FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Above the floral fields, wings buzz, and colorful critters carry their guests over the scenic view. Cynwrig clings to Eshere's core, and the slime wraps around his chest. The soldier and the forager hold a harness Baker sits on, his light frame holding onto the swing and letting the wind whip through his hair.

In front of them all is the scout, flying a straight line out of the fields and off into parts beyond.

Tik Tik sits upon a green disk of light that floats behind the rest, her head bowed and her legs crossed as her hood covers her face.

"We're approaching!" the Scout proclaims. "It's just over the next hill, can you see?"

"I could hear it long before seeing it," Cynwrig grumbles.

Tik Tik hooks her hood with her thumb and lifts her head. She smiles and stands, her cape fluttering in the wind. "It beautiful!" the kobold calls.

Black dots make way for striped figures zipping up and down through the sky, all heading behind that hill. Their buzz fills the air, the humming thrumming through the bodies of the newly arrived travelers as they get closer and closer. And as the mountain passes under them, they see beyond the enormous structure.

No palace matches the enigmatic beauty or castle that provides better protection than this nest in the Insect Kingdoms. The number of bodies that cover the structure makes it a writhing mass of activity. Foragers and soldiers flit in and out from a multitude of openings. With each such aperture, the ever-vigilant eye of other colony members ensures no strangeness occurs.

The structure is like upside-down towers, reminiscent of golden syrup as it drizzles down over the side of the mountain into necklace-like strands of thick, round pillars. Each of the buildings has more workers at the edge, building more and more upon them, expanding them and increasing the reach of the colony.

The stone bricks that sit next to a few towers are the most fascinating aspect. These remnants show evidence of the previous occupation. Their details are obscured by the busy bees building better structures around them.

"What do you suppose used to be here?" Baker muses, crossing one leg over the other as he stares downward at the complex.

"It could be anything," Cynwrig says. "These folk don't exactly care where they plant themselves, just as long as the location is good for their own purposes."

"Only one way find out secrets of past!" Tik Tik shouts, floating up in front of the party, but as soon as she makes it to the head of the pack, three bees streak up from below to face her, clashing their waxy javelins together to bar her way.

The warriors stare at the procession, communicating with others who have joined the intruders. Buzzes and hums and swirls in the sky speak to one another, and soon, the new arrivals turn their attention to the kobold, who grins at them with the toothiest smile she can muster.

"Let guess," Tik Tik says. "You like Tik Tik now, too?"

"We'll have to announce your arrival to the others,' one of them says.

"This is a most strange situation," the second adds.

"We've never heard anything like this before," says the third.

"Tik Tik get that a lot," the wizard says, nodding.

"Right this way," the soldiers say, turning and fluttering down toward the ground in front of one of the tallest tower. When everyone lands, they find themselves on an old overgrown cobblestone road that leads towards the most significant entrance of the combed construction.

Many bees fly in and out in a chaotic crowd. They somehow know how to move their business in such a way as to give the party a path to tread. As Tik Tik and her friends land upon the stones and walk towards that yawning entrance, the many colony members only give them the swiftest of furtive glances before returning to their work. There are foragers with leg baskets filled with nectar, soldiers patrolling with stingers and spears at the ready, and guards at the entrance, greeting both the arrivals and the departures.

One of the guards steps up to the group, hands upon her hips, tilting her head and frowning.

A moment later, her antennae perk up. "Oh? OOOH!?" She says, clasping two hands upon her cheeks. "B-but that's, and you...?"

The Soldier nods.

Tik Tik snickers, waving with a cute finger wave. "Tik Tik not sure have time have fun with all bees, but would love to later. Need talk to leader, uh, have queen?"

"Yes, but what business have you with the queen? She's quite busy, as she always is."

A forager flits out of the opening, whispering into the guard's ear.

"Oh, very well, Miss Tik Tik and friends, please follow this worker."

As she speaks, the new forager disappears into the wilds while another worker lands in her place. Immediately following this, the original two bees disperse. Tik Tik puffs her cheeks, grumbling a bit.

"Something the matter?" the new worker says, landing before the party.

"Not very polite," Tik Tik grumbles.

"Those workers have jobs, as do I, Miss Tik Tik. But I shall say their thanks for them in their stead. Now, please, follow me and be careful not to disrupt any of the important work of the colony."

The entrance was large enough for many bees to enter. As soon as the party passes the threshold, they find themselves in a tower of cramped corridors. Bees cling to the walls, ceiling, and floor, walking in single file and buzzing past one another. Tik Tik, Cynwrig, and Eshere slip on through ot one of the passages, but Baker stops, shaking his head.

"Darling, I simply can't crawl around in this state," he says, patting his chest. "I've already lost a lot of filling, and it's making me very woozy. Can I even fit in there as I am?"

Halfway climbing into one of the corridors, the worker pokes her head out, eying the taller figure. "Hm... no, good point. State your business, and Her Majesty will hear your words."

"That's no good," Tik Tik says. "Tik Tik go on ahead."

The worker nods, and scurries back into the tunnel.

Tik Tik follows with little issue, maneuvering through cramped corridors and passing through throngs of bees crawling on the walls beside and above her, but she pokes her head out on the other side and emerges in another chamber, this one guarded by a legion of spear-carrying soldiers.

The wizard stands in this corridor, her head held high as she calls. "Tik Tik here see queen. Forager should come ahead and tell queen, yes?"

A moment passes, and the guards scurry away, creating an aperture for the kobold. On the other side stands the Scout, smirking as she steps to the side, holding out two hands towards the darkness. "Her highness has been expecting you, Oh Tik Tik, Herald of the Divine and tamer of Demons."