FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

I have been walking for three days in this damned snow and I don't think I can survive another.

The blizzard continues to blow as fierce as ever; the icy breath of the storm nearly knocks me down every time my foot leaves the ground. A few times I fall into the freezing snow, but I _must_keep going, even if it kills me, I must keep walking. I must make it south; there must be something more to this land than permafrost covered cities. The feeling of the snow hitting my face is like broken glass sliding across my skin. My fur does nothing to stop the cold. My helmet has, thus far kept my ears safe, but I can feel the ice starting to form on my fingers and paws. The ice is starting to weigh me down as it collects on my fur and limbs. I keep walking.

I've been so cold for so long, I'm starting to feel warm, is this what death is like? I keep walking. The cold air bites my skin and rips into my lungs. I keep walking... I feel so tired... but I must keep walking... I notice ahead of me a large mound of snow, far too large to have been formed by the storm... there must be something buried there, likely a bus or small house. It's hard to tell that I'm in the ruins of a city anymore. It's all buried under dozens of feet of snow, even the massive towers and skyscrapers look like ornate mountains. I've been listening to the same sound of howling wind for days, but now I hear something new--something unusual. I hear music. As I approach the mound of snow it gets louder... is something, or someone, buried here? I can... almost hear laughter... I've been going too long, perhaps... perhaps it's time for a nap. I just need to sleep and I'll be fine when I wake. Yeah, just a quick nap.

I begin clawing at the snow and ice beneath me to make a small hole in hopes that I can find warmth buried beneath the storm. As I dig the music gets louder. I continue digging, ignoring the music in hopes that my mind will clear itself as I claw my way into the frozen blanket. I notice that I'm not really making any progress as the hole fills with snow every time I stop to try to regain my breath. I decide that I've made it far enough, I'm going to sleep right here, I can't go on anymore. I finally pay attention to the music... it's an accordion of some sort. It has a calm, but pleasant sound to it. Is this really my mind playing tricks on me? I've never heard such music before and it's an instrument I'm not very familiar with. I take a moment to enjoy the music, but I feel myself wavering in the cold. I can't stand any longer, I let out a long howl and collapse. The ice feels so warm. I close my eyes and accept sleep as it crawls over me. I can just barely hear the music stop and a few voices start chatting back and forth.

Suddenly there's a bright light, oh no, have I died? No! I wake up and look around. The music is much louder and I'm somewhere different. There's a fire right next to me crackling with warmth. I hear voices chattering all around me, but I don't know what they're saying. I suddenly notice that my helmet is gone and I can feel something tugging gently on my ears. I look up and see a masked human rubbing my ears. My mouth falls open and I nearly howl in terror, but I'm still too frozen to move much. I can't even think of what to do. The human's mask is that of an emotionless face with exaggerated features, it has several ritualistic looking marks carved into it and a red star painted into the center of the forehead. The human isn't really paying attention to me, in fact, he seems rather interested in something else. I look around and see what the human is looking at and find the source of the music in the process. It's a human playing the accordion. The human is clearly male, given his massive mustache and beard. He's wearing a military outfit I'm not familiar with. I notice the patch on the side is... red with some golden farm equipment. I look back up to the human rubbing my ears and notice that he's looking down at me. I spot the same odd patch on his arm. He looks down at me and asks me something strange, so I mutter out a hoarse "What?" The human leans in close to me and asks another strange question, which I get American out of, so I say: "... no?" The human lets out a huge belly laugh and points down to me. The human yells to the others. There's a resounding "Opa!" from the others, which I've only just now noticed.

There are around a dozen humans all staring in my direction laughing and talking in some other language. The scene before me is so alien that I have difficulty arranging my thoughts. One minute, I'm in the blizzard and the next I'm in... "Where am I?" I say aloud. "Hello, Comrade! Welcome to our bunker! You are warm, yes? You need something to eat? We get you plenty food!" The human above me bellows out. I only now start to notice my surroundings a bit more and realize that there is a big fluffy blanket on me, the dozen or so men are all wearing the same odd patches, and the fire is burning brightly, as though it were fueled by something dramatically flammable, in fact, it seems these humans are burning some unusual papers. They look kind of like documents and... human money? I look up at the Human above me, whom has begun massaging my shoulders... which is weird... and I ask him what they're burning. "We burning Capitalist money. There is no need for money in current situation. No people, no trade, no money! We need warm fire too!" As he says this, he stokes the fire revealing just how big the pile of burning money really is. I take a moment to follow the trail of smoke up to the odd homemade chimney jutting out of the ceiling, which makes me wonder where that leads and how far underground we must be. My gaze returns to my wannabe masseuse and I ask the most important question on my mind: "Why haven't you killed me?" The human seems utterly taken aback by this, as if I had just insulted his very nature. "Kill you, Comrade? We are peaceful peoples. Where other see big scary wolf, I see comrade in need of help. I see comrade also in need of food!" He lets out another big laugh and motions to one of the dozen laughing men, whom promptly disappears behind a large metal door. "Sergei will bring much food for our scrawny wolf comrade, yes?" He says as he begins running his fingers through the fur on my head. I feel a little weird-ed out by the man's insistence on touching and rubbing me, but it does feel good...

I decide that I may as well learn the name of my new... eh, friend. "Uh, Human, what is your name?" The man looks down at me, his eyes glaring somewhat menacingly behind his mask. "Menya zavut Vladimir." He says in a rather proud manner, which I take to mean, 'My name is Vladimir.' or something similar. I take another moment to think before asking: "Vladimir, why are you wearing that mask?" I ask inquisitively, hoping I don't insult the human's tribal ways, or whatever the reasoning behind the mask is. Vladimir takes his hands off me and puts one to his chin as if in deep thought. "The mask is my face. It what I wear for all times. Everyone know mask as me, and me as mask, but mask name is Pustoy, though you call him Hollow, if you like." I think for a moment on this. "So, you named the mask Hollow, why? If it is you, that's... that's kind of depressing." Vladimir laughs again, but this time with a somewhat more depressing tone, as if he were trying to hide the emotion. "Hollow is hollow. Hollow feel nothing and be nothing, like I use to be. Hollow be war face, in way, but many know Hollow to be my face, so I wear Hollow almost always." Vladimir's sloppy English makes understanding him a bit difficult, but I think I get it, more-or-less.

Just as I was about to ask more questions, like where is this place exactly, or what sort of clan is this that they don't attack my kind, Sergei reappears with a big plate of steaming food. My nose nearly rips itself from my face from the smell alone. It smells amazing, but something is a bit off. As he sets the food onto a tray next to me, I notice the meat is slightly unusual. It looks like beef, which I haven't had in a long time, but it smells odd. I take a moment to examine the food a bit more. It seems to be a plate of odd meat and potatoes. I can't seem to get over the odd smell of the meat, but I reach over and take a small slice in my hands and take a bite. It tastes amazing; like pork, or perhaps veil, but still... it's strange. I've had many meats in my time, before the War of Attrition, but this one is, well... odd. It's far batter than the jerky and MREs I've snagged from the snow covered cities. I sit up and begin munching away hungrily on the food, but that thought never leaves me that it's rather odd tasting.

[WIP]