FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

“Well, look at that! This looks like the best place we've come across yet!” Jasper exclaimed excitedly as the range slowly crested a hilltop to look down on a large human city. Several taller buildings were built alongside the Tunk'ta road, more than large enough to warrant for the dragons to avoid them and not disturb the interior city. The glassy exteriors afforded those inside immense entertainment when the mighty Tunk’ta would slow in curiosity, peering at their own reflections and sometimes even turning around to look at themselves head to toe before carrying on.

Hanging forward while holding his favorite tree, he turned to S’re and smiled. “Looks like they even have a Tunker field. Could probably hang around for a while. Get a room while Randel feeds. We’ll lose the range, but it’s been nearly a month, I’ve been hungry for a real hot meal, and I’ve got plenty of stipend banked up.”

S're had a giddy smile. “Oh, and hot shower! And sleeping in a real bed!”

Jasper swung around the tree to be nose to nose with her. Taking her hand, he laid his lips to her knuckles, flashing her a scoundrel's smirk. “Fucking in a real bed....”

She rolled her eyes but couldn't help giggling. “Why not in the shower, too?”

“Oh, lulumi, you promise?” he returned eagerly with a suggestive snap of his eyebrows.

“Let's get the room first.” She pushed him away as she swaggered back into the foliage.

“Fair,” he snickered after her, still hanging onto the tree, and indicated for Randel to find a spot to burrow into the loamy, well tended soil.

While S're gathered their items and made certain Hero understood to stay put and out of sight, Jasper used a small shovel to toss the fertile soil up onto his dragon's back to replenish what had been lost, hauling a few extra buckets worth to the top that tended to erode, remembering the hard words of the other Tender.

Getting a room where they could see the grand dragon sleep beside a few others, they did not hesitate to utilize the modern luxuries and their privacy. They spent the day and night in the room and even most of the next day. Begrudgingly, they left to find food, dining at a nice eatery and picking up treats to take with them.

They visited the market for some new clothes and other supplies. All the while, S're made sure to keep her eyes down as much as she could, which had led to various good fortunes with lost change and even jewelry. It also meant she did not see when the Drakund and Spindle turned their heads and peered at her, often heads taller than the local commoners, many of whom gave her glares and did not bother to get out of her way at times.

Passing a massage parlor, Jasper paused and enticed S’re with a lecherous grin, pointing out she could easily keep her eyes down while the cute couple who owned it eagerly gave them both the royal treatment without prejudice.

Relaxed and satisfied, they were on their way back to their room when S’re’s shoulder bumped into someone. Spinning around instinctively, she began to apologize when her gaze met the old man. In an instant, she knew him, knew she wasn’t escaping. Sucking in her breath, she turned away to hurry after Jasper.

Stunned, the old man stood there for a second. “That… You….” Turning around as he came back to reality, he pointed after her. “Hey! Hey, that lady! That… H’elflin’! She’s a Tamer! We got a Tamer ‘mong us! Ev’body, that Tamer’s here to control you!”

The hairs rose all over her body when heads snapped around, the crowd growing quiet to hear the old man’s cries. Her ear tips grew cold, realizing the crowd would not let them disappear.

Jasper scoffed, attempting to dismiss it. “If she was, I would have noticed. Sorry she bumped you. Won’t happen again.” Grabbing her arm, he tried to take her and go but the people were not quick to get out of the way while they gawked.

“Naw! I saw it! She was tryin’ to control me! Bloody H’elflin’ thinks she’s better than us! That she can control us! I’m tellin’ y'all, that lady! She’s a Tamer! Keep your dragons away! She’ll turn ‘em on you!”

Suddenly pulled away from Jasper’s grip, S’re grit her teeth and wrenched herself from the hold of her captor. “Let go of me! I’m just a visitor!”

“Then prove it! Look at someone!” the old man challenged and others agreed, offering themselves up for the experiment.

Taken aback, she stuttered and muttered, trying to get back to Jasper, but he was having equal trouble getting to her.

