FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The Cohen-Kline Icosahedron

Chapter 13

copyright comidacomida 2023

The dreams Kaiden had that night were plentiful and powerful-- so much so that he could remember them being so very clear and vivid but, when he awoke, they had already left his mind with only the faintest recollection of what he had experiened... not unlike the memory of a very good movie he'd seen in the theater a decade past. Although he tried strongly to try and recall anything, he somehow knew that the harder he tried the more it would evade him; Humans simply didn't have the mind for Viddin memories.

Haklys was the first to acknowledge him being awake. "Your mind is ajumble, iss'Kaiden?"

Slowly sitting up against his scaled mattress caused his feathered blanket to shift as well and Vetlyk withdrew his wing and let out a large yawn. Kaiden rubbed his Viddin lover's chest as he looked up at the dragon. "That obvious?"

The Ilsit major leaned forward and gingerly licked the Human's forehead. "Worry not, Lakket... there will be time later to explore the connection to Ilsit memories once we are on Saurian Earth."

The reminder to Kaiden that he would eventually be visiting the Ilsit version of Earth was a powerful one, especially considering the young man was the closest he'd been to home in years, but would, in not a very long period of time, find himself further from it than he'd ever been. He also paused, taking note that the Dragon referred to him as an inlaw; it was sweet in an intimate way. "Yeah... I guess you're right."

Vetlyk leaned forward and rubbed the top of his broad, feathered head against the side of Kaiden's. "I hope to join you there, Takket."

The Human smiled, patting Haklys' thigh one more time before standing up and giving Vetlyk's head a hug. "That makes two of us, Holruk'im."

The Vidday stuck his tongue out, corners of his beak pulling up in a grimace. "I may one day be the Holruk of others, Kaiden'im... but I will never be yours. We will be Takket-- I yours, and you mine."

Kaiden gave Vetlyk a slightly stronger hug, going for his shoulders, or as far around them as he could reach. "You're right. Sorry... I was just being silly."

The Viddin gave him a gentle bump with his beak. "And that is one of many things I love about you, Zfielt'im... but we are partners. Never think for a moment that I would lord over you, or force my will upon you. Kaiden Wilson, I want you as my mate... not a follower."

The Human smiled, kissing Vetlyk on the beak. "Okay. Fair enough. That's how you'll have me then. I promise."

Haklys gently slid the end of his tail across Kaiden's ankle as the large dragon headed for the tent flap. "You can call ME 'Holruk' if you like."

Kaiden responded to the chiding with a chuckle; Vetlyk's counter was a rapid series of not-too-serious explicatives and threats. Everyone knew that nobody involved was serious, but it definitely brought some levity to their morning, and the Human, once dressed, left the tent with a large smile, followed by a Viddin who trailed him like a love-struck puppy. It really was a good start to the day, which improved further when he encountered the rest of their roost lounging around the campfire.

The Ilsit already had breakfast cooking and Nittik was among them, gingerly attempting to help with a spatula. While his manual dexterity was better than many of the larger Viddin breeds, the Viddian still wasn't quite up to the skills of the Ilsit Drones so he seemed to be causing as many problems as he was solving with his involvement. Still, even with him involved it wasn't long before they were eating a simple breakfast of sausages, eggs, sliced ham, and flatbread. Kaiden hadn't realized how hungry he was until his meal disappeared in record pace. He used the extra time to plan the day's activities.

Verifying that he had the key card and the physical key, the young man gathered up his Roost and the accompanying Ilsit once breakfast was done and the campsite was cleaned up. The airfield in total was a little over 2000 acres, providing a lot of open space. Kaiden knew that a lot of room to stretch their wings was something all Viddin enjoyed, and that was made all the clearer as Nittik raced past him, wings flapping as he took to the air. Kytskir was quick to follow but it took a little more effort for him to get off the ground. Hahn raced after them, flapping rapidly with all his might, but it was for not as he failed to take flight.

