FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

I woke up lazily the next morning, my muscles still exhausted from the past several days. I shifted to get up, but Niari hugged me tighter, keeping me with her.

"Morning, love." She giggled.

"Morning, sweetie." I responded. I kissed her gently, and she returned it. We stayed there for a small while before we got out of the bed. When i walked over to where i left my nano cube, or Niari's, i don't remember anymore, i saw that the vial we received from Ai'ren was next to it on the floor.

"Shit, i forgot i had that thing in my pocket." I cussed, picking it up with the cube, putting it on in the process. Turns out it was mine, so i didn't need to change with Niari.

"How could you forget something so powerful? Then again... so did I.... Anyways, are you going to have a look at it?" Niari asked.

"Yeah, right away. I'll be downstairs in my little workspace if you need me."

"Alright." I took the vial out of our room, and snuck through the living room, since Fey'sel and Aielle were still sleeping. I went downstairs, and placed the vial on my desk, not entirely sure where to start. I had no idea if the substance itself was poisonous, so i didn't think twice about not opening it. My little laboratory isn't equipped for that either, so i did what measurements i could, but i could never figure out what the thing was made of. I could only find that the substance inside was a superfluid, which was odd in such a high temperature. The fact that it was a superfluid would also make things much more difficult than they needed to be. After finding nothing in one hour, i gave up, and stored the vial in a test tube rack, since it fit perfectly. I went back upstairs, and found that everyone was awake now.

"Iria! How'd it go?" Niari asked.

"I found nothing interesting about it, only something that will make it harder to figure out what it is." I responded.

"And what's that?" Aielle asked.

"The substance inside is a superfluid." I said

"As opposed to... a regular fluid?" Niari asked.

"A superfluid is hard to work with, especially with the equipment i have here. Superfluids will literally leak through solid glass, and work their way out of open containers by themselves." I explained.

"What...?" Niari said.

"I can't study it here."

"Okay... Techie." I rolled my eyes at her.

"So you're going to need some better equipment then?" Aielle asked.

"Yeah, but I'll think about that later, I'm still exhausted."

"How does this cube thing work...?" Fey'sel wondered aloud. We all turned our attention to her.

"Oh, if you look, one of the sides has a button on it, don't push it yet though. If you want to try it on, you should undress in the bathroom there first, then push it." I suggested.

"Alright...." Fey'sel understood. Fey'sel then walked over the the bathroom, and closed the door behind her.

"...Why didn't you tell her about the shock?" Aielle asked.

"I dunno, why didn't you?" I said. In a little but, we heard Fey'sel yelp in the bathroom. We waited for a little while, but she never actually came out of the bathroom.

"I think i'm gonna go check on her...." Aielle said. She then went in to the bathroom in search of Fey'sel, and they both came back out a little bit later.

"What happened?" Niari asked.

"She was scared by the thing crawling over her fur, that's all." Aielle explained.

"Ohh, i'm sorry, should have told you about that. Forgive me, but all of us reacted a different way to it, since we're used to that kind of thing." I apologized.

"It's... fine... i just wasn't ready for that." Fey'sel claimed.

"Well at least you're looking good in it." Niari complemented.

"Thanks...." Fey'sel said bashfully.

"If you want, i can probably make the suit look like your clothing from the academy." Aielle offered.

"Really? You can do that?"

"Yeah just... oh yeah, you're going to need a cellphone!" Aielle realized, smacking her palm to her forehead.

"I need to go out with Fey'sel and get her a phone, do you guys mind?"

"Well, we need to inform the KDPS about her planet too, and we told Ai'ren we would." I said.

"Well, I can drive all of us, and drop off those two at the mall or something while we go to do that." Niari suggested.

"I'm cool with that." Aielle agreed.

"Same here, shall we then?" I asked.

"Yeah, let's do that." Aielle said.

"Can i get back in my robes first?" Fey'sel asked.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Aielle agreed. Eventually, we were all ready and heading to the car. Niari, Aielle and I had our suits to look like clothing rather than armor again. I got in the passenger set next to Niari, while the other two sat in the back. We started driving towards the nearest mall.

"What are these things?" Fey'sel asked. I looked back, and saw her looking under the seat, where i hid Niari's magazines.

"I wouldn't look at those." I said. Niari blushed when she realized what we were talking about.

"What are they, fashion magazines?" Aielle asked.

"Close, but don't bother with them, I would ask Niari first." I suggested.

"They're mine, don't touch!" Niari said, trying to sound stern, but her voice cracked a little bit with anxiety.

"I... alright then." Aielle obeyed. Soon enough, we made it to the nearest mall. I thought it was a good time then to divvy up the money we currently had let, giving one third of it to Aielle and Niari.

"Alright, i'll text you when we're done here." Aielle said.

"Alright then." Niari understood.

"C'mon Fey'sel, this'll be interesting."

"Okay...." Fey'sel said.

"Don't buy her a ridiculously expensive one, she's probably not going to use it too much." I said.

"Whatever, mom. We'll be going now." She joked.

"Alright." I said, raising my arms. Aielle and Fey'sel then left the car, and started towards the entrance of the mall as Niari pulled the car out of the parking space.

"Have you ever thought of taking that seriously?" Niari asked me.

"Taking what seriously?" I asked.

"Being a mother."

"Well... I.... I have, but i don't want to be a mother, not yet." We then started towards the nearest KDPS office.

"What about a father then?" She giggled.

"Oh whatever, same thing between you and me."

"You know... It's something i always dream about, holding my own kat in my arms... but I do agree with you, neither of us are prepared for that yet." I wish I could cuddle up to her right now, but i can't with the car seats.

"It's a nice thought, yeah...."

"Do you think we're right for that?"

