FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Northern Africa, a place scorched by the sun and reclaimed by the desert sands. A few sparse trees and brushes dotted the blocks of land that seemed on the brink of being claimed by waves of sand that could go on forever off into the blurry heat filled haze of a horizon. Not the most hospitable of places to be.

Yet still, here I am. Wondering why I had decided to be the one to head this recovery. Still, we all knew that to watch our only specimens fail right in front of us would be a poor choice, especially considering how much we had learnt over the last year and a half. I had my doubts about this Hellhound however. The amount of muscular degeneration due to being held stationary for so long would mean that it could barely walk if anything but we weren't willing to give up on him as yet.

When I saw it for the first time in the research facility it was out cold. The amount of drugs the thing had been shot up with to keep it sedated was probably not legal but to under-estimate could be devastating for us. Either way it was in much better shape then than it was now. There was a measurable loss in muscle mass since from then to now and mentally it was not clearly how the beast was coping with being locked up, mostly immobile for well over a year.

The red clay rock formation we chose to use as shelter was several hundred feet tall from base to the tops and surrounded by several other such spires of rocks. It looked like the kind of place that this beast would hide out in, a place shrouded in shadows, perpetually cool and even the bite of the hot dry desert wind seemed to gain some humidity as it passed through the rock labyrinth.

At the time it took me several days to appreciate that we had finally caught one of these things. Most of the talk about them was in books and as gossip, lore and fantasy but we knew from certain events that something was out there.

Everything in our situation had to be engineered to look authentic. I needed the creature to feel safe, to trust me for the next few months. This wasn't just because I didn't want to die in the process of attempting to rehabilitate the beast; we had to keep him under control so that we could return or terminate him without complications. These creatures were never known to go down easily; usually it would kill and kill and kill until it too was killed and that was a situation we needed to avoid.

I climbed to my feet from the smooth and cool ground, placing my digital memo in pocket. The eraser sized device recorded video, temperature, sound but most importantly mental thoughts and transcribed them into typed documents. This would be one of the devices that I would be dependent on for my studies over the next few months... if everything went as planned.

On the other side of this sand hollowed formation laid the Hellhound we had caught. We're convinced this was a juvenile and it explained why we were able to get away with this in the first place. He was probably several years away from his full potential, running solo and brash, all of these things factored in to why he got caught. It was the perfect storm of circumstances that started this scientific endeavor.

The thing is massive up close, how a large canine like this could exist in numbers and remain one of the largest mysteries on Earth is perplexing. Six feet at the shoulders, just more than seven feet if you measured to the tip of the triangular ears of the side of the head. The thing slept just like a dog, balled up in the darkest corner it could find and was far too silent to be natural.

In fact we had found that when these creatures slept that their heart beat slowed to a crawl and it had an interesting effect on the body. Since it was so large this meant that the extremities would normally not receive the much needed oxygen to function but it seemed as though the muscles and tissues stored some concentration of oxygen in a special protein. This protein would be slowly used up whilst the beast rested but it protected against the slow paralysis and frostbite of limbs.

By the end of its sleep the majority of this protein would be used up however and this meant that a thorough stretching would be needed in the morning and a brief period of immobility in order to allow the blood to flow to its extremities. This represents the perfect time to catch one of these things if you were ever thinking about it. It couldn't fight without damaging its muscles and if it did attempt to then the fight would be quite brief as it succumbed to self inflicted injuries.

Despite the size differences between this and a wolf it's genetics were much more primitive at the base but it seemed to evolve through the necessity to pressure more and more creatures rather than through other means of genetic evolution. It looked much more like patch work and extensions from a software developer's stand-point than anything else, well done patching but obvious patching. Either way I was hoping that the thing was more like a canid than anything else. I had done enough studying about how to train and work with wild animals and our success in rehabilitating the beast would be dependent on my ability to communicate with it and keep it under control.

