Digimon: Explorers
Reply With QuoteTeam Building
POW! CRACK! CRASH!
Jay panted a bit, rubbing his paws together to work the soreness out of them. In the road before him lay a tree branch that had once been hanging low over the path. Now it was on the ground, splinters sticking from where the young traveler had broken it off.
“Huh, guess I’m pretty strong like this,” Jay thought as he shook the last few bits of bark from his paws. “Almost makes me wish something would try and attack.”
Jay had been traveling for around thirty minutes so far, and thus far it had been an uneventful trip. Unlike his in the many games he played, no bandits or monsters prowled the edges of the trail to leap out on unsuspecting travelers. No gigantic birds or insects swooped from the branches above to waylay him. There weren’t even any other digimon in sight on the road.
Jay had started the walk trying to think of how he would get home, but since no ideas were springing to mind and he had no idea of the mechanics of his arrival, he had decided to occupy himself by play fighting with the various bushes and trees along the path. He had surprised himself with how easily he could knock away chunks of bark or loose branches and leaves with just one strike from his paw. The branch just now had been a real test, and despite its thickness near the base Jay had managed to smash it off with his paws alone.
“Course, that hit from Elecmon didn’t tickle,” Jay thought as he continued on his way. “Something tells me most digimon are probably this strong.”
Looking up, Jay was shook loose from his thoughts as he sighted the end of the woods. A small gathering of simple but sturdy looking huts lay just ahead, and beyond them the path continued into a large clearing, leading up to a trio of larger huts.
“That must be the village. Now to see if anyone knows how to get home,” Jay thought as he quickened his pace.
As his first glimpse of it had suggested, the village was small. There were only about seven huts (aside from the three larger ones), and a sign post set in the ground in the center of the clearing.
“Welcome to File Village,” Jay read from the sign. “This must be the place. So…Where is everybody?”
It had suddenly struck the boy-turned-digimon that there were no living creatures in sight. Granted, he wasn’t entirely sure what type of creatures would inhabit this village, but the lack of any signs of life other than the huts was slightly unnerving.
“So now what…What’s that?” Jay’s nose twitched, and he instinctively tilted his head back and sniffed at the air. “Smells like…Actually, I have no clue what that smell is but it’s getting closer!”
Jay spun around, somehow realizing the direction the scent was coming from. From around one of the huts, carrying a basket of oddly colored fruits, came yet another new digimon.
Jay had quickly grown accustomed to the idea of digimon that looked like animals (since he himself was one), but this one took him by surprise. She looked more like a walking plant, with green skin and hands made like purple iris flowers. A collar of red flower petals surrounded her neck, and more red petals covered the top of her head like a helmet.
Whilst Jay had been struck speechless for a brief moment at the sight of a walking plant, the new digimon had noticed him and a smile spread across her face.
“Well, well, what have we here? A traveler passing through our little village?” She asked, setting down her basket walking over. “Welcome to File Village, I’m Floramon.”
“Oh, uh, hi!” Jay stammered, shaking his head to clear it. “Yeah, I’m just kind of passing through…”
Jay let out a shout of surprise as something suddenly barreled into him, right between his shoulder blades. The boy grunted as he crashed to the ground face-first as whatever had hit him settled on his back.
“Find anything tasty today, Floramon?” Asked the excitable voice of the creature.
“Labramon, our guest…” Floramon’s voice reprimanded.
“Huh? Oh…Oops!” Jay felt the weight hop off and as he raised his head he found himself looking into the face of a white-furred puppy with floppy-pink ears and a strip of yellow, silken cloth tied around her neck almost like a collar. “Sorry, nice to meet you though! I’m Labramon, who’re you?”
“Um, Jay…My name’s Jay,” the Bearmon answered as he pushed himself back up.
“You’ll have to forgive Labramon, she’s very excitable,” Floramon apologized, bowing slightly.
“Jay’s kind of a funny name for a digimon, isn’t it?” Labramon asked, now walking circles around the newcomer and stopping as she noticed his watch. “Ooh, this is neat…”
Jay instinctively pulled his hand away from the puppy’s prying eyes, covering the watch with his other paw as he did so.
“Labramon, don’t be rude,” Floramon scolded before turning her attention back to Jay. “So, you said you were just passing through?”
“Actually that depends,” Jay stated, adapting surprisingly fast to the idea of talking to a plant. “I’m trying to find my way home, and I was hoping someone around here might know something.”
“Well our village is pretty centrally located. The roads from here lead off to Motherboard City, Cathode Town, RAMville…” Floramon listed off. “Where did you say you were from again?”
“Well actually…” Jay began.
“Dagnabbit, Floramon!” A new voice exclaimed as one of the hut doors flew open and yet another digimon came barreling up to the group.
“Armadillomon…” Floramon muttered.
It was easy to see where this one got his name from. He essentially was just a yellow armadillo, complete with hard shell and sharp looking claws on his paws. Right now he had a frustrated expression as he ran between Jay and the two female digimon and began pushing him toward the hut.
“Look, no time to argue kid, get inside,” Armadillomon said as he pushed Jay along.
“What…Hey stop!” Jay argued, pushing the armadillo away and giving him a hard glare. “What’s the big idea?”
“I’m sorry, I tried to get him out of the village fast…” Floramon apologized.
“Yeah!” Labramon agreed. “She was just trying to helpful about it!”
“I know, I know, trust me I know!” Armadillomon countered. “But we ain’t got time fer that! The ‘Chief’ is gonna be finished with Wormmon soon!”
