FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Ark stood completely frozen, unable to even blink much less turn around. Panic coursed through him as he tried to find something to do, should he run or just face whoever it was that seen him? Ark chose the smart thing to do. He turned around and faced whoever had spoken to him. It was Rhiannon.

"It is you! But what were you..." Rhiannon's mouth hung open as she took the situation in fully. It was obvious by Ark's beet red face that they weren't talking to each other, what they were doing was far more intimate than just talking. This was something she'd been more or less aware of from the start of her own journey, many trainers felt very close to their pokémon after spending so much time with them that, they could and usually did experiment for a while. It wasn't illegal or anything, just highly frowned upon by most people.

Rhiannon herself was indifferent towards the whole subject as long as both parties of the relationship felt okay with it. She didn't know if both parties were in this case, since the Terra was now covering herself with her ear's making her expression unreadable.

"I think I got it now. Don't worry I'm not going to act against you as long as your feelings are mutual." Rhiannon smiled as Ark seemed to breathe easier. No doubt relived that she was acting this way about them instead of outright aggression.

Ark took a few deep breath's to calm himself and to buy some time for him to find his voice. All in all this was going well enough , but he wasn't so naive that it couldn't still turn south if Rhiannon got the wrong impression about them. "Thank you ." Ark said once he found his voice.

"So how long?" Rhiannon asked.

"How long what?" Ark replied.

"How long have you been together?"

Ark hesitated and weighed the options. The truth could give her a start, and lying could turn against him at a moments whim if he couldn't keep the lie up. "About a year." Ark finally replied, it was easy to remember and was believable enough. He hated lying but it was probably better than shocking Rhiannon with the truth.

"Had a good way of keeping it secret, I didn't notice the first time I saw you." Rhiannon said. She usually had a knack for telling what people were feeling towards other. The first time she'd seen them they seemed close in a normal trainer with pokémon way, not love or anything just normal companionship. "Is Terra okay?" she gestured to the Lopunny who was still covering herself with her ears.

Terra cautiously unburied herself still concerned about this new presence even though they had met before. She nodded slowly, and kept close to Ark. His presence soothed the concern, enabling her to act like herself again. "I'm fine." She signed.

"Umm... Is that sign language?" Rhiannon inquired.

"Yeah, we've been teaching ourselves it for a few days now." Ark said then translated what Terra had signed.

"I'm glad you are Terra." Rhiannon flashed a quick smile, and then a thought ran through her head. "Why didn't you start a lot sooner with the sign language?"

Ark cursed himself internally. "Well... I really didn't think about it before now. I can read her body language pretty well almost to the point to where it seems like she can talk, so there really wasn't a barrier for us in that aspect." He prayed that the other trainer would buy it.

Rhiannon's looked at him skeptically, Ark knew that she wasn't buying it. "So how long have you really been together?"

Ark was pinned into a corner, the truth was really his only option. "A little under a week." He said quietly.

Rhiannon frowned, she hadn't expected him to be truthful the first time he answered, but she still didn't like it when she was assured that he lied to her. Now she had to figure out how far along they were and if Terra was okay with it. "So if you don't mind me asking have you..." She made a slightly rude gesture with her hands that indicated sex. Ark blushed furiously and Terra looked away making the effort even though nothing could be seen under her fur, both of them interpreting it perfectly.

"N-no we haven't... Not yet anyway." Ark stuttered out.

Rhiannon relaxed a tiny bit. They weren't intimate, but they were planning on it. It was slightly unnerving but at least they were taking their time with everything. Most trainers had rushed into it without thinking about their pokémon, which usually ended up with the pokémon scarred deeply for life. She did believe them though, their reactions assured it "Terra, are you okay with what Ark is doing with you?" Rhiannon said calmly, and without realizing, speaking to the pokémon as if she were speaking to a child.

Aggression flashed on the Lopunny's face but it wasn't aimed at Ark, it was aimed at her. Rhiannon felt ashamed, she knew better than this. All pokémon were intelligent, Oliver her Alakazam was proof. She'd often find him reading a book when she let him out of his pokeball, where he got them or how he knew how to read, she had no idea. She also found him conversing with a great deal of 'Wild' pokémon about Arceus knew what, they weren't simple little conversations either most of them continued for hours on end and sometimes stopping only because the "wild" pokémon was no longer in it's territory.

