FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter One: Three Tails

A trailing arc of light cut across the darkness of my vision, peeling away the layers of safety and tranquility I had painted in my sleep. A strange buzzing filled my ears and alerted me to my own consciousness. The first thing I noticed was that the world was entirely too bright and too cold for my room. I instinctively reached over to grab the covers before recoiling at the sight before me. I slowly surveyed my new surroundings before stumbling to my feet.

I had somehow awoken in what appeared to be a forest of some sort. It was a small clearing surrounded by trees and other vegetation that seemed endless in all directions. There was a single path, and the sunlight was just barely filtering through the jumbled tree limbs overhead. This has to be a dream, I told myself. No other explanation makes sense. I looked down at myself, still reeling from the shock and confusion of waking up somewhere other than my own bed. I appeared to be wearing the clothes I had slept in, a simple blue T-shirt and pajama leggings. They were a little stained from the dirt of the forest clearing. There didn't appear to be any visible wounds or other causes for concern. After another glance around the clearing to make sure I was alone, I began to approach a nearby tree.

I rubbed the tree bark with my left hand, trying to assure myself that I was still dreaming. The bark was cool to the touch. I began rubbing the bark up and down, feeling the rough dryness of the tree. If this was a dream, it was the most realistic one I had ever had in my life. I yelped and pulled my hand back; a small amount of blood was bleeding from a splinter. I pulled it out within seconds, but the initial pain I had felt was entirely too real. This was not a dream, or at least any dream I had ever experienced before. My paranoia was intensifying fast.

A second glance over the area I had awoken in revealed nothing new, other than the presence of some small blue flowers that I couldn't quite recall seeing before. They were small things, but the structure seemed somehow different than anything I had seen before. My initial shock was leaving me, but a smothering sense of paranoia was rushing in to fill the space. I've got to find help...

I began walking down the only visible path, a long trail, lined with trees. My mind began racing. The forest appeared endless in all directions, and seeing as I had lived in a city for most of my life, there was no way I was anywhere near my home. Is any of this even possible? Or are all dreams this real before you wake up? I wondered if this was some kind of elaborate kidnapping, but that didn't explain why I felt so invigorated. I had woken up feeling as if I had gotten the best sleep of my life. Maybe I have been unconscious for days... I was still considering the idea as I followed the path's curve around a particularly large thicket of trees. I looked ahead of myself and felt my breathing catch in my throat.

The path curved through the thickest of the trees after roughly ten minutes of walking, and I stared in awe at the scene before me. The path continued on for a while before curving again at what appeared to be a drop of some sort. Lining this path along each side were the largest, most beautiful flowers I had ever seen. They had the appearance of lilies, but they were roughly the size of car tires. They were colored a beautiful blue, and they seemed laced with thin purple fibers and filaments that seemed to glow in the wind. They were attached to thick purple vines that encircled the trees before hanging from the vegetation overhead. They covered the trees thickly throughout the path, tapering off near the apparent drop off further on. The air was filled with a strange scent, something comforting and exotic. And there, in the midst of what could only be described as complete mental chaos, I found myself smiling.

I began walking down the path, still admiring the strange flora. In all of my life I had never seen anything so beautiful and strange. I probably shouldn't touch these; they look about big enough to eat me. I shuddered at the thought; this situation was obviously affecting my sanity. After a few minutes of walking, I noticed a strange rushing noise coming from somewhere off in the distance. The sound was becoming louder and louder as I continued down the path. Near the curve at the end the noise was so loud I began wondering how I could have ever missed it before. It was definitely the sound of a waterfall; I had seen enough of them on television to recognize the sound. I approached the point where the drop off was visible, but my earlier deduction had been wrong. I was right about there being a waterfall, but what I had thought was the end of a cliff or something was actually a small seven foot overhang near the edge of a pond. The water was clear and sparkled in the sunlight, reflecting the cloudy sky. The waterfall was near the opposite end from where I had come. The path seemed to curve around the edge of the pond, remaining in sight until about halfway down. As my eyes traced across the part of the path I could see my breath caught a second time.

Something was standing in the shallow part of the pond, near the end of the path. I could only just see its movement in the distance. It looked large and brown, standing there at the waterline. It looked kind of like a person with its movements, and it obviously wasn't an animal. It appeared to be doing some kind of task with tools. I stood and began going down the path to get a closer look at the thing. If it was in fact a person, I decided, I was going to ask for help. And if it isn't a person... stop. Don't think about that. My movements slowed to a cautious pace as I approached another overhang that was much closer to the end of the path, and I slowly walked up to examine the thing in question. I leaned my head around the girth of a particularly large tree, and my jaw dropped.

For starters, the subject in question was definitely not human. It had evidently moved closer to my current position while I was walking down the path. It was entirely covered in brown hair, and its ears were further up on its head than they should be. It could have been a grizzly bear, but it was standing up near the waterline with almost perfectly human posture and physique. The next thing I noticed was that the thing was wearing shorts... just regular, human shorts. It's very large back was facing me, but it was definitely wearing what appeared to be grey khaki shorts with pockets and a belt. As I was still in shock, the creature turned around. It had in its hands a piece of cloth of some kind. It shook the cloth out to full length, revealing it to be a simple white tank top. My mind was racing, and I felt like I was going senseless. A new species or something? Where the hell am I? It seemed to have a mostly human body, male and very muscular, but it was covered in thick brown fur. Although the limbs and torso were entirely human in shape, the head was a strange mixture of animal and human. It had a muzzle of sorts, and... it appeared to be washing clothes.

I was watching the creature pack its clothing into a simple woven basket when it seemed to yawn and throw its arms back. It was very large indeed, David noted. The kind of guy you probably wouldn't want to end up in a fight with. It was muscle-bound, and kind of chubby around the middle. I noticed a patch of fur on its chest that was slightly lighter than the rest of it. It bent to pick up the basket and stopped mid movement. It suddenly began glancing around the path. Oh shit, oh shit, it must have heard me, I've gotta- My inner rant was disturbed by a shuffling just ahead of me, to my left. Something was coming out of the brush, something large and fast. It pounced out from a position startlingly close to where I was hiding and launched itself at the bear-creature. It struck it in the chest and knocked it back almost nine feet. The bear yelled, and the creature shrieked. It sounded like iron grating over iron, and the sound sent a chill down my spine.

The bear landed and rolled, but was able to right himself as the assailant began to attack again. He pulled out a knife of some sort and brandished it at the creature, which was able to rebound before it would have taken any wounds. It appeared to be a jungle cat of some sort but far too large to by any kind of animal I have ever seen. It was gray and speckled with black spots all across its back, with what appeared to be... three tails?!? As I was just beginning to see it in detail it launched itself again. The bear cut an arc with the knife in front of him, but what would have been a wounding blow missed. The creature spun midair and kicked the bear a second time, kangaroo-style. The bear let out a startlingly human yell as he flew back again and the knife flew back further. The thing was on him now, ready to tear into him.

It bit down at the bears face, and the bear was only just able to get move his arm into the way in time to avoid a fatal wound. The thing was tearing into his arm now, and he cried out in pain. The sound was far too real, far too horrible, and far too human. I could feel the yell echoing somewhere deep inside me. I was moving before I even knew what I was doing, and I picked up a stone from the water's edge and hurled it at the thing.

With a startling agility, the creature jumped from its victim and landed in the shallow end of the pond, narrowly avoiding the stone. I glanced at the bear... he was staring at me, mouth agape. The cat thing turned its gaze on me, and I saw that it had a third eye in the middle of its forehead. I felt sick.

-Where the hell am I? WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?

