FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The human cursed to himself for having the poor misfortune to be traveling at night under a moonless sky. He had never anticipated that the cloud cover would be so thick this evening, rendering travel through the forest, and his search for what he was looking for, even more difficult than it should have been. The night truly was pitch black and he could see little more than a few feet in front of his own nose. He wasn't even able to make out the individual silhouettes of the trees in front of and above him; all he saw was an amorphous dark shape that seemed to loom over him and stretched far beyond his field of vision. He knew better than that, that all he was looking at were the leaves and branches of the treetops bunched so close together that nobody could tell which leaves belonged to which tree, but that knowledge did little to assuage his worries.

He walked slowly and with trepidation, arms held out, feet moving slowly and deliberately so as to avoid tripping. A light wind blew through the forest rustling the unseen leaves above him, swaying his cloak and even his short hair to and fro. Save for the rustling of the leaves the forest was deathly quiet and a sense of unease began to weigh down heavily upon the human's shoulders. He continued slowly but surely, worry and fear slowly manifesting themselves and eating away at him with every step he took. All of those mixed feelings were immediately replaced by utter shock and terror when he heard a feminine voice coo out to him.

"What's a runt like you doing in a place like this?"

The darkness made it impossible to see who was talking and it was also interfering with the human's other senses. He couldn't accurately peg what direction the voice came from. It seemed to emanate from everywhere around him. He remained utterly still, frozen in place by fear.

"I asked you a question human, and I expect an answer. What are you doing out here?" The voice asked again markedly impatient and displeased.

Left with no other viable option, the human began to speak. "I'm... I'm trying to find my village. It's... pretty well hidden amongst the trees of this forest. I'm having some trouble making my way back to it though since I'm a little disoriented by this suffocating darkness."

The voice let out a soft chuckle. "Is that all? Would you like some help finding it?"

He paused to think for a moment before responding. "...Not to be rude but I'm hesitant to accepting help from some strange voice I met in the forest."

The voice chuckled again. "Well then how would you feel about accepting help from a giant you met in the forest?" As this was uttered there was a small break in the clouds that allowed some moonlight to shine through. Right before him, a huge black mass emerged out of darkness and moved towards the human. As the shape stepped fully into the moonlight the human found that the source of the voice, and his troubles, was a pitch black German shepherd woman. She seemed to blend in with the night sky itself as the boy looked up at her. The giant stood taller than any tree in the forest, though not by much. Most of the nearby trees came up to her shoulders so she could only have been 40 or 50 feet tall. She was wearing some kind of basic clothes that covered her breasts and extremities but there wasn't enough light to look at them in detail.

"...That would make me even more hesitant to accepting your help. Th-thank you for the offer but I'd rather keep my village hidden if you don't mind."

She looked down at him and shot him an insincere smile. "I wouldn't say it's hidden well considering I believe I know exactly where it is."

"Uh... again, thank you for the offer but no-"

"I INSIST," The giant said forcefully as she reached down and grabbed the human with alarming speed. She held him up to her face and gazed at him with piercing, and unnerving, yellow eyes. "Come on, I'll get you there in no time at all," she stated as she moved deeper into the forest with her fellow traveler/captive in tow.

As the giant walked the moon returned to its hiding spot behind the clouds. From his elevated position, to the human it appeared as if a dark blanket had been laid out across the land, smothering everything beneath it. The giant sniffed the air a couple of times as she walked and slowed the gait of her steps after a short time and eventually came to a stop. Both she and the human looked down at the ground and both could see the light of a handful of torches piercing the darkness. The light illuminated a circular clearing in the forest and nestled within it was a decent sized village, surrounded by a thick layer of trees on all sides.

"Is this your village?"

"Yes... it is. Uh... thanks for helping me find it..."

"Kendra (Can anyone else say SUBTLE REFERENCE TO AN EARLIER STORY OF MINE). You have Kendra to thank for returning you to your village. And for this also." She smiled as she finished her sentence and bent down slightly to uproot a tree from the ground with her free hand. She held it in her hand for a moment as she stopped to look down at the human in her other hand and gave him an unsettling smile. Immediately afterward she hurled the tree at a house and utterly demolished it. Kendra ripped up another tree from the ground and strode into the village as she swung it like a club, destroying a farm and two more houses as she went through the village, carving herself a path of destruction. She tired of the tree quickly though and tossed it into another house as she moved into the center of the village and stood there waiting. People began streaming out of their houses, curious as to what all the commotion was about. Torches were lit throughout the village and screaming was heard as soon as they laid eyes upon the giant standing in the center of their village. Kendra sported a malicious grin as she began to stomp and crush villagers underfoot and pummel them into paste with her free hand. Every so often she would look down at the human in her hand and was always greeted by a look of utter shock plastered on his face. Kendra's rampage continued for another half hour or so before the entire village was leveled to the ground and everyone that had once called this place home was presumed dead. Kendra strolled to the center of the village to assess another job well done. She slowly brought the human back up to her face and began cooing to him.

