FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The Colony

Disclaimer: I don’t own “Pokémon” or “The Last of Us”. Only the idea and Select OC’s. Other OC’s belong to one “Asklor”.

Author Notes:

-X-This will be used for scene breaks and for when the story switches to another character, but it does not mean that a new section of the story has started.

~xXx~ This will identify where each paragraph breaks.

This will not be a complete story, just the pieces done in a roleplay I did with a good friend. This story is just meant to try and help me get back into writing. It will come and go at random, as I get pieces of the roleplay done.

“Human Speech” ‘Character Thought’ {Pokémon Speech}

Saturday, June 6th, 2015

Infectious Anarchy

A week had passed since Sam had arrived at the lodge now, the three of them all enjoying a nice mid-afternoon snack from working. Sam had been eager to make friends with Radara, and the two quickly got along well. Of course Radara did tease him a little bit too, but she never really pushed it out of respect for him, even if she had taken to going around in just panties again after a few days.

While Sam didn’t mind, he still found himself extremely jealous of Brad though, but watching him care for Radara, he could entirely respect the relationship between the two. He easily understood why Radara was so at ease and open around him when Brad filled him in a little bit at a time about what Radara’s home world was really like, and the terror that had been born there.

To see her so at ease and learning, it was almost hard to believe that the horror stories of her world were real though as he took a seat with them at one of the diner booths across from the two of them. Brad had already pulled out some card games along with some board games as well once they were finished with their snacks. Brad showed off just a bit himself having taken the time to make a fresh homemade batch of red lobster style cheesy garlic biscuits for them to enjoy.

Just as they were about to start however, the power flickered for a few, Brad looking around, only to get a massive weather report on his phone. It had been raining for a while, none of them caring too much, unaware of the massive storm that was heading their way until now.

“Looks like that was the generator kicking, got a nasty storm rolling up from the south east, good thing we don’t need anything.” Brad said checking over a few more things on his phone before putting it away. “I guess either some dumbass knocked out a power line, or something got struck by lightning.” He sighed, but didn’t worry too much, going back to pulling out the board games. “So… choice on game?” He asked looking over the small stack.

Radara quickly picked out her favorite, an unmarked box at the bottom, the box that held Brad’s many magic the gathering decks, completely oblivious two new aura’s that pulled up in the driveway. Brad just smirked a bit, looking to Sam.

“Eh… sure why not… but I’ll have to build my own deck later.” Sam said looking over the decks that were labeled.

“Don’t worry, my collection has grown and I still got even more booster packs and boxes to open.” Brad smirked, reaching for something simple, only to hear someone pull the curtain aside, all three of them suddenly turning towards the hallway.

“Oh hey Brad.” One spoke, standing just short of 6 and a half feet with dark skin, sporting a build that could be described as a steel shit house.“I hope… you…” He stopped speaking seeing Radara beside him, who quickly eeped out at the size of the man, hiding behind Brad and whining a little as someone smaller pushed past the large man.

“H-hey, why’d you s-stop.” A teenage boy asked, who stood a foot shorter, and while he did have toned muscles, his build wasn’t nearly as large as the taller man. “That’s… wow what cool… wait… n-no… Is that a LUCARIO!” The younger boy suddenly screamed out, panting a little from his sudden outburst, but he couldn’t help himself, his lungs in bad enough shape as it was, but agitating them with his sudden rush of excitement didn’t help him at all.

“Damn it…” Brad sighed, closing his eyes for a second looking up to the two new guests, his hand clearly rushing to the pocket and hammer loop on his pant leg, grabbing the his stun baton in a rush, but not pulling it out just yet.

“Rick… I’m sorry… but… you were not supposed to just come in unannounced…” Brad stated. “… but… I tried not to involve you with this. I had no idea how the two of you would react to this, but I felt I could trust Sam here, which was why I took a chance with him.” He stated, Radara still hiding, the large man grabbing the boy and holding him back from Brad’s actions. “I’m sorry, but I’m not going to let just anyone find out about her, and I may be willing to kill to get her back after all I’ve gone through already… I need your word now that you’re going to keep this a secret…that both of you won’t ever tell anyone about her…” Brad stated, clearly in a tense mood now.

Sam just sat there motionless for now, watching their new guests carefully. He was ready to move at a moment’s notice, but he hoped the stun baton Brad had would do the job. “I see…” The larger man stated, just looking over the strange creature that did her best to hide behind Brad. “Brad… you have to trust me on this, I know what it means to keep a secret. I give you my word and Luke’s that neither of us will tell anyone what we’ve seen here today.” He stated, glaring at Brad for his actions, but ultimately understanding, he had his own secrets that were best left hidden away as well, but not something like this. “Luke… you’re not going to tell anyone about this right?” he stated looking down to the teen that he kept a firm hand on.

