Henry pulled out his digivice and identified the digimon on the rocks.
"That's definitely Renamon. Rookie Level, Data type. Her special attack is Diamond Storm."
As if echoing Henry, Renamon leapt into the air, crossed her arms, and called out her attack. A multitude of glowing projectiles filled the air, raining down on the group. Guardromon stood against the attack, guarding Kazu and Kenta with his hard iron body. A couple of the shots clanked against his armor, deflecting into the ground. All around, the other digimon protected their partners.
Renamon's feet touched the ground and, with a snarl, she charged at the group. Lifting his arms, Guardromon opened the twin missile bays on his wrists. "Guardian Barrage!" Several rockets popped out and flew at Renamon, whistles shrilling. The fox nimbly dodged and the attack exploded against the rocks.
Guilmon was next. He charged a blast of flame in his mouth with a cry of "Pyro Sphere!" The flaming attack hurtled towards the yellow streak, but once again Renamon swerved, this time jumping high into the air, charging up another attack. "Diamond Storm!"
"Leomon! Rika! Look out!" Jeri shouted to the two remaining members of the group in the path of the diamonds.
Leomon dodged to the side, but Rika found herself unable to move. She could do nothing but stare at Renamon as the air filled with shots. For the briefest of moments, their eyes met before the attack proceeded.
"Guardromon! Protect Rika!" Kazu yelled, and Guardromon shot forward, trying to transpose his body between Rika and Renamon. He wasn't quick enough, and Rika threw her hands up with a cry of shock as the glowing projectiles surrounded her.
Yells of horror sounded from each member of the team, only to be cut short. Rika slowly opened her eyes, seeing several of the shots imbedded into the ground in front of her. She looked around, and saw that each one had missed her, impacting harmlessly with the ground.
Renamon lightly touched down, turning towards Leomon. The lion digimon pulled back his fist, readying his attack. Renamon paused in mid leap, lifting her head as if she was hearing something nobody else did.
"Fist of the Beast King!" Leomon thrust his fist forward, sending a massive lion head energy blast at Renamon. Once more Rika's gaze met the mysterious fox's, before Renamon jumped into the air and simply disappeared.
"Rika, are you alright?" Takato asked, running up to the girl who was still sitting on the ground in stunned silence. Rika slowly nodded her head yes, remembering the look in the eyes of the Renamon. She wasn't one for reading emotions easily, but somehow she knew how the fox had been feeling. A curious mix of rage and sadness had existed in those blue eyes.
"What was that all about?" Henry wondered. "Why did that Renamon attack?"
"Such is the way of the Digital World," Leomon responded. "This is truly a harsh place. In order to survive, one must be strong, and the only way to gain strength is by taking that of others."
"That's no way to live," Jeri said sadly. "Makes me glad you're my partner now Leomon," she said, looking fondly up at her partner.
Guardromon spoke up before the great cat could blush. "We really should set up camp for the night. Who's going to take first watch in case that Renamon shows up again?"
"I'll do it," Rika hurriedly spoke up. "I'll take first watch and wake you guys up in case anything happens."
"Well then," Kazu said, "I'll take second watch."
One by one, each member of the group took up a position on the watch. As the others went off to their sleeping bags, Rika took a patrol of the surrounding area, deep in thought. Her mind drifted to the Renamon that had attacked earlier, focusing on the moment when their eyes had met. Rika had felt a certain pull, gazing into those crystal blue eyes, the same pull that had brought her to the park those several weeks back. The same pull that had her following Takato's merry bunch of misfits. The same pull that had drawn her to the cave that contained the portal to the digital world.
"Penny for your thoughts," a voice behind her said. Rika jumped in surprise, recognizing it to be Henry's voice.
"My thoughts are none of your business," Rika snapped, face returning to its usual hard mask. She hadn't even realized that her concentration had wavered.
"Yeesh. I was just trying to help," Henry said, turning to go back to the group. "You looked like you needed someone to talk to."
"I just want to be alone," Rika said, staring off into the distance once again.
"Being alone isn't all it's cracked up to be, Rika," Henry said. He turned and walked back to the group, giving Rika room to think.
"Renamon…" Rika said softly, the name rolling easily off her tongue. It almost felt like something should have happened when she said the name. Nothing felt quite right.
******
"How did it go, my pet?" A silky seductive voice asked, looking down on his slave. She was under his complete control, not the way he would have liked her to be, but he took what he could get.
"I spied on the group as you requested, Master," Renamon said, prostrated in front of her Master's throne.
"And the group?"
"Six humans, four digimon. Two Champions, two Rookies," Renamon reported.
