FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Kali sat in the crow's nest, her back against the mainmast and her light gray tail loosely draped across her lap. She watched the desert's golden hills that rolled by. Her eyes traced along each one, meticulously combing the landscape despite the blinding afternoon sun. A light, steady breeze brushed through her whiskers and rustled the bright green scarf wrapped around her shoulders and hiked up over her pointy gray ears. The scarf offered what little protection it could from the sweltering, cloudless sky. Up in the crow's nest, it really didn't help much. Kali could still feel the sunlight bearing down overhead from its peak, searing onto her head and shoulders. A merciless, scorching day, but at least the desert was calm, if nothing else.

The sand was soft and silky, parting like freshly churned butter before the hull. Dense and compact enough to keep the ship afloat, but light enough at the surface to glide through unhindered. The Sandstalker grazed along with a soft, droning hiss. A satisfying sound to any sailor's ears compared to the rough scraping and grating while crossing choppy dunes.

The air was salty, but it wasn't dusty. Not as coarse as it was some days when the ship kicked up massive sandy clouds at the bow. Certainly not as miserable as the last time Kali had found herself in the crow's nest. A few days ago, she coughed and gagged for hours on all the suffocating grit. Sand smothered her lungs, coated her clothes and fur, and the air was so thick she couldn't see the desert around them. She could barely see her own whiskers at the end of her muzzle. But she couldn't complain. That was life for a sailor's apprentice. Apprentices got lousy jobs and lousy pay. That's just how it was. So, Kali found herself assigned to lookout duty, yet again, during the hottest hours of the day, with no relief until sundown.

Although calling herself a lookout seemed generous. There was nothing on the horizon. No other ships around. No signs of sharks. Not a single speck out of place. All she saw was sand, sand, and more sand. Just another tranquil day in the desert. A tranquility only interrupted by an errant giggle or two that nipped at her ear. Maybe more than two, Kali realized as her attention strayed. Maybe five or six giggling cats somewhere below.

Kali's ears flicked once under the scarf, like that would clear away the distant voices on the breeze. Of course, that didn't work. If anything, they were even louder now.

The tip of her tail twitched. More out of curiosity than frustration. After another raucous round of laughs, her curiosity got the better of her. Kali tossed her tail aside and crawled forward. She peered between the posts that held up a sturdy railing that ringed the nest, poking her white furred muzzle out as she scanned the ship below.

Few sailors were on deck at this time of day. A couple tended the sails, and a couple more lookouts served as extra pairs of eyes. Apart from them, and the helmscat, all the remaining crew were below deck. Most of them napped through the hottest part of the day. Only the ship's apprentices were out at noon, doing the odd jobs nobody else wanted.

She spotted the rest of the apprentices on the deck, all crowded near the base of the mainmast, with a tangled mess of rope and nets. Tangles they made little progress on. Kali recognized them immediately. All these apprentices had a certain look about them. They all had thin, pointy muzzles and large, tall ears. Short fur, like most cats in Mjau had. Mostly colorpoints with lighter fur on their necks and torso and darker fur on their faces, ears, and tails. One with some classy tortoiseshell markings.

They served as apprentices, trainees, like Kali did, but these cats came from the upper docks of Mjau. They were cats from the upper echelon - the wealthier houses. Sons and daughters of bankers and merchants. Cats that didn't need to work on a crabbing vessel to get by. Just Dockies doing their time before they inherited whatever fortune their parents were dangling in front of their noses.

She still wasn't sure what they found so entertaining about untangling nets. Although, based on the couple of quick glances up her way, it probably wasn't the nets they were laughing at.

“Do you see something?"

Kali turned an ear towards the voice. She picked her eyes up off the deck, off the cats below, and looked at the surrounding sand. “No," she answered, “I don't see anything." She leaned back against the mast, resuming her uneventful watch. “Nothing at all."

Her ears weren't on the laughter now. They were on the voice behind her. She wasn't expecting it. Dockies didn't usually talk much to cats from the Benz. Not unless they had to. She leaned left and peeked around the bend. She saw the dark brown tip of his tail, but nothing else. Neither said much when they first climbed up to the crow's nest. One of them took starboard, and the other took port. That was it. She forgot he was back there after they settled in. Other than the couple of times she heard some gagging, when the ship pitched over steep sandy hills.

