FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter One

Melu yawned widely, glancing to the watch on her wrist. Almost closing time.

It had been a very quiet day at the Clearwater Spa. Not that many off world visitors today it would seem wanting to soak in the mineral waters. That suited her just fine... Cleaning up that mess from that family of slime spewers yesterday had put her in a bit of a bad mood after having to stay back four hours at the end of her shift scrubbing the floors.

Wouldn't be so bad if she got paid overtime, by the water dragoness ran this business along with her mother and best friend. No overtime for them...

Walking out from behind the welcoming desk, she strolled her rather athletic looking frame towards the doors, flipping the electronic sign from 'Open' to 'Closed'. A few minutes early wouldn't hurt after all.

The dragoness' hide was a light blue, almost azure in colouration, while the ribbed looking hide upon her front was a darker blue. From the top of her head rolled two ivory horns pointing backwards and then a line of spikes erupting from her back, all the way down her spine to the tip of her tail that dragged behind her. A pair of wings was folded against her back, rarely used but still part of her.

She was dressed in a loose 'Clearwater Spa' t-shirt that shoved off a bit of her rather impressive cleavage and baggy shorts. No shoes on her clawed feet; not that she needed them in the spa.

Turning about, Melu gasped in shock, her breasts suddenly inflating half their size again in surprise, pressing up against the shirt and straining the fabric. "Namine!" she glowered, amber eyes glaring at her best friend and co-worker. "I've told you before! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Barking a laugh was Namine, a yellow saurian girl. Her head was like that of an ancient Triceratops from the planet Earth. The primitive creatures of that planet thought all the dinosaurs died out, when actually they'd just discovered space travel and left for the stars when the planet had become too cold, with only the naysayers of climate change staying behind.

Yellow hide with black stripes, Namine was far more muscular looking than Melu, sporting a black jumpsuit and a brown vest. Her green eyes twinkles mischievously to her friend as she poked at Melu's engorged chest with a finger, "Ah, but it's so much fun to see this happen to you..." she teased as the air filled breasts began to deflate and shrink back to the scowling Melu's chest.

As an aqua dragon, Melu's kind had air sacs stored within their breasts. At will, they could inflate them to store extra air for diving or to assist with floating in the sky. But they also acted as a defence mechanism, inflating like a puffer fish when startled to make themselves look bigger.

It also made for rather amusing situations when the males of their species inflated and were mistaken for females her mother often joked to Melu, though Melu had never seen another of her own kind since before she could remember.

As Melu's chest resumed its normal size, the dragoness glanced to Namine, "Why aren't you watching the pools? You're supposed to be the life guard on today, right?"

Crossing her arms and rolling her eyes, Namine snorted, "Oh please... We haven't had any patrons in over two hours. I've been bored out of my wits watching those empty pools. Been dying to just dive in myself."

"Mmhmm... Now that sounds like an idea," grinned Melu to the saurian as she gave an exhausted stretch over her head. "Be a good way to relax and unwind... Particularly now it's the weekend."

"Well, now we're all closed up and all, we can--" Namine began, before a thumping on the doors caused them both to turn.

"'Ey! Lemme in!" grumbled a gruff voice.

Standing at the doors was a small furry creature, banging his fists on the glass doors. Half the size of Namine and Melu was a rat, wearing a backpack and a blue loincloth and dragging a larger satchel with him. His fur was rather dirty and scruffy looking as he glowered at the two girls from his one good eye, the other covered up with an eye patch.

Reaching over to the door locks, Melu temporarily opened them with a clunk as the sliding doors slid open to allow the rat to scurry in before they closed with another clunk. Dragging the large satchel in with him, the rat looked up at the girls, "Boy, mistresses 'ave I got someting fer ya both taday!" he grunted to Melu and Namine as he looked up at them.

"So it would seem Smudge," Namine reached for the bag.

"'Ey!" Smudge the rat swiped at her hands with his claws. "'Ands off til I finish telling ya all about it."

"Easy, easy Smudge," Melu added. "Bring it out back into the tea room and we'll talk there. Better than letting others see it all through the doors."

