FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Shori's Okami Kyuseisha A storm of dust and sand whipped up around the girl and her digimon rescuer as the two made a less-than-graceful landing on the shore. He pulled in his arm just before his body slammed into the beach. He growled as the sand tore at his back, fighting to keep hold of the girl until the two at last came to a halt. It was only then that he let his arms fall to his side, and he released a breath he did not realize he had been holding. She slowly stood up, her entire body trembling even as she began to look herself over. Gaomon looked up to see a young girl, twelve years of age. Her shining black hair was pulled back into a pair of tails that extended just to her shoulder, with red streaks running along the length of the strands. Her bright green eyes focused downward, looking over her black-with-silver-letters "Gackt" T-Shirt. The sleeves stretched just down to her elbows, revealing a dark gray shirt she wore underneath it. Thin plastic bracelets of blue, red, and green rested on her left wrist, while a brown belt held up her grass-stained blue-jeans, as well as keeping a brown leather card pack strapped at her side. Dust caked her black tennis-shoes, but otherwise they seemed no worse for the wear. Seeing that she was uninjured, the girl quickly stepped forward and took Gaomon's paw, helping him to his feet. "Thanks!" she gushed, "If it wasn't for you I'd probably be at the bottom of the ocean right now, and I hate water!" Gaomon accepted the offer, and once he was standing he quickly looked himself over. Apart from some stones littering his normally pristine-blue fur, he found himself unharmed. "You're welcome," he answered, "Although you might want to be more careful where you choose to take your flying lessons if you hate water miss-" "Shori!" the girl interrupted, "Unmei Shori, and I wasn't exactly flying. See, I was trying to play the Digimon game on my computer at home, but I guess I'm not very good at it yet, ‘cause when I went to slash one of my cards through the reader..." She paused, patting the case at her side, "... and smoke suddenly started coming from it. I tried to turn it off, but when I pushed the button it just started sparking and then glowing, and then this really weird gizmo appeared in its place. I went to pick it up so I could take it to my Dad so he could look at it, but as soon as I grabbed ahold of it, my computer screen started glowing and sucked me in... and... well... here I am." Gaomon closed his eyes, rubbing the back of his head as he tried to sort through Shori's rapid-fire explanation. Something about the way she quickly rattled through those words made his head hurt. "Even so, you'd better be more careful in the future," he warned, "The Digital World is no place for childish antics. You could have been hurt, or worse." He turned and started to walk away. "Digital World?" Shori asked, chasing after him, "You mean I've actually come to the- Oof!" She groaned as once more she found herself lying in the sand. She turned to see what had caused her to fall. Lying there, sticking half-way up out of the sand was the very gizmo of which she'd been speaking earlier: her digivice! In form, it was similar to my own, but colored differently- white with pink edges. She reached back and picked it up. "Wait a minute!" "Huh?" Gaomon stopped and turned around as Shori quickly brought herself to her feet. "If this is the digital world, then this gizmo must be my digivice!" she said, her voice rising in pitch with each word, "And if this is my digivice then..." She let out an excited squeal and rushed forward, catching the unprepared puppy digimon in her surprisingly-strong embrace. "Then that means you're my partner!" Gaomon strained against the girl's grip until he finally managed to break free. "Look, if you've got a digivice, then you are one of the fabled digidestined," he said, "but I can tell you that I'm definitely not your partner. I'm a lone wolf. I don't do partnerships, I don't do friendships, and I don't do heroics!" "But... Kyuseisha Okami, you are heroic!" Shori argued, "You saved my life, so you must be my partner!" Gaomon growled. "My name isn't Okami," he stated, trying to keep his voice even, "I'm a Gaomon, and I prefer to be called such. I-" He broke off as he saw his rejection bringing tears to Shori's eyes. He released a heavy sigh of resignation. "Alright... look," he said, "I know the island. I'll take you somewhere that you can wait until your real partner comes along, but only if you promise to stop following me. Understand?" Satiated for the moment, Shori nodded, but in her heart, she knew she didn't want any other as her partner. Okami wouldn't understand. Her name for him was much more than a simple collection of letters. She had literally named him her "Wolf Savior," and to her, that made him special. She would convince him that they were meant to work together, whether this was a game or not. * * *

III