It snarled and lunged itself at me, more metal screeching, impossibly fast. I was glued to the spot. I was amazed at my own stupidity... that I had almost instinctively made myself the target of a predator I couldn't hope to fight. And what for? I turned to run and slipped on the rocks, hitting my head hard on a large stone. Stupid... The beast sailed overhead, kicking itself off a tree to lunge at me a second time. It was all too fast, impossibly fast, and as the world began to darken around me. I only just caught the impact of a large brown fist into the creatures face as I passed out.

?-?-?

I jumped from my bed with a start. My own bed, in my room... I had only just been there, about to die, with a strange alien creature about to devour me. I could still feel the terror, the cold of the wind in the trees; it was all impossibly fresh in my mind. I glanced around the room in fear, but it was the same old room I had been living in for years. I began to stand up, still in shock, but the pain in my head hadn't yet subsided. I looked down at my pillow... blood smeared everywhere, still leaking from a wound in the back of my head. I crawled out of bed and made my way through the semi light of my room to the bathroom.

I stumbled along the hallway to the bathroom before entering and closing the door behind me. I flicked the light switch, locked the door, and began wetting a rag. I was freaking out, but had apparently managed not to alarm my parents in the nearby rooms. My hand smeared blood across the door when I closed it... I'll have to clean that. I felt terrible, my head was pounding, and I felt fatigue as if I had only slept for a couple of hours. It was a dream... but this gash! I pressed a cold rag into the wound in the back of my head. Definitely real...

I looked down at myself while covering the cut on my head. My clothes were much the same as I had left them, but underneath my skin was chilled and bruised. I began examining my body in detail, taking in where all of the bruises where. There were two on my side, one on my leg, and of course the wound on my head. I glanced over my hands and noticed with a sort of shocked awe that the small cut from the splinter was still there. Could I have possibly injured myself on the bed? Was it a dream reproducing the wound I had inflicted on myself? I had no way of knowing, but it had never happened before. I also didn't have the slightest clue what I could have hit. With the initial shock subsiding, I prepared myself a shower to clean and dress the gash on my head before proceeding with anything else.

After washing the blood out of my hair, I was able to use two mirrors in tangent to survey the damage. I was now confident that I had over exaggerated; the wound was more of a bump than a gash, and although it had bled profusely, after some pressure and simple bandaging it was superficial at best. The pain was even dying down, for the most part. What hadn't died down, however, was the clamor inside of my head. I replayed everything that had happened in that dream over and over; I had never had this much lucidity with a dream before. As I scrubbed the small blood stain from the bathroom door I pondered the situation. There was no obvious explanation for what had taken place.

There was little to clean up outside of the bathroom; after glancing around the room, I saw that there was only blood on the pillow, which was promptly tossed off of the bed. I can always buy another later or something...

The bed seemed inviting enough, and after checking to make sure there was nothing I could have knocked against in my sleep, I crawled there with my remaining two pillows. All I could do was sit and think about what I had seen and how real it had been. It was now almost midnight, three hours after I had initially fallen asleep. Soon the reality that I had only slept for a few hours hit me, hard, and I felt my consciousness flicker like a candle caught in a torrent of madness.

---

Chapter Two: An Impossible Truth

I felt warmth wrapping itself around me. There was a familiar buzzing from deep within drawing me out from the throes of rest. I had only just lain down and I felt myself awakening again, my mind clearer this time. My eyes opened to a familiar pain. As I slid the covers off of myself to get up out of the bed, I came to realize that once again I was not in my own bed. The covers were warm, but they were strange; brown and scratchy on the top. They also appeared handmade. There appeared to be a rather large bandage on my head, puffier than the one I had initially slept on. I looked down at myself as I stood up and stopped mid motion... I was no longer wearing the same clothes as before. My pajamas and shirt had been replaced with simple white T-shirt that was a little too big, and a pair of sweatpants that just barely managed to hang on to my frame. I seem to still have my own underwear on, which is a relief... I was becoming tired of this irrationality.

I began noticing my surroundings. I appeared to be in a small room, much like a log cabin. It was decorated with many interesting things, such as a series of small animals effigies carved from some kind of rock, and what appeared to be stacks of paper in varying stages of clutter. The bed was sitting parallel to a desk on the opposite side of the room, which was home to possibly the worst of the paper clutter. The desk was lined with what appeared to be pencils crafted from timber and half-used erasers. They didn't look like the factory made pencils I was used to seeing. My mind was racing, and I was sure that I was going insane.

The door was just to my left, and it was shut. I began tiptoeing towards it, scared of where I could have woken up this time. As I was preparing to crack open the door, one of the pieces of paper on a nearby shelf caught my eye. It was a sketch, and now that I looked closer a great deal of these papers seemed to feature sketches or drawings of some sort. I picked one of the closer pages up and almost immediately felt my mouth open in surprise.

It was a sketch done of the waterfall I had seen only hours before, from the perspective of the waterline near the beginning of the trail. It wasn't the content of the sketch that surprised me, but the amazing craftsmanship and attention to detail throughout the image. I could tell that whoever had done this had put all of their emotion into it, and it was beautiful. I was still examining the drawing as the door creaked open and the bear-creature from before walked into the room.

I stood facing him; sketch in hand, for what felt like hours. His almost human face looked at mine with a mirrored expression of surprise. Our eyes were caught against each other, and I felt a torrent of emotions welling inside me; fear, curiosity, and something else too. It was hard to describe, but it kind of felt like clockwork coming together inside me. I took notice of his bright hazel eyes, full of intelligence. After what seemed like an eternity, he spoke to me.

"Do you speak?" His voice was deep, and his accent was both familiar and strange. I understood that this situation was just as strange to him as it was to me, and I found that in spite of my current standing I was feeling considerably less fearful of him than I probably should have.

"Y- Yeah..." My voice came out a little higher than I intended, and I coughed before continuing.

"I can talk."

The bear immediately seemed to relax a little. He no longer looked tensed, as if to defend himself. His eyes still held a note of curiosity, a spark that I wasn't used to having aimed in my direction.

A moment of awkward silence passed before he spoke again.

"What is your name?" He said in that same gruff tone, with a faintly detectable accent. It was strange watching his animal-like mouth form the words he was speaking; could this be the cause of his accent? The words are easily understandable, but the voice is just...

I relaxed a bit and gave him a reply. "My name is David, David Fulmen." I thought carefully for a second before continuing. "Do you have a name?"

"It's Markus." He replied. He was regarding me with a kind of silent intensity I had never seen someone give before. "Let's talk in the living room" He said after a moment's debate. "Can you walk alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." As my arms relaxed, the paper I had almost forgotten about gave a little flutter. I glanced down at it and remembered my initial surprise when I saw it. I set it down carefully where I had found it and followed Markus through the door and into a different room of the house.

As I passed the threshold of the door into the living room, the first thing that struck me was that the room had the height of a two story building, which surprised me considering the humble size of the room I had awoken in. There weren't many furnishings present other than a table with several chairs, a strange box in the corner next to a door, and what may have been a stove of some kind. The walls suggested that the house was a cabin of sorts. There was a large window in the uppermost portion of the room, letting in enough light to fill the room.

Markus pulled a chair out from the table and gestured for me to sit in it. It seemed to be crafted with great attention to detail, but it didn't look like any chair I had seen before in my life. He pulled a chair out opposite me and sat down. I realized that although Markus was obviously of a different species, he was completely sentient. I sat down across from him.

"David, how is your head feeling?" He still seemed to be appraising me; I wondered what it was that made me seem so interesting to him. At any rate, I felt that I could trust him in spite of everything. I didn't think he would try to harm me.

