FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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Fifteen minutes after their conversation had ended; Dante had nodded into another deep sleep. He didn't have much sleep the night before; he kept on waking up from severe headaches. This one though, was a peaceful one.

He was sprawled out on the seat in front of the Major; who was now pouring himself a drink of whiskey and was talking to someone on the phone, giving them orders to set up equipment ready for the tests they were going to need to do in the morning.

He put the phone down gently not to wake Dante who was now fast asleep; taking a sip of his whiskey. He picked up the file he was given again, flipping through it once more as the lion gazed curiously at the profile of the little 'roo that lay in front of him.

"Hmm...certainly have a troubling life, don't you?" he whispered rhetorically, raising an eyebrow at his quite unfortunate past, comparing it with his current situation in his own mind.

*******

Dante woke a bit startled; finding himself in a very plain room. He had been brought in by someone; maybe the Major, and was left to rest on what seemed to be a metal framed bed with green sheets lying over him and a white pillow.

He dragged his legs out of bed lazily and started to rub the back of his neck. He'd slept awkwardly; his neck ached just like his head. He checked his wristwatch which read "ten to eleven". He had a good sleep though; he thought to himself.

He picked himself out of bed and decided to get changed. He went into the trunk at the bottom of the bed but only found issued uniform, boots and standard underwear. He wondered where his things were.

He searched underneath all the things in the trunk; even under the bed but couldn't find anything.

Now a little lost to what to do, he stood up and looked at the bedside table. There was a note for him. He went over to the table, picked it up and read the note. It said for him to report to the Major immediately once Dante had woken up.

"Ask people for directions," he read aloud to himself. Without a second thought, he left the room. He was in a long corridor and there were many furs walking past him in either uniform or white coats, some staring at him wondering why a child was there.

Dante tried to ignore the stares people were giving him and went up to a fur in a uniform.

"Excuse me" Dante called to him, and he turned around.

"Um...do you know where Major Jackson is? I've been left a note to see him right away. He told me to ask for help."

The fur he was talking to was a kangaroo like him too. He was almost the same colour as Dante but had green eyes. He was looking down at Dante, amazed at what he was seeing. A kid was there, probably no older than ten with the way he looked.

"Yeah... Follow me," he told him, a bewildered look on his face.

"Uh...thanks," Dante said, quickly jogging to catch him up after leaving so suddenly. Dante felt a little awkward as he followed the kangaroo. With a sudden urge, he asked him,

"So, what's your name?" The kangaroo looked down at him and was still looking a bit bewildered. Dante cringed at the cold look he was getting. He finally answered with,

"Command Sergeant Major John Madsen," he said; a little less harsh than his look. He outstretched his paw, beckoning Dante to shake his. He grabbed his paw and said,

"Dante...uh?" pausing trying to remember the other name he had. He couldn't. John looked at him funnily, as if it were hard to know your own name.

"Nice to meet you Dante," he said with a little more of a friendly hint in his voice, laughing at Dante's contented face; trying to remember his last name.

"Here we go," he announced as they arrived at a door which was completely white.

"Thanks", Dante said with a grateful tone and walked in through the door where there were a few new furs but one, tall figure he recognised as the Major. He seemed to be wearing the same uniform he had on the night before but, it was probably just another suit.

They all turned around staring at who had come through the door.

"Thank you; that will be all", the Major had said as he turned around. John had stood in a saluting stance until he was dismissed and quickly said,

"Bye" to Dante as he left the room. Dante was feeling very uneasy as all the occupants in the room were staring at him; not believing their eyes what they were showing them.

"Dante, please; sit down", Major Jackson had said offering him a seat. Dante quickly did what he was told and tried to avoid making eye contact with any of the furs in white coats who were staring at him without any clue that they were making him feel uncomfortable.

"You have a good sleep?" the Major asked. Dante just nodded in silence; twiddling his thumbs trying to keep his mind off the furs that were staring at him.

