FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

**********8**********

The skies were covered mostly by large clouds, dark grey ones that looked ready to pour some heavy water on the ground and everything on it. It had been like that for most of the day, but not even the threat of rain could dampen the mood Eevee was in. Since leaving the daycare two days ago, he's kept an upbeat attitude that seemed to never falter. The brown fox had a smile permanently glued to his face, one that seemed to be contagious. The kids seemed to be infected by his behavior and were more rambunctious than ever. They couldn't get enough of playing around with games and only settled down come nightfall when their energy was nearly drained.

"So, are you going to tell us why you're suddenly in a good mood all the time, or are you gonna keep us in the dark?" Mia asked, since Eevee suddenly started humming to himself.

"Sorry, but it's not something I should really go around telling others," Eevee said in a still cheerful tone. He honestly felt the piece of information was more personal than anything and better left between himself and Fay. Her words renewed his energy every time he thought about them. She told him that she's strongly considering him to being her mate. Not only that, but she promised her first mating to him the day upon their reunion. Whether it was her heat talking or not, it made Eevee feel like he could take on the whole world.

"I'm betting she said something along the lines of him screwing her wh- what the heck?!" Westen shouted, rubbing the spot Mia smacked him on the head.

"How many times do I have to tell you to watch what you're saying around the kids?" she said a bit irritably.

"I didn't even say anything bad! They're not listening anyway!"

"They're kids; they're always listening whether you're aware of it or not." As the two continued arguing, Eevee wondered how long it had been since they've eaten. With the sun covered by the clouds, it was hard to tell, but he was sure that it was about that time of the day. Besides, his stomach was feeling kind of empty.

"Hey, let's take a break to get some food in our bellies." he suggested to the arguing pokémon. Both the buizel and treecko stopped their arguing long enough to realize that they were starting to get a little hungry.

"Can I go with you to look for food?" Perry asked. It was rare that he'd ask to go with anyone on a food run, preferring to stay and play with Tammy and Kota.

"Sure, you can tag along," Eevee replied. "Does anyone else want to-" It was faint, but Eevee could've sworn he heard a cry for help. After getting confirmation from Kai and Nina, apparently the only two that heard it besides him, the group took off in the direction the three canines heard the cry.

It didn't really take them too long to find a group of two houndoom and three houndour surrounding a lone shinx. The small electric type didn't stand a chance. Eevee wasted no time in launching a quick Shadow ball at the group in order to make them scatter. The group of fire dogs noticed them arrive in time to dodge the attack and distance themselves from the shinx. Eevee, Kai, Nina, and everyone else quickly took to defending the small pokémon. The houndoom didn't take too kindly to their arrival. "Get out of our way, runts!" one of the houndoom growled.

"No!" Eevee shouted back. "What do you think you're doing ganging up on this little shinx?!"

"That's none of you're business!" the second houndoom growled.

"Well I'm making it my business!"

"If you don't move, then you and the rest of your little friends are going to become an 'unfortunate accident' we wouldn't mind happening."

"We'll see about that."

Without warning, two of the houndours shot a stream of fire from their maws. Nina and Mia stepped up first and repelled their attacks with water gun and Ember. One of the small dogs was knocked out by Mia's Water gun, while the other was simply pushed back. The two houndoom charged forward, their mouths lit up with an intense flame. Eevee and Kai ran forward as well. The blue pup rolled forward to avoid the hell hounds' fire fang. Once underneath him, Kai struck him in the chest with a Force palm, causing the larger canine to yelp and jump off gasping for air. Meanwhile, Eevee used Quick-attack and rammed headfirst into his opponents snout. The pain severely stunned him and gave Eevee plenty of time to launch a Shadow ball at close range. Tammy and Kota provided backup by combining their Thunder shocks to take down the houndour Nina knocked back and Mia doused the last one.

Seeing that they were clearly being outmatched, the houndoom saw it in their best interest to retreat and picked up the fallen houndour. "This isn't over!" the houndoom said before taking off with the rest of his brethren following after. Eevee waited a minute to make sure the danger was really gone before completely relaxing with a heavy sigh. The brown fox turned toward the cowering shinx, who was being comforted by Perry.

