FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

FIRST DAY ON THE JOB

I groaned as the pain on my head slowly subsides. I opened my eyes and found myself in a bedroom. I sat up and scanned the area. The walls of the room are completely white with a carpeted floor below it. The west wall has two doors, one leading towards the hallway and the other towards the bathroom. On the south wall, which was currently in front of me, hangs a 48" flat screen TV with a DVD set on the rack beneath it. The east wall is replaced by the same windows on the living room, giving a beautiful view of the garden outside. There is also a large white sofa, enough for three, in the center of the room, accompanied by two easy chairs of the same design.

"Ah, you're awake."

I turned my head to my left to see John sitting on a chair similar to the ones I saw.

"Are you okay?" he asked. His green eyes show concern as he stares towards my direction.

"My head feels like it was hit by a truck," I chuckled softly.

"What happened? Why did you suddenly pass out?"

"I dunno," I replied. "When I took a look on your eyes, I felt very nostalgic. Then, I began to saw images of an event."

"Event?"

"I think it was Gerald's memories that came to me."

"Really? What was it like?"

I began to retell the images that I saw when I passed out, from walking on the hillside, to the part where the fox was hit on the head with the flying object. John listened closely to every detail that I gave him as he rubbed his chin.

"Well," he said, "that definitely happened in the past. I think it really is your memory."

"So... I'm really Gerald?"

"Very likely," he smiled. "You just got a portion of Gerald's memory, the part where we never spoke of in front of Albert's father."

"Oh yeah. Who are Albert and Kendric? And I think I remember Al mentioning something about a Winter sword technique."

"For starters, Albert Winter is the prince of a kingdom in Rivergale, a neutral territory located smack down in the middle of the two opposing legions. Usually those people would come and tried to kidnap him as ransom so the king would have to join their team."

"Did that ever happen?"

"Never in a million years!" John smiled. "His majesty always took extra precautions whenever events happened. He also had guards patrolling to take care of the city and Al."

"Okay, what about Kendric?"

"Kendric is one of the city's best scholars. His mother is an alchemist, so he didn't learn magic. He likes to go to the city library and studies every kinds of knowledge he could find."

"In the image, you asked him to tell you their weaknesses. Does that mean..."

"Yes, he studies the anatomies of all species. He could tell us the weak spots of every creature in the world. He also has some talent on finding their elemental weakness."

"How? And who could use the attack magic?"

"We really don't know. And in our group, none of us can use it. You, Al, and Kendric can't use any magic. Gabriella specializes on healing since her mother is a healer. I specialize on summoning."

"Wait! Does that mean..."

"Yes," Ter said as he entered the room. "I'm a summon guardian."

I continue to stare at the two of them for a while, trying to say something as these new things enter my memory bank.

"Uh..."

"If you feel uncomfortable, we can talk about it next time," John stopped me. "Now come on. Everyone is worried about you."

I nodded and started o follow him outside. In the hall, he stopped mid way towards the stairs.

"Gerald," he called me. "Perhaps we should keep that last conversation until the time is right, okay?"

"No prob," I smiled back. We slowly descend the white stairs and head towards the east wing towards the living room. As we entered the room, everyone else stood up and walked over towards me.

"Are you okay?" Mei asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I smiled at her. "I just need a little rest, that's all."

She quickly pulled me into a tight hug, which caught me off guard.

"I was so worried about you," she whispered in my ear. I smiled softly and rubbed her back.

"Sorry..." I whispered back. We embraced each other for a while until I noticed Nick was staring on my face for a while.

"What?" I asked as we broke the hug.

"Well your eye doesn't seem to change," he answered. Tony and Mei quickly smacked his arms, a little angry about the comment.

"What?" he asked the two.

"Show a little concern," Tony glared.

"Sorry," Nick apologized to me.

"It's okay," I smiled back. I noticed that the room was missing something. I did a head count and noticed Chris is not around. "By the way, where's Chris?"

"I sent him off on a mission a moment ago," John answered. "There was a fiend appearing on the docks that needs to be taken care of."

"I see..." I mumbled. Then I suddenly remembered about my job. "How long was I out?"

"Two and a half hours," Tony told me as he looked on his watch. "It's three thirty now."

"Are you going somewhere?" Ter asked.

"Yeah. I got work later at six," I answered.