"What?" the rat laughed. "Are ya both ashamed ta be seen with me?"

"With filthy fur like that, you betcha!" Namine added with a giggle. "One day I'm gonna drag you into the spa and force you to take a bath."

Waving his paw dismissively, Smudge replied, "I 'ad a bath last year... Got a few more moths ta go yet before I need 'nother."

"All the more reason for me to drag you out back to the pools and scrub you," the triceratops took a pose as if trying to catch the rat, whom yelped and attempted to scurry away as Namine play stomped after him.

Melu shook her head, a small smile on her face as the two bickered. Smudge was a very unlikely source of a friend for them, but their history as a group all went back many, many years. Long ago when she was a young hatchling, she and her mother had been captured together from their home world by creature poachers. From what she understood, their kind were sentient but not technological able for interstellar travel, living on a world that was mostly water.

They had been sold into slavery eventually by the poachers to some rich tycoon that lived on this world, Vrocyss, years ago. The planet was mostly a large swampy mess, with miles and miles of inhospitable marsh lands full of dangerous creatures and natural hazards. No reason to run away from their life of slavery... Most who ventured into the swamps were lost and were never seen again.

They lived in the only city on the planet, aptly named Capital. It was a major spaceport for the planet and the main source of life upon the rock. There were no sentient beings upon the planet, only beasts and creatures out in the swamps. But a number of important plants grew very well here and the waters of the swamp were also very beneficial to people, if a bit muddy.

But the young Melu had bonded with another young slave, the saurian Namine. They became friends as they worked and over time, Namine let Melu and her mother into her secret. She'd been working with a young street rat named Smudge who'd she'd saved from some deranged scientist named Dr. Maul to earn credits on the side and eventually buy her freedom. Now that she was friends with them both, she stayed with Melu and her mother long enough until they had earned enough credits to purchase their freedom.

It had come to a shock to them once freed, but they lived with Smudge a while until they were able to afford their own place and eventually, build their own business. This led them to where they were today.

The thing that helped them the most was Smudge's connection to the underground of the city, hearing things and rumours, then selling the information to those that wanted it. A bounty hunter was searching for someone for example? They'd take payment to tell them where the person was hiding... Or perhaps bribes from that person to throw the hunter off the trail.

Sometimes, they'd even double dip the payment, collecting a fee from both sides.

But Smudge also ran a couple of small time jobs in the bad parts of the city, where on occasion, he'd find something of great value and then they'd sell it to a market seller. One bar he worked for, had a locker service and occasionally, some people would leave things behind or just... disappear and never collect their belongings again.

And the rat was always willing to quickly collect anything of value for the girls. Sometimes it was small things; a couple of credits here and there in pockets or perhaps a watch. But on occasion, he would hit the jackpot, with a few things, like caches of jewellery or valuable artefacts. Maybe it was selling in ways, but the lockers did have a time limit on them and Smudge did stick to that said time.

Most of the time.

Even now that both Melu and Namine ran the business with Melu's mother, Namine and Smudge were still good friends and they could still make extra money selling information as it came their way and pawning off any objects that he'd bring them. He'd even help at times with the accounting as the rat was surprisingly good at maths and all factors when it came to money. They paid him for his services of course and the rat was quite well off, even if he still seemed to prefer the more... dirty parts of the city to operate in compared to them.

Dragging the bag into the staff room, Smudge gave a grunt as he lifted it up towards the table, still grinning ear to ear. "So, there's tis hunter guy dat came in a few weeks back. Some big shot big game hunter fart or someting... He left a number of things wit us at the bar as they do. Says he's gonna head out and go bag him a Yunicycloid brood mudda, would you believe it?"

Both Melu and Namine gasped, turning to each other with a horrified expression. The Yunicycloid was a creature of the swamps that was incredibly vicious and savage. Think a giant frog with teeth with teeth; add claws that secreted venom; eyes that looked all over the place and a giant spiked tongue and tail. Mix with colour changing camouflage and a mean streak several miles long... That would a young adult Yunicycloid.

