FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

As I lay on the chilled indifferent ground sensation comes home to my forsaken body, although I wish it had stayed away. My bones moan along with the fire of my muscle fibers. It all feels so wrong. I emit a groan as I force my eyelids open. All I see and taste is the smooth slick stone pavement beneath me.

"King, they're waking up." A woman's alto voice says.

"About time!" King calls out over the rhythmic rain. "Listen up Fourth Wave! You'll want to take it slow at first. That initial pain is nothing to laugh at, go too fast and you might go knock yourselves out again."

I reposition myself to get a better view of the pair of voices. A task which causes the fire in my body to make fire babies, and their babies to have babies, until I am fire. My groan becomes a deathcry, but at least I can see the rain shrouded pair addressing me, from a shockingly low angle. And the only thing that registers in my pain blasted mind is wrong.

"What did I just say!?" King stalks over to me, each step returning more water to the sky. "Although, I can't blame you for wanting to gaze upon my majesty." He gestures lovingly down to his towering lean predatory frame. Dark leather with a crown emblazoned on the chest accompanies the gray fur of his body. His belt is adorned with teeth of various sizes, one the size of a toddler. On his face is the smile of ego, fangs reflecting the warmth of the night. The only thing that I can think is w** rong**.

"King, can you stop being self absorbed for 5 seconds." The woman snaps.

"Well you seem pretty focused on me Crispy." King turns around and smiles to his companion, partially revealing a large set of black wings.

"It's difficult not to be when you make every conversation about you." Crispy remarks. "Could we get back to the task at hand?"

"Right, right. We need to get moving." King crouches down in front of me, almost sitting. A long muzzle with jeweled emeralds bore into me. Once again all that comes to mind is wrong. "Alright there little beasty, what's your name?"

I try to think through the fire, but I can't find anything. I try to find my name again, yet nothing appears. I attempt to work my mouth to ask King what's going on but my mouth behaves wrong and I bite my tongue, sending warm iron down my throat, choking me.

"Not yet." King positions me, easily rolling me over to my side where I see little droplets of red mix in with the water with each exhale. "Take it easy, you'll adjust soon enough." King says before moving off behind me with Crispy to repeat the question, and getting mixes of groans and clear nos.

Laying on my side I stare at the stained stone in a blazing numb haze. Without thinking I sit up and feel the haze blown away as my bones burn. Despite the sky's relentless torrent my body smolders.

"Are you in a rush to die or are you just a masochist?" I hear Crispy's voice somewhere above me. I look up and see a face that looks normal, a pale white with cropped chocolate hair. But beneath that it's just wrong. Feathers shining like oil in the rain cover every part of her body save for her hands, feet and face. Her feet and hands each have talons jutting from her digits. She's clad in plain black leather similar to King's. But the most eye catching feature is the gargantuan set of abyssal wings jutting out the back of her too slender body.

"And he's back." Crispy starts walking away, pauses, then comes back. "King, I think he might be shorter than Quarry."

King walks over and around me, looking at me with his head tilted slightly. "I think you're right."

"Quarry's around a foot right?"

"Foot and a half. Messed that up one time and he sent me to the Aether." King grimaces.

"Are you sure it was because of that?"

"Absolutely, no one could hate this gorgeous face." King bares his grin and stands akimbo.

"I'm surprised with all the hot air in that 'gorgeous face' that you haven't flown away yet."

"Well then at least one of us could fly Crispy."

"Don't make me strap you to a lightning rod." Crispy pushes kings chest with a taloned finger.

"But then you'd have to get close to one."

"I swear I am going to kill you one of these days."

"The King welcomes all challengers." He laughs and walks to help the others while Crispy clenches her hand on the handle of her whip. I watch Crispy walk off in the opposite direction.

