Episode 10: A Leaf On the Wind
Yukio had finally found it. He had spent weeks trying to find this game, and there it had been – the perfect price, the perfect shipping dates, everything had been perfect. It was so rare a game that where he had found it was possibly the only place he would ever find it… and it had taken him weeks to track that particular site down. It was a game worth tracking down with such ferocity, and just as he had confirmed his shipping and credit card information…
The computer had crashed.
At least, that's what Yukio had thought had happened. At this moment, he severely doubted that.
It had come up with a black screen on his monitor, with white text depicting some sort of error. It'd happened before on one of his older computers, but then the screen had been blue, not black, and it was because of his overloading the graphics card by playing game very heavy on graphics and frame rate. He had known that this was something different… and no matter what he had done, the screen did not go away.
He hadn't wanted to press Enter like it had beckoned rather cheerfully for him to do. He had been sure it was some sort of virus trap that would completely lay waste to his computer, and he had plenty of valuable things on that computer that were worth keeping and would be very hard to get back if he somehow lost it.
However, it had been the only option. Nothing he had done changed the screen – he had unplugged the computer from both the power supply and the outlet, and still it remained there. He had tried everything he knew to do when something like this happened, and none of it had worked.
Enter was the only option, and he had taken it. After all, he had enough money in savings to buy a new computer if this one was ruined, he supposed. It would be a pain to recollect all those lost games and get back to where he was in them, but he had figured it was better than to leave that screen sit there for who knows how long…
And now he was here.
He wasn't sure how it worked, but he somehow ended up smack dab in the middle of some sort of grassland. He could see in the distance that there was something – some buildings or a town erected in the middle of the plains – but other than that there was nothing but long grass that reached to his knees and wind.
Lots of wind.
It was strong and tossed his hair, threatening to toss him, too; it came from the direction of the buildings. The air itself didn't even smell all that pleasant, either – sort of stale and stagnant. He wondered why, but he was more concerned with how the hell he'd gotten here and how the hell he could get home. Being outdoors was not something that Yukio was thrilled about.
Is this some sort of game? He thought. That was possible; he'd heard of virtual reality gaming starting to hit the market and he was interested – but what kind of game was this, and why did it seem so real? No matter where he looked, he couldn't see any signs of lag or messiness in the design of this "game". If it were made of frames, it was very well put-together, and all the polygons seemed to flow – the ground beneath him wasn't just a flat plain with a texture laid over it. It felt and seemed real to the touch.
"I need to get out of here," Yukio decided aloud. He didn't like this place. It was too… outdoorsy. And if this "game" did not produce some sort of element to keep him interested, he would have no choice other than to leave and remove it from his computer. He had better things to do than this.
He started towards the buildings. In every game he'd played, buildings were the best place to go when unsure. Usually it meant some sort of town or civilization, where NPCs could provide directions for what to do to progress. He would talk to a few of them, get an idea of where this "game" was going, and decide then whether or not it was worth it to leave. Perhaps there was some sort of save point there that he could use.
The wind was getting stronger the closer he got to the buildings, and the closer her got to the buildings the more defined they became. They were basic huts, built from what looked like mortar made from mud and grass. Still, they looked very nice and there were several of them, all capable of standing up in the wind. A very large tree – which Yukio had thought was another building from a few kilometers back – stood in the middle of the village, its branches pointing in all directions. Signs hung from these branches, each one labeled with places that one could go if they followed the branch in that direction.
Useful, Yukio thought, for later. He stopped at the outskirts of the village and stuffed his hands into his pockets, finding his Nintendo 3DS stashed there. Frowning, he pulled it out to examine it. He opened it and turned it on, the device pinging to life only to display to him that he was very nearly out of battery life. Sighing, he closed it and replaced it in his pocket.
Odd, he remarked to himself. Why would that come with me here? I guess that's how this game works… I wonder if there's a place to charge it?
