FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Hiking through forests, it's a lot of people's favorite past times. The simplicity of walking under the shady trees and hearing nothing but the sweet sound of nature, it was an activity that most anybody could get into. Kenneth was no exception, the young man was in college and worked a part time job that drained away a lot of his time. Even with all of that though, he always found time to go hiking at least once a week.

Every one of his coworkers and friends knew about his weekly routine, sometimes they would even join in on the walks. Sadly Kenneth found that most of his friends and coworkers didn't have the stamina that he had obtained from years of hiking, so even when they joined him he ended up walking most of the trails alone, but that didn't bother him.

It was almost like a pilgrimage with him whenever he went on his walks, the silence was a solace to him when he was stressed out. Kenneth wouldn't admit this to anybody though, his friends would likely call him crazy as well as ostracize him.

The slow sweeping motion of the clock hand ticking along the edge of the clock, Kenneth's eyes following each tick with an almost reverence. His coworkers at first had mocked him, but now they knew what the hike was to him. They gave Kenneth his time as they worked around him, the sounds of the grocery store fading into the background as each tick brought the minute hand that much closer to the twelve until it finally moved into place.

In a synchronous movement, every one of his coworkers moved to the side as Kenneth swiped his card out and he was out the front door and into his car. One of his friends looked at a small stopwatch he had set up on his watch, "Thirty two seconds, he set a record." One of the others erased a number on a whiteboard and replaced it with thirty two.

Kenneth's radio was blaring out music but the man didn't seem to notice it, his mind was set on getting home. Narrowly avoiding a cat running across the road he turned off onto a side road before pulling into his driveway, he dug out his keys from his pants and ran to the front door, pushing the house key into the lock.

His house was quiet as he entered, he was out of his house so often that he didn't really bother to decorate it except for the odd piece of memorabilia from hiking trips. Kenneth smiled as he picked up a rock from a counter, it had been from a hiking trip in the grand canyon. It had cost him a pretty penny to get all the way over to the grand canyon from his measly pay from work, the rock had some grains of sand from the river bank that he had dug it from still clinging to it. He rubbed his hand over the gritty surface of the rock, "Looks like you little guys are traveling like I do..." Kenneth muttered with a smile on his face as he looked at the sand.

Setting the rock down, he turned to face his closet. "Alright, time to get ready. Kenneth said with a grin playing on the edges of his lips as a shiver of anticipation traveled up his back. He opened up the door and smiled as he looked at his backpack, to most a backpack was just something to carry your stuff, but to Kenneth a backpack carried the weight of all of his trips.

He pulled the backpack out and opened it up as he walked into his kitchen, inside of the backpack a bit of dirt fell out from Kenneth's last excursion. The man opened up a drawer and pulled out a large water bottle which he quickly filled up before shoving it into his backpack and went over to his pantry, as he opened it up he looked over the rather barren shelves. After a moment Kenneth pulled out a package of granola bars and trail mix quickly throwing them into his backpack, he quickly took mental inventory before realizing he forgot something important.

The man walked over to his closet once more and opened it before reaching onto the top shelf, feeling around for something until he grasped a box. Kenneth smiled as he opened up the box to reveal a GPS, "Ah, there you are. Would've been bad if I got lost without you." He started towards the door before he remembered the most imprortant thing, "Whoops, don't want to forget that..." He muttered before walking into his bedroom and grabbed a sleeping bag and pillow from inside his room's closet.

After throwing in the little device, the sleeping bag, and some spare batteries, Kenneth turned off the light in his house and walked out to his car. As he slipped into the car he sighed happily as he looked at his backpack, "Time to go adventuring once more my old friend."

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Slowing down before he parked, Kenneth looked at the forest in front of him. He had been researching some good hiking spots and had come across this forest in some old books, they had been very vague about the exact location but after some triangulation with his GPS, Kenneth had been able to find the forest with barely any problems.

The forest itself seemed to shine from within with an odd light, even though the light was slightly off putting, Kenneth was still enticed by the beauty of the forest. As he climbed out of his car an odd feeling ran over him, being near the forest was giving him odd vibes but he didn't mind too much, it just added to the mystique of the forest. Grabbing his backpack, Kenneth grinned at the forest. "Alright, let's see what kind of secrets you have..."

