FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

As the sun began to rise over the horizon, the cool morning breeze danced through the trees, stirring the thinning mist which covered the forest floor. The world was slowly coming to life, the birds beginning to sing and the crickets keeping time. Lost in the beauty of it all was a slender white fox, knelt in a small patch of wild herbs, his head tilted back and his eyes closed; enjoying natures beauty. As the mist around him swirled, licked at the light leather pants held tight to him he opened those beautiful eyes of his, the fiery twilight sky reflecting in those violet jewels.

The cool air seeped through every inch of his cotton tunic, chilling him even through his fur and he enjoyed the sensation as he had every spring morning for the past sixteen years. He barely noticed the azure eyes which now peered out at him from behind a tree, couldn't hear the faint sound of scraping metal as two swords were drawn from their scabbards by masterful paws. Without warning, in a blur of red black and brown another fox lunged from his place, his blades crossing as the startled white fox whirled around, having only a moment to yelp before he was on his back, crossed blades pinning his throat to the ground.

Frightened, the white fox stared up at his assailant, taking in every detail, the reddish orange fur, the long patch of white that cascaded from his lower jaw down to the collar of his leather armor, the ebon fur that coated his paws like well-formed gloves. The other fox could see the fear in his eyes and something in those azure orbs changed; softened.

"You're not a bandit," came the red foxes soft voice after a long silence, giving pause only a moment before adding, "Are you?" The white fox just lay there, somewhat stunned and slightly displeased by the question.

"A bandit?" the white fox questioned quietly after a moment, then his soft voice changed, warping with anger as he snapped, "Do I /look/ like a bandit?!" With a quick flick of a finger he drew a glowing mark between himself and his attacker, pressing his paw to the energy left lingering in the air, causing the earth around him to shift and rise, hurling the red fox into the air.

Having been hurled into the air, the red fox tried to regain himself, though all in vein as he landed hard, jarring him into falling backwards. He sat there a moment, staring at the other man; now it was his turn to be stunned. "What magic was that?" he asked quietly after a moment, still staring in amazement

"It's Alchemy," came his answer as the white fox stood up, stretching as he watched the earth around him settle back into it's place. "not magic. The only magic involved is the cantrip used to draw the symbols."

After a moment of pause and an understanding nod, the red fox sheathed his blades and stood up, brushing himself off as he murmured, "Well then, I'm sorry for attacking you." with a smile, taking a moment to stretch as well. "It's rather hard to tell with this fog though. Either way, I'm Alex."

the look the white fox gave the other man at that moment was a mixture of confusion and amazement, but it soon faded with the soft sigh that escaped him as he gave a simple, "I'm Vael."

Alex just gave a smile, putting his paws behind his head as he leaned back against the trunk of a tree, musing, "Vael huh? Pretty name." with a sheepish smile. "So Vael, where are you from?"

Caught horribly off guard, Vael just stared at Alex for a moment, fighting the warmth he felt slowly beginning to creep into his cheeks. "P-Pretty? You must be mistaken," he said swiftly, trying to feign annoyance as he announced, "I'm a man! Not some maiden for y-"

"Yes, I'm well aware you're a man," Alex said, cutting the other man off without much thought. "even men can have pretty names though." there was a smile drawn over his lips as he spoke, faint as it was it was still easily noticed. "So Vael, where are you from?"

Nearly stricken speechless, Vael just stared at Alex for a long while until he could feel that warmth creeping ever quicker into his cheeks. He suddenly pivoted on his heels, turning his back to the man, folding his arms in feigned annoyance. "And why should I tell you? I mean, you /did/ attack me." There's a pause as his ears folded slightly to the sides. "Whats to say you wont just follow me home and try again?"

Alex just laughs and shrugs, giving a faint smile as he murmured, "Well now I'm not really sure," with a snicker. He paused a moment, just long enough to let out a quiet sigh. "Guess you'll just have to take my word on it when I say I wont."

