FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

A long time has passed since I left the airport. Volkoinmaa, the icy country in the upper north of Meresteria. How strange of me to go here. I am Ragnar Baardson, at least that is the name on my passport. My true name is actually Qannik Lovefield, but who cares about that? I am a wolverine, in my late twenties, and muscle and fat. So, basically a healthy guy? Ah well, for my species at least.

"Excuse me, sir?" someone said to me on the side of the street I was walking on. Seems to be a marten, I guess. "You seem to be a tourist, so please be wary of the blizzard this evening."

Tourist my ass, but he meant well, so I just smiled and gave him a friendly nod. Then I walked further to my destination. Well, it was already down the street, my new apartment. As I entered the building and went up the stairs I breathed in the scent of, well something that smelled like fried meat with onions. It kept me standing there for a few moments, then I decided to enter my new home and see, if they put everything together. Sure enough, they did follow my orders. I took off my shoes and jacket to walk over to my couch and laid down on it, enjoying the new atmosphere. The walls were also painted blue with waves drawn on them, so I was pretty happy with the results overall.

Aaaand, then somebody had to knock at my door. Gosh, I thought the people in Meresteria were less extroverted than in Lomboco. I opened the door, and an old, female wolf was standing there with a plate of fish and meats. "Welcome to your new home, Mr. Baardson!" she said in a perky, no, grandmotherly voice. "My husband and I have expected you and already filled your fridge with drinks and prepared dinner for you."

"Wow, that is nice, Madam," I replied with a smile as I took the plate and bowed to show my gratitude. "But, isn't that quite a lot for a new neighbor?"

The wolf chuckled softly as her eyes went over my casual attire. "I do prefer the quieter sort of neighbors over the louder. The last people, who were living in your apartment were, let us say, hard to deal with."

Yeah, that type neighbors sucks really hard. "You shall sleep sound and safe, I am not into anything loud," I said to her as I put the plate on a table. "At least not loud enough to go through the walls."

"I certainly hope so," she said with a smile before she returned to her apartment and left me with my dinner. Well, certainly a lovely welcome. And her cooking already smelled amazing. An assumption that turned out correct as I put a piece of hornflincher filet in my mouth and could have died without regret afterward.

And the best part was, I already had the moving company install everything, so I could simply go online and stream some old TV shows on my laptop. Ah, what have I missed out on? An old show about a young fox girl traveling all across the world, searching for an ominous city that once disappeared in the oceans, the stories of a martial artist tiger and his trusty wolf sidekick saving the world from evil, and so much more. And I had all the time in the world.

At least till somebody rang at the doorbell and I got up to check who it was through the speaker. "Hey, sorry. Is there someone knowledgeable about mechanics? I may have a wee problem with my motorcycle."

"Wait a second," I replied to the man on the other end, took a few tools from my shelf, and walked out of the building to see a striped hyena standing next to a motorcycle. In all honesty, I could already tell that his vehicle is a goner by the scent of burnt wires. "Okay, you are the guy, who wanted me downstairs?"

He gave me a wide smile and walked over to me. Before I could even react to it, he hugged me and I was blushing by that surprise. "Thank you so much, dude! I think some of those kids have done something."

As he released me I walked over to his motorcycle and looked into it. Well, I was right, it was a goner. The entire thing was fried inside, as if it was exposed to several thousand watts of energy. Whatever that kid did, they were not doing anything half-baked. "Nope, it is dead, finito, gone, broken, terminated."

Oh gosh, his sad face following my statement was a tad bit cute. "I put all my money into this, and now somebody just broke it for no reason."

"Well, let me call you a mechanic," I offered as I just couldn't deny that puppy-eyed hyena some help. "In the meantime, how about you wait with me upstairs, you must be freezing."

He followed me, with his wide smile having returned, upstairs into my apartment. Unlike me, who remained in a t-shirt and barefoot all the time, he was wearing a knit jacket below his regular one, and wore socks as well. "Wow, this is a nice place to crash in."

"Crash anything and you are out," I said jokingly. Seemingly not jokingly enough, as he looked at me in shock. "I am jesting. Anyway, I am Ragnar and just moved in today."

