FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Out upon the vastness of space a metallic object reflected the closest star's light. It shined brilliantly amongst the inky darkness that surrounded it, swaying back and forth to steer around larger rocks that threatened its advancement. Instead of being a simple ship used to safely protect and transport creatures inside, the very object that floated slowly through space happened to be a dragon of its own right. Wings outstretched, supported by alloys along the bone structure of the wing to keep it steady and protected, they slowly flapped to give the illusion of the creature flying through a frictionless environment.

Much of his scales lay exposed to the vacuum of space, thick enough to repel toxic levels of radiation from all far-off sources. He stood out significantly from the rest of the scenery he normally passed, for bright blue scales adorned much of the body, save for a watery-green underbelly. Aqua fins jutted up and rigid along the top of the tail, with a sail like long and broad fin stretching across the bottom side. He seemed more fit to swim in water than in space as fins seemed to travel up the back and along each of the four legs. The paws tucked themselves close to the toned underside, only occasionally reaching out as if to bat at smaller objects in a form of self amusement, the obsidian claws seemingly blunted from bumping too often against the various dense objects flying past.

Blues and greens quickly faded to a more traditional silver and gray coloration, as while the creature proved himself to be fit for the harshness of space just by existing, the body did indeed require some sort of protection from the lack of pressure and for controlled movement. The fin spines were enshrouded by a thin metal casing, which forced the actual webbing to stay down and close to the body, enforcing a sharp and almost lethal and alien appearance.

The hindquarters, head, and chest being the only areas truly protected by what looked to be a bendable metal custom-made to ensure the dragon could retain the fullest of movement. Thick tubes went back and forth along the side of the body, connecting to various portions, while seemingly melding down into his very scales and deep into his interior. Around the midsection of the tail, on either side, two small propulsion systems fired a constant bright blue plasma, with purple puffs of energy encircling the pointed blue light while dissipating shortly after. Continuing up the side of the tail, and flanks of the dragon, it all connected to thick plating, carefully sculpted to act both as a harness and life-support pack. It too belched out plasma at a constant rate just like the thrusters on the tail, albeit with four significantly larger thrusters. A milky white crystal pulsated beautifully, working as some form of power source.

Above that the neck also remained bare to the normally hazardous clutches of open space, though a myriad of thick pipes and wires connected from the top of the pack to the back near the head; the final appendage which required without a doubt the greatest level of protection. It at all times remained safely encapsulated inside a silver helmet, boxy in nature and formed to fit a draconic head, with a broad black visor which obscured anything from the outside to peer within. Just with the rest of the metal, it too curved along the back of the head and dug down beneath the scales, inexorably linked with the very body of the dragon to ensure all pressure be secured and foreign objects abated.

He traveled straight forward, his sights locked upon a rounded object which shone brilliantly blue even from the most extreme of distances, perhaps some sort of planet. It locked his attention immediately due to such, thinking that perhaps it might contain something of interest and value in the way of resources. It grew quickly in size; the many millions of miles per hour the dragon traveled at more obvious now than ever. One could quickly forget just how quickly they moved Eventually, however, the listless face of the helmet turned but a couple inches, focusing upon a bright white object reflecting light from the star at the center of the solar system.

A natural satellite, relatively large in proportion to the nearby planet, had a synchronous rotation with the planet it orbited. That in itself made the two objects in the black background be interesting to the dragon, as he didn't often come across such. Spreading out his legs and toes, revealing webbing even between those digits, he prepared to come into a heavy landing with the white object. Lacking any sort of grace, he used his paws almost entirely as a manner to slow himself down before actually going towards the planet. The smaller white object he used as a slowing mechanism seemed composed of nothing but a bunch of dust. With nothing interesting at this location his head quickly jolted to look around. It was just another typical inert rock lacking in atmosphere.

Not much more was to be seen there, and perhaps quite literally, as the bleached-white surface of the natural satellite blotted out every other object in the far off cosmos. Floating for so long in space, and having the sight of the stars stripped away always made him feel uneasy when there wasn't at least some sort of atmosphere. It didn't even provide much space to travel along, for after just a few strides of his legs he quickly recognized the same craters as before. Without further adieu, his head turned fully to face towards the larger blue object, and quickly launched himself towards such.

If nothing else the short pit stop helped ease him towards the larger rounded object at a more agreeable speed, instead of simply crashing straight into it. He as well angled himself to come in more on a lateral plane with the planet, and as more of it obscured his view, a certain joy overwhelmed him. The planet seemed promising just from the looks, and as he felt the heat of entering an atmosphere burning along the scales of his feet from friction, it only helped kindle that longing sensation.