"Us? As parents you mean?"

"Yeah."

"I don't think i could live without you anymore."

"Thanks, sweetie." She said, smiling. "I feel the same about you." We eventually found the KDPS office. When we got out, I had the urge to instantly go around the car and kiss Niari, since i couldn't during the drive. She hugged me while i held her shoulders, though we quickly broke apart.

"C'mon love, we've got something to do right now." Niari chastised playfully.

"Alright...." I complained playfully. We walked over to the office hand-in-hand. As we walked in, a kaithian man at the counter looked away from his holographic screen and at us as we walked up to the desk.

"Good morning ladies, is there something i can help you with?" He asked. is fur was light green with white stripes. He also had blue eyes and hair.

"We've actually come to tell you about a populated planet." I said.

"Oh? Where?" He asked.

"In between Earth and Reatha, there's a planet of people called Ziscal."

"What Civ level are they?"

"Umm... what are the Civ levels?" I asked. Niari looked at me funny. "What?"

"Normally i'm the one asking questions." She said.

"Everyone asks questions, c'mon."

"Well," The man interrupted, "Level one is dark ages, with no tools or tech, level two is stone tools and traps, level three is along the lines of trading and literacy, level 4 has modern technology with large cities and a high population, and level 5 is space bearing, like us."

"They're between 3 and 4 then, but their population is very low right now."

"Alright... We'll need the coordinates of the planet before we're able to go." I pulled out my cellphone, and found the bookmarked coordinates of the planet.

"Here," He read it for a few seconds, then wrote it down on his holographic screen, "The planet is also threatened by a band of pirates, so we'd appreciate it if you could hurry with it."

"We'll be as fast as we can then. The earliest we can leave is tomorrow though."

"That should be fine, thanks."

"No, thank you for bringing this civilization to our attention." He said.

"No problem, goodbye then." I bid him.

"Have a nice day." He bid us. We then walked out of the office.

"Well that was easier than i thought it would be." Niari claimed.

"Aielle is probably having a harder time than us finding a cellphone rather than explaining about the existence of a planet." I said.

"True, with all the shit you need to go through for something so small. So then, want to do anything while we're waiting?"

"Dunno, why don't we get something to eat or something? It's been awhile since we've gone out to eat together."

"Sure. But it won't take them that long, so it might need to be fast food."

"Oh that's fine, i'm just hungry."

"Alright then, buckle up." And so with that we headed to the nearest of our favorite fast food place, which didn't take long. We went through the drive-thru, and got our food that way, and it was a good idea, since the second we were finished eating, I felt my phone vibrate.

"That Aielle?" NIari asked.

"Umm... yep, it is. She's done and waiting for us."

"Alright, time to go then." So with that over with, we drove to the mall, picking up Aielle and Fey'sel once we arrived. We could tell once we got there there Aielle was showing Fey'sel how a touchscreen worked.

"So?" I asked as they got in."

"I have no idea how this thing works...." Fey'sel claimed instantly.

"Not surprising." I giggled.

"It's a pretty good phone, the same as mine, so i can show her exactly how it works." Aielle said. Niari started to drive the car away from the mall then.

"Where are these boxes going when I slide my finger across? There's no room for them to go anywhere." That made us all laugh. "What?"

"I'm sorry, that's just too cute." I said. "It's just going off the screen, Aielle. The phone knows where the apps are, so they're able to disappear like that."

"It makes no sense! Is it bigger on the inside?" Again we all laughed at the confused ziscal. Aielle had to explain to her where the apps were disappearing to along the entire trip home, and still she was confused. We went inside, and i stretched with the day's work done. Niari sat on the couch, and i joined her right after. She pulled me onto her lap, hugging her arms around my belly. I relaxed into her, and nuzzled her. The whole time, Fey'sel looked at us curiously.

"What are you two doing?" Fey'sel asked.

"I'm huggin' my girl, is there a problem?" Niari asked sarcastically.

"N-no... I've never seen anyone do... what you're doing right now."

"Cultural difference probably." I said. "What do ziscal normally do when they find a mate?"

"I've never really been into anyone... so i don't really know." She claimed.

"Well, there's a reason to go back home at some point." Niari said. "Oh, speaking of homes, you want to do a little house hunting while there's nothing to do? Might as well."

"I need my own home here as well if we're all using the same ship. Fey'sel can probably live with me, if she's up for that, since she does need some modern day training." Aielle explained. "Would you be alright with that?" She asked Fey'sel.

"I've lived in a dorm room with dozens of other ziscal, so i think i can handle living with another person." Fey'sel claimed.

"We should also get more keys to the Quick tail, So i'm not the only one who can open it." I suggested. "We've all got the money, but let's not go too insane with it. It's obviously still money."

"Yeah, got it." Aielle understood.

"There's no house out there that we need that's over a billion credits, i think we'll be fine." Niari said.

"Still though." I defended. "Yeah, I understand." Niari said. "I'm gonna relax for a little bit before we go though, we did just get back home anyways."

"Agreed. I'm comfy here anyways." I said. Niari giggled, and kissed my cheek. We stayed at home talking for a while, and i was soon starting to doze off on Niari's lap.

"Hey, Iria?" Niari whispered to me.

"Hmm...?" I asked dreamily.

"You fell asleep there, you tired?"

"Not really.... How long was i out?"

"Probably five minutes. C'mon, sleep's for bed, how about we head out now then?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah, houses." I yawned.

"Come on girl, stand up." Niari said, pushing me to my feet. I nearly fell over, which definitely woke me up.

"Hey!" I complained. Niari just laughed. I rolled my eyes at her, stretching wide.