Another bout of laughter caught her ears again. Kali cast a quick glance right. The brown tail hadn't moved. She leaned forward again, faster this time, catching more looks from the crowd below. The laughter abruptly stopped - all but the few stifled giggles from two of the mollies.

“What's going on?"

Kali nearly jumped out of her fur. At some point, the cat behind her snuck around on her left. He pulled his scarf back off his dark brown ears, freeing them up to listen. He looked over the edge, his hooked claws digging into the railing, and grimaced when he saw the other apprentices below them. They didn't seem as annoyed to see him, by the new incoherent, but jubilant shouting. Though Kali couldn't quite make out what they were saying. Their words were carried off by the breeze.

“Like I said, it's nothing," Kali answered, as she set her sights back on the horizon and settled back into her post. “They're just up to the usual. Probably because, well, you know."

“Because what?"

She could see his perplexed ears from the corner of her eye. Granted, his ears were larger than most, as all the Dockside colorpoint's ears were. They were pretty hard to miss. “You know." Kali finally looked over at him. She tapped a finger below her left eye. The golden cornea was a brighter yellow than any other cats, and the pupil was still rounded despite the harsh sunlight. “The weird eye?"

He held her gaze for a very brief moment. Just long enough to get a rise out of his fur before he looked away. As most cats usually did. “Right."

Kali suppressed a laugh. She turned her harsh gaze, albeit unintentionally so, back towards the sand again, leaving one of her ears turned towards her lookout-partner. Usually a long look like that was enough to make most cats turn tail, but he didn't leave. He shuffled his feet, teetering a step or two with the ship's sway, but he stayed where he was. She still saw his tail fidgeting again. Another laugh reached their ears, and he leaned back over the railing again. Farther than he should have. He barely kept the tips of his toes on the nest. Even on a smooth day like today, it wasn't a good idea. He waved violently at them, shooing them away, throwing a silent mouthed hiss at them.

Kali watched curiously as he straightened back up. “Yeah, look, I'm sorry-" he rubbed his eyes and groaned. “It's not that."

“No?" Kali asked, both her ears and her eyes on him now.

“It's not really you. It's me. It's stupid. Just ignore them."

“You?" Kali chirped in surprise. She coughed once, stopping the further trill that rippled in her throat. “What's that supposed to mean?"

“It's stupid."

“Just tell me."

He dragged his hand down his nape, ruffling his short, cream-colored fur. “They were trying to get me to agree to a dare," he said, “and I didn't. I didn't say I'd do it. I don't know what they're going on about-"

“A dare?" Kali asked, her tail flicking with exceeding curiosity now. “What dare?"

He sighed heavily through his teeth. Nearly a hiss. His nose was pointedly turned away from her now. It didn't seem like it was the eye that bothered him so much, with the way his annoyed tail lashed. “We- They. They've been talking about it since we got on the boat. About the crow's nest. And there's this competition, I guess?"

“A competition?"

“I guess?" He tossed the length of his brown tail and followed it with an apprehensive sigh. “I don't know. Maybe that's not the right thing to call it. They've been talking about if we- if they could manage to, well, knock tails up here."

Kali stared at him. Forgetting, for a time, how uncomfortable other cats were when she did. Because she wasn't sure she heard him right. “Wait," she said, “is that it?"

“What do you mean?" he asked, his ears perking back up.

“That's literally it?" A laugh bubbled up in Kali's chest. “Oh, I get it. They've been tossing this idea around, and now you're up here. With me."

“Yes." He looked down at his feet. “Basically."

“So, they dared you to have sex with me?"

“I mean, you don't have to put it like that-" The end of his tail flicked nervously. “But yeah."

“Wow."

“See? I told you it was dumb." He tossed his tail in annoyance one last time before he circled back around the mast. He didn't sit as far this time, when he dropped down with a huff. Kali could still see his shoulder and whiskers. His tail, and its annoyed twitches, were still in view, too. “Just ignore them."

