FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Adeline awoke to the soft chirping of birds outside her window. The sun had long since come up and was now trickling in onto her bed. Halfheartedly hissing at the light, she covered her head in a vain attempt at going back to sleep, but found it impossible and slowly dragged herself out of bed.

Her fur was matted and sticking in every direction due to the long sleep, but she did not mind as she grabbed a brush and started putting the rebelling hair back into it's place.

Soon after breakfast, she found herself walking with Sasha down one of the many hallways in the estate. Adeline had been given a simple white dress, nothing fancy, but comfortable. Adeline didn't think the clothing was flattering to say the least, but she was in no position to complain.

"Starting today, you will begin training your ability," said Sasha as they walked down the hall into the main reception room. "You see, you may not take up the contract, but the master feels it would be a crime to let such an ability go to waste. He is hoping once you see what you are capable of you'll understand why he wish to have you to be his personal servant."

They continued walking for a moment before stopping in front of Drake's personal study room on the second floor. Sasha began to open the door only to be stopped by a simple question. "Is it worth it?" asked Adeline. "Is what worth it? The training?" replied Sasha. Adeline shook her head, "being his servant? Is it worth it?" Sasha took her hand off the door and turned to face Adeline, "do you really wish to know?" Adeline nodded in response. Sasha turned again, putting her hand on the doorknob once again. "..... No," she finally replied, "but given the opportunity I would do it all again without hesitation." Before Adeline could ask what she meant, Sasha opened the door and walked in. Adeline soon followed after, her curiosity left to wait.

She had never been in Drake's study and found it to be a deceptively large room, almost as large as the library. The walls were lined with binders of many shapes and sizes and on the far wall was a large window that stopped just short of the ceiling. Long red drapes lined it's sides, providing shade if the owner so chose, but for now were left open, providing a wonderful view of the garden. In front of the window was a large red, felt chair, worn with age but still standing strong for whomever felt the need to relax and enjoy the view. A small coffee table sat next to it, also worn with age, but well taken care of and holding a small black book. Closer to the two of them was an oak desk that held nothing more than a simple lamp for late night work and was otherwise void of anything of interest. Drake was already sitting behind said desk, awaiting Adeline and Sasha's arrival. Adeline took a seat across from Drake. "So, let us get started, shall we?" he asked.

Drake turned to Sasha for a moment, "would you get us some tea Sasha? This may take a while." With a nod, Sasha complied with his request and left the room for tea as he turned his attention back to the leopard in front of him. "So, has Sasha told you anything yet?" he finally asked after he was sure she was no longer able to hear him. Adeline shook her head in response as Drake folded his hands in front of him and placed them on the desk. "Good, it's better if you go into this without any notions of what might happen or possible limitations of your abilities. The outcome is always different for each person and there is no way of knowing what could happen for each individual. A preconceived idea as to what your limitations are will actually hinder you more than drive you further. It's literally mind over matter and if you think you have a limit, you will." A muffled squeak of surprise followed quickly by the sound of china shattering echoed though the room for just a moment. Sasha quickly scurried into the Drake's office with a tray of cups and a small pot of tea. "Sorry... I broke one, it kind of just slipped out of my hand," she said with an apologetic grin. "Are you ok?" replied Drake. "Yeah, it was just a cup, Tim is back there cleaning it up now." Drake shook his head and sighed softly, "This is why we don't use the library late at night... lack of sleep always makes you clumsy. Next time take it to your room, ok?" Sasha blushed furiously, not realizing he had known and quickly placed the tray down and started pouring tea, avoiding the subject. Adeline was slightly confused, "what happened in the-" "Nothing!" Snapped Sasha quickly in embarrassment, "here's your tea, let's get started, shall we?"

~~~

Every other day, Drake, Sasha, and Adeline would meet up in his personal study and focus on her abilities. Adeline was genuinely surprised in the amount of knowledge the two of them seemed to have on how her abilities worked and it did not take long to work out a study plan. What was really interesting is that Drake knew more about this than Sasha, but he seemed to have no abilities of his own. Ether he was a good study or he had done this before. Within a month, Adeline started to learn how to summon her ability at will. It was still weak, only working within about ten feet of any person around her and it took more effort than it was worth, but she could summon it at will whenever she wished. Over time she learned what some of the colors meant, blue for passive or sadness, red for anger and whatnot, and she even learned that the shape an aura took, as she was now calling it, could be clues as to what one was thinking, but she had yet to learn the details of those.

Though the colors were often changed depending on one's mood, the shape very rarely faltered. Adeline figured that these shapes represented one's core state of mind, their most basic habits and beliefs. The more stubborn ones took the forms of stone, unwavering and hard to persuade. However, those with a more passive personality had one that seemed to take the essence of water, flowing and calm, easy to reshape and change. Sasha was often seen as blue in color and hard as stone and unwavering when speaking to anyone, but never angry or forceful. She was a natural leader, treating those she watched over with respect, but authority. But this was not the same when she spoke to Drake. Her essence changed dramatically when near that man, becoming soft, flowing, almost liquid. Adeline could tell that Sasha would do anything for Drake, without question and without hesitation. Drake on the other hand was something so different; every time she dared look upon it she found it to be a confusing fire of emotion and thoughts. It was as if a war of emotions all raged for control, like a fire that engulfed him, trying to burn him to ashes. Red, blue, and orange raged on the strongest, but all of the colors where there, surfacing now and then if she watched long enough. She could not look upon this long for it was an overload of confusing information that caused her quite the headache if she dared stare too long and yet, despite this, he seemed unfazed.

