FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Sorry for the long time since my last post, I'm currently in the process of moving so my spare time has been very limited. After brainstorming with James, we decided to continue the story in 3rd person rather than 1st like was in chapter 1, which seems to be solving some continuity and flow problems. Please let me know if you think this perspective works better. If it does, I may be convinced to re-write chapter 1 in 3rd person as well. Just let me know! Thanks! A. Wolf

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Still stunned at the thought of his calm, easy going mom actually kicking someone in the head, let alone a bear twice her size, Aiden left the principles office and made his way back to his locker. During his time in Mr. Clawson's office, the other teachers had gotten their classes back into the rooms, and were attempting to continue their lessons.

Looking into a few classroom windows on the way, it was obvious to Aiden the teachers weren't having much luck bringing their class's attention back to their studies. Almost every student had their head bent over, whispering to their neighbor, obviously talking about the fight between him and Carl.

'Can't blame them' he thought to himself with a shrug. 'Seeing a wolf take on a tiger almost half again his size is much more interesting than math or science.' He opened his locker and pulled out his jacket and sunglasses, the reality of what had just happened finally began to sink in.

'I can't believe that actually happened!' He thought to himself, stunned, continually replaying the fight in his head. 'There's no way I should've won.' Swapping his regular glass for a pair of mirrored sunglasses and pulling on his jacket, he closed the locker and headed for the nearest exit. Since school wouldn't be out for another hour it would be easier to walk home instead of waiting for his mom to pick him up.

'Well, at least I showed Carl and any other bullies that I'm no pushover!' A huge smile spread across his muzzle, causing his split lip starting bleeding again. Sighing in exasperation, Aiden stopped off in the nearest restroom chuckling at the irony. It was the same restroom he'd been attacked coming out of in the first place.

Dropping his backpack on the floor, he grabbed a paper towel and soaked it in cold water before pressing it against his lip to stop the bleeding, then carefully washed the rest of his face to remove the blood already caked into his fur.

After examining his swollen face in the mirror to make sure that the bleeding had stopped, he picked up his bag and left the restroom. Careful this time to look all around first, before heading for the exit.

Pulling open a door at the back of the school, Aiden stepped out into the bright sunlight, savoring the feeling of being outside again. He paused for a moment to relax against the wall in the cool shade of the building and stared up at the brilliant blue sky, dotted with puffy white clouds.

A cool breeze was whistling through the woods behind the school, washing over him and rustling his fur, the pleasant scent of flowers, and recently cut grass, heavy in the air. 'At least it's a beautiful day to walk home.' He thought, a lazy contented smile spreading across his face.

Heading around to the front of the school and cutting across the lawn, he stopped to let a car pull into the schools driveway, before crossing the street and continuing to make his way down the tree shadowed sidewalk towards home.

Rounding a corner, his mind still replaying the day's events, Aiden began to wonder what him mom is going to say when he tells her that he'd followed her advice, and ended up getting suspended for it. 'She's either gonna hug me, or ground me; If she doesn't end up doing both!'

That thought coupled with the lingering image of his mom kicking the bear that was now principle in the head, brought another huge smile to his face, followed by a sharp pain as the action re-opened his split lip causing a fresh trickle of blood to leak down the side of his, muzzle, staining his shirt.

"Damn, this is my favorite shirt!" He growled in annoyance and pain, pressing a paw to his muzzle to stop the bleeding as he stepped onto the driveway and headed for the front door. It was when he got to the top of the short staircase that he noticed the moving van a few houses down, but as his attention was on his bleeding lip, didn't stop to investigate more.

Thinking that he'd have plenty of time investigate his new neighbor's later, he tossed his backpack by the door and headed into the bathroom. There, he got out the first aid kit and started to tend to his wounds, first cleaning it with peroxide which hurt like hell, then using a paper suture to keep his split lip from re-opening again.

Still replaying the day's events in his mind, he picked up his backpack and made his way back to his room to trade his blood spotted shirt for a clean one. Now dressed in a clean black t-shirt, he headed back out the front door.

As he stepped outside, he cast a curious glance at the moving van down the street. This time, he saw that the newcomers were a family of foxes. Thinking that he'd meet them eventually, he started walking in the opposite direction towards the city park.

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"Grab it, grab it, GRAB IT!" Yelled Sirus, the early-middle aged grey fox, loosing his grip on the TV he was unloading from the moving van. Both of the younger fox's standing next to the tailgate made furious swipes at the falling TV, serving only to send it spinning wildly before it hit the ground with a crunch of breaking plastic and shattered glass.

