FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

A truly incomprehensible number of people milled about the city, and the closer Lace drew towards the river and its large dock, the harder it became to navigate undetected. The illusion that kept her hidden from view would not prevent someone running into her. Both humans and pokemon filled the cobblestone streets, entering buildings or trading little disks of metal to street vendors. A wild mixture of scents drew Lace towards those selling strange foods.

She didn't have any of the metal disks, but one of the humans in a greasy apron shouted about meat pies, and they smelled irresistible. Lace stalked him, waiting for an opportune moment. First, when he shouted at the crowd instead of guarding his rickety wooden cart, she wove an illusion to disappear one of the pies, then snatched it when he noticed nothing. The greasy pastry nearly burned her hand, and she bit back a yelp of surprised pain before scuttling away to enjoy her catch.

Lace found a small alleyway that didn't smell of garbage to hide in and sat against the wall of a stone building. The pastry tasted like nothing she'd ever eaten, the outside rich and crispy, the inside a mix of salty savory meat and a heavily spiced gravy that lingered on her tongue, flavoring each breath. For a long while after finishing, Lace basked in the afterglow, licking the juices from her claws and muzzle, imagining a nap somewhere peaceful and forested.

That pastry alone made this whole trip worthwhile, and only the dense weight fully occupying her stomach prevented her sneaking another. The human had plenty of the little pies in his cart, surely he wouldn't miss one.

Fighting the urge to sleep, Lace wound back into the crowd. Not all, but many of the other pokemon wore some amount of clothing. Strips of brightly colored cloths, reds and blues and greens, adorned arms and necks. Some, like a Persian she saw, wore one of the cloths tied around its tail. The more often she saw them, the more she appreciated the splash of unnatural color and considered finding one for herself.

Verdance hadn't worn any, and neither had any of the pokemon she saw at the well either. Lace growled softly and pushed him from her mind. Humans tended to stick to small groups of three or more, and even some vendors had a companion stand around to look menacing. While their delicate hands didn't have claws, nor did their teeth look particularly intimidating, many wore long metal knives at their hip. A few wore knives so absurdly large they nearly dragged against the ground. Lace couldn't imagine any practical use for one, but the humans often appeared to try and one up another with their flashy and colorful clothing. Perhaps that was their version of puffing up their fur.

Though humans and pokemon mixed in many areas, the city held small pockets where one group or the other dominated, and Lace searched for the areas with more humans than pokemon. Newer stone buildings, especially the larger ones, concentrated around the harbor, along with more humans.

A cool breeze came in off the water bringing with it a familiar scent of water plants and algae. For once she preferred that over the city's overcrowded stench. Lace wandered along one of the streets parallel the river. The only pokemon she saw was a hunted looking Umbreon hurrying the opposite direction as Lace.

Not far along a street that paralleled the river, a truly massive building stood surrounded by a too-perfectly manicured lawn, like a trap made to entice unsuspecting passersby. A tall metal fence surrounded the property, the tops sharpened to wicked points with little flourishes that would prevent removal if impaled. One slip, and anyone trying to climb over would find themselves in a particularly gruesome predicament.

Two humans with the over-sized knives stood guard at a gate leading into the property. Humans wandered about in the distance near the main building. A sudden desire to know what they were hiding inside overcame Lace, and she let her claws rasp against one of the thin metal spikes of the fence.

A fountain spouted water into a round carved basin, the walkway splitting around the feature and joining to lead up white stone steps and massive wooden doors. A balcony stood out from one of the upper floors overlooking a large patio. Drapes of marvelously white cloth blocked the view inside through windows taller than any human she'd seen, everything aspect so overly grand. Lace couldn't decide if she should feel awed or confused by the excess. How would they even get all this stuff here in the first place? It would take hundreds of people all working on this one frivolotiy.

She wandered the perimeter of the fence, trying to decide what the humans inside were doing, but they all appeared to perform mundane tasks, carrying supplies, maintaining the grounds, moving boxes. The rear of the property even had a small pond with a bench at its edge. A young human boy stood in front of the bench using a stick to ripple the water.

