FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Hey guys. It's been a long while since I've been around, and I'll try and post a proper journal soon, but I've been experimenting with a different style of writing. I've been writing just a couple hundred words or so a day. (The <> mark where I ended that day's section) This may read a bit weird, but I figured I'd take the sum of the weeks work and share it with you; let me know what you think.

"Need some help?"

"Yeah; I can't figure out how to get this stupid chest piece off." I called back toward the young woman who just entered the locker room where I stood. "I got the sword and shield off easy enough as well as the arm covers, but this part seems stuck. Is there a button or a latch or...?"

"The bio-lock is on the back, just below your neck."

"Oh, really?" After holding my finger there for a moment, a confirmatory beep was quickly followed by the sound of the inner mechanisms of the armor whirring before relaxing the not uncomfortable but definitely tight grip. "Oh, thanks."

"Sure, no problem." My helper paused for a moment as I decided the best way to remove the finally loosened armor. "Actually, mind if I ask you something?"

"Huh? Oh, sure; what's up?" I asked as I gripped the collar, planning on removing it just like a shirt. A shirt made of metal and technology, though essentially a shirt none the less. I still had a t-shirt on underneath, so it's not like I wouldn't be decent as I started to pull the chest piece off.

At least, that was the plan before something got in the way. That something was the laser pistol my helper had at her side previously and was now pressed against the back of my head, the barrel feeling awfully warm as she asked her question.

"Who in the 13 Hells ARE you?"

<>

"My name is Dan. I'm male, human, and live on a planet called Earth. At least, that was all true until about an hour ago."

Turns out a gun to the back of your head is a great motivator to tell the truth. I hoped I at least sounded less frightened than I did; well, that and hoping my head wasn't about to be vaporized. I couldn't tell if minutes had actually passed or if it just felt like it before the pistol was pulled away from my head and I let the breath go I hadn't realized I'd been holding this whole time.

"I don't know what a, 'Hue-man' is, but at least you're smart enough not to lie and pretend everything's fine. Now you can come clean with me and I don't have a mess to clean up."

"Wait..." I turned toward the canine earred woman behind me as she casual holstered her pistol, her jet black ears similar to the white furred ones I'd found atop my own head when I first woke up in this world. "I just told you I'm... well, an alien, and you're fine with that?"

"Fine's not the right word, but I knew something was wrong the second you woke up. Given the...circumstances, let's call them, I could really address it before now. My name's Mishra, by the way."

"Thanks, and I guess I'm Lyra? That's what everyone's been calling me, so I've just been going with it. But, I'm sorry; I'm still kinda in shock. Why is all of this happening?!"

"Well... how can I put this?"

"As simply as possible, please." My head was still spinning coming to grips that not only was I talking to a human looking woman with a canine ears and tail and the super-advanced technology I'd seen in the brief time I'd been here, the fact that I was ALSO a woman with canine ears and a tail were almost on the back burner.

"Simple? Sure. Lyra just died, and I shoved your soul into her body to try and revive her."

<>

"You... took my soul?..." A million questions raced through my mind, but the one I settled on was, "How?..."

"Arts." Blink. "You know, Arts?" More confused blinking. "...Do you not know what Arts are? You used a Holy Shield Art yourself; did you not know what that was?"

Oh, right. In addition to technology that would probably give Elon Musk envy, apparently there's ALSO magic in this world, which I guess is what they call Arts.

"Anyway," Mishra continued, "Lyra and I were deployed as backup for a hostage situation over at Aeron City Bank. Some Corrupted had taken hostages and were demanding the usual; release of their brothers in arms, transportation, the complete submission of all to their Dark God, blah blah blah; the usual."

"The negotiations seemed to be going well when all the sudden the back wall of the bank just exploded. Lyra and I rushed around just in time to see one of those red robbed fools walking out with a rocket launcher. Lyra braced her shield and intercepted the next rocket, and got sent flying backwards. Nothing major."

"...Right..." Just taking a rocket head on; nothing major at all. "But I'm guessing that wasn't the case."

Mishra nodded. "I threw down a flash bomb to buy some time and check on her. She must've hit the lamp post or something wrong; her neck was broken and she was gone. I figured if I fixed her neck and forced her soul back into her body she'd be fine."

"But instead you somehow grabbed my soul? From another world?"

"Well, in theory her soul should've still been close by, but breaching the barrier between worlds...look; it was dumb, violates most of our codes, and I will be in so much trouble if anybody finds out. But I'm also the only one who can fix this without demanding a huge price, and I don't just mean in credits."

"So... like it or not, I'm stuck with you is basically what you're saying?"

"Yup."

Great. The only thing worse than what she was telling me was that I totally believed every word she was saying.