"Good, good. You're having a health examination today, maybe a few physical tests as well", he said jumping straight to the point. Dante could hear as the furs behind him were scratching pens against their clipboards furiously; each one writing tremendous amounts of notes by the furiousness of the scratching.

"Um; what do you mean by health examination?" Dante asked a little confused; he thought the Major knew what was wrong.

"Ah, this is...um...it's a little embarrassing should we say. I am more than sure you're fine; but it's procedure. Can't ignore it," the Major said, making Dante feel even more uneasy.

"Doctor, if you would," the Major said, pointing his arm towards a door. Dante looked at the door first; then back to a tigress; who replied bluntly with,

"Sir" and went up to Dante, held him by the shoulders, and directed him by his shoulders through the door. When they got through the door, she suddenly said

"OK then. Strip," without warning.

"Excuse me?" he said, very shocked.

"Strip, come on. It's your health examination. After this I'll need you to fill this," she said, laying a small beaker on the table. Dante was horrified. This was the most embarrassing thing he would ever have to do. Surely he didn't have to do this?

"Well, come on. We haven't got all day!" she said impatiently. She obviously had no problem doing this.

Quickly, Dante took his clothes off, and stood there butt-naked with his hands by his sides, looking away from the tigress. Without warning, she grabbed him and said sternly,

"Cough!" Dante did what he was told, who was now blushing wildly as she groped him.

After he coughed, she left go and started scribbling on her board and then went back to observing his body, randomly going,

"Mm-hm..." now and then as she confirm her results. She even went through his hair to check if he had lice. Dante couldn't believe how demeaning this was, who still trying to shrug off the astonishment from the start.

After a few minutes of surveying him and writing notes, she pointed to a door, handed him the beaker and said,

"Go on, fill it. And try not to spill any..."

Without saying anything he went straight to through the door and into the cubicle with a toilet in it. A few seconds later he was out and gave her the beaker.

"Thank you," she said, and placed a cap on it.

"Right put your clothes back on. We'll be back with the results in a few minutes, and then inform the Major. We'll then come and call you back in." Dante nodded his head again in silence who was still blushing, standing naked in front of her, until she left.

Without any hesitation, he put his clothes back on straight away; still blushing profusely. He sat down on a bench on the side of the room. It was a long, white-tiled room; opposite the bench were a line of green lockers that lead to showers. On his side it led up to the toilets.

He gave his ear a little scratch and began wondering if the tests were going to be just as embarrassing as this one.

*******

The tigress had returned to the room with the Major; twenty minutes later.

"So?" he asked.

"He's fine. A little malnourished but, other than that..." she said with a satisfied look.

"OK, will you bring him in please?"

"Yes, sir" she said, obeying him. She walked over to the door leading to the room where Dante was still in. She opened the door, Dante shifting his head nervously.

"You can come in now", she said and left the door open for him. He got up and walked out of the door with haste; he didn't want to make the Major impatient if he took his time doing things.

He went back over to the Major, who sat him back down in the chair; he immediately was aware again of the other doctors' stares.

"You're fine. Don't look so worried. We'll soon need to start the testing...Are you OK?" the Major asked, because Dante was now holding his head in pain.

"Yeah...When are we going to do the tests?" he asked, now feeling a little dizzy.

"Well, once you've had some food. You are hungry aren't you?" he asked. Come to think of it, Dante was hungry. He hadn't eaten since yesterday.

"Yeah, starving..." he said wincing a little now that the back of his head began to sting as well.

"OK then. Well, the doctor who examined you, Dr. Thomas, will take you to the cafeteria. In fact I think after having some food; you should have a tour of the facility; get to know the place first", the Major said comfortingly.

"Yeah...sure", Dante agreed, although he was paying attention more to the pain that was surging through his head.

"OK, Ms. Thomas; would you kindly take this young boy to the cafeteria?" he asked politely.

