FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

So, this chapter's a tad longer, 1k words or so more.

I really wanted to slam in the development as much as possible and make it not seemed forced.

Haven't done any other works on this website before but if you read "Nostalgia's Chrome 45" you'll kind of see what I'm about in terms of writing.

Sneaky promo *cough cough*

Anyways this chapter focuses heavily on the characters themselves. I think if you do action and have little development there isn't much substance there.

As a result a good read, imo, is less fast paced and more slow and steady, with that action sprinkled on top.

Sorry for the odd spacing between everything, some of this was typed on Google Docs on my phone, some in MS word, and then there's no centering command here so you just have to hope nothing screws up too bad D:

Still really excited about this series and while I have no chapter endgoal in mind I want to keep going until I myself am satisfied.

Spontaneous > Planned :)

///

CHAPTER 4-** LESSON IN PAIN**

Watching the cat's behavior curiously, he turned around and started firing at nothing.

Doing a quick check on her map, there were two heat sigs, and one of them ran around the corner into his fire.

It took her a moment to process.

Spinning around in her control chair, Riley knew exactly what just happened and more.

The bluejay's black beak tapped together just slightly as her teeth grinded. She abandoned the squad, they'd get screwed over by the guys left in the hostage room one way or another.

The cat did ok from what she'd heard about him. No training by GYFT, straight to GSS.

Which confirmed her suspicions, of course.

She did a quick database search on the dedicated laptop, for Gibraltar, white domestic cats...

And Janus disease.

As it processed results she bit her nails, taking a glance over at the setup now across the room, Tai had just been shot in the ribs.

Glaring intensely and looking back at the laptop's progress bar, she knew this was a fatal shot.

Or at least, if he was what she thought he was...

Yes, he bled out just as Reyna shot the last guy, and took a bullet herself.

From their progress she was mildly surprised. Hellsberg was the easiest simulation and she'd removed several of the Jinn units from the second floor and all of them off the roof, even dropped them right into the courtyard at Marshall's request.

They'd grazed victory.

Database loaded and she scrolled until she found an article containing all three search terms. Using her administrative password, Riley opened up the dossier.

No picture.

No name.

1. A wince.

On his last legs, then. Oh, well...

All of them were. GRA couldn't recruit some kids barely old enough to hold a gun.

Unless it was one of their under the table mercenary units in Russia or South America, that is..

No description, bio, just Gibraltar, Janus, Male.

Cat.

Unless there was some other guy with Janus who was also from Gibraltar, she'd gotten the one on her squad.

Score, Riley.

A knock on the door, and Riley opened it, closing her laptop.

A guard elbowed past her and secured the room, then went back and closed the door behind her.

"I'm afraid there's been a security breach, ma'am. I'm ordered to stay here with you."

A tad offended at his pushy attitude, she looked at his ID. It checked out ok, but she could see nothing under his helmet and heavily tinted visor.

GRA badge would do it for her, one way or another.

"Where is this breach, if I may?"

"Command located it at the compound across the street. We haven't even seen the attacker."

"Then how do we know it's a breach?"

The lights in the room were all out, except the blue tints of screens. No windows on the door, either.

"I don't know what base you're from, kid, but here in Bangkok we get these a lot..."

Riley grimaced, going back and staying calm, sitting back in her computer chair, rewinding the footage and looking for the instance of Tai's supposed Janus.

Cutting it, she flagged it for what it was and sent it to her superiors. Not that they didn't already know, but Opera, and especially Harper, wanted tabs on this squadron on all missions.

Riley had originally believed it was because of the jackal she suspected to be Ramses Trojan's niece, but now the truth...

She started uploading the file to her two most important contacts, watching it as it looped.

Something dropped behind her, a metallic sound as it hit the carpet.

A gun dropping, more likely.

Turning around there was a garrote around the soldier's throat and he was sinking to the ground, starting to bleed.

Drawing her pistol, whoever it was emerged out from behind the soldier, dodged two shots, and jumped up in the air.

Not able to see hardly anything of the attacker, Riley was very surprised when a full force kick connected with her face.

Staggering back into the console, a forearm connected with her throat, the other pinning down her gun arm.

Riley stared into the eyes... of a_kabuki mask_.

