FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Im really happy with how this turned out. A quick flash of inspiration and I churned out 6.1k words with barely any difficulty, only splitting up the writing session because I had to go to sleep. I deleted a paragraph gushing about it here thats gonna be down below where it belongs, so please enjoy!

There had been enough attacks, the bait was easy enough to figure out. Clothes ripped, the smell of blood permeating the scene. Lying there, motionless. She was easy prey, and if a human could smell her then a beast surely would. It did. Stalking out of the trees it approached with a glint in its eyes as it looked over the meat prepared before it. Long hair braided back, out of the way. A simple shirt with rips along the edges, looking as if it had been grabbed at. The pants were torn at the bottom, it and the boots caked in mud and looking worn. Her whole form splattered with blood, a small pool on the ground.

It stalked around her, taking in the gift before it. She was still breathing, but seemed to be near death. It couldn't smell fear from her, and she didn't move at its pacing around her. She was wide and soft, a good amount of fat to her, although it could see the muscle hiding underneath. It couldn't have asked for a better offering, the texture would be perfect and the taste was always divine.

It circled twice more, wetting its lips, then stopped. Why simply eat her? It could take her back to the den, the idea of having another living creature in the cave was exciting. It grabbed her with its large clawed hands and began to throw her over its shoulder.

Then it felt a shift, and a sharp pain in its side. It felt wind, or at least it thought it was wind, before a sudden impact. It couldn't figure out why it felt that, as it suddenly didn't feel anything.

The beast had fallen, and she wriggled out from underneath where it landed on her. The thing had to be about 7 feet tall, probably hundreds of pounds of muscle heavier than her. It was humanoid, with legs that were backwards the way a dog's was, covered in pitch black fur. Its chest and arms were pretty similar to a human's, if larger, but its hands had wicked looking claws. A thick brush of hair around its neck surounded a head that belonged to a wolf. Its muzzle was a bit shorter, its eyes a bit rounder, and it seemed to have the faintest outlines of a human face. It was a bit disarming, looking at what should be a dog's face but seeing those differences that make it look just that bit more human.

Luckily for her, that fur wasn't too thick, nor the skin. She pulled tranq mechanism from underneath it, and went over to the bush to grab her bag. First things first, pull out the empty syringe and load in a fresh one. With the gun reloaded and holstered on her hip for easy access, she grabbed a plain syringe loaded with a slightly different sedative and made her way back over. A bit of rope around its bicep, and shaving off a bit of fur, and it was surprisingly easy to find the vein. With how well the fast acting stuff worked, she only went with a partial dose of the long term stuff, to make sure it stayed out of it for quite a while.

The thing had to be at least 400 pounds, almost certainly more. She barely managed to get the limp sack of fur onto the sled before handcuffing its arms and legs. Probably unnecessary, but would buy enough time to tranq it again worse comes to worst. Putting a jacket on over her torn shirt, she grabbed the reins and started pulling like there was a dog in the sled.

The lowered friction helped a lot, but fuck was it tough going to get to her truck. Carting the thing into the back she almost felt bad putting the unconscious beast into the pickup's bed, almost. She gave it the rest of the dose, considering how long it had taken her, then threw her equipment in the bed next to it and headed home.

* * * * *

It had been hungry, preparing to eat a tasty meal. That's the last thing it remembered. Now it was standing, arms stretched and bound. Its legs were chained as well, there was even a metal collar around its neck. It tried to thrash, but the bindings held firm. It tried to snarled and growl, except a muzzle held its mouth closed. It was in some kind of barn, its chains attached to concrete below it. Its arms to large beams of metal and wood. To rip them free, it would need to bring the barn down with it, although that did little to dissuade the beast.

Muffled roars and growls were the harmony, the percussion of the rattling chains combining to almost make a song. All it needed was a melody, soon provided by the desperate whines that intermingled between the puffs of rage. The song did not last, the beast feeling drained from the struggle and the drugs still lingering in its veins, although it did not know about those. The rattling soon mellowed into only the strain of its body weight as it attempted to fall to its knees, but the tension on its arms didn't allow it. The barn door opened soon after, although whether the short timing was mercy or misfortune the beast was not sure.

She heard the cacophony inside and waited until it tired itself out before opening the barn doors. Walking across the wooden floor, bits of hay scattered, she made her way past the empty stalls to the one in the far back. The floor was replaced with concrete and the walls reinforced with steel, the beast strung up so no matter its strength it wouldn't have the leverage to use it. It was made to house the creature that had claimed the lives of many a farm animal, and two young girls as well. It was with those latest victims she was compelled to act, the farm's owner all too happy to fulfill her requests. She thought it funny how nice he was to her when she said she'd capture the beast, considering how foul he normally is.

