FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Rain so thick it became a wall of white. Winds that kicked up a flurry of torn vines and snapped the smaller trees throughout the jungle. A trembling sky, alive with the wailing howls of the storm and the echoing thunder that accompanied them. All for hours on end, long into the night. If anyone was able to sleep during such a disaster, it was nothing short of a miracle.

Even in the wet season, such a downpour was unprecedented for this village, sheltered at the base of a mountain range. Similar thoughts continued to run through the mind of the young mouse as he scurried through the village on his patrol, a satchel of bandages and salve over his shoulder. As he kept up his brisk pace, the ground beneath him gave way with each step, the mud seeping through his paws' digits and eliciting the occasional shudder. The results of the squall passed him by as he pressed on; temporary huts torn to splinters and brush, every ledge a slippery accident waiting to happen, and belongings of all sorts scattered in an eclectic dump. Just what had the Skygrazers done to deserve such a fate?

_"A shame. I could give a few guesses, though. Petty ones, but guesses nonetheless,"_he thought.

He stopped short, skidding in the mud. With a flourish, he flipped open his satchel, then peered inside to take stock of his supplies. Half gone already? He let out a sigh, bringing a hand to his forehead as he stared off at the ground. It really had been that many cuts and scrapes he'd patched up thus far, hadn't it. His most recent ministrations had been for a pair of capybara parents, cuts to the legs from stray debris. They were doing well now, at least. Well enough to look after their little ones, to make sure they didn't suffer the same wounds or worse. Perhaps being so short and lithe had its advantages, if it meant he could be trusted to reach them as fast as he did.

"Trusted with it, huh? What an occasion. I'll be back to tearing new bandages and keeping stock of the supplies the moment this storm leaves their thoughts, I'm sure of it. 'Avi, the village clinic's errand boy...' hmph, what a title to hold."

Just then, his ears perked, and the right ear twitched. Foliage? He turned to the source. Perhaps nothing, but best to check. He padded over to the edge of the path, slowing his approach as he closed in. As he reached a hand out to the bush, he paused a moment. The bush rustled again, but this time, a different sound reached him. Was that... sniffling? He stepped forward, sweeping aside the wide leaves of the bush. A gasp, both from him and from the sight beneath the leaves: a young tiger cub and an older ram child, the latter shielding the former with his body. The tiger cub peeked out at who found them as the mouse crouched down to them.

"Oh, my. Are you two alright? Just what are you doing out here? Where are your parents?"

The cub wriggled out from beneath the ram and stumbled forward, blubbering. "W-We were just out playing, Harel was watchin' me, b-but I- the storm, it got bad, we couldn't get back, so Harel grabbed me and he... h-he..." The cub's eyes were beginning to spill over with tears. He made no effort to wipe them away as he stood there, his breaths quick and unsteady, his hands shaking, and his tail low.

The mouse's eyes widened, then he pivoted to examine the ram. Harel, most likely. The boy had slumped to his side since the cub had left his grasp, eyes closed. The mouse drew closer, checking the boy's breathing and brushing the fur aside to look for cuts. He was met with twitches and hissing intakes of breath for his efforts. As good a sign as any, but the boy must've been in pain.

His frontal examination complete, the mouse asked, "Could you lay on your stomach a moment? I know it hurts... I'll do what I can, but I need to find it first, alright?"

The ram managed to open his eyes a bit to see who had come to his aid. With some effort, he lurched toward the mouse, rolling onto his stomach with a yelp. Splotches of red were the first things that made themselves apparent. The mouse inhaled sharply, leaning forward to brush aside the fur around the stains in the pelt. A cut here, a scrape there. A deep gash in his lower back. All of which had shreds of leaves and dirt in them. To top it all off, beneath the boy's blonde hair, there was a laceration on the back of his head. The mouse reached for his pack and felt around for the bandages and salve, procuring them in an instant. Before he could begin his work, though, the sobbing behind him grew louder.

"H-He... Harel kept holding me, he kept, I-"-The cub fell to his knees-"I heard it, I heard the branches go flying, I heard him get hurt, all for... f-for me, this is, this is all my-"

"Hey."

The cub blinked, looking up. To his surprise, the mouse was right in front of him, reaching for his hand. The mouse took it in his own, rubbing his thumb over the cub's palm with the care of a mother bird warming her young.

"What's your name?"

The cub looked down at the hand rubbing his own. "I... I'm R-Rangi..."

The mouse smiled, then reached to brush the cub's hair out of his face. "It's a lovely name, Rangi. My name is Avi. Is Harel your big brother?"

Rangi blinked away a tear as he nodded.

"Well then, your brother was very brave, wasn't he? I'm glad I showed up when I did." He put a hand over his heart with the same delicate motion he'd used with the cub's hand. "I'm a medic from the clinic, Rangi. I've been dealing with these sorts of wounds all day. Your brother's going to be just fine."

