FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The German Shepard felt the bubbles move against his fur, a slight brush of hair with every small pocket of air that passed through them. The liquid that surrounded him warmed his skin and filled his lungs, somehow acting like oxygen, being sucked into his lungs and then released out. The dog's mind didn't wonder how he could breathe in the liquid, he was only glad of the warmth in brought to him.

A word came into the dog's mind, Hound. The dog didn't know where it came from, but it sounded familiar, like he heard it before. He wondered if it was his name, to be called it by another. The dog liked being called this word, it made his mouth curl into a smile, something that had never happened before.

Hound was snapped back to reality by muffled sounds that came from outside the glass that held him, the liquid distorting the sounds as they travelled to his large ears. He opened his ears slowly and looked through the green fluid, his eyes more developed than before, letting more of the world around him be seen. Figures stood just outside the glass, looking at the dog with intrigue.

"What do you want with me?" Hound wanted to ask the figures.

One of the figures put a finger up to the glass and pressed against it softly, before turning to another figure and saying something. The figures moved away from the glass and to the wall of machines, pressing a sequence of buttons on the white polished metal. Hound felt the rush of current through the liquid, forcing the dog down in the tube. The current in the liquid increased until finally the last of the green fluid exited the test tube.

Hound fell to the ground, coughing up the green liquid left in his lungs, the fluid forming small pools on the white floor. The dog looked up at the figures, their pictures now crystal clear through the glass. They wore bleach white clothes and their skin was devoid of hair except for on top of their heads. One of them spoke into a grated rectangle box and the figure's voice came through into the test tube.

"Test subject 302, you have been selected today to finish the program you were put onto before your were created."

"W... w... what... program?" Hound found it hard to form the words in his mouth, his muzzle and extended tongue made it harder for him. The figure looked away from the grated rectangle and said something to his colleague, before turning back to the rectangle.

"Well, might as well tell you, you deserve at least that much. We started the program to find a cure for the infection. When we create a new vaccine, we generate a new batch of animals with the infection breed into them. Since the test subjects are already animals the infection has no effect on them. If the test subjects show distinct signs of humanity during growth, then we bring on the last stage of development and introduce the subject into society."

"H-h-have I s-hown signs of hum-ani-ty?"

"In both mental and physical aspects, there have been some signs of improvements. As it is apparent by your ability of speech and your increased mental capacity. But we have not seen enough physical evidence to activate the last stage, we're sorry."

"S-sorry? F-for what?"

"We haven't had test subjects survive very long, usually by the time we wake them up its already apparent. Even with our attempts to save, they still die. And that has worked in our favour, we can't let the public know of the cost the cure came with. You have shown no abnormalities physically and we have no other choice, for the record I am very sorry for what is about to happen."

Hound felt the floor move in a way that allowed the middle to open up, increasing in size in seconds. The dog whimpered up at the figures, "P-please, don't d-do this."

The figures didn't move as the last of the floor disappeared and Hound fell into a circler tube. Hound's claws scrapped at the metallic tube as he fell down, the tube twisting in different directions as he continued his journey down. After barely a minute of sliding in the tube he fell into the open air, falling with a thump onto hot sand.

Hound opened his eyes after a moment, getting to his paws. His nose cringed as the smell of decay blew his way, he then looked around and his eyes went wide with shock. A pile of animal bodies grew from the dunes, all different species and in different stages of development.

"So, t-this is the c-cost for the c-cure." Hound muttered to himself, a tear running down his furry cheek.

He didn't want this, he didn't want the power the cure gave him. Hound's thoughts were instantly stopped by a series of spasms through his brain which made him curl up into a ball, his paws covering his scalp. The pain continued until finally Hound woke up from the dream with a gasp, his eyes bloodshot with wetness. Hound looked over to the sleeping bag and saw it empty, devoid of Snowfire. He then slowly got up and padded softly to Lucien's sleeping bag, seeing only Chris inside. Hound moved next to Chris and put his nose just under the horse's hand, pushing against the short fur, gaining a slight twitch from it.