"Okay then," he said. We went outside the living room and towards the foyer. We stepped outside the front doors and said our goodbyes.

"If you need anything, you can give us a call," John said as he handed each of us his business card. We left the estate and head home. As we arrived at our home, we lethergically entered the three storied building. We went our seperate ways towards our rooms. I stepped inside my shower and took a nice bath under the steaming water. As I lather myself with soap, I began to think about the images in my head. Something in the memory has been bothering me.

'If I saw it correctly, the people in my vision are anthros,' I thought to myself. 'But we're humans now.'

I began to think for an explanation that would make sense. After a while, I couldn't find one. I gave up for now and stepped out of the shower. I dried myself and wore my cook uniform. It's a white long sleeved shirt with white buttons down on the center, accompanied by a black trouser and shoes. I wore the name pin on my shirt and faced myself on the mirror, making sure it was completly straight for my job. Satisfied, I walked out of my room and head downstairs where Alex was waiting to see me in my new uniform.

"Are you ready to cook them the meal of their lives?" he asked me with a smile.

"I can't wait till I get my hands on those cooking tools," I said enthusiastically.

"I can't wait to see the look on your customers' faces," he replied. I said my goodbye and started to jog my way to the famous restaurant. In Chez le Blanc, I began to cook meal after meal, serving my customers with the best meals I can cook, from appetizers to dessert.

"Come on, people!" Gaston, the head chef and manager of the restaurant, yelled through the small window. "We still have five more tables to serve!" Everyone in the kitchen gave an energetic yell to heighten their spirits. I, on the other hand, didn't because I was new. Instead, I jumped a little because I was really surprised. We instantly went back to work and give our best for the night. As the last couple finishes their meals, we started to close up. As I was about to leave the kitchen, Gaston patted my back.

"Michael!" he smiled under his black french mustache. "Your cooking skill is truly cest mandifique! I never thought you could cook all those hard leveled meals perfectly!"

I began to blush as he continues to praise my cooking skills.

"When did you learn how to cook like that?"

"Well, let's just say I had a lot of practice," I answered as I averted my eyes, avoiding eye contact that could make me blush even harder. Gaston wasn't fully convinced of my reason, but he let it slide afterwards. We parted our way a few momwnt later. The time now was 8:48. All of the buildings have closed down for the night. The only lights remainig are the streetlights and the moon. I smiled as I walked slowly down the dark street. I took out the small card out of my pocket and observed the fox once more. Under closer inspections, the fox in the card really look like an adult version of Gerald the fox in my memory.

'Maybe he's right. Maybe I am Gerald,' I smiled softly. As I continue to stare at the magical object, I felt someone was watching me. I looked to my right and saw someone in a black cloak standing in the dark alley. He is most likely a man with the amunt of light given around us, but I really couldn't tell his features. We stare at each other for a while before I saw him walking away into the darkness. I wanted to go home, but I was a little worried since there are fiends lurking in the docks and the area is very close to it. I began to follow him and ended up near an abandoned warehouse with the windows all boarded up and the walls are all cracked. As I was about to yell, he began to draw something on the wall of the warehouse. Deciding it will be a very bad idea to interrupt him now, I stayed behind and watched. After he finished, the drawing appeared to be a circle. Because I'm still not familiar with it, I dunno what type of circle it is. He clasped his hands together and thrusted them to the center of the glyph. In an instant, lightning and sparks flew everywhere and a door appeared on the circle.

'No way! A mage!?' I yelled on top of my head. As my mouth continues to gape, he slowly entered the broken building. My instinct said it was a bad idea to follow him, but my curiosity got the better of me. I silently transformed myself into my fox form and stealthily followed him. We continue to walk until we reached the center of the warehouse. The area is totally open with very few shelves and wooden crates placed here and there. I hid behind a crate and peered on his every movement. He was drawing another glyph on the center of the room.

'What are you doing now...' I said in my head as I continue to stalk on him. As he finished, he stood up and clasped his hand once more. As he thrusted his hands towards the ground, a loud ringtone of a cellphone interrupted him. My cellphone. I jumped lightly and quickly turned it off without looking on the screen. As I peered back, I noticed he stopped midway of the process. He slowly got up from his knees and turned his cloaked head towards my direction. His blue eyes glowed in the darkness.

'Oh man! Oh man!' I panicked, knowing how totally busted I was.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" the hooded person yelled.