FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

CHAPTER 1

Ember stands on the corner of 5th street and a back alley that smelt of rotting poultry. He recalls the dismal journey that got him here; hopping from train to train, among the crowds of last minute holiday shoppers hoping not to miss the train. This had intrigued Ember, for he could not even begin to imagine how ignorant to the world outside of their own each shopper was. Countless beings engulfed in holiday spirit go about caroling and wishing each other good tidings. What for? The act of faith? The grasp of awareness, or yet, the explanation for lack of awareness? This always interested Ember, the idea that religion played such an influential role in peoples life, especially around the holidays. To Ember, religion was a way to comfort before reaching the inedible end.

The end. It was an intriguing matter, one of despair, yet also one of serenity. One of mystery and fear. The barrier between living and death is one that can only be entered, and not left. At least that is what one may think. Or maybe we aren't alive in the first place. We could be a biological machine, one of great complexity. We could be an extensively evolved algorithm written for the feeling of consciousness. Consciousness, a system that is thought to be under our control, but in reality nothing but a system to prevent insanity. Either way, we go about our daily lives happily and contently.

Ember had never discriminated against religion, he just did not support it. He did not go to church. He did not pray. He did not fear the end, for half of the time he was disconnected from it. He had periods of time where he almost felt himself separate fully from his physical body. He had no explanation for it, and did not fear it. To him, it was a fact of life. Nothing more, nothing less. This separation helped him stay in tune with the essence of life, the attachment we feel towards other beings. This attachment was just like religion, nothing to him but a grasp to each other that helped carry on their kind. That thought of Embers really helped him keep relationships professional. The thought that attraction was a physical force driven by our evolved minds.

Ember, who was too delved in his thoughts to notice the young wolf girl approaching him, was suddenly snapped out of his trance by the raspy voice of the wolf. "Do you have some change that you could spare?" the young but tired voice said. Ember looked up, expecting to see a stranger in his midst, but saw something that nearly toppled him. The girl's fur was a brilliant silver, it was dirty, and looked as if it had not been washed in a week. Her face was smooth and beautiful, though it was scratched and bruised in multiple places. Though what shocked him most was her markings. They were a beautiful maroon, shaped like a crescent on each cheek, and a large stripe running up her muzzle.

Ember, now staring in awe at the beautiful wolf before him could not utter a single word. Something was familiar about her markings, something that he had never quite forgotten. Though they were so familiar, he could not remember where or when he had saw them. "Sir?" the young wolf asked with worry in her voice, for she was standing in front of an older gray wolf with his mouth hanging open, staring at her markings. "Do you have any spare change" she restated, hoping for a dime. Ember, still staring in shock, pulled out his worn brown leather wallet, grabbed a wrinkled $20 bill and handed it to the girl. The girl, shocked as Ember now, contemplated running from the large wolf before anything happened. She had heard nightmares about being offered a large sum of money from a stranger, only to be robbed, or worse. Ember, still entranced, was able to mutter "W...where did you get your markings?"

The girl, now seriously considering grabbing the bill and running from the large wolf, nervously stated "My Mother, why do you ask?"

Ember nearly collapsed. All of it came back. The markings. The memories started flooding in. The deal. The separation. The loss. The lab. The outcome. But most vibrant of them all was the suffering. His eyes felt as if they were melting at the sight of the starving wolf. He dropped the $20 bill.

The girl, confused and scared, grabbed the $20 bill, kicked the man full force in the shin and ran. Looking back, she saw the man fall to the ground yelping in pain. He cried out a name. "Scarlet!?"

She stopped.

She had never seen her mother, and had only heard of her through legends in the alleyways, stories in the darkest parts of town, and even those were scarce. All she heard is that she went rogue, and was killed. She tried not to believe this though. But hearing her name being cried with despair from the wolf she had just crippled, It stopped her. She turned around slowly. The man was laying on the sidewalk, clutching his left leg, weeping partly from pain, partly from despair. "I... I know who your mother was."

