FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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His eyes opened slowly, Kyo woke with a smile, looking into Seis bright emerald eyes, her paw on his side, lightly stroking through his crimson fur. "Hey." He leaned forward, nuzzling against her neck so he could take a breath, taking in her feline scent.

"Good mornin'." She replied, smiling sleepily, the tip of her tail waving idly. "Look like you slept well."

"Yeah, I did." He put the back of his paw to her cheek, slowly moving it to her lips, he grazed them with each of his knuckles. "Think I might see it now, just needed to sleep on it." Her body arched against his, she had slept on top of him so they woke up like that though he was no longer inside her. He pressed the claws of his other paw against her back, scratching from the top to the small of her back.

"Hey Sei, you know you're out of eggs?" He froze. Someone else's' voice, male, coming from maybe four feet to his right. A confused look on his face, Kyo turned his head, looking at who stood at the door. "Hey."

"Yeah, I know Dusk." Seis voice came from above him, not at all surprised.

Dusk was a black panther, lithe and athletic looking, who at the moment wore a black jacket covered in chains and several silver things, zippers and trinkets hanging off of him. He gave a friendly grin to the coyote which was hesitantly returned. "Alright, guess it's just BLTs for breakfast then. Red, you like BLTs?"

"Red...?" His thinking was suddenly a bit slow. Everyone was just so casual. Whoever this Dusk was he was intimate enough with Sei that he was making himself a meal at her place but wasn't at all disturbed about the fact that there was a guy laying in bed naked with her on top. 'Oh, yea, sure I guess."

"Good." The panther grinned widely, leaving.

"Try not to think so hard Kyo. You'll get it soon enough." Sei kissed his cheek and he felt her paws push down on his chest as she slowly rose off of him. "I'm going to go wash up. If you don't like waiting there's always room for two?"

Shaking his head, he replied. "Nah, I'm gonna lay here for a while..." He rolled over, looking at the ceiling as the feline left. Hope Crystal wasn't too worried. After about ten minutes or so he rolled off the bed, landing on his toes and fingers, nose and inch away from the hardwood floor and rose back to his footpaws. "Bah, hate mornings."

~*~

Fully clothed in what he had just worn the previous night, before being stripped by Sei, he entered the kitchen, the smell of cooked bacon attacking his nose, forcing his mouth to water. He had gone into the bathroom to wash up (meaning to rinse dry cum out of his fur) and Sei hadn't been in there. She wasn't here either. Kyo looked around, glancing around at the fairly clean surface of the countertops, it hardly looked as if any cooking whatsoever had occurred there. A sandwich sat on a plate by the counter, a letter pinned beneath the plate. Slowly he approached it, seeing his name (or a decent attempt at it) written on the sheet. 'Coyo' Was how the author had tried to put his name.

The coyote took the letter, which was scrawled in miniscule handwriting. 'Coyo, go to the garage. Sei an me and the others will see you there.'

"Al...right..." he said slowly, grabbing the sandwich seeing as it was most likely meant for him. He took a bite out of it, tasting different flavors as his teeth sunk into each layer, cheese, lettuce, tomato, bacon, mmmm... Deliciousness. Kyo munched on that bite for a while, savoring the flavor before leaving the kitchen, then the home.

~*~

Now what did he do? Sandwich far behind him or deep inside him, however one wanted to phrase it, he stood in the garage, paws behind his head. The coyote leaned against a wall in the initial corridor, yawning loudly. The elevator wasn't working for him for some reason, probably scanned paw prints or something. Eyes closing, he thought for a moment.

"Wakey, wakey." Suddenly someone speaking into his ear threw him completely off balance, making him fall on his side.

He looked over at the wolf to see he had dark fur... looked like it was navy blue though he couldn't quite tell, his body was shrouded in a cloak. "Hi?"

"Hey, Kyo, right? I'm Gyuoh, Crystal may have mentioned me, I'm a technician for the team. Yeah, we have a race about to start in about an hour and a half. So we need to get you to the warm up track where the others are so I can teach you how to do your job so we don't lose. Follow me."

Hardly being able to follow half of what was said, Kyo stood, going after the cloaked wolf.

~*~

Crystal paced about, thinking. She stood at the edge of the large metal coated track, a blur zooming around, passing her with a gust of wind every now and again. Sei, Dusk, Leo and Sentai were in the ship already. Viola was warming up and Gyu and Kyo were on their way there. Mmm... Kyo. Seemed strange that he was already becoming a part of her team. Too bad he had left in the middle of the night like that, threw her schedule off a bit. She had to forge stats instead of him having already done the last tests and he should've already been learning how to Jade.

