FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

I awoke with a start, throwing myself into a sitting position. My face was covered in a cold sweat as I stared around my dark room, panting. The small, luminous alarm clock on my bedside table read 2:30 in the morning. I sighed, letting myself fall back against the bed. Suddenly, a shape next to me shifted, and I learned I wasn't alone in my bed.

I nearly screamed, having to clamp my mouth shut with my hands to prevent myself from doing so. I slowly leaned over the shape to get a better look at what it was. I gasped softly upon discovering that Aluxes had fallen asleep beside me. Tears of gratitude began welling up at the corners of my eyes as I realized he had kept his word. I wiped the tears away and again laid down, staring up at the ceiling.

************

I slowly regained consciousness, the sounds of birds chirping helping to speed up the process. I groggily rolled out of bed, rubbing my eyes as they adjusted to the light. Turning back to my bed, I saw that it was empty, no sign that anyone had been on the half I hadn't slept on. I stood there for a moment, frozen, remembering earlier in the morning when I had noticed him in bed beside me.

I took off out my bedroom door, calling his name and throwing open every door I came across. I couldn't find him anywhere upstairs, so I took the search downstairs. The search still yielded no results, and when I had come to the last room I hadn't been in, the living room, I came to the conclusion that he wasn't here.

I collapsed to my knees, tears running down my face. Why was I getting so upset over this? My memory of yesterday had obviously been influenced by a dream, nothing in my life has ever been that good. My teacher had even said that it was near impossible for a Gardevoir to be anywhere near this town. I had no reason to be on the floor crying, yet there I was, and when the tears had run dry I laid down on my side and sobbed.

I laid there for almost an hour, unwilling to move. My stomach was growling at me, but I ignored it. My face was turned towards our sliding glass door leading out into the backyard. Our backyard was mostly grass, with a few trees for shade. We had a concrete section directly in front of the door, upon which sat three white patio chairs and a table. On the other side sat the grill, which we haven't used since some time last year. Our backyard was completely fenced in, and extended for quite a distance. Past the fence was a large field, extending all the way out to the hills on the horizon.

The hunger pains in my stomach were almost unbearable by now. I slowly pushed myself up and stood, swaying momentarily. I trudged off through the doorway into the kitchen. Our kitchen was fairly large, counters running the length of the wall to the left of the doorway. The fridge was down at the end, along with the stove and various other appliances. There was an island out in front of the counters, which held the sink and dish washer. Directly in front of the doorway was the dining area, a large redwood table surrounded by chairs rested here.

Twenty minutes later, I was seated at my desk, sandwich in hand as I perused the list of pokemon in a large encyclopedia I had pulled from my collection of books. I found the entry's page I was looking for, flipped to it, and began reading thus:

_Name: Gardevoir

Type: Psychic

Height: 5'01" - 5'06"

Weight: 100 - 115 lbs.

National Pokedex Number: 282

Info: This pokemon is known to live mainly in groups of itself, Kirlia (National Pokedex Number 281), and Ralts (National Pokedex Number 280), usually in forests. This pokemon is very compassionate, having evolved from Ralts, who can easily read human emotions, and Kirlia, who is highly perceptive of its trainer's feelings. If a Gardevoir shares a strong enough bond with its trainer, it will unconditionally protect them, even at the cost of its own life. Its psychic abilities far exceed many other types of psychic pokemon, including the ability to see into the future and telekinesis, its power comparable to that of Mewtwo (National Pokedex Number 150). There is a theory that it may become capable of human speech when around humans for extended periods of time, but this has not been tested._

The entry kept going to mention methods of breeding and training, along with tips on feeding. I shut the book, still munching on my sandwich. None of the facts in there seemed to contradict what I thought happened yesterday. I wistfully stared through the window in front of me, finishing off the sandwich in a few bites.

I sat, staring out the window, thinking. It didn't make any sense that he would just leave after telling me that he had taken an interest in me. He also promised that he would stay.

Not wanting to invoke yet more tears, I decided to take a walk to help me forget about him. I grabbed a jacket from my closet and headed downstairs, slipping on my shoes at the front door and traveling down the path through the front yard out into the forest on the other side of the road.

The small amount of sunlight that seeped through the canopy of leaves and the wall of trees behind me made the forest unusually dark for it being only about three in the afternoon. I forged my way through endless branches and bushes, trying to find the path I had used only about two days ago. As I went on, however, the trees and plants seemed to be getting closer and closer, forming thicker walls of leaves and branches.

