FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Hello everyone! Sorry for the late update. I promised to post it last week and then forgot......

Anyhow, some more vacation shenanigans from our main party. I want actions scenes more though......

Also, I'm thinking up making a short term guide and a character guide. I had one, but it got wiped out a while ago for reasons I don't know.

Read, and please enjoy!

Chapter 19: I thought.....

"Man, I knew your family was rich, but I didn't know that you guys were this rich!" Todd spoke as he sat down on the seat. When Will heard that Jake was paying for the trip, he thought that Jake meant that he was going to pay for the tickets. A private plane was not what he expected.

"Well, it's not really surprising when you consider how long our family has been around. We were nobles even back then; it's not that hard to hide treasures, even if the people cry out for blood and try to guillotine your family." Jake spoke.

"This is one of those moments where you realize how large the gap between us is." Will spoke as he looked around.

"Amen to that." Arthur echoed as he sat down. The others followed, and after several minutes, the plane was off, taking them away. As the long ride began, the group began to do their own thing. Will brought out a book and started reading, while Arthur and Jake began to play a game of chess. Jonas and Todd were watching the game while Karl and Sara began to talk with each other. The hours passed by peacefully.

Slight while later

Jake came out of the toilet, rubbing his paws. He just sat down on a seat when he felt something lightly brush against him. When he looked down, he saw Will sleeping, leaning against him. As soon as the situation sank in, the wolf's heart began beating twice as fast.

"Hey, Will?" the wolf gently spoke, lightly shaking him. However, the white tiger merely grunted, and snuggled closer to the wolf, making.... purring sounds? Trying to not look weird, Jake slowly inched away, also moving Will so that the tiger would be more comfortable. After a while of pushing and pulling, Jake managed to pull the tiger away. He then rummaged around, found a blanket, and draped it over the young tiger, who promptly curled up.

"He's pretty cute, isn't he?" Arthur asked teasingly, startling Jake. He then turned around only to see everyone except him and Arthur asleep. Jake gave a slight nod.

"You know, I know that you've confessed to Will." Arthur spoke without hesitation, looking out the window. Jake instantly stiffened.

"How.... how did you know? Did Will tell you?" Jake stammered, suddenly afraid. He did not want to get on the lion's bad side, especially considering that he and Will were brothers.

"Nah. I sort of overheard Will's conversation from him-" the dark lion pointed is claw at the sleeping Karl. "and that was enough for me to figure out what was going on." looking at Jake's half terrified, half nervous look, Arthur broke into a smile. "Hey, relax. I'm not going to do anything. I just thought that we should talk about this, that's all."

Jake relaxed slightly. "And is there anything else that you want to talk about?"

Arthur considered the question for a brief while, scratching his chin. "Not really. I know that Will turned you down, but I want you to be good friends with him still. I'm not there for him most of the time, so it's a relief knowing that he has someone to talk with." the lion also gave a smile. "Also, if Will ever accepts your proposal, treat him nice, okay?" at that point, the air around Arthur noticeably darkened. "I won't have to explain what might happen otherwise, right?" Jake hurriedly nodded. Then, the lion clapped his paw and dispersed the darkness around him. "Right, let's get some sleep! I'm feeling mighty sleepy, and I bet you are too!"

When the dark lion spoke about sleep, Jake noticed then that he felt very sleepy. He couldn't sleep during the night, and woke up earlier than others. It wasn't that surprising that he felt sleepy.

Hours later

** ** Six werebeasts and a human stepped out of the plane, each carrying their luggage.

"So how are we going to get to your place?" Jonas spoke as he peered around. The cars around the exit were plain, mostly taxis. "I don't see anything that looks like a limo."

"You don't have to assume that we use limos all the time" Jake spoke in an injured tone. "Aunt Sairy said that she would be here in a few minutes..... Actually, right now." everyone turned to where Jake was staring, and saw a human lady hurrying over to them. It was a while before they remembered the fact that they were in their human forms now. Aunt Sairy was a rather plump and short woman, with brown hair and eyes.

