FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

All right, so this is the first chapter of my story "Afterlife" set in a universe I created for a book I am currently writing. It is the first story after a long time I wrote in English, so please feel free to point out grammar mistakes. Comments are appreciated since I'm not even sure if my writing style translates well into English...

Alright, to the background of the story: This world is inhabited by both, humans and Furs, the time is set just after a great war in which the Furs of one continent were almost annihilated, and humans, as well as Furs, developed a general reluctance towards each other. Still, the peace in most of the world isn't broken. The story takes place on a continent which wasn't involved in the war, therefore humans and Furs will be shown as equal.

Chapter 1:

"Wake up", like always the older boy had been up earlier than his slightly younger friend, a hand on the others shoulder, shaking him gently, "Pack your stuff, we need to get going."

The younger boy sat up and sighed, thinking about the situation they were in.

He had always wondered how it would be to have a family, a real family, not that stupid bunch of shitheads that called itself that way. He thought, like so many times before, that Eric was the closest to give him that feeling, of a caring family, the only person he had regarded as that. They had known each other since they were children, and even though the older boy was a human, the two had never thought of their relationship as strange. They were brothers, back in the days they used to play with other and also at this point, on their journey to nowhere.

As he looked around, seeking some point to orientate himself, he had no idea where exactly they were going. Yellow grass and gray rocks were about all he could spot, save the road they were currently following and some distal mountains. The sky was blue, only a few wisp of clouds were slowly crawling over the azure surface, struggling with the heat, dissipating slowly as the sun rose, filling the plain with golden light.

"Just a few kilometers this way and we should reach the next town", Eric pointed in a vague direction as he looked at his map, the only orientation he and his friend had, „You better eat something now, we won't be making many breaks today."

"Why's that?", the younger boy, Ben, stifled a sleepy yawn and scratched his neck while reaching for his backpack.

Eric took a piece of bread and split it, tossing one part to Ben and explaining: „If we don't make it to that town by today's evening, we'll run out of food and water."

Ben looked at his bread, his appetite suddenly gone: "That's not good, you sure we even have enough money to make it?" He didn't intend to be the person ruining the fun, still it had bothered him for a while now, and with the food running low, he was almost sure that the two of them would not reach their goal.

Eric however smiled and assured the younger boy by saying: "Well, if we run out of money, I'll just get us some more."

Ben glanced at his friend, half concerned, half interested on how the boy planned to 'get' money.

It was when their gazed crossed that Ben realized just how much this journey had already cost them, Eric's face was pale and his short brown hair hadn't been washed in days. Still He grinned cheerful as ever, convincing Ben that they hadn't made the wrong decision in leaving their home, leaving everything behind.

Sighing Ben finished his meal and took a look into the small hand mirror he had taken with him, for it was a gift from his deceased grandmother. He was a mess, there was no other way to say it, his blue eyes were about the only clear color on him, like orbs of Lapislazuli standing out between dirty strands of white bleached hair. Even Ben's skin, which had always been very pale, had now adopted an unhealthy shade of gray, he truly looked like a drug addict. But out here nobody cared about anybody's looks, so he didn't even bother to comb his shoulder-length hair, or to keep his short fur on his back, hands, feet and tail clean, so that the white coat now matched his skin color. Out there, in a place without rules or laws, with no beliefs or honor, nobody would go as far as to judge him because of some stains, so washing seemed redundant.

Since his father was a fur and his mother human he had always been despised by everyone, save his blood relatives and Eric, but he never minded that fact. He couldn't stand the world anyways, why shouldn't that feeling be mutual.

Shouldering his backpack Ben took a last look around before departing with his sole friend, leaving their home farther behind them, together with all worries, all hopes, everything that had made them part of society.

The morning went by without incident, Eric looked at his map from time to time, but not even Ben could not figure what the human was looking for, this wasteland gave no clue whatsoever on where they were situated at the moment, so the casual blinks to the map could only be explained as a feeble attempt to feel secure.