As I walked up to the creature I couldn't help but feel small. I was five feet and an inch tall but human. If this thing stood up I could probably tip toe and reach over its back. When I was observing the beast from thirty feet away it didn't seem that large. I'm a reasonable one hundred and ten pounds because I've never been a hearty eater and over the last few months I needed to hit the gym big time in order to get this job. Of course it didn't help that I was female either, the male biologists were originally thought to be better because of their naturally greater strength but against a creature with a mass of slightly over three hundred and twenty kilograms there wasn't going to be much of a challenge if a wrestling match started between the two. My dark skin and naturally red hair made me stand out from the rest of my colleagues but my fitness and enthusiasm for the job made me the perfect choice, it did help that you could count the number of people willing to take on this job on half a hand.

I crouched in a few feet in front of that massive head and sighed inwardly. I needed to be sure and confident around the beast at all times in order to remain under control so I meditated for a moment just to clear my mind. None of that swami non-sense, I just closed my eyes and thought about well, nothing and a wave of calmness came over me as I let all the thoughts of all the things that could go wrong slip away.

"Hey there, sleepy head. Time to wake up!" I spoke and watched as the beast's eyes flicked open like a light switch and those golden slits focused and adjusted several times in the dim light trying to make out the figure before it.

I gave it a few moments; I didn't want to wake it and be right next to it and discover what its first reaction would be. It is a wild animal and even though it may remember me 'helping it to get away from the research facility' there was no guarantee that I would be safe. The beast released a strong puff of air from its nostrils that stirred up the dust in a wave before giving a slightly displeased look on its muzzle, like a child who wanted to sleep in late.

I knew I had a bit of time before it could be fully active so I took advantage of this and spoke in a curious manner "Hey, do you remember me from before?" I don't know why I am talking to it as though it was a person, I don't even think that it could understand anything I was saying in the first place but I guess it helps me more so than anything else.

The massive jaw of the creature yawned wide open baring its half serrated teeth and massive fangs that curled up into the roof and floor of the side of its jaws. The creatures massive pink tongue stretched straight before lolling down as it relaxed and closed its jaws, returning to staring directly at me. It was a stare that I returned back, and with a bit of meditative practice we sized each other up and I couldn't help to notice that the pink muscle was slightly forked at the tip, reminding me of just how prehistoric the beast was.

Normally this was a bad idea but we needed to establish who the leader was early. He was probably investigating at first but now I was challenging him directly and it showed. A low rumbling could be heard, quite like the idling of a truck, from the beast's throat. You could practically cut the tension with a knife. I imagine that for it there wasn't much of me to be sized up but I didn't falter, I just thought of it as an over-sized dog and ignored the parts about all the ways it could possible rip me apart in moments.

It paid off. The beast licked his black nose, looked down and averted his gaze off to the right and it was as if the noises of the desert had started up once again. The tension between the beast and I was stripped away immediately and best of all nothing physical had happened. I knew he was weak and more likely than not, hungry so if there was any chance of becoming dominant over this animal it had to be now, when he was at his weakest.

This would be the extent of my physical interactions with the beast however. It was the first day and from that stare it was pretty clear that neither of us trusted each other much, so pushing my luck any further would be foolish. I had to make him comfortable with my presence though so eventually I would need to push my luck quite a bit. So far he seemed to be taking it quite well.

It took him at least a minute to even look like he was anything but a focusing sleepy mess on the floor but I certainly didn't want this to take all day. Reaching into a small pack on my back, I pulled a strip of turkey meat out and held it out in front of me. I needed him to smell that it was food and as soon as he did I ate it. I needed to be the first eat and to show him that I was giving him food. The next one I tossed to the ground in front of him. As for the pack I needed it to be behind me to prevent him from seeing it and having any thoughts of just going for it instead. All in effort to perform a continuous magic trick of delicious offerings that would hopefully improve his tolerance.

It didn't take the Hellhound long to notice it and he turned onto his feet like a cat, sniffing the smallest and probably most insignificant strip of meat he's probably seen whilst he kept his eyes on me as if to try to read what I was up to. It took minutes of playing with the meat and investigation before he finally took to it and I noticed a small problem. A forked tongue wasn't good at picking up small objects even though his was long and a particularly strong muscle at that and so instead he sat, lording over the small strip of meat like a sphinx before putting his muzzle directly down on top of it and clasping it with his teeth.

