FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

A few things to say. First off, thanks so much for your thoughtful patience while I try working through everything. I also want to thank you for your continued enjoyment. This next few chapters represent 3 parts of a single segment of the story, which reflects events for the eventful Central New Year, because so much is written in it to keep it in one part. For that please enjoy.

Same legal obligations apply for this chapter.

***

I spent the next week mostly at work with Alduin. Something seemed very strange about him though for some reason. It was like he had something else secretly kept under the covers. I wasn't too worried about it though, except when thoughts of it including me crept along. Plus I had more important things going on that needed to be done to prepare for the hunt. I had written out a list of things to take care of on a piece of paper.

The first was I needed to adequately equip myself for the hunt, so one night after work, I stopped by a sports store to pick up some gym clothes. Just a simple white shirt and a comfortable pair of black shorts, all topped off nicely with a new pair of socks and tennis shoes. I knew I was going to be doing quite a bit of running, so I decided to dress accordingly. When it came to money, it wasn't an obstacle at all, I had my first couple paychecks from the Woolsworths grocery store as well as my first little salary from my explorer job. It was roughly five gold coins, but one piece is worth quite a bit of money in New Zealand dollars.

In the subject of running, I spent most of my time outside at night, jogging and running to boost my running stamina. It wasn't too difficult since I exercised a little bit anyway. I also decided to bring along a special something to help me along. Rules stated that the hunted was aloud to use whatever they could carry with them to help them or defend themselves. I had a small handle object that opened up into a small staff. I wasn't as skilled in the staff as I was in the sword, but I thought this was appropriate enough, and it was small enough to keep in my pocket when retracted.

Besides the hunt, I knew hardly anything about Central New Year. I knew it's the New Year for Central, which was obvious enough. But I also knew that they sometimes have a certain theme for the year and the experienced scouts sometimes dressed in costumes to fit the occasion. Other than that I didn't know much more, and still so after I asked Alduin a couple questions one day while we were working.

"Hey Alduin," I began while shelving a couple items, "do people take preferences on the people they hunt?"

"Some of them do," he said, "sometimes one or two groups will work solely on finding one specific person. Most others just chase who they see, but some of those have a couple wants as well."

"I see," I said.

"There are very very few humans on Central though," he said smiling, "you'll probably be a very popular choice."

"So much for hoping to make it through the entire time," I said with a sigh.

"Ryan, not a single person has made it to the end," he said, "the record holder is Tomas Nagoya at 1 hour 54 minutes."

"I don't know the guy but that's impressive," I said. I knew just a few people, including Alduin's team, Silverine, My team, and a few others. One particular case was Abigail. Abigail is a female lioness, and is the cousin of Alduin's teammate Simba. Abigail specialized in technology. In fact when I first met the lioness, she was working on her favorite weapon I learned she uses for the hunt. A long distance tazer gun, a very very long distance tazer gun.

The Saturday morning came along pretty quickly, and it was the day of the coming event. I put on my new gym clothes to help break them in for the night, grabbing the staff handle and placing it into my pocket. I met Alduin in his room after breakfast. His whole team was there. Draco, Simba, a green lizard named Salbar, and a dark wolf named Javid. Gareth was also in the room. We had decided to spend the morning playing a board game to help pass the time. Most board games in this house was played using Draco's "special" rules, which eventually involved a version of strip poker to the game we were playing. This time everyone voted to play without it, which was good for me, I was still a little nervous about the hunt. As time went by, that nervousness only increased. My thoughts trailed off to exactly who might be picking me as their preferential hunt.

Kodey had shown up after lunch. He gave us specific instructions not to visit Silverine until the evening. I figured it was because of Silverine's costume, which is a total mystery to us. After that we went back to our game, and this lasted until early afternoon. From there I packed up the game as Alduin and Draco walked outside to test some new forms they made with their bionic abilities. Kodey took the chance to talk to me.

"Are you nervous about the hunt Ryan?" He asked me.

"It's not that hard to guess," I said, "I've never done anything like this before."

"Me neither," he agreed, "it's my first New Year also. Any preferences on who you want to be captured by?" I chuckled.