Lace waited for something exciting to happen, something befitting the ornate building and large fenced off area in the middle of densely crowded buildings, but she quickly grew bored at how mundane it all appeared. Perhaps the interesting things happened inside the building? She tapped a finger on the metal fence, not polished, but even she'd have a difficult time scaling the vertical bars, and she didn't envy her chances making it over the top without a few nasty cuts.

An annoyed growl rumbled between her bared teeth. She'd never considered her illusions might not work to get her somewhere she wanted to be. Perhaps if she waited by the gate long enough she might be able to slip inside, but she'd face the same trouble getting back out again after, and she wasn't quite that curious about what some humans were doing.

She finished her circuit of the building and decided to move on, wondering if she would even understand a human if she spoke to one. Further away from the docks, the crowds dwindled, and along a few streets, Lace found herself nearly alone. A blue shape caught her eye, and she turned towards the direction she had come from to spot the first and only pokemon she'd seen since entering this part of the city.

The pokemon had prominent ears and a black pattern crossing its otherwise blue head. It walked on two legs like her, and a gleaming metal spike protruded from the back of each hand and its chest. Odd, she didn't recognize the species. She almost put it from her mind as a curiosity, but its brisk, focused pace led directly towards her. A shiver ran through Lace's shoulders and she hurried along the street to the next corner, ducking around a stone building and heading away from the river.

No one should be able to see her through the illusion that hid her, so it was silly to worry about a pokemon following her. With all the background noise and overpowering stench of so many people, she should be able to move through the city undetected. But with so many nooks and perches, the city left her feeling under constant watch anyway, especially so in these more desolate areas. All these large buildings hadn't been created just for no one to use them.

Lace slowed, shaking her head and smoothing her charcoal fur. Maybe she should head back. The distractions of such an odd place more than buried the last coals of anger, and even if it had been Verdance's fault, she had wanted a fight, only further incensed when he didn't let her goad him into one. For some reason, she felt guilty at the thought of him worrying. Not that he would.

With one last glance over her shoulder- The black and blue pokemon turned the corner, and Lace's ears flattened to her skull. Panic told her to run, but if he hunted her, that would only initiate the chase. Still, she needed to use the lead she had. Or it could be some coincidence, far more likely, but the survivalist part of Lace knew it wasn't. Somehow, that pokemon could track her.

Every alleyway and side street looked like a maw ready to swallow and trap her, the cobblestone street a vast plain with nowhere to hide an ambush. Her claws tried to dig into the stone, to ready herself to flee but instead skittered off the hard surface, threatening to catch in the uneven gaps between stones. The city had seemed nothing but hidden vantages, but now that she needed to disappear, it seemed impossibly open.

"Stop," a commanding voice barked from behind her. Lace's shoulders stiffened, expecting a blow despite the other pokemon still several paces away. She had no reason to fear it, other than the unnatural way it hunted her. If maybe she could talk to it, figure out how it saw through her illusion-

"Under the authority of the Liscial family, I demand you show yourself now." Its words echoed along the street, sound reverberating through the stone corridor.

Lace didn't know who that was, but it didn't sound like a pokemon. And this was the only pokemon she'd seen in blocks. Something significant lurked in that observation, but Lace didn't have the time to work it out. She broke into a sprint.

Her mane whipped out behind her, then something crashed into the backs of her legs. A blue blur slid past her when the world tilted. Lace hit the cobblestone hard enough to drive the air from her lungs, silencing a cry of surprise to a whimper.

The other pokemon rolled to its feet, looming towards her. How had it moved so fast? Lace forced herself to inhale and growled, sprang to her feet, and fled towards the other side of the street. Even ready for its attack, Lace barely ducked out of the way in time. A steel spike almost ripped open the side of her face, a blow that could have blinded her.

