FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Sitting himself next to the unconscious Seagull, Scruffy breathes deeply, taking in the meat of Hound's breakdown of events. The Cougar closes his eyes and tilts his head back, as the weight of the situation washes over him, Hound hovering above his front. "So, what you're saying is, we were all attacked by aliens or some such thing," Scruffy says, his eyes still closed as he continues to wrap his brain around everything.

"I don't know that they're aliens or not," Hound barks, looking back to the screens lining the room, his eyes lightly trembling, "but I know that I've never seen or heard of anything like them before. They're demons for all I care! I just know what I watched on the screens here."

Looking up to the exasperated Fox with a piercing gaze, the Cougar asks, "How do the rest of us know you saw what you say you did?" Standing up and meeting Hound's eyes, Scruffy continues, "All I see are quiet faces on these screens; none of which have any blemishes or blood stains. From the events you described, I'm shocked that none of us have blood from anybody else on us."

"Do you think this is a movie or something," Hound exclaims, slapping the side of his own head, condescendingly. "Wake up! No one ever bleeds that much in real life. You'd have to put far too much force when severing an artery to shoot streams of blood, you daft Cat!" With his last comment, Hound bites down on his lip and looks away as the Cougar straightens his back and looks down on him. Waiting for the inevitable angry blow from Scruffy, Hound tucks his ears back and closes his eyes, wincing with every hot breath felt from the Cougar's muzzle. To his surprise, Scruffy simply walks around Hound and stops just short of the opposite wall, staring into the mess of wires and piping that had been the doorway.

"How do we get back outside," Scruffy asks, staring intensely at the wall.

Turning to the determined Mountain Lion, his mouth agape and head shaking, "I don't know. Leena and I aren't even sure how we got inside." Hound and Leena look to each other, both nodding before the shaken stewardess breaks away to tend to the still unconscious Seagull. Watching Leena inspect a few of the Gull's wounds, Hound pointedly says, "You know we should try and get him awake before we even consider doing anything else."

"Trent wouldn't be much use to us," Scruffy says rather coldly, still inspecting the dark clump of wiring in front of himself.. "He was having some sort of psychotic breakdown when I was dragging him through the snow. I couldn't even make out what he was saying in all the noise of the wind, but he just kept screaming something."

"I'd imagine knowing your plane crashed does a number on you," Leena snaps over her shoulder to Scruffy.

Looking to the upset Raccoon, suddenly standing less self assured, Scruffy apologizes. "I'm sorry. I know you in particular are probably feeling worse than any of us."

"You could say that," Leena says, attending to a nasty looking cut on Trenton's forehead. "I only lost the friends I worked with in this flight; woke up in a mountain range that shouldn't even exist in our flight plan." Leena's words trail off as tears begin to swell in her eyes. "I shouldn't be here! I should be at home with my husband by now, enjoying some much needed time off."

Scruffy's steely eyes soften as he listens to Leena's profession; clearing his throat, the Mountain Lion offers, "I should be beside my nephew's bed, myself." Wiping off Trenton's brow, Leena turns back to Scruffy, her eyes still shimmering with tears. Ironically smirking, the Cougar continues, "We're not sure what is wrong with him, but we do know that as much family as possible should be there for him." Feeling a lump rise in his throat, Scruffy stops talking and resumes feeling around the wall beside him. Stifling a deep sob, the Cougar stoically straightens his posture, doing all he can to remain focused. "I think we can all agree that we should all be somewhere else."

Quietly standing in between Scruffy and Leena, Hound finds himself feeling as alone as he was climbing the mountain side. The air thins around the Fox's head, their heartfelt confessions compelling him to think back on his own situation. There isn't anyone, or anywhere Hound really had to be: he was on his way back from vacation, looking forward to spending the last few days of it in the quiet of his one bedroom apartment. He lives alone and works an evening shift at a call center, living far away from any of his family or college friends. He won't be missed for a while, he feared.

Steering himself away from his inner thoughts, Hound joins Scruffy's search for a door handle. Closely inspecting every pipe and wire trailing under his digits, Scruffy murmurs to Hound, "You've gotten pretty quiet."

"I'm fine," Hound determinedly says, his eyes darting all over as he quickly sweeps his paws over the wall. "I just want to go home."

"Fair enough," Scruffy says, poking his claws in between a tightened clump of wires. The Cougar continues trailing his claws between the wires, hoping to find something underneath them. "There has got to be something here. Some kind of working part."

"What do you hope to do once you get outside," Hound pries listlessly trailing is paws along the cool notches of wiring and smooth pipes. "It isn't like there's anywhere to go."

