FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 9

Drek felt a lump in his throat. His sister was nowhere in sight, and he had no idea where she was. What happened to her? Was she hurt? Why hadn't he been there for her? He had let his excitement permeate his thoughts from the satisfaction of evolving, and he let her go out on her own. Ever since their parents had died, the two had never been separated except for the small moments of personal privacy that they needed for the bathroom.

They were always there for each other, being each other's support and companion through any trial they had to face. Why had he let her leave by herself? Under any normal circumstance, he would have never let the thought enter his mind to separate from her. There was no reason for them to ever be apart, and the chances of something dangerous happening to them were reduced as long as they stuck together.

Where did she go? No matter what the cost, he had to locate her, and he had to do it quickly. Every moment spent apart from her was another moment where both of their lives were in jeopardy. He still wasn't completely used to his new body, so if he were attacked or something, he probably wouldn't be able to defend himself as well as he could have when he was still a charmander, and she... he didn't even have an idea of what could happen to her. He had to figure out where she was, and standing there beating himself up over why she was gone wasn't going to find her any faster.

He ran over to where the scattered pile of berries were. That was most likely the last place she was before whatever happened to her happened. Maybe he could locate some sort of clue that would tell him where he could even begin to look. He didn't know what he was looking for, but he figured he had to search regardless for something... anything at all. He looked around the ground for some sort of sign to get him started searching.

He didn't see anything out of the ordinary. He said something under his breath that he had heard his dad say one time when he was frustrated. He didn't know what it meant, but it seemed to make his dad feel better whenever he said it, so maybe it would make him feel better as well. It didn't make him feel better in the slightest. Maybe it's something that can only help you when you're angry, and he was more distraught than mad at the moment. Or maybe he had to know what it meant for it to work... Regardless, trying to make himself feel better wasn't what he needed to do; he needed to keep searching for something out of the ordinary.

But everything aside from the bush that was engulfed in flames seemed to be no different than any other little clearing they had come across in their travels. Sure a little of the grass seemed disturbed, but that was only because she had been there not too long ago. There were the berries on the ground, but they were just dropped there. There's no way that they could tell him where she had gone... or could they? Maybe she left him a message somehow?

He stared at the fruit, intent on deciphering whatever hidden message it could contain. He concentrated harder trying to find the secret marker than on anything he had in his life, even harder than when he had crossed that river so long ago. His life wasn't the one at stake in this case; it was his sister's, and he cared for her life much more than his own. He circled the sweet-tasting berries, trying to view them from every perspective possible. There had to be something there; there had to be... right?

He circumnavigated the cluster of food countless times as he stared for anything. No matter how hard he concentrated, he couldn't find whatever it was that she might have left him. He tried saying that word again since he was getting frustrated. If his dad had said it to make him feel better, surely it had to work somehow. Again, the word did nothing to alleviate his frustration. He would have to remember to try it in the future to try and unlock its magical anger-curing abilities, but now, he was just too upset to think as rationally as he would under normal circumstances.

He sighed heavily as he admitted defeat. No. He couldn't give up. There had to be something here, and he just wasn't seeing it, but what was it? He stared at the bush again, but there was no way that it would be able to help him. Regardless of his doubt, he went closer to it to inspect it. If he had considered the possibility of her leaving a message in the berries that she undoubtedly just dropped, and had fallen to the ground naturally, then the bush was equally as likely to give him an idea of where she was.

He studied it just as intently as he had the fruit, just hoping beyond hope that he would see something that could get him started. The fire danced in the wind as it fed upon the green foliage, its warm, vibrant colors blending and interlocking in a wondrous display of independence. The sight was something that he never grew tired of seeing. He had often wondered when he was younger if he would still think fire was something that he would enjoy if he had been born say a grass type or a water type. But he wasn't some other type of pokemon, he was a fire type, and he was proud to be one.

