Turbulence 
By Ebonhawk

"I am not looking back. I am just going to check out the stewardess."

Christopher didn't just look at the young human stewardess -  he visually consumed her. He looked at every curve and every move until he was totally familiar with seeing her. He didn't realize that he was licking his lips until he saw the flight attendant cringe and duck into the plane's galley.  Then he felt something bounce off of his wing and land on his head. He didn't want to look but he reacted without thinking.  He looked up only to have a little ball of paper fall in front of his face. He looked back, over the seat, and found himself looking straight into that little brat's white furred face. 

"What's wrong, hom?", she giggled. 

He didn't want to be angry at her. He wanted to ignore her. She was a cute young fur. Her form was that of a skunk but her markings were that of a white tiger. He assumed that made her an exotic like himself. He guessed that she was only 14 or so. Since he was a 17 year old fur and a Psi-master, he couldn't say much to her. 

She reminded him of his human sister - Mary. When he was younger, she used to think that he was a jumbo sized plush toy- a big phoenix-winged wolf toy. Mary grabbed at his fur and pulled on his feathers and tried to knock his teeth out using an old Tim doll. It took almost a year before she realized that he was not a toy.  But it had been so long ago that he had forgotten how he had gotten her to stop. After all what would be the odds that he would need to know how to do that again. 

A rubber band glanced off of his right ear. 

"Pretty good." Christopher thought to himself as he shook his head. 

He turned to look out the window. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. Even through the darkness, he could see the ground below. The rolling hills of the east had been replaced by the great plains of the farming states. Most humans see the ground much less couldn't focus on the actual crop lines like his hawkeyes could. He imagined that he could almost see combines harvesting crops. 

Then he felt warm breath on his ears. 

Christopher turned around and the little tiger stinker was trying to look innocent. 

"What is your name, brat?"

"I thought that you didn't want to talk to me."

"I don't."

"Jennifer. "

"Well Jennifer, why don't you leave me alone?"

"I was bored'

Christopher looked around and noticed that no one else was even awake. It made sense. This was a red-eye flight. The cabin was half empty and with the exception of Jennifer and himself there were no other furs on board. Chris' dad had always said that "we furs have to stick together" and that "all exotic furs are family". Chris had never thought much about being a fur but as he looked into her eyes, he realized that she really was alone and lonely. 

"So am I." 

"I knew it", Jennifer jumped over the back of the seat beside him and landed so quietly that he could hardly believe she had moved. "where are you going? I mean I know your going to Seattle..we are all going there… but where in Seattle?"  

"A Martial Arts contest. Ninpon US nationals."

She pulled back in her seat. "You're a psychic fighter? You can read people's brains"

"Yeah, but I don't- it's against the law."

"I know how that is. If I spray someone they can bring me up on charges too. They say it is the same a pulling a gun on someone. But it isn't ..is it?"

Almost on cue the plane began to buck. It moved up almost 30 feet by Chris' estimate. Jennifer didn't take it very well. Her fur went on end. She looked around anxiously and then dig her claws into the arms of her seat. 

"First time flying?", he asked

"No. I'm an old hand at this stuff. I just don't like turbulence.", she lied trying to look cute. 

The plane lurched again. And this time it shuttered as it lost almost a hundred feet of altitude. This time Jennifer lost the ability to speak. Her breathing stopped.  She began to tremble as she began to hold herself. Terror played across her face. He knew this. He had lived it before. When he flew with his sister to Houston. He was scared because he couldn't do anything to make the plane fly right. When he flew, he was in control. But having to depend on someone else to fly and control his fate was different. It terrified him. But his little sister was there for him. She held his hand until he was okay. Never again did he have a problem.    

 Now, Jennifer was scared. Chris saw his hand reaching out to her shoulder. Before he could pull it back she jumped into his arms. He hugged her as she started to tremble. Chris wrapped a wing over her shoulder and nuzzled her head. He knew that he had to get her mind off of what was going on.  He sniffed her to try to figure out something about her that he could use. He wasn't prepared for what flashed though his mind. 

"Isabou"

"Who?"

"You have the same smell as this girl I once knew named Isabou."

The plane began to buck wildly.  He glanced out the window and saw the mountain range below. The plane was catching thermals coming off the mountains.  Chris knew from experience that this turbulence wouldn't last long.
 
"If you are trying to get my mind off of things then using another girl's name is not the ticket", Jennifer said. She tried to laugh but what trembled out of her wasn't laughter.

"It isn't like that you know. Well, I was eight at the time. She was five I think. She was a tiger skunk, too. We were met in the mall. I was in Xaviors' Toy store. They had this play area in the middle of the store where you could play with the toys before you begged you parents to buy them. She was inside, playing with this little plush skunk toy. I don't know why but I told her that she should get two toys. One skunk and one tiger. She said that her mom couldn't get both of them. So I used my X-Dollars to get her a tiger toy. Then we started playing. Because she was part skunk and part tiger she could do everything that I could do and I loved it. I guess we were playing a long time, because closing time came and her mom still didn't show up. I took her by the hand and we went looking for her mother.  We looked all over the place and then my mom found me. Well, she isn't my biological mom- she is human like my little sister. Anyway, Mom called the Furcops. They came in and took one look at her and told my mom that she was abandoned.  It seems that some tiger-fur moms would abandon exotic fur cubs because they weren't feline enough.  I couldn't do anything to help her. The last time I saw her, she was crying and all I could do was say goodbye. Every night for the next five years I would hug my mother and dad, so that they wouldn't leave me, too."

He looked down at Jennifer. Judging from her look he must have looked quite the sad pup.  He put on a quick smile.  

"You can call me Isabou if you like.", Jennifer said.

"I would like."

The plane settled down almost immediately. Chris felt the femme slowly begin to relax.  Jennifer/Isabou buried her head in his chest and fell asleep.

The stewardess came up to Chris and nodded approvingly.  She asked, "Was that story true?"

Chris looked at her and answered, "Not only is it true but she really is the same girl, but don't tell her that. She doesn't remember any of it and that is for the best."

The stewardess helped Chris move Isabou into the seat beside him, but he kept his wing around her.  This time he was going to make sure that he didn't lose her.