FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Silence. That was what bothered Reinhardt the most about this place. There was no chirping of birds or rustling of wildlife. No wind moving the branches of the ancient trees that rose up around them like vast cathedral pillars. No movement, no life, nothing but silence. He stared ahead into the misty void that surrounded them, the trail disappearing from sight just a hundred or so strides ahead, and tried to ignore the oppressive silence around them, and between him and his companion.

The kobold trudged behind the knight like a shaggy upright dog, with red fur, perky ears, and big yellow eyes. The silence grew heavy in the pit of his stomach, fear gripping it in a steely vice. He did not want to talk yet he did not want to endure the quiet hanging between them any longer either, so he had been focusing furiously on every pebble and root in their path for the several last miles instead. For what must have been the hundredth time today he considered just quitting, throwing down his gear and returning to the capital to live out his life in poverty and shame, but he couldn't do it. Wouldn't do it.

He stopped to take a swig from his canteen. "We're almost out of water." the first words between them since morning. He shook the last few drops from the now empty bottle.

Boners sat on a large branch snaking along the ground and pushed his goggles on his forehead. "I'm tired."

Reinhardt flinched, his hand instinctively going to his flintlock pistol as the silence was broken. After a moment he let out a soft sigh of relief. It was just his--the kobold. He crossed his arms as he turned to look at the kobold, twisting his face into a mask of irritation.

"Get up and stop complaining. We've barely even begun today's journey."

Reinhardt still remembered how proud he had been to learn that his newest mission would be escorting an Academy member on a dangerous journey, but that had quickly turned into resentment when he had found out that it would be a lowly kobold--a kobold!--and his name was just icing on the cake at that point. He was named after their cultural hero, a perfectly reasonable one in their language, but in common Imperial it was just… ridiculous. Like this entire mission.

Reinhardt looked down at the trail beneath his feet, and then over to the kobold. "What do your maps say?"

Boners sat there sagging, resting his arms on his knees and breathed deeply. His long ears were drooping almost comically, and his large coat sagged on him like a tent. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"That we're not even halfway to the halfway point of today's journey." He picked up a stick and scratched on the ground, random strokes crisscrossing pointlessly. "Do you think...do you think we've lost our way?"

The thought had been eating at the back of Reinhardt's mind for weeks, but he had not wanted to give voice to it.

"Don't be stupid. We're still following the trail, aren't we? The trail we've been on all this time?" He looked away, taking a moment to ease the slight manic edge that had crept into his voice. This place was getting to him... to both of them. He sighed as he felt the weariness of the journey suddenly settle into his limbs, and sat down on the log beside the kobold.

"We need to keep going." Despite his words, neither one of them made a movement to stand.

Boners furrowed his brows in slowly rising anger "Don't be obtuse! I'm a cartographer, I would know if we're lost! I'm talking about the different kind of losing your way." He turned apologetic after his outburst "Sorry, didn't mean to yell at you. This place, it's getting to me."

"Right, right." The knight rose up.

That was the one thing he and kobold agreed about. He watched Boners rise up and trudge off in the wrong direction, then turn to look around sheepishly.

"Since you know where we're going, lead the way." Reinhardt smirked, unable to resist that barb.

It was almost like the first days of their expedition, when they had sniped at each other and traded verbal blows back and forth as they made their way through this strange wilderness. It was much better than the sullen silence that had settled between them. Boners sighed, but did not respond the the knight's quip. They'd just have to make do with each others' company for the next few months and then they could part ways for ever. It would be for the best, for both of them. He looked into the distance, of the little bit that was available in the thick forest, and thought to himself that he could do this.

"Come on, let's move." he said matter-of-factly and kept walking. There would be a brook within an hour's travel where they could rest and fill their supplies.

Reinhardt was strangely hurt by the kobold's lack of response. He grunted and adjusted his backpack, following behind Boners as they resumed their journey. There was nothing to look at as they made their way through the misty forest, and so his gaze came to settle on his companion. He watched the funny little creature stomp along ahead of him, ears flicking this way and that under his hood. Like a magnet to lodestone his eyes were drawn downward towards the small of his back, where the critter's plump rump would sway back and forth underneath the cloth, so soft and squeezable… A strange noise rose from the knight's throat as he jerked his gaze upward to stare over the kobold's head. What was he thinking? The little creature wasn't pleasing to him at all! He liked females, human females! Reinhardt shook his head and massaged his temples. This place was getting at him…

They made a reasonable pace along the winding forest path, but by midday they were already sweating--Boners from his fur, Reinhardt from his thoughts--and the appearance of a cheerfully warbling brook was a welcome sight. It came along a narrow ravine and snaked between large boulders tossed casually around by a passing glacier, all covered in soft, moist moss. The water ran clear on a bed of gravel, and small fishes darted from shade to shade like little flashes of silver. The air was fresher here, the smells of the forest much stronger, much more vivid now.

