FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The sun shone on a blue cloudless sky and its warm beams spread all over the calm waters of the lake, reflecting nice sparkles on its surface. A gentle breeze rocked the leaves on the trees, which seemed to whisper restful words as they followed its rhythm. A cicada, somewhere near the shore, sang its slow, monotonous song.

The arctic fox felt the caress of the water as his paw slid over the surface. After it, he left a trace of broken reflections and disordered sunbeams that jumbled again, crowding around his calf and his tail, which were already under the lake. The refreshing touch of the water made him smile and he turned to the shore, from which he was watching him with that expression of calm and understanding he had learned to love.

The arctic fox felt his red eyes looking over him and that gaze gave him a feeling warmer than the sunbeams. He turned again, enjoying the calm that seemed to reign in that scene and walked a few more steps. Some little drops sprayed him on his way: little water worlds in which the sparkles of the sun multiplied by thousands before disappearing.

He finally reached the center of the lake and from there he waved at the one waiting for him in the shore. The grey-furred wolf smiled and waved back, without saying a word, and the arctic fox smiled again.

Then, the cicada fell silent.

Dense clouds appeared suddenly over the lake and started to form a slow but threatening swirl of blackness and unease. The arctic fox looked up, startled, and watched without understanding the sky that had previously seemed so nice to him. He let out a gasp of fear and then he started walking towards the shore, trying to make his way through the waters, which now seemed to retain him eagerly at the center of the lake instead of caressing him.

He had reached out to him. He was still smiling, in spite of the storm that was coming, and his expression was about to calm down the arctic fox. But the shore was further and further away: his legs didn't seem to walk forward and the figure of the wolf was getting smaller with each step he walked.

The arctic fox wanted to scream and he opened his mouth. Then, he lost his footing and plunged to the bottom of the lake, leaving after him a myriad of bubbles. He struggled in those dark waters that seemed to strangle him, terrified, and tried to go back to the surface, but the more he moved his paws trying to flounder, the more he sank right to the bottom, like a stone...

-His vital signs remain stable, Miss Lefevbre.

-Excellent -the woman replied, glancing quickly at the right screen, in which she could see some men around Lagopus Z, who remained motionless -. Keep monitoring him. I don't want to lose this subject the same way we lost Lupus L.

One of the men nodded almost imperceptibly and went back to his job. Sophia did the same.

Her gloved hands slid quickly over the surface of the Fish Tank, linking thoughts, manipulating them and separating them so they fitted together. That was her world: the world of numbers, the world of thoughts. It was the field she better knew how to move in and, still, she wasn't always able to control the results.

In that sense, just a half of her mind was focused on the work she was doing. The other one was far away from there, wondering if the arctic fox would be able to endure that difficult operation... and about the consequences that would take place if he didn't. She had been much time getting him ready for that moment and, if things didn't turn out as she wanted, all her ambitions would be ruined.

<<It will work>> she told herself, trying to keep calm and without changing her expression <<He is a good subject. It has to work...>>. However, he hadn't even finished repeating mentally those words when a scream arose behind her, startling her. She didn't need to look to know that the arctic fox had started to convulse, suffering violent trembling and victim of a pain that she could only barely imagine.

-Miss Lefevbre! -exclaimed one of the men that monitored Lagupos Z -. The subject is...!

-I know, I've heard it -the woman interrupted him, sullen -. Come on, Lagopus Z -he murmured to herself, then -. I know you're proud. Cling to the last bit of pride left on you and resist a little longer...

...the arctic fox struggled underwater, releasing again a short row of bubbles which were the last reserve of oxygen in his lungs. He felt an awful pressure around all his body: as if someone had placed pliers around him and was tightening him more and more. In the middle of that dense darkness of muffled sounds, not even his screams seemed real.

Only the pain was real.

He felt his head was going to explode and his chest was about to burst due to the pressure of the water around him. Frenetic thoughts, full of horror, went through his mind frantically, but there was one that prevailed over the others: the certainty that, if he continued that way, he wouldn't be able to take it anymore...