"How does it feel to have everyone in your village, all of your family members and friends slaughtered before your very eyes? Come on boy, tell me how it feels."

"Well... I'd imagine if you had destroyed my village and killed everyone I love and care about I would be heartbroken and depressed. Lucky for me then that you didn't kill anybody important to me just now," The human said nonchalantly.

Kendra stared at the boy with furrowed brows for a second before she laughed to herself again. "Heh. I see... the shock must've been so great you're in total denial. You see human... it's no fun just eating or killing people. I'm only truly satisfied when I break a person's spirit. I-"

"That's all well and good psychobitch but I'm serious when I say you didn't kill any of my friends or family. You can stop gloating now."

She narrowed her gaze and looked angrily at him. "You said this was YOUR village."

"You're right, I did say that. What I meant by it though was that this is the village that was assigned to me by my guild. So, in a sense this was my village."

"Assigned?" The giant asked quite confused.

"Yes, assigned. I was entrusted with the task of taking care of this village hidden deep within the forest by my guild. And by 'take care of' I mean raze it to the ground and kill everyone in it. Both of which you so kindly did for me without me even asking."

Kendra grew angrier and angrier as the conversation carried on. "You're lying," she snarled. "I saw the look on your face as I was laying waste to that village. You were in shock!"

"Yeah... I was utterly shocked that my plan actually worked and you were stupid enough to fall for it with only the slightest of guidance on my part. I really lucked out when I stumbled upon you back there in the forest, didn't I?"

"Wha- what are you talking about?!"

"*Sigh* Allow me to properly introduce myself. My name is Russo, and I'm a mage from a local guild. I won't bore you with specific names or other important details since I doubt you're intelligent enough to remember it all. Recently my guild has been receiving complaints of bandit attacks on towns and villages in the outlying area. The locals tried handling it on their own but... when they found the bandit stronghold they realized that the bandits were heavily entrenched up there and they just weren't equipped or capable of getting rid of them. They realized they needed some outside help so they contacted my guild, and I was assigned the mission of clearing out the bandits. I could've made my way to the stronghold and dealt with them in a hellacious battle all on my own if I really felt like it. But I was feeling lethargic and figured 'Why not get someone else to do all the work for me?' All I had to do was let myself be found by some giant, give them an irresistible reason to destroy a village and proceed to point them in the right direction. From there the stupid bastard would do the rest as I sat by and watched. In your case I didn't even need to point you in the right direction or concoct much of a story at all, saving me that much more effort. You really did a fantastic job by the way," The human congratulated her as he looked down at the devastation.

Kendra became enraged when she heard the human's explanation and learned of his trickery. "You little shit!" She snarled. "How dare you manipulate me and treat me as a tool! I'll kill you!" She screamed as she squeezed the hand holding the human in an attempt to crush him. As she did so he disappeared in a flash of blue light and reappeared on top of a nearby tree.

"What the hell are you so mad about? You should be thrilled since you going on a murderous rampage was actually a good thing for those who live nearby. You've done a great service to the people of this region. I'm actually pretty surprised you never noticed you were killing nothing but bandits during your rampage. Oh wait that's right, no I'm not. I specifically came out here in the middle of the night to minimize the chances of whatever fool I stumbled across NOT noticing it was a bandit stronghold as opposed to a quaint village."

Kendra glared at the human and screamed at him: "I am nobody's puppet! Those towns and villages can't be far; I'll find them and kill everyone in them! Starting with you!" Kendra lunged towards Russo, consumed by hatred.

Russo let out a sigh as his right hand began to glow and he pointed at Kendra. A small orb of light shot forth from his hand and hit Kendra in the chest with such force that she was thrown backwards into the trees and knocked to the ground, crushing many beneath her in the process.

"Sorry to disappoint you but I don't manipulate others to do my work because I'm too weak or cowardly to do it myself. I'm just lazy is all. So don't go underestimating me, thinking of me as some weak puppet master. I'm actually one of my guilds most talented... and powerful mages. Sorry if I gave you the wrong impression." Russo said with a smug grin on his face.

