FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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The beeping of a dead call rung louder and louder as Robin stared into an abyss of black. The only thing illuminated was the entrance, and a lamp overhead lighting the desk. Scattered items littered the floor including papers, a scarf, and a phone receiver laying on the desk. He carefully stepped inside as he felt his feathers stand up, feeling déjà vu upon witnessing what seemed like a crime scene. He hadn't noticed the feline standing behind him, her face frozen in a concerned stare as she just stood by the entrance. Robin continued to walk, cautious in his movement in case a "teacher" was lurking in the dark, ready to make him "learn" once again. The only thing he could see on the desk was the phone, various papers, and the mayor's dapper top hat. Taking another step, he felt something cold and metallic hit his foot. Looking down, he saw a silver key, a few scratches lining it. He carefully picked it up and held it as he looked over the desk, expecting to see Mayor Pigface's corpse.

To his relief, nothing was behind the desk, just more scattered papers. He carefully exited the office, seeing the eyes of the town's people staring at him. Momo turned to him and gulped before asking "Is he....in there...?" The question didn't seem out of place to him, Pigface was quite old, and he had multiple problems with stress. However, he was a very nice man and he had even come to see the trio when they first arrived in Clayhill. He simply welcomed them and helped fund the house that they lived in now, other than that, they only saw him in town meetings. Robin figured that Momo had the worst fear that he may have had a heart attack in his own office, or even worse, had been murdered. Robin simply shook his head and said, "I didn't see him in there, only this key." Momo sighed and took it from him as she examined it. She looked quite confused before muttering "I thought the mayor's key was g-"

In a sudden puff of smoke, Momo had suddenly fallen to the ground, and a new figure stood in the mist as Robin coughed. The rest of the town gasped as they witnessed the arrival of a new personage. The silver key had grown, towering above the feline and fowl, and twitching his mustache as he swept the fog away. Robin helped her up as she just stared confused at the newest stranger. He simply stared at the crowd before turning and introducing himself. "Salutations, everyone!" He announced, giving a bow. "I'm sure you all must be terribly worried; Mayor Pigface has gone astray. And I hope the police force will dedicate their time to finding him instead of falling down on their bums." He joked, giving a wink to the crowd. The crowd didn't exactly respond, making him tug on his lock themed collar and mutter "Tough crowd, huh?"

He simply cleared his throat and pointed to a citizen with their hand raised. "Yes?"

"Do you possibly have any idea where the mayor is?" They asked. He simply made his expression sour and shook his head. "I sadly do not, the last time I saw him, he was preparing to leave to go home for the night." He claimed, trying his best to seem sad. Momo came over and gave him a stern look, asking accusingly "And how would you know that?" He simply smiled and turned to the orange tabby, extending his hand and announcing, "because I'm Steve, the Key to the City." Momo hesitantly shook it. "I suppose you're the next in-command until we find him...?" She asked, only for him to give a hearty laugh. "Oh, darling, I wish I could just be magically appointed mayor, but unfortunately, I'm not skilled enough to handle that type of work. I'm here to find the next in-command until we find Mr. Pigface and help mentor them until his safe return." He explained, giving a smile. Momo simply tilted her head and muttered "That doesn't make complete sense." He simply ignored her and turned to the crowd. "Now, I want to help this town remain functional by using a simple word that begins with an 'S'. Now do you all know what this word is, hm?" He posed. The crowd once again didn't respond, mostly having puzzled looks.

Harry sarcastically asked, "Search party?" Steve simply sighed before returning to a smile and saying "Safety. I meant keeping the town safe while Mayor Pigface is gone." He spoke, trying not to seem frustrated. Robin perked up before chirping "I agree that the town should be kept safe while the mayor is gone! I have a little boy and roommate who I need to take care of." He said, stepping forward before he looked at Doi in the crowd, along with Harry. Momo simply looked away before chiming in. "I want my niece Marigold to stay safe as well, so I guess...we have no choice but to listen to you." Steve simply smiled before placing his gloved hand onto Robin's shoulder. "This guy definitely makes a very good point, the families of Clayhill must be kept secure and safe!" Robin smiled back, hearing the crowd murmur with approval.

