FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this story are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. All characters are of legal and consenting age, likewise if you are reading this story you should be of legal age in your respective country.

All characters are my own creation, any resemblance to existing characters is purely coincidental and not intentional, please do not use them without permission. If you would like to use them in a story, please feel free to send me a PM either as Inja on SoFurry or TheRealInja on FA. As always I am open to new story ideas or situations with existing characters as well.

Inspired by both the image and the words from https://www.furaffinity.net/view/45135356/, I finally found something to put them to. Written without warning or consent, I apologize if it's not what you expected or even wanted foxy <3

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With the cold winter winds battering him from all sides, Feln drew his cloak tighter about himself to try stave off at least some of the cold and damp the falling snow brought. Wincing as his strained shoulder caught and felt like the joint was about to pop out the socket, he grit his teeth and kept his arm still against his chest. His knuckles gripped his walking stick all the tighter, turning white beneath his pale grey fur. Beneath his tatty mismatched clothes, he bore scars and wounds alike; being the lone survivor of his village after a passing band of demons had raised it to the ground.

He had gathered what little food he could find, along with any clothing still serviceable from the corpses around. Clutched in his hand against his chest was a small wooden carving of the Goddess his mother had given him when he was just a child. He'd grown up on stories of how the Gods loved them and protected them, he'd believed it all his life, at least until last night.

The screams of terror and pain where all he could hear, the bright flames and looks of terror came unbidden whenever he tried closing his eyes. His once vibrant red coat and lush tail now bore red stains from spattered blood, dark patches from the soot of the burning village and singed spots from the almost never ending fire. He didn't know why they'd spared him, perhaps he was too insignificant to be a concern for the hellish beasts as they tore those he cared most about asunder like wheat from the chaff.

Even with his many scars and wounds, the greatest pain was still inside Feln. He refused to believe his beloved Goddess had abandoned him, that she let so many around him perish for no reason. It was for that reason and that reason alone he made his way to her temple, a once merry trip he'd done with his mother years before and then his own family not long ago. Now every step was agony as the snow bit at his bare feet, his aching and tired limbs fighting against every step he forced from them.

Through the night he travelled and all the next day, until the evening began to set and in the distance the white marbled entrance was visible leading into the side of the mountain. With teeth gritted in determination, Feln pressed on until he felt the cool smooth marble beneath his feet. His walking staff slowly tack tacking against the floor laboriously with every slowing step until he stood before the large white marble statue of the Goddess surrounded by gurgling pools of water from a stream further back in the large carved room.

She was as beautiful as ever, a vixen of unparalleled beauty. A soft loving smile and expression on her face, arms outstretched as if waiting to receive all those that needed her aid. It was too late for aid now, all that was left were answers and by God would he have them.

"Why?" Feln asked as if expecting an answer from the statue, closing his eyes as he fought back righteous tears. "Why them!?" his voice rose in anger as he stared up at her, but still she only smiled back down at him.

"She's not going to answer you, she never does" a voice spoke from behind Feln.

The fox whirled about in surprise, wincing as he again tweaked his hurt shoulder. Standing behind him was a curious looking vixen, her coloring far different from any he had seen before. A mixture of greys, reds, white and black. Even her ears looking bigger than was normal for the foxes around his area, but her strange accent did hint at the possibility she was not from around here.

Feln looked down into his hand at the small figure he still clutched, only noticing now under the light of the sconces burning above how charred it now looked. "I'm starting to believe she's not real...," he muttered softly.

"Why?" The vixen asked with a tilt of her head to one side as she stared at him curiously.

"My village was slaughtered like cattle..." Feln spat out with a snarl, tossing the figure in his hand to the floor.

"Villages burn every day, people die every day. The Gods are not infallible or even omnipotent" she replied simply, with no hint of malice or even irony.

"They're Gods; they're supposed to protect us!" Feln almost shouted at her.

"No, they're not. No more than a parent is meant to protect a child. If the parent protects the child too much, they do not learn and grow. If they do not protect them enough, they tend to lead rather short lives," she again stated simply.

"Then why the hell do we pray to them, what's the point?" Feln pressed on in anger, now he was shouting.

"To let them know they still matter, to give them a reason to be" came her response.

"So it's all for nothing, we don't really matter to them. It's pointless..." the foxes voice dropped to barely a whisper as his head lowered, eyes closing and tears beginning to fall. "They died for nothing."

"No, you all matter. Each and every one of you, though you often don't see it or feel it, you matter far more than you will ever realize" finally, she showed some emotion, speaking with more conviction as she took a step closer to Feln. A hand reaching out, black furred fingers gently touching under his chin to raise his gaze to meet her own. "Just because she wasn't there when you needed her most, it does not mean she did not wish to be with every fiber of her being."

There was something in her gaze, her eyes deep pools of emerald seemed to bare him to his very soul. Her touch was warm, comforting and somehow seemed to ease his many aches and pains. The screaming began to soften, for the first time in days Feln could hear the sounds of the faint popping and crackling of the fires about the room. The soft bubbling of the natural spring running through the pools about the large statue. He felt at peace, his head again lowering and eyes closing as exhaustion took over and sleep finally found him.

