Defend Primary Village!
Kingdom of Chronus, Southern Province, Primary Village
"Dynamite head!" The Allomon roared, leveling his head and charging. Strabimon tensed up, then swung a kick to the side. The blow was forceful enough to send Jeanette to the ground, but not enough to seriously harm her – only get her out of the way.
The blue-scaled saurian plowed through the edge of the building, having missed Strabimon completely as she jumped onto his head. "Light Nail!" With silvery light flashing from the wicked claws on her hands, she slashed at the Allomon's eye.
Roaring in pain as his scales were torn, the Digimon swung his head to the side in an attempt to dislodge his adversary. Slamming into the corner of the cottage, his efforts were successful as the battered-but-not-out form of Strabimon landed roughly on the ground.
"Dino Burst!" as fire streamed from Allomon's maw, Strabimon dashed to the side. Grass crisped, wilted, and burned to ash in her wake as the heat washed across it. Though it seemed like a proverbial match of David versus Goliath, Strabimon a head shorter than Jeanette against Allomon the size of a house, it quickly became apparent that what the saurian had in size and power, he lacked terribly in agility, particularly against such a small target.
"Light Leg!" the same silvery light flared from Strabimon's boot as it made hard contact with the back of Allomon's leg. Though the saurian bellowed in pain, he swung his head down and around, teeth glinting dangerously. Pushing off with her hand, Strabimon avoided the fanged attack by inches as she dropped toward the ground.
"Light Nail!" Leaping upward immediately, she again scratched at Allomon's eyes. But for the second time her claws met only scales, not the softer flesh she was after. Landing again, Strabimon's eyes passed up across Allomon's back.
But as she was planning, Allomon was acting. A vicious slash of his tail sent Strabimon tumbling across the grass. "Dino Burst!" The fire breath attack again, and this time Strabimon was in no position to run from it.
Resisting the urge to cry out, she fought her way back to her feet as the attack abated. Casting her eyes to the edge of the battlefield, she saw Jeanette standing where she'd been thrown to by Strabimon herself.
Jeanette was terrified beyond words, the creature she'd been charged with raising had just gone into battle, a battle that wasn't going well at all. Dusting debris from the damaged house off, she pulled out her D-Vector, but grasping desperately at the straws of knowledge Kyoko had given her on the device's function, she couldn't remember anything of use. That it was vital, sure, but not what those vital functions were.
With a deep, grunting sniff, Allomon's beady eyes settled on the young tamer as well. The scent was sweet, gentle, and unusual, but unmistakably meat.
If such things were possible, the panic in Jeanette intensified as the saurian lumbered toward her. This was it. The end of her 'grand' adventure in the Digital World, with fanged death spreading as Allomon's maw descended toward her. Her knees felt shaky, both directly and indirectly caused by the fear of impending doom.
Brilliant blue light flared from her right hand, resembling nothing so much as faint azure fire coming from her palm. "Digi… Soul," she whispered, entranced as the fear was suddenly wiped away. Her blue eyes fixed the charging Allomon, when a blur shot in from the side.
"I cannot allow you to harm her," Strabimon stood dead in the path of Allomon's assault, holding back the saurian's wicked maw with her clawed hands. The same flickering blue light around Jeanette's hand was likewise around the child Digimon's form, seeming to be the source of the unerring strength allowing her to hold on.
The Allomon roared, pushed, heaved, and jerked, but couldn't break free of Strabimon's grip. His beady eyes fixed on Jeanette, he gave another bone-jarring roar. "Light Nail!" her claws flared with energy, tearing into the scaly blue snout.
Worming free at last, Allomon pulled back. With a grunting growl he took a step back, considering his adversary. Strabimon still stood at the ready before Jeanette, the latter looking still quite scared but with the confidence of hope sustaining her.
With a final bellow, Allomon took one, two, three thunderous steps forward, blocky head dropping, dripping maw opening wide to swallow the upstart Digimon whole.
Tssssccchhh!
Strabimon blurred into motion, a blade of pure energy extending from a small handgrip. With liquid grace she ducked under the attack and jammed the sword upward.
Allomon staggered sideways, giving a pathetic sort of groan as he keeled over sideways. A vibration rocked the ground, its fall in death as fearsome as any of its roars in life.
