FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

*Sorry for the wait. School is keeping me busy with exams and studying. I'm a slacker =P

Also, I just want to say how thankful I am of everyone who has Fav'd, commented, followed and rated this story. You people have increased my confidence and are the main reason I am able to get this story from my mind into something you all can read. Thank you a million times. ^^ I owe you each of you an entire box of cookies, so name your favorite kind... I'll get back to you on when to expect them though >_>

Hey do you guys think I should add Predators to this story sometime in the future?

End of author note. :D

"They're here for you?" He heard in his head as he attempted walking around his black love. His attempt was thwarted by her as she blocked his movement with her arm.

"Xerah, there isn't time." He told her, his voice a mix of stern and sad; A vague reflection of his own inner feelings. He was beyond worried, the people outside were not people that could be avoided. At least, not anymore they couldn't. He felt tension in all his body, like a small amount of adrenaline was pulsing through him. He knew he had to face the people outside, and he felt an itchy anticipation running up and down his body.

"Why are they -"

"I don't have all day to explain this to you." He said a little harshly. He put his hand on her arm in attempt to lower and move passed it. It was surprisingly strong for its slenderness.

"Okay," She said to him, and she lowered her arm to go past her, which he did quickly before she changed her mind. It annoyed him though when he realized he should have known she wouldn't take an I.O.U. on an explanation. As he walked past her he immediately felt her tail swish into action, wrapping itself around him.

"Tell me quickly then."

She didn't need to say anything more to him now, with his arms pressed to his sides by her ensnaring tail. It was a hard and bony thing, not at all comfortable to have so tightly pressed around you. He knew that she would be stubborn until he told her more.

"I stole something, from someone." He said to her. "What I stole and who it was from wouldn't mean anything to you, Xerah. But the people outside are without a doubt, here to get that something back and..."

"And hurt you." She finished for him, her voice was hollow tinged with angst.

He looked down at his feet and thought about what he had to lose now. When he had stolen from them, it had been done without any care about the consequences. He had had no connections, no family besides his uncle whom he didn't have real contact with. His uncle was also the only one who knew where Eric. Evident by the package of meat his uncle had sent to him when he first arrived on this planet. A helpful gift to help him start his new life.

"They might, but I still have most of what I stole and they don't know where it is. They will want it back."

"If they are going to hurt you then why are you going to them?" She asked him

He groaned as he answered her question. "So I can try to give back what I stole and maybe they will leave me, consequently us, alone."

"Eric..." She said to him, uncertainly. "I hear a strange noise from the front of your home, like a buzzing."

He started squirming then in her tails embrace. "Xerah you have to let me go now." He continued squirming. "Xerah, please. They're trying to get in!" He said to her. He felt her tail quickly loosened and slid of, but not as quickly as it had wrapped him. He could all but actually feel her sheer remorse at having to let him go.

He turned to her and saw that she was holding herself with her arms, her head bowed. He felt his heart choke at the site of her like that. He had to hurry, but he had to make sure she knew. With quick steps he went to her and wrapped his arms around her. She seemed limp in his embrace for a moment before slowly bringing her arms around him. As she now held him her tail kicked to life again and wrapped the two of them together. This time it was not so tight and felt only as an act of love.

Why, she thought. Why does this have to happen? She was so happy here with her mate, she didn't want to be anywhere else but with him. Yet forces out of her control kept trying to take him from her. First that 'shadow' and then those... other humans. Ever since her birth it had felt like the whole world had it out for her. But with Eric she had felt safe, as if his very presence could keep the horrors of the world at bay.

But she couldn't help him, even as he helped her every day. He was in some sort of trouble and yet she couldn't help him with this. At least, she couldn't think of anyway she could help. Unless perhaps Eric would ask her to kill the humans. She caught herself for a moment, as she realized that she was referring to the people outside as humans, yet not Eric. Eric was human, and yet he was more than any other human being had ever been to her.

She tried not to show Eric just how scared and sad she felt on the inside. But as she tried to hold back her whimpering she still shook with her fear in his arms. Being in his arms made her feel safer than anywhere else and she wanted to cry in his embrace at their predicament. But she wanted to look strong, so that Eric could focus on whatever it was he was going to do.