The cubs eyes glistened as he stared at the mouse. With a final squeeze to the hand, Avi turned back to his new patient and removed a waterskin from the satchel. He brought it to the first wound, trickling water through the cut to wash away the plant matter. Harel twitched and shuddered beneath him.

"There, there," said Avi. "I'm sorry, but it'll sting a bit before it gets better." He laid the waterskin by the satchel, then took up one of the rolls of bandages. He measured out a piece, then spread a layer of salve across a portion of it. Lastly, he wrapped the bandage around the boy's torso, tying it off with the salve-laden portion over the wound.

With a sigh, he ran his fingers through the boy's fur. "There. One down. That wasn't so bad, was it?"

The ram's back rose as he took a deep breath, then fell as he let out a deep sigh. "Yeah... yeah, it wasn't."

Avi's ears perked, and he turned to Rangi. "See, he's feeling better already! Nothing to fret over."

The cub's face brightened, his tears slowing as his tail began to flick and sway. "Really, Harel? It's working?"

"Oh yeah, just fine," he said, shifting against the ground, "but could we get this over with? I really should get us home."

"Gladly," said Avi. One after another, he attended to each wound as he had the first. The deep gash took a fair bit more water and salve, and the nick on his head needed the bandage wrapped up and around to keep it out of his face, but otherwise, the treatment went by without a hitch. With the bandages pulled taut, Avi patted the boy's shoulder to let him know he was done. Harel planted his hands against the ground, then pushed himself up, leaning back in a kneeling position. He wouldn't be steady for long, however, because a certain cub took the chance to throw himself against the ram, burying his face in his brother's chest.

"Harel, I-I'm sorry, I, I was-!" Whatever words may have followed, they were cut off by the cub's sobs once more. This time, however, the tears were a bit happier than before. The pair of brothers sat there, the older holding the younger close as everything was let out. Avi looked on, a hand to his chest as he gathered his supplies up with a glow to his demeanor.

"Dear me... what is that cub, five years old at best? Can't say whether he'd have survived what his elder brother did. Valiant one, that boy."

Everything was tucked back in the satchel, ready to move on. Avi looked to the pair one last time as he stood up. "You two'll be alright, then?"

Harel smiled. "Just fine, thanks to you. I'll get the both of us home when Rangi's all cried out, I swear it. Heh, maybe our big sister'll finish me off where the storm didn't, after worrying her like that!" The ram shut his eyes, nuzzling into his little brother's forehead as he rubbed his back.

The calm of a still pond washed over Avi at the sight. Turning away from the brothers at last, he resumed his patrol. Deeper into the village, soon to reach the areas where the architecture would be in need of the most attention. Plenty of stray wounded as well, in all likelihood. If the mouse was never going to get anywhere in the long run, well, perhaps he could take solace in people like those brothers. People who needed someone, anyone. He could fill the role of "anyone," at least.

And so his search for the wounded continued. Now heading through one of the main living and tradesworking areas of the village, he scanned the treeline. Up above, the bridge network and the many homes and small work buildings it connected together were doing much better than he'd expected. Rather than some sort of unusable splintered mess, the bridges on each side of the treeline were already in a walkable, if unsteady, state, and the bridges connecting one treeline to the other were well on their way if new ropes had already been set up. Down below, the story was much the same. Many new frames for the less sturdy homes had already been put together, and what buildings survived were getting their repairs posthaste.

Debris cleared away, trade buildings opened and hard at work again, and everyone buzzing about, doing their best to keep it all moving. An impressive operation. One the brown mouse could say he was shocked to see, but that would be a lie. After all, he got his knowledge of how the building crew ran straight from the source. And as he passed another of the elevated buildings under construction-

"'Ey, Avi! What, didja think you were gonna just sprint on by without a 'Hello' or 'Hey, there'?!"

The mouse stopped in his tracks, turning to the source of the outburst. There, he caught sight of a bulky tigress looking down at him as she sat with her legs hanging over the scaffolding. He rolled his eyes as he put a hand to his hip.

"Can't say I thought of it, Ferrah! I've got my own duties to attend to, and really, so do you!"

"Ahhh, quit with the stuffy attitude, you're catchin' me on my break! No reason I can't tag along, eh? I've been at this all morning!" Before he could think of a proper response, she hopped to her feet, then leaped down from the building to his side, landing with a proper thud as her muscular frame impacted the ground. The tigress bounded up to him, ruffling his auburn hair before he could object. She got a halfhearted glare in response as he tried to get himself presentable again, all while she just laughed to herself.

"Some of us like keeping our hair in order, Ferrah. And no, braiding the front and leaving the rest to tangle and fray doesn't count. Like a long, black nest sometimes, that hair."

Their moment was soon interrupted by a shout from above. "Ahhh, and the boss scampers off. Typical. You tired already?"

The pair turned to face the man who'd called down after them, a cougar of some description. Avi just raised an eyebrow before glancing to Ferrah. The tigress, on the other hand, crossed her arms and fired right back.

