Yay!~ Finally, I finished another chapter of this! I told you guys I wasn't going to give up on this stuff XD It just takes me half of forever to write this stuff out 'cause I keep getting distracted by nothing (I know that doesn't make a whole lot of sense but it's actually true).
Once again, sorry that it's taking so long, but I'm going to try my hardest to keep up with this stuff. I've got the majority of a week off of school left with nothing to do except go hunting and celebrate Thanksgiving, so I should have plenty of time on my hands to write and plan out chapters :)
And now, without further adeu, please enjoy this chapter :D
Chapter 9~
I was coming to hate sunshine more and more as the seconds turned into minutes, minutes turning into an hour of bright beauty. My hands were curled into fists, my claws digging lightly into the belts wrapped around my palms like the rest of my body, the variously placed buckles glinting valiantly in the light. It was hard to remain here, hard to disobey Master…but it was harder to think of leaving Davis alone and unprotected.
If Master was going to send someone new, he would send him here first. Sic him on Davis.
His breath won't come within meters of this human if I have anything to say about it. The right corner of my upper lip twitched slightly at the thought, my muscles tensed as I continued to stare at the sleeping human, just as I had all night. DemiVeemon had gone back to sleep a few hours ago, having waved and stared back at me for about an hour or so before passing out again. If I were to judge, I would have to say that he was the definition of the word 'friendly'.
The same could be said about his human partner, though there was much more to the both of them than that. Of course, I had next to no idea what that other stuff was, but I was more than willing to learn. Besides, it wasn't like I had anywhere else to be—or anywhere else I could even go. I would be a fool to return to the Digital World, to Master, right away. I could only imagine his rage, and my imagination wasn't strong enough to give that anger the right amount of power and malice. No one could picture such a horrible thing.
A shudder ripped through me as a demon through the body it plans to possess, making my wounds open up again. Touching my hand to the wound on my neck, then to my side, I scowled at the thick red blood that stained my fingers. I hated that, how my own blood resembled that of a human's so much. Master's didn't look like that, and neither did other Digimon's. Why was it only me? I wasn't special, other than being far stronger than most—if not, then all—Digimon. So…why?
…Does this anomaly have a connection with...him? My eyes wandered slowly from my bloody hand to the smiling face of the boy sleeping a few feet from me. He looked so peaceful, so serene, so full of happiness and joy and bravery and…and love. Within me, my heart gave up its steady beat and switched to a faster pace, an uncharacteristic change, seeing how I wasn't doing anything exhilarating like running or fighting. That crawly, tickly feeling had returned to my stomach as well.
Davis' naturally tanned skin seemed to have a glow more enchanting than that of the moon, more real than the foolish, artificial light of the sun. He was alive—I could hear the tender beat of his heart, sense the rush of his blood like a river within his body. Dark, mahogany hair, while slightly fluffed up due to having rolled about in his sleep, hung slightly in his face in some places, framing his features in the most perfect way. A soft rose flush dusted his cheeks as he wandered aimlessly in his dreams.
Awake, asleep. Smiling, grimacing. Nonchalant, ecstatic. It didn't matter. This human…this creature that was so different from my own dead, lifeless self…he was so…I wasn't sure. But there was something, maybe many somethings, that drew me to him—perhaps I wasn't the only one. Then again, I doubted that anyone else could feel the same way that I could because no one was like me. This complete and utter hopelessness strangled me, and yet I was more filled with that very thing, that very hope, than I'd ever been before in my entire existence.
Like I'd said many times before, it made no sense. And I couldn't get enough of the sensation.
Davis began to roll around again, finally stirring from his pleasant sleep to greet the Saturday morning sunlight. And the surprise he would find sitting a mere foot from his bed. I lapped at the blood drying on my hand, figuring that it would be easier for him to handle my presence if it didn't look like I'd harmed something. However, there were still plenty of other things about me that would make this whole situation…difficult to deal with.
As I wondered which reaction he would choose, those deep brown eyes began to open slowly, still sleepy despite how solidly he'd slept. I waited patiently (actually, I was starting to get nervous and was hoping he'd fall back asleep) for him to realize I was there despite the fact that he was gazing right at me. A moment passed with both of us gazing at one another, him smiling sweetly, completely unaware of my presence for the most part, while I was practically a statue. A metal work of someone's imagination, but with a heart. Well, kind of.
Another solid second graced past before I finally got a rational reaction out of the boy. His smile wavered and faded, his eyes growing wide with shock as he snapped upright. A light pink dusted his cheeks as he stuttered in shock, "M-Moroamon?! What…?" He blinked at me a few times, mind reeling as he searched for the right thing to say, the right emotion to depict.
But in the end, the belief that we were friends, no matter how weird he thought I was, won. A gentle smile softened the confusion and astonishment in his eyes as his tone became more calm and controlled, "Sorry, I'm just…surprised to see you here," Golden eyes found their way to my neck and side—the bruises, the multiple gashes…I couldn't hide them, and I wasn't sure how I was going to lie about it if he asked. And, of course, he did. "What...Who did that to you?!" I was astounded by the rage in his voice, as if someone had harmed a member of his family.
He tossed the bed covers aside and I felt my breathing completely stop when he got down on his knees within inches of me. Davis was obviously without fear of me, a strange trait to find in a human that I could easily crush like an elephant to an ant. Yet here I was, standing in all six of that ant's shoes, scared witless, beyond the point of recalling how lungs operated. A slave to sensation alone.
I didn't resist when he reached out and tenderly touched my side, inspecting the large bruise with concern. My eyelids fluttered closed at the blessed warmth that melted away the soreness of my injuries, the sweet caress of tentative fingertips. This feeling, this perfect feeling of heat and tenderness, of care—love—it was this that I wanted to feel. Though I knew it was wrong and stupid of me to want it. I belonged with Master; the feel of icy and loathsome palms against pale, broken skin.
The thought made me a little tense and unsure about my decision the night before, but it was far too late now. Besides, I had more problems than that right now: Davis wanted to know who had injured me, and I had a tendency to forget how to lie around this boy. He couldn't know about Master Devimon. Ever. But he would never believe that I accidentally did this to myself, or that another Digimon dared do it to me—scratch that, be capable of doing that to me.
So…what was I supposed to say?
"I, um…" My mind whirred like a hive of angry Honeybeemon combined with the white noise of a television or radio. I could assume that it was all ideas of what I could say, but they all went by so quickly that I couldn't understand what my own mind was trying to tell me. Davis' soft hand on my neck didn't help either. "I…ran into someone…while I was still in the Digital World—I'm sorry for running off like I did, but I had to—and the 'meeting' didn't…go very well, I suppose…"
I scolded myself for being unable to come up with anything else besides the detail-lacking version of the truth, but my mind was on holiday at the moment. But the important thing was that Davis seemed to buy it. "What? Who was it? Was it…that guy who changed you into a Digimon?" His finger hesitantly touched the chrome collar, tracing it once he was certain it wouldn't electrocute him. "Did he put this on you?" I was stunned by the sincere-sounding concern in his voice. It made my face feel unbearably warm.
My brain and tongue went silent as one, unsure of how to respond. Master did give me the collar, but I'd been the one to put it on, technically. But Master…he…Davis couldn't know about him. I wasn't a real human anyway, so it wasn't like Master had taken me from an ordinary life where I could've been normal or something like that. It was all a ruse that I'd made up to toy with the minds of these humans. Master had been good to me for as long as I could remember. Discipline and all.
I shook my head slowly in answer to all of his questions, though most required more than a 'yes' or 'no'. But I couldn't give him that kind of a response, the reason behind that being one that he could never know. "It doesn't matter, Davis Motomiya. You shouldn't concern yourself with what happens to me. This…" I made a sweeping motion with my right hand from my neck to my hip, gesturing to all of the small gashes and rather large bruises he saw. "…They shouldn't make any difference to you."
My words seemed to either insult or shock him. I wasn't sure which to hope for. "Wha—Moroamon, don't talk like that! Of course you matter to me! We're friends, remember? So that means I care about what happens to you!" There was such conviction in those amber of his eyes…such…I wasn't really sure what the hell it was, but…his heart truly believed that there was goodness in me…But that was impossible! I was sick and twisted to the core, so much so that I could make the person with the strongest stomach in the world nauseous enough to vomit!
