FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

I slowly pull into the parking lot of speedway circling around the back of the building to pull into a diesel pump. As I pull up to the pump I pull the transmission out of gear and push the breaks. I cut the engine and engage the parking break. As I open the door I can hear the hiss of high pressure air escaping the brake lines. "Hey Sarven, the air brakes are leaking again. Can you get the emergency brake engaged before the truck starts sliding backwards?"

"If it gets us out of here any faster then yes. It's the pedal under the hood release, right?" Sarven replies from within the truck.

"That would be the one. Push it to the floor." I say as I unscrew the cap on the gas tank. I turn to the pump and my gut turns a knot. "Well shit. Four fifty a gallon! This will not be cheap" I complain as I begin filling the gas tank.

"Quit your bitching and lets go! Everyone else is waiting on you!" Sarven snaps.

"No need to get pissy! The pump is running isn't it?" I retort as I haul eight six gallon tanks out of the bed of the truck. "if you really want to get out of here so quickly why don't you take this and go fill it with kerosene?" I ask Sarven as I hand him a 3.5 gallon plastic gas tank. Sarven grumbles angrily as he climbs out of the truck and takes the canister to the fuel pump on the other side of the parking lot. I laugh quetly to myself as I begin to fill the spare fuel tanks. "a dragon at a gas station. Now that is something you don't see very often" I say to myself imagining what people must be thinking.

"There, its full. Are you done yet?" Sarven asks impatiently as he returns with the kerosene.

"Yeah, I just have to put these in the truck and pay for the gas" I reply.

"Just go pay for the gas already! I will get this crap in the truck for you!" Sarven snaps back at me.

"Moody moody moody. Fine, I'm going to pay for the fuel. DON'T spill any of it! That crap was expensive and I don't want anything to get ruined by a gas spill!" I reply as I walk inside to pay. I approach the cashier and take out my debit card.

"Do you even care to hear how much this is going to cost you or do you just want to take the receipt and look at that?" the cashier asks me.

"Just give me the receipt. I know this is going to be expensive, id rather not have an audience when I see the price tag" I say as I hand over the debit card and a speedy rewards card. A few moments later the cashier returns the rewards card and debit card with a receipt.

"Have a good day, or at least try to. Not sure if its possible with that bill" The cashier says grimly as I walk out the door. I get back into the truck with Sarven and look at the receipt. I crumple up the receipt and toss it into the glove box.

"Can we quit being sentimental about lost money and get moving already!?!" Sarven practically screams.

"OW! There is no need to scream in confined spaces Sarven. And yes we can get moving now." I disengage the parking break, push the clutch, and turn the key. There is a click and a whining sound, but nothing more. I try again and get the same result.

"Quit screwing around and get us going!" Sarven yells.

I push the clutch again, turn the key, and hold it there. As the starter whines I flip a switch to engage a backup battery system. The starter turns and turns, but the engine doesn't catch. I try again and get the same result. I try one more time but still nothing good. As I am holding the key in the start position I stomp the gas and almost immediately the engine roars to life. I let off the key and disengage the backup battery. Almost immediately the engine starts to choke out and idles at half the normal speed. Then a few seconds later the engine spins back up to normal speed and I drive away from the pump to meet up with the rest of the group that is going on the trip. I roll the window down and park the truck, but don't turn it off.

"We ready to go then?" I ask. The response is almost instant and definitive. "Well then let's get moving! We've got a long drive ahead of us, so lets get on the road and make good time!" I say as everyone returns to their respective vehicle. After everyone else has left I roll the window up and move the truck to get out of the parking lot. I wait for Sarven to say something as I drive down the road. A few minutes later, with the exit to the freeway fast approaching I sigh. As I pull onto the freeway I am almost collide with some teenager in his first car, a small s10 that has obviously seen better days. After a few obscene gestures from the teenage driver, and the sudden closing of a gap between my behemoth of a truck and his little truck I return to the center of my lane and ignore the punk. "So Sarven, what the hell is bothering you? I have NEVER seen you this impatient or this moody! Are you having a man period? Is Zerinnon terminally ill? WHAT!?!" I say, mortified that I just spoke my mind without thinking. SHIT SHIT SHIT!!! IDIOT! How could I say that!?! What the hell was I thinking!?! What if he... I continue on in my thoughts for what feels like an eternity but is only a few seconds before Sarven replies.

"There are inconsistencies in what you've told us, and there are things about you that I don't know that I would like to know. " Sarven replies coolly. And it would be appreciated if you wouldn't suggest man period again"... ouch. The way he said that tells me I offended him. Damn it I'm goanna have to deal with that later... wait, did he just say he wants to know more about me? What the hell is there to know that he doesn't already?

"Did you just say you want to know more about me? Sarven we've been living together since I was ten, we've been together since I was fourteen! Anything that's worth knowing you've been with me to whiteness first hand. You know everything about me, and some of it you've directly caused." I reply, dumbfounded as I ponder the prospect of Sarven not knowing something about me that is worth knowing. Being that we share such an intimate telepathic link that formed on day one, I am rather appalled at the thought of not knowing my mate as well as I think I do. "Why, is there something you're hiding from me that you want to tell me?" I counter.

"Well, not really. I don't want to tell you, but you have the right to know if you want to." Sarven replies sullenly as he looks down. His behavior telling me that despite what he said he has something he wants to get off his chest.