Fire was something that always put him in a good mood with its ever-changing shapes and how its color was always the same color as he was. Not this time though. His thoughts were too clouded with worry for his sister and concentration on finding her that even the mystical mini inferno before him couldn't help him feel any better. The only thing that would alleviate his discomfort at this moment was some sort of clue that would get him closer to his sister. He continued staring at the ever-changing flames before him, but no matter how long he stared at it, he couldn't see anything other than the same fire he had seen so many times in the past.

He sighed again and tore his gaze away from the bush. He was getting more frustrated with himself at every passing second. He knew that there had to be something there, but he couldn't find it. Something was here that would point him to where his sister was, but he didn't know what he was searching for. He let his eyes wander around as he scanned the small area. Maybe something would just magically jump out at him and then he would be one step closer to finding her.

He almost laughed at his desperation as he scanned the clearing, unblinking, but he couldn't laugh when he knew his sister was in danger somewhere. He guessed it was better than standing there looking at nothing, but what in his mind made him think that just looking around would magically give him the answer? Wait... That's it!

He couldn't believe his stupidity. His eyes happened to fall on his clawprints in the dirt that he had made while walking around the pile of berries. Surely he could find his sister's clawprints and follow them as well. He mentally kicked himself again as he began his new search. He hadn't thought about them because he was looking for something out of the ordinary, not something that they saw every day and by this point had just flat out ignored.

A little bit of excitement managed to creep into his mind as he retraced his steps back to where he first entered the clearing. He scanned the ground diligently, trying to remember where he was making his new clawprints. He couldn't make the mistake of confusing his for his sister's. But then again, since he had evolved, his would be different from hers anyway because he was bigger. Regardless, he didn't want to take a chance at disrupting the only thing that he had to go by to find her.

He managed to locate his clawprints from when he first came that direction, but he couldn't find any belonging to another pokemon. Maybe she was heading back when she was caught? That would mean that the clue he was searching for would be on the opposite side of the clearing. He quickly headed to the other side, and continued the same search that he had on his own clawprints. It didn't take him long to spy a pair of clawprints that were similar to his own, but slightly smaller. They had to belong to his sister, but they were leading into the clearing and not out of it.

He knew where she had been, but he was searching for where she was now. He followed the clawprints back into the clearing, but they stopped at where the pile of berries was. He diligently searched around, but he couldn't find any trace of where she might have gone. How could she move without leaving a trail behind? Was she taken by a wild pidgeot or fearow?

He had never seen either of these pokemon before, but his mom and dad had told the two of them about all the pokemon that they had seen in their travels together, and from what he was told, pidgeot and fearow were two rare, massive bird pokemon that had the strength to lift gravelers and fly them around. He didn't know what a graveler was, but apparently it was a very heavy pokemon, much heavier than his sister would have been. So was that what happened to her?

Surely that's not what happened. The two of them had never seen any bird pokemon in their entire lives, so why would one of those rare birds just show up now? No, it didn't make any sense. There had to be some other reason for why her clawprints just stopped, and he was going to figure it out. Maybe she wasn't carried off by a bird pokemon, but if she were carried at all, even by a ground pokemon, then she wouldn't leave clawprints. That had to be it.

He looked around for some sort of different marking on the ground. Something weird caught his eye and he went over to investigate it. It was a clawprint alright... or was it? It was some sort of print that he had never seen before. It was bigger than his clawprints, and it had a weird ovular shape to it. It almost looked like a giant bean the way it was shaped, and there were tiny patterns imbedded within the outline of it.

Whatever made these strange prints, it must have taken his sister. There was no other explanation. He took his chances and followed the enigmatic prints away from the clearing, moving as quickly as he could. They went quite a ways away from where he was, but it was the only logical way that his sister could have just vanished from that spot. They winded around trees and rocks for quite some time, leading farther and farther away from the clearing. Just when he started having doubts about his decision to follow them, he heard sounds coming from in front of him.