"So where are we going to look?" Aielle asked. I also noticed that Fey'sel is wearing her nanosuit again, it looked like her robes, and it's color just shifted to silver as Aielle was showing her.

"Not too sure, somewhere close to the spaceport at least." I said.

"Oh, i know exactly where." Niari said. "There's a few homes for sale a small while to the north, about 20 minutes away. I remember driving by them while you were away."

"Oh yeah, that's a nice little area." I recalled. "What was it called again? Serice park?"

"Yeah." Niari said.

"Sure, let's check that place out then." I agreed.

"Can't wait to see what it's like." Aielle said. So with that we headed out of the house, and travelled to Serice park with Niari's car. She was right about it taking 20 minutes, and the trip to the spaceport would take a little longer than before if we end up buying a place here. We drove around the area. All of the houses around were pretty big, at least four or five times the size of our place, but our house only had about 5 rooms in total. What really had me sold was the size of the lawns. As we drove around, the front and back yards were all really big, going all the way around the house. Eventually, Niari and I saw one that we liked, and was for sale. The house was two storeys tall, not including the attic and basement. front lawn was a great 20x30 meters, and the back was a little bigger.

"Niari...." I asked.

"Yeah?" She said.

"I'm sold on this one." I said. She laughed at me.

"Alright then. We'll park here and see it. If we get this one, we'll drive around a little more to find you guys one too."

"Alright." Aielle said. Niari parked in the driveway, and she and I got out of the car. There was a cobblestone path up to a set of small cement stairs, at the top of which was a door to the house. On the door there was a holographic button which read Tour.

"Wow, i guess they're toured by AI's now, eh?" Niari said.

"Looks like it." I pressed the button on the door, and it disappeared. We opened the door, and walked inside. Right away we were treated to a nice, dark hardwood floor. the first room into the house was a wide hall, half obstructed by a ramp which led upstairs at a nice incline. Holograms highlighted every door to every room, telling exactly what was there. The more i explored the house, the more eager i was to buy it. It looked beautiful, and was also a classic kaithian design, which is flowing and smooth. the walls were a dim green color, but i soon found out that the color was actually changeable via a console under the ramp, which also housed the stairwell to the basement. All the necessities were downstairs, and we found out that the master bedroom was upstairs, along with the bathroom and a few empty rooms. There was a sliding glass door to the backyard from the living room, and I was very excited to see it. Though the whole tour was exciting, the empty house toured only via a computer AI was very eerie because of the silence. Finally, when we were done touring the area, we found the holographic console by the door where we could buy the house. on the panel, it asked for buy, rent, lease?

"Should we just buy it? We've got the money, and there's more than enough room in here for the two of us." Niari asked.

"Sure, let's do that." We used the buy button, and the price came up. The property was 10 million credits.

"Well that's easy for us." Niari commented. "Well, at least if we ever do run out of money, at least the house is paid for."

"True." We each pitched 5 million credits for the home under both our names. The console actually then asked us about our other home, asking if we were moving out or buying this place as a secondary.

"I'd rather not pay for that old place anymore, so let's move out."

"I agree, that place is falling apart. Not anything special there either." THe old place was actually the first house we rented together, but by now, the thing was on it's last legs. The place wasn't very sturdy to start with, so we were both completely fine with giving it up for something we're both excited about. We used the move out option, and we paid for the house. The console processed the money for a couple seconds, then gave us our new address: 185 Serice park. It also then told us that we have a month before the other place goes back on sale or is allowed to be removed. Our digital keys to our old house could now open this one too, but would change to only this one in a month.

"Alright then, welcome home, love." Niari said. I looked back at the house again, and smiled. I then turned to Niari, and hugged her tightly. She hugged me back, and laughed.

"Alright, let's go find a house for Aielle and Fey'sel." I said after a few moments of hugging. We then walked out of the house. I was almost skipping with joy, laughing as i entered the car again.

"Did it go well?" Aielle asked, laughing.

"We bought the house!" i cheered.

"How much?"

"10 million."

"Not much with what we've got at the moment i suppose." By now, Niari has gotten in the car.

"How much do you have?" Fey'sel asked.

"Each of us have around 3.3 billion credits." Aielle stated.

"How did you get so much?" "It's a long story, but that's how we got out ship." I said.

"Alright, you guys interested in the same kind of houses?"

"Yeah, there's actually one right there i was looking at while you were gone." Aielle said. And so, We went through a similar process, but this time Aielle and Fey'sel left the car. The end result was the same, and we were now living on the same street, which excited us all. Their address was 181 Serice park. Niari and i would just need to move some furniture and belongings now, but Aielle and Fey'sel needed to get everything from scratch. So that's exactly what the next couple weeks were like.

Niari and i spent our time moving our things to the new address, which was simple due to them almost all being collapsable. Aielle bought herself a decent car, since she would be needing it at some point, living separate from us now, and she was slowly purchasing things to fill her home with. By the end of the second week, we were all moved in to our new places With that done, we Niari and I decided we wouldn't need the remainder of our money for now, so it was banked into a savings account, which, when i did the math, i found out that we made 24 million credits every year just for keeping it in the bank. Though for me, I started following a prohibition on spending too much money, since we did have all our new bits and baubles, i no longer needed to spend that much. The amount of things we owned before moving in was not nearly enough to fill the house, so a few rooms were left empty for the moment. Either way, it was at the end of the day now, and we just said goodbye to Aielle and Fey'sel for the night as they left for home.

"Damn, that was a busy few weeks." Niari said, stretching wide.

"Yeah... I'm ready to go to sleep now."