Finally, stretching his feet out once more, the webbing acted similarly to natural parachutes. It took but a few seconds before actually touching down upon the planet, and he made sure to do so much more graciously. His great wings bent back, revealing a miniature thruster which sputtered at the tip of each wing finger, as a countering force. Settling along the surface of the foreign world for but a few more seconds, he could finally begin a more thorough scan of the immediate surroundings.

Even though the planet seemed more than large enough to hold life, to him, it seemed more similar to some of the natural satellites for the gas giant planets further from the star of this solar system. In contrast, he really would only need to take but a few minutes to traverse the entire face of this planet. His head, when raised, loomed well over the thin upper layers of the atmosphere. It at least proved to be a beautiful sight, for far off in the distance and along the planet's curvature, he could see lights dancing across what he assumed to be a magnetic north, where the nearby star's might interacted by creating a stunning display.

Amazing, but not quite what he had been looking for, the dragon finally dipped his head closer to the surface. It was here that the helmet covering his face began to seemingly melt, as though it had become superheated. In truth it did neither break away or disintegrate, but rather the dragon's body assimilated and re-absorbed it through the scales. Nearly every portion of the helmet had a bio-chemial element, allowing the dragon to control it on whim as though it were but another limb. The helmet fully receded beneath his scales, packing beneath the horns for later use.

Emerald eyes pierced brightly in the blue sky, the coloration of the surrounding atmosphere helping to accentuate his scales. Brownish-orange horns adorned the back of his head, and just below along the jawline, fins unfurled and spread forth as if attempting to stretch. A single piece of jewelry hung from the leftmost frills; tiny chains connecting upon two of the three jaw-fin spines to dangle from it a similarly colored and smaller crystal compared to the one upon the back. Thicker and darker plated scales could be seen plastered across the top of the muzzle, six in total, seemed to collect condensation as if being natural receptors to humidity.

It was to that sensation the dragon quickly reacted, and happily, by taking a giant breath in through his nostrils. Water, everywhere, was found on this planet. The blue coloration from far off in space didn't lie to him, but he had finally discovered a sizable source in a solar system that seemed generally lacking in such. In particular he relished inhaling the floating white sources of such, enjoying watching how the fog-like collections of water swirled about in the air before finally soothing the dry interior. Truly it had been too long since he felt fresh water, as the recycling capabilities naturally found within his body and augmented by his pack only went so far. He even managed to sense trace levels of concentrated metals, much to his joy, not found easily elsewhere.

Now more than ever he became hopeful that, perhaps somewhere, life existed in significant quantities on the planet. Not only did there seem to be copious moisture in the air, but also at least larger puddles that he could wade within and cover up the tips of his claws for a small splash. He immediately isolated and noticed other sources of life-bearing elements. Some in higher volumes than he would ever need, but the variety likely enough to help evolution speed along a natural course. Yet, no matter where he looked, he didn't see much. Not even a significant scent other than various gasses, which seemed to concentrate shinier metals and rocks lining the crust of the planet. Letting out a deep sigh, and craning his neck down, he thought to at least taste liquid water once more.

Unbeknownst to him, the planet was indeed filled to the brim with life. Completely sentient bipedal lifeforms at that, the likes of which had since only recently discovered the coming of the dragon. At first he would have appeared as nothing more than an oddly bright asteroid, piquing their curiosity in that manner. Never would they, in their wildest imaginations, realize a creature of monstrous proportions could come from the deepest reaches of space.

A mixture of awe and horror abounded as televisions worldwide broadcast an image of the dragon landing on the satellite. To them he seemed to curl around what they knew as the Moon for the purpose of simply marking and digging ruthlessly at its surface as a large celestial claw sharpener. Here they could see his true size closer than ever. He took up nearly one third of the large object's circumference, putting him between somewhere around two and a half thousand miles in length.

In the eyes of the planet's inhabitants, the dragon possessed a lacking degree of consciousness or moral reasoning. Just as soon as he landed upon the Moon, he took off once more, hurdling and knocking it clear and out of its orbital path from their planet. In but a single series of muscle contractions from the great beast, he inadvertently changed the very course of life on the planet which had evolved to synchronize around that great white orb in their sky. Even worse, the devastatingly large creature made a bee-line straight for their very planet. Sirens blared from each corner of the planet, sounding alarms to have its citizens find shelter. The government couldn't hide an alien of this magnitude, nor bothered to try.

No matter how quickly the people of the planet reacted, it could never be quick enough. Searing through the sky above them, cascading a shadow over millions, the dragon shot through the upper atmosphere in a blaze. The speed at which he moved created a deafening crackle, sounding the alarms of vehicles and vibration sensitive equipment. Glass shattered in the mere second he passed by, as a fire trailed behind him from the engines of his pack. These people however got away easily, for the time being.