~~~

"So you've seen it then?" asked Sasha one day as they sat outside near the pond. There was an overhang set up to provide shade and a small wooden table brought out with tea and snacks. "Seen what?" replied Adeline. "Drake's soul." Adeline blinked a bit in confusion. "His emotions, his thoughts, whatever it is that you see; have you seen it?" Adeline nodded as she looked down to the cup of tea in her hands. "What did you see?" "I saw chaos..." Adeline replied. "Just as I thought," said Sasha as she sipped at her tea. "I have the same problem." Adeline looked up to meet Sasha's gaze, but found her staring out at the pond. "I can't hear his thoughts. I get this jumble of messages, intertwined with words I cannot understand. It's like two people are talking at once in two different languages, and they speak so quickly that I cannot catch anything but the occasional word," she sipped at her tea before turning to face Adeline. "What is it you really see?" Adeline sighed softly as she struggled to put Drake into words. "I saw a war of emotions; joy and happiness existing at the same time as fear and anger. They fight for control over him as if he is some prize to be won. And these were no mere little tugs of emotion, but overpowering waves that would send any normal man to their knees. It was as if the very war of emotions that raged inside him was unknown to him." Sasha nodded, listening quietly. "I see... This brings me no closer to understanding it, but at least I know I'm not the only one with this problem." "Should we ask him what it means?" asked Adeline. "No," Sasha replied softly, "the last time I asked, he asked me to never try to read his mind again or bring it up. I pressed for answers, but he only snapped at me and threatened to throw me out if I kept it up..." "That doesn't sound like him." "I know, and it caught me off guard as well, but I will not dare ask about it again."

Sasha took her time to finish her tea before standing and stretching. "Come on," she said as she picked up the tray of tea, "we need to prepare for this weekend." "What's this weekend?" Asked Adeline as she helped clean up a bit. "We need to set up one of Master Drake's personal rooms for the new moon." Adeline raised an eyebrow. "What does the moon have to do with anything? He's not a werewolf is he?" Sasha paused and stared at Adeline for a few moments before bursting out with laughing, nearly dropping the tray in her very hands. "Drake, a werewolf!?" she paused to take a breath, calming herself a little, but still giggling somewhat uncontrollably, "that man can't even stand it when I shed my winter coat! I think he would die if he had one of his own."