FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

The tree line seemed to stretch on for miles, a small fire in the middle of the large clearing. Tents erected neatly where his companions slept. He chose a taller tree to take refuge in as he performed watch. He crouched on a thick branch, his body shadowed by leaves and darkness. The only sign of anything would be his eyes if someone could see that well. Most beings couldn't see better than Mug though.

Mug continued instinctively scanning for any sign of disturbance. From behind a small voice, "Anything?" a squawk, at the lowest volume that one could be made at.

"Nothing so far...just a lot of shadows." He retorted; his normally gruff voice soft around the edges as a familiar presence stood behind him.

He wondered if she knew how much she made him feel at home, even doing normal night watch duties, having her here next to him felt...right. So right that his worries and fears melted away like the retreating shadows. The moon above them shone brightly, both of them being able to easily see for quite a distance. Mug leaned into the tree trunk as he sat down, Peck standing next to him. He looked her up and down, her lithe form also darkened and expertly hidden. She wore a cloak over her left shoulder, draped to what would be her knees. Her talons gripped tightly to the branch, to keep her completely still, as she scanned the horizon with Mug.

"You should be sleeping; your watch isn't for another 4 hours." Mug piped up, his voice relaxed and informal. Even though she outranked him, he knew she preferred him like this.

"Rather spend time with you, than asleep." Her voice curt, and subtly switching between tones and accents.

Mug smirked to himself, and looked up, to see her staring down at him. Her dark eyes penetrated his visage and he smiled warmly at her, letting down that last wall of sarcasm. "There is the smile. My Simon." She preened, crouching down to be at his level. She was slightly taller than him, but being less than 3 ft tall tended to do that no matter who it was.

"You know I don't like that name. But you contin-"He was cut off by a light chuckle.

"You don't like when it's used around the others. They are all asleep. So I will call you by your name Simon." Her gaze fixed to his and with a sigh he relented.

"You are very lucky you are cute, no one else is able to break me like this." Mug said softly, his tone dropping. "At least not for a long time." His gaze turned away from her and back to the treeline.

"Steel says he will see about the leave. He knows how much it means to you." Her eyes moved in tandem with his, as she spoke. "Uther said he has plenty saved up, he was planning on traveling anyways. Will help with expenses."

Mug laughed softly. "That's nice of him, but he doesn't need too." He opened his mouth to continue before a few feathers lightly slapped across his face.

"You are doing it again. Let your friends be nice to you." She said firmly, without breaking her scan.

A sigh as he looked over to her. She met his gaze and even though she couldn't emote with her beak her eyes said everything, a pleading softness. After countless nights spent together, talking and learning about each other, she knew how hard it was for him to accept that without fighting it. It was almost ingrained into his entire body as a defense mechanism at this point.

"Alright love, I'll try." He knew when he was beaten, he shifted his weight and rested his head against her shoulder.

"Do you think he is alive?" it was soft, and hung in the air for a moment. Mug wondered if he should've even said it. A weight wrapped around his other shoulder as he was pulled in.

"Yes, and anyone who hurt him will be flayed alive." Mug chuckled once more, as he felt her beak rest atop his head.

Dare to say he was comfy, he could probably sleep right now as he was and not even care. Movement caught his eye and he perked up ever so slightly.

"Raccoons, nothing to be afraid of Simon." As he stared for a moment longer he confirmed this for himself, seeing the telltale striped fur pattern as it disappeared into the tree line.

Moments passed; time seemed to move so slow when she was next to him. Seemed too, even though he knew it was a lie. They could not get enough time together, it bothered him.

"What about after...when we find him. What's after that?" Mug said it without thinking, it was something he didn't like to think about, it was the endgame of it all, when his life's mission was done what next? Where would he go...what would he do?

"Bakery, with a café." The response came after a second, it was curt, and full of confidence. "I bake, you make drinks, happy ever after."

Mug smiled, and as his lip quivered, he finally started laughing, not too loud but it wouldn't stop...a consistent giggle spewing forth. "So two ex-military scouts running a bakery/café in the countryside? Lord help the bandit who decides to try and rob us." He said as his laughter subsided.

"That's what the dungeon in the basement is for, if one tries to rob there will be more. We figure out where the rest are and kill them in their sleep. Simple." She said, her weight shifting as she stood.

Mug got up as well, looking up to see the moon had shifted far enough to signal it was no longer his watch. "Uther's up next, probably just going to set alarm spells and sit in his tent like usual."

Peck chuckled softly. "Maybe I send a few rats to disturb his reading time. Keep him on toes." She hopped down and landed softly on the ground; Mug followed suit as he smiled to himself. As his paws hit the ground he looked forward and saw...burning tents and buildings. A Warforged covered in blood and a small goblin body, headless on the ground next to it.

--

"Fuck!" Mug awoke with a start. The gentle hum of his magical light in the corner keeping steady. He felt sweat in between his fingers and his pawpads. He breathed heavily as the gentle humming grew louder and louder in his ears. He threw a pillow, knocking the light off the corner table and it began to rotate on the ground casting shadows on the walls and ceiling. He made his way out of bed and placed the light gently on the table. He reached over to his pack, with his journal in it and flipped through the book until he landed on a page with a small heart drawn onto it and a feather taped in place. He touched a finger to the feather as his eyes began to water.

"It was nice to see you for a few moments...I still remember."

He looked up at his wall, papers covering a good portion of it, red lines tracing back and forth. As he slipped on his webbed cloak, he walked onto the wall and grabbed one of the papers pinned there, walking back over to his desk. He pulled out a pencil and began to lightly draw and erase the design, on the paper was a sign befitting a café or bakery, a paw with claws out crossed over a set of talons, with the sign reading "Claw and Talon Bakery, fingerless licking good!"

Mug chuckled softly to himself as he erased the line underneath. "I told her that would look stupid..." He muttered to himself as he wrote it back in trying to make it at least look good, tears falling softly on the table as he did so.