FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

The rest of the week passed by fairly quickly for everyone, and on Friday morning, Torque and Raleigh woke up and showered as usual, and after breakfast, they met Calig in Central Square. It was a bright, sunny day, and the sun was already shining bright that morning. The three of them walked together to school, and at school, Calig hugged everyone and was told how much he would be missed. Everyone was happy for him, and Calig smiled.

The Doberman was a little sad that he would be leaving, but he looked forward to his new school with eagerness. He enjoyed the morning with his friends, and then bounded to his first class when the bell rang. Torque and Raleigh watched him and smiled, and Torque said, "He sure is happy. The assembly is after this class, right?" Raleigh nodded, and Torque gave the deer a hug and a kiss. "I'll see you then, okay? Find me in front of the gym."

Raleigh nodded, and he headed off to his first period, which was English. He hadn't done the homework from the day before, and he smiled as he remembered the reason.

Torque was lying on the bed, the German Shepherd staring up at the ceiling as he relaxed, and Raleigh carefully set down his books on the desk, the deer trying his best not to disturb Torque. After a moment or two, Raleigh's rather dirty mind suggested several things he could do to the dog, and he had little idea Torque was thinking along the same lines. It was almost eight at night, and Raleigh slipped off his shirt, noticing that the dog wasn't wearing anything at all. The deer slipped off his jeans, and then laid down on top of Torque, giving the dog's nose a kiss. The German Shepherd kissed him back passionately, and moved his paws downward from Raleigh's shoulders...

Raleigh clamped down on that train of thought, and turned his attention back to class. English passed by excruciatingly slowly as he took a vocab test, then took notes on EAP prep, and suffered through another vocab test. When the bell rang, he was out the door, following the students toward the gym. He saw Torque standing with Calig near the large doors and waved, making his way towards them both.

When he reached them, Torque hugged Raleigh and turned to head inside, Calig following along behind. The inside of the gym was loud as the furs entered it, and all three moved to the nearest available seats-which was rather difficult, since the entire school was present. They were lucky that they weren't sitting down yet, as the principal stood, and using the gym loudspeakers, asked everyone to head down to the football field, and sit in the bleachers, due to a change in plans.

Most of the furs grumbled about it, but they did it rapidly, since no-one wanted to miss out on a chance to see the Lone Wolves. That, and they got out of class for an hour or so. It took another ten minutes, but soon everyone was seated in the bleachers. Torque pointed to the end of the field, where the gate to the street was open, and said, "Hey, guys, look!" Calig grinned, and said, "I have a feeling we'll be getting a very good show."

No sooner had Calig said that than three large tracked vehicles-German Leopard 2s-drove in and onto the field, parking in a loose circle. Torque gasped and said, "Those are A7's!" Raleigh smiled and poked the German Shepherd. "Gush about the tanks later, enjoy the show for now." Torque poked him back, grinning.

Calig kept watching as two APCs parked in the middle of the Leopards and twelve furs hopped out, and then eleven ferals padded out after them. Sorren was there, as was Justin, but this time, Justin didn't have a feral accompanying him. Sorren had a mic attached to his throat, and his voice was transmitted across the field loudspeakers, crystal clear. "Good morning, everyone. I think you know who we are?"

Everyone cheered, and he nodded. "Alright. So how many of you are 16 or older? Stand up if you are!" About half the people in the stadium stood, and Torque, Raleigh, and Calig stood as well. Sorren looked around at the stands, and then he asked, "How many of you are interested in joining the Lone Wolves? Stay standing if you are, sit if you are not."

Almost everyone sat, and Calig was one of the few people left standing. The Doberman was very nervous, but Torque and Raleigh gave him a smile. Sorren observed the few people left standing and said, "If you want to join the Lone Wolves right now, please come down to the field. The rest of you, wait for them to come down here." Calig was extremely nervous, and he almost sat down again, but Raleigh patted the Doberman and gave him a gentle nudge. The deer smiled and Calig began to walk down the stands, towards the field, feeling as though he was in a dream.

As he walked down and stepped onto the field, Raleigh whispered to Torque, "I don't think he's aware of it, but he felt like he was a volcano or something." Torque nodded, and said, "It's his abilities. I hope nothing else happens." Raleigh nodded, and then watched as Calig, along with about twelve other furs, stood by the Lone Wolves. Sorren looked over the stands one last time, and then he said, "All of you left up there, sitting. You are dismissed. Please head into the gym. And hurry."

It was noisy for the next few minutes as students headed into the gym, and Calig struggled with his nerves, trying to calm himself. Justin was standing nearby, and the wolf looked over at Calig, giving the Doberman a reassuring smile. Calig smiled back, some of his nervousness dissipating, and turned his attention back to Sorren. The black wolf waited until everyone was inside before asking, "So you guys all want to be Lone Wolves? As in you'd join right this second, if your parents would let you?"