He looked about and found nearly no one until he came upon a group of… people. He had thought they were people at first, but he realized now that they weren't. They were monsters. Monsters huddled up in a small group before a larger building. One had wings and was floating above the crowd.
Are they the citizens of this place? He thought. It was more than possible, he was sure. His eyes flitted over them all – there were ones that looked like lizards, a small few resembled insects, others resembled birds or dogs or dragons and some even looked like a combination of all the above. Only one looked remotely human, and she was the one floating above all the others.
Yukio felt his eyes drawn to her. From behind, all he could see were pointy ears, a shock of light lavender hair, and glimmering green-blue translucent butterfly wings. She seemed reminiscent of a child – probably shorter than him and maybe very young.
Something happened to make the crowd of monsters respond in a way that made Yukio think something bad was happening in this village. They shivered and dispersed, some with sad eyes, others crying. They, however, didn't notice Yukio much at all. The flying girl remained, fluttering to the ground. Most of the monsters retreated into their homes, leaving she and one others.
She approached a monster that looked something like an oversized swan. She was pretty, with pale gray and grey feathers. She actually looked relatively normal, aside from her size and her legs, which were either mechanized or covered in armor. Cradled in her wings, she held a set of three little creatures that were smaller than Yukio's head. One red, one black, and one that appeared to be some sort of little seedling. The girl touched this one on the head.
Yukio sensed that no other creature was going to make itself known to him. He stepped forward and coughed, "Um… hello."
The swan let out a frightened squack and shielded the little creatures with her wings. The girl stepped before them and shouted a warning to the swan, standing in a defensive position.
Yukio looked her over. She was definitely a child-like creature, and small compared to him. She had an impish look about her, but in a very pretty way. Her lavender hair looked more like a crown of feathers. She wore a mixture of purple cloth and lavender armor – her hands and feet were armored to look like birds' claws, and she wore cloth to cover up most of her body. Her eyes were a very pretty pink color, and half her face was covered with a scarf. Little markings, like tattoos, marked her skin below her eyes and her midriff, which was exposed.
"Get back!" she shouted. Her voice was surprisingly strong despite her size.
Yukio held up his hands. "I'm not here to hurt you," he offered. "Just to figure out where I am and what I'm supposed to be doing here."
The imp-girl's pink eyes burned into his, and Yukio got the sense that she was reading him. After what seemed like forever, she loosened up and turned to the swan. "It's OK, Swanmon," she offered. "I don't think he'll hurt us…"
"H-How can you be sure?" Swanmon, the swan, asked, looking at Yukio warily. She cradled the smaller monsters with such tenderness that Yukio figured she must be their mother - or their caretaker, by the fact that the monsters looked nothing like one another.
The girl looked back at Yukio. "I don't know, but I can feel it," she replied.
"Yes, but he's… human…" Swanmon said, shivering. "You know we can't trust humans, Breezemon; especially not after this…" She pointed with her beak to the little creatures hidden in her wings.
Breezemon, the girl, closed her eyes. She seemed to be in thought. When she opened them, her pink eyes seemed sharper and more defined. "It's OK, Swanmon – I know it," she assured the bird. "I… I think he can help us."
Good, Yukio thought, this is starting to sound more like what I'm used to…
Swanmon looked between Breezemon and Yukio and sighed. "Whatever you decide, Breezemon, I'll be inside looking after them. Such a tragic happening…" The bird lumbered back into the bigger hut, a flap of cloth closing behind her.
Breezemon cocked her head at Yukio and leaped, landing gracefully before him. Her wings fluttered as she looked up at him in examination. She was a pretty little imp, that was for sure, and her hair looked feathery soft.
"I'm Breezemon," she said, holding out a clawed hand.
"Yukio," he replied. He'd already forgotten her name upon hearing it. He took her hand in his and asked, "Can you tell me where I might be able to go to get some sort of tutorial?"
"Tutorial?" Breezemon repeated, obviously confused. "On what?"
"How to play this game, of course," Yukio replied, sensing something wrong. Her response seemed so… human; not what he was used to in games, where all responses were predetermined. The voice acting here is incredible, Yukio thought as he looked at her.
