FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"I take it that you're finally satisfied?" asked Nurse Ray. Ying's stomach growled loudly in response. She giggled but understood the not-so-subtle cue.

"You just wait right here," she said as she made her way to the door. "I'll be right back." Nurse Ray closed the door quietly and made her way down the hall. She couldn't help but put a noticeable spring in her step as she made her way to the kitchen. The sight of her young patient recovering so well was the best sight she'd seen in a while. When she'd first come in... she shuddered at the memory. She'd been a nurse at the temple for nearly forty years and yet she'd never seen anything like what had been brought into her ward that night. Ying had suffered multiple lacerations and was nearly dead from blood loss when Nurse Ray finally saw her. It had taken her nearly two hours to stop the bleeding and stitch the wounds shut. On top of that, Ying had broken several bones and had a serious concussion. It was a miracle that she'd been able to wake up at all, let alone crawl all the way up to the temple. Come to think of it, Ying's recovery was pretty miraculous, given the extent of her injuries. It had only been a few days, and yet if it weren't for the bandages, it would have been hard to tell that anything had actually happened... Nurse Ray tutted herself sharply. It didn't matter, she thought. Her patient was getting better - how fast she did it was irrelevant. She pushed the thoughts out of her mind as she entered the kitchen and concentrated instead on preparing her patient's supper. There was a bit of stew left over from yesterday's lunch which should do just fine, as well as some bread and cheese in the parlour. Lastly, she refilled the water jug. There, she thought. That should be enough to satisfy the hungry child. She balanced the meal carefully on a tray and made her way back to her ward. She found Ying sitting stock still on the bed, her eyes fixed on the door. She was smiling. "Ah," said Nurse Ray. "You must definitely be feeling better if you're up." She set the tray down next to the bed and turned to Ying. "There we are. Eat up!" Ying said nothing and continued to stare at the open doorway. Nurse Ray frowned. "Are you alright, my dear?" she asked. Ying turned her head slowly until she was looking directly into the Nurse's eyes. Her smile seemed to widen, but otherwise she said nothing. "Oh dear," said Nurse Ray. "You don't look well at all, my dear." She reached down to feel Ying's forehead when suddenly Ying's hand shot up and grabbed her. She tried desperately to pull away, but the panda's grip was like iron. "Ying," she cried. "What are-" Before she could finish, Ying had thrown her to the floor and pinned her down. Nurse Ray tried to scream but was silenced by Ying's paw around her throat. "Don't worry," whispered Ying in a voice that was nowhere near her own. "This will only hurt for a second..."

The library felt considerably colder as Lee and Kovu huddled close together beside their master. They hadn't said a word on the way back but had held hands the whole way. Their master had resumed his frantic pacing and hadn't even acknowledged the two of them when they returned. After a while, Lee spoke. "Master?" she asked. Master Lao stopped mid-stride but didn't turn to face her. "Master," Lee continued. "What's going on?" The Master sighed and rubbed his temples. "I'm afraid I don't know, my child," he sighed. "I just don't know." Of all the things that he could have said, this admission of defeat hit Lee and Kovu the hardest. For all their lives, they had lived in the temple. It had been decided from the moment of their birth that they would study the ancient arts and were carried away before they were even a year old. Master Lao was a father to all of them, and in all that time he had always had an answer. To see him completely defeated like this... A piercing scream from the medical ward made them all start. "That was Nurse Rose!" cried Master Lao. Kovu and Lee leapt to their feet and, with their Master, ran to the medical wing. As they rounded the corner into the passage, there was a loud crash from Ying's room. "Ying!" cried Lee. They picked up the pace and stopped outside the door. It was all quiet on the other side. "Ying?" Lee called nervously. No response. Master Lao nodded to Kovu who reached out to open the door. It was locked, so he broke it down with a deft kick. The inside was a complete disaster. Broken furniture was strewn across the room, linen was ripped to shreds, and - most terrifying of all - a gaping hole and been torn in the back wall which led outside. The three of them crept slowly through the wreckage, alert for any signs of life. A low moan under the remnants of the bed caught Master Lao's attention and he beckoned to his two students. They lifted the various pieces and found the battered body of Nurse Rose underneath. Apart from a few gashes across her chest, she seemed thankfully unscathed. Kovu and Lee helped her to her feet. "My dear Nurse Rose," said Master Lao gently. "What happened here?" "I-it was... A-Ying..." Nurse Rose stammered. "She was crazy... she just..." her voice was choked off by powerful sobs as she buried head in Kovu's chest and began crying. As Lee watched the nurse, she felt anger slowly burn in her chest. It suddenly exploded, tearing through her body like fire. She wrenched the nurse from Kovu and flung her against the wall. "Where is she?" Lee snarled viciously. "Where is she?" she screamed again as Kovu yanked her off the trembling nurse. "Lee, what the hell?" shouted Kovu as he struggled to restrain his friend. She finally broke free and spun around to face Kovu and Master Lao. "Oh come on," she said. "She has to be lying. There's no way Ying could have done... all this. " She waved her arm around the room limply for emphasis. "I'm telling you," cried Nurse Rose. "It was Ying. Only -" "Only what?" snapped Lee. "Only..." stammered Nurse Rose, "there was something... different about her. It was like she was Ying... but she wasn't." Lee glared at her but said nothing. She was curious now as to what the nurse had to say. "Go on, dear nurse," urged Master Lao gently. Nurse Rose cast a fearful glance in Lee's direction before she began to speak: "I was coming back from the kitchen with her supper," she said quietly. "She'd just drunk an entire pitcher of water in one breath but was still very hungry. I thought that was odd, but told myself it was because of her injuries. So I went to get her a meal and when I came back, she was sitting on the bed, watching the door. I put the food down on the table, and then..." Her voice trailed off and she began sobbing again. Master Lao reached out and took her hand in his. "It's okay, my dear," he said. "Take all the time you need." Nurse Rose nodded slowly and took several deep breaths. "I was just about to leave when she attacked me and pinned me to the ground. I was able to throw her off and we fought." She rubbed the cut on her stomach at the memory. "She then went for the knife I'd brought and that's when I screamed." "Yes," nodded Master Lao. "We heard you from the library." "When she heard you coming... that's when she punched the hole in the wall and ran. She just tore it like it was paper..." The whole room was quiet as Nurse Rose finished her story. No one knew what to say. What the nurse had said was completely crazy, and yet the evidence was all around them. Kovu and Lee just stood there, waiting for the Master to tell them what to do. Master Lao stroked his chin slowly as he weighed up his options. The thought that Ying could be capable of something like this was deeply disturbing. He would never have considered anything of the sort before, but then again... Something had definitely happened in that forest and now one of his students was dead, the other was possibly on the loose, and the other two were tired and afraid. This needed to be resolved as soon as possible. Finally, he reached a decision. "Kovu, I want you to stay here with Nurse Rose while Lee and I go look for Ying." "But Master -" cried Lee. "That's enough, Lee!" the Master snapped. Lee opened her mouth to protest but closed it when she met her Master's angry glare. "Now, listen here, my children. Right now, Ying is out there, hurt and possibly deeply troubled. Now I don't know what's wrong with her, but if we want to help her then we need to find her before she hurts anyone else. Am I clear?" Lee nodded but remained silent. "Good," said Master Lao. "Kovu, tend to Nurse Rose. Lee, follow me." Lee grumbled as she followed her Master through the hole in the wall. Kovu watched them leave until eventually the darkness seemed to consume them both.