“Umm…What?” Jay asked, now very confused.
Labramon jumped forward and grabbed hold of his vest in her teeth, dragging Jay toward the open hut.
“Armadillomon’s right, that ‘Chief’ guy is nasty and you don’t want him to find you!” The puppy agreed.
“Just lay low in mah hut till you git the all clear,” Armadillomon advised. “And don’t come out, no matter what happens!”
Jay was going to argue the point again, but found himself inside the little hut with Labramon tugging the door shut. Jay sighed as he sat against one of the walls, looking around.
The inside of the hut was rather simple. A small pile of straw sat near the back wall, probably to serve as a bed, and a basket of containing a few peels, seeds and what seemed to be apple cores sat near where Jay sat. There was only one window, which was near the door and gave a good view of the clearing Jay had just been in.
“So, what was all that about?” Jay asked Labramon as she placed her forelegs in the window to try and peek outside.
“Sorry about all that, but the guy in charge has been having everyone in the village keep an eye out for digimon acting weird,” Labramon apologized. “He’s real mean about it too.”
“Weird?” Jay wondered.
“Yeah, kinda like you,” Labramon confirmed with a nod. “He said any ‘mon with a weird name or a watch like yours needs to be taken to him. He never told us why.”
“So Floramon and Armadillomon are trying to protect me from him,” Jay reasoned as he walked over and peeked through the window. “Is that the guy?”
Armadillomon was currently locking eyes with what looked like a white dinosaur. He had the build of a young T-Rex, and stood about as tall as Jay did. Taking a chance, Jay lifted his watch enough for it to be pointed at the new being, and smiled as a miniature of it appeared on the surface.
“SnowAgumon,” Jay thought as he looked out at the albino. “He’s the guy they’re all so scared of?”/
“Armadillomon, we’ve been doing this for almost a week now,” SnowAgumon sighed, as he broke eye contact and began pacing in circles around Armadillomon. “My boss wasn’t happy to hear that you let that guy go. And you know how I hate to disappoint.”
“You and yer brute squad have interrogated everyone in the village twice over,” Armadillomon countered, turning slowly to keep his gaze on the white digimon. “Even if we did help him get out of the village, do ya think we’d know where he went?”
“That’s pretty much what Wormmon told me,” SnowAgumon nodded with a sneer.
Shifting position, Jay could see Floramon was caring for a large, green caterpillar-like digimon that seemed to have been on the receiving end of a light beating. The pitiable creature was munching on some of the fruit from Floramon’s basket while she attended to his injuries.
“Ah don’t think beatin’ on them will change the story. We can’t tell ya what we don’t know!” Armadillomon insisted.
As the two began to descend into an argument, Jay turned to Labramon, who had started growling.
“There was someone else like me coming through?” He asked.
“Yeah, a Veemon,” Labramon confirmed, ignoring the fact that Jay had no clue what that was. “We tried to help him, but then SnowAgumon and his meanies showed up. When they heard about the guy, they said their master was interested in meeting him and tried to catch him.”
“So you guys helped him escape,” Jay realized.
“Well, the others did, I didn’t start living here till a few days ago,” Labramon corrected. “Floramon told me that Armadillomon used to be in charge of the village ‘cuz he was the bravest and the strongest. But whoever SnowAgumon is working for is someone nobody wants to make mad.”
“You don’t know who it is?” Jay asked, appreciating a chance to finally get some information.
“Nuh-uh, sorry. I just know they’re strong and mean. That’s why Armadillomon wants to keep you away from them,” Labramon explained, now looking to Jay. “And Floramon was too nice to not want to help, and I like helping Floramon so…”
Labramon was cut off as a sharp crack sounded. Their attention back on the fight, Armadillomon was now picking himself up off the ground, bleeding from a series of scratches that SnowAgumon’s claws had struck along his cheek. Floramon had a hand to her mouth, and seemed unsure of what to do, while Wormmon had flinched and was trying hard to keep his eyes shut.
“You know, if I thought for even one second that you knew where that kid went, or that you were hiding another one from me, I’d report directly to my boss. He’d flatten this entire village, heck, maybe even the forest, faster than you can blink!” SnowAgumon threatened.
Armadillomon glared at the dino and started to raise his paw to strike before hesitating.
“Go on, hit me,” SnowAgumon challenged. “You know my boss wouldn’t like that either.”
The dino chuckled as Armadillomon put his paw back down and opened his mouth to speak. Before anything could be said, SnowAgumon lashed out with a kick from his clawed feet, sending Armadillomon flipping onto his back and leaving his purple underbelly exposed.
“I can’t watch this,” Jay muttered, moving away from the window.
“I know, poor Armadillomon…” Labramon agreed before noticing Jay had one paw on the door. “Wait, what are you doing?!”
“I’m going out there to stop this,” Jay answered, starting to push open the door.
Labramon dashed behind him and grabbed his vest in her teeth, dragging him backward. Jay pulled against her, resulting in a tug-of-war between the two.
“SnowAgumon does this sort of stuff all the time, he’s not gonna hurt anyone that bad!” Labramon grunted as she pulled.
“You’re just gonna let him get away with it?” Jay grunted in response as the struggle continued.
“I don’t wanna but they said…” Labramon began.
Before she could finish, Jay managed one last, hard yank. With a yelp of surprise, Labramon lost her grip on his vest, and Jay stumbled back against the door.
Seeing as the door was basically just a simple piece of wood on a hinge, it fell open the minute Jay landed against it, causing him to land flat on his back on the ground outside. Before he could get up, the boy found himself looking up into the face of SnowAgumon, who was wearing a dastardly grin.