"You're safe now, little one. They won't be coming back to hurt you." The small electric pokémon looked about its surroundings, feeling a lot less scared now that the threat was gone.

"Thanks for your help, mister," she said cheerfully. "Who knows what those guys would've done if you hadn't showed up."

"I think I have a pretty good idea what would've happened if we'd arrived any later. So, what are you doing out here by yourself? You're a little young to be out here alone?"

"Oh, right; I got turned around when I was playing hide 'n' seek with- oh no!" she suddenly shrieked. "He's probably still looking for me!"

"Who is?"

"My older brother! He's probably worried that he's still hasn't found me yet! I have to go!"

"Hold on," Eevee said before she could take off. "I think I should go with you until you find your brother again. You don't want get lost again and end up running into another pack of those guys."

"If that's the case, then the rest of us might as well tag along too," Mia added. "You can't take on more than one by yourself."

"Yeah, you're right. Let's get going."

"Wait a second," the buizel said, doing a quick head count. "Where's Westen?"

"Up here, weasel girl," said a certain someone above them. Mia looked to see the treecko sitting on a tree branch.

"What the heck are you doing up there? And when did you get up there?"

"Although I'm not obligated to answer any of your questions, I will anyway. I climbed up here when fox commande there," he said pointing to Eevee. "declared war on the troop of fire-breathing mutts. I've got better things to do today than getting roasted over something that's not my business."

"You mean you didn't help at all?!"

"Nah, you guys looked like you had it under control. I would've just been in the way." Mia knew he was right, in that he had a type disadvantage against them, but in her mind, that didn't mean he was excused from at least acting like he helping. Perry didn't do any of the fighting, but at least he was trying to protect the young shinx in some way.

"I'm not going to get into it with you right now, for my sake and yours," she sighed irritably. "Just get down here, so we can go."

Not much was said from either of them once they finally headed out in search of the shinx's brother. Eevee was certainly glad that they chose to stay silent rather than get into another argument; it made the walk a lot more pleasant. Not only that, but it made getting to know the young shinx less awkward than it would've been if they were. The shinx's name was Karina and, as it turned out, she was the daughter of the alpha in a pack of luxray. She and her older brother were the only children of the alpha and played together often when he wasn't busy guarding the border of their territory. She was an energetic little pokémon. From what Eevee could tell already was that she could possibly talk your ear off if you let her. For that reason alone, he couldn't help but be reminded of another certain shinx he knows back home.

It was a little while before they came across a frantic-looking luxio, who looks like he'd lost something. "Lucius!" the shinx kit shouted gleefully, sprinting toward the other pokémon.

"Karina?" the luxio exclaimed right before he got a face full of black and blue fur in a full-blown tackle that almost sent him falling backwards. "Karina, where were you? I was looking everywhere for you! You had me worried!"

"I'm sorry I made you worry," she apologized. "I accidently went passed our territory and almost got beat up by a bunch of houndour and houndoom."

"What?! How many times do I have to tell you not to wander off near our border?!"

"I know, I'm sorry, but it's okay! These guys beat them up and saved me!"

For the first time, the luxio had finally acknowledged the presence of Eevee and his friends. "You all saved my little sister?"

"Yes, we did," Eevee replied. "It was a good thing we happened to be nearby or else things might've turned out for the worst."

"I don't doubt your words at all. They're ruthless monsters. I can't thank you enough for what you've done. In fact, why don't you come to our home and have lunch with us; I'm sure my father would like to thank you as well."

"Are you sure? We wouldn't want to impose or anything."

"It's fine, really. I wouldn't feel right if I didn't invite you. Let's go, Karina." The kit followed right beside the elder luxio with seemingly boundless energy, bouncing up and down and chatting about something to him. Eevee and everyone else followed behind them. It wasn't like they were going to refuse his invitation, far from it. They haven't even gotten a chance to eat yet and Eevee's stomach would hate him if he did refuse.