Stopping, she let out a sigh, fingering the hem of her white blouse. It was pretty, marked with flowers, the blue lilies matching her sapphire skin. Her long tail slowly slinking a few inches above the ground, she tapped a foot-talon impatiently. "Where are they?"

~*~

This racing thing wasn't exactly new to her, she had been in plenty. Not that she was even close to being a veteran but she had enough experience under her belt to tell her that they were definitely going to win this race today. She twirled a metal pole about lazily, pacing.

Restless despite her calm exterior, she always felt this build of energy before a race though she continually reminded herself how easy this should be. Though they usually were fairly good competitors Team Subito stood no chance today. They didn't even have two Jaders and the one they did have was below her level or so she liked to say. After all, Christina had ranked high in the statistics Jaders had (each group Jaders, pilots, scouts ect, had their own stats they were ranked on) the top ten in half of the categories. It's not like she was cocky or anything, everything she was thinking was true.

"Christina." Suddenly she heard Vixys voice in her ear, speaking through a com link. "You can head back to the ship, half an hour till race time."

Excellent. The vixen (she was the other vixen on team USA) smiled, dropping the pole abruptly ending her practice and ran her paw back through her raven black hair. Of Hispanic decent, she was proud of it, having a body as fit for salsa as it was for Jading, her icy blue eyes startling to anyone who had never looked in them before. Her black tipped tail waved a bit before slowing, trailing just over the ground and she adjusted her shorts a bit so the boxers she wore would be covered by them and the hem of a yellow tank top.

"Mmhmm, I'll be there Vixy." Slowly rotating her arms up and down to loosen them at her shoulders, then tilting her head back, forward and to the sides, generating loud pops with her movements, she had to be limber, stiffness didn't usually go well out there.

~*~

Ele sauntered down the sidewalk beside Ebon, her team mate, the two of the heading to the café where someone from just about all the teams were likely to be there. Everyone was excited about this match, even her just a bit. This would be Team Subitos first match since their previous jader died. Sad thing that was but it happened. He probably wouldn't be the last, a couple of fatalities occurred every year, that was the risk that accompanied the glory so no one was particularly sad (except for his team mates) because it wasn't strange.

The purple pantheress ran a paw through her hair, pulling it out of her eyes. According to the statistics and the fact that Subito was lacking a Jader, they only had one this was most likely going to be a blow out. Team USA was waaay better than this small team, currently in third place. All the national teams were good, they had way more time spent developing weapons before this even got started so they had a head start.

She was expecting Gyuoh to be out there for Team Subito. He was a Jader what seemed like not so long ago, but he had given it up. Ele knew him personally so of course she knew the real story, that for Sentai (even though she never let on that she wanted him to quit, scared that he might die, which ironically happened to his replacement) he stopped and became one of the technicians, working mainly on the boards.

"Quiet." Ele said, looking over at the wolf pacing alongside her. "Thinking?"

"Got a funny feeling 's all." He replied, glancing over at her with steely eyes, not slowing his easy pace.

"Christina's racing, right? Sure you aren't just worried about her?" She grinned, watching his ears twitch though his expression betrayed nothing. "Not easy to keep secrets from me Ebon."

He opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it seeming to think about what he was going to say before actually deciding to talk. "It wasn't something we tried to hide. An' no, not worried about her. She can handle herself out there just fine."

"Whatever you say."

~*~

The café was already busy when they walked in, several sofas surrounding the big screen TV, about five feet across, the closer couches already occupied by groups. The bar was busy too, crowded with furs getting beers and such beverages, ready to watch this. Usually it wasn't like this unless two national teams were facing off but everyone was pumped up to see Team USA crush this much less talented team. Personally Ele wanted to see this out of a desire to see how Team USA raced for when her team faced them later on. She knew they'd be a good match so all they really needed was a decent strategy.

"There she is." Ebon said, tilting his head towards a couch where another one of their team mates, Marysa sat.

Walking over, they sat on either side of her, the feline instantly moving closer to Ebon, putting her head on his shoulder. Marysa was a cat with jet black fur except over her muzzle, which was white and a bit longer than a usual cats muzzle. Personally Ele had always figured her to be a bit overprotective of Ebon but he always tolerated it and apparently liked her a lot so she kept her thoughts to herself. Also, it wasn't the best idea to get your gunner mad at you, or any team mate for that matter. Fights broke out all the time on teams. Spending a lot of time with furs like that tended to make you realize how much you could get on each others nerves, so she attempted to make things as serene between her team as she could. Any dissent might effect how they did in races and that was what mattered.

