Jetfire: New page: {{Universe|Paradise}} {{my stories |name=Jetfire |category=Jetfire }} {{WIP}} {{author note| VERY MUCH A WIP. It is NOT complete yet, and subject to a full scale rew...

2008-03-13T21:01:33Z

New page: {{Universe|Paradise}} {{my stories |name=Jetfire |category=Jetfire }} {{WIP}} {{author note| VERY MUCH A WIP. It is NOT complete yet, and subject to a full scale rew...

New page

{{Universe|[[:Category:Paradise|Paradise]]}}
{{my stories
|name=Jetfire
|category=Jetfire
}}
{{WIP}}
{{author note| VERY MUCH A WIP. It is NOT complete yet, and subject to a full scale rewrite depending on how things go. I'm trying to guide the characters towards a certain event and they're taking their time getting to it.}}

{{author note| After doing more reading on Newfoundland and the Canadian Coast Guard, I've figured out where the Haywards moved to. It's a little village named Lark Harbour, about an hour west of Corner Brook, on the west coast. I found some pictures of what it looks like at: [http://home.thezone.net/~sharvey/lh_pics.htm Lark Harbour Pictures]. It even has a Coast Guard Station in real life. }}

{{title
|name= The Bear Facts
|author=Jetfire
|user=Jetfire}}

'''May 2008'''

Shiloh grunted and lifted the heavy case of recording equipment into the back of the van. She shoved it to one side and pulled her own bag forward, rummaging around inside it. Finding the mic and recorder, she pocketed them and slammed the back of the van shut. She pushed the airport baggage cart to a corral.

The coon climbed into the front seat of the van and turned it on, turning up the heat. Even fur couldn't completely cut out the chill of a Newfoundland spring evening. She adjusted the seat so her tail was only mildly cramped instead of completely crimped, and clipped the mic to the collar of her shirt.

"Recorder? Check. Maps? Check. Water? Check. Snacks? Check," she mumbled to herself preparing to hit the road. Satisfied that all was in order, she put the car in gear and followed the directions to the road to Corner Brook.

"Personal journal, May 27. Well it's about 9PM now, and I'm back on the rock, just leaving Stephenville. As usual, the weather is lousy," she paused and flicked the wipers to a faster speed as a gust of freezing rain hit the windshield. "and I've got to figure out how to spin this story both for the Changed and for the norms.

"So far the story has stayed fairly quiet while others have worked to bring the man back to life. But local and other media have been sniffing at it. With him being a Changed who's not used to the spotlight, the risk is simply too great he'll reveal something he shouldn't talking to Normal reporters.

"Thus, I found myself called off the oil discoveries in Saskatchewan and flown back to the Rock to talk to the Haywards and prepare a story safe for the normal media. Hopefully once the initial news shock fades, combined with their remote home location, there won't be many norms poking around. WHOA!

She felt a gust of wind hit the side of the van and the wheels begin to slip on the road. She twisted the wheel and got the vehicle back under control. She eased her paw off the pedals and let the van slow a bit more while she calmed down.

"Anyways, I'm staying in Corner Brook tonight. Gonna do some more research and then meet the Haywards and their friends out at Lark Harbour tomorrow. Now I'm gonna stop talkin before I talk myself right off this damned highway."

She flicked the recorder off and peered ahead through the darkness. The high-beams of an approaching vehicle blinded her a moment before he shifted back to low-beams. She blinked the stars from her eyes, cursing under her breath. "I hate two lane highways," she grumbled, bracing herself as she noticed a glow hidden by a hill in the road ahead.

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She pulled off the side of the road and pulled out her camera. The coon climbed out of the vehicle and walked ahead, turning the camera on to film some establishing shots. Voice overs could be added later, covering any story from the restoration of the fishing industry, to the story on the furries living in a small town.

The sky overhead was overcast, threatening showers like most spring days did. Weather reports weren't expecting any significant rainfall until the evening.