As they progressed further into their territory, they started to see more and more pokémon, particularly luxray and their evolutions, but other pokémon too. Most of them would take a glance at them and return to whatever they were doing. Eevee assumed it was because they were new faces around here and didn't let it get to him much. They seemed friendly enough to him. They eventually came across a large den of sorts that looked to be carved out at the foot of a hill. The entrance seemed large enough to easily fit to the head of an onix, excluding the spike on top. The walls on the inside were smooth and the ground was soft beneath their feet. The large chamber they stepped into had a fire pit in the middle and a large assortment of berries and fruits on the side.

"Dad, we're back; and we brought visitors!" Lucius announced. A moment later, a luxray stepped out another chamber that was further inside. The electric pokémon simply reeked of power and his hardened gaze, along with a scar below his right eye, showed that he's been in many fights in his life. His initial intimidating gaze softened some when he looked to his children.

"Welcome home," he said to them before turning his attention to the new arrivals for a brief moment. "Who are they?"

"They're friends," Lucius stated. "They saved Karina from a pack of houndoom and houndour after she wondered too close to the edge of our territory. I'm... partially to blame for losing track of her while we were playing..."

"I see... Karina, you know you're not allowed to go any near the border. You could have been killed out there! If I hear that you're near there again, you won't be seeing outside for a while. Am I understood?"

"Yes daddy," the shinx kit whimpered.

"As for you, Lucius, keep a better eye on your sister. You're the oldest and should be looking out for her better so she doesn't get into that kind of trouble."

"Yes sir," the luxio replied. The luxray turned his attention to Eevee and company. "Thank you for saving my daughter; you all have my upmost gratitude," he said sincerely with a bow.

Such gratitude from a powerful pokémon was certainly a big ego boost for Eevee, but it also made him a little modest about their actions. Any other pokémon would've done the same thing, right? "It was nothing, sir," the brown fox said, a bit nervously. "We're just glad to help."

"Um, dad," Lucius spoke up. "I invited them for a meal with us as a show of thanks, if that's alright with you." The luxray nodded.

"Of course it's fine. I have some errands to take care of so I won't be back for a little while. Stay safe and have fun with your new friends." That said; the luxray padded his way around the group outside his home. As soon as he left, the luxio let out a heavy sigh.

"Oh man, I thought we were going to be in trouble."

"So that's your dad, huh? Nice guy," Westen commented sarcastically.

"He can be a little rough sometimes, but that's just because he the alpha. He's really a nice when he doesn't have to keep up appearances in front of visitors and certain pokémon."

"But he still treats me like a baby!" Karina piped up.

"You practically still are," he countered.

"Nuh-uh! I'm a big girl!"

"Oh yeah? Well big girls know when to not wander off where they're not supposed to be." The shinx responded by tackling him, but she simply bounced off his larger frame. The luxio chuckled at her lack of power, while she just pouted.

"You're such a dork!"

"I don't mean to be rude or anything," Westen said. "But can we eat now?" Both siblings stopped their playful bickering, for now, and agreed that they should eat now.

While they ate, Eevee asked if the pokémon that attacked Karina were apart of another group of pokémon like they were. Lucius answered his question by giving him the whole back-story of why she was really attacked in the first place. It turns out that the two groups were constantly at war with each other, with each side trying to trying to expand their territory. The houndoom were the more aggressive in this ongoing struggle, always attacking anyone from outside their territory in hopes of weakening their neighboring enemy enough to drive them away. Lucius' father and a handful of other skilled warriors kept them at bay and ensured the safety of everyone here, but there was always someone getting attacked every once in a while.

Lucius planned on becoming as strong as his father and become the next alpha so that he could protect his sister and fellow pokémon from them. Eevee sympathized with the luxio when he said that, mostly because he shared, more or less, the same goal he did; to be as strong as his own father. In some way, he sort of envied him at the same time because at least he still has his parents around to teach him things. He sometimes wondered what his parents were doing and if they were thinking about him too. He hopes they were.