It was then when it started raining.

It wasn't a normal rain, since it happened underwater. Little air bubbles started falling from the surface and gathered around his foot paws, creating a layer of air under the lake. This grew little by little, until it finally got to the muzzle of the arctic fox, who breathed violently in spite of the pain it caused to his lungs. Then, he felt weightlessly to a soft, spongy ground, which seemed invisible with the naked eye.

If he looked up, he could see that mass of dark water getting further and further away from him. If he looked down, he saw nothing. Absolutely nothing. It wasn't an infinite blackness, not a white-colored nothing that reached as far as the eye could see.

It was simply nothing.

-It's a strange place, isn't it? -a voice asked near him then.

The arctic fox looked up again, surprised, and found the warm reddish gaze that he had tried to follow in the surface of the lake.

-It's... you! -he exclaimed, when he discovered the grey wolf.

For any unknown reason, he couldn't remember his name, although he felt he had it at the tip of his tongue. He felt slightly frustrated.

However, the grey wolf only smiled and reached out to him. He accepted his extended paw willingly and soon found himself besides the tall individual, who put an arm around his shoulders. Then, both started walking along that weird world that seemed to defy any rational law.

The arctic fox shook his head, confused. Wherever he looked, there was nothing around him. Only he and that wolf walking in that empty, infinite space. It was certainly disconcerting, but he soon got used to it.

At least, he wasn't alone.

-We've been through a lot together -the wolf whispered then, softly -. Do you know what this place is?

-No -the arctic fox admitted -. Do you?

-I don't have the faintest idea.

Both remained silent then for a brief, but long period of time. It could have been seconds, but also years. In that place, the arctic fox understood, time was as relative as the space that surrounded them.

-I can't remember your name -he confessed to him, after a while -. Why can't I remember your name?

-I can't remember yours either -the wolf reassured him, with a warm smile that consoled the arctic fox. Then, he tilted his head -. And I think that, if we can't remember it... being here... it's because it isn't that important.

The arctic fox nodded, vehemently.

Then, the grey wolf stopped and grabbed his shoulders, looking directly at his eyes.

-You shouldn't be here -he said, serious -. You can't be here.

-But I want to be here -the arctic fox protested. His heart filled with a slight feeling of anguish when he thought about the possibility of walking away from him -. With you. This place is only strange if I'm alone.

-This place is not where you should be. Not yet, at least -the wolf stated, wiping his paw on the fox's forehead in order to pull moisture away from his fur. Until then, the arctic fox hadn't noticed he was wet -. Your place is up there.

-But you are not there -the arctic fox complained, containing a shiver -. I will be alone.

-You will never be alone if you know where to look for company. And, besides, whenever you call for me I'll be one step behind.

-But I can't go up. I'll drown! -the fox moaned, shaking violently. It was as if, suddenly, the damp in his fur had penetrated in his skin and reached his bones. He was cold, very cold.

-You won't, if you learn to breathe underwater -the wolf smiled, and then gave him a strong hug.

The arctic fox hugged him back, still shivering. In spite of the fact that the wolf's hug filled him with warmth, he was still too afraid. The simple thought of walking away from that individual made him feel so alone and lost that he couldn't help it.

He didn't want to walk away. He didn't want to...

-Hey -the grey wolf murmured, tightening his hug a bit and looking directly at his eyes again -. Don't be afraid. You're stronger than that.

The arctic fox wanted to reply. He wanted to say that, in fact, he wasn't. That he was weak, that he no longer had the strength to keep fighting and that he didn't want to sink ever again. He felt he was about to cry, but the tears wouldn't come to his eyes. He wanted to say his name, but it still didn't appear in his mind.

Besides, something strange was starting to happen. It was as if, suddenly, his vision was getting blurred, like an ink drawing discoloring under the water. The lines of the grey wolf and his own seemed to be blurring little by little, and a mortal cold took over his limbs.