I crashed through a particularly difficult knot of plants before I noticed the trees ahead were thinning. I picked up my pace a little, earning me more scrapes and falls.

I emerged into a small clearing not too long afterward. I noticed three figures standing across the clearing, one on the left and two on the right. They were standing face to face and the one on the left was gesturing excessively. I backed into the trees and crept around the edge of the clearing to get a better view of who was there.

To my surprise, it was three Gardevoir. They must have been using their minds to talk, since they weren't making any sound. The one on the left was directly in front of me now, still making gestures to the other two. I settled back and watched, wondering what was going on between them.

************

"You cannot possibly mean what you are saying!" The malice behind Hercilia's thoughts filled my mind. Even though she was shorter than I, she still managed to strike fear into my mind.

"Hercilia." Aristarchus warned.

"Master, you cannot be in agreement with him?!" She was completely outraged, almost mad with fury.

"I am in agreement with neither of you. I am merely suggesting that anger will get us nowhere in this discussion."

Hercilia huffed and crossed her arms, reduced to glaring at me.

"Master," I began, "can you not see how much this person means to me?"

"I am willing to listen to your explanation."

"I have been listening to this young man's thoughts for quite some time, almost since we have moved to this place. I believe he has the most honest and kind mind out of the other humans I have heard in this town. I believe he is the one for me."

Hercilia's eyes widened more than I thought possible, the shock and outrage almost visibly emanating from her.

"What?!" She screamed into my mind.

"Hercilia, control yourself!"

She turned to face Aristarchus. "I will not, Master! I cannot sit by and let him delude himself any longer." She wheeled to face me again. "The One?! Please! Humans are nothing but piles of lust and envy! They should be treated just the same!"

I took a step towards her. "I will not let you speak of him this way."

She stepped towards me. "Humans are miserable little cowards who will go out of their way to obtain power, be it by slavery, war, or deceit."

I made to lunge for her, when I found my body being restrained by unseen forces. Hercilia was also bound, for she was struggling against the force.

"Enough!" Aristarchus bellowed, filling our minds with the presence of his voice. "I will not tolerate your childish fighting. If you cannot be civil about this, we will not continue this discussion."

The force restraining us was lifted. I straightened, staring Hercilia in the eyes. She stared back, before turning and stalking away. Aristarchus stepped over to me.

"I apologize for Hercilia's behavior, many of our kind has come to hate humans for what they have done to our species and so many others."

"I understand Master."

He rested a hand on my shoulder. "Aluxes."

"Yes?"

"I trust your judgment about this young man. I find you to be most perceptive to the workings of a human's mind. Therefore, if you believe that he is the one, than I give you permission to go ahead with your plans."

I bowed. "Thank you very much, Master."

He smiled. "Now come, we must discuss some things about our clan."

I followed him back to the village, mentally rejoicing for having gained his permission on this matter.

************

I sat against the tree as the two remaining Gardevoir started walking away from where I was. I hadn't a clue about what just happened, but the one who left early, even I could pick up on the anger that it radiated.

I debated whether or not to follow the two Gardevoir before seeing them turn around some trees up ahead, and decided to give it a shot. I got up and took off after them, trying to catch up but not be to noticeable.

I rounded the same corner they had and my mouth fell open in amazement. Inside this portion of the forest, there was an entire village of Gardevoir and what I assumed to be Kirlia and Ralts. The houses were up near the tops of the trees, built around the branches, the tops of them stopping just under the forest's canopy. There were wooden bridge walkways between the various houses, and in several spots long rope ladders dangling from the wooden platforms surrounding the houses.

The two Gardevoir I was following went back to a single, large house with no bridges connecting it, it had only a rope ladder to get to it. They quickly ascended it with surprising dexterity. I waited for a moment before climbing myself, making sure I wasn't being watched.

I reached the top of the ladder and crawled along the platform until I reached a window I could peer through. I kneeled in front of it and poked just enough of my head over the edge of the window. The two Gardevoir settled down on small floor cushions, and presumably started talking about something.

I waited for a few minutes, watching them gesture before deciding that I needed to get out of here before I was discovered. I looked at the rope ladder, but that idea wasn't very good sine it was directly in front of the door. I looked around and noticed in one of the far buildings, there were several Gardevoir gaping at me.

