FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The 'furs' as they'd been called didn't start out sentient. They were supposed to just be robots, actually, except made of flesh. I don't know if the scientists didn't get that brains weren't like metal computers or if they didn't care, but they sure got the people to buy into it. Or maybe the people didn't believe it, either, but they didn't care. They could do whatever they wanted to the not-people.

Of course, they weren't not-people. Or at least, nobody quite sold them that they weren't persons. It wasn't long before the mass produced furs realized they weren't being treated like people. They thought they should be. Their owners disagreed. So they killed their owners.

Governments are funny things. You think they're set up so they can stop something from hurting the people they govern, but at the end of the day, they're just people trying to protect more people. Some of their government tried, but it didn't work out. They tried to round up all the furs, but then the global nations said they were trying to genocide them. But the global nations didn't send in anyone to protect the citizens from the furs, either. The furs that didn't have an education, but they knew well enough how to kill.

So the government stopped working. Some say it's still in the capital city, working with the global nations for some kind of treaty. Of course, they got one superpower to the east saying nobody else has a right to send military in here and a bunch of little guys to the west who make up their own superpower saying the country couldn't either. Then they got those other two superpowers across the ocean- those guys get along great and already said if there was a war, they were going to stomp everybody so hard they would have to go back to fighting wars with rocks.

So nobody was coming to help, because helping means protecting the people who would go to help,too. But that means you bring guns, and the global nations said nobody's allowed to do that. Some people send food, anyway, but people fought over it.

Or at least, that's the story Valk's pa told him. He believed him well enough- it explained why there were tribes of furs and the like roaming the city and killing people. They killed men, women, children, each other, and even their own women and children. Anyone who might have food. They ate them, too.

Valk himself wasn't a soldier, not technically. He never got to sign up, and no government official ever officially conscripted him; he didn't even get a letter saying he better join or else. And if his father's words were true, he wouldn't have, even if they did get mail out of the capital city somehow. But one day, it seemed Fate itself came knocking at his door.

Valk was out of the fort. That's what his pa and ma and uncles and aunts called it- it was a well hidden, fortified spot in the hills outside a city. They kept up communication with other forts, but they didn't let them know where they were- more than one fort had been sold out to the furs or criminals. Sure, the furs knew their general location- they could smell that- but out on the hills, there were no trees, and the grass was short and scrubby from the biting wind blasting the slope all year round. Even the furs respected the 'range' posts put up by the forts. Crossing one was asking for a bullet through the heart.

But Valk. We were talking about Valk. He was out of the fort, because they had heard a radio transmission say a food supply drop was inbound. The pilot was a private flier, and he said it wasn't going to be a whole lot, but it was what he could give. He and some other people from both of the countries dropped food off, sometimes, and when they did, Valk was one of the people who went to get it.

There was a reason it was Valk who went and got it. He was big, for starters. Most furs hadn't figured out how to use guns, and the ones that did tended to keep the knowledge to themselves, so being big actually counted for something in a fight. Second, more important, he was mean when he got mad.

But the third reason, and the most important one, is that he always got the food. Maybe he had to wait out at night because other scavengers got their first, and he waited until nighttime to steal it from them, or maybe he had to beat up a bunch of young fur kids who thought they knew what a fight was, but he always got the food. And at the end of the day, that was all that mattered.

This day was normal. They picked the signal up early, and he went out in town. Past the empty houses, straight to the park where he said he was going to drop it. He almost beat the airplane to his own drop point. But there must have been others close by, because by the time he got to it, there were already people there.

They were furs. There was a big black bear and a skinny gray dog looking one on one side, and a younger gray wolf girl across from them, on the other side of the food. The bear was rather fat, but the wolf was lean- he was probably a better fighter than the bear. Both of them wore clothes made some time ago; the bear was wearing faded blue jeans made for a very large person, and the wolf was wearing something that looked like it came from a dead biker. They were standing about fifteen feet away from the crate of food, looking at the girl. She wasn't wearing much at all; she had a red skirt on held up by a belt, no top of any kind, and instead of shoes, she had rags around her feet in a feeble attempt to protect them from the cold ground. He could see her ribs, and what looked like burned fur. She was standing right by the crate, ears down, and tail between her legs.

