FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The homeless mouse walks down the darkened, deserted road. His staff sweeps the road in front of him, searching for tripping hazards. Through the trees, he hears thunder roll in.

A storm is coming.

He'll need to find shelter. Having traveled this road many times, he knows that there's a cave nearby. Now all he need to do it get to it before the rain starts.

Hastening his pace, he makes it to the cave as the rain starts to fall, hard. He ducks inside, but not in time to avoid getting drenched.

Unable to see anything, he slowly sweeps his staff as he walks inside. Finding a suitable boulder, he takes off his battered cloak and lays it out to dry. He then shakes, and starts to fluff out his fur.

Hearing something, he stops moving and listens. His ears flick silently, searching for any sound. Not hearing anything but water dripping and the storm outside, he slowly finishes fluffing out his wet fur.

With a heavy sigh, he sits and turns his attention to the storm outside. It's not just rain now, there's hail, and it's big. He can hear the ice crunching through the branches and thumping on the ground.

No use going back out tonight. It won't be safe till morning.

He grabs his staff and starts searching for a place to lay down. As he does, he hears the sound again.

Curious, he starts towards the sound.

He slowly works his way deeper into the cave, using his staff and it's echoes to guide him. The cave soon opens up into a cavern, and he stops to listen.

He hears something large breathing.

A voice booms from above. "What do you want, mouse?"

He staggers back a few steps. "My apologies, my lady. I was not aware this cave was occupied."

"You can't be serious," she booms. "You look like a thief. Are you here to rob me too?"

"Of course not." The mouse pauses. He then collects himself. "Were you hurt? Are you in need of medicine? Food? I will share what little I have."

"Your offer is meaningless to me," she states, her tone indignant. "Why are you here?"

He sweeps his staff slowly and finds a large rock. As he sits, he explains, "I was merely taking shelter from the storm and heard your breathing. I apologize for the intrusion."

He hears a few heavy footsteps and then feels hot breath on his face.

"You still look like a thief," she says.

"I assure you, my lady, I am no thief. I...I was to be a knight." He then cautiously reaches out with his hand. "May I see you."

There's silence for a few of her breaths. "I did not realize...you are blind," she solemnly says. "I ask your forgiveness."

"No need to ask. Darkness is my world now, it's what I know."

She's again silent for a moment. "All I know is hatred," she sadly states, then presses her nose to his hand. "You may see me. Your hand is on my nose."

"Your nose?" Curious, he sets his staff aside and uses both hands to gently explore her face. "You're a dragon. I've never met a dragon before."

She pulls back a bit. "I doubt you ever will again. I have not seen another for some time."

His ears droop. "I am sorry to hear that."

She lies down and gives the mouse a curious look. "Why do you not fear me?"

He finds his staff and leans against it. "I hear honesty when you speak. When others talk, I hear deceit and hatred." He sighs, and continues, "I guess that means I trust you more than I do other people."

Stunned, she continues to look at him in disbelief.

Wondering why she's quiet, he asks, "Does that bother you?"

"I...I don't know," she find herself saying. "I've never..."

"Had a friend?" he asks. "My name's Trevan."

"Trevan," she repeats, then scowls. "My...name...is..." She stops. It's been too long since she last used her name. "What is my name?" she quietly asks herself. "Ah yes. Rayena. My name is Rayena."

"Rayena. Lovely name." He then turns his head and listens. "I think the storm has passed."

She lays back down. "Does that mean you're going to leave."

He turns back to her. "I was actually thinking about getting some sleep."

"This cave is too cold for you to sleep in." Abruptly she sits up, having had a thought. "May I carry you?"

He stiffens noticeably. "Carry me?"

"In my hand. I want to take you somewhere warmer."

He stands. "May I fetch my cloak?"

"I will pick it up on the way out."

Trevan can't help but be nervous. "You're going to fly?"

"Yes."

He sighs. "I'm scared. Please be careful with me."

