FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

This story is © me, all of the characters are © me. Any and all resemblances to real people or places are purely coincidental or accidental. I'm new to writing stories (especially furry ones) so any constructive criticism is encouraged; we all need to learn from our mistakes so we don't keep falling on our faces.

Author's note: No, there's no smut here, if that's all you're looking for go look somewhere else. There WILL be some in later chapters just not yet; I'm trying to write a story, not a straight up yiff scene. I hope you can enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. And if you don't then kindly skip the flaming, or you just might learn about dragon fire the hot way.

...We've all got secrets, some of them bigger than others. For instance; you would worry if someone found out that you had a crush on your best friend's girl, or that you still sleep with a night light. Let's say your parents are covert government agents and you go mouthing off about it to the whole neighborhood, you'd get in some pretty serious trouble. Me on the other hand, if anyone ever found out the truth about my family, then we'd be in a whole different level of shit.

My name is Vertwin Storm and I'm a dragon, not that anyone outside of the family knows that of course. To everyone else the Storms were a family of wealthy and good natured otters. Of course the term 'wealthy' is an understatement, I'll just put it this way; my dad has a horde big enough to make Bill Gates look like a bum. We don't flaunt that fact too much lest we draw unwanted attention. So despite the fact that we had more money than we knew what to do with, my parents still had to work, and between both of their enormous CEO paychecks it wasn't very hard to believe how well off we were.

We live in Seaside, a mostly furry community not far from the Florida Keys. Or more accurately, we live in a manor on a private island about four and a half miles off the coast of Seaside. It had cost more than a few pretty pennies but was more than worth it to have a little privacy from prying eyes. My parents had actually gotten a better deal on it than they could have. The former owner had not checked over their island very thoroughly. If they had, they would have found out that they once had a natural hot spring. Needless to say my folks wasted no time in turning the spring into a spa.

The island itself is shaped like a crescent moon, with both of the tips pointing southeast and out to sea, creating a natural shallow bay that was a perfect place for a dock. Trees and bushes cover the land mass right up to the sandy beach, which was probably why the hot spring wasn't discovered earlier. Our manor overlooks the bay and is just a small distance from the beach and dock.

There were just a few short weeks left until the end of summer, more importantly just a few days until I turned 19. I was looking forward to my first year at Seaside University, when my parents unwittingly left me in a very promising position...

******

I woke in my natural form in the semi-darkness of my room, the tinted windows letting in only a little of the early morning sunlight. I shifted and stretched on my bed, or more accurately the miniature mountain of pillows I used as a bed. Letting out a yawn I got up and walked over to a mirror that took up a good portion of one wall, taking a moment to appraise my appearance. Before me stood a lithe, gray slit-eyed drake roughly eight feet tall. Nine if you counted the duel ivory horns that curved upwards from above his eyes. I was just about sixteen feet long from nose to tail-tip, my long slender bat like wings spanning nearly twice that. Lean muscles flexed beneath a light blue scaled hide that faded to white around my underside. Aside from my size, lethal looking talons, sharp fangs, and retractable claws what wasn't there to love?

I laughed loud and long at the thought, most people would be scared half to death by the mere sight of me. Shaking my head slowly I mumbled to myself repeating words that my father had told me time and time again "The world is not ready for us." I closed my eyes and turned my focus inward, willing my body to change. Growling deep in my throat at the familiar painful yet pleasant sensation; my body shrank down to six feet, my wings melded into my back. My bones and sinew changing shape, size, and position. Scales rippled and became fur, followed by the odd sensation of each hair changing its hue from light blue to tan; my chest and stomach fur remained white.

An otter had appeared where only moments before a young dragon had stood. I looked into this new reflection; this was the Vertwin that others knew. The otter that now stood before me now looked a lot like my true form, as similar as a dragon and an otter could be that is. I still had that athletic look that came from a life of swimming. Around the shoulder and elbow on my right arm, a silver dragon pattern had been dyed into my fur. Something I convinced mom and dad to let me do when I turned eighteen. The only thing that had physically stayed the same throughout the Change were my eyes. They were still that same shade of pale gray, albeit with round pupils.

I stood there another moment looking over myself, until I heard my stomach predictably start growling. It was a side effect from the Change; we could change almost everything about our physical selves, but doing so burns up an incredible amount of energy.