As he held her, in his gut he felt a little disgusted at himself. For holding the person he valued now above everything, while he also held a weapon, felt wrong. Its weight and the way it fit in his hand was unwelcomingly familiar. And the memories it brought back were all the more unwelcome, forcing him to focus on her in order to stay them.

"They are going to make me go with them, Xerah."

"Wha-"

"But, I will come back. Okay, Xerah? I will come back to you. I promise." He let his hands slid from her back and made to break the embrace. Yet Xerah still held tight to him, almost clingingly. "I have to take care of this." He told her.

She didn't want to, she couldn't let him go. Not in knowing that he was going to be taken by them. But... She trusted him when he said he would come back. She had to trust him.

"If you take too long, I'm going to find you and you..." She chocked on the last words as she whimpered openly in his embrace.

"You will be in a lot of trouble."

Her tail then unwrapped itself from their embrace and Xerah let her hands fall back to her sides. She brought the front of her face to her mates and as she did he read her intentions and kissed her. Their lips embraced each other for only half a moment before he pulled back.

"I won't keep a lady waiting." He said to her.

He turned and rushed over to the pad next to the doorway and pushed the touchscreen buttons that appeared on the cool flat glass. The back-up power hadn't turned on the cameras. "I don't know how you do it, but do you know where they are?" He asked her_._

"They... they are all at the front of your home." She said glumly. "The buzzing noise I heard before has stopped."

"Okay." He said to her, touching another button on the pad that consequently turned off the emergency lights in the room. He then touched another button and he the very quiet hum of the blinds opening and the window as well. As they opened the dim light from the outside lights spilled into the room. The cool air from outside was biting compared to the warm air inside.

With the faint light entering the room he was able to make his way to the window without falling on his face. The window was about abdomen high and with his gun in hand leaned forward to see outside. The world appeared pitch black but for ground in close proximity to the lights on the exterior of his house. The entire exterior of his house was spotted every few feet by a low illumination light. The light from these kept the ground following the outside walls of his house lit up, about 3 feet across. This planet was very cold at night, its atmosphere had a slightly difficult time keeping in heat. A sharp contrast to how earth had ended up a long while ago.

Turning his head to look left and then right he saw to a small relief that Xerah had been correct. A very cool breeze swept in past his head brushing over the left side of his head. It was almost stingingly cold this time of year, it was a wonder it hadn't snowed yet. The wind brought with it a voice.

"Come on, Luc. Get the damn thing open". Said a voice, sounding almost whiny.

"Yeah, yeah. Give me a break." He heard from another voice, this one was deep and gruffer. At hearing last voice he pulled his head back in. He decided then he should put some more suitable clothes on, it was really damn cold outside.

Turning around he went over to his dresser, passing Xerah as he did.

"Change your mind?" He heard her say in a strange way, almost mockingly and yet in hope.

"Just going to get into something a little warmer." He said to her in a rush as he quickly looked through his dresser and pulled out a pair of special clothes. He stripped of his clothes. As he did a chill ran up his spine. The room had become very cold with the window wide open.

"I shouldn't be long, but if you get hungry you remember how I-"

"I'll be fine."

"Right," He said with a nod of his head as he stood and looked at her in his nakedness. "I know you will be."

He pulled on the pair of black heat regulation pants and the long sleeve shirt that matched it. The pair was not true black; they were dyed to be slightly differing shades of black. He was already beginning to feel warmer as the tight pair of clothes hugged his skin tightly.

He rushed past Xerah now as he headed over to the window sill and after checking once more he pulled himself onto the ledge. He looked at Xerah, "Once I hop off this ledge," He said to her quietly, knowing she could hear him. "You need to push that red spot on the touch pad. If you need to leave the house, for whatever reason, swipe your fingers over the spot, like this." He said to her and proceeded to trace an X in the air with his pointer finger. He nodded his head as he watched her copy his motion.

"Okay. She said to sullenly_. "Eric, I will still be able to talk to you once you are outside... But I will try not to interfere."_

He smiled at her and puckering his lips he made a light kissing noise as he sent her a long distance kiss. "I love you." He said to her, and proceeded to turn himself around on the edge and hopped down onto the hard ground outside; landing on the balls of his feet and with his hand to balance him. He made barely any noise as he landed. His home was a slightly rectangular square in shape, and if you were looking at it from the front Eric would now be standing on the left side of it.