But, even knowing that fact, I couldn't form words after his little friendship lecture. I simply stared at him as he returned to poking at my steel-like form, possibly looking for broken bones like I had before. It was at moments like this that I wished I knew what was running through his mind, and I knew that his friends often had to wonder the same. I mean, there was next to no distance between us now, when he was all alone except for whatever family was still home and his In-Training Digimon. Neither of which would be able to stop me if I lost control of myself, obviously.
So, why would he risk life and limb—mostly life—for someone who was the very being who had orders, not to mention the need, to have him killed? There was nothing mentally wrong with him to impair his judgement this badly—at least, not that I could sense. It couldn't really be that he thought Master had been controlling my actions when I'd come to him so many nights ago, right? He wouldn't think something like that…
That was…foolish. It was impossible. Master wouldn't—couldn't—do anything like that.
"…So," Clearly having finished his examination of my disciplinary wounds, Davis sat back and looked up at me as if I were any one of his other friends. "How long have you been here, Moroamon?" A small smile forced its way onto his lips, drawing my attention immediately. "Not long enough to get bored, I guess…" The soft grin that blinded me now was the very defining image of 'friend'—kind, inviting, not two-faced or threatening in any way.
Having entranced me yet again with the simplest of expressions, Davis left me no choice but to allow DemiVeemon to answer for me. Though, I would've preferred if he'd run the response by me first before blurting it out… "She watched you like a hawk all night, Davis. She didn't blink once." The blue mini-dragon Digimon smiled and waved at me innocently, though it felt like one of those tee-hee-you're-so-screwed kinds of grins. My upper lip twitched in irritation; I expected Davis to be rather uncomfortable in my presence after hearing that kind of information.
But he didn't appear to be. In fact, he seemed…flattered. By…my stalking. "Really? All night, huh…?" A sheen of red brushed across his cheeks, though he tried to hide it by turning away from me slightly, raising his hand to rub at his nose in an embarrassed manner. The sight made it hard for me to remember how important breathing was. Oddly enough, I seemed to have to remind myself of that fact quite often. Hm. "How come you did that?"
Because you're in incredible danger because of my stupidity and selfishness. "Um…protecting you. Just in case…" Obviously, I couldn't tell Davis my true reasons, my thoughts, or the fact that I was, without a doubt, using him to identify whatever weakness resided within me. If I were to unveil such a thing, it would surely ruin whatever progress that I'd made in gaining his trust. And I couldn't risk such a thing, not when I was this close to discovering what was wrong with me. If I did that, I could fix it and finish the job Master had assigned to me, and then he would be happy again.
"Oh, well…" Davis ran a hand through his hair, brushing a few stray strands back into place and out of his face. A sweet laugh swiftly glided from his throat, filling the air around me with the hypnotic reverberations of the voice that often drove me to insanity during my always-sleepless nights. I could escape him physically, but not mentally. "Thanks, I guess…!" He beamed at me, the radiance of the expression much more amazing than anything I'd seen before, be it in the human world or the Digimon one.
Though, I found I had to restrain the urge to reach out and touch the tips of my fingers to the source of the flawless sound of his laugh, his voice. That warm throat. The jugular vein that hid beneath smooth, delicate, easily broken human skin. There was no way for me to imagine what it would feel like to take this human, to rip into his soul and steal the data that connected him to his Digimon partner. To reap the benefits of what his precious blood and bone would offer me.
There was no way because I couldn't imagine it. It was impossible to even think of it in a serious manner. It was, in all aspects, a joke to think that I could ever accomplish such an incredible feat. Of course, the punch line would come when Master went about giving me my well-deserved punishment for being unable to destroy a single human who didn't even need the help of his Digimon to completely trap me under his intoxicating and quite pleasurable spell.
With Davis, it was easy to forget what I'd been made to do. Yet at the same time, it was hard.
Thankfully, my thoughts were interrupted by the innocent human around whom my mind and soul revolved. Davis had struck my mind with the plague of being blank yet again, this time having taken up both of my hands in his while stunning me with his extraordinary smile. "But you worry too much. I know Kari and Izzy and TK and everybody always say I'm danger-prone and a threat to all mankind, but you should know that it's not that true. I'm just…uh—"
"Special…" Davis cast me a surprised gape at my interjection, though the pleased little grin that followed depicted that he was certainly not as bothered by the scene as I was. I was shocked and a bit frightened by my sudden, uncharacteristic…well, in a way…it was a kind of confession. It told Davis that I viewed him as that very word: special. And, in more ways than one, he truly was. Currently, I couldn't help that that was the way that I felt. The way he made me feel.
The youngest of the Motomiya family gave me a small nod of agreement before releasing my slightly trembling hands and standing as his little Digimon jumped up onto his shoulder. "Well, now that we agree that I'm awesome, you should hang with me today. Me and DemiVeemon are going over to see Ken Ichijouji, another DigiDestined, and it would be great if he got to know the real you like I am. Not to mention the fact that I could use the company on the ride over there.
"So, you wanna come?" The warm, tingly feeling of Davis' hands wrapped around mine in such a comfortable embrace of the fingers had my mind racing in a blurry haze, as if I were running through a fog. I could still feel the exact curve of his hands, even in their increasingly long absence. In this haze, I had no idea that I'd begun nodding in response to his question almost as soon as he'd finished asking it. It pissed me off but it sure made him happy.
With a brand new grin lighting up his face, Davis pretty much danced around the room while he gathered up whatever clothes he needed, dropping DemiVeemon off to 'entertain' me while he went off to the bathroom to change. I wasn't sure what to do, sitting here on the floor with this In-Training Digimon perched upon my knee like he was. I'd never gotten along very well with other Digimon. For obvious reasons.
But DemiVeemon seemed to have a good idea on what he wanted to spend our few moments of solitude together doing. Big scarlet eyes remaining locked on me, he slowly leaned back until he flopped from my knee onto the floor, laying on his back while wiggling his feet at me with a wide smile. "Rub the belly! But only three, then I bite." Little giggles chimed from within his vocal cords, and I was astounded to realize that he was completely serious.
What the hell was I getting myself into?
It was around ten o'clock now, probably closer to quarter after, and Davis and I had been on the train for…I actually wasn't sure when we'd gotten on the train. I'd been distracted by not only Davis, but the many stares that I was getting from the other two people who hadn't fled the train car we were in as soon as I got on. One or two people had asked, and Davis had used the costume thing again, though they hadn't seemed to buy it that much. Probably because of the blood-stained bandages Davis had wrapped me up in.
"Okay, how about this one…um…" Davis leaned back against the cushioned seat beside me, looked up at the ceiling with a blank look on his face as he tried to think up another joke. He'd been spitting out one after the other pretty much from the moment that we'd left his home. I wasn't sure why, but he was determined to hear my laugh (though, in all honesty, I barely remembered what it sounded like myself). "Oh, I know! Why did the orange roll down the hill?"
I blinked once at the persistent boy, absentmindedly stroking the top of his Digimon partner's sleeping head. The In-Training Digital Monster had passed out somewhere around Davis' fourteenth or fifteenth try at making me laugh. He'd been able to escape, but I wasn't that lucky. Nevertheless, it was a nice change of pace from hunting, that was for sure. Not knowing what else to do, I responded in a polite tone, "Why?" If I don't laugh at this one, is he just going to keep at this all day? Probably...not like there's anything to stop him, right?
Davis cast me a hopeful smile as he snickered, "Because it ran out of juice." He seemed to think that the quite stupid pun was funny—even DemiVeemon giggled, and he was sleeping—but I merely offered a courteous smile. Which wasn't forced, but it still wasn't what Davis was searching for. "Still no giggle-fits, huh?" Any other human probably would've given up by now, assuming I was a lost cause, a being without a soul to laugh with.
But not Davis. For whatever reason, he believed that there was a light existing within me, within the darkness that was my heart and soul. He thought that I was, using his words, 'even more awesome than Tai'—which, apparently, was hard to be. But he didn't know who I really was, what I devoured instead of regular food. If he did, he wouldn't think those things. I had a pretty good idea of what he would think, though.
