FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Getting used to his new house was something that took quite a while to get used to. After being dispatched from the hospital, he immediately returned to his household. Well...it was more or less of being teleported to his house. Lauriel had come back to do so, and within a flash of light, he was right back in his home as if it never happened. Though the wendigo had noticed that the mess had been cleaned up earlier, and much of the canned human meat had been confiscated, replaced with hotdogs and other various canned meats that weren't stuffed with human viscera.

"They replaced all the meat...?" John stupidly asks despite his observations.

"Yup!" Lauriel quipped. "It's to help with your recovery. I guess introducing you to human meat in such a short time wasn't a good idea."

"Please don't say that." John put his hand over his skull head, feeling it throb in pain from the mentioning of meat.

"Sorry. But," she had to get to her point. "because you are a wendigo, you can't really...fast for a long time. You will have to eat."

There was a silence that fell over John. Lauriel would notice and take a concerning look towards the wendigo.

"John?"

The silence was met again.

"John Carter..."

This time he stopped himself from spacing out. But his answer was as if he was pleading, turning towards her with his crimson eyes shake with a glint of light. "I...I don't want to be a wendigo anymore."

Lauriel felt pity wash over her. She is aware that John has only recently become aware of what he truly is, but the way he seemed to plead to her. It was like seeing a child witness a dead animal for the first time, they never want to see it again. And now, John is reflecting that desperation, but this time he is rejecting himself from the disgust of what he must do, just to survive.

"There there," Lauriel hugged the wendigo, which in turn he was surprised. "I understand your dilemma, many other monsters had to go through what you are going through. You're not alone in this experience."

"Is that true?" asked John.

"It is." a light chuckle can be heard by John, she seems to be amused by his near childlike curiosity. "You aren't the first that I had to take in during my line of work you know."

"Oh...well, I can get over this, right?"

"It's very possible. Some wendigoes have vowed to not eat human meat. If you want, there is a group that supports people who swear on this vow." said Lauriel.

"I see, and...what if I do eat-"

"It's nothing to worry about. Not here in Mythos. Many monsters like yourself eat human meat all the time. It's just like eating any other meat."

Despite Lauriel saying the words that would give him a headache, it wasn't as powerful as before.

"If it helps ease your nerves, the meat is from...uh...in the most basic way, a different universe. A universe where humans still survived but where monsters like everyone in the world never existed. Demons exist in that world too, along with angels like me, but both sides aren't as physically interactive in that universe. The humans we harvest die of accidents or natural causes."

"I...guess that helps...a little bit at least," said John. "So, no live humans, right?" a little laugh echoes through his head skull, eyes unblinking yet the shimmer of humor

"People of Mythos still like to be ethical despite being monsters. I find that...comforting."

"Comforting?"

"Monsters are the last remnants of mankind's creation. And so...well, monsters do have humanity. It's just, that humanity had to be brought out by a higher force of nature. Ever since then, monsters are almost as human as humans were."

"Ahaha," John laughed. "So that's why I still seem myself. I guess I always was human. Just in a wendigo body."

"That's the spirit." Lauriel pats the wendigo on the back. "Monster Class starts next week. Are you excited?"

"As as excited during my first time in high school. I just hope I don't end up in the trash bin like last few times."

"You had bullying problems back then?"

"Yeah. But I'm twenty-nine now, I can take care of myself."

---

A week passed, the wendigo's life was, more or less, uneventful. He spent his first two days getting used to his new home. The third and fourth were testing the wifi and researching about Monster Class. It was like high school, however, he didn't need any of the notebooks or backpacks. Laptops were provided, multi-functional and easy enough to replace, albeit expensive when doing so. John sighed, so it was a digital high school, not what he was used to, but it was somewhat better. He just hoped that he wouldn't be bullied like last time.

With a small duffel bag, the wendigo takes a subway over to Monster Class. Before then, he was mailed a badge to take the subway for free, which was one less thing to pay to John's dismay. When stepping out of the subway, he takes to the stairs to behold himself to what appears to be the school, according to Google. The giant tower of a supposed school would make him think of a cathedral of the modern design if he hadn't researched it before. Bright white walls reflect the rays of the sun. Conical roofs were set on the four taller corners of the school, all of them reminded the wendigo of a castle. From the outside entrance, several glass doors would be the entrance to the school, which the wendigo went inside and soon found himself in a hallway. Left and right, various adults and college students would walk by, the wendigo made haste and headed to the plaza.

