FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The morning was something of a blur. Missy wasn’t up yet, so Leo left her some scrambled eggs before he headed off to work. She deserved the rest in. He could only hope they would still be warm before she stirred from her sleep.

While his work hadn’t suffered from thinking about Missy, Leo still found himself trying to steer his mind away from their relationship as he worked. As the odd one out in the office, he wondered how many people struggled through relationship issues during their work time. He was certain Vernon might be happy he had those on the mind, but he didn’t need to tune into his odd advice at the moment.

Leo’s steering efforts resurfaced his thoughts about her hunting from last night. That mimicry creature. While he was more than aware of animals that mimicked others, he didn’t know of any that used it to hunt. Not their sounds specifically, that is. It was strange that the thought hadn’t hit him sooner. Perhaps it was too hard to divorce Missy from that rambunctious girl. Could also be that his thoughts of her were constantly thrown off by her wild claims. After seeing her eat, however, he could easily assume that she was indeed a regular organism with a penchant for sugar.

Right, there was that museum he had to visit. While Missy’s true nature didn’t matter much for their status as an item, the question sat on his mind, fermenting always. Something to quell all his questions and fears. If there was the possibility of answers, all it cost was an entry fee.

Hours melted by as he grew excited for that trip. Not only questions possibly being answered but something new to do as well. Missy wouldn’t have to wait too long either. They probably need some short time apart regardless.

Then he was on his way to the museum. The magic of his phone and general knowledge of the area allowed him to quickly find the spot. It was near empty from the outset, with only a few cars in the parking lot. Still a work day, Leo supposed. The facade of the building was a little more sterile than he was expecting. Budget didn’t go too far. Not an issue. The meat of a museum mattered more. Though at the same time the new construction somewhat clashed with the heavily wooded area it was nestled in.

The entrance was presided over by a polite desk attendant. He paid a ten dollar fee, and Leo was allowed inside. It was deathly quiet, yet calming. As he navigated in, he could faintly hear a distant video playing and some music from another room. So there was quite a bit to this, good to know.

While Leo wasn’t exactly familiar with Native American museums, he figured what was on display so far was a standard affair. Examples of hunting tools, religious figures, living arrangements. None were too specific to the Shoshone just yet. Interesting all the same. Leo had to admit that it was something of a fantasy of his to return to a wild American time. Admit to himself only, that is.

Leo could have sped on through to find whatever possible scraps of history lined up with the story, and by extension, Missy. However, he kept himself restrained, walking forward only once he was satisfied with an exhibition. It would be incredibly rude to fly on through. At least under the watchful eye of the museum curator, who didn’t seem too far from Leo at all times as he informed the other patrons. Either way, anything could be a scrap of evidence, and it would be unfortunate to miss out on the smallest detail.

Eventually, Leo came across another room. It was quite plainly titled “Native American Mythologies.” The word “Mythologies” had been adorned with quotation marks, likely to give that slight edge to the guests that any one of the creatures could be real. Leo stared up at the sign. They very well could have been. Missy was a mimicry master from the woods, and as mysterious as she was silly. Her existence threw open the doors for cryptozoology and its ilk.

Leo was almost hesitant to enter at first. Ignorance is bliss, after all. One could find himself less comfortable in his neck of the woods with thoughts of these beasts romping about in his mind. The logical part of his mind caught himself. All the better to know what he was dealing with, right? He already had one of those monsters gallivanting in his living room.

The first thing Leo noticed as he stepped inside was a low ambient sound of what he assumed was the woods played on little speakers from the ceiling. Nice touch. There were even some rustling of leaves.

Glancing about for anything to latch onto, Leo found himself in a pool of strange beasts, all with their own intermixing displays. His eye eventually caught on the familiar munchkins from the story. The Nimerigar. A good place to start. The little drawn portrayals and statuettes were far more violent than he had pictured them as.

The story attached did indeed mention the Shoshone, though the thread quickly frayed from there. Aside from them being aggressive axe-wielders, there was little mention of battles or even a war. Certainly no mention of dark creatures that could speak and their assistance in said war.

One of the images on display was apparently a famous mummy of the minuscule warriors. A small bit of text did sheepishly admit that the mummy was simply an infant with deformities, though Leo found himself wondering if their connection to the dark creatures proved some legitimacy to their existence.

