FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Star took a second to gather his bearings and remove the knot in his chest before pushing open the front door into the house. He took a deep breath of air, the place still smelt as fresh as when it was first built. Star took Scarlet carefully out of the bag and put her on a comfortable rocking chair to let her sleep some more. He sat in a chair next to Scarlet's, and stretched in the dimly lit house. It always had confused him why they put sets of furniture in, it wasn't like the wary fire-type was going to be inviting anyone anytime soon. Guess it came in handy now that he had a guest.

The house was two stories, but that didn't make it very large. The building was, as stated before, slim. Star was grateful that they at least got one thing right, walking around in a large empty home is a depressing thought of its own. The bottom floor had a small area for sitting and relaxing, a small coffee table surrounded by comfortable, custom made chairs and sofas with the fireplace not to far away. There were several shelves and display cases stocked with treasure and gems that Star has collected over the years, mainly just little mementos from the more memorable explorations hes has been on. The other half of the ground floor was a small kitchen, some drawers for utensils and a iron stove, still filled with coals. Baskets filled to the brim with berries of varying sorts were stacked in the corner whenever Star felt like experimenting with cooking, perhaps trying a new recipe. Pots and pans hung from a hoder above the stove, and were starting to collect dust. There was a door that led to a small bathroom as well. The Exodus Quarter had an elaborate sewer system set up under each of the houses, but in reality, all it was was a hole in the ground with running water to carry anyone's business into a dump site. Better than nothing. There also was a wooden bathtub that looked almost seemingly untouched.

Back to the ground floor, there was a ladder that led up to the second floor, which was surrounded by a small catwalk in the shape of a square, a large empty space in the center to see down to the ground floor, almost like a balcony of sorts. The empty space was for the skylight on the roof, which projected any sunlight shining through like a spectral column in the perfect shape of a square, fitting seamlessly through the empty catwalk space, and onto a tiny patch of grass that was on the ground floor, where a couple of flowers bloomed. There were two rooms up there, Star's room, and his office. His bedroom was simple: dark with a nightstand and a simple hammock for him to rest in. There were nicknacks and other small things in there, some cushions to sit on, a lamp or two (not like he used them) but not much else. His office was across the bedroom and was fitted with a fancy polished desk and an imported rug from some country Star couldn't pronounce. There was a chest in the back, but it was mostly used to store any precious documents, and a fancy red couch to the right. This house was as ornate as it got, but Star didn't care, it sort of helped him clear his mind.

That serenity was soon broken as a tiny yawn was heard from the Houndoom's right. Scarlet was laying down stretching her body and rubbing her eyes. She blinked a few times before looking up at Star with a welcoming smile. He returned the grin and sat back in the chair, adjusting his sash. "Finally awake?" he teased as she groomed her tuft. She nodded and giggled. "Best sleep I've had in a while!" Star chuckled and hopped off his seat. "Well, you must be hungry, I'll fix you up something." Scarlet took a look around the place in awe and hopped around on the furniture. Star didn't mind, she was small enough to not cause any damage to anything, he hoped. She peered at the shelves with relics and statues of many designs. Gems in a rainbow of colors shining in her eyes. Carvings and artwork in a plethora of styles. She was very fascinated at these, but eventually the thing that caught her attention the most was the small flowers growing in the middle of the room. Star brought back a bowl of assorted berries and put them on the table, observing the playful vixen as she bopped the bud of the flower. Her wriggling her nose as pollen sprinkled over her petite face. Even the adorable sneeze she gave out causing her to sit down rubbing her nose. She gave a curious look to Star and the fruit as she got back to her paws. "What are those for?" Star mentally sighed, she hasn't been paying attention to a word he said. "Well, you must be hungry, it was a long trip so I made a little snack." She smiled and took one, sitting on the table and chewing it. Star watched her eat in an awkward silence. The vixen moved uneasily in her spot as the hellhound peered at her. "How's your arm?" he asked to break the tension. She raised an eyebrow and looked at where her gash was, but was surprised to see a carefully wrapped bandage in its place. "Oh! Did you do this?" she asked, wagging her bushy tail. Star nodded no. "I had a friend fix you up, least I could do." She gave him a questioning look again. "But why?" Star looked around playfully, as if he were giving away top secret information. "Well...if you must know, I'm going to make you an....explorer," he grinned, putting emphasis on the last word. She let out a gasp and her eyes shimmered. "Really? You think I can do it?" she asked. "I told you earlier, you have an explorer's spirit, now follow me, I want to see what you can do." She finished her berry and hopped off following her new protector.