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Water... leaves... dirt... those were the things that Kenneth saw as he awoke, it was odd. He couldn't remember going to sleep, heck he didn't even remember anything since entering the forest. Kenneth blinked a few times, everything seemed so... vibrant... even the smells were clearer. What had happened when he had entered the forest?

Kenneth pushed himself up and looked around, he attempted to stand but that only resulted in him hitting the ground with a painful thump. He slowly shook his head, everything was off for some reason. It was as if his whole body had a different center of gravity, it was at that point that he decided to look at the water and freeze. He was looking at the face of a Lynx, he blinked a few times before jumping back terrified. "What the?!"

After letting his heart stop racing he started to realize something was amiss, he glanced around to look for the lynx but saw that it was nowhere to be seen. His eyes started to scrunch up in confusion, "What the...?" An ominous feeling started to dawn upon him, "Nah... it couldn't be..." He muttered, his voice starting to choke in his throat. He started to edge towards the water once more, as he did so he felt himself becoming hyper aware of his body. He started to feel new muscles flexing as he moved towards the water, as Kenneth prepared to look into the water he had pretty much figured it out already though he didn't want to admit it.

He peered into the water to see the lynx's face once more, as he looked at the face he twitched his head a few times to see that the lynx's head was doing the same things that he was. The cat's whiskers were twitching every few seconds and as they did so Kenneth felt odd sensations in his head, "I... I'm the lynx..." The cat's lips moved with his and there was no more doubt, he was the lynx.

His eyes were now a light brown color, reflecting in the light bouncing off of the water. His face didn't even slightly resemble what he used to be, now it looked perfectly feline. A beard of fur surrounded his jaw, his fur an auburn color with splotches of black.

As the noises of the forest surrounded Kenneth, he noticed that his ears seemed to unconsciously turn to listen to the noises. He peered down to see that he was sitting up propped on his forearms... legs, it was an odd thing for him to be sitting up as he was. Kenneth seemed to dread the last thing the most, he turned his head to look at a tail. It flicked lazily, sweeping dirt off of the ground.

Kenneth knew that he should be terrified, he knew that he should be hyperventilating or shouting, but none of it would come. His body had an eerie calm feel to it, was it animal instincts or was it something else? As the new cat sat there a shadow approached quietly sneaking along branches, propping itself above Kenneth until it was overshadowing him. "Oy, You!"

Kenneth bounced up a foot in the air before crashing his muzzle into the ground, the cat hissed in pain as he scratched at his muzzle. The lynx turned around angrily looking around for the voice, "Who was that?!"

A light laughing sounded from above, "Good grief, you are a piece of work, ain't ya? Mister Lynx, I do believe that you have some water between the ears don't ya?"

Kenneth was growing frustrated, "Don't mock me, and I'm not a lynx!"

The laughing only intensified, "Wow, don't even know what you are? You really have gone bonkers mister kitty, well if you need to know." A raccoon suddenly dropped in front of Kenneth making him right back into the water, soaking his fur and freezing his skin. "I'm Raccoon, though many of my brothers could say the same."

Kenneth froze as he looked at the raccoon, "W... ho... how are you doing that?"

Raccoon cocked his head, "Doing what?"

The lynx was stunned at seeing an animal talk, "You're talking, like a person would do..."

The raccoon chuckled, "I think you took a hit on the head or something, maybe you should take a minute and just cool down in the water..."

Shaking the water off as fast as he could, Kenneth jumped out of the water and glared at the raccoon whose whiskers seemed to be twitching in amusement. The lynx pulled himself out of the river, his body shivering from the cold liquid. "Wh... what do you want?!"

The raccoon swished his tail as his body shook with laughter, "Well, want I want isn't much. But what I see sure is a riot. I don't think I've ever seen a more pitiful lookin' lynx."

Irritation started to pierce Kenneth as he glared at the raccoon, "You do know that I'm a lynx, I can easily eat you." The threat was empty though as he didn't even want to think about eating a live animal, let alone such a scruffy raccoon.

But the raccoon was anything but intimidated in fact he only got closer, "So mister lynx, why are you just sitting here in this barren area? You do know there are predators that can rip even you apart, right?" A shiver of fear rode up Kenneth's back, he had forgotten completely that there were predators slinking around in the forest. The raccoon's laughter had died now as his voice rung in the clearing, "We should get you out of here, I can tell that you're a bit confused right now."

