Part Twelve: Can I Call You Friend?
If there was one thing Nicholas de Brabant truly loved about being a vampire it was the ability to fly. Absolutely nothing he had ever experienced during his long life could compare with the sense of total freedom that came with escaping the Earth's gravity and soaring between the clouds. Some of his favorite early memories were of playing 'tag' with his vampire sister above the countryside around Paris following a successful hunt with their master. After a good rain, you could smell everything for kilometers around---which was why, come to think of it, at such times the young fledgling and his lover/temptress had flown away from the city! Public sanitation was still crude back then!
Just now, however, Nicholas had setttled for a horizontal 'hover' mode, the night breeze tickling his face with his own hair as he scanned the nearby rooftops for signs of a purple and beige clad figure. He expanded his senses to their utmost.
Nothing but the ordinary sights and sounds of a modern city. As far as his eyes and ears could tell, there was no digital monster running loose on the streets of Toronto.
And yet his instincts were screaming that the alien was here, somewhere, above the ground level. What was really strange was that he could smell the little digimon so strongly. Either he was very close or it was more likely to rain tonight than the sky was currently letting on.
When he suddenly heard the object of his search coming from directly above him, it was most unexpected.
"Why did you attempt to lock me up?"
"Gaah!"
Whipping his body around so that he was facing heavenwards instead of at the city below, Nicholas nearly slapped the wizard with an arm by pure accident, missing only by virtue that the digimon retreated upwards just in time to avoid the blow. Jade and amber eyes expressed mutual shock as they searched each other's face---the native's elongated eyeteeth illuminated by the moonlight, the end of the alien's staff taking on a bluish glow..
The digimon suppressed a groan. His question had been an innocent inquiry, but the vampire had turned belligerent! How could he have been so wrong about this one? Or rather, why did he have to be so right about vampires in general? Why did everyone turn on him?!
**Not Gatomon. She could not help it**
No, for a long time she couldn't get free of Myotismon's spell. Yet he had not abandoned her, would not have even if she had never remembered him again. For her, he must not let this latest betrayal poison his vow not to return to bitterness.
But that didn't mean he wouldn't take precautions.
Calling upon the power of sky magic, Wizardmon floated himself up yet another meter higher than he had been. "I don't wish to fight," the digimon declared the other in a louder, firmer voice, "Please don't make me fight you, but know that I will if you force me to it." He held his staff firmly in both hands, the flaming-egg shaped ornament towards the vampire. It glowed in warning for the other to keep the distance between them.
The vampire continued to stare up at him.
"You're flying!" De Brabant yelped in an accusing tone, too stunned by the sight of the wizard suspended in mid air to register what the digimon had said.
Frowning behind his cowl, Wizardmon pondered the words; but though he understood the statement itself, he couldn't for the life of him figure out why it had been spoken. It was quite obvious he was flying. What was the vampire upset about that for? Giving up trying to comprehend the nature of the problem, he simply acknowledged the fact and waited for enlightenment. "Yes."
"Why did you not tell me you could fly?!" Nicholas downright growled around his fangs, making the wizard flinch in reaction.
Wizardmon had never liked being around discord and preferred to leave all but the most necessary of fighting to the digimon Vaccine caste. Though he could fight, he was no warrior. In fact, Gatomon had been the only one he had ever truly battled for of his free will. There were times---rare and far between, true---but, still, moments when he almost wished the animal digimon had not shown him the meaning of caring for others. Apathy had made life so much simpler.
And dull. He had to at least try to resolve this nonviolently. He owed the RealWorlder, vampire or not. But most of all, he owed Gatomon an unending debt And the cat Vaccine would not want him to harm another without good reason.
Silently, Wizardmon willed the energy he'd forwarded to his staff to redirect itself back into his hands, lowering the now drained implement to indicate that he wished for a truce.
"I didn't know I should have," he said, trying to be reasonabe. "Please, Nick, do not become angry. There is no need for us to fight. Whatever your motives were, you did give me aid and I will always be grateful for that. Let us go our own ways in peace."