The opening around the stream was unusually lovely for the thick forest, the trees making a circle of mossy, green pillars around the soft grass. Beams of sunlight cut through the canopy and glittered with pollen. Somewhere in the distance a startled bird chittered but otherwise the forest fell silent again. It felt good to be out of its oppressive darkness and enjoy the sun for once. Boners' mood was improved and he did not complain about making camp like usually. He slid his heavy backpack to the ground and stretched, knuckling his back making small popping noises. He hummed as he started picking up sticks to start a fire.

Reinhardt, too, appreciated the change in scenery, and the distraction from his thoughts about his companion that setting up camp offered. He set his supply pack down my Boners' and began to take off his breastplate with a long, relieved sigh. Then he began to set up their shelter, beginning to hum softly as his mood was lifted by the sunlight and fresh air the clearing offered. It began as a tuneless noise, but as he pounded the stakes into the ground it slowly morphed into the melody of an old drinking-song he had belted out with his compatriots many times after returning from a sortie or training exercise.

Boners unpacked some pots and pans with the intention of filling them at the stream, but stood in place instead listening the soldier.

"Nice tune. Is it traditional to humans?", he asked genuinely curious.

The kobold's voice made Reinhardt falter for a moment, and he nodded, keeping his gaze on his task. "I guess." Reinhardt rose up, stretching and popping his back, and then glanced over at the kobold.

Boners furrowed his brows at the terseness of the human's answer. He shrugged, not wanting to pry further and walked away with his clinking gear.

The water was surprisingly warm, the low level of the stream heated up by the sunlight. The river's bottom was made of soft sand and Boners waded gladly into it, feeling it massage his paw pads. He sat on the bank and dug his feet in the sand, rubbing it between his toes in delight.

"Quartz sand, residue from the mountainous glaciers", he said to no-one particular.

He chuckled at himself for recognizing such trivial details, but made the notion to pen it down later anyway. Reinholdt blinked, watching as the kobold bathed his feet. He thought about asking what the kobold meant, but shook his head.

"You realize that's our water source, right? Get your feet out of there."

He chose to put on his mask of annoyance at his travelling companion once more. It was better than returning to the thoughts that had filled his mind for days now.

Boners made a sour face. "One kobold is hardly enough to stink up an entire river, human."

He did not budge but instead leaned back on his arms rebelliously, spreading his legs and splashing them in the water.

"Besides it feels nice, you should try it too. You grump."

Reinhardt crossed his arms and made a sour face as well. Grump?

"...Fine, I guess. My feet are killing me..."

He kicked his boots off, making a face at the smell that wafted out and setting them a ways away from the tent to air out. Then he walked over, wincing every so often as his sore feet stretched in the soft grass and the sand of the riverbank. He plopped down a little ways away from the kobold and stuck his feet into the water. At least running river wouldn't be contaminated like a still pool would be. And he did have to admit that it felt nice.

They sat in silence for a few moments.

Boners sat looking at his toes feeling like he should say something. The little nubs covered in red hair were cute and had small, sharp claws to them--and he remembered how his lover had relished in sucking them. It was perhaps the one thing he missed most from his homeland. They were far from home, both of them, and he realized that he did not know almost anything what the knight looked forwards returning to. He raised his goggles and looked at the human with his big, yellow eyes, studying him for the first time like a piece of curious rock. What was his make-up, what veins of rare ores ran through that man?

"Hey." he started, pausing. It was hard to read human emotions, but he was pretty sure that the knight was pouting. "Sorry."

Reinhardt took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. His shoulders sagged, and he looked down at his own feet as they wriggled in the soft sand and cool water.

"Yeah."

Was that an apology as well? Even he didn't seem to know. At least he began to relax once more, and looked over to the kobold. He listened to sounds of the forest around them. The occasional chirping of birds, the rustling of the trees. So different from the oppressively silent forest path they had been following for even he had forgotten how long.

He took another deep breath, and sighed.

"So."

