FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Ah, this is the life.

I’m sitting at the base of a thick brown tree trunk, staring up at a blazing blue sky through a thin mesh of green leaves. Rolling hills of slowly swaying grass stretch out in every direction and the tree I’m under is the only one in sight.

It’s a swelteringly hot day, and the dark shade of the tree I’m surrounded by can only do so much to keep me cool. There’s not even a breeze blowing, but that would just distract me from the beautiful sky above anyway.

I let out a sigh of contentment as I put my hands behind my head and lean against the tree’s bark. There’s nothing to disturb me from the peaceful scenery. No chores, no homework, not even-

Plop!

Hmm? What’s this?

I place a finger on my nose and bring it up to my eyes. I find a smudged water droplet on the tip of it and tilt my head.

What the heck? It’s midday, there shouldn’t be any wat-

Plop! Plop!

Two more droplets fall right on my head. I quickly stand up and turn around.

“Alright, what’s the big idea?” I shake my fist at the tree angrily, turning my face upwards. “Can’t you see I’m trying to... relax... h- here?”

My expression and speech falters as a wave of water cascades down onto my face, blinding me.

I sit up in my bed and gasp, my hands clutching my wet face to protect myself from the torrent of water.

Wait, why am I wet?

I slowly drag my hands over my face and realize it's been completely soaked in water. I then lower my hands and find myself staring up at the grinning face of a wolf.

“Have a nice nap?” He asks with a chuckle, a water bottle in his paw.

“Gah!” I yell and start thrashing around, throwing the soft white linens from my bed off of myself. “Get away, get away!”

I roll off of my flimsy mattress and hit the ground on my side. I see an opening between the wolf’s legs and I crawl through it. I get up fast and run for my chair to use it as a weapon but a strong furry set of arms wraps around me. I start kicking and flailing as they lift me up but it’s all in vain.

“D- don’t eat me.” I gulp as I stare upwards into the wolf’s crystal blue eyes which have clear mirth in their gaze.

“If I wanted to eat you, don't you think I would’ve done it when you fainted?” The wolf asks with a raised eyebrow.

“That’s… a good point.” I say reluctantly as I gradually stop flailing my limbs uselessly.

“You know who I am, don’t you?”

I nod my head slowly. “Y- you’re Nature, the furry I’ve been talking and role-playing with for 6 months.”

Nature raises his eyebrow slightly higher and I realize I made a mistake.

“Or rather, not role-playing with because everything you talked about was real…”

He barks out a laugh and I feel his chest rumbling beneath my head.

“Indeed! I like to think I am a real living wolf.”

I struggle in his arms and say, “C- can you put me down? I think I’ve calmed down now.”

“Ah ah, not until your breathing returns to normal!” Nature says with a big wolffish smile.

I realize that I’m breathing very rapidly and take a moment to close my eyes and calm myself.

“So uh, how did you get in here?” I ask as I try to meditate, which is quite difficult while being cradled in a massive wolf’s arms mind you.

“You left the door unlocked.”

“Oh…” I rub the back of my head and an awkward pause ensues. “I’m sorry, this is just a lot to take in is all,” I say once my breathing has steadied. “I mean, I’m being held in the arms of a huge wolf for goodness sake!”

“Yes, I’m sure it must be a dream come true for you.” He laughs.

“That’s… not true.”

It’s totally true.

I wiggle in an attempt to loosen his hold. “Can you put me down now?”

Nature nods his fluffy head and slowly sets me back on the ground.

“You were even lighter than I was expecting heh.”

I turn around and take a chance to look over him.

He’s a big brown wolf as previously mentioned, tall enough that his pointy ears practically scrape the ceiling and an estimated twice as wide as myself. He’s wearing a casual looking outfit, blue denim jeans and a black sweatshirt cover most of his muscular body. He has paws for feet and hands with short black claws and green paw pads. His face seems to have a greenish flame mark around his left eye which starkly contrasts both the blue of his eyes and brown of his fur.

Nature stays silent as I look over his body but he starts to get impatient quickly. He interrupts my examination with one big lick over my entire face.

His pink tongue bathes me in saliva and I cough a bit once he’s done.

“Blegh!” I wipe at my face and his saliva comes off. “What’d you do that for?”

Nature laughs heartily at my slight show of displeasure, “It’s how we Illemians greet each other.” He bleps.

“Well keep in mind that I am not covered in fur, and that I am a Canadian not an Illemian, won’t you?”