"Five minutes till start time." Marysa said, Ele realizing that she wasn't being spoken to when the other feline nuzzled into the wolf. Blah, it didn't matter. This is where they announced the teams and they went out to shake paws before the race.

The volume on the TV suddenly went all the way up and it flicked to a large stage with a podium in the center, where the team leader would speak after the race was over. Team USA already stood on the stage, a small group, the technicians had stayed back so there were only seven representatives standing there. Two white vixens, Christina and Vixy, the captain, a stag, three wolves all of them male, and a female squirrel. They all wore uniform, red shirts, blue jeans and white wristbands and collars.

Suddenly a dragoness stepped on screen from the other side of the stage wearing a white and blue blouse. The rest of the group followed a moment later. Their technicians had stayed on the ship so only the main group was shown and even Ele had to admit, they looked pretty motley compared to the other team, not even wearing a uniform. Her team didn't wear uniforms either but at least they wore colors that matched each others so they looked pretty good.

There was Violena with her board but the other one over there was... a red coyote? Gyuoh wasn't on stage! Who was that? Wait... it couldn't be.

~*~

"Christina?" Kyo said. They were on a big stage, cameras at almost every angle, the lights were blinding but he was pretty sure he wasn't seeing wrong. "Is that you?" He asked the vixen. He had noticed Vixy and wasn't surprised she was there, the others had told him who was on that team on the way there after he had learned (kind of) how to jade. But he wasn't expecting this Christina.

"Chris... what are you doing here?" She asked, stepping forward. She held a silver colored Jaders board beneath one of her arms.

"I'm a jader." He grinned, holding out his board, red with black tiger stripes going down it. A Jaders board was a lot like a skateboard, he had found, except it was much thicker yet lighter, made of some super light metal, with two round black disks beneath the board, antigravitational field emitters (or so he had been told). Jading was a lot like skateboarding fortunately so he had caught on quick.

~*~

What was he doing? A caption at the base of the screen had confirmed her thoughts on the identity of the coyote but what was he doing? Looked like he was just talking to one of the Jaders on the other team, was he taunting them? Didn't look like it if he was.

Their team leader, Dusketh, a fellow panther, put a paw on his shoulder and said something to him that made him stop. Nodding as if he suddenly understood something, the coyote smirked, pointing at Team USA. Now he was definitely saying something from the reaction of the wolves on the team, the other members having to hold them back. Now Ele was definitely sure of who that was. The panther joined in too, jabbing Kyo in the ribs with an elbow before adding something else that made the wolves shoot back an enraged retort.

She looked over and saw Ebon staring at the screen intently, his brows furrowed in thought. He didn't even notice Marysa nibbling on his neck. "Ebon, why do you look like that?"

"What?" He glanced over at her, his face returning to its normal serene expression. "Oh, remember that funny thought I had about this race?"

"Mmm.." She nodded, looking back at the screen to see the coyote and Dusk had stopped talking after Crystal had thwapped them over the head with her tail (something they showed in slow motion at the top of the screen twice) and she went to meet the stag in the middle of the stage, shaking his paw before saying something, after which the stag politely replied, nodding shortly.

What she would have given for the audio to kick in.

~*~

Kyo rubbed his head as they walked off the stage. "Ow, that hurt."

Dusk jabbed him in the ribs again, grinning. "But it was worth it to see the looks on their ugly faces. We've got this in the bag." Of course the panther was intelligent enough to think otherwise, but being a leader, he knew how to play off of his teammates and saying otherwise wouldn't increase their chances exactly.

"Course we do, you guys got me after all."

~*~

Ebon now wore a grin on his face, he couldn't help but do so at the antics of the coyote. Good to see him here, he wondered how he would do in his first race, would he be able to walk what he talked?

His ears tilted back and he lay back into the couch, just relaxing as the screen showed replays of what had just occurred, a timer at the top of the screen counting down the minutes until the race began. Stats rolling by at the base of the screen, his name finally popped up. Kyo... hmm, he had done pretty well on most of his tests apparently, excluding his stamina. Good for him that this race was more of a test of speed than endurance.

