FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Rating: Remains okay for general audiences.

Caution: A spot of coarse language. At most times, toned down. It is high school, can't expect to go a day without overhearing it.

• - - - CONTINUE - - - - -

"So, where do you plan on spending your break?" Ryan asked as the pair continued through the halls.

"Same place I've gone to since last semester, the cafeteria courtyard," Hunter replied morosely.

"Sounds like you aren't exactly thrilled about going there."

"Well, I was always out there alone. No one I knew had the same lunch period."

"Okay, I think I can fix that. Wait a second."

Hunter was momentarily left in the middle of the hallway, while Ryan made a quick call on his cell phone.

"Looks like I've got good news and bad news," Ryan relayed after concluding his call. "The bad news, the cafeteria is closed during break, so you wouldn't have been able to hang out in the courtyard. Good news, my connections have found a place where we can hang out."

Ryan led the way to the new mid-day meeting spot, as per the relayed directions. They made their way to what could hardly be called greenspace between two buildings. A narrow concrete walkway was flanked on either side by barely living grass and a sprinkling of shrubs similar to what could be found on highways medians. The wolf spotted his other friends at the end of the path, which led to a gated exit.

"Hey Ryan," a Siamese catgirl greeted upon spotting the wolf approach. "Good to see you. It's been far too long."

"And you've brought a catch to the feeding frenzy I see," added a tall black furred panther, his arm around the catgirl's waist.

"Tracy, we've only been apart for one class and Chris. . . " Ryan turned to the panther. "Be nice to our guest."

"Okay," the panther conceded. "Then as a kind gesture, we'll skip out on eating him and he gets to decide who we're going to get our feast on."

All hungry eyes turned to Hunter, causing him visible discomfort in the way he was shuffling his shoes in the dying grass. He looked up to each in turn to try and figure out if they were serious. Seeing no tell from any pair of eyes, the husky gave his nervous response.

"Uh, I don't know if we should actually eat another furson. . . I mean is this really what you--"

Hunter's rambling was interrupted by laughter coming from behind the husky. He turned around to see a fox and coyote walk up, waving to everyone there. The latest additions couldn't help but keep snickering, seeing the familiar initiation scene before them.

"Geeze, putting Hunter through his paces right away I see," the coyote laughed.

"Y'all are gonna have me in an early grave," the fox added, wiping a tear from his eye. " But at least I'll die happy."

"Hey we had him going pretty good until you two stepped in," Chris pointed out. "Could have really put him in his place as the newbie."

"Um, could I say some things?" Hunter interjected.

"Sure, what's on your mind newbie?" Chris answered.

"First off. . . your fly's down," the husky said simply.

"Shit!" Chris cursed, turning around and tugging his zipper upwards. His actions were met with another round of laughter from the group.

"Secondly," Hunter directed his question to the new arrivals, specifically the coyote, "Have we met?"

"Nah, don't think so Hunter, but I know you're number one. You see. . . I'm what you would call, uh number two."

"A number two, hehe" The fox tried to suppress his giggle, but failed miserably as he was caught by the coyote.

"Aw grow up Andy."

"Oh stop being a wet blanket Jake," the fox retorted, "Let me have my fun. Least I'm not up to dethroning number one here." At which he pointed to Hunter.

"You'll have to excuse Jake," Tracy chimed in, "He's really been obsessed with his grades since he got his first C last semester."

"Hey high school physics is hard. I need to step up my game is all," the coyote replied coolly. "Didn't realize it would drop me to second place."

"Then take it," Hunter offered, "I'm not really into the grades. The effort consumes more of my free time than I'd like. But you'll have to work for it, I'm not going to go easy on getting the grade just because you want it."

"Yeah fine I'll take it," the coyote replied coldly. "But we're not friends, not yet at least. I'd like to consider us competitors for now and maybe friends later."

"Whichever way you want it Jake. Just know I'll have the inclination to be friendly to you, despite your defensive stance."

"Aww," Tracy cooed, "you're going to fit right in."

She walked over to Hunter and gave him a quick hug.

"Hey!" the panther spoke up.