As Vael turned, ready to snap at that last comment, a loud scream stopped him before he could even speak. His ears quickly perked and his head turned to the west and without a word he took off. Alex just gave a sigh and shook his head, pulling away from the tree as he followed after the other man.

* * *

"Someone help!" screamed the young feline woman as one of many bandits attacking the caravan pinned her to the tree. She tried to scream again, but at that moment the bandit's paw crushed against her throat. Her ivory fur raising almost instantly as she grabbed for his paw, trying to pry it away from her but it was in vain. As her emerald eyes began to roll back and her vision began to blur, she felt a sudden pull, heard a sudden agonized scream as she fell.

The sound of metal clashing and screaming bombarded her senses, unfamiliar voices filling the air, some barking orders, some screaming to flee. One in particular caught her attention though, a soft, melodious sound against the chaotic struggle.

"Are you alright?" Vael asked, using one paw to gently shake the feline woman, the other franticly drawing a glowing symbol into the air, the symbol solidifying the air in a protective barrier around the two.

Having regained her breath, the feline woman quickly opened her eyes, scrambling to get her back against the barrier, yanking a knife from between her cleavage. "Stay back!" she cried, swiping at the air franticly. It took her a moment to notice this man who had saved her was not a bandit but it didn't seem to matter.

Through the barrier she could see Alex, his body moving between the bandits skillfully, paws guiding his blades with such mastery that it almost resembled a dance. Without hesitation he cut them down, one by one, each strike flowing into the next. Within moments more than half of the bandits lay dead on the ground. As the rest of them stood fearful, one man stepped from the remaining group, a ferret with dark fur, clad in armor far darker than the other bandits.

"You've put on a good show," mused the ferret, looking over his fallen comrades with an almost amused look in his eye. "But enough is enough. Stand down or die." With those words his voice had gone from amused to dripping with rage.

The feline stood suddenly, dropping her knife as she stared at the ferret, the fear evident in her eyes. She looked from Vael to Alex and back, then suddenly let out, "You have to help him!" franticly.

Confused and somewhat shocked, Vael turned his attention to the swordsman and the ferret, then shook his head. "Alex? I'm sure he can take care of himself."

"No!" snapped the feline woman, suddenly grabbing her would-be savior by his tunic, franticly hissing, "He's a Spellsword!"

With a wicked grin, the ferret pulled the massive bastard sword from it's place on his back, holding it with one paw as he stared at Alex. He took in every detail of his opponent, the way he held that lithe frame of his, the way he held those swords.

"It's going to be a shame to fight a novice," sighed the ferret, his shoulders shifting slightly as his form visibly relaxed. "Then again it might be fun to see how long you last." With that, the ferret lunged at Alex, bringing that heavy blade of his down in a vicious strike.

With little effort, Alex caught the strike with crossed blades, guiding the ferrets blade into the ground and lurched forward, slamming the hilt of his right sword into the spellswords jaw. His movements as fluid as ever, his left sword came across for a sidelong slash but to his dismay, the ferret's free paw suddenly turned to stone, allowing him to catch the blade.

"Did you really think you could harm me?" mused the ferret as his eyes began to swirl with a dark energy. "Now die!" he shouted, swinging his blade across, the steel glowing red hot as it sang through the air. It was all Alex could do to dodge the vicious strike, barely able to avoid the razor edge and even for his effort the sword's heat was enough to singe his throat.

"Alex!" Called Vael, rushing towards the fox and ferret, drawing an alchemic symbol into his right paw. "Stay back!" called Alex in return, narrowly avoiding yet another vicious strike, another smoking line of singed fur appearing across his face.

As he lunged, Vael's eyes began to glow and as he swung at the ferret, his fist burst into a fury of swirling blue flames. Wide-eyed, the ferret shielded his face with the stone paw but even that was little help as the flames wreathed around it, causing the stone shell to weaken and crumble away.

