FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

There once lived a wolf who enjoyed a good life with his pack. He had fur that was red like a setting sun, and so he was named Russet. Russet enjoyed many of the things any other wolf would: investigating new scents, munching on his favorite meal of fresh rabbit, and bedding down against the warm bodies of his family at night. But Russet was also curious of the world outside his family's den and the woods that were his home. He would sometimes wander away when no one was looking to a ridge where he could see the dens made of wood that the two-leggeds built. He liked to watch their pups play together long into the afternoon before he'd have to make his way back home. How he wished he could be like them and play in their games that were so different from his own.

As Russet grew, this desire within him only grew stronger. Russet wandered ever closer to the wooden dens to watch the games up close until one day one of the soft rocks the two-leggeds used for their game rolled to his nose. He sniffed it and saw a hand reach into the bush he was hiding behind to grab it. His golden eyes met the blue of one of the young two-leggeds who froze in fear, never having been so close to a wolf before. The two-legged quickly snatched the ball and ran away towards its pack.

"These two-leggeds are confusing." Russet thought as he plodded his way back home. While traveling Russet thought long about the fear and confusion he saw until a spark of an idea struck him.

"If I am to spend time with them, then I must learn to be like them! Then they won't be scared next time." Russet concluded.

And so Russet then spent his days learning to do things as the two-leggeds would do. He learned to use his paws to eat his food instead of dipping his mouth low to take new bites. He tried hard not to swing and curl his tail when meeting with his family for the two-leggeds had no tail of their own. He practiced their sounds they used to communicate to one another. Learning to walk on just two legs and not four was the hardest, but with time and effort his legs grew stronger until they were capable of supporting his body in either way he chose to move. With his continued efforts his body grew to match his desires, becoming more and more like that of the two-leggeds he emulated. His pack thought Russet's actions were strange, but his scent was familiar to them so they paid little mind to his querks.

The next spring Russet decided he was ready and descended down the ridge to head back to the field he had seen the two-leggeds play at before. He was delighted to see they were just beginning to start a new game. He stepped out from the bush and all of the two-leggeds at once were left agape at the strange creature approaching them. All but one of them ran away like the cub with the blue eyes had before. The one that stayed was missing one of his forelegs, his outer covering flopping in the breeze across the empty space there.

Russet's ears pinned back and the short length of his tail twitched anxiously, not understanding why they didn't even give him a chance. He looked more like them now, so why were they still afraid? The two-legged that had stayed took a couple tentative steps forward, reaching out a hand and then pulled it immediately back.

"Hi. I'm Benny. What's your name? Um...is your fur real?" he asked setting down the soft rock he held cradled to his chest.

"Um.." Russet didn't know the human word for him and instead brushed his hand-like paw across the brightest of his fur. "And yeah. It's real." Russet muttered under his breath, keeping his eyes low.

Benny didn't quite understand the meaning of his name, but that could be worked out later. "Can I touch it?" he asked further.

"Uh, ok." Russet answered. The two-legged brushed his hand across Russet's shoulder and it reminded him of how his pack would rub their bodies together in greeting.

"It's rough and soft at the same time! That's cool." Benny exclaimed with discovery. Russet was pleased to see that this two-legged found interest in him.

"You didn't run like they did." Russet said as he looked to the end of the field where the other two-leggeds had now vanished.

"I'm different too. See?" Benny waved the stump of his amputated arm with a smile. "Well, not quite like you, but I know what that's like. Not everyone lets me play too. Hey, do you want to play?" Benny asked, picking the soft rock back up into his foreleg.

Russet's eyes lit up and he nodded, dropping down onto all fours with his little tail wagging to and fro.

Benny laughed at the unfamiliar display. "Not like that! Maybe you can teach me your games later. You're really funny."

The two shared an afternoon tossing and rolling around the soft rock to each other until Russet's ears pricked up to the distant, familiar sound of howling from the woods.

"Gotta go?" Benny asked, admiring the strange haunting sound. Russet nodded.

"Can you come tomorrow?" Benny asked hopefully.

"Tomorrow? Yes." Russet said with a huge grin before he loosed a howl of his own and ran off towards home to answer his family's request. Before disappearing behind the trees entirely Russet turned to see Benny waving his one hand high above his head.

Friend. That's the sound I was trying to remember for him.