The moonlight shifted slightly as the breeze blew, clouds beginning to move over the lunar sphere. A heavy panting is heard as leaves are pushed aside and branches are broken through. Sweat pours down the fur of the being as it looks around, trying to get an idea of where the pursuer is behind him. As he turns back to face front, he slams into a large tree trunk, knocking him off balance slightly as he stumbles, placing a hand on the slick jungle floor, trying to right himself slightly. Unfortunately for him, his foot hits a patch of wet leaves, causing him to falter, landing hard into the fauna as he looks around, panting even more heavily as he pushes himself along the ground until he runs into a tree trunk. "No.. god no.. please.. don't let this happen.. not now.. Please god let me live.." it whines, hearing the snap of a branch as the clouds begin to cover the moon more.
"There is no God.. and he shall never save you.." a shadow whispers as it comes around the tree, the moon becoming completely engulfed in darkness. The final thing heard in the night is a piercing shriek before utter silence.
Come the dawn, a small town nearby has formed a search party in order to find the missing person of last night. Various beasts of size and shape begin to hustle about, forming a ragtag bunch of scatterbrained groups, none of which are sure what they are doing or how they are to go about finding the missing comrade. Finally, a lone person steps up and shouts out loudly to get everyone's attention.
"Alright, listen up! Y'all obviously have no idea what yer doing with this here search party! So I'm gonna take it upon myself to head this outfit to make sure that we find this missing Gatsumon!"
"But Starmon," another Gatsumon pipes up, "What if we can't find him? What if the beast of the forest got him already?!" he asks, his body beginning to quiver in fright at the mention of the town's local lore of a mysterious beast who appears by the light of the moon and slays any who are foolish enough to walk the woods alone at night.
"That story is just a load of catnip!" a Gatomon states loudly. "It's just an old kitty's tail meant to scare us into staying put in our safe and cozy village where we won't take any chances or try to make it outside of here." The town splits into two, one side taking with Gatsumon about not wanting to risk leaving into the woods in fear night would arrive and the beast would get them, the other half siding with Gatomon about how it's just meant to keep them in check. Off at the edge of town, a small water imp digimon is smiling at the sight of the chaos, laughing quietly to herself.
"And to think.. they actually believe all this tripe little garbage about there being a beast in the woods ready to get any of them if they set foot out there during the night! HA!" She laughs a bit louder as she heads out into the woods, but it isn't long before she chances upon the remains of the body that was cleaved last night. Holding back the urge to vomit, she instead shrieks as she turns around and races back to the town, crashing into a fence surrounding the perimeter of the outskirts. As she manages to get through the town, she storms into the middle still screaming until Starmon grabs her.
"What is it little lady?!"
"I.. body..! Death..! Blood! COME ON!" she finally manages, grabbing Starmon's hand as she begins yanking him along, the rest of the town following. When she arrives at the body, she has to look away as do some of the weaker stomached residents. Starmon walks over to the body, examining it slowly, looking all over it as he turns the body over, revealing the face of the deceased digimon, making the other Gatsumon either cringe or break down weeping. Starmon runs a hand over him more, noticing a large nick made in the throat of the rock monster.
"Ranamon, is this exactly how you found the body?" Starmon inquires as he turns and looks towards the water imp, who nods as she forces herself to look back at him. "Then I know who the culprit is.. It's an odd Renamon who wanders the Digital World, picking off random digimon. He always seems to choose his victim at random, simply for the thrill of the hunt.." The townsfolk all swallow nervously as they look around. A breeze kicks through the leaves of a larger tree, making a couple of them fall.
"AH THERE HE IS!" a Burgermon cries in terror, causing everyone to go into a panic, running and screaming in horror as they run into each other, push each other, and trample one another to simply try and get away.
"Stop! There ain't nothing there! Y'all are just letting yer imaginations get the best of ya!" Starmon barks, making them all stop, but notices they are all quaking. "Now just calm down! I've heard this fella don't stay in the same spot more than a few hours. By now he's already long gone!" Everyone lets a low sigh out, but they still glance around in fear as Starmon begins to direct them back to the village. Ranamon looks around a bit more before she begins to follow suit, heading back towards town when a voice in the breeze swims past her ear.
