FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Urszula, a pale minx, ran her fingers through her short red-dyed hair, thinking about numerous things at once. There was a festival of sorts going on in town, and she figured it could be fun... and perhaps a bit useful, too. After all, she still hasn't decided on the design for her first tattoo, despite coming up with several prototypes. She has tried various styles and techniques, drawing numerous things that she thought would look good, but nothing really truly stuck out to her yet.

There were a good amount of people around her- the town she was in had plenty of tourists, but she still took the time to get her sketchbook out from her backpack. Flipping through some pages, she looked back at previous designs and tried to think out how to make it absolutely perfect. Her first tattoo had to be perfect, and she wouldn't accept anything less than such.

She walked down the cobbled path, glancing at all the tents and stands that had been set up... though, her tail sank as she didn't see anything too interesting to draw yet. There were a few unique species of people around, wearing kimonos and other Japanese-style clothing, but nothing caught her eye so far. Really, seeing everyone dressed up made her feel a little out of place- she was wearing her typical punk outfit, but she tried to not let that bother her while walking further down the path...

...Her nose twitched and she glanced over to a particular stand, brow raising up. It was a food stand, and it seemed like they were serving some sort of pastry in the shape of a fish- taiyaki, she thinks it's called? It was hard to remember, but the term for it definitely started with a T.

Urszula's stomach lightly rumbled, and she... lowered her bottom lip into a pout. She was a bit... broke at the moment, and only made money through odd jobs and her internship, so even if she did want something to eat, she didn't have the money for anything. If her friends were with her, they might have bought her food- but alas, they were all working tonight or had something else to do. It sucked, but she'll surely manage.

After walking a little further down she saw an odd looking tent off to the side, making her pause in her step. It was purple and had blue stars printed on the canopy, which was different from all the other tents and stands she came across thus far. She saw a sign near the entrance, and stepping closer, she... made a face.

"Your wishes will come true, for the low price of..." Urszula wrinkled her nose. There was no way she'd be able to afford that, unfortunately. However, she didn't feel too bad about it since it likely was a scam anyways.

Shrugging to herself, she walked some more, her legs growing a bit sore. She rubbed her calf muscle with a hand, but thankfully saw a bench not too far away. She quickly went over and flopped down on it, releasing a deep sigh while peering down into her sketchbook...

...She still couldn't think of anything. The tent she saw might have something interesting inside of it, but she never would be able to afford having her wishes or whatever granted.

A little defeated now, she leaned fully back in a lazy way, pressing her spine against the bench. The trip up here was pretty much wasted- she didn't see anything new or crazy interesting to draw, and now she was hungry but had no money to buy food. It was a little late to cook anything back at home, so she'd just have to sleep hungry.

She stared up into the night sky, frowning. There were plenty of stars out, but none were tattoo worthy. She kept staring, not noticing a kitsune with long navy blue hair peering out of the purple and blue starred tent, looking towards her general direction.

Urszula only tilted her head back down when she heard soft footsteps heading towards her- and practically sputtered when she saw a woman standing a few feet from her. The woman had several fluffy tails and had predominantly white fur, but her extremities were all colored pink.

"You're beautiful," Urszula blurted out without thinking.

The woman blinked... before laughing lightly. "Oh, you think so?"

Urszula became a little flustered, scratching the back of her neck in a sheepish way. "S-Sorry- I didn't mean to say that aloud. It just... kinda slipped out."

"It's quite alright," she practically cooed before looking over to the spot next to her. "Are you waiting for anyone?"

"Not at all," she told her, and the woman took it upon herself to sit right next to her... After a moment, she cleared her throat to talk some more- "What's your name, if I may ask? I'm Urszula."

"Urszula is a lovely name," the woman smiled. "I'm Tamiko... You're not originally from around here, are you?"

She shook her head. "No. I came here on an internship about a month ago. There's a tattoo artist that's currently teaching me about the Japanese art style."

Tamiko hummed, smoothing out her skirt with a hand. "I see..." Her gaze drifted over to the sketchbook in Urszula's lap. "May I see some of your drawings?"

She smiled and nodded, handing the sketchbook over to her. "I've been trying to come up with a design for my first tattoo- though, I haven't been very successful thus far. I've been working on it for a while now, too."

Tamiko flipped through some pages, seeming very interested in her work. "Is that so? Hm... You're a very good artist. I can see that you're learning the Japanese art style very well."

"Thanks- I appreciate it." She took her sketchbook back when Tamiko handed it to her. "I've been interested in tattoos since I was very little- my dad used to be a tattoo artist until he couldn't do it anymore."

"Following his footsteps?" Tamiko hummed. "That's very noble of you. Not many people would do what their parents did."

Urszula looked over to her. "What about your parents?"

She blinked at the sudden question and almost seemed to wonder how to answer that... She cleared her throat, chuckling softly, "Well, they've been gone for... quite some time."