The closer the dragon reached with his all-encompassing feet, as louder cataclysmic booming echoed for thousands of miles in every direction. They more took on the appearance of gigantic meteors emblazoned in a fury, each one lighting up the sky brighter than the very Sun itself. In the instant that the webbed appendages touched down, massive geometric upheavals tore the ground asunder in proportions multiple times greater than ever recorded. Normally cold and unmoving rock instantly melted, creating surface flows of lava to fling into the air while propelled by fissures shooting upwards just to come raining back down. His touching down could be felt by every living creature the world over, sending shock waves through the planet to produce earthquakes on the opposite side.

Despite how apocalyptic the dragon may have affected the planet, it was relatively centralized, both to the amazement and dismay of millions for soon after he began to move. They truly believed he knew fully well that he knew of their existence, and had come as a half-metal demon from space to end their lives but prolong it for as long as possible. It was with this that they realized he wasn't done, for his mountainous feet once more moved.

Gigantic craters of glass remained in place after the dragon moved, for the paws created hyper compressed miles of ground through force and heat. Charred remains of the cities he squished in the blink of an eye flecked off his scales, falling down to the ground as unrecognizable masses of metal. Diamonds even glittered in the sky, as all the compressed carbon matter resulted in a natural beauty despite the mess. Masses of people scattered in the streets of cities as the sun was blocked out by the massive body above. Others, however, simply stared above and wondered how something like this could even take place.

All of the woes and wonderment ended the instant a paw came crushing down once more. Hurricane force winds tore through cities and farmland as air rushed between the massive scales; each large enough to hold a miniature ecosystem on and between their cracks. Once mighty skyscrapers in the cities of metal cracked like ice as the paws came down, wiping off the earth great swaths of ingenuity the species had developed over thousands of years in a single wink of time.

Having the dragon merely pose his existence on the planet changed the chemical makeup with each breath. He stole away great levels of humidity, sucking in and removing billions of cubic meters of water from the ecosystem. What more, he swept away great swathes of the gasses so precious to the planet, replacing it with his own foreign inner makeup and waste products due to how vigorously and happily he took in and released massive breaths even on his scale. Planes which didn't even have time to find a landing spot, and other weather apparatus were mercilessly inhaled.

The dragon continued his movement, looking down thirstily at the water, ignorant to everything else which took place. For all he knew his actions simply impacted nothing more than a barren landscape, save for what he noticed to be depressingly small green flora spreading endlessly. Still, he was happy to have the water just below his muzzle. Closing his eyes, he took a long and slow drink.

Water trickling into the mouth felt better than he ever remembered, as the dragon lamented the fact that he hadn't even a fraction of this much even after having explored hundreds of other solar systems. He felt nothing short of lucky to have gained even this much, yet at first glance the puddle he sipped from contained so much more. It was shallow near the shoreline, but increased in depth exponentially.

Thus the dragon dipped his muzzle in just past the tip, to the muddle bottom of the puddle, to take in long slurps. He felt the warmth of the liquid trickle down his throat, noticing the higher salinity levels than he was used to from elsewhere. It reminded him of his home planet and its vast oceans. In fact the composition was eerily similar. As such, his body could process the salt safely, instilling an ever building sense of relief. Even then he noticed variances that made him chortle with delight. Found within the liquid water there seemed to be an even greater level of heavy metals. Beyond that, though, the flavor was unlike anything he remembered experiencing.

He knew it for a fact, and the great beast took another great and hefty swallow due to such; the water teemed with life. At least, some form of microbial life, as the flavor sensations flowing over his tongue allowed him to taste such. A bit disappointing, perhaps, but nothing out of the ordinary for such a young planet to possess. Swishing his snout back and forth quickly, he'd take one long and final lick for good measure from the end of one side to the next, bending his long neck to do such.

A great calamity soon overtook a bustling oceanside city. The dragon's head, looming precariously for the longest time, had finally begun to move closer. It looked like a massive blue wall, thicker than any known substance, yet somehow alive. Many of them worried that perhaps the dragon actually noticed their presence, and it upset him in some fashion. They took a collective sigh of relief as the tip of the chin just barely glazed over the tallest of buildings, and over to the ocean. It was there, however, that the next act begun.

Ocean levels swelled suddenly from the origin point that the blue muzzle dipped into the water. His claws from earlier had moved just gently enough to not disrupt the water, but with a face larger than most continents now plunging its weight, the effects could be seen all too easily. Kinetic energy traveled swiftly and violently, kicking up a sudden tsunami to afflict the coastline. Mild in comparison to what took place earlier, but it was merely a precursor.