As the two of them took a short break around midday, they were still not within sight of the town, the town that they needed to reach today, their only chance to relieve themselves off some of the exhaustion that plagued them at each step.

Again Eric took the map and remarked in a worried tone that he might have misestimated their position, which left both boys clueless of when they would reach their next way-point, or if they would reach it at all. Ben took the last sip of water, since Eric wouldn't listen to his attempts to refuse it, and regarded the empty bottle with regret, just the moment he began to hear it.

First almost inaudible, then growing louder, the generic sound of an approaching car, only a few hundred meters away.

"Hey, Eric, a car", no enthusiasm tinged his voice, as the car could mean anything, both of them knew that the driver could as well be some kind of maniac, or an asshole. These days almost no one hitchhiked anymore, because no one would take a strange person into his car.

Still Ben couldn't deny that this vehicle seemed really nice, old, big, painted in a light blue, once it was close enough he could register that the inside was packed with random stuff, figurines, all kind of crazy garbage, he was sure that no one needed that stuff, still it made the owners of the car seem less unlikeable. The first thing that Ben noticed about the driver was that she looked really young, younger than the co-driver, with a stern look and her short hair she seemed like a person to be respected, not scary, but still strong.

The co-driver on the other hand, was less intimidating than her mate, with her tanned skin and Rasta hairstyle.

It was Eric who held out his hand in time, Ben had never been good in approaching people, so he let his friend handle the talk.

To their relief the driver slowed down and finally stopped a few meters ahead of the boys.

Ben hurried to follow Eric, as the human went over to the driver's window and looked at the woman, who in return took a look at both boys and asked in a casual tone: "You hitchhikin' through this country? You must be crazy... where 're you from?"

Eric folded his arms and met the woman's glance, answering formal: "From Griess, we're headed for the coast."

The woman exchanged glances with her co-driver and then said: "Well, for now we can take you with us until we reach Fontir, we got some business there. What happens after we reach it, I can't tell. Depends on our plans."

After a brief moment of silence Eric grinned and commented while opening the rear door: "Thanks, you really saved us." Ben followed his friend, hesitantly, he really didn't like humans at all and here were two of them at once, not counting Eric himself.

The next ten minutes there was silence, until the co-driver turned around to Ben and asked with a friendly voice: "Well, how come you two travel together? It's quite rare seeing halves and humans getting along."

"We know each other long enough to stand each other", even though his tone was dismissively and rude, the woman chuckled and said: "I'm Megan by the way, this is Jessica." The driver shot them a glance when her name was called, then she concentrated on the road again.

„I'm Eric", Eric responded to Megan's words, "This is Ben."

Megans look rested on the latter again as she asked: "Your companion?"

"Kind of", Eric kept starring out of the window while he answered.

"That's good", Megan turned to the front again, "It's good to see a Half having someone he can trust."

The rest of the drive went by quietly, sometime in the evening we arrived at the town.

As Ben watched the sun disappear behind some tenements, Eric and the women already discharged their stuff and began looking for a motel. Jessica had parked at a deserted parking lot a few hundred meters apart from the inner city, so the four of them wouldn't have to deal with the livelier parts of this city, they didn't intend to stay long anyways.

As Ben took his own backpack and followed them, the three had already spotted a cheap looking building with the characteristic neon light-sign of a motel, and were headed towards it. Entering through the front door, they found themselves in the room where the front desk was located, without hesitation Jessica lead the others to an old man, probably the owner of that place, who seemed genuinely bored of his job.

Ben looked around the room, he didn't like how everything seemed sterile, white walls and ceiling, gray tiles on the floor, no plants whatsoever, even back home the people always worried about their homes seeming to lifeless.

"You two share a room?", Megan asked Eric, who turned around to Ben and raised a brow.

The Half rolled his eyes, it was a stupid question since they couldn't afford two rooms anyways: "t'is fine with me..."