The vampire blinked at him--the amber darkening back to blue, "What the heck are you talking about? Who says I want to fight you?"
*Confusion tinged with anger*
"You tried to lock me up," Wizardmon pointed out. "Just now you were searching for me and when you found me you struck out. Is my assessment of your intentions towards me in error?"
Nicholas stared at him, mouth open. He shut it with an audible snap. Then opened it again as the words exploded forth as if of their own accord.
*Anger*
"Darn right, it's in error! For crying out loud,Wizardmon, I locked you in for your own safety! And of course I was looking for you---for the same reason! As for trying to hit you---I wasn't trying to do anything but turn around. You startled the heck out of me is all! Don't do that again! And furthermore,"--he pointed angirly at the digimon--"you shouldn't be up here! What if someone sees you? How will I explain that?!"
"See me?" The Data's mild voice was beginning to show his own, rising irritation. Here he was, trying to leave on a better footing and Nick was being such a.. a.. a vampire! "We are doing the same thing---watching others without being seen---or did you indeed know I was here before I spoke up? At least explain why something natural to me, is bad for me to do---yet perfectly all right for you! If you do not tell me, Nick, I can not know and make correction on my supposed 'mistake'." Unconsciously, his hands started glowing again.
"Don't be sarcastic," the Toronton growled. "I never said flying was bad--I'm saying..."
Nicholas closed his eyes and counted to ten. In both English and the extinct form of his childhood Brabantian tongue. Slowly, his fangs retracted back into his upper jaw.
*Frustration*
Damn! He had to get a grip on his temper. The vampire swallowed his ire long enough to notice the glow of the digimon's hands; and from there the gash in Wizardmon's jumper about where De Brabant judged was just below where a left kidney would be---if the digimon was human. "What..?" Floating over, he ran a finger along the tattered pieces of the ripped cloth.
*Concern and.. fear?*
Wizardmon let him do so, but his grip on his staff tightened just in case.
Cold blood rushed to De Brabant's face. He'd forgotten that Patterson had admitted to stabbing the 'witness' with a serrated pocket knife and here he was berating the digimon instead of helping bind any wounds.
"Is it bad?" he asked quietly. "Natalie keeps a medical kit in my car...it will take me a minu--"
The Data blinked dumbfoundedly at him. Bios if the vampire wasn't radiating true concern for him again! Not knowing what to think, he looked down at his clothing. As if noticing his hands and the rip for the first time, Wizardmon brought his right thumb and forefinger together. The light faded from around both gloves except for in the forefinger as he traced it over the edges of the rip---which reknitted itself as quickly as a vampire's flesh.
Nicholas looked chagrined. "I..uh.. meant you, not your clothing."
"Ah. You mean by this?" Wizardmon produced Patterson's pocket knife by unzipping a pocket located at his ribcage and reaching inside the dark gape that was produced. He then zipped it closed again. As with the jumpsuit, itself, the sharp implement was curiously unmarked by blood. "I am unharmed by it." He gave the knife to the detective who mechanically put it in an evidence bag and placed it in his own pocket.
The vampire let out a breath, his fears for the digimon's immediate well being quickly joining wherever his temper had gone to. "What are you doing out here anyway? I thought we agreed for you were to stay in the loft?"
"No," Wizardmon gently corrected, relaxing his own stance now that hostilities seemed less and less likely. "You asked me to stay there. We only agreed that I watch some of your television. Which I did. It was enjoyable." The digimon's expessive eyes turned bewildered as he recalled what the strange box had showed him.. "Except.. can you tell me, Nick, what is deodorant and why it is vital to have? Also many other things: 'The Biggest Hits From The Seventies', Chi-Chi pets, A Heartburn Hotel, and the Lottery? Are there truly so many things one must have to survive here? I tried my best to understand what the television was saying about them, but I must admit I failed." His ears drooped a little at this admission of his vast ignorance. In Digital World, he considered himself to be fairly knowledgeable having traveled so extensively on both File Island and the continent of Server. This 'Earth' place was already making him feel like a reformatted newborn straight from an egg!
