FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Notes from the author:

Well, my readers. I am back. I am sorry for the long wait, but as I said, my life had pulled me away from writing for a time. I tried to please my readers by not leaving off with a cliffhanger, but that might have been a mistake seeing as how my current stories have amounted to the equivalent to a porno with no money shot. When I left (and I did say that I would be gone for a while, although some people might consider a couple months more than a "while"), I had no intention of leaving off the stories, and plan to write this to the end. Anyways, I hope that nothing of the sort happens again, and you can look forward to more segments to be posted. Anyway, I know that after so long, this story might not be up to par with my other stories, but as I have said before: the plot must go on! Stay tuned for the next installment.

(By reading this story, you......... blah blah blah)

From The Ashes

Part 11

Family Matters

"Veronica..." A blue-furred feline tossed an turned as a familiar voice echoed through her foggy head. "Jared, what do you want?" She said groggily. "Veronica..." Wait a minute... That wasn't Jared's voice. "Veronica..." Veronica sat bolt upright. She cast her eyes about the darkness, but nothing was to be seen. She placed her paw on the other side of the bed, seeking the shoulder of her mate to stir him awake.

However, her hand felt empty air where the warm body of her lover should be. Her breath quickened. What in the name of the Gods was going on here? "Jared?" No, that wasn't Jared's voice. "Veronica..." Wait... "Zeig!?" She asked to the darkness, the familiarity of the voice finally registering in her mind. "Yes, Veronica..." No, it couldn't be. The voice was lying. "But...But you're dead." Veronica said to the voice. Was she going insane? The dead can't speak. No, impossible. She saw him die. His body was engulfed in a sea of mosquito soldiers draining his life fluids with piercing stabs. "No, Veronica..."

Veronica began to shake violently. She screamed as the darkness crept from the corners of the room to engulf her. "No! Zeig!" she yelled as she felt her world spin, She ended up on her back. A face materialized in front of hers, she felt hands holding her down, shaking her. In her hysteria, she swiped at it with her now-unsheathed claws. She felt her claws rake against flesh, blood running down her claws. Whatever she was up against wasn't a ghost, it was mortal, it could be killed. She regained her wits and with lightning speed, brought her legs up to kick the unseen assailant into the wall, although she was careful not to use enough force to kill, just stun. She wanted to see what this newcommer wanted with her.

She regained her footing and brought her claws to the attacker's jugular. She kept firm pressure at the neck, wanting to discourage it from moving. "Who are you!?" She demanded.

"Jared." Her mate choked as he tried desperately to press against the floor harder, lessening the pressure at his neck.

At that moment, the door burst open.

******

About half an hour earlier...

Fuse's dream was full of warmth and pleasure. She dreamt of lying on the beach. Zach was off swimming in an ocean. She was lying on a towel on the warm sand. The sun was radiant off the water. Fuse watched Zach swim. Even though she knew he loved the water, she didn't find it as enjoyable. She descided to make him choose: the water, or her. A quick glance made sure that no one was around, they were alone.

She slowly undid the top of her bathing suit, a two piece that was a soft blue that matched her spine fur, but contrasted with her white belly. She held it at her chest until she caught Zach's eye. She let it slide off her arms and placed it next to her, leaning back on her hands as she watched Zach's eyes go wide with surprise as her breasts hung freely in the sea air.

She chuckled to herself as she watched a wave throw her lover off balance as he struggled to maintain his view of her. She laid back as she moved her hands over her breasts. She felt the familiar tingle of her own fingers as she cupped her hands over her own globes. She rubbed her palms in circles over her nipples in a practiced motion. She knew how to get herself going.

Her canine muzzle licked her lips as she sent sensations of pleasure through her own hands to her nipples. She ran one hand down her chest, to her stomach, down her navel, bisecting her waist, and finally comming to rest at her sex. She gave her clit an eperimental rub with the tip of her finger. She let out a loud "Mmmmmm." She overexaggerated a bit to ensure that the sound carried over the waves. She felt her juices start flowing. She lifted her head to look between her legs to the sea beyond.

Zach was still watching intently from his vantage point. He had taken up swimming back and forth, all the while stealing glances at Fuse.

