FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Heal now," the letters popped-up on the screen. Steven quickly hit his shortcut key, targeting the party's DPS, or damage per second, character. He gave an audible sigh, partly because he needed to let the emotion of exasperation out, and partly because his buddy, Mike, was on the other end of his headset via an internet phone call.

A quiet chuckle came back to him in his headset, "You think she'll ever learn?" This was followed by a loud slurp of some kind, most likely Mountain Dew or a similar soda.

Steven threw out a few 'buffs' out, checked everyone's health points, and then calmly replied, "We've been working with her for almost three months, has she learned yet?"

He didn't need to see his friend to know the other was shaking his head, "Nope." The "P" came out with real gusto. "You know, we could always drop her, get a new team member to party with us every day? I mean, Pepper is kinda a liability to the group."

Steven sat back in his chair, his eyes carefully monitoring the green and blue bars over every character, "I mean, we could, I suppose. I dunno, I kinda like having her though."

There was a snort, "You only like having her cause she keeps telling you that she's an actual girl in real life, Steve. Plus, you like helping people, though god knows why you inflict us with all these newbs..."

"Yeah, yeah... You gonna just talk or are you going to fling some spells out there? You're the area damage dealer... Start putting that high INT to good use..."

On the computer screen, a big blast of fire flew from the heavens and destroyed all the little minions swarming, 'Pepper', the team's Berserker. "Just call me Fedex, Steve, cause I freaking deliver! Boom, baby! I'm the King of the world!"

In-game, Pepper's character, a half-dragon female, stomped her foot and a text bubble came up, "I could have taken them. Why did you do that, Myth?" Mythrandir was Mike's in-game name for his wizard, but everyone just called him Myth for short.

"You want to handle your woman, Steve," Mike sarcastically commented aloud. "She's biting the hand that feeds her. Besides, I gotta use the downtime to run to the bathroom, be riiiight back."

Steven sighed and scratched his nose before replying to Pepper in text, "He just went AFK. You aggro'd that mob when we could've sniped them safely one at a time from afar, plus you were taking a lot of dmg."

It took a minute, but Pepper replied, "Yeah, but I still think I could have taken them. Sorry for being a pain again."

Her reply brought a small smile to his face. About three months ago, he and his friends had been playing World of Legends for long enough to really start getting good. Then one night, while waiting for his friends to get online, he had seen a half-cocked female warrior go charging into a swarm of baby fire drakes. He had been amused as she kept whiffing her attacks and they kept dealing fire damage to her. While it hadn't been his problem, he had quickly stepped in, healed her, buffed her, and increased her elemental resistances. She had finished them off easily after that. She had profusely thanked him for his help, which led to a conversation with him giving her tips for the future. When his friends began to sign-on, he sent her a 'friend' request so he could help her later, then said his goodbye. It wasn't much, but it did let her see when he was online and vice-versa. It just so happened that the next time he logged on, she was online. So he messaged her and asked how she was doing.

So began a long relationship. He paused, then mentally scrubbed the word 'relationship' out and put 'friendship' in. They had chatted every night when they gamed together and she eventually began to join his party to level and get loot. It wasn't voice chatting like with his buddy, Mike, but he felt like he was getting to know her. Well, the 'her' that she claimed to be. Plus, he had to admit that having the hot half-dragon babe in the skimpy armor was enjoyable to watch when they were running to the next dungeon. He shook his head and typed back, "You're not a pain, Pep. Just keep your chin up and keep working at it!"

Before he could type anything else, Mike returned to his computer and they moved on to the next section of the dungeon. It took them another two hours before they got to the boss and another half-hour to finish the beast off. As soon as all the loot was divided up, everyone said their goodbyes and logged-off the game. Steven stayed on to chat with Pepper before bed. "You're getting better," he typed out to her.

There was an emoticon that popped up over her head, showing a sweat drop, then a text bubble, "I'm still making mistakes. I get mad too easily and want to just start killing things. I'm sorry."

He leaned in, "Again, not a big deal. We're leveling you and you're getting good gear. But next week, I go on vacation, so I won't be around much." He paused, reading his own message, before adding, "Or maybe I'll be online all the time."

She replied back, "Still haven't figured out what to do with your time off?"

"Nope. I don't want to go home and visit my parents, because that'll be sleep, eat, nag, find ways to leave the house, repeat. I don't have anyone to go do anything crazy awesome with, because Mike is busy and my two other buddies bailed on me last minute."

Then her text bubble popped-up on the screen, "Why not come visit me...?"

Steven blinked and rubbed his eyes, scanning her message before his fingers found the keyboard, "Like, for real? As in, real life?"

"Yeah, that is, if you want to. I don't exactly live somewhere exciting, but it would be nice to meet the guy who keeps helping me out."