Terra made a quick hand gesture for 'yes' and made a fierce glance at Rhiannon as if to say 'I dare you to think otherwise'.

Rhiannon was caught off balance by the ferocity. She never assumed that Terra could hold that kind of fierceness in a gaze or even Loppuny in general. Then in a split second Terra resumed her normal appearance.

The group fell silent for a while unable to find anything to say to the other. Rhiannon had all her questions answered truthfully to the best of her knowledge (except the first one), and Ark had no intention on speaking for the time being, so instead started peeling the bark off a few sticks for no reason in particular while Terra rubbed up next to him.

Rhiannon stared, this wasn't making any sense... She normally would have questioned Ark much more about their relationship, until she finally felt that she knew everything about it. But it felt wrong to think that they weren't close, like she would have done some forbidden act by questioning their love.

"Ark." Rhiannon said. "Take care of her... You should cherish what you have, while you have it." She was shocked that she'd chosen those specific words but felt that they were the right thing to say.

She left a little while after that. When she was around a mile away her mind buzzed with questions about the two, she half considered going back and asking them.

"Don't, leave them be." A Chatot perched on a branch said.

"How did you-" Rhainnon started shocked by both the pokémon talking to her and the accuracy of its comment.

The Chatot laughed coldly, interrupting her and sending chills down her spine. "If I told you you'd never believe me. Let's just say for all intents and purposes, I'm their... Guardian...in a way. " Then it quickly flew away before the trainer could get another word in.

~

Terra watched Rhiannon leave worried that she was going to come back again. She liked her, but this experience had left a very bitter taste around the trainer.

"At least she seemed okay with it." Ark said to himself. "You okay Terra?"

Terra nodded still watching the forest where Rhiannon left.

"Let's go see if we can find some berries. I feel a little hungry." Ark suggested trying to find some way for Terra to forget about this. Terra nodded and joined him in his hunt. She could smell some near them. Ark grabbed the pot and Terra lead him to the copse there were multiple berries growing. Ark picked some but stopped when Terra brought her share. It was a nice tasting and nutritious dinner compared to last nights. When they finished Terra took some of the leftovers and left some for Ark. He nodded understanding what she wanted. She guided him over to what looked like some fertile soil and helped him dig a small hole.

"Now follow me." She dropped her berries into the hole she dug and folded the earth back over them, Ark followed her every move with his own hole in front of him.

"Give back to the earth from which you take." Terra said and Ark repeated it overjoyed that he could share another thing with his love.

With full bellies, they both headed back to camp, settled down, and tried continuing where they left off when Rhiannon showed up, but the mood had dissolved. They finished with a hug and slept quickly after that, both wishing Rhiannon wouldn't have shown up so they could have acted on their feelings.

~

_A small glade surrounded Terra, she felt as if she had everything she ever wanted. Ark stood by a tree in the center. She ran over to him as fast as her feet could handle, the soft wind from her movements made her ears flutter as she ran. She almost reached him when he suddenly disappeared. Left alone she felt sadness grip her, she wept for what seemed like an eternity until someone touched her ear so lightly it felt more like the soft caress of a breeze. Turning around she found Ark who seemed to glow with an internal light. His clothing was gone revealing the body she had wanted to see. His face was one of pure kindness. She searched him but found that only his chest was clearly visible the rest of him was fuzzy and unreadable. He reached a hand over and stroked her ear.

"I love you so much my little Lopunny." Ark continued to stroke her ear, each pass made her desire him more._

~

Terra woke as she felt Ark shift in his sleep. She stroked his back with her paw relived that it had just been a dream, even though it had ended well.

Ark mumbled something in his sleep. Making Terra wonder what he was dreaming about, even hazarding a guess it was something similar to her own. He woke soon after; his first sight was the Lopunny of his dreams. "Good morning." he yawned, used to the fact that she always woke before him.

Terra continued to stoke his back much like he had done with her ear. Somehow she still needed to be certain he was there and not going to vanish in an instant like how her dream had went.

