FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

CHAPTER 2

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Even the strongest of individuals are faced with fears. One who says they fear nothing is ignorant and is only lying to themselves to put on a show of faked confidence. Truth is, everyone faces their own fears no matter how big or small, for example being the stranger in an alien like world to them. Being in a place where one has no idea where they are, they know no one, all they know is the unfamiliar.

Nubiana peeked around another corner, she had lost count of how many corners she had looked around to make sure the coast was clear and no one was going to spot her. She had drawn enough unwanted attention to herself back at the park and she was desperately hoping and praying she wouldn't be seen again. For the last couple city blocks she had made it onto the rooftops, she had made sure that the only possible way someone could've seen was if they had been looking up between jumping each roof.

After she had come out of the small forest bordering the inland side of the city, she made a break for some abandoned buildings on the outskirts of the city. Many of the doors to the interior to several of the buildings had large orange papers stuck to the doors of the decrepit interiors reading 'Condemned' in large bold letters. Most of the interiors of the buildings that she had made her way though were rotted out, covered with molded and spray painted wallpaper and sheetrock, holes in the walls and floors and drenched in foul smells.

The problem that Nubiana faced the most was the lack of ability to have any kind of cover for a stealthy get away and travel throughout the city. Finally she came to a dead end of sorts, coming to the edge of a rooftop that had a wide gap over a busy street on either side and a smaller sky scraper adjacent in either direction. This was the end of the line for now. The jackal girl began to take initiative, finding the roof access and stepping silently inside quietly making sure there was no one but her in the dank stairwell. The stench, at least, wasn't as bad as the previous buildings she had been in and searched throughout her break into the outskirts of the city.

Ducking down through the stairwell she came to two doors, one having a small window near the middle. Peering through the small window she found it led inside to a hallway of several doors, each having small combinations of letters and numbers in small brass plates nailed to them. Next to it was a black door with a similar brass plating reading 'Storage Level 3' to which she tried the handle on the door finding it to be locked. She looked around again before whispering to herself, eyes closed softly as a small flash of blue aura snapped from her palm and she tried the door again, opening it easily.

Once inside she closed the door softly behind her letting it lock as it closed. Once closed she was left in total darkness, the only sound heard was the jackal girl taking a deep breath before the darkness was lifted around her in a blue glow. Nubiana held up a hand engulfed in a large flame of blue aura lighting her way through the large cluttered room finding a secluded corner to settle down into. Nearby she found a shelf with some blankets and pillows which she grabbed and set on the floor making herself a makeshift bed in which she crawled onto, crossing her legs underneath her and closing her eyes again. Her hands trailed down to rest on her knees, with each passing moment her fingertips glowed with a soft blue while her diluted markings began to glow as well.

She sighed with a soft deep breath, "Father, if you can hear me I need your help." Nubiana let her subconscious drift into the deepest parts of her mind, searching inside for some kind of reason or logic as to where she was at and why. After some time it seemed like she would never find the answer until a soft voice with a low tone came through the voids of her mind, "the answers will always come with time. But time itself is a wavering force that even the gods have no total control of, and that force alone decides when it is best to answer all questions and reasons in its own way."

Nubiana calmly opened her eyes as she whispered softly, "Even in death you answer a question with a memory or parable." As her eyes opened she quickly noticed a difference in her surroundings, noting that the lights in the storage room were on and that it was possible someone was inside with her. She sat up quietly, she always ended up lying down and sleeping during her meditations but one thing began to make her heart race, pounding hard in her chest. As she sat up, the blanket covering her began to fall down her form as gravity took over the heavy dark brown wool like fabric. The only problem with this fact was, even when she feel asleep during meditations she had never covered herself as she slept.

"Hi there," came a familiar soft spunky voice.

The jackal girl was dead silent, eyes wide and petrified as she seen where and who the voice came from. The smaller familiar figure sat now cross legged in front of Nubiana, her expression the exact opposite of the jackal girl's. Her bright green eyes wide in glee and excitement, while she brushed her long raven colored hair back out of her face while the bright pink and light blue streaks bunched together. She still wore the shredded white top which her slender carmel toned arms now covered as they planted themselves into the ground keeping the short plaid skirt down to keep herself covered in front of the jackal girl.

After some moments of silence the girl finally broke it, "so that was pretty cool what you did to that thing in the park."

Nubiana closed her eyes, sighed deeply and sat up completely, resting her elbows on her knees and resting her head in her hands, rubbing her fingers against her eyes before looking numbly towards the girl. She sighed again, frustrated with herself, "who else knows I'm in her?" The question came out in a very cold tone towards the girl, but it didn't seem to phase the spunky teen at all.