"Not really," I said, "the prospect of getting raped for the next couple hours doesn't sound very promising. But whoever catches me I guess."

"Any ideas of who might be choosing you as a preference?" he asked with a laugh.

"Hmm," I thought, "Perhaps Draco and Alduin, unless Draco really wants to go after that new dragon guy, Runo, I think his name is."

"I hope Silverine catches me to be honest," Kodey replied.

"Because you know how he'll treat you," I said and he smiled.

"Maybe," I laughed.

"In all honesty," I said, "you two make a cute couple." After a while we teleported to Central. While Alduin ditched the rest of the group in one of his car forms, I walked with Draco to our quarters. Since my first exploration mission, Silverine allowed me into the same quarters as Alduin's team, in the same room where he, Javid, and Salbar slept in. An extra bed was installed there for my use, and I was pretty pleased about that.

"I assume you're ready my dear boy," Draco began.

"About as ready as I can get," I said bluntly.

"That's good," he said, "you're one of the most popular picks in the group this year."

"You're kidding," I slumped, "why is that?"

"Several factors key into this," he began. I noticed Javid and Salbar were in the quarters as we walked in, going about their own business. "The first thing is that you're a human. That immediately makes you popular, since there are only three humans on Central. The next is word on your abilities and looks got around Central as well, most would agree that you're quite the catch. Finally, because you're one of my top picks, and lots of people are trying to beat me out of a person I chose." Ok now that seemed a lot like flattery, and it only proceeded to make me more nervous.

"Great," I sighed, as Alduin walked back in, in his human form. I spent the next couple of hours pending my strategy for the hunt, and even took a couple trips in private to the bedroom to practice my staff handling, since it's not anywhere as good as my swordsmanship. Alduin and Draco were in the bathroom, changing into their costumes, and I saw them come out about a half past six. Draco was wearing camo shorts and had matched body paint, he looked like a reptile from the amazon. Alduin himself was in a full body cat suit. It looked quite literally, skin tight, and looked quite realistic too. I couldn't help but think that I was just slightly left out costume wise, but in another six months, I knew I'd get a chance to try out something I wanted.

Everyone else were in a variety of costumes. Gareth looked like he was playing soccer for Brazil, just basing off of the uniform colors. We walked out into the hall and ran into Billy Carlson shortly after. He was wearing a rambo costume, with a trademark machine gun belt over his great coat. Billy was a dark green bunny, who wore a usual green great coat. In fact it was the same one that I based my new great coat off of, because Billy looked so cool.

We ran into a couple of my teammates a little while later, Doran and Orion. Doran was wearing a druid style outfit, while Orion, also a hunted, was garbed in martial arts clothing. Boy I forgot when I last wore a Kenpo Gi almost six years ago. Simba's cousin, Abigail, was dressed up in skin tight silver leather, and was driving a motorcycle. I was just wondering how she was going to drive that during the hunt. As we all moved around, someone started passing a soccer ball around. I figured it was Gareth, but I didn't mind at all, nor did I pay any attention to it. I was getting steadily more nervous by the second. When we finally got to the door to the grand hall, there was a message on the door.

"These doors are charmed by a great spell, they will not open unless the riddle is solved," I read aloud.

"This has never happened before," Draco said bluntly.

"It also says, ask to hear the riddle?" I continued reading.

"I see," Simba began, "an intelligence test, nice addition."

"What is the riddle?" Draco asked, and another voice spoke.

"I can weigh little, yet I weigh lots.

I am stored within jars, and also in pots.

I can be hard, I can run free around.

Or in the air I can abound.

To some I am home, to others not so

I come sometimes small, or in a large go."

"But of all this, you can guess

To get past me, you need success

So what am I, that keeps you alive

And allows many things to survive

I often rise, and oftener fall

And am currently filling most of the hall?"

I thought about the riddle for three seconds before I came up with an answer. It was so simple it was funny. I waited for everyone else to figure it out, because I didn't want to be in the spotlight any more than I was, and because I didn't want to be such a show off.