"Relax darlin'," the catgirl said while striding back to Chris, "letting the newb feel like he's welcome is all, nothing personal."

She winked at Hunter as she turned her head from the panther. The husky managed a slight grin to acknowledge her gesture without letting Chris know exactly what was said. The group spent the break together catching up on who did what during the winter vacation and Hunter supplemented conversation when things lulled to awkward silence.

The husky was able to find out more about Ryan's group of friends during the chat. Andy and Tracy went to middle school with Ryan and all managed to enroll in Poveraview High. Chris and Tracy were going out, and they met through home economics first semester. It was strange enough that Chris would be in home ec; Hunter didn't want to bother asking why he chose that elective. Jake came into the group with Andy through the chess club, which more likely than not explained the coyote's competitive nature.

The signal bell ending the break interrupted the group up for now. Everyone went left the area to go to their remaining classes. Hunter saw a few of the others in his classes, but wouldn't see the group in most of its entirety until the last class: biology.

"Assuming everyone is awake after your first day back from break," the groundhog began, "We're going to have a lab. Wait, don't groan yet. The lab is simple, more artistic flair than numbers and exactness. In fact consider this an intro to probability."

The inevitable sound came from the class and the instructor could only shake his head in amazement.

"Honestly, if you're going to do that I might as well turn this into a more difficult than you'd like to do assignment."

Silence immediately followed and a few students looked at the instructor with pleading eyes.

"That's better, but if I hear that sound again this semester, your labs will not be fun. Remember that. Now this activity covers dominant and recessive traits. You will be working with partners and your instructions are on these worksheets. Malcolm, would you hand these out?"

The tiger got up from his seat and took the papers from the instructor's outstretched paw. He gruffly handed Hunter and Ryan their paper before moving on.

"Looks like we're making babies," Hunter whispered into Ryan's ear, causing him to let out a sudden bark of laughter.

"Ryan!"

"It was Hunter!" Ryan blurted out, pointing at the husky.

Hunter gave him a look that said: 'You backstabber!'

"Hunter. . . or should I say Number One? Perhaps you'd like to share your amusing sense of wisdom with the rest of us."

Hunter decided if he was going to get in trouble, at least go out with a bang. He calmly stood from his seat and turned to face the class.

"I said," the husky began nonchalantly with his fist across his chest. "We're. . . makin' babies!"

The class' expected reaction caused the instructor to groan and rub the bridge of his nose, causing his glasses to move with his digits.

"Mr. Roderick" he began, taking off his glasses and pointing them accusingly at the husky.

"Yes, Dr. Damion?" Hunter replied coolly, totally expecting to be kicked out of the class.

"Remind me. . . to never ask you. . . what's on your mind," he finished with a slight smirk; and replaced the spectacles to their home on his face.

"Yes sir!" the husky responded with a salute.

Despite the way the doctor ran the class, lab was pretty much a free-for-all activity. Everyone knew there were limits to the groundhog's patience and they didn't want to test how far they could get without getting into trouble, Hunter certainly found that out the easy way. The rest of the period was spent in relative chaos. With various groups finishing at their own pace, different tidbits of objection could be heard:

"Oh no, I wanted a girl. . . *gasp* you gave our baby hairy knuckles. . . Ugh, that's what our baby's going to look like? You jerk, don't talk about our bundle of joy that way!"

With the last learning session for the day past, the class filed out of the room after turning in their handwritten reports and sketches. The students were pleasantly chattering about the lab as they left.

"Hunter, what you did back there was absolutely hilarious," Andy recounted as the group made their way through the halls. "The look on doc's face was priceless. You're going to have to hang out with us more often."

"We could have finished our sketch if we had started later," Jake stated.

"Seriously Jake, you gotta learn to lay off and live a little bit. So our baby's eyes weren't an inch in diameter, big whoop. It's called a sketch," Andy clarified dramatically.

"Jake, you have to admit it was funny; I heard you laughing," Tracy noted.

"Yeah. . . it was funny and maybe I could tone it down some," he admitted. "But I'm still aiming for number one!"Â

The group gave a collective sigh, wondering if the coyote would ever get with the program.