"Sorry dad!" James, the older of the siblings, said nervously, looking up at the tall grey fox standing frozen in horror in the bed of the moving van.

At 14 James was already nearly as tall as his dad. His height, combined with the thin frame and light build made him look almost sickly, though in actuality he perfectly healthy. While he'd gotten his dads physique, he had gotten his mom's red-orange fur and bright green eyes.

"Your mom is gonna kill us!" Sirus said laughing nervously, running his paws through his head fur and flattening his ears to his skull.

"Don't blame us! You're the one who dropped it!" 10 year old Devon shot back, pointing an accusing finger and trying hard not to laugh at the look on his dads face. He looked just like his dad, from the grey fur, to the ice blue eyes.

"We could just say it got broke during the drive down here." Sirus suggested hopefully. "Your mom doesn't need to know that we were the ones who broke the TV."

"I don't think that's a good idea" James said scratching his head, a little shocked at what his dad had suggested. "She always finds out sooner or later, and then we'll all be in even more trouble for lying to her!"

"Besides," James finished, waving a hand at the shattered remains of the TV on the ground. "All she has to do is look at it to know it didn't break in the truck."

"You're right, damnit!" Sirus sighed sadly, banging his head on the side of the truck, before gasping and clasping a hand over his muzzle, realizing exactly what he'd said.

"OHHH! I'm telling!" Devon yelled playfully, a look of pure mischievous joy on his face at the thought getting his dad in trouble for once rather than the other way around. Cursing was against mom's rules, and his dad had just broken them big time. He turned and ran back towards the front door as fast as his legs could carry him.

"Oh no ya don't!" Sirus shouted, leaping from moving van. "Come here you!" Quickly catching up to the kit, he playfully tackled his younger son to the ground. Wresting with each other, the pair rolled around the lawn laughing, Sirus letting out the occasional grunt as Devon's tiny fists or feet poked him in the stomach.

Pinning the kit to the ground, he started to tickle him mercilessly, his fingers dancing across the young kits sides and stomach, causing him to squeal in laughter as tried to fend off his dad's devilishly quick fingers.

"Now what were you gonna tell mom?" Sirus chuckled, continuing his tickle assault, easily avoiding the squealing kits flailing paws.

Rushing to the aid of his brother, James tackled the older fox and managed to pin his arms before he could recover giving Devon an opening to jump onto his dad's stomach and began to tickle him.

"GET HIM DEV!" James laughed, struggling to keep his dads hands pined as he watched his brother getting his revenge by returning the tickling he'd gotten ten fold.

"Cheaters!" Sirus barked, laughing uncontrollably, trying to free his arms from James as Devon continued to tickle his sides and stomach. Even though he was older and stronger, Sirus was no match for the combined efforts of his sons. The laughing red and grey furball continued rolling around the lawn, until totally worn out they could only lie on the ground panting and laughing.

"This is what you call unloading the truck?" A cool female voice called from somewhere behind them.

James craned his neck around to see who was talking, and saw his mom was standing in the doorway of the house, paws on her hips, a mixture of amusement and irritation on her face to match the sarcasm in her voice.

James's older sister Jessica was standing just behind her holding a basket of flowers to plant in the front garden, and trying desperately not to laugh at the site of her dad and brothers sprawled on the ground.

Even from this distance, mother and daughter could almost have passed for twins. Both had the same flaming red orange fur, thin body, and brilliant green eyes set into a soft elegant face. It wasn't until you got close, and saw the years etched into his mom's eyes that you could really tell them apart.

Sirus quickly got to his feet, dragging the boys with him.

"Well you see hun..." He said, wrapping an arm around each of his son's necks. "We were unloading, until these two mischief makers decided to double team me."

"That's only because you were picking on Devon!" James said accusingly, poking his dad in the ribs.

"And just why were you picking on your son?" His mom asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Because I threatened to tell on him for saying bad words after he broke the TV!" Devon giggled, wriggling out from under his dads arm to run and hug his mama.

"He did what?!" She asked in a voice that all present had come to associate with imminent danger. Fire flashed through her eyes as she spotted the twisted heap of plastic lying on the driveway.

"How exactly did that happen?" She asked, impaling her husband with an icy stare.

"Well...you see..." Sirus began, stammering, his ears lowered in embarrassment, mixed with a good amount of fear. "We were trying to unload it and it kind of.... slipped."

