FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

I woke up in my usual fashion, by blatantly refusing to. I tried to roll over and go back to sleep, when I realized I wasn't in bed. I was on the floor. A floor, not my floor, I noted as I pushed myself up. My back didn't hurt, surprisingly, as it would after sleeping all night on the floor. Now for some, this experience might be all too familiar, waking up in a strange place on the floor, having probably gotten drunk and migrated here from a party. That's the thing though, I don't. I don't party.

I looked around and found my surroundings to be strange as well. The design of the house around me seemed foreign, not at all American. I decided to stand, despite being somewhat wobbly.

It was then that I realized I was wearing something different. I looked down to find I was wearing jeans and a hoodie, my usual attire, however, neither were mine, nor were they what I usually fell asleep in. The hoodie was black, not unusual for me, but with a strange crimson symbol on the front, which was.

I began to wander the rooms of the house, building, whatever it was. The rooms were especially small, pretty much confirming it wasn't American just by the design. I continued to poke through the place before noticing a dark wood table with a few ornate carvings in it. On it was a digivice, from the Tamers series.

“Alright." I said, exercising my habit of talking aloud to myself. “Someone's fucking with me." I picked it up, deciding to “play along" with this game. I examined it a bit, comparing it to the toy version I'd had when I was younger. The first major difference was that it was black, not the white or grey that they usually were. The facing or trim or whatever was crimson, notably a few shades darker than Takato's from the series. I also noticed it was sturdy, not like the cheap construction of a child's toy. This thing was tough, and I could feel it. I pocketed it in the front of my hoodie, despite the many warnings issued by my dad, “Don't put important shit in the front pocket, you'll lose it."

I had just turned around to leave the room, when I noticed another thing. My shoes weren't mine either. They, too, were crimson and black, following the scheme of my two favorite colors. The other shocking thing was that they fit. Most nice shoes like these don't come in size 16. When I looked back up, I saw something that someone had pinned a piece of paper to the wall with a knife, upon closer examination my knife, one of them, at least. I walked up to the wall, pulled the knife out, closed it up, and pocketed it as well.

The paper, which had been folded in half, had the words “turn it on" written in graceful brushstroke calligraphy, not printed from a computer, but actually brushed on. I stood for a few moments, simultaneously admiring the skill of the writer and pondering the meaning. After a few more seconds on thought, I pulled the digivice back out to find that it was indeed off. I set the paper aside, on a table near the wall.

“Worth a shot, I guess." I said, pressing the button to turn it on. The display lit up, literally; it was backlit, another difference from the toy in the days of my youth. An instant later, I felt a light presence on my shoulder. I resisted the urge to twist and face the thing, instead opting for a peaceful approach.

“Hands off, please. I don't like to be touched." I said gently, and the presence was removed. I slowly turned and raised my hands to show that they were empty, save for the digivice. As I turned, a figure came into my view.

“Jesus. Fucking. Christ." I said, taking in the sight before me. It was a Renamon.

“Uh…" Repeatedly came out of my mouth. I was put at a loss, a hard thing to do. But then, how the hell would you react?

“You are Lucian?" The digimon in front of me asked. I must have looked like something of an idiot.

“Y-yeah. Luke, though." I stuttered out my response, only correcting her from pure reflex after doing it with every person I'd ever met. “Are you… real?"

As if to prove my point, the Renamon reached out with a large paw and poked my face.

My face went from shock to a glare. “Alright, smart ass." The Renamon giggled a bit, simultaneously putting me off kilter a bit and forcing me to crack a smile.

We stood there awkwardly for a minute, me popping my leg back and forth and the Renamon's tail lightly whipping against the ground.

“Stop whipping your tail on the ground, you'll get it dirty."

“Stop popping your leg." And again we were at stalemate.

After a few more minutes of awkward standing, I finally had to ask.

“Why am I here?" The question was necessary, and it shattered the silence and tension in the air.

