FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

_"Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name..."

• The Rolling Stones_

---

When the city had come into view for the first time as the bus pulled down the last mountain pass, Violet had wondered if this place ever saw the sun or if the rain was something of curse. Her face pressed up against the fogged window and she couldn't help but think that the rising cluster of buildings in the distance looked like the fingers of corpse digging out of its grave. Dread had settled in for the long haul then and the faint spark of hope that she had had was buried beneath it. Who was she kidding? This city was just another city and it was stupid of her to think it was anything else.

But not a minute before the bus pulled into the station (if you could call a concrete slab with a black-iron awning and some advertising posters a bus station) the rain had stopped. The gentle hum of it ceasing and silence was all that was left. The bus was the inside of a coffin then with only the beat of the windshield wipers to keep the dead in order.

She had gotten off as quickly as she could. Muddy puddles sat stagnant at the edges of the curb, overflowing into the street. But, there still was no sun.

Her hair was long, white-blond and fraying at the ends. Dark circles ran under her eyes and seemed to give her cream skin a lilac glow. Lean muscle ran along the back of her legs and across her shoulders. The jeans she wore were mud stained at the knees and the tennis shoes had blood stains across the toes. Youth was hers and she felt it.

The bus station was on the farthest outskirts of the town. Across the street was an inactive construction site, its yellow and black machinery soaking in the mud and learning the hard lessons of life. But behind the bus station, on her side of the road, a field of gold stretched out. Crisp grass dripping with raindrops that stood diamonds-like on their stalks. Further down, it pushed off into a forest.

Her eyes were set on that forest; they soaked in the dark crevices between the far-off trees and the smell of it was treading lightly on the air. A lump suddenly swelled in her throat and her stomach began to twist. Just the thought of the wet darkness inside those woods made her want to tear her clothes off and go sprinting down towards it.

But Violet was pulled away from it as the bus revved back up and pulled away from the curb, the unsettled rainwater puddles splashing up onto the platform and pulling around her shoes. The bus drove down the road, vanishing and then later reappearing behind the tarmac knolls squeezed between the field and construction site.

She wrinkled up her nose and coughed, trying to get the taste of the bus ride out of her mouth. The few men and women that had endured the ride as well were gathering up their suitcases that the bus attendant had left in a pile near the curb. Some were unzipping them open and organizing the things that had been shuffled around.

She weaved through the crowds of people, who would glance up frowning as she shouldered past if they glanced up at all.

At the edge of the bus stop, a young man was leaning up against the awning, mumbling to two others who were huddled in close to him. His head was shaved and tattoos reached up from beneath his shirt collar. The muscles of his body coiled like rope up to his neck and from there veins worked like tendrils up his crudely shaven face. The two others were similar but they didn't give off the raw smell of sex that he did, corroded iron and sweat boiling somewhere beneath the musk of other fatigued aromas. That was the only thing that caught Violet's attention.

She felt his eyes on her as she passed and felt sick dread boiling in her guts as a grin tore across his face.

"Hey Cherry, where ya headed?"

She scoffed and shook her head, slipping her hands into her pockets. Violet didn't even give him a careful sideways glance as she pushed past.

"Come on babe! Ya can't walk by all pretty and not expect anything!"

"I'm not your type," she shouted back.

"How do you know what my type is? You sure lookin like it."

She couldn't stifle her laugh.

The mud of the road's shoulder squelched with each step. The air was still cold, wet with promise of more rain. She pushed her nose into the air and let it brush across her face. It felt like silk. She could smell more rain in the air; it was a fact for her.

Violet gave a backwards glance. The young man and his cronies were still at the edge of the slab, salty laughter threading their foul words. His eyes were still on her though. The grin turned violet as teeth crunched down in the moist shadows behind them and his hand grabbed at his crotch. She felt the skin on her arms prickle and she quickly turned away, flipping up the bird into the air. She kept walking down the side of the road, stretching her neck or pulling her arms over her head. When he finally looked away she turned off into the mud and dashed into the waist high grass.

It was sticky, still slick with rain and the smell was euphoric. Even the sound of the stalks rubbing against themselves filled her. The city was far behind. Her legs pumped forward, the soles of her shoes barely touching the ground. She couldn't run fast enough. The grass bowed before her. The urge to change pulled in her chest, drawing her into that forest. It tingled down her spine and made the skin of her neck and arms break out in goose-flesh. Violet was so happy, frustrated, but happy.