He increased his pace, desperate to find the source of the noise. He saw a large open area directly ahead. All he had to do was get past this final tree, and he would be out in the open. He still had some rationality though, and he figured that whatever had taken his sister had to be something powerful. He was stronger than she was, but that didn't mean that she was a weakling by any standards. She had amazed him in the past multiple times with her feats of strength and cunning.

He decided to hide behind the tree and observe the source of the noise from a safe distance away. Only when he was certain of what he was up against would he run in and save her (or at least try his hardest to save her). When he was safely behind the large hiding place, he poked his head around the side and looked for the new creatures.

In front of him, there were two... things standing there talking to each other. He had never seen such strange pokemon (if they were pokemon) before. Where did they come from and what were they? And why did they want his sister? He tore his gaze from them and scanned around, hoping to catch some glimpse of her. Something orange caught his eye, and elation flooded his senses as he saw what had to be a charmander.

The charmander was lying down in some sort of silver enclosure. He wasn't sure what the container was, but he knew that his sister had to be inside of it, and he had to figure out a way to get her back. The two creatures started talking to each other, and he strained his ears to make out what they were saying.

"So wudya get this time?"

"More of the same mostly: couple rattatas, a sandshrew, a few weedles (those damn things are everywhere). But I did get something special."

"Ya? wut is it?"

"I found a charmander out there."

"Yur lyin'. Yu know as much as I do that there ain't no charmanders here."

"That's what I thought too, but I've got one in that cage over there."

"I wanna see it."

"It's over in that first cage."

One of the creatures walked toward where his sister was and looked inside the... cage? Is that what they called it? He looked at her for a long time before turning back to his partner.

"Man, yu ain't jokin'. That surely is a charmander. Wudya do ta it?"

"Oh, I just sedated it and carried it back her by its tail. But we gotta find out if there are any more around here, and we gotta tell the boss to add charmanders to his list."

"Man, I wish that they weren't tryin' ta map out where all da pokemon are. It makes it too easy fer kids now."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. When I started when I was little, I knew nothing about what pokemon were where. Hell, that was most of the fun was being surprised by what was out there."

"Ya, I hear ya. Now whenever this project gets dun, kids will have new fancy pokedexes that'll tell 'em where everythin' is and how rare they are."

"Yeah, it'll be impressive when it's finished, but let's stop talking about the future. We've got work to do, and maybe if we're lucky, we can find another charmander. If there's one, there's gotta be another one right?"

"Ya, and I'm gonna be da one ta find it."

"Ha, no you're not. You know I'm the better ranger."

"We'll see. Yu just wait; I'll have a rare pokemon here waitin' fer ya when yu get back."

The two strange creatures started heading in opposite directions, and one of them was heading right for Drek. He couldn't get captured as well. He had to hide himself better and quickly. He looked around, but he was behind the only tree for some distance, and if he tried to move, he would surely be seen. The creature was getting closer. There had to be something that he could do so as not to be seen. But there wasn't any protection other than the tree that he was stuck behind.

The body was mere feet away, and panic started rushing through his body. His blood pumped fiercely and his muscles tensed as they awaited what was about to come. Just before the creature came into view, a loud voice was heard.

"Hey! Wait up."

The creature in front of him stopped just before revealing his location, and turned back toward his accomplice.

"Wut?"

"I forgot to tell you that I used the last of your tranquilizers. You'll have to get some more."

"Thanks fer tellin' me before I got out there. That wud have sucked to find that other charmander and not have nothin' ta use ta knock it out."

"No problem. There are some extra tranqs in the trailer."

"Thanks."

The creature turned around and started to head back into the large opening. Drek breathed a heavy sigh of relief and took the opportunity to find a better hiding place. He found a couple of big rocks not too far away and he sprinted quietly toward them. They would be able to hide his tail flame, and they were big enough that he could maneuver himself around them if he had to in order to avoid being detected.

He reached the hiding place and made himself invisible as he waited for his chance to go save his sister. He didn't have to wait too long before he heard the rustling of the grass from the creature's walking. And in no time, the sounds of the foliage being disturbed was gone. He cautiously made himself known to the world around him as he slowly came out of his hiding place. Assuming that he was safe to move without being detected, he swiftly moved to where he had seen his sister.