"What I'm doing_is making sure I don't strain a muscle, or worse! Ya know, I'm not peeling you off the jungle floor if you fall from a seized leg._Again."

"Ah, please, like that'll happen. I've been at this for years!" He narrowed his eyes as a wry smile began to form. "Though, I could say the same for you. Gonna settle down soon, ya think~?"

Though that earned a few snickers from the crew, most of them waved him off and kept up their work. Avi clutched at his satchel as he looked to Ferrah, his ears pinning themselves to his head. The tigress, however, simply smirked right back at the cougar with a flex, her trunk of an arm rippling with muscle.

"Hah! Check back when you can actually run the lift with even half the load I do! Now, what happened when I passed the rope to you last time? Ah, right. We had to refit the ropes, not to mention get you down from your new seat in the canopy!"

In contrast, her own jab set the whole crew off in roaring laughter. The cougar's hackles raised a bit as he rubbed at the back of his head, then slinked off somewhere or other as the chorus of mirth continued. Avi released a breath he hadn't known he was holding, then smiled at Ferrah. She turned to him with a satisfied huff.

"Alright, that dung-for-brains taken care of," she said, "you mentioned you're still on duty, yeah, Avi? Then let's get goin'!" She gave a hard shove to the mouse's bare chest. He squeaked at the jolt to his body, then righted himself as she motioned for him to follow. As they walked side-by-side, he looked up to her looming figure. One way to be made aware of his diminutive stature, that was for certain.

His eyes flicked away for a moment, his whiskers twitching. Then, gripping a hand to his upper arm, he turned to her as they were walking. "Uh, Ferrah? Is that normal?"

"What, Terik?" She shrugged. "He and whoever's sucking up to him will take a jab every so often. Never holds up. I'm worth three of them and then some, and he'd rather see me tend a house than build one! Hah, as if he has any chance of being the one I drag home from the New Year's feast!" Her arms crossed, she turned her head to face Avi fast enough that her braids swung with her. "Anyone worth their salt shut up about that crap long ago. It's a pastime of mine, bringing down the hammer at every turn, heh...!"

As she turned to face the path again, her arms came to rest at her sides once more. Avi kept looking, though, as he tried to get a read on her. Was that tension he was seeing, or just muscle definition beneath the striking pattern of fur? One of the great mysteries of her, perhaps.

"Another being why she bothered keeping watch over a pipsqueak like me when we were younger. She's gotten so much farther at twenty-four lunar years compared to my twenty-one, so why bother?"

The mouse's eyes darted back and forth with a hand on his lower muzzle. In a moment, though, those blue eyes locked their gaze straight ahead, his brow furrowed and his mouth agape. "Wait, the New Year's feast? That's still going on?!"

"Well, yeah! Chief's orders, we're getting the place neat and tidy for tonight. The day of was a disaster before it could even begin, but eh, life goes on!"

He clenched his free hand. "The sad part is, my confusion was swept away the moment you mentioned the chief. Sure will be an interesting night, with the village square waterlogged. Hmph."

The tigress raised a finger, wagging it. "Silver linings, Avi. Look for 'em some time. Might actually take someone home if ya do!"

"Hmm. I guess, but..." Shoulders slack, his determination left him as he looked away from her.

"You say that like anyone would bother with me. Even the men looking for one of their own to drag into the treeline could do better, and who knows if I'd be into that, regardless."

He shook his head. No matter. He had a better way of passing the time at these feasts, once he'd had his fill. One he'd kept at for years now.

"Ahh, lighten up. The gloom doesn't suit ya. Where'd that bundle of energy from back when you were like five go, anyways?"

"Oh please, you ask me that every-" Both eyebrows raised, his eyes taking on a gleam. "Actually, at the feast tonight? Ask me again. I'll have an answer for you. Might as well explain when I have a lead, for once."

"...ooookay. Whatever you're on about, I'll hold you to it. I should probably grab something to eat before I have to head back, anyway, so now's a good time to split."

"Tonight, then. Have your meal, do whatever it is you do at these gatherings, and meet me afterward. Not hard to find a wallflower."

"Oh, I will. I know exactly how to have a bit of good fun at these feasts, heh!" At the mention, she halted her advance. Her eyes flicked to one of the buildings under repair, where a muscular fox craftsman was making repairs to the workshop's exterior. She locked her gaze to him, waiting for the worker to look up from his duties, and when he does, their eyes meet. After that, all it took was for her to offer him a smirk, the curl of a raised tail, and a hungry sort of look in her eyes, and the fox swallowed hard, his ears perking up.

The mouse sighed as he crossed his arms. Most days, that sort of thing he could just ignore. Today, though? "Ferrah. Do I have to be the one to remind you to take it easy on your 'good fun,' as it were? You're not off your heat just because it's your seventh day of the springweed tea."

She rolled her eyes, then waved him off without bothering to look back at him. "Yeah, yeah, two days after the week's out at minimum, whatever. I can have a good time without going all the way, ya know."