I didn't want to think about that sort of thing right now, not yet. Davis didn't know yet; I could still 'enjoy' his company for the time being. "I'm not certain that I can laugh, Davis." You'd have thought that I'd reached out and smacked him with the astonished and almost hurt look on his face. An intense, concentrated pain shot through my heart at the sight, as if someone had shot me with the highest caliber rifle in either universe.
"Of course you can. Laughter is your soul shining through for the world to see when it's usually invisible. It's something that you're born able to do, not like talking, or walking, or anything else. Digimon, people, plants…everything can laugh. Maybe not in the same way as another thing, but everything can at least utter a chuckle. You may be different from anything that I've ever seen before, but I know you know how to laugh.
"Oh! I just thought of another one!" The almost intimate look that had been brushed across his features was blown away and replaced in a hurry with that same bright smile that I'd come to see in my daydreams. "What's the difference between a bad golfer and a bad skydiver?" He gave me no time to make any sort of response, and hurried on to the punch line as if there were a fire chasing his words from his throat. "The bad golfer goes, 'Whack! Darn!' and the bad skydiver goes, 'Darn! Whack!'"
At first, I just sat there like I had been for the past while and looked at Davis, but soon, a smile I couldn't control was spreading over my face. The joke really wasn't that funny, but it was only a matter of seconds before a sort of pressure built up in my chest, a feeling I didn't recognize. Like…a tickling sensation, brought on by an onslaught of breath and a funny quivering in my diaphragm.
A strange sound I didn't recognize suddenly filled the air between the two of us, and my hand flew to cover my mouth when I realized it had come from me. But Davis was acting as if he'd just won a gold medal for a soccer event in the Olympics. "See? I told you I could make you laugh, didn't I?" He grinned and gave a little chuckle before adding in a gleeful tone, "And you have such a pretty one, too!"
I felt my face heat up at the odd compliment, my eyes drifting away from the boy so he couldn't read my thoughts through my eyes. It was an incredible thing, how it felt after one…laughed. I couldn't remember the last time that I'd felt this…nice on the inside. It was as if something that had plagued me for a decade had suddenly been lifted off of my shoulders, making me lighter than the very air itself. Like my soul was brand new, and infant having just been baptized.
Perhaps, in a way, I hadn't been baptized by water, but by the presence of this human. His friendship. The light that was always emitting from his soul like a beacon, guiding me through the darkest of nights, showing me things I'd never even thought of before. I knew only loyalty and discipline, a love that stung like a thousand cracks of a whip, or a flogging. Salt in a fresh wound. But now…
Before I realized that my smiling lips were moving, my tongue had already formed words most sincere, betraying my inner wonderings quite blatantly, "I enjoy your laugh as well, Davis. Many things about you are very wonderful." I heard a tense buzzing-type noise sound off in my head, like a sort of alarm going off to warn me of something bad that I'd just done. It was definitely because of what I'd said; I couldn't be this honest anymore. I had to be careful with how I went about this.
Sooner or later, I would have to obey Master's wishes. I had to. I had to be careful because I knew deep down that I couldn't kill something I loved. Though, it was astonishing that I was able to tell what this feeling was—no, what it was threatening to become. It was a strong sensation, yes, but something like this…it could only grow stronger and stronger, more and more bold, glow brighter and brighter until it would be white enough for the blind to see clear as day. Pure enough to restore their sight.
Davis smiled sweetly at me, a soft little chuckle accompanying the beam. The minute noise washed away all thoughts of Master from my mind—not even the threat of discipline or that new minion worried me. I was with the sun that lit up my inner world, the place where the astral sun couldn't reach, didn't exist. But this human existed there. And I was glad that he did.
We spent the rest of the train ride in a rather light and cheerful mood, with Davis doing his best to get me to laugh more, perhaps helping me to catch up for lost time. DemiVeemon woke when the train came to a stop at the station, and the three of us got off and headed for Ken's home. Davis led the way, though I could've found my way on my own, thanks to my superior senses. But I figured that that sort of a display might creep Davis out a bit. Not that any other thing about me shouldn't, but still.
He pointed out a few things to me here and there, telling little stories about the DigiDestined-adventures that he and his friends had trekked through. I remained silent for the most part, imagining the scenes that he described, recalling what I'd been doing during most of that time. I'd been in America, terrorizing state after state. Killing DigiDestined and normal humans alike and sending the government there into a frenzy over how so many serial killers were popping up everywhere.
Little did they know, it was only one. And she wasn't human by any means.
However, my mind wasn't retracing those thoughts for very long, and I was soon distracted by Davis again, like always. I let myself smile idly as he dragged me by the arm through the city, ignoring the stares we were getting from all the people who passed us by. DemiVeemon was perched on Davis's shoulder, but was 'hidden' underneath the neck of his vest, pretending to think that he was invisible. However, I would be lying if I said that I'd picked up on anyone staring at anything other than me, so maybe he was pretty see-through for the time being.
We finally arrived at Ken's apartment building, and I stared up at the obstruction through the rain that pattered down from the dark skies. Despite the dark air that was cast down onto the Earth thanks to the depressing weather, the construction appeared quite friendly and homey; I could imagine it sparkling if the sun were shining at the moment. A very nice place indeed. A place I felt I shouldn't be stepping into, like a holy place, a sanctified region of earth and brick that was not meant to be touched by the hands of a sinner.
Of course, I could care less, but…
I would've stood and stared longer, deep in thoughts that I could easily get lost forever in, like a labyrinth in my mind, but Davis kept me on track. He continued pulling me along with him, right into the apartment building, without one thought regarding how the other occupants would react to my strange appearance. Thankfully, there was no one present on the main floor or on the stairs, and we were soon at the Ichijouji's front door. I'd been perfectly all right with practically having been forced to come here up until this point.
There was a very, very, very good chance that Ken wouldn't be as 'forgiving' or 'understanding' as Davis had been. He might hold the attack I'd attempted to issue against them against me—not that he had any reason not to. I had been trying to kill them, and most people tended to become a little offended when a person was attempting to kill them. Especially when it was an unprovoked strike like what my hunt had been.
However, Davis didn't seem nervous about Ken's reaction in the slightest, and I forced myself to trust in his odd, unwavering confidence. It felt like a mistake to do so, but I really had no other option. Ken was one of the DigiDestined and I would have to gain his trust as well as I would the others'. If I was going to have any opportunity down the road to complete this mission, then I would have to continue preparing even as I doubted myself. And Master. I'm sorry, Lord Devimon, but something's just not right. And if you won't help me, I'll find some answers on my own.
I stood a few paces behind Davis when he pounded on the door, each of my senses standing on edge as I waited with both eagerness and anxiety to learn exactly what this Ichijouji boy would do upon seeing me. My muscles tensed slightly when the metallic 'chink' noise of the lock being undone sounded in my ears and the door opened up to show Ken Ichijouji, just as I remembered him from that first stormy night.
The thirteen-year-old ravenette was shorter than me by a little bit but still taller than Davis (everyone except for Cody and maybe Kari was taller than Davis, really. He himself had pointed that out but had assured me a growth spurt was on the way). His features were lithe and graceful, his hair short though it looked smooth and soft. Cerulean eyes that were crisp like winter but tender as the water that slid over a Swimmon's delicate gills appeared surprised to see me, but he didn't freak out like I would've thought. It was as if he'd expected this moment to come.
Which, in a way, was probably true. Even a complete moron with the brain capacity of a Sukamon would be able to assume that I was the type of being who wouldn't leave well-enough alone. I would come back to strike my prey time and time again until I came home the victor, until the world was short one DigiDestined. But Ken wouldn't have to know just how true his suspicion would turn out to be until later. When the time was right.
Ken's gaze lingered on me for a moment more before his eyes turned to Davis and a more comfortable smile curled the corners of his mouth upward. "Davis, I figured it was you—late, as always," Dark eyes returned to meet my cold and unsure stare, but his smile didn't waver. "And I see that you brought a familiar face. It's nice to see she's all right." He moved to the side and gestured for us to come in, Davis taking him up on the offer almost immediately. I hesitated momentarily before following his example.