Kenneth wanted to argue but something about the raccoon seemed appealing and he sighed, "Alright, you lead I guess." Raccoon nodded and turned before pelting off into the brush, Kenneth shakily got on his feet and steadied himself before starting to sprint behind Raccoon. Even though it was his first time running on all fours, something about it seemed natural to him. It was as if his body already knew how to run itself and he was just there for the ride.

Raccoon said nothing as they ran, he seemed focused on getting to safety. Kenneth was thinking the whole time while they ran, how did he end up this way, why was he just laying in a clearing, and most importantly how was he going to turn back? As Kenneth tracked his thoughts he realized something, there were parts of his memory missing. The cat's face scrunched up in confusion, where did his memories disappear to? He tried to scour his mind for the memories but they were gone, most everything from his childhood had disappeared, wait... there it was.

But the memories were odd, Kenneth remembered being human but these memories... they were of him as a kit mewling at his mother. Watching as his father brought in meat, tearing into the sw.... NO! That was not who Kenneth was, he wasn't some lynx, he was a human!

Raccoon looked back to see Kenneth flicking his head back in forth in annoyance, "Is something wrong mister lynx?"

Slowing down Kenneth nodded, "Yes, like i told you earlier. I'm not a lynx! I'm actually a human."

Raccoon looked at him blankly for a moment, "You're joking right?" When Kenneth didn't laugh, Raccoon cocked his head. "You don't look like a human to me mister lynx, unless humans have suddenly evolved into a higher life form..."

It was a glancing remark but it hit hard enough, Kenneth's face grew angry. "Higher life form?! Humans are the highest life form, we have technology!"

Raccoon equally grew angry, he tensed up and hissed at the lynx. "HIgher life form, them?! Do we animals go to war over stupid things?! Do we try to kill one another for years and years, no we don't! You wanna know why, because we don't want to waste our precious lives over such menial things as revenge!"

It was a true remark, funny enough Kenneth had thought the same thing since he was younger. He had always believed that animals were more perfect than humans because they didn't have to fight wars, because they never tried to kill each other more than a few minutes, and most of all they didn't go for revenge. The lynx slumped onto his haunches and frowned, "Yo... you're right..."

Raccoon frowned as he looked at the defeated cat, "Y... you really think you're a human?" Kenneth nodded somberly, Raccoon was silent for a moment. "How did you get to be like this then?"

Kenneth shook his head, "I don't know, one minute I was walking into the forest to take a hike then... I woke up in the clearing like this."

Raccoon frowned, his whiskers and tail twitching ever so slightly as he thought it over. After a while he glanced up at Kenneth, "Are you sure about this? It seems really improbable..." Kenneth nodded, Raccoon sighed and slapped his furry knee. "Alright, well if it's true then..." He looked up and smiled at the lynx, "I'd better help out my new friend."

Blinking in surprise, Kenneth stuttered. "Y... you will? Are you sure, I mean you really don't have to..."

Raccoon only shook his head though, "You seem like a nice enough cat... human... thing, what type of animal would I be if I would just let you go alone? Well... a raccoon... but that's besides the point."

The raccoon's wild antics caused a pur to rumble in the lynx's chest, "Yes, yes I understand Raccoon... now, let's find out how I was changed."

Raccoon finally stopped talking and nodded, the pair started to walk in a direction as the raccoon explained his plan. "Well if you really were changed, there there's only one creature in this forest that could do it..."

Kenneth cocked his head, "What would that be?"

An odd dreading feeling seemed to press down on their shoulders as Raccoon whispered, "The cobra..." Kenneth gulped as they wandered in the forest, and as they did he whispered in his mind his name and his parent's names to keep them fresh.

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The forest was turning dark as the pair walked through it, Kenneth's muzzle was contorted in anger as memories of his past were easily replaced. Precious memories of his friends and relatives, they were easily replaced through by memories of his first hunt as a growing kit and showing off his first kill to his father.

Raccoon was growing concerned with his friend, it was obvious that something wasn't right with the Lynx. He seemed more and more confused as time went on, "Are you doing alright buddy?"

Kenneth slowly looked up at his friend with a look of confusion, "Y... yeah... let's just get to this cobra... it's... it's becoming hard to remember things." Raccoon nodded and hurried his pace, Kenneth hot on his tracks.

As they walked through the forest, it grew damper and mustier. The beautiful forest browns and greens turning to the more dense grays and turgid yellows of a swamp, disgusting smells started to pelt Kenneth's new nose. The lynx winced as the smell of mold touched his nose, "Not exactly a field of flowers, is it?"

