Repercussions, Chapter 2
Map can be found here, will update it as time goes on
http://www.furaffinity.net/full/4807569/
Chapter 2
November 16th, 2003. 1315 Hours. Outside of Raiche, Raiche Island
Phil had been awake for a few hours, listening to complete silence. No birds were out singing, no wind was blowing, not even the regular mosquitoes were out. The smell of fire and death was there, even miles outside of the city. He finally got enough courage to come of his hiding place; a large bush next to a river pond. He walked a couple hundred yardsup the trail to the top[ of a hill where he could see his hometown. When he got to the top, he wished he had never walked up there. The entire city was destroyed, smoke piling up from multiple places. Ash had covered the area like a thin layer of snow, covering everything. He could see a lone helicopter off in the distance, scouting the area for any survivors to finish off. A tear started to roll down his cheek. He had already cried too much to cry anymore, so he turned back towards his bush.
Phil went to the river pond and started to drink water, his throat dry from breathing in the smoke all night. He looked up to the sun through the trees, which was slightly orange from all of the smoke. Just then, he could hear the dull sound of a chopper. He was still a hundred yards away from his bush, so he started to bolt towards it. But it was too late, the helicopter had flown over and spotted him. He ran in to the bush anyway and the chopper had turned back around and was directly over head. A minute later he heard voices.
"Hodges! Where did he go?"
"I saw him go in to the bush, look in there!"
Phil froze up and curled in to a ball next to the trunk of the bush. He then heard rustling in the bush, coming towards him.
"Come here, kid, we're not going to hurt you. Where are you?"
Phil was too smart to reply; he knew they would kill him. Suddenly, a raccoon head with a Kevlar helmet appeared through the bush.
"There you are! Come with me, quickly before the hounds find out we are here."
Phil hesitated for a second, but decided to trust him. The other raccoon put out his arm for Phil to grab, and he grabbed on. They came out of the bush, and Phil could now see this raccoon fully and a red fox not too far away, with the chopper still roaring above. The raccoon's nametag said McDaniel, and the foxes read Hodges. They both wore woodland camo and vests, with big rifles on their backs. They also both wore arm patches that read V.I.T.F.
"What is your name, little one?"
"Phil Keyhan."
"Ok, Phil. My name is Rico. We are going to take you up in that bird and take you to safety, ok?"
"Ok."
"Hodges, let's bring 'er up!"
Rico attached a rope that was coming from the helicopter to his vest and they started to pull up. They reached the top where Phil was greeted by a few more foxes and raccoons.
"Phil, you are lucky. You are the only survivor we have found. If you don't know what's going on, the coonhounds from Cainish attacked your island last night. I'm sorry to say this, but it seems like everyone is dead except for you."
"Who are you guys?"
"We come from a series of islands in the Ledant Ocean. You'll learn more later, but just know that right now you are headed to safety."
Hodges came up a few seconds later and they took off. Phil could see his hometown slowly fading away as they headed off the island, the smoke becoming more distant with time. He looked ahead in sorrow, not knowing what to expect. He could see some other aircraft in the distance and they were coming up to a big ship. Phil and Rico slowly talked, Phil telling Rico about his ordeal in the past few hours and his life before then. Before he knew it they were landing on the ship he had seen before. He stepped off to see a grey fox waiting at the helipad. The fox saluted and began to talk to Rico.
"Good afternoon Sir. How did the mission go?"
"This is Phil Keyhan. He is 12 years old and the only survivor we have found. Get him on a flight to Outpost 36. I'm taking a ten minute break then going back out to search for more survivors."
Phil looked up at Rico with a worried look.
"Please, stay with me. You are the only fur I know right now."
Rico looked back down at Phil.
"You know kid, you have been through enough. Martins, you take my position on the bird. I'm taking a few days off for this kid."
"Yes Sir!"
"Come on Phil, we have a flight we need to catch."
They grey fox hopped on the helicopter and it took off again, heading back to the island. Phil and Rico headed to a waiting passenger jet that held about 20 furs.
"Where are we going, Rico?"
"Normally, I would drop you off at my Island and we would part ways there. But I can tell you need help, so I'm taking you to my personal house to stay at. I'll be with you for a few days, but then I'll leave with my wife because I'm the one who runs everything with Vulcyon Island Task Force, so I have to get back to work. But first you need to get checked out to make sure you are ok, and we need to change flights."
The two raccoons boarded the jet, and since it was an emergency flight they were the only two on board. They both sat down in the front and buckled up. The jet resembled an ordinary private jet, used for various flights to and from places.
"Are you hungry, Phil?"
"Yes... I haven't eaten anything since last evening."
"I'll get us something to eat when we get up in the air. Do you want any water for right now?"
"Yes please."
Rico unbuckled himself and then ruffled Phil's head.
"You are still innocent."
Phil just smiled and looked away.
A minute later, Rico came back with a bottle of water.
