FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

>”Are you sure that’s your pet cat, Mrs. Masterson? He looks rather large for a domestic shorthair.” I ask, looking upwards at a large tree bearing a stricken mewling feline

>”Of course it’s my cat!” She fires back, her three children huddled around her. “All four of my beloved kittens are right here with me. The feline up there walks on four legs, I’m sure of it. It’s our dear pet, Mr. Whiskers. Foolish beast has climbed up there and gotten himself stuck again.”

>I look back at her and count the kitten anthros again

>”Four beloved kittens?”

>Mrs. Masterson looks down and counts them herself, her face contorting into a look of pure shock as her hands to go her cheeks

>”Oh my god!” She screams. “The kitten up there must be poor James, my youngest!” She gets on her knees and grabs my hand. “Please Sheriff you’ve got to get up there and save him! James is deathly afraid of heights, he won’t last up there much longer!”

>”Now don’t worry Mrs. Masterson, the fire department is already on the way. They have a great big ladder that they can use to-“

>”But will they get here before he falls? Please Sheriff, my dearest James is hanging on for dear life! Surely there’s something you can do to get him down safely? I will eternally be in your debt if you save him, please!”

>I look back up to the whimpering kitten in the tree and pull my hand away from Mrs. Masterson’s strong grip

>”Well…” I start, adjusting my duty belt and setting my hat on the ground. “I’m no monkey, but I think I can climb up that tree high enough to get him down.”

>”Thank you! Thank you! Please just bring him down safely!” She pleads

>I walk up to the tree and begin climbing up, branch by branch, until finally reaching the same branch that the rascally kitten is sitting on

>”Hey! Hey kid! James!” I shout over. “Don’t move! Just stay right there! I’m going to come over and get you.”

>The kitten just cries and mewls pitifully, my appearance seemingly making him more nervous

>I lower my body against the branch and begin inching forward, the branch shaking worryingly as I approach him

>The kitten now just a few feet away, a sudden gust of wind picks up and throws the kitten nearly off the branch, James only barely hanging as his claws dig into the soft wood

>I hear Mrs. Masterson scream below me and I steel my nerves, doubling my pace until the kitten was only a couple feet away

>I reach out and grab him by the scruff of his neck, pulling him up and placing him behind me, near the trunk of the tree

>I point an authoritative finger at him

>”No more climbing.”

>“Sorry mister…this tree was higher than I thought…” He whimpers back

>Together, we slowly make our way down the tree until our feet finally hit dirt

>Mrs. Masterson rushes forward and wraps James in a hug, then pulls back with a scowl

>”I can’t believe you did that! You had me worried sick!”

>The kitten mutters an apology and Mrs. Masterson looks up at me

>”Thank you Sheriff! I don’t know what I would do if you hadn’t been here!”

>I lean down and pick up my hat

>“Heh, don’t worry about it. Just doing my job.”

>She rubs the head of her nearest child and looks up to me

>”You ever thought about having kids of your own, Sheriff? They can be wild when they’re young, but you seem capable of handling a little rascal or two.”

>I wipe my brow and put my hat back on

>”Oh, I don’t know Mrs. Masterson. That would require me to find a pretty enough lady first, and with my job keeping me so busy and all…”

>“I understand Sheriff, not trying to rush you into anything. Just a thought. Guess I’ll see ya around. And thanks again for saving my poor James.”

>”Don’t mention it, I’ll see you around.”

>As the cat family leaves, I walk back to my cruiser and wave the fire truck off, the danger now taken care of

>I drive back to the police station at a lazy pace, waving to people I recognize and occasionally slowing down to make small talk with a few of the gossipier locals

>The small town of Hopeville is a pleasant place to live, surrounded by expansive forests topped with mist and harboring only a few troublemakers of renown

>It’s a rare day I have to raise my voice much less take my revolver out of its holster

>As I drive down a lonely road I spot a pedestrian walking along the shoulder, clad in a dark green jacket and worn black leather boots

>As I approach I immediately recognize them as the wandering veteran type, disheveled fur, stained clothing, a duffel bag slung across their shoulder

>It’s only as I pull up to them do I see that not only are they a black bear, but a female one at that

>Not that it matters, veterans with a chip on their shoulder have a real bad habit of causing trouble around here, trouble that I’d rather not have to deal with

>I roll down my window and pull beside her

>”Hey miss! You look a little lost. Maybe I can take you to where you’re going? Expedite your exit from this boring place?” I offer, a false smile on my face

>She stops and pauses for a second, then slowly turns to me

>”I’m just walking to Hopeville, Sheriff. I don’t want any trouble.”

>”I wasn’t saying you were in any. How about I give you a ride somewhere else? Hop in the back.”

>”Somewhere else? I said I was going to Hopeville.”

>”And I’m saying you aren’t. Now you can either hop in the back, or I can write you up for vagrancy and disobeying a lawful order. And if it’s any motivation I should let you know that the judge in Hopeville doesn’t look too kindly upon vagrants. The last one really caused us a lot of trouble and I assure you the memory is still fresh in his mind. Now which is it going to be?”

