FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The last remnants of the sun peered over the tree line in an army of yellow-white beams. The sounds of wildlife were dying, and the sounds of insects grew more apparent with every passing minute. The monotonous buzzing and humming filled the valley and echoed around them. Talrean was panting heavily and struggled to keep up with the seemingly never ending endurance of the Wolvrun ship captain. Nephadius continued on, ignoring the huffing and puffing behind him.

It had been about an hour since the two wolves had resumed their trek through the thick jungles. There was an uncomfortable silence between the two that left Talrean with an uneasy feeling that boiled in the pit of his stomach. The young Wolvrun was lost in deep thought when he ran into the back of the older Wolf, causing him to fall backwards in surprise.

"We're here," Nephadius said, pointing into a cluster of thick vines and trees.

It wasn't particularly noticeable at first, but as Talrean squinted his eyes he could make out the old rusted outline of a large metal structure in front of them. They had finally arrived at the Eakawha ship, and not a moment too soon. Slowly, the last of the light dropped below the trees, leaving the scene around them in an eerie twilight before it turned into a pitch darkness.

Nephadius reached into his overcoat and pulled out a large pill-shaped object. He snapped it in half, causing a flood of bright green light to explode into their surroundings. The shadows danced around as he threw it in front of him. The light streaked through the thick foliage until it stopped with a loud 'thunk' against the metal hull of the ship. One by one he pulled out the pill-shaped lights, snapping them and throwing them around until the entire area was bathed in a toxic green glow.

Nearby there was a rustling in the bushes. Before Talrean could even turn to inspect it a blue streak whizzed past his face, leaving a tear in the atmosphere. The Wolvrun ship captain stood half-cocked, energy blaster in hand. A steady flow of steam rose out of the muzzle.

"Watch where you're shooting, jackass!" a familiar voice rang from nearby. The bird woman burst from the bushes, pulling small twigs from the crevices in her suit. Her eyes held a fiery glow as she stared at Nephadius in anger.

"Watch where you're stepping, she-devil," Nephadius retorted, shooting again into the bushes that Aietos had stepped out of only moments before. The blue ball of energy cut through the leaves, exploding into the ground behind the thicket. There was a hissing whine, followed by another small explosion.

"What was that?" Talrean asked nervously.

"Nothing to worry about now," Nephadius answered, sheathing his gun.

Talrean turned to Aietos, looking over the woman. She looked a bit scraped up, but seemed to be intact. He ran up to and greeted her, but was met with a very displeased hand shoved immediately in his face.

"Are you alright? What happened? Where did you go?"

"Shut up," she said, promptly walking past the young wolf.

Hurt and dejected, Talrean followed behind her. Aietos's quick flowing gait glided her straight up to Nephadius where her onslaught of crude insults began. At least things were back to normal, Talrean thought to himself. The group moved forward into the abandoned interior of the old ship.

"We are being watched," he heard through his headset. Quickly he ducked behind the large set of trees he had posted himself in, fearful that he had been noticed. The loud rumbling noise that followed echoed around him and blared through his headset in an unbearable squeal. The Equin quickly snatched the earpiece, chucking it to the ground.

The trees shook around him violently as he was caught in another unworldly roar. The horse peeked down to see a large beast breaking through the jungle below. In front of it ran the small group.

"Damn!" He breathed in a low whinny. Having tracked the Wolvrun and his accomplices this far into the brush had been tough enough without them running away. Luckily the younger Wolvrun had stepped straight onto one of the many traps that the bounty hunter had placed the night before, embedding a tracking device into his foot.

The horse pulled up a map of the surrounding terrain, a small blip blinking and moving quickly across it. The Equin sighed, clicking his teeth and scratching his chin with his free hand.

"It's gonna be tough explaining to Krugar why the Wolvrun is dead if he gets eaten..." he said to himself, following the tracking blip as it danced across the small screen.

Reaching into one of his pockets, the horse pulled out a small mechanical device, flicking it open and revealing a set of controls. Turning on the device caused the small screen on his wrist to display a video image. He flicked the controls and the camera moved around on the screen. The area on the display was a complete mess. Roots were torn out of the ground, trees were snapped clean in half, and everything was in disarray. He sighed in relief. The creature below didn't accidently stomp on his surveillance drone.

The Equin fiddled with the controls for a minute, setting it to auto-track the device implanted within the yellow Wolvrun. After it was set the drone powered up fully, scuttling across the ground like a hurried spider and disappearing into the thick set of trees. The horse put the control device away, crossing his arms and tilting his head down in contemplation.

This was by far the oddest bounty he was ever hired to take on. Not often was he hired to capture his targets alive. His thick ears flicked back and forth as he sat and continued to think, wondering why it was so important to capture the white wolf. The sun was shining through the canopy above him. It was high noon, and the humidity of the jungle captured the heat from it.

