As Strabimon makes his way over towards Ryan, still unconscious from Digitamamon's attack, his attention is drawn up to the adjacent rooftop where a silhouette blocks the light from his eyes. He watches with intrigue as Renamon flips down to the ground before rising up with a serious look plastered across her face. "Get away from him…now."
"I know what you're thinking. But I didn't hurt him. It was another digimon whose core had been corrupted. I saved his life." Strabimon explains, never taking his eyes off her and vice versa.
"He's telling you the truth, Renamon." She turns to see the cloaked figure standing there with the lifeless looking boy gently cradled in his arms. "The creature that corrupted Wizardmon who attacked you both last night did the same to all the digimon here in this village…all of who we had to destroy I'm sorry to say."
Ryan slowly starts to awaken, bringing a sense of relief along with him as he does. "Oh, anyone get the license plate number of that egg?" He laughs but gets no response from the others who fail to absorb the humor at his untimely joke. "Well I thought it was funny. Besides, I'm the one who got his butt handed to him by the most important meal of the day. "
"We don't have time for this. It's probably looking for more victims as we speak. And the more it feeds, the more powerful it becomes." There was no argument to be heard. The four of them had already experienced the power the dark entity was capable of unleashing and knew it would only get worse from there on out.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Renamon asks, insistent on doing anything in her power to assist them in their quest.
Initially hesitant at the offer set before him, Strabimon quickly comes to the realization that they would need all the resources they could get considering the power it had amassed. What started as a simple search and destroy mission had now become far more complicated than he ever could have imagined. And there was no choice at this point but for them to work together in order to accomplish their goal. "Yes, there is. By now the dark force has become too strong for any one of us to destroy. So we need you both to acquire the only thing capable of stopping it…The Orb of Infinity."
"What does it do? And where can we find it?" Ryan interjects, showing the most curiosity and initiative he had since arriving in the digital world. Renamon, pleasantly surprised by his sudden change in demeanor, stares at him in utter shock. "What? If your world and mine are in danger, that means my family's in danger too. And I'm not going anything bad happen to them because of the way I've been acting. I'm with you now."
"Glad to hear it. And to answer both of your questions, Ryan, the Orb of Infinity is kind of like a prison for digimon. It acts as a gateway to another dimension where the most vile and despicable ones are sent. As for its location…" Just by the way his words began trailing off they knew immediately that it would be no easy task. "…it's on a map that's been split into four pieces and hidden in the different regions of the digital world."
Strabimon reaches into one of his pants pockets and produces a round silver medallion with a white jewel embedded in the center of it. "This will help you find it. All you have to do is hold it up to the sky and it will emit an energy beam that will point you in the direction of the nearest portion of the map." He places it around the boy's neck, entrusting him with a tremendous responsibility. "Guard it with your life. And good luck to the both of you."
"Wait!" Ryan yells to the being hidden beneath the garment as he and Strabimon are about to take their leave. "You never told us your name."
"I can't tell you my real name. But you can just call me Yin. We'll meet again my friends. Take care." With that they were gone, leaving the vixen and human behind in the desolate streets of the now abandoned village.
"Well, I don't know about you but I'm kind of tired. Any chance we could just stay here for the night before going to search for this map? And before you answer, it's not a complaint…just a suggestion. It's entirely up to you." Taking a chance that Renamon would oblige him this one request so that he could rest in preparation for the long journey ahead.
As she contemplated her decision many factors had to be taken into account. If they stayed, there was a chance that the delay would hinder their progress in finding the map in time to stop the darkness. However they had not rested much the night before and, though she would never admit it, was feeling heavily taxed herself. "Follow me. I found something while I was looking around. It's not far."
"Hang on. Did we just actually agree on something?" Ryan asks, having a hard time believing what he had just heard. "Man, if we don't be careful we might end up being friends."
Renamon stops and glares at him with a half sarcastic and serious tone. "Don't push your luck."
After walking for several blocks they come to a stop in front of an old fashioned inn built entirely from stone which had once been occupied by digimon who were passing through the village as a place to rest. From the outside it did not look like much but the same could not be said for the inside.
