FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The town of Starborn Valley was just waking up.

It was a small town, but not extraordinarily so, located a ways northward of Pastoria City in southeastern Sinnoh. For the most part, it was considered a great place to raise a family, with low crime and great schools, as well as fairly close proximity to Pastoria.

In the middle of town, there was a central square, which was, in reality, shaped more like a triangle. A library, a bank, a coffee shop, and more were contained within it. There was also a small line of businesses along one side of the main road.

And, not too far away from the central square, there was an old house, a fairly large one, with a decent backyard to match. It is inside this house that our story begins.

On the second floor, in a canopy bed, there was a young Lucario still asleep. That wouldn't be the case for long, however.

Next to his bedside, an iPhone and laptop were charging. In addition, a small yellow buff, an article of clothing that could be worn in several different ways, was sitting on the bedside table. It had a wavelike pattern of white lines, as well as a darker pattern in the shape of a rope, the type that was used on sailing vessels.

The sun rose over Starborn Valley, and started illuminating Finnegan Street, the street on which this Lucario lived.

Lucas Snow did not stir.

"Lucas!" called a voice from outside his door.

The white-furred Lucario went from what had been sawing logs to being instantly awake. He looked around the room, at first slightly confused as to what had caused him to wake up so abruptly.

Then he remembered. A voice.

"Get up, brother, or you're going to miss school. And don't forget, it's your first day of senior year! It's a big day today".

"Coming, Katie!" Lucas called back.

"Okay. You'd better be quick, Lucas".

The white-furred Lucario rolled over and looked at the time. 6:57.

Shit! I overslept! Now I'm not going to have time to eat breakfast. At least, not as much of it.

It was true; it generally took at least half an hour to get to school, which started at 7:45 in the morning. That meant that he had to leave at quarter after seven at the latest.

But he wasn't going to worry about that right yet. He decided to skip brushing his teeth. What was the point when you were just going to eat anyways?

He quickly dressed, putting on his favorite outfit - a red T-shirt and navy blue gym pants. He always wore long pants, no matter the weather. Then, he bolted downstairs, where his mother was piling eggs and toast onto two plates.

"Eat up, guys" she said, passing Lucas one of the plates. Looking over, the white-furred Lucario saw that his father was gone.

That wasn't surprising. Lucas's father, a lawyer, had a very demanding job, and was frequently out of the house when he came down to eat breakfast. Oftentimes, he would go on business trips and be away for days at a time.

"Did you oversleep, Lucas?" his mother asked him eventually, while her son was shovelling food into his mouth. "You usually come down sooner than this".

The white-furred Lucario nodded. It was true; he should have awoken with his alarm clock, but, for whatever reason, he hadn't.

Oh, well. It wasn't as though it was going to matter too much; he was going to make it to school on time regardless. It just meant that he was going to have a little less time to say goodbye.

Even though Katie was three years younger than Lucas, she was only two grades behind him in school. The reason for that was rather complicated, and one that the reader doesn't really need to know.

"All right" said Mrs. Snow, taking the plate away from her son as soon as he was done eating. "You'd better head out, guys. You don't want to be late for the first day of school!"

Indeed, they didn't. It was Tuesday, September 4, 201X, and the beginning of Lucas's senior year. Not a day he wanted to miss, not at all.

After each giving their mother a goodbye hug, they left the house, each taking a different direction towards Ketchum High.

Now, it wasn't as though Lucas was embarrassed to be seen near his sister. On the contrary, he loved her dearly, and always wanted the best for her. It was just that he didn't want to draw attention to the obvious.

You see, Lucas was the only white-furred Lucario in his family. All of the other members, including his father, had the typical color of fur - blue.

Nobody knew how or why his fur had changed color. According to his parents, it had happened when he was six weeks old, but he obviously had no memory of it. It might have been a mysterious illness, but nobody really knew.

It was a long way to the school, so Lucas walked fairly quickly. About halfway there, he passed a large brick house, one he recognized quite a bit.

It's her house.

Lucas wasn't too interested in girls; he was the first to admit that. Whenever he had interactions with members of the opposite sex, he tended to put his foot in his mouth. Even with other boys, he was often socially awkward, and not just because of his fur color.

At this house lived Jessica Grafton, a female Zoroark who also attended Ketchum High School in Starborn Valley. She was very friendly, and Lucas also thought she was quite attractive. However, he didn't know if he would have the courage to ask...

I'm going to have to do it eventually, he thought to himself. I'm not going to be able to hold back forever. Eventually, I'm going to let her know, and...

And then what? It wasn't as though it was guaranteed that Jessica would accept the fact that he had a crush on her. Indeed, it was very possible that she'd think he was a pervert, that he was only seeking her because he wanted to get into her pants, etc.

Just then, the door to the Grafton household opened, and out walked Jessica.

The Zoroark was looking just as beautiful as usual. She had those fiery red earrings on, as well as a yellow shirt and green pants. Essentially, she was dressed like a traffic light.

Jessica looked around for a few seconds, and then she looked down at the white-furred Lucario, who was standing there, frozen like a block of ice.

"Hey, Lucas" she said.

The Lucario smiled. "Morning, Jessica".

"Looking forward to our first day of school?" Jessica asked him.

I can't believe this! Our conversation is actually going WELL.

"Yeah, I am" Lucas replied. Then, against his better judgment, he said, "Want to walk to school together".

"I'd be honored" the Zoroark said.

Jessica swung her backpack back over her shoulder and headed down her front walk to meet Lucas, who was still standing there, as still as a statue.

The two of them walked the rest of the way to school, occasionally making small talk about their summers and what had been going on. Jessica had been a lifeguard at a local day camp, a job that Lucas could not imagine doing. Having other people's lives in your hands...that just sounded pretty overwhelming to him.

Lucas hadn't had a summer job. He'd mostly spent his days talking to his friends on Discord, sometimes going to the local coffee shop in order to do so and meet new people. Even though he was socially awkward in real life, he loved meeting new people online.

Eventually, they reached the building. Ketchum High School stood before them, a behemoth of a structure that consisted of the school building, a soccer field, a baseball field, and a track.

After consulting their schedules in order to see what classes they would have, the two of them bade goodbye to each other. Little did they know, they would be meeting a lot over the course of the year...