"It's my pleasure. My name is Dejen," the hyena introduced himself casually as he sat down on my couch and leaned back. "So, what are you doing here in Suurikukkalat? I can tell by your accent that you aren't from here."

Very perceptive. "I am from Lomboco, and well I am currently unemployed." And it was an honest answer, I just didn't tell him anything sensitive, of course. "Still, I did inherit a lot of money, so I decided to move into this country. There used to be more of my kind over here."

"Ah, are your folks originating from here?" he asked with an immense amount of curiosity.

I shook my head. "Nope." Well, it is technically true, my mother came from Kalland, the neighboring country, while my father was a Native to Lomboco. Not that I care much about this stuff anyway. "Okay, let me just call a repair service and maybe also a taxi." Much easier said than done, however. Nobody was picking up on either line. "Screw those phones. I can't get anyone. In the biggest city of the country, I may add."

"Maybe due to the blizzard warning? I went home earlier because of it," Dejen now told me with his ears dropping low. "Sorry, buddy. I guess that I am stuck here."

With a sigh I clutched by head and thought about the best solution to the problem. "I hope you understand that I am not too eager to let a stranger stay overnight."

Now he chuckled a bit. Did I say something strange? "Oh, I actually haven't considered that. A good friend of mine lives right down the street, where he has his bar. Wanna come with me?"

A blizzard is coming and I should go to the bar down the street? Well, I am a wolverine, so snow doesn't stop me that easily anyway. "Deal, just let me get my stuff." Which went pretty quick, as I only had to grab my jacket, in which I also had my money. He was very eager to show me the bar, but perhaps too much for my taste. Not that I minded the bar once we entered after a few minutes of walk.

Its barkeeper, a polar bear in his early thirties and wearing a waiter suit, was looking at us with a smile as we entered. "My, Dejen. Have you found a new friend today? Free drinks for each of you, as long as you keep it in moderation."

"A virgin Lemon Buzzer, please," I ordered and the barkeeper took his tools and had a pretty decently large glass ready for me to drink from. Neat of him to give so much. "Thank you, um."

He chuckled before he mixed another drink, which he handed over to Dejen. "My name is Oskari. And, I am the owner of this bar. Dejen here is a good friend of mine."

"I am Ragnar. Dejen here may need a room, because some jerk destroyed his vehicle and I can't get a taxi for him," I told Oskari as I sipped on the sweet-sour cocktail he mixed for me. The lemon, mint, and mango mixture certainly was good.

The polar bear nodded and gave Dejen a smile. "Okay, you can take the guest room. With the storm approaching, I think you might be better off here anyway."

"Surely, thank you so much, big guy," the hyena said to his friend with a big grin before he began drinking his cocktail. "Anyway, Ragnar here is from Lomboco, so we should introduce him to our country, don't you think?"

Didn't even care about my own so much, but it might be good to listen about regional customs. Oskari certainly seemed like he was thinking about stuff to tell me about. "From what area of Lomboco are you?"

"Northwest of the Union," I replied truthfully. Not the worst place of the bunch, but not very pleasant to be honest. "But I am more of a city person anyway."

"Oh thank goodness," the bear said more to himself than to me, probably knowing exactly what I meant by that. "Well, then just enjoy our lovely city. It is also known as the City of Colors, as we use different street lights depending of the hours and purpose of the streets."

Colorful streetlights? I do know about the effects of colors, especially since in a generation where prism herbs are very easy to get everyone is affected more by that. Different effects for different purposes seems plausible therefore. "It seems that I will love this place. I already threw out all my underwear with the UL flag on it to get myself underwear with this country's flag," I joked.

"Knowing the archetypes, that means you are going commando," Dejen commented, which did catch me off guard and I had to laugh while I was drinking from my Lemon Buzzer. Oh boy, getting that through the nose hurts pretty much. "Yep, commando."

"Alright, but enough of that. I would like to know what you are doing, Dejen," I asked now that we were having a nice conversation anyway. Plus, I looked around, the bar was abandoned safe for us three, so perfectly private.

Dejen was scratching his head a little bit, looked to the side, then back at me, and then back at the side again. "I work in, um, an office. And do sort folders, take calls, I am a secretary."

