FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The sound of electronic doors opening awakened him. He had been having a dream about roaming the countryside with friends and family. But the sound woke him up and stole away his dreams.

"Get up you worthless excuse for an animal!" An angry voice was chastising him again. "You have another job to do, and this time, the boss says you'll get punished severely if you don't cooperate. Well, not you personally this time." The guard gave a malevolent smile and winked, before turning around and leaving the cell.

Thoughts rushed through his mind. The only thing he could have meant by that was.....oh no.....his sister was in a cell here too! If he didn't do his job this time, they would torture her instead of him! He let out a growl. This shouldn't be happening. Why did they even create his parents? Why would they breed them with one another to give birth to six little pups, only to kill four in testing? And why give them numbers instead of names?

His number was 56-78632, but his name was Eiffel. Sure, it was the name of a tower, but It was the only thing he had ever gotten to know the name of. The guards and staff have numbers, and so do the rooms. Eiffel never got to see any names, until one day, a coworker of his trainer had shown a picture of his family in Paris under the tower. He liked the name. So, thus came about his name, Eiffel, and his sister's name, Paris.

They were the outcome of an experiment that was to breed genetically altered creatures with human and animal DNA together to see if they were fertile or not. His mother was a wolven creature, while his father was a coyote mix. They killed his father before all of the pups' eyes to show them what will happen if they disobeyed. His mother, though, was a different matter. She got sick from a vaccine they had given her, and died overnight.

His siblings had chosen what they wanted to be trained in. Most chose to be hunters. He didn't. His sister wanted to be trained in healing, while he wanted to be trained in weaponry. They denied him at first, but when he dismantled a tazer that was trained on him, they relented. Now, he was an accomplished bounty hunter with over 3,000 catches under his belt, along with only 2 escapees that were later found dead from malnutrition.

Eiffel had heard about his next job while he walked down the corridor. He was wearing a black suit marked with three gray slash marks on it's back for the sign of a hunter. It had been his brother's before they killed him for coming back without any food. His own suit was light blue with a big W in bright green. He didn't like it at all. The suit he was wearing went with his fur, a nice brown and gray color.

When he finally reached the meeting room, the table in it was full. Not that it mattered, because he had to stand in a corner no matter what. "Welcome gentlemen and 56-78632. Today, we have gotten word of specimen number 56-78523 just this morning at around 10:30. He has acquired a friend who knows what he is. The said person is a sophomore named Jason. He is only 14 years of age, but has trained in the art of pressure points and knows some herbology. He is carrying a bow with a quiver full of arrows and two backpacks. One is presumably for 56-78523. The said specimen has dubbed himself ‘Argon'. We know why, also. When we found the newspaper that led us to Jason's house, There was an element song written by a citizen to help children learn the elemental table. Argon is, as you may know, an element on said table. Thus, along with 56-78632 here and his sister, 56-78631, they believe that they have names like we do. Eiffel, isn't it? Seems to fit you, as does Paris to your sister. Now, tell me, Eiffel, where did you get that name from? Hmm?"

Eiffel pointed to the man across the table from the director. "He was outside of my cell taking to another man about his family and how they went to Paris, sir. I just thought Eiffel and Paris seemed better than just plain old numbers, sir. I'm sorry, sir."

The director waved his hand, and the accused man was stunned, then taken out of the room. "Do you know why we don't give you names?"

"No..."

"So that you don't get a since of importance. You don't need names because they signify individuality. You are not an individual, are you? No! you're not. You are just a mutated freak of nature that has only one or two good uses. Weaponry and hunting. Now, on that topic, we need you to catch 56-78523 dead or alive. And if you fail, you'll have no more ears. Your sister, on the other hand, will loose a lot more than that if you don't bring them to me. Let's just say she might not be able to talk to you anymore, or maybe she wont be able to see. I'll decide depending on how you do. That is all."

Eiffel walked out of the room and headed for the silo of weapons. Behind him, he heard the director telling the men to replace the carpet where he had stood. That was all he heard before he reached the silo and opened the door. He began to get ready.

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Later, Eiffel was walking past the cell areas. He wanted to say goodbye to his sister before he left. He did it every time. He walked down corridor 46 until he saw her cell. He looked inside, and there she was. Just sitting in the corner and staring at the floor. "Hey Paris."

"Hey Eiffel. Who are you after this time?"

"56-78523."

Paris had tears in her eyes now. She hated what they did to the escapees. Tortured them to no end most of the time. "What will happen if you fail? Wait. Never mind. I don't want to know..."

"Well, I have got to go now. Try to have a nice day now, OK?"

"Yeah.....sure. You too."

