FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Meanwhile at the Lair of Dr. Callyco

"Okay class, pay close attention to today's lesson!" Dr. Callyco spoke with a manic grin. In addition to his lab coat and goggles he was sporting a pair of classes today. "Now remember this will be on the test! So you'll want to make sure you take lots of notes. Any questions?" He looked around the living room, seeing Dr. Cutie pup on the couch by himself holding up his hand. "Yes?"

"You are aware you haven't actually given anything resembling a lesson, right?" Dr. Cutie Pup asked. "You've just been telling me to pay close attention, and that this is very important. You didn't actually ever teach anything."

"Sure I did!" Dr. Callyco placed his paws on his hips. "And it was a very important life lesson too! It's just one you have to think about before you actually get it."

"But you didn't actually teach anything!" Dr. Cutie Pup flailed his arms.

"Look if you don't get it I'm sorry but it's not my fault." The kitten turned away from him. "The lessons I have to teach are set by the board, and I can't deviate from them. You'll just have to work extra hard outside of class. And again don't forget this is on the test."

"This is revenge for the laundry basket isn't it?" Dr. Cutie Pup muttered.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Dr. Callyco flashed a predatory smile. "Now your homework tonight is to introduce our next guest."

"Ugggh fiiiiiine." Dr. Cutie Pup groaned. "Today's guest goes by the name Kiara Wolfe. And don't let the last name fool you, she's very much a human. Well mostly human. She's got these cat ears you see."

"Hey I have cat ears too!" Dr. Callyco said.

"Well yes because you're a cat..."

"I feel a kindred spirit!" Dr. Callyco smiled. "And tonight Kiara faces a difficult choice... And of course the consequences of her choice afterward. We present our sixth tale. The Tale of School Life."

Thirteen Karmic Tales

Sixth Tale

The Tale of School Life

Kiara growled in herself in irritation as she studied the questions on her test. No one had ever said college would be easy... But these questions were ridiculous. They asked things like 'Which type of tree produces the most springy woof when cut into thin strips?' What kind of question was that! Maybe if she was a forestry major or something... But this was a general education math class!

And the worst part... Was she could have had all the answers. Someone had managed to get a copy of the test answers and posted them online. Just about everyone else in her class had read and memorized them. That would explain why all of them had finished the test in the first five minutes at least.

Kiara though. She had taken the moral high ground. It was wrong to cheat, or take advantage of someone else cheating. And now this ridiculous test was going to sink her average just so she could do the right thing. Goodbye honor roll and goodbye scholarship money.

Eventually time was called. Kiara was forced to turn in her test incomplete. She dropped it on her professor's desk before trying to link out of the room.

"Kiara, hold up a minute." The professor stopped her. "I've been running these through the scantron as they came in... And you're the only person in the class who got a zero score. We need to talk."

"Uggggh." Kiara groaned. "Well you see the thing about that is..."

"In fact almost everyone else in the class got a perfect score. You're the only person who failed."

"You don't say." Kiara responded dryly.

"Which is why I want to talk to you about a new scholarship opportunity."

"Wait what?"

"Oh yes I should explain." Her professor responded. "You see this test was never about knowing the answers. We leaked the test answers on purpose. This was actually a test to see who would take advantage of that, and who could maintain their academic integrity."

"You couldn't have started with that?" Kiara's ears flattened. Part of her was relieved to know that this implied she hadn't actually failed a test. The other part of her was exceptionally annoyed at having been deceived like that. She had been agonizing over this test all week!

"Ah well you see it was very important!" The professor responded. "You see we use this as a test of integrity for some of our harder to get into programs. There are certain qualities we look for. As you're most likely very much aware our university has one of the highest rated supernatural research institutions in the entire world."

"I did not know that." Kiara responded.

"Wait... Really?" The professor hesitated. "So... You're not aware of the secret magical world just barely beyond the perception of normal man at all times?"

"No?" Kiara responded. "Is this some kind of elaborate prank?"

"Oh well... This is awkward." The professor looked down at a clipboard. "We really should mark which of our students are in on the whole masquerade thing. All I have is your age, gender and susceptibility to common tranquilizers."

"Wait what was that last one!?" Kiara asked in alarm.

"Nothing! Nothing!" The professor smiled. "Just a minor detail. Don't worry just something only an educator has to worry about."

"But that seems-" Kiara started.

"Don't worry about it!" The professor responded. "But I guess to make a long story short. Magic is real. We have a school that teaches is here. So... Welcome to being part of the masquerade. And now because you passed our little morality test you get a full ride in our magical studies division! If you want to I mean. You're always to decline. Course we'll have to scrub your brain if we do. Don't worry! We've almost perfected the science! Our scrubbing process only has a margin of error of 5 years when deleting memories."

"This doesn't actually sound much like a choice." Kiara narrowed her eyes. "And if I'm being honest, I'm still not convinced that you're not on drugs. In fact, I'm going to slowly work my way out of the room and leave now." Kiara backed towards the door and through it. But as she came outside she found herself in a strange area.

