FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

As the last days of summer winded down, the humidity seemed to break into a gentle, cool breeze, the odd leave starting its journey to the earthy floor with each heavy rush of air. A single vixen cub sat on a patch of grass, staring off into the distance, watching the waves crawl over the surface of the ocean. "What you looking at sweetheart?" and older vixen whispered gently, leaning down give her child a warm hug.

"Uh-uh!" the little cub mumbled in response, waving her arms in the direction of the sea.

"The ocean huh?" the vixen giggled as she kissed her daughter's forehead, brushing her blowing hair out of her eyes as she stood back up. The arctic fox sighed as she looked out at the waves herself, all was peaceful at Darkfox castle, but something bothered her, insidious and nagging as her thoughts seem to stray over and over.

"Lady Arissa," a rather pretty swan spoke as she stepped towards the two, "The farmers wish your council."

"Now?" the vixen asked with a bit of a frown, wishing to stay in the field with her daughter, enjoying the last days of summer dwindle down, "Is there no way for my husband to tend to this?"

"I'm sorry milady but master Varrius is still away on urgent business," the swan shrugged as she thought of how to be less pushy to her queen, "The harvest will soon be upon us and-"

"Yes I know, I know," the vixen sighed, getting to her feet and smiling down gently at her daughter, "Please watch Solaria for me while I'm gone, I don't intend on allowing this meeting to linger."

...

"There's also concerns on some of the crops m'lady," a rather stern looking stallion continued to report to the vixen, "Winter has not been as kind as previous years and the dirt-"

"I assure you the dirt will be fine," Arrisa interrupted as politely as possible, nodding to the three farmers in the room, "I took the time to visit my advisers today and I assure you, we have the resources to supplement the fields should they prove troublesome."

"Very well," the horse replied, "There's also the matter of the far forest."

"No," Arrisa said flatly in a rather serious tone, "No I will not humour that idea, the forest is too dangerous."

"But m'lady, it has been a whole year since incident and I assure you the team would stay within the borders, leaving at the first sign of-"

"No, and that is final!" there was fierceness in her eyes and in her tone. "I will not lead that... thing," she struggled to find the right word, "Towards our kingdom, no additional resource is worth that."

"M'lady," a rather friendly badger spoke, "Perhaps we should at least send a few researchers in. After all, knowledge of a monster may better strengthen our kingdom's defence against it." Before she could reply however, the mention of monsters seemed to come strangely to life. The whole room went silent as a sudden heavy sound infiltrated the air, all three farmers going deathly silent as they were left in confused alarment. "What is that?!" the badger cried urgently to his queen, seeing the scared but knowing look in her eyes.

"We must ring the bells, get everyone indoors, our safety is in danger!" Arissa seemed in a full panic as she raised to her feet, nodding her head in a place of a more elegant curtsy as she rushed out of the room. "Ring the bell!" she cried as she dashed down the halls of the great castle, gently nudging some of her subjects out of the way into a nearby weasel was close enough to earshot.

"Ring the bell!" he bellowed with his strong voice, Arissa hearing the message passed on down the halls until the tower up above began resonating a loud, high pitched sound. The sounds around the castle had become deafening, circling around the perimeter of the beautiful structure as if ready to strike.

"Milady!" Arissa could hear a voice call to her from nearby, her swan handmaiden holding her daughter carefully as she ran towards her.

"Meredith, you must seek shelter, please keep my daughter safe!"

"But milady-"

"No!" the queen interrupted, "You must keep her safe, please, we face an enemy my subjects cannot possibly understand!"

The swan nodded in fear, but understood her task, quickly rushing in the opposite direction as the arctic fox rushed to the doors of her fine castle. She was met by the king's guard at the doors, two powerful stallions raising swords as they stared at their queen with fear in their eyes for the first time in their years of servitude. "My lady, dragons, of some kind..." a jet black stallion said to her, "Their wings are strange, formless and blurred, and their scales are all black, they are unlike any beast I have encountered before."

"Inside Stravos," the queen said quite seriously, turning to the direction of the forest, "I must handle this alone!"

"Milady, let us assist you!" the palomino called as well, reaching towards her.

"No, your places are here, defending my subjects-"

"But-" the black horse began to interject.

"That is an order!" The pair shared an unconvinced look as they heard their queen's order, suddenly falling back in shock as a bright blue figure dropped to the ground beside her.

"You heard your queen!" the voice boomed out, a brilliant blue phoenix standing next to the vixen queen.