A headland extended out into the dark sea, both clear of snow now, but blocks of white ice dotted the horizon where the open ocean lurked.

Below the headland, nestled in the curve of a rocky beach, was a village of about 400 people, going about their business as usual. She wasn't an expert on fishing communities by any stretch of the imagination, but there did seem to be a lot of new-looking gear and equipment around the village. Signs of the reopening fisheries most likely.

Judging she had enough setting footage, she climbed back into her van and checked the map. Rebeca's instructions were clear, not that there were many roads to get lost on.

She drove down the gravel road that bent around a large hill, and finally saw the residence, nestled in a slight valley, it's back against the forest. The house itself was new, but built in the style of the salt box style that made up the village nearby. Two trucks and a car were parked in front of a large combination garage and storage shed. The driveway itself continued past the shed into the woods where she could just make out the framework of something being built.

Shiloh beeped the horn twice, then turned the vehicle off and stepped out. Her ears swiveled a bit, picking up conversation and construction sounds coming from the site deeper into the woods. She was beginning to think she'd have to move in deeper when the front door of the house opened.

A normal woman walked out, dressed for the weather and carrying a covered basket. "Hello there! You must be the reporter Becky said was coming out. Come on in; the others will be back for lunch shortly," she called out, not even reacting to the appearance of a coon standing next to the van.

Shiloh frowned, annoyed at the presence of the woman. The agreement for the interviews had been to have no normals around, yet here was one. In the back of her mind, she placed the woman's accent, the normal Newfie dialect, tempered from the city, probably St John's.

"So this is the Hayward residence? I'm Shiloh, the reporter as you guessed."
The woman smiled. "It sure is. Get your gear and take it right on in. I'll go fetch the others." She walked down the steps and headed towards the path before stopping and glancing back. "Now don't you be thinking of swiping anything while you're in there alone," she said with an exaggerated wink.

Shiloh stood there a moment, wondering what to make of the comment, and wondering what she had got herself into. She shook her head and started grabbing her gear, her mind moving ahead, reviewing her question lines and figuring out which ones were too furry to ask in normal company.

"Can I give you a hand with that?" a new voice, male asked her, jolting her back to the present.

'Newfie native, only slight urban polish', she mentally classified the accent, turning to face the speaker. She fought down another groan, seeing a normal man waiting for permission to grab the camera case. "Sure, if you don't mind," she granted permission, grabbing a case of cables and her note pad. One normal she might have been able to question around, but two made things difficult. She briefly toyed with the idea of rescheduling to another day.

"I don't mind at all. Name's Richard. Me girl, Sherry, met me on the path and told me you was here," he explained, hefting the camera and grabbing the tripod case. He waited for her to close the doors of the van, chuckling when she hit the lock button on the remote out of habit.

"So you're the cub reporter sent out to break our story," he commented as he lead her to the house.

"The what?... err yeah I guess so," she recovered, swishing her tail in annoyance. Richard seemed to find something amusing about her irritation, but she couldn't figure out what.

The house was somewhat sparse, but well lived in. Her nose easily picked up the scents of wolf, ferret and bear, along with the smells of a hot meal from the kitchen. To the side of the door, was a mat with normal looking footwear and a couple of pairs of boots she recognized from Furgonomics. She was surprised to see them out in the open like that. She tried to hide them with her own bag as she crouched to start to take her own shoes off.

"Nah, don't bother. Becky said not to mind yer shoes," Richard assured her, setting the camera case down at the base of the stairs. "They'll be here soon. Didn't want to leave that sheet half nailed up after all."

"Sure, thanks," Shiloh said, her eyes and nose taking in the house. The big room to her right had been redone into a temporary bedroom. From the strong smells coming from it, it seemed to be where Fred was staying for now. Ahead of her, was a staircase leading to the second floor and the bedrooms and whatever else would be up there. On her right, another large room served as the family room, the couch moved closer to the TV to make room for a misplaced desk and office setup.

