FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

T he Afterlife- no doubt you've heard of it in some context- is not what you imagined. Everyone who chooses to believe in an afterlife- in heaven, or whatever you wish to call it- is wrong. Those who speak about it say that the afterlife is peaceful and contains happiness not found in this living world. However, none of these people know what they speak of. They have never experienced it for themselves, so what right do they have to speak of it? They do not know of the struggles faced by the souls of the dearly departed as they fight to stay at "peace". I suppose they are correct, though. There is peace, relatively speaking, for any soul that does not succumb to the darkness of the Afterworld.

You must be wondering what gives me the right to speak of the Afterworld and the others who claim to know of it. Yes, I suppose to you I do seem like someone who does not possess sanity. I understand that none of what I have said seems possible. I can relate to you a tale of this Afterworld so that you may understand what I am saying. It begins with the end, of course. The end of the life of one Brian Williams is the end of which I speak. This may be the most vital part of the story. His deeds in life are a tale for another day, but as he lay on the ground, defeated by his greatest enemy, he saw the light of the Afterworld.

And then he saw the darkness, but he didn't have the chance to tell his friends about what he could see as he lay there dying on the ground. His journey was not at an end, but was still in the middle, as well as at the beginning of a second journey. This second journey was to cleanse the Afterworld of the darkness he had seen in his last moments. But he knew none of this. Brian's last thoughts were just the question of why this land that he had seen as his vision faded was so clouded by evil. And then he died.

Chapter 1

"Hey, wake up!" A voice said, dragging Brian back to his senses. He sat up, almost immediately regretting it as an intense headache struck him followed by a sharp pain in his stomach. Brian's red-brown hair seemed to shine in the sunlight, and the light was a bit harsh to his golden eyes, which hadn't seen light in what felt like an eternity. He wore a simple white t-shirt and a leather jacket, which he left unzipped, as well as a pair of dark blue jeans. A shell necklace hung about his neck, and in the center of it hung a golden crystal shard that bore a striking resemblance to an animal's claw.

"Take it easy, your body hasn't adjusted yet." The voice said, startling Brian. His vision was blurred, but he could vaguely make out the shape of someone standing over him.

"Wake up!" A girl's voice rang in his head. "Please, wake up! You can't... you can't do this! Brian!" Brian closed his eyes, trying to block out the voice. Whose voice it was and what it meant were beyond his knowledge, but the sound of sadness in that voice pained Brian more than anything.

"You hear their voices, don't you?" Said the first voice Brian had heard. Brian didn't recognize the voice, but it had a distinct feminine quality to it, and it carried genuine concern for Brian.

"Just... just one voice." Brian said, barely able to speak above a hoarse whisper. "A girl's voice. It sounds familiar, but I don't know whose." The world was beginning to come into focus now, and Brian could make out that he was in a forest and that some girl was standing over him. He could not make out her features yet, but he could tell that he would be able to see everything soon.

"What is she saying?" The girl asked.

"She's saying... my name." Brian said, his voice returning as well. "Brian. She's asking me to wake up. It sounds like she's crying. The voice is fading, and I can barely understand it now. It sounds like she's telling me I can't do something... that I can't leave her. She says that she won't let me... die?" Brian's eyes grew wide, and he tried to get to his feet, but the sharp pain in his stomach forced him down to his knees.

"Take it easy." The girl said. "Your body still needs to recover."

"Where exactly am I?" Brian said. His vision wasn't fully focused, but he could distinctly make out her emerald green eyes as his gaze met hers.

"This is the Afterworld." She said.

"So... you mean I'm dead?" Brian said, barely able to believe it. The girl said nothing, merely looking away with a deeply saddened look on her face.

"I'm... I'm sorry." She whispered. Brian sat down, trying to understand this.

"I don't understand..." Brian said. "I can't... I can't be dead! It's not possible! I... I don't even know who I am, or what happened..."

"Nobody does." The girl said. "Not initially. The memories return in time. Now come on, I'll help you walk to my village. It isn't far from here." The girl helped Brian stand up, supporting him with her shoulder. She wasn't as tall as Brian, but the difference was no more than an inch and a half. The two began to walk away, the girl leading Brian through the forest as she helped him walk, making sure to avoid tree roots or uneven ground.