A brood mother would be ten times worse.

They thankfully stayed far from the city. They were mostly territorial and preferred to stay to areas they could call their own. But general consensus was when a Yunicycloid was about? Stay indoors and lock the windows. Hide your children, your wife, your husband... Hide whatever you could.

"So anyway, this joker tells us ta hold onto this stuff for him. We tell 'im that we hold for four weeks and then we pawn it off. He tells us that he be back and that he expects his gear back. But he's been gone eight weeks now, so... manager offers up his stuff. I take a peek in and I see this..."

Slowly Smudge opened the satchel and instantly the gleam struck the eyes of all about the table. The light bouncing off the golden shine about them, near blinding the two girls as they started at the bag in awe. "What... is that?" Namine started. "Is that..."

"Gold?" asked Melu, turning her head to Smudge, her eyes wide. Gold was highly valuable here due to its scarcity. A single ounce of gold could be worth thousands of credits to the right buyer.

Smudge nodded happily. "Yes! Yes! Looks like it! Go on mistress Namine... take it, take it! See for yourself." The rat was practically dancing with glee.

Reaching into the satchel, the triceratops girl lifted it carefully out. She gave a grunt at the weight of it, using both arms as it came out. It was oval shape, smooth and round, not rough or sharp in any one part. "Oye, this thing is heavy," Namine protested as she handed it to Melu. "Try it out, Melu."

Carefully taking the golden orb from her friend, Melu turned it about in her claws curiously, admiring it and examining it. It seemed heavy enough to be gold, but then again, something just felt off about it as well, as if it didn't feel completely solid either.

And then some other strange feeling seemed to wash over her. It was a strange feeling that Melu had never experienced before and couldn't describe. It was almost as if she wanted to take control of this object and claim it as her own, ignoring the other parties involved. A need to... protect it? She shook her head in confusion, placing it upon the table carefully.

"So, whatcha both think?" Smudge flashed his teeth eagerly at them both, looking with anticipation between the two.

"I think it could fetch a good price," Namine tapped at the surface of the golden orb. "Though I wonder what it is... It seems to be part of something since it's so... round. What do you think about it Melu? Should we tell Mom? ... Melu?"

"Huh? Uh... Oh, sorry. Zoned out," Melu snapped out of her weird feelings, looking back towards Namine, then to Smudge and then the golden orb. "I... think we shouldn't tell Mom about it. Not this time. I think she may not be so... willing to part with this." She was still confused about those odd feelings. If she felt them, what if her mother felt them as well?

"Alright then," Namine gathered up the orb and slipped it back into the bag. "Nice work getting this Smudge," she commended the smiling rat. "Pop by in a day or two and we should have your share ready for you. Melu will take it to Zouupin's tomorrow to try to sell it off."

"Huh? Me?" Melu blinked in surprise to Namine. "Why me?"

"Because Miss Inflato-boobs," Namine chuckled, poking at Melu's chest firmly with a finger. "I ran the last three pawnings. This one is yours... No getting out of it this time!"

Melu opened her mouth to protest, but relented. Namine had a point. Melu often avoided the pawn store because the owner seemed to have a thing for enjoying watching her breasts inflate, often spooking her just to make it happen. But Namine was right, she'd gotten out of it the last few times and it was well overdue her turn. Conceding, the dragoness sighed, "Alright, alright... I'll run there in the morning. You'll be fine to open in the morn without me then Namine?"

The dinosaur gave Melu thumbs up, before turning to Smudge. "Now, you and that bath..."

"Nuuuuuuuuu!" Smudge quickly turned tail and scarpered out of the room, Namine in play pursuit towards the front doors. "Misstress stay away from meeeeee!"

Left behind, Melu stared once more at the golden orb as the shouts of the two echoed down the halls. "What... are you?" she asked herself, before she gathered the bag, placing the orb inside of it and lifted it up, slinging it over her shoulder. She'd take it upstairs to her room and leave it overnight. She still wanted to return for that swim before clean up and full closure for the night.