FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

I looked over at the horizon, dark with the coming storm, hardly believing that a month had passed since I was cast into this war-torn country

I looked around, and saw Sol walking up to me, her belly starting to show her litter of pups.

She glanced at me, noting that I still refused to wear anything other than my tattered, war-stained cloak, which was flapping merrily in the cooling breeze.

"Still thinking of them?" she asked me.

I just sighed.

"Aren't I always?" I answered back, with a tinge of sadness in my voice.

She wrapped her arm around my waist.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find them,"

I glanced around, surprised.

"What?"

"I'm coming with you; there's nothing left for me here, now,"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

She walked over to a rock and sat down.

"Both my brother and my father were in the skirmish, and they were both killed," she said, as tears began to glisten in her eyes.

I noticed it, and quickly walked up to her, wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulders.

She cuddled up close to me, and started sobbing quietly on my shoulder.

As utterly confused as I was about this, I felt a glow suddenly burst into life inside my mind, and I knew what I should say to her.

"Shh, it's alright," I whispered to her, "They'd be proud of you, you know, for everything you've done, and everything you're doing. And I'm proud of you, just because you're you,"

She gave me a weak smile, before kissing me gently on the cheek, and walking back to the camp.

I continued to stare at the horizon, just thinking, before I had a brainwave, and ran after Sol.

She heard my heavy footsteps, and turned around, surprised.

"Honey, what's wrong?" she asked me.

"Listen," I started, "I've just had a good idea. You know those abilities that I told you about? I just remembered that I might possibly be able to teleport!"

"Y-you mean?"

"Yep!"

"Oh, Streak, that's wonderful!" she exclaimed with joy.

She immediately saddened again, for some reason.

"What's wrong?" I asked her, confused.

"Everyone I know is here, and we'd be deserting them," she said sadly.

To be honest, there was nothing that I could say that would both be the truth, and comfort her at the same time.

"We'll visit occasionally," I said to her, trying to cheer her up.

She just sighed.

I walked up and hugged her from behind, while rubbing her belly.

"Mmm, I feel at least five cubs in there," I commented, trying to keep her mind off other things.

When she didn't say anything, I sighed and started to walk away, before turning around suddenly.

"I'm gunna start preparing, ok? If you still wanna come, you'd better get ready too,"

She just nodded, and continued walking to the camp.

I sat down, and tried to contact Odin, whom, with all honesty, I forgot about after the fight.

"Odin?" I called out with my mind.

When I got no response, I started to get worried, and I started to search around my mind for any part of him, hoping to God that he didn't somehow leave.

I found him eventually, and it seemed like he was in a coma.

I touched his mind with mine, and I was suddenly inundated with the memories of dozens upon dozens of lifetimes.

I gasped, wrenching myself away from the flow, and I finally found a part of him that was still aware of everything going on.

"Streak!" I heard Odin call out, somewhat relieved.

"Odin, what happened?"

"When you went berserk, you pushed everything but revenge and fury to the back of your mind, including me!" he explained, somewhat indignantly.

"Sorry," I replied meekly.

"Bah, just don't completely lose yourself to anger again, and everything will be fine,"

"Yeah, so anyway, I need your help,"

"Let me guess, you wanna know how to teleport?"

"Umm, yes,"

He sighed.

"Alright," he relented, "First, put your arm out,"

I did.

"Now, walk in a circle,"

I did.

"Now cluck like a chicken,"

"Ok, now you're pulling my leg. Just tell me how to really do it!" I exclaimed, exasperated.

"Aww, but it's so funny!"

When he felt my anger rise, he quickly gave up on his little joke.

"Ok, now just concentrate really hard on a place. Trust me, it's harder than it sounds,"

I sighed.

"You'd better not be fooling around again," I cautioned.

"Don't worry, I'm not. Let's start off with something easy... Try concentrating on, say, that spot just in front of that tree over there,"

I did, and to my amazement, a rush of power flew through me, and a shimmering portal opened in front of both me and the tree.

"Good," he said, "Great job!"