"I will be as gentle as I can. Please, raise your arms."

Nervously, he lifts his staff over his head.

"I'm picking you up now." She gently closes her clawed hand around him and picks him up. "Ready?"

He swallows hard. "Not really."

She chuckles lightly. "I will not hurt you."

He feels her walk for a bit, and then the wind starts to rush past.

They're flying.

He closes his eyes and faces the wind. It feels amazing, and he soon forgets his nervousness. The wind blows his whiskers and ears back, and his tail trails out from between Rayena's fingers. He smiles, he's never felt so free.

Glancing at him, she sees his smile, and also smiles. She's never met someone like him. Everyone that she's seen has either wanted to kill her, steal her things, or ran from her.

I wonder what kind of knight he would have been, she wonders to herself.

Finding her home, she swoops in low and lands just outside the cave. "We are here."

After folding her wings, she crawls inside. Reaching her cavern, she sets Trevan down with his cloak, then lays down.

"Make yourself comfortable. I need to rest."

The mouse starts to slowly wander, sweeping his staff ahead of him. He doesn't find many rocks, but the ground it hard and uneven. Hearing her breathing, he decides to follow his ears. As he nears her, his staff hits something, a lot of somethings, and they jingle.

This gets her attention and she watches him, curious to see what he does.

He stoops, and finding a large pile of disks, picks one of them up. After rubbing it between his fingers, he figures out that it's a coin. From its weight, he knows it's gold.

Stunned, he drops the coin. "This is..."

She sighs. "It's what little I could save from my last home. The thieves took the rest."

"Oh." He stands and walks around the pile towards her. Finding one of her clawed hands, he stops. "Would it be all right if I slept near you?"

She looks at him again, unsure of how to take this request.

"If not, I understand. I don't sleep well when I'm alone."

Skeptical, she lets out a light huff. "You may."

He bows to her. "Thank you, my lady."

She watches as he lays his cloak out and curls up on it. "Why do you call me that?" she asks.

He rolls to face her, and sighs. "When I was in knight's training, we were taught to address all with respect. Service of the people and all."

She tilts her head. "Service of the people. That sounds familiar. What order were you with?"

"Doesn't matter. I was blinded before I was selected."

She's quiet for a moment, then softly asks, "How?"

He rolls back over, so she can't see the tears in his eyes. Those memories are still too painful for him to talk about.

She saw his tears, and lets it go, she already has her suspicion.

Trevan's ears twitch, and he slowly sits up. Rayena's asleep, but he hears something. He grabs his staff and starts to follow his ears.

He follows the sound to the caves opening, and listens. There's people outside.

"I'm sure it came in here," one says.

"And your certain it was a dragon?"

"I'm not sure, it was large and had wings."

"All right, you can go. We'll take it from here."

He hears some shuffling and starts counting pairs of feet that come into the cave. there's five of them. He then hears the subtle flap of wings behind him. Rayena's awake.

He slowly approaches the people coming into the cave. "May I ask why you're invading my home?" he announces.

They stop. "What do you mean, your home?"

"Simple, I live here."

He hears them spread out, and his training comes back to him. With the flick of his hand, he casts a spell and suddenly he sees them, but his vision is not from his perspective, it's from Rayena's. He's looking through her eyes.

There's four archers, and one fighter, all dogs, and the fighter's in charge.

"I would hold it right there if I were you. The bats here don't like don't like noise." He taps his stick on a rock to emphasize his point.

"What bats?" the warrior asks. "We're here after a dragon."

Trevan shakes his head. "Haven't seen any. It's just me and my sleepy friends."

The archers slowly back up, trying to watch a ceiling that they can't really see.

"May we search your cave to make sure there are no dragons here?" the warrior asks.

"Are you saying that I wouldn't know if there was a dragon in my own cave."

"Yes. I can tell you are blind."

"I guarantee you that my eyesight is not an issue."

"Maybe it is."

Through Rayena's eyes, Trevan sees the warrior reach for his sword. When he hears it start to unsheathe, he acts.