What are they? I move my hand across my forehead trying to work out the pain. My hand stops when I feel the unfamiliar features. Air evaporates as I search my head rapidly. Someone ripped my face forward! my ears are in the wrong place! I catch a glimpse of my hands and see black hands with claws at the ends, my arms covered in a gray fur. This is all wrong, it isn't supposed to be like this! Right!? Or maybe it is? I don't know! I don't know. I don't know I don't know I don't know I . I stop as I feel pain hit my arms. I take a look and see red pool around my claws that are embedded into my gray flesh. I release myself and start breathing again. Relax. Breath. I close my eyes and think. _ What do I know? That those two are named King and Crispy. I'm part of something called the Fourth Wave. Everything hurts. Everybody can talk, except you. This is helping, focus. What can I do? I can gain more information. And for that I need to talk or walk._ I inhale deeply and try to stand but quickly give up as that fire erupts. _ Talking it is _ .

I take some time getting used to the foreign feel of an elongated tongue, I start by gently running it over piercing teeth in the front, and a safer familiar smooth type of tooth in the back. I begin with basic vowels, forcing them out of the alien mouth attached to me. My practicing is cut short by Crispy and King's arguing again. I can see the jagged ivory blade pressed against King's laughing throat. With my train of thought being broken and the feeling of molten magma in my body dwindling to a gentle bonfire I venture standing up. I succeed but the bonfire consumes the oxygen in my lungs, The awkward legs beneath me threaten to crumble. But standing becomes immensely easier once I fully get on my feet. Then I notice King's hand steadying me.

"Thought you'd be the first to stand. It feels wrong doesn't it?"

I just nod at King's question.

"We all feel that way after waking up. We don't know why it feels wrong, it just does. The feeling will eventually fade."

I nod again, this time noticing a small ring of crimson accenting the gray of his neck.

"Think you can stand on your own now?"

I nod once more, and King's hand leaves my shoulders. With the extra stability gone, standing becomes a trial of balance. I hear groans and movement behind me, most likely from the others Crispy mentioned. Are they all in the same situation I'm in? I can hear King and Crispy talking quietly to those behind me, having hushed conversations with some. How are they actually talking!? _ There is no feasible way that they can talk! _ I start turning around to get a look at the prodigies before I almost trip. A few more minutes of waiting won't hurt.

Taking a few long moments to replenish the air the fire consumed I study a metal pole in front of me. The thick beam's base is grounded firmly with the help of five large prongs arranged like the points of a star, while the tip juts defiantly upwards as if to tear the heavens.

Immediately I go blind and all of my hair, fur, stands on end despite being drenched, followed quickly by a boom and a scream. Then I hear King laughing.

"You have to see this!" King laughs

I stumble forward a few steps, still blind, almost losing my balance.

"Hey, you're first to walk too! You remind me of me when I first woke up." I blink my eyes rapidly trying to clear the spots from my eyes, and am rewarded with King's arrogant smile above me. "Of course, back when I woke up in the First Wave, we didn't have any walls, weapons, or anything. So that First Encounter was rough. But they don't call me King for nothing." King points a clawed thumb at his chest, slightly puffing it out.

I slowly turn around to look behind me, careful to keep on my feet as I do so. And I catch a glimpse of movement on the ground as I do so. I search the ground and see a gray and black ringed tail behind me. Wrong.

"Oh yeah, the tail tends to weird Beasts out when they first find it. Also causes a lot of pain. Just make sure to watch where it is, stepping on it hurts worse than Smith's jokes."

I nod slowly and just look at the mostly standing crowd that was behind me. I can see Crispy trembling, wings curled around her. And a large group of people that are just as unstable in every sense of the word as I am right now. Yet all of them dwarf me. _ If I'm 1 foot, then that should make the next shortest person that fish looking girl who's, I look for a few moments before sagging, at least 3 feet. And King is around 6 feet. What am I?! I run my hand across my forehead and recoil when it feels wrong again. It's alright, I'll just have to make up for that deficit with knowledge. _

I tentatively walk around and examine the forming groups. First group, a male and female pair. Smallest here, besides me. _ Male bears turquoise skin coloring, female teal coloring. The skin appears perfectly smooth and bald with a slight sheen to the surface. Both have full heads of hair. There appears to be webbing in between all digits. And they also have two sets of eyelids, eww. They appear amphibious in nature. _ The pair stares at me and slowly covers their nether regions. I look away and move as fast as I can without falling to the next group. Note to self, do not stare at naked people for long periods of time.

