FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 3

Planning the Search

Tucker woke up early due to his routine. The sun barley coming over the horizon made the room just light enough to see his way around. Sitting up, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, 'what happened?' He looked around, 'Oh, that's right'. Max stirred beside him. He also sat up and gave a big yawn. "Morning Max," he said as he rubbed Max's head. They both stood up and stretched, getting the sleep out of their muscles. Looking around again, he spotted a window, 'Huh, didn't realize I had a window.' He walked up and looked out expecting to see a forest, but what he saw amazed him. "Whoa!" What he saw were buildings. Not the buildings he's use to, but buildings none the less. Seeing a wall in the distance and tracing it around as far as he could see, he assumed those were the barriers to the city. City! A city of dragons! 'Wow, never thought there would be so many. I'll ask Terrador about this later.' "You up for a jog Max?" Max barked. "Shh, don't want to wake anyone up." They walked out of his room and outside. It took a while to find the exit, but it wasn't a major problem. When they came out of the temple, the sun was showing its' face on the city. The cool air was crisp and smelled damp. "Let's go." And they took off down the streets.

As the sleepy residents woke from their sleep, they gave a 'what-the-hell' look as Tucker and Max jogged by. Near the end of their jog, a small dragon stepped out of a doorway. Tucker tried to evade the sudden appearance of the dragon but tripped and fell over the dragon. They both tumbled twice, Tucker managed to land on his back. 'Ow.' Max came over and licked his face. Tucker got up and looked behind him seeing the dragon trying to stand up. "Sorry about that. You came out of nowhere and I couldn't stop and-"

"AHH!" the dragon screamed, or rather she screamed. She had looked up at who was talking and what she saw scared her.

"Hey, I'm not going to hurt you," Tucker put up his hands. The dragoness just stared.

"Honey!" a voice came from the open doorway. "What's the problem?" Another dragon, apparently a female by the sound of her voice, came out. She saw Tucker and went wide eyed. "Crystal, get behind me now!" Crystal broke eye contact and ran behind her mother. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" she said in a stern frightened tone.

"Tucker stood up slowly; his hands still raised, and said, "As I said before, I mean you no harm. I'm a human and I was brought here for being unconscious out in the forest."

'Human! I've heard stories about these vile creatures.' "Why are you here?" she said with a little anger in her voice.

'I can't say that I was driving then suddenly came here, she wouldn't know what I'm talking about.' "I honestly don't know." 'Still the truth."

The dragoness stayed silent, looking at Tucker for any sign of false truth. She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by yelling.

"Tucker!"

Tucker tuned his head to see Flame and Ember running towards them. The dragoness took advantage and pushed Tucker down under her mighty paw. "Ack!" Max growled showing his teeth. The dragoness growled back. Crystal still hid behind her mother.

"Tucker!" Krysteena, let him up!" yelled Ember.

"Why? He's a human!"

"The Guardians need to speak to him," said Flame.

Krysteena thought for a moment. Then, "Fine, if the Guardians want him, then give him to them, but I'm coming as well." She took her paw off of Tucker.

"Thank you," he said as he stood up. Max was still growling at Krysteena, but Tucker stopped him, "Max, cut it out!" Max stopped, but glared at her. They began walking.

"And who's that? Your slave?" Krysteena said.

"No," Tucker simply said, "He's my companion." Krysteena wasn't convinced, but stopped talking. It wasn't until then that Tucker noticed the two dragoness's appearance. Crystal's blue scales matched with her light blue underbelly. Her white horns shot back straight back at an angle. Her tail had an icicle shape at the tip. She was smaller than Flame and Ember, so presumably she's young. Krysteena is an exact replica of Crystal, except her horns, wings and tail blade was longer and larger. She reminded him of Cyril.

In minute's time, they made it to the temple. They walked up the steps to the upper level where the Guardians were, Tucker assumed as they followed the two fire breathers, again he assumed.

After completing their walk up the steps, they rounded a couple of corners till they stopped onto a large room. Arch doorways lined the walls, all leading to a different room. Only one large arch led to a balcony facing the city. In the center of the room was a pool of water. And around the pool were the Guardians. "Tucker there you are!" Exclaimed Terrador as they walked in. "When we saw that you weren't in you room, we started looking for you. I hope you didn't cause trouble?"

Krysteena stepped up, "In fact he did. He hurt my daughter."

Cyril raised an eyebrow, "Tucker, care to explain?"