Nick laughed. "No advertisers on Digital World, I take it? Sounds like a nice vacation spot."
"Advertisers? Vacation?"
*Oh, boy.*
Feeling a rare headache coming on, the vampire rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Nothing. Look, I'm sorry I blew up at you--but I was really worried. I don't want you to get hurt."
"I know."
"What do you mean, you... oh." De Brabant sighed, remembering what Wizardmon had confided about being able to read emotions and thoughts. "Was my locking you in the only reason you decided to leave?"
"No." The digimon looked away, but said no more.
*Slight irritation*
"I can't read your mind, Wizardmon."
Nicholas indicated a spot above the now empty alley where they could land without being seen and together they flew down towards it.
"Okay, spill," De Brabant, said after they had settled onto a rooftop What was bothering you so much you couldn't wait til I came back?" He tensed, thinking of one possibility. "Or did Lacroix decide to pay you another visit?"
"No, no one came..." Wizardmon studied the tiny rocks embedded in the roofing material they stood on. Bios.. this was embarrassing. Never before had he misjudged another's character so many times in one day! What was wrong with him? Where was his objectivity? Why did he feel so offbalanced?
"Do you remember what I told you about Myotismon?"
Nicholas folded his arms. "I'd imagine that character would be rather hard for anyone to forget even if only half of what you said was true. What has your enemy to do with leaving me.. um.. the loft, though?"
"I told you that Myotismon is.. or hopefully by now, was if Gatomon succeeded in fulfilling her destiny.. an Ultimate-level digimon of the Virus caste. Did I mention his classification?"
Thinking back to their conversation in the loft, Nick shook his head. "No. You didn't."
"He's a vampire," Wizardmon said quietly, unconsciously reaching up to rub at the spot the Virus had repeatedly drank from. "His favorite way to feed was to terrorize someone before biting and lapping the blood. Fear, he claimed, enhanced the flavor.."
---------------------
This is NOT where I wanted to cut this off, but I thought someone might appreciate a bit more of the story while there's a lull in the fkwar preps. --Kyer
If there was one thing Nicholas de Brabant truly loved about being a vampire it was the ability to fly. Absolutely nothing he had ever experienced during his long life could compare with the sense of total freedom that came with escaping the Earth's gravity and soaring between the clouds. Some of his favorite early memories were of playing 'tag' with his vampire sister above the countryside around Paris following a successful hunt with their master. After a good rain, you could smell everything for kilometers around---which was why, come to think of it, at such times the young fledgling and his lover/temptress had flown away from the city! Public sanitation was still crude back then!
Just now, however, Nicholas had setttled for a horizontal 'hover' mode, the night breeze tickling his face with his own hair as he scanned the nearby rooftops for signs of a purple and beige clad figure. He expanded his senses to their utmost.
Nothing but the ordinary sights and sounds of a modern city. As far as his eyes and ears could tell, there was no digital monster running loose on the streets of Toronto.
And yet his instincts were screaming that the alien was here, somewhere, above the ground level. What was really strange was that he could smell the little digimon so strongly. Either he was very close or it was more likely to rain tonight than the sky was currently letting on.
When he suddenly heard the object of his search coming from directly above him, it was most unexpected.
"Why did you attempt to lock me up?"
"Gaah!"
Whipping his body around so that he was facing heavenwards instead of at the city below, Nicholas nearly slapped the wizard with an arm by pure accident, missing only by virtue that the digimon retreated upwards just in time to avoid the blow. Jade and amber eyes expressed mutual shock as they searched each other's face---the native's elongated eyeteeth illuminated by the moonlight, the end of the alien's staff taking on a bluish glow..
The digimon suppressed a groan. His question had been an innocent inquiry, but the vampire had turned belligerent! How could he have been so wrong about this one? Or rather, why did he have to be so right about vampires in general? Why did everyone turn on him?!
**Not Gatomon. She could not help it**
No, for a long time she couldn't get free of Myotismon's spell. Yet he had not abandoned her, would not have even if she had never remembered him again. For her, he must not let this latest betrayal poison his vow not to return to bitterness.
