FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The rain poured strongly on the city of Avalon, the dark sky completely blocking the night sky leaving only the manmade lights of the city to illuminate the area. Avalon's three districts, the small Military District, the massive Market District and the Central District were illuminated quite differently. The Military district had only its street lamps and the lights inside of the houses for illumination. The market district, in turn, appeared to be a beacon for anything on the horizon. Well, that's obviously an exaggeration. The market district was still bustling with activity, cars moving from here to there, shops and businesses just buzzing with activity, its bright city lights might just be enough to illuminate Jason's house that sat atop a hill. In fact, the market district just may be able to light up the entire vast expanse of Avalon. The Central district, kept secret from the outside, is shrouded in its mystical barrier so that none can see what is inside.

Within the pouring rain, two hooded figures moved about in the quiet streets of the Military District. One was the figure of a garchomp carrying a tube-like container while the other was a riolu's. Harrison and Jason are cautiously making their way towards the young riolu's house. Ever since Jason's illusory experience, he's grown uneasy of the alleys he used to call shortcuts. He was sure that he was alone, he sensed no one at of the ordinary other than the agents that patrolled the night. Jason watched every step he took, his aura going into overdrive, being sure to check everything.

"Hey, Jason, you doing okay?" The garchomp asked as he led the way.

Harrison was someone Jason had just met that morning and now he's doing him such great kindness. He'd stopped him from crossing the checkpoint while under the trance, let him stay at his place and now he's offered to escort him home. This was just... too good to be true...

"Hey, Jason, you alright?" The garchomp stared Jason in the eye whilst snapping his fingers in front of the riolu's face. "Don't tell me you're in some trance again."

"I'm fine." Jason answered somewhat bitterly as he moved the garchomp's hand from his face and started tugging on his hood, a habbit he has when he's uneasy. "It's just... there's so much going on in my mind right now..."

"You don't trust me do you?" Harrison smirked as he continued on walking.

Jason eyed the garchomp suspiciously. "The fact that you can tell makes me nervous." The riolu said.

"It's easy to tell what someone is thinking when you put yourself in their shoes." The garchomp calmly replied. "I just thought about how you'd feel. You're trapped in an illusion, and hello, some guy you met just this morning offers to let you stay in his place and take you home. Not to mention that I stripped you naked without your consent. Even I wouldn't trust those kinds of people." The garchomp said with a soft chuckle. "But I can assure you, you can trust me. Besides, scan me all you want you won't find anything to prove me wrong."

"You know, the more you know about what I'm doing or thinking, the more suspicious you'd become." Jason pointed out.

"The more I try to convince you, the more paranoid you get." The garchomp sighed. "Like right now, you're wondering whether you're already caught in an illusion. How you weren't able to sense whoever did this in the first place and especially how maybe that's the reason why you can't find anything wrong with me--"

"Shut up."

The garchomp stopped walking and slowly glanced back to see the riolu prepared for battle, his fists ablaze with flames and his eyes glowing red with energy. Even with the rain that poured continuously over their heads, the garchomp could tell that the riolu was on the verge of tears. Upon closer inspection, the riolu was trembling as well. He was afraid.

The garchomp felt disappointed. Now that he looks at it, he did get carried away. The child was already uneasy for pete's sake and there he was blabbing about how everything could go wrong. "Jason, calm down..." the garchomp raised his arms to try and calm the riolu. "You're creating a scene..."

"Stay away from me!" Jason backed up in a panic. "Just... back off..."

"Jason, please don't make it harder than it has to be." The garchomp said, taking a step forward to confront Jason.

"What do you mean 'harder than it has to be'?" Jason asked, just barely keeping himself from attacking. His heart was racing as he looked for a way out of it. He no longer knew what was real and what was not. For all he knew, he was already trapped in an illusion.

'Dang it...' the garchomp thought to himself as he eyed the unstable riolu. 'I'm gonna get in trouble because of this...' the garchomp closed his eyes and sighed... then balled his fist and let loose. "Just calm the fuck down, dammit!!!" and slammed his fist down the riolu's head.

The riolu wasn't able to react fast enough to avoid the attack though he managed to duck down and barely soften the impact. He felt his head throb and with every pulse out came a searing wave of pain. "Why you--"

"It hurt didn't it?" The garchomp asked, not waiting for the riolu to finish his sentence.

"Yeah, no shit!" the riolu replied angrily though the flames on his fists have died down.

"Then now you know you aren't in an illusion." The garchomp walked towards the riolu and patted his head... which still hurt a bit causing Jason to wince. "I'm sorry I hit you but you were freaking out. I had to do what I could before you started attacking me or worse."

Jason was still in pain, but he's regained enough of his sanity to accept the garchomp's apology. "What do you mean by 'worse'?"

The garchomp ruffled the riolu's fur before he let go of Jason's head. "The mind is at its most vulnerable in the state of panic, confusion and doubt... well, those three and love but that's for a whole different scenario." The garchomp let out a soft chuckle, clearly amused with himself. "There's the possibility that you'd truly get caught in an illusion so I had to calm you down as soon as I could."

The riolu rubbed the crown of his head and felt the bump where the garchomp had hit him. As much as it really did hurt, there was no point in getting mad at the garchomp. "How did you learn to deal with illusions?"

"That was the course I took in the academy." The garchomp answered. "Especially considering how Arkha, Avalon's rival, is particularly skilled with the mind and tactics."