"Yes sir", she said, and beckoned Dante to come with her. He stood up from his chair, still holding his head in pain. He took one step towards the tigress and suddenly choked,

"AH!" in pain, and collapsed to the floor. His whole body was surging with pain; he had never felt such pain in his life. He could barely breathe; his vision blurred. He was on his knee's, bent over; all tensed up from the excruciating pain that plagued his entire body.

All the doctors had rushed over to him, wondering what was happening to him.

"Quick, get me his belongings. He has to have an injection now! QUICK!" the Major bellowed and the tigress rushed off. Dante looked as if he was having a seizure, his eyes rolling.

He was still in extreme pain and his mind started flashing images to him. He couldn't make them out; he was in too much pain to determine anything. Seconds later the doctor had rushed back and was carrying Dante's rucksack, fumbling inside it to find the stabilisers in his bag.

The whole group of doctors were holding him down now, with great difficulty. He suddenly had amazing strength, and was throwing one or two doctors off as he reeled in pain. The Major had intervened now, and was holding him down with all his strength.

"Hurry up!" he roared as the doctor searching through Dante's bag found the injections. Rushing down to him, the doctor pierced Dante's neck with the needle and immediately injected the stabilisers.

Dante who was calming down because his body felt like it was being shut down, had stopped shaking even before the doctor had injected him. They had taken their time. A few seconds later, Dante's body went limp as the drugs took effect, and he closed his eyes.

His brain shut down on him. The flashing of his memories had stopped.

"What's wrong?" the Major asked the doctors.

"He's in a state of shock. His brain is, in terms of a computer, rebooting. By the length of time we took; that's going to be one hell of a nightmare", the tigress informed him.

"What do you mean?" he asked a little confused.

"After having attacks, they go into a short-term coma but, they have brain activity; dreams in other words. The longer you leave someone like him to have an attack, the more they'll remember but, they will get a little flustered and even more disorientated."

"Oh, well get him to the hospital wing. How long does this short-term coma last?" he asked.

"Oh, could be about ten minutes to half an hour..." the doctor said with a bewildered look herself.

"How do you know so much about the condition?" the Major asked. "Well first, I'm a Neurologist. Secondly, I've checked the information and thirdly, I've worked with people that have this condition. Remember? You're the one who hired me!" the doctor said, a bit offended.

"Come on; let's get him to the hospital wing."

*******

A gunshot rang out. Dante span around and saw James's lifeless body lay motionless on the floor. He ran over screaming but, not a sound could be heard.

He kept on running and running but, James seemed to be getting further and further away; the alley stretching longer and longer.

He found himself floating next, something holding him up as he saw something flash in the pale light as it swung through the air...

Dante sprung out of bed, shouting,

"NO!" He tried to breathe in deeply, his heart racing. He felt something in his lungs bubble around as he breathed in, making him cough profusely; falling to his knees and exerting blood all over the floor.

He felt drained, weak and was shivering uncontrollably. He was absolutely freezing. He leaned backwards against the wall behind him, next to the bed, holding his arms around his chest trying to warm himself up. He could barely move he was so cold and tired.

Dr. Mathews told him that this would happen.

The Major and the doctors must have given him the injection a little longer than was comfortable. His head was pounding. He never got told that this would happen.

"So this is what it's like to have one of those attacks", he said to himself, his body still trembling to warm up. Cold sweat was dripping off of him; he looked dazed and confused, aching all over.

He tried to drag himself onto the bed but couldn't budge, so he grabbed the blankets and wrapped them around himself, shuddering as he struggled to lift his paw.

He sat there for a minute trying to warm himself when he remembered the dream he just had. It was really weird.

Was that what happened to him on the night of the attack? That boy, was he his friend?

He looked like the one in the picture he seen in the magazine. His mind was plagued by questions. Then he realised something; this was his first ever memory he had gotten back yet, it posed more questions than it gave answers.

He sat there confused for a while when the door opened. Dante looked over the bed and saw the tigress walk into the room with the Major.

"Where's he gone?" they both looked around. Dante broke the silence by saying very weakly,

"Over here." Both of them went around the side of the bed to see Dante huddled in a pile of blankets, shivering barely conscious and blood on the floor.