“Y-yea… I-I won’t tell anyone, Rick. I promise.” Luke stated slowly, still panting a bit, but truly fascinated with the lucario that had seen now.

“Radara… do you trust his word?” Brad asked, still tensed, his hand still ready to pull out his baton and strike in a second if he had to, Radara slowly peaking out from behind him, giving a small nod.

‘He’s telling the truth…’ Radara said slowly, Luke looking around all over for the strange voice, only to focus in on her again.

Brad let out a relieved sigh as he pulled out his baton and flipped it around so that the live end was facing him. He set it on the table and rolled it onto the far end to show he serious about calming down now. Seeing Brad ease up, Rick eased his own grip on Luke letting him move up towards them all now. “I’m sorry for being so defensive, but as far as I’m concerned, she’s family, and you know how I judge what real family is and what I will do help them.” Brad said looking to Rick and Luke, grabbing his hoodie off the back of the booth and giving it to Radara so she had a top now.

“I understand… if someone showed up that I couldn’t tell right away if they were going to hurt Luke, I’d do the same. He is my brother after all.” Rick said easing up a bit more now.

“Friends of yours?” Sam finally asked seeing that the situation had calmed down.

“Sam, meet Rick and Luke. Rick here teaches a few self-defense and fighting classes, I supply him all of the little things he uses in the class. Luke is just a college student for the most part, but he’s a brilliant kid. He’s got a lung condition though, something genetic.” Brad said. “Rick and Luke, this is Sam, a good friend of mine from the internet that I like to talk with and participate in role plays with frequently.”

“Pleasure to meet you.” Sam said scooting over a bit to make some room at the table.

“And this is Radara… my lucario…” Brad said, Radara calming down and no longer hiding Brad once he calmed down and could see that she wasn’t going to be hurt or worse. “I’ve had her for about six months, around the time I got rather touchy about people coming over unannounced. And… as long as she trusts you, I’ll trust you to keep her secret. And you can ask your brother Rick about a lucario’s aura abilities, which are very real, that they can read your aura like an open book. She’ll know before you even do if you’re lying when asked a direct question. Like I just said, as long as she trusts you, I’ll trust that you’ll keep her safe.”

“I can understand that.” Rick nodded moving to grab a spare chair as Luke took the spot next to Sam, looking over Radara. “But, you should remember some of the stories that I told you about how me and Luke grew up, we’ve never exactly been overly trusting of the government or law enforcement in general. And… I know it won’t mean much… but since I have your secret, I’ll share mine with you just so you know you can trust me.” Rick stated pulling up his phone and pulling up a news article from Florida, something about an underground fighting ring and their greatest fighter, the so called “Hooded King” that went missing just before a major raid.

“I used to be the Hooded King. It was all I could do to keep Luke healthy down there, paying for his medical bills and get his condition under control. There wasn’t much I could do to make the money I needed to pay for his medical bills then, so I did what I could to make the money fast enough to keep him healthy. When I had the chance to get out, I jumped on it as soon as I was sure that Luke would be safe. There are plenty of… kinds of crime lords who would pay big for my head.” Rick told them. “I know it’s not as big or proper as you’re secret… but I hope you’ll trust me now.”

Radara just looked to him, understanding the kind of ordeals he faced to make sure he and his brother survived. ‘He is… he’s being honest… I do trust you’ll help keep me safe.’ Radara said looking to him and his aura.

“That explains how you learned some of those tricks you taught me.” Brad said. “You didn’t need to share that, but I promise that as long as Radara is safe, so are you.”

“I’m… not in any danger knowing that, am I?” Sam asked a bit cautiously once Rick quieted down.

“No… if Brad trusts you, then I trust you as well.” Rick said looking to Sam. “And he must trust you if you know about her and seem to be helping out.”

Brad just nodded a bit. “Yes, I do trust him and since he is planning on making this his permanent residence. As a matter of fact… why don’t you two join us… I could use the extra help still since I know you won’t sell us out. That… Radara could use some more people to talk with.”

“I see. We’ll think about it.” Rick said, Brad finally turning to see Luke still staring at and studying Radara.

“And yes Luke, she is entirely real. Although the games and show may not have been entirely accurate about Pokémon as far as I can tell.” Brad said as Rick took a seat.

“Pleasure to meet you I suppose…” Rick said. “I can’t say this is a … very regular thing for me though.” He said looking her over, curious about her. “I will have to warn you though, my brother… when he finally works up the courage to speak, he will be asking you tons of questions.” He smiled, looking to Luke who was still in a little bit of shock, but clearly taking some notes down in his notebook.