"Same here." We walked up the ramp to the upper level, and found our room, which was much bigger and cleaner (for now) than our last one was. The carpet was nice and soft under my paws, and the bed was at least twice the size of our old one, which we scrapped. Niari undressed and got into the bed, waiting for me. I undressed then, and joined her. She hugged me when i got close enough, and kissed me passionately. I closed my eyes, and relaxed into the bliss of our kiss. So much work, and now we're finally able to relax in each other's arms again. I felt Niari's hands trail through the fur on my back, eventually going over the fur at the base of my tails. She gently pulled away from our kiss.

"I love you, Iria." She said, dragging her hand back up through my fur, and pulling my head back towards her into another kiss before i could respond. We spent the next little while stroking each other's fur and making out, but eventually, the exhaustion of working for two weeks caught up to us, and we fell asleep.

The next morning, we both woke up very slowly. It was only a few minutes past sunrise, and we were both too exhausted still to get up, so we cuddled for at least an hour, for reasons of love, laziness, and procrastination, but we still enjoyed each other's embrace the whole time. Eventually though, we did get out of the bed. We were the only ones in the house now, so i didn't bother dressing before i left the room, and Niari apparently agreed with me, since she followed me out of the room giggling to herself. When i reached the ramp which connected the top and bottom floor, an idea popped into my head right before i took my first step. I took a couple steps back, and then threw myself down the ramp, sliding all the way down on my paws and one hand. I was laughing as i touched the bottom level.

"That was awesome!" I cheered, standing back up.

"You're such a child!" Niari shouted, sliding down the ramp herself. Before i could shout back at her, she reached the bottom, and hugged me, tripping and pulling us both down to the ground.

"Sorry about that...." She said. I kissed her gently.

"No worries, we're both okay." I claimed. "So, should we go do something? Or are you still tired from moving?"

"I'll stay home for at least one more day...." She said, kissing me on the cheek. She then got us both up, and led me to the living room. The sun shone through the glass sliding door, lighting up most of the hall, and all of the living room. When we entered the living room, Niari flopped lengthwise onto the new couch, and gestured for me to join her. I slowly got on top of her, and rested my head on her chest. She gently wrapped her arm over my shoulder, and used her other to stroke through my hair and down my fur. I sighed happily, closing my eyes and enjoyed her gentle ministrations. I started giggling a little bit.

"You're comfier than our new bed." I giggled.

"Is that so?" She laughed. I looked up to her, and kissed her quickly before resting my head again. We stayed like that for a while, just being together like this. After a little while i must have fallen back to sleep, since Niari said: "Iria...? You awake...?"

"Hmm...? I am now at least." I said dreamily.

"C'mon, let's get dressed and go for a walk or something, the area around here is nice enough."

"Sure... let's do that." We both sat up then, and then started on our way back upstairs. I quickly enough found where i left my nanocube, and activated it, letting the nano material creep along my fur until it covered my whole body. I found my phone, and changed the look into a light green tee and denim jeans. Niari went for something similar, but it was a grey hoodie and jeans. Neither of us wore anything on our paws, since both of us agreed that footwear was uncomfortable.

"Alright, let's just head out and wander around the place." Niari said.

"Okay." I agreed. We both left the room and slid down the ramp again with a little momentum. We left and locked the house, and then walked along the cobblestone path until we reached the sidewalk. We walked aimlessly around the park area, always holding hands. The Serice park area was actually very nice. Tall trees granted a nice amount of shade while not completely blocking the sun, there were several paths through some forested areas, which we walked through. The gravel path was windy and almost completely shaded by tall trees. The path descended down into a basin, but then slowly climbed up again, and led us to another road of houses in Serice park. It was all pretty similar, but it was equally as nice too. All the houses had something unique about them, either made unique with a little tweaking or just built differently from the start. We spent the better part of the morning walking around the area and getting to know it. Finally, around noon, we made our way back to our new home.

"Well that was fun." I said, stretching.

"Mhm, it's nice to head out for a long walk sometimes." Niari said, closing the door. "Anyways, i'm going to take a shower upstairs, you in?"

"Sure." We both made our way up the ramp and to the bathroom. The shower was much nicer than the one at our old place, and both of us could actually stand in it comfortably, since it was a cubicle, not a tub. there was a tub in the same room though. The water was hot the second we turned it on, and we both stepped in when it was the right temperature. We had our fun washing and teasing each other while we were in the shower, but we eventually got out and dried off with some towels. We then spent the next while brushing each other's hair and fur to make sure it was not sticking up. Niari even helped me braid my hair, and then showed me how to braid as well, since i never figured it out, so when we left the bathroom, we were brushed with braided hair, wearing our nano clothes again, but Niari's hoodie was now a shirt. We then went back down to the living room.

"Should i make some lunch then? i'm getting hungry anyways." Niari offered.

"Sure, i'll help." Niari's culinary skills far exceeded my own. She was able to cook and bake on the fly while i needed to follow a recipe, and i couldn't even do that very well all the time. Eventually though, we had a nice meal made for lunch, which we ate at the table.

"I need to teach you how to cook sometime, properly." Niari said, "And without a computer, the best food is made by hand."

"I agree." I said. We spent the rest of the day hanging around and finding places for things to be, since we weren't entirely unpacked yet. Eventually, night fell once more, and so we went back to sleep upstairs together.

The next morning was very slow for the first couple hours. We ate breakfast and cuddled for a little while, but other than that, nothing really happened. A little before noon though, I got a text from Aielle. It read: Hey, you want to go for a joyride in the Quicktail? Fey'sel needs a little more space practice anyways.

"Who's that?" Niari asked.

"It's Aielle, she wants to go for a space cruise to get Fey'sel accustomed to space a little more."

"I'm up for it if you are, i miss space a little."

"Alright then." I starting texting Aielle back. Sure. Niari and I can meet you at the spaceport, alright? She soon enough responded with: Alright, see you there.