"Upon the next moonlight, another shall fall..." she hears, and begins looking around frantically, but spots absolutely nothing within her area. She whimpers quietly as what sounds like a sadistic chuckle rises through the leaves, making her freak out and return to the village just as quickly as any of the other digimon. As the day goes on, all of the villagers are wandering the town with an added edge about them, looking every which way, jumping at the sight of any shadow, the slightest snap of a twig, or the faintest sound of a possible follower behind them. At the gates, a black Renamon approaches, causing a couple townsfolk to stop dead in their tracks.
"ITS THE RENAMON!" a Palmon screams, running away. As she does, others look over and see the strangely colored digimon, and suddenly chaos ensues again. The Renamon cocks an eyebrow, completely lost by the entire situation, not realizing what has happened. "He's here! He's here! He's come back to kill us all so no one is left to warn the rest of the world!" Again, nothing more is done than the raised eyebrow as Starmon slowly approaches the black furred beast.
"Who are you and what business do you have here?" he asks, a strange tone in his voice as he readies himself for any possible attack.
"My name, is Mikael," the Renamon starts slowly. "Mikael Zelmanov. I am simply a traveler. What is with everyone? Why are they.. reacting so strangely to the arrival of a new person in your town?" As he speaks, there's a peculiar accent in his voice.
"Where are you from, son?" the star shaped digimon asks picking up on the unusual speech.
"I am from Earth, more specifically from Russia. I was reborn into this world as a digimon. Thus I still have retained my accent from my original world." This time it's Starmon's turn to raise an eyebrow in curiosity as he walks over to the Renamon and begins to examine him closely, looking directly into his eyes as he tries to sense his motive. The Renamon meets his gaze, the cold stare of his charcoal gray eyes boring back into Starmon's. He nods his head after about twenty seconds of the staredown and backs away.
"He's clean. Y'all need to calm your waters. Keep jumping like this next thing you know you'll end up attackin' each other thinking y'all is the enemy." The rest of the crowd slowly dissipates, everyone looking back at the newcomer whispering and examining him as they try to figure out whether or not to trust him. "I'm sorry about that, fella. We just had a murder happen last night and everyone here is a bit on edge. I'm sure you can understand." Mikael nods his head as a small smile creeps upon his face.
"Of course. I understand completely. I am sorry to have caused such a stir upon my arrival. I did not mean to make your task as sheriff any more difficult." He bows and begins to walk away as Starmon nods.
"Nice fella. Good head on his..." The final part of the comment hits his brain and he catches up to him quickly and spins him around. "Now just a cotton pickin' minute! How did y'all know I'm the law of this town?"
"Is it not obvious?" the Renamon responds, a bit confused by his sudden spin. "You are the one who is, how do they say it.. Running the show? You took a situation into your hands and made it work. Is that not what the law does?" Starmon begins beaming with pride.
"Well, schucks.. I mean.. Any level headed feller who has a strong passion for justice can easily be the sheriff. I just love knowing that these good folks are safe and that nothing bad will happen to them so long as I can help it." Mikael nodded. "I'm sorry about that one. Guess I'm a bit jumpy myself. I do hope you'll enjoy your stay while you're here." Starmon pats him on the shoulder and walks off. Another small smirk forms on Mikael's face as Ranamon slowly approaches from behind, examining him from the back.
"My my... what an odd Renamon. I've never seen such a thing in all my life," she thinks to herself as she keeps eying him up and down, taking note of his fur shades and sheen, the health of his coat, the shape of his body, everything about him. "Excuse me?" she asks sheepishly, watching him turn around, this time taking the chance to examine his front as well. "Um.. so.. what does bring you out to our neck of the woods? Not many people come out this far without a reason." He smiles warmly at her, causing a small flutter to happen in her stomach as he nods.
"As I said, I am merely a wanderer. I go where my path leads me, wherever it may be that I arrive. I've visited some other very out of the way places that never see visitors. Though I have never had any react the way your people did." Ranamon nods as she looks up at him.