Swarmed, S're tried to push away the hands that grabbed at her, but more of them came at her until she was overwhelmed. Eyes darting about, she could not help but look up and meet the gazes of those around her. Shocked by sensations, she faltered, feeling faint, when a rope was tightened around her neck, pulling her forward with a stumble.

“She is a Tamer!”

“Cover her eyes!”

“Pluck them out!”

“Off with her head!”

“Hang her!”

The people pushed her up on a platform, forcing her to her knees. A few soldiers were pushing their way through the incensed crowd, trying to get to her, crying out that any Tamers were the property of the government, but the crowd couldn’t hear them over their shouting.

Squeezing her eyes shut when the rope tightened around her neck and her wrists were wrenched behind her, she could only hope the guards reached her in time when a deafening hiss filled the air. The Glimmer was so bright that S're could see it through her eyelids, and the people who were yelling started screaming.

Opening her eyes, she was one of the few not blinded to witness with horror the line of chemical fire spray over the front of the crowd. It burnt through cloth and flesh like acid the split second before an inferno exploded from the line, rolling upwards in a wall of fire that caught on overhead banners and ropes. The screams after that were blood curdling, people trampling each other to escape.

Mouth hanging open, S’re stared in horrified disbelief. Hero lunged in front of her, sucking in his breath until he was shimmering with heat and sprayed another line of explosive chemicals, splattering against the walls of two nearby buildings, burning into the material before they went up and caught in an instant.

“Hero!” she cried out. “Hero! Stop!”

With a snort, Hero peered up at her curiously. Coughing as the smoke grew thick, she searched the panicking crowd for any sign of Jasper when she felt hands on her bindings. Turning to look, she gasped in surprise. “Diana?”

“Yeah, hey, how’s it going? Fancy meeting you here. Let’s go!”

Pulling S’re along, they met Jasper and Slina at the corner of a building just in time to hear an explosion. The building on fire was a general shop and the blaze had reached the fireworks. Among the innumerable pops and whirrs and whistles, one large rocket careened down the street and through a window, catching in an unoccupied room.

“Uh, we should go!” Diana urged, grabbing Slina's hand to pull her along.

Zigzagging through alleys that were quickly filling with smoke, they struggled to run through the soft soil of the fertile field.

Diana turned and noticed that Hero was bounding along with them. “Oh, shit! It’s following!”

“Yeah, that’s Hero,” S’re explained hurriedly. “He was in that basket.”

Rushing up Randel’s back, Jasper let out a shrill whistle, stomping his foot with purpose. “I’m sorry, Randel, we gotta go! Now's not the time for naps! C'mon, buddy!”

An idea dawned on S’re, making her gasp. “I think I could wake him!”

Looking over at her, his brow furrowed in thought. “Well, sure. I suppose that would be a Tamer power. Give it a try cuz we gotta go!”

With a deep breath, she focused on the dragon below her feet. She had found in the last few weeks that the buzzing she felt so often that had at first overwhelmed her was the very life aura of the great creature she rode. Somehow, she knew Randel dreamed. He resisted her will, but he could not deny it.

“Wake up.”

The ground shuddered and the vegetation rustled all around them. The dragon sucked a deep breath and groaned, lifting his head as he startled to life. He rose to his feet in a hurry, swaying drowsily.

Feeling unsettled, she turned and noticed Jasper. Stricken and pale, his body was stiff as he stared at her wide eyed. He had to take a slow breath to recover from whatever he had experienced.

“S're, that... I did not like that feeling.” Clutching at his chest, he cut off her attempt to apologize. “It was like, I was just... aware of you making him do something he didn't want to do. I-I feel... compelled to protect him but… I don't even know how,” he whispered the last part. Again he shook his head when she tried to express her remorse, holding up his hand. “Please, S're, don't. I gave you permission. Let’s… just get out of here.”

Turning away, he focused on coaxing his Bonded to once again begin the trek. Sweet promises that they would stop at the next plot of land so the dragon could finish his sleep got him a massive, frigid emerald eye glaring back at him. He used every silver tongued apology and praise he could think of as if it might appease the beast. After giving his Bonded a long and cold stare, Randel started back to the trail and they were soon in the shade of the trees, watching the smoke thick in the air.

