FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Original Story by: Courgus

Translated by: Erazaa

Vashgar was rushing as fast as his legs could carry him over the slightly damp forest floor. He mustn't stop since he knew who was chasing him. It was the human and his fellows from the camp he just intruded. Even though there were only three of them, he had perceived something deeply evil in the voice of their leader. Although he was hardly frightened, he knew that this person would be capable of anything. For this reason he ran as fast as he could. But the wound that man had inflicted on him took its toll on this unequal hunt.

“I'm not able to jump. Climbing would be too slow. They are pretty close. Even without riding a horse…" Varshgar thought as he was weighing his options. In the end, only very few remained, this man had seen to that. Varshgar looked down on himself, for a moment, if only briefly, at the bolt stacked in his left thigh.

Trying to pull it out would not help. Not that easy. It was the bolt that suppressed the Bleeding. But if he would pull it out now, it would certainly bleed very heavily. The human had expressed himself unmistakably before. There were barbs on this bolt that would make the wound worse when trying to remove the bolt.

“I don't know what to do now…" he thought while running on.

“I mustn't lead them to our camp neither the old one nor the new one. I have to cope with it alone."

He was rushing further through the undergrowth as his chasers were still behind him.

>>Make sure he survives when we catch up with him.<< the leader commanded.

>>Yes, Boss. Do we have what we need to find him?<<

The leader's grin was wide and he nodded.

>> The blood trace is unequivocal.<< he said in self-satisfaction.

"The bolt will make sure that the wound continues to bleed. At some point he can't run any longer. And we calmly follow the trail. There is no escape ..." he thought.

>> Start moving. We're chasing now chasing him << he said, again with a grin on his face.

Meanwhile, Varshgar had already given some thought to how he could get rid of his enemies. One was to build traps. But he had immediately discarded this idea because he hardly had time to even catch a breath. Another would have been to face the enemy in a fight, but with that wound in his leg it would have been a foolish thing to do.

“Think! Come on Varshgar, think!“ he repeated again and again.

Once more he was looking down on his wound.

“Everywhere it smells of my blood. I can barely....Wait! That's it! “

With this thought he changed the direction in which he was running. He turned into the south. After an eternity he was able to hear what he was searching for.

“The river. Finally!" He reached the southernmost point to which his fellow would walk. The small river which was passing by coming from the adjoining mountains was a blessing for him. He quickly went into the cold water. The stream immediately touched his wound and Some of the blood was washed out but this also caused him pain. But right afterwards they stopped. The bleeding sealed and slowly stopped. Less and less blood could be seen in the water.

“Good...It finally stops. But what now?" he considered.

He knew that the wound would start bleeding again soon if he continued to walk. He didn't have anything with him because his backpack was still in the camp. The human had grabbed it when he knocked Varshgar down and he had lost his orientation for a short moment.

Varshgar looked around and searched for a solution or answer that he needed so badly right now.

“Hiding on the ground is pointless. Here they will find me for sure very fast...Then what?" he thought again, knowing that his enemies would soon catch up with him. When he couldn't think of anything else to do, Varshgar did what he always did when he didn't know what to do.

He simply improvised and quickly grabbed some large leaves and tore out some plant fibers. With his loot he then set out on his way further south.

The small group of people slowly approached the last residence of Varshgar.

>>The blood trail leads along here. He must have changed direction.<< said one of the two companions.

>>It's ok. Of course we will continue to follow him.<<

"You can't escape me!" he thought again and his eyes sparkled threateningly at this thought.

As he progressed, Varshgar tried to keep the wound dry. Again and again he pressed on the bolt. Each time it hurted but there was no other option. As he put some of the leaves on the wound, he tied the plant fibers around it and tried to keep them in place.

More difficult and laborious than really successful he attached the construct.

"It's working. Even if only very slightly. It will probably fall off again sooner or later. But at least I won't lose any more blood. For now."

With these thoughts he continued his trip. He was still following his nose into the south. He had noticed a snell, coming from that direction, he wanted to follow further.

"Hopefully this will help me..." he thought again while he tried to go faster.

It took some time for Varshgar to follow the course of the river. Again and again he looked down at his leg and checked if it was bleeding again. But until now everything had remained dry.

"If it lasts a little longer, I think I can be satisfied."

He was making progress as the river course got wider.

"A little further and I'll be there."

He was sure that his pursuers were still looking for him.

>> The trace ends right here.<< one of the companions said.

The leader was looking around and reflected for a moment.

>>He must have come through here and besides he can't have made it too much further. So...<< he said briefly and then he pointed south.

>> This way, I'm completely certain.<< he said.

The two companions who were with him looked at each other and nodded. They continued their way south along the river.

With each step he took, the sound became clearer. The smell he had picked up also became stronger and stronger.

"I'll be there soon. It's almost time." he thought to himself.

A few more meters and light slowly appeared in front of him. The forest became a little clearer and slowly he could already see the horizon.

Then he made his last steps and stood at the edge of the forest. Right next to the course of the river at a waterfall.

Even if the hill was not very high a wrong step was still enough that one would come here to death.

Varshgar pointed his nose to the sky again and soaked up all the smells.

He still had the smell of the pursuers in his nose but it was not particularly strong.

“There's still some time left until they catch up with me. They are definitely walking in my direction"

Varshgar looked around and grabbed some branches, leaves and plants. Then he brought everything together. He crushed the plant in his paws and took some soil and dipped it briefly into the water next to the waterfall. Quickly he packed everything on top of each other and staffed it at the waterfall directly in front of his paws.

"That should do it," he thought with satisfaction.

His gaze now wandered down to the waterfall.

“Let's go. I have to walk on."

With these thoughts he continued his journey.

