FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Finished commission for Gryph here on SoFurry!

Gryph really enjoyed my 'primal hunt' commission story, and it gave him an idea for a commission of his own, but with a different setup to the whole tale :)

Also, sci-fi military themes ahoy! ;D

Foe and Friend Story by Raziel

He snapped awake with a gasp, coughing and wheezing when air rushed into aching lungs. A weight pressed down on him, something heavy, dead weight. Blinking to clear his vision, the world finally drifted into focus. He recognised the uniformed body lying dead on top of him. Parker had been a good friend ever since boot-camp and a stalwart ally all throughout the campaign. Now he was dead, the jagged piece of shrapnel that had torn through his body must have cleaved his heart right in half. At least he hadn't suffered. Then the realisation hit him properly. Oh God, Oh Jesus, I'm sorry man. I'm so sorry. Just as suddenly, the need to get the body of his friend off him hit hard. It was heavy, heavier than it should be. He had to push with all his might to simply roll it off him, scrambling away from it like it had been tainted by plague. His back hit the broken treads of an earth-mover as he tried to get a grip. The other shapes in the grass became noticeable. So many dead. Body parts and red mush were scattered around impact craters. The blast had shook him up so badly that he didn't even remember it happening. Shelled by their own the second the tide of battle seemed to turn. They were only infantry, anyway. Dirty fingers dug into the earth, trembling with rage. The chain on his neck that held his ID-tags snapped easily when he tugged at it. It read Pvt. 1st class S. Walcroft, AB-Pos. Samuel tossed it away in disgust. He'd been well aware of the saying that they were all expendable from the moment they were drafted, but he hadn't fully appreciated just how much. This incident was just one among many; scouting parties abandoned, resupplies that never happened just because higher-ups felt it was either too costly or deemed too risky for an officer. Their tactics simply amounted to just throwing people - a resource they had in abundance - into a meat-grinder like this until they can reach the objective. It was quiet; battlefields always were shortly after the skirmish. It was a strange kind of silence; like nothing dared to make a sound instead of sound simply not happening right then and there. When he got up and moved, the sound of the grass rustled under his boots. Rifles were scattered on the upturned earth, some broken, others not. Samuel hadn't seen any enemy bodies; they tended to take their fallen with them if they could. It was one of the things that made him wonder if the enemy was as bad as the higher-ups said they were. They fought a dirty war, for sure - but at least they seemed to actually care for their subordinates. They used nasty weapons, but so did they; razor-storm grenades, microwave-emitters that cooked the liquid inside the body they were aimed at. The old standby of the flamer; Samuel wondered if he'd ever forget the screams, the smell of burning flesh and fur when they burned out one of those holes. And then his eye caught a radio, a way home. A smile crawled across his face slowly, laced with relief.

The realisation hit just as his thumb hovered over the send button. Samuel knew what was going to happen if he called. He could already hear the disaffected voice on the other side in his mind; We are unable to send for pickup, fall back to point Alpha and regroup. He squeezed the radio hard. They'd probably written him off as K.I.A. already. Even if he did get back, they'd just shove him into another unit to get sent out the next day. Enough was enough. He wheeled back and tossed the radio away as hard as he could and then reached into one of his pockets; he still had his map. "I'm going to get out of here, let them think I'm dead." His finger ran across the map, following the line indicating where the human-controlled area stopped and the 'contested zone' began. They never said 'enemy zone' because as far as Command was concerned, the enemy didn't have a solid foothold at all. Even if it was their planet. Samuel's mind worked feverishly; he'd need to figure out where he was first. Then, he'd need to get past the front-lines and to the main staging area. From there, perhaps he could stow away on one of the offworld cargo-transports. He knew full-well that getting caught while attempting to desert would get him shot without trial, but he didn't care. He was going to get off this mudball or die trying. Maybe he could steal a maintenance uniform, or one from the cargo haulers. The compass-needle spun until it finally gave him a proper heading. Comparing it to the map and the three large mountain-formations backlit by the setting, blue sun, he had a good idea where he was. It sent a shiver down his spine. "Shit...farther than I thought..." He also realised that he needed to circle around as well; this area was heavily guarded and they were probably getting ready to toss another hundred lives into the fire to see if it'd get better results this time. There was a river further down the line and Samuel remembered the enemy was known to dislike water; it's probably not nearly as well defended as any other part of the line. His heart began to race as he thought his way from one step to the next and considered how do-able it all was. "Almost too easy. What do you think, P-" He looked to his side, only to see nobody there. Parker was gone; he'd left him lying in the mud a few yards in the other direction. Once again the realisation that the person who had been his friend for years was dead. His vision went blurry with tears and he felt his diaphragm clench awkwardly. Samuel growled to himself, desperately forcing the emotion down like he'd been taught. Use it to keep you going, keep you mad. Live first, grieve later. But he'd be damned to leave him there to rot just like that. Not while he still had that obsolete entrenching tool they still insisted to equip soldiers with.