“Well, well, look at what I found,” He smirked.
Jay found himself roughly yanked to his feet, one paw wrenched behind his back as SnowAgumon kept a tight grip on the other.
“So, seems you lot were trying to keep something from me,” SnowAgumon taunted as he tapped one claw against Jay’s watch.
Armadillomon was back on his feet, a looking worriedly from Jay to Floramon and Wormmon, and then past Jay to Labramon who was standing in the door frame.
“Well, anything you have to say for yourselves?” SnowAgumon asked as he frog-marched Jay past the former village leader. “I’m sure you guys have some good excuse to keep this place from being blown off the map.”
Jay had an apologetic expression as he looked over to Armadillomon.
“Sorry…I just wanted to try and help…” Jay apologized.
“What’s done is done,” Armadillomon sighed.
SnowAgumon began to move again, forcing Jay ahead of him. Armadillomon took a deep breath and suddenly charged forward, slashing with one paw across the dino’s exposed back. Floramon, Wormmon and Labramon all gasped, stunned by the sudden display of violence.
SnowAgumon let out a shout of pain, losing his grip on Jay. The Bearmon felt the claws holding him loosen and pulled away as SnowAgumon turned toward his attacker.
“Not very smart,” He snarled.
“Aww, stuff it,” Came Armadillomon’s response. “Ah didn’t let you take the last kid, what makes you think Ah’d let you take him?”
“Why you…Frozen Wind!” SnowAgumon shouted, a blast of icy cold air issuing from his jaws.
Armadillomon crouched low to the ground, the freezing wind striking against his shell and forming a layer of frost that began to spread across his back.
“Armadillomon!” Floramon shouted, finally overcoming her shock.
“Take this!” Jay shouted as he shoved the white digimon from behind.
SnowAgumon stumbled, his attack stopping. Armadillomon lifted his body, shaking the frost from his shell as he did. SnowAgumon paid no heed to this as he spun around to face Jay.
“You should have just come quietly,” Snarled the dinosaur right before taking a deep breath. “[b]Frozen...”p[.b]
“Bear Fist!” Jay suddenly shouted, driving his paw into the SnowAgumon’s stomach.
The white digimon’s eyes went wide for a split second before the force of the punch sent him tumbling backwards, rolling to a stop right in front of Armadillomon and leaving a trail of scuffed earth behind him.
“Okay, how did I do that?” Jay wondered, looking at his paw. “That was way stronger than anything I tried in the forest.”
“Ooooh…Think you’re so tough…” SnowAgumon groaned as he got back to his feet, clawed hands over his stomach. “Ugh…”
The digimon’s face seemed paler (if that were possible) and he began to stumble toward one of the larger huts in the distance.
“Just you wait till…My boss gets wind of this…” SnowAgumon threatened as he picked up speed.
No one made a move to stop him. Jay became aware that the others were all looking at him and Armadillomon now, rather than SnowAgumon who had managed to break into a run and reach his hut. The sound of the door slamming seemed to only drop the mood further.
“Thanks fer the help there, kid. But…um…” Armadillomon seemed stressed as he looked over to Jay.
“Something wrong?” Jay asked.
“You should probably git out of here while you’ve got the chance,” Advised the armadillo.
“What…but I just…” Jay started to argue.
“Trust me, there was a reason we didn’t just kick SnowAgumon out of the village ourselves,” Armadillomon explained.
“That boss he keeps talking about?” Jay guessed. “Who is he anyway?”
A collective shudder passed through the other digimon present.
“We don’t like talking about him if we can avoid it,” The caterpillar-like Wormmon admitted.
“That’s why everyone else has been hiding inside,” Floramon admitted. “If they can just say they never knew you were here, SnowAgumon couldn’t blame them.”
“Now that we went and stood up to him though, you’d best git while the gittin’s good,” Armadillomon warned. “Ah’d hate to say it, but some of the villagers are so scared they might just decide to hand you over to try and save this place.”
Jay cast his eyes about, and spotted the door of another hut slam shut, as though the one behind it had been planning just that.
“I guess I didn’t think of that… Jay apologized. “But why try to help me if he’s…”
“Cuz whatever they do to this village can’t be worse than what they’re planning to do if they git you,” Armadillmon explained. “Trust me, the further you can git from here now, the better.”
Jay bit down on his bottom lip, but nodded solemnly. Taking one last look around, he spotted another trail leading from the village clearing and made a beeline for it. Armadillomon sighed as he watched the boy run.
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SnowAgumon grunted as he exited from the separate bath and toiletry area in his hut, having just finished expelling his lunch after Jay’s punch. Originally built for the village leader, the hut was significantly nicer, with separate rooms for bathing, sleeping, and even a large storage chamber for food.
The white digimon collapsed onto his hay-pile bed, and began digging through it for something.
“Just wait’ll the boss gets wind of this, he’ll show those punky little good-for-nothings,” Grumbled the albino dino as he pulled out a jet-black crystal.
“No, he’ll probably get mad at you for bothering him,” Another voice, similar to SnowAgumon’s own chimed in.
The white digimon looked up with a growl, but stopped as he saw someone step out of the food chamber, munching on an apple. The newcomer could easily pass for SnowAgumon’s twin, but with black scales instead of white.
“BlackAgumon! How long have you been there?” SnowAgumon asked.
“I was watching you try to bring that kid in,” BlackAgumon responded, pitching away the apple core with a scowl. “Seriously, one hit and you come running back here? You’re getting too soft just picking on these villagers all the time.”