-Remember -the wolf asked, and his red eyes were the last thing he saw before that scene faded away totally -, that I'll always be one step behind.

And then, nothing seemed to surround everything.

Sophia smiled, and that was her first true smile in a long time.

-The link is completed -one of the men in the same room as Lagopus Z told her -. The process has been a success.

-At last -the woman whispered, feeling a true relief.

She gave a look again to the screen in front of her, thoughtful. The arctic fox's thoughts flowed from side to side, quickly, like fireflies in a summer night.

And, at last, she would be able to catch them without net.

Zèon's mind finally belonged to her.

...one step behind...

The echo of those words resounded in Zèon's mind a last time before he opened his eyes, startled. It still took him a few seconds to understand that he wasn't in that strange place in which he had found the grey wolf, whose name (at least, the one he had given himself in the Box) now he could remember perfectly. He was lying in his bed, like every single morning, looking directly at the metallic ceiling of his bedroom. He didn't feel any pain although, for some reason he couldn't understand, he felt terribly fatigued.

He managed to turn his head and found out that the bunk bed at the right side of the room was totally empty. The upper bed, in which Vent had got used to sleep, had rumpled sheets. However, the lower one was impeccable, as if no one had sleep there for days.

-...Luca... -the arctic fox whispered, as if he could call him that way. However, he already knew that, wherever he had gone, he wouldn't be able to listen to him.

-Zèon? -he heard then a voice, below his bed.

The arctic fox tried to move, but the extreme tiredness didn't let him. In any case, he soon discovered whom that voice that had recognized him a few seconds before belonged to. As soon as the husky's head appeared at the edge of the bed, the arctic fox's face lit up slightly.

-Koi -he murmured, feeling a weird desire to laugh and cry at the same time -. Koi... you're here.

-Of course I am -the husky said in response, climbing up to his bed and looking at him intently with his deep violet eyes -. Where else could I be? The rest are in the hall, but I didn't want to separate from you. The lady with glasses said that you would eventually wake up, but I didn't trust her. So, in case you woke up, I wanted to be here to see you. And if you didn't, I wanted to be here to take care of you.

Zèon felt a wave of warmth filling his chest and reached out to caress the husky's head tenderly. He closed his eyes and lied down next to the arctic fox, letting him fondle him.

-Thanks, Koi -the arctic fox said from the heart, after a few seconds -. Thanks...

-Thank you -the husky smiled -. I'm glad you woke up!

-How many days have I been sleeping? -the arctic fox asked, curiously.

-Oh, just four. It hasn't been that long, really. Can you imagine if you have fallen asleep forever? I would have never been able to get out of here and my friends would have forgotten about me!

-I really doubt forgetting about you is so easy -Zèon replied, gently.

-Of course, Ike could have taken care of you too. He's been coming by here every day, you know? He is very funny, but a little weird. He always tries to make me laugh, as if I was sad, but I think that, in fact, he is the one who is sad. Well, was. He won't be now, because you have woken up -the husky reasoned, nodding -. Yes, I'm sure he will be happy now.

The only mention of Ike brought back some worries to Zèon's mind. He had almost forgotten about the lion and the false romance he had started for him. He would have to explain a lot of things to him once he recovered.

-Where is Luca, Zèon? -Koi asked then, looking again at his eyes.

The arctic fox felt a lump in his throat and it took him a few seconds to answer.

-He's gone -he answered, finally.

The husky tilted his head, with a sparkle of understanding shining deep in his violet eyes.

-Has he gone... with mom? -he asked then, in a whisper.

-Yes, Koi -Zèon answered, hugging him tightly -. He's gone with your mom.

None of them say a word for a long while. They only kept still in that embrace, as time went by slowly. In any other occasion, Zèon would have believed that he was the one trying to cheer Koi up, but at that moment he was sure that the hug both were sharing was destined to comfort him instead.

Sometime in that embrace, although he wouldn't have been able to say when, he started crying. He made sure he did it discreetly, so Koi couldn't notice it, but at the same time he allowed himself to vent as much as he could.