"I am touching the red spot now." He heard in his head and immediately after saw the effect of her described actions. The window he had just jumped out of suddenly slammed closed and he saw the metal plates slam over top of the glass. It closed with a loud clank of metal on metal as it shut and locked. He could hear the other windows around the house doing the same and the front and door as well.

Very soon after the slamming of the windows and doors subsided he heard what he had expected to hear. He could hear two voices cussing and speaking angrily, they grew clearer as he made his way in stealth to the front of his house. He followed the wall of his home, staying in the light as he made his way.

"I thought you could get in?!" Eric heard from an irritated voice ahead of him.

"I can, you hyped up little... This damned guy of course had to buy one of the best colonial homes money can buy."

"So?"

"This house comes with a lockdown system and the bastard just activated it."

Eric approached the end of the wall and peeked around the corner and got good look at the situation. He saw two men at his doorway, one was kneeled over and fiddling wires in an open pad next to the door.

The man obviously trying to open his door was a man of large stature. Even from where he was, Eric could see this man's thick arms and heavy set build, he was pretty sure he also saw a beard on him. He had a short tuff of mostly grey hair, but with trace amounts of light brown. The man was wearing a t-shirt that showed Eric his dark skin and muscular arms. simple pair of rough looking pants. A tough man, Eric had no doubt. Not the type Eric would expect to know technology very well.

The other was standing a few feet away and was drastically smaller and paler, by the sound of his voice Eric could guess he was young. He appeared to be wearing multiple layers of clothes and was holding himself with his arms and had a tuque on his head; obviously cold.

"Can you still open it? I don't want to keep these guys waiting." Said the smaller man of the two. As he did Eric turned his attention to the bulky black vehicle that stood parked about a dozen meters away from his house.

Eric wasn't able to tell much as it was more in the dark then it was the light from his house; though he could see that it was l long and tall almost like a bus. Eric recognized it, and he wasn't entirely sure what to make of the vehicle.

He remembered it to be one of the many of its kind down at the mine. The vehicles of that kind were primarily used to transport miners to and from the mine; when they got their time off to visit their families and such.

"Aye, I can still open it. I don't want to keep them waiting long either, those guys are serious about getting this Eric person." Said the larger man.

From what he was seeing and hearing, Eric was beginning to get a good picture of what was happening. Yet even so, in his gut he still felt nervous and apprehensive about what could be coming next. He couldn't see weapons on the men at his door. But what they had said led him to believe that the men he couldn't see were inside the vehicle. Those men might have weapons, meaning Eric would have to play this right.

"Don't let them hurt you, Eric, please." He heard inside his head. He could hear the sorrow in her voice and he wished he could respond. He could only hope that he would be able to comply with her wishes.

Stuffing the gun in his hand into the back of his pants and he took several deep breaths of the cool air and stepped out from around the corner.

He walked towards the men, and it was immediate that the smaller one noticed him and with an overly loud voice he yelled it to the man next to him. The bigger man looked over his shoulder at Eric and stepped back from the opening in the wall. As the large man brought his hands away from his work, a few stray wires poked out of the hole. They both stood and faced Eric, apparently unsure of what to do next. These were not the people here for him; they were just here to open the door.

"Good morning, "He said to them smiling politely and nodding his head as he walked over to them. They didn't reply. Though the smaller of the two looked towards the large vehicle, confirming Eric's suspicions.

"Can I help you?" He asked them and inclined his head to the entrance of his house. It was then that he heard the door to the parked vehicle open. The vehicle was tall and two men crouching, stepped out of the vehicles farther side. Where they stepped out was towards the end of the vehicle out of an almost hatch-like door. They were barely visible when they first got out but as they got closer the light illuminated them.

One was wearing tight fitting clothes of dark colors, similar to Eric's own, and had black hair that appeared to be tied back in behind his head; a few locks of the long hair hanging out of place in his face. The closer he got the more evidently taller he was then the man next to him. He appeared to be of Asian decent, based on his tanned skin tone and features as they became more apparent.