I stepped through, and found myself, not surprisingly, in front of the tree.

With a whooshing sound, the portal closed behind me.

"Nice," I exclaimed with joy.

I glanced at the gathering clouds on the horizon briefly, before walking back to the camp.

The camp was what you could expect from an army. It was noisy, overcrowded, and, well, practical. Easy access to the outer edges of the camp, easy to defend, and most of all, hard to get out of unseen. To be honest, this was a flaw in some cases.

I quickly found Sol at our tent, packing her meagre possessions into a backpack.

She glanced at me, with a look of confusion on her face.

"Streak, you feeling alright?" she asked me, concerned.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Never mind, it was just a trick of the light. You looked like you just disappeared then reap- there it goes again!"

I glanced around myself with worry.

Sure enough, my body was switching between visible and invisible.

"What the hell?" I exclaimed in shock.

"Odin, what's going on?" I asked him, fearfully.

"I honestly have no idea," he replied, just as fearfully.

Within a few moments, the switching stopped, and I was back to normal.

I gave Sol a reassuring smile.

"See, nothing to worry about,"

She smiled back.

"So, ready to go?" I asked her.

"Just about; I'm almost done packing,"

She soon finished, and we went to a large, open area of the nearby field.

I concentrated hard on Mitch, hoping to dear God that this wasn't going to create a portal inside of him, and a glowing, blue rent in space opened before us.

I found myself in the house that Chloe and Mitch lived in, and, to be honest, it had taken a dive.

There were empty pizza boxes strewn across the floor, along with mounds of dirty clothes and stinking rubbish.

I saw Mitch huddled on the sofa, watching TV while the early morning light filtered through the grime-coated windows.

He looked like hell; he had a thick beard of sorts and his fur was matted. He had a cigarette in one hand, and a coffee in the other. He had deep, black bags under his eyes, and there was a strange, unpleasant odour coming from his fur.

He grunted as he heard us approach him.

"Nik, Dark, I thought I asked you to leave me alone?" he asked us without turning around.

"Mitch?" I asked softly.

He turned around sharply, with tears in his eyes.

"Scott?" he asked hesitantly, "Is that you. I mean, is that really you?"

I gave him a warm smile.

"Yep, it's really me,"

He grunted again.

"Huh, I thought it was really you that time, nice try," he said, before turning around again, and resuming puffing on his cigarette.

I looked at him, hurt.

"Mitch, it's me,"

He smirked.

"Yeah right, that's what you said last time,"

Mitch sighed.

"Wait a second..."

He turned around again, looking at me closely.

"Scott, your fur, it's a different colour..." he trailed off.

He got up, walked over to me, and touched my shoulder.

"So, it really is you," he said, less enthusiastically than I had hoped, before flinging his arms around my neck.

I hugged him back, wrinkling my nose at his (less than pleasant) smell.

"I've missed you, dad," I said softly.

He pulled back, surprised.

"I've missed you too, son," he said, just as softly.

I gave him a smile, which he returned, before he saw Sol standing just behind me.

"And who do we have here?" he asked.

"Oh, umm, this is Sol," I replied, surprised.

"Nice to meet you, sir," she said awkwardly.

Mitch nodded, before bursting into laughter.

"What's so funny?" I asked, confused.

"Never mind," he said, "Tell me everything that's happened to you since we last saw each other,"

"Well, basically I fell into a war, and met this lovely jewel," I paused, kissing Sol on the cheek, before continuing, "Yeah, and I helped win a battle, learned a few new powers, the usual. How about you? You don't look that well, to be honest,"

His face fell.

"I thought you died. It took me too long to get over Chloe's death, and you dying shortly afterwards was hard enough, but I thought you were still mad at me and still hated me. It was torture for me, Scott,"

I smiled at him.

"Well, I'm back, and I'm not mad at you. I've had time to think about what you and Chloe said, and you're right. I'd have gone berserk if you said that to me before I got to know you,"

He smiled back, before turning to Sol, who was clutching her back in pain.