Shaking the thoughts leading her here, she focused on the picture in front of her. 7'2" tall, 457lbs of fur and muscle, with a bit of padding to keep warm. Its claws extended 1.75" from the end of its finger on the hands, and 2.35" from its hind...toes? She still wasn't sure if she should use canine or human terminology, opting for a mix of both considering the thing's nature. It had blue-grey eyes, pitch black fur at about 2" average, shorter on its stomach and longer on its neck. It stood on digigrade legs with hind paws that just barely could squeeze into the largest men's size made.

And its head looked at her with a mix of confusion, sadness, and despair.

It watched her review the notebook in her hands, recognizing her as the one it found in the forest. It had smelled blood and went to find the source, now it felt its arms being strained by its body weight. It wanted to collapse for some reason, not recalling the last time it felt so tired, but the chains wouldn't let it. It was confused, and annoyed, but it just didn't have the energy to do anything but stare at the woman that would surely decide its fate.

She watched the creature stare at her, clearly straining to fall. Clearly the drugs were still circulating. Despite knowing what it had done, knowing it was going to eat her, she still felt a bit bad. It looked like a pleading dog, and it was difficult to override those feelings. She took a step forward, and another, until she was close enough to grab its muzzle and force eye contact. The beast didn't resist.

"Can you understand what I'm saying? Nod yes if you can understand me."

The beast felt her firm grip, looked into her eyes, and heard her words. They were familiar, it could understand them, but it didn't know why. They were strange and foreign yet familiar, but it couldn't figure out why. After a few moments it processed those words and nodded its head slowly. What else could it do?

She was somewhat surprised at the beast nodding to her. She knew stories of werewolves, and truthfully that was one of the reasons she told the farmer she would capture it instead of killing it outright. She had said it was so he could have the honor of taking revenge, but that was just an excuse. The fact that it understood her- or did it? No she has to be sure, before acting any which way. She took a moment to try and think of the right question to ask.

"You are imprisoned. You cannot move unless I allow it. You cannot eat unless I allow it. You cannot drink unless I allow it. Do you understand that?"

Once again the words were foreign yet familiar. The series of sentences constructed meaning in its mind that began to form faster and faster until the idea was manifested. At that moment of clarity its ears fell, and it nodded slowly once more. It was trapped.

She saw the beast seem to space out, its eyes losing focus for a moment. She figured it was processing her words, because once the eyes focused on her again its ears drooped before nodding. The expression of emotion was so uncanny to watch up close with a murderous beast. Her heart ached for empathy while her brain had to repeat its actions to fight down the instinct. She needed to make sure it didn't just nod whenever she talked.

"If you try to attack me, you will be punished. You will not eat, you will not drink, you will be suspended like this for days. Do you want to be punished?"

This was longer, more complex. More words, more ideas, yet it was being brought together faster than the others. The inertia of higher thought was increasing, and the momentum built was crashing down upon the beast with the horrific implications of what could come. Despite not being told, it seemed to divine that the proper response was to shake its head back and forth. If its tail wasn't already drooping, it was now tucked firmly between its legs.

The being shook its head with far more vigor than it had shown before, minus the initial outburst. It seemed to slouch, as much as it could in its bindings, while almost pleading with its eyes. She hadn't told it to shake its head, and it very clearly got the idea she was conveying. This creature could understand her words. It was smarter than a dog, far smarter. If it was taught sign language it might be smarter than the apes she had read about. This was not a mindless beast, and it hit her far harder than a slash of its claws.

Claws, its large deadly claws. Claws it used to tear apart innocent people. If it wasn't just a mindless beast, it must have known what it was doing, right? Surely if its displaying this level of intelligence, it must have known right? Which was worse, it being a mindless beast killing for food or it being a thinking creature killing a human knowing full well what it was doing? Did it know? She got answers to the questions she asked out loud but that lead to more and more internal questions, all this playing while the two stared at each other.

She finally released its muzzle and walked to the side. The chains holding its left arm was slackened, her turning the mechanism to adjust the length. She gave a wide berth, before repeating the action on the other side, the extra slack allowing it to fall to its knees and lower its arms. It couldn't quite reach the muzzle on its face, nor the chains on its feet, but it was enough slack to let blood flow return and to allow it to rest its aching arms.

