FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The fifth chapter in the pine grove series

Ok first, don't steal my work and try to pawn it off as your own; it's not that good anyway so why go through all the trouble?? Please be kind about grammatical errors. If you find them let me know and I will try to fix them, and if this story is something you like please rate and post a comment, comments let me know if I should continue or not.

A quick author's note ' means that the furs are speaking where as "means that English is being used.

The pain receded slowly; every heartbeat was like a hammer against his temple. Never before had the pain lasted so long, it was almost as if Tele-skunk had turned the dial to eleven in his urgency. Shane had seen neither hide nor hair of Mango since he was shocked, true he could barely open his eyes enough to see the ceiling. Shane kept thinking back to his last moments with the strange ferret, how she said she could remove his collar finally. The thought of finally having this thrice damned collar off filled Shane with a great sense of hope.

Mango had found a nice section of airway where she was hidden and could stock up on supplies without being seen. Now she only needed to get others who wished to be free. Then with her survivors prepared, she could move to force her captors to return her to her home, and change her back although she would need more information before she enacted her plan. She would also need a few more prisoners... Like that strange fox she met a few cycles ago.

It wasn't long before Shane was visited by Moonlight once again. This time though it was not as pleasant as before.

"I hear tell that you had a unscheduled visitor. Care to tell me who they were and what they were up to?" Moonlight said with almost a growl.

"You know, I don't remember a visitor all I can remember is one hellava shock knocking me to my ass then, an entire squadron of jackhammers playing taps on my skull."

"You don't remember having a sneaky ferret come into your cell and attempt to take your collar off?"

"If that really happened then why am I still trapped in here with this thrice damned collar on then?"

And that was all it took, Moonlight turned and quickly exited the cabin, or cell as she herself so named it. Shane was left alone once again with nothing but his anger and a small sense of pride that he managed to hide that escape artist from his captors. Sure their time in the cabin was interesting maybe even fun in the right circumstances but to lock him up, and change him into one of them; Albeit if they had asked he would have accepted but not at these costs, not for the price of his freedom, not at the price of never being able to see the woods again.

The days bled together as Shane was left alone for so long that Shane had long since thought that he was going to die alone in his cell. The cabin's inside's had been dramatically changed, the bed was torn asunder; his desk was ripped from its normal place and torn to splinters. His workbooks and sketchpads were scattered and shredded. Various art supplies from pens and ink to watercolors and charcoal were smashed and ruined upon the ground. All in all it looked like a tiny tornado had happened upon his cabin from the inside.

Shane himself was usually curled up in the remains of his bedding in the far corner from the door, staring in anticipation for the day the door either rotted away or slid open. The fur around Shane's collar was matted and patches had been torn off. The collar itself was smeared with the colors of art supplies and dried blood. Shane's once luscious black fur was a mix of shades, hues and stains from ear tip to tail tip. Shane resembled a pile of leaves left in the autumn for some small child to jump in.

The only piece of artwork not destroyed was a mural on the far wall, behind the door. The mural depicted his captors in great detail, but to the far right near the corner of the wall, there was the strange ferret in all her glory, posed to attack. Shane could not bring himself to destroy it. No matter how long he was trapped, and seemingly forgotten (Even though food and water was regularly deposited into his cabin) Shane could not destroy it, it was his last great work. Shane had not depicted himself in the image, instead making it seem as if his captors were bearing down on the viewer. Time and again, he found himself posed with some instrument of his rage, ready to destroy the mural, only to start crying and leaving it for the moment.

'Do you think he has snapped?'

'I think he has given up but I think he is just waiting.'

'... I don't want to be the one to enter his room again.'

'Is his room secure?'

'Double lock-down ma'am, nothing in or out except electricity and air.'

'Good, deactivate the device, and prepare the V-coms.'

'Ma'am, is that a good idea?'

'We have to give him some hope else he will die in there.'

'... By your order ma'am, I hope the door holds...'

Shane was once again posed to attack his door, preparing himself for the inevitable shock. Two breaths before he attacked there was a small click a loud pop and the sound of metal hitting metal. Shane looked at his feet to see the metal collar now unclasped from his neck, with shaking paws he picked up the cursed object. For minutes to hours he just stared at it there, discolored in his paws. Finally with a near feral scream he threw the collar at the door where it hung embedded in the wood... one breath, two breaths then Shane was in motion, nearly flying against the door attacking it with claws, fangs, and body. The door began to split, never being made to withstand a full attack by a near rabid vulpine. Seeing the light of freedom Shane threw himself the door once again, then a heat started... slowly spreading from his side, heedlessly Shane attacked the door, till with a snap and creek the door fell outward.

Looking out into the white sea of light, Shane fell to his knees exhausted having put everything into the door. Shane's Ice blue eyes were now tinted with bloodshot veins, as they adjusted to the new area. A howl of despair escaped his muzzle as he saw the blast door that hung; taunting him like a glass of water in the dessert just across a pool of quicksand. Shane hung his head to his chest tears of frustration escaping him unheeded as he cried at finally escaping one cell only to be greeted by another... Then he saw it, hanging from his side like a twisted spear. There shimmering in his side hung the collar, with a paw Shane grabbed the collar only to be racked by pain, his adrenaline blocking it till now. With a scream and yank he pulled the damned thing free... his other paw came up and held his side, the feeling of warm blood pulsing against his pads lost on Shane.

"And here I was thinking I was free from this thrice damned collar... Funny I always wanted to die in my cabin... now I will go down fighting in front of it."

With a paw clasped to his new wound, Shane stood up. Set his jaw into a snarl of pain and determination, and walked as best he could to the blast door. No handle waited for him on this side of course, no button nor wheel. No way to open the door presented itself to the bleeding vulpine morph. The door felt chilly beneath his paw as he explored the surface. Then he attempted to scratch the surface, to no avail. Then came a light knock which sounded dull, then a harder, and another then harder, faster, more determination in each right armed strike. Shane envisioned the door as everyone that had ever wronged him, attacking with what remained of his strength. All that happened to that door was a few splats of fresh blood upon its surface, and a scratch or two. Finally Shane found himself with his forehead pressed against its surface, once again on her knees.

"At least I made it harder to get my body out of here..." The once bright light began to flicker then fade to a long tunnel then finally all was black, as Shane succumbed to his injuries and exhaustion. Three breaths left his body before the door slid outwards revealing the real Tele-skunk and three white suited morphs encased in bio-suits with triage kits.

---

Time makes Memories fade,

Wounds heal and bones mend.

All that we are left with at the end,

Is the stories and scars.

_ _

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'Transformation complete... running full scan now, Please stand by...'

'Eleven percent corruption detected, attempting to find a solution...'

'No solution found, please advise...'

'Destroy subject? Please enter "yes" or "no" now...'

'Destruction declined, continuing mental upload...'

Shane awoke to a new sensation, his eyes opened and immediately scanned the room, he found himself once again in the cabin except something was different this time. The cabin was still in shambles, but the door was gone. His paws immediately rose to his throat to feel for the collar which he could not find. Then he sat up a bit to fast and found himself falling back against the cushion he was laid upon; immense pain radiated from his side. When his paws searched the area, furless skin met his pads along with the sharp feeling of sutures. Shane laid there thinking back to what had happened, the attack on the door, the flashes of depression and accepting death.

"Seems I am not allowed to die either, guess I will do my best to either get out of here or take at least one of them with me..."