NOTE: No Digimon character in this story is/are real or is personally owned by me. I use the names for the purpose of creative writing and retain no legal obligation to any names or characters in this story. What characters that do not appear in or around any Digimon story line are of my work. The idea of the story is not completely original, based off of season 03 of Digimon. AGAIN characters and plot are not legally mine; any and all complaints should go to the/or proper authorities such as the server you downloaded my story from or your local government authorities. I have taken the liberty to create my own character(s) but I do not feel that it is necessary for copy rites on them. For fan/flam mails may be sent to my email address as listed below. I look forward to criticism and support.
Yours,
SILENCE
CAUTION NOTE:
this story contains material of a sexual nature, mature readers only. Activities that take place in this section are meant for the purpose of expanding the plot of the story and are unavoidable on my basics of creation. Strictly speaking if you do not like sex between Digimon (of same species) then please avoid chapters that are clearly marked off with appropriate headings of “!!!!!CAUTION!!!!!” thank you and pleas enjoy the feature presentation.
Fox Tails:
Journey of Mind
Parents strongly cautioned - these programs are intended for mature audiences over the age of 18. These programs may contain some material that many parents would not find suitable for children and my Included intense violence, sexual situations, coarse language and suggestive dialog.
Well, lets see where did I leave off. I know I told you something. Did I leave off when I found my love? No? Was it before or after that? After? Ok. How about the Dark Digimon? Herd some of that, eh? Hmm… how about Mr. Heto? Yeah. Tell me the last thing you remember…
That? Ok…
Well for the latecomers. My name is Ryokumon. Digimon/human a hybrid, unseporateable down to every last cell. I’m having a hell of a time explaining it, but it just happened. It has completely changed my life. I’m sure you could imagine, but unless it happened to you there would be no real way you could completely understand.
But back to my story…
Well as most of you know I’ve been around like this for a few months, I’ve found out a few things about myself and others. For instance… My Digimon past. I had a past other than my human life. Another lifetime a world away. Another would be… Dark Digimon, evil buggers bent on destruction. Controlled from the digital world or so I thought at the time. Two names came up from all of them. Devastation and Corruption, and since I haven’t told you that much about ‘the subject’ I’ll stop there. Next we’ll say about the tamers… Maria, Richy and David. I’d like to call them friends but from what you said I haven’t gotten that far with them. They all have Digimon: a Gizamon a Biyomon and a Renamon. Well to explain the tamers you’ll need to hear the last part of my story. The next point would be Renamon… she IS my mate, and was in the digital world. Maria, her tamer, isn’t very fond of me for a few things I am and was or do for that matter. We still are together though despite all of her efforts to separate us. Even though I’m part time human Renamon still loves me. She says I haven’t changed much sine we where together then, but as my original audience knows, I have changed so much.
Going a bit further into my story, Heto and Hypnos… Heto is the head of the agency here, I may have not have gotten that far but you may have picked that up by hearing me. Hypnos hunts down Digimon for experiments I haven’t explained yet, truly horrible experiments that there purpose is to eliminate all traces of us from both the digital world and the real world. More about that will be gone over later. There are other things I’m not going to talk about yet; you’ll have to ask the others here. It’s going to be a while so pull up a chair and listen…
Discovery
“Ryokumon” I said as my energy faded and I passed out. I saw Heto jump back as he put two and two together. I couldn’t stay awake long enough to enjoy his disturbed face because my vision went black. I was out for hours completely separated from my senses, no sound no thought, there was a groggy moan threw out my unconscious state in my head. I can’t say I woke up, more of drifted in and out of consciousness for a long time after I came around. When I can say I woke up I was out of my hanging cage and in a new bared one. It was too small for me, way to small. I was in a fetal position covered in bandages small holes where below them. I could feel the overgrown skin being part of my coverings. I pealed them off and yelped with each strip of gaze drawing a new stream of blood. As it fell to the ground I saw the data smoke off and vanish. It was painful and my stiff body curled back up into a fetal position. I could have cried it was so painful but all I was going to give my god forsaken cell where my yelps of pain.
I sat in my cell for a few hours, cold and scared. I could barely move from my position on the ground to look at the hallway. I was so out of it, I could barely use my senses to remember the world. I could smell but it was like I had a pile of sugar in front of my nose. There was a scent like the taste of sugar clouding me. I moved in twitches and looked around every few minuets seeing how small my cell was. I was getting strength back with each passing moment despite my human hunger.
I could eventually sit up and look around, the energy I used to do so instantly left me. I passed out again and again till I reserved enough energy to keep moving for any length of time. I herd thumps and bumps in my surrounding cells, I told myself that they where cleaning the cells but as time went on I heard and could smell Digimon. Most of them small fresh or rookie. Begging to be released for the ones that could talk, the others just howled and whined making it sound like a prison and a pond all at once. I sat in my cell for what seemed like weeks till I came up with enough energy to move around. My small cage forced me to pace around like the fox I was, on all fours.
I didn’t touch the bars often except when a person came by and I rushed it hoping to bend them or something, but only coming up with a draining tingle and an agonizing clang from the bars. My paws where to big to fit out of so I just stubbed them on each attempt. I felt like an animal in that cage. I was in there for so long I started to stop thinking all I did was pace around with my energy I had.
Days if not weeks later Heto came to see me. I didn’t recognize him from my ground level cell but I let out a growl to tell him I knew he was there. “My little caged animal.” He snickered as he crouched down holding a pair of sunglasses in one hand. “Ryoku is it?” I let out another growl at him as I leaned against the back of my cell. “I know you can talk, I’d think you’d have something to say after your experiences there.” He stood up and laughed a bit and then kicked my cage making me jump. He stepped back for a moment to laugh at me then started talking to people that where out of sight from my position, “Get him ready.” He said coldly. My paws may have been too big for the bars in the cage but not for the barrel of the man’s tranquilizer gun. He popped off a dart that hit me in the leg and put me out for a while. When I woke up I was shackled down but not in a cell, to a chair. I got the feeling I was getting another interrogation. I sat in the chair for a few minuets till a man walked into the room and looked at me as I roll my head around in my resumed groggy state. I went out after hearing him leave but was woken up rudely by Mr. Heto. He threw a glass of water in my face and I shot back to conscious thought.
I may not have had much on my mind except my hatred of the man but words didn’t seem to come. All I could do at that time was growl and huff and yelp as he tortured me. Again he had a man with rubber rounds standing over me to pop off a round for each answer he didn’t like, since I couldn’t talk at the time there where a lot of shots. After hours he got tired of seeing me and had me re-tranquilized and taken back to my cell. Eventually over time I would just wake up back in the room he interrogated me in.
I was so angry at him one day I found the words to speck. “Why are you torturing me?” I said in a low growl, barely spoken words. He smiled back at me in my pain and laughed manically. “So you can talk.” He mocked restating the words of his initial interrogation. “Well I’ll tell you.” He said as he sat at the other side of the table in front of me. “Because you are a filth.” He laughed. “A dieses, useless worthless, you shouldn’t be in this world.” Now that he had set me off my voice came back human words flowed out mixed in Japanese and English. Japanese, a language I didn’t even know and I could speck it. “What are you GOD? The Grim Reaper? If I was worthless then why would you hunt me down?” he leaned forward and grinned at me then turned to an evilly arrogant frown.
“Because, you pollute this world with your presence. Yes, I am a god. Your god, I could kill you any time I wanted. All of your kind with a snap of my fingers, your useless data would be spread a crossed our world.” I dropped my head and cleared my mind so I could speak a fluent speech in one language. “If I was useless then why would you keep me alive?” he kept his arrogant frown on and without skipping a beat said one word in Japanese, “Sport.” I was appalled by his sick mind and growled. “If I was that useless then why was I born human.” I said it from the corner of my mind as I thought about myself coming back to logical thought. “Human? You’re not a person! You don’t even exists!” he laughed. I remembered Renamon and our love in that instant and sat naked, human and chained in the chair, showing him my form riddled with welts and burses.
He leaned back in surprise and gasped while the soldier took a step back and ran into the wall of the white room. “If I’m not a person how can I look like this?” my human voice came to my lips with the growl of Ryokumon in the back of my throat. He put his hands on the table while I winced in pain almost falling over from my pain. “Your not human, just a Digimon with a few tricks.” He said finally in a shrill gasp. I felt the cuffs on my wrists loosen from my change but I didn’t have the strength to move from them. I changed back to Ryokumon so they didn’t see the opportunity and to relive the pain I had. The welts I had in that form seemed less painful, like I was able to over come them.
“I’m not an animal, or am I really human anymore. I have a father, a mother, and a life in this world. I also have a life in the digital world, a love and a past. If I’m not a person what dose that make you.” It was a philosophical tone to it but it was what I knew and felt. What was he if that was true? A monster, more than I am if being part Digimon is wrong. He went around the point I made and laughed. “What am I? I’m human! You are a useless pile of data and false proteins! You cant even bleed!” I shook my head losing energy as I did and looked over to the soldier. “Cut me.” I said to him weakly, he looked at me in a scared confused and lost on this whole thing. “Cut Me!” I said almost passing out. Heto gave a signal to do so in an ordering posture and the soldier pulled a combat knife out and headed for my arm. “On his face where he can feel it.” Heto smiled. I closed my eyes as the soldier raised his shaky knife to my face and cut into my left cheek and drug up to my forehead. I yelped in pain but didn’t resist. I left my face limp for a while and opened my eyes feeling my own blood running down my face.
I looked a crossed the table to Mr. Heto to see a white faced look sprayed over his face. “I can bleed. I can think. I am human, and Digimon. You can’t say I’m useless, because if I was then there would be no use for people like you or him. If I am useless lets see who can exterminate you and how he can have a use when he is just like you.” I felt the blood start to stop as my face started to heal there. From the lose of blood and the change to my human form, and then back to my Digimon form. Both riddled with welts I passed out even though I fought it. I fell back to sleep. I could think in this sleep but only to the thought of Renamon, ‘I’m coming back Starlight.’ I thought as I felt them prod me. They took me back to my cell and tossed me in violently but I couldn’t wake up.
Days passed like that and more Digimon came in and out of the cells, I could smell the differences in scent of the Digimon, I could tell a few were gone by the rarity of their scents. I think I was the only one that wasn’t killed in that place. Heto made a mistake by keeping me. I knew I had a chance to escape from how they cuffed me to the chair each time Heto visited me. I gave Heto answers he wanted to hear and over a while my welts healed and I got new ones when I couldn’t stand it any more. I was almost free of the affects of the tranquilizer, immune to it, each time they used it now all it did was make me weak but I still had consciousness. All my trips all my time ‘my Starlight’ was all I thought recalling her face, her touch. It was all I had to hang on to, and each time I thought about her my mind was energized and I felt a little more strength.
The days passed and soon after the drugs completely lost their effects. I faked my state every time, I was so good at faking it they left me alone for a while thinking I was still out from visits to Mr. Heto. When I wasn’t avoiding Heto’s interrogations I was looking at myself withering. If I didn’t make a brake soon I was going to be useless to myself. One thing I knew had changed was my eye. I had a scar on my eye from the cut; it was the one thing that carried over from form to form. When I was human I felt the ridge of the scar on my eye. When I was Digimon it was a part in my fur.
Soon Heto didn’t have questions to ask me so he started asking me about my life in the Digital world, braking memories free from my void and brining me closer to understanding myself, “Who was your love, eh Ryoku?” he mocked for one of the last times. “Renamon.” I said faking a groggy voice. “And what is she?’ he asked with his arrogant smile. “A Renamon.” I said as I imitated a weak lift of my head shakily. He gave the soldier a point and the desensitized man put a round to me with out even flinching. “She has to have a name?” he smiled like it was a normal conversation. “What’s her name?” I dropped my head and said her name. “Starlight.” I faked weakly. “Now that’s not a name.” He said with a laugh. I growled at him and raised my head with an evil look. “You didn’t give it to her, so what do you care.” I said in an unwavering cold toned voice. He leaned back realizing I wasn’t faking it and I changed in front of him to my human form. “You made a mistake Heto.” I said in Japanese now I could fluently speck it. He waited to ask why before he would give the signal to the soldier. “And what would that be?” he said in a white faced worried look. “By letting me live.” I snarled I shot my wrists from the cuffs and as soon as they where cleared my rage towards him changed me to Ryokumon. I hit the table with my legs and pushed back and rolled over the chair as the soldier started to fire his weapon at me as I appeared in front of him. My eyes where almost glowing as I lifted him from the floor by his neck. “You made a mistake too my friend.” I snarled as I threw him to a crossed the room leaving a dent in the metal wall.
Heto wasn’t up from his seat, he was still sitting contemplating in fear about running or staying knowing that I would probably kill him either way. I walked over to him as he fumbled under the table and when I was three feet from him he pulled a pistol from under the table. I vanished from in front of him as he looked down to clear the table. I was behind him watching him nervously swing the pistol around. “Back here.” I said as he swung to the sound of my voice. I was gone before he could lay eyes on me. I was on the other side of the room where the solider was. “Heto,” I said making him swing around while I went to his other side. “You are useless.” I said as I grabbed the pistol in his hand. He slowly looked at me; I had a cool look on while I hid my anger only showing it in my eyes. “And if anyone should die here it’s you.” I pulled the pistol from his hand and picked him up by his shirt collar. He gasped and whimpered, crying out of vain fear.
I changed back to my human form still with him lifted over my head and grasped the pistol in my hand in proper firing position; it was my turn to torture him. In my hand while it was at my waist I flipped a switch that went to the safety. I brought it up to his face and pointed the barrel in his left eye. “Tell me, why I should let such a vile person like you live?” I said coldly. He gasped and cried and tried to mouth something out. I grinned at him and pulled back the hammer of the pistol. “I have a family.” He voiced out in fragmented English. “Not good enough.” I said as I pressed the barrel to his eye and pulled the trigger. He flinched at the snap of the metal hitting metal but nothing happened. “I’m going to let you live today Heto.” I said as I turned the safety back on. “But if I see you again, a gun will the least of your worries. I will rip you apart and show you how much of an animal I can be.” I looked him dead in the face while he wet himself “Now this is what we’re going to do,” I said as I looked over to the thick glass by the door. “I want all of my things, my cloths, cards and my Digivice.” He started to mouth out “I can’t” when I put the ready pistol to his face. “Tell them to get them, or I’ll kill you rite now.” I looked over at the window and then back to Heto. “Get his belongings and bring them here!” he shouted with the most strained voice you could ever hear. I held the gun to Heto’s head while I waited and soon after an unarmed but armored soldier came in holding my green backpack. He walked over to me and set the bag on the table. “Put the gun down, you wont make it two feet out that door before you are shot down.” I turned the gun from Heto to the soldiers visor and gave another dark look. “This will go threw that fucken plastic in a split second at this range.” He started to back away and I pulled back the hammer. “Leave, and if anyone comes in here in the next ten minuets, your going to see what a human mauling looks like.” He backed away seeing how serious I was and walked out of the room. I tossed Heto to the side and set the gun down. “Move and your dead.” I said as I pulled my cloths from my bag.
I dressed myself and watched Heto eye the pistol from his position. After I was fully dressed I played with him by pushing the pistol off the table onto the floor in front of him. Heto looked at the intentional move as I leaned against the table. “Lets see what you got, scum.” I said as I looked down at the pistol. He looked from me to the gun then back again and finally went for the weapon. I laughed as he picked it up and I vanished from his view. I appeared in front of the glass and he fired at me, I was gone before the bullet left the casing. I appeared in front of the soldier I flung a crossed the room and laughed and he whipped around and fired, I was gone before the bullet left the chamber. I appeared in front of him and pushed a button on the side of the grip and dropped the clip to the ground. He pulled the pistol up to aim at my head. I leaned to the side and the bullet winged my ear. “You gave me a reason to resist you Heto.” I said as the pistol slide rested in the empty position. I leaned down without a word and picked up the pistol clip. There where three rounds left in it, the large rounds penetrated the walls and the glass easily. I removed the pistol from Heto’s hand and popped the clip back in. “Because of you I’m going to make sure you don’t harm another Digimon.” I said as I looked down at him with a cold smile and a straight tone. “If I see you again no one will ever find you, Ever.” I pulled him from the ground and walked to the door. It was locked but a quick thrust of my hand and I punched threw it, then a pull back and I pulled it off its hinges.
The hall way was filled with weapons, all of the men just waiting for me to step into the hallway so they could shoot me. “The first three people to fire will be sprayed all over the person next to you.” I smiled and a twitch ran over the hall and then they just separated as I stepped into the hall. Not one bullet was fired, not one. All of the weapons where aimed but a nervous trigger was what kept them from all dieing. I was broken then, if they made one move I didn’t like they where all dead. I walked down the hall to see more people startled by my appearance. My cold vacant stair was like the dark digital fog and it loomed around the halls in all directions. As I walked I came to the promise I made to Leo. I saw the sleeping soldier, now in full dress and I walked up to him and pressed the pistol to his head. “Take me to the holding area.” I said flatly amused. He gasped as I pushed the firearm against his head and from there to the wall. “Well? Do I blow your head off or will you show me?” he nodded and I taunted him “Yes, blow my head off?” I smiled as he shook his head. “OK then lets get moving soldier.” I pushed him away from the gun and fallowed his head down to the slightest nod and bob as he walked.
He sweat bullets from his useless position and walked me back around and up around the corridors to the double doors of the holding chamber. I looked over the rows of cells and thought about the Digimon in them. Renamon had probably released half of the present occupants. So why not continue her work. I hurried him over to a control panel near the door and simply said with a smile. “Open them.” The man looked around and I pressed the gun to his head. I lost my happy look and put a vicious sneer on. “Open them.” I said as I pressed the barrel to his temple a little hard. As a sliver of blood ran down his face I relived the look to regain myself. I wasn’t Ryoku I was Heto. Pushing them like that only made me what he was. Still with some of the anger from Heto I pushed the man to the side and walked to all of the occupied cells and ripped the door open despite the tingle. The frightened Digimon inside cringed back each time I opened a new cell.
I looked back at the soldier seeing him rub and whipped the blood from his face smearing it. I put my hand to my face and felt my scar. The anger was there again and I pointed the pistol to him. “Come here.” I said screaming mad. He slowly got up with his hands in the air and walked over to me. I had the pistol leveled at his head again and I moved him with it to the freight elevator at the back of the room. “Open it.” I ordered as he pressed a few buttons on a console and the door slowly slid open. “There’s a sword down there, get it.” he walked to the edge of the platform over a line of yellow and black caution line and crawled down the ladder to the crawl space below the elevator. While he was down in the space I continued to rip open cells. There where a few soldiers watching me but none of them raised their weapons to me, they just watched as I ripped the heavy metal from the locks. Drop jawed from the display of strength.
I went around the corner and they fallowed. I looked back to them from around the corner and they all ducked away. I herd a clatter from below the freight elevator and the man I sent for Leo came up white faces and scared from a sense of claustrophobia. He walked over to me looking down on my trembling sheathe and handed it to me. A shrill tone came from Leo and I ripped him from the soldiers hands. I pulled the pistol up and pressed it to his head again. “Get lost.” I said cold and angry. He stepped away slowly and then ran after he cleared the corner.
In a few minuets I had ripped open all of the cells but none of the Digimon cam out. “Lets go.” I said in utter silence. Not a voice came out, not a moan only the sound of the soldiers gear shifting came to the large room. “Digimon! Clear out!” I shouted as I walked to the elevator. Slowly a few came out and I waited for them all at the elevator, pistol in one hand Leo in the other. I stood there starring blankly at the soldiers while the freight elevator filled with Digimon of various types and sizes. I looked at a small Digimon and he cringed back in fear. “Push the button over there.” I said while I looked at him, he pushed threw the other Digimon and pressed the button. The elevator jumped a little and started moving slowly to the surface. I watched over the group of frightened soldiers and held my weapons tightly as Mr. Heto walked threw the bunch of stunned soldiers. He was still slightly rocked by me venomous demonstration and looked at the soldiers and then at the elevator as it moved to the surface. He found enough of a voice to order the men to fire but none of them did, they just watched as I moved with my congregation of Digimon. I raised the pistol to Heto’s head and corrected my aim as we came up to the level of the ceiling. “You just made a bad enemy Heto. Don’t make me regret letting you live.” I started laughing as the elevator cleared the ceiling and didn’t stop till it met the surface.
I felt a bastard energy boiling in me as the doors to the surface opened. The elevator came close to the surface and I watched as a squad of men sat pointing their weapons down on the elevator. When it came to a stop out side of the hangers I scanned over them all with a glint of rage and turned and walked. Not one of them fired, But the tension in the air could have suffocated them. I walked into the sunset like a false hero smiling in an evil dragged on smirk.
You can discover a lot from an enemy, what drives them, how they work, and best of all how to scare them, but if you let them get to you what affect will they have on you? It’s all a matter of strength, personal spiritual or mental. It doesn’t matter if you have it, you can find a way to do things you never imagined; but are these actions influenced? Are you truly the person behind them or have you been changed from it, are they your actions or the enemy’s…
Home
The Digimon didn’t fallow me till I told them to. All of them where sacred of me, as I walked a crossed the fields to a gate of the base not one guard came in front of me. It was an unheard order but all of them avoided me like a pelage. I walked from the base and fallowed by the Digimon when I walked a mile from the base I stopped and turned around to the base and tossed the pistol to the ground. “Go,” I said as I looked over and past the Digimon all shorter than I was. “Get out of here.” I said and they all ran, crawled, hovered, and flew as fast they could leaving me to stair back at the base alone for a few minuets. Cars past me but I stood there. The soldiers from the surface came to the gate but didn’t pass it. I turned around with the sinister laugh of the voices and jumped away.
I spent the day alone to calm down. I was sitting on my anger in the cell for so long it had changed me. I could feel it the dark energy was from my Ryokumon forms. I wasn’t sure what would happen if I changed so I sat on rooftops looking down on the world. I could feel my scar on my face like a source of the evil, I ran my fingers over it and felt it throb painlessly. Leo was trembling in my had and I could feel a fear in him, from my energy. I loosened my grip on the sheath and felt a depression of my hands strong grip. I pulled Leo from the sheath and could feel his hand trembling in mine. “ I can feel it old friend.” I said as I looked at the blade. I saw a black dot near the end of the blade when I looked in to it I saw my forms twisted into evil blackened and deformed to a new evil. I smiled at it. They where what I had expected.
When I looked into the dark spot I remembered what I went threw in the digital world before I came to the real world. I had no control, I was Dark, Dark Ryokumon. I had been corrupted by the same evil torture Heto had put me threw. I put my free hand to my face and cried; it happened again. The entire time I thought of Renamon but my intentions where twisted. It was all for her but I was gone. I was a servant. Just like Leo was. I can remember the torture the voices but not the faces. Corruption had affected me; I did what ever he told me not to out of hate. In what where good commands he caused me to do devastations work. I was their grate warrior. My scar was there then too but my face was clear when I came to the real world. My tamer, Me, I was still pure. I may have been a bad kid but I cleansed the evil. Now that it was back I don’t think I could control it. I was as infected by it as Leo was before I freed him. Now his form, My sword, was being corrupted. The black spot was the evil, it wasn’t big but it was there.
‘How can I go to Renamon like this, I can’t.’ I told myself I wouldn’t leave her but I couldn’t go to her. If I was going to her it was to say good by again. It was the reason I left her last time. I thought about it and cried in my hand and I changed to my other form. I was fully dressed but I was in different cloths and Ryokumon, Dark Ryokumon. I was warring all black and I could feel my scar throb in sync with the black spot on Leo. I thought about my tormentor and couldn’t escape the anger. I didn’t have that anger when I was human. That was why I was still innocent. Now I was an instrument of the voices. I raised my head and looked to the distance. I could see even further with the darkness, but it wasn’t an enjoyable thing. I clung to the thought of Renamon and the anger lifted briefly and I was Ryokumon. It was the new memories of her that kept me in my cleansed form, but the thought of her wasn’t enough for me to stay clear. Heto invaded my thoughts and I regretted leaving him with a beating heart. I regretted leaving the digital world, leaving my revenge. It was the way of the evil though. You leave your chance and your desperate hate consumed you entirely. I just sat on the roof crying to myself for hours past dusk and into the next day then on into the next. Renamon probably thought I was dead. At the time I thought It would be better if she did. I was heart broken, lost. I had nowhere to go. Till my Digivice beeped. I felt Renamons presence around me but when I looked for it she wasn’t there. I clamed my cleansed form and looked down at my Digivice. The Brown ring was gone, replaced by a black ring. I didn’t think about it I was only looking at the picture it showed me. The image popped up and I almost fell over.
The image was clear as a bell but the name threw me for a loop. ‘Dark Graymon’ it never gave a name or a picture before. The strong dinosaur Digimon could easily reek havoc in the real world; its size alone would let him step on anything. I looked out over the landscape and saw the humongous fog, proportional to the Digimon and to the rest of the fog. It looked more like low-level smog. I didn’t even have to check my position from it I just jumped down and looked forward as I jumped towards the fog.
I held my form all the way arriving at the foot of the titan fog towering above and staying in place. It was in the middle of the city and I was on the ground in plane view of every one standing around on looking to the large dark fog. I turned around and exposed my scare. I could feel a blood lust coming on and my vision went red and focused on the bystanders. They looked like cattle, easy prey. I turned from them for a challenge and felt the gruesome strength of the emerging Digimon. I walked into the fog with a bland dead smile on totally intent on taking all its data. I felt the air blast past me and the voice came to me from the fog. “You have returned my servant!” it shouted in sinister glee. “Prove your self to me by allying with my child.” I let out a low growl and screamed. “I WON’T BE YOUR PAWN!” and looked up to the Digimon as his red eyes glared threw the static of emergence. I felt my dark energy swell to the surface and I felt like I had the power to Digivolve. I fought it to stay in my pure form. The more I fought it the more my scare throbbed. I dropped Leo for the battle and raised my arms in judo stance to drop this abomination. The sinister laugh rang through out the battle the Digimon came threw calling its name and I smiled at it feeling my hands burn as I waited. “Dark Greymon!” it growled “LETS GO!” I growled in return I looked to my palms and saw they where smoking, a new set of attacks where set into instinct, the one already in action was one of my more powerful attacks. When it came into existence I growled up at it, “FIRE SLASH!” and jumped up and came down with flaming paws and red evil energy came from the inferno of my claws. I didn’t look to the cross he had I just rained down like a meteor falling down him leaving a bright burning path down his chest.
I felt my self hit the ground and a burning arrogates rise up in me as he swung his large fist down with a bad sot and crunched asphalt below it. I jumped in the air and crossed my arms and shouted out my best attack “BRIMSTONE!” when I swung my arms to my side I saw a path of red energy and flaming rocks, instead of pure diamonds. They made their marks and the monster winced in pain. “What are you weak?? ATTACK!” I smiled as I landed on the edge of the fog putting me feet out side of the dark field its force no longer confining me to the battlegrounds. I laughed as it opened its mouth and unleashed its attack I dodged back into the fog and watched at a blue fireball screamed past me popping and hissing till it exploded out side the fog. I held up my paws and called out my next attack with vicious glee. “BRIMSTONE” and a flaming rock shot from both of my palms. I sprinted around the parameter of the fog and came up behind the Dark Greymon and shot up behind him and attacked from behind at the same instant the attack hit. It let out a pained cry and started to brake up into bits of data. Renamon and Maria’s voices called out and I snapped back to my senses. I fell threw the Digimon and let the data fade.
“TAKE HIM!” the sinister voice shouted rooting me on to finish the battle. “I’M NOT YOUR PAWN!” I shouted as I fallowed threw with my attack. I landed on the other side as the darkness of the Digimon lifted. I stood there slumped over with my smoking paw still stretched out as I sat with my eyes closed. Renamon was coming. I wanted to run to save her from seeing me but a low smile came to my lips and the voice laughed. “What are you?” it asked in a high poetic cryptic tone. “I’m not yours anymore. Go away. I forgive you.” I said feeling some of the evil lift, but I still stood smoking from my battle. The voice grunted at my forgiveness, it growled. “You will never get over me. I am your Master!” Maria and Renamon came into the fog but where stopped by the field. “I already have Corruption. You aren’t my god anymore, I forgive you.” I said still slumped over, but I dropped my arm and looked back to Renamon and felt her eyes settle on my face. The voice screamed out an eerie roar and faded from my ears. Then so did the fog.
I stood up in a proud posture feeling the evil come to me from another source. I could still only see red and I looked back to Renamon, tinted with a glare. “Renamon.” I said as I fell forward. I passed out, letting the evil of the digital world go and drained me. I was weak and couldn’t stand anymore. I just fell forward and slept.
I found myself in my burrow with Renamon standing over me looking down on my human form. I was weak but reenergized; I knew where it was from, or I should say who. But I was home, I was safe. My love was here and it was all I needed then. To be home…
Leaving Behind
I rolled over to the wall and looked at my spot, I could smell my old scent but now I had a new one and it felt like I was invading another’s territory. Then there was Renamon standing over me. She was saddened at me, my energy and the way I looked at her. In my human form I could control my actions like Ryokumon would have. Conscious to my own experiences but retarded when it came to controlling my other forms. “Renamon.” I said weakly. She walked over to me crying and looked into my eyes. I turned away, I didn’t want her to see me. “Ryoku.” She said sadly. “Not again.” I held back tears while I rolled back over. “I’m not fit rite now.” I said as I looked up to her. She saw my scare and cried like the day I left last time. “I’m not your lover rite now. It happened again and I don’t know if I can control it.” she fell to her knees and leaned towards me to clasp my hand. “No Starlight.” I said as I turned from her. “I can’t stay anymore. I’m doing it for you.” I looked up with a smile. “You know I have to leave.” She shook her head and pleaded with her tears.
I wanted to stay but I couldn’t act like myself anymore. “When I get this under control I’ll come back.” I said with a pause. “Take Leo. I’m only corrupting him. You can protect him from me.” I reached out and tried to touch her but I drew my hand back. She reached out and took it before I could drop it. “Stay, We can fight it.” I pulled away and changed to Dark Ryokumon thinking about staying, memories of the pain of last time. She looked in my eyes and saw the red tint. “I can’t control this.” I said fighting it; it wanted to attack every thing. It may have been me, but I was far from it. Outside looking in, It, I wanted data; I was vengeance in flesh. Fury with form.
“I’ll come back.” I said changing back from the same sentence I gave her before I left last time, and it was the same line I gave her before I left. I stood up and took off my belt and sword strap. I handed them to her with a smile and took my other bag and left; it was the only thing I could do. I needed to find Heto, he was the source of all of this and he was what I needed to relive it. It was too fresh though, if I found him could I hold my self from killing him? I’d just have to find out.
I know what your saying, ‘oh my god its so touching’ leaving for my love. Romantic rite. Well its not what it was all about. It had something to do with it yes but I was dangerous. The evil I had was too much for anyone to control. It wasn’t just the evil in it though it was the anger. Anger is one of the least controllable forces in conscious thought. Exploding in it is inevitable, there is always a moment where its there. In my condition it directly affected my Digimon forms. They where pure anger, tormented and wanting a release. The closer I am to anyone the more danger they’re in. Tamers, Renamon it didn’t matter.
I jumped to the surface of the hole, no longer my home and no longer my life. Until it was over I was alone again. I was two minds again; my decent mind the innocents in me, and the chaotic ruthless evil mind. I felt both sides of me in full force for my time away from Renamon. I was in the city out for blood and seeking mercy at the same time. I came to the building That Heto used for observation but it was empty. Packed up, flat gone. I wandered around the city looking for more places they used to watch but any place that could have even been considered was recently sold. The look of the buildings said that it was used and abandoned. I must have really put the fear of god in him. There wasn’t even a trace of him at the air force base. The hanger was gone and it was replaced by a new building. I looked and looked uncontrollably shifting from Dark Ryokumon to my human form every time I thought I was close. It was a vibrant lust for his head, dark in nature. Camouflaged behind a face of grace a mind severed from peaceful thought.
I searched for weeks finding traces of him in public, but every operation was up and gone. His trail lead out of the city and to a lonely road. He was still around but he left a trail of vacant buildings and stories. News reports from radios gave me clues to fallow. “Local taskforce packs up.” Or “busy building vacant in a day.” And “Military operation discovered in our city.” But all ended with the same line. “What was happening is a mystery but all evidence says they left without completing their objectives…” in so many words that meant he took me serious. At that time he should have, it was all I had to think about was his head; now it was a grievance I needed to settle. I can’t say where I went or what I did exactly but I tracked him a crossed the state to the next one and then the next picking up the operations there.
It was a long road I traveled to find him, I stopped only to fight gather my thoughts and then move on. Digimon came threw everywhere but reports of Dark Digimon fallowed me. Everywhere I went Dark Digimon seemed to pop up. They all fell to my dark side, and I couldn’t stop myself from gathering their data. Stronger ones came and still they where defeated with ease. Fire and Brimstone, as I crossed the country I was a new kind of hero, not that I wanted to be know as it. I think the news of me crossing made Heto call ahead and have his operations canceled. I could have passed him and not even known it, but the search was bound to end some time. From west coast to east I fallowed him only hearing evidence of him.
The day came and I found him I wasn’t all there from my long withdraw from another loving voice. I was little more than the caged animal he made me, caged in my own mind. He sat in a small house with a family and I sat shifting from form to form, holding myself back from destroying this home. He looked out the window but I was gone. In part of my mind I had forgiven him but in the anger riddled he was little more than prey. My meal, the next kill. An obsession for both halves. I stayed near him for weeks on end just watching him and what now seems to be his family. I know I couldn’t take him away from his children, they would know how I felt after I lost my mother but that would have been punishing them.
There was no way I could punish him without having his family share his pain. He was all I wanted, my anger wanted him but my good side didn’t want to hurt anyone. A confusing medium for me. A ripped darkness and an angel watching over him. I helped him a few times, indirectly saving his family the grief. Stopping a few muggings in the area to save them the worry, picking up things their small children lose outside the house so they wouldn’t get stolen. I howled like a stray dog in the night. My revenge hurt. I wasn’t taking it, I was helping him and it hurt. It burned at me.
I couldn’t think I just fallowed him and his family around, stalking from the shadows. Till I couldn’t stand it. I managed to just fallow Heto around for a while seeing his life and friends there made no difference to me. I had to confront him, give us both a choice. To let go or to forget, and maybe even forgive.
It wasn’t even thought at that point, I was Dark Ryokumon and Heto was walking to a store near his house. I was on the roof of a house and I was rooting threw my bag for no reason. I cam a crossed the .38 from my first hunt and I held it in my paw, fighting the urge to crush it in my fist, it was loaded with three bullets and could be used but I wasn’t sure how I could use it if I couldn’t fit my fingers in it. I looked down at Heto when he entered a long shadow from a tree. I set down my bag and just jumped to the tree. I growled from it and herd Heto gasp recognizing the sound. I didn’t move but he started to walk faster. “HETO!” I screamed. He looked around not seeing me; my Dark form was blended into the shadows of the tree. “Who’s there?” he said nervously as I dropped the pistol. I moved from my position letting the tree move from the shock of my paws hitting the branches. “You know.” I said lowly while my eyes tinted red lighting up my sight like night vision. “It’s loaded.” I said as I fell from my branch to the ground. He already had the pistol in hand when I hit the ground.
“What do you want?” he said as he started to lift the pistol. “I think it’s what we both want.” I said as I smiled evilly at him. The smile was all I was going to let happen till he decided on his actions. “W-what’s that?” he stuttered. I closed my eyes and jumped back into the tree. “To be out of each others hair. You have been all I have thought about, and I’m sure you have been thinking about me.” He looked around the tree searching for my outline but with my eyes closed he couldn’t even see anything. “What do you mean?” he said as he looked at the pistol clicking the safety off. “Put every thing behind us. Forget it, or you can just try to kill me now and never have to think about me stalking you a crossed the county again.” I opened my eyes and Heto quickly aimed at the glare. “You changed me.” I said as I growled, “To something evil.” He had the same shaky grip as the last time he aimed a weapon at me but held back the urge to fire. “I’m giving you the chance to rectify, or eliminate your problem.” He still had the shaky look on and I jumped around behind him. “How am I supposed to do that?” my eyes stopped glowing and I spoke to him clearly and calmly “Apologize.” He swung around and gave me a contemptuous look. He pulled the trigger once and the small pistol jumped back while my Dark speed let me nimbly dodge the bullet. “You have two chances in that pistol. I advise not using them till you think about what I’m saying. If you want time you can have it. I’ll be watching when you’ve made your decision.” He dropped the pistol in a devastated hopeless look. “No matter what decision you make I won’t resist it, but you better make your shots count. I’ll only give you the two that are in there now.”
He looked me over in my Dark form how Renamon looked at me before I left, like there was a chance, a hope in the moment and I changed to my cleaned form. “Lets leave this behind Heto; there’s nothing we can do by holding the anger and the fear. Think about that before you waste those bullets.” I jumped to the tree quietly snarling to myself for letting him live again, but the decision was his. I was an honorable warrior, giving him the opportunity to appease my anger with his beg of mercy threw his apology.
He looked over his shoulder now knowing in full force that I was watching him. He carried the pistol with him everywhere. I could see the look in his eye that said he was armed. I let him see me in the light, my dark form shaded but illuminated by blood red eyes as I fought past the anger. I disappeared from his view as he tried to go about his life holding the terrible option in his hands, not just squeezing the trigger but his throat. I would give him the option of killing me, but the question is would he. Had his fear changed him or was he the same arrogant fool who thought he had the power to rule over others…
Choices
Strange land, strange feelings. I was Fire and Brimstone to the populace, I felt like a comic book character as I tried to go around doing good with my anger, fiercely holding myself back from killing humans, it was useless to fight off the urge to brake an arm or a leg. It was more of my call sign than my attacks. Criminals all feared me and it also made Heto fear me from the reports. Newscasts had me on film beating the crap out of bank robbers or busting up a stolen car sprinting along side it on the highway. I made the choice to do it, going against the promise I made to myself to never hunt another human.
It was one of the only ways I could get away from my anger at Heto, even thought I was helping but I became more of an object of fear. It ate at me making my howls at night saddened, more distinct. I thought about Renamon a lot as I sat on rooftops looking down for my next prey going from a black fox to a yellow coated. Gaining control as I did.
I could hold my cleansed form for almost a day before my anger rose up and I went hunting. Renamon was an angel in my mind, pure. I was tinted, even if I was starting to control it. I couldn’t stop my self from changing Dark around Heto. I could hold it back for a few minuets but my eyes where always red near him. He never called the police, they believed even with how violent my actions where I was out for the community or something. I was praised for hunting it was a power I had, close to control. If he did call the police to say I was stalking him then they would want to ask him why, and he was a very secretive person. His day consisted of meeting operatives on his way to the local government building. He had an office with a view but had it moved to the inside of the building so I couldn’t watch him from nearby rooftops.
He may not have told the police but he told his friends in the government building and they had snipers in position in about three blocks around his work and home. He wasn’t making his decision wisely. By his actions I placed a beat that he was going to shoot me. I still fallowed him around as he drove to and from work to his home. I made sure he saw me almost every day as I passed his car up and sat on overhangs and awnings of buildings around, getting closer to him each day almost fallowing his car along the side. glaring in the window.
I was getting impatient on his discussion, a few months past and the seasons started to change. It went from fall to winter and my black coat stood out on roofs so my stalking took to alleyways and dark night hallows. In the winter months Heto had all but forgotten about me. Half way threw the season I reminded him of my prescience on a cold winters night, the skies where blackened and the streets where covered white. Heto had a large thick sport coat on and gloves with thick black dress pants and snow boots. I had my fur and my thin t-shirt and shorts. “Heto.” I said lowly and made my voice come from around him; he heard it I could tell by a flinch he gave as he walked, “Heto….” I said in the same low ominous tone. He stopped for a second and looked around the rooftops then to the inside of the tree I last talked to him in. “HETO.” I said loudly but calmly making him jump, he unzipped his coat while he looked around and I smiled a little, he had made his decision, the thought of it scared him. “R-Ryoku?” he said as he scanned the shadows. “What do you say?” I said still hidden, I could see him from beside a house but he couldn’t see me in the shadows. “What?” he said nervously.
“Your decision lets hear it.” I said stepping from beside the house. He put one hand to an inside pocket as he slowly turned to my voice. “I hope you thought about it.” I said opening my eyes to the red tint clearly seeing him like it was day. “Well?” I said as I walked over to him letting my tail sway with each step. I could feel my scar throb and I smiled against the urge to kill him. He fell silent and his face tried to sweat in the cold but his bright checks and eyes where the only parts of his face that still had enough feeling to show the discomfort. “Well?” I said after a minuet of silence.
He looked back to the other side of the street then back to me. I had moved just for the sake of creating an eerie atmosphere to the other side of the street. “So?” I said as he whipped to where I was then to where I moved to. “I’ve come to two decisions.” He said as he pulled the pistol from his coat and held it in the palm of his hand while he had it by the grip in the other. “What guarantee do I have that you’ll leave me alone?” he said as he looked up, holding the pistol like he would drop it. “My honor.” I said as he forced a momentary smile and briefly looked up from the pistol. “Your word. That’s all I’d have.” He said as he looked hard at the pistol as if I hadn’t said a thing.
His attitude may have been far from what it was in his little base hide away but I still didn’t like it. “I have, on the other hand, decided to apologize.” I felt a shock hit me and I went wide-eyed looking at him. I didn’t make a sound as he continued. “If you where as worthless as I said then why would you go out after a long day of fallowing me to fight crime and what not?” he said with a slight smile. I over came my shock and gritted my teeth at the half apology. “What I do in my free time is none of your business, get on with it.” I said for the first time without a growl or a snarl. He looked up at the lack of animal sound in my voice and then back to his pistol. “I can’t say I believe your human, but as a Digimon your better than I am.” I felt the anger settle in me very little, but it was enough for me to clam my cleansed form. He turned to a sad frown quickly “And you’re other decision?” I said still holding my angry posture. He pointed the pistol up with out skipping a beat with out a shake or a single waver. I didn’t flinch but I looked down the barrel while the red in my eyes faded. “I have to kill you.” He said and a tear ran down his face. “For my family, I can’t have you around and risking their lives.” I turned my eyes from the pistol to his eyes in a low but calm look.
“I have my peace now,” I said as I turned around. “If your going to do it, make the shot while I walk away.” I said as I started walking and changed from my Digimon form to my human form. I herd him sigh and flinch from my decision. I walked away and stopped at the end of the street while I could feel his aim burning in my back. I didn’t turn around I just stood there and waited for a few minuets, I could hear him shifting in the snow and small parts in the pistol rattle. I closed my eyes feeling his tension and a shot rang out. I didn’t flinch from the sound I just waited the split second to see if the bullet would make contact. It hit my arm and grazed my flesh. There was pain but I blocked it out not flinching. He didn’t take the last shot he just held his aim on my waiting for me to shoot around and rush him.
For a few minuets I stood there he had made his choice, and he had lowered my anger. He was still in my mind but I could think clearly now, he wasn’t an obsession anymore. I looked down to my bleeding arm and saw the data and steam from my warm blood fade off into the windless night. I didn’t look back; I just stood there thinking about what to say to him. “Save that last shot you might need it some day.” I said as I started to walk. I could feel his aim drop and he started to sniffle it was an emotional sniffle that was brought on by the cold. “I can’t forgive you yet. You are too horrible of a person for me to do that, but show me how good you can be and maybe you’ll earn it. Until then that bullet is the only thing beside my word that you have to protect your self with. If I come back, use it, but think before you do, you might not deserve the chance.” I walked down the street and stopped before I left his sight behind a house. “Don’t live rite because I said so, do it for your self. I may not like you but I trust you, and trust is earned. I trust you wont give me a bad reason to come back into your life. If I do, punishing your family won’t be on my mind, only you will. Start your pennants now, I can feel you have a good heart, don’t disappoint Me.” and I walked away simple as that.
I walked on into the small city and threw some more crowded parts bleeding and in cold cloths being looked at but I was just walking, thinking. I was still angry with him but he gave me a reason that night not to let his life rule mine. The obsession was gone, but the hate wasn’t. I still felt the hate for his actions but not for the man. I could have asked why he did what he did to the Digimon but it just would have diffused the situation. I’m sure if I did he would have a different answer than when he was torturing me. From maybe ‘all Digimon are violent scum’ to ‘I didn’t know what good you where capable of’, but it didn’t matter, I didn’t want an answer I wanted his word he was sorry. He may not have said it very well but I herd his sincerity. I may not have given him enough time to say it all but he said enough. He made the hard choice, not for the apology but to shoot. It wasn’t a self centered decision it was for his family. It turns out he did give the rite answer that day I escaped.