Slowly he paced down along a small trail at the edge of the waterfall. There, the soil was pretty slippery but despite his injury, he found his way down safely. Once at the bottom, Varshgar walked around the waterfall and into the small, well-hidden, cave by the waterfall.

Varshgar had explored it before. He knew exactly what to expect inside because he often went scouting when he was new to an area. Fortunately he had stashed some supplies in the cave in case there were problems.

After a few steps he arrived at his supplies. Here the wolf found some important things. Among other things, he had stowed here some torches, wood and medicine.

“Here...the bandages. Good." he thought to himself and rolled up the bandage.

It was made of plant fibers packed with the purple gray-shimmer-orchid, which grows frequently here. It is an herb that is very popular among the warriors clan because it has very good medicinal properties.

Gently, he wrapped the bandage around his wounded leg. When he had the bandage in position, he set to work.

“Ok….3….2…..1…"

With a tug he broke off the shaft of the bolt. Even though he would have wanted to scream in pain, he pinched himself so that he didn't do exactly that.

"I'll have to remove the rest later... Absolutely..."

After torturing himself, he put on the bandage and tightened it well.

"At least it wasn't bleeding now. This is how I'll take away their scent." he thought to himself.

A bit dazed by the pain he had just inflicted on himself, Varshgar staggered slightly. It was hard for him to keep on his paws.

The wolf gasped for air and struggled not to faint.

Then he slapped himself on the cheek.

“Stay awake...Varshgar...You mustn't get fainted."

He shook his head briefly and then reached into the cave again. In a small box there was still fresh food and two water bottles made out of leather. Traditionally his tribe always made them.

"Lari made these for me." he thought, smiling slightly.

Just at this moment, his survival instinct was awakened. The desire to rejoin his clan mates was greater than the threat of his captors.

He grabbed the last of his supplies and took the small shoulder bag that was standing by. When everything was well stowed, he moved on. His way led him out of the cave, through the waterfall. As soon as the warrior got outside he sniffed again.

The scent of his henchmen was still there and it had become stronger.

"Let's get out of here fast!" he thought to himself and ran inside into the next section of the forest.

Thanks to the bandage he had put on, he could already walk better because the plants also had an anesthetic effect on pain. So he was able to climb trees again and the wolf immediately made use of it.

As soon as he had climbed the tree he smelled the enemies again. They were just on the brink of the edge of the forest on the hill of the waterfall.

At the top of the hill, the chasers were just reaching the waterfall.

They looked around and tried to perceive a trace. But no trace. Their prey had disappeared.

>>He... I think there is something over here.<< said one of the two companions.

Before the leader could confirm the finding, the companion made a mistake and stepped into Varshgar's trap. On the mud the smart wolf had put on the crushed flowers, the compaignon lost his footing and slipped away. The flowers, which acted as a lubricant, made him slip and fall down the slope. At the bottom he hit hard on a rock. Even up there on the hill you could hear the cracking of the bones that broke with the impact.

"One less. Two more to go!" Varshgar thought to himself and continued his way through the branches of the trees.

Enraged about the stupidity of his helpers and about the fact that his prey had escaped him again, he grabbed the other companion.

>>You walk back to the camp... Tell the others to be ready...<<

Startled by his leader's sudden outburst of rage, the other companion hardly dared to contradict him and moved off in the direction of the camp.

The anger that seethed in him was now also in his eyes.

A sinister glint played around them as he made his way to the bottom of the waterfall.

Varshgar, who now had a slight lead over his pursuers, was still hiding in the trees. He always tried to move quietly and not draw attention to himself. For him it depended now on it. If he still wanted to have a chance the wolf had to consider his next steps carefully.

Again Varshgar sniffed and he immediately noticed that the smell of his enemies had become thinner.

"He's alone... I can't perceive the other anymore." he thought to himself.

Now he felt more self-confident as his henchmen had shrunk to just one person. Was now the moment to get rid of the last one?

Varshgar thought back and forth. The smell of his last remaining chaser was that of the attacker who had knocked him down in the camp. He also owed the bolt in his leg to him.

A direct and open fight would not work. Not in this present condition. Varshgar was aware of that. However, he could not run away forever. Either way, he had to finish the job now.

"Either it catches me... or I catch him..." he thought.

And there were no more than these two options. It was over. No more escape. No escape.

Varshgar stopped and crouched down. He made himself as small as he could to be less conspicuous.

In the meantime, his henchman had also reached the area. The smell of the person was now very strong. Again and again he looked around to see if he could catch a glimpse of him. But nothing. He continued to stand on his branch and then he saw him. He was still a few meters away from him, so it was still necessary to wait.

He took another step closer. But Varshgar noticed very quickly that his henchman seemed to be cautious.

He continued to watch his steps and everything seemed as if he knew exactly that Varshgar had to be here.

"Is it possible that he can perceive me?" he secretly asked himself.

Another step. But then he continued on his way normally. When he was directly above the attacker, Varshgar started to move. He leaped down and landed directly on his attacker. With his razor-sharp claws, he shredded the attacker's armor and scratched his torso.

Five long claw strokes now adorned his skin.

>>Ah... you crappy... little...<< he groaned out breathing heavily.

But then he attacked him. Enraged, he rushed at Varshgar and thrust his blade into his stomach. The pommel struck his left kidney and he gasped for breath. Varshgar staggered backwards against a tree while gathering himself and gasping for air. His attacker was also struggling to catch his breath. But again he attacked. His blade pointed at Varshgar this time, but he dodged it as it almost pierced him.

Then Varshgar took his turn and hit him in the face with his fist. Hit by the hard blow, the attacker went down. He knelt on his left knee on the ground and spat out some blood. The rest that was still on his mouth he wiped from his face.

Then Varshgar lashed out, his right paw went up, the claws were fully extended and he bared his teeth. Immediately he went for the human and he was ready to finish it.