FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Thanks for all your comments, guys. It means alot to me. Not only do people like my writing, they also leave very helpful comments that make me strive to get better! Onai thanks you all as well, although I hope that she can send her thanks herself soon. In any case...on with the show!

Chapter 6: Keeping the Blade

"Right here," Onai announced gloomily as she and Tal rounded the street corner that led to her home. The thing was even more pathetic then the last time she'd seen it. The overcast skies signified the start of fall. Leaves scraped the pavement; it needed replacement badly, for it bore a resemblance to the ground of some deserts, where the ground has cracked due to lack of moisture. Cracks worked their way through the faded blacktop as the two furs ventured closer.

Tal's face froze in what one could call disbelief, his jaw dropping as his eyes surveyed the pile of wood that Onai had called home for a good part of her life. In the mean time, Onai thought of the previous afternoon and night. Why had she chosen to speak? And why did she spill her guts to this dragon?

How did she know he wouldn't turn her in to the authorities? Her case would most certainly land her to a life in prison, stuck in a cold, damp, dark cell with only the crazy rabbit who talked to the walls for company. She winced at the thought of this. Why was she letting herself become attached to Tal? Why? Why was she doing this to herself after she'd vowed never to trust or get close to anyone again?

She wanted to know, but her mind seemed to hold no answer. "I need to show you something," Onai looked up at her draconic savior. Wait, she thought to herself, Why the hell was she going to show him the dagger?! The thing had taken two lives in less than an hour, but that had nothing to do with the dragon. She cringed as she enveloped herself in her memories.

It'd been a perfectly normal evening. She'd been drawing, something she'd never done since then. The sun had been shining through the window of their small, cozy cottage on the other side of town. Onai was so small back then, her eyes a brilliant white-blue that made everyone love her. Combine that with silky, puffy fur, and a voice that loved to be heard, and you had the vixen at 8 years of age. She'd roughly resembled a black and white fuzz ball.

"What is it, Onai?" Tal broke her chain of thought, and the fur had to shake her head and snap back to reality, a place only half of her wished to be. The other portion remained in the shadows, dark and unseen. "Something important..." Onai replied, running her paw through her multi-colored hair. She'd built up the courage, what little she had, anyway, to do the unthinkable.

"Right this way, watch your wings," she cautioned as they ducked underneath the largest opening Onai could find. She couldn't bear the thought of Tal being in any more pain then he already was. The two were really a lot alike. Both were survivors of tragic pasts, cursed with scars and nightmares for life.

For weeks after it had happened, young Onai had hid the reality of it all behind a lie; that it was just a bad dream, that she'd wake up in her blue and white room any minute. That her mother - oh god, her beautiful mother - would be rocking her scared pup to sleep in her arms while sitting in the rocking chair her grandfather had built. He had worked his paws to the bone, chiseling and carving images of moons, fairies, and centaurs on the headrest, while a pair of walnut dragons wound around the arms, guarding Onai from any demon that would dare harm her.

Onai drew her eyes to the ground as she walked, her furred feet stepping over partially eaten rat carcasses. The half rotten carcass of a deer lay in the trail, she jumped over it, and Tal about threw up while stepping over it. The rats were still skittish around her, and anything that smelled of her. They knew what their fate was if they even got close.

Reaching the very center of her abode, Onai glanced at Tal once more before turning to the fallen lumber that sheltered the only shard of her broken past she'd kept. There was no turning back now. They were here, she thought to herself as she looked up at Tal. He sensed her eyes peering into him and turned to face her, his scarred eye stood out more then usual.

It must have been the conditions or the lighting, because as she stared into this dragon's eyes, a sense of content came over her. "Just a minute, let me find it' Onai crouched down, reached underneath into the shadows. The cold metal caught her off guard. It was there. The blade that had claimed her mother's life, her beautiful mother...

Onai could still see her graceful figure, crippled and slumped on the floor. This blade had attempted to slaughter Onai. The vixen winced as she instinctively traced a hand over her heart. This was it. Now. Here went nothing.

Onai drew the blade out from the shadows. The heavily scratched steel of the blade shone brightly, even in the dim light of her abode. The blade told the story with a single scratch; the fox hybrid remembered it well. She'd seen the scratch dug into the metal by her mother's powerful claws as she screamed for Onai to hide, in order to escape her father's rage.

That had been rather hard at that time, because the heavily built, muscular wolf had snapped or overturned everything within running distance. He had seized Onai's mother, throwing her into the opposite wall as if she were a rag doll. The sound of her ribs breaking into pieces, the sight of one sticking through the silver fur; these were fresh in Onai's mind, so fresh, that it felt as if it'd happened only seconds earlier.