A little voice in the back of his head told him that he had to be worried about Sophia, about whatever she had done in his mind, and trying to find a way out of there... but all that seemed to be now far, absurdly far. He couldn't find the strength to keep searching for a solution, or trying to answer the questions that he still didn't understand.

Luca had gone. What was the point now in getting freedom?

It was like if a long dream, the most wonderful and real that Zèon had been able to imagine, had come to its end. He felt as if suddenly someone had plunged his head into a tub of lukewarm, dark water: he no longer could put an order to his thoughts nor find a reason to do it. He simply continued there, still. Underwater.

Some minutes went by; some hours, maybe, until the door of the bedroom opened.

The arctic fox looked up with watery eyes and fixed them in the figure that had just walked in the room. In the eyes of the one who had just entered he could see a large spectrum of emotions, which went from the most genuine surprise to the most absolute relief.

-Zèon! -Ike exclaimed, as soon as he overcame the surprise -. Zèon! Oh, at last... Zèon, you're awake!

-Yes... it seems so -the arctic fox answered, drying his tears -. Hello, Ike.

The lion gave him a long look, as if he was analyzing him or a long while.

-Do you feel right? -he asked, after a few seconds.

The arctic fox held his gaze for some instants, but he finally looked away, unable to look at his eyes. In response, he simply shrugged. The concern in the lion's face got more noticeable.

-Where... where is Luca? -he asked, cautiously.

Zèon opened his mouth to answer, but Koi did it first:

-He isn't here.

The husky's voice sounded strangely confident, as if he was absolutely aware of what he had said. Zèon wondered if Koi would really understand the implications of what he was saying or if, on the contrary, was still unable to comprehend what had happened. Maybe, during those weeks that Zèon hadn't been really looking after him, the husky had matured a bit. The arctic fox felt a little proud when he thought of that possibility, but it soon disappeared under the shadow of Luca's absence.

Regardless whether Koi understood what he had said or not, Ike seemed to catch the hidden meaning of those words.

-Alright -the lion murmured, a bit taciturn. However, he managed to give them a smile -. Well, at least I'm glad to know you're alright. I was afraid that you... that you wouldn't... -The lion stopped in the middle of the sentence and shook his head; then, he turned to Koi -. Hey, Koi. Would you mind leaving Zèon and me alone for a while?

The husky gave Zèon an inquisitive look, but it took the arctic fox a few seconds to understand its meaning. He finally nodded. Koi then slowly got rid of his hug and got out of the bed, walking towards the door.

-Be careful, Koi -Zèon asked him, not really knowing why.

-I'm going to see my friends and tell them you woke up -the little husky informed him, before disappearing through the door.

Only then, the lion turned to him, still with that small smile of relief in his face. Zèon believed that, had it not been for Luca's disappearance, Ike's smile would have been much wider. He didn't really know how close both of them had become, but he remembered that it had been Luca who had insisted to give the lion a chance.

Luca... the mere memory of him made him feel a stabbing pain in his chest. He shook his head and forced himself to return to the present reality, in which Ike was getting closer, climbing the ladder of the bank bed. Before the lion got to his bed and lay next to him, he already knew he wouldn't be able to tell him that he had deceived him with their relationship.

He felt the strong arms of the lion embracing his body and couldn't help but shiver.

-I was so worried... -Ike confessed then, with a thin voice, tightening his hug a bit -. Please, don't do this to me ever again.

-What? -Zèon asked, without understanding. Immediately after, he shook his head; he thought he had heard a ringing somewhere in the room.

-You know what I mean -the lion scolded him with a gentle voice. Then, he licked one of his ears -. I don't... I don't want you to disappear overnight.

Zèon nodded, almost automatically. However, he wasn't totally paying attention to the lion's conversation; he could still listen that weird ringing, piercing and shrill, which hid somewhere in that room. He tried to sharpen his ear, annoyed. It was really unpleasant.

