FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The rest of the day was pretty smooth. Nothing really happened. Shin and Raven took off on their own, as well as Jack and Lulu. River stuck with me and Iris for a while but he had other things to do, so he left as well. Iris and I were hanging out with Draco and Shay in a small café on the outskirts of Longpoint City. Since the technicians were wary of mages, we were told to stay out of sight.

We ordered a pizza (Note to self: Shay likes pepper way too much) and the only ones that ended up eating it, were Shay and Draco. They didn't seem to understand why both Iris and I politely declined. We had a simple pine-apple and ham pizza for ourselves. It was pretty good, actually, since I had never really had pizza before.

After an hour or so of chatting, Shay excused herself and Draco followed after her. I chuckled to myself and Iris cocked her head at me, curious of the reason for my smile. I noticed this and explained her.

"She really does have him on a short leash, doesn't she?"

She cracked a smile (Note to self: Her smiles are so cute!) and laughed a little, then returned with an explanation of her own.

"Yes. But only because he isn't supposed to be here on his own. 'Pets are not allowed here" Pets? He seemed intelligent enough to not be considered a pet. What's up with that?

"Pet?" I asked, curious of the title, the raptor possessed.

"Shay is a Tamer. She can 'speak' with animals and her clan - Zephyr - has all of the Tamers choose an animal to protect them. Luckily, she had already known Draco since they were born. Childhood friends, if I understood it right" She smiled again. "Sadly, Tamers don't use magic. It's a different form, using the 'soul' 'chi' or the more common word 'aura', to relay thoughts to one another"

"So can she read his thoughts?" That would explain, how it was possible for so many people to tap into my thoughts. By using this 'aura'.

"Not unless he lets her. Which reminds me" She touched my hand and I almost flinched. I would've, if it hadn't felt so nice and soft. "You are way too inexperienced to be alone. I was wondering if..." She blushed a little. "I was wondering... If I could ask you, to spend the night at my house today? I could help you slightly with blocking out people from your mind. I may not be the best-" She was talking way too fast to make any sense, so I interrupted her politely, placing my left hand over her hand.

"Relax. To be honest, I don't really feel like sleeping in the kitchen again. And I have a feeling, that nobody really wants me there. But I won't trouble you, if it's difficult to arrange-"

"It's not difficult at all!" She beamed. "But I should probably show you around town, so that you get familiar with the surroundings?"

"That'd be nice" Great! A private walk with her! And as she said, I could get a layout of the city this way! Two birds with one stone!

Relaaaax. It's not a date. She's just helping out a friend. Prothero mocked me in the back of my head.

Shut up. I snapped back. I wasn't in the mood to the dark and strange humor of the Shadow.

"He sounds... Interesting..." Iris looked at me curiously, studying the patterns on my left arm. Damnit! She'd heard that?! Calm down... Calm the fuck down!

"Excuse me?" I tried to sound as cool as possible, but my voice couldn't stop trembling.

"Prothero, right?" She dug her nails into the jet-black scales. I let out a loud yelp and pulled my arm back. I could hear the Shadow almost screaming in pain. What just happened?!

"Aah crap! What was that for?!" I snapped at the still-smiling swanlike girl, almost pulling my knives from under my sleeves.

"As he said; relax. But he is pretty strong" She opened her palm and a black liquid oozed out. What the hell? "He's actually not only strong enough to present himself to you mentally, but strong enough to create a physical form out of a shadow... That'd explain how you used body morphing techniques with little difficulty..." She trailed off in her thoughts. I just sat there, unsure if I should strike or stop. I glanced at my shoulder, where she had struck, but it was in the same condition, as a few minutes ago. Nothing had changed and the pain wasn't there anymore.

Tell that girl t' stop! Prothero yelled in my mind. I couldn't dismiss this. It was too strange.

What happened?

I don't know! But I'm missing a chunk of my shoulder now! A strong mental image flashed in my mind, of the dark figure of Prothero, only with a huge hole where his shoulder should be. It was already healing but he was in pain. This worried me very much. She just attacked my element!