"Slipped...mhmm" her voice was low, but everyone could sense the pressure building, it was rather like watching a tea kettle over a low flame.

Not wanting to be caught in the path of his mom's fury when it finally hit boiling point, James went to help his brother and sister, who were now sticking the brightly colored plants into the soft soil of the garden.

"I think dad's about to get reamed." James whispered to his sister, while at the same time trying to brush the dirt off his brother. It was amazing. Devon had only been helping his sister plant flowers for a few short seconds, and he'd already managed to get covered from head to toe in soil.

"Just keep your head down, and maybe she won't turn that reaming towards you!" She teased, poking him in the arm with a claw before turning to help remove the dirt from Devon's fur. "Besides, now we'll get a new TV!"

Behind them, their dad was getting a stern lecture about how he needed to be more careful, wasting money, needing to set a better example for his sons and so on; and though they all wanted to, none of the siblings dared to look around to watch for fear of bringing the fury down upon themselves. Luckily, the verbal assault died down and their mom called them over before the temptation became too great.

"Ok you three" she said, poking her husband in the ribs. "Butterfingers here is going to head down to the electronics store and replace the TV."

This announcement brought a cry of joy from Devon, and big grins from his older siblings.

"Meanwhile" she continued. "Jessica, I want you to come back inside and help me in the kitchen, and James, why don't you take Devon down to that park we passed on our way into town. It's not to far away, and it will give you both a chance to get to know the town and maybe find some new friends."

"Awsome!" Devon yelled, jumping up and down and pulling on James arm, displaying resilience and a limitless amount of energy even his young age could not explain completely.

Even James, who was still worn out from the earlier tussle with his dad and brother was thrilled at the idea of having the rest of the afternoon free.

"Just be back in time for dinner, right?" James asked his mom, already knowing the answer.

"Yep, and make sure to keep a close eye on Devon. You know how he likes to run off."

"I will." James replied, trying to keep his balance against Devon who was pulling on his arm with all his might.

"Have fun!" their mom called, laughing at the sight of little Devon hauling his big brother down the driveway onto the sidewalk.

She knew she didn't have to worry, this had the feeling of a good, safe town, and that James was more than capable of looking out for his brother. She laughed as she watched her sons break into a race down the sidewalk and around the corner, before heading back inside the house.

As he was in no particular hurry, it only took Aiden about 30 minutes to walk the short distance to the park. It would have been much quicker, but he'd stopped several times to talk to the various inhabitants of his neighborhood who were out in their yards, either mowing the lawn watering flowers, or working on their cars. Mot of them had known him since he was a cub, and were always happy to talk with him.

He arrived at the park soon enough, and made his way to the swing set where he sat down with his back pressed against the metal frame and continued to watch the clouds. The cool breeze, the warm sunlight, and all the previous happy memories of this place combined to create a sense of calmness and well being in the young wolf. He shut his eyes and settled into a more comfortable position, perfectly willing to fall asleep in the sun.

Since he was able to remember, his mom had always brought him to this park, and he'd always felt relaxed and comfortable here. Whenever he was stressed, or upset about something, this is where he came to sort things out. He'd spent countless hours either leaning against the swing set reading and watching the clouds, or walking around the miles of nature trails in the forest next to the park.

He really wasn't upset about anything at the moment though. True, he was still thinking about the fight and the resulting suspension, but what had brought him to the park today had nothing to do with the day's earlier events. If truth be told, he just felt like it was simply too nice of a day to spend indoors.

He was still sitting against the swings, half asleep in the warm sunlight when he heard running and laughing somewhere off to his right. Knowing that parents with very young children often came here in the middle of the day, he was unconcerned and continued dozing against the swings, casually listening to the sounds of the park for another 30 minutes, until he heard someone yell "Look out!"

Aiden cracked open an eye and turned his head just in time to see something grey flying through the air towards him.

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James and Devon rounded the final corner and charged into the park at a full sprint, Devon slightly ahead of his older brother. Winded from the race, James leaned against a nearby tree while he watched Devon dash towards a piece of playground equipment resembling a medieval fort.

Worn out, James sat down and leaned against the tree as he watched his brother climb up, down, over and across the fort, at times hanging upside down from the various bars and beams of the fort before flipping over to land on the ground. There seemed to be no end to the kits energy.