"Let's be fair," the husky said, "Jake has an admirable goal and we can't make fun of him for that."

"Thanks Hunter, nice to see someone injecting some logic here."

Jake's statement was met with a light knock to his shoulder from behind. Jake looked back to see the fox looking into the air.

"He just defended you, albeit from your friends. I suggest showing a little humility and stop over-analyzing everything," Andy replied while staring into space.

Jake rubbed his shoulder and gave a slight grin to Hunter. The husky gave a slight nod back before turning back to look ahead. The group dispersed as they went to their respective lockers.

"Yo Hunter!"

The husky looked up to see Chris running towards him. The panther slowed to bang a few lockers along the way before leaning across the top section by the husky.

"Hey uh. . . Chris! Sorry, I'm not great with names after the first meeting," Hunter chuckled nervously. "How can I be of service?"

"It's no problem," the panther waved off. "Besides there is something you can do for me, if you catch my drift."

'Oh, I catch your drift,' Hunter thought, remembering other conversations starting the same way.

"So buddy ole pal," Chris started, casually draping an arm over the husky's shoulder. "Since we're on a first name basis, you're brilliant and a hoot to be around; I was wondering if you could help me out in class from time to time with studying, homework and the like. What you'll get in return is my trust that everything you do is right and I'll have your back on any situation, all you have to do is ask and I'm there for you."

"Thanks for the great offer Chris," the husky said, slipping the panther's arm off of his shoulder. "I'll be more than happy to help a friend, but you will have to understand; if you want me to help you with academics I expect you to learn."

"That's it?"

"That's it. If there's anything else you want to do for me, it entirely up to you. After all, isn't that what friendship is all about?" Hunter added, with the emphasis on friendship.

"You've got it Hunter," the panther agreed with a firm pawshake. "By the way, I need to pass a message to you: Ryan wants to see you at his locker."

"Why didn't he just call?"

"I don't know. He said something about it couldn't be said or shown over the phone. He was pretty vague. If I didn't know any better, he could be working on a class extra credit project or something."

'Or something indeed,' Hunter considered.

"Anyway, I've got to take Tracy home so we'll be skipping lunch with ya."

"No problem. See you tomorrow Chris."

"Right, g'day Hunter," the panther replied quickly, rushing down the hall.

'What's got his tail on fire?' Hunter wondered as he walked to meet with Ryan.

As the husky rounded the corner to reach Ryan's locker, he spotted a group of furs surrounding the area. He cautiously made his way forward as he caught a familiar set of voices ahead.

"So you think you can show me up in chemistry?" Malcolm growled, stepping forward from the group.

"I--I wasn't t--trying to do anything," Ryan answered fearfully, backing up into the bank lockers.

"Oh, 'I wasn't trying to do anything'," he mocked, "Calling me out to the teacher, getting me to be her 'assistant' for her stupid little demo!"

He slammed his fist into the locker above the wolf's head to make his point heard. The deafening bang caused Ryan's ears to reflexively fall flat against his head.

"I'm gonna show you, what happens when you don't keep your mouth shut," the tiger threatened, holding his frame with an outstretched paw and using his other to reach into his pants pocket.

'Oh crap, I'm dead!' Ryan thought, closing his eyes.

"Pardon, pardon. Excuse moi."

Ryan peeked out from under an eyelid to see a fur making his way through the crowd.

'Hunter!' Ryan thought, his heart leaping upon his revelation.

Hunter proceeded calmly through the crowd, furs making way for the husky rather than waiting to be pushed aside. He knelt down in front of a locker and proceeded to turn the combination with a book in his paw.

"Drat! Hold onto this," Hunter transferred a textbook to his left paw and held it up to Ryan.

Ryan took the book from the husky with shaky paws. The wolf looked up to see Malcolm also looking at Hunter as he did who knows what next to them.

'Hunter, what are you up--' Ryan tried to think until he was interrupted.

"Fudge it!" Hunter exclaimed, baning his fist into the locker. Then with almost rehearsed motion, he brought a paw against his head and laughed, "Oh right. . . not my locker."