"Don't do that again, please" I tried to sound as calm as possible but being attacked so viciously and out in the open couldn't go unnoticed.

"I already told you to relax. The only reason I could do that, was because you have absolutely no mental shielding" She tapped my forehead and I flinched a little, fearing a similar attack. "In fact, that's why Celeana was in such condition earlier" What?! I never told anyone! Not even River!

"How did you know about that?" I demanded an answer and didn't bother sounding cool anymore.

"I'm a Seeker. Knowing is what we do" She answered, not seeming disturbed by my outburst at all. "But the fact that you didn't feel it though means that the one who did that, was very talented" She was obviously referring to Graverobber. The jackal's malformed, stitched face flashed in my mind. I winced at the mere sight of that grin, holding that never-ending cigar. I slumped back in my chair.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you..."

"I know" Damnit! She knows everything, doesn't she?!

"Knowing is what we do, as I already stated" She smiled. (Note to self: Don't even THINK around this girl)

"And stop making those silly little notes to yourself" She laughed out loud and got up, moving the tray to a dispenser. I didn't bother commenting on that anymore. Didn't make any sense to object.

We walked around town for a while, until she suddenly pulled to a full stop. I was about to ask, what was going on, but her hand slapped against my mouth, before I could mutter out a syllable. She raised her left hand and motioned to be quiet. I nodded and she pulled her hand away. She pointed around the street and ducked behind a wall. I followed suit and noticed two men. Humans. They were both armed with guns and had a very high tech uniform on. The man in front had a large left shoulder shield, so I assumed that he must've been the boss. Other than the shoulder, their armor matched. They were both a dark blue with the bigger patches of armor shining a near pitch black color. The man behind the boss had a helmet on that seemed like it was more trouble than it was worth. A large, black visor covered his face and I could see bright green text flashing across the inside of the glass helmet. But what stood out the most, was their shoulder armor. It had the standard zero on it, marking it as a Zero Division issued armor. But the zero had been cut and it seemed like the top-half of it was sliding off. Maybe a new branch?

What really disturbed me, was the fact that they were pointing their guns at a man. Leopard, from the appearance, I gathered. He had bright blue robes and runes, stating that he was a water mage. His fur was white with blue spots covering it the white undercoat. He was screaming his lung off, trying to say that it was a mistake. That the Council didn't-

He never got further. The technicians opened fire. One short volley later, the leopard lay on the ground. Dead. I felt the world going black around me. I lost consciousness .

I found myself pinned against a wall. A scythe had trapped me, locked into the corner of a small house. Iris was on the other end, panting furiously. I looked over to the leopard and saw a man approach him. After a short moment the man simply walked away. I couldn't make any sense of him. He was wearing a... Cowboy outfit?! Graverobber! I whipped my head towards Iris, fighting against the scythe.

"It's him! We've got to-"

"I know. He helped me stop you" She snapped at me. Me? What had I done? She nodded towards the leopard, or atleast I thoughts she did. But my gaze drifted to where the technicians were. Had been. Or... Depending on how you look at it, they were still there. Just... All over the place... I saw an arm hanging from a flower pot, a leg was draining down a sewer and I could see the blue armor covered in crimson blood. I looked down at my hands, horrified. They were stained in the same red! I let out a tear of panic.

Hehee... Sweet, isn't it? Prothero chuckled in the back of my head. I flicked my tongue across my lips and tasted a bittersweet flavor. I saw a reflection in the white scythe holding me down and gasped loudly. I was covered in blood!

Don't worry, boy. I've got it all handled, don't I? He kept on laughing, this time, more audibly. In a moment, I felt the shadows in the corner give way. I saw confusion in Iris's eyes and she must've seen the same in mine, as I slid under the shadows.

I couldn't see anything for a moment, then a flash and I saw everything. I was still on the street. Or rather, in the street. It was like being under water. The only difference was that I didn't feel like I was drowning and I could walk. When I moved, my whole body dashed in an instant to a sort of window. It was like under ice, come to think of it. The 'windows' were like cracks in the ice and everything else was a little blurred. She must've knocked me out. I was just hallucinating. I dashed again and I was looking at the back of Iris. I stepped out and felt myself slipping back into the street. Weird feeling.