John Parker had never mentioned if he'd preferred to be buried or cremated. Samuel only knew that he probably wanted to be buried on Four Twenty-Six where he was born. "I'm sorry man, but this is all I can do for you." He hung his departed friend's ID-tags from the entrenching tool that served as a headstone. "I hope you can find the rest you never got in life. I'll see you later, buddy." Samuel turned around with a deep breath, and started walking. He wanted to put some distance between himself and the battleground before it got too dark to see. Despite the sun's nearness to the horizon, he probably still had a few hours; the planet's day/night cycle took about 36 hours and the sun didn't move nearly as fast here as it did back home. As he walked away, he never noticed the pair of inhuman tracks that he was following unawares.

The forest-world would've been beautiful if he wasn't simply trying to either survive or get the hell off it. Trees bigger than any he'd ever seen, strange and beautifully-coloured plants dotted the ground here and there and arm-thick creepers twisted their way around massive trunks. Sound and life had returned, and he could hear the rustle all around him. Something high in the canopy called out. He took a tighter hold of his rifle, unable to relax. Dangerous carnivorous animals seemed oddly rare despite the planet's apparent untamed nature. Parker had wondered if maybe the enemy they were fighting had evolved and wiped out anything that was a threat to them, reigning supreme until humanity came along in drop-shuttles. Samuel still wondered if they still didn't; if it wasn't for the better weaponry they wouldn't have had a chance. Then something needled him in the back of his neck; that strange, instinctive tickle when you were being watched. Samuel slowed his walk and tensed his hearing to the fullest, trying to remain aware but not tip off his watcher that he was suspecting something. He stopped and knelt down, fumbling with the clips on his boot and pretending to tighten them. Nothing. He sighed and stood up.

He fell to the ground the moment he put his foot down; breaking through what looked like solid ground and falling knee-deep into the burrow of something. Samuel felt the sharp blade hit his helmet with a dull twang, his teeth slamming together with skull-juddering force as it was torn away. It was a blur of light-and-dark grey fur that spun the spear around for the return swing and he brought his rifle up in conditioned response. There was another loud clang of metal-on-metal and the sheer force behind the swing slammed Samuel onto his back hard, the rifle spinning away. His hand found the familiar grip of his sidearm and he brought it to bear, squeezing of snap-shots in the hope of either hitting something or forcing his attacker away to get some room to move. Two loud bangs echoed between the trunks, followed by a third slightly after that. There was the sharp sound of ricochet when a shot hit armour and sent his attacker stumbling back. If there was any doubt in his mind, it was one of them. He could see the wide mouth of wicked teeth below the helmet, the segmented armour with the loincloth; a strange combination of modern metalwork and medieval style. The acid-etched spear gleamed in the light still filtering through the leaves as she readied it for a throw that'd tear through his flak-vest like it was tissue-paper. "Wait!" Samuel pointed his weapon away and raised his hand. He didn't know why he did it. Despair, tiredness, suicide. He just knew he did. And his enemy faltered, eyes widening. Samuel sighed and tossed his pistol away. "Look, I don't even know if you can understand me. I don't even care anymore. Apparently everything wants me dead so go right the hell ahead if you want to." The enemy combatant let out a hissing breath. "Why were you following me?" Samuel gawked at her for a moment, not sure if he was more surprised by the curiously female voice or the accusation. "Following you? I don't...lady, I didn't even know you were there before you nearly took my head off. I just want to get out of here, off this goddamn - no offence - planet and disappear." She came closer, sniffing at him. Her eyes were a bright, almost shining purple. Oddly beautiful, in fact. "Shouldn't you return to your army? Come back with more to kill us?" "I could say the same about you. And no, I don't think I should. They don't give two shits about us. They nearly blew me the fuck up so why should I still follow their fucking orders?" There was a pregnant pause. "...So you are deserting?" Anger flared up in his chest. "What the hell!? You're going to be judgemental about that?" She sighed and sat on her haunches, leaning on the spear. She shook her head slowly, the segments of her armour clattering. "No. In fact I seek to do the same thing." Her lips curled into a curious, even distantly warm, smile that was the most welcoming thing Samuel had seen in months. "This is oddly serendipitous." Samuel tilted his head, taking a better look at her. There was something oddly attractive to her despite her inhuman features. The slender, long body that still seemed perfectly proportioned, the slow moving, puffy tail. The intelligent eyes looking out from above a sharp muzzle that peeked out from under a helmet that suited her well, colour lightening from dark grey to much lighter towards the tip. The armour clattered faintly as her body moved with her breating.