"Yeah, about that…" Davis laughed his sweet little laugh, the little snicker that could draw me to his side from half way around the world. I stayed within arm's length—which he didn't seem to mind, or really notice—as he continued, "I would've been on time—I was seriously going to try, really I was—but when I woke up I found a little…surprise…watching me in my room…" He grinned at me out of the corner of his eyes, and I returned it for a half of a second before glancing at Ken to note his reaction. He would take notice of my stalking nature, surely he would.
Ken's dark eyes took on a wide, surprised air for a moment before doing their best to return to normal as he started to walk off towards what I assumed was his room. His voice was the same as it had been before, if not then it betrayed a touch of that befuddlement his eyes had exhibited previously, "Well, that's certainly unexpected. Especially since your little watch-dog—no pun intended, sorry—isn't even your Digimon," He smiled slightly as a little green larva-looking Digimon hurried to his side, jumping into his waiting arms. "Minomon likes to watch people sleep, too."
The green Digimon in Ken's embrace was about the same size as DemiVeemon, and while he seemed reluctant to leave his human partner's side, he also appeared quite happy to see his fellow Digimon. I assumed that the two would've gone off the play together had I not come along. But no remorse came over me at the thought; they could play another day. It wasn't like something bad was going to happen today that was going to change the carefree nature of tomorrow, Sunday.
However, today was Saturday, and apparently Saturday could be just about as messed up and crazy as it wanted to be.
I heard the woman approaching the door to the apartment before either of the boys accompanying me even had the slightest idea of the predicament that we were about to be in. Disregarding my former intentions on being as polite and quiet as possible, I interrupted something that Davis was saying and stated rapidly, "We've got a problem." When I thought back on it, I probably could've just come right out and said what the issue was. But I'm just going to keep blaming my lack of mental clarity on Davis.
Before either of them could get me to clarify, the sound of feet walking stopped, and the tumblers inside of the door began to turn as whoever it was (it was a woman, that was all I knew) unlocked the door. And as for me? I'd taken that split second of silence offered to me and used it to get out of sight. Two DigiDestined kids with In-Training Digimon might not be all that afraid of me—still not sure if there was something wrong with them, or if I just wasn't scary anymore—but a normal woman? Yeah, I doubted that she'd be as calm as they were.
I took up a hiding spot in Ken's room, where he'd been leading us before having been interrupted. After realizing where I'd run off to, and waving a quick hello to the woman who'd just come in, Davis speed-walked over to where I was crouched up on Ken's bed. From my little perch, I watched as the dark-haired boy greeted the woman, who I now realized was his mother from the way that her eyes seemed to say a thousand unsaid words simply in the one expression that she now wore on her face as she smiled at her son.
Everything stopped around me.
I could no longer hear Davis complaining about my ability to pick the hiding spots that took the longest to get to, or the conversation going on between Ken and his mother, though I knew that he was offering to give her a hand in the kitchen (he was also enlisting Davis as a volunteer helper). I couldn't feel Davis's warmth or the pressure on the mattress as he jumped up onto the bed beside me. My brain could no longer distinguish each of the scents that infiltrated my nose from one another; I couldn't even remember that Davis was there with me. The only sense that remained with me was sight, and the only thing I could see was Mrs. Ichijouji's smile.
A mother's smile.
"Mommy, what is this?" A little girl with curious golden eyes pointed to the reddish vegetables sitting up on cutting board, washed and ready to be diced by experienced hands. The girl knew not to put her hand anywhere near the knife in her mother's hand unless the woman was no longer utilizing the utensil, which she currently wasn't. So, in the child's mind, that meant it was question time.
The black-haired woman smiled down at her dark-haired daughter, handing her one of the veggies as she began to explain, "Well, honey, that's called a radish. They're a part of the mustard family like cabbages and turnips. They come in lots of different colors, too, Satu. Reds, and pinks, and whites, and blacks, and some can grow and grow until they're over one hundred pounds! Their name comes from a Greek word that means 'fast-appearing' because they grow up really quickly."
Coal-tinted bangs bobbed as Satu nodded at her mother's words, but the answers given only brought up more questions. Granted, the subject was changed, but still. Questions were questions. "Why is my name 'Satu' then, Mommy? Did you and Daddy have a reason for my name like the Geeks did with the radishes?" The five-and-a-quarter-year-old had never thought about her name in this way before, and it astonished her to think that there was a meaning behind a person's name.
With a short giggle, her mother ruffled her hair and said gently, "It's 'Greeks', honey, not 'geeks'. And your father and I…well, we didn't really have a reason for naming you what we did. But your name means 'fable', dear. A fable is a little story about animals that teaches children about what's right and wrong, so you could say that you're our little angel, Satu—"
I couldn't remember when I'd jumped from the top bunk to the floor, or how Davis had managed to get down as fast as I had without injuring himself, and I really wasn't sure where I was or who was touching my arm or what was going on at this moment. Other than I'd just had a vision of what had to be someone else's life, since it couldn't be mine, seeing how it had been about humans. Not one word had mentioned Digimon, not one thing had even hinted toward their existence.
But I had to know more about that girl and her mother. I had to see them again.
"I have to know why I saw them, I need to know…!" I muttered mainly to myself as I began to trudge forward, out of Ken's room, into the hallway, heading for the kitchen. The only room that now held my answers. Staying out of sight no longer meant anything to me; it was an obstacle I had to get around, a fear that I could not have, a challenge that had to be defeated.
Davis was apparently going to be a challenge all his own as well. See, he was still in his right mind about now, knowing that he hadn't just witnessed some insane sort of vision of someone else's past, and was trying to drag me back into Ken's bedroom. "Moroamon!" The brunette whisper-shouted, his voice strained as he desperately tried to yank at my hand, pouring all of his strength into the act and yet he was being dragged along with me as easily as a little child might cart around a doll. "What are you talking about?! We can't let Mrs. Ichijouji see you! She knows about DemiVeemon and Minomon, but you're in a completely different ballpark compared to them and she might—"
"Davis, dear, who in the world are you—oh my…"
I stopped dead in my tracks when I came face to face with the very woman who had triggered the strange vision I'd just been torn from a mere minute or two ago. The youngest of the Motomiya family hadn't been quite as silent in his reasoning with me as he'd thought, and the sound of his urgent attempts at persuasion had alerted Mrs. Ichijouji's maternal instincts. She'd come to see what the issue was, and had found me. The cause of all humans' problems.
However, with her appearance, came that feeling of numbness. Davis's warmth was no more, my vision was no clearer than the oceans of sulfur at the depths of hell, I could hear only my own breathing now, and even then that noise was beginning to fade with the others. I could hear voices, though they were not my own and they didn't belong to any of those whom I'd last been with.
Well, unless you counted that Satu girl and her mother.
"You wouldn't think that there'd be that much interesting stuff to learn about a veggie, huh, Mommy?" the dark-haired third-grader, Satu, snickered at her mother. She was gazing up at the counter with a newfound intrigue in the world around her, a strange curiosity for everything that she now saw. The child couldn't help herself; she wanted to know everything about the mysterious world now that she knew that there were questions that maybe even the smart adults couldn't answer.
Her widowed mother smiled sweetly down at her enlightened daughter as she agreed with her daughter. The woman then added as she began to chop up more of the bright red plants, "There are also a fair amount of rumors about radishes, too, Satu, like if you see a garden of radishes in a dream it signifies prosperous business and kind friends. And to dream that one is eating a radish means that your feelings will be hurt as a result of the thoughtlessness of someone near you. Another that I've heard of it that if you're dreaming about planting radishes, that foretells that your heart's desires will be happily realized.
"Do you know what that means, hon? When I say that 'your dreams will be realized?" The amber-eyed ravenette child thought for a moment, mulling the young woman's words over and over in her head until she was certain that she'd memorized the phrase. In the end, she grinned with a bit of sheepishness and shrugged her shoulders, earning a smile from her mother, who promptly reworded her previous statement, "It means that what you want most will be yours, that your greatest wish will come true—"
"Are you all right, dear?"