"No one else," she had a puzzled look as she cocked her head to the side as she thought about the question. Her eyes were cocked to the side as well, like trying to see her ears which could now be seen as her hair draped back, revealing two silver rings at the top of her ear and larger black spiral through her earlobe. She then turned back to Nubiana smiling widely, "so what's that blue glow thingy around your hands and eyes?"

"You seen those too," Nubiana groaned, not only did she make a scene in the park but now this girl had seen her powers as well. The more that this day dragged on the worse it got for the jackal girl it seemed, at least to her. However, this girl in front of her wasn't scared of her looks and appearance nor her powers in fact the girl had a certain glow about her. Nubiana looked at the girl again, directly into her eyes watching the beaming excitement intently. Could she be trusted? The jackal girl looked around the storage room again and then back at the girl.

"You're," Nubiana cocked her head to the side, an expression of ponder and puzzlement flushed across her face, "not afraid of me." She paused again momentarily, trying to read and understand this human girl, "are you?"

The girl took a deep breath and pulled a serious kind of expression, "well at first I was. Like in the park when I first seen you. But," a smile crossed the girl's face, "the way you were fighting that thing. And then you ran away and I was kinda bummed out about that but then I found you in here and now," she giggled catching her breath. She took another breath calming herself down momentarily, "I'm excited again."

The girl's personality and attitude as it were now, Nubiana couldn't help but smile as a calm overtook her as the girl went on and for the first time in a long time she felt safe. The more the jackal girl watched the girl and her spunky, bubbly attitude the more she felt this feeling of peace and calmness. Nubiana smiled and shook her head before looking back with a smile across her muzzle, "what's your name kid?"

The girl's smile only grew wider as she lifted one of her arms and extended a hand towards Nubiana, "Sarina. Sarina James, " Nubiana extended a hand of her own as she spoke with a pride filled tone. The soft furred palm of the jackal girl met squarely with Sarina's own soft skinned palm as each others fingertips wrapped around the opposite palm. As they shook hands Sarina couldn't help but giggle, "the fur tickles. But," the smile slightly disappeared as Sarina looked into Nubiana's eyes again, "you still haven't told me about you."

Nubiana blinked in slight shock, their hands still clasped together in a motionless handshake. She paused then asked softy, "so what dod you want to know Sarina?"

Sarina only giggled, "well first off, you name silly?"

"My name?" she paused with question at first but then spoke in a stern tone, as if she were greeting someone of a higher class and stature, "my name is Nubiana."

Sarina couldn't help but begin to laugh, she fell over from her sitting position, hand still holding onto Nubiana's own hand. The action only confused Nubiana, her expression now flush with puzzlement and confusion as she watched the human girl on the ground trapped in a laughing fit. The jackal girl continued watching on as Sarina's laughing fit began to slowly fade, "what's so funny?"

Sarina sat up with a faked stern look on her face, her lips sucked together and she tried to speak in a fake deep, serious tone, "My name is Nubiana."

The act poked at Nubiana, her look of puzzlement being quickly washed over as she began to snicker which led into a burst of laughter, mimicked by Sarina herself. Their hands finally left their handshake to cradle their stomachs as the both began to slouch over in a fit of laughter, in all reality Nubiana couldn't remember the last time she had laughed like this. After the laughing had died down Nubiana looked back up as Sarina looked back to her, "second question."

Sarina paused wondering how to ask, "what," she paused again cautiously, "exactly..."

"Am I," Nubiana asked, finishing Sarina's question.

"Yes," Sarina replied, her tone was cautious and soft, meek like a pupil speaks to its master.

"Technically, I'm considered a demi-god," Nubiana replied softly, knowing the answer may scare her new human counter part away.

Sarina sat wide eyed, motionless and stiff, replying in an almost dead tone while shuddering through each word as it left her lips, "a demi-god?"

Nubiana just sighed, "it's really not a big deal. I wouldn't hurt you or anything."

It took a few moments but Sarina began to brighten up, "so you're like invincible or something and you have like magical powers and stuff like that?"

Nubiana blinked in a little shock as she seen how fast the girl's personality snapped back to its usual spunk. Accordingly the jackal girl nodded her head slightly, "well I'm not invincible, I can still be injured or killed in both the human and god realms. And as for everything else, it's not really magic," Nubiana thought for a moment on how to explain her powers, "it's more like conjuring natural energy and life forces from my surroundings."