Springweed. A curious little plant. Ground up and taken as a warm tea, the bitter concoction has the fortunate effect of suppressing any and all effects of an estrus cycle. All but one, that is: the herb can do nothing to prevent conception. The caveats don't end there, either, as the tea must be taken for all seven days of the cycle. Longer, if the individual is the unlucky sort to have persistent heats. And if the tea is skipped in the middle of the cycle, or prepared too weak...

"You'd better. Far too many cases in the clinic where they're surprised at what happened when they got frisky too soon, or if they just decided to skip their tea midway from how bitter the springweed is." The mouse knit his brow, gaze to the ground as he brought an open palm to his face. "Especially the young ones. Young, and foolish. I swear, none of them understand how potent an untreated heat is, let alone one allowed to surge forth all at once after a few days' suppression, it's-"

A sharp grip met his shoulder, to which he jolted in place. He glanced up, where he saw Ferrah, any pretense of a smile having been cast off.

"I'm_aware,_Avi. Hard not to be with those... cases, you mentioned. I don't envy the consequences you have to witness in the clinic. Leave it at that."

He opened his mouth to respond, but the words died on his tongue. All he could do was look away as his own hand came to rest on hers. The nights of a few particular deliveries would never leave him, despite his best wishes. Seeing it once didn't make the second any easier. If anything, it was worse, knowing what was about to happen, stretched over the course of a night. Knowing how little any of them could do for their young charge.

"All this time, and still. Still, if I focus, I can almost re-experience the aftermath, that overwhelming stench of... o-of..."

He shook his head in a blur, then took a deep breath. He held it. Then released it. All of it let out. No need to think of all that. If all went well tonight, someone could be saved from a much less certain fate. Long overdue, after all these years, but they were owed that much. That in mind, he turned back to the tigress.

"I'm sorry, Ferrah. I know you know better, I just- see you tonight, then?"

"Yeah. See you then." She looked away, her eyes half-lidded. "Focus on who you can help here and now, yeah? Don't drive yourself crazy over all that. It'd be a shame to see you lose yourself." Her hand removed from his shoulder, thus began her walk back towards the construction. "Later, Avi."

As she drew farther away, her posture no longer a mystery as to whether it was tense, the mouse cursed under his breath. No fixing what had just happened. If there was no fixing that, then perhaps he should get back to fixing something else. He readjusted the pack over his shoulder, then began his jog once more. More victims of the storm awaited. And once all of them were patched up, then tonight...

"Tonight, I'll find you. I'm sure of it."

*

---

*

A wide open village square, packed with people of all sorts. Dancing to whatever tune took them, whatever movements their partners inspired in them. Communal cooking at the ready, with several roasts from the day's hunt, or a simple stew for those whose bodies weren't fond of a regular intake of meat. And of course, more intimate attentions around every vaguely private corner provided by the homes and buildings on the outskirts of the square. A riotous celebration to welcome the new year, with the thirteen moons ahead.

If such things entertain you, anyway.

Sitting on a rock at the edge of the festivities was Avi, nose kept near his bowl of the communal stew in an attempt to mitigate the acrid haze of fermented roots and fruit spreading throughout the gathering. Even if the feast's activities weren't to his speed, his position offered a decent view, at least. One where he could see the sprawling architecture of the chief's estate, built into the side of the mountain on an elevated portion of land, with steps carved into the slope leading up to it. The finest work of the village's builders on full display, every last technique they could pursue with what woods, reeds, and stone they could procure from the immediate area. Easily the biggest building in the village... and it had to be, in some regards.

The mouse's attention was drawn to the base of those carved steps, to a sight that inspired a scowl without any effort needed to maintain it. There, the chief reclined with his mates, a number of them so great the mouse could only describe them as a collection. The silver baubles and piercings each were adorned with did nothing to dissuade that assessment. How many were with him this time, six? Seven? Several at various stages of pregnancy, too.

The two-ton lech of a ram always had one particular thing on his mind. At the moment, a tigress and a pregnant river otter were reclined at his side, all but doting on him. And yet, his attentions were focused on the crowd before him, scanning the masses with a leer Avi had grown all too familiar with. The mouse let out a sharp huff through his nose as his glare deepened.

"Hmph. There's a stark difference between families with multiple mateships and- and whatever HE'Sindulged in, I'd like to think."

The oaf's indiscretions had another, much more noticeable effect as well: unless you lived in the estate, your guess was as good as the next person's as to how many children the man had sired. It had gotten to the point where no one could recognize his offspring if they were running around the village. None of them but his eldest, anyway.

There, at the top of the stairs, stood a much less grating presence. That of the chief's eldest child, his daughter of fourteen years. Though she took so much of him in her appearance- the stringy white fur, the golden locks, even the horns, though they were pointed instead of curled- the glare she afforded him with a flame akin to the sun in those eyes gave the impression she'd rather be associated with anyone else. Perhaps the girl had a good head on her shoulders, then, if she was well aware of her father's shortcomings.