Relentlessly, Vael followed with another swift strike, his flaming paw slamming against the ferrets sword as he flailed to parry, sending his wielding arm jerking backwards, the blade flying from his grasp.

Stunned and defeated, the ferret staggered back, starring at Vael, his eyes wide. He tried to speak but with Vael advancing on him again, all he could manage was a simple incantation, vanishing into a faint flash of light. The victory was short-lived however and as Vael waved out the flames which had been wreathing his paws, an arrow caught it's mark, sinking deep into the fox's thigh.

Shocked and blinded by pain, Vael cried out as he fell back, gripping his own leg tight. Having seen the archer, Alex snapped his arm forward, hurling one of his swords. The archer tried to scream, but as the blade sank through his throat the only sound that came out was a terrified gurgling as he fell to the ground.

Racked with a pain he'd never known before, Vael cried out again, his vision blurring. Through the haze he could make out the feline woman rushing to him. As he slowly faded into unconsciousness he could feel Alex's arms around him, lifting him quickly but carefully.

* * *

Having carried Vael into Katarina's waggon, Alex quickly set to work on examining the white fox's wounds. No sooner had he broken the head off the arrow than Vael jarred awake, crying out in pain.

"Try and relax," murmured Alex, taking a small flask off his belt, pouring it's contents over his paws. "I'll try to get this done as quickly and painlessly as I can."

With a simple nod and a terrified look to his leg, Vael let his rescuer tend to his wound. Another cry of pain tore from his lungs however as Alex quickly yanked the arrows shaft free of Vael's leg.

"Wait!" cried Vael as - with what seemed like one fluid motion - Alex unbound the white fox's belt and tugged off his trousers.

"I need to bind the wound," explained Alex, his paws moving to tightly wrap a length of cloth around Vael's leg. "and that cant be done with your -" Mid-sentence, Alex simply stopped, his jaw agape as he finally noticed, "Your a woman?!"

Stunned, Alex had stopped what he was doing until another cry of pain and the feel of warm blood on his fingertips shook him from his daze. He gave a quick shake of his head, then pulled the cloth tighter, stifling the flow of blood as he swiftly bound the open wound. It couldn't be helped however when he found his gaze wandering, taking in the sight of the soft, tight vulpine slit between the white fox's legs.

"Hey!" snapped Vael, suddenly grabbing Alex by the muzzle and jerking his head up, bringing them eye to eye. "What in the nine hells are you staring at?!" His white fur couldn't hide the flush of red on his cheeks, though his teeth were bared all the same.

"I-I'm, I mean.." stammered Alex, eyes wide as he quickly pulled away from Vael's grip, shaking his head, "Please, forgive me! I didn't mean to stare." he finally managed, trying to look away.

With a long sigh, Vael pulled his uninjured leg up to his chest and murmured, "I'm not a woman," quietly, then pulled up his bound leg up as well, trying to cover himself as he added, "I'm just.. different."

With hs back turned, Alex scoffed, tilting his head back to look at the ceiling as he murmured, "Different, huh?" A long pause followed before he got up the nerve to give a quick glance over his shoulder, asking, "How different, exactly?" curiously.

"Well, except for.. Down there," Vael explained, gathering up his trousers and slowly trying to slip them on, "I'm male. No breasts or anything like that." As the pants crossed over his bound leg, Vael suddenly winced, snapping, "Ouch!" suddenly.

Instinctively, Alex turned and grabbed Vael's paws, "Don't mess with it," he said, sounding somewhat worried. "If you loosen the bandages it'll start bleeding again." Releasing Vael's paws, Alex once again helped tug off the fox's trousers and tightened the bandages a little more.

For a long few moments the two remained silent, Vael wrapping his bushy tail around himself in a vain attempt at concealment and Alex trying not to let himself stare. It wasn't until a familiar feline poked her head into the back of the waggon that the two finally did anything.