"Can you teach me?" Jason asked.

The garchomp gave Jason an amused grin as he ruffled his head fur once more. "Maybe some other time. C'mon."

The two continued their walk towards Jason's house. The rain had finally eased up a bit into a soft drizzle and the riolu watched with curiosity as the street lamps illuminated the slowly falling mist of water. The garchomp noticed the riolu's childishly innocent act and couldn't help but smile.

"It's amazing how the simple things in life catch your eye." Harrison commented as he stopped walking to give the riolu time to admire the sight.

The riolu felt embarrassed by what Harrison had said. He was supposed to be a battle-hardened soldier and here he is staring at water falling from the sky. "We don't have to stop you know..."

"Yeah..." the garchomp said with a sigh. "I keep forgetting that it's really late right now. C'mon then."

After a few more minutes of walking, they finally arrived at the hill where Jason lives. The wooden cottage that sat atop the hill was illuminated by the bright lights of the Market District just as much as a bright full moon would. Harrison offered to accompany him up until his parents answered the door, but Jason politely declined saying he had a key anyway and that the riolu had probably taken too much of the garchomp's time. The garchomp felt as though he should insist, but he didn't pry. He decided he'd just watch from a distance until the riolu walked in the door. Harrison left with Jason the pack that held his father's order, the rapier that Harrison made, and bit the riolu farewell. After parting ways, Jason opened the door of his house where he found him parents sitting on the couch waiting for him.

Jason's father Aiden, a blaziken, was the first to react although his mother Natalie, a lucario, obviously sensed him before he even entered the house. "Jason, you're back." The blaziken said with a yawn though he didn't seem upset in any way. "What took you?"

"Oh, you know..." Jason sheepishly spoke as he removed his mud-stained shoes and left them by the door. "You saw me just about ready to pass out during the evaluation..." Jason began removing his socks and slipping into his indoor slippers. "I passed out on the way out so Charlie brought me to his dorm room." Jason then dropped the pack on the ground creating a muffled metallic cling on the ground. "By the way... Harrison has something for you, dad."

Aiden didn't seem to mind the bag that Jason dropped and let out a sleepy chuckle as he stood up and walked over to the riolu. "Charlie? As in the son of the Field Marshal?"

"Yes..."

"Ha, it seems you can make friends out of anybody." The blaziken gave Jason a pat on the shoulder followed by another yawn. "Ah, I think I'm gonna go sleep now. Ya coming Nat?"

The lucario just sat on the couch quietly and shook her head. "Go on ahead, it's my turn to talk to Jason." She answered with a smile, gesturing for the blaziken to leave them alone.

"Alright." The blaziken nodded and made his way for the stairs. "Good night."

"Good night, dear." The lucario answered as she watched as the blaziken ascended the stairs.

Once the two were left alone, Jason immediately felt nervous with the situation he was in. His mother just eyed him, observing him, saying nothing while doing it. Jason just stood there awkwardly. He had no idea what his mother was about to say... though maybe he has an idea...

"You're hurt." Natalie spoke as she gestured for the riolu to approach her. "What happened?"

The riolu slowly moved towards his mother and sat down next to her. Natalie placed her hand on Jason head and felt the bump from earlier. "Jason, what happened?"

If there was one rule in this house, it was never lie to Natalie. And Jason knew that rule well so he decided to tell her everything. He told her how he had spent some time in Charlie's room, then after that he hurried back home. He told her how he was caught in an illusion, and that the garchomp had helped him and even escorted him back home.

Natalie sat there and listened intently to her son's story. All the while, she had her hand on Jason's head, her healing aura slowly curing the injury. "Well, that'd explain it. You should really be more careful out there next time."

"But I was careful." The riolu said a bit defensive of his reputation. "Mom, you know how my aura's always active with scanning the area. I swear, I sensed nobody and then it happened."

Natalie pondered on it. Someone was lurking the streets capable of avoiding even Jason's analysis. She didn't mean to think so highly of Jason's abilities but even she must admit that Jason's analysis is more powerful than most his age. And now someone out there can sneak through analysis, past the agents that patrol the night and put someone under an illusion. "Well, at least you're back home safely. Go on and get some rest. You're gonna need if for tomorrow."

"M'kay..." Jason said with a yawn as he stood up and headed for his room. Even though he had rested in both Charlie's and Harrison's place, he was still pretty debilitated from tonight's ordeal. But now he was home, in the place where he felt safest. He can easily convince himself that nobody can harm him here for he has both his parents to protect him.

'And what if they've gone?' that familiar voice echoed inside his head, Jason's own figurative voice of doubt. 'They can't always be there for you and they aren't as strong as they used to be. What makes you so sure that they can protect you?'

"Shut up." Jason mumbled to himself under his breath as he walked up the flight of stairs. As much as he knew it to be true, he didn't want to bother himself with it at the moment. He was home, he was safe, that was all that mattered right now.

He entered his room and changed into his pyjamas. As he changed, his attention was drawn to the world outside his window. Everything seemed so serene, as if the world didn't give a damn about what had happened to him. He pulled down his shirt and slowly approached the window. Closing his eyes, he focused his aura to find Harrison. He sensed that the garchomp made his way back to his house. Jason let out a sigh of relief knowing that his escort made it home safely. Letting out another yawn, he dropped onto his bed and almost immediately fell asleep.