It was of a grinning cat, eyes shaded and tinted red, teeth razor.

Her assailant tilted her head slightly. Apart from the mask she was hooded and gloved, and had a long coat. No fur showing, not even her tail wasn't covered by a leather sleeve.

Riley could assume it was female from the small stature but the strength clearly didn't match...

The masked attacker took sudden interest on what was happening onscreen.

"Well, well. Got a Janus on your hands, GRA?"

It was a female from the voice, for sure.

"What do you want?" Riley choked out, forearm still against her throat.

The haunting death mask returned, head cocking slowly, and whether or not it was meant to intimidate, it did.

"Just five seconds of footage. You can do that for me, can't you?"

Before Riley could say anything else the sudden pressure on her throat was released.

Taking the moment Riley lunged forward and punched the attacker in the face-

Riley's blue feathered fist sailed over her shoulder and the attacker ducked behind, then dragged Riley after her.

Slamming her back into the console, this time Riley's own gun was on the back of her head, both arms pinned behind her back by the attacker's knee, neck twisted to the side.

"More comfortable now?"

This was exactly what she wanted, Riley realized.

The girl's other hand was at the keyboard working furiously to redirect the files.

"Gotta keep tabs on these Janus kids, it gets tedious..." Nothing the attacker had said had been anything but casual...

Riley knew there wasn't many punches she could pull without getting a new hole in her head so she stayed put.

The gun slipped as the masked attacker leaned towards the keyboard.

Riley only slightly moved but was slammed back down, barrel on her head, a click reminding her of her place.

"Please make it easy today. Birds are always too messy..."

"You're from Jinn?"

"Only the best."

Riley only now saw the symbol on the side of her coat, the silver eye.

"My neck hurts..."

"Only be a moment."

Riley couldn't for the life of her figure out an escape or any way to negotiate.... Back and forth, the banter went.

"Not going to kill you unless you make this hard, kid."

"...Why do you do what you do?"

"Elaborate?"

"Why do you kill? Why are you Jinn?"

A sick laugh, mixed emotions, sarcastic but genuine at the same time.

"You think you know everything, GRA. Sitting here watching the squaddies with your database access unrestricted... Heh. Ever been to Vietnam? China? Japan? You know what's happening there?"

"Grew up between Cali and Canada myself but last I checked anarchy and ruins."

"Revo, kid. No more GRA breathing down your neck, drafting, taking kids to war, bringing the war to kids, shooting up people for being different, telling you to do things they wouldn't for the sake of the people on the top rung..."

The email was redirected to at least 200 spam accounts that probably saved, sent, cleaned up their trails, and deleted themselves before Riley could blink.

"Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

She let off pressure and backed away, Riley getting up and slowly turning around, hands in the air as the gun was on her.

Another slow cock of the head and Riley got another look at the girl, tail moving hypnotically behind her.

"Thanks for being cool about it, GRA."

Contemplation for a moment. Another odd laugh.

"Tell DeSanta Lynx said hello."

She tossed the gun back to Riley, catching her heavily off guard, and it fell to the carpet.

Swiping it up, Riley leveled and capped... the air.

She was gone, wherever she came from, laugh still echoing for a moment, haunting her.

Breathing heavily, backing up to the wall and sinking to the ground, gun still aimed at nothing, the dark red stuff of life ebbed from her beak, that kick doing a number on her.

Radioing in, she took a deep breath. "Riley. Took some hits but the attacker's gone."

"And she got what she wanted, too."

///

At first I could hear but not see.

Wincing trying to regain my vision, I heard shoes on tile and mutters.

They slowly became clearer, vision coming back and color coming back to the world.

"...I know. I've done this before... Really. I was wondering why she went quiet... No, I didn't hear anything but some muffled noises. Those headsets aren't too sensitive."

Marshall finally noticed I was up, and looking around I was in the medbay from earlier.

The whole room was bleach white and hurt my eyes for a moment.

Marshall shined a light in my eyes, of course.

"Well, you aren't dead."

I stared up at him, the inspections at Gibraltar for disease said to not look at the light.

"I... I got that pain where I got shot again."

"We've never had that happen to my knowledge. This is very interesting."

I sat up, feeling nauseous but I felt like the pain would be lesser if I didn't move around.