Grabbing a deep blue robe from my closet I left my room through the gigantic double doors that lead to the rest of the manor. I came into the kitchen and had almost finished making breakfast when I stopped myself, it was too quiet. Checking the clock I saw that it was only 6:35, my parents didn't normally leave for another couple of hours......unless something really important came up.

Feeling kind of worried now I looked around the kitchen, searching for some kind of note. I then saw a small one, held in place on the fridge with a magnet. Picking it up and looking it over, I noticed that it had been written in a hurry. It said that my parents would be back in roughly two weeks, and that they were sorry that they would miss my birthday, and promising that they would make it up to me when they got home.

In a subdued manner I finished cooking and slowly ate, while mulling things over. At the moment I was feeling pretty down. I mean could you imagine that your parents could just up and leave with no warning or explanation? Not that I was worried about myself of course, I had been left unsupervised before and both me and my folks knew I could fend for myself.

It was right around then that the proverbial wheels started turning. Thoughts ran around in my head, until my mind locked in on the same one that every other unsupervised teen always did. Especially if said teen had his own private island, a large circle of friends, and deep pockets. Very deep pockets. Summer was about to go out with a really big bang.

I quickly grabbed a pen, turned over my parents note and hastily scribbled out a list of things I'd need from the mainland. It was a shortish list seeing as we were pretty well stocked on the island. Having finished with the list I dashed back into my room to get dressed, nothing too flashy, just a blue pair of shorts and a loose red T-shirt. As I ran out of the manor I paused just long enough to grab my keys, wallet, the list, my cell, and lock the doors behind me. Then I was pelting through the already hot morning towards the docks. It took me just a few moments to launch my speed boat and start racing towards the mainland's shore.

With a practiced ease I had the boat skimming over the waves as I made a beeline for the Seaside Marina. Speeding simply for the joy of feeling the wind through my fur and leaving no small amount a wake behind me. In a surprisingly short amount of time I was moored in a reserved slip, and was jogging up the docks and into a waiting navy-blue Camaro.

As the engine roared to life, I caught a glimpse of the time from the radio embedded in my dashboard. I didn't know whether to slap myself or laugh out loud. In my haste I had landed a good two hours before any of the shops, or other businesses opened their doors. Letting my head fall with a small thump against the steering wheel, I silently berated myself for my impulsiveness. But then again, thinking things through wasn't something I was often accused of.

Sighing softly I lifted my head and sat back in the seat, while the engine idled in the background. Moving to take out the keys, I stopped myself just as my hand reached them; there wasn't any point in going back home and having to come back in later. Conversely there wasn't much of a point in just driving around for a few hours. And sitting there with the engine going was not much of an option either. My hand hovered over the keys as I thought of what I should do. Eventually I turned off the car and reached for my cell deciding to give Brian Callahan, who was one of my closest friends a call.

Brian was a fairly shy fennec fox around my age that had a bit of a gamer/nerdy streak, not that you would know it by looking at him. His light trim build was covered with short soft tan fur, and his face could only be described as charming. In fact more often than not, one of Seaside's young ladies could be seen flirting outrageously with him. Something the fennec was never very comfortable with, despite my (and others) efforts to bring him out of his shell.

I quickly dialed his number and waited a moment while it rang. The moment stretched into almost a full minute, something was up. Brian was almost always awake by now, as he was an early riser like me. And most of his time was spent in his room, which had basically everything a gamer could want. Between his computer, phone, TV, and various game systems, he hardly ever left his room from a day-to-day basis. Just then his answering machine switched on with the standard 'I'm not home' message and then beeped.

"Hey Brian its Vertwin, pick up the phone. Come on I know you're there, pause whatever game you're playing and-"

Someone picked up the phone and a somewhat flustered, distinctly female voice answered "Sorry V, Brian's a little busy right now."

I'm not ashamed to say that I damn near dropped my cell, "C-c-Chloe? What...why...I'm not interrupting anything am I?" I said in a surprised and nervous tone. Chloe Swanson was a shapely white-tailed doe, I didn't really know her all that well. Just well enough to know that she was just as big of a game freak as Brian, and almost as shy. The two had grown closer in recent months, but she was just about the last person I'd expect to be at his house. Especially this early in the day.

A faint but pleasured moan sounded in the background, letting me know just why she was there and what I was interrupting. I could almost swear that I could see her blushing as she told me the obvious. "Well, yes, actually you are."