Chapter Eight: Finding Sanctuary

Tal hadn't liked this place or the feelings it provoked in Onai since she'd first told him about it. That had been earlier this morning; the two had woken up late after their emotional last night, and had decided to take a day off of school. In any case, the building was much worse in person than Onai's description had made it sound.

The building itself was only kept standing by the buildings around it, and he'd almost thrown up at the sight and smell of the carcass blocking the door. Combine this with the fear radiating out of Onai in waves, and he did NOT want to be here. Suddenly, Onai's mind had plunged into turmoil, and he could feel nothing but a fear that was beyond any thing he had ever experienced. He rushed over to where she was crouched, and attempted to shake her out of her past, which was beginning to intrude on his thoughts and distract him from reality. He called her name, concern present in both his voice and his thoughts.

At the sound of his voice she seemed to snap out of it, and the chaos in both their minds dimmed as she looked up at him. She stood up slowly, and, with a trembling paw, pulled the knife from behind her back and showed it to him. He gently took it in his hands, noting the long scratch running down the blade. From the brief, chaotic contact he'd made moments before, one of the few clear images was that of a hand grabbing desperately at the blade, leaving the mark with a powerful claw.

Even through the scratches and other signs of age, the silver shone as though it had been polished yesterday. He looked up at her, seeing the fear in her eyes. He gently placed the knife back in the shadows where he'd seen her take it from, then stood back up and sighed quietly. He stood next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders and gently leading her out of the building, careful to spend as little time as possible near the deer.

* * * * *

They stopped at a café on the way to the park, and had a reasonably quiet meal. Questions burned inside him, but he was waiting for the right time to ask. After brunch, they found a bench near an abandoned playground and sat. They'd been sitting for a few moments when Tal just couldn't take it anymore. He took a deep breath. "So, that knife...was that the one that?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. She looked around, her eyes distant, and nodded slowly.

"I...I need to show you something else..." she said, her senses seemingly on full alert. He looked around quickly as well, then replied, "Sure...go ahead." He focused on her, listening to every word. She sighed heavily, stood up, took off his hoodie, and then pulled at the neck of her undershirt, exposing a four-inch wide scar over her heart.

She closed her eyes, then sent the image of a large, black and white timber wolf plunging the blade into her chest. In the background was the crumpled body of someone he knew was Onai's mother. He could only gasp at the sight.

"Oh my...Jesus Christ..." he gasped shakily, feeling every bit of fear that she still felt concerning her father. She let out a hurt gasp, saying, "He tried to kill me too...another ounce of pressure and it would've reached my heart." He looked into her eyes with shock, and asked the only question he could think of.

"What...what stopped him?" Onai's eyes filled with pain and tears yet again. "The force of me, shoving him off..." Acting purely on instinct, he stood up and pulled her into an awkward hug.

He then leaned close and whispered, "Know that you are stronger than I could ever hope to be. You've lived with this pain for eight long years, and you're still alive to talk about it. Th-thank you for trusting me..." She returned the hug, and found herself pressing her muzzle to his cheek.

She moved her head and whispered back, "It's you who took me in, out of the kindness of your heart. You're welcome, and you're a lot stronger than you think you are." He blushed heavily, then whispered more quietly than either of them, "There's...there's something I want to show you too..." She pulled back, looking into his eyes. "And what's that?" He lifted one eyebrow with practiced ease. "Well wouldn't you like to know? I can tell you that it's probably a bit less depressing than the past few hours have been." She smiled for the first time since they'd met, then said, "Show me." He took her hand and led her back to his apartment. Once inside, he confused her by kneeling down and rapping his knuckles sharply against the floor.

She cocked her head to the side in wonder, just as his fist struck the floor again, a hollow sound coming up from the floor. "So that's where I put it." Her eyes opened wide as he pulled back the rug and wrenched up a loose floorboard. He reached inside and carefully pulled out a box-shaped, cloth-wrapped parcel.

He brought it into the dusty light of the apartment, setting it down on the floor and slowly un-wrapping it. Onai kneeled next to him. He unfolded the cloth, revealing a dark, walnut box. Looking closer, she noticed intricate, swirling lines of silver inlaid into the wood. Tal carefully opened the latch on the box, opening the lid slowly. The box opened, revealing a silver rose spinning slowly on a pedestal while the box jingled out a tune. Tal sighed.