Richard looked around the entry and the two side rooms and hm'ed to himself. "You'll probably want to do the interviews outside. Fred's sleeping in the old office right now, which makes the living room rather cramped. Dining room's not much better. But you're the expert at this. Let me give you the nickel tour."

He lead her through the living room and into a dining room, the table covered in paperwork, some Coast Guard related, most lawyer related from the brief glance Shiloh could see. The dining room lead into the kitchen where her nose told her a cooked fish of some sort was in the oven. Other pots simmered on the stove. The kitchen table here was cleared and set for five.

A closed door lead into the former office, and another door lead to a combined laundry and bathroom. A third door, roughly under the stairs going to the second floor, lead to the basement.

"Mmmm nice to be getting this on the cheap again," Richard said, inhaling deeply. "Sherry's cod's not quite as good as ma's, but damn close."

"It does smell delicious," Shiloh admitted, a flash of white out the window catching her eye. She moved to the sink and looked out, spying three figures walking through the forest, heading to the back door. The white was from the white fur of the arctic wolf. Beside him, a brown furred ferret, with black paws and a black mask walked. On his other side, strode the first woman she had seen at the house. Laughter reached her ears through the open window.

She tapped her claw on the side of the sink, studying the trio. Something about them was setting her instincts off, and she couldn't figure out what. She stamped down a grin that threatened to blossom on her muzzle and turned to the door to greet her interview subjects. She would not need to change her question lines after all.

"Shiloh, this is Eric and his fiancé, Rebeca. And since she probably forgot to introduce herself in her rush to leave, that is my girl, Sherry," Robert introduced them.

She reached out and shook hands and paws. "Good to meet you," she said. She took Sherry's now empty hand and grinned. "Don't worry, this 'coon reporter's got no interest in swiping your silverware. I'm just after your information."

Sherry's face fell, and she mock glared at Richard. "You warned her!" she accused.

He held up his hands defensively. "I did not! I didn't hint a thing!"

Shiloh chuckled, glad to have pulled one over on them, since they'd clearly been planning to pull one over on her. "He didn't, he's... mostly innocent. Eric and Rebeca tipped me off. They forgot to put on shoes today, even ghost ones, and none of you even noticed."

The group chuckled and began to move about the kitchen, preparing lunch.

"Well, welcome to our home in any case. And thank you for offering to help us make Da's big announcement. I doubt he's in any condition to handle a full press scrum. Not if we want to keep the Veil intact at least," Rebeca said, her accent similar to the Newfies, but reflecting her upbringing on Cape Breton.

"Of course. I love the Rock anyways. It certainly beats doing another story on those oil fields out in Saskatchewan. Or another Olympics story in BC." Shiloh glanced out the window, looking for another sign of movement. One hand slipped into her pocket to turn on the recorder. "Where is Mr Hayward anyways? He isn't sick is he?"

Eric shook his head. "Nah, he prefers to eat alone when he can. And it takes him some time to prepare himself before he meets strangers. Seven years of isolation and some bear instincts make him just a bit antisocial. Luckily we're far enough from major population centers that being social isn't a big requirement. He'll be along in his own time."

Shiloh nodded. 'Rural Newfie, no Canadian veneer when among friends. DAMN I'm gonna need to subtitle the entire interview at this rate,' she mentally classified his accent and its implications.

"No problem, seeing you all together now, I think I'd rather start by talking to you first, and bring him in later. I can always reorder it in edit it afterwards depending on how things go," she explained.

"Eat first, business second," Sherry said, forcing a plate into Shiloh's paws and giving her a gently shove to the table.

She sat down and waited for the others to settle down and say a brief Grace. "So I take it you looked me up when you heard I was coming or something? Mmmm this is delicious."

"More or less. I remembered you from that announcement in January, and Becky looked up the rest. Not that it would have mattered. Sherry can see through the Veil," Eric explained.

Shiloh lifted her eyebrows and looked at Sherry. "You can? That's a very rare ability, to see clearly."

The woman blushed and swallowed. "Yeah, I have no idea what makes me special. I mean, my twin changed but I didn't, so I figure it might be related to that or something but..." she shrugged.