Harry simply shook his head, feeling uneasy at the presence of Steve. He felt too familiar to the individuals who tortured them in the past, excusing the fact that he was a talking object. Something was up, and unlike his feathery friend, he wanted nothing to do with it. He simply turned away from the crowd, beginning to walk off with Doi to a small flower cart away from the town hall. "Where are we going?" The yellow boy asked. "Away from this rubbish, I don't trust this 'Steve.'" Harry said, setting him down and looking around for possible clues to the mayor's disappearance.

Doi didn't mind, the meeting was boring anyways, considering he didn't have something to keep him occupied while the adults did...adult things. He mostly didn't care, because Harry and Robin didn't even remember that his birthday was today. He had even put on the special birthday buckles on his shoes, which were a gift from his dad. He was certain that his dad would show up and give him a special birthday surprise. But his dad hadn't shown up ever since that weird food song. Doi missed him, but also hoped that he wouldn't show up at the same time. Harry told him when they first moved into their house that his dad wasn't allowed to see him anymore, but never told him why. But he figured it made sense. Harry and Robin had always wanted the best for him, and his dad had never really paid attention to him ever since he first met the man and bird.

He simply just sighed and looked at the flowers in the cart, they were selling all types of pretty ones. He felt very wary of them, especially the butterflies fluttering around the bunch. He felt uneasy upon seeing them, especially that he knew now what they were. He didn't even notice that another person had sat down next to him, staring at him. He just wanted to go home and lay in bed; he didn't want to stand outside and look at all these things. He felt much safer at home, with his friends. He just wanted to squeeze his plush toys until they made him feel better. He was suddenly set back into reality by a wavering paw. "Hello...? Are you alright?" A voice asked, quiet and sweet. Doi turned to see a ginger tabby cat sitting next to him, around his height. She wore a similar pair of overalls with an 'M' adorning one of her pockets, along with a pink sweater. Her ears were small on her head, and she looked very much like Officer Momo. The only thing separating her from the other feline was her bright blue eyes. "Ms. Momo? When did you become tiny?" Doi asked, tilting his head. The girl simply gave a giggle in response, making Doi give an awkward smile. "No...my name is Marigold. I'm Auntie Momo's niece." She said, turning back to him and giving a smile. "She told me that you came from a weird house in the woods." Her ears twitched, and she scooted next to the boy. "Oh. That was my old house, where things and pigeons would sing songs to me and my friends." He said, looking towards the ground. Marigold giggled again, cupping her face with her paws. "That sounds silly. I've never really seen anything like that outside of Clayhill, though." She said, picking one of the daisies out of the flower cart. "It wasn't really, they were really scary." He said, sounding sad. "Oh, I'm sorry." She said, sitting back down. "Do you want a daisy?"

Doi felt uneasy at first, upon seeing the cat's smile and the daisy being held towards him. He then set his unease aside and took the flower, smiling. "Thank you." He said, sniffing it. She smiled, before looking at his shoes. She gave a gasp and looked back up at the boy, asking "Are those special birthday buckles? Is it your birthday?" Doi gave a shy smile and nodded. "Well, happy birthday!" She said, before giving a meow-ed rendition of the 'Happy Birthday' song, making the yellow boy giggle. "What's your name?" She asked. "I'm Doi." He answered, grinning.

Momo walked down from the steps, sighing in relief as the crowd was distracted by Steve. She had been on crowd-control duty all morning following an all-nighter shift and she was desperate for a break. She was grateful that her house was only a few blocks from the town hall, because she could feel her mind slowing down and her feet shuffling across the ground as she walked. She walked towards where Harry was standing, near the gates of Clayhill.