The grass gave way to a pine needle and leaf mulch. The towering trees thickened and blocked out the light. Violet was in its private, primordial darkness. Her breathing was calm and controlled; her thoughts fled as she listened to the slow beat of her feet against the wet earth. She pushed herself up over upturned roots, bounding up and reveling in the feeling of the coarse bark against her callused hands. The air was filled with life and smells. She wanted to take it all in until she was drunk off it.

And the change happened before she willed it, something inside her pushing it towards the surface. A shiver ran through her, working towards the ends of her fingers and toes. The hair stood on her arms as new hairs joined their ranks. Violet skidded to a halt and began yanking off her clothes, peeling them off like a skin and exposing her naked body to the air. Hair was rippling up her stomach and chest. She tossed her clothes and shoes off to the side and stood as the change pushed through. She felt the bones in her body cracking, pleasant sometimes and sometimes bringing a sharp bite of pain; skin stretched and pulled to accompany the change. Violet hunched over, dropping down to her knees, sitting in reverence of the mixture of pain and pleasure working its way through her. Her skull began to change, the bone elongating. She pressed her face into the damp earth, grinding her teeth together as they sharpened in her gums and pushed out from her face. Fingers and toes shortened; arms and legs did too. The final snap of her spine echoed in the forest and she screamed.

She lay there, her eyes closed and her body trembling, but she knew that the world was changed. When she first opened her eyes, the shock of always overtook her and she breathed in deeply, her wet nose tickled and beckoned by the world. It was an old world, the world beneath the world that she walked before. The smells were so strong she could practically see them.

Her fur was full and grey-white like milky snow; the thin, springing muscles ran up her haunches and across her back. She pushed herself up and held her head up high, letting the forest have her.

She began to run again. She leapt over roots and the sound of the drum she ran to had doubled in time; it was twice as fast and she was twice as strong. Introductions were in order, so the forest spoke secrets to her. It told her stories as she ran --- of predator and prey, of the rains past and present and of those who wandered this forest as well. A singular scent stood out suddenly amongst the others and she drove a hard right.

With a leap, she burst through a stretch of low-growing shrubs and came to a small clearing. In the center was the rabbit, plump with fat meat that she could imagine bursting like berries in her mouth. All her senses poured in on it. She sped forward, her body low but her legs whipping out under her. The rabbit's ears twitched and its head jerked back. Before it's legs could even kick out, she had her jaws clamped around it. The supple flesh gave under her sharp teeth and the warm blood filled her mouth. It burned on her tongue and the drops that leaked down her muzzle lay steaming on the grass. The rabbit struggled for a moment before the life inside it uncoiled and its body went limp. She placed a paw on the rabbit's body and yanked her head back, tearing off a strip of fur and fat.

Never had the act, the taste, held so much satisfaction for her. The feeling of hunting, of earning something and having instant satisfaction, was all held in the gristle in her mouth. She hadn't felt this at peace in years.

As she began to chew at the thick meat, she looked up she saw a cluster of small, baby rabbits gathered near the brush, their noses twitching and their bodies shuddering. The meat hung from her mouth for a moment as the black eyes, gleaming and quiet, stared back at her. The body of the rabbit was ready to be explored and eaten at her pleasure, but she couldn't take her eyes of the baby rabbits and their glassy eyes. This wasn't just a rabbit; this was a mother.

Her stomach suddenly felt unwelcoming and the meat and blood no longer tasted triumphant; it was gamey and wet in her mouth. She let it drop to the ground. What had she done? What was she doing?

The hair that ran along her spine began to pull back and the bones of her body began to shift. She was changing back. The same process, the same familiar pains and pleasures left her standing naked with the corpse of the mother rabbit at her feet, the taste of raw fat in her mouth and a smear of blood around her nose and mouth. She wiped at it with the back of her hands, trying to get rid of the smell. Suddenly, it was too strong. This wasn't of the fresh hunt anymore, it was the raw smell of death.

Violet's naked body felt the cold, wet air and she shivered, suddenly aware of it. The baby rabbits had scattered during the change, fleeing into the brush and forest to be eaten by others.

The forest had gone quiet again. The smells were still strong for her but not euphoric like they were when her nose was black and wet. She began to walk back, no longer filled with the urge to run. The forest was strange now; it's familiarities were fleeting. The secrets it had told her so eagerly before, were closely guarded now and unspoken --- and Violet was a stranger.

She walked until she found her clothes. Even though she felt a little warmer --- a little --- she didn't like putting them back on. They felt dirty and old and smelt too much like people she didn't know. She decided then that she would buy some new clothes in the city when she got the cash. Violet slipped the bra back on, pulled the shirt over and slipped into the jeans. The shoes were no where to be seen. She crouched to her knees and began to feel around and then saw them a few feet away under a gnarled root.