"It's fine... It doesn't really hurt anymore. Umm..." I hesitated before continuing. How long ago were we at the lake? And... how did we get away from that..." I shuddered as I recalled that horrible grating noise that the cat creature had made.

Markus seemed to notice my discomfort, and he replied while I was still looking for words.

"That was an Ochau, and it would have eaten me if you hadn't been there to distract it like you did. Thank you."

I listened to him speak, the way he intoned his words. The way he said it made him sound very grateful. I noticed a bandage going across his left arm; it could have been much worse, but I'm not sure if my actions had actually helped much.

"I bandaged your head at the pond and carried you here... I didn't know if you were intelligent or not, but I didn't want to leave you there."

"You didn't know if I was intelligent?" I said bluntly, my curiosity overbearing my confusion. I was shocked at my almost casual tone, as if talking to this bear-person was a normal thing. But then again, it felt normal. I couldn't explain it.

Markus seemed taken aback. "I didn't mean it personally... I see many varieties of creatures in the forest, but none have been able to speak or communicate before. Most are predators... but none have ever worn clothes." He added hastily. "I was about to go wash them, but I figured I would wait to talk to you first."

"Oh." I said, taking in what he had said. It was reasonable enough. And your grand entrance was essentially you signing your own death warrant... very intelligent. But wait, he's never seen a human? "So this is the first time you've seen someone like me? Someone of my... species?"

He nodded. The way he did it made me think he was becoming much more relaxed, but he was still staring at me like I was something strange and alien. Well, I guess to him I was strange and alien. And he was to me. But I honestly wasn't scared of him, even though I probably should be. I wondered if he felt the same, so I asked him.

"Do I scare you?"

His eyes became wide with surprise, and after a moment he began laughing. It was a deep, happy laugh that thundered through the room and made me smile... After I realized what he was laughing at I began laughing right alongside him. I had just asked a creature twice my size if it was scared of me. Not that I was small or weak, but the strength difference between us was apparent enough. The laughter died down after a moment and I noticed that Markus was smiling. It looked strange on his face, but I could tell that it was sincere, and it made me happy in spite of everything.

?-?-?

I didn't understand why he was so excited to have me here, but over the next few hours Markus talked to me avidly about the forest, his house, and his lifestyle in general. He answered any questions I asked him, but didn't ask many himself. He told me about how he gathered his own food and pretty much took care of himself, and how the creature that attacked us was actually from a place very far from here. It had probably been lost and starving. He talked excitedly about how he was constantly upgrading his house using tools he had found to craft new kinds of furniture.

After a while he decided that I should probably eat. He cooked some scrambled eggs for both of us, serving them up on simple stoneware plates. After I asked him where the eggs had come from, he explained that they were harvested from a kind of bird called an Orachea that migrated to the forest every year. He made me far too much, the same amount he made himself, but I didn't want to say anything so I just ate as much as I could. They were delicious, but I couldn't finish everything. I got the feeling that he wasn't used to company from our conversations, and as we were finishing up the food I decided to ask him about it.

"So does anyone else live here with you?" I asked him as we were walking to place the dishes in a kind of bucket thing. He turned around towards me and the way he was looking at me made me regret asking. He had looked so happy only moments ago, but with my inquiry he seemed sad.

"I live here alone." was his reply. He said it almost somberly, and I didn't want to press the issue further just from his reaction. After a few moments of silence he continued of his own accord.

"This isn't the place I grew up; there have been no other people here for almost a year now. My parents and siblings died in a great plague... that is... everyone I had ever known."

His words fell on me like a lead blanket, dampening what had only just been a jovial mood.

I tried to think about what it would be like to lose everyone you cared about like that, and to then live all by yourself for almost a year after; I couldn't even begin to fathom the loneliness Markus must have felt. I looked at him and saw in his face an expression of sadness that tore at me from the inside out. He turned his head quickly; I guess he wasn't used to hiding how he felt. He looked close to tears, and I was fighting back a strange urge to comfort him. We had only just met, so I wasn't sure that random physical contact was the brightest choice, but the look on his face seemed to make the decision for me.

I walked up to him and sat the plate I had eaten off of in the basket before embracing him. He was almost a head taller than me, and my arms couldn't reach all the way around him. I felt him tense up. "I'm sorry you had to go through that alone, Markus." My actions were strange to me, but my words and motive sincere.

He listened to what I had said, and I felt him relax and laugh before grabbing me in a literal bear hug and easily lifting me up into the air. He was smiling. His massive arms felt like they were crushing me, and his fur was very soft against my skin.

"You're a bit strange, aren't you?" he said after before putting me down and laughing again. "I'm sorry about that. I guess I'm not as used to talking to people... Thank you for caring so much." He laughed again, obviously in a much better mood. I guess giving in to my random urge to comfort him was a good decision after all.

?-?-?

A man was walking through the woods with a shorter creature at his side. They moved at a steady pace, their shadows elongated by the setting sun. The man appeared to be in his early thirties, carrying something in a small bag outstretched ahead of him in his right hand. The creature appeared to be wearing a hooded cloak of some sort, with only its scaly mouth and hands visible underneath the cloth. The creature whimpered as the man moved his hand sporadically left and right, as if searching with it. The bag writhed around in his hand, as if alive. Upon hearing the smaller creature whimpering next to him, the man wordlessly hit the creature in the side of its head. It quickly silenced itself, keeping pace with its master. "We've almost found the thing now, so don't be such a weakling." The man said coldly.

He was walking quickly now, more purposefully. He could sense that the thing he was looking for was becoming closer every second. The creature seemed to be having trouble keeping up, and it was panting as the pair climbed over a particularly rough overhang. The man stood up and found himself surrounded on all sides by large blue flowers. He immediately began walking down the trail, oblivious to the creature as it struggled to keep up with him.

"It must have appeared hours after I finished the ritual, but where could it have gone? Is it moving?" The man postulated.

As he was speaking these words aloud, the small creature next to him fell to the ground and began writhing in pain, its small choked voice barely audible above the wind. The man cursed as the bag he had been holding slowed in its movements and began smoking. It was a slight hindrance, but the man had already gotten close enough to know the general location of what he was searching for. He tossed the bag casually behind himself, where it rolled next to the motionless creature. Without a word he continued walking, leaving the creature to die alone. There was no one to hear its final cry. Twin wisps of smoke curled up from beneath the hood as the bag became enveloped in embers.

?-?-?

We had been talking for a while, both of us excited to be among each other's company. Apparently after Markus' family had died, he was forced to leave his old home. After traveling for a few days, he found this cabin already built with some simple furniture inside. He had apparently began repairing it and furnishing it with his own custom made furniture, made with tools he had taken from his old home. He explained that the Ice box and the shelves where both things he had created. I asked him about the sketches in the room I woke up in, commenting about how amazing they were, and at this I could have sworn I saw his face blush a bit as he hastily replied with "I like to draw occasionally." I laughed and decided not to pursue it any further, but the topic I had been avoiding eventually reared its ugly head.

"So... Can you remember where you came from?" Markus asked innocently. He hadn't been asking much about where I had come from for some reason, instead choosing to answer all of my questions without much inquiry on his end, but I knew it was inevitable.

"Uh... It's kind of hard to explain." I replied silently, debating on how to continue on without confusing him. "Actually, I can't really explain it at all. But it's very far away from here."

He seemed confused, and urged me to try to explain what I meant.

"I really don't know how I'm here right now, so I guess the best I can do is explain what I've been experiencing..."

I told him about how I was staying with my parents after graduating high school. He asked what "High School" was, and after a laugh I explained that it was a place where you are taught basic things like reading and math. I explained that after falling asleep, I woke up in the forest wearing the same clothes. I told him about going down the trail, how I saw him at the river, and after seeing him get attacked I instinctively helped. Markus just sat there and listened attentively without a word.