Eiffel walked out of the corridor and into another room. This was a sign in/out room. They put a wrist band on his arm. A tracker. "You can go anywhere in-state. But once you set foot outside of the state for more than 24 hours, we will be forced to stun you and retrieve you later."

"Yeah, yeah. Just let me out already. I want to kill them." The instructor opened a door that led out into the forests. He ran into them, grateful to be away from the facility.

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Two days. Two days have passed, and still no sign of Jason or ‘Argon'. He had been to his house, seen Jason's worried mother, and then went to the park where he suspected them to have gone into. He saw faint tracks of Argon, and a few scratched up trees. This kept happening until he came to the street on the other side of the road. No cars this late at night.

Now he had to figure out where they could have gone. He had to find a map of the surrounding area, and fast. Every minute spent thinking is a minute wasted. Eiffel ran to the nearest ‘you are here' sign, and pulled out a map. There were words on the page, but he couldn't read them because he hadn't been trained in the field. He saw the park, and the neighborhood where Jason lived. He traced his paw finger over the routs where they could have gone. Further up the map, he saw another park-like area. There was a cartoony sign near the entrance and had trees around it. He was guessing that this was a protected park or resrve for animals. They must have gone there.

Eiffel put the paper into one of his pockets, and head off to find the two refugees.

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The sign was huge and carved from a slab of wood. Eiffel had walked through the night, and it was now around six in the morning. He had heard that Jason was an early riser, so he had to hurry up and find them. He stopped and pulled off his Jansport backpack, and produced a model airplane and a small flat piece of metal that would bleep every once in a while. It was a heat sensor. He peeled off the cover on the bottom, and stuck the adhesive side onto the bottom of his plane. Turning on the plane, and threw it up in the air and used the controler to manouver it over the park, piece by acred piece.

The time it took him to find two unmoving humanoid bodies was only five or so minutes. He was so happy that this would take him a lot less than a week. He ran through the undergrowth, over tree roots, and over bridges, until he came to a campsite. There was a single tent in the middle of it. The tent was blue on one side, and green on the top and other three sides. There were two pairs of shoes. One was a plain designed pair, while the other looked brand new. H heard heavy breathing and a familiar snoring sound. He had found them. But what to do until they woke up? Scour the campsite of course! He walked over to the fire pit, where there were still small embers glowing red from the night before. It seems at though they got here late in the night, and Eiffel would have a long time to wait until they woke up from their nice slumber. There were fish bones and a rabbit's pelt in the trash bin by a tree, and also a pair of weird sandals, made from foam and string. Eiffel threw them back into the bin. He yawned.

He hadn't slept in three days. He needed a quick nap, but only an hour or so, because he didn't want them to leave before he woke up. He turned around, and grabbed the base of the tree. Shimmying up, he heard a rustling noise in the bushes below. He dismissed it as an animal. Soon enough, a bunny rabbit came out of the bush and ran into the pelt of it's kin on the ground. It took a wiff, then fled.

He settled down on the lowest and broadest branch. His vision slowly left him, then his common sense, then his hearing, before finally his conscious mind.

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Jason woke up when he heard a soft thunk of something being thrown into the garbage can. He stayed still until he heard the thing climb a tree and after a while, start snoring. He climbed out of his sleeping bag, careful not to step on Argon on the way out of the tent. He unzipped the door, and climbed out. Stretching, he looked up into the tree. There, well, what was there made Jason gasp in surprise, fear, and delight. Surprise when he saw that it was a being like Argon and that it was sleeping, fear when he saw the guns and ropes and stuff on the belts it wore over it's shoulders and waist, and delight in knowing there were more of Argon's kind.

But soon, suspicion came over Jason when he read the logo on the outfit the wolf/coyote creature was wearing. It had on a black suit with three gray slash marks on the front. Jason guessed it was an assassin coming to kill him and Argon. "Not today you're not..."Jason breathed.

Taking his sleeping bag out of the tent, he tied one end to the tree, another to the trash bin, one to the nearby pick nick table, and held one with his hand. With his other hand, he took out a length of rope and made a lasso. Just for all those reading, unless you grew up in the wild old west of Texas, then throwing a rope lasso is the hardest thing in the world to do when you need it to work. It took at least twenty tries before Jason got the animal-human's leg. He pulled hard, and the creature fell from the tree and unto the sleeping bag. It was still sound asleep.

Regarding how fast it found them, Jason didn't think that the poor fellow had gotten any sleep at all. For the past three days or so. He rolled him up in the sleeping bag, then tied him up with the rope. Jason then pulled out a small apple from his food bag, and wrapped it in a fresh mini-towel. He opened the thing's mouth, and was about to put the makeshift gag in his mouth, when He saw a tattoo on his lower lip. He pulled the lower lip down further, and saw ‘56-7632' as the tattoo. ‘Hmm.....strange.....' Jason thought as he put the gag into the mouth, and tied the ends around his muzzle.