Her head suddenly snapped upwards, sniffing the air. "We should seek shelter. Storm is coming." Samuel looked around. "What? It's getting dark, but the skies are clear." "Then stay." She turned around and marched off.

Lighting split the sky as rain fell so hard that the canopy above barely even helped to keep dry. He'd been warned about the storms in his briefing; some quirk in the atmosphere caused rain to be deeply cold, even freezing. It was staggeringly easy to go hypothermic if caught in a storm. He looked at his new guide with a smile as she took her helmet off; the fur on her head seemed oddly similar to a human head of hair...if slightly unkempt. Samuel couldn't help but notice that his guide seemed oddly out of breath judging by the way it hissed between her teeth. It was strange; she showed no other indication of tiredness and yet her breathing was noticeably elevated.

"Okay, you were right. Thanks." "You're welcome." She made a fire with a flick of her wrist, using a stone she found in the cave and a bit of metal she'd pulled from a pouch in her armour. He hadn't even noticed her forage for wood and moss on the way here. It filled the cave with a warm glow that was hidden from the outside by thick creepers. "I think I-" Samuel's voice came to a squeaky halt when his guide took her armour off, revealing nothing underneath. Instead, the armour seemed to have some kind of soft padding lining the inside. A set of large, full breasts was separated by a thick tuft of fur and pink nipples stuck out from the grey. The heaving of her chest drew even more attention to the rising and falling globes. Her feminine form was even more pronounced without the armour and it was absolutely breath-taking in its perfection. She paused from removing one of her leg-guards when she noticed his stare. "...What?" He stiffened as if caught and instantly spun around. "Sorry." As Samuel glanced at her from the corner of his eye, she tilted her head slightly in puzzlement. "...About?" He cleared his throat. "Umm...staring at...err...you." "I noticed you were, but what's there to stare at?" Samuel wondered if he looked like a lit signal-flare. He wouldn't be surprised based on how hot his cheeks felt. "Well, you're...really very...um...naked. I guess you don't mind about that but humans generally don't do that in mixed company. Unless you know each other very well, I suppose. So, um...what do I call you?" The only sound was her incessant rapid breathing, almost gasping occasionally. "...Risa. And your kind is weird." He chuckled. "Tell me about it." Samuel turned towards her, feeling a tad bolstered by her lack of nudity-taboo but trying his best to keep his eyes level with hers. "Are you okay? You sound like you just ran a marathon." Risa gasped audibly and seemed to sputter for words for a moment. "Fine. Aren't you curious why I can speak English?" "I can't say that I'm not...but seriously, that was a piss-poor dodge. I'm sure you'll have your reasons for wanting to keep it to yourself, so that's fine." Samuel smiled and it seemed to relax her.

They both stared intently at the flames between them, and Samuel noticed she glanced at him as much as he did at her. "So...you don't want to go back to your army. Because they don't care about losses?" Samuel nodded. "Yeah, and you? Something tells me you're apparently not eager to return to your ranks either." Risa poked at the fire. "No. I got tired of honour-before-reason. Why risk so much just because it's the honourable thing to do? What good is honour if it only gets you dead?" Samuel shrugged. "Dunno." "What made you decide that enough was enough?" For a moment, Risa regretted the question somewhat when Samuel cast his eyes downward, looking at his hands. He sighed. "A friend. A good friend, the type you expect to still be around when you're old, died. Shrapnel from our own side. And you?" Risa nodded solemnly, she knew the pain all too well. "Also a friend. Forced to throw herself on her own spear for failing to protect a backwater, completely unimportant outpost." She suddenly got up, and walked around the fire, the light dancing on her sensual, almost flowing form. It only made the strange tension in her limbs more obvious. Samuel froze when she sat down next to him and pulled close. "For warmth." She was soft, het fur much fluffier than he'd imagined it to be. The rapid rising-and falling of her chest kept worrying him as is seemed to be getting worse every passing minute. Her scent was amazing; it permeated her and made his head swim, his worries forgotten in a moment. It was strangely sweet and made his heart beat faster. Every breath he took, it seemed to latch to him more. It started to get hot. His fingers found the zipper on his flak vest and he fumbled to get it off. Risa's long, slender fingers helped him, peeling the zipper down smoothly and then letting him slip out of it. It hit the stony floor with a clatter. Immediately afterwards her hands lowered to the hem of the shirt below and he felt her fingers curl into the fabric. Samuel felt astonished that he honestly didn't care. Her breathing became even worse, almost like gasping. At that point Samuel pushed her away when the realisation of it broke through once again.

