FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Apprehension gripped the feline as he stepped into the cavern. It was damp, dark, and it reeked of sulphur. His little tail was effectively glued to his thigh, and his paws tightened around the hilt of the shortsword that had been given to him. Its thin, slightly rusted blade reflected the outside sun, throwing a curious dance of light around the grotto walls. Making yet one more step forward, his feline senses were triggered. A noise ahead made him freeze up, his breath caught in his throat as his pupils widened, trying to take in as much light as possible.

Water? It had to be water.

With some slight reassurance drawn from his own heart, the cat stepped further into the darkness. He held up a mana crystal that his village had gifted him. It was said to absorb the sun's light and give it off in the dark, and he hoped - nay, he prayed - that it was the case, for his night vision was just not good enough to see in a pitch black cavern.

Thankfully, it worked its magic. Once it emerged from his pocket, the blue shard immediately lit up, illuminating his path. To his surprise, the walls seemed mostly smooth and the stalagmites were rounded off... Almost as if something living here had passed through frequently. Swallowing his fear, he continued onwards, stepping around a corner and hopping down a ledge, trying his best to avoid making any noises.

It was a strange cave. There seemed to be only one path through. Rocks had blocked off the others, and there were bits of wood and other flora strewn about along the walls. It only took a few minutes of walking before he reached a large chamber and yet another noise entered his ears; this time, it was definitely not a drop of water hitting the floor, nor was it a squirrel that had made its way in here. It was deeper. It rumbled. It almost sounded like an earthquake, but it was continuous and faded before coming back.

... And it spoke. Earthquakes usually didn't speak.

"What mortal dare enter my demesne?" The voice erupted from the darkness, causing the cat's entire body to shake - with fear and by the vibrations of the noise itself. "I am Alacadayne, Hydrotic Lord Vessel, Divine Punisher, and the Bane of Foolish Mortals!"

The cat squeaked. His instinct was to run, but he knew better. His village had sent him here to tackle this threat, one way or the other. Taking one deep breath, he steadied himself. "I am Kayne! I come from the village down below. My Lord Divine, have mercy on me - I have come to aid you. We heard your rumblings."

There was a quiet pause, and suddenly the owner of the voice came into view. A large, blue dragon had been curled up in the distant corner of the cavern, but now he peered down at the strange fellow that had entered his home. "Kayne, you say? You have guts, little mortal. Are you a rat? You smell like a rat. I did not know the mortals had mingled with the ratfolk. Most curious!"

Being a bit more lithe than his friends, Kayne was used to bit of friendly banter, but he'd never been mistaken for a rat. "Si- Sir. Lord, Sir. I am not a r-rat. I am a cat. Feline, your divine... Divinity."

Alacadayne's head nudged close to Kayne. He could now see the individual scales on his snout. They moved as his face changed between different expressions, the ancient dragon clearly evaluating this strange mortal thoroughly.

"We- We've heard your quiveri- ah, your quaking and roaring for the past fortnight. The elders thought it prudent to send someone up here to... Investigate?"

It wasn't certain if the dragon was listening. His nostrils flared and he sniffed, then tilted his head so the giant, slitted eye could inspect the cat more closely. So massive was the blue dragon that Kayne could feel his bodyheat radiating off, his face becoming flushed from the heat. "Mmm. I see. Your elders are wise, and far too curious for their own good. It is true, I have come into a bit of a - how do you mortals put it - pickle...?"

The dragon sat upright, clicking his claws over his head. The sparks flew from them, lighting hay in a little basket that was hanging from the ceiling. The entire room lit up, and Kayne was now able to fully take in the dragon's form. He was huge. Bigger than any living creature or inanimate object Kayne had ever seen. As tall as a pine tree, and the length of two, the dragon sat proudly before the feline.

"Wh... What can I do to assist you, Lord Divine?"

Alacadayne almost seemed embarrassed by the question and hesitated for a moment, but quickly seemed to recall that he was a proud, regal dragon with the power of water in his blood. He cleared his throat and tapped the floor as he explained. "My diet consists of offerings from your village, and sometimes I forage the surrounding lands. Berries, cattle, sometimes a few fish here and there. It's possible that I ate a few apples that went off, and they made me a little... Let us say confused. I may have consumed some things I should not have."

Taken aback by the story, Kayne felt himself suppressing a chuckle. Somehow, the image of the majestic dragon getting drunk on fermented apples and feasting was enough to take away much of his fear.

"I've been having issues with my throat and I believe there are some things that have lodged themselves... Inside me. If you would climb in and... Help me out, I would be in your debt, mortal."

A moment passed by while the cat tried to process what the dragon had just asked. "You want me to... Climb into your stomach? Isn't that dangerous?"

"Oh, no. Not at all. Not at first. I'm Hydrotic Lord Vessel. Much of my body is water - well, so is yours - but I can nullify the effects of my stomach acid for a good while. Just don't stay in there too long."

Blinking, Kayne rubbed his eyes in disbelief. There wasn't an air of deceit from the dragon, but the prospect seemed outlandish. And yet he couldn't return to the village without having helped their divine protector. "I... I guess I can do that...?"