"Hey, is he alright?" she asked, tilting her head a little as she looked over to Vael. "I heard him screaming and I-" Somewhat stunned at the sight of a half-naked Vael, she just gave an embarrassed smile and shut her eyes, adding, "Well, it looks like you have everything under control, Lord Ashwood. I'll leave you two in peace."

"Wha-? Hey!" snapped Alex, a faint hint of pink creeping through the orange fur of his cheeks. "It's not what it looks like!" he added quickly.

Startled, Vael curled up quickly, pulling his knees closer to his chest until the feline woman retreated from view, staring at where she'd been for a minute or two before turning to face Alex, tilting his head as he asked, "Did she just call you 'Lord Ashwood'?" with a somewhat curious tone.

"Heh, yeah." answered Alex, scratching the back of his head, "Alexander Ashwood-" he started to give a formal introduction, but was quickly cut off.

"Son of Marcus Ashwood, the famed Mercenary King," Vael chimed, his ears perking up quickly, giving a smile as he added, "So that would make you the Prince of Meronna?"

"Erm, yeah I suppose," answered Alex, glancing away a bit before adding, "Just, don't go treating me like Nobility or anything, alright? I'm just a mercenary." through a quiet sigh.

Vael just gave a nod, then let his wounded leg stretch out again as he looked Alex over, then turned his attention to the entrance of the waggon before asking, "Would it be possible to take me to the pond near here?" curiously, his left ear folding to the side slightly.

"If you want I could carry you there, but you shouldn't be walking around for a few days at least." Alex said with a nod, then stood up to stretch.

Vael just watched him, watched how his armor moved with him and couldn't help the faint hint of pink that crossed his cheeks for a moment before he shook his head and gave a quiet sigh. "Alright," he murmured after a moment, his ears folding to the sides slightly as he added, "Just don't try anything funny."

* * *

With Vael in his arms, Alex made his way through the forest, the fading light of the sun at his back and his swords sheathed on his hips. His footsteps were silent even across the forest terrain and within a few moments at his awkwardly fast stride, the trees parted into a large clearing encircling a simple pond.

"Is this it?" he asked quietly, looking over the water at the dancing willow-wisps already gathering above the calm crystalline waters.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" asked Vael with a nod, offering a smile to Alex before shifting in his arms, murmuring, "You can set me down now."

"Oh, sorry." came a soft chuckle from Alex as he set Vael near the waters edge, then looked out again over the water before adding, "Beautiful's an understatement. I'd heard this place was cursed honestly."

With a laugh, Vael slowly stood up, wincing a little at first as he limped into the pond, the cold water seeping through his fur as he murmured, "They said all of Ha'Lar was cursed." with a smirk, then closed his eyes, adding, "It's all superstition, nothing more." With a sigh, Vael's left paw began to glow, his fingers weaving an intricate circular design into the air beside him. Within a breath he was finished with the design and as it began to fade, the water of the pond began to slowly creep up his wounded leg; through his fur.

Shocked and somewhat amazed, Alex stood in silence and watched as the water rose ever higher, soaking through the bandages around the wound almost instantly. The water itself seemed to be seeping into the wound and after a moment, Vael reached down, pulling the bandages off carefully as the last bits of flesh wove together from the water. With his wound healed, the water began mending the lost fur and finally fell back through his fur: sending the first ripples through the pond.

"Wow," came a faint breath from Alex after having watched such a spectacle, "So, you're a mage?" he asked a moment later, taking a step towards Vael.

"Not a mage, no." came Vael's simple response, walking deeper into the water as he started to pull off his tunic.

"Then how-?" Alex started to say, then shook his head and leaned against the trunk of a rather large tree, rubbing at the bridge of his muzzle as he finally continued, "If that wasn't magic, then what was it?"

