FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Hushed voices swirled around in Zorpix's head, tempting his paws to turn around and dash away. The feral creature's body shuddered as he crept forward into a large dark room. As his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, he looked around to get a better idea of his surroundings. Cold, stone walls surrounded him, stretching up into blackness. Well, further into it at least. No windows, no nothing. Just cold, unforgiving darkness. He could barely see a few feet in front of him, so the fact that he could see the walls meant this was a pretty narrow room. I guess it's more like a hallway... he thought to himself. But I've no idea why a hallway should be so tall... the last room I was- he paused, and turned around. Try as he might, he couldn't recall what kind of room he had just left. Or what was in there. Or how he even got here... Maybe I'm dreaming. He thought, and plopped down on the damp ground, waiting for the dream to end.

His paws shifted nervously and he looked around. Nothing was changing. The room stayed the same, but his nerves started rising. If this was a dream, it'd feel a little more... artificial. This was too real. The air leaving and entering his body was too crisp and cool to be something his head created. His breaths started coming in gulps as he tried to remember what was going on. Nothing. His memory was blank, but his mind and heart were racing.

After a few seconds of panic, he came to the conclusion that the only way to find out what was going on was to just keep walking. Shakily rising to his paws, he took a few seconds to regulate his breathing, and started forward.

As soon as he started walking through the moist chamber, the hushed, muffled voices started clamoring in his head again. There was no one else in the room as far as he could see, but then again, he couldn't see very far... He kept walking, hoping to see some end to this room in the distance, but no light gave evidence of any such change. He started running, voices growing to a dull roar that started emanating throughout his body. His steady pace turned into a relentless sprint, trying to escape the bitter darkness around him. The voices were yelling now. Yelling at him? If they were, he still couldn't make out what they were saying, so he charged on, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth. The thought of spewing out a little fire to light the place up had occurred to him earlier, being part vulpix allowed him to do this, but he had pushed the idea away earlier because he didn't want anyone to know of his presence. However, after dashing around in the darkness for so long, the idea seemed much better now. He inhaled, insides churning to prepare the flame. The voices were tremendous now. Like a waterfall was inside his head. Thousands of overlapping tones and dialects all intersecting in his brain. Opening his eyes to make sure he didn't miss what his light revealed, he leveled his head and aimed down the tunnel. Right as he was about to let it out, the thousand voices in his head all resonated at once, nearly shrieking in his head.

"STOP!"

Zorpix coughed and choked on his flame which had been halfway up his throat. Closing his mouth to stop it wasn't the brightest idea, but he'd had worse. The light that shone from his mouth made him realize exactly why he was ordered to stop. This wetness that was surrounding him wasn't water. It was oil. His outsides weren't exactly as fireproof as his insides. If he would've let his breath out, he would've been consumed by the blaze.

"No fire... got it..." He murmured to himself, trying to wrap his head around the situation. Where _was _he? Since his sense of sight was basically disabled, he craned his neck to see what he could hear. At first, all he could hear was the sound of his own blood rushing around his body. But after a few seconds, he heard a faint little yip. Zorpix took a few steps forward, still listening closely to make sure he didn't just imagine it. As the seconds ticked by, his hope started fading. It had been a whole minute before he heard the noise again. This time he was sure it was real. Letting out a little yap of his own, he started running forward again.

As the oil splashed around his paws, he realized he must be filthy. He started worrying whether or not this stranger would even let him approach if he looked like this. _But how do I know I want to approach this stranger... _He stopped again and looked forward. He could see a very dim light, but not its source, meaning there was a bigger room up ahead. He was worried that, upon meeting this new animal, he might be attacked. Being covered in oil, he was weighed down and unable to use fire. The sound the other animal made didn't sound threatening though... Figuring some interaction was better than turning around and crawling back through the darkness, Zorpix sighed and walked forward towards the new room.

(Awkward Chapter/Page Break)

As he entered the room, it appeared the other animal wasn't there yet. He used this time to look around. It was a metallic, circular room with a low hanging ceiling. About seven or eight tunnels just like the one he came out of led into the room. I wonder if each one has someone in it... He shuddered as he wondered if any of them had almost died like he did. He heard a faint splashing growing louder, and ducked back into his tunnel, wanting to see this newcomer before it saw him.