FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"I'm sending you two to the Oasis Isles. We have had reports of some treasures hidden there, and we need you two to investigate," Star said pointing to a large map on his wall beside his desk. "If you find nothing by sunset, return back and give me your report." Star was glad that he had the liberty to give the jobs out to the teams. Nero never said which S-Rank job to give them, and this job had the potential to be one of the easiest there is.

The duo sat stonewalled on Star's expensive chairs listening to Star and his directions. Scarlet was fiddling around with her tail, not paying much attention at all. The Riolu was Ace, wearing a black bandana around his neck and a spiked collar at the base of his tail with a matching band around his left paw. The Shinx was Tara, an approachable female with a cute charm around her neck with a purple stone at the end that matched the tips of her spiky hairdo, along with a silk ribbon around her left paw as if it were hiding something.

"And, you have one caveat," he said turning around to bop Scarlet on the head to keep her paying attention. "This is our new recruit, and Nero wants to prove her worth." Scarlet let out a tiny wave and smiled, Tara waving back in a similar fashion as Ace huffed a bit. "This is Scarlet, and she will be heading out with you on this exploration," Star said ruffling her tuft. Ace raised an eyebrow, peering with his burnt orange eyes. Ace was a bit interested on Star's treatment to the new recruit. Normally Star was not very welcoming to anyone new, and usually stuck them with a team that had a similar skill level as them, but he jumped straight to them and stuck them with an inexperienced fox? That was thought suspicious on its own. Maybe Star had some sort of relationship that Ace hadn't realized with the vixen.

"Any more questions?" Star asked as Tara began to set up her own explorer bag. "Well, best be heading off as soon as you can, Oasis Isles are quite a walk," he said whispering something into Scarlet's ear afterward as she nodded and hopped out of the room.

When she was out of earshot, Star leaned in close to Team Somber. He spoke in a cold and very threatening tone."If that Zorua doesn't come back to this guild by sunset, you better think twice about coming back too." Both let out a synchronized gulp and nodded. Star opened the door wide to let them through and they left in a hurry. Scarlet was conversing with some other lower level recruits as Tara tapped her on the shoulder. They talked for a bit before they all started to head out, Scarlet leading the way. They left the guild and headed out to the south gate.

Ace nudged Tara and mumbled to her. "So, you as suspicious about this girl as I am?"

Tara gave him an odd look and mumbled back. "Why should I be? She seems nice."

"How do you explain what happened earlier? Star petting her, and that death threat. I think Star and Scarlet have something going on," he said.