After lunch, Karina, with the permission of her brother and promise not to wander off too far, took Tammy,Kota, and Perry off to play with her and some of the other kids. Westen had managed to disappear somehow, probably sleeping in a tree somewhere, while Kai went to go meditate someplace quiet. That left Eevee, Mia, and Nina to join Lucius on his daily rounds. It wasn't as boring as they thought it would be. They meet a few pokémon from the other group that managed to sneak past the other guards and send them running back to their pack. They filled most of their time by talking, mostly about what Eevee and the others were doing in these parts since they weren't from around here. Eevee and Mia filled him in on their journey to get home and the troubles they had come across so far. Nina chipped in when she felt like it, but left the talking to them.

Lucius was surprised at their story, even more-so from their latest venture at the daycare. He had no idea that the world outside his home could be so harsh without the constant threat of war breaking out everyday. That's not to say that they didn't tell him the good things, but their struggles stood out from their story. The luxio was also impressed with their strength and almost asked them to stay, but tossed the idea out immediately. It would do them no good to get them involved with their affairs when they had problems of their own.

By the time they had finished their round, it was getting dark. Time seemed to have escaped them in just that one lap around their territory, giving Eevee and Mia the extent of their home. It almost made him wonder what they could possibly do with more land. The rest of the evening proceeded normally, with dinner provided for them by their hosts. It was a mix of berries and fish this time. Lucius' and Karina's mother had arrived that evening with their father. Apparently, she spends her days helping to train some of the younger electric pokémon to use their electricity. Unlike her mate, she was very warm and nice, just like a mother ought to be.

Afterwards, everyone headed off to bed with the intention of getting up early and setting off on the road once again. "Hey, thanks again for letting us stay here for tonight. You didn't really have to do this," Eevee said, settling in his spot to sleep on.

"It's no problem," Lucius replied, already settled in for the night with his head lying on his crossed fore-limbs.

"Yeah; it'll be like a huge sleepover!" Karina piped up cheerfully.

"Sleepover!" Tammy repeated with equal enthusiasm. From there, the two had started a chant with the word, with the rest of the kids having joined in. Wesen sighed at the childishness of it, but couldn't contain a small grin that was shared with Eevee, Mia, and Lucius.

"GO TO SLEEP!" roared the mighty luxray in the other chamber next to theirs after barely a minute of their chanting. The outburst startled everyone at first, but then they broke out in a fit of quiet laughter before finally settling in for the night.

*****8*****

Kai rolled over yet again, still unable to fall asleep. It had been a while since everyone has fallen asleep and he was still up. His mind was unusually active, thinking only about the luxray mother. He couldn't help thinking how much she was just like his mother; strong, caring, and seemed to brighten the room with her presence. He misses that feeling of safety his own mother brought and hates that he was forcibly taken away from that. A shuffling noise brought him out of his thoughts. He thought it was just someone tossing in their sleep, but then he heard someone leaving. The movements were slow and clumsy, like an amateur trying to sneak around on a forest floor covered with crunchy dead leaves.

He sat up once he could no hear it, doing a quick head count to see who had left. He didn't see Karina anywhere and immediately got up to follow her outside the den. Something in his gut told him that she was up to something, and it didn't help that she choose to sneak out when everyone was sleeping... almost everyone. "What could she possibly be thinking of doing in the middle of the night?" he asked himself. The pup kept his distance from the little shinx, staying hidden and keeping his steps silent, not that he really needed to. "She seems almost completely unaware of her surroundings and seems to only be relying on her sight, and her ears sometimes, to sense her surroundings. If I wanted to, I could probably just walk behind her and she wouldn't notice," he thought.

As he was following her he noticed that they were getting closer to the edge of the luxray's territory and about to enter houndoom territory. Thoughts ran through his head as to what he should do right now. It didn't seem like she was stopping anytime soon and it was too late to try going back, so his only option was to stop her now. He was about to jump out of hiding, but he sensed another pokémon coming their way. The shinx stopped just as she saw a small red ember shoot in the air.

"Jeez, you're really loud, you know that," the other pokémon said, as he revealed himself to be a houndour. Kai's eyes went wide at seeing the fire dog, but he was more curious as to why Karina wasn't worried. He snuck closer to them so that he was in a better position to intervene in case something went wrong.

"I am? But I was being extra careful this time," Karina replied.

"Yeah; for a blind onix. You can't sneak around for anything."

"Not true! I snuck out without waking anybody up, so there." The houndour chuckled.

