FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Ty awoke to the sounds of snoring, and sleepy breaths. The panther they had met the day before was snoring lightly. Pulling himself up, he heard her stir, mumbling and waking up. "Morning," she mumbled out, stretching. She sat up, looking over the area. "Just before sunrise."

A light haze covered everything. Fog had rolled over the landscape, leaving a small chill in the air. Kaya shivered for a moment before going still again. Ty sighed, standing and walking over to her. Kneeling, he picked her up, and carried her to a tree. He sat down with the small wolf pulled close to his chest. The panther watched him from a short distance away, obviously curious. "You actually came across as a bit heartless when I tried fighting you," she said tiredly, lying in the grass, on her stomach, propping her head up on her hand.

Ty looked down at Kaya who nuzzled his fur affectionately in her sleep. Feria started groaning in her sleep, silently pleading to her nightmares, making Ty and the nameless panther look at her. A second later she snapped up, gasping for air and looking around. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes, dropping her head forward. "Are you alright?" Ty whispered, making her look up.

"Yes, thanks to you," she replied. "Flashbacks to my time as Garr's slave."

A heavy flapping sound from overhead drew everyone's attention to the dark figure circling down towards them. When it got close enough, Ty recognized lady Hellene, and stood, still holding Kaya. The dark scaled dragon landed soundlessly, Carly running over to Feria, who held an arm out, stopping the coyote. Feria motioned for her to be silent with her free hand and pointed to where the larger tiger was holding the comparatively tiny creature.

"Awww," Carly whispered smiling.

Ty looked over the pitch black armor the dragoness wore, raising an eyebrow. The sun was just breaking the horizon, allowing a fair view of it. "Explanations later," she whispered, setting down a bag that smelled of freshly cooked meat.

Kaya began to stir, briefly looking up at Ty, before smiling and yawning. Knowing she was awake, Ty let his arm drop to his side, and letting the wolf drop towards the ground. She caught herself, landing on all fours. Standing, she looked around. Ty wondered what thoughts she might be having behind those ice blue eyes.

"Now that everyone is awake," Carly said, jumping onto Feria and wrapping her arms around the taller woman's neck. Feria held Carly, putting one hand under her shoulder blades and the other under her knees, in a way commonly known as the princess carry. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you alive!"

"Carly, you know I hate to interrupt happy moments," Feria moaned, her face a mixture of pain and joy. "But you happen to be straining one of my many cuts."

Ty saw Feria wince, as she dropped Carly, grabbing her left shoulder. One of the cuts had split open. Feria knelt, gritting her teeth, while Carly stared worriedly at the tigress's face. "Look before you leap," Feria said, trying her best to feign humor. Then Carly turned to Ty, glaring wickedly. "Carly, no," Feria growled instantly. "He would never do this. The sadistic sociopath chasing him, though..."

Carly took the hint, helping Feria stand; to the best of her ability at least, being so much shorter. Feria looked like she was reliving another old memory. She looked as broken as the first time Ty had looked at her. "Feria?" Ty said, worried for her.

She shook her head, smiling to Ty. "Sorry," she apologized. "I really need to stop drifting off."

While Feria tended to her arm, Carly drifted over, stopping in front of Ty and motion to Kaya to go eat while Lady Hellene set up a small set of plates and cooked meat. "In the twelve years since Garr bought her, I have never once seen her smile in earnest," the coyote whispered. "Whatever you may or may not be, you are good for her. But I warn you, if you step even an inch out of line, and I will tear you limb from bloody limb."

Ty watched glaring coyote as she turned away. Smiling to himself, he figured he could manage that threat pretty well. Coyotes were never really recognized for their fighting abilities, but rather their tracking abilities. Being more creatures of the desert, food is regularly scarce and finding it a necessity. Ty had no doubt she could find him, but beating him in a fight is another thing all together.

"Everything is ready!" Ty heard Lady Hellene say excitedly, making him look. Kaya was already drooling over one of the plates, which she held reverently. "Everybody, I have a plate for each of us, come and eat."

Everyone ate and talked, said their goodbyes, and then went their separate ways, Carly leaving with Lady Hellene, while Ty started walking, followed quickly by Feria and Kaya. The panther waited for a moment. She had no desire to go back to her old village, but eating cooked meat for the first time in over a decade was an extremely effective lure. Glancing at her primitive spear, she sighed and began running to catch up.