-I've been thinking about the conversation we had the other day -the lion murmured at that moment, taciturn - Maybe at that moment I didn't notice, but I think you were trying to tell me something important, weren't you?

It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time, so Zèon deduced that it could be something buried in the ground, or maybe hidden behind the walls. In any case, the ringing was getting more and more piercing and it was very difficult to ignore it.

-Are you... are you listening to me, Zèon? -the lion asked, noticing that the arctic fox had started to squirm, uneasy.

-No, I'm sorry -he confessed, sitting up in his bed and then half-closing his eyes, more and more uneasy -. Can't you hear it?

-Hear what? -Ike asked, stunned.

-That noise. Ugh... I can't...

The lion watched him for a long while, worried and astonished. After a few seconds, he sat up again and looked around suspiciously, trying to find something he hadn't noticed before. However, not having found anything strange in the room, he turned back to Zèon.

The image he found filled him with concern.

-Zèon, are you feeling right? -he asked, cautiously.

The arctic fox had placed both paws in his head and was shaking violently in the bed, suffering a quiet pain that Ike couldn't understand or share. The lion reached out to him, without knowing exactly why; maybe to support or comfort him.

However, that gesture was a mistake.

Before he could even react, Zèon jumped on him with his paws ahead and Ike let out a surprised exclamation, moving back in the bed. His back hit the wall and he moaned in pain, but this was muffled when the arctic fox's paws closed with an amazing strength around his throat.

Ike, unable to understand what was happening, gave a horrified look to Zèon. He was surprised to find that, in spite of the fact that the fox was trying to strangle him, his expression transmitted such lack of understanding and anguish that it didn't fit with what he was doing. There was something strange in that expression; something he couldn't quite understand, but that got stuck in the lion's mind and wouldn't be forgotten easily.

The lion finally reacted, putting his paws on his neck and trying to move Zèon's away, in an attempt to get rid of his lethal grip. Both struggled a bit; the only sounds that could be listened in the room were Ike's muffled gasps and Zèon's snorts as he strained with his claws. Finally, the lion managed to push the arctic fox aside panting with effort, but before he could even react, the kane pounced on him again and hit him forcefully, making him cry in pain. Starting to feel furious, Ike pushed him with his legs and the fox flew out to the other side of the bed, with a wheeze.

Then, the bunk bed creaked and collapse under the weight of both. Ike felt a short freefall feeling before crashing strongly against the floor, losing his breath. For a few seconds, he was unable to move, and when he tried to stand up, Zèon's body felt over his chest as quick as a white shadow.

The lion gave him a last look. The arctic fox had raised one of his paws over his head and his claws were dangerously visible. However, and although Ike knew that the fox was about to finish him... Zèon was crying.

-Z... Zèon -he gasped, hoping that hearing his name would brought him back.

But it didn't work.

The arctic fox's paw started its deadly descent towards Ike's neck and the lion closed his eyes.

He opened them after a few seconds when he heard a dull sound and felt that the weight on his chest disappeared suddenly. He discovered Zèon had fallen to one side of the room, as if someone had pushed him away from Ike with a strong shove. He didn't even need to look to the other side in order to know who had just saved his life, but he did it anyway.

-Shi... Shiba -the lion murmured, still gasping and on the floor.

-I told you that you couldn't trust a kane -the tigress muttered, looking with hatred at the arctic fox who writhed in pain at the other side of the room -. If I hadn't been nearby, this vermin would have finished you.

Ike gave Zèon an anguished look, still without understanding why that scene had taken place. In spite of being totally sure of what he had just lived, he couldn't believe that the arctic fox had done... what he had just done.

-Wait, Shiba -he started -. I think that...

-Don't try to justify him, Ike -the tigress interrupted him, frowning -. I'm not going to listen more nonsense. Understand it at once: our race has massacred them for years and now they want to revenge. There are no kane looking for peace, nor seeking for an alliance.

