FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Archie wasn't normally the type of cat to stray too far from his home but such things were often unavoidable. Even using one of the hidden tunnels that he had helped Barry set up was difficult because he never got into the habit of using his beast form much. Orientating yourself with four legs was extremely difficult when you are used to having two. He hobbled forwards awkwardly until he reached the end of the tunnel, finding himself in the parking lot.

"Great, now where do I go?" he wondered aloud then he tried using his magic, another skill that he'd never used too much. His magic was only on the most basic level, it wasn't even element orientated yet so the most he could do was a simple locator spell and even that wasn't completely accurate. Lower tier Seekers normally use crystals and other mystic tools to operate the techno-sorcery equipment in their work.

Archie closed his eyes and tried to focus. He sent out a weak pulse, barely noticeable to anyone not looking out for it. There was a strong magical energy coming from the apartment a few steps above him and that's where Archie went. He made it to the door, avoiding the grabby hands of two children on his way up, but before he could knock something tackled him and pinned the poor tabby's face first onto the ground. Whoever it was had an iron grip and, from what Archie could feel through his fur, a tough scaly hide.

"I'm only going to ask this once," said a voice above him in a low growl, "What is your business here?" "I'm...I'm a friend of Sam's," stuttered Archie meekly, "Just popping by for a visit you know." "Your aura says you speak the truth," said the voice again, "but I'm going to need something more than that to believe you." "Um...ah...wait, you can see auras right? Well, look closely at mine, Barry is my twin so we have the same energy signatures. Just have a look and you'll see!"

For a moment, there was silence then the creature released Archie and the tabby got to his feet quickly and turned around. In front of him stood a large reptile nearly twice his size. There were two great dark leather wings on its back and it had maroon-grey scales covering its entire body from nose to tail. It also had well defined paws that had sharp claws protruding from each digit and from what Archie could see of the creature's underside its chest and under their tail had scales that were lighter in texture than the ones covering the reptile's body. There was a small bandage wrapped around the reptile's upper left arm, and it looked clean as if he had only just administered it.

"Are you unharmed?" asked the large lizard as Archie stood there, mouth agape.

"What? Yes, yes, I am alright," said the feline rather quickly, "I was just admiring... that is to say, I was just analysing your...um...let's go inside shall we?"

They walked inside, Archie following the lizard and watched it lift some of the security spells around the apartment to allow them access. Archie also noticed how the creature seemed to be rather cautious as it placed its paws on the ground, as if they were not used to using their quadrupedal form. They walked into Sam's living room, exactly how Archie remembered it to be, and found the television was on Animal Planet.

"Why did you attack me?" asked Archie.

"The human Samantha told me to look after her dwelling until her return. I am to be aware of and attempt to neutralise any threats," the reptile replied smoothly, "as per our earlier...agreement...I can only leave the house for emergencies. I perceived you as a threat and thus used that to clarify a brief leave of absence to neutralise you." "Um...okay," Archie wasn't sure what some of that meant but he made a mental note to ask Sam or Barry about it later, "Do you have a name, mate? Or ma'am? I'm not sure, are you a bloke?" "If by 'bloke' you mean male then yes," said the lizard coolly, "and my true name is mine to keep but I currently am known by the title Drake by Bartholomew and his human partner, Samantha. What is yours?"

"Oh, they called me Archie. It's short for Archibald. Well at least I think it is anyway. I came to check up on my brother, is he around?"

"No," said Drake rather flatly, "He and Samantha left nearly an hour ago, to see somebody named Robin for information about a school project."

"Oh, okay," said Archie, a bit let down by the news, "and they just let you alone?"

"I am not a child," Drake's voice sounded almost threatening, "I can take care of myself."

"I'm not doubting that," the black tabby replied quickly, "I'm merely saying that...um..." Drake, obviously losing interest in the conversation, turned around and climbed onto the couch to read a large tome that lay on one of the pillows. Archie sat on his haunches and watched the creature with a look of mild fascination on his face. It took Drake less than two minutes to notice the cat was watching him and he didn't look up when he asked, "Why are you staring at me?" "You are very interesting," said Archie and he transformed into his normal bipedal panther form then said, "may I see your wings?" Without waiting for an answer Archie gently pulled out one of Drake's wings, much to the reptile's irritation and proceeded to mutter to himself, using terms Drake didn't quite understand.

"Very interesting," muttered Archie, "How much do you weigh? Do you use your tail as a means to adjust for drag and air resistance? How strong are you?"