The reporter let the thread drop and listened as the conversation moved around her, doing her best to pierce the accents so she'd be ready for the subtitling task ahead of her.

"So that building out back, I take it you're building a new place for your dad?" Shiloh asked during a lull in the conversation.

Eric nodded, sipping a cold beer. "Yeah, the house is big enough for the three of us, but he likes his own area, and Becky and I have to think of our own futures too. A place out back, far enough away to offer privacy, but close enough that he doesn't become a complete recluse is going to work well."

She nodded and waited a beat, to try and see if any more was coming, or any other topics were coming up. She decided it was time to give them an overview.

"Okay, well then, I'll go over more details once we get started, but I'd like to give you an overview of what the interviews will be like. I'll be asking you questions, about your lives, what set you off to look for Fred, what you did to find him, and what it's been like to have him back. Please be honest with your responses.

"Since I'm basically doing two interviews, one intended for general use, I will repeat questions, and I'll indicate if I want you to downplay and hide the furry elements. If you can't figure out how to answer a question without mentioning the Change, or your furred natures just say so, we can work out an answer, or try approaching the question from a different angle that may make it easier.

"When I ask a question, wait until I finish before answering. It'll make it easier for me to edit the pieces together if we aren't talking over each other.

"The official story for your father is that he was dazzled by the snow and ice out there and wandered away from his crew and got lost, including losing his hat. Luckily for him, he wandered across the ice, westward until he reached land. Somewhere along the line, he had an accident, a conk on the noggin, and forgot who he was and where he was trying to get to. So once he reached land, he found a cave, set up home and lived there in isolation until you found him."

She noted the expressions on the quartet and held up her paw. "I know, I know, not the best of stories. Any sailor worth their salt up here would believe it as far as they could throw their boat. But it'll play well on the Mainland and it's enough to get him back in the Living in the government systems."

The coon grinned. "Lets just hope we can hold off CTV and CBC from doing a 'Movie of the Week' on it until more change and the REAL story can come out."

Eric nodded, still unhappy with the story, but accepting it. He stood up and gathered some of the plates. "Well, we're wasting daylight now. Where do you want to set up for the interview?"

She stood as well and picked up her plate to help with the cleanup. Sherry reached over and snatched it from her paws. "Leave the cleanup to us; you have some preparations to do," she told the coon.

"Fine, fine. As for the interview, I had hoped to do it inside, but you don't really have the space. Not for five of you. I'll check around outside and try to pick a spot, but probably next to your garage will be best. The ground looks dry enough there, and the garage itself is a neutral enough colour to act as a backdrop. I just need to check the light levels there."

Rebeca started wrapping up the leftovers. "Okay, Eric, why don't you go check on your father. Richard, help Shiloh with what you need. Sherry and I can finish the cleanup here, and we'll get some clean shirts for you two and Da."

Richard and the reporter headed back to the front of the house and gathered the equipment. Together, they went to the garage. Shiloh walked around it slowly, scanning the building and the area with an experienced eye.

"Okay, we'll need to move the cars back, shut the door and get five chairs. This is probably the best angle we can go with, right in front of the doors," she announced. She rummaged in the bags and pulled out a light meter, and frowned. "We're going to need more light though. And not that sodium bulb over the door."

"What about the truck's lights? He's got spots over the cab," Richard pointed out. "We've got some work spotlights out at the construction site; I could call Eric and ask him to bring them in."

Shiloh thought the options over and nodded. "Those would work. Bring'em in."

Together, they assembled a makeshift studio in front of the garage, setting up the two cameras she brought, placing chairs and running power cables to plugs in the house and garage.

"Four throat mics, six speakers. This isn't going to work," Shiloh was musing to herself, trying to figure out how to stretch her supplies.

"Where do yah want da lights?" a deep voice growled for her attention.

