FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

A month later, James had kept up his regular routines of swinging his sword at an armour-coated dummy, as well as lifting weights and doing sit-ups or push-ups throughout the days to the point of exhaustion. He was getting a little further now and again depending on his mood, as well as his slowly increasing fitness. One day, Glenn surprised him with an invitation. "Wouldst thou care for a walk in the forest?" The way he said it, James imagined he was being asked on a date, chuckling at such an idea, saying: "Sure, that'd be nice." "Relaxing shortly while training will not harm thy body too much. Now come with me, and bring thy gladius." Taking the short sword, James and Glenn walked out into the woods around his home. A beautifully sunlit day, the light shafting between trees through tiny holes in the treetops, dotting the two with miniature spots of clear whitish-yellow that glared off of them and the ferns around them. It was a lonely-feeling forest, where few animals could be heard within, which saddened the raptor slightly. "It's a nice place." "Indeed, though it feels rather quiet today." "Yeah, you felt that too?" The atmosphere was suspect, and James began to think something was up in why he was being taken out through the forest with his tutor. Was there going to be a test? He braced himself in case of such. Glenn could sense it. "Why dost thou prepare thy blade?" "I'm getting a bad feeling about this." "And yet we are in a land of sunlit beauty where birds sing freely." "But it's too quiet...I don't know I just have a bad feeling." "Calm thyself James. A spring wound up too tightly will snap and become useless." He took the words to heart, trying to unwind himself a little, but keeping his alertness up as good as he could. While he was conflicted between the states of being relaxed and being highly aware, Glenn kept himself stoic, seemingly searching for something. After a good walk, noises were apparent nearby, some sort of commotion, raucous high-pitched laughter that invited them closer.

In a small clearing were five impish looking creatures. Fat heads, pantalooned bodies, huge pointy ears sticking out like handlebars. They seemed to be feasting, though on what remained unclear. Nearby they heard a whimpering, a shaggy brown dog trapped in a cage cowering from the mocking imps who giggled and teased it. "Hehehe, when we gonna have him?" "You already just had one!" "Yeah but that one was kinda stringy, I wanna know what this one tastes like!" "Eh, maybe later, gotta spread out our rations right?" "Oh yeah, ration alright, haha!" The two knew the situation clearly and Glenn nodded to James murmuring: "I shall accost them whilst thou protects the hound shouldst they try to harm it. I shall jump out first, whilst thou shalt flank around the side through the trees, so they do not see thee until thou art beside their hostage." "Right." Waiting for them to be in the midst of laughter, Glenn leapt from the shadows before them, while James ran around to the side in the midst of the ensuing kerfuffle. "Wha-who the hell are you!?!" "Release thy hostage, vermin!" "Oh yeah, or what frog legs!?" "Then I shall cut thee down." "Wait isn't he tha-" "Shut it, I ain't scared of no frog! You think yer hot shit dontcha!? Take this!" One of the imps ran forwards with a short sword ready to stab Glenn, but he was easily deflected. His last few swings were easily blocked by the knight before the imp was cleanly decapitated. Glenn used the recoil of a deflecting block to spin his body round and cleave the Masamune through the imp's neck, severing it completely into a bloody pustule. "OH SHIT!" "Dost thou still wish to test my blade?" "Y-y-yer just lucky our boss ain't around to mess you up!" "By all means, invite him here! My duty shall become far easier if vermin like thee came to seek thy death." James was right beside the dog cage and readily brought out his short sword in case any of them tried to grab the dog. And one soon did, backing away towards James who grabbed the imp around the neck and kept the sword against his back, the midget's head level with his chest around 4 feet tall or so. "Ah ah ah, where do you think YOU'RE going matey?" "WHA-WHO THE-" "Shut it you li'l bastard or I'm gonna stab you through the back of your head." "Good work," said Glenn. "Now...my friend and I do not wish to end this in a bloody resolution, so answer me this. Where didst thou find the hound?" "H-he was from Porre, we took him off the outskirts!" "I see...let us make a deal." "Wh-whassat!?" "Thou shalt release thy hostage, and swear to never capture another innocent pet again, and I shall let thee live." "Y-yeah? Really?" "But if I find thee again with another pet impounded...then I shall kill thee without hesitation." "Y-y-you don't scare me, I'll rip ya apart!"

