FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Part one of the Adapted series

My eyes opened to take in the same room I had been waking up in for years. The same morning sun shone in through the same white curtains. The same white paint was peeling in the same areas. It was all the same. And I was so fucking tired of it. I rose to my feet, slipping into the same pair of red-and-black paw-shaped slippers that I wore every day. I walked out of my bedroom and into the bathroom down the hall. I closed the door behind me and flicked on the lights. The same, brown-eyed sandy-haired human face stared back in the polished surface of the mirror. I sighed. "Just another work day," I said.

After brushing my teeth and dressing in my work uniform, I left the bathroom and grabbed my wallet before walking out of the guest room that I rented. I walked to the nearby bus stop and sat down on the bench to wait. It was a nice day, but there were dark clouds in the distance. I waited until the scheduled time of the next bus, but it never came. 15 minutes later, the bus still hadn't come. "Guess I'll be walking today. Yay," I said sarcastically. I fixed the collar of my smock before beginning my walk to work. And, just my luck, drops of rain started falling before I was even halfway there. The storm only got worse and worse until I was dripping wet and couldn't see. Seeing the overhang on the entrance to the small store where I worked, I rushed underneath the cover. The doors were locked and a sign on them read "all employees have the day off for the coming storm". Just my luck. Frustrated and tired, I leaned against the door and slid down until I was sitting down. I had come all this way for nothing. And I couldn't go back home because the room I was renting was undergoing maintenance. "Of fucking course," I complained. I was stuck in a storm with nowhere to go and no way to pass the time.

A few minutes later, I saw a girl in an oversized black hoodie on the other side of the street, struggling with a blue umbrella. Being the gentleman I was, I rose to my feet and rushed over to help her. "The damn thing's stuck!" she yelled over the storm. "C'mon, follow me!" I offered, reaching for her hand. As soon as I grabbed it, I felt like I had stuck my finger in a socket. I ignored it and pulled her across the empty street and under the overhang I had been under moments ago. Safe from the storm for now, she let go of my hand and rubbed her arms to warm up. "Th-thanks," she said, shivering. Remembering that I should have a key, I rifled through my pockets until my hand closed around a brass key. I pulled it out and unlocked the door. "Here," I told her, opening the door. "It's warm in here." I led her inside.

"Better, thank you."

"No problem. You need to get out of those clothes. We don't have any clothes here, but there should be some blankets."

"Oh...yeah..."

I turned and left to give her privacy and get her a blanket. Suddenly, I felt cold. So cold, as if my blood had turned to ice. I tried to tough it out when I finally saw a thick red blanket neatly folded on a store rack. I reached for it as my legs started to get weak. Next thing I knew, I was shivering on the floor, my vision fading out. Barely awake, I felt something soft wrap around me before my body went completely numb.

. . .

There was something on top of me--something warm. I thought that it may have been a heated blanket, but that something was breathing. I opened my eyes to take in my unfamiliar surroundings. I wasn't in the store anymore. I was in a room with pale, barely blue walls. At least, that's all I could see without straining my aching neck. Momentarily forgetting that something was on top of me, I tried to sit up, my sore muscles screaming in protest. "Hold on there," a strangely familiar voice advised. The thing on top of me moved until I was looking into the jade green eyes of the girl from earlier. "Take it slow there, hero. It's okay." She helped me sit up slowly. The thick red blanket wrapped around us slipped off her shoulder a bit, revealing her bare skin. Seeing the blush forming in my cheeks, she quickly covered it back up before it could reveal more. "Sorry...the whole body heat thing and..." she cleared her throat. Oh God, she was... "Okay, this is going to be...a little hard to explain..."

"What is? And why is my neck so sore?"

"I...I may have..."

"May have what?" I was getting nervous.

"When you grabbed my hand earlier, you kinda surprised me, and I may have kinda...scratched you."

"You what?"

"Calm down, it's not a big deal." I could tell she was lying. "It just means that I may or may not have altered your DNA and set off a chain reaction that could possibly lead to rapid mutation."