Ember, now overwhelmed with memories, could no longer feel his left leg. He managed to spit out the words "Arpitune... Scientific" in between gasping for air. The young girl walked cautiously on all four paws towards Ember, ready to flee if needed. Ember managed to prop himself up on the graffiti-covered wall, pausing multiple times to wince from the pain shooting up his spinal cord. "Y... Your mother was in the same lab as me." Ember gasped. "We were test subjects for Arpitune Scientific. Your mother, three other wolves and I were testing an experimental procedure that would let us evolve at an increased pace." the girl stood up. "Why should I trust you?" she stated softly. Ember thought of how to respond. She had every reason in the world not to trust him. He remembered what Scarlet had said to him before the trial run. He recalled her speaking of her future. Her goal was to have children that would be joyful in who they were. She never went into her reason in being there, but she seemed to never give up.

The young wolf was growing impatient. She had few reasons to trust him, yet she felt that he was being truthful. How else would he have known Scarlet's name? There they stood, trying to trust each other. It suddenly began to snow. Ember, his leg now almost frozen by the frigid wind, asked "Can you call the paramedics?" The girl, startled by the request, stated "No, I can't, I am on the run as it is."

Ember, shocked by the statement, wondered why this was. He remembered the Quick-Convenience that he had passed on his dismal trip here, and asked "There is a convenience store down the street. Can you help me get there?" With this, Ember stared down to his swelled leg and tried to remove his left shoe. The girl glanced around her and said "When did my mother die?" Ember, having successfully removed his left shoe, stared at his large paw in pain. "Can we talk when I get off this depressing intersection?"

With this, the young wolf helped stand Ember up. They proceeded slowly towards the Quick-Convenience, pausing multiple times on the way. No one knew how they met, if it was pure luck, or it was meant to be. Nonetheless, they met on the intersection of 5th and an alley on Christmas eve, the night that would change Ember forever.

CHAPTER 2

"So, my mother was a test subject." Trivecta confirmed. Ember discovered the name of the wolf was Trivecta, and that she was on the run from the government due to her occasional graffiti artworks. She was a fifteen year old gray wolf that was never quite accepted by anybody, but made her solitary life as fulfilling as possible. She was often hungry, as she rationed her earnings so that she would spread her one meal across the day. The rest went to savings, just in case she has a rough day or week and could not afford a meal.

"Yes, Scarlet was a test subject for a medication that would speed up evolution." Ember replied. "Who the hell would want that?" Trivecta stated. Ember explained that the reason behind the treatment was to develop the brain at a higher pace, therefore showing what the wolf species would become in 50 years. To Ember the pursuit was meaningless, for the evolution of a living organism comes with natural selection, not a steroid for the brain. Though he did not decide to state this, for fear of revealing Scarlet's death.

"Why would people subject themselves to that?" She said. They were sitting in the window of the dingy convenience store. "There were many reasons." Ember told her. "Some wanted to help science. Some just needed the money. And some wanted to be superior to their own kind." At the sound of being superior, Trivecta cringed. She had met many people more superior, including the wealthy patrons of the city that never dropped a nickel into her jar. "The test did not succeed though." Ember explained. "Few subjects survived." "My mother did not." Trivecta said with a sniffle. She started to cry. "Your mother, Scarlet, was a beautiful wolf, only 30 years old. But she was young inside. She always smiled and never cried" Ember said this while wiping the tears from Trivecta's face, trying to comfort her.

"All of these years of hope that I would someday find her" she sobbed "just gone. All the stories, they're true, aren't they?" Ember looked out at the festive landscape now filled with snow drifts and wondered if he should tell her how Scarlet died. Ember got up and limped over to the coffee maker, made a hot cocoa and a large black coffee. Taking out his last $5 bill, he paid for both. He proceeded over to the table in the window they sat in. Trivecta was sitting with her head down, crying quietly. Something struck Ember. The feeling of attachment, it was a new one, but it felt nice. It was nice to connect with someone like he was connected to Trivecta.

Ember suddenly felt dizzy. He thought at first it was from the throbbing pain in his left leg, but the feeling was becoming more intense by the second. He tried to speak, but couldn't. He began to lose sight, and felt like he was separating from himself. "Ember?" Trivecta called worriedly, looking at Ember passing out in the metal chair. "Ember!" She yells as he falls out of the chair