FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Hm... map say ruins this way."

The pink kobold lowers the parchment and narrows her eyes, squinting past the sunbeams that perforate the shade of the forest. What was once a thriving civilization had now been reclaimed by vines and trees and other assorted foliage. Underground, such places would exist much like they were when abandoned, with changes measured only in a geologic sense. If this old magical society lived in a lair similar to her home, Tik Tik wouldn't have to piece together the location from old maps and old clues.

Well, the journey is often better than the destination itself, so Tik Tik bounces on her toes, humming a kobold tune.

It doesn't take long for Tik Tik to discover a change in the natural world. She squats down, running her scaled fingers over the cleared dirt, perhaps a path created by animals seeking food? She picks up some of the earth. It is loose and soft. When she squeezes the clump she holds, the dirt squeezes between her fingers before crumbling away. This leaves behind a violet, slimy residue.

The kobold lets the slime roll around in her palm. It's wet and slick, but it maintains its integrity. She sniffs it.

Nothing.

She rolls her tongue out, pressing the moist muscle up against the goop.

"Blach! Not slime Tik Tik know!" she gasps, dropping it onto the ground, where it is absorbed back into the earth. "What mean...?"

She mutters some words under her breath, her fingers crackling with magic and ready for whatever unpleasantness that may be ready for her.

The trail eventually widens out, but as it does, the ground becomes firmer, more trodden, with even a few stones here and there. The kobold pauses, glancing around. There, off to the side, she finds some bricks.

The kobold sucks in the air, ready to squeal with glee when she hears the groaning and creaking of wood and the rustling of trees.

Tik Tik scampers behind the ruins, cuddling up and shaking. What manner of slime creature could be on the other side? Many breeds of mindless, voracious molds seek to do nothing but consume, stripping the flesh or metals or fabrics off of anything they touch. The kobold could be left without protection in the elements or without her supplies. She could even be melted down into a skeleton or worse--keeping everything but her bones!

But, Tik Tik is an adventurer. She is dedicated and determined. She will face whatever scariness is there in the forest and face it with her wizardry.

So, she takes a deep breath and hops up over her chest-high wall, and flings a spell into the air, sending a crackling spark into the sky. "Tik Tik coming, beastie beast! Eat me and get hurty hurt!"

The response she gets includes the burbling and sucking she expects from a creature, followed by a slurp and a friendly. "Hello, there!"

Tik Tik finds herself staring ahead at a curve of the road, with nothing in front of her. The kobold blinks, taking a moment to center herself before she turns to see the figure standing on the edge of the clearing.

The kobold sees a tall and curvy blue slime girl with large black eyes and the suggestion of long and wavy hair that goes down beneath her hips. Between her ample cleavage shape rests a heart-core encircled in an outer shell. Little berries float around her body, falling down her form from the stuffed mouth, chewing without teeth, which causes the fruits to swirl around in her cheeks. She swallows, dumping more of the berries into her torso. "Who are you?" the slime asks. "Not too many visitors around here. Welcome to the forest, little pink lizard!" She reaches for the shrubs in front of her. The slime girl stretches out her arm and envelops a bunch of branches and leaves and berries. She then waves her arm, letting the non-berry bits fall to the ground around her puddle, but the fruits float around inside her hand a moment before traveling up to her core. "So, what brings you around here?"

Tik Tik clutches her book close to her, just watching this slime girl take the food up through her body and into her mouth, all to start the mock chewing process all over again.

"Oh, uh, Tik Tik here look for ancient civilization. Maybe learn lots things about it, yes?

"Oh, ancient, huh? I don't know about that. There were some lumberjacks here a little while ago," she says, motioning over towards a small smattering of stumps, complete with a rusted ax lodged within one of them. "But they haven't been here in a while. Maybe you'd call that ancient? Or, maybe do you mean my home...? Hmm... I don't know. So, 'Tik Tik,' is that your name? I'm Jay! Nice to meet ya!"

Tik Tik smiles and skips up closer to the slime girl, wagging her tail all the way. "Tik Tik like meet Jay, but can Jay show Tik Tik home? Maybe people home know something of ancient place!"

Jay swallows her latest batch of berries, this time turning her attention to the shrubs. "Sure thing, but I'm gonna finish up my meal first. Shouldn't take me more than hm... night time?"

Tik Tik leans in, looking through Jay's transparent form. "Hm... Jay eat fruit? Tik Tik think would eat something else...."

"Yeah?" Jay says, slurping up another bunch of berries with her hand. "Like what? Do you have something sweeter than this?" She holds out her hand, letting the berry slop down from her grip and into Tik Tik's palm.

The kobold examines the fruit and takes a moment to lick the slimy residue from it. It tastes of a hint of raspberry and not the nasty purple stuff the kobold had earlier. Tik Tik then plops the berry into her mouth and chews.

It's delicious!