A stormtrooper lost in the Digiworld Chapter 8: Strange woods…
It's me again. I continue to write this…, still, the lack of new reviews is making me uneasy. Even one new review will make me very happy. You can openly write what you don't like (or would like to change) in your reviews and I'll make sure to correct my story. Also I'm terribly sorry for any mistakes.
… "So, you served the Dark Lord Saurmon, huh?" Takato asked "you know whom".
"Yes, I did. But we failed, and the result was the destruction of all we worked so hard on." Ulairimon replied.
"Did you just say "we"? There was someone else with you?"
"Yes, my eight brothers…"
"You had brothers? How did they look like?"
"Just like me. My eight brothers… my family."
"Oh, so what happened to them?"
"They are deleted. Can you change the subject, please? Let's not bother an old memory." hissed Ulairimon.
"Sorry that I asked. Can I ask why have you fought on the side of evil?" Takato asked.
"Yes, you can. We all wanted power. And my former master gave us a part of his immense power. The next stage in my digievolution is Saurmon, and if I will evolve, I will become as strong as him. But the evolution requires great amounts of data and training, so it is very hard, almost impossible. I have fought many battles, vanquished countless enemies, and all was in vain."
"And then you decided to look for a tamer?"
"No, actually my former master gave me a hint. He didn't know why we're not able to evolve, and suggested such an idea."
"So, was your Dark Lord slain in battle?"
"Only the first time."
"What do you mean?"
"Our master was also known for his wisdom. He found a way to survive the deletion. He split his data in two pieces, and gathered one piece in an artifact. When he had that artifact, he could fight with full strength, however, if he was deleted, than the artifact would reconstruct the other half slowly. But if the artifact would be destroyed, than Saurmon would parish too. And the artifact was destroyed."
"I see. Well, I hope you will become stronger, as you desire. After all, you struggled so hard to achieve this goal."
"Yes, I hope so too." Ulairimon hissed. Meanwhile Rika, who was walking behind NZ, and overheard the discussion between Takato and Ulairimon, remembered that Henry said some thing about stormtroopers serving some lord also. And since she was not having something better to do, she decided to ask NZ about him.
"So NZ, I remember my friend saying that you were serving some lord also. Cold you tell me about him?"
"Of course I can. I was serving the one known as Darth Vader, the Dark Lord of the Sith. He was the main commander of the Imperial Forces."
"Another Dark Lord huh? And what was so "dark" about him? And what's a "sith"?"
"Well, as far as I know, there were two groups of followers of an ancient cult that used supernatural forces. The first was the Jedi, and the second was the Sith. They were in constant war with each other. The first ones were supposed to use that force in the ways of the "light side", while the Sith were using "the dark side". I also know that Darth Vader was once a Jedi, but turned to the sith and I heard roomers that he has slathered the entire Jedi order, from masters to the young padavans, mostly children."
"All right, we will return to that, but now we have reached the forest!" Rika said. Never less, the forest was quite strange. There were no birds singing, no wind. There was an impression, like the forest was frozen. Creepy. The group continued to advance through the forest.
"This is some strange forest. Like an empty room." Henry said.
"Yeah, something is not clear with this forest. Be prepared for surprises." Rika said. NZ prepared his gun, while Ulairimon – his sword, and they have proceeded. Something was just telling them that something was not right with this forest.
"Gosh, it's creepy. I suddenly felt scared. Ulairimon, are you sure it is not your terror aura?" Takato asked, shivering.
"No, it is not me." he hissed. Then suddenly the whole group just… fainted. Without a reason, everyone, even Ulairimon lost consciousness. After two hours Renamon waked up.
"What the hell happened? Ah, Rika where are you? Where are the others? Gosh what happened?" she nodded, and hared some movements from behind. She turned around and saw Ulairimon, who was getting up.
"What happened?" he hissed.
"That the same question I am asking myself. Where are the others?" Renamon asked again.
"I don't know, but I think I know what is wrong with this forest."
"Really?"
"Yes, it is called the "Forest of separation". It has a special anomaly, it separates the groups of travelers."
"Great. I hope Rika and the others are safe." she said with a concern in her voice.
Meanwhile NZ was waking up also. He got up, and looked around. He saw those damned trees again, and no one around. But his hearing sensors spotted some sound, similar to snoring. He went to the source of the sound, and found Rika sleeping. NZ waked her up.
"Ah, what happened to me? Did I fell asleep or something?" she asked with a tired voice.