He arrived at the cage or whatever it was called and looked inside. Sure enough, his sister was there, but she wasn't moving. What did that... thing do to her? He tried to recall what they had said to each other about her. He said he had... cicaded her? Whatever that meant, he needed to figure out what was wrong with her. His worry was diminished significantly when he noticed that her belly was rising and falling. She was still breathing which meant that maybe she was fine but just asleep. Maybe cicading meant putting to sleep or something. And if she were asleep, then maybe he could wake her up and they could escape together.

"Ser! Get up!"

She didn't stir in the slightest. Maybe he couldn't wake her up? How long would she stay like that? Regardless, he needed to figure out how to get her out of the cage. If he could do that, then he was sure that he would be able to carry her back. She was able to carry him when he was in pain when they were both charmanders. Surely he would be able to carry her now that he was a charmeleon, even if he still wasn't completely used to his new body yet.

He looked around the silver cage, trying to figure out how to open it so that he could lift his sister out of it. He searched diligently around the four sides and the top, but they all seemed to be the exact same. Nothing out of the ordinary was on them except for the first side that he had originally come to when he got to his sister. There was a weird object that was attached to the corner.

It was the same color as the cage, and it had it had a tiny odd-shaped hole on the front of it. He wasn't sure what it was, but he grabbed ahold of the front of the cage and tried pulling it. That seemed to be the way to open it because that side moved slightly, but something was keeping it from opening all the way. He pulled on it again, and saw that the weird object was forcing it to stay shut. Maybe if he could get that off, then he would be able to free her. But what was this thing and how was he supposed to get it off?

He grabbed ahold of it and yanked on it, but it remained attached. He put his other claw on it as well and pushed his legs against the base of the cage for more leverage and he pulled with all his might. But even then, the object didn't come loose. What was this stupid thing? There had to be some way to get it off because they couldn't have gotten her in the cage in the first place without being able to take it off.

He placed his claw on his chin and stared at it intently as he pondered what he could do. He got an idea, and he stood back a little bit from the stupid thing and aimed his fire breath at it. Fire erupted out of his mouth more powerfully than he thought possible, and more easily than when he had been a charmander. He cut off his flame supply in surprise. Wow... that fire was a lot easier to make. Being evolved was great, and he had no doubts that he could protect his sister... whenever they got out of this situation.

He brought his mind back to the task at hand, and he started his flame back on the strange object. He kept up the intense heat until he had to take a breath again. The object was now glowing reddish orange. He reached out to touch it and yanked his claw back the second he touched it, putting it in his mouth as he was badly burned. He loudly said that word that he had heard his dad say, and this time he did feel slightly better after he said it. Maybe the word had to be said loudly for it to work... He would figure out its powers in due time, but now was not the time.

The mysterious object slowly cooled off as the silver color replaced the red. Once it had cooled, it sat there just as it had been, innocently keeping the knocked out pokemon in the cage. There had to be something that he could do to break it off, but what? Maybe he wasn't strong enough, but if he could wake Seria, then maybe their combined strength would be enough to set her free.

He banged on the side of the cage, "Ser! Ser! You gotta wake up! I can't do this without you... Ser!"

He silenced himself immediately as a sound caught his ear off in the distance. He heard a rustling just off in the distance. If those strange creatures had come back, he couldn't risk being captured, or else he would never be able to save his sister.

"Uh oh..." he said out loud. Even though he knew she couldn't hear him, he said anyway, "Don't worry Ser, I'll be back as soon as I can and I'll get you out." He sprinted away from where he heard the sound, and he managed to get out of sight just as one of the creatures came back, holding a butterfree by its wing. The butterfree must have been cicaded just like Seria because it was lying limp in his grasp.

