FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 23: Wild Days

Crafty Heart Coyote whistled as she stepped out of the elevator and made her way to the hotel's small gym. She grinned as she saw the looks everyone gave her, after all she wasn't wearing any clothes save for a sweatband around her forehead. One looked like she was about to admonish her but Crafty just stuck out her tongue and set the weight on the bench press to where she had tried the last time she was in school and lay down.

"Alright, here goes." She pressed up and nearly flung the bar from her hands. "Whoa!" She kept the bar steady and sat up. She flexed her left arm and felt her bicep, then grinned, "I didn't think I was _that_strong now. Alright let's take it up a notch!" She was drawing attention from the three other people in the gym but that didn't bother her as she doubled the weight on the press then lay back down. This time there was a lot more resistance and Crafty grunted as she pressed up on the bar. "Oh yeah! That's the burn!" She grinned and stopped at ten reps, then let her arms hang down as she panted, sweat beaded across her fur. 90 seconds later she started another set.

Crafty stopped after four sets and sat up on the bench, panting hard. "Whew! Damn, did not expect that to be so exhausting."

"Are you alright?" Hidden Heart Wolf had entered the gym while Crafty stood up.

Crafty grinned, "I'm fine, just a bit sore. Hold on a sec."

Hidden watched as Crafty retrieved a paper towel from a dispenser and sprayed cleaning solution on it then wiped down the sweaty bench. Hidden blushed as Crafty bent over which gave her an eyeful of the coyote's cleavage.

Crafty took notice and smirked as she finished. "We're gonna be here for a couple days. I think we should give Sage Heart and Life Heart some time alone. So what do you want to do?"

"Well..." Hidden fidgeted with her hands and feet, "We could go out on the town."

Crafty perked up and smirked again, "Oh, are you asking me on a date?"

"WHAT?! Nonononono!" Hidden Heart waved her hands in front of her as she blushed bright red, her eyes went wide and she leaned back away from Crafty.

"Whoa, what?" Crafty's face softened, "Did I say something wrong?"

"Yes! I mean no! Just..." Hidden Heart looked at the humans around them who had all stopped to watch the two.

Crafty's eyes narrowed and she smirked, "Let's go somewhere less public, plus I need to shower."

Hidden Heart nodded vigorously and all but ran to the elevator with Crafty right behind her. Hidden Heart had to avert her gaze from Crafty Heart on the ride up as the coyote leaned up against the elevator's wall, sweaty and panting.

Life Heart Unicorn and Sage Heart Bear were snuggled up together on the bed when their room door opened, "Hey just taking a shower, don't mind us!" Crafty Heart dragged Hidden Heart right into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. Life Heart and Sage Heart only spared them a glance but decided to leave the two to their own devices.

Hidden Heart's face was beet red as Crafty shut the bathroom door behind her and turned on the shower. Once she tested the water to make sure it was warm she stood aside. "Alright, get in."

Hidden Heart's eyes went wide as her tail swung back and forth, "With you?! I mean, I Don't need it!"

Crafty rolled her eyes, "You do. I stink from exercise and I'm guessing you haven't had a real shower in over a year. You stink."

Hidden Heart sniffed a bit, wrinkled her nose then lifted an arm to smell herself and recoiled. "OK, but do we have to do it together?"

"I don't wanna take up the bathroom any longer than we have to, besides you should get a proper scrub down," Crafty waggled her eyebrows.

Hidden Heart was unable to suppress her blush but she nodded and stepped in. The warm water cascaded almost instantly relaxed the wolf and she sighed as Crafty stepped in behind her and closed the shower curtain.

"A bit cramped but not bad." She grabbed the small shampoo bottle and sighed, "Barely enough for us but I'll have to do." She squeezed some onto her hand then passed it to Hidden, "Here, we can do each other's backs and tails when we're done.

"O-OK." Hidden Heart faced the wall as she scrubbed herself down. She forgot her embarrassment as she scrubbed away months of dirt, grime and possibly parasites she wasn't aware of. The shampoo felt soooooo goooooood! She scrubbed so long that she didn't notice when Crafty Heart spoke again.

