FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Urg... I've been walking forever..." Ianos muttered to himself, grasping his shoulder as he stumbled around, almost looking to be on the verge of passing out. The man had been travelling for a while, trying to find a place to rest, but it seemed that most of the towns and villages he had passed through so far had been overrun with monsters or demons, and he was the only one who was seemingly capable of dispatching them. What wasn't helping matters was the fact that he himself had been cursed - the full extent of it was unknown to him, but the fiend that did so claimed that it would 'eat him up from the inside out', and it was starting with his arm. Naturally, the sight of a scarred, disfigured arm was enough to send anyone running for the hills, fearing that they might catch whatever was afflicting him, despite not knowing if that was even the case.

Still, having travelled for so long, and without any proper rest, he felt like he'd collapse at any given moment. What he wouldn't give for a nice, warm shower and some food. In the distance, he could see another town gradually coming into view, and at first glance, everything seemed normal. Then again, that's how every town in the last few days had looked, and he was now half expecting to stick his sword into someone's skull the moment they took on their monstrous form. He wasn't going to take any chances...

"Hrm?" One of the townsfolk saw Ianos approaching, waving towards the weary swordsman. "Hey, can I help you?"

Ianos spotted the man, and prepared to unsheath his blade...

"Woah, there's no need for that!" The man panicked. "I just thought you looked a bit tired was all!"

"I am... and what's to say you're not some form of hellspawn in disguise?" He shot back. "I'm just waiting for your body to twist and change as you try to maul me!"

".... O....K..." He blinked, somewhat unnerved. "I don't know what towns you've been to, but I can guarantee you that there is no hellspawn here!"

"Sure there isn't, I've heard that spiel from five other people beforehand..." Ianos glared.

"Just trust me on this..." He stepped closer, noticing the tattered clothing the swordsman was wearing. "If you have been dealing with monsters, I'm surprised you've lasted so long with that worn-out clothing. There's a tailors just a few doors down, I'm sure Rumi will be able to supply you with some new threads! As for that arm..." He glanced at Ianos's right arm. "I don't even know if any of the medics would be able to treat that, is it cursed?"

"How do you know that it's cursed?" Ianos looked at the man.

"Call it an educated guess." The man shrugged. "Anyway, I'll take you to Rumi's shop, and she'll set you up from there!" He gestured for the warrior to follow him, to which he begrudgingly did so. He was still holding tight to his sheathed sword, ready to take a swing if need be.

"OK, this is the place. Now I'm just gonna give you a fair warning, Rumi's not like any other shopkeeper you may have seen before, but I assure you she's friendly. Just don't try to take a swing at her, you might upset her friend."

"Duly noted, but I'll have your head if I find out you're deceiving me..." Ianos glowered, making his way through the doors to the shop.

"Yikes, lay off the edge..." The man muttered under his breath.

Ianos walked towards the counter, taking a look around him. The place seemed to be filled with gear for all shapes and sizes, almost literally so - whilst there was standard looking clothing near and there, there also appeared to be clothing and armors that'd be better suited to an animal rather than a human being. Various books and potions adorned the shelves as well, the latter being a multitude of colours, each decorated with an ornate-looking tag.

"Anyone here?" He approached the desk, ringing the service bell. There wasn't any immediate answer, so he rang it again, and after a few more moments of silence, he slammed his good fist down on the table. "I demand your service!"

"Gah! Who turned out the lights?!" A female voice called out from the room behind the counter. His attention turned to the room behind the desk, a large, arachnid-like creature with a humanesque upper body emerging from it, arms flailing as one set of arms flailed in front of her, another set trying to grasp at the paper lantern that was stuck around her head. "Damn it, Shade, why'd you leave the lantern up there?!"

Ianos's eyes widened as he drew his sword, swiping it towards the tarantula-taur. Whilst the blade didn't connect with her, it did cut open the lantern, causing it to fall to the floor. "What in the seven hells are you?!"

"Oh thank god, I thought it was gonna be stuck on for good this time!" She spoke. "I dunno why she keeps it around!"

"Answer me, vile fiend! What the hell are you?"

"Vile?" Her six eyes blunk in unison. "Me? How can you call someone like me vile? We haven't even met before!"

"Don't toy with me, monster!" He was staring daggers into her eyes. "I've dealt with arachnids not too dissimilar to you, and I've taken on monsters far larger, take one step closer and you'll find out for yourself how I've dispatched your kind!"