This was good and important. I needed to motivate the beast to start moving, to be more active and to exercise the muscles that had been wasting away in genetic pod. The next one I threw just far enough that he couldn't stretch to reach the thing even with a bit of stretching.

That's when I discovered just how lazy the damn beast was as he dragged himself up to the strip, inspected it for a moment and took it down. A look of annoyance must have crossed my face as I looked at the Hellhound who seemed to be looking to me rather than at me and sniffed the air.

It only then occurred to me that the pay off for getting a single strip must not have been enough. For a creature his size he probably burned through the same amount of energy to get the thing in the first place so obviously he would was lazy about it. So I swung the bag around to my front and opened it completely, and the beast noticed by scent alone so I took a few steps backwards, enough to put a good twenty feet between us before I began emptying it of all its contents in a trail that lead to the outside world.

It hesitated for a moment before climbing to its feet and wobbled, standing much like one of those poorly drawn Japanese cartoon women of the 20th century before it stumbled forward like a pup taking its first steps. We knew that it would have difficulty walking so this would have to be a necessary step in the rehabilitation process.

It took the Hellhound quite a bit of effort to reach the meat lying on the floor but when he did he leaned his large head down and wolfed it down. There was nothing to chew really so it just snapped its jaws down and caught any pieces the fell with a subsequent and eager snap as he slowly followed the trail outside.

I had something special delivered for just this situation. So far everything was going to schedule, almost too well. I didn't think it would be so easy to gain this beast's trust but I wasn't done yet. I was going to cross another line but this time it would be a much more dangerous. Messing with a wild animal and food would be me practically asking to be gored but I needed to do this, this ritual was hopefully the same as what a pack of these beasts would do and whilst it had backed down from all of our encounters so far who was the boss around here needed to be written in stone rather than floating up in the air for grabs.

Walking over to the skinned and gutted gazelle corpse I turned around it so that I was facing the beast as he approached. His steps were weak in the knees but that didn't betray any eagerness to devour the meal before him. The beast's muzzle opened up and its long tongue swiped from one side across the other and then covered it's nose as it lumbered forwards, a long string of saliva rappelling from it as evidence of its hunger.

As the beast drew closer I got into the act, crouching over the 'kill' as though it were my own and giving off the most menacing growl that I could muster; which had to be hilariously cute coming from something far smaller than the beast itself. It seemed to work as the beast hesitated, only briefly however as he looked me over, then the meal and back to me again with a slight adjustment of its massive head to get a better view before approaching steadily.

Once it got with reach the beast cocked its head, ears erect and eyes focused on me as if curious to see what would happen. Ignoring my bluff it reached out with a clawed paw; maybe to push me away from the carcass or perhaps something more dangerous than that but I knew I had to act and act fast.

I took one step forward and put my fake growling aside and felt the surge of psycho-electrical energy flowing through my stance. My body lit up white right down my arms as I extended a electrical manifestation of an arm made purely of psychic energy and grabbed the paw as the beast attempted to retract it out of harm's way. I pulled the beast towards me with as much force as I could muster as I did I couldn't help but to notice its hind legs scramble to try to keep up but then I locked my other arm at the elbow around the back of the leg I had a hold of and stepped into him.

In one swift movement I twisted my physical body and the arms did the same in a powerful psychic pantomime that saw the beast elevated into the air and swung right over behind myself from a shoulder throw that any judo instructor would be proud of. When the beast hit the floor with a loud reverberating thud, I have to admit that as I watched the beast unravel on the floor, landing on its back first before the rest of it joined the pancake like display I forced it into; I felt that perhaps I had over done it a bit. Only the last few minutes ago had it taken its first real steps in over a year and here I am dusting the desert with its hide but at the same time I had heard no cry of pain leave the beast's throat so far so it couldn't have been too tough of a landing.

