FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"So... Dr. Lars, is it? The famous archeologist I've been hearing about?"

"Yes, that's correct." The gray-haired archaeologist held his hand out to the younger woman, his eyes gleaming behind his spectacles. "And you're... Josephine, right?"

"Please, call me Jo," the younger woman said, smiling. She looked around, examining the ruins surrounding the two of them. "So, tell me a little bit more about this place. Like, who built it? What purpose does it serve?"

"Well..." Dr. Lars reached into the bag around his arm, pulling out his notes for the younger woman to see. "These are the ruins of a temple of worship, built by a civilization that lived here long ago." He placed a photograph of a drawing in front of her, depicting several humans bowing before... some kind of jaguar woman? A creature that stood on two legs and wore female tribal clothing, but was covered in spots and had distinct feline characteristics, including a muzzle and tail. "It looks like this jaguar woman was the deity that they worshiped," Dr. Lars said.

"Ah... that's interesting," said Jo, nodding. "So they built the temple to honor this goddess, then?"

"That's what it looks like... but even so, there are some things that are... rather strange." Dr. Lars pulled out more photographs, laying them in front of Jo. "Here, look at these."

As she looked over the photographs, Jo frowned. "Huh... that's interesting..." she said. They showed more drawings depicting more human-like animals... but portrayed in far less flattering scenarios. One picture showed a tiger commanding humans to sacrifice one of their own. Another showed a giant lizard woman attacking a human. And a third showed a frog-person drowning a human in a river. Each picture seemed to show a tribal drawing of one of these animal people doing something horrible to a regular human. "What do you suppose it all means?" asked Jo, finally looking up.

"I'm not quite sure, actually," replied Dr. Lars. "But I'd guess that it probably has to do with local legends surrounding these... human-like animals. Perhaps they're gods as well, and this is what they would do to humans that displeased them... in legends, of course."

"Of course," repeated Jo, nodding. "Oh? What's this one?" She was looking at the final photo... a drawing of a human with glowing hands, standing next two four animal people, including the jaguar woman from earlier. All four of them were glowing, and they seemed... upset, their faces a mixture of pain and rage. They also seemed much smaller than the human, which struck Jo as strange. In all of the other drawings, the animal people had been much larger than the humans. "I... don't even know what to make of this one..."

Dr. Lars took the picture from Jo, looking it over. "Ah, yes... this one is a strange one, isn't it? It's clear that the human is doing something to the animals, but it's not clear what he's doing, exactly. Perhaps this is another legend... the humans rising against the tyranny of their gods, becoming their own masters..."

"So you think that this jaguar woman could have been a tyrannical goddess?" Jo looked up at the ruins in front of them. "That maybe they built the ruins out of fear of her, instead of respect?"

"It's certainly possible," replied Dr. Lars, grinning. "But we won't get answers by just standing around and talking, will we? Come on, let's check these ruins out!." With that, he turned to walk inside, with Jo closely following behind him.

About an hour later, the two of them were still walking through the ruins, looking for anything that might be worth noting. "We've been in here for a long time..." muttered Jo, shining her flashlight around. "Are you sure we'll find anything?"

"Patience is a virtue, Jo," replied Dr. Lars. "Especially in this field. And I'm sure we'll find something in here. It wouldn't make sense for them to have built this huge temple and left nothing in it, would it?"

"Well, maybe all of the stuff was looted or something..." sighed Jo, looking around. "Or maybe... hey, what's that?" She quickly ran over to one of the nearby walls, aiming her flashlight at it. "Dr. Lars! There's some writing on this wall!"

"Really?" Dr. Lars walked over, shining his own flashing on the writing. "Let's see... 'Inside this wall lies the tomb of... Panthera?'" He frowned, before continuing to read. "'Panthera, Queen of the Jungle... For too long, we humans suffered under the tyranny of both her and her followers... they forced us to work for them, forced us to sacrifice ourselves to them... if we made them angry, they would attack... and she would watch, laughing as we were slaughtered..."

"So... you were right," said Jo. "She was tyrannical... hell, she may not have even been a goddess. She could have just been a normal ruler... and maybe the people portrayed her as a jaguar because they didn't even see her as human..."

"'One of our own, a shaman with mystical powers, stepped up to banish Panthera and her followers..." Dr. Lars continued. "He sealed them away within this tomb, ending their tyranny... we can only hope that we never see the likes of them again..."

"Mystical powers?" Jo frowned. "That doesn't seem plausible... are we sure that this isn't just another legend?"

"That or he didn't actually have powers... and people just thought he did because he was able to banish Panthera and the others." He stepped away from the writing, leaning on a nearby wall. "But again, we're not going to find out anything just by standing here, so let's... gah!"