"Sire!" the stallions said in unison, rushing back inside, seemingly more afraid of their king's sudden arrival than the threat of the invading dragons.

The moment the pair was left alone they rushed towards the forest, Arissa huffing out a fretted breath as she spoke to her husband, "Good timing... what the hell are they doing here with those things?!"

"I don't know," the phoenix growled as he flapped his wings, needing the rush of air to keep up with his wife's pace, "I spoke to Charles, he was given no such authorization!"

Arissa shook her head as the two of them continued onward, "This won't be good."

After a short but tiring trek, the pair reached the forest's clearing now easily able to look upon the two, giant figures as they floated to the ground. A young grey fox was already running to the king and queen, meeting them from his large metal fortress, located on the other side of the clearing. In comparison to the royals' dressings the fox seemed almost otherworldly, his fur covered in some strange armor and his paws firmly gripped against a weapon that was not a sword of any kind. "Charles what is the meaning of this?!" the phoenix was forced to yell overtop the whipping, chopping air around them.

The fox looked to the two with equal worry, before looking back, watching as the four black helicopters landed on designated pads, "I was not told of this milord, milady..." he bowed quickly, "Whatever this is, it was not authorized!"

Arissa stepped past the two of them towards the first helicopter pad, her husband following her soon after. She had the fiercest look on her face as she approached the steel craft, a cocky looking leopard in a suit stepping out of the helicopter to greet the cross vixen. "Ahh Arissa, Varrius," he also nodded to the phoenix, "Sorry to barge in on yo-"

"You careless shit!" Arissa spat as she got up close to the feline, stopping herself from swiping a paw at him as she heard the cocking of two rifles. Two more passengers stepped out of the helicopter, a hound and some kind of lizard both carrying what looked like automatic rifles. They stood just behind the leopard, still and silent as they listened in on the conversation. Arissa held back a growl as she sneered at the feline, "Just what is the meaning of this Jerriah?"

The jaguar took his pair of sunglasses off and chuckled, showing off his otherworldly eyes. One was bright green and quite alive, the other was more of an orange and seemed to have a glazed, milky quality to it. "Arissa dear, I'm afraid Project Æther is over," the jaguar said as he reached in both his pockets, the vixen and phoenix tensing up until they realized all he was taking out was a cigarette and a lighter, "I'm afraid that means the next few months will be a bit busy for you guys."

"What do you mean the project is over?" Varrius asked in shock, "Our people-"

"Will be quarantined of course," the jaguar said quite plainly in between a few puffs of tobacco, "Re-educated if possible, sterilized if necessary, those too young to understand will be taken away and given to new homes, those who refuse to adapt will-"

"That's enough!" Varrius roared as his wings flared, burning brightly with his ethereal rage, "We will do no such thing, whose authority is this on?"

"That would be mine," the feline said in the same cocky tone, one of his two guards going to the helicopter and back, passing him a death certificate to show the other two, "Rodrick passed on last week, tragic really, but I'm afraid that ends his pricier pet projects, including this one."

A look of sadness suddenly washed over Varrius and Arissa as they heard the news of their old friend's passing. A thick wall of regret washed over them as they thought of all the wasted time they could have spent seeing their old friend more, all the possible visits or even secret calls at the nearby fortress, but their anguish was quickly replaced with the urgency to defend their way of life. "So what is to be done with our people?" Varrius growled, the fire flaring up in his wings.

"I'm afraid they're to be decommissioned" the jaguar said very matter-of-fact, not a note of apathy in his voice as he yawned in their direction.

"Decommissioned?" Arissa pressed for a clear definition, "Just what the hell does that mean?"

The jaguar shrugged, giving her an awkward, fakely caring grin, "It's better we not go over details, now you two are valuable assets, so we're taking you and some necessary resources and taking you on out of here, ok?"

"Not ok!" the phoenix said, slamming his foot forward, the blades of grass around his foot simmering to ash as his beak clenched. His eyes were like wildfire as he gripped the feathers of his fists into spheres, "You're going to leave, right now, and consult the council!"

"Oh, the council, yeah..." the feline scratched the back of his neck, shrugging his shoulders as he gave the pair a relentless, sickening grin, "I sorta, kinda, disbanded that... so I guess you'll be following my lead, now first your daughter, go get her, tell your work bitches-"

"Handmaidens!" Arissa spat back.