She jumped in surprise, dropping a battery pack. Turning, she saw a chest of white. Her eyes lifted up and up and up until she finally saw a dark nose and the rounded face of the polar bear. She locked eyes with him for a moment and felt a cold shiver ran down her spine.

"Um over there please," she pointed vaguely, trying to recenter herself. She'd dealt with large furs before, from Wallace the moose, to the Inuit Muskox in Yellowknife. She'd even dealt with predators and bears before; the black bear in Richmond BC had been a really pleasant to interview. But she now realized they all had one thing in common. They had all kept their ties to civilization after they changed.

This man of a bear was different though. He had gone native soon after changing, and was only a few weeks back in human life. His eyes especially showed the patient hunter waiting for the need and the opening to make his move.

She watched the bear easily set down the pair of heavy worklights he was carrying and stand them up.

"Shiloh, I'd like you to meet my father. Fred Hayward. Da, this is the reporter we told you about, Shiloh Watson. She's going to keep your return from becoming a media circus," Eric introduced them.

"As opposed to the normal circus this house usually is," Richard commented dryly, earning a glare from Eric.

"A pleasure to meet you, sir," Shiloh said politely, offering her hand. She barely winced as it was engulfed in the white paw and squeezed.

"Thank you," the big man rumbled, releasing her hand.

She smiled at him and turned shaking her paw in the air once it was hidden by her body. "Now, lets get this together. Fred, do you mind sitting on a box instead of a chair? We need to equalize your heights a bit. I need those lights up now, and pointed to the chairs."

She set the three men to work to finish the setup. The girls came out soon enough, with flannel shirts for the wolf and bear to put on, which forced her to readjust the lighting again.

She glanced up at the thickening cloud cover and clapped her paws together. "Okay people, I think that's as good as this is gonna get. Lets get into position and get ready. Fred, you're on the end, Eric next to him then Becky and Sherry and Richard. Richard, I'm going to need your help with this."

"Me? What do you need me for?"

"I need your unChanged eyes, to make sure the cameras are centered in the right positions, and to make sure we aren't busting the veil unintentionally. Normally I'd have a techie with me to handle this sort of stuff, but we weren't able to scare up a Known one in time."

Richard looked a little disappointed. "So you won't be interviewing me too?"

She chuckled. "Sure I will. You'll be on camera with the rest of them most of the time. I just need your help to make sure I don't cut off ghost heads by mistake. Places please people.

"This camera is the overview one. It won't move through the interview, but provides the big group shot. Please try not to look at it," she explained, pointing to the centered camera while adjusting the seating positions.

"The other camera is for closeups. I'll be controlling that one and using it to focus on you when answering questions. That is the one you want to look at, but you don't have to look at it all the time. If it helps, look at me behind it when answering. Richard, can you come take a look at this?"

She looked at a pair of screens set up near the cameras and adjusted the main camera. "Are any of the fur's cut off or anything? I'm centered on their trueforms now."

Richard looked at the screen, then back up at the people sitting. "You're a bit low on Eric and Becky. Not much though. Fred's fine."

"He's fine?" Shiloh asked, disbelievingly. She looked up at the big mass of a man-bear at the end of the group. "You must have been a big man before you changed, sir."

"I was," the man rumbled, uncomfortable under the lights and attention.

She shooed Richard back to his seat and adjusted the closeup camera. Finally, she checked the sound levels from the four throat mics and the hand mic she'd scrounged up for Richard and Sherry to share. "Sorry for the delay everyone. It's a lot for one person to do. But considering your situation and our subject, an UnKnown tech wouldn't work. You have no idea how many tech's and cameramen have become or almost become Known because they were filming Changed.

"Remember, answer normally and truthfully. Don't hide your true nature. If I need a non-furry take on a question, I'll mention it. And if you don't feel like answering a question, just say so and we'll move on. I'm on your side here after all. The questions may seem to be in a weird order, but don't worry about it. I have to cut this down to a five minute article and a two minute clip anyways, so most of it will never be seen past my eyes anyways."

