FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Numbers flashed across bright screens stationed periodically throughout the spacious processing warehouse. Current bids for the slave stock updated in real time as a mass of furred and scaled creatures wandered around the open floor, examining the offerings with varying levels of interest, placing the occasional bid. The unicorn's nostrils twitched at the heavy scent permeating the room, a mixture of every species imaginable, undercut by the metallic taste of the facility's air processing and sanitary systems. Rayne sighed, his eyes scanning over the wide variety of anthro and feral stock. Yet again, nothing of interest caught his attention. The same old story as every other week - outrageous prices for worn-out creatures resigned to their fate. Certainly nothing exotic enough for his tastes.

The unicorn wandered toward the far end of the facility, his cat-like, tufted tail swishing behind him in time with his stride. While the market was crowded, he moved through it effortlessly, none daring to come closer than an arms-length from the exotic equine. Though many recognized the stallion, most averted their gaze, doing their best not to catch his attention. He smiled to himself - status and power did have their perks. Not that he would have cared; while his reputation clearly preceded him, much of the more... punitive... aspects of it were far overblown. The work of rumor and hyperbole, a never-ending cycle of increasingly fantastical tales. No, he liked to think he was actually quite a pleasant stallion, though few ever had the opportunity to find out. Perhaps he ought to change that. The soft click of his cloven hooves underscored his thoughts as he stepped further into the high-ceilinged building.

Scenery shifted abruptly as he entered an area designed to hold larger feral creatures, most notably dragons. Massive restraining devices were scattered throughout the area, made of specially engineered and magicked metal to hold even mature draconic creatures. The crowd thinned out here, the density inversely proportional to the prices displayed on the screens; astronomically higher bids flashed alongside brief descriptions of the feral slaves. Various logos of companies marked the corners of the screens nearest to the unicorn, indicating these dragons had been bred in captivity, already trained and guaranteed to be in good health. Well worth the price for quality and obedience. Yet not one would meet his gaze as he walked past. Too broken. Uninteresting.

No, he was here for something else entirely, his eyes drawn to the next few stations, whose screens bore no company logo. Dragons captured from the wild; often obscenely expensive, and always dangerous. As was usually the case, only a few of the stations were occupied today - after all, it wasn't exactly easy to wrangle one of the creatures and live to tell the tale. But unlike previous weeks, there was more of a crowd than usual around one of the slaves, and this piqued the stallion's interest. He passed the first wild dragon, the creature so tightly chained to the floor that he could hardly move, the room vibrating with the drake's angry rumbles as he glared daggers at his handlers. The unicorn walked by without a second glance. These kinds of dragons ended up in the fighting rings, too full of rage and spite for anything else - not something for which he cared or enjoyed. A brutal and cruel sport; the thought of it left a poor taste in his mouth.

But at the next station, he paused. Before him stood a gorgeous green and gold dragoness with mottled scales and wings, her limbs and tail shackled, wings chained together, and muzzle bound shut. Autumn-browns and oranges highlighted her scales along her neck, head, and tail, accentuating the darker greens in mesmerizing ways. A clearly beautiful creature, even to an untrained eye. He watched for a moment at a distance as she eyed her captors and the small crowd bidding on her with what seemed like disdain - but not uncontrolled anger. She could have put up quite the fight, and yet she stood calmly, recognizing the reality of her situation. Interesting. The stallion watched patiently until one large, emerald eye flicked over and fixated on him, her head tilting slightly in curiosity. Rayne's lip twitched in the faintest of smiles as he held her gaze. A moment of mutual recognition, that of all the creatures standing about, only the two of them were something special - worth paying attention to. Where she previously had held his interest, now she had his full attention.

The small crowd around the dragoness shouted amongst themselves, heated arguments and bids thrown around in a squabble for ownership. Rayne stepped nearly straight through them, a sudden hush falling over the group as they parted, stepping back with shocked and fearful looks as they one by one recognized the stallion. All eyes were on the unicorn as he stopped directly before the dragoness, but he paid them no mind - they did not matter in the slightest compared to the creature standing before him. Simply inconsequential. He held the dragon's gaze for some time, noting that her look of disdain had been replaced by one of suspicious curiosity and defiance. Intelligence. But there was something more...

The unicorn reached out his hand and ever-so-lightly brushed a finger sensually under the dragoness's muzzle, still looking into her vibrant green eyes. Her expression softened for a moment, and he caught a flash of something she clearly wished to hide before her muzzle snapped forward, eyes now glaring at him defiantly as her nose stopped right before his, huffing angrily. The stallion didn't even blink, instead leaning slightly forward and kissing the dragon gently on her nose. Her angry eyes went wide with surprise, and he caught another glimpse of that expression. A burning desire, a longing -- a lust to submit. Yes, that was it. The dragoness pulled her muzzle back and arched her neck, huffing in what seemed a mixture of irritation and embarrassment. The stallion chuckled and turned to face the slaver manning the station - a grizzled wolf, one of the few who seemed unafraid of the stallion, but still cautiously reserved. Rayne reached down to his digital wristband and authorized a transfer of funds, nearly four times what had been bid previously.

"Finalize the sale, merchant," he said. "I'll be taking this dragoness with me."

The slaver only nodded in response, inputting a few commands on his own wristband before the screen above the dragoness faded out, a few unhappy individuals in the crowd frowning, but not daring to speak up. The unicorn grinned back at the dragoness, who snorted and rolled her eyes.

"We're going to have quite some fun together, dragon," the stallion said, "Your skepticism is natural, but I can be quite convincing."

With another few touches on his wrist, a heavy weight chained to the dragoness's shackles started to hover, following the unicorn as he turned and started walking towards the facility exit.

"Come now, Tangerine," he said. "Let's show you your new home."