FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Percival and Grishem entered Tempest after their week and a half stunt as guards at the Tempest Bridge. Nothing really major had happened, just you're average travelers.

"Now it's time to get some rest."

Grishem said to Percival as they crossed under the gates of the city. "We'll be back in another week." The burning forges left a certain smell in the air that, if one was not used to it, would cough for about a day before growing used to it.

"Hold on." Percival said. "I need to check the town announcements."

He took a stop at the large bulletin board, it was unusually blank for this time. But several reminders were still nailed onto it. Percival read through them as Grishem leaned against the post.

"Why do you check these things? You never know anything."

Percival continued. "Oh stop it. You're just jealous that I know how to read."

Grishem grumbled and turned to the other side of the board, glancing down the pictures. One caught his eye. The drawing, it was familiar, where had he seen this person? He tore it down and brought it to his friend.

"Percival, what does this say?"

The man took it from his hands and read it aloud.

"Have you seen this girl? If so, report it immediately." His eyes scanned down more. "Then it's just a bunch of descriptive words and an urgency notice from the Elif. What's so important about it?"

"Not the words." He said pointing at the picture. "Why does she look familiar?"

Percival's eyes looked at the picture again, even though it was a crude drawing it was still familiar, like a dream after you wake up.

"Oh! It's that girl on the bridge!" Greshem shouted. "The one that you wanted to let pass!"

Percival thought back. "Oh you're right that's her." He looked back up at his friend. "What do we do?"

"Report it." He said. "If she tricked me she'll pay."

Luna jumped out of her sleep. The birds outside chirped and the sun broke through the small flap in the tent. Her mind was a little fuzzy, what had happened last night? Was it a dream? She crawled out of the tent, everything seemed to be in order. The fire pit hadn't changed and the tent was still in once piece. But what about the Lycan, had he actually showed up? Or was that her imagination?

Luna opened her mouth wide as a yawn overtook her, time for food regardless of what happened. Lazily she opened her pack and pulled out a piece of jerky and leaned against the tree, poking at the dead fire with a stick.

But in the middle, there seemed to be an indent, a paw print. "What?" Her head clicked, the Lycan had stepped in the fire and woke her up! It had happened, it was true.

"I see you are awake finally."

Luna turned to see Leith perched on top of the log with a small satchel in his paw.

"You have slept for a long time. Well into daylight."

He jumped from the top of the log landing squarely on his feet and then standing as if he hadn't moved. His grace was amazing, for such a big creature to move like that, it was something Luna had never imagined.

"Last night you fell ill, so I went out to find you something to eat and an old remedy."

From his small satchel Leith took out a root and a freshly killed squirrel. His head was limp and wrongly placed as if it had been broken. The piece of jerky fell out of her mouth.

"Uh, L...Leith." She said remembering his name. "I think I have enough food."

His eyes looked down and saw the meat, he set the things down and picked it up fiddling with it in his paw. He felt it, sniffed it, and licked it.

"Ech! This is dry and salty! How can you eat this? How can it sustain you?"

"It's meant to last for a long time, you get used to it after a while."

He gingerly placed the small portion in his muzzle and chewed for a while trying to break it up. "It's lost almost all natural flavor, you Humans add things to make up for it when you don't have to."

He coughed when he swallowed and then sat around the fire picking up the dead squirrel. He cut along the stomach with a claw and started skinning the animal, taking out all the meat as he went along. Blood drenched his fur and the smell wafted to Luna's nose. Her gag reflex almost kicked in at the smell. Hopefully he wouldn't ask her to actually eat it.

"This is what you should eat." Leith picked out the best parts, laying the rest of the carcass to the side and presented them to Luna. "It will give you strength. Mother Wolf has provided such creatures in abundance for us to do so."

Luna bit her lip. "Leith, I'm not so sure. I do not think I'd be able to."

He chuckled, the first time she'd heard him laugh. It was deep, from the stomach, very sincere. "I ate your food you eat mine."

Luna couldn't argue with that logic so she just accepted the bloody bits. Her hands felt the still warm, heavy liquid flowing between the fingers. It was a feeling she was new to. Her hand brought the meat close to her mouth as it slowly opened and her eyes glanced up at Leith who beckoned her to eat.

Luna closed her eyes and wrapped her mouth around the bloody meat, her teeth chewed the rubbery, raw, food and the taste flooded her. Much to her surprise it wasn't terrible. She gulped it down and swallowed a couple of times to clean her mouth of the crimson liquid.

"See. Not so bad."

Luna shook her head and looked at her hands. They were covered in the squirrels life, but it was to keep her alive. It was right to do so, right?

Leith licked his paws clean. "You Humans don't remember do you."

Luna looked up at him with confusion. "What?"

The Lycan picked up the root he had brought back and started digging into it with his claw. "We tell stories of times when the Humans and Lycans were not at war with one another."

"What? I was always told that Lycans were the devil and needed to be exterminated if we were to survive."

Leith shook his head. "No. There was a time when we were what you call, friends."

Luna's mouth gaped.

"It was when the races were first created, in their infancy, before emotions about hate and anger really set in. We would help teach Humans how to hunt and survive and they would give us information on their rapidly advancing knowledge. How to use flint to start a fire, how to weave clothes, how to make weapons. Your race would eat raw meat all the time, but then it changed. Humans started expanding, coming into our territory, territory that had been agreed upon. The Lycans didn't like it but accepted it, but the Humans kept pushing. Then, the Falling, first in wars that has never ended."