"Oh, oops, one sec," Mitch said, walking over to an armchair and sweeping the contents off, before offering it to her.

She sat down, gratefully, and I sat on the arm of the chair, next to her.

There was a knocking at the door.

"Mitch? Mitch, you in there?"

Nik and Dark walked in, and a wave of stench fled outside.

"Mitch, you can't just mope about, what about everyone else? Do you think Chloe would want you to waste away in here like this?" Dark asked, still in the hallway.

They walked into the sitting room, and were surprised to find us there as well.

"Uhh, can we help you?" Nik asked.

I just looked at him.

"Not really," I replied, happily.

"Well, can you tell us who you are?" he asked.

"Oh, I'm Streak, Mitch's son,"

There was a brief silence.

"Y-you mean," Dark stammered, glancing between Mitch and me.

"Yes, Chloe and I had a son," Mitch finished, slightly embarrassed.

I felt a strange burning sensation course through my veins, and suddenly they lit up, glowing electric blue.

I yelled in pain, and my fur turned a pure black, highlighted by the glow of my veins.

I crashed to the ground, writhing in pain.

Then, nothing...

"Streak? Streeeak? You home?"

I groaned and opened my eyes, finding myself lying on a bed, with Sol sitting on a chair beside me, asleep, and Mitch at the door, talking with someone.

"Streak!" Odin exclaimed, happily.

Sol's eyes fluttered open, and when she saw me, she planted a big kiss on my lips.

"Streak! Finally, we thought you'd never wake up!"

"Wha-what happened?" I managed to ask, while struggling to sit up.

"You transformed, that's what happened," Mitch said, as he walked in, followed by Eifie, Nik and Dark.

I looked down at my body; my fur was jet black, with blue lines running throughout it. I fluttered my wings, unconsciously, before realising what I was doing.

I looked at them, startled; they were the same black colour as my fur, and also had mana lines running through them, but they were leathery and tough.

It would have been so awesome, if it didn't hurt so badly.

I looked around, and saw my swords leaning against the bed.

They were different, somehow. They looked exactly the same as before, but they somehow possessed an inner power. I took one of them, and it started to spark, threatening to set fire to the blanket.

I dropped it, but curiosity got the better of me.

I slowly got out of bed, helped by Dark and Mitch, and picked both of them up this time.

I noticed that one of them sparked blue sparks, while the other sparked red sparks.

I pointed them at the wall, and a bolt of lightning sprang from their tips and blasted a foot-wide hole in the wall.

"Ok, I'm just gunna put these away," I said, meekly, while the others roared in laughter.

I stared at them, questioningly, before starting to laugh along as well.

It was because of this that we didn't notice a strange, dark aurora surround the house and the surrounding countryside.

There was a great flash of light, and everyone inside the house was paralysed.

A tall, cloaked figure materialised in front of us.

"And so, we finally meet," she said, before sweeping of her hood, and revealing the face of Sol.

"What the hell!" I exclaimed in my mind, as I was no longer able to speak.

It was hers, but it had been twisted, warped, and no longer seemed like there was any trace of humanity left in those features.

"I am the angel of pain, suffering, and evil. And I have a need of your unique talents," she said to me.

Suddenly, we all weren't paralysed anymore.

"What if I'm not interested?"

She sighed.

"Well, that's your choice, and if you've made up your mind, then there's nothing I can do to change it. Farewell,"

She disappeared, leaving us rooted to the spot in shock.

"Tha-tha-that w-w-was Chloe!" Mitch exclaimed in horror.

I turned to him.

"But it was Sol!"

"Umm," Sol interrupted, "I just saw you, Streak,"

I just shook my head in amazement.

Then a thought occurred to me.

"Wait a sec, you saw Chloe, right Mitch? And you saw me, right Sol? And I saw you. We each saw whom we loved embodied by that thing," I said, shuddering.

Sol slowly walked over to the veranda, admiring the view.

I walked up beside her, and hugged her,

"I love you, and I'd follow you to hell and back if I need to," I knelt down, and produced a large diamond ring that I had made, using my various powers, and some of Odin's.