"A shame they'd likely prefer a ram over a ewe for the next chief. A tribe looking to the future is more prepared to face the present, and the only way the future could draw the boor's attention is if it shook an ample bust in his face."

The girl shook her head, then walked to the edge of her vantage point, scanning the area. What she was looking for was beyond the mouse, but anything must've been better than stewing in that oaf's indulgences. The fury she held began to dissipate as she took in the people's celebration. Seeing the dancing, the drinking, the jovial camaraderie, she reached a hand to her lips as a smile began to replace the scowl. A giggle too, perhaps? It was hard to tell from this distance.

In the next moment, that smile vanished. It wasn't replaced with the rage from before, though. Whatever had overcome her, she was a statue, gazing off into the distance at something.

Wait a moment. Was she looking at him? The mouse tried to squint to make out the details, but not much helped. Her attention _was_in his general direction though, that much was for sure. Her stillness was broken as her hands moved from her sides, coming together in a clasped position over her chest. One step forward, then another, her movements akin to a graceful ritual as her hooves continued their tentative approach. She stopped at the very edge of the plateau.

Okay, now she had to be looking at him. The moment his eyes met hers, even across the vast distance, she hadn't so much as glanced elsewhere. His whiskers twitched at the sight, and he tilted his head. He was her sole focus. After a bit longer, one hand left its clasped position. It began to rise, moving outward. The palm turned to face him.

Before she could finish the gesture, however, the curtained entrance behind her shifted. She jolted in place, spinning around to see what had happened. Or rather, _who_had happened. A tiny river otter child, no more than three years of age, was ambling forward, arms outstretched. She darted over to them, then picked them up in one swift motion. Her hand moved in a soothing rhythm against the back of her sibling's head as she carried them back inside, disappearing behind the curtain.

"Well. At least someone in that house pays mind to the little ones."

Now, it was the mouse's turn to catch someone out of the corner of his eye. A certain tigress, giving her best impression of stealth as she sidled up to him.

"I hope you didn't expect to surprise me again," he said.

"Eh, I can dream." She shrugged, then put a hand to her hip. Hm. The sneaking may not have surprised him, but something else might have. Her outfit was nothing special, a skirt and a common chest wrap in red, but it wasn't often she would deign to wear her tourmaline charm necklace. It was the tribe's associated gem, too, so on top of being fashionable with that fetching shade of yellowish-black, it served to express pride for the Skygrazers.

"You were so zoned out, I thought I had ya for sure this time. Busy with another death glare directed at his colossal countenance, eh?"

"Hm, well... something like that, I suppose." He turned to face the curtain once again. Waiting for it to offer any sort of movement. Soon, though, he blinked, then shook his head. He took up his bowl and downed the rest of his stew in one go, savouring what little time he had to taste the cassava, then left the bowl next to his seat. "That aside, you came for my answer, yes?"

"Hah, no shit. I had my 'good fun' with Koa already, let's hear this story!"

"And who exactly is that?"

Her tail curled as she crossed her arms with a smile, then brushed one of her braids aside. "Like you can't guess! That fox can handle a lot more than a set of tools, I'm sure you'd like to know!"

The mouse's eyes rolled in their sockets in as wide an arc as they could manage. "Hardly. Now, are you going to let me get to the point, or not?"

"Fine, fine! Back to the subject of you. What do you think happened to that bubbly little boy from back then, eh?"

He pointed to the side with his thumb. "It'd be easier to show you at this point. I'm sick of all this noise, anyway, and we need to do this before it starts getting dark. Keep up with me, and you'll get your story."

"Really? Stringing me along?" She leaned her stance to the side, tail whipping about as she raised an eyebrow. "You're lucky you're the one asking, Avi. Fine, then. Let's see what you've got for me.

He nodded, then hopped down from his perch. A wave of his hand, and she was following right behind him. As he led the way to the lightly-trodden path into the jungle to the right of the chief's home, he glanced up at the plateau again. This time, the curtain swung aside as the girl darted out. She ran back to where she'd looked at him, then began looking around the area with renewed fervor. Clenched fists hung at her side until she at last caught sight of him and Ferrah, and she got as close as she could before the ledge stopped her. As the trees began to block the place from view, still her gaze remained. Her shoulders slumped just before the mouse lost sight of her, now entering the village outskirts. Avi shook his head, renewing his focus on the task at hand.

Through the untamed outskirts, the mouse forged ahead, acting as a guide to the tigress. Every once in a while, he'd glance over his shoulder to make sure she hadn't fallen behind. Losing sight of her wasn't in the cards, there was so little to go on out here for the unfamiliar. For those who trod the path again and again, however, there laid key flower bushes and trees, firmly rooted even after the storm. Though, some of those trees were just trunks now. The flowers, on the other hand, fared better. While many of the petals were scattered in a mess of potpourri, there still remained a fair few clusters of anthurium flowers to guide the way along the mountain. Those red, heart-shaped blooms stood in defiance of what forces could come for them, as if challenging the sky to send something worse if they were to be undone.