Kali turned her ears forward again. She looked back at the sand, scanning for shifts in the dunes. No breaks in the hills or rippling. Nothing concerning. Just the same sand as always.

She leaned her head back, letting her eyes wander back up to the cloudless sky. The end of her tail wouldn't stay still. Something irked her. “So," she said, “this dare thing-"

“We don't have to talk about it."

“Would you do it?" Kali asked.

There was a hesitation. A long, long hesitation. She even saw it in his tail, which stopped fidgeting and was now frozen in place. Until, finally, there was a twitch in the tip again. “I'm not really sure what to say."

“I mean, it doesn't have to be with me-" Kali tilted her head slightly. She saw his tail drop again. A sly grin spread across her muzzle. “Unless you want to."

His tail perked up with an optimistic curl. He shifted where he was, leaning out from around the mast and watching carefully for any signs of duplicity. “Are you being serious right now?" he asked.

Kali laughed once. She tossed her shoulders with a quick shrug. “There's nothing else to do up here, and we have hours left. The sand isn't doing anything. We're not going anywhere anytime soon. So, we might as well, if you're interested."

She risked a peek at him - what she intended to be a peek. His face was longer than most cats - much like the other colorpoints. His dark brown muzzle and ears starkly contrasted the rest of his cream-colored pelt. But his eyes, above all, were what made her pause. Such deep, pale blue eyes she could easily drown in. Of course, he was expected to be so handsome. They all had to be handsome where he was from.

He looked away first, blinking a couple times and staring out towards the ship's bow. “I wouldn't mind-" His tail paused mid-flick. “If you wanted to."

Kali grinned from ear to ear now. She swished her tail, brushing it across his, and shoved herself up to her feet. He leaped up next to her. His tail fidgeted again, which only lifted Kali's whiskers more. She wasn't used to guys being so nervous. Not this sort of nervous. More the trying-not-to-stare-at-your-eye nervous. Even when trying to get into her pants, like this tom was.

“So how do we, you know? How do we do this?" he asked.

“We'll figure it out." Kali took a half-step closer, swishing her tail. “So, have you done this before, um-"

He stared expectantly, his eyes only darting away a couple times when he flinched away from the gold eye. His tail's nervous twitching turned more curious the longer she stalled. Kali stared blankly at him, slowly blinking in the bright daylight. She took a breath again, but she couldn't find it on her tongue.

He watched with increasing amusement. A disbelieving smile spread across his face and showed the pearly white tips of his teeth. “You don't know my name?"

“I- I know I've heard it once," Kali stammered. “Just not recently."

“We've been working on this ship for two months."

“Not continuously. There were breaks-" Kali's ears turned askew. “Come on. Like you know what my name is-"

“Kalari."

An involuntary squeak left Kali's throat. He actually knew her name. She really hadn't expected that. Most cats from Dockside didn't bother. She brushed off her surprise with a swift swish of her tail. “Seriously?" Kali smirked. “You're only half right. I mean, sure, you can call me that, but who are you? My mother? Everyone calls me Kali."

“Point is," he said, his ears lowered, “I know your name, and you don't even know mine."

“I do know," Kali assured him. “It just took me a minute to remember."

“Then what is it?"

Kali stared at his brown-furred muzzle and his blue eyes. He didn't look away this time, though he stared more into one eye than the other. He might be skittish, but, like most Dockies, he could be pretty bold when he knew he was right. “Well?" he prompted again.

Kali's tail lashed once. She took a quick breath, as if, somehow, she might draw the name back into memory. “Lee-"

Kali paused. It didn't sound quite right to her ears. Clearly it didn't sound right to him, either, by how he glowered. Kali's tail lashed again. “Jeen-"

“Rinzaan?"

Kali winced. “I was getting there. Eventually."

“Yeah, you definitely weren't. Not even close."

“Yeah, okay, I wasn't," Kali admitted, tossing her tail. “Anyway, Rinzaan-"

His ears lifted back up. “Are you sure you want to call me that? Or did you want to make something up, like Lee-Jeen?"

Kali rolled her eyes. “Are we doing this or not?"