I saw from day to day that he cared for his family with a strict hand and a lot of love. It was the kind of love I wanted to have with Renamon, but I wasn’t free of the anger so I’d have to wait for her. She also had to wait for me, it was killing her to watch me leave a second time; but maybe I’d get over it by the time I made my way back a crossed the country. She was so far away it seemed like the only thing to do was to return, if not to be with her then to at least be close. So that’s what I did I started my journey. I was going to go home. That was my choice in the whole deal, after not controlling myself and being drug to the other side of the nation. I had the choice, a choice to go home…
Long Road
When I left the city I found myself straying from the roads and fallowing my own mind as a compass. It took me threw forests cities plans but first I had to cross mountains. The city was on the foot of a fairly small stubbly mountain range it wasn’t very big but my human form wasn’t meant for it. I changed to Ryokumon and could smile at myself for the change, I wasn’t a black fox I was my normal self. I ran my paw over my face and could feel my scar. It was still there but it didn’t throb like it did when I was stalking Heto. It was more like a dead scab that wasn’t ready to fall off, cold to the touch but still carried a little feeling. I think I should say now that I found out I didn’t have to eat. I hadn’t eaten in months and it didn’t affect me past a few stomach sounds now and then. Even in my human form it was just an urge I ignored.
It was better that I didn’t need food. Over the mountain there weren’t many towns to stop in. I stayed as Ryokumon and fallowed my senses around, seemingly in circles at first, but I straightened out and went up and over the mountain. Not having any problems till I came down the other side. To say it straight I was being hunted. Not by Heto or the military but by some hunter(s). Cloths just seemed stupid by myself, so I stripped them losing a little heat but feeling more comfortable. I had my bag on and it blended in so well that in the forests over the mountain that people saw me as big foot or something. Some one took a few pot shots at me from long distances but I herd the sound of the rifles before the bullets came close. A slight dodge and the heavy round shot up dirt and lose material on the ground. I turned to look around to see where the shooter was but no movement set him away from the area. At first it didn’t bother me to have an on looker but when he or she fallowed me down the mountain it started to make me angry.
There where a few close calls and near misses barely grazing me and I shot around to see nothing. Who ever it was they where very good at hiding, military in stealth. I continued to walk away thinking I would get out of his range of the hunt but the person just fallowed me. I felt the anger in me rise up a little enough for my eyes to flow over red and bring the tinted perception and I looked back for my hunter scanning each inch of the up hill terrain. Not coming a crossed anything except rock and trees.
The further I went the more determined the hunter got. Its not like I was walking down on all fours I was standing up rite the whole time. When I stopped to sleep every few days I listened in my sleep for the most minuscule sound, only coming up with small animals on the forest floor. When the morning came I traveled by treetop. Still getting shot at from up range where the shooter was. I was going home I didn’t need a hunt but I was getting one from the wrong end.
It was getting tiring, now each time a shot rung out I felt myself revert to Dark Ryokumon and hide in the shadows. I could have easily out run him but I was in no real hurry. I may have been angry but the thrill of the hunt kept me going at a speed my pursuer could handle. I knew he would run out of bullets eventually, how much ammunition could one-person hold? For this guy it was a lot. I know he went threw at least fifty bullets coming down the mountain alone. When I reached the foot of the mountain on the other side I was greeted by an open field. Tall grass and no trees or cover to speak of. I turned back around to look up at the mountain behind me I knew it was an opportunity for this guy. Instead of giving him the chance to get close I just ran a crossed the field.
I herd a shot ring out and I leaned to the side to try to avoid it. The slightly faster bullet zoomed past me and clipped some fur near my ear. He was getting a feel for my movements and this game was getting dangerous. When I saw the bullet zoom past my head I stopped and turned around and hit all fours. I looked up range from the direction the bullet came from in its shallow angel and watched for movement in the grass. I was slightly rewarded by a figure changing position on some rocks. I didn’t see the person only a flash from his scope as he slid covertly behind a few low rocks. I twitched my tail to the side to make it look like I moved and I saw another lens flare from another position a few feet to the left of his last position. I sat and watched as a barrel slowly moved over the dried grass looking for me. I could see the shooter from between the blades of grass but his aim passed over me. I blinked and growled. “Who are you?” I shouted with out moving.
I watched threw the grass to see the gun freeze in position and then swing slowly back over to the sound of my voice. “Where are you? I’ve got something in that field I don’t want to shoot you by accident.” He shouted making me growled and stood up and the persons aim came directly to me. “Then why the fuck have you been shooting at me??” I said as he snapped off around, I varied up my patterns knowing where he’d aim and the bullet went past me a good foot to the wrong side. “I hope you’re not near that thing if you are stand up and make a brake for it, I’ll cover you.” the shooter shouted as I didn’t move from my position. “You’re talking to that ‘thing’.” I said as I lifted one paw and tapped in on my chest. I felt the aim of the person settle on my lower section and fire while I rolled away. He fell silent giving no response. “Are you def? Stop shooting stupid!” I said as my eyes glared over in the red tone.
The man stood up and looked down on me as I put my hands in the air and walked towards him. “What the?” he said as he shouldered his weapon. I could see a gully suit over all of his cloths covered with green and yellow weeds and plants. “Stop shooting.” I said as I walked up to his position. “Stay there!” he shouted while he took aim at my heart. I stopped and closed my eyes with a grunt. “What are you?” he shouted as he put the scope of his camouflage rifle to his eye. “Put down your gun and I’ll tell you.” I said as I shifted a little. “You warring some kind of costume?” he said as he started to walk aiming at me very steadily. “No.” I said as I dropped my arms in to a cross position on my chest. “Then what the hell are you?” he said as he stopped ten feet from me moving the scope from his face for the range.
“Not a word till you put that dam gun down.” I said opening my eyes showing the red light. He flinched a little but his finger didn’t pull the trigger. He thought about it for a second and I responded before he did. “I can take it from you before you can blink, if you want to keep that put it down.” I said as he did so. He didn’t walk any further closer to me but just stood straight and looked me over. “The hell are you?” he said as I took a step towards him. “Something you don’t want to shoot at.” I said with a growl. He brought his weapon back up and I jumped at him a fraction of an inch from his aim as a round roared from the chamber. I came beside him and pulled on the barrel and pushed on the butt, flinging him away from the weapon while it spun in mid air. I reached out and grasped it and flipped it around to shoulder and aimed it at him. Again my fingers where to big but I had the trigger by a claw and it would work fine if it came to it. I quickly flipped the bolt back and back down clearing the chamber of the casing of the round he fired.
“Wow.” He said as he slowly reached for something on his leg. I could see a hint of a small pistol and I pulled the trigger back after quickly changing my aim to the strap on his leg. He pulled his hand back and the elastic strap flipped around only leaving the weapon attached by the second lower strap. “Try it.” I said as I shifted to Dark Ryokumon. “Wow.” He said again from the sudden change. I flipped the bolt back again sending the hot shell flying into the grass. He sat there for a while till I regained my self enough to stop my glowing eyes but not my Dark form. “What are you?” he said calmly.
“Ever herd of Digimon?” I said with the rifle pointed at his head. He nodded a little and started to sit up. “Your looken at one.” He leaned back on his hands and gave a puzzled look from under his weeded facemask. “Yeah rite.” I pulled the weapon from my shoulder and gave a smile. He pissed me off by not believing but I didn’t make him regret it. I tossed the loaded weapon to him and started walking threw the grass. “Shoot at me again and I’m going to keep it.” I said as I waved my paw at him and walked away. If I didn’t walk away he was going to get shot with his own weapon. I was so angry from being shot at but I fought past it to walk away. “What’s your name?” he shouted as he stood up. I didn’t stop walking but I gave him a response. “Don’t have one.” I said lying, “But if you tell anyone call me Ryoku.” I felt him raise his weapon and point it at me but never took aim but drop it as I twitched my ears.
“Something else.” He said as he turned around. “Good hunt.” I shouted back while I moved the strap of my bag. I herd him chuckle and I smiled and returned to Ryokumon. It was hard to resist shooting him. ‘He did it to me, why shouldn’t I?’ I thought as I walked away slightly frowning. I felt my scar give one pulse and I closed my eye and gave the rite thought to my question ‘Because he didn’t know.’
Its was going to be a long road before I can control the anger, But I think I did a good job that day. There is going to be more situations where it wasn’t so fortunate for the other party, but I was going to try my best to contain myself, it was that kind of dark force you only hear about in movies and it was hard to control it like I’ve repeated several times. I gave a howl and jumped to a tree and looked back as the hunter turned to my howl. He was surprised that I was even able to talk, intelligent and weapons handling was a gas to him, not that I could blame him but it was offending, And walking away from that was another part of the anger.
But I did good. Two weeks out and I was better than when I left Heto. I wanted to go back but I was going to make it back home. Home…
I left the hunter without any problems, I’m sure he was thinking he was hunting something stupider than he was. I also found that offensive, but I didn’t show him I had a brain till we where up close and personal. I was angry a lot and I let it boil out in a mouthy howl every now and then, every one says that primal scream therapy is good for you. It felt good to let it go every now and again.
It was still winter and about half way over with and they’re where a few places along the way that didn’t have snow. Good for my poor feet, I was getting blisters walking so far. I cleared the state in the two weeks at a healthy pace. I had to stop sometimes to spread my toes and sleep. At night I caught myself thinking of a hunt but the only things around where forest animals. I hadn’t had a Digimon signal since I left Heto a few weeks earlier.
‘Heto’ I thought every time I made a scale of time. Each time I did I darkened and glared but I was calm enough to think strait. ‘I wonder if he’s doing better?’ I thought with a smile of all the paranoia I caused him. He wasn’t an obsession, but a happy thought of how much crap he went threw to pack up every thing. He was probably scared shit less from what I showed him, and by doing every thing he did he must have been the top dog in the organization. I laughed at how simple it was to scare some one like him. Take a lot of rubber bullets growl a lot and throw a soldier a crossed a room and Mr. Head of it all runs away. I got the feeling that he wasn’t in control though. While I thought about that I shifted back to Ryokumon, ‘what was that he said in the hanger? Yamaki?’ It didn’t seem important at the time so I just dropped the thought.
I walked on for a few more days till I found a small city. I stayed out of it while I thought about going in I didn’t need anything from it but I didn’t leave it. I dressed myself incase I decided to go in but I just sat a few miles away in a field of snowed over grass. I thought about Renamon while I was sitting there, it was a depressing thought. Leaving her there, now going on about a year, Leo was with her and I was sure that Maria and the others would keep her company in the mean time. I missed her sitting next to me, the rock I was sitting on was cold but there was room for two. I put my paws back and leaned on them while I swung my tail from side to side. “Starlight.” I said out loud as I thought of her. I looked up to the cloudy sky and watched the sky move for a few hours. I couldn’t think about her for long that time, I was disturbed by a single beep of my Digivice coming from the north. I pulled it from a belt loop and looked in the hologram. It wasn’t a dark Digimon or even that dangerous. It was a cute little Salamon; memory told me it was the pre form of a Gatomon. Now the cute little thing wasn’t any threat, and from the direction it was out in the middle of a forest, more than likely it wouldn’t come down.
I thought for a few minuets sitting on the cold rock about what Richy said slowly recalling his voice and words. “The TV show.” It was one of the Digimon in the show but it seemed a little farfetched. I didn’t even know if the little thing could talk but I wanted to ask some questions. I stood up with a stretch and a long yawn and turned to the signal. My Digivice said that it had came threw a while ago, about two weeks from what the timer said. It was in minuets and seconds so a few quick tallies as I walked and I figured out the blunt frame it came threw. It wasn’t absolutely important so I walked. In about an hour I left the crunchy snow covered field and found a few houses doted up the road to the forests north of the city I was near. I looked down at my Digivice not sensing the little Digimon seeing it had moved a distance since an hour before. I checked and checked and fallowed it for two more hours while it moved away. In the last ten minuets I had to put on a little speed to find the little thing, and soon I found it.
It was running scared from me, it must have seen me coming, “Hey wait!” I shouted when I caught sight of it. It huffed and panted and ran away it wasn’t that fast but it took a little effort to catch up. “Hey!” I shouted as I dove for the little thing and grabbed it lightly in my paws. It gave out a sharp howl that hurt my ears and I let go . “Hey, I just want to talk! Hold on for a second!” it turned around and gave me an innocent little snarl and waited for me to stand up. “Can you talk?” I asked as I stuck a finger in one ear while it rang. After a few seconds I asked again, “Can you talk?” it could understand me I could tell by its expression. “What do you want??” it shouted in a child’s voice. I gave a throated growl and it stepped back “I just want to talk.” I said as it looked at me as I crouched down and leaned its head to the side. “You’re a Dark One aren’t you?” it said innocently.
I shook my head and rubbed my ears still a little chimed from its Puppy Howl. “You are a Dark One I can feel it.” it said as it took a confused step back. “No, that’s what I want to find out.” It took another step back and I looked at it harshly, “You run I’ll tackle you.” I said slightly playful. It looked me in the face with another cute little growl and then sat down. “What do you want?” it said as it turned its head in a huff. I didn’t think that far ahead when I fallowed the signal but I didn’t think about what I wanted but I had a few questions on the top of my head. “Who are the ‘Dark Ones’?” I said putting my ears back faking a defensive posture to ease the little thing a little. It turned its head back to me and gave me a look that screamed stupidity, “You should know, you are one.”
I let my anger come out a little. “Just tell me.” I said shooting my ears back up. “They’re,” it started with a pause feeling like it was common knowledge, “They’re evil! They attack without warning and for no reason but to take data!” I gave a little smile and relived my angry look for a few seconds. “Well I haven’t attacked you have I?” I said as it realized the fact. “Yeah but, but I can feel it, You’re a Dark One!” it said it like a child taunting another on a playground. “Nope, I’m just angry for a few reasons.” I said tapping my scar. It looked at me innocently without its defensive posture and asked, “Did ‘they’ give that to you?” I put my paw to my leg and asked, “Who’s they?” it replied again like it was common knowledge “Devastation and Corruption.” I thought about the names and all the Dark Ones I’d fought and knew just how common knowledge it was. “Have you ever seen them?” I asked as it shook its head. “No, they live in a fort in the desert plain, Good Digimon go in but they come out bad.” I moved around and sat down. I was standing on a blister and the position hurt.
“Have you seen the place?” I asked putting my paws on my feet rubbing the blisters. It nodded and gave an angry growl to the thought. “They built it over my village. I was forced to build it with the rest of my village. I got away before they started to destroy us but every one else was killed.” It made a hard face and I turned away in a true defensive look and apologized, “I’m sorry,” I said while the moment was paused, “I never knew.” It looked back to the ground in front of it and sadly said. “I got away but my family and friends didn’t. Every Digimon I talk to says I’m lucky. I would have been lucky if I had one of my friends with me. We should have fought them.” I put my paw out as it started to cry and rubbed its pink furry head. “There are always to many for the little guys.” It laid down on its front paws and started to sob. I felt the anger come again and my scar throbbed. I changed to my Dark form still rubbing its head. “I’ll make sure they gets what’s coming to them.” I said as I looked at my gloved paw. I pulled my paw back seeing the color change and the change in my symbols. There was a yen yang symbol on it when I was pure but in my Dark form they where separated I looked at the once purple ones on my legs and saw they had switched directions. “They’ll get theirs.” I said as I let out a growl to the thought of their names.
“You get out of here, I’ve come a crossed some hunters. If they find you they might take a few shots.” It looked up at me still crying while I had my black paw on its head. “You are Dark!” it shouted and sprinted off. “Hey! I’m not! Really!” I shouted as it dashed away around trees and things. I looked to the ground as it ran away. I was more hurt than offended. It was just like when I freed the Digimon Heto had captured. They all ran scared from me when I gave them the chance. “Black balled” I said as I stood up and started to walk back to the city. I changed from my Dark form to my human and started kicking rocks with my bare feet. I was used to the cold on my paws but it made me move a little faster in my human form. The calluses on my feet did nothing against the cold, nothing but hold it that is. By the time I reached the town I was practically dancing to a warm floor. Going from the cold to the warm made them cram up but warm was better than cold.
I didn’t know what store I was in but it was roomy and it had shoes. My old ones I never got back from Heto at the base, But now that I was here I thought I’d buy something. I hadn’t spent any of my money in a few months, so I’d spend it on something I’d need. I walked over the wracks seeing expensive fashion shoes, a few brands I had at my human home and then boots. All high knee boots but they looked like they could take a cross-country hike.
I saw a few good canvas boots, that I would have never even looked at when I where human, and they seemed to stretch, good thing if I needed to change forms. I looked around the large store to see people looking at me in a crazy way. I just walked in from the cold, no name, almost covered in snow, no shoes, summer cloths and I didn’t even look cold. I let a shiver cross me from their stairs and I tried to go back to shopping. I picked up a pair of boots from a box, truly ugly green snow boots but they looked warm so I avoided a few stairs by lurching to the counter in a blurb of movement.
Not a good move I know, but being away from people made me lose the sense of proper speed in most cases. It was instinct to get away from eyes so going fast was my way of doing it. A few of the people who where watching me veered around looking for me as I appeared at the counter. The cashier who was standing waiting for customers was stunned for a second by my materialization in front of her and she almost fell from her register cubby. “I’d like to buy these.” I smiled trying to look normal not thinking about what I just did. She grabbed the counter before she meet the ground and pulled her self back up. She waited for a few seconds not drawing attention to my acts and reached for the box of boots. “$75.27” she said as she looked up to me wide-eyed. I rooted for my envelope of money but cam up dry so I dropped my bag on the counter and sifted threw it till I came up with the small fold of large bills. A looked back into the stores isles and saw the gawking people and blushed in a neon red tone. I looked to the floor for a second and the person at the register could only find the words to repeat my tab “$75.27” she said and I put a hundred on the counter. She seemed to crawl to it from how embarrassed I was, realizing I goofed in one of the worst possible ways.
She handed my receipt and my change but all I grabbed where the bills she handed me. I picked up the boots from the box and my bag and vanished to the door opened it and disappeared to the roof of the building. I sat back a few feet from the edge and felt my scar throb. I wasn’t angry at them but I was way to embarrassed to move. I looked at the boots and my bag and set them down of the cold roof. I just sat there till I felt almost capable of movement and then started to put away my money and put my bag back on.
I started to put the boots on and my feet went from ice to a sauna in about ten minuets. The only problem with the boots was they didn’t bend well at the ankle there was a thick plastic or rubber on the outside. It looked like a little much to rip but I ripped it cleanly. I made the boots in to large shoes in a few seconds. They where a little big on my feet but they where tight at the ankles so they would stay on. I tested my Digimon form changing directly to my Dark form. I wasn’t angry at anything so it gave me a little jump. My new boots conformed to my feet from the changed, I mean actually changing. The black boots where like open toed shoes letting my toes and claws show and acting like a boot heal for the rest of my foot. I shook off the shock and looked around. The roof was pretty thin and by being startled I made a scrapping sound sliding over the snow. I picked up my bag and tried to stand up moving shakily, not used to standing in the boots. I found my balance then jumped away.
I wanted to get away from that city, so I crossed the small three or four mile town in a matter of seconds going at my full speed. When I started to reach open fields and houses I remembered how Renamon snickered at me for bunting heads with her tamer, I blushed the same way then so I changed back to my pure form. My boots changed again still conforming to my feet but only letting my claws show and not my toes.
I walked a little further and snow started to fall, I looked up at it as it danced from the darkening sky. I had seen it a lot while I was stalking Heto but it was the first time I paid attention to it, from hearing rain falling in memory and then seeing snow fall I expected to hear the small crystals hit the ground but they only quietly fell making no sound. The only sound was the wind blowing around me. It was a beautiful moment; I could feel the snow gather on my shoulders making my cloths a little wet, but my warm fur kept it away from me as I walked. As I saw it I remembered my journey after I left Renamon in the digital world.
There are so many plains of the digital world, some of them where beautiful places. Others where hell, all of them had Digimon like me. Most of them didn’t have a reason to fight off their evil but I did and I passed threw them as one of them. I only had a reason to resist then, a love. Now I have a few. Renamon, the tamers, my life and Ryokumon’s, and my father. I didn’t make as much progress in the digital world as I did here. More to fight for I guess. Thinking of them all made me strong, and for the most part pure.
It was still a presence in me though, not as severed from my noble mind but it was there. That time was just a fraction of the journey; I’d come a cross a lot more before I found my home again. So it was back to my sloe’s path, back to my long road. And to thought and contemplation…
Next in Line
I trudged for a few days in thought about myself and others I couldn’t think of many good times, most of the time I had with the tamers was feathered with problems. But still having them to talk to when It came around to something was better than walking alone thinking about it. I guess being capable of the thought of them was better than nothing, hell I would have given anything for an argument with my father! I pictured an average argument in my head with him just for the hell of it. What’s with theses grades? He’d say ‘Well I was try’en!’ I’d respond. I’m sure, if you tried then why are they all F’s?? I come back with ‘How long has it been since you been in a classroom? Come one those classes are hard!’ I went on like that for an hour with a smile on my face; dad is always good for a laugh. He was always there and he never let me slide on something he knew I could handle. For that reason he put me in summer school every year, I think seeing my report card after I was Ryoku made him soil himself.
I’d like to think I was just messing with him all those years just so we could get along better but it wasn’t the truth. After my imaginary argument with him I trudged on silent thinking again about what kind of horror I was to every one. I took a deep breath and looked up from my depression and fallowed my mind again. I went in a few circles for a few days after I stopped. More the fault of mine for losing focus. I tried to think about practicing normal speed while I fallowed my path and thinking about that put me in a few directions before I realized I was wandering like a drunken backpacker.
Well on a better note my new boots where great. The lining in them was fur and when I had started to walk so far I started to feel the blisters heal up a little. The boots where holding up ok, and since my claws where out I didn’t feel like I was ripping the insides up. When I was human I could stretch out my toes, I could also do that in my Dark form too. I walked along a few highways for a while trailing cars to hear their radios. Heto was doing good. It sounded like he took a sudden interest in wild life preservation, “Local Patron donates large sum to wildlife preservation funds around the world.” It wasn’t a smile till they gave the name, “Living in the United States, this Japanese business man has made a significant sum over the coarse of his career and has decided to create a large trust fund for wild life preservation. Mr. Hasumaria Heto says in his announcement that it’s,” and the cast switched to a small news conference. “An apology to the wild life of the world, from foxes to birds, frogs to dogs. It’s not a donation it’s a little justice. We shouldn’t consider them ‘scum’ or ‘pelages’. They are a part of this world…” he was trying to hard, but those words where meant for me to hear. He continued in the conference with a tone like a warning. “I will proudly step down from my ways, but ‘there WILL’ always be more ‘hunters and poachers’.” He was about ready to make his point but the person driving changed the station.
I thought I had herd enough, he seemed to be going on about the subject that didn’t seem presently important, not that preservation isn’t but he emphasized words bluntly and made them sound drastically important. I just left the road for a while feeling happy for myself creating another human being again with a few good wills and a conscious thought of not only preserving himself but others even now more than his family. Well the first step didn’t leave him much to work with but I was sure I’d hear from him again.
There was something bugging me though as I went back to my path. It’s how strange he put things, putting power behind the ‘will be more.’ That little bit of buzz worthy news was for me I was sure. It felt like he was trying to tell me something but I wasn’t catching on. It dawned on me later that it was some kind of warning but I couldn’t place together about what. I was thinking about it as I entered a forest about twenty miles from the highway. I tried to push it aside for happier thoughts about my life but only came up with anger I had for Heto in his base. My happiness from his actions turned to anger as I thought it was blood money, not a willed effort. It was a semi good anger, I could feel the anger rising up but it didn’t change me to my Dark form past the glare in my eyes and a hard scowl.
I had it on for a few hours even after the angry thoughts had left. I was just angry, angry for the sake of anger, I was angry even after I forgot what I was angry about. I still knew what I was angry about sure but it wasn’t on the surface of my mind. I herd a rustle from somewhere behind me and I swung around to look but came up with nothing. The sound seemed to suit my mood and I let out a growl to warn anything I wasn’t willing to play around. I herd a few leaves crunch under something’s foot like it was an animal on all fours but it stopped moving when I turned around and kept walking.
I managed to push the anger down thinking, ‘What is my problem?’ The angry glare left my eyes and I could see that I hadn’t changed in my angry fit. I put a slight jump in my step and smiled from not getting over come by my own evil. I herd the rustle behind me again only giving it a slight look this time and a thought but happily strolling along. There was nothing behind me in site so I didn’t think it was necessary to investigate it further. It turned in to paranoia when I herd it again, it was starting to send a stiff line of fur up my back each time I herd it. It felt like being afraid of the dark when you’re like six. The feeling of you shouldn’t be afraid because it’s probably nothing.
Which after a few looks back it seemed to be, but the paranoia was still there. After a while I stopped hearing the sounds and slowly went back to analyzing my life further. From happy back to depressing, all of the time thinking about something or someone important. I came back a few times to the two most influential women in my life almost every time, who I missed both dearly, my mother and my Starlight. I found myself referring to my human childhood as my “in-training” years as I did with my Digimon childhood as a Nyaromon; quickly correcting the thoughts still being jumbled and referred to the lives in their proper forms and names. I felt kind of stupid thinking and confusing myself like that and I let out an uneasy laugh every time I did. At least I wasn’t in front people doing it other wise I could have been red all over.
A few days past and I made only one misguided circle, I crossed a state line and the winter forests started to turn to fields of white snow. My paranoid sensation came back and it felt like I was being watched, not the kind of watched I felt in public, more like a feeling I didn’t tell or explain when the hunter on the mountain was gunning for me. Like it was eyes from a far, seeing me clearly and watching my behavior and seeing weakness as I thought. It left it as paranoia and tried to continue walking with out looking back at what I had already seen. I was sure I wouldn’t find any thing but the stiff fur going up my back made me turn around and walk back wards for a while. I moved with my paws on the back of my head and searched for movement in the low snow covered grass but only came up with my own paw prints. I brushed it off after I almost tripped on some uneven ground and went back to walking correctly. I was convinced it was just the cold but I was wrong.
I was too connected with my senses to doubt the feeling but I just put it in the corner of my mind so I cold keep on walking. I kept a mix of over the shoulder looks and sentimental thought for a few more days till I stopped to rest. I found a nice little cave and tried to sleep. In my sleep I herd the sound again, it was a few hundred feet off but the small noise shot me from my sleep. I twitched my ears listening but nothing came around. It was the first time I had heard the sounds at night and I was the most open when I slept; knowing that I felt a rock in the pit of my stomach, so it wasn’t a very restful sleep I’ll tell you. Every time I almost drifted off the crunch of snow and frozen grass would wake me up. I needed the sleep too I’d been walking for almost two weeks straight without sleep.
I herd a different sound towards the dawn when the night was the darkest like the sound of whispering wind, it was while I slept and I couldn’t understand it, but I woke up to a clear whisper of “Ryokumon…” close by. The voiceless whisper didn’t have an origin; it came from both in front of and behind me from the depths of the cave and the sea of snow in the fields. I gave a nervous shiver and leaned against the wall with my eyes closed till the dawn, hearing the whisper again and again but trying to keep from twitching my ears to the sound. It came every few minuets almost on a cue. Till it abruptly stopped sending me to my feet waiting with a paw to my ear for the possible delay. Then it changed its words from my name to its “Zero…” I picked up my bag and looked at every inch of visible ground in both directions peering threw the darkness of the cave and snow blinding myself in the felid. I put my paw to my muzzle and rubbed the brightness of the snow from my eyes and walked from the cave.
It felt like a fable I knew a long time ago. I think it was in the Digital world. ‘The hunter will come fallow you for weeks. Whisper your name and then tell you his. He seeks your sole, and when it comes to the time of the kill he will know every thing about you. Then there will be nothing left but dust…’ the little fable was meant to scare little Digimon who left there parents to explore, it always was said that the hunter can’t be seen, like the grim reaper hovering a scythe over you. Which explained the feeling pretty well. I walked away from the cave still looking around cautiously. There was a set of human foot prints out side that stopped suddenly about the distance I could have herd the sounds from, they just stopped like the person just flew away or disappeared or jumped like I could. It was extremely unsettling. I just looked at the prints and saw that they where partially collapsed on them selves like they where hours old, what ever it was it was gone. It could have been possible that who/what ever it was backtracked its steps in the path it already made. I would have covered my tracks like I did every so often by sweeping my tail a crossed my steps. I did it with out even thinking about it, it was long enough to reach the ground and my paranoia made it sway, brushing the snow over the tracks.
I was scaring myself so I just stopped thinking and walked. I couldn’t keep my ears up I was nervous and walking trying to appeared slightly cool under the mental image of the hunter making ‘sport’ of me. I didn’t make it fifty yards before I herd a laugh. I froze in place hearing the laugh like the wind again coming from all directions. “Your name is Ryokumon, isn’t it?” it chuckled quietly. “Hello?” I said as it let out a surrounding laugh again. “Well isn’t it?” it said friendly but eerily. “That’s me,” I said as I swallowed a little hard picturing the Digimon hunter, “Who are you?” I said as I thought I saw a flash of color move. “The fabled Hunter, Zero.” I took a fast step and stopped in place. “Fabled hunter?” I said as the human voice gave a laughed and then let his voice come to a point above the cave and I turned to it. “I’m sure you’ve herd of me.” The voice came from the direction but I didn’t see anything. “The Digimon Hunter, the Bogyman. Either way I am meant to be feared.” I lifted my ears hearing human but I couldn’t find him or smell him. The voice sounded familiar though. “What are you going on about?” I said as I stood up straight searching the area of his voice. “Why my little stray, I think you would know. I’m here for you…” it laughed casually. “I don’t think you know what your getting your self into.” I said as I felt my paranoia turn to anger glaring threw my eyes.
“Oh yes, yes I do. In fact I know all about you. My predecessor gave you a little something to remember him by.” He snickered in a friendly tone. “And that would be?” I said as I herd his voice move as he talked. “Your eye, you power. I’ve seen it, do you remember now?” I felt a shiver cross my scare and it came clear who he meant. “If you mean Heto. I asked for this, it was my proof to him. Who the hell are you saying you’ve seen my ‘power’? If you mean on the news that’s nothing but lifting a paperclip.” I said as I swung around to his voice taping my scar and swinging my arms. “You think you can handle me? You are my ‘prey’. You can’t even see me but you still show what kind of a Digimon you are, but if you need to be shown. Fine, here I Am.” I fallowed his voice around and I could see him standing in a tree thirty feet away. “Remember me while you can, its going to be the last time you see Me.” He said as he coyly jumped down going transparent then disappearing before he hit the ground. He let out a laugh like it was a good joke and then his voice disappeared.
I let out a growl from his taunts, “If your such a grate hunter then finish your kill now.” I herd his whisper close to my ear like the sound of the snow almost nonexistent to the rest of the world. “Remember my name, Zero. You’ll hear it every time you stop, threw the day and night… Heto was weak, but I am commanded by Yamaki. I won’t hesitate when he calls your name. I never have and my next kill will come to you.” and then gracefully left in a whispered laugh. It rang in both ears as I growled at his hushed voice. He was human by appearance but was as mobile as the fastest Digimon I’d ever seen. His camouflage was invisibility and his voice was as clear as bells singing hymns. He wasn’t clouded by judgment, he had no grudges or angers, he was the hunter. From his words he was everything he said. ‘To be feared’ and he was. He wasn’t there even though he was. Never leaving one hint of him self he didn’t want found. He may have not looked armed but whatever weapons he had he could do his worst with the lost ominous sense he was around.
It wasn’t paranoia anymore it was where he was the only way I could find him was by the chill he left as he looked into the depths of my sole. “You won’t get your chance.” I said as I started walking again. ‘I can feel you, I won’t let you get close enough’ I thought “Remember my name Zero. If you live then remember it as the one who could give you yours.” I herd the laugh again, an obnoxious humorous laugh. I was going to find him and get him before he tried anything. The perfect hunter against me, ‘lets see what you got Zero’. I thought as I gathered my anger into strength and walked away. ‘I’m not part of your agenda, your part of mine’ the anger spoke arrogantly in my mind and on into the day I could feel him fallow me.
I wasn’t prey but neither was he, and just another step in the long road, ‘another step, another line’…
Keeping Score
I walked faster than I usually did for a while till I couldn’t keep the pace. Having ‘Zero’s’ eyes fallow me like a story seemed to drain me. He was an enigma, a legend, a fable. He was REAL above all else. I didn’t have a place to go while he watched me; I tried to find my way but the path turned into a battle field. One grate field in the center of the country. I felt like I was warring a bull’s-eye on my back as I walked, or a dartboard before a professional game. It sucked! I was a hunter and it wasn’t rite for me to feel the fear of the hunt. Knowing the hunt from his side meant I could never let my guard down. He’d strike at that moment. With my pit of anger and strength I kept a wad of energy ready at all times. It was my Dark energy, and its attacks came threw even though I was still pure.
I walked along like a chimneystack with two smoking paws ready for any and all attacks. He didn’t talk too much, he only watched, and laughed. When I pushed past his presence I could laugh about other things in my life that where ironically funny. He felt he should join the humor of the moment and laughed with me, taunting me. Doing that he made me more angry at him, I was able to control it and focus it. I walked with my red eyes and concentrated on him. After a few days of his watchful eye I could feel his energy like a faint cloud. It was a cloud of energy that was around him that had no real form. It wasn’t much of a window but if I put my mind to it I could find him.
I didn’t concentrate hard enough to change back to my human form, I’m sure that would have brought about more problems then, but I was always in my Dark form when I sensed him. After I tried to fallow his energy I’d go back to my pure form and relax my mind after using so much of my dark energy. Still thinking about him but not on a sour note, ‘Who is Yamaki?’ I thought as I recalled the whisper he gave me into my ears. It was a few days before I needed rest but I stopped early. I wanted to see if he’d try anything. When I fell asleep I concentrated in my unconscious and felt him sitting a crossed from me as I leaned against a stump. I woke up still with the area saturated with his energy and sat with my eyes closed seeking out a moment to confront him. Hours past and not even a slight shift in his energy or position. I twitched my ears now and again listening for a sound to reward my meditation but he didn’t give me one.
“Zero.” I said still with my eyes closed, separating my concentration to speak losing a little of his energy from the words. “I know you can hear me.” I felt a shift from in front of me in his energy and a crunch of dried leaves. I gave a hint of a smile while I sat in place gaining more of his energy as he moved. “What is it prey?” he said with a friendly laugh. “Who is Yamaki?” I said as he moved to a standing position from the sounds he let out. “Worth the effort, maybe you should know.” he smiled in his voice. “My creator, at least this body’s.” I opened my eyes to revile the red glaze over them and turned to his voice. “What?” I said not understanding his answer. “That’s all you get.” He giggled.
“That’s not what I meant. What dose he do?” I herd him make a walking circle and he made a tisk-tisk sound with each step. “You ask a lot of questions of your hunter. Most Digimon would use their time to beg me for mercy.” I closed my eyes and fallowed the sound of his steps. “I’m not most Digimon, ‘Hunter’.” I smiled gaining a mutual giggle from the two of us. “Such a bold creature.” He laughed; I could feel his energy again. “Yamaki is the department head of the Hypnos agency in Japan.” I nodded as I fallowed his energy with my ears. “And what dose that make you?” I smiled as a twitch came to my ear as his energy came close. I hid the smile and waited for him to get close. “A happy Digimon Hunter.” He whispered into my ears. I let him stand there for a minuet and giggle to make it look like I was fallowing the sound of his voice. I opened my eyes again, and whipped around backhanding the cloud of energy wrapping my knuckles a crossed metal, yelping in pain from the heavy clang expecting flesh.
I saw a few sparks come from a glass like transparent shadow. I looked down at it and smiled. “And what dose he get for your services?” I smiled as I stood over his see threw form. “What I do best.” He smiled back looking into my glowing eyes. I wasn’t going to kill him, yet. “You talk to much.” I smiled as I turned around to let him stand. “You are bold!” he cackled as he made distance from my. “One for you! Good show! Good show!” I concentrated on his energy again and felt it leave me for the first time in days. I was still tired from my last rest stop so I flopped back down on my stump and slept.
‘Metal?’ I thought the second I closed my eyes, ‘A metal face? He wasn’t kidding about being made.’ He was metal, a machine. My hunters perfect style was from a machine. I made a slight offset in his invisibility, but I’m sure that’s all I did. I saw the moment happened as I replayed it in my head, lots of metal and the sparks where from my claws scrapping over it. He’d be back I knew it, but until then I could be happy about my small victory over a machine. It wouldn’t take him long to get repairs. Heto packed up his operations but I was sure that they’re where a few places between here and home where he could get recalibrated and repaired.
I dropped him for other thoughts like the Dark One’s and the voices. Maybe he knew something about them, or could he have been a Dark One? It was a brain frying night; I was so around with thoughts I could have woken up with smoke coming out my ears, and if I woke up in my Dark form I wouldn’t have doubted it. I didn’t, thankfully enough I didn’t wake up to my Dark form. I had used a lot of my dark energy focusing on him in the night the form was going to be gone for a while. I woke up very early to Zero whispering in my ear. “It’s a new day my prey. Time to get up…” I had herd him coming but I didn’t force myself from sleep till he talked. I twitched my ears as I came from sleep and kept my eyes closed. “Good morning Zero.” I smiled blindly. “How are you doing today my tin-soldier.” I said as he casually laughed circling me. “My mechanics told me you have a good backhand, my prey. It took them almost two hours to repair my stealth cloak.”
“Oh, my.” He laughed. “I’ve said to much already.” He teased. I couldn’t sense him but I knew he wasn’t here to attack me today. “So you are a machine.” I grinned as I felt my scar shiver like I ran my paw over it. “Yes, quite.” He said imitating a British accent. “Why won’t you finish the hunt?” I said changing the subject quickly. I heard him stop moving and after a few second he responded seriously with a sense of humor. “Oh my prey, its not the hunt yet. Now think of it as observation.” He said finishing the sentence with a laugh. I smiled as I thought about it, “I thought you weren’t supposed to contact your targets when you ‘observed’ them.” He gave a pausing laugh and said snickering. “My methods are a different matter than yours. Heto can vouch to that.” I turned my face to a sneer at the name turning an other wise friendly conversation in the wrong direction. “Heto is weak, if I wanted he would be dead.” I felt a presence in front of me and I opened my eyes to see Zero standing in front of me fully visible.
“I wouldn’t doubt it my prey. You are the first to even strike me.” He said looking into my eyes seeing the calm rage I had away from my Dark form in my un clouded eyes. I recognized the face now. He was the hunter, the hunter on the mountain. Now it explained the vast amount of ammo he had, he didn’t even need to carry it; it was probably a Digimon weapon. Since he was so buddy-buddy rite now I’d ask, “What weapon did you use?” he tilted his head to the side like a Digimon. “On the mountain?” he grinned and sat back. “Tactical Sniper rifle…” I cut him off. “.308 or what?” he laughed as he sat back on his hands and responded. “A knowledgeable bother aren’t you.” I started to stand and he did as well. “.308, weapons handling was programmed into this body, my commanders wanted me to take a 50 but I thought a lighter weapon would be more of a sport.” I turned around and smiled at him as he tried to fallow. I laughed at him “Sport? I’m much more than sport.” He stuck out his hand and tried to tap me on the shoulder but I leaned away. “So much more than sport my prey, I’ve never meet a rookie like you, I’ve haven’t seen Ultimates that can move like you.”
I turned around and started to walk, a compliment from the hunter to his prey. I hid a smile from him as I started walking. With him around the path was still as wide as a battleground, but I knew which direction was home and I walked with the sun rising into the cold sky. “I always thought the Digimon Hunter was a myth.” I said as I kept a straight tone. “Oh I’m real, very real.” He said as I responded with a nodded at his presence, he was very real. “How did you get to this world anyway? You don’t seem like a Digimon.” I asked as I turned my head feeling his physical presence disappear. His voice circled me again and gave a strange answer. “I was downloaded.” I stopped walking and looked for his voice. “What?” I said with an ear dropped out of curiosity. “They found me on the Internet as a sentient Virus and put me in this body.” He gave a laugh while I just walked with a smile not understanding the concept. I didn’t doubt it I was a good reason not to, being a Digimon and a human. Using a virus as a brain didn’t seem too intelligent but it seemed to work. Unless he was hunting he seemed to be a nice guy.
He was around me but he didn’t attack. He made it seem like he was going to sometimes but he only laughed at me when I started to let my guard down. “Not today my prey.” He laughed, “not today…” I didn’t have a reason to fallow him. I just ignored his looming voice and started a conversation every now again. Like I said he didn’t talk much. He gave a laugh when he either agreed or thought the subject was funny. He lived up to his word, when I stopped every now and then. At night he said his name like a lullaby, he woke me up to his name. I found a few wild Digimon signals but I stayed clear of them, if I had anything to say to them he would hear, or he might just take small hunt on the rookies and in-training Digimon. “What is that?” he’d whisper as each single beep told me of a new Digimon. I’d just give him a smile as I kept walking, “Nothing.”
The days past and I hadn’t found a new emergence. Until a week later I could have almost stopped to rest but my Digivice beeped, it was the first Bio-emergence in a few months. The different beep made me jump. I tried to ignore it like I did with the rest but my instinct sent every hair on my body to end and I gritted my teeth. “That’s a new sound my prey, it seems to have you on end. Better check.” He said as I felt him give a slight tug to my Digivice. I took a small swat at his palm and he stepped away invisible to me. “Don’t touch me.” I growled at I pulled my Digivice from its belt loop.
I looked to the display not thinking about Zero and its hologram popped up sending an interested thump of steps to me. The image was a little unclear but was viable, a Dark Nanimon. I couldn’t understand why but there was static a crossed the image like before I had my Dark form. It stopped flickering after a few moments and displayed the Digimon with some bad reception. “Zero, I ask you to leave your prey for a while.” He gave a short laugh and appeared in front of me. “I think not my prey.” He smiles as I just turned in the direction of the signal seeing the Dark digital fog above a line of trees. “I don’t have time for you.” I said as I dashed away. Every hair on my body was stiff and a good laugh to the thought of a fight entered my mouth. I saw the field turn to trees and I pushed to side to side and avoided the thick wood as I nearly hit them avoiding them by inches snapping twigs and brushing off bark.
This was going to be the first battle I’d be in, in months! Fighting is one of the few things both my sides agreed on. I was all for defending but I was also for senseless destruction. Dark Digimon was destruction and defense. A perfect opportunity to test my skills. I stopped at the foot of the fog for a different reason than just to look at it like I did when they where common. I looked back and herd Zero swiftly approaching. ‘To test my skills?’ I thought, ‘With Zero’s here?’ I took a step back as I listened to Zero’s steps shoot up and pass me kicking the fog back as he passed me into its center. “HEY!” I shouted not gathering what he was doing. I started to fallow him in but ran face first into the barrier of the fog. A thin cloud of energy let me pass threw to a point but then stopped me. I banged my fisted paw on the shield. “That’s my kill!!” I shouted I gritted my teeth with a growl. I herd the voice in a muffled laugh greeted by Zero’s. “We have a new comer to my arena.” The voice laughed, “What is your name?” it muffled out. I pressed my eye to the shield and could see the Digimon hadn’t fully come threw yet; Zero was fully visible and standing casually in human form looking directly into the emerging form. “My name isn’t important.” He said then smiled back at me “If you have to ask though it’s Zero, the Digimon Hunter.”