"Weeelll now, what do we have here?" the bear asked, slowly stepping closer. "I do believe your the Emmets' girl, right? How are they doing after that fire?"

She sniffled and held a tear back, but she didn't say anything.

"You know, we never wanted that to happen," the wolf said. "We even told them that. We just wanted to... take you into our family," he said. Even from here, Valk could hear the sleeze rolling out in his voice. "Our offer still stands, you know. Would you like to be our wife?"

She shook her head, eyes wide open. Her hand was still on the crate of food, but she hadn't opened it yet. The wolf could chase her down in a second if she tried to take the food.

"Well that's a shame," the bear said. "I mean, you're obviously hungry. You're even looking at our food there, and you're touching it. You know we'll keep you well fed. How else could you be a good momma, huh? Don't you want to be a momma?" He took a few more steps closer.

"You can keep your food," she said.

Valk could hardly hear her; she was quiet. Still, she was clear. She wanted nothing to do with either of them.

The wolf took another careful step toward her. "We're giving you a choice, Emmet girl," he said. "You can be our wife, that is true! But you don't have to be." Her ears perked up a little at this, hopeful.

"You can also be our pet," he said, pulling out a collar and a chain from inside his jacket.

Her ears flattened back down and she backed up some more.

"So, what's it going to be?" he said. "Your parents can't help you now. You have to find someone who can- or who knows? Maybe instead of being a wife or a pet, you'll wind up as a supper." At this, the bear chuckled.

At this, the little girl turned and fled, and the wolf chased her down. It was as Valk predicted- he was much faster.

"Ah, little bitch!" the wolf shouted. "She had a blade- she cut me!" He was on her back now, forcing her into the ground. "I'll make you pay for that!"

"Now now, take it easy, Schik. Remember, if break her, we have to find another one later, remember?" the bear said.

Schik hissed. "Fine, but be damned if the little bitch will cut me again! I'll cut her thumbs off!"

The bear sighed. "Really, Schik, how can we invite our friends over if she has no thumbs to use?" He walked around the crate.

Now that nobody was watching, Valk stood up from the bushes and walked to the crate. He cursed his luck at the lid, though- the girl couldn't open it because it had been nailed shut.

"Well how are we supposed to teach her a lesson?!" Schik demanded. "We can't cut off her ears, because you can use those, too!" The girl began crying silently. "You think a finger tip is enough?"

Valk pulled out his crowbar. He wedged the metal tip between the wooden lid and the crate, and he pulled up.

CRACK

The wolf and the bear both jerked their heads back around to look at the crate. There stood Valk. His face was covered in stubble, and his hair was short. He was as big as the bear, but had muscle like the wolf. He was staring down into the food crate, and began rummaging around in it.

The bear and the wolf looked at each other, unsure of what to do with the cocky human. The bear decided to make the first move, since Schik was on the girl.

"Pardon me, human," he said, "My name is Alex. What is your name?"

Valk ignored him, and instead began taking food out and dumping it into piles on the ground beside him. He wouldn't be able to take everything, and he wasn't going to bring his family junk. That meant some of the meat products were good to bring- they were high in fats and protein- but some of the food was pointless. Lettuce. He scoffed. Lettuce was as good for you as grass. Spinach, though... He grabbed a few heads out and put them behind him. Spinach made boys into men.

Alex raised his shoulders at Schik. Schik rolled his eyes. He pulled the collar out, and locked it around the young wolf's neck. She screamed for him to let her go, but he held on tight, her blade now in his jacket pocket. He dragged her by the chain to near the bear, and clasped the chain around a sign post she couldn't reach.

"Look here pinky," the wolf said. "That crate is my food. If you don't quit digging around in it right now, I'm going to get mad."

Valk continued to ignore him, instead digging deeper into the crate. There were many packages of flour in the bottom. A little flour could make a lot of bread. His sister was a good baker- she'd like that.

The wolf bared his claws, and walked at the human.

"Alright fuzzhead, this is your last warning! Get out of my food, or I'll kill you!" he said.

Valk raised his gaze to Schik.