Raccoon at first started to reply but then gave Kenneth an odd glance, "W... was that a joke? I didn't know you could make jokes mister lynx..."

Kenneth lightly chuckled, "Yeah, I'm not completely ruined from this change..."

Raccoon turned to see a grove of trees and his voice sank to a near whisper as they came near the grotto, "Here we are..."

As they walked into the grotto their steps slowed down as they got into the grotto, even though both creatures should be more than capable of seeing in the dark there was an ever present blackness that obscured their view. Even though they wanted to know where each other was, they didn't want to speak in fear of what lay hidden in the dark. That was until they heard an ominous slithering noise all about them, Kenneth's hackles rose as he hissed out. "Cobra? Is that you?!"

From the darkness, a voice that rang with both power and menace hissed. "Yes, it is I. I see two figures before me, a measly raccoon and a familiar cat. How fares you my friend, the exhuman?"

A shiver of recognition traveled through Kenneth, memories started to arise in his head. Memories of hiking through the forest and stumbling into a dark grotto... the very same grotto he was in now, "You... I've met you before..."

The voice rang out once more, a pair of green emeralds appearing before the pair now, the pair of eyes staring deep into them. "Indeed, you were the human with a deep love for nature, and for animals as well."

An angry growl grew in Kenneth's throat, "Why did you do this to me? Why did you change me like this?!"

The Cobra wound his way around the pair, his scales letting out a delicate clinking noise. "You have forgotten the purpose I changed you my feline friend, here let me remind you of the reason I did so."

Suddenly Kenneth remembered what happened when he had walked into the forest. The man was walking through the forest with a serene smile on his face, the birds twittered high in the treetops. AS he walked through the forest, he grabbed his water bottle from his backpack and took a deep drink.

"Dang, it's a great day today..." He stopped for a moment, "God that sounded stereotypical..." Kenneth then walked on until something lunged at him from the side causing him to jump, in front of him was a huge cobra. "Oh... my... god..." His pulse started to ramp up as the snake let out a loud hiss, it's body coiled up menacingly.

The man realized that it was looking at him hungrily, deciding that it was too much of a risk he turned and ran. As he ran away from the snake his foot got caught under a root and collapsed into a grove finding himself encased in darkness, "He... hello?"

A voice called out from the darkness, "Hello Kenneth."

A shiver traveled up his back, "How... how do you know my name/"

The voice chuckled, "I can see into your mind Kenneth, I can see your whole past. I can see everything you're thinking right now, I can even see how much you adore nature."

Kenneth tried to speak but his words froze in his throat, "So Kenneth, I have an offer for you."

His words finally getting out of his throat, Kenneth choked out. "W... what offer?"

The voice came closer to his ear, "Would you like to become one with nature Kenneth?"

A shiver once more traveled down his back, "What do you mean, yo.. you're not going to kill me, are you?"

A chuckled came from the darkness once more, "No, I'm not going to kill you my friend. I'm going to let you become one with the animal that you are."

A wave of dizziness passed over Kenneth, "T... the animal that I am?"

The voice once again spoke, now ringing in the man's head. "Yes, you can escape the hectic world of the human's and become one with the peaceful world of animals. All you have to do, is say yes..."

Kenneth blinked a few times as he found himself looking once more into the eyes of the snake that had changed him into his current form, "Now my friend, I must ask you now that you've lived today as your animal form. Do you want to change back to normal, or do you want to leave your past life permanently?"

The lynx was quiet as he balanced his options, he could either go back to a hectic life or stay with his new friend Raccoon. He thought for a few minutes before he looked deep into the emerald eyes, "I... I want to stay as I am..."

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Raccoon blinked as he awoke next to his friend, "M... Mister lynx, are you alright?"

Lynx blinked, "W... what happened Raccoon?"

Raccoon shook his head, "I... I can't remember, we walked into there and then... I dunno. So... so what are we going to do... you know, I don't even know your name."

Lynx blinked a few times, "M... my name is..." He thought for a second, then a name came to mind. One that had been given to him by his parents, "Oh, it's KreenClaw."

Raccoon smiled, "Well KreenClaw, let's go."

As the pair walked away, Cobra grinned from within his Grotto. "Enjoy your life my friend, I'll be keeping a close eye on you from now on..."