"Yeah.. I am sorry about that. We've just been all on edge since whatever it was got that Gatsumon last night. People ain't never seen something like that before around here. It's quite a shocker since this place has no violence other than the little fresh levels getting on each other about this or that and basically havin' kiddy tantrums." Mikael nods his head as he listens, examining the town. Various shops scatter the few roads, mostly just food stores and other essentials. "So, what do you think? I know it ain't much of a place like some of the big cities you've probably been to, but it's home." He smiles as she makes her comments and shakes his head.
"Not at all. This place looks wonderful. The townsfolk, when they aren't fear me for their safety are very nice it seems." She nods her head and laughs softly. "This place does seem like a very nice area to live. I may stay a couple of days."
"Well that's good. Do you not stay more than a day in a town?" she looks over to see his head shaking. "Well that's no fun being a vagabond! You should really get to know some people and make some good friends so if ever you return to the places you've been, you've got some people to meet up with!" Mikael laughs softly and nods. "Well then how 'bout you come around town with me? I'll show you some of the stuff around here."
"Well I do thank you for the offer miss...?" Mikael trails off realizing he's never gotten her name.
"Ranamon," she replies smiling sweetly. "My name is Ranamon."
"A pleasure to meet you miss Ranamon. I've never seen a digimon such as you before."
"Well to be honest, neither have I. I'm the only one of my kind that I know of. Then again, I've never seen a black Renamon before either. That's definitely new." Mikael shrugs a bit as he looks around again, this time out of nervousness and slight self consciousness. He knew he was odd. Other digimon had told him before. Every town he had visited, someone brought up the fact that he wasn't normal. It stung more when those of his own kind said it to him. Pointing out he was different was nothing new, but he hated having it pointed out. Ranamon took note of this and puts a hand on his squeezing it gently. "Hey.. I'm sorry if I said something to upset you." Mikael shook his head smiling, though the smile was weaker this time.
"No it's alright. I'm used to having my flaw pointed out to me." He sighs gently until he feels a soft squeeze of his paw, looking at Ranamon.
"It isn't a flaw. Don't be saying stuff like that. It ain't good or healthy for you." Once more, his reaction is to raise an eyebrow in curious fashion, unsure of what brought the comment on from her. But he decided to take it as nothing and nods his head. "Thank you. Anyway, come on," she says softly, although slightly ashamed as she begins to tug him along, directing him towards one of the shops. As they walk in, he looks around, examining the various trinkets on the wall, and the odd spices laden within bins built in rickety wooden crates. He picked up a small pepper but as he did, the entire box shifted and the wood creaked as though about to give way. He cursed silently and grabbed the box, blushing horribly as the commotion he made caused the shopkeep to turn and look at him, along with the two patrons who were in the store. Ranamon can't help but giggle as he tries to layer the peppers back in and adjust the box onto his hip to free a hand so he can maneuver it around more in hopes of placing it back upon the decrepit posts whence it laid. When he finally gets it back up, he growls quietly at Ranamon who places a hand over her lips, trying to conceal the smile and the last faint sounds of her giggle. "Oh don't be so uptight, silly! That happens to everyone who tries to mess with stuff here." She leans over and daintily picks a pepper up, causing no motion to stir at all inside the rest of the box. "It's just something you get used to with time," she cooed, smiling warmly at him as she hands him the pepper. Another low growl is heard, this one of embarrassment more than anything as he thanks her. "Here, let me show you how," she says, standing on her tip toes as she reaches into another crate, pulling out a small apple. "Now you try." Mikael decides to mock her slightly and rises up on his tip toes as well, reaching over as she did, very lady like, and plucks an apple with no issue. "Well aside from the smart aleckness there!" she quips, lightly backhanding his shoulder as he smiles at her. He sets the fruit back down and as they leave he apologizes to the keep for creating such a problem. As they make it back out into the daylight, a couple of younger digimon point to the two of them and one whispers something to the other, making them both giggle. Both Ranamon and Mikael eye them strangely as they run off, still laughing happily.
"Do you have any idea what that was about?" Mikael asks as he turns to look at Ranamon. She sighs placing her hands upon her hips huffing quietly.
"Knowing those two rascals, it's them talking about how we're a couple since we're hanging around. They're probably gonna spread a rumor about it now or somethin." Mikael places a hand upon her shoulder, causing her to jump violently in shock from the action.
