The drive towards Carrot Town was a lot harder to get to, then Gideon had expected. He could easily count the amount of times that he had gotten lost on both his paws. Within a few hours of constant searching, stopping for directions, and dead ends here had finally made it to his destination. The only problem now was, were in the world was Travis was even at?
Deciding that he needed to get out of his car and stretch his legs out, Gideon took a turn on Blueberry Road and pulled up into a gas station. Turning his car engine off, Gideon opened up his car door, hopped out, and stretched his legs.
"Ahhh, that's it." Gideon grunted as small pops could be heard from his hind legs.
Finally getting all that out of the way, Gideon looked down at his watch, 12;30 it read. Just as he had looked at his watch, did a very familiar grumbling sound erupted from his tummy. This was really surprising for Gideon, since he had eaten at relatively big breakfast at home. Then again, he did wake up at the crack of dawn, so maybe it wouldn't be much of a problem to just go inside the gas station and get something to eat. Making his decision, he went back to his truck, checked on the special velvet case that held Travis's pie, and locked his truck up for safe measures.
Upon taking a good look at the place, he was quite surprised at how "futuristic" it looked. The outside of the building looked as if was made entirely of silver chrome, the place also had a large, silver ring-like structure that wrapped around the building like the plant Saturn with the words "Gas of the Future" etched into the middle of the ring. Upon entering the gas station, Gideon was less than surprised at what he saw. It looked like a typical gas station interior; small register stand with two electronic cash registers being occupied by a pair of less-then-happy teenage Tigers, small rows of shelves that contained a heavy amount of sweets and junk food, and stained checkered flooring that look like it hadn't been cleaned in weeks.
"W..Well this is g...gross." Gideon said with a slightly disgusted look on his face
Looking through the countless rows of sugar and salt packed snacks that lined the isles, Gideon grimaced at how few "good" food was actually here. Heck, there wasn't even a fruit stand around. Now, Gideon wasn't the most heath conscious fox around (with the exception of when he was in his bakery that is ) but even he knew that most of this stuff that was on these racks were nothing but "garbage for your gut". The only sensible option, was a few bags of jerky, but they were rather expensive. He knew for a fact that he didn't want to get any chubbier that he already was ( tasting pies all the time can do that to a fox), and he didn't want to waste any more time of his day searching for a better option, so he just grabbed a bag of jerky and headed up to the counter to make his purchase. While the clerk was scanning the snack that he had picked out, he decided to ask the cashier a question.
"Uh, m...mam. Can I ask you something?." Gideon asked politely
The tiger cashier immediately shot her head up and said in a menacing tone
"Did you just assume my gender?!"
Gideon immediately stepped back in fear after that.
"I'm s...so sorry, I didn't mean to...offend y..you" Gideon said apologetically
He was immediately metwith the sound of giggling coming from the same cashier that had given him that stern response.
" It's fine, I was just kidding around with you." The cashier said giggling " So, what's your question?"
Gideon stepped forward and pulled out some cash to pay for the jerky.
"W...well..uh. You d..don't happen to k..know who Travis Ferris i..is, do you?" Gideon asked as he grabbed the small plastic bag containing his snack.
The female tiger's ears immediately stood up as she heard those words.
" Travis? You mean the Travis F. Ferris?" She asked
"Yes mam." Gideon responded
" Well, your in luck. I happen to have his card in my wallet. You can have it if you want."
Gideon gratefully thanked the Tigress for the card, and as he made his way for the doors, he heard the tigress say to him.
"Tell Travis that Debbie sent you!"
Gideon thanked the tigress once more, before making his way back to his truck and climbing in. After eating his jerky, Gideon cranked up his truck and looked at the card that was giving to him. "Travis Ferris, your one stop shop for an easy Video Editing, Computer Repair, and software creating experience 1167 Kit St Carrot Town 11342." the card read in gold text. Finally memorizing the address, Gideon made his way towards the place, which was actually less than a mile away from the gas station.
" Well, that was f...fast" Gideon said pulling up to a large gated fence that separated himself from the lage, luxurious home that was less than a hundred feet away from him.
Upon reaching the gate, he was met with a large red button that simple said
"Press for Entry"
Pressing it, the gate slowly opened up to a curvy looking driveway that was surrounded by a lush green bed of grass. Trying not to run over the perfect grass with is truck, Gideon immediately parked himself next to the concrete walkway that led to the front door. After retrieving the pie from the velvet material, and locking up his truck, Gideon slowly made his way towards the front door, nervousness building up inside of him like blueberries in a pie crust. Finally reaching the door, he gave a few loud knocks.
"Come in!" A voice from the inside of the house called out
With his free paw, Gideon carefully opened the door, walked in, and the shut the door behind him.
"I'll meet you in the kitchen, just give me a minute!" The disembodied voice called out once again
Gideon did as he was told, and made his way into the kitchen without a word being said. Entering the kitchen, which looked very clean and polished, he felt the nervous feeling grow more and more with each passing moment. What if Travis didn't recognize him anymore? What if he hated him for leaving him all those years back? Or worst of all, what If it wasn't Travis at all, and he had just walked in someone's house? Not moving an inch from where he stood, he waited for the voice to finally reveal itself to him.
"Alrighty now" a black footed ferret said as he walked into the kitchen with a glass of water in his left paw " Let's see what's going on with your..."
The ferret looked up at the fox that was standing in his kitchen, a look of shock and surprise overtaking his face. Gideon smiled and said
"Hi T..Travis."
The ferret's eyes widened when he heard his name being said to him. Travis carefully observed the fox, and his jaw dropped as he recognized the face and specific hair style that only one fox that he knew of had.
"G...Gideon?" Travis said taking a step further to examine the fox a bit more.
"Hey there o...old buddy. H..How i..is it g..going?" Gideon said with a warm smile on his face
"Is that really...no, it's not possible! Your supposed to be dead? The papers said that you...died.."
"Don't tell me what I already know Travis." Gideon replied
Those words hit Travis like a brick to the face. No one , other than Gideon Grey himself, said that. Theven shock from the words that he heard were so intense, that he wound up dropping the glass of water on the ground, causing it to shatter. Tears began to form in Travis's eyes as he made his way closers to Gideon.
"Is it really you?" Travis asked as hot tears started to flow down his face, as the realization that his best freind wasn't dead at all came to him.
Gideon placed the pie down on the kitchen counter, and then walked over towards the teary eyed Ferret, and wrapped his arms around Travis in a soft, but loving embrace. Travis gasped, as the side of his face came in contact with Gideon's chest. He could hear the soft thumping of Gideon's heartbeat, which only fueled the fire of evidence, that Gideon wasn't dead.
"It's me Travis" Gideon said , now caressing the ferret in his arms "I'm right here for yo."
That was it, there was no holding back now. Travis shook, and then started bawling his eyes out. Tears streamed down his face hard, as he wrapped his arms around Gideon. He then began to nuzzle his head into Gideon's chest, as the fox ran his paw up and down down the ferret's back.