It kept its eyes downcast in submission, not wanting to do anything to anger its captor. The feeling began to return to its limbs, but its arms were still very limited and it didn't want to lose any freedom it gained, no matter how small. It couldn't smell much through the muzzle, the thing seemed to be covered in an old bit of blanket for a horse. It was still hungry, but it focused on the one sense left, hearing. Listening to the woman as she walked back to stand in front, its ears pointed towards her in case she had any further instructions. It was scared to miss any.

She stopped, looking at the being now kneeling in chains. Its head was looking down, like a dog showing fear and submission, yet its ears were pointed squarely at her. It slowly rolled its shoulders, and she could see the wince as it did so. It was hurt, and scared of her, and didn't want to miss anything she said. This hulking beast was kneeling and was still level with her chest and yet it seemed so small. She pushed her nails into her palm before speaking.

"If you try to bite me, you will not only fail to hurt me, you will be punished. If you howl, no one will hear it. If you don't behave, you will keep that muzzle on. You can't eat or drink with it on. Do you understand me?"

Only a couple of seconds passed before it was able to nod. It not only understood her words, it had realized what she was implying. The excitement at the removal of this horrid muzzle was difficult to contain as it eagerly nodded its head, its tail raising a bit but daring not to wag.

She could see the excitement. She saw the enthusiastic nod, its head still down. She saw the tail creep from between its legs. It understood her words and read between the lines. It understood implication. Could it? No, it couldn't speak. Even if it knew words the muzzle surely wouldn't let it. It couldn't. But the idea that removing the muzzle would result in it talking, or even just trying, scared her. Scared her for what it could say. It took minutes of it being conscious to show that it could understand and would follow orders. She couldn't justify leaving it on. She hoped, though perhaps not consciously, that it would snap at her as she reached for the straps.

The tight wire and leather pressed into its skin, the short hair on its snout doing little to protect it from the harsh material biting in. It couldn't open its mouth, its nose was covered in a cloth making it tougher to breathe. What air it could had no scent but horse musk. It was stifling and painful and truly unpleasant. It held still, as still as it could possibly muster. It closed its eyes and concentrated on being as still, as nonthreatening, as compliant as it could while the straps were undone. Even as it felt the pressure release, the torturous thing being lifted away, it dared not move. Even as its nose flared with fresh air and scents rushing in, it contained itself until it heard her step back.

Finally free it breathed deeply through its nose. It smelled the old scent of animals that once inhabited the barn. It smelled the metal holding it, the concrete it was attached to, the wood of the barn and the hay scattered about. And it smelled her. The cloth she wore, the soap she washed with, the fear and anxiety she was practically oozing. It stopped at that, once again confused. It froze, worried that her fear meant she would punish it, but it was still confused at what she could be scared of. It couldn't do anything, it wouldn't. Why was this woman scared?

The relief at the muzzle being undone was obvious. She could tell just how still it was being, could even see how it held its breath. Then when she finally stepped back to where she originally was, it breathed deeply. Its jaw moved, stretching itself almost subconsciously. She could see the muscles on its face scrunch up and relax, its tail even gave a small wag. Then she saw it freeze. It scrunched back up, becoming as small as it could and then keeping still as it had when she was removing it. Why was it scared? Why did it act like she was going to punish it? She felt guilty, even more so, clearly the thing was reading some signs she was giving off and worried she was going to punish it. This whole situation got worse and worse.

"Are you thirsty? Would you like some water?"

It could still smell the fear, and something else. Her voice never wavered though, and kept the same tone she had the entire time. Was she scared throughout all of this, and it simply couldn't smell it until now? It nodded slowly, not daring to make another move in case it was wrong.

It took a bit longer before it nodded this time, she wagered it was thinking about how not to upset her. After nodding, it relaxed slightly, which was encouraging to her. She moved back towards the front and grabbed the bowl of water she prepared. It had a dog muzzle, so surely it a bowl would be the best way to go about things, right? She began doubting her accommodations, and then realized that it was in chains and trapped by her. The urge to start analyzing the situation and ask far too many questions while wrapped in her own world was pushed down as she stood in front of it once more. She held the bowl under its head a bit, not realizing until she had done it that it had the range to claw.