"Well why don't you ask her?" she said flatly. Ace scrunched his face and grumbled and continued to walk in silence to the location. It was still early in the morning so they had plenty of time to get there and search until sunset. Maybe Star's threat was unneeded after all.

~~~

It was a silent and awkward trip to the Oasis Isles. Scarlet and Tara made some small talk but Ace kept his distance, trying to figure out what her deal was. He was stubborn no doubt, and when something peaks his interests, he tends to figure it out. Tara never really paid any mind to these sort of things. In truth, she really enjoyed the new partner, talking to Ace gets mundane after a while. At least she got some information on her personality from her talks. Scarlet hadn't mentioned much, but she sure had a lot to say about them. Her stories were captivating for the most part, so Tara was never really annoyed. She was only worried about Ace. He took everything seriously, especially the missions and jobs. She had a hunch these two would be at each others necks.

Around noon, the trail that the trio had been traveling on slowly turned to sand, and the path branched into a wide array of directions. After a brief look at the map, They headed down the path furthest to the left and picked up where they left off. As the sun beat down on the dry terrain, Tara and Ace kept hardened faces as beads of sweat dripped down their faces. Scarlet wasn't used to this heat, and was panting and sweating in only a few minutes. She never realized how cool and humid the forest really was, and being the one with the most fur on her, she quickly grew fatigued and sluggish. Ace raised an eyebrow at her, huffing as he kept his pace. He knew she wasn't cut out for this. The good news was that Oasis Isles weren't very far from the path they took, and, as the name confirms, had many prosperous oasis' to enjoy. Or one, really large oasis in fact. It was about the size of a small town and was dotted with mini islands and plant life in the middle. Some stereotypical palm trees fenced the crystal blue water as well. Many pokemon are surprised that the place isn't as well known as it should be. They assume that they don't want to talk all the way in the desert to see it. Their loss. At least it made sense that there could be treasure hidden in these dunes, it was in a place that on one visited very often, but yet, also in plain sight. The trio gazed upon the amazing sight, Ace giving a weak smile, Tara 'ooh'ing at the serenity, and Scarlet's eyes sparkling like the sparkling water. Before Ace could speak, Scarlet and Tara jumped into the water, the heat from the sun soon leaving their now matted fur as they swam in delight. They both rose for air and splashed each other, laughing. Ace tried to get their attention, clearing his throat, even calling their names as they played, but he never got a response. He sighed and shrugged. If you cant beat them, join them.

After a good hour of "searching" The three were resting on one of the islands in the middle of the pool. Scarlet took the liberty to pick some berries off the branches of one of the palm trees, and left a hearty pile at the feet of the trio as they munched. Ace was seated next to Scarlet as Tara walked away to dip her paws into the lake once more. Ace fiddled with his paws for a bit before turning to Scarlet.

"So...Scarlet, why exactly did you join the guild?" he asked, hoping not to sound rude.

"Well Uncle Star said I could of course!" she beamed, popping a berry into her mouth.

"Uncle Star?"

Scarlet waited until she swallowed her food, Star said it was polite or something of the sort. "Yeah, I gave him a nickname, I could give you one too if you want," she said, tapping her chin thinking of something.

"Erm...thats not what I meant. I meant why?" Ace asked.

"Well, its because he takes care of me, and he's my friend. Why should I not give my friends nicknames?"

Ace raised an eyebrow again, and pushed another question. "Takes care of you? What do you mean?"

She laid back and smiled. "Well, there was this fire near my home, and it got destroyed. Star found me and brought me to his home and took care of me until he found my parents. He trained me to be an explorer last week!" she said, giggling.

"That explains why he was gone for so long..." Ace mumbled to himself. He wasn't concerned about that though. He tried to remember any fires that happened recently, but the only one that came up was the one at Flaming Dusk. She must have been from there, but there were no survivors from the blaze. He remembered her mentioning her parents. Had she not been given the news? Maybe Star didn't want to tell her, want her to know.

"Well Scarlet...um..." Ace stuttered, flustering over whether he should tell her about the fire. She turned her head toward him and flicked her ear

. "What is it?" she asked. Ace scratched his head awkwardly looking for the right words to say but nothing really came out.

"That fire...you know that-" Ace's sentence was cut off when a large spark of yellow electricity bolted from the other side of the small island. The two got up but were promptly knocked back down as Tara was hurled into them. The group each rose up to look around; they were not alone. Three Kabutops slowly rose from the sand and grinded their claws together menacingly. The three each took a fighting stance, covering each others backs as the fossil-pokemon inched towards them. Suddenly, they all stopped and slashed at the ground, Ace, Tara, and Scarlet gave their own quizzical look until the ground underneath them collapsed and they fell in a flurry of sand into the pit that had formed. They could hear the laughter of their assailants fade away as they fell and fell. Guess Star won't be needing to kick them out himself.

Team Somber slowly rose out of the water, coughing and clutching their chests. They had hit a deep pool, hard. At least it was better than dying. Scarlet was the last to get out, coughing up water as Tara squeezed the water out of her fur and Ace sighing scouting the area.

"Well...guess all that searching paid off," Tara said. It seemed no matter what the situation, she always found a good time to joke. Scarlet let out a childish giggle as she regained her senses. The area was dim to say the least, the only light coming from the new hole in the ceiling. The walls of the cave were made of soft sandstone, and didn't seem very sturdy. Ace felt like they could collapse any minute, but he was probably just being paranoid.

"Why would they trap us in here instead of taking us on themselves?" Ace thought aloud.

Scarlet sat next to him. "Maybe they recognized you."

Ace stifled a smile, she was giving them more credit than they're worth.

"The kid is not wrong," a voice echoed from turned around and charged an attack as Ace and Scarlet ran up for a better view. A Bisharp slowly trotted out from the shadows across from the pond where the team were situated. Scarlet let out a high pitched growl and stood in an attacking stance as Ace walked a few paces up.

"Who are you?" he asked. Tara squinted, she felt like she should know him.

After a moment of thought, it hit her. "Ace, watch out! He's a fugitive, he's dangerous!" The Shinx remembered all those town meetings where a certain Bisharp was brought up time and time again. Looks like they found him.

"How long have you been hiding here?" Tara asked before Ace could step back a bit.

"That's none of your concern, runt," quickly retorted the Bisharp. "What matters now is that you know too much and must be taken care of."

Ace wanted to go on a rant about how it wasn't even their fault that they got stuck in the situation, but he didn't want to rile them up enough than they already have been. At least Ace had the type advantage, a couple Force Palms and he would be as good as gone. He wasn't sure how to use Scarlet though. He could usually tell Tara to do some sort of distraction or use a move that works just as well, but he had no idea of the vixen's skills. Looks like he had to wing it; he shuddered at the thought. He stared down his opponent but he soon vanished. Ace let out a gasp and began to charge up a Force Palm, Tara a Fire Fang. Scarlet gulped and shuddered. She had never been in a real fight before, only spars with Star, and he went easy on her. She began to shiver, her legs buckling a bit. She almost wanted to sneak off into the shadows and watch, but she couldn't. Star was counting on her to do this mission, she had to do it for him. She swallowed her pride and used Double Team, placing a Zorua at both of her teammates. Ace looked around cautiously, he knew he was close. Just then, the Bisharp uppercutted him into the air and punched him a good distance away from his group. Tara jumped and unleashed her Fire Fang onto the steel-pokemon's shoulder, landing a direct hit, but not phasing him much. He threw her off and hit her with a Night Slash, knocking her back a distance as well as giving her a decent cut along her side. The Zorua clones both hopped at him with Shadow Claws. They wouldn't do much, but she had an idea. The Bisharp smashed one of the clones with a hefty kick as the other one grazed his face. He grabbed that one and threw it into the water. Ace flanked him from behind with a charged Force Palm with Tara not to far behind with another Fire Fang. The Bisharp scraped his arms together, as waves of grey sound smashed into their ears. Metal Sound: It sounded like nails on a chalkboard, or metal scraping together. Ace and Tara cringed and fell to their knees, holding their ears and negating their attacks. The Bisharp slowly walked over and grabbed Ace by the throat, his free arm forming into a sharper and shinier blade. Ace gulped, and tried to release his grip on him. The last thing he wanted to be hit with was that Guillotine. Ace began to charge up another Force Palm to try to hit him, hoping that he would let go. The Bisharp saw this and swung his arm. Ace closed his eyes and braced for impact. A few seconds passed, nothing had hit him. He opened his eyes and gasped again. He saw Scarlet, covered in dirt and sand, headbutting the Bisharp in the chin. The Bisharp had his eyes clenched as he attempted to keep his ground, but failed and stumbled back, dropping Ace with a thud, and falling into the pool in the center of the room. Ace panted for a second, taking a knee to catch his breath. Scarlet was standing there, panting with a grin that stretched from cheek to cheek. Her first fight, her first mission, her first outlaw. She was going to savor this moment, at least until the adrenaline wore off. Maybe Ace was wrong about her, perhaps Star owes an apology as well.