Kendra craned her neck up to look at him, breathing heavily and wincing in pain from the spell Russo hit her with. Her chest burned terribly and as she looked down at where it hurt most she saw that a good deal of her fur had been seared off. By no means was it a fatal injury for someone of her size, but it would hurt like hell for the next couple of days. She cursed at him under her breath, in between bouts of strained breathing.

"Oh and by the way, if you do try to find and cause trouble for the towns and villages you just inadvertently did a great service for but for which I'm going to take the credit... I will find you, and I will kill you." He paused for a moment to let what all he had said to sink in. "I'm so glad we could have this little chat." Russo said to her as he smiled and disappeared in a flash of orange light and teleported back to his own village.

Kendra kept her head craned up to look at him as he left and once he was gone she let her head fall back down on the ground with a resounding thud. "Damn... you..." was all she could manage to curse at him in between her bouts of heavy breathing before she passed out from pain and exhaustion.

----------------------------Back at Russo's home village----------------------------

Russo exited out from the guild master's office after reporting on his completed mission and headed out of the guild building to the pub a ways across the street. The pub was a small and rustic wooden building that was always rather crowded. It was a favorite of the local guild members and for good reason. It was conveniently located, had great food and fantastic service. As Russo entered there was a low murmur in the air from the lively chatter of the other patrons. He sat himself down at a table by the door and ordered some bread and cider. When his order arrived and he began munching on his bread and sipping his cider, he contentedly slid back into his chair, thrilled with how quickly and smoothly his latest mission had gone. A rough collie entered the pub shortly after Russo slunk back into his chair and upon seeing the human the collie sidled up next to him and started munching on the bread as well. As the collie finished a mouthful of bread he began speaking.

"You were only assigned that mission two days ago and you already finished it?" He asked incredulously.

"Yep."

"You didn't by chance, oh say... actually do any real work this time and take on those bandits yourself did you?"

"I think you already know the answer to that." The human coolly replied as he continued drinking his cider.

"A resounding no then?" The collie asked with little enthusiasm.

"Of course." Russo said smiling.

"Of course, of course... Honestly Russo how many times have you pulled that crap now?"

The human put down his glass as he stopped to think. "Hmmm... I think this is the fifth... maybe sixth time. I'll admit I still get pretty nervous and shaky when trying to go out and let myself be found by a giant, but once that's taken care of I honest to God have a basic script I follow that those dumbasses fall for each and every time. I tweak it a bit depending on the nature of my mission but it's worked each and every time without fail."

"I'm telling you those plans of yours are going to get you killed one of these days." The collie said with a serious face and a tone of concern in his voice.

"You worry too much. Besides, I only get away with it since they're so damn stupid. I can't help it that every giant I come across is how to say... intellectually challenged."

"Not all giants are like that you know." The collie said quite flatly.

"Really now? And just how would you know?"

"Just trust me, okay? Not every giant is a murderous monster. As for those that are particularly violent, not all of them are as stupid as you make them out to be."

The human shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe. But you have to admit that most of them are stupid as can be, so I'd say the odds are in my favor."

The collie just shook his head and continued eating more of the bread.

"Anyway Jem, look at it this way. For this particular mission it was a lot easier for me to deal with one giant as opposed to an enclave of bandits. When dealing with a pissed off giant I have one very large, and easy to hit, target. With dozens of bandits I could easily see myself being overwhelmed on all sides. It was the smart and safe choice to trick the giant for this mission."

Jem rolled his eyes at his friend and finished off the bread. "You're one of the most powerful damned mages in the guild. Taking care of a group of bandits would be child's play for you. You're just a lazy bastard and that's all there is to it."

"Have I ever once tried to hide that fact?" Russo laughed as he punched Jem in the shoulder. His friend looked at him with a marked look of disapproval on his face.

Russo stopped laughing and looked back to his friend. "Alright... alright... If I buy you dinner will you stop complaining?"

A small, almost unnoticeable smile formed on the collie's face. "Depends. What all on the menu are you going to let me order?"

Russo sighed and relented. "You're free to order anything on the menu Jem. My treat, I promise."

The collie smiled at him and began wagging his tail. "Well now let's see... Some mutton and ale sounds like a good start."

"And I guess I'll get some potato soup and some... beef and veggies." Russo said as he peered over his friend's shoulder at the menu.

