FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

(Once again I apologize for no yiffing. It's still storyline time but I promise the next chapter will have some action. Besides anticipation is half the fun right? Eh, probably not but you'll have to wait anyway.)

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I glanced back at the white rabbit behind me. She wasn't looking at me any more though. She was staring at the ground. With her head tilted forward her red hair fell in front of her face in a wave and hid her from view. Her hair was longer than it was practical for it to be. Most females wore it no longer than the shoulders but hers flowed down over her back and to her hips.

Now it was tangled and damp from when she had bathed in the spring. The deep red set off her white fur wonderfully and I switched my gaze back in front of me before those thoughts could go any further.

"Lashana." I said her name a little nervously. She was suddenly more real to me now that I knew her name. She had a name and that meant she was a fur with feelings and life. Once again my shame and guilt tried to rise but I was ready for it and crushed it viciously. I couldn't keep regretting what I had done, it wouldn't do any good.

Maybe if I could get her to forgive me, then I could forgive myself. I wasn't sure it was possible for her to forgive me. What I had done... It was an understatement to say it was personal. Even if it was impossible I still had to try, it was my only candle against the dark. My only hope for my redemption. "It's a very beautiful name."

I started to walk off into the bushes but turned around. Lashana stood immediately behind me. It surprised me slightly that she should follow so closely. I would have thought she would put herself as far from me as possible. It so surprised me that I froze looking at her for a second.

I forgot what I was going to say. It was something about where we were going but all of a sudden I couldn't remember. Damn it. I turned back around angry at myself for being such an idiot. If I was like this all the time then I wasn't going to be paying enough attention to what was happening. I needed to have all my senses alert. The woods were dangerous enough when I was paying attention.

There were plenty of carnivorous furs that would jump at the opportunity that an equine and lapine presented. In fact, between her beauty, the popularity of rabbit meat, and the sheer amount of food I would provide there wasn't much that would intimidate a predator into not attacking.

I had my axe, but it might not be enough. Especially if they hunted in a pack. I should look into buying some armor. How I was going to get enough money to pay for it was an entirely different problem. I didn't have much more than my necessary possessions.

That meant I would have to work. That wasn't too hard but what was I going to do with Lashana while this was happening? All it would take is for her to ask someone to help her get away from me and that would be it. The entire town would be after my ass. That meant no going to town until I thought she could be trusted.

Unless I left her in the woods while I went into town. But no. That wouldn't work either, she could run off at any time. If I tied her up then someone might find her and either take her or rescue her.

This furnapping stuff was a lot harder than I had thought. In fact, it was a downright pain in the ass. No use whining though. I already knew that I had made a mistake and finding more problems with what I had done wasn't going to help. If I didn't watch it then I was going to get depressed.

I prefer to be happy, it's much more fun. I know that sounds a little weird but it's true. Some people only see the bad things that surround them. Inevitably this leads to a pretty serious lack of happiness and slowly spirals downward until they become little more than mindless workers going about their daily rutines.

In contrast those who see the bright side of things can be entertained by the smallest things. Often they are less effective in their work but they enjoy their life. Being able to enjoy a spring field, summer sky, autumn leaves, and winter silence was a gift and blessing.

Before I had been a cynic who believed that the purpose of life was death and that even that was an improvement. Most things had been done only if they contributed in a material way to my life. It had been pathetic and probably brought on by my orphanhood and social rejection.

After today though I realized that life was about more than that. I don't know why it changed me so profoundly but the simple fact was that I was happier even with my guilt and predicament. After examining it for a little bit I realized that I hadn't become optimistic.

My cynical side had just finally realized that cynicism was bad for me and so started looking at things in a more positive way in an effort to be happier. Put more simply my cynicism made me optimistic. It didn't take me long to realize that this didn't make much sense. However, it was the truth.

Suddenly snapping out of my thoughts I realized I had kept walking and that I was now pushing my way through some undergrowth. It was now very dark and I was glad of my night vision. The moon was a slight crescent glimpsed occasionally through the holes in the canopy.

Quickly glancing behind me to make sure she hadn't slipped off when I wasn't paying attention I was met with the sight of her walking resolutely behind me watching where I placed my feet for ease of movement.

Even though we had been walking for what I guessed to be two hours she showed no signs of weariness. She walked just as she had before but now I noticed that she had a staff. Not the same one as before but a 6' long and almost perfectly straight fir branch.

I admired her stamina and skill in spotting such an impressive walking stick. I know, finding a walking stick may not sound hard but if you want one that is straight and 6' long then you have got a long search in front of you. The needle in a haystack kind. Maybe she had just gotten lucky or perhaps she was just good at that.