The other was wearing a dark blue jeans pair of dark blue jeans and a black jacket, an almost retro look that was popular on the big city planets. He was Caucasian and had long dirty blonde hair that hung flat halfway down his cheek in length, split in the middle. He was younger than his taller companion and was sadly familiar to Eric.

They came up right close to him, only a few feet away. As they did Eric saw the two men at his door begin heading back to the truck. Eric turned his attention to the blonde haired man and saw that indeed it was his old friend.

"Hi, Eric." Kenneth said, his face stern. He jerked his head slightly to brush a few strands of hair out of his face as a light breeze blew past.

"Ken." Eric replied, said glancing at the tall dark haired man with his old friend. He seemed to be standing perfectly still as he glared at Eric.

"You look like shit." Ken said bluntly, almost harshly.

"Thanks, you look pretty good." Eric replied, smiling politely at his friend and nodding at his jacket. "That's a pricey jacket, eh? Doing well for yourself I see."

"Yeah." He replied and began to smile. "You know why we are here." He said in statement.

Eric nodded his head.

"Alright, good, than you know what you have coming." He said.

Before Eric could reply in any way he was suddenly struck in the face, turning his head hard. His head rattled with the force of the blow and he stumbled back almost tripping. He didn't feel another blow which was somewhat surprising.

He tasted the blood, but as he breathed in sharp and clear through his nose he found his nose wasn't broken. He brought his head back up and looked to his striker. The tall dark skinned man was not hitting him again quite yet. He had stepped a few more feet back and was holding his hand and after Eric heard a pop he realized his attacker had dislocated a knuckle with that punch.

"You alright, Tai?" Ken asked the dark skinned man.

"Yes. Your friend here just has a really hard face." Tai replied through clenched teeth. It was hard to tell exactly but Tai had an exotic sounding accent in his voice.

"Alright." Ken said and then turned his attentions back on Eric as the tall man rubbed his hand. "Tai here is going to do be doing the dirtier part of this job. "

"How dirty is this part going to be?" Eric asked. And as he finished he turned his head to the ground and spit out a wad of blood.

"He isn't going to kill you. Boss still wants to talk to you, but he said he also wants your face busted up when he sees you." Ken smiled at Eric and shrugged his shoulders. "You know how it works." He said gesturing to himself and Eric. "Me and you have done stuff like this more than once or twice."

"Yeah, I seem to recall that even then you hated doing the dirty parts yourself." Eric said

"Well, that was a long time ago, Eric. Hah! You don't think I can afford to look this good by still doing the petty shit we used to do. Do you?"

"I suppose not... How many people have you killed with that gun in your jacket?" Eric asked him.

Ken looked a little dumbfounded he realized that his thought to be hidden gun was evident to Eric. He touched his jacket under his left arm, where of which hung a pistol. He quickly brought his face to a sadistic smile and said, "Last time I checked it was a nice multiple of ten."

"Enough." Tai suddenly said, standing tall and the way he stood in the light Eric saw how built this tall guy actually was. He was opening and clenching his hand and to Eric it looked ready for business once more. But Eric was ready this time.

"You can fight back, Eric." Ken said, stepping back away from the two of them. "But I wouldn't if I were you. This guy is the real deal, the kind of guy we used to duck when we were working together. Doesn't matter if you got some combat training in the army; he'll beat you bloody."

Nothing more was said as Tai came up to Eric and swung once more, using his injured right hand strangely. Eric was ready though and sprung his left arm up in a block motion, though to no avail as the ready of his attacker had made a convincing feign. Faster than Eric could even comprehend his mistake he was hit in the face with a very hard right boot. The leveeing of the dark skinned fighter, at first thought for a haymaker punch, had instead been to send a kick into his face.

He was completely knocked off his feet, seeing stars and tasting the metallic flavor of blood as his head rang from the impact. He was on his hands and knees and spat once more, this time in greater quantity. His brain felt as if it were reverberating from the sheer force of the kick.

He panted heavy as he climbed back to his feet and saw that his attacker expected him to now come at him. Before he did anything though he felt the loss of his gun from where he had tucked in at the back of his pants. He didn't risk looking around for it and he hoped they hadn't seen it either.