"Sure you did. Anyway, what did you want to play tonight? We've got some time before I have to head back."

"I don't feel like playing much tonight, too tired. I just wanna talk."

"That's fine. We don't get to talk much anyway." Kai was a little puzzled by this. He thought they were supposed to be enemies, but these two seem like they're friends. He didn't sense any evil intent from the houndour, so he assumed the fire dog was being genuinely friendly.

"If they're friends, then it's no wonder she snuck out," he thought. "It wouldn't be good if they were seen together in the day."

Just as he finished that thought, he sensed multiple pokémon headed their way, fast. Before any of them knew it, five houndoom emerged from the shadows of the forest. They immediately surround the startled pair, blocking any and all escae routes. "So this is where you went, Blake," one of the houndoom says as he approaches them. Blake, the houndour, looks as if he's been caught with his paw in the poffin jar.

"I see you've found a stray... if I'm not mistaken, she's the daughter of the alpha."

"You sure about that, Scorch?" one the houndoom asks.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. You sure cornered a good one."

"Y-yeah, I saw her wondering around her was about to chase her off," Blake said with a little growl.

"Well, as your superior, I do admire your enthusiasm, but I think we can do better than that don't you think?" Scorch says with a dark chuckle. Blake looked at the houndoom uncertainly.

"W-what do you mean?"

"I mean, why just chase her out when we could just kill her and leave her here as message to those furballs over there."

This got the rest of the houndoom excited, already talking about how they were going to do the deed. Kai saw the fear and sense of betrayal etched on Karina's face from what she heard. Her so-called friend was doing nothing but staring at her with indifference. Now was the time to act. Kai quickly leapt out of his hiding place and stood in front of the shinx, ready to defend her. She, along with everyone, else was surprised at his sudden appearance. "Who's the kid?" Scorch asked to no-one in particular.

"Kai? What are you doing here?" Karina asked, although glad that he did show up.

"I followed you here when you snuck out," the blue pup replied. "It's a good thing I did too."

"Heh, so the puppy wants to fight? Surely you don't think you can take all of us by yourself," Scorch laughed, who was joined by his fellow canines, including Blake.

No, Kai didn't think he could take them all alone, but that didn't mean he was going to stand by and let them kill her. He glared at the houndour that was supposed to be her friend in disgust at first, wondering how he could possibly turn on her like he's doing, but what he sensed from the dog didn't match his actions. From what Kai could tell from his aura, he felt guilty, scared, confused, desperate... nothing to suggest he was happy about this situation at all. When they looked eyes, the blue pup saw him silently plead with him to save her. It almost pained him to see the fire dog look so desperate.

"Alright," Kai said, taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling.

"Alright? Whatcha talking about kid?"

"Let's go. I'll take all of you on right now." The statement had caught them off-guard and they chuckled like he was telling a joke, that is, until he grabbed the shinx, earning a surprised 'eep' from her, and stomped on the ground as hard as could. The ground shook violently, little fissures rapidly spreading out as pieces of earth crumbled beneath them. The fire dogs fell to the ground as they were struck with the seismic energy. Kai took this opportunity to get out of there, sprinting while holding onto the shinx. He didn't even spare a glance back to see if they were already following him, concentrating on getting them both to safety.

He faintly heard some shouting behind him and assumed that they already recovered. Running while carrying Karina was proving to be more difficult than he first thought. He hadn't really counted on her weight being that much of a significant factor to his running speed, but he kept on, knowing that slowing down for a second could mean trouble, not that it would matter. Two houndoom flanked him on both sides seemingly out of nowhere. Another one ran ahead of them and blocked his path, forcing him to stop. "Nice move, kid," the houndoom in front of him growled. "Let's see you do that again." Kai had to quickly roll to the side to avoid a stream of fire. Karina shrieked in fright at nearly getting fried and getting a face full of grass.

"Karina," he whispered. "I can't keep carrying you. If we're going to get out of here, just stick close to me, okay?"

"Okay," she replied meekly. The blue pup let her go and she cowered to his side.