Boners was seated on a low, smooth rock across the stream from the knight, and splashed his bare feet around in the water. He paused and thought for a moment.

"Is it a human thing to not show your feet to strangers? I honestly don't know. I'm not trying to be weird here, I was just wondering about boots."

"What, do kobolds have a thing about feet or something?" Reinhardt's voice was light, but he couldn't help glancing over to watch Boners' expression.

Boners seemed puzzled "What do you mean? We have big feet, feet care is a big thing. You have bath houses for soaking in warm water, right? Foot baths are similar thing for us."

He lifted one foot up and wiggled his toes. "See?"

The kobold's digits were long and ended in sharp, catlike claws. The top of his foot was covered in the same reddish fur as his body, but the underneath was much paler and had tough, black paw pads instead. Reinhardt realized for the first time that the kobold walked on the balls of his feet, his heels hardly ever touching the ground.

"Huh. Just like it?"

Reinhardt gazed down at the kobold's foot, bouncing in the water so close to his own. The two limbs looked so different next to each other, and Reinhardt couldn't help leaning forward a bit to examine the kobold's foot.

"So seeing a kobold's feet is like seeing them naked?"

It was an idle thought, one thrown out without a care to the meaning behind the words. Reinhardt didn't even realize he'd spoken aloud.

"Haha no, that would mean everybody saw us naked all the time!"

"Ah. Um. Can we drop this subject...?" Growing quiet Reinhardt got up from the water and shook his feet.

The kobold rose and dusted himself off.

"Look, we don't often see eye to eye but it shouldn't have come to that. We're both of us in this whether we wanted it or not, so I think we should make the effort to get along."

He filled a pot with water and left the skillet in the sand to soak. As he worked he studied Reinhardt, looking slyly at him under his brow. He had a nice, strong body, and it was weirdly smooth and slippery too...

"That means I'm going to let you call the shots. For now." He laughed.

Reinhardt hesitated for a moment, and then reached out to set his hand on the top of the kobold's head. He didn't say anything as he patted Boners' shaggy, sweat matted fur. Then he pulled his hand away suddenly, as though it burned, and turned his face away. Boners was taken aback, stopped mid-step with the pot hanging from his hands.

"Wait, what, what's that for? What are you trying to imply?"

Sheesh, after all he was prepared to do, swallowing his pride and offering a hand of friendship… yet the human still insisted on being a rude jerk! Why else would he touch his head but to assert his dominance over him!

"You didn't enjoy it? I wasn't too rough, was I?"

Reinholdt looked over at Boners, confused by the sudden shift in the kobold's demeanor. And a little irritated. He was trying to be magnanimous with the little thing… yet the kobold was still being snappy and annoying. Boners turned around, swiveling on the ball of his feet like a wind-up marionette, and stomped away in a huff.

"I'll get the fire started, no need to help!"

Reinholdt growled and kicked into the water. "Fine!"

He rose up, and made his way over to his boots. He pulled them on, not caring about the unpleasant squelch as his feet were forced back inside, and began head toward the treeline.

"I'm - I'm going to go gather some firewood! Or something. Don't blow yourself up, kobold!"

Neither of them noticed the shadow moving in the foliage, masked by the rustling of the leaves. The lean shape slinked between the tree trunks with the sinuous step of a predator, its brownish fur melding with the shadows. For a creature of its size it moved with unnerving lightness of step, an agile and silent threat. It reached the edge of the clearing and watched the kobold fumble with flint and steel for a while, before he cursed and started digging for something in his pack. The small, vulnerable creature's back was turned to the hunter and it braced itself, ready to pounce on its unsuspecting victim, lips curled back in a cruel smile...

...when it caught a whiff of something distracting. A rich scent carried from nearby, where the human had strolled a while ago. Its curiosity got better of itself and it turned to investigate. The kobold could wait, he was not a threat.

Reinhardt muttered darkly as he relieved himself into a bush some distance from the camp. The damn kobold just had to go and ruin the good mood, didn't he? Everybody knew that small animals loved to be petted, why couldn't he just accept his show of affection! He stared down at his stream, nose curling at the scent of his own piss. It had been a long time since he had taken in fresh water, and so it was dark and pungent as it splattered into the foliage. He sighed and closed his eyes, letting his head hang backwards as he let the pleasure of emptying his bladder wash away his thoughts about the damn kobold and whatever had crawled up his ass this time… and now he was thinking about the little thing's ass. Damn it.

