FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

This was a fairly quick chapter, more for the sake of making progress than anything, but I'm decently happy with the result. Once again though, if you'd like to make comments or voice your opinion, feel free to do so in the comments below.

Thanks. :3

Chapter 2

Down the Hatch

Naraki woke for the second time that morning and let out a long yawn. His sleep had been restless. He remembered dreaming, but the details were fuzzy. He decided not to worry about it, plus the smell of something cooking was too much to resist. He threw back the covers and swung his legs out of his small bed. After letting out another yawn he rose to his feet and dressed for the day, opting to wear the traditional red tunic instead of his usual mishmash of pre-war clothing. He did up the small silver buttons up the front and fastened a leather belt around his waist, clipping his sword on as he went.

His stomach growled loudly as he sniffed the air, his nose twitching on the end of his muzzle like it was possessed. He smiled at the thought of food; second to Inari, food was the best thing for improving his mood. He began to think of the various dishes from the day before, drooling slightly as he did so, but he was interrupted by a soft knock on his door.

"Naraki," asked his mother tentatively, "Are you awake? Breakfast is nearly finished."

"Yeah mom, I'm up." He said. "I'll be out in a minute." Seemingly satisfied with his answer, her footsteps receded down the hall. He was about to follow suit when he remembered something else. He turned back and scooped up a small pocket watch off of his nightstand. It wasn't anything valuable like the one Inari found, but a simple metal watch on a long chain made of a similar metal. What gave this one its value was the simple fact that it still functioned.

Naraki flipped the watch over so its back was facing him and inserted a small copper coin into the small slot in the middle. He gave it three quick turns and held it up to his ear. The watch whirred to life, ticking steadily. Naraki gave a satisfied smile and adjusted the time before he slipped the watch into his pocket along with the coin, clipping the end of the chain to the edge of his chest pocket. He rubbed his eyes and yawned again, trying to dispel the last bit of sleep from his body before walking across the room, opening the door, and walking down the dimly lit hallway. There were only two other doors, the one on his left lead into the kitchen, and the one on the right lead into his mother's bedroom.

He promptly chose the door on the left and entered the small kitchen. His mother was standing over the wash basin, slicing the last of the vegetables for breakfast. She looked up at him and smiled as he entered the room, and he smiled right back. He took a seat at the small, round table in the center of the room and waited. It wasn't long before she brought a large platter to the table; on it was a large pile of bacon and potatoes. She set it down and began to dish out food on both of their plates, heaping more than was absolutely necessary on to his, but Naraki didn't mind at all.

He began to wolf down his food at incredible speeds. Even with all he had eaten the night before, he was ravenous. He ate everything on his plate and even found himself going for seconds. By the time he had finished his stomach was bulging slightly. He let out a soft burp and blushed furiously under his fur.

"Excuse me mom." He said embarrassedly, but she just laughed and said,

"It's fine honey, I'll take it as a compliment. Now go on, Inari came by before you woke up. He wants you to stop by his house this morning, he seemed worried." She got up from the table and took a small leather satchel and handed to him.

"I made a lunch for you and Inari. I want you to have fun today." She said, "Now you should get going, Inari is probably waiting for you." With a nod Naraki took the pack and gave him mom a hug before saying thank you and dashing out the door, giving one final goodbye before starting his walk to Inari's.

The walk was uneventful, dreadfully so. Naraki's mind began to wander as he walked. He ambled forward, drawing his sword from its sheath to swing at nearby bushes and tree limbs. He did this for a while longer before growing bored of that as well. He heaved a great sigh and sheathed his sword. Not much later he turned onto the small side path that led to Inari's house. He approached the house to find Inari pacing back and forth in front of the small garden in front of his home. He looked up as Naraki approached and gave him an irritated look.

"What took you so long?" He snapped, "I've been waiting all morning." Naraki gave Inari an incredulous look.

"I came here as soon as I finished breakfast. You can't have been waiting that long. And besides that, you didn't even tell me what you wanted, so just relax." Naraki said with a frown. Inari took a deep breath and let it out slowly, visibly making an effort to do just that. After a moment Inari finally spoke.

"All right, here's the deal. I've found something that I want you to see." Inari hesitated a moment. "And well... I kind of need your help. You're better with old things than I am, will you help me?" This caught Naraki's attention. If it was something to do with the human's old technology he was definitely interested. Human tech was a hobby of his and Inari knew it.

Inari must have taken the excited look on Naraki's face as a yes, because he motioned for him to follow and Inari walked onto a small trail leading westward into the dense forest surrounding the clearing in which his home sat. Great, more walking, Naraki thought, inwardly cringing at the thought, but in the end he made the decision to go, so he set off at a trot to catch up with Inari.

