FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

- Chapter 4: WAFFLES AND SUPERDOGS -

Sunshine assaulted the snoozing Labradors eyelids, causing the black dog to blink uncomfortably and drop a paw over his drowsy forehead. Another paw flew out expected to wrap around the warm body of a white shepherd, but instead landed on the cold wooden floor. Blinking himself awake, Benji awoke to the uncomfortable feeling of not having a warm body beside him to nuzzle up against.

Where's Bolt?

The Labrador flew up. A quick look around confirmed that Bolt was not in the cabin, nor on the boat, so he jumped out on the peer outside, frantically looking around. Suddenly, he noticed the shepherd's brown collar washed up on the wet sands of the riverbed. Panic grabbed him. One thought rushed through his head:

That stupid dog has tried to get over the river again!

...

In a nearby park...

"Listen. I'll take it real slow so your walnut-sized pheasant brain can follow, okay?" An annoyed Mittens stared down at the small pigeon in front of her.

"White dog. Medium-sized. Got this smudged lightning bolt on his butt".

She gave the description for what must be the fourth time, making sure to really articulate all the syllabus extra slowly so that the stupid pigeon would follow.

"He's a pretty memorable fellow, so if you've seen him you'd know."'

• "I'm sorry miss Cat, but I just ain't gon' be able to help ya. I've been watching this here human for a while, and I got the nudges they gon' be throwing some bread soon, and I ain't missing that cos' of some cat."

• "Geez, which crazy-ass country did you migrate from? Just tell me if you've seen him!"

• "I done told ye already, Miss Cat. I ain't seen no dog with no smudged lightning bolts."

• "Are you sure?"

• "Sure as sure gets."

Mittens let out a deep sigh. The black cat had been up all night searching for Bolt. Her search for clues had taken her to this park where she had now spent more than three irritating hours interviewing a flock of pigeons. It was bad enough she had to stoop so low as turning to these primitive poultry for help; the fact that no pigeon thus far had been able to help her, that most of them had just flown away the second they saw the cat approaching, and that one of them had even been rude enough to peck her in the head, only made it worse. So the last thing she wanted was to waste any more time on this particularly stupid bird than was necessary.

"Fine. But do you know if any of your pigeon friends might know where he is?" she asked patiently.

• "No. Now beat it will ya? The old man looks like he's about to throw somin' real nice real soon."

Mittens looked skeptically at the old man sitting on the park bench by the pond, staring into nothingness.

"That's an old human, meaning they are extra stupid. He probably can't even see us", she sneered. "Why don't you just take a quick flight, scan the area from above and report to me if you see any white dogs around?"

• "Supposin' I could do that... supposin' there was some kind of remuneration... reward. I reckon I could spread my wings and take an aerial look for yer lost lightning-bolt-pooch."

• "I won't use you as a scratching post for wasting my time, how's that for a reward?" she snarled back. The last being in the world she would allow to talk down to her was some cross-eyed poultry.

• "With them clawless mitts of yours? You must think I'm nuttier than a squirrel turd, Miss Cat."

• "Stop calling me miss, you stupid bird!"

• "Mister then"

• "Gaahh!"

Mittens was so frustrated she wanted to claw the bird to feathery pieces to the best of her declawed paws. That, however, killing this bewinged rat wouldn't bring her any closer to finding Bolt. She decided to change strategy.

"Fine. Just know that there is a helpless dog out there who without my guidance might end up trying to head-tackle a car or get lost in the woods or get into all kinds of danger. By not helping me, you're letting that happen. Enjoy your freaking bread".

She turned around, as dignified as she could, walked a few meters away from the pigeon, then looked over her shoulder to see if her words had any impact.

They hadn't...

They grey pigeon was still by the park bench, eagerly waiting for any crumbs thrown by the presumably blind old man.

Mittens decided to give up.

...

The sun was already rising when Mittens returned from the nearby park.

"Any luck with the pigeon-recon?" The hamster asked hopefully upon spotting the returning tuxedo cat, although Mittens sullen face already revealed that she had no such luck.

• "Stupid bird was too busy waiting for crumbs". She sat down beside the rodent.