The plaza itself was huge, it was more like a courtyard. A sidewalk intersect splits the matting of grass into four squared sections. Various plants and trees were planted in these sections. Pillars of metal were just outside of the grass areas. These pillars support arching tunnels all connected to a central dome room, which seemed to have a large tube just beneath it, which the wendigo guessed was the staircase to the plaza floor. The cafeteria, which John suspected due to the number of tables and people eating nearby, was a case of multiple indoor vendors that he would his money to buy them. The counseling office was easy enough to find, seen by the second floor, and the obvious sign of "counseling office " just outside the door. As he entered, there was only one person that was in the office, an angel, but with black wings and a messy bag of hair that was as blue as the night sky. John swore that hair has a star pattern to it, the stars of midnight imprinted into his threads of hair. Now the angel was looking right at him, and the wendigo felt his blood run cold.

"Um," John would break the silence. "I came to take Monster classes?"

"Ah yes," despite the calm and friendly voice, John feels his blood freeze even further. "Come, take a seat, I think we can arrange your two-year term stay at Mythos University."

"Wait. Monster Class isn't the name of this place?"

A laugh comes from his throat, the room seemed to turn cold around the angel. "Of course not. Quite a stupid name for a college-like foundation. Don't you think?"

John coughed, taking a seat. "Y-Yeah..."

"So. You must be..."

"John. John Carter sir."

"Ephenel." said the principal. "That's my name. Though there is no need to be so formal around me, despite my...intimidating aura."

"Oh. Is that why the room is getting cold? And...why I feel so..."

"Scared?"

John nodded.

"It's natural for one to feel like that, especially around an angel of death."

"Oh..." it helped ease his fear, but the presence of it was still festering inside the wendigo.

"Now. I will arrange for you to be with the rest of the freshmen. Is that alright with you?"

"That's fine."

"Good. I will look forward to your graduation." Ephenel waved his hand, dismissing the wendigo.

Though just as he was about to leave, he heard some advice from the angel of death. "Do try to play nice with the others, okay? We're all civil people here after all."

---

The wendigo finds himself in a large gymnasium, which was as average as should be. A large indoor wooden court with several basketball hoops hanging from hinges from the ceiling. Several other freshmen were next to him, a total of twenty-two, all lined side by side. Several were higher than him, and he was eleven feet tall. Though...he suspected he, for some reason, had gotten a little taller from the fact that he ate some hotdogs with rice this morning. Their instructor was a mermaid, with green ocean hair that seems to flow like the water she came from. Also...she was astoundingly beautiful. For some reason, John couldn't take his eyes off of her. She was just so eyecatching, he found it hard to even think of anything but how this mermaid looked.

"Hello everyone!" her voice was a bit loud, but still such music to his ears.

Everyone's eyes were on her. Something in the mind of the wendigo suspected that this was a power of a mermaid before them.

"I am glad to meet all of you today! My name is Wendy, but you can call me Mrs. Aquas. And today we're going to assess your capabilities!"

Murmurs of the other colleagues scatter amongst their voices like ripples in a pond.

"As you all know or guess, all monsters like you and I are born with inherent abilities according to the kind of monster we are. For example,"

A sudden flash of light and an angel with earthen grey wings makes his entrance. ivory hair with thunderous yellow eyes.

"Mark here can manipulate the elements. Observe."

No eye could hope to turn away with such a voice asking them to do so. Mark bows and demonstrates a bit of his power. Vines of light crawl their way through the air, creating a shape of a plant, and blooming with flowers.

"Now, to help with assigning you to a teacher, we must learn all of your capabilities. Now, your humanity does limit the full extent of your capabilities, or they suppress them entirely. But that's fine! There is nothing to be ashamed of from having fewer abilities than others. There's even a club for people that don't have their powers at all. If you want to join them, just ask me once our assessment is done."

