FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

Bindi waited another fifteen minutes before rising back to his paws. He pulled Skididdi's body from the walkway and leaned the pirate against the bulkhead. The corpse slumped grossly. The hekiru wiped his snout with the back of his forearm. He started off down the passageway, looking for anybody that might be able to help him get the medical department to get rid of the body.

As he rounded a corner, so did a large, long alien. Bindi nearly walked right into its nose. The creature's whiskers pulled back, and it stood up on two legs. A long tail extended toward the rafters as the creature drew up to its full height. With its ears forward, it stood at least three times Bindi's height. Within its right ear strange markings decorated the pink flesh.

Quartermaster hissed at him, displaying several fangs, "Are you trying to get hurt, small-thing?"

Bindi recoiled at the sudden aggression and shook his head. The creature leaned in, eyes alight as it twitched those longs whiskers. "Avoid my path, then. Qursak may tolerate you, but I do not. Stand aside!"

Bindi covered his head with his paws as he moved to one side. His eyes stayed on the ground, ears back.

"Where are you going anyway? Your shift with the commodore does not end for another two hours." The creature idly clicked the claws on his three fingers against the claws on his two thumbs.

Bindi's paws shot to his communicator, where he began typed a message, "Dismissed. Need medical. Captain Skididdi dead."

The sourang leaned forward. His tailed scooped the device away as he scanned over the message with his dark grey eyes. "Dirty ringel. It was only a matter of time." He tossed the communicator back to Bindi. "Get on with you. I will make the call. Useless thing."

Bindi juggled the device as he tried to catch it. It bounced between his paws before he pulled it into the fur of his chest. Quartermaster muttered under his breath as he moved to a radio on the wall. The hekiru took the moment to make his getaway. He detested Quartermaster more than anyone else in The Hive. The sourang always seized any opportunity to belittle or frighten him.

He skittered off down the passageway. His eyes scanned each placard on the bulkhead as he dashed along. Bindi spent the majority of his time in the commodore's chambers, so he enjoyed exploring and looking for new places, where the atmosphere wouldn't hurt him, anyway.

The Hive consisted of multiple decks of hexahedron chambers and interconnecting passageways. The atmospheric makeup of a hexahedron depended on the needs of the current pirate population. They shifted atmospheres on the fly but posted the details outside of the chambers to help prevent unsuspecting crew members from cycling into a dangerous environment.

He found the placard he was looking for and veered left down a passageway. He needed to get to the cantina. With the early end to his shift came time to try to make friends. Rather, whatever counted as friends aside from murderous lizards. The exact nature of most pirates remained a mystery to him.

Bindi largely ignored anyone he passed in the halls. The closer he got to the cantina, the more populated the passageways became. The hekiru made a conscious effort to stick to less crowded paths.

As he passed by the backside of the gallies, he paused. Through his respirator, he could smell the food cooking in the kitchen. His mouth watered, and he secretly hoped Qursak had just been trying to scare him with the butchering comments. It smelled good. Bindi tore off into a scamper again, ready to claim a plate.

He only made it a few steps before something caught his ankle. Bindi's paws shot out to catch himself as he crashed into the deck. The hekiru rolled over his shoulder and came to rest propped up on his paws. His eyes cast about to determine what had happened, and his gaze fell on a group of three burly geroo. One's tick tail stuck out into the passageway. The creature yarped at him, ears forward and lips raised to show teeth. The other two yarped along with the first at Bindi's misfortune.

He did that on purpose! Bindi thought as he rose to his paws.

"What's the matter? Aren't you gonna apologize for stepping on my tail?" The first geroo sneered.

Bindi growled and bared his own teeth. He knew better and turned to leave. No sooner had he turned his back than the geroo were upon him. One swooped up from behind, seizing Bindi's arms and pinning them behind his back as he was lifted from behind off the deck. The hekiru kicked and struggled, but the larger creature yarped and held fast.

The geroo that tripped him stood in front with his arms crossed. "I didn't expect you to be so rude. You're a new face, so I'm gonna give you one more chance to apologize before we start tearin' you apart!"

Bindi squirmed and wiggled, but his shoulders and elbows hurt in the firm hold. He squeaked out in pain as he threw his head back and forth, trying to headbutt the one that held him. The back of his skull only met dense pectoral muscles.

"You're a real trouble maker, huh?" The geroo growled at him. "Well, we'll see how much fight you have without this."

