FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Unknown Waters

Being underwater is like being in a completely different world. Sounds are dulled in a rather interesting way, and living gems in the shape of beautiful fish are all around you, depending on where you are, of course. There is something about the weightlessness of being in the underwater dimension that has won the hearts of many. People can find themselves drifting off into the realm of fantasy simply by letting the water guide them. Water was the beginning of all life on Earth, and it still holds countless secrets far beneath the blue waves. It is on those waves that we find our otter, Adrian, a young male in his twenties, prone to daydreaming while he was supposed to be working, much to his father's chagrin.

Adrian sighed happily and breathed in the fresh air while listening to the sounds of seagulls overhead, something which had always managed to soothe him. He smiled to himself and spread out his arms and legs as he floated on the calm waves of the Eastern sea. The serenity of it all was roughly disturbed when he felt something sharp clamp down on his leg, only to drag him beneath the waves before he could scream.

Shaking his head to clear it, the dark-furred otter looked down to see his old man holding his leg. He let go once he had the boy's attention and shook his head before pointing at the clever nets secured to the harnesses both of them were wearing, only to point down. Adrian understood the hint and dove down to the sea bed.

The otter family had a small business in pearl diving, and they were quite successful. The only reason why they hadn't expanded their business was because Adrian's grandfather had deemed it unnecessary. After all, they could bring in enough money between the three of them to provide for their family. They were officially licenced to hunt for oysters and to catch fish, which meant they'd never go hungry, as long as they went out a few times per week to gather food as otters have done for thousands of years. His grandfather always said that it was hard and honest work, which made it good work.

Grandfather was the head of their business and had been diving for pearls almost his entire life. He insisted on doing it the old-fashioned way and disregarded any modern technology Adrian had tried to introduce, to the young male's frustration. He was certain they could be a lot more efficient, but grandfather's word was law in their family.

The otter took a small knife out of his swimming trunks and used it to separate oysters from the rocks they loved to cling to. He had to be careful not to cut his paws on the razor-sharp edges of some of the clams, but he usually managed just fine. He put the oysters he found in the net at his chest and kept going until he almost ran out of air. The slim otter cut through the water like a knife as he propelled himself back up to the surface with his strong tail and webbed paws. He gasped for breath and swam to the shore to deposit his findings in the big sack.

Asher was sitting on the beach, playing on his portable console. The lithe white ferret looked up at the sight of his boyfriend coming out of the clear water and smiled before raising his paw in greeting. "Hey, handsome!" he said before giggling.

Adrian smiled brightly at the sight of his beautiful ferret and leaned in for a quick kiss. "Hey, Ash," he said before placing a second kiss on his boyfriend's grey mask. "Not bored, I hope?"

"Nah, playing Monster Hunter. I can hardly get bored with that, can I?" the ferret replied, his beautiful blue eyes focused on the otter's light brown ones. The boy's voice was the only thing that really betrayed that Asher wasn't born with a male body. Well, unless you could see him naked, but that was a privilege currently reserved only for Adrian.

"Ah, nice," he said before walking over to the car and emptying his net. "What time is it now?"

"It's half past four now," Ash replied as he closed his console and stood up, dusting the sand off his ass and shaking it out of his tail. "I guess your grandfather would like to keep going for at least another half hour, so you'd better get to it before he'll start a rant like last time," the ferret said.

"Urgh, don't remind me. It felt as if he'd never end. I'm glad mom saved me by announcing dinner was ready. Nothing distracts grandfather like well-prepared fish," he said as he walked back to the mustelid and kissed his cheek. "See you soon," he said before taking off to the water again.

Later that night, after they'd gone back home, the family was sitting around a nice campfire, roasting freshly-caught fish on wooden sticks. The ferret was invited to stay for dinner, which wasn't anything special, as Ash had been part of the family even before the two of them decided to give dating a go.

