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Feyrahl, FurAffinity Edition

So it Begins, Ch 0.0

Looking down at the framed paper in her hands, Kenzie sat in the gas station parking lot long after she should have pulled out of the space. The stop was originally a plan to fill up her tank and use the restroom, but, as she saw her recently received framed diploma seated on the passenger seat in the overhead parking lot light, she couldn't help but pick it up and gaze at it. The name clearly written on it, McKenzie Fuller was indeed her name; she wasn't holding someone else's Bachelor's Degree, and she certainly wasn't dreaming.

Even though a Bachelor's Degree was just the first step on her career of becoming a Veterinarian she was still happy to celebrate it, and had on graduation day. She and her college friends had all graduated, and Kenzie was even able to give a speech as valedictorian. It was an amazing experience, and the only thing that could have made it better was if her father had been there-- unfortunately he had been Europe for work at the time. Still, he promised to attend her Master's Degree ceremony. Considering that was still two years off, he also resolved to hold a celebration at home once he returned.

Seeing as she didn't have any classes summer term, she took that as an opportunity to start her 10 hour road trip; her dad expected her by the weekend so he could make good on his promise. She was just over six hours in and, relying on energy drinks and loud music, she hoped to arrive by 2am. Looking up to her dashboard, she realized that she'd been at the gas station for over fifteen minutes; it was definitely time to go.

Kenzie pulled her cell phone out of her jeans pocket, checked it one last time, and set it on the passenger's seat next to her diploma. She cracked another energy drink and, once she'd taken a sip, set it into the cup holder. Staying up until 2 was no big deal; during large portions of the school year she'd regularly be up until 3 studying, but she also wasn't about to risk being drowsy on the road. Pulling out of the parking space, she headed back out onto the highway; it was a good hour to be traveling since there were almost no other cars on the road.

The next hour of the trip went quietly. Aside from the road lit by her headlights there wasn't much she could see of the landscape but it was mostly desert anyway so she knew she wasn't missing much... not that gazing at scenery was a safe thing to do while behind the wheel. Aside from watching the road, most of her time was spent fiddling with her car's radio; so far out from the metropolitan areas the radio stations were spotty at best, and she didn't want to use up the last of her cell phone battery listening to her playlists or a streaming service.

Kenzie was usually good about having her cell plugged in when she was on a road trip but, unfortunately, she'd packed her cord away when she left the university and hadn't thought to dig it out when she'd stopped for gas. Having no one else to blame but herself, she made due with taking a few seconds on the straight-aways to find something worth listening to. The young woman finally managed to find something just as she was reaching the county line. She'd made the trip between home and University a few times, and she always relied on the gorge to help identify the start for the final leg of her journey.

With the University and her home being only two counties apart, some of her friends from the east coast always joked about her living close to home but what they didn't realize was that lots of counties on the west coast were as large as east coast states. She and her dad lived in the northern part of the northernmost county, and the University was at the southern end of the southernmost county so, technically she had to travel the length of three counties to get home-- six hours, of which she was finally heading into the home stretch.

The highway crossed the gorge in the form of a two lane bridge spanning the forty-ish foot gap, passing easily just as high over the small river below. Kenzie had only ever seen the gorge by car; she'd never found a reason to stop and explore it since there wasn't a lot to see and, considering it was just past midnight she also found no reason to stop on that particular trip. The young woman slid easily onto the bridge as the four lane highway's northbound lanes merged into one and she saw the first set of headlights she'd encountered in over twenty minutes in the oncoming traffic lane.

Heading onto the bridge, Kenzie's eyes widened when she realized that the driver heading south must not have realized that the bridges was only two lanes because the car was coming at her in HER lane! Tightening her hold on her wheel, the young woman shouted in surprise, quickly slamming on the brakes, Kenzie's reflexes kicked into gear and she yanked the steering wheel to the side, swerving into the oncoming lane to avoid the impact-- the situation, however, was made worse when the other car swerved back into its proper lane, continuing to come at her head-on. No longer in control of her body, the young woman's hands pulled even harder. Tires screeching, world-up-ending, the young woman's car went into a lateral roll, impacting the road several times from different angles, before slamming into the guard rails on the bridge.

She might have blacked out for a moment at the end, only coming to due to the pain against her breastbone; she realized after a few seconds that she was leaning forward against her steering wheel, and that the direction of gravity had changed. Opening her eyes, Kenzie let out a scream, seeing a long drop ahead of her down to the bottom of the chasm beneath the bridge. Stuck almost exactly half way out across the gorge, her car was caught up in the torn remnants of the guard rail, and that was the only thing keeping it from going over the edge and down the 40+ foot drop to the water and rocks below.

Her voice was tight and hoarse as she began to slowly take-in her surroundings, looking for some kind of escape. "God, please don't let me die... please don't let me die... please don't let me--" The bumper of her car came loose; it was the only part of her car the guard rail had snagged. Kenzie screamed as the ground rushed up to claim her.

* * * * * *

The imact into the water was far from what Kenzie had expected. Not only did she hit it right away, but she had somehow been completely ejected from her car. Her confusion only became worse as she swirled around in the depths; she wasn't certain but, considering it was summer, and the river at the base of the crevasse wasn't that deep, she found it hard to believe that she hadn't actually struck the stones along the bottom. Unwilling and unable to waste the time thinking about it, Kenzie set the thought aside and immediately scrambled her way to the surface; she was glad that she'd chosen her clothes for the drive to be simple and comfortable since they made swimming easier.