"No offense Fox, but I don't feel content sitting on my tail in someone's hellish looking closet space. You're welcome to stay here and wait for whatever will happen." Scruffy stays his paw on the wall and looks over his shoulder, noting all the screens quietly monitoring the other passengers. "This whole place is too creepy for me. I feel we stand just as good a chance surviving the cold as we would waiting here for whoever will be on their way, don't you?"

Hound nods once to Scruffy, lowering his head and leaning it to the wall. "I just don't want to die out here. I mean, it's not like there's that much for me back home, but what is there is a lot better than running into any beast." Holding his breath, Hound imagines what will happen to the other passengers. Looking from his periphery to their still faces portrayed on the monitors, he wonders if they have already been killed and they are all merely watching a recording of them. Remembering back to the recording of the flight's crash, it could certainly be possible. What ever the case, Hound didn't want to think of it anymore.

Suddenly the silence is broken inside the dank room of wire, as the monitors' stagnant faces change from an almost peaceful stillness to a grisly tormented. Every screen, once devoid of any noise, blares the terrible echoes of all the captive passengers, their voices so great the monitors' speakers barely hold their own. The explosion of sound stirs the Seagull, Trenton, back to consciousness, as he and the other three hold their ears down to stave off the grotesque symphony. Hound and Scruffy both manage to make it to their feet and clumsily tumble back towards the frightened Raccoon, Leena, as she buries her head against Trenton's chest. The noise escalates further, sending Hound's head spinning in all directions, as he tearfully stares into the contorted faces of the creatures' captives. With as little warning as when their plane had crashed, the room quakes violently as all the monitors are filled with a bright light, engulfing the whole of the screens.

All the wires along the walls begin to retract, and pipes collapse into themselves, all traveling upwards to a center point in the ceiling. The light of the monitors pours over the world around the group; the room quickly disappears into the singularity of wire and steel hovering above their heads. His eyes being the first to readjust, Hound continues to look around feverishly, still holding his ears as gales of wind and the sounds of scraping metals continue to pain them all. As the last of the metal retracts, the singularity fades into the light, disappearing completely. Slowly, the blinding light turns to a blue sky, and all the awful sounds fade, like none of it were ever there.

Scruffy and Hound slowly release their paws from their ears, each with a bit of blood trailing down their wrists. The cool of the winds' breath eases the burning in their ears, before becoming stinging in its own right, and the two of them snap their attention to Leena and Trenton. Both lay on their back, the Raccoon still buried in the Gull's chest, crying silently as her own hearing slowly returns to her.

"Is everyone alright," Hound howls over the prone couple. "Can you two sit up?"

"Dude, just pick them up," Scruffy says slapping the back of his paw to Hound's arm, before hauling Trenton and Leena up. "Come on you two. We're all apparently free right now, so we should seize the day." Leena slowly steadies her breath and forces her eyes to open for the Cougar. Shooting a quick smile between each other, Scruffy and Hound move in to bring the two of them to their feet. As they lift them up, Leena lets out a shrill scream, throwing both Scruffy and Hound to hold their ears in pain again. "Damn it," Scruffy exclaims, holding his ears, "We just got done with this shit woman!"

Unaffected by the Cougar's yowling, Leena continues to let out short cries, cupping both paws to her muzzle and pressing herself firmly against Trenton, who also seems to be looking over Scruffy and Hound in horror. Without asking further, the Fox and Cougar turn around to see two spindly pillars behind them; suspended between them is the mangled corpse of what looks like a female Sugar Glider. Though it's difficult to make out her frame, the striped fur markings are unmistakable, especially to Hound, who recognizes her as the missing survivor of their group.

Venturing a few steps forward Hound freezes beside one of the pillars, unable to think enough to even feel ill staring at the body. Her arms and legs are split open by terribly large S-shaped hooks, holding her tightly above the ground. The webbing between her limbs seems to have been chewed and flayed, barely still connected by thin strands of flesh, like threads of stretched fabric. Her tail is completely missing, and the palms and digits of her tiny hands are gashed open; their skin peeled back until the bones peered through the muscle. All that remained truly recognizable was her head, which was nearly unharmed. The whole sight seems unfathomable to the now trembling Fox, but there it is, hanging above his head.

A sudden gust of wind behind the gored victim lands a few droplets of still warm blood on Hound's snout, snapping him out of his stare. Batting at his muzzle wildly to get the spot off from it, Scruffy grabs his arms and stays his feverish outburst. Eyes wide and pupils big as saucers, Hound limply points to the Sugar Glider, "That was... was"

"That's what," Scruffy exclaims, shaking Hound to snap from his stupor. "That's what, Hound?"

"There were five of us that lived through the crash," Hound struggles to say. "Five of us."