"Does it matter than much?" he inquires. "We both know there is nothing, and if people wish to believe such a silly thing, then let them. We know better." She smiles, though slightly hurt from a part of his comment as she puts her hand upon his, patting the back softly before brushing it off her shoulder.
"I guess so..." she whispers as she begins to walk away from him, leaving him wondering what he had said wrong. As the day passes, more townsfolk are looking at the two thinking they are becoming close. Ranamon smiles as people wave to them, telling them how cute they are together. Mikael notes this for later but just smiles as he waves back politely. When the day winds down, Ranamon leads him to her house and turns around to look at him, though her gaze is more directed to his chest than his face. "Well.. Thank you for spending the day with me, Mikael. I had a lot of fun." He smiles and nods as he places a hand upon her shoulder once more. "So where will you be sleeping?"
"I'll just head into the woods and sleep out there." Ranamon gasps loudly and shakes her head furiously grabbing him by the waist pulling him hard against her.
"NO NO NO!" she cries. "No you will not! Not with whatever is out there! It still may be out there and I am not going to let you be out there alone where it may get you!" Mikael looks down at her in shock and slowly but unsurely wraps his arms back around her. She blushes terribly, realizing what an odd outburst of affection she had just shown to a complete stranger, and pushes him away slightly clearing her throat. "I mean... I would rather you not sleep out in the wilderness where that creature might be able to get you." She looks up at Mikael who blinks a couple of times.
"I'm... fairly certain I can handle myself if something arises. I have wandered the world and met all sorts of strange beasts that I have either been able to beat or get away from. I am quite capable of caring for myself." Ranamon huffs heavily and pushes him off the porch slightly.
"Well if you think you can handle it, then be my guest. I will just come and check on you come the mornin'!" The Renamon simply turns and begins to walk out of the town. "Not even a goodnight?" she whispers as she watches him leave. The darkness of his fur begins to meld with the pitch black of the forest line, until only his gauntlets are visible from the torches lit around the fence line, until after a few more moments, even those are swallowed by the night's embrace. During the night, Ranamon tosses and turns, unable to truly get comfortable or feels as though something is eating away at her insides. She sits up in bed and sighs throwing the covers to the side and sets her feet upon the floor, shuffling over to the window to look in the direction Mikael went off to. "I really hope he's doing alright.." Without thinking, she wanders downstairs and out her front door into the dimly light village square, the torches burning out slowly for the night. The light cast is a haunted glow, like the fires of the underworld slowly rising as shadows of spirits twinkle and dance upon the ground. Her shadow joins in the ritual as she treads lightly over the dirt road. When she reaches the forest's edge, she squints as though it would be able to help her see through the dense trees. "Mikael, you'd better be okay.." she says quietly as she eyes a bit more into the dark before turning back towards the village. As she begins to retreat, something grabs holds of her and begins to drag her backwards. She goes to shriek in terror but a hand is already over her mouth, muffling anything she may be able to do. Her only reaction is to flair and kick wildly hoping that she'll either hit her captor or make it lose it's grip so she may escape. Unfortunately for her, neither of these happen and she gets his hard in the back of the head, knocking her out cold.
When Ranamon comes to, she's in the woods still, bound to a large tree as she looks around attempting to regain the focus in her vision. When she does, the first thing she sees is a decrepit face looking at hers, and she goes to scream once more but a gag in her mouth prevents it from happening once again. The digimon laughs quietly as a large clawed finger passes over her cheek, tracing her jawline.
"My my... what a pretty treat I have found..." it says, it's tone low and raspy, cold, unfeeling, but at the same time full of sick tormented joy as it eyes her. "I do think I'm going to have some fun tonight..." The claw begins tracing all over her body, feeling everything about her, from her clothing, to her figure, to her most intimate areas that have never been touched before. A muffled shriek turns into a whimper, feeling violated from the being's touch. "Now you just wait right here... Don't go anywhere..." It laughs at it's own joke as it begins to walk away, leaving Ranamon there with tears pouring down her cheeks. As it vanishes, she shuts her eyes crying and sobbing. Over the noise she's making, she can't hear anything around her, but after a couple minutes, she realizes her hands are loosening. She looks behind her but can't see anything due to the tree being there. When her hands drop she goes to get up but it stopped and lifted as she feels the gag being removed. Before she can scream again, another hand is put over her lips.