Tucker stood up straight, hands behind his back, "In the early morning, I took a jog around the streets of the city. As I came to my last turn, her daughter stepped out in front of me. I had no time to react and I tripped over her." He turned to face the dragoness's, "I'm truly sorry if I hurt you. I had no intention to."

"It seems as though it was just an accident. Don't you think so Terrador?" said Volteer.

"I do. What's your name young lady?" asked Terrador.

"Krysteena sir."

"Well Krysteena, I believe it was an accident, and he did apologies."

"I guess so, but why is he here?"

"We do not know. The two young ones beside you found Tucker unconscious in the forest and brought him here."

It was then that Cyril saw Crystal hiding behind her mother. "And what's your name little one?"

Krysteena moved aside so Crystal could be seen, and Crystal walked forward. Tucker noticed a slight grimacing expression on Crystals' face as she walked. "C-crystal s-s-sir," she said nervously.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Crystal," Cyril said, bowing slightly. She blush a little.

Tucker spoke to Krysteena, "If I may see you daughters leg, I might be able to help." She hesitated, but then nodded. He knelt down to Crystal's level, "May I see your leg?" Crystal looked back at her mother. Krysteena nodded slightly, she was going to watch if he made any sudden movements. Crystal walked up to Tucker. He took a tube out and some bandages from a pocket from his pants. He put some of the contents on his finger when Crystal came closer. He picked up her front leg gently and slowly. "Okay, this might sting a little, but it'll help it keep it from infection." Crystal nodded. Tucker applied the contents on Crystal's wound, receiving little whimpers. He then took the bandages and wrapped it around her wound. Tying up the bandage, he set her leg down, "Okay, that should do it," he said standing up.

"Thank you," she said and leaned her head against his leg. He saw shocked, then smiled, leaned down and patted her head.

"Your welcome."

Krysteena walked up to Tucker, "Thank you, but I'll still keep an eye on you," she turned to the Guardians. "Thank you for your time, I'll take my leave now," She bowed. "Come along Crystal."

They both walked out the way they came in and out the temple. Tucker turned to the Guardians, "If there's anything else you need me for?"

Terrador shook his head, "No, we just needed to know where you were."

"Alright then, By the way, do you have a place to wash myself?"

"No, I don't believe so," Cyril said.

Tucker nodded, "Thanks anyway." He went to leave, but heard the Guardians talking about finding some dragons. He stopped at the archway and listened.

"What course should we take on finding the young dragons?" asked Cyril.

"We may need to send out a search party out. Or even have the cheetahs help. I'm sure Hunter would help," Volteer said thinking. "What do you think Terrador?"

"That maybe the case. If that comes to pass, we'll tell Hunter of our plan."

Tucker turned around, "Pardon me for over hearing, but is there something you need help with?"

"No, this doesn't concern you. We have it under control," said Cyril.

"Cyril, we need all the help we can get," interjected Volteer.

"I'm sorry Tucker, Cyril doesn't always except help from . . . strangers. But how is it that you can help us?" asked Terrador.

"Depends on what it is," stated Tucker.

Volteer looked at Terrador who nodded. Volteer cleared his throat, which sounded like a deep growl, "Two young dragons haven't come back after the war."

"What war?"

Terrador sighed, "You may want to sit down, this'll take a while." For the next few hours, the Guardians told Tucker about the war, how it started through the end. "-And that's why we need to find them."

"So Spyro's the purple one and Cynder's the black one." All three nodded. Tucker sat there thinking. Max had fallen asleep due to boredom. He had been thinking for a few minutes when he realized something. "You two found me right?" he said talking to the two fire breathers. They nodded. "Was I in my jeep?" they gave questioning looks, including the Guardians. "Was I found in a metal box on wheels?" They nodded. "Guardians, I believe I can help."

"How? What is this jeep? What are you talking about?" Volteer sputtered. Tucker raised an eyebrow at knowing the dragon's speedy tongue.

"It's hard to explain, it'll be easier to show you. I'll go and grab my things and we'll be off." Tucker stood up, waking Max. He yawned and followed him master back to his room. There, he grabbed a bar and doggie treat from one of his pockets and they both ate their small meal.

A few minutes later, the two came back to find the Guardians speaking amongst themselves. They stopped once they saw Tucker. "We better get going, the faster we find the young dragons, the better," said Terrador. They all nodded.

Tucker turned to the two fire breathers who were talking to each other. "Would you lead us the way?"