"Okay, let's get ready then." I said. So with that, was got ourselves dressed for the trip, bringing our hardlight tools and our suits, which currently looked like clothing again. Our blasters were still on the Quicktail. We left the house, locking the door behind us, and got into Niari's car, and drove off to the Spaceport, which was about 45 minutes away now. When we arrived, we met Aielle and Fey'sel by the elevator.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" Aielle asked.

"Great. You two been alright together?" I asked.

"It's no trouble. Fey'sel has been showing me some of her practices too."

"I might as well in case i become a teacher at some point." Fey'sel claimed.

"Well anyways, let's head up to the ship then." Niari said. We went up to the spaceport then, and quickly enough found the Quicktail, which was completely repaired now. I opened the ship with my key, and led everyone in.

"Any ideas on where we could go?" I asked. I turned the ship on then, and i noticed that the tank was actually filled. "It looks like Rari filled the tank for us too."

"That's nice of her." Niari said.

"I know of a space station we could go see. It's used as a hotel, bar, and a couple other things. I went there a couple times before with my uncle and cousin."

"Alright, sure." I agreed.

"I'm up for a drink." Niari said.

"You ready Fey'sel?" I asked.

"I hope so...." She said.

"Go ahead and tell Quickt tail the coordinates, Aielle."

"Sure." With that said and done, we were quickly lifting off the spaceport and launching into orbit. Quick tail told us that the trip would be about a minute long. When we arrived, the large station was incredible. It was large enough to hold several ships in it's landing dock, which was sealed off with a forcefield to keep the atmosphere inside. The quicktail passed through it without a problem though. There were several kaithians and some other aliens walking around outside and chatting on the dock. We left the Quick tail, and locked it behind us. The air in the station was so sterile you could clearly smell a difference between it and what's on Reatha.

"How was the trip for you, Fey'sel?" Aielle asked Fey'sel.

"Better than last time at least." She responded.

"That's good."

"At least you won't be sick in the ship." Niari said. We walked through the station, and found quite a few places on board. There were small stores by many different races, most Kaithian in this station though. eventually though, we found the bar on the ship, and went in. Niari found the four of us a seat at one of the corner booths. Eventually, we all ordered at least something to drink. I myself, am a serious lightweight when it comes to alcohol, so i was done and after my first drink, and the alcohol turned my face red with a blush. Niari was able to drink a couple, And Niari and Fey'sel didn't have any alcohol, but found something else to drink. When Niari was done with her drinks, she was practically all over me, Kissing and hugging me the whole time. I was happy to reciprocate, but it was still funny seeing her like this.

"It's a good thing the ship can drive itself." I said.

"Hey, i'm not that drunk...!" Niari said, clearly drunk. I rolled my eyes.

"You keep believing that, but i'm not letting you drive home."

"It's my car!"

"It's our lives, Niari." I said sternly. I seemed to have gotten to her on that one.

"Alright...."

"It's fine, Niari." I wrapped an arm over her shoulders. "I'll always stop you from being stupid, don't worry." I giggled

"Hey!" She complained. I kissed her cheekily.

"Next time don't drink so much and i'll let you use your car when we're heading home." I laughed. She sighed, and relaxed on my shoulder.

"Alright...."

"Oh, don't sound so sad about it."

"I'm just about ready to leave, how about you two?" Aielle asked us.

"Sure, it's probably close to sunset where we live now anyways." I said.

"I need some sleep...." Niari said, slightly addled. We then left the bar after paying for our drinks. I needed to assist Niari with walking, since she couldn't do it herself very well at the moment. Eventually, we found our ship again. I led Niari to the crew quarters so she could lie down for a bit. As i did that, Aielle was moving the ship out of the hangar, and once that was done, we were on our way home again. Fey'sel seemed to be pretty used to the feeling of the Alc drive in action now, which was good. 20 seconds into our trip though, something stopped our jump. I walked up to the bridge, confused.

"What stopped us?" I asked Aielle.

"Another ship got in the way, nothing to worry about, i'll just get us around it." Aielle answered. I looked outside the window, and saw a ship a little bigger than ours of kaithian origin, but that was only there for a short second before it disappeared and we were somewhere else.

"Ugh, now what?" Aielle complained. "Something is stopping the Alc drive from working."

"Are we in some sort of jungle?" Fey'sel asked, pointing out the window. Aielle and i we're too busy looking at the console to notice that just out the window, there was thick, vine-like plants blocking our path.

"Are we right next to a planet?"I asked. "You cut it pretty damn close, Aielle." I said.

"The Quick tail won't let us jump into the path of matter, so i can't do anything wrong even if a tried." Aielle defended.

"What are those things doing?" Fey'sel asked, alarmed. The thick vines outside were actually coiling around the ship.

"Fuck, what is this, some sort of giant carnivorous plant?" I demanded.

"It seems like it, we need to get out of here." Aielle suggested. The ship was then roughly tugged down, and since the Alc drive wasn't moving the ship, we felt all the inertia from the movement. We were being pulled down for kilometers, and we were too juggled to actually use the console. Eventually, we were on the ground of the planet against our will.

"What the hell is going on?!" Niari demanded, stumbling into the bridge.

"We were pulled to a planet by something, i can't tell what." I said. Quick tail informed us about a few things on the planet, but the most important thing was that the atmosphere wasn't poisonous to us. "We should try to take these vines off the ship so we can leave." I suggested.

"I agree, i'd rather not get stuck on a planet like this because of a plant." Aielle agreed. We managed to get the door open, since the vines didn't actually cover it, luckily. The flora on the planet was a yellowish green color, and the atmosphere was a dark amber color. The gravity on the planet was also really high, at least -15m/s2. The vines had wrapped around the ship from root to tip, which frustrated me a little. The other vines were several kilometers tall, so getting just one off is going to be a pain.