Urszula furrowed her brow at the vague response but decided not to push on it, simply figuring that Tamiko's parents succumbed to old age. She opened her mouth to say something, but paused when her stomach growled. Loudly.

"Hungry, are you?" Tamiko practically purred, tilting her head to the side.

"A little I suppose," she laughed. "I didn't really eat anything today."

"Oh?" She tilted her head the other way. "How come?"

Urszula thought about how to respond... "I'm not making a lot of money right now, and there isn't much to make back at the apartment."

"I see... Well, that simply won't do," she said, standing up. "What would you like to eat?"

Urszula blinked before waving her hands back and forth, smiling weakly. "You don't have to give me anything! I'm just glad you came and talked with me... though... those little fish-shaped desserts looked good..."

Tamiko didn't respond but did grin widely, making a 'wait here' gesture before trotting off.

Urszula lightly pouted but did as the woman told her to do, crossing her legs and staring into her sketchbook. After talking with that... interesting woman, she had a few ideas on what to draw- but nothing final, unfortunately. Again, her first tattoo needed to be perfect, and she wouldn't accept anything less.

Pulling out a pencil, she began to sketch one of her ideas down to pass the time, remembering what her mentor had taught her thus far.

Tamiko came back several minutes later, holding a singular taiyaki within a napkin. She handed it to Urszula, smiling. "It's on the house."

"Thank you, I... really appreciate it," she said honestly, stuffing her sketchbook and pencil into her bag. She took a bite into the fish-shaped pastry and nearly moaned. "Mh... Sho good..."

Tamiko lightly giggled, glancing upwards. The moon was full and near the middle of the sky, surrounded by a sea of stars... After a while, Tamiko spoke up. "Say... would you like to make a wish?"

Urszula blinked, throwing the napkin away into a nearby trash can. "A wish? Are... Are you the person that owns that purple tent?" Tamiko nodded, and she made a face. "Well... I'd love to, but I don't have any money..."

"It'll be free of charge," she told her smoothly. "I'll work my magic, and a wish of yours will be granted."

Urszula hummed, thinking... before shrugging. She didn't have anything to lose, and she trusted this woman- after all, she did just buy her food. "Sure, sounds fun."

With that, they talked back and forth for a little longer before Tamiko led her over to the tent, peeling the entrance open and allowing Urszula to step inside first. The space wasn't very big- maybe the size of a walk-in closet, but a nice looking purple rug covered the 'floor,' although she could still somewhat feel the cobbled path from under the rug. There were two chairs sitting on either side of a circular table, and she took it upon herself to sit in one.

Carefully, Tamiko closed the entrance, sitting in the other chair. The lit candle on the table was the only thing that was giving off light. "What would you like your wish to be? Please be as specific as possible."

Urszula hummed, rubbing her pale chin while thinking out what she wanted... She wanted a perfect first tattoo, but she also really wanted something else, too. "I wish to be the best tattoo artist in the whole world. I don't want to make any mistakes, and I want each tattoo I create to be perfect."

"Are you certain that's what you want?"

She nodded.

Tamiko hummed, one of her ears twitching. "Alright... Give me your hands, please."

Urszula held out her hands, and Tamiko gently grabbed her wrists before muttering something in a different language. It wasn't anything Urszula recognized, but she didn't feel too nervous.

...At least, she didn't feel nervous until red strings appeared out of nowhere and stuck themselves into her flesh. It didn't hurt, but it still made her gasp. She opened her mouth to say something- but she must've blacked out for a brief moment because everything went dark.

It seemed like hours passed, but when she could see again, horror settled into her gut when she realized what had happened.

She had been transformed into a marionette doll!

Red, almost glowing strings came from most of her oddly doll-like joints, and she felt much heavier than before.

Tamiko was watching her closely, watching as Urszula's panic faded into confusion.

"The spell," Tamiko began slowly, "Only works if the person doesn't know what it does to them."

Urszula opened her mouth, her jaw feeling like a lead weight. "What...?" She cringed at her hoarse voice, though her facial expression didn't change. "What did...?"

"I granted your wish," Tamiko told her calmly, clasping her hands together.

When Urszula looked over to the woman, she noticed that she had doll-like features too. "You... didn't look like that before..."

Tamiko blinked, looking down at herself before humming. "Yes- I had put an illusion on myself so I'd appear more natural."

Urszula still seemed very much confused about everything, seeming like she wanted to ask a million questions all at once.

Tamiko... offered her a smile. "I can teach you how to put an illusion on yourself, if you'd like? Nobody has come to my tent tonight and it's getting late, so perhaps you could lead me to your place...?"

Urszula stared at her, realizing that she didn't need to blink anymore. Though, she didn't think too long about it, instead rattling off her address. Tamiko stood up and went over to help Urszula out of the chair, humming in response.

Even if she had turned her into a marionette doll, she still very much trusted this woman- likely due to how nice she was being. Tamiko carefully moved her out of the tent, leading her back to her abode...