"Risa, you're not right. What's wrong? You seem ill." Her whole body shuddered, her entire tail swayed with it. She clenched her hands into fists so hard that Samuel worried her claws might draw blood. She squeezed her eyes shut forcefully, seeing coloured flashes in the dark, her muzzle pointed upwards and her teeth grinding to get focus. "It's...I'm in heat. Sergals experience that regularly." Samuel blinked. "It's...Christ, is it deadly?" She shook her head awkwardly, muscles in her neck tense like cables. "Not by itself...but it's unpleasant. Breaks focus, distracts senses." "No shit! Is it, can't you do anything?" Her purple eyes suddenly fixed him in place with their steely, almost feral stare - like a hunter looking at prey. "Not alone." Samuel froze at the implication, but then his mind started to waver on her scent, her fur, the feeling when her firm breasts were pressed against his arm. He wanted to feel more of her. He wondered why for a brief moment, but didn't care long enough. "Well...I...would it help if...because we could, I gue-"

Air was forced out of Samuel's lungs as Risa lunged at him, dragging him to the floor like a tigress. She snarled, her thick tongue licking her lips. Before he could respond she ripped his belt off and tore his pants down to his knees. She bent down, her tongue lapping across his cheek as she hissed in desire. Something touched him below as she positioned herself, something slithering around his member. He hadn't even realised he had been getting engorged from merely smelling her. Samuel's hands reached up and gently squeezed Risa's firm breasts, revelling in their silky touch. He felt her pink nipples harden and spring up against his palm, eager for stimulation he was only too happy to give. Somewhere in the back of his mind, reason called out to him, trying to needle him with revulsion because of the inhuman nature of his partner. Prodding him with annoyance that he was just being used to 'get off.' He didn't really care and the thoughts were washed away in a wave when a deep breath of her scent flowed into his nostrils again. Risa ran her tongue from his cheeks to his throat and neck, licking the pink flesh and relishing his flavour; a combination of forest-taste, sweat and a myriad of other elements she had never tasted before. She'd never expected humans to taste that good. Down below, her tentacle slid and circled around his aching member. The shape seemed somewhat odd to her; curiously rounded, curved and girthy compared to those of Sergal males. It was less smooth, too - she could feel the gentle throb of veins along the length. The exploration made her lust come to a boil, heating her even more and pushing her desire to new heights.

Samuel groaned loudly when Risa slammed down on him, letting him slide in and clenching around him instantly. It felt strange, squeezing him in places he'd never felt with a human female. She started to ride him, her fingers digging into his shoulders as she growled, head tilted upwards. It made her breasts sway invitingly until Samuel groped them gently again; enjoying the more-than-handfulls they were. The moment that he felt Risa ease pressure on his shoulders, he sat up, embracing her and burying his face in the thick fur between her breasts. The sergal moved to meet him as he thrust his hips into her. Her claws dug in, tearing his shirt, cutting his skin and drawing small runnels of blood. Samuel felt the pain, distant surprise playing around his mind as it seemed to only increase his pleasure. Risa howled when he fasted his lips to one of her nipples, suckling it strongly and playing his tongue around it. It tasted just as he expected from her scent. Small kisses trailed their way between the soft mounds, and just as he reached the other nipple, Risa pulled him close as if wanting to force herself into his mouth. A thrilling sound escaped from her throat that made her entire body resonate. She clenched around him frantically below and he could feel her lubrication ooze out, trickling along his skin. Their movements hastened as they both raced closer to climax. Samuel looked at her in the firelight; the painful tension in her body replaced by a different, pleasurable kind. Her body simply flowed now, moving to meet him in perfect unison. The tension in his underbelly began to reach breaking point and he clenched his teeth and closed his eyes to tough it out, hoping he'd last long enough. And then something curled around him, caressing his scrotum with strange, snakelike slithers. It should've shocked him, but the movements were so measured, so perfectly aimed at pleasure, that it made his attempt at holding off completely untenable. His toes curled in his boots, his fingers dug into the fur on her hips and he groaned when he thrust upwards, filling her completely. Risa shuddered and growled when she came, the feeling of his heat flowing into her enough making her climax by reflex. Her muscles clenched, her walls squeezing and milking him as her arms pulled him so close that it hurt. Then she bit down, Samuel felt her teeth piece the skin of his shoulder, the pain miles distant in the sea of pleasure. And then she released him, collapsing on top of him with a loud, satisfied sigh.

Risa let him slide out, her tentacle sliding back into position to hold his heat inside of her. Their eyes met, and then they curled up against each other, Samuel enjoying the soft fur and Risa the smoothness of his skin. Risa's scent had changed, it's quality changing from enchanting to calming, and their bodies bathed in warmth and languidness. Outside, thunder roared still, unable to pierce the calm and warmth of the cave - for that night at least, it was a piece of sanctuary for two deserters on a planet hostile to both. They didn't care to consider the next day at that point, simply considering that if they were both on the run, they might as well stick together and figure it out.