"Shhhh... not a sound..." She stops, recognizing the voice as Mikael's, feeling him leap quickly up into the trees. He begins gracefully but speedily leaping from branch to branch back towards the town until a loud roar halts his progress. "He knows you are missing.. You must get back to the village. I will hold him off. I know he will pursue us." Within moments, thunderous footsteps are heading barging in their direction. "As I said." He leaps to the forest floor and sets her down, pushing her towards the direction of town. "As I said, go! I will hold him!" She shakes her head but sees him spin around glaring at her. "Do not argue with me. This is something that will be a very hard fight! You need to get back to town now and protect yourself!"
"Fine, but I'm getting others!" she pleads, trying to hault her crying still.
"No. I do not want anyone else getting hurt." Before she can speak, he pushes her hard, almost knocking her over. "MOVE!" he barks as she jumps in terror, fleeing back towards the town as the beast crashes through the trees, stopping in front of Mikael. "SkullGreymon.. It is you I see..." The walking dinosaur skeleton looks down at Mikael and growls loudly.
"Was it you.. who stole my nightly snack?" He nods and SkullGreymon growls again. "Then you shall die!" He roars viciously as he lunges at Mikael who jumps to the left as a huge hand smashes into where he stood, sending quakes through the earth and toppling trees. The next few swings are mindless attempts to just strike, but the next two are planned, and as Mikael leaps up again, SkullGreymon lashes his tail out striking the kitsune digimon hard and pounds him into a tree. A wicked cackle rings through the air as the large hand pins the fox down and the shadow looms over him, taking out the moon's light in chunks through the ribcage. "Now... shall be the time of your undoing..." The cracking of bones is heard, both from the skeletal frame of SkullGreymon moving, as well as some of the ribs of Mikael as more pressure is applied to his body, making him attempt to scream in pain but it only comes out as a weakened cry.
"DRAINING RAIN!" Before SkullGreymon can react, a large torrent of water slams into him, forcing his head down a bit. The attack is strong but nowhere near powerful enough to do any damage to him. When he looks up, another funnel of water plows into him, this time flowing into an eye socket. It causes a momentary lapse of pressure on Mikael who slips out quickly rising to his feet trying to regain his breath. When he looks over his shoulder, he sees Ranamon standing there, glaring at the beast. "You will not harm him once more, you got it ugly?!" SkullGreymon can't help but laugh, the fact that such a tiny creature was standing up to him was hilarious. "I will not let you hurt him anymore!" She goes to try her attack again, but SkullGreymon swats her away easily, sending her crashing powerfully into a tree. When she hits, her breath is taken away as she slides down the bark. The lumbering mass of decayed bones begins to stomp towards her wanting to just eliminate her and stop toying around with the persistent pests he's been fighting. Before he can reach, Mikael has flown through the air and landed a hard kick square in the side of his head. He uses the force to rebound off and land below, dashing between the legs of the large dinosaur before taking to the tail, charging up it.
"I will not let you get away from me!" he cries, making Ranamon look up to see Mikael scaling the exposed spine. The bones holding a large peculiar missile in place on SkullGreymon's back begin to loosen as it prepares to launch. But before it can, Mikael latches onto it.
"MIKAEL! DON'T!" Ranamon screams as she watches him cling to the explosive, knowing full well the risk he's taking. "LET IT GO!" The last thing she sees is him looking at her, his eyes wide but a large smile on his face as he angles it slightly so it slams into the back of SkullGreymon's head with him still clinging to it to direct it's flight path. The explosion is large and blinding, the light making it impossible to see, the concussion from the boom almost knocking Ranamon out. The last things she sees is the smoke from the blast area, as well as SkullGreymon beginning to delete. Then her world turns to black nothingness. Her eyes snap back open, her vision blurred badly as she tries to focus. "Where... where am I?" she asks weakly, nothing more than a quiet squeak emitting from her vocal chords. "MIKAEL!" she tries to cry, causing a very bad pain in her throat as she finally regains her eyesight.
