FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"So what Rose think? It good? It good?"

"Yeah, sure. Though not sure if it would be useable over on our world."

"No matter, no matter," Ingrid responds quickly. "Rose not go out in human world, not dressed up. Not dressed up. Once year over Rose can leave but have more clothes then anyway. Outfit not matter. It no longer fit Ingrid take, Ingrid take. Make better or put away. Off you go, off you go. Have fun and do good."

I sigh at the statement and leave Ingrid's store, noting that Gabriel is waiting for me at the other side of the door.

"So are you my escort?"

"After a fashion," Gabriel states casually. "I can walk you over to the portal at any rate. But I will not be following with you; that would create too many problems. I exist to keep the peace. I am not allowed to go to the other side of the portal without good reason and escorting you is not considered a good enough reason. Beyond that I cannot tell you for people would hear it that shouldn't."

That statement reminds me of the fact that he is telling the truth. It is entirely possible that people could and would be watching me right now. We are in the complex so it's not one of the more expensive routes to see me. And considering the attention that I had apparently garnered from last night it is entirely possible that even more now than before are watching me. Which means, of course, that there were probably some people who were watching me strip and get fitted for an outfit. The realization of that brings a slight blush to my cheeks but with the fur still sort of covering my face it's hidden well.

"I imagine Siren has told you of the situation?"

"Yes, I am to go to the other side, be a guest to a talk show and then come right back and it is my job to do everything in my power to see that I make them like me."

"In a matter of speaking yes. Though there is something else you should be aware of. Their culture isn't the same as our own. You are a guest to their land but that doesn't mean that you will be paraded around without a care in the world. To them how strong you are the better off you tend to be. They are a true kratocracy. The strongest rule over those weaker than they are. Some may be tempted to try something to help bolster their status. Thus the armed guards. They are there for your own protection as much as they are to keep you from causing havoc. It doesn't happen often but there have been times where someone has snapped and tried to act out against the culture that has forced them into being a draftee. The soldiers that will be with you have two main priorities. First is to keep you in line. If you want to stop in a shop to buy something, you are free to do so after the show but make sure you tell them first, they will escort you there. If you look like you're going to make a break for it or anything else drastic they will put you down, permanently if need be. Their second priority is to keep you safe. They'll do what they can at keeping civilians at bay but an attack may get through. I doubt anyone will try for your life, but be aware they may try something."

I nod, not really feeling like saying anything in response to that information. So they're there both to protect me from them and them from me. So that's good to know. I don't intend on doing anything to make it necessary for them to protect the civilians from me but who knows. We'll see. We get back to the room where I had first entered this place, that door with a hall with locked rooms. Gabriel unlocks it for me and we step through. It is a somewhat nostalgic place even though I was here only a couple of days ago. But I guess it makes sense to be here again. It is after all where I came to this place via a portal so it only makes sense that I'd leave this place via a portal in the same location.

The portal has already been set up for me and I see that swirl of magic. Knowing a bit about magic now I can sort of sense the general principles behind the magic. It is certainly a very complex spell, requiring a lot of very fine adjustments. And that begins to worry me a bit. Not so much because of it going wrong. I doubt they'd let me through if it wasn't safe. They probably have it refined to an art. But more it the act of how do you get to this level of sophistication on a spell that was only "discovered" a few years ago. The other side claims they were experimenting with spells, found a spell that would let them travel to our land and seeing people here, decided to try and reach an arrangement with us instead of just flat out abandoning or invading this place. Now I imagine that they might have some sort of teleportation from location to location spell already in place. But the difference for this spell to go two miles or to another world entirely isn't that big a difference, only a change in variables. So how is it they didn't know of us sooner?

At any rate it is less an issue now. Thinking about it won't get me answers. I take a deep breath and step through. Walking through the portal is much different than the last time I went through one. That time I was under heavy sedation. This time I can feel everything. It is a very strange sensation. You can feel yourself moving very fast and yet nothing moves. You step into the portal and see nothing, feel nothing but motion and yet there is no acceleration, no smell in the air, no sounds. It is a very disorienting experience to have all but one sense be completely deprived of all stimuli and yet that one sense gives you something that you cannot at all justify. You move but your limbs don't move any different.

And then I'm suddenly stepping through on the other side. The other room looks the same as the one I just had gone through. The only difference being that instead of Gabriel and some other human operators there's a bunch of others in here, some of them very heavily armed. I look at them and note that unlike everyone on our side of the portal, these don't exactly look like animals. Well they do in a very vague sort of way. They are like earth animals in the same way a cat is like a dog. There are certainly similarities between the two. It is entirely possible that at one point they shared a common ancestor but the differences make it very impractical to really compare the two. The operators on this side all seem to be imps, so there's that aspect of things again.