Jessica turned to the owner, but before she could even ask for rooms the bald man spotted Ben and said: "I'm sorry, this is a human only motel, didn't you read the

'no pets' sign outside?"

Ben could feel himself tensing, this was why he didn't like humans. Furs were at least slightly more open minded, at least in general, humans however always found a way to make him feel unwelcome.

To his surprise Jessica snorted and noticed: "Good thing we don't own pets, eh? We'll need two rooms."

The owner's eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to reply, but Jessica cut him short: "Two rooms."

Ben had to hide his satisfied smile as the owner shrunk before the woman's sharp gaze and wordlessly handed over two keys. Megan smiled apologetically as she paid with Eric's and her own money.

The room Ben and Eric entered was enjoyable clean, with white wallpapered walls, a sage carpet and a twin-bed with floral-patterned covers. The ceiling light was bright, so Eric, knowing it hurt Ben's eyes, turned on a reading light and sheathed the room in gloaming.

"We don't have any money left, do we?", Ben already knew the answer.

"We should be able to buy ourselves something to eat for tomorrow and if we fill up our bottles here with tap water, we should be able to make it for a while", fake optimism, still it was better not to say it. They wouldn't make it to the sea after all.

"Maybe Jessica and Megan can take us to a city at the coast", Eric tucked himself up, not bothering to undress since he had no spare clothes left anyways, and shuffled his blanket.

Ben washed his hands, unrobed and sat down on his side of the bed: "Maybe they're gone by the time we wake up. We don't know what the future brings and nobody's going to make it easy for us. No one ever has."

The light went out, darkness coated the room, my thoughts, everything.

The next day.

Ben woke up earlier than usual, earlier than Eric, the room was gloomy and he felt unpleasantly crushed under the thick blanket. As he got rid of them he tried not to make too much noise, there was no need to wake up Eric, he needed his sleep really bad.

Opening the door quietly, Ben stepped outside, enjoying the fresh air, watching the dark sky and the blue tinted hills.

The metal, that this porch, which lead to all the rooms, was made of felt cold under his hind paws, the steel railing seemed unstable, so he didn't lean on it.

All of the sudden Ben heard footsteps, turning around he recognized Megan, who came out of her and Jessica's room, fully clothed, her Hair falling on her shoulders undone.

"You're up early", she commented as she spotted the boy, her smile was honest, which was a bit confusing for Ben. It had caught his eye earlier, but now it was even more apparent how since and friendly this woman plied with him. It wasn't even that shocking, just a bit distracting, since he still regarded the woman as human and therefore as someone obnoxious.

"You, too", there was rejection in his voice, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

Megan went over to the railing and placed her hand on the upper bar, watching the first sunbeams illuminating the sky and explaining: "I don't sleep very much, I never needed to. On the other hand Jess can't get enough of it."

Ben shivered as a sudden cold wind hit him, standing outside with only his boxers on wasn't such a good idea after all, so he mumbled a small: "Need to dress", and turned to his room, but Megan held him back.

"We're going to leave soon, still got some things to take care off, meet us in one day at the "Raging Storm", we will be there at eight o'clock."

Ben looked around to the woman and asked doubtingly: "So you gonna take us with you?"

The addressed sighed: "They way things are right now, yes, but I can promise that we'll meet at that place, we'll discuss everything now."

And with that she disappeared into her room again, leaving Ben alone outside, still shivering as cold wind constantly hit his exposed body.

As he finally went inside he noticed Eric, who was still sleeping soundly.

His backpack was stuffed with clothes, he didn't keep much stuff besides them anyways.

He chose a Jeans that was fairly clean, some dark green shirt with a dark cityscape on it and a black hoodie, changing his underwear at that point seemed redundant, he had no fresh one left since a few days ago. His shabby blue sneakers on, then he was ready to departure. He woke Eric as soon as the daylight reached the inside of their room, then he stepped out again to see Megan and Jessica already departing.

