget?! Why does it have to torment me?! He bolted down to the creak and plunged his face into the water. The bitter cold nipped at his nose and ears, making his eyes water. He continued to practically drown himself until his vision went blurry. He stumbled backward into the bank, face down in the dirt, wanting to scream, but his throat refused to work. Maybe it was the cold or maybe it was the morning, but no sound came out. It was a hoarse whisper; it was a mere shadow of a cry. After a minute or two, he began to cough violently. His diaphragm convulsed to the point where it felt as though he was going to throw up. Struggling for breath, he slammed his fist on the ground, beating the dirt like a nail to a hammer.