Rinzaan snapped his jaws shut. He nodded once. A quick, jerky nod. Not a very positive affirmation. Kali sighed. He was too jittery, which was all too apparent by his constant twitching and flicking tail. “So, if we're doing this," she resumed, “then how are we doing it?" Kali looked over her shoulder and gestured at the railing. “Should I bend over the edge? Then all your friends could see-"

“No way."

Kali nearly chirped her surprise. She wasn't expecting such a quick rejection. He didn't seem afraid of heights, since he volunteered for lookout duty and had no qualms about leaning over the rails. But, as Kali peered at the deck far below them, the idea didn't seem so great to her, either. “You're probably right," Kali admitted with a quick scratch at her ear. “Yeah. I'd rather not fall to my death trying this." She looked around the crow's nest.

There wasn't much to look at. Just the boards under their feet and the railing. A couple canteens hanging off pegs nailed onto the mast. Some rope to anchor with in case the winds picked up.

“I guess there's not really room to lie down, either" Rinzaan muttered, his voice barely louder than the wind at their ears. “I've never thought about the logistics before."

Kali pivoted her ears back. He sounded strangely defeated. Especially for someone who, supposedly, wasn't involved in this dare. “I thought this wasn't your idea?" Kali asked with a particularly self-satisfied smile.

“It wasn't!" Rinzaan answered, doing so too quickly and too forcefully to be very convincing. “That's why I didn't really plan this out-"

“Sure." The rope wasn't going to work. Not in any way she could manage with Rinzaan. Finding nothing particularly useful, Kali looked back up at Rinzaan, but her eyes drifted past him. “Oh, this could work."

“What could?"

“Right here. At the mast."

Rinzaan glanced at the mast behind him. His whiskers were still low. “I'm not sure I get it."

Kali rolled her eyes again. She grabbed the edge of his scarf and spun him out towards the rail. A couple steps, and she pressed her back to the mainmast and dragged Rinzaan in. He tripped on his own feet, narrowly catching himself before he fell on her. Another reason for them not to test the railing. His sea-legs weren't very good.

Their whiskers brushed once as he regained his balance. He dug his claws into the mainmast behind her. Once he was steady enough, and once his alarmed fur smoothed back down again, he looked down at Kali. “So," he said, his voice quivering lightly, “now what?"

Kali met his curious gaze with a tight-lipped smile. “What do you think?" she asked, the faintest purr rumbling in her throat. She rocked forward just enough for her hips to touch his. A gesture he more eagerly, and less nervously now, returned as he leaned into her. She ran her hands up his shirt, past the scarf, until she found the short fur on his neck and face, and she pressed her lips to his.

A half-muffled chirp left Rinzaan's throat. His tail stopped its anxious fidgeting as he melted in her hands. After a single peck on the lips. A slight grin perked up Kali's whiskers, even while she had her muzzle firmly against his. Rinzaan definitely hadn't done this before.

Kali pulled him closer. A silent invitation he eagerly accepted, as he pressed against her with his tail perked now. She licked his lips, brushing against them with the tip of her tongue. Once more. A third time, and Rinzaan picked up the hint and let her past his teeth. One lick across his tongue, their rough surfaces meeting, and a shudder ran through his pelt. She felt it beneath her fingers. His short fur bristled under her palm.

Kali's tail perked when his tongue darted against hers. More forcefully than he likely intended, but it was enough to send a ripple of purred delight through her chest. Every stroke of the little hairs on his tongue sent a pitched purr all the way down her thighs. As it did for him, by the hard lump pushing past his clothes and jamming against her leg.

She only paused when a particularly blustering gust pulled at her clothes, followed by the ship listing starboard. Kali latched onto Rinzaan's shirt and dug in her claws while the ship leveled back out, laughing wildly as another gust threw her scarf off her ears. “Are you alright?" she asked once the wind settled. She looked up at the mast, where Rinzaan had rooted his claws in, and saw thin gouges trailing down from where he scored the surface.

“Honestly? No. This is terrifying."

“Should we stop?"