"The plane is gonna take off in a few minutes. Is everything ok?"
"Yeah. Just nervous..."
"Is this your first time flying?"
"Yeah. We had jets were I lived, but I have never flown in one."
"It isn't so bad. It's a lot smoother of a ride than that helicopter, I can tell you that much."
The jet started off the small runway on the ship's deck, and after a few seconds was up in the air. Phil had some weird feelings as the jet took off, like his stomach had just sunk. Before he knew it he was looking out in to the vast sea once again. After about 15 minutes they got to cruising altitude.
"Well, you can take off your belt and walk around for a while, I'll see about getting us some food."
"Ok."
Rico stopped before he stood up and looked in to Phil's ice blue eyes. They looked so sad, but yet so clear at the same time.
"Don't worry kid. Things will get much better for you. I know it seems like there is nothing to be alive for right now, but trust me, you still have an entire life ahead of you."
"How old are you?"
"I'll tell you more about myself when I come back from getting food... and I should probably get out of these clothes too."
Phil looked down at himself; he was still wearing a t-shirt and his flannel sweat pants from the night before. He started to think about how his new life would be. The coon knew nothing about what he was getting in to, but trusted Rico because he saved his life. He then started to wonder if any of his friends or family were still alive, but he knew that wasn't true. Rico said himself that he was the only survivor. A couple minutes later and Rico came back wearing something more casual and had two plates of food in his paws.
"Here you go, kid. It's just spaghetti and meatballs, they didn't have much else on here. Now, about myself. I am Rico McDaniel, head of the V.I.T.F. I'm 32 years old, and I was born in Walton, Litek. I am the founder of V.I because when I was growing up, my best friend was a red fox named George White. We were inseparable until one day when we were 16, some masked furs in a windowless van came up to us and tried to kidnap us. They took George and tried to take me as well, but I fought and bit the masked fur that tried to take me. He let go and I ran off. I made a vow that day to try my hardest to find George, or at least find out what happened to him. I also learned how cruel this world can be. The only ones who I could trust were in my own species and most foxes.
"I started a group by the time I had turned 17 that only consisted of foxes and raccoons. We tried as best as possible to watch out for our own kind, and in doing so the group got bigger. After another year we had over 300 members, then my luck changes for the better. A very wealthy raccoon called me one day and said he would like to do complete funding of my operation, but it couldn't be in my home country of Litek. Mainly because half of the stuff we now own would be illegal there. So I went to some maps and quickly found some uninhabited islands in the Ledant Ocean. It is now inhabited by over 7,000 furs, mostly still raccoons and foxes, but a few other canines exist as well."
"Wow. I'm speechless. That's amazing."
"There is a lot of evil in this world, which means that there are a lot of furs worth protecting as well. Early on we had a fox that was in the Special Forces. He taught us everything that we know today as far as combat skills go. He is now head of that department. Now being an inhabitant doesn't mean you have to be a member of the task force, just so you know."
Phil stopped and though about it for a while. His face then went in to a scowl.
"I want to take revenge for all of my friends and family. I want to make sure that I do something with my life instead of sitting around crying about it."
"That's the spirit, kid. If you wouldn't mind, I want you personally trained by that fox I was telling you about. His name is Silva. I can't tell you his first name, but he is a big grey fox, about 6'4". If you don't mind, of course."
"I don't at all. Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
"If you are so high up, why did you come out here to save me? You could have died."
"We have been watching the Cainish dogs for some time, and we heard rumors that your island existed. The only problem was that we didn't know until we followed them from far away right before they attacked. If we would have known ahead of time, we might have been able to stop it. But anyway, I came I had to see the damage for myself. I do it quite often to get a better feel for the situation."
"Oh... Well thank you."
Phil gave Rico a big hug, now fully trusting him in what he was saying.
After talking for a while more, the plane began to descend to Outpost 36 in the rural country of Rusin. The jet touched down on the tarmac at around 1530 hours. The outpost held a medium sized runway, 10 humvees, a big cargo jet, a few attack jets and helicopters, and the main building. Only about 100 furs were at the outpost, which was pretty small compared to others. Rico and Phil got off the jet and entered the main building. It was three stories tall with a separate six story tall air tower. Rico took Phil to a doctor who gave him a physical and drew some blood to see if he had any medical problems. He came up healthy so they moved on back outside to the cargo jet.
"Most of the time these big cargo jets are only used to take troops and supplies to and from the Island, Phil. We are taking back some supplies hat our scouts found in the area over the past few weeks. And of course you and I."
"So, one day are we going to attack the furs that attacked me?"
"We can't do that. If we did we would be in a lot of trouble because we made an agreement with all of the countries that we can't attack them in full force, we can only target problem areas. I know that one day you want to fight back, but we can't do that unless we have a good reason to. Even then we would probably be outnumbered."
Phil's ears went back and he looked down.
"I see."