He seized Bindi's right ankle and stretched his leg out. The geroo used his other paw to turn the valve on Bindi's sulfur tank attached to his thigh. The third geroo yarped and followed suit. Bindi yelped in pain at the sudden grip as his attacker removed the supply from his other tank.

Panic filled Bindi's mind as his first breath of sulfurless air hit his lungs. He struggled harder. His paws flexed and reached from their pinned position as they sought the valves on his thigh. The geroo held him fast. The more he struggled and reached, the harder he breathed. Bindi kicked hard with both legs, but it made no difference to the geroo, who yarped louder at the display.

Bindi cried out, tears of fear and frustration filled his eyes and soaked his cheeks. Were they going to let him suffocate? His mind swirled as his attackers denied his body the sulfur it needed to function. Bindi's kicks grew weaker as he squeaked and whimpered piteously. The geroo holding him loosened his grip on Bindi as the fight slowly left the little creature.

The first geroo shook his head, "I can't believe we waste resources on shit like this."

Through his tears and the stars in his vision, a vast shadow materialized over the leader of the geroo. A large wooden spoon thwapped him geroo between the ears. He barked in surprise and whirled around to face the transgressor. The geroo's nose fell just above the naval of a fearsome anup. Burns and scars covered what fur the respirator didn't cover on the right side of her face. The geroo stepped back and raised his paws in front of him, ears pinned back.

She jabbed the geroo in the sternum with her spoon, faster than Bindi could blink, the head almost as large as the geroo's head, "Drop it, Mika."

Mika, the ringleader, waved his paw over his shoulder at the geroo holding Bindi. Bindi's paws hit the deck and he fell forward. His nose scraped the cold steel as he fumbled for his tanks.

"I'm sure you all have something better to do than terrorizing strangers to our passageways. Scram!" The anup barked at them.

Mika jerked his head over his shoulder. He stepped back and kept his front to the anup as he relented. "Leave it to you to ruin the fun. Little shit was gettin' boring, anyway. Let's get a beer."

As the geroo departed, Skera guided Bindi's paw to one valve on his thigh while she twisted the other. Bindi gasped at the sudden flow of sulfur back to his mask. His lungs burned with need as he lay and panted on the cold steel. The anup stood over him while he recovered, the spoon slapped against her paw as she waited.

Bindi slowly rose back up. He leaned his back on the cool bulkhead and focussed his eyes in the direction the geroo had gone. The hekiru's whole body quivered with adrenaline, cheeks wet

"You're going to have to learn to fend for yourself, tiny thing. There are worse than Mika on this station." Skera said.

Bindi looked up to his rescuer. The anup towered over him, muscles rippled along her stomach and torso. The geroo could have stood on each other's shoulders and still only barely reached her nose.

"Thank you for sa-"

Skera thwapped Bindi's paws and interrupted his signing. He yelped and hugged them close to his body. His knuckles flared with pain, throbbing as he tucked them away from further harm.

"Mind your grubby paws!" she growled. The anup huffed, a glare on her face as her ears pinned back. Before Bindi could say anything else, she turned and walked away.

Bindi kept his paws tucked under his arms as Skera departed. Before she made it around the next corner, Bindi scampered back up behind her. Skera glanced over her shoulder but kept walking, her strides long and unforgiving.

"Go away," she growled.

Bindi skipped alongside her, ignoring the warning. He pulled his mobile communicator from its holster and motioned to it. After a moment, Skera stopped.

"What?" She barked.

Bindi held his communicator up to her. The anup sighed and drew her own communicator. She held it down to him. Bindi reached up and bumped the device with his own. Each communicator chirped as the pair exchanged information. Bindi's ears extended towards the rafters as he smiled to her.

"Thank you for saving me," he messaged on the tiny screen.

"Stop following me," she messaged back.

"I will. My name's Bindi. Will you tell me yours?"

"It's 'Fuck Off'."

Bindi looked over his communicator at her. She raised her eyebrows and jerked her head the opposite direction down the passageway, smiling at him with narrow eyes. Defeated, Bindi pinned his ears back and put his communicator away. Skera reached out with her oversized wooden spoon and tapped him lightly on the nose. The hekiru stayed put as she carried on walking, leaving Bindi alone in the dark hallway.

While Bindi figured out what to do next, his communicator beeped. The dim light illuminated his whiskers as he read the screen. "It's Skera."