A quick visual inspection left me a bit proud of my work however, throwing something that heavy was hardly a walk in the park, the beast's eyes were closed and its tail wrapped up in a mess like a discarded power adapter. Half a minute passed without the faintest sign of movement and a bit of worry started to well up within me; had I over done it with that throw? I knew he was weak but a little roughing up shouldn't have been a problem.

Suddenly as if sighing heavily the beast released a large breath from its nostrils and then opened its eyes slowly. It just laid there on its back and licked its nose before finally, with some effort, rolling onto its stomach, climbed to its feet and begrudgingly trudged off to another corner to sit with its back against the wall.

The creature watched me pretend of eat the gazelle and to tell the truth, I didn't have the stomach for it. This raw meat was terrible and the longer I lorded over this thing the more I felt the need to release the contents of stomach all over the place so after three minutes of fan fare I gave it up and walked away from the carcass.

Sure enough as soon as I walked off the beast perked up and took notice. He climbed to his feet and walked over to the whole carcass that was left and brought those massive jaws to bear. It was the first time anyone would get to see one of these things eat without being on the receiving end of the matter and I made sure to document the event as it happened.

Its jaws clamped down on the ribs and like a gauntlet just stripped the meat and flesh from the bones as it pulled back. Twisting its head to the side as its tongue maneuvered the meat and bone around inside its muzzle until it was surrounded by powerful molars the beast crunched down as was met with very little resistance as it ground the bones. In true canid like fashion the next the beast swiftly swallowed that mouthful down and moved in to take another bite.

I was on a roll tonight however and I decided to press my case of dominance once again as I walked over to the few bones of flesh remaining from the carcass. The barghest immediately noticed since his ears swung around to focus on the foot steps that were coming its way and was followed by a head with eyes seeking to confirm what was going on. As I drew closer the beast turned around until it was facing me with a mouthful of gazelle mince and backed away from the remainder of the carcass on the floor.

That the beast felt that it needed to retreat from the food was good for me but not quite good enough so I kept walking until eventually it had backed into a corner. That was when I was met with my first case of resistance all night as it realized that it was blocked in, a low rumbling vibrating in the ear that was far more menacing than the growls I had been emitting earlier to try and claim the carcass as mine.

The beast needed to know that I would feed it and help it but in return it had to submit to my authority. I drew another breath and steeled up in preparation to be even more demanding than ever before. Stepping forwards I stepped well into his corner space, against my own better judgment and the beast's growing vocal protests.

The moment I reached out the Barghest retreated against the rock behind it and rolled onto its back, revealing its tough scaled stomach, neck and chest. That vicious weapon of a tail laid out flat on the ground but it was evident from its posture, the lack of any vocal protesting and its reluctance to even look me in the eyes that my persistence had finally won out.

I drew closer, well within arm's reach and something drew me to touch it and touch it I did. Rubbing the palm of my hands and my fingers against its furry stomach and I felt the animal flinch the moment our flesh touched. Clearly it was a bit distressed, given its state of health, a bit of rough housing on my part and now having to cope with surrendering its personal space and rank to me.

So I stood there and rubbed its stomach, then its scaled chest and neck whilst talking to it, hoping to relieve the stress of the moment with a calming tone "Hey, hey there. Everything is going to be alright big guy." The words of assurance probably meant nothing but the emotion that could be carried with them I hoped would get through to show that I did not want to cause it any harm.

I ran my fingers through the wiry thick guard hairs around its neck and scratched it vigorous until the beast seemed to relax; and again that thick tongue came out of its mouth and licked its nose. That action almost seemed like a comforting one and soon I felt that same wet nose sniffing around my face and chest. That's when that same tongue, not too recently away from gazelle meat, hit me in the face like an over sized painter's brush. It was warm, wet and only the tips were rough but the slobber didn't miss a crease in my face.