Boners fiddled with the lighter fluid, spraying it liberally on the dry sticks. This time it did not take much effort for the sparks from flint to make a roaring flame, and he sat back satisfied with himself. His safety goggles had yet again proved their usefulness, he thought to himself as he tugged at the singed hairs on his snout. What was taking the human so long? He rose up and walked towards where the knight had disappeared without really knowing why. He felt no rush to be again in the company of that stupid jerk, and he did not have any tasks for him to perform either... but there was an undeniable desire to surprise him. Whatever for? Boners could not say. The kobold stepped into the bushes, his small frame navigating around the dense branches with ease. The man would be somewhere close, but the leaves and twigs cut his field of vision down to an arm's length.

Reinhardt grunted as he felt his member begin to stiffen, his stream faltering. He looked around for a few moments, and then down to his still-dribbling cock. He wouldn't be able to finish relieving himself with this kind of arousal, and it had been a long, long time since he'd had any relief with the damn kobold around. Letting him out of his sight was unacceptable--he had his sense of duty after all--but peeking when the kobold undressed himself for the night was still unnecessary, yet he caught himself doing that time and time again. What he was hoping to catch a glimpse of? That little critter did not have anything he was interested in under his clothes!

The predatory creature stayed low, its body suspended mere inches above the ground on all fours. Its large ears swiveled and it sniffed the air, then licked its snout with its long, sticky tongue. Leather straps attaching to a collar bound its muscular chest and thighs, dipped between its taut ass cheeks, and clasped around its bulging codpiece. The top half of its face was hidden by a leather mask, but the creature pushed it up with its long, bony fingers to reveal its small, black eyes. It had smelled something tasty it wanted to see. Ever so slowly it inched forwards under the cover of the leaves, towards the man lost in his thoughts. Was he about to pleasure himself? The smell of his partial arousal did not pass by the stalking beast…

Reinhardt grunted, and pushed out another shot of urine through his erecting member. No, he was definitely going to have to do something about this. With an irritated sigh, he began to stroke himself. The slight pressure still in his bladder morphed from discomfort to an additional pleasure as he rubbed and squeezed his growing cock. Gods above, he needed this. A soft moan escaped his lips, and his eyes clenched shut once more. Slightly ashamed he let his thoughts wander. Wet, warm fur tickling against his body. A soft, hot tongue licking over him. Humid breath against his groin…

Boners froze when he heard the strange slicking sounds. What was the man doing there? A curious grin lit on his face when he realized he could surprise the dour knight in an awkward situation. He slinked low to the ground, on all fours like a rat sneaking into the larder, his short tail wagging from excitement. The noises had come from very close, but he had to make sure to surprise the man from the front--and getting a good look would be a nice bonus after all. He crept slowly to Reinhardt's side, keeping his attention to the knight's position… and bumped his rump against someone.

There was a soft hiss from behind him. The leather-clad creature blinked his bleary eyes and strained to see what had joined him. The kobold...?

Reinhardt panted, his hips pumping into his gripping hand. He was already close…

"Aaah!" cried the kobold, panicking.

"SKRIEEE" cried the bat creature, panicking.

"What in--!?" The knight stumbled back from the bush, his erection bouncing in the air as his hand instinctively went to the weapon that he had left at the camp.

Boners crashed through the foliage and into the knight, scampering over the branches and roots.

"There's someone here!" he yelped before tripping and landing at Reinhardt's feet.

Reinhardt quickly tucked himself away, and then grabbed the kobold and pushed him behind himself.

"Other than you?" He felt another surge of irritation at the kobold, but his gaze remained locked on the bushes as they began rustling once more.

"No, some weirdo!" he pointed at the shrubbery.

Reinhardt prepared himself as the foliage parted.

"What...?" He stared at the... thing that rose up from the bushes, shaking itself.

His mind raced to process what he was seeing as the leather-clad bat creature blinked in the light, and then let out a hiss at the kobold and knight. It lunged at them, its long limbs carrying it effortlessly across the space. Reinhardt had just the time to push Boners aside before taking the full brunt of the creature's attack… but it rushed past the man, only winging him as it went. With dreadful speed it half ran half loped towards their camp--no, towards open space! Reinhardt realized that the creature was at disadvantage in the thicket, where it could not utilize its size and speed to its fullest.