As soon as Kai turned his attention back to the threat at hand, one of the dogs had leapt at him with his maw aflame. "Stay close," Kai shouted as he jumped and gave the dog a high knee to his snout. He tried not to think about how much pain he caused the dog and just focused on running. The houndoom that shot at him before launched another stream of fire at him, though smaller than the last one. He discovered after they dodged that the attack was a ploy to force them toward the third houndoom, who fired a black ball of energy at them. Kai had no choice but to take the hit, or else letting it hit Karina. He crossed his arms over his face and grunted in pain as he was sent falling backwards.

"Kai!" Karina exclaimed.

"I'm fine," Kai growled, getting back up. The hit had taken a lot out of him and he was struggling not to show how hurt he was. The two canines circled around them, chuckling and eyeing them like their next meal. It wasn't long before Scorch and Blake caught up to them.

"Heh, didn't get very far, did you?" the houndoom said mockingly, to which Kai growled at. "You've got two choices from the way I'm seeing it. You can either give up now and let us kill her, or keep fighting and both of you get killed."

"Or I can kick all your butts and nobody gets killed," Kai growled back.

"Kid, it's not even funny anymore. You surprised me at first, but that was your only chance to get away. Now, you're going to die." All three houndooms opened their maws to blast them with flames.

"Wait!" Blake shouted. "We don't have to kill them!" Scorch and his subordinates stopped their attack to look at the young houndour strangely.

"What was that?" Scorch asked.

"We, uh... don't have to... kill them?" Blake asked, not really sure if what he said really came from him.

"And why not?"

"We could just... take her prisoner or something. The alpha will wonder where she is and come looking for her. Then we could, um... use her to... make them surrender more of their territory and expand our own." Blake could hardly believe what he was saying, and neither could everyone else. He didn't even think of what he was saying out at all. He just didn't want to see his friend die.

As crudely laid out as the plan was, the houndoom saw the bit of genius in it. "Hey, that's not a bad idea, Blake," he commented. "We could get what we want and then some. Ha! I knew there was something rocking in that head of yours. Hey, pup; you're free to go now."

"What?" Kai asked.

"You heard me, I said get going! You're going to go back and tell that alpha over there that we have his little girl so we can get a jump on this. I'm letting you go back alive, but I can easily kill you if you want." Kai didn't want to just give up on getting them both out of here, but he didn't see very many options open. He looked down at Karina, seeing her stare up at him with uncertainty and fear. He couldn't let them take her away, but he didn't have a choice.

"Karina, go with them," he whispered to her. The shinx's eyes widened.

"What? No, I don't want to," she shouted, fearing for her life.

"You have to. It's the only way I see to keeping you safe and getting help."

"No! I don't wanna go with them! You can beat them up!"

"No, I can't. You have to be a big girl and be brave okay? Just go with them and I promise to come back for you. Can you do that for me?" Karina wanted to plead with him some more, but she figured that it wouldn't do her any good. He was right; she needed to be a big girl and be brave... at least this one time. She glanced at Blake and cringed, unable to believe that he had betrayed her like this. She thought he was her friend. Still, she had to go with him and the houndooms if she wanted to get back home.

"Okay, I'll go with them," she whimpered. The shinx slowly made her way toward Scorch and Blake. When she almost reached the young houndour, she stopped and went around to the other side of the houndoom. If Kai had ever seen someone look hurt, he saw it in Blake's face for a moment before he made it stoic again. The blue pup only spared one last look and Karina before he took off in the direction toward his friends and the alpha. He ran as fast as he could back to the den. When he got there, he went straight for his friends.

"Eevee, Mia, wake up!" he shouted. Everyone groaned and the sudden shouting waking them up from their sleep.

"What's wrong Kai," Eevee yawned, trying to shake the drowsiness off.

"T-the houndoom took Karina!"

"What?!" Lucius exclaimed, now fully awake. "What do you mean they took her?!" Kai explained to them what happened from the beginning. He told them how he followed her, where he saw her meet Blake, and how the houndoom forced him to surrender Karina. When he finished, the luxio was furious. "You son of a bitch!" he screamed as he tackled Kai to the ground. "Why didn't you stop her or at least try to put up a fight?! You didn't have to give her to those monsters!"

