FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

 Summer swelled into a glorious, pulsating plethora of azure skies and long, blazing days and Allison's favourite time of the year was fast approaching; his annual camping trip with all his closest buddies. The only unfortunate downside was that the trip was always preceded by Allison's least favourite time of year; preparing for his annual camping trip. Geared up in the appropriate attire with a feather duster clipped to his belt and a clipboard in his paws, Allison set out to commence his routine spring cleaning of his vault. Albeit one season late this year, the vault cleaning was an important process to which Allison gave the same priority as such things as eating and sleeping. The vault was a cave system under Allison's woodland den, an echoing expanse dotted with twinkling trinkets, shimmering shinies and mesmerising mathoms collected over many years of thievery and adventure. There were hoarders and then there was Allison. Cutting through the loot was a channel of hastily swept aside odds and ends serving as a path, meandering through the raccoon's spoils in a random fashion perfectly reflecting the chaotic organisation of the loot, or lack thereof. Allison's eye twitched as he stepped into the fray. For such beautiful junk, it collected an awful lot of dust. Every scintilla was a sword in Allison's side. Nothing would stop him from eradicating the dust motes from his beloved treasure! With his feather duster held aloft, he-BEEP BEEP.Allison groaned and pulled his smartphone from his waistcoat pocket.New message from: Robin Fisher"we're almost at your place, snuzzy! o3o" Allison was close to falling to his knees and screaming up to the stalactites, but better judgement suppressed his urge. After all, this camping trip had been planned for weeks now and it was his own derpy mind that had forgotten it. He left his horde to accumulate more dust and went to get changed. Now sporting fashionable but remarkably similar attire (for much of his wardrobe consisted of copies of the same outfit) he wandered through to the living quarters. His den was erected in a sturdy but rustic manner with a design best suited to its intended atmosphere of welcome, rest and comfort. Walls hewn from proud stone were held upright by richly carved beams of wood, much of which was 'reclaimed' from the more honest folk of the city. The main hall was a large room in two halves. Opposite the corridor to the depths of the den stood the majestic double doors, looking suspiciously similar to the

doors that mysteriously disappeared from the castle in the city months ago. On Allison's right was the fully equipped kitchen where he kept every tool and gadget you could possibly ask for. On the left was the living area, with its stone floor covered in a mish-mash of rugs and carpets in velvet and shag and low-seated sofas and armchairs in front of the homely fireplace and entertainment system, the television and games consoles seeming almost anachronistic among the farmhouse-esque furnishings. The newly installed table-tennis table was the perfect finishing touch to the Allison's little bachelor pad. The doorbell rang and Allison peeled it apart, seeing his four-foot fennec friend Benedict cross the threshold. A crimson neck-tie hung from his neck and a matching backpack was strung over his shoulders, so large compared to his stature that it looked as though he was carrying a whole wardrobe on his back. "Coonyyy!" he squealed, loosing the kind of excited, piercing yowl that sends a stabbing pain down your spine. He peeped in and looked around, lowering his ears slightly. "Did I come too early?" "You're right on time, Benny!" replied Allison. "The others are coming; make yourself at home." The fox entered Allison's lair and settled himself in his favourite position on the kitchen counter, at just the right angle to see the television while still within reaching distance of the cookie jar. He commenced his chewing on Allison's home-baked cookies, a special blend of chocolate chip cookies infused with a hint of lavender.BEEP BEEP.New message from: Magikuru Panda"We might be a bit late, Robby had to do some 'business' in the bushes and now he can't find any leaves big enough for...well, never mind xD" Allison couldn't help but slap his paw to his face and Benny did the same, more out of conformity than bewilderment. He responded to Allison's raised eyebrow with a blank expression. He left his friend watching some typically mind-numbing daytime television and trotted to his bedroom. Allison's chosen form of luggage was a large, square-based pack forged from the finest purple canvas and set against black leather straps. It was already full of all manner of useful provisions, including but by no means limited to: four fur-brushes of varying intensity, along with a special tool for volumising one's tail fluff; lavender scented air freshener (very useful when sharing a tent with Robin); a Rubik's Cube to keep a certain fennec out of mischief; several notebooks and sketchbooks, for all of the party were versed in drawing or writing; a purple hand fan for flamboyant temperature regulation; spare

