{"sf1_id":153311,"sf2_id":"3egDYEBm","title":"All's Fair - Part 4","author":"Xi-entaj","words":2004,"posted_at":"2010-06-13T03:55:00.000Z","tags":["Gay","Hate","Husky","Lion","Love","No-Yiff","Wolf"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/153311-all-s-fair-part-4","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/3egDYEBm","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/c6/37/c6372d92-ac55-4037-bbec-60f031259b47","description":"#4 of All's Fair","content":"The story's main character is bi, so don't read if you don't want to. As ever, your thoughts and criticism are welcome so that I can get better.\n\nThanks for reading!\n\n- Xi\n\n**All's Fair - Part 4**\n\nThe trick was to get off campus without being seen, because I didn't feel like running and I didn't want to get told off - again - for ditching class.\u0026nbsp; Damn it, it's not like I was missing anything.\u0026nbsp; But it really wasn't too dificult, and half an hour later I flopped onto a grassy hill outside of town, breathing deeply.\u0026nbsp; It occurred to me to wonder what the hell I was doing here, where the hell I was going with my life.\u0026nbsp; I snorted.\u0026nbsp; \"I'm living it,\" I said aloud to the lowering clouds.\u0026nbsp; Losinng interest, I started watching the wind push them to and fro while they put out new plumes and darkened.\u0026nbsp; Maybe it would rain today.\u0026nbsp; My eyes slid out of focus while I imagined how it would be to have Ivan looking down on me, between me and the clouds.\u0026nbsp; I carefully crafted every gold-brown strand of his mane and the beautiful way his eyes shone.\u0026nbsp; Grinning, I gave him the exasperated expression he usually wore when he saw me.\u0026nbsp; I touched a paw to my lips and extended it upward to him.\u0026nbsp;\n\nSuddenly a familiar voice sounded in my mind.\u0026nbsp; \"Idiot mutt.\"\u0026nbsp; Jake's scornful image flashed in front of my eyes, making Ivan vanish while I growled at the air.\u0026nbsp; Damn it, I couldn't even daydream in peace anymore.\u0026nbsp; I pushed myself off the grass and started back to catch social psychology.\u0026nbsp; I had to run the last few minutes to make it in time.\u0026nbsp;\n\nAll through the class I felt frustration building in my chest, making me want to scream even though I knew from experience that didn't help.\u0026nbsp; When the bell rang I stayed behind a moment, breathing deeply, before I made myself get up.\u0026nbsp; Once I was moving, I walked swiftly over to my usual seat next to Ivan in the cafeteria, but I stopped three feet away.\u0026nbsp; Suddenly I didn't want to sit down.\u0026nbsp; Sighing, I stepped behind Ivan and lightly rested my paws on his chest.\u0026nbsp; He slapped them away, but I just put them back, even more lightly.\u0026nbsp; Growling to himself, he let me.\u0026nbsp; I shut my eyes, concentrating on his body heat under my paws and in front of my stomach.\u0026nbsp;\n\nThey were talking about some other furs who'd been encroaching on their territory.\u0026nbsp; It was always other gangs with them.\u0026nbsp; I flicked my ears back, listening to other conversations instead.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"...have really good deals on skateboards and stuff...\"\n\n\"...yeah, and then she turned around and...\"\n\n\"...plus, he lets you take sick days off and work a flexible schedule...\"\n\n\"...the Hotspurs all the way, no question.\u0026nbsp; They totally have the best offense...\"\n\nSuddenly I didn't want to be there anymore.\u0026nbsp; I walked quickly out of the cafeteria, but slowed down once I was in the open; I'd really nowhere else I wanted to go.\u0026nbsp; I meandered around the quieter areas of campus, avoiding anyone who was making noise.\u0026nbsp; The air was smelling more and more like rain, so I kept outside to savor it; I like that smell, no matter how often we get it.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"You missed class today,\" Jake's voice said from maybe ten feet behind me.\u0026nbsp;\n\nI didn't turn around.\u0026nbsp; \"I have a whole team of nags at the correction center, just for me.\u0026nbsp; I don't need another one here.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\nIf he was daunted, he made absolutely no sign of it.\u0026nbsp; Impossible wolf.\u0026nbsp; \"Then you walk out of lunch without a word to anyone.