FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Colton's P.O.V.

March 25th

It's the fourth day since my dad--no, Arrow; he's not my dad anymore--threw my own knife at me, and I'm finally being released from the hospital. Due to a special condition that I've been diagnosed with, I heal faster than most furs. We don't know what it is yet, nor do we know if it's good or bad. All we know is that it helps me heal faster. My shoulder is almost healed--it should be by tonight. After I finish the forms, I meet Charlotte outside the building.

She's cracking her knuckles. "Next time I see your dad--"

"Arrow," I growl.

"--Arrow," she amends, "I'm gonna bash his skull in."

"Please don't," I say, suddenly tired beyond measure. "It would only make things more complicated for me the next time I see him."

"You won't see him again, though," Charlotte protests.

I rub my forehead, then run a hand through my head fur. "With my luck, it's certain that I will."

Charlotte smiles, which makes me smile. Then she's all seriousness again. "Are you keeping up with the Karate?" I nod. "Good. It'll help."

I rub my eyes as she drives us home, almost falling asleep in her car. I manage to make it to their living room couch before crashing.

***

Colton's P.O.V.

August 21st

"Well," Charlotte says, a little too cheerfully, "here we are! Our home for the next few months!"

"Ye--" I cut myself off with a growl as I spot a familiar face.

"What is it?" Charlotte asks.

"Rather, who is it." I bare my teeth slightly. "It's him."

Charlotte's eyes brighten with understanding. "I know you're perfectly well of defending yourself, but do me a favor and steer clear of him, okay?" she asks. "When Star is nearby, trouble is abound. Honestly, I'm surprised he hasn't been arrested yet."

I laugh. "I'm surprised you haven't been arrested yet."

Charlotte laughs with me. "I suppose you're right."

"You've probably been the cause of hundreds of thousands of dollars in window repairs, girl." I chuckle again. "You're a new natural disaster!"

She punches my arm. Then I hear someone call my name from across the courtyard. "Don't think I've forgotten about you, Colton." Star says it in a whisper that manages to carry through the noise. My expression tightens.

Charlotte grabs my arm and steers me into one of the two dorm buildings. I get my room card and find that I'm in the same building as Charlotte--Just a few doors down, actually. I smile brightly at her. "You need to brush better," she says, wrinkling her nose. I can't help but laugh. Typical dentist's child.

My shoulder is healed just fine, but I rub my head, where more recent scars have formed. I keep my hair long to cover them.

When we get to my room, Charlotte excuses herself and moves down to her room. I unlock the door and breathe a sigh of relief to find that my dormmate isn't here yet. I unpack a little, then put my suitcase on one of the two beds and make my way up to the rooftop pool. It's nice that they have a pool up on the roof of the dorm for anyone to work out in. I change into the trunks that I brought--I managed to sneak a few things out of Arrow's house of mine--and put on some goggles. I wiggle my arms a little, my swimmers triceps flopping back and forth, then jump in. The ice-cold water sends a rejuvenating flash through my body as my wings dissapear. I float to the bottom, then push off and grab on to the side. I do a few laps of butterfly but to my surprise, I'm quite out if shape, and I find myself out of breath within one or two laps. I switch to freestyle to recover, then do another few of butterfly, and so on, until I'm too tired to do any more. I do feel better now, though: swimming is one of the few things that actually relaxes me.

I climb out of the water and towel off, changing back into my normal clothes, and realize it's storming outside. I flinch as lightning flashes, but the soundproofed walls don't give me the chance to hear the thunder. However, I feel drawn outside, almost as if some otherworldly force is pulling me out. I take a step outside, then flinch as a clap of thunder drives into my ears. I flatten them against my head, but push out anyway.

"Well, well, well, I didn't think you'd be able to drag yourself out here," someone behind me drawls.

I spin around. A cougar slinks out of the shadows by the doorway. "Talk about déjà vù, eh? Just like old times," he says.

I stiffen, automatically straightening my posture. "I-I don't know wh-what you're t-talking about."

"Aw, you don't remember me?" Star drifts closer to me, his feline tail swaying behind him. I set one foot behind me, staggered slightly off my front foot and raise my hands. "Of course I remember you," I say, slowly turning as he walks around me to keep him in my sights. "How could I not?"