"I don't know. It seems we all were separated from our group. I'll try to contact Renamon with my commlink to find her current position."
"Fine, but I think I will rest for some time. I just feel tired." she said and fell asleep right on the ground
Meanwhile Renamon was thinking about how to reassemble the group, when she heard a voice from her glove. That's where she stashed her commlink.
"Renamon, Renamon come in! Respond! Do you hear me?"
"Renamon responding. Yes I hear you. NZ, where are you? Is there anyone with you?"
"NZ responding. Current location - forest. Exact coordinates – unknown. Have some good news for you: Rika is with me and she is all right."
"Thank god. All right, Ulairimon is next to me, he says that you should continue to go south, to the end of the forest. Oh, and could you take care of Rika for me?"
"I will do it, or will die trying."
"Thank you. Over." connection ended. Henry, Takato, and the other digimon were not separated, and quickly have understood where to go, they also knew that the others will find their way eventually. After all, they had the compass with them…
Finally, Rika woke up for the second time. She found herself under a warm sheet. Then she heard the mechanical voice of her… well, assistant:
"Good day. Did you sleep well?" NZ asked.
"Yes, thank you." she replied.
"I have received a call from Renamon. She said that we must go south."
"What ever you say. Anyway, can you tell me more about that Darth Vader? I'm in a mood for a story." she said and hid under the sheet. "So childish. She must have rarely received any bedtime stories." NZ thought and started to tell the "story":
"Well, after defeating the Jedi in their temple, he encountered his teacher, who was the one of the survivalists, on the planet Mustafar, the planet of fire and lava. From what I know, he was defeated, he lost both his arms, legs, was badly burned, and his lungs were burned too. But he was saved, and transformed into what he is now."
"How does he look like now?" asked Rika from under the sheet.
"Well, he is tall, about 2 meters tall, he is wearing a dark suit of armor that not only is made for protection, but also keeps him alive. All of the supporting mechanisms are in it. Since he was too hideous after his burns, he wears a mask with a build-in respirator, which helps him breathe. He has a low powerful voice. He is a great strategists and a great leader. Darth Vader is armed with a light-saber, a basic Jedi and Sith weapon, is able to block blaster-shots with it. Well, it is how I can describe him."
"That is pretty hard to imagine." Rika replied.
"I can draw him for you if you want. I'm quite a good at this."
"Really? That would be very nice. Draw him for me please!" Rika said with excitement. "I never saw her like this." NZ kept his thought for himself, then took his copybook and a pen, and started to draw. The figure was slowly gaining details, and Rika watched as in front of her eyes by a skillful hand was drawn the dark knight of the Empire. And indeed, the guy was just as NZ told her. The gruesome black mask, which covered the heavily-burned face, the mechanical armor, the dark cloak twisting in the wind, the burning sword in his hands… "Quite an imposing figure." thought Rika while watching. But one particular detail caught her attention. It was the mask. She looked at the mask from the picture, at the NZ, again at the mask, and then she finally said:
"Your masks are so similar!"
"Yes, they have been engineered to intimidate the enemy. But our helmets were not nearly as fearsome as his. When Lord Vader was leading the attack, we knew that we are going to be victorious. No one is as strong as he is, and no one was able to shoot him. I'm proud I served under his command." he replied. "There, done. Here you go." he said and ripped the page he was drawing on from his copybook and gave it to Rika.
"You're quite an artist. Thank you." she replied softly, and, after staring at the picture for a couple of minutes, put it into her pocket.
"You're welcome. Are you well rested? Because we have to go."
"Yes, I'm ready." she said, got up and folded the sheet. "Let's go." NZ had a compass in his helmet, and they went. While they were going, Rika took the picture from her pocket and started to look at it again. "Sure, there is the resemblance between Vader and NZ, but he reminds me of someone else… But whom?" she thought. After a couple of minutes she had an idea. "I got it! That guy reminds me of Ulairimon, in fact, he is like Ulairimon and NZ combined. What a coincidence…" she thought, and then asked:
"Still, I have to ask, why are you always wearing the helmet?"
"You people keep asking me the same question."
"Who else asked you?"
"Renamon did a couple of times."
"Renamon? Well that's something new. I'll have to ask her about it. Still, can you remove your helmet?"
"If that's an order."
"Well yes it is!" Rika replied loudly. "Curiosity killed the cat. Well, I can not disobey an order."
