FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Well, here it is after a week haha. Interesting chapter, not any action though :3 As usual tell me if there are any errors, and feel free to comment!

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Vadim slowly opened his eyes and looked around; he wasn't in his room. He was in what looked like a hotel room, with two beds, a TV and a bathroom. The fox was alone in the bed, but looked in the bed next to him to see a red fox with his back turned towards Vadim. Things slowly started to come back to him; he was with Sig last night, and they were overlooking a park. He was also helping this raccoon guy, what was his name? Phil, that's right. That was his name. And this fox next to him was really an arctic fox named Pavel. Vadim started to wonder if he got set up by Phil, but thought better of it seeing as his mate was right next to him. Speaking of mates... Vadim started wondering where Sig was.

The fox decided to get up and look around. An alarm clock read 10:10 AM. He noticed a note on the bathroom counter when he went to take a piss, and he read it. It said that everything was ok, and he wasn't in trouble, and when he woke up he would have to wake his friend and go downstairs to the breakfast area. So Vadim quickly took a piss and then woke up Pavel. They were both in their boxers, and looked around awkwardly.

"You've got a nice package there, Vaddy." Pavel said with a cute smile.

"Uh, thanks? Listen, we need to get dressed and head down to the dining area. I'm not sure what's going on but I would like to find out."

"Okies."

The two foxes found some sweatpants and two shirts, which they quickly put on. They then proceeded to leave the room, and followed the signs to an elevator. When they got in though, the numbers went from the highest floor up to the lowest floor, which Vadim found quite weird. And when the elevator started to move, they went up instead of down. The elevator quickly reached from floor 5 to the ground floor, and the doors opened revealing a massive lobby. Everything was lit up quite well due to the huge chandelier that hung in the center. There were a lot furs walking around, and Vadim instantly saw a couple of arctic foxes in the crowd. He got excited, then grabbed Pavel's paw and followed the signs to the dining area.

They found it quickly and walked in to the room that had a normal sized ceiling and a bit lower light, filled with quite a few furs and tables all around. Vadim spotted a pure white arctic fox in the corner who was motioning them to go over there. He was in a black pin-striped suit, and sat with his legs crossed over each other.

"Hello, you two. My name is Ivan Artyk, and I am sure you have read my note. Now first off, tell me your names. We didn't find any identification on you two last night." Vadim was feeling a bit unsure by this, but decided to go along with the fox that was in his thirties.

"Well, Mr. Artyk, my name is Vadim Sosnovka, and this his is my friend Pavel." Vadim and Ivan shook paws.

"It's always nice to meet another arctic fox, Vadim. Oh, and if you were wondering about your friends, they were taken to a different area because they are not arctic foxes. So they have to be checked to make sure they are not part of the police force. They should be here in a bit, but first let me take you for a tour around the area and explain everything."

Vadim gave the pure white fox an awkward stare. "How do you know we were arctic foxes?"

The older fox chuckled at this. "Because it takes one to know one, kid."

The three foxes left the dining area and started walking through the lobby. Vadim now noticed that the outside was very dim.

"You may be surprised at what you're about to see." Ivan said as they walked through the automatic doors of the lobby. "Behold, the underside of Lumen City."

What the foxes saw next was nothing short of amazing. They were in a massive rock dome that extended for miles, and there were several large shafts of light poking through in places. All of the walls and ceilings had streaks of a green glow that got brighter as they got close to a light shaft. Coming from the shaft directly in front of them was a waterfall from the ground level above. It pooled up in to a small lake below the walls of the walkway they were on. All around the lake were lights from shops and such, and off in the distance Vadim could see what looked like houses. All of the architecture looked very old, everything being made of stone and rock. Despite being underground, the temperature was quite mild.

After a few minutes of shock and awe, Vadim was finally ready to talk. "What is this place? How does it work? Why didn't I know about this?"

Ivan chuckled and smiled. "This place has been here almost as long as the city has. It was built in the late 1500's when King Stansy's tyranny forced a lot of furs out of the city. Of course, this was before they had the massive walls, so most fled. But a secret brotherhood knew of these caverns below, and formed the city to help out those above. Now, if you did well in Lumen history, you will know that King Stansy was overthrown by the people, so since then most went back to the surface. But The Brotherhood stayed down here protecting this place for any furs in need.