~~~

Star wasn't entirely sure how the three managed to bring the outlaw all the way back to Presidium before dinner time; Steel-types were notoriously heavy, and Team Somber wasn't exactly champions of heavy-lifting. Nevertheless, they managed to bring back a wanted outlaw, and the cash reward was never a bad thing. The only other pokemon that was more surprised to see them come back was Nero. He had faith in Ace and Tara sure, but Scarlet? He always had bets like this with Star, and it was very seldom that he lost in one, and the look on his face was priceless. Perhaps Nero owes him an apology. After gloating about it for a while, Nero went through the entire graduation ceremony just for her. All the guild stood and watched as she was rewarded her own explorer badge. But that wasn't really what he cared about. It was obvious now that he only wanted Scarlet to be happy, and happy she was. She smiled the entire ceremony, and had a grin that could warm the hearts of anyone that gazed upon the petite vixen. She couldn't stop bouncing around his office telling the Houndoom all about the adventure, even the boring parts. Ace hoped that she wouldn't blurt out anything about goofing off in the oasis though, he had a perfect record to maintain. Star listened and listened to every word she said, every detail and gesture. He felt warm, he felt happy. He felt like he actually did something good in his life for once. He tightened the scarf around his neck and pulled in the fox for a hug.

"Welcome to the guild."

After that, Scarlet's fate was sealed as a permanent member of Team Somber, and hopefully for many years to come. Every day, she was sent out with Ace and Tara on new missions from the depths of the sea, to glaciers high and mighty. Star was still concerned about her coming back, he always worried for her when she was gone. He felt like more than a guardian. He felt like a parent, it felt good in fact. He was glad that he had someone to worry for, to care for. He would even go as far to say that he loved her just as any parent would. And it felt just as good to know that someone is feeling the same for him. Seeing her bouncing around the gild after another successful mission always lifted his spirits, and the talks they had of said missions before she left for bed never seemed to bore him. Everyone loved the charismatic little fox. The guild, the town, everyone knew who she was. A long winded story on how great her explorations were going was as modest as she got. And Star never seemed to mind one bit. Time passed. The guild kept to its normal duties, never stopping. Scarlet and Team Somber continued to grow in the ranks of the guild. More difficult missions being set up for them, Star-rank missions (not named after Star of course; he wasn't that vain). Two, three, even four star missions being swept away by the trio. They seemed unstoppable, and they showed it too. Scarlet became more grizzled, noticeably more bigger than when she started. That never stopped anyone from being friendly with her though, maybe it was her soft pink eyes, not that it matters. Nero was especially enjoying the massive cash flow they were towing in each week. The guild's treasury was increased by 30% in the first month alone! Star knew she would make a fine explorer. She knew this too. At first, she asked many questions, usually asking Star if he found her family yet or not. After two weeks or so, she just stopped asking. Star thought either she found out the truth, or just flat out forgot about it. He was hoping the latter. Maybe all the exploring pushed her old memories deep into her subconscious, and repressed them for good. It sounded cruel, but it was for her own good. For once, everything was great for the veteran explorer. It always was something that was keeping him down, whether it be: paperwork, a job he did, internal problems in the guild, or the fact that he had a long day. For the first time, longer than Star could remember, he could finally sit back, and relax for a bit. Just a bit.