"As you wish. But it won't be pretty." he replied and pushed some buttons near his neck. With a strange sound the helmet was taken away from the head. Rika barely managed to hold the scream. One half of his face was fine, but almost all the other was hidden under a metal plate, and instead of the eye there was a black hole in a form of an eye, which had a red light glowing in the center of it. From the metallic plate to the nose and down the neck there were multiple scars, which covered the area like a net. Also were the remains of 3-rd grade burns. The other half was not damaged, and the only real eye had a black color, even the iris. He was of the age of 28 by appearance, but his hair was of grey – white color, like the old people have. After four minutes he put his helmet back one. Rika finally stopped staring.
"That is why I have to wear the helmet. Even my comrades were disturbed when looking at me." he said.
"What happened?" Rika asked. She still was in shock.
"Hit by a heavy anti-infantry round. I was lucky, usually it blows the whole head off, but my helmet protected me well."
"I'm sorry for ordering you to reveal this. Did you show this to Renamon also?"
"No, she didn't give me an order. And I cannot disobey an order."
"How old are you?"
"I'm 29 years old."
"Then, why is your hair of the same color as the old people have?"
"I was really scared when I was hit in the head. This resulted at my hair color. Initially they were black."
"I see. I will never tell anyone, and I also will tell Renamon to cease the questions about your face."
"You may do anything as you wish. The decision is not mine to make."
"What is with that attitude anyway? You always say that when you respond not to an order, but to a simple request. "As you wish" people are saying when they are obligated to do something, without asking their opinion. We are not obligating you to do what you don't want to do. You are even worse than me."
"I have overheard what were your people… I'm sorry, friends were speaking about you and your past. Anyway, I still remain an Imperial stormtrooper that is taught to obey and to hope for the best. So don't worry about that irrelevant thing. I'm used to that."
"Still, you haven't answered to the question. Why do you never say your opinion?"
"Because no one asks me to. No one did for along time. Just recently your digimon started to ask my opinion when we speak during our night-watch."
"Well, that is unusual enough. Why would she be doing that?"
"She said she rarely can talk to someone."
"I never knew… Perhaps I should have paid more attention to her."
"Perhaps." NZ replied. They continued their movement in silence. "Why did I felt sorry for him? I shouldn't do that! Nothing should bother me!" thought Rika and hear a strange voice in her head.
"Why do you think so? Because of your reputation that you invented for yourself? The whole thing with unhappy childhood and the stuff you made up within your mind to act like some sort of poor soul in angst? How pitiful." the voice said.
"What could you possibly know about me?" Rika asked this voice in her thoughts.
"Oh, my dear child, I know everything about you. I know that you like the thought that you are in pain and that no one around you can possibly understand your suffering. But you don't suffer for a long time, you were suffering when you were a small child, but that was in the past. I know everything you know, I am a part of you, I am you, the judge of your thoughts and doings, the one you cannot lie to. And I can tell you why you were so shocked when you saw the face of the soldier. This was actually the first time you saw real pain, when the piece of the flesh is torn apart. All the pain you "suffered" before is nothing compare to that. You also saw suffering when Ulairimon killed Ogremon with his "soul drain", but that time you managed to say to yourself that digimon can't feel pain, and that what you saw wasn't real."
"Stop pounding me like that! Why do you torture me now?"
"Poor child, I'm not torturing you, I am helping you. Do not try to be someone you are not. That will bring you nothing good, and do not try to suffocate normal human feelings. Be honest with yourself."
"Live me alone!"
"Don't worry, I have managed to say something because of the energy of the forest. Once you're out of it, I will disappear for a time, until you will come here again…" while that mind discussion was going on, Rika remained still, and stared at one point in the ground. And NZ was trying to get her out of this trance.
"Rika, Rika snap out of it! Respond! Are you alright?" he was saying.
"Ah… What? I'm alright. Yes, alright…"
"What happened?"
"I don't know, this is because of the forest."
"This forest should be considered a thread. It should be burned down sometime."
"That's too radical. Anyway, I'm fine now, let's go."
"Affirmative." replied NZ and they went. Meanwhile the second group was going south also. They didn't have any navigational unit, but they knew where the south was, after all, any digimon had some sort of a compass in their head. No one knows why, they just did. Ulairimon turned on his MP3 player, and started to listen to whatever he got in that apparatus.
"Again with that player eh?" Renamon asked with sarcasm.
"So? Think about it, there is nothing else I could do around. There are few things that I can actually do: I can think, speak, fight, move, and listen. That is all, so I'm trying to make the best of what I've got."