• * * Together, Gaomon and Shori left the beach and traveled into the forest. Day turned into evening, and evening turned into night. The darkness deepened all around them. Shori found herself clinging close to her savior, looking for comfort in the strength the wolf puppy digimon could offer. Gaomon, for his part, did his best to keep at least an arm's length between them. "Okami, is it going to be much farther?" Shori yawned, "We've been walking all day, and my feet are starting to hurt." Okami responded with a low growl, but otherwise he kept his silence. It would make this trip no more pleasant to be arguing with her than to have her complaining the entire way. In fact, it was only an hour or so more before the two finally arrived at the location Gaomon had chosen. "Here we are!" he declared. Shori looked around, blinking in confusion. All that she could see around her was the forest, trees and underbrush for what seemed miles around. They stood before a large tree wide enough that it would Shori thought it would take three of her, touching finger-tip to finger-tip, to wrap all the way around. Her eyes followed the blue-violet trunk upward until it disappeared beyond the forest canopy and from there was lost to her sight. "We're... going to climb this tree?" she asked, searching for branches or some other foothold before looking back at Gaomon in confusion. However, Gaomon merely shook his head. "Not all is as it appears here," he told her, "Trees and other strange things like this exist all over the Digital World. Just walk forward and you'll pass right through the bark, and be able to stand inside the tree. No one will be able to see you inside, but your partner should be able to sense you when she comes nearby." Doing as he told her, Shori walked forward, bracing herself as she half-expected to run face first into the trunk. Just as he'd said though, she passed right through and found herself standing inside a hollow chamber that stretched as high as the tree trunk. The view was plain but for thin, barely visible gridlines that probably marked the individual polygons that made up the tree's shape. Sighing heavily, Shori sat down, noting that although the floor appeared smooth, she could feel the dirt beneath her. "Are you coming, Okami?" she asked. Gaomon had hoped the girl would be content in just waiting for her partner inside the safety of the tree, but it appeared he had been wrong. He sighed as she called his name before moving to join her. "I'll stay here for a little while," he said, sitting at her side, "But try to get some sleep." Shori's arms found their way around his body, causing him to blush, but soon, her head lay upon his shoulders. Soon, she was asleep. Most of the night passed before Gaomon finally summoned up the courage to move. He slowly reached up and grabbed Shori's still-clutching arms, pausing and holding his breath when she so much as sighed in her sleep. Ever so carefully, he slipped her arms from around him and positioned himself so that she could lie comfortably on the floor of the tree. "Farewell, Unmei Shori," he said quietly, "Your partner is more fortunate than she knows... but I cannot be that one." So saying, he slipped out of the tree, leaving Shori to her dreams of adventure. * * *

III

• * * Shori awakened just after dawn. She slowly sat up and yawned. A chill sat in the air, causing her skin to develop goose bumps. "Okami?" she asked when she became conscious of her surroundings. Her eyes searched the tree's interior before she frowned. She had hoped that even if Okami wasn't her partner, he'd at least stay with her until her partner found her. Instead, he'd just left her alone. She quickly got to her feet and slipped out of her hiding place, tracing back along the path she and Okami had followed the day before. She moved more quickly than the previous day. Without Okami's quiet confidence, the sights and sounds- or the lack thereof- pervading this forest were more than a little disturbing. Shori could hear the buzzing of a few small bugs, the almost-haunting whisper of the morning wind, the far-off rolling of the morning tide against the beach. She imagined horrid things lumbering from behind every royal-colored tree and black, inky things rising from every shadow. Several times, she thought she saw toad-like creatures with glowing eyes emerging from under the wide, bowing leaves of deep green shrubbery. The girl wrapped her arms around herself, as if to defend from whatever might attack her. What a miserable morning the girl spent, wandering through the jungle in search of the wolf puppy digimon! However, her search eventually yielded fruit. She reached the edges of the forest, only to hear a ferocious roar from the very beach on which she'd arrived earlier. She paused and cringed. Great footsteps caused the entire forest around her to tremble, shaking loose a few leaves from the treetops. She bit her lip, her nerves telling her she should go no farther. "GAO RUSH!" Shori gasped as Okami's voice rang out clear and loud over the din. Shori bolted forward, reaching the last concealing shrubs just in time to see Okami involved in a battle against an enormous creature. Bigger than anything with which Shori had ever had contact, Shellmon was nearly four meters tall. A spiraling gray shell, much like those Shori had often seen worn by small crustaceans made up most of that height. From every layer, several curved spikes jutted and then pointed upward toward the sky. The actual skin of the creature was a brilliant magenta, marred only by a few cyan flecks. A muscular body pulled along by two massive legs atop a pair of five-digit feet. The creature's head resembled the pictures Shori had seen in her books of the ancient Tyrannosaurus Rex, although his teeth appeared flat and mal-formed. His eyes glowed red, and Shori thought she noticed the sea weed-like tendrils on top of his head wriggling and writhing, as if alive. There stood Okami, his fists furiously pounding against Shellmon's massive carapace, to no avail. Whenever Okami got near his foe's vulnerable flesh, Shellmon quickly retreated into the protection of his armored bulk. Okami growled and leapt backward. Faster than the Gaomon could react, Shellmon emerged from his shell, his head lowered. "HYDRO BLASTER!" Shori screamed as a deluge of water burst from Shellmon's head and hit Okami full on, knocking the wolf puppy