"Might as well start cutting it. The laser blaster should do it." Aielle suggested. All of us except Fey'sel pulled out our blasters, and started to cut the vines with them. It worked pretty well, but it would take the better part of an hour to get it all off. Fey'sel watched us cut the vines, since she couldn't operate her blaster properly. At some point during the work, when we were about half done, i felt something crawl around my waist.

"What the hell?" I asked. Before i could do anything, i was roughly pulled away from the ship and into the air, dropping my blaster in the process.

"Iria!" Niari shouted after me. I called back to her as well, but i was still being pulled away, farther and farther. Whatever grabbed me was a thin red vine, and it started to try and bind my limbs together. By now i couldn't see the ship anymore, and i was struggling to keep my arms and legs free. Finally, i was stopped in mid air, though the problem with that, was i was now above a large red plant from which the vine originated. More vines then joined the first, and i was almost instantly bound and helpless. I was brought down to the plant head first, and then when there was no way i could escape, i was dropped in. I was dropped into a small pool of liquid just under where the plant grew. I tried to get up, but all my muscles failed me as the plant's liquid completely drained my energy. I was then closed into darkness as the plant covered itself. I stayed there for several long minutes, unable to do anything. Eventually though, the top of the plant was pried open by something. Something red then slid its way down into the plant's opening, and wrapped around me. I was helpless to do anything as i was dragged out. Finally, when i was back into the sunlight, i got to see who, or rather what my savior was. She had a fairly normal upper body, but below her waist we just an extremely long snake-like tail. Her upper body was very snake like too, with a hood and slit eyes. Her whole body was covered in red scales with odd patterns.

"Hmm, I've never seen prey like you before." She said curiously.

"Th-thanks... for taking me out of there...." I said, exhausted.

"You speak? Well, that's certainly interesting. Maybe i won't eat you, not yet at least." She coiled me up firmly with her tail, and then started to slither off in some direction, taking me with her. In my state, i couldn't do much to stop her. "You remind me of another kind of prey i've seen around recently. They can speak too." She eventually stopped, and lifted me up next to her torso. "I'll wash that nectar off you so you can speak properly." I looked at the pond which she intended to wash me in, and i started to panic. What was in the pond wasn't water, it was liquid mercury. She started to lower me down to the silvery liquid metal.

"Wait! Stop!" I shouted, tiring myself.

"Hmm?" She pulled me away from the mercury.

"That... that will kill me... if you dunk me in there...." I explained.

"Oh? Well that's odd. Well then, i guess you'll be talking like this then." She took us away from the mercury, and then had me sit in the middle of her coils. "So then, prey, since you can talk, why don't you explain to me where you come from?" I the high gravity was starting to pull the liquids off of my body, which helped me dry a lot quicker than on Reatha. It also started to make me a little dizzy.

"I'm from... another planet." I explained.

"Really? Are you like those other prey? They have these big, shiny, moving rocks that they fly around in."

"If i'm right, you're talking about a space cruiser, then yes, i am like them. But who are they?"

"They've been here for a long time now, i'm not sure for what though. Whenever i'm hunting them, they hit me with something i can't see."

"What's your name?" I asked.

"My name? Coia. What about yours, prey?"

"Iria."

"I think i'll keep you around for awhile, maybe you can help me hunt the other prey."

"I actually-" Before i could finish, she tightened her coils around me again, and started off in some direction. "Where are you taking me? I need to go back to my ship!" i complained.

"Like i said, I'm taking you with me for a little while."

"I never said you could do that!"

"I never asked."

"Let me go!"

"When i let you go, it'll be over a pond if you don't quiet down right now." she threatened.

"But...." My words caught in my throat. I couldn't do anything, not in my position, so i let myself be dragged with her.

"That's a good girl." She said. I flattened my ears. After a few minutes, she brought us to a cliff face. "This is where the other prey have been." She explained. I looked over the cliff, and saw a huge construction. There was no doubt that it was a mass scale mining project. Catwalks were all over, just above a massive hole in the ground. "They've been making this giant hole for a long time now. I'm not sure why, and i don't care, i just want to prove that i'm stronger than them, but their magical weapons won't let me close to them."

"I can tell you about their weapons." I offered.

"Oh? tell me then."

"Let me go then."

"I'm not that stupid. You'll tell me right now, or i'm going to throw you off this cliff." I looked over the cliff, and considered my options. I might be free from Coia if she threw me down, and the landing would be really simple with all the vines everywhere, but then again, it would be almost impossible for me to get back up. If i could get to the mining facility though....

"Fine, throw me over." I challenged. She smiled evilly at me.

"Your choice, prey, enjoy the silver marsh." Right then, i knew i had made the wrong choice. Even though the fall was survivable, there was almost certainly mercury everywhere below the flora. Before i could respond, i she was already about to throw me. "I'll be able to find your body again, it should be that difficult." And then, with surprising force, she threw me. I flailed for a few seconds, but i managed to straighten. As fast as i could, i managed to grab one of the massive vines that erected from the soil up to space, holding onto it tightly with my tails. It bent with the force which i hit it with, but wasn't nearly enough to knock it over. I looked back at Coia, and she was angrily making her way down the cliff face already. Shaking myself to calm down a little, i looked around Below me there was a sliver marsh, most likely filled with mercury, and there was nothing else around aside from the sky high vines. A crazy idea jumped into my head then. I looked towards a nearby vine, and then jumped from mine to it. It wasn't too difficult to do, but i dropped a couple meters to the ground when i landed. I jumped from vine to vine several times, but eventually, i was on the ground. There was very little soil not covered by mercury. I held my breath, and just ran, breathing as little as i could. I looked back, and caught a glimpse of Coia looking for me on the vine which i started on The high gravity made running very difficult. Just before i lost my breath, the mercury pools started to decrease in number. I needed to breathe now, otherwise i was going to pass out. Despite how dangerous it could be, i did it. I hid behind a cluster of vines, and rested there. My whole body was still pumping with adrenaline. When i was a little calmed down, i turned to look back at the silver marsh. I saw no signs of Coia, which relieved me. Before i could turn back and rest again though, something grabbed me from behind.