He went into the tent and braught out his single person inflatable mattress. He laid it on the ground, and lefted the heavey, sleeping wolf onto the bed. A thought came to his mind just then. Why wasn't he scared of these beings? They were humanoid animals. He should be scared of them, and yet he wasn't the least bit afraid of Argon or this wolf that looked so peaceful when sleeping, yet would be malevolent when awoken.

Then it hit him. "So that's why....."He looked over at the tent. He had secretly thought some boys were cuter than some girls for the past year or so. He had thought he liked girls, but then they proved less interesting than guys. Jason had thought Argon and his panther form was cute after the initial shock. ‘He is fuzzy and warm and soft too.' Jason thought with a smile. It dawned on him that he liked Argon. He smiled. It explained that warm and fuzzy feeling he had whenever he looked into Argon's eyes, or when they hugged.

Jason got up and pulled a telescopic fishing rod from his backpack and headed of to the river to get some trout. He loved trout...

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Argin woke up to the smell of cooked fish and smoke. He opened his eyes and saw that Jason's mattress ad sleeping bag were gone, and the door wide open. He crawled out into the campsite, and nearly tripped when he saw Eiffel to the left. "Jason! What happened???"

Argon came running over to Jason and sat down beside him. Jason looked cool and bored eating his fish alone, and brightened up when he saw Argon. "Here. Made you another rabbit."

Argon took the medium-raw rabbit and took a bite. "Do you know who that is???"

"Specimen number 56-78632?"

"........how did you know it was Eiffel?" Argon looked astonished.

Well, when I was gagging him, I saw a tattoo on his lower lip. Wait. Why is his name Eiffel? Like the Eiffel Tower in Paris?"

"Yes. The very same. My real name...or number....is 56-78523. Me and him used to see each other through the halls of our cages and cells. He had a few brothers before they were killed in some vaccine tests. He Chose to become a bounty hunter for the escapees and people who were going to tell the cops. When he heard two guardsmen talking about their families going to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower, he said his new name was Eiffel, and his only surviving sister's name would be Paris."

"So....I take it you saw the periodic table of elements and picked Argon because it sounded cool as a name?"

".....Yeah..............." Argon looked befuddled still. "How did you catch him?"

Jason went over the whole ordeal with Argon. "And that's when you came out and ran over to me." Jason got up and walked over to the trash bin. While he was gone, Argon sat there, thinking about Jason and how nice he was. He helped out someone who had plotted and was going to try to ill them by giving them a warm and comfy place to sleep when it was so cold in the mornings here. Argon never really got to meet anyone long enough to become friends, but he had heard about it enough to know what it felt like to have a friend. And he felt...different when he was with Jason. He felt safe. Protected. And loved. He always felt a small something jump inside of him whenever he hugged Jason or looked him in the eyes. He had never heard of this feeling before, but decided not to ask Jason.

Jason started to laugh. Argon turned to see the surprised Eiffel looking around in fright. "Hey. Calm down buddy!" Jason was saying. "I wont hurt ya. I gave you a warm place to doze and a soft place to lay, so doyou think I'll hurt you after all of that trouble?"

Eiffel shook his head, but then tried to get loose. "Fmmmf fmfffm mfmm mfm fmmffmm!"

"What?" Jason said, and took out the gag.

"Let me out of here!!!"

Jason set down the gag. "Sorry 56-78632, but I can't do that. I'm afraid you'll use one of your bounty hunting weapons on me and Argon and take us to the place where you are from dead or alive."

Eiffel looked surprised. "How do you know my number?"

"Tattoo on your lip." Jason thought the wolf looked cute when he was confused. He smiled. "Do you have a name that you want to be called instead? I think numbers take away your individuality. You're an individual person, right? So why, then, do you not have a name to go by?"

"I'm not an individual! I'm a filthy, worthless excuse for a living creature!!!" Tears welled up slowly when he proclaimed this statement. "So call me by my number, and finish me off when you leave. There's no use in going back now that you know that I'm here..."

Jason suppressed a chuckle. "OK, Eiffel. Whatever you say. But I'm not going to kill you, and you ARE an individual. Well, to me at least. Are you hungry, Eiffel?"

Eiffel looked stunned. "N.....no! not at all." And as if on cue, his stomach growled. He did what looked to Jason a blush.

"I'll get you some fish." Jason got up and pulled a stick off of the grill. It had a speared fish on it, and it was cooked medium raw. "Do you like it raw, or cooked?" Jason picked up the gag, and pulled out the apple. He set the fish down besides the wolf's body, and took out his pocket knife, and started to chop up the apple into little slices. "Well?"