I explained that when my head hit the rocks in the pond, I blacked out and woke back up in my bed at home with a cut on the back of my head. He asked if it was in the same spot as my current wound was, and I told him that to the best of my knowledge it was. I then explained that after cleaning the wound and going back to sleep at home, I woke back up in the bed Markus had carried me to. I finished and sat there, waiting to see if the impossible truth of my story would be regarded with disbelief or just confusion.

"So you're saying that when you sleep there, you wake up here?" He asked from across the table, his deep voice intonating not with disbelief but with curiosity.

"I guess that's the only thing that makes sense." I said. I felt a little dejected now, knowing the insanity of what I was saying.

"And if you are wounded in one place, it happens to your other body as well?" Markus replied inquisitively.

"Well, there was only my head and the splinter I got from the tree, but it seems so. Look, I don't expect you to believe this or anything, I understand how I-"

"I believe you."

Markus cut me off, and I could tell that he meant what he said.

I sighed in relief, and then looked back up to see him smiling again. Seeing Markus happy was quickly becoming my new favorite hobby, his face looked adorable when he talked and laughed.

"I have no reason not to believe you, and besides... I'm just really glad you're here. And that you don't have to leave tonight."

His words combined with his smile lit me up inside. I don't remember having this feeling anywhere else before, and thinking back to my home there really aren't that many people I enjoy talking to as much as I enjoy talking with Markus.

"I'm glad I'm here too." I said, and although there was no possible explanation for how I could be here and at my home at the same time, I meant what I said.

?-?-?

The sunlight had long since stopped filtering in through the various windows in the house. Although our conversations hadn't slowed down much in the candlelight, my constant yawning alerted him that it was probably time to go to bed. Markus asked if it was ok for me to sleep at his house, and I told him that of course it is. He seemed very happy.

He showed me back to the room I had initially woken up in, and after changing back into my pajamas I was preparing to go to sleep. I was now noticing just how big this bed was. It was practically a queen size, big enough for several of me. Markus stepped out of the room as I began lying down.

I laid myself down on the bed and curled up under the covers. They were soft, but they were just barely keeping the cold out. I was contemplating asking for a blanket when something large dropped next to me on the bed. I turned over, startled, to see Markus lying next to me.

He looked up at me with his golden-brown eyes, a look of innocence on his face.

"You're sleeping here too?!" I asked, a little startled by his actions.

"Is there something wrong with that?" he asked. He wasn't being sarcastic; he was genuinely concerned that he was bothering me. I guess that we are from two entirely different worlds, and his didn't consider something like this strange. Even though we had just met, Markus wanted to sleep next to me.

And besides... it didn't really bother me.

"I guess not, I'm just not used to sleeping in the same bed with another person. I'm fine with it, though."

He looked relieved, and I laughed. He threw the cover over himself and got comfortable; we were laying back to back now, me in my pajamas and him wearing a pair of shorts and no shirt. I stretched out under the covers and felt my legs rub against his soft fur, and he scooted in close to me. Our backs fit comfortably against each other, and the last thing I remember thinking is that I don't feel cold anymore.

Chapter 3: Something Remarkable

Once again, I felt a kind of vibration or buzzing emanating from the deepest part of my mind to my eyes. I opened them and recognized the familiar off white of my bedroom wall before turning around to examine my surroundings. I was back in the apartment I called home. My alarm clock alerted me to the time being 8:43, and a quick check on my computer revealed the date to be the day after I had initially gone to bed and traveled to that other place.

I was no longer considering it a dream, as I could still remember every single detail of my evening with Markus. I bet if I were to go back to bed right now, I would be laying right there next to him. The thought combined with the cold of my room actually saddened me a bit, but I knew I couldn't do that. I had just been tired enough to sleep there, and I am feeling fully rested here. It stands to reason that if I try to go back now I will interrupt my own sleep, which would be pointless. But Markus would be right there next to me again... I crushed the thought. Why was I thinking such weird things? With a sigh I climbed out of bed and began gathering clothes to wear after a shower.

I showered and got dressed, and sat on the edge of my bed, thinking. It feels so strange having so many new memories and emotions stirring around inside me after what should have been a restful night's sleep. I'm not complaining, but it makes it much harder to focus on anything over here when I realize that there is an entirely alien world waiting on me when I go back tonight. Unless I can never go back again... I quickly began thinking about something else, as that was the last thing I wanted to consider.

A cursory glance around my room revealed that not much had changed since yesterday. There were still some soda cans sitting on the shelf, and the same old artwork on the wall. It had been only a week ago that I had graduated high school, and most of my close friends had been too busy to spend time with me. Because of this, I've been spending a lot of time home alone while my parents were at work, either playing guitar or passing time with videogames and television. There really is nothing to do in this city... I had the strangest urge to go for a walk in a forest, but I knew that it was impossible here.

I grabbed my electric guitar from next to the bed and began strumming the strings experimentally. They were already well tuned, and I turned on the amp before grabbing a pick from the table next to my bed. Keeping the volume down low, I began the practice that had made my life bearable these past few weeks. I started building speed with some scales to get my hands back into the groove of guitar playing, and then cut into a piece I had been practicing lately. It was a simple melody, something sad and beautiful, but comforting. I played it several times, alternating strumming speeds and patterns, but it just didn't feel right. I was still practicing it when the door to my room opened and my mother poked her head in.

"David, I've got work late today, so can you-" She hesitated when she saw that I was practicing. I stopped and gestured for her to continue.

"That sounded good, you're getting better..."

"Thanks, Mom. What were you saying?"

"I've got work until ten tonight, and your dad left for his business trip today. He won't be back for a week. Will you be alright here by yourself?"

"Of course, when do I ever have problems with being home alone?" I replied. I would normally have been a little unhappy with this news, being home an entire day by myself with no friends or family to spend time with, but I had other things on my mind.

"Alright then... There should be enough food in the freezer for you to make some dinner."

"Thanks. Drive safe, love you..."

"Love you too." And the door closed behind her. With a sigh I began practicing again, and as I kept thinking back to what Markus had told me about living alone for almost a year I had begun to understand the melody I was playing better.

My Day went by uneventfully. I practiced guitar, and eventually called and messaged my friends to see if any of them had any free time. The ones that had replied back to me didn't. I ate cereal for breakfast and made grilled cheese for dinner. It was a very basic, dull day, and by the end of it I was beginning to wonder if I really wouldn't be able to go back to Markus.

One Idea I had toyed around with was that since my clothes had gone with me to that other place, maybe I could try to take something else with me. After thinking on it, I decided to try an experiment. It was almost an hour before I usually go to bed, nine o' clock, and I couldn't wait anymore. I changed into my pajamas again, but before I laid myself down for bed I prepared a small plastic bag of candy along with several little things from my room, including a watch. I figured that I could bring him a snack and experiment with different material tonight. That is, if it even works... Or if I can even go back. I really hated my mentality sometimes, thoughts like that do nothing but harm.

I lay there on the bed, plastic bag in hand, and waited for sleep to take over. I was too excited at first to go to sleep, but in the end the darkness of night stole over my eyes and I was out.

?-?-?

That buzzing again, but it feels much less intrusive now. I welcomed it, knowing that it was what I was hoping for. It was like a wave of nothingness radiating through me, and as I felt my consciousness returning, I began to feel a strange weight on me.

