FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

William yawned, sitting up in the plush, comfortable bed and stretching his arms. It felt good to sleep peacefully throughout the night, even better to know that you were sharing a bed with someone else. He looked over to see James, still sleeping and breathing softly. Suddenly, William could see it, he could see the old James, the REAL James, the James that had been his friend for the longest of times, and there he was, sleeping in the same bed with his thick arm resting limply on the princes legs. His heart skipped a beat as realization sunk in; he had just slept with his friend, willingly! He could feel something in his chest welling up the more he thought about it, something that was between them.

Love?

He thought about that for a moment. Love was there, but it was a friendly love, nothing romantic. Last night's... actions... were purely through lust, nothing more, but did James know that? Yes, he knew that. He had to, there was no spark, no romantic feeling toward each other. There was a kiss, he reminded himself. Yes, there was a kiss, but it was more of a 'heat of the moment', nothing more or less.

So what was this feeling in his chest? He thought about it as he lay back down, snuggling himself deeper into the wolf's arms. Excitement, that's what the feeling was. The thrill of doing something dangerous, that feeling that he would get when he knew that his parents would scold him for when he'd do something wrong, but this didn't feel wrong, so why did it feel so dangerous?

James moved, snapping William out of thought as the wolf slowly came to consciousness. "Morning," he greeted in a tired voice, sliding his hands up William's leg to rest on his stomach, giving it a light squeeze.

William hummed in response, giving him a brief smile. They were silent, knowing that they couldn't avoid what was on both of their minds.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions," James said after a moment. "So you might as well ask them now."

William nodded. He fought his mind, trying to find a question to ask. So many questions swam around in his mind that it made it hard for him to choose. He reached over and began to trace the wolf's chest muscles with a finger as he thought. "How did you change your fur and eye color?" he asked finally.

James smiled. "That's an easy one," he said, pointing to a jar of ink on his desk. "A gypsy sold me a special jar of ink that would change the color of my fur. Cost me a pretty penny, but it was well worth it."

"What about your eyes?"

"Same gypsy sold me a small vile of eye drops. Don't ask me how it works 'cause I haven't the foggiest idea."

William nodded and began thinking of his next question. "Why did you leave?" That was the question he should have asked first, that was the question that has really been bugging him ever since he found out that Johnathan was actually James.

The wolf sighed and propped himself up on his elbows. "Remember the day when we first met?" William nodded, he could never forget that day, even if he wanted to. "When I said that my parents left me and weren't coming back... I knew where they went and why they left." He was quiet for a moment. "Six years ago, a year before I left you, I heard of a rumor that the infamous pirate, Captain Hess, would be making port in your father kingdom in England to do some underground business. Well, I thought if I could get to that business conference, I might be able to see them again,"

William stopped James by waving a hand. The pirate that goes by the name of Hess was certainly a famous pirate; he was known for his ruthlessness and amazing sword skills, known for taking down fleets and armies with only a few ships to back him up. The man never took prisoners, so rumors about him were scarce. "See who? Why would you need to get to Hess?"

James gave a sad smile. "Because he's my dad," he said. "When you found me in the ally that day, it had only been three days since when he left me there to fend for myself. He told me that I was a mistake and my mother and he would be better off without the extra weight and mouth." He said, his eyes were hard and filled with emotion, but sadness was not one of them. "Well, the day when he made port, I found him, thinking that all would be better now that I was older..." he looked away. "As soon as he learned who I was, he tried to kill me." William was quiet. He never knew about this, how could he? James had never really spoken of his parents when they were friends and younger. "It was fierce and hard, but eventually, I killed him, I killed him by driving his own sword through his dark, empty heart." He was silent for a moment before breathing a laugh. "And it felt good," he said, looking back up into William's eyes. "It felt great, actually, to finally put an end to all my pain that he's caused me. It makes me happy to know that right now, this very moment, he's spending an eternity in hell burning and suffering by all the lives that he's taken. It serves him right..."

William slowly shook his head, moth slightly open as he looked at the wolf in mild horror. "What happened to you James? What happened to that sweet, kind, friendly wolf that used to be my best friend?" James looked away again and was quiet. Neither one of them spoke for a long moment before William finally broke the silence. "One more question, then I'll know all I need to know for now," James looked up. "Who are you really? Are you Captain Johnathan Black, or are you still James Hess?"

The wolf didn't answer as his eyes drifted away in ponder. One look at the man's eyes and William knew that he didn't even know the answer. William pushed himself out of bed, finding his clothing and putting it on silently and making his way for the door, resting his hand on the handle before looking back to the wolf, who hasn't moved a muscle. "Just think about it, you don't have to give me an answer right now..." he looked away. "I have work to do." And with that, William slid out the door, closing it silently behind him and leaving the dark wolf to fight with his even darker thoughts...