"They're leaving?", Eric hadn't changed his clothes, still wearing the same gray sweatpants and black shirt as last week.

This time it was Ben being optimistic: "They'll take us further on, they just need to do something before that. Megan told me to meet them tomorrow at the Raging Storm."

Eric furrowed his brow: "What's that?"

Ben shrugged and answered: "Some kind of club? I don't know."

"Let's go, then", Eric had never led them wrong, so Ben decided to pack his stuff and follow the older boy, even though he would have rather stayed at the motel as long as possible than seeing more of this godforsaken town.

Noon, the sun had almost reached it's peak, everything seemed to dwell in the shades, Ben had gotten rid of his pullover a while ago, now he almost considered doffing his shirt as well. Eric had left to "Get some money", Ben never knew what that guy was exactly doing though. At the current point, the Half had even stopped walking around and sat at some square in the midtown, which seemed to be the historic district as well.

In contrast to the rundown apartment houses he had seen when he arrived at the city, the houses at this square were covered with ornaments, build of solid stone and held a somewhat nostalgic feel to them.

The place Ben was sitting on was paved with reddish stones, flanked by a few benches and trees, overall nothing exciting. He took another gulp of water, then he stood up and headed in a random direction, not knowing what to do for the rest of the day. Apparently only a few people lived in this town, at least only a few people with any time to spare, the streets were empty, even the square seemed like a remnant of the past, not inhabited by anyone.

Then, just when Ben was about to enter a gloomy alley, one of the few places were the sun didn't hit, he heard loud voices, blabbering about some nonsense. As he turned out of habit he spotted two persons, a female human with blonde hair and bright clothes and a male Fur, a Vulpine with thick cream-colored Fur who wore mostly black clothes with silver undertones.

These two came walking over the square towards Ben's direction, talking about fashion and whatnot. The girl spotted Ben first, as he was still standing at the entrance to the alley, wondering about these two species getting along in this kind of town.

As soon as she saw the boy she nudged the fox and said something Ben couldn't catch. The Fur in return placed his gaze upon the latter and grinned, shouting: "Hey, half, haven't seen the likes of you around here for a while!" Ben growled inwardly at the voice, which seemed far to friendly for addressing a stranger, and remarked: "So what?"

The girl snickered: "Seems like he's a reserved one. Should we introduce him to the city?"

"Not interested", Ben turned to leave, but got held back by the fox who had reached him only a few moments ago.

"Hey now, don't run away just yet", the furred Hand only touched the fabric of Ben's shirt, still he was close to lunging at the fox as he forcibly brushed him off and made a few steps aback into the shadows of the side street, which made it almost seem as if his eyes were glowing with resentment.

"Alright, you stay back, Chime, you are far too intrusive to this one", the girl shoved the Fur aside and held her hand out to Ben: "I'm Madhu Steinberger, recently unemployed, living at..."

"I'm sure he doesn't care for your biography, Mad", the fox cut in, "I think we should..."

At that point Ben had overcome his shock and was thoroughly annoyed with those two, so he cut the speaker short by saying: "I have to go now", and turned around to get away as quickly as possible.

"Hey, wait at least tell us your name", just how obnoxious could one person become?

Ben's voice was harsh as he answered: "I'm Ben, now fuck off, please."

Ashe continued to head trough the alley he heard the girl chuckle: "Not so timid after all."

Ben didn't look back and was relieved as they were finally gone.

Six hours passed and Ben did nothing except straying through the town, without a clear aim, without any sign of Eric. The shadows grew longer, the sun almost disappeared behind the buildings, and the time he had agreed upon with his friend eventuated.

As Ben arrived at the point they were supposed to meet again, he was early, still Eric was already sitting in front of a club, starring into the darkening sky and humming a silent tune. He instantly looked at Ben as the hybrid approached, giving him an invisible smile and remarking: "I got us enough money to last until tomorrow, so we needn't sleep on the street. How was your day?"

