FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Jeremy," a familiar voice whispered in my ear... "Jeremy!"

"Huh," I managed to get out.

"Are you ok? What happened?" Rachel questioned kneeling down by my side.

"Uh... I don't know..."

"Do you wanna go get checked out?"

"N-no, I'll be fine."

"Well lets head to the gym then!" She smiled

"Y-yeah, ok," I mumbled still disoriented.

She led me down the hallway that housed my old locker and headed toward the gym. We turned the corner and there he was, Ranfult, running straight toward us.

"Run!" I yelled.

"What on Earth!?" Rachel screamed as I grabbed her hand and guided her down another hall in an attempt to lose him. We ran into an empty classroom and locked the door. Without hesitation, I ran to the windows and tried to unlock one, but it was jammed. After a few attempts I ran to another window. Rachel, extremely frightened and confused, stayed by my side until we heard the door kicked open.

"What did I tell you would happen to your friend if you went for help..." Ranfult snickered and leaped over several desks to attack Rachel.

"NOO!!!"

_______________________________________________________________________________

I shot up in a dripping sweat. It was a dream... of course it was, why couldn't THIS be my dream.

"Zanith go back to bed," Ranfult said with his eyes still closed.

I didn't answer. I was still shaken up by what I dreamt about. Would he have done that if Rachel would have followed me? Or were his original words an empty threat. So many unanswered questions were flooding my head. How could I get back to sleep now with my thoughts racing a mile a minute? I could feel my heart beating out of my chest.

"Zanith, are you ok?" Ranfult said mimicking what I heard Rachel say in my dream.

I was silent for a moment, trying to think of what to say.

"You can talk to me about anything," he whispered in a calm voice.

"Oh can I?" I said slightly annoyed.

"What's wrong now?" he replied.

"I tried talking to you all day and all you gave me were short answers. You have the nerve to tell me I can talk to you about anything?" I said angrily.

Ranfult just laid there for a minute. He began to adjust himself as if he was about to sit up. He reached under the blanket with his free hand and grabbed a small object. "Here," he said handing me the keys to the handcuffs.

"W-why? I don't understand..."

"It's a sign of good faith. You have done nothing wrong since we arrived... For me to continue using them would be cruel, besides you have been shaking all night..." he trailed off. We were silent for a moment before Ranfult poke again. "I know it seems like you are in a foreign land... but I assure you... you're right where you belong."

And with that I unlocked the hand cuff attached to my arm. We both sat up and reached over to un-cuff Ranfult's arm. Once he was free he gave me a huge hug.

"I've missed you," he whispered in my ear sniffling.

Is he crying? I sat there and embraced his hug. He seemed very upset and I didn't want to be the one to let go first. His hand began rubbing my back ever so subtly. I was sort of afraid of where this was headed, so I decided to interject.

"Why don't you tell me about why this is your last mission," I inquired.

"I-I don't f-feel like talking about that right now," he replied still clearly upset.

Frustrated that Ranfult wouldn't open up about this I began rubbing his back, "Fine... you don't have to tell me about it."

Then Ranfult pulled away from our hug and stared me in the eyes. He made me feel alittle uneasy. Should I not have returned the rub? He raised his paw and put it on my cheek. "I'll tell you..."

"You don't have to Ranfult its none of my business."

"But I want to," he interrupted, removing his paw from my cheek, "you deserve an answer." He took a deep breath and began.

"I have been one of the king's faithful guards for nearly 20 years. I had one job; one responsibility... to guard the king's son... and I failed..." he trailed off.

"What happened to him?" Iquestioned.

"He was kidnapped and never seen again," Ranfult got out before having another breakdown.

"...oh... that's terrible," I said trying to think of something comforting to say.

"It was all my fault... I got distracted and wasn't at my post when I was supposed to be. The king said he forgave me and that I could have happened to anyone but I could not forgive myself...I'm sorry.... I never get this emotional."

"Don't worry. You can be as emotional as you want."

"Thank you Zanith," he sniffled, "I'm just going to try and sleep. It would be wise if you did the same. We've got a long day tomorrow," and with that Ranfult laid back down and turned away from me.

What...was that? He got so emotional so fast... He didn't even tell me why THIS was his last mission. I guess it has something to do with the king's son. But he didn't even say when this happened. Was it recent? Was he being replaced because of what happened? Maybe it happened a while ago and he is just retiring now? 20 years as a royal guard sounds like a long time... hmmm... If only I could get some straight answers out of him so I can assess this whole situation. Why is he so emotional toward me? What do they want me for? To find the king's son? I don't think I'll be very useful in any of those aspects. I guess I'll find out what's in store for me tomorrow. I better try and get some sleep because like Ranfult said... it is going to be a long day.