"You're kidding, right?" I chuckled nervously. She didn't laugh back.

"I wish. I'm so sorry, but there's nothing I can do about it now. But we gotta get you outta here."

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what the Hell is going on!"

She brushed a strand of her ember-red hair out of her face. "Okay. I guess I owe you that much. But you have to keep an open mind," she began. I nodded, becoming increasingly more aware of her bare body. "Have you ever wondered what else might be out there, other than your own tiny world?" She wasn't looking for an answer, but she had my attention. "This is not the only world with life. Why would it be, with an entire universe surrounding it? I come from one of these other worlds. So when I scratched you, I set off a chain reaction in your DNA that will eventually, under the right conditions, lead to a rapid mutation that will make you better suited for a different environment. And if those 'right conditions' aren't met, then it could kill you. So, to meet these conditions, I have to bring you to my homeworld."

Part of me wanted her to be joking, but I could tell that she wasn't. Then it dawned on me. This was my chance to escape from the boringness of my life. "Then what are we waiting for?" I asked her. My seriousness took her by surprise and she stared at me with wide eyes. "All my life I've been dreaming of something like this, and now it's actually happening. Besides, I'm all for not dying. So, what now?"

"Well, first I need some clothes, so if you don't mind closing your eyes for a minute..."

"Of course not!"

I shut my eyes. I felt the weight of her body shift as she climbed off of me. I was kind of sad when the warmth of her body faded. But there was something that lingered. It reminded me of how it had felt when I had grabbed her hand, but less like electrocution and more like a pleasant sort of tingle. Or at least it started as a pleasant tingle. The intensity magnified as it spread through my body. I was barely able to mumble "hey" before I lost control of my body. "Oh, shit!" I heard her say, her footsteps breaking the silence as she rushed over to me. I opened my eyes, but my vision was blurry. "Shit, shit, shit! Hang in there!" I felt arms under me as she picked me up with less effort than I would have expected given her petite build.

My vision faded out completely, then my stomach felt like it had been turned upside down.

And then...nothingness.

. . .

I floated through an empty void. The only thing that I could feel was pain. It roared through my body like fire through a dry forest. But the strange thing was that I really couldn't feel anything. Yes, the pain was there, but it didn't really hurt. I also realized that I wasn't alone in my mind. I could feel the presence of three other beings--like multiple personalities, and all different.

One felt intimidating and cautious, as if one wrong move could set it off and that its power was to be feared. The second was just as imposing as the first, but more methodical--more strategic. Each of these two felt like they could be powerful allies, or merciless enemies. It was the third presence that took me off guard. It had none of the seriousness of the other two. Instead, it felt curious and playful. I felt more comfortable with this one than with the other two, and I could tell it knew this. The other two faded away as I focused on the third. The presence began to take shape in a way like a dream would. The silhouette of a fox bounded up to me and yipped happily. Still in this dreamlike state, I reached out to it until my hand was inches away from its head. It yipped again and leaned into my touch. As soon as its fur brushed against my hand, it vanished in an explosion of light.

Even though I couldn't see what happened next, I had a pretty clear image from what it felt like. It started in my back--this...warmth followed by unnatural movement. My skin stretched as my spine and the muscles around it expanded. My shoulders pushed both outward and upward. The warmth traveled down my arms, forcing my muscles to swell as it went. Once it reached my hands, they automatically clenched into fists. My palms shortened and my fingers widened as sharp points pushed out of the tips. It went down to my legs next, where my thighs shifted to accommodate the new angle of my legs. My toes did the same as my fingers, except my toes nearly doubled in width and bent at an unnatural angle then lengthened. As it traveled back upwards, something long pushed out of the base of my spine. Finally, it reached my head. My mouth and lower jaw pushed outward and my teeth lengthened. Two somethings protruded from the top of my skull, one on either side.