With his first lunge he disarms the warrior, using his staff to flip the sword into the air. With a swing to his right, he takes those archers' bows and tosses them behind him. A swing to his left collects only one bow, the other archer dodges and draws on him. The sword lands in the ground in front of him.

"I wouldn't move if I were you," the warrior states.

With a quick jab, Trevan sticks his staff at the archer. The arrow jams into the end, and he flips the bow away. "You're not me." He then grabs the sword and puts it to the warriors chin. "You barge in to my home, insult me, and draw your weapons. I have every right to just kill you all."

"But you won't," the warrior states as he holds his hands out in surrender.

"I'm a Knight Draconum. I can kill you with a thought."

The warrior laughs. "They're all dead. You can't possibly be one." He backs away and calls out, "Archers!"

As more archers enter, Trevan spins and uses his staff to spray sand and gravel at them.

They duck and shield their eyes. When they recover, the mouse is gone.

"You can't hide from us!" the warrior calls.

"Not hiding."

They look up to see him standing on a tall rock, bow in hand and drawn with the arrow that he snagged.

"I give you one chance to drop everything and leave, or die where you stand."

The warrior laughs again, so Trevan lets his arrow fly.

The warrior drops to his knees, then collapses back, the arrow sticking from his neck.

Several of the archers immediately drop their gear and run from the cave. After a few moments thought, the rest draw.

He thrusts his hands out towards them as they release their arrows.

The cavern fills with fire, consuming the arrows.

They drop everything and start running for their lives. Trevan does a hand movement, clearing his spell. Exhaustion overwhelms him and he collapses to his knees, then to the ground.

Above him, Rayena sits for a moment in awe. She's never breathed fire before and doesn't understand how it even happened. She hadn't wanted to, but something compelled her to, and she just reacted.

Hearing him collapse, she looks down, and it becomes clear. "You protected me," she softly says as she picks him up. "My knight. My brave, honorable Knight Draconum saved me."

She returns to the main cavern and lays back down. She gently places him on his cloak and whispers, "Rest my knight. My turn to watch over you."

He awakes with a start, and quickly realizes that he's under her hand. He stretches his hands out and quickly finds his staff.

Feeling him move, she smiles and picks her hand off him. "We are safe. Thank you."

He sits up and turns towards her. "How long was I out?"

"Not long. I collected their gear for you."

He smiles. "I'm sorry for using you like that."

She blushes. "No apologies needed. You are my knight, I am your dragon."

"No. I released the spell."

She nuzzles into him. "You are a Knight Draconum. I freely choose to be your dragon. You may restore the spell if you like."

He nods and hold her muzzle. "I was blinded the morning I was to be knighted. It disqualified me from finishing."

"Will you tell me how it happened?"

"While on a mission, I was hit in the head by a warrior's hammer. He busted in to our barracks while we were asleep. I was the first one he came to."

"Oh."

They're silent for a moment, then he feels something warm and wet soak his fur. A tear, she shed a tear for him. With the wave of his hand, he restores the spell, binding them together.

Another tear washes over him, this one landing on his head. It sparkles for a moment, then soaks into his fur. He feels warmth fill him and his eyes begin to hurt.

He blinks his eyes a few times, then realizes that he can see. Not with her eyes like before, but with his own.

His laugh startles them both, and he smiles "I'd heard rumors, but I'd never believed..."

She smiles. "A dragon's tears can heal the one they care about. My father taught me that. You unlocked my magic with your spell. It's the least I could do for my knight."

He pulls back slightly to look at her. The light is dim, but he can clearly see her silver scales. "You're silver."

"I am." She then sweeps her tail around and brings him closer. "We need to sleep."

He sighs and gets comfortable against her. "Yes, my lady."

With the dawn of the new day, each will start their lives anew.

He has shown her love, she has given him sight.

She is his lady.

He is her knight.

Mouse and dragon, together as one.