Luna listened intently. The Lycans always attacked first, the Lycans always killed for fun, the Lycans were the enemy. She looked at her hands, the blood still flowed from them, Leiths were clean. They still worked at the root, creating a little dimple in it, to make medicine for her. Much to her surprise he started singing, but it was Lycan she could not understand.

"Prrrr Whrrgru Prrrgoo Wharooo

Prrgoo Whrrgru Yofhrr Wharoo

Yofhoo Arooooooo

Rrrwhrurr oo Hroouoh Yooyrr

Aroo whofrr

Grru oo aru Hoo

Gurah Prrrrr

Prr Whrrgru Prrgoo Wharoo

Oo Prrgoo Whrrgru Yofhrr Wharoo

Yofhoo Arooooooooooo."

He sang it as he worked on the small root. Luna tried to pick up words, she could understand him perfectly except this. "Leith, what is that?" She asked.

He paused his work for a second. "It is an old song that my ancestors sang in response to the constant Human war. It is in a dialect that has long since died out but the song is still taught in the old way."

Luna went around the fire pit to sit next to him. "What does it mean?"

The Lycan set down the root and sighed.

"Where Spring meets Summer.

Where Summer meets Fall.

It all ends in Winter.

The Sun hides and the land turns White.

To show the spilt Blood.

The fight will rage and Death with rise.

Until Spring

But Spring meets Summer

And Summer meets Fall.

It all ends in Winter."

Luna felt almost hurt and the feeling came back, the feeling of illness in her gut. She doubled over as she realized the broad story. She had been blinded, tied, covered, and tricked. Even when she thought she was helping the Lycans she didn't know the whole story.

"It wasn't you who was the enemy. It was us. We are to blame. The Elif, they're the ones controlling everything. It's all them! They're causing the Winter!"

Leith didn't really say anything, he was quiet. "Do you have any water?" He asked a couple moments later. Luna nodded and gave him her little water pouch. Leith carefully opened the pouch and then sprinkled the shavings of the root into the water. He then tied it back up and shook it then presented it back to Luna. "Here, drink this. It will help with those cramps."

She did, it tasted good. It wasn't anything she had tried before. The sweetness made her want to chug the rest of it down, but she had to restrain herself.

"Leith."

"Yes?" He said picking at the carcass.

"I'll help you beat the Elif. I will help your race be great again. You can rule the forests again."

He ate some meat and sighed again. "We don't want that though. We want to live in peace, not rule over everything."

Luna smiled, "then I will help bring that peace back." She stood up and he followed. She stared into his eyes for the first time. "I want this war to stop. We Humans can learn so much from you."

Leith stared back at her eyes, they remained him of Kalah's. Although it was a completely different personality. This Human got it.

"Kalah.....I mean Luna, thank you."

Leith felt the same feeling deep in his gut as he did with Kalah. His paw moved to meet her hand and he grasped it. Luna stood firm, his muzzle got close to her face. He licked her cheek, and whispered thank you once more. Luna's face grew red, she has been licked by a Lycan.

Her eyes looked down at their paws and hands. Hers were still covered with now dried blood.

"I need to clean myself." She said.

"I saw a stream not to far while I was out, go there, clean up. I will stay here and pack up for you. Then I will take you to our capitol and see what we can do."

She let go of him and he pointed to the northeast. "Just that way a little bit, but don't wonder off. Stay there until I get there."

Luna nodded and went around the tree and to the stream, to clean her hands of the dried blood.

Leith watched her go and looked around the camp. What had just happened? He sniffed his paws, they smelled of her, her nice, but not overwhelming scent. He liked it.

Fuieln the 3rd sat at the head of the Elif table and addressed the members in the emergency meeting.

"Word came to me from Shurl and Tempest."

The other eight men listened intently.

"It came to my knowledge that two guards at the Tempest Bridge saw our girl heading south. They said that she was going to see her Father."

Shurl continued the story.

"We searched the town, no fathers were expecting their children at this time. We also found no trace of her. The only thing she could have done was head east to Lycan territory."

Another one of the representatives butted in. "I still don't see how this is that important. She's just a girl. What can she do?"

Fuieln sighed. "We captured her brother. He talked. We found some very interesting things."

"Like what?"

"She can speak Lycan, fluently."

All of them looked at one another, only just realizing what a girl like this could do. She could not only learn the history but destroy their great monopoly on power in the area.

"Like I said we've already searched through all of Tempest and nothing came up. She must have gone across the Ile foothills."

"Well what if she's dead? Died on the pass or killed by something. Perhaps a Lycan."

Fuieln shook his head. "The pass is a possibility, but it's not that bad right now due to it being summer. But I don't think a Lycan would kill her because she knows their language." He held his head in his hands. "We have a situation. We have to find this Luna and kill her. I truly think that she will be able to rally the Lycans against us. Even with all Human might we have no idea how many Lycans litter that forest. It could be thousands or hundreds we don't know. But it's best to kill this thing before it grows."

Alard thought it over, he was finally getting some actions against the Lycans. He liked it. One thing bothered Shurl though.

"What about the brother? What is his story?"

Fuieln dismissed it. "Don't worry about him. I have that all taken care of."