“Eheh, sorry about that. I’m just really excited to see you!” Nature says happily and I can feel a slight breeze coming from behind him.

That’s when I notice a certain fluffy appendage wagging behind him, creating a flow of wind like a fan. In that moment, the tension that I had been feeling up until this point at a live wolf popping up unannounced, melts away.

I laugh, bellows of it coming out of me as I clutch my stomach and double over.

“What’s so funny?” Nature asks, crossing his arms and flicking his ears.

“I- it’s just that,” I wheeze a bit from laughing so hard and wipe at my eyes, “you’re this massive, scary looking, masculine wolf, but you act like a big puppy. It’s just like when we were texting.”

“I am not a puppy!” Nature says indignantly and growls, “I’m a wolf damn it, respect me!”

My laughter starts to die off a bit and I shake my head, “alright alright, I’m sorry.”

Nature lets out a huff and uncrosses his arms, “thank you. Now, are there any questions you have for me?”

“I have tons of questions for you!” I say as I bounce up and down excitedly on the balls of my feet. “Like how did you get he-“

“Shall we go out for a cup of tea then?”

I pause mid-bounce and look at him incredulously. “You’re not serious right? We’re in my world now, not yours Nature. You can’t just wander around like you’ll fit in here!”

“What’s the big deal?” Nature replies, casually strolling past me and picking up a pair of sunglasses off my black desk. He slides them on and gives me a finger guns pose. “Nobody will notice a thing.”

“Nature, oh Nature.” I sigh exasperatedly, missing the fact that I don’t own a pair of sunglasses, “while I must admit that you look dashing in those shades, I’m afraid they don’t hide your stature or muzzle.”

“Awwwh, you think I look dashing?” Nature says and places a paw on his chin in mock flattery, “how sweet of you!”

“Nature!” I shout his name and he flinches very slightly, “I’m being serious here, I have no way to hide you.”

“Right…”

I rub at my temples a bit and look at him in the eyes. “Look, I’m sorry… It’s just-“

He strides forward and places a paw on my shoulder, “nobody will know, alright? Trust me. I’m a pretty stealthy guy for being this big believe it or not.”

He pulls up a hood from the back of his sweatshirt and places it over his ears, concealing most of his wolffish features.

“How do I look now?”

“Like you’re trying to be incognito actually, and you’re still quite large.” I reply as I look at his hood brushing the ceiling.

Nature rubs the back of his head sheepishly with a paw. “Yeah, I can’t help that.”

“That being said, this might work… just keep your head down and I’m sure everything will turn out fine.”

“So does that mean we can go out for tea?” Nature asks with clear hope is his voice.

“I don’t see why not, questions over tea sounds like a great idea.” I answer with a nod of my head.

“Wahoo!” Nature jumps up ecstatically and smacks his head on the ceiling before landing back on the ground with a thud that shakes the floor and furniture.

I shake a bit with laughter as he rubs his head with a paw and then growls.

“You must really like tea.”

A grin quickly lights up Nature’s muzzle again and he chuckles with me.

“Yeah heh, maybe a bit too much.” He looks up at the ceiling and I follow his gaze to find a dent where he hit his head.

My laughter quickly ends and instead gets replaced with a long groan as I face-palm. “Damn it Nature! I’m going to have to pay for that you know!”

He winces and starts shuffling towards the door, “so, how about that tea then? I’ll answer any questions you have!”

“You know what? Sure, I just want to forget this even happened.” I sigh and grab the key to my dorm off of the black desk.

I see him getting ready to jump again and quickly grab his arm. “Ah, how about you don’t do that.”

“Awh,” Nature pouts, “I’m just a little excited is all.”

“And I don’t want another dent in my ceiling.” I reply with crossed arms.

“Oh yeah, sorry about that.” He says with a wag of his tail.

I shake my head and open the door. Nature ducks to exit my room and I follow him out, making sure to lock my door behind me this time around.

On the way to tea…

We’re about 20 minutes away from The Green Leaf café and 15 minutes from the city of Nowle, strolling on a gray sidewalk along a deserted northern road. The sky is overcast with gloomy gray clouds and the air smells damp, filled with telltale signs that it’s going to snow. It’s cold outside today, far from the gorgeous weather and heat I’d had in my dream.

Sigh, why’d that have to be interrupted? It was so nice and cal-

“Woah, is that a freakin’ bear?!” Nature suddenly exclaims, disrupting my thoughts and pointing to the right with a digit.