"To answer your questions in order; twenty kilograms, yes I do use my tail to that effect and I can lift up to twenty times the weight of my current body while in this form." Drake answered without looking up from his book.

"What kind of magic do you use?"

"Recently I have stuck to Mana Manipulation-wait why am I telling you all this?" "Sorry," said Archie, changing back into his cat form, "While I'm in my bipedal body my aura projects an energy field that creates an area of knowledge that-"

Drake held up a claw and Archie shut up then the lizard said, "Let's try that again. Why am I telling you all this?" "My aura has a magical ability called 'Diviner' that activates when I transform. Any question I ask, normally to someone who's not aware of my power, will be answered. It's one of the reasons I am so good at what I do."

"Thank you," said Drake, "and what is it that do you do?"

"I am my brother's Seeker." "Please do explain the term, I am unfamiliar with it." "Well, a Seeker is somebody who tracks unusual magical anomalies and reports them to someone else under the rank of Guardian or their Anchor."

"Do you have one?"

"An Anchor? No, Seekers don't need one to do what we do," said Archie, leaping onto the armchair and adopting the same position as his twin on the seat's arm.

Drake turned to face the young feline and asked, "What does an Anchor do exactly?" "They bind Guardians onto the physical world, without one a Guardian would not be able to get stronger and could, potentially, lose their grip on this reality and thus be lost in the eternal void."

Drake's blank expression told Archie that he didn't understand so the cat quickly said, "Anchors keep Guardians from disappearing forever. Once a Guardian is strong enough they no longer need an Anchor to exist."

"All right then," said Drake and he returned to his book once more. Archie watched him silently, or so he thought, until the lizard asked with a sigh, "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"What species of dragon are you?"

"I am not a dragon," said Drake in a low tone that warned Archie away from his follow up question, "I am a gargoyle."

"Sorry, didn't mean to offend you mate."

The dragon suddenly went rigid and said, "Say that again."

"Didn't mean to offend you mate," repeated Archie.

"You were that voice on the phone," realised Drake, "the one who tracked down the hamrammr."

"You were in the car?"

"Yes, I gave you the list of creatures I sensed that it had consumed." "That was you? Wow mate, you really sound different from before." Archie's mind reeled. He never usually forgot information like this and yet here was the mysterious warrior who tore up Waterloo and defeated a powerful shapeshifter with apparent ease. Archie's pupils disappeared as he used a skill known to Seekers as Soul Sight to look at the gargoyle's aura. It was like staring into a furnace, there was so much power in this lizard that Archie had to wonder how Drake remained in his beast form. He assumed the answer must lie with the white bands that seemed to be bound around the reptile's arms, legs and tail, gold symbols of binding shimmered over them.

"Are you quite done looking at my aura?" asked Drake a hint of impatience in his voice.

"Oh sorry," said Archie and his eyes returned to normal. Of course, he noticed, thought Archie, he can see auras too.

"Please ask next time you wish to attempt that," said Drake, his voice back to normal, "Although I do enjoy the change. Samantha and Bartholomew don't have the same skill so I mostly have to describe what I see in the monsters that they fight but it does become tedious."

Archie nodded and looked at the pages of the book that Drake was reading. Some of the lines were written in Latin and Arabic, both languages that were part of the syllabus that the Seekers were required to learn along with a bunch of others.

"Where did you get that?" He asked.

"Your organisation's library. It was, something I thought would be helpful."

Archie thought he detected a solemn tone come from Drake but decided against pushing him further.

"Where did you learn sand script?" inquired Archie, attempting to change the subject.

"You are one curious feline," stated Drake as he ignored the question, "the human and the cat should be back in an hour at most. Do you want to continue waiting here with me or would you prefer to go back to your home?"

Archie pondered this for a moment, the idea was tempting but he had used up enough time away from his post as it was.

"Sorry, looks like I'll have to leave," said Archie and he held out his paw, "Good meeting you though. Please tell Barry I stopped by and to call me when he can."

Drake agreed to the request and shook the Seeker's paw before returning to his book. Just as Archie was about to leave, Drake called out, "What was it you wanted to tell your brother? I can relay the message if you'd like."

"Oh, just that Maximus is showing no signs of regaining consciousness anytime soon. His aura isn't regenerating fast enough to wake him up. I technically shouldn't be telling him this anyway but I thought he'd want to know."

Drake nodded and muttered thanks, before returning to his book while Archie left the complex and headed back home.