FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

This is my first story I have written for this site. I do not consider my writing to be that of quality, but I do hope that I can make at least one person smile.

Before you read the story, you should know that this first chapter is rather dark. I do not intend for the rest of the chapters to be nearly as dark.

I would greatly appreciate any and all feedback that you as the reader can give me. Have fun reading this chapter!

"Ugh. . ." I groaned as I woke up in my tent. I started to roll around before I remembered that I was a few thousand feet high. I needed to get moving if I wanted to reach the top of the mountain by nightfall. It was the tallest mountain in the region, as well as the coldest. Few were brave enough to climb its mighty heights. Of those who did climb it, around half came back. I started packing my things silently then climbed to the closest ridge to get a view of my surroundings. Once I had reached the ridge I relaxed slightly and looked around. As I found my bearings, I heard a voice in my head.

Help me . . . please. . .

I looked around trying to find where the voice came from and I noticed a small tuft of blue fur in the snow. I quickly trudged through the snow. As I got closer, the snow got deeper. When I finally reached the tuft, I pulled it out of the snow quickly. I saw that it was a pokemon and quickly shoved it into my coat. It was cold to the touch. I looked around for an overhang or a cave of some sort. Seeing none I racked my brain trying to remember where the last one I had encountered was. The closest one I could remember was a day's climbing back, but I had to make it if this pokemon were to survive. I grabbed my climbing hooks and started the slow journey back to the cave, Nearly falling every few steps. The pokemon was warming up slightly, but was still very cold.

Night was falling. If I didn't reach the cave soon, I would have to set up my tent on a ridge tonight. But then the pokemon would die. I didn't have a choice and pushed my hardest to move quickly. Just as I lost hope of finding the cave in time, I spotted a hole close by. It was big enough to fit a tent in and a fire, so I ran in and set up my tent to shield me from any wind that would come in the hole. I built a fire as quickly as I could and set the pokemon next to it. Now all I could do was wait. It was a blue and black with white ovals on its wrists. It had a head similar to a coyote, but with long, black, almost ears coming out of its head. I grabbed my guide book that showed all the pokemon that lived on the mountain. I searched for a while, and found what I was looking for. The pokemon was a Riolu.

As I read about Riolu, it moved slightly. I put down my book and watched intently to see if it was okay. It slowly opened its eyes and looked at me. I heard the voice in my head again.

Daddy?

I stared in shock when it called me its father. I was about to protest when I heard the voice again.

Where's mommy?

I couldn't bring myself to tell Riolu that I wasn't its father and that its mother wasn't here either. Instead, I said "Mommy's not here right now. She's far away and we won't see her for a while"

Riolu seemed satisfied with the answer for the moment. It got up and looked at me with a look that could only mean "I'm hungry." So I got out what little was left of my supplies and gave Riolu a Poke-block. I always carried them in case I had to battle wild pokemon with my Ninetales, whom I had affectionately named Tali. I pulled out Tali's pokeball and let her out. I told her everything I knew about the situation and let her talk to Riolu. I hoped that she could do a better job helping it than I could. While Tali and Riolu talked, I formed a plan in my head. I thought it was obvious that Riolu had been abandoned. I thought it best that I take it down to the nearest town and have Nurse Joy take a look at it. As much as I liked it, I didn't feel as though it would be right for me to raise it on my own.

"Mommy, what's my name?"

Upon hearing this, both Tali and I tensed and looked at each other with worried expressions. I stood up and walked over to Riolu. I sat down next to it and pet its head gently. I can't name this pokemon! I don't even know its gender, much less an appropriate name.

"I... I guess that... We'll call you... Sage. We'll call you Sage."

I looked at Riolu and hoped that it would like the name.

"I love it Daddy! Hey, let's go out and play!"

I looked back and forth between Tali and Sage. I nodded at Tali which let her know I would go out and play with Sage. I stood up and grabbed my coat, and picked up Sage, carrying her outside. I set her down silently, walked a few feet away from her and asked "Well, what shall we play?" I didn't realize it at the time, but I was grinning from ear to ear.

We played for an hour before heading back to the cave. Sage was very tired when we got back. When we entered the cave, I was horrified. The tent was in shreds, my pots were crushed, and my supplies were gone, but then...

"Tali!"

I grabbed my poke translator and ran over to where Tali was laying, slowly bleeding out of her chest.

"Tali say something to me! Don't leave me here!"

Tali looked at me and used here nine tails to pull me close to her. Then she said one thing.

"Take care of Sage. Never let her be alone. She... she needs you... Master..."

Her tails fell off of me and to the floor. In that moment, I felt my entire life flash before my eyes. Starting with the day I found Tali as a Vulpix. Our entire adventure up until we decided to climb mountains rather than battle, the bond between us. The bond which we thought meant we would never be separated. I owed my life to her on more than one account and this is how I repay her? By letting her die? I watched as her last breath left her body. It was so cold I could see the air leaving. It traveled to the center of the cave and formed the shape of Tali. It looked at me, smiled then ran out of the cave and up to the sky. I knelt down next to Tali's body and felt the tears coming. One tear at first, but soon I was weeping and moaning. I cursed the beast that had done this to Tali and swore that one day I would find it and it would rue the day I did.

"mommy? Mommy? Wake up Mommy! Mommy! Wake up!"

Sage had woken up and had run over. She saw me weeping and seemed to realize what had happened, but refused to believe it. She kept shaking Tali and begged for her to wake up. I knew that I would never see Tali again. All I had left in the world now, was Sage. I looked at sage, who looked back at me with tears in her eyes.

"I... I'm so sorry. I...I... I will never let anything happen to you, Sage. As long as I still breathe, no harm will come to you."