Ben shrugged: "Normal, I guess."

Silently the human stood up and turned to leave, Ben knew they had to search for a place to sleep at, it wouldn't be easy to find something cheap where the owners wouldn't be offended by his presence.

"You want to go somewhere else before we look for a hotel?", He didn't look at Ben.

The answer was clear, still the Half said: "No, I'm fine with sleeping early."

He hoped for a tranquil evening without any incidents.

His hopes were deceived.

"Hey, aren't you the guy we met earlier?", that voice, far too friendly.

Ben didn't want to turn, didn't want to hear that voice, but Eric heard it. And he turned.

"Remember us?", was there any way to forget?

Eric arched a brow and asked addressed to his friend: "You know these people?"

"Kind of", finally he looked around, noticed the blonde Girl and the light-furred fox standing in front of him, wearing the same clothes as before, grinning right into his face, without discretion, without being offended by his former rudeness.

Ben hated them already, why couldn't they feel the same?

"You his friend?", the girl looked at Eric, "I'm Madhu, but my friends call me Mad."

The fox sneered: "And it is a fitting nickname, though I don't know of any friend you have that could call you that way."

The girl didn't seem one bit irritated as she lay a hand on the fox's shoulder: "This is Chime, but everyone just calls him 'jerk'."

Eric shot his companion a skeptical glance, who in return only shrugged and tried to figure out a way to get rid of these people before...

"You and your friend need a place to stay for the night?", His gaze rested upon Ben as he continued, "We got spare room, you could just crash in for tonight."

Ben almost facepalmed, now it was over. Eric would conclude that they could save a lot of money staying with those freaks, and objecting would only mean to be a stubborn child. So Ben just decided to bare with it, so he wouldn't have to discuss that matter further.

"That's actually not a bad idea, Chime", even the girl had that overly eager attitude to take them in, this whole situation, no this whole journey seemed so surreal to Ben. First the women in the car, now these people, no one complained about taking care of them, not even his mix-breed roots could change that. It was all too easy, there weren't that many open minded people around, it was just not possible. But trying to find out the catch seemed impossible at that point, so he decided to bear with it and follow Eric blindly.

Madhu looked around and focused on the club they were in standing in front of, asking the two travelers: "You're here to go in there?"

Ben regarded the sign, which said 'Ecstasy ferior' and answered calmly: "Nah, they wouldn't want me in there anyways, I'm still underage an, you know.. not 'pure'."

Chime snarled and reckoned: "It's not a question of them wanting you in there, but a question of you wanting to go in there."

Ben didn't have to answer as Eric said: "Er were just about to search for a hotel, so we've got no plans for the evening."

This time it was Madhu who spoke up: "Well then, let's go home. We can show them how we live, where they can sleep and all that."

As the procession walked silently through the nightlife of Fontir, Ben was astounded that neither Madhu, nor Chime spoke for about ten minutes, the surroundings gradually.

The half noticed that he had never been in this part of the town, the keynote here weren't apartment-buildings or bright Neon-signs, but big houses, mansions so to speak, with copious gardens and noble seeming fences.

Surprised he looked closely at the girl and the fox, the girl with her short, yellow pants, the cropped, neongreen T-Shirt, with her orange shoes and greenish forearm sleeves, she didn't exactly seem like a person to live in a snobbish villa. The mass of rings on her hands, her various necklaces and her hazel-dyed messy hair didn't help with that picture either. But maybe she only lived with the fox and he was the owner of the house? Ben looked at said person and estimated if his black, baggy pants and hooded coat, with the metallic runes imprinted on them, could mean that he was the problem child of a rich family. But that was stupid, if it were that way, why would the girl live with them, and why didn't the two of them mention parents in any way, ever?