I look across the road and see a brown grizzly bear poking its head out from the cover of the forest.

“Well yes, that appears to be a bear,” I answer simply, a tad annoyed, “why are you asking?”

“I’ve always wanted to see a four legged bear!” Nature replies excitedly as he wags his tail.

I narrow my eyes, “if you don’t have regular bears… what do you have in your world?”

Nature ignores my question, crouches down on all 4 of his paws, and starts bounding across the road like a big dog.

“Wait!” I call after him, starting to run across the road myself, “what about tea?!”

With his pink tongue lolling out of his muzzle and his tail wagging at what seems to be a million miles per hour, Nature quickly reaches the other side of the road where the bear is. Its furry head withdraws into the thick forest and so does Nature, the big wolf’s form disappearing.

Hecc, why’d he have to go and run into the trees? Leaving him to run around on his own when he’s from a different dimension is not a good idea!

I huff as I reach the edge of the forest, panting a bit with exertion on the other side of the 4 laned road.

I really need to do some more exercise, I think as I wipe my forehead with a hand. Anyways, you better not get yourself lost in there Nature, otherwise I’m getting lost too.

I walk into the forest, the snow crunching underneath my boots. I look at the ground and see that Nature’s heavy paws had sunk into the snow with each leap he took, leaving an easy path for me to find him. The fresh blanket of white lying over everything makes the woodland look quite pretty, and I can’t help but take my time to admire the plentiful amount of leafless trees as I continue along.

“Awooooo!”

A pained howl suddenly breaks the silence of the forest and my eyes go wide.

Nature!

I start sprinting in the direction of his howl and start seeing little spots of blood in the disturbed snow.

Oh god… I doubt a regular bear could take him on. He picked me up so effortlessly back in my dorm, and the roof didn’t offer much resistance either, I think as I keep sprinting.

I come across a few more blood splats and some claw marks dug deeply into a tree’s bark before I finally hear a voice speaking, only, it isn’t Nature’s.

“-really think we wouldn’t find you?”

With my worst fears confirmed, I slow my approach and slowly creep forward from behind the trees to find a scene taking place in a small clearing. I duck behind the nearest tree and peek my head out slightly to survey the situation.

Nature’s leaning backwards against a tree, his left paw is clutching his bleeding right arm and his body is looking battered. His fur is disheveled and his sweatshirt is ripped with claw marks running along his chest. His hood has been blown back and the sunglasses he was wearing when we left are no longer on his face.

The voice suddenly speaks again in a bit of a snarky tone, “Honestly, you’re as easy to follow as a baby is to trick.”

Well, I can’t exactly argue with that.

I look out from behind the tree a little farther and see the bear from earlier. He’s not all that impressive looking, wearing rusty brown armour that protects his belly and legs. He’s also sporting a shiny gray helmet shaped like a wolf’s head so I’m unable to make out any facial features. The only threatening thing about him is the spear-like weapon he’s holding against Nature’s throat. It has a long silver handle with intricate golden carvings that swirl around its length and the end of it crackles with an angry red energy that arcs between 2 long prongs.

“Oh yeah?” Nature chuckles darkly, seemingly unfazed by the weapon directed at his neck. “Well you can take that Rajenn of yours and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine Kinlowe.”

I raise my eyebrows a bit at Nature’s remark.

Okay, that was a bit unnecessary. A Rajring? A Ragern? Ah whatever, I’ll have to ask him about it later… if he survives.

“Oh that’s real rich coming from a tail-raiser like you Nature. At least I was able to actually activate my Rajenn, unlike you.” The bear sneers, “and while I’d love to sit and chat about how much of a disgrace you are to the Linfori family name, I have a job to do.”

“So what’s the plan then? Gonna send me back home? That doesn’t scare me.”

“Well the prospect should, because when we get back to Illem, you’ll be executed.” Kinlowe says smugly.

Executed?!

“Executed?!” Nature exclaims, his ears flattening, “isn’t that going a bit far? I am a member of the royal family.”

“You’re but a prince, the royal family can continue easily without you Nature.” The bear replies with a yawn.

That’s when I see Nature gesturing with his paw at the ground and I realize he’s noticed I’m watching this encounter. I look down and see his sunglasses darkly glinting right by my feet. I bend over and pick them up, brushing the snow off of them as I stand back up.