• "You should have used the enhanced interrogation techniques I suggested."

• "You mean the torture techniques?" Mittens eyed the hamster warily. "You watch way too much television. You're fascination with violence is getting a bit creepy." Although in the case of this bird, I'm almost inclined to agree, she thought to herself.

"I see you haven't had much more luck either", she continued nodding to the empty concrete platform which was empty save for the little hamster (and completely void of any returned superdogs).

• "No, but I've been scanning the sector. You want the good news or the bad?"

• "Might as well get the bad out of the way seeing as I'm already miserable"

• "Well, as you can see, I didn't find him. But I did find some paw marks!". The Rhino pointed eagerly towards the train tracks with his little rodent fingers.

• "And the good news?"

• "That's just it. I found paw tracks! Come, I'll show you!" the rodent squealed enthusiastically, rolling away while humming some repetitive melody. The cat followed closely.

...

Just as Rhino had said, there was a track of paws following along the side of the train track; Big paws, although Mittens couldn't determine whether they belonged to the vanished superdog they were searching for.

"Can't be Bolt's. See, they lead away from the station, and he knew we agreed to meet right here." she said.

The hamster shrugged. "Will if it was Bolt, it sorta looks like he's running from something."

• "Or running after something..." Mittens examined the paw marks. Suddenly it hit her like a speeding diesel train:

"He was chasing the freaking train! He must have thought we were onboard! That poor, stupid dog thinks we're in Kansas!

Rhino stood silent for a moment, then spoke, utter determination in his voice. "Then we'll go after him to Kansas..."

...

Benji was just about to panic when suddenly, his floppy ears picked up the sound of splashing. It came from the pier.

Benji trotted over there where he was met by the surprising sight of Bolt splashing around in the river, blowing bubbles on the surface and hitting the water hard with his paws, spraying water all around. He could even hear the shepherd giggling between the splashing.

"What on earth are you doing?" Benji asked, his worries replaced by both relief and annoyance - in equal measure. Bolt stopped and looked up to see the black Labrador from last night, looking down at him with a cooker eyebrow.

"Just bathing", he smiled back before diving below the surface, then kicking up again spraying water over the pier and Benji.

"Well I can see that. But what's with the giggling and playing?" Benji wiped away some water from his face with a paw. "You act as if you've never seen water before."

"Oh I have! Just not this much at the same place."

"Which crazy-ass, strange place did you grow up in where they don't have rivers?"

Bolt didn't look like he understood the question, and instead just dove below the surface one last time, before jumping up on the pier and shaking, making his white fur stand on all ends.

"I would I have thought you'd want to stay away from any water after what happened last night." Benji scoffed, then ducked as a cluster of water drops sprayed over him.

"Well, I didn't plan on it originally. I had no idea you had dragged me into that boat, so when I stepped outside I fell right into it. Interesting stuff, this is. Makes you feel almost weightless!" He pawed the water, clearly fascinated.

"And the collar? I found it here, almost thought you had drowned" Benji continued demonstratively pointing at the thing.

"Oh no, I just took it off since I didn't want it to get wet", the white dog said as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Wow. You know I've never met a dog who likes to bath before. Or one that knows how to take his collar on" Benji commented, watching as Bolt put a paw on his collar, angled his nose into the loop and pulled it over his forehead, his pointy ears folding under the collar, then turning to face the impressed labrador.

"Well now you have" Bolt said, smiling pompously, then realized that his ears were still caught under the collar, then started shaking, trying desperately to jiggle them free.

Chuckling softly at the desperate canine's attempt to free his ears from under the collar, Benji approached to help.

"Stand still for a second", he asked. Resting his neck against Bolt's, he carefully dragged the collar down with his teeth, causing first the first, then the second ear to spring free.

"There. See how much better things get when you let people help you".

• "Yeah". Bolt let out a deep sigh.

• "I guess I should thank you. For saving me, I mean." He looked down at his paws.

• "Hey, don't mention it." Benji reflexively nuzzled the slouching shepherd's nose, then quickly retracted his nose again as he saw the young shepherd's ears perk up in surprise.

• "Ahem. Yeah, sorry about that." he quickly stammered.