Looking around, James saw that what he had originally thought of as a small playground was actually part of a much larger park. In addition playground equipment, he saw a pair of lakes connected by a small waterfall and a jogging trail that wound around them. Off in the distance, he could make out dirt trails leading back into the woods; he even saw what looked like part of a golf course.

Given the time of day, James was surprised to find that they weren't the only ones in the park. The jogging trail was dotted with furs ranging from the elderly, who were simply interested in enjoying the day, to a cheetah running at a blistering pace around them. In the middle of the one lake he could see a fishing boat with what looked like a pair of otters in it. A family of rabbits, with a very small baby just old enough to crawl, was having a pick nick under a large tree off in the distance. There was even what looked like a young wolf snoozing against a leg of the swing set.

It seemed like even in the middle of the day this park was buzzing. That was a good sign. It meant that furs felt safe here, and it was unlikely that anyone would be up to mischief.

"James! Catch!" he heard Dev call, and looked around in time to catch the frisbee flying towards his head.

"Where did you get this?" James asked, turning the disk over in his paws.

"It was just lying on the ground." Dev shouted back. "Come on! Throw it!"

James sent the disk flying back towards his brother, and laughed as the kit missed and sprinted after it, catching up to it and grabbing it out of the air just before it hit the ground.

"Nice catch!" James yelled, getting up and running to the side to give Dev a moving target.

They continued throwing the disk back and forth for almost half an hour, and by that time, they were both sweating and panting heavily.

"Catch this one!" Dev laughed flinging the disk back at his brother with all his might. Unfortunately, the angle was too high, causing the dist to ark up and then to the side rather that strait forward.

James took off after the disk, managing to catch up to it when it was just a few feet of the ground. In a valiant attempt to snatch it from the air, he dove after it, arm outstretched.

Time seemed to slow down. He felt his fingers barely brush the edge of the disk, sending it tumbling. Now totally unbalanced, and flailing in midair, he fell towards the ground and hit with a spectacular belly flop, bouncing slightly before skidding another 4 or 5 feet, finally coming to rest face down in the grass.

James just lay there, groaning in pain and embarrassment. The impact had knocked the wind out of him, so all he could do was lay there and gasp. The fact that several of his ribs seemed bruised at the very least just added to the general discomfort. It was several minutes before he was able to pick himself up off the ground and into a sitting position.

He didn't want to think about how many might have seen his leap. Judging from the hysterical laughter coming from his right side, he knew Devon had certainly seen it. Slowly he turned his head towards the sound. The kit was lying on his back clutching his stomach, positively shaking with laughter, tears streaming out of both eyes, completely helpless after watching his brother do what he would later describe as "the best imitation of a rock skipping across a lake I've ever seen."

To add further insult to injury, he looked up to see the frisbee lying only a few feet in front of him, and he was covered from head to foot in grass stains, something that was sure to irritate his mom, even though she'd probably laugh after he explained what had happened.

"Yea yea yea, laugh it up fuzzball." James muttered under his breath at his brother, who was continuing to roll in the grass laughing his head off.

It was another few minutes before Devon's laughter died down, and he just lay their panting for breath.

"That was AWSOME!" Devon managed to gasp once he'd finally got his breathing under control.

"Well I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." James shot back sarcastically, walking over to pick up the frisbee. "I'm so glad I have such a polite and caring little brother."

"Stop whining and throw the Frisbee!" Devon called.

James turned to see Devon, who only moments before was lying on the ground apparently exhausted, was now standing, and nearly bouncing on the spot in anticipation. For at least the third time today, James marveled at the seemingly limitless amount of energy his brother had.

"Ok! Here it comes!" James laughed, and flung the frisbee. It was a beautiful throw, catching the breeze just right to arc high over the slide, past the fort, and even clearing the swings 40 feet away with room to spare.

He watched Devon as he charged after it, running as fast as he could past the fort and slide in pursuit of the disk. With all of his attention on the disk above him, Devon didn't see the root from a nearby tree sticking out of the ground front of the swings.

"Look out!" James yelled, but too late. Devon's foot caught the root, sending him flying through the air, much like the frisbee he was chasing. James watched with a strange mixture of humor and worry as Devon tumbled through the air towards the swings. His feelings were replaced with horror however, when he saw the furry missile crash headlong into the wolf sleeping against the swings, sending them both tumbling across the grass.

"Shit!" he cursed loudly, and dashed over to see if anyone was hurt.

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Aiden just lied on his back, stunned. 'What the heck was that?!' he thought as his head ached from the impact. Whatever 'it' was, had hit him hard enough to reopen his split lip again and he could taste the blood seeping from the wound. In addition, the impact had sent his sunglasses flying, which were now lying a few feet away.