But that didn't mean he wouldn't take precautions.
Calling upon the power of sky magic, Wizardmon floated himself up yet another meter higher than he had been. "I don't wish to fight," the digimon declared the other in a louder, firmer voice, "Please don't make me fight you, but know that I will if you force me to it." He held his staff firmly in both hands, the flaming-egg shaped ornament towards the vampire. It glowed in warning for the other to keep the distance between them.
The vampire continued to stare up at him.
"You're flying!" De Brabant yelped in an accusing tone, too stunned by the sight of the wizard suspended in mid air to register what the digimon had said.
Frowning behind his cowl, Wizardmon pondered the words; but though he understood the statement itself, he couldn't for the life of him figure out why it had been spoken. It was quite obvious he was flying. What was the vampire upset about that for? Giving up trying to comprehend the nature of the problem, he simply acknowledged the fact and waited for enlightenment. "Yes."
"Why did you not tell me you could fly?!" Nicholas downright growled around his fangs, making the wizard flinch in reaction.
Wizardmon had never liked being around discord and preferred to leave all but the most necessary of fighting to the digimon Vaccine caste. Though he could fight, he was no warrior. In fact, Gatomon had been the only one he had ever truly battled for of his free will. There were times---rare and far between, true---but, still, moments when he almost wished the animal digimon had not shown him the meaning of caring for others. Apathy had made life so much simpler.
And dull. He had to at least try to resolve this nonviolently. He owed the RealWorlder, vampire or not. But most of all, he owed Gatomon an unending debt And the cat Vaccine would not want him to harm another without good reason.
Silently, Wizardmon willed the energy he'd forwarded to his staff to redirect itself back into his hands, lowering the now drained implement to indicate that he wished for a truce.
"I didn't know I should have," he said, trying to be reasonabe. "Please, Nick, do not become angry. There is no need for us to fight. Whatever your motives were, you did give me aid and I will always be grateful for that. Let us go our own ways in peace."
The vampire blinked at him--the amber darkening back to blue, "What the heck are you talking about? Who says I want to fight you?"
*Confusion tinged with anger*
"You tried to lock me up," Wizardmon pointed out. "Just now you were searching for me and when you found me you struck out. Is my assessment of your intentions towards me in error?"
Nicholas stared at him, mouth open. He shut it with an audible snap. Then opened it again as the words exploded forth as if of their own accord.
*Anger*
"Darn right, it's in error! For crying out loud,Wizardmon, I locked you in for your own safety! And of course I was looking for you---for the same reason! As for trying to hit you---I wasn't trying to do anything but turn around. You startled the heck out of me is all! Don't do that again! And furthermore,"--he pointed angirly at the digimon--"you shouldn't be up here! What if someone sees you? How will I explain that?!"
"See me?" The Data's mild voice was beginning to show his own, rising irritation. Here he was, trying to leave on a better footing and Nick was being such a.. a.. a vampire! "We are doing the same thing---watching others without being seen---or did you indeed know I was here before I spoke up? At least explain why something natural to me, is bad for me to do---yet perfectly all right for you! If you do not tell me, Nick, I can not know and make correction on my supposed 'mistake'." Unconsciously, his hands started glowing again.
"Don't be sarcastic," the Toronton growled. "I never said flying was bad--I'm saying..."
Nicholas closed his eyes and counted to ten. In both English and the extinct form of his childhood Brabantian tongue. Slowly, his fangs retracted back into his upper jaw.
*Frustration*
Damn! He had to get a grip on his temper. The vampire swallowed his ire long enough to notice the glow of the digimon's hands; and from there the gash in Wizardmon's jumper about where De Brabant judged was just below where a left kidney would be---if the digimon was human. "What..?" Floating over, he ran a finger along the tattered pieces of the ripped cloth.
*Concern and.. fear?*
Wizardmon let him do so, but his grip on his staff tightened just in case.
Cold blood rushed to De Brabant's face. He'd forgotten that Patterson had admitted to stabbing the 'witness' with a serrated pocket knife and here he was berating the digimon instead of helping bind any wounds.