“Luke… two rules here. One, let her answer questions as she is ready. And two, avoid the topic of her home world. She has her reasons and I expect you to respect them.” Brad stated firmly, keeping an arm around Radara. “The world she is from, it used to be similar to the games and shows where trainers would battle others, but death was always a possibility. Some fights were strictly fought to the death, even if they were league level from what she tells me. Of course… those were the old days and the so-called ‘good’ days, try not to think too much about what that means, alright?”

“Y-yeah, of c-course.” Luke stated, quickly writing down the rules in his notebook, before looking back up to Radara again.

“Her father was a human, her mother a lucario, and that’s why she looks so vastly different. It was a unique upbringing, but she survived and now here she is.” Brad smiled, giving Rick and Luke a quick story about her. “She’s also extremely intelligent, smarter than most of the people I know. She is also extremely computer literate, she hacked past most of my passwords and firewalls with ease. When she decided she wanted to play some games on my computer, she played some games on my computer.” He smiled, patting her head a little, giving her some praise to keep her happy and distracted a little.

“I see.” Rick stated.

“And yes… before you ask, we are together. We both know what we are and are more than smart enough to understand consent and such.” Brad stated.

“Not my place to really judge this.” Rick stated. “But I guess it’s good you finally found a girl, you could use one.” Rick added, getting an annoyed look from Brad.

“And what does that mean?” Brad asked, but before he could get an answer, Rick’s, Sam’s and Brad’s cellphones all went off about alerts, Brad’s advanced intercom in the kitchen and his IPad all going off with the same breaking news report.

“Sam… could you take Radara and make some pizzas.” Brad quickly stated, seeing the headlines about viral outbreak, making sure Radara couldn’t see it, even if she gave him a worried look. “Radara, just go make something to eat, we’ve got guests and you want to make a good impression right. Well, I happen to know that they love pizza, so why not show off a little and make something unique.”

‘S-sure.’ Radara said looking to him, a little worried, but getting up with Sam, Brad and Luke giving them a chance to head back to the kitchen.

With her out of the way, Brad turned back to Rick and Luke. “Her world was devastated by a fungal disease. It started with the grass types and then spread to every living creature in her world that was organic in nature, with very few exceptions. Anyone infected was turned into a nasty zombie like creature, zombie in the manner that they lost all form of free thought and started to behave strictly on an unending hunger. She says that they didn’t need food, they never slept, and they were brain dead. One bite and it’s over.” Brad said quietly.

Rick and Luke just nodded a bit as all three of them looked over the reports, reading just the captions for now about the western sea board getting entirely quarantined now, this new plague spreading faster than anyone had predicted.

“Try to keep mentions of this… quiet… she was a wreck for months about it and even now it scares her.” Brad stated as he looked over the report, only to gasp out as his idea showed the president making a clear saddened claim. “Oh my god… she can’t be serious. Firebombing our own cities…” Brad said quietly as the president went on.

“Looking at this… it may be that Grace isn’t the one behind it entirely.” Luke said. “The president isn’t as powerful as many people think. Sure they can do a lot, but ultimately, they’re just a figurehead. There are ways to get around her approval and she wouldn’t have a choice but to resign or keep her position and make the call.” Luke explained, his genius showing as he often studied all kinds of things.

“I think we’ve reached the beginning of the end… We’re not the only being pressured to bomb large cities to contain this mess…” Brad said as the president went on, going into an emergency summit meeting about this plague spreading around the world. “Rick… I need you to do me a favor… I’ve got some orders on hold at the bulk buy store, and the local gun shop.” He stated reaching into his pocket to get the receipts for them. “I’m also handing you a fifty thousand in cash, try to get as many other things as you can get as well, but focus on base materials, nothing fancy. Seeds if you can get some as well, and whatever else you think we need. And make sure to get me a few more walking canes, metal or sturdy wood. I’d rather have more then I need just in case a few break, then have to fight to get more later, assuming this all goes south. I’ll take care of Luke and make sure no one gets to him.” Brad told him getting up and moving to his armory, pulling out a portable fireproof lockbox, as well as handing him the key. “Fill up the mini RV you call a home and then get back here fast…” He stated, also handing him a pistol and some spare clips. “People are going to be scared, but seeing those images of some of the bodies… they have a right to be… They just don’t know how scared they should be right now. I just hope we can manage, hopefully treating this as a terrorist attack like they are, they’ll be much more rapid in a response.” He sighed.

Rick just nodded as Brad spoke, hesitantly taking the gun, but understanding it. “Keep him safe and I’ll be back soon.”

Brad watched as Rick got into his truck and drove off, thinking hard about things before looking back to his iPad, more images of the infection being shown, only to pause the video. There, in the image, somewhere in England country side where the infection for them started, happened to be something that got Brad very worried as he zoomed in as best he could.

“Luke…” Brad called out as he rushed back in, looking around, Luke walking backwards as he watched Radara again, his curiosity getting the better of him before finally facing Brad.