While he was still dwelling on these thoughts they reached a wrought-iron gate, which led into a garden, that was surprisingly distinguished from the ones they had just passed.

As they passed the fence, the first Ben noticed were the weeds, that were growing everywhere, it was a contrast too the neat gardens of all the other mansions, and gave this place a human undertone, it seemed more common, which meant that the owners didn't care so much about etiquette.

A sandstone path lead to the main entrance, the big wooden doorway, with the stone porch in front of it, the massive stone pillars, which held the balcony of the second floor, all of it seemed so very excessive, unnecessarily excessive, just like things were back at their home.

Ben hated everything about it and Eric, who knew that, shot his friend a concerned glance before following Madhu and Chime to said front gate.

So this was the place they would have to spend the night at, in case Eric wouldn't change his mind. Ben knew he wouldn't though, and so he accepted the fact that he would have to bear with Chime and Madhu at least until tomorrow.

The front hall was impressive, marble everywhere, many pillars, everything a mindless rich person could want. A big staircase lead from that hall to the second floor, where the actual living are was. There were too many rooms for Ben to remember them all, he only kept the rooms in mind that were important for him. The room he would be sleeping in was one of the guestrooms, equipped with a king-size bed, a giant wardrobe made of dark wood, and heavy velvet-curtains. The exact same as Eric's room, to be precise, who slept next door to Ben.

The two other rooms he remembered were the kitchen, where they would have to help with the cooking that evening and the following morning, a big room with white tiles, at the end of the hall were the bedrooms adjoined, and the living room, which held a fireplace, many comfortable couches and an impressive collection of books.

There were no rules, as Madhu had explained, for the three inhabitants, Madhu herself, Chime and a female Fur called Sangmo, who was apparently out, had agreed on an unattached lifestyle.

While Eric volunteered to help Madhu with the cooking, Chime, who claimed to be a bad cook, and Ben, who knew that he was a bad cook, decided to let them work in peace and left the kitchen, to occupy themselves until dinner was ready.

As Ben walked through the living room, wondering about the fact that he still hadn't seen neither Chime's nor Madhu's parents, he spotted a big glass door, which led to the balcony he had already seen before entering the house.

The air was soothing, still warm, but, after the sun had disappeared, at least a bit cooler than at day. The mansion was located on a hill, so Ben could see the whole city once he leaned over the stone railing. Midtown emitted it's characteristic noises, the houses cast their light upon each other and created a contrast to the pitch black sky, where clouds veiled the stars and the moon. As he enjoyed the night the hybrid calmed down a bit, remembered his home and still felt no regret leaving it. He didn't sense the Fox approaching the door and almost jumped as it slid open.

"Hey", a casual tone, still a bit annoying, but at least not as overly friendly as the first time they had met, "You okay?"

"Sure", what now? "Why do you ask?"

Chime leaned on the rail and watched the city, not looking at his colloquist while answering: "You just seemed a bit spaced out."

"Well yeah", Ben crossed his arms and spotted a billboard, advertizing some beer, the gigantic smile of it's mascot pissed him off, "I'm just thinking.. wondering. Why'd you take us in anyway?"

The fox remained quiet for some time before answering: "I guess I feel for halves who don't have a place to go... I got some experience with that."

"I don't need your pity", Ben didn't want to appear too rude, "I'm glad that you two gave us a place to stay, really, and I got to thank you for that I just don't like it when people pity me. Makes me feel laughed at."

Chime grinned: "I think I can relate to that. So, where are you going?"

"You're not going to ask where we came from, first?", honest surprise laid in Ben's voice.

Suddenly the light-furred vulpine was serious again: "I don't think it is important where one came from. And I think you share my opinion on that."

Ben shivered, that Fur had him figured out, whether it was coincidence or empathy, he couldn't tell, still it was distracting, coming from someone who was so overly enthusiastic before. It made him seem unpredictable.

But before any of them could say something else, Eric found them and informed the two that dinner was ready.