I spent a little while stumbling over words before I could get anything coherent out "Oh shit... I...uh... just, just tell Brian to give me a call when he can." Quickly I hung up and dropped the cell phone on the seat next to me, completely mortified. A few minutes passed before I regained my composure, then I started my Camaro and mumbled under my breath "Some foxes have all the luck." I pulled out of the marina's parking lot and started the short drive to The Cove, deciding that I might as well while away some time there.

The Cove was one of the most popular beaches for the teens of Seaside. And was generally pretty crowded on warm summer days, like the one today would turn out to be. But thankfully because it was still so early, there were only a few other beachgoers out yet. Which was just fine with me. Parking my car again I got out, leaving my things behind locked doors. Walking a short way and up a sandy dune, I stepped onto the soft warm sands of the beach.

The tide was slowly beginning to ebb and the cool sea breeze made the hot morning much more pleasant. I walked along the tide line gazing out to sea, seemingly alone except for a feline couple that were sunbathing a good distance away. I'm not sure how long I walked along the beach, with the quiet constant rushing of the waves and wind weaving a calming spell over the sands. But at some point or another, the allure of the crystal clear and sparkling ocean waters took hold of me. After doing several quick pre-swim stretches, I waded out into the surf. I didn't bother to take anything off, the sun and wind would dry me off soon enough once I got out.

Just as I had waded out up to my waist, a shrill scream shattered the tranquility of the beach. My eyes instantly snapped towards the source. Farther out it seemed that some unfortunate person had gotten trapped in a riptide, and judging by the amount of desperate splashing the person was having trouble swimming. Wasting no time I struck out towards the struggling figure, cutting through the waves like a hot knife through butter. Even so, before I was halfway out the person disappeared below the water, and I redoubled my efforts.

Swimming with the current I quickly reached roughly where they had gone under, taking a deep breath I dived. A torrent off bubbles obscured my vision for a moment. Several feet below me, a young otteress of no more than ten years was struggling against the current trying to get back to the surface. Her face was a grim mask of pain and panic, a not-so-thin trail of bubbles leaking from her mouth as she sank. The oddness of the fact that an otter was in this position was lost on me as I dove deeper.

I looped an arm underneath hers, and started pulling her towards the life giving air above us. When I grabbed her she thrashed about wildly for a moment or two, before she realized that I was helping her. She calmed down considerably once she had, and allowed me to guide us with the current and towards the surface. We broke out of the water's suffocating hold together, and after a bit of coughing and sputtering (more on her part than mine) gulped down large mouthfuls of air.

I treaded water letting us catch our breaths while the current took us farther out. After a moment or two we were getting farther out than I was comfortable with. "Just relax, I'll bring us into shore." I said in a calm and confidant way. I might be only masquerading as an otter, but I did spend a lot of time in the water. She just nodded and let me pull her along, coughing and spitting up more water now and then. Staying on the surface I struck out on a tangent roughly parallel with the shoreline. Before long we were out of the riptide and heading back to dry land. The going was a little slower than I would have liked, but that was only to be expected.

A few minutes later we safely reached the shallows, and waded out of the ocean's wet and cool embrace. As soon as our feet touched the damp sands of the tide line, we both flopped down and rested for a moment. I was feeling a bit winded from the whole ordeal, and I'm pretty sure almost drowning takes it out of a person. After a moment or two of silence, I heard a soft and weary "Thank you." from the young otteress beside me.

I looked over at her taking in at a glance her underdeveloped (yet as was common with otters) fit form. Which was covered with a thick brown fur, and a deep green one-piece that matched her eyes. Flashing a friendly smile and nodding in acknowledgment I said "No problem. Just, try and be a little more careful next time alright? I'm not out here every morning you know." only half joking with her. But it still got a tired half-smile out of her, despite how close she had come to an early and unpleasant death.

"I don't know how I can ever thank you enough." she murmured quietly, clearly still worn out from the ordeal. She shivered slightly as the very edge of a wave washed passed us, and scooted a little farther away from the ocean. Almost as if she was afraid of being pulled back in by the weak wave. Not overly surprising considering what could have easily happened to her.

I sat up as the tiny wave was sucked back into the deeps, feeling no small amount of pity for the unfortunate pup. "Well, I know something you could do for me." As I said that she propped herself up on her elbows, and looked at me with her head cocked in that way that young creatures are prone to when they don't understand something. "You can tell me your name, and tell me where you live. So I can take you home before someone worries themselves to death over you." I said in a friendly tone and a lopsided grin.