"Sol, will you marry me?"

Just as I said this, the sun gloriously rose above the mountain in front of us.

"Oh, Streak! Yes! Yes I will!" she exclaimed with joy.

I slipped the ring onto her finger, before standing up and embracing her.

Several months later, I was helping Mitch in the kitchen, making breakfast for the three of us, since he was kind enough to let us stay with him.

"Ach, if I ever drink like last night again, I swear that I'm gunna just curl up into a little ball, and just sleep for the next week!"

Mitch just smirked.

"Serves you right!" he said, with a touch of amusement.

"Streak?" I heard Sol call from outside.

"Coming!" I replied, rushing outside.

I saw her standing against the rail, gazing at the surrounding forest.

She was now eight months pregnant, but it only served to make her all the more beautiful.

She turned around, smiling at me, before sighing.

"What's wrong?" I asked her, concerned.

"I don't know, I've just got this weird feeling,"

"I know, I've been feeling the same way,"

There was a brief silence.

"Streak?" Odin asked.

"What?"

"Something bad is about to happen..."

"What do you mean?"

"You remember when that drummer boy came up to us, and you knew he was going to die?"

"Yeah, what ab- oh shit! Sol! Get over here!"

I yelled the last part, as she turned around in surprise.

"What's wrong?" she asked, bewildered.

Suddenly, there was a small, star-shaped burst of blood, and Sol's eyes lost their focus.

"Sol?" I asked, concerned.

She staggered forwards a few steps, before collapsing to the ground.

Seconds later, a rifle shot could be heard across the valley.

"SOL!" I yelled, as I rushed over to her.

I felt for her pulse.

It was there.

Barely.

"S-S-Streak, I l-love you..." she trailed off, before her eyes went blank, and her heart stopped.

I was overwhelmed by anger, and I immediately cast out my mind for the person who had fired the shot.

I found it a couple of kilometres away, and to my disgust, I had to admire their shot.

I let out all my anger, and I found myself on a small hill, behind a black fox with a large sniper, who was still lying on the ground.

I fluttered my wings in anger, as my temper rose.

He heard me, and turned around with terror in his eyes.

Before I could kill him, though, I had a strange feeling that I had seen him before.

"I-I know you..."

He slowly stood up, leaving the gun on the ground.

"I saw everything," he said.

I looked at him, blankly.

"That wasn't me! I swear!"

"Then who was it?" I replied, in a deathly soft tone of voice.

"Would I be here if I knew?"

"Alright then, who are you?"

"I'm an old friend of Chloe's," he replied.

"And?"

He held out his hand.

"I'm Marty," he said, "I was one of the people who tried helped her rescue her kids when they were kidnapped,"

I took his hand, shaking it.

I looked at his gun on the ground, then to the spent shell casing on the ground beside it.

My anger returned.

"Have you fired it recently?" I asked.

"No," he replied, "I was looking for the rifleman who was gunning for you and Sol,"

Another strike.

"Who told you about Sol?" I asked, darkly.

Marty looked shocked.

"Well, there's no point in deceiving you any longer, then," he said, his voice rising in pitch, and his body changing.

Within seconds, the she-wolf that I'd killed in the other dimension was standing in front of me.

I staggered back, drawing my swords, while calling the winds up, sending leaves and other debris flying around the clearing, while also turning the sky dark with clouds.

"W-who are you?" I stammered, "I killed you!"

She sniggered, before turning into a tall, cloaked shadow, whose face had a white mask over it.

"I am the angel of pain, suffering and evil, and I'm also the harbinger of the Brotherhood,"

I gaped at her, before noticing that the sky had turned blood red, and there were no clouds in sight.

"You have been a pain for too long, now here you will stay, banished in the Null Void, where there is no escape, no hope, nothing,"

A rent in space opened, and she stepped through it, before it closed.

"No!" I shouted, before trying to open a portal.

It didn't work.

I collapsed to the ground, sobbing for all that had been lost, and for Sol, and my chances of starting a family.

"Streak..." a ghostly voice rang out, startling me.