I snapped back into the foolish nonsense most call 'reality' as if having been shot in the forehead by a pistol. My eyes located the source of the voice within milliseconds of my return, and felt my lungs shudder and shake as they shut down. Ken's mother was standing before me, perhaps a foot and a half away, maybe a little further due to her obvious wariness of me, and she was gazing at my face as if she were concerned about my wellbeing.
My cold heartbeat raced for a moment, then dropped into silence in the pit of my chest cavity, becoming nothing more than a painful, putrid throb as I stared, immobilized, back at Mrs. Ichijouji. I could taste her scent in the air, found the faintness of DigiDestined in the very molecules that made up her cells. But it wasn't enough. Not enough to make her whole, like her son and his friend—who, might I add, was still trying to drag me back into the shadow of the hallway.
Knowing that I had no hope of hiding myself—no matter what Davis thought or tried to get me to do—I decided quickly that I needed to gain the trust of Ken's mother if I was to gain the trust of the DigiDestined children. If a parent came, then the offspring would follow suit eventually. But when I opened my mouth to speak, I noticed her cringe slightly at the full view of my forty bestial teeth, and that stopped all noise from travelling beyond my lips. I wasn't sure why, but the absolute horror that was on her face…it struck me.
It was not a terror for herself—a selfish fear that I'd seen so many times before, like on the faces of the parents of the girl who'd had the Bukamon before I'd killed her—but…but a fear for her son. I could almost hear her thoughts as they rushed through her head like busybody-bees. 'My little boy has been near this vicious-looking creature? I don't even know if she's a Digimon like those other things—she looks like those evil monsters that tried to hurt my Ken before!'
And yet, she was there, within reach. Within striking distance. Granted, she had made sure to stand between her son and myself, but she was still much closer than most humans would dare come. My first guess would've been stupidity, for humans were known for their lack of ability to use their brains. However, in this case, I knew that that couldn't possibly be the reason behind her actions. I couldn't put my finger on what her true incentive was ,though.
Seeing that I wasn't going to be talking anytime soon, Ken hurried to both calm his mother and sort of explain what was going on. "Mom, this is my friend, Moroamon. I know that she looks kind of scary, but she's not bad. She spends a lot of time with Davis, and he knows her very well. I think that if he can trust her, then we should, too, even if we're not sure about who or what she is." My eyes shifted from Ken's mother to Ken himself, watching the way his eyes seemed to tremble as he tried not to look at me, looked everywhere but at me.
I didn't understand. Why defend me, make a point about how I was good, and yet show such an obvious wariness? What could he possibly be thinking?
Mrs. Ichijouji seemed pleased with Ken's explanation, though unpleased with the fact that that meant that I would be spending more time with her son. But from the softness of her voice, I could tell that she was going to take the DigiDestined's advice and put her trust in Davis's judgment. "Well, then, Moroamon, welcome to the Ichijouji household. I've labeled all of the rooms and appliances, so feel free to take a look around."
After casting me a final little smile, she turned from me and walked over to the counter where she picked up a tray with multiple kinds of human snack foods piled up on it. She handed it to her child, who didn't seem at all surprised by the insurmountable quantity of food that his mother thought would be torn through by two teenage boys, two itty-bitty Digimon, and one thing that she wasn't sure what it was but was there nonetheless.
However, seeing the stunned yet overjoyed look on Davis's face as he hurried over to steal the tray from Ken and rush off with his little Digimon chasing him shouting, "I want eats! I wants eats!", the woman giggled and explained to her slightly bewildered son, "I know how hungry teenagers and their Digimon can get, so I made some snacks for you and your friends!
"Oh, speaking of friends," The brunette lady raised a hand to her lips in surprise as she recalled something she'd previously let slip from her mind. She enlightened the both of us as she gathered up her purse and relocated her shoes. "I loaned my labeler to Mr. Kobayato yesterday and I forgot to pick it up, so I should go and do that now before he goes off to work. He's on the graveyard shift, the poor man.
"I won't be long. Will the…three of you be all right with me gone, Ken, honey?" A brief but noticeable flash of worry crossed her face again, casting the glimmer of light from her eyes for a moment before she tried to disguise it. But her face was the kind that couldn't hide a thing from anyone, and that made it very clear to me what she was thinking: Like any mother would be, she was scared to leave the two boys here alone with me.
I'd be astonished if she wasn't nervous about such a thing, but still. The point was that she had a face that was easy to read. Which, sadly, Ken had not inherited.
The blue-black-haired boy cast his mother a reassuring smile as he answered her confidently, "Of course, Mom, we'll be just fine." After her son's confirmation that I wasn't going to eat him while she was gone, Mrs. Ichijouji offered her son a final smile before saying good-bye and heading out the door. For a moment there, I had thought that she was going to make him come with her just to be on the safe side. Or give him a gun that his father had kept hidden in the refrigerator's vegetable drawer.
As the door clicked closed quietly, Ken walked past me, headed for the living room where I could hear Davis and DemiVeemon quarrelling over the food. "You keep your little paws on your side of the tray, DemiVeemon! Don't take that one, that's mine, I called it—hey, I said on your side!" I heard a little 'oomph' as the little Digimon got shoved away, but that was followed by an irritated 'hey!' from Davis as the little creature came right back to fight for his right to eat.
"But, Davis! I love chocolate biscuits!" I turned and followed Ken's scent into the living room, having done so just in time to see DemiVeemon crawl up on top of Davis's head with a chocolate biscuit in his mouth. The brunette mumbled little 'ow's through a mouthful of food as his Digimon partner used his hair as a makeshift ladder. When he finally made it to the top of Davis's head, he nestled down into his hair and tied some of it around his feet to keep himself in place. After being sure he was safe and secure, he continued to merrily eat the chocolate he'd brought.
The DigiDestined who confounded me in every way, shape, and form paused in his eating spree mid-bite and turned slowly to face Ken, who was now sitting on the opposite side of the couch. Pointing to the cerulean chewing machine on top of hi noggin', Davis questioned in a loud and 'why is this happening to me?' sort of voice, "Does Minomon do this to—"
"No." Ken interrupted serenely as his polite, green Digimon made a gesture to be picked up from the floor. The quiet boy did as his partner asked and set him on his lap, offering him some of the caramel corn that Davis and DemiVeemon hadn't slobbered all over quite yet. While Minomon nibbled contentedly at the sweet treat, Ken looked over at me. "You can have some of this, too, if you want. I think you'd win if Davis tried to fight you for it." His tone mocked Davis and earned him a slight scowl from said boy, causing a half-smile to caress my face for a second.
I began to pace the room, suddenly anxious for a reason I was unsure of, as I replied carefully, "Thank you, but I can't…digest normal human food anymore. Freak-type thing that happened when I was changed. It's hard to explain, and even harder to understand, really." I glanced over at the DigiDestined to note his reaction: A simple nod accompanied by silence, which was good enough for me.
"I tried to get her to eat something a couple days ago," Davis recollected through lips made shiny and sweet thanks to the caramel. He tried a number of times to rub it off of himself with the back of his hand, but it did nothing but smear it and also get it onto his hand and sleeve. It didn't seem to bother him all that much, though. "I think I told you about this, too. That was the night that—HEY!"
The usually cheerful brunette turned ruby-red with rage as his Digimon 'accidentally' smeared leftover chocolate and other sticky substances into his hair, using some of it like a napkin. Suddenly realizing that his human buddy was growling up at him like a werewolf snarling at a cat, he stared at the mess he'd made and mumbled a little, 'Oopsie. Clean-up on aisle two-and-a-half, Davis." Ken snickered minutely at his friend's dilemma, earning a 'shut up or die' glower from that very same boy.
Standing up from the couch, Davis yanked DemiVeemon out of his caramelized hair and set the small, giggly creature down on the sofa. Pointing his finger dangerously close to the critter's nose, he ordered the Digimon sternly, "You sit right there and don't get caramel, or chocolate, or anything else on anything else. Don't even look at anything. Don't smell anything. Don't think anything—that one should be easy to do, Yolei says you learned that from the best. Don't do anything until I get back to tell you not to do it. Got it?" The miniature dragon gave him a silent salute before obeying and sitting so still that someone just walking in would've thought he was a stuffed toy.