Sarina nodded listening intently before speaking again, "so why are you here?"

Nubiana cringed at the question itself, "actually," she groaned holding out the last of the word, " I honestly don't know."

Sarina blinked, eyes wide at the response. The two were silent for a few long moments, staring at one another before the stunned human girl broke the silence. "How could you not know where you are and why," she questioned.

"I've been adrift at sea for I don't know how long," Nubiana shrugged, her tone a little colder than before. She knew in her heart the girl was only trying to help her but being questioned when she barely remembered anything herself was a little irritating. She decided though it would be better to at least try and remember anything she could about how she was sent from the God realm to the Human realm.

"So what's the last thing you remember, before washing ashore," Sarina chimed out another question in her spunky ecstatic tone full of curiosity.

Nubiana dug deep into her mind trying to remember anything that would give the girl, but more importantly herself, some answers. Her gut started to hurt, cringing in pain she slammed her eyes shut, the pain only seeming to amplify as she did so, every sense tingling and she began to feel like she was on all fours in a sea of sand. Her eyes began to open, but opened wide as she found she really was on her hands and knees crawling across the hot grains of a sand dune.

A sharp pain stung at her ribs again, rushing a hand to clutch the source tightly causing her to cough hoarsely, leaving a bitter taste soaking at her tongue. Coughing again she felt small droplets of a thick heavy liquid cascade off of her lips, she tried swallowing hard only to cringe in pain and try to dig her chin into her chest. As she opened her eyes she found the once soft tan color of the sand was stained in a dark crimson tone. The bitter taste, the heavy thickened droplets from her lips, it wasn't saliva; she was coughing up blood.

"That's it, crawl just like the slaves you so admire," came a deep voice behind her. The voice made Nubiana stiff with fear, eyes widened and staring off into nothing but eternal oblivion. Her head turned stiffly, seeing the tall dark figure stalking up the sand dune behind her. His physique was perfect by any means; tall, muscular with perfect definition, the tone of his voice was deep and masculine. His jackal like head was fitted with a massive Egyptian headdress made of fine gold with insets made of jade, matching the various piercings that ran the length of his long jackal ears. His built shoulders were draped in a large desert cloak made of black silk linen fastened to a large gold and jade neck piece, glinting coldly in the setting sunlight over the horizon.

She could hear a dead clanking sound with every step he took as the worn gold rings around his ankles slapped against each other and the ground beneath them. As the figure grew closer Nubiana let the surge of mana around her hands ball up, shooting a large fireball at the figure behind her. The figure dodged it quickly and sped up to Nubiana, gripping the smaller jackal girl by the neck and throwing her back onto the ground as she tried to stumble to her feet and run. Nubiana coughed up more blood as she was forced hard into the ground, gasping for air as it was knocked out of her from the impact clambering at the larger hands wrapped around the column of her neck choking the life out of her.

"Just die already," the figure growled deeply, his face blurring and distorting as she began to lose consciousness, "you're too weak to be my." Everything faded away, blurred out and distorted. Nubiana felt like she was drowning, the darkness sucking out the last of her life force. She knew she needed to fight, but she didn't have the strength or will to wake up from what seemed like an all too real nightmare. The jackal girl began to gasp. She wanted air, needed it.

"Nubiana," she heard another voice, faded, drowned out by the darkness surrounding her, "Nubiana," came the voice again. Faded and muddy as it rang out, sounding out like it was more like a pair of voices. At that instant she began to fight against the darkness, someone or something was calling her, like she wasn't weak or worthless. She was needed. She began scratching at the darkness around her, "wake up Nubiana," she told herself.

She began repeating herself, each time before her voice rose to a scream, "wake up Nubiana, please." She paused, the scream wasn't her own, it wasn't her voice. The voice was softer even though frantic, straining with fear and despair, like someone was. Crying. Nubiana's heart felt heavy and her eyes began to swell, feeling the warmth of tears trailing down her cheeks. But she felt another warmth growing around her neck and chest, was she really bleeding? No, there wasn't a feeling of pain there, but she did feel a heaviness there and a warmth surrounding her pressed to her neck, chest and waist. She heard the voice again; a hoarse, pathetic tone as it sobbed, "please Nubiana. Please come back."

Her eyes slowly lifted, in front of her she could see the back of the storage room. The cold concrete walls complimented by the cold steel of the shelving units filled with misplaced and unwanted items of utterly useless junk. The whole room she woke up to was cold and pitiful. Nubiana felt a weak clutch around her neck, but it was a soft warmth and feel of smooth skin. The weight against her shoulders shifted, she felt the warm moisture matting her short grey fur to her chest and shoulder. As she moved her head down she felt soft strands of silk brushing against the underside of her muzzle, the voice came again, more clear but still in its pitiful hoarse tone, "please Nubiana, don't leave me."

