FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Ty, a large bangle tiger, walked through the forest, heading south. He had no particular reason to go, he just decided to. A loud crunch behind him made him stop in his tracks, his hand immediately reaching for the axe at his waist, before he turned to face what had made the sound.

A small, grey wolf-girl stood behind a bush, trying her best not to be seen. Ty sighed as he recognized her.

"You and me are gonna have a little fun tonight," An alpha wolf said sadistically to the little girl.

"You're in my way," Ty said, not really caring about the girl, but trying to get through the alleyway all the same.

"And why should I even care?" the wolf asked, as he turned with his eyes closed. Then he looked up at the tiger, seeing the two foot difference in height as his ears dropped back.

The girl was afraid of Ty, yes, but the rags she wore made it plain to his eyes that she had nowhere to go. "Go back to your village girl, I have no business with you," Ty said in his thunder of a voice.

The fight with that wolf, or rather the one punch knockout, had done little to offset his mood. It had been sour for two years, on account of finding his father soaked in his mother's blood and standing over her lifeless body. He had killed her in a fit of rage, with no real reason otherwise. The clan elders had him locked in the basement of the temple, where all criminals were held. Ty had donned his armor and walked out that night.

The studs in the leather that decorated his chest did little in the way of defense, but did add a semblance of power to it. Few dared to challenge Ty, these days. He had encountered many other types of creatures in his chosen exile, but none so foolhardy as the wolves. They and they alone, challenged him. Back in his village, most had challenged him at least once, just for the honor of fighting the strongest warrior their clan had. But that felt like a lifetime ago to the tiger.

As Ty turned and continued walking, he heard the girl's footsteps as she tried to keep pace with his comparatively enormous strides. He continued on like this for almost two hours before he turned again, seeing her panting for breath, trying to hide behind a tree. Again, the Tiger sighed, this time out of frustration. "Fine," he huffed. "Stubborn as you are, I can't see a reason not to bring you anymore."

Sundown was on its way, and that meant it was almost time for a hunt. Tigers, being nocturnal, favor the night for their hunts. It is less likely that any animal will be able to get away.

"Stay put," Ty ordered the girl. "I want nothing distracting me, or scaring away my food, while I hunt."

The girl nodded and sat against the nearest tree. Ty went off into the woods, crouched onto all fours, without making a sound. Eventually, he found a deer. As he drew closer through the undergrowth, he realized it was a muscular buck. Quietly, he crept forward, watching every stick, rock, and plant, making sure not to make a sound. When he was close enough, he leapt forward, clutching the buck's head and bearing it to the ground, breaking its neck as he landed.

When Ty returned to where he had left the girl, he found her asleep by the tree. The deer that he hefted on his shoulder popped into his mind and he set it down. Grabbing a branch from the ground, he moved it over to where the deer lay. Then, he dug into the ground, through the leaves, clearing enough room so as not to start a forest fire.

After setting up a campfire, he began cooking bits of deer meat, which only woke the wolf-girl. "If you're hungry, eat." Ty said as he bit into a piece of cooked venison.

The wolf-girl rubbed her eyes, standing up and walking over to the fire. Ty saw just how thin she was as she sat down. It looked as though she had not eaten in weeks, if not months. As she took a piece of venison from beside the fire, she looked up at him, questioningly, with small blue eyes. Then she quickly tore into the meat, devouring everything down to the bone. "Well, well," Ty said as he stared at the small child, who now lay back, holding her stomach. "A child who can stomach almost five pounds of venison in one sitting. No small feat, considering."

After the two of them had eaten, the girl fell asleep again. Meanwhile, Ty was hard at work, wrapping the leftovers to save for later. The leather from the dear, he brought to a narrow stream in the woods, where he began cleaning it, to cut down with his axe-blade. First he fashioned a tunic for the girl from it, then a head wrap, to keep hair from her eyes.

When Ty finally got back to camp, he laid the new clothes by the girl, seeing a size that would fit her for some time, and pulled off his leather armor top. His gaze immediately shifted to his right arm. A ragged burn scar started just below his elbow, covering the outside of his arm and most of his upper back.

It had been a house fire, in his village. His little sister was trapped inside. When he went in to rescue her, a beam broke, crushing him. When he woke up, his mother was beside him in the temple. His sister, he later found out, had died in the blaze. It was a memory that replayed in his mind almost every night. Ty sighed to himself, knowing tonight would be no different.