As Star opened the door to the backyard, a cold zephyr blew through his shaggy fur, and his sash as well, ushering a shudder from the Zorua. Star walked out to a fairly open area and stood firmly in the soft soil. "So, what am I doing exactly?" she asked sitting obediently in front of him. "Simple, hit me with whatever you got." The request seemed foreign to her. She knew how to attack and all, but someone willingly asking to be hit was sort of unnerving. Nonetheless, she fidgeted in her spot before assuming an attack position, "O-Okay!" Star grinned, "Just because I'm your friend doesn't mean you should hold back, don't worry, I can take it!" The Zorua gave a little nod and closed its eyes, and with a battle cry, started to glow. Suddenly, he was surrounded by ten copies of the vixen in front of her. 'Double Team...' he thought as he looked around. Suddenly half came at him with their claws drawn, glowing a faint aura. 'Shadow Claw...' He expertly dodged all the attacks but was surprised to find four more Zorua's vanish and reappear ready to attack as well. 'Feint Attack...' He managed to avoid the hits but left him wobbling for balance. The ground beneath him buckled as one more Zorua burst from the ground and hit him under the chin with a headbutt knocking him on his haunches. He rubbed his chin and sat up as the copies disappeared back to the original. He gave a nod and smiled. "Nice hit, I wasn't expecting that Dig in the slightest...you will make a fine explorer..." He got up and patted her on the head, and there she gave the widest grin Star had seen her give.

~~~

It had been about a week since Star had gotten back into town. He had spent the entirety of his time tending to Scarlet, giving her a warm bed to sleep in, healthy food to eat, and most importantly, giving her some basic training. The training was rough, only because the normal training is roughly three times as long so Star had to get through the basics as fast as he could. Thankfully, Scarlet was a swift learner. He had expected her to be resentful and perhaps even a bit cold toward the intense training she had to go through for hours at a day, but she seemed more excited than anything. It looked like she really wanted to be an explorer. Was Star that much of an influence on her? At least it was a win-win situation for him: taking care of the vixen was a way of forgiving himself for his past deeds, and a new recruit was always welcomed at the guild. Maybe he could use her as leverage when he decided to go back so he wouldn't be knee deep in trouble. But there still was the main problem. He knew that the Zorua's parents were likely dead, but how is he going to break that news to her? It's too late now to tell her, much too late. He thought about it a couple times, making up elaborate stories and comforting her to keep her all to himself. It did sound very selfish and he knew that, but what else could he do?

"Hey Uncle Star!" Star was on the porch of his house with Scarlet on his back. '"Uncle Star" was the nickname she gave him a while back. He didn't know when she started using it but he never corrected her so she kept using it. It was cute in its own way. "Yes Scarlet?" he replied. "I just wanted to see if you were awake, you kept standing here for a few minutes after you said you would let me join your guild!" she said, pumped full of energy. She was bouncing on Star for minutes trying to wake him up to take her there when he said he would, but had to keep sending her to bed because it was still midnight and she wouldn't sleep. "I know, just thinking about something." She growled. "Well stop thinking, and lets get going!"

