FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The Midday Costa Rican sun beat down upon the luscious green rain forest. The sun was greeted by a youth standing on the tallest strong branch that could hold him. The youth was a Black Panther and couldn't be any younger than 7 years old. He smiled as he shielded his eyes from the bright sun as he surveyed over the jungle. HIS jungle. Manuel was to be the protector of this forest and he vowed to grow into that title some day. The young panther was simply garbed in a pair of cloth short pants and not much else. For a young child, his physique was at peak condition. Of course, when in the remote jungles of Costa Rica, you had to be.

After a short survey of the jungle, he slowly fell forward and began a free fall descent back through the canopy of tree tops face first. He closed his eyes and controlled both his breathing and heart rate. He knew that being in a panicked state he wouldn't be able to focus. He opened his eyes as a tree bough closed in as he fell. He extends both his arms and quickly grabbed the bough with ease and used his momentum to swing around the branch. He quickly picked up more momentum to fling himself towards a tree. He unsheathed his claws from his fingers to grab onto a close by tree and began scanning once again towards the ground.

There were rumors that people spoke of that an outsider was spotted somewhere deep within this neck of the forest, and Manuel wanted to find him. Not to run him off, his people were very welcoming. I just was dangerous being in the jungles of Costa Rica by yourself, except if you lived there and were taught the dangers that lurked behind every shadow. It wouldn't take long before the youngster comes across a young gentleman lying on the floor.

From his vantage he could barely see anything from his vantage point on the tree but as he got closer, he caught glimpses of the visitor. He was simply garbed in a very simple pair of loose fitting cloth pants, with a belt with multiple knots tied into it made out of a simple rope. He lands beside the man without noise and notices something peculiar of the stranger. He too was a hybrid. The man was a Mane Wolf, strangely found mostly around Brazil.The man's red blazened fur was rather thick, with a tuft of black head fur that simulated hair. It looked slightly uncomfortable if the man had more on than just the easily breathable pants.

"OYE!" the boy screamed as loud as he could "OYE ESTA AQUI!!! ESTA AQUI!"

With the screams, several human villagers, including the boy's father came up. The middle aged man was garbed similarly to his sun, with dark sunken eyes and short black hair. He simply nodded and knelt down beside his son. As he checked the young hybrid over. He noted that the man's fur was matted and soaked, and it hadn't rained all day. The Man narrowed his eyes as he placed his hand over the wolf's forehead. He felt hot, extremely hot. Chances were he passed out due to dehydration. He nodded to the others who quickly picked up the gentleman to take back to their village.

"Good Work, my son," the man spoke in english. He smiled and pats the young panther on his head. "You may have just saved a life today."

"What do you think happened to him Papi?" the young panther asked as the two followed the others.

"Chances are, he contracted Malaria... he has a high fever, but we have plenty of medicine from the last shipment that was donated to us from the Americans."

"Where do you think he came from Papi?"

"I've no idea son, perhaps you can ask him yourself when he wakes up."

The Panther nodded softly and smiled, "Okay Papi! I'll race you back to the village!"

Before the father could even turn back around, the young panther was already gone, ran up a tree and used the branches as his own personal fast travel system. The father shook his head and laughed softly to himself. He enjoyed his son's youthful vigor. He knew he'd never make it back to the village before his own son, and he wasn't going to try.

The stranger was placed in a quarantine hut for the protection of all the other villagers. He would be out for the rest of the day and did not even stir until at least the next day. Everyone thought it was weird that the young black panther would check in on the young traveler, even volunteering to give him water and his medication. The stranger would thrash about in short fits before he finally woke up on the second night in the village. He panted heavily as he felt hot, incredibly hot. He felt the sweat pour from his body.

"Here!" exclaimed a child's voice from beside him.

His glance soon fell upon the young panther, with a smile on his face, a coconut bowl full of water in one hand, and a pill in the other hand. It was by luck that the man knew english.

"What's the pill for?" he asked in a heavy Brazilian accent.

"It's for Malaria, Papi said you might have it."

The man simply bows his head in thanks and took both the pill and the bowl in each hand. He quickly threw back the pill and began guzzling the water down. Though the pill hadn't taken full effect, he was already feeling a whole lot better. As he gasped for air after gulping the last mouthful of water, the panther smiled wider.

"More Water?" he asked.

The wolf gave a warm smile back, "Such a helpful boy! Yes and please!"

The panther quickly grabbed the bowl and ran over to a huge barrel inside the hut. He dipped the bowl graciously into the barrel and scooped out another bowlful of fresh, clean drinking water. He clamored over, being careful not to spill it, and handed the young man the bowl. Once again the wolf bowed his head in gratefulness and chugged the bowl down quickly. When he was finished, he gave another satisfied gasp and smiled.