“Y-yea… what’s up?” He asked, Brad uncaring on the whole page of details that he had written up already clearly visible in his notebook about Radara.

“What do you see in this image?” Brad asked, showing him the iPad, the image of the country side back to its original size. The place burning heavily, lots of spores and fog in the air, a few people in hazmat gear, but others in military gear and gas masks, forced to shoot anyone infected that were attacking others from the looks of things. Although Brad wasn’t entirely sure, there was one thing that did stand out in the image though. In the center, but far back down the street, what looked like a large five petal mushroom with a bloody disfigured face below the petals, a column of spores slowly rising off of it.

“Is… that’s… no but…” Luke stated, only to turn back and look at Radara, confirming that Pokémon were very real. “It looks almost like a vileplume…” He stated zooming in. “Come on, give me a better picture.” He growled trying to make it clearer.

“Luke, it’s from the news report, it’s not actually on my device, that’s as good as its going to get…” Brad sighed some, but still understood his need to make it clearer.

“I can’t say for certain, but if at the very least the images of what Pokémon look like are very spot on from the games and such, then yea, that’s a vileplume. But… why is it attacking everyone? And what’s with that cloud of spores it’s spewing out…” Luke asked Brad.

“Damnit… This isn’t good.” Brad growled a bit.

“Brad… what you aren’t telling me about her world…” Luke asked, instantly knowing what was up.

“Radara has a deep seeded fear of grass types. Even with fire punch, she’d sooner run to the ends of the earth to avoid a grass type.” Brad explained. “They are the whole reason her world is bad…” Brad stated before turning and walking away. “No more questions… and don’t you dare go to Radara with them either.” He stated making sure his point was made as he moved up the kitchen.

“Take over for Radara, and make some blizzard wannabes and others fancy treats, I’ve got a whole desserts cookbook there on the wall, the blue spined one.” Brad said quietly to Sam, before looking to Radara. “I’m… I’m about to scare Radara to hell, and maybe back again… I just pray I’m wrong…” He explained, Radara hearing her name the second time and looking to him Brad, a great smile on her face, only to slowly lose it seeing his torn aura, clearly concerned for her, but also mixed with many other emotions.

‘B-brad… what’s up?’ Radara asked seeing his worried aura, Radara moving up to him as he put her arms around her.

“Come on, let’s go upstairs.” He smiled and kissed her cheek some moving up to his room with her, not saying a thing until they were on their bed. “Radara… I know this is hard… but I also know that you’re not the same scared lucario that I found in that trap. I’ve helped you a lot and I know you’re getting better, stronger with each passing day.” He said. “You know how much I’ll do to protect you, how much you’ve actually helped me just by being there.” He gently rubbed her head a bit, really scratching nicely around her ears.

Despite his strange manners though, Radara couldn’t help but lean more into him, loving and adoring his praise as she murred a little. “I am really sorry for this, but there is something I have to know. You’ve seen the pictures of how we think Pokémon look like. Are they accurate? Do we really have them all viewed physically in the correct ways?”

‘A-are… is there… did you find… another Pokémon?’ Radara asked softly looking up to him slowly, Brad just holding her a bit.

“I’m hoping its nothing, but… Is this a Pokémon?” Brad asked pulling out his iPad and showing her the image, Radara instantly tensing and grabbing onto him, whining a little. Brad just cursed in his head as he held her tightly and rubbed her ears. “I never let you down once. I won’t let anything happen to you now.” He reassured her, trying to reinforce the feeling of safety that he had given her since he found her. “You know I won’t let anything happen to you, that I will fight to keep you safe.” He stated sending a text out to Rick telling him to spend everything he had on him, they would do more shopping tomorrow as well.

Of course Brad didn’t stop giving Radara some attention, praising her even more to comfort her, keeping her safe and studying her, seeing how much better she was taking the thought of grass types around the world. He couldn’t help but be thankful that she had taken this so lightly in comparison to nearly smashing his tv in fright when he had showed her the original anime series on Pokémon, Radara about screaming out in terror when a grass type first appeared.

After a while though, there was a knock on the door, Radara quickly looking to it, only to slowly look back down seeing it was Sam just knocking. “Come on in.” Brad called out, Sam coming up with a tray, some pizza, but also some other various dessert items.

“No idea how they came out, but I tried a few things. They tasted good to me, though.” Sam smiled, offering Radara the tray, setting it down on the bed in front of her, Radara just reaching over slowly to take a slice of pizza and enjoy it slowly for now.

“She thinks it’s real.” Brad stated just nodding to the image still up on his iPad.

“I understand…” Sam said softly. “Things are going to get bad fast.” He added even more quietly, Brad just nodding again.

