FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"You must always be aware, my serpentine friend, that the spirits all around us speak to us every day. For some, it is easy enough to hear them, for others, the journey is difficult."

The wise old woman stares off into the distant savannah beyond their village home. Behind her, Arya stares off as well, a half-forgotten trauma tickling at the back of her mind.

"It must have been so easy for you," Arya says. "Being here. In this place. I was always a city girl, always listening to my Uncle. I was never really one for spirituality."

"Spirituality, physicality, it took me time to realize that these things are not so different." The old woman pokes her in the chest with her cane. "Many say the spirit is in the heart, where the blood goes throughout the body, yes? But others say the spirit is here," she points to her own head, "where our thoughts tell the rest of us how to act. Still more think it lies down here..." she slides the cane down Arya's body, just below her navel. "Here, where our desires churn and tell the brain what they want, to tell the heart to pursue goals and dreams. But this is not the whole truth."

She sighs, holding herself up with both hands on the cane. "The spirit is everywhere. It is in everything, and some people find it differently. What matters is that you don't squander what you have."

"But, I was groomed to be a weapon... I hurt people. What use am I spiritually, if I'm just someone's sword."

"Sword, arrow, tooth, claw, it is all the same, look..." The old woman turns around.

Arya looks over the shoulder. Two of the children in the village wrestle each other on the ground. Arya advances, but the old woman places her cane in the way, stopping the snake.

The two kids pick themselves up, laughing and hugging before they run off once more to play some other game. "We all have bodies. We all have spirits. Our bodies can be weapons, or instruments for play. We can scream hate to each other, or sing. And a song is what we make of it, nothing more, and nothing less. It is our spirits that determine what music means to us."

Arya sighs. "Well, I don't know about music, but I think I get what you're saying. I don't have to be my Uncle's weapon. I can use my gifts for good and-"

"Oh, you have your youth still. You think you know everything. The difference between the young and the old is that the old doesn't have to pretend to know everything. Such a shame that people die young, even when they wear the mask of the old," She laughs.

Arya smiles a little at that. "I know a few people like that. But what does this have to do with songs, again?"

"Child, child... have you already forgotten your own song? The song of death and hatred? I may be old, but I hear it in those nights when you curl up in your sleep. It is your Uncle's song, is it not...?"

"My..." Arya shivers all over, slithering away. "No, I... I don't know..." but the flashes come to her mind, the old record player, her uncle's growling hums, the visions of red, the explosion of pleasure, the steam from the room, Star and Uma.

Arya snaps awake the incessant buzzing still assaulting her body. She groans, flopping onto her back as she puts all her strength against the zip ties on her wrists. She grits her teeth, groaning in her exertion. "C... come on, M... Mouse! I'm done, I give up. You can do whatever the hell you want. Just let me out of here!"

But Mouse does not respond.

"Star, that's your name, right? I'll leave Mouse alone for good. I won't see her again. I just want to leave now, before Jay or anyone else gets in here and sees us."

But Star does not respond, either.

Arya blinks, and tilts her head back, wondering just what is happening between the two. When she sees them, they sit up straight, their eyes wide and their mouths trembling. She couldn't hear it before, but now, Arya can't help but hear the muttering coming from both of them. It's a confused state of babel, as if they had just met with something they couldn't wrap their minds behind. But through it all, there is no fear in their eyes, just surprise, and excitement.

"It was a song with an evil spirit that was put into you, my friend. But you need to put in a song with a good intent in its place."

She remembers the old woman's words, that wise woman who might as well be an entire world and lifetime away from this palace of physical delights, with music thumping in the background from the dance hall, thundering an old song, discordant and angry and with no rhyme or reason to it.

It is a song that her Uncle used to play for her. She remembers it now, and when she does, she finds herself drifting off.

Realizing this, Arya shakes her head. "F... fucking hell, what? What's happening to me...?"

"That's a good girl, Arya," her uncle growls, looming over her, adjusting his hat. "Just listen to the music, and keep your eyes on Mr. Stanley here."

"B... boss, you can't... I don't wanna.

"S... shh... it's okay, Stan. She's just a little girl. What harm can she do to you... look at her, and her cute little eyes..." He grabs the man, fingers peeling back his lids. "Don't you just want to stare deep into those."

"That's right, Arya, look at him. Do you recognize him?"

The young Arya shakes her head.

"Good, girl, because whoever you look at when you hear this song, you don't know them. You don't care about them. They're just in your way... and what happens when someone's in your way...?"

A lunge, followed by the pressure, then the taste of fur, skin,a nd blood, and the rush of venom.

The man collapses to the floor, crying as he holds his shoulder.

"Good girl, very good girl... I think we're finally ready... you'll be a great asset, just like your dear old dad."