Needless to say, I panicked. I watched as one left the building and climbed down a rope ladder before running to the back of the building. The walkway up here was surrounded by a handrail, and this tree was surprisingly close to a tree directly behind it. The branches were very sturdy looking, but as I was trying to judge whether or not I could get off using them, I heard the strain of the rope ladder and decided to just go with it.

I climbed onto the edge of the railing and position myself. I leaped out and wrapped my hands around one of the branches. I held it and it held me, bending down and in. It kept going until I eventually smacked my face on the tree, about halfway down. The shock of the hit made me let go, and before I knew it I was falling.

I tumbled through the air, landing on my back in some bushes around the trees base. I fought to catch my breath while struggling to my feet. I managed to hobble into the surrounding forest and I hid myself in some bushes where I could still see the house I had escaped from.

There were three Gardevoir standing at the back rail, each looking around at the forest. At some point, the two on either side of the middle one turned to face it, and it closed its eyes, pressing his head between his hands. It eventually looked up and pointed, right to the spot I was in.

I freaked out and scrambled to get up as they went around to the front of the house. I took off through the forest, crashing through branch after branch, falling countless times, the only thing keeping me going was the adrenaline pumping through my veins.

A good thirty minutes later, I stopped to rest, confidant that there were no sounds of pursuit. I looked around the forest, the only sound I could hear was my panting. The sky had darkened slightly, never a good sign when you were lost in the forest.

I had calmed my breathing down by now, and I could focus more on being lost. I frantically looked around for some discernible trail or path, the only one being my rampage through the forest leading up to where I was now. I sat and wondered about what I was going to do, the sky darkening by the minute.

************

I sat with the Master in his house while Hercilia was being summoned. We waited in silence, me to stunned to say anything. A human had actually found our village, and had gotten in without anyone even noticing!

Hercilia arrived moments later, a smirk on her face.

"So-"

"Not now Hercilia." The Master cut in. "Now is not the time for this."

The smirk left her face, turning to a scowl.

"We called you here," the Master continued, "due to the fact that you are the best tracker we have in this village."

"You want me to find him, don't you?"

"Yes. No matter how familiar with this forest the human is, the direction he ran in goes in almost the complete opposite direction of the nearby human town of Mimir."

"So?"

"Well, if the human does manage to find a way out of the forest, what do you think it will tell other humans?"

Comprehension dawned on her face. "Oh..."

"Precisely. How long do you think it would be before the humans sent teams to scour this forest in search of us? Do you not like living apart from them?"

"Yes, Master, I do enjoy the seclusion."

"Good. Now, before he gets himself attacked and makes a reason for the humans to search for him, find him."

"Yes, Master." She bowed deeply and left.

"What will we do with the human once he is located?"

"Hercilia has been instructed to bring him back here. Once he is here in front of me, I will inspect his mind. His mind will more than likely have to be wiped of the memories of this place."

"Oh."

************

The forest loomed in front of me as I slowly approached the wall of trees. My understudy in tracking, Euthymius, was trailing along behind me. He had a very curious personality, asking questions about even the smallest things. I stopped in front of the trees, Euthymius coming up beside me.

"What now, Master?" He questioned.

"Well, I start tracking the human."

"Do you check for leftover thought energy?"

"Seeing as how he is a human, I do not think we need to do that." I said, motioning towards the path of crushed plants and broken branches winding deep into the forest.

"Oh..." he said, sounding a little let down.

"Come on." I ordered, setting off through the human's path, followed closely by Euthymius. We traveled as quick as Euthymius could. Since he had recently emerged into the third trimester of his life, he was still quite short and he could not take strides as long as I could.

The sun had almost completely vanished by now, leaving us traveling through the forest in the dark. Euthymius followed me a bit closer, this having been only his second time out of the village, and his first out in the dark. The night birds had already begun coming out for the night, sitting atop high placed branches and softly hooting.

We reached the end of the trail not too long afterwards, with no sight of the human.

"W-w-what do we d-d-do now, M-Master?" Euthymius stuttered, fear rolling off him.

"I am going to try to focus and find any unusual thoughts around us."

"O-ok."

Euthymius sat against on of the trees as I closed my eyes, tuning out all sound and clearing my mind. I didn't have to strain hard to sense them, he was asleep and he was very close.