Everyone nodded, and he grinned. "Good. So who do we have here? I know you, Calig." He listened as people listed their names, and when everyone was done, said, "For now, I'm going to assign you to a specific person, and you'll discuss the Lone Wolves, recruitment, and the like with them." He looked over everyone, and then pointed at Calig first. "Calig, go with Rusk." Justin raised his paw and Calig headed towards the wolf, his tail dancing excitedly behind him. He didn't pay attention to anyone else's assignments, and when he came close to Justin, the wolf said, "Calig. Focus. I can feel the heat from where I'm standing. You're letting everyone who knows how to recognize the signs know you have abilities."

The Doberman was surprised that Justin knew about his abilities, but he nodded and concentrated. He felt the air suddenly grow cooler and realized that it had been very hot around himself. He asked, "Rusk?"

Justin nodded. "My last name." The wolf studied Calig for a moment, and then asked, "How much do you know about your abilities?" The Doberman shrugged, and said, "Enough to use them at will and direct them at something. Other than that, almost nothing."

Justin thought about that, and then he said, "I'll teach you how to use your abilities, if you want. Later, though. For now, pay attention." Calig nodded, and then someone called out, "Rusk!" Justin turned to look towards the speaker, and so did Calig.

The speaker was a Siberian Husky, about 5'7", and very powerfully built. He had snow white fur mixed with black and ice-blue eyes. He was wearing, like the other Lone Wolves, black and silver combat fatigues, and carrying a large black assault rifle. He grinned as he walked towards the wolf and asked, "Who's this you've got with you?" He nodded towards Calig, and Justin said, "This is Calig. Calig, this is my Lone Wolf instructor, Sanya. I'm not a full Lone Wolf yet-I actually still attend the Academy-so Sanya is my instructor."

Sanya nodded, and said, "Like any of the time I take to teach you does any good!" His voice had a slight Russian accent, and Justin just shook his head. The husky grinned, and then asked Calig, "You want to join the Lone Wolves, right?" Calig nodded, and said, "Everything is already set up." Sanya grinned again, and said, "Good. How much do you know about the Lone Wolves?"

Calig told him everything he knew, and Sanya nodded as he listened. When Calig finished, Sanya grinned. "You know a lot, but do you know why the Lone Wolves were created in the first place?" The Doberman shook his head, and Sanya sighed. "The Lone Wolves were created in part as a special operations force and in part for people with talents like you, Justin, Sorren, and I." Sanya paused, and asked, "Exactly what abilities do you have?"

Calig shrugged. "I can manipulate fire in almost every way imaginable, and I've always been able to feed off of heat, generate heat, and manipulate it as well. And apparently, I affect my own body temperature as well." Sanya grinned. "Control over fire and heat? That sounds rather useful. And a lot like Sorren. Justin can- well, I'll let him speak for himself. If he can." The husky grinned even wider as Justin rolled his eyes and said, "I can focus electricity from the environment and do anything with it-mostly generate bolts of lightning- and I can feed off of storms to fuel my own abilities. I can also create them, and influence their power, duration, and speed. With a lot of energy, I can create a full force hurricane. And direct it anywhere from within the eye, if necessary." Calig grinned as he thought about the possibilities, and Sanya nodded. "Justin is the most powerful Elemental we've got here. Don't piss him off." Calig nodded, still grinning, and then Sanya said, "I'm supposed to be telling you about the school and what it's like. You already know everything, so wait for Sorren to call everyone together again."

No sooner had he said that then Sorren called out, "Everyone, gather around, please." All of the furs headed towards the black furred wolf and gathered in a loose semi-circle in front of him. Sorren smiled at the group, and then said, "In a few moments, I'll release you all to head back to class." Most of the students groaned, and Sorren grinned, showing his canines. "All of you, talk to your parents about joining the Lone Wolves. Have them contact us, and if they say yes, we'll handle the rest." He looked around again, and then said, "Now head back to class."

Calig turned to go, but Sorren said, "Stay here, Calig." The Doberman nodded and stayed put as the other students headed in. Sorren waited until the other students were gone before asking, "So you have abilities like Justin and Sanya?" Calig grinned nervously and nodded. "Yeah... how does everyone know?"

Sorren shrugged. "You made it rather obvious to those of us who can read the signs. We could feel the heat pouring off of you. None of the students noticed, but we could all tell." Calig nodded, and then Sorren asked, "How well can you control your abilities?"

The canine shrugged. "I can direct fire at someone or something, and I can create it from surrounding energy. I can also manipulate my body temperature-I discovered this just today," he grinned, and then continued, "and I can manipulate heat from any source-or generate it as I do fire." Sorren nodded, and he asked, "Does anyone else know about your abilities?"