Just through the magnificent oak door was the front desk which was made out of magnificently carved red cedar, complimenting the maple flooring to near perfection. To the left of the desk was the small yet cozy living room complete with two ninety inch chocolate flavored couches across from each other with a marble table in the middle and a fireplace adjacent to both. The upstairs consisted of several sequential rooms all consisting of one queen sized bed, a small night table and a bathroom.
"I'll admit I did not expect this." There was a hint of excitement in his voice, enjoying the fact that he would be able to sleep in a real bed instead of one made from dry foliage. He raises his arms up and deliberately falls face first onto the mattress. "Get a shovel and bury me right here."
"Don't tempt me, I just might." Ryan scoffs, grabs a pillow and throws it at her head which she phase shifts out of the way to avoid and reappears in the same spot a second later. "Nice try. Good night."
By the coy tone in Renamon's voice he now knew that not only was she one to play the game but most of the time came out on the winning end and had no problem rubbing the losers face in it.
The stillness of the night brings a peaceful slumber for Ryan who had been run ragged for nearly two days straight. However, that temporary escape from reality was soon to be interrupted by the sounds of creaking coming from the roof which rouse the young boy from the sweet serenity of his dreams.
"Um…Renamon, did you hear that?" He scrambles quietly to the next room in fear that they might come under attack from another corrupt digimon. "Hey! I think there's something on the…"
Strangely, he discovers that Renamon was gone and that the window had been left open allowing a gentle breeze to ripple across the white curtains. The thought that she might have abandoned him and left had crossed his mind but deep down he knew better. Wait a minute. Could she be…no…why would she be…then again, this is Renamon…there's no way…who am I kidding? Of course it's her.
Ryan leans out of the window and manages to locate a small red painted ladder leading up to the rooftop but knows without a doubt that Renamon had not used it. Upon reaching the top he spies the fox digimon standing on the ledge of the building with both arms crossed, staring up into the night sky with a spaced out expression.
"You know, I thought you were weird before. But this takes the cake." Ryan says, nonchalantly grabbing her attention. "Having trouble sleeping?"
"If I woke you, I apologize." She closes her eyes and bows to go along with the apology. "I just had some things on my mind."
"Don't apologize. It's cool. But now that I'm up, would you mind if I joined you?" Climbing onto the ledge he takes a spot right next to her and is instantly enveloped by the splendor of the sight before him. "Wow. I can see why thinking would be a lot easier up here."
"Can I ask you something, Ryan? What is it like on your world?" Renamon asks, curious about the planet she had never been to.
As Ryan was about to answer he became inexplicably perplexed by the ambiguity of her question and didn't quite know how to respond at first. "I think you'd have to see it for yourself, Renamon. Trying to explain it is kind of difficult. But I have to be honest…I'd take the digital world over mine any day of the week. No one likes me back there anyway."
"Don't say that. Just because you aren't liked by some doesn't mean you're hated by all."
"I know that." The anguish in his voice resonated from deep within his very soul. "Sometimes it's just hard to deal with. I'm not a fighter like you. My battles are against a different enemy with different powers. And sometimes they hurt worse than any attack from a Wizardmon or a Digitamamon could."
Renamon places a paw on his shoulder, her touch filled with compassion and understanding. "It's very noble to not want to fight. But not everyone is like you, Ryan. And it's alright to stand up for yourself and others against those who want to hurt you. If you don't know how, I suppose I could teach you."
"You're going to teach me some moves? Awesome! Can you teach me one now?" Ryan asks overly excited to begin learning some self-defense techniques. "How about some kicks? Or punches? Do you know any good combos?"
As the eager lad begins throwing mock boxing punches at Renamon she grabs his wrist, twists it to the right and flips him onto his back. "First some rules. The first rule: Don't do that ever again."
"Oh…" Soreness and minor pain are quickly accompanied by several groans. "…Somehow I think I just opened up the gates of hell. I've got to learn to keep my big mouth shut."