Flame nodded, "We'll do our best."

"That's all I ask for."

They walked out of the temple and through the city to the city walls. Tucker got a lot of stares and murmurs. But once they saw he was with the Guardians, they calmed down. The guards opened the gates and let them through into the forest.

It had been an hour or two when Flame stopped, "This is as far as I remember. What about you Ember?" She shook her head.

"Okay, thank you. Max," Max looked up at him "You want to go for a ride?" Max barked happily. "Then find the jeep, sniff it out boy."

Max started sniffing, trying to find a trial. After going in a complete circle around them, he found the scent of hot metal. He barked and started running. "Follow Max, he found a trial." They all ran to catch up with Max. In a few minutes, they found the jeep. Max sat there in front of the jeep, wagging his tail. "Good boy, Max."

"What is this contraption?" sped Volteer; the sight of the jeep intrigued his senses.

"This is called a vehicle. This is a specific kind of vehicle called a jeep." Tucker looked to see the doors were open. "And you left the doors open," he looked at Flame and Ember. They gave 'whoops' looks. He walked up and went inside. The dragons stepped closer, but stopped when they heard yelling. "GET OUT OD THERE! SCRAM!" animals ran out of the opened door. "Animals," ne breathed in frustration. He sat on the driver's seat and looked around. The dragons came closer to see what Tucker was looking at. Surprising, the GPS and the radio were fine. The radio had no indication that it was damaged and the GPS turned on fine. "No satellite signal," the female voice said. "No da Sherlock."

"Whose voice was that?" asked Volteer. The other dragons looked around trying to find the location of the voice.

"It came from the GPS. And before you ask, I don't know how it works. All I know is that it does. Even if I did know, you wouldn't understand." Tucker kept looking around and found the keys still in the ignition position. "Oh no."

"What?" that all asked.

Tucker turned the keys, hoping it'll start. It didn't. "The jeep won't start." He pulled a leaver on the floor to open the hood, making the dragons jump. He got out and lifted the hood, propping it up on a metal pole. Volteer's eyes almost bulged out of his head at the sight of the interior workings of the jeep. Tucker found the battery and saw the gauge was on 'E'. "Damn, the batteries dead."

"Did you say battery?" said Volteer.

"Yes, why? How do you know about batteries?"

"Well, I'm an electric dragon so-"

"Wait, electric dragon? I thought all dragons were fire breathers?"

"No, Terrador shook his head," there are four elements and four kinds of dragons. Fire, Earth, Ice, and Electricity."

"Oh, well, okay." Tucker took two wires that connected to the battery in his hands. "Volteer, could you hold these?" Volteer took one in a paw and the other in his mouth. "Can you run a current through the battery?" Volteer nodded and was about to start when Tucker interrupted him, "but not too much. Too much and it might explode." Volteer nodded again and began breathing electricity through the wires, into the battery and into his paw.

A couple of minutes later, the battery were fully charged and ready to go. Tucker thanked Volteer and reattached the wires and closed the hood. He ran to the driver's side and turned the key. The dragons jumped at the sound the jeep was making. Even though the battery was full, the water tank was not. 'E' was read on the gauge. "Great, now the water tank is empty." Tucker sat there and thought. Then he got an idea. "Cyril, you're an ice dragon, right?"

"The best," he boasted.

Tucker ignored his boasting and continued, "And you two are fire dragons, right?" Ember and Flame nodded. "I think I have an idea." He popped the water tank leave and walked over with the three dragons. "This jeep runs on water. If Cyril can breathe ice and you two can breathe fire at the same time in this hole, then we'll create water."

"Interesting plan, couldn't have thought it up better myself," marveled Volteer.

Another couple of minutes went by before the water tank was full. "Thank you, with that out of the way, I believe we can begin our search."

"Your welcome. Now how are we going to do this?" Cyril said.

"I say Flame and Ember fly above while Max and I drive along the ground. These two can be the eyes and I can be the help." said Tucker.

Terrador nodded, "I think that's best. We need to stay at Warfang and keep up with our duties."

"Ah, so the cities name is Warfang. Got it. Okay, we'll be off." Tucker got in with Max and closed the doors, opening the windows. He started the jeep and received a loud hum. Volteer wanted desperately to know more about this jeep, but couldn't delay the search any more. The two fire breathers took off and Tucker and his dog followed.

"May the ancestors look after you. May they look after us all," said Terrador.