Some of the colleagues seemed rather excited. Though, there was one person that caught John's attention. From the looks of her, she appears to be a medusa, shown by the scaly skin, human face, a mostly snake-like body with smooth shining scales and soft underbelly, and a blindfold covering her eyes. But something irked John, perhaps it was the smirk that's curling one side of her lips upward, like as if she was the most intelligent person amongst the fodder of idiots that surround her. John tried to ignore the medusa and just waits until it was his turn. from left to right, each colleague would take a turn in demonstrating their inherent abilities. The first one was a pegasus, and John watched with amazement as the horse person had sprouted wings from his back, and proceed to fly around the room with them. He seems to also have some control over the weather, shown by how rain suddenly poured from thin clouds looming above, and flowers blooming from his palm through a brush of dirt given to him by Mark. Then again, all of this was instructed by the coach who had a tablet in her hand as she researched what kind of powers each monster should have.

Several others pass by, some showing powers that vary between impressive in scale and control, while others were more minor.

"Sara Gloria?" called Mrs. Aquas.

Sarah was the medusa, seen by her slithering forward after the mention of her name. John would watch carefully, even though it should not bother him to whatever talents this medusa might have, for unknown reasons he feels as if this was some kind of bragging right for her.

Mark wields the element of light and creates a bow and arrow, solidifying it so that it can be of use. Soon several targets appear, a total of three were moving about in simple linear directions.

"It seems that a medusa such as yourself has some talent in archery. Would you demonstrate?"

With a snicker, she quickly released the arrows, all of them hitting right on the center target...all at once. Many of the monsters clapped with her impressive archery skill.

"Bullseye." a toothy grin opens from the medusa.

"And I believe you have the power of petrification," added Mrs. Aquas. "And I think this only works on a live subject. Would you mind Mark?"

Mark nods in silence, summoning what appears to be a large beetle. Slowly taking off her blindfold, Sarah simply glares at the eyes of the beetle. Barely half a second passes by, and the beetle was already a shell of pure stone. John was surprised, out of all the colleagues, she seems to have the most potent abilities out of all of them.

"Very impressive! Now next is...John Carter!"

Everyone's eyes turned on him again. Taking a deep breath, the wendigo keeps his composure to the best of his ability. This feels honestly like a talent show, but also a competition on who can tap into their abilities with the greatest amount of success. And now it was John that has to be in the spotlight.

"Now it seems one of your first abilities is the ability to change your size when eating."

"Uh...I ate some hot dogs this morning. And I think I'm eleven feet tall now."

"Oh! Well, that's out of the question." Wendy's laugh gave him some comfort. "Okay then, it says here that you can manipulate ice. Would you like to try?"

John nodded, holding out his bony hands. He concentrated, trying to find some kind of source that would make some kind of ice, any kind. Such concentration gave him a near migraine, head swimming in aches and nausea before he felt a small chill run across the palm of his hand. Looking down, it seems that he made...a few snowflakes.

Snowflakes...he made snowflakes. John wasn't sure why, but for some reason that impressed him more than what he imagined of himself creating pillars of ice before him. The teacher was confused about what happened, before floating over and seeing the snowflakes in his hand.

"Oh! So you can, just barely though," said Wendy.

"Sorry."

"There's no need to be sorry." Wendy's smile eased his nerves. "Now, it seems that another power that you should hold is..." John noticed a shift in her face like she was nervous. Something told him that being a wendigo also meant that he was very dangerous. "Uhh...controlling darkness!"

John nodded, but the results were nearly identical to the previous attempt at making ice. He used darkness to control his shadow, at least make the illusion of movement...he barely made it twitch. When the next power he was supposed to have, which was controlling air, he barely made a breeze flow through. Shapeshifting? There was no result whatsoever, not even a new limb or a slight nub on his barebone body. Invisibility worked out fully since it was so specific, all he had to do was turn where everyone saw him sideways and everyone noticed him disappear. The teacher saw him just fine since he specifically was facing the mermaid.

"Uh..." the cheerful attitude that Wendy usually had begun to fade. "I'm sorry, it's just that there are two very dangerous abilities that wendigoes should have. Do you want to do them?"