His outburst had startled everyone, but Eevee reacted first. He tackled Lucius off the blue pup and stood defensively between them. "Hey, back off!" he shouted. "You should be glad he even came alive to tell you they took her! They could've easily killed both of them like he said. He had no choice but to let her go and trust that they'll keep their word."

"What good will trusting those bastards do?!"

"It may have bought your sister more time to live!"

"HEY!" someone bellowed from just outside. It was Lucius' father. "What's with all the screaming sleeping? You all should be sleeping right now. You'd better have a good reason for this."

"The houndoom took Karina away," the luxio said, with got a surprised, yet furious look from the luxray.

"What?!"

This time, Eevee explained what happened to Kai and Karina. By the time he finished, the luxray was still furious, but seemed to keep himself in check. "I see..." Without saying another word, he turned and left.

"Uh oh," Lucius said worriedly.

"What do you mean 'uh oh'?" Eevee asked.

"He's really pissed. I don't think he's going to try negotiating with them. He might just go to war with them."

"Wait; if he does that, then there's a chance they might kill her," Mia pointed out.

"Exactly. I may not like it, I really don't like it, but I don't want to raise the chances of me losing her any higher than they already are. I just wish I knew what to do right now."

"What are you talking about? We have to go after her," Eevee said. "We just have to get to her before your dad does."

"Okay, but how?" The brown fox turned to Kai.

"Can you track her down?"

"Uh, yeah," the pup replied.

"Good that makes things easier. I've got a plan, but we have to be careful in how we carry it out."

*****8*****

The lone shinx sat in silence in the middle of a large chamber that seemed similar to her room back home. It was the home of the alpha of the pack of houndoom. In fact she was specifically in the room of her friend, or who used to be her friend. She wasn't sure what to think of the houndour anymore after what happened earlier. Was their friendship all just so they could use her against her family and friends? She didn't want to think that it was true, but the way he acted and the things he said made it seem like a real possibility. She shook her head. "No, he wouldn't do that to me," she thought. "He's still my friend... I think..." That lingering doubt in her mind as to the authenticity of their friendship grew larger until she was almost convinced that it wasn't real at all, but she still wanted to believe that it was. "Grr, stupid Blake! I can't believe he told them to keep me hostage... and they're the ones who followed him to our meeting spot! He's the one who can't sneak around!"

While she mentally huffed, she failed to notice a certain houndour come into the room. "K-Karina?" The shinx whipped her head around, almost too fast, to see Blake standing there.

"What do you want?" she asked in a huff with her cheeks slightly puffed out.

"I came to check on you... see how you were doing," he replied hesitantly, trying to keep himself from laughing at the face she was making.

"How do you think I'm doing? I'm stuck here playing hostage to a bunch of stupid fire-breathing dogs so they can take my home away! That's how I'm doing!" she snapped, with a little more venom than she intended. The houndour flinched at her yelling but remained cool.

"Oh... well, at least you finally get to see my room. You've wanted to come over for a while, right?" His attempt at trying to lighten the mood was met with indifference and snort. "Okay, I can see you're mad at me, but I only did what I did for your own good."

"My own good?! You and your friends kidnapped me and threatened to kill me!"

"Hey, they're not my friends, just members of the hunting party."

"Just like I'm not your friend either, just some stupid tool for you to use..."

"W-wait, I didn't mean-"

"I can't believe you, Blake! I thought we were friends!"

"W-we are friends. It's just-"

"I hate you!" Blake was physically stunned by those last three words, which showed on his face. His maw hung open in shock while he tried to fully process what she just said to him.

"Wh-... what?"

"I hate you and I never want to see you again!" Karina turned tail and stomped to the furthest corner of the chamber. The further away she was from him, the better she would feel... at least that's what she thinks. She was too upset with him and how things turned out to look at him anymore, much less continue a conversation.

Behind her, Blake was torn between leaving her to cry somewhere or trying to make her understand what he did. He felt hurt, that's for sure, but he was also getting angry. He was angry that their families and fellow pokémon were fighting each other for territory, angry at having to hide their friendship from everyone, angry at her for not believing in him when it mattered most. Now their friendship is over because of an unlucky encounter with his pack and a misunderstanding. He growled to himself, trying to keep the tears from coming out. He wasn't going to cry, didn't want to cry. He wanted to scream.