"There's not enough salve or building materials in the world to fix what would happen if it got any more destructive, so here's to the worst being behind us."

After a long while of weaving left and right through the dense foliage and fallen trees, at last, they came to the place the mouse had discovered that morning: an open maw in the mountain's side, littered with torn vines.

"And here we are. Part of the answer you wanted."

Ferrah narrowed her eyes at him, and her tail flicked against a nearby bush. "Okay, Avi, work with me here. What's supposed to be so jaw-dropping about some cave with vines barely hiding it? Nobody comes out here, anyway."

"That's just it, those vines? That was a solid wall of them before. Probably not so thick as to bar passage, but enough that the cave was unseen. And after that storm last night? It was blasted apart." He began making sweeping gestures toward the cave as he turned to face it. "I walked by it so many times, on so many walks, and this time, this morning... it was right under my nose, the whole time. Under all of our noses, back then."

"That, uh. Just adds more questions. You sound nuts, you know that? What are you even talking about, from 'back then?'"

"Follow me a ways more, then. I took a peek already, and it confirmed what I thought."

For the second time in a day, he ducked behind what few vines remained and entered the cave, the scent of damp stone working its way into his nostrils. Little light made it through the entrance, but to the pair's good fortune, there were numerous shafts above that let the sunlight drift in. As Avi stepped forward, though, one outcropping of jagged rock was what held his attention. The formation that held a few pink fibres in its grasp, threads that further stoked the thoughts he'd had for sixteen years now.

"See, here! Threads, barely a wisp of them left, but nonetheless a deep pink shade. Just like what she wore back then, Ferrah." A hand of his reached for the threads, grazing the remains of the fabric. "A little longer, and there wouldn't even be this much to find."

His companion squinted at the threads, a hand to her chin. As the situation set in, though, she scrunched her muzzle, then pressed an open palm to her face. "Wa-a-ait, you're not seriously-!"

"Dead serious. The chief's first mate, who went missing before their ceremony. This has to be her, she has to be through here. Or what's left of her, but I don't think she'd die that easily. Call it a feeling, call it a hunch, but I know she's out there." He pressed the strands between his fingers, the pink wisps a stark contrast to the cold stone that entrapped them.

"To think, all it took was a stray scrap to make it all flood back, as potent as the day I first set out to find you. Your ceremonial gown, your cocoa-brown hair. And most of all, the vacant stare you wore most of the night, devoid of hope."

"Oh, for- Avi, that was over a decade ago! They searched the area top of bottom, and all they found was her headdress! And you seriously think she's gonna be through here? And doing what, living like some kind of hermit in a cave?!"

"They only found that headdress because I told them where she went, Ferrah. They had no idea what to look for, but now? I do. And if you'd indulge me, I'd like to see if this theory holds up. It should, but... well, better to have help in the unknown like this, yes?"

"Gah, you're gonna go it alone if I just up and leave, aren't you? Grrr, I-I..."

Ears perked, hands clasped together, and a pink tail flicking about. All were part of expressing the mouse's wish to her, as she offered clenched fangs and tension throughout her upper body in return. One more day: that was all he needed of her, after all this time.

She darted her eyes away from him. "Fine. Idiot. But we're not searching the walls up and down for some _other_secret passage. A trip through the cave network and back, and that's it. Keep it quick. I wouldn't be in too much of a bind if it got dark out here, but you? Those eyes aren't made for that."

"Then, you'll really-?!"

"I'm not kidding, Avi. Keep it quick, and keep those paws moving. Don't waste a single moment, you got it?!"

"A-Ah, right! Got it, then- then that way first!"

*

---

*

A power walk, a jog, whatever you could call the haste Avi was working with, all of it was focused on finding her. Even some other trace of her would suffice. Of course, getting to experience the cave system in its full splendour was far from a downside. Rivers that cut back and forth all throughout the network, the sounds of rushing water being carried to some unknowable destination. The occasional creeping vines flowering near one of the many shafts of sunlight. The residual moisture from the rapids, cooling the pair's paws as they passed by the shores and crossed the rocky bridges, a reminder to watch their step. And in the dry patches of the tunnels, where the scent of moisture was at its weakest, there was the occasional flower the mouse had never seen before.

Cloudy white, with the petals splitting and curling in all directions. And here, at the far end of the most recent chamber they found themselves in, one was growing low enough to touch! Perhaps he could- hmm? The petals, they were firm. Brittle, and a bit coarse. More akin to a rock or a crystal, rather than a plant. Picking it was out of the question, then, even if it'd make a fine souvenir of the journey. A barked order from the mouth of the room dashed such frivolous thoughts, however.

"Come on, Avi, that's enough sightseeing. It's another dead end, not a single lead in this direction, either."

"Oh, s-sorry, I was just-" He looked back to her, where he was met with the sight of her arranging rocks together like some of the younger village children at play. "What are you doing?"

