FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

As he lay on the sand, young Khaejiran's dreams were strange and chaotic. He watched scenes and happenings from a mercurial 1st person perspective as landscapes kaleidoscoped into each other with little regard to sanity, and the noise! He heard every word spoken, from battle cries to the laughter of friends, in a growing cacophony that deafened his ears and drowned out his thoughts. Scents raced past his muzzle, overwhelming his mind in a blur of sensation. Faster and faster, flashes of memories flew past until he closed his eyes and knelt on the ground with his hands over his ears and waited, either for death to take him or for the blinding chaos to stop. He did not have to wait long. The world continued to change and morph at an alarming rate until everything slammed to a halt. Cautiously, he stood, and opened his eyes to see...

Nothing. He stood on a featureless black plain that blended seamlessly into a vacant black sky. The lack of horizon, or any distinguishing feature, for that matter, made his head spin. He fell to his knees, nauseous, and there he finally saw something. Beneath his feet was a churning red vortex, a black Abyss. He stared at it, mesmerized, until he began to feel ill. It coiled and spun, writhing beneath him, and as he stared long into the abyss, he thought he could feel it staring back. After staring for what felt like hours, days, years, he thought he could detect a slight spin to it. He felt almost as if it was sucking him in, even though he remained motionless. His head began to ache, and fear slowly blossomed in his chest as he realized that he truly couldn't look away.

Quite suddenly, Kage found himself staring upwards at the inside one of the temporary tents that the nomadic wolves used as shelter. They were constructed from animal hides sewn together, stretched taunt over firm wooden rods. The walls of this one were oddly blank; they should have been coated with paintings depicting the deeds of the wolf or family that owned it. All the same, the musty smell of tanned hide around him and dry earth beneath him was comforting after the mindless Chaos and the enrapturing Abyss. He rolled to his feet, and only then noticed that he wasn't alone in the tent.

"GAHH! You're supposed to be dead! I... I killed you, didn't I?"

"Yes, I am dead, and yes, you did kill me. You ate my heart too, which is the reason I'm here instead the afterlife."

Saccularius sat comfortable on the other side of the Tipi, and was idle picking his teeth with his claws. He spoke casually, but there was a careful cadence in the way he spoke, as if he minced the words to make sure they lined up properly. His tone was so utterly unlike what Kage would have expected that he immediately suspected something was wrong. Saccularius seemed at ease though, so Kage slowly relaxed himself as their conversation continued.

"Here? And where exactly are we?"

"You're dreaming, young pup."

"You didn't answer my question."

"I did. You just asked the wrong question."

The cryptic answer brought Kage to a halt, and he frowned as he thought about it for a moment. Since he'd been the runt, he'd prided himself on at least being smarter than the other pups. He thought it through like he would any problem, and spoke slowly, finalizing his ideas as he did so.

"Okay... If where is wrong... What is this place?"

Saccularius smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"That's certainly one of the questions to ask. As far as I can tell, this is your mind. You're having a lucid dream, where the wolf you just killed is talking to you inside of a scandalously blank Tipi."

"Okay... and what are you doing here?"

"Wrong question, but I'll answer it anyways. I'm sitting in the dirt, answering your questions. "

Kage fell silent as he thought again. Kage hadn't known Saccularius any more than the minute or so of observation, but he still didn't believe this was how Saccularius normally acted. The "All-knowing, Mystic Seer" attitude didn't sit comfortably on him, and though Saccularius seemed calm, his eyes darted about as if trapped. Kage immediately suspected intervention from one or both of the deities, but he saw no way to continue without playing along. He tried to think of the right questions, when an idea struck him.

"I'm not sure I know enough to ask the right questions. Can you tell me as much as you can? Then I might know what questions to ask."

Something glinted in the older wolf's eyes, but he remained motionless but for his mouth.

"And... what would you have me tell you...?"

"Anything... Everything... Anything you wanted or everything that you could."

Saccularius moved for the first time since Kage had noticed him there. He leaned forwards, cracking his knuckles, and there was a fierce energy in his eyes.

"THERE we go. I was getting tired of having to play the mystic sage bullshit."

Saccularius snapped his fingers in rapid succession, and many things happened. The insultingly blank walls were smeared with red mud in the usual patterns of good luck, and good health, as well as a smattering of more personal designs. Luxuriously soft fur rugs appeared beneath them. A cheerfully crackling fire appeared in the center, and smoke spiraled upwards through the conical roof. The sudden changes caught Kage by surprise, and he jumped to his feet, eyes darting around. Saccularius remained seated and waved him back down.

"Relax, relax, you're alright. This is a dream, remember? Nothing here can hurt you, unless you want it to. You're safe. Sorry for the whole mystic thing, it's just one of the rules they gave me."

Kage tried to reply, but his tongue felt like it was glued to the roof of his mouth. The Tipi grew fuzzier by degrees, and the fire froze in place.

"By the crooked bones, they're waking you up already? What did you do, fall asleep on top of my corpse?"

Had he been able to move or speak, he certainly would have given away the answer through stammered denial, but Saccularius kept talking.

"Doesn't matter. Look, just don't tell them anything, alright? You blacked out when you hit the sand, and that's the last thing you knew. I'll see you next time you go under. Do you understand? Do NOT tell them about me. They will kill you if you do."

Saccularius was shouting by the time he finished, but Kage couldn't hear him. Everything faded to white, then snapped into focus as he awoke on the bloody sand.