FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

A battle emerges on a white plain. From the left swells a great army of furs, swords and shields in hand and all wearing white tabards over gleaming chain mail. From the right comes a darker army of furs holding battle-axes and long spears topped with skull flags flapping in the wind. Silence looms over the field after both armies halt about a football field's length away from one another. A single fur on the white side stands on a large rock protruding from the gently swaying grass. He raises his sword and, in unison, his army does the same, all of them yelling out cries of battle. The furs on the darker side mimic this then, as if jettisoned from a catapult, they launch from their side and come thundering towards the white furs. Not delaying their attack any longer, the white side charges at them. Just as the first few furs were about to clash, a group of alien ships appear out of nowhere and start shooting laser beams at both groups of furs. Metal clad warriors go up in smoke left and right. Our hero from the rock holds up his sword at the giant sky demons as if in defiance. One of the ships aims and shoots at him. Just before the beam strikes him, it suddenly ends in a broken, speckled line.

"Damn pencil lead!"

Nick curses at his pencil as he sets it down and blows the broken tip off of his paper. A loud bell startles him momentarily before he realizes it's the last school bell for the year. He hurriedly packs his stuff and leaves his science class to join the herding train of students in the hallway. Short conversations of 'Have a nice summer' 'See you next year' and 'Let's get drunk tonight!' pop up around him as he walks down the hallway toward the exit of the school building. Nick is a quiet wolf and mostly keeps to himself. His shorter, lithe frame and shy demeanor makes him one of the common verbal and sometimes physical punching bags for the bullies and jocks around the high school. His lupine ears twitch every which way, sensing for an attack of some sort by the group of outcast bullies that always hassle him. None came though as he exits the building and starts heading down the sidewalk, they were all too busy smoking in the bathroom.

A sigh of relief escapes Nick as he walks down the sidewalk toward his bus stop, his drawing book clenched against his chest like it was made of gold. Nick is an artist at heart though he excelled in every other subject mainly because he didn't really have much of a life other than school and drawing. He was glad that school is now over and summer would start but something inside of him made him feel a bit depressed. Everyone would be out partying, having fun, going places and generally enjoying summer. He would be stuck at his place with his grandma doing dishes and mowing the lawn for a measly five bucks a week while his mother was out working at the fashion design company that kept the three of them under a roof and eating every day. His parents had broken up due to a lack of communication and loyalty on his father's part. He was a good father when Nick was born, but the job he worked at daily to keep the family going changed him. After increasing arguments and catching Nick's father sleeping with another female, Nick's mom decided to divorce him. She moved in with her mother and continued working to keep her mind off of the divorce and support Nick and her elderly mother.

Another sigh escapes Nick. This time it was more of a depressed sigh. As he nears the bus stop he hears quickening footsteps behind him. Before he had a chance to react and avoid an attack, a taller and more muscular fur tackles him from behind and bear hugs him tightly. Nick's golden eyes bulge a little as he struggles in the stronger fur's arms, his drawing book still clenched tightly against his chest.

"No, please leave me alone!" Nick pleads with him.

The voice that follows completely changes Nick's mood.

"Aww, c'mon buddy. I thought we were friends." The voice chuckles behind him.

"Jason! You butt-head!" Nick chuckles as his jet-black feline friend lets him go.

He swats at him a little bit.

"Why do you always pick on me like that?"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it." Jason says as he messes up Nick's head fur a little.

Nick growls and glares at him playfully.

Jason is pretty much the only male friend he has at the school. Most of his friends comprise of the nice female teachers and a few of the girls that didn't make fun of him because he was kind of a runt. Jason is one of the more sport-orientated furs at school. His grades are average and he spends a lot of his time either on the football field or running track.

When Nick moved to town he was totally frightened of going to a new school where he knew nobody. He met Jason a few weeks after starting at this new school. They were assigned many of the same classes together including P.E. Nick didn't really talk to Jason much, they were more like acquaintances that sort of smiled at each other when they passed in the hallway and had short conversations when Jason asked Nick about an assignment they were working on. It wasn't until Jason took an interest in Nick's drawings that they started talking more. "Wow, you're really good." Jason would say when he caught a glimpse of a picture Nick would be feverishly working on during lunch or break time. Nick would blush a little and say thanks. Jason was the first person that didn't make fun of his drawings and Nick enjoyed the new attention. They would sit at lunch and talk. Nick would share his drawings with Jason and they would laugh at some of the more funny ones he did of teachers he didn't really like or just strange little doodles that he did when he finished an assignment and was bored. Having a friend that was built like Jason but didn't have the mentality of a bully and the intelligence of a grapefruit had its advantages as well. Jason would protect him when bullies began to hassle him at P.E. and in class. Nick kind of looked up to Jason as his hero and always loved being around him.

"So are you ready for summer?" Jason asks Nick as they walk toward the bus stop side-by-side, Jason's feline tail swaying slowly side to side.

"Well... not really. I'm probably not going to be doing much. Sometimes I'd rather go to school than stay home and do nothing for the summer." Nick says, reverting back to his earlier depression.

"Cheer up Wolfie!" (Jason's nickname for Nick) He puts an arm around Nick's shoulder and gives him a sort of rough but friendly hug.

Nick didn't really resist at all but rather gave in to Jason's hug. He felt comfortable and safe around Jason who is, for the most part, the only guy he has no problem hugging or having any sort of physical contact with.

Nick can now smell the slight scent coming from under the feline's loosely fitted black button-up shirt under the unzipped leather jacket he wore that was adorned with various sports patches and covered with the school's colors. For some reason it always calmed Nick down though he didn't know why. There have been many strange things Nick has discovered about himself since he met Jason. Strange feelings would sometimes stir up in his mind while he was hanging around his feline friend. He never spoke about them for fear that Jason would think he was weird and quit talking to him.

"I might be able to save you from boredom this summer... but it'd require your mom's permission."

Nick's ears perk up.

"Really? How?"

A grin creeps across Jason's face.

"Well, My parents are going to take a trip down to the Caribbean and they asked me if I wanted to come with. I told them I'd think about it mainly because I didn't want to be stuck with them for a month and a half with nothing to do... but if you came along I'd have someone to hang out with."

They sit down side-by-side at the covered bus stop.

"When are they leaving?" Nick asks, very interested now at the thought of actually leaving the mainland and seeing more of the world.

"In a few days. They still need to get supplies packed on board for the week long trip down there."

A quizzical look comes over Nick's face.

"What are they using to get down there?"

The grin on Jason's face broadens.

"Have you ever gone sailing before?"