“Someone has to remind them who’s in charge here, and all you do is find excuses to sneak around the forest and eavesdrop on them,” countered the white brother. “When’s the last time you caught one of those kids?”
“Hey, let’s get back to the point here,” countered the black brother, thought clearly flustered. “You really want to tell the boss we had one of those kids in our grasp and you let him get away because he hit you once?”
“Uh…” SnowAgumon stammered.
“Not to mention that first one…” BlackAgumon went on.
“Alright, so what do you think we should do?” SnowAgumon grumbled. “Go after the kid and catch him?”
“Well, not personally, but that’s why we’ve got these guys, remember?” BlackAgumon grinned, tapping on the food storage door.
Three scrawny, grey rabbit like digimon hopped into the room, saluting with their gangly arms.
“Gazimon trio, reporting for duty,” All three intoned.
“Right then, the Bearmon kid probably didn’t stick around so get out there and round him up!” SnowAgumon ordered.
“But follow him for a bit first, he might wind up leading us to that other one that got away,” BlackAgumon added.
“Yes, sirs!” All three rabbits nodded before bounding out the door.
“Not a bad idea,” SnowAgumon admitted. “We still should do something about those villagers that were trying to help him though. Otherwise they might get rebellious.
“Good point, any ideas?” BlackAgumon wondered.
“You’re interested in them now, bro?” The white dino asked.
“You’re lousy at catching the kids, but good at getting the villagers to obey,” admitted the black one. “What’s the plan?”
SnowAgumon chuckled. This was starting to look like a good day.
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Jay leaned against a tree, panting for breath. He could hear the sound of something coming from behind him, following along the path. Chancing a glance over his shoulder, he was quite surprised to see it was Labramon.
“Labramon?” Jay gasped out as he finished catching his breath. “What are you doing here?”
“I…I wanted to help you,” Labramon explained, her tongue hanging out of her mouth as she panted. “Whew, you’re pretty fast…”
“Help me?” Jay wondered, before taking a step away. “Wait, how do I know you’re not looking to hand me over to SnowAgumon?”
“No, it’s not like that! Armadillomon and the others sent me.” Labramon denied. “I know someone that could help. I don’t want to say anymore in case someone followed from the village, but you can trust him.”
“She was trying to protect me in the village…” Jay remembered.
“Alright, which way?” Jay asked.
“We need to keep following this trail,” Labramon confirmed, sniffing at the air. “Uh oh…We should hurry!”
Jay had caught the sent to. An unfamiliar one, but it was getting close. At this point, anyone following them was probably bad news. The duo dashed off along the trail without another word.
The first of the Gazimon cursed silently at the shifting winds that had carried his scent to the two runners. Signaling to the other two, the trio resumed tracking Jay.
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“Okay, I think we lost them,” Labramon nodded as she and Jay eased up their pace. “And just in time too, we’re almost there!”
“Good…Don’t think…I’ve ever run so much…” Jay said between gasps for air as he walked along behind Labramon.
Looking up from his dragging foot-paws, Jay stopped as he saw they must have reached their destination. Labramon had led him to a simple lean-to in the middle of the forest, and seated under it, polishing something with a strip of yellow cloth, was a blue, lizard like digimon. This one seemed more like a kid (though granted, a scaly one), with a short muzzle that had a small spike on the tip and a pair of blue, horn like extensions growing from his head. His blue scales only covered most of his body, with white on his muzzle and belly, and a yellow ‘V’ shape on his forehead.
What had really caught Jay’s attention though was what this new digimon was wearing. Aside from black, fingerless gloves and matching boots, he had a red watch much like Jay’s around his wrist.
“Kyle!” Labramon cheered as she padded up to the stand.
“Hey Sheila!” The digimon grinned, looking up from his work. “Any word from the…Oh, hello.”
“Kyle? So you’re the other kid the villagers were talking about?” Jay realized before noticing something else. “And you just called Labramon…”
“Sheila, cuz that’s my name,” nodded the puppy-like digimon before glaring at Kyle. “Are you polishing mine again?”
“Yup,” Kyle grinned, showing the object he’d been cleaning.
Jay’s eyes widened again. Another strange watch, this one yellow. Shiela smiled as Kyle placed it around her left foreleg, just above the paw.
“You’re human too!” Jay finally managed to stammer out.
“Oh I like this guy, he’s smart,” Kyle chuckled.
“Sorry for not telling you, but it was Kyle’s idea,” Sheila grinned. “And it was fun getting to be undercover, too.”
“Under…Huh?” Jay wondered.
“Maybe we should take this one step at a time, kid,” Kyle suggested, patting Sheila on the head before extending a hand to Jay. “First things first. I’m Kyle, Kyle Matthews. And you are?”
“Uh, Jay Bawer,” Jay said, accepting the hand/paw shake.
“Sheila Lighten,” Sheila grinned, adding her paw to the shake as well.
A smile passed between all three children, right before Jay slumped to his knees.
“You okay?” Kyle asked, startled by the bear’s sudden collapse.
“You have no clue what a relief it is to not be alone in this,” Jay managed to choke out, fighting back the urge to cry out of relief.
Sheila gave Jay a reassuring pat on the back, while Kyle sat down on a nearby tree stump.
“Sounds like you’ve had a rough time so far,” Kyle sympathized. “Wanna get it off your chest?”
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Back in the village, Armadillomon sighed as he finished bandaging a small poultice of herbs to the scratches left on his face from earlier. Floramon had assured him that no scarring would be left, but it didn’t make trying to open his mouth any less cumbersome thanks to those same bandages.