I heard the voice laugh unknowing what he was putting himself into and the red glare of the Dark Nanimon eyes threw its sunglasses. I felt my eyes turning to the same glare but I tried to keep myself calm knowing it was a chance to see Zero in action. I was still clouded by my anger and couldn’t hold back my long growl as I looked threw the sparking shield to see the action. It was painful pressing my eye to the energy but I had to watch, to see it. He was a fable; it was just morbid curiosity that made me look. I herd the grunt of the Digimon as it became clear and dropped to the ground from its low hover. “Kill him my child.” The sinister voice laughed. Zero looked back at me and grinned profusely as the Digimon stood up and put its small hands out. It was shrouded the shield and I didn’t get a look but it called out its attack and I could identify it by that. “POWER DRIVE!” and a black ball of lightning like energy shot towards Zero. I was standing in an almost straight line from Zero to the Dark Nanimon. Zero leaned to the side Like he was avoiding a water balloon and let the energy fly directly to me. I rolled along the shield while the ball of energy zoomed unaffected threw the shield. Zero laughed as the Digimon jumped slowly at him. I pressed my face back to the shield now not letting my curiosity guide me and my eyes glared. I beat my paw on the shield just screamed while I watched threw the darkness as Zero came up to the Digimon and just gave it a simple punch shattering its form like it was nothing.
The sinister voice just laughed while Zero settled back into his casual stance and then turned to me. I didn’t really care about the kill anymore. I wanted him for not doing something to deflect that blast. “Are you finished?” Zero looked up to the fog. The voice loomed silent for a few seconds and didn’t lift the fog. “I’m finished. So I’ll say a dew.” He smiled as he walked over to the barrier. I wasn’t going to warn him about the shield, but it didn’t matter he passed threw it like it wasn’t there. The only evidence of it was a few wispy sparks when it came in contact with his form. “That’s a point for me my prey. Now we are even.” I growled at him as he walked past me out of the fog. I didn’t do anything past fist my paw and shift to my Dark form. I felt my paw push threw the shield and I almost fell over while I watched Zero out of rage.
“That was my kill.” I growled as I gathered my balance. He smiled back at me and put a hand in the air. “Oh but it wasn’t, my prey. This is my game and the round was mine. You hesitated and the window was mine.” I turned to hear the sinister voice call my name and I just walked away from it. “This isn’t a game Zero it’s my hunt. If you do that again I wont hold myself back from ripping your throat out.”
He laughed and grinned at me as he stepped out of the fog. “I don’t think even something as bold as you could do a thing about It.” he laughed casually I huffed out of the fading fog and tried to grab him by the black shirt he wore but he dodged away from it like I did to avoid his grasp. “Lets find out then ‘Hunter’.” I said I stepped back into a judo stance brining back up my wad of reserved energy. “To what? A duel?” he walked away knowing I wouldn’t attack and I relived my stance and blew the smoke from my paws. “I’ll have your head Zero. And I’ll make sure Yamaki see it.” he laughed at me and started to circle me again, one of his habits he did trying to throw my sense. I leaned forward in a heavy loud growl. “YOU AROGENT SON OF A BITCH! FIGHT ME!” I shouted as my fisted paws started to glow red.
I herd his feet crunch some leaves on the ground and I turned to it and called out an attack at the sound “BRIMSTONE!” a flaming rock came from my palms and un expectedly made contact with a part of him, doing damage. The rock shattered on contact into bits of hot red energy and a segmented part of his arm where I had hit became visible.
He, for the first time, called out in pain as he flickered back into visibility. I smiled in amazement from that feet and recapped his words. “NOW we are even ‘Hunter’.” His arm was shattered, I could see the wires in it and they sparked madly while he cradled it with care. “You are pushing my patients my prey. When we meet again this game will end.” I smiled and laughed at him in a taunting casual tone. “Just remember when you are beaten, who will stand over who.” He jumped back wards into the treetops and left me as I smiled on in anger as he left.
My sense served me well that time. Then again he didn’t expect me to attack. Hearing him wasn’t going to be my answer; it was luck and timing that bought me that hit. “Don’t let your guard down Zero. It’s the perfect time to strike.” I snickered as I walked out of the forest. He was gone and for a while which gave me time to think The first thought was of Renamon, how much I missed her brought a tear to my eye. Since I was alone I let the tears come and I changed from my Dark form to my human. I looked out at the large field and saw her face in the now dancing snowflakes as they wafted to the ground. I leaned against a tree and let out a mournful howl and slept for a while.
It was the only time I could really sleep soundly, and possibly the last time I could. When Zero came back he was going to take off the kid gloves and the real game was going to start. This one didn’t have points; it was measured in strength and punches. I wasn’t sure if I could take him but as a Latin quote once said “The die is cast…”
Another Day Away
I thought about Renamon while I slept, like I said. I dreamed more than I thought. I kept seeing myself turn away. Each time I felt my heart brake but each time I did I started to turn around. Closer and closer my eyes saw my burrow walls and I could smell her sweet scent as I longed to see her face to change my mind about walking away. The moment didn’t come in my dreams. I stopped torturing myself and woke up in tears. Night had fallen and so did a cold blanket of snow. I felt a few frozen paths of tears on my face and I tried to wipe them away pulling at my cold face as I did, finally having to peal them off. I forced myself to stop crying so I didn’t have to rip away a nights worth of frozen tears and stood up from the icy snow blanket letting it fall away in chunks. My shorts where soaked now and I was near blue all over. I wasn’t that cold but my body made me look like I was, I felt like a Smurf!
I looked around not seeing foot steps in the snow and started-off. I thought about seeing Renamon again. She was all I thought about that day. I knew I was putting some distance between me and Zero but my dream made me want to get home more than worrying about him; about not seeing Renamon, it was to long for me for one thing. Another was I left in the middle of it all. There was too much to take care of and I just vanished. I looked to the ground as the fact crossed my mind again and sulked at it. I felt ashamed for doing it, selfish. I didn’t think of it at the time to be self centered act, I had the best intentions but by leaving I just dumped a load on Starlight and the tamers. I left them all with my responsibilities just like I did when I was human, I was a child; Worse than that I was immature. Blubbering over something I could have overcome.
I put on an extra burst of speed, trying to run from the pain I just dug up and felt the tears come again almost freezing the second they left my eyes falling away like the pure crystals of my untainted attacks. The faster I ran the more I stumbled. I was running like my Digimon form but my human didn’t have the joints or the reaction time so I just stumbled forward and rolled a crossed the snow, stopping face down in the cold wet fallen flakes. I held it to long, Zero had gotten to me and made me think about him more than I did my own life. His presence was paranoia which pushed every thing away.
I may not have been afraid of him but being cautious cost me the time I could have spent thinking about Renamon with a smile. I stopped crying for an instant realizing what I had taken away from Heto by stalking him in the same way. I pushed up from the ground smiling in shame. “A hunter and his prey.” I said as I looked around hearing the crunch of the new snow. I turned around to see a second set of footprints fallowing mine and ignorantly shouted “Hello?” returning a little color to my face as I realized it was Zero.
“Hello my boy. Have you seen a fox around here by any chance?” his voice called. My face didn’t just come back to normal I straight blushed I laughed as ominously as he did and fell back into the snow. “What’s so funny?” he said in an almost annoyed tone. I looked to the footprints seeing that they had separated into a standing position and rolled up a snowball in my cold hands. “I see you.” I said as I playfully chucked a snowball at him. It didn’t hit but he moved away from the soft ball of snow. It came clear from amazement, he and I looked as the small ball rolled away. “How can you see me?” he said as he looked at me rolling in the snow. He really didn’t know! He probably thought I was insane by what I was warring, or he couldn’t tell the difference. I thumped my fists down in the snow crying from how hilarious I thought It was. “I see you, I see you!” with out knowing it I was playing the insane part. He became visible and tilted his head then went back to being invisible and jumped away. I busted up laughing not believing he didn’t recognized my cloths and just laid there for a while in the snow almost falling asleep, only to wake myself up to the mission I had a head of me.
I smiled at my camouflage; I figured that Heto had made at least one report on his experiences with me, or even had one picture of me past the surveillance photos. He probably thought I was still another person though I don’t see how since I showed him in his base. ‘Deed number two’ I thought as I realized he bought me a little roaming time. He destroyed it all. As far as Hypnos was concerned I didn’t exists! I stood up and without my Edgar Allen Poe mood and walked happily to the thought of going home. I took a long breath of the fresh crisp air and knew it wouldn’t last but would enjoy it while it did.
I walked on for a few more miles threw a few dotted forests till I came to another town. I gathered an amount of awkward looks but I was happy for the time and they didn’t bother me. I could fell their eyes on me as I passed threw but they weren’t Zero’s so it didn’t matter. I must have looked like a drunk or something because a local police car started to fallow me. I needed a little fun so I picked up into a good stable run and slightly out paced the car. They would have gotten out to chase me but by the speed I was going they knew it was impossible to catch me on foot. I gave a childish grin thinking of the chase Renamon gave me back home when we meet in this world and turned around to show the police men my smile as I ran backwards.
I could see threw the glass that they where dumbfounded at me and I laughed and stuck out my tongue. I saw in my high strides that the passenger officer was pointing at me mouthing out the words “He’s mocking us!” which almost made me fall over laughing. “I’m coming home Starlight!” I shouted as I gave a good bounce and turned around to run as fast as I could, leaving them in the proverbial dust.
I was having too much fun, and for the first time in a while. I stopped for a while away from the road the officers where on and made a snow woman in the form of Renamon. Admiring my work I leaned back and fell into the snow and made a snow Angemon leaving a straight stick at its side like a staff. At days end I was tired out completely; going from enjoying my self to the thought of Renamon.
I sat against a tree a little cold but warm enough to relax in thought. It was like I had been holding a laugh down for to long. The sudden burst of happiness felt good but it faded to me remembering all of what I had done. Renamon, Heto, my father and the tamers. I had left them all without something or I had caused them trouble. That was what really broke the mood was knowing all of that at the same time. I took a deep breath remembering the day and fell a sleep thinking of the holiday Heto bought me. I put my trust in him and it came back to me. It didn’t out weigh what he did to me but it was starting to level out. ‘You’re learning Heto’ I thought as I felt a smile cross my lips as I slept. As the smile faded I thought of all the questions I wanted to ask Zero and wished I hadn’t pushed him to the hunt. I paced around the thought for a while then mentally shook it off knowing I was looking over my shoulder in a sense. He was gone and it was a good thing, which left me to better thoughts.
I remembered the last night Renamon and I had together and wished I could live it again, but I put that life on hold to run away from fate. It wasn’t fair but I thought at the time it had to be done. I felt sorry for it again but perked up a smile and told myself I was really going home, even if I wasn’t in complete control. She was rite; if I had stayed we could have fought it. With her anything was possible.
It was a turn around night, I was happy and depressed and woke up in between moods but still with a smile. Being so deep in that sleep I didn’t notice, Zero but he found me. He was visible and in a green jump suit sitting in a tree and scared the living crap out of me when I looked up hearing him say “Boo.” quietly. I let out a yelp from the startling humor he had and he jumped from the branch to walk over to me. “What’s your name?” He said skipping over the small talk.
I looked at him almost happy and smiled, “I don’t have one.” I said grinning at him and started to dance away like some kind of fairy. He made a sprint around in front of me and looked me dead in the face avoiding my eyes. “What’s your name?” he said again slightly more serious. “Get lost.” I said as I took a graceful happy jump to the side. “Ryokumon? Or Fire and Brimstone?” I turned around to him and stuck out my tongue and grinned out. “I’m not a super hero man.” He crossed his arms and sprinted in front of me. He wasn’t buying my act now but I’d play with him a little like he did with me. He used his camouflage so I was going to use mine while he was unsure. “Tell me or I’m going to kill you.” I jumped to the side again and pushed off ungracefully and wracked myself on a tree. “Ahh man! Look what ya made me do!” I spit as I curled up and clasped my hands over my balls. “What’s your name human?” he said almost ready to brake something.
I rolled for a few seconds then shot to my feet. Thinking quickly of a name to use. “My names Edward but every one calls me Eddy.” He backed off for a second; I thought he almost bought it. “Are you drunk?” he smiled coyly. I nodded and bounced around him with a slight limp from my tree experience number two. “Scotch and Peppermint Snobs! The best buzz you’ll ever get!” I laughed; I thought that bought it for me till he asked the next question. “And how long has it been since your last drink?” I lost my footing and feel forward into the snow covered leaves. I turned around knowing he saw threw my humanity and gave. “I dun-know, about two hours.” As I rubbed my face. I bit my lip realizing he had probably been watching me sleep for a while. “Hey, what time is it?” I said as I leaned towards him on my knees with the widest grin you could ever possibly make with a human face. He turned away for a second and then looked back “About six a.m.?” I put my hand out and waved him off. “Ahh you didn’t even check your watch, your lying!” I smiled taunting him. “You couldn’t have been drinking two hours ago human I watched you on that tree.” I stood up faking a weak shaky posture I had perfected in Heto’s base. “I just took a little nap. I mean it has to be at least four or five in the afternoon.” I said tapping my wrist with a red faced smile on. He stood there for a few seconds and looked me over as I danced around trying to keep up the act. “Your going to have one hell of a hangover son.” He said as he disappeared. I blinked my eyes to keep the act up and looked around with a “Wow. Was that guy real?” and shrugged it off to dance around some more then slowly back to a tired stumbling walk just for appearance. I was sure he was fallowing me and I could feel it, but I was sure that my act was convincing. I could act drunk with the best of them. I think he couldn’t smell me other wise he would have know how much a load I fed him.
After a few hours of on and off dancing a crossed a field I started to rub my head for appearance. Playing drunk like that was a ware on my reserves for the day and making the hang-over look real started to give me one, so I found another tree to pass out on. It was an interesting day. A little amusing too, Zero bought my act although I played it a little exaggerated. I did keep a good sense of human speed and ability throughout the whole thing. I think he was a little thrown from the whole thing though. I got almost half a nights sleep before I could hear his steps get close. I shot from my sleep to look around but couldn’t see anything so I rubbed my head and leaned back over and acted like I was a sleep. He started calling me Ryokumon silently but when I didn’t answer to him he went to the fake name I gave him. “Eddy…Eddy… Eddy? Can you hear me?” I rolled to the side like the hushed whisper was disturbing and put my head against the hard tree. I waved my arm clumsily and said like I was groggy “Go away man I’m sleep’en.” He gave one of his casual laughs and sat quiet for a few minuets. “What’s the occasion?” he said as I cringed my face at the question and twitched around still faking a sleep and gave a “Huh?” he gave another laugh and cleared up the question. “Why are you so drunk?” I flipped back over off the tree and faked like I woke up then laid back down on the cold ground.
I was losing it and I could feel it. I scratched my butt in my position and I herd him make an unpleasant grunt at it. I could have laughed out loud but I didn’t. “Why do you drink so much Eddy?” He said almost hypnotically quiet. I thought about it for a few minuets and felt a little bit of truth in a lie would be most convincing. “I left my girl man.” I said as I patted around like I was looking for a pillow. He gave an almost satisfied grunt and asked another question I wasn’t prepared for. “What’s her name?” I let out a primal scream in my head as I faced away from him with a scrunched face, ‘Crap! Crap! Crap!’ I thought circling around a few names I knew I couldn’t keep track of then came to another truth in a lie. “Rena, she’s my world man.”
I was satisfied with the answer and I think he was too but he still sat there debating weather to leave me behind to search else where or not. I rolled over and gave a long-winded yawn rite at him and fell back and whacked my head on the tree. I shot from my back quickly and started rubbing the lump hissing in pain. Not as bad as a rubber bullet but it was going to last a while. I herd Zero laugh a little then fell silent as I opened my eyes to look around. “Hello?” I shouted out. That clinched it for the act; he was sold. I heard his steps crunch over the snow and then a power thump and a little rustling in the trees and he was gone. I laid back down on the tree thumping my head again and hissed. “I gota stop doing that!” I said out loud while I though ‘Later Zero, this rounds mine.’
It was a strain to keep up that act, a challenge. Exhilarating and dangerous but I managed to pull one over on the perfect hunter. I didn’t feel his eyes on me when I woke up so I let out a laugh and rolled onto my stomach. ‘I got ya Zero.” I thought with a smile. If there was one thing I was good at when I was human it was being a conman. I couldn’t have possibly thought that fast if I where human. Being a Digimon with the misguided experiences had had its perks once again.
My scar felt warm in the snow despite the cold and I laughed at him for not seeing the resemblance. He probably did but I was too smooth for him. The round was truly mine and so was another day of rest…
Into the Game
Well I’m sure you all know that happiness is only happiness if it’s a temporary thing. I could only smile at that for a while before it got old. I still thought about everything but with long strides in my steps and a board yawn. I stayed in my human form for a while waiting for Zero to come back for questions, but with the Grammy performance I delivered he wasn’t coming back for a while. If he did he’d watch me for a mistake in my camouflage first. I may have been looking forward to going home but like I said I was in no hurry.
I wouldn’t show him who I was unless I let a line slip or a bit of speed showed. I found my minds path after a while on the subject of Zero then found I was a long way off coarse. After a half a days worth of correction and I found my way back to my path and wondered if by screwing with Zero if I had missed any thing. I passed up the thought of Zero again and went back to more important things. For one where were all the Digimon? There wasn’t a new signal in the area since I had left Zero. Neither Dark nor normal Digimon hadn’t even beeped. It was strange and I couldn’t figure it out. I thought that the voices would send me a new challenge like they tried to when I was after Heto, but there was nothing! I remembered hearing about the appearance of the fogs around the country but they where all or most of the time stopped. There had to be other tamers but they where probably on vacation with the lack of activity. Not seeing anyone or anything was confusing and I stopped thinking about it for a while just to walk and enjoy the unfallowed view.
After a few days of not seeing anything particularly new I just blankly fallowed my path. The seasons where changing again and spring heat was thawing the snow in front of me. I smiled as the patches eventually turned to damp mud that clung to my boot like shoes. I walked on not knowing how far I had gone only knowing I was that much closer to home with each step brushing thoughts from Renamon to the life I had. I almost forgot over the stretch how to talk till I sang a few old songs I liked from both lives, slowly regaining my ability to speck after a few weeks. I hadn’t forgot about Heto, even though I wanted to. His torture seemed to be less present each day I walked further from his home. It didn’t make me as angry when I thought about him and that made me happy.
I had forgotten about Zero to a point. I knew that there was a threat out looking for my Digimon forms but since I tried to stay human it wasn’t a problem. Each time I stopped to rest I tried to remember the name of the ‘Perfect Hunter’. Expecting him to do what he said he would as I slept, to tell me his name one more time before he would try to kill me. It was always the same; I woke up looking around but never heard a thing.
“Ew, scary hunter lost his prey.” I snickered from time to time. I thought it would be the first time he lost his prey too, which was a smile in its self. I walked and walked slowly over my path lost in thought or completely devoid of it. Till the one day I had to change to my Digimon form. I couldn’t stand my cloths for one and two, I had a signal of a Digimon. An ultimate made its way threw. Something nasty called a Skull Meramon. A little more than I thought I could handle at the time but I was always drawn to a battle. A little too anxious for my own good. I just couldn’t stand my cloths for a battle, I remembered how torn up my cloths were after I fought the Dark Gargomon and hurried my cloths down to my muddy boots into my bag.
I smiled widely at the new challenge and picked my Digivice up from the ground where I left it. I thought about a strategy I’d use against something like this then remembered my cards. It had been so long since I’d used them I didn’t really remember where I had them but I came up with the pouch I had them in. I looked down at my fury hips remembering I left my belt with Renamon and dropped my ears wondering how I was going to use them or my Digivice if I didn’t have a place for them I looked around my self thinking stupid things like ‘Maybe I could knot my fur and have them hang from that.’ but shot them down while I made a hurried jog to the Digimon which had already come threw by the time I had undressed my self. I looked over myself again and saw a few elastic straps on my bag straps that I always caught my finger on as I moved the strap when it started to cut into my shoulder.
They wrapped all the way around to a button on the front so I could put my cards and Digivice in place and not worry about them. I put them both in place and then jumped to a few scattered treetops and made time to the Digimon. I was thinking about how strong it was and weather I could handle it, but I was thinking more of the fight ahead.
I was as happy for the battle as I was for being in the form and I held myself proudly as I crossed the trees to my destination. I lifted my Digivice from its new spot on my chest to see that the large Digimon was moving slow for me but fast for it. I didn’t think to wonder why but I’d soon find out. It was almost two miles a head and then I entered audible distance to hear the crack of a high-powered rifle. I stopped in a tree as I watched threw its bare branches to see the large thing running scared from someone holding a rifle chasing it down going faster than humanly possible. I knew instantly that it was Zero with out a single doubt in my mind. I watched as he ran at a good distance behind with a different rifle than the one he held to me, firing off rounds that buzzed intentionally past or slightly around the solute of the Digimon.
‘Well for Crist sakes!’ I thought as I balled my paw watching as Zero paced the Digimon screaming in fear as the larger more powerful rounds winged it occasionally. I saw that he had another weapon strapped to his back on a holder or holster that I had never seen before. I moved my feet a little on the branch and a twig snapped; I could feel Zero’s eyes glide over to me from the small sound drastically different than the echo the rifle he was using on the Digimon. I figured now was my time to jump in since I knew that he knew I was there. I gave a grunt of frustration on the frailties of the tree and jumped to the ground. I made a straight dash over to Zero and fallowed close beside him while he leveled his aim at the shoulder of the Skull Meramon and fired a round threw it. “What took you so long my prey?” he smiled in his always happy tone. In the spirit of things I gave an anxious smile back “Traffic tin-man.” He grinned at the name and leveled at the Skull Meramon other shoulder and gave off another round. The Digimon fell to the ground and cringed at both of its immobile arms and let out a cry of pain. “I saved this one for you.” he grinned as he lowered his weapon. I couldn’t grin back at his gesture of kindness. It was against my honor to accept something like the prey he’d given me. I would have growled but it wasn’t in the spirit of things. I just nodded and waved him to his vaporizing kill. “This ones not my prey ‘Hunter’.” I said flatly as I turned away. He gave a hum like he was saying without words “Your loss.” and put the final bullet into the Digimon giving it one last gasp before it exploded into data bits and vanished into the morning air.
“It is time for the hunt my prey.” He smiled. “I figured.” I smiled with my back to him. “But before we do I have something for you.” I turned around not understanding what he was saying. When I came fully around I meet the barrel of the second weapon he had to my face. I stepped back and slightly dodged to the side expecting him to snap off a round from it. “Oh no my prey it hasn’t begun yet… This is my gift.” He said as he let the weapon fall into a single fingered grasp. “Your weapon, since you have none use mine.” I put my ears back and pushed it away. “Take it, it’s yours. With out it the hunt would be bland.” I turned around and kept my back to him. “I don’t fight like that Hunter.” I felt him turn and take a serious tone. “Take it or the hunt will end now, prey.” I could feel the tingle like the ones from the magnetic bars emanating from his weapon so I turned around whole heartedly expecting him to take the first shot. “No.” I said as I looked threw the scope of his raised and aimed rifle seeing a weld mark lumped up beneath his green jump suit.
He him self started to cackle from my words while I just kept straight face wondering what he was laughing about. “What?” I said flatly as I crossed my paws over my Digivice and cards. “Oh its you, so noble Standing up for yourself. I know you would have a chance without it, but what a small one that would be! I’m here to even the score my prey. To make this difficult for me. It wouldn’t be a hunt without a challenge.” He laughed. I gave a low serious smile to him and responded with a “The score is off balance Tin-Man. I was away from you for almost a month, what score is that eh?” he lowered his weapon and placed his hands on his knees. “That’s no point for you. Nor me my clever prey. You can hide well, even from the quality sensors of this body. It means nothing in the face of the hunt. What dose have meaning is what we will get from this hunt. Take it for my sake prey, it will not wound your honor for accepting a weapon from the enemy.” I raised my paw and he put the rifle to it. I could feel it had a strange power to it; I couldn’t place why though. I was about to turn away when he gave me another surprise. “You might want this.” He said as he put his rifle between his knees and pealed off the strange holster for the weapon. “It dose me no good with out the weapon.” He pulled the plastic thing off letting a section of it swivel from side to side.
I looked at it a little strange at first, and then thought about how he wore it and the position it was in now. “I’ll give you a day to make space, after that you had better be ready for me. No mercy.” I looked up with my paws filled with the utensils of the hunt. “No mercy.” I responded. I didn’t feel it was necessary to say it but it was the agreement to the hunt, and so started the game. I looked at the weapon and then back to Zero only to see two magazines on the ground where he stood. “One day, my prey.” He laughed.
I walked back to the ammo and picked them up as I tried to fallow his laugh as it trailed off from the direction I came in. He was giving me some distance. I started walking in the direction of home again separated from the tender thoughts of my life only thinking of the hunt and the path ahead. I went from enjoying my journey, deep in thought, to straight into a battle. A new experience for the style of the hunt, I looked down at the weapon still feeling the power of it, eerily reminding me of Leo in a sense. I took off one strap of my bag at a time and put the straps of the holster on under my bag.
I looked at the weapon as I started to walk, it was familiar to me. The reason was it was a favorite weapon from my favorite computer game, a Steyr AUG. It was different though bigger in some places like the trigger for one thing. The whole grip seemed to be redesigned for my paws. I held it in a comfortable grip and put it to my shoulder looking threw the low magnification scope. With my eyes it was like a ten mag scope but I knew the weapon was only mounted with a 1.5 mag. I gave a little snicker as I remembered few times in the game where I just devastated the opposing team with it. I pointed the weapon at a rock and held the rifle in a good lose grip thinking the recoil would be less for my strength but when I pulled the trigger I almost flew backwards. The one shot I fired blew the large rock to pieces. I blinked a few times as I looked to the remnants of the rock then back to the almost smoking barrel of the rifle. I fired Zeros .308 on the mountain and it didn’t even phase me; this thing almost knocked me over and with one shot! Recalling the animations for my game I pulled the clip out and looked at the significantly larger ammunition. It looked like anti-aircraft ammo for a few seconds. After I got over the shock I started to rub away a little pain I had for the improper handling of the powerful rifle I wielded.
The gun had defiantly been fitted for me. I did some research on the weapon from my gaming experience; it was tac defensive low caliber rifle rounds. Armor perusing but not blow-a-tree-foot-hole-in-a-cement-slab pursing. I dropped the holster from screwing with the weapon and almost lost a few of my belongings. I picked up my holster and looked around to see a few cards where shaken from my pouch. I picked them up and smiled at my selection of cards. ‘Transparent Hunter’ ‘Metal Armor’ ‘Final Strike’ some pretty good cards. Thinking about them in combo with my new weapon Zero would be in for so much more of a hunt than he would have expected. I put my cards back in the front of my pouch and took off my bag so I could put on my holster. I felt the power come from the sheathe more than it did from the weapon, but they where the full set. I gave a toothy grin as I spoke a few words. “Ryokumon Digivolve to,” I started and watched as I covered in a gray glow, “Sniper Ryokumon.” Names mean nothing really. It felt kind of stupid in a human corner of my mind, but so far all I have been for my champion level where Neo and Sniper; almost had a ring to it. I felt stronger but not faster. I had an awareness to energies like thermal vision. I could hear sounds for miles where in my rookie form it would have taken hours of meditation just to get even close to this.
I listened hard and started to hear a hunters song from the digital world and recognized the voice as Zero while he was walking away. I picked up my weapon and shouldered it with new insight to it and took a stiff stance and fired off a stream of bullets destroying the rest of the rock with little effort, there was a slight drain to my energy reserves but I thought it was recoil. I pulled the butt away from my shoulder and smiled at it as I said the name of the attack “Rapid fire.” Original I know, but it was some powerful stuff. I pulled the clip up to eye to see that it didn’t use any ammo. The only use of it officially was the one round I used in my rookie form. Past that it was energy.
I gave a frown at the weapon and a thought to it as I flipped it to my back to its locked position in its holster ‘It’s not a toy.’ I huffed. I looked around remembering the hunt and the timeframe I had to avoid Zero before he started to track me. It was exhilarating to think about. This wasn’t a video game though but it was still too much fun not to say it wasn’t. There was a serious nature to it, if I didn’t want to be the one on the wrong end of a bullet I’d have to make this as hard for him as possible. I looked around the field and listened hearing Zero faintly laugh at an extreme distance. I was sure he didn’t know that he just gave me an edge over him but I wasn’t going to let my senses fight this battle for me. I looked at my self feeling a strange ability flow over me that blended in with my sense of touch. I thought about the sensation for a few seconds and watched as my body fades like when I used my ‘Specters Hand’ card but it went further than transparent it went to polished glass.
Shocked at it I lost my concentration and shot back to fully visible. I didn’t know how long I could hold the new camouflage my Digvalution gave me and just using attributes like that would get me killed. So I started walking feeling the power of the weapon on my back like I was plugged into a wall. As much as when I was Neo Ryokumon all of my belongings disappeared and my cards and Digivice where in a new position. I couldn’t feel my bag as dead weight or could I feel the holster and rifle. ‘Now the game starts hunter’ I thought as I started to sprint away. ‘Now it starts’…
Round One
I’m not going to dance around the point in this part. I was dancing around but it was for the sake of making a trail for Zero to fallow. I think I must have looked like a nut ball or maybe some screwed up cartoon character. I shouted lightly, my sensitive ears caught the full volume of my voice and I almost deafened myself once or twice. I weaved around the fields partially thinking about making a good trail, and the rest of it just for the sake of frolic and joy. The strange thing is I didn’t even know why I was so happy. I was but it was like a high, your happy but its not you its what ever you used to get it.
I wasn’t thinking about that tough. I pushed from the felids threw a thin band of trees and found a town. I sat in a treetop looking over the place feeling the energies of its people inside or outside of the building with no interference out side, buildings where little more than pieces of paper in front of the energy. I almost pulled my weapon from my back but I screamed in my head ‘WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!!’ I looked down at the street to see that I was in plane sight. I jumped away in a slight ignorant panic not looking at myself to see I was transparent but when I did I felt aggressively stupid.
I looked back at the town and thought I’d avoided it as a battle ground ‘Civilians aren’t target practice…’ I thought as I looked back over the field seeing clearly the path I made jumping around and dancing about. I went back over the trail to make sure it looked fresh for the next day and again once more threw the night. Threw all of it I hadn’t picked a spot to shoot from. Not that the terrain gave me much to work with: a few patches of trees all bare branches, high grass and it knocked over from my path and a single very low cliff to the west side of the field. I wasn’t going to use it, not in a million years would I. It was the only technical high ground in the field. If I where Zero that would be the first place I would look
I put my paw to my chin and thought for a few seconds and grinded away happily at a few things then just jumped straight up and down away from the path I beat. Childish and a little bit of show off for no one, but I couldn’t help it. I landed in a position that would have scored me a perfect ten in the Olympics and made the rite motions like I was thanking fans. Then just fell down to my knees wondering what the hell was the matter with me. ‘This is a hunt, not a joyride!’ I thought with a grunt spoiling my own fun. I just laid back for the rest of the night and fell rite into a comatose sleep. A sleep like if I where human, nothing not even sound. I did wake up to sound though I herd a short line of Zero humming a hunting song and I shot my eyes open without moving a muscle.
‘Here we go.’ I thought as I waited for the sound to move off into the trees fallowing my path. When the sound started to get scrambled in the trees I sat up and looked out over my paths. ‘Lock and load.’ I thought with a grin as I pulled my rifle from my back. I pulled up till it popped from the latch and pulled down to my side then whipped it around to shoulder all in one motion by the forward grip.
I had three more paths for him to fallow, actually about fifteen but most of them where bunched up into four ranges: extreme long ranged, long, mid and close range. My mind told me that there was no way I was going to get a hit from my furthest path and it was debatable for the long and mid but I had them and if he stopped I’d take the shot.
I sat waiting for a few minuets listening for sounds of crunching leaves and grass but they didn’t come. I swallowed hard with a smile on my muzzle while I laid on the ground pointing my weapon forward the entire time without the slightest twitch in my movement, using my eyes more than the scope to look around. I could feel his energy in the ridge of trees but he wasn’t moving. I swiveled my ears to the tree line and listened as I tried to focus on his energy. He was still a cloud but even though I was concentrating on it he was fainter to detect than when I used my Dark energy. I took a slow and deep breath and pushed from the ground slowly to see the line of trees from my position slowly going over every branch and twig seeing if any of them where holding any extra weight.
I didn’t come to anything close by that said he was around and I couldn’t move back down so I waited like that for about an hour listening to the sounds of the morning looking for my ‘prey’ smiling at the kill. I couldn’t see anything but I knew he was watching for me, and the second I put him from my mind to reposition he would make a shot. I knew I had to move soon, if he hadn’t come back a crossed my trail then he was on to it. “Quality sensors.” I whispered to myself as I started to lower my self back to the ground, I started to chuckle at it, he was testing me now.
I couldn’t see anything but I felt a physical presence, like condensing water on a cold glass in the area of his energy in the tree line. I didn’t shoot up like I wanted to, I just slowly clasped a paw to my muzzle trying not to snicker as I leveled the scope of my gun to my eye and started to slide it over the tree line. I saw a flash of light from a few hundred feet to the right closer to me but I didn’t lurch to it. I slowly moved to it knowing that a big jump would draw him to me.
I came over the light slowly found a lens flare shimmering from a branch off into the tree line pointed in my direction. ‘I see you.’ I thought as another smile crossed my muzzle. I focused my eyes on the point of light seeing that there was nothing behind it, he could have been invisible but I was willing to bet that wasn’t him so I let it slide while I scanned to either side of it looking for the physical presence. I could feel his energy but his body is what I felt more of. It did come from the area of the light but I couldn’t see him. If I had sweat glands in that form I would have been putting them threw their paces but instead I just laid there searching the ground and tree line for any hint of movement, a glare, an unnatural difference in color.
I took a small gasp as I herd a rustle of the grass behind me, I didn’t feel his presence from that direction though. I would have shrugged it off but it was so close by that if he had seen it, it would only be a few minuets if not second before he saw the scope of my weapon. I looked to the shine in the trees and saw it move slightly and focus on the disturbance behind me. It was him after all, I couldn’t let him take a crack at me so I gritted my teeth and straightened my tail and pulled the trigger. A loud roar of a single bullet sent a shockwave out and the glass exploded into bright fragments fallowed by a few curses. “Bad range my prey.” He shouted as I herd a thump of him falling from the tree. “Round one, score is: prey one, hunter zip. Best two of three?” I shouted as I stood up and watched as his rifle dropped from a high branch to the ground. I heard him laugh as he sprinted away. “One more day and I’ll have you.” he laughed as his energy faded further and further. I returned it as I turned around I giggled out my favorite teams victory call from the game and started walking around the city “Counter-Terrorist Win”
He gave me more than one day just to worry me a bit but I was prepared for it. I may have been looking for him but it was with the off happy smile I had. I looked at the weapon I hadn’t put away for my long hike and back to the path that seemed to disappear from me. I just kept walking even though I didn’t have a place to go, still moving in the direction of home. The happiness didn’t go away it just was there; it wasn’t a happy about getting him or his weapon; just a smile that wouldn’t leave my muzzle. I passed up the town in a few minuets, shortly out of visual range thinking about how much fun another hunt would be. Nothing was around so I just walked.
I walked on for most of the day giggling for no apparent reason. I stopped every couple minuets catching myself doing it. I was getting a little creped out by it I looked down and saw I hadn’t put my weapon away, and by the way I was holding it. I looked like I was expecting more company. I looked around the area seeing a few trees and some patches of snow. There wasn’t any energy there, only the urge to kill something. I couldn’t feel it directly but it felt like it was an out side influence. I was getting more creped out by the happy feeling every minuet and it made me clinch my rifle more. I noticed after an hour that my ears where flat and my tail was twitching from side to side not in a genital nervous sway like I had when Zero started to fallow me. More like lightning shooting from side to side.
I ran my right finger under the strap of the rifle holster, it felt like it was getting tighter on my every step I took, I pulled at the strap and it was so tight I had to pull it off. When I did my bag came back and there was a gruesome change in the volume of energy I had. I fell forward from the sudden gasp of energy I was left with. “What the hell…” I gasped out as I tried to move. For a few minuets all I could do was lay there on my weapon shaking in the sudden withdraw. I huffed for a while and then found a little strength to push myself up to my knees. I looked down to see that a little of my fur had come off like I was balding from the shock and it laid over the rifle and only the rifle. I looked down at my chest to see that there was a pattern to the hair loss where the rifle was laying on me.
“What is this!!” I shouted as I pulled a few strands of fur from my chest. I put a paw to the weapon and felt it burn my paw; it was close to red-hot temperatures but it still didn’t glow from the heat. The fur on it was starting to smoke and so was the debris on the ground below it. I sat back weakened from touching it drawing short conclusions about it. “What do you think your doing Zero!!” I shouted as I looked at the smoking ground. The gun was what had sucked my strength. I wanted to leave it alone and get as far away from it as possible but I was too weak to move. I tried to stand up but my legs collapsed on themselves and I fell backwards. “Zero, Your mine.” I growled as I passed out.
I slept for a few hours and wondered what was going on with the weapon, ‘Can I still use it? What was he trying to do to me with it?’ I was lost in the silent thought till I woke up on my own close to the next days dawn. Zero didn’t come that day which gave me time to fear the gun. I stood up after a while and paced it thinking about what I should do. I was still pretty drained from it but it seemed to have stopped sucking off me for the time being. I was very wary of touching it for a few hours but I put up the nerve to give it a tap. I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes not to see if any thing was going to happen. Then one quick tap and nothing.
I sat back down looking at it still thinking the same questions blanking out from the lack of answers. I moved around my shoulders for a while feeling uncomfortable at something then thinking I hadn’t taken off the holster for the thing. It was still on under my bag so I pulled them both off unloading the weight from my belongings and the pain from the holster. There was fur on the holster too and a slight odor from the smell of burning hair. I looked to where the strap was sitting to see a blackened line of fur. I rubbed at it and the charred ends fell off and disappeared in to bits of data smoke.
I gave a yank to the strap thinking of how hard it was to pull off to start with and broke a strap from the effort I put into it. I tried to pull off the holster but braking it then was without any effort. I dropped the pieces of the broken holster and looked at the weapon again. Zero wasn’t using the energy he stole to find me. Other wise the hunt would have been long over with, but it was holding my energy I could feel it. I looked back to my bag and say my Digivice on the strap and noticed a color difference in the ring around the display. It wasn’t black anymore it had a little brown to it but was more of a burned paper ashen gray. I leaned over to it feeling better from taking off the holster and took it in my paw. I squinted in thought from the color change and looked back at the rifle on the ground. I was feeling all of my energy come back but something was missing I couldn’t place at the time. I was happy then but it wasn’t the high educed happy. ‘Cute Zero, hunt me while I’m weak.’ I thought smiling at the little plane I thought he had.
I picked up my bag looking into the morning light and around remembering Zeros warning. He didn’t come that day but it rattled me enough to make me want to put some distance between us. I put my bag back on and I started to walk, I looked back at the weapon from a few feet away sitting between some grass and weeds from the angel I was at. I thought about the weapon as a weapon. It may have been a little strong for me but I couldn’t leave it behind because of that. I wanted to because it was doing something to me but how Zero was hunting I’d need it. I stood there for a few minuets debating about leaving it behind but I turned around angry and picked it up by the scope and almost dragging it away. I didn’t see it at the time but how angry I was I would have shifted to my Dark form but it wasn’t there.
I was just angry, normal angry not tormented. I walked for the rest of the day threw the open fields listening for sounds of Zero only hearing nature and my own feet thumping over the ground. Every now and then I’d look down to the rifle and sneer at it. ‘Zero’s playing with me’ I’d think as I started to stomp and then come back to a normal pace. I thought about Heto after I pushed Zero and the rifle from my mind coming to better thoughts of him than I had in a long time. I smiled at him for donating all his money to animal preservation and giggled at how ignorant it was to dump a lives work into something he’d never get back. I didn’t think it was blood money then, just a waste. In my mind I thanked him for giving me a reprieve from Zero and how much fun I had in the time away. When Zero came back into mind I started getting angry at him again.
I wondered what kind of game he was playing with the weapon he’d given me. Why would I need it, I was a hunter myself. Tools where never my thing in either life I lived. In my human life I was better at defending or attacking with my hands, in my Digimon life all I needed where my hands; I could attack at a good distance with them accurately. What did I need a rifle for? I didn’t, it was a novelty as far as I was concerned, but this novelty came with a price tag. The price is what gave me the most worry and anger. When I took it off it gave me a drain, but I felt fine after. ‘Normal’ and that’s when it hit me. I was ‘Normal’ I thought about Heto and didn’t growl or change. I looked at my Digivice again and saw that the ring was turning back to its normal color.
“What dose he want with my Dark energy?” I said as I held the rifle up to my face looking at it seeing that it was getting tinted black. I thought about Leo and how he was turning black in a spot and what I was doing to him. When I took off my strap it sucked the energy from me. The more energy I had invested into using the object the more it stayed with it. Zero wasn’t screwing with me he was legit. I was doing all the damage. I smiled down at the weapon then it turned to a frown. I destroyed the other half of my Digvalution. That holster was like my sword strap; with out it I was only a rookie.
I walked on for the rest of the day holding the weapon hoping it would drain off some more of my hate. I felt the torture Heto gave me but I could only remember bits and pieces of it. It made me angry but it was also a happy thought. It was leaving me. So what if I was corrupting a gun with the anger. If I could go home clean then it would be worth it.
To go home clean, what would I do if I went home clean? I still had something to show for the anger. I had my cross, my scar. I was still Dark, but I was a weaker evil. I wasn’t controlled by it, I was controlling it, I held it. It was my weapon…
Story to be Told
I found all of that out in one days time. I was happy but still angry at a few things. Still a lot left to find out but I was sure I was going to find out a lot in the future. That’s how the world works. Well to get back on topic, the day was less than half over. I trudged along bouncing from one train of thought to the other getting frustrated from the knot of content flashing around my head.
I thought and thought till I started to give myself a headache. I tried to clear my head to calm my scattered thoughts but I was interrupted by my Digivice giving off a single beep. I looked down to it and then around thinking about Zero possibly fallowing me. I raised it to my face from my shoulder and saw a familiar form in the display clear as day. I looked down at the weapon in my paws and gave a hard over look of the area making sure that no one was watching then dashed off over the open terrain till I came to a small forest. I knew what I’d find but I had no idea that there would be company with it.
I stopped at the edge of the forest with an eager smile for the Digimon I was looking for. I had a score to settle with it, but it was on a friendly note after all its not every day that someone gives you a chance to start a new life. I think I just wanted to see his face so I could mess with his head again. If you haven’t already picked up its every ones favorite nuance. Impmon, I wasn’t even sure it was him. I could have been a different one, but since the time on my Digivice wasn’t counting in minuets it had to be him. The time it showed might as well have said tilt. I gave a slight hum and jumped to a bare tree and looked over the lightly shaded forest floor. I didn’t see him around that ‘neck of the woods’ so I took a few jumps and leaps around only fallowing my nose and the familiar scent he had. I was still holding the rifle, but from jumping around I didn’t want to screw up the scope so I held it by the grip.
I looked around the trees for the little black thing not coming a crossed him. I started to lose my patients looking for him till I herd a sound. It was footsteps but they where to heavy to be Impmon. I hunkered down in the tree I was in and fallowed the sounds of the steps; It could have been Zero for all I knew. Zero circled though so I was sure it wasn’t him. Still over cautious I pulled my weapon up to aim and settled around the area of the steps and waited for what ever it was to come into view. The trees weren’t that dense but they where thick. I could see that something was moving by a few twigs and leaves on the ground and I traced it threw a tree holding away from firing a big bullet at it.
I swallowed hard and pushed the butt of the rifle into my shoulder and put myself into a good stance for the heavy recoil of the weapon. I closed my scared eye and looked threw the scope with the other and watched as a small figure holding what looked like a toy gun walked from behind a thick tee. I lowered the weapon and put the butt under my arm and looked out as the kid took cautious steps threw the under brush. I wanted to call out but I just watched him. He was searching the area for something; his cautious posture and the raised toy he had made him look like a hunter. I gave a small smile at how stealthy he wanted to look and let my weapon drop to my lap as I looked at him walk. “Impmon. Come on out.” He said playfully and loud. I almost fell from the tree as he said it.