"Easy, little lady..." She looks over to spot Starmon standing next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I need to know what happened... I know that you just went through a lot, and I'm sorry to ask something like this right off the bat, but I need ta know."
"A.. A SkullGreymon attacked me.. but.. but..." She sobs lightly, remembering what she saw of Mikael's actions. "Mikael saved me.. He grabbed onto that missile thing SkullGreymon's have and blasted it into the back of his fat head! But.. he didn't make it out from it.. There's no way he could have made it alive from there.." Starmon nods slowly.
"We canvased the area when we found you.. We saw signs of a huge struggle.. but there wasn't no body of that Renamon around anywhere.. At least the boy went out doing one of the most honorable things a gentleman could do.. Defending the life of a beautiful young woman.." Ranamon's weeping only becomes louder as she buries her face in her hands.
"Stop that..." a low raspy tone states, as though on the verge of death. "You're... you're scaring the poor girl..." Ranamon looks up knowing the voice, seeing Mikael leaning against the doorframe, drenched in his own blood as well as that of SkullGreymon's. Parts of his fur are missing as well as some obvious spots of flesh. "I'm... I'm not... not... no..." His sentence falls short as he passes out, crashing face first into the floor.
"Dear lord, how the hell did this boy survive?!" Starmon mutters in shock as he flags down a nurse, ordering her to get Mikael help immediately. Ranamon can't help but look in shock as Mikael is taken away, blood dripping down from his fingertips to the floor of the hospital, leaving a crimson trail following his path to the emergency room. "I don't know how that kid managed to pull it off Ranamon.. but.. he did it." Ranamon just nods her head slowly as she looks down at her own wounds. After seeing Mikael, it put her own injuries into perspective, knowing she could have had much worse done to her. But seeing him and how he was physically shook her more than anything that had happened to her personally. After a couple more days of being confined to a room, Ranamon is allowed to move through the building with supervision.
"I... I want to see Mikael," she states weakly to one of her nurses. "I want to see him.. Please..." The Biyomon accompanying her fidgets gently but nods and directs the imp to the room Mikael is in.
"I'm going to warn you right now.. You won't like what you see..." When they reach the room, she looks into the large window from the observation area, gasping in horror. Mikael's body is either bandaged, cast, or wired. Large tufts of fur have been shaved from him to make room for the wires and various tubes that have been stuck into his body. He is barely able to breathe and is forced to have an iron lung attached to him as well in order for him to maintain a normal breath cycle. "I'm sorry.. He was much worse than we thought." Ranamon begins to bawl loudly banging on the window. Biymon tries to control her but her emotional distress has made her hard to contain. Two more nurses must come and restrain her. The commotion she's caused has awakened Mikael slightly as he looks over in her direction. He sighs weakly as he attempts to move an arm, but it fails miserably.
"What happened to him?!" she cries furiously, still struggling mightily against the restrainers as she tries to get back to him.
"CALM DOWN!" one of the nurses finally barks, almost completely killing the strength Ranamon had as she collapses to her knees still crying heavily. "The wounds he suffered in his fight were not his only ones. It's obvious he hasn't sought medical attention in a long while, and a lot of his wounds are old ones that have not properly healed or he just didn't take care of. Now you need to calm this down right now. I will use antiseptic if I have to!" Ranamon slowly calms her crying and just stands, her eyes nearly void of feeling. "Ma'am, are you alright?" She shakes her head slowly and sighs.
"Take me back to my room, please. I want to be alone." The Biyomon look at each other quite concerned and as they take her back to her room, one informs a guard in the area to keep an eye out on her, in case she may do something. She instead just sits in her bed, unmoving, as though lifeless. The more she thinks about the sight, the more she becomes depressed. Never before had she seen someone make such a sacrifice, especially not for a stranger. More so, she never thought one would make such a sacrifice for her. "Mikael... you idiot..." Slowly she forces herself to lay down, tears beginning to well up in her eyes again. "You'd better not die on me..." she whispers as she passes out, her emtional distress finally catching up with her as her energy is suddenly drained.