There were no windows in the medbay, just backdoor.

I hadn't looked around outside yet, so I made a point to.

Marshall had abandoned my wellbeing seemingly and was now typing something up.

"You can leave, now, Tai."

"I don't have to take anything?"

"Fainting, at least with Janus, is on and off. Nothing you can do to control it, nothing you can do to treat it. Unless you're dizzy or momentarily blind or deaf."

"None of those, but...Marshall?"

"Cadet?"

"What if I pass out on mission?"

I knew what would happen, obviously, and scolded myself for sounding like some little kid.

"You'll be taken to a safe place. As any wounded soldier."

Looking at the digital on a counter, it was 10:40. Almost two hours spent sleeping, since the simulation carried us through 9.

Walking outside, a shiver ran down my spine, partly from the cold, and from the new thought of being more...

Or less than normal.

I thought about that glass cannon expression. It explained itself but I'd never heard anyone use it before.

I didn't feel anything in my side anymore. I...

I felt numb all over.

Looking back into the medbay, I ran into someone in front.

Alvin caught me for the second time that day.

"You good, little guy?"

"Yeah... I dunno what happened."

"I just heard this loud smack on the ground and I saw you lying there.... Thought you were dead," he gave a nervous laugh.

Sky was overcast today.

"Anyways, Reyna wanted me to check on you. She wanted to see you downstairs."

"What does she want?"

"Dunno. She's in the sparring room, though."

"Gym?"

"Nah, there's this whole separate one. Apparently that 'ring' was for doing jumping jacks or something. It's pretty sick, you should check it out."

Unfamiliar with the adjective 'sick' being used in that way, I turned around and walked downstairs.

I'd never been down these ones, they weren't polished or wood, they were black painted metal kind of set in, if that makes any sense.

Descending down them, there was a wide open space that had a shooting range on one end and punching bags in the other, overhead lights out in those parts of the room.

Reyna was sitting down in the center, crosslegged, making no noise.

Her back was to me.

Walking up behind her awkwardly, conflicted as to not disturb her but make my presence known, she exhaled deeply.

"Tai."

"Did you want me?"

"Yes. There are things we need to discuss."

Her tone wasn't hostile but definitely intense. Considering I'd only known her for an hour or two (taking out my time asleep) it was a very impressive one.

I wasn't exactly scared of Reyna, but still shellshocked by the realism and her forcible conformance of it...

Looking at Rochelle, Jake, and Riddick did me no justice to their bodies still in my head.

Standing back up, she turned around.

"You've no training, whatsoever, apart from the academy you came from, correct?"

"Well, yeah..."

"This is highly confusing to me, because the GSS only takes in those who have isolated themselves in their training or in the field. Of course, training meaning with a formal GRA branch."

I didn't want to say I didn't belong as to be a pessimist, but I certainly felt that overbearing lost feeling.

"And I have no desire to fight alongside one that could be a liability."

There was no sound besides us talking in the large room but if it could have got quieter it would have.

What was this?

She didn't have the authority to remove and replace me, did she?

Was she going to-

"So I have decided that I will give you training, as much as possible in the few weeks we may have before deployment."

Nothing had been relieving today except that, and I was grateful.

"T-thanks..." I winced at my own stutter, and almost did again when she took notice of this.

I wondered what I looked like to everyone else?

"My first ever lesson with Trojan was in pain."

I looked at her curiously. "Pain?"

"Yes. Endurance, I believe, is at the pinnacle of human perfection. And though we may never reach it, encompassing that area is key."

For a moment I thought I still saw the bullet wound in the back of her arm, but it was just a spot on her shoulder.

Remembering, I had no clue was there until she nonchalantly mentioned it.

"My uncle commissioned me a very cruel trainer, who first I hated, but grew to respect. Nothing more."

Facing me finally, fists clenched.

"Keep in mind I was ten years old when I was first trained, no better than you. Defend yourself."

Defend-

I wasn't able to raise my hands fast enough before a hook connected with my face, sending me sprawling to the side, where a kick was waiting.

I made an attempt to duck under whatever she was doing next but knee connecting with my chest, she drove me to the ground just like that.

Knee planted on my chest, hands locked on my wrists, I couldn't move even if I tried.