"Get off me!" I demanded.

"Hold still for a second, damn it!" an androgynous voice said. I struggled to throw my attacker off me, but i just couldn't. They covered my mouth, but when i tried to pry their hand off, i couldn't, it had actually shaped around my muzzle. In fact, that's what happened to the rest of my body. I was completely contained by my goo-like attacker. I couldn't see anything, but i still struggled to regain my mobility. I then felt a sharp pain in my head, as they tried to break into my mind.

"Looks like you can speak without words to other people." they said. I tried to force them out of my mind, but doing that and struggling at the same time was impossible. Eventually, they had encase my whole body and mind, and i fell weakly to the ground. "There we go, that wasn't so hard was it?" They said into my mind.

"Who are you? why are you attacking me?" I asked.

"Because i need some sort of host. This gravity is making it impossible for me to make my own body. Besides, with me, you'll be able to walk properly too, i was watching your pathetic run away from the naga girl, and clearly you're from a lower grav planet."

"You could have at least asked instead of attacked...."

"Eh, i like my trump cards over my ideas. Anyways, we're going to need each other. I need you for a body, and you need me for walking and breathing. I'll keep you safe from the mercury vapor if you agree."

"Alright... fine."

"Great choice." Just then, i was able to see again. My odd attacker has actually worked their way under my nano suit and into my fur. I looked exactly the same, though i was several inches taller than before with their added mass. I stood up against me will as they controlled my body. "You're certainly an interesting creature, you've got a lot of unique parts to you." When they said that, i could tell that they probably knew everything to know about my body. "My name is crystal by the way, your is?"

"Iria."

"Nice name. Anyways, I want to get off this damned planet, and i'm guessing you do as well?"

"I do, yes."

"Do you have a ship?"

"Yeah, but it's back up that way. The only way i can think of to get back there is to use the catwalks at the mining facility."

"Well, that's a plan i suppose, but i'm not sure how easy that'll be to pull off."

"Can you let me control my body now? This feels weird."

"Alright, catch yourself though." I nearly didn't catch myself as she let go of her control.

"I'm going to call my friends to let them know i'm okay."

"You have more people with you?

"Yeah, they're back at the ship i presume. I was pulled away from them by a plant...."

"I think i know what you're talking about." I pulled out my cellphone, and started to call Niari. It didn't take that long for her to respond.

"Iria? Are you okay?" Niari asked through the phone.

"Yeah, i am. I'll be a little while before i reach the ship again though." I explained.

"What happened to you? I just saw you get dragged off."

"I'll explain to you when i get back. There's a mass scale mining facility on this planet, and i can use it to get back to you."

"Alright then, please hurry."

"I'll try to, I'll see you soon." I hung up then.

"So, how do you plan on getting to the mining facility?" Crystal asked.

"The naga woman explained them to be similar to me, so i'm hoping that they'll let me be escorted to the top again."

"And if that doesn't work?"

"Then my other best option is to climb that cliff again, which i'm sure won't be easy."

"Alright then, i'll support you along the way if you can get us off of this planet." I started walking in the direction i remembered the mining facility to be in. With Crystal over by body, i was standing at just under seven feet, which confused me slightly. Aside from the height, i looked and worked exactly the same.

"What are you exactly, crystal?" I asked her.

"I could ask the same about you, but i'm a little unique, aren't I? Well, as you should have noticed already, i'm not exactly of my own form. I'm normally referred to as a symbiotic, but i'm able to live on my own, so that's not true. I'm actually called a Nibikus."

"Interesting. I'm a kaithian."

"I've heard of kaithians before, but i didn't think your bodies would have this many assets to it."

"If you're talking about what i think you're talking about, it's because i happen to be one of our dimales."

"Ah, I see."

"There's a catwalk right up there, but it's entry point is still a distance away."

"Might as well make our way around then." We had reached the very edge of the massive hole. THe hole was easily 20 or 30 kilometers in diameter, and several more in depth. Above the dig site there was a massive suspended mining base, and deep in the mining area there were hundreds of massive mining machines. The echo from the machines made their way all to way up to the top of the hole, and it claimed itself as the background noise for our whole trip to the catwalk. After the better part of an hour, we finally reached the catwalk's entrance. At the entry point, there were two guards in familiar armor, the same which i've seen on the Alc VI and on Fey'sel's planet. I was a little worried when i walked up to them, but they didn't draw anything on me as i approached them.

"What business do you have here, stranger?" One asked sternly.

"My ship was pulled down onto the planet, and through some stroke of bad luck, i found myself at the bottom of this marsh. Could i ask you to escort me above to marsh? Your platforms are the only way i've seen that can get me back up easily." I explained. I waited for an answer.

"I can take you over the catwalks, but not anywhere else, is that clear?" One asked.

"Very, thank you."

"Take over both shifts until i get back, alright?"

"Whatever." The other said.

"Follow me then, and no wandering."

"Didn't expect it to be that easy." Crystal claimed.