Another imp came forwards with a large spiky club, one as big as himself as he tried to swing at Glenn with all of his might. James chuckled at how he had done such a thing before, recognising the errors now that Glenn had taught him. The imp however did not get so much as a lesson, but rather an execution when Glenn deflected the club to make it swing farther in its intended course, overbalancing the imp easily before cleaving down the beast's back. A shrill scream of anguish was his reward, his foe's spine literally sliced in two, the crackling of bone loud within the woods. "Now..." Glenn did not even flinch from what he had just done, his sword aimed at the next three terrified imps who remained alive. "Thy former friends hath shown thee grave errors when facing me. Dost thou still intend to test thy luck and skill?" "J-just give 'em the fuckin' dog, it ain't worth this!" "Shut up, I'm thinkin' here!" "A wise choice." "...a-a-alright we give ya the dog, but we come back with our boss an' yer gonna be DEAD!" "Then tell him that I await his presence fervently, and to match swords against him truly. I hope that his skills exceed those of thee." "O-o-oh yeah, oh you bet, he's gonna murder you!" "Hand over the key of the cage to my friend." The head of the imps slowly went towards James. But at that moment, the leader saw a chance and tried to rush James with a dagger, ready to stab him. The raptor threw his imp hostage away and just managed to deflect it with his gladius before the two began to parry and strike at each other. The height was not advantageous to either of them, between a small but somewhat skilled imp and an unskilled raptor, who did his best in allowing his instincts to take over after a month's training. As routine as it had become, parrying was still not within him truly, and the imp got lucky enough to slash across James' hip. But eventually a chance came, a second of delay from his opponent where James parried the dagger that aimed for his legs once again. Striking the midget's arm to one side, leaving his foe wide open, he plunged straight into the eye, twisting beforehand to screw it right into the back of the skull. "FUCK YOU!" The gladius burst right through the retina, popping it like a balloon, the goo sliding down the face much to the dying cry of the head imp. His last tears gently watered down the blade as the point shoved into the brain. A mixture of all sorts of disgusting slimes leaked from the socket, before James kicked the imp off of his blade and took the key from the body.

The other two imps ran away immediately in fear, their weapons still with them but nevertheless retreating as James wiped his blade in the grass and opened the lock. The dog still cowered in fear of the two newcomers. Glenn gently offered his gloved hand to the mutt, speaking in a soothing tone. "Come my young pup, we shall return thee to thy owner soon." Somehow the dog could sense the goodness within the knight, and carefully walked out towards Glenn who petted it happily. James smiled, relieved they had rescued it, but slightly disturbed by his rather violent victory. Despite what had just occurred, and to all that had happened before, he was wondering how many people he'd killed in his life, at least when up close and personal. He didn't really count the rats in Arkham, especially when they were far away enough to not feel so...personal, and he wasn't even sure if he had killed any or not. "Well...um...th-that was pretty good." "Indeed. I saw those imps before whilst scouting but I decided to invite thee along for security, shouldst they try to harm him." "Good thing ya did. Poor guy, what kinda sick bastards would eat a pet?" "The desperate or the malicious, my pupil." "Well either way he's safe, let's get him back to that town." "Indeed, he shall accompany us at our side. I believe the hound shalt not run from us." "Alright then." They made their way to Porre, dog obediently in tow, following Glenn with a gaze of love and absolute gratitude and skipping around the frog with happy barks, making James smile more. He had never really seen such a dog before, not back in his world when all the pets were now anthros the size of humans and had equal rights. He wasn't sure what to make of this, but he did start to wonder on something. He had only seen humans and monsters, as well as one robot that wasn't from this time period. What was Glenn exactly? Was he a