FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Flight eighty five bravo is now ready for departure"...

The volume of strangers perked their ears up to the sound they too had been waiting to hear for the last couple of hours and it was easy to see that it wasn't just the cheetah who was excited about getting on that plane; as the entire waiting area was a happy sea of wagging tails, belonging of course to a sea of rather noticably fit canines. Despite finally finding a spot to do his part to create a semi orderly line up to the waiting room exit, he was unable to avoid the occasional thwapping of random dog tail as he made his way to where he stood now. Mike must have been gently boffed by about every breed of large dog imaginable. Tails belonging to german shepherds, malamutes, pit bulls and even a few wolves and he couldn't even avoid being semi thankful that rottweilers, dobermans, bull terriers and even boxers made up part of the mix, due to the fact that at least some dogs came without anything more than bobbed, docked or short tails. Either way it still didn't matter, he still wasn't a fan of sharing the other half of the planet with canines; but knowing a better life lay in wait for him was enough to offer him enough comfort to feelings of frustration and anxiety that came with being cramped up in such a small space with so many others.

Finally the line up organized itself enough to start filing out of the exit and onto the tarmack, where the seven thirty seven that had just landed moments earlier was waiting to be boarded and everyone wandered out, following one of the flight attendants to the rear of the plane where it's boarding steps were lowered. Mike and about a hundred or so canines strolled their way in what could best be described as a semi organized line, helping to add to the noise coming from the vehicles and idlely running jet turbines with drowned out conversations, except for the cat and a few other anthros and as usual the occasional off colour joke about the plane couldn't help but pass through the sarcastic lips of those who were complete strangers to the cheetah "...oh! Hey looks like we're taking this plane doggy style!"... "...hey Arwen! Figures you'd be the first one to enter from behind!"... Mike on the other hand just drowned it all out as he could feel his pelt growing thicker. After all, to work in such a masculine industry as the oil industry, you had to develop a thick pelt.

It wasn't long after that everyone finally made it onto the plane, most the dogs of course flirting with the vixen flight attendants as they passed by; the vixens of course smiling and nodding with the occasional professionally indirect comment and smile to go with it as this was something they were used to. The rest of the other canines just smiled and nodded, with the only one true universal thoughts among them all being the private little fantasies running through each and every canine passenger's libidos of nothing but them and the sexy feminine foxes they were greeted by. Even the cheetah couldn't help but have a brief little moment of sexually imaginitive indulgence as he closed his eyes and cracked a little bit of a smirk. Eventually the plane's rear stairway raised closed as everyone piled in to their respective seats and in typical airline fashion, buckled themselves up and quietted down for the safety and emergency procedures demonstration from the flight attendants before the plane finally taxi'd it's way onto the runway and took off.

The flight from Salt Lick City was a long and uneventful one and it gave Mike a couple of hours to catch up on some of the sleep he missed from the night before as he always had a habit of leaving things to the last minute, only to slowly open his eyes, a rather groggy look on his face as he heard the pilot's voice come over the plane's PA speakers "Thank you for flying with NorCharter, this is your captain speaking. We've just crossed into the North West Territories at an altitude of thirty five thousand feet and will be descending very shortly. We should be landing at the Epico camp airport in roughly one hour where it's twelve o'clock p.m. and thirty eight degrees faerenheit with clear skies. On behalf of myself and the crew, we thank you for flying with NorCharter". Mike laid back in his seat once more and dozed off again only to subtlely jerk awake as he felt somebody gently shaking his shoulder.

"...huh?.... whaaaat?" Mike asked rather groggily and unprepared for entering the land of the concious.

"Hey dude? Heh, you awake? We're here now". The gentle accomodating voice seemed somewhat familiar to him, as if he had heard it somewhere before and it didn't take very long for him to blink away the sleepy haze that glossed over those emerald green eyes of his to see that it belonged to the doberman who bumped into him in the terminal only hours ago.