~*~

Kahn Dilwire, a lean, spotless Dalmatian, sipped at his beer, half listening to the buzzing of the saloon, half listening to his thoughts. 'Another dead end', he thought, taking another swift gulp and shuddering at the taste. He let his arm drop to the table. 'And the beer isn't even good'. He pushed himself off from the stool on which he sat on and away from the bar, leaving his fee on the counter next to the half drank mug of alcohol. It had been over a week since the king had sent him to search for his son and so far, every lead has led him in a pointless direction.

Kahn reached the front door and opened it, only getting it halfway open before it came in contact with something hard that illuminated a loud grunt. "What the hell?!" a gruff voice said from the other side. The door opened fully to reveal a tall, heavy, dark furred bear. He scowled as he looked down to Kahn. "What's the big idea?"

Kahn shifted his weight to his right leg as he stood there, not intimidated by the bear's size what-so-ever. "My apologies," he said blandly, as though the words have been practiced. "Now, if you'll excuse me-" He began to walk past the bear when he was pushed back a few steps.

"Now just hold on 'er a sec'," he said, taking an advancing step forward. "I'm not quite done with you yet." He was still walking toward the Dalmatian, popping his knuckles as he did.

Kahn was a thin, but lean person, and without wearing his Royal Guard's outfit, he probably didn't look all that intimidating. The bear was most likely sizing him up in his mind, not a threat was what he was thinking, Kahn knew because that's what the look in his eye told him.

The bear went to swing a right hook at Kahn jaw with visible power behind his attack, but it was sloppy and slow, giving Kahn nearly all the time he needed to dodge his fist with no effort. The bear swung again, missed. He swung again, missed again. Kahn smirked, drawing an irritated glare from the bear. "Hold Still, Damn it!" he shouted, throwing another punch. This one was faster, but had very little power behind it, still, Kahn dodged it and swung a punch of his own, landing his knuckles on the bear's jaw, but held back the power he could have put into it.

The bear stumbled back and rubbed his jaw. It wasn't a hard punch, but it was hard enough to daze the larger male for a moment. "That kinda hurt," the bear said. Kahn rolled his eyes, catching a glimpse of the other bar inhabitants. Nearly every eye was on them, some cheering, some shouting at the bear to finish the job already.

"Can we be done with this?" Kahn asked, making a point by sounding as if he were board. "I really must be leaving, I have things to do,"

The bear ignored Kahn comments as he charged the Dalmatian, thrusting his fast as hard as he could, but Kahn didn't move. Instead, he waited for the bear to get close enough for his fist to be only a foot away from Kahn face before it came to an abrupt stop. The bear looked satisfied for a moment, happy that his fist finally hit something solid, but his face slowly sagged into shock as he saw what his fist really hit; the Dalmatian's palm. The crowd went silent and Kahn shook his head. "Disappointing," he mumbled before he gave the bear's fist a powerful squeeze, bringing the large man to his knees as he whined in pain. Kahn could break the man's hand easily, but that really want his intention, so he let the man's hand go.

The bear gripped his hand, cradling it for a moment. The Dalmatian huffed and spun on his heel to head for the door, leaving the bear and the shocked crowd to watch in awe as he disappeared behind the closing door.

~*~

William sighed, it's been a full day now since he and James had their talk and he still hasn't answered the prince's last question. He wasn't eager for an answer, to be honest, he wasn't sure he truly wanted to know, but deep down, there was something telling him that he wanted to know, that he needed to know.

There was still questions drowning his mind, like why James never returned and told anybody about his father, or why he ran away to become a pirate, or why William kissed him in the first place, why these sudden urges were washing through his body, and why he had become so attracted to James. No, not just James, he was becoming attracted to most of the males on board the Glass Sea and he had no idea why. Could it be that he enjoyed the company of males?

No, that can't be, he was still attracted to females, at least, he thought he did... he hadn't seen many females in months, even when he was back on Duncan's. For some reason, sailors believed it was bad luck to bring women on board a vessel, so seeing one was rare until they made port.

William let his head drop to the wooden rail in which he leaned on. There was a loud thunk, but the pain was mild. What was he to do now? He thought about escaping, he was, technically, still a prisoner on this ship, but he wasn't sure he wanted to leave, as strange as it sounds. He felt as if he had a job to do here, though he didn't know what it was.

