A deep mist hung over the woods, just per usual as with this part of the Digital World. Deep, dark, and mysterious; those three words summed it up pretty well. Nary a life could be seen within, either hidden away or avoiding it entirely. All but one that is. Silently it moved, nose to the sky as it took in the misty air. Eyes opened up to reveal glowing dots of red. Something was moving within the woods. Something tasty, something foreign. A deep howl emanated from it's throat. This would be a glorious hunt.
XXX
"What was that!?" the boy jumped as he heard the sound.
"Relax, it was probably just a stray animal or something." came another voice, this one younger than the first.
"Relax?! How can you say that?!" the older boy asked.
"Because panicking is unsightly." the younger boy responded.
Mist surrounded the boys on all sides. So much they couldn't see where they were going. They couldn't tell if they were making any progress or even if they were going around in circles. Anything would have been progress, for that's how lost they were.
"That's it!" the older boy slid down, hands wrapped around his legs, huddling himself close. "I'm going to die here! I just know it!"
"Calm down." the other boy soothed, voice calm in the face of it all. "This isn't going to get us anywhere."
"Ugh! Dang it this isn't happening!" the older boy grabbed hold of his head, tussling his hair all about.
The younger boy let out a sigh as his older companion continued to panic. This whole event was new, so it made sense. He had to sympathize with that. Not to say it was still completely unsightly. As said before, both of the pair were boys. One teenager, and one pre teen. And their names were Sho and Chiisi. Though the two had only learned of each other's names just a moments ago, shortly after they arrived in this world. Least they thought they were in another world. For all they knew this could just be another Japanese forest. Yet somehow they knew it wasn't. They couldn't put their finger on it, but something seemed off.
Through their surroundings were described as the best they could, it was time to describe the two boys. And each held their own differences of features. First off there was Sho. Sho was a young man of about fourteen, black hair running down to his neckline, and skin a strange tannish color, darker for the usual Japanese teenager. He was dressed in an orange sleeveless hoodie with a green undershirt and long brown pants and brown shoes with orange laces. Lastly an golden ankh medallion hung around his neck. A leftover from his original ensemble. For you see, before the moment he had found himself transported into this strange new place, he was dressed in his school uniform. The same couldn't apply to Chiisi, who was adorned in what he was wearing originally: a black skull t-shirt with a gray long sleeved undershirt, along with long black pants and black shoes. His non clothing features was a mop of blond colored hair along with a pair of piercing blue eyes.
All in all they were an assorted taste, a colorful selection of the rainbow. But that wasn't the only new feature they had gained. No one could be seen within Chiisi's hand: a strange fist sized device, black in color, with three shiny silver gray buttons, and a screen in its center, with a last feature being the antennae poking out from the side. Sho had the same device, only his was colored yellow while the buttons remained the same color.
"Just calm down." Chiisi urged again.
"One...two...three..." Sho began to count. "I'm going to be fine. I'm going to be fine. No monsters, nothings going to get me." Sho felt like a little child again, back during the days when he worried about monsters under the bed.
Suddenly, a soft grumble jolted him upright. "What was that!?"
Beside him, a soft sigh made him jump again. "That's your stomach."
Sho stared down, then rubbed the back of his head. "Oh right...little hungry is all ehe hehe."
This wasn't going out to be a smooth day for Sho. He hadn't expected a simple after school trip to the library would yield results such as this.
"Look I'll go find us some food. How about that?" Chiisi suggested. "I think I see some apples."
Sure enough, there were apple trees, a little break in the fog had given way for their reveal. Chiisi walked over to them and plucked several.
"Why so many?" Sho asked, noticing the number the boy carried.
"Well who knows how long we're going to be here, so I figured we need a lot." Chiisi answered.
It made sense. Panicked as he was, even Sho had to agree. Taking them, Sho pocketed a few while Chiisi did the same. They left one for each of themselves.
"Sorry about getting all bent out of shape like that." Sho apologized. "It's just that whenever I'm upset I draw and all my drawing supplies were left back in the library."
Then to Sho's surprise, Chiisi smiled. "Hey no worries."