The swelling in her throat cleared slowly, she tried speaking, "Sarina," her voice was choked off and hoarse. The weight on Nubiana's shoulder lifted as the girl raised her head, her caramel skin glistening from the wave of tears that had over taken her. Seeing Nubiana awake sprung the smaller girl's ecstatic personality back to life, instantly clinging to the jackal girl happily, "what happened, I thought you were gonna die."

Nubiana just spoke softly, "sometimes your memories can feel so real, they hurt."

Sarina sniffled, as she tried to keep back a small choked laugh, "and cause bleeding and choking."

The two girls both began snickering at the comment before bursting into a small fit of laughter for a few relieving moments. As the two came to another calming silence Sarina began to move, backing off as she slipped out of the jackal girl's lap and moving back to her previous spot where she had been sitting. The girl hung her head in a small rush of embarrassment, "sorry," Sarina muttered softly. Nubiana smiled softly letting out a small chuckle, "for what?"

Sarina sighed softly, "well, you started bleeding at the mouth and then you started to choke and suffocate. I thought you were dying so I tried giving you CPR and I failed. Your heart stopped beating and the only thing I could do was breakdown like I always do, crying into your shoulder." The girl brought an arm up as her hair fell in front of her face, her forearm rubbing against her eyes trying to wipe away another small rush of tears of shame and embarrassment as she choked back trying not to be overwhelmed.

Nubiana reached out a comforting hand, massaging her human counter part's shoulder, her expression weighted in a mix solace and gratitude, "Sarina. You didn't fail," the girl lifted her head in response, a weak but pitiful smile emerging. Her eyes swollen and red, masked by her make up and mascara, distorted and smudged from the tears and frantic attempts to wipe them away. Nubiana could only stare deeply into the swollen green eyes of Sarina, met by her own blue orbs, "I'm still her ain't I?"

Sarina couldn't help but smile, her attitude spiking at a renewed high as she leapt forward happily, wrapping her arms around the demi goddess in front of her, tackling her back onto the bed of blankets. Nubiana could only laugh happily with Sarina as the girl hugged her to the floor of blankets, the jackal girl wrapping her own arms around Sarina. Nubiana hadn't had this kind of affection for some time, she almost couldn't remember when the last time was but wasn't wanting to dig into her memories again.

The two stayed as they were for a few long moments, before Sarina finally pulled herself off of Nubiana, her face fitted with a large smile accompanying her destroyed makeup. Nubiana sat up with her, "so I never asked, how did you find me here? Did you follow me from the park or something?"

Sarina only giggled, "no I didn't follow you. I live here," the girl stuck out her tongue at Nubiana joking and mockingly.

Nubiana blinked at the seeming coincidence, pausing for a small moment, "you do?"

Sarina blinked, pausing like the jackal girl before her, "yep, exactly on this floor too. I live with my brother just down the hall, he's gone a lot so I'm home alone a lot of the time so I come in here and draw in my sketchbook."

"Why don't you stay at your home while he's gone," Nubiana asked calmly.

"Well, when I'm home alone, it just doesn't feel safe," Sarina's expression changed to a slight flush of worry and caution.

Nubiana thought for a few small moments, "well," she paused letting a smile cross her muzzle, "now I can keep you company."

Sarina exploded with excitement, jumping onto her feet, "really?!"

Nubiana rose to her feet, now easily seeing the size difference between the two of them, noticing that Sarina, even in her boots, only came to Nubiana's chin. The jackal girl watched Sarina for a few moments, her excitement and spunk were mixing rapidly in front of her, amusing as it was, it was relaxing at the same time to see some kind of normalcy since washing ashore hours ago. Sarina began motioning Nubiana to follow her as she moved towards the door, bouncing in her stride and step, "I'm finally gonna have company at home." Sarina moved her hand to grab for the door, but paused, she turned around to face Nubiana with a wide smile across her face, "by the way, Nubiana."

"Yes," Nubiana paused, cocking her head to the side in question. Sarina so far had proved one thing in her short time of knowing the girl; Sarina had a random and unexpected type of personality, though honestly, she rather liked it and found the spontaneous nature of her human counterpart soothing.

"Thank you," Sarina replied softly in a small sweet tone, "and welcome to New Savannah."