The stranger made its way over to a cage that was empty. He (Drek assumed it was a he based on the way his voice sounded earlier) pulled something out of a hidden compartment on his body and stuck it into the tiny hole that was on the front of that strange object. Suddenly, the object just fell off! That was how to get it off! He tossed the passed out butterfree into the once-vacant cage, and picked up the strange object, clamping it back onto the corner of the cage where it once was.

Drek got angry at him when he just casually tossed the bug pokemon in like that. He better not have done that to Seria. Just the thought of his sister being informally pitched into that cage made his tail flame burn more fiercely. He wished that he could just make his presence known and hurt the strange creature for acting in such a way to pokemon, but if his sister were captured, he didn't want to take a chance of his not being strong enough and risk being taken captive himself.

He saw some movement at his sister's cage, and his heart skipped a beat as he realized that she was coming to finally. The stranger noticed it in his peripheral as well, because he walked over to where she was and looked inside. Even though she must have just snapped out of her unconsciousness, she still had enough presence of mind to shrink back to the back of the cage when he got close to her.

"Aww, don't be scared. I'll find your companion soon enough so you won't be alone. Just try to relax, and try to enjoy your time in there."

He watched intently as he waited for the individual to leave so that he could continue his attempts to free his sister. Now that he had seen how to remove that object, he just had to be patient until the opportunity arose for him to rescue her. He patted the side of the cage, and stretched a little bit before turning away from her. He got excited when the stranger headed back toward the trees and out of sight. That was his cue to make his presence known again.

Drek quickly made his way back over to where his sister was being held. She caught sight of him and jumped forward to the front of the cage, clutching its edge and getting as close as she could to freedom.

"Brother!"

"Hold on Ser, I'll get you out of there."

"You came for me."

"Of course I did. There's no way I'd let you get away from me, and you know that."

"Thank you..."

"You're welcome, now let me try to get this stupid thing off..."

He grabbed ahold of the strange device as he had done earlier, but instead of just pulling with all his might, he took a single claw and inserted it in the weirdly-shaped hole. However, nothing happened. Maybe he had to do something else? He wasn't really sure what he was doing, but he had to do something different or he would never figure out this strange contraption.

He wiggled his claw around a little bit inside the hole, and surprisingly, in just a matter of seconds, a loud clicking sound was heard, and the object fell to the floor of the cage with a loud rattling noise. After it fell, he grabbed the side of the cage and pulled toward him, and to his satisfaction, it swung open, and Seria jumped out, hugging him tightly. He returned her hug affectionately, and they stood there in bliss for a few seconds, just relishing each other's company. He leaned his head down to nuzzle her neck to further show his happiness at being reunited.

Suddenly, Drek pulled away as he was startled by something. He stared intently as his sister began glowing, and her shape started changing just like his had. He couldn't contain his broad smile as he watched his sister transform from the charmander he knew into a charmeleon like himself. The glowing light from her evolution quickly vanished and she looked down at her new body curiously.

After she had given herself a glance over, she looked back up and said, "Huh, that didn't hurt at all."

He nearly fell over at her statement, "What!? How come I was in agony for a week and you're perfectly ok with it?"

"Maybe it's different for each pokemon?"

He sighed, "That's not fair..." The sound of rustling grass caught his sensitive ears again, and he changed his tone, "Uh oh, we have to go. Now."

She nodded in response, and the two turned away from the now abandoned cage and sprinted for cover. They didn't stop once they were hidden; they continued running even when they assumed that they were in the clear. A shout was heard after they had gone some distance, and they could only assume that those creatures had discovered Seria's escape, but they could care less about them. Their only concern was getting as far away from that pair as quickly as they could.

They didn't know how long they ran, but when they were finally too tired to go on, it was starting to get dark. They managed to locate a small shelter, and they headed inside. Once they were safely enclosed, they hugged each other again, and they curled up on the ground, snuggling each other in a reassuring embrace that they wouldn't be separated again, and the two quickly drifted off to sleep, eager for the next day where they could test the limits of their new bodies.