Coughing as she broke the surface, sputtering and confused, the young woman had to squint her eyes against the howling wind and fierce waves. For the second time in a handful of seconds things failed to make sense. She fought to keep her head above the surface and tread water, trying to figure out the best way to get to shore, but it was dark and not even the street lights from the highway were visible. The dark clouds overhead made it impossible to even spot the bridge off of which she'd careened. Kenzie had been driving under a clear, star-filled sky; that was yet another thing that didn't make sense. Her confusion was disrupted by a male voice shouting; she was barely able to catch it since the wind was not relenting, but she was able to vaguely make out the direction.

Turning, she saw a dark figure clinging to a large hunk of what appeared to be wooden debris. Still unable to figure out which shore of the river was closest, she chose instead to try and aim for the voice; had the other driver also ended up in the river? It was difficult to paddle rhe way to the other person and she was forced to kick off her shoes and she squirmed out of long-sleeve blouse, leaving her in just her tank top. Still unable to catch good look at the man near her, she reached her arm out, and gloved digits met her outstretched hand, clasping it firmly and pulling Kenzie to the wood.

Getting her first good look at the flotsam, she saw that it looked like a collection of shaped and nailed wood-- not unlike some kind of wall or roof. What really caught her attention, however, was the stranger's face, which she only noticed when he shouted a question at her. The man, if he could be called that, was decidedly not Human. Gazing back at her from his place upon the wooden panel was what she could only identify as a humanoid Fox-- she could tell the difference since foxes, unlike other canines, had elliptical pupils and, despite it being dark, his were oval in shape. His very-red/orange fur also helped.

She was so focused on the fact that he wasn't Human that she failed to notice at first that he was trying to convey something to her. Once she forcd herself out of her shock she noticed that he was pointing a black-furred digit over her shoulder; glancing that way, Kenzie was able to make out a set of dark rocks and what looked like a sandy shore. She might not have understood his words, but the meaning was unmistakable. Moving hand-over-hand along the wood, she took up position beside the Fox and, when he nodded, they started kicking in unison, working together to move their flotation device toward the shore.

With the both of them guiding the wood they managed to reach the shore. Kenzie was still surprised at how deep the water was and she stumbled climbing up out of the surf, but the Fox reached out and grabbed her arm to help steady her. Without the constant pounding of the waves all around her, she was able to hear him much more clearly. She still couldn't understand his words, but his tone was calming and almost reassuring. Once the worst of it was out of the way and the two had clamored their way up out of the water, Kenzie finally took a moment to stop and look around-- yet another surprise for her that night, and the most striking of all (just as much or more so than seeing a two legged humanoid Fox): she wasn't in the desert, there was no bridge, and she wasn't looking at a river; she was on the edge of a huge body of water.

The Fox continued moving as Kenzie stopped to take in the sight. He raised his voice, shouting out into the night as if trying to locate others; Kenzie heard no responses. Still focused more on her own situation, she tried peering out into the water, looking for anything even semi-familiar. Gazing toward the sky, the cloud layer made it impossible to try and gauge her location from the stars... not that she had much familiarity in that anyway. Her eyes ultimately did focus on something, but it was not encouraging: there was a body laying in the sand down the beach. Her startled cry caught her companion's attention."

The Fox's very next word was a proper noun which Kenzie recognized as a name. "Victor!"

Her companion was incredibly light on his feet, and exceptionally fast; he was past her in a second and kneeling by the unmoving form on the sand. She slowly approached as the Fox rolled the body over, revealing the black-gray-and-off-white-fur of a humanoid Raccoon. The Raccoon was soaked just like the two of them and, as Kenzie appraised the situation, saw that he wasn't breathing. She knelt down by the Fox. "Do you know CPR?"

The Fox looked at her, one ear up and the other sideways; the expression reminded her of a confused dog. "Ceepee aur?"

Realizing that he didn't, she quickly took control, urging him back as she began her work. In addition to taking a CPR class after her high school graduation, Kenzie had also volunteered at a summer camp the summer of her Freshman year and got re-certified, and she learned about CPR on animals-- it was similar for the most part, with a few differences, and her largest issue was figuring out whether to follow procedure for a Human or an animal. Regardless, she didn't let her hesitance stop her, and she got right to work.

Kenzie didn't know how long the Raccoon had been non-responsive but she didn't let that stop her. Fortunately, after clearing his airway, closing his muzzle, and blowing into his nose, the man squirmed, rolled sideways, and vomited up water, coughing as he wheezed. The Fox beside her helped Kenzie sit the Raccoon up, and started talking to the recovering man. It took several seconds before the Raccoon acknowledged the words, ultimately waving the Fox away before responding in a raspy tone. He paused however, looking immediately to Kenzie. Licking his nose, he offered what could only have been a lascivious smirk, accompanied by words in what was an unmistakably suggestive tone.

The Fox cleared his throat, and stated something dryly. The Raccoon glanced at him, flat expression suggesting a chagrined response before looking back to Kenzie with a surprisingly flirty grin for someone who had just been almost dead. She realized that it was probably time for her to offer some input of her own.