It stayed still as she stepped up and put the bowl beneath its mouth. She was very close, and it could smell her in great clarity now. There was fear, adrenaline, and something else. It very slowly and gently reached its head down a bit to dip into the water. Taking a couple of laps of water slowly, scared to upset her, it paid careful attention to her reaction. Nothing. At that it started to drink more enthusiastically, still gauging her movements. After it drank its fill, it licked its jowls and tightly closed its mouth, head never raising. It went still, assuming she would move back. When she didn't it was confused again. Did she want it to drink the whole bowl? It was nearly as big as its torso, surely she couldn't think that. It didn't know as she stood there without saying anything.

She had been lost in thought, everything about what she had expected to happen had been wrong in very disturbing ways. She was so lost in thought, it took her nearly half a minute to realize it had finished drinking. She took a step back and turned to go set the water back down. The being never moved, still holding that scared stance as she set it down. She glanced, the wolf still not making eye contact.

Fear was still in her, not at the creature, but at her actions. That fear had begun to melt into frustration and anger, again not at the wolf, but at the situation. Everything about this was wrong. Why was it so fucking wrong. What the fuck is going on. Why the fuck is this big wolfman not only able to understand her words and implications, but also scared of her. Why the fuck isn't it a ravenous bloodthirsty beast. Everything she was told doesn't match up to what she's seeing, and its beginning to piss her off. She went outside and grabbed her bag, dropping it next to a chair she put a couple feet from the prisoner. She then went and loosened the chains even more.

It could smell the anger, hear and see it too. She stopped as she set the bowl down and it could feel an aura of frustration begin to lash out against anything near. She moved outside and grabbed things before setting them in front of it, then it felt the chains loosen even more. It could sit proper now, with its arms in its lap and still have some slack. It was confused even more. Its captor was becoming less scared and more angry, yet it was being rewarded with more freedom? Its not sure if it should be scared, truly just confused more than anything as it finally looked up. She was sat in the chair, chin resting on her folded hands looking intensely at it.

"How are you able to understand me?"

How does it answer that question? It doesn't know. Will she accept that answer? Almost without thinking it shrugged its shoulders, not consciously knowing what it meant until after it was done.

The wolf just shrugged at her. And then it seemed confused after shrugging, like it didn't know what it did. What the fuck.

"Do.... do you know what that gesture means?"

A nod.

"Did you know before you did it just now?"

A shake.

"What the fuck."

The two just sat in silence after that. Both thinking. She thought about how it seemed to be getting smarter talking to her. She had done research on various werewolf myths and the idea of it regaining humanity in human company was something talked about. It was thinking about how it seemed to know things it didn't know it knew. How listening seemed to unlock memories once hidden, or perhaps unneeded in its daily life. Both seemed to disappear into their minds as they sat in silence.

"Can.... can you talk? Are you able to?"

It stopped at those words. It could understand speech, but it hadn't considered it might be able to talk as well. All it remembered was hunting, eating, sleeping, living in the wild. Why would it need to talk? But now there was a person, talking to him. He knew these words somehow, he knew these gestures, could he talk? He remembered these acts by doing, so he might as well try.

It had seemingly paused at her question, then after a moment began moving its mouth. She had met a husky once that made noises other than a bark or a howl, seeming to blabber noises for the sake of it. Apparently that was common amongst the species, and the being in front of her reminded her of that. It made strange noises as it tried to move its muzzle in different ways.

"Roooohooow moooow mow. Mow. Mnoh. Mno."

He tried moving his tongue in different ways, but without lips it made speaking difficult. He's need practice, but for now he could easily get out "no" while shaking his head for emphasis.

She looked at it as it worked out how to say no, shaking its head. It had made a variety of sounds, and might be able to talk in the future with practice, but as of right now its answer seems pretty apt. But it didn't have a future. This presented even more problems, or perhaps not. It certainly had the potential for speech, and could understand it. That was clear. It showed fear at being hurt. It didn't seem angry, it didn't take the opportunity to hurt her. Even at that initial incident, it grabbed her, but didn't hurt her. She had felt the claws, but wasn't pierced, although that could have been luck, but regardless it didn't being trying to eat her immediately.

Holy shit. She stopped and realized how stupid she was being. The only actions this creature had taken against a bloodied, seemingly injured, defenseless person was to try and pick it up. Everything she knew was what she was told, and told by that fucker no less. Of course he'd lie, she knows he'd lie, he's lied about her for fucks sake. She scrunched her face growing even more frustrated as she realized that everything she's seen contradicts only what a self centered, arrogant asshole told her and everyone else. And then her frustration vanished into a pit of ice.