Kinlowe continues talking, “but that doesn’t matter, because I don’t have to wait anymore. You’re finally going to get what you deserve fleabag, and I get to be the one to hand you over.”

There has to be something to these sunglasses, Nature didn’t gesture at these for no reason. I think as I turn them around in my hands, examining and prodding at them from every way.

“Look, I’m sorry Kinlowe. I had to leave. Don’t you get it? I was so sick and tired of being mistreated back in that palace. Each and every day was torture. I had to escape!” Nature pleads.

What did Kinlowe say earlier? “You weren’t able to activate your Rajer-thingy?” Could these be some kind of weapon?

“Torture?” Kinlowe says in an almost hurt voice, “you think what our parents did was torture? You should be honoured they even paid you any attention brother.” He spits out the last word as if it’s disgusting to even think about.

Brother?! I think surprisedly, nevermind that right now, I’ve got to do something or he’ll be taken back!

Thinking quickly, I pick up a snowy rock off of the ground and turn it in my hand a few times before taking aim at Kinlowe’s head.

“Let me get this straight.” Nature starts.

I pause for a moment, the rock in my hand clenched tightly.

“The whippings I got every single night were an honour? The relentless suffering I endured in that cold and dreary basement of our palace should’ve been taken with pride? And for what? Not wishing to continue the family legacy?” Nature asks.

“Yes.” Kinlowe answers simply, looking off into the distance, away from Nature and myself, “I’m not even being considered for the throne because of you. I can’t believe they think a tail-raiser like you could-“

Alright, I’ve heard enough of this jerk to last a lifetime, I think before throwing the rock in my hand as hard as I can. The gray stone sails through the air and strikes Kinlowe mid sentence.

“ever continue our family’s- ouch!”

The bear looks in my direction with fury in his eyes and it’s all the time I need. I toss the sunglasses to Nature and he dives to the side to catch them. They fall directly into his paws and he immediately starts muttering, stringing together consonants and vowels into words I can’t understand but seem to form a chant. The sunglasses start glowing a deep shade of blue and begin to transform into a sword. I watch as the sides melt together into a hilt and the lenses become a sharp emerald blade.

Woah, that sword looks wicked!

“Just wait, it gets even better,” Nature says with a wink, almost as if replying to my thoughts.

The blade’s end starts spinning, almost at the speed of-

“A helicopter blade!” I blurt out, my mouth wide open.

Nature nods with a smile. “Stay back while I handle this, alright Sundor?”

“You got it, we better be going to get that tea after this though.” I say as I cross my arms.

“I didn’t say our plans were changing did I?” Nature asks as he and his brother start circling each other in the small clearing.

“Well well well, seems you’ve already made a new friend, I’m impressed.” Kinlowe remarks as he throws a jab at Nature, which the wolf dodges with a sidestep.

“Well you shouldn’t be surprised, I’m actually worth befriending.” Nature retorts as they continue circling, throwing occasional stabs at one another.

“It’s true, Nature’s a good wolf.” I call out, wanting to get my own say in.

Nature gives Kinlowe a cocky smirk and the bear grits his teeth.

“I’ll have you know that he ditched many friends back in Illem.” Kinlowe says while pointing a digit at Nature, “If I were you, I wouldn’t expect him to understand the intricacies of maintaining a friendship.”

“Well what he lacks in knowledge is made up for with a good personality.” I reply vehemently, “Nature, can you hurry this battle up? I’m thirsty and it’s chilly out here.”

“With pleasure,” Nature growls.

“Hah! I’d like to see you tr-“

The big wolf suddenly darts forward, slicing his brother’s Rajenn’s prongs off with the Sawlete’s spinning blade. They fall into the snow, which immediately starts melting with a sizzling noise as the Rajenn’s red energy trickles away. Nature advances further and points the end of his deadly green sword right at Kinlowe’s throat.

“Now, what was that about me being a tail-raiser, brother?” Nature asks, his gaze turning serious.

Kinlowe’s paws start shaking and he takes another few steps back, his broken Rajenn dropping to the ground as he trips over a tree branch and falls on his behind. The pompous bear was no more, and in his place, sat someone no more threatening than a newborn.

“Your bark always was worse than your bite Kinlowe.” Nature continues, shaking his head, “you’re lucky you caught me off guard or you never would’ve touched me.”

“T- this can’t be… I’m supposed to be the one to bring you in.” Kinlowe starts making whimpering noises, “If I go back empty handed…” his body visibly shudders.

