FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

In the town of Dolbin was the most infamous maze in the world. For starters it was a haunted maze, which that alone would cause people to want to check it out. However this maze was different...more...magical. You see, this maze was different than most because you only had 30 minutes to solve it. What happened if you didn't solve it in time? Well then you weren't going to be you anymore. Since it's mysterious appearance in the late 1980's, no one has been able to solve it...nor leave it.

While you might think that you could just exit the way you came, it's not that simple. You see the entrance is in a building, followed by a long tunnel, and finally ends at the maze itself after a ladder climb. When you exited, the hatch was only one way, so by the time you knew it was going to happen you'd be stuck. Considering how complicated the maze was, odds are you weren't going to realize you couldn't leave until it was too late.

There were leaks of an exit online, but the one who took the picture seemed to drop off, rumors say that they posted it while still there and didn't have enough time to leave and we're transformed right at the entrance. Of course no one ever made to the exit to confirm or disprove this theory so it slowly faded into obscurity. Even though the maze slowly stopped being talked about, there were also a handful of people who tried to solve the maze every year.

Our story focuses on a young thrill seeker by the name of Henry. He did extensive research on the maze, looking at alleged screenshots, rumors, and the like to try and get the best map of the maze possible. It took weeks to get everything done but it paid off. Considering how much he had to base his theories on mere rumors didn't make him the most confident; but if they were right he was going to be the first one to solve the maze.

Henry made his way into the depths of Dolbin filled with determination, fear, and excitement. He could be the first person ever to solve the maze and tell the tale, or he could fall victim to the maze's curse. Either way he'd get to experience it first hand, which was good enough for him. He saw what seemed like the entrance, and the long hallway confirmed it. He made his way down it before eventually reaching the ladder to the maze. Henry stopped and looked up, took a deep breath, and climbed up. "Let's do this." he said before opening the hatch and stepping out, the opening slamming shut behind him.

The noise rang through the entire maze and made Henry jump and look back to the source of the noise. However, he was greeted by something he didn't expect. Not far away from it was a cowering husky, seemingly scared of the noise. Henry knew he had a time limit but as a dog lover he couldn't just leave it scared like that. Henry slowly approached and gently rubbed the side of the husky's head, who let out a small bark to show it was enjoying it.

"You like that girl..." Henry trailed off as a kind of vision played in his head.

*****

It was the maze, but he saw it through what looked like a camera pointing at the entrance hatch to it. He curiously let the events in his head play out. A girl, in her late teens to early twenties it seemed stepped out of the hatch nervously. She seemed scared and was hesitating to get out into the maze. As she finally gathered up the courage to and began getting out, the hatch shut with her legs still in the hole, causing the bones to break and she let out a loud scream. Henry winched at this as the events continued to unfold, despite his desire to not see anymore.

Unable to even walk, she manage to dislodge her legs from the hatch and crawled over to a corner leaning again the wall. She knew that it was useless to try and get out with two broken legs and decided she may as well let fate take it's course. She crossed her arms and closed her eyes, perhaps to sleep through it or to remember old memories. After a while, the 30 minutes passed as her body began to change.

The woman's ears became more triangular as they made their way to the top of her head. White fur began to form all over her face and much of her body, with grey furs covering her back and top of her head. Her eyes turned from a brown color to a very light blue. Her nose became small, black, and wet as it pushed outward with the rest of her face as it formed into a muzzle. Her jaw grew with it as more teeth adorned her mouth while her tongue became much longer and flexible.

The woman's legs seemed to alter as they became digitigrade while her feet became padded paws with dulled claws, her hands following shortly after. Her changing bone structure seemed to affect her as she rolled onto her side and stood up on all fours, unable to stand on her hind legs. Her body shrank down vastly, her clothes becoming far to big for her while a fluffy tail formed behind her. As her body shank the clothes covered her up entirely, the same husky puppy Henry was petting emerging from it.

*****

Henry stood up and stepped away looking down at the puppy in shock. She didn't seem to like that and barked and trotted towards him, rubbing against his leg. Nervously, Henry bent down and pet it and even knowing it was one point a human like him, found her adorable. "Come on then, this is no place for a little pup like you." he said starting walk further down the maze, the puppy following. "I think I'll call you Snuggles."

Henry and Snuggles continued down the maze without running into anything. Henry sometimes had to wait for Snuggles to catch up, considering how much shorter her legs were compared to his. It didn't waste enough time to cause worry, but just to be safe Henry picked her up and carried her in his arms. The stars shone down on the maze with it's glass ceiling and made for a beautiful scenery.

