The Guide (Story)

[Joat]

Chapter 0: Guide to the Guide (Author’s note)

This story is similar to the Furthia High comic in that it takes place in the same time period and, well, world. In essence, it is a fanfic. However, it also happens in a different town, thus none of the characters in this story will ever meet, or even know about, the characters in Furthia High. For those of you who have not read the comic (and most of you have not), the world of Furthia High is rather simple to explain. It has only two major differences from the real world. First, there are no humans (save Kale, who appears in the comic, but not in this story); there are only half-animals. Second, it takes place in the future; not exactly Futurama, but it does have some good tech.

I should also warn you that, as I write this chapter, I still have yet to decide what this story will be about; I plan to start writing and see where it goes. By the end of the first chapter, I might have an idea where I’m going with this story.

Enough with the guide to the guide. Let the guide begin!

Chapter I (Incomplete): Family Bonds

“I’m gonna win at this rate, sis!” Elliot yelled behind himself.

“Not a chance, Elliot. This race is mine!” Veronica yelled, “I’m just getting warmed up.”

“Me too,” Elliot yelled.

Veronica and Elliot continued to run. Past fruit stands, book stores (I didn’t know there was a book store here, Elliot thought), a Laundromat. They were neck and neck. The school, their finish line, seemed to come nearer to them at each passing second.

“You surrender yet?” Veronica asked.

Elliot turned his head to face Veronica. “Not a chance!” Elliot responded.

“Elliot, look out!” Veronica yelled. It was too late. Elliot collided with one of the students. “Oh, Elliot, you clumsy fool.”

Elliot got off the student he collided with and stood up. “Sorry about that. I wasn’t watching where I was going. Need a hand?”

The porcupine girl he collided with smiled. “Thanks for offering, but you don’t have to do that,” she said as she stood up. “So, why were you running so fast? Once I noticed you, I didn’t even have time to get out of the way.”

Elliot lightly chuckled. “Well, I was just lucky you notice me coming. If you had your back turned, that would have been painful. My name is Elliot, by the way. This is my sister, Veronica.” He pointed toward Veronica.

“My name’s Emma. So you’re both skunks, huh?”

“Gee, what tipped you off, professor?” Veronica asked rhetorically.

Emma looked to her left. Her expression darkened. “Oh no, not him.”

Elliot looked in the direction Emma was looking and saw a white tiger boy, dressed in a leather jacket, approaching Emma. “Hello, Emma. I see you made some new friends for me to knock down.”

Emma’s expression became one of submissive anger. “Why are you here, Mark? You don’t go to this school! Now go away!”

Mark smirked. “Emma, Emma, Emma… I got a transfer here just so I could see you.”

Elliot’s fists tightened. “Elliot, don’t do that,” Veronica advised.

Mark walked closer to Emma, until he was right in front of her. Then, without warning, he punched her in the stomach. She doubled over in pain. “Yeah, and there’s more where that came from you dumb girl,” Mark said.

“Get off her, you jerk!” Elliot yelled.

“Elliot, don’t get involved. You remember what happened last time you did that,” Veronica said.

“What do you plan to do about it? If you used your little natural ability now, a whole bunch of other students would get caught in it too. Face it, ‘Elliot’, you can’t defend her. She’s my punching bag and you can’t change that,” Mark said. Elliot’s fists tightened even more

This is when Elliot reached his boiling point. “I’ve heard enough. If you want a fight, pick it with me,” Elliot yelled.

Mark’s face showed a sudden flash of fear, one that he obviously, yet futily, tried to hide. “Bah. I have better things to do that to brawl with such a weakling as you,” Mark said. He then turned and walked away.

“That coward talks a big game, but the only ones he dares to fight are the ones who are unable to defend themselves,” Elliot said.

“Let it go, Elliot. We have to get to class,” Veronica said.

“Thank you for standing up for me,” Emma said.

As Elliot walked away with Veronica, he looked back, smiled, and gave Emma a thumbs-up.

*     *     *

“Cool! I can’t believe we have identical schedules,” Elliot said.

“Well, we did sign up for the same things,” Veronica said.