I opened my eyes and dug through the bushes until I eventually found him. He was curled up in some bushes, his short spiky hair matted with twigs and leaves. He had scratches all over his face and arms, and his clothes were ripped and smudged with dirt.

"Over here Euthymius."

He wandered over and gasped softly.

"Wow... I've never seen one up close before..."

"See if you can sense his thoughts."

Euthymius closed his eyes. After several minutes, he jumped back, his eyes bursting open.

"What is it?" I demanded.

"I s-saw A-Aluxes in his m-m-mind" Euthymius quivered.

"What?!"

I closed my eyes and reached towards the humans thoughts. My mind was filled with images of Aluxes almost instantly. I snapped my eyes open.

"So it's him..." I thought quietly.

"Who?"

"Never mind, let us wake him up and bring him to the Elder."

"Yes, Master."

************

My eyes flew open as I found myself shaking, or rather, being shook violently. I jumped to my feet and gaped at the two Gardevoir that were standing before me.

"Do not try to run." A sourceless voice invaded my mind, slightly more abrasive than Aluxes's voice.

"W-w-what?" I stammered, shaking with fear.

"Come with us." The voice commanded.

"O-ok..."

The two Gardevoir turned and started walking as I forced my legs to move, tripping over my feet as I followed. We were walking along the path of destruction I had left as I fled from the Gardevoir village I had stumbled across earlier.

I trembled as I followed them, wondering what was going to happen to me now that I had been caught. I wished Aluxes were here to help me.

We emerged back into the village not too long afterward, the village illuminated with small lamps along all the connecting bridges. There were larger sized lamps hanging from the edges of the platforms around the houses. I gasped as we walked in, the sight was truly a hauntingly beautiful sight.

The two Gardevoir led me to the house I had originally went to. I was forced to go up the ladder first, and the taller of the two followed me up. I waited at the top and it lead me inside.

There were two Gardevoir already inside, waiting for us. There was one facing us who seemed to be older than any of the other Gardevoirs in the village. The other one had its back to us.

The one leading me walked up to the older looking one, who nodded to it and stood, crossing the room towards me.

"Hercilia tells me you know Aluxes." His voice floated into my mind.

"W-w-who said that?"

He gestured towards the one who lead me here. "Her. Now, do you or do you not know Aluxes?"

I gulped and nodded.

"Hmm..." He turned to the third Gardevoir and said something to it. It stood up and faced me. Its eyes widened in shock. I studied it for a moment before I also went wide eyed.

"Aluxes...?" I whispered.

"Clement!" He exclaimed, quickly walking to me and picking me up to about eye level before crushing me against him, his chest spike painfully pressing into my chest.

"I am so sorry I left you, I know you must be mad at me right now but I am extremely happy to see you right now, even though you have somehow gotten into our village when you should not have, and I hope you can come to forgive me for breaking my promise but I only did it to-"

"A-Aluxes..." I breathed.

"What?"

"Your... chest... s-spike..." I managed

"Oh!"

He let me down onto my feet.

I rubbed my chest and looked up at him. "Aluxes... why did you leave me?"

"I am sorry, I know I promised you I would stay, but I had other matters to attend to before I was gone for too long."

"You could've told me..." I muttered.

"I know I have violated your trust and that a simple apology will not fix this, I only hope you can come to forgive me in time."

"Excuse me," the older looking Gardevoir interrupted, "I believe we have a more important matter at hand. The fact still remains that this human has come to discover the whereabouts of our village and he must be dealt with accordingly."

Aluxes stepped between me and the older looking one. "I will not allow you to tamper with his memory."

"You would go against your own for this human?!" Hercilia threw in.

"Silence." The older one said, raising his hand.

Hercilia crossed her arms and glared at Aluxes.

"Isn't there any way for him to remain with his memories?" Aluxes pleaded.

"Perhaps."

Hercilia stared at him wide eyed, and must have said something only to him, because he again held up his hand to her.

"I am being reasonable by offering this human a chance to appease Aluxes." He turned to face me. "Human, I am offering you this chance. You can remain in the village and let us examine your mind. If, we decide that you are trustworthy, you will be allowed to come and go as you please in our village. However, if we should deem you to be untrustworthy, we shall erase any memories involving our village, including any of Aluxes."

I stood there, staring back into the old one's eyes. I went over the options I had: either let them study me for a chance to escape, or just give up and let them erase my memories of this village, of Aluxes. I sighed.

"Who will I be staying with?"