FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

First actual chapter. I know that the prologue was kinda short and so is this. I will start working on longer ones, as soon as the plot really kicks in. I would love to have any kind of feedback, good or bad, anything helps.

So I guess... Enjoy the reading?

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I wake up, strap on my blade-guards, grab a pair of hook swords. I step out into the cold air and breath in, closing my eyes. I stop and think, looking down on my swords. They have a new shine. They look stronger, not sure how, exactly. Didn't I just last night get these back from that guy... Ravener?

I shake myself awake. "Dream. That's all"

I start walking towards "the stage" and hear shouting. Not the regular, "Dodge! Duck! Slice!" But arguing. My sensei was arguing with someone! I stopped walking and quickened my pace to a sprint.

I see my sensei, a man covered in a long robe and a hood. Can't see his face. And... Ravener!? Yes! The same scaly skin, a chain wrapped around his torso and hideously long claws on his double-joined legs. I stop and hide myself. I start listening in on the conversation.

My sensei is yelling at the two men. "You can't be serious! Get out!"

Ravener responds calmly "If you'd only hear us out. I'm sure that once we make our case, you'll agree to our propo-"

"No! You have already broken the rules by entering this holy place! Now get out!"

"Why deny him the training, he obviously needs?"

"He's being trained just fine here" Master is getting frustrated, glaring at Ravener.

"But he could be so much more" Ravener keeps a calm attitude but is just as annoyed, as Master.

"He belongs right here"

"But that's the point. He doesn't. Can't you see that?"

"Prove it." My sensei huffs, grinning at the two men, knowing that he has won the verbal clash.

Ravener sighs and whispers something to the taller, hooded man. Then he looks at me. Clearly staring into my eyes. "Ryu. Come here." He extends his hand, offering it in a friendly manner. I look at him, scared of my Masters response. I look at Master.

Master looks towards me but not at me. "Ryu? Where are you? Get here right now!"

I'm shaking like a leaf, looking down between my feet.

"Ryu. It's ok." Ravener sets his hand on my shoulder. "We'll handle this." He smiles at me. I smile back, weakly, hoping that I could just... Disappear.

"Niten Ichi Ryu. Exactly how much did you hear?" My Master looks at me with a stern expression.

"Not much, sir."

"That's not an answer"

"Only that I don't belong here, in their opinion"

"And they are wrong" My sensei glares at the two men, who only stand there. Not making any response.

"Will you let us finish?" Ravener says in a calm manner, not caring about my dagger-staring sensei.

"No. I want you to get ou-"

I swallow, before interrupting."I want to hear, what they have to say. This is my matter. If I'm not mistaken?" I look up to my teacher, who only stares at me with near homicidal intent.

"Fine. Quickly then" He waves his hand at Ravener. "Five minutes. That's all you get"

"That's all we need" Ravener responds, calmly. "So. I don't really know how to start. Except that this place isn't going to be safe for too long anymore. And our best Seeker says that you are more than just human. The Council wants to have you for a hearing. That's as far as I can tell, for sure. The rest is really only guessing" He shrugs his shoulders, then keeps on talking. "But. I can tell one thing for sure: This place is going down. Think about that, will ya?" He places his hand on my head and pats me a few times, before getting up. "Do you want to be here, when things fall down? Or would you rather be with us?" He spreads his hands and places one on the hooded mans shoulder.

"You're being ridiculous. Of course he's is human. Or are you blind?"

"I have seen stranger things happen. But I'm not saying that I understand the Council completely." Ravener shrugs.

"He's only 16. He is not allowed to be moved, while still in training. That is the law!" Master is starting to get anxious and reaches for the sword on his hip. I step back, expecting him to fling himself against the two strangers. Ravener notices this, spreading his hands up in a non-aggressive manner.

"Hey. Hold your horses! I have permission from the Council! Plus. I sparred him last night" He winks at me. "And he pinned me down. In just two seconds! Me! Can you imagine that Jack?" He taps the hooded man on his shoulder.

"You fought this man?" My sensei seems to be about to burst from fury.

"Yes... But I-" I started but Ravener gave me a glare. "But I pinned him down in one second." I smile, looking at Ravener. He nods back casually. My teacher stares at me practically with his jaws on the ground.

"How did he-"

"Doesn't matter how. Just that he did" Ravener smiles, noticing my sensei's growing wrath from being interrupted.

"That'd mean that he really isn't human..." My teacher looks at me, his amazement turning to disgust. In a flash. He draws his sword. He dashes at me.

I blink.

I see the sword of my teacher on the ground, a few meters to my left, wrapped in Ravener's chains. He's standing in front of me, blocking the path of my Master. My teacher is standing, still in a striking stance, just without a sword to strike with. He looks baffled. Master looks at me. Then yells at me. "Get out!"

I look at him. Then at Ravener. Then at "Jack". The hooded man nods at me and starts walking away. Ravener sighs. "We're taking our leave now. Have fun, be prepared and don't use that sword. It's crap" He smiles at sensei, pointing at the now broken sword on the ground. Then he starts walking next to "Jack". I follow quickly, grabbing to my gear, looking back at the dojo, ring and the small houses I lived in, for so many years. I wouldn't miss it. But I wanted a explanation. After leaving the familiar area, I stopped and requested one.