Stopping at the next group I find it easier to be discreet, as the quartet's shortest member is over 7 feet. _ One pair of females, and one pair of males. Each of them has three eyes, a triclops. The triclops have skin tones varying from white to dark brown. Hair is varied. Each has four arms the size of. . .the size of me. Note to self, do not anger a triclops. Only unifying factors are eyes, size, and number of limbs. _ Satisfied with my survey of the triclops I move unseen to the next group.

The next trio fails to spot me as well due to our height difference. _ This trio bears resemblance to Crispy in general build and appendages. However the coloration differs significantly. Both males show bright varied palettes on their plumage. However the female is a monochrome ash gray, like Crispy is monochrome black. Clear evidence of sexual dimorphism in this group. _ Walking slowly away from the trio I move to the last pair, more confident in my steps, my breaths slow and measured, and the fire tucked away in a distant corner of my mind.

Arriving at the last group I still remain hidden. The duo consists of two females of massive size. First female stands taller than the triclops. Lean build, but stockier than King. Body covered in tan fur mottled with black spots. She also wears fangs similar to King's. Second female stands slightly shorter than the first, but has immense size rivaling the triclops. Whether the size is from actual muscle and fat, or fur is unknown, I need to research more at a later date. Covered completely in warm brown fur. She has five long claws extending from each digit. And a mix of incisors and molars that are revealed when she occasionally pulls her lips back. I run my tongue along my teeth again, tracing their shape into memory.

"I see you've met the other Beasts." King looks down at me with a grin. "As you can see, we're a bit of a diverse bunch."

The other two beasts finally look down, finally noticing me. The large brown one gives a small wave, I return with a slight wave of my own. The spotted one immediately looks away and examines everything else at a breakneck pace.

"Hey, where are we?" A new male voice calls out somewhere from the winged group.

Does the ability to speak have to do with the biology of the individual?

"You're at Home." Crispy replies, regaining some composure.

"This doesn't seem like Home." A female voice asks, this time coming from the triclops corner.

"That's what this place is called. Home." King replies.

"That's stupid!" Comes the other female voice from the triclops.

"Well you try coming up with a clever name while something's trying to kill you!" King yells back.

"Kill you!? What do you mean kill you!? Is it going to kill us!? Where did you take us!?" The first male voice panics.

"We didn't take you anywhere. We all arrived the same way you did, by the Aether. Now we have a welcome ceremony to go to Fourth Wave. We will answer any questions after." Crispy's eyes leave no room for argument.

Before I can process any of what was just said, King beckons to the confused masses with a grin, "Now if all you newbies could follow me, the people here at Home are graciously throwing you a welcome party." I look around me, slightly unsettled by the fact that I didn't notice his departure. King steps out of the small stone plaza in which we had all been residing and onto a flagstone path, each piece of stone placed with precision. I follow King out onto the path with ease, from behind me I hear thuds, groans, and a few screams. I turn around and see a nightmare of limbs in the plaza, only the amphibians and one Triclops are left standing.

"Why can't this ever be easy." King mutters to himself as he marches back over to the mess of people. I wince more than once as I watch King and Crispy work with practiced hands at detangling the crowd. The worst injury sustained was a wing twisted and pulled like taffy. Otherwise most only came off with a limp or scrape.

"Alright, now can we walk without repeating this?" King stares each of them down and gets no response. "Say a quick prayer to the Aether for luck and let's get moving!" King starts moving up the path again, albeit slowly this time. Crispy follows the horde from the rear, guarding against stragglers.

The group moves slowly along the curved path. Past an open aired building sheltered against the rain with leather, the water ricocheting of the taught surface. I have to force myself back onto the path once I realize that I had been walking towards the building.

"That's Backfire's workshop, it doesn't see much use during storms." King says as he walks beside me. I stumble and nearly slip again before King catches me. "Hey, don't ruin it now just because you're a little surprised."

I nod and give him a small approximation of a smile with my deformed face. Being careful not to walk off the path this time I stare at the walls on either side of me, forming a band. Yet no matter how long I stare I can't see anyone on top of them.

"The Defense Corp normally only defends the outermost wall. But defending them during a storm is pointless." King turns around walking backwards. He looks at me with a grin. "You were wondering about the walls and why they're empty right? I've seen how you look at everything. If you could talk right now I'd probably be drowning in questions, am I right?"