“I’m going out tomorrow to get some odds and ends, as well a buying a semi and a heavy load of lumber, plus all the tools we’ll need to start working on cutting down all trees close to the lodge and garage. I’m also to get a few other things with Rick and I’d like the keys to your truck to hook up another trailer and fill that up tomorrow as well. I’d prefer it if you stayed here with Radara and Luke, keep an eye on things and comfort Radara if she needs it.” Brad explained.

“Of course. I’ve got some calls of my own to make as well.” Sam said.

“To your family, go ahead, I don’t care about the phone bill right now. If this really goes south bad, you can tell them where we are, but only if you think you’ll respond well to Radara. This is my land, my new home and I’ve put too much into it risk it all just because someone gets stupid. Its big, it’s out of the way, and it’s defendable. We just have to fortify and make it last. Assuming this goes south fast, we need to be ready for the first winter without a government to protect the general order.” Brad told Sam, Sam completely understanding.

“I doubt they’ll make it here, but… I think they can learn to manage if things get that bad.” Sam said. “I’ll make a list of everything I’ll need and give it to you in the morning. Depending on when you get back, I might just do some shopping of my own as well.”

“I’ll try to arrange for it. If not, then the two of us will go out the day after and get whatever we can then. For now, we need to get food and ammo, I think those things will be the first items to get rationed, so I’d rather get them first. Once we have those, we’ll get general supplies, medical, the wood, tools, concrete, anything else we might need for construction and the like. We can try to convert the garage into a green house or just straight up build one.”

“Brad… if I may. Just comfort her for now, we’ll talk about this later.” Sam said looking back to Radara. Although she wasn’t listening to them, it was clear that she needed the attention right now.

“Y-yeah of course… you think of anything we might need and ask Luke for ideas as well. The two of you should be able to think up something.” He said patting Radara’s ears a bit again, Radara quickly leaning into him once more.

“I’ll… see you in the morning.” He added, rubbing Radara’s ears a bit more as she leaned more into him. “We’ll discuss this mess then.” He sighed as he let her eat, taking a snack for himself as Sam left them, Brad putting the food away after Radara was done, and thankful he had a nice fridge up there since Radara didn’t want him to leave her at all. Once that was done, he happily let her practically lay on him as they curled up for the night.

~xXx~

The next day passed quickly without incident, even if it was clear that the state was clearly in some disarray, not too happy with the way things were going. Brad found himself very busy over the course of the day, many of the younger folks who knew who he was asking for body cams and gun cleaning kits, among many other things. Many were irritated that he didn’t have enough to go around, but his cheap prices, credit card reader, and his whole sticking to his thing about free shipping made them very happy regardless as he ordered what they wanted right in front of them even.

At the end of the day, his paypal account was filled with various orders and he was just hoping that all of those orders were processed and fulfilled before anything else major happened around the world. He just sighed a bit again, thinking about the new report that so many people had discussed in great detail with him over the course of the day. He couldn’t argue, and he had lots to say himself, but as he pulled up Sam’s truck with a trailer full of things like tools and food, he was glad to be back home and could already feel Radara trying to reach out to him.

He got out and looking over the place, having gotten two large semi-trucks and four lumber filled trailers parked outside the warehouse. As he started to head back to the lodge though, there was a loud crack of thunder, and was about to pass it off without a thought, but source of that crack caught his eyes as he shook his head some looking out over the horizon to the west.

There in the west was a small set of glowing red and blue storm clouds that were scattering quickly, small streaks of fire, lightning, and what appeared to be snow that was dispersing dropping a few things into the woods off his property, several things falling including what looked like a body before the strange storm vanished entirely.

“Rick! Sam!” Brad shouted out rushing to the lodge Rick running up in a hurry hearing his name.

“What’s up?” He asked, quickly as Brad rushed past him into the armory the lodge had, grabbing a few rifles and pistols, as well as few slightly less than legal sticks of dynamite. “Brad… why are you pulling out guns and trying to force one into my hands knowing how I feel about them.” Rick asked as he took the rifle that was practically getting shoved through his chest.

“Did… Brad what the hell is going on?” Sam asked having heard Rick’s question and then seeing him quickly and very clearly checking multiple guns.

“That crack of thunder came from some clouds where giving plumes of fire, bolts of electricity, and what looked like snow over what I assume is the same exact pond that Radara fell into. If we got a grass type that fell through with the infection, we’re burning it, blasting it, anything it takes to kill it fast. For that matter Rick, go grab a few a few bottles of that fancy liquor I got and make a few molotovs just in case.” Brad stated in rush, both of them quickly grabbing the guns they were handed, Rick rushing to make a molotov as Brad suggested, Luke having explained many of the known rules of Pokémon to Rick since he thought that it might be needed.

“You really think it’s another Pokémon?” Sam asked as he checked the guns he was handed before grabbing a few extra clips and belt to carry them, as well as one of Brad’s strongest lights.