The Renamon began to shift from leg to leg uncomfortably before responding. “I don't know."

I raised an eyebrow and replied flatly. “What."

“I'm not sure." I brought my hand to my face in mild frustration and confusion.

I thought for a moment, and then picked up the paper. I unfolded it and faced the writing to the Renamon.

“Did you write this?" I asked, gesturing to the paper, digivice still in hand.

The Renamon nodded. Okay, now we're getting somewhere.

“Why?"

The Renamon again shifted from leg to leg before responding, as if unsure about all of this. This definitely wasn't Rika's Renamon.

“I had to. If you didn't turn it on, I wouldn't be able to talk to you."

I stopped everything. I stopped popping my leg, my arm holding the paper dropped to my side, and my brain stopped functioning as it all crashed together.

I recovered a few seconds later, but the shock was still present in my voice.

“Am I your Tamer?"

The Renamon nodded.

I leaned back into the wall and slid down, trying to cope with this.

“That's it, then?" I said to myself, probably confusing the Renamon. “I finally did it. I went crazy." The Renamon tried to pick me up by the shoulders, lugging me upwards despite imitation of a bag of sand.

I started to sink again and looked up at the Renamon. “This is real?"

“Yes." The Renamon replied, obviously irate at my refusal to stay on my feet.

I stood up fully, not slouching anymore to pop my leg and looked the Renamon dead in the eye, enjoying the fact that I was ever-so-slightly larger than the Renamon. I intensely looked down into the Renamon's eyes.

“You better not be lying." I said with a wicked grin. Figured if I was really going crazy, I might as well roll with it. I put the digivice back into my pouch and began to walk through the house again, looking for a couch.

After a minute of searching, with the Renamon closely following me, I found one, with a television in the same room. I sat and so did the Renamon.

I took the remote in my hand and turned to the Renamon. “I have a question for you. Answer honestly." A nod was the reply.

“We're in Shinjuku, aren't we?"

The Renamon nodded, “Yes, how did you know that?"

“Call me psychic." I said, shrugging off the question, then sprung to another thought on a half-baked whim. “Are you female?"

“Well, technically…" I stopped the Renamon mid-sentence.

“Don't give me the “technically digimon are data so we have no gender" bullshit. You and I both know digimon have a physical sex. It's a binary data point."

The Renamon didn't seem to enjoy being cut off. “I was going to say, technically, yes. I haven't developed fully, but I am a female."

She turned away and I turned on the TV.

We sat and watched for a few minutes before my urge got the better of me. I ever so subtly reached over and stroked down her arm. She was definitely real. I looked back up to her and she returned with the most wide-eyed look I've seen from any person or digimon.

“Sorry." I said. “Couldn't resist."

After that awkwardness passed, I spoke again.

“I have another question."

“You seem to be full of them today."

“Wow, has my smart ass demeanor already rubbed off on you?"

“Yes." Blunt.

“Anyways, have you been here for a while? In this world, I mean."

She pondered for a moment. “I crossed over a few days ago and have been living in this house."

I nodded. “Have you seen a girl in a trenchcoat walking around, possibly with a Renamon like yourself following her?"

She looked confused. “Yes. How did you know that?" So, that's about where I am chronologically. Crap.

“Where I come from, this entire reality is a work of fiction. Anyone who's seen it could tell you the events to follow. Unfortunately, I haven't watched it in years, so I can't remember plot details all that well. Just broad strokes."

Renamon looked at me queerly for a moment. “A work of fiction? That makes no sense at all."

I sighed, a bit frustrated. “No, of course it doesn't, you're in it, how would you know?" The glare I received in return told me I'd need to do a little more convincing than that, and maybe to lose some of the attitude.

“Alright, I know, I know, it seems unbelievable. Damn, what can I tell you to make you believe me…?" I thought for a moment, then decided to lean on my memory a bit. “Alright, how about this. People in this world don't know what a digimon is. You would know that, you've been here for a while, right? The only exception is tamers, and you and I both know I wasn't one until a couple minutes ago." I held up the digivice to enforce my point.