"Uh, where do you live?" Steven sat back, his eyes intense as he waited for her response. He had been chatting with Pepper for fun, but he had never actually thought anything would come of it. Plus, he wasn't exactly Mr. Desirable. He was tall, lanky, and awkward. He didn't go out to the clubs or party, just went to his college classes and then came back to his dorm room to game.

"I live out in the middle of no-where," came the reply message. It was quickly followed by another text bubble, "Montana. I've got acres of land out here. I live and work the farm myself, so it's real quiet."

Steven felt his imagination go to work, thinking up all sorts of murder scenarios where his body was tortured and then buried under some corn row. He wasn't quite sure how they dug corn rows, but he was pretty certain they could hide a body under one. He quickly typed back, "I would need the address ahead of time so people knew where I was." If the real person behind Pepper wanted to murder him, that should squash the whole proposal.

He watched as the message came back, "That's not a problem. I completely understand."

Steven sat back and ran a hand through his hair before he leaned forward and typed-in, "I'm sorry for asking this one last time, but you're really a girl?"

"I prefer the term woman, but yes. I am."

Steven sucked in his breath. His mind began to picture a lean woman, maybe pigtails or a ponytail, probably strong from working the farm... He shook his head once, clearing the image for the moment. There was no scenario where a gal like that would be into him. Yet... His fingers pounded away at the keyboard, "Then why are you interested in me."

The words came back, "Because you're nice to me and helpful and pleasant. All that without even meeting me. Plus you treat me like a person, not just a walking set of body parts to stare at."

Steven felt a warm glow at the first words about being helpful. He really did like helping people and feeling useful. When he got to the last part about how guys might see her as body parts and not a person, he winced and closed his eyes. He reached up and felt sweat rolling down his forehead. He wiped it away, the previous images of a hot country girl coming back, beckoning him with a single finger. Then again, he realized with a start, she could be really ugly too. He gave some thought to his reply, "I won't lie and say that I won't stare at your body -at first-. If you could forgive me for that, then I would love to meet you."

"LOL, I think every guy stares at me for a good while when they first meet me. You'll see why when you see me in person. I'll email you my address. Just let me know when to expect you. I'm so excited!!!"

Steven slumped in his chair. He had only been on a few dates in his life, and he wasn't sure all of them should even be counted as actual 'dates'. He was awkward around women he found attractive, and he had just agreed to go meet one he had sort of playfully been flirting with for months. Except it was the internet, so he never really counted it... Until now.

"Me too," he typed back. "I can't wait to meet you." The words were honest, but they hid the doubts in his heart at the same time.

-

That week of classes and work flew by. He shared two classes with Mike, so he brought up that the situation to him. Mike went quiet and didn't say anything the rest of the class. After the professor had dismissed them, his friend had grabbed him, dragged him out of the classroom and into the college food court. There, he calmly told him that if Steven was going to get murdered in the country, Mike wanted a will that said he would get all of his buddy's stuff. Steven threw a punch, which missed. Then Mike went on to say that if Steven wasn't murdered, he should bring lube for when the 50-year old redneck raped him. Either way, he called him an idiot.

Nonetheless, Steven packed his bags and hit the road on Friday night. He drove for hours, only stopping once when his eyelids seemed to have trouble keeping open. Rather than paying for a hotel, he crashed in the back of his car. Around noon the next day, he pulled off of the main highway onto one-land country roads. Sometime after that, the country roads became dirt roads. Eventually, the dirt road stopped having mailboxes and small homes here and there, leaving him with zero signs of civilization anywhere. When he glanced over his shoulder, all he saw were trees, rocks, and hills. If there was ever a place for the imagination to grab onto and fear a real life horror movie, he felt like this could be it.

Still, he let the excitement that had carried him this far keep him going. He crested a final hill and saw Pepper's place, far from anything or anyone. There was a large dirt clearing with three buildings in it: a single-story house that was a decent size, a red barn with white crossbeams, and a tall silver grain silo. Or that's what it looked like to Steven, but he wasn't 100% sure.

He took a deep breath as he pulled his car into the clearing and parked. He sat in his vehicle, looking around, and seeing flashes of horror games that he had played late at night when he was alone. If the sun set, he was worried that everything would fit. After a few moments of calming his breathing down, he opened his car door and stepped out of the vehicle. There was no one in sight, but he noticed that most of the land around him seemed to be farmed, including a small garden off to the side of the house. "Hello," he called out. When there was no reply, he shrugged and walked towards the house. In the distance, he heard some birds cawing, which really didn't add to the ambience of the moment or alleviate his fears at all. He arrived at the front door and knocked. "Um, Pepper, I'm here?" Smooth, he berated himself.