The spidertaur just stared blankly. "...Again, we haven't met before. Do I look like the type of spider who'd want to do you harm, I mean look at this!" She turned to her side and gestured to her abdomen, in particular the large, pink heart marking that adorned it. "I don't think something that'd want to kill you would have a mark like this, nor would they look anywhere near as cute. Hell, if I wanted to kill you, or even attempt to do so, don't you think I would have done so by now? This place would be full of giant webs to ensare you if I were that way inclined!"

"Don't try to sweet talk your way out of this, demon!" Ianos prepared to raise his sword... only for it to be knocked aside by a well-timed blast of webbing, sticking it to the wall near the entrance.

"OK, I think you need to cool your jets, hun!" She placed one set of arms against her hips, the other set folded in front of her as she stepped closer. Ianos threw his cursed arm in front of her, the creature catching it with the larger of her two right arms.

"What?!" He tried to pull his arm away, but he couldn't do so. Either the spider was stronger than she looked, or his fatigue was taking its toll. Maybe it was even a bit of both, who could say?

"Wait, is this your arm?" She looked over it, the limb was heavily scarred, blackened veins showing up along his upper arm and chest. There were visible signs of rot along it, the muscles slowly succumbing to atrophy. "Oh my god, no wonder you're so pissed off - I'd probably be in the same boat if I was suffering from a curse this bad!"

"You know that it's cursed?" He asked.

"Yeah, Shade's been teaching me a few things about curses like this, how they work, and if there's any possible counters for them. She knows a LOT about this sort of stuff!"

"Would she be able to help me?"

"I dunno, you saw a giant tarantulataur and went straight into 'shoot first, ask questions later' mode, so I'd hate to see what you'd do when you're facing a tall, humanoid raven..."

"She's not human, either? Do the townsfolk know about this?"

"Oh they've known for a LOOOOOOONG time." She nodded her head. "Besides which, I might be able to help you out with your problem - the name's Rumi!"

"Ianos..." He responded, looking at Rumi as she let go of his arm.

"I can tell you that you're in safe hands with me and Shade!" She smiled. "Let's start off by fixing up that curse..." She ran her hands along Ianos's arm, mentally taking measurements. "Mmm... I think I know just the thing that'll fix this mess!" She sat back against the wall as she began producing silk, her many legs and arms working to weave it into durable clothing. The human watched on, amazed by how quickly Rumi was crafting her webbing into clothes.

"OK, I think this should do it!" She finished weaving, standing back on her legs as she held up a black silk wrap in her upper set of arms. "What do you think?"

Ianos squinted, looking at the wrap. "This... thing's meant to be able to counter my curse?" He turned to look at Rumi. "I'm beginning to think that you're trying to play me for a fool..."

"Not at all!" She approached the man. "Just trust me on this!" She placed it gently around his left arm. "It's a perfect fit as well!"

Ianos looked at the binding, not looking too impressed. "And just how long am I meant to wait to see if anything actually happens?"

"Not too long!" Rumi assured him, watching as the wraps began to glow, a crimson aura slowly spreading around his left arm. He looked on as the damage the curse had done to his limb was being undone, the diseased-looking flesh returning to normal.... Well, normal in a sense, as no sooner than the skin had healed, greyish-black scales started spreading outwards, working their way around his body.

"W-what in the hell?!" He gasped, the scales taking on a reddish hue around his lower arm, though that might mainly be due to the aura that was surrounding it, the scales on his right arm appearing unchanged. Great, dagger-like claws sprouted from his fingertips, his already impressive musculature beginning to grow wider still. "What kind of foul magic are you working?!"

"That 'foul' magic is specifically designed to counter curses, converting the weakness and debilitating effects of it and turning it into strength and enhancements. It also has the 'side effect'..." She made quotation marks with all four hands. "... of turning the afflicted into a beast, so I'm countering one curse with another!"

"A double curse?!" He glared. "You treacherous monster!"

"I'm starting to feel just the teensiest bit insulted here..." She returned the glare, her playful tone of voice turning deathly serious. "The curse that you were afflicted with was going to kill you in the most painful and unpleasant way possible. I'm talking skin blistering, organ melting, bone shattering agony!"

Ianos fell silent upon hearing that, the scales still spreading further. His abs and pectorals rapidly grew larger, the scales along his front taking on a gunmetal grey hue, a pair of bumps pressing against his shoulder blades. His already damaged clothing was falling away, torn apart by his growing build.