The Renamon looked at me for a moment, seeming to ponder. After a minute or so, she looked me in the eyes. “You're my tamer regardless, I have no real reason not to trust you."

I sighed again, relieved this time. “Alright, so there's a bit of a problem. The thing is, you and I weren't in the original work. That's going to screw things up a bit."

“So you have a rough idea of what will happen?"

“Very rough, but I remember certain things better than others."

“Like?"

I held the digivice up again. “I know how to work one of these things pretty well. That, and I remember how to get you to digivolve."

“Really? Do it then!" She seemed giddy, as any digimon would at the prospect.

“I can't yet." Her expression fell. “I know how, but we aren't strong enough as partners to be able to yet."

“What do you mean?"

“We have to grow as friends."

She paused for a moment. “We're… friends?"

“Yeah. Well, hopefully we will… Aw, come on, tell me you don't buy into the whole 'tamer is master' crap?"

“But… aren't you?"

I sighed. “No, I'm not. I don't want to be your master. That would make you my slave. We are equals. I respect you, I hope you do the same for me. We are two parts of a whole."

“So… we are friends?" She said slowly, seeming to finally get it.

“Yes. I care about you, even though I just met you. As your Tamer, part of my job is to take care of you and train you. As my partner, you have to help protect me and work with me. Symbiotic."

“Good. I like you, Lucian." She reached out and stroked down the side of my arm. Oh, great. She thinks that's our thing now.

“Don't start doing that." I said, feigning seriousness. “And it's Luke."

She seemed taken aback. “Sorry, I was just teasing you."

“I know." I said, then I stoically turned my head to her and cracked a smirk. “So was I."

She lightly smacked me. “You have a very dry sense of humor, you know that?"

“Do I? Or am I just sarcastic?" I quipped, never losing the smirk.

“I'm not too sure what you are." She said, a bit of confusion falling over her face.

“Suppose that makes it difficult for me, then. I know a lot about you, you know nothing about me." I said, absentmindedly watching the television, using it more for flashing lights than entertainment.

“How do you figure that? You may know about that other Renamon, but not me. I'm entirely different. And don't think I haven't picked up on a few things from you."

I turned back to her with genuine interest. “Oh, really? What have you picked up about me?"

“Well, given how you've been acting, I'd guess you're a bit of the anxious sort. Curious what others might know or not know about you."

I nodded. “That's exceptionally perceptive of you, given how different digimon are characteristically from humans."

“And that. Analytical. Some would take that at face value, but you feel the need to ascribe some sort of reason to it."

“Hmm. Seems I'm giving you a little too much ammunition, let's hear another, since this sentence probably gave you nothing."

“Well," She said, thinking for a moment. “The clothes you're wearing. I assume they are your usual attire." I nodded in response. “By that, I can assume you are something of an informal person, who likes the cold."

I rolled up the sleeves of my hoodie, no doubt proving her right. “How do you figure those things?"

“Informal, due to your posturing, your language, and the fact that I can see no collar on your shirt, a thing I noted in the clothing of most men around here. Short of men who stumble out of restaurants late at night, stinking of some kind of chemical, at least. And from what I've seen, people seem to malign them quite a bit."

I was impressed, given she couldn't possibly comprehend human culture in her short time here. “Very good." I praised, patting her on the head mock-condescendingly. “And the cold bit?"

“That is a fairly thick jacket, plus you rolled up your sleeves, which shows the room is too warm for it, but you won't take it off."

“So, that means I like the cold? I mean, yes I do, but that is hardly evidence."

“But you taking my bait and admitting to it, are very much so." Now her turn to smirk, as I lost mine.

“Crafty. Very clever, my dear Renamon." I paused, wondering something. The name seemed long, ill-fitting, and most of all, already taken.

She seemed to notice. “What's wrong?" She asked, a slight franticness in her voice. “Did I assume too much?"