"Hey! Could anyone fill me in on any details? You can't expect me to just leave!" I yell at the strange pair. They stop. The hooded man looks at me. I couldn't see his eyes but I knew that he was staring right at me.

"You just did. Our expectations were not proven wrong. And if it's details you're looking for, you're going to have to follow us for a while" I stop.

"So you do have a voice"

"Of course I do" He lets out a forced laugh. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Why didn't you say anything? You're obviously more official than Ravener. You could have made sensei let me go, without fighting him!" I point at the scale-covered person, who looks at me, realizing what I just said. "Hey! Watch that tongue of yours! Besides, it wasn't a fight. Just a small clash"

Jack laughs a little. He extends his hand towards me. It's covered by a glove, so I can't make out any details.

"Jackson Blacksteel. General of the military-branch, Zero Division. Pleased to meet you." He smiles at me. I shake hands with him, noticing his obvious strength in his firm handshake.

"General? Zero Division?" I recall back to my times reading in the library. "Aren't they some really technologically advanced soldiers?"

"Yes and no. We do much more than just military operations, for sure. We have loads of ongoing civilian projects as well. Not to mention medical and social research with other facilities to add to that."

"But isn't that taxing too much on the people working for you?"

"Sure is" He sighs. "But they know the impact it has on our world, so they don't really mind"

"Hah! Technicians have it so much better off than mages!" Ravener laughs in the background. "Think about it! They have all this technology fighting for them!"

"Yet still, you've never won me in a single fight" Jack smiles mischievously at Ravener, who only laughs awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Yeah yeah. You're cheating. Letting a machine fight for you... Not fair..." He goes on mumbling incoherently for a moment.

"Which brings us to another thing. You fought with him?" Jack switches to a more serious tone and points a finger at me. "And he won? Highly doubtful" He looks at me "No offense, of course"

"None taken" I respond blatantly.

"You are definetly a good fighter. A brilliant hunter. How could you lose to a human kid, who isn't even familiar with the simplest of magic or any knowledge of higher technology?"

"Would you have wanted me to say that I won him faster than he could blink?"

"You could've said something else. Lying is not acceptable."

"Well... Yeah... But I had to warn him! Not like we could waltz in and take him, without letting him know what he's walking in to!"

"So you explained everything to him?"

Ravener coughs a bit. "Uhm... No..."

"So what was the point?"

"I don't know!"

"So you weren't thinking, again!" Jack shoves Ravener's chest, warningly.

"Guess so..." Ravener rubs his chest.

"So. Ryu. Do you trust us?" Jack asks, crossing his hands across his chest.

"Trust is for fools. I trust in opportunity" I answer with what my teacher had said so many times. This causes Ravener to have a laughing fit. After a moment, he settles down, rubbing tears from his eyes. Then he walks up to me and pats my head.

"Aww! That's so cute!"

"You are quite the smart one. So I will show this to you, as a token of my trust in you" Jack takes off his hood, revealing... Fur?! I look at him, mouth gaping.

"You're not human either!"

"You are quite perceptive" He smiles thinly.

I study his appearance. He has furry ears, like a cat. His face is fairly human, stern looking, obviously a serious person's face. And he doesn't seem to be double-jointed like Ravener. He has a long scar running down from below his cat-ear down to his chin and another one, from the right side on his neck, to below the shirt he's wearing.

"We are both hybrids, Ravener and I. As Iris believes you are as well. I am a lion-human hybrid and Ravener over there" He waves at Ravener, who responds by waving his hand, near comically, smiling as he does. "He's a raptor-human hybrid. Apart from the raptors, hybrids aren't too rare. The place you've lived in is called a neutral-zone. Mages, technicians and hybrids are not allowed in these zones"

"Yeah. And those guys are usually a pain in the ass!" Ravener shouts from the back.

"You are a pain in the ass" Jack sighs. He leans towards me and whispers. "You'd think that he's cool, right? All young and enthusiastic. Well. For the past two weeks, I've heard nothing but complaining and he-"

"You know these ears aren't just sharp by appearance, right?" Ravener laughs, tapping his pointed ears lightly.

"Hmph... Well. Enough of that. Lets start walking, shall we? Even if it's only a few days walk, I'd rather have it done quickly. I have more pressing matters to attend to" Jack gets up and starts up on a slow walking pace. Ravener walks up to me and whispers.

"He's the real pain in the ass. Complaining about mages and other stuff constantly. But hey!" He laughs. "Now there's two mages! He can't complain about it! By the way. Ravener is my father's name. Call me Raven" He extends his hand. I shake it.

"Nice to meet you, Raven"

"Likewise" He smiles.

"You said that I'm a mage? How do you know?"

"Well. Just between you and me" He leans down and whispers into my ear. "Iris did tell me that you are Dreichoon. There's no way, you aren't a mage."

"Dreichoon?" I ask, confused of the new term.

"Haha! There's no way that I can explain that to you!" He laughs and starts walking faster, alongside Jack. They start chatting, eventually turning to an argument. I sigh, finding myself relaxing in the presence of these two hybrids.

I start walking, a little behind them. I feel both confused and happy. I have new friends but I'm heading to a world of "mages", "technicians" and "hybrids". I just want answers. And right now, this Iris-person seems to be the only one capable of giving me any. So I follow Raven and Jack to a new world, clutching to my only two best friends. My swords.