The Viddinis, still land-bound, ultimately trotted back to the rest of the portion of the Roost strolling after Kaiden. He huffed, stepping in line as he swore "Khwah."

Kaiden reached out to rub the feathers atop the dejected Viddin's head. "We already went over the flight problem, Hahn... You okay?"

Even leaning into the rubbing, Hahn let out a huff. "Not really okay, no. I wanna be in the air. I hate being stuck on the ground like a zfie-- uh... no offense."

Kaiden laughed. "None taken. I can't fly unless I'm getting help from Vetlyk or Tral or Haklys so I'm used to walking everywhere."

Stepping into like to trail after Kaiden, Hahn continued his grousing. "Well, it still sucks like a downdraft that we can't fly here on Land Earth... it makes no sense."

Glancing back to his dejected companion, Kaiden tsked. "Oh come on, Hahn-- we already went over why Viddin can't fly on Land Earth. Our atmosphere is less dense than the high pressure atmosphere on Plateau Earth. It's like complaining that you can't swim through the air over there."

Kytskir came in for a landing, his keen hearing likely having picked up on what they were talking about based on his inquiry. "Reasons why larger Viddin can't fly here? Yes... considering the atmosphere leakage, global warming, and the industrial development for the past nearly 300 hundred years, we are fortunate that the ecological measures put in place by the Humans here have managed to repair some of that, or I might have as much trouble as flying as you, classmate."

Hahn stuck out his pointed tongue at the owl/cheetah. "Way to pull a bloodfeather, Kyt. Feel free to yank on it good."

The Viddinek just coo-squawked in response. "There is nothing about that which I meant to be an insult, Classmate. There are many points of divergence between this and all other Earths... I would love to see more data on when and how-- not just on the physical science side of things, but also the effects each civilization has had on their respective Earth which may have helped further divide each version of the planet."

Kaiden, as usual, was impressed with Kytskir's scientific mind, and could only consider supporting and encouraging the questions. "There's no reason you can't plan some experiments, Kytskir... after all, that's what the Unity Programme is about! If you want to study the different Earths I'm sure someone in the Programme will be happy to assign you to a research project after you've graduated."

Kytskir bobbed his head in agreement. "I would like that. Land Earth is the only other version I have been to and I would like to see and study them all. The more we know about each Earth separately the more knowledge we will have to apply to them jointly."

The discussion died down as the Roost approached their first stop; everyone ceased their banter when Kaiden jingled the key chain with the key on it that would help them gain entry to the bunker silo that contained the barracks which was their first stop. The door was large enough that most of the Viddin would be able to get in easily, but Tral would have to squeeze through and Haklys, unfortunately, would have to wait outside. The Dragon let out a calm snort. "All is well, iss'Kaiden. I will wait here."

The first stop did not turn out to be anything particularly significant. The Roost was able to see some old rusted metal bed frames and some footlockers. Kytskir and Nittik explored some of the containers (their curiosity turned up nothing since they were all empty) while Hahn and Sokkas walked the room. Tral and Vetlyk remained close to Kaiden; the former asked many questions about the living arrangements while the latter seemed content to just listen. There really wasn't much to see and after less than ten minutes they made their way out.

The next stop required both the physical key and the keycard and, thankfully, the entrance was sufficiently wide to allow a fixed wing aircraft to enter so there were no excluded members of the Roost or the accompanying Ilsit. Although there were no planes stored there, Kaiden was able to bring up the picture of many different kinds of aerial vehicles used during World War II and presented them via his data pad to his classmates. It also helped that he located an old laminated poster which presented the "right way" to store planes in the hangar, providing a diagram that helped with visualizing everything in the space allotted.

From there, the Human made a slow circuit of the large floor plan as he discussed information about the different planes, their military usage, engineering upkeep, and their eventual decommissioning as technology left them far behind-- not unlike the airfield which, like the the planes, became a relic of the past. By the time Kaiden had the hangar locked up again post departure, he was able to discuss the incredible difference in the Humanity of the present and what it had been like such an incredibly long time in the past.