His daughters were dead. She was at the funeral, the whole town was. There was no doubt his daughters died. But if this beast didn't kill them, something she has more evidence supporting than denying, who did. It was closed casket but she knew what the doctor had made of the corpses, asked him herself. They were mangled, and partially eaten. She didn't ask for more details, but what if they weren't eaten alive, or by the wolf at all. Why was the man so eager to have her bring back the beast when she first talked to him, so willing to put in the work to have the barn be turned into a prison. She had 3 days to catch the thing before he returned, succeeding on her first night. It had been so easy, why hadn't he tried?

More and more details piled up in her mind, she was so convinced that she was stopping a murderer and helping a grieving father. That he'd lay off her if she did this for him. She'd never be back here. What would he do to this creature helpless in front of him. Nobody else saw the wolf, nothing to hide.

She was frozen, the frustration she seemed to exude stopping and replaced with cold fear. He could smell the sweat, the adrenaline, the hormones. He could hear her heart begin to race as she looked at her feet. Her hands held her chin and he could see them tremble slightly. This time, he knew it wasn't fear of him, and that worried him further. If she's scared, something has power over her. If it has power over her, it has power over him. What's going to happen to him?

"Did...did you...did you kill those two girls?"

Her voice trembled. She asked the question that would change everything. She had a feeling she knew the answer, and it wasn't one she was going to like. She had to though, she had to ask. If she didn't, she would never forgive herself.

He was confused. He tried to think, his mind hazy beyond the night. His eyes scrunched up trying to recall his hunts, running through the forest to grab prey. He knew what a girl looked like, he was looking at one. She said girls, and she was the girl he tried to grab. Was he forgetting? The event was so surprising he couldn't recall ever seeing another person before, so surely he hadn't? Unless she was referring to long ago, long forgotten?

"Wrem?"

Its voice was awkward, and pronunciation was garbled, but she could understand the single word. She took a breath trying in vain to steel herself.

"2 weeks ago. Two girls, 15 and 17, were killed and partially eaten near here. Was it you?"

This was easy for him. His memories grow hazy the farther back he goes, but the next full moon is getting close and he remembers to the previous without issue. If it happened after that, he would surely remember.

"No."

She could smell blood. It was her own. She could feel the wetness on her palms, but she couldn't feel much else.

She was shaking, he could smell her blood. Weirdly it smelled different from the blood she was covered in before, but he didn't focus on that. That one word, clearer than any before it, held no hesitation nor doubt. He did not kill them, there was no misunderstanding. No room for contradiction, or possibility. And upon that word being spoken she shook, the arid fields of hay being blessed with rainfall worthy of a worshiped god. In that rainfall mixed droplets stained red, and the two sat in near silence besides the sound of liquid hitting the floor. And he didn't know why.

It took her a minute before she let out a single sob. Just one, she let herself have just one. Then she took another minute to have the tears stop flowing. Just one, just a single one. Then she reached down and grabbed a cloth from her bag, wiping the blood from her hands and fingernails, before disinfecting it and wrapping them in bandages. She took the cloth and wiped the spare drops of blood from the floor, only a few, and did all this in just a minute. Just one. Then she took a single moment to take a single deep breath, she'd let herself have one, just one. She then looked into the eyes of the creature before her with resolve in her puffy eyes.

"What were you going to do when you picked me up, when you thought I was injured?"

"Roh home."

"And then what?"

He just shrugged.

"Eat me? Wait until you were home to eat me?"

He shrugged, then shook his head.

"Why would you take me to your home if not to eat me?"

He started to shrug but stopped. Why was he going to? He didn't eat at home, he ate where he killed. Why was he going to take her? He knew she was alive, so why? He stared off into space and thought why? He didn't think beyond meals, beyond weather, beyond survival. So why?

"I ron't know"

She watched it stare into space, whispering the words. It didn't seem to acknowledge her, to direct it to her. Its face scrunched as it stared, thinking, confused. She was confused, not just by its answer, but by the tears forming in its eyes. It knew she was alive, but it wanted to take her home. It doesn't know why it wanted to take someone home rather than eating them. Does it know why its crying? Does it even know it's crying at all? She looked at its gaze and doubted it, those eyes were looking across its own mind at this point. It was looking inward, almost certainly focused on that one thought. What should have been a simple question is causing this hulking mass of muscle and death to recede into its mind and have an existential crises, and she could see it happen.

"Em...ty. Home ish...empty."