"Come in," a voice called from inside. "The door is unlocked." Steven felt some of the tension run out of his shoulders. The voice was female, not some middle-aged old man.

He quickly put his hand on the doorknob and turned it, stepping into the house. He closed it behind him and glanced around, "Uh, Pepper?" The home seemed simple enough. The floor was linoleum or something like it, with a living room directly in front of the entranceway, complete with a couch and coffee table. To the left of the living room was some sort of kitchen space. There was a stepping stool in front of the sink, but other than that, things seemed fairly normal.

Her voice came from the right, down a small hallway, "Ah'm in the bedroom, Steve, could you please come give me a hand...?" There was a slight accent to her voice, but he couldn't quite place it.

Steven immediately broke out in a sweat, his mental images of horror games gone and replaced by every porno he had ever watched online. This was how it started, wasn't it? She was in the bedroom, needing help, probably only wearing negligee or something. His hands trembled as he walked down the hallway to the open door at the end. "Well, I can try to help..." He stopped at the door and stared. He couldn't help it, his eyes got wide and his mouth moved, but nothing came out. Sitting on the edge of a bed that came only to his knees, was a diminutive figure. It was definitely a female figure, but not the kind he had expected.

"Surprise," she said weakly, her hands coming up to do a weak wave. "Ah told ya that everyone stares when they first meet me." She reached up to brush past a strand of dark green hair, shifting it past one of her two horns.

"I'm dreaming," he said aloud, trying to find some sort of solace in that. "I was driving too long, fell asleep on the side of the road. And I'm dreaming."

"Ah'm afraid that ain't the case, Steven. This is me." She held out her hands, palm up. Her skin or scales, he wasn't sure yet, was a sea green, with varying shades across her body. Two feet hung out over the edge of the bed, ending in dinosaur-like feet. The kind where the toes were mushed together instead of splayed out. She wore a set of overalls, like the kind he had fantasized about her wearing only a few nights prior. Except he had fantasized about a sexy farm girl, not a...well, whatever she was.

"Are...are you a demon?" He waved one finger in the direction of the two light yellow horns that curved backwards out of each side of her forehead.

Her eyes blinked and narrowed, "Excuse me?!" He noticed that she had very pretty blue eyes, but he had a feeling this wasn't the time to mention that. "First, here ah am, putting mah-self out there like this, meeting y'all for the first time, and a girls got image issues already, and you go ask her if she is a demon? Huh! The nerve..."

Steven watched as the tiny female figure stood and stomped her feet. She must've only been around 3 to 3 and a half feet tall. When she stood, he noticed the long, thick green tail sticking out her backside. Normally, he would've asked if she was a dinosaur, but the horns made him stretch his imagination a little more, "Are you...a dragon, Pepper?"

She stopped her stomping and looked up at him, her eyes suddenly wide and glistening, a very toothy smile spreading across her...her muzzle, he realized. "Yes, ah am, though ah prefer dragon-ess, if ya please. And my name ain't actually Pepper, it's Cayenne. Get it? Cayenne Pepper? Heh, it's a good online name, don'tcha think?"

"Yeah, sure." He slowly slid to the floor, his back to the doorframe of the bedroom. "What...I mean, I'm...uh. I'm so confused."

Cayenne took a deep breath, her smile fading. "Ah don't blame ya for that. Sorta got you here under false pretenses. Sorta. 'Cept ah'm a real person, and ah really do like you, I didn't make that up. Ah just...don't get a chance to really get out all that much. Ever." Her eyes fell down to the ground and she began playing with her fingers. It was as her hands rested on the shelf that was her bosom that he noticed that she was an extremely curvy woman. He had to admit that she had a little bit of pudge to her, but not much. She did have very large looking thighs and a curvy backside as well. Mostly though, his eyes took in a rack that would have made a woman twice her size jealous.

"Uh...umm..." He tried to formulate a few words.

Cayenne didn't miss a beat, "AAh told ya, most guys stare when they notice ah'm not just a talking snake or something. That's about when they notice ah'm a woman." She gave a very womanly giggle. And it was utterly adorable, he had to admit.

"Okay, sorry. I'm not very good at the whole meeting a girl thing, let alone the meeting a whole mythical creature thing." Steven sat there, his legs fidgeting slightly, watching her. She watched him back.

"You're a lot more handsome than ah thought you would be," she said very calmly, taking a half-step forward, away from the bed. "And actually, ah'm not a mythical creature, ah'm a goddess."

Steven tilted his head, finding that a little bit unusual, "Oh, not a mythical creature? But, wouldn't a goddess be mythical in nature? I mean, you are a dragon? Er, dragoness, sorry." It was a silly point to take a stand on, but he needed to find something to argue about. Something to make him feel like he was in control still.