He had just finished dealing with a gang consisting of the other villagers. Some were like Floramon and Wormmon, worried about what might happen but feeling the right thing had been done.
Several others were rallying for more drastic action. Armadillomon had plenty of stern words for them.
“Those dinos will leave soon as they realize we ain’t squealing,” Armadillomon assured himself as he adjusted the bandages slightly.
A knock on the door to his hut drew the former village leader’s attention. Putting one paw to the poultice to make sure it would stay in place, he made his way over to answer.
“Yes…Oh it’s you,” Armadillomon grumbled upon seeing SnowAgumon.
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“Video games to here, huh?” Kyle commented as Jay finished relating everything he’d gone through. “And it’s only your first day?”
“Yeah,” Jay nodded, before letting out a long sigh. “You know, I actually do feel a lot better now.”
“That’s good,” Sheila smiled, her tail wagging.
“So, you know how we can get home, Kyle?” Jay asked hopefully.
“Oh boy…” Kyle winced, scratching the back of his head. “Thing of it is…I was kind of hoping you could tell me.”
“What? I don’t even understand how I got here,” Jay countered. “Sheila said you could help.”
“I’ve been here for about a week now,” Kyle answered, looking sheepish. “If I knew how to get home I’d be long gone, trust me.”
“But…Sheila,” Jay grumbled, looking at the young pup.
“I meant he could help protect you from SnowAgumon,” Sheila confessed, her tail and ears drooping. “See, Kyle found me here in the woods after he left File Village…”
“And Sheila’s been here for a few days longer than I have, but she hadn’t been to the village yet,” Kyle jumped in. “So we figured, neither of us knows much about this ‘Digital World,’ so we shouldn’t just go wandering around.”
“Kyle thought it’d be best if I went to the village and tried to see what I could learn about SnowAgumon and his boss, while he kept my watch here so they wouldn’t figure me out,” Sheila grinned. “Armadillomon was the only one I told about the plan, cuz Kyle said I could really trust him.”
“Yeah, I can see that,” Jay agreed, nodding his head before looking to Kyle. “But what were you doing then?”
“I’ve been trying to get info on this anyway I can,” Kyle explained. “Mostly I’ve just been spying on the deliveries that the village has been receiving, eavesdropping and stuff. Haven’t managed to learn much from that though.”
“And the lean-to?” Jay wondered.
“Gotta thank Armadillomon for that one,” Kyle answered.
“He showed us how to make one in case we needed it, and since it’s all made of branches and leaves no body notices it,” Shiela explained, pacing around the structure as she did.
“So until we manage to figure something out, Shiela and I have a safe place to crash in case SnowAgumon figures us out,” Kyle finished. “And once we do know where to go, we can just grab our stuff and leave, and make some new cover wherever we stop.”
“Wow, that’s pretty…Well thought out,” Jay admitted. “I’d probably just be wandering around lost.”
“My Grandma told me I’m a clever kid,” Kyle smirked. “Fitting you on the plan shouldn’t be too tough, you could probably help run errands to the next town over or something. No one over there would know you.”
“And get more information while he’s there!” Sheila cheered, jumping for joy.
“Sounds like a plan, it’s just…” Jay trailed off, rubbing his chin a bit.
“Go on,” Kyle prompted.
“I dunno, seems like a weird approach to me,” Jay shrugged.
“I opted for a ‘better safe than sorry’ sort of deal,” Kyle pointed out. “Unless there’s a good reason to move, no reason to risk running into stuff worse than that dino in the village, right?”
“Oh, I bet we could think of something,” A voice cut in.
All three kids jumped to their feet. Two gray blurs suddenly dashed from the trees, smashing into Kyle’s wooden home. In an instant, the lean-to was scattered about the forest floor in pieces, and two lanky, gray rabbits (which Jay’s watch identified as Gazimon) were standing in its place.
“What…No way,” Kyle stammered out. “I recognize you guys, you work for SnowAgumon!”
“Yep,” One of the Gazimon nodded, baring his claws.
“Wasn’t easy following those two here by the way, especially since the pup’s nose is so sharp,” The second one chimed in. “We’ve seen her stalking around near the village edge, but she’d never leave if she picked up on our scents.”
“But…But I couldn’t smell you guys!” Sheila protested. “I know we lost you way before…”
Sheila let out a yelp of surprise as a large pile of leaves was dumped on her from behind. Jay and Kyle spun around, finding the third Gazimon had snuck up behind them. A close look at this one, and indeed his two brothers, showed his gray fur was patched with streaks of green.
“Something we should have thought up a while ago,” The third Gazimon chuckled. “If we had just used the strongest scented plants around to hide our own in the first place, we probably could have ousted you two sooner.”
“As it is, it looks like we’ll be handing all three of you over to our boss,” Gazimon #2 said with a sneer.
“So come quietly,” The one that had spoken first ordered.
“I’m guessing this wasn’t part of your plan,” Jay whispered to Kyle.
“We never figured they’d catch on, least not so soon,” Kyle answered.
“What’s it gonna be then, kids?” The third Gazimon asked as Sheila poked her head from the leaf pile.
“Umm…Kyle, going quietly would be a bad idea, right,” Sheila asked.
“I’ve got a sneaking suspicion we wouldn’t like where they want to take us,” Kyle nodded.
“Okay then,” Sheila nodded, digging herself free. “Retriever Bark!”