I opened my eyes, and felt the reassuring weight of Markus pressing against me. I had made it back, as I had predicted. However, the weight pressing against my back felt different, and I realized with a shock that Markus had rolled over in his sleep and was now leaning against me with his arm draped over my side. Our legs were intertwined and I felt my face flush scarlet; He was so warm, and my shirt had pulled up some. I could feel his stomach pressing into the small of my back, and upon realizing that I felt a rush of electricity pass through all of the spots that we were touching. Our legs, my back, my arms... I felt guilty about thinking this way while he was sleeping there next to me. But then again, he is the one responsible right?

I felt his breathing against my neck and realized that his other arm was underneath my pillow. My heart was pounding, and I had the strangest temptation to feel the fur on the arm that was draped over me while I had the chance. He was so soft... I felt my hand lift, and it was then that I recognized the weight and feel of the small plastic bag I had brought with me. I felt a rush of excitement; the success of the experiment meant that I could bring things from my world into here! I must have made a noise in my excitement, because I felt a shift in Markus' weight as he began waking up. I felt guilty for having disturbed him, and guiltier still that my first concern was that he might move further away...

"...David?" Markus inquired sleepily.

"I'm here" I replied to him. Rather than move away as I had expected him to, his grip on me tightened.

"Markus!"

I could feel my heart leap in my chest. He then loosened his grip, and I felt every agonizing rub of fur on skin. It was starting to drive me crazy. He leaned up before looking down on me.

"I'm sorry for getting all up on you... After hearing your story, I was..." He paused for a moment before continuing, looking bashful. "I thought you were going to disappear."

Does this mean what I think it means? It's hard to tell, but I think he's blushing...

I smiled. The way he said that was adorable.

"I don't plan on disappearing any time soon, Markus. You can count on me."

I leaned up and hugged him again.

No laughing this time, he almost immediately hugged me back as strongly as he ever had, his burly arms enveloping me. We stayed that way for a moment, both of us enjoying it, before getting up and getting dressed for breakfast.

?-?-?

We had already made it into the living room before Markus inquired about what it was that I was carrying.

"Oh yeah!" I exclaimed.

"I woke up back at my house like I thought I would, so I decided to experiment a little. I put some stuff from home in a bag and went to sleep with it."

"And it actually came back with you?" Markus asked, surprised. I wonder why he never questions anything I tell him. It's strange, but nice at the same time. We had only met a little while ago, did he already trust me this much?

"Yeah, it's right here!"

I walked up to the table and opened the bag. Markus walked up beside me and our arms brushed; more electricity. I felt my stomach turn over on itself.

"Hey, are you ok?" Markus asked, concerned.

"Oh, y-yeah... sorry, don't worry about me!" I assured him.

"Your face is pretty red..." He pointed out.

"I'm fine, I promise! Just... here, look."

I dumped the contents of the bag into the desk. Inside was about ten pieces of candy for Markus to try, as well as several coins, a guitar pick, and my cell phone. I looked up at Markus' face and he looked very confused.

"What is all of this? I've never seen anything like this..." He picked up the coins and examined them, running his furry finger pads over the coin.

"That's what we use for money in my world." After seeing his expression, I elaborated further. "In my world, people have to work for money and spend it to get things. It's a kind of way to make sure that people contribute as well as receive."

"Oh, I understand. I've never had to use money, but I haven't really known a lot of people in my life."

"It's alright; I really just brought it to see if all of the coins would make it. It adds up to exactly 68 cents, see? I did bring something for you though."

I piled up the various candies and separated them from everything else.

"This is a kind of food from where I live." I figured since you've already made me something, I would let you try something from home."

Markus picked up a tootsie-roll and studied it apprehensively.

"Do we have to prepare it at all?"

"Nope, just unwrap it and eat it. Oh, but you should try this first. They all taste different, these are normally better."

I handed him a caramel piece with cream in the middle. He unwrapped the candy slowly before putting it in his mouth. Watching the whole process was hilarious; I had never seen anybody who was unsure about how to eat a piece of candy. However, when he started chewing, his face lit up.

"This is amazing!" he exclaimed. I laughed and gestured for him to have the rest.

"Are you sure?" He said, swallowing the caramel.

"Yeah, it's hardly a commodity, I can get more whenever- OOF!"

"Thanks, David!"

There he goes again... random crushing bear hug. But I was alright with it, he was happy after all. I watched him eat the candy piece by piece, laughing as he spit a sour warhead clear across the room, and laughing harder when he indicated that the honey flavored piece was his favorite.

"What's funny about that? It's really good..." He seemed a little put off by my laughter.

"It's kind of complicated to explain, but don't worry about it. It's my favorite too." This answer seemed to satisfy him.

After the table had been cleared off, Markus declared that he would cook an amazing breakfast in return for me bringing him candy. He grabbed some meat from the freezer and began cooking it on his oven, which while unlike any oven I had ever seen, it seemed to operate on much similar principles as my own. The top heated up when a flame was lit inside, and there was a small rack inside that I assumed was for baking things. Markus cut the meat into strips and placed it onto the top of the oven, where it began to cook.

By the time he had finished, the meat was served with eggs and a glass of water. The meat looked unlike any I had ever seen, which made me apprehensive about eating it. However, the smell of the food combined with my hunger overpowered my inhibitions. The meat tasted amazing. It had a unique flavor, and was crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. I exclaimed this to him as I was eating, and I imagine his laugh was similar to my own moments before.

The eggs were as good as they had been the night before, but this time I noticed he had scaled the portions down a notch based on what I had eaten before. What I had initially mistaken as a glass of plain water turned out to have a unique flavor as well; it was sweet and tasted a bit like a fruit juice of some sort. When I asked Markus about it, he told me that he had grown an "Oval" tree in the yard and that the fruits could be compressed to make this juice. All in all, I was very impressed.

"I see you meant what you said, that food was amazing!" We were both full and in good moods, sitting at the table with empty plates in front of us.

"I'll get the dishes this time." I asserted. He didn't want to let me wash them at first, arguing that I was a guest, but he had cooked and so it was only fair. I took them to the pump I saw him use before and washed them off while he was waiting at the door. The air was warm, but not too hot, and the sky was a bright blue, illuminating everything. The forest really did look amazing in the sunlight.

"So, what would you like to do now?" I asked him, putting away the dishes in the spot I had seen him do it before.

Markus thought for a minute, his arm brought up to his face in a position much like "The Thinker."

"We could go swimming, if you want." He suggested.

"I'm alright with that, but where?"

"There is a stream right down the road from here; I go there occasionally to swim and fish."

"Oh, you know how to fish?" I asked inquisitively.

He stared at me blankly. "What did you think you were eating earlier?"

"Oh."

He laughed that giant laugh of his, and threw his giant arm of his over my shoulder before leading me out the door and down the road to where we would be spending the day.

?-?-?

We arrived at the stream in a little under ten minutes; it really had been right near his house. It was very wide across, large enough that there was plenty of room for us to swim around in it, and it glistened in the light of the sun. It was lined on the other side with trees that stretched out over the top of the lake, making shadows across the water. I stuck a toe in tentatively, and the water was cool, but not freezing. It was just clear enough to see straight down to the bottom, and it appeared to be a little over waist high. The water looked safe enough, flowing at a slow pace. I could see little tide pools in between the rocks beside the river.

I took off all of my clothing except for my underwear, and tossed them to the side, slightly away from the water. I looked back to see if Markus was doing the same, but when I looked over he was just standing there looking at me. He turned his head quickly and began focusing on something else. Well, that was odd...

"Hey, are you coming in Markus?" I asked.

"Y... Yeah, just give me a minute to get ready." His voice sounded strange, like he couldn't quite speak. It was strange because only moments before he had been loudly and happily singing as we were walking here. Is he blushing again? At any rate, he didn't appear to be undressing, so I jumped in ahead of him.