All those thoughts, those he'd chased away, came back. He only thought about survival so he wouldn't think about everything else. He couldn't feel the tears now flowing down his face, the weight on his body as he sunk limp kneeling there. The hard concrete beneath his knees, the metal on his limbs and neck, none of it. He could only feel the emptiness in him that he had worked so well to bury. He couldn't hear any movement, his eyes closed and not seeing anything except black. Once more he couldn't feel the weight of the chains, then he felt a hand on his face.

His eyes opened slowly, looking at the tears being wiped away with a fresh cloth. He had been crying? Who's hand was that? Where was he? He was so caught up in his memories he had forgotten where he was until that hand began to pull away. In a flash he grabbed it, a firm grip while being careful with his claws. He didn't want to hurt, but he so desperately needed that hand to stay. He could only focus on the hand now touching his snout once again, gently holding the arm there. The fingers began to gently rub and he leaned into the hand. His tail had began to wag as he felt the touch of another person. Wait, another person?

He realized that there was a person attached to the hand and shook in surprise, looking down the arm to the woman still gently rubbing his snout. It was at the recognition of who it was, the first person he had seen in as long as he could remember, the same woman who captured him, that he realized what he had done. His eyes widened as his ears flattened and tail drooped, pulling his hand back into his chest. He saw pain in her eyes for a brief moment before he quickly lowered his head, not wanting to anger her.

She pet its snout gently. She was surprised when it grabbed her, it hadn't noticed her undoing the chains. Her other hand shot to the tranq on her hip, ready to pull the trigger, but hesitated. It had looked at her hand wiping the tears, and only grabbed her when she pulled away. She had dropped the handkerchief in surprise, but it didn't hurt her. It just pulled her hand back to its snout, and even leaned in when she pet it. She could see the surprise when it finally looked up at her, and she tried to smile. Clearly it got lost in its own mind, and didn't realize what it was doing, and she could certainly relate. She didn't have time to as it quickly sank back down, realizing what it had done and the retribution she would surely impose.

She moved to petting the top of its head, with it downcast she didn't have to move her hand much to do so. Just some gentle rubbing, its tail seemed to shake a bit subconsciously, before its hands moved.

When the chains didn't tighten, when all he felt was the rubbing of his head, he opened his eyes. He realized he could only feel her gently petting the top of his head now. Between that and the concrete against his knees, that was it. There were no chains on him, and he flexed his hands before looking up. He could see pain hiding behind a smile as he looked in confusion, her still petting his head.

"I'm sorry. I'm so so fucking sorry. I grabbed you and strung you up and I'm so fucking sorry. I thought you had killed them, I thought I was doing something good. I should have never gone into that forest, should have left you alone, should-"

She didn't finish. She couldn't. Faster than her brain could process it had grabbed her and she was wrapped in fur. She felt thick, powerful arms pressing her into the carpet of fur in front of her.

Alone. She should have left him alone. As soon as his brain processed that he moved in a blink and grabbed her. He did what he felt he should, he pressed her close to his chest, cradling her in his arms. His head resting on top of hers, breathing in the smell of her hair. He could hear her, feel her heartbeat, her arms slowly embracing him. Her arms couldn't reach around his broad back, and she couldn't speak, muffled in his fur. But he could feel her breathing, careful not to squeeze her too much. She was a living being, a person with thoughts and feelings, and she was there with him. Someone was there with him, hugging him, and that's truly all that mattered.

All those rabbits would die from a heart attack before he could touch them, killed by their own fear. The deer would struggle and kick before he bled them and they would stop too. His cave bed was cold moss and piles of dead leaves. The plants were wet and cold, they did not think or feel. Were they even really alive? His arms were still sore, but that would fade. The indentations on his muzzle would go away. Energy would seep back into his tired body. But this moment, of connection, of touch, was worth the hardship of that night. Worth it tenfold.

"Thank you."

Its fur was thick, and warm. It was a foot and a half taller than her, hundreds of pounds bigger, claws able to rend flesh and fangs able to tear limbs. And it was hugging her, it had thanked her. And she was hugging it back. She could feel the gale force winds from its tail swinging back and forth with momentum enough to topple houses. She had tricked, kidnapped, chained up, and interrogated this beast and it was hugging and thanking her. And fuck did it feel good to be hugged for the first time in a long time. So you know what, fuck it. She hugged him back, she buried her face into that fur, held her strong arms tight around its soft torso, and if she had a tail it would damn well be wagging too.

* * * *