Carefully, Aiden sat up clutching his head, and as he did so he saw exactly what 'it' was. 'It', turned out to be a grey fox kit, who was also lying on the ground holding his head. He seemed to be a couple of years younger, and was wearing a bright blue t-shirt and shorts. He was also quite a bit smaller which wasn't surprising as wolves were most often larger than foxes. The kit was just starting to stir when Aiden heard running and turned to see another fox racing towards them.

This fox was actually taller than Aiden, but even thinner, and had fire orange fur. The fox was dressed in a simple black t-shirt and jeans. The resemblance between the two foxes, despite the differences in fur color was close enough that Aiden knew that they had to be brothers. A suspicion that was proven right as the older fox dropped down beside the kit and started making sure he was ok.

"Dev! Are you alright?" The older fox asked obviously worried, gently shaking the kit.

"I'm alright." The kit said after a few seconds, not opening his eyes because he was still dazed. "What did I hit?"

"It wasn't a what, it was a who." James said quietly, before turning to look at Aiden. "Are you ok?"

"Huh?." Aiden asked dumbly, momentarily caught off guard by the foxes piercing green eyes.

"I asked if you were ok." The fox said again, his gaze darting back and forth between the kit and the wolf.

"Yea, I'm fine." Aiden assured the fox, using the back of his wrist to wipe away the blood seeping from his lip. "And don't worry; the split lip is from earlier today, it wasn't his fault. I'm Aiden by the way." He finished, extending his paw to the older fox.

"I'm James" the fox said, extending his own paw to shake the wolves. "And the battering ram here is my brother Devon, our family just moved here from the city."

"Are you the ones moving into the blue and white house over there?" Aiden asked, pointing in the direction of his house.

James nodded "That's us. We just started moving in this morning."

"Sweet! I live just down the street from you. Welcome to the neighborhood, though I'd have settled for just the introduction and not the headache" Aiden laughed holding his head.

"I'm really sorry about that" James said, ears lowered in embarrassment. "We were throwing the frisbee around, and things got a bit out of hand."

"No worries." Aiden said, getting to his feet to walk over and pick up his sunglasses. "Actually, it's kinda funny. This is the second time today I've been knocked around, though I'll take being a landing pad, over a punching bag any day!"

"Well, you're certainly not a very good landing pad." Devon chimed in, picking himself off the ground with some help from James. "You've got a hard head!"

That got all three of them laughing, causing Aiden and Devon to clutch their heads in pain. Devon finally made it to his feet, but was so wobbly James had to grab him to stop him from falling over.

"I think playtime is over" James said, picking the visibly dizzy kit up, who wrapped his arms around James' neck and laid his head on his brothers shoulder. "Where'd the frisbee go?

"I'll get it" Aiden offered, and walked over to pick up the disk that had landed about 20 feet past the swings. When he got back, Devon was already asleep in James arms. Together, they left the park and started home, getting to now one another while walking slowly so as not to wake the kit.

All the way, James and Aiden took turns asking each other questions, about their families, likes and dislikes, essentially the basic 'getting to know you' type of questions.

James explained how his parents used to run a fairly successful electronics store back in the city, but a string of robberies had forced them to close shop, resulting in the move.

Aiden talked a lot about the town, what type of stores that were around, the best places to eat, even about what else was in the park they had just left. James was actually surprised at how well informed Aiden was, despite his relatively young age.

When asked how they each came to be in the park, James explained about the TV accident. Aiden explained about his problems in school, his moms, advice, the fight, and his meeting with the principle, at which point James started shaking with suppressed laughter, wishing he could have seen it.

Before they knew it, and long before they had run out of things to talk about, they were in front of Aiden's house. It was clear, that despite the rather unusual way they'd met, and the short time they'd talked, that they were going to be great friends. As Aiden walked up the steps to his house, he waved goodbye to his new friends, getting a wave in return as James continued down the street to his house.

Aiden watched until James and Devon were back inside their house before going inside and bandaging his lip once again before heading back downstairs to his room. There, he stripped out of his jeans, and crawled back into bed. It had been a very strange day, to say the least, from getting suspended, to making a couple of new friends by accident.

Aiden crawled under the covers and immediately began to drift off. There was still a couple of hours left before his mom got home, and he knew he needed to be rested before he attempted to tell her about his day.

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To be continued...