"Hello Jake! Haven't seen you in a long time! How have you been? How are your parents? Who are these nice young folks? Nice too meet you, Sairy Andelvel. Just call me Aunt Sairy. You've filled out a lot!" the woman spoke nonstop as she picked up some of the luggage, hugged Jake, and spoke to the rest, who only could manage to nod slightly before Jake cut her off.

"Aunt, please. Slow down. Anyhow, these are my friends Will, Arthur, Sara, Karl, Jonas, and Todd. I just thought that I might bring them over for the vacation." Jake spoke, sounding rather embarrassed. He then pointed to each of the group, who all greeted her.

"All right, all right. Everyone in the car now, and Put your luggage right there. I'll put them in the trunks." Aunt Sairy spoke as she began to shove the group into the car. Similar to Arthur's car, the car had been enchanted so that multiple people could fit in.

"Well, she's different from what I expected." Todd whispered as they climbed in. Outside, Aunt Sairy was happily humming, carrying trunks.

"Well, not all of us are narcissistic jerks. Granted, most of us are, but there are still a few who are friendly to others. Aunt Sairy and her family live here, and they are very friendly to non-family members. My parents don't like them, so that's why I chose this place." Jake whispered as Aunt Sairy slammed the doors, started the engine, and drove away.

After almost an hour, the car came to a stop in front of a large gate. When Will peeked out from a window, he noticed that the gate was the type that one might find more frequently in town entrances rather than those found in front of mansions. He also noticed that beyond the gate, there were several houses.

"I thought that you were taking us to your family mansions. I don't really see any mansions here." Karl spoke, echoing Will's thoughts.

"Well, the mansion is actually back there." Aunt Sairy spoke, pointing over. When the group strained their eyes, they could see a large mansion, right up a wide cliff.

"So is this place like a village or something like that?" Will wondered out loud.

"Actually, yes. Originally, back in the old days, this place was more like a castle and peasant's home. The lords- that's to say, our family- lived up there, and the peasants lived here, basically paying tribute and working for us. Of course, as time passed, things changed. Now, this place acts rather like your school, a safe haven for werebeasts to meet up and live their lives without having to worry about getting discovered." Jake picked up where Aunt Sairy left off, supplying the members with extra detail.

Meanwhile, the gates have opened and they were driving through the street. As Will stared out, he saw werebeasts in their beast forms, casually sitting out in the open.

"Does this place have protection like our school?" Will spoke while staring at a fox father scolding his child.

"Well, yes. It's a necessity if you want to live your life fully. Otherwise, what's the difference between here and the outer world?" Jake spoke. As Will turned around to face Jake, he saw that the other members had changed back into their beast forms. Hardly concentrating, Will slipped back into his old form. Meanwhile, the car came to a stop in front of another gate.

"This gate works only if you supply the right spell, with the right amount of strength." Aunt Sairy spoke as she held one of her paws out and pointed at the gate. After a brief while, a spark shot out and was absorbed by the gate, which then swung open, making a terrible screeching sound that made everyone wince and close their ears. The sharpened senses of werebeasts often meant that werebeasts could fight better, but when things got too extreme, it was a burden rather than a blessing.

"You really need to oil these." Will spoke matter-of-factly as they went in, trying to ignore the screeching behind them as the gate slammed shut.

"Indeed. I think the last time someone came in was..... about 3 years ago? We don't use this much because we live down the village, and the family doesn't come here much." the wolfess spoke gaily as they drove in and came to a halt.

"They don't?" Jonas spoke as they came out of the car and looked around. "The place looks mighty bright for a house that has been left alone for years."

"Oh, we cast some cleaning spells now and then. We've done it yesterday." Sairy spoke airily as she opened the door. As everyone crowded toward the door, Will peeked over everyone's shoulders. Just like Jonas said, the place was actually quite clean. One might have thought that someone has been living here all this time.