“No," I said, expressionless, “But you are right, don't assume, it makes an ass of you and me."

She was not pleased. “Funny, except not. But really, what are you thinking about?"

I opened my mouth, then paused, pondering once more. “Renamon, do you want a name?"

She stalled at the question. “Huh?"

“Well, there is another Renamon about. For sake of sanity, and just for a personal touch, would you want a name past the generic?"

Now it was her turn to ponder. “I suppose, what did you have in mind?"

“Well, I always have liked the name Raia. If you like that, we could use it."

She took a moment to roll it through her mouth. “Hmm. Righ-uh. Riiiigh-uh. Hmm."

I sat, enjoying her scrutiny of the name. A name is nothing to be wasted, especially when you get to choose it yourself.

“So? What do you think?" I asked after she stopped.

“I think…" She said, pondering a bit more. “I like it. You may call me Raia."

“Glad to see I have the privilege, Raia." I said sarcastically.

“Oh, shut up."

=====

After we'd had our conversation, we sat on the couch and watched television. Well, she might have been, but I wasn't. The TV just turned into pretty lights again as I lost myself to thought. To be honest, I doubt she was watching it either, but I was too lost to notice.

There were three main thoughts on my mind:

One, how did I get here? I decided not to think about this one too much, else I would lose track of reality, both this one and my “normal" one.

Two, since I was placed here, conveniently at the start of the season, I had to wonder if I was intended to interfere. Logically, I would only cause deviations from the usual plot, and therefore problems. However, if I was here, perhaps something else had changed as well. A force of good to counter a force of evil, keeping the balance? Seems just as likely as being pulled into a fictional world, so I would go with that for now.

Three, I had to wonder what was going to happen between myself and Raia. I won't lie, I'd told myself, several times, I would enjoy it if I was placed in this exact situation, one I had thought about variation after variation of during my phases of my youth. That, and I had been about a week out of a “sort-of" breakup. Of course, anyone could see these were just reasons I gave myself to justify where I would try to guide the relationship, from friendship to something more.

Other thoughts phased in and out of my mind as I passed back and forth between these three. One that popped up more than a few times was, “How are you going to fight? You've got no cards, no training, hell, no real experience." True, these things were, but I could definitely get the first two, and the third would come with time. Lucky for me, the writers were nice enough to start the season with rookies and champions, not megas and ultimates.

Despite my depth of thought, I was still roused from it when Raia stood, trance-like, appearing to stare at a wall. I stood, walking to the nearest window and followed her line of sight through the wall.

“You sense one coming through, don't you?"

She snapped from the trance of tracking the emergence. “Uh... yes. How did you know?"

I shrugged. “Lucky guess. Here's what we are going to do." I said, walking back to her. She nodded somewhat briskly, partly out of shaking the trance, I would guess, and partly to acknowledge me.

“Take me there. Keep our distance, I think this can be a learning experience."

She looked confused. “Take you there? This is a wild digimon we're talking about. We can't fight yet, or is getting killed suddenly a learning experience?"

I shook my head. “Yeah, phase me out with you, drag my happy ass over there, and we'll keep our distance and watch. I have an idea of what will happen, so I can use it as a visual aid."

She groaned, taking my hand reluctantly. “I suppose I must start to trust you if you are to be my tamer." I felt my body… well, shift, I guess. I figured the phasing out worked by vibrating on a frequency incompatible with the physical world, and this feeling seemed to back that up. Raia didn't make a liar of me about dragging my ass over there, though. Raia decided not to carry me, and I couldn't follow her pace to save my life.

We arrived in a dark area where the Goblimon was visible and I saw Renamon and Rika quickly approaching. I noticed it seemed they were in earshot, but I still decided to make a quick note to Raia before the battle began.