>The bear looks around, then begins walking again

>”Hey!” I pull up in front of her and step out of my car. “Alright, that’s it, put your paws on the hood and spread your legs! You’re under arrest.”

>The bear grumbles some curses back, but at least complies with my commands

>After manhandling her into the back of my cruiser I hop in the driver seat and begin the trip to the station

>The trip is awkward and silent, the bear not being much of a talker and me not being in the mood for conversation

>I was annoyed at myself for making her stay at Hopeville several days longer than it likely would have lasted if I had not bothered her, but at the same time I was now past the point of being able to let her go freely

>After making it to the station I hand her off to one of my deputies to begin the intake procedures

>The bear now seemingly taken care of, I get back in my cruiser to make more rounds around town

>…only to hear a frantic call on the radio barely an hour later

>”Sheriff! Sheriff!” My deputy yells. “Something happened back at the station!”

>I pick up my radio

>”What?!”

>”That bear you picked up earlier? She got real feisty with us when we tried to clean her up for her court appearance, ended up giving me and everyone else here a real kick in the teeth. And she, uhh, ended up in the evidence room during the fight. In the ensuing tumble me and her ended up…damaging some of the evidence.”

>”Where the hell is she now? And what does the evidence room got to do with this?”

>”Remember all those bricks of cocaine we got from that drug bust a few months ago? Well, they’re all over the floor now. And in the air. And in my fur.”

>I groan and roll my eyes

>Of course this had to go down when I wasn’t there

>”Deputy, I want you to take a shower right now and get that crap off you before I have to arrest you for possession of an illegal substance. Now where the hell is this wannabe polar bear?”

>”Last I saw she was running towards the grocery store, knocking over people and slamming into things the entire way there. All the other deputies have gone over there to cordon it off. I think she’s gone straight feral Sheriff, she’s absolutely wigging out with all that nose candy in her system.”

>“Every high has its low, deputy. With all the uppers in her system she’ll crash sooner or later, I just have to keep her occupied until that happens, wait it out, or if that’s not possible then I’ve got six little friends waiting to make her acquaintance.”

>”Don’t do it Sheriff, she’ll tear you to pieces!” He cries

>”We’ll see about that. Now get off the radio and take a shower! I’ll handle this from here.”

>I speed down to the town’s grocery store, sirens blaring and lights flashing, until coming up on the scene of the carnage

>Multiple cars have been turned over and bags of hastily dropped groceries litter the parking lot

>I pull up next to a few deputies huddling behind their own cruiser and get out

>”Hell in a handbasket, that wandering bear did all of this?” I shout

>They all nod in unison, their eyes wide and revolvers drawn

>”Y-y-yes Sheriff.” A beaver responds, teeth chattering nervously. “She just came down and tore up everything in sight. Like a black furred tornado, but like, a snowy black furred tornado.”

>I pull my own revolver out and flick the cylinder out

>”Ya-ya-ya, I already know about the cocaine she got into. Where is she now?”

>”In the store causing a mighty loud ruckus. Eating the merchandise too, I think.”

>I look through the store’s windows and catch fleeting glimpses of a green jacketed beast rampaging about, throwing food stands and boxes of cereal all around the interior

>”Has she taken any hostages? Is there anyone left in there?”

>”I-I-I don’t know Sheriff. I heard some screams earlier, but those people might have made it out the back.”

>I count six cartridges and flick the cylinder closed

>”Deputies, I’m going in. Someone’s got to keep that beast occupied until she crashes and it might as well be me. I’ll run around, get her to chase me, distract her, hopefully tire her out before she gets her claws into me. She seems to be hungry too, maybe I can scavenge up some sleeping pills and get her to eat them. Bears like honey, right?”

>”Y-yes Sheriff but that’s a mighty dangerous plan you got. I-I don’t think you ought to-“

>”Deputies, cordon off the store and keep anyone else from entering. If she exits and I'm not with her, then shoot to kill.”

>”O-okay Sheriff. Good luck Sheriff.” He whimpers back, nervously turning his eyes back to the store

>I ready my revolver, and start moving towards the store entrance at a low ready…

*************************

>Two boys wearing backpacks walk along a dirt road, one human, one feline

>”And then what happened?” Asks the cat

>”What do you mean?”

>”After your dad went into the grocery store, what happened?”

>The boy looks at the ground and shrugs

>”He, you know, he stopped her. Least that’s what he told me.”

>”But like did he shoot her or-“

>”Oh my god James! My dad did not shoot my mother!” The human boy exclaims

>”Okay-okay! It’s just the way you worded it, it kinda sounded like that’s what happened.”

>”Well it didn’t.”

>”Fine. So did anything happen after she was stopped?”

>The human boy looks up to the sky in thought

>”Hmm…I guess the next thing that happened was that I was born nine months later. Then my sister about a year after that. Then my other sister a couple years after that.”

>A deep female voice comes bellowing from behind a nearby hill

>”Johnathan Jones Rambear! You’d better get your butt through the door or your sisters will be eating your dinner!”

>”Crap!” Exclaims the human boy. “I gotta go! I’ll see you tomorrow James!”

>”See ya.” Replies the cat.

>The boy starts running down the road, until finally disappearing around a bend