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The planet is cold, the wind quiet among the icy biome. Fox stared down at the snow crunching under his boots, the recently-cleaned metal blending into the blinding color. This meeting was a quick discussion, just to talk about some conflicts about pay. Someone hired Star Fox AND Star Wolf to escort some packages half-way across Lylat. The leaders of the respective teams decided to take it up in a meeting, and with a coin flip, Wolf got to pick the locale. Fox had lost, and after a brutal cackle, Wolf said the word, “Fichina”, the frozen planet.
“Fox, you want back-up?” Falco glared at the holo-communicator long after the canines hung up, scowling with a piercing gaze. He didn’t seem very fond of Wolf, for… Obvious reasons.
Fox rolled his eyes and smirked at the bluebird, amused, packing supplies for the cold trip, “No, Falco, no thank you. I’m more than capable of handling myself.”
“But is it really safe to go all by yourself?” Slippy asked, moving to walk alongside Fox, “How can you trust him?”
“He’ll honor this. He’s a big fan of ‘fair play’,” Slippy could only frown in response.
Peppy, who had left immediately after the captains hung up, returned, holding a puffy coat, fluff lined along the hood. He trusted Fox to handle this. And after an exchanged look that only they knew the meaning to, Fox packed his things.
“Damn you, Wolf,” Fox muttered to himself, the breaths exhaled turning into white smoke, dissipating into the air, “Always doing something to bother me.” Fox’s parked a fair bit away from the meeting spot, just to be safe, you never know what could happen in these harsh conditions, but it proved to be a hassle to get to with the frigid air and icy ground. Fox looked up, the clouds above gave way to a tower, barely tall enough to look out into the white expanse. Fox rolled his eyes, this was the spot, and Wolf was always the showy one.
Climbing up the slippery steps, careful not to fall, Fox was met with Wolf, back turned, smoking and letting the smoke turn into nothing, thin air consuming it whole.
“Jeez, take the scenic route?” Wolf gave a chuckle, and motioned for Fox to come forward, not bothering to face him, “C’mere, the scene only gets better.”
Fox closes the gap, standing beside Wolf, who looked out into the white, the cold, and the frozen. Fox couldn’t see anything for miles, the silhouette of a Cornerian military base the only thing balancing on the horizon. “What am I supposed to see? It’s empty.”
Wolf mused, quiet for a brief moment, “Sheesh, talk about no imagination, you ain’t the one who grew up here.”
“You grew up here?” Fox gestured to the cold expanse.
“Well, somewhere near here, I think.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Meh.”
They both fell silent, and that’s when Fox took in what the wolf was wearing. It was basically identical to what he wears casually. Fox needed a puffy jacket, hand warmers, and more ridiculous things to just get out here, but Wolf was acclimated.
“You’re serious.”
Wolf only gave a vague shrug.
“Then where’s your family?”
Wolf turned around, leaning against the railing, another vague shrug as an answer.
Fox couldn’t believe what he was learning, all from a cold meeting place, in a cold biome, on a cold planet. Everything about this place is so cold, so dead, so lifeless, but Wolf still seemed to hold some attachment to it. A nostalgia for a ‘good time’ that wasn’t there.
The air between them was thick with uneasiness, lasting for what felt like ten years, when Wolf spoke.
“My folks… They weren’t really like…” Wolf struggled to put the words into place, “I don’t really know where they are. Likely Corneria, now, but of course,” Wolf laughed to himself, “I can’t go there.”
“My family wasn’t… A pleasant group of people. Shocking, I know, but I still tried to like ‘em.”
Fox stared at Wolf. Was this a trick, was Wolf bringing Fox’s guard down? Or is Wolf pouring his heart out for no ulterior motive? “Tried?” Fox asked, raising an eyebrow.
“That’s what I said, I tried, but every time I gave them a chance, they let me down again. So I ran off, joined the flight academy, met your dad, yadda yadda.”
Fox nodded aimlessly, looking out into the white sea of powder splayed in front of him. For some odd reason, the planet looked different now, the cold air not as painful. It was like an eternal winter, just not as jolly as some would be back on Corneria.
Fox shivered, realizing where he was, and taking him out of the conversation. Wolf noticed, smiled, and after taking one last puff of what he was smoking and throwing it off the edge of the tower, he wrapped Fox in his coat, then his arms.
“Wolf!? Hey–”
“Hush, you’re cold, it’d be stupid to talk to you like this… Mostly ‘cause I’d start laughing.”
Fox grumbled to himself, and looked away from the smirking wolf. Then, only to gain heat, he leaned in, pressing himself against Wolf’s body and savoring the warmth.
“So I’m totally getting that job, right?”