When it was all said and done, I suddenly felt the effects of gravity and started falling. It wasn't long before my back met solid ground. As my hearing slowly started working, I heard a familiar voice fussing about me. My eyes opened and my brain tried to process what I was seeing. A creature stood over me with a concerned look in its eyes. It looked like a wolf, but also humanoid. It had a rust-colored pelt with a black underbelly. Its forearms were a vibrant scarlet color, as were its...feet? It had scarlet hair that came down to the middle of its back. And yet, the creature looked surprisingly familiar. "You're alright," it sighed in a feminine voice. "Am I?" I asked in confusion. It--no, she--gave me a quizzical look. I reached up to rub my head and saw what was in place of my hands. "What the fuck?" I shouted, freaked out.

"Okay, time to explain. My name's Aelyn. I'm the girl that you found in the rain."

I remembered. So this was what she had meant by mutation.

"Welcome to Kamalitae, my homeworld. Now, it's gonna take a while for you to get used to your new body."

"Speaking of which, what the Hell am I?"

"You're a fox, dummy! It's not like I have a mirror...oh wait, I do!"

The wolfess, Aelyn, bent down and wrapped an arm around me, below my own arms and picked me up. "You're a little heavier now..." she grunted. I planted my...paws to support myself so that I could stand, but my new legs buckled. "Damn, you weren't kidding," I complained. She chuckled. "I realize that I've never told you my name," I said. "It's...fuck. Why can't I remember?"

"Because you're in an entirely different world, in an entirely different body."

"Well..."

"People brought here earn their names. For now, I'll just call you...K."

"That works, I guess."

As she started helping me walk, I realized that we were in the living room of a quaint cabin and I had previously been lying on the floor next to a large, now-broken mirror. However, there weren't any glass shards on the floor. She helped me sit down on the beige couch then sat beside me. "For the record," I started, "I think you look better like this." She giggled at the compliment. "When you're feeling up to it, I can help you get used to your new body," she offered. I nodded a bit too excitedly, feeling a bolt of pain shoot through my neck. I leaned back against the couch and quickly slipped into sleep.

. . .

After I had woke up, Aelyn took me to an unbroken mirror where I got my first good look at myself. I was definitely a fox, but the colors were interesting. I had a flame red coat with an orange-red underbelly. The tips of my ears and tail were vibrant orange and my paws were black. I still had my baby blue eyes. For the first time, I felt proud of my body.

It took me a while to get used to my new body and how it worked, though Aelyn told me that it usually took longer. The tail quickly became my favorite, even though it was a bit of a hassle when dealing with pants and learning how to sit without crushing it. Showering was...interesting. Instead of water just running off of skin, I had to make an effort to get my water-resistant fur wet, which resulted in it getting heavy. Then it was all about my preferences for how my fur looked and felt. I learned I preferred it to be soft and vibrant, but not shiny. So that meant special soaps and daily brushing. I didn't mind the brushing. That was actually my favorite part, even though it was a rather meticulous process.

The next lesson was in clothing. I still wore what I always did, vintage tees and dark jeans. But there were several differences. One was how different it was...down there. It was all now packed away in a sheath of skin and fur. It required a different fit and again, it was all about preference. I chose a fit that was a little snug but not crushingly tight. Then there was the complication of having a poofy tail. I didn't feel right having it above the waistband, and I struggled with pulling it through loops and open holes. Eventually, Aelyn brought back boxers and jeans that held the solution. They had a mechanism, either hook-and-loop or a button, that closed over the tail without me having to painfully pull it through a hole. I felt bad for her having to buy all of that, but she told me that it was no trouble at all.

I pulled my new jeans over my animal-like legs and buttoned them at my waist and over my tail before pulling on my red shirt and glancing in the bathroom mirror. Satisfied, I walked out of the bathroom and into the living room where Aelyn waited on the couch. She smiled when she saw me. "Nice, K," she complimented. "Are you ready to go?" she asked me. I nodded in response. She rose to her paws and stretched before slinging on a black backpack and leading me to the door. This would be my first time out of the cabin. She opened the door for me and I stepped out into the bright afternoon.