She started the interview, focusing mostly on the quartet of friends first to give Fred time to get used to how it would work. She was surprised to discover they had only known each other a few months; from their interactions she would have guessed they had been together for years. Most of the questions she knew wouldn't apply for the final cuts so she didn't press when furryness slipped into the answer. There were a few questions that had to be answered non-furried.

"Okay Eric, lets try that question again, this time for the norms. Feel free to drop into cliches if you need to. What made you so certain your father was still alive out there for you to find?"

She zoomed in on the wolf, staying far enough back to catch the other two furs looking at him for the answer. "It's hard to say what made me so certain. 7 years, that's a long time after all. I guess I just had a hard time giving up on him. He was the master outdoorsman all while we were growing up. I couldn't accept that the outdoors had finally gotten him. So I put out feelers basically, not sure what I was looking for exactly, and eventually, rumors of a hermit living far far from anyone else got to me and I had to look into it."

She gave him a thumbs up and shifted to the bear. "Fred, when Eric finally found you, what were your thoughts?" She wanted to use the second half of the interview to focus on the bear, but she tossed a few questions his way to keep him in the discussion and to draw him out more. Her attempts were working.

The bear hesitated, gathering his thoughts. She worried he had frozen again, but his rumbling voice spoke up.

"Confusing. That's what my thoughts were at first. Who was that creature? Why was he in my territory?Why was he so persistent? I didn't recognize him at first, but then he showed me the picture and things started coming back to me." She nodded approvingly when, without prompting, he pointed to the picture they had set up on a covered table next to his crate. It wasn't the actual picture Eric had taken, but a blown up version the family had made afterwards.

"Then there was more confusion. What was he doing there? What had happened to him? Was Jeffrey okay?"

"And finally there was relief. I wasn't alone any more. I wasn't the only monster out there."

She nodded, making a mental reminder to cut the last line out for the public record.

"Eric, what about you? What were your thoughts as you approached that cave?"

The wolf tilted his head while he thought over his answer. "They were a mess, that's what they were. I had my doubts about if it really was him. And worries that he might not even be there, or that I couldn't convince him that I was his son. And I was scared shitless that I might do something to anger him. I've read up on polar bears, and read the rumors of the other bear morph out west, seen dad's work first hand out on the ice, and I didn't fancy the thought of being mauled."

"An incident with another bear?" Shiloh asked, her curiosity piqued.

He shrugged. "It's all rumors from what I could discover. It's not exactly covered up, just strongly discouraged to talk about. Something about a polar bear doctor out west in the States, and how he may have killed someone in his house."

She made a physical note to not forget about it, and moved on to a few more questions on other subjects. Finally she called a break.

"You're doing great guys. Take ten while I make sure everything's recording right. When we get back, I'll be focusing more on you Fred, and your life on the ice and in the woods

{{separator|f|TO BE CONTINUED}}

[[Category:Jetfire]] [[Category:Story]] [[Category:Paradise]] [[Category:Anthropomorphic]] {{DEFAULTSORT:Bear Facts, The }}

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			[[Category:Non-TF story]]
			[[Category:Reality Shift]]
			[[Category:Polar Bear]]
			[[Category:Raccoon]]
			[[Category:Wolf]]
			[[Category:Ferret]]
			[[Category:Cougar]]

User:Jetfire/The Bear Facts - Revision history

ShadowWolf: {{universe}} now auto-generates the category link

Jetfire at 14:57, 30 April 2008

Jetfire: Last few tweeks, taking it out of WIP status.

Jetfire at 19:29, 1 April 2008

Jetfire at 17:37, 19 March 2008

Jetfire: New page: {{Universe|Paradise}} {{my stories |name=Jetfire |category=Jetfire }} {{WIP}} {{author note| VERY MUCH A WIP. It is NOT complete yet, and subject to a full scale rew...

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:46, 14 February 2009
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	{{Universe\|~~[[:Category:~~Paradise~~\|Paradise]]~~}}		{{Universe\|Paradise}}
	{{my stories		{{my stories
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