"OK, I'm gonna do your back and tail. Let me know if I pull too hard." Crafty started to scrub the wolf's back, "Yeesh, you've got a lot of gunk back here." She scrubbed then grabbed her tail. Hidden flinched but didn't pull away as Crafty scrubbed her tail, "how many mud puddles have you slept in?"

"I dunno, not on purpose, urf!" Hidden Heart winced as Crafty pulled a small chunk of dirt out of her fur, "Sometimes I wake up in one when it's raining."

"Not a big surprise. Almost done." Crafty finished scrubbing Hidden Heart's tail and let go, "Alright, finish up your legs and feet then you can do my back."

Crafty Heart turned around as Hidden Heart lifted scrubbed her legs down then under her feet. Both of them had pads on the bottom of their feet, not as thick or prominent as a real wolf's or coyote's but enough that it gave them extra protection and grip on ground and gave them more distinctive footprints; every non-hooved Care Animal was the same way.

Hidden Heart finally finished then turned around, relieved that she was staring at Crafty's back and tail. She hesitated slightly then squeezed more shampoo out and scrubbed Crafty's tail. Crafty sighed contentedly as she felt the wolf scrubbing her tail and closer her eyes as she moved up to her back.

Hidden Heart adjusted her footing as she scrubbed up to Crafty's shoulder blades and accidentally stepped off the bath mat. She slipped and her hands slid across Crafty's sides and around her front. Hidden Heart grabbed for something to keep her stable, which made Crafty gasp. They both stood and just let the shower cascade over them.

"Hidden, are you alright?"

"I...yes...just slipped...while I was...washing your back."

"Those aren't on my back."

"I know, Crafty...sorry."

"...You're still holding them."

"I...I..."

"Do you like girls?"

"What!? I mean...I..."

"It's fine. We're alone here."

"... ... ... Yes...I like girls..."

"I see..."

"You hate me..."

"No...I don't." Crafty finally turned around which forced Hidden Heart to release her hold as they face each other. Hidden Heart averted her gaze, her cheeks burned bright red as she averted her eyes from the wet coyote. Crafty managed a smile, "So do you find me attractive? Be honest, I won't be offended."

"You're very attractive...and...se....se..."

Crafty leaned in to try and look into the wolf's eyes, "Go on, please."

"Sexy," Hidden Heart turned then her eyes and mouth opened wide as her blush intensified. "I...I can see...!"

Crafty had stood back and had her arms folded under her breasts. She looked down then looked back and up and smiled, "It's an odd feature we have called a 'modesty field'. Turns out it shuts off when we're in a situation like this. Maybe that's why I can see you blushing through your fur too."

Hidden Heart turned away from Crafty Heart, her face burning red. Crafty put a hand on her shoulder, "Sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

"It's not...I mean..." Hidden Heart Wolf gulped but stayed facing away from her. "You're the first person who hasn't teased me or called me a freak because I like girls."

Crafty snorted, "For being a lesbian and not a wolf?"

They were interrupted by a knock on the bathroom door and they heard Life Heart's voice over the shower. "Are you almost done. I really need to use the bathroom!"

"Let's talk outside." Crafty shut the water off the shook herself to dry off. She stepped out to let Hidden Heart do the same and they quickly vacated the bathroom as Life Heart darted in behind them. Crafty only stopped to grab her wallet before they left.

Hidden Heart was still blushing despite the modesty field "reactivating" in between their shower and when they stepped outside. Everyone was staring at them as they passed and Hidden Heart finally spoke up, "Should we be naked out here?"

Crafty gave a single laugh then stuck out her tongue and leaned her head back with her hands behind her head, "Nah, they can't see anything. Besides my clothes are still soaked and you don't have any. Doesn't it feel nice being outside now that you're clean?" Crafty turned sideways and took a good look at Hidden Heart.

Now that the wolf was clean her grey fur almost glistened in the sunlight, no longer sticking out at odd angles from months of poor hygiene and it almost seemed silvery. Her now clear brown eyes still seemed to dart around to each citizen who gave them a funny look. Crafty smiled as Hidden Heart turned to her, which let her see her new chest symbol. She looked a bit better but one meal of greasy junk food wasn't going to change how skinny she was overnight.