I heard some of leaves kick up from behind me and I turned my head to look at it from the corner of my eye. I saw something black but I resisted calling out to it. “HEY!” the kid shouted and I whipped back to him looking directly a me with the little gun raised pointing rite at me. I started to raise mine but I smiled from the momentary shock and looked down at him. “What are you?” he said without wavering the barrel of his gun. “Who are you first off.” I said after a few second of thinking. “You first.” The kid said as he took a step back into a shooting stance. I saw that it wasn’t a toy gun it was a small 22 bolt-action rifle. I gave a little chuckle at the weapon and leaned onto one knee. “Lets see what you got kid.” I said as I wafted him on to fire the slow bullet. He took a flinch and waited for me to make a wrong move. “What’s your name kid?” I asked as I herd the rustle from behind me again. “I asked you first.” he said as he looked to the ground to see the black creature I had seen. “Ryoku, and you are.” I smiled coyly. I could see him squeezing the little trigger as he gritted his teeth from my answer. “You a good shot?” I mocked as I saw his aim was for my chest. “I could dodge that before it left the chamber kid. Don’t waste the bullet on a tree.” He was willing to test that, I herd him click the trigger and in the second before the bullet exploded from the barrel I shifted to the side and in a controlled fall I pushed off the branch and flew to a tree, bounced off of it and with a paw out I grabbed the weapon in air just as the bullet started to leave the barrel.
I was concentrating on the moment and it seemed to slow down for me. It happens like that when I’m in battle. Gun battles are no different from fighting Digimon. I landed on another tree a few feet away from the kid and did a back flip and landed in front of him holding his weapon while he still stood in a firing position. I gave a smile watched as he looked to his hands for his weapon. I held it up barely out of his reach “Looking for this?” I smiled. I heard the rustling behind me and in a twitch of my ears I dodged to the side and raised my weapon and caught the fireball that Impmon threw and inch before it hit the kids face. “BIT!” Impmon shouted as the impact of the ball slammed the butt of my weapon into his face. I dropped his weapon and pulled mine away as he fell backwards to the ground. I put a paw to my mouth knowing that really hurt and looked to Impmon as he rushed over to the fallen child.
“Bit?” I said as Impmon turned back to me in amazement. “Wha? YOU?” he shouted as he lifted the child’s head to his lap. I was momentarily stunned and took a step back from his verbal advance at me. “What ya move for! Look whach ya did!” he said as he growled up to me. “I did? You threw it! I saved him if anything!” I said as he looked back down to the large red mark on the kids face partially accepting it. There was a long silence and I shifted showing the burnt mark on the butt of my weapon. “Who’s he?” I said finally as I looked at the mark Impmon left on my weapon. “He’s my tama.” He said simply as he smiled down to the kid. I took a step back out of shock and laid my ears flat to my head “He? You? TAMER!” I laughed as Impmon glared at me. The kid started to wake up from my cackling and groaned from the slap mark on his face. “What happened?” he groaned as he sat up holding his face. Impmon let go of his head and shoulders as he did and gave a slight tender smile from him sitting up ok.
I stopped laughing abruptly and put my free paw to my muzzle. Impmon just looked at him and then back to me from the corner of his eye. “Impmon.” The kid said as he saw him sitting beside him. “What happened?” he said as he looked up to me holding the rifle by the forward grip loosely. “You!” he shouted as he raced his head for his weapon. “What kind of Digimon are you?” he shouted remembering the event. “Long story kid.” I said after he froze seeing how far I had tossed the small rifle. He started to get up and make an advance at me and I held up a paw to stop him. “Lets not get physical kid” I said as he reared back a punch. “Bit, wait! He’s a good guy!” Impmon shouted I took another step back at his startling defense of me as the kid took a light punch at me. I let him hit me in the stomach so he wouldn’t lose his balance and hit the ground again.
After few seconds he started setting back to a safe distance out of hitting distance he turned to Impmon “He hit me!” he said as he shook his fist in my direction. “Ua-Ua, he blocked it.” Impmon said as he put his two red gloves together at the fingertip. “I kinda threw a fia ball and he dodged it, and ahh…” he trailed off as I held up the burnt mark. “It kinda hit ya in da face.” he put out with an uneasy smile. Impmon laughed for a few second while the kid looked down to the burnt mark on the butt of my rifle then up to me as I kept a little smile from the information of Impmon having a tamer.
“What do you want?” the kid threw at me. I took a step closer and stood straight. “I got a Digimon signal and I fallowed it. Impmon was the Digimon so here we are.” I said simply and going around the smile to say it. “What do you mean ‘you fallowed a signal’? You’re a Digimon, tamers can get ‘signals’.” Seeing his point I looked to the ash gray Digivice on my shoulder. “Long story kid, but I am a tamer.” I smiled as I looked to Impmon. Impmon knew I wasn’t going to tell it and he glared a low painful eye for giving him the task of doing it for me. “What’s the deal Fox-o? You fallowen me?” Impmon asked as he stood up to the side of his tamer. I raised one ear at the question and topic change. “What?” I said as I raised the rifle thinking of why I was still holding it. The kid reinforced the question with a slanted look as he eyed my weapon.
“What are you talking about?” I said as I hooked the grip on my bag strap. “Dat ting you got der. I saw somethen using som’m like it.” I looked to my side as he said it not fallowing him completely. “Took a shot den left.” I put my arm down from looking at the blackened weapon and turned to Impmon. “Took a shoot at what?” I said fearfully curious. “Digimon. Shot um den split.” My ears fell back and I looked around feeling phantom energy from Zero coming from nowhere. “What’s got you so spooked Fox-o?” Impmon said as my fur stood on end from the sensation Zero could only make. “My hunter.” I said as I searched the forests branches and the underbrush for a form I wouldn’t see. “Who?” the kid said as he Impmon nervously stuttered out the same question. “The Digimon Hunter.” I said trying to calm down knowing Zero wasn’t around. “He’s not real. Dats just a story??” Impmon shouted as he took a jump to a tree.
The kid shot around from Impmon’s show of fear “Who’s the Digimon Hunter?” he asked as he pulled his Digivice from a pocket. “Zero is what his name is, the Digimon Hunter.” I stopped short of the story I knew while Impmon picked up where I left off. “He’s a myth ting. He was. You sure?” he said as he sat down on the thick limb. I nodded deafly serious and he gave a nervous grunt and continued. “Da thing gose. The hunter will come fallow you for weeks. Whisper your name and then tell you his. He seeks your sole, and when it comes to the time of the kill he will know every thing about you. Then there will be nothing left but dust.” He left a short pause while he looked at me. “I neva believed in that crap dough. You really sure it’s him?” Impmon asked while the kid sat on the ground. “It’s him trust me. I can handle him though.” I said as I walked over to the kids weapon and picked it up from the tree it was against. “You betta! Afta he’s done wif you he’ll proibly come afta me!” I turned around while Impmon sat on the branch griping about his own safety and started talking to his tamer. “Bit, rite?” I said as I came around to see him pointing his Digivice at me. “Ryokumon, wait DARK Ryokumon??” he said stunned as he looked up from the image that was displayed to him. “Don’t listen to that thing kid. It’s wrong this time.” I tossed his little rifle to him gently and it flew threw the air pretty fast. He caught it and almost fell over from the force of it. He quickly turned it around while he had his Digivice in hand and aimed it at me. “You’re a Dark One!!”
“Got good reason kid.” I said as I tapped my scar, Impmon looked at his tamers Digivice seeing my blackened form then it flash back to my pure. “Ryoku Dark?” the kid heard the name and dropped his gun to his side. “He’s not Ryoku. That guys human, he’s a Digimon!” he said as he looked up to Impmon confused again. “Tell him Impmon.” I said as I turned around to face away from my short past. “Bit, he is human. Some how he got merged with em and now der the same ting. Search me how but it happened. Dat’s what he told de odther tamers at least.” I knew the little ass was watching me that night. The kid growled as he turned from Impmon’s little story and gave a short growl at me. “Prove it!” he shouted raising his weapon again. “Can’t.” I said flatly with the thought of tree experience number one running threw my head. “Prove it or I’ll shot you!!” he shouted. I gave a laugh at the threat. He obviously didn’t remember that part before he went out.
“Going to waste another bullet on the forest kid?” I laughed. He gave another growl and clicked the trigger on the used shell. I just waited for him to flip the bolt back and get the next round in till I turned around. “You can’t hit me with that thing kid.” I smiled coyly with a tilted head. I sighed as he raised it higher and aimed for my head. “Prove your human.” He said lowly as I waved my paw. A few seconds past then he pulled the trigger. It didn’t even come close to me. I stepped out of the bullets path and watched it glide away and slam into a tree behind me. “Prof you’re not human rite there.” He said as he lowered his weapon. I took of my bag and let the rifle fall to the ground as I did and placed my bag over my mid section and looked at him coolly from the top of my eyes and said. “If that’s the only thing you have to go by then here.” I wafted out quietly as I remembered Renamon holding me in the digital world. I changed back to human, butt naked shielded by my bag. The kid literally fell over with amazement and Impmon almost did the same, seeing more than the kid did from his elevation.
I looked down at myself feeling shamed at my Digimon forms “appendage” and gathered another thought from my past and changed back before I ,and Impmon, turned neon red. “Satisfied?” I said smiling past my embarrassment. The kid gawked at me having trouble putting together a sentence but finally pieced together enough to ask, “How’d you do that.” Wide eyed and drop jawed as the tamers where when I showed them. “It’s a secret.” I smiled and he started to pick himself up. “Told ya.” Impmon mocked down to his tamer. “Shut up Impmon.” He said as Impmon laid down on his branch and stuck his tongue out. “I’ve seen Bakemon do stuff like that.” He sneered at me while I just groaned at the none believer. “Well weather or not you believe me doesn’t matter. I have better things to do.” I said as I turned away and started to walk. I heard Impmon give a whine down to his tamer like he wanted my company but the kid would have rather I left. “Wait.” He said thinking of his Digimon. He paused to think of an excuse to keep me then started. “Tell me, tell me more about the Digimon Hunter.” He asked me a question Impmon could have probably answered but instead of giving in to my offence I turned around and watched him seeing a blank insincere expression on his face. I took a breath as I looked up to Impmon who was the one who wanted my company, amazingly enough, and started to tell what I knew. “The Hunter, bad mo-jo kid. In this world he’s not a Digimon. He’s a machine, he still has the moves though.” The kid looked around and found a small flat rock and sat on it. “Why’s he after you?” this was going to take some explaining ‘oh well’ I thought and I continued. “First do you know anything about Hypnos?” I asked. He nodded and looked up to Impmon in the tree. “The other tamers you where talking about freed Impmon from a cell in their base.” I closed my eyes and cringed from the lack of recognition while he talked. “Some group of people bent on destroying Digimon rite?” he finished now getting into the conversation. I put a paw up to my muzzle and cleared away the feeling and continued. “Here’s a little background on them. They are based out of Japan. Over here their leader was Hasumaria Heto, but I put the fear of god in him when he captured me. They packed up most of their operations when I threatened Heto but still have a few in action I’m sure.”
The kid looked at me like I watched the X-file to much and I kept talking “Heto works for someone called Yamaki at Hypnos HQ in Japan.” The kid stopped me and asked. “What dose that have to do with the Hunter?” I gave a growl to myself and put my paw on my hip. “I’m getting to that kid.” I said as he returned my growl. “It’s Bit.” He practically threw at me. “Fine Bit. Whatever,” I said as I tried to get back on topic. The kid picked up Impmon’s attitude and turned to the side, listening but not directly paying attention to me. “Yamaki had Zero built.” I said catching his ear. “Huh?” both Impmon and ‘Bit’ said together. “Built; He’s a machine. His mind is the Digimon Hunter, but his body is metal. I’ve done damage to him, I know.” Impmon looked at me while the kid ranged the story from Impmon’s expression. “No Way!!” Impmon shouted as he perched him self on his hands letting his tail stick straight up. That was a boost to the ego I’ll tell you, but all I gave was a small smile. Doing damage to him was one thing but he was still around. A hell of a hazard to have fallowing you. “He let ya.” Impmon said as he moved back down to laying on his chest fidgeting his feet around and tapping the tree branch.
“Oh no he didn’t. I worked for what I did and he’s going to make sure I don’t get the chance to do it again.” I said as Bit started to clear his throat nervously. “Is he really that dangerous?” the kid said as he pulled at his shirt collar. I shrugged “Don’t know. He could still be playing with me, but he’s more than you can handle with that toy.” He looked to his 22 and then back to me. “It’s a gun, my gun get it threw your thick Digimon head.” I walked over to where I left mine and picked it up. “Lets compare.” I said as I took a shooting stance and pointed the weapon in an opposite direction. “Might want to cover your ears.” I smiled as I took a shooting stance and laid mine flat against my head. I shouldered the weapon and pointed to the center of a medium sized tree and fired a single bullet shattering the trunk of the tree but not enough for it to topple over. A loud rip of the bullet filled the air as a shockwave shot up lose leaves and things on the ground. “That’s a gun. He dodged it and the bullets from this thing are way faster than what you have.” He was pulled over his knees with his hands pressed to his ears and couldn’t hear what I said so I waited for him to sit up and look at me again neutral and now very interested in what I had to say. “He dodged that. The bullets in this are a lot faster than what you have and he dodged mine.”
Impmon was hanging from the branch he was on and was now as interested as his tamer was. “What dose he have to fight with?” Impmon said thinking I was better equipped than the hunter. “Some thing just as powerful.” I said as I put the weapon to the strap on my bag. Impmon dropped to the ground and gave an “Ewwww.” Now thinking I was out matched. “Best part is unless he wants to be seen you won’t see him. There’s some pretty sci-fi stuff packed into that body and invisibility is probably just one thing he has in his bag of tricks.” Bit looked at Impmon getting scared at what I was telling them and asked the question I was thinking. “So where is he now?” I shook my head and closed my eyes. “He gave me another day since I winged him but he hasn’t come back yet, and that was almost two days ago.” I watched as Impmon and Bit nodded to each other and started to leave. “Don’t worry I can handle him.” I smiled, I was lying but they needed the assurance.
“Lets change the subject guys.” I said trying to add a happier note to the day. Bit strongly agreed with me and laid his rifle a crossed his lap. “We asked you so I guess its your turn.” He said trying to smile past the real downer I dropped on them. I thought for a moment and came up with something quick. “So how’d you two meet?” I asked as I gestured to the two of them. They looked at each other and smiled a little and Bit responded. “He smashed up my city and I almost got the blame.” He smiled throwing me for a loop as to why he would be happy about it. “Busten up cars mailboxes n’ toilet paepa. Ahh, dem where da days.” Impmon smile innocently like it was a vacation for him. “People saw me walking down a street just after Impmon totaled it and called the cops. I can run faster than a bunch of pigs though. I got away and was really pissed at him for a while” Impmon chimed in again “So pissed he started ta hunt me down.” He smiled as I was getting confused as to where this was going. “I was fallowen my normal routen when one of dem ah, Dark Ones, dats it, came trew where I was screwen around. I didn’t even have a chance ta leave I was stuck in da fog crap.” Impmon said getting a little angry at the memory. “Some weird voice kept mocken me sayen I was weak, so I challenged da ting dat came trew.” Bit started to laugh and I picked up on this part and pointed to the ground with a smile. “Got floored, didn’t you.” I laughed. He sneered back at me and then aceped it. “Yeah, n’ pretty bad too.” he said as he let his eyes sink to the ground while he kicked a stick. “Is that when Bit showed up?” I asked. He shook his head and continued. “Nope, some other tamas came by and busted up da bum and saved my ass.” I smiled more at the fact that there where other tamers than the fact that they saved Impmon.
“Hey quit smilen! Dis is my life here!” Impmon shouted as I tried to stop. “Any way, I told um ta leave me alone and dey did. I was pretty low for a while. I wanted to prove I wasn’t weak I tagged along wit da tamas for a while looken for a chance ta prove myself n’ got stomped a few more times. Eventually I stopped falowen um and looked for my own chance.” Bit chimed up and continued the story from his side. “I was looking for him the entire time while I ran away from the police. I was really mad because getting the crap beat out of him didn’t keep the neighborhoods from getting totaled. After a few weeks I went back to where I used to sleep and got my gun here.” He said as he tapped the barrel section, “I went gunning for him but didn’t find him.” I nodded feeling the same way he did, Impmon screwed up my life the same way. Thank god he didn’t end up my partner though. Impmon continued from where his tamer left off and looked over to his tamer warmly.
“Around den was when it happened.” He said with a pause. I would have asked what but I knew he was going to tell. “One day I found a fog, I was closer to it den da tamers so I went in alone. Sometin I would have regreated if it weren’t for Bit.” He said as he walked over and put one of his little gloved hands on his shoulder smiling with one fang showing from either side of his mouth. “I went in and got the shit kicked out of me!” He laughed with his tamer. “I was pretty bad and da Digimon almost turned me in to Digi-stew, but Bit came along just as I shouted for help. Only time I wanted it, and I got it.” he said as he cozyed up to his tamer on the rock he was on. “I heard him shout and I thought it was some guy getting mugged. I ran as fast as I could and came face to face with the fog. I almost couldn’t get in. there was some kind of barrier or something in my way but I pushed threw it to see Impmon fading in and out of life there. I didn’t think about it but I pulled up my gun shouted for the Digimon to stop and when it didn’t I put a bullet in its head.”
I didn’t think that it would work out exactly like that but it was getting to be a good story. “The big lug almost crushed me when it fell but instead it blew apart and I absorbed it. I found enough of myself to push up from da ground to see a bright light hanging ova me.” I looked to Bit and saw him hold up his red Digivice and show it to me still flickering back and forth from my Dark form to my pure. “It was this thing.” He said warmly. Then he looked to me “Digivice rite?” he said slightly curious at it. I nodded and said energetically “Go on.” They looked at each other and smiled, “This doesn’t have a Disney ending just yet. When I saw it was Impmon I ran over to him and held my gun to his head.” Bit said putting his hand to Impmon’s head like a gun for what he did in the story. “I would have stayed and beat the crap out of him some more but I herd police sirens coming. I gave him a kick and took the Digivice and ran like hell.” He said while I smiled at the plot twist. “I didn’t know what it was and I was going to pawn it. It started showing me pictures of Digimon popping up from the little screen. They didn’t mean anything to me and after I got over having them flying at me from it I just started to ignore it while I started to look for Impmon again.” I nodded and sat down at the base of a tree and picked up my weapon while I listened. Impmon started again interrupting Bit in mid thought. “I was feeling like crap. For a long time I could barely move. I was on da roves in da winter here for at least two week!” he shouted as he held up the rite amount of fingers.
“When I looked up to see the Digi-ting I saw Bits reflection in da plastic. I knew who he was and I was hearen about how he was taken da wrap for all da crap I did.” He stopped and looked at my reaction while I gave him a sly sneer. “I was feelen sorry for him, I screwed up and he was taken it all for me. Dat rite der made me feel even worse.” I smiled up at the humility he learned and tried not to giggle out. “Sucks when you think about the other guy doesn’t it?” I said only with a smile. He waved me to shut up and I did. “I get what your poken at and I’m sorry for messen your place up.” He said as he smugly turned away leaving it open for Bit. Messing up the flow of the story he didn’t catch onto this for a few seconds. Impmon tapped him to tell him he had the floor and he giggled a little and continued. “Oh, um. Well, I looked for him threw most of the winter on the streets and in the alleys but I couldn’t find him. Around the time that Fire and Brimstone Digimon showed up.” He stopped as he looked at his Digivice then back up to me. “Was that you?” he said as I tuned my head to the side and hummed while I blushed in my head ‘Oh god, I’m a celebrity for all the wrong reasons…’ I didn’t give him an answer but he picked up on my posture. “You are!” he shouted. “Tell me about you guys and I’ll get into that later.” I said as he tried to remember where he left off. “OK, anyway. around the time ‘you’ showed up as Fire and Brimstone the Digivice went crazy there where Digimon all over the place. I found a few of them and meet the other tamers. When they saw I had a Digivice they asked me where my partner was. I didn’t know what they meant till I saw there Digimon. I almost took a few shots at them but the three or so tamers put me on the ground till I calmed down enough to talk straight.” He said while Impmon stood up and walked around a bit, the little black thing never could keep still.
“They told me that my Digivice was real, I didn’t even know there where fake ones at the time, but they said that I had a Digimon partner. They clicked threw my Digivice for a few minuets and found Impmon’s picture and the leader leaned over me and said ‘he’s your partner’ I wanted to slap him then, but the tamers where still holding me down. I still had something to settle with Impmon.” I smiled and interrupted a little, “I know how you feel. That’s a lot like how I meet Impmon myself. Short of saving his bacon with a BB gun.” He gave me a little cringe from me mocking his weapon and continued. “Anyway,” he started angrily as he eyed me then turned away to remember, “after a few times of meeting the tamers they asked me if I’d found Impmon yet. It always made me mad when I herd his name but I managed to keep it under wraps. The leader of the little tamers group showed me how to work my Digivice one day and I fallowed a few signals till I found Impmon on a roof in bad shape.” Impmon started to talk again and looked sad at the fact “He came up to da roof, I couldn’t move much. I wanted to at first but I couldn’t do anyting but fall over. He yelled at me for a while about how much I screwed him over then I cried and apologized. I was thinken about him most of da time. N’ I was sorry bout what I did. It didn’t help much. He came ova to me and gave me a whack from dat ting and sat down and cried with me. From der it turned into a sob story.” he jerked away. “And I ain’t tellen nobody what happened!” he yelled as he hopped back up to his tree branch. “Don’t tell him Bit. Just tell um’ what happened afta dat.” Bit nodded respecting his Digimon’s privacy and I laughed at he lock up he put the moment. He looked back from his energetic Digimon and moved on a few hours into the future of the story. “After we had our moment,” he said while Impmon gave a little growl at his tamers tease, “I left, I couldn’t do anything to him when he was hurt. Then I thought it was enough that he was hurt. I could have done something to make him feel better but I was still to angry.” He passed and took a breath and looked down to the ground in front of me and continued. “I fallowed the Digimon signals by myself for a while. Up until about a few weeks ago when they stopped.” ‘They stopped a few weeks ago?’ I thought, ‘I haven’t gotten one in a few months…’ thinking like that made me miss a few sentences but they weren’t that important. “One day I was fallowing a signal and I saw Impmon fallowing me from a rooftop, I walked into an alley and shouted up to him for him to go away. He did and he still fallowed me out of sight. They’re where a lot of Dark Ones around and a few of them took more than one bullet to stop, but this one was impossible to stop. I’m glad Impmon didn’t listen I couldn’t of handled that Dark Andromon by myself. It was armor from head to toe. Impmon didn’t have much of a chance but he jumped in when it started. I told him to stay out of it but he didn’t listen.”
He said as he looked down again. “I fired the first shot and it hit him in the eye. By how it took it, it had about the effect of a rubber band. Impmon saw it and threw a hand full of fireballs and they just bounced off, I still told him to leave me alone. I watched as it lifted up one of its arms and screamed out ‘Dark Lightning Blade’ and chopped down on me. I didn’t have time to move so Impmon tackled me. The thing was slow but it started to do it again. Impmon aimed one fireball at the eye I hit and it almost fell back. He turned around and wasn’t very happy. I knew I needed his help and at that time I wasn’t going to argue but we where starting to get in each other’s way. Me in his more than the other way around. I was on the ground and I tried to shoot him again but my gun was jammed when I hit the ground. It saw how open I was and started to rear up another attack.” Impmon jumped down exited and started speeding threw the next part of the story. “He was in some serious trouble Fox-o! So I BA-DA-BOOM! I and threw an noda fia ball at im’. Didn’t do much but it got his sights away from Bit. I was moven around way out of his reach while he tried ta aim for me he almost hit me twice! Coars the third one made it ta home plate..” he paused as Bit leered at him for interrupting. “All yours Bit…” he innocently smiled as he backed behind him. “Like I was saying nothing was working. Impmon got hit and I couldn’t do a DANM THING! I stood up from the ground and looked around for something to help Impmon with. The only thing around was my gun so I held it by the barrel and ran at him ready to hit him with its butt. He turned his head over to me and hit me sending me flying. I hit the ground and all I could do was scream out ‘NO’ while he walked over to Impmon. I tried to stand up but all I could do was lift myself onto my hands. All of a sudden there was a light coming from my pocket I didn’t know what it was till I pulled it out.” He said as he showed me the small card he had. It was blue and had a strange symbol on it like from a Digimon game I had at home for my Play Station. “Impmon was on the ground shouting ‘your Digivice use it!’ I held up the card and pulled my Digivice from my pocket and wondered what the hell he meant. Till I saw the little reader thing on the side. I looked at the card and saw this little strip thing.” He said as he showed me both. “And I swiped it threw. At first nothing happened but then a bright light came from my Digivice and hit Impmon. I dropped the card and my Digivice thinking killed him with the beam that shot out, but when it cleared he was something else. Looked like a trucker or something, leather all over and two shotguns on his leg and one on his back. The Andromon was about to step on his head but he grabbed him by the foot and threw him. I was dam confused then I didn’t know where Impmon was or what he was, it took me a while to understand it but he changed.” I corrected him “Digivolved.” I said as Bit looked at me confused. “What?” he asked feeling I was cramping him by correcting him. “He Digivolved, that’s what we Digimon do when we change.” He gave a grunt and continued, “He started to win a little then the Andromon used his attack again and Impmon went flying to the edge of the fog barrier. He screamed in pain for a few second then was shot off of it smoking. Both of them where tired I could tell by looking at them huffing at each other. Impmon got up and started to beet the crap out of the Andromon with his bare hands. He was smoking mad so it didn’t take him long to win. After he did and the Digimon disappeared a creepy voice started talking. I couldn’t understand much of it but it laughed at us.” I scowled at the voices, I remembered who they where. I didn’t remember their faces. “Corruption?” I said in a growl. He nodded, “How’d you know?” Impmon asked as he hopped down from his tree branch.
“Before I left I just found out about them, since I’ve been around they’ve started sending Dark Ones after me.” I stood up from the tree and rubbed my shoulder from where I shot the rifle. “You know anything about the?” Bit asked as I took a step to the side of the tree. “Only a little, not much more than you know kid.” He gave me another growl and shouted “It’s BIT!” I started walking remembering Zero and waved my hand as I moved away. “And I’m Ryoku. Nice to meet you.” I smiled as I walked threw the trees. “Where ya goen?” Impmon shouted. “Zero’s still looking for me. I’d advise you to leave if you don’t want him to find you. Don’t fallow me other wise you’ll end up getting your self killed.” Impmon stopped in his tracks and Bit shouted to me. “You’re going to tell me what you are Ryoku. I’d better see you alive next time!” he shouted happily understanding my point.
“I’ll be back Bit. Trust me.” I shouted back before I vanished into the trees.
Impmon found a tamer. Who knew? Seemed like a nice kid, but I had Zero to think about. He was much more important at the moment than thinking about Impmon and Bit. They might be a strong pair but they weren’t going to hack it against Zero. Not with the game he played. The one thing that did catch my attention was the blue card and what it did for Impmon. His Digivolve sounded tough, an Andromon by its self is strong. Andromon are ultimates, a Dark One must have been a real show.
I had a lot to think about for the rest of that day from Zero for most of it to the abrupt stop of the Dark Digimon. As I listened for Zero I thought about Impmon and the card. What kind of power could it have, it obviously made him Digivolve but I don’t think that a champion could even take on a Dark ultimate. There was something more to it. Something more to find out. So much…
At a Disadvantage
I walked on trying to hear for Zero but I kept coming back to Bit and his Blue Card. It was something I knew absolutely nothing about, something I’d never seen or heard about. I had a collectors chart some where in my room that had every card from every edition of the game but I never saw a card like that. As a collector I was drooling over the thought of such a rare card, but as a tamer I was worried about what it could do to me if I had one. I didn’t so I needed to forget about it. Which was incredibly hard. I didn’t have a reason to doubt Bit, even with how far fetched it sounded.
I grinded around it wishing I could have asked Bit if I could have at least seen the card. “Knock it off!” I shouted as I shook my head to the thought. I was acting like a kid overwhelmed with envy. I sulked out of the forest and then into another open field. I looked back at the forest expecting Bit or Impmon to fallow me even past my warning but they weren’t there. I was just getting lonely; talking to them was better than passing taunts back and forth between Zero and I. It turned out to be the one of the only warm conversation I’d have threw out the trip.
Back to my story, Zero didn’t show that day. The only thing I had seen was Bit and Impmon. I forced myself to walk westward to my home past the idea stop and hide. It would have been a good idea, but with how Zero pulled one with my trail it wouldn’t work. Between looks over my shoulder I thought of a good plan of attack. It took the rest of the day and a few bad Ideas but I came up with something that might work.
With how he was hunting, open combat was one of my only alternatives I had. ‘Good luck, out running a bullet is hard work!’ I thought as I confronted the idea. I grunted in a huff and clinched the grip of the rifle. I wasn’t even sure I could dodge Zeros bullet. He shot that Skull Meramon while he was running, that take some serious skill. Pulse he knew how I moved, he probably wouldn’t land the first shot but the anything past it would get some inerds scattered. I pictured myself getting shot by some thing smaller than a 50 cal and it scared me. If he hit me with something that powerful I’d have to be cleaned off the ground. That sent a shiver up my back so I tried not to think about it. After the dusk settled I found a cave and I tried to get some sleep. If Zero was around he would have given me a little heads up, so the night was mine.
I was almost blank to everything but my sense of hearing while I slept. I was too worried about Zero not showing up that day and why. Zero was playing with me probably. It made me very jittery in my sleep I sat against the wall of the cave listening for Zero but only hearing nature and the sound of rain, it was the first time I had heard rain in that body. The first drops where absolute silent where the rest started to pound at the ground. I woke up from my sleep like a shot when the rain’s volume increased to a sound as loud as footsteps. I looked out into the night and saw the dancing of the grass and watched it scared out of my wits till I realized it was only rain.
It was a beautiful sight to see, first time for my Digimon side in this world. I had seen it before in the digital world in the forest plains but in the real world it didn’t seem the same. The clouds in the sky made it almost pitch black around but I could still see the movement of the ground as water fell from the sky. I could feel a cold wind blowing; nothing like the winter winds but still pushed threw my fur and gave me a chill. I shivered threw it with a smile for a few hours till I couldn’t stand it then put on one of my sets of cloths I brought with me. I sat in the dark listening to the wind howl and the rain fall all the way till morning that was three or four hours off and grunted at the fact that the rain wasn’t stopping. The cave ran out to the field so no rain came in. I wasn’t sure how safe it would be but I needed a place to leave my stuff so they didn’t get soaked. I looked back into the cave and found a few rocks that stuck up and where high enough to hide my bag.
At the time I was thinking how miserable I’d be with a bag full of wet cloths more than my hard ware, laptop in particular. I can laugh now because I know that: one I didn’t need it, and two it was in need of some serious need of repair. All my moving around and a trip a crossed the country had scattered a few wires on the inside. That being not important I’ll continue. After I set my bag down behind the rocks I turned around to where I was sitting on the cave wall and picked up my rifle. I walked to the entrance of the cave and stood in the shadow of the overhang starring out over the field of moving grass battered by falling rain. “Zero.” I said lowly as I turned back to my bag. A stray wind pushed a single drop of rain onto my scar and it felt like a tear. I let it run down my face and then I wiped it off. It would be the only tear I’d shed; even if it wasn’t mine. The Hunt had been on for a while now and I was determined to finish it.
I felt a coarse of heat come over my scare and I remembered the bullet Heto had fired. Just like him I would have one more shot. The shot that decided my fate, I wasn’t going to miss. I stood there falling into an angry sneer and opened my mouth to an angry howl. “ZERO!” I shouted “LETS FINISH THIS!” with the words I felt doubts about my skill. I had the cocky attitude when I was Sniper Ryokumon and the skill. Even with the steady paws of my Ryokumon form there still wasn’t room for error.
“Are you sure it will be today my prey?” I heard his voice ring from the furthest point of the field over the beating rain. “I don’t want to live in a shadow Hunter, finish it today or I’ll finish it myself.” I sneered with thoughts of losses running around my head. To the ones I’d miss the most , My Starlight, My father. Every one was there in my mind at the moment I called his challenge. The tamers, the Dark Ones. New friends and old enemies, Bit, Impmon and all of the wild Digimon that I had never meet. “Then show your self prey. Go and hide, one hour and the hunt will end.” I growled at his argents and took a step back into the cave. I walked over to my bag so cautiously hidden and opened it to retrieve the large clips that Zero had left me. “It’s only an hour Prey best make use of it.” Zero mocked from the field. I turned around and growled as I took a step out of the cave letting the rain dot a crossed my shoulders as I took a sprint a crossed the field. I had to close my eyes from the sheet of rain I ran into it battering my face and my body from my speeds while I dragged my weapon in tight grip a crossed the field. I opened my eyes when I made it to another blanket of trees and dodged them side to side keeping myself from running head long into the thick wood. I snapped back to the idea of open combat and looked at the area seeing nothing that could stop a bullet effectively. I just kept running for most of the hour till I came to a clearing which had a few utility poles and a concrete building behind a fence.
‘Luck is on my side.’ I thought with a smile as I took a simple jump and cleared the tall barbwire fence. I felt like I had at least ten minuets left before Zero came so I looked around to find high ground. One thing I knew all too much about from my video game experience. Its easier to shoot down than up. I looked at the building then to the towers seeing that they where supporting an antenna that shot up from the concrete building they where laces with metal as the jutted up in the shape of narrow pyramids. I wasn’t sure if they could stop a bullet but they would give me a little cover to work with. I took a jump and touched one and a spark flew off as my foot came in contact with it. ‘Electrified!’ I screamed in my mind as I repelled away from it. The towers where useless to me and my time was almost up. I looked around the fenced in area and saw that behind the building where a few crates of sheltered bags of concrete.
‘Sandbags.’ I smiled as I saw them they where all piled up on top of each other but I was sure that I could move them around to make myself a barricade. I jumped over to them with haste and started to throw them in a circular wall and leveled up a low “Fox-Hole”.
I hopped in it and looked around to see that the water was soaking the bags making them that much harder to penetrate. The wall between me and the rest of the little utility bunker was two bags thick, if I he had a shot he wouldn’t make it threw the bags. I looked down at the soaking paper of the bags to see it read 80 lbs. I lifted bags like those before when my dad was building things for our house and they where hernia makers but I just chucked them with ease.
I was prone out on the ground getting hit by rain and looked out over my range. “Oh crap.” I said as I realized one down fall of my position. The fence was slatted threw with pieces of metal and I couldn’t see threw it. Zero was going to get close before he tried to shoot at me, real close. I gritted my teeth and waited for the remaining time Zero had given me and a few minuets more till I started to hear a pattern of sound other than the rain. I took a fast and scared aim at it and heard two voices. “Bit, where are we going?” Impmon asked the other voice. “We’re fallowing that Dark One. Shut up he might be around.” I was wondering what he was talking about till I realized he was referring to me. I flipped the forward grip of my rifle up so it would lay flat on the bags and trailed the voices as them moved on. “Ryoku’s a good guy. What beef do ya have wit um?” Impmon asked as I herd him jump from a low tree branch. “I don’t trust him.” Bit said as I saw him walk past a missing slat in the fence. “Why not?” Impmon asked as he walked in front of the same missing slat. I could see that he had his arms behind his head and looked up with closed eyes as the falling ran came down on his face. “He’s Dark that’s enough of a reason for me.” Bit grunted as he stopped. “What he do ta you?” Impmon asked to my surprise. He really had changed since I sent him from the city.
“It’s what he could do, those masters all the other ones talked about could be controlling him. I don’t want some screwed up freak human/Digimon trashing the real world.”
I gave a quiet grunt at his point, I didn’t like it. “You know dem Dark yahoos. Dey attack ya with out warnen. With dat gun ting he has he could have dropped us from miles away!” Impmon shouted trying to defend me. “I think you like him because he’s a little bit closer to your dirty frame of mind Impmon, either way I’m going to put a stop to him.” Bit said as he started walking again. Impmon didn’t pick up on this he stopped and looked around and almost saw me threw the slat in the fence till he noticed that Bit was moving on. “Wait up!” he shouted as he jogged up to Bit. “Shut up he might hear you!” Bit whispered as I smiled. ‘Pretty hard not to kid.’ I smiled as I returned my thoughts to Zero; it was about ten minuets past the hour he gave me. ‘Where is he?’ I thought as I tuned my ears for the sound of footsteps only coming up with Bit and Impmon pacing away.
‘Where are you Zero’ I thought as I clinched the grip of my weapon twitching at the rain and the slight sounds of it hitting the ground around me. ‘Dam Rain!’ I thought as I looked over the trees that stuck up over the fence line. I wished I could find that composure I had when I was Sniper Ryokumon, I was getting rattled and Zero was nowhere to be found. I heard a spark fly from one of the towers and I looked to it quickly. There was nothing there, ‘Must be the rain’ I thought as I rolled back over to look in front of me. By now the rain had died down a little and my cloths where soaked. They matted to my fur and from there to my body making me feel like a Digimon Action figure in a box at a Toys-R-Us. ‘First edition Ryokumon figure get yours today!’ I laughed as I pulled the chest of my shirt away from the fluff. I felt extremely uncomfortable being waterlogged and sitting there on bags of wet concrete waiting to start a short gun battle didn’t seem to help.
I waited around for another ten minuets not hearing anything past the sound of the rain and the sparks of the towers behind me I started to think about how hard it would be to tag the greatest Hunter. THE Hunter. He left villages demolished in the digital world, Digimon said that it was bandits but nothing was gone only the Digimon that lived there. I should know when I was there I went threw one ghost town. It was like they all just vanished, like Pamepe, just gone. I noticed a shack in my aim as I recalled the haunting memory and tried to stop thinking about it. I thought about Renamon but I faded from the memory of her to the vision of a broken in hut in the village where the wall where filled with the scars of battle. ‘Stop it Ryoku. Its not helping.’ I gripped at my self as I waited in the rain getting a little heaver with each drop that hit me.
I heard another spark from the towers but I ignored them so I could listen for Zero, then another and another and I was starting to think there where some bugs getting fried. I froze my aim for a second and let my ears twitch in the direction of the sparks and heard the sound of metal on metal. I didn’t move for a few second while I let my ears move back around and then in a nervous twitch of movement I rolled to the side as a loud crack sounded from the tower.
I felt a sharp pain below my ribs but I was to busy taking aim at the bright flash from the tower and shot out in bad form to the apex of the light. I heard a scream and another trail of sparks as I watched a glassy figure fall way from the tower.
The force of my rifle pushed me back down from my sitting position I sprang to and I bounced lightly from the ground felling the pain from the shot I had received. I cringed in pain from the hole and looked from the falling machine to my self seeing a trail of digital smoke and blood coming from the area of my kidney. I dropped my rifle and clasped both my paws over it and I rolled into a fetal position and screamed in pain. I took a few shrill breaths and moved one bloody paw to my weapon. I got a grip on it and pushed my self up on it, it wasn’t over yet. I could feel a weak presence moving on the other side of the concrete building and I slowly stood up and limped over my unused barricade.
‘Zero, you fucking bastard!’ I growled as I tried to limp over to where I felt the movement. “I know your still with me Zero, come out.” I gasped as I felt a ripping sensation inside me. I looked to my back and couldn’t see another trail of blood coming from my back. The bullet was still in me and it burned with every step. I felt angry. Extremely angry and Heto’s rubber bullet torture appeared in my mind while I limped over to Zero. I could feel the Evil in me rise up and come to the surface in full force. “ZERO!” I shouted as I herd a gasp from around the corner. “COME OUT YOU COWARD AND FINISH THIS!” I came around the building to see sparking limbs separated from his body all mechanical and twitching with latent energy still moving about them. There was an arm on the ground and it was ripped from a shattered shoulder from what I could see. If it where human parts and not just gears and wire I would have been sick, but seeing the robotic limbs made me boil for the Kill. “Come out my wounded Prey.” I laughed as I saw the red glow glaze over my eyes. I removed my paw from my side and pulled down the grip on my rifle. I was so angry that I could barely feel the pain, it was there and I knew I was bleeding but I was after something bigger than medical attention.
I took a good hearty grip on the rifle and felt the draining of my energy as I squeezed it till I felt a crack run over the forward grip. I looked over the building and saw that the door had a dent in it like Zero tried to pound it in. I didn’t hear it and it was still closed so I ignored it while I limped further around the building. I made sure that I watched above the fence for his escape but he never made that move. So I walked on around the small buildings and towers. I started to laugh as ominous as he did when he stalked me and smiled from pointed black ear to pointed black ear felling a clear form of his energy. He couldn’t hide it while I was in my Dark form and I knew exactly where he was. “Hiding Prey? Not very dignified for the ‘Great Hunter’.” I laughed as I heard a rattle of lose metal and a grunt fall over into my foxhole. “No Mercy, remember?” I laughed. “I remember.” I heard him say with out the slightest indication of fear, “And I’m not threw with you yet my prey.” He said seriously. I stopped walking to laugh clinching my side as I did from the bullet in my side. “Who is prey when he runs Hunter? Who can stand and hasn’t lost an arm?” I laughed as I stood straight up and growled as the burning pain gathered the tingle of the magnetic bars. “Who is wounded and poisoned prey? I’ll give you twenty minuets before that bullet deletes you.” I smiled at the fact and concentrated on my anger to change back into my human form as I walked around the building to see Zero aiming his rifle at me from over the line of sand bags. “You cant delete flesh Zero.” I said as I stopped and stood in the rain while he lowered his rifle from the shock of seeing me in that form. “It can’t be.” he said in a new tone for him, Fear. I raised my rifle to my shoulder and aimed it at him feeling my scar throb as I put the scope to my eye. “Game over, Zero.” I said coldly as I felt another prescience. I twitched to the side as I heard a small crack of another rifle and dodged to the side as a small bullet soared past me and pinged off the metal tower.
“Dark Ryokumon, Clear signal. Not Dark eh?” I looked to Zero and saw him raise his rifle to me again while I corrected my aim to him and fired off another round I cringed in pain in my human form, the force of the rifle almost broke my shoulder and I went flying backwards as I watched gratifyingly as Zero lost his other shoulder from the impact of my bullet ripping threw the metal armor. I saw threw the pain the Darkness but not the hate I had to do that. I had the disadvantage to start with but now I was the victor.
I was the Hunter, Dark emotions and an unwavering hate driven lust for the kill. Yes I was the hunter. What I had fought to over come, Zero was the evil shadow and his bullet was like a tumor spreading the seeds of his being threw me. Dark Hunter, Dark Ryokumon…
Blind Anger
I hit the ground in my human form with a pained laugh and a tearful smile. The laugh was of evil joy and the smile was of gratification. The pain and tears where from my wound which brought me back to my senses. I hit the ground and rolled a few times till I came to a stop against the fence. “Ryoku!” I heard Impmon yell. “I’m ok.” I shouted back as I grunted at my wound. It felt twice as bad in my human form, I was still bleeding and I didn’t know why. I looked at my blood and rain soaked shirt and saw the hole that was made and the small stream of blood that was coming out.
The initial hit left a spray of blood but now the wound was a little healed over. Perks of being a Digimon, problem was it didn’t go clean threw. “Come out of there NOW!” Bit shouted as I tried to stand. I looked over to my little foxhole to see Zero laying on the bags immobile from his missing appendages. He sparked and lightly moaned but kept a clear face from what obvious pain he was in. “You can wait a second.” I shouted back as I stood up to my bare feet and walked over to Zero. “What say you grate hunter Mercy?” I said as I stood over him straight faced. “Should I put you out of your misery with mercy. That’s what it would be.” the anger had all but left and all I had was the wish of his decision. “Honor Ryokumon. Honor.” He smiled up to me as he managed to roll over onto his back. I could see oil starting to leek out of a few cracks and pieces of missing metal on his body and I knew what he meant. “No mercy Hunter. Leave me here and you’ll never see me as the hunter again. I’ve lost this hunt but I’ll be back in some other form.” I looked down at him and showed him the hole I was covering. “That was the last shot you’ll ever fire at me. If you give me a reason I’ll show ‘Mercy’ and kill you once and for all.” He laughed as I stood there in pain. “Death is only mercy because you see it that way. In my eyes its honor. We agreed to fight this by our own definitions of mercy and you just shown me yours. Grate Hunter you are my best.” He laughed as I leaned down and picked up his rifle. I looked at it closely and saw that it wasn’t a 50 cal. It was something smaller, defensive sniper.