"Do you have an answer?" The voice said, and I finally recognized the voice as Kodey, who I remembered had disappeared somewhere.

"The answer is water," Draco said smiling.

"Correct," Kodey said opening the door. There was a small glass elevator, which confused me even more as we stepped in. He lowered the elevator after shutting the door, and reopened the door. The whole time I stared down. Most of the grand hall was covered in almost five or more feet of water, with enough walkway for the rest of the land dwellers to get some walking ground. When we got off, I continued looking around the area. The place was already packed with either new or familiar faces. Other than chess tournaments, I was not good at big social events. I looked for a place to sidestep to, and noticed a walkway leading to a fairly large size air vent. I noticed as I walked there of a shadow in the water. It was in the shape of a non-anthro dolphin, and I casually continued on. I looked around more as I sat down and relaxed. Avoiding the crowd also helped me gather my thoughts and relax. I was still nervous, and getting more so as time went by.

Eventually, I eventually drifted off in thoughts. I started with how I got into this in the first place. It was then that I remembered seeing the blue bandanna one of them wore. It was a trademark of Sterling's gang, I was beginning to wonder if there was some kind of connection between the two. Then there was the accident upon my gift to Alduin, which brought this whole thing upon me less than a month ago. It felt as if four years had passed, and yet with everything that happened, it hasn't even been a year since my life changed. I was so deep into my thoughts, I didn't pay much attention to the crowd. I also didn't notice Alduin taking a seat right next to me.

"Meow," he said playfully. I looked at him and smiled with a slight chuckle.

"Hey," I said. He shifted closer a bit, before giving me a gentle kiss.

"Enjoying it?" He asked me when he pulled off.

"Not really, there's so many of them here. Are they all out for the hunt?"

"Not everyone," he replied, "some people will be watching from the monitors here in the hall. Other's will enjoy others company, some of them in sex."

"And you?" I asked.

"I will be a hunter," he explained, "it's loads of fun. Perhaps you should give it a try to."

"I'm just nervous of my performance," I said bluntly.

"No one really gives a damn unless you don't try," He said, "just do your best."

"You make it sound so easy," I told him.

"I was nervous to," he began, "but if you do well, you'll get a cheer. If you don't, you'll still get some credit. Now, go and mingle."

"Do I have to?" I asked hopefully. I noticed a fox dressed in a painter's outfit coming over, and I quickly shifted away, until I ran into Alecto. If there was anyone I could have a decent conversation with other than Alduin, it was Alecto. Don't get me wrong, Draco was good too, but tonight he made me too nervous. Alecto was speaking with a female elf when I came by. She was holding a baby dragon, who I figured was female also, just by the way she looked.

"Hey Ryan," Alecto said, "I don't think you've been introduced to Iris yet. This is her." The elf nodded and I bowed.

"Pleasure to meet you Iris," I said.

"Same here," she replied, "Alduin speaks very highly of you. Oh, and this her is my daughter, Khamsina." The baby dragon giggled and fidgeted a bit. I smiled at her, she was cute, and seemed like the spitting image of Draco. We continued conversation for a little while. I didn't pay attention to anything else, except when Alduin was wrestling with a bright red dragon. A crimson haired human was standing next to them, watching the brawl with great interest. Alduin managed to throw the dragon off of him, who landed in the water hard.

"Man overboard," Silverine said, and the dolphin from before popped up to the surface.

"That was interesting," it said.

"I hope he didn't disturb you Cetacean," Silverine said.

"Don't worry about it," the dolphin said. The dragon got out with a look of slight annoyance. Then looked my way and shot a wink. I turned back to Alecto and Iris slowly.

"That was interesting," I said, mimicking the dolphin's earlier comment.

"Be careful," Alecto said, "Brendan there might have a preference on you."

"Is he rough?" I asked.

"Always," said the crimson haired human, "but that's my brother for you. I'm Alex by the way." I nodded and we continued until about 8 PM. When Silverine made an announcement.

"All those who wish to make a dinner request please let it be known," he said, "also can the Hunted come up to the front table please?"