The horse jumped down from his hiding place, landing below in a loud thump. The large pistol on his hip jangled as he made his way towards where the surveillance bot scurried off to. The moment he started on foot his body became damp with sweat.

"Damnit," he cursed to himself as he hiked through the jungle.

With the sun down, the temperature dropped rapidly. The bounty hunter shivered as he navigated his surveillance bot through the thick brush. His breath steamed in the cold air, fogging his wrist screen every couple of seconds. He mumbled in frustration every time he had to wipe it down.

"S-s-stupid..." the horse grumbled, "...hate the cold."

He crept near the two Wolvruns, watching and listening intently with his tiny robot.

"We're here," he heard through his headset. His ears flicked curiously.

"And where is 'here'?" the horse huffed silently.

He watched as the white Wolvrun threw out some chem-lights, causing his night vision camera to malfunction in the green glow. He quickly switched to infrared to save his eyes from the bright agony. The screen flickered warm reds for heat and cool blues for cold, that's when the Equin noticed something odd behind the two wolves.

The blues on his screen turned to purple, which indicated extreme colds. Usually it was only seen on arctic planets...or on space ship paneling. He zoomed out quickly, taking the purples into view as much as he could.

"Huh?" he whinnied. It wasn't easy to make out on the tiny screen, but it was definitely a space ship. The horse slid a hand underneath his hat and scratched the top of his head in confusion. Suddenly he heard a rustling in his earpiece.

Spinning his bot around quickly, he found his screen swamped with the oranges and reds of body temperature. Something living was right on him. His screen lit up in a bright white blinding him and his earpiece squealed a hissing fizz sound moments later.

"What the fu--"

"Watch where you're shooting, jackass!" a feminine voice rang through his earpiece. He turned to follow the voice as his screen slowly readjusted.

"Watch where you're stepping, she-devil," a smooth voice echoed.

He heard a high pitched whistle followed by unbearable static. The horse quickly pulled the module from his ear, throwing it to the ground. His screen was blank and the static sound fizzed on the ground near his foot. His eyes squinted in fury. His jaw clenched tightly.

"I'm going to kill that motherfucker."

The interior of the ship was damp and dripped in various places. Some of the hull had holes in it that the pale moonlight of the outside world seeped through. It was cold. Very cold.

Nephadius held out a chem-light as he walked cautiously forward. His breath was visible as he panted softly. Aietos walked next to him, neck feathers ruffled for warmth. Talrean walked behind, shivering and rubbing his exposed arms. The ship was much colder than the outside was and his fur seemed to do little to keep him warm. His teeth began to clatter rapidly, breaking the eerie silence around them.

Aietos and Nephadius had finished their argument and strode alongside each other quietly. They looked around, searching for the same thing, and when they found it they stood in that same silence. In front of them was a door. Normally this door would have led to the bridge and cockpit of the ship, but it was welded shut. The Wolvrun pursed his lips. The Eakawha wrinkled her eyebrows. Both looked at the door with the same expression. Why was the door welded from this side?

The silence was awkward and lasted a good five minutes. Nephadius walked over to a panel next to the closed door, prying it open and revealing the internal wiring. Surprisingly the wires hadn't corroded over the years. He pulled the battery from his blaster, hardwiring it in. Seconds later a couple of overhead lights powered on. The power system seemed to have remained intact.

The bright white lights bounced around the hallway, washing out the darkness around them. The Wolvrun and Eakawha both continued to stare at the door until Nephadius spoke up.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but, isn't it Eakawha standard practice for the crew of a downed ship to seal themselves _inside_the cockpit in case of emergency?" He asked Aietos as he dragged his fingers across the crude welding.

"So you noticed it as well," she replied, "If they welded the door from this side, it can only mean one thing..."

Aietos drew her sword slowly, the knuckles on her talons draining of color from the sheer force of the grip she held. Nephadius nodded his head in agreement.

"My thoughts exactly... they weren't trying to keep intruders out... they were trying to keep something in."

The Wolvrun pulled a spare battery from his coat and reloaded his energy pistol. There was a faint blue glow and a high pitched whizzing that the gun emitted as it warmed up. He flicked a small knob with his thumb, causing the blue light to change to a deep red. The whizzing sound intensified tenfold and continued louder and louder as it charged.

"Ready?" He asked, lining up his sights with the center of the door. Aietos nodded her head, pulling her sword into a close stance. "Stand back."

Talrean watched as the older Wolvrun's finger slowly pulled back upon the trigger. As soon as he heard the thick click the room exploded in a fiery crimson, blinding him. The heat poured backwards from the Wolf's hand, immediately scorching the air, and the explosion itself rang through the corridor, puncturing through to his eardrums.