"All right, I have to go. You know the spell code, right? Oh, I forgot about the groceries! You'll have to go down. I'll see youlater, enjoy yourself, and bye!" Aunt Sairy speedily spoke as she kissed Jake on the cheek, patted Will on the head, and shook heads with the rest. As soon as the door banged behind her, everyone stared at the door for a moment before staring at Jake.

"Yeah..... Real cheery, huh?" Jake spoke awkwardly.

"Come to think of it, why does no one come here?" Todd asked as he looked around. "I mean, this place is really nice! I'd want a home like this, as long as I don't have to clean up!"

"Well.... we have at least a hundred other empty houses around the world, and some of them are near tourist spots, so a place like this seldom sees any use. It doesn't help that Aunt Sairy and her family are the oddballs of the family."

"Are there lots of your relatives here?" Will asked. Jake shook his head rather glumly. "About 20? They aren't that influential in the family. They never produced a real powerful wizard, and never did anything noticeable. Add in how they act, it's predictable that they're not really welcome in the main branch of the family."

"Come to think of it, your parents are heads of the family, right? Doesn't that make you the next head?" Arthur broke in.

"Well, they are, but I have two older brothers, so unless something happens to them, I won't be the head. Hopefully not." Jake spoke as he glanced at Will, who was staring at him. Jake then decided to change the topic. "So, who wants to go grocery shopping?"

Rather unexpectedly, Will was the only one who spoke up. "I will. I wanted to see the town."

"No one else?" Jake asked as he set down his bags. Everyone just shook their heads or grunted. After confirming that no one else felt like looking around the town, the two stepped out.

"Well, it's going to be a long ride down...." Will muttered as he stared down the hill.

"Well, it's not as if it's a problem. We can just use magic." Jake spoke as he briefly concentrated. "Flight" the wolf muttered and the wind became stronger around them, until there was a miniature cyclone that surrounded Jake.

"How do you do that?" Will asked, staring at the cyclone avidly. Jake looked at the white tiger for a moment, looking surprised, and then flicked a finger at him, casting the spell again.

"It's just a simple levitation spell. It's not really efficient, but it should be enough to get us down the hill. We'll take a taxi back." Jake spoke while he saw Will flail around. The wolf had to chuckle at Will, who kept on losing his balance. Then he couldn't hold back the laughter when Will ended up being flipped upside down.

"Don't just laugh, help!" Will spoke as he tried to flip himself again. He succeeded, only to flip again. Jake flicked his paw again, and this time the air became more solid around the white tiger, forming a sort of a chair.

"Don't worry; that happens all the time. You'll get used to it at some point." Jake spoke, trying to hold his laughter as Will righted himself.

"I won't get used to it, because I'll never use this." Will muttered as they flew below the hill. They came to a stop when they reached the outskirts of the town.

"By the way, do you know where the grocery store is?" Will, always practical, asked the wolf.

"I think I've seen one over there." Jake pointed at a vague direction, and the two started walking. As they did so, Jake secretly glanced at the tiger. Will was looking around with interested eyes, sometimes smiling and lightly humming.

Come on, Jake! Think of something to say! Jake thought as they silently went through the street, until he found a suitable topic.

"So, do you like the place?" Jake asked, turning around to face the tiger. Will then paused and looked back at the wolf.

"What place?" Will asked, absentmindedly looking over his shoulders again.

"Oh, you know. The town, the mansion, and pretty much everything." Jake spoke as he looked around again. He could've sworn the store was nearby, until he found the sign.

"Well, it's really nice. I've never really went on a trip like this before." Will spoke as they went in. "Come to think of it, do we even know what to buy?" the tiger spoke as he brought out a cart. Jake then immediately started hitting himself in the face.

"I knew we forgot something!" Jake then brought out his phone only to frown. "None of us has a working phone between us, right?"