I pressed the clip release and pulled the magazine from its well and forced a single round from it. “A memento of you Zero. This is all I want of you. Don’t bother me again.” with that I left my weapon and his behind and hopped over the fence. “You hold my title now Digimon Hunter, use it well and live up to its code. Your mercy is not mine and perhaps it’s for the better. I was to be feared but you are a much better heart than I who has none. Remember this hunt as your ascension you hold all before you to your mercy.” He shouted back as I landed on the ground and fell forward in front of Bit and Impmon.
I started to cry at the thought of being such a vile hunter as he was. I started to cry from the moral pain, what I just did was shoot at another being, human in appearance. The biggest gale to me was that I left him injured. The cost of it was regaining my Darkness. Remembering it like it was my own truth. Where I had come so far I only slid back. It was still the weak evil, but it was surface tension now. I could call it, I didn’t want to but I could. That was the cost of this victory. “God help me.” where the last words I spoke before the pain blacked me out and I fell to the ground while Bits untrusting aim settled on my head.
Time past and I didn’t even know if it was still the same day, but when I woke up I was tied to a tree still in my human form. The ropes where weak and I could have just snapped them off but I let them hold me up so I didn’t fall from my backrest. “Hello?” I said as I started to lift my head feeling painfully groggy, my side screamed like some one stuck a hand in the small hole from the bullet and that’s probably what happened. I looked down to see that my shirt was used as a bandage and tied off the wound that was dressed with masking tape and the cotton of my shirt already soaked with my own blood.
“Awake finally.” I heard Bit say as he sat on the opposite side of a small fire. He was munching on some old bread while he looked over at me from a tree stump and had his rifle in reach ready to shoot me if I made a move he didn’t like. “What?” I said not fully hearing him. He gave me a vexed look and pulled his Digivice out and pointed it at me. “Dark Ryokumon, here’s my proof that your Evil.” He said as he set the piece of bread in his lap while he showed me the image of my Dark form. “How can you get a clean signal?” I mumbled out as I felt my scar throb in time with my side. “Always got one, they where a little fuzzy at first but I always got a signal of every Digimon.” He said as he picked up his rifle. “Impmon wouldn’t let me shoot you. Better be happy of that. But nothings going to stop me if you piss me off.” I cringed and let my head fall down as I sweated from my wound. “Don’t worry about the bullet, I got it out.” He smiled as he showed me the crimson tinted metal of the round he extracted. “Don’t think it hit anything vital, not that you have anything, but it’s going to hurt for a while.” He smiled as he picked up the bread and took another bite.
He put the bread out to me and asked, “Want a piece?” I shook my head and smiled at a fact. “I don’t need to eat anymore.” He just grunted at my refusal of his kindness. “Your not dead now because of Impmon.” I interrupted him with a raised eye. “I know you told Me.” he crouched in front of me and looked me in the face. “One.” He said as he held up a finger. “I get to three and you get shot and I’ll be dammed if I pull out that bullet.” I gave a little laugh hoping he’s skip to three so life would stop sucking. “What’s your grudge with me?” I said as I let my head drop again. Before he stood up he tapped me on the cheeks and smiled. “No grudge with you, got one with your kind.” He said as he stood up holding the small rifle. I waited a few seconds till I could talk with out stuttering. “My ‘kind’?” I said as I flinched again in pain “The hell did you use pliers?” he gave a laugh and tossed exactly what I said in front of me. “Digimon fucked up my life.” He said as he sat back against the stump talking with a moth full of bread. I looked up to him seeing now that the light of the fire was all that was lighting the area in the night. He smiled over to me knowing I was wondering what he was thinking. “That’s rite, you Digimon screwed me over.”
“How?” was all I could mouth out before I lost the strength to talk. The wound was draining me and I was having trouble keeping consciousness. At this rate I couldn’t brake the rope but I wanted to hear his story so it didn’t matter. “I’m an orphan fucker, because Digimon like you came threw a few years ago and killed my parents.” I put on a depressed look and wanted to howl but I couldn’t find the strength. “I lost my parents because some big dinosaur thing started a brawl with another huge dino thing. Got blasted by a fireball sitting by the window of our high rise apartment.” I gathered all the strength I had to lift my head. “I lost my mother kid, so don’t think you special because they’re dead.” he stomped over to me and raised his hand I mustered a smile and fainted before he made contact and blacked out again.
I dreamed about my darkness it was like tar all over me. I was drowning in it and I could feel all the life I had dissipate in it like I was some kind of oil spill. Nevertheless, I was still alive in it like there was light in it as I sank. I left what I had of myself on the surface but there was a new surface on the bottom like it was a sheet of some kind. In the dream I fell for hours till I found ground. I slowed down and didn’t fear the impact and gently was laid down on a soft blanket. I looked around and the light when I opened my eyes was so bright it burned. I fell back down and felt a pain from my face and my side where my wounds where and opened my eyes again to see that black cords from the sheet so far above where still attach to me at those points.
I fell back but the cords held me up and I wanted to cry. I herd the swish of a blade and the singing of one striking softer material and I fell backwards on to the soft ground. For the longest time all I could do was lay there looking up as the black cords started to move away. I turned my head down to my body to see I was Ryokumon bathed in a light coming from a direction above my head. It focused there and I started to look to it only seeing a sword and a hint of a hand or paw before I woke up.
“Ryoku, Ryoku? You OK?” Impmon said as he stood over me shaking me by the shoulders. I felt weak and in agonizing pain my wound throbbed but my scar seemed to stop. It was like it wasn’t even there. I raised my head in a smile “I’m ok.” I said as I looked Impmon in the face, he had a very relived look on as he stood over me. “Was getten a little worried der Fox-o.” he smiled hiding the concern he had for me. “What happened to you Fox-o, ya look like crap.” I giggled a little and grunted out “That’s what happens when you get shot Impmon.” He sat back “Shot?” I looked down to my wound and saw a large black burse creeping from around my bandage. “Jeez what he do? Kick me?” I said as I tried to fall to the side. “Wow, wow, wow. Bit save you. You shouldn’t get a tude caze you got a little tenda spot.” I gave him a slightly peved look and said “You saved me. He wants me dead.” I looked over to where the fire use to be to see Bit rolled over asleep with his rifle by his back. “Huh?” Impmon grunted. “Didn’t he tell you?” I said back recalling the short conversation we had before. “No, wha?” he said as I turned to the side.
“He hates Digimon but maybe he’ll tell you.” Impmon walked away from me for saying that and I gave him another spot of it. “Digimon killed he parents. He hates us for it. Why do you think he dose all the work.” Impmon stopped by Bit as I said it and turned around. “You only fight when he can’t.” I looked to his gun and then back at Impmon who didn’t want to believe it. “Yer lying.” He said a he shot around. “Shut up Impmon, I’m tryen ta sleep.” Bit said as he waved his hand at him clumsily. “Am I?” I said as I pushed out on the ropes snapping them till I could sit by myself. I couldn’t hold it though I was still weak from my gunshot wound. “You’re fucken LYING!” he shouted making bit shoot up from his sleep. I couldn’t go anywhere I was to busy trying to sit back up. I fell back down into the dirt and looked back at Bit as he raised his weapon and aimed it at me.
“What do you think your doing??” he shouted as he leveled with my head. “Absolutely nothing.” I smiled as I tried to sit again finding the energy to move. I made it back to the tree and sat back comfortable now and looked at Impmon waiting for him to ask the question. “Let me handle him Bit.” Impmon said angrily as he took two steps to me interrupted by Bit shouting “HE’S MINE!” I looked back to Bit with a slight smile wanting to be shot again. “What’s da deal Bit?” Impmon asked as he stood his ground.
“What are you saying Impmon, I can handle him.” Bit said as Impmon held up one finger and lit a fireball at his tip and threw it at the grip of his gun sending Bits grip lose. “HEY!” he shouted. “What’s your problem Impmon??” Bit shouted as he picked his grip back up from it being smacked from his hand. “Forget it.” Impmon said as he turned his back to Bit. “Why don’t you tell him Bit.” I said as he looked over to me and almost lifted his gun to shot. He growled around and just spit “That’s two.” It felt demonically funny but I couldn’t laugh at the moment, laughing hurt. “Tell me what Bit.” Impmon said mockingly with closed eyes while Bit looked at me. “I don’t have anything to tell you.” he said as he sat down growling like humans do when they’re pushed. “You hate Digimon?” Impmon finally got around to saying.
Bit stood up and aimed his rifle at me, “Three fucker.” He said coldly as he aimed at me but Impmon came in front of me and blocked his aim. “Get out of the way.” Bit said calmly. “No.” Impmon said as he held out his arms. “I wana know if what he said is true. You hate Digimon?” Bit growled again and took a shot at my leg that was exposed between Impmon’s legs. “No just him.” he said as he pulled the trigger. I felt the round hit but it didn’t hurt, it was like the burse I got from the rubber bullets, it hit and bounced.
“STOP IT!” Impmon shouted as he turned around to see me holding my side and leg from the movement I just made. I started to fall forward but Impmon caught me and pushed me back to the tree as I rubbed my leg seeing the welt from the weapon he had. “Dat aint fair Bit, What he do ta you?” Impmon said as he raised another fireball at his fingertip. ‘Wow, Impmon is serious about me.’ I thought as I moved my hand from my leg and rested against the tree. “And what are you going to do with that?” Bit said as he corrected his aim to Impmon’s head and cleared the chamber of the small shell. “What I have to.” He said sadly as I spoke up. “This isn’t rite Bit. Just tell him.”
“SHUT UP!” Bit shouted as he started to cry. “What do you know about losing people, you’re a fucken Digimon you kill for the feel of it!” he shouted as he lost his aim and turned around trying to hide his tears. “I do it because I know its rite.” I said as I fell over again. I was losing energy again and I was having trouble staying awake. “I don’t kill because its fun, it’s about honor kid.” I said as I clinched the wound and slipped off into another dream.
I was in the tar again and I fell threw it to the blanket of white ground below. I was still attached like last time and the sword cut my binds and I fell back to the soft pillow of white ground. I heard something I hadn’t noticed last time, a happy tone signing from the swipe at the dark cords. Again I saw part of a hand but paw like and familiar. I saw a symbol but I woke up before it went any further. I opened my eyes to see I was alone; I looked to the trees around to see it was day now. I pushed up and felt hungry for the first time, like I needed to eat. I pushed back up to the tree and felt tired and lightheaded. When I was human it happened when I didn’t eat for most of the day, but seeing as how I hadn’t eaten in months it was weird. I looked around on the ground and found a stale piece of bread. I fell forward and started to crawl to it feeling my wound throb as I did it.
I came over to it and picked it up in one unwashed hand crusted with my blood and just ate it. It didn’t do much for me but it made some of the lightheadedness go away. I sat near where Bit had the fire burning meditating, trying to gather enough energy to move but I fell asleep a few times into my normal sensory sleep not a dream riddled sleep. It was a riddle, symbolic in a way. While I concentrated on it, it made a bizarre sense.
I’m sure you can see what I mean by listening to it; falling in a dark tar only attaching to the points of my torment and getting cut away; like I was being released from my evil for those of you who can’t see that. It was a grate thought to be free of my evil but I didn’t feel it was gone. It was still there but it wasn’t fueled then. It was dormant, and it surrounded my mind like a bubble. After about a day I gathered enough energy to try to make it back to the cave where I left my bag at. I walked for a while from where I was feeling it was east and in about ten minuets I found the little utility tower fence. I didn’t stop at it but I just looked at a few holes in the fence. Bits small gun made one hole and mine made another when I shot Zero. I didn’t hear any thing from the towers or could I feel a prescience from inside, in a corner of my mind I thought Zero was dead, but I was sure Yamaki, who ever he is, had too much invested into that body to just let it rust.
I walked on for another four hours and I found the cave I left my bag in and walked up to it. I stopped at the mouth and looked back feeling a presence come in and out of my senses. “Hello?” I shouted back as I turned around losing the sensation. I held my side and walked over to the rock where my bag was and picked it up. I left my Digivice and cards on it which now that I think about it was a good thing. Bit would have taken them away from me if I had them on me, and in that rain my Digivice would have gotten damaged. I flopped down against the wall and pulled my bag from between the tall rocks leaning over painfully and lightheaded. I looked at the bag for a few minuets not knowing what to do. It became extremely confusing at that point. I didn’t know what side I was on.
I went over my recent experiences and was lost in them and the anger. I could remember the anger but it was distant. Like my torture was now, I was numb. I couldn’t feel anything. I just sat looking at my Gray Digivice thinking about what I had accomplished by giving into Zeros hunt, and then what it cost me. I thought into the night just sitting there awake looking at my things guided by moonlight threw a haze of clouds. I looked out of the cave in the night and saw a bright star that shined threw a cloud and I felt a tear come as her name came to my mind. “I’m coming home Starlight.” I said out loud as I stood up and put on my bag. I was still numb in thought as I started out. I turned to the west feeling the direction and my path return and I started walking looking up at the star that shown threw. I started to feel lost, not in direction but in mind. I came to Impmon and Bit and what I did by starting something between them. That wasn’t my place to do that and it was some kind of anger that made me do it, it wasn’t anger to them just blind anger. I felt calm on the out side I was running on auto pilot like the bubble of evil I had around me was doing all of the thinking using my memory and voice. It felt like the last time I was with Renamon, it felt good to do it but it happened in the wrong way. Instead of me leaving them high and dry I was left alone to think about it. I knew I was the reason they where fighting and I felt bad about it but numbed to its sorrow at the same time. It was like it didn’t matter, the only thing that almost did was getting home.
I rubbed my stomach which was growling loudly and remembered the hunger I’d overlooked for the past few months. I drew back to the many Digimon battles I had and remembered a hunger a lot like that after I took a lot of damage. Bleeding, cuts or just burses. If I got hurt I needed to eat. Guessed I didn’t need to eat regularly just when I lose enough of my form. When I was just a Digimon I needed data to build myself back up but since I had a human body I needed proteins, sustenance. There was no place around to eat so I just walked staggering from side to side trying to stay awake. I pulled out a card from my pouch and looked at it, it was one of my duplicate Regenerate cards. I always had a few duplicates in my deck but they rarely ever needed in street battles. I swiped it threw my Digivice and felt energy come back slowly but it didn’t chase away the hunger. Walking with my bag on without a shirt on over my shoulders was getting a little annoying so I stopped some where in a field and pulled another shirt out and put it on. I still had my dressing on my wound but the tape was starting to peal and come off.
After a few days of walking I lost the numb feeling in thought and I felt truly sorry for putting a wall between Impmon and Bit. I tried to think of better things but I was to scattered in thought to think of anything else besides Zero or Impmon. I huffed on recalling what the vague center-less anger had done. I may have been out of it, but it was no excuse to let my mouth run. I pulled myself away from the thought of them for a change and slid on to the thought of Zero. Knowing how good his mechanics where he’d be back. I didn’t want to think of him as a threat. He had his code of honor and he never went against it but I still had the feeling he was a challenging figure. In what I’d seen of how he thought he’d want his title back, and there was only one way to get it and we both agreed on that. It may have been a vile thing to hold but I wasn’t ready to die to lose it. ‘No Mercy.’ Rang in my ears and I thought by sparing him it was an off mercy. Then again reliving him of what pain he could have been in, but didn’t show, could have been mercy too, so in that case it was a draw.
As I walked on I had to rest more often, the card lost its effect after a few hours and I found myself stumbling once again. I could only walk for a day, two at best. Then the lose of blood more than the wound would drag me to the ground somewhere in the middle of nowhere. I’d wake up with a happy thought of Renamon and force myself to walk. She was the only way I could find my feet, but soon after I made it to stand happy thoughts left for troubling ones.
I was torn between everything, ‘Dark Ones’ as Bit called them, Zero and how I had left him and what problems he could bring me, Leaving Renamon and the tamers having the memories of them and then the memories of what I left them with. I was frustrated with them but couldn’t let go of it. The frustrations turned to anger and then back to numbness on the subjects. Still I walked till the landscape turned to dessert backed earth.
I noticed it with a smile knowing how far I had come and smiled at the thought of seeing my Starlight again and held the thought for a few days till it almost vanished from my mind. It’s something you remember but if it’s alive in thought to long it goes away like an old file into the uncharted folders on a computer. Soon after I meet the dessert ground the open fields started to turn into mesas and mountains the whole while I fallowed my path till it stopped near a city.
I didn’t know what it meant but I saw it as I cleared a ridge of a mesa and looked down on it. I looked down on it and all around searching for my direction and felt lost again now completely in direction and thought.
I sat down and waited for something to come to me but it never did, I had something to do there. A sudden halt in my path like the battlefield with Zero meant there was a fated job to be done but it was unclear and as disturbing as the thought of being the Digimon Hunter. After a few days of mock meditating looking for what I was supposed to do I stood up from the edge of the mesa and made my way to the city…
Told or Not
I took a long jump and soared into the air. I felt happy doing it, it was the first jump I had made in a long time just to jump I watched the world around me as I flew and remembered what it was like when I first started this journey. I missed it and I needed it, part of my Digimon nature was always active but my still loner nature on my human side over rode it so I could appear normal. Instantly as I did it most of the depression I was carrying lifted as I jumped down the face of the mesa to the city. It was a steep slope but I landed and slid a little then jumped again and again till I met the base of the large elevated plain. Not having a path rite now didn’t matter but having fun being what I was seemed to tide me over till I found what needed to be done.
As with most cities there was an area around it where houses where scattered around then started to come closer together till them meet the actual city. I rested briefly from expelling myself and then went back to leaping from roof to roof. I was so happy with myself I did a little personal tight rope act a crossed a few phone lines. There was a slight tingle from the current running threw them but it felt good. I laughed a little and felt the light-headedness come back and jumped to a roof thinking of something I needed to do before I was to enjoy myself to the fullest. I needed to be full to do it.
After a few minuets I jumped to the city and looked around from the roves and tried not to be seen. I took a whiff of the air and caught the scent of food and started to travel to it. It took me to some ones house and I stopped on a close by roof to look in a window to see a family sitting down to a meal in the mid day. It reminded me of traditional meals my family had before my mother died and I sat there watching them smile at each other in a happy moment. I rolled over on the roof and remembered what I had told Renamon in the digital world. I wanted a family of my own some day. After things weren’t so complicated maybe I’d try to make one.
I was feeling warm from the thought but I turned down to my stomach grumbling loudly and calling me back to my previous train of thought. I gave a grin and sat up playfully I was still in outside houses of the city but I was starting to see a few businesses around besides gas stations and corner stores. I pushed off the roof and to the next slanted one and made a long arch in a back flip and started to make my way into the heart of the city.
I hooted and hollered as I streaked around feeling insane doing it but it was an overwhelming happiness; letting go of the restricting worry I had for my venture home. After a while my lightheadedness would catch up to me and I’d fall over on a roof and laugh at my clumsy human agility, wait a few minuets and start off again till I found a place with something that looked appealing to eat. You know the place big yellow arches and the boasting, “over 2 million served” on the sign. A few chess burgers felt really good at that time so I found a place where I could get to ground level and started to walk up the street from an alley. I wasn’t in the heart of the city exactly but there where a lot of people cursing the streets. I’d greet them every now and then over my stroll up the street and receive a strange look from them. I looked down at myself seeing I was still human not knowing what they where pondering about and just continued on. I remembered human speed as walked slow for my perception and after a few minuets going up the block I made it to the restaurant and walked into the densely crowded restaurant. There was a line but I didn’t think I was in a hurry so I just waited around. While the people slowly moved up to the register I hummed an old tune from one of my lives and stuck my hands in my pocket. Searching around a little I remembered you had to pay for food and started looking for my envelope of money. It wasn’t in my pockets so I pulled off my bag while I waited and searched threw it starting to sing a few lyrics to the song I was humming lowly while a few people around me looked at me strange again.
I caught a peek at my butt and saw that I was warring my favorite shorts with the hole in the back and figured that was the reason for the looks. I pushed off the cold shoulder I hadn’t fully gotten over and continued to look for my money while I quietly sang the lyrics of the song in my head. Three people from the register I found it and a few bills tossed around in the bottom and pulled out enough to cover what I wanted to buy. I stopped singing then but still hummed as I came up to the register slowly.
The young person behind looked at me and asked “Can I help you?” and I looked up to the menu on the digital monitor behind him and started naming off combos I wanted. “Ah yeah. I’d like two #1’s a twenty piece nugget combo meal and a super sized soda.” I looked back from the menu with my hand on my chin trying not to over order again in such a crowded place and down to the person who had a dazed look on like I just called him a name. “Sir do you speak English?” he said as I returned his confused look. “What are you talking about?” I said felling I was talking clearly. “Hey Janet do we have anyone that specks Chinese back there?” he shouted back, ‘Chinese?’ I thought as I realized I was talking in Japanese. “No give him a mat with the menu on it and have him point.” The person called back from the kitchen. I took a second of rapid embarrassed and offended thought and gathered my tongue to talk understandable to him .”Sorry, just got back from Japan.” I force laughed. “Oh, ok can you repeated that in English then sir.”
“It was Japanese.” I said slightly angry waiting for an apology. “What ever sir I have people in line.” He said back as he pointed to the crowed behind me staring daggers at me for waiting their time. I repeated my order and he told me my tab “$25.97” and I handed him a fifty. He checked it for its authenticity and then made change and told me to wait at the side of the counter for pick-up. I leaned against the counter and bent over a little, getting angry at him inflaming my wound and the phantom pain came back. I put my hand to it to fell if it was bleeding again but it didn’t even feel warm. I put my hand back to my side and looked over the restaurant not seeing a single free spot to sit. ‘Screw them I’m leaving.’ I thought as the person on the other side of the counter handed me my tray full of food and a cup. “Can I get a bag for this?” the woman smiled and reached down and started to pack a bag she came up with. After she finished I took it and walked out the door. I was tempted to leave shouting a profanity but I just left quietly.
After I walked out the door I walked to a wall on the edge of the parking lot and started to eat my food. I popped open the box of nuggets and started to cram them into my mouth. Tasting food after a year of fasting makes it taste that much better and I always like chicken nuggets even if the chicken didn’t officially have ‘nuggets’. I looked at the cup I had forgotten to fill and then back to the restaurant wondering if I should get the drink I paid for but decided to wait when a car with a radio pulled up to the long line in the drive threw.
Local news for about a minuet then a few stories about wild fires burning around that where being contained. ‘Glad I didn’t get anywhere around those.’ I smiled as I chewed my food open mouthed and gratifyingly tasty. “Some of the present fires burning are being blamed on foul play. There are a few witnesses who claim to have seen the vandal in the act but authorities disbelieve the stories. Allegedly a small child warring a costume ignited the blaze by throwing a quote ‘a fireball’ from his fingertip. Comparing stories coming in from around the country with these events have made authorities slightly more aware of the truth in the matter and are investigating them along with other sightings of strange creatures appearing around the nation.” Sounding strangely familiar I set down my box of nuggets and listened as the car started to move up the line of ten or fifteen already a head of it. “In a related story, authorities have gotten numerous e-mails forwarded from citizens from an agency biased out of Japan. The Hypnos agency seemed to have an advantage to the sightings of the creatures mentioned, from further investigation it seems that they had at one point operations set up in the United States for research purposes but no information is at hand at present time as to what they found or what kind of research they where doing. From people asked the creatures are referred to as Digimon by children, some adults who have had encounters with them say that they resemble if not match caricatures from a television show barring the same name.” I put my had over my eyes and knew who they where talking about but was more concerned with what they had pieced together after about a years time. “Though the sightings seem to have stopped there still are a few cases where people report seeing the creatures in company with small groups of children, our staff here at DVDP have had numerous occasions where at least one child was seen running into the strange localized fogs fallowed by property damage of such strength and magnitude. As you know during our broadcast day two months ago we suffered a loss of transition and our building was damaged on the ground floor.”
‘Well now its gone and happened,’ I thought as it continued. “Before and after the freak fog a child was seen going in and coming out with a small creature about the size of a child. The creature is still at large but the child with it has been arrested for use of a weapon in city limits, welding a small 22 rifle. We are still looking for the other suspect, who we will go by as what the child call him, ‘Impmon’, and are offering a reward for his immediate capture.” The report ended with that as the person turned off the radio as he came to the specked. ‘Well fuck,” I thought, ‘It has to be Bit.’ I thought as I picked up my box of nuggets again and started finishing the last few. “Nothing I can do rite now.” I said out loud as I pulled one of my burgers from the bag. I sighed and looked down to the ground “So much for a vacation…”
It had to be Bit, but where was Impmon? I was willing to bet that some one knew the little ass started the fires and would tell a cop or something which didn’t leave me much time to find him. They had been here for a while by the sound of the news and so had the Dark Ones. I leaned forward while I thought about it and wondered what all of this had to do with anything. Why the hell where the Dark Ones even around and why hadn’t I seen one myself in a while? I had a feeling I could find Bit easy and I didn’t think it would be too hard to help him escape. It may be stupid to brake a kid out of jail but he didn’t deserve it for being Impmon’s partner. Not that he deserver the pain of controlling the little spaz, but it wasn’t rite to just lock him up for a charge that would have just got him a citation.
Now I had something to do, two things on top of the pile I had slowly forming: One was rescuing Bit, Two was finding Impmon before he did something stupid and gets himself killed. I smiled at finding Impmon; he was on the run so that meant I’d have to hunt for him. I finished my meal first and felt the lightheadedness go away after a while and soon after I was almost 100%. I did go back for my drink after a little protest from the cashier who insulted the language I mistakenly spoke but all I did was flip him the bird and leave.
I hopped to the roof of the building remembering the last time I was on the roof of a fast food place and how familiar the air was as steam bellowed from a small pipe near the back of the building. Looking around and thinking of where a police station would be in a city like this as I sipped on my drink and listened as people walked out making comments about my shorts and my “wonderful Ass” from one set of young women. I looked over the side of the building and smiled, I thought I was ‘butt’ ugly. Even when I was human I wasn’t too much of a looker and such a flattering comment from women of my age group, even if I didn’t find them attractive at the time, inflated my ego. I stepped back from the edge and smiled full faced and tried to get back to my planes.
Well after I finished my beverage I tossed it over the side of the roof to where I knew a trashcan was and a swish of the cup brushing the bag as I jumped away before it made contact with the plastic. I was watching all the cars on the street seeing police cars move around the city more than the rest of the traffic. Impmon may have been in more trouble than Bit but Bit seemed to be the easiest to help at the time. I watched the directions that the marked cars came from and then waited for one of them to make an arrest. A waste of time but an intelligent thought. Most of the stops they made where at disturbances or for traffic violations. Not thinking about it, it would have been easier to just ask directions. I guess it was male pride that kept me from doing it, so I just wasted most of the day fallowing around police cars from the roves of small one-story buildings, but waiting paid off closer to night fall when I was about to leave the car I was fallowing when some stupid idiot chucked an egg at the police scoring a hit on the windshield.
It caught the police and me completely off guard and the car screeched to a stop while the person just stood and laughed like a moron. I would have run away after I did it. When I was with Eddy bashing neighborhoods, if someone saw us we taunted them for a second then ran like hell. It didn’t feel rite then but when I was human it was a fond memory. The police got out and ran up and tackled the person, probably a drug addict. After calling in another car they filled out a citation and took him to the police station. I was smiling at the chance and fallowed closely dashing at street speed from the rooftops jumping from roof to roof like Spiderman or something till finally the car stopped at the police station and escorted the prisoner inside. I knew it was the police station even before I saw the building they went into the city had one of those old-ish looking court houses that can be seen for blocks. The police station was divided into about five or six buildings. Courthouse, jail, in coming guests, the holding cells wing and then there was the larger two or tree story Juvenal hall. I took a whistle at it; it defiantly was the place. From experience I knew that not many places had a Juvenal hall so close to the police station. From some of the more happy facilities I’d seen they where more like prison decorated hotels. This one was small but I could smell a lot of kids coming from the buildings barred windows. I jumped over from a local business to the courthouse and looked at the building squinting to make out the figures of people in the windows.
I saw kids and a few guards walking around remarkable clear from my distance. I didn’t need to squint to see them but being human I still wasn’t completely used to seeing that far with out binoculars or something. I opened my eyes completely and saw clearer that Bit wasn’t occupying any of the cells gracious enough to include a window. I’ve been in those places enough to know that getting in is easier than getting out. Short of getting arrested I wasn’t going to make my way in. Cops had guns and I had my hands. This would be one mean botch on my record if I was caught, then again if I wasn’t human it would be hard to pin it on me.
I gritted past the notion of braking Bit out as Ryokumon but it seemed to be the only logical thing I could do. Then there would be finding him in a building of about maybe a thousand cells and numerous police gunning for me. I fell back almost abandoning the thought as I watched a police helicopter glide from the distance to the pad on top of the court building. I didn’t leave I was to involved in thinking to do that and if I left I wasn’t sure I could find my way back with out watching a car for a day. I hid behind an air conditioner while it circled then landed. I heard thumps of footsteps coming from a staircase a few feet away from the pad and a few men in police uniforms came up with a man in a business suit marched from the door. I felt like some kind of spy watching them from the dark part of the unlit roof and listened in to what I thought to be an unnecessary conversation.
“Hello doctor,” one man shouted over the sound of the rotor. “Hello, and what’s the status of our prisoner?” the other man said as he hopped from the side of the small chopper to the man on the pad. He tapped the side of the chopper once he was clear and the rotor picked up it beat and started to lift off. “The kid is in his cell. We haven’t gotten anything out of him but I’m sure you saw that coming.” The man with escort said. I watched as the chopper lift off and then went back in the direction it originally came from before it circled. “We don’t need them here while we talk.” The man who got off of the chopper said as he gestured to the officers escorting the other man. “Go on inside boys this wont take long.” The first man said as he turned to the officers and they went inside.
“Hypnos rite?” the suited man said. I almost jumped at the word but remained absolutely still. “I worked with them but I’m with the US government.” The suited man took a step back closer to the other and started talking. “Dr. Harrison what do you need the kid for anyway?” the suited man asked. “He knows something about all of these creatures. Aside from that it’s not your concern. I just want him ready by morning.” The doctor said as he started for the staircase. “Why a kid? He’s just a punk he can’t do anything.” the doctor turned around and put on a clearly deceptive smile. “Judge this is federal and not your problem. Just give me the kid and I’ll be out of your hair. He could be more than just a punk, they train children in other countries to go on suicide missions or to shoot at marines.” The other man chimed up. “What was he going to do with a 22? That’s a toy.” The suited man said as he fallowed the other to the stairs. “It’s not your problem, you have your orders so just do what your told and you can keep your job.” The doctor said as opened the door showing me his face as he did giving me an eerie sensation that I had seen him before.
‘Oh crap.’ I thought as I realized who he was. The doctor with Heto in the air force base back home. He was American military so what was he doing with Hypnos, and another thing to ponder was what they meant by ‘kid’? I didn’t take me long to realize that Bit was booked for that small offence just so he could be interrogated by the government. I briefly smile at the fact. It would save me the time and effort of looking for him. I took a sigh thinking it was going to be harder than it seemed to be on the surface and just sat there waiting for morning to roll around.
I spent my time meditating on the thought of Bit and Impmon and what I did to them in the forest feeling bad about it again but working around to semi justifying it. You can really justify braking up a, and I use the word loosely, friendship. But I found a simple reason. Impmon needed to know what Bit felt, in the corner of my mind I felt it was almost rite but it was a battle that didn’t need to be fought yet. I pictured Renamon in my mind looking stunning in the morning light as I woke up one day in the digital world and changed into Ryokumon. I felt a wince of pain from my bullet wound and I looked down to see that it wasn’t completely healed over in this form. There was a slight bit of interference in it and it went from a clear scar to a blur of data trying to keep form. I needed data to heal it properly but it wasn’t important at the time. It wasn’t bleeding and that’s what mattered besides the small transport of military vehicles coming into the parking lot of the police station.
I looked down at it and found a few jeeps running while a few soldiers got out and made a column from the door of the building just waiting. I backed away from the ledge and then took a running jump and cleared the parking lot to the roof of the building they where guarding and waited while the men stood there professionally silent waiting for orders. I moved fast enough that they didn’t see me but I fell to the roof as I tried to land softly, my wound was scrapping at my energy level but I managed to get back up. I heard another set of footsteps coming from the direction of the vehicles and I looked over the side as I held my side with one paw. There where two soldiers walking up the column and looked to be in formal military dress but still had side arms. “Why am I doing this?” I whispered to myself. “I don’t want to get shot again.” I said as I rubbed my wound feeling it get softer and then harder as it tried to stay in one piece.
The soldiers walked to the door without looking up but I laid flat on the roof so I wouldn’t be seen. I could have hissed because I put my shoulder on some nails on the roof to keep birds from sitting there. It didn’t penetrate but I had to lay on then other wise I would stick out with my yellow fur. I pulled my paw from my side and pushed the nails flat so it didn’t hurt. I waited for a few minuets watching as the soldiers shifted from side to side trying to stand strait while they where waiting for their cargo to arrive. I was getting a little impatient but I didn’t move from my spot. I put my paw on the gravel of the roof and pushed a little so I wouldn’t put my wound on it and grunted quietly as a rock fell from my shirt. I heard a shift from a few of the soldiers but I was below their sight and intended to stay that way till someone came out.
I waited there for a few minuets and looked out over the soldiers again and saw a smile on one of the faces that screamed memories. “Oh no.” I said out loud as the person looked over to me. I ducked back down faster than what I thought he could see and he turned to his fellow service men and asked a question “You hear something?” I froze in place for that time I wanted to disappear but my wound quivered and stabilize from the rush of it. “No man, I didn’t hear nothing.” Another said as they went back to waiting. I took a long slow breath and let it out while I felt my wound go back to its unstable state of low stabbing pain.
I put my muzzle against my arm and closed my eyes. ‘Not doing that again.’ I thought as I opened them and looked up at the sky. The sun was coming up and the air was getting thinner from the rising temperature. It had been at least ten minuets of waiting; I was starting to think this was some kind of decoy until five minuets later the sliding door came open and five men walked out and stopped. I heard the voices of three familiar people but didn’t move while they where stationary. “Kids yours Harrison, Anything happens to him its on your head.” The doctor turned around and looked up to the roof. “I really don’t see what you have against this. I’m just taking another kid off for rehabilitation.” He said in an off humor. “Rehabilitation my ass you fagot bustard! Let me go I didn’t do anything!” Bit shouted as he struggled with the men holding him by the shoulders. “He’s just a kid I’m sure he doesn’t know anything.” the judge said concerned. “Stay out of my way Victor. You do your job and let me do mine.” The doctor said calmly as he started to walk to the waiting vehicle. “I know a fucken lot ass hole, but I’m not tellen you shit!” Bit shouted as he still pulled on the chains they had on his wrists.
I was getting anxious, this was starting to go to far. I was going to help him but I needed to wait for the rite moment when the soldiers started to move to the truck that’s when I planed on moving, but I sprang early when I heard what came next. Bit grunted as the kind doctor thwacked him on the head “Shut up kid. Lets go.” He said as he walked past the soldiers and to the vehicle. I growled uncontrollable and a sense of fear crossed them I could tell by the gasps they made as they searched for the sound. “Let him go!” I said lowly as I laid flat on the roof. “Show your self.” The doctor said calmly as the soldiers rapidly searched for my presence. “Let him go!” I said getting angry at his calm tone. “No.” he laughed as I started to stand up. I looked over the soldiers and all but one was standing aiming. “I wouldn’t do that.” The one man who wasn’t aiming said as he raised his weapon to the doctors head. “What are you doing??” the doctor screamed.
I remembered the voice but the face was different. “Doctor you’ve seen the Hunter and I‘m choosing the side that would live.” The judge back away and I hopped to the ground. “Zero what do you think your doing?” I said surprised but not shocked. I turned my head to look at the doctor who I left a few feet to my right open to Zero’s aim. “Seeing what you where that day I figured you would want this one for your self.” The judge who was tied around his own confusion at my presence started to stutter. “What the hell are you?” he mouthed out as he bumped into a wall fearing the volume of guns pointed at me in obvious bad aim. Chances where that if one of them where fired then the recoil from the automatics would spray the area. “What ever I want to be.” I smiled back then returned my eyes to Zero. “Give him the bag Greg.” Zero said as he prodded one of the guards escorting Bit. I held out my paw and in nervous form the guard slowly lowered his weapon and did so as Dr. Harrison protested. “SOLDIER! Do it and your court marshaled!” he stopped a few inches from my paw and I scowled back to the doctor. “What’s worse bud? A court marshal or a gun battle and a beating from an animal?” the idea wasn’t very appealing and he shuttered as he handed me the bag of Bits things. It wasn’t everything just a few things he could have had in his pocket. His Digivice, his Blue card and a photo. I raised the bag to my face and looked at the couple in the image and then threw the bag to see the guards holding Bit as he pulled away from they’re lose grip.
“I didn’t think a Digimon like you would come for Me.” Bit said as he held up the chains of his cuffs that went down to his ankles and attached below the leg of his orange juvy jump suite. “Don’t take it personal kid.” I smiled as I took a chop at his chains snapping them before they could swing around then coming down and chopping to the ground letting the chains fall away to everyone but Zero’s and my surprise. Bit looked up to me grateful but drop jawed at my display of strength. I interrupted his startled state and tossed the bag of his things in his face. It hit him but he caught it before it fell to the ground. “Lets go Bit.” I said as I leaned over and picked him up. He squirmed a little and elbowed my wound sending a flinch to my face that looked like an angry sneer. “You can take care of your self rite Zero?” I saw him nod and I looked to the roof of the court building then back to the frightened judge and the good doctor. “You won’t get away with this!” Harrison shouted as I smiled demonically back to him showing him one fang and a few sharp teeth. “Nothing you can do about it.” I said the moment before I disappeared.
I landed on the roof and fell forward as Bit pushed against my wound from the force of the jump. Bit was out and limp but I didn’t let him fall to the ground. I heard a short gun battle on the ground and I turned around to see what was happening. When I looked back I saw that the doctor was on the ground and the soldiers where firing vainly at Zeros armored body while the bullets just pinged off into the surrounding walls of concrete and the ground. ”ZERO!” I shouted down as he took the long jump up to the roof vanishing from the view of the soldiers and appearing beside me.
“Lets leave Hunter they’ll have support troops here in a matter of minuets.” I growled over to Zero feeling burning anger but I controlled it enough to agree with him. I looked around seeing a floating chopper hovering the area and jumped in the opposite direction of it back out to the lesser parts of the city. Bit bobbed and bounced as I leaped from roof to roof. Zero fallowed close by on the ground holding his new rifle as he sprinted along. I looked down at him angrily for his actions and could only find voice enough to howl high and angrily filling the air with regret for not taking him out of this world.
Ten or so miles from the Courthouse and the small rifle battle that Zero unfairly won I stopped in a fenced in empty lot and set Bit against a pile of crates. The area was being developed but nothing had been built. The tall fences where to keep out intruders and where planked over with wood like it was a skyscraper or something. Zero who was slightly slower than I was came a minuet later and cleared the fence with ease.
I stood there with my paws on my hips and glared daggers at him while he walked over to me with his ever present smile. “What the hell is your problem Zero?? I could have handled that!!” I screamed without moving my paws away from myself. He pulled a strap from a pouch at his waste and attacked it to the barrel and but of his weapon and put it over his shoulder before he spoke. The short span of time that it took made me more furious. “Calm down Hunter. Sport is where you find it and besides Yamaki ordered It.” I half closed one eye and flooded my mouth with a growl as I looked back at Bit, “He’s not sport or a Digimon. What dose Yamaki want with him??” I said pointing behind me while I eyed Zero sizing him up again feeling he had changed in some other way besides his face. He paused and walked over to the crates beside Bit and crouched down far enough that I could come between the two in a flash. “What dose Yamaki want with this one??” I said angrily but quiet and mostly calm looking down at him seriously getting no response.
I reached in my pocket and almost ripped the seems from it as I did it. My large paws and gloves scraped the fabric on the inside and I found two things one of which brought a thought back to mind. The first thing was the envelope of money I had forgotten to put back in my bag and the other was the bullet I took from him the last time we meet. As I pulled it out I felt the tingle and knew why my wound wasn’t healing correctly. My wound wasn’t the thought I had but it was worth mentioning before I continue.
I tossed the bullet at him and heard it bounce off of the metal body he had as if it was all metal with no cloths on. “That’s all I wanted of you, tell me what you have to do hear and go away Zero.” he laughed back up to me as he picked up the bullet and held it in the palm of his hand and shook it around a like it was a pair dice cupping his other hand over it. The sound of metal on metal rang out then he squeezed the bullet firing off the round in his grip. The only evidence of it was a small cloud of smoke escaping as he opened his hand to show the mangled bullet and the exploded casing. “I have no mission Hunter. I’m on vacation.” I gritted my teeth and put a paw out in front of me as I spoke. “I’m Ryoku, not your prey, not ‘Hunter’. Ryoku, and what the fuck do you mean on vacation?” I put out a finger as I made my point realizing that if I went over three I’d looked really stupid but I wasn’t going to go back and count. “Yamaki gave me judgment call. He told me not to challenge you, but to continue operations here.” He laughed as I stepped away from Bit whipping my tail at Zero as I moved and he laughed harder at the taunting swipe. He didn’t avoid it but explained further. “What Yamaki doesn’t know is that you would take offence at any of his planes here so that leaves me with one way to have something to do.” I turned around and saw Bit holding his head and moaning from the blood rush to his head. “So your going to be a tag-along tin-man?” I said annoyed at the thought of having Zero as my only companion. “Until you die or decide to do something about Me.” he laughed as he looked down at Bit. “So what do ‘you’ want with Bit?” I said holding my elbow with one paw as I put the other on my head and laid my ears back getting frustrated from the idea past the state of annoyed. “Oh he means nothing. I helped because I thought it would please you Hunter.” I made a short growl and turned away from him and put my paws to my sides in fists. “It’s Ryoku. Get it rite.” I growled. He just laughed at me knowing I hated my pet name he had.
Bit woke up enough to ask a question “Where am I?” he grunted out while he leaned forward and caught the limp chains on a splinter of the crate. “Got me Bit, I was hoping you could tell me.” I said trying to smile past Zeros presence. Bit looked to his side and saw Zero smiling down at him and cringed back panicked. “What the fuck??” he screamed and he started to crawl away. “Don’t worry about him he’s friendly for the time being.” I said as I turned back around and watched Bit look at me then back to Zero snickering at the panic he showed. “The hell are you?” Bit shouted as he started to calm himself back to rationality. “My name is Zero.” Bit stuttered while Zero made a little bow then he started to point from Zero to me, “But I thought you two where fucking with each other. You’re the Digimon Hunter rite?” He finally spit out. “Oh no he is the Hunter, I lost that title the day he received that wound in his side.” Zero explained as I looked into the sky watching and listening for company to arrive. “I’m not the Digimon Hunter Zero. I’m Ryoku.” Zero laughed again and I cringed at the sound of his voice as he cackled. “Will you shut up before some one calls the cops?” Zero tapped his head while he stopped laughing and sat back on the crates and spoke. “I’ll know before they get here, I’ve had an upgrade since last time.” I turned back hearing the words like a threat. “Upgrade?” I asked mockingly with a glint of anger in my eyes.
He put his arms out and took a breath and as he exhaled his camouflage vanished to a new form. The new body he had was almost all red except for the spaces between the armor he was warring. The armor looked like it only covered his: chest, abdomen, legs and arms but I could tell that it was all pretty thick over his entire body. “Tiger Unit: Zero” he said stating the name of his body. He put one arm out and pointed a lose fist at me so I could see four slots around the cuff of the armor on his arm. The small hallow opening flashed to life as a blade formed from sparks and what seemed to be lightning. He opened his fist and a release clicked and the blade fell to the ground. I was slightly surprised from it but I didn’t show it. Then he collapsed his hand and it drew back into the armor. He pointed it to the line of fences and his arm twitched from the silent and invisible recoil of some kind of weapon in his arm. I looked over to see a small plum of dust rise up from the ground then collapse back in on its self with a pop. “New toys?” I frowned knowing he could probably take me with the improvements Yamaki made. “Old actually, this is an inferior model to the body I once had but it will suffice for any goals I might set. It may look strong but in reality it is slow and weakly defended.” I didn’t know what he was getting at by telling me all of this but he made it clear. “It dose have its advantages though, I have access to Satellites and receive radio signals.” I laughed at him and he turned his smile to a frown. “Do you get HBO and the Playboy channel?”
