FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Darkness surrounded him. Pressing down on all sides, sending cold shivers up his spine. Alarmed and confused, he frantically looked around--trying to find any light or just anything besides the blackness that met his gaze wherever he turned, but no matter which direction he faced, he was unsuccessful. He tried to call out for help to anyone that may have been near him, but when he opened his mouth, no sound came out. He could not speak. Suddenly, he realized something else. He could not hear anything; he could not feel anything besides his own body. He could not breathe.

When the realization hit, he lost it and his mind went into an uncontrollable panic. He began writhing around, tearing at his throat, trying to get some oxygen into his lungs. That was when the screams started. Out of nowhere, ear-piercing screams decimated the silence. Screams of anger, of pain, of fear; so loud that it felt like it was going to tear his skull open, and it was getting louder. He tried to cover his ears, but it did absolutely nothing to muffle the sound. The pain it was causing him became worse and worse by the second. His ears were bleeding and his eyes were watering both from the lack of air and from the excruciating torment.

Just when he thought the pain was going to finally kill him, his eyes shot open and he bolted upright. His mind still in a panic, he tried to inhale the precious air around him still to no success. It took him a second for his thoughts to clear up some and for him to realize that his lungs were already full. Quickly he exhaled and breathed in, savoring the taste of the air as it flowed inside him. When his body finally calmed down, he looked around at his surroundings. He was in a small dome-shaped shelter made out of sticks that were woven together skillfully.

He sighed. Everything before was just a dream. He felt slightly comforted by that fact, but the confusion that was present in the dream had not left him. He did not know where he was. He did not know how he got there. The last thing he remembered was...nothing. He did not remember anything before the dream. He tried to concentrate on something; anything that may bring his memories back to him, but nothing came. He did not even know who he was!

Panic began to rise up again; confusion taking over his thoughts and actions. He felt like he was back in his nightmare again. But in the darkness of his memories, he found a very small speck of light, and that was all he needed to hold on to to bring him back to rational thinking. He remembered something. His name was Verik.

He was still frightened about this whole situation. The feeling of not knowing anything about himself and his life before the present was maddening. But he found his name. And that brought so much comfort to him. Maybe, since he found his name, other memories would come back in time.

Fully in control of his mind and body, he decided that it was time for him to go and find out what was going on. He tried to stand up, but dizziness swept over him and his vision blurred. The next thing he knew, he was back on the ground. He tried a second time, only slower. He got to his feet, but his legs were still trembling. He was very weak. He found an opening in the side of the shelter that was covered by a separate section of woven sticks. He pushed the covering gently, causing it to lean back and fall flat on the ground; revealing the world outside.

He poked his head through the opening and looked around. The night sky shined brilliantly with the light of millions of stars and the giant crescent moon glowed with subtle beauty. Reluctantly, he tore his gaze away from the radiant sky. He was in a clearing inside a forest from the looks of things. There were tall trees on all sides of it, extending outward beyond what he could see from his point of view. There was a small stream flowing from somewhere beyond the clearing and into a small pond. The ground was bursting with luscious plant life--flowers, bushes, tall grass. It was beautiful. Just looking at this place made him temporarily forget about his problems.

Then he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He stepped out of the shelter to investigate. Behind it were several more shelters that were almost identical to the one he just left, and from them, he could hear the soft breathing of others sleeping inside. He was frozen with fear. He did not remember anything about how he got here. He had no idea if the inhabitants of this clearing were friends or enemies.

Many scenarios played through his mind. Maybe there was an accident or an attack where he injured his head, which would explain the memory loss. Then the inhabitants of this place found him and brought him here to help until he got better. Then his fear shared a suggestion. What if they were the ones that attacked him and he was being held here? But his shelter was not locked, nor were there any guards patrolling or watching him. He decided that he would take chance that they were his friends and ask them for help.

He stepped up to one of the shelters and removed the covering. Looking inside, he saw the inhabitant. Lying in a comfortable position was a creature covered in grey and white fur. Her mouth on her long snout drooped open a little bit while she snored quietly. Her head was leaning on her two hands, but Verik could still see the long claws that extended outward. Her long bushy tail curled slightly around her two long legs.

He stared at her for a moment and then looked down to examine himself. He had not thought of it when he woke up, but he did not even know what he was. Initially, he thought that he was the same creature that she was. His body was covered in fur; his stomach and the inner portion of his arms and thighs were white and the rest of him was a deep blue. Though, there was one major difference that he saw right away. His hands, instead of being soft and furry like hers, they were black and covered with scales; boasting long arched claws. He felt his face and his hands bumped into something. Were those horns?

He left the shelter and its inhabitant and went to the pond to see if he could see his face. The water was very still on the edges farther away from the stream. He kneeled down and looked inside. His reflection was almost as clear as real life. And what he saw looking back at him made him gasp in surprise and horror. Instead of the beautifully formed face of the creature he saw back there, his was...wrong. That was the only way he could describe it. It was more than just different, there was something that gave him a very bad feeling when he looked at himself. The top of his snout was furless and plated with black scales, just like his hands, along with a patch around his left eye, which was all yellow except for a black oval slit running down the center, whereas his right eye was normal with blue irises. But the most obvious thing that he saw was, sure enough, horns. They protruded out from his skull behind his ears, curving down and around to point forward, running parallel to his snout.

Feeling very uneasy he backed away from the pool of water. He stood there for a few moments, trying to figure out what to do next. Finally, he decided that he had had enough of this confusion. It was time he got answers. He got up and started marching toward the shelters planning on waking the inhabitants up and demanding an explanation, but he was interrupted by a mystical voice calling his name softly from somewhere among the trees. He stopped in his tracks and whirled around. There was no one in sight, but the trees beyond the clearing were very thick. There could be anyone hiding among them.

Then he heard the voice again, much clearer now. "Verik." The voice called out again in a soft and comforting tone. It calmed his nerves and beckoned for him to follow. Not exactly sure why, but he was drawn to the voice. He walked to the edge of the clearing in the direction that the voice came from. Taking a deep breath, he entered the forest.

To be continued...