"So how do you feel now, Hidden Heart Wolf?" Crafty asked.

Hidden Heart's blush had finally faded as she looked around, "Better, clean. It's nice out today. It's odd hearing you call me that."

"Would you prefer, Holly?"

Hidden Heart shook her head, "No... I mean...Hidden Heart's nice, it feels more like who I am." She turned to Crafty as they stopped at a crosswalk, "so can you tell me more about this whole Care Bear Magi thing you mentioned last night."

"I still think it's weird we say 'Care Bear' when only two of us are bears. I guess because it rhymes," Crafty mused as the crosswalk changed to 'walk'. "Sure I'll tell you, but let's get some lunch first, OK?" She pointed to a sub-sandwich store half a block ahead.

Hidden Heart appreciated the meat and vegetable filled foot-long sandwich far more than the greasy food from the previous night, literally wolfing it down in under two minutes. Crafty just smirked as she ate more slowly. "Tasty?"

Hidden Heat nodded and wiped the mustard away from her mouth, "Yes but...where did your wallet go?"

"In here," Crafty reached into her chest symbol, her hand passing right through it and seemingly inside her body, then she pulled it out with the wallet, "Neat trick Love Heart taught me." She stowed it away again and saw Hidden Heart blush.

"It's looks like you're stuffing it in..."

"My cleavage?" Crafty laughed, "I know, call it a fringe benefit. Now how about I tell you everything about this wonderful little group you've joined?" Crafty held up a hand and showed a small shimmering field of frost, she grinned, "Cool right?" She giggled.

Hidden Heart just stared as Crafty continued, "We can use magic, we'll teach you that later. Apparently we're supposed to protect this 'Care Bear Family' once we find them. Other than that I'm not to clear on what we're supposed to be doing other than learning magic."

"Can you teach me?" Hidden Heart asked, her eyes shining.

Crafty sighed and let the frost disperse, "Sorry, I'm just starting. Love Heart or his parents can teach you." She smiled and stood up, "Wanna head out again?"

Hidden Heart nodded then got up and followed after Crafty.

The sun was high overhead as Hidden and Crafty walked side-by-side down the street, still drawing attention from everyone around them. Hidden Heart practically shrunk into herself when one particularly nosy lady walked up to them.

"Excuse me, but why are you two walking around like that?"

Hidden Heart shrunk back and Crafty just scowled at her, "Do you mean wearing fur or naked? These aren't costumes, lady, and you can't see anything so fuck off!" She pushed past the lady who just stared slack-jawed as Hidden Heart slid past her.

Crafty Heart laughed aloud as Hidden Heart caught up with her, and even giggled slightly, "That was...thank you."

"No problem," Crafty put an arm around Hidden's shoulder which made her blush, "My advice: don't take crap from people about the whole 'nothing but fur' thing. Just walk away and don't take them seriously." She saw Hidden's red face and withdrew her arm, "You alright?"

"Yes." Hidden Heart looked up and spotted a large open-front book store built into the buildings on the right, "Look!" She seemed excited for the first time since they me the previous day. She charged into the store which left Crafty to try and catch up. Hidden Heart seemed to be all over the store, digging around the fantasy and graphic novels mostly. Crafty just smiled and scanned through the volumes, trying to find something that appealed to her.

Crafty Heart was browsing through a thick graphic novel called BONE When she looked up to see Hidden Heart frozen as she stared at a collection of children's books, a pained scowl on her face. Concerned, Crafty went over to Hidden Heart and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Those." Hidden Heart pointed at three books on top of piles that had been placed next to each other: The Three Little Pigs,Little Red Riding Hood and Peter and the Wolf. Hidden Heart Wolf's hands balled into fists as she stared daggers at the children's stories in front of her, "I hate those stories. They used to read them at the orphanage during story time and then everyone else would look at me as if I was going to eat them, or run away screaming when I tried to talk to them. The caretakers tried to stop the kids but every now and then they would read the stories again, because there weren't many others, but still..." Hidden Heart hugged herself tightly, "I'm not a big bad wolf, I'm just a small, scared, lonely wolf."

