FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Time to begin," I told myself. Two days passed by since my friend left; he had completely disappeared into this infernal maze. When we two had arrived, he just ran straight on inside. Now, an inscription jutted vertically into a surface before me.

Right. That's his non-serifed writing. Different recording sources use different fonts when viewed as text - my friend usually sounds pretty Arial.

My job here was to record. What format? All and none. Audio, video, textual, mental, whatever was needed. It's up to the decoder to hear, see, read, and think over the recordings - I have my limits. I expect most view them as rich text, but I don't really know for sure.

"The recording begins in 5."

"4."

"3."

"2."

"1."

Racham!

---

How long have I been stuck here? I can't recall ever existing outside this wretched heat. Already, I need to find another cooling pillar. If this text below is my last inscription, save Samhach; he is not far.

---

'What are you doing, Lily?'

Naomi could see perfectly well what Lily had been doing. She trusted Lily enough for them to risk each other's lives, but this was important. 'Look, 6-9 might have given you a green, but that doesn't make it any less effective. You'll breathe just the same out there.'

Officially-approved oxygen tanks were colour-coded to indicate their expected life. Blue, red, green, orange, slate, russet, then white. The oblong spheroids the two would be bringing out had at least two hours left apiece.

Lily looked down at the duffel bag, then zippered the bag back up and walked away.

As soon as day broke a few hours later, it was time to go. The dull, cloudy sky above seemed to be trying to reflect my unease. Naomi drove her Jeep. Lily rode in the back. The winding trip through the surrounding trees was filled with a tense silence, broken by the occasional twig or branch.

When the pair reached Flic Lake's shore, it was just after noon. Naomi slowed the car and started to speak. 'Better get your mouth hooked up. We're going in.' As she put on her mask, Lily asked, 'Is it sealed properly?', in a faint voice. Naomi turned around briefly. 'It looks fine to me.' The vehicle sped up, and rolled down the slope into the lake.

I was waiting by the base of the slope, looking out into the depths of the Flic, below the surface. Lily would probably be stunned by the hidden forest, but then again, not too many knew about it. The jeep came barreling down past me, and slowed to a halt a good twenty metres away. There was enough dead tree cover here to be inconspicuous. No need to let them add another worry to their list.

Flic had only become a lake in the recent stormy season. Before that, it was just a basin of dead trees, and a particularly low part of the forest even earlier. There was an outlet to the low valleys on the far side, but the water took its time draining. By this time next year, there would be only a few puddles left to attest to the current flood.

This was my best chance to get into the deeper areas in a long while. I walked forward, around the gradually sparser and sparser trees as the shore disappeared above and behind me. Coming up was a clearing, and the area to the right was too raised to navigate safely. This wasn't a clearing the previous week, when I last scouted out the area. Something had come through here, and the trail of non-existent plants pointed directly ahead, over the smooth ground. In the distance it looked like whatever it was had turned away before the outlet. Odd.

It was too dangerous to walk into the clearing. Yes, this was under the surface of a temporary lake, and yes, there was almost nothing else living in this neck of the woods, but it paid to be wary. Just before I detoured left, I glanced at the vehicle. It was already deserted. Good.

There was no clear path through the dead trees, and the further I went in, the more oppressive the silence and ever-present water became. It was only when I saw the two from earlier walking towards me that I calmed down. Of course, that was the same moment that a fork appeared in my path.

A renegade brandishing said fork, as tall as himself, now stood a short distance away. He looked both enraged and intrigued, a desire to attack held off only by curiosity. I looked in his direction. 'What are you doing here?' he called out, as he lunged forward. He jabbed the region of lake where my left leg had been a split-second before. 'You're a werewolf, aren't you?' my aggressor added, while slashing sideways with the fork. 'That's something what all you werewolves can do, so don't try to lie.'

My right arm came out to block the fork. Here was an unexpected question. He was right. I was breathing underwater, wasn't I? 'Well, yes,' I responded. 'What's it to you?' I could tell that Lily and Naomi were watching close by, but couldn't gauge their reactions.

He wasn't waiting for a response, and stabbed directly toward my heart. The water slowed down most actions, but the fork-wielder's movements were still direct. I tried to parry the stab by moving backwards, and barely succeeded. 'You want to kill me, don't you? Why shouldn't I protect myself?' The guy's voice was vaguely muffled by the surrounding liquid.

There were three branches in various states of decay, scattered around the trees to my left. One of the visitors (Lily) ran over to pick up the smallest intact stick. She was middling height for a human, wearing an oblong oxygen tank on her back and a look of semi-detached confidence under her mask. 'Why?', she retorted, 'because he's not so dangerous now. Ever heard of a provoked werewolf attack?' She glanced in my direction. 'How about picking up a stick and doing something, Zav?'

There were two usable branches lying in the mossy ground to my left. My assailant was readying an attack from overhead. 'Please, Lily, call me Zaav,' was the only response I got out before the blade hit my right shoulder. Not a pleasant sensation. 'What's . . ah . . why don't we exchange names first?' The two females paused momentarily, then quickly looked at each other. The third party spoke first. 'I'm a guy.' Naomi stared at him through her goggles, as if she were accusing him of some deceit. The human's response was quick, but his eyes never left me. 'Isn't that good enough for whatever "heroic" story you'll tell your friends at the next pack meet, about how you single-handedly defeated a vicious hunter?' He checked himself, then said 'So, Lily,' He pointed in Lily's general direction. '. . Zaav,' he continued, while pointing at me. 'and . . you in the trees - who are you?' His gaze didn't falter.

Naomi kept her distance, which unfortunately made her voice indistinguishable. When she realised that we couldn't hear her, she signed something bubbly to Lily. 'That's Naomi.' Lily bit her tongue, letting a drop of water slide down the inside of her mask. 'She wants you to explain where your . .' Naomi was clearly trying to sign something complex. '. . where your . . your . . your compatriots in this relatable incident? No, err . . she wants to know where your fellow bounty hunter patrol group watchers are keeping tabs on the other bounty hunter patrol groups. That's what you call yourself, right? A watchman helping those who would continue this . . this practice. According to Naomi, your bounty hunter friends aren't welcome to continue killing wolves.'

The guy seemed to become a little more nervous at that question. 'Outsiders are not supposed to know about us watchers - who told you, Naomi? How did you find out?' His hands would have started sweating if we weren't standing in a lake. It was nearly completely silent. This I took as a cue to pick up one of the nearby branches; reacting to unprovoked attacks is easier with a proxy.