FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Anya lay stretched out on the cool grass of the hill, enjoying the soft sounds of the forest and the clear fall air. Every now and then the soft thump of an arrow hitting its mark drifted up from the clearing at the base of the hill. Mikko had slipped away from the village yet again to practice. Only a few months older than her, he had already become one of the Fox tribe's best hunters. She loved watching him practice as well as the way his russet fur seemed to glow bronze in the afternoon sun.

As she watched him she let her mind wander. She found herself thinking of how they first met. As the Shaman's daughter she had been taught magic rather than hunting and marksmanship. Though unfortunately for her parents, she was both tomboyish and adventurous so she came up with various spells to help her track and kill game and then went and joined the hunting parties anyway. It took them a while but eventually her parents warmed up to the idea of her joining the hunters, besides she had shown several time by then that she was more than capable of taking care of herself. By her second or third hunt she had grown close to Mikko, the youngest of the hunters. Soft spoken and shy, he often distanced himself from the other hunters, preferring to go off on his own, returning to camp long after the others. Much to her surprise, and everyone else's, he was the one to approach her first.

A sudden rustle from the clearing snapped her away from her reminiscing, Mikko had gathered his arrows and started up the hill.

She saw him kneel down, staring intensely at the ground. She'd seen him do that often enough before, it meant he found tracks. After several minutes he gestured for her to come join him.

"Seems a herd of deer came through here just a little bit before we showed up. If we're careful we might be able to catch up with them before they get too far." He told her, still examining the tracks.

By the time he looked up she was already by the edge of the clearing, not far from where the tracks led into the forest, grinning and her tail twitching. Her eagerness was contagious, smiling himself, he hurried after her. Together they followed the tracks deep into the forest, Anya's magic finding the trail in the spots where the tracks were faint.

It wasn't long before they found the herd, roughly twenty deer milled aimlessly about a large field. "If they stay close enough for the other hunters to find them we'd have more than enough to last us the winter." Anya muttered, crouching low behind a clump of brambles. Mikko nodded in agreement and notched and arrow.

He slowly crept around the edge of the field, looking for a good target. In the middle of the herd he spotted a young buck that moved with a noticeable limp. It was big enough to feed a good sized family, but small enough for the two of them to carry it back without too much trouble. Settling into a crouch he drew his bow, the oiled wood bending smoothly and silently.

Just as he let his arrow fly a fierce howl split the still air and his arrow hissed through empty space as the herd bolted in terror. Anya and Mikko fled as well, the howls were that of the artic wargs, even the hunting parties avoided the packs when they came down from the north.

They could hear the thunderous pounding of the wargs' paws close behind them. Their frightened flight turned into a panicked sprint. After what felt like an age, Anya threw herself under a rocky ledge, catching Mikko in a tackle along the way. They hit the ground hard and rolled to the back of the ledge, pressing themselves between the cold ground and the damp stone. Panting Anya gasped out a frantic spell and the air around them shimmered, hiding them from the wargs. The massive, misshapen beasts prowled around the veil, their blunt ugly muzzles pulled back into frustrated snarls, they could smell the frightened foxes but could not find them. Finally the pack gave up and slunk back to the shadows of the forest.

Relieved, Anya slumped against Mikko, releasing the spell as the sounds of the wargs faded into the distance. He gently stroked her thick mane-like hair, neither of them were in any shape to speak. They huddled together, listening to the pounding of their hearts and the gentle murmur of the ancient forest. Eventually they crawled out from under the ledge and began to look around.

The slab of weathered stone that they had sought shelter under was one of many that lay along what had once been some great path. Curiosity and a lurking fear of the wargs that lay behind them lured them down the stony path. Around them rose strange and leafless trees, their smooth bark an odd reddish brown. The path branched out, snaking its way between the trees, though many of the side paths were blocked by either fallen trees or strange shapes that lurked amongst the over grown grass.

As they went further down the ancient path the strange trees grew taller and closer together, eventually they decided to take a close look at one particular cluster of trees. Cautiously Mikko reached out to rest his palm against the deceptively rough bark. Reddish brown flakes clung to his palm as he pulled away. Confused he rapped a knuckle against it, expecting the telltale thunk of wood. Instead he was met with an odd sound unlike any he had heard before. The sound stirred vague memories of an old tale of ancient creatures that was once told to him when he was a pup. What little of the great stone slabs that wasn't covered in moss was an odd mix of black and gray. Sparse, twisted, and stunted trees had forced their way through the cracks between the stones, desperately reaching for the distant sun.

Something about the abnormal stillness and convoluted lines of the place made Mikko's fur stand on end. As he glanced around he heard the scrabbling of paws over stone, fading into the distance. "Anya?" he asked, looking around. He saw her scrambling across the uneven stones, a look of curiosity and wonder plastered drunkenly across her face. Muttering something about curiosity and cats, he hurried after her.

"Father once told me a story about this place." She said as he approached, her voice soft and distant. "Many centuries before we settled here, the land was covered in great hives with shining skin. Strange creatures lived within them. They walked on two legs, like us, but they were flat footed and had no fur." Her voice trailed off as she examined one of the mangled structures.