After the order was made and their food was served and paid for, the two friends got to talking about past missions, current happenings in the country and generally had a good time while enjoying each other's company.

-------------------------------Elsewhere in the pub....-----------------------------------------

A dark figure wrapped in robes watched Russo from a nearby corner of the pub, seated by one of the windows. Traces of moonlight sparkled off of the crystal ball laid out on the table before them. The figure put their hands on the orb and slowly began speaking in rhymes.

"The ends do not justify the means you arrogant fool! You treat others as if they were your tools. Tossed to the side once they've served your purpose. Leaving them to feel as if they are worthless! You will take responsibility for your actions, one day soon. No, right now! I swear it by the light of the moon! Toil, toil- "

"Uh... what the hell are you doing?" Russo asked the shady figure as he walked up to their table.

"Wh-who me? Nothing, nothing, you know just having a good time at the pub, getting hammered and stuff. The same old, same old."

"Then why were you just talking in rhyme and why do have a crystal ball on your table swirling with dark energies?"

"What this old thing? I uh... use it to get around at night! Yeah... that's it. It... it reflects moonlight and lets me see at night. And the rhyming? I... have a mental tic and sometimes I rhyme at random. Tick tock the mouse ran up the clock! See? I can't control what I say or when I say it!"

Russo stared at the figure unconvinced. "I have the distinct feeling I overheard you rhyming about me and you were trying to curse me or something."

"No, no, no, no of course not! Whatever would give you that idea? You're just being paranoid is all! Go on back to your table and have a couple more drinks and relax buddy."

Russo just narrowed his gaze at the figure and went back to his table where Jem gave him a quizzical look upon returning.

"What was that all about?"

"I'm not entirely sure... You done yet Jem?"

"Yeah I'm good for now. Thanks for the dinner Russo."

"No problem." The human said as he and the collie got up from their table and headed towards the exit.

-----------------------------Back at the corner--------------------------------

"Okay now where was I? Oh right, right... Toil, toil... toil and trouble. Ghastly energies boil and bubble. Manifest yourselves tonight so that I may place a curse upon Russo by the- "

"HEY."

"Woah uh... hey again fella."

"I heard you say my name and the word 'curse' in the same sentence!"

"Whaaaaatttttttt? No, no... you must've misheard me when I had another mental tic."

"No, FUCK YOU. I know exactly what I heard considering I was only sitting two tables away from you. It's kind of hard not to overhear you. You're a god damn witch and you're trying to curse me!"

"No I'm not!"

"Oh come on! The rhyming! The crystal ball! The lurking in a corner and being all foreboding! How can you not be a witch?!"

"Russo what is going on here?" Jem asked as he walked up to his friend, curious as to why he was making a scene.

"This witch is trying to curse me!"

"I am not a witch!"

"I think you should give them the benefit of the doubt Russo. After all, what if that's a guy under all those robes and not some raspy deep voiced woman? If that's the case that would mean you're dealing with a warlock, not a witch."

"I guess... but that still doesn't change the fact that they're trying to curse me!"

"I am not trying to curse you!"

"Bullshit lady! Er... man or... or... whatever the hell you are!"

The collie put a hand on his friend's shoulder and gently shook him. "Come on Russo, just leave them be. You're kind of making a scene." Russo looked around and saw Jem was right. The pub was quiet and nearly everyone in there was staring at him.

"...Fine." Russo said grumpily as he composed himself and exited out the pub with Jem.

Moments after Russo left the chatter started back up again and everyone got back to whatever it was they were doing. "Finally! Now I can get back to cursing that bum." The robed figure said exasperatedly. "Okay uh... already did toil, toil... manifest ghastly energies... oh right, right, right I remember now! *Ahem* Manifest yourselves tonight so that I may place a curse upon Russo by the waning of the moonlight! I decree by the setting of the moon, all of your enemies shall find you soon. Those giants you manipulated they will descend upon you and shame you with humiliation via the act of fornicati-"

"AH HAH!" Russo screamed at the witch through the window she/he/it was sitting by.

"Oh my what the fuck?!"

"I knew it! I fucking knew it!"

"Alright fine, so I am trying to curse you!" The warlock yelled back at him through the window. "However you need to start taking responsibility for your actions and face your comeuppance like every other mature adult. After that's all taken care of you can mature, grow up and move on with your life."

"Never! And besides, all those giants I screwed over were all monsters that killed people for fun. Why would you punish me for messing with fiends like that?"

"Look the point is you don't manipulate people and treat them as means to an end. Even if they are evil bastards. Now would you please stop interrupting me so I can finish casting my curse?"