former monster like those ogres and imps, taking the path of the hero to amend for previous wrongdoings? Was he from some sort of amphibious clan of swordsmen? He had never asked Glenn of his background and why he was that way, merely assuming that he had always been a large frog. But now he wondered more on what his origins were. He resolved to ask him one day, when he felt they had a comfortable enough level of friendship to do so. Nearing the late afternoon, the two had reached Porre and Glenn went to the nearest town guard to return the dog to see if anyone had reported it missing. In fact, they did have one report of a missing dog fitting such a description who went missing yesterday, and that hopefully this was the same mutt. With gratitude, Glenn left town to head back the way, with James asking: "Hey uh, aren't you gonna wait around for the owner sir?" "I would prefer to return and train thee more." "But what if we might get a reward or something?" "And perhaps inconvenience a poor old lady with cupboards bare? A hero does not demand a reward, they are offered rewards by the grateful. The truest reward lies within enriching the lives of others." "Yeaaah I suppose..." Returning back to the Cursed Woods within the twilight hour, James began to train some more, not tired at all from the lengthly walk and minor random encounter from today. Strengthening his legs somewhat after he exercised his arms, they decided not to do any sword training today.

James however began to ponder on something. For some reason he was a little shook up by the fight with the imp. Maybe it was the violent end he gave it, graphic for him to see up close. But then he realised how hypocritical it was of him to even ask himself if he was okay with it, considering what he had done before, in even worse ways to Bob. But that was a reason he felt was legitimate. Bob was a twisted sadist who murdered his lover for amusement, creating some sort of deranged soap opera for his own pleasure. He had no problems killing him, even in such a horrendous manner. A part of him however, when his anger subsided at least, still began to question one thing. Why are you doubting yourself, James? Is this remorse, or just plain uncertainty? Can't be remorse, I don't regret killing Bob, or doing everything to him, nobody's gonna tell me he didn't deserve it to my face. Maybe it's because that imp never did anything to me directly that I don't feel so...eager. When he began to examine himself, looking back through his life within his mind's eye, he realised that he had always been violent, marking it to have started around the age of 7 or so. But he never killed anyone, at least before this whole other-worlds thing happened...except one. A few weeks later, James was beginning to learn other counters against particular attacks, such as the overhead swing for a blade that would come crashing down on one's head, as well as on how to evade and disarm which Glenn demonstrated finely so upon his pupil. He showed how to move to one side whilst deflecting a blade, moving in the direction of the enemy's blade whilst blocking with his own before a solid bash in the face with the sword hilt, a fist or even an elbow, sending them reeling back before a good counter strike. This was something Glenn saw he had to teach James sooner than he thought after the battle with the imp, at the very least in how to deflect in the simplest manner before more effective ones could be taught to him. After one average training session of parrying, which resulted in the raptor failing terribly at such for not fully understanding the rhythm of it, Glenn was asked a question by his pupil. "Sir? Do you...ever find it easy to kill someone?" "Pardon?" "I mean...you've been fighting for years, you must have faced dozens of monsters, but...well, how did it feel the first time you killed one?" "It is a difficult question. Regardless of the monster, and no matter how foul it is, to take another one's life is never an easy thing to do. As much as thou sayeth to thyself that thy opponent is a terrible beast and deserves nothing but death, which I must admit makes it easier, encounters with those less terrible I find to be quite...disconcerting." "Ah huh." "Why dost thou ask?" "Well...after that imp guy I...killed...I'm...I dunno, I feel um...kinda weird about something." "And what would that be?" "...should I be...maybe...comfortable about killing?" "No."

