FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Dawn came unannounced to the fox as she groggily opened her eyes to find herself in an empty tent. Panicking she began to scramble to get up, quickly checking herself for decor, she nodded, noting that the wolf had not torn her clothing off and ravaged her at some point during the night. Frowning slightly that he had not found her attractive enough to take as he saw fit, she then noticed the rabbit at the flap trying to get her attention. Looking up and crawling in the direction of the princess, she quirked her head in question.

Bianca winked at her and whispered. "I thought it might be a good idea to make sure you did not panic when you woke up alone, and unmolested. I thought it might also be a good idea if you learned, and witnessed the wolf's morning practices." She said, with an evil grin.

Nadia looked at her confused then her eyes about bulged out of her skull when she noticed the scene past the bunny.

Her master moved lithely through a dance that entranced her. His movements spoke of a grace she had never witnessed before. Even the most skilled dancers of her school would have been hard pressed to duplicate what the wolf was doing now. The grace alone would have been more than enough, but the real shocker was the fact that the wolf was completely naked; his loincloth burning now as fuel to the fire for this morning's meal. Unconsciously, the fox licked her chops again, causing the bunny to giggle, her eyes watching the fox's reaction.

"I take it last nights efforts were a success?" She asked the slave who looked at the princess and nodded. "Good. I will take tonight's shift on him if you don't mind. I need to taste him again now that he has matured." Bianca said.

The fox, now completely enamored with the grace and speed of the wolf, nodded again. "Who am I to question the authority of a princess?" The fox asked.

"You are a friend Nadia. If you want him to yourself, it is time to speak up." said Bianca in a teasing challenge. The fox opened her mouth to speak, but her reply died on her lips as she watched the final movements in his katas. His speed was such that only a trained warrior might be able to pick out individual strikes and blocks amongst the flurry of movement from the wolf, to the fox, it was poetry in motion as he came to the final movements, the ground around him seeming to shake every time his foot stomped the earth violently with each strike. All of a sudden the wolf just stopped, faced an unseen foe, and bowed in respect as he turned to the fire, checking that the loincloth was indeed burning well, before he walked towards the carriage.

"You were saying Nadia?" teased Bianca. The fox looked at the rabbit with embarrassment.

"I fear I have forgotten what we were speaking of..." she said forlornly. Bianca chuckled with amusement.

"The wolf has that effect when he does that..." she said as she turned to see the wolf returning with his blade stand, and his travel clothing bundle. "Drat...he brought replacements." Bianca said.

Nadia giggled to herself as the wolf took a cross-legged seat, still nude as he closed his eye and concentrated a moment. Despite the still morning air, the wolf's fur seemed to have a breeze blowing through it as Nadia watched him with some interest. Then her fur stood on end when she saw a, black, serpentine creature rise from the earth around the wolf and begin to wrap its body around him. The fox panicked again, and moved to intervene, but Bianca was faster, quickly tackling the fox to the ground.

Hissing in the fox's ear, she chastised the slave. "Never try to disturb that wolf when he is communing with the void. Your death would have been short, and very painful." She said directly into the fox's ear, making her wince.

"But..." she said.

"There are no 'buts' Nadia. Many a foolish pheonix have met their demise, thinking that a meditating and communing dragon student is vulnerable like this, only to be burned to a crisp, swallowed by the earth, strangled by the air he breaths, or drowned as water fills his lungs in an instant. An elemental protects its master without hesitation Nadia, and the void does so by simply letting you fall to pieces by removing all the basic elements that you are made of." She continued to explain to the struggling Kitsune. The struggling stopped as the fox realized that such a fate was not desirable.

"Remember what you see here Nadia, because you will see it every day until the wolf has Awakened." She said as the wolf reflexively reached out to his sword stand and grabbed his katana. He placed in his lap and reached for a small box nearby that Nadia hadn't spotted before as he opened it and took out some tools obviously meant to care for the blade. He drew the blade from its saya slowly and deliberately, all while carrying on a "conversation" with the black serpent that entangled him. Nadia looked at the scene confused that such a being existed. She had heard tales of saurs and dragons made of pure elements, and that the dragons believed a fifth existed.

Bianca chuckled. "Never thought you would see an elemental Nadia?" the fox got up and dusted herself off and sat back at the fire, keeping a close eye on her master while she conversed with Bianca.