I might be able to make some decent bows if she found some more wood like that. Those would be good enough to trade for some armor though I still had the problem of how to get into a town without getting busted. Bleh, one step at a time. I would get overwhelmed if I tried to solve everything at once. That didn't usually stop me from trying but it didn't mean it was a good idea.

Because she was looking at the ground she didn't notice me looking at her and I looked back in front of me in time to avoid running into a tree. That would have looked quite suave and mature. God, that was so cliché I almost choked. Fortunately I managed to hold onto my gag reflex and not make almost of much of a fool of myself that way as I would have if I had run into the tree.

Looking at the stars I realized we were heading towards the mountains. I suppose it was as good as anywhere else. Especially since there would be caves up there. They would serve as shelter for a while. Hopefully long enough to get Lashana to forgive me. I really hoped that was possible. If it wasn't, we'd be up in the mountains for a very long time.

I prayed once again that we wouldn't run into anyone. Perhaps the Great Stallion would smile on us and I wouldn't have to fight anyone. I was pretty sure I could win one on one against just about everything but a bear. Packs though... I'd already thought this particular worry out before and I didn't need to again so I pushed it to the back of my mind.

Just then I stepped into a clearing I hadn't seen coming. It wasn't very large but a spring welled up from the ground in the middle and there was a good rock for building a fire against that would keep the wind at bay. All in all it was almost a perfect spot. All it was missing was plains grass. The grass here would have to do though.

I was just glad I wasn't a carnivore. I didn't have to hunt for my dinner, my dinner was constantly underhoof. Made my life a lot easier. I wasn't entirely sure what rabbits ate but it couldn't be too different so I wouldn't have to go looking for anything for Lashana either.

Content with the spot I turned back to the edge of the forest and started picking up dead fir branches. They would serve as adequate firewood for now. Oak was preferable but there wasn't any immediately around and this place had recently had strong winds so there were many branches on the ground. Some of the larger ones might be able to last most of the night.

Out of the corner of my eye I say Lashana bend down and start picking up branches as well. Impressively she could carry almost as much as I could and we both started back towards the rock. Once we had made several trips and it looked like we might have enough wood for the rest of the night we stopped and I started pulling stuff out of my pack.

First came the flint and steel which I struck together in futility over some dry fir needles for awhile. After about five minutes a spark finally caught and I blew gently on it. Slowly the spark glowed brighter and started to spread outward until a small flame leapt up into the air. Blowing a little harder I got a small blaze going, periodically adding more needles and then twigs.

After a couple minutes of this the fire got big enough that I could pile small branches onto it. Meanwhile Lashana had been placing rocks in a circle around the fire and tearing out all the grass around the rocks. Last thing we needed was for the forest to burn down around our ears.

Not a word had passed between us the entire time and it started making me uncomfortable. The accusation that I heard in the silence raised my guilt and this time it refused to be pushed back down. It burned below the surface of my skin making me blush in the dark and I'm sure it gave my eyes a haunted look.

Tearing up a bunch more grass I started eating slowly as Lashana ate the grass he had pulled from around the fire. I wasn't really hungry but I was going to need my strength of the next couple days. Especially if we were to reach the mountains anytime soon.

When I finished I looked over the fire at Lashana. She was staring intently at her food but I had the distinct feeling she had been watching me a second ago. Between that and the silence I was starting to become very guilty feeling. Every attempt I made to shove it to the back of my mind was met with twice the force.

Finally giving up on not feeling guilty I settled back against the rock to watch her. The firelight did amazing things with her eyes and gave her white fur a rosy glow that seemed so full of life. I had to remind myself that I needed her to like me. I couldn't repeat today, it would destroy any hope of forgiveness.

I think that she thought I was asleep because she became slightly less tense and threw a the occasional glance over to where I was propped up. When she finished eating she leaned against the rock at least six feet away from me. I lay there for another fifteen minutes to make sure that she really was asleep before getting up and taking my sinew fishing line from my pack.

Tying one end of the thin cord to the tie on her robe I tied the other to my wrist. This way if she decided to run away I wouldn't be caught napping. Hopefully I would wake up before her so that I could take the string off. If I managed it then she wouldn't be as suspicious of me. If she did wake up first... Well, it was a risk I was going to have to take.

I stocked up the fire so that it would last for the rest of the night. There was still quite a bit of wood left, I guess we gathered too much. Settling back against the rock I watched clouds drift across the south-eastern sky. I don't know how long I lay there before I fell asleep but it was peaceful and my guilt didn't bother me for more than a minute.