Appearing pleased with his Digimon, Davis turned to Ken and stated hotly, "I have good hearing. If I hear you giggling to yourself about this," He gestured pointedly to his incredibly messed-up hair. "I will screw over your hair. Capicey?" That last word made me snap my heard around to stare confused at Davis, wondering what in the world he was trying to say. I'd heard a lot of threats before in my life, but I had failed to hear that word ever used before.
But most everything was cleared up when Ken grinned slightly up at Davis and stated plainly, "It's 'capiche', Davis." Minomon tried to hold in his snickering by shoving another piece of caramel corn into his mouth, but it did nothing except make him sound like he had a filter over his face. The strange noise coming from his Digital friend struck DemiVeemon's funny bone and cracked his stony façade. The two of them began to laugh loudly, DemiVeemon rolling around on the cushion as he tried to catch his breath.
Knowing that there was no way that he was going to be able to come out on top in this situation, Davis gave a final snarl and stormed off to try to clean up. The two Digimon giggled for another minute or two before their fit tapered down into nothing more than the sound of the two attempting to catch their breath. I smiled briefly when DemiVeemon yawned and mumbled, "Laughing at Davis makes me sleepy." Another yawn erupted from him before he nestled into a soft spot on the couch and fell asleep, Minomon following suit a moment or two later.
I stared at the two for a moment, wondering why they would fall asleep after having eaten all of that sugar. One would think that they would be bouncing off the walls right about now, not resting. I knew that these human-partnered Digimon were strange, but…but this didn't make any sense at all. I mean, I'd seen humans go nuts after having that much sugar put into their systems, and one could only assume that Digimon would do the same sort of thing, especially if they were around humans as much as these were.
As if sensing my confusion, the dark-haired DigiDestined sitting on the couch with his Digimon answered my unspoken question in a smooth voice, "They get so much sugar from their friends and their families that they're used to it now. It doesn't affect them like it would to others, so they just sleep it off most of the time." His explanation didn't make a whole lot of sense to me, but my brain wasn't coming up with anything better so I accepted it as good enough.
Turning away from the boy and the two Digimon, I glanced around the room, looking for something to occupy myself with while I waited for the eminent destruction that Master was sure to send as soon as he discovered that I was…sort of…making the mission last much longer than it need to. He was not a very patient being by nature, and I was testing fate severely by making him wait for what he desired of me.
A small shudder ran down my spine at the thought of his anger, the absolute malice and hatred for me that would chill his red eyes until they became that of bloodied ice. I could almost hear the crack of my own bones as he broke them like tree twigs, crushed them into flour for an Ogremon's bread. To get that sickening but realistic thought out of my head, I searched the room again from something to focus on other than the pain and torment I'd stupidly brought upon myself.
My eyes landed on a picture frame by the large glass doors that lead out to a balcony overlooking the lazy afternoon taking place outside these walls, where time had seemed to stop. Not recognizing it to be Ken and knowing it was too young to be his father, I strode tentatively over to the photo and stared down at it with a piqued interest.
It was of a boy about Ken's age right now, with the same facial build, but their eyes were much different. The color was similar, yes, but Ken's eyes were very open with his emotions, very expressive and beautiful, while this boy's gave the impression of a hidden darkness, a deception similar to my own. His hair was dark like Ken's, that bluish-black that matched the mood of midnight on the Earth, but it was more disarrayed and uneven, not as sleek and tidy as Ken's was.
I heard soft footsteps falling behind me, growing closer, and I glanced to the side. Ken was there beside me now, looking at the picture that I'd been staring down for the past few moments. I almost felt the drop in his mood as he gazed upon it, and his voice betrayed a darkness lurking in his heart, a darkness brought on because of this boy. "That's my brother, Sam. He's not with us anymore, but every now and then I'll remember things that we used to do together—good and bad, though I prefer the good.
"You know, he was actually a lot like you, before he died. It's a strange comparison, I know, but it's true. He was a genius, brilliant and practically perfect in whatever he did, and yet he wasn't arrogant about his abilities. Sam was unique, one of a kind. Irreplaceable. And you, being a…Digital hybrid, are just like him. You're the only one who can lay claim to the name Moroamon, the only one who can do whatever you can; no one can match you exactly, though they may try.
"I'm not saying that you're unbeatable, not by any means, but what I'm saying…" He paused, looking up and out the window at the rain, tracing the little trails that each drop had made on the glass while he thought over how he wanted to word his explanation. "What I'm trying to say is that there's someone out there who thinks like I do, who has noticed how important you are and is trying to use you," The offspring of the Ichijouji's turned and looked at me, his eyes bold but timid as he searched me for some sort of emotion or reaction, anything.
"We need to know who it is that keeps coming after you. I'm assuming that he's the same guy that put this collar on you." Ken gestured to the complex mechanism, the very thing that Master had lied to me about. He'd said that it would cure me of this disease given me by Davis, but it wasn't working. It had changed nothing, and I knew now that it would never change anything except my appearance.
But that was not the problem at hand. The DigiDestined were becoming more and more persistent with their questions and demands from me, demands that begged for more information that I wasn't sure how to hide. At least Davis wasn't here; I was certain that I would be completely unable to lie if he were in the room at this time.
I thought for a moment, my face void of any and all emotion, my eyes still locked upon the picture frame, though I no longer thought of this…Sam. Finally, I brought myself to say, "He's…a man of darkness. He has many minions, many fiends under his control, and I am his main soldier," It was then that I turned to Ken with a look of slight despair, partially acting, and partially because I knew that the words I spoke were true. "But I cannot tell you who he is. He will find me if I do. Find me, and, not kill me, but torture me on and on until the end of eternity. If you don't mind, I'd like to avoid that outcome."
The dark-haired DigiDestined was silent for a moment, and he removed his gaze from me. We both kept quiet for a moment, but then Ken broke the silence again by gesturing over to the two In-Training Digimon sleeping on the couch near us. His voice was tender and hushed as he said soothingly, "Look at those two. Any of our previous enemies who find it in their souls to return could easily destroy them, especially at such young stages. But they're not worried, because they know that their friends will protect them. As your friends, we're obligated to do whatever we can to protect you. If you don't believe me, then ask Davis. We'll protect you, Moroamon, but we need to know who we're protecting you from." His words struck me, my mind never having considered that they would offer something like this.
Why, why the hell, would DigiDestined humans offer to guard me from Master's wrath—as if such a thing was even possible? It was unheard of, unbelievable. But at the same time…it appealed to me. Master, sure, he kept me relatively safe, but from dangers that he had put me into. Davis, on the other hand, had never threatened me, never made a move to harm me, and had offered me friendship where Master had offered me this sick, twisted sort of 'love' that involved murder and torture.
Why did I remain with my Master when Davis was ready to take me in as his?
This question burned my brain as if coals had been poured in through my ears, made the metal of the collar seem that much colder, that much tighter around my throat. It was hard to breathe, hard to live, merely thinking of a life without Master lurking in the shadows above, below, and surrounding me. It should've felt like a weight lifting off of my shoulders, but it did not. It was more like someone was pushing down on them, making me lose my balance, making me fall into a dark abyss that was another color of black, a color that no living being was ever meant to see.
I shuddered at the feeling of the shadows creeping over my skin. To attempt to distract myself as well as get some answers for my needy soul, I mumbled a hypothetical question, slightly worried about how Ken would take it, "Let's say that I told you, and you knew him. Let's say I chose to stay, chose to accept your friendship and compassion, and stayed. Now, what would my Master do? Would he just sit idly by, twiddling his thumbs, thinking of who to use as a replacement for me?
"No, he wouldn't. He would send soldier after soldier, troop after troop, army after army, legion after legion, all of them dark, evil, malevolent, and unstoppable, and all in the name of getting me back. He would have your families killed, torture your friends and other loved ones right before your eyes, feed them to his children piece by piece, make sure that they're alive to feel it, right up until the very end of it all. And then, to anyone who ever helped me, he would treat with a special kind of torment, one far worse than what I would receive for running away.
"Would you still be my friends? Would you still help me? Would that offer of protection still stand?" My head snapped around to face Ken head-on, cold eyes boring into him, their dullness knowing what the answer should be, though not knowing what it would be if coming from this boy. I had an idea of what Davis would say, I knew exactly what TK would've said, and I could assume what the rest of their little group would tell me.