She nodded politely, taking another half-step forward, then pausing, "Yep. I am a dragoness, but ah'm the Goddess of Battle. So there's that. If ah were just a mythical creature, ah would just be a dragon and that would be that."

"Can we have a quick time-out here, Pep...I mean, Cayenne," he asked, holding up his hands and feeling a little lost on everything. "You're a Goddess playing an online game?"

She nodded, "Yep. It's the only fighting ah get to do these days that takes me away from the farm. Plus, I can actually talk to people through the computer box."

"Why don't you just go to the store in the nearest town to...ah...that's a dumb question. You're a dragon." He noticed the sharp look she gave him and corrected himself, "Dragoness. Sorry. That whole showing up in town wouldn't go over well, would it?" Steven felt something touching his knee and he focused on Cayenne, who had slowly moved her way right up to him. He didn't flinch from her touch, which was soft and warm through his jeans.

"Ah'm trapped her, Steven. I can't leave. It's sorta punishment for that rampage ah went on about a hundred years ago or so." She sounded apologetic until she gave a huff, "Ah still say they deserved it."

"How do you...survive then? I mean, you have to eat and stuff?" He waved his hand around the place. "You obviously have internet if you've been playing World of Legends."

"Oh, my Brother's and Sister's tease me with things now and then, letting me catch-up on the world. Internet was given to me only last year. Ah'm not doing too bad, right?" She didn't move any further, almost sensing that Steven wasn't quite comfortable with her yet, but he wasn't moving to get away from her touch either.

"Well, you do tend to rush headlong into mobs without waiting for the rest of the party," he replied automatically, without thinking about the situation, just the answer. He paused and then looked at her, "But I guess...for a Goddess of Battle, rushing in is sorta your thing, right?"

She nodded with a smile, "It ain't the same as leading the Valkyries into battle or rampaging over your foes, but it's kinda fun."

Steven slowly extended a hand to touch hers. The two rested on his knee together, one on top of the other. "Why me, Cayenne? For a Goddess of Battle, a healer in a game or even a nerdy guy probably isn't really all that attractive. I'm sure you're used to big, beefy guys all slicked up in sweat or something."

Her hand moved off his knee and slowly rotated until it was facing up to wrap her fingers or claws around his hand. She felt smooth, which he hadn't been expecting. "Ah've lived my whole existence on battlefields, seen those kinds of men come and go, most of them dying on the battlefield. It's only been the last hundred years that ah even thought about companionship and how lonely ah was."

She carefully turned herself around, her tail swatting his side as she did so, before plopping herself down next to him, "In all my time being around battlefields or even here, not one person has offered to help me. And why would they? Ah'm a Goddess, we don't need help, right? Then, in the only battlefield ah have access to right now, you came in and saved me. That means something to my kind, Steven."

"I have no clue how to date a Goddess, Cayenne," he openly admitted, looking over at her and admiring her beautiful eyes. They sparkled for a brief moment, he noticed, when she blinked.

"Well, if ah'm just as honest, ah ain't got a clue how to date a mortal," she replied with a small grin.

"Okay, I have to ask real quick, why the accent?"

"Ah dunno, it felt right since ah've been living on the farm, growing my own stuff, working the land, and such." She looked over at him, "What do you say, want to give it a go? Maybe date a Goddess? Ah can't say it'll be easy, cause ah ain't easy. And no, that ain't about sex. Ah'm grumpy, can be rude, and ah like getting my own way. But ah'm also caring, loving, and tender. And ah make a really good stew."

"Well, seeing as how I've got so many prospects lined-up, I think I'm going to have to give it a go. I'd love to date you, Cayenne."

The little dragoness' grin grew bigger and bigger as she squeaked out, "You would?" She quickly coughed and then regained her composure, "Ah mean, who wouldn't? It is an honor to date one of the Divine! Now, let me just..." Her voice trailed off as she opened her mouth and bit her thumb. As Steven watched, the tiny dragon began to grow in size, changing from the child-like figure to a full-sized adult, complete with all her curves intact and still bountiful.

"How long have you been able to change your size," he asked, slightly in awe.

"Oh, the whole time. Ah just prefer to stay at my natural size. Now come on, let's get some food cooking." She held out her hands to him, each one clasping and unclasping excitedly.

"Any other powers I should be made aware of," he felt himself asking as he took her hands. She pulled him up, giving a small nuzzle under his chin.

"Not yet, but maybe later," she gave a wink and then pulled him towards the kitchen with an iron-like grip. Steven hoped to god, goddess, or whomever...well, he just hoped that he didn't upset his new girlfriend. It was bad enough having a regular girl get mad at you, he didn't want to find out what a Goddess would do about it.