Calig shook his head, and then said, "Hang on. Raleigh and Torque know about them." Sorren nodded, and then asked, "Can they be trusted?"

"Of course they can be trusted. Torque's parents were killed by an Inquisitor and Raleigh has no love for them at all." Calig grinned.

The black and orange wolf nodded, and then he looked down at his watch. He said, "Sounds good. You'd better head back to class, though. We'll see you later tonight. Safe travels."

Calig nodded, and the Doberman walked away towards the gym as the furs got into their vehicles and drove off behind the Leopards. Inside the gym, he found his way over to where Raleigh and Torque were sitting, and gave them a smile. Raleigh hugged him, and asked, "What did they tell you?"

The canine shrugged. "They told me some stuff about my abilities, and I met one of the major Lone Wolves. It turns out Justin has abilities of his own-much more powerful than mine, I think. Crazy stuff."

Raleigh nodded, and Torque grinned. "I wonder what would happen if you ever got into combat and used those abilities of yours. It would be awesome." Calig shrugged, and Raleigh just shook his head. They sat through the rest of the rally and left as soon as it was over.

Calig was alternately nervous and excited for the rest of the day, and it showed to Torque and Raleigh. After school, they walked home with him. As they walked, Calig said, "I'm more than a little nervous about tonight. Leaving on a train to go to the North District. Going by myself, and going somewhere I've never been, without knowing many people." He sighed. "At least I'll be able to talk to you two. I think."

Raleigh shrugged. "It'll be fine. If you can't contact us, it isn't the end of the world. In fact, we'd rather you spend time getting to know the people at the academy. Talk to us every once in a while, but do us a favor and make a lot of friends over there, okay?"

The Doberman nodded, and Torque smiled. "And be careful about what you do...and who you play with." He grinned and gave the other canine a wink as Raleigh rolled his eyes. The deer gave Torque a gentle shove and said, "He's not going to be doing anything. Right?" He looked over at Calig, who shrugged. "We'll see." He grinned as Raleigh shook his head and Torque poked the deer, making him giggle a little and step away.

Calig headed off to his own house as the other two went back to Raleigh's house, holding hands and talking quietly. He gave them a wave and then went inside. He headed to his bedroom and dropped his backpack on the bed, emptying it of his school stuff. His bags were already packed, with enough clothes to last for the first month.

In his room, if viewed from the door, the bed was directly to the left, placed against the wall, with the headboard up against it. There was a bookshelf and a desk directly opposite the door on the other side of the room, and a TV with an Xbox hooked up to it to the left of that. The window was across from the bed, a little ways away from the door. Calig didn't have any posters tacked up on his walls-they were bare white.

He threw himself onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling, losing himself in his thoughts. The sun streamed in through the windows, the golden shafts of light illuminating his room as he sighed softly. His mother knocked on the door, and he said, "Come in, Mom."

She came into the room. Calig's mother was a female dragon, about an inch or two taller than Calig. She had dark red scales and ebony horns much like Calig's own. Her tail was thicker than Calig's, but it still had the spade tip.

She asked Calig, "Are you okay? How are you feeling about leaving tonight?" Calig shrugged, and said, "I'm fine. Just a little nervous. I'm going to miss you guys. A lot." His mother smiled, and she sat down on the edge of the bed, and looked Calig in the eyes. "I know it'll be tough. But you're a tough kid. And even if you forget to contact us until a year from now, we'll still be thinking of you. Besides, there'll be a lot of people for you to meet. Friends to make and maybe even mates to find." She smiled, and Calig gave a small smile as well.

The dragon rose, and said, "Dinner will be ready in about an hour. It's 4 in the afternoon, just so you know, and the train leaves at 7pm. Okay?" Calig nodded, and she said, "See you in an hour then. Don't fall asleep, because I'm not going to wake you up if you do."

Calig nodded again and smiled, closing his eyes as soon as his mother shut the door. His mind drifted as he relaxed and felt himself drifting off into sleep. He kept himself from falling asleep and just relaxed, enjoying the afternoon warmth as time crawled by slowly.

Soon, his mother called him for dinner, and Calig rolled out of bed, padding to the kitchen and sitting down at the table. He sat across from his father, a regular Doberman, who stood about Calig's height. Calig gave his father a small smile and then served himself. When everyone had served themselves, he dug into the food, as did his parents.

Afterwards, they washed all the dishes, working together as a family. Calig felt his heart tearing as he realized this would be the last time he stayed with his family like this, and he turned his concentration on finishing the chore.

When they had finished, with that, he went upstairs and grabbed his bags. He had decided to bring, other than his clothes, a notebook, several books he liked, and his flash drives, along with a small webcam he packed into the bag, next to his laptop, just in case the dorm rooms didn't come with anything other than a bed and a desk.

