FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Do you guys like this or the other story series better? Just curious. and Im working on Blaze (2/2) so dont get yourself tied in a knot over it! :P

~Millennius

A loud shot rang through the forest. Something hit the bear and was followed by cheers of men. Argon and Eiffel stopped to see what was going on. Just around a big oak there were three hunters, all with rifles. One raised his barrel to the oncoming bear and fired right between the beast's eyes. That made another cheer call out through the forest.

Argon knelt next to Jason as Eiffel kept an eye on the men. Jason had a few cuts across his chest and arms, but wasn't bleeding that bad. Argon grabbed Jason's shoulders and shook him gently. "Jason. Wake up Jason!" He whispered in Jason's ears. "You need to wake up already!"

"Keep it down. We don't know how well their hearing is Argon." Eiffel scolded him from across the clearing.

Argon ignored this statement, but did quiet himself down a bit more than he had been before. Jason had groaned once or twice and mumbled about a headache. Argon picked him up and carried him into the tent. Here he sat Jason down on top of one of the sleeping bags.

Eiffel came over with the remnants of Jason's re-curve. It was in fact broken into two parts, and would never be used again except maybe for some firewood if it got lucky. But aside from that, they heard a clamor from outside.

"Hey. There are some arrows in the bear. Who could have shot these? They're fresh too, so it can't have been that long ago." Jason stirred beside Argon.

"You two hide. Anywhere but â€"gnh..." He inhaled sharply. "â€"here. If you do, they will kill you two, and I won't let that happen."

"There's no way we can leave you here for them to find you. They could be men from the Institute. Even if they did save your live unintentionally, they could still be..." there was a rustling in the campsite, and the men started to talk again.

"Look! More arrows...and fragment of a bow."

"And there's blood here too. That bear must have attacked someone."

"A tent! Maybe they got into it for safety." The three men could be heard walking towards the tent, and Argon and Eiffel started to freak out.

"Behind there." Eiffel said and ducked behind one of the bags Jason brought, while Argon climbed under the other two sleeping bags. Just as he slid the covers over his head, there was the sound of the tent opening. A head came in, saw Jason and was removed as the zipper was opened all the way.

"Hey, kid! Are you alright?" The man picked Jason up and carried him outside to his friends. "He's cut open in a few places." The other two came over to look. Jason had gotten slashed again on the upper arm, on the leg, and he had hit his head on a rock when landing. Blood covered his face and torn appendages, making him almost unrecognizable.

"Do you have a family nearby son?" A man holding a rifle asked him, his neck covered in a scarf. Jason nodded his head.

"They went to go get my sister from another campsite. I was polishing my bow when it came towards me. I don't remember much after that..." Jason was hoping they'd buy his story. They did.

"Oh. I thought it would be pretty deserted this time of the year, no? Oh well. At least let me stitch you up before I go." The man opened his pack and produced a small first aid kit. Out of that he took a needle and some fine thread.

Outside, Argon could here the sounds of the men asking Jason what had happened, followed by small whimpers of pain. He peeked outside of the opening in the tent and saw the man stitching him up. ‘I bet Jason just adores stitches' Argon thought regretfully, remembering what he had done to Jason just a few days ago. It had been an accident, and Jason had played it off as if it didn't hurt, but the pain on his face was always visible whenever he lifted hefty things.

Argon hid again under the sleeping bag when they came back with Jason in their arms. He was trying his best to detour them from the tent by saying it was too hot in there and he would like to sleep under the stars. But they weren't buying it. They set him face down on top of Argon's bag and the one man with a scarf bent down and slipped something into Jason's hand and winked. When he got back up, Argon barely noticed the scarf slip a fraction, revealing the tips of some white marks on his face, evenly spaced apart.

The men left the campsite with the bear, and Argon waited until he could no longer here the dragging noise and drunken laughter before he moved out from under Jason. Jason laughed a little. "Hope I don't weigh too much."

Argon smiled. "You? Do you really have to say that? You weigh nothing compared to--"

"Oh shut up and get a room already." Eiffel had came out from behind the bag and sat down on Jason's bag. His bandages were a little loose, and Jason made a move for them, only to be pushed back down by Eiffel.

"You can't be doing anything for at least tonight. Rest before we move out in the morning." He let go on Jason who reached up and retied the knot in Eiffel's bandages. Eiffel rolled his eyes. "Argon, hold his arms under him please." Argon grabbed Jason's arms, unsure what was going on.

Eiffel just stood up, turned around, and sat on top of Jason's chest, effectively pinning him down. "Now sit on his legs." Argon let go of Jason's pinned arms and sat down on his thighs, pinning his legs.

"Get off of me!" Jason protested, trying to wriggle free, but only opening a wound in the process.

"No." Eiffel said. "We won't get up until you fall asleep. Then we won't have to worry about what you will do."

Jason was astonished by the way Eiffel was treating him. Like he cared. It made Jason's head a bit dizzy at the revelation. "And since when did you care about me, suicidal puppy? All the times we've touched, I was either carrying you or being held up by a knife by you. And now you want me to be kept safe, huh? How does that work?"

"Because those men worked for the director. They weren't drunk, just acting. And they set that bear on you. I could smell them the second I saw the bear. It even had a collar if you would have looked close enough. Now, that man gave you something, didn't he? What was it?" Eiffel got up for a second and reached a hand down Jason's jacket, fishing out a folded envelope. Eiffel sat back down on top of Jason and opened it, taking out a letter. He read it aloud:

Jason, Eiffel, and Argon,

I have come to understand that you three have allied yourselves against the Institute. It leaves me o choice but to go into a more aggressive action in order to get you to cooperate with my cause. Inside you will get your clue as to what I mean by this. I'll give you until Thursday to get here and return the two creatures before...well. You are smart enough to know what is at the end of all ransom notes, no? I'll be seeing you around.