"Game?" Breezemon repeated again. She shook her head, "You must be mistaken; this isn't a game. This is the Digital World."
"Digital World?" Sounded like a world where a game would take place to him.
"Yes, and we are digimon," Breezemon instructed. "This must be your first time here… there haven't been humans around the Digital World in ages… well, until now, of course."
"Digimon…" Yukio repeated. "Alright; I get it. This must be some sort of monster-taming game, right? I just have to tame one of you and you'll help me?"
Breezemon looked thoroughly confused, and slightly insulted. She narrowed her eyes and him and fluttered her wings, lifting herself up to eye level. "Are you… hurt?" she wondered. "If you are, Swanmon can take care of you. She might be busy, but she can help."
"No, I'm not hurt," Yukio insisted. Damn, this place makes no sense! What am I supposed to be doing? What kind of game is this? He sighed and asked, "So… what's going on?"
Breezemon frowned and seemed to deflate a little. She dropped back to the ground and answered, "A cloaked person came and began spreading a sickness throughout the Plains Zone. It's already killed some digimon and they didn't revert back to Digieggs when they died."
"Is that supposed to happen?"
"Yes, of course!" Breezemon snapped sadly. "We revert to Digieggs when we die so we can be reborn again, with all our experiences and our memories… but that didn't happen to those who died of the sickness… and now it's hit the village. The little ones… the Babies… they got sick really quick. Botamon and Punimon and… and Nyokimon…" She sniffled.
Yukio frowned. It hurt him somewhere inside to see her sad. "How can I help?" he asked. He reached into his jacket and fumbled about, finding that his notebook and pen had made it here with him, too. He pulled them out and opened the notebook to a fresh page. He clicked his pen and wrote, Sickness infecting young "digimon".
Breezemon looked up at him and tilted her head. "What are you doing?" she asked. She fluttered up to eye level again and tried to peer at Yukio's notebook. Yukio cursed and snapped it shut, stepping away from her.
"Keep out, Twinkle Toes," he grumbled. "This is private stuff."
"Twinkle Toes?" Breezemon repeated, confused.
"That's what I'm calling you."
"But my name is Breezemon…"
"I prefer Twinkle Toes. Easier to remember for me," Yukio insisted. "Now stay out of my stuff. Just tell me what it is I can do to help." I haven't spoken this much since I was a kid! He thought, huffing. I just want to help and get my reward so I can leave this place and move on. Introductory towns are so boring!
Breezemon looked affronted by his behavior, but she didn't protest. She looked grateful that someone – anyone – was willing to help. She looked out into the distance, out into the endless plains, and said, "There's a Shamanmon out there somewhere, leading a clan of Goblimon. He's the only digimon I can think of who could possibly have a cure of some kind without venturing too far away from the ones who need help. Swanmon doesn't want me to go out there alone, but I have to. I'm the only one who's willing to go out there."
Yukio frowned, considering her words. He looked up at the tree, examining the signs. He pointed to one and asked, "Where's this… Castle? Wouldn't that place have some sort of remedy?"
"The Boss's castle is in the Dark Area," Breezemon told him impatiently. "To get there I'd have to fly all the way across this Zone and through the Forest Zone. It's too long of a trip… and I'm not sure if anyone there would be able to help. No… I need to find the Shamanmon before I try anything else. I have to help those little digimon, before it's too late!"
"So… you need help," Yukio surmised.
Breezemon nodded. She said quietly, "I don't know any digimon who'd be willing to go this far out of their way to help. Things have been so crazy lately… apparently part of the Mountain Zone has disappeared right into thin air… digimon are being violent and angry… and now with this sickness, I'm afraid that the Digital World might fall apart if there isn't a cure found soon!"
Yukio let out a sigh. "All right," he said.
"All right what?" Breezemon wondered, tilting her head.
"I'll help, Twinkle Toes," Yukio told her. "I'll go with you to find this Shamanmon. I'll help you find this cure you need."