"That... is good water!" he finally said.

"I'm glad you are ok, it can be dangerous in the Jungle" the boy said.

"I take it you know of the dangers?"

"I do, I live here with my Mami and Papi!" he exclaimed with excitement, "My name is Manuel Sanchez, My Papi is the medicine man of our village. What's your name?"

"Matheas," the wolf replied, "Matheas Oliveira."

"Where are you from Matheas? I haven't met anyone who was like me before..."

"I am from a little further south," he replied as he placed the coconut bowl down. "I am from a place called Rio De Janeiro in Brazil."

"Brazil?" the boy asked. "Where is... Brazil?"

"Like I said it's further south from here." The man looked for some sort of object to perhaps point it out to the lad. He does find a round whole coconut and picked it up. He pointed to fairly close to the middle of the coconut. "Imagine this, where my finger is pointing to, is where we are. The country you live in is Costa Rica."

"Costa Rica" the boy repeated with fervor.

"Ok, now here," he said as he traced a line further south, to approximately where he think his hometown was from. "Here is where I am from. Rio De Janeiro, Brazil."

"Rio De Janeiro," the boy repeated, "that looks really far away..."

"it is," he said with a sagely nod.

Before the panther could ask another question, his father suddenly comes into the hut with a smile, seeing the stranger finally awake. "You had us all worried we were too late to find you. I hope my son has not been too much of a bother."

"Not at all Sir," he nodded as he placed the coconut with a smile. He tried not to stand, still shivering slightly from the effects of the parasite still in him.

"It is not suggested you do any physical activity for a couple more days... is that understood?"

The wolf simply nodded, "How did you get these medications out here?"

"We have an ongoing agreement with the Peace Corps from America, they bring us supplies we normally cannot obtain. You are in luck we just received a fresh shipment a week ago."

"Are you the one who found me good sir?" the wolf finally asked.

The man simply laughed. It was good natured, but obviously made the wolf feel slightly sheepish. "No, you have my son here to thank. He's a natural born hunter!"

"Indeed he is."

"Tell me, what manner of beast are you?"

"what?" the wolf replied and realized what the medicine man was speaking of. "Oh! that... I am a Mane Wolf, indigenous normally to my homeland of Brazil."

"So you are saying there are others... like my son?" the man asked.

The wolf sighed a bit and looked to the child and back at the human. "I'm not sure if I should tell you in front of the child."

The man nodded softly and looked down to his son, "It is time for you to sleep now anyway Manuel, you can speak more to the man tomarrow."

"Yes Papi!" he exclaimed before he runs out of the room.

As he left, the wolf smiled and chuckled a bit, "That's a good kid you have there!"

"Yes, we raised him well."

"As you should, and you should never let him see the outside world," he replied.

The human's face melted to a look of concern. "How do you mean?"

"Forgive my saying, but my kind, HIS kind, are treated like dogs! Some of them have began popping up super powers. Hell even the non-super powered hybrids are treated like dirt. We are second class citizens. At least you seem like your people treat him like he's a king."

The man nodded softly and pondered the words of the young wolf. "It is a dire world you come from. I can offer you Asylum if you wish."

"You would have my gratitude if you could. I was looking for a place I can stay where I am accepted for who I am, not what I look like or what I can do."

It was at this point the human notices the knotted rope around his waist, "What pray tell is this?"

The wolf smiled, "The one human who treated me like an equal actually taught me an ancient martial art. It is known as Capoeira, I was told Brazilian slaves had to hide their grudge fights as a dance as they were forbidden to learn martial arts. When I am well enough, I can show this to you."

The man smiled a bit, "You are reliving your history," he said softly. He places his hand gently on the wolf's shoulder gently as he continued, "Keep your past, and may you learn from it. May it bring you strength to fight for another day."

"That's beautiful..." the wolf said with a smile.

"It is our Village's mantra. It has served us well. Rest now..."

"Matheas Oliveira," the wolf replied.

The man nodded softly, "Rest now Matheas, I will return in the morrow with the village elder so we can discuss your Asylum.

Matheas nodded softly as he slowly crawled back onto cot that was apparently made by hand with sturdy sticks and straw. Matheas didn't mind, it was the most comfortable thing he had ever slept in, even at home. He didn't want to speak of what he was really running from, he knew he would really upset the people if they told them the full truth. As Matheas pondered his options, he felt his consciousness slowly fade, whether it was from the medication, or just pure fatigue, he would eventually fade to the blackness of sleep.