The Director

Eiffel set the note down and turned the envelope over. Out came a single ring. It was shiny silver with a gold trim. A small ruby was set in the center. Jason made a squeaking noise, and fear finally gripped him as it had Eiffel and Argon. Suddenly, he had something to loose.

His Mother

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * *

Jason had fallen into a restless sleep after a few minutes of arguing with Eiffel about weather or not to go. Eiffel followed suit in the other sleeping bag, leaving Argon without a spot to sleep. He crept closer to Jason and tapped his shoulder. Jason stirred but didn't wake. Argon tried again with the same results, so he grabbed Jason's shoulder and shook him awake.

"What do you want Argon?"

"well, I was just wondering if you had any more blankets or anything. Eiffel took the other sleeping bag." Jason was quiet for a moment and Argon had thought he fell back asleep when he raised his head to look at Argon. His eyes were bloodshot and wet with tears, but Jason still formed a smile as he sat up.

"Yeah. Let me get it." Jason got out of the sleeping bag and shuffled past Argon to the packs in the corner. Jason opened one and closed it without anything. The second proved more fruitful as Jason pulled out a fairly warm blanket. He stood back up as far as he could in the tent and draped the blanket over his own shoulders before settling down next to the sleeping bag and Argon.

"What? No. I was going to sleep with the blanket Jason." But Jason wasn't listening. Argon sighed and climbed into the sleeping bag himself, all the while thinking if you could be too nice for your own good. No one had ever given up a warm bed for him before now, and he had always been forced to sleep on top of a thin blanket on some cold concrete. Jason was, in effect, the best thing that had ever happened to him.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Jason's mother was finished crying now and was sitting as still as possible; trying not to wake what sat sleeping behind her. Soft snore came from the creature she was tied to and she tried to wake herself from this terrible dream.

Reaching over to her other arm, she dug her nails into her wrist. Pain shot up her arm, but she refused to stop, and soon blood welled from her cut wrist as she finally stopped.

"What the hell are you doing lady? If you cut an artery, they wont spare you."

That was the first time it had spoken to her directly, and Jason's mother was quite surprised to hear it talk at all. "Y-y-you c-can talk?"

"No shit Sherlock. Of course I can talk."

She felt a wave of lightheadedness wash over her as she tried to process what was going on at the moment. She had been kidnapped. Now she was on a death list for ransom of two other creatures like the thing behind her. And the thing could talk.

"Do-do you have a...um...a name?"

"Not really. We aren't allowed to have names here because they give us a sense of being and individuality. But me my brother and this other one have heard of names before from our handlers and use them between us. Mine is Paris, my brother's is Eiffel and the other's is Argon."

Jason's mom nearly fainted as she remembered the friend Jason had brought home. Argon. He had been wearing clothes that concealed his whole body, and now she knew why. He was an outcast, a monster, and needed to hide it. And of course, her son Jason, didn't care and helped him escape and now she was here and he was somewhere else entirely and she didn't know when anything would be solved, if ever. She was getting a headache now from the thoughts that swam through her head. That this was really happening to her.

"Feeling woozy?"

"uâ€"uâ€"uhâ€"h-huh........" She really was starting to feel quite dizzy and wasn't sure whether or not she would pass out. But she calmed herself in the only way she knew how. She talked.

"S-so...tell me more about this...place." She asked nervously.

"Oh! It's great really. If you like having nothing to call your own and being a slave to a corrupt company, that is. Other wise its hell and you won't get out of here alive, let alone in a container bigger than an ashtray."

Jason's mom gave a little gasp. "Could it really be that bad?"

"Well, let me start from the beginning. When I was born into the world, I was a littler of six. My mother was a bitch and my father was a mutation gone wrong. A failed first attempt. Me, Eiffel and our four other brothers were all given numbers and assignments. Neither I nor Eiffel liked ours too much. I cant do the things I need to do and Eiffel hates killing things. He just can't see the blood. It brings back too many memories for him.

Soon, our brothers stopped doing enough work to satisfy their trainers and one at a time they were put into the Box. The box is a place where the hunters are required to train their hunting skills on the misbehaving. But Eiffel wouldn't do it. He couldn't. He's too kind, no matter what he says or does. I think he'd rather kill himself than another, just so he wouldn't see it.

That day, we lost a brother. And the others followed suit. We are alone in this world. Alone except for Argon. He was in the cell next to ours. Eiffel sometimes talked to him when he wasn't working. But me and Argon chatted away our spare time together. He's really nice...and cute." Paris smiled a little.

"What happened then? How did he escape?"

"Eiffel was caught talking to him. He was being forced to hunt Him down because they wanted Argon gone and Eiffel's only friend dead. This happened a few years ago. I can't remember why this all happened, but eventually, Argon and Eiffel ended up mortal enemies. Argon was always running from Eiffel, who was always chasing Argon. That's why they send Eiffel after Argon instead of another, better hunter too. Eiffel knows how argon thinks and how he moved and hides. So all the better to catch him with, no?"

"Oh."

"Yeah...So now, with both of our lives on the line, they have to come back here with Argon if Eiffel wants to live."

"What about me and Jason? They'll let us go once they have the boys, right?"

Paris let out a very grim laugh. "Oh...you don't understand, lady. Once you know what goes on in here, you either work for here and have cameras and voice recorders all over you if the director sees you fit for the job, or you don't come out. Period."