Standing at the ready, Nephadius and Aietos held weapons drawn, eyes unblinking as they scanned for motion through the thick smoke. When nothing jumped out at them, the grips they held loosened slightly. The smoke was beginning to clear, revealing the dark and empty cockpit. Nephadius grabbed one of the chem-lights from the inner pocket of his coat, snapping it and throwing it into the forward darkness. The radiation-like green glow painted the darkness in its toxic swathes. The black shadows of the surrounding darkness danced away as the light bounced across the floor eventually rolling to a stop.

Their reactions were simultaneous, all three of them, to what laid before their eyes. Aietos was shocked, her beak unhinged. Nephadius's glare was worrisome and confused. Talrean, frightened.

Deep gnashes were torn into the metal paneling of the room; each rivet dug in several inches. They were claw marks. Several dark stains on the floor, and splattered across the walls accompanying nearly every swipe. The scene looked like it was straight out of a twentieth century horror film. What concerned the party the most though was the lack of the sources of the carnage. Not a single bone or body anywhere in the vicinity.

Talrean asked the question that nobody wanted the answer to, "Where--Where are the bodies?"

There were streaks dragged through the blood stains, where it was clear that whoever was killed was moved, but the question still remained, who, or better yet, what, did this, and where was it now?

Nephadius tossed the remainder of his chem-lights into every corner of the room. By the time the lights had settled and were no longer rolling there was not a single shadow remaining. No place for any creatures to hide. He scanned throughout the room multiple times before finally taking his steps into the open. Into the vulnerable open.

The Wolf made his way to the largest bloodstain. In the bright green glow it just appeared as a black smear across the ground, but he knew what it was, they all did. He brought his hand to the dark streak, pushing his index finger hard into it. He made a swift wiping motion, then brought his finger up closer to his face for inspection. None of the blood transferred onto his paw pads. The oils in his skin didn't pull up anything but a thin layer of dust. He sighed in relief.

"Whatever... massacre... happened here, happened a long time ago. Most likely around two hundred years ago when the ship first landed. It explains why communications went dark," Nephadius said as he turned to look at Aietos and Talrean.

Aietos's beak was still unhinged from the gruesome sight. Her thoughts raced, wondering what could have possibly done this. At the Wolvrun's words she snapped back into the present. 'How did he...?' she thought to herself. By this point, she no longer knew whether her mission was still confidential or not. She stared at the Wolvrun as he continued to analyze the space around them.

The bridge was rather large and held an ovular shape. Nephadius had slowly worked his way to the front, where the ships controls were held. Much like the outside of the door, his hands brushed against the paneling, searching for the console panel. After a few minutes he found the entrance. After prying the panel open, he again hardwired the battery from his blaster into the internal wiring.

When nothing turned on, the Wolvrun tilted his head curiously. After a second of contemplation he slid his hand across the controls, pressing various buttons in the process. Nothing he seemed to do would activate the system.

"Damnit," he cursed as he slammed his fist into the panel. As if the magic word had been uttered, the lights on the control panel lit up. After a small click the overhead light came on with it.

Talrean had already felt sick thinking about the blood splattered room, and now that he could see the carnage clearly, his stomach nearly dropped out of him. The young wolf's belly curled into knots of fiery nausea. The skin beneath his fur turned a ghostly white.

As the system started up Nephadius clicked away at the control panel. When the main screen had finally warmed up, the wolf hit the keys a few more times, then stepped back, staring up at the display.

"Playing last recorded message," the intercom announced.

'It's been 53 days since we landed... this planet... it's... it's not like anything we've ever prepared for.' On the screen was an Eakawha. The bird sat back in his chair, speaking slowly. His eyes were heavy as he stared back. The feathers on his face seemed wilted and unkempt. It looked like the Eakawha hadn't slept for days. 'The readings on this planet are outstanding... perfect even. Building the device here would allow for all sites to link together with this location being the central hub.' The video glitched out for a split second. When the feed resumed, the Eakawha was on the opposite side of the screen, his talons where pressed into his face, his demeanor changed to concern. 'Another one of us went missing yesterday... Eudica from Applied Sciences... that's the third this week... we're all on edge. If we could just figure out what the hell is going on--.' The video glitched again. 'What's going on?' In the background Eakawha were firing laser pistols and screaming. 'DON'T LET IT INTO THE BRIDGE.' The Eagle was standing, firing his own pistol at something off screen. 'Mother of Eos, forgive us all.' In a split second a large black figure flashed across the screen. Blood sprayed onto the camera, flooding the screen in the thick red. The audio continued recording. In the background there was a guttural chortling combined with a wet mastication. The crunch of bone could be heard every few seconds.

The Wolvrun turned the video off. It didn't need to run itself out. The disturbing chewing sounds were more than enough to paint the picture.