"It was my mother's. After they died, it was one of the only things left to me in their will." Onai gasped quietly, managing to stammer out, "W-wow. I-I didn't get anything. Everything happened so fast and I was too scared to go back." Tal listened intently, commenting, "Well, that's not surprising, honestly." Onai nodded agreement, then continued.

"I couldn't do anything but hide. My relatives all thought that my dad killed himself after murdering my mother and I. They looked for my body in the woods, but I was long gone by then." Tal and Onai sat in silence, Tal thinking about the information that had been revealed to him, and Onai allowing herself to find a sense of peace in the tune of the music box.

She turned to him again. "Did...did I tell you what happened to my father?" she asked, a questioning look on her face. He shook his head. "No. You got to the part where he attacked you and started to tear up a little. That's about when I mentioned the box. So...what happened to him?" He leaned in, listening carefully.

She held her paws out in front of her, suddenly becoming very interested in the backs of them. Some of her hair fell into her face, then she sat back and looked at him again. "After I pushed him off, he left the dagger in me. I could feel the metal grinding against my bones. It was horrible. He fell when I pushed him back, but he got right back up and started coming at me again. I sat up, pulled the knife out of my chest, and rammed it into his ribs with everything I had." Onai said, her throat suddenly very dry,

"I got up and ran like hell. His blood was still warm on my paws when I ran out the door." Tal could only look at her, a look of disbelief plastered on his face. "Holy crap...and you were how old?" She calmly replied, "Eight and a half." He continued to stare. "Jesus Christ...do...do you have anything left of your mother?" She nodded, seeming to fill with strength as she spoke.

"Yes. I have her courage, her strength, and her belief that this world isn't the end." As she spoke, she silently slid closer to him. The music box stopped playing its tune. "And, I guess, when everything else is gone, you'll always have that." Tal said, moving closer to her and closing the gap between them. She slowly nuzzled his cheek, causing him to blush.

"I know. When you have nothing but the fur or scales on your back, you've always got the most important thing: who you are. And you Tal," She looked up at him. "Are the second most important thing to me."

Tal shyly returned her nuzzle, his face growing darker and darker, the blood in his face turning his normally blue scales a strange shade of purple. "I...I don't really know how I should respond to that, but thank you, Onai. You're important to me too." She blushed so much that it began to show clearly through her fur. Her tail began to sway slowly behind them.

She bit her lip, then grabbed his hand and guided it to the scar on her chest. Beneath his hand, he could feel her lupine heart beating. "It's never beat that fast before." She said shyly. "You...you really know how to make a guy speechless, don't you?" His face was turning a deep violet at this point. Onai giggled, smiling and exposing a set dazzling white teeth. She rested her head on his shoulder. "Yes, I suppose you could say that."

Tal slowly wrapped his arms, wing, and tail around her, holding her tightly as though he were afraid that she would disappear if he let go. "You know...now that I've seen your "place", and knowing that what I'm about to ask you could totally backfire on me...I've got a spare bedroom here, and I was wondering..." Her eyes widened in surprise. "Y-you mean?" He nodded.

Her eyes began to fill with tears, and he was worried until he saw the smile of thankfulness on her face. She began to nuzzle him again, this time with an energy they were both surprised at. He began to laugh uncontrollably, for her fur tickled him terribly. He nuzzled her back, matching her enthusiasm with his own. They rolled around on the floor for a moment, finally stopping with her sitting on top of him.

They continued to laugh, finally calming down and making eye contact. She smiled at him, and he smiled back, sticking out his tongue in a playful manner. She blushed at this and rested her paws on his chest.

He began to blush back in response, then put on a mock serious face. He looked around curiously, then looked at her again. "Is it just me, or do we end up like this a lot?" She cocked her head just as curiously. "It would seem that way, wouldn't it?" He shrugged his shoulders. "Not that I'm complaining or anything, it just seems a little bit odd to me."

She smirked slyly. "It doesn't bother me at all. I enjoy your company. To be honest, you're the first fur I've talked to in years." He continued to look into her eyes. "You're not the first one I've talked to, but you're the only one I actually enjoy talking to." She matched his gaze. "You're the only one I will talk to. And that's because," She leaned forward, gently kissing his cheek and whispering into his ear, "You're the only one I trust." He could only blush, his ear-frills fanning out widely in an effort to cool his heated face.

He propped himself up on his hands, gently nuzzling her under her chin, whispering back, "Same here." The two remained like that for quite some time, occasionally bursting into fits of laughter. They no longer feared their pasts, because they knew that they would always have each other, no matter what, and that they had each been given a second chance.