Both of my guards seem to be reminiscent of rhinos or something. They have thick, cloven feet, definitely mammalian as they are covered in long brown fur that doesn't really seem all that thick all things considered. Their chests are massive and they have a large horn protruding from their nose. Both are wearing a kind of thick, metallic mail that is blended in and carrying large weapons as if they are nothing. Wordless I begin to walk up to them and they turn and begin walking, one choosing to walk behind me while the other two walk a bit in front of me, trapping me in a sort of triangle of massive flesh and metal.

A mental image of all species on this place being typecast based on what they are flash through my mind but then I see another guard at the entrance to this building and they look very different, almost like a slender crocodile carrying a gun of some fashion or other. They look at me dismissively and open the door for the four of us, letting us out into the world I'm currently in. It takes me back a bit about just how different this is. It's still barely morning at where I just was but looking at the sky it looks to be much closer to late afternoon or early evening as the primary sun seems to be close to setting. And that's the biggest difference. There're multiple suns. But only one seems to be giving off a lot of light. The other one is there and noticeable, but either much smaller or much further away as it seems to be little brighter than our moon. That one is probably still on the rise but the area looks like it would where the primary sun would be. Can't see any moons, though. Can't be sure there aren't any since well it's not like you can usually see the moon that well on our world every single hour of the day.

The city itself is rather colorful. Still full of all the skyscrapers one would expect in a major modern city. It's just so much more colorful. It's in some regards like Town Square in New York but not so much just colorful advertisements and screens, but the buildings are multicolored, as are the sidewalks and roads. Each land is distinguished by color, rather than by markings. But when you consider magic it isn't as surprising that they would do something like that. Though something does strike me as a bit odd. The citizenry are definitely very diverse yet there seems to be almost too much diversity for multiple races to be living. How would they breed? Are they all capable of having children with each other?

And then there's the fact that there is not a single car to be seen. A few seem to be flying above us but if I had wings. Rather if I was born with wings I would probably fly around everywhere I could as well. I don't have wings, and I wasn't born with them. Even if this body had them I would not want to use them. They wouldn't be truly mine and to accept them and cherish them in the ability to fly would be a betrayal of who I really am, on what my body really is. The guards lead me to the road and then instruct me to step on it, making sure everyone goes as one group. Or rather the back one instructs me in this manner. The front two either can't speak or can't speak English as they never say a single word to me. Curious I step onto the road as the others follow suit and resume their triangle formation around me and I notice why it is there are no cars on the road. There doesn't need to be. By some sort of miraculous spell they have arranged the roads to act as escalators. Motion is in the mind. By wanting to go forward you do. Wanting to go faster you do. Want to turn left or right you can but I imagine it wouldn't let you walk into the other side of the road or into other people.

It is an amusing little spell and I play around with the concept of being able to control my progress by sheer thought for a bit until a cough behind me alerts me that the soldiers really don't appreciate my childish behavior. I sigh and resume a more leisurely pace. Besides, it gives me more opportunity to examine this city than just play around on the road. People are definitely watching me. I imagine that even if I hadn't done that I would probably be a spectacle. Not knowing the culture and thus not knowing how common it truly is I would still hope to believe that seeing someone be escorted by three soldiers would be a rare occurrence.

The guards in front move to the side lane and so I follow forth and they make a turn. Granted it probably is like all cities but I would feel overwhelmed just trying to get around in this place for at least a little while. Gabriel said that I could theoretically go shopping but looking at this city I wouldn't even know where to begin. I don't know what means what and what snippets of conversation I can pick up from people around me implies that they have their own language that they use. Not sure how that'll translate when going to the talk show. Will I have to have a translator for me? Will the host know how to speak English? Or is there simply some sort of spell that makes translations easy? I suppose all three are possible. I don't remember reading a translation spell but then again it's not like it's needed on our side of the portal. Everyone in our base can speak the same language and can read that other language which I thankfully can still read fairly well and the book is more based on combat useable spells rather than a composite of all spells possible. After all, I didn't see any sewing spells or cooking spells in the book either.

Our destination starts to come up ahead. It's a big enough building, almost towering over all others. What alerts me as to it being the location is the crowd in front as well as a bunch of people carrying around large cameras. It's an odd thing to know that people can see everything I do and yet come over here and see people still using the same filming equipment we have back home. Yet then I do wonder. Is it possible that the ability to see me only pertains to when I'm on that side? Is it entirely plausible that once I've gotten on this side of the portal that whatever spell is in place to allow for scrying no longer applies, that for the first time in days no one is watching me again?