"ACK!" He heard suddenly yell into his mind, only increasing the pain. It sounded like Xerah, and it sounded like she was in pain. He ground his teeth at a sudden thought that he might accidently share physical pain with her. She had shared her memories with him, who knows where the line was drawn when it came to telepathy. He would have to avoid getting hurt, and also try not to pay the pain any mind, lest he accidently send it to Xerah.

He looked at his attacker who stood a few meters away and was in a fighting stance, waiting for him. He loosened his limbs for a moment and breathed in and out deeply shaking his limbs. Eric closed the distance fast and was soon within striking distance of the man. Eric was ready for the trick shots that this man was capable. He knew now that this guy wasn't just some street fighter, he had proper training; Eric had a little.

Eric began holding his own moderatly better, blocking and evading at the correct moments. Though he was not going to last long, as Tai was every now getting hits on him. The hits were not bone breakingly hard, but they were consistent and Eric wasn't getting a chance for any of his own. His concentration starting to fail and even more so as the faster things got the more he heard her voice in his head. "Eric...Eric!...Stop, just surrend--gah!." She seemed worried about every hit he avoided as if she were dodging them with him.

He managed to get some distance between him and Tai "Stop fighting you idi-." He heard again and as he did he cut off the voice by thinking the words hard in his head. "Shut up, Xerah! Please!" He almost felt bad about that but Tai came back at him, causing Eric to bring his arms up in readiness.

He was split second from engaging in hand to hand with Tai again when the voice said back, "Wait.." She was apparently not feeling like being compliant or just as likely she couldn't hear him. Eric quickly decided to ignore it as he readied a feign attack. He might have landed a blow, only that what the voice said next metaphorically threw him on his head. "What makes you think, this is Xerah?"

He completely messed his feign up and his arm was caught by his opponent whom quickly twisted it in a strange position. Eric sharply inhaled as he knew in a flash what awaited him now. Tai took his arm which was twisted almost so that it was going behind Eric. In a split second he lifted his other hand and powerfully pounded down on Eric's shoulder.

His shoulder immediately dislocated. The pain stabbed like a red hot dagger into his shoulder and the dagger twisted and turned as his arm moved while it fell. He screamed in agony as he grabbed his upper arm, trying to cease its movement. The pain was near blinding, he couldn't concentrate on anything else, but he managed to hear their voices.

"Alright Tai, that should be good." He good, he heard and he gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. He thought it was over now. He panted heavily as he stood unsteadily. He could feel the stinging in his face and with every breath he was reminded of his few broken ribs. Now his arm was dislocated and he thought then that it might have been better to just take the beating. But he had had to try, anything to try and keep Xerah safe. Yet his intentions had turned on him and he hoped with his every being that she hadn't felt any of it.

"No." Was the word he heard from Tai.

Eric's eyes opened just in time to see a large hand come at him and disappear under his chin. He felt it begin squeezing his neck tightly, chocking him. Then he felt it, a sledgehammer to the center of his face, he felt his nose break and some of his teeth rattle loosely. Then another blow and another. After 3 hits he felt the world start to get dark, and he closed his eyes as the hand released his neck. He heard a voice than, though it almost felt a distance away.

"No! Tai, we need him alive!"

He felt his knees start to cave in.

His knees didn't hit the ground as he had expected, but suddenly stiffened up straight. He still had his eyes closed and he almost didn't want to open them. When he tried though, he found he couldn't. Was he just imagining this, had he already passed out in the pain and trauma of his head? He suddenly felt to his horror his dislocated arm suddenly move. He felt the pains full intensity coursing from his shoulder all through his arm and body.

"I hate feeling your pain." He heard like raging thunder in his mind.

He could feel his body moving and it almost felt like it was doing so in slow motion. His arm was lifting itself. He felt the pain in his arm slowly build in intensity, centering itself on his shoulder. Finally it got to a point where it felt like his arm was about to be torn or--or... He felt his entire upper body shake in the wake of his shoulder's relocation. He yelled out in pain as he heard the loud pop and should have passed out in pain but instead he forcefully kept awake.