I let out a small laugh and nod my head. Am I that obvious? He seems to know me more than I know myself. Then the thought occurs to me that maybe he does. I stare at King intensely, trying to read his wrong face.

"No, I don't know you. I've just dealt with every new wave that's come in, that's all. There are a few basic personalities that tend to come in each wave. The panicked ones, the stoic ones, the curious ones, the stunned ones, and most importantly the handsome ones. Of course I've only ever seen one handsome type, they truly are an elusive breed." King looks up thoughtfully.

Crispy may have been right about his ego. I ignore the sudden eruption of hot air in front of me and look at another metal pole planted at a fork in the path.

"Those are lightning rods. Smith makes 'em out of copper. They're over 50ft tall, those other poles help support it, and more importantly redistribute the electricity over a larger area. The storms here are insane as you've seen. Without these rods we'd be dead, trust me." King looks over the rod for a few moments before turning around and running ahead and up the path to the right.

Turning right at the fork the path rises gently. So this place is built onto a hill. Tactically speaking it's a good defensible position. If they have walls and guards then they have an enemy. At the top of the path King is resting against an open gate conversing with a triclops on the other side of it. Before I can get halfway up the path the triclops disappears and King steps back towards the group.

King turns around and goads with a mocking smile that I now assume is permanent, "Come on Fourth Wave, are you going to be beaten to the top by a midget with even shorter legs!"

I briefly turn around and see that I am leading the group by a large degree. The middle of it just now reaching the fork. I whip my head back around when I hear King squeal and crumble.

"What did I tell ya about the short jokes ya arrogant twit?!" An angry shrill voice comes from a small tan Beast with large ears. The Beast is standing over the fetal form of King, hammer in hand.

"It was just motivation I swear! And it wasn't even about you!" King whimpers.

The Beast looks down the path to me and smiles broadly. He sheathes his hammer and strides toward me. "Well by the Aether, another one. The name's Quarry, all the stonework round here is my handiwork." He sticks out his hand. I take it hesitantly. "Don't worry, I only pick on people who aren't my size." He laughs and puts his arm around me. "Come on, we've got a ceremony to attend!" Quarry drags me up the path, past the recuperating King and through the gate.

Through the gate the ground levels and the wall make a complete circle. This must be the city center. Two more of the lightning rods stand guard in the ring. Three large stone buildings lie around the outer edges by the walls. One built like that first longhouse, except this one carved with a flame motif. The second seems sunken into the ground, nothing covers this drab building save for a single metal door. The last bears carvings of anvils and hammers, fires and forges. A stone tower rises out of one end of the building, smoke moving like water out its tip. However nine people dressed in leathers stand near a large circular structure in the center of the ring.

"That's my latest project, built at the very heart of Home. Where it has started for every wave."

As we get closer to the ring I study its design. A ring of six totems hold a band of marble aloft. One of the totems I recognize as King, all the others seem unfamiliar. The band holds faces with space for more, among those faces I see Crispy and Quarry.

"I'll get your face up there eventually. Just as soon as I finish the floor." Quarry sighs. I look at the floor of Quarry's project and see the floor segmented into fourteen slices. Nine of them have carvings, while a tenth looks half finished. Quarry drags me onto one of the carvings. "Stand here, it's a good one." Quarry joins the other nine people while I look at the carving beneath me. It looks like a person. His other carvings are better, this one is just simple. Is it lucky then?

The slices around me begin to fill up as the remaining eleven people I left behind catch up. The big brown beast is placed on a carving of a monster next to me. While the tan spotted beast is placed on a carving of a sword. We're all made to face outward, looking directly at someone. Strange welcome.

"Welcome Fourth Wave to this fun little world!" King announces from somewhere in the ring. "As you will soon find out this world is cruel, heartless, and unforgiving. If you give it an inch it will take your life!" King pauses for a moment. And silence hangs in the air. "But that's okay because," King's voice is drowned out as the outside circle shouts.

"WE ARE INDOMITABLE!" I flinch from the sudden volume assailing me from all sides. Then I freeze as I stare at a bronze barrel pointed at my head. Held steady by a smiling Quarry.

"And so are you!" King's voice echoes.

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