"Such a motley crew," Master mused. And one easily dealt with when the time came. "I assume they were no trouble."
"Their pathetic attacks were easily dodged," Renamon told him, a hint of amusement in her voice. "Though I get the feeling they weren't trying to inflict any serious damage."
"As I expected. These 'Tamers' are soft, unwilling to harm what they call 'innocent Digimon'."
"Should I launch another attack on the group while they sleep?"
"No," Master said, waving away the idea. "We want them to have all their energy when we attack them next. Now leave me. Not too far though, you know what I'll do if you try to escape."
Renamon's hand unconsciously went to her arm before springing back to her side. "Of course, Master," she said, trying to hide the malice in her voice. "I could never forget." Bowing even deeper if such a thing were possible, Renamon backed out of the room, leaving her Master in silence.
That one would be trouble, he thought to himself. If only she weren't so useful. "Come to me," he said, hand reaching out towards the darkness around him.
"Yes, my lord," came the answer.
A Gatomon stepped up to the throne next to Master, willingly baring her neck. Master opened his mouth, revealing two sharp fangs, which he plunged into the flesh of the Gatomon. The Gatomon slumped as Master drank deeply of her data, and he released her limp form, letting it fall to the ground. A small group of his minions carried the body away, placing a Dust Packet to the wound in its neck. In a matter of days, that one would be fit to feed on once more.
He only wished that Renamon had been more receptive. She had resisted his every charm, something no other female digimon he had met had been able to do. He had been forced to resort to more physical means of control. While satisfying, she still was able to resist any of his attempts to feed on her. He intended to rectify that situation as soon as possible. None resisted the seductions of Myotismon.
******
Renamon fled Myotismon's throne room as fast as she was able, hand once again clenched to her arm, ignoring the pain such contact brought. One of these days, she would be strong enough to rid herself of her Master once and for all. Until that time, she was stuck being his faithful pet, wondering what designs he had for these so-called 'Tamers.'
The word seemed to strike a chord in her mind as if she should be more familiar with it. Weird feelings such as that had been happening with increasing regularity. It had come to a head during the preliminary attack on the Tamers, and that one strange girl. There was something different about her, something special that Renamon could feel. She had even altered her attack for the girl, curving the deadly projectiles around the child's body. It was a moment of weakness, she decided, one that she could ill afford.
She ran through the digital world, enjoying the moments of freedom Myotismon gave her on occasions, startling the occasional wild digimon. Her master had gained quite a reputation in the Digital World, and it was understood that if you messed with his favorite pet, the consequences would be dire. Pausing on top of a rock formation, Renamon looked around. Much to her surprise, she found herself above the strange girl from earlier, talking to one of the other humans.
"I just want to be alone," the girl said. From atop her perch, Renamon chuckled. The girl almost reminded her of herself.
"Being alone isn't what it's cracked up to be, Rika," the boy with her replied, walking away. Rika. So that was the girl's name.
Once more the girl was alone, and Renamon jumped down from the rocks, landing with barely a sound. She started walking towards Rika, hearing her softly speak. "Renamon…"
"That would be my name," Renamon said, expecting the girl to jump, or show some sign of surprise. "Rika."
"I see you decided to come down," Rika said. "Were you spying on me?"
"How did you know I was there?" Renamon asked, ignoring the question. "You couldn't have seen me."
"I didn't need to see you," Rika answered, her back still towards Renamon. "Somehow I just felt that you were there. Were you spying on me?" she asked again.
"Not intentionally," Renamon answered, moving closer to Rika. "I was out wandering, and somehow I ended up here. With you."
"Our paths cross once again," Rika mused. "Why did you attack us?"
"I had my reasons," Renamon said, carefully avoiding the question.
"Ones that you plan to keep to yourself," Rika replied. "Unless I miss my mark?"
"Dead on," Renamon answered. "That boy was right, you know. I've been alone most of my life. Not to say that it hasn't served me well, but sometimes its good to have someone to talk to."
Rika turned to answer, but Kazu's voice sounded in the darkness. "I've come to relieve you," the boy said, coming into sight. Rika turned, but she knew Renamon was already gone. "Get some sleep. You look tired."
Rika didn't reply, still staring in the direction she felt Renamon. After a few seconds, she turned in silence and walked back to the camp.
Renamon watched her go, sensing a kindred spirit in the young human girl. It was a shame. "Such a waste. They don't stand a chance against Myotismon. Maybe I'll get lucky, and he'll only enslave Rika," she said, disappearing once again into the night. The image of Rika, her head bent to the side as Myotismon's fangs sank into her neck, was stuck in her head the entire night.