"Handmaidens," the jaguar made sure to sound as hoity toity as possible, even giving the vixen a mocking curtsy, "...that you need her immediately, then we'll start the cleaning process, yadda, yadda, yadda, brand new life for you three, happily ever after, Lord of the Thrones written off and we give the military something they can actually use!"

Varrius' beak almost made a clicking sound as he pressed it together angrily, all the fire of his feathers blazing high, "New plan Jerriah, you leave now, and never show your awful face around here again. You find someone else to play lab rat with and leave with your body parts intact."

The jaguar shook his head with a chuckle, "Do you know how much money is invested in your silly little village? The maintenance of the power station, the initial importing of wild game, the visits here, the sample collection, the no fly zone permits? A handsome fortune has been wasted on this whole thing, and you've all brought us nothing in return!"

Arissa nodded to her husband as her paws began to glow, a shimmering cold whirling in her palms that slowly hardened to bright blue orbs of ice, "If you don't leave Jerriah, you'll lose far more than your precious money."

The feline sneered at the pair as he pushed his own paws forward, a dark green glow filling his arms, "You think you're the only two gifted ones in the world?" He swirled his arms around in a slow, hypnotizing motion until the green light grew dimmer, the grass around him wilting, "You only have this place because we found you. This was a job not a gift, and if I have to revoke your employment by force... I will!" He shot a blast of green energy at the pair, Arissa quickly deflecting it with the ice she had gathered.

Varrius stepped in between his wife and the angry feline, Palm thrust forward as the fire from his body rushed out in a twirling spiral towards him. His fur was singed as he jumped out of the way just in time, the fire hitting one of the helicopters, igniting it in a heavy flame. The other helicopters' passengers flooded out of their vehicles, each brandishing a heavy firearm. They aimed very quickly, their training paying off as they shot a swarm of bullets towards the fox and phoenix. Varrius whipped his paw outward, spreading a wave of fire over the rounds of bullets, Arrisa following up with her own shower of snow to freeze what made it through the flames. There was a great steam that raised to the air from the combination of elements, warming the area around them. Jerriah shot another blast of his energy towards the two now that he had some distance from them, his men rushing forward with their weapons.

One in particular got a tad too close and obstructed the jaguar's view. In anger he sent one blast of energy towards his direction, the wolf falling to the ground and wheezing as his breath seemed to leave him. His fur curled and darkened and his eyes turned a sickly, murky white, one last exhale escaping him as parts of him fell to dust. "Let that be a lesson to anyone who tries to get in my fucking way!" The feline roared as he shot more waves of strange energy, his frustration mounting as his two opponents kept up with the speed of his attacks so easily.

"Two against one Jerriah," Varrius called to his foe, "Give it up!"

"Not on your life!" He called back, working up a rather large dose of energy as the armed men surrounded the pair.

Arrisa shot a blast of ice towards them, the chunks of frozen matter thudding against the group of men and knocking them all to the ground. Most were unconscious from the battering, a few simply incapacitated by the shot to the gut. As soon as they were dealt with she aided in the fight against Jerriah. She shot her icy powers into the fire her husband was spreading, the mixture shooting an immense amount of steam into the jaguar's eyes. He growled as he felt the painful, burning sting in his eyes, his powers shifting short direction as he shook his muzzle in recoil. The energy had moved just enough to the side for the phoenix's fire to graze him, the fur of his right arm singing off and leaving a rather heavy burn along his side. "Damnit!" he hissed in response as he was limited to one arm, dropping the burned one to a limp as he grit his teeth in pain. He tried his best to defend himself but the sheer amount of fire and ice raining down on him was too much for him to handle.

He dropped to his knees, shaking as he felt the ice and fire cover his body. He let out a long howl of pain as he was frozen in place, half his fur reduced to ashes as the first hit him. "You are badly hurt," Varrius spoke calmly as he reached him, standing over the defeated foe, "If you give up now we'll make sure you seek medical attention."

The jaguar laughed as he shivered in pain, the freeze wounds reversible but the burns he suffered clearly going to leave longing damage, "I'd rather die than give in to you."

"You have to stop!" Arrisa pleaded to the feline, "Leave us be, cancel the project sure, but leave us as we are, we're happy here, the people of our village are happy and our colony if flourishing. No one from the mainland can reach us anyways so we'll never be a threat to each other."

"Maybe not now," Jerriah retorted, "But with the Ætherpulse, one day you will be."