\u0026nbsp; Not that anyone minded really; they're glad you're gone and I'm glad you're not inciting Ivan to murder.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"There are furs in the world who get their jollies by spilling their guts to passers by and examining each other's motives.\u0026nbsp; They'd love to have you.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"The trouble is, knowing you, this probably means you're planning something even less healthy than hanging out with a bunch of jumped-up high schoolers that hate your guts.\"\n\n\"How about you go bug someone who gives a shit, like your girlfriend.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"She's out for the day, mutt, so I'm left to your illustrious company.\"\u0026nbsp; Ah.\u0026nbsp; I'd hit a little nerve; his voice was decidedly chilled.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"That doesn't mean you can't find her.\u0026nbsp; Go stalk someone else.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\nI'd lost it again; I heard the mocking smile in his voice.\u0026nbsp; \"Oh, but you're so much fun.\"\u0026nbsp; His voice sobered.\u0026nbsp; \"Seriously, it would be nice if I didn't have to save your tail again for a while, 'kay?\"\u0026nbsp;\n\nI felt that frustration again.\u0026nbsp; Making a sound midway between a whine and a scream, I took off.\u0026nbsp; I don't know if he followed.\u0026nbsp; I'm slightly faster than he is, both sprinting and distance.\u0026nbsp; I didn't listen to find out if he said anything else, either.\u0026nbsp; I just let my footfalls jar through my body for as long as I could, until the city faded back into those peaceful hills and the hills faded into forest and climbed into mountains.\u0026nbsp; My heart pounded heard in my chest as the minutes stretched to an hour and more and I steadfastly ignored the pain building in my muscles.\u0026nbsp; Finally I fell onto the ground, gasping for air through the dirt and pine needles.\u0026nbsp; My legs burned, my lungs screamed, my rib ached, my pads throbbed.\u0026nbsp; I was covered in little scratches from the tree branches.\u0026nbsp; For a few minutes I felt wonderful.\u0026nbsp;\n\nWhen I finally had my breath back, I climbed up on shaking legs and looked around.\u0026nbsp; I doubted I was even then miles away from town - probably quite a bit less, actually - but I'd never been up this mountain.\u0026nbsp; The smallest trees were easily thirty feet tall, mostly evergreen, and I couldn't hear the city at all.\u0026nbsp; The silence was broken by birdcalls and insect noises.\u0026nbsp; Somewhere nearby a stream gurgled.\u0026nbsp; I staggered around until I found it, drinking as deeply as I dared without cramping up, then wandered in aimless exhaustion through the trees.\u0026nbsp;\n\nI stopped a short while later by a particularly large one.\u0026nbsp; Screw my rib; I made a jump for its lower branches, almost missed, but caught it and started to climb, using mostly my arms.\u0026nbsp; Soon they were complaining as much as the rest of me, but I kept going.\u0026nbsp; I took it slow, not wanting to mess up my rib or further abuse my legs.\u0026nbsp; Once I got high enough to see over the trees on the downhill side, I had to gasp.\u0026nbsp; The town was spread out below me, nestled between hills and then the mountains I was in on the north and east, and the long, glimmering silver-slate band of the ocean on the west.\u0026nbsp; As I watched, it faded away under dark bands falling from the clouds.\u0026nbsp; It was raining there.\u0026nbsp; A few minutes later the first droplets began to fall on me as well.\u0026nbsp; I realized then that I wasn't going back tonight.\u0026nbsp;\n\nI sat on that branch for as long as was comfortable, maybe an hour or two, while the rain fell and soaked my clothes and fur.\u0026nbsp; My backpack, fortunately for its contents, shed water.\u0026nbsp; I wasn't cold at all, courtesy of husky fur.\u0026nbsp; I climbed slowly to the ground and took off my clothes, letting it fluff out so that it would insulate better.\u0026nbsp; I wasn't worried about meeting anyone; not in such a vast space, not in this weather.\u0026nbsp; I looked around until I found the stream again, and discovered a decent-sized pond, with steep rocks on the uphill side and trees on the down isolating it from everything.\u0026nbsp; The scene was an open invitation to take a dip, and so I did.