The air between Sheila and the rabbit that had dumped leaves on her ripple as the sound of a loud dog bark echoed from her mouth. The Gazimon’s shout of surprise was drowned out as he was sent flying backwards into a bush by the force of the blast.
“Just like back in the village,” Jay realized, looking from Sheila to the paw that had knocked SnowAgumon off his feet.
“You’re gonna pay for that!” The other two Gazimon shouted, opening their mouths wide. “Stun Blast!”
From each of their mouths blasted a shocking bolt of energy, Kyle dove to the side, while Sheila knocked Jay to the ground to avoid the blast. A sudden scream signaled the dodged blast had instead hit the third Gazimon just as he extricated himself from the bush.
“V Headbutt!” Kyle called out, springing from his dodge and flying skull first at the other two Gazimon.
Both rabbits tried to move out of the way, one wasn’t fast enough and found himself on the receiving end of the skull bash. He collapsed to the ground, clutching his chest in pain.
“Um, Sheila? How are you guys doing this?” Jay asked as he got back up.
“Doing wha…Oh, the attacks?” Sheila realized. “You did one back in the village, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, but I don’t know how!” Jay shouted.
The remaining Gazimon had landed and called his attack again, aiming the stunning blast at Kyle who struggled to duck under it.
“Well it’s kind of…Um…” Sheila thought it over before shrugging. “I dunno, it just sort of happens I think? After the first time I had a real easy time doing it again.”
“Little help here?!” Kyle shouted, dodging a swipe from the claws of the Gazimon he had struck before.
Jay gulped, but dashed forward, clenching the digits on his paw into a fist. The Gazimon he was charging at snarled and swung out with his claws…
“Bear Fist!” Jay shouted, his paw meeting the rabbit’s.
A sharp crack rent the air, and the Gazimon hopped away, cradling a paw full of broken claws and howling in pain. Jay fell back with a shout of his own, cradling a paw that had been cut deeply by the Gazimon’s claws.
Another bark from Sheila echoed, rippling the air and knocking the only uninjured Gazimon off his feet. The rabbit hopped back up and sprang toward Kyle, knocking him over before the boy could react and digging his claws into his shoulders.
Kyle pushed hard with his legs, knocking the Gazimon off. The wicked lagomorph landed on his feet in front of Jay, only for the ursine digimon to shove him from behind with his good paw. The attack, unexpected and unannounced, sent the gray rabbit sprawling to the ground.
“Oof…Cheap shot…” Complained the Gazimon as he crawled away from Jay.
“Well, you guys started it,” Kyle pointed out as the second Gazimon (the one now featuring a pawful of broken claws) helped his brother up.
The third one, that had been on the receiving end of his sibling’s stun blasts, hopped over the kids and landed next to his brothers. His fur was now scorched black in a few patches, and some smoke still rose from him.
“Just you kids wait,” Warned the smoking bunny with a scowl. “We can track you three easy now, and our boss is gonna…”
He stopped and looked to his brothers.
“Wait, do we know what he’s gonna do with these three?” He realized.
“Nothing nice, that’s for sure,” The unscarred brother grumbled.
“Yeah!” The second one chimed in, pointing at the kids with a broken talon.
“We’re not scared of SnowAgumon,” Sheila scoffed.
“Well he’s not the one you need to worry about,” The burned rabbit grunted. “We’ll be after you to finish this soon enough.”
Without another word, the three rabbits were off in streaks of gray. Soon even the scent of burnt fur had faded from the woods.
Kyle looked over the remains of his temporary home, trembling a bit before looking over to Jay and Sheila.
“You two okay?” He asked.
“This…This looks pretty deep,” Jay muttered, looking over his injured paw.
“Oh!” Sheila gasped, dashing over to his side. “Hang on. Heal Liquor!”
Jay was about to ask what she was doing when a warm glow surrounded the girl. Sheila gently nuzzled against Jay’s paw, sending a pleasant tingling sensation through it. After just a few moments, the bleeding and pain had vanished, leaving the paw whole (if a bit stiff).
“She can…No way…” Jay muttered, clutching his head as Sheila set to work on Kyle’s shoulders as well.
“After everything else you went through today, this surprises you?” Kyle chuckled, rubbing his newly healed shoulder as Sheila started on the other one.
“It takes to much time to use it during a fight,” Sheila admitted. “I haven’t had to use it that much.”
“So, feel good enough to walk then?” Kyle asked as Jay got back to his feet.
“I guess,” Jay nodded, finally tearing his eyes from his paw.
“Good. I don’t think any of us want to see just who or what those Gazimon were talking about,” Kyle stated, picking through the remains of his lean-to and managing to extract a simple cloth sack with only a few tears in it. “I’ve kept all the spare supplies packed, just in case, thankfully.”
“We’re leaving?” Sheila interrupted, her ears drooping. “But what about the villagers?”
“Yeah, SnowAgumon kept picking on them to try and find you,” Jay pointed out, stomping over to the reptile-boy. “If we leave now, things might get worse!”
“Think about this, you two,” Kyle sighed, leaning on the bag. “The Gazimon already found us. Their boss, and SnowAgumon, really want to catch us. If they can’t find us back here, don’t you think they’ll need to come look for us?”
“Which means…They’d leave the village…” Jay realized.
“Trust me, I don’t like the idea of the villagers getting in trouble anymore than you,” Kyle assured the bear. “I would have chosen some other way to get those jerks to leave, but this’ll do in a pinch.”
“Then why didn’t you…” Jay started.