Breezemon's face brightened. She fluttered a bit into the air, smiling. She laughed, "Yes! It's just like all those old stories, where humans and digimon help each other out! I can't believe that it's happening to me – here!"
"Yeah, yeah," Yukio sighed, "calm down, Twinkle Toes. Let's just get this over with."
Breezemon's face fell and she sighed. She muttered, "I get the feeling that you're going to be very strange company."
"Says the fairy-girl to the human," Yukio quipped with a roll of his eyes. He nodded to her and requested, "Lead the way."
Breezemon nodded and fluttered ahead of him. Yukio sighed and took a look about the deserted little village before following her, his steps slow and deliberate. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and thought, What a strange game…
Wild sighed. She had a feeling that she was going to hear it from the Boss for letting the Princess hijack a ride to the Mountain Zone with her. She glanced over her shoulder at the girl, finding that she was looking out over the woods and into the lands beyond. It looked like a lot of flatlands – a moor, perhaps? – beyond the Forest Zone in the Light Area. It was hard to distinguish from here.
Aquilamon, despite the weight on his back, was flying a constant and steady speed, gliding smartly on updrafts so that he hardly needed to flap his wings. He kept them above the trees, and he took a route that seemed to lead them clear of other flying digimon. He had said as their trip started that most digimon in the sky lived in a Zone called the Heavens Zone – a Zone that spanned all around the Digital World, but was unaffected by the Light or Dark Areas. Most other flying digimon whose wings couldn't go as high as the Heavens Zone made their home in the Mountain Zone or someplace high up. Regardless, Wild was pleased to meet little resistance.
"What are you looking for?" Wild wondered to the Princess, wind blowing chunks of hair into her mouth.
Loaño didn't reply for a long moment. Then, she cast a sidelong glance at Wild and replied, "The last piece of the puzzle."
Yukio found that this Plains Zone was actually very boring. There was little to look at and ever littler to do. Nothing looked at all interesting or even relevant to anything that they were doing. He didn't know how Breezemon knew where she was going when it seemed she was going nowhere, but this was a game and she was artificial intelligence, after all – they were programmed to do this sort of thing.
There wasn't much here but sky and grass – that Yukio had figured out for himself very quickly upon leaving the village. He wondered if there might be items hiding within the tall grass, but he figured that if there were they wouldn't be anything of value. Nothing was of value in the beginning, really. His feet went crunch crunch on the grass and he was starting to wish that he could fly, like Breezemon.
She floated just ahead of him, constantly looking around. Her eyes were sharp, he assumed – that or it was really just that easy to see something coming in this place. He figured it was both, really. He'd learned not to underestimate the skill of creatures like this.
"So…" Yukio sighed, deciding to strike up some sort of conversation. Talking to Breezemon was probably the only way to get some more details as to what was going on. "Those little digimon… are sick?"
"Yes," Breezemon replied. "Very sick. Rookie digimon have gotten sick and some survived, but no Baby digimon have survived so far."
"So what's the point in looking for a cure?" Yukio wondered. "I mean, if they're not going to survive anyway…"
Breezemon turned to him and snapped, "Because! I'm not going to watch them die!" She turned away from him and crossed her arms stubbornly. "I refuse!"
"Are they special to you? Those little digimon?" Yukio wondered.
Breezemon's arms fell and she sighed. She murmured, "Yes." She looked up at the sky and then went on a little louder, "Nyokimon is… I'm the only family she knows. I found her out in the plains when she was a Digiegg not too long ago… she hatched in my arms. I brought her to the village because I knew Swanmon could take care of her better than me, but… she thinks I'm her sister or her mother or something, and if I fail her… I'll never forgive myself."
Yukio sighed. He crossed his arms and grunted, "Well, I supposed that's as good of a reason as any."
Breezemon looked up and sighed. "The wind feels nice," she commented. "It's usually really strong, but it's a little tamer today."
Yukio grunted in response.