"Well," Star says, and I remember how much I hate his voice, "you could have forgotten all the times we played together."

"I'm not sure they were playing times, Star. What do you want?" I say past the growl deep in my chest.

"I want it to be like the olden days," he says, lunging out at me. I see the glint of unsheathed claws before I roll away, using the momentum of the roll to propel me back to my feet

Star spins to face me. "So have you been taking Martial Arts?" he asks.

I smirk. "Maybe--" I grunt as I sway sideways, turning as his claws slide past my shoulder. I put a hand out and push him over my leg, using his own momentum against him. He falls forwards and I spring on top of him, punching his face a few times before he kicks me in the gut, propelling me over him and almost over the edge of the building. I flip like an acrobat and land perfectly balanced on the ledge. I run across it for a little while, then leap off, back onto the roof. Star tumbles past me, missing my side by inches. I gasp as his shoulder rams into my gut, spinning me away. I crash hard into the concrete, and dimly think to yell for help, but the pool was empty when I came out here.

Suddenly, I'm gasping for breath as Star lifts me off the ground by my throat, smiling contemptuously. "You did better than you have before," he admits, walking forwards, and I feel the window press against my back, "but still not enough to save your sorry ass." He pulls his arm back slightly, me with it, then slams it back, breaking my head through the window. I scream as the shards pierce my skin, scraping painfully against my scalp. I dig frantically at the hand holding me, scratching it until it was bloody. Star curses and releases me, jumping back and cradling his injured wrist. I curl up immediately on the ground and whimper. Star kicks my back and sides viciously, and my vision flickers and starts to go dark.

In a last desperate act, I lash a hand out, claws out, and feel it sink into tender flesh. I drag them down, and hear Star give an earsplitting shriek.

I gasp and let go. Star hobbles off, too wounded to continue fighting. His leg is gushing blood, the red liquid spilling down his leg and pooling know the ground. I see his lips move as he spits one last insult at me, probably, but I can't hear it: the thunder is loud in my ears, and I whimper quietly as he limps over to the side of the building. He gets whisked off by some fast-moving shadow. I whimper again. Then I must have passed out.

Jace's P.O.V.

I step into the upper pool with a swim bag slung over my shoulder. I don't swim much--I mostly play badminton--but I do sometimes. I don't even know that the window's broken until I hear a clap of thunder from outside. I remember the senior at the dorm check-in desk saying that it was supposed to be soundproofed. I glance over and see the broken window. I almost don't give it a second thought--but that's when I hear a whimper from outside.

I rush over to the window and peer out into the rain. It isn't until I look down that I see a wolf huddled against the wall, bruised and bleeding. I vault over the sill--wary of where I put my hands and of where I land--and crouch next to him. His breathing is quite irregular, but it's obvious that he passed out. I pull him out of the fetal position he put himself into and sit cross-legged next to him, drawing his head into my lap and stroking his face softly, trying to ease his pain. He whimpers again, and his eyes open. I breathe a sigh of relief. "Wh-what?" he asks.

"I was afraid you were dead." I smile, a little nervous.

"Who--Who are you?" he asks, then shifts uncomfortably. "Would you mind...ummm...getting off my wing?"

"Whoops," I say, shifting my weight off of his wings, which I realize that I had actually been sitting on. "Sorry."

He smiles, kindly, if not a little strained. "It's okay."

"I'm Jace," I say, by way of introduction.

He smiles again. "So you're the one Charlotte talks to me so much about."

I laugh, surprised. "You know Charlotte?"

He laughs too. "Yeah, we've been friends since second grade. I'm Colton."

I shake his hand, despite him still being a little weak. "Nice to meet you."

Colton smiles. "I guess Charlotte kinda drove us together, eh? In her own twisted way." He shakes his head. "I swear that girl should be in prison right now, the number of fights she's gotten in. I was joking with her earlier that she was a natural disaster."

I laugh. "Why?"

"Cause she's probably cause hundreds of thousands of dollars of window repairs." He laughs, then curls up on my lap, coughing and spitting up blood.