But Ken? No, I had no guesses. The only way to know was to hear it straight from him.
He stared outside at the precipitation for a while, watching the rain that I brought with me everywhere that I went. Perhaps he was wondering about that phenomenon, perhaps he was trying to guess whether or not I was telling the truth through that question or if it truly was just hypothetical. Perhaps he knew it was true, but didn't want me to know that it was true. There was no way to know, now way to read him as I could so many of the others.
Finally, he took in a deep breath, let it out slowly through his nose, and stated very calmly and in a this-is-final sort of tone, "Yes, we would stand by you no matter what, as long as you also see us as your friends. Friends do—" A sudden and strange thud followed by a surprised cry came from somewhere down the hall, where Davis had gone quite a while ago. The noise roused the two sleeping Digimon from their slumber, both of them snapping in the direction of the sound with great alarm.
My muscles stiffened to the point of pain, becoming frozen as water sprayed into the air during the dead of winter. Senses awakened due to my alarm, heightened thanks to panic, the scent of something unfamiliar and deadly passed into my system, and adrenaline poured into my blood like beer down an alcoholic's throat. Forgetting everything about the present moment aside from Davis and his safety, I sprinted to the hallway and was met with a sight that tore my heart out and threw it down a thousand flights of stairs.
Davis was unconscious, bleeding from a gash on his head. There was a Digimon near him. It was trying to take him.
I barely even registered what Digimon it was before I'd began to act. A bestial bellow that I'd never heard before tore from my throat, causing the mostly white, mostly human Digimon's eyes instantly dart up to stare at me as I came at him. I moved so fast that I barely felt my feet hit the ground, and before I even knew it I was bearing down upon my fellow Digimon. Slamming my fist into the side of his head, I sent him flying down the hall and into the far wall of Ken's bedroom. He crashed into it, knocking over a few pieces of furniture and spraying drywall everywhere before dropping to the floor with a grunt of surprise at my attack and pain at the strike itself.
I watched him for a moment, then, when I was assured that he wasn't rising any time soon, briskly moved back to Davis. Crouching at his side, I glanced over him and saw that the only wound he had was the cut on his forehead. Without thinking, I touched my fingers to it, some of the still-warm blood sticking to my skin and fur. Instinctively, I lapped away the substance so my hands would not be bothered by it.
Everything stopped.
The hues of Davis's skin and hair and clothes began to become blurry as my natural bloodlust set in, my self-control and sanity slowly draining from me as Davis's scent became more noticeable in the air, reaching the point where I could smell nothing but him. Nothing but the blood slowly dripping down his face. My eyes locked on the droplets, watching them as a moth to light, following the ribbons of light to the source until it crashes and is burned by the very thing that had been the focus of its life. That had been its life.
My mouth began to froth at the corners, my teeth beginning to cut into my lip slightly as I tried to get control over myself again. But I was failing bitterly. Eyes wide and bright saw nothing but flesh and blood; they did not see the boy who had befriended a soulless monster, who had opened up his home and his soul without so much as a tremor or a fear. I remembered nothing but the hunger that I had not sated for so long.
As my mind began to process the thought of my attacking, Ken came into my peripheral vision. I heard his voice say something, possibly my name, but it came as a mumble, like he was speaking to me from under water. I cocked my head to the side, still watching the blood slide slowly down Davis's face, the red liquid drawing out the journey from cut to chin even more now that it was beginning to dry. I barely even registered Ken's presence.
Until his hand touched Davis. My head snapped around viciously to stare him down, my face blank and without any sign of my intentions but for the bubbly froth dripping lazily down my chin. Ken gazed timidly right back at me as he started to pull Davis away from me as someone would a severed leg from a rabid dog. The DigiDestined had to pause now and again to readjust his grip on the other boy, but my eyes never twitched, my muscles remained frozen in place.
I heard Minomon's little voice squeak out a short warning to his human partner, but my now simple brain was unable to figure out what syllable meant what or what sound went where. As my prey continued to be dragged away, I slowly stood and turned to face the boy doing the dragging with the same blank stare from before. He stopped moving and gazed back at me; he was trembling quite noticeably. Understandable. But I didn't care. That creature was taking my precious meal away, and he was going to stop.
My expressionless face changed steadily into a snarl, my entire face contorted into that of something that belonged in a true horror film, one that made you turn on all the lights and flashlights and light all the candles in your home, just so that there would be no sign of darkness. Yet you felt it all around you, felt it run its cold fingers over your shoulders, slip its slimy, disgusting tongue up your neck from behind. A low growl accompanied the terrifying show of malevolence, the sound reverberating sickeningly throughout the whole room.
I crouched slightly, every muscle coiled and tight, ready for the final leap, the pounce of the predator, the kill-blow. But right before I was about to spring forward and kill them both, something hard and fast slammed into my back, driving me forward into the floor. It was the white Digimon that I thought I'd dealt with before, he was back for more.
My bloodlust continued to blind me, making me forget how to truly fight a foe that could fight back. My rabid behavior allowed the slightly doggish beast to land another solid blow by grabbing me from behind and throwing me through the glass door on the other side of the room. I crashed into the railing, and lay stunned there under the sheet of rain for a moment. Outside in the open air, I began to return to a normal state of mind since I could no longer smell Davis and the crack to my head had snapped me back to the present.
Rising back to my feet, I was just in time to catch the Digimon by his shoulder and long rabbit-like ear as he attempted to rush me. Pulling him up off of the ground for a split second, I thrusted his head down into the ground hard enough to crack the stone a bit. I then grabbed onto one of his arms and twisted it behind his back until I felt a small pop and he cried out in pain. "Stop, stop, stop! I'm on your side, you stupid fool! I'm Strabimon, Lord Devimon sent me!"
Fear plunged into my head at how loud he was speaking. Pushing him harder into the ground, I snarled in a hushed tone, "Keep your voice down, simpleton! You'll ruin everything if you don't shut the hell up!" The Digimon I was crushing got the message and quieted, and I allowed him a bit of breathing space. But I didn't dare let him go. "Why did Master send you?" I had a good idea of what his answer would be, but I prayed that I was wrong. I didn't know who I was praying to, or if he would listen, but I did anyway.
"Devimon sent me because that boy—" He did his best, given the awkward position, to gesture toward Davis, who was now starting to come to. DemiVeemon and Minomon, along with Ken, were guarding him, their eyes locked on Strabimon and I. "—is keeping you from doing your job, and he's getting sick of waiting for you. And so, now it's my job to get rid of him!" With a violent roar, the bloodied but still very white Digimon threw me off of him with a vicious, flexible kick to my side.
The soldier of Lord Devimon dashed back into the room, leaping up into the air, ready to lay waste to the two boys and their Digimon. Then again, looking over his words, he said only that his prey was Davis. Ken would be fine, hopefully, probably. But Davis…he would either die at the hands of Strabimon, or at the murderous hands of my Master. The thought brought a new sense of horror to me, gave me a reason to fight that I didn't understand and probably never would.
But understanding didn't matter right now. Only fighting did. Only Davis did.
With a sense of purpose that I'd never felt before, I dove through the broken glass back into the room after Strabimon, catching him by one of the many belts that adorned his slender but muscular body. Twirling rapidly around in mid-air, I flung the Digimon back through the glass and over the railing before I myself landed skillfully back on my feet. Strabimon wouldn't be dead, nor would he hit the ground, I knew it. He would find a way to stop himself, and then come back at a later time to finish what he'd started.
I panted, staring out at the dark, dreary sky that Strabimon had just been thrown into. My strength seemed to be completely drained, something that never happened to me. I never felt this sort of a sensation…this…this weakness. It was as if something were draining me of my power, making me as defenseless as a human, or a Fresh-form Digimon. The thought was hard to stomach, me being unable to fight and defeat another creature.