After having enjoyed the relative silence of living just out of town, Adrian looked at his grandfather and smiled with his mouth full of fish. "Grandfather, tell us a story of when you were young," he said, knowing the old man loved sharing stories with the younger generations. He was a very good storyteller too, so Adrian always tried to encourage him to tell one.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, boy," the man chided him before placing a sharp black claw against his chin as he contemplated which story to tell. A man as old as him had a lot of experience in life, and thus a lot of stories to tell. "Let's see..." The otter sat up straight and looked into the fire. "There was a story going around town about forty years ago. There were tales of a small lake or pond with water as black as night. It was said that you could find beautiful purple pearls in there, so, of course, people went to check it out. What they didn't know was that the pearls were protected by a terrifying monster, who attacked each and every person trying to claim the pearls for themselves," he said.

"What did the monster look like?" Adrian asked before he was shushed by Ash, who wanted to hear more of the story.

His grandfather shrugged and shook his head. "Nobody knows, but it is said to have a large muzzle filled with teeth able to tear you to shreds. Only a few people ever survived the attack, but never without a scratch. The town named those waters the 'Lake of Nightmares'."

Asher chuckled at that. "Really? Doesn't that sound both dramatic and edgy at the same time?" he asked.

"Perhaps, but it was a very accurate name for those who lost their loved ones in that lake," grandfather said with a meaningful look in his eyes.

"Did you ever check out the lake yourself?" Adrian asked before taking another bite of his fish.

His grandfather nodded and got a very serious look in his eyes. My best friend and I went looking for the lake after hearing the stories of the precious purple pearls. We were armed with harpoons, but we still didn't find the pearl. I got off with a large scar though," he said as he pulled up his trunks a little to reveal a long thick scar that ran along his thigh.

Asher stared at the scare before looking into the man's eyes again. "What about your friend?"

The old otter looked her in the eye before shaking his head and looking back down.

"Hold on! You told me that scar was from when you scared grandma while she was cooking, and she accidentally sliced open your leg with the kitchen knife!" Adrian said loudly.

"Wait what!?" the ferret asked before staring at his boyfriend in disbelief.

Grandfather burst out in boisterous laughter, slapping his leg repeatedly before taking a large bite of his roasted fish. "Yeah, that was definitely something else. God, I loved that woman," he said with a bright smile on his face.

The two young lovers were pouting at the man and Adrian's parents were looking at each other with knowing looks in their eyes. "So, the whole story is made up then?" the dark otter asked.

"Oh no, far from it. I only made up that last part to make it more interesting. The lake is definitely real and it's just outside of town. I'd advise against going there though. The deaths were not made up either. I heard they set a fence around it to ward off unknowing travellers."

"Hmm...wouldn't it be great to find one of those purple pearls though? They must be worth a lot," Adrian said as he leaned back on his shoulders and finished his fish, throwing the leftover bones into the fire. Just the idea alone of finding a special pearl like that got him interested. Surely that monster was either a myth or already dead.

"You will not go looking for one. I forbid it," his grandfather said with a serious look in his eyes.

The young otter merely rolled his eyes and went for another fish, planning on filling his stomach with the delicious food, reliving his grandfather's tale in his mind. He wondered if he'd be able to find the lake using the internet.

*****

You Died

"Gee, tell me something I don't know," Asher grumbled before respawning, so he could go through the entire level again. The ferret was lounging in Adrian's turquoise fatboy and was staring at the large TV-screen in front of him with renewed focus. "No! No! NOOO! Oh, come on! That is so unfair!" he said before tossing the controller onto the bed and folding his arms.

"Got ambushed again?" Adrian asked with an amused smile on his face. He was behind his computer, at his desk.

"No, they pushed me down a cliff this time," Asher said with a sigh as he rubbed his forehead. The mustelid got up with some effort as fatboys always seemed to want to swallow your body and never let go. He walked up to Adrian and hugged him from behind, kissing his cheek. "What are you up to?"

"Oh, I'm checking the credibility of grandfather's story. I believe it's true, but I was wondering if I could find that black lake by the use of modern technology," he said as he called up a map of the area. He zoomed in on waterways and lakes before switching to satellite view.

"And what will you do if you find it?" Asher asked, folding his arms and raising his chin as he had an inkling of what the otter was up to. "You know you are forbidden from going, right?"