"If I really WAS inclined to be evil, I'd have probably made that wrap accelerate the curse... I would have probably also half-assed the quality of the thing as well." Rumi continued watching him, an additional bump pressing at the base of his spine.

He remained silent for the time being, watching the scales race down his legs. The muscles in his thighs bulked up further, his feet stretching and popping within his boots. He attempted to kick them off, but instead, they were ripped apart by the malforming appendage, the big toe on each foot pulling back towards his heels whilst the other digits elongated, taloned claws growing out through his toenails. He balanced himself against the wall, kicking off the remnants of his boots, spotting the light grey scales on his soles, noticing that he was now standing on the balls of his feet.

"So tell me, is my saving your life by changing that curse into something that benefits you in the long term REALLY that bad?" She asked, the bump on his spine stretching outwards, a long, serpentine tail forming, scales and muscle rapidly covering the new limb, a blade-like growth jutting outwards from the very tip whilst crimson spikes grew out along the top half, working their way up his back.

Ianos felt his tail sway from side to side, his body adapting to control it. Rumi did have a point, after all - turning into a monster was a better fate than dying to a curse. He didn't feel any different in the mental department, either - most people he had seen succumb to monstrous transformations lost their humanity within the first few stages, whilst some held onto it long enough for it to shatter near the end. With him, there were no intrusive thoughts trying to claw their way into his head, or demonic voices calling out to him.

"I guess... you've got a point, Rumi..."

A smile crept across the tarantulataur's face. "See, I told you!" She giggled, her playful demeanour returning, almost as if it had never left in the first place. The bumps against his shoulder blades continued their growth, soon erupting outwards, forming a pair of large, leathery, bat-like wings, spreading wide behind him. Two tufts of red fur appeared around his upper arms, the hair on his head and face shifting to the same colour. "You need to learn to take the edge off every now and then and lighten up!"

"Take the edge off?" He responded in a quizzical tone. His neck grew a couple of inches longer, alongside growing several inches thicker, red, rune-like markings appearing around his neck and chest. "The hell does that mean?"

"Stop being so cynical and downbeat for one, and maybe try to lighten up! Granted, that part might be a LITTLE bit difficult considering how much you now look like the ultimate edgelord!" Rumi laughed, Ianos's jaws pushing forwards into a powerful draconic muzzle, teeth sharpening into vicious fangs. He felt his tongue stretching to better fit his new maw, becoming forked at the tip.

"Edge...lord? I'm not a lord!" Ianos's ears grew to points, a pair of sharp, curved, bull-like horns growing out from atop his skull. His eyes moved slightly apart, the whites of his eyes turning a dark black whilst his irises turned a pure white, his pupils pulling into slits.

"Hoo boy..." She palmed her face with her left hand. "I have a feeling that this is going to take a LOT of explaining... Shade did tell me that not all dimensions share the same sense of humour, after all!"

The dragon that had moments ago been a human stood around, looking over himself, as if expecting anything else to happen to him. "So... is that it?" He asked. "Nothing else is going to change, is it?"

"Nope! Everything that needed to change has changed. There may be a couple of surprises you'll discover later, though..." She smirked under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing! Your changes are all done!"

"Right... and can I take this thing off now?" He gestured to the wrapping.

"You can if you want, it's served its purpose in countering the curse. At the same time, it does suit you, so I'd think it's worth keeping on!"

"And what about additional clothing?"

"You need more clothing? Honestly, I don't think it's necessary, you ARE a dragon, after all!"

"Yes, and dragon or not, I have too much pride to go around my duties naked!"

"I'll see what I can do there... though honestly, my friend Shade spends most of her time naked, and she's never once felt embarrassed about it!"

"Would you be saying the same thing if you had to work naked?"

"Yes! I'm not always wearing my dress or cloak when I'm around here - sometimes it helps the customers if some parts are exposed~"

Ianos didn't even know how to respond to that last statement - a part of him was wondering if he should have taken his chances with keeping the original curse.

"Lighten up, Ianos!" She pulled him into a hug. "I know you'll grow to like the new you fairly quickly!"

"Maybe I will, but I'd still prefer it if you could sort me out with some additional clothing!" He said, slightly muffled by having his snout buried into the side of her head.

"After we're done hugging!" She chuckled. "It'd help to see a smile on that face!"

"Oh lord, I'm going to be here for a while..." He mumbled under his breath.