"What's the happs, shaggy guy?" She asked, interrupting his focused gaze, and startling him. He quickly sat up and said "Oh, it's you. I thought you were keeping the crowd calm." His monotone voice never changing its tone, not even in surprise. "Yeah, but they're distracted by Mr. Safety and 'My family is important' guy." She joked, giving a snort. "Didn't you agree that your niece needed to stay safe as well?" He remarked, crossing his arms. She simply sighed and looked back to the crowd. "Well, I think I should be honest instead of focusing on 'safety'. If that guy is the key to Clayhill, I think he'd know what happened to Mr. Pigface." She said, squinting her eyes upon looking at the key man. "I don't trust him, at all." Harry stepped towards him and simply said "I agree, something's not right. I'm half expecting him to magically break out in a musical number and cause mass genocide." He said, once again earning a confused look from the ginger feline. "What exactly...does that mean...?" She asked. "Oh, uh, never mind. Just a little thing from our past." He said, looking towards the ground. "Ah, never mind it then. I did like your idea about organizing a search party for Pigface, though. If I wasn't running on multiple cups of coffee, I'd put it together today." Momo said, yawning and flicking the salty tears from her right eye. "You really mean it? You want to pull together a search party with me?" Harry asked, his voice slowly turning into a surprised tone. "Of course. We're not going to get anywhere with being paranoid or choosing some half-assed replacement. We could be outside getting actual results, and probably find the mayor in an hour or two." She said, staring out into the forest. "What if we do find him...and he's...not alive?" Harry asked, earning a solemn look from Momo. "I honestly hope that's not the case. But, nonetheless, I want to know what happened to him. I won't feel safe until I do." She said, giving another sigh. Harry sighed as well, before saying "You're not alone. I would hate for Clayhill to just turn into another nightmare hellscape for me." He said, finding a footprint on the ground near the fence. Momo turned back towards the crowd.

"Thank God, I think they're wrapping up. Look, I'm really exhausted from...this and last night, but I'd really like to expand more on this tomorrow. Here's where you can contact me, I should be up by tomorrow, since it's my day off." She said, handing Harry a card and walking off towards the flower cart. By now, the crowd was beginning to walk off back to their homes, with Steve standing seemingly proud of himself. Momo simply picked up Marigold by the hand and led her away as they both said goodbye to Doi. Harry simply came over and sat down next to him. "Hey, Doi. Sorry for uh...leaving you alone back there. I promise we'll get back to the house soon, and then we can watch our favorite show on the TV, alright?" He asked, earning Doi turning his focus back to the daisy given to him by Marigold. Doi only responded with "Sure." making Harry sigh as he picked him up and headed back towards the steps of the town hall.

Steve smiled as he turned to Robin, once again placing his hand on his shoulder. "You know chum, you have some great ideas for this town. Have you had any experience in council work before?" Robin simply gave a chuckle. "Well, no, I just have a lot of strong opinions. It's one of my greatest gripes, I suppose." He said, looking away. "Well, I don't think so." Steve said. "I see a lot of potential in you, friend. What's your name?" "It's Robin..." He said, his voice uneasy. "Well, Robin. Don't tell anyone, but I already have my idea for who should be next in line. I think you would be perfect for the job." Robin rubbed his shoulder, looking back into the streets of the city before turning back to him and saying "I'd need sometime to decide, Mr. Steve. I don't exactly fair well under pressure." He said, noticing Harry and Doi walking up the steps to get him. "Don't sweat it, friend. If you need to contact me at any time," He pulled out a golden card, shimmering in the light as he handed it to Robin. "Give me a call. I hope to see you tomorrow at the next meeting." Steve said, before walking towards Town Hall and disappearing through the doors.

Robin quickly pocketed the card and turned back towards his family. "Well, I'm beat. I think we should spend the rest of the day at home." Harry said, faking a yawn. Doi was already asleep in his arms, peacefully napping. "...right. I'll thaw out some chicken for dinner while Doi is napping." Robin said, a bit exhausted himself from the weight of the choice he'd have to make before tomorrow. Each of the trio began to walk home as dark clouds began to gather in the sky, making the day even more sour than how it had begun.