It took barely any time at all for the group to return to the Hollow, and Fox and Sunset took the Ar-Wing up into orbit to fly to the Cloudrunner Fortress. Fox's piloting skills made quick work of gathering the necessary magical energy to stabilize the path into the Fortress, allowing them to breach the atmospheric envelope with ease.
Sunset stared out the cockpit as they slowly came in for a landing on the only pad at the edge of the Fortress. Though she'd been there many times before when she was younger, the view from above never failed to be breathtaking. The Fortress sat atop a mountain peak plateau, with lakes, rivers, and forests surrounding it...though the top of the mountain itself now floated separate from the planet. The landing pad was at the edge of a bridge out from the Fortress, braced above a deep lake with trees all around, the Fortress standing tall in the distance shimmering in green stone and marble columns that had only somewhat dulled from time.
Fox couldn't help but stare as well as he leapt out of the Wing with Sunset. As they did, the Queen Cloudrunner flew overhead, settling down on the head of a large green statue of a Cloudrunner to one side of the path in. "Welcome back to Cloudrunner Fortress, Sunset," she said warmly. "Your flier is most effective, if you got here almost before I did. My compliments, Fox...but do not get overconfident. The Sharpclaws occupied us here, and danger may wait. I'll fly ahead and see if it's safe. Meet me inside." With that, she spread her wings and flew towards the Fortress.
"Let's not keep her waiting," Fox joked as he rolled his shoulders and pulled out Krystal's staff, extending it to combat length.
"We'll need to open the gate," Sunset pointed out, gesturing to a tall fence that blocked the path in at the end of the bridge. "The switch is down in the water, but one of us will need to run a course to 'prove worthy' to enter. It's an old system, originally designed to only be opened by those who could fly."
Fox glanced off the side of the bridge, seeing several arches rising out of the water with a few crates floating in the water beneath them. "Through the arches? I think I could make that..."
"Or I could propel myself through with fire," Sunset offered. "I've been meaning to try that, and I know from past experience the water's quite comfortable if I mess up. I'll also have a much easier time drying off than you in that case."
"Fair enough," Fox allowed. "Show me what you've got."
Grinning, Sunset leapt off the bridge, shooting flames out of her palms to slow her fall to a distant platform before activating a switch. She then blazed through the rings that appeared in the air through the arches until she reached the last one, revealing a fireball switch above the gate.
Fox waited for Sunset to get back up before activating the switch, making the gate swing open. "Not bad," he praised happily. "You've got some flying talent."
Sunset's eyes widened in excitement. "Does that mean I can get my own wings?" she asked eagerly, gesturing to the Ar-Wing.
"No, you still need to clear the Academy course first." Fox ignored Sunset's pout as he turned to head into the Fortress.
It didn't take long for them to make it to an upper level of the Fortress, where some rubble blocked a path through but allowed them to see General Scales himself and a squad of Sharpclaws, having recaptured the Queen. General Scales stood nearly three times Fox's height, covered in armor and wearing a horned helm, his scales bright green and his entire frame bulging with muscle. "I know it was Fox and his daughter that set you free," he growled at the Queen. "Now where is she?"
Fox immediately grabbed Sunset and pulled her back before she could try to squeeze through the gap to get to the Queen. Is he involved with that second spirit? he thought silently, remembering the image of a Krazoa Spirit that seemed to be trying to manipulate him and Sunset using Krystal.
"I do not know what you are talking about!" the Queen insisted as she struggled to move, held down flat to the ground by the Sharpclaws.
General Scales suddenly let out an angry growl. Turning, he knocked his own troops to the side as he seized the Queen by her throat, hefting her into the air. "You will tell me!" he roared in fury, his eyes glittering yellow and purple. "Where is the Marked One, the Sun Killer?"
Fox quickly put his hand over Sunset's mouth before she could gasp in shock. So that's how it's translated for the Sharpclaws, he thought, remembering his talk with Krystal about the prophecy they were certain was about Sunset.
The Queen closed her eyes and looked away from General Scales. "She will find you," she stated firmly. "And then you will wish she hadn't."
General Scales shrugged as he dropped her. "Take her away!" he ordered his men. Reaching into a pocket, he pressed a switch on a remote.
Drones suddenly appeared in the air all around Fox and Sunset, lashing them both with electrical discharges. Sunset was just barely able to get a magical shield up around herself to deflect them, but she still felt each hit on her barrier and saw Fox falling from the zaps. "Dad!" she called out worriedly.
General Scales smirked as he glanced towards them. "You didn't really think I didn't know you were there, did you?" he asked cruelly. "Fox McCloud and the Sun's Last Light, quite a catch wouldn't you say?"
Sunset glowered at Scales, grinding her teeth. "You're dead..." she snarled out.
"Perhaps," he allowed with a chuckle. "But it will take more than you have to-"
Sunset dropped her barrier and shot a beam of intense light from the sunstone around her horn straight into Scales' left eye. He reared back with a roar, clutching at his face as several explosions caught his ears. He managed to force his right eye open. He saw his drones so much slag, and no sign of Sunset or Krystal's Staff. Fox was still unconscious, however. "Take him away!" he ordered as he turned away, still covering his left eye as he felt liquid dribbling out that was not tears. "And find that filly!"
When Fox had been dragged away, Sunset finally let herself relax, and the Sunstones stopped bending light around her and her Mom's staff. She hadn't known the two magics would interact that way, or react to getting hit by the zaps of lightning like that. For now, she had a more important concern.
She needed to find her Dad.