"Then remove it," Varrius added, "Find some way of taking it from us and leave peacefully. The project means nothing to us anymore, we simply wish to live with our people now."

Jerriah considered the option momentarily, outweighing the pros and cons before his vindictive nature swayed his mind. He broke through the ice with his right arm, shattering a bone in the process. His adrenaline allowed him to temporarily ignore the pain, the feline pulling a small device from his pocket. He pressed a few buttons from it and looked to the couple he had hated for many years, giving them a bloodied, toothy grin as small satellites raised from mounts on the landed helicopters. "Sorry, but I'm gonna have to go with option C."

Fear filled the eyes of both the vixen and the Phoenix as they realized the dishes were relaying some sort of signal. "You've just killed all of us!" Varrius growled as his wings spread to their full span.

"Better_us_ than me," the jaguar chuckled sickly, "See you on the other side Varrius."

The Phoenix looked to his wife desperately as realization hit them, his paw reaching out to hold hers as she nodded. "We have to try," Arrisa said weakly, a look of dread filling her expression, "For Solaria."

Varrius clutched her close, and gave her a long, passionate kiss. Gripping her tightly as he lifted into the air, carrying his queen back towards the castle. They barely made it back in time, the phoenix dive bombing down the cliffs that formed a giant gap in the middle of their home, spiralling past the heavily rushing waterfalls. He twisted down in flight until he reached the bottom, a small entrance to a cave that had suddenly become quite alive with vibrant light. The two rushed in with their arms raised high, Arrisa shooting as much ice forward as she could to allow the pair to pass through the immense heat that begun rising. Varrius was more focused as he channeled his energy in careful bursts, slowly gathering an intense level of energy that matched the glowing shine of the cave. His mate had got them in as deep as she could before collapsing to the stone floor. Her paws burned and weak as the energy surrounding them began to sting their fur.

The vixen looked up to her husband, with a weak, desperate smile, hugging his legs as he began to glow in deadly light. "Well, this is it my dear."

Varrius smiled, or at least that's how it looked as he had become too bright to be seen in detail, the phoenix's feathers all vibrating as he began to spark, "Fear not my love, I'll guide you to the other side." Arrisa got to her feet slowly, her whole body weak and burned as the glow around them began consuming her fur. She hugged her mate with what was left of her body before he burst forward, fading into an all-consuming light that engulfed every inch of the cave.

There was a heavy quake that rocked the whole kingdom, shaking the foundation of the well-built castle. On the outskirts of the forest Jerriah still lay in his injured state, laughing to himself as he could feel the power that emanated from the kingdom. "Well Varrius, let's see how clever you really are." His words were never answered however as an alarm began to chime from the wrist of the fox that lay lifeless on the ground nearby, fear finally filling the Jerriah's eyes as he knew what was coming. He crawled desperately towards the heavy doors of the nearby complex, fingernails tearing from his burned digits as he hopelessly tried to pull himself with his free arm. It was too late though, and he turned as he felt the cold, dead air around him. The last thing he ever saw was the form of an indescribable nightmare looming over him and his men, and then, just as many before him, he was gone.

...

Years passed, and Solaria had grown into a beautiful girl, the blue fox sporting long navy blue hair, her eyes the same deep red as her father. She sat in the highest tower of Darkfox castle, her chin leaning on her palm as her whole posture slumped. It was a rather cloudy day, rain leaving signs of itself on the horizon. She had a single candle lit beside her as she gazed out at the world, her breath lowered to a sigh as she felt so alone. She had never had the chance to know her parents, and with all the pressures of ruling their kingdom, there was not much chance to socialize with others her age. She was far too young to be a Queen, but royalty was predetermined by blood not wisdom.

She longed for so much more, having rather been born a mere peasant. What she wouldn't give to just have one friend, a single companionship that wasn't an advisor or servant. They were all kind and tended to her every needs, but there was a hollowness to it, their roles and ages making it nigh impossible for her to connect with them. She would often look out among the horizon and wonder just what lay beyond the forbidden forest. There was countless tales of some being that kept anyone from travelling through the woods safely, which left her people stranded in their castle home, using the land around them for resources.

She wondered though, maybe just maybe she could find a way through one day, to visit the outside world, meet others her own age. She hung out of the windowsill, her paws gripping the stone as she leaned dangerously outward, looking over the forest's from, from its opening boundaries all the way to the hilly outline of the horizon. She focused on her back, the thought of flight resonating so deeply she felt as though she would just sprout wings right then and there. Her eyes squinted as the wind blew into them, the fresh breeze only ushering her forward. With her whimsical mindset she seemed to give into nature, dropping forward with a sudden deep breath.