It was a tad unsettling for the older boy, but he paid it no mind for now. All that mattered was filling his stomach, and Chiisi held the same sentiments. They each took a bite into the apples, sweet, juicy, succulent and...disgusting! A bitter taste hit their taste buds and each one felt utter distaste. At the same time, they spat out their apple chunks.
"What kind of apples are these?!" Sho questioned.
"They taste like raw meat." Chiisi realized.
Looking inside, they indeed looked like raw meat.
"Of course they taste like that. They're meat apples!" out came a voice from seemingly all sides. It echoed and bounced up the forest floor and past the trees. "You gotta cook them."
Sho immediately jumped, nearly grabbing hold of Chiisi out of instinct. But he quickly stopped himself before he did so. "Who's there!?"
A chuckled was his response. "Well I gotta say I didn't expect to find this sight in the Misty Woods today. You guys actually human?" the voice asked.
Chiisi carefully scanned the surroundings for the voice's source, Sho stepped backwards hands out trying to guard himself.
"You might wanna watch where your stepping." said the voice again.
Sho stopped, it was coming from behind. He turned right away and came to an abrupt stop. Something was staring at him. Hanging upside down from a tree branch It blinked its golden eyes. "How's it going?" it asked.
Sho fell back with a yell, sliding backwards upon his bottom. "What the heck is that?!" he exclaimed.
Chiisi took a look at the creature, without a panic in his eyes. "Bat?"
Indeed, the creature held a vague resemblance to a bat. Mainly it was in the wings, except it held red talons. Attached to that was a black furry body covered by a leather mask, blueish black and stitched together. It held a mouth with a pale whitish skin. What drew their attention was a skull image imprinted upon the mask, dead center with two antennae hanging down. And strange at that, a smaller pair of wings just below the central ones.
The strange creature smirked, flipping itself across the branch until it was right side up. It's antennae flopped back into place, no longer hanging loose. The branch shook as it took off flying in mid air. This only served to panic Sho further, sliding until he was near Chiisi.
"Yeah you're human all right. Funny, I pictured you would be bigger. But you're just a couple of little kids." the strange creature spoke.
"Little kid! I'm fourteen!" Sho exclaimed slightly offended at being referred to as such.
The strange bat creature snorted. "That's meaningless to a digimon like me."
"Digimon?" Chiisi repeated.
"Yeah, short for Digital Monster." said the bat creature.
The bat flew closer, making Sho all the more nervous. Chiisi on the other hand remained the same. Sho noticed that, finding it rather off, unsettling even. Though he didn't say anything. He didn't want to be rude.
"So you got names?" it, or rather he asked. It sounded male at least.
"Yeah, I'm Chiisi, and this is Sho." Chiisi greeted.
"Shhh! Don't tell it our names!" Sho urged.
"Hey!" the creature's voice grew with offense. "It has a name. DemiDevimon!"
"DemiDevimon?" Sho repeated.
"Small Devil Monster." said Chiisi.
The digimon smirked. "You got that right. Smart one eh kid?" DemiDevimon flapped around the pair, watching them carefully. "So what's a couple of humans doing in the Digital World?"
"Digital World?" Chiisi repeated.
"Is that what this place is called?" Sho asked
"Hence why I called it the Digital World." DemiDevimon retorted with a hint of sardonic wit. "Geeze you must be the smart one of the pair."
A gruff groan escaped Sho. "Hey I didn't ask to come here! I was just drawing in the library minding my own business, when suddenly everything turns gray and this weird device sends me here!"
"Sho!" Chiisi cut in. The elder boy kept his mouth shut, as the firm hand of the younger one interrupted his mini breakdown. "Sorry about him. He's just had a stressful day."
"I can guess, but you seem calm, I like that." said DemiDevimon. "Nothing really bothers you does it?"
"I just have a straight disposition." Chiisi answered, a small grin playing upon his face. He didn't know why, but he liked this bat creature, this digimon. Something about him seemed "right".
This made things all the more unsettling to Sho. "He isn't phased by this at all."
"Look Demi whatever, do you know the way out of here?" Sho asked. That was a better question to ask anyways. Getting out was most important.