Phil continued walking to the cargo jet, still looking down. He was thinking about how he could avenge his family, but given the odds he knew that he couldn't do it. They boarded the jet, which had a few rows of seats in the front and a few large wooden crates. Phil went to sit down in the front row, but Rico stopped him.
"We aren't sitting here. Follow me."
They went through a small doorway and up a few steps to the cockpit. There were two pilots and a navigator getting ready to take off. Phil and Rico took two open seats towards the back of the large cockpit. Phil was astounded by all of the gadgets and controls. He found it hard to believe that one day ago he was hundreds of miles away and he hated life with his family. How everything seemed so normal. He started to whimper a little bit as the aircraft was taking off. Rico put his arm around his back and told him it was going to be ok.
Rico began to think himself about Phil. He was like the son that he never had time to have. He was after all old enough to be the kids father, and he now realized that he was kind of treating him like a son. The plane was up in the air by now, climbing to cruising altitude. They were heading east, away from the setting sun. Phil started to feel tired again, so when they got to cruising altitude, he took off his seat belt and curled up, falling asleep fast.
Phil started to dream about life back home. He was with his whole family, out hiking to his favorite spot. He was so happy again, until he started to feel rumbles. Then bombs were going off all around them, and then the coonhounds appeared. They all had guns and surrounded the family of raccoons. Phil's mom looked him in sorrow.
"Run Phil!"
He then started to wake up.
"Phil! Phil! Are you ok?"
Phil looked in to Rico's eyes, and he then remembered where he was.
"Yeah. I was just having a bad dream."
The plane dropped a little bit and Phil could see lightning going off around the jet.
"We are going through a thunderstorm right now, so the jet is jumping around a bit. You seem really startled. Are you sure you are ok?"
"Yes. I thought the plane jumping around was bombs going off."
"Ok. Well, we are going to land in about twenty minutes, so put your seatbelt back on."
"Ok, what time is it?"
"Forty minutes after midnight."
After about ten minutes the aircraft was out of the storm and beginning its decent to the ground. With the exception of the storm clouds off to the west, it was a clear night on Vulcyon Island. The temperature was about 50 degrees, and there was a slight breeze in the air. The plane touched down a little bit after one. The two raccoon got off of the plane and were escorted to a nearby car. The island looked amazing to Phil; they were in the downtown area. Hey passed a few tall buildings and quickly drove in to the residential area. After ten minutes the houses were spread out few and far between. They then slowed don and came up to a gate.
"Ok Phil, we are coming up to my house now. I have a few people living with me, but they are aware that you are coming and you probably won't see them tonight anyway. When we get there I am going to show you to your new room. Sleep in until as late as you want and when you wake up come down in to the kitchen. Is that clear?"
"Yep."
"Any questions?"
"Nope."
"Sounds good to me."
They drove up to Rico's home, which was a huge mansion. Instantly Phil's jaw dropped. He had never seen anything like this in his entire life. The house was two stories tall and had fifteen large rooms and a big master bedroom. They walked in to the entry way and were greeted by Rico's wife and a tall grey fox.
"Well Phil, I guess you will meet a couple furs tonight. This pretty raccoon is my wife, her name is Lacy. And this fine gentlefur is Silva, the fox that I told you about earlier."
Phil was overwhelmed to say the least at the tall fox staring down at him. The young raccoon could not look at him in his light brown eyes; it was like they were staring in to his soul.
"Is this the kid, Rico?"
"Yes. His name is Phil Keyhan."
The fox kneeled down and looked Phil dead in the eyes. Phil's ears went back but looked back in to his.
"You've been through a lot in the past few days. I can see it in your eyes."
Silva stood up and extended his big paw to Phil.
"Welcome to Vulcyon Island, Phil."
Phil did what his dad had always told him and gave him a firm pawshake. Silva smiled at him and turned back in to the house.
"I'm going back to bed, Rico. I'll see you in a few hours."
"You got it, Silva."
Rico showed Phil to his room upstairs. It had high ceilings, a lot of antique furniture, and a huge bed in the middle. A big flat screen T.V sat at the opposite wall of the bed.
"You will be completely safe in here. We have guards around the house, so no one will come in. When you wake up the kitchen is to the left of the entryway at the end of the hall. I will only sleep until seven, which is late for me but I've also had a long day. Just wake up whenever you want. We'll get up tomorrow and get some new clothes for you."
"Ok. Goodnight, Rico. And once again, thanks for everything."
"Goodnight."
Phil went to the bed and kicked off his shoes and undressed to his boxers, then crawled in to bed and quickly fell asleep.
***
For the next three years Silva regularly trained Phil. They became pretty good furiends in that time. By the time Phil was sixteen years old he started to go on hikes in other countries, enjoying the land and being the only one out there, for the most part. Rico always worried about him when he would go, but knew that he would always come back safe. Silva himself admitted that Phil was one of the best furs he had ever trained. At this point in his life, Phil couldn't be any happier...
© Nightcoon