The air felt fresher in my lungs, the sun felt warmer on my back, the grass felt softer under my bare paws. "Betcha can't keep up!" she shouted before taking off. I smiled and ran after her. I followed her down a path that led away from the cabin, the trees quickly being replaced by houses and the dirt by smooth asphalt. I saw all kinds of anthros, from other wolves and foxes to birds and even dragons. They were on bikes or skateboards or just walking, but no cars. Aelyn had told me that there was no need for them, as it would've been useless pollution and the needless struggle of fuel prices. She had filled me in on all kinds of interesting things about her world, like how they had found a source of endless green energy and how no material was ever wasted. Not even money, which was purely digital.

We eventually slowed to a walk as we reached the town, which took my breath away. It was just like a town on Earth, but cleaner and brighter. Buildings were closer together for ease of travel and there was a shop for pretty much anything one could need. Several caught my eye, and she told me we could make our way to each of them.

Our first stop was, of course, a candy shop. A sign out front read "Sylf's Sweet Shop, ask for free samples!" The display windows on either side of the glass door were filled with sweets. Some of them looked familiar, but had different names, and some of them were completely new to me. Getting the go-ahead from Aelyn, I pushed the door open and walked into the shop. A small bell chimed and I was hit with a wave of scents. A smiling, female white bunny behind the counter said "welcome to Sylf's Sweet Shop! Let me know if you need any help." I nodded to her and began wandering through the aisles of strange candies in clear dispensers. I asked Aelyn about some of the ones I didn't recognize, to which she listed strange but fun names like "Sour Stars" and "Honey Horns". She also went to the bunny and got quite a few sample cups for me, with pieces of candy already in each. I tried one called a Vanillette, which tasted like a Rolo filled with vanilla icing instead of caramel. Curious, I chose the Galachew and popped it in my snout. It was like a Skittle, but without the hard coating. Aelyn picked the next one, a colorful egg-shaped candy called a Draco Droplet. I tried it, expecting chocolate, but my teeth struck the hard coating and crushed it with a satisfying crackle. As the coating cracked, a smooth and sweet creme met my tongue before I bit into a little pocket filled with some kind of fruit-flavored juice.

"Wow," I exclaimed after finishing. "I like that one." Aelyn smiled at me and told me that it was her favorite. "I can see why," I responded.

We walked out of the candy shop with a few boxes of Draco Droplets in her pack and headed to the next shop, a movie and book store called The Book Nook, where she picked out a few books and movies and rented them.

We grabbed some hot dogs for lunch and continued exploring. Nothing really piqued my interest so we headed back to the cabin with Aelyn's full pack. "Hey, K?" she called out after setting her pack down on the kitchen counter. "Yeah?" I prompted.

"I'm gonna be gone tonight, so feel free to dig into the movies."

"Wait, all night?"

"Yeah. My number's saved on the landline so don't hesitate to call me if you need anything."

"Okay."

"And there's leftover pizza in the fridge if you get hungry."

"Okay."

"Hey, Aelyn?" I called before she walked out the door. She paused and turned to me. "Thanks for today, I had fun." She smiled and nodded then left.

I finished off the box of Draco Droplets that I had been munching on since lunch and grabbed Aelyn's pack from the counter, bringing it into the living room. It was pretty full of books and movies, as well as the four other boxes of my new favorite candy. Done with sweets for the day, I pulled out the movies and went through them, unsurprised when I didn't recognize a single one of the titles. "Roses in April," I began reading aloud. "'Summer Heat', 'Trapped Together'." I began to realize that most of them were romance movies. Then I realized that every one of them had at least a bit of romance. The books, too. "So she's a romantic," I mused. Not that I'd complain, because, well, I was too. I set Roses in April aside as the first movie I would watch after I took a shower.

Done with my shower, I sat on the couch in a pair of sleeping shorts and grabbed the brush I was holding in my maw. I laid my tail in my lap and began to brush it with long, slow strokes. I sighed happily and did a few more strokes before deciding that it was done. I set down the brush and grabbed the movie from the table beside me. I walked over to the tv stand and opened the movie case, pushing the disc into the player and grabbed the remote. The tv turned on automatically and switched to the disc player. I took a second to acknowledge how similar the technology was to human tech. There were no previews to sit through. The title screen appeared and I hit the play button.