Everyone continued to watch the strange husky as he got up to his feet and turned to note Ryan standing beside him.

"Oh hey Ryan," Hunter stated with a cheery voice, "I didn't see you there. Thanks for holding onto my book." He smiled and took the book back from the wolf's sweaty paws. Still looking squarely at Ryan, he took Ryan's outstretched paw and began to lead him.

"Come on, we're going to be late to lunch with Jake and Andy. Chris and Tracy left campus to have lunch elsewhere."

Despite the oddity events that unfolded, the furs simply let the pair pass through. As spectators, they didn't have any obligation to stop the two. However, Hunter and Ryan could still feel the eyes on their backs as they made their way through the halls.

"Hey where do you think you're going?"

"Don't turn back, don't even look," Hunter whispered to the wolf.

"Hey! Don't walk away from me! I've still got a score to settle!" Malcolm shouted through the halls as he began to follow.

As the wolf and husky cleared the corner, an administrator stepped around stopping the Bengal tiger in his tracks.

"A score to settle with whom, may I ask?" the eight foot tall lion asked, arms crossed with a walkie-talkie in one paw.

The crowd that had built up behind the tiger dispersed in all directions much to the satisfaction of the administrator. All that remained were he and the tiger staring eye to eye while standing in the hall.

"I believe you know where my office is Mr. Cartier, see you in five."

"Yes sir," Malcolm droned, slowly making his way to the room he visited too often.

"Saikes to base," he said into the walkie-talkie. "Put out an APB for anyone running in the halls, looks like we're going to have a full house today."

The lion swiftly strode after some students that had scattered from earlier. He knew a few faces and could bring them in if anyone else couldn't be caught.

"Thanks for the save back there," Ryan said after they were clear of the chaos behind.

"You should be thanking Chris, he let me know you needed to see me at your locker. Though I'm not sure why you couldn't have told me yourself. I mean we were in class together for most of the day today."

"Yeah, I kinda remembered at my locker and Chris was right there, so I figured he could play messenger for me."

"Heh, some messenger."

"What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing. Important thing was if he didn't tell me to meet you, we wouldn't be here right now."

"True"

"Anyway, what did you need to see me for at the last minute that you couldn't have told me today or over the phone?" Hunter rattled off the reasons quickly to Ryan.

"Um. . . I'll show you sometime later this year. It's kind of a semester project thing I'm working on," Ryan lied.

"All right, but be sure you remind me. I have a terrible memory for side projects. I'm better with facts and friends," Hunter mused aloud with a smile. "So are we still good for lunch? I could go for some roast beef and cheddar on rye. Mmm, rye."

"I'm not actually hungry after that scare back there. So I guess I'll have to make a courtesy call to--Did you just crack a joke on my name. . . Hunt?"

"Not at all, but now that you mention it. . . I'll make a note to self of what annoys you."

"Well don't make a habit of it."

"Don't worry Ry. I'll--" at which Hunter got a slap against his tail.

"Hey!"

"Don't call me that again or I'll 'Hunt' your tail."

"As I was going to say Ryan," Hunter said with heavy emphasis on his name, "I'll save it for those 'moments'. You won't know when or why, but I'll know."

"And I'll be ready to take you on." With that Ryan slapped Hunter's tail again and made a beeline for the buses.

"Don't think you're going to get away from me this time! I'm a verb that gives chase you know!"

Ryan laughed wildly as he ran though the bus lot, losing Hunter in the crowd again as he boarded his bus.

"Heh," Ryan huffed triumphantly, "Never could. . . get me."

"Think again," the wolf heard and immediately recognized the voice behind him. He turned around slowly to face the slightly emerald eyes of his savior-turned-tormentor with his icy blue pair. "Holy sh--"

"Got'cha!"

• - - - - ALL STOP - - - - -

And that is the end, of the prequel that is. This should give a fair picture of what, why and how things will happen. Some events are true; others a stretched truth; and still others come from hyper-mind land.

Hope this selection was well worth the wait, yet able to stand on its own as promised on both points.