"No way, you're not joking? But there are only five of them?"
"What would I resolve if I lie?" Ulairimon hissed. Then he drew a small dagger from his sleeve, and pierced his hand with it. This surprised Renamon a bit, but she was even more surprised, when he withdrew his dagger from the "wound" without any sound of pain and then said:
"It is impossible to harm me with mere weapons or fists. I'm much more susceptible to magic attacks. Thus, I can't be wounded by blade nor can feel a touch. Essentially, I'm almost invincible."
"You're saying I cannot harm you with my fists?" Renamon said and made a step back.
"I was not going to scare you, I just explain why I'm caring this "music box" with me. So don't get too amazed. I think I deserve some pleasant things in my existence."
"Well, yes, everyone deserves."
"Then, what's the problem?"
"No problem at all." replied Renamon and silenced. "I am sure I don't want to be in his shoes. He is a lot more powerful than me, but he became the thing that my tamer Rika called "Battling data". He is not capable of doing anything else. Too bad for him." she thought.
"Anyway, what are you listening now?"
"Oh, it's my favorite. It's called "The end of all hope". I don't know the singer."
"Can I listen too?"
"Of course." he hissed and gave her his earmuffs. The song was already played for some time, so she heard just one of the last couplets:
"It
is the end of all hope
To lose the child, the faith
To end all
the innocence
To be someone like me
This is the birth of all
hope
To have what I once had
This life unforgiven
It will
end with a birth
Mandylion, without a face
Deathwish
without a prayer
End of hope
End of love
End of time, the
rest is silence."
"Well, that's an interesting song." she replied after the song ended. "Do all of the songs have text like this one?"
"Yes. It is almost like the devise was left on the ground on purpose. This is the best gift life had to offer me in years."
"What was the last gift of the life besides that MP3?"
"It was when I have met my first master, Saurmon, when he gave me the power. That was the last, and, in fact, the first one."
"Oh, I see." Renamon said. "No much good things happened to him, if he is that happy that he has that player." she thought and then remembered the part of his prophesy, which said about "the world's demise."
"Can you tell me what the last stage of your evolution is?"
"It's Morgothmon. If I will ever get to that stage, I will be UNSTOPPABLE. I will be able to destroy anything. Even the immense power of my former master is nothing compare to the power of that stage." he hissed.
"Hopefully I won't be around to see It." said Renamon. "Holy cheesecake, the potential is that BIG?"
"Calm down, I will be long dead before I will even get a chance of becoming the Overlord of Terror."
"Yeah, I suppose you are right." she said. Her thoughts now were with her tamer, who was away.
Suddenly Renamon felt the frustration, because she and Rika were separated.
"I miss my tamer… Hope she is alright." she mumbled, and she thought that this was not heard. But it was…
"She is alright, my tamer will never let anything happen to her."
"Still, I would be less worried if I was with her."
"I know my tamer. Nothing will get to Rika while he is able to pull the trigger of his rifle. I think that you already know, he will give his life to defend anyone of us."
"Is he that brave?"
"He is not brave at all. He just is not afraid. Not at all. I remember that he is the only person around that doesn't fear me at all. You, the other digimon and the children fear and sometimes hate me, I can feel it, because fear of the others gives me more power. But I have sensed nothing from him. Even when we were training, and I was trying to hit him with sword, he didn't shown fear as a reflex to a blow."
"That is … amazing. You mean you can sense other people's emotions?"
"Yes, any of them. I know that you felt sorrow for my master sometimes, and that Henry is scared of me all the time, even if I am not contacting him."
"Err, not exactly great news. I don't like when someone practically can read my mind." Renamon said. She was disturbed by the new fact.
"If it bothers you too much, take this. It negates my power." he hissed and gave her a strange amulet. Renamon looked at the symbol on the amulet, and then gasped:
"That is the Taoist symbol of the light!"
"Yes. If you carry this with you, it will protect you from my "mindreading"."
"Thanks, I am much more relieved now."
"You're welcome. I do not intend to mess with someone's privacy." Ulairi hissed. They went further into the woods. After few hours they have managed to get out of the forest. They were the last ones. The others were waiting for them for some time. The group reunited once again, and Renamon was very happy that her tamer was alright. And Rika was glad to see Renamon too. The "strange forest" was behind them, and their journey was going to continue…
Well, that's that. Hopefully you'll like it. Hoping to receive some reviews and I'm terribly sorry if the story was bad or there were many grammar mistakes. I really tried to do my best.