It was a two-legged race, the pilots would race to the surface of a planet (it was actually the Oneris if he had heard correctly) and then their Jaders would leave the ship and race by board at the start point for them. Whoever got to the finish line from there won. It wasn't a particularly long course even, not even close really, forty miles total (for the Jaders at least, the pilots would be flying several thousand though with their ships it still shouldn't take long). Only problem would be the numerous zigzags and obstacles, he thought as the course was pulled up. Not the best course for a newbie but the test would be how well Kyo handled it.

Ele was smiling like she knew the coyote, he noticed, then looked around. On several couches the others were snickering and such, though he figured it was just because of what had happened on stage. "I'm gonna get us some beers." He said, slowly rising, Marysa accompanying him. He had been so distracted he had almost forgotten about her.

Ele said an okay as he put an arm around Marysa and walked towards the bar.

~*~

Kyo couldn't get enough of this ship. It was so awesome. He sat, strapped down in a seat in the cockpit (they had given him the choice to sit there or farther back in the ship), leather seat against his back, his footpaws resting on the cool metal floor. He couldn't hold his attention to any one thing, so many flashing lights and switches, he wanted to know what they all did but was afraid to touch one on the off chance that they had a self destruct button. There were five other seats, two beside each other in the middle of the cockpit, several switches and what Kyo could only relate to a steering wheel in front of the seat on the left.

A seat a foot or so in front of him and a mirrored set up on the other side of the cabin, a seat in front of another. The window at the very front was completely black at the moment so the cockpit was dark. Gyuoh sat in front of him, Crystal in the seat next to the one with the steering wheel, Sentai on the other side, opposite Gyuoh and Violena opposite Kyo himself.

He hadn't really spoken with Violena, which actually was surprising but she hadn't spoken to him either. She seemed to keep to herself, the wolf with black horns (pretty strange) and wild ruby eyes. She had carried a sword around with her last time he was around her but she had put it with her board before coming to the cockpit. She looked up and noticed him staring, at which he grinned nervously. "Hey.." Instead of replying, she turned her head, looking up at the front where Dusk sat, cracking his paws.

"One minute till we start." He said. "Crystal, everything ready?"

Crystal ran her talons over a monitor, adjusting some things, then gave a short nod after a bit. "Yeah, everyone's in position, we managed to get everything ready in time even though we had some delays." The dragoness glanced back at Kyo with a smile. "Ready to go."

Kyo could feel his heart rate increase, he was getting more excited just sitting there. His paws gripped the armrests, claws digging in. "Stay calm." Violena suddenly said. "You'll do better for it if you don't get excited. Our part doesn't start for a while."

"Huh... thanks... I guess." He nodded, taking a breath.

~*~

What was he doing there? Christina thought to herself, not paying as much attention to the engines revving up (the ship beginning to vibrate) as she was to figuring out the reason for the coyote coming there. It was a strange coincidence.

"Christina." Vixy said from another part on the ship, speaking through a com link. "You seemed like you knew Kyo, when did you meet him?"

"You know him too? I knew him a lonnng time ago." She replied, meaning what she said. It wasn't that long really but it felt like forever since she had spoken with him. It had at least been before she had become a Jader.

"I met him just last night. Kinda cute, make sure you don't go easy on him."

A smirk spread her lips at that thought. "I doubt I'll have that problem."

~*~

It was surprisingly quiet though the shaking of the ship itself told him their engines were pushing to full power, he teeth chattering for a while until he clenched his jaw shut, paws gripping the armrests.

The cockpit lit up as the front screen did, revealing a huge steel door slowly opening up, revealing black space.

"Radio on." Crystal said and suddenly it played from speakers around the cockpit, filling his ears.

"-nd the race appears as if it's just about to start." Hm, must've been announcers. This one sounded male, he had a bright voice though.

"Yeah Kat and this one should be a Doozy. I've just looked at the wagers on this one which are a sight in themselves. I'll tell you, that team Subito must have a lot of heart because as I've just seen their odds of winning this race are 347 to 1."

"Haha yeah Jack, that seems fairly lopsided."

"But you know some idiot 'll put a bet on them and if by some miracle they win, they'll end up a very rich fur."

Kyo hadn't even noticed the thrusters max out, jetting their vessel out into space until just then, he was getting mad just listening to that Jack dude.

"Heh, but I hear they have a new Jader." Kat said. "A real hothead from the looks of it, with a big mouth but he's got guts which just might be the thing Team Subito needs to pull out a win in this one." Mmm, least that guy wasn't biased against them.