“What happened?” Bit asked trying to get into the conversation. I sighed and walked over and sat beside Bit making the picture post card of a Digimon a human and a robot in a conversation and started to explain. “The government wanted to ask you a few questions Bit.” I said putting the reason for his capture out, “Illegal and wrong, I over herd the person who was going to take you and was planning on braking you out but thankfully I didn’t have to rush in too do it.” I said as I looked over to him and laughed a little recalling how insane I thought the attempt would have been. He waved his arm in my face and went strait back to his contemptuous nature of me. “Yeah, yeah; got that. What’s the story with that fucker from the government?” I curled my scared eye leaving the exposed side of my face serious in posture and thought about it. “I really don’t know.” I said as I turned to Zero. “Do you?” I asked putting my pride aside and looked to him for some explanation.
Zero bowed his head and mocked, “Yes my better. I know.” he didn’t finish the sentence and I was about ready to sock him when Bit spoke up “Well? You know what?” he asked as Zero looked back to me while I sneered at him for his none stop toying. “They are continuing Hypnos’s work here when Heto decided to stop all projects he commanded. The doctor, Mr. Harrison, was the closest to Heto and knew of most of if not all of the projects and has managed to keep some of the experiments going. All of this being done with the Data Hypnos compiled using faulty equipment.” He said as he held up a hand in a cutting motion and made a clicking sound with the inside of his cheek. Well Zero was being productive with his talents. “The doctors staff is making progress, Hypnos couldn’t do as much because they where binded by contracts made with the government of this nation. Where the doctor who works for this nation doesn’t have to live to the lower standards of work he performs.”
“That’s good enough Zero.” I said as I turned away hearing the sound of a car radio as it past the lot. “Shoot out at Police station wounds one.” Zero laughed as he heard the same thing. “Oh but hunter that’s not the best part! The doctor is the sole commander of the project, if he dies then it will all end here.” Bit looked at Zero as he casually laughed it out and then back to me wondering why I was listening to his babble. “Not how I work Zero. Humans aren’t target practice.” I said as I smiled to Bit agreeing with the look he gave me.
“Go on Zero, I’m sure I’ll have the patients to deal with you later. Just leave.” I said as I raised my paw and shewded him away. “Until then hunter.” He laughed as he stood up and jumped in the direction of the fence and disappeared. “Where was the last place you saw Impmon?” I said feeling Zero’s presence fade with the thicker cloud of energy he now had. Bit snarled and looked away from me. “What?” I asked defensive. “Who cares about that little brat!” he shouted then stood up. “Shit went down hill after you told him what I thought about you. Hasn’t changed either.” He sighed after he said it and I looked over the fence a head of me to the jagged skyline. “He needed to know.” I said almost in a whisper. Bit snapped in my direction and snarled again but didn’t talk. He knew it was true but didn’t want to accept it. “After we left the forest I started to fallow Impmon, he said he knew where you where going so that’s where I wanted to go. When we crossed the state line I told Impmon to stop leading me around in circles and we got into a fight. He threw a fireball at me and it started a big fire.” I nodded at his low tone knowing about it from the radios and let him continue, “it turned into a wall of fire and all I could do was run, Impmon managed to catch up with me a few days away from here and I told him to go away but he fallowed me. I caught a few signals on the way and took care of the Digimon without any trouble. Impmon was pissed at me but I blew him off when we got here. A Dark One came threw in the city near some radio station, big tall thing, completely on fire, it was pretty pissed at the world.” I interrupted and started to make gestures to clear up his Digimon discrepancies “Stitches over his mouth, really muscular?” I said and he nodded, “Meramon.” I said smiling at my memory for serving me correctly. “Anyway Impmon saved the place from getting torched by taking a few hits while I shot at the thing. Didn’t help much so I used my blue card; It worked but after Impmon defeated him he turned to me and started shooting! I don’t care why I just don’t want to see him again!” he said loudly as if he was listening from where ever he was.
He stood up and walked away from me and looked down I wondered what I started between them. Impmon was good to him but this was out of line for the both of them. I thought for a minuet relating to the problem in a way then I said it out loud. “When Digimon fight for the wrong reasons it shows when they Digivolve.” He turned around to me while I put my paw to my face and felt for my scar I ran my finger over it and felt some life to it and a thin layer of fur forming on it. It didn’t feel dead anymore almost normal. “What do you know about that?” Bit spit at me while he tugged on the limp chains. “I’m only dark because I have the energy. The Dark Ones are controlled by the energy of their anger, unless I forgive my anger then I’ll never be pure again.” I said as I put my paw to my knee as I sat against the crates. Bit walked over to a pile of tools on the ground and eyed them so he didn’t have to look at me and was silent for a few minuets. “Why do you think Impmon turned on me?” Bit asked as he turned around saddened and mournful. I could feel what it was by hearing Bits story, Bit was using Impmon and he forced him to Digivolve for the wrong reasons on top of the anger they had built up over their travels. I closed my eyes and lied with a smile, “I really don’t know, but I’m sure once we find him we can straighten all this out.” Impmon sounded like he was holding in a lot and attacking Bit was just a release in his Digivolve. “Did Impmon de-digivolve after the battle?” I asked as Bit looked down at the chains around his wrists. He nodded “He freaked out after he did it, I was to pissed to fallow him so he ran off. After that a few security guards jumped me when the fog faded. I didn’t get a chance to find him.” Bit said as he dropped the chain. “You think they’ll look for me?” Bit asked as he turned around to me. “I’m just a kid, what can I do?”
I looked at him and he returned it feeling the compassion I was showing I knew something more but he wasn’t going to ask. “I don’t think so. If they do I’ll protect you until Impmon comes to his senses.” Bit turned back around with the explanation and smiled faintly, he thought he hated Digimon but I could feel his opinion changing. From what I could see he was a cindered spirit, alone but along his road he found a friend. He was starting to trust him but I got in the way and threw a wrench in the works. Doing so made it my responsibility to fix it.
What I had done had no excuse, even further than if it where rite. The cause was good but the timing was bad. I remember thinking about it like I had handed the gun to a suicidal man and just walked away listening for the gunshot. It wasn’t the case though; some things are more complicated deeper down than on the surface. What to do next, is what I should have done all along…
Argument
“Let me get those cuffs off you.” I said as I stood up and almost fell back down. Bit turned around and looked at the metal he had been fidgeting with and smiled. “I was wondering when you where going to do that.” He laughed coyly. I put my paw on my side and straightened out and stretched a little making a little pain come back but it settled back down to its normal discomfort. It felt better actually, when I tossed Zero the bullet it went down to a livable threshold. “Well.” Bit said as he held out his wrists so I could rip away the metal bracelet. I took one of the cuffs between my thumb and pointer fingers of my paws and squeezed down on it to get a grip, bending it, then jerked it apart; repeating the action on the other cuff. As I did the bright chains fell to the ground. I leaned down with my long legs and almost fell over as my knee brushed against my wound but kept the position long enough to brake his ankle binds.
I picked up the chains after I removed them from him thinking of what a cool wallet chain it would make but I didn’t have mine with me so I tossed it away listening to the links rattle as they skid a crossed the dirt. “Thanks.” Bit said calmly grateful. I gave a smile and went back over to the crates to sit. “No problem.” I laughed at the easy task. We sat there for a few hours and I wondered where to start, the present dilemma was to find Impmon but I had no idea where he would go, I knew what he’d probably do but where to find him was a mystery. Bit paced around a while then stopped in front of me and just looked at me in a mock starring contest for a few minuets neither of us blinking while he stood offensively but not physically challenging me. I sat there and let my ears display my offensive posture and looked up to him playfully from the top of my eyes. I don’t think I even have to blink because I sat there comfortably looking at him while his eyes glazed over and then he broke after about two minuets. Rubbing his eyes and laughing a little.
I smiled from my victory and laughed out “Lets do something you might just win at.” He sat down in front of me and looked a little confused. “What? Aren’t we going to look for Impmon?” he asked as I held up a paw and waved it at him. “I need to think of how to find him maybe it’ll come to me in a game of Digimon.” I said as I pulled my cards from the pouch on my chest. I looked threw them quickly remembering all of my Digimon cards where in my bag and pulled them out in there collectors box. “I don’t know how to play.” He said as he scooted closer to me. “Don’t worry I’ll teach you.” I smiled up as I pulled my rare cards from their box. Most of them where in plastic covers but where still useable to play with. I shuffled my Digimon cards with my status cards a few times then cut the cards in to the forty-card street-battle decks that we would play with.
I handed him a deck and started to explain the rules. “There are forty cards in the deck you draw ten for your hand” I said as showed him how to set up his field. “They’re a few card in the deck you should know about, one are program cards that manage status and swapping etcetera, and the Digimon cards. I think you know what they do. Some of the program cards are pretty useless in a street battle unless you know what they where supposed to do.” He nodded with interest of learning the game our lives where based off of. “To see who goes first we take a card from our deck and put it down so we can see which one is stronger, the stronger one goes first.” I said as I showed him again. I pulled off a champion card of 10/14 attack/defense and he pulled off an ultimate 20/17. He smiled and I laughed “Looks like the draw is with you today Bit.” I smiled as I picked up my card and set it off to the side. “This is the ‘trash’ pile its where defeated cards and our hands go after a duel.” He nodded again and moved the good card to the pile and I started explaining the phases. “Even though you won the draw I’m going to go first. There are four phases to the street-battle: compile, Digimon selection, load and battle.” I put my paw down so I could show him what to do and pointed to the cards. “In the compile phase you can only lay down a program card. Only a cretin type though. This one here makes it so you can’t use a Digimon with blue energy, this one means I can go threw my deck and look for a card I want to swap out.” I said as I pointed to the cards, he looked at his hand and I cringed as he smiled. “You have something nasty for me don’t you?” I asked with a nervous gamers smile. He nodded and I assumed he was bluffing. “You can only lay these kinds of program cards during this phase now if you want to play one just show it to me so I can read it and then do what the card allows you to.” I waved him on so he could lay one card on the dirt in front of me and I smiled at what he had. “Card swap. Ok you can go threw your deck and look for a card. Remember attack/defense points.” He collapsed his hand and set it in his lap while he went threw the cards coming up with one of my protected ones and then set the deck back down.
I gave a grunt knowing that most of my protected cards could glory stomp an amateurs hand by its self. “Now the price for that is to trash a card in your hand; doesn’t matter what kind.” I said as he cringed from the rule. He looked over his cards that he had in his lap then pulled one of my other protected cards from the hand. “You don’t have to but let me see.” He turned around the card and showed me my “Heavy Assault Armor” card and I gave a little laugh. “Unless you have really strong Digimon or you know your opponent has a weak deck it’s not a good idea to throw away status cards. But for the sake of argument go ahead and put it in the trash.” He grunted at his bad judgment and put it there figuring that he just wasted his turn. “It’s still the compile phase but it’s my turn to put down a Card.” Since he had seen my hand I put one of my blue removals on the field and explained it. “ Since I played this you can’t use at least two blue energy Digimon in your hand. Sine that’s the only program card I want to play it’s your turn. It’s still the compile phase though so you can play another program card if you have It.” I said knowing that there was at least one in his hand. He looked over his cards for a minuet and came up with, he pulled a card up and set it face up on the field and I cringed knowing he was getting the hang of it. “Black removal.” He grinned at the irony and my eyes sank as I looked at most of my cards. “Good move.” I said seriously as I looked over what I was left with. I had a few good blue energy cards but he had three of my protected cards that would probably smother me.
“Well I think you get the drift of this phase. It goes back and forth like this till we run out of cards we can play.” I laid down a card swap card and went threw my deck finding I had mostly blacks in it, and couldn’t hold back from saying “Crap.” out loud. Bit giggled as I pulled a Mega Gargomon from my deck and placed it in my hand and put my poker face on to try to throw him off. “Your turn.” I said as I put a Hagurumon from my hand and put it in the trash pile. He put his hand in his lap and said, “Got nothing, what’s next? Digimon something phase?” I smiled at him and grinned out with a lot of teeth. “Selection phase. You can put all the Digimon on the field that you have unless you had a removal played on you.” I showed him what I meant since he played the black removal on me I could only play my Veemon and Mega Gargomon and Divermon cards the three together totaled 56/50 Bit looked at me and then laid down a War Greymon card and a Agumon card. “The rest are blues and some other program cards.” Bit said as he looked to me for the next step. “All rite, next it’s the Load phase. In this one you can play any program card. Here status cards matter, since your opponent can see what Digimon you have in play if you use status card well then you could have them beat. The other thing you do is total up your attack and defense points from all your cards; that’s what basically determines who wins. No matter what when we get to the battle phase your left with zero attack points and that subtracts from the defense points of your opponent.” I stopped as I tapped my chest referring to myself.
“Can I play this?” Bit said as he held up a card that read “Berserk Energy” I started off with a smile saying “Yeah you can play that.” but faded off as I realized something about what the card did. I reached out and took it from him reading its effects. ‘Destroys one opponents Digimon under 10/10 or raise one of your own by 20% attack/defense.’ It seemed familiar in so many ways. I couldn’t place it immediately though. I pushed the thought a side and disconnectedly tried to explain how he could use it. “This card kills one of my Digimon if its weaker than 10/10, but if you want to it will boost one of yours by 20%.” Bit smiled at it as he took it back and laid it over a Digimon card, I can’t remember which one because the card seemed to be extremely important.
I looked at his cards then back to mine seeing even with an armor status card I was beat. “That’s all that’s really to it.” I said as I picked up the cards I had set down and put them back into my deck. “What’s the matter?” he said. “It’s nothing kid.” I said as I tried to think about what was bothering me. He handed me the deck I gave him to play with but I pushed it away. “You hold onto it for a while.” I said to his grate surprise. He backed away and picked the cards on the ground he used. I didn’t really need them all; I had over five-hundred cards. I looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was still high in the sky. “I’m feeling a little tired Bit, I’m passing out for a while.” I wasn’t really tired I just wanted to think for a while. Bit nodded and yawned and flopped down beside me. “Yeah I know how ya feel I haven’t got a good nights sleep in about two months.”
I could have sweated my brains out if I had the glands for it in that form but instead I just closed my eyes and sighed as I leaned back against the pile of crates. Bit grumbled and scooted around for a few minuets and I just kept my eyes closed and my arms crossed like I was asleep too. I heard his breathing slow down and I slowly opened my eyes to look over to him. I thought of Renamon first and how much I really wanted a family with her. Then I saw Bit as him self and flashed back to the card he had in his hand, ‘Berserk Energy? What is so familiar about that?’ I thought letting the warm smile I had turn to a serious frown. ‘GAH! I seems too simple!’ I cringed in my head. It felt stupid but it made me see something in the Dark Ones that rang a bell. I pulled my deck from my pouch and looked for one of my duplicate cards of Berserk Energy and looked at the image it had and saw clear as daylight a red glow coming from the shadowy Digimon’s eyes surrounded by fire. It looked like a dark one as it emerged. I remembered the Dark Gargomon as I put the card in the back of my deck and saw almost the same thing as it called its name coming into existence in the real world. I pulled the card back from my deck and growled at it, crushing it as I clenched it in my palm. I heard the laugh of the ominous voices and remembered how the anger they provided fueled me. It was one lesson I learned in judo, use your anger; focus it and use it against your enemy.
The Dark Masters, now remembering their names somewhat, made sure that when they tortured a Digimon to blind their anger. Using others as tools keeping them close by as another source of anger that is indirectly brought around. I remembered one Digimon vaguely that the masters gave to me called Vulpi who was so turned around by her anger that she was completely devoted to the Masters. All I could remember of her then was her red eyes; they changed crimson from her years of service to them and was nothing more than their Dark puppet.
As I clenched the card more memories came threw of what my purpose was to Devastation and Corruption. I growled at the thought, “To all of our loyal commanders…” I can remember hearing the voice say as they presented me with her. I felt my Dark energy swell into my palm and weakly formed a small column of smoke as I incinerated the card in my closed paw. I opened my paw after a while seeing the faint trail left over from the burn about the consistency of cigarette smoke and opened my paw while the remnants of the card vanished into a cloud of hot ash. I looked at my paw and wondered why I was still angry the Dark Masters after I had forgiven them but it wasn’t them I was angry at, it was Heto. The faint anger was only powerful enough to bring the heat to my hand and the smoke from the newly installed attacks to my mind. It was only the bubble of anger, a sensation no longer a form. A few hours had past and Bit was still sleeping against the crates beside me. I temporarily let go of my anger to look back over him to think of how gentle he was when he slept. It was enough to make me sigh and relax back to the crates and think about happier things.
I looked down at my body to see my cloths then over to him to see his jump suit. I pulled my bag off and rotted around for some of my extra cloths holding up my last sleeveless shirt and a pair of shorts I had in reserve. I looked at them then back to Bit and realized how much bigger I was. He needed some new cloths if I was going to take him anywhere he’d need to ‘blend in’ better with the public. By just looking at him I gathered a size to go by; I left my bag by him and pulled my envelope of money out and stuck it the pocket of my shorts. As I looked down at them I realized how bad I needed another set of cloths. Wandering a crossed the country had screwed up almost every article of cloths I had. I knew the hole for my tail was excessively big so it I’d make a trip of kindness a supply run. I thought about how Renamon and I talked about starting a family when we where in the digital world changing me back to my human form. I had gotten used to the eerie feeling but it still made me shutter when I changed. I looked back at Bit sleeping on the ground with a warm smile before I leapt for a phone pole. I wanted it to be a surprise so I dashed a crossed the wires into town till they went underground and I took to the roves while I searched for a clothing store.
It didn’t take me long to find one. When I did I came around to the back of the plaza and jumped to the old asphalt. I walked around inconspicuously with a smile on my face for almost no apparent reason. I walked up under the over hang till I came to the entrance of the small store looking in at cloths I thought Bit might like to ware seeing styles I liked as well. I laughed at a T-shirt in the window that read ‘Digimon 02’ ironically funny, thinking like a human I remembered that there was supposed to be another season out by now. With all the talk of Digimon running around they probably put it on hold till the found out what the hell was going on. I walked in the door and looked around as a hard rock station played on the radio behind the counter. I smiled over to the person behind the register as he eyed me walking threw the wracks like I was a shoplifter. Oh wait, I was so he had a good reason. I didn’t plane on swiping anything so I walked around looking for some thing I’d like to buy. Most of the shirts and pants and such where trendy baggy or long or had a lot of the name brand logos all over them.
For a few minuets I sifted threw a few wracks of shirts finding a few good brand name shirts in sizes both Bit and I could ware and picked out a few and put them over my arm. I felt the eyes of the man behind the counter settle on me and I turned around with a smile and he looked away. I looked down the bridge of my nose and saw a lot of facial hair and realized that I looked a little more ragged than I actually was. More like some kind of poor person who was going to make a brake for it. Seeing that also made me sniff myself knowing I had a distinct aroma to me. I reeked to be honest so I pitted the man behind the counter and tried to make it fast without looking weird. When I put on my power shopping he got up and came over to me with a turned nose “Can I help you?” he asked as I held a few shirts some shorts and a few pairs of pants. “No I’m fine thanks.” I said as I pushed a wrack of shirts around looking for something. “You’re going to pay for that rite?” the guy said as he took a step back to get out of my musk.
I stopped and turned to him and sneered. “Smart ass.” I said lowly knowing I said it in Japanese. He looked at me strangely and replied, “You’re not too grate your self sunshine.” He returned in the same language. His knowledge surprised me and I laughed. I was finished for shopping. So much so I didn’t know where I was going to put it all. I walked to the counter smiling and had to ask, “Where did you learn to speak Japanese?” I said in the language wondering where I had learned it myself. “Will that be all?” he asked as he rang up the total from the hand labeled tags. I knew all of it was pretty expensive but after he got done the total surprised me. “$235.17” I grunted at the dent I just put in my pocket and then pulled up my envelope. “I used to live in Shenjuku Japan. How’d you come to learn it?” he said as he took my money. “Good question. I guess I watch to much TV.” I laughed embarrassed not knowing where or how I knew the language. He slightly returned the laugh as he checked the large bills and then made change. “Well I can’t say I don’t believe you, I have a few friends who learned to speak it from the Internet.” He laughed as he handed me my change. I looked to the window of the shop then back over the counter. “You know anything about Digimon?” I smiled as I referred to the shirt I saw on my way in.
He set down a shirt and looked a little concerned at me. “Yeah. I saw a bunch of um’.” He said as he spoke in Japanese with a hand over his mouth. He stepped back and bit his lip at how stupid he sounded. “In the TV show I mean.” He laughed as he dropped the shirt on the floor. “Hey I’ve seen um’ too.” I said as I thought about doing a few things. I felt like telling the truth. “Lot of them around lately?” I asked as he shook his head and replied. “You aren’t serious are you?” he said as he picked the shirt up and set it on the counter. I nodded and he forced a fake laugh “Oh yeah sure real Digimon.” He looked at me seeing my look not fading from my face unwavering as I leaned against the counter and he leaned to me to speak. “OK, ok. You’re not another one of those guys from the government are you?” his sentence sent a buzz to my mind brining up old thoughts. I shook my head and he continued. “I saw a few of um’ running past here away from some guys dressed up like marines with nets and stuff. I thought they where kids at first but when one floated past I knew somethen’ was up.” I thought between sentences about how Hypnos had captured me and how funny it would have been to see their attempts at catching Digimon with nets, “never thought I’d actually SEE a Digimon. I love the show but real DIGIMON?” he said as he packed a shopping bag with my cloths. “Seen any recently?” I asked as I picked up the first bag while he folded and packed the second. “Nah, not since that kid got arrested for messing up that radio station.” I hummed in curiosity while I ran my fingers threw my facial hair. “It’s weird, I think I’ve seen them for about two years now then nothing but the news saying no ones spotted any.”
“In that group that was running past did one of them happen to be a little black thing with a bandana around his neck?” I asked as he handed my second bag to me. I put it in the same hand as the other bag and he looked around thinking. “I think so, why?” I shook my head and turned to the door. “Its nothing.” I lied in my foreign tongue and he called back. “People think it’s a bunch of crap. I just wish I could meet one in person.” I turned back to him a few feet before the door and smile, “You just did.” I said as I held the bags so they wouldn’t rip and dashed out the door in a blink of an eye. I was halfway a crossed the parking lot standing on top of a car. I could see him clearly while I stood there with my bags under my arm. He fell over and hit the counter from the shock and looked out and laid eyes on me. I gritted my teeth and concentrated hard on making his day and changed to Ryokumon. I could see his face turn to another degree of shock and I jumped away after a short bow.
I smiled as I went back to Bit; I meet a fan of my kind, of Digimon anyway. I felt a little warm making his day. It was stupid to show myself like that but it felt rite to do it from the human part of me. I was wary of a public eye but he seemed like some one who was straight forward enough to know when not to tell something.
Well I got lost quickly just dashing away. I found myself on a rooftop trying to keep cheap plastic bags from falling apart. I growled a few times and kept myself from ripping them apart from my frustration with them. I looked around the strange area and couldn’t see the lot where I left Bit. I looked up to the sky seeing a few planes coast overhead and I sat down to gather my bearings. I twitched my ears listening for the possibility of his voice but only came a crossed the sounds of the city moving around below me. I took a sniff of the air and faintly smelled my own scent crossing my path. Fallowing your own scent is hard, but it’s not impossible. I stood up just wanting to get back to surprise Bit using the good will I was putting up to push down the frustration of getting tied up on my own scent. There was a strong wind blowing so it took me longer to find my way back, getting turned around once and finding my way back to the plaza before I realized which way I came from and made it back to Bit in about hour after I intended to.
When I came to the lot I saw Bit walking around kicking the chain to the shackles around waiting for me to come back. I think he went threw my pack because they’re where a few things on the ground near the crates. I sat perched on the same phone pole I first jumped to and looked down to Bit while he huffed about me leaving him alone. I put my free paw to muzzle and laughed a little and shouted out “A-HOY!” Bit turned around to see me sitting on my heals on the thick wood pole. He moved his hands from his elbows, I’m sure it would have been pockets if he had them, and shouted up to me “Why’d you ditch me??” I Smiled down to him and teased. “Oh but you looked so cute I didn’t want to wake you up.” I laughed. As he turned around and grunted. “You really don’t act like a Digimon.” He said as I hopped to the lot as I heard a car coming up to the corner I was a few feet from. He looked under my arm and saw the bags I had and gave a puzzled look as a shirt started to slip out of the hole in the bottom. Moving as fast as I do gravity got a hold of the cloths and pulled them threw the bag.
“What’s with the wardrobe?” Bit asked as I stuffed the shirt back in. “Thought I’d be nice and get you something better to ware than that thing.” I smiled as I pulled the shirt out of the rite end of the bag. He looked down at his jump suite and then back up to me and made a face like he preferred it to anything I could have gotten him. I handed him a shirt and a pair of shorts and his expression changed. He looked over the name brand cloths and frowned to me but didn’t refuse the kindness; he looked at the price tag and almost dropped the cloths. “GOOD GOD! Fifty bucks for shorts??” he shouted as he put them over his waste to see if they would fit. Little lose but they’d work. “You tryen to bribe me into trusting you?” he half smiled back. I put my ears back offended at the comment. “What?” I said as I pulled out a pair of shorts I bought. “First you wana help me with Impmon, then you give me a deck of Digimon cards, and now you’re buying me cloths?”
“That’s not it at all kid!” I shouted as I ripped a small hole in the seat of the shorts big enough for me to move my tail around in. Thankfully I didn’t screw them up like I did the pair I was warring. “Yeah rite, your gona say you wanted to do something nice for me huh?” he laughed like he made a joke. “I’ve been threw this routine Ryokumon. I’m an orphan I’m not stupid.” He said losing the laugh. I tossed the bags of cloths and my new shorts to my bag. “What are you saying?” I said as I took a step towards him. “I’ve been in a few foster homes,” he started as he tossed the cloths down to give me a venomous look, “You can’t buy me into liking you.” I gave a grunt and turned around and tried to think of some thing rational to say to him with out giving this a reason to go on. “Well one, that Digivice uses cards to power up your partner. You have that blue card! It’s the same damn thing!” he didn’t do anything from the comment so I continued, “Two you stick out in that basket ball colored suit, if we’re going to find Impmon you need to blend in. So fucking what if its name brand, would you make more of a nascence of your self if I went to a Wall-Mart?” I turned back around with my final point and sighed before I said it. “You and Impmon getting into it is my fault,” I started Bit looked back at me from over his shoulder, “If I hadn’t told him what you said then none of this would have happened.”
It just hung there for a minuet and neither of us had anything to say past it. Bit was thinking about it hard. It showed in his face. After a few minuets of the silent truce Bit walked over and flopped down on the ground and picked up the shirt I gave him and put it on over his jump suite. He didn’t talk but I cold tell he was starting to accept something I said. I knew he wasn’t going to tell me but it showed.
I put my paw to my side almost forgetting about my wound and scrapped a claw over it and cringed down from the pain I just caused myself. Bit looked over to me “Maybe you should see a doctor about that.” He said as he rolled on to the shorts. I clasped my paw over the unstable wound and took a minuet to stand then walked over t my bags and sat down. “It’s fine.” I said seriously looking straight ahead. Bit put his hands together in his lap and rolled back to his butt and raised one knee up to keep his balance. “You’re rite.” He said as he looked over to me still slightly affected from the pain. “About what?” I said relaxing my face and letting my ears come up from my pained expression. He didn’t tell me but he pulled the shorts up from under him and stood up. He laughed in a huff and walked behind the crates and dressed him self then came back around. “About sticking out.” He said as he tossed the nauseating jump suit from around the pile. I smiled at him wondering if that was all he had accepted and waited to see what he looked like in his new cloths. I chuckled a little as he stepped around seeing him holding the shorts up with one hand and blushing a little.
“You should have gotten me a size smaller Ryokumon.” He blushed out I looked around me for a few seconds till I came back a crossed the cuffs on the ground and pointed at them. “Toss me the chain and I’ll make you a belt.” He hurried over to it and picked up the longest section and tossed it back. “Call me Ryoku.” I said as I looked at the ends of the chain seeing the links I snapped off almost spot welded together from the force of the chop I made at it. I looked up at Bit and he held a little frown as he held up his pants. “Or I won’t finish you belt.” I teased with a smile. He sighed in return and sat down near me while I bent the links around braking off the damaged ones creating a perfect stretch of chain. Only problem was how I was going to hold it together. I looked around a little and saw my Digivice on the strap of my bag and leaned over to grasp it in my paw. The belt latch that it had could hold it together so I took off my Digivice. “Here use mine,” Bit said as he tossed over his Digivice, “it’s in my pocket all the time anyway.” he said as he looked away smiling. I returned the smile while I looked down thinking of how I was going to go about attaching the two ends with it. I reached down to one of the removed links and put it threw one end and then put it in the loop of the belt snap and bent it closed then tossed it to him.
The slightly heavy chain rattled as it glided threw the air and Bit turned around to catch it. He looked down at it wondering how to put it on. “Just snap it together. It’ll work,” I smiled as he started feeding it threw the belt loops of his shorts, “Beats tying it in a knot.” He gave a little chuckle back to me and we just sat there for the rest of the day. I was as close to drifting off to sleep as Bit was but his stomach had something to say. Bit’s stomach grumbled and I looked over to him as he embarrassedly looked up to me with a smile. “Hungry?” I said while he wave the offer down. “You’ve done enough today I’ll find something tomorrow.” He said as he scooted down to the ground and used my bag of cloths to make a pillow. ‘Fine kid be proud.’ I smile for the time being. Bit sighed and snuggled up to the bag making the plastic crinkle and went off to sleep. A short argument was the big highlight of the day despite the brake out. The little tiff was more of a learning experience for the two of us. I knew Bit was hard on the out side but he was smart enough to know that some one was doing things in the best interests of a larger goal. He may not have trusted me completely then, but he understood why I was doing what I was doing. ‘Smart kid.’ I thought as I slumped down the pile of crates to sleep.
Bit was a hell of a kid; he’d lived on his own for who knows how long. I was sure he could take care of himself but I thought he deserved the help after the life he’d lived. Pity from one hunter to another is how I looked at it. Of what’s god grace that the thought came from I don’t really know, but it was neither human nor Digimon in me that really knew why I wanted to help him. It was mutual from both sides. I can’t say that Bit was warming my mind the entire night because I had bigger things to think about.
Things that normal people or Digimon shouldn’t have to bare. It was my responsibility to think of them, the two of them and so much more. There had been a drop in the appearance of Digimon and Dark Ones alike and it was a good thing for the time but I was sure it came with a cost. I knew nothing was free and what was free is eventually paid for. What ever was going on had to be pretty big, and further on down the road I intended to find out…
Remember a Dream
Have you ever noticed how in dreams time can either speed up around you or slow down and make them last forever? Well about half way threw the night I slipped into a dream. More like a memory or a nightmare. Still sitting there against the crates thinking about two forces I was relatively lost on, Devastation and Corruption. Just so you don’t get confused I’ll fill in a few whole the dream had. I didn’t remember every thing at that moment but most of it came back and you’d be surprised what you can learn from a dream. I know remembering it had an affect on me.
So lets begin…
The dream started with me being released from my cell in the Masters fortress. I was engulfed in my darkness fresh from my completed torture. There where two Gardramon on either side of my bars and the one on the wrong side was absorbed by me as I reached out and rammed my paw threw its metal head. It wasn’t Dark but a normal Digimon obeying the whims of the masters so he wasn’t destroyed like I just did. I remember feeling nothing for the action but blind anger. At that point I had received my original cross and it throbbed like the beating of a heart each step I took. The halls where clear as I left and all the halls where closed off by heavy metal doors directing me to the main gate of the large fortress.
I stopped at the exit and turned around to look at the dark halls lit by lights high up that came from nowhere but burned like torches as the highlights flickered creating circles of light on the ceiling. I let out an angry mix of a growl and howl and dust started to fall from the thick foot thick bricks from its magnitude. I didn’t say anything then, I didn’t have a reason. Instead I just walked away wondering what the Masters thought they where doing by setting one of their victims free. All with out a word to me despite their usual vile nature of visiting me and rubbing my pain in my face. One of them always did it was like they had the time to do it, but that day they didn’t, and let me go. Revenge was on my mind for my torturer and lightly for the Masters. Fueled in general I walked threw the ruminants of a village on the outside walls of the fortress stopping again at its edge looking back feeling my paws light up and smoke with all the Dark energy I had. Plums, not just thin tendrils.
I came past a building that was still semi standing but had small cracks running up its wall. It seems thick now but I reared back my fist and punched threw it without pain or acknowledgement of it. I pulled my paw back in a mix of my own paw smoking and the powder I just created from the wall and looked back at the Masters fortress. “I’ll be back!!” I shouted as I heard a bellowing laugh erupt from over its walls which made me more angry at the place.
There where a few holes after that part that goes on to me walking threw the dessert plain for weeks alone. Fragments of that memory over the entire time where of me ranting to myself about what I was going to do when I found the basterd who welded the torture devices. I know I thought about the torture the entire time, and that’s probably why I can’t remember most of it. All memories of the torture where gone, forgiving the masters let me forget and block those memories, and with how I acted I’m glad my mind worked that way. One day I just stopped in a valley and looked up to the high peeks of the knolls on either side of me while my paw smoked from the continuing negative thoughts I was running threw my chaotic head. The area looked familiar, I couldn’t place it in the dream to scattered from my pained torture so I just sat there in meditation thinking of how many different ways I could destroy the Masters puppet. I twitched my ears every now and then coming a crossed the sounds of about twenty or thirty feet marching together till I looked up from my jaded meditation to see a band of dessert bandits on either side of me looking down at the one defenseless Digimon, or so they thought.
I turned my eyes back down to my lap trying to get back to meditation with an open mouth sneer till one of the Digimon in the front of the group called down. “You have anything valuable Dark One?” it chuckled to no response. The tongue was Japanese which seemed to be the only part of it that mattered. I knew there where at least ten types of Digimon amongst the bandits but I didn’t care to look. “Answer me or be destroyed.” it called back down making me shoot my eyes open to the red glazed over glow I knew so much about. “If you want to find out come check.” I said coldly smiling ruthlessly sending a twinge threw the ranks on either side of me. After a minuets time of them starring down at me I stood up and grunted and started to walk away. I didn’t look back but I knew the leader was throwing a fit about my refusal of cooperation, and stuttered around to order out “Guh, Ah, ERRRRR! GET HIM!!” he shouted with a momentary lag before the command set in before the scored of Digimon flooded down the knolls to the valley I was in. I can remember laughed as my eyes dulled back to normal and I just walked away as the slow Digimon rushed up behind me waiting till they where within a few yards to jump behind then; still laughing wondering if one of them could put up the slightest inkling of a fight. I felt a flam ignite in my paws as I held them up hearing the crackle of particles of dust as they floated threw my palms path. “Over here.” I said quietly and evil.
I gave them just enough time to turn around before I gave a primal scream releasing the energy I had in my paws letting a wave of fire sweep over the mob of bandits laughing at the completed attack I had just unleashed. Over half of the Digimon in my path where destroyed and their data rushed to me and energized me. I laughed at it and looked at the remaining Digimon that where standing next to or over their fallen friends. “Not so strong now are you weak pathetic worms.” I giggled demonically still letting my paws smoke while I walked over to a few close survivors and picked them up by their tattered cloaks then punching them and shattering their form absorbing it making me stronger. A few of them started to run and I held up my paw cold and emotionless and shouted out an actual attack. “BRIMSTONE!” and a single flaming rock flew from my palm with laser dot accuracy. At the distance the Digimon was it was impossible to gather his data but I didn’t care. It went on like that for less than a minuet; my speed and ruthless anger didn’t want me to drag it on, on those weak worthless scums of the digital world. I quickly dwindled their numbers down to one and stood amongst the wafting burning rags of the absorbed Digimon over the one last bandit. “What are you?” I asked as the small thing looked up to me threw the hood of its cloak. “S-Salamon.” It said sounding familiar.
“What did you think you where going to do to a Dark One eh?” I laughed as I leaned down. It cringed back and gave a shrill cry that rang in my ears causing me to sneer down at it and growl evilly. It leaned back and its cloak fell off of its head and I recognized it as the Salamon I saw in the woods a few months ago. “WELL??” I forced to it while it cringed back in fear. “Fallowing orders…” it started to cry as the cloak of its leader floated past. The flaming rag was half burned but I caught it and snapped it like a towel putting out the flame. I tossed it to him in a bunch and sneered as I spoke. “I want every Digimon to know of me, if you don’t travel to every village in the dessert plain and tell my story I’ll hunt you down and load your data.” the scared little thing nodded and started to crawl away. I let out a roar like howl at him and he managed to make it to his feet as it ran away on all fours. I turned from the last survivor to the valley and the destruction and laughed at the small sport and started walking again not thinking of anyone person in particular but the Dark Masters. I looked up to the sky and saw that night was sweeping a crossed the sky and when it past me I disappeared in to the black void of the dessert in my black furry coat. Walking till the memory vanished to my normal sleeping state hearing the sound of wood bending above me and a small sound of hydraulics with the rattle of plastic and metal.
I was still sitting against the crates and they moved a little from the weight they where holding and the movement woke me up with out flinching so much as an eye lash. “Go away Zero.” I gritted out as I opened one eye to look up to him hanging over me with the most obscure smile he could make. I sighed while he giggled and made an acrobatic front flip and landed with a light thud in front of me holding something I didn’t want to see.
“You forgot this a while ago Hunter.” He smiled out as he tossed the object to me. “A hunter should take better care of his weapons.” he smiled as I looked down at the rifle he had given me for the hunt it had the same crack on the forward grip and was still tinted black. “I don’t need this Zero, it’s yours.” I said as I tossed the weapon and the new holster it was in back to him. He made a depressed face then pushed it back to my feet with his, “Oh but you will,” He smiled displacing the depressed look, “once the army comes.” I looked up to him like he was bluffing only to receive a straight look. “How do you know?” I asked still thinking he was bluffing. “ I was watching our doctor friend in the hospital a while away, and he has cold things to say about you and the child. I was in the next room when I over heard him ordering a few of his men to hunt you down at all costs.” I raised one of my paws and tried to flip him off but doing it with three fingers it looked more like I was pointing up. Zero looked up in the direction I was accidentally pointed. “If I had more than three fingers I’d be flipping you off Ass hole. Get lost.” I cursed out of the corner of my mouth remembering the ruthlessness of my dream.
I shook my head chasing away the deep feeling I had from it. “Sorry.” I apologized knowing I wasn’t acting completely like myself. “Oh my Hunter it’s completely all rite. I obey your wishes my lord.” He said as he bowed then disappeared. I put out my paw and looked at where he was and wished I hadn’t done that but let it sink down with my eyes to the weapon at me feet. I picked up the holster and looked over the weapon as it tried to swing against the latch and sighed at the mistake. “Zero,” I said out loud as I closed my eyes with the weapon in paw, “come here.” I looked over to Bit and watched him sleep on the bag while the moon hung in the sky. I heard a little grinding to the other side of me and I turned to it to see Zero in a new camouflage, this time as a surgeon. “What do you wish?” he asked with a coy smile while he let his hands hover in the holographic suit. “The army?” I asked as I let the rifle fall limp in my lap. “Yes, quite. Our sole air to the command has elected another to take the torch while he has fallen ill.” I looked back over to Bit and spoke again while I scratched the back of my head slightly groggy. “What’s his story?” I said as I looked back over to him. “Not much, he is a very secretive individual. The most I know about him is that he is the major in charge of the doctors field forces.” Zero smiled as he walked threw his camouflage and let it fade as he left the shell standing in position as he came threw in his body’s true form. “He would be no match for you.” he said with an abrupt stop. “But with baggage?” he said scenically while he wafted his hand around gesturing to Bit. “I’ll handle that end Zero.” I frowned back at his gesture against caring for him. “You just keep me informed.” I looked up to him with the returning feeling of contempt for him. “That’s the job I’m going to give you.” I said in a tone of command.
“Forward are we.” Zero laughed. I gritted my teeth remembering the dream. “Just do it.” I said while I flipped the weapon from its holster to a hard aim at him. ‘What the hell am I doing?’ I asked my self not lowering the weapon but keeping the hard look at him with a steady paw ready to use force against Zero if he gave me the slightest change in posture that said he would do other wise. “Yes my lord. Will that be all?” he smiled as he bowed. I returned the smile in a curved teethe grin and said, “Yes find me in a day and give me an update.” He gave a laugh at me like I was accepting my title and bowed again and disappeared. I dropped the weapon with a confused sigh and wondered what I just did. While the words of the Dark Masters rang in my ears with every movement Zero made was like one from a memory. I didn’t know what to make of it or what to think of it. He seemed familiar past who he was in physical form. I sighed as I looked at my lowered weapon feeling the energy it held and looked at my fur lifting up my shirt to see there was still a trace of where I was temporarily bald from my weapon imprint. I ran my paw over it and came up with a few strands and looked over to Bit with the traces of myself in my paw.
I didn’t know why but something felt weird from the dream, something that Zero did that reminded me of part of it off into the dreams future. I dropped my shirt and let the hair I had in my paw float away in the subtle breeze and then picked up the rifle and put it back into its locking position.
It was still night so I leaned back and drifted off to sleep thinking of why I went all gun-ho on Zero knowing that the dream had something to do with it. After a few minuets of thinking about it another dreamy memory came to me. Weeks if not months later. I was still Dark, I remember coming to the Real World Dark. But it’s wasn’t what came in the dream. It was day then close to night and I was coming into territories that over my travels I had heard there was a band of Digimon who resisted the Dark Masters. I wasn’t there to help-out in the struggle for the Masters. All I was interested in was fighting, I was a tool for combat it was what I wanted. I walked a crossed the dessert with a hard scowl feeling power from my anger walking around obviously Dark from my black fur. I had gone threw the dessert plane for a few weeks taking out bandits and innocent Digimon alike. If I was attacked I showed no mercy, I took on the honor of Zero as it where and killed them all and then quickly forgetting about it. Only memory I had of it was the kill total of two-hundred or so. Since I came to the large plain not one Digimon had bothered me it was as silent as death its self as I walked alone. It lasted almost forever until I saw threw the distortion of the heat to see a fairly large, by Digital world standards, a village. From my distance it looked calm but over the next two days of walking I came to find out that this was the major area for the fighting. My distance from the city earlier kept me from hearing the sounds of the fighting but as I got closer I found it was completely under Dark siege. I had the misfortune of coming in on the pure Digimon occupation. I defeated forty or so Digimon getting mildly injured till I came to friendly territory. The majority of the fighters of the Dark army where made up of Dark Gargomon or Dark Graymon. The more individual Digimon where commanders who I felt at the time they weren’t getting their job done. I turned around while walking and avoided a small fireball coming from the defending side of the city and returned it with my Brimstone attack destroying the Digimon with out any effort.
I found the commander who was a small Dark Red Veggiemon who was barking out orders. Seeing me march up to him he almost froze but continued to shout out strategy till I came up and slammed him against the wall of a hut choking him. “What are you doing?” it choked out flailing its arms trying to knock me away. I grabbed them one at a time and held them in front of his face while I felt the red glare come over my eyes. “What are you?” he said clearly un choked the second before I pushed into him and brought down the wall while he screamed in agony as I put a flaming stone threw his neck and absorbed his data for the wounds I received due to his negligence. Some of the Digimon under his command turned to me and I returned their looks infused with the energy I stole and turned to the side and blasted a chunk of my Brimstone attack threw a rushing line of Digimon letting their data vanish into the air like smoke from a snuffed candle. “Anyone gets on my wrong side is data.” I shouted as I turned to the open street of fighting Digimon and fired more of my Brimstone at them clearing out four with the one pass I made. “MOVE IT!” I shouted as I took a step towards the Digimon past the offensive line the former commander had set up. I wanted to see a fight so I took the incentive and dashed around avoiding the flurry of fireballs and energy attack while the Digimon refused my orders. After I cleared out a few of the opposing force I turned around to my own kind and a storm of Brimstone on those just standing around watching me. “ATTACK OR I’LL DESTROY YOU MYSELF!” I screamed anxious for more destruction. Three Digimon of my side fell and the rest watched at their data dissipated. I leaned from side to side while small attacks while I focused my energy into the palm of my paws and turned around and unleashed a firestorm from my smoking paws.
