FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Back again. Longest chapter so far, I think. My girl proof-read this for me (Thank yooou :D) And yes. I know it's a cliché name for a filler chapter, but you'll have to live with it. :D

Also, I'm looking for someone who'd be willing to proof-read my writings. As you've noticed, I don't really manage to write too often, so it wouldn't be every day either. People are also allowed to drop suggestions, such as character ideas (One slot for the main group still open :D) and anything you guys can think of ^_^ You can find me from my Skype 'Sandfyre', if ya'll feel like it.

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"5..." The loudspeaker boomed overhead.

God. I hate this... Why can't we-

"4..." The female voice continued.

Yes, yes, I know.

I crouched and held my knives, blades down.

"3..."

Now that I think about it, she kinda sounds like-

"2..."

Okay, okay!

I made sure that the AR-50 strapped to my back was tight against me and dived, as I heard the speaker boom out the last number, sending me off.

The world around me was devastated. I heard guns being fired far away. I didn't know who they were shooting at, but I wasn't in the line of fire, yet.

The room I was in was fairly neat. The roof had caved in eons ago, from the looks of it, but otherwise it was quite good. I climbed up the rubble and out to the 'great outdoors'.

The sun roasted my eyes and I dashed into the shadow of the small hut. I was in an intersection, looking down the road. Behind me was the small little hut I had come from. To the right, there about five meters of ground, before it hit a dead end. With magic, I could probably jump the height. For now, I dismissed the thought.

"Oye! You there! Stop!"

I whipped my head to look down the road. It was a long one, wrecked buildings flanking the sides. Three men were coming towards me, guns pointed straight at me. They were all pretty well armed and their armor showed no weak points. I dashed into the dead end and they followed.

I leapt up on the roof of the building and waited for them to appear. They did. The three were confused and I could hear them talking, as I planned my next move.

///Three days earlier///

"Wake up sleepyhead!" Shay knocked me over. She had been nice to me, lately. The poison from my fangs was a sort of paralyzing thingy. She didn't explain it properly, but it made the body shut down slowly, so that it first made the person unable to breathe, then the blood would stop flowing and then the heart. All this would happen in a matter of a minute, tops.

I groaned and gave her a mean glare, then gave up. I opened my maw, flexed my fangs in sight as she pulled a vial below them. I could hear the little glass filling up with the clear blue liquid.

"Just a bit more." She smiled and pulled the other vial under my other fang. I proceeded to milk my second fang. "We're going to want to leave a little in each, so that in case you need to, you can bite someone." She laughed.

"Yeah. I'm still not comfortable with biting people." I grinned, as I took the vial from her. We had a deal. She took one glass, I kept the other. That was her 'payment' for milking my venomous teeth.

///Now///

"Hey. Where'd the little bugger go?" The first, seemingly the rookie of the group spoke. He had his helmet on a bit too loose. I trained my eyes on to the possible first target.

"Quiet." The older, more experienced male spoke up, slapping the rookie in the back of his head, sliding his helmet a little to the side.

Opening!

I pulled a throwing knife from my left shoulder pocket and flung it at the greenhorn. He fell faster than a rock and the two men pointed their guns in my general direction.

Too slow.

I had already sunk in a shadow and although there was a lot of natural light, the dead end provided enough shadow for me to work in.

I pulled the second man half-way under into a shadow, then let go. Then, as the eldest noticed me, I slipped behind him and grabbed his left arm under mine, providing an adequate arm-lock, before pulling his neck like I was some kind of modern day vampire. I drew my fangs into sight and sunk them into the soft flesh of the man's neck, pumping the venom into his blood. He'd die in a minute, at most. But it wouldn't be painless.

I let go of him. The poison rendered his breathing capacities completely useless. He couldn't scream but his expression was frozen in pain's grip.

I stood there for a moment, before shaking myself awake. I turned around and plucked my knife out from the skull of the rookie, noticing his name-tag. 'Michael'.

Doesn't look like Mikey here poses much of a disturbance anymore, eh? Prothero laughed.

I had learned to dismiss his remarks in the past two weeks. He did have some nasty stuff every now and then, but he did help when he was needed.

I checked that my poison had worked. The man was dead. Then I turned around the corner and jogged down the road.

///Five days earlier///

Raven huffed. He was starting to get tired of this. He wasn't alone. I just couldn't do this properly.

"Okay. One more time. Then I'm off to bed."

He closed his hands in a fist and paused. "Here. Can you see this?"

I focused on his hands and read the flow of his magic. It wasn't nearly at the same level as Iris, but I could read a little. I nodded.

"Okay. You do the same." He spoke softly, keeping his body still.

I pulled my hands in front and held them in a tight fist. I pulled the lightning element and directed it's flow into my hands. It was in a steady flow, just like Raven's.

"Good. Now this." He cracked his palm open a bit and light burst out. I was completely blinded, but kept my composure.