“Armadillomon’s idea. I don’t know why but he’s really determined to protect us,” Kyle cut in, holding up a hand to silence Jay. “I wanted to go back and drive SnowAgumon out but he kept stopping me or sending Sheila back to make sure I stayed put.”
“He finally stopped fighting it a couple days ago,” Sheila explained as Jay looked to her for confirmation. “But…do we really have to leave now?”
“Sheila, I guarantee that Armadillomon won’t let us help if he thinks…” Kyle began.
“I know, but…I wanna say goodbye to Floramon,” the puppy explained.
Kyle’s look of stunned silence mirrored Jay’s. The two looked at one another, and Jay simply shrugged.
“If we use those leaves, they wouldn’t smell us coming,” He suggested.
“Please?” Sheila whimpered, her eyes shining as she looked up at Kyle.
“Oh man…I’m probably gonna regret this,” Kyle grumbled, shouldering the bag. “Fine, but it’s gonna be fast. You’re in, say bye, and you’re out.”
“Got it!” Sheila nodded, dashing over the leaf pile that had been left behind and jumping in.
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Wormmon let out a groan as he hit the ground again, covered in fresh scratches and bruises. Armadillomon was practically foaming at the mouth as he struggled to break free of the ropes holding him in place.
“Aww, what’s the matter? You didn’t complain much when you were getting the pounding,” SnowAgumon taunted.
Armadillomon had been tackled and tied up by the Agumon brothers shortly after opening his door to them. He had been dumped right into the center of the village, and been forced to watch as the saurian bullies gathered all the villagers and beat them senseless one-by-one. A few had tried to fight back, only for threats against the safety of the village to force them into submission.
“M…Maybe we shouldn’t have…” Wormmon struggled to say.
“Don’t say it,” Armadillomon huffed. “We ain’t the type to hand a couple of kids over to bullies just to save our own skins.”
“It’s not your own skin you should be worried about,” BlackAgumon warned placing a foot on the armadillo’s back. “It everyone else’s. And besides, those kids are as good as ours already. This is just so you don’t forget who’s in charge.”
“And don’t even think of fighting back or running,” SnowAgumon warned a couple of the jumpier hostages. “Now let’s see which of you is next…”
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“Oh crud, I did not expect something like this,” Kyle gasped as Floramon was pulled from the group.
“No!” Sheila gasped, struggling to run forward along side Jay, only for Kyle to grab them both by their shoulders.
“Hang on! This might be a trap!” Kyle warned, pulling his comrades back. “There’s no sign of the Gazimon anywhere, they might be planning an ambush in case we come running into the village!”
“You’re half right,” A voice chuckled from behind.
“I’ve got to start checking behind me more often,” Kyle realized.
Before any of the three kids could turn around, a trio of energy beams slammed into them! Jay, Kyle and Sheila all screamed as the force of the blast launched them from their hiding spot at the edge of the forest and onto one of the village trails. Armadillomon and the rest of the villagers seemed crestfallen at the sight.
“You learned to hide your scent, not bad,” Commended the Gazimon with broken claws. “Next you should practice moving and planning quietly.”
“Yeah. Thanks for deciding to go back to the village though. Saved us the trouble of dragging you all here,” The one with scorched fur laughed.
“Well, there you guys are!” SnowAgumon grinned, leaving Floramon under his brother’s gaze as he stomped over to the Gazimon and their captives. “About time, too!”
“Sorry sir, they were a bit tougher than expected,” The unmarked Gazimon apologized, planting a foot on Kyle’s back as he tried to get up.
“Just what do you want with us anyway?” Jay managed to ask, his body tingling from the electric shock.
“Our boss has an interest in meeting with you kids,” SnowAgumon explained. “You three are supposed to play a key part in his master plan. ‘Course, he promised me, the Gazi’s, and my bro over there a hefty reward if we were the ones that caught you.”
SnowAgumon rubbed his stomach and growled as he raised his claws overhead. Ice crystals crackled along the tips of them as he glared down at Jay.
“Guess he won’t mind if you’re a little roughed up though. I owe you for that punch from earlier,” Snarled the dino. “Frozen Claw!”
Jay winced, expecting to feel stabbing pain in a brief second.
“Stamen Rope!” A voice cut in.
A length of green and purple vine snapped around SnowAgumon’s claw, stopping it in mid-swing. The white digimon snarled as he cast his gaze over to the offender.
Floramon had freed one of her arms from BlackAgumon’s grasp, and the vine extended from her flower-like hand. BlackAgumon was pulling her back, trying to break her grasp to no avail.
“What did we say about fighting back!?” BlackAgumon threatened, his own claws pointing at Floramon’s throat.
“I…I just can’t take anymore!” Floramon snapped, eliciting a gasp from Sheila, Armadillomon and several other hostages. “I’ve watched you beat my friends day after day, and even after you finally get what you’re after you’re still not satisfied?!”
“Have it your way,” BlackAgumon sneered, flames gathering in his mouth. “Baby Fla…”
“Sticky Net!” Wormmon’s voice cut in, a glob of white threads spraying from the caterpillar’s mouth and entangling the hostile digimon.
Floramon took advantage of the moment to break free, leaving BlackAgumon to fall to the ground, pinned by the threads.
“That’s it, you two are finished!” Snow and BlackAgumon both shouted together.
Two of the Gazimon had jumped forward, knocking Floramon and Wormmon aside, the third staying to keep the kids pinned down (not that it mattered since they were still numb). Both digimon grunted, Floramon’s vine going slack and freeing SnowAgumon, whilst BlackAgumon’s clawed his way free of the silk that held him.
