Chapter 3



The glassy eyes stared down at her unblinkingly. Her footsteps echoed on the polished black and white tiled floor.

Who knew toy stores could be so freaky? Sydney thought with a shudder. Finally, she came to the isle that she wanted. Clutching the money her mother had slipped to her, she picked up a box of the digimon card game, and examined the box. She had enough money- barely.

After purchasing it, she immediately settled down to examine the cards inside- then came to the one she'd been looking for.

Nimble and darkly colored, with sharp, bright green eyes and a white mask on his face. It was him- she was sure of it! It was Impmon, the very same creature that had been following her the day before. He was a digimon! A real live one!

She could barely believe it. They were not real, only things that young children thought lived under their beds. They were surely not living creatures like she was. well; at least they weren't supposed to be.

But maybe- maybe he was- maybe he was here searching for something. or someone.

Just then, she had a horribly nauseating feeling. She put a hand out on a tree trunk- it was all she could do to keep herself from keeling over. After a moment, it had passed; the feeling lessened, but was not entirely gone.

What was that.? She thought gasping for air in big gulps. Her ribcage tingled a little, a strange feeling. It was as if something from inside was trying to escape.

Suddenly, something rocketed out of the sky, streaks of fiery colors streaming behind it. It bore deep into the earth, burning a small crater into the cement.

"What the.?" Wondering what the thing was, and how it could possibly go through cement, she bent down, peering into the hole. An almost unreal glow bathed her face and arms.

For a moment, all she could do was kneel in front of the hole, her eyes closed, feeling the power and warmth course through her veins. But, as quickly as it had come, the feeling vanished, just as the dizzying sickness she had felt before.

Almost subconsciously, she reached down and felt her fingers fold around the object. It was smooth and cool, and humming with an underlying power. When she got to her feet, light spilled from her fingers like golden water. The object buzzed sharply, then was silent.

She blinked, and, clutching the object to her chest she dashed off down the sidewalk.



His tail twitched contentedly as he slurped up the rest of his ramen.

"Ah, always tastes best when somebody else paid for it!" He casually tossed the bowl and chopsticks aside and belched contentedly.

Lately, everything had been going his way. He'd even met a human that didn't make him sick to his stomach. As a matter of fact, he had a strange feeling he could like this human- even befriend her. He had only just met the young teenager, and yet he felt something pass between them each time they met- like a mutual understanding.

That night when her father struck her- a strange feeling had arisen in him. His body trembled remembering his similar past- they shared the same past- did that mean that their destines were intertwined as well? Did she too have that empty feeling he had? Did she ever feel so alone that she actually needed someone- for him it was quite a strange thought- but maybe, even he could have someone that he could genuinely care about.

Did he dare think that maybe he really could care about her?

"Speaking of witch." he looked below him, and spotted none other then the punkish goth girl, clad in her usual dark and none-revealing clothing. She was out of breath, and stopped short directly under his branch. Se looked around frantically.

"Impmon!!!" She yelled, looking around her. "Are you here?"

This is where we first met.. He realized. She remembered? Just to find me? Curious, he flicked his tail to the side and leapt off the branch and landed in front of her. Startled, she jumped back a few feet- then, realizing that it was only him, she sighed in relief.

"I was hoping id find you here- I have something to ask you."

He blinked, feeling his face redden a bit.

She knelt down in front of him, and produced a pack of cards- and off the top of the pile she pulled out a card- and it had himself on it!

"This is you, isn't it? Why didn't you tell me you were a digimon.?"

"Er. I forgot that one little detail." He laughed, rubbing his hand on his neck.

"How could you forget? You're. not even real! Or... you're not supposed to be."

"Im right here, aren't I?" He pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

She looked down at the card. "Well, yeah but."

"..but.?"

".but. I don't know, it's just strange, I guess." She murmured, tucking a strand of unruly dark hair behind her ear.

Impmon shrugged. "Yea, humans tend to think that way, but listen- don't ever believe for a second what everybody tells ya, k? Listening to the orders of humans is just about the dumbest thing you could ever do."

She blinked. "But. I AM human."

He shrugged. "Yeah, true, but you're different, Syd." The nickname popped out of his moth before he realized that he'd even said it. He looked at her unsurely out of the corner of his eye- and her eyes had taken on a glazed over, far away look.

"My mother used to call me that." She whispered, wiping her arm across her face. "-But that was before." She trailed off, She was looking right at him, and yet it was like she couldn't really see him.

He shifted uncomfortably. Unsettled- he reached out his gloved hand and tentatively touched her arm. She shuddered, then seemed to realize he was there.

".Sorry." She mumbled, getting to her feet. As she stood though, something palm-sized clattered to the ground.

His eyes widened. "Is this- where did you get this?" He knelt in front of it, almost unbelieving at what was there. "A D-Arc!"

"I found that.," She said to him, kneeling down on her hands and knees too. "Do you know what it is?"

"Well- yeah it's a D-Arc- all tamers have-"

"D-Arc.? Tamer.? What are you talking about?"

"Sydney, look, if you have this D-Arc, it can mean only one thing."

"-What's that?"

"You're a digimon tamer!"

She blinked. "Ya mean like a lion tamer- but who tames digimon instead?"

"Not. exactly." He sweatdropped. "But you kind of have the right idea- only you're missing something."

".A brain?" She joked, pocketing the D-Arc.

Suddenly, a burst of light filled the small clearing. Impmon shielded his eyes for the split second, but when he opened them again, Sydney just stood there, giving him and odd look.

"I didn't do it, I swear!" He said backing up a bit.

"No! Its not that- look!" She knelt down to him, giving the D-Arc a thoughtful look. The, she turned away and paced in a circle.

"It's like a compass!" She observed, tapping at it. She turned back in his direction- causing the D-Arc to bloop out of whack.

"-I don't understand. Why is it beeping?"

Impmon stood there, dumbfounded. He'd had a gut instinct all along, but he'd chosen to ignore it- this girl, Sydney, was his tamer!