Then, if pygmy humans were real, any number of evolutionary branch-offs could have existed. The world of monsters was merely secreted away due to their low numbers. Take a look at Missy, he thought, real as can be yet seemingly nonexistent in the world at large. Or perhaps, certain powers had made certain they remained secret.

Conscious, sentient monstrosities could lurk around any corner. All of Missy’s wild jabs could have had a touch of truth to them. They could have been tortuously evolved humans, or simply nature run amok. From the Mothman all the way down to the Hopkinsville Goblin. Their existence no longer remained in the realm of amusing folktales.

Then again, it was a large assumption that the Nimerigar story Austin told was connected to Missy at all. Dark spirits that knew human languages were hardly so rare as to be unique. Still, it was his only lead, and pulling on it only conjured more thoughts in his head. For better or worse.

“You’ve got an intense thinking face, you know that?” a man suddenly said.

Leo snapped to them. “Oh, pardon me, hope I wasn’t scaring everyone off,” he said.

“I might have repurposed you as a display soon enough.”

Leo smiled. “Just doing some research on my own, is all.”

“Is that personal research or school research?”

“Personal.”

The staff member perked up. “Oh, you’re actually interested, then? The Nimerigar catch your fancy? Couldn’t tell you how disappointed I was when I found out the mummy wasn’t real. Well, it is, technically, just not a fanciful race of shrew people.”

“I think I might be worried if there were shrew people, and while they’re certainly an eye-catcher, I’m using them more as a stepping stone at the moment. Trying to link it to another bit of mythology I had explained to me. Or, I guess, more accurately, story-weaved to me. Over a fire.”

“As it turns out, I’m a bit of a specialist on stories.” He ran his hand behind the lanyard around his neck, flashing the employee card. Samuel was his name. “At least in the context of Native Americans.”

“Guess I should’ve come to you first, huh? Thank you, Samuel.” Leo had expected queer looks from the staff, admittedly. “Well, in the story I was told, these fellows, the Nimerigar, were wiped out by a mysterious group of dark beasts that could speak.” Nailed the pronunciation. “Yet, I haven’t been able to find a trace of those creatures anywhere.”

“Google failed and you came all this way, huh? I joke. That does sound a little vague, can’t say I’m too familiar with the story given, either. In fact, I don’t think we truly have a tale that covers what happened to the Nimerigar. My personal theory was that, if they existed, they were probably out-competed. Like neanderthals.”

“So, no dice there?” Leo asked.

“Maybe, maybe not.” Samuel wrapped his finger around the lanyard. “A lot of the beasties you’ll see here are all over the place. Referenced maybe once in-story, some not at all and just shown through paintings. While it is for fun, I think it helps cement some newer thoughts in a viewer’s mind. Not all birds and bears, as a pop-culture totem might imply.” He pulled his finger free. “I think I maybe have one that fits the bill?” He motioned on over to another display.

A quilt was the main part of the display, which showed the vaguest black outline. Roughly humanoid, and perhaps some pointed ears? The pattern repeated on either side, giving the image of two of them standing together. Another relic, this one a woven basket, was set nearby. A dark figure was portrayed on the side of the basket. Long arms, definitely pointed ears. It seemed to reach out at two fleeing figures that it towered over.

“It clicked. Shoshone, dark shadowy figure. Well, not that you specified them specifically, but if they have any relation to the little guys, this would be it.”

“That does look a little more like what I’m looking for, yeah.” Leo examined them closely. He briefly considered taking a picture, but that would definitely be rude.

The plaque was more vague than the one for the Nimerigar. It only stated plainly that the figure was unknown, and that while this particular basket was found in Shoshone lands, there have been similar examples scattered about what is now the United States, holding wooden shavings.

“I told them the shavings were probably some kind of offering, but I got outvoted on the part of it being as of yet to be proven. We have a spear over there that just so happens to be fancy enough to seem religiously significant, but I can’t have my little wood shavings theory. But, I digress.”

“So, there are more of these?”

“Yeah, we couldn’t get another example, unfortunately. I was quite fond of the Pawnee variety of them. In fact, those were the first we found. Thought it was tied to their creation myth of the Evening Star, but that fizzled out when academia at large realized there were more like this.”

“Now, when you say more like this, you mean the basket design specifically?”

“Well, more the dark figure in the middle. The others don’t have the fleeing involved. Could be that it was just a bear. Stereotypes are sometimes true, you know. Then again, a lot of this is just putting pieces together.”