Glenn's answer was quick and blunt like a mace. "To find comfort in the deaths of others, even thy worst enemies, would be to lose thy humanity. What thou shouldst take comfort in, is what is achieved by their death, hopefully an aim as noble as making the world a better place for all to live in. There are very few that I have had absolutely no regrets in killing. But that is survival. I hath fought against demons and monsters, entire armies of darkness who saw it fit to not only consume my world, but to rend time itself asunder." "Uh huh." "In my earlier days, when I was young and less experienced, I did struggle to accept my duty, in the sense of how close I am constantly to the mortality of others. Eventually...it becomes nothing more than a gentle pat on the back, a reminder that what matters more is by deciding from the severity of their actions on who deserves death, and who does not. Thou must gauge thy opponents, and consider upon thyself what justice they deserve, not because thou demandeth it, but because their actions deem it so. A common thief deserves penance within a cell, not death. A murderer on the other hand, they deliver death unto themselves." "Ahhh huh...that's pretty black and white isn't it?" "There are other situations that cause my sense of justice to become less clear upon the matter, but they are rare occasions. The lay of the land and its laws are not particularly complex. Now I ask thee. Why dost thou ask me all this? Do I sense regret within thee?" "Not so much...I'm...I dunno how I feel, never mind I shouldn't have asked. Those imps deserved it anyway, they were gonna kill somebody's pet and eat it, for god's sake." "Precisely." "Yeah, I mean, nothing to it, hah...the world doesn't need guys like them, better off dead and all, right?" Glenn merely smiled but said nothing other than: "Tell me....I am curious now. When didst thou first take a life?" The morbid bluntness of the question threw him off, but he rubbed his hands nervously and did his best to answer honestly, sitting beside Glenn upon a tree stump. "Well...it's not something I'm proud of, but...since we're talking about all this I...it was back when I was seventeen. I was in this small boxing thing we had in Chicago back home. Sarah, my boss and best friend cuz I lived in her bar and did stuff for her, encouraged me to get into the ring, showed me some moves, coached me even. Said if I won, the money would be a good boost." "Ahhh, I never knew thou had the skills of a pugilist." "A putrilist?" "No no, pugilist. Skilled within hand-to-hand combat." "Ohhhhhh a boxer, right. Well, I forgot some of it, I mean I wasn't the best but...I did well enough to get to third place in the tournament, it was pretty awesome! Even though I didn't win, Sarah said she was real proud of me for doing so well." "She sounds quite a lady to offer love with one arm and self-defence within the other." "Hahaha yeah, she was-...she's awesome. But...then came this thing after the fight. I went to the bathroom to clean up, and the guy who was second place comes over and starts being a dick. Like insulting and all that, really nasty like, I mean he beat me, why the hell should he be picking on me!?" "Indeed." "So we start arguing, head outside, he gets really on my ass cuz he needs someone to whine at for not reaching first, then...then he said something about Sarah."

James' fists tensed up with a furious memory, his eyes tightening slightly. The frog could tell already that this was not going to end well. "And what happened?" "I...I can't really remember but I was so angry at this guy, he was just such an asshole, he...he said all this shit about Sarah, and...I lost it. I just lunged at him and fucking beat the shit out of him until...until he was dead. When I realised what I'd done, I was standing over his face looking like a squashed sack of grapes, my boxing gloves all bloody with claws poking out of them. And...then Sarah found me." "What did she do?" "She was...shocked, I guess." James said this with a sad tone, his anger ebbing away to be replaced with a heavy heart. "I dunno what she thought of me then, I tried to explain to her what happened, I was in tears and kinda shocked that he was dead, I didn't mean to kill him but he...I couldn't stop, he wouldn't shut up! He was asking for a damn fight, so I gave him more than that! I only wanted to beat him into a hospital but..." He seemed genuinely remorseful, a sense of fear coming from him as Glenn merely waited for James to continue. "So Sarah, she tells me to go home, put all the clothes I was wearing into a thick sack and said that she would handle this. I ran home scared as hell, I thought I was gonna go to jail." "And didst thou suffer imprisonment? In fact, how old art thee now?" "Twenty-three. And no I didn't go to jail. She came home, burnt all the clothes I wore that night, and sat down to give me a good talk about what happened. You gotta understand, I live in the slums in a shit hole of a city, the police can't do everything, this kind of shit happens every night, it's not like Sarah hadn't done it herself but she did it for self-defence! I...the first time I did, it wasn't." "And what lesson didst thou learn from this?" "She told me that killing is something you want to avoid doing, and that it should never be your first option. So all I should do was to control myself in future, to not be so crazy on people for something stupid like insulting you, and that the only time it's right to ever kill someone is in self-defence...I think." "And yet thou art uncertain?" "Well, it can't JUST be for self-defence right, you gotta kill SOME people because they're evil even if they never done anything to you personally! I mean those imp guys, sure they were attacking us when we came on them but we could have avoided them. We killed them because they were evil bastards about to eat a dog!"