In an instant, the wall Dr. Lars was leaning on began spinning like a revolving door, causing him to fall over into the room on the other side "Dr. Lars!" cried Jo, rushing over to help him. But it was too late. The wall had already spun back into place, sealing the two of them from each other. "No! Dr. Lars!" cried Jo, pounding on the wall. She pushed on it, trying to get it open, but nothing worked. They were completely separated.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Dr. Lars was slowly getting up, looking at the wall he had just fallen through. "Jo? Jo!" he cried, knocking on the wall. "Can you hear me?" No answer. The wall must have been soundproof. Groaning, he turned around again, shining his flashlight around. It appeared to be some kind of hallway, with unlit torches lining the sides and... some kind of large, stone container in the center. It didn't look big enough to fit a body, though... so what on earth could be inside? His natural curiosity overwhelming him, Dr. Lars walked over to the chamber, examining it carefully. He placed his hand on it...

BOOM! The lid suddenly flew off, knocking Dr. Lars back into the wall. The force also knocked the flashlight out of his hand, as it skidded away from him into the corner of the room. But there was no need for it anymore... as Dr. Lars watched, thousands of tiny lights began rising from the container, filling the air around him. He watched, mesmerized, as these tiny little lights flickered and danced above him, filling the room with a soft, eerie glow. But before he could even react, the lights suddenly shot towards him, flying right into his shocked mouth. And just like that, it was over... with the last light having disappeared down his throat, the room was plunged into darkness once more.

"What... was that?" Shaking his head, Dr. Lars quickly stood up. "And where's my flashli- gah!" Immediately, the man doubled over, a sharp pain resonating from his stomach. Wincing, he began feeling the pain spread all over his body, taking over and leaving him gasping for relief. But pain wasn't the only thing he felt; there was something else filling him as well. He wasn't sure how to describe it... but it was like there was something forming inside of him, spreading throughout his entire body. He felt it pushing against every part of his skin, including his arms, legs, body, and even his face. It was as if something inside of him was struggling to be free, to break from his skin...

"Ha! Look at you... so frightened, so weak, like the helpless mortal that you are!"

"What? Who said that?" Dr. Lars looked around. "Where are you?"

The voice simply laughed, a deep yet distinctly feminine laugh. "Right inside your body, of course!" it said. "Thank you for freeing me from that horrible container, by the way... not that you'll live long enough to appreciate it, but you have my gratitude. But enough talk... let's get to the main event!" Suddenly, the torches surrounding the hall lit up, brilliant orange flames giving light to the dark room. "The torches are for your benifit, of course," continued the voice. "I can see perfectly fine without them, but I just thought you might like to see my... marvelous work in action."

Suddenly, Dr. Lars felt the pressure in his body focus to his right hand. It began spasming uncontrollably, as if something was trying to break free from it! He quickly held it with his other hand, trying to stop the shaking, but it was no use. He felt the pressure focus to his fingertips... and immediately felt something slice through them! He cried out in pain, looking down at his hand and immediately gasping. His fingernails were gone... and in their place were five deadly looking claws.

"Ah.. feels nice to finally let my claws out after so long. But now the real fun can begin!" As Dr. Lars watch in horror, the hand that had just sprouted the claws began moving slowly towards his left arm. In another rush of horror, he realized that he could no longer control it... it was moving against his will. But only when he saw it approach his other arm, the claws gleaming, did he realize what was happening.

"No... no!" he cried, trying to move his arm away. But before he could, his clawed hand grabbed it, the claws sinking into the skin. As if that wasn't bad enough, the claws began quickly moving through the skin, tearing through it like it was butter. The man screamed in pain, tears running down his face. But when he looked back at his arm, he noticed something strange: there was no blood anywhere on his arm. Instead, it looked like there was... something beneath the skin, something that shouldn't have been there. But before he could process it, his clawed hand suddenly grabbed the skin on his arm... and ripped it right off.

If the man thought he was in pain before, it was nothing compared to what he felt at that moment. He screamed once again, crying as the clawed hand continued to remove more skin from his arm. When he finally got the courage to look at the arm again, his shock nearly caused him to faint. Underneath the skin... was fur. Golden fur with black spots, similar to what you would see on a... jaguar. But he didn't have time to even process that, as his right hand suddenly grabbed his left hand, ripping all the skin off in one clean swoop. Dr. Lars screamed once again, looking at his left hand to find the it covered in the same fur, black claws sprouting from its fingers. But even more disturbing was that fact that he could no longer move the arm... in fact, he couldn't even feel it. It was like it wasn't even a part of his body anymore.

"Well... that was fun!" Lars watched the furred hand flex, the voice still mocking him. "That arm is looking perfect... and now we just need to make the other one look just like it!"

As Dr. Lars watched, the arm that had just changed began moving over to the other arm. "No... please, not again!" he cried. But the claws were already digging into it, tearing away the skin and revealing even more fur underneath. The pain was excruciating, and Dr. Lars found himself crying out in pain once again, unable to bear it. Soon, the last bit of skin was removed, and the two arms looked practically identical to each other... fur, claws, and all. And once again, he was unable to move his right arm, or even feel it.