“And if there are no pieces, you can’t really tie them together. I guess that comes with word of mouth dying out.”

“Exactly. Spoken word is volatile, but it’s snuffed out if no one is around to tell it. Or, in the case of your buddy, it can worm its way around everybody and enrich only a few people.”

It was certainly closer to Missy, but what was portrayed slightly worried him. Those were clearly panicked souls running away. The dark figure clearly reached out to do… something to them. Could be that they were the Nimerigar. Might explain the size. Or, some of her species could be massive. Didn’t tell him much about them in any case. Nothing that he couldn’t already see.

“Could I ask what got you all fired up about history?” Samuel asked.

“It’s very important to a friend of mine. She kind of has a background in it. Figured it might be nice to do some research on her behalf.” Not that she would ever want a real definitive answer, of course.

“That’s a new one, still good in its own way.”

“Have you got anything similar to this? Of the figure, I mean.”

“This wasn’t what you’re looking for, I’m guessing?”

“It is, sort of. Just wanted a deeper dig into it.”

“If it were, I would have expected you to burst out into cheer from the way you were looking earlier.”

“Alright, actually, give me a moment.”

For once, Leo whipped out his phone with intent. He popped open the note pad application and began typing down various generic details of Missy. Animalistic head, mimicry or speech, claws... Black fur? He had never seen a speck of color to her hair, but it was possible others had coats more suited to their environment. Might as well go black. It was a key part of Missy, and she was what he knew.

Leo pondered a few more details. Bipedal? Well, Missy pulled it off, but she seemed more suited to the quadrupedal gait. Better leave that off. Long arms, certainly. Her gangly nature could have been more of an aspect of her previous layabout lifestyle. Then came the large eyes, which, could have gone any which way in terms of portrayal. Leave that one aside, too. Can’t forget her height, which was roughly average in terms of humans. Same as her fur color, there could have been a swathe of variations. Human sized it is.

Leo pictured Missy, cautiously going over every part of her. It took him a while to realize he was kind of just picking out her details robotically, almost dissecting her. There was definitely a dehumanizing element to it, at least psychologically. However, no doubt she might actually enjoy that aspect, being so closely observed in an attempt to solve some grand mystery. It coming from him specifically would send her over the moon.

“Like what you see?” she would say.

Never mind that. It would be a secret Leo, and hopefully Samuel, would take to the grave. He looked to his list. Pretty much every detail was on there except for a taste in cheesy novelty shirts. If there was anything in this museum that vaguely matched Missy, he was definitely going to find it.

“Alright, I got something a little more specific now. Hope you don’t mind me stealing some of your time,” Leo said.

“It’s what they pay me for, after all,” Samuel replied.

What would be the best to start out with? Speech was pretty broad, that would snag him several results. Talking woodland animals were a popular tale, after all. All he’d have to do was cast out anything that didn’t seem wolficus related, and to some degree, it was likely any tale regarding them contained some amount of it.

“Do you have any creatures in mind that talk?”

“That sounds pretty vague. Your friend must have a particular taste in her mythology, hm?”

“If you met her, you’d know that’s one hundred percent correct.”

“Hm, talk. I’ve got a few in mind. Quite a few, actually. Something dark and shadowy.”

They marched on to another display, passing by a thunderbird and some kind of depressing bear.

The next display on his quest was more eccentric than the rest. A cave diorama. Teeth-like stalactites and stalagmites made up the entrance. Small impressions at the top gave the faint notion of eyes.

It’s an aggressive cave? A more cerebral kind of beast. The description divulged that a few solitary souls, often traders, would disappear near these caves after vague musings about voices in the inky black. These would naturally prompt searches that wouldn’t turn up a thing.

“Don’t go into caves. Plain and simple,” Samuel said. “But I like the idea of a whole living cave. That would be something.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a timeless warning to me.” Leo nodded.

Remains, however, that was the sticking point. Nothing whatsoever? Getting lost was a possibility. Maybe they hadn’t ever even approached the cave and it was only assumed. Maybe it was all falsehoods. Just don’t go in caves. Stapling an ominous voice to the darkness made people all the likelier to avoid them. Spelunking isn’t exactly an art.

The voice prodded at his thoughts. A gentle call, quietly drawing someone in, slowly and surely until the dark took them whole. That seemed like a beast, plain and simple. Too vague to attach it to Missy. It fit all the same.