Once Jasper had turned from her, S’re looked over at her friends. Slina stared at her, mouth hanging open in wonder, while Diana quickly looked around as the dragon began to sway gently. “Wow! I can’t believe it! You… you really are a Tamer.”

Shaking her head, S’re looked down at Hero, reaching out to scratch his head. “Yeah. I, uh, can’t really believe it, either, honestly.”

“You mean, you didn’t know?”

“Uh, I think I would’ve noticed years ago,” Jasper answered for her while S’re shook her head, coming to stand beside her and looking up at her. “The relationship’s definitely changed since then.” Thrusting his thumb to indicate the thick, black smoke still billowing in the sky behind them, he muttered loudly, “Case in point.”

She had to nod in agreement, keeping her eyes on Hero. He sniffed curiously at the two new women, taking an immediate liking to Slina when she reached out to pet him with a smile.

“I'm going to be honest, S're,” Jasper continued, still watching the smoke through the trees. “I don't know how we can live like this. You're going to be hunted all over. You kind of stand out, and if people notice, they'll be after you. The bounty for you is only going to grow. And Hero, well… this is the second time he's set a whole place on fire and we've had to run for our lives. It's only going to make you more of a target. And now they’ll surely know about me. ”

“I don’t know what to do, Jasper,” she admitted in a whisper.

“Hey, hey, now,” Diana interrupted, her hands out. “Don’t pile that on her. She just survived a noose around her neck….”

She shut her mouth, hands to her sides when Jasper glared at her. “And we’ll all have a noose around our necks if we keep up like this.”

“Well, I mean… would it be so bad to turn yourself in?”

All three glared at Diana. She put up her hands, turning away. “Sorry I suggested it. It’s not like they’ll kill you, you know. You’d live like a queen, wouldn’t you?”

Jasper shook his head. “Yeah, I don’t think they’ll be that lenient. The last Tamer of Mardarow refused to have kids before he took his own life, and I’ve got doubts it was because he was upset about how good they were treating him.”

Slina looked up at the smoke and held up her hands out of her long sleeves, motioning a few words that made Jasper nod. “Yeah, it won’t be hard to find us now, that’s for sure. And we left all our things. I dropped the bags so we don’t even have food. They’re probably not even going to chase us, they’re just going to flag my stipend and pick us up when I stop to use it. Every shop’s going to be alerted to watch for us.”

Reaching into her pocket, Diana pulled a small bag of coins out. “If we find an outpost, I have enough to get us a few supplies.”

“Well, we’ll have to wait a while for that. Try and get as far away from all… that as we can. And more importantly, find somewhere for Randel to finish his nap.”

S’re knew in his sharp breath that the sensation from earlier was still fresh in his mind. “Jasper, I….”

His hand slipped from hers to hold up and stop her. “Don’t. It’s alright. Just… don’t ever tell my dragon to do something against his will again, alright? I’ll… figure it out like I’ve always done.”

As S’re nodded, Diana pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Well, what do you intend to do, then? Any plans? Are we just going to wander?”

With a deep breath, S’re answered before Jasper. “Well, I’ve been thinking a lot, and I remember Uncle Mire told me once– well, actually a lot– that a Tamer should always… trust their Guardian.”

Thinking a second, Jasper shook his head with a small shiver. “Well, I hate to even think it, but… wasn’t that the, uh, Q’Hu I bashed on the head? That’s when all this started to begin with.”

“I… I guess it had to be. I’ve been going over it in my head all this time. Over and over again. That moment.” She shuddered and shook her head. “I’ve wanted to forget it. Looking up at him was terrifying. I’ve never been that scared of anyone.”

“Yeah, you’re telling me,” Jasper scoffed bitterly. “And he’s probably got a grudge with me! I’ve never heard of a Q’Hu Guardian but, to be honest with you, he’s probably the best kind of Guardian to have. He’s probably ancient. He’ll likely have answers for us. I really doubt that fire got him. He had another soldier with him. Maybe… ah, I mean, I hate to go looking for someone who has it out for me, but I think we should….”

“Are you crazy?” Diana argued, eyes wide. “You saw what he did to that other guy! Crushed him like a bug and just left him there. And you want to go looking for him?”