---

Naraki couldn't help but get frustrated. Not only had they been walking for more than an hour, but Inari refused to say anything more about where they were going. The small path had been growing steadily more overgrown for a while and Naraki guessed that they weren't even on and actual path any more. The bramble raked his skin through his fur and countless amounts of burrs were tangled up in his tunic and fur. He was finally about to say something to Inari when he noticed that he had already stopped and was motioning his paw for Naraki to come up by him.

Naraki pushed through the last of the undergrowth and emerged into a familiar clearing. His dream rushed back to him as he scanned the clearing. The trees leaned in on all sides, creating a shaded dome that encompassed the entire clearing. Everything looked exactly as it had in his dream, except instead of a small human pup, in the middle of the clearing sat a large metal construct. It was perfectly round and jutted up from the ground about a four and a half feet. The top was attached with what looked like large, reinforced hinges. The top itself was also perfectly round, but instead of being flat on the top it was dome-shaped. There was no handle or latch to speak of, but Naraki knew the humans wouldn't have made it that simple. He approached the metal dome and began to search all over. Inari walked over as well and said.

"It's no use. I checked everywhere." But even as he said it, Naraki found what he was looking for. On the side opposite from the hinges, below the rim was a square panel, built directly into the side. He gave it a small push and it emitted a loud click and folded open. It flipped downward and sat like a small table. The surface was black and perfectly flat, but it didn't stay that way long. It flickered for a moment before displaying the outline of a picture not unlike his paw. Naraki gave a noncommittal shrug and placed his paw inside the outline. It gave a small beep and another slot opened next to the current one and spit out a small plastic card that contained something that surprised him greatly. On the card was a picture of him and all of the information you could possibly need to identify him.

Name: Naraki Wolf Height: 6' 1"

Eyes: Blue/Gold Hair: Grey/White

Reason for visit: Unknown Clearance Level: White

Race: ???

He stared, the shock of his discovery robbing him of his words. Inari looked at him quizzically, not sure what to make of Naraki's reaction. He couldn't see what was on the small piece of plastic Naraki was holding in his paw. As Naraki stood immobile, Inari got tired of waiting. He nudged Naraki from his place in front of the small console and placed his paw within the outline. Another beep issued from the machine and another card was ejected from the slot. Inari's reaction was similar to Naraki's; he stood staring at the card, not quite believing what he was seeing.

Name: Inari Winters Height: 6' 0"

Eyes: Black Hair: Grey/White

Reason for visit: Unknown Clearance Level: White

Race: ???

That along with a small picture of Inari's face made up the entirety of the small plastic card he held in his paw. Both Naraki and Inari were woke from there shock from a cool female's voice that issued from the machine.

"Thank you for visiting Lab installation 500036114. We hope you have a wonderful time touring our facility." The domed top let out a hiss that made them both jump backwards, before opening and silently gliding open on its hinges. The console on the front snapped shut and humming sound could be heard from deep within the darkness. It gradually became louder as the source of the noise drew nearer with each second.

Naraki and Inari stood transfixed as a large cylinder rose from the hole. It stopped when it reached about eight feet from the ground. Two glass doors opened simultaneously, and with a small ding a large metal panel slid from the base of the doors and rested on the ground, providing a means to strp up and through the doors. As the contraption ceased to move, they both regained use of their bodies.

"Umm," Said Naraki tentatively, "What now?

I don't know." Inari replied slowly. "I'm not sure what that is, but it can't be safe." Reverting back to his usual self, Naraki smiled mischievously.

"I think we should go in." He said, but the look on Inari's face told him he'd rather jump into a pit of snakes than get into that human-made deathtrap. Naraki frowned.

"If you don't want to come with that's fine, but I'm going in there with OR without you." Naraki turned and stalked toward the open doors.

"Wait." Inari mumbled, "I'll go with you, but you have to promise me we'll turn back at the first sign of trouble." Naraki turned back and gave him his best smile. He hurried behind Inari and wasted no time shepherding him past the glass doors and into the tube. Naraki looked around and found another small panel full of buttons. Picking the button farthest down, he pushed it. The ramp slid back into its housing and the glass doors slid shut. A small overhead light pulsed to life and the elevator began to descend.

They got one last glimpse of the shady clearing before it slid up and out of view, giving them only a smooth metal wall to look at through the glass doors.

Thank you dear readers if you made it this far. I really DO hope you liked it, but I really couldn't fault you if you didn't. :/