"What just happened?!" I stared at the wall, I had just appeared from. The only thing there was a shadow. I stared down at my hands, still hearing the maniacal laugh of Prothero. Iris whipped at me and swinged the enormous scythe at me. I raised my hands defensively and formed a shield of sorts with my right hand. I was getting the hang of this! I twisted out of her way and stepped in a shadow, sliding into it and popping up behind her. Maybe I'm not hallucinating... I pressed her against the wall and tried to sound as calm as possible.

"I don't know what just happened. I'm not going to hurt you. I just need to understand this"

She pushed me aside and I let her free of my grip. I relaxed my arms back into their regular form, holding them defensively, showing that I won't harm her.

"Prothero?" She asked, sounding cooler than I had expected.

"I guess so... I'm not sure" I tried to relax and leaned against a wall. Sadly, there was a shadow and my hand slipped into it. I stopped the fall and held my hand in place. It was halfway inside the wall. What was this? Iris only stared in awe.

"That is definitely not normal..."

"Even for mages?" I cracked a small smile, trying to sound confident. I was far from that. If she didn't know what was going on, who the hell would?!

"I have never heard of this kind of magic... We need to tell Lulu or River about this! The others should know too!" She was obviously not happy with this but she seemed to have a slight interest in this. As far as I knew, she had always been curious about magic and wanted to study it, to find as many different kinds of magic.

"I had never heard of magic in general. So I guess we're even" I forced a laugh. She didn't. I put on a serious face. "I should probably go home"

"I already offered you a place to stay, didn't I?" She had a tight smile across her lips. I relaxed and nodded. I offered my arm in a hook and she hooked her arm around mine. We walked wordlessly, as she directed me to her house.

20.40

We arrived at Iris's place. It was not really huge but definitely big enough for a small family. From what I could see, there was five windows on either side. Three floors. Thirty windows over all. It was a brown color. Brick building. She let go of my arm and stepped to open the door. I looked around more. There were no lights on. I couldn't hear any voices either. Had she been left alone?

"Where are your parents?" I stopped in front of the door, admiring the lions carved on the red wood.

"Elsewhere" She sighed and pushed the door open. I walked behind her and was going to press on the question but saw that it wasn't a smart choice. I dropped the subject.

"Okay. Where do I sleep?" I looked at the interior. Wow! There was one huge staircase just a few meters ahead of me. The same swan sculptures where here, as the ones in the tower. I admired one in particular and moved up to run my hand along the neck of it. It felt so... Strange. Almost like real feathers! I looked into the eyes of it and I could've sworn that it was alive!

Iris giggled at my confusion and yawned. "I was going to show you more today... But I guess we should call it a night..." She walked up the stairs, motioning with her hand towards me, to follow. "Second floor, third door from the right" She pointed out. "That's the guest room. I'll be in the room opposite to yours, if you need anything"

I walked up to the door. I pushed with my clawed middle finger and it creaked a little. Eerie. I pressed my palm on it and gave it a little nudge. It was stuck... I shoved with my palm and there was a sigh in the wood, as it flung open.

This room was not big. It was enough for me though. A one-person bed, a mirror and a barely working light. "Thanks" I smiled at the beaming Iris.

She nodded and started walking up to the door she had pointed out earlier as her own. "I'll be right here. Good night, Ryu"

I smiled back and closed my door, as I returned the wishes. "Good night, Iris"

After a while of checking out the room, I decided to retire to my bed. It was too late now to do anything and I wouldn't dare practice here. I took off my fleece and tank top, leaving myself shirtless in the cold room. Not really cold but enough to have a chilly bite to it. I crawled under a blanket and sighed blissfully. I was in a beautiful girl's home, sleeping a few meters from her bed and she hasn't stopped smiling at me! Although I'm not sure what happened downtown today... I'll have to ask her about that... But that's for later... Right now I just need some sleep. It'll all be clearer tomorrow.