Peeking over at S’re, he thought for a second. “I don’t think we’re the ones who have to go looking. I don’t know about you, lulumi, but–” reaching out, he took her hand, entwining their fingers– “I was quite worried for your life. If he’s bound to you like a dragon, he’d know it. What we should do is find somewhere to wait.”

Nodding to him, she turned back to their friends and smiled warmly. “It’s so good to see you two,” she admitted, leaning down to hug them both. “What were you guys doing there, anyway? Where’s Black?”

Slina motioned shortly and Diana nodded. “Yeah, we looked for him but no sight. I can’t believe he’d be eaten; he could smell everything. Maybe he wandered further than he thought but after a week, we were pretty hungry so we went into town and saw your wanted poster! The one about stealing, well, him.” She indicated Hero. “We got worried and, uh, I pulled in a favor to get us into Mardarow.

“God, S’re,” she continued, never quite meeting her gaze. “I nearly had a heart attack seeing you up there! Soon as I heard people say H’elfling, I just knew it was you!”

Sitting together, the friends caught up, laughing at the funny moments and recounting harrowing escapes. Holding out her hands, Slina playfully asked Jasper what it was like having a Tamer as his partner, and the group became uncomfortably quiet.

“Uh, well,” he started.

Standing, S’re ignored him when he tried to stop her and left their shelter to stand by Randel’s slowly swaying head. She didn’t want to look at him when he stood beside her, trying not to be obvious about her sniffles.

“I know you’re upset with me,” she admitted softly. “I… I should’ve listened to you. None of this would be happening.”

Pursing his lips with a sharp inhale, he nodded, keeping his voice level. “Yeah. Yeah, that’s true. And I won’t lie to you, lulumi. Things look pretty grim with how everything’s happened lately. But, then again, we’d… probably be getting into some other kind of trouble. Maybe it’d even be worse. We’ve already survived a lot together. I’ve been with you through all of it, and that’s not going to change just because we’re about to start a new chapter in our lives.”

Turning to face her, he made her do the same with his hands on her arms. “S’re, I’ve been really patient while you try to figure it out, but I’d like you to tell me what you see because I know what I feel, and I know you see things, but you haven’t really told me much.”

Looking into his eyes, she sucked in her breath and turned away, shaking her head. “I… still don’t know how to explain any of it, Jasper. I just… know things about people. Like I've always known them, but how could I? I know things about all those people back in that town, probably things they even know themselves, and I don’t even know their names, but I’ll always remember now.”

“You mean, like their thoughts? Their memories?”

“No.” She shook her head. “No, not like that. It’s not that clear. Uncle Mire told me that a Tamer couldn't see everything, not unless it was a particularly strong memory, but what they mostly saw were… ‘lessons.’ I never knew what he meant.”

She met his gaze again. “You're so… dazzling, Jasper. It… almost hurts to look at you. I see that… you were afraid recently, but I wouldn't know why if I… hadn't also been there. I see a big… eye inside you, but not like an eye like we have, just… I don't know how else to explain it. It just… lets you see Randel.” Looking at her feet, she shook her head. “That's what Hero doesn't have. That's why he can't Bond.”

Nodding, brow furrowed thoughtfully, Jasper smirked a little after a silent moment. “Dazzling? Really? Me? What part?”

Wiping at her eyes, she shrugged but smiled at him. “I don’t know. Just… bright. Like the brightest moonlight. It almost hurts. I guess it’s like when Mire would say some people learned good lessons from bad things, so they didn’t repeat it and… didn’t end up in those bad situations again. Those other people, most of them, I don’t know how else to describe it, but they felt… really dull, like I was looking through a muddy window.”

“Huh. I guess that sounds about right.” Peering at her, he smiled. “What kind of ‘lesson’ do you see about you?”

Her smile full of adulation, she had to break contact again to wipe at her eyes once more. “That’s the brightest one of all.”

“Well, good,” he replied, cupping the back of her neck to draw her down and press their foreheads together. “That tracks. So, then, you already know my answer. Let’s go back in and try to figure the rest of it out together.”