FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Splash! Codj burst up from the water, shaking his head, and trod water as he scowled at the laughing crewbeasts in the jollyboat. "Yah, think yer funny?"

Widge the ferret leaned over the side of the boat with a broad grin on his face. "'Course we do!" His friend Baul nodded and snickered.

"'S bad luck ter learn ter swim, y'know," said Firty the rat, nodding sagely. "Jus' means yer die o' thirst instead o' drownin'."

Codj responded with an obscene paw gesture and a yell of "Don't care, gemme back in da boat! I'm gonna freeze ta death 'ere!" The day was hot, but the water was indeed cold, as seawater is wont to be, and Codj was already shivering and trying to fluff his sodden fur. Nobody noticed the other movements beneath and around him in the rippling water.

"Keep yer fur on!" Widge reached for a rope, and stopped when he saw Codj kicking at something. "Summat up?"

"Somethin' - hee! - slimy on me leg, must be weeds..." Codj giggled involuntarily, and kicked again. "Eep, gerroff!... Huh?"

The long slimy something oozed up around his waist, accompanied by more. The tip of one came close to the surface, and he noticed suckers and mottled skin. He yelped and thrashed, trying to free himself, but the octopus simply latched on harder and regarded him curiously through one wide eye.

"Shit! Gerrit off me!" Codj wailed, kicking and yanking at the writhing limbs. Every time he detached one, two more would wrap more firmly around him, and the mollusc's body had by now oozed up to his chest.

A nasty smirk spread across Widge's snout. "'Ey, remember that time we sailed east? An' we saw all those pickchers with the pretty maids an' the..." He waved his paws wildly, and the rest of the boat's crew grinned as they remembered.

"Aw, it loves yer! Guess a slimy seabeast would think yer a pretty one!"

"If it's gonna lay eggs in yer, keep it above yer waist - more room where yer brain should be!"

"Not helping!" Codj shrieked, kicking the water into white foam and disappearing under the surface. He came up spluttering and coughing, hindered by the ropy tentacle around his throat. "Somebeast get a rope! A knife! Anythin', fer season's sake 'elp m-eeee!" His words trailed off into a scream of terror as a limb oozed under his belt, and he submerged again.

Firty grimaced. "Huh. I thought we was jes' jokin'..."

"Well, whaddya waitin' fer?" yelled Baul, grabbing for a rope. "Give 'im a paw, cap'n'll kill us if we let 'is brother die!"

"You crazy? I ain't goin' near that thing! Leastways not till it's done wirrim. Ugh..."

Vizka Longtooth chose that moment to lean over the side of the ship above them. "Yarr, wot's all the racket?"

"Um..." The jollyboat's crew looked at each other, and pointed as one at the frothing water. Codj surfaced again, screaming and sobbing, still unable to peel free and rapidly exhausting himself. The octopus's body had oozed inside his shirt, and his paws were bleeding where it had bitten him.

Vizka quickly tied a line to the rail, flung it over the side of the ship, and slid down it, swinging at the end to land in the boat, and belaboured the three crewbeasts with the handle of his mace, screaming "Help 'im, idjits, help 'im!" Widge and Baul threw out a line and Firty drew a knife; Codj managed to free one paw and catch the line, and was pulled back to the boat, still sobbing. Vizka grabbed his scruff and hauled him up, and he and Firty hacked at the struggling octopus until it detached and lay thrashing in the bottom of the boat. Codj collapsed, crying like a frightened cub and pawing at his body, as if unable to believe he was free. He found the end of Vizka's tail and cuddled it, as he had when he was very young. For once, Vizka, having seen what happened, didn't stop him.

Firty pointed at a trail of shreds of something leading to Codj's torn pocket. "What's dat?"

Codj opened his eyes and successfully controlled his voice enough to say "Oh, dried fish. I wiz 'ungry when we set out..."

"Ah, dere's yer problem!" Firty said, patting him gently. "So was it. Musta smelled da fish, see, it bit through right 'ere, an' it jes' wanted to 'ang on long enough ter finish eatin'. 'Twasn't... doin' wot we thought at all."

"Oh thank fates..." Codj uncurled, looked up at his brother, and giggled.

Vizka nudged him with a footpaw and grumbled "Good, now quit cryin', the sea's deep enough."

Codj took a vindictive delight in the octopus stew Glurma served that evening.