Too soon for my liking, the end credits rolled at the end of the three-hour movie. It had been pretty cheesy, a typical romantic comedy, but I had been utterly transfixed the entire time, only pausing to heat up a few slices of cheese pizza in the oven as Aelyn didn't have a microwave.

It was getting pretty late, and our walk around town had tired me out. I covered myself with blankets and laid down on the couch where I had been sleeping since I got here. I didn't mind, as there was only one bedroom and it was hers. I fell asleep reminiscing about our day in the town.

. . .

I woke up to the sound of the front door opening as Aelyn walked in. I saw the look on her face and immediately felt concerned. The expression on her face was almost pained, but looked to be emotional more than anything. As she turned to where I was sitting up, I could see tears gleaming in the corners of her jade eyes. I could tell she was too upset to even try to hide it. Without a second thought, I climbed off the couch, rushed over to her, and pulled her into a tight embrace. I felt her break down in my arms as she started sobbing into my shoulder. I didn't ask her what was wrong. I didn't want to. I just wanted to be there for her.

She began to calm down, but was still holding on to me tightly. I walked her over to the couch and sat down with her. I stayed silent, but kept my left arm wrapped around her waist supportively. We sat like that for a few more minutes until Aelyn finally spoke up. "I'm sorry I'm such a mess," she said, wiping tears from her cheeks. "Whatever's going on," I began, "know that you can talk to me." She gave the smallest smile that I had ever seen. She took a moment to collect herself.

"My...my boyfriend cheated on me."

"Oh...Aelyn."

"And he just...dumped me. He figured out he liked his whore better and..."

"Damn...I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"It's not yours either, so fuck that guy." I was ready to fuck someone up had she asked me to. I moved my paw to where it rested on her thigh. She leaned into me and fell silent. I don't know why I felt so protective of her, I hadn't known her for that long. "Hey, K?" she spoke up after a while. I tilted my head to show I was listening. "I got invited to a party at my friends house, you wanna be my plus one? It'd be a great way to meet some new people and maybe make some new friends."

"I'd love to come! But are you up for it?"

"I think I kinda need it."

"Alrighty then, party night!"

. . .

I fiddled with the collar of my black polo and smoothed out my dark jeans. Aelyn was still getting ready and I was passing the time reading one of her books. I heard her door open and looked up from the book. My brain struggled to contemplate what I was seeing. The wolfess was wearing a sleeveless cherry red top that stopped just above her belly and a matching red skirt that only covered half of her thighs. Her long scarlet hair was in a ponytail to keep it out of her face. She noticed me gawking and twirled. "What d'ya think?" she asked, giggling when my jaw went slack.

Without waiting for an answer, she gestured for me to come on. I set the book to the side and followed her through the door. There was no trace of the sadness from earlier as she led me down the path and into the nearest subdivision. We stopped in front of what I assumed was the front door of her friend's house. She knocked on the door and her free paw found mine and grabbed it. The door opened, revealing the same bunny from the candy shop. "Aelyn!" the bunny greeted, hugging her friend. "Hey, Sylf!" Aelyn returned. Sylf's rose pink eyes turned to look at me. "Hello again..." she searched. "K," I answered. She waved us inside her home.

The living room was bare, save for a khaki sofa and a large white folding table laden with snacks and drinks and, of course, candy. Across the room, a set of open glass doors looked out to the patio and yard, where others were dancing and chatting. Some of the people outside called for Sylf, and she gave us a quick rundown of the rules before rushing off to join the party. "So," I began, turning to Aelyn, "how out of hand can I expect things to get?" She laughed before answering "Sylf's parties never get that crazy. C'mon, let's have a good time! It's a party!" She tugged on my paw and pulled me outside.