"I know, I know. I don't know what I'll do yet," he said before moving from lake to lake. Most were too light to be the lake the old otter had described, but there was one that was definitely dark enough. The otter hadn't even identified it as a lake to begin with, as he instead thought it might have been the roof of some large building instead. The lake wasn't really that big; it was smaller than any of the others in the area. "Do you think this could be it?" he asked as he zoomed in on the dark lake.

"It could be. The water certainly looks dark. You should try to look up local newspapers from that time. If people really died there, it should have been all over the news, right?" the ferret asked.

The otter turned around in his chair and hugged his boyfriend, kissing him deeply and chirping happily. "God, Ash, you're so clever. I love you so much," he said before turning around again and searching for news of that time, leaving Asher all flustered and blushing.

"I love you too," he said with a smile before going back to his game, having cooled down enough to give it another go.

It wasn't until half an hour later that Asher was surprised by Adrian sneaking up on him and pouncing on him with a playful grin on his face. The otter was lucky that the ferret had just reached a checkpoint. Ash put the controller on the floor and pushed it away with a flick of his wrist, keeping his eyes on the otter's. "Hey there, handsome," he said with a smirk.

"Where?" the otter asked as he looked behind him, over his shoulder.

Ash rolled his eyes and freed his paws before playfully shoving his boyfriend. Adrian had been making that joke for years, even long after it had gotten old. The otter was silly like that. The otter retreated to the bed while laughing and the ferret followed suit, pouncing on top of his lover before interlacing their claws, for as far as the otter's webbing allowed that, and kissing his goofy otter nose, before brushing his lips against the otter's.

Adrian chirped again and growled playfully as he struggled just for show and seized Asher's lips with his, quickly angling his muzzle a little to turn the kiss a lot more intimate. The ferret sighed happily and lay down on Adrian. The otter freed his paws and moved his arms around his lover, following the ferret's back muscles with his claws. Getting to touch the ferret was the most rewarding thing to the dark otter. He loved every square inch of his boy.

The kiss ended eventually, and the two young lovers just lay cuddled up together, enjoying each other's company. They ended up with Asher being the big spoon as they had undressed and were ready to go to sleep. The ferret stroked the otter's cute belly and smiled into the fur of his neck. "Promise me you won't do anything stupid," he said softly.

Adrian sighed softly and relaxed in Ash's arms before smiling. "I promise," he said softly.

*****

The problem with that promise was that it was very open to interpretation. Adrian didn't feel stupid in any way at all when he set out towards the lake with his backpack securely on his back. Dressed in baggy camo shorts and a body-hugging black tank top, the otter rode the bus into town. He hadn't told anyone about where he was going, to prevent them from stopping him. This was something he had to do, as this was of the utmost importance to him.

Listening to his favourite band, Pearlescent, the young male was staring out of the large window, his eyes following the landscape as it passed him by. He had to find out if the black lake from his grandfather's stories was the lake he had found on the internet. Asher's suggestion to check newspapers led him to several articles discussing the lake and the deaths that had occurred there. Though terrifying, he was glad to have found more evidence in favour of the existence of the lake. Those old newspapers had been extremely gruesome in their details though, describing exactly what wounds were inflicted, or in what bodily state the found bodies were in. Adrian figured it was because they didn't have television in that time, so they had to make do with the written word. It was almost funny how horribly bland modern newspapers were in comparison.

Once in town, the otter switched buses to get on one that would take him out of town again and closer to the lake. He was happy to find the bus almost empty, so he could just sit down and place his bag on the seat next to him. He opened it and peeked in to find his supplies still in order. He had taken various different items with him, including a couple of flares, the underwater type, as well as his grandfather's old harpoon gun. The otter hoped he wouldn't have to use that one though. His oyster-collecting gear was in there too, as well as some food and water. He was all giddy with excitement from getting to check out the lake. Would he really be able to find a purple pearl?

He didn't even really want the pearl for himself. Well, not directly anyway. Adrian wanted to find the pearl for his boyfriend, Ash, who he'd been meaning to ask for his paw in marriage. Some might think he was a bit young for that, even though he was already twenty-four and Ash was twenty-three, but he knew that he'd want to stay with his ferret for the rest of his life. They'd known each other forever, and there was nobody in the world who made him happier. He wasn't exactly sure whether Asher would say yes to his proposal, seeing as they were this young, but they didn't have to marry right away, did they? They could stay engaged for years if they had to. Just the promise of someday marrying the intelligent, cute, and beautiful ferret filled the otter with a sense of purpose that drove away any and all doubt.