The schools architecture had always been archaic... But now it looked outright ancient. It was like standing in the yard of a massive castle with large towers and spires visible in each direction. Strange creatures flew through the air above the school/castle walls. Small wings humans, birds that were part cat... And what she thought might have been a large 20 foot long dragon.

"WHAT!?" She had about one word to sum up how she was feeling.

"Oh you went through the door while it was on magic mode!" The professor said. "Every door in the school can either open to the mundane school or the fantastic one. You simply turn the door handle left for mundane, right for magic."

"That seems very poorly thought out." Kiara stared at him. "Like that must lead to a million accidents."

"That's why we've mastered the art of brain scrubbing!" The professor was far too smug about that.

"Riiiiight." Kiara's ears stood fully perked as she examined the entire place. "So... You're not on drugs." It was a bit hard to process what she was witnessing. Part of her assumed it was a dream. "So... You said this was a full ride thing?"

"Oh absolutely!" The professor said. "You'll be placed in a very specific program we use for outsiders that come in! All cost for your room, board and tuition are covered."

"Ok..." Kiara considered it. It might be fun to be a mage. "I'm in."

"Oh well then!" The professor smiled. "That's wonderful news! I guess we might as well and get you changed then."

"Changed what does that-" Kiara started to ask as the professor snapped his fingers.

The first change she didn't notice. Her hair and ears had suddenly turned pitch black in color. She did however notice when her skirt and shirt suddenly started to feel a lot bigger on her. She let out a yelp in surprise and looked down at herself only to see a new shock. Patches of black fur were growing in over her entire body. It only took a few seconds before she was covered head to toe. This was probably for the best since her clothes soon tumbled right off her body. The fur at least made her feel less naked.

A long slick tail grew out from the tip of Kiara's spine. As it did she collapsed onto all fours. Her hands and feet now had soft paws on the bottom of them. Then they began to shift form as well. Soon she no longer had proper thumbs, but she did have claws that could retract into small sheaths upon her hand. It was at this point that her face pushed out into a muzzle, her nose becoming small and triangular shaped. Whiskers sprouted from each size of her muzzle as the changes finally finished.

"M-meooooow!?" Kiara cried out in alarm as she realized that she was now a cat.

"You should still be able to talk." The professor responded.

"I know that!" Kiara shouted. "Well I do now! I was just... Caught off guard! Why am I a cat!?"

"Well you see it's because not enough students sign up for our Familiar Studies department." The professor explained. "As a result we're always low on black cats to act as familiars to nearly ordained mages. It's become quite troublesome. Too many people want to be the wizard instead of the sidekick I guess. As a result, we've started offering scholarships to mortals we deem trustworthy enough to work in the school. We let them enroll in magical studies and take the form of familiars."

"You know that's really something you should mention up from." Kiara growled. "Seriously rather than start with 'Hey want to learn magic!? Start with 'Hey do you mind if we turn you into a cat?"

"When we focus tested that we discovered less people were likely to sign up." The professor responded sadly.

"Gee I can only imagine why." Kiara rolled her eyes.

"Oh that's good!" The professor nodded. "You'll need to be able to do that!"

"What? Make a sarcastic remark and roll my eyes?" Kiara asked.

"That accounts for 90% of a familiar's duties!" The professor explained.

"Uh huh..." Kiara narrowed her eyes. Fantastic magical world or not... She was getting the feeling that the professor was just crazy even by supernatural standards. At least if she took these new classes she'd be transferring out of his course. Not having to see him again basically made everything worth it. She slowly stood up on all four legs and slipped out of what clothes were still stuck on her. She trotted in a short circle getting used to how her body felt moving on four legs. It wasn't too bad. Everything being so much bigger now was going to take some getting used to.

"Now then... We'll have to move all your stuff to the Familiar's Dorms. You don't really get individual rooms. We just have one giant one for all of you." The professor noted.

"Do I still sleep in a normal bed or a cat bed now?" Kiara asked.

"Well a cat bed is technically normal for you now." The professor responded. "And there are plenty in there! But from what I understand despite all of them being the same all the familiars tend to all fight over one specific bed. Not even the same one each night."

"Well what did you expect when you turned them into cats?" Kiara asked. She started to wonder if she was going to start doing cat things now that she looked like this. She didn't think she would. As far as she could tell she was still herself mentally... But it might be fun to act a little catty every now and then. Part of her was tempted to go jump onto the professor's desk and start knocking papers off the side for fun.

"So I guess I'll just let the staff on this side know you're enrolled!" The professor seemed like he just wanted to move through this as quickly as possible. "They'll probably find you... Eventually. Just... Wonder around till then. Okay bye!" With that the professor disappeared back into his classroom and slammed the door.

"Rude." Kiara muttered. She had half a mind to go give him another piece of her mind. However there was the issue of the closed door. Doors were going to be a problem now. Well... Matters for later. For now... She had a supernatural castle to explore. Hopefully the staff would come find her wherever she went.

But in the meantime... She was a cat. And cats went wherever they pleased. She might as well embrace that fact now. She was getting the feeling she'd embrace a lot of cat things before this was all over. And with that final thought she set out on all fours to explore the grounds of her new school.

The End