"What the hell happened?" the Major asked.

"I woke up from a really weird dream, coughed up blood and now I've got a headache and I'm freezing...other than that, I'm fine" he said sarcastically.

"Well you'd better get used to it..."

"...Yeah I know," Dante interrupted the tigress.

"Yes but, not just that, the headache as well. Once you've had the first of many attacks, you'll be having a constant headache."

Dante dropped his head and sighed loudly.

"Could you help me up? I can barely move." The Major and the tigress went over to him, avoiding the blood, and helped him onto the bed. He'd stopped shaking now.

The tigress was checking him to see if he'd hurt himself when he fell to the floor while the Major was using an intercom to call someone up to clean the floor.

"So...about food? Is that still on? I'm starving" Dante asked hopefully, his stomach growling.

"Why not...? I'll go and get some for you."

"Na, I'll come down. Try and get to know someone. After all, I'm going to be here for some time aren't I?" Dante said, now feeling a little better. He pulled himself up off the bed and took one step before collapsing, the tigress barely catching him as he did.

"Thanks but, I still want to get out of here. I'm not staying in another bed unless I have to sleep. I've spent enough time in a hospital bed, I'm not going to stay in this bed for another day." he said sternly as she gave him a worried look.

The Major told the tigress to let him; who looked deeply concerned because Dante needed to rest. She resentfully did what she was told and put one of Dante's arms over her shoulders, bending down a little because he was a little shorter than her, and took him with them to the cafeteria.

"You should be getting Arthur or someone to do this. He's a little heavy for me even if he's underweight" she said staggering as she held onto Dante.

"Yes but they're busy. Hang on... Commander Madsen" the Major called. A familiar face turned around who was talking to a younger tiger for messing about in the corridor.

"Yes sir?" the kangaroo asked.

"Will you come and help Dr. Thomas carry young Mr. Oakbrook here, to the cafeteria?"

"Yes sir" he said bluntly, turning around as he dismissed the tiger before walking up to them, taking Dante's other free hand and put it around his shoulder. He told Dr. Thomas she could let go, who was glad to.

"Thanks" Dante said, still a bit weak, concentrating on his pounding headache.

"No problem. What the hell were you doing to him?" he asked.

"Nothing, we'll fill you in later. You two will be working together, anyways."

The Major didn't look at them as he said it. This just made it more mysterious as they both then looked at each other wondering what they were going to do.

*******

After winding their way through the corridors, they had made their way in to the cafeteria, many eyes gazing upon them as they entered, especially on Dante as they sat him down at an empty table.

The room was buzzing with talk; a few furs were talking about a kid who was supposed to be recruited. Many looked astonished when they saw the Major, Dr. Thomas, the Commander and a kid stroll in through the door.

The Commander sat Dante down on an empty chair as the doctor and the Major went to get him something to eat. The Commander went the opposite side but two chairs down from him. A few minutes later, the doctor came back to Dante who was slouched in his chair, still a little dazed from his attack.

"You OK? Here, I brought you something to eat. I didn't know what you like but..."

She put the tray straight down and Dante just started eating everything that was on the plate.

By the time she went back for some food for herself, Dante had finished his. The Major and the Commander were in discussion; probably filling him in on what Dante was there for.

He looked around the room nervously as many of the occupants were staring and talking; probably about him. He turned back round looking into his empty tray and decided he wanted more. He began to pick himself up but the doctor stopped him and said,

"Where do you think you're going? Sit down, you can barely stand."

"I want more food, I'm still hungry. I'm going to have to get used to the fact that I'll be weak when this happens all the time, so I may as well get used to it" he said to her sternly.

She just nodded, a little admiringly because of his determination and let Dante go up to the line where a few more furs were now standing. They hadn't realised he was there when they came into the room.

Dante got up very awkwardly and could barely stand but, somehow managed to stagger to the line with great difficulty. It was like trying to learn to walk all over again as his senses were very distorted.