“There, that should learn ya,” BlackAgumon warned, before spinning to the other hostages. “And as for the…rest…um…”
He trailed off. Armadillomon had been cut free and was tapping one paw with a very displeased look on his face. Behind him, a few of the villagers took advantages of the sudden turn in mood. They grabbed SnowAgumon and shoved him roughly to a spot next to his brother. The Gazimon were watching in shock, unsure of what to do.
“To be honest, Ah’d hope it wouldn’t come to this,” Armadillomon sighed, shaking his head. “But Floramon’s right. If ya’ll got the kids and still ain’t satisfied…”
He stamped one paw.
Snow and BlackAgumon screamed as a barrage of small fireballs and various colored energy bolts smashed into them, leaving them a lying on the ground with smoke rising from their bodies. The two Gazimon that had separated from their brother spun to respond, only to notice a second to late that Armadillomon was running right at them.
“Diamond Shell!” The village leader shouted, curling into a ball and rolling extremely quickly toward the rabbits.
Both of them were knocked to the ground faster than they could blink, and a spray of white thread from Wormmon kept them pinned there.
“Well, this isn’t good…” Muttered the remaining Gazimon.
He then noticed that, though he still held Kyle down, Jay and Sheila had taken advantage of the confusion to get to their feet. A combined shoulder tackle from the two sent him sprawling onto his back. As he tried to get up, Kyle launched right into him with a head butt, knocking him senseless.
“This…This isn’t over!” SnowAgumon threatened as Armadillmon stomped over to the two.
“Please, ya’ll think we couldn’t have done this earlier?” Armadillomon warned. “Couple o’ these ‘mons may of considered trying to rat the kids out for a bit, but most of them just wanted ya’ll outta town.”
“What!” BlackAgumon shouted.
“This is our home, we didn’t want to just leave or see it destroyed,” Floramon elaborated.
“Hey, wait! We never said it would definitely be destroyed…” SnowAgumon attempted to bargain.
“Only reason we took the chance we did,” Armadillmon growled. “But if it’s come down to trading the village to save someone from yer master’s slimy claws, then that’s that.”
The villagers had been gathering the three Gazimon, and dumped them in a heap next to the Agumon brothers.
“Ah’d git if Ah were you,” Armadillomon warned as the five baddies scrambled to their feet.
The Agumon and Gazimon brothers looked among the villagers, most of whom were preparing fresh attacks, and sped off as fast as they could.
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“So you kept chasing me and Jay here off…” Kyle realized.
“’Cuz I hoped those varmints would follow after you,” Armadillomon nodded. “Can you kids forgive me?”
“Awww, you were just trying to help the villagers,” Sheila grinned, patting him on the head with one paw.
“I still feel kind of used…” Jay grumbled. “But then Sheila…”
“We never imagined she’d blend in as well as she did,” Floramon explained as she scratched the pup’s ears. “If I didn’t know better I’d swear she was born right over in Primary Village.”
“Thanks!” Sheila giggled.
“You thought she’d give herself away, and me by extension,” Kyle realized with a sigh. “Then again, I guess none of us counted on how dumb those dinos really were.”
“I still don’t like the thought of being bait,” Jay pointed out. “But it was to save your home…”
Jay extended on paw to Armadillmon, who smiled and accepted.
“No hard feelings, I guess,” Jay sighed.
“But next time maybe let us in on the plan,” Kyle advised.
“Shouldn’t need to be a next time,” Armadillomon sighed. “RAMville ain’t to far from here, but we should be hittin’ the road all the same.”
“And we’re looking to Motherboard City,” Kyle nodded. “Biggest city around out should be a good place to continue our search.”
“Ah hope ya’ll find a way home soon,” Armadillomon wished. “But don’t be ‘fraid to come pay us a visit if you come our way.”
“I’ll miss you a lot, Floramon,” Sheila lamented, nuzzling against the plant.
“Aww, I’ll miss you two,” Floramon whispered, hugging Sheila. “At least we had some good times though, right?”
“Yeah, and thanks for the extra supplies!” Sheila grinned.
“Better not drag this out, those guys might make good on their threat,” Kyle pointed out, gesturing toward the eastern exit from the village.
“Good luck at your new village you guys,” Jay smiled as he and his two new companions started toward the trail.
A cacophony of well wishes and goodbyes echoed behind them as the kids left.
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“WHAT!” Both the Agumon brothers shouted together.
The Agumon and Gazimon brothers had found a spot to rest north of the village, and had just received a message from a rather strange new digimon. Not many details were visible on the shadowy figure, but he seemed to be wearing rather festive clothes and a jester’s cap, the bells of which jingled as he shook his head.
“This is why I loathe dealing with you two, always needing things repeated,” The creature grumbled as he jabbed a finger to the Gazimon. “These three have been promoted, since they successfully tracked down the kids while you picked on a few meager villagers.”
“So we don’t have to take orders from these losers anymore then? Sweet!” The broken-clawed Gazimon cheered.
“Then what about File Village?” SnowAgumon practically whined.
“Do you honestly think our master cares whether one village decided to oppose his most incompetent flunkies?” The messenger asked. “Honestly, he only let you two take things as far as you did because he didn’t think it would hurt to let you have a little fun. Obviously that’s not the case.”
Snow and BlackAgumon lowered their heads in shame as the jester-capped figure began to fade.
“Besides, as soon as the master’s plan reaches completion, the whole of the Digital World will be following us willingly,” He pointed out. “What should one village of dissenters matter now?”
A/N: Ninja edit for spelling, etc, and to apologies for a technical double post.