They moved onto more vague monstrosities of the night. The speakers continued to dribble their ambiance. It would’ve put Leo on edge if he weren’t so intensely focused at that moment.

One of the creatures on display was supposedly a tall, dark tree shaped into something humanoid. Samuel explained that, while it did talk in a way, it wasn’t exactly a conversationalist, more that it would spew off a string of potential catastrophes. It was considered a bad omen to even speak of, so aside from an illustration painted into wood itself, there was little on it.

Samuel stopped mid-walk and turned to Leo.

“You sure this wasn’t a case of crossing wires?” he asked.

“Pardon? Leo replied.

“You know, some story tellers like pulling all sorts of ingredients into a pot. Might’ve grabbed more than just a few chunks of American folklore, and say, maybe, something Greek-Roman. What you describe is a little universal.”

“That’s a good point, actually. A mix of things from all over the globe. I can’t deny it, the story did seem geared for scares.”

“The one I had in mind was a little canine. A stalker of humans. But like I said, Greek-Roman. I think there might’ve been others but they don’t come to mind at the moment.”

“Not sure I’m looking for that. Half-way across the globe, after all.”

“Yeah, just caught my thoughts since it also mimicked humans to lure them in.”

Leo nodded, then thought on it a bit more. An animalistic mythological creature that mimicked humans. Could it be related? Even a little bit? The thought wouldn’t have bothered him before he knew, or rather remembered, that creatures of the night existed.

It was a thought that put a bit of a halt to everything. How would one get a Wolficus to the new world? Or to the old? Assuming the “land bridge” theory of Native American migration was true, there could have been a similar migration of these night creatures. Follow the food. That might mean that virtually the whole world was covered in them. No, unlikely they could’ve remained hidden absolutely everywhere, right? Aside from just being worrying, it seemed nigh impossible. Leo set that aside for now.

“Right, well, Native American is just my first lead. I’ll check that one out, though. What was it called?” Indulging in all the world’s mythologies would take a long, long time.

“Sure. Didn’t mean to scare you off of the idea, just got my brain thinking. It’s a Crocotta, by the way. I think it might’ve been based on hyenas.”

That little detail deflated Leo. That made a lot of sense. Hyenas were known for their bizarre laughter. It was only a few drunken and exciting tales away from being a mimic. Still…

I hate to admit it, but I’m a bit of a wild thinker,” Samuel said.

“Must make the job fun. That’s all part of the process, isn’t it?”

“At this point. I’ve never been on a dig myself, so there’s not much I can do on that end.”

That would explain the curator job. In a way that wild guessing made Leo the most invested researcher on Wolfica. Assuming there were few else as interested as him in them. So far out of the string of friends, he certainly seemed to care the most.

“But enough about my woes. Let’s get you on with the journey,” Samuel said. “Actually, this one’s my favorite. Maybe in an underdog kind of way. Nothing mean, just plain fun. I’ll let you soak this one in.”

It was another little display with only pictures shown. There were quite a few, however. The largest one showed a dark figure. Its head was roughly animalistic, and its maw split wide open. It wasn’t malicious, though, there was a definite curve to give it a mischievous smile. The profile view made it a little hard to decipher, but it seemed to have a frog-like stance to it, with long arms propping it upright. Various objects seemed to be falling into its mouth from a bag.

“Notice the mohawk-like crest on the top, there. The image was taken in a place that overlaps with Pawnee territory, so it might belong to them. And, you know, since…” Samuel left his sentence open, looking to Leo.

“Since the hair style is actually Pawnee, and not exactly from the Mohawks themselves.”

“Right!” Samuel smiled.

Thank you, Wikipedia, Leo thought to himself. And thank you, plaque, as it had more scraps of info. It outlined that this creature, name lost to time, was a trickster. Unknown if it was supposed to be a flesh and blood thing or a spirit, but it had more than a desire for fruits and nuts, among other small treats. Of course, it would demand these, often with one word responses. If a person, or even a tribe denied, there was usually a price to pay. Nothing entirely wild. Things like stolen blankets, livestock being let loose, or maybe a tent smeared in animal guts.

“Those guys sure knew how to live,” Samuel said.

“Even Native Americans had their own tricksters, hm?” Leo replied.

“They’re usually bound to happen. It wouldn’t surprise me if this myth was to show that nature wasn’t entirely serious all of the time. I’m sure it gave reason for the kids to get into farming and harvesting as well.”