I dropped to one knee, and was about to start examining myself when the front door opened and Mrs. Ichijouji came strolling in. "Ken, Davis, Moroamon! I know I'm a little later than what I'd thought I'd be, but—" She came into the living room and froze, dropping both the labeler that was in her right hand and the package in her left onto the glass-ridden floor. Her eyes grazed over the cracks in the wood floor, the shattered glass door, the crater in the stone balcony, a dazed Davis, frightened Digimon, and her son, who had a couple of small cuts along with Davis from the almost constant spraying of glass.
For a moment she was too stunned to speak, paralyzed by the shock of having left a peaceful home and come back to chaos, the center of hell. But then, her eyes darting back to the glass, she shrieked in absolute terror. I turned my head to see what the problem was (well, at least the main one making her scream) and was met with Strabimon's sharp nails slashing into my face. I howled out in surprise at his return and pain at his attack, and slashed at him on instinct, catching the leg of his loose white pants with the tip of one of my claws.
He made a mad dive for Ken and Davis, making the woman scream again as she grabbed her son and his friend, trying to do her best to protect the both of them despite her hysteria. With a growl of frustration at his persistence , I went after him hurriedly, lunging out and grasping him by his ankle, the sudden lack of motion causing him to plummet to the floor. Trying to make the best of the situation, Strabimon lashed out with a snarl and a hand, catching Davis's leg with his nails as he had my face.
I stopped for a milli-second, a feeling I was unsure of beginning to take over me. Though I had felt weak and insignificant only moment before, now that strange, burning sensation gave me power that overrode whatever had taken over my body before. I felt every coil of my muscles, every contraction and flexing of the fibers that made them up, the very motion of each cell as it strived to do as my brain commanded. It took only a moment more to learn what that feeling was.
Hatred. An absolute loathing, brought on by the nerve he had. The nerve to harm the only taste of perfection that the world would ever know. The guts to cross me, and cut the boy who had shown me love when my life was that of hate and violence. It was then that I realized that Davis's blood wasn't captivating me this time, but he himself was. He'd drawn me in from the start, I knew, urged me to stay with him, be friends. Allow him to become the first real friend that I would ever have.
It was now time to fight for that friendship, that love that I'd never find again.
With a steadily growing roar, I dragged Strabimon back toward me and grabbed onto the soft blue fur of his back. Digging my claws into him that he might bleed, might remember this beating from the scars, I strode back to the glass and readied myself for a great show of this newfound power. I released Strabimon's ankle so that I was only holding him by his furry skin; I found it easy to keep my grip despite his attempts to free himself. Spinning around at the speed of light once or twice, I flung the Digimon like I had done before, but this time he went much farther, slamming brutally into the building opposite the Ichijouji's apartment.
Keeping my eyes locked on the part of the wall that Strabimon had broken through, I walked out onto the balcony, feeling the rain pound down upon me as I stared across the way. I saw him move in the darkness, turning to look back at me as if he were considering making another attempt to get at Davis. Anxious at the thought of another risked injury to Davis or the other humans, I slashed my claws against the metal of the railing to mark my territory, the sound loud and chilling in the silence of the dark day.
As the ring of the metal began to fade away, I drew in a deep breath and bellowed as deafeningly as my body allowed me to, the reverberating sound of my roar echoing throughout every home and building of the city. It was so powerful that even when I'd been silent myself for a minute or two, the noise was still as loud as it would've been had I still been making the sound. Strabimon, however, remained silent as he stared back at me.
We stood like that for a while, daring the other to attack, daring the other to try. But soon, Strabimon reluctantly disappeared into the building, probably heading back to Devimon to tell on me. I shuddered briefly at the thought of Master's rage, but in a way, it was his own fault. I'd asked for his help with this whole thing with Davis, but he'd acted as if it meant nothing.
Davis didn't think that it was nothing. My presence was important to him, though I had no idea why.
Davis. I quickly came back into the room, only to see that Davis was now awake but appearing confused and in some pain, and Mrs. Ichijouji was clinging to her son as if she would lose her own life if she even entertained the thought of letting go of him. I stood there on the broken glass, conflicted on whether or not I should go over to them. I was the reason that all this had gone on; why would they want me here any longer?
"…Moroamon…?"
The groggy voice of the boy whom I'd been fighting for reached my ears like that of a heavenly harp, the very kind that one would imagine angels adored. I let my eyes meet his, those beautiful orbs of dark golden brown, gazing upon me with concern that shown through his own pain. Before I knew it—he didn't even have to call me—I was at his side, all thoughts other than him now gone, useless to me in this life, for the bleeding human before me was my life now, had taken over me in a way I did not hope to reach an understanding of.
As he began to softly speak again, I lifted him tenderly from his best friend's arms, though he was reluctant to let me. Definitely because of how I'd tried to kill him in order to get at Davis. But my still burning thirst was the last thing on my mind, my only though and will being to help Davis. I took the boy over to the couch and set him down as one would a most treasured ornament of glass, holy to the one who held it, but meaning nothing to the rest of the world.
I ignored DemiVeemon as he hopped up beside Davis, sadness and concern showing on his face as he nuzzled against Davis's shoulder and neck. There were a million questions running through the mind of the In-Training Digimon, but he voiced none of them, opting to rest next to his partner instead. However, one question that obviously had flitted through everyone's mind had to be answered for the sake of our sanities.
"Davis will be fine." I answered the silent question quietly, receiving no reply from either of the Ichijouji's. Ken was lost in his own thoughts and his mother and Minomon were still crushing him with love; Davis was beginning to drift off into sleep along with his blue Digimon. I felt that I'd said that mainly for my own benefit, just so that I would remember. Just so I'd know I wouldn't be alone. He was going to be all right. It might take a little while for his wounds to heal, but they weren't that serious and wouldn't leave anything permanent other than a harmless scar.
As I stood there trying to convince myself of his well-being, Davis opened his eyes drowsily and looked up at me from the couch. A small smile crossed his face, golden eyes softening at the sight of me, causing my heart to beat faster within me, heating my soul. My throat became as dry and coarse as sand paper and it was suddenly impossible to swallow, lest my tongue turn to dust and slip down my esophagus.
His voice came to me as a mumble, the reason for his quietness being the blow to his head having knocked him up pretty badly. "Thank you…for saving me again," I took in a sharp breath when Davis reached up and held my fingers lightly in his own. I wasn't sure if he could feel it or not, but the simple touch had caused a quaking to crawl through my bones. My mind was unsure of what to do, heart terrified that my mind had no ideas, but my hand, acting on its own, cautiously wrapped around his as well.
My response made him smile again as he added, "I'm glad that we're friends, Moroamon." He then continued to slip his hand back out of mine, closing his eyes and finally attempting to actually get some rest. I, however, thoroughly shocked by his words, stood there with my hand in the same position that it had been in when his hand had filled it, my eyes staring down at him the way I had previously. My mind buzzed with a million different thoughts and wonders, but they never got a chance to be entertained before Ken's D-Terminal made a sound that captured my attention, stealing it from Davis.
Ken took his palm-sized computer out of his pocket, his mother releasing him just enough that he would be able to move. Snapping it open, he began to read it as he stated, "It's from Izzy," His eyes continued to graze over the message as he paraphrased it for me. "There's going to be a sort of meeting at the Koushiro residence tomorrow. He says that Davis and I are supposed to make sure that you come…by whatever means necessary. It seems like it's really important, Moroamon." He looked up at me, asking an unvoiced question. Asking if I would go.
I averted my eyes from his gaze and returned my own to Davis's peacefully sleeping face, studying him as if the right answer was written somewhere on his face in invisible ink. But before I could even begin to form an answer, Mrs. Ichijouji made her opinion known quite loudly and clearly, "No! Ken, I don't want you going anywhere until the police or the army or…well, someone takes care of that…" She swung her arm in the general direction of the shattered glass. "…That thing!"
"Mrs. Ichijouji," My voice sounded strange, for it spoke in a way that was calm and collected, but the words didn't feel right. They didn't feel like…like they were meant to be said through the teeth of a killer. They hadn't been made to be spoken by something like me. But they were anyway. "Your son is safe. That Digimon is not after him. If it was, it would've attacked before, when I was not yet here. It's after someone else…" I turned back to Ken, the answer to his unspoken question in my eyes, printed there boldly, unwavering no matter what storm I may face for my choice. "And I will go wherever he goes."