"Are you alright?" I ask, concern etched into my muzzle.

He flattens his ears as the thunder claps again. "I will be. I just need a night to recover. I'll be good as new after that."

Colton's P.O.V

I flinch and flatten my ears against the thunder as it rumbles again. Jace helps me up to my feet, and my knees almost buckle under me. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asks.

"I appreciate the concern and all, but I'm really fine." I wave him off. Remember your rules, Colton. Don't let him in--you can't. He'll only break your heart in the end. But he's so cuuuuuuteeee...No. I can't have any relationship with him. He won't be good for me. But--NO BUTS. I WILL NOT--but he's so cute. And kind...Okay, maybe this once I'll try it again. If he breaks my heart, though...if he does the same that they all do...if swear, never again. Never again! I snap out of my thoughts to Jace waving a hand in front of my face. "Hellllloooooo? Earth to Colton!"

I blink and stumble. "Sorry?"

Jace smiles. "What's your room number?"

"Ummmm..." It takes me a few seconds to remember. "Oh, right. 852."

Jace brightens considerably. "Hey, that's my room! We're roommates!"

I smile, weak from my wounds. "Right now, sleep is the best thing for me."

Jace seems to remember that I'm injured. "Right, right." He sweeps me up into his ar.s and carries me down to my--our--room, despite my protests that I can walk. "You most certainly can not, and you will not, not while I'm around," he keeps saying, matter-of-factly. I can't help but nuzzle his chest.

He deposits me on a dorm towel--already dirty, I think--and I get comfortable on it. I hear Jace calling Charlotte but I couldn't care less. When you're in too much pain, it almost feels like you're drunk--you get tired, everything gets kinda fuzzy, you start to lose control of your actions and motor abilities. I hear the door open, then close, and Charlotte appears by my side. "Are you alright?" she asks.

"Damn well I am!" I shout. "Do I not look it?" This entire thing is sarcastic. "It was fucking Star again, the mother--"

Charlotte wraps her hand around my muzzle, stopping the words in my mouth. I fight for a few secjnds, then relax, and she releases me. "Are you sure you'll be fine?"

"Yes I damn will be!" At a withering glare from her I quiet my voice. "I just need a good night's rest, and I can't get that with you two hovering over me like mother hens."

Charlotte laughs a little and brushes my forehead with a kiss, then she leaves. "Is she, like, your girlfriend or something?"

I grunt. "No, but that would've made it a lot simpler. I wouldn't be in this condition, let's put it that way."

Jace makes a noise in the back of his throat, and for a second I'm afraid he's gonna attack me, so I flinch away and curl up. After a few seconds, I feel his hand on my arm, and I relax slightly. "So you mean you're gay?" I nod, the motion small and non-committal. "That's okay. I don't mind."

"Really? You mean it?" I ask, looking up at his crouching silhouette above me.

I see him nod once. "I mean it. And I bet you can guess why."

"Cause you know a homosexual?" I grin up at him.

He ruffles my head fur, and I wince slightly. He quickly withdraws his hand. "Dummy."

I smile and bop his nose. "I'm a silly little wolfy, aren't I?"

"Either that, or I'm a silly little Arctic Fox." He smiles and I realize that that's his species. I mean, I knew I would know it but for whatever reason I didn't place it.

My eyes drift shut from tiredness, but just before they close completely, I see him lean down and plant a kiss on my forehead, and his lips form words, but though I saw them, I couldn't hear them.

Then I drifted into sleep.

Jace's P.O.V.

I watch Colton's eyes drift shut the rest of the way and sit back, watching as a light flush seeps across his face before he falls asleep completely. I move to head over to my bed, but a movement draws my eyes back to him.

I watch in fascination as his wounds seem to simply knit themselves together, the healing process sped up a thousandfold. They're gone within ten minutes, and I fall asleep wondering what caused that.

(A/N Well, another depressing chappy here. Sorry guys, this is how it is. Remember, I don't write the story, the story writes itself. I'm simply the vessel. Hope you enjoyed!

-EcstaticFur

P.S. not proofread

P.P.S. Big thanks to my babe for letting me use his character))