“Don’t expect any mercy from me,” Nature says and glares at him, “You chose your side little brother, and now, you’ll have to face the consequences of your decision. I hope you do so with honour.”

“B- brother…” Kinlowe reaches a paw out, his eyes filled with fear, “please, don’t let him hurt me.”

Nature looks away, his own eyes filled with pain. “I’m sorry, Kinlowe, I can’t trust you.”

He pulls his Sawlete away from Kinlowe and mutters the chant from before. The spinning sword glows blue and turns back into sunglasses which Nature dons before looking back down at his brother.

“Go, and don’t come back. You already know this will turn out the same way.”

Kinlowe shrinks into a shivering ball and Nature comes towards me, the fight with his brother undoubtedly finished. Nature stops in front of me and looks down. He’s covered in his own blood as he clasps my shoulder with a paw.

“Come Sundor, we have tea to get.”

“Nature… what was all that about?” I ask as he starts walking back the way we came.

“I’ll tell you once we get back to the road, but you have to promise me one thing.” Nature says, turning back a bit. He pauses for a moment, and then a soft whine escapes his muzzle. “Don’t be scared of me.”

“What?”

“I’m covered in blood and I just fought my brother from another world. You don’t have to pretend to not be scared.”

“I’m not pretending,” I say firmly, walking forward and placing a hand on his back. “I’ve known you for months and you’re my friend.”

I feel Nature’s body shudder.

“That’s right… we’re friends.” Nature says simply, “you called me a good wolf yourself back there.”

“I did, and I meant it.” I pat his back, “fighting your brother must’ve been hard on you.”

“I didn’t want to fight him,” Nature loudly whispers, his body heaving. “He was trying to detain me, and you heard what awaits me if I go back to Illem.”

“Execution...”

Nature nods his head solemnly. “At the very least I didn’t hurt him, which is as much as we could ask for in that scenario.”

That’s true, he didn’t hurt Kinlowe at all.

“See? I have no reason to be scared of you,” I say with a smile, and Nature breathes out a large sigh of relief.

“I have something for you Nature.”

“R- Really? What is it?” He asks, his tail wagging behind him.

I give him a big hug and his bushy tail smacks against my side repeatedly. His body is warm in the cold of the forest and I can feel his body heaving once more.

“You alright up there big guy?” I ask him.

Nature nods his head without looking at me and I smile.

“Thank you my friend.” Nature says, happiness and sorrow in his voice as I slowly release him from my embrace.

“Alright, now I have one question for you before we go.” I say with a slight smirk.

“Oh really?” Nature asks with a smile as he looks down, his eyes concealed behind his sunglasses, “and what would that be?”

“Is it really safe for you to be wearing the Sawlete on your face like that?” I ask with a slight giggle.

Nature snorts, “I wouldn’t be wearing it on my muzzle if it wasn’t safe.”

We start walking side by side out of the forest, following the multiple tracks that had been made by us originally.

“I’ve got to admit, it must be real handy having it right there to use whenever you need it. I don’t think I’d trust the sword to stay in that form though.”

“There isn’t a single recorded case of a Sawlete malfunctioning.” Nature replies, “they’re perfectly safe in this form.”

“Mhm, I bet anyone who could have reported a malfunctioning Sawlete probably has their brains splattered about!”

“As if! The guards strewn about Illem would’ve found that for sure and reported it themselves.”

“Yeah, maybe a murder case got reported, or a suicide, but they would never suspect a broken Sawlete.” I say.

“Hmm, you do have a point there.” Nature says with a laugh, “but, did you consider that maybe somebody sabotaged the Sawlete so it wasn’t actually a malfunction, but a murder!”

“Ooo, that’d be a real good way to get away with a crime like that.”

“Not particularly,” Nature explains, “you see, Sawlete’s are known for their reliability and stability. They’re built from our strongest materials to last for as long as we need them.”

“Yeah, what are they built from? I’ve never seen a material as green as that before.” I ask curiously.

“We call it Placiem in Illem. It’s responsible for most of our weapons and armour. It is also the most expensive material to use since it’s the strongest.”

“What about that… Rajenn? Is that what it’s called?”

Nature nods his head.

“What’s that made out of?”

“I’m not sure, I just know it’s given to lower troops so that they at least have weapons to defend themselves.”

“Shouldn’t they have given your brother a better weapon to catch you with then?”

Nature shrugs his shoulders, “beats me, he probably got too cocky and my parents gave him a weak weapon to fight with.”