"Try not to stagger. While I didn't expect you to adapt so early, sometimes it's best to block than put yourself in a lower position. Try again."

"again...?" I breathed more than spoke, shakily getting back up after I was unpinned.

"Pain, Tai. Pain."

Raising my fists again, before it started this time, she came at me again.

Remembering what she said about ducking, this time she didn't kick.

She was only punching.

I had to duck here, but not following her advice seemed like about the worst thing I could do...

No, I did anyways.

Two punches sailed overhead before a firm hand grabbed the back of my collar.

Expecting another knee, my hands moved to the blocking position but as a black streak went straight over my huddled form, I felt myself being dragged backwards until I fell...

Sliding backwards on the ground, Reyna pounced again and I was down.

"Perhaps you should counterattack when you duck, if that is your choice."

Remembering Omar at the station, I'd been in few fights in my life but most of them ended with a bloody nose and an even more bruised reputation.

Reyna walked back to her original position, and I hadn't noticed her long braids were tied back.

Getting back up, now with bruises on my face, arms, and most likely my body too, I'd been through this thing two times.

"Don't be afraid to fight back."

It was less about hitting a girl and more about hitting Reyna.

Might sound bad but coming from Gibraltar, back there you weren't guy or girl, just obstacle.

"Have to admit I'm a bit disappointed, Tai. I expected better from someone out of a hellhole like Gibraltar."

Taking the abhorment and the abrasion alike, I clenched my fists and teeth.

First punch connected clean with my skull and sent me to the ground.

Before she returned to the original position I came at her this time.

Ducking under and sweeping me, I did a full roll before I came to a stop.

Laying there for a moment before I got up, the very fibers of my body were aching miserably.

She had her arms behind her back, at ease, peering down at me like a dead frog...

Walking towards her this time, I went at her.

Not blocking, she simply moved out of my way, and when I started throwing hooks and kicks she still managed to lean back past everything.

Getting frustrated, the back of my head didn't register she was there anymore.

Out of pure rage I slammed myself into her, making contact for the first.

Calmly using my own momentum to roll the two of us backward, we ended up in the same spot.

She looked more bored than anything, staring down at me, knee driven into my chest.

The iron around my wrists could have locked me in forever, nothing I could do about it.

I caught a glimpse of what Reyna was all about for the first time, behind the deep green eyes.

"I could have easily killed you all three of those times. If I spar with you I will not use my full skill set, nor have I used it here."

Finally getting up off of me, she brushed a stray braid out of her face.

"Remember this, cat. Even I can hardly stand toe-to-toe with a Jinn specialist. Lesson over."

The odd way of speaking along with the unpunished arrogance left me with a helpless colour, as well as an aching body.

Reyna walking back upstairs, the enigma left me on the floor, heavy breathing the only sound though the scuffling of my sneakers and the swishing of her foot wraps echoed in my mind still.

I let out an almost guttural sigh. I'd certainly got my lesson in pain.

Wondering just what Reyna hoped to turn me into, I walked back upstairs.

///

"...And the freak told Squad Support Hayes to tell me hello...."

Marshall didn't grimace or give any indication of weakness. Though meager changes in facial expression were his main way of expressing himself, the whole purpose of wearing shades was to hide that.

Sometimes it felt dumb and cliché to have them on indoors, but Marshall never got any quips.

He didn't take them.

"Lynx, huh. Kabuki mask. I remember, I think I saw her in Taiwan when me and you were there."

"Saw her?"

"When we had that escort but your guard was shot."

"Ugh, I remember that one a little too well..."

Harper massaged his temples, it had been a long and strenuous day.

"She stole the footage of the Janus kid as well."

"Tai."

"Whoever. She just cut the five seconds out, left us with the recording and a gap."

"Smart. Less uploading time."

Marshall had gone hand to hand with Jinn specialists before, being younger.

Every time there'd been some ex machina around the corner to save him.

In his own words, he shouldn't be alive.

"I would have put in a request to give you a different squadron if you"-

"No."

Harper was taken aback for a moment. "This squadron is effectively my- and your- nightmare, H-... Marshall. Just a year ago we led the fight in keeping kids out of our war."

Gritting his teeth, just the first letter's sound of his real name set him off.

"And we lost. So be it."

"Don't give in to Opera."