On their walk toward the control tower, Sokkas asked a question. "I did not notice any indicator of a wing tilt mechanism on the airplanes presented on the diagrams provided while we were in the hangar... how did they take off and land?"

Kytskir offered a squawking chuckle. "That is what the long stretch of paved pathway was for, classmate... do you recall that Kaiden explained it was called a 'runway'? It worked much like the cleared area in front of the Unity Centre on the plateau back home-- the Humans' planes could not climb trees to help them take off, so they had to resort to room to get up to speed... like you and other large Viddin."

Hahn quickly interjected, surprising Kaiden with his understanding. "They even had airplanes on water craft and they threw them off into the air using some of their machine devices!"

The Human had to remind himself that the Viddinis had gone through a larghe collection of vids from the prior hundred years in his spare time; apparently he'd learned quite a bit from it. Kaiden confirmed Hahn's statement. "It's true. Back when Humans had lots of armed conflicts they used those big ships, called 'aircraft carriers' to launch planes at sea. There were even some planes that could float on the water so they could use lakes as runways."

The walk from the hangar to the air tower was a lengthy one, giving Kaiden and his classmates plenty of time to discuss the history of flight among Humans and the different ways they made use of airplanes. He managed to connect the past as well as modern air vehicles, including comparing older vehicles to the much more modern scramblers used by the Programme. By the time they arrived at the tower, the entire class had had the opportunity to ask clarifying questions, and Kaiden was pleased that he'd managed to gain and hold everyone's attention. At that point he unlocked and opened their last building to explore for the day.

It was certainly the tallest of the buildings on the abandoned airfield but it was also in the worst repair. The interior looked to have been subjected to some weather damage and there were signs that birds had been roosting in it. Kaiden stepped inside and moved out of the way so the rest of the class could join him, carefully filing in around the huge amount of rubble filling up the center of the bottom floor. The Human gestured toward the stairs, facing his classmates to make sure he could guide them clearly. "Up the stairs. Single file. Be careful as you go up."

Once the Viddin were all on their ascent, Kaiden glanced back at the rubble behind him. In addition to stone blocks and clumps of concrete he also saw a large collection of twisted and torn metal, including several large pipes sticking up out of the slag. He was more than happy enough to leave it all behind as he followed his classmates up the stairs. The stairway, despite being old, was made of metal steps reinforced with metal pipes and railing. Nevertheless, he didn't like the way the metal creaked as Tral and Vetlyk made their way up. "Hey-- you two... separate a little so you're both not so close together. The stairs should hold, but we don't want to risk it."

Since Vetlyk was in the front, Tral took it upon himself to let others pass, squeezing his bulk up against the concrete wall as everyone else slipped by. The huge Viddinire was all beaky smiles as he waited patiently for Kaiden. "We will all make it to the top but I will enjoy the journey more being closer to you anyway."

The circular stairway was secured against the wall with a combination supports, fasteners, and anchors which explained why it was still in place when many of the metal walkways and metal mesh floors had long-since given way to join the rubble on the ground floor. Without the various levels within the tower, however, that meant that there was a long drop to the left as the stairway circled upward. Kaiden had never been particularly fearful of heights, but he didn't much care for the way the stairs creaked and groaned. Fortunately, he noted, many of the Roost were already approaching one of the top floors which was built out using concrete rather than just a metal catwalk or grate. "Hey! Wait for us at the top when you get there, guys!"

Nittik and Kytskir bounded on ahead and Vetlyk slowed, peering out under the handrail from near the top as he called down. "The railing is very loose, Kaiden'huu. Be mindful."

Kaiden nodded in acknowledgement and moved closer to the wall, slowly working his way up before glancing back to make sure Tral was still following him; the large Viddin was, crest feathers puffed out happily. The gryphon cooed contentedly. "I enjoy being high up again, even if it isn't to fly."

The young man smiled back and returned his attention forward, just in time to see a large, metal plate come falling down, accentuated by a warning squawk from Sokkas. "EYES UP, EVERYONE! CAREFUL!"

