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The Game Begins by 12 as SonicHowler Originally published September 17, 2006

Mikael Kyle Carterson, Ky for short, dribbled the ball down what seemed like miles of court. He pulled a lightning-fast spin around some of the other team's defensive players. He was very agile, even for a grey wolf. The rest of his team was either behind him or wrapped up in the other team's bold defense, so he couldn't pass the ball to them. It was the last quarter of the entire national basketball finals. He had ten seconds to get through the rest of the defense and get the ball through the other team's hoop, breaking the tie. He glanced for an instant at the stands to make sure the college scout was watching him, as the clock and the whole arena counted down.

"TEN! NINE! EIGHT!"

Just a bit closer, pleaded Ky in his mind.

"SEVEN! SIX! FIVE!"

Ky opened his entire bag of tricks, dribbling between the legs of opposing team members, faking left and right, ducking this way and that, desperate to get close enough to the hoop to shoot. The other team's defense was getting stronger, and still none of his teammates were open!

"FOUR! THREE! TWO! ONE!"

It was now or never. He was still past the three-point line, so it would be a hard shot, but it was possible. His eyes focused on the hoop as his paws started to move automatically. The ball went sailing gracefully through the air as the final buzzer rang. Every being in the building held its breath as the ball hit the rim once, twice, three times, before finally, after what seemed like an eternity, falling through the hoop.

"YES!" Ky yelled in excitement. The whole arena roared with cheers as the announcer screamed into his microphone, "Ky Carterson, number twenty-seven, makes an unbelievable shot to end the game! WARRIORS WIN! WARRIORS WIN!"

Ky laughed in joy as his cheering teammates lifted him onto their shoulders and the winning cup was placed in his paws to hold high above everything else. It was the best moment of his life.

Fast-forward a few months. Ky had just said goodbye to his parents and his younger brother after they had helped move him into his new college dorm room. Clutching his full basketball scholarship to Fur Coast University and trembling with apprehension, he crossed the school's private street, Coastline Drive, from the dorms to the main campus, looking over the huge, clean area with his backpack slung over one shoulder.

"Here I go," he said aloud to himself. "My first step into college. This'd better not hurt!" He walked into the administration building to pick up his class schedule and the new laptop that was promised him for his classes. He also needed to get his textbooks, but since the bookstore was on Coastline Drive and he didn't need them right away, he decided to get them a little later.

Ky noticed that there were a lot of hot-looking dudes walking around on campus. Yes, Ky was a guy who secretly liked other guys. He had never shown this, however, never differentiating between guys and girls but treating them all like friends. Everyone knew him as the nicest guy on campus. He was nicely built, but not overly muscular. The plain baggy jeans and NexPaw-branded shirt he currently wore rightly suggested that he was laid back and athletic.

He couldn't believe how huge FCU's campus was! The campus overlooked a majestic oceanfront. The only traffic that ever was on Coastline Drive consisted of FCU students on their ways to one of the numerous restaurants, arcades, and hangouts available to them. Coastline was full of them. The dorms were just across Coastline from the campus, flanked on either side by other school-related buildings. The entrance to the main campus was a huge arch with a pawprint and the words "Fur Coast University" on it in silver lettering. The sun shone in on the clean white pavement, making everything look bright and spectacular. The administrative building was just to the left as Ky walked through the entranceway. To his right was a two-story building consisting of myriad classrooms, and there were many more like it along that side of the campus. The auditorium and the gym were across from them, with grass and a few trees and picnic tables in between and a wide walkway connecting them. The gym was huge, consisting of three basketball courts and a stage! Behind it was a huge indoor swimming pool complete with a trio of diving boards at different heights at the deep end. The auditorium started at ground level and went down. Red, yellow, and blue, the school colors, dotted the soft, black carpet and the rows of seats that created a semicircle around the stage. In the middle and to the right of the campus, surrounded on three sides by classroom buildings, was the main cafeteria. Students would get their meals inside and then be able to sit at the tables outside and watch the scenic view of the ocean behind the campus.