"And where are they now?" asked Mikko, struggling to remember the stories once told to him by his parents.

"We don't know, they vanished long before we came here. Father has heard many different endings to this tale from our ancestors. Some said that the creatures had angered the gods and that the gods rained fire and death upon them as punishment for their insolence. Others say that the creatures brought their doom upon each other. Still others simply said that the creatures left for faraway lands."

"How come no one has tried to find out?" he asked

"Father believes that whatever happened here scarred the land and its spirit. That's why he never told the story to the rest of the tribe, he wants the land to heal and feels that our rituals would interfere."

They kept walking as she spoke, their nails clicking on the cracked stone. The skeletal wreckage grew closer together as they wandered deeper into the forlorn ruins. The winds whistled mournfully between the twisted reddish bones. Even the sparse weeds that forced their way up between the great cracked slabs seemed withered and lifeless.

"This place must have been beautiful." Anya whispered, glancing around. Her eyes wide, somehow seeing past the rampant decay.

"More likely it's cursed." muttered Mikko, something about the crumbling ruins sent shivers down his spine and made his fur stand on end.

Anya didn't seem to hear him, though she did notice the thick grey dust that coated the ancient stone slabs. So thick that it muffled their footsteps and clung to their fur. They wove their way between the crumbling husks of the once proud hives, the dust growing thicker still as they went further into the ruins.

Suddenly they found themselves before a massive ragged hole in the earth. It was as if some gigantic creature had simply bit into the ground and swallowed it whole. Faint spectral forms flickered about the crater, burned into the fabric of time.

Mikko's ears went flat and he bared his teeth as one of the ghosts drifted past, its features blurred by time.

Anya watched it pass, enthralled by the pale shimmering of the shade. She felt a strange shiver run through her body and the shade's head snapped up, its sightless eyes met hers. Something in the back of her mind told her it had sensed her magic but she was too enthralled by its pearlescent gaze to realize what that meant. Almost too late she felt an ancient presence pulling at the edges of her mind. The world around her blurred and vivid streaks of color danced before her eyes. When her vision finally cleared she found herself in the midst of a busy street.

She looked about in wonder, the sun glittered of the reflective skin of the hives and the creatures that lived within them hurried about. Other strange creatures rushed passed her, and sometimes through her. It was a beautiful but hectic sight. Focusing, she could still see the ruins past the chaotic movement and noise, but they hovered just beyond the corners of reality. Like the edges of a shattered dream. The noises of the creatures sounded distant and muffled, as if coming from far away, or far underground.

She stared wildly about, overwhelmed by what she saw, trying to follow everything at once. It wasn't until the creatures seemed to begin to panic, screaming and pointing, that she looked up. Great shapes blocked out the warm glow of the sun, casting cold shadows upon the frightened creatures and confused fox. Seconds later fire and noise tore the world apart.

Anya could only watch as waves of heat washed over the strange creatures, leaving only ash statues in its wake. She felt a burning pain in her eyes and the world went black as the first wave washed over her. After what felt like an eternity later, a second wave threw her to the ground.

She came to amongst the comforting smells of her village. She could hear the soft voices of her kin, some close, some far. The dim echoes of an intense pain burned across her eyes. Trying to open them she whimpered in pain and fright for the room was abnormally dark, though she felt the warmth of day on her fur. Confused and frightened she called out for Mikko.

"Easy there," came his voice from close by,"you've been out for a few days." She felt his hand on her shoulder.

"What happened?" her voice shook, unsure if she wanted to hear the answer.

"You were staring into that pit for a few minutes before you just crumpled to the ground. Eyes shut tight and blood running down your face. It took me a few hours to get you back here, you were half conscious for some of it, but for the most part I had to carry you. Your parents did what they could but they couldn't save your eyes." He told her. Though he tried to hide it, she could tell that the whole thing had shaken him up. "Also, your mother made this for you" he told her, pressing a length of cloth into her hands. She ran her fingers over the narrow strip of cloth, feeling the intricate designs her mother had stitched into it. She got the hint immediately and tied the cloth over what was left of her eyes.

"Did you tell them where we went?" she asked.

"They already knew. Your father took one look at your eyes and the dust that clung to our paws and figured it out."

"Was he angry?"

"No, he seemed sad. He said what happened to your eyes was punishment enough. Though what about your eyes? You don't seem to be too bothered about losing them."

"They still hurt but the pain's fading, I'll be able to manage. I still have my magic and everything else. I suppose Father is right, perhaps this is a fitting punishment for seeing what should best be forgotten." She told him, cuddling close to him. Even as she spoke she was already trying to figure out spells that would help her find her way around.

As time passed she perfected such spells and could not only find her way around the village but she could also hunt just as well as before, if not better. Though she could still see in her dreams. Every night she saw them, the frightened faces of the ancient creatures pleading for salvation, forced to watch again and again at they turned to ash and crumbled before her. She would wake up shaking and whimpering, the only comfort coming from the dark shape of Mikko as he slept beside her.