Kaiden pressed himself even closer to the edge as the heavy panel cleaved the air just a short way from the stairs. He moved quickly back to the railing to watch it fall toward the ground, only to let out a cry of alarm as the thin metal pipes creating the barrier gave way in his grasp, doing nothing to help him maintain his balance or footing. In a split second Kaiden was leaning, off-balance over the edge of the steps, eyes wide as he stared at the long, ten-plus meter fall onto the jagged metal pipes below.

The next moment the back of his jacket was caught by a firmly gripping talon, and he was pulled back to the safety of the stairs. Tral's jovial voice betrayed the obvious concern in his words. "Careful, Kaiden'huu... you can't fly in Plateau Earth, let alone this one."

Vetlyk squawked aggressively. "CAREFUL, YOU MIGGIES!" His voice then grew much calmer with a strong hint of concern as his head poked through the railing to again look down. "Is everyone alright down there?"

Gently resting a hand on Tral's foreleg in thanks, Kaiden decided not to worry Vetlyk. He took a deep breath to steady himself before calling back up "Just fine, Vetlyk! I'm going to send Tral up so all of you can look over the top floor, but I think I'm ready to head back down now."

There was some rapid discussion in the Viddin tongue among the Roost who had already reached the top. Kaiden caught something about Nittik using his data pad to take a picture or two of the scene but the ultimate conclusion was that they were ready to descend as well; apparently the idea of pieces of structure falling during their passage didn't exactly instill confidence in the class. Kaiden, as he headed down with Tral leading the way was honestly more than content to call it quits; the young man made a mental note to let the Programme know about the 'deferred maintenance' state of the tower.

Tral provided quiet support for Kaiden, who remained a little shaken as they arrived on the ground floor. The Human remained leaning against the large Viddin, working on controlling his breath as he looked to where the metal sheet had impacted into the rubble; had things been even just a little different it was not impossible to think that he or one of his Viddin could have-- no; he decided that he wasn't going to dwell on that.

Vetlyk noticed his distress immediately. "Kaiden'huu... what is wrong?"

Kaiden tried not to worry his companion. "Just got a little vertigo. I'll be fine."

Tral didn't quite get the intent to be subtle. "The railing Kaiden was using broke away and he almost fell. I grabbed him before he did though."

Vetlyk's response was blunt as he leveled an accusatory stare at the Human. "I said to be mindful of the railing."

Letting out a sigh, the young man leaned back against Tral. "I know. After that metal plate fall past us I wasn't thinking."

Softening immediately, Vetlyk moved over to press his body to the Human's front, giving him a Viddin version of a shoulder hug. "You are safe. That is what matters."

Hahn called from the stairway "The top of the tower was good to see, but it would not have been a good trade for losing you, Kaiden'huu. You need to be more careful."

Kytskir, right behind the Viddinis had plenty to say to him. "Says the one who knocked a big piece of metal down on everyone below."

Sokkas glared daggers at Hahn. "If he would have been harmed...."

Nittik alighted on the floor before the discussion could turn darker. Being the smallest of the Roost, he had been able to take to wing and flutter his way down the large, open tower. "I got a lot of pictures. I can share them with you later, Kaiden'huu."

Hahn's beak was all smiles. "Oh right... he is joining us tonight in our tent!"

Mind still awash with the close call, Kaiden urged his Roost out of the tower. He locked everything back up and let his mind focus on the lessons of the day in an attempt to recover his composure. "We'll finish the day with a walk of the perimeter. We'll take a general circuit of the property like guards would have done back when this was an active airfield... follow me."

The continued lessons did help Kaiden with regaining his focus. Walking along the old chain link fence gave him the opportunity to let the adrenaline run its course and for his mind to let go of what could have happened. He pointed out to his classmates the need for fences around airfields in order to ensure that no random animals or people would get onto the base. Animals, of course, were far more of a concern outside of cities, and visitors to an airfield, military or civilian had to come through an approved entrance.