I allowed the beast to continue his greeting licks, after all I was sure the thoroughness of my next wash wasn't going to change since that tongue had already slathered up my whole face on the first round. Either way it was over shortly after it started but I still kept running my hands all over the creature, pushing against the grain of its fur in some instances and watching the thing bunching up but more importantly the more I kept petting it the more it seemed to relax.

It was almost like I was fluffing the fur of a normal mutt. An idea came to me in this moment and I got right up close to the beast and tried to reach over to its back. I wanted to check for any injuries from my throw earlier to make sure that it was otherwise doing well. Medical check-ups would be on me as well to keep this monstrosity alive and monitored as it recovered so why not start right now?

As soon as I reached over its side and started palming its back the beast rolled over closer to the wall, exposing more of his stomach in a somewhat playful and submissive manner. I however barely managed to extract my hand from between it and the wall before it got pinned and a bit irritated by the move I stated "Hey, you need to stay still for a bit."

It didn't take long for me to decide to give up on this check-up. It had been a long day for both of us and asking the beast to co-operate any more would be me really shoving my luck.

As I turned and leant up against the Barghest my pocket vibrated, it was my digital memo. Retrieving the device I took a look at the screen and it displayed a message. 'Sent by: Felix Castor - PSI Monitoring Agent'. The name of the man that was supposed to be my back-up in case anything went wrong.

The message read, and I kid you not 'So... are you still alive or what?'

Knowing the man who typed the message a grin plastered across my face as I shook my head, mildly upset that he could still be making jokes about this whole situation but it did help to instantly diffuse all the stress that the risks of today was steadily building up.

I thought back at the device in my hand 'Apparently. And I am quite a lot better than I was doing yesterday too. I hope my pay is still being processed.'

Shortly afterwards another message returned 'It's not paying you that I'm worried about. That's already automated. Explaining in a letter of around two hundred words or less how you died to your kin isn't.'

'Well I'm glad to know that the part that worries you most about this is having to do more paper work than usual.' I responded, a bit upset with his response.

'Hey, my table is already covered in paper. I don't need another one to fill out and a fake funeral to attend to make matters worse. So how's the situation over there?'

'Uh, it would be better if I showed you.' I thought as a response before holding the device out in front of me whilst I made myself comfortable lying on the beast's stomach. The camera lens pushed outwards by a few inches from the frame of the device to reveal a fish eye design and then the fake sound of camera flash was heard, alerting the Barghest behind me which immediately rolled onto its feet and looked around.

The camera processed the imagine for a few seconds and returned with a smaller, flat image that didn't look like it was some sort of cheap security camera before sending it off the recipient.

A few moments went by and when I thought that it was enough time that he should have gotten the picture at least twelve times a response came in 'What the hell...'

And then another 'Happened to your face?!' accompanied by a well cropped mug shot of myself from the picture I'd just sent him with all sorts of red arrows pointing to my out of place hair and all sorts of what must be gazelle debris all over my face.

Another message came in as I sat there looking at the first amazed that he would, of course, focus on that. 'Printed it. Hung it up on the notice-board.'

'I hate you.' I thought and the dam thing sent it immediately.

I could swear I heard his sarcastic voice spelling out every word in the next message 'Ha, ha. It's only been one day so far and you are already getting into the swing of things. That's why we chose you for the job.'

'Just focus on the overall picture, dam it.' I swiped my hand of my face to remove the pieces. 'I hope you haven't really sent printed that out with all those arrows you weirdo.'

'Oh well, look at the time! I'm afraid that I'll have to leave you do dive head first in another gazelle carcass until tomorrow. Great job by the way. I'm impressed in all honesty, I didn't think you two would or could get along. Oh and I have printed it and it is being hung up as we speak. See yah.'

'Thanks for the support but god damn it!' I looked up from the device and noticed that the Barghest was looking my way but the moment I looked in its direction the beast looked off, pretending to be looking elsewhere. I smirked.

"So what do we call you?" I thought for a moment and came up blank, nothing seemed quite appropriate for such a massive beast "Ay, I guess I'll figure that out tomorrow. Right now I'm going to sleep and tomorrow night you are going to be doing quite a lot of exercise."