Adrian would have loved to have Ash by his side at that moment, but he had his therapy to go to, as well as his cello lesson, and family dinner with his grandparents. It was easier this way though, as the otter wouldn't have to explain his plan to him. He'd have tried to stop him, but not even Ash knew how important finding that pearl was for the aquatic mammal. No, it was easier if nobody knew. It was hard enough to sneak around the house to collect all the things he needed. His grandfather had looked at him knowingly, but hadn't said anything, which freaked Adrian out more than if he'd actually have said anything.

Unwilling to worry himself by what his family might have seen or known, the otter closed his eyes and let the music of the all-otter band, except for that cute weasel playing the keyboard, wash over him. He startled with a gasp after realizing he had drifted off. His eyes darted to the information screen in the bus and he realized that they were almost at his stop. He pressed the button and got up. He slung the bag over his shoulder and held on to the pole near the door before getting off as soon as the bus stopped. Once the bus had taken off, the otter took a good look around, smiling at the sight of the beautiful landscape that unfolded before his eyes. Long-stretched plains as far as the eye could see, as well as some trees and mountains in the distance. He knew the lake was close to the mountains, so he took off in that direction, keeping an eye on the sun for orientation. He had his phone with him, of course, as well as a strong power bank, but that didn't mean that he saw no problem in getting lost.

The soft grass felt great under his bare paws, and the soft breeze rolling over the hills provided a sense of serenity he'd normally only find in the water. Could it be the calmth before the storm of encountering whatever horrors the black water held for him? Perhaps. It could also just be a really nice day in early summer. There were no clouds in the sky that could obscure the sun above, but the wind made sure it was endurable. With his backpack on his back, the young hopefully-soon-to-be-engaged otter boy took off towards the mountains. "My destiny awaits," he said to himself in a serious voice before chuckling and shaking his head.

The trek over to the mountains took longer than he'd expected, and they stone giants continuously rose higher, towering over him like nothing else he'd ever seen. He'd been to the mountains before with his family, but now that he was alone, they seemed to be even more impressive. According to the satellite images he had found, the lake was in a rocky area, so, since the grass was slowly thinning out and the trees were getting sparser, he should reach it soon.

Adrian took an apple out of his backpack and happily ate it while humming along to the music playing in his ears. When he looked back, he couldn't even see the bus stop or the town anymore. He was all by himself, in a place he'd never visited before, with nobody knowing where he was. Yet, somehow, that thought didn't scare him or make him nervous at all. He was a strong guy, and he could take care of himself. Besides, he was visiting a lake. Everybody knew that water is an otter's home turf.

Another upside to being alone was that he could sing along with Pearlescent at the top of his lungs. At home, people would grind their teeth and plug their ears because Adrian was pretty much tone deaf, but, out here, nobody complained. He just kept singing until he reached an old, rusty chain-link fence. Through it, the otter could see a glimpse of the black lake. He found a whole in the fence and went through it, careful not to let the metal hook him. Making his way over the barren ground, climbing over a few large boulders, he finally arrived at his destination. He went down on his haunches and placed his paw on top of the water, his webbing stretched taut. The temperature was fine, but what worried him more than anything, was that he couldn't see anything in the water. It was such an intense obsidian that it was like a huge black mirror, despite the sun trying to pierce the surface.

He took his phone out of his pocket and took a selfie with the lake, as well as a few pretty pictures, before undressing down to a pair of neon-green speedos. He put on his harness and put the flares in the straps at his side. He'd be crowned king of the understatements if he'd say that the lake made him a little nervous. He'd never swum in water this dark before. It was probably a chemical or biological component turning the water black, like minerals or bacteria. He couldn't be sure, but it also didn't matter that much at that moment. He'd look it up back at home, if he'd manage to remember it.

