FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

This chapter of the story brought me to tears a few times while I wrote it. at least it's not as sad or dark as the first chapter. Enjoy reading and remember, any and all feedback is welcome.

Through the tears that were freezing on my face, I picked up Tali's body and slowly trudged out of the cave with Sage in my jacket, crying as well. I slowly looked over the world that looked so small, but also so much bigger. I saw the place that I had first met Tali. And I traced my entire journey with my eyes. I knew that I had to let go, at least for the moment. I couldn't afford to be sad as I made my way down the mountain. One misstep and we would fall to our deaths. I slowly began the climb down the mountain. Fighting back the tears I reached the halfway point. I had two days of travel ahead of me and no food. Sage was getting very hungry as we reached the quarter point on the mountain. I knew she wouldn't survive without food, so I trudged to a nearby cave and made a small fire. I took my last good pan and pulled off my leather gloves. I boiled them until they were able to be eaten.

"Sage, I know these won't taste good, but they're all I have."

Sage looked at the gloves hungrily and then to me with an expression that said "don't you want some?" I smiled as best I could and said, "I'll be fine." Sage came over and quickly ate the gloves. I knew that I would probably lose my hands if I finished going down the mountain without gloves. It was a risk I was willing to take. As soon as Sage had finished eating, I put her back in my coat where she surprised me by hugging me as best she could.

"I love you Daddy"

I looked back and said "I... I love you too." I stared at Sage for a minute before I picked up Tali and continued the rough journey to the bottom. As I trudged, I could feel my hands start to freeze. As we got close to the end, I couldn't move my hands even a little. Every step felt as though I was about to shatter, and as I looked at Sage, I could see her shivering. It was getting slightly warmer as we reached the bottom, but it was still very cold.

We reached the bottom and I ran to the nearest Pokemon Center. Upon arriving, I yelled to Nurse Joy. "I need help!" Nurse Joy ran over quickly and saw the dead pokemon in my hands and looked at me with a sad look on her face. "This one didn't make it" she said. I looked at her with a look of pure hatred. "I have one more that needs help right now!" She got the hint and led me to Emergency Room. I set down Tali and pulled Sage out of my coat. Sage was still shivering from the cold. Nurse Joy took Sage quickly and then she saw my hands. "Don't you even move! I'm going to help this Riolu and then I'll see to your hands." I waited, trying to fight the urge to run into the room that Sage was in. After a few minutes Nurse Joy came back and told me that Sage would be fine. As for my hands, she wasn't so certain. She rushed me to another room and placed my hands in a machine. "the best thing we can do is wait." She said. "I need to scan them first to see if I we'll need a human doctor." The machine slowly whined as it turned on and started scanning my hands. Nurse Joy looked at the screen attached to the machine and looked more and more grim every second.

"I have good news and bad news" she said. "The good news is, your left hand will be fine in a few hours. The bad news is your right hand will need to be amputated." I looked at my hands in despair. Nurse Joy looked at me for a second. Then she said to me "I have the feeling that something terrible happened up on the mountain. I'm sorry, but I have to document all dead pokemon that come into this center. And that means I need you to tell me what happened up there."

I stared at her for a minute, holding back tears before choking out "Yes... of course..." I slowly began telling her about how we had almost climbed to the top with Tali, but stopped when I got to the part about finding Sage. I looked down at the floor for what felt like the longest time. I slowly told her about finding the abandoned Riolu before realizing that Sage had come into the room. I saw her tearing up when she heard that her parents had abandoned her. She ran to me and looked into my eyes. It felt as though she was piercing my soul searching for the truth. I simply knelt down on the floor looking back trying to remain strong, but I lost it and started crying in front of her. "Sage. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't know how. Please don't hate me. You're all I have left." Sage looked at me with an expression of hatred for a moment. Then she ran over to me and hugged my arm as tightly as she could.

"I love you Daddy. Even if you aren't my real father, you are my dad."

_ _ Nurse joy looked at the spectacle in front of her and slowly exited the room and said that she'd finish documenting the story later. I picked up Sage and hugged her as tightly as I could without hurting her. I felt so glad that she didn't hate me, but at the same time I was still hurt from losing Tali. After a few minutes, I broke the hug and set Sage on my shoulder, and walked back to Nurse Joy to finish telling my story. As soon as I finished telling my story, I picked up Tali and started walking out the door.

"Sir? You need to have a doctor work with your hand within a week, or else there is nothing that can be done."

I looked back and said "I'll make it in time. I always do." In my mind I was thinking about the one time I had not made it in time. It cost my best friend her life. I walked out of the center and started heading to the place that I had first met Tali. It was about three days walking distance away. On the way, I told Sage about my adventures and the bond that I had with Tali. Every day, when we stopped to sleep, Sage looked more determined to do something. I asked her what, but she never answered. The one thing she told me was "I want to learn to fight." I thought about it every night and on the third day, we reached the place I had met Tali. This spot was both the beginning and the end of my friend's journey.

I set down Tali, and grabbed a shovel. I began digging a hole, when Sage jumped in the hole and started digging as well. I was surprised, but realized that she thought of Tali as her mother and thus, wanted to give her a burial as well. Hours passed as we dug the hole. Eventually it was deep enough and I climbed out with Sage. And slowly lowered Tali into the hole we had dug. I looked down for a long time it seemed, before Sage touched my leg to snap me back to reality. I looked around for a minute before I started burying Tali. The whole time Sage and I worked, we were crying. Eventually we finished the burial and were about to leave when our surroundings turned blue and faded away. Leaving us in what seemed like an endless blue void. All around us were ornate patterns that flowed together like water.

"Hello master, Sage..."

"Tali? Is that you?" I said.

_"Mommy?"_Sage managed to squeak out.

"Yes. It is me. I have come to say my last goodbyes. I want you to know that I loved every minute I had with you. You were the one person I could treat as an equal. You tried your hardest to make everything we did enjoyable and equal for both of us. And for that, I love you. Sage, though we knew each other for no more than a few hours, I want you to know I love you as well. And you could not have ended up with a better trainer than Mike. The hour is near. I must depart. Remember that I love you both and I shall meet you again one day, when the clock strikes its last hour."

The void began to fade away, slowly returning us to earth. I looked at Sage and said, "You're ready." She knew what I meant the moment I said it. "We start training as soon as I have my hand back."