The cool water enveloped my senses, and I realized it was probably the first time I had showered since I had gotten to this world. Maybe Markus was trying to tell me something by suggesting we go here? Nah, that doesn't sound like him. Since I've met him, he's always been a very straightforward kind of guy. He doesn't really do sneaky stuff like that... The water felt amazingly refreshing.

I heard a crash as something jumped into the water behind me.

"Hey, Markus!" I yelled. He had apparently just jumped in, I saw the tank top and shorts he had been wearing hanging from a tree limb from back where he had been standing. His head surfaced a few feet away from me and our eyes caught. He splashed me with water, and before long we were swimming in circles having splash fights, laughing. I couldn't help but notice the way that the water made his fur stick down to the muscles on his arms and chest, showing me exactly how muscular he was. He was gigantic, a regular bodybuilder. I also noticed that he seemed hesitant to come into contact with me, and his eyes lingered a bit too long when he thought I wasn't paying attention.

After a while, when we had gotten bored with swimming around and splashing each other, we attempted a swimming race. While I had thought that my small size and hairless body would have provided me an advantage, he had soon proven me wrong by swimming past me in seconds with his powerful strokes. I think I know how you are able to get fish now... While I had undoubtedly lost, Markus had seemed to enjoy himself, so I was happy too.

Our swimming venture had taken us a bit further downstream than Markus had intended.

"We should probably go back... I usually try not to swim near the deeper water." Markus suggested.

"Why? There isn't anything dangerous out here, is there?"

I shuddered as I remembered the cat creature from my first trip, and the almost demonic screech it had intoned at the sight of me.

"Well... I don't think so, I've never seen anything other than the fish I catch, but this forest tends to change."

"What do you mean, change?" I asked him.

"I mean, sometimes I'll randomly see creatures that shouldn't be here. Like that Ochau. It's never been here before, but it-"

Markus stopped mid-sentence.

"David, get out now."

I could feel my chest shrinking. I've never heard that intonation before, and Markus was looking behind me while backing up. I swallowed and began swimming as fast as I could toward him. It was then that I felt a stirring at my legs, and I was only just able to yell before something pulled me under.

Cold... Colder than it should be, and it's all over my legs. I looked down into the darkness of the water and felt every pore of my body scream in unison.

There were strange green tendrils wrapped around my legs, pulling me under, pulling me directly into a jagged hole at the bottom of the stream. But it wasn't a hole, I realized; it was a lighter purple, almost fluorescent, and as I stared at it I realized it was the mouth of some strange creature, pulling me in to devour me whole. I felt my mind hollow itself with fear as I began to make out which parts of it were eyes and which parts of it were teeth.

Kicking, pulling with my hands and nothing works.

I'm almost there now, and along with my struggle to get free from the thing, I was also struggling to keep my consciousness as fear threatened to take it away. If I pass out here... no... but my movement were in vain.

It had only been a few seconds, but my lungs were burning and I was almost into the things mouth now. My vision began whiting out, and the only word I could think of was...

I felt the powerful waves as Markus dived past me. I watched as he swam right past me toward the thing, and grabbed the tendrils that were quickly pulling me to my death. I felt a sickening crunch reverberate through the tendrils as Markus quickly began ripping them out of the creature. Blood was clouding up from below me, and I felt one last sickening snap before the tendrils released me and I began floating up to the surface. And then, right when I was on the verge of resurfacing, I felt the water move as something rushed up from the depths to greet me.

?-?-?

Powerful arms wrapped themselves around me, and within seconds I was out of the water and finally breathing again. Markus hauled me out of the stream, onto land, and just laid there on top of me. We were both struggling to catch our breath, and just as I was beginning to speak to Markus, to thank him, he shushed me.

"David. I know what you are going to say. Just wait please." He was breathing heavily, and he looked both scared and angry. "Let's get dressed and go back first, I don't want any distractions. I need to tell you something, it's important."

I realized that he was rubbing my face, and I felt myself blush again. What does he mean no distractions? He just saved my life! What else is there to...?

I decided not to argue against him, but instead I stayed silent as he rolled off of me and began to help me up. I looked back at the once still stream, and saw that a large blood pool was forming in the middle of the stream.

I looked back at Markus hastily. "Are you alright?! There's blood everywhere in the-"

"Shh... it's not mine. Let's go now, don't look at it." He still sounded mad, and concerned, and I wondered guiltily if I had made him angry by not getting out of the water fast enough.

I quietly collected my clothes, and Markus tossed me one of the towels he had brought. I would have laughed at how comically large it looked on me, but Markus was making me worry too much. We dried off hastily and began to walk home, me fully clothed and Markus wearing only the towel as his fur dried in the breeze. He stayed next to me the entire time, as if he was watching out for something.

?-?-?

It was becoming dark by the time we had gotten back to the house. I saw his cabin and yard bathed in the glow of the twilight, but even the beauty of the scene before me couldn't break through the sadness I was feeling. Markus still hadn't said a word. While I was terrified of whatever that thing was that had attacked me, this still seemed infinitely worse. I wondered if he was going to ask me to leave.

We entered the house in silence. It was already becoming dark outside. Markus changed into his shorts, and I stood at the door awkwardly. When we were back inside, He kind of just stood there, looking like he had something he was struggling to say. The look on his face was torturing me.

"Are... are you going to ask me to leave?"

My voice cut through the silence of the house, and Markus looked down at me. I was preparing to continue, but before I could say anything else he had cleared the length of his living room running toward me. Before I even knew what was going on, I felt myself become enveloped in his furry arms.

"It's nothing like that, David... Don't say stuff like that."

I felt a cloud of weight lift from me.

"I was so scared. You were only under for a few moments, but if I had hesitated for just a second longer, you would be gone, forever. And all because I wanted to spend some time with you swimming. I think... I don't think I would be able to live with myself if something like that happened. I'm just having trouble thinking about that right now... after what happened before"

I listened to him and as I realized what he was saying I felt an indescribable joy flood through me.

"It's just that, you've only been here for a little while and I've already felt happier than I ever have since my family passed away. Do you..."

His grip tightened on me, and without even realizing it I had wrapped my arms around him.

"Do you feel the same way? Happy, I mean." Markus was looking down at me, his golden eyes pleading.

I knew my answer before I was even asked the question. I had only been here two days, and I was already happier than I had ever been in my life. So I told him.

"I've never been happier."

There it was, the smile I was becoming addicted to. He hugged me tighter this time, and this embrace lasted longer than our earlier ones. After a minute or two, Markus released me and proclaimed that he would now cook the most amazing dinner that I will ever have. I decided to help him, and we cooked our food and ate amongst heavy conversation. Afterwards, we decided to go to bed, tired from the event at the lake. Markus threw his arm over me, and I held it close to myself as I slowly fell asleep.

?-?-?

I was waking up in my own bed again. It was like mentally rolling over a bump of unconsciousness before returning to a different life. I hadn't realized before how mentally exhausting it was to be in an almost constant state of awareness like this. Then again, isn't this amazing? I can feel something with Markus that I haven't felt before. It's amazing, and strange, and beautiful all at the same time. I rolled over and got up out of bed. I was in a fantastic mood, so I decided to play my guitar for a few hours before going through the dull routine of my day.

Once again, I plucked the strings experimentally before practicing scales. This had always been my starting routine. Afterwards, I remembered the melody I had been developing before and reproduced it. I felt like I was just beginning to hear it clearly, to understand the pacing and the structure of the notes. As I sat there, experimentally moving the timing around, I felt an immediate understanding flow through me. I played the melody perfectly, and felt the notes flowing together like a waterfall of emotion. It seemed all encompassing, but I already knew what it was. It sang of love and of sadness, of loss and of gain. I decided that I would have to show it to Markus the next chance I got.