After strapping his knife to his thigh and taking the harpoon in his paw, the dark otter walked to the edge of the lake's shore. The Lake of Nightmares stretched a good two hundred meters in all directions, and the surface's stillness was currently only broken by the wind and Adrian's paws breaking the surface. He fell down the black mirror immediately and went underwater completely as there was apparently no gradual slope down into the lake. It turned out that it was a sinkhole. The otter came back up and gasped for breath. He hugged the harpoon to his chest as he'd almost dropped it in his shock. He couldn't lose the important weapon. It reassured him somehow. So far, no monster had showed up, and the otter calmed down again. He took a few deep breaths to steady his heartbeat before letting himself slip back underwater.

Day turned into night as the sun's rays failed to penetrate the dark water after a few meters already, leaving the otter in complete darkness. The young male carefully swam down, using his sensitive whiskers to pick up on any movement in the water, of which there was none. He'd never been in a body of water this still before. He felt blind in all ways, which terrified him to no end. He went ever lower, using his strong tail and webbed feet to propel himself forward into the never-ending depths of the water. Adrian took a flare out of his bag and lit it before holding it out in front of him. Not even this light comforted him, as he could only see tiny particles of whatever floating around him. His senses told him nothing useful, but he knew that he needed to go further down, even though the thought of it frightened him to no end. He usually felt safe in the water, but this lake felt alien to him. It felt dead.

Deeper and deeper down the otter went, determined to find the object of his current quest. He had found the wall of the sinkhole again and used it for orientation, gliding down along it while using the flare to shine at least some light on his surroundings. His whiskers twitched, and the otter looked up and around to see what could have caused the shift in the water. Fear gripped his heart like dark shadowy tendrils, and he bit his lower lip out of nervousness. He took the harpoon gun in his paws and pressed his back against the hard wall of stone. His breathing quickened and his eyes darted from left to write as he tried to identify whatever was in there with him. After spending minutes like that, slowly descending still, the otter lowered the gun again and closed his eyes for a moment. He must have been mistaken. The dark water was playing tricks on him. Surely, nothing could live down there. Not even a so-called monster. Adrian figured people simply went mad because of the nearly-impenetrable darkness and drowned as a result of that. He wouldn't die though. He had plenty of air left in his lungs.

Adrian had never felt this alone before in his relatively short life. He was away from his friends, family, and basically all people that he'd ever met, even if just in passing. What if something happened to him down there? Nobody would be able to help him, as he hadn't told anyone about his plans and where he was. In hindsight, perhaps that wasn't his cleverest of ideas. He generally didn't like crowded and noisy places, but now that the otter was surrounded by this dark silence, he'd do anything to just randomly end up at some kind of party on the surface. He would welcome anything to drive away this ear-deafening silence.

It was the thought of Asher that kept pushing him to go on. He was on a mission of love, and he would do his utmost best to complete it. He had already found the lake his grandfather had told them about. He just hoped the rest of the story was true as well, except for the monster part of course. His webbed paws moved over the rock wall until they found no physical resistance anymore. Flipping himself around so his head was up again, he used the flare to light the walls of what appeared to be an underwater cave with, just inside of it, a large black oyster. The mollusc's shell was shiny like an insect's carapace. Adrian drew his knife and cut the creature loose from the rock it had attached itself to. It barely fit in the otter's paws as he moved it to the net around his neck. Encouraged by his find, the otter pressed on into the cave.

His flare went out, which meant the otter had been underwater for at least two minutes at that point. Since he'd found the cave and the oyster already, lighting a flare seemed a bit much. Instead, the otter opted for a different item. He retrieved a thick cyalume light stick from his bag and bent it to activate the chemical reaction that would provide bright green light. It lit up the walls around him and immediately showed him several other black oysters like the one he'd found before. He put down the night stick and went about collecting the oysters, placing some in his net and others in his backpack if he thought they were too large. He had found about six oysters in total when his whiskers tingled again. The otter thought it was just another fluke, but when his whiskers picked up another shift in the water, he grew wary.