“You watch Rika. I know you can fight, it's bred into you. You watch her, I'll explain later." I would be doing the opposite, noting the standard move set of Renamon as she attacked, looking for weaknesses, strengths, anything that could help. The battle continued until Calumon inadvertently digivolved the Goblimon, with Rika waiting until just before to use a card. Now, I began to analyze the card's effect on Renamon's movements, drinking in as much detail as possible, down to the last flick of the tail. As the battle drew to a close, I nudged Raia and gestured to Renamon, as if to say “Watch."

“That's more like it, Renamon. Not even a champion level digimon can stand in our way anymore. Now, download Fugamon's data." I heard Rika say. I saw Raia's eyes become wide, witnessing what could be seen as cannibalism. I guess she didn't spend much time in the digital world before coming across. “Next time, you'll win...without my help."

The pair soon left, but we remained. Raia looked disgusted and frightened all at once.

“Why…" Was all she said. I put my arm over her shoulder and sighed.

“Because, Raia, all Rika wants is a powerful tool. All Renamon wants is to be that tool. Symbiotic, but in all the wrong sorts of ways. I don't want us to be that, to be willing to commit such acts in the name of gaining power."

She nodded, obviously still shaken from what she'd seen.

“So, what did you learn from Rika?" I asked, hopeful she didn't have to see that for no reason.

“She… she didn't care at all. She didn't guide, let alone assist her partner. Renamon may as well have been out there on her own."

I nodded. “Precisely. Not a team at all, really. Tonight, I've given you an example of what not to be: a bitch and her beast, to be blunt."

“Can we go home now?" She asked, and I nodded. We phased home, myself being uncomfortably dragged the whole way.

“We really have to figure out a better way to do that." I said, only half-joking. Raia cracked a smile, but I could still see something was off. I could tell from the look in her eyes. So, I did the first thing I always do when a girl is upset. I got close to her, looked her in the eyes, and drew her into a warm, somewhat blanketing (due to my wideness) embrace.

“What's wrong?" I asked, her leaning into me as I struggled to find the couch. I eventually found it, and lowered us onto it, taking a ragged breath from the exertion. She might have been able to pick me up, but I was having a hard time returning the favor.

“That Renamon scared me." She said, softly. “She was monstrous. I-" She stopped suddenly.

“What?" I asked, slowly beginning to stroke her back, “You what?"

“I'm afraid of becoming that." She was beginning to choke up.

I knew how she must feel; what she'd seen was equivalent to having seen a person killed, then mutilated. While data consumption wasn't uncommon, it was still fucked up. The data could return to the digital world and reform, giving the digimon a second chance. To take that away, for only a slight boost in strength, was an ultimately selfish act. It was comparable to killing a person for the money in their wallet, you only gain slightly, but they lose greatly. And yet, sadly it was indeed a common thing in the digital world, where there seemed no restraint. What puzzled me what that she seemed to have never seen it before.

“You won't. I won't let you. Part of my job is to guide you, train you, make you stronger. Rika trying use that as an edge is wrong, but I don't think she sees that. To her, digimon are weapons, and vice versa with Renamon."

She just nodded, eyes somewhat misty. Poor thing, I hadn't intended to make her feel this way, but she had to see that. That scene was stronger than a million words trying to convince her. Not to mention, I needed to see a fight in action, a real one, to get a basis to work from.

I looked over her shoulder and out the window, seeing the moon full in the night sky. Tiredness was starting to set in. Maybe sleep would steady both of our minds, or hell, maybe I'd wake up to and find it was all just a crazy dream.

“Come on." I said, trying to pull her up as I stood. “We need to get to bed. Tomorrow, we start training, and I'll get to show you how a tamer is supposed to be." I walked her around until we found the bedroom, and I laid her on one side and I got in on the other, leaving a good margin between us. If this was real, tomorrow would be a big day, I knew. Tomorrow, I was going have to reveal myself.