"She's your boss and mine."

Harper sighed. "Someone like her doesn't need to be in charge of something like this."

"She's certainly ruthless enough."

Looking at his watch, the Shiba turned back to the wolf. "Twelve noon there, but here it's twelve night... Gotta head home, then."

"I'll keep you updated on Tai's progress."

"Right." Marshall could tell Harper wanted to give an unprofessional 'see ya'- anything like that- but the wolf's uncertain nature didn't cross that line anymore.

Horribly agonizing, Marshall thought, to watch yourself throw away your friends. He'd known James Harper since they'd just joined up.

Harper was clearly trying to shift the conversation with everything he said but Marshall would have none of it.

Looking in the mirror on the far wall, Marshall remembered an enthusiastic young cadet who wanted to take the fight to Jinn.

He remembered a time before loss.

///

It was later in the day now, and I didn't want to do much moving on account of my constant aching.

Laying on my bed, I had a book propped up against my knees.

Rare for me, books were always boring until you got into them.

This one was in Euro Common as well so it had taken me a bit to get through the weird jumbles of words, and the sun was low on the horizon.

I never much cared for TV either but I'd flicked the news on and off.

All the same. Riot in east Asia.

Jinn and GRA clash in China.

Twelve killed in GRA raid in Vietnam...

A knock on my door, or rather the doorframe.

"Everyone's outside cooking hotdogs if you want to come." Riddick said, standing in the doorway.

I had no idea what a hotdog was.

Instead my scattered mind wandered to Riddick. He was clearly Australian, despite the clear fade of accent that showed you'd spent a lot of time in foreign lands.

Where he was from they had curfew and attacks in the North and war overhead.

Huge naval battles. The Jinn supporting governments just up the globe were pushing in.

I wondered how it felt to be halfway across the world from your family when they were at war.

"You good, Tai?"

"Yeah... I'll be out in a bit, I guess."

He gave a nod, still looking at me funny from the time I'd spent staring. It was an odd habit of mine, going off into a tangent in my own head.

Losing touch for a bit. But then again, I'd passed out and gotten beat up in the same day, as well as entered a whole new hemisphere.

With a sigh, I put down my book. Never would know if the guy got the girl.

Walking over to my dresser and putting on a jacket, zipping it up as far as it would go, I walked down the hallway.

I didn't know what happened to my clothes from before, my undershirt probably fell apart in the wash or something.

Walking down the catwalk stairs and out the door, I realized I hadn't gotten a good look outside yet.

The front lawn was snowed over and in a clearing of sorts, a driveway breaking through into the woods.

Coming around the house to my left, my hand traced down the embankment as I walked down a small hill.

I wondered if anyone would ask about my bruises. Or if Reyna expected me to do this again tomorrow...

It had been a short training session, she knew I couldn't take much, but it felt like forever.

Looking up on the rocks, the trees blocked out the day and that dark blue tone of imminent night enveloped the sky, no komorebi.

Massaging one of the bruises in my arm, I saw the group at the back of the house, fire crackling.

I didn't get it. If you were cold why sit outside and build a fire when you could just walk inside?

My mind wasn't where my body was, and they noticed me.

"Mr. Wallhacks."

"He doesn't know what that means, Rochelle."

I was getting kind of fed up with not only the others but myself. Unless you really have ever been an outcast...

It's not a good feeling.

I felt like I needed a dictionary of 'normal' terms.

They'd pulled out fold up chairs and I sat down between Riddick and Jake.

Reyna was directly across from me and I didn't make eye contact.

It wasn't that I was scared of her, just...

I dunno. I felt like there was something between us now.

Not like I'd known her a day but whatever.

Jake handed me a hotdog and explained how to cook it. I remarked I'd seen a few hobos do this before and everyone either laughed or got quiet.

Today's events had been discarded but not forgotten. Reyna and Jake didn't speak directly and Riddick seemed glad to have me between him and Jake.

"So," Jake said, "Marshall told me he's out on business for the rest of this week, and I decided we'd run some more simulations."

Everyone looked at me, remembering the passing out just after the last one.

"You can sit this one out if you want to, Tai."

"No, I'm fine."

Uncertainty passed between the group. I was pretty sure taking a shot was what triggered the attack and while that wasn't something I couldn't prevent, it was something I could null.