She seemed uncertain whether to tell me anything or not. The 'don't talk to strangers' speech that her parents must have given her, clashing with the common courtesy of not being rude to someone who had just saved your life. After a moment common courtesy won out "You can call me Kimmy, everybody does. Me and my folks just moved in on Conch Avenue."

Standing up I said "Alright then Kimmy, let's get you home. My name's Vertwin by the way." and reached down to help her to her feet. She was a little unsteady at first, but quickly found her balance as I led her slowly off the beach. The feline sunbathers were nowhere to be seen, I could only assume that they had left before Kimmy started screaming. In short order we had made it to my Camaro, where I made sure that we shook most of the water off of our pelts before getting in. The car soon roared back into life, and I steered back onto the road.

The trip was short and uneventful, Conch Ave being just a few minutes up the beach. Kimmy stayed pretty quiet during the ride, and I didn't try to force out any small talk. I suppose we were both feeling a little awkward, so we just rode in silence. Before long I had pulled into Conch and had slowed down, so as to let Kimmy point out which house was hers. I asked her where it was to which she said "It's on the left, a few houses from the cul-de-sac."

All the houses on Conch Avenue were at least two stories high, and on a respectable plot of well maintained land. Each house was different from its neighbor, whether in style or color which made it a lot easier to navigate. Especially compared to other neighborhoods where every house looked alike, of which there were more than a few in Seaside. Every house on the left hand side had access to the beach, whether it was public property or privet I could only guess. I wasn't overly familiar with the area but going by the look of things, I'd guess it was the latter.

Kimmy pointed out a driveway that was obscured by a tall privacy hedge, and I turned into it. A moment later as I drove up the drive, I realized that this plot was at least twice as big as the others. So I wasn't too surprised to see that the house was also much larger than any other on the avenue, but it was very well concealed by the hedge that bordered the entire property. If this was the right house, then Kimmy's family was defiantly not short on funds.

As we drew nearer to the manor, I noticed that there was someone pacing nervously back and forth in front of a long bay window. When I stopped at the end of the driveway just in front of their porch, so too did the figure in the window. Kimmy looked over at me flashing a smile, and thanked me once more before getting out of the car, I followed a moment later. The second she was out, I heard a surprised shout from inside the manor. The wide front door was thrown violently open by another otteress, who yelled out "Kimmy!" in a voice that was surprised, relieved, and distraught all at the same time. In a flash the older otteress had dashed out, and pulled Kimmy into a fierce embrace.

I just stood aside giving them a bit of space, and tried to distract myself by examining the house. But it was rather hard not to hear what was said, even if it all come out in one big rush. "Kimmy! Oh thank God you're safe. You had us worried sick! Derrick is out looking for you, and oh," I couldn't help but look back at them, the two were rocking back and forth and they both looked to be on the verge of tears. "Don't you ever run off like that again! If anything ever happened to you..." She trailed off after that and held Kimmy tightly, while the youngster said she was sorry over and over again.

Things went on like that for some time, before the older otter stood and wiped her eyes on the back of her hand. "Just be glad mom and dad aren't here, or they'd tan both our hides. But you've still got some explaining to do Kimberly." Her voice had become serious and I doubt that she even knew I was there. I didn't mind too much, as I wanted to hear how Kimmy had ended up alone in a riptide too.

We didn't have to wait long; Kimmy was soon telling her older sibling everything. Apparently she had slipped out of the house, while her sister and brother (Derrick I assumed) were busy straightening things up after the recent move. She had gone down to the beach, with the intention of staying close by for a relaxing swim. However, she had found a school of small fish and had spent awhile chasing them. Then one thing lead to another, and she ended up wandering off down the shoreline. Where she got caught in the riptide, and was quickly sucked away from the safety of land. "...and then I started sinking. But Vertwin came out of nowhere and got me back to the shore, then drove me here. He saved my life."

When Kimmy got to the part about the riptide, my attention switch over to her sister who currently had her back to me; she was only slightly shorter than I was, and had the same think brown fur as her sibling. She looked to be around my age, and had that athletic appearance that was oh so common among otters. She was wearing a light blue tank top and a pair of jean shorts, both of which clung to her curvy figure nicely. As Kimmy mentioned my part in this, she gestured towards me and her sister turned around. I would have noticed how the tank top hugged her ample chest, if our eyes hadn't locked together first.