“Yeah. I didn’t really think it would work, though. Anyway, looks like our first period is gym. Let’s head to it.”

Elliot and Veronica walked to Gym, stopping once to ask a teacher for directions, otherwise just passing the time with small talk. Then they arrived at the gym.

“Well, this is my stop. Where do you need to go for gym?” Elliot asked.

“This is my stop too,” Veronica said.

“I didn’t know this school had only one gym.”

“Why would they need separate gyms? Women are just as good as men at sports and stuff.”

“I know that but, from what I hear, most high schools don’t.”

“Yeah, well just wait ‘til they get a load of what I can do.”

“Yeah. They’ll be in for a surprise when they see you.” Elliot opened the door and the two of them entered. It was a large gym, very nice-looking and based upon red and blue, the school colors.

“Hi! You’re Elliot and Veronica, right?”

They looked to the source of the noise to see a poodle woman, obviously the teacher. She had glasses and long, brown hair. She wore a pale pink shirt and a matching skirt.

“Yeah. And trust me, I think you’re in for an interesting year; we’re kinda rivals, she and I,” Elliot said.

“Oh? Well you’ll get your chance to go up against each other soon, ‘cause the bell’s gonna ring any time now,” the teacher said. As soon as she spoke her last syllable, the bell rang, as if on her cue.

Elliot looked around at the other students. There were seven of them. He then turned to the teacher and asked why this was so.

“Well, there are two students who aren’t here, but I guess eleven is still a fairly low number. This school was founded pretty recently and hasn’t had much time to attract fame, so not many people enroll their kids here. Still, I put my fullest confidence in the fact that this school will eventually have so many students that we’ll have to add another wing,” the teacher explained. She then said to all of the students, in a tone that befitted a creative writing course more than a physical education class, “Welcome, class. I am Ms. Carolina. Today, we’re gonna be doing a fitness test to test out your personal physical levels. Now, don’t worry too much about it; this isn’t for a grade. We just want to see where you are.”

“I’m right here,” a rat-boy said. He had white fur, which went surprisingly well with his purple hair. He was currently grinning at his own jest. This grin was widened by the laughter of several other students, Elliot included. Veronica, on the other hand, just rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“You’re in the principal’s office if you crack wise like that again. Anyway, the first part will be done as a class. You will run five laps clockwise around the gym. Your time will be recorded. Everybody up!” Ms. Carolina said.

Everybody stood up.

“And… go!”

The class began to run. While some of the students were less entheusiastic about it and thus went a bit slow, Elliot and Veronica were off like rockets.

“No way you’re gonna beat me in this lifetime, sis!” Elliot said.

“Ha! You’re gonna eat my dust!” Veronica said.

They were among the fastest in the class. Although there was one person ahead of them, a tall and muscular half-kangaroo, they paid no attention to him, but only to each other. And the two of them were almost neck and neck.

“You ready to throw in the towel?” Veronica asked.

“Never!” Elliot responded.

“You might as well. I’m at least three feet ahead of you. There’s no way you’ll catch up now!”

“I’ll make you eat those words!” Elliot said. Suddenly, he began to run a bit faster, moving in front of Veronica.

“Yeah? Me, too!” Veronica said. She, too, began to run faster, running ahead of not only Elliot, but also the kangaroo boy.

“Huh!?” the kangaroo exclaimed, “Nobody outraces Kevin the Great!”

The kangaroo ran in front of Veronica. Elliot gave another burst of speed, advancing ahead of Kevin and Veronica. The three of them were now far in front of everyone else and had just completed the second lap. Ms. Carolina, as she watched, muttered, “What spirited children.”

A heated race between Elliot, Kevin, and Veronica had begun.

“Run for your lives, dudes! Your shadows are catching up to you!” the white rat kid yelled to the three of them jokingly. The three of them were too focused on winning to even hear the boy as the they sprinted around the gym. As they finished the fourth lap, they were completely neck and neck.

“You getting tired yet?” Elliot yelled to the two others.

“Not a chance!” Veronica yelled back.

“Never Kevin the Great! You have yet to see what I can do,” Kevin yelled.