"You don't like talking much, do you?"
"I don't much care to talk about things that aren't important," Yukio told her blandly.
Breezemon frowned at him. "But the wind is important," she said, confusion in her tone. "Without it, everything is so still… so quiet. What a frightening world that would be to live in!"
Yukio blinked at the digimon. She seemed so innocent, so childish, so unlike himself. Not that he expected her to be the same as him – he just felt this strange connection to her that he couldn't seem to shake.
"Sorry," she sighed, sounding melancholy. "I didn't mean to offend you, Yukio. We're almost to where the Goblimon clan lives – it's not far now."
Yukio nodded and the two continued across the plains. There wasn't much to see or observe, giving Yukio plenty of time to think to himself, which he preferred. Not that he disliked Breezemon – he just didn't care to talk to her at the moment. She seemed too… chipper. She had too sunny of a disposition for him. It made him wonder if he had ever been like that in his life – he couldn't remember it.
They walked quietly onward, the only sounds being the swish of the grass and the fluttering of Breezemon's wings. The sun seemed to move a little in the sky, but when Yukio looked up he couldn't tell what time it was. It'd been so long since he'd looked at the sun that it burned his eyes terribly to even glance at. He looked away, disgruntled.
I get transported to this amazing, fantastic new world and everything I need to progress here has to be bloody outside, he groaned to himself. When I'm older, I'm going to write one of these games that takes place inside of a large, air-conditioned, lovely building and –
Breezemon's gasp interrupted him. "Yukio! Look!" she breathed, pointing ahead.
Yukio jolted from his thoughts and peered ahead, finding nothing but plains. He looked closer and he understood what Breezemon was gasping about.
It looked to be a well-camouflaged campsite of some kind that had been trampled into the ground. As Yukio and Breezemon slowly approached, Yukio spotted the remains of huts and campfires amid the trampled and flattened grass. Smoke rose from the remains of some of the campfires, hinting that they had gone out not too long ago – yet they had not seen the smoke trail during their trek from the village.
The strangest thing, however, was that, amongst the rubble, were a dozen pea-green- and cream-colored eggs. Yukio stared at these in astonishment. They were all the size of his head, all of them the same shape and size and either one of the two previously mentioned colors. Some were grouped together, others scattered about the site. All of them were amidst the worst of the trampled and broken grasses, a few nearly buried beneath upturned dirt.
"Oh, no…" Breezemon whimpered. She put a hand over her mouth. "No…"
"What… what is this?" Yukio said in wonder.
"Yukio… those are all Digieggs," Breezemon told him gently. She shivered in the air and went on, "Those are the Goblimon that we needed to see…"
"So they're…" Yukio trailed off.
"They're gone," Breezemon finished, sniffling. "Not dead, but gone…"
"What could do this?" Yukio wondered.
Breezemon looked about. She blinked away water from her eyes and noted, "It looks like they were attacked by something."
"A big something," Yukio mused, nudging one of the huge tracks with his toe. It looked like a massive poultry bird of some kind had decided to go on a sprint through the Goblimon's camp. "Looks like something with chicken feet did this."
Breezemon wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. Yukio looked to her and wondered, "You said that it was normal for you guys to turn into Digieggs – what are you shivering about?"
"It's just so unsettling!" Breezemon whimpered. "To see all of them like this… I've never seen anything like it!"
"Well, we might as well see what happened here," Yukio told her. "You said we were looking for a Shamanmon and that these are Goblimon Digieggs, right?"
Breezemon nodded.
"So Shamanmon might still be around here somewhere," Yukio guessed. "If he is, we can still talk to him about curing those baby digimon."
Breezemon looked up at him, gratitude in her eyes. Yukio figured that if he didn't try something to cheer her up now she'd never be able to let go of all of this. It didn't really affect him much at all, but he didn't want to let her know that. He could sense that she had a more delicate personality than he did, anyway.
The breeze picked up, carrying a sound to Yukio's ears. "Hear that?" he asked.
