FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Ya all set and ready to go man?"

"Yea, this is kind of exciting, to be able to go out and perform like a real soldier. It was something I thought about when I was a child."

The fox smirked and rolled his eyes "Well we are real soldiers now and you best perform your best because I can't cover your flank and my own all at once."

As we made our way out of the base and traversed the streets of the ruined city, I was finally able to fully take in my surroundings; and what a sight it was. This place looked like it would have been a thriving urban area if it wasn't so war torn to pieces. During our trip I took the time to get to know Todd a bit better; learning some of his interests and that he had a girl he felt deeply for that wasn't within reach anymore, which reminded me of my own. After what seemed like hours of scaling the ruined buildings and piles of destroyed remains, we finally found it; the refinery. It was surprisingly well intact; given its surrounding neighbors were all piles of rubble.

"Well, we're here, the old refinery. This place was very lively when the industrial revolution hit our city; had thousands of workers and was funded by the Wilkinsons." He sighed and took a look up at the old sign above the metal doors. "That was all before this war happened..."

The war... I still wanted to know what was going on with this. "Hey Todd?"

"Hmm?"

"What exactly is this war about? Who is fighting and what caused this?"

The young fox ushered me to help him open one of the doors, pushing the metal across the ground and scraping the cobblestone. We both entered the building and grabbed our flashlights to illuminate the ground level.

"Well, this all started when the royal family was assassinated. The nobles first debated and fought amongst themselves as to whom would be the ones to ascend to the throne, but the royal court denied them all."

"So what happened with the monarchy?"

"The royal court decided no one in this country was worthy to sit on the same thrones as the family did, so they self appointed themselves to rule the land as a group. The nobles were furious at this and banded together to create a coalition to attack the royal court. The country became divided between two groups; the coalition of nobles who wanted to seize the power of the Monarchy, and the loyalists who sided with the royal court to help preserve the power of the royal family tradition."

I tried to piece together everything in my mind, but some things still didn't click together. I turned to Todd once more but noticed him off on the other side of the refinery already. I hurried to him and was about to ask another question when he raised his paw to cut me off. He turned to look at me and signaled to look around the corner, to which I nodded and moved to the wall and looked around the corner. The sight I saw shocked me; it was her...

"Is that her?" I turned to look over my shoulder at him with a whisper.

"Yeah, but I only saw her head, as if she is sitting in something. You can probably get a better angle from there, try to see anything."

I nodded and turned my head around the corner once more to look into the room. The girl looked like the daughter, the white fur for one, but I couldn't see her eyes from this angle. Suddenly, her head turned and I shrunk back behind the wall quickly to avoid detection; hitting Todd by mistake.

"Ow!" He muffled out as his paw was held on his muzzle to hold the pain. I turned to look at him and apologized but was shaking. He gave me a worried but confused look as if to ask me what happened.

"I tried to see her better but I think she noticed me because she quickly turned her head in this direction."

He flattened his ears and pushed me, ushering to look again. "Look again; we can't afford to lose her. If we do, our boss will kill us both."

I gulped and hesitantly turned to peek around the corner again. As I caught view of her again, the sight made me gasp and I felt my heart stop for a second. The girl was rising up out of what I assumed to be a bath of some sorts because she was now stepping out fully unclothed. I quickly turned back to Todd and stuttered in my words.

"Y-You said s-she was all w-white right?"

"Yeah... why?"

I returned my focus around the corners and focused my eyes more closely on the girl's features. She still had white fur, but now there were black markings on her on the sides of her body. Her ears were curled on the tips and had unusual objects pierced through them.

"Um... she's no longer just white..." I whispered over my shoulder.

"Huh, what do you mean?"

I shook my head and looked back at him "Her ears aren't the same and her fur now has black markings through it."

He pushed past me and tried to peek around the wall to allow him to see. He sat there for a good few seconds and then turned to look at me. "It doesn't make sense, she has the same red eyes and is about the same size as the daughter, but the markings, ears and horns make her seem so different."

"She has horns too?!"

Todd widened his eyes and told me to shush, causing me to cover my muzzle. It was too late though as we both heard footsteps growing louder. We tried to shuffle back around the wall to hide behind a pile of debris. Then it came, something I didn't expect.

"I know you are in here hehe, so best to come out here before I get my special beating spoon."

That voice, it sounded young and playful but something else about it suggested mischievous and possibly sadistic... It was enough to make my fur stand on end. I perked my ears as I heard the voice speak again, only this time it sounded sadder.

"Aww... I was only playing... is there anyone there?"

I felt a sudden impact on my arm and turned to see Todd giving me a signal to go. I shook my head and shoved back at him.

"Are you mad? I'm not going out there."

"Hey! It's best if you go, that way if something does go wrong, I am a better shot than you, so I can cover you better."