The otter hung around the entrance to the cave, wielding the light stick as if it were a light saber, and the harpoon gun in his other paw. Again, his whiskers twitched and the young male got so nervous that he decided that he'd had enough excitement for that day. He kicked off the cave's floor and propelled himself upwards, making for the surface just when a heavy crash resounded below him. Startled, Adrian dropped the light stick and looked down to watch it disappear into the unending depths of the hole. When it went past the cave though, all he could saw was dust. His whiskers were going crazy, and the otter reached into his bag for another flare when he felt a large creature swimming towards him. Adrian kicked off against the wall and swam for his life, abandoning the idea of getting a flare. Heeding the warnings his body gave him, the otter zig-zagged through the water, hoping to confuse whatever it was that was after him.

Unfortunately, Adrian had no idea which way to go either. He reached back for the flare again and managed to get it this time. He knew the monster was near, but if he didn't know which way he was going, the otter would swim right to his death. Unlike the fish he loved to eat, he didn't have the ability to stay underwater indefinitely. He lit the flare just when a set of really large teeth and jaws were coming for him. He screamed out and had just enough time to see the bubbles going up before the jaws clamped down into his shoulder and chest, teeth sinking into the otters back and chest, except for where his body was currently protected by the black oysters he had found. He clawed at the reptilian scales and tried to pry the jaws open to no avail. When he was suddenly rolled around repeatedly, the otter was extremely disoriented. He clamped his body down around the jaws to be able to hold on to something. Speaking of which, he was still holding the flare. Adrian looked right in the eyes of a huge heavily scarred feral alligator. The otter screamed again and started attacking the reptile with the harpoon gun, using it to stab at him. The scales were to too tough though, and his attacks had no effect, until he eventually managed to stab the creature's eye. Feeling the steel tip of the harpoon sink down into the alligator, the otter pulled the trigger. The gator's grip on him weakened and Adrian managed to free himself, before swimming up again, dropping the gun and the flare to be able to use both of his paws.

He had never swum that fast before in his entire life, and he could feel his heart beating against his ribs. The adrenaline was coursing so strongly through his veins that any sensation of pain was temporarily disabled. There was only one thing on his mind at that moment, and that was to escape the reptilian horror below him. He had wounded the creature for sure, but there was no guarantee that it was actually dead or dying, so he kept swimming up as fast as he could, cutting through the water like only an otter could.

What were only seconds felt like hours to the otter as he kept making his way up. At the first sight of the sun's rays piercing the water, the otter actually felt relieved. He shot up out of the water and onto dry land. Panting heavily to catch his breath, Adrian didn't stay still for long. He forced himself up, gathered his clothes in his arms, and ran down the way he came, going through the hole in the fence and towards civilization.

The pain was washing over him in waves, small ones at first, until the extent of damage to his body crashed into him like a tidal wave. Adrian screamed and cried, but didn't stop moving. Breathing hurt, as did moving in general, but he had to go on. He was losing blood and needed to go to the hospital. The dark, blood-stained otter stopped for a moment to take his phone out of his pocket. He called the emergency services for an ambulance before calling Asher while making his way to the road.

"Hey babe, what's up?" Ash said as he answered the phone.

"Ash! I...I'm hurt. Pretty badly too, I think. H...hold on, I need to put on my trousers," he said before holding the phone in his muzzle so he could stuff his legs down the camo shorts, during which he lost his balance more than once, and hoist them up to his hips. He struggled with the tail clasp for far longer than usual, due to his hurt shoulder. He groaned and whimpered through the pain as he reached back for the clasp, and panted through his teeth, the screen of his phone fogging up because of it. He could hear Asher's worried voice through the speaker.

"Oh, sorry, they are on. Damn, that hurt!" he said, rambling on before laughing. He was feeling pretty vague at that moment. It was kind of like being drunk, just different.

"ADRIAN, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!?" The ferret yelled through the phone so loudly that the otter had to hold it away from his ear out of fear of going deaf at least temporarily.

"Calm down! Calm down! I...I found the lake! I also have oysters, but there was this huge alligator and it bit me and dragged me around, and it huuuuuuurts!" he spoke at a fast pace as he walked to the road. He could already hear the sirens in the distance.

"Calm down!? How can I calm down!? You're such an idiot! If you survive this, I will kill you! Where are you!?"