“Well if they were willing to give him a weak weapon how did you get a really strong one? Aren’t you “but a prince”?”

“I uh… kind of stole it.” Nature says in a quiet voice.

“WHAT?” I say loudly, “that’s awesome! How’d you manage to get away with that?”

“Well I didn’t get away with it obviously since they’re sending people after me!” Nature says exasperatedly, “but if you must know, the armoury was real easy to get into since I’m a member of the royal family. All I had to do was ask the guard to give me the key and they did just that.”

“Awh, I was hoping for some epic burglary.” I say disappointedly.

“Sorry to burst your bubble,” Nature says with a chuckle, “I’m not as cool as you think.”

Before long I start hearing the honking of vehicles and I realize that we’ve already made it to the city of Nowle.

“Wow,” Nature says as we come upon the edge of the city, “this place is not that impressive. I was expecting some skyscrapers or something.”

There are clothing stores with mannequins outfitted in flowery springtime dresses on display behind glass panes, grocery stores with neon coloured posters advertising sales on their rotating stocks, jewellery stores with awful slogans like “no need to be tame when diamond is the game”, and cafés selling teas, coffees, deserts, breads, and many other kinds of other freshly baked goods all around us.

“You do realize we’re out in the middle of nowhere don’t you?” I say as we continue into the tiny city.

“Hmm, doesn’t really feel like the middle of nowhere,” Nature says as he takes in the surrounding stores.

I roll my eyes and giggle, “where I come from, this is considered the middle of nowhere.”

“Well, this is nothing compared to where I come from as well but it’s still a neat little city.” Nature says with a smile.

“Yeah, I’ve walked up here a few times myself for groceries and such.” I say as we casually stroll down the sidewalk.

The Green Leaf café is just ahead of us now, It’s my usual go-to place for hot drinks. We’re just about to get there when a pedestrian on the sidewalk in front of us pipes up. He’s wearing wrinkled brown dress pants, a dirty checkered shirt with a collar, a white unzipped jacket, and scuffed black shoes.

“Dude! What happened to you?”

Nature looks down at me and I point at myself so he knows to let me handle this.

“Oh, sorry, he doesn’t really talk to strangers.” I say for him. “But don’t worry about it, he just tripped on a fence.”

“Pfft, that’s lame man, thought he got in a fight or something cool like that.” The pedestrian says before brushing past me rudely.

Nature suddenly kicks a leg out behind him and hits the guy in his butt. I turn around just in time to see him fall flat on his face.

“Nature! What’d you do that for?!” I yell as I walk up to the guy and kneel beside him, “I am so sorry about him, are you alright?”

Nature just stands there silently as I extend a hand down to help the guy up when I notice that he has a familiar leathery black wallet in his right hand.

“Are you serious?” I say quietly at first before raising my voice, “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?”

I swipe my wallet out of the guy’s hand and consider kicking him again for good measure but figure Nature’s probably done enough damage. I decide to stalk away instead, letting him get up on his own as I start walking with Nature again.

“Erm, thank you.” I mutter after a few moments as we approach The Green Leaf café.

“Don’t mention it.” Nature says happily as we walk up to the glass doors with a green leaf stretching across the front of them. “Stuff like that happened in Illem all the time too, I’m just glad I caught him and managed to get a kick in.”

I’m starting to appreciate having Nature around a lot more and make a mental note not to piss the wolf off. I pull on the door and gesture for Nature to walk in.

“Wolves first.” I say with a giggle.

Nature just smirks and shakes his head as he ducks into the café. I follow him in and a wall of warm air that has the smell of freshly baked goods blasts me as the doors close behind us. A glass display case is filled with chocolate glazed doughnuts, fruity muffins, fizzy cold drinks of every variety, and several different kinds of grain product.

My mouth starts salivating as I walk up to the front when I hear Nature start talking.

“Remember, we’re only here for tea. You still have that dent in your ceiling to pay for after all.”

Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me Nature.

I ignore him and step up to the counter where the lady doing cash has shrunk back a bit from the tall and imposing figure of Nature whose front is covered with drying blood.

“H- hi there, what can I get for you today gentlemen?” She stammers out.

“2 medium orange pekoe teas with milk and 1 packet of sugar please.” I say as the lady starts punching the order into the cash register quickly.

“Actually, could I get 2 packets of sugar in mine?” Nature asks.

The lady nods her head nervously and edits the order.