"Marking our path, seeing where we've been. If you're not gonna bother to be the one with a good head on their shoulders, then I'll do it. We need to know our way back if we're gonna get home after you're satisfied."

The mouse blinked twice, then rubbed the back of his head. "Wait, right, I've just been- gah, t-thank you, Ferrah, I don't know what I was-"

"Don't mention it. Seriously." The stare she offered him was blank and unmoving. "I can guess what you were thinking, and I'd bet it wasn't much beyond a single burning thought, now was it?"

"I... well, it's-"

Her tail flicked in rhythm as she let out a sigh. Her movements were practical, mechanical, going through the motions. The mouse looked up at one of the shafts of light, which had already begun to gain the faintest tints of orange. He'd be dragged back soon, whether or not they'd found anything. What kind of "anything" was he expecting to find, anyway? A way out? That would only compound the search. If the missing bride could be on the other side of the island by now, maybe integrated into some other tribe long ago, then-

"What was the point? What if Ferrah's right, what if I was never going to help anyone like this? Just obsessing over this, again and again, was it all pointless? What am I-"

"..."

"Huh? What was-?"

"Ferrah?" He glanced about the room. When that revealed nothing, he looked down to his feet and scratched his head. "I... might have an idea. One last idea. Just trust me on this one."

"So long as it's quick, knock yourself out. I'm not gonna let you stumble through the dark in a cave full of rivers going who-knows-where."

He nodded, then bolted right past her. She called after him, but his paws just carried him further and further on. Back at the last intersection, then... this way, yes? Then the second from the right at the next split, across the thinnest of the bridges again, and-

"Wait, Avi, we've been this way already, haven't we?"

"I think so, it's just- I know what to do, I swear this'll be my last attempt, okay?!" He didn't look back at her. He just kept sprinting ahead, the tigress close behind. All with a vague feeling in his chest, working its way up to his head. Little tugs in a given direction, assurance of where to go, even if he didn't know.

Finally, after a few more areas of retread ground, they came across one tunnel he didn't think they'd taken. Whatever the feeling was, it had only gotten stronger the closer they'd gotten to that place. The consensus being that they ought to head through there, then. A tunnel that happened to go along one of the rivers. It wouldn't have been a bad plan before, the water had to go _somewhere,_after all. That passage, though, it just stretched on and on. Stronger, and stronger.

"Are you here? You have to be, right?"

The mouse's footfalls slowed, and so too did the tigress's. The end of the tunnel was in sight now. The river flowed out of the mountain's face from here, the water's destination a mystery with how winding the cave network had been. The mouth of the cave, however, let something else catch the mouse's eye: a glint against the cave floor, illuminated by those rays of pale orange light trickling in from the opening. Nothing like the sheen of the crystalline flowers. This was different. Maybe different enough to be what he was looking for.

He scurried over, then picked it up from its resting place at the river's mouth. He turned it over in his hand, taking in every detail he could with both his eyes and his fingers. Most of it was smooth, like nearly flawless crystal. One edge was smooth and round, but the others were jagged and sharp. The flat side was blank, but the curved side? There were several symbols carved into it, marked like hot coals against wood. The most detailed of them read "NW," flanked on either side by a half of the symbol. The latter jagged symbol was cut off at the edge, only showing the tips.

"Okay. So, 'NW.' Flanked by 'N,' and part of 'W.' What do any of those mean, though? They don't look like any sort of symbol I'm familiar with. If they're supposed to represent something, the details are far too abstract and crude to decipher."

"What, you actually found something?"

"It's... something, yes. That's all I can describe it as. It doesn't look like anything she had, so I don't know whether it's related. But I followed that feeling, it led me here, so what was-"

The blank glare from earlier gained an added tension to it as she crossed her arms. "A feeling? I thought you said this was a plan. I figured you were following the river, after a point. You're seriously telling me this was some gut feeling?"

"N-No! I mean, maybe? I don't know! This just _felt_right! And it's something, so-!"

"And you're no closer, Avi. This is another dead end. Nothing but a river pouring out of the mountain. No more paths. No more scraps of clothing. Just a shard of who-knows-what. Just what did you think you were gonna do when you found her, anyway?"

He took a step back from her, clutching the shard to his chest as his tail tensed around him. "I-I... I wanted to see her, know that she's okay. Maybe help her, if she needed it. Ferrah, you don't get it, back then, she was-"

"What's her name?"

"What?"

"Her name, Avi. What was it?"

"I-It was-" He shrunk away from her. Ears drooping. Unable to look her in the eye. "It's, I know it, I just-"

"Her family? Her friends? Know any of those?"

"That's- she's a capybara, I know that much!" There were many correct answers he could have given, were he more prudent. That one, though?

All it earned him was a snarl paired with clenched fists.