waistcoats and the biggest packet of gummy cola bottles he could find. He might have a minimalist wardrobe, but he still had his creature comforts. That was when the peace of the household was shattered by an almighty crashing sound, sending shudders through the floor. Allison rushed back into living room just in time to find his majestic front doors collapsed on the floor, topped by a stout, purple fox. The expression on the face of the panda stood in the gaping doorway seemed to be one of embarrassment. Robin giggled anxiously, raising his head from the floor. "Heh...I tripped!" Panda stepped over him and greeted his raccoon friend, making his way to one of the cushy armchairs and settling down with his randoseru in his lap. Robin huffed and clambered to his feet, throwing himself down on a sofa and groaning. "Why do you live so deep in the woods?" Allison giggled as he assessed the damage to his door hinges. "If I told you, I would have to kill you!" There was a clinking of crockery nearby as Benedict peeped out from his hiding place in the cookie jar, the lid resting between his expansive ears and crumbs around his lips. He managed to squeeze his shoulders into the neck of the jar, but squeaked as he could go no further. "Coony? I'm stuck!" Allison once again struck his paw to his face and let out an exasperated sigh, met by whimpers from the trapped fennec and a grumble from Robin's stomach. "Panda, will you make me a snack?" Robin asked. Panda wiggled the fluffy little half-circle ears on his head. "Okay Robby, but it'll cost you 25 minutes carrying my bag on the walk!" Robin whined. "15 minutes!" "25." "20!" "25." The fox clutched his tummy as he finally gave in to hunger and agreed to the terms. Allison was still busy trying to detach Benny from his new porcelain shell as Panda padded through to the kitchen, his toes wiggling as he felt the warmth from the under-floor heating. Panda's cooking skills were revered by the party and so he was to be in charge of camping cuisine. He already knew Allison's kitchen like the back of his paw, since he was usually the designated caterer whenever the boys had a get-together. He put on a pot of coffee and collected ingredients from the labyrinth of larders, shelves and cupboards, deciding it would be easy enough to satisfy Robin with a simple but elegant concoction of ramen. "You have so many cool ingredients for someone so obsessed with

fried chicken!" said Panda, with his head buried in the fridge. It was true that fried chicken made up quite a large proportion of Allison's diet, but as he always argued, there's plenty of different ways to eat chicken. He just sometimes forgot to try any of them. Allison wasn't paying attention, still focussed on freeing Benny. He was now joined by Robin, who was smearing lard around the rim of the jar, to no effect. "No, no! We need to do it like this!" He suddenly lifted Benny's shoulders, the whole jar rising with him. "Pull!" The raccoon got the message and tugged as hard as possible on the base of the jar as Robin pulled back on Benny's shoulders, making him squeal with discomfort. After much effort the jar gave way and Benny was freed, this having the unfortunate effect of sending Robin and Allison flying back in opposite directions. Allison managed to catch himself on the kitchen worktop, but Robin stumbled backwards and caught his heel on a rug. His flailing arms sent Benny flying through the air and landing close to the front door, while Robin himself fell back straight onto the brand new table-tennis table, which collapsed in a heap underneath him. Allison's jaw dropped as he saw his new toy being decimated and this time it was Panda who planted his face in his paw while sipping from a mug of his freshly brewed coffee. Benny crawled over Allison's feet, whining as he clutched his head. "Coony...I banged my head!" Allison's heart practically melted at the sight of the four-foot fluffy fennec fox looking up at him with big twinkling eyes, begging for comfort. The raccoon scooped up the fox and cradled him in his arms, seating himself on a stool in the kitchen and setting the fox on his knee. Robin heaved himself onto his feet for the second time today and joined the others in the kitchen, petting the poor fox as he sat in Allison's lap and nuzzled into his fluffy, white chest fuzz. "It's just a bump, little guy! You'll be right as rain in no time!" said Robin, poking Benny in the tummy. "Maybe some coffee would help him!" Panda suggested, not waiting for an answer before he gave Benny a big swig of the rich, steaming coffee in his mug. Allison shuffled nervously, feeling this to be rather an unwise decision. He set Benny down on the stool and hid on the other side of the worktop, peeping at the fox who had straightened his back and perked his ears straight up, his eye twitching softly. Robin saw this and hid too, trying to pull Panda along with them. "Why are you hiding?" Panda enquired, blinking in confusion. "Rule number one, Panda!" said Allison

firmly. "You never give caffeine to a fennec!" Benny's mouth split into a gruesomely wide smile and he suddenly let out a shrill and piercing screech, pouncing onto Panda and knocking him over, gulping down the last mouthfuls of coffee before setting off at high speed around the room. Allison could barely hear amid the squeals and yips and it took all his strength just to look up for the fox. The fox was energised to a state of zen, moving about the walls and ceiling of the room like a massless particle in a vacuum, the coffee giving him leave to completely disregard physics. Chairs were tipped over, trophies fell from the mantelpiece and tools were rent from their holsters on the kitchen walls and the three friends huddled together in the eye of the tornado surrounding them. Allison took a chance to dash off to get something, leaving Panda and Robin to deal with Benny. Robin desperately clawed at the air trying to catch him, but it was as vain as grabbing out for motes of dust! Whenever he caught a glimpse of the fox, he'd already shot across the room before he could react. In the end it was Panda who saved the day, pulling a retractable butterfly net from his randoseru and swinging it wildly, eventually managed to snag the fennec in it. Robin and Panda pounced on the bundle as it shook so violently under them that they thought it would surely burst through the net. Just in time, Allison ran back in carrying just the thing that could calm the fox down. After much toil, Benedict was dealt with and the party sat around him, panting. "It's getting late, we should set off!" Allison said. Despite being out of breath, the gang had no objection to setting out and so it was that the three best of friends ventured out on a great journey through the forest to spend an exciting week camping amongst the tranquillity of the wild, carrying everything they would need in their packs to have a great time, as well as carrying one very hyperactive fennec fox wrapped up in a straight-jacket.