I would be lying if I said that parties weren't my thing. Pretty soon, I was dancing just as crazily as everyone else. Out of breath, I walked back to the patio and grabbed a chair. "Wow, you've got some good moves," someone complimented. It was an eastern dragoness with chocolate scales and golden fur. She leaned over the back of my chair as her tail brushed against the back of my leg. Her name was Halo, and she had been flirting with me pretty much all night. She was absolutely gorgeous, in her knee-length cream dress, but it didn't feel right. I couldn't get my mind off of Aelyn, who I hadn't seen for a while. Something just didn't feel right. I was starting to get worried. "Sorry, I gotta go check on someone," I told Halo, standing up and walking inside. I passed by Sylf, who told me she hadn't seen Aelyn either.

Then I saw her ponytail holder outside the door of Sylf's guest room. I walked over to pick it up, and my blood went cold when I heard a muffled scream on the other side. I tried the knob, which was locked. A pressure was building in my chest and my mind launched into overdrive. The scream had given away that the door was at least partially soundproof, meaning that I wouldn't be able to just kick it down. And there was always a key for every lock. A key meant a keyhole. It was likely just a simple push lock, like the door in the bathroom, and a small hole above the handle confirmed that suspicion. I pushed my claw into the hole, but it didn't fit. Following a hunch, I reached above the door frame. My efforts were rewarded when my paw connected with a small piece of metal--the key. I pushed it into the lock until I heard a click, pulled it out, and bursted into the room.

Aelyn was being pinned face-down on the bed by a pure white wolf. Her top lay shredded on the floor and the male was struggling with her skirt as she tried to fight. Before he could even blink, I was on him, sharp claws tearing into his back. With bloody claws I ripped him off her. He fell on the ground with a wild and surprised look in his golden eyes. He didn't get a moment to recover before I stomped into his chest. He didn't get back up. "Aelyn!" I ran over to her, wrapping my arms around her trembling body and pulling her to me tightly. She didn't care about her exposed breasts as she clinged to me. "It's okay," I assured her, "I'm here. I've got you." She broke down and started crying. I used the sheets to cover her up before I yelled for help. Sylf and Halo rushed into the room. "Th-that b-bastard..." Aelyn stuttered. "I came into the room and he was on top of her," I answered for her. "I pulled him off and kicked him in the chest. I think he's out cold. He's also bleeding because I dug my claws into his back when I pulled him off." Sylf smiled at me gratefully as she said "get her home, we'll handle this."

"But..."

"Trust me, you don't want the cops involved with this one. We'll take care of him, promise."

"Okay."

Halo ran to grab her jacket and helped me put it on Aelyn. The slots for the wings didn't do much for keeping her warm, but it covered her bare chest. Sylf called off the party and brought Halo out the room so Aelyn could have a chance to calm down. I had asked her if she wanted me to go too, but she shook her head and clung to me before I had even finished the question. We sat in silence until she wasn't shaking like a leaf in the wind. She felt so fragile, like she would fall apart if I let her go. I helped her off the bed and wrapped my arm around her shoulders as I led her out of the room and walked her home.

Once we were finally at home, laying on her bed, Aelyn looked me in the eyes and said "th-thank you, K. I-I don't even want to th-think of what would've happened if you hadn't stopped him."

"Don't do that to yourself. It's over, and you're safe."

"I know. And it's the second time today that you've been there for me when I needed someone. You have no idea how much that means to me."

"Aelyn, you saved me from my boring life. It's only fair that I'm there for you."

Something in her face changed. "K, I knew you long before then."

"What do you mean?"

"I went to high school with you. I dyed my hair black, wore brown contacts, and went by the name-"

Something clicked. "Lizzy?"

"Surprise."

"You disappeared after sophomore year."

"I didn't think anyone noticed."

"I noticed."

She smiled. It made a lot of sense. It explained how I felt I knew her--because I did know her. She had been one of my best friends for two years. She looked like she was sorting through her own thoughts. Until she moved her paw behind my head and leaned in, bringing her lips to mine. My eyes went wide with surprise before closing to take it in. It broke all too soon when she pulled away. She searched my eyes for a reaction, so I smiled affectionately despite the whirlwind of feelings in my mind. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," she told me before pulling me closer to her. We fell asleep in each others' arms after our very eventful day.

Nightshade