"My school gave us basic instruction on such things. I know that all things are made up of the four known elements, Fire, Earth, Air, and Water. But what manner of element is the void?" she asked confused, her attention having moved fully back to Bianca who smiled widely.

"Such questions from slaves have gotten many killed." The bunny said, smiling ruefully at the fox who blushed and looked away in shame. "None of that Nadia, remember your master's order to look at those who address you." Bianca said in a patient tone. Nadia's eyes snapped immediately back to the rabbit. "The question is a valid one, and not one I can answer as fully as your master can." She said, again reaching for her book. "But I will attempt to convey the knowledge as best I can without confusion." She said reading a few pages. "Oh this will not do at all..." she said reading a few more pages before the bass chuckle of the wolf interrupted them.

"The Usagi histories on the definition of the Void have long been incomplete Bianca, and for good reason. Dabbling in its power can cause one to go insane at the very world they are able to perceive." He says. The fox looked to her master. The wolf seemed much better now, his fur again shiny and healthy unlike the night before when his fur had been dulling. He wore a simple travel kimono, made of Kokori silks and its natural color. Tucked in his simple travel obi were his two swords, proclaiming his station to the world. "In the simplest terms I can come up with, the Void is everything, and nothing." He said.

Bianca noded. "That is all my book says as well, care to expound on the subject?" she asked, taking out a brightly colored quill and a small bottle of ink.

He chuckled. "Ever the recorder eh Bianca?" he teased, she simply nodded and looked up at him attentively as did Nadia for a more detailed explanation. The wolf thinks a moment then begins the explanation. "Think for a moment, of all our history, how many wars have there been here in Daquia and in Kokori?" he asks.

Bianca answered. "One" she said simply.

He chuckled. "Perhaps not wars, then, but conflicts. Just in the Mageocracy for instance, there are almost constant border flare-ups with the Matriarchy. Imagine if we did not have The Great Sea between us and Kokori. Would the conflicts not become far more commonplace? As would the wars themselves. Given this example, I will now tell you that something many mages know, and that is the elements are always at odds with each other. Constantly in a state of flux, conflict and war with one exception. Fire hates Air, Water, and Earth. The feelings are reciprocated by the other elements towards the other elements as well. If this war and hatred did not have a moderator, there would be no life, no world for us to live in. The Void acts as the border, the moderator, and the peacekeeper between the courts of all the other elements. Without the Void all would be nothing, for there would be no Earth beneath our feet, no Air to breath, no Water to drink, and no Fire to provide us with warmth. Without the Void, earth and water would not combine to make plants, Air and Fire would not combine to make lightning, Earth and Fire would not combine to make the volcanoes that the Gryphons live upon to the far south, and Air and water would not provide us with the rain upon which we depend for our crops." He smiled.

Bianca, thought on that as she inscribed it into her book as Nadia absorbed the information, trying to understand it. He smiled. "The complexities and nuances of the fifth element are not easy to understand, or the vastness of its reach and power. That simple commune I had with the elemental literally spanned millions of years. The Void does not understand things such as time, as such when contacting and speaking the Void, one must be very precise in the wording of a request." He chuckles ruefully. "But I babble on, when you ladies are likely as starving as I am." He says as he moved and prepared breakfast, Nadia moved to help him and was shooed away almost immediately.

Bianca chuckled. "Patience Nadia. The wolf's true passion is cooking. Hell, I doubt he would be sane, or alive today if he did not enjoy the art so deeply. Even when out shopping for something that is not food related, the wolf will still find time to look at foods and spices to help with his cooking. Hence the reason he hates having his food snubbed." She chuckled as she had a plate of food served to her which she promptly dug into, moments later, the Fox received her plate, sniffing at it slightly.

"Ceberune, I must respectfully decline such an extravagant dish. I am not worthy to receive such sustenance." The wolf looked at her witheringly. Bianca chuckled.

"Wrong move..." she said ruefully. The fox did her best to look her master in the eye, but she could see the building rage and anger building in him. He gaze went immediately earthward, shivering in fear.

"There is no other choice Bianca..." the wolf said in that deadly tone the fox remembered from before, Bianca nodded seriously before the wolf pounced...