"Yeah, you heard me!" He said. "Get out, git!"

Valk snrked. The dog told him to 'git.' He smiled and went back to digging in the crate.

"Alright, that does it!" the wolf yelled. He rushed at Valk and swung his claws up, intending to catch him in the throat.

Valk pulled the crowbar up, and Schik's claws scraped the bar, instead. Valk's knee flew up into Schik's groin, and the wolf fell to his knees in pain. Valk swung the crowbar down like a pickaxe into the back of Schik's head. Pink stuff popped out. Valk swung twice more for good measure, and then he started digging in the box again.

Alex stood there, shocked. He had seen friends killed in fights before, but... but this was wrong. The human didn't let Schik know that he would fight back. He didn't even fight fair- he hit beneath the belt, and brought a weapon into a fight! That wasn't a fight, that was murder!

He roared and rushed at Valk, arms raised ahead of him to deflect incoming blows. Valk glared at him. As the bear's hands came into reach, valk's were there to grab one, and he grabbed the pinky finger and stepped out of the way. Alex tried to take his hand back, but Valk had it at an angle- if he pulled too hard, he'd break his finger. He tried to swipe with his other hand, but valk stepped on the back of his leg, pulled his arm, and sent him straight to the ground, then twisted. Alex screamed in pain as his pinky finger turned around completely in its socket. Valk kneeled in, with Alex's arm between his knees, and put his weight on the small of his back.

"You give up?" He asked Alex.

The bear tried to push up off the ground, and Alex leaned forward. The bear fell to his face and stomach again. Valk pushed on the arm, and Alex's shoulder threatend to make the same motion his pinky finger had. Alex screamed in pain again.

"You give up?" He asked Alex. Alex nodded, not wanting to lose his arm.

"I'm going to get up," Valk explained. "If you attack me again, or if you try to take my things, I won't kill you. I will break your hips and shoulders, and leave you here for someone else."

Alex nodded. He had enough of the human- he wanted to live to eat another day.

"Are you nodding?" Valk asked, getting angry. "Did I ask you a question, fatass?!" He began pushing on the arm.

"No, no! I'm sorry!" Alex said. "I meant I agree, I won't do anything stupid!"

"That's better. But we haven't discussed my prize," Valk said. He let the pressure up off of the bear a little.

"The- the food, all of it!" Alex said. "Really, you can have what you want." Valk sneered and pushed his arm down again for another scream.

"That food belongs to you as much as it does to me," he said. "The guy who dropped it down here wanted people to eat, not die. Besides, I can't carry all that. What do you own that you'll give me?" He was waiting for a specific answer. He didn't have to wait long.

"Uh... the girl! You can have the Emmet girl!" He said. "She doesn't have parents, anyhow, or anybody else who'll come back for revenge. Besides, she can walk herself, you don't have to carry her."

"Hmmm..." he said aloud. While he had no intention of leaving someone with a guy like this, fur or not, he wasn't going to let the bear know that's all he wanted. He had a reputation to protect- the more furs that recognized him from a distance, the less he had to actually fight to get their food.

"I want her and Schik's jacket," he said.

"Whatever you say!" Alex said, not wanting to push his luck.

"I'm going to get up now," he said. "Remember what I told you." Valk got up.

Alex lied there, not wanting to get up at the moment. He just wanted to lie there. Schik was dead, the girl whose parents they murdered because the mother and father wouldn't bend over for them had been taken, and to top it all off, he wouldn't even get the first pick of food out the crate. He'd been in worse spots before, though. He'd bounce back like he always did.

The Emmet wolf was still chained in her collar, tears streaming down her face and looking in the dirt. She had been made into a slave for a human. She knew how the humans ate their slaves and wore their skins. The furs did too, sometimes, but sometimes they made you a part of their family, if you were useful. Now she knew she was going to die.

Valk walked over to her and picked the chain up off the sign post, and wrapped the end around his arm. WIthout telling her to follow, he began pulling her toward the food crate. He took Schik's jacket, buttoned it up, tied the sleeves off, and turned it into a bag. He put a lot of lighter weight food in there, like spinach and some fruit, and he loaded the heavy, canned food into his backpack and pockets.