"Well, when Hornblad betrayed us foxes, a few knew to come down here through their ancestry. Since then furs of many different species came down here to seek refuge in case anything happened above. Plus we have no regulations on what's sold down here, and we get regular shipments from outside of the city through our passages that lead out. This cavern is about 400 feet below the surface, and it is actually right below the park we found you guys near. The light shafts, passages, and this whole cavern itself are believed to have been made by magma pools from the long extinct Krowa volcano, which is about ten miles outside of the city.

"Now, as for last night... We knew what you guys were up to and we are actually quite happy there is some form of resistance above. But we want to help, and the only way we could get you down here before doing something to hurt yourselves... The other night when that 'coon saved you was a close one by the way... Was to get you unconscious and bring you down, then do a background check. I'm really sorry if we caused any inconvenience to you guys. Any questions?"

Pavel had one lingering question on his mind. "So, I'm guessing one of these passages leads to The Lumen School for Girls and Boys, right? Why is that passage blocked off?"

"That will have to be a question to ask The Brotherhood. We have scheduled an interview with a member for later today. Keep in mind though, The Brotherhood's main purpose is to protect this place, so don't ask many questions. Because they will not answer them."

The two foxes nodded. "What is all of that green glow stuff of the walls?" Vadim asked.

"That has always been here. We believe its part of the rock. It is just a simple glow compound. But it glows bright in the days and almost looks like the Milky Way at night, glowing all night long. More info on this place, it has a diameter of five miles and there are several elevators going to the top. And the hotel we were in was built last year, which is why it looked so new. We dug underground through rock to make it, instead of going up. Anyways, we should get back inside and wait for your friends and eat some breakfast."

The foxes walked inside and went back to the dining area, then ordered breakfast. About ten minutes later, Sig and Phil showed up, looking a bit worried. But then they saw their mates and cheered up, giving their mates a hug. Sig whispered in to Vadim's ear.

"I was so worried about you. What's going on?" Vadim smiled and introduced him to Ivan.

"This is Ivan Artyk. We have a lot to explain, but don't worry. After today things will be so much better for us."

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The rest of the day went pretty smoothly. They were all given their clothes back and wore them as they walked around town. The group was amazed at all of the stores that sold illegal items. The time came to just before 4:00 PM, when they were scheduled to meet The Brotherhood member. They all entered a large stone chamber that was outside of the main town. It was very dimly lit, and almost creepy, but Vadim didn't let it faze him. He walked in and his group was directed through a large oak door and to sit at a large oak table while The Brotherhood member was located. The room had a few lamps and a fire glowing towards the back. Bookcases filled the walls along with several paintings of robed furs. At exactly 4:00 PM, one of the bookcases swung around and a robed figure appeared. Vadim was a little startled, not expecting him to come out of the bookcase, which swung back around behind the fur.

The fur sat down and removed his brown hood, revealing a silver backed jackal. His orange and silver head had electric blue fur tattoos that circled his eyes and went up his forehead and muzzle. When he spoke, the elder jackal's voice was rather calm, and soothing.

"I understand your resistance to the Dictator. I am pleased with this. But, by all means, do not draw attention to my home. This place is very sacred to my ancestors and the rest of The Jackal Brotherhood. Now, if attention is drawn here, please tell us immediately. We will do anything in our power to stop it."

"Mr. Jackal." Vadim asked. "What is your name?"

The jackal gave an expressionless response. "My name is not important."

"Ok, well why did you guys block off the passage to the school?"

"We blocked that passage because members of the school's faculty found out about this a number of years ago. The only way to be safe was to shut it off. That is all I am answering, have a good day."

Without another world the jackal put his hood back on and went back through the bookcase. The four furs looked at each other, each a little weirded out at what had just happened.

"Well guys, we have stuff to do. Sig and I have to go find somebody and go home, I'm sure your parents are worried sick about you." The group left the chamber to look for Ivan, seeing as he was the only one they knew to get them to the surface. "Once we are done we will meet back down here. Phil and Pavel, what are you two going to do? You missed a day of school Phil, they will know something is up."