"W-what is it Hound?" Chris asked, his voice a little strained from waking up.

"I had a bad dream, about the day I was created." Hound whimpered.

"I know about bad dreams, I have them about my past too."

This made Hound relax a little, making the end of his ears perk back up slightly. "I wasn't always so doggish by mind, you know, they didn't make me like this."

"Who didn't make you like this?" Chris asked.

"I was made in a giant metallic metropolis, made to help cure the infection. They made me to cure your kind, and I was one of the failures. I failed in my task before I even fully developed. They threw me out the metropolis and it was then when I saw the... the other failures, who didn't survive. I didn't want the effects of the cure at that price, and somehow I was able to overwrite most of my human nature."

"You saw the others, the ones who didn't make it..." Chris trailed off for a second in thought.

"Yes, they were all in a pile in the sand." Hound said, rubbing his head against the hooved hand, seeking comfort from the short fur.

"It must have been hard on you."

"It was, I didn't want the cure at that price. I wasn't able to stop talking, but I could let my animal instincts take over."

"Just remember you're not a failure Hound, ok? You were made by people who were scared, and sometimes good people do bad things when their scared."

"They do?"

"Yes, and I'm sorry you were hurt by them." Chris said, petting hound softly.

"Thank you," Hound moaned. "Do you mind me staying here while I wait for Master?"

"Sure go ahead," Chris replied.

* * * *

Lucien and Snowfire walked through the forest around the pond, padding over fallen leaves and over-ground roots. Silence hung over them for a few moments until finally Snowfire spoke up, "this is a good place you found."

"Yeah it is, I was lucky to find it." Lucien said.

"Yeah," Snowfire replied.

"Where have you been living before here?"

"Well I've been in this forest for about half a year, and before that I mostly lived in the desert. That was when I met Hound of course," Snowfire said.

"I was wondering about Hound. How can he, you know, speak?"

"He doesn't like to speak about it, I think it still haunts him deeply." Snowfire stopped for a second. "He was created to cure us, they gave him a strain of cure that enhanced his brain activity and gave him more advanced vocal cords. When he found out the extent of the curing process he couldn't take it, his hatred for the cure broke something in him. And the mental advantages that the cure gave him just vanished, just like that."

"So his mental abilities just left," Lucien breathed out.

"Yeah, it just was too much for him." Snowfire said, he relaxed against a tree and let his white fur press against the wood.

"I think having you helps him, it keeps him occupied." Lucien said.

"You think so?"

"I do," the Golden Labrador said with a small smile.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Snowfire said as he got up from the tree and started walking down the path, Lucien walking next to him.

They walked back in near silence, following the path back to the lake. After barely five minutes they got back to the lakeside, their black paw pads now crunching the sand underneath them as they walked along the shore. Chris walked out from the shelter, wearing a pair of boxers made from plain cloth, and gave them a wave. Hound came out after him and sat by his side, tongue hanging out with delight as Lucien and Snowfire walked up to them.

"Hey Chris," Lucien said. He then went down on one knee and petted Hound, "hey there boy."

"Hey guys," Chris said.

Hound's head moved against Lucien's paw, smiling contently as the Golden Labrador rubbed the cheek. Lucien smiled back until he noticed Hound's eyes slightly bloodshot, the area around them was tinted red with soreness.

"Hound, have you been crying?" Lucien asked softly while Chris and Snowfire talked between themselves.

Hound looked down and waited a moment, "a little."

"Do you want to tell me about it?"

"No, I'm sorry." Hound said with sadness in his eyes.

"It's ok, you don't need to if you don't want to."

"Thank you," Hound said, licking Lucien's paw softly, covering the fur and pads with saliva.

"So, what's the plan today?" Chris asked, bringing Lucien and Hound into their conversation.

"There's no plan, today we can do whatever we want." Lucien said getting to his feet.

"Great, I need a day off," Chris said.

"You've only done two day's work and you need a day off?" Lucien asked jokingly.

"They were two very long days," Chris replied.