“No natural storm produces fire.” Brad stated as he rushed out. “Fair warning, Rick is going to out run us, keep your ears open if you hear anything.” Brad told Sam as Rick rushed over with a pair of bottles in his cargo pants pockets. “Rick, me and Sam will follow you, I think that storm dropped whatever it did in the same place where Radara fell into our world. You remember that lake just outside my property on the Gutterhog ranch. You want to follow the streams that flows into it to that little pond along the cliffs on the western edge of my property.” Brad explained, Rick just nodding.

“Yeah… it feels like I’m being…pulled towards it….” Rick stated, clearly shaken by the feeling as Radara walked in.

‘Brad…’ Radara asked looking to him.

“Stay here, we might have another Pokémon. If it’s a grass type, we’ll kill it, if not we’ll bring whatever it is here, as long as it’s willing.” Brad told her, Radara gulping a bit, unsure how to take the news. “Keep Luke safe and we’ll be back soon.” He stated moving up and giving her a kiss, as well as patting her head a bit, before he moved with Sam and Rick to find whatever fell through.

Rick of course rushed off proving to be the fastest of them, Brad clearly slower, but practically unstoppable as he weaved easily through the trees and around any obstacles, if not through them in his rush to try and keep up with Rick. Although he was in such a rush, he handled himself very well, even despite the few very clear stumbles he had, but he managed to keep from falling over in his rush. Sam just followed along and able to keep up, staying right behind Brad so he didn’t have to face the thick growth head on, but was able to keep pace with him.

“How far out is this?” Sam asked, running beside Brad now as they ran along the edge of his property, marked by a wire fence that was marked with red and orange tags every so often as Brad slowed down. He looked over the view and saw Rick down on the other side of the fence, through a small clearing. “I told you he could move and he went the harder route. As for how far out we are, can’t say, never measured. I do know the pond, at least on maps, where Radara fell was roughly, I think about 1.3, maybe 1.4 miles away from the lodge. It was a long hike pulling her back.” Brad explained as they lost sight of Rick again.

Sam just nodded a bit as they slowed down seeing Brad looking for something now. “He’s practically at the pond, we’ve got another 10 minutes or so climbing down the cliffside and then following the stream to it.” Brad explained, finding the path he marked, a pair of red and orange plastic bands braided together off in the distance on the fence. “I marked the spot in case I ever felt the need to get down there fast again, took me roughly half an hour to find a good way up and down. Fell down the first time though, not so much fun.” Brad stated as he rushed ahead again, Sam keeping up once more as he followed Brad looking over the cliff, an easy 20 foot drop from where he could guess the height, although some spots were clearly steeper than others.

-x-

Rick rushed forward, jumping over another rock outcropping and then took a spot hiding for a few as he approached the stream. He checked his gun again before he slowly readied his rifle as he peeked around the tree he hid behind. He slowly got up as he moved closer to the stream, hearing the water ripple against something, but couldn’t see what it was from his spot. He slowly advanced as he looked around, feeling something pulling at him. As he got closer and closer, he could feel a sense of weakness and need washing over him slowly, it only growing stronger with each step.

What he quickly recognized though was that this kind of feeling, the same kind of feeling that he found coming off Radara, that strange thing that Luke explained to him being her aura. He couldn’t help but want to lower his gun, but didn’t, too trained from his past to keep on edge until he was sure as he moved up.

As he approached, he could fully see the pond as he rounded one last rocky outcropping, seeing something there on the side of the pond, panting and struggling, almost like an infant trying to pull itself out of the water.

There in the water was another lucario, though something different when compared to Radara. This new lucario was clearly more feral, her hands only had 3 fingers, her feet entirely jackal-like, and no trace of human features in them as she laid on her side trying to grab and her pull her way up to the shore.

Rick could only study her for a few, her snout clearly more defined, her eyes closed and her face clearly showing her pain. The spikes were also clearly larger and more defined, her chest smaller then Radara’s, but also clearly in a fur like jacket as she panted a bit more.

As he got closer, that feeling of weakness also started to show feelings of fear and need, Rick looking around carefully before finally moving over to her and putting his rifle beside her, slowly turning her onto her back and getting her to lay down. “Stay still.” He stated looking her over, inspecting her for wounds, any signs of damage that Brad had gone over him with about when he found Radara.

“Easy, take it easy.” He stated looking over her as he found her to be in much better shape than he would have thought for something to have taken such a fall as Brad implied she had. “That was a nasty fall you had there.” He stated trying to make her feel that she was safe. “Are you hurt? Is anything broken?”

The new lucario could only whine some as she slowly opened her eyes, trying to say anything, but it only came out as a pitiful whine. Rick continued to look over as he studied her, something strange about the feeling that pulled him to her thinking about what meant as he looked around again, trying to figure out why he had this feeling.