"DemiDevimon." DemiDevimon corrected. "And dunno, besides after the way I was so casually referred as an "it" I don't know if I want to help."
"What?!" Sho exclaimed.
"Well you did call him an "it"." Chiisi agreed. "That was kind of rude."
"Yeah but I...ugh...oh man." Sho flushed with even more embarrassment. He was brought up with good manners in mind, and he hadn't exactly shown them. Straightening his hair Sho bowed deeply. "I apologize for what I said. Can you please show us the way out?"
A soft chuckle escaped DemiDevimon, "That's what I like seeing, I could probably make you do whatever I want if I put my mind to it huh?" he continued to chuckle.
And it dawned upon Sho that the little bat had just manipulated him, and he fell for it.
"That's enough." Chiisi firmly stated. Sho thought it was directed towards him, but looking up, he noticed Chiisi saying it to DemiDevimon.
The bat froze staring at the boy's firm face. "All right all right, geeze I was just messing with you." The bat quickly composed himself, brushing off the tiny scold he had received. "Well, I could help you, but I to be honest, I'm not sure I could."
"Why not?" Sho asked. Head raised up and back straightened. And it was here that he noticed that both Chiisi and DemiDevimon both held a similar disposition. Something in the way they stood, or flapped. It was eerie really.
"Cuz the Misty Woods has a way of playing tricks on your mind. You never know where you're going to end up."
"So there's no way out?" Chiisi asked, his voice not raising an octave in panic. The same couldn't be said for Sho.
DemiDevimon shrugged. "Who knows? Probably is but it could be a while before we find it."
A soft laugh escaped Sho. It continued into a nervous chuckle. "That's just perfect, exactly what I wanted to hear." Then to everyone's surprise, Sho flashed a bright smile. "You know what? I'm going to go find some wood, maybe we can get a fire going to cook these apples hmm?" Before anyone could say anything, Sho turned around and walked into the mist.
Chiisi and DemiDevimon stood there, equally dumbfounded. "He''s loosing it." DemiDevimon said.
"Looks that way." Chiisi concurred.
Meanwhile, in the fog, Sho kept walking. Sure enough he was looking for firewood no doubt about that. Maybe a flint stone or something. With what he had just heard, it was quite possible that they would be here for quite a good while. Dare he say it? Forever?"
"I'm dreaming. That has to be it." Sho said to himself. "That's the only possible explanation." He did very well to convince himself of that. Normal days weren't like this. This had to be a dream. Or he had finally gone completely crazy. Whatever the case, he was missing school now, he didn't even mind if she was going to beat him.-
"Grrrrr!"
Sho came to a stop as the sound breached through the fog. It was deep and low, coming right from the chest.
Scritch scratch!
Another sound came. Nails scraping against the ground.
Scritch scratch! "Grrrrrr."
Sho didn't dare move a muscle. Not when he didn't know what was out there. But he knew something was. Something big. Ahead, he could make out something in the distance. Indeed it was big, walking on four legs and growing ever closer. The closer it grew, the more Sho could make out its features.
"What is it?" he asked himself, not expecting an answer.
Scritch scratch! "Grrrrr."
The growling continued, even more so as the figure fully stepped into view. On all fours it stood, a huge imposing creatures as big as a tiger, maybe even larger. And when it saw Sho in its glowing red eyes, it snarled opening up to reveal a twin row of sharp teeth. Sho let out an immediate cry, one that Chiisi and DemiDevimon heard. Before either knew it, they saw Sho's thin frame running out of the fog with a look of panic upon his face.
"We need to run now!" he screamed.
Before Chiisi could ask why, something large loomed overhead. It leapt up landing right in between the two boys. Possibilities raced with Chiisi's mind as to what it looked like, but to his surprise, it looked like a giant doberman complete with a spiky collar. The only key difference was size as earlier mentioned, and the strange eye like protrusions jutting from the creature's legs. Lastly around its chest it held a metallic strap. Four sides, going to the shoulders and down towards the legs. In the center was a black orb, shiny and clear.
"A Dobermon!" DemiDevimon exclaimed.