She lifted her hand that was now glistening with her own fluids from constant stimulation. She made a show of sucking on a finger. She cast her eyes up in a pondering look, as if she was sampling the taste. She had tasted herself before, and found it a little off. The savor of her lover was much better to her tongue. She slipped her finger out of her mouth and returned it to its job of firmly rubbing her clit. She let her other hand abandon her nipple to join it's partner near her dripping lips. She inserted her middle finger and proceeded to thrust in and out of herself. Her other fingers and palm kneading the skin around the penetration, adding new feeling of warmth and pleasure as she felt herself getting wetter.

She pumped her own nether regions faster and faster. Her tail was making an arc in the sand as it swished back and forth, an obvious testament to her own pleasure. She moaned as she orgasmed, feeling the sands get wet with her flow. She watched as Zach came strolling over. She watched him eye her over as he said, "Awww, I missed all the fun?"

"Maybe next time you'll be faster. It was tiresome having to do all the work." Fuse smiled. She stretched back and yawned. She watched as her mate plopped down beside her. She pretended not to notice the bulge in his shorts. She looked strait into his eyes and smiled. "Good morning, darling."

Fuse woke to find herself lying sideways in what felt like a puddle. "It seems I wasn't lying when I said pleasant dreams." said Zach from the other side of the bed, who was eyeing her with curious amusement. Remembering her vivid dream, Fuse retorted, "Well, what do you expect?"

Zach chuckled to himself. "For maybe for you to be satisfied long enough to sleep."

"Hehe, can I help it?" she giggled.

"I suppose not."

"Would you have it any other way?"

"Not a chance. Hehe, my libido is just as good as yours."

"Well, then. I'm certain we will find out whos is the bigger craving."

"Haha, I look forward to it."

Further speech was drowned out by a muffled thud of something hitting the wall adjacent to them...hard. "What was that?" Zach asked, but Fuse's ears were busy sweeping the room. "It sounds like it came from....next door!" The couple scrambled to throw on some clothes as they unbolted the door and rushed to their friend's room.

Fuse arrived to the locked door. With a flick of her wrist, she called up aether. She shaped it into raw energy and pressed it against the door lock. The door gave way with a snap.

Fuse couldn't believe her eyes, Veronica was killing Jared. She didn't know what was going on, but wasn't about to let one friend kill another. She threw her arms forward, conjuring more aether.

Tendrils of blue-white light snaked forth from her fingertips, wrapping around Veronica's person. Fuse yanked back, ripping Veronica from atop Jared, freeing him.

Veronica lay there for a second, a look of horror frozen on her face. Fuse lifted her restraints, but only after making sure that Veronica was not going to jump up and attack again.

"Okay, now that we've got V calmed down...can someone help me? Im losing kinda of a lot of blood here." Jared said from the floor.

Fuse and Veronica rushed to his side. Jared looked into his lover's eyes and was afraid for a second, but the savage instincts were gone from her eyes, and he only saw love and worry as the pair of women summoned aether into it's healing form. Jared felt the blood stop, the wounds close and the pain lessen as the aether sped up his body's cells, causing them to heal the wound faster than otherwise possible.

Jared sat up, none the worse for the wear, albeit with three new scars across his brow, right temple, and right cheek. Veronica kneeled down in front of him. "Jared...I...I'm so sorry."

"I think I knew what I was getting into when I saw the tree back on that planet. Im just sorry I scared you." Jared said, taking Veronica into his arms." Veronica smiled, remembering the time that he caught her clawing. She usually did it after sex, when she is most sensitive to touch. "Just try to remember I'm not the scratching post." Jared chuckled, holding her close. He didn't think Veronica could do anything to make him mad.

"You two are crazy." Fuse said. "But lucky. You didn't hit anything vital, V, just got a good swipe at his face. I guess the reason there was so much blood was because it was his face that took the blow, I dont think you pierced his neck. Although those scars seem like they'll be there for a while." Veronica looked at Jared's face, and he said, "Ah, well, its no biggie."

"So, what was it that you were tossing and turning about in the first place." Jared asked. "Just a dream." Veronica said, although she was less convinced than she sounded. "Just a dream."

After Jared and Veronica had changed into their clothes and washed the blood off, the three left the room to see Zach dispersing the crowd. Jared had to hand it to him, he did know how to handle a crowd. I guess being a magician comes with some people skills, and Jared was comming to respect that.