"Ah... how lovely!" the voice chuckled to itself. "But that's not good enough, is it? No, of course it isn't... I need to make even more improvements, don't I? Let's see..." The two arms began moving again, and Dr. Lars watched as they began moving towards his torso. His eyes widened, and before he could do anything, the claws began tearing right through his jacket... as well as the skin beneath it. He cried out once again, watching as both the skin and clothing was ripped away from his body, making room for more fur underneath. The claws reached his chest, and as the skin was torn off, something seemed to form underneath it along with all of the fur. Were those... breasts? They were small, barely even visible under all the fur, but they were there. On his chest.

Except... it wasn't his chest anymore, he finally realized. All of these new features underneath his skin could only belong to... whatever it was that was taking him over. And he had finally realized exactly what it was. "Panthera!" he finally cried.

The voice chuckled. "Took you long enough," she said. "Yes, that's my name. Congratulations on figuring it out... not that it will help you, of course. Now, hold still. I'm not done yet." She began moving her claws towards the man's waist, eager tear more of his skin away and free herself from its confines. Meanwhile. Dr. Lars felt the claws dig into the sides of his pants, and braced himself for the pain. Sure enough, the skin around his waist was torn away as well, and another wave of unbearable pain caused him to scream out again. As the skin was torn away from his backside, a long thin spotted tail was released from underneath it, waving in the air. Soon, all the skin was gone, Panthera's furred, feminine hips replacing his own. His genitals had also been removed (extremely painfully!) as Panthera's own female bits replaced them, though they were covered by her fur.

"Ah, feels nice to let the tail out, doesn't it?" Panthera laughed. "Oh, that's right... you can't feel it, can you? Well, that's a shame. Moving on, then!" She laughed again, before reaching down to his legs, her claws closing around the skin once again. More skin was ripped off, and more screaming echoed through the hall. But even through the pain, Dr. Lars couldn't help noticing that Panthera's legs seemed far larger than his own, even though they had just been confined within his own legs. But there wasn't time to dwell on that. Her knees were bending, her claws reaching for Dr. Lars's feet. The claws quickly tore through his shoes, and when the skin of his feet was exposed, they tore through that, too. The man's pain reached new levels as his toes were ripped off, large animalistic paws revealing themselves from underneath. Somehow they were even larger than Dr. Lars's feet, but he wasn't too concerned with that at the moment. With his own feet having been ripped apart, he could no longer feel the ground beneath them. In fact, he couldn't feel anything at all... other than his face, the only part of his body left intact. Nothing else belonged to him anymore.

"Ah... so nice to feel the ground beneath my paws again. Too bad you no longer have that luxury!" Panthera laughed, an evil sadistic laugh. "Oh... are you upset? Well, I can't say I blame you. You must be in such... extreme pain. Having your own skin ripped away from you like this... I can't imagine what that's like. But... I suppose I could show you some mercy. After all, you did free me. So... how about I just end it all quickly, right now? I think I'll do that."

"What? What do you-" Before Dr. Lars could finish, though, he noticed the clawed hands raising up again... raising towards his face. "What? No! No, please!" He began sputtering, his breathing becoming quicker and quicker as the claws moved in. He felt them close around his face, felt them dig into the space between his eyes. "Please, stop! Please! I-"

With one clean rip, he finally fell silent. His face was gone... ripped in two, thrown on the ground by the creature emerging from his body. In its place was the grinning muzzle of a jaguar, complete with whiskers and the golden spotted fur from earlier. Panthera grinned, removing the rest of Dr. Lars's skin from her head and dropping it through the ground. It was a shame that she had to end his life so quickly; she'd begun to grow rather fond of him. Ah well. That screaming was getting annoying anyway.

Grinning, she began looking around, taking in her surroundings. It felt good to be in her old body again... especially after that shaman had taken it from her, forced her to lay in that container for centuries with all of her followers. But it didn't matter... she was out now, and she was ready to show those humans who their true overlords were! She looked down at her body, knowing that it contained the spirits of all of her followers... more anthropomorphic animals that would serve her every need! Once they had bodies of their own, of course.

"Dr. Lars? Dr. Lars!" Upon hearing the voice, Panthera's ears perked up. It appeared that there was someone else on the other side of the wall... presumably calling for the man she had just killed. Dr. Lars may not have been able to hear through the wall, but Panthera's enhanced hearing was able to pick her voice up easily. Perfect. That woman would make an excellent catalyst for the next spirit that Panthera released. In fact, she had the perfect spirit in mind...

Chuckling to herself, Panthera walked over to the door, her eyes falling upon the tiny switch that the doctor had accidently hit to turn the door. It was time for her kind to rule again. She reached out with a claw and pressed the switch, eager to show the woman what the new rulers of the earth looked like.