"I love you too, babe. I'm outside of town. Listen, I can hear the... ambulance, so I'm...just...going to sit down," he said before slowing making his way down to the ground. He lost his balance and gasped as he fell over, protectively holding his phone to his chest. "I'm here. I love you. Ash, I'm so dizzy," he said before giggling.

"I love you too, you asshole! I'm coming to the hospital, and don't you even dare suggest that I keep this from your family," he said.

"Shit...okay. Listen, I'm feeling really tired and...hanging up...bye..." he said slowly before clicking the "end call" button as he slumped down and went limp at the side of the road, the only sound in his ears being that of the sirens.

*****

"How could you be so foolish, you fucking idiot!" Ash scolded his boyfriend before punching his arm, the one not covered in bandages. He had rushed over to the hospital with Adrian's family to visit the wounded otter. "What the hell were you thinking?" Tears were rolling down the ferret's face, darkening the light grey mask, as he punched the dark mustelid again.

"Aah! Ash, please! I'm sorry! Ouch! That hurts!" Adrian yelped as he moved out of reflex, causing pain to flare up in his torso. Apparently, the monster's bite had managed to crack several of his ribs. The doctors said that he was lucky to have escaped, and to do so with minimal damage. Had the alligator decided to bit his arm or leg instead, he would probably have lost it, should he have made it out alive.

"It's no more than you deserve, running off on your own like that!" the white ferret yelled before Adrian's mother gently pulled him back, so the otter's grandfather could take his place. Asher turned away from the hospital bed and hugged the female otter while crying. It felt as if his heart was being ripped apart, seeing his boyfriend wounded like that.

Adrian looked at his boy and bit his lip softly as he blamed himself for the current situation. He never wanted to hurt him with this quest, in fact, he'd done it because he loved Ash so much. Asher usually didn't react this violently to anything, but Adrian suspected that the hormone treatment might have been caused some changes in the ferret's emotional state. He could very well be wrong about that though, since he hadn't read up on that part of his boyfriend's transition. It could be just that he had really been a tremendous fool.

His grandfather resting his paw on his leg derailed his train of thought and brought him back to the real world. "Hmm?"

"I explicitly forbade you from going to that lake, Adrian," he spoke, his voice deadly calm and in direct contrast with Asher's outburst.

"I...I know. I'm sorry for worrying you," the young otter said while looking down.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you. I want you to know that I am very disappointed in you disobeying me. However, I also feel pride for you to have survived it. You will have to tell me the whole story when you get out of here. I take it that the doctors want you here for at least a day or two?" he asked.

"That's pretty much what they told me, yes. I lost a lot of blood, so they gave me some," he said as he pointed up to the bag of blood hanging from a portable rack next to his bed. "They also want to make sure my wounds don't get infected, so they want me here for observation," he said with a sigh. "Are you not angry, grandfather?" he asked.

"Angry? No, Adrian, that's a right reserved for Asher and your parents, I'm sure they will deal with your insubordination," the old grey otter said as he stepped back. He was replaced by his father, who looked at his child sternly. "You understand that you are grounded for a month when you get home, don't you?" he asked.

"I understand. I'm not sorry for what I did, but I am sorry for breaking the rules."

"I don't understand why, son. Why did you head off on your own after your grandfather had told you not to? I understand the pearls are very valuable, if they even exist in the first place, but it's not as if we are in need of more money than we already have. Why risk your life?"

Adrian motioned his father to lean in closer and looked over his shoulder to see that Ash was softly talking to his mother. "I did it for Ash. I'm going to ask him to marry me," he said with a smile.

His father moved back with a surprised look on his face before nodding his permission. "It doesn't take away that you are still being punished, but I will help you," he said with a warm smile.

The same smile could be seen on his son's face at that moment. "I found the oysters, but I don't know if I have succeeded yet. Will you help me open them when I get back home?" he asked.

"Of course I will, Adrian. I would love to. Now, visiting hours are almost over, so we'll go after you talk to your mother," he said as he leaned over and kissed his boy's forehead. "Idiot," he said with a wink.

After his mother had expressed her worries and said her goodbyes, the family left, leaving him alone in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He hoped that it hadn't all been for nothing.

