FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

A loud voice echoed through the hall of an academy muffled only by a simple door. When all fell silent for a few moments, the door burst open and out strode an old wolf with a snap of his jaws drawing his robes close before striding away. Sitting inside of the office was a young plum-furred feline with pumpkin eyes turned downward and ears pressed back. A short ashy-furred rat stood behind a desk with a small frown stretched across his features, claws tapping on the wood as his sharp blue eyes regarded the cat. They both waited until they heard the steps of the angered wolf fade before dropping their expressions, digits touching chests as they breathed out a collective sigh of relief.

"I thought he would never shut up." The feline said as she leaned back in her seat, all trace of shame and discontent gone from her face.

The old rat raised a brow, "Mara. That blowhard is one of your betters. A master of this academy. You would do well to respect him."

"With all due respect, you called him a blowhard yourself, master Ridel." She said with a snort.

Ridel chuckled as he took a seat and smoothed out his own robes, "Yes, yes I did but I am also his equal and I also make it a habit of not antagonizing him in papers with small passive-aggressive comments, sometimes not even being passive at all."

Though he chuckled, his eyes were fixing her with a rather pointed stare until she threw her arms up and scoffed, "All I did was suggest that a simple theory of magic that is held as common knowledge might be flawed and those who hold onto it as law without accepting the fact that there could be new insight leading to differing opinions are stuck in stone and past alike ready to drag us with them."

The rat leaned forward and held a paper aloft, "Mara. You said that there are particular experts that have most likely been blinded by years of nursing alcohol rather than their minds. These papers were supposed to be your punishment for previous similar misconduct."

"Am I wrong?" Said the feline with a sniff as she crossed her arms.

Ridel did not chuckle this time but instead sighed, "Not necessarily but that isn't the point. You are a model student Mara, more than just that. I believe you will become greater than anyone could ever imagine and discover things that we could not have conceived but you came here barely able to utter a word to others without causing fires. Now those are merely embers but on occasion, you still do something like this. I sponsored you because I saw that you had potential and even though this is your first year, you have proven that potential to be even greater. At the same time, you need to be careful. You do not have a name, do not have many allies or connections, and are only one cat. Already I am being pressured to drop you and some are calling you a hedge witch. Pompous as they are, the more fanciful masters still hold quite a bit of sway."

"Meaning that I need to study and put myself into my work now more than ever."

The rat smiled a bit and shook his head, "No. Your exams are far away and you've already done many of your assignments well in advance. I want you to work on a personal project from me, as is my right as your sponsor. I ask that you ignore your classes for a bit."

Mara raised a brow, "I thought you said that I shouldn't be angering the masters?"

Ridel grinned and leaned forward to mutter, "Yes, that's right. I did but I'd like to propose a challenge that will both nurture your wandering mind and shut anyone up who is doubting your abilities. They call you a hedgewitch, bah, a pitiful word used by folk too pompous to understand that there are those out in the wilds that understand more than we in our ivory towers know. So, prove them right on that account. Show them something that they have barely ever touched, something that you can find that is excessively out of bounds."

Her eyes grew wide as she leaned in and spoke, "If that's the case, then you want me dipping into forbidden magic or things that are supposed to be far outside of my year. How? How do I find these things if my access to the archives is limited and most masters will only tell me little things because I am only a little student?"

"Simple. You search out of their bounds. There are rumors of a particular wagon showing up. I want you to listen for those rumors and find them yourself. They should lead you to someone who will be able to help you. I know who owns that wagon and know that they are extremely adept at magic despite being a hedge witch themselves. I won't tell you anything else because I want you to hear it from others even if you're not talking, even if you're just hearing it but with that, you should be able to find something great." While Mara stared at her mentor wide-eyed and amazed, Ridel added quietly, "And Mara, dear. If you can't. If you simply come back to me and say that you struggled or stumbled, know that my sponsorship will remain with you and there is not a single thing any of those whiny ascended miscreants can do to stop me."

Beaming, Mara inclined her head deeply and pushed back from the desk, hopping up to speak, "I won't fail! But...Thank you. I know I have failed in more than a few aspects but you've been patient with me. My failings as a student only come from collaborative efforts and interacting with others. You have been the only one I can confide in and you have seen much in me that others refuse to. I'll try my best to live up to the potential you see and surpass it. Of course...I'll be careful."

When Mara slipped out of the door, Ridel leaned against his seat and sighed, looking up at the ceiling. He remembered how bold and rude he had been when he was younger, how annoyed the masters of that time were with him, and how they hated the fact that he continued to rise above their pitfalls and expectations. There had only ever been one or two folk by his side but it had been a terribly lonely and crushing experience. He wanted Mara to see that she needed others, that she needed more than one old rat to shield her from the pain of this world. If it were a better place, then these petty masters would have been scolded for how they were acting but instead, Mara was the one who needed to be careful. Ah well, hopefully, she would be able to follow those rumors and find herself something truly amazing. At the same time, he was concerned that whatever knowledge she received might be too dangerous for her. No. No doubts could be on his mind. He needed to trust his student.