FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 39 - Belly of the Beast

-W-

We descended down into the earth, below the surface and into a series of halls and tunnels. They were lit better than I had expected for being underground, almost like being inside a home or building.. but things seemed less clean and more threatening. There was a horrible screeching noise that echoed down the tunnels every so often, like some massive monster was moving around. It had me tensed, it had me on edge. Every flicker of light or movement earned my glare. Every sound warranted caution and a growl.

James and Joelle stuck with me, I knew they could feel my tension as much as I could feel theirs. The difference was I did not fear them, but they now feared me. Even still Joelle moved up to touch me as we walked. Her mate cautioned her not to but she ignored him, and I did not snap at her like I had that stranger on the surface.

"You okay? Shh, it's okay sweetie.. that's just the sound of the train. Nothing down here is going to hurt you, we just need to watch for that cat and make sure no one sees you okay?.. Pull the blanket a little lower your nose is peeking" She cooed at me softly, rubbing my back as I readjusted my cloak.

"There's people coming.. hug the other wall and look away from them big guy" James cautioned as he guided us to the opposite wall of the tunnel, having us hug close to the glossy white squares that made up the walls. "Relax, play it cool, they aren't even paying attention to us. You have to make a scene for anyone to notice you down here, people are going to look right through you don't worry"

He was right, the people down here looked disinterested and tired, moving along in a haze watching the objects in their hands or staring blankly at nothing as they walked. The whole place had my fur standing on end. It was eerie and upsetting to be here. Even with the humans' calming words, their nervous scents said more than their mouths could. I began to sniff around again, the sting in my nose had cleared up when we had gotten to the fresh air on the streets above. I had clearly smelled my human's scent along the ground leading to this place. I was following it now, deeper and deeper into the earth.

"Hey.. hey that's a phone there. Do you think it's his?" Joelle pushed past me and ran to pick up an object off the ground, the same sort that so many humans seemed to have.

She held it up to me and let me sniff at it, it was most certainly my human's. I could smell his scent all over it like he had it tucked against his crotch for whatever reason, it reeked of his scent. As I began to nod, James spoke up to answer for me.

"Yeah that's his alright.. has a few more cracks though. He can't be far, we just got that call from him, what, ten minutes ago?"

I sniffed at it a few more times, relishing in my human's familiar scent.. comforting in this terrible place. The scent of the demoncat lingered on it as well. They were close. I could smell their trail fresh, recent, passing down this long stretch. There were large pillars holding the roof up that their scents linger at, they must have been hiding from humans. Good, they had to stop moving frequently then.. I did not. We could catch up.

When I started moving faster my new packmates rushed to catch up with me. As I rounded a corner James was shouting at me to wait, gripping me as tight as he could and pushing me against the wall in a shadowed spot out of the lights. I snarled at him for the rough push and he put a finger to his lips, trying to silence me as he pointed out to the main area. It was open, save for more thick and squared pillars.. and a massive metal and glass tube was screeching to a stop before us. I saw why he was stopping me. There were humans waiting for the massive beast of metal.. they stepped into it as it's sides slid open to accept them.

It was what happened next that had James tucking me into the shadows. A large mass of humans began to exit the huge container. There were a dozen of them at least stepping out of the belly of the beast, walking towards us. James tucked my head down against his belly and side, trying to hide me as Joelle stepped in to help block me from their sight, smiling and nodding to humans passing by. They ignored her, they ignored all of us.

A low huff and growl pushed from my lungs as I nudged my head free of James' arms, staring at him and snorting in his face softly. He stared at me and gave my arm a pat.

"Don't mad dog me, I didn't want anyone to see you. Let's just keep moving. Which way?"

Lifting my nose to the air I started taking long drags of the myriad of scents surrounding us. There were many different aromas, but my human's and that demoncat's stood out bright and clear to me. They had stuck to the shadowed edge of the walls, just as we had. We began to pass by doors that I stopped at, sniffing at the handles and snarling. He'd touched these.