With an indignant lash of his tail, Rinzaan grabbed the back of Kali's neck and pulled her muzzle to his. Too enthusiastic again, as he mashed his nose against hers, but Kali's whiskers lifted, regardless. What was a bruised nose when she had such a handsome colorpoint sliding his tongue down her throat?

As the ship settled back into its previous lull, Rinzaan's claws loosened their death-grip on the mast. Instead, they were at her waist now. Then at her belt. Rinzaan's eager but fumbling fingers hadn't even loosened the buckle when the ship rolled again. His tongue, his lips, left hers as he sank his claws in and braced against the mast. He panted lightly, each short breath tickling her ear.

Kali looked up at him again, grinning mischievously. Even if he didn't hold eye contact with her for long, she still saw the lift of his tail and whiskers. The ship didn't lean as far this time. The hill wasn't as steep. She didn't need to brace against it, but she grabbed onto his belt. Her deft fingers worked at the buckle, freeing the embroidered leather belt. An expensive one, from the delicate pattern and the stitched edge Kali discerned under the pads of her fingers.

His silky pants slipped down with little resistance. His underwear fell just as easily. Kali ran her hand along his lightly furred sheath. Though she hardly needed to. He was already on full display. Rinzaan's breath hitched as her palm left his fur and reached his hard flesh - as the soft fur and pads on her fingertips stroked along after.

She felt a warm, shuddered breath at her whiskers. Kali's ears flicked. She wrapped her fingers around the shaft, careful not to press too hard and to keep her claws safely withdrawn. A single caress, from just below the barbed tip down to the base, and she heard a soft whimper aside her ear. A whimper cut short as Rinzaan grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away.

Kali trilled in surprise as Rinzaan tossed her arm over his shoulder. He grabbed her belt again, forcing the buckle loose this time - with as much determination as fumbling. He shoved her pants down. Eventually, and with some helpful squirming from Kali, he shoved her underwear down to her knees. A couple of kicks, and Kali managed them down to her feet.

His hands were already at the backs of her thighs, claws prickling against her skin. Kali adjusted her arms around his neck and lifted herself up. Rinzaan pulled on up her legs, sliding her higher up the mast until her feet were just off the ground. The tip of his member grazed her thigh. Moved farther back. Followed along her damp fur. Until he reached the damp lips farther in.

Kali took a sharp breath in. Her claws bore into the scarf at his collar and sank into his fur beneath. Rinzaan pushed in between her thighs. Not a moment of hesitation. He leaned into her and pulled harder on her thighs. He pressed the full length in, sliding easily along her slick folds.

She winced as he pulled back. A quick thrust. A twinge deep between her legs. The clawing sensation, as his barbs raked against her soft inner walls. The second was longer. A more painful drag elicited a mewled breath. Kali clung to his neck, biting down as he thrust again and again. Each rake stinging and throbbing. A burn that went all the way from her loins to her chest. Every breath was shorter. Almost a whine. Close to a moan, as he thrust harder. She could barely keep it behind her teeth. If they weren't on the ship, balanced rather precariously on the main mast, she certainly wouldn't have.

She squirmed in his hands, rolling her hips. Grinding against him. Panting breaths every time she felt his member shift. The delightful throb as he dug in. Until his thrusts drove harder in, faster, and she could feel the tension inside her. Feel it under her hands and at her neck with every hot breath on her shoulder. Until that one last thrust. A warm surge up between her thighs. Kali let out a single gasp.

She heard Rinzaan in chorus beside her - with a breathless mewl at her neck. One last pulse, a small spasm. He only stayed there a moment longer. Kali's ears lifted. She felt a different sort of tremor. A quiver down his arms.

“You can-"

He pulled out. Flaccid now, but still barbed. Kali growled through her teeth, wincing as she landed on her feet. She wobbled, grabbing onto the mast to steady herself. Rinzaan just dropped onto his tail.

She didn't hiss at him. She should have, but she didn't. He absolutely hadn't done this before. If he had, he'd know better than to pull out like that. Instead, she picked her underwear off the floor and grimaced. She could already feel a warm drip sliding down her leg.

“Is everything okay?"