Crafty patted her friend on the back, unsure what to say. She was familiar with those stories, even she had been read those stories once upon a time. But now...

Crafty Heart searched the books, hoping she'd see something to diffuse the situation. And then she spotted a book with its title half-covered by surrounding books. She left Hidden Heart, who was trembling, and grabbed the book to pull it out and expose it. She grinned then turned around and pushed the book in front of Hidden Heart, blocking her view of the offending children's tales. "Here, try this one!"

Hidden Heart stopped shaking and took the book in both hands as she read the title. "The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig?" She looked up at Crafty.

Crafty was still grinning as she responded, "It sounded like a fun twist. Wanna get it?"

Hidden Heart looked back at the book, then nodded and held it close like a stuffed toy "Yes! Please!" Crafty smiled and paid the teller for the book, even as Hidden Heart had opened the book and started to read.

As expected for a children's book, Hidden Heart had finished reading before they reached the end of the block. She hugged the book to herself and turned to Crafty as they reached the crosswalk, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She leaned in and gave Crafty a kiss on the cheek, then recoiled as she started blushing. "Oh my! I'm sorry I...!"

"It's fine," Crafty touched her cheek where Hidden Heart had kissed her then smiled, "You're welcome."

"N-no, I mean we just met and...I don't even know how...you...swing..." She averted her gaze from Crafty.

Crafty Heart touched her shoulder and motioned for her to cross. As they crossed, Craty leaned over and whispered, "I swing any way I want."

Hidden Heart's face turned red but she smiled as the reached the other side of the crosswalk.

OoOoO

Love Heart Bear lay back on the grass, feeling it mesh with his fur as he let the summer sun radiate down on him. He sighed contentedly and looked to his side where Confidence Heart lay in a more sprawled out position than he had.

It had been Love Heart's idea for all of them to go to Wascana Park for the day in lieu of more training, just to hang out, relax, and run around all without clothes (though each of them had a set stored in their tummy symbols in case they were forced to wear them). Ever since he came to Regina with only one set of clothes, Love Heart had been getting more and more used to the idea of wearing nothing but his fur, especially in the summer heat.

Sweet Heart was flying over the park just to have fun while Anger Heart, Guidance Heart and Defiant Heart sat nearby on the opposite side of the lake with Brandon and Caleb. Love Heart was just happy to have some time alone with Confidence Heart. He rolled sideways and put an arm across her chest.

Confidence Heart chuckled, "Still feeling frisky after this morning?"

"A bit," Love Heart leaned over and kissed her, "I mean we're out in public without clothes..."

Confidence Heart laughed and playfully shoved Love Heart away before she rolled on top of him. "Are you sure you want to risk that out here?"

"Who knows, I'm feeling really good." Love Heart reached up and pulled Confidence Heart into a kiss. Confidence wrapped her arms around him as they pulled closer together.

Confidence's eyes shot open wide as she pulled back from Love Heart, "Oh shit I forgot about Passion Heart!" She rolled off of Love Heart.

Love Heart tensed up, "That wolverine who nearly killed you back home? What about him?"

Confidence Heart sat up, supporting herself with her arms behind her, "He escaped. Julian told me when he brought us our passports. I was going to tell you when we got here but then I saw you and," she gave a slight smile, "that was all that mattered." She shook her head violently to get herself back on topic, "But that's not important. Julian said it happened the day after we left to wait for the passports. Passion Heart was being kept in a secure hospital room where criminals who need serious medical attention are kept. Someone forced the window bars open to rescue him and the police standing guard were all dead, impaled by spikes of black ice that didn't melt for over a day."

"Black ice?" Love Heart sat up, "Is that everything."

Confidence Heart nodded, "That's all."

Love Heart leaned forwards, brought his knees up to his chest and cross his arms to rest on top of his knees. "Indy should be here any day and Mom and Dad should be back with Crafty and whoever they found by tomorrow. Once they show up we need to get moving again."