"Did they go in there?.." Joelle whispered, clutching at my arm.

No.. but their scent was getting ever closer. Lowering my nose towards the rock floor I followed their steps to the next door, but again they continued on. Ahead was the large metal and glass tube. I could see people asleep inside through the windows. James whispered a warning to me not to get closer, but I ignored him, their scents led towards the metal tube. We made our way towards the doors.

"Hey, stop.. What are you doing?.. We can't just get on a train.. Did they get on? Are you sure?.. There's no way. That cat couldn't sneak in without being seen. wait, wait." James was desperately urging me as I sniffed and followed their scent towards the metal beast. "Stop!.. Are you absolutely positive? If we get on there it's going to take us somewhere else.. How would we even know which stop they got off at?"

We stopped in front of one of the open doors, staring inside. I could see seats, there were a few humans sleeping and resting their heads against the windows. Others stood or sat and stared out of them. One human looked up at me, her eyes seeming surprised at my large frame standing there in the doorway, ready to step on. James and Joelle both gripped at my arms, whispering loudly behind me and trying to make sure we needed to get on. There was a voice speaking throughout the metal beast.

"Doors closing, please stand clear. Departing station" It was a strange, inhuman voice.

I began to step into the beast.

My nose stopped me. Again I caught their scents, but it wasn't inside. It was outside. Joelle and James both bumped into me as I stepped back, nearly knocking them over as the beast rolled to life, sliding down the long tunnel like a massive worm burrowing straight ahead into the ground. When it passed I stared down the long trench it had left. Connor's scent lined the ledge hugging the wall of the tunnel. It was a narrow ledge that dropped off to a metal skeleton of bars that lined the ground of the tunnel where the metal train beast had crawled along.

My body was a bit large to walk in that narrow space, but I stuck close to the wall and continued to follow their path. My packmates stuck close to me, whispering to each other. They were concerned, they spoke of getting in trouble for being down here. They were uncertain of following me, doubting me now.. but my nose did not lie. They had come this way. My human had been pulled across the floor. More doors lined the long tunnel, but they were very spaced out. We stopped at them, but the scents led me past, deeper and deeper into the unknown.

"Hey big guy, careful out here.. don't step down there, those rails are dangerous. Deadly, okay?" James warned me as I trudged forward, pointing down at the skeletal metal tracks the train beast had left.

We all froze as we heard him. My human's voice. It was muffled, crying out from behind the door ahead. I threw my cloak from my shoulders, dropping it in a heap on the ground. Joelle scooped it up and rushed to catch up to me, but I was moving faster than the humans could keep up with. My fur stood on end, my teeth were bared and I crossed the distance to that door in mere seconds.

It was a metal door, but those had not held me back in the past . It would not hold me back now. My claws gripped at it, yanking and tearing. They gouged deep holes in the surface, bending and tearing at the edges. My human called out to me from within, spurring my anger on.

"I'm in here!.. Hurry, the cat's trying to.. Agh! Fuck!" His voice was suddenly muffled.

I believe the door was supposed to open inwards, I could see that after the fact.. but I wasn't in the clearest state of mind. It didn't matter which direction it was supposed to open, I simply removed it all together. I lifted the bent, heavy door in my hands, tossing it aside and tearing into the room. The cat was crouched over my human, his clawed paws around his mouth and throat, threatening to slice it open.

I did not give him the time to decide if his threat would become reality, I didn't even pause to give him the chance to cut my human's throat. My body was in the air, tackling the creature off of Connor in a powerful leap that barreled right through the feline. It yanked him off of Connor's half naked frame, the two of us hitting the ground roughly and rolling twice before slamming hard into the wall. The breath was knocked from my lungs and his alike, but breathing didn't matter to me. It did not slow me. I was too angry to breathe.

