FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Sydney worked his way through the trees of a tall pine forest towards a large estate located on the other side of the valley, Stanwix Place. He had heard in the local town that the lord of the manor, which was more like a castle than a manor, was looking for workers and Sydney was desperately in need of employment and he was unable to find any in the town.

Sydney was a Surid, a race of anthropomorphic creatures. He himself was a red fox, standing 5'9" tall upon digitigrade legs and large paws. He was covered head to toe in soft, downy fur, white on his belly and chin, black from his elbows down over his hands and ankles to his paws while the rest of his fur was all a healthy orange colour. Atop his head sat his pointed ears which turned and flicked to pick up ambient noises amongst the trees around him.

A long bushy tail stuck out behind him from a convenient hole in his pants. It helped with his balance as he walked or showed off his emotional state with subconscious flicks, twitches or wagging. The clothing he wore standard for the time and his social standing. A pair of brown pants that stopped at his knees with a belt holding it in place and an open, sleeveless leather jacket to cover most of his chest. It was primarily for appearance as he didn't really need to wear a top.

He hoped that Lord Stanwix would have a position available for him. He had his doubts however as the recent war between Humans and Surids had only ended three years previous. It had been a long and bloody struggle, the Surids had been fighting for territory from the Humans who had claimed vast swathes of land leaving them with almost nothing. The war however ended under suspicious circumstances but the two Kingdoms merged, ending the conflict. However tensions and prejudices still existed between Humans and Surids even after three years, mostly from Humans towards Surids.

“It can't be that much further..." Sydney muttered to himself as he rounded another tree. He was starting to get the creeping suspicion that he was lost but held out hope. Maps had never been his forte' and the directions he had been given had been vague at best. He continued to pick his way through the flora till he felt something catch his leg. It felt like a spider web to him and he gazed down to inspect if the offending arachnid was attached. He managed to look down just in time to see a wire snap against his paw as he stepped forward.

“What..." he started before there was a loud boom and he was thrown several feet forwards. He impacted heavily against a tree nearby tree, knocking the air from his lungs by the impact. He coughed as he tried to get his breath, ears still ringing and eyes momentarily blinded by the flash of the blast.

When finally he managed to get his senses back he looked up to see the crater that had been left behind from the explosive device that had been buried in the ground. His body ached all over however when he tried to move his legs something felt different.

Gazing down over his damaged clothes his fur was singed from the blast and he had cuts from the shrapnel that were starting to bleed. Finally his eyes came to rest on his legs... or leg. His left leg was injured badly, singed and cut deeply but it would eventually recover. His right leg however was missing from his knee down.

“Wha...Where... How...?" his brain continued to try to come to some useful answer for him, trying desperately to wiggle the toes on that foot. Finally he just started screaming while the pain he felt rocketed. As he wailed, he gripped tightly at his mutilated limb trying to stem the bleeding.

He looked around frantically for anything, he didn't really know what he was looking for as he screamed for help or simply in agony before curling forward, pressing his forehead to his uninjured leg in some attempt to calm himself. It had been a man trap, but why? The war was over, and had never reached this far into human territory, it all made no sense to him, then again in his current duress, nothing did.

When he heard a click he looked up and was met with the barrel of a magitech rifle. On the other end was an elderly, grizzled looking human man who wielded the gun with obvious murderous intent. Sydney's screams stopped as he looked upon the humans face, taking in every wrinkle, every grey hair on his head and the look of hatred and disgust that covered it from ear to ear.

“Damned Surid, dun you move now ye hear? Or I'll blow yer 'ead te kingdom come!" he said, accent thick and odd to the fox. Sydney gave a whine and nodded a little, tears fogging his vision before he blinked them away to run and mat down the fur on his cheeks even more.

“Tought I dealt wit enough o ye before, but ere I fine ye sneakin inta privet grounds. World won't miss one more o ye now will it?" he added stiffening his hold on his gun, finger moving to the trigger.

“Euan? What was the explosion!?" a voice called out demanding and the sound of hoof steps approached them, the man's finger faltering a little on the trigger but quickly returned to it.

“Nuttin Lord, jes some wild pest sneakin in." the man, Euan, called back in answer.

“I told you to stop setting traps everywhere! You will scare off the game or severely injure a worker," the voice retorted as the hoof steps got closer before finally stopping. There was a loud gasp that then followed before finally the voice spoke again “Euan! What have you done!?"

“Caught te wild pest Lord." he answered and Sydney whimpered loudly, eyes not leaving the gun or Euan's face. The hoof steps shifted a bit before they stopped with the sound of someone dismounting barely a moment after and then rushing towards them. A hand appeared and grabbed the gun, wrenching it from Euan's grasp.

Sydney's gaze, and Euan's, snapped to the man who held the gun aloft out of reach. Lord Elliot Stanwix stood just to Sydney's left. Sydney found him handsome for a human, 6' tall in high class clothing, he had auburn hair and deep green eyes. His face was scrunched into a look of anger and he loomed over the elderly Euan menacingly.