"Dobermon?" Chiisi and Sho repeated.
Doberman monster.
The dog, Dobermon let out a loose howl into the air, and continued to stalk toward Sho. The frightened boy could only crawl backwards as he was too scared to move. Chiisi on the other hand wasn't so easily deterred. Wit ha quick mind, he searched for ways to save his newfound acquaintance. Eyes darting about until he settled upon something close by. A stick? It was long and sturdy looking, but it would have to do. Taking it, Chiisi ran towards the beast and smacked it against it's body.
"Kid! What are you doing!?" DemiDevimon cried, almost in concern.
But Chiisi continued, not wanting to have a dead body on his conscience. Besides, Sho seemed like a pleasant fellow. Easily stressed demeanor besides.
Dobermon swirled around, red eyes glaring in anger. A snarl emanated from it's throat, saliva dripping from its muzzle.
DemiDevimon flapped in front of the beast, wings spread wide. "Demi Dart!" he cried. Out of thin air, several syringes flew towards the monster. The sound of breaking glass gave out as they struck, a clear liquid splashing against Dobermon's face. The digimon howled in pain as the liquid did its work. Smoke rising from the afflicted spots. But the attack didn't do much in the long term, for a simple swish of its head flicked the liquid upon the ground. Right away, the canine let loose a howl. Yet it wasn't an ordinary howl. A shockwave spread from it's mouth and engulfed DemiDevimon. The little bat flew backwards but regained his momentum. He was just about to prepare another barrage of Demi Darts, but found that quite impossible.
"It sealed my attacks!" DemiDevimon realized.
Before anyone could do anything, the beast struck again. From it's mouth a black beam shot forth.
"Move!" Chiisi alarmed.
Both the boy and digimon dove out of the way while the attack left a clear burn mark upon the ground.
With that distraction done, Dobermon turned its attention to Sho once more. The teenager continued to cower, but he could find he could skid backwards no more. He didn't have the courage to do so. The beast loomed closer, saliva continuing to flow. Sho had nothing, no way out. He could run but the monster would just follow him. He had to use something. His pockets! Nothing there! But his hoodie pockets. Reaching inside he pulled out a meat apple. It was something. With a swift motion, he threw it. The apple soared through the air, targeting the nose. Just a solid bop. Oh who was he kidding? It wouldn't do anything.
Snap!
Dobermon snapped up the apple chewing it and then swallowing. Sho gulped. He was dead, he just knew it.
"Wheeen weeen!"
Then came a sound. High pitched and slightly scratchy. It squeaked like a rusty bolt. And then to everyone's surprise, Dobermon got back on it's haunches and held its front paws up. It was begging. It whined again, clearly wanting more of what Sho had given it.
"I think it wants you to feed it." said Chiisi.
Sho rubbed his eyes, unbelieving of what he was seeing. "I guess so." he realized.
Reaching into his pocket for another meat apple, Sho offered it to Dobermon who greedily lapped it up. It whined again, and Sho reached for another, and another, and another, until he was all gone. And while he was doing this, Sho noticed the red glow in Dobermon's eyes had vanished. It was like a docile puppy now. Completely subservient.
"Did I just tame it?" Sho asked himself.
Maybe he had found another skill of his: Digimon Tamer.
Sho stared deep within its eyes, noticing the peace it now held. And then he noticed another glow, this time coming from the orb around its chest.
"Help me."
"What?" said Sho.
And then the red glow returned and Dobermon pounced.
"Sho!" Chiisi shouted.
"My abilities are still sealed!" DemiDevimon said as he attempted another Demi Dart.
Sho lay cowering underneath the overwhelming dog. He was defenseless, scared, and totally out of ideas.
Beep beep. Beep beep.
A new sound came, this time coming from Sho's waist. Sho looked down, and found it was coming from the strange device he had gained before he came here.
Beep beep. Beep beep. Beep beep.
The device continued to beep and Sho found his hand moving without him really thinking. Taking it, he grabbed it and thrust it forth. It was the closest thing he had to a weapon. But he didn't get a chance to use it as such. For the moment he thrust it forth, a bright light emanated from it. The light was bright, and full of life. And that very life did something unexpected: Dobermon was backing off. It howled in agony as it fought against the source.