Nephadius began clicking away at the controls, sifting through hundreds of files a second. As he went to view the first batch an error message appeared showing that the files were inaccessible due to being encrypted. The wolf turned to Aietos, clicking his fingers on the outer edges of the console.

"Well, we can do this the easy way or the hard way..." he said, motioning to the console.

Aietos ruffled her neck feathers, "You insensitive prick! That's all you can think about? Knowing very well that it was _my_people who died on this ship?"

The Eakawha woman was waving her hand at the wolf in a fury, motioning emphasis to her words. Nephadius stared back with disdain. His lips drooped low in a frown.

"And even if everything was okay, which it is not, what makes you think that I would _ever_assist you? A Wolvrun? Especially with classified information?!"

"Look around you!" Nephadius yelled in response. "The Eakawha have been gone for over two hundred years! Your classifications no longer matter. Now, if you want to help me get your people back, I suggest you shut up and get me into these files!"

"Get my people back? What are you--?"

Behind the bird woman came a howl of terror. Talrean had stumbled backwards, landing at the woman's feet. Standing in front of the young wolf was a large, four eyed creature. It's hot breath steaming in the cold air.

"Oh you have got to be--," Aietos huffed, stepping over Talrean who was curled up, eyes closed, in a ball on the floor. Nephadius stood beside him, charging up his blaster.

"Put that damn thing away!" The Eakawha waved back to the Wolvrun. He turned his head curiously as he watched the woman walk casually up to the beast.

Aietos stood in front of the menacing creature, fists on her hips as they cocked to the side in dismay. She shook her head back and forth, tapping her foot.

"What do you think you're doing? Following me all the way out here?"

The large beast sat down heavily in front of the woman, opening its mouth to reveal a large, blue tongue. It dragged it playfully up the woman's face.

"Is it gone? Did you kill it?" Talrean whimpered from the floor, eyes still clenched.

Nephadius pulled the boy from the ground, standing him up and facing him directly at the sight in front of them. "Open your eyes... You have GOT to see this," The older Wolvrun whispered.

Talrean opened his eyes slowly, looking around to see what was going on. The moment his eyes fell upon Aietos, his maw unhinged in surprise.

"Stop it you damn mutt!" She squawked as the beast licked her face fervently. Her hands pushed into the face of the odd creature as it continually tried to lick her. She began laughing as the beast rolled over playfully, raising its paws up to smack at her hands.

After a moment of laughter the Eakawha snapped back to reality, turning immediately to the two Wolvruns. Her face flushed a deep crimson as she stared at the wolves, both of which had their heads cocked in a curious fashion as they watched the scene.

Aietos took her hand, pushing it against the snout of the beast. In a huff, she pushed the creature backwards through the doorway, she could hear the laughter of the wolves behind her as she continued on down the hallway, backing the beast up as she went.

Back in the room, Nephadius's wrist computer dinged loudly. He flicked it up to his face where the words "Download complete" were now showing. Motioning towards Talrean, the two wolves followed the Eakawha back into the hallway.

Aietos was waving her fingers at the creature, scolding it in a low hushed tone. Nephadius and Talrean had caught up to her as she began smacking the beast on the snout.

"What is it?" Talrean asked her. She turned around and glared at him with a perturbed look on her face.

"Do I look like a zoologist?" The bird woman asked. She screeched in surprise as the dog-beast dragged its tongue up the back side of her head.

"No... But you and the creature seem to be friendly," Nephadius said in reply.

The color returned to her face. The pale red showing underneath her pristine white feathers. Her eyes immediately diverting from the statement.

"When I got lost the stupid thing helped me get unlost... I didn't know it followed me all the way here!"

"Where did you go?" Talrean questioned earnestly.

"The ground below me gave way and I fell into an underground cavern. I was met by this stupid beast and he led me out. That's it, happy?" She retorted.

Nephadius shrugged. He wasn't too concerned about where the woman had gone. It didn't matter to him. He walked past the group and headed towards the exit.

"I got the files I wanted... It's up to you if you want to help me get into them. There's no reason for us to stay here any longer," he said, looking over his shoulder as he continued walking away.

Aietos quickly jogged to catch up, leaving Talrean and the dog-beast behind. The creature tilted his head curiously at the young sand colored Wolvrun before turning and following the other two out itself.

The beast stood up, stretching before it walked away, Talrean noticed two thick claws extend from the beast's hind paws. They dug into the metal paneling on the floor, slicing thick ridges into the metal as if it were butter. The claws quickly retracted as the creature moved, quickly bounding to catch up. Talrean stared at the ridges, head in a daze, blinking as he tried to comprehend what was so odd about them.

His eyes widened as his brain made the connection, visions of the destroyed room nearby flashing into his head. The torn up floor paneling in the bridge had the same exact markings sliced all throughout it. The knots in his stomach returned as he turned and watched the beast bound towards his two companions. He gulped loudly, beginning to chase after them himself.