I felt him standing behind me, ready to strike. I kept my hands steady but dodged his strike, keeping my eyes closed, as I couldn't see anything anyways. I flared my palm open and let the light burst from my left hand, straight in front of his eyes. Then I side-stepped behind him and let him turn around.

He was completely blinded, but he obviously sensed my right hand's flow. "Hey, hey there. You can kill it now, please."

I let the black electricity sink back into my arm. "Thanks, Rave. This helped a lot." I smiled at him. I don't know why, but I started calling him 'Rave', after seeing him dancing with Shin a few days ago.

"No problem," he smiled. "but only use that when there's more than three guys. Otherwise, it's just a waste of energy, kay?"

I nodded and opened the door, letting it close quietly behind me.

///Now///

Above me?

I heard a gun firing at me, and I barely managed to dodge the bullet. Judging from the hole that it left on the wall behind me, I was being gunned down by a sniper with the same caliber that was in my gun. 50 cal.

I looked up on the roof and saw four snipers. Two of them were still looking for me, one had his sights in me and the fourth was pulling the pin on his rifle.

I dropped my gaze to the bottom of the building and saw that the side was pulverized. I could jump up the rubble, before they could hit me. I forced the lightning into my legs and dashed into the rubble, up the wall, behind the four, while charging up a flare in my left palm.

Three of them looked straight at me, as I flared my palm open at their faces, making them blind almost instantly. The fourth, however, covered his eyes and tackled me, pulling his knife and pressing it against my throat. I rolled him over to the side and pulled my own knife, but he managed to divert my slashes.

What he didn't expect, was two tails coming at him from behind. I slammed them into his side and pushed again to roll him over. This time, for good. He fell from the top of the two story building and I left the three blind men behind me, as I jumped down the other side of the building and ran down another long road.

///Seven days ago///

We had just taken off. I looked out the window and rested for a moment. Jack had made some deals with the local shops to buy some paint. That way, we could give the ship a paint-job.

Iris stood behind me and I turned around. I smiled at her, but inside, I had a strange feeling. The way she kept on probing my mind and body sometimes crept me out. I wasn't sure if she really liked me or not. The swan definitely had an interest, but she kept on asking questions about Prothero. Plus - a little thing, I'm sure - but she never once said 'I love you' out loud. Every time I tried to, she told me to hush and 'keep it our secret, for now'.

She gave me a quick hug, and I could feel her fingers tracing down the black pattern on my back. I sighed and asked if she was okay, but she completely shunned me. I tapped her back and she smiled me.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Are you okay?" I pressed on. Something wasn't right.

"Yes, yes, of course!" She laughed and poked my shoulder, before walking me to her room.

We hadn't gone further than hugging. So far, we've just practiced reading thoughts, aura and magic flows and blocking others from seeing mine. I could read terrain very well, and by now, if I wanted, my field of vision was nearly 300 degrees.

I kept on prodding her mind, but I never could. The rest of the group just called her secretive. But there had to be something behind the brick wall she'd built.

"One more time, shall we?" She smiled and we scanned the whole ship, counting everyone within it.

"Yes." I responded, my heart starting to grow cold towards her stone wall.

///Now///

I stopped. A dead end, again. More rubble was in my path. I looked around and pressed my back into a wall. I couldn't afford going back, so I had to climb up. But first, I had to make sure that I wouldn't be caught by surprise.

I closed my eyes and started what Iris called 'the Seeking process'. I scanned the rubble first. If there'd be a way to use the Shadow to move in it, I would find it. I found a way, but there were five armed guards in front. I couldn't pull more than two into a shadow, and I wasn't fast enough to take down three more, plus my intended target.

I reached out and scanned the area behind the wall. Twenty five men. Plus the five from before, that'd be thirty. I grimaced a little. I wasn't allowed to use too much magic on this exercise, so I refrained from using the Shadow. Besides, there was too much light for me to utilize the dark, in the first place.

I found my intended target, but he was in the middle of the crowd, so I couldn't just run up to him and slice him up. But that's why I had a sniper, duh.

I checked the roof, before I let go of the Seeker's eyes, as the mages called them. The roof was clear, so I scaled it up quickly and silently. While Seeking the area, I noticed a bigger building, twenty stories tall. Two guards were standing on top - no doubt, the best snipers they had - but besides that, the tower was clear. From there, I could easily pick my target. It was only a two minute run anyways, plus there was nobody in between me and the entrance, so I ran. Quickly and silently.

///Yesterday///

The pain. It was too much. I fell on the floor, writhing in agony.

"That's enough for today." Lulu spoke up. "You can't handle a mage. But you'd have little difficulty doing this to an untrained whelp."

"I'm doing my best." I cried out. It hurt too much. I didn't even understand this.

"If you wish to learn this magic, you must give more than just your 'best', as it obviously isn't enough." She scoffed. "Illusion magic isn't the most difficult type, at all. Making your opponent do what you want, is not difficult, unless they are trained against it." She spread her arms. "Even the most useless mage can protect himself from an illusion cast by one of the Seven, as long as he remembers the basics."