Kali glanced up. Her annoyed ears lifted, and her lashing tail stopped. He looked so thoroughly exhausted; she couldn't hold a grudge. After all, he was still pretty cute, even when he had such a stormy, worried look in his blue eyes. “Yeah," she said. “Just, uh, the cleanup is, you know-"

“Oh. Yeah."

“Yeah." Kali pulled her underwear on. She did her best to catch what she could. Whatever else was stuck to her fur would have to be rinsed out later. She pulled her pants back on and sat by the mast again, heaving a sigh as she did.

A quick scan of the surrounding desert turned up nothing. The sands were placid, and only The Sandstalker disturbed the smooth surface. She tugged her scarf up over her ears and shifted, ignoring the dull ache in her loins as she crossed her legs.

She glanced over at Rinzaan, whose ears half hung off the edge of the crow's nest and cleared her throat. “You should probably put your pants on. In case someone comes to check on us or something-"

Rinzaan jolted upright. She'd hardly spoken, and he was fumbling for the belt and pants around his ankles.

“Right," he said, “yeah, you're right."

“And you should probably get back to your post."

His eyes lit up. Rinzaan stumbled back onto his feet, still struggling with his pants as he rounded the mast back to his post, where he could also resume watching all the nothing going on around them.

Kali grinned, but she managed not to laugh. If she hadn't said anything, he would've assuredly fallen asleep like that - his pants still at his ankles and his ears dangling over the deck. She leaned back and listened past the wind at her ears and the faint chattering apprentices below. She waited until she didn't hear fabric and belts rustling anymore, when Rinzaan's pants were presumably back where they needed to be. “So," Kali said, “dare complete?"

She heard a tired laugh behind her. A warm sound to her ears. One that brought a smile back to her lips. “I'll take that as a yes."

It was another two hours of nothing before a sailor relieved them. The sun was halfway set by the time they climbed down. A few stars poked through the red and orange hues overhead. The other apprentices, the Dockies, flocked around Rinzaan the moment his feet landed on the deck, and every cat in his attractive entourage encircled him.

“Did you do it?" one of them asked. “Did you do it with Weird-eye?"

Kali twisted an ear towards them. The nickname wasn't clever, and it wasn't original, either. She had heard it her whole life. Cats from the Benz and Dockside alike, they had all said it before. Compared to others, Kali preferred it at this point. Weird-eye was a lot better than some of the less savory names she'd been called. Particularly on the Docks. She was far more interested in what Rinzaan's response was. A subtle smile already picking up her whiskers.

“What?" Rinzaan said with a quick scoff. “No."

Kali frowned. She snapped her head around, peering over at Rinzaan, but too many taller cats surrounded him for her to see. She only heard his voice and the rather immediate, dismissive tone of it.

“I told you he was too scared."

“You seriously didn't even try? That's boring." a more vocal molly said, a colorpoint with a distinct tortoiseshell pattern, and she punctuated with a yawn.

“I told you before. I wasn't doing it." Rinzaan growled. “If you're so curious, you guys climb up there and try it."

“Well, while Rinzaan was being boring, I got to use a ballista," another tom cut in, “one of the big ones at the bow."

“No, you didn't. You just watched."

“Yeah, but he showed me how it would work, if we did use it-"

Kali blinked several times. That was it. A single question, and they were done. A single “no" and nothing else said about it. Like their escapade never even happened. Kali was dumbfounded. She kept her ears on them while she started picking at one of the tangled nets, one of several the other apprentices made trivial progress on, but that seemed to be it. No other mentions of the crow's nest at all. No mention of the dare. Nothing else about “Weird-eye" either. They had conveniently forgotten about her existence again.

Kali didn't speak to Rinzaan the rest of the day. He was back with his usual crowd, engulfed in conversations about furs and fashions. The fine meals they anticipated once they got back to shore. The parties they would attend at the palace. Kali was back to being the odd one out, but it didn't bother her for long. Only for a couple hours, while she sorted out nets. Then it wasn't on her mind much after that. Cats from Dockside lived a different sort of life and by a different sort of rules. He was one of the well-bred cats from Mjau proper, and she wasn't. It was just a quick fling in the crow's nest, just between them, and that was all it would ever be.

At least, that's what she thought at the time.