• "I...it's okay. I didn't mind."

A few awkward seconds passed before anyone of them said anything.

"So... aside from chasing trains, what are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?" Benji asked.

• "I lost my person. Or well, I guess it's more like she lost me." Bolt looked up, a solemn expression in his face. "She is some place far away, and I need to get to her", he continued, speaking with a very grave voice so that Benji would understand the seriousness of the situation.

"Ah. Well, I won't hold you up". Benji gave an uncertain smile. "I guess I'll be on my way then. Good luck finding your owner". He formally offered his paw to Bolt who shook it eagerly.

He then turned around and started walking away along the beach, leaving the white shepherd on the pier. Bolt looked after him, trying desperately to think of something to say.

"Wait!"

The Labrador stopped, looking over his shoulder.

"Where is your person?"

Benji was taken aback by the question. "I ... don't have any person".

• "Why? Have your person lost you too?" Concern was in Bolt's voice. Persons were important.

• "I think it's me who lost them. Benji lowered his head before a bit before speaking, as if searching for the right words. "I used to have my family, but the family had to move to the city, and the dog had to be left behind."

Bolt's ears shot up. This dog was just as lost as he was.

"Where did they go?" he asked carefully.

"Heck, I don't care. It doesn't matter. I live at the dog pound now, because that's where they put us. They take your collar. They take care of you. For a while at least. Problem is; you never know how many bowls of food you got left on that place before they decide you aren't worth it."

• "But you're a dog! Not some robot hovercraft you can just scrap when it gets outdated!"

• "Well, I don't know what a robot hovercraft is, but I agree! So I managed to break out of that place. And then somehow I spotted you and those two other types you were with, I remembered you from the park and, well, I had nowhere else to go so I guess I just followed you."

Bolt just sat there on the pier, staring at Benji, letting his words sink in. He was about to say something, then stopped himself, trying to think of a comforting reply. He had never listened to someone else's problems like this. In fact, aside from Mittens, he had never really been as close to anyone else as Benji, and now he didn't know how to handle the situation. All he could think of saying felt inadequate, so he remained silent.

Meanwhile, Benji just stared at the ground. He regretted talking about this, stirring old emotions of sadness, emptiness and loneliness, feeling that he had tried to just lock away, put to rest and ignore. Dammit, why did Bolt have to ask?

"I'm gonna help you."

Benji looked up at Bolt who had risen to all four. There was something strangely heroic in the way the stood there on the pier, looking intently at him. Benji couldn't quite put his paw on what.

"You can come with me" Bolt continued. "After I find my person, I'll help you look for your lost persons as well!"

Bolt wagged his tail slowly, waiting eagerly for the Labradors reply. He really wanted to do this, the last time he had wanted to help someone so badly was when Mittens was locked up at that place. The night of his great realization.

The Labrador was surprised, almost shocked by the insane proposition. Not only didn't Bolt want him to leave, he wanted to help him too. Benji would have assumed Bolt was joking, but in the shepherd's brown eyes he saw nothing but complete intent and determination.

But how could Bolt help him? The dog could barely take care of himself! As much as he wanted to travel with Bolt, Benji knew he had to decline. He already knew what to answer: I'm really grateful for your offer, Bolt, but I don't think you can help me.

But just as he was about to say it, he somehow lost control of his muzzle, and entirely different words came out...

"Let's do it."

• "You mean it?" A smile reflexively grew on the shepherd's face.

No, I don't. "Yes, absolutely". Dammit. Benji cursed his disobedient muzzle.

"Great!" Bolt wagged happily. He didn't realize it himself, and when he discovered it, he felt a tad embarrassed with his sudden puppylike behavior. Regaining control of his tail, he continued. "We will need to get to Mittens and Rhino first. Mittens is really good with navigating between waffles."

• "Waffles?"

• "Yeah, you know, key locations. Where you can stop and occasionally resupply on antidote."

Benji gave the shepherd a strange look. "Where did you say you were going again?"

-"Well, Mittens said that Penny and the studio where somewhere in a place called "Hollywood".

• "Hollywood?" Benji's ears perked up.I think remember my family mentioning that place a lot before they moved. I have to assume it's the same Hollywood where you are going."