The dog smiled and took his paw away from the smaller cheetah as he asked "Yeah hey dude, everyone's getting off the plane. Grab any stuff if you got it, they're busing us in to camp"

Mike sat up and rubbed the back of his head, nodding softly; the doberman saw his mission to wake the sleepy feline was a success and wandered off down the aisle to the back of the plane where everyone was unloading and with a soft shake of the cat's head, the cheetah came to his senses, left his window seat and followed suit with the rest of the passengers and towards the bus.

As he made his way over to the bus parking, he took the opportunity to take in the sights as he looked all around him. He could see the small charter airport his plane had just arrived at with "Epico Aerocenter" in big letters on the sign in it's parking lot. This airport was only about half the size of the one his flight flew out of and aside from the airport, the parking lot and the roadway that ran by it, it was nothing but tall, dark evergreen trees. He had never seen anything like them before and took quiet comfort in the fact that this unique experience, as trivial as it was, was actually pretty cool. The air even smelt different, smelling something like the plug in air freshener he used once in his apartment, but this scent was remarkably more natural and exciting for him; since he had never actually smelled anything fresher than that of garbage, homeless people and car exhaust back home in Salt Lick City.

Mike came to his senses however and remembered the importance of why he was here in the bus parking area. Since he was the last to leave the plane, it could only mean that he was last to board the bus, and that of course meant he had last pick of the seats. He figured he'd hope to get on the least crowded bus by waiting for the other large charter bus to leave, but it really didn't make much of a difference as the bus he waited to board was pretty crowded as well. Either way, he made his way on board the bus only to stop and look down the rows of crowded seats, hoping to god the ride wasn't going to be long because the entire vehicle was completely packed, with not a single seat in sight. But a cheetah had to do what a cheetah had to do, and that was to walk down the aisle in the hopes of finding a vacant seat. Mike drew closer and closer to the back of the bus, his hopes equally drawing closer to that of concluding that he was going to have to stand for the duration of the trip as the conversational volume of each and every canine passenger on board died down as the feline passed by them, their heads turning to look at the oddly out of place male that was making his way towards the back of the bus, their nostrils subtlely flaring repeatedly as they tried not to be rude by hiding the fact they were hoping to get a sniff of Mike, without having to press their noses to him. It didn't take long however for the conversation to resume once again as each and every curious canine lost interest in the new stranger and continued chatting on with the dog sitting next to them as Mike passed by.

Just as he made it to the back of the bus, that familiar voice called out to him, filling his ears with Yurgin's call and filling his eyes with an eye catching wave of his tanned canine paw "Dude! Yeah over here. I got a seat for ya"...

Mike sighed and eventually made his way over to the dog and sat down in the only seat left on the bus and despite the situation, he was still at least curteous and managed to force a little respect the dog's way "Hey uh, thanks dude...".

Yurgin nodded and smiled again, the bus itself briefly joining into the conversation with the sound of the airbrakes unlocking and the subtle sound of it's gears shifting as it began to leave the parking lot; it's occupants filling the bus with their loud chatter and hearty chuckles as the doberman began to speak. "Hey so what brings you up here? You look kinda out of place with the rest of the guys, if ya don't mind me saying".

Mike began his reply, knowing he didn't have much choice but to either up his tolerance of dogs, or let it all get to him as he sighed a little in response to the inquiry of the doberman sitting next to him "I've just pretty much come up here for the money and..."

"Money?..." Yurgin quipped in rather curiously before the cheetah replied

"...uh yeah? I'm here to do my welding apprenticeship".

Yurgin nodded, his curiousity masking his uncertainty "Oh... so you're basically gonna do uh... simple welding repairs here?"

Mike nodded "Yeah I wouldn't be surprised if that's what they'll have me do..."

Suddenly the bus came to a screeching, jolting halt, shoving all of it's occupants about as fast and as far forward into the seat infront of them that braking hard at fourty miles an hour would. If it weren't for the bus driver's loud "FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!!!", his passengers would have been able to hear the tires screaming as they swiped the cool asphault they ran on. They rocked back and forth a little as the buses shocks devoured it's forward momentum, just in time for the driver to call out over it's PA speakers "Sorry for the sudden stop gentlemen. Is everyone okay?"