For a timeless moment I felt as if I was falling into the limpid blue pools that were her eyes. Without noticing it I had walked around the front of my Camaro to stand just a few feet from her, our eyes never parted while I moved. I'll never know how long we stood there, lost in each others eyes. I could feel it deep down in my bones; this was the start of something. A light blush crept over her cheeks after awhile, and she held out her hand saying softly "Thank you Vertwin, it was very noble of you to help Kimmy. I don't know how we can ever repay you. The Breezes are in your debt."

Even though I tried not to let them, her words stoked my ego up a bit. I slowly reached out to take her proffered hand, a thrill rushed up my arm once I did. Feeling as if I was in some kind of a daze, I just nodded slowly and said "Think nothing of it. I only did what anyone should have. But I wouldn't mind knowing your name."

A small smile spread across her lips "My name's Alexandria, but you can call me Alex." We stood there for awhile more, neither of us saying anything. Our eyes were still locked together, and still holding hands. That was until Alex's little sister piped up, and brought us back down to earth.

"Do you want to come inside Vertwin?" asked Kimmy. We both snapped out of the little world we had formally been in, and took a step back from each other. Our eyes broke contact at the same time as our hands did.

"I don't want to impose." I said when truthfully, I really wouldn't mind in the slightest.

It seemed that I wasn't the only one who thought so. "Oh it's no trouble at all." Alex said quickly, as her smile grew wider.

The offer was incredibly tempting, but I felt that I needed to clear my head before I did something stupid. And that would be almost impossible in Alex's company. So I made a dignified retreat. I was sure to let my reluctance and disappointment show in my voice as I told her, "As much as I'd like to, I really need to get going." Her smile disappeared rapidly, and her shoulders sagged slightly as she heard that. Kimmy looked a bit disappointed as well, and with a quiet goodbye started for the house. Seeing that Alex was about to follow her sister, I quickly added "I'm sure we'll see each other around town. Seaside's not that big of a place." Which wasn't quite true, but still.

She seemed to perk up a bit at that, a smile coming back onto her lips. The otteress didn't say or do anything for a moment, and I got the distinct impression that she was waiting for something. I had no idea whether she was waiting for me to do something, or for something else. But the answer came soon enough, with the tiny click of the front door closing behind Kimmy. Before I knew what had happened, Alex had her arms around my neck and had pulled me into a deep French kiss! To say that I had been blindsided would have been an extreme understatement. Before I could do anything she pulled away, less then a second had passed since her tongue passed mine. Oh, but what a second it had been! "I'll see you around, Vertwin." she whispered as she took her arms off of me, and dashed back to her door. She gave me a sly wink and called back "It's a shame you couldn't come in!" just before disappearing into the manor.

Needless to say, the word 'stunned' hardly did justice to how I felt. When I could breathe again, I could feel my heart thundering in my chest from just that oh so brief moment of contact. I was about three seconds from running after her, despite the serious repercussions that would come from that. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you looked at it, my cell phone chose that moment to start ringing from inside my Camaro. Slowly I looked away from the house, and walked back around to the driver's door. Just before I got in, I took one last look after Alex and climbed inside. The car quickly started up and I turned it around in their driveway, picking up my cell as I did. "Hello?" I said, still a little stunned from what had (and what might have) happened.

"You know V, you have a lousy sense of timing." It was Brian, and he sounded as if he was pissed but at the same time trying not to laugh his head off.

As I slowly drove away from the Breeze manor, I couldn't help but chuckle a bit. My voice was a little distant as I said "Funny, I was just thinking that I had a great sense of timing."

The fennec of course caught on right away that something was up. "Vertwin are you alright, is there something wrong?" He was all seriousness now, as he was whenever he thought there was something bothering a friend of his.

I had pulled out of the driveway and back onto Conch as I said "No, nothing's wrong. I've just had a...interesting morning that's all."

A short bark of laughter came from the fox's end of the line "You're not the only one."

I rolled my eyes, the shock of Alex's advance fading under my friends joking. "Ah stuff it up your tailhole and listen to me. I've got a proposition for you..."

******

...They say that hindsight is 20/20, well I wasn't looking behind me then. I probably shouldn't have gone forward with my little plan. Had I known how much trouble would have come from it, I would have called off the party before it began. But it's a little late for such sentiments now. I went over to Brian's and together we made plans, while whiling away a few hours on some games. He spread the word into our circle of friends, while I picked up what I needed from town and headed back to the island to make the necessary preparations. We lit the fuse, and on that Saturday night the party would send the summer off with a glorious bang. And all hell would break loose...