As Zach finished sending the gathering crowd on their merry way, then came rushing over. "Okay, the near-death experience over for today?" "Not, even, close." Jared said, thinking of the impending meeting with his family.

Right then, Steven's cell phone started to ring. "What's that music?" Fuse's asked as her ears perked up. "Some piano melody. I'll show you later." Jared said as he flipped open the phone. "Lo?"

"Jared."

"Steven."

"The family is gathered."

"K."

"We're ready for you, everyone is prepared."

"Okay, we'll be there in a bit."

"See you then."

"Bye."

"Well, lets go meet the fam." Zach said. "Yall don't have to come, like I said." Jared said. "Fuse is your friend, and she wants to. And I know better than to try to keep her away from something she wants." Zach said with a smile toward his canine lover, who returned with an innocent smile of her own. Jared chuckled, "Hehe, I know, she always gets what she wants." Fuse smiled even wider.

The ride to Jared's house was uneventful, aside from Fuse's continual frisky behavior. Veronica kindly let Jared in peace. Jared played over a hundred scenarios in his mind, thinking of what was going to happen.

The four arrived at Jared's house. It was a moderate brick house in a small brick neighborhood. They walked up to the door, through the short cut grass. Jared took a breath and rang the doorbell.

Steven answered the door, but that didn't surprise Jared. "Hey, Steven." Jared said. "Hi, Jared. Come, they're waiting." Jared took a breath and walked from the hallway into the living room. Jared knew there was going to be an uncomfortable silence, and wasn't disappointed. He took the moment to sweep the room. It seemed that all the family was invited. There were a few noted absences, but Jared supposed those people were just tied up in other things.

"Hey everyone!" Fuse said eagerly. Jared would have slapped his hand to his forhead. Everyone else had the same look of shock by her sudden outburst. Leave it to Fuse to break a silence. Jared smiled to himself.

"Well, hello everyone. It's sure good to see you all again. These are my friends, Zach and Fuse." Jared said, then he pulled Veronica to his side, "And this is my mate- err, girlfriend." Jared heard some of the more male-minded family members say "Good job!" at a look to Veronica, but Jared ignored it.

Jared's family stopped keeping their distance, as the initial discomfort of seeing Jared again faded, and they started talking and greeting and being friendly.

Jared was happy that his family wasn't making it any more uncomfortable than it had to be. And he was also glad that they were taking to Veronica, Fuse, and Zach very well. It was a very laid back family, and Jared loved them for it. Jared was equally glad that Auldron had taken it upon himself to install nerve-stimulators in the image-aether generators, meaning that the family would feel flesh instead of fur when shaking hands, so that no incidences like when Zach met Fuse would happen. Although most of his family was there, Jared did notice that his mother was not present.

He sought out his father. "Dad, where's mom?" "In her room. She's kinda afraid of what will happen when she sees you. She doesn't know if you hate her or not." Jared's dad said. "She really wants to see you though." he added, clearly showing that he wanted Jared to go see his mother.

Jared nodded, understanding. He walked down the hallway to his parent's room. Memories of his life before Veronica came to his mind after he passed his old room, just as he left it. He thought about himself, about how much he had changed.

He though about his first interest in furrydom, his first fantasies. Then he thought about how he made it his secret. He thought how he told Steven, and how fate led him to Veronica. Coincidence had been very kind to the both of them. He had been cooped up in his room for far too long, and then Veronica came and taught him of things much more.

He thought of all that he had learned. Of the Confederation, of Aether, of the Swarm, and of love. Things had happened so fast. Times had been frought with so much change, and when he thought about it, it kinda scared him. But through his mind, he remembered Veronica, the person he was Bonded to not just emotionally, but physically as well.

She just seemed to make everything right in his life, and if he had her, all was well. That was what love was wasn't it? Even though things had happened so fast, he knew that they had both fallen hard for each other, fate seemed to make them for each other.