"That...it depends on what I should do." John was nervous but obliged.

"Well...wendigoes are supposed to change the morality of other people."

"No." John's answer was blatant. "I don't want to do that, that is something I do not want to do, ever."

"Alright then, um, controlling diseases." tapping on her tablet, a flash of light would result in what appears to be an angel who is the nurse of the university.

"I..."

"Don't bother." the voice of Sarah spears through the tension of the room. Everyone's eyes close down on her blindfolded face, her smirk ever-present.

"I'm sorry, but it's not your place to tell what others to do." Wendy's cheerful tone was surfacing, but a hint of authority was dashed behind that voice.

"I know. I know." Sarah raised her hands defensively. "But I'm just saying, with power so small and insignificantly weak, there's no need to test if his ability to control diseases even works. If he can just barely evoke ice, darkness, and even then refuses to change the moralities of others, then why do we need to try on his last ability?"

"Because, Sarah Gloria, we need to examine the full extent of all abilities each person holds-"

"And? There's no need for someone. So. Weak. To even deserve this examination. The only ability that even worked was his invisibility. So that means all he's ever going to be good at, is hiding." All the while she was slithering towards John, who was practically slapped across the face with those punctuations, saying he was weak and only good at hiding.

"In fact, why don't I put you out of your misery!!" he took off her blindfold and stared right at the wendigo.

Everyone froze. One was the fact that Sarah was going so far as to technically kill a person for being so meager. The second was that her petrification vision didn't even work on the wendigo.

"What...? This shouldn't be possible."

"Wendigoes are considered spirits, so despite his physical form, I believe his spirit is protecting him from your petrification. Though, I can't say what exactly can his soul protect his body from which abilities or elements."

Wendy tilted his head to Mark, he seemed to acknowledge this and manifested some water. Wendy soon took control of this water and surrounded the vision of the medusa. Sarah hissed in frustration and swatted at the water, except all the droplets quickly collected back together in the band that is blinding her.

"You young miss, are in very deep trouble in attempted assault and harm on another person. You are to remain where you are unless you want to suffer even more consequences." her authority burns through her jovial chords. Sarah submitted, huffing but otherwise keeping herself in place.

"I'm sorry that she scared you, John Carter..."

Wendy noticed something, he was standing still, so very still. His red eyes shrink as if in shock, frozen in time as he just stared right at the blinded medusa.

"John..?" called Wendy.

John wasn't responding. He was spacing out, in his mind he was playing a specific memory, the time he was being assaulted and forced to eat human meat. He remembered how he fought and struggled, landing a punch to the face on one of these monsters in disguise. Only this time he found himself hearing words and tasting the stringy mesh of viscera and flesh stuffed down his throat.

'He will know the truth.' one of the voices murmured.

He felt sick, all over again his body felt like he was going to puke, head spinning in all directions. But his body didn't feel that effect, at least, it didn't succumb to the ailments just yet. The next events were a blur for the wendigo, he only remembered the feeling of sickness, and suddenly finding himself on the floor, quivering and regurgitating some of his breakfast, causing him to shrink down to eight feet in height. The whispers of other witnesses managed to pass into his addled mind, talking how he was a blur, moving so fast as he punched the medusa right in the chest, causing her to fly and bounce off the wall. She cursed at him, but that was all she got out before she started shivering and sweating excessively, curling up to keep some warmth before welts and abscesses began welling up between her scales and popping. The students got as far away as they could. Sarah had to be sent to the hospital immediately. This all happened after the wendigo had toppled over after punching the medusa in the chest, which the momentum finally forced his body to submit to his trauma and vomit again.

That was the situation he is currently in now. His mind holds on, but barely. Though instead of the hospital, he was sent to the clinic. Checking on himself, the trauma was less than before, but still enough to ail and cripple him. But right now, he has two things in mind within his current state. It's apparent he does have all the abilities of a wendigo to his disposal, though they lack practice. Second, he just hurt someone and didn't mean to do so, his body did that for some reason. That's all that he could think about before his mind went blank when another migraine that made his vision white.