His dreams were scattered and disjointed, flitting back and forth between happy times with his family, then jumping forwards and back into the fire and screaming of that night. Every time his heart began to pound like a blacksmiths hammer against an anvil in his chest, a soft soothing voice called out to him and banished the bad dreams. The voice filled him with a sense of safety and serenity; it was his haven against the darkness.

Something cool and damp pressed to his forehead, lightly being dabbed as soft humming filled his ears. His eyelids felt heavy, as if they did not want to open. When they did, he saw the strange vixen was kneeling over him and tending to him, she was dabbing a damp cloth to his forehead as she hummed a strange melody. It was only now he noticed her peculiar attire, her long flowing grey cloak and leather vest over a white blouse. Her short, bright red hair looking as if it had been fashioned from the fire itself.

The first sign he was awake came from the grumbling of his stomach as he suddenly caught the scent of something delectable cooking on a fire nearby. Without a word, she moved over to fetch him a bowl of whatever it was she had been cooking. Feln pushed himself to sit upright and take the bowl from her with a grateful nod, pausing before taking the first spoonful as he turned to look down at his shoulder, which no longer ached.

"How long was I out for?" Feln turned to ask the vixen.

"A day or so," she replied, sitting beside him with her hands in her lap.

"Only a day and my shoulder feels like new, you must be some kind of miracle worker," he smiled at her, taking the spoonful of stew into his mouth before groaning in delight. "A damn fine cook too..." he barely managed to say before scoffing the rest of what turned out to be rabbit stew. The vixen was only too happy to provide as much as he could stomach before she urged him to lay back again.

"Best not push yourself too hard yet, you're still not fully healed. Even I'm not that good..." She had jested as she again began dabbing at his forehead. Once more Feln fell into a deep sleep, only this time he relived fond memories with his wife and daughter. The first night consummating their marriage; the birth that brought his amber furred daughter into the world, to the first steps as she chased a butterfly across the grassy fields and giggled uproariously. Then they were on a fancy white and silver lined carriage, drawn by two magnificent white stallions with long flowing manes and tails. They told him not to worry and they would be okay, saying he only needed to look after himself from now on but they would always be watching. As the carriage began to draw away, he felt no sense of loss or pain this time. He bid them farewell on their journey and promised to join them one day soon.

Feln awoke with a smile on his lips, his chest not feeling so heavy as before. He felt like he could finally breathe for the first time since that night. The vixen was still beside him, once more sitting with her hands clasped together in her lap and smiling softly down at the fox, as if she'd seen his dream or perhaps been a part of it.

"They're gone; I feel their loss still, but..." Feln began to say, not sure how to put what he was feeling into words quite exactly.

"Death is not the end, it's merely a stop along the journey," the vixen offered with a reassuring smile.

Feln understood, nodding and smiling back at her before noticing she'd placed his small wooden figure atop his chest. The fox picked up the charred wooden figure and turned it about slowly in his grasp, feeling the same love for his Goddess grow once again inside him. His ears twitching at the faint sound of snarling and baying not far off. Frowning he rose to his feet and turned around looking for his walking staff, seeing it resting against the base of the statue he started walking toward it. Only he was walking normally, with no pain or struggle. Feln looked down at himself, only wearing a pair of plain brown trousers with his chest bare; he saw he looked clean and unscathed. Even scars from years of toiling the land were no longer present. The vixen simply smiled at him when he turned about to look at her questioningly.

Again, the noises outside drew his attention. Feln cautiously stepping close to the entrance of the temple and freezing in place. Beyond the doorway stood a host of hell, dark grotesque forms milled about the doorway, snapping and biting at one another. First, one looked up and saw the fox, starting to yip and howl in madness, quickly being followed by more and more as the horde broke out into a frenzy.

"They've been outside since not long after you arrived here," the vixen said from behind him. "They won't enter the temple so long as she still holds dominion here."

"Hold dominion?" Feln asked with some uncertainty.

"Your love and prayers, the more you believe in her, the more dominion and influence she has in this world," her voice soft and calm still, despite the raging horde snarling and baying outside.

Feln stared at the vixen as if she were crazy, how could his love and payer make that much difference to a Goddess. A soft sizzling crackle caught his attention, one of the creatures curiously stepped through the threshold and onto the white marble floor of the temple, its very touch scarring the ground where it touched.

"Do you love me?" the vixen suddenly asked with surprising intensity as she formed an orb of pure white fire in her palm, aiming at the first demon which soon disintegrated in a flash of light.

"What?" Feln asked in stunned surprise as he watched more and more of the demons starting to step beyond the doorway and into the entrance of the temple.

"Show me that you believe in the spark that we light in each other and I will burn for the both of us!" The vixen spoke aloud as she stepped in front of Feln and before the approaching horde.

Feln looked down at the wooden figure in his hand, finally noticing the charred marks formed a pattern on the figure, the same as the dark parts of the vixen before him. With sudden clarity, he knew whom she was.

"Yes, with all my heart," he replied honestly as the orb of white flame in her palm grew larger and larger until the light was too bright to look at.