*****

It felt good to feel the wind blowing through his fur again. He adjusted the small boat's course with the rudder and made sure the sails were positioned well. It had been several days since his stay in the hospital, and had been dying, not literally this time, to take Asher to his family's private island. It wasn't really anything to brag about, as it was quite small, and only had one cabin on it, but it was perfect for what he had planned.

"How much further is it from here?" Ash asked. "I always forget." It had been a while since they'd been to the island together. The last time they'd done that, Asher was still called Ashley.

"About ten minutes, I think," Adrian said while smiling at the handsome ferret as he watched the love of his life bask in the slowly-setting sun, making the white fur glow gold. Ash's initial anger quickly faded ever since he had recovered enough to go home. They'd been spending a lot of time together whenever they could. Adrian had been working on his secret project whenever Asher was away though. He'd brought the black oysters to his father, who helped him open them. Oyster after oyster was checked, and the dark otter had already almost given up hope, when his father yelled in surprise and held up a perfectly round deep-purple pearl. Adrian had cried tears of joy and had jumped and danced around so energetically, that he'd opened up some of his wounds, which his mother had seen to.

Asher got up from his spot and walked over to his otter, smiling brightly and kissing his cheek. The ferret moved behind Adrian and moved his arms around his waist, holding the otter against him. "I love you," Ash said softly while smiling as he nuzzled Adrian's neck. "I'm looking forward to spending time with you. Just the two of us."

Adrian smiled and leaned back against his boy. "I love you too, Ash, more than anything or anyone else in this world," he said before swaying his hips from side to side. He could feel the ferret moving along with them as the two of them danced to the rhythm of the waves.

After recovering from his excitement after finding the pearl, his father took him to a family friend, a jeweller, who was amazed by the find and asked what the otter wanted to do with it. Adrian commissioned the man to design a ring with the pearl as its centre piece. He described what he wanted the ring to look like and how big it needed to be. He'd found out the side by stealthily measuring Asher's ring finger with a piece of paper, leaving the ferret none the wiser about his plans.

The docked at the island soon enough and went ashore. After making sure the boat was tied securely and wouldn't move, the two lovers went to the beach to the cabin to drop off their items. The two held paws as they walked down the dirt path that led to the beach. The sun had turned a fiery shade of orange by the time the two had sat down in the sand, Asher leaning against Adrian this time.

"The sun is so beautiful like this," the ferret said while smiling as he took his phone out of his pocket and shot a picture of it as the sun nearly touched the water.

"So are you," Adrian said while smiling brightly.

"Urgh, you're so sappy," Ash replied before pretending to throw up.

The otter chuckled and moved his paw around the other mustelid's waist. "Shut up, I love you, so I get to say things like that.

"Alright, alright, fine, but only because you're my boyfriend," he said before kissing Adrian's cheek.

"Well, yes, about that," the otter said as he softly bit his lip and reached into his pocket.

"Hmm? What?" Ash asked as he looked at Adrian, following the paw going into the pocket. The ferret's heart instantly skipped a beat, before making up for that by beating twice as fast. "Adrian."

"I've known you for a very long time, Ash. We've been to school together. You were my girlfriend then. We've stayed together despite many people thinking we wouldn't last, but what do they know, right? I'm proud to call you my boyfriend now, but..." The otter retrieved a small black box from his pocket and held it out to his ferret. He deftly opened it to reveal a beautiful silver ring. It was shaped like an otter holding the purple pearl between his paws and feet. "Ash, will you marry me?"

The white ferret was staring at the ring before looking at Adrian, who's eyes were filled with hope and love. "That was what this was all about? Your trip the lake and everything?"

The otter smiled and nodded. "All for you."

He swallowed once and nodded. "Of course I'll marry you. Of course, you wonderful idiot! Yes! YES!" he said loudly before pouncing on his now fiancée and kissing him deeply, only breaking the kiss after the sun went down.

Adrian carefully moved the ring onto Asher's finger and kissed him again before the two got up and took a picture together so they would always remember this moment. Not that either of them ever could forget. The lovers joined paws and went to the cabin to thoroughly celebrate their love.