FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Morning arrived, and the starved vegetation was at long last reinvigorated by the the light of day, the mist of the previous night having completely disappeared. Like an evil spirit exorcised, Celebi, Zerobi and Lucario all sat inside the cave where they had been fighting not long before, now chatting civilly with each other while pretending that nothing had happened. Feeling obligated to unearth something of similar nature to Zerobi's revelation, Lucario decided to retell his past in detail, how he had woken up in a grave and encountered Ivy only to end up betrayed and hunted. He felt a little uneasy talking about the small penguin and unfortunate Combusken he had come across, but decided that none of his crimes even came close to what the icy dark-type had admitted.

"That's barbaric!" Zerobi yelled accusingly as Lucario finished his story, tugging away his false sense of security.

"H-Hey! I don't want to hear that coming from you!" Lucario shouted defensively and immediately regretted having told her anything.

"... At least I never thought of grilling and eating someone!" Zerobi retorted with a disgusted tone. The two looked at each other, and despite the horrible subject of discussion they could not help but start laughing at the absurdity of it all. Celebi looked back and forth between them, suddenly not feeling quite so bad about her own mistakes in life.

"Hahaha! We're both saints, aren't we?" Zerobi laughed with irony as a sudden thought hit her, "Oh yeah, I still have to explain all this to Mew..."

They both felt silent. Zerobi exhaled quietly and looked down, idly gazing over her reflection in her claws. Warped and twisted as it was, it did not seem quite as bad as she was used to. She had never seen herself in this light as a Weavile before, thinking back to the lost innocence of her days as a Sneasel.

Celebi looked at her and tried to say something, stopping herself at the last second. A moment passed before she made another attempt.

"Sis..." Celebi said, her normally gentle and soft voice sounding hoarse and tired, "... You should not tell anyone else of your past. While the two of us have forgiven you, do not expect the same reaction from others."

"Hey, come on..." Lucario said while patting his knee, trying to keep everyone's spirits high, "Mew's anything but vindictive!"

"Mew? Yes. But everyone else..." Celebi explained slowly before lowering her head, "... I will not be there to protect you forever. For your own sake, I suggest you do not tell anyone else about this."

"Keep doing what I've been doing so far, then..." Zerobi sighed while cleaning off a speck of dirt from the tip of her claw, "Suits me. It's... Not something I enjoy talking about, anyway."

Feeling the heavy atmosphere return, Lucario could not wait to get out of the cave and finally leave all the drama behind. The fog outside had vanished, but it seemed both Zerobi and Celebi were still a bit too shaken up to want to get moving. At first he had thought it was just as well since they were still awaiting Mew's return, but something had not gone according to his expectations.

"Mew sure is taking long," Zerobi muttered, apparently thinking along the same lines, "Last time she did this, she was back in about three hours. I'm pretty sure it's been more than a day, already."

"Celebi... I'm still a little out of things," Lucario muttered with a defeated tone to his voice, "Could you... Confirm... What I'm sensing about Mew's aura?"

Celebi looked up at him, sympathy in her eyes. She had withheld talking about it for as long as possible, not wanting to burden him with too many bad news at the same time.

"I am afraid so," she said quietly, "Mew is most definitively moving away from us."

A deep frown formed upon Lucario's face. It was just like what had happened on the Seafoam Islands, and then again in No Man's Land. Not once, not twice, but three times had Mew purposely avoided him. He knew this was no longer all a coincidence. She could sense his aura after all; staying away from him would be an easy task if she wanted to. But for her to even ignore her childhood friend Celebi, just to make sure she did not have to meet him...

"I don't get it," Lucario groaned while clenching his fists in frustration, "She asked ME for help. Why's she treating me like the plague all of a sudden?"

"She... Asked for your help?" Celebi repeated, a curious expression crossing her face. Lucario and Zerobi both looked down at her.

"Mew is..." Celebi started, stopping herself when she realized they were both staring at her. She knew such hesitation was unbecoming of her, but her psyche still needed some time to recover from the earlier fight. Between that and getting shot just days earlier, she wondered if she was expecting a mental restoration that would simply never happen.

"... Mew fears dependency," Celebi said while shaking her head, making an effort of bringing back her confidence, "Neither of us grew up with parents, but she had Cresselia... And she never got over what happened."

Lucario vaguely recalled Mew mentioning Cresselia. He had stopped asking about her relatives after realizing it only brought up painful memories, because those that were not dead had abandoned her.

"She will attempt to handle the difficulties she faces alone, unless given no other alternative," Celebi continued and found it strange that she had never questioned her best friend's behavior before now, "Maybe she is avoiding you because she never really wanted your help, but cannot bring herself to say it? And... It... It seems we have company!"

Lucario wondered what Celebi had meant, but within the second he was able to sense it as well. It was the aura of two beings approaching from high above.

"Crap, forgot to suppress mine..." Lucario muttered, thinking that neither Celebi nor Zerobi were giving off an aura to trace, so those who were coming were looking for him. The sensation they gave off was unfamiliar and not too strong, but the fact that they were targeting him rarely meant something good was about to happen.

"Cloak!" Celebi exclaimed quickly as she nervously looked around the cave.