The question was quickly forgotten however as Vael pulled his tunic off, revealing an array of exotic black streaks along his back an sides. "Alchemy." Vael said simply, tossing his tunic onto a low-hanging tree branch before glancing over his shoulder, "Magic doesn't use an element as it's catalyst."

"Isn't Alchemy outlawed?" came the inevitable question from Alex as he decided to kick off his own boots, "I mean, the Imperial Legion hunts Alchemists." he added, starting to remove his upper armor.

"So I've heard." Vael chuckled, glancing to Alex once he was waist deep into the pond. "I doubt I have to worry about them though. Their assassins never come into the forests."

Alex gave a quiet snicker and a shake of his head before pulling off his sword belt, murmuring, "Smart and cute, interesting combination." as he set his weapons against the trunk of the tree. "Mind if I join you?" he added after a moment, having pulled off the outer layer of his armor already.

"not at all," said Vael over his shoulder, not bothering to look as he waded even deeper into the water, stopping when it was half way up his torso.

Without a second thought, Alex stripped off his trousers and tunic, tossing them down near his swords before wading into the pond himself. Making sure he was a few feet from Vael, Alex dipped a paw into the water, then brushed it back through hus headfur with a quiet sigh. "So, what else can you do?" asked Alex after a few moments, glancing to Vael.

"Depends no what catalysts I have to use." Vael explained, only now looking at Alex with a smile. "Water's primarily a healing catalyst, but it does have other uses." After a moment Vael shrugged, then added, "Could you get my back for me?"

Once again trying to hide the hint of pink creeping through his orange facefur, Alex gave a nod. "Sure." and moved over behind Vael, sinking both of his paws into the water to let it soak into the fur. "Well, what about air? I mean, I saw what you did back there, it was amazing."

"Air is a universal catalyst," Vael started to explain, stopping suddenly as he felt Alex's wet paws on his shoulders. With a shiver and a faint sigh, the white fox caught himself before swooning and managed to add, "It's used in every transmutation but when you use it alone, you can transmute small amounts of both fire and water."

Working his paws through Vael's fur, Alex simply nodded. "So that would explain that attack of yours." he mused with a chuckle, letting his paws work down along Vael's back, working his fingers through the soft fur and studying the outlandish streaks. "You're not a pure-blood, are you?" he asked after a moment, only realizing how his question must have sounded after he'd asked it.

Vael however just laughed, shaking his head a little as he explained, "My mother was a Hyena." simply. A faint hint of pink had crept into his own cheeks and as Alex worked through his fur it only grew ever brighter.

"That explains the streaks," Alex said with a smile, then - feeling a bit more bold - he slowly wrapped his arms around Vael, stepping in close as he added, "Now what about this?" as his fingers caressed over Vael's vaginal lips.

With a gasp and a faint shiver, Vael sank back against Alex's chest. "I-I don't know," was all he could manage as he felt those soft pads find his clitoris. Wether to object or encourage, Vael found himself unable to speak for the first time in his life.

With a faint smile, Alex explored Vael's body, pressing between his velvet-soft folds to gently massage the white fox's clit. As Vael's ears folded to the sides, he caught the edge of one gingerly with his teeth and ever so softly began to nibble at it.

A quiet moan escaped Vael as the pleasure started over him in waves but when he felt Alex's fingers starting into him he suddenly yelped. In the blink of an eye, the once calm water around them whipped violently, sending Alex backwards out of the pond; skidding to a stop near the treeline.

Turning quickly, Vael rushed over to the stunned swordsman. "I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" he asked franticly, sounding more than a little worried.

Alex groaned as he propped himself up on his elbows, eyeing Vael for a long few moments before asking, "First time?" with a bit of a smirk.

Biting his lip, Vael glanced away and nodded ever so slightly, not saying a word. To his surprise, Alex pulled himself up and gave the white fox's cheek a quick lick. "We'll go at your pace next time then." Alex said with a warm smile, then - almost as an afterthought - winced and let himself fall back against the ground.