Ark just lay there taking it all not trying to make her stop. He loved the little treatment he was getting, though it was starting to turn more than just friendly touching. He wanted to let her continue it for as long as she needed but knew that if she did, it would turn into more than this. He sighed reluctant to get up as Terra made another stroke. How easy it would be if he were any other person to take advantage of this. He knew though they needed another encounter like the one they had yesterday for them to do anything besides this.

"Terra you have the paws of an angel." Ark whispered quietly thinking she couldn't hear him. She did and quickly stopped much to Arks displeasure.

"Please don't stop Terra." Ark pleaded.

"I...I think we need to start our day." Terra responded, somehow she felt ashamed that she had stroked Ark's back considering how closely it resembled stroking ears. In all honesty she felt so strongly about her mate that she also wanted their first time being intimate to be something so special, and right now wasn't the time.

Ark sighed, and then started packing up the campsite to begin the day.

The day passed much as the one before. Ark still couldn't find a pokémon to come with them and nearly gave up yet again in irritation, and Terra had a harder time trying to comfort him. It barely seemed to make much sense to Ark that they should even try anymore, but he kept at it, determination overriding all other feelings.

That evening Ark remembered that Adair said he could come back after a day or so if he had any more questions. The fact Adair seemed desperate when he said that suggested he actually wanted him to come back so he could take a 'break' from Mist.

"Do you think we should go back to Adair's house?" Ark asked somewhat grumpily.

"Let's go." Terra signed. She felt like it would be a nice relaxant for her trainer to get away from the forest at least for a little while.

"That reminds me. We need to get back on our lessons." Ark half-signed.

Terra nodded enthusiastically she needed more signs in her vocabulary, and Ark needed to practice more.

"Okay lessons now, Adair tomorrow." Ark smiled, feeling better.

They practiced by the light of the fire. Several more descriptive words were added to their vocabulary before they felt too tired.

~

They started their day by heading towards Eterna city passing through the forest which seemed to guide them there. Everywhere they went pokémon of all species were busy procreating. Which in turn reminded Ark of Terra's upcoming heat.

-Heat...- Ark mulled over the word several times. -Why so soon? Why couldn't she go into heat a month from now?- Ark knew he was just wanting to postpone the inevitable. Like Mist said it was not if they would mate but when would they mate. He was going to have to take this as it was, though he doubted either party would enjoy it. -At least its only for two days.- He reminded himself and focused back on heading towards Eterna.

They encountered several trainers on their way to Eterna. Some even recognizing them from when they observed him battling Adair. Ark hadn't even noticed anyone was watching him during it and was assured that was for the best. The few trainers that observed his battle challenged him in an effort to see if the lopunny did truly have that kind of power.

Terra bounced around during the fights taunting the opposing pokémon and easily dodging their angry and unfocused attacks, and countering with her own arsenal. More often than not Terra swept away the opposing team with no more than a few blows. Ark finally started placing wager's on her which the other trainers eagerly accepted, each one sure that they could beat the single lopunny with their own team.

The money was nowhere near what Adair had given him after their fight, more in the tens and hundreds range depending on how full the trainer's account's were. Ark realized that he would need to budget his spending in order to cope with the flow of cash. Much of what he was used to would have to go, mainly desserts and non-emergency medicinal items. Potions weren't really needed because of how close he was to town, pokécenter's were cheap alternatives to them lacking only the portable convince of a potion.

-Speaking of potions.- Ark mumbled in his mind, bringing out one and giving Terra a quick treatment on a cut which used around half the potion. She thanked him with a quick kiss. He returned it with one of his own, and set the potion bottle back into his bag.

"All right Nincada she's open. Use Fury Cutter!" The opposing trainer called, snapping Ark back into reality and reminded him that he was in a battle. His opponent was a 'Bug Master' as he so proudly claimed, and not a bad one either by Ark's minimal point of view. This was his last pokémon out of the three he'd brought and was unfortunately for Terra, the strongest one of the group. Especially since the trainer was constantly using 'Fury cutter' which close to doubled in power each time it hit.

"If I must..." The Nincada said faintly, preparing for another assault, it's word's lost on its trainer but interpreted perfectly by Ark. It swiped at Terra who failed to doge it in time. A gash deeper than the last ran down her chest.