“The war is OVER you old fool! Return to the estate immediately and bring back a cart, the doctor and two men to help move him!" He ordered, Euan opening and closing his mouth like he was trying to find an excuse or something to retort with but was silenced when Lord Stanwix leaned in closer almost touching nose to nose with him and yelled “NOW EUAN!"

Euan wasn't around much longer before he turned and ran, disappearing into the trees quickly. Lord Stanwix sighed and slung the rifle over his shoulders before removing his belt and knelt down next to the stricken fox who whined loudly and almost pulled away.

“Stop, shh, stay still let me help." he offered as he pulled out his handkerchief “Let me stem the bleeding or you will bleed out before they get here." It was a mix of suggestion and order, Sydney however simply nodded and watched what he was doing. The human pressed the handkerchief to the bleeding end of Sydney's leg firmly, holding it in place with one hand while Sydney fidgeted and whined.

“Who are you by the way?" he asked a moment later drawing Sydney's attention away from his leg as he worked.

“S...Sydney, Sydney R...Rous S..Sir" he answered him and panted heavily trying to calm himself as best he could.

“And why are you on my lands, Mr Rous?" the human asked as he wrapped the belt around the injured leg, pulling it as tight as he dare and securing it. Sydney whimpered and squirmed, fingers clutching at his injured leg as the human worked; biting at his lip to not scream out in agony.

“S...Sydney I...is good enough S...Sir," he returned panting and swallowed a little before continuing “I...I h...heard you were l...looking for w...workers a...and came seeking employment. G...guess I sho...should have stayed away."

“You could not have known this was to occur," Lord Stanwix replied as he stood and retrieved a blanket from one of his horses saddle bags “Euan was in the war sadly, he... is still getting over it. So you hoped to find employment? What were you hoping for?" Sydney knew the human was trying to keep him talking, distracted from his injuries and keep him awake.

“I...I don't really know..." he answered forlornly “I...i guess I wanted to...to see what you had available a...and try to fill it a...as best I could."

The human nodded as he folded the blanket he held, doubling it over several times. Gently pulling Sydney forward before placing it against the tree before laying him back against it in an attempt to make him comfortable. Truthfully with the amount of pain he was in Sydney barely noticed but was thankful for the gesture.

“Hmm, well I do have some spots open, general gardening positions, house keepers, kitchen hands, farm hands and even a personal attendant position." he answered as he stood up once more “With that injury you will be out of action for some time... farm hand would be impossible once you heal and you have a prosthetic, gardener too... your tail may make house keeping difficult as you potentially could knock over my expensive decorations and your fur means you can't work in the kitchen..."

Sydney watched as he walked away from him towards the crater that had been left, inspecting it carefully. What he was looking for was beyond Sydney's current mental capacity, however Lord Stanwix seemed to know what he was looking for within the hole.

“And I... I am a Surid so I can't be your man servant..." Sydney added with a whine knowing no human would ever trust a Surid enough to place them in such a roll “G...Guess I...i shouldn't have come a...after all." The human was taken aback a little at that and looked at him with surprise. It only lasted a few moments before it turned into a smile.

“How about this then," he started and straightened himself up to standing position “I will get you healed up as best as possible, then we will trial you as one of my personal attendants. If that doesn't work, I will find another position for you, does that sound fair?"

Sydney blinked looking up at him mouth agape in surprise and shock. The offer was almost too good to be true. His brain ran over every way it could be a trap or trick, but his frazzled brain couldn't find any outcome that could be worse than his current situation. He started to tear up again, eyes growing fuzzy with moisture and he nodded.

“Y..Yes Lord, Th..thank you, thank you, thank you." he started giving soft sobs, repeating the last two words he said, missing the sound of other approaching.

“M'lord, Ve have arrived as requvested." an accented feminine voice called out drawing their attention and stopping Sydney's blabbering. They turned to look as four people approached, one a large bull Surid, another a tall male human, Euan and a lastly female human in a long long doctors jacket. She sat in the front seat of a smallish cart being pulled by a donkey.

“Ah Katherine, doctor, we have a patient for you." Lord Stanwix announced flatly. She looked towards Sydney and gasped, quickly hopping off the cart and rushed to his side. To say she was horrified by what she saw was an understatement. She was however also quite angry and looked over her shoulder at Euan.

“Remind me to hit you vith a hammer." she said angrily before looking to the two males they had come with “Quvick get my kit out!" the bull was the one who nodded and acted first, reaching into the cart he pulled out a bag and handed it over to her. She rummaged through it before pulling out an injector and with little hesitation, injected him in his right leg.

“To numb ze pain," she told him simply and started working on his leg, covering the bleeding stump with new bandaging.

“Euan, Take Titan back to the stables," Lord Stanwix ordered looking to the man in question “I will be returning with them."

“Aye Lord." Came his simple response before he walked off with the lord's horse in tow.

“Is it safe to move him yet?" he asked the doctor, gaze turning to look down upon them who sighed and nodded.

“Yes M'lord, Safer zan leaving him here." she answered and looked up to the bull and human who had accompanied her “Lift gently and place him in ze back of ze cart." she ordered.