digimon back. Gaomon quickly recovered and rushed his enemy again, once more attempting to pummel Shellmon into submission. Shori gripped her digivice in her hands, squeezing until her knuckles turned white. "Okami," she whispered, "Okami... digivolve..." Her newfound friend didn't stand a chance as it stood. Even though she wasn't very good at her games, Shori knew his power level was completely important next to the brute strength of his opponent. Annoyed by the best that swatted against his shell as a tree no-doubt becomes with a woodpecker constantly looking for insects, Shellmon raised a single massive arm... and with a casual swat tossed Gaomon aside. Screaming in terror, Shori forgot all about her cover. She shoved aside the foliage that had served as her only camouflage and rushed out onto the beach, attempting to reach the injured puppy digimon. "Okami, I'm coming!" She had to reach him! She couldn't let that monster hurt him anymore! Unfortunately, Shellmon took notice of her, and so began lumbering toward her. The earth shook with every step the massive digimon took. Gaomon quickly looked up, only to see the girl he'd thought left behind in the forest rushing toward him, with Shellmon right on his back. He forced himself to stand up. "Shori, no!" he yelled, "Go back!" He howled and rushed Shellmon again, hoping to draw the water mammal's attention back toward him. Shellmon turned his head, but his last pawstep threw Shori off-balance, causing her to roll head-over-heels through the sand. "Shori!" Gaomon yelled. He glared at Shellmon as the massive digimon loomed over her. Shori tried to force herself to her feet. "You overgrown escargot!" Gaomon growled, "You're going to pay for that." It happened in an instant. Shori's digivice began to glow. Its blinding light quickly expanded and wrapped itself around the three. Inside that light, Gaomon felt energy rushing into his body, threatening to burst forth at any moment. Instead, something else occurred... He felt himself taking on loads of data and growing.... Digivolving. "GAOMON, DIGIVOLVE TO..." He stood on all fours. A pair of razor-sharp claws burst through the top of his boxing gloves while a pair of bandages wrapped around each of his back legs. His face morphed, becoming more angular like a full-grown wolf. A pair of saber-like canines rested against his lower jaw, while a golden, four-pointed star sat between his brass-colored eyes. His red band vanished, replaced by a scarf of the same color that fluttered back along the length of his now-huge body in the wind, stopping just a foot short of his curly, wolf-like tail. Around his neck and chest, a full mane of snow-colored fur had grown. Two sets of gold rings created braids on either side of it. "...GAOGAMON!" When the light faded, he stood face-to-face with Shellmon, his lips curled in a feral snarl. Shellmon took a step back, and Shori looked up at the wolf digimon. For the second time in as many days, Okami Kyuseisha had lived up to his name. She smiled broadly, oblivious to the fact that she still lay on a battle field. Okami, however, was not so ignorant of the fact. He rushed Shellmon. "DASH DOUBLE CLAW!" He reared up on his hind legs, bringing his front claws slashing downward. Shellmon quickly retreated into his shell, but it wasn't going to be as effective this time. Okami's claws carved through the carapace, dragging a trail of stone chips downward in a miniature avalanche. With an enraged howl. Shellmon emerged from his shelter once again. He turned on Okami, completely forgetting Shori. "HYDRO BLASTER!" Once more, the full force of his watery attack surged its way toward Okami, but this time the wolf digimon was ready. He leapt aside just in time. A shower of sand erupted as the attack impacted against the beach. "My turn!" Okami declared. He raised his back legs as if preparing to pounce. All at once, a fierce wind blew around the two at hurricane speed. The twin tails of his scarf surged forward, standing in front of him almost like a pair of horns. "SPIRAL BLOW!" Growling, Okami opened his mouth, and immediately a twister of air emerged, catching Shellmon's body full on. Even the mammoth digimon's bulk couldn't keep the attack from lifting him up and rocketing him back over the horizon. As Shellmon disappeared into the ocean with a massive splash, Okami snorted, nodding his head quickly in satisfaction. Shori managed to pull herself up, staring adoringly up at him. "Okami, you digivolved!" she said softly, "You... You digivolved for... me!" Okami lowered his head. "Climb on." Quickly, Shori scrambled onto the wolf digimon, her legs on either side of his neck. Okami turned and headed back inland, knowing it would be only a matter of time until Shellmon returned for revenge. "You are the one who made me digivolve, Shori," he said, "You were right... I am your partner... and from now on, I'll stick with you." Tears emerged from Shori's eyes. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you, Okami," she cried, "I've never had a friend... like that before. She quickly kissed him between his ears. "Nor have I," Okami admitted, "but it looks like we both have one now... I still don't do heroics but... it looks like I'm going to have to get used to them." For a time, both human and digimon traveled in silence, each one contemplating the events of the past two days. Soon, the sun lowered itself into the sky, standing just over the ocean's sparkling waters. Shori yawned and stretched herself out, using the back of Okami's head like a pillow, but the wolf digimon just kept walking. "Okami," Shori yawned, "Where are we going?" "To where it all began, kid... We're going to the Primary Village."