"Thank you for helping me." Brian said. "What is your name?"

"It's what I'd do for anyone." The girl said. "My name is Aisuru Senka, by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"What's it like here?" Brian asked.

"Well, it's pretty much the same as how it was for me in life." Aisuru said. "But it's been a while since I was alive. I've lost track of the years that have passed back in the world of the living, but here it's been about three hundred years. I don't age. Nobody does."

"When were you alive?" Brian asked.

"I believe you know it as the Feudal Era." Aisuru answered. Brian nodded. For now, he could accept this. His vision had almost fully returned, and now he could clearly see the girl. She looked to be about eighteen, Brian's age. Her outfit was a simple black kimono, suggesting she was Japanese. Her name sounded Japanese enough. Her facial features were those of an American, and her skin was pale. Aisuru's mouth and nose were covered by a black facemask, and a tattered black cloak hung about her shoulders. Her eyes were, of course, emerald green, and they sparkled with kindness. Aisuru's features, however, were also quite odd in places.

Aisuru's hair was as white as snow, long and flowing in the slightest breeze, reaching to her lower back. On top of her head were two similarly colored cat ears, only a bit more round, like those of a large feline. Of course, she also had a tail. Snow-white fur covered it, black circular markings dotting it. As Aisuru's long sleeves moved, Brian saw that her arms had similar black ring-shaped tattoos, although her right arm was bandaged from the elbow down. Aisuru's left leg was similarly bandaged, beginning at her knee. Brian was tempted to ask why, but something held him back. He could always ask later. As they walked along, Brian became aware of a pair of crimson eyes glaring at them from the depths of the forest.

"Did you see that?" He asked Aisuru. She nodded, whispering to him as they kept walking.

"If it attacks, get behind me." Aisuru said. "I don't know of how well you can fight, but you'd be no match for it unarmed and in this state." Brian was confused by this statement. What manner of creature was it that followed them? It was not long before he found that out.

The crimson eyes had disappeared from behind them, but now they had appeared in front of them. A loud snarling and rustling in the bushes reached their ears as the creature emerged. Aisuru put Brian safely on the ground behind her, locking eyes with the beast. It was easily twice her size, over ten feet tall, and looked as if it weighed over a ton. Covered in matted, tangled brown fur, the creature's powerful muscles rippled visibly as it moved. Retractable claws came unsheathed, revealing their lethally sharp hooks. Two razor-sharp tusks protruded from the sides of its mouth, and serrated fangs made for tearing apart enemies were revealed as it roared at them. The creature's body was similar to a bear aside from this, but slightly more humanoid, and far more muscular.

"What is that thing?" Brian asked in surprise.

"It's a monster." Aisuru said simply. "There are a lot of them here."

"And you're going to try to fight it?!" Brian shouted, wondering how sane this woman was.

"No, I'm going to kill it." Aisuru said, turning back to face the creature. Brian stared at Aisuru's back, taken aback by her. Clearly she was used to fighting, but Brian didn't know how she could handle something like this. Then he noticed something odd.

Aisuru's shadow was moving. Flickering and waving, almost like fire. It also looked as if it were growing longer very rapidly. The sun was directly overhead, but Aisuru's shadow was now longer than the creature ahead of them was tall. Its shape had also changed into that of a legless dragon, two red eyes opening as if it were no longer a shadow. And then it reared up. Black scales glistened in the sunlight as the solid dragon writhed about in the air behind Aisuru, attached to her feet as if it were still a shadow. Brian gasped as Aisuru thrust her right hand forward, the dragon flying straight at the monster ahead of them. The jaws snapped shut on the monster's arm as it tried to slash at the dragon with its claws. A sickening crunch followed as the dragon bit off the monster's left paw, throwing it aside. The monster reeled backwards, snarling and foaming at the mouth from pain and spattering black blood on the ground. The dragon reared up, opening its mouth and releasing a stream of emerald-green flames, incinerating the monster. Its job done and the threat gone, the dragon floated back to take up its position as Aisuru's normal shadow once again. Brian wasn't quite sure how to react to this, so he continued following Aisuru as she wordlessly led him onward, partially because he was afraid of what would become of him should he refuse her help.