"The hunted dine with Silverine," Alex explained, "it's tradition." I nodded and walked over to the chief scout. He was garbed in full body armor. I also noticed who all the hunted were. Me, Orion, and Kodey were ones I knew. There was also a near shapeless doppleganger, who showed no emotion. A female elf named Deltora, and the three dragon brothers Sunrise, Hinori, and Runo. I took a seat next to Silverine, and looked at my plate, noticing it was empty.

"Hey Silverine," I asked politely, "how do we get food on our plates?" The lupogriff smiled.

"Just call out your order," he said, "the glowers can hear you if you're loud enough. Allow me to demonstrate." He stated his order, and his dinner instantaneously appeared on his plate. I was impressed with the glower's capabilities. I decided to call out my favorite dish.

"Barbecue Ribs, with a side of fries, oh and ketchup is good too." After a quick second a flash emanated from the plate, and the food I asked for was there. It was then when I noticed how hungry I was, and quickly got around to digging in. I knew not to eat too fast, so I didn't get a stomachache. But I didn't go too slowly to make sure I kept active, and so the food wouldn't get cold also. As I ate I noticed Gareth's soccer ball being kicked around again, and Alduin headed it to me.

"Ryan's!" He shouted and I quickly got to my feet. I stood back behind Kodey and knocked it high into the air with my head. Then jumped a good few feet, catching the ball with my feet and trapping it, setting it up for Kodey to kick back to the group downstairs. After a little while more, dinner finished and us hunted were told to wait out in the hall, to prepare for the hunt.

‘So just one hour left,' I said. I reached into my pocket and took out my staff, pressing a button to make it expand from it's dormant form. Orion commented.

"Impressive," he said, "I hope you know how to use it."

"I can use it almost as well as my sword," I said, "but I'm hoping it's enough."

"Why didn't you use your sword then?" he asked.

"I didn't want to kill anyone accidentally," I replied, and he nodded. The door opened after a little while later, and I heard Silverine's voice.

"Will the hunted step forward after I announce their name," he said and called out the first name, "Deltora." She approached the stage, emanating herself and her sword in cackling lightning magic.

"Hinori," the blue dragon created a path of ice and walked across the water. Cetacean wasn't too please with the sudden temperature change.

"Kodey," the reindeer decided to make a stride as he walked up to Silverine, nothing too fancy.

"Orion," The fox ran from beside me, lighting the ends of his swordstaff in an aura of flame, and displaying them with gymnastic flips toward the group.

"Polymorph," The shapeless doppleganger drifted in the air towards Silverine.

"Runo," The cocky red dragon came forward and drew a fire spell to destroy the path of ice Hinori created. I figured Cetacean was glad about that.

"Ryan Lewis," I took my que and casually walked forward. I had nothing to display other than trying to faux people into thinking I wasn't nervous. Plus I couldn't top what Orion did. I kneeled in front of everyone else.

"Sunrise Eclipse," The black dragon brother showed off his magic skills by teleporting right behind Silverine, who didn't even flinch an inch.

"These are your hunted," he said, "take now to choose your target, or targets." I checked my clock. Ten minutes until game time. From this point I felt a sudden rush of energy, although I don't know where. But I suddenly felt a little more confident. I knew that in ten minutes the game would start, Silverine gave me one last piece of advice.

"The hunted gets a nice little head start for two minutes," he said, "plan now how you will chart your path. Also, I suggest avoiding places like offices and air vents. Alduin might have performed well in air vents. But it doesn't work on most, especially on Draco or any magic user."

"I'll keep that noted, thanks," I said.

"Just realize this makes you one of my priority targets," he gave a loud laugh and I sighed.

"Somehow I'm not surprised," I looked around and noticed several dozen others were looking at me, or more staring at me, in a concentrated way. As the time grew closer, Iris made to maneuver the elevator for us. I counted the time from my head, checking my watch. I also put my staff handle into the band so I can reach it easier.

'10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,' I thought and Silverine shouted.

"Begin!" I took off, piling into the elevator before everyone else, and Iris operated the elevator, bringing us up.

"Good luck Ryan," she said, "you're going to need it."