"Let's make your first race a good one Kyo." Sentai said, smiling at him. She must've seen how perturbed he was by the commentary.

"Yeah, no problem." The coyote grinned, giving her a thumbs up.

He turned his attention to the front window where their ship slowly approached a large gold ring, slowly rotating in a clockwise direction. He could feel his body lurch as the ship stopped. "What's that thing?"

~*~

The blackish grey ship, team Subitos ship, approached the starting ring, the anticipation mounting with every second, Subito had one of the most impressive ships when one looked at it statistic wise, one of the quickest things, fastest acceleration with one of the highest top speeds. What Ele would have given for a ship like that. Her team would be unbeatable.

A split in the screen showed team USAs ship, something akin to a silver stingray, they relied mostly on weaponry than actual speed. Both ships started on opposite sides of the colony and would switch courses after passing through their respective rings,

"And it seems both ships are ready Kat, the rings are just about ready to light up." That they were, each ring spun quicker and quicker, a red blur in the center of the gold slowly shifting to yellow... green!

A blinding light erupted from the tails of each ship (tiny little flares all over the body of Subitos ship, fire emanating from the exhaust pipes too) as they jetted forward.

"And team Subito is the first through their ring!" Kat exclaimed. They were and were already adjusting their course, blasting through empty space, their pace quickening with every second.

~*~

It was liked a roller coaster, he could feel his body tense as it swung to the rights (only held in place by the loose seatbelts criss-crossing his chest) the ship turning. A jerk snapped his head back as the secondary jets kicked in, rocketing them forward.

"Kyo." He heard Dusk say, still recovering from the burst of speed. "I'm about to turn off the gravity, hold on."

Huh? Why was he telling him that? The coyote opened his mouth to ask why but immediately closed it, feeling the exact reason. His stomach did a flip as he felt his body grow light, his small breakfast immediately coming up, he lurched forward and swallowed the bile back, covering his mouth with a paw.

~*~

Crystal winced a bit, feeling nauseas herself when the coyote let out a guttural sound, vomiting suddenly. The ship jerked again as it went another burst faster and another wave of vomit erupted from him, dripping down his jaw and paw, this last had been so violent it had spurted from his nose, something she knew had to burn. (she couldn't relate to the sickness he felt from first being in an zero gravitational area, only males experienced that) His eyes hooded over and he seemed to lean against the seatbelts, weak until suddenly his eyes bulged and he threw up again, the expelled fluids hitting his paw was enough to make Crystal a shade green.

"Violena, help him out so he can get cleaned up." She ordered, coming to her senses. Sentai looked on the verge of being sick herself though she continued operating the subtle functions of the ship along with the wolf across from her.

Crystal received a nod from Violena and turned back to her console, looking at the map. She wanted to help the coyote but had her own duties to perform. "Alter course twelve degrees east and five degrees lower."

~*~

Suddenly a bright red flare shot out from Team USAs ship, straight at the other. At the last second it rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding the bright projectile, which traveled some distance ahead before exploding in a flashy display. "That was a close dodge Kat, how many do you think he has left in him?"

The vessel provided for several more evasions, though the other ship gained on them a little quicker each time. Suddenly a long plate of steel on the top of the ship drew back and two large cylinders stuck out of it, aiming back at the other ship, team Subito had finally taken out their guns.

This time as soon as the American team fired a shot one of the barrels quickly moved into position, firing. The flare-like missile exploded prematurely and the other ship had to take evasive maneuvers to avoid their own explosion.

~*~

"Haha, got it!" Sei gloated in her seat in a different part of the ship. It was a small room, further back lined with monitors and flashy switches, before her a pair of sticks with red triggers at the top front, which she used to fire with. Between those was what appeared to be a red ball, around the size of one that would be found on a pool table, simply hovering there, she hadn't needed to use that just yet.

"Not over yet." Dusk said through his com. "Keep it up."

Nodding, her smile faded and she continued watching, not firing. They weren't ready to take the offensive.

~*~

Kyo had almost been sick again. They had rolled around in the bathroom without any restraints, both of them thrown to the side. It was a blur and somehow he had ended up on top of her, both floating in the air, his head between her legs. He lifted himself, thinking as to how that could've happened when suddenly she kicked him in the nose, making him float back.

"Not the time or place for it Kyo."