Scruffy turns to look at the unblemished head of the young Glider, stifling the urge to vomit. "She was with us when we left the plane," Scruffy manages to ask. Hound simply nods and looks to his feet, while Scruffy's thoughts swirl high above his mind's eye. Looking apologetically over to Leena and Trenton, the Cougar shakes his head, feeling completely lost in their situation.

"What's going on," Leena cries out.

"Where are we," Trenton finally asks.

The question resonates between the other three, their eyes sinking inward as they realize there is no blizzard as there had been. Twisting himself around, Hound exclaims, "We're not on the mountain top anymore!"

The four slowly walk toward each other, huddling close together against the bitter gales, aghast that they have somehow descended the mountain range they landed in, which now sits across the horizon far from them. Outside of the distant range in one direction, there is nothing. No structures to speak of; barely any rise in elevation; nothing but a vast valley of dark ice beneath their feet. Great fissures punctuate the harsh bleakness of the landscape, promising a grisly, chilling end for those that may misstep on the ice. The only solace seems to be the sun, which at least hangs high, unhindered by the storm clouds they had all trudged through atop the mountains.

"What the hell," Scruffy mutters, at an utter loss for words. "What's even going on here?"

"Why us? Why me," Hound cries, looking back up to the Sugar Glider's corpse, the mountain range ominously sitting behind her. "Is this going to happen to all of us?"

"Would you calm down," Trenton implores to the shaken Fox. "We're all scared here, okay! Let's just try to focus on surviving. I mean, hell, we all survived a plane crash, so that's gotta count for something right?"

"We were allowed to survive! I'm sure if those things out there wanted us dead they would have done what they did to this poor woman right here." Hound barks to the Gull, motioning to the suspended corpse.

"Whatever man," Trenton says dismissively. "I will take my miracles when I can get 'em. Besides, if what I heard you say is true, then she survived the crash too. That means we should be thinking of what we need to watch out for next, because what ever it is, it can't be good."

Scruffy smirks and nods to Trenton's assertiveness. "So," the Cougar chimes in, "I think we can all agree that we should get a move on and find, or make, some kind of shelter. Shall we?" Scruffy turns and starts walking back toward the mountain range.

"Woah, why are you gonna go back that way," Trenton asks.

"Because it's freezing, and if we want some sound shelter then we'd be better off searching for a cave at the base of a mountain than the middle of an icy valley."

"Couldn't we just make an igloo or something?"

Scruffy laughs and turns to face the confused Gull. "Look around you. There's not even large deposits of snow out here. You'd be better off hiding inside some of these giant cracks in the ice, and good luck with that one my friend." Starting back on his way to the mountain range, Scruffy holds his leather jacket close into himself stepping next to the pillars suspending the Sugar Glider. Keeping himself focused for the trip at hand, he pauses briefly only to pay a respectful nod to the unfortunate woman and steps forward.

The moment the Cougar's pad touches the ground beyond the pillars, the ice splits open and pulls outward. Jostled by the sudden quake Scruffy loses his footing and collapses along the opening's edge, desperately digging his claws into the ice, hanging halfway over the mouth of the icy pit. Scruffy's claws quickly sliding down the ice towards oblivion, Hound lunges for his paws. Sliding beside the edge, the frantic Vulpine grabs hold of one of the pillars and takes the Puma's forearm with his free paw. Retracting his claws and quickly grasping onto Hound's wrist, Scruffy pulls himself forward, clearing over the edge of the drop, which is still opening wider and wider. Dragging himself up to Hound, Scruffy rolls over onto his back, panting heavily and holding his chest.

Sitting up, Scruffy looks out to the newly formed drop, now at least 200 feet across. "That almost really sucked." Rolling to his side, he pats Hound on the waist, as he lay under the pillar, still holding onto it with every ounce of strength he has. "Thanks for the save, Hound."

Hound slowly nods and exhales heavily, slowly prying his grip from the twisted pillar. Sitting back, Hound curls his legs up to himself and stares out toward the mountain range, now even further than before. "So, what shelter can we find now?"

"I don't know," Scruffy says, his lungs stinging from the cold air. "I guess we can't go that way though."

"You two alright," Trenton asks, holding out a helping wing for Scruffy.

"Oh, ya know... just fine. I only almost met God." The Cougar pulls himself up, coughing a bit from his stinging gasps for breath. "I can hardly believe that the whole side of that valley just broke away from us."

"Looks like there's more to it than just that," Leena says, pointing downward at the chasm's sheer wall.

Nestled within the wall of ice are several dark circles, or spheres; inside each there is something steadily pulsing. Their form is difficult to make out, but they seem to be snake-like, coiled up tightly within their confines. Scruffy and the others kneel beside Hound, who is staring directly into one centered from his location. "Are those the things you were talking about," Scruffy whispers into Hound's ear.