One of the greatest fears for the people of the planet had been realized. The dragon needed to consume to live. It had always been a major point of interest in the oldest of fantasies, on what the inner workings of something so large might actually be like. Almost all of them originated with the act of feeding, to which thousands never dared dream they would prepare to have to endure.

How unfortunate it was that the dragon happened to land next to the most industrious areas the people of the planet utilized. As the great beast sucked the water inwards, so too did the craft floating atop such suffer the same such fate. No matter how hardy or powerful the engines, nothing could overcome the massive currents that sought to rewrite natural tidal motions the world over.

Countless lives were sucked into the maw. In truth the dragon barely even parted his lips enough to take measly sips, but for the people, it was akin to staring into a gigantic black hole for the few brief seconds they got to gaze upwards. Not only were boats from the ocean pulled inside, but so too were water structures and foundations ripped away from the nearby cities. His muzzle, over a hundred miles long, managed to suck in from areas much further away due to the rate. Anyone and everyone in the ocean would be pulled inside, from the most hapless of swimmers to hardened fisherman, and even entire ports. None escaped his drinking.

All those people would finally have their inner curiosities sated by being inside of a massive creature. The water levels barely actually covered the gigantic tongue, of which the levels of flesh were thought unimaginable by the people. It was one thing to look at the hardened outside scales of a dragon, as oft they did in popular media, but to actually be on the interior was something entirely different. It was also a trip that, just like in the movies, they wouldn't come back from to share the tale.

Everything the populace knew about anatomy and life had suddenly become hyper enhanced, as they were pulled through the spaces of teeth large enough to fit entire cities between. Their bodies were manipulated by miniscule movements of the tongue, as it guided the water through the mouth and to the back of the dragon's throat. It swished across the entirety of the gigantic muscle, as boats collided with giant protrusions of flesh similar to that of rocks on a craggy coast.

Many of the folk didn't even get a chance to parse what any of it was. To most it was nothing but a dream, one of which might be thought up by only the more twisted of writers for the sheer purpose to thrill. Yet, as people churned along the ravines of flesh upon the tongue, and metal cracked against the durable body, some were left marooned on top of the squishy and wet pieces of muscle which the water didn't cover.

They may eventually be washed away, but they would be replaced shortly after as the dragon shifted on the outside to take a sweeping lick across the surface of the planet's water. Entire cities would be caught up from the action, literally wiping away like a giant cleaning rag endless lives from the edge of the water. Hundreds could fit atop the dryer sections, able to watch the chaos taking place. All they could do was watch as people they didn't even know existed in the world were taken away in the blink of an eye, into a yawning cavern in the back of the mouth, never to be seen again.

Eventually, hundreds of people realized, they were resting and trapped atop of individual taste buds on the dragon. As particles of concrete washed up against the flesh, the people were left to lay and sit upon a gigantic creature's receptors for taste. Mere moments later the entrance to the cave which brought them in began to close. Locked in darkness with nothing sounds of gurgling behind them, and the constant snorting of a creature breathing, their fates were sealed. Yelps of surprise from every direction inevitably ended in a soft splat or squish, as people constantly slipped on saliva and fell face first upon the papillae. From now until the end of their lives, they had becoming nothing more than just being a pleasant aftertaste for a voracious monster of cosmic proportions.

Invigorated and feeling renewed, the dragon could safely mark the planet in his mental data banks as being mildly interesting. Raising his head once more, gazing off to the darker portions of the planet, he finally pinpointed a phenomena that bothered him from beyond the surface; lights, in great clusters, dotting the landscape. Looking down at his feet, then back again, he realized it must have something to do with the glittering rocks that dotted the landscape. Perhaps they possessed some form of photovoltaic composition.

Ending all other thoughts, it suddenly pinged inside the dragon's mind that he had been resting on the planet for much too long. There were still two other planets to visit in the solar system before circling around the young resident star to gaze upon its gigantic majesty. Spreading his wings, and with one simple thought, the helmet melded forth from beneath his scales. His engines flared to life once more, and soon launched himself towards open space once more.

Just a few moments after entering open space once more, the dragon had to think back to the planet. Even though it was barely memorable, he couldn't help but slap his tongue gently against the roof of his mouth, following after by rubbing his teeth along with the tip. No matter how he might label it, the planet felt oddly familiar, as if he had been there before. The flavors in particular stuck with him well, causing him to salivate for the first time in centuries. Perhaps, he thought, he should make a return trip to that planet just to make sure he didn't miss something.