"Hey, you," he said to Emmet. "pick up that jacket. Don't spill the food." She did as she was told, but not quickly.

"I didn't say to take all day, girl!" Valk shouted. "When I say to do something, you do it!" She jumped at the jacket and held it up against her bare chest, trying not to panic.

"Now follow me," he said, "and don't walk slow."

Emmet followed the human. Her arms got tired, and her legs hurt, and her stomach was in pain- she hadn't eaten in four days. That was one day longer than it usually took her to find food. But it didn't matter much, anyway- once she got to where the human was taking her, it'd be over. Maybe he'd make it quick.

She wasn't sure how far they had gone, but the city was out of sight when he stopped her. The sun was going down, and the stars were coming out, and the cold wind was blowing. Maybe she could go with her parents in the sky after this, she thought to herself.

Valk walked up to her and took the bag of food, and set it down next to his pack. He pulled out a can of meat, and opened it up.

"Come here," he told her. Not wanting to incur his wrath again, she did as he was told.

"Eat."

She looked at him, unsure. Was he fattening her up so he could eat her later?

He put his hand up, and she flinched. But he didn't hit her, he pulled her to sit down next to him. "Girl, eat. You look like you haven't eaten since sunday. You're making me hungry just looking at you, and I ate a double breakfast!"

"I would rather you eat," she said, looking away from him and the food, "if that means you won't eat me."

"Eat you?" he asked. "Why would I eat you? I have food. What part of 'I ate a double breakfast' didn't you get?"

"You said looking at me made you hungry, though-"

Valk slapped his forehead. "Because you look so dang hungry. I can count your ribs. Look," he said, rubbing a few. Despite her situation, it tickled, and she laughed and rolled away from his finger. He smiled at her, and pulled her back up. "Now eat up. You'll get real food later."

She cocked her ear. Real food? Did that mean this was fake? She tasted the meat of the fork as he held it. It tasted real enough. He handed her the fork and the can, and then pulled out a can for himself.

They ate in silence, and the meat, although it wasn't much, filled her up. When they were done, he picked up their two empty meat cans and put them in the bag. "Don't want to leave evidence we came by this way," he said. "Now take that collar off, you're not a pet."

She wasn't a pet? a small part of her brain asked. Then what does that make her...?

She tried to take the collar off, but it wouldn't budge. "It won't come off," she told Valk. He looked at it, pulled his knife out, and cut through the leather.

"Now let's go," he said, shoving the chain and collar into his backpack. "We're not that far."

"Far from what?" she asked. He chuckled. "A warm bed and real food."

Well that sounded good, she told herself. Her tail wagged a little, and she picked up the food bag. She and Valk kept walking, and about ten minutes later, he told her to stop again. They were by a large post- she wasn't very good at reading, but her mother made sure she could read some. It said, "kill" at the top, but she didn't know the bottom word. Ran.. guh? Rainj? She didn't know what it meant.

Valk slammed his fist on the peg a few times, and she heard a noise- something like a large bell beneath it, in the earth. He waved his arms a few times, pointed to his backpack, and then waited. A few seconds later, that same noise was made again.

"Let's go," he said. "they probably have questions about you."

They marched up the hill for another ten minutes. When they finally got to the top, there was a wall she couldn't see from a distane- it was covered in grass, and impossible to make out. Behind it were more humans. All of them smelled somewhat like Valk.

"What the hell is that?" a gray and black haired one asked. He looked very much like Valk, except not so young. He was, of course, talking about her. Her ears shrank and her tail went between her legs again, and she tried to hide behind the food bag.

"That," Valk said, putting his backpack down, "is someone who just helped bring more food than I could carry by myself. Be grateful, Pa." His father snorted.

"Wait, is that a girl?" A young, somewhat rotund woman asked. She walked up to her, and took the food bag. "Holy goddess, she's starving!"

Emmet shook her head, no, but the woman poked her ribs. She giggled and retreated from her prodding finger, hiding behind Valk.

"Get her a bath, a change of clothes, and a hot meal," he said. "I hope you don't mind if she sleeps with you?"