Ky took it all in to the best of his ability. Holding his boxed laptop and his class information, he walked back across Coastline Drive to the bookstore to collect his giant stack of books, and then headed back to his dorm. When he got to his room, he found a note on his bed.

_Mr. Mikael K. Carterson: Your roommate will be moving in at around 4:00 P.M. today. Please attend all scheduled appointments in the meantime. Have fun!

Dean Tim_

Dean Tim had graduated from FCU just the previous year. He was a cool tiger that everybody liked, and he loved the school so much that he decided to stay and work in the dorms.

At the moment, it was only 2:00. Ky's first appointment was in the gym to meet the coach and the other students who were automatically on the team thanks to their full scholarships. He made his way back to the main campus and into the gigantic gymnasium, where five other guys were waiting on the other side of the building. One was a cool-looking white Siberian tiger with piercing blue eyes who wore a silver chain necklace, red sport pants with white stripes down the legs and across the chest of the matching shirt, and a very bored expression on his face as he leaned casually against the stage. Another was an otter, slim and cute, who was chatting with a fit-looking Siberian Husky. A mountain lion and a thickly-set rabbit joined in the conversation enthusiastically.

"But what if their defense has a hole in it?" asked the husky. "A small weakness is all we need to do it!"

"No way, dude!" the rabbit said. "We'd need a weakness on every defensive player to do that!"

"Hey, what's up, guys?" Ky greeted, walking up to them. "I'm Ky." "Oh, I know you!" the otter exclaimed. "You scored the winning shot for the Orlando Warriors at the national finals this June!"

"Sure did! It was the highlight of my life!" "Must've been pretty awesome," said the husky. "I'm Luke. This here is Otto, bunny-boy here is Todd, there's Doug, and the tiger's Leonardo, but we call him Leo."

"Cool! I'm Mikael Carterson, but everyone calls me Ky because of my middle name, Kyle." He grinned at Otto. "Otto the otter?"

Otto blushed. "My parents were original, huh? What position do you play?"

"I'm a shooting guard," replied Ky. "You?"

"Coincidence," Leo interrupted. "I'm a shooting guard. One of us will be a backup player, and the other will start."

"Sweet!" said Ky. "You look like you've had practice. I'd better get my game on!"

"Whatever," Leo shrugged.

Ky shuddered. "Man, what's with him?"

Todd put a paw around Ky's shoulders and pulled him aside. "Leo wasn't always like that," he said. "His mother died over the summer in a car accident and his father hates his guts. He doesn't have any brothers or sisters, and he feels embarrassed to talk to his friends. They're the kind who'll listen but don't care enough to try and help. Basically, he's all by himself."

Ky was surprised by this news. "That's terrible!"

"Yeah," agreed Todd, "but don't push him about the subject or he'll get very upset with you." Todd let Ky go and went back to the others, leaving Ky to his thoughts.

"Todd, Leo, Ky, Luke, Otto, Doug! Grab your jerseys and put `em on!" Ky looked around to find a buff-looking Doberman calling to them from a door behind the stage.

"That's Coach Jay," said Otto.

"How did he know our names already?" asked Ky.

"Nobody knows," replied Doug, drawing out the first O in each word. Everyone made their way to the locker room. A row of red, yellow, and blue lockers lined three of the walls, with benches bolted to the ground in front of them. Even the jerseys themselves were red and yellow and blue. Ky and the other guys stripped down to their underwear and began to try on their jerseys, which Coach Jay handed them. "Be quick, boys!" he said. "You've got less than an hour to pick teams, start a game, and show me what you've got! After that, you take a shower and you go to your next appointment if you have one!"

Ky barely heard him. He was busy trying to sneak glances at Leo. He didn't have a bodybuilder's muscles, but he had a firm-looking six pack and a toned, finely-sculpted body. Ky was amazed at the bulging package between his legs as well, which was visible through his boxers. He suddenly stopped staring and shook his head clear. He'd have to stay more focused than that.

Out on the court, Ky discovered that he'd really, really have to hone his basketball skills. Todd's jump shots were lightning-fast and intensely accurate, and, thanks to his powerful hind legs typical of rabbits, he could slam dunk better than a professional team's roster. Doug was very agile. The mountain lion could get through anyone's best defense with complicated spins, twists, and terrific speed. Luke was a complete powerhouse. Defensive players on the opposing team would run right into him and be able to go no further unless he moved, while for his team he would duck his way through the braver group as the others would jump out of his way, swatting in vain at the ball as a last attempt to knock it out of his hands. Otto had a superb way of strategizing. If he were met with a situation on the court, he could instantly find a weakness in the opposition and get the point for his team. Then, there was Leo. Leo moved like quicksilver on the court, barely making a sound other than the bouncing of the ball as he passed through the other team. His shots were right on target and almost always nothing but net. Both he and Ky had amazing shots that were graceful, accurate, and could come from anywhere on that side of the court. Leo had grace, agility, and speed. Ky had strategic ability, agility, and also speed.

An hour later, the six team members stepped out of the showers, got back into their clothes, and stood in front of the gym's stage. Ky covered his raging erection with a towel. The showers were not closed and individual, but just one room with exhaust fans and a bunch of showerheads coming out of the wall. It had taken everything he had to keep his eyes on the wall in front of him.

"Alright," Coach Jay said. "You've all probably noticed that each of you have your own unique styles and skills. You're each amazing players, and that's why you're here. If you can combine all of those skills into one, our team, the Fur Coast Blades could become lethal. We're gonna hold tryouts for the team and bring in more players. You will be expected to work like a well-oiled machine with them and with each other. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir!" they all chorused.

"You're dismissed!"

Ky fished his schedule from his backpack and looked at the next thing on the list, which was to meet on the next day. He was more than surprised.

"Wait. no way! Dance and Step?! I don't remember signing up for that!"

"Dance class, huh?" Luke peered over at Ky's schedule. "If you didn't sign up for it, you should tell someone in the main office."

Ky walked to the main office at the front of the campus and rang the bell on the desk twice. "Um, excuse me!" A raccoon receptionist came up to him.

"Yes?"

"There's something wrong with my schedule. It says that I have Dance and Step next, but I never signed up for that."

The receptionist adjusted her glasses and went to her computer. She tapped a few keys and squinted at the screen. "Last name?"

"Carterson. First name's Mikael."

"Carterson, Mikael... Is that M-I-K-A-E-L?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"Your application is in file seventeen, okay? Remember that in case you have any problems with it in the future." She went to a filing cabinet and pulled out Ky's class applications. "Hmm. It says that a scout was sent to your school on the day of your graduation. He wrote in his comments that there was a graduation party that night, and he saw you leading a group of furries in a dance. He said you moved well to the upbeat song, and would like to see more. He also said that he couldn't reach you, so we put you in the class. I think you should go. If you don't like it after a couple of weeks, come back and I'll remove it from your schedule, okay?"

"I was dancing?" Ky's mind traveled back to the graduation party. He had been on an unofficial dance team, and he and the group had decided to provide a bit of entertainment. He remembered seeing a fur taking notes on a clipboard, and wondering why he was taking notes about dancing. That must have been the scout. With a nod, Ky walked out of the office.

He slowly made his way back to his dorm room. His eyes widened when he got inside. There was a fifty-inch plasma TV and digital surround-sound entertainment system in the room. Dean Tim, clad in a pair of tight-looking jeans and a t-shirt, gave him a grin.

"Your new roommate is here," he said cheerily. "He went off to pick something up just down Coastline. He said you could use the electronics in the meantime."

"Thanks, Tim!" said Ky, flopping down on a bed. The tiger left the room-just as another one came in.

"Oh, so you're my roommate," said a familiar voice. Leo stood there, hands folded behind his head. "That's a coincidence."

Ky sighed. Leo seemed to be hard to connect with. This would be a long year.

To Be Continued...