\u0026nbsp; Then I looked some more until I found a small tree that had fallen over, leaving a dry space underneath it once I'd broken off some branches on the underside.\u0026nbsp; I stowed my backpack and clothes there, but I didn't turn in until it was too dark to see.\u0026nbsp; It rained the whole time, keeping the world at bay beyond the thick sheets of water.\u0026nbsp; I shook as much of it out of my fur as I could before I crawled under the tree; it didn't bother me too much, but I didn't want to be sopping wet all night.\u0026nbsp;\n\nI was just beginning to drift off when a loud crack sounded through the night, making me sit bolt upright.\u0026nbsp; The darkness wrapped around my eyes like a blindfold, and the branches of the tree I was under muffled and distorted sound.\u0026nbsp; Suddenly I realized there was no way to really tell even if someone - or something - was outside.\u0026nbsp; The light breeze and rain stirred through the forest, making little rustles.\u0026nbsp;\n\nI thought I heard a few quiet thumps of something hitting the ground, like soft footfalls, and I jerked my head towards the sound, straining my ears.\u0026nbsp; But I couldn't hear anything, and eventually decided maybe I'd just imagined it.\u0026nbsp; After a long while spent listening in the night, I lay back down, and exhaustion made me sleep.\u0026nbsp;\n\nI woke up sore.\u0026nbsp; I wasn't used to running like that, and I certainly wasn't used to sleeping on the dirt under a try.\u0026nbsp; After one abortive attempt at motion, I squeezed my eyes shut and groaned, contemplating the many wondrous benefits of civilization, like beds and muscle relaxants.\u0026nbsp; But I knew I wouldn't trade last night for all of them.\u0026nbsp; Whimpering softly, I made myself crawl out into the light.\u0026nbsp;\n\nAs if to make up for the rain, the sun was shining warm - thanks, September.\u0026nbsp; I basked in it for a while once I'd hobbled to an exposed boulder.\u0026nbsp; But I'd barely dried the remaining dampness from my fur when my stomach informed me in no uncertain terms that I could definitely _not_ subsist on fresh air and sunlight.\u0026nbsp; I grinned at it and fished my clothes out from under the tree, setting them to dry on the boulder while I took a long drink from the stream.\u0026nbsp; Mountain streams, by the way, are _cold_.\u0026nbsp; I wandered through the trees for a while, working the stiffness out of my muscles and stretching them, then I put my clothes back on and got my backpack, starting back for the town.\u0026nbsp; Idly I wondered if I could catch a rabbit, but I was no cub scout - I didn't have the first clue how to hunt and wouldn't be able to cook it if I did.\u0026nbsp;\n\nIt was a three and some hour walk back, moving slowly.\u0026nbsp; Probably six or eight miles, then.\u0026nbsp; I bought breakfast at McDonald's - am I the only one who thinks their pancakes are way better than their standard? - then went back to school.\u0026nbsp; It felt really weird walking back onto campus, like I'd been dreaming.\u0026nbsp; I guessed it to be somewhere in the middle of art, and I really didn't want to walk into it.\u0026nbsp; I hesitated by a brick corner.\u0026nbsp; Probably the center was looking for me; possibly enough furs at school would know about it that I'd be reported back to them.\u0026nbsp; Todd and Becky would want to know why I'd missed the movie.\u0026nbsp; I'd have to explain what i'd been doing, first to the students and then to my handlers, and the more I thought about it the less I wanted to mix the world on the mountain with the world here - not so much that I minded explaining as that I just didn't want the two to have any contact.\u0026nbsp;\n\nQuietly I turned around and left again.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\\*\\*\\*\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nAnd that makes four.\u0026nbsp; I had a really vivid image running through my head when I wrote this, like an HD video with sound, but I don't think I translated it to writing well.\u0026nbsp; So be it, I guess.\u0026nbsp; Thanks for reading, and please comment.\u0026nbsp;\n\n  \n  \n\n","series":{"name":"All\\'s Fair","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/153119-all-s-fair-part-3.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/153607-all-s-fair-part-5.json"}}