She twisted, trying to swipe at the smaller creature, but its fist caught in her mane. The force nearly snapped her neck, and Lace tumbled wildly across the ground, stopped by a curb that opened a gash in her shoulder. She didn't even feel the pain, the scent of blood numbing her injuries while sharpening her other senses. Lace threw herself back to her feet, panting hard.

"Show yourself," it repeated, advancing menacingly. So it couldn't see her, not exactly.

Lace needed to think. The four black appendages on the back of its head moved as if they didn't feel the downward pull everything else did, but other than determining him a male, Lace couldn't find anything to give her an edge.

"Leave me alone," Lace snarled, more in an attempt to buy time than expecting him to give up.

"Come with me and you won't be harmed," he said. "My master wishes to speak with you."

Lace didn't believe him. "Not interested." She feinted away as if to run, knowing he'd chase, and she used his impossible speed to set her ambush. The moment he twitched, Lace pivoted to rake her claws through the air.

Her strike caught against the pokemon's tough hide, claws sliding off him like her were made of hardened leather, scoring a few tufts of lush blue fur. The backhand that followed slashed across her chest. Pain drove her vision black, a vague sensation of tumbling, then more pain.

Only luck left her battered instead of crippled. Both her arms worked, and though it made her vision tunnel in agony, she could still breath. A little to either direction and he'd have shattered her arm or her ribs. Right, he couldn't see her, which meant her illusions did work. It was something else.

He didn't give her another chance this time and lunged. On instinct, Lace threw out illusions of herself leaping in five different directions, one directly at his face, and dodged. The moment's hesitation, his red eyes widening in shock, let her take a glancing kick to the shoulder that sent her rolling with just enough control to carry the momentum back to her feet.

She ran towards the building across from her, teeth grit in a mixture of pain and terrified determination. Hopefully this creature didn't have the knack for memorizing spatial detail like a pokemon born with the innate ability to create lifelike illusions. Gathering her focus, she expunged the light around them, leaving them in an endless black void. Not even the barest hint of shadowed movement existed, so dark it left even her momentarily disoriented, but she only had one chance.

Lace sprang left and dropped to her stomach. The wound across her chest screamed in pain, or maybe she did. The window above her exploded. A strangled cry followed the sound of wood splintering while glass showered down upon them, tinkling merrily over wood and cobblestone. Without waiting to find out how well her plan worked, Lace sprinted down the road, letting light return around her while locking the illusion around the broken window to hopefully trap her foe. It wouldn't last long once she moved far enough away, but it should buy her enough time. It had to.

Only when she rejoined the dense crowds did Lace consider slowing, and only then when she nearly threw a startled Greninja to the ground, its shocked cry a vague forgotten detail. Between her blind sprint and wounded chest forcing shallow breaths, her head spun, and Lace caught herself on the wall of a building to avoid crashing into a stack of crates.

Verdance. Lace tried to focus, eyes darting around the unfamiliar streets, trying to orient herself in this unfamiliar territory and ignore the crowds, the constant motion. It didn't matter if the strange pokekmon chased her. She couldn't push herself any harder. Everything hurt. She needed to lie down, to sleep. Lace shook her head. Focus. She snarled.

The river. She had made it past the dock. Good. That meant she just needed to head away. Her knee tried to give out, and Lace caught herself once more before turning right then limping to a slow jog.

She didn't know how she found her way, or even remember the intervening space, only the flood of relief upon spotting a familiar little house and its thriving gardens. Maybe she shouldn't have been so angry at Verdance. Draft seemed to like him, and he had let her stay here. And fed him. She would apologize.

Lace knocked hesitantly on the door, waiting for a moment, then reconsidering the urgency of her situation and threw in the door. A large form recoiled, hissing in surprise, readying a strike, then-

"Lace!" A flurry of vines erupted into motion, closing the door, catching her, gently coiling around her shoulder, pressing into her outstretched hand to keep her on her feet. Lace let her eyes flutter shut. She expected his vines to feel rough, not soft and supple, like some of the rubbery water plants that lived along rivers, but also solid enough to easily support her. It took a moment to blink her eyes open again, realizing he was speaking.