He didn’t have long to ponder it, however. He was only halfway through checking over her wounds when he hear the roar of a diesel engine in the distance. “Shit…” he growled to himself, quickly moving her onto his back, ignoring the chest spike that poked into his skin before he started running again. He stood up with ease and began to immediately run back the way he came, keeping his breath steady as he ducked and weaved through the trees. He had to go slower than last time however, the lucario made it difficult to maneuver quickly through the thick growth. It was only a couple minutes before he saw Sam and Brad, quickly shifting his course to intercept them.

“Holy hell he’s….wait, don’t tell me that’s what I think it is…” Sam said as he watched Rick practically make a beeline for them.

“…Yeah I think it is…” Brad muttered to himself, stopping and letting Rick get to them.

Rick only slowed down when he was close, coming to a stop in front of Sam and Brad. “As far as I can tell, she’s fine, but I needed to get her out of there. I heard a vehicle nearby, had to be a diesel engine.” Rick said, only panting lightly, his shirt only showing a little bit of sweat.

“That would probably be my neighbors, and you know the story of what happened with Radara… take her back as fast as you can. Tell Radara to heal her wounds as much as possible, but to give her room to breathe…Another lucario around is…going to excite her, to say the least.” He sighed, shaking his head.

“I’d imagine so.” Sam nodded. “We shoulda just stayed back the lodge…” he chuckled before Rick suddenly took off once more, disappearing into the brush. “Jesus he moves fast.”

“He’s built like a god damned blitztank, what’d you expect?” Brad growled, a bit frustrated at having to come out here only to turn back so quickly, but Sam and him quickly turned back and started to follow the trail back to the lodge.

-x-

Radara was using her aura sight to extend her usual vision as she waited, worried about her master. She could easily see through the trees a ways past the lodge, but she was still renewing her abilities with her aura and then her vision had some very clear limits when something caught her attention. She couldn't help but stand, looking in the direction that Rick was coming from as Luke looked up to her. 'N-no... no way.' Her aura voice sounded, the feeling of confusion and then excitement spreading through her and Luke in turn.

“They’re back already?” Luke asked when he saw her stand up.

'Yes…and…and with…' Radara started as Rick burst from the trees, carrying the unconscious lucario on his back. 'A lucario…' she said softly.

“She has some scrapes, bruises and cuts! I couldn’t see any broken bones, but you know lucarios better than I do. Inside, now!” Rick called out as Radara rushed out to meet them with Luke, the three of them quickly heading back in.

All of them quickly filed inside, heading up the stairs to one of the guest bedrooms. Rick carefully laid her down on the bed, keeping his eyes on her face. Radara quickly went to work, first looking over the lucario and pulling off her fur jacket, not wanting to damage it since it was clear that the lucario had evolved with it. The lucario could only whine a bit and tried to protest, but stopped when she felt Radara started to channel her own aura into her, Radara running her hands through her fur slowly to try and find any damage, whilst giving her some aura to sooth her pain. After that she didn’t make any sounds, calmly accepting the treatment as he eyes started to wander around the room. They went from Radara, then slowly to Luke, then to Rick. She couldn't place why, but once she looked up to Rick, something just made her want to study him, to look at and almost be with him.

Rick watched the ruby eyed jackal stare at him, and he silently stared back, his arms at his sides. They all remained silent, the minutes passing by at a crawl as Rick continued to watch the lucario with unblinking eyes, the lucario doing the same in return. It wasn’t until Radara pulled her hands away, and Sam and Brad walked into the room was Rick brought out of his stupor.

“How is she?” Rick asked.

'She’s in better shape than I was…she’s fine, don’t worry.' She smiled, wiping some sweat from her forehead, her aura voice a bit weak and showing her worn out aura with its weak feeling, but also confidence and joy.

"L...lu...” a soft whisper came from the lucario, making everyone shift their eyes towards her, while she continued to look at Rick. “Ri...” she said weakly. "Ca-cari...o.” She whined some.

Radara quickly uncapped a water bottle on the nightstand and helped Eluna drink it slowly, the lucario taking slow, but loud gulps as she drank gratefully. 'She says her name is Eluna. She's just too weak to use her aura to speak like me yet.' Radara explained as she rested back.

"Eluna..." Rick repeated looking to her even now as the lucario whined a bit more, rolling over some to look more at Rick.

'Something about this feels... weird though... you two haven't stopped staring at each other since you brought her in.' Radara said, only just then realizing her fascination with Brad when he found her as well.

Rick quickly got out of his trance though as he felt Eluna's aura a bit more, wanting to just rest and be left alone, clearly stronger then Radara from the stories that Brad shared with him about how he was only just able to feel Radara's feelings when he found her. "Come on, she wants to rest for now, let's leave her be."