What!? You know what, he wouldn't even ask, best just to nod and snap like he was disappointed. "Dang, I'll have to hit you up later I guess."

Suddenly the ship rolled again at they were both pinned to a wall as it made its rotations.

~*~

The Americans had started using more missiles, these less flashy looking but had a streak of blue smoke behind them and unlike the last ones they were heat seeking. Half of them exploded before reaching the ship, shot down, but the rest they had to evade, rolling out of the way back and forth, then pulling up when the missiles returned, evading them again to have them finally explode in their wake.

USA fired a flare, this one bright blue and it was immediately shot, but unlike the others this one exploded into two dozen more missiles, all headed for their ship. "Looks bad for team Subito."

Suddenly the other cannon fired, shooting a silver missile, which suddenly exploded, a thick cloud of some dark substance erupting from it. Each of the missiles attempted to go through it but merely exploded as soon as they contacted the strange substance. Team Subito blasted away as the other ship rolled out of the way of the substance, chasing the smaller ship again.

Suddenly a bright light shone from the leading vessel, dropping off it, a shining beacon that was blinding to the pilot of the other ship, making him veer about in an uncontrolled manner, the light was jamming every system they had and he was too blind to fly by sight so all he could do was dodge randomly.

Team Subito took the opportunity to jet ahead, the afterburners kicking them up to speeds far beyond what they had been traveling with. A trail of red matter was left in their wake, the flames spewing from the tail of their ship a bright purple.

"Alright, we're halfway there already." Dusk said to the crew inside the cockpit. "We should be there in just a few minutes, this race is mainly on Kyo and Violena. Speaking of... Where are they?"

~*~

The two were still in the bathroom, recovering from the jerky piloting they had just endured. The coyote rubbed the back of his head which he was pretty sure was broken and groaned.

"You alright?" He asked the wolf, who was already standing up. Kyo used the wall he was sitting against to help himself stand when she didn't reply and they left the bathroom.

They made their way up the ship to the cockpit, the crimson coyote rubbing injured areas on his body. Violena however made no complaint and sat in her chair without a word, quickly closing emerald eyes. "Kyo, are you okay?" Crystal said, having turned around to look at him. Her golden eyes showed enough concern for him that his ears flushed red.

"Yeah, course I am. I'm Kyo after all." He said cockily to offset that she had embarrassed him a little. Someone had cleaned up the mess he had made, he assumed it had been Gyu seeing as Sentai didn't look up to cleaning anything when he had last seen her. The lioness was still fairly green.

"Sit down Kyo, you should take a moment to get your head together, we're gonna be there in around ten minutes. Then it's up to you and Violena."

~*~

That team Subito was a slippery one. The small ship had evaded them for the time, and was putting more and more distance between themselves and the larger Team USAs ship at a quick rate. Once they had gotten their bearings they had kicked on their thrusters and though not as powerful as the other teams they were strong enough that they would be on the planet soon after Subito. They wouldn't have much of a lead to work with.

Christina crossed her legs, a sly smile crossing her face. Chris... This would be very interesting.

~*~

The ship broke through the atmosphere, cutting into the black clouds that coated the planet. When they had first seen it all it seemed to be was an area of space just a shade lighter than the rest. The light from the nearby sun didn't even reflect off its surface.

Their ship lowered even more and Kyo began to feel the first sensations of gravity returning, his stomach dropping back to its normal level quite abruptly. He wasn't sure it was such a good feeling but was quickly distracted when they dropped even lower, his ears popping and body jerking forward when they began to slow.

Finally they dropped below the clouds and they could see. It was a bright world strangely, grey colored rocky ground coating much of it, though from the looks of it they passed by a city, their ship slowing even more. A golden ring came into sight and they flew straight through it. "Alright, when we land, you two'll be up. Kyo, just follow Violena and listen to my directions." Kyo took a moment to realize Crystal had been talking to him, he had been so occupied with trying to understand the landscape, which revealed itself to be quite rocky, dark shadows paralleling the large boulders whos sharp tips jutted up into the air. This wouldn't be the best place to crash.

"Uh huh." He said.

It wouldn't be the be the best place to fall down either, he noted when he and Violena had gotten off the ship, both of their jaders boards in paw. Seemed tiny shards of gravel were all over the place. They had landed in a patch which was relatively clear, a red strip around ten meters long marking where they should start. They went up to the line.

"Come on, we don't have long." Violena told him, hoping on her board, falling just a bit before hovering in the air a two feet or so above the ground.