"Oh that's fine-" she said, but stopped mid sentence. "Damn it. No, it's not fine." She sighed and looked up at Valk. "And you don't even know why."

Valk shrugged. "Then tell me, woman. Why not?"

She punched him in the ribs, laughing. "Don't talk to your sister that way. And the answer to your question? Gert proposed to me today! Just got back from his trip to the east fort, popped the question!"

Valk's jaw dropped, and he forgot his tiredness. "No!" he said, grinning ear to ear. "When are you two getting married?"

"Well, that's the thing," she said, "We already did. Today. While you were gone. We were going to wait for you, but you were taking forever. We had the wedding at sun-down."

"You're married?!" He said, throwing his arms out in a giant hug. "Congratulations! I'll have to steal some of Gert's celebration beer later!"

She smiled. "Now that, we did save for you. But... that one right there can't sleep with us tonight, Valk. That wouldn't be fair to Gert."

Valk sighed. "Eh, whatever. She can sleep with me, then. But get her a bath and a change of clothes and a supper, alright?"

"Sure" Helga said. "We already have supper making inside; I'll go ahead and get the bathwater ready." She headed inside, taking Emmet by the hand with her.

Valk's dad shook his head.

"Same woman says she'll skin every fur she meets for what they did to her mother, and then she sees a starving one and can't help but feed them."

Valk chuckled. "You mean like when mom saw you for the first time?" His fater laughed and hit him. Then his face got serious.

"You know some of the others won't like it, you bringing one of them in here," he said.

Valk scoffed. "Like any of them have the spine to do anything about it. I knew what I was doing. I knew there'd be problems," he said. "But she was in trouble."

Her dad sighed and grinned. "Eeyup. Just like your mother. Go wash up for supper, boy. I have another two hours of watch, and then Ronny is on." Valk did as he was told, and went to go eat supper.

After a hot bath, which felt so good that Emmet didn't want to leave the water, and after a hot supper, which was so good she ate until her belly poked out, Emmet was very tired. Valk's sister brought her some of her old clothes; a full skirt instead of that knee-length, and a long sleeved shirt, and she cut a hole for the tail. They didn't have any shoes that fit her, but that was fine by her- the new clothes were wonderful, and she was so happy that she had them, she cried. But it became late, and she was full and tired. Everyone was.

"Come on, Emmet," Valk said. "Let's go to sleep." He lead her to his bedroom inside the hill.

She rubbed her eyes, and looked at the bed. It was rather large, and made of foam. There was a big poofy blanket on it. Next to it was a nightstand and a single lantern, which cast a dim light on the room.

Valk shed his shirt and climbed into bed. Normally, he wouldn't sleep in pants, but he didn't feel comfortable taking them off in fron of her. Emmet, however, was not used to sleeping in clothes. Valk was trying to sleep, so he didn't notice her strip to the fur. She also wasn't used to sleeping alone- she used to sleep with her parents. So when she got in the bed, she curled up against Valk.

It took him a second to realize what the soft things poking him in the back were. They were nipples. She had her arms around his waist, and she felt completely naked.

"Hey, Emmet," he said, "you okay?" He sat up and looked at her.

She nodded.

"Well, okay, but you're naked. Is that how you're used to sleeping?"

"Mhm," she said. "At least, back when mom and dad were there with me."

"...You slept next to your mom and dad?"

"Yeah," she said, "Where else would I sleep?"

Valk rubbed his forehead. So she was used to sleeping next to people while in the nude. He wasn't sure how he felt about that, but mostly he felt tired.

"Okay, I'm going to turn out the lamp," he said. "Good night."

"Goodnight!" she said, tail wagging. It had been a long time since she had someone to tell that to. Valk turned out the lamp and leaned back into the bed, but he didn't leave his back to her. It felt rude- like he was pushing her away. So he lied on his back, and she snuggled up against him like that. But he couldn't fall asleep lying on his back, and he didn't want to just turn his back to her. He rolled his eyes. If he were as mean as he tried to look like he was, this would be an easier choice. He rolled onto his side facing her, and wrapped his arms back around her. Not thirty seconds later, she was snoring lightly in his ear. He fell asleep to the steady rhythm.