Ark winced as the pain came over the link, How Terra endure this kind of pain was beyond him. Ark fumbled around for another potion but found that he'd nearly exhausted his entire supply. He cursed himself for not rationing them out. "Terra I only have the half potion left, do you think you can finish this without a full one?" Ark asked carefully in English, making the effort to not speak in pokémon tongue.

Terra shook her head, not wanting to risk another attack of the same intensity without healing first. Ark surrendered, giving the fight and the wager to the other trainer, he'd bet more than he should have on this one, half of his daily earnings, which was around seven hundred yen.

"Good job Nincada." The trainer said warmly. The Nincada shrugged, awaiting its trainer to call it back.

They left after the wager had been completed. Terra felt ashamed that she had lost especially to a weaker pokémon.

"Terra are you okay?" Ark asked his voice comforting her like always.

"I'm fine" Terra signed not wanting to let him hear her voice which would probably give away how ashamed she was.

"It's nothing to be ashamed about. You've fought around a dozen trainers in a row with hardly any time to rest. We were bound to lose sooner or later, no-one can work as hard as you did forever." Ark said feeling her raw shame.

Terra looked down not willing to respond.

"Terra don't beat yourself up over this. If anyone should do that it's me, I should have already captured another member for our group so that you could take a break every now and then, I should have bought more healing things, and not accepted every single challenge that was thrown at us. Its my fault that you lost... My fault for being so ill-prepared and inconsiderate. Can you forgive me?" Ark pleaded.

Terra still walked with Ark blaming herself for this failure, but her trainers words rung true. Terra had pushed herself to her limit and Ark kept going afterwards. Not thinking about her fatigue, not that she really felt any since all the adrenaline was still coursing through her, but she did know that she would be exhausted when it stopped. "I think we need to forgive each other." Terra mumbled. "I forgive you Ark, now can you forgive me in my failings?"

Ark paused -She still believes that this was partly her fault...- "Yes I'll always forgive you no matter what happens." He felt obligated to say it, even if it was only a half hearted attempt since he still believed that this was his fault. He took a close look at Terra's injured chest, It was pretty nasty looking, but the blood that had accumulated on it congealed and hardened, sealing the wound, and from what Ark could tell over their link it was more of a dull ache than a sharp piercing pain. "I think we should head towards a pokécenter and get this taken care of." Ark said calmly. Taking out the half potion and spraying it across the entire wound. It appeared as if it would work, but sadly it stopped working before any serious mending could be done.

With that they got up and resumed their march towards Eterna, Some more trainers appeared as if they would challenge them but stopped when they saw Terra's injury. Ark was thankful that they had the courtesy to stand back and let him through without resistance.

Time faded away as the continued weaving their way through the trees, But soon enough Eterna flowed out in front of them. This time however it was relatively quiet, not the bustling city they had seen on their first day here. The bright red roof of a pokécenter showed up clearly against the pale white of most buildings.

"Welcome to Eterna city pokémon center. How may I help you?" The nurse said, she knew exactly what was wrong with the lopunny and was just following protocol.

"We... had a rather bad battle. Could you please heal Terra?" Ark asked, gesturing towards the lopunny next to him.

"Hmm..." The nurse examined the lopunny's injury's carefully. "I don't see why not, it looks worse than it is, that isn't to say its not a injury because lopunny tend to rely on their ears a lot. Next time though, if you could clean the wound before you bring her here. Its important that you always clean the wound even if it is rather uncomfortable." Ark nodded. "Well Terra is it? If you would come with me, we'll get you healed up in a min-" The nurse stopped as the lopunny began making signs to her trainer. -Sign language... Curious...-

"Umm could I come with her? She doesn't want to be left alone. I mean not that you won't be with her, I mean she doesn't like being away from me for very long." Ark realized he was making a fool out of himself, but he was merely asking what Terra wanted.

"Well it's against regulations... but I don't think they'll care too much if it helps her remain calm while we patch her up." The nurse said with a smile.

"Thank you very much." Ark responded politely.