Kytskir spoke up when they were almost half way around the airfield and Kaiden had concluded his discussion on the fences. "What about birds, Kaiden'huu? Fences would not keep out flying creatures like birds."

Nittik quickly added. "Or Chitgiss, Tikta, or Miggies... uh... you have those here on Land Earth, right, Kaiden'huu?"

The Human chuckled. "Nope... none of those. Looks like we'll have to spend some time going over Land Earth animal species again. Closest species we have are flying squirrels, flying foxes, and bats respectively... though, technically, flying foxes are a subspecies of bat, so I guess they--"

Kytskir interjected "Kaiden'huu... if fences are the primary deterrent, how do Humans keep flying creatures out of their air fields?"

Hahn struck a strutting pose. "They don't! Birds own the skies, so Humans just have to make due!"

Smirking, Kaiden countered. "Hahn... you've seen a scrambler. How do you think a bird would handle being run into by one?"

Hahn's feathers deflated. "Oh... about as well as a Chitgiss colliding with Tral, I would guess."

Kytskir added to the statement. "If Tral made out of metal, classmate. The bird would practically vaporize."

Kaiden nodded. "Right. In the early days of air travel sometimes a flock of birds could bring down a plane too... or at least cause a lot of damage that needed to repair. It's just a good idea to keep them out of the airspace around airfields."

The Viddinek blinked and repeated his question. "So how do they do it?"

The Human explained the many different techniques used over the years to protect airfields from birds including trained raptors, fake owls, firing air cannons to scare them away, and even changing the local landscape to make it less bird friendly. As they exited through the gate in the chain link fence and headed back toward camp, Kaiden explained that most modern airports used sonic and ultrasonic bird repellents, greatly reducing the number of bird strikes on aircraft and limiting the property damage and loss of avian life.

Returning to camp was a welcome event. The Human was able to change out of his field clothes and into something more comfortable for lounging around while the Viddin took their time to get settled. The Ilsit were content to get dinner prep started; Kaiden reminded everyone that hunting wouldn't be necessary since they had provisions. All of the Viddin were eager for dinner after hearing that; the young man had promised them a genuine human camping trip and, as always, food was an important component of any gryphon experience.

Sokkas, who had been quiet for the majority of the trip through the airfield took a seat beside Kaiden. There was something comforting about the dyed Viddin's presence; he didn't have to say anything to make the Human smile. When the Ilsit began to unpack the hot dogs, Kaiden jumped right into teacher mode and began talking about the popularity of the food and the plethora of ways that it was prepared for consumption.

In addition to the hot dogs, Zithing had brought a pan and he started cooking some greens that had been foraged the prior day. Kaiden used the opportunity to discuss the difference between pan seared hot dogs, boiled hot dogs, and grilled ones. He also went over the various styles of hot dogs, such as the steamie, Michigan style, or the nice-and-simple "just ketchup". As his classmates were contemplating the many ways Canadians ate hot dogs, Kaiden through them for a loop and went over the even broader kinds of hot dog cuisine common among their neighbors to the south. "The United States is hotdog crazy."

By the time dinner was ready, Kaiden had started going over South Korean styles and, at that point, the ravenous Viddin set upon their meals with abandon. Dinner playing out precisely as he'd planned, Kaiden used that distraction to grab a large jar as a surprise. He'd hoped that he would have a few seconds after opening it but the lid letting out a metallic pop once the seal was broken garnered him everyone's attention-- or perhaps it was the brine. Smiling, Kaiden leaned into it. "Seeing as I know you all really like pickles, I thought it might be fun to try a few different kind of pickled foods rather than just peppers and cucumbers."

His entire Roost created a half-circle around him in the blink of an eye. There were a number of theories among the interested parties within the Unity Programme as to why Viddin enjoyed pickles so much but the majority of them were far too busy trying to answer much more meaningful questions than to spend any significant amount of time postulating hypotheses aside from "the vinegar and salt sets off endorphins" or "the chemical composition creates healthier feathers".