All I could do was breath a deep sigh and nodded. "Fine, you owe me if this backfires." I turned to look around the corner to see the girl turn and start to walk back into the room. I slowly stood to my feet and proceeded to cautiously walk after her, trying not to alert her. When I was within distance, I tried to think of something to attract her attention. It was hard to focus my mind due to the fact she was still unclothed which only served to drive me mental.

"Um...hi..."

The girl's ears perked and she immediately turned to face me with a gasp. My eyes widened at the sight and I turned away, blushing madly. She giggled and skipped over to me, tugging on my sleeve, trying to seek my attention.

"Why hello there fuzzybutt, how're you hmm?"

I cleared my throat and tried to look at her from the corner of my eye. "I, um... I'm good; y-you?"

I saw her give me a puzzled look and place her paws on her hips. She moved one to scratch the back of her head and tried to move around my side into my view more, which I only looked up more.

"What's wrong hmm? Am I scary looking?"

"N-No, just... you are not clothed..."

She giggled and covered herself with her arms. "Oh my oopsies, guess I better fix that." She pivoted and skipped off to the room she was in previously. I tried to relax but the image was stuck in my mind and was stuck in place. Thankfully, only after a few minutes, she returned to standing in front of me, wearing a black dress, with purple ribbons and lace under it. She twirled around and smiled at me, skipping about.

"Well how do I look?"

"The dress is very beautiful and fits on you rather well."

She smiled wider and reached into a pocket on her dress, rummaging around and causing a clanging noise. She then pulled out a spoon and handed it to me, shaking it wildly.

"For my new bestest friend, one of my favorite spoons from my collection."

I took it and held it in front of me, then looked at her. "A spoon collection?"

"Mmhmm, I have always loved spoons, since I was a little kid. Mum said it was a funny and cute habit, so I used to always give her ones I thought were special."

I perked my attention and suddenly remembered why we were here in the first place. I had to confirm this was her though, but how? I didn't even know her name and I only knew of what she used to look like. I had only one option at this point.

"A-Are you the daughter of the Wilkinsons?"

She stood still, shuffling her feet paws and hand paws together, while looking down. I slowly knelt in front of her and lifted her chin to face me, giving her a reassuring smile to which she returned shortly. She gave me a hug and nuzzled into my arm softly, trying to find comfort.

"I lost my mum and dad, and even my sissy when I was a little girl. I don't remember anything about it but everyone says it was a monster that took them away from me..."

She started to quiver and I soon felt what I believe to be tears on my arm. I hugged her close and gently pet her ears, taking care not to get pricked on her horns. She tilted up her head to look at me again, this soft and vulnerable expression in her eyes.

"I don't want to stay there anymore, I have wanted a new home for a long time but I had nowhere else to go..."

"I think we can take care of that for you, my partner and I came here to find you actually."

"Really? It would be wonderful to go to a better home and not be alone anymore..."

I nodded and slowly rose to my feet. "We can bring you back with us, I'm sure they wouldn't mind you being there."

She smiled and jumped around happily, bouncing her tail around and giggling.

"Oh oh, are there others where you two come from hmm?"

"Yep, but we have to get you there you little bouncy vixen." I turned to look towards the room where she came from. "Is there anything here that you want to take with you?"

With that she scurried off into the room quickly. I followed after her and took a look around the small makeshift room. A dresser, bed, and even a small fire pit were in one half of the room. In the other half was a small tub still filled with water and a table with various accessories on it; her own home away from home. She bound up to me with something in her arms and held it up with a smile again.

"This is what I was looking for; my best buddy that I made myself while I've been living here. I named him jack."

I took a look at what she held up in front of me. It resembled a stuffed toy but wasn't of a normally seen animal; it was a giant spider that was made from quilt patches. I gave a little smile and reached forward to shake the spider's legs with my paw in greeting.

"Hello Jack, my name is Ein."

"Ooh, so your name is Ein huh? That sounds like a nice name for a new bestest friend."

I tilted my head as a certain question arose within my mind, one I had been meaning to ask for awhile now. "I never quite caught your name; may I ask what it is?"

The girl placed her paws under her chin and she plopped onto the ground, moving her head back and forth as if trying to force her mind to work. A few moments went by before she looked up at me again and shook her head.

"I don't remember what it is anymore, but you could call me what I have heard everyone else named me."

"Oh? What is that then?"

"They made a little rhyme with it too. 'A small, white furred girl, who was born with more than most. She now lives amongst us here, as the gentle snowy ghost.'"

I tilted my head and looked at her. "The snowy ghost huh?"

"Mhm!"

"I guess I will call you Snowy for short; is that ok?"

Once again she jumped up and hugged me close, smiling wide. "I feel so happy to find a new friend..."

I chuckled and kneeled down, hugging her. "I'll make sure to always be here to give you a friend Snowy, but for now, let's go home shall we?"