The fire flooded the street and a contrast of bright flames only gave way to the eruption of exploding data and the screams of Digimon the second before they exploded away into nothingness. I turned around still with enough energy to attack again and raised my paws at my onlookers and said lowly “That’s an order.” I could feel the heat from the wall of fire I just created lap at my back as an army of physical forms gathered on the other side.
I turned around and crossed my arms and shouted out my attack as I let them swipe to my sides, “BRIMSTONE!!” and a blinding haze of fiery rocks shot out from the band of red energy my arms created shooting threw the flames dropping the number of presences down by about ten. “MOVE OUT!” I shouted as ten Dark Gargomon’s sprinted to my sides and started to fire threw the flames chasing away the flames with the wind of their bullets whipping over the scorched digital ground. Under my command and evil smile the other half of the city occupied by the pure Digimon fell in a matter of an hour. Coming to the final hut opening it to small weak Digimon, They didn’t want to fight so I destroyed the couple with no regrets at the time. Walking out side to see the army I commandeered celebrating their victory as I passed threw them smiling with all the hate I had leaving the village behind while the buildings burned and what was left of my moral fiber tore at me. I ignored it for a while till I couldn’t stand it bringing it to the surface chasing away the dark glare in my eyes to realize I had just slaied a couple like Renamon and I thinking about it for the first time since my capture months ago. Then the dream faded into a white mist and I found myself back in my normal state of sleep. Only to be woken up by Bit standing over me.
“Ryoku. Ryoku.” He said as he pushed on my shoulder. I woke up in a flash and my arm jutted for his neck and caught myself before I crushed him in my shocked grasp. “Oh my god! I’m sorry!” I said as I relaxed back to the crates holding my paw over my mouth. Bit fell back and looked at me frightened. “You startled me.” I said trying to explain myself. “Fucken a man! You almost ripped out my head off!” he said as he gasped for air holding the red mark my strong grasp made. “I usually wake up on my own. You scared the shit out of me.” I said defensively trying to apologize. “Save it man.” He said as he leaned down and put his hands on his knees. He huffed for a while and I thought of a way to make it up to him. “You want to uh, go out and get something to eat?” I asked embarrassed for attacking him. He shook his head at me and looked around so he didn’t have to look at me. “I’m not going anywhere with you for a while. I got it covered anyway.” he said as he walked over to my bag and dumped it out and pulled my things off of the straps popping the buttons off. “Hey!” I shouted as I caught my laptop before it hit the ground. “I’m going to a food bank.” He said as he put the large bag on over his shoulders. “Your turn to wait around for Me.” he said as he walked over to the fence.
“Wait I’ll go to a Fry’s or something.” I said trying to apologize again. He gave me an off smile and tried to justify my action, “Nah you might need your money later.” He started as he adjusted the shoulder strap while he started to the fence. “I can get a few months worth of food from food banks, if you came with, I’d probably get about two weeks.” he laughed for a second before he lost his balance and fell off of the other side and gave the classic Super Dave response. “I’m OK.” laughing it out in embarrassment. I didn’t laugh back. I was embarrassed myself for grabbing at him like that. Doing it was like the cold ruthless heart I had in the dream, driven by an animal instinct and a cold lust for destruction. Even though it scared me to do it I knew that it was bare instinct. I sat there remembering the dream in fragments at first totally depressed at what kind of Digimon I was feeling what I had become would never out weigh mistakes.
I was engulfed in my anger then and it was nothing like what Heto turned me into. Heto was a saint compared to the Dark Masters. Even though I thought about it I couldn’t recall the ghastly torture I underwent. Every time I thought about it I could only remember Heto and his argent laugh and smile. It was vaguely similar to the laugh of Corruption, when I think about it now is the only one I’ve ever heard. He was the only one who ever let himself be known to me. On the line of Devastation all I knew of him where when a Digimon had already come threw. The more I thought about my dream the more I came back to my fragmented memory of the most painful moments of Heto’s rubber bullet hell.
I was rested but I was board waiting for Bit to come back. I wasn’t worried about him, not in the least. I knew he could take care of himself the only real worry I had besides my dream was the fact that he could have gotten lost. That was the only part of the experience of the moment I could laugh at, quickly loosing the chuckle to the dreams message to me. I had come a long way from coming to the real world but I thought at that time that I hadn’t changed. Taking on Zero was my proof, I may have let him live but I still didn’t give mercy in combat. It wasn’t a deep enough depression to make me cry but I was depressed enough to look back at the actions I made post of my Digital life. Hours past and the sadness made me drift off to sleep and into another dream.
Again fragmented and drawn to a different part of that existence, months down that road is when I opened my eyes to the dream. Many commanders told me that it was my duty to the Masters to serve as part of their army but refusing them to walk alone only brought on more attacks. Most of the time the commanders started an attack joined by their squad losing most of them to my bare strength and always the exotic commanders fell first. After I absorbed the data of the commanders their teams backed away in fearful aw at my strength and joined me despite my orders to leave me alone. Fragmented marches a crossed the desserts I remember creating an army of various Digimon total of a division all under my specific order. Till the day came where a whim from the Dark Masters came, push down an up rising on the other side of the dessert plain. How it was phrased it sounded like they didn’t want me too. I was so blinded by my anger I just marched there with over sixteen thousand Digimon followers me at the head of the dark army. A months worth of memories faded for the time I remembered my torture glazed over red and yearning for a fight, the kind of fight that would put me out of my anger and misery. Till the day I came to the outside of the oasis city high and towering claming to be free of any influence of the Masters. My army stopped behind me as I walked with false pride to the town and stood below its wooden gates starring up to the Gekomon guards at its heights.
“One chance to surrender.” I screamed calmly up while my paws smoked and my eyes glazed over with a twisted smile. The Gekomon took a step back in fear of the idea and one ran back into the city and came back with some thing that could have had authority. A proud looking Garurumon stuck its head out over the wall and growled down to me as I gazed up to him grinning evilly. “We aren’t the Masters servants, this is a free city!” it shouted down as the only return it would give. I laughed loudly and turned around feeling the lust for destruction proudly boil up as I saw the scores of Digimon all gray colored by the distance between them and the walls of the city. “Fine then you all will be destroyed.” I said as I raised my paws summoning all the strength I had into one attack igniting my paws into an inferno. “ATTACK!!!” I shouted as a bright red flash exploded from my paws and a meteor sized flaming rock appeared and crashed threw the walls sending the Gekomon guards flying into the air and shattering the buildings in the large rocks path. I took a dash in laughing maniacally seeing the Garurumon lying on it side cringing in pain while its leg moved in and out of stability. “No, Please don’t” it moaned out as it tried to stand on the vaporous leg and I walked up to it while a stream of bullets erupted from behind me as Dark Gargomon carried by Dark Greymon stomped their way to the torn gates. I put a paw out with what little attacking energy I had left and opened my mouth in a laugh “You had your chance now DIE!” I said as the dream vanished to white and I snapped awake as Bit hopped the wall to the lot. I looked around not seeing him at first thinking of the battle I lived and put my paws out seeing him and almost unleashing a Brimstone on him but grasping myself before I did. I put my paw to my head feeling traumatized from the memory wondering how I could even do something as dastardly as take a city and crush it under my boot heal.
Bit was smiling till he saw me collapse on myself and ran over and tried to comfort me. “Ryoku? RYOKU!” he shouted as he put one hand to my shoulder. “No get away!” I said as I rolled over into a fetal position and started to cry wishing the memories would stop. After I woke up they came to me as memories and not seeming to be real time events clearly remembering the events of that day. I gasped and quivered and tucked my tail between my legs and felt my scar as it weakly throbbed with my pounding heart. “God Help Me.” I moaned weakly, “What have I done??” I finished as Bit came over panicked and rocked me in his arms. “It’s ok, It’s ok.” he said not knowing what pain I was in. “What’s the matter?” he asked again and again between comforting me and gave up when I sat up blank eyed huffing shrilly looking around feeling the thousands of Digimon I had by me all gather to one form and then vanish snapping me back to thought.
I looked around scared from my episode and saw Bit sitting against a pole that was put into the ground looking at me worried. “Bit.” I said quickly “God Bit.” He shot his head back over to me from looking at the sun set beside him and put out his hands as he started to talk. “Oh god, what have I done.” I cried as he came over to me and stopped a few feet out of arms reach. “Ryoku calm down!” he said as I scooted to the side. “Don’t come any closer I might hurt you.” I shouted as I dug my claws into the dirt and cried. “Ryoku!” Bit shouted as I stopped placing my paw on the grip of the rifle Zero had left me. I remembered one face as I touched it like the it was the data of a Digimon and said the name out loud, “Vulpi.” and collapsed back and looked up at the sky while my ears laid back and I feel into another episode franticly looking around for a few minuets till I could understand my ramblings.” No Vulpi NO.” I said madly and then I sat up and took a few deep breaths wondering what I was talking about like the memory came and left of that experience and then I was left only with the image of the offender. “Are you ready to speak English now.” Bit asked calmly whipping dried tears from his face leaving streaks on his cheeks.
“I’m sorry.” I said as I looked around calmly recalling the memories no longer flooded by them all at once. “God damn man, you’re making a habit of freaking out.” He said as he stood up and walked over to me. “I’m sorry it was just too much.” I said mournfully as I looked to the ground. “What was?” he said as he stopped out of reach. “Memories of the Dark Ones.” I said as I looked away feeling dirty from the life I lived in the time I was unaware of time. “I know what ever it was wasn’t your fault Ryoku.” He said as he walked back over to my bag and pulled a few things out. I looked back to him and frowned at myself seeing he was getting two servings of food from his bag and a can opener from a pocket on the side. “Eat this. It’ll make you feel better.” He said as he tossed me a can of peaches.
I held it for a few seconds feeling warmed by his kindness, sure if I told him what I knew he wouldn’t have been so open to me. He looked up after he cracked his can open and put the can opener out offering it to me. I wasn’t going to waste his food because I didn’t need it but I was sure he was stubborn enough to force me to eat it. I pushed the can opener back and used the claw on my thumb to force open the can.
‘God what am I?’ I asked my self as I stabbed a peach and stuck in my mouth licking my fingers tasting the sweet food I hadn’t tasted in a long time. ‘What have I become?’ I asked to no answer while Bit looked over at me zoned out slowly eating my peaches. “Are you Ok?” Bit asked again and I looked up blank as white paper and nodded lyingly. He turned back down to his uncooked can of instant spaghetti and poked at it with a fork he had gotten from somewhere and slurped away at the cold noodles while I stewed in my own mind. Traumatized doesn’t really cover the experiences I went threw. But it’s the best word I can find to explain it to you. It’s one of those things that makes you afraid to sleep because the bogyman might come for you or something.
I passed the night with a silent Bit and a mournful look on my face trying not to have another episode in front of him. Trying not to sleep so I didn’t run the risk of seeing the Dark Ryokumon I was; I wanted anything but that. I wanted to be the free city at that point, crushed and dead. I wanted to forget the moments I had suddenly remembered for no reason. It wasn’t going to happen but as they say ‘Life goes on…’
Vulpi
I waited the night away while Bit drifted to sleep slowly near me trying to stay awake to watch me. After he went to sleep I smiled at him and how much tougher he looked in the cloths I had gotten him. He was still cute but now had a more adult look to him. Like the last time I didn’t have much time to think about it as I slipped back into my sea of memories from my life as a servant of the Dark cause. Drawing away from what I did know to the face of Vulpi as I touched my rifle. The Dark power from the weapon seemed to remind me of her enough to call her face from the depths of my memory. Not just her face to be honest I could see all of her as she arched over me. Fairly large breast for a Renamon, Dark Renamon I should say. I could only remember her personality and appearance not her actions but the more I analyzed the image of her over me it came that there was some kind of sexual action happening but I couldn’t remember it for the life of me.
To further my explanation of her I remember her as a playful and happy Servant of the Masters. She was hand picked, or so my memory tells me, for my assistant. “To all our loyal commanders…” I heard the Masters voice say again as I could only remember her walking around a shadowy thrown with Neon red eyes not glossed like mine where when I had the evil in me but seemingly changed from a faint purple behind the blood red color they had. In my memory she was always happy even when she was ruthlessly evil to a Digimon. I could remember bits and pieces of her as she moved calling out more differences in her like the way she had her chest fur braded and clasped off with small skull hair ties. She always carried her self like a porn star whipping her tail around and letting her breast show in erotic positions. She was very seductive but I never gave into her. She reminded me of Renamon who I had started to think about once she showed up. To give another explanation of her, she was more like an ebony fantasy, black from head to toe but the sections of fur that where supposed to be white where clearly marked by a longer spread of fur or a separation like it was shaved low giving off her figure more in the areas of lower fur making her truly look attractive to the male Ryokumon eye.
As far as I was concerned in both present and memory she was poison. I never touched her even though the Masters said she was mine in the strictest sense of the word. She was seductive like I said always touching herself when we where privately enclosed by a wall or a section of trees trying to arouse me to no affect. To use a human term I left her with ‘blue-balls’ on many occasions. Each time she did I put on an evil smile and thought of Renamon erotically wondering if she would still love me with what I’d become. What I did remember of her I forced to replay in my head the entire night while I recalled what I babbled in my delirium of memories knowing I remembered much more but lost them again when I came to my senses. “No, Vulpi, no.” I said calmly as I wondered what the memory I lost had to do with that. Saying it I realized it was in Japanese. Knowing why I had freaked out Bit so much babbling in another language. I couldn’t remember her warmly though. I tried to search my mind for a warm memory but always came up angry each time. Even in the most feminine moments she had it was all out weighed by something I didn’t understand. She may have been a female but she certainly wasn’t a lady. I knew that from a buried memory making any and all possible experiences with her sour and disgusting to think I could have ever wanted anything to do with her. Her complete devotion to the Masters was almost enough to make me throw up but being Digimon rarely ate anything but data packets it was roughly impossible, But she reminded me of some one else, some one who I knew at the time I thought about it but invisible to my minds eye for some reason. I knew it was there because I could feel a cloud of her energy corrected in some way like it was mastered again or programmed a different way.
I was interrupted after about two or three hours of thought on her by Zero coming back I had completely forgotten about his report and hearing him come around made me snap back to my commanding frame of mind also making familiar feelings from the digital world. “My lord.” He said as he appeared in front of me with a distinguished bow. “Report Zero.” I said flatly and annoyed at his prescience. “Almost nothing to repot my Hunter. The major has mounted a search effort for you but it should be at least two days before his forces come to this end of the city.” He said as I looked up to him from my depression and raised one eye “And?”
He put on one of his happier looks and laughed a little sending a shutter down my back. “Our doctor is getting a discharge soon and will mount an effort to find you in a hastely manor.” I growled at him not seeing the humor in the moment while he took a step back “Anything else?” I said as I looked over to Bit calming myself down to a normal attitude. “Nothing my lord. What do you wish of me?” I waved him away loathing the thought of giving him orders. Even when I had an army I didn’t give many orders and when I did it was the impulse to destroy or watch destruction on the gleeful faces of my Digimon minions. “Orders stand. Go away.” I said as I waved him off. “Yes my Hunter.” He smiled making me cringe at the pet name.
“Yes my hunter.” I mocked getting a small annoying smile as I did it. I looked down to the can of peaches I had in my paw while I thought seeing I still had a little juice left in the bottom and tipped the can back to drink it and tried to return to my thoughts. “She never gave me a moments peace either.” I said out loud remembering her always hugging close to me like some kind of lost child or a slave to her master. She always called me her lord too but I didn’t pick up on it till after Zero left me. ‘Could it?’ I thought mixing thoughts and images turning them around and twisting them trying to make a sensible explanation from how Zero acted in connection with Vulpi ‘No couldn’t be.’ I thought as I shook my head and tossed the can. I didn’t pay any attention to how hard I threw it but when I looked over hearing it hit something I saw it embedded in the wood fence of the lot, sharp end out like a throwing knife. I looked down at my paws seeing them and getting temporarily startled. I was thinking with my human side and my human nature was closer to the surface than my Digimon and doing something like that with a can was inhuman. I sighed and giggled realizing I was a Digimon again and at the fact that I had forgotten and looked back over to Bit who was sleeping soundly on the bag of cloths that didn’t move over the coarse of the day.
I looked around the lot with a smile, it reminded me of my room at my house with how every thing was dumped around and scattered, but my Digimon nature wanted a clean tidy space, even if it was like a hotel room if it was out of place I went over and put it in some kind of order. I went over to my bag first and started straightening out my pile of bumped belongings. After I was done with that I walked over to my bag that was full of food; I took it back over to my arranged belongings and emptied out the bag of food, it had anything from bread to caned corn. Arranging them like I just put them in the cabinet at my house, I then put all of my things back in my bag and looked around for something to put the food in that would hold the weight. A good temporary fix would be the plastic bag that the cloths where in. it may have had a hole in the bottom but I tied it off.
Bit moved a little and I looked up to him as he rolled over and faced me. I looked back down at the noisy bag I was clumsily ting it off with my three fingers. Its just one of those things that I only knew how to do with five digits. I had to concentrate on doing it correctly and it took a few unsuccessful tries. After I finished it I sighed at my achievement in my Digimon form like I just learned to tie my shoes for the first time. After packing the food I put it next to my bag and went on to arranging the equipment around and a few of the supplies that the construction team left behind for what construction was going to take place. Most of it was light lifting for me, I lifted cars up in the scrap yard in my home state so concrete bags and various other things weren’t a challenge. I tried not to wake Bit up as I moved around some vehicles. The large bulldozers and fork lifts where parked around behind the pile of crates and creaked and moaned as I lifted them from the ground and huffed them over to the neatly arranged cash of construction equipment.
I had to stop after about an hour, my side started to ache after a few brushes with the things I was lifting. I looked down breathing a little hard and saw that my cloths where tattered from the metal scrapping a crossed my fur. My shorts where almost untouched but I needed to change my shirt. There where holes every where and it was barely hanging one by the seem of the collar attached to the shoulders of the shirt. I pulled off my shirt and felt relived from taking it off and walked over to my pile of cloths I tossed aside when Bit and I had our little argument and went threw a the three shirts I bought to a shirt I had been eyeing for months before I started all of this. I was surprised to see a store that still had it after a year; the design was popular so it must have sold well to keep it on the shelves. I sat down for a while before I put it on and looked up at the rising sun making me recall Renamon smiling at me before we had all the worries in the world to bare. The warm thought changed me to my human form before I knew it and made me look down at my self saddened at the thought we where still so far apart.
Looking down in surprise not noticing the change from the memory of Renamon I jumped and almost ripped my shirt in half. I whacked my head on the pile of crates and leaned forward as I rubbed my head vigorously hissing in the slight pain I caused myself. It low tower of crates wobbled a little and I looked up to them seeing they where on the verge of toppling over on Bit and hopped to my feet to push them back up to a stable position. Bit rolled over to face me looking down at him closed eyes while the crates slowly went back to their settled position. I gave a heavy sigh and walked back over to my bag cursing myself in my head about coming close to injuring Bit for the third time. I was getting dangerous to be around, with my unstable wound and collage of memories that would pop up and get the better of me at any moment. I sat back down and looked at the sun creeping up in the sky and regained my train of thought from before I started my cleaning fit knowing Vulpi again only in memory. Her thought made me angry and I wanted to remember why. Without remembering her actions it was like I was classifying her with the rest of the Dark Ones even though she seemed completely different from them.
It wouldn’t last I’d remember soon. It wasn’t like I could avoid what I didn’t know if I was searching for it. Thinking on it that hard I was bound to remember it but I don’t think I was prepared for it. Vulpi was one bad Digimon and not for her devotion to the Masters it was for her devotion to me…
New Master
Bit still slept on his bag of cloths while I sat with my shirt off trying not to sleep trying to regain the memories of Vulpi that I had some how blocked out. It was hard to remember but eventually I did knowing where the flash of her I saw came from. The position and the forceful look, I was RAPED! Forcing the memories from the depths of my mind I saw it in real time knowing that there would be a bad ending to the stream of memories.
Well to get this going I should introduce her how I was brought to know her and time laps up until the time to make you get the full effect of what I’m about to tell you. After I had defeated all of the Digimon in the free city I was a highly praised commander of the Dark forces. A many splendid thing by my standards because I was almost constantly in a fight with not only pure Digimon but regiments of dark forces as well who wished for their own fame and glory for the Masters. I had been called upon by the masters many time in the wrong fashion receiving them as orders not requests ignoring them to continue my campaign of horrifically beautiful destruction. For almost a year I can remember traveling around the dessert plains making my division stronger and gathering more numbers as I acquired what I can consider to be lieutenants from intelligent commanders who just wanted to join the glory whishing I would make one mistake so they could take my command and ravage the land worse than I ever did.
While I remembered it I felt like I was watching some one else from the inside, the actions I took in those times was completely different and I was so much more powerful so evil I didn’t have a pure form, it didn’t exist at that time. Getting back on track I wandered around at the foci of my army spearheading any city, Digimon period; for the slightest offence. Some times I’d order my army to destroy oases for the fun of watching it burn. Laughing as it plumed up in digital smoke as I walked away wanting another fight, another battle something to push the limits of my strength.
Then the day cam that the masters requested my presence in the rite way making it sound like they wanted nothing to do with me. Gleefully enraged I absorbed the messenger and gave command to one of my lieutenants who almost instantly turned on me as I walked away. In my Dark strength I had new speeds almost teleportation like in its raw gruesome ability. I evaded my own army; I left the new commander and my army behind. I looked back from grate distances to realize, if I would have returned the attack it would have been the challenge I was waiting for. I let out a howl of frustration that shook the small rocks under my feet, hearable even at their distance and turned away to find the Masters fortress. I knew from the messengers data that I was on the other side of the dessert plane and it took me months to reach it. scattered memories of thoughts away from my torment I thought a how strong they could be and what kind of challenge they would make quickly returning to their torture and losing the time frame to the long slow paced hick to them. Finally coming to the gates of their fortress seeing them start to drop, but I was to impatient to wait so I jumped to the heights of the towering walls and quickly dashed threw almost every inch of the fortress looking for the Masters throne room. I knew I wanted to challenge them but when I found them I was denied the opportunity by a field of energy. I don’t remember what the place looked like but I can explain it only like a mid evil castle. In their throne room was two thrones shrouded in shadows of two pillars and a large white cross was painted on the floor that seemed to be the source of the felid.
“Corruption!” I shouted as I hung from a wall and looked down on the shaded figures sitting in the tainted gold chairs. “Our General has arrived Devastation.” The voice laughed from the shadows. “He has, he has” the other laughed. I took a pounce from my heights at them not seeing the invisible shield protecting them. I was a good hundred feet up the pillar and my sharp jump aimed at them ended abruptly at about seventy five feet with me slamming face first into a strong energy shield. Before I knew what had happened I was deflected back to the pillar and bounced of and back down to the ground about ten feet from the pillar I was hanging from trying to stand up weakly from the force I put into my vicious pounce. “What do you want.” I said lowly as I found my balance glaring over red eyed listening to the masters mock me with their laugh just as when I was tortured. “It’s not what we want Ryokumon, it’s what we’re giving.” The voice of Devastation called from the shadows. “What kind of game is this?” I shouted as I walked up to the shield and placed my paw on it creating sparks and smoke from my paw as I touched it. “No game servants, you have done well and deserve a reward for your victories in our name.” I pulled back my smoking paw and looked at it for a second then reared back a punch hoping to shatter the shield with my paw punching at it creating a dome of energy from the force repelling me back to their amusement. “He has much for us doesn’t he?” Corruption giggled over to Devastations throne I could see the white glow in their eyes and a solute of each of them not looking like any Digimon I had ever seen.
The eyes nodded and I started to growl. “What could you have that I could possibly want besides your HEADS!” I shouted as I picked my self off of the stone floor. “To all our loyal commander, we offer a gift. Your own servant devoted to you and yours totally and only you will bare the privilege of such a creature.” Corruption said as he leaned slightly into the light of the room giving a smile in the fait light so I could see it. “I don’t want your slaves! I want you.” I shouted as a shady figure stepped from behind Corruptions throne. I could see the distinct characteristics of her neon eyes from behind the lightless vial of shadows as she blinked at me pounding on the shield. “If you where to take our loyal servant it would be our loss.” Devastation said as a feminine giggle sounded from the shadowy figure and the eyes closed. I watched as the black figure stepped into the low light of the room while the eyes of the Masters fallowed her down the stairs from their thrones. I leaned against the shield as her figure came into the light watching as her black fur shined in the light, she was beautiful but not enough for my anger to subside to the Masters whims. “Her name is Vulpi.” Corruption said as she walked up to the shield and stopped in my view letting her large breasts shake as she leaned forward to eye me.
“He’s a cute one.” She said as she turned around whipping her tail a crossed the shield at my mid section. The Masters laughed quietly amongst them selves and waved from the shadows for her to move on. She closed her eyes and tilted her head erotically and put her paws out threw the shield and wrapped around me while she passed threw without the slightest indication of the barrier. Surprising me not only with the sexual advance but at the transposition of the barrier; making me fall over with her startling me. I looked up surprised and looked down at myself knowing I was getting to aroused for public eye but couldn’t see anything past her large breasts on my chest. “Hello hansom.” She smiled from above me while she pulled her arms from around my neck to press me by my chest to the ground. As you know that’s the spot Renamon always used to ‘acquire’ my talents, she wasn’t as skilled as Renamon was but it almost worked to get the erection going. I grabbed her by the arm and flung her off of me and stood up not caring about my member peeking out from my sheathe. “Do with her as you wish Ryokumon, she is yours.” Devastation laughed. I walked back up to the shield and gave a few more pounds from blind anger at them and gave up knowing there was no way I was going to get threw it. I wasn’t going to waste my energy on the shield if I didn’t have to and I growled as I looked over to Vulpi lying on the ground slightly crying from a wounded pride. “Pathetic.” I growled as I started to walk from the chamber to the directed and sealed off halls of the fortress. I took her only because the Masters said they would need her. Their lose is my gain as they put it. Even though the conversation was fairly short sighted their geniuses method of making me take what I didn’t want was amazing. She chased me out of the castle like a school girl letting her unrestrained breasts flop around as she ran up to my side. I was to angry to notice it, feeling angry at myself for serving the Masters with my anger and slapped Vulpi away as she tried to cling to my arm. “Get away from me bitch.” I said lowly as she stumbled away.
She didn’t take offence at the comment but when she captured her balance she came up near me out of reach and twirled one of the braids on her chest around her index finger and looked at me lovingly and responded, “I’m your bitch.” I shuttered at the thought and took another swipe at her but missed with a short growl. “What should I call you Ryokumon?” she said as she walked in front of me calmly and erotically letting her breasts move around freely trying to draw my attention to them. “Master?” she said as she stopped in my path forcing me to stop or run into her protruding breasts as she arched her back begging for me to touch them. “Get out of my way.” I said coldly as I stepped to the side looking at the destroyed village I was walking threw and not her. “Mate?” she said as she hurried up beside me out of reach. “You can call me what ever you want I’m not answering to you.” I said as I passed her up while she huffed. “Fine my Love.” She said as I stopped in my tracks remembering Renamon for the first time since my release. “You call me that again and I’ll destroy you on the spot.” I said viciously as I pointed a finger at her face holding the position while she leaned into it and sucked on my finger.
“Don’t touch me!” I shouted as I pulled my finger back and whipped the saliva off of my paw. She giggled as I forced it off trying not to arouse myself. “My lord, I’m yours. Take me.” she said as she ran up and pressed her full body to my back and rested her sex on the base of my tail. I growled while she did it and waited a moment remembering Renamon doing much the same thing. “Don’t touch me.” I said lowly pinching her gloved arm and pulling it off as I started walking out of her grasp while she laughed at me erotically.
I separated my self from the memory for a few seconds enough to look over to Bit trying to push down the boiling anger I had from remembering her advances at me. Then as I looked away I saw the memory again plying out on the ground where I starred. A few months down the road I tried to find my army again for the destruction, the simple destruction. Passing threw villages as a rogue seeing all of the contemptuous looks of my form. Getting tired of them eventually and destroying the Digimon responsible for the wary eye. Gathering more anger into a battle and always winning against numbers grater than what a normal Digimon could handle. All the while Vulpi tried to arouse me while she displayed her self hanging off of me and flaunted around. She acted like my favorite whore or my head misters in a harem.
It quickly wore on my nerves and once in a while in public or alone crossing the dessert plans I would take a swing at her almost never making contact unless she wanted me to hit her. She talked and I didn’t listen and the more she fallowed the more I thought about Renamon feeling depressed but never let it show on the out side. I was still fueled by the Masters beating hearts. My anger gathered from their lives and I yearned for more destruction and wished I could just die or kill for the sake of nothing. Either way my actions would have been accepted as loyalty to the Masters. So it didn’t matter I was forgotten the second I gave in to the torture in the name of my Starlight.
I thought about Renamon sadly while I walked fallowing the path of devastation my former army left behind as they trampled mercilessly a crossed the dessert leaving nothing but ruin and scattered bands of Digimon behind. I remembered seeing it as a joy I didn’t get to experience and regretted leaving my forces behind to respond to the masters call. It made me furious to the point I would have been human, then so captured by the anger, the complete concentration on the thought drew me closer to the idea of the Masters deaths, but I knew the memory was there event though it was a lost and blocked experience throbbing on the forgotten memory of my torture.
Still months into my memory further on into the journey I found my army, smaller and chaotic where bands of discontented Digimon scattered and sat idle from the lack of activity. I stood miles off seeing the once proud division I made sitting in a valley in shambles discipline-less and ragged. It was miles away but I could hear the growls and snarls of them discontented from a previous battle from a city that they had lost against that also clamed its self to be free. Walking a crossed the dessert you’d be surprised to know you can hear news of events from travelers who don’t know your capabilities. I can remember hearing all about the shameful lose wondering if it was the commander I left in charge. If it was my army.
I looked down from my high perch while Vulpi still hung off of me, swatting her away proved to be a waste of time so I just let her do her thing until she let her paw move to sections of my body I had dubbed off-limits and she received a hearty backhand. Giggling wildly at the known erection she was causing. I had regained a little of my previous sense and didn’t want to destroy her. I warned her a few times a day to stop touching me but it never worked she rubbed my chest and yanked my tail playfully and I gave her a disciplinary whack for measure. Other than telling Vulpi to get away from me or giving a Digimon who looked at me wrong his final greeting I didn’t talk much. Vulpi took it on her self to warn Digimon about me playfully while she slid around me, but that day she was as silent as I was still holding her self in erotic form but starring down the knoll we where on at my army knowing I wanted violence. “Will we my lord?” she said anxiously as she scooted into my view. “What.” I said in cold response as I watched the sifting blob of Digimon far away in the valley. “Fight them all?” she giggled happily. I smiled over to her knowing that it was what I wanted from the evil aspect of my mind. “Yes I will.” I laughed as I came up from my knee feeling my scar throb in anticipation of the bloodbath I was going to undertake. I didn’t move for a while I just stood there and looked at the pathetic band of Digimon. Each one individually would be nothing but the numbers though insanely out of proportion to me seemed to be too much of a challenge to pass up. I opened my mouth and howled while my teeth dripped from the long-winded screaming howl I unleashed then I dashed to the valley miles away.
I laughed madly as I came down the slope of the knoll fallowed closely by Vulpi who proved to be almost equal to me. She smiled flatly as she sprinted along side me and we slammed into the first few Digimon with such tremendous force that they exploded into data sending their bits threw the next Digimon with the same effect. The shrapnel effect sent a panic threw the large Digimon and they blindly started attacking not caring who they where hitting as they blasted away with fireballs and punched around. I appeared on the arm of one Dark Greymon who looked at me standing on elbow and blinked in amazement at seeing his commander attacking his own forces. After the second or third blink I jumped towards his head and kneed him between the eyes cracking the helmet like skull he had and sending him rolling till he finally stopped and vaporized into data after crushing several Digimon as he painfully fell backwards. While I glided back to the ground I watched Vulpi attacking with the same strength and skill laughing causally at the destruction like it was a kiddy game at a carnival or some kind of date. Together we quickly decimated my forces on that end of the group only laughing madly as the defending Digimon attacked at us but missed killing their comrades and making the attack so much more gratifying with friendly fire.
I heard orders being screamed over the roar of attacks and looked around to see a group of commanders all huddled around trying to get in the middle to see the action. I jumped high into the air and crossed my arms while Vulpi almost didn’t notice me as I called out my attack directly above her. “BRIMSTONE!” and as I shouted it flaming rocks rained down on the Digimon while Vulpi playful dodged to the sides of the raining fire giggling like I was throwing tennis balls at her. My attack cleared out a small area to land and the data seemed to cloud above in the mix of dust and smoke I came down into the haze of the battle laughing wildly and dashed into a head butt with a Dark Metalgraymon dinting his armor and sending the humongous Digimon flying, soaring over the squads of Digimon defending there ranks futilely. I started to drop from my strenuous assault on the Digimon when a maze of bullets started to come from the direction I lunched the Metalgraymon in. I laughed manically and danced from the small metal objects between them gracefully to the ground rushing threw the many stunned and frightened Digimon to the first Gargomon and put my paw a millimeter from his face while he tried to swing his aim around. “Good night.” I said lowly as I blasted him away into a cloud of data. While I stood there for a second I gathered energy and felt it focused at my paws and I ran along the line of firing Digimon destroying their weapons with my flaming claws while chunks of digital metal fell away and the screaming Digimon fell backwards in pain from their damaged hardware. It was fun for hours. I lost Vulpi to the orgy of destruction and death and found my way to the other side of the army to the commander I had left in charge. My eyes where almost flaming from the amount of my dark energy was flowing threw my body and the light I cast turned every thing bright as day even though night had crossed the plains. “Hello.” I laughed as I came up and grabbed the familiar Digimon by the face and jumped to the heights of a tree and squeezed. “Wizardmon, how are you?” I mocked as the Digimon screamed in my grasp. “Ryokumon! What-What are you doing??” he screamed as he grabbed my arm and tried to beat the strength from me. “Making sure Digimon like you know I don’t like being betrayed.” I laughed as I looked away from him to the surrounding scattered Digimon quickly thinking as Vulpi launched brimstone at ground level ant close ranges giggling femininely. “Don’t please, you can have them!” he shouted as I crushed his face in to data and absorbed him.
I stood up and looked out over the dismembered army and shouted. “Listen up!!” I said feeling the smoke from my paws grow and swell into thick fogs as I spoke. “HEY LISTEN OR BE DELETED!” and a few Digimon stopped and turned to me while Vulpi dealt with the rest. “You fallow the orders of a traitor that makes you all traitors. I won’t tolerate it, if you want to live, RUN. If you’re the last one you had better let the digital world know that I’m not one to be thought of lightly.” Before I could finish Vulpi appeared beside me grinning from ear to ear showing teeth and we both put our paws out and aimed at the fleeing Digimon running in fear. In unison we shouted “BRIMSTONE!” and rained down in single shots on the running Digimon making them explode into clouds of data that accumulated above like angry rain clouds. Giving chase to the stragglers and after a week of ruthless hunting destroying all but one lowly DemiDvimon who was trying to fly away.
Vulpi leapt up to kill it but I shouted to her in mercy. “Vulpi no” I said calmly as she grabbed the little beach ball by the foot and drug him to the ground. She held him down while I leaned over top of him and laughed. “You’ve won the prize my friend.” I laughed as he looked up almost near hysterical tears. “Wha-Wha?” he said as he closed one eye forced into the sand. “You’re the only survivor. You won life.” I smiled as I put one claw near his open eye. “The only catch is telling about what happened here.” He gasped at the lack of reason I was talking and I continued. “Tell every one you meet it wasn’t for the masters, tell them it wasn’t for anyone. It was a hunt, if you don’t you’ll be the next victim and I’ll take away the prize.” I smiled simply as I ran my claw up to the leather mask he wore. “Do you understand?” I asked as he tried to nod with Vulpi’s knees on his wings. I frowned to Vulpi seriously and she pushed off of the small Digimon and let him fly away huffing in fear hopping I wouldn’t change my mind. I stood up and looked to Vulpi with a crooked smile, at the feet we just achieved and she sexually paced over to me and panted. “Good wok Vulpi.” I said simply as I put my paw out to stop her only to have her grab it and force her self to it making my paw press her soft furry breast. I yanked it away remembering Renamon again separating me from the gratifying slaughter and started walking.
Vulpi seemed to think it was extremely rude and huffed as she fallowed close rubbing up my sides and tried to awaken a lust for her that I didn’t have or want. I walked on into a white cloud as I looked up at the digital sky seeing the hazy white particles of the army I had devastated and let it fade into the real world sky as I noticed I was waking up from another dreamy memory. I felt like that for a while like I was still in that time recapturing the dark emotions I had holding all of the power and strength as I held the same sneer-full grin up to the sky till I remembered where and who I was. Shuttering at the thought of Vulpi’s gruesome strength and how I thought of her as an allay and a partner. At that time we where as strong as any army, stronger. Fighting together we where unstoppable, and if she was still alive she was unstoppable. I knew I was Ryoku, but I knew that Vulpi was still Vulpi. God fear the beast for what she could do if it came to a violent act. It wasn’t at the memory I hated her yet, but in my memory I knew it wasn’t far off. I could feel it.
For what she was it was likely I had no chance of defending against her. She was my equal. I may not have considered her that then but from her display of power she may have been stronger. Forcefully was the memory of the image. I was the victim then and I didn’t like the thought as much as I didn’t like it now…
Before the Travels
Bit was awake and munching on some of the bread in the bag for his morning rations. When he saw me raise my head he looked over to me not as blank as the night before but still within the frame of mind. “How you feeling today?” he said slightly worried. “Better thanks.” I said as I looked over to his bag of cloths he used as a pillow. “Aren’t you going to change?” I said thinking of other things. He looked down at his shirt and took a sniff at it. “Still clean.” He smiled at me. I was still trying to remember Vulpi at the time but I felt I should explain myself. “Look Bit I’m sorry.” I said as I rubbed the back of my head coming up with my human hair thinking I was Ryokumon it surprised me. He held out the hand with the bread in it and lightly laughed. “Don’t worry about it, I’m sure you had a good reason to freak out. Just try not to do it again you scared the hell out a me.” I smiled at his consideration and looked up to see him taking a bite from his bread thinking of the slight hunger I still had knowing didn’t need to eat.
“Want some?” Bit asked as he tossed the loaf of brad over to me. “Nah I’m good.” I said as I looked down, even though the bag was sealed I could smell the bread, it was a little old and there was a hint of mold coming from it. “We better eat it. It Might go bad in a few days.” Bit smiled as he finished off his slice. I sighed at him not being in the mood to argue and opened the bag to a much stronger small of mold but ate the bread anyway. I forced myself only to grab one piece and looked over to him while he starred back slightly amused. “What?” I asked as I let the bread roll off my lap. “Nothing.” Bit said as he stood up and patted the crumbs off his shirt. “Really what?” I asked as I looked down to the crumbling bread. He waited a little and the spoke as he gave me a nice look, from him and so abruptly, it scared me. “You really are human.” He said believing it for the first time. I didn’t smile really I think I could have taken that as a compliment but somehow I didn’t take it for anything but fact. “Before I ran away from my last foster home my ‘mom’ had a brake down. It was drug related and I think you’re a little smarter than that but she did almost the exact same thing.” I didn’t think of my little episode as a nervous breakdown but it made sense with how bad I lost it. “She had some serious financial problems and it got to her real bad. She almost put me to work around her house to make some money but thank god I got away before she went belly up.” He said as he made the gesture with his thumb fallowed by a whistle.
I gave a little smile at his luck but more of the misfortune of the person he was with holding some of the anger I had from the dream and channeling it to related topics. “I don’t think I should worry about money.” I said as I looked at my side remembering I still had my money in my pocket. Bit looked at me a little strange and I took it like he thought I was a bank robber or something. “It’s not like that,” I jumped, “I drained my college savings.” He nodded with a smile as he leaned over and picked up the bread and tied it off so he could put it back in the bag. “Well anyway I know you have your reasons. And as much as it pissed me off to listen to her whine at least I knew what she was saying.” He laughed as I recalled my babble and what memories I unlocked. “What where you saying anyway?” he asked letting his curiosity get the better of him. “Not sure,” I lied, “I can’t remember.” He didn’t need to hear my life’s story because that’s what it would end up being. “I know you remember, its not that easy to forget something like that.” He said as he leaned against the crates and smiled. He decided I was to high strung on the topic so he changed it. “Did a nice job.” He said as he gestured to the arranged lot. I didn’t know what he meant till he explained it. “Cleaning up and all.” I looked around strangely knowing what he meant and grunted ignorantly “Oh, that. You where awake?” I said as I looked at him. He laughed again and I realized that he was awake by how he rolled to me every time I moved around. “Yeah, I got out of a lot by faking being asleep.” I smiled knowing exactly what he meant. “Thanks for keeping these things from landing on Me.” he said as he tapped the crates with his knuckles.
I looked back at the crates and then back to Bit, “Why didn’t you move?” I said with a puzzled look. “I could have moved but I wanted to see what you’d do.” He replied as I looked down feeling stupid for not knowing it to begin with and also for doing it in the first place. I pushed up on the crates standing up grunting from the phantom pain of my wound and stretched a little. “You sure your all rite?” he asked again. “I’m good really.” I responded thinking he was asking about me emotionally. “With the hole in yer side?” he said pointing to my wound. I gave a little laugh and tapped it expecting pain from it but only felt the phantom pain. “It’s good too.” I said with a convincing fake smile. “Wasn’t last night.” he said as I realized he was awake while I was moving around the heavier things. I wasn’t warring my shirt yet, I never got around to putting it on so I leaned back down seeing the bullet wound in my side. Bit saw it too and watched it while I put my shirt on quickly to cover it up. I don’t know why but I felt embarrassed from the wound, not proud of it like I would have been if I where just my Digimon self. I took a deep breath and wondered what Bit would think of me if I put my past out in the open. I wasn’t going to tell him but the question was there while I thought of other things.
Bit leaned against the crates and looked at me strangely, something I can’t describe. Part of it I recognized, Trust. His eyes told me he had a level of trust for me not completely devoted but it was there to a respectable level. “When are we going to go look for Impmon?” Bit asked as he started to fiddle with a length of slack on his chain belt. “One more day.” I said as I remembered the thought of Impmon. Zero would look for me and I was at least considerate enough to wait for him, though I don’t know why. Something about Zero seemed familiar, distractingly familiar. While I drifted back to the memory of Vulpi, Zero was mixed into the bunch. he had that outward attitude she had but Zero and Vulpi? My god what twist of fate brought that around? The more I thought about it the more it made sense. It also made me want to hurl. I felt green as I compared personalities seeing the similarities and what was missing. For one thing if Zero was the Hunter and Vulpi was my servant. It was getting confusing quickly, and seeing Zero hang off me like Vulpi did gave me a twinge of sickness. “You ok?” Bit asked as he watched me twitch from the thought of Zero. “I’m OK really.” I laughed extremely embarrassed as I pushed the thought of Zero aside. I wanted to turn my head and puke that’s all there is to it. “So what do you want to do today?” I smiled reliving my stomach of the horrid metal picture. Bit looked at me and blinked. “Impmon comes to mind.” He said jokingly.
“I’m sure you remember that guy that was here last night,” I started, “Well I’d like to save myself the shock of him surprising me. We’ll wait till he comes back tonight then we’ll go after Impmon.” I said as thinking Zero’s name brought back the image. Bit leaned forward and relaxed on to on knee and smiled, “I know, I was just screwing with you.” he said as I turned around not seeing how it was funny. He gave a little laugh and I thought I should repeat the question before I went back to thinking. “Well, what’s your fancy kid?” I said turning back around slightly looking at him with from the corner of my scared eye.
Bit smiled and I knew I was in for a long day. He tried to take me to the underworld to hang around other misfits like himself but changed his tune when I told him I didn’t mind spending money. After that the day was filled with video arcades and fast food places. He can sure eat a lot when he doesn’t ration him self. For a human he was sure a hog. Smiling from ear to ear between burgers and thanking me. I can’t say I didn’t blame him he was a thin kid despite the fashionable cloths that hung from him making him look stronger than he actually was. I grinned in return as I ate my food. Then when I played the games in the arcades I was board by how slow they where to my senses. Bit begged me to beat the snot out of a sniper game in the arcade. I did it with computer skill and handling. It wasn’t a gratifying experience; every time I fired I expected the titan recoil of my rifle I left in the lot. Then there was the fact that I saw Zero on every 3D model of the opposing force. It was almost enough to make me want to stop if it weren’t for Bit and the growing crowd behind me rooting me on as I wracked up a near perfect score. At the end of each map the game said I was a first class sniper totaling all of my kills in head shots and anything else just to look almost normal from my rapid aim.