'Shit!' the thought permeated her entire psyche as she dropped out of the window, the rushing air around her stinging like a rush of ice. Her teeth grit together as her heart beat endlessly, her last thought before hitting the ground, once again of flight. Her eyes shut tight as she braced for impact, expecting her last second to be reaching her, but instead she felt a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach, and opened her eyes as she began gliding in the air. She was dumbfounded, unable to believe just what was happening.

Her back was ablaze with bright flames, ember wings that caught the air as she drifted just above the treeline of the forest. "I-I'm flying, I'm flying!" she shouted out aloud as she soared onward, adrenaline and bewilderment flooding her senses as she tried to flap her new wings. Just as she started to do so however, she stumbled in her direction, her shaky pattern slowly dropping her down towards the trees. "No, no, no!" she whimpered as she quickly lost altitude, staring straight at a tall standing pine. Her face turned into a worried grimace as she closed her eyes once again, feeling the hard surface of wood and the sharp tickle of pine needles before all went black.

...

Kilala walked through the forest slowly as she enjoyed a bit of time to herself, always finding a tranquil peace in the woods. The fennec fox/white tiger hybrid swished her magnificent fluffy tail back and forth as she enjoyed the sounds, smells and scenery around her, her eyes glowing a bright red like always. She stopped suddenly in her tracks as she happened upon the unconscious form of Solaria, looking down with a concerned frown as she bent her legs. She picked up the fox gently, rubbing her forehead with a paw to slowly stir her awake, "Princess... princess?"

Solaria mumbled to herself as she slowly awoke, in a bit of a daze as she shook her head, "Wh-where am, wh-wha-happ-"

"Shh, you're alright dear," the hybrid said as she gripped her closer, patting her head both to reassure her and to make sure there was no lasting trauma, "You just had a bit of a tumble."

"A tumble?" Solaria replied with an awkward laugh, "You call flying a tumble?"

Kilala shrugged as she giggled, realizing her assumption was correct, "I was referring to the landing."

Solaria blushed as she felt rather embarrassed, "You saw that huh?"

She pat the girls arms then checked out her legs, her blue fur all frizzing up from being touched, "Nah, didn't see you, just figured with your dad being what he was, you flying one day wouldn't be much of a shocker." She felt around her back next and the fox grimaced, Kilala looking worried as her fingertips were met with dampness, "Please turn around for me sweetie."

Solaria did as asked, wincing as she felt a harsh sting, "No one's ever called me sweetie before."

"Well," Kilala chuckled as she looked over her, "I for one prefer to treat a lady like lady, even if she's royalty."

Solaria laughed, "Well I appreciate it, never liked this whole 'Princess' thing anyhow."

Kilala looked down at her reddened paw, stained with the same blood that was dripping from three rather large gashes on the fox hybrid's back, "Oh dear, you got a bit of a wound there deer."

"Is it bad?" Solaria asked with concern, hissing out a pained breath as something was pressed against the gashes that caused them to sting.

"No, not at all" she fibbed, worrying about the depth of them, knowing it would likely scar. "Don't mind the burning," she said as she pressed more grassy herbs to the wounds, the blood mixing them into a brownish mush, "Should be mild, just a little nature here, to fix what nature did there."

"They always said you were a master of strange medicines" Solaria said as she shook a little from the slight pain.

"Who's they?" the hybrid asked as she let the herbs settle.

"The other handmaidens."

"Ah." Kilala replied a little dismissively.

"They don't like you," Solaria said matter-of-factly, wincing again as the tiger/fox stood her up, brushing some dirt and pine needles off of her, "They say you have the eyes of a demon."

Kilala looked at Solaria with a deadpan expression, "...and what do you think?"

Solaria smirked, "I think you're lovely, eyes and all. I mean, who's a girl with fire wings to judge?"

Kilala's lips slowly curved into a smile as she pat her on the back, noting that Solaria didn't flinch, "See, good as new. Niumtatum plant, burns at first but helps you heal up quick, closes the wound and numbs it too."

"Where'd you learn all that?" the fox asked curiously, head cocking to the side as she noticed the hybrid's expression darken a little.

"That's for another time dear," she said as she held her paw, "C'mon, let's get you back home before it gets dark."