Ike wanted to reply something, to tell her she was wrong, but any answer he could imagine died inside him. Instead, he turned to the arctic fox again.

He saw him tossed in the ground, trying to stand up in vain. It seemed that Shiba's blow had been strong enough in order to keep him knocked out for a while, and the lion couldn't help but feel bad about it. However, the memories of their fight were still present in his mind and he shivered, coming to a conclusion that hurt him, but was the only that made sense.

Zèon had just tried to kill him. Even though that broke his heart, he had tried to murder him.

-Why? -he asked the arctic fox, as he tried to stand up in order to look at him from a better position -. Why have you done it!?

The only answer he got was a pitiful moan of pain, unintelligible. Ike shook his head, trying to hold back his tears. He had grown up in the court and he was supposed to be ready for anyone who tried to kill him; however, he was unable to assume that the only person he had loved until that moment had tried to murder him too.

Anyway, he couldn't look away from him. He almost felt as if he could still fool himself and believe that nothing had happened, but that couldn't be.

-Come on, Shiba -he murmured, after a while -. We have to... talk.

-You won't change my mind, you know? -the tigress reiterated, stubborn -. I don't mind if...

-No -Ike interrupted him -. I just want you to help me find the right form to punish him -he said, and with every single word he pronounced, he felt something inside him shaking with pain.

Shiba gave him a long look, questioning, as if she didn't totally believe the words she had listened. However, after a few seconds, she nodded and opened the door of the bedroom.

Both got out of there, slamming the door and leaving the arctic fox still stretched out on the floor in one of the sides of the bedroom, surrounded by the remains of the bunk bed that had collapsed during their frantic fight.

It took Zèon several minutes to sit up.

He felt an unpleasant metallic taste in his mouth and, besides, the area of his side in which Shiba had kicked him hurt with every movement he made. He let out a groan and crawled to towards the wall, slowly, trying to ignore the pain and containing his tears. He finally rested his back in the wall and fixed his eyes in a vague point of the room.

-Was that what... ? -he stopped, suffering a violent coughing and then he repeated, a bit louder -. Was that what you wanted? Are you satisfied now, Sophia!?

He let the rage flow freely with the last question and he hit the ground with one of his fists, feeling terribly powerless. However, he reproached himself that he hadn't been able to foresee the woman's plans, her next movement. If he had thought a bit about it, he could have tried to avoid that fight. But, instead... The fox shook his head.

It was obvious that, in order to stop the revolution, all its members should be silenced. Luca had died and Zèon was useless. The only one that shared their plans to escape from the Box was Ike, and Sophia knew it. The best way to get rid of him discretely so no one suspected was that someone who held grudge to the fehlar race murdered him.

And that was what Sophia had tried to do that time.

Zèon closed his eyes, exhausted, and tried to think of a way to clear that matter. However, the fight they had just had was still present in his mind and it sent shivers down his spine. But it wasn't the fact that he had been about to kill Ike what tortured him.

It was the certainty that, for a few horrible seconds, he had lost control of his own body... and had given it to Sophia.

<<So that's what she meant when she talked about a "direct link">> the arctic fox thought, bitterly. He thought that it was exaggeratedly cruel, but that thought banished in his mind when he realized that the woman simply didn't care. From the first moment he had got there, cruelty had been Sophia's course of action.

What could he do? He was only a puppet.

For the next half hour, he remained there, resting against the wall. He wouldn't have been able to say if he was looking for a solution or pitying himself. He was so tired that he discarded ideas thinking they were impossible from the first moment, and the certainty that he will never be able to explain what had just happened consumed him.

In silence, he thought that, at least, now that Ike hated him he wouldn't have to keep lying about their relationship. However, he would have wanted that things turned out differently. He really appreciated the lion and admired him for his ideas, and he couldn't bear the fact that he had had to hurt him so much.

At that moment, the door of the bedroom opened again quickly. The arctic fox trembled when Shiba's harsh look fell upon him.

-Stand up -she said, sharply -. Camus wants to see you.