“That’s smart. Better get to crop rotation before the local beast steals your blanket. Almost wish my parents tried that on me.”

There were a few more creatures to tick off Leo’s list. Various in body shapes, but fitting his general descriptions. A trove of potential suspects to tie Missy to. Creatures in the woods that spoke, either for malicious or benign reasons. Some tied to mystery happenings and others as simple as being funny creatures that just so happened to speak.

Leo knocked a few off the list, just to better fit his own Missy. Only those that he could be sure were not related, real or not. Flight was out of it. Unless the males had membranous wings? No, unlikely. Aquatic? Another unlikely candidate.

The more exaggerated of the details were harder to pick off, which might have been for the best. Faster than sound? Snuffing out light? Capable of shifting size? All anchored in a seed of truth, possibly, or had grown wild from base descriptions. Nonetheless, his pool of potential paths had expanded. A veritable rogue’s gallery of spooky, spindly, shadowy, sinister creatures.

Leo had written down a few details for each creature, just in the off chance that their names brought nothing up online. Temperament, mode of speech, consumption, behavior. A pattern began to emerge. Mimicry was evil, or at least that’s what the list told him. Any beast that mimicked was a people eater or a terror inducer. The more neutral of the beasts spoke. Not always intelligently.

“You mind me asking you a question instead?” Samuel asked.

“Not at all,” Leo replied, looking up from his list.

“Are you a cryptozoologist? No offense meant. You just seem really serious about this. I know it’s for a friend, but I can’t say I’ve seen someone stare at this stuff that hard. Fills me with pride, though, I must say.”

“I’m not a cryptid hunter, no.” Leo thought about it. Well, in a way he was. “I just take my research very seriously. Plus, stories have a way of sticking with you, you know? Had to figure it out myself.”

“You’re a problem solver.”

“I think more than a few people would call me that, yeah.”

“A good title to have.”

“I’d certainly like to think so. Only issue is I tend to stick to problems. A little too much, as you can see.”

“You’ve made my day, so no complaints here.” Samuel raised his hands in mock surrender.

“How often is it that you get cryptozoologists?”

“Oh, not often. Even then, I’m not so sure they’re super serious. It seems like more of a casual hobby. You just notice them when they come around. I think there might’ve been one last week or so.”

“Must be a fun hobby, at least. Bordering that edge of casual fun.” Leo shrugged. “And science, should they even be slightly right.”

“Well, hey, you find anything like that through research, make sure you let the world old Samuel helped in your endeavors.”

“I absolutely will.”

Not like he wasn’t on a winning streak of cryptids. Already had one back at home, so the next one could be right around the corner. Could be a fun outdoors activity if the thought of some of these weren’t so imposing.

Leo discarded his thoughts of cryptostardom and made one more pass over the area. Better to get everything now, even if he could easily come back later. His eyes scanned the amusing dioramas and ancient relics for anything he could’ve possibly missed.

That depressing bear came back into sight. Skinny and slouched, like a distant cousin to the equally awkward sun bear. Leo smirked, imagining it waddle through the forest. The smile flattened as he thought on it more. The creature certainly had the general shape of Missy, just with a more quadrupedal gait. It had large claws, too. If you shifted around a few details, it really would not be all that far off from her.

If you shifted around a few details on the others, they would all fit as one creature, wouldn’t they? Just mere… facets of Missy’s species, seen through different lenses. Cultures, time, and speech altered each one. Further, Missy was an intelligent individual. Who was to say that some of his collected samples were not simply unique individuals clashing or meshing with humanity?

“Yeah, the bear. It always cracks me up. Did little except scratch at wood and muck around with more regular bears. Cute though, ain’t it?”

Leo hadn’t even glanced at the plaque yet. “There’s a certain charm to it, yeah. I’m almost surprised it’s here. It’s unique, but not imposing or mystical, you know?”

“Just a funny creature worth noting, I guess. Living its life. Maybe it tells us all to take it easy?”

“I feel like I’ve had the same lesson given to me elsewhere.” Leo tapped his chin. “I don’t suppose you have a stuffed toy version of it?”

Samuel perked up. “I don’t, but that’s a good idea. I’ll have to pass that on.”

“You do that, and let me know how it went the next time I come around.”

“A repeat customer, good to hear.” Samuel stuck out his hand. “You let me know how that research of yours pans out, too.”

“Absolutely.” Leo shook his hand.