"Here!" Zerobi replied, picking up and sweeping the brown piece of clothing over herself. Celebi dove down and hid herself inside the hood, making the Weavile look like a deformed hunchback from the outside. Lucario nodded as the three of them exited the cave to meet the arriving threat. Looking up, they saw a strange silhouette coming towards them with the sun behind its back. Although the silhouette became clearer as it neared, that only served to make it less recognizable.

"... What the hell is that supposed to be!?" Lucario exclaimed in disbelief, not comprehending what he was looking at. It was painted in many wild colors and had multiple thin appendages that looked like wings, tentacles and claws all at once. Its body was completely spherical with a rather large crack in the middle, making it look like it was hiding inside of a split egg. Lucario had seen many peculiar things in his days, but none as utterly ridiculous and physics-defying as the bird now swooping down.

"I... Don't know..." Zerobi stammered in response, sounding just as surprised as Lucario, "Looks like one of my doodles from first grade."

"It is a Sigilyph!" Celebi whispered quietly from underneath the hood, her voice muffled by the cloth, "That upper eye is very effective! Do not let it get too close, or it might see me!"

"... UPPER eye!?" Lucario gasped and looked closer, trying to figure out what she was talking about. On top of the odd ball was an elongated appendage sticking out of a large tuft of white cotton. While he was busy thinking of where to start attacking, the bird slowly set down a few feet away from them, hovering slightly above the ground. Zerobi shuffled back as to hide Celebi when the tuft of white cotton detached itself from the Sigilyph's body, took on a life of its own and began to speak.

"Mr. Lucario!" it said impatiently as it moved towards them, "I bring you urgent news, as well as a request!"

"I-It talks!?" Lucario burst out with his vision hastily switching between the ball-bird and tuft of cotton, his mouth agape at the unorthodox display, "It knows my name and wants me to do something!?"

"You don't... Remember...?" the mass of cotton whispered, its voice turning gloomy in a second, "No... Of course... You were unconscious..."

"Psst..." Zerobi beckoned Lucario while trying her best to keep Celebi behind as many layers of cloth as possible, "That's a Whimsicott. He was riding that... Thing. You know these two?"

"No!" Lucario responded immediately, fairly certain that he would not be able to forget an esthetic abomination like the Sigilyph even if he wanted to. Two hands suddenly poked out of the ball of cotton, pushing the white fluff aside to reveal a small wooden figure underneath.

"Forgive my impertinent behavior, sir. I am here on Zoroark's behalf," the Whimsicott said sternly, remembering the urgency of his mission, "He is in extremely dire need of your presence. Please, follow us to our nearby hideout where we may... What was it called...? Oh, right! Establish communication!"

"... Yeah, right. Will that be before or after the trap is sprung?" Zerobi huffed suspiciously, recognizing Zoroark's name all too well, "We don't have Mew any more. Buzz off."

"No, wait," Lucario interjected while holding up a hand before crouching over to get a better look at the tiny being, resisting the urge to nuzzle up against the soft material surrounding it, "Listen... I'm glad to hear Zoroark's fine, but I've got my own things to worry about. How important is it?"

"Very," the Sigilyph stated flatly, its dull voice going unheard by everyone but Lucario and his acute sense of hearing. It sounded a little like a piece of paper fluttering in the wind, and had about half as much impact.

"Please, it is not far!" the Whimsicott insisted, unaware of what his partner had just said, "You must come with us!"

The Whimsicott's large, pleading eyes had little effect on Lucario, but he was curious as to what Zoroark wanted. Considering that they had come to an agreement the last time, he was fairly certain it would not be a trap, and he knew she had far more important things to worry about than him. Also, he figured it would be a lot more interesting than to go chasing Mew again, who he was starting to get quite annoyed with.

"All right," Lucario said with a nod as the Whimsicott's face lit up in relief, "Go on ahead, I can sense your aura. I'll catch up with you."

"Lucario... You want us to RETURN to the hideout of the guy who we're running from?" Zerobi asked while looking at Lucario like he was insane, panicked movement visible around the shoulders of her cloak, "My BACK is KILLING ME, if you know what I mean."

"Relax," Lucario replied calmly with a shrug, "I'll go in alone. I've got some loose ends to tie up with Zoroark, it shouldn't take too long."

"Meeting Zoroark?" the Sigilyph asked as the Whimsicott mounted it, the words going unheard once more by anyone but Lucario, "You lucky. I love. Zoroark is masculine, handsome man."

"That's..." Lucario mumbled before a sinister smile crept across his face, "... Yeah, HE's really MASCULINE! What a handsome MAN that Zoroark is!"

"You, uh..." Zerobi mumbled warily with a troubled expression, "... Notice those kinds of things about other guys?"

"Other GUYS, yes," Lucario snickered, quickly realizing he was taking the joke too far, "I mean, no! Not like that! Shut up!"

Zerobi and the Whimsicott stared at him for a moment, not saying a word. The Sigilyph took off as quietly as it had landed, heading in the direction of their next destination. The two of them followed as Lucario continued defending himself and his failed attempt at comedy; Celebi wondering when would be a good time for her to pop out and object to their current course of action.