As she crawled towards them, a smell struck her hard and all at once. Before she could stand, rough hands slipped under her arms and ripped her up. The arms the hands belonged to were smothered with names of people she didn't know and symbols that meant nothing to her. There it was: rust, iron and sweat, whiskey too now that she had a chance to really dissect it. The hard, strong arms clamped around her waist and shoulders and yanked her back into the young man. She could feel his heartbeat banging like it was trying to rip out of his chest. His smell was too strong; it made her gag. There was laughter, but it's wasn't his. It had to be the two guys he had been with.

A tickling whisper, wet and dripping, filled her ears. "Cherry, Cherry, all alone?"

His two tagalongs hooted and hollered from a few yards off.

"Fuck her up! Fuck! Her! Up!" one shouted.

Violet thrashed in his hold, kicking out her legs and hurling her shoulders back and forth, trying to wedge out of his grip. She tossed her head back and felt it smack into his face; something crunched and the smell of his blood filled the air. His arms went limp.

"Fuck!" he yelped.

Violet pushed forward and his arms slipped away, but his hand whipped up and grabbed a fistful of her hair. He yanked it back and she thought it her hair would peel from her scalp; her eyes began to leak and she clenched her teeth. The arm seized back across her waist as he forced her head against his chest.

"You don't hit me! You don't fuckin do that!"

Violet's fingers dug into her palm; her nails piercing her own skin. She breathed in quick, angry mouthfuls of air that filtered through her teeth.

He was staring down at her, a calm glazing his eyes. His nose was oozing blood --- and that grin. He dropped his face down and took a deep lungful of air.

"Get off!"

She threw an elbow back into ribs. He choked on the air in his throat and she managed to twist out of his hold. Violet whipped around, screaming, and drove her fist into his face. It landed with a crack on his jaw and his head flipped back, his body stumbling back after. His two cronies howled.

"You got one with spunk!"

"Tame her! Tame that bitch!"

Violet stood tense, the muscles in her arms tight like coiled springs. Trickles of spit and blood were streaming down the corners of his mouth. He stood blinking for a moment, his eyes vibrating in his head. Then he began to cough and gag until he spit out a bloody wad of teeth into his hand. He stared at it, like he had no idea what it was and then his fingers clenched over it and he shook his head, his now jagged grin filling with violence.

"Ohya bitch. Ya gaddamn --- !" The words became a howl and he lunged forward.

Violet kicked out but his shoulder slammed into her chest and she was thrown back against a tree. He came barreling after. She tried to push herself off but he smashed into her, pinning her back against the trunk. All the breath was squeezed out of her body and she sputtered, trying to find the air.

Birds were taking flight --- she could hear them squawking and chirping in the distance.

He dug his fingers into her shoulders and she screamed out and hit at his face again, kneed at his crotch and kicked at his legs. But he wasn't moved and the grin, now seeping blood and missing teeth, didn't falter.

He grabbed her face and squeezed it in his grip.

"I'm gonna teach you that ya don't do that to nice respectable gentlemen."

"Fuck off!" She spit in his face.

He slowly wiped at his cheek with his free hand. That insane grin seemed to widen and swallow every human thing about him. His arms wrapped around her and yanked her in. She could feel the erection through his jeans pressing up against her stomach. She squirmed, trying to move out between the tree and him, but she was trapped. Violet shuddered as he began rubbing up against her.

"What do you think?" he laughed.

"You're such a sick ---"

His hand grabbed at her ass while the other slipped around and began to draw circles on her stomach. Violet turned away, shaking. He pressed his face up against hers. His breath was awful.

"Normally I'd go through the flirtin but right now I'm just so bored and horny that I just don't givafuck." He rubbed his cheek against hers. "What's your name Cherry?"

Violet said nothing. Everything in her body was flexing and tensing in on itself until she thought she would implode. And the pure hatred was there, writhing, thrashing and screaming to tear him apart and to rip that awful grin from his face --- but she couldn't move.

"Well my name's Daniel and I really would like ya to remember it Cherry. I want you to say it when I get in. I'd really like you to scream it. Tell me you like it Daniel. Tell me it's the best and biggest you've had Daniel."

"Screw yourself..." she sputtered; the words were barley conscious of themselves.

His hand stopped tracing circles around her navel and began to crawl down. Violet ground her teeth together and sucked in her breath. It slipped down into her jeans. She squirmed and tried to flail but he wouldn't stop.