"Sorry," she mumbled and let him guide her to the floor. Blood matted her chest, though not enough that she worried. Maybe she should. Large red eyes peered down at her, and Lace smiled. He did worry about her. She giggled quietly before wincing at the way it caused her chest to move.

"Lace! Tell me what happened." The calm force of command behind his voice snapped a thread of clarity through Lace's thoughts, and she committed that moment to memory to admire at a more appropriate time.

"I was attacked," she groaned, each word radiating pain through her chest. "It's not so bad. Just a cut." His ceiling wobbled uncomfortably. "Maybe hit my head." She scrubbed a paw across her eyes, finding a tender spot below her right ear. Vines swirled around her, and a stinging liquid blazed across the gash in her chest that left her gasping.

Verdance worked quickly. "Who attacked you?"

Lace shook her head, and forced herself to breath, the acrid, bitter scent of whatever he poured on her chest burning her nose as well. "Never saw a pokemon like him before. A little smaller than me. Blue and black, beige body." A pair of vines lifted her back and shoulders just enough for another pair of vines to wrap a bandage tight around her torso.

Verdance hissed. "Did he follow you?"

"I don't think so." Lace winced as he lowered her back down, then amended, "I don't know."

Verdance glanced out the window before drawing the blinds. Off the streets and having a moment to catch her breath, Lace already felt a bit better, and sat up to take the cup of water Verdance offered.

"You should lie down," he said in a tone resigned to his advice going unheard.

"What was it?" The water soothed her raw throat.

"A Lucario. The humans breed them, but they're supposedly rare." Verdance leaned down, peering into her eyes and prodding her neck gently with his vines. "I only know of one here in the city."

"It could follow me even with-" Lace snapped her jaws shut and wilted under Verdance's expectant gaze. She should tell him. He deserved to know, but so soon after her attack, Lace wasn't eager to divulge one of her only advantages. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring you trouble." She muttered, "I didn't even do anything."

"You haven't yet." Verdance sighed. "Hopefully he didn't follow you, but he can't do anything here. I'll deal with him if he does." Lace wanted to believe him. Instead, after examining her once again he asked, "Where's your bag?"

She tapped a blood red claw against the smooth floorboards by her side, not meeting his gaze. "It's outside in the garden. I didn't bring it with me."

Verdance shook his head but left to retrieve it for her, though why he cared, she couldn't fathom. If it was guilt over how the day started, he didn't apologize, simply offering the satchel in an outstretched vine. Lace hugged it for comfort, one of the few reminders of her home she still possessed, and dug out the jade bracelet to affix to her wrist.

Verdance watched, the stone close in color to his underbelly scales. "That's pretty. It suits you."

"It is, isn't it?" After a wistful memory of the day she received it, Lace crawled up to the hearth, started to curl herself into a ball, then decided to lay flat at a painful reminder from her chest.

Lace woke gasping and bolted upright. The slice in her chest left a reverberant ache that penetrated deep into her torso but didn't feel any worse for moving. Her right shoulder didn't want to lift her arm, but most of the other minor scrapes and bruises barely bothered her. Verdance toiled away at his workbench, but turned to watch with his large red eyes when she woke.

"Who is Liscial?" she asked, standing up to test her range of motion.

"Arian Liscial. He's the leader of the humans if anyone could claim that title, at least here in the city." Verdance turned back to his work. "That was his Lucario that you met. What were you doing?"

"Nothing!" she protested. "I saw that giant building behind a fence and watched the humans for a bit. I noticed the Lucario following after I'd left."

"Pokemon aren't exactly welcome in that section of the city, but just looking wouldn't cause his hound to attack." Small vials lined the workbench, and Verdance portioned a thick green mixture into them. "What else did you do."

Lace growled. "Lucario told me to stop and go with him. I told him no. When I tried to run, he attacked me." She muttered bitterly. "He was too fast. I couldn't fight him."

Verdance sealed the vials in a thin layer of wax, then turned towards her. "There's enough tension in the city without sending that creature out to make random attacks. What else happened?"