=====

At some point in the night, it seemed I rolled toward the center of the bed. This was strange, because I never move in my sleep. I cracked my eyes open and saw that Raia had as well, leaving only a few inches between us. I was torn upon looking at her face. On one hand, it was beautiful, peaceful, I wanted to stroke the side of her face. On the other hand, she looked to be sleeping so peacefully. I couldn't bear to wake her, and I knew my touch would. I laid there for about 3 or 4 minutes before deciding to get up. I tried to be careful, and somehow I slipped out of bed without waking her.

I walked out of the room to find the shower, when a thought struck me. I had no spare clothes.

“Crap." I said audibly. Well, I thought. Looks like I'll be wearing these clothes today. I made a mental note to add clothes to the list of things that needed to be done. I threw my clothes off and walked into the shower, somehow making it work, despite the foreign nature. I was partway through rinsing my hair when I heard the door open. I froze.

“Raia." I said, hoping to God. “Tell me that's you."

“Luke, what are you doing?" I heard her say. Guess I woke her up after all.

“Bathing." I said as if it were obvious, which it was. “Haven't you seen a person bathe before? I thought you'd been around here for a while."

Somehow, I knew she was blushing. “I never watched people in the bathroom. Sorry." I heard the door shut. Well, wonderful. One day with my digimon, and she's already traumatized from seeing me naked, which, in my mind, was hardly a pleasing sight.

Disregarding that, I returned to washing myself, quickly now, so I could go fix what I had wrought. I left the shower and begrudgingly glared at the same clothes from yesterday. Tugging the dirty clothes on, I noticed the sizes, which were much smaller than they should be, but the clothes seemed to fit just fine.

“Damn non-US measurements." I muttered to myself. I looked around and noticed there were no “hygienic" products, deodorant, cologne, toothpaste, things to mask the naturally disgusting smells we create. I knew I would have to go without, and so I would stink.

I emerged from the bathroom to find Raia sitting on the couch. She noticed me and blushed hard enough for me to see through her fur.

“Sorry about that." I said as I walked over to her. “Must have been pretty bad, huh?"

She looked at me, confused. “Bad?"

“Yeah. I'm not exactly in shape, ya know?" I was all too ready to poke fun at myself. I was overweight, maybe even fat, I knew that. Hundreds of hours gaming, writing, and coding had cinched that down pretty tight. I was no light weight to begin with. 6'2 and around 300 pounds, that was me, but I was okay with it. “Not really a sight to see, especially like that."

“I didn't hate it." She said flatly, no expression on her face. Wow, really? How does one read that?

“You didn't hate it." I said, staring her in the eyes. She nodded. “What in the hell does that mean?"

“It means I didn't hate it." She said, no smirk, no grin. Perfect poker face. I wanted to slap her.

“Right." I said, trying to put it behind me. “Do I stink?"

Again, she was confused. “Uh…"

“More than usual?" I asked, somewhat in jest. “I had to wear the same clothes and I had nothing to cover my stink other than the shower."

“You smell like you did yesterday." I could see she felt like not giving an opinion.

“Well, before the next big event, let's go get me some clothes and some deodorant."

We left the house a few minutes later and she phased us over to the closest store that stocked clothes big enough for me.

I walked in and realized something.

“I have no money." I said, wide-eyed and apparently to thin air. In reality, I was talking to Raia, who was phased out.

I felt myself phase out and I was dragged outside. We were behind one of the stores, where no one would see us.

“You have no money." She said. No shit, just said that. “How are you supposed to buy food and other things, like clothes?"

I blushed a bit, never thinking I'd have to do this. “Well, I can't really get a job, considering my situation, so we'll have to… steal." She gave me the dirtiest look.

“You want me to steal things for you?" She questioned.

“Do you see much other choice?" I shot at her. “I'm from another continent, in another goddamn dimension! We hardly have a choice, beggars can't be choosers."

She nodded, but didn't seem happy about it. “Alright. Did you at least check your wallet?" I hadn't thought to, actually, but I was used to having no money. I pulled it out and opened it; still no cash.

“Guess you're gonna have to get kinda sneaky today."