"Like hell I'm going to let you finish your curse!"

"I'd like to see you try." The witch/warlock/whatever crossed its arms and looked towards Russo. Russo just glared at whatever was sitting in the corner and thought for a moment. "Look boy, there's nothing you can do to stop the curse at this point. So you might as well-" Russo cut it off as he threw open the window, crawled halfway through it, shoved the man-lady-thing to the side and picked up the crystal ball and smashed it against the ground.

"You fool!" The witchalok screamed out as malevolent dark energy pooled around the remains of the crystal ball and began to pulsate and swirl around the pub.

"Oops." Russo blankly stated. Crystal balls usually didn't do that when smashed against the ground. Hadn't quite intended for that to happen. He regained his senses after a second though and pulled his way out of the window back outside and yelled through the window, "Everyone get out of the pub now! Run for your lives!"

Terrified patrons and staff poured out of the pub, screaming as they went and running as fast as they could.

"Damn you boy, I'll kill you for th-" The witchalok's threat was cut off as Russo reached back through the window and cracked him in the face with a mean suckerpunch. The robed one slumped to the ground as dark magic swirled around the pub and obscured Russo's vision. Russo turned away from the pub and began running when he ran smack into Jem.

"Russo what are you doing back here? Oh Lord were you arguing with that guy in the corner again through the window?! Honestly, Russo I-"

Jem was cut off as well when Russo grabbed the collie by his arm and began running, dragging Jem along with him as he went.

"Russo what's going on now?"

"RUN."

"What the hell did you do?"

"I SAID RUN DAMMIT!"

Both the human and collie ran as far and as fast as they could before they turned back to look at the pub. Dark energy was starting to spill out of the windows and doors and looked like it threatened to spill out into the streets and town at large. Suddenly though it was all violently sucked back into the pub and the building itself looked like it was starting to cave in on itself, almost like it was imploding. A low rumble filled the air as the pub began to creak and crack as it was being sucked into itself. The rumble grew in intensity until the pub had nearly completely caved in on itself but then the rumblings stopped and all was quiet.

"Huh. You know for a second there Jem I was sure that place was going to ex-"

KABOOM!!!

"Never mind."

Planks of wood, glass mugs, silverware, all kinds of ale and plenty of food began raining down on the immediate area. A couple of people began shielding their heads after two people were knocked out by falling debris. One by a chunk of beef, the other by a table.

Russo just stared at the scene in awe and ran his hand through his short brown hair, knocking free some chicken that had rained down upon him, while Jem looked at his friend unsympathetically. "You do know that destroying a pub is a great and terrible sin right?"

"I know..." Russo said as he scratched the back of his neck and looked down at his feet. "Think anyone knows it was me?"

"Besides me?"

"Besides you."

"Maybe, but it seems unlikely. I imagine there was such a panic going on after whatever it was you did to cause this that most people were more concerned with getting out than taking a look at your face."

Russo breathed a little easier after hearing his friend's assessment. "So... what's it going to take to keep you quiet?"

Jem looked at his friend for a moment before speaking to build up some tension. "...You buy me breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next four months."

"Deal." Russo knew better than to ask if that was all he wanted or to complain about it. Both actions would just make things worse.

"Good to hear. Now that I think about it... all that running made me thirsty and there is another pub on the other side of town. Come on, I'll lead the way." Russo began following the collie as they made their way towards the outskirts of town, purposefully taking the long way so as to avoid being seen leaving the scene. The two walked without saying a word for a while before Jem broke the silence.

"Oh...Russo there is one more stipulation to keeping me quiet."

"What is it?"

"No more tricking giants okay? You actually have to work to complete your missions from now on."

"Alright, alright you killjoy." Though Russo quickly thought to himself,

"Tricking giants is what got me into that mess with that witch/warlock... witchalok in the first place. Suppose it couldn't hurt to give it a rest."

"One more thing..."

"You said there was only one more stipulation!" Russo complained.

"I know, I know just hear me out. We've been friends for a while now and... I was kind of hoping we could you know... do some missions together. I usually do group missions with the guild and some of my teammates have been less than stellar as of late. That and... I've missed having fun while working with my best friend. Think you could give the solo missions a rest for a while?"

Russo smiled at his friend and patted him on the back. "You don't need to blackmail me into doing that. You do know that right?"

Jem wagged his tail and smiled back at his friend as the two of them went off to get hammered and think of an alibi that would cover their asses.