"Is it bad?" he asked quietly. "Natalie keeps a medical kit in my car...it will take me a minu--"
The Data blinked dumbfoundedly at him. Bios if the vampire wasn't radiating true concern for him again! Not knowing what to think, he looked down at his clothing. As if noticing his hands and the rip for the first time, Wizardmon brought his right thumb and forefinger together. The light faded from around both gloves except for in the forefinger as he traced it over the edges of the rip---which reknitted itself as quickly as a vampire's flesh.
Nicholas looked chagrined. "I..uh.. meant you, not your clothing."
"Ah. You mean by this?" Wizardmon produced Patterson's pocket knife by unzipping a pocket located at his ribcage and reaching inside the dark gape that was produced. He then zipped it closed again. As with the jumpsuit, itself, the sharp implement was curiously unmarked by blood. "I am unharmed by it." He gave the knife to the detective who mechanically put it in an evidence bag and placed it in his own pocket.
The vampire let out a breath, his fears for the digimon's immediate well being quickly joining wherever his temper had gone to. "What are you doing out here anyway? I thought we agreed for you were to stay in the loft?"
"No," Wizardmon gently corrected, relaxing his own stance now that hostilities seemed less and less likely. "You asked me to stay there. We only agreed that I watch some of your television. Which I did. It was enjoyable." The digimon's expessive eyes turned bewildered as he recalled what the strange box had showed him.. "Except.. can you tell me, Nick, what is deodorant and why it is vital to have? Also many other things: 'The Biggest Hits From The Seventies', Chi-Chi pets, A Heartburn Hotel, and the Lottery? Are there truly so many things one must have to survive here? I tried my best to understand what the television was saying about them, but I must admit I failed." His ears drooped a little at this admission of his vast ignorance. In Digital World, he considered himself to be fairly knowledgeable having traveled so extensively on both File Island and the continent of Server. This 'Earth' place was already making him feel like a reformatted newborn straight from an egg!
Nick laughed. "No advertisers on Digital World, I take it? Sounds like a nice vacation spot."
"Advertisers? Vacation?"
*Oh, boy.*
Feeling a rare headache coming on, the vampire rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Nothing. Look, I'm sorry I blew up at you--but I was really worried. I don't want you to get hurt."
"I know."
"What do you mean, you... oh." De Brabant sighed, remembering what Wizardmon had confided about being able to read emotions and thoughts. "Was my locking you in the only reason you decided to leave?"
"No." The digimon looked away, but said no more.
*Slight irritation*
"I can't read your mind, Wizardmon."
Nicholas indicated a spot above the now empty alley where they could land without being seen and together they flew down towards it.
"Okay, spill," De Brabant, said after they had settled onto a rooftop What was bothering you so much you couldn't wait til I came back?" He tensed, thinking of one possibility. "Or did Lacroix decide to pay you another visit?"
"No, no one came..." Wizardmon studied the tiny rocks embedded in the roofing material they stood on. Bios.. this was embarrassing. Never before had he misjudged another's character so many times in one day! What was wrong with him? Where was his objectivity? Why did he feel so offbalanced?
"Do you remember what I told you about Myotismon?"
Nicholas folded his arms. "I'd imagine that character would be rather hard for anyone to forget even if only half of what you said was true. What has your enemy to do with leaving me.. um.. the loft, though?"
"I told you that Myotismon is.. or hopefully by now, was if Gatomon succeeded in fulfilling her destiny.. an Ultimate-level digimon of the Virus caste. Did I mention his classification?"
Thinking back to their conversation in the loft, Nick shook his head. "No. You didn't."
"He's a vampire," Wizardmon said quietly, unconsciously reaching up to rub at the spot the Virus had repeatedly drank from. "His favorite way to feed was to terrorize someone before biting and lapping the blood. Fear, he claimed, enhanced the flavor.."
---------------------
This is NOT where I wanted to cut this off, but I thought someone might appreciate a bit more of the story while there's a lull in the fkwar preps. --Kyer