After a few more minutes, Henry came across another odd sight. There was an anthropomorphic zebra woman casually sitting on a bench in an open area. Henry walked over with caution, and waved his hand to get her attention. "Hello?"

"Another challenger, oh joy!" the woman said happily. "I wonder what you'll become?"

"Uh...not planning on becoming anything. Who are you exactly?"

"I don't know who I was, but I know I'm Zylia the Zebra now! I serve the maze until the curse is broken." the woman replied happily.

"Okay..." Henry said, clearly disturbed at the lack of care that she had lost her old self. "And how is the curse broken? What happens then?"

"The curse can only be broken if someone solves the maze in time!" she said back. "Then we all get our memories back and if turned inanimate, can move around again!"

"Right..." Henry nodded slowly.

"Good luck on the rest of your adventure! You have 24 minutes left!" Zylia said, hugging Henry happily as the same trance happened when he touched Snuggles.

*****

This time he seemed to see the person through their perspective. As a matter of fact it felt like it was actually him, although completely unable to control his body as if he was possessing him somehow. The man was walking around and saw the bench where Henry saw Zylia in the first place. He seemed to be out of breath and took a seat there. "This is too much, why did I think this is a good idea?" he complained out loud. It was a surreal feeling Henry was going through, it was like being in a VR game.

The man sat there for too long it would seem as blackness started entering his vision, this being a muzzle. "Nononono it hasn't been 30 minutes has it!?" the man said in a panic, although the voice coming from his now muzzle didn't sound like a guy at all. He brought his hands up to his new muzzle, now coated with black fur while his arms had white fur with black stripes, this fur pattern now all over his body. He felt tension build in his shoes and look down, seeing them rip as hooves now replaced his feet, making him slightly taller.

The man watched in horror as his legs became more shapely while his hips began to build up, his waist do the opposite. However, this was cut off by two orbs starting to form on his chest. He brought his hands up to them, pushing them as if to try and stop them from growing; failing, but the sensations confirming they were all too real. A burning sensation at his crotch and a hand going down there confirmed the sex change. Long hair fell into her vision with her ears become larger and droopy, the man now Zylia in body.

She stood up in the zebra body, clearly panicked running around every which way before slowing down. Why was she running? She had a purpose to serve in this maze and this was a checkpoint after all! She had to tell people how much time they had left! Give the players more hope! It was her job the maze assigned her after all!

*****

Henry returned to his normal state of mind, shaking his head as he felt like the transformation had just happened to himself, and only made him more motivated then ever to finish the maze. "You're coming with us." Henry said to Zylia.

"But what if someone comes into the maze? I'm supposed to be here!"

"I'm getting out of this maze, and this curse is being lifted tonight." he said confidently.

"If I leave my post the maze master might punish me!"

"Come on, I don't have time for this! You can hold the husky!" Henry said holding Snuggles out in his hands who barked happily at Zylia, panting.

"Ooooooh, I'm gonna get in trouble but it's so cuuuuute!" she said with more glee and terror. "Uhhhhh fine! Okay! But you're gonna talk to the maze right?"

"Yeah, sure. Whatever." Henry shook his head. "Now we don't have a lot of time so let's go!"

With two members in Henry's party now he was more determined than ever. He actually had a crowd watching him now, which only encouraged him to keep moving forward. Not only that, Zylia was a reminder that if he could solve this maze he might be able to save some people, maybe not turn them back to normal but at least give them their old minds back. This wasn't just a man seeking a thrill anymore, it was a rescue mission.

Henry and his small posse continued throughout the maze, and if his map was right, then they were making good progress. Zylia would sometimes get doubts before looking down at the puppy, and her excitement making Zylia want to keep going so she could keep holding Snuggles. They continued through the maze until coming across an interesting site.

There were two statues of what looked like anthro wolves in a deep embrace. Even though they were made of stone, you could see the love in the two's eyes. It was clear they were lovers, or at least were. On the bright side they were truly together forever, albeit unable to do much of anything. Henry didn't know if they could even think, feel, or anything.

"Hey Zylia, if the curse is broken or whatever you said they would become animate again right?"

"Yes! If you can solve the maze! Just 18 minutes left!" she replied happily.

"Okay...still good on time." Henry nodded looking at the frozen couple with a frown. He knew if he completed this they could be together again, especially if they didn't have any thoughts. Even though he really didn't want to, deep down he needed the encouragement to keep going and ran his fingers down the two petrified statues. Henry and caught on to the fact he was seeing the people transform when he touched them and it would appear he was correct as he went into an all too familiar trance.