"We," whispered Jeanette, staring at the fallen reptile. "Did it." But her world was quickly growing dim, an undeniable urge to sleep so familiar yet also new overtaking her. The DigiSoul flickered and died, and as it did so, Strabimon too felt the full weight of fatigue from her actions.
"Jeanette?"
"Jeanette?"
"Net-chan?"
"Net-chan!"
"Can you hear me?"
Kingdom of Chronus, Southern Province, Town of Fraeno
Jeanette Roy eased back into the world of the living. She was wrapped in something soft, warm, and generally cozy, and for a few moments, she was ready to drift back to sleep. But the last memories she had came trickling back. The Digital World, it wasn't just a dream. But Kyoko? Allomon? Strabimon? The curious light she'd somehow known was called DigiSoul?
Laying on her back, the girl's blue eyes flickered back open. Everything was blurry, but she was able to make out the ceiling above her, brightly lit, painted plaster like any she might see at home any day of the week.
"Missing these?" came a voice laced with sweet cheer. The smooth and cool frames of her glasses were slipped onto her face, and with focus returned to her eyes, Jeanette made out the tanned face of Kyoko leaning over her.
The Japanese tamer looked thoroughly relieved to see her friend awake again. "Finally," she said quietly, sitting back down on a chair perched right beside Jeanette's bed. Looking around, Jeanette was in a surprisingly modern hospital, nothing like the simple cottage in Primary Village.
Crisp white curtains helped to screen the bright sunlight streaming in through the window into the small room. The room itself was clean while still comfortable, centered around the single bed she lay upon. A hospital recovery room, something the youth was more familiar with than she wanted to be.
"How much sleep do you need? It's been three days."
At this, Jeanette felt another flare of shame. But it must have reflected in her face, for Kyoko briefly brushed a hand against her face.
"It's nothing to do your condition. You remember that light around your hand during the fight?"
"DigiSoul?" Jeanette muttered, still remembering the phenomenon's name.
"Uh-huh," Kyoko nodded "It's…" she struggled to mimic Piccolomon's explanation. "A manifestation of your body's energy. And well, you dumped all of it into your partner at once. A newborn Digimon shouldn't have had any chance at all of winning that battle, but," Kyoko's heterochromatic gaze shifted toward the foot of Jeanette's bed. Visible leaning against the wall was a form that had initially been overlooked for it was still as a statue.
Strabimon stood against the wall, arms folded, head down and eyes closed. She looked as fierce as ever. "You should avoid expending all your energy like that in the future, Jeanette." Easing herself into a sitting position, the French youth's first reaction was that it sounded like something her father would say.
"She was worried," Kyoko said, leaning closer to Jeanette with a smile.
"I was not worried," Strabimon said, still calm where she stood. "It is only natural for me to advise how to avoid any future complications."
While Jeanette could only frown, the Strabimon's words prompted a small giggle from Kyoko. The younger teen began to rise, but met a hand on her shoulder pushing her back down. "The doctor said you were just exhausted, not hurt or anything. But you just kept right on sleeping, and she said to take things easy once you got up.
"'Ow is Bolter?" Jeanette realized she hadn't seen the little Lopmon. But the question left a little bit of pink visible on Kyoko's face.
"He had to undergo treatment," she said, closing her eyes, and covering her embarrassment with laughter. "The battle was a little rough on him, but he's a weenie, too."
"Anyways," Kyoko said rising. "I should go check on him, but I wanted to be here when you woke up." Stepping back, she cast a sideways glance at Strabimon. "There's still a lot more to tell you about, but I'll just leave you two together while you rest, Net-Chan." The lupine humanoid gave no acknowledgment as the other tamer passed by her and out the door.
"Oh!" said Jeanette, picking herself up a little to look at Strabimon. The Digimon hadn't move so much as a hair beyond her mouth since Jeanette awoke, but there was something she had to know. "What's your name?"
"Excuse me?" Strabimon asked with the same statue-esque calm.
"W-well," Jeanette fumbled. "Kyoko's partner has a name, and it wouldn't feel right just calling you by your species name all the time-"
Strabimon held up a clawed palm, something so stationary suddenly moving was in itself enough to leave Jeanette silent. "You may call me… Artemis." Eyelids slid slowly back to reveal her vibrant green eyes, and at last the Strabimon, now named Artemis, stood and strode gracefully from the room, leaving the tamer to recover from her exertions in peace and quiet.