They all joked for a few minutes before they started the day. Lucien went to the table he made two days ago, which now stood outside facing the lake, and put his feet up while Chris played with Hound, playing fetch and tug-of-war. Snowfire went to one of the trees and sat in the shade, his tongue hanging out slightly in a pant. Lucien caught sight of the fox glancing over to Hound every now and again, his cheeks turning slightly red when he saw the Golden Labrador looking.

After a couple of hours Lucien woke from the nap and looked around, seeing Snowfire and hound laying by the pond side and Chris standing on a rock with a bamboo spear in hand, stabbing into the water. A small grin formed onto the Golden Labrador's face, relaxing back into the wooden chair. After a few minutes Snowfire walked up to Lucien and shook his shoulder softly, making sure he was awake.

"What is it?" Lucien asked, opening his eyes.

"I want to get some more supplies from the forest, more wood for building mostly. The thing is that Hound has been sitting with me for almost an hour, well he's getting restless and Chris is busy fishing, so I thought that you could play with him a bit while I'm gone."

"Sure thing," Lucien said, getting up from the chair.

"Thanks, I owe you one."

"Don't mention it, oh yeah." Lucien went into his bag, remembering his multi-tool cylinder. "Take this, it will make the job much easier."

"Thanks," Snowfire said as he took the cylinder. "I remember when I gave this to you for your sixteenth birthday, you grinned from ear to ear like a hyena for the whole day. It really made me happy to see you so filled with joy."

"Yeah, I remember that too." Lucien said fondly.

Snowfire turned and padded into the forest, the cylinder taking on its axe form in his paw.

"Where's Master going?" Hound asked while he ran over to Lucien.

"He's going to get more wood for building with," Lucien replied.

"I thought today was a 'no plan' day, why is Master doing work?"

"Today is a 'no plan' day, but I think he just needs some time to himself."

Hound looked down with his ears folding back, making a small, dog like, whine.

"Hey it's ok," Lucien said, going down onto one knee and petting his head. "I can always play with you if you want. We can play fetch, play chase, stuff like that."

"Yeah, I guess."

"What's wrong?" Lucien asked.

"I guess I'm just used to being with only Master that's all," Hound replied.

"Of course you are, but you'll get use to us too. I'm sure of it."

Hound closed his eyes and pressed his head against Lucien's paw, murring softly as a way of response.

"So do you want to play catch?"

"Yeah, I like catch!" Hound said as he ran back, he put his chest into the sand and let his hips stay in the air, waging opposite to the direction of his long tail.

"Ok," Lucien replied. He got to his feet, grabbed a large stick next to him and threw it for Hound. Hound caught it no more than a second after it fell to the ground, shaking his head as he gnawed at the stick within his mouth before taking it back to Lucien. They did this for an hour or so before Chris stopped fishing and went over to them, joining into the fun. The day slowly continued like this until finally the silver glow of the moon shone onto the clearing. Chris and Lucien went to their bedroll, facing each other this time, and then let sleep take over them.

Snowfire layed next to the roaring fire with his back on the warm sand, wearing only a pair of trousers on his white fur. Hound padded over to the fox and let his head fall onto his stomach, his ears folded back onto his neck.

Snowfire looked down at the German Shepard, "You ok Hound?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He replied.

"You sure?" Snowfire asked as he brought a paw down to pet through his head hair.

Hound murred slightly, pushing up against the paw. "Yeah, I'm sure."

Hound soon fell asleep, he tongue lolling out from his muzzle and onto Snowfire's soft fur. The fox smiled softly and slowly got up, bringing Hound in his arms to the bedroll. He set the German Shepard by the bedroll, going onto his knees and brought his head in front of Hound's. He pressed his lips against his and blushed slightly, backing off after a second.

"If only you knew," Snowfire whispered. The fox then striped to his underwear and slipped into the bedroll, a million thoughts going through his head. Why do I have to feel this way? He wondered, his eyes stared at the back of Hound's head. The fox turned in the bedroll and drifted off to sleep, unaware of Hound's eyes slowly opening.

The dog turned to the fox, if only you knew too.