"Neither did I." I agreed. I followed the armored person along the catwalks. The whole time, i was thoroughly supervised. The catwalks were very far off the ground, especially with the giant hole below us; it was also very long, crossing the entirety of the dig site's diameter. I couldn't make out what they were digging for on this planet, but something nagged at me that it wasn't something to be left alone. After just over half an hour, we reached the opposite end of the dig site, which was above the cliff of which i was originally thrown off by Coia.

"Now then, go. You won't be receiving any more escorts." the armored man said.

"I hope i won't need any more, thank you." I said, starting to walk off again.

"So, where's your ship?" Crystal asked without speaking.

"It's somewhere in this direction. My cellphone should be able to lead my to it if i lose it anyways." I explained.

"That's always handy."

"Yeah. So what do you plan on doing when we start to leave?"

"Not sure, i don't exactly have a way home yet."

"You can probably get a shuttle home from my home planet."

"I could, yeah."

"Anything else on this planet that you know of that we should look out for?"

"Well... those naga things for one, but they aren't that common compared to plant traps. If anything, you'll need something to cut vines."

"Alright, i think i can do that... give me a minute." I dropped my blaster when i was separated from everyone, but i still had my hardlight. I took it out, as well as my phone, and spent the next little while programming it to form a very sharp knife. It wouldn't be too effective against anything other than a plant though. I saved the model, and then turned the hardlight on, and it flickered into a knife.

"This should work on the plants." I said.

"Nice little toy you've got." Crystal commented.

"It's really useful, yeah."

"If you can cut vines with it, you'll be fine as long as you don't run into a naga thing again."

"Hopefully, yeah." We continued to walk along the edge of the cliff. After an hour of nothing but small talk with each other, I eventually found the spot on the cliff which I recognized. "this is where i was thrown off the edge, so the ship should be somewhere in this direction."

"Okay then, i can't wait to see it."

"I think it's a good idea to go wide though, since the naga woman found me right in the middle of here and the ship."

"Good idea then." And so that's what happened. We took a large detour to the ship, but we reached it after about twenty minutes. When the ship came into view, I saw Niari sitting nervously just outside the ship. All the vines were removed by now, so that means we can leave right away.

"Niari!" I called. Niari's attention instantly turned to me, and her expression lit up happily.

"Iria!" She got up, and we ran towards each other, But right before we met, she recoiled just before i hugged her. "Why are you so tall?!" She asked, completely flustered.

"Oh yeah." I laughed. "Let's get inside the ship so we're out of this heavy gravity, i'll explain it all to you." And so we did that. When we were inside and the door was shut, Crystal jumped off of my body, and formed her own right next to me. She took the form of a cyan and white feline girl, and ran her fingers through her hair. She was completely naked, but with her body, she didn't actually have any lewd body parts to show.

"Ugh, finally, i can walk on my own." She said. "Thanks for taking me here." She thanked.

"No problem."

"She's why you were so tall?" Niari asked.

"Yeah. She's also the reason i'm still alive." I said.

"And vice versa. I wouldn't have been able to get anywhere if i hadn't found her." Crystal said.

"She's a Nibikus, and she can use someone else's body when she wants to, as far as i'm aware?" I asked Crystal.

"In a way, yeah." She responded.

"I think we should leave before the vines decide to grab us again." Aielle said from the bridge.

"Kick it into gear then." Niari said. Within a few seconds, the planet's soil disappeared , and we were rising into space once again. When we were high enough off the planet, we could see that the vines on the planet reached so far up, that it looked like the planet was growing hair. Crystal and I explained the whole thing to Niari, Aielle and Fey'sel while the Alc drive was sending us home. Niari hugged me the whole time like she was going to lose me forever if she didn't, and i let her, i would have done the same thing if we had switched places.

"You say that the pirates from before are on that planet as well?" Aielle asked.

"Yeah, that's why i think we need to go back and figure out what they're mining for." I suggested.

"If we're going to end up having to stop them, we'll need a bigger crew than just the four of us." Niari said.

"I'm able to help you guys out if you want." Crystal offered. "I've been stranded there for about five years, so i can explain a few things about the place."

"Five years?" I asked.

"Yeah, how long were you there?" Crystal asked.

"Pretty much from when i met you."

"Wow, you got of lucky."

"So, we'll just go home for now. Tomorrow we'll think of something to do about that mining operation." Niari said. "I'm dead tired after drinking and no sleep, so no one's changing my mind."

"Don't worry, I agree with you." I said.

"That's great."

"I'm ready to fall asleep too." Aielle claimed. By now, we had reached Reatha again. So with our landing, we left the ship, and then the spaceport. Niari and I offered to Crystal that she could rest at our place for the night, and she accepted gratefully. It was just past midnight by now on Reatha, and i needed to drive. It wasn't that hard, since there were barely any cars on the road, but it was still dark out. We made it home in about 45 minutes, and instantly went in. Niari and i were ready to collapse as we went through the door.

"There's a couch in the living room right over there that you can use, Crystal, and some blankets in the closet there if you need them...." I yawned. "We'd set them up for you, but i don't think either of us can stand for another five minutes."

"Don't worry about it, i'll be fine. You go get your sleep." Crystal said.

"Alright then, c'mon love, i've been waiting too long to get to bed." Niari said. Niari led me to the bedroom once again, and was pretty much undressed before we even entered the room. When i entered the room, she was already waiting for me, naked with her arms open to me. I giggled, and took off my clothing, quickly joining her. She wrapped her arms around me, kissing me gently for a little while.

"I'm glad you're alright, Iria, I don't know what i'd do if i lost you...." Niari claimed, hugging me tightly with both her arms and her tails. I felt safer in her arms more than anywhere else in the universe.

"I promise that i'll never leave you alone, Niari, I'll be there for you whenever you need me." I said.

"Thanks, Iria." She kissed me again, and it wasn't long after that before we were both sound asleep once again.