“A- Alright, your total comes to 7 dollars and 13 cents” she gulps.

I pull out my wallet and rummage around until I’ve pulled out a 5 dollar bill, 2 loonies, and a dime.

“Here you are,” I say with a friendly smile as I hand over the exact change.

“Y- your order will be ready shortly,” she says with wide eyes as she puts the cash into the register. “Thank you for your b- business.”

She turns around and walks right into another coworker who is staring with a gaping mouth at Nature.

“Oh-!” She utters and then starts apologizing profusely while the coworker just stands there, mouth still hanging open as if he didn’t even notice he was walked into.

Nature and I just stand there, trying our best to hold back laughter but finding it very difficult as a few snickers are let out.

“Come on, let’s go take a seat.” I say with a tug on Nature’s arm.

He nods and we head towards some seats in the corner of the café. I figured a booth would be better since a chair would probably break under Nature’s weight.

“Ooo, this feels delightful on my rump.” Nature says as he sinks into the velvety seat and wiggles around, taking up the entire side against the wall.

“Yeah, these seats are why I suggested this café in the first place.” I respond as I lean back into the comfortable furniture.

“I knew I could count on you for a quality café,” Nature says with a clap of his paws. “So,” he says as he rubs them together, “what questions do you have for this wolf?”

He grins at me from across the table and I’m again hit by how friendly he is despite everything he seems to have been through to get here.

“Well, you’ve already answered a few of them just on the way here, but I would like to know more about Illem and why you came here in the first place.” I say, “I mean, your city sounds much more interesting than the one I live in.” And I gesture around the café.

“Oh boy, where do I even start on Illem?” Nature says as he props his elbows up on the table, laying his arms across it’s smooth surface. “It’s a gorgeous city Sundor, the one where I was born actually.”

“It’s your birthplace?”

Nature nods his head.

“I wish I was better at describing things so I could tell you what it looks like, but I think it would be better if you saw it in person.”

“Wait a minute,” I say, “In person…? You don’t mean I’m going there do you?”

“That’s exactly what I mean,” Nature says with a small laugh.

“But back on the day we met, you said our races were forbidden from speaking.”

“I know I said that Sundor, it’s one of the many laws in Illem.” Nature explains, “but without you, I won’t be able to stop the madness my parents are trying to force on me.”

“Y- you’re kidding me right?” I stutter out, “you don’t seriously expect me to go back there with you.”

Nature shakes his head slowly, “I’m not joking with you, I seriously need your help.”

“I do have to admit that I’m curious about Illem and I’d love to visit there, but... how much danger would I be in?”

Nature pauses for a moment and scratches the back of his head. I raise my eyebrows at him and purse my lips.

“Well?”

“Erm, you’d probably be killed on the spot just for knowing Illem even exists.” Nature says, looking away a bit.

“Well then why would I ever agree to something like this Nature?” I ask.

“Remember what was happening just a few moments ago?”

“Of course, how could I forget? Your front is still stained with your blood.”

Nature looks down at his ripped sweatshirt and then looks back up.

“That it is” Nature says with a slight grin, “try not to lose your cool over it or anything.”

“Stay on topic damn it.” I say, my cheeks flushing a bit red.

“Right heh, sorry.” Nature says with a wink before his face turns serious again, “Whether you’re with me or not, people like my brother are going to come after you. Since we let my brother go, he’s going to pass on the information that I’m travelling with a human, and they will find out who you are. Once they have your information, they’ll place a bounty on your head like they’ve done me.”

I sit there with my mouth opening and closing like a fish.

There’s a bounty on my head just for knowing they exist? What the hell?

“I know this must be scary for you, but we can free ourselves.” Nature says with hope in his eyes, “just join me an-“

“Why me Nature?” I interrupt him.

“Hmm?” The wolf tilts his head.

“Why me?” I ask again, my voice shaking a bit with fear. “I’m just a regular university student. You could have picked anyone to help you, but you chose me. Why?”

“My options weren’t as open as you think Sundor. Believe me, if I could have spared you the trouble of all this I would have.” Nature says with a hint of sadness.

“Please do explain.”

“Well I…” Nature starts, gulping a bit as a sad tone takes over his voice completely. “I used to have friends, many of them in fact. I was a pup back then, carefree and ignorant of what my future would hold. My parents were training me to be the next king of Illem, even at that age when I was too young to realize it. I would fight holographic dummies with fake swords and was made to order guards around. I thought those were normal things that regular kids did, until I accidentally got one of my friends k- killed…” he trails off, choking on the last word.