Breezemon nodded. "Sounds like a digimon!" she exclaimed.
They were silent for a moment as they tried to discern where the noise came from. Breezemon was the one who pinned it down to a collapsed hut. Breezemon fluttered over to the hut and grasped one side with her hands. She pulled it up with all her might – something that Yukio couldn't do – to reveal someone beneath the rubble.
They were a stout, short creature, but muscular and, in Yukio's opinion, ugly. He had dark green skin and an orange-colored Mohawk. He wore little clothing, but he seemed to Yukio almost cartoony in his representation.
"Shamanmon!" Breezemon exclaimed, her pink eyes widening.
So he did make it, Yukio breathed. But he doesn't look to be in good shape.
He and Breezemon knelt down on either side of Shamanmon. Between the both of them, they were able to lift him up into a sitting position; though he was leaning more heavily on them than on himself. Yukio shivered as his skin made contact with the hurt digimon – he gripped Shamanmon a little tighter, some part of him rising up and wishing that there was something he could do.
This is just a game, he thought. When these creatures "die" they turn into Digieggs. They get reborn again. That's what Twinkle Toes said. So if it was so simple then why was he even feeling anything for Shamanmon in his current state?
"Are you going to be OK?" Breezemon demanded, empathy in her voice.
Shamanmon groaned and coughed. He was shaking in their arms, and Yukio got the feeling that Shamanmon wasn't going to be all right.
A tear fell down Breezemon's face and she pleaded, "We… I was just looking for a cure… for the little digimon. Oh, if I'd only known!"
Shamanmon looked to her and coughed, "There is no… cure."
"Wh… what?" Breezemon sounded deflated; hollow.
"No… cure…"
"There has to be!"
Shamanmon shook his head. "Nothing digimon can do…" he said, coughing emphatically. "But a Digidestined…"
"Digidestined?" Breezemon repeated, awed.
Shamanmon nodded weakly. "Digidestined are coming…" he coughed, "soon… They will… save us…"
The digimon closed his eyes. Breezemon let out a little cry as his body was devoured by bits of what appeared to be white data, leaving a dark green Digiegg behind in Breezemon's hands.
Yukio bit his tongue. He had no idea what to say to her about this. They had come all this way… for nothing.
Breezemon held Shamanmon's egg in her arms and cradled it, tears rolling down her face. Yukio imagined that she was thinking of little Nyokimon back at the village, awaiting a cure that, according to Shamanmon, would never come.
She shook her head and insisted, "No… no! There has to be a way! I'm not going to let Nyokimon die – or any of the others!"
"So… what do we do?" Yukio wondered.
"We go back," Breezemon said determinedly. "We go to the only person who could possibly help us – the Princess."
So there's a Princess? Yukio thought. Typical. She'll probably be captured and I'll have to be the one to rescue her.
"Does that mean we go to the castle?"
Breezemon nodded. She stood up and said, "Let's go! For all these digimon, and the sick ones – we have to do this!"
Yeesh, you're chipper, he thought. It was bearable, but he was sure that if Breezemon got any more chipper he might be sick. He pushed himself up and stretched. "Lead the way, Twinkle Toes – I've got no other option but to follow."
"Sorry!" someone cawed.
"But you're not going anywhere!" someone else added with a voice that was equally bird-like.
Yukio and Breezemon froze, looking about. Then they spotted them – two massive bird digimon. Their white-and-red feathers stuck out in disarray and their red eyes glared down at the two of them. Their feet were so massive that Yukio realized just who they were standing in front of. A wave of unbelievable malice washed over Yukio and he felt almost sick at the feeling of it. Breezemon clutched Shamanmon's egg, glaring at the birds.
"Kokatorimon," she growled.
"You're the ones who destroyed the Goblimon!" Yukio announced, glancing at their massive feet. Their shape matched the tracks embedded into the plains.
"Yeah!" one Kokatorimon cawed.
The other Kokatorimon chimed in, "And now we're going to destroy you, too!"