He got on his own board, floating lower than her. She took off ahead of him and he realized he should probably start moving too. Shifting his weight onto his back paw, the board took off, almost making him fall off. He quickly caught up with her though his eyes were watering and he was pretty much deaf due to the wind ruffling his clothes, hair and ears. Now he realized why she had her hair in a ponytail, his kept getting in his eyes and her clothes were much tighter, reducing all of that ruffling.

They moved quicker, the ground a blur beneath them and he looked ahead at an angle, seeing that soon they would be at a much rougher point, a hill looming before them.

Kyo braced himself when they reached the hill but Violena leaned back even further, zooming ahead and up the hill, a trail of rocks and gravel in her wake, some of the rocks flying up to hit Kyo before he copied her, catching up, then flying ahead. The coyote flew up in the air at the peak of the hill, his arms flailing wildly. "Yaaahhh!" He yelled when his board landed only a few inches above the ground before going back to its usual height. "Whew." He had thought he was going to really hit the ground. The coyote took a breath and he heard laughing in his ear. It was Crystal's voice.

"Having fun?" She asked.

"Yeah!" He yelled over the sound of the wind, recovering his concentration on Jading when Violena caught up with him.

"Good, because Team USA just landed. Be ready. Just keep heading straight, you're going to see a river soon and then you'll change course, got it Kyo?"

He nodded though it was lost on her. "Yeah, I got ya."

The two blazed ahead, Violena keeping a sharp watch behind them even though she didn't see anything. They reached a river, clear green tinted water sparking under the light of the unseen sun. "Kyo, follow the river. Violena is going to take another route." He nodded again and turned, trying to stop before he reached the water but he continued coasting, sending water into the air as he floated just above the liquid, Violena zooming on in her path, quickly moving over the river.

His board was floating lower, the end trailed in the water but he figured it was fine when he leaned back, darting ahead at his usual speed, following the winding river, water kicking up in his wake. Suddenly rocky crags rose up around the river, hemming it in as well as killing his chances of spotting anyone approaching the river. His eyes flicked back and forth, watching the river as much as he could. Hmm? What was that? A spot on the water was darker than the rest of the river... !!! He looked up! There was the looming shape of a board, falling right over him! Barely swinging himself out of the way, Christina of Team USA dropped where he had just been.

The vixen giggled and waved at him as he wiped the shock from his face. "Hey Chris."

"Christina.." He said, gritting his teeth together in a grin. The coyote shifted his weight once again and basted forward, leaving her behind only to have another member of team USA drop right in his path.

"Yah!" He yelled, veering out of the way while keeping up his breakneck pace. One of his paws trailed in the water when he leaned over and his arm was jerked back. They were moving too fast for him to even do that. Kyo pulled his arm back up, shaking the fluid off his paw. Christina moved beside him, smiling at him like a predator toying with her prey. Sweeping out with a footpaw, he barely dodged her kick, hopping over it to land on his board. "Hey!"

She shot a paw forward to knock him back, the coyote flailing his arms wildly as he tried not to fall. The wolf came out of no where. Finally he recognized the wolf he had taunted before right when he was hit upside his head, knocking him off his board.

Kyo fell in slow motion, his body turning so his back was to the water when he hit. 'WHAM!' He bounced off the surface, his body hitting the water hard. Wham! He hit a second time, and a third right afterwards, his vision going black when he plunged beneath the surface finally, team USA leaving him behind.

~*~

"Kyo!" He heard Crystal's voice. He groaned, stirring a bit. His whole body was hurting and he was floating downstream. That's what he realized when he came to. On his back, he had no idea how much time had passed but rolled over, seeing his board was only a few meters ahead of him, floating there.

"Crystal! How long've I been out?"

"Only a few seconds, you're still in this Kyo." He kicked forward, swimming forward as best he could though it wasn't very well. When he finally reached his board he took a breath, draping his body over it, his weight not pushing it up but having the opposite effect, making it rise just a bit.

"Alright, let's try this again." The coyote swung a leg up onto the board and clambered on top, wasting no time in getting his bearings, just leaning back and down to get the most speed he could, jetting ahead faster than he had before. His soaked clothes clung to his form, quickly beginning to dry under the wind from his blazing speed.

~*~

They had this in the bag. Team Subito was no match for them. Their third Jader should've been keeping Violena occupied right about then, leaving herself and Tyson (that was the wolf jader with her) to take the win.