The dogs in the bus called out "Yeah..." as they were okay, some rubbing the negligable minor injuries they just sustained, only for the driver to broadcast once more "Glad to hear it. If you look to your left, you'll see the deer that we almost hit...", only to take his foot off the brake and resume travelling to the camp.

Yurgin looked down at Mike, who was rubbing his forehead better and regaining his seated composure "Hey you okay dude?"

Mike looked over at the dobe "Y'yeah... I'll be okay. Just a bruised ego... I can't believe some of these guys though. I mean you could cut their paws off and they'd still try and pretend like nothing happened, just so they could be a "real male" about the whole thing...."

Yurgin nodded a little hesitantly as the cheetah went on, and could tell something was up as he interrupted with an inquired curiousity "Ahh..." only to smile a little as the cheetah was almost off in his own little world "Don't like dogs much, huh?".

The cheetah nodded and sighed "To be honest dude... yeah. I'm not really a huge fan of you guys. No offense but I really just don't like dogs..."

Yurgin cocked his head a bit with a soft blink and gentle curiousity now "Any particular reason why?"

Mike clenched his fist but managed to keep from blowing up the more he thought about it, his voice a bit grumbled and frustrated "Look at you guys... I mean, you dress to show yourselves off. You have your own shows and show off your cool tricks to other dog only audiences. You're rude, selfish, obtrusive about anything and everything. You don't respect femmes of your own damn race and between you guys and felines, you lack the proper manners needed to function in today's society. I mean how the fuck did you guys make it this..."

The dobe jerked his head back slightly as he sat and listened to the cat vent about the other half of animanity, but of course he wasn't the only one catching wind of the subtle rant going on in the last couple of seats at the back of the bus. Despite the noise monopolizing the entire bus from the rowdy excitement of the jock dogs within it, there happened to be a few pairs of ears listening in. Even if the cheetah could completely see over the seat infront of him, he still wouldn't have been able to make out who's ears were shifted back in his direction to take in everything he had to say, and who's ears weren't.

Yurgin sighed with a smile and a subtle roll of his eyes as he interrupted "Dude... we're not all like that. I mean, I can't change your opinion one way or the other. I do know what you're getting at and I'm sure I'm not trying too hard to 'dress to impress', so I hope you're not gonna put me in that category...". The two toned german breed paused to see the cheetah had quieted down and clammed up in the chair next to him, only to chuckle a little as Mike sat there with crossed arms and a pouty face, only to give him a friendly fuzzle between the ears and mess up his soft yellow scalp fur before continuing on "...Anyways, you might want to keep it down with that back here. I mean, I know it's loud and crowded but always try to remember: You never know who might be listening... Besides...."

Yurgin turned to face forward, pull that can of Mount And Do from his shirt pocket he had been saving since he got it on the flight, crack it open and take a sip before finishing off the rest of the sentence he started "....it's going to be a long six months"...

Mike's eyes shot wide open with shock as he suddenly exclaimed out "SIX MONTHS?!?!!!!" and shocking the dobe next to him just as much, and just as he was putting that cool refreshing can of soda up to his lips a second time; he felt his paw instantly crushing the can tight within it as he jumped in his seat, shooting forth most of it's contents down his throat with the first sip bursting forth against the sudden explosion of carbonated beverage into it. Of course the dobe wasn't the only one caught off guard as the driver suddenly just SLAMMED on the brakes once more, sending forth once again an entire bus load of dog jocks into the backs of the seats infront of them at fourty miles an hour and sending Yurgin's crushed pop can flying towards the front of the bus and bouncing off the back of some random dog's head.

As everyone regained their seating, cheetah included, Mike looked up and over at Yurgin and gulped with a surprised look on his face. Yurgin however sat there in his seat, his courduroy hat knocked off center as it now sat mostly over his right eye, his favourite white shirt soaked and stained with the yellowish green soda he was once drinking and his arms crossed over his chest as the crossed arm pouty face torch was now officially passed one seat over from cheetah to doberman...