Illusions... That was 'the basics'. That it does not exist. But that's kinda difficult, when it hurts like hell.

"Tell me again, how do I do this?" I sighed and forced myself up, looking into her eyes.

She sighs and gives me a nasty glare.

Then, suddenly, we're back in a red room. She's behind me, and all I did was blink.

"There are several ways to put a person under an illusion." She grins. "This is a mind-prison. It's purpose is to extract information from the targets own mind. Here, the one under the illusion has more power. However..."

Again. The room flashes and I'm in a blue room. "This. This is a more powerful one, pulling the target's mind into your own. Here you can do what you wish, as it is your own mind."

"Yes, yes. You explained this already. But how?" I was impatient. I knew that she could hurt me as she felt here. I just didn't care anymore.

She claps her hands and we're back in the practice room. "As said, several ways. Some people like to cast the spell by using the target's auditory senses. For example, clapping or whistling a certain tune. The weakness is, however, that people that you are not targeting, can hear this too, and you cannot move and cast an illusion of this kind at the same time. But you can put more people under an illusion, just as long as you can handle it."

"The other method is simpler, but more risky." She looked at me, dead in the eyes. "Direct eye-contact. It works like hypnotism, in a sense. The risks are: You need eye-contact. You can only target one person and that person will remember you. You cannot kill anyone under this illusion, as neither of you can move."

"Besides that, there are no limitations, as to how you can or cannot place an illusion. Anything goes, as long as it works."

///Now///

I'm on the 19thfloor, just about to walk up on the roof. I huff a little, as I'm fatigued by the run up. On my way up, I kept on checking the positions of the two guards. They were both there, minding their own business.

I hit the last floor and nudged the door open a bit. Just enough to see one of them. He was taking a break, smoking his cigarette. Just smelling the vile stench made me want to vomit. I checked where the other guy was. I could sense him, just a few meters off to the side. He couldn't see me. But this time, I wanted to be seen. I had to.

I breathed in. Out.

I kicked the door open, stabbed the man's leg, rose up behind him and slammed his gun away with my tail, while taking him into an arm-lock. I formed a little blade on my left tail and pressed it against the man's temples.

The other man had heard the clutter - which was my intention - and pointed his gun at me.

"Stop it." I spoke up. I was staring in his eyes and clicked my tongue against the roof of my mouth and hissed sharply, while letting out a flow of magic with it, targeting the man's ears. His eyes widened and he went limp.

I whispered into his mind, telling him to let go of his gun. I made him step back. Another step. A third step. One more... I broke my spell and turned my back, after I saw the horrified face of the soldier. He did his best to grab the ledge, but it was too late. He fell all 20 floors, screaming as he fell. I stabbed my tail into the other man's neck and let him slip from my grip.

I stepped towards the side of the roof that overlooked the clearing. Thirty men. One target. I released the strap of my AR-50, 50 cal. and trained the sights down the crowd.

I blinked.

///Two hours ago///

"And remember. If you need anything, just press the buzzer and the program will end, okay?" Jack's voice interrupted my thoughts.

This whole thing was too weird. He said that it was a 'holographic training unit', meant for training technicians. It created an 'artificial' world with some kind of AI thingie. I told him to clarify the whole thing to me, once more, but he just said the following:

"To put it simply... Big machine make biiiig world. You kill everyone between you and your target." He spread out his hands. My eyes shifted to his right arm, which we were all getting used to. He had tinkered with it a little, to suit his weapons experiments. He was proud of the grenade-launching augmentation he'd managed to install. "Got it?"

I shook myself and focused. Even if we were all used to it, it didn't prevent us from staring. "Yes, sir."

"One more thing, Ryu." He closed in on me, before walking me into the room. "As soon as you've eliminated your target, hit the kill-switch. There's no sense in fighting an army all by yourself. That's for later." He grins and closes the door. "Oh, right. The pain isn't real. But it sure as hell feels real. Otherwise, there'd be no point in this, eh?" He laughs and the blank-white room starts vibrating and bursts into a cluster of green particles, before presenting me with a wasteland.

///Now///

I found my target and pulled him into my sight. I pulled the trigger. His face disintegrated into a mess of red mist. The crowd went crazy and started shooting at my general direction. They were pouring into the building and I found myself picking them off in the bottleneck that the door created. I got into this, and I realized that I had to go. Maybe later.

I let go of my gun, faced the drop and flipped the remaining soldiers behind me off.

I jumped.

I found the little button, strapped to my belt. I tapped the glass to break it and pressed it, right before hitting the ground.

The world around me shattered and I found myself on the floor, on my fours.

Jack was there to pick me up and halled me out of the room.

"You did well there, boy." He smiled. "30 minutes, fifteen seconds. Not bad, for a rookie."

I smiled and thanked him. I pushed myself up and got on my feet.

"Thanks Jack. That gave me a lot to think about." I shook hands with him and walked down the corridors of Jack's newly painted ship, the Centaur.