I glanced around, and saw Chloe standing beside me.

"Chloe?" I exclaimed, confused.

She nodded.

"Yes, I'm here. I've come to help,"

"What do you mean?"

Chloe paused, looking around.

I looked around as well, noticing that my surroundings had changed. We were back at the house, listening in on Mitch talking with Krystal, Nik and Dark.

"I've got no idea where he went," Mitch said, looking sadly at Sol's corpse, "But knowing him, he'd want revenge, and he wouldn't rest until he found it,"

I glanced worriedly at Chloe.

"So I'm dead then? That's why I'm able to see you?"

"No, I don't think so. And I don't think I am either,"

"WHAT?!?!?"

"Well, think about it. You've been banished to the Null Void, a place where nothing should be able to exist, yet here we are. I think that because we are here, that effectively neutralises the Void's power,"

"Huh?"

"The Void is supposed to be exactly that, a void," Chloe explained, "But because something's inside it, it isn't a void anymore, and it has lost its power,"

"But how'd you get here, then," I asked, confused.

"When I jumped into that volcano, something happened. I was taken to paradise, but something was wrong. Someone approached me, and said something about it not being my time to die, yet, and I found myself here. And I've been here ever since,"

"So, how do we get back?" I asked.

"Freyja?" I heard Odin ask.

"Odin?" a female voice replied.

Suddenly, both Odin and a large, acid green dragon (whom I could only assume was Freyja) appeared next to us.

Odin walked up to the dragon's flank, and patted her side.

"It's good to see you again," Odin said.

"You too," the dragon replied.

Both Chloe and I looked on in confusion, before realisation hit us.

"Do you two think that you can get us out of here?" I asked.

Odin and Freyja looked at each other, before turning to us.

"Yes, we think we can," both Odin and Freyja replied.

Odin's body started to shimmer, as did Freyja's, before they both seemed to merge with one another.

What was left astounded us.

It had the same general shape as Odin, as well as his fur, but he had large, grey wings sprouting from his back, and he had a distinct, dragonish air about him.

When it saw us, it gave a small chuckle that seemed to echo.

"We see you're pleased with our transformation?" it asked.

I nodded, noting that they spoke the same way that I had spoken when Odin and I were merged.

"Good, now let's begin," they said, before raising their arms, and chanting in deep, bass tones.

Chloe and I watched in wonder as a crack started to form, bridging the gap between this dimension and ours.

Mitch, Krystal, Nik and Dark turned around, suddenly, and shielded their eyes, as a bright light began shining from the rift.

It steadily grew in size, and before long, it was big enough for us to walk through.

It pulsed brightly, and then we were back home.

"C-Chloe?" Mitch asked, bewildered.

"Mitch!" she exclaimed, before running up to him, and wrapping her arms around his neck, kissing him.

I staggered to a nearby chair, and sank into it, too tired to care about anything, when I noticed Sol's body lying on the ground nearby.

I slowly got up out of the chair again, and staggered over to Sol, before collapsing over her, sobbing.

I immediately noticed a vertical scar above her womb, which hadn't been there before.

I looked up, and saw Krystal holding a squirming bundle in her arms.

I jumped up with joy, and rushed over to her, and saw that she had a baby fox wrapped in a blanket.

She handed it to me.

"It's a girl," she said, with a bitter-sweet smile, "She was the only one who survived,"

I looked down, and saw her nuzzling up to me, and I felt a warmth flow through my body.

"I think I'm gunna call you Miranda," I said to her, softly, before hugging her.

I looked out the window, and a measure of the anger that had possessed me before, returned.

"You've just made yourself a mortal enemy, Brotherhood. Wherever you are, I will hunt you down, and kill each and every one of you!"

* * * * * *

Chloe, Odin, Streak/Scott, Freyja, Miranda, Sol and Eifie are copyrighted to me, ChloeTheFirefox

Mitch and Krystal (his version) are copyrighted to SPAMZZKRR

Nik is copyrighted to Sonic Fox

Dark is copyrighted to Dark Wolfe