*****

This time Henry saw it like the first transformation, as if he was a camera again. He watched as a couple holding hands made their way around the maze. They didn't seem to know this maze was haunted or what it does considering how casually they were walking around admiring every little thing. Henry felt only worse due to this fact, and only filled him with more determination. He watched as the two stopped in their tracts, worry on both of their face. This was because their feet had become stone, rock paws replacing their feet. They both looked down at each other and hugged each other tightly. Did they know what was happening? It was hard to tell.

None the less their clothes and bodies transitioned into stone as the changes continued up their legs, of which both became digitigrade. A long and fluffy tail emerged from behind them only to harden and turn to rock. It continued up to their torso, and while the two could still move their upper bodies, shared a kiss before returning to the hug. After that, their arms and neck hardened leaving them unable to move much. Their faces pushed out into muzzle with longer jaws while their ears became triangular, and dropped down with sadness. The transformation ended, the two now the statues Henry was touching.

*****

As Henry returned to reality, he took his hands off the statues and shook his head. He could sense the fear, horror, and sadness the couple felt during their transformation, and he was going to be the one to relieve them. We're they going to be human again? He hasn't too sure but at the very least they could move around and well, live again. That alone gave him both the courage and encouragement to finish his mission at all cost.

Time was starting to become a real threat, with only 15 minutes left after all the twists and turns the posse had to make. They seemed to be nearing the end, at least according Henry's map. It reached the point where if it wasn't right, there was a good chance he wouldn't be able to make it out. Henry shook the thought away, and hoped that his intensive research payed off.

As Henry turned the left he stopped dead in his tracks. He looked forward to what looked, and was, a rather large green dragon. It had red scales going down it's back, and a tail just as long as it's body. It sat with it's head down, staring down the path right at Henry with a seemingly blank stare. The dragon was incredibly intimidating and yet Henry knew he'd have to make it past him. He took a deep breath and made his way up to it.

The dragon made a small huff as he noticed Henry and his group approach him. He raised his head slightly as if to simply acknowledge that Henry was in front of them. At first Henry just tried moving around him, which proved pretty hard to do. "Uh...excuse me, just want to get past..." Henry told the dragon who watched unenthusiastically.

"And why didn't you just ask me to move?" the dragon said back. Upon hearing the rather loud voice coming from the dragon, Henry fell onto the ground in surprise.

"You-you can talk!" Henry said shocked up to the dragon.

"And so can you! We're both learning." the dragon replied back sarcastically.

"O-okay..." Henry was mentally taken back by the fact that there was a talking mythical creature right in front of him, but if he dwelled on it too much he'd never escape in time. "Listen, if you can just make room for me and my friends here we can be on our way."

"And why should I do that? I'm comfortable here." he simply replied.

"Don't you know what'll happen if I don't get out in time?"

"You really think I don't know? Have you seen me?" he retorted. "Of course I know what'll happen, go ahead. Touch my foot, see what happened." the dragon said, moving his foot right in front of Henry, who was hesitant. "Go on then, do it already!" Nervously, Henry obliged as he was sent into another trance.

*****

This time around, he saw it in first person again. He was in the body of what was a very tall, young man who seemed to be making good progress. As he walked in the normally unlit maze he saw something that caught his eye. A light and what looked like a door. Was this the exit? Excited to be the first person ever to escape the maze he went into a sprint towards it. There was one corridor to the right and as he ran past it, he felt a harsh stinging pain in his leg, like he had just been stabbed. He fell to the floor instantly. He looked down at his bleeding leg, some kind of animal gash in it. The pain was too much, and rendered him immobile, and thus eventual victim to the curse.

The man's face extended outward, forming into a mighty snout as his teeth turned sharper and nostrils became much bigger. His ears followed in suite while green scales formed over most of his body, yellow ones forming on his front. Red scales formed down going down his spine, all the way down a new tail that had formed behind him.

The man fell onto all fours as his body increased in size immensely, growing at a rapid rate. He felt his nails turn into sharp black claws all while two incredibly large dragonic wings erupted out from his spine. His arms and legs took on a digitigrade structure as the changes seemed to come to a close, some fire-breathing capabilities inside of him now. As the transformation stopped Henry was taken back to the present.

*****

"Oh my God...what happened to you?" Henry asked in horror after seeing the events unfold.

"I know what happened now, but the curse of this place prevents me from telling you even if I wanted to." he replied back.

"Ugh, I don't have time for this..." Henry muttered to himself. "Come on, you can let me through! What's your name?"

"Jeff." the dragon simply replied.

"Wow, what a boring name for a dragon." Henry told himself. "Listen, Jeff! I'm sure you don't want to be stuck in this maze anymore than the rest of us, right?"

"What are you getting at?"