With little hesitation, Alacadayne swooped up the little cat in his front paw. It felt like being swept up by a hostile wind, except more leathery and warmer. And winds usually don't chuckle while they abduct you. Being brought up to his Lord's snout, Kayne reached out and rubbed the giant dragon's scaly lips and nose.

As if he had triggered a hidden door, the lips parted and his fur was blown back against his body by a blast of hot air. It wasn't an unpleasant smell. It seemed the large draconic creature was hygienic at the very least. And a gentleman; he rolled out his tongue, letting the cat step onto it like a red carpet welcoming a foreign dignitary.

Peering inside the maw, Kayne was astonished. He could stand up straight amidst the pearly whites that hung from the upper jaw, and reached out to touch one of the sharp stalagmite-looking teeth that rose like an obelisk next to him. Standing inside the mouth of a dragon, he could hear the rumbling all around him; with a slight pulsating rhythm behind it. He figured it was the pulse of the large creature.

Before he could take anymore in, the maw began to close and the tongue pulled him inwards. He stumbled onto his back with a loud, surprised squeak. Thankfully, he landed softly on the pink appendage, and quickly found himself surrounded by light again - this time from the blue mana crystal he still clutched in his paw.

This is... Ridiculous, he thought to himself as he climbed along the dragon's tongue to the back of the maw, where a looming abyss awaited. Reaching it, he peered over the edge. It wasn't as wide as he thought it would be, and it was incredibly slimy looking. Sitting himself on the edge, the cat noticed the soft looking tonsils across from his position, and his instincts kicked in. He reached out and gave a ball-looking tonsil a bap with his paw, which immediately provoked a reaction from the fleshy structure around him. Everything shook, and he lost his seating, falling into the throat below him.

As he slid down along the throat, he kept an eye on the walls, looking for anything that might've gotten stuck, and incidentally he noticed something sticking to the wall. With a bit of finesses, he managed to stop his descent by putting his legs out; the throat reacted by closing slightly around him, but he quickly grabbed a metal item and wrested it free from the flesh of the throat. It was an old lantern, half rusted, glass still surprisingly intact. Stuffing it in his pouch, Kayne assumed a log position and slid the rest of the way down.

After barely throwing himself to one side so he didn't fall into the dragon's lungs, Kayne fell through a large fleshy sphincter that closed immediately after him. With a splash, he landed in something he didn't even want to consider. Casting his eyes about, he was surprised at how massive the dragon's stomach was, and just how poor his diet was.

He spied a wagon with half-digested berries, half a dozen fermented apples - which coincidentally gave off a strong alcoholic odour that almost made Kayne feel drunk - and a... Wall?

Our divine protector seems to have some poor eating habits...

Clambering to his feet, the cat crawled onto one of the pink, fleshy hills and began his inspection of the stomach lining. He ran his paws along it; it felt... Warm. It shivered to his touch, at times threatening to push against him. Placing his ear against it, he could hear the rest of the dragon's body working. The heart thumped nicely, and there were some definite rushing sounds.

... Why are the sounds getting closer...? Kayne paused as he pondered the mystery, but before he could reach answer, it literally fell on his head. The sphincter opened up and a torrent of water was dumped on top of the cat. He let out a surprised hiss, flailing his arms about as the water settled onto the rest of the stomach's contents.

"Apologies, mortal, but you quite irritated my throat," the cat heard the dragon say, everything muffled by still quiet clear from his position. He resisted the temptation to make matters worse by kicking the stomach lining, and instead returned to his primary duty.

Moving along the walls, the cat noted a few places with scarring from previous unfortunate dietary choices, but nothing stuck. Nothing until he reached the back of the stomach; a large silver object was embedded against the side of the stomach, a wagon's wheel propping up the hilt against the sensitive pink wall.

It was a sword. A silver sword, if Kayne were to guess. Since he didn't see any owners, he assumed it had been on one of the vehicles the dragon had consumed. With a sigh, he put his weight behind the wheel, pushing it out of the way. He stumbled over, narrowly missing the blade by a few inches. It flopped onto his back as he laid, his belly wet from stomach-acid-water and his fur matted with the same.

Grumbling a little bit, the cat stashed the sword in his belt and cast another gaze around. It seemed like this was it. Nothing else was irritating the dragon, and the entire stomach seemed to slowly settle itself too.

"I think I've got it all, Sir," the cat shouted, looking around for an escape.

But the dragon was way faster than he was; he exerted a surprising amount of control on his internal organs, as the stomach ceiling lowered towards the cat. Reaching up, Kayne put his paws against the sphincter and pried it up. He should've expected what was gonna happen next. The dragon's regurgitation reflex was triggered, and all the water that he had been standing in moments earlier rose around him.

In a vortex of water, the cat was carried back up the throat, barely even managing to catch on to what was happening before he - entirely without dignity or grace - was propelled out of the dragon's open maw. He slid a few feet along the grotto's floor before coming to a halt, drenched in water and nullified acid.

Alacadayne peered down and sniffed him. "You have done a remarkable job, mortal. Would you be looking for a job...?"