<>

"Hey; here's a question. Am I dead?"

"What? No, Lyra's the one wh... oh; you mean your Hue-Man body?" Mishra called back to me from outside the locker room. She'd asked(and I confirmed) if I was uncomfortable changing in front of other women considering the whole, "In an opposite gender body" thing; that's why I waited for everyone else to clear out before going in myself, and now she was standing watch outside just in case anybody else popped in.

"Well, let me ask you this; do you remember dying?" No; the last thing I remembered was falling asleep in my bed. "Then no; a major trauma like death leaves a deep impact on someone's soul. If you don't remember dying, then you're still alive in your world. And to answer your follow up question, your body will be fine without your soul in it."

Oh, great. So Mishra just pulled my soul out of my living body; that doesn't sound something out of a horror movie. This was way too much way too fast for my poor brain to sort out. At least we were off shift now, and Mishra said she'd bring me home and let me do some of my own resear-

"Co-Ordinator Ricka!" I nearly jumped when Mishra suddenly spoke up, sounding kind of nervous. "Lyra's in the lockers, but I don'-"

Apparently that didn't mean much to Co-Ordinator Ricka, who I'm guessing was the cat girl that just stepped into the locker room. Unlike pretty much everyone I'd seen in my admittedly short time here, she wasn't wearing futuristic power armor; rather, she wore something more akin to a business suit. She gasped when she saw me, her soft brown hair waving slightly behind her as she looked over me with her bright blue eyes.

"Oh no..." She sounded genuinely upset as she slowly walked toward me. Mishra stood in the doorway, looking as concerned as I felt. "Something is very, VERY wrong here..."

"O-Oh?..." I managed to stammer. Did she know I wasn't really Lyra, her... whatever her relationship is to Lyra? I tried to smile and play it cool. "I don't know what you mean..."

"Oh, I think you do..." I gulped as she moved within inches of me, suddenly wishing for my armor instead of the t-shirt and jeans I'd had finally changed into. Was she going to accuse me of something? Attack me? Maybe something worse?

Well, depending on how you looked at it, she either did the worst thing or best thing possible; she wrapped her arms around me and gave me a kiss. Not a peck on the cheek or anything, but a full, passionate lovers kiss.

If I really hadn't died before, I think I almost did there. I honestly don't remember how long she held it, but I was too stunned to reciprocate or pull away. My next clear memory was her leaning back as I held her around the hips, my lips tasting vaguely of honey.

"I haven't thanked you for coming back to me in one piece, my love."

<>

"You gave me quite the start when your vitals flatlined out there. I know strong impacts can interrupt the internal monitoring system, but still..." Rica gently stroked my cheek as my brain continued to try and process the beautiful woman who was throwing herself at me. "How many times do I have to tell you; use your grounding spikes if you're going to jump in front of an explosion!"

"R-Right..." Rica continued to talk for a while, saying how she was on the verge of tears before my vitals started registering again.

"When I heard you summon your Holy Shield Art I knew you were fine. Though we may need to check your armor for further damage; something sounded off when you used your Art.

"Off?..." About that; when I first came to in this world, it felt like someone had elbow dropped me in the stomach and I bolted upright, trying to figure out why I was seeing a guy in a red robe and holding what looked like a fancy squirt gun coming toward me. When said squirt gun shot a stream of fire, I threw my hands up in front of me while... well, "Holy", and, "Shi-" did come out of my mouth, I didn't finish it with, "eld." I guess it was close enough to summon a shining shield in front of me, blocking the flames and giving Mishra a chance to blast him with her pistol.

"I still have to do all the after-incident reporting, but I could always put that off until later. I need to check on the welfare of my team..." I heard a soft purr as her fingers slid down my arm. "...including a very thorough physical examination."

"That sounds..." I barely caught the frantic movement occurring behind Rica out of the corner of my eye, taking a second for me to realize she was frantically shaking her head. It would probably be a bad idea for me to bring Rica along now for practical reasons... and now that I actually think about it, moral ones as well. I'm not really her lover after all; just someone who happens to be borrowing her body.

"That sounds... lovely, but it wouldn't be right. To ignore our duties to the...people?" That came out as more of a question than I meant it to, but if Rica noticed or was bothered it didn't show.

"You're right, Lyra." Rica said after a soft sigh and a nod. "That's one of the things I love about you; your sense of duty. Well, that and your honesty."

Rica gave me one last quick kiss before excusing herself, while I silently cursed not only having to reject the beautiful catgirl but also lie to her as well. At least Mishra didn't give me much time to dwell on it as she grabbed my arm and practically dragged me out of the locker room.

"Come on; let's get out of here before a meteor falls on us or something. The way today's been going, I wouldn't rule it out."