"Arthur said that it was gonna be expensive, so I turned off mine. I think Arthur and Sara did the same."

Jake sighed. "Well, I guess we'll just have to buy the things we think we need. Does Arthur know how to cook?"

"Of course he does. He wouldn't be living on his own if he couldn't cook." Will spoke rather indignantly. "What do you think we should get?"

"Well, just some basic things and some snacks, I guess. Aunt Sairy did leave us some cooking utensils and all."

The two spent the next half an hour roaming all over the place, adding things to cart whenever they thought that it might be needed. After finishing shopping, they went out and got a taxi back to the mansion.

When they got back, they found Arthur and Todd lying on the sofa, with a change of clothes. As the two entered, the lion and the fox looked up. "Hey, what did you get? We didn't have a grocery list, right?" Arthur spoke and came over, looking into the shopping bag. Will then passed the bag to his older brother. "You can make something out of this, right?" the tiger spoke as he grabbed his bag from the floor and went up. "I'll be down when I finish cleaning up. Which room is mine?"

"The third one from the right. We had a room short, so you and I are sharing a room." Arthur spoke as he went into the kitchen. Jake followed the older lion just long enough so he can put his shopping bag down on the table. "What are you going to make?" Jake asked as he watched the lion go through the bag.

"Oh, just something real simple. A spaghetti. I'm too tired to do anything else fancy." Arthur spoke and yawned. "Go and take a bath or something. Dinner won't be ready for a while."

"Which room is mine, then?" Jake asked. It felt a little silly to be asking when his family was technically the owner of this place, but he didn't have the time to choose his own room.

"The one at the end of the hall." Arthur spoke as he brought out a bowl.

After dinner

** **"Wow, that was real good~" Jonas spoke as he slumped down on the sofa. After a dinner, Will and Sara volunteered to clean the dishes. Jake could hear the two chat while they worked.

"So, wanna play a board game? I got Monopoly, Risk, and a few others." the human spoke to the rest of the group.

"How about Risk? I like that stuff." Todd spoke as he sat straighter. "Let's make it a team game, with two members for each team, except for a team that needs to have three members."

"Sounds good, but let's wait for Will and Sara." Arthur spoke, motioning with his head toward the kitchen.

"We're done already, though." piped up a voice behind the lion, making everyone jump. Arthur turned around to see Will and Sara. "So how do we split the teams?" Sara asked as she and Will sat down.

"With this." Jonas spoke as he brought out his phone, showing an app for it. "Okay, so the teams are.... Arthur and me, Karl and Sara, and Will, Jake, and Todd."

The three teams were intently playing the game when the doorbell rang.

"Who would be here at this hour? It's almost 9, isn't it?" Will asked, stopping with a dice in his paw. "Do you think it's your aunt?" he spoke to Jake,

"Doubt it. There isn't a reason for her to come at this time. I'll go check it out." Jake spoke as he went to the door. He then cautiously opened the door. It might have been Aunt Sairy, but Jake reasoned that it could've been anyone else. As the door opened a little, he looked out the door and gasped, for his parents and his brothers were standing in front of the door.

"Mom? Dad? Ken? Blake? What are you all doing here?" Jake spoke after he fully opened the door, his heart pounding for different reasons. He knew that his parents had a business trip somewhere around here, but he didn't expect them to come.

"We just came by. We won't be staying long." Martha Andelvel, a tall and thin wolfess, spoke as she casually stepped through the doorway before Jake could say anything. "We remembered that you and your..... friends were close, so I thought it would be a nice idea to see them. After all, last year you were rather choosy, weren't you? But you did have a good taste in acquaintances then." Jake's mother spoke in a chilly tone, staring over Jake's shoulders. Jake turned around to see the rest of the group standing in the hallway, except for Will who was peeking behind his brother.

This isn't going to end well...... Jake sighed as he saw his mother's lips purse.