"Listen Sarven, I'm here for you. You obviously have something that's bugging you that you want to talk about, and this is going to be a long ass road trip, so talk to me. I don't want you to have something pulling at your mind al week. Man we're going to Alaska to enjoy a week in the wild with each other! I want you to be happy man, not depressed!" I say softly as I pull over on the shoulder and slowly come to a stop. I turn in my seat and place my hand on Sarven's snout. I place my hand under his chin and lift his head so that he is looking me in the eye before saying "You mean more to me than anything else in the world Sarven. Please, tell me what's on your mind. I hate to see you upset like this." I say softly.

"You should get moving before the others notice that you're not following" Sarven tells me. Right then my phone goes off. "You should answer that" Sarven comments as I look at caller ID to find that Berrwain is calling me. DAMN IT ALL TO HELL! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO CALL ME NOW!?!

"Berrwain and the rest can wait Sarven, you can't. Talk to me, please" I practically beg as I hang up on Berrwain.

"Just catch up to the others. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Sarven replies as he looks away. DAMN IT YOU! TALK TO ME!!! I call Berrwain back as I pull back into traffic, which isn't easy with such a heavily loaded truck when traffic is going 70 miles an hour.

"YO! Drosmine! Whyd ya hang up on me like that?" Berrwain comments.

"Hey tell the others that I have to get off the road ASAP. I think a tire blew out and I need to check it out. I'm probably going to pull into the first rest stop we pass" I reply.

"Dude that's a load of crap! You've got brand new tires on that truck! They shouldn't be blowing out like that!" Berrwain retorts, calling my bluff.

"Not one of the truck tires moron! On the trailer!" I retort. Oh damn it all! DON'T pull over to help me!

"Oh, do you want any help changing the tire at all?" Berrwain asks.

"Naw, I've got it. Thanks for the offer though." I reply, praying that he doesn't pull over with me. I hear hushed voices, and then I hear rustling as the phone transfers hands.

"Hi Drosmine its Zerinnon. Don't worry, I know what you need. Take all the time you need, I will see to it that you aren't disturbed. Oh, and don't push him too far too fast, or you won't get anywhere. Good luck" Zerinnon tells me, and then hangs up. Thank god someone understands what I need! Damn I owe you huge Zerinnon. I plug the phone back into the stereo and continue down the road until I find a rest stop. As I pull onto the exit ramp I hear a sharp crack, then hissing shortly followed by a loud BOOM! Damn it, now I really DO have a blown tire! I pull into a truck parking spot and kill the engine. But instead of getting out of the truck I turn to Sarven.

"I love you and you know it. I am worried about you, and we aren't moving until you open up. What the hell has you so wound up? I've never seen you like this before, and its got me worried sick!" I say as I climb into the back seat with Sarven. Sarven tries to look away, but I reach out and pull his muzzle to make him look at me. Sarven avoids making eye contact, so I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him close to me. I am about to whisper something in his ear when I feel something warm and wet hit my neck... I lean closer to Sarven and whisper in his ear "tell me what's wrong"

"I... I can't. I can't go on like this... Drosmine I'm so sorry..." Sarven chokes out before breaking down completely.

"Sarven what do you mean you're sorry?" I ask softly. After a few minutes Sarven raises his head and looks me in the eye.

"I could have saved your parents Drosmine, but instead I left them to die on a battle field" Sarven chokes out.

"What the hell are you talking about Sarven?" I ask confused.

"Don't you get it? I killed your parents!" Sarven practically screamed at me. Then it hit me. My biological parents. Sarven is the one that could have saved them on that battlefield but instead turned tail and saved his ass instead. Is that really what this is all about?

_ _

"Sarven, what's done is done. I hardly knew my parents to begin with, don't freak out about it." I say softly as I try to pull Sarven closer to me, but he pulls away. "Sarven don't do this. Come here" I say as I try to pull Sarven closer, but he still resists.

"Drosmine stop. I'm not the dragon you think you know..." Sarven says but I cut him off.

"Stop it. You've gotten yourself worked up over something not worth getting worked up for. You saved your life instead of my parents. As horrible as this may sound, I'm glad you did! If you hadn't I wouldn't be here with you now. I you wouldn't be my mate! I hardly even knew my parents! And you think I'm worried that you didn't save their lives? They were practically strangers to me! You have done more for me in the first month that we knew each other than my parents did in ten years!" I stop talking and pull Sarven closer to me. I whisper into his ear "Don't be sorry and don't regret the past. We have each other and that's what counts. I wouldn't want it to be any other way Sarven. I don't want you thinking that I would. I always have and always will love you." Sarven pulls back enough to see my face and licks me. "Haha come on you. We've got to get going if we want to share a tent for a week" I say while Sarven keeps licking my face. Sarven looks disappointed, but we both get out of the truck. As I circle the truck and the trailer I don't find any blown tires, or a trail of shredded rubber.

"Maybe it was one of the interior drive tires" Sarven suggests. So I go to the back of the truck and climb underneath to inspect the tires.

"What the hell? The spare tire blew up! The SPARE tire blew out! How does that even happen? There isn't even any weight on the damn thing." I ramble on as I climb out from underneath the truck. "Screw it, I don't care. Let's just get moving, we have a long trip and a longer week ahead of us" I comment.