But he also had a job to do back in his father's kingdom. He was torn and completely confused. He cursed inwardly. He hated being confused. "Land ho!" a voice called from above. William looked up to see Gregory handing from a rope with a spyglass up to his eye, then looked over to James at the helm of the ship. The wolf looked over to Aakash, his first mate. "How are we on supplies?"

The crocodile crossed his arms over his large chest and thumped his thick tail against the wooden floor. "The cook says he needs some more food supplies, we're running low on rope, the weaponry needs to be repaired, and one of our cannons is badly damaged."

James hummed and nodded. "Set a course for Gail's Trap!"

Gail's Trap? William repeated in his mind. Gail's Trap was an entire island over run by pirates, but not just any pirates, deadly ones, one's that Captain Hess and Black Beard would associate with. A ping of dread found its way into William's chest. He looked around to the other crew members, but none of them looked worried in the least, rather, excited about making port at that island. He looked back up to James, but the man's eyes were fixed on Gail's Trap.

The island looked peaceful from this distance, small, and somewhat inviting as it sat on the horizon with large and small ships littering their bocks. But that was only from a distance. The closer you got, the worse it looked. The dock looked as if it's never been cared for, the buildings were littered with broken windows, the streets were covered with half empty bottles of rum and fights between two or more drunks were very common.

"Alright!" James said as he stepped onto the main deck, letting Aakash pull the ship up to a dock. "Lance, Geoffrey, Dallas, and William are coming with me, the rest of you stay with the ship, Aakash is in charge until we return."

William snapped his head at James when he heard his name. "Like hell if you think I'm going on that god forsaken island!"

James, much to William's surprise, began walking up to the prince, stopping only a few inches away and leaning close until he could feel the wolf's whiskers on his cheek. "I know you don't want to," he whispered. "But I'd feel a lot better if you came along with me. The island in dangerous for someone like you,"

The wolf backed up and William looked up. "Fine," he said as he pushed past James and made his way toward the docks. "But I don't need your protecting."

~*~

Kahn pulled up the hood from his cloak as he walked through the rough streets of Gail's Trap. It was another dead end. No one hear really knew anything about the prince's abduction and captor. He was nearing the docks. He didn't have a ship or a crew, the king said that he didn't want word getting out that the prince was kidnapped, so Kahn would need to hitch hike on a ship to get to another island.

He stopped at the docks and surveyed the ships. None of them looked decent enough to hitch a ride on, none except for one. It looked as if it had just pulled in and a large, heavy crocodile was walking about the helm, speaking with some of the crew members. He must be the captain, Kahn thought. Wait, he looked closer, five men were walking off the ship, a short, thin lemur with a green bandana tied around his forehead, a tall, thick raccoon who had more swords and daggers than he did arms and legs, a fat, hairy man with a beard that trailed down to his stomach, another was a tall, muscular wolf with a long, dark red coat and a large, sombrero like hat, but the last person is what caught his eye. A short, thin human with short golden hair and ocean blue eyes that seemed to glow, despite it being mid-day.

Kahn looked at the human for a moment longer, wondering where it is he's seen the man before until realization finally sunk it. He could hardly believe it, there he was, Prince William, walking along with the four pirates... walking along? He looked at William's wrists. No chains. He didn't look to be bound at all... than why wasn't he running? Kahn looked back to the wolf, who was obviously the captain and kidnapper of the Prince. He looked at him for a moment, feeling as though he knew the wolf, but no names came to mind.

He began to walk towards the group of five, keeping his hood over his eyes and hand on the hilt of his sword. He drew closer and closer, keeping his eyes fixed on the unsuspecting captain. The wolf turned his back to Kahn as he began to talk with the others. He was only a few yards away now. He drew his sword, keeping it concealed by his cloak and readying it to strike without warning.

Only a few feet now. He readied his sword, positioning it so that with a quick thrust, he could end the captain and be gone with William safely in his arms. He was close enough. He was ready and so was his blade. He thrust is forward, the tip nearly coming in contact with the wolf's back when it was redirected unexpectedly. Before Kahn could blink, the wolf had spun around and swatted the blade away from his body. The Dalmatian was somewhat surprised at the pirates speed, but quickly went for another thrust, only for it to pierce nothing but air. Another thrust and a swipe, but the wolf danced around Kahn's blade effortlessly. His dodges looked a lot like the ones that Kahn was taught to use, only they were more graceful with a hint of his own skill thrown in.

Eventually, Kahn arm was getting tired and he knew that no matter how many times he swung, he would not be able to hit the wolf. Kahn backed up to get a better look at the wolf's face. It looked so familiar, but he had no idea who he was. "Kahn?" he heard William say his name from behind him. He turned over his shoulder to flash the prince a quick grin and get a look of the placements of the other pirates. They had all drawn their weapons and were ready to strike, but waiting for the captain's orders.