"Well, I can escape and then the curse is broken! You can fly and stuff! Sure you're a dragon now but everyone loves dragons!" Henry hoped to get through to Jeff.

"I suppose, people would bow to me and stuff, heck someone could form a guild or something. I'd be popular with those LARP people." he said back.

"Now you're getting it! So can you please let me and my associates through?"

"Uh...no." Jeff replied, with a hint of embarrassment in his voice. "I'm actually stuck here so...sorry?"

Henry took a deep breath, both out of annoyance and a bit of fear. An idea quickly struck him. "Hey, why don't you just lie your head back down and I'll climb over you? Then I can get out of here and we all win?"

Jeff sighed and obliged. "I suppose." he commented. Henry scaled the dragon as if it was a mountain, making him feel like he was in a video game as opposed to real life, Zylia in tow with Snuggles in her arm. Soon, the two made it over Jeff and said their goodbye, even though they'd likely see each other soon if everything went right. Henry looked down the straight-away and noticed what he saw in his vision with Jeff. Not only that, it matched the picture that was taken of the exit! He made it! Looking at his watch and with confirmation from Zylia, there was only 4 minutes left so he wanted to make sure to get out as quick as possible.

As they made their way down the straight-away, he noticed the same place where Jeff was attacked as a human. He stopped in his tracks. He knew that same thing could be there still. He stopped to think about a way around it. No way to climb around it, so that was out of the question. Henry had to think fast, only 3 minutes to make a choice. An idea crossed his mind that may or may not work but it was his best option.

He took one of his shoes off, feeling the gravel beneath his feet and took a deep breath. He launched his shoe past it and a fur-clad paw slashed at it with it's claws, although it missed. Henry looked wide eyed at it, relieved that he thought of that idea and also terrified at the hostile creature. Wasn't it a human before, or did the curse make it like that?

"I know you're there, reveal yourself!" Henry shouted out, trying his best to sound confident and terrifying, not quite succeeding.

"Smarter than most people then. bravo." a voice said clapping, an anthropomorphic bear walking out from the hideaway. "None the less, that doesn't mean I'll let you escape."

"Wait, what? Why!?" Henry yelled out, his nerves starting to get to him a bit.

"I was the one who was supposed to make it out!" he snapped back angrily. "Took a picture to show where the exit is to everyone and everything. I was gonna be the one to break the curse."

"So you're him then? The one that posted that picture?" Henry asked back with genuine shock.

"See for yourself." he said walking over to Henry, who stood still in fear for what might happen if he move. The bear forcefully grabbed Henry's arm and put his hand right on his muzzle. As always, this sent Henry into the trance that he really didn't have time to go through.

*****

This go around Henry saw it as a camera again, seeing a man taking a picture of the exit. It didn't seem like he was in much of a rush, either he had plenty of time or lost track of it. He stopped and took out his phone, a flash showing Henry he had taken the infamous picture. After a bit of clicking around on his phone it looked like he posted it. He walked past the exit, as if to see what was there and back. He opened his phone again, holding it out in front of him. He kept changing poses as he took more pictures.

And another.

And another.

This kept going for much longer than needed and the maze seemed to agree. As the man tried to move into the exit he found himself unable to move his legs. He looked down and seemed to let out a shout in anger. His phone dropped to the ground as his whole body began to go through it's metamorphosis, too many pictures was going to lead into too many changes.

The man's body became coated with a thick layer of brown fur while his nails blackened and became razor sharp claws. His whole body became much larger, looking as if he was a fur-covered body builder. His face pushed out into a muzzle while his teeth sharpened. His nose became larger and black while his ears became smaller and circular, slightly higher than they used to be. A very small cottonball tail formed behind him as his clothes finally gave way, a fully anthropomorphic bear now standing in his place. He looked down at his body with a glare and let out a might growl as the trance came to a close.

*****

"And now it's your turn to transform!" he said opening his mouth to take a bite out of Henry's hand, who barely managed to pull it away in time. This was meant with anger from the bear and let out a loud growl.

"Run!" Henry said before stopping himself. "A dragon is blocking us, no where to run, okay!" he let out a scream as the bear attempted to take another bite of him.

"Just give up already! You can't beat a bear!" he laughed in Henry's face, starting to slash at him with his claws.

"Can't we just talk this out?" Henry said nervously, backing himself into a wall.

"Sure, after your time runs out." the bear said back smugly. Henry looked at his watch and noticed he only had a minute left.

"Crap..." Henry's mind raced for an answer to get past the bear, nothing coming to mind.

"Enough playing around! Time to end this!" the bear said opening it's jaw, ready to bite down. Henry closed his eyes bracing himself for a lot of pain.