The nurse guided them through the door to the medical area. A bright chrome sheen seemed to coat everything. Everything looked as if it was so clean it repelled dirt. A small and most likely uncomfortable bed stood in the center with a pokémon sitting on it.

"What do we have here? Hmm laceration... not cleaned... most likely not disinfected...Looks as if you used a potion on it after the blood hardened... Going to quite a chore cleaning up after you miss lopunny." The Chansey laughed, not really minding any of it. "And you... Mister trainer. I hope this is the first and only time you ever bring her here like this. You should take better care of your partner. It's not every day that a trainer receives a gift."

"Am I that obvious?" Ark spoke in pokémon's tongue.

The Chansey chuckled. "No your not, just heard some things from some other patients of mine, pieced out most of it from them. Helps that I went through the same thing too." The Chansey glanced dreamily at the nurse behind them whom Ark forgot was there.

The nurse flashed a loving smile. "Well now that we have some common ground shall we exchange introductions, or shall I call you both patients for the rest of your lives?"

They all briefly but pleasantly exchanged introductions.

"Okay I guess I didn't really think that... Your kind of relationship worked with the gift. No offence intended nurse Lily." Ark prayed that it wouldn't be taken the wrong way, he did support homosexual relationships.

Lily smiled. "Ark, whether you support them or not you must constantly remind yourself that love can exist between anything. Sage and I are merely another example of that. Same sex relationships can receive the gift just as easily as hetero ones. Love holds no bounds so the gift holds no bounds, since the gift is another way to show the other person how much they mean to you. Though I must admit that being able to speak to patients is a very nice aspect of it."

Sage spoke up. "Yes it is rather nice that you can understand them, and me in more ways than one." The Chansey paused for a second thinking something over. "But lets not waste anymore time on idle chit-chat, we have a lopunny to take care of."

"Yes I'd almost forgotten, such a nice thing to find another receiver, it feels like we're brother and sister." Lily laughed, and fetched some sterile cloths and alcohol based cleaning liquid. "This will sting quite a lot Terra."

Terra nodded and braced herself, Ark sensing this gripped her hand softly while think over the nurses brief description of the gift.

Sage brought the soaked cloth to Terra's chest dabbing at the wound. The lopunny winced but otherwise remained calm, she also gripped Ark's hand tightly as if it could help with some of the pain. Terra thanked the high heavens she'd been given a warning, that way she could divert her attention away from Ark effectively concealing most of her pain. Still though it was intense to the point she felt like she would pass out from the raw pain.

"Lucky that it's not too deep, no need for stitches. Some high grade potion could take care of this in an instant...Which it looks like you used after the wound sealed itself... A bad idea Ark. It not only is largely ineffective, It hurts more because some of the repaired flesh gets stuck to the crusted blood." Lily said nonchalantly, focusing her complete attention to the injured pokémon.

This was her life, seeing people and pokémon in the worst shape possible and it was up to her to heal them. Depressing work, but someone had to do it, and unfortunately for her it fell upon her. Still the brief looks of limitless thanks from the trainers kept her going, she wouldn't be able to cope with it otherwise even with Sage comforting her every step of the way.

"At time's I really hate this job Ark. Somehow it hurts worse to know a pokémon is in pain and that you can do nothing about it besides giving some pain relievers. Even this hurts me... It hurts knowing I'm causing pain not only to Terra but to you too." Lily kept focused on Terra, dabbing the rest of the caked blood away and sure enough flecks of skin dropped with it. Ark winced as the pain came through clearly. He accepted it since he was to blame from the additional pain Terra was feeling.

She then grabbed a antiseptic cream and applied it to the wound before finally covering it with a bandage. "Done... Stay out of battles until around noon tomorrow." Lily half heartedly smiled.

"Thank you... So much nurse Lily." Ark tried to implant his endless gratitude for this service into his words.

"Don't worry about it... oh and they're won't be a charge for the services today. Your thanks was enough..."

"Really? Thank you again." Ark said grateful once again.

"Just be careful from now on." Sage smiled, shooing them out the door. "Oh and don't hesitate to drop by for just a visit. What you did helped Lily a lot more than I think you can realize." The Chansey paused in thought, spun around, and marched back through the door gleefully leaving Ark and Terra confused but thankful that they had helped someway.