Disclaimer: Digimon is not mine. Neither is Into the Woods.
Notes: Yes, I'm up to it again. A Digimon version of Into the Woods.
Pairings: Taiora, Junzumi (in the future), and Daikari (also in the future)
Once upon a time, in a kingdom far away...
The man scrambled in the garden, gathering every vegetable he carry. Why did his wife want to eat the vegetables from the garden of the witch? Surely vegetables from their own garden would be enough to satisfy her appetite. It was bad luck, after all, to steal from a witch of all things. Picking a bean pod and sticking it into the pocket of his hunting jacket, the man turned to leave over the garden wall.
"Rara... Rara..."
Slowly the man turned, still on his hands and knees, around to face what looked like a pink seed with two small leaves on it's head. It's black eyes narrowed. The man whimpered slightly, the witch must know he was in the garden if she sent her Digimon after him. "You do know that you shouldn't steal from a witch?" asked the Digimon irritatedly.
"Y-yes. I mean, no. Uh, yes? Er, no. I don't know..." he replied, trying to keep the shakiness out of his voice. Someone scoffed behind him and he knew that it just had to be the witch. He turned his head up to see the young witch with red hair looking down her nose at him. She wasn't as ugly as most witches, due to her young age, but a witch is still a witch even if they look halfway decent.
"Hi, neighbor," the witch said. "I see you are stealing my vegetables and are trespassing in my garden. Why?"
"I-t's my wife, ma'am," the man said nervously. "She's pregnant, as you probably know, and she has an unusual appetite..."
"For my vegetables," finished the witch, she was not impressed. "I see. Why am I not surprised, Raramon? Listen, thief, I'll make a deal with you. I won't do anything to you if, once your wife gives birth, give me the child."
The man looked at the witch, mouth open. Why would a witch want the child? Probably for some black magic, he didn't doubt. Or something of that sort. Witches were famous for such things, weren't they? "I-I agree," he said, looking at the ground.
"As if you had a choice. Now, get! I don't want to see you in my garden again!"
The man's feet seemed to gain wings as he ran for the garden's gate. Raramon, the Digimon, floated closer to the witch as she watched the man go to his house. "Yoshino," Raramon said, poking the witch in the side. "The man took some of your beans."
The witch looked at the Digimon, her eyes narrowing in rage. "This is the worst!" she cried. "I don't really care if he took a carrot or two but no one touches my beans! You remember what my mother said about those beans? This is just the worst!"
-
Sora took the bread pan out of the oven, trying hard not to burn herself, as her husband, Taichi, wrestled with the door handle that always seemed to be sticking. An impatient costumer was banging their fist on the door of the small bakery run by the married couple. "Can I have some help over here?!" yelled Taichi.
Sora sighed, Taichi was just being impatient, probably more so than the stuck costumer. Dropping the loaf on the table, Sora ran to help Taichi. "Scoot over!" she snapped, Taichi was stubborn and wouldn't move. She shoved him a little and yanked on the door handle.
The door opened with a crack and the irate costumer, a young girl no more than eleven and dressed in a plain dress and a vibrant red cape, came in. She yanked a few coins out of a pocket in her dress and tossed it to the annoyed Taichi. "I came in for a loaf of bread," the girl said, stroking her long brown hair irately. "What does my mother think I am? A serving girl?"
Sora raised an eyebrow. "You have a problem buying your family's bread, young girl?" she asked. "That's true laziness."
"No, it's not for my family," the girl replied, a bit embarrassed. "I mean, it is, but that's not the problem. My mother wants me to go deep into the woods and deliver it to my grandmother. I'm tempted to bribe that serving girl I saw a few houses down working in the yard to take it."
"Serving girl? Oh, you must mean Izumi. No, she's not a serving girl, her stepmother, uh, what's her name again? Oh yes, Juri, I believe. Anyways, Juri just likes to keep her stepdaughter busy. Keeps Izumi out of trouble, she says," Sora said while Taichi was helping the costumer picking out a loaf of bread. It was just local gossip, nothing new to the long-term residents of the area but the girl found it interesting enough.
"Really? I could've sworn she was a serving girl, though," the girl said, shaking her head to a question that Taichi asked her about the type of bread she wanted. "That one? It looks good."
"It was just taken out of the oven not a hour ago," Taichi replied, pride swelling in his chest at the compliment to his baking abilities. "It's fresh."
"Grandmother will love it," the girl said, taking the loaf. "Oh and do you have any sticky buns? Oh dear... I might need a basket, do you have one?"
-
"Takato! Get that cow out of the house this instant!"
Mrs. Matsuki sighed, running her fingers through her hair at the antics of her only child. She knew he was a foolish boy but whoever heard of keeping a cow in the house? Truly, Takato had sank to a new low. The boy grinned sheepishly, and patted his pet's flank proudly. The cow itself was an albino, white as snow, it was Takato's friend. "I thought if I brought him indoors, Mother, Milky might produce more milk," Takato said.
"Takato... Milky is a she. Only girl cows produce milk! How many times do I have to tell you that?! Oh, never mind. Don't answer that," Mrs. Matsuki sighed. "Takato, it's time to get rid of that cow. You're going to take it to market."
"What?!" Takato exclaimed. "Mother! I can't do that! Milky is my friend!"
Mrs. Matsuki moved closer to her son, and waved her hands around their small home. "Look around, Takato," she said. "This place is falling around our ears. The roof leaks. The chimney is cracked. The floor creaks. We don't have enough food to last us the month and your father is never coming back, some large Digimon probably stepped on him for all we know. The only thing of value we have is that cow and it's dry. Completely dry, there is no milk left in it. We need to sell the cow to get money to get food, Takato. Do you understand?"
"...Yes, I understand, Mother. It's just... Milky has been my only friend for years. I can't sell him, er, her," Takato said, looking at the creaky floorboards. "I'll take her to market."
"Good, now, don't sell Milky for less than five silver pieces, got it? Five silver pieces, no less."
-
"Izumi! Izumi! My hair needs brushed! Get yourself into my room or I'll have mother send Leomon after you!"
Izumi looked at the pink bird pecking at the grass in the yard of the large house. Rubbing her hands on the dirty apron that she usually wore, Izumi moved a strand of hair behind her ear. "Huh, Stepmother says that my chores keep me in line but Chiaki doesn't do any, Piyomon, huh. Lazy little-"
"Don't talk like that, Izumi," the Digimon pecking at the grass said, trying to keep herself from laughing. "Your mother wouldn't like you cursing like a sailor. I know Chiaki deserves the worst curses out there, but you are supposed to be a lady."
"Izumi!"
"I'm coming! Hold your horses!" Izumi yelled at the window on the second floor. Piyomon gave a little shrug of her wings. "I'll be back, Piyomon. Maybe we'll stop by that festival that the king is supposed to be putting on after we finish visiting Mother."
Piyomon gave a little smile as Izumi vanished into the house.
-
"It's getting dark, little girl, are you sure you know the way?"
"Yes, ma'am," the little girl replied to Sora. "I know the way by heart. All I said that I didn't like doing it, I never said I didn't know the way."
Taichi gave a toothy grin. "Just being careful," he said. "You're a good costumer."
-
"Yoshino?"
"Yes, Raramon?"
The old witch looked at Raramon and then back through the window of the bakery. "I know we shouldn't be here, but I want to tell that idiotic first son of the man who stole my beans a thing or two. Like, for example, why he doesn't have a son," Yoshino said. "That and... I want his wife and him to do something for me... You know what."
Raramon nodded, she'd be quiet until the costumer left.