"Hello, your majesty," he said before turning back to face the wolf. He hadn't drawn his weapon yet, instead, he just kept looking Kahn up and down. "Well, are you going to draw your weapon, or are you just going to mentally grope my body?" he said in a sarcastic tone.

The comment seemed to surprise the wolf, but he didn't say anything to confirm it. Kahn expected him to reach for his sword, but instead, his hand went directly for his pistol, pulling it and pointing it at Kahn before he could register the action. "I really don't have time for this," the wolf said, pulling the hammer back on the gun with a loud click. The pirates walking by didn't so much as second glance them, as if stuff like this was all too common. "We have to be leaving soon, I'm on a really tight schedule."

William looked at James. Tight schedule? What was he talking about. "Not with the prince you're not!" Kahn said. William looked back at the Dalmatian, his father must have sent him to bring him back to the kingdom, it sounded like something he'd do; send one of the best of the royal guards to fetch him, but not too many to make it look like it was a big issue. Kahn was also his personal guard when he was living in the palace, he was a very sweet man and would do anything for William and he always wondered why until he heard a rumor that he actually fancied the prince. At the time, William thought it was kind of strange for a man to become attracted to another, but now, he thought it was kind of cute.

William's mind was snapped back to the situation at hand. Neither one of them had moved yet, but he knew that Kahn wouldn't give up until either he saves William, or until James was dead, but hearing all about James new reputation, he had the feeling that the wolf wouldn't hesitate in shooting Kahn between the eyes if he tried anything.

He looked past Kahn to see William, and the look in his eyes told William that he was asking if he could shoot the Dalmatian. A few years ago, when James was still friends with William, he knew Kahn personally as well, but the two never seemed to get along. William would always catch the two fighting over anything they could think of, so it wouldn't be a surprise if it was taking a lot of effort for James not to just pull the trigger right then and there.

William shook his head and James sighed, stuffing the gun back into his belt. He drew his sword and held it low in a week position. He knew that Kahn could see the many openings that James was leaving, but something about the wolf told William that he was looking like that on purpose.

Kahn charged the wolf. He was quick and light on his feet, moving like a blur and covering the distance between them in a flash. The sound of mettle hitting mettle began to illuminate the area as James parried and dodged attack after attack. Just by watching James, William knew what everyone was talking about when they'd mention his sword skills, but Kahn didn't appear to be doing so bad himself. James made an attack, followed by a kick that Kahn wasn't quick enough to dodge. He stumbled back a few feet before he regained his footing and was attacking with his sword again.

James looked to be getting bored as he parried and blocked each attack, not moving his feet since the beginning of the fight. Kahn danced around James, getting behind his and attacking from behind, but that didn't seem to faze the wolf at all. "Enough of this," James said, spinning around and swatting the sword out of Kahn's hand. The tip of James's sword was at Kahn's neck, pressing harder and harder until William could see blood begin to pour from the Dalmatian's neck

"Stop, James!" William found himself saying as he got in between the two males.

Kahn looked at the wolf. "James?"

William turned around to face Kahn, regretting giving away the wolf's identity. He didn't know what to do, he had to do something, no one could know James's real name or he'd be in deep trouble with the king, so he did the only thing he could think of, punch the Dalmatian right square in the mouth with all his strength. Kahn fell limp to the wooden dock as a tremendous pain shot through and up William's entire arm.

James sighed. "Wish you woulda let me do that," he said, sounding genuinely disappointed. "So now what?"

William flicked his hand, wishing that some of the pain would go away, but it didn't. He might have broken it, he didn't really know how to punch and doing wrong could seriously injure himself. "Well, we can't just leave him,"

"Why not?"

"James!" he looked up to glare at the wolf.

"Fine!" he said, holding hands up and shrugging. "Take him on board and watch over him. Chain him down too, I remember how rambunctious he is and I don't want him causing havoc on my ship, Lance, you go William and help him out, Dallas, Geoffrey and I will do our work and be back latter."

The wolf spun around and began walking. William smiled, proud of James for overcoming his own childish rivalry for William. Maybe James really was still the same deep down... no, he wasn't, but he was still in there, somewhere. Eventually, William will see who James really is, but until then, he'd just have to stick around and make sure he didn't do anything stupid, the same goes for Kahn.

He looked down to Kahn. The man was not much older than William, and he sure was an attractive person, even he couldn't deny that, but he was headstrong and didn't think before acting. He would need an eye kept on his at all times as well.

William scoffed, it was as if he was babysitting the two men. How childish they looked through William's eyes, but to be honest, he couldn't remember a time where he had this much fun...