I beat the game in record time and the buzz of excitement behind me swelled as someone challenged me to a round of two-player sniper battle. “Sorry I can’t” I said as I started to leave the arcade feeling my chest almost cave in from the anxiety attack of defeating all of my human based opponents. Bit fallowed me out while I huffed and found me leaning against the glass window of the arcade. “I think that’s enough of that Ryoku.” Bit smile offly trying not to show too much that he understood what I went threw in there. I nodded and felt my phantom pain remembering my encounter with Zero and how it ended and what I could have done if the situation was as mundane as the game. Killing like I did in that game was like commanding my Dark army. It was frightening to think I used to enjoy things like that.
Bit took pity on me about five o’clock and we went back to the lot with him in my arms leaping from roof to roof. I went slow for him so he didn’t pass out. I was traumatized again at how my human life applied to my Dark existence, I didn’t even know it but I was screwed up from the day I got into such violent games. Feeling like that was almost enough to make me go religious. Bit sat down when we got back to our lot and watched as the sun started to set. I watched too knowing that it was original to this world. I looked over to Bit going to tell him a little about the digital world but he already went off to sleep, or at least that’s what he wanted me to think.
I watched the sun sink and remembered sitting in the digital world with Renamon watching the night sweep a crossed the plains. I grunted happily from the warmness of the memory and sat back in the form of Ryokumon. I held on to fond memories for as long as I could but fell back into my depression and disgust as I waited for Zero.
As you can imagine in the hours time frame I waited for him I had a lot of time to think. Even though I didn’t really want to I forced memories out that where as horrible as the last. This time they where about Zero, the Digimon Hunter. I felt I knew him in some way before I came to the real world and memory was the only way I’d find out but on what level?
As I explained Vulpi I’ll start off with how I think I meet Zero Back then I don’t remember much about him, compared to me in my Digimon form he was slightly taller thinner but just as fast and strong as any Ryokumon you could ever meet, being Dark made him no weaker to me than he was now. Then he wasn’t know as the hunter though I remember seeing him as a Digimon out of place in the digital world. HUMAN like is so many ways but completely different in others. He almost could pass for human in his true Digimon form, if not for a few things that drastically set him apart that I couldn’t remember at the time.
I can remember the time before I meet him while Vulpi was as persistent as ever to arose me never stopping or succeeding. Since she was mine I didn’t let any other Digimon touch her and she wouldn’t let any other Digimon touch me. This was proven when we passed threw a village with a place called a hunters guild in it. Full of beast type Digimon no Darks where aloud not that they tried to stop them from coming in but we weren’t aloud to join. When I blatantly ignored the bouncer Digimon at the door and walked in I had to restrain Vulpi from making a scene walking into the place I can remember turning around and looking out the door for a brief instant seeing the trees of the forest plains smiling at something I did earlier that satisfied my thirst for destruction temporarily. The small club like building was filled almost to capacity as a group of strong looking pure Digimon gathered around and talked about hunts and kills. I could see that most of the Digimon had paired off into there own kind or male female groups. What discussion crossed over tended to be short. Vulpi annoyed me again reaching for forbidden sectors and I grabbed her paw sensing she was about to go to far. What I had left of my pure mind told me not to slap her in public but to restrain the wandering paw before she forced me to strike her. “Not here Vulpi.” I said as I listened to the tales a group of Renamon where discussing close by. I want really listening but watching them as a few of them reminded me of my mate in certain futures: the length of their ears, the way they wore their gloves and as bad as it sounds the way they fiddled with their chest hair.
A few loner Digimon sat in booths around the main floor and had drinks of distilled data packets and looked over the rest. At first I didn’t notice it but I could see a few Dark Digimon in that part watching me murmuring to them selves under the cover of the loud conversation going on in front of me. “You think its him?” a Flymon asked to another sitting a crossed from it. “I hope not, the Masters warned us about him.” I turned my head from the conversation trying to remember Renamon again knowing my Darkness had forced itself into that part of my mind only leaving me with a few memories of Renamon to cherish. One of the Renamon in a conversation with a Ryokumon turned to me and gasped to my surprise, I was looking at her tail and in the digital world that’s as bad as starring at a female humans butt. She shot me a growl and I returned it while the Ryokumon she was speaking to gritted his teeth and held him self back from ripping my throat out. “Do you have a problem?” I mocked as he growled for the honor of the female he was speaking to. He would have spoken but the female put her paw over his muzzle and scooted them both away lovingly. I watched it feeling sad inside but retained my angry posture while Vulpi gave another go as caressing me. I shot my ears up into an offensive glare and looked at her glossed over red eyed and she stepped back sexually and placed one paw on her breast and gave me a taunting sexual growl. Its just one of those little things she did that always pissed me off. I looked to the ceiling of the wood reinforced grass hut and huffed from the club depriving myself from the Renamon and the memory of my own. I had the feeling then that those Flymon where talking about me, it had been months since I had destroyed my former army and then months on that where the little DemiDvimon told the tale of what I did. I’m sure you saw this coming but from my strength I was called the Hunter, the Digimon Hunter. As it turns out I heard the second hand story of the DemiDvimon, he was part of my army but he abandoned it weeks before and for a whole night he heard Digimon running around him. While Vulpi and I picked them off one by one not caring about allegiances. From the story he sounded pretty rattled and cursed him self for leaving getting to miss that much action. Thinking it was my army doing all the killing till a few weeks later after all the violence had stopped Vulpi picked him from the sky and the ‘Digimon Hunter’ spared him and told him to tell the tale. He looked for the army not believing they where all gone but never found them. An entire army sixteen thousand strong, destroyed by one.
Flattering yes, I knew I had help but I didn’t acknowledge it then. The commanders that I came a crossed away from their squads all looked at me like they knew what I had done, like I was so obvious and individual even though I had meet many Ryokumon commanders over my travels threw the digital planes. Every one I saw seemed just as ruthless as I was but hardly any of them had a tag along like I did. Most of them also seemed to be as devoted to the Masters as Vulpi was. That was the only real way I felt individual to the rest of them. I didn’t want to serve the Masters I wanted to kill them. I wanted their power, their DATA! As I walked out I caught sight of a strange Digimon rolling around the bits of data packet he had in his make shift glass and eye me from the corner of his face. He sat in the shadows as much as I do and looked at me grievingly as some of my old pure Digimon friends used to do. It gave me a cold shiver up my back and I ignored it as I left the hut trying to pry Vulpi away from my tail as she tried to play with me. I stopped at the door as a joint in my tail popped painfully and said in a cold growl to Vulpi “If you don’t let go you’ll regret it.” and she did in her usual discontented grunt. I walked to the edge of the small village seeing Dark minions pushing around the occupants of the village. Small rookies or weak champions not caring about type or name I strolled along trying to recall Renamons smile, I heard steeps coming up behind me thinking it was Vulpi and turned around just as the Renamon I was watching ran into me, I lost my evil commanding attitude temporarily and said “Sorry.” For the first time with a slight smile on my face, her shocked expression from my stop reminded me of my Renamon. “What?” she said not believing she heard the word from a Digimon of my kind. “Sorry, I thought you where someone else.” I said backing away from the female thinking it was publicly to close for strangers.
“You where watching me in the guild.” She said gaining her senses. I nodded feeling slightly embarrassed and she spoke words I didn’t expect to hear. “A Renamon I knew said that her mate looked at her the same way.” I looked up to her eyes to see she was slightly depressed from saying it. “In the dessert plains.” I dropped one ear in curiosity and she said the name. “She said if I ever meet a Ryokumon who gave me that look I should call her Starlight.” and I froze in place letting the red tone over my eyes disappear from the shock of the name. “When?” I said gathering my mind to think. “Almost two years ago.” She said as I saw Vulpi marching up in a huff for some reason. “She misses you. She wants you to come…” she said before Vulpi came up and slammed her paw threw the Renamons back shattering her into bits of data enraging me. “VUPLI!” I screamed at the top of my lungs returning to my commanding attitude temporarily losing the thought of what she said. Vulpi laughed at me childishly and turned around letting her breast moved as she gave me a little dance trying to look innocent. “What?” she giggled. I raised my finger to her muzzle again, not knowing what I was angry about and she licked it playfully and made me stutter and completely lose what I was going to say.
I grunted and huffed as I turned around to the red glow my Dark energy produced when I was furious. A small Dark Gargomon was in my way and I picked him up by the arm and swung him around like a cardboard box and threw him at Vulpi as if he didn’t matter. She simply put out her paw and stopped the flying Digimon and let him shatter so she could absorb him when she broke him in half. Vulpi put on a confused look and I ranted out of the village into an endless forest jumping to trees to Vulpi’s amusement trying to lose her but made no progress getting tired after a few hours finding a small cave near a lake. I sat in the cave for hours boiling over the thought of the kill Vulpi had made wondering why it mattered till I remembered what she was saying before she was absorbed. “Starlight.” I said out loud still angry with Vulpi but losing my red eyes to my cold blue ones as I looked out of the cave at the clear waters remembering Renamon watching me sit and look out over villages we where protecting. I sighed at the thought remembering Renamon knowing I was the opposite of what she loved. “Come back?” I finished the Renamons final words, she spoke in English, in this plain there was hardly a Japanese speaking Digimon around, ‘How can I go to her like this?’ I thought knowing I had said the same thing as Ryoku now. I turned my head to see Vulpi silently coming into the cave and all fours letting her cleavage hang from under the braids she wore in her chest fur. “Go away Vulpi.” I growled less commanding than I usually was just showing annoyance in my voice and a hint of sadness. “You seem so tense my lord, let me stay a while.” She giggled as she came up and place her paws on my knees and pushed her self up scrapping her breast on my knees. I gasped at the advance and reared back a slap holding it knowing it wouldn’t be rite to strike her, darkness and evil in me continued the movement and she fell to my side holding her face and playfully growled while she squirmed back up into the same position. I jutted my paw out to her face clinched showing claws gathering energy for an attack that I knew she couldn’t dodge at that range. “Leave.” I said mildly angry and she crawled away sadly and went to sit at the mouth of the cave.
I wasn’t going to go for more privacy, I knew that was all she was going to give me but I couldn’t look at the lake with out seeing her and it made me mad. As I tried to think of Renamon I looked out of the cave seeing Vulpi smile into me femininely reminding me of what she did as I tried to look past her to remember Renamons eyes. Two years up to that point and I hadn’t really thought of her until I meet Vulpi, honestly the name bugged me, how many Digimon had names? “Why are you called Vulpi?” I said looking over squinting angry at Vulpi while she giggled, “That is what the Masters called me.” she smiled as she rolled around the corner of the cave and laid flat on her chest letting her breasts bulge out as she smothered them against the rock cave gasping at the cold moist stone. I picked a dry rock to sit on thankfully. She pushed up to show her wet fur and semi erect nipples, if I where human I would have blushed profusely. She put one claw out with a giggle and tweaked them as I turned around for a second, I should have known better because she was waiting for that. “Why?” I asked trying to hold down my peaking erection. She hummed in curiosity and giggled out, “I don’t know. Would you like to give me a new name my lord?”
My eyes sank down to annoyance and I moved my cupped paws from over my sheathe and pointed at her, “No now leave me alone.” I said feeling embarrassed as I leaned over squeezing out a little more of my erection then cupping back over it while Vulpi laughed. I grunted like she did in her discontent also feeling embarrassed for letting her see me like that. “It’s so big.” She mocked as she rubbed one of her breasts. I kept one paw over my erection and pointed the other at her. “Don’t even think about it.” while she started to crawl into the cave letting her nipples slide a crossed the cold stone making me more angry than aroused. I felt the memory leave me to the cold emotionless anger for the Masters as I crossed my arms setting up for an attack I she would never be able to block. “Get out.” I said coldly as my paws smoked and she sat down on her side and looked up to me lovingly I growled as she sat there and looked down at my self wondering why I had a hard on. Completely forgetting what I was thinking about, I turned around and Vulpi giggled, “What are you so afraid of my lord? I’m only female.” I turned my head to her so my front wouldn’t show and growled, “Your not my mate, you’re a useless servant.” When I said it I remembered my train of thought.
I didn’t want to harm her but I wanted to get rid of her and at present I knew she could chase me down to the ends of the digital world. As I sighed in the memory I sighed in the lot looking up as I heard the sound of Zero stalking over me. I gave a smile at the composure I had retained from the memory now not nearly as affected by it and boldly said, “Report.” and Zero did so with a bow. “Nothing new my lord, all but the majors forces approaching as I speak. They are still a day off but I’d recommend changing position to let them pass.” I waved at him not worried about the military.” arrogant from the memories and Zero looked at me strangely. “Anything else?” I said as I looked over to Bit seeing him rolled in the opposite direction. He calmed the arrogates in me and I just glared at Zero calmly not wanting to harm him as much. “Nothing on the doctor he seems to have disappeared.” I looked down at my feet seeing I was still Ryokumon and twiddled my toes. If the doctor was missing then something could be going on. “Lord Ryokumon?” Zero said slightly concerned and out of character and I looked up to the name simply because it was a cross of what I knew and what he called me. “Ryoku, Zero and you know it.” I said as Zero looked at me slanted. “Is that all Zero?” I said finally braking his stair. He nodded and in his strange way of acting all the time it was hard to place what he was doing. “Do you wish anything my lord?” Zero said in a new tone that stunned me slightly as if he was holding a sense of worry. Which I didn’t think he was capable of. “What do you know about where the military is holding the Digimon?” I asked as Bit grunted in his ‘sleep’. Zero looked straight ahead and his look vanished for a second and he returned to normal. “Every thing.” He said with a slight worried smile. Pushing it aside for other more important things, I asked, “Do you know if they have an Impmon where ever they’re keeping them?” Zero’s face went blank again and after a few seconds. “No my Hunter, they have never had an occupant that matches the description of an Impmon. Neither in archive or present roster.” He faded off into his worried stair and I waved my hand at him so I could think, “Go behind the crates for a minuet your distracting.” He bowed and complied with almost absolute loyalty and silently walked around the corner of the crates. Now Zero was starting to scare me, I mean really scare me. Usually he was a smart ass always picking fun but now he was more like a zombie to me, doing exactly what I said and nothing more or less. “Whish Vulpi would have done that.” I grunted as I thought about what I remembered so far. I heard a gasp and I looked over to Bit who was still out for the night then over to Zero’s corner. “What?” I said out loud as I leaned over and stretched my wound creating a wave of pain that made my arm collapse and I fell onto my face. “What did you just say my lord?” Zero said as he peeked from around the pile of crates. I grunted out a “Huh?” while I tried to pick myself up and he repeated his question “That name? What was it?” he said with serious interest. I closed my eyes and searched my feeling on weather I should tell him or not but only came up torn between human emotion and my Digimon intelligents, but all around emotion won and I slowly gave out the name as I leaned back against the crates. “Who…Vulpi?” I said wondering what his reaction would be.
Zero let his eyes shift around in paranoid thought for a few second and stuttered out “You’ve shown me several traits a Digimon I knew once had, The true Digimon Hunter.” He started as he bowed him self from around the crates like I was royalty. “Vulpi was his mate.” He said and I shot up “Servant, ser-vant! They gave her to me.” I said as I put a finger out how I did to Vulpi not knowing it at first but recognizing it after a second. “You are Lord Ryokumon.” Zero said as he put his hand out for me to shake, making me very wary of him. “What was I to you?” I said as he dropped his hand not knowing what I was going threw. “You know me, I was Zero!” he said offended as he turned around. “I’m having a time remembering every thing Zero, I didn’t even remember Vulpi for the longest time!” Zero half turned around with the angry second-before-the-kill look on and relaxed it “I wish I could explain to you my lord but this body forbids me.” I gritted my teeth and tried not to howl in frustration I felt the anger rise up again as started cursing Heto in Japanese not knowing why but just drawn to his name and actions to distract me from the agony of not remembering and remembering. “Until you remember me I am of no use other than you new servant my lord. What do you wish of me?” he said sadly.
I growled with my human voice and flopped on the ground, the memories where horrible but it was my new obsession. I had to know what Digimon I knew, how and why. I may have been Dark but I still lived a life, no matter how gruesome and evil I was. When I came to the real world I was pure. I was sure at that point I fought off the darkness and if in my other life was a way to do it I wanted to know. I finished my human growl and sighed and looked at a spot on the ground. “Orders stand.” I said simply almost exhaustedly. “Will that be all you need of me?” Zero said with his new loyal tone. I thought for a second in problems I had at that time other than my pursuers and to the promise I made to Bit. “No,” I said looking up to Zero, “I need a bag for my friend here. Make sure your back by morning we have a new hunt to undertake together” and with that Zero smile for the first time without a hint of childish glee with a deep respect for me I didn’t know why he had and vanished into what was left of the night to do what I had asked.
Now I knew Zero meant something to me, after Vulpi before I came to this world. He seemed to be close to me and how I didn’t know. ‘Back to my memories for answers’ I thought as I sank back down to the spot in the dirt feeling the dreamy state I use to recall my pass over me, and the world reappeared and I lived my Darkness over again…
Offender
!!!!CAUTION!!!!! This chapter contains material of sexual nature. If you are not of at least 18 years of age please skip over this chapter, almost none of this applies to the story line, it will be referred to but not in enough light to need to be necessarily read. I will take no responsibility for under aged readers. Read at own discursion !!!!CAUTION!!!!
I opened my eyes in the digital world again a few days away from where I last remembered myself sitting, my almost real time memories came out in order which meant experiences where unavoidable, learning why Vulpi made me so angry was not to far off and it seemed almost instantaneous after I opened my eyes. I didn’t move from the cave in the forest plains for days I didn’t see a reason to wander for a while, I was thinking of my mate while I fended off Vulpi’s seductive on slot forgetting my purity for a while then coming back to it mostly in memory and not in outward attitude. When I came around to holding my calmer state of mind Vulpi would come up to me and caress me arousing me and succeeding. When I came back to my darkness I wondered how she had done it when I felt nothing for her. Hormones and thermions weren’t wafting in the air, or at least I couldn’t smell them. Then my senses where hundreds of times what they where now. Mostly I was the one who gave off the aromas with my cock being exposed so much from her sexual contact with me. It was extremely tiring and I seriously wanted it to stop. Both then and as I remember it. I was close to making sure she didn’t touch me then while I was Dark too close actually in fact that’s how I hated her.
While I sat sitting on my dry rock Vulpi rolled in the water coming off of the rocks making her fur mat down to her body and show her figure, while her moist touch came close to me all I greeted it with at first was a growl and a shot from my eyes, it stopped her at first but then she realized that it was all I would do unless she got closer. Lost in thought I didn’t see her coming most of the time and she came up once or twice and gave me a grab forcing my soft cock from my sheathe almost every time. It didn’t make me hard though so all she got was a snap of my jaw in her direction and a swipe making her laugh sexually. After she fondled me I’d watch her crawl back away trying not to let the grab she gave me turn into a full-blown hard on. I could control it to a point but instinct at how my mind looked at things worked my body and slid my thickening cock from my sheathe till I could cool down. For two or three days all I could smell was myself, Vulpi was almost invisible to my sense of smell dew to the amount of my hormones she put in to the air when she seductively slid away. I could ignore my own scent which was a bad move; if I had paid more attention to it I would have known she was coming by how it thinned as her scent came threw mine.
Ignoring it the most was when I was asleep, extremely open to her sexuality. Again trapped in thought; focusing all of my mind on my purity, gaining myself for times between Vulpi’s grabs. Remembering Renamon as we made love so many times before and how pure it was to care for her brought a warm smile to my otherwise motionless stationary face. While I slept I usually waited for Vulpi to fall a sleep before me, and that time I assumed she was, while I remembered the love Starlight and I shared she must have seen my smile and come over to me. I felt a warm three fingered paw touch my chest not as skilled as Renamon was but it felt good and a picture of Renamon sitting in my lap running her fingers threw my chest fur made me feel aroused, then I thought I was nothing more than a real dream while I remembered with the action of Renamon massaging my sheathe. As two of the three fingers of her paw ran up my sheathe arousing me further to the point I could feel the ball of my cock hardening and throbbing wanting to join Renamons sex in a long loving embrace. I gasped as I felt teeth wrap around my cock and saw the image of Renamon sitting between my legs looking up at me with my cock in her mouth while my own seed dripped from her lips to our burrow floor. I felt my mouth being forced open and I moaned as lips pressed to mine and I shot from my sleep to see Vulpi kissing me deeply, I pulled my head back from the shock of waking up from a dream like that and bashed my head against the wall. I felt her lean into me and the image of Vulpi I saw as I touched my weapon came into full focus as he pressed my shoulders back and bounded her cleavage up into my face.
I could tell she was bothered as she hovered her sex above my already aroused and completely unsheathed cock. “Get off me!” I shouted as Vulpi used her mouth to shut me up kissing me on the lips as I struggled to get away from her grasp. “Get off! Get off!” I shouted in mumbles as she kissed me long and erotically licking my teeth as I talked and snapped trying to catch her, suddenly ending the kiss to arch her self to me sitting on my lap still holding me against the wall. I could feel my cock throbbing to one side of her tail as she swished it up and down it. She looked into my eyes and I felt my pure senses trying to fight to stay on the surface of my mind while she started to speak. “The Masters where rite,” she laughed near my face, “it is more fun when you take control.” She said before she liked my nose making me finch. My head was sore and I was sure there was a lump but she didn’t care, she was to busy holding me down despite my struggle. She slid her paws down my arms making it easier for me to move my elbows but I still couldn’t brake her grasp as she forced me into the hard rock wall of the small cave. I noticed I couldn’t move my feet apart then as I tried to kick but feeling my legs where tied off at my knees, I gave a growl as I looked around in the low light of the night seeing the light from the real world shine off the surface of the lake into the cave. Vulpi wasn’t warring her gloves from what I saw of her and the only thing she had on was her chest fur hair ties. When she got down to my paws she put a foot on the object that was holding my knees together while I tried to knee her in the face but her strength was forcing me into the moist floor of the cave while she went down to continue to suck my dick.
“Vulpi if you don’t let me go!” I started only to be turned into a yelp as she bit lightly into my dick looking up while a small stream of my seed ran from her smiling mouth with my dick throbbing between her teeth. She pulled back off of my cock scrapping her teeth roughly off pinching the end making me shoot to the roof of the cave while I was bonded to the rock I sat on. “Vulpi.” I said lowly as she stood back up on the tie around my knees. “Hush my lord, enjoy it.” she said as she pulled my paws from the wall forcing my elbows painfully inward while she held both paws and bent down on the cave floor for something. At first I thought it was a vine but as she tied the lose fabric around my paws I recognized it as he glove, tightly wrapping it around my wrists while I growled at her in pain losing some of my pure sense to her opportunity to force her self on me. “Once I get out of this Vulpi I SWARE you’ll regret it!” I said as she moved my paws back around my head so my elbow where pointing up and but the fabric of her gloves under my tail and forced me to sit on my tail making it so I couldn’t move any thing but my torso. She placed one paw after another on my lap above my dick skillfully as if she had it planed out or had done it before and made sure I was sitting on my tail the entire time then came down on her own paws forcing my dick to ride her tail again. I growled out at the cutting sensation of her gloves on my wrists and the pain of my tailbones being forced into the rock I was on not seeing I could move enough to get a good solid bite on her.
She ran he index finger up my chest stopping at my chest fir then rubbing over from side to side making my nipples erect as my cock was. Moving them away as I growled to her lips and quietly went “Shh, enjoy it.” she smiled as her other paw moved around her ass to my dick and pressed it against her tail; Squeezing the ball of my cock between her fingers and pulling up as well as towards. Letting out a moan as she brushed it against the cheek of her soft and moist ass. I could feel she was ready to take me from how much of her juices where on my stomach soaking my fur filling my nose with the smell of senders and cherry blossoms. She smelled like destruction and it almost invigorated me past my anger. “Get OFF ME Vulpi!” I screamed in her face as she reached around my head and forced the top of my head into her large breasts letting the soft (yet firm) appendages slap my eyes as she bounced up and down on my dick making me spurt around the back of the cave every few motions. I fought the feeling trying not to moan as she tried to pleasure my cock still feeling it and feeling ashamed by it. “VUL-PI GET-OFF-ME!” I shouted in huffs as I tried to resist her.
She slowed down after a few minuets coming to a stop letting my head go back and looked into my eyes again while I drug my nose up her large breast. She rested on my lap again and stuck the paw she had used to erect my nipples to reach down to her sex and come back with a finger coated in fur and her sexual lubricant pungently smelling of her scent. She slowly took a lick of it and swallowed softly the mix of my fur and herself then playfully wiped the rest of it on my muzzle where I could smell it. She laughed for a second still with my cock in her paw and when I started to growl she gave me a twist making me yelp as my dick almost completely turned around. The scar around my eye throbbed in time with my dick and I felt over heated as I huffed from how much seed I pumped out in her orgasmic spasm. “I-swear-Vulpi. I’ll-Kill-You-where-you-stand-if-you-don’t-let-me-go.” I huffed heavily making my words sound like one drawn out asthmatic syllable. “But we haven’t gotten to the best part yet my lord.” She giggled huffing just as hard as I was but not controlling it to sound erotic as she reached back down between her startled legs and rubbed her clit moaning and bouncing her chest in my face. Which gave me time to rest while she pleasured her self. I tried to struggle free but I knew how strong the fabric of her gloves where and they wouldn’t brake unless she was destroyed. They where a kind of soft armor in a sense, flexible and comfortable unless she uses them to tie you down, then they where stronger than a titanium cable.
I jumped and squirmed bouncing her up and down making her moan louder with my struggles helping her reach another climax till I felt her let go of a volume of famine cum much like Renamon had given me before I left her on my journey. My stomach was covered in it and her scent lapped at my nose burning with passion reeking of female thermions ripping at my instinct which was trying to make me fuck her brains out but I resisted. Not only for Renamon, my Starlight, but for myself and my honor. I was being raped and I didn’t like it, it may have had the sensation of sex but it wasn’t enjoyable. Looking at her in that memory I can only say that from one side of my cock. My struggles didn’t end even after she finished her climax and I bounced up and down while she squeezed my cock in her paw trying to make me yelp, to stop moving so she could do her next sexual act. I growled and screamed and yelped all at the same time while a load of cum shot from my dick not from pleasure but from pain I felt like it was going to snap with how hard she was squeezing and reliving pressure was the only way my body knew to stop it. I put my head back and gritted my teeth trying to save my strength to push her off and she almost stood up then rammed her self back down on top of my dick in one shrill mutual pleasurable gasp. “You are so BIG.” She gasped as she pressed her paw into my stomach to make sure I wouldn’t move. When she pressed hard enough to satisfy her she rose up from my lap and then back down slowly quivering in pleasure as her vagina started to drip from the gentle motion and flow of my cock cuming inside her. She gave grunts of satisfaction as she slowly turned up the pace and I gasped trying to hold my nut back while I was helpless to watch as she forced her self on my man hood. “NO, VULPI! NO!” I shouted in protest not having any effect on her while she arched for ward and brushed her hard nipples a crossed my face beating my cheeks and eyes with the small dangerous extensions.
I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth no longer capable of holding it in and exploded into her wet vagina; spraying it all over my abdomen running down my leg while she screamed in writhing pleasure. “That’s It My lord, Give In!” she shouted as she pounded down to the ball of my cock still in her other paw. Grasping it and forcing it forward on to her clit as she bounced off of my mid section dripping with the fluids we created and let run down my rocky seat. I felt her lift up my ball as she pushed down and I pulled away trying not to let the ball of my cock enter her. “YES!” she shouted as a sudden pop erupted my full member to her insides blowing a load to the reaches of her sex.
She stopped for a moment and took a long quivering breath and leaned forward on my stomach and pushed my head up with her sex soaked hand and kissed me on the lips, I was still saving my energy to fight back so I didn’t resist and she stuck her tongue in and massaged mine to my disgust. I closed my eyes while she did and grunted as I felt another load of post movement cum boiling up and filled what little space was in her vagina. She leaned back after the kiss and yanked on my cock pulling at the lip of her vagina creating a small fountain of my seed spraying into my fur reliving the pressure on the inside of her slit. She leaned forward again after I felt the pressure relived and smiled at me nose to nose while I scowled at her tasting my own nut in my mouth. “That wasn’t so bad was it?” she giggled as I shot my face to the side and made one thrust catching her off guard toppling her over leaving her hanging by my cock while she yelped in pain and grasped her sex while I tugged on my binds and didn’t rip them or even tare but yanked a paw free from the tightly wrapped glove and reared back a flaming punch and came down on her head with out the slights fear or regret, completely separated form my pure emotions I had held onto threw out the coarse of the sexual offence. I looked down at her as her head bounced off of the hard stone floor and was left all but lifeless carrying a pained expression hanging from my member. It was hard as the stonewalls around me but it didn’t stop me from painfully forcing her off of the ball of my cock making her yelp unconsciously at the pain of removing something that big around from a hole that big. I growled down at her as I sat back against the rock looking down between her sprawled leg at her dripping sex, even after that I wanted to mate. Not with her, with my Starlight. Seeing her sprawled out like that reminded me of what Renamon looked like just after she had just fallen asleep.
I sat there with my hard on starring at her sex wanting to fuck it myself for the memory of Renamon, but didn’t because Starlight was my one true love and I knew it, always will. I’ll never forget how close we where, err I mean are. Then it was a lot of effort to control myself but I knew I’d go back to her. Vulpi disgusted me with that act so much all I wanted to do was get away but she was as much of a hunter as I was, I would be merely challenging prey for her to fallow. She may not go into the hunt looking for a kill but she would find me lusting for other things than my data to absorb. She’d want me in form.
That wasn’t what I wanted though, I wanted to be free of her, I wanted to be free of the Masters. She was now a source of anger, but as I thought of Renamon she seemed as untouchable as the masters making my moral code forbid me from harming her. The most I could do was strike her, destroying her would be too much for my pride to bare. So what was I left with in that time? Then I didn’t know as my eyes left the glare of anger behind and my erection slowly sank back into my sheathe I started to feel pure again. Controlling the anger and coming back to my senses seeing the form I once had come back in my minds eye.
I wasn’t free of my anger then, far from it, but knowing I had another side to my mind brought me peace and set me aside from my overwhelming anger of my tortures. I could live burdened. More importantly I could live…
Dawn
I woke up smiling that the memory was over back in the lot still a few hours before sunrise near tears at realizing that I wasn’t strong because I was part tamer. Or because I was part Digimon. I was near tears because I had always held onto Starlight’s memory even when it seemed I couldn’t. The hardest times: torture, rape or pain. She was so much a part of me that I couldn’t let her go even if I where dieing, or left for dead. The memory was over and I still wanted to know where I went from there but when I woke up I had learned enough about myself for that day. I didn’t need to examine my past with a heavy heart for my actions. I knew that Renamon loved me after I came back. She proved that here when we meet after I found Leo again. I looked up to the sky happy wanting to be near her again, not because it would be the last time. Not because I was telling her goodbye. Because I knew I loved her. She was who I was meant to spend my life with and that’s all that seemed to matter at that time so I sat looking up to the sky feeling the sun invigorated me as it peeked out from over the tall mountains all around. Lighting the sky in brilliant display of light changing the color of the sky from deep looking purples to orange to blue as it rose proudly above the peak of the majestic mountain.
My ears where straight forward and I had the widest smile I could ever have. I could remember Vulpi and my disgust for her but I forgave her for showing me how much I loved my mate. Lifting so much anger I had, dropping a load off of my mind I had carried even before I knew any of this. Sitting there feeling that much closer to purity with the faint presence of darkness fighting against the candle light flickering strongly in my mind. Now it wasn’t darkness, only shadows, corners of my mind only clouded by the metaphorical candle not reaching to the solitary masked corners of my confused hybrid mind. I looked over to Bit with Renamon in my mind and knew I wanted a family more than ever. He looked cute as he scratched his head and tossed over trying to face away from the rising sun. I can’t say he felt like a son then, closer to a brother. Being an only child it was a new feeling. I’m sure all you people listening will say, “When did I ever feel like that?” but its mature love, like getting a sibling when your old enough to under stand the life. Old enough to wish for one you’ve created on your own. It was a beautiful thing a feeling that doesn’t last long but I’m sure most of you already knew that.
I let the feeling of joy fade while I sat back smiling just to be alive and looked up as the sun made the fence cast shadows into the lot covering Bit up to his shoulders waiting for something I knew was coming. I forgot Zero then and when he came into the lot with a military duffle bag full of provisions it startled me. “CRIST Zero!” I shouted as I jumped to the top of the crates standing on all fours with every-last hair on my body perked up in a sudden scream of fright as my instinct told me to attack. “Warn me before you do that!” I shouted as he blinked at me fairly amazed by my sudden reversion of attitude to what it was when he was hunting me. I think it made him happy to see it actually because he started to snicker childishly placing his free hand over his mouth trying to give me a little pride in holding some of the laugh back. “I’m sorry my lord, I truly am.” He said calming down. I gave a human growling huff and laid down on my stomach creating a little pain from my wound but felt like it was healing some how. “I brought the bag as you requested, also what the humans call food and a small arm for the child.” I squinted at the thought as he pulled out a small handgun and smiled at it, Bit would love that. I think he missed his 22 he may not have shown it but his weapon was his. “Is there still any room in it?” I asked as I looked down to Bit moaning from the light reaching his eyes again and scooted around the bag to face the crates out of my view. Zero looked down into the bag and unzipped a small zipper in the bottom letting a lot of the bag fall in on its self. “Yes quite a bit in fact my lord.” He smiled as he looked up. I smiled back at him seeing the genuine warmness from him. “What shall we hunt my lord?” Zero asked as he took the strap of the bag off and set it down near my bag “I think I was a little misleading Zero, we’ll be ‘looking’ for someone.” I said as Zero cocked his head. “I raised a few problems between this kid and his Digimon partner so I think it’s only rite to fix it.” Zero nodded fallowing what I meant. “That is why you asked me of that Impmon. Is that correct my Hunter?” I nodded in return and pushed myself up from the crates feeling a little stiff from my night of leaned over dreaming.
“We leave today, but I’m not to sure of where to start.” I said as I pushed my self back to my but letting my tail happily sway from side to side while I pressed the pads of my feet together to sit bowlegged. Zero smiled again and tilted his head. “You seem happy Hunter.” He said fairly flatly for the expression. I huffed and smiled while remembered the actions not warmly but what they meant metaphorically “I remembered Vulpi.” I said simply and he put on a more puzzled look. “But you said you wanted nothing to do with her?” Zero said out like I had told him the memory making me shift forward wondering how he knew. “How do you know?” I asked curiously yet friendly. “Your telling me my lord that you remember that harlot but not me?” he said playfully. He chuckled nobly and I slightly joined him saying “You’re not going to tell me are you?” he shook his head and made a childish gesture by pulling down one eye lid and sticking out his tongue with a fallowing giggle. “No my lord you told me never to remind you if we ever crossed paths.” My look sank as I knew I would have said something like that out of anger, but I respected it knowing that it was necessary. It didn’t just make for a good story but it was a fact of honoring him to abide by my own whishes.
After a few minuets of silence Zero asked me what I remembered sending a flaring heat into the pit of my stomach as I considered telling him. “Vulpi’s wrong against me,” I said only giving that, “and maybe an hour after that.” He nodded and stepped away from the crates as I looked down to Bit trying to keep a little secret past his covert way of listening in. “If you can remember you came to me almost the next day,” He said only giving me that, “I must say that you doing so was a true inspiration. I can’t think of anyone as bold to resist as you my lord.” He praised up to me making me look down knowing I was blushing under my fur. I wasn’t some kind of super hero I’m just in love. It’ll do that to you. We both sat around for about an hour trying not to give too much of our stories from either perspective waiting for Bit to wake up. I hopped down and paced around after a few minuets letting the active Digimon in me get the better of my motor functions as I walked around happier than I had in months letting my tail puff out and sway peacefully along the small figure eight I was carving with my feet while Bit tossed over a few times finally coming around to great the day.
Zero beat me to greeting him with the morning by saying “Good morning my child, did you sleep well?” surprising Bit making him flop over back wards and tap the ground behind him. I laughed a little while Bit looked over to see me smiling at him. “What’s the deal?” he asked groggily as he let out a long gasping yawn. “We’re leaving today. Zero says we don’t have much time to get away from the military so we’d better get moving as soon as possible.” Bit stood up as he looked around the lot rubbing his back as he gave another yawn, “Sure, sure, but first I want to eat something.” He said as he walked over to the bag of food while Zero leaned over to the duffle full of MRE’s and other assorted military foods and tossed him a small packet of breakfast to munch on. “This is good for you by what the supply men said at the air force base.” Zero said as he stood back up and smiled over to me while Bit caught the green hermetically sealed packaged and looked over at me. “What is this space food?” Bit asked as he chomped down on the green plastic bag and ripped it open with his teeth. “Nah, military rations. You’ll like um’. I’ve had some they’re pretty good now-a-days.” I smiled as Bit pulled out what looked to be oatmeal or cereal and a muffin and instant Hi-C, opening the bags seeing that it mostly needed water. “Looks like space food to me.” he grunted as he took a Fruit Loop from one of the bags and ate it. Zero looked over to me unaware of the humor Bit was giving so I cleared it up “He’s kidding. All it needs is a little water.” I said looking around realizing that that was in short supply around us. “I’m sorry.” Zero bowed to Bit apologizing like he was a royal air. Bit looked at to Zero strangely in mid chew of his cereal and then to me and I slightly pushed an embarrassedly smile at Zeros action tapping him on the back going threw his military dress camouflage. “It’s OK Zero you couldn’t have known.” and he stood straight up bitting his lip like he was about to be beheaded.
“It’s ok Zero.” Bit said taking the slack off me and reliving Zeros expression. “What kind of a name is Zero anyway?” Bit asked forwardly to Zeros shock and my surprise. Making us both stutter. Zero said something that could have been accepted in the digital world of new Digimon. “It’s my designation from my programmer, I am Zero Venom. I was programmed and placed on the Internet to sabotage servers and that’s why I’m called Zero.” He said plainly thinking it would be accepted while I just giggled offly knowing how strange it must have sounded. Bit looked back over to me and grunted out a dry mouthed “Uh-hu.” and continued munching away at his small serving of cereal. I think that Zero should have used an abridged version of his Digimon name but maybe it was asking a little much from him to change his mind. Bit thankfully let it slide as not to embarrass me further and the morning rolled on as Bit tried to down the dry packet of oatmeal looking a little sick from how it must have dried him out, finally coming to the muffin which seemed to give him a little bit of moisture on his tongue.
Bit stood up and patted off the powder of the instant flavored oatmeal and smiled as he grabbed his bag with an eager smile, “Lets go!” he shouted as he put his arm into the sky. “First things first,” I grinned as Zero looked over to me, “Zero has something for you.” Zero, who didn’t know what I was talking about till I made the gesture with my paw trying to make the clicking sound with the inside of my Digimon cheeks unsuccessfully gathered what I meant and pulled the pistol from the bag. “9MM Glock Pro capable of single, three round or full auto fire. Use this weapon well my child.” He said as he pulled out the fairly small pistol reminding me of home with its unsheathing. I remembered how I came a crossed Leo’s shell and how the robber of that novelty shop welded the same weapon, though more weathered still the same thing. I didn’t need it but it looked impressive. Zero turned to me as he picked up my bag and handed it to me. “Do not forget your weapon, Hunter.” He smiled as I looked down to see my weapon and holster laying on the ground untouched in the time I spent there, and I picked it up and slid it beneath my bag and let it stay by its pressure and not the straps. I felt the energy from it again with the image of Vulpi and knew why the image came to me. The force that was driving the weapon was my Dark energy focused into it as purely as Vulpi’s devotion to the Masters. What was drained off of me was almost too much for the weapon, forcing it to compact and purified into a much darker in appearance energy purified by its containment in such a violent shell.
Much like Vulpi; but unlike her, I needed this weapon for possible defense. “Well my lord? Shale we?” Zero said as I walked over near Bit and tossed Bits bag of cloths to him while Bit tucked the pistol away in one of his large pockets in his pants. “Let’s go.” I said commandingly yet happily and we all started our travel from the lot in the search of Impmon. Bit was carried in my arms and I went slow for him and Zero. Within a few minuets we cleared the city and started taking to the roves of houses on its other side till we reached desserts and open prairies aimlessly searching while my gut headed me home.
It wasn’t that far away and my fate driven path drew me in the direction without even knowing it. Fallowing tell tale signs of a small destructive beast who seemed as aimless as we where. Not finding him the first day slowing down so Bit could walk fallowed by Zero and I. Bit was commanding and seemed to be a born leader. So it only seemed rite to let him guide the pack until my senses told me that the direction we where heading in would get us far off track. Making my corrections sound like suggestions till he subjected to my grater senses and turned in the direction my heart led me. I took a sniff a few times a day searching for a stale scent of Impmon but didn’t come a crossed it. Two months and then days on that meant there was no chance of finding him that way, but as we walked on, hope grabbed me and told me to smell for him.
We only really talked at the beginning of a new day Bit wasn’t as built for traveling as Zero and I where so I stopped Zero when Bit tired to the point of exhaustion. While Zero and I sat silently waiting for the next day so we could continue our hunt. “Where do you thing our prey went to?” Zero asked snapping me from my dazed state one night; it was an abrupt question away from our causal morning conversations. Being it was still night. I looked at him and didn’t know how to answer really, and it stayed open for the rest of the night while I watched Bit sleep peacefully. I sat Trying to think of a response while my ears twitched around listening to the sounds of nature surround me feeling, like I belonged in this setting of the world.
“Home.” I said finally to Zero as I looked out over the mountain seeing a plane glide to a city to the south of us knowing instantly my journey was almost over. In the silent night I watched Bit and listened only coming to the sounds of crickets and a whispering wind strangely telling me to look around, as I listened to it trying to understand its message I started to see the lights from over the ridge we weren’t to far from. It was like the lights all flickered on for us even though it was a city, my city; they seemed distant like fireflies shimmering in a field too far away. The ridge was a few steps further from where we set up camp for the night, I’m sure if we’d seen it the previous day Bit would have wanted to go on but he needed his sleep. He was working as hard as any of us against his frail human body. “What will you do when you find him my hunter?” Zero asked as I smiled over the view of home, and I simply said, “Make it rite Zero. Make it rite.” Without moving an inch from the view of the city.
I was thinking of Renamon as I said it thinking of what I left her with, caring more now than I ever knew I could have known for so many people, while seeing it made me worry about things I hadn’t thought of in such a long time and things that had been on my mind the entire time: Dark Digimon, Hypnos and the military, the tamers Bit included, the cards, my love, my past and most importantly my future…
Words of wisdom from your writer:
AHH! Not again! I know you all want to find out what happens and what most of this philosophical crap means to the story! Just to give you a little incite into the next saga I’m working on. It’s all worthwhile to pay attention to! Writers shouldn’t introduce characters by name if they don’t have a part in the story. Not much happened in this edition of Ryoku’s life but believe me it MATTERED!! What will happen next, what troubles will befall our hero. What dose any of this have to do with anything??? Find out next time on Digimon: Fox Tails – To Home!
Side note:
I would like to thank the people who gave me feedback on this, you’re all grate! This is my first serious piece of writing and I think that by the reviews I’m getting I must be doing something rite for you guys. I’ll try to keep up the level of work I’ve put into this story and make it worth while within the next one or two sagas. If you don’t like this saga tell me, but remember it’s mainly just a buffer for bigger things yet to come. Be patient and you’ll see that a story is only as good as A) its audience and B) its background.
What I let you know now may be an important segment that decides Ryoku’s fate and once again I leave you WIDE OPEN for the next part. Use your imaginations and maybe you’ll see a few things coming, then again maybe not…
Some special thanks go out to: Jo Mama, Johan Benant, Countersync, Greg Matthew, Ocean’s Edge, Isaac Hanson and anyone I missed. You guys are the best for putting the time into reading, and from your reviews, enjoying my story. More yet to come people, so stay tuned!
SILENCE
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