When he came downstairs again, his parents smiled at him, and then they headed outside. They got into the car and drove off towards the train station. Calig looked out the window as they drove away, and watched the neighborhood where he'd lived his whole life vanish outside the car windows as they headed to the extreme north point of the West District.

The train station was not all that full of people, at 6:50, and Calig made his way to the train very quickly. His parents hugged him as they stopped in front of the train, and Calig struggled not to let his vision fog over with tears or to cry in front of his parents.

He managed to keep from crying and smiled. Nearby, he saw another teenager hugging his parents and walking towards the train. Calig hugged his own parents one last time and then headed towards the train, catching up to the other fur, who was an inch or so shorter than him.

The German Shepherd looked back as he saw Calig approaching, and smiled. Calig held out his paw, and the other canine shook it. "My name's Calig." The German Shepherd nodded, and said, "Nice to meet you, Calig. My name's Dominic. Most people call me Dom."

Calig nodded, and then he grinned, and Dom rolled his eyes. "Don't you dare say it. That's the first thing people think of when they hear the nickname." The German Shepherd was smiling as well, though, and the two of them boarded the train, taking a seat next to each other.

Dom asked Calig, "So are you headed out to the Lone Wolf academy as well?" Calig nodded, and Dom grinned. "Glad I met someone else going there. I was worried about riding all alone." Calig nodded again, and Dom asked, "So how much do you know about the students being grouped into dorms?"

Calig shrugged as the train started up and pulled away from the station. He waved to his parents, and so did Dom, and then he said, "I think you get set up with the Lone Wolf you're training under when you arrive, and you share a room with that Lone Wolf. I think."

Dom shook his head. "You're right-if you're a second year. First years get to room with one to two other people, and you study as a group with your roommates. If I'm right about this, you get passed from instructor to instructor. And some of the instructors might even be third or fourth year students." He shrugged. "I'll worry about instruction when we get to it. For now, I'm wondering who we'll get for roommates."

Calig nodded, and he asked, "How did your family take you wanting to join the Lone Wolves?" Dom grinned. "They were glad. They don't want me in their house." His grin vanished as he thought back, and said, "I don't have the best of families. Or the most accepting. But I don't really want to discuss why at the moment. It's very tough for me at the moment, emotionally." Calig nodded and then asked, "Do you play any good video games?"

Dom smirked. "Good video games, like Call of Duty?" Calig shook his head. "I am not a Call of Duty fan." He grinned and pretended to ignore Dom. "I won't talk to Call of Duty fans." The German Shepherd rolled his eyes and said, "I like Battlefield too. I actually like the newest one better than Ghosts. But is there anything else you play?"

Calig shrugged. "World of Tanks, on PC and Xbox, and Order of War. That's about it, other than, well, Skyrim."

Dom grinned. "Are you a WWII fan?" Calig shrugged, and Dom said, "I figured so, because the first two you mentioned are WWII games. Admit it. I am a huge_WWII fan here. I know _like everything about the Allies and Axis powers."

Calig shrugged again, and said, "I'm a fan of the Germans. Their tanks, and their tactics... I don't like Hitler or the Holocaust, but other than that, the Germans were pretty amazing. If not for Hitler using valuable resources to exterminate Jews-not that he should have ever done it at all-Germany would probably have won. I mean, the US just didn't have good enough tanks to stand up to the Tigers and Panthers, and German infantry were pretty decent as well."

Dom shrugged. "They were, but the M4 Sherman and the T-34 vastly outnumbered the German tanks. They would have won through sheer attrition. And they did, actually. We took out German tanks faster than they could build them-the German tanks took a while to build. And our Hellcats were amazing Tiger hunters."

Calig nodded, and grinned. "Hellcats were amazing tanks. The 76mm gun mounted on them, plus the maneuverability of the tank and turret, and the speed it could hit, made it a major threat to the Tigers." He smiled, and said, "You know, this is like the first actually intelligent discussion I've had regarding the World War. Most people know so little about WWII, and they just spout facts they learned in school."

Dom nodded as well, and realized he had been leaning gently into Calig. He sat back up and hoped the Doberman wouldn't notice. He said, "You know, I wonder how Faren never got involved in the World War. I mean, we're smack dab in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Right in between supply lines between the US and France."

Calig shrugged, and said, "Magic, maybe?" Dom shook his head, and then said, "I don't know... Maybe. But I doubt it. More likely we just voted neutral and got forgotten in the history of the world."

Calig thought about this, and then said, "That could also be true." He looked out the window for a moment, watching the Transit Highway as the train ran alongside, raised above the fields on its tracks and traveling faster than the cars. The moon was out, and it was full, illuminating the grassy fields and rows of crops in pale white light.

Dom looked out the window as well, and both of them watched in silence, absorbed in their own thoughts. The train continued on into the night, towards the lights of the distant North District and their new lives in the Lone Wolf Academy.