Hound slowly shakes his head, "No. These are something else."

Just as those words retreat from the Fox's lips, all of the coiled bunches start to freely unwind themselves, twitching back and forth like giant worms under the ice's surface. Instinctively gathering to their feet, all four of the group back away from the edge, carefully watching the 'worms' writhe and meet one another inside of the ice. With a surreal, voracious motion, each 'worm' meets end to end with each other, combining with its partners, wriggling ever wildly as every new 'piece' attaches. Soon all of the slithering creatures combine and form together in giant pulsing ball, menacing at the group from the distance.

"I really don't like where this is going," Trenton comments. As if in response to his remark, the whole lot of worms bursts through the wall of ice, sending giant frozen chunks raining down all around them. Crouching down and shielding one another from debris, all watch as the coiled mass wraps itself around the suspended corpse of the Sugar Glider. Squeezing tightly around her flayed, lifeless body, the worms split open, revealing terrible mouths lined with rows of serrated teeth; the mouths viciously clamp down all over the body, severing her from the hooks in a mist of blood. With just as great a speed as it had bursting from the wall of ice, the torrid creature recedes back from whence it came. The tentacled beast burrows fiercely into the wall of ice, sliding deeper and deeper inward until there is no trace of it, or its quarry.

Stunned by what just transpired, the group say nothing, nor scream: they simply flee. Getting as far away as possible from that 'thing' is all any one of them can focus on, even if it means they have to venture further into the icy void. Taking the clearest path from any other canyons, or massive breaks in the ice, they push forward as far as their legs will allow them. Before long Trenton collapses, feeling dizzy from the pain of his own past injuries getting to him. "Wait," he calls out, terrified they will all leave him. "Don't! I can't go on running." To his surprise, they all stop, each already winded; the cold air doing no favors for any of their lungs.

"Don't worry, man," Scruffy huffs, doubled over, holding his knees. "We're gonna stick together here. Woo... just need to take a minute or two."

"What the hell was that thing," Leena screams, holding her stomach and placing a paw over her mouth. "That couldn't have been real!"

"It apparently is," Hound yelps, lurched forward on all fours. "I don't know what it could be, but it's sure as hell real." Shaking his head, trying to deny the memory of what just happened, Hound calls out, "We need to get out from the open. We need to make some kind of shelter!"

"Where do you propose, Fox," the Cougar defiantly demands. "We're out in the middle of a frozen wasteland, there are apparently giant tentacle things living inside the ice, and to top it off, we can't get to the mountains, which is our best bet for survival."

Hound looks up to the frustrated Mountain Lion, hoping to be able to reason to him; just as he stands to talk, the ground beneath them all breaks. Sliding down into the dark abyss, all four claw and clamber at the rush of ice behind them, hoping somehow to swim against the tide of the fall. Merely sending themselves into a spinning rush, the bunch find light fading above, as the ground swallows them whole and closes its mouth. Soon, each plummet into freezing water; as everyone surfaces they call out and splash to gain each others' attention. Meeting up with one another, they swim onward, struggling with the weight of their soaked clothing pulling them down.

"Here, come to me," Leena calls out over the splashes, "I found land."

The others quickly guide themselves to Leena and pull out from the dank, wintry pool. Although there is no light, all breathe a sigh of relief that they didn't just fall to their doom, or meet up with a mass of nightmarish tentacles.

"Nice work Raccoon. Found us some solid ground," Scruffy laughs, knocking his knuckle to the apparent slab of rock they lay upon.

"We need to get out of these clothes," Hound says through trembling lips. "Gotta dry off and warm next to each other."

"He's right. Trent. Leena. We gotta strip down and get a little personal here."

Scruffy quickly takes off his shirt and pants, having already lost his jacket in the trip down. Shivering almost uncontrollably, he helps Hound and the others start to get their own soaked articles off their fur. Trenton manages on his own and is soon shaking off his feathers. Leena got her blouse unbuttoned but can't get her slacks, so Scruffy obliges her with a helpful claw to snip off her button, to get her started.

The four clump together as soon as they could, all trembling from the cold and the fear. Each of them bury deep in each others' chest, breathing heavily and locking their legs together to keep stray wind from passing up between them all. Their breaths eventually steady, as each tiny gust of air become warmer. Tremors receding from their limbs, they eventually all begin to pass out, collectively feeling alright, for the moment: not safe, but alright.

Hound's eyes close as Scruffy's do, his brain pounding against his skull, filled with awful memories and fears he could never put words to. Unable to grant himself an audience any longer, the soaked Fox finally succumbs to sleep, quietly muttering obscenities to himself as he drifts off to some new nightmares.