At least, more than last time. A grisly mindset to have, but...

"Tai is a valuable member of our team," Reyna, to my surprise, spoke, "and he was the last of us standing. He was very close to the hostage as well."

"Settled then, wallhacks stays." I gave a strange look at the border collie. She looked tired but it was just her eyes and smile, just as this morning.

Finishing the food relatively quickly, we talked about home, simulations, GRA, all that brought us together and set us apart.

Wasn't much input I had in anything, and neither from the Hyena on my left. Like me he was a bit of an introvert but no one knew much why.

Unlike me, he seemed to take no interest in anything and instead stare at the fire, hands clasped beneath his chin.

He caught me staring again and I reminded myself not to do that anymore.

///

"Checked out the files you sent me. Good work, Lynx."

He got out the 'work' just as I walked in the door, a small buzz in his earpiece letting him know I was coming.

Just for fun I'd tried getting past the motion sensors and been successful only a handful of times.

Joining Gynezis at his setup, monitors all across the room, I looked over his shoulder as he replayed the footage.

We weren't too far from Bangkok but I had to get back into Myanmar from there and it had taken me a day.

Knowing the panther in the control chair he'd probably been watching it loop nonstop since I sent him.

Other screen right next to him showed some kid walking through a hall before it got ripped apart by an explosion. No clue what that was but I'd ask later.

"I wanted you to get it out stealthily, though."

"Just a soldier and a squad support chick. Nothing much." Gynezis didn't hardly ever give me advice anymore, just get things done no matter what.

"I would have preferred you kill the bluejay though."

"Blue-... I thought you said the camera in my mask was out."

Gynezis sighed and propelled himself backwards childishly with the computer chair.

"Just wanted to see the files just in case you weren't able to send them."

"This mask is a part of my fucking face. You can't just vio"-

"Yeah, yeah. Just did it this once."

I had no use for scowls or expressions under the mask, so I walked away silently.

"Anything_else_ before I head back to Shanghai?"

Gynezis took a moment on something. Despite the panther's younger look he was late thirties, the odd cybernetics and pills that not only gave him practically infinite reserves of strength and energy altering his appearance too.

Leaning back in his chair again, arms folded like he wasn't about to place a hit, he grinned behind his block-frame glasses.

"There's a certain James Harper that I want dead in a week."

I didn't respond.

Silently staring, his shoulders sagged.

"Tell you what, that's a little too short. Take all the time you need. Your discretion. Get the Gibraltar kid like I told you, but if it's convenient you have your orders..."

"Thanks for being reasonable."

"Right-o."

I stopped before walking out the door, he didn't need to warn me.

I could feel the presence through the vibrations in the floor.

Darting up the wall and into hole in the roof tiles that Gynezis never wanted replaced for a reason only we knew, I stared back down as one of his superiors walked in.

Once more I was reminded that he wasn't the head of Jinn.

Yet.

Same lecture, same Janus this, Janus that. Spies in GRA. An odd occurrence at Bangkok....

A grin formed. Pulling the wool over the most powerful group in the world was easier than I'd originally thought.

I frowned once more as my gaze settled on the panther.

I still couldn't make myself known to greater Jinn.

///

And our main villain is now revealed!

As a character Gynezis is supposed to make you question if he really is such a fucked up guy, then do something messed up to remind you lol. But that comes later.

Probably going to upload this Sunday as to give myself more time to work on these. Trying for two day intervals between uploads.

I realized I put the tag "bluejay" in last chapter and never explained who Riley was behind the headset so I had to change up the first part to include her.

Lynx is the only other character besides Tai that speaks first person and it's going to stay that way for a time.

She's going to slowly become the secondary character.

She's meant to be a twisted Reyna, kind of doing things just to fuck with people and just because she knows she can get away with it.

The whole tossing the gun back to the person thing was something I really liked about her when I was originally writing this a year or so ago so I kept it in.

Feedback, leave it in the comments! Love to hear!

BTW PROMOTE YOUR NON/LIGHT-YIFF STORIES DOWN THERE AS WELL. Would love to read whatever you have to offer because I've been looking for good reads the past few days and found just a few diamonds in the rough.

Idk, Djynnerate