However instead of screaming pain coming from him it came from the bear. Snuggles had found her way out of Zylia's hands and biting down angrily at the bear's legs.

"Wow I did not know her teeth were that sharp." Henry commented looking at the scene. The bear trying to get her off by shaking his leg and slashing at her, failing to hit her.

"Run!" Zylia shouted out snapping Henry out of his moment shock. He saw an opening between the bear's legs, just wide enough for Henry to slide through. It was now or never. With a quick breath he went to the floor, sliding under the bear's legs, not making it far.

"Ow!" he said for a moment, sliding on gravel was not a pleasant feeling. The bear turned around, managing to get Snuggles off of him and stood towering over Henry with a smirk.

"Too easy." he said trying to stomp him with his clawed foot, Henry rolling out of the way and using the wall to quickly get back up.

"Bye!" he said running as fast as he could, trying his best to not the let pain of running on gravel without a shoe affect him. The bear let out a loud growl as it went down on all fours chasing after him. Henry took a look down at his watch, 30 seconds. He then turned his attention to the bear who had just leapt to attempt to take a bite, a Hail Marry for the battle. Henry remembered seeing it in a movie, and hoped he could pull it off now.

He kicked the leg closet to the bear at the wall, using his other one to flip. He managed to barely avoid the bite of the bear, who landed belly down on the gravel. Henry, not being very athletic, failed to finish the flip and landed right on the bear, hurting the bear mostly.

"That was a better idea in my head." Henry said looking down at his watch, only 10 seconds left. "Crap!" he shouted pushing himself off of the bear like a track runner and sprinted towards the exit.

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...

"I did it." Henry said out loud in disbelief, standing still for a moment. "I did it!" he shouted out proudly jumping. He turned back to face the maze. "I did it! I beat you! I broke your curse!" he said proudly, slowly, the maze started to vanish completely and left everyone free of it. He saw many people looking around as well as some familiar faces. The two statues become de-petrified, albeit still wolves. They looked at each in shock but mostly in joy, sharing a long embrace. Jeff stretched out his legs, relieved to be able to move again, a smile forming on his face as he took flight and flew around. Zylia ran up and hugged Henry, Snuggles padded at his leg.

"You broke the curse, thank you!" Zylia said tearfully. "I can actually think for myself again, and I'm not stuck as Zylia anymore!"

"What should I call you then?" Henry asked with a soft chuckle.

"Zoey." she said back with a smile. "A name that doesn't sound like it's out of a role playing game." she added with a chuckle.

"And how about you?" Henry asked bending down petting Snuggles head, who let out a happy bark and wagged her tail.

The happy moment wouldn't stay, as the anthro bear walked towards Henry. "Get behind me." he commanded Snuggles, albeit Zoey listened as well. Henry stood up and the two stood face to face, no one saying a word.

The bear gave in first, dropping to his knees. "I'm sorry."

Henry simply nodded.

"The curse got inside my head. It made me filled with rage." he explained. "I wanted to stop anyone from getting out no matter the cost."

"Yeah, you did." Henry replied back.

"I'm not asking for forgiveness, nor do I deserve it." he said. "But thank you for saving me from the beast that consumed me.

Snuggles ran from behind Henry, going over to the bear, liking his face. The bear chuckled. "I'm sorry about hurting you, little one." he laughed, petting her head and standing back up. "This is where we part ways. Goodbye. I will not forget you." and with that the bear walked over the horizon.

After the confrontation Henry let out a sigh of relief. "I wasn't the only one that thought he was still gonna kill us right?"

"Henry!" he heard the familiar voice of Jeff call above him, taking a landing. "Not in the wall anymore!"

"Looking good!" he chuckled back up to the dragon.

"You three probably want a ride home! You traveled a far way, why not take a dragon back? Show everyone your cool new friend?"

"One second." Henry said before looking back to Zoey.

"What are you going to do now?"

"About that..." she said rubbing her arm, blushing a bit. "I was hoping I could come with you?" she said looking away. "I know it's stupid..."

"Nonsense! I'd love for you to stick around!"

"I'm not Zylia, you know that right? I'm a different person."

"Tell you what, if you come with me you can hold Snuggles." he said picking the husky pup up.

"You really think that's going to-d'awww! It's so small and cute!" she said, giving in and taking the dog, cradling it in her arms.

"Thought so." Henry laughed. "Come on then!" he said as the trio climbed onto Jeff's back who took flight, heading back home. Henry allowed himself to rest for what felt like forever. All those people saved, the maze solved, and the curse broken. Nothing could scare him anymore.

That was until he looked down, and his eyes went wide. "Wow, we are really high..." he said nervously. "I do not like this...and I forgot my shoe."