• "Let's verify it! Follow me" Bolt commanded, then jumped down from the pier and set off in the direction of the forest.

• "Wait, why does it matter!?" Benji screamed after the disappearing dog. "Oh godammit, now he's going crazy again" he muttered to himself before setting off after the speeding shepherd.

...

After a few minutes of running, Bolt arrived at the sleeping spot where he, Mittens and Rhino had spent their first night. He dove his nose into the wet grass, sniffing around for something. Behind him, Benji wobbled up and sank down in the grass behind Bolt, panting heavily.

"Here it is!" Bolt was relieved to find the waffle map still lying on the field where he had left it just a day ago. He picked it up carefully and dropped it in front of Benji who was still exhausted from the run.

"This is a top-secret map ... of the entire world." Bolt said dramatically.

"Uhu" Benji gazed skeptically over the colorful piece of plastic, filled with cartoon characters and bright colors.

"Bolt hunkered down, investigating the map silently, his concentrated gaze scanning over the surface like a laser beam until he found what he was like for. "There!" he suddenly burst out, his discovery causing Benji to jump in surprise and his own tail to whip happily against the wet grass.

"Look, here! By the waffle with the sunglasses" Bolt pointed, then looked up at Benji who looked at him as if he had just said something weird.

• "The waffle with the sunglasses?"

• "Yeah. That's where my person is, and that's where you're persons are now. It's written Hollywood."

• "You can read?"

• "No, but I recognize the word. Mittens and I have gone through this map like a thousand times!".

Bolt's radiant smile was almost infectious. Benji couldn't help smiling back, more due to Bolt's share enthusiasm than any hope that this "map" would help him find his family. His eyebrows furrowed as he took a closer look at the map.

"Well, this means that we're both going to the same place" Benji said.

• "By the waffle with the sunglasses, yes" Bolt nodded eagerly. "We just need to follow this trial of waffles... " he landed a paw on the map, a furry digit following the trail "until we get to the waffle with the sunglasses, aka Hollywood" his paw stopped at the cartoon waffle."

• "Wait wait wait, let's slow down a bit." The Labrador stared confusedly at Bolt. "Are you saying we can navigate to Hollywood with this glorified piece of fast-food commercial?"

• "Well, me, Mittens and Rhino used it to get this far."

• "How on earth did you manage to do that!?" Benji could barely believe his floppy ears.

Bolt shrugged. "Well, Mittens does most of the navigating. I'm mostly just using my dogface to generate food we can eat on the way."

• "How did you convince a cat to go along with all this?"

• "Well, she was sort of my hostage"

• "And the hamster? Is he like your pet?"

• "No no" Bolt laughed. "He thinks I have superpowers, though."

• "Superpowers? Of course?" Benji rolled his eyes. "I guess it's because you're named after that Bolt TV-dog, right? It's crazy, you sort of look like him too."

Bolt's ears perked up. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, it's nothing to be ashamed of. I'm actually named after some stupid actor dog as well, who doesn't even look like me might I add."

Bolt just stared vacantly at Benji. In his furry head, he was trying to figure out what this dog was talking about. Suddenly it hit him; He doesn't know I'm Bolt... Bolt opened his mouth to tell Benji the truth, then stopped himself, deciding instead to take advantage of the situation.

"So, ehm. What do you think about that Bolt fellow?" he asked, a coy smile growing on his muzzle.

-"He's okay I guess. Used to watch it when my family had it on".

"Did you see it on your magic box, eerr, television thingy?"

"Yeah" Benji sat down on the grass, scratching himself with a hindpaw, trying his best to look as casual as possible. "Used to like it kind of lot. Used to think he was kind of cute."

"Really? What, ehm, did you like about him?" Bolt tried to keep his tail from wagging... to no avail.

"It's silly I know. But that was like a year ago. I'm not really into him anymore."

"Why not?" Bolt's tail slowed down significantly.

"Guess I just grew out of it. Besides, the show started getting pretty unrealistic towards the second season. Arctic hover base? Like anyone can believe something like that is real" He chuckled, then turned to Bolt whose head and ears had drooped unhappily. "Anything wrong?"