At that moment, the dumbfounded waiter from earlier brings over our tea, nearly dropping the tray in the process as they set it between Nature and I.

“Anything else?” He asks me politely, not looking in Nature’s direction.

“No… we’re good thanks.” I reply.

“Enjoy your tea then.” He says and bows before walking off.

Nature stares into the light brown liquid swirling around in his cup for a moment before continuing, his voice a bit shaky.

“She was another wolf named Catrou. I didn’t have any feelings for her, but she was such a good friend to me, always asking how I was doing and letting me play games with her group of friends.” Nature sighs, “I really miss those simpler times…”

He sits there for a moment before he bends his head down and laps at the tea in front of him with that long tongue of his.

Ahem, I cough

Nature looks up at me, his tongue frozen in his hot tea. I nod my head in the direction of the counter where the waitress from earlier is staring at us with a strange look.

“Drink it like this,” I whisper as I pick up my tea by the handle (with my pinky sticking out of course), and take a sip of it.

“How do you expect me to handle a flimsy teacup like that with these?” Nature whispers back as he wiggles his big paws at me.

“Ugh,” I roll my eyes, “nevermind, just continue the story please.”

“Fine,” Nature says, rolling his eyes back at me as he lifts his head up. “One day we were playing like normal, when a singular white feather that shone as bright as Illem’s greatest moon, fell from the sky. Now, feathers in Illem are meant to bring good fortune to anyone who picks one up, but only to the first person who does so. Anyone else who touches the feather after that person, gets bad fortune. So, naturally, I picked up the shining feather and was admiring it when Catrou came up to me. She asked me to hand the feather over to her and I told her no. I tried to warn her about the feather but she wouldn’t listen. She was older than me at the time, so she managed to overpower my weaker form and stole the feather right out of my paws.”

“Where on Earth are you going with this Nature?” I ask.

“Certainly nowhere on Earth since these events transpired on my planet.” Nature replies with a half-smirk that fades into a frown as he continues. “Now then, she took the feather to her friends and was bragging to them about how she had found it and how she was going to get the best fortune in the world but… that didn’t come to pass. Later that same day, the bird from whom the feather had originated, struck Catrou down. She screamed loudly as he clawed at her body and took the feather back before flying off. As the only witness to the scene, I ran over to Catrou’s bleeding form and held her in my arms, apologizing as much as I could for not warning her fast enough. I couldn’t save her because I was too weak... and after everyone heard her scream they all came running, only to see me holding her bloodied corpse. After that, I wasn’t let outside of the palace again. Everyone blamed me for her death. Some believe I actually murdered her. Others who believed my story, blamed me for not telling her in time, and rightly so. The only people who had contact with me were my parents, Kinlowe, and the guards. Not that any of them wanted to talk with me much after I had soiled the family name.”

“Wow, that’s... really brutal.” I reach a hand across the table and pat Nature’s paw with my own. His form visibly softens and a small smile replaces his frown as he looks towards me with kinder eyes.

“Several years later, you came into the picture. I was craving somebody to talk to who wouldn’t judge me for my past, and the world threw me a bone.”

“So that's why I’m the only option? I’m the only one you had contact with?”

He nods his head slowly.

“I couldn’t-“ He takes a shuddery breath. “can’t do it alone.”

So he’s been fighting alone for god knows how long… I have a few more questions to ask him though.

“How did you escape the palace?”

“I jumped into the moat surrounding our home from my balcony.” He shivers, “It was the coldest thing I’d ever felt.”

“And my world… how did you get here?”

“By breaking our most ancient law, Sundor. I think you can connect the dots.”

I ponder for a moment before a look of dawning comes across my face.

“That night in the forest… you came through that portal?”

Nature nods his head.

“And the full moon that was out last night, that’s why the portal wouldn’t show up.”

“Right again.” Nature says.

“I can’t believe I missed something so simple.”

“I can’t either,” Nature says with a sad laugh.

“So, you took whips for years, jumped into a freezing moat, stole a weapon, and broke your most ancient law, just to get to me?”

“Yes.” He replies without hesitation, “You’re the only person I have faith in right now Sundor, so… will you help me clear my name?”

Well, I can’t exactly say no after he went through all that trouble. Plus, it’s safer with him than without him.

I nod my head in response.

“I will.”