"I saved your life, you stupid, ungrateful, fur-licking idiot!" He shouted. His outburst made Karina turn around in time to see him stomping over to her. "If it wasn't for me, your carcass would be lying in front of your home right now along with that other guys'! The other members of my pack don't know you, so they wouldn't think twice about killing you! Our friendship means everything to me because you're one of the few friends I have who aren't jerks and I would rather see you live another night by any means necessary than to watch you die!" He was now standing over the shinx, who had backed herself more into a corner in slight fear of not knowing what he was going to do.

"I didn't mean anything I said when they showed up. I just wanted to keep our secret friendship from being found out and to keep you safe. I couldn't do anything that wouldn't keep them from wondering why I was being merciful toward you. That's why I suggested taking you prisoner, if only to keep you alive for a little bit longer. I know it seemed like I was betraying you, but I didn't see any other way of doing it. If you really hate me... and don't want to see me again... then I won't bother you anymore."

He couldn't say anything more or else he'd risk crying in front of her, and he didn't want to do that. Karina was shocked by what he said, but was more relieved than anything else. He hadn't betrayed her at all. It was all just an act to keep everyone safe. She felt so stupid for even doubting him for a second, even though it was completely justified on her end. Hold on, Blake," she said when he started walking away from her. "I-I'm sorry about what I said. I didn't really mean it... I mean, I did, but I was just mad. I thought you weren't really friends with me. I'm sorry for doubting you." The shinx nuzzled under his chin apologetically to show that she really meant what she said, which Blake was thankful for. He was glad he managed to get through to her, even if he did have to yell in order to do it. He responded to her nuzzling by licking the top of her head.

"It's alright. I didn't give you any reason to trust me after doing all that. So... are we still friends?"

"Of course we are!" Karina said excitedly. "We're best friends!"

"Good. So, if things go alright, I might see you in the morning."

"Kay! See you later, Blake."

The houndour strolled out his room in way better spirits than when he first came in. He was glad that every thing turned out for the better between them and that, hopefully, this whole incident will blow over smoothly. Although, after hearing rumors of how fierce her father was on an average day, he shuddered to think of what he'll be like when he finds out what happened to his daughter. He guessed there was likely to be an all-out war over this. He didn't tell her any of this because it would only worry her. Still, he hoped that there was some way of getting out of this cleanly with out it having to come to that.

Just outside the borders of the houndoom territory, Eevee and company were waiting for the go to carry out their rescue mission. It was a risky plan, made even riskier by going through the details, but it was a simple one. Kai was to track Karina's scent with Perry and Nina. Since it was likely that they were keeping a close watch on her in an enclosed space, Perry would dig a tunnel and come up from under her so that she'd fall right in and they could make a quick escape. While they were busy doing that, everyone else would provide a distraction by causing a ruckus. If all goes well, they should be able to retrieve Karina without too much trouble.

"Is everyone clear on what they're supposed to do?" Eevee asked, making sure he didn't have to go through the plan again.

"Yeah, yeah, we know what to do. Can we get on with it already?" Westen said, a little grumpy from being woken up.

"Don't be such a grumpy head," Tammy said, not in the least affected by the lack of sleep.

"Yeah, we're doing something cool," Kato added with the same enthusiasm.

"Jeez, sorry I'm not as excited as you all for waking up in order to rescue someone. Maybe if you left a note next time, I'd be more inclined to jump around with you."

"I'm sure Nina would be more than happy to give you a little encouragement on your tail if that's all it takes to get you motivated," Mia commented. Westen didn't say anything more when he glanced at the rust-colored fox spitting a harmless little ember in the air.

"Are you sure this'll work?" Lucius asked for the umpteenth time. "If this plan fails, they might end up killing her and a war will no doubt break out."

"I'm sure this'll work," Eevee said, knowing full-well the consequences of a failed mission. "Either way, it's better than sitting around doing nothing. If there aren't anymore questions, let's get moving."

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