After I got done practicing, I pulled the acoustic guitar from my closet and began tuning it. This would be the one I would have to take with me, so I would have to make sure it was ready before I went to bed. After it was all done, I sat it next to my pillow and prepared myself a simple meal. I then showered, and tried to waste as much time as I could watching television and doing generally distractive work. As it became darker, I practiced my melody for a bit before retiring early to go see Markus again. I was initially too excited to go to sleep, and my lack of physical activity for the day left me a little hyper. It was about an hour before I felt the world compressing into a small spark at the back of my mind.

?-?-?

Buzzing again, reawakening in Markus bed. Something is different though. Instead of getting warmer, I'm getting colder. Markus was no longer lying next to me. After nearly hitting myself in the head with my guitar, I rolled over and began examining the room. I noticed that a candle was burning at the desk. Markus had just been here, working on something. I moved myself in for a closer look.

Sitting on the desk where three sheets of paper, stacked unevenly. I immediately recognized the drawing on top of the stack, as it was something I have been used to seeing all of my life.

It was a sketch of my own face. Rather than the dull, skeptical face I was used to seeing in mirrors, it was calm and at peace. He had drawn me in my sleep, and there were several sketches in different positions. One of my face laying sideways on the pillow, one with my arm over my eyes, and one with my hair ruffled from behind. But of course, it wasn't the subject matter that was amazing to me. Each and every line seemed to have its own purpose, and it was drawn with such care. I imagined Markus sitting here hours after I had fallen asleep, drawing me, and I felt my face heating up. I needed to see him, now.

As if he had heard my thoughts, the door opened. In walked Markus, and as he saw where I was and what I was holding, he stopped moving. He looked so bashful, standing there shirtless with the shorts I had first seen him in.

"Oh, you're awake..." he paused for a minute before continuing, possibly confusing my stunned silence for an angered one.

"David, please don't get mad. I couldn't help myself."

"I'm not mad, Markus. These are amazing. These drawings are so fantastic I couldn't believe that they were real at first. Besides, I couldn't get mad at you."

He looked a bit shocked. Was he really expecting me to get mad?

I watched as his demeanor changed. He smiled broadly when I complemented his work, and when I said that I couldn't get mad at him I saw his eyes light up. He rushed over to hug me, and I set the sketch down carefully as he picked me up in another deadly bear-hug.

"Are you tired?" I asked him as he put me down. He didn't look tired, but he had to have been awake for a while drawing these.

"I'm fine. I've only been up for an hour or so."

Wait... he finished these in an hour? Damn.

"That's so incredible..." I decided then that at some point during the day I was going to look through all of Markus' artwork. He didn't seem to mind, and after we had eaten a simple breakfast and washed the dishes, he brought out some of his personal favorites and laid them out on the table for me to see.

A great deal of the artwork was of nature. I saw several different angles of the waterfall I had found Markus near, each with that same attention to detail that made his work so amazing. I saw that he had drawn the flowers near where I had initially woken up. I was amazed at how he was able to catch even the glow of the filaments as they were waving in the wind. I told him about me seeing them before I had met him, and he explained that they were a strange breed of flower that actually fed off of darkness rather than sunlight. I wondered how something like that was possible, but Markus couldn't explain it to me.

I had been scanning through his artwork for a while now, and before either of us had realized it the sky had begun darkening. About three quarters of the way through the sketches, I came across a picture of a building. It looked much larger than the one we currently inhabited, but the way it was drawn seemed barren. Almost like the artist felt hollow as he was drawing; there was no excitement or curiosity layered into the drawing.

"This... this is where you lived before, isn't it?"

Markus took the drawing and glanced at it.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"It just... feels so sad. I can't explain it."

Once again, I felt a sense of terrible sadness. How strong would someone have to be to lose everyone they loved and carry on like Markus had? He seemed to be reading my face, but just as he was going to reassure me I shushed him.

"I've got to show you something, can you wait here?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess." His deep voice was tinted with confusion and interest. I walked back into the bedroom and grabbed the guitar from back on the bed. I brought it back out with me, and Markus' eyes immediately flared up with interest.

"What is that?" He asked.

"It's an instrument form my world. It's like... how I draw. I can't do the things you can do with a pencil and paper, but I can play this pretty well."

Markus was excited, and I pulled out a chair and prepared myself to play as he commented on how well made the instrument was.

"It's called an acoustic guitar." I explained. "Much of the music in my world is made with guitars."

"My sister used to have a kind of flute..." Markus replied. "But I've never heard an actual musician perform! Hurry up, I'm ready to hear you play!" He was excited again. I love that such simple things got him excited like this.

I couldn't help but smile as I checked the tuning and made sure the guitar was in working order. I noticed that as the first note strung out while I was tuning, Markus immediately calmed down and began observing me. His eyes held the same note of curiosity they had held when we had first sat down at the table, discovering each other. I heard an intake of breath as my fingers rolled over the scales that I practiced each time I played.

"Alright... I'm ready."

I closed my eyes and played the song I had been practicing for a few days now. Whereas before it had been shallow and repetitive, it was now flaring with emotion. It started out with a lighter, intricate melody, and as I played it I thought about how happy I was when Markus had told me he was afraid I was going to disappear. I then began transitioning the melody down to get it back to where it had initially been played. As I began to play within the second half, I thought back to when Markus had told me that his entire family was dead. That he had lived by himself for so long. The sadness that I had felt radiating from him at that moment was now radiating through my hands and the chords I was playing. After several minutes of this, I changed the melody again. I took away the parts of it that harmonized with sadness, and poured every last bit of my mind into the song. It sounded of comfort, warmth, and of the feeling that I had only around Markus. It was the feeling that neither of us would ever have to be alone again. I slowed the melody down and ended it there, the future still a mystery to us both. As the last note died in the air, I opened my eyes and looked over at Markus. He looked close to tears again, the face I hated the most. Had I just caused it with my guitar playing?

"Markus... are you alright?"

It was a moment before he spoke. He seemed to be gathering his emotions again. I was beginning to regret ever playing when he spoke up.

"That was beautiful. I didn't know anything could sound so sad and happy at the same time. I'm just..."

He paused for a minute before continuing. His face looked very serious.

"That second part... is that how you feel around me? Because that's how I feel when I spend time around you. I know you said you felt happy around me, but..."

He seemed to be struggling to say something. I felt like my throat was seizing up.

"I don't know how to say it, but it's there, and it always has been. Do you feel it too?" Markus was waiting on me to reply. I cleared my throat before I began, realizing what was happening.

"I spent a lot of my day thinking about why I helped you when I did, Markus. I realized that it wasn't anything noble, like an urge to help someone in trouble."

He was listening intently.

"Instead... it was instinctive. The second I heard your voice I knew that I would have no choice but to help, even if it would cost me my life. Thinking back, the time I've spent here with you has been the happiest time of my life. So yeah, I do."

He stood up and walked over to me, embracing me. He was so warm...

I was looking up at him now. I had to incline my head by at least forty degrees just to maintain eye contact. His fur was soft, softer than usual as it had just been cleaned. His hands had fallen to my waist, and the next thing we said to each other felt like the most natural thing I had ever felt in my life.

"I love you." I said it first, my face flushing again as I told him. I felt his grip tighten around me. Saying it to Markus felt different than saying it to anyone else. I could feel my heart soaring in my chest, a genuine happiness that I had never felt before.

"I love you too. I wasn't sure at first, but... I do" His voice was deep and husky. He looked down at me, and just as I was beginning to understand what was happening between us I felt him bend over and press his lips to mine. My eyes opened in shock. His were closed, and his lips were soft, like velvet. I kissed him back, and felt his arms envelop me as his kiss deepened. His tongue pressed into my mouth, and mine met his in a tangle of passion. What would have seemed strange mere hours before felt beautiful and perfect to me now.