Yeah, and I am a date doctor. "Sounds interesting, so for which office do you work precisely."

"Um, okay I have to say that my business is not necessarily something I want to talk about, alright?" he said and drank out his glass in one go. "I hope you understand."

Certainly, I do. "You should just have said so. Not much I can tell about myself really, I am not employed by a company and independent."

"Which means you can't be fired," Oskari replied with a wink. "Same here, I would say. What are you doing exactly?"

"Programming," I replied. Certainly, it is the legal part of my income. It's a pretty good business, to say the least. "It certainly pays the apartment." And judging from the looks they gave me, it surprised them. Oskari was raising an eyebrow and Dejen's jaw dropped.

The hyena was the first to say something. "Um, I honestly thought you were more like a construction worker, professional boxer, or something along those lines."

Of course he did. Most people see a wolverine and think that he or she is a brute, because they are born with the natural strength and frame of one. "The first impression may be deceiving, or so."

"It certainly is," Oskari said with a chuckle as he gave me another glass with a Lemon Buzzer. "Although, I am more surprised about the specifics. A programmer would be more at home in Scathsolas Chathair, or Graphene Hills."

I just shrugged. "All I need is a computer and internet. My office is where I want it to be." And it is great! I am not bound to anyone or any place, plus I do get enough money for a decent living. Not with the cleanest methods, but also nothing dirtier than what politicians do.

Dejen and Oskari nodded to my statement and now also the polar bear just mixed himself a drink and we sat there together. I am not very sociable, but those two guys are pretty cool, so I may should hang out with them more often.

"Hey, stripefuck!" By the Spirits, I just started having a good time. And now some stupid elk had to walk in and shout out insults. He was tall, dressed in skier clothing, and got a stupid grin on his face. "Didn't I tell you to go back to your bushes to get a load from your mother?"

A new way to say motherfucker, huh? I emptied my Lemon Buzzer and turned around to face that jerk. "I suggest you piss off, else I will call the police and let them deal with you."

He spit into my direction and now got closer to Dejen. "Oh, got yourself a bodyguard? Is the little coward not going to deal with his problems himself?"

"Leave me alone, Lukas!" Dejen replied angrily as he pushed the elk away from him. A bad idea, as Lukas was barely fazed by that and grabbed the hyena on his jacket.

It was now that I got in between them. I jumped up and hit the elk right at his throat with the side of my hand, then as he let Dejen drop, I hit him right into his weak spots across the chest, just to finish him off by throwing him out by grabbing his antlers and pulling with violent force at them.

Lukas certainly seemed to be scared shitless as he run away from me and hit a lantern pole as he wasn't paying attention to anything but me. Oh well, I have done so in defense of someone, so he got nothing legally on me. I double checked it for this country.

"Wow, that was pretty awesome," Dejen now told me as I helped him up and we both sat down on our chairs again. "A programmer, who can knock out someone much taller than him. How was school for you?"

I guess that naturally would have come up at some point, even though I didn't want to talk about it so much. "After three broken arms they stayed away from me. Which was preferable, but I got a lot of trouble for giving rather than receiving."

"Personally I say, sometimes they need to swallow their own medicine," Oskari commented to me as he got me another glass of Lemon Buzzer. "I had to throw that bastard out a few times already, because he comes in, insults my customers, and calls me a faggot. Actually, I have a law suit against him, so he will get into trouble for coming here."

The court better pushes a broom up his rectum. Why can't some people be just nice and friendly to others? It is not really difficult to not insult someone you have not much to do with. "Well, I think the snow storm will hit soon enough, so I may get home now. See you around!" I said before I emptied my glass and quickly got out to my apartment. Night already set in, so the city was indeed illuminated by a blue light, which wonderfully engulfed the street in a tranquil atmosphere, even with all the snowflakes occupying my view. Certainly, it was a beautiful sight to me, who lived on the dark country side for many years. And now, I was entering my own apartment, taking of my jacket again, and walking to my bedroom to change into a comfortable pajama, right before I walk into my living room and took my laptop again. As soon as I was on, I already spotted the new e-mail on my secured account. I chuckled as I saw that someone was interested in what I could offer. And I was interested in what he could offer me.