~~~

After a lengthy walk, Star had reached the guild. It was much quieter and peaceful in the mornings, the shopkeepers were still busy setting up shop and most townsfolk were asleep. At least there were no crowds. Star had reached the guild, which had a large golden door with a red crescent over the top embedded into the old oak tree. The guild didn't wake up for another hour so he could tell Nero what happened and introduce Scarlet to him as well. He reached into his bag and pulled out an engraved key and slid it into the keyhole. A loud 'ca-chunk' was heard and the door crept open. Star hoped that no one woke up because of that. The hollowed out tree trunk had no pokemon inside of it. The walls had many boards with different jobs and assignments for anyone to pick up with a spiraling staircase leading downwards underground. Star crept down the stairs past the bedrooms and down to the lowest floor where the kitchen, medical rooms, and offices were. Star froze as he saw Nero tapping his foot with his arms folded looking at the Houndoom with a blank expression. "It's about time you showed up..." the Weavile said coldly. Nero was the founder of the guild, and therefore, the Guildmaster. He had a heavy accent as he was born from a far away region. After noticing that Presidium hadn't been graced with a guild of its own, he set out to build one from scratch and managed to single handedly make it one of the most prominent guilds in the area.

"Yeah, I know, I had a rough week okay?" Star retorted. "Care to explain? Where is the outlaw?" he demanded. "Well..." Star said rubbing the back of his head. "Hi!" Scarlet said poking her head out from Star's back. "And who is this?" Nero continued. Star let out a sigh and put Scarlet down on the ground. "Can you wait in that room?" Star said, pointing to his office. She nodded and pranced over and into the room. "I can explain this..."

~~~

Star was in Nero's office sitting across from him. "Ah...I see," said Nero, who was clacking his claws together as he folded his hands across the table. Star shrugged. He was glad that his position in the guild made it almost impossible to get into trouble. Almost. "You should have come here earlier and explained yourself. We were about to send in a rescue team for you." Star slouched, "I know I know, but Scarlet is worth it, I can see it in her." Nero closed his eyes. "You have made some regretful decisions in the past, how can I be so sure that this isn't one of them?" Star thought for a minute, his pointed tail swinging idly out of the chair. "I know, next job with Ace and Tara, send her with them." Nero chuckled a bit. "You know that Ace and Tara are one of the most experienced teams and only get sent on S-Ranked or higher missions right? I want you to prove her worth, not kill her." Star huffed. "I have full faith in her, and she's not even part of the guild yet, so you aren't responsible." Nero clacked his claws on his desk and waited for a moment. "Hmm...ok, if she comes back from the next mission, she can join." Star mentally jumped for joy but on the outside, he did a little bow and left the room without another word. "Oh, and wake up the guild and give them their missions!" Nero called from the room. Star let out a relieved sigh, everything went better than expected.

Scarlet was standing in front of him as Star's office was right across from Nero's. "So? How'd it go with the scary man?" she asked. "He's not that bad, it's just in the morning. He's a real nice guy once you get to know him," he said picking her up and walking back upstairs. "He said that if you came back on a mission, then he would let you join." She beamed, "Really? Oh this is going to be so-" Star cleared his throat cutting her off. "But it's very dangerous, I'm teaming you with my star pupils for this one, are you sure you still want to do this?" he asked. She nodded as Star got to the bedroom floor. "Of course, why would I say no?" He smiled and went to a rope that was hanging from the side of the wall. "What's that?" Scarlet asked. "This, is the thing you will hate the most about this guild," the Houndoom said as he tugged on it with his mouth. As he pulled the rope, loud bells could be heard from each individual room along with a collective wave of groans and moans. "Come on! Wake up! I'm back so you got jobs to do!" Star yelled down the long corredor. Scarlet was holding her ears down from the clattering of bells echoing throughout the long hallway. "Get off your butts and pick out a job from the bulletin board upstairs. You have 15 minutes to eat, so move it!" Star yelled at the passing, groggy pokemon sluggishly dragging their way to either the mess hall, or upstairs for a job to pick out. Scarlet cautiously let go of her ears watching a line of pokemon leave the halls. "Wow, theres a lot of pokemon here...you are scary too if you try Uncle Star," she teased. He playfully snarled back at her and sighed. "It's my job to be, if I wasn't these guys wouldn't get out of bed." The line kept moving and moving until Star held out his paw at the pokemon at the end, a Riolu and a Shinx. The Shinx rubbed her eyes and looked up at the Houndoom and gave him a tired, but questioning gaze. "Can we help you?" she asked. "I have a special job for you two, get ready and meet me in my office."