There was something dark and twisted looking reaching out of my human's arm, I could see it out of the corner of my eye.. but my focus had to be on the immediate threat of the demoncat. Even breathless, he was already retaliating. Claws slashed my nose open, one quick slash of his hand and I could see a clean red gash splitting the fur and flesh of my snout. Blood took a moment to start flowing after that razor-like cut.. but I quickly began to wet my fur and his skin. My stronger hands grabbed hold of his wrists to try to keep them at bay, I had him pinned, I was stronger.. but he was flexible.

My human was shouting behind me, but I couldn't focus on what he was saying. The cat creature and I were in a vicious brawl, brutalling clawing at and biting one another. He was fast but I was stronger. I was not going to let him free, no matter how much he tore into me, no matter how many times he sunk his fangs into my arms, my shoulder. A lucky bite sunk into my previous wound, reopening it.. making my vision go red and dark. I couldn't let the pain pull my consciousness away from me. Not again. Even temporarily blinded, I gripped him tighter, trying to roll my bulk and weight on top of the snarling, spitting feline.

We were animals, beasts.. no words, only growls and cries of rage. He was trying to bite my shoulder again.. and trying to go after my neck. I had to protect both. He would not catch me in another lucky strike. My head pulled back as my vision cleared enough to look him in the eyes.. and just as quickly I slammed my thick skull forward, hitting his dead on. The blow stunned us both, but it hurt him more.

"Fuck, James! James hurry, it's trying to get out of me!.." What?.. What was trying to get out?

The panic in my human's voice made me turn in my daze, looking over my shoulder to see Joelle and James rush into the room. Both stopped and stared in shock at my human.. not because of his state of nudity, but at the black tendrils arching out of his arm. The thing peeled out of his flesh, drawing and reaching out, grasping at nothing. We all saw it's clawed grasp curl and grab at the air.. and we all saw as it began to mutate and change before our eyes.

That inky black creature's arm shifted and changed color, turning red and raw looking. It looked like fresh meat, like bare muscle and tendons. Not unlike the state I had left that strangers arm in on the surface after degloving his arm.. The muscled 'arm' grabbed for something to hold, like it was trying to grip something and pull itself free. It was clumsy, but terrifying looking. Unnatural. It was not like me, whatever works that we shared in origin, the monster was vastly different from what I was.

It's flesh shifted again, turning green and sleek, it's new skin pulling in tighter and even sprouting a few smaller twig like tendrils.. it almost looked like a fresh grown weed or plant. Green digits gripped at my human's chest, digging into him. He cried out in shock more than pain, but the beast was not done shifting. I started to move to rush to his aid, but the creature's arm rippled and changed once more, looking like fleshy pink skin. Like the demon cat's own. The brief reminder of my enemy did not come in time. As I turned back to face my true foe, he was already striking forward like a snake. Jaws spread and fangs dug through my thick mane of fur, sinking hard into my neck and piercing the skin.

My bellow of pain drew all three humans' attention, but they could not come to my aid. Instead it startled James into taking action, rushing to his friends side and staring at the fleshy arm sprouting from him.

"Connor, what do I do?.. What should I do?" He was in as much panic as my human was.

My vision faded again briefly as the cat crunched down on my neck, capturing it in his jaws and using it as leverage to wrestle my face down to the ground. He pinned my drool and blood soaked cheek to the cold floor, trying to free his arms from my grip as we struggled against one another. My eyes were on my poor human even as I fought the demoncat. Everyone was fighting for survival, on both sides.

That shifting mass of flesh reached further out of him, grabbing for James as it turned boney and white. He hit it away hard, but it lunged quickly at him, grabbing him by the throat and squeezing. Joelle cried out in distress as her mate was strangled before her eyes. The two males grabbed at the boney limb and tried to wrench James free from it, to pin it down. Joelle was in tears, pacing around her friends, unsure how to help.

I couldn't help.

I couldn't even fight off the cat.

My blood trickled down my neck as my vision wavered in and out, as my strength threatened to leave me.