He could feel his arm was extended far from his body and it was throbbing with pain. He wished he could pull it back to his body but he was not able to control his limbs. The pain increased in a sudden instant, sending jolts of agony through his body as he felt a huge impact on his hand. His hand did not falter though and held whatever it had caught very firmly.

It was then that his eyes suddenly shot open and he saw a saw to his confusion what must be Tai's turned body. Tai appeared to be in middle of a heel kick but his midair leg was being held at the heel in Eric's hand. The kick, if it had hit his head might have been intended to break his neck.

Eric could barely comprehend what was going on as things started to speed up. Without his control his other hand sprung at Tai's leg, grabbing it above the ankle. Eric felt his hands squeeze and twist until he could feel the bone break in his hands. The feeling was sickening, but also somewhat satisfying. As he broke the bone he too pulled hard, throwing Tai onto the ground.

Eric took several steps back and saw with Tai on the ground that Kenneth was rushing to them, his face in shock. The world quickly felt heavy and started going dark. The last thing he remembered was the satiating sound of Tai's shouts of pain.

....................................

His eyes shot open as he was startled awake by a sudden shake. His head was heavy as he struggled to examine his surroundings. He sitting in a seat and he was in an almost cylindrical like room with seats lining the sides, each separated by a couple feet. The sides were donned with large windows, from which Eric could tell that the vehicle moving. The vehicle, he was in that transportation vehicle from the mine.

He was not alone either, at the far end of the vehicle sat Ken and only a seat away from where Eric was sitting was another person. Eric almost had a hard time placing the person next to him. He finally recalled that it was the youth who had been with the man whom had been trying to open his door. As he looked at the youth, the man just smiled politely and rather awkwardly at Eric then turned to look away at nothing

Eric felt very groggy, and strangely numb. His head bobbed up and down as he struggled to keep consciousness. As his head bobbed down he saw that his arm was in a tight sling that was keeping his recently injured arm from moving.

"Take it easy, okay? My uncle doped you up pretty good." He heard next to him from the young man. He was trying to think of what he was going to ask the youth beside him, but his mind was foggy.

"We far enough yet?" Eric heard from his far left, from Ken. He turned his head to look at the man and ended up doing too fast. His head spun for a few moments as he tried to focus.

"Yeah, go ahead." Said a voice that must have come from a speaker, due to the fact that Eric could see the bearded man whom he remembered the voice belonged to.

"Alrighty then." Ken said as he turned from the speaker and looked over at Eric. Seeing that he was awake and staring back, he called to him. "Hey, Eric." He said, smiling

Eric didn't respond but continued looking at the blonde man he had once called friend.

"Was there anyone with you in your house?"

Eric's first thought then was of Xerah who was sharp and clear in his foggy head. He thought of her, waiting for him in his house. He hated that he would have to leave her alone for any amount of time. But he would be back with her soon, and with all this taken care of.

"No." Eric said plainly, hoping that he was believed and no one tried to get into his home again.

"Alright." Ken said and Eric watched as the man reached over into another seat and picked something up. The blonde man then leaned back in his seat and looked over to Eric for a moment then to the thing in his hand. It was a black, long and rectangular. Ken then took the object by both ends and twisted it, the two half's twisted in opposite directions until there was a click and a beep. With a flick of his thumb Ken knocked open the top of the object. It opened up like an old zippo lighter. Now open, it exposed a small button.

"The bosses second order, after beating the shit out of you." Ken said, and looked to Eric as he put his finger on the button, holding it down. "'Blow up his house.' "

The split second after the words came out of his mouth is when Eric heard it. A sound like a hundred bolts of thunder all striking at once in the distance. He could see out the window that the outside lit up in an instant then dimmed.

"Boss loves his revenge." He heard from Ken, but paid him no more of his struggling thoughts.

In Eric's mind he could register that an explosion had occurred. But he was having a hard time combining what Ken had said to the sudden event. It was disbelief that tried to plague Eric now. His next feelings made him feel faint, he couldn't keep his head up anymore and his eye lids turned against him. His final thoughts were of Xerah sitting on his bed. Waiting for him.

"Are you out of your mind, Tarian!?!?"

"Maybe a little."

What did you think of the fight seen? I worry about it :L