• "Oh, uhm nothing" Bolt looked up. "Or well, I mean, maybe he like..." Bolt cleared his throat, trying to think of how to finish the sentence. "Maybe he thought it was all real? The show I mean. Maybe he thought that his person was in real danger?"

• "From the evil Doctor Calico?" Benji snickered. "Then I guess he's stupid, too".

Bolt's tail had no come to a complete stop, dangling between his legs.

• "Anyway" Benji continued; "He wasn't even that attractive when I think about it. I have to say that you, for example, look a lot better than him" Benji smiled carefully, hoping he hadn't said too much.

"Really?" Bolt crooked an eyebrow.

-"Really." Benji confirmed, then froze as he laid eyes on a patch of greyish fur on Bolt's flank. A patch which sort of looked like a smudged lightning bolt. The kind of lightning bolt that Bolt from the TV-show had...

"Oh my gosh, I'm such an idiot" Benji stumbled for apologies. "I'm sorry, I, ehm, shouldn't have..." He had to look away, avoiding eye-contact with the shepherd. Why did he have to say that about Bolt's handsomeness? Why does everything that blurt out of his darned muzzle had to embarrass him like this? He leered carefully towards the white shepherd's direction, and noticed that he didn't seem too insulted. Instead he came closer and sat down next to him.

"Hey, don't worry. You couldn't have known" Bolt smiled.

"I... ehm" Benji couldn't quite think with Bolt so close to him. He felt his cheeks heating up and thanked whatever gods may be for his black fur hiding his blush.

"Something about you make me say stupid things, do stupid things. I want you to know, I'm not normally this weird."

"Well, I'm normally weirder." Bolt chuckled.

Benji saw that he still had that goofy grin on him, despite the fact that he had first unknowingly insulted him and then blatantly complimented his looks. In his head, he was skimming through possible subject changers. All he could think of was questions.

"So you are Bolt. The Bolt, the superdog?

-"That's a positive."

"Alright. My first question is, what the heck are you doing out here?"

"It's a long story."

"Well, we got a few days to walk before we're in Hollywood, so you might as well"

"Fine" Bolt cleared his throat. "It all started when me and Penny infiltrated the Green Eyed Man's supercomputer-complex...

...

The black and white dog walked back over the fields, back towards the river, Bolt telling Benji of his life on the way. He told the Labrador everything, about Penny, about Mittens, about the truth and the lie and all the lonely nights he had spent in the trailer. Benji listened keenly.

Perhaps if the two dogs had paid attention, they would have noticed a diesel train arriving at the lonely train station, and perhaps even a cat and a hamster sneaking onboard.

Looking around, Mittens confirmed that they were no humans nearby. She then jumped onboard one of the empty cars, then repeatedly tried to lift Rhino and his plastic ball onboard as well, her teeth struggling to grip the plastic. In this situation, Bolt's big jaw would have been very useful, but Mittens just couldn't bite wide enough to lift it.

"You're gonna have to get out, Rhino" Mittens sighed. Rhino hesitated, then, accepting his plastic ball was something he had to sacrifice to reunite with his hero, slowly crawled out of the ball, jumping onboard, leaving his transparent home in the grass.

"Don't worry. I'm sure we'll be able to get another one" Mittens said comfortably as if knowing what Rhino was thinking.

The animals lied down to rest. In a few hours, the train would start moving and take them to Kansas where a totally unlost and unhurt Bolt would be waiting for them. At least that's what Mittens told herself before closing her eyes.

________________________________________ AUTHORS NOTE:

Alright, wrap-up! It gets a bit complicated so here's a brief rundown of what happened in this chapter. Bolt mistakenly believes Mittens and Rhino has left on a train to Kansas, a train they agreed to board together, and now teams up with Benji to get there. Unbeknownst to Bolt, Mittens and Rhino actually stayed behind in Missouri when Bolt didn't show up, but after spotting Bolt's paw tracks, thought that in that Bolt has left to Kansas. Major confusion! So now Mittens and Rhino has snuck onboard the next train which will take them to Kansas where they believe Bolt is.

So will they find each other or this split up permanent? Read my next chapter to find out! ^^