FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The early morning breakfast rush at the inn sees the usual crowd enjoying their bratwurst and beer, all while a local bard plays a jaunty tune on the accordion. Those who stroll through the doors are regulars from nearby—workers starting their day out in the fields of grain or guards who have just enjoyed the changing of shifts.

One such guard takes a bite into his breakfast while the bar wench pours more into his mug. “Any tales of the night of the full moon?" asks she.

“Oh, yah!" The guard's enthusiasm is grand. “Gather around, all, and I shall tell you what I saw last night. Gather 'round, gather 'round, everyone." He takes another bite of his brat and waves his hands around the room. “You have heard that there are more monsters around, yah? Well, what I saw was the strangest of them all. It was a tiny dragon, I tell you, sitting on a stump on Herr Gershman's field. It was curled up and sleeping soundly with scales of pink."

“A dragon?"

“Preposterous"

“You didn't kill it?"

The guard shakes his head. “No, nein, not at all! I did watch it for a bit, ready to face it in combat or to sound the alarm, should I deem it necessary, but as I gazed at the creature, it awoke, staring at me with its bright blue eyes."

“Blue?"

“Ah, yes, it must be ein kobold!"

“Kobold? No. Kobolds are not dragons."

“Yes, they are like dogs."

“No, no! They are like red caps."

“Red!? Everyone knows that kobolds are blue!"

The crowd continues to argue among themselves when the guard stands up, raising his hands. “Please, please, let me finish my story. Be it kobold or dragon, it wasn't the only thing out there! As the creature stared at me. We were silent as the grave. I thought that my life was lost before me or that I may have to fight for the right to live, but from the field, the grain waved, and the creature leaped from the stump and rushed to follow it!"

“Ah, that's the silliest story yet, you concocted. Dragons? Sounds in the fields? Without a single stolen hen nor sheep?"

“I tell you, that is what I saw."

“Well, I, uh, believe you."

The guard, and all the crowd, turn their attention over towards the squeaking voice coming from the tavern corner. There sits a young woman with white hair and pale skin. She dresses in the frilliest maid's outfit and stares down at a book she writes into while she lets her breakfast get cold.

“And just who are you, Fraulein?" The guard says.

The woman slides her book aside, taking a deep breath and then standing up. She performs a little curtsy, keeping her pink eyes down towards the floor. “I am Camellia Hawthorne, and I am a seeker of fantastic creatures—magical beings that you would call 'monsters."

“Oh, a hunter, eh?" Well, we aren't looking for any of those. We already got plenty of guards here. I'm one of them!"

“Of that, you do not need to be concerned," Camellia says. “As for this creature you spoke of, I would be seeking it soon. But surely, such creatures aren't the only things you've seen around here, correct?"

The townsfolk murmur among each other before the bar wench speaks up. “Well, now that you mention it… there was this time last month… I was heading home alone at night, but it wasn't dark, so I didn't feel like I should have been scared, and well, I thought I could hear something in the fields as I walked past them. It was like a breathy growl of a hungry beast."

“I see…" Camellia says, pushing up her glasses, a soft smirk appearing on her lips, “And just what, exactly, was it you were doing out there on a full-moon night?"

The wench shrugs. “Just walking home, miss. There's nothing strange about that, is there?"

“No, I suppose not," the explorer says. “But, what were you wearing, if I may ask?"

The barmaid gulps, fidgeting with her skirt. “Just my -uniform is all."

Camellia glances at the outfit of the barmaid. While it does serve to accent her assets, there is something plain and straightforward about it. There isn't an ounce of ostentatiousness about it. She also glances at the guard, who dresses in simple leather armor. She closes her book and picks up her bread, taking a bite from the toast. “I'll be going now. There's much to prepare for."

She holds her head up high, cupping her book under her arm and heading out the door, all the while the people watch her, her dress swishing back and forth before she steps out into the bright and breezy day.

Once free from the prying eyes of the public, Camellia goes around the corner and sighs, her legs trembling. “Oh, by the gods, that was so embarrassing!" she squeaked. “Everyone was looking at me like I was so silly! Oooh, mistress, why am I dressed up in such a flashy outfit if the creature appears before just about anyone!" She sniffles but then hops back up, regaining her composure.

“No, no, I mustn't question her tastes. If the creature likes maids, then it is a maid I shall dress as. The fact these locals do not dress with any fancy inclinations tells me that my attire will no doubt attract my prize with haste."

She smiles at that. “Oh, yes, but…" She thinks out loud to herself as she walks off towards the shops. “What exactly was that thing that the guard saw…?