"Oh no you don't!" The knight gave chase, legs pumping as he sprinted after the creature. He put any thought about what it was doing in the bush where he was just pissing and pleasuring himself out of his head as he followed behind. The creature, however, stayed just ahead of him, easily outpacing the knight and finally bursting into the open air of the campsite. It turned around mid-stride, sending a spray of dirt as its clawed feet sought for purchase on the ground and bellowed, the shriek loud and high pitched. It stood there in the open, defiant, its chest heaving as it tensed for the attack. It kept its body hunched and arms poised at its sides, claws ready for violence.

Reinhardt paused at the edge of the clearing, dropping into a low stance. His eyes darted around, searching around for his weapon.

There is was, by the tent.

About thirty paces behind the creature.

...Damn and blast.

He began edging along the treeline slowly, trying to find an opening to get past the creature.

The creature twitched and took quick steps to its side, keeping himself between the knight and his weapon. It snorted and leered, licking its lips. It started closing in the distance, unhurried like a cat that has cornered a mouse. It was enjoying himself again, but for a very different reason than earlier… Boners appeared next to Reinhardt.

"Here, use this", he whispered and pushed the bottle of lighter fluid in his palm.

Reinhardt took his eyes off the creature for just a moment, glancing at the kobold.

"How?"

When the creature shrieked and took the opportunity to dart forward, Reinhardt turned back and, at a loss for what else to do, lobbed the bottle of strange fluid the kobold handed to him at the charging creature. The kobold darted towards the camp fire as the creature leaped, sailing over him and landing on the knight. It weighed less than Reinhardt had assumed, but its speed and powerful muscles still knocked the wind out of him, sending him reeling on the ground. Before he could recover the creature was already pinning him, its bony claw around his throat. It choked the knight, putting its entire body weight behind its vice like grip squeezing around his neck. He struggled against the hand but in vain, the sinewy grip not budging an inch. The brown-black beast grinned, baring its mouth full of fangs and licked Reinhardt's face mockingly. His vision was growing blurry, his own heartbeat thundering in his ears as the pressure in his lungs grew...

There was a whooshing sound as the creature caught fire.

The thing let out another shriek, this one of pain, and loosened its grip on the knight. Reinhardt gasped as he was freed from the chokehold, and kicked at the creature on top of him. As it fell, flailing and rolling to put the flames engulfing it out, Reinhardt scrambled to finally grip his flintlock. He turned aiming it at the creature…

But it was fleeing already, blind and angry smoke trailing after its passage.

"You okay?" the kobold asked. He stood next to the coughing knight with a burning branch of wood in his hands.

"Oh, perfectly fine. I was only just being choked and almost set aflame." He snorted, rising up and brushing himself off. "Thanks, I guess."

Boners tossed the branch aside and knelt next to the sitting human, resting his paw on his shoulder.

"These bruises don't look bad, I was worried that you got seriously hurt back there." He looked towards the woods. "Do you think it's gone for good?"

The knight sighed, unable to work up the irritation at his companion that had served as his mask all the time. He had stiffened slightly at the kobold's touch, but slowly relaxed as the adrenaline wore off.

"Who knows. We should be cautious regardless, in case there's more of those things." The kobold was worried he may have gotten hurt...?

"...What about you? Are you okay?"

"I think I got a nasty scratch when I got tossed in the ground, but nothing worse. Maybe you should take a look at it?" The kobold moved, ready to turn around and lift his tunic. "It's on my butt."

Reinhardt made a face, turning away from the kobold.

"I'll pass, thank you." Though the prospect wasn't completely displeasing… damn it, he was still hard, even after all that.

The kobold barked, laughing. "'Just kidding, you big grump. But seriously though, thanks for covering me."

"You're welcome."

"I just wish I could understand you better. You are unpredictable to me, I can't make heads or tails of your behavior."

"In one moment you're nice, and the next you're rude...and I don't think you know the difference."

Reinhardt sighed, rubbing at his forehead. "Same to you. You act chummy one moment, and then start snarling the next. I honestly can't figure you out sometimes."

He didn't mention the fact that he was willing to try at all. This was a kobold, but... Boners had been his only companion for months, now.

Boners shook his head "Maybe I've been too rash at judging you. I think I can make the effort to suck it in, right?"

"'Suck it up', you mean?" Reinhardt looked over to the kobold, honestly unable to tell whether the little thing was mangling a human saying or using his kind's own turn of phrase.

"Wouldn't it make more sense if it was 'suck down'?" the kobold shook his head, wondering how silly his human companion sometimes was.