"Did you bother to check, in all these years? Even once?! Avi, you're chasing a ghost at this point! Those coconut dogs spring up like... well, like springweed, dammit, do you have _any_idea how many there are in the village, let alone the region?! The chief's even gotten two more in his menagerie after she disappeared! I _told_you to quit driving yourself nuts over what you can't fix, yet we're still here, off nothing but a vague memory?!"

"...s-she was... I need to..."

She stomped over to the cave wall, then leaned against it. Those fists refused to lie still, occasionally pounding the wall behind her. "So, this is what happened to that bright little kid I knew, huh? Just, threw himself into this, never letting it go, never stopping to enjoy a single thing. Wasting his energy. If you'd just let yourself forget, focused on the tribe, maybe-"

The mouse stomped his paw, his hands clenching so hard they quivered at his side, still grasping the shard with all his might. He tried to throw the intensity of her gaze right back at her with his own. Whether he succeeded or not was another matter as he shook in place.

"I just wanted to _HELP,_okay?! Help someone, _anyone,_maybe even everyone if I can! And what I saw that day, s-she was... she needs it most. She needs someone. Skies above, Ferrah, why was a _child_one of the only people to ask her what was wrong? If I'm not going to follow through and help, then _who?!_Who will?!" His hands began to grab at his hair, pulling the strands taut in his fists. "I can hope she found someone who would in all these years, or I can go and make sure of that myself, to rest easy knowing she's happy, instead of letting it fester like an open wound! So why should I let that go?!"

The blank stare returned as she shook her head. "And how'd that go for ya, huh? Not letting it fester? It's been untreated for sixteen years, Avi. You just kept dreaming of who you couldn't help. Like those girls in the clinic. Tch, I should've known better, entertaining this idea. You don't need this. She doesn't need this." She turned back towards the way they came and gestured for him to follow, her tail hanging low. "Get yourself together, Avi. There's nothing here, and we should head back soon."

What determination he was able to muster melted away. Ears returned to their pinned position behind his head.

That was that, then.

He allowed his palm to curl open. There, the shard still laid, with a sliver of a cut or two he hadn't noticed he'd received. The only return on the investment of their time in the mountain.

Was she right? He'd just been running in circles all this time? Every walk through the place she disappeared, every shift at the clinic, every patient who... who was doomed from the start. Everyone he couldn't help.

"All that, and the best I've been able to do for anyone is patch up wounds. Maybe keep Ferrah company, but does she even want that anymore, after all I've put her through?

"I've not done a single thing worth remembering. I've wasted my time. Wasted her_time. Everyone's time._

"Why did I bother?"

"..."

"...yes, that's right. I should just... stop. Stop throwing myself at all this. There's nothing I could've done, anyway. For anyone. All I wanted was to help. Someone, anyone. But in doing that, all I did was hurt the one person who still cared for me. So I should just... stop."

"...Avi? You okay? We should get going, you know, I'll bet there's something at the feast that'll get your mind off it, really..."

"... _. .._"

"You're right. I can fix this. I can be more than this. I'll follow you, wherever it takes me. It got me this far. To this shard that slapped me across the face with the reality of it all. So I'll trust you."

"Hey, what're you-? Avi, wait, t-that's-!"

"I can't liken this relief to anything else. To describe each step as walking on clouds would be an injustice."

".. . .... .. ..."

"It really was this easy the whole time, wasn't it? To let this resolve wash over me, knowing that I won't be alone. That I'm welcome somewhere, just as I am. It seems so simple, why did I never realize it before? Thank you for this. It's everything I could have wished for, and more.

"I am coming to you. You, who wished for somewhere to belong, like me."

"AVI!!"

Something pierced the veil. The clouds, the enrapturing embrace in his chest, they all fell away. How had he gotten here? Why was he dangling? Where was the cave floor? When did it get so bright?

The hand that applied a vice grip to his wrist had a few answers, at least.

"What were you _thinking,_dumbass?! A moment sooner, and you'd already be bean paste!!"

Ah. That's what had happened. He fell. She caught him. Barely. Was she dangling too? Yes, she must have been. Over the ledge, her claws must have been digging in. The cliff face was rocky enough to catch oneself, but whether her lower claws' grip was making a difference with him in tow was doubtful. Both of them were hanging by her left arm, next to the waterfall the river gave way to. The misty spray, already dampening his dusty brown fur, it was-

"Wh-Why can't I... dammit, _dammit!_I can't get a grip anywhere!"

Her arm was moving. Towards the edge.

"Shouldn't I be more panicked? We're going to-"

"Gah, in that case... hold your damn breath, Avi, and keep yourself untensed!"

And just like that...

They were falling.

After leaping away from the cliff face, Ferrah pulled him close, her arms lashed around him as tight as she could manage without hurting him. Pressed against her torso, all Avi could do was follow her instructions as they dove pawsfirst. Take a deep breath. Hold it. And let the calm wash over him. A calm he shouldn't have, but one he'd take full advantage of.

"This is our chance, is it? Then I hope you'll follow your own advice, Ferrah."

In the very next moment, the impact enveloped them in an azure spring.