A moment later, they reached the finish. Elliot finished first, then Kevin only four three feet behind, then finally Veronica two feet behind Kevin. They were all panting heavily as Ms. Columbia

“You’re tired. Admit it,” Elliot said.

“Not as tired as you are,” Veronica said.

“Nobody is less tired than Kevin the Great,” Kevin said. The three of them laughed.

“Oh no, you’re shadows caught up with you guys,” the white rat joked. This time, Veronica and Elliot shook their heads. Nobody laughed.

“Not to be rude, kid, but don’t quit your day job,” Veronica said.

Suddenly, there was a loud series of buzzer noises  and bright flashes. The fire alarm had just gone off

“Think this is a drill?” Elliot asked.

“On the first day? I doubt it,” Veronica said.

“There was in the papers about a drill, I’m afraid,” Ms. Carolina said.

“And I thought I’d be bringing down the house,” the rat said.

“Jared, you are to be quiet,” Carolina said, “Let’s go, class. Single file and out the door.” She pointed at the door leading directly outdoors.

Character Guide

Elliot Caine
Species: Skunk
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Birthday: August 12
Academics: Average (Same schedule as Veronica)
Appearance: Typical non-spotted skunk fur pattern. White, somewhat short, straight hair. Typically wears jeans with a belt and a T-shirt or sweater.
Description: He and his twin, Veronica, have been trying to outdo each other in physical feats for as long as either of them can remember. They tend to get along very well with each other. He’s kind and strong, but sometimes forgets to pay attention to some important details, like watching where he’s going. He is fairly impulsive and tends to act out of heart more than brains.

Veronica Caine
Species: Skunk
Age: 16
Gender: Female
Birthday: August 12
Academics: Average (Same schedule as Elliot)
Appearance: Typical non-spotted skunk fur pattern. White, long, shiny hair. Typically wears jeans without a belt (except when necessary) and a pink/purple/green T-shirt or sweater.
Description: She and her twin, Elliot, have been trying to outdo each other in physical feats for as long as either of them can remember. They tend to get along very well with each other. She’s kind and strong. She also values rational thought and is significantly less impulsive than her brother.

Kevin Frenzy
Nickname: Kevin the Great
Species: Kangaroo
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Birthday: June 29
Academics: Poor
Appearance: Wears shorts whenever the weather allows, black sweatpants when it doesn’t. Usually wears the witty comment shirts. He has tan fur and very short, dark brown hair.
Description: He is strong, kind, and fun-loving, though also quite egotistic. He strives to be the best athlete in the world.

Lauren Carolina
Species: Poodle
Age: 29
Gender: Female
Birthday: May 20
Academics: PhD in teaching
Appearance: Glasses and long, brown hair. Usually wears a brightly colored shirt regardless of weather and a matching skirt (or jeans in colder weather). She looks like she is about 20 due to mainly physical health, though skillful application of make-up helps. When going to an official meeting, she dresses in business attire.
Description: She is very entheusiastic about teaching and loves being around children. She believes that a healthy body leads to a healthy mind. She is quite healthy herself and tends to be a full vegetarian, despite the fact that poodles are carnivorous (man, that’s a LOT of tofu).

Mark Wild
Species: White Tiger
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Birthday: September 11
Academics: Poor
Appearance: Usually wears a black leather jacket. Has a large scar on his right arm, though it is covered quite well by his fur.
Description: Mark is, in a word, a jerk. He picks on Emma relentlessly, but never admits to it. He always plays the “innocent victim of an accusation” role, though it doesn’t really work.

Emma Tillie
Species: Porcupine
Age: 15
Gender: Female
Birthday: April 28
Academics: Good
Appearance: Has glasses and somewhat long, brown hair. Always wears either a turtleneck or a sweater. Whether she wears a skirt or jeans is dependent on the weather.
Description: She is shy and calm. She is smart, but too weak to defend herself.

Jared Chillingworth
Species: White Rat
Age: 15
Gender: Male
Birthday: April 1
Academics: Poor
Appearance: Purple, uncombed, wild, short hair. Wears either jeans or jean shorts and wears homemade joke shirts.
Description: He is, in short terms, the class clown. He rarely says anything serious, yet he wonders why nobody ever takes him seriously.
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