FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

I sort of promised to do something very short for "International Cheetah Day", so here it is. I hope you like it. Oh, I almost forgot! If you want to save cheetahs feel free to got to this site http://www.cheetah.org/?nd=IntlCheetahDay

Simulated Experiences

By Phenrir

The sun shone down upon the savannah casting everything in bright and warm rays of light. Only arid looking tress provided the wide open landscape with shade. It felt like it was summer; otherwise the air wouldn't feel so hot that you could see it flicker in the distance. The brightness of the day as it shone from right above was enough to wake Ceren.

As he opened his eyes to slowly blink away the sleep he felt slightly disoriented. 'Where am I?' he asked himself silently.Ceren couldn't remember how he got here or where he actually was, he just felt tired and a little stiff. Stretching his whole body a pair of hairy paws came into the field of view of his unfocused vision. 'What the...' He wanted to blurt and curse confused, but instead of spoken words only a mixture between a yowl and a purr came out. This alarmed him only more. Leaping up Ceren discovered too late that he had been lying on a thick branch of a tree. However he couldn't stop his motion anymore and fell down. With another yowl Ceren hit the ground.

'Ow that hurt!' Clearly grace wasn't one of his strong suits. When the shock of the fall, as well as some of the pain, vanished Ceren's mind was finally awake enough to contemplate his situation. Turning his head around Ceren looked at himself. It seemed that he had been turned into some kind of big predatory cat. The yellowish fur was adorned with irregular dark spots, there was a sensitive nose with whiskers at the end of a short muzzle and a similar colored tail brushed over the ground as if it had a mind of its own.

All of this was confusing and strange. Ceren had no idea how he got there and he distinctly remembered being something else when he had fallen asleep though he couldn't quite tell where or what he had been. 'What is going on here?' Since he couldn't speak Ceren just voiced his confusion mentally, but it didn't matter. No one was around to answer any questions. 'Where am I?' Ceren looked around and saw dry grassland. His eyes weren't that great, but Ceren's nose compensated for that greatly. Sniffing the air in curiosity there was something Ceren smelled first. Water! Immediately his throat felt dry and he had the sudden urge to drink something. That was something he could understand and who wouldn't with the hot dry air and the sun glaring down on him Ceren felt really thirsty.

So a little awkwardly Ceren got up and moved in the direction of the water smell. It was very strange to walk on four paws. Ceren had to concentrate on every step to neither place his paws too far away nor too close.All of this made him look as if he was more staggering than walking forward.Fortunately the tail was great to preserve his balance. He had no time to think again about how crazy all of this was, Ceren was simply too thirsty and he had to focus on his steps because he didn't want to be the first cat that fell flat on its face as it walked forward.

Finally Ceren reached the water, which was more of a muddy hole filled with some liquid that was clear enough to be called water. Instinctively Ceren lowered his head and lapped at the water. Somehow he had expected a pungent or nasty taste, yet the only thing he felt was refreshment as the water touched his tongue and filled his mouth only to run down Ceren's dry throat. Greedily he lapped more until he was utterly satisfied.

Licking his lips and now dripping wet muzzle Ceren looked into the water, realizing only now what was reflected there. As he had assumed he was some kind of cat he didn't know which one. The shape of the muzzle, the round ears and the slender tail was indication enough for him that Ceren had the appearance of a wild cat. 'Strange, how could that happen?' Being in this state didn't bother Ceren as much as it should have, but he couldn't imagine why. 'I have to admit though, these spots look somehow beautiful.' The markings were indeed special. All of these spots, a black-tipped tail and from his eyes running down the sides of his muzzle were black streaks that looked as if trains had burned a permanent dark trail into his fur.

A movement caught Cerens eye and he raised his head only fast enough to see a big hoofed animal running away. The beast probably got spooked by Ceren who definitely looked like a predator. While his mind still didn't know what do here the instincts of this new body kicked in. Before he knew it Ceren rose up and sped after his lunch.

Every confusion seemed to be gone, he was not stumbling forward, he wasn't even running, Ceren was flying forward. With powerful strokes of his legs he pressed forward and the grasses of the ground rushed past him and parted way in defeat. He was so fast that he could feel the wind rushing through his spotted fur and as he moved he couldn't feel the heat or the confusion. It was thrilling, just great! Never before had he moved that fast at least not on his own. Adrenaline and powerful instincts just made him go faster! Before long he reached the other beast, jumped and sank his jaws into its rump. It felt great!

With a cacophony of noises the machines shut down. Ceren opened his eyes. He saw that he was still wearing the helmet and countless sensors and cables were still attached to his very human looking body. Feeling stiff he began to move. Of course there was some dizziness it never had been a simple progress, but Ceren felt that he could adapt better on this side. Everything felt more natural to him.

"Interesting simulation," he said to Iria, who had asked him to test this prototype. Now he could remember everything clearly. It seemed as if there were some problems in the software but they could find a way to change that. "What kind of animal was I?" Silently walking into his vision field, Ceren saw Iria. She seemed content with the result and took notes on her terminal. "You were a cheetah. They have been extinct for hundreds of years, long before the other animals were gone"

Being a very unfamiliar and extinct animal had some appeal, so Ceren could perfectly understand why she had picked this as a simulation. "A cheetah? Looks awesome so far! I wonder if we could have done something to save them..."

THE END