The vixen chuckled to herself again. They were only a minute or so away from the finish line and according to their scout Violena had dropped out of sight.

"Ha!" She spun around as she heard something hit the water and saw Tyson go under, Kyo jading where he had just been moments before. "You might want a new team mate Christina. Yours are no good." The coyote smirked, then zoomed ahead, splashing her with water.

She growled and chased after him. No way he was beating her on his first race!

Suddenly two jaders dropped before her, it was Violena and the other wolf jader on her team, fighting right in front of her as they soaked her with even more water. She didn't waste any time on the two, the coyote was the issue right now.

Christina dropped to her board, leaning back with all her weight to dash around and ahead of the two, quickly gaining ground on the coyote. "Five hundred meters to go!" Their scout told her over the intercom. Shit, she didn't have any time.

The vixen wrapped her tail around herself, trying to get as small as she could against the board, reducing air drag and felt herself moving faster, catching up with the coyote. He kicked at her but she expected it, dropping back merely to kick his other leg out from under him. He fell but reached out with his paws, taking a hold of her board as he fell into the water again, yanking her off course.

~*~

Ele could hardly believe it. It had been such a close race.

Team Subito had barely lost. She watched the replay, shaking her head with a smile. That Christina was something else. The vixen spun around wildly, her board moving with her several times until she hopped in the air, spinning her body in the opposite direction of the board, the board straightening its course when she landed, flying ahead to win it for Team USA.

It was close. Violena had finished two seconds behind her after taking out the other jader of Team USA.

The café was practically roaring. The win had been expected but not the fight team Subito put up or the recovery by the new coyote though he now was floating on his back in the water for the second time. Ele closed her eyes. That had to hurt. Jaders didn't usually get up from falls like that moving that fast. Not on their own. He'd be pretty sore in the morning. The speedometer had clocked him at 93 miles an hour when he actually hit the water, fifteen miles faster than he had been going when he crashed the first time.

Ebon laughed and rose from his seat, walking off. Well that was like him. Take off without telling anyone what he was thinking.

Guess it was time for her to go too. The race was over and they had one of their own to prepare for in just a few days.

~*~

Kyo washed up on the shore of the river, right beside his board. His body was aching even more and he didn't even have a win to show for it. The new jader slowly sat up, his stomach hurting a bit with the effort and set his paws down, right on an area of sharp rocks. Great.

"Are you okay?" He heard Crystal again.

It took him a moment to respond. "Yeah, pretty bummed we lost though." He had heard the victory announced over the radio link on his com.

"You did good Kyo. We'll get them next time." He nodded and rose to his footpaws, hopping on his board a second later. Bah, his jading career started with a loss.

~*~

The ride back was longer than the one there, not because of the fact that their ship was actually flying slower but because they had lost after being so close. They were in the cockpit, excluding the technicians, completely silent.

"We lost, but it was a good race." Crystal said. "Kyo, we couldn't have asked any more of you in your first race than what you gave. Sei, that was some good shooting. Dusk, the same goes for your piloting and Violena you did a good job as always."

The coyote frowned, looking at his board. Whatever, next time he would win.

~*~

"What d' you want?" He asked, his ears twitching. Kyo stood on the sidewalk. He had just separated from his team outside the garage after the congratulations were given by each team captain. Though Crystal had given him a key, he was most likely going to wander about for a bit, he never felt comfortable resting at someone else's place when they weren't there.

It hadn't taken him long to run into Vixy though. She wore casual clothes now, a white blouse and a pair of jeans. The gunner for team USA smiled at him sweetly. "Hey Kyo." He made a face. "Hope you don't have any hard feelings about earlier."

"Please." He groaned, rolling his eyes before turning away. "We lost, don't know how I can't have hard feelings."

Vixy moved a bit closer, taking him by surprise when she put an arm around his waist, one of her paws slipping between his legs to grope him. "Wonder what else hard you have down there..." His brows arched in surprise though he didn't pull away.

On the contrary, his arm circled about her, stroking down her back to rest on her butt. "Moving a bit quick, huh?"

"Mmm..." She said, not really an answer. Her lips pressed against his neck, followed by the sensation of her tongue running down his neck, right over his jugular. "When I see something I want, I take it." The vixen gave another grope. "So if you're still feeling sore about that loss... let me make it up to you."

Heh, took long enough for me to get done, sorry folks, I was just pretty busy and stressed and shit. Haha. Anyway, the next part is already being worked on so it shouldn't be as long before I get that one out.