Phil looked a little worried. "Yeah, that's true. Well, seeing that I'm screwed anyways, I might as well devote my full time to help Pavel down here. We'll go and ask about living down here, and then we can move all of our belongings here today."

Vadim nodded. "That sounds good. Where shall we meet you guys at?"

Phil pointed to some benches near the hotel. "Meet us there at around 3:00 PM tomorrow. That should be enough time, right?"

Vadim nodded again. "That sounds perfect."

They walked back in to the dining area, where Ivan was sitting and enjoying some tea. Vadim was the first to talk.

"Hey Ivan, Sig and I need to get to the surface. There's an arctic fox up there that has a sister down here somewhere and he told us that if we find a place like this to tell him. Plus Sig's parents are probably worried sick about him."

Phil butted in right when Vadim was done talking. "And Pavel and I were wondering how we could live down here?"

Ivan smiled at the group. "Pavel and Phil, have a seat. We'll talk in a minute about this. Sig and Vadim, go over a few buildings and find the path that leads to the lake. A Brotherhood member will take you to the top. I wish you guys luck. Oh, and if you need to be back down here soon, just go to the same place you come out of at the surface. The member will give you a code there."

Vadim smiled and shook paws with Ivan, and then gave both Phil and Pavel a hug. "Thanks Ivan, I'll see you around. And Phil, good luck. I'll see you two tomorrow."

With that, Sig and Vadim walked out to find the passage to the lake. Ivan was right; a few buildings down there were steps that led to the bank of the lake. A hooded jackal stood on a floating platform at the edge, and the pair walked up to him.

"We are looking to get to the surface, please." Vadim asked.

The jackal's voice was calm and collected like the last one they spoke to. "Please step on the vessel." The platform was big enough to hold about 15 furs. The two foxes stepped on, and the platform started to glide across the water towards the middle. In a few short minutes, they reached the center where the waterfall was coming through. Then Vadim and Sig were amazed as the platform started to slowly rise to the surface, mere inches away from the waterfall. Vadim looked around for controls, but there were none. He decided not to ask the jackal how they were moving, knowing he wouldn't get an answer. It took them about five minutes to reach just below the surface, where they were let off in a small cavern in the rock wall. Another jackal was waiting in the cavern, and he directed them to a stone staircase that went up about two floors to the surface.

"Excuse me?" Vadim asked. "How do we get back inside of here?"

"There's a keypad just outside of the door you will exit from, the passcode is 9473. The door will open and you will meet me back here." The jackal responded in a calm voice.

The two foxes walked up the stairs and opened a rock door to find themselves in the park near Sig's house, just as Ivan had claimed. The sun was setting quickly, and they walked back to Sig's apartment with haste. When they got inside, James and Carol looked pretty upset. Carol was the first to speak up.

"Where the hell have you two been? I've been worried sick!" Sig looked to the ground, just now remembering he didn't make an excuse for why they were gone.

"Well, Vadim and I met up with a friend of ours, and we've been hanging out at his place. I thought yesterday was a Saturday, so I spent the night there." Carol looked even more pissed off.

"You missed a day of school? To, hang out? What the fuck is your problem?"

Sig's ears went back and a flash of anger grew over his face. James got up from his chair and motioned Vadim in to another room. "I don't see why it's that big of a deal, mom. I'm an adult anyway so it doesn't really matter."

The other two foxes left the room and sat down inside of James' room. "So tell me Vadim, where were you guys?"

Vadim smirked a little, feeling much safer around James. "We found a city underneath this one, it's a big refuge for us arctics. There are also paths leading out of the city. I don't think Sig will finish school at this time, James. We're like pioneers to this resistance, and they need us at any time."

James took it all in and nodded. "I'll tell Carol later that you told me you found both of you jobs, so she'll think you're out doing that during the days after school. I'll keep this hidden for you two."

Vadim smiled and gave him a hug. "Thank you so much James. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow, so I'm going to get to sleep. Goodnight."

"Goodnight Vadim."

Vadim went to his room and crawled in to his bed. He could still hear Sig arguing a bit with his mother, but after a bit they stopped. Sig walked in to Vadim's room afterwards, and saw that the lights were off.

"Goodnight, hun." He whispered, then left the room and crawled into his bed himself.