"I don't want any of your food! Just finish me already! Why are you being so courteous to something that tried to kill you?"

"Because, that someone looks hungry, looked tired in the tree, and is all tied up. So, do you want this food or not? If you do, which I know you do, then I'll feed you. I don't mind."

The wolf looked defeated, and robbed of his dignity. He nodded slowly and opened his mouth. A piece of apple was dropped in, and the wolf started chewing it up. He swallowed and a chunk of fish dropped into his mouth. He swallowed it whole, once realizing how hungry he was. A few minutes later, the apple and fish were gone, save for the core and some bones.

"All better now?"

"Yes........."

Jason got up, and went over to the fire. "Wait"

Jason turned around. "What is it?"

"Th...thank y..you. For your kindness.........I have never been treated with kindness before besides my sister, 56-786-"

"Paris. Go on."

The wolf was temporarily taken aback, before continuing. "Yes. Her and my other sibling whom are all dead along with my parents. So, thanks."

Jason walked over to the wolf. He undid the ropes enough to let one of the wolf's arms loose. Jason took his hand, and the wolf flinched. But relaxed when he saw Jason shaking it with a warm smile on his face. Jason let go and went into the tent.

He searched through his pack, then Argon's. "Here." He said, taking out a small box, and handing it to Eiffel. He took it with surprise, and opened it. Inside was a dog tag on a chain. On the dog tag was a symbol of an eye with a heart in the middle of the pupil.

"What is this?"

Jason took it and put it over the wolf's head. "It's my ensignia. It shows the eye for seeing things for how they really are, and the heart is in the middle of the eye, showing how you need to see with your heart, not your eyes. I gave one to Argon, and I'm giving one to you and all the others out there that we may meet as a symbol of hope and trust. I trust you enough to give you one."

Jason got up, and walked back over to the fire as the wolf was inspecting the chain. Argon had finished off the fist and was putting out the firs with dirt. Jason tapped him on the shoulder, and picked up a barrel of water next to Argon and poured it over the flames, extinguishing them immediately. Argon looked from the barrel to where it was.

"So THAT'S what it was for!!!" Jason laughed at Argon, and Argon joined in. Eiffel just laid there, silent as the grave. He had a solumn look, and was deep in thought. Jason walked over to the tent, and got all of their stuff out of it, before dismantling it, and stuffing the folded tent into it's holder. He put that into his backpack, and then pulled out his knife again. One side was straight-edged, while the other was jagged, for carving through things. He laid the Knife down on top of the wolf.

"Huh?"

"We are leaving now. You can keep that sleeping bag, I have another, and the air mattress wasn't min to begin with. We stole it from a store, so you can keep that too. Cut yourself out with those ropes and go on your own way. Good bye, my friend."

Eiffel just stared dumbly at the two as they walked away into the brush. "You sure about that? He never fails at a mission."

"well, I believe that he has changed for the better." They walked in silence for a while, until the cane to a pile of leaves. Jason threw a rock unto them, and they just fluttered around. He walked over them, and continued on with Argon. At the next junction, they took the right path.

It was an hour or so later, when they came to another pile of leaves. "Funny. Who would go through all this trouble just to rake up leaves..." Jason said as he walked over them. Argon heard a yelp, and turned to see a hole where the leaves were. There was a rope there too, tied to Jason's ankle. He was hoisted up and into a tree.

Argon started to panic, and ran for the tree. He was stopped by a flash-bang. He was blind and deaf for a while. When he could finally open his eyes, we saw Jason. But he wasn't alone. He was being held around the neck by the arm or Eiffel, who had a pistol to Jason's temple. Jason had wide eyes, and was sweating a little on his brow. Argon took a step forward, and a slight click went off.

"Ah ah ah. One more step.....and I'll.......pull the....trigger."

Argon took a step back. There was an awkward silence (I just lost the game. See journal for info.) and then the gun started to wobble in Eiffel's hands. The, it thudded to the ground, and Jason dropped to the ground as well. He stayed down, and heard sobbing behind him. There was also a dripping sound. Jason met Argon's gaze, and It was scared and terrified. Jason turned around, and pulled off his backpack, trying to find something.

He couldn't find it. "Argon! Give me your pack, now!"

Argon fumbled through it, and looked up. If Argon didn't have fur, he would have gone pale. They turned, and looked at the wolf, who had stabbed himself in the shoulder, hitting a major artery. Eiffel looked up, and held up his dog-tag, before trying to say ‘sorry', when he collapsed to the ground. Jason looked at Argon. "Where did the first-aid bag go?!?!?"