Radara was about to interject, but Brad quickly put a hand on her shoulder. “Her condition is stable, and she wants to be alone. Let’s leave her for now.” Brad then looked to Eluna. “You can stay here, but know that if you cause trouble, you will be kicked out, is that understood?” he said firmly.

Eluna remained silent for a moment before only nodding, then closing her eyes, her breath remaining steady and slow. Rick pulled some blankets over her before they all walked out of the room, it was only then Sam noticed the blood stain running from his upper back and down his shirt, though his shirt was torn and showing the small gash on his back. “Holy hell dude, how’d you-“ his mind flashed to how Rick carried the lucario. “…you didn’t feel that?” Sam asked.

“Yeah…I did, it wasn’t making a mess, so I was going to wait until I showered to clean it.” Rick said.

“Radara, think you can help with that?” Brad asked.

'A bit…I can at least get it sped up a little.' She said. They all made their way downstairs and too the main lounge. Rick took off his shirt and rolled it up into a ball before sitting on the floor in front of the couch. Everyone aside from Luke did a double take for a moment, his body was littered with scars. There were cuts, burns, torn up skin, and even several gunshot scars.

"Whelp, you’re no stranger to pain, that’s for sure.” Brad said as he took a seat, turning on his scanner and set it to a low volume.

“You could say that.” Rick nodded as he let Radara get to work. Radara used only the tips of her fingers to apply the aura, making sure to push any torn flesh back into place before healing it enough so it would remain in place. “You got any aloe around here?” He asked.

Brad nodded as he rested back. “Yeah. Sam, you know where it is, mind getting a pot?” He asked. Sam nodded, getting up and walking out of the room to get some from the greenhouse.

It wasn’t until several minutes later did a flood of radio chatter fill the scanner. Brad turned it up some as everyone turned their heads to listen. What they heard was disturbing, to say the least. Riots had broken out in the surrounding cities, mainly targeting government buildings that had tried to exert their power over the people, as well as corporate buildings that also tried to establish power of their regions.

“…I think we should make sure no light escapes the lodge…” Sam said “I’ll start checking around the place.” He said.

Brad nodded and looked to Luke “Go help, you cover the second floor. Shouldn’t be any lights on up there, so just close the shutters. And Sam, Rick... take a pistol to put in the nightstands in your rooms just to be safe. I'd rather be a little extra prepared just in case..." He sighed knowing that the lodge was out of the way enough to be safe, but he wouldn't it past looters or thieves to try and take advantage of the riots for their own benefit. "I'm going out to lock up the warehouse, be back in a few." He stated nodding for Radara to join him.

As he walked out, he put a hand around her. "Radara... I know you're a pack animal, you need companionship." He stated once they were outside. "But we need to leave it her to make the choice to stay here. I told straight up I won't tolerate trouble, and I'm sure she'll be fine, but you have to give her space if wants it." He said with a small smile looking to her.

'B-brad... there's something I... I think that Rick might have some connection to her... her aura showed me that she was drawn to him, despite never knowing him and he seemed drawn to her too.' Radara explained. 'It was strange... and almost kind of familiar... like they needed each other. Thinking back, I almost felt like I needed you when you found me too.' Radara told him as Brad looked to her a bit confused, thinking back. The more he thought about it though, the more new thoughts came to mind. He knew he had work to do in other parts of the lodge the day he found her, but he remembered a strong feeling that had made him want to explore that section of the land that day, despite knowing his neighbors were fools.

"You said Rick was drawn to her... Rick said he felt something sorta pulling him in that direction before we left... creeped him out a bit." Brad stated softly as he walked with Radara up to the lodge. I... I wonder if there's more to this whole thing about your kind falling into our world." He stated, Radara just helping him as he closed up the warehouse and locked it, making sure all their cars were accounted for and didn't appear to be tampered with.

'Do you think that maybe the humans of your world has something to with it?' Radara asked equally confused.

"You might as well be asking me to explain how to cast a magic spell. I have no idea what's involved with it, and I have a feeling that even the leading physics theorists couldn't help explain how you fell into our world. Fell might not even be the proper word, but it’s all I’ve got given the literal falls you guys up taking if experience is any indication how you guys land here." Brad sighed walking back slowly to the lodge. "All I do know is that now that I'm thinking about it... I’m starting to think that I was drawn to find you just like Rick said he was drawn to where Eluna fell."

Radara nodded a bit as she walked with him back into the lodge, Brad locking up the place and turning the camera's a bit to make sure that he wouldn't miss anyone trying to tamper with the door. "Let's just survive the night and then we can start to ... try and figure things out..." He sighed a bit, pulling her close again. "For now, I think we could all use some sleep." He said, pulling her close and starting for their room.