Crickiiccck.
There was a crack, coming right from the chest orb.
Crrrraccccckkkkkickk.
The crack finished and a piece shattered off. Show watched as it fell and exploded into bits of particles. The same sound spread to the rest of the orb, then to the metallic connectors. In an instant, the device exploded into particles floating in the air, before they dissipated into nothing. And then Dobermon collapsed. It's body glowed a bright gold and then it shrank. The light died away and in Dobermon's place was another dog. Gone was the fur of black and brown. And in its place were far more peaceful colors. The dog in question was medium sized. In fact it could be mistaken for a regular dog. It's fur was a golden creamy color, with pink ears and pink face marks underneath the eyes. A curly pink tail lay behind it, looking almost like a balled fist. And it held gold colors claws.
"What happened to it?" Chiisi asked.
"It dedigivolved." DemiDevimon explained. "It must have lost a lot of energy."
Chiisi began to wonder. "So you could turn into something like that?" he asked DemiDevimon.
"Yeah with enough time." DemiDevimon answered.
While this conversation was going on, Sho observed Dobermon's transformed state. He was trying to wrap his mind around the concept such a small creature could have come from something so large. Part of him warned against this action, while the other part drew him closer. There had to be some rationality within the creature, he had seen it briefly, back when it was eating those apples.
"It looks so peaceful." Sho said to himself.
"Mmmmmmm." a soft groan came from the canine. It sounded feminine.
"Hey? You alright?" Sho asked. Why did he just ask that?
"Is it still alive?" Chiisi asked.
"Yeah I think so." Sho answered. Sho shook the dog. "Hey come on! Wake up!" he urged. Why was he doing this? He asked himself that again and again, but here he was doing it. So many questions were in his head. Why him? Why did that device glow? What was this device? All of those were good questions, but that were all put on hold for show found a brownish red eye staring up at him. The dog was awake. And then Sho felt a great impact. In an instant he was flipped over upon his back while a great force took position upon him.
"You set me free! You set me free!" the voice was young and happy and it was coming from the canine. "Oh thank you thank you thank you!" the digimon cheered, hopping up and down, causing Sho some discomfort. It stopped only to give Sho a big wet surprise: a lick across his face. "Oh Labramon loves you! You're Labramon's best friend in the whole wide world!" the canine continued, oblivious to the pain it was causing Sho as it jumped up and down upon his chest.
"Could...you...please...get...off...me." Sho pleaded.
The dog stopped for a moment, considered what it had just been asked, and then. "Oh! I'm sorry! Labramon is very sorry!" Labramon moved herself from Sho's position and now was upon the ground. "I'm Labramon! What's your name?" she asked.
Sho had heard the name plenty of times that he felt the dog didn't need to introduce herself, but he remembered his manners. "I'm Sho, Sanbara Sho."
Labramon considered the name for a moment, thinking about it, rolling it around in her head. "I'll call you Sho-chan!"
"Sho-chan?" Sho repeated.
Labramon grinned. "Yeah! It sounds cute just like you are!"
"Cute?" said Sho.
"Cute?" Chiisi questioned.
"Yeah you're a real cutie! And-" Labramon drew in close, rubbing her head against Sho. "you saved me from that mean old digimental!"
"Digimental?" DemiDevimon repeated. "That's what it was?" his voice took on a tone of skepticism. "Digimentals are supposed to disappear after they connect with a digimon."
Labramon then gave a spontaneous motion as she turned her attention towards Chiisi and DemiDevimon. She looked right at them and sniffed the air. And she continued to do so as she ran towards them.
"You two smell funny." she said curiously. "Kind of weird like." she looked up towards DemiDevimon. "You especially."
DemiDevimon sniffed. "You smell like you could use a bath dog."
"Yyyyyuck!" Labramon exclaimed. "Labramon hates baths! And Labramon smells fine." she declared holding her nose high to the air." Then a sly grin played upon her face. "Right? Sho-chan?"
Sho blushed the moment he noticed the dog's position and tone of voice