"Nothing!" she repeated angrily. "Why ask if you don't believe me when I answer!" Lace forced herself to calm, not wanting a repeat of earlier, not when she was in no shape for a good fight. But she hated the way he jabbed at her using words rather than his vines and teeth. It was underhanded and unsatisfying.

"Because if he did attack you for no reason, it's much worse," Verdance replied darkly and carefully placed his filled vials on a shelf. "I'd rather you have done something rash and deserved it."

Lace huffed but the anger drained from her tensed muscles, letting her claws relax. Then a completely unrelated thought struck her. "When Draft came in earlier, he didn't give you any of those metal disks."

Verdance eyed her, an opaque expression masking his regal face. "He's a regular customer," he said as if that answered her inquiry.

"I'm hungry," she grumbled, too annoyed to press him for a straight answer that he wouldn't give anyway. Sometime after a quick meal, a calm knock sounded against Verdance's door. Despite herself, Lace jumped to her feet, crouching with claws at the ready. Verdance tensed as well, but shook himself and let his coils relax, but he nodded towards the back room.

He whispered so no one outside would hear. "If you prefer."

Friend or foe, Lace scurried off to the other room, not in the mood to deal with any more word games. Closing the door softly behind her, Lace examined the tidy room. A pile of blankets that smelled of Verdance, of fresh living things and tantalizingly sweet, filled one corner of the room which must be where he slept. A table of drawers occupied one wall, a strange assortment of things atop it, a little vase with fragrant purple flowers, a strange metal disk the size of her palm, a trio of smooth stones with veins of crystal running through them. He even had one of those cloth bands some of the pokemon wore in the city, his a bright red that would accent his eyes, and the black silhouette of some kind of avian creature adorned one end. She grinned imagining where he'd wear such a thing. Perhaps around his snout so he couldn't open his mouth.

Friendly voices wandered in from outside, another pokemon interested in medicine or some other concoction. Lace hesitated, examining the array of drawers, her claw finding the latch to pull one open, but she turned away before working up the nerve to investigate further. She still kept secrets from him even after all he'd done for her. He deserved his secrets as well.

Instead she lay down in his nest of blankets, warm and comfortable, and thought of what Salazzle and hers were up to. Lace knew, of course, but she still missed them, the easy pleasure and simple existence. Her eyes drifted shut, imagining half a dozen Salandits all cuddled around her, their warm bodies lulling her to contented slumber, except she smelled mint instead.

The room lay in shadow when gentle vines nudged Lace awake. Deep ruby eyes glittered with faint candlelight.

He kept his voice to a gentle whisper. "I let the fire burn late. It will be warmer if you prefer to sleep by the heart. I can bring some of the blankets"

Lace pulled herself into a hesitant stretch, gently testing her sore muscles. Her brain still felt sluggish. She met his gaze. "Can I stay here?"

He looked away, searching the wall of his room. "You'll probably be more comfortable near the fire."

A pang sent a different kind of ache through her chest. Had she dropped her illusion at some point revealing her scars? She'd clung to that illusion so long her powers maintained it automatically. "Do you not want me here?"

"It's not that-" he answered quickly but his lack of a follow up left Lace digging claws into her palms. Verdance sighed heavily. "Are you sure?" After a long moment, too long of a moment, to let her reconsider, Verdance sighed again and slowly coiled himself around her body, glassy smooth scales brushing across her fur, yet another reminder of home. "Tell me if I hurt you."

Lace bit back the scathing retort that leapt to her lips and instead relaxed against his large body. "I'm not so fragile," she settled on instead. "Whatever you put on my chest I think has already healed it." His body encircled her in a fortress of muscle and scale, and she nuzzled against the side of his head. "Thanks."

He recoiled as if on instinct before finally letting his chin rest on her shoulder. Lace cupped his cheek, drawing him into the crook of her neck and wriggled into a more comfortable position. Tucked safely within his coils, she fell peacefully asleep.