"oooohhh..." I felt a deep moan escape his lips and travel through mine as I reciprocated his actions. It vibrated through me, triggering something I had been trying to suppress up to this point. Markus pushed his entire tongue into me and it was able to fill my mouth.

Our kiss lasted a few more moments before Markus pulled away, breathing heavily.

"I'm so glad that you feel the same... I was scared you would say no..."

"I'd rather die" I replied, looking straight into his eyes.

"Please, don't say that..."

Markus got closer and looked straight into my eyes.

"Do you..."

He was practically panting now, his breath heavy on my skin.

"Do you want to go further?"

My mind went blank. I knew what he was asking, I had even thought about it a few times, but I never thought it would actually happen. I wondered if it would be ok, seeing as we had only met a couple days before, but I realized in that moment that I didn't care. I hadn't lied when I told Markus that I loved him, I could feel it from the very beginning, and if this is something we both wanted then there was no reason to wait. I rubbed my hands over his chest, feeling the muscle moving under his fur, and my hands stop at his nipples.

"Yeah, I do. Are you sure though?"

"Yeah." He sounded nervous.

I was a little scared, as this was my first time. But I wanted to make Markus happy, and... I wanted this for myself as well.

I began rubbing his nipples with my hands. They felt soft and pointed, and my action made Markus literally yell in surprise. I don't know what he was expecting, but apparently not that. His chest was so massive, and his voice so deep... I put my tongue to one of them and began licking it.

"What does... stop that... for a second, it's driving me crazy! How do you want to do it?" He asked, pleading again.

"I'll do whatever you want me to do, Markus." At this I began rubbing him again, feeling his strong arms and chest. He moaned and leaned back against the table.

"Will... will you maybe suck... ahhh, stop!" I knew what he was asking now, and I knew that I would do it without hesitation if it was what he wanted.

I slowly began moving my hands further down his massive frame, rubbing his stomach, taking in as much of him as I could with my eyes. His pants were tented up now, and I slowly began unzipping his shorts.

He seemed to really be enjoying my movements, leaning backwards against the table, his mouth open as he watched my actions. After unzipping his pants, I pulled them to the floor, and rubbed his inner thigh on the way back up to get his underwear off. Every touch made him shiver with pleasure. I could see the outline of it now, and a small spot near the end that was most likely pre-cum. I rubbed his parts through the underwear and felt him melt under my fingertips. He was going crazy with my teasing, but I was only just starting.

I pulled the underwear down to the floor. Markus was entirely naked now, his furry skin glowing in the half-light coming in through the window. His privates were brown, a little lighter than the rest of his fur, and almost as big around as my wrist. It was fully erect now, and it was about nine inches long at that. It looked perfect. I got into position before him and pressed his member to my mouth, using my tongue to lick the pre-cum from the tip.

"David... Aaah!"

Markus was practically yelling now. After circling the tip of his throbbing manhood with my tongue, I began licking the entire length of it, taking in as much of Markus as I could. After it seemed like he could take no more, I stopped the licking and pushed the length of Markus' manhood into my mouth.

Markus was moaning again, and as I began to suck him off I began attending to myself with my hand. The taste was unlike anything I had ever imagined, and although this was my first time, Markus seemed to be very pleased with my performance. A glance up at him revealed that his eyes were rolling back with pleasure, his mouth still hanging open. He was so adorable.

He put one of his hands on my head and began thrusting in time with my movements. I began increasing the movements of my tongue and grabbing his balls with my free hand. This seemed to push him over the edge, and he began yelling for me to slow down.

"David... if you don't stop I'm gonna..." He was breathing heavily.

Instead of slowing down or stopping, I began doubling my efforts as his moans and thrusts grew louder and stronger. I pulled the entire length of Markus' manhood into my mouth and heard one final shout as he climaxed into me. I felt his member throbbing in my mouth, and his seed was flooding my throat. I waited until he stopped throbbing before pulling back and looking up at him. I swallowed every bit of it.

His face was flushed, and his fur appeared to be sticky with sweat. He was looking at me with an expression of lust on his face. He only seemed to be able to talk in between breathes.

"David... that...*huff* was... *huff* incredible..."

I began standing up, and Markus seemed to notice that I hadn't finished yet.

"Maybe... if you wanted to..." He seemed to be struggling to say something. His pleading eyes were driving me crazy.

"Would you please fuck me?" he asked, bashfully.

"Are you sure?" I said, a little bewildered that he would want me to do this to him. He seemed more like the kind of person who would top, but I was honestly fine either way.

"Yeah, I want you to David."

Markus jumped onto the table and spread his legs for me. I was a little intimidated by his size, but it was his request, and just seeing him lying back on the table like that was driving me crazy. I walked up to him, and my groin was perfectly level with where it was about to go.

I hesitated, and then pushed my finger into him. I felt a little resistance, and then I was inside of Markus.

"Ahh! Fuck!" he yelled.

Startled, I stopped and looked at him.

"Are you alright, Markus?"

"Yeah, that was just... amazing... keep going..."

I felt the inside of him for a moment with my finger before pulling it out, determining that I should be able to fit inside alright. I pressed my member to Markus' ass and pushed. I felt it go inside of him all the way, and he seemed to enjoy it. He was moaning again, but it sounded different this time. His dick was fully hard, and as I began moving in and out it bounced against his stomach.

"Aaaa... David... yeah..."

Markus was wet and slippery inside. With every thrust I felt his insides clinging to me, rubbing against me. This feeling, combined with watching Markus make that face at me from the table, was pushing me to my limit.

"Please... don't... stop!"

Every thrust made the muscles in Markus' body bounce. His chest, legs, stomach, privates... all bouncing along to a song of pure perfection. His moaning was becoming less erratic and more constant, and soon I was moaning in time with him. With every movement I felt a pressure building up deep inside me. I leaned over his massive frame and began rubbing his chest and arms while fucking and kissing him. He kissed me back and held me close to him.

"Oh fuck, David, I'm about to..."

"Me too, Markus!"

It hit him first, and although he hadn't touched his own privates the entire time, he came all over his chest. I felt his insides throbbing with the power of his ejaculation. Seeing his chest glistening like that was what pushed me over the edge, and I climaxed into Markus, yelling his name. My vision whited out as I felt a moment of pure pleasure and saw that Markus was sharing it with me.

A moment passed, and I pulled myself out of him. Without skipping a beat he jumped off of the table and grabbed me. I could feel the seed coating his hairy chest as he pressed himself onto me and came down for another kiss. This one lasted a bit longer than the last, and our tongues danced in the happiness we had created for each other. Without saying anything, Markus picked me up with a grunt and began carrying me somewhere.

"Hey... What are you...?!"

He carried me to his bedroom and sat down with me on top of him. He kissed me again, but this time it was more like a series of small pecks to the lips, ending with one long, passionate kiss. I felt the lining of his teeth before his tongue filled my mouth.

"Whoa..." He held me down to his massive chest before speaking. "David... that was the most amazing thing I have ever experienced in my life."

I looked up at him to see him grinning down at me. "I'm glad it was as good for you as it was for me, then." I concurred. He chuckled, and I felt his chest vibrate as he did. Without either of us saying anything else, we laid there, basking in the afterglow together, neither of us wanting to be anywhere else in the world. I lay next to him with my head on his chest, feeling warmer and more at peace than I had ever felt before. As he stroked my hair with his hand, and I played with the fur on his side, our breathing began blurring together as I felt myself falling asleep.