"Fuck you!" she howled, "Stop!"

His fingers reached out and pushed up into her.

With every last bit of strength she could drag up, she peeled out from between him and collapsed to the ground. A screech of laughter erupted and she heard Daniel begin to fumble with his belt buckle. His buddies started up a chorus of wolf whistles

"Come on Daniel! Whoo!"

"I got her next!"

Violet clawed at the dirt, her head spinning, her thoughts screaming. She felt like she was going to throw up. Daniel was swearing as he fumbled with his belt, trying to pull it loose. He was still laughing though, that grin was still playing on his face, looking to swallow her whole. That sickening smell of his, his empty eyes and that god-awful grin: she wanted them gone for good.

Her shoulder blades snapped back and the hair bristled on her arms.

Daniel still couldn't pull back his belt buckle and the others kept on.

"What ya waiting for buddy?"

"Damn thing won't come off ---"

She pushed herself to her knees as the bones in her body began to snap and twist. Her eyes were stuck open; her breathing was slow and calm. The clothes she wore were splitting at the seams, the fabric ripping.

The two others had stopped laughing. They looked on in wide-eyed, half blitzed shock. The only sound then was Daniel's swearing and the snaps of Violet's shifting body.

"Daniel ---" one said.

"Yeah, you'll get yours, slick. I'm first," Daniel said, his eyes still stuck on his fingers.

Her spine snapped, the vertebrae realigning. She stood for a moment, her claws digging at the mud, letting the last of the change fade off. When it was done, she shook the scraps of clothes from her body. She raised her eyes up to him; the sickly sweet scent of pheromones made a growl rumble in her throat. And all the hate, embarrassment and nausea were neatly sorted in her now and the action would be simple.

"Daniel ---!"

"What the hell do you want?!"

Violet let the growl build, till it erupted in her maw. The forest felt her hatred for this man; its scents and sounds had changed. She could smell its repulsion, taste its anger and hear the silence that told her that this man must die for what he had done and what he was going to do.

Daniel looked up --- the grin slipped away.

With a guttural roar, she leapt into the air and slammed into him. He tumbled over, his head snapping back against the ground as he hit. Violet stood over him, her growl steady as her lip pulled back to reveal the sharp line of teeth in her mouth.

The other two went screaming off into the woods. Daniel stood beneath her trembling, his mouth opening and closing, trying to make words. She smelt urine as the crotch of his jeans darkened.

She stared into his eyes, the empty orbs filled with that terrible violence, and did not break. She wanted him to look into hers and see her in them. She wanted him to know who this was and why it was happening.

And he finally did manage. "Cherr---"

She reared back, jaw open wide and snapped her teeth around his neck. His backed arched and his hands flew up to her, tearing at her side. She bit down as hard as she could and listened to his wet screams gurgle off. That sound couldn't have been more satisfying and it made her work harder, her teeth sinking deeper through the tendons. Bursts of blood, hot and stomach-turning, filled her mouth. She ripped her head up, bringing up a ragged chunk with her and flung it aside. For a moment, she just stood over him, her head held high.

But the blood was in her mouth. She shook her head, trying to get it out. Her stomach tightened and her vision was starting to ripple. She began to pant; her legs felt like they would buckle beneath her own weight.

Daniel's mouth was bubbling red and flapping like a landed fish. His hand was absent-mindedly touching at the place where his neck has once been but now only fleshy clockwork wound down.

"Cheh...fu..." he was sputtering, "oh shi...cheh..."

Violet tumbled off him and staggered away. The smell was going to make her pass out; she had to get away from it. She finally did throw up what little food she had eaten in the past few days, but still she kept walking. That scent would not leave her; it was on her muzzle, on her face, everywhere. She crouched down and began to roll in the mulch, trying to get rid of it or cover it up, but still it forced itself on her senses.

She lay there, her head spinning, the taste of the blood still warm and potent in her mouth. A million different thoughts were racing in her head. Was she dying? Was this it? She should have never left. She should have stayed up North. This is what happens. Fuck, she should have stayed up North. Never trust the city.

She listened to the gasping sounds of the dying man. His eyes were still gazing up into the sky but his breathing was starting to slow. She listened and waited for it to stop and finally she heard one last, sharp breath that seeped out of him, carrying the rest of his life with it. Then there was only the sounds of the forest as she lay there, dying perhaps. Darkness crept in on her vision and she felt herself slipping.

Somewhere in the distance, Violet thought she heard a wolf howl, but she was gone before she could be sure.