FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Conri felt another deep sigh rise up in his chest as he waited in the middle of the manor's foyer, Chrono waiting with him for Renzyl to take him home. After everyone at the pool party had been reverted back to their former selves he said his goodbyes to several others that stopped by to see him off, particularly Sivilath and Alskos who gave him a warm hug before he left. After several others did as well he and Chrono then waited, and after a few minutes the rubber dragon himself came out from one of the rooms with a satchel around his shoulder. "I'm so sorry to keep you waiting, we can move out now if you're ready," Renzyl asked, to which the panther nodded.

The two walked out of the manor, the silver raptor waving them off as they walked on the pathway up the grassy hill. It was hard for Conri to believe that he had been there over a week and experienced so much, and now he was on the same trail that he had traveled on to get there. He looked around to soak it all in, even looking back to see the manor before it disappeared behind the crest of the hill. They walked towards the wall of swirling purple, blue, and red fog that surrounded the realm, a background that he had gotten used to.

"I have to say that it has been a real pleasure having you here Conri," Renzyl said as they continued to walk. "I do hope you had a good time indulging in everything that the realm has to offer, which I have to say it's a bit strange escorting someone back after being exposed to this place for so long. But alas, it was very much stipulated that you were returned to your realm in the exact same condition you were in so it's not even an option for us."

"I suppose it was for the best," Conri replied, though he could feel his voice waver slightly that betrayed his confidence in his answer. "I'm going to miss this place, no joke."

Renzyl looked down at the panther with a warm smile then continued towards the petrification fog. He watched as it parted upon their arrival, revealing the canyon where the heavy vapor continued to pool. Unlike last time they took the low road, the swirling smoke stayed away from the two of them as they continued to head towards the teleportation circle. As they walked by the rocky outcropping they had hidden behind before his thoughts turned towards the Minotaur they had watched get covered in hardened rubber. When he asked about the condition of their fellow traveler Renzyl assured him that he would be the next creature that he would release once he was sure that he had made it home safely.

It didn't take long once they had crossed the fog wall and up the hill to the plateau of rock, which was the first thing that Conri had seen when he got there. He could almost still feel the magic from his arrival as he walked to the middle of it, though as he stood there he stopped when Renzyl took the bag he had been carrying and set it on the ground. He ushered in the panther to sit down on the stone as the rubber dragon opened the bag and pulled something out of it.

"I couldn't bear the thought of you leaving without some tokens of our trip here," Renzyl stated as he pulled out a small thumb drive and handed it to him. "The first thing that I have you is a rather lovely recording that the hypnonagas were more than happy to provide you. Now it's not going to be nearly as effective as the real thing, and if you show it to anyone else it will be even less of an effect. It would be fun for parties I guess, you could probably implant a suggestion or two before it wore off."

The next thing that the rubber dragon pulled out was a small tub of black sand that caused Conri to chuckle. "I think I know what that is." Conri grinned as it was placed in the palm of his hand. The rubber dragon chuckled and informed him that he could mold the sand into anything he desired and then upon activation it would harden into a rubberized version of whatever he had created.

"I'm starting to sense a pattern here," Conri joked as he was given a small, familiar plant next. "Are you sure that it's safe for me to have one of these?"

"Oh yes," Renzyl dismissed with a wave. "That plant, as well as everything that I'm giving you, is incapable of the things that you experienced in this realm. For instance the hydra'ngea plant will lull you in and perhaps wrap a bit around you but it can't turn you or anyone else into what you were transformed into. Well, except maybe for this next gift here."

Conri laughed as he saw what the demon had in his hands, a small set of paints that had very familiar names on them. "Now these paints are very limited and it's only a temporary transformation," Renzyl warned. "I would also recommend them to be for your own personal use, or if you have someone that you particularly trust I suppose you could bring them in on the loop if you don't mind explaining where they came from. And speaking of people you could trust, if you have a number of them you can always play one of these with them."

Renzyl fished out a deck of cards and gave them to Conri to flip through. Though they didn't have the same aura of magic as the ones they played with they had the same names and descriptions of the cards. The dragon informed him that they were duplicates from the game that they had played, something fun for him that was also a reminder of what he had gone through. As Conri put them away Renzyl already had the next gift for him, a set of latex cuffs for his ankles and wrists that would bind together upon their activation. They wouldn't completely coat his body like the living latex, but they were easy to use and also explain to any partners he might want to use them with.

The final object in the bag was a bottle of gel, which Renzyl explained was the most potent of the items that he would give him. A topical application would cause him to enter a temporarily gooey state, though his body would remain untransformed he would be able to experience the slickness of the gel lizard he had encountered earlier today that would continue for about an hour before it evaporated away. Once the show and tell had been completed Renzyl went ahead and gave him the satchel as well, which Conri draped over his shoulder.

"Thank you so much for all these wonderful gifts," Conri said. "I don't want to sound rude or anything, but I'm kind of surprised that you didn't give anything for the seventh day, the one where I learned your powers."

"That's because you're still wearing it," Renzyl replied with a smirk as he pointed to the latex collar that was still around his neck. "Though you will obviously not have the same measure of power that you had while you were here there will be some benefits to having it, such as being able to contact me through the nexus realm with it. I cannot guarantee that I'll respond every time, but besides that there should be a few other goodies that you'll find embedded in it should you find yourself feeling particularly adventurous."

Conri put everything back in the bag and shared a hug with the rubber dragon, both of them holding tight for a while before they broke apart. "Well, I suppose we should get down to it," Conri stated as he swung his arms in the air. "Man, I can't imagine what it's going to be like catching up on a week's worth of stuff that went on in the world without me."

Renzyl just smiled and closed his eyes, the lines of the stone glowing red as the world around them began to grow hazy and distant. Conri felt a tug against his body as the fog of the realm disappeared before his eyes, dissipating into a familiar starry sky. His entire body tingled as the black stone beneath his feet turned to grass and the glow of the city suddenly appeared. When the shift finished the panther realized that he was back in the same place where he had started, staring at a night sky with the demon dragon beside him, only this time it was far less shocking then their initial meet.

"Here we are, home sweet home," Renzyl stated as he looked out over hill, then back down at Conri. "At least for you. Do try to stay out of trouble, I'll be looking in from time to time on you, you know, to make sure none of the influences of my realm stuck with you... too much. Alas, this is where we must part ways and wish each other a fond farewell."

"You sure you got to go?" Conri asked as he pointed towards the city. "We could go in and I could show you around my place, maybe get something to eat. I mean you would look out of place a bit but I grab you some clothes and you'd be good to go."

Renzyl chuckled and shook his head. "Unfortunately if I enter your realm of influence there will be certain consequences that I don't think either of us would want to happen," he explained as he handed Conri his duffle bag. "For now this will be good-bye, but who knows if our paths may cross again? Until then I must bid you adieu."

Conri blinked and the rubber dragon was gone, suddenly finding himself completely alone in an empty field. The sounds of the night came to life once more, unabated by his arrival. When he fished his phone out of his duffle bag he found it to be fully changed and turned it on, only to be shocked when he came to the login screen. "It's the exact same time..." he uttered in awe as he watched the seconds tick by once more. "Like I never left."

When he opened his phone and scrolled through it for any indication he had even left he found an app at the end of his phone that hadn't been there before. It was simply called 'Nexus Chat' and looked like a typical social media app, except that he found Renzyl and quite a few others from his trip listed under his friend's list. He even saw Renin, which made him wonder how a goo lizard could possibly operate a phone before he smiled and slipped it into his pocket. With that he walked back into the city, his head filled with stories that caused him to grin to himself, knowing that his life would never quite be the same again.