Whatever the reason for the popularity of pickled food, the contents of the large jar lasted barely two minutes. Kaiden found himself laughing. "I guess pickled eggs are a hit."

His Roost were all in agreement: they were indeed. Not yet finished, Kaiden doubled down as the Ilsit began prepping dessert. Pulling a smaller jar out of the supplies, the Human popped that container and began dishing out small slices of preserved lemons to top each individual tart to present to his Roostmates. Although not pickled in the traditional way of other items they'd tried, the Viddin nevertheless seemed to enjoy those as well. Kaiden marked that away for future consideration; treating his friends to such delicacies wasn't really part of any major research plan, but it was fun to test their responses.

All-in-all, the camp time around the cook fire, eating, and socializing continued through until the sky had grown dark. They still had one more day for camping and he wanted to make sure everyone was up early; it was a nature hike day-- a way to just enjoy the wilderness without any major teaching components. He had promised his friends a day out on Land Earth and he hoped to make the most of it. After announcing he was going to turn in early Kaiden got up and headed toward Nittik and Hahn's tent; they were very quick to follow.

With both Viddin joining him in the tent it was very evident that they weren't thinking of sleep right away; their puffed up feathers and huge beaky grins were secondary indicators since neither Viddin did anything to try and hide their erections. It really wasn't much of a surprise at that point, but Nittik did catch Kaiden unaware during the act. The smallest of the Viddin in class was laying on his back, serviced by the Human's lips and tongue as Hahn took Kaiden from behind and, despite several minutes having already passed (and three very vocal ejaculations by Hahn), Nittik had yet to cum.

The Viddines flopped down to the ground, pulling Kaiden a little closer so that the Human would still be impailed on his semi-hard erection, keeping all of the gryphon seed corked within him. Hahn mumbled something, nibbling lightly at the fine hair on the back of the young man's neck before settling down to sleep. Nittik slid even closer, half-curling up so Kaiden could still have decent access to his still throbbing shaft, while the gryphon could have his head closer to the Human's at the same time.

Kaiden was, honestly, rather surprised that Nittik hadn't gotten off. Pausing while Nittik readjusted his position, the Human asked. "Is everything alright?"

Nittik peeped up a happy "Everything is very alright, Kaiden'huu. I am really enjoying myself. Your mouth is not getting tired, is it?"

It had been awhile since any of his Roost had been so resistant to his ministrations and, if he were being honest with himself, Kaiden was starting to feel it in his lip and jaws. "I'm just surprised you haven't... you know."

The class trickster's response surprised him. "I was trying really hard not to. You make that difficult."

Held from behind by Hahn, Kaiden couldn't really prop himself up, but he did manage to get an elbow beneath himself so he could look more directly at his companion. "Huh? Why?"

Nittik's feathers puffed out a little, revealing a faint reddish blush beneath. "Well... we are getting to the end of this term and, at the end, you are going to go to Saurian Earth and I am going back to Plateau Earth. This is kind of like our last trip together and... well... I figured that, if I did not get off so easily that... um... that you might just... spend a little more time with me."

With Nittik being the size of a large dog, the Viddin was still lighter than a canine of similar size so Kaiden didn't have much trouble pulling his classmate closer. "Nittik... you don't have to have an excuse for wanting to be close to me... you don't have to hold back just because you think when you're done I won't want to--"

Kaiden didn't get a chance to finish his statement as, with permission clear, Nittik gave immediately over to his innate desires and immediately began to gush copious amounts of seed, his pent up refusal to cum turning into pure and unrestricted geyser of semen... all over Kaiden's chest, neck, and chin. Nittik gently rubbed his beak into Kaiden's hair with a contented sigh. "Thank you, Kaiden'huu."

Realizing that he was even more soaked than when he had been the prior night, the Human let out a long sigh. "Well, fuck me..."

Nittik snickered, pressing his furred body happily against the slathered front of the Human. "Hahn is still in your hole. Maybe in the morning."