"That is true, but it appears thou art trying to justify something that I am not aware of. Thou wert but a young lad, barely an adult, and if thy actions are not taken with pride but with shame, then already thy path of enlightenment has begun. Though I would hath considered a more fitting punishment for thee." "Sarah never gave me any. She said the fact that I was so shaken and regretting the whole thing was enough of one...but she said that if I ever did it again, I would go to jail, and she wouldn't help me." "A harsh but fair punishment, I must regretfully say to thee." "Y-yeah...but...what if..." He circled the drain of his thoughts to the central subconscious matter of his ethical dilemma. "What if you kill a guy, because he did something REALLY bad to someone close to you, like...I dunno, killed a friend or a lover? I mean, surely it has to be okay to kill him back, it's like an eye for an eye." "Of course, it is understandable that thou wouldst want such a thing. In most cases such as that, in my time at least, it is considered the most viable option to take revenge upon thy enemies for harming those close to thee." "So, there's nothing wrong with killing a guy who killed someone close to you?" "In my experience James, an eye for an eye has always been the standard. The reward of a murderer lies within their title, by the hands of those they wrong. But what matters the most is what thou taketh away from it. To revel within the anguish and suffering upon thy opponent for example is not the way, and doing so will turn thy soul as dark as theirs. What thou should truly seeketh, is justice and nothing else. Justice for those close to thee. To consider it revenge only because thyself is enraged at being treated in such a way, that is a selfish and dangerous line of thought." James felt a little upset by this. He thought at first that Glenn would agree with him completely upon what was considered suitable terms for murder. But now he wasn't even sure. Those like Copper and Sam, they had to abhor murder, they were modern law enforcement, not age-old knights where the sword was the last word and punishment was capital. He wasn't even sure what Glenn truly meant by all this. So, it's okay to kill in revenge but NOT to feel good about it? The hell's he talking about?! Confused and a little tired, he decided to go rest. "I'm gonna have a li'l sleep. Thanks for the talk, sir." "My pleasure, James." With his mind turning muddy upon personal ethics, he went to sleep for that day, feeling slightly better that he was not as blood-thirsty a killer as he feared himself to be. He didn't want to admit some things, so he swallowed it down to the pit of his stomach and ignored everything. Glenn however was concerned for his pupil. Young as he was, the raptor had no life experience within the ways of violence as far as he knew, so naturally he would be questioning himself for the first time he killed someone. But this wasn't his first apparently. It was possibly his second, or even third. He had no clue about the laws of James' world, but it was clearly more complex upon punishment than his own era. At the very least, he was willing to learn, diving head first into the training regime. Yet he hadn't even mentioned anything of his home until that talk. Glenn realised that if he wanted James to become skilled enough to continue, he would have to do two things. Firstly, to clear his mind of any doubts upon the ethics of when one could take another's life. Secondly, to avoid any and all mentions of home. As long as he was entirely focused upon himself and his improvement, there would be no problem.