As he joined the back of the queue, tray in hand, a few of the furs in line had finally noticed him. They turned around and looked at him complexly; Dante just smiled.

"Hi, nice day," he said as if it was normal to have a twelve year old boy in a military base cafeteria.

They just nodded in amazement back and carried on talking; probably changing the subject to him.

This was definitely going to make him never want to be the centre of attention ever again. The only people now that weren't looking at him were the Major, the doctor and the Commander.

He tried to ignore all the baffled and curious stares everyone was giving him until he arrived at the food counter; facing his back to the rest of the cafeteria to shield himself.

"What do you want?" the server said over the counter, not looking in Dante's direction. He was a very beefy but strong looking bear who had an apron on that was full of stains.

"Um, a little bit of everything, I guess", Dante said perplexed at all the different things in front of him.

"You know how to eat..." he said, stopping mid sentence as he finally turned to survey Dante. Dante just looked down in embarrassment as the bear bent over the counter a little to check if his eyes were working.

"Um, so what would you recommend to me to eat?" Dante asked, trying to make the silence a little easier. The bear just picked a few ladles of different foods and put them onto his tray, not taking his eyes off Dante. One ladle missed completely and splattered on the floor.

Once he had finished, Dante had moved as quickly as he could, picked a glass of water up, and shakily sat back down next to the doctor. He sat there with his head bowed for the rest of the time, eating his food much slower.

The Major and the Commander were now in deep conversation about training schedules while the doctor was reading a magazine, happily munching away at a small desert she had.

*******

The Major had finally said to go back to the tests. Everyone who was involved made their way to the testing facilities. Dante was feeling much better now. He was still only agitated until they had arrived at the testing area where he was out of the gaze of everyone else.

"OK, we'll be running a series of tests to determine your statistics. We'll try and fit as many as we can into today. Tomorrow, we'll definitely finish testing so, you can decide whether you want to stay or not", the tigress had informed him.

Dante just paid particular attention when she said he had the choice. She hadn't been informed that he was going to have to stay, whether it was his choice or not.

*******

Over the next day and a half, they had tested Dante on every aspect they physically could. They not only found out the things Dr. Mathews had found; they had also found that he was very flexible; he could bend in two, backwards.

He had the potential to live without food for many days with the right survival techniques and also had the potential to be strong. They had tried advanced reflex tests, and Dante had dodged everything that was sent his way; even things he couldn't see as they made the test even harder by making it dark.

"You did great. Better than we thought actually. You are very promising", the doctor said. Dante just nodded weakly; he knew he was now going to be staying after a short evaluation like that.

He had a mix of both feelings. He wanted to stay because they could help him to become his potential; he wanted to go because he would miss his old friends. Once he had been taken back to his quarters, the Major stayed behind with Dante as the doctor and Commander left them to talk.

"The funeral arrangements are all ready. If you want to; you can attend it yourself but, from a distance of course", he said plainly.

"That was a little insensitive, stop playing the battle hardened Major will you", Dante huffed; but was trying to laugh at the Major for it.

"There definitely is no fooling you, is there. Shame there wasn't a test for intuitive nature", he said regretfully.

"So, are you going to attend?"

"Yeah...I suppose. Get a last look at who I think are my friends."

"OK, its tomorrow", the Major said; he stood up and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Dante just sat there to think about maybe not going. He went to bed a little early. He didn't want to talk to anyone, and as he finally began to fall asleep, the nightmare brought on by the recent memory relapse, were all he could dream about.

*******

The next day was unbearable; Dante watched from the car window as he saw many furs gathered around what seemed to be his coffin with him inside it.

He felt rotten throughout for fooling everyone that he was dead; everyone who loved him as a friend or family. Even Dr. Mathews was there.

Then there was that Grace girl who was still standing there after everyone had left. She stood there sobbing, mouthing words before laying flowers down on his grave, where he supposedly was now "resting".

This made him feel even worse; his last best friend fooled into thinking he was dead.