Haha, fast. Things had happened fast. Even outside of himself. Fate seemed to almost immediately bring Zach into the fray. Jared hadn't expected the online dating thing to work as well as it did. I did seem peculiar to Jared that Zach took to Fuse so well. Well, Jared took to Veronica quickly. Maybe Zach and Fuse were not so different from Jared and Veronica. And as quickly as Fate gave him Veronica, Fortune had taken her away. Jared had fought to get her back. And he succeeded. Maybe great things were supposed to happen fast, one was supposed to get caught up in them.

Jared realized he was standing at the door to his mother's room, his hand on the handle. He gave a sigh as he turned the knob and walked in.

His mother was sitting on the bed, her head down. She looked up as her son walked into the room. "Jared? Oh, my son. How are you?" Jared saw that she was trying to retain her composure. "I've been doing good." Jared said. He gave his mom a hug, and she nearly burst into tears. Jared saw that she did remain composed. He knew his mother was a proud woman. "Jared, I'm sorry. I didn't know you would run away. I didn't mean to forsake you."

Jared knew his mom was telling the truth, as he knew his mom's temper. He had often thought that his mom's temper was a bad combination with his habit of feeling things too strongly, wich he knew accounted for why he had run away.

Jared was happy that his mother's rage was absent now, now that she was talking with her son for the first time in quite a while. Jared felt a little guilty about lying to his mom. But he figured it was for the best, as it seemed that Auldron's fabrication of how he and his online friends met and started a small business was more believable than a story of sexy felines, reborn civilizations, and homicidal bugs.

What Jared was even more thankful, was that his family didn't ask about his furrydom, but only complimented him and his friends on their successes. Shortly after, Jared felt a nagging in the back of his mind, a sort of pull. He pursuaded his mother to come to the living room, and he looked to Fuse and Veronica as he walked in. They looked as if they were uncertain of something. Jared saw a look of urgency passed between the girls.

"Well everyone, it has been fun, but we do have a schedule to keep." Jared said as he made his way to the opposite side of the room. A series of groans escaped his family at the news that they had to get going. "Yeah, I know guys, it sucks. But, we do have to make a flight out of here" Jared managed to placate his family with a promise of returning during the holidays.

Back in the safety of the car, Jared asked, "Okay, what was that aether pulse?" "It felt like it was comming from the hotel we left." said Veronica, who was more attuned to picking out fluxes in the Aether than Jared was. "Auldron? He's calling us?" asked Zach as Jared backed out of the driveway, Zach remembered that Auldron was still at the hotel. Jared drove back to the hotel, wonder what Auldron wanted. Auldron had not wanted to go, saying something about strange readings in the area. The group had descided that it was best to let Auldron to his own devices. But whatever the reason, he was calling them back.

They pulled up to the hotel, and walked to Auldron's room's door. They knocked. There was no reply. "Hello?" Jared called. "Auldron?" Veronica asked. The room remained silent. They tried to open it. It was locked. Using the same method as Fuse, Veronica forced the door open. Inside was devoid of anything out of place other than a small blue sphere on the bed. "What is that?" Zach asked.

"It's a ball of compressed Aether, the Aether holds a moment in time within it. When we look at it, we see the moment of time within it. It's a message-sphere. Auldron must've left it for us." Fuse explained. Veronica took the fist-sized ball and placed it above her wrist, where the high-tech bracelet of a Planethopper was. It hovered over her bracelet as the mechanics inside her hopper bracelet read the sphere. The blue sphere went transparent, then started glowing white. A face appeared in the center, but it wasn't the expected face of the friendly turtle that Jared had come to know. It was the face of a cockroach.

Jared recognized the face of that cockroach, but it wasn't the face that sent the chill down his spine, it was the hissing voice of the cockroach that he had faced in the tunnel on Remose. "Greetingssss humanssss. You do not know our namesssss, but you do know our facessssss. And you WILL lisssten to our voicesss. We are Rael and Akrassssss. We have your friend. We just want to talk. We ssssssswear. However, we wanted it to be on our termssss. Ssssso, we aquired sssssssome leverage. If you want to ssssssee your friend again, you will meet ussss on what you call Planet Trakassssss. Bring no one elsssse, tomorrow. You will be there, of courssssssse, assssss you would not leave your friend behind. See you then, hopperssssssss."

The sphere glowed white, went transparent again, and regained its blue glow. "Fucking Swarm." said Jared. "Drek." said Veronica.