Ty found Feria panting for breath almost as much as Kaya, which was a surprise, considering just how long they had to go until sunset. Ty growled in frustration. The only person keeping up was the newcomer. "We rest here," Ty yelled. "I need you moving, not dead."

Feria felt her heart sink. Kay took one deep breath and looked ready to go again, making Feria's eyes widen as she panted. Ty noted the instant change. He had been wrong about one of them. She panted because of how hard she had to work to keep up, not because she was tired. The panther looked at Feria with sympathy in her eyes. "If we keep moving, we can reach town before sunset. I can wait in the woods, just be sure to bring me some cooked food."

Feria took a deep breath and steeled herself. "Alright, if it means reaching town, keep going."

Ty stared her down angrily. "Alright, but you had better keep up."

It took until the sun was falling low in the sky, not quite sunset, just as the panther had said, but they reached the fringe of the village. "Alright," Feria panted. "Made it."

Ty watched her panting for a moment before shaking his head. "Looks like there are a few hundred people living around here," Ty could see building off into the distance, but could not quite see the other side. "Not a bad place for Jade to hide. We need to avoid her, so the woods are the best idea."

"So I get company at night," the panther said smiling. "Fantastic."

"You and Kaya should train for a while," Ty said, turning back to the panther. "Feria and me will go into town and see what we can find out."

Ty was not used to people still moving about after the sun had set, but it proved useful. The panther they had picked up along the way had been proven innocent about five years prior to their arrival but no one could figure out who the real murderer was, just that whoever it was lived within the village. As it turned out, her name was Katrina, but the few friends she had just called her Kat.

After an exhausting search, Ty returned to where he had left Kaya and Katrina practicing their spear fighting. "Katrina," Ty said, looking at her. She froze immediately. "Halt!" Ty yelled, seeing Kaya still rearing to go. She stopped and Ty walked up to the panther, who dropped her spear. "Katrina, you were proven innocent more than five years ago. You can go back."

Feria noticed how the woman stood. She looked like she was about to fall, so Feria rushed forward, catching Katrina as she fell to her knees, lowering her gently to the ground. Katrina blinked, remembering her name, her entire life from before she was chased from her village. A few moments later, her eyes closed.

Ty walked over to where the two were sitting, looking closely at Katrina's face. "She has fallen into the recesses of her own mind," he said after a brief examination. "Not all that uncommon, but depending on what she sees, she may not come out the same person she was when she fell."

"Goddess watch over you," Feria whispered into the panther's ear.

Ty set up a fire while Feria made a bed of leaves and grass for Katrina. Kaya waited patiently, looking over every detail on her spear. After everything was set up Ty watched Feria set the panther down, tenderly lying beside her. Ty watched the moon as it hung in the sky. It reminded him of someone, a long time ago.

"Zach, I hope I can stay with you link this forever," she had said as the three of them watched the moon.

It was only a few days after his sister had died and Ty waited quietly. Two of the other village kids had brought him up onto a hill, overlooking the forest. At first they were trying to cheer him up, but after hours of trying, they gave up. The other two, Zach and Eunice, had been a couple since they were five. Both born in the middle of winter, and in the dead of night, they hardly ever walked around during the day, but after hearing about Kaya, they came out to Ty's house to pull him away from it all for a while.

"Hey, Ty," Eunice said, sitting in front of him on the hilltop. "I just wanted to tell you, I'm sorry for everything I ever said and did. I hope we can be friends, eventually, after this."

Ty just stared at her. There was too much pain for him to make a rational decision, he knew, so he just sat and stared until she sighed, standing, and walking back to Zach's side, where she lay beside him in the moonlight.

Back in the present Ty smelled at the air. Whenever there was a high enough hill, the smell changed with a distinct grassy scent, instead of dried leaves, mold, and dirt. North from where he was sitting, there was a hill of a size large enough for his purposes.

Ty curled his knees up in front of his body as he stared at the sky from the hilltop. Something about tonight made him feel calm, like his rioting emotions fell asleep, all at once. He fell asleep sitting up, the moon and stars gazing down at him.