"I'm sorry, but you won't be leaving here except with us."

Love Heart and Confidence Hearts eye shot wide as they jumped up and whirled around to face where the voice had come from. Four Care Animals were standing there: A brown spotted lynx with green eyes wearing a loose long sleeved green shirt and brown sweat pants and a relaxed look on her face and a visible chest symbol of a heart shaped pond surrounded by trees, a dark blue otter with blue eyes in nothing but his fur whose chest symbol was a wave crashing against a coast and a fierce look in his eyes, a pale pink female bear with a look of semi-revulsion in her blue eyes who was also unclothed and a heart-shaped forest for a chest symbol.

Lastly was the bear who had spoken: a yellow bear with blue eyes wearing a white shirt, black pants and a black longcoat and barely visible chest symbol: a flash of light. Love Heart also noticed that while their noses were heart shaped, the hearts were narrower with sharper tips, almost like a very thick and sharp V was stuck to their noses.

Love Heart immediately conjured a sword into his hand which set the four of them on guard. "Who are you?!"

The yellow bear grinned, "My name is Flash Heart Bear and I'd like all of you to come with me."

Confidence Heart dropped into a ready fighting stance, "Or what? You'll kill us!"

"I hope it doesn't come to that, but If I need to I will." Flash Heart held out his hand and a sword made of yellow light appeared in his hand.

Confidence Heart grinned, "Hah! Fat chance. I'm ready for anything after that wolverine."

"You're the one who nearly killed Passion Heart!" the otter bared his teeth as his face twisted into one of rage, "You bitch!" Water formed under the otter's feet and carried him forwards until he cannoned into Confidence Heart and pushed her away as the water carried them forwards.

"Marine Heart!" The pink bear was about to run after the two when Flash Heart held out a hand to stop her.

"Let him handle it, he needs to release his frustration." He pointed across the lake, "Take care of those three, try to tie them up and knock them out," he glared at Love Heart, "Calm Heart and I will take care of Love Heart."

Flora Bear watched as Marine Heart slid to a stop as he and Confidence began their fight, then nodded. "Alright, good luck." She turned and took off around the lake.

Love Heart had conjured a second sword while Flash Heart was talking and both crackled with blue lightning, "Just try it! We can handle anything you can dish out."

"I'm sorry, but please just surrender so we can keep you from getting hurt." Calm Heart Lynx drew a metal mace from her chest symbol as her fur took on an earthy texture, "I don't want to hurt you if I can avoid it."

A rock suddenly flew past Love Heart's head from behind and smashed into Calm Heart's chest, which sent her reeling backwards as the earthen barrier around the impact spot cracked.

"I hope you don't mind if I join in."

Love Heart looked over his shoulder to see Independent Bear approaching from behind, wearing nothing except his own black two-tailed coat. "Sorry I took so long, but I felt the aether becoming agitated around here." He glared at Flash Heart and Calm Heart, the latter of whom was recovering from the rock he'd launched at her, "Mind if I handle the cat?" he asked as his chest symbol glowed and a katana appeared in his left hand.

"Go ahead. I can take Flash Heart," Love Heart bared his teeth.

Flash Heart was about to say something when Indy suddenly launched himself forwards and struck at Calm Heart, his sword fracturing more of the earthen shell on her body before he reached his hand behind him with his free right hand and grabbed at the air, aether strings appeared from thin air around Calm Heart like a net and Indy swung with all his might and threw her some distance away.

Most of the humans in the park were scattering as the fights broke out and Love Heart faced down Flash Heart. Love Heart took a deep breath as his symbol and forehead star glowed. There was a flash of white light and suddenly he was dressed in his clothes: a grey t-shirt, a brown army cargo vest and beige cargo shorts. He held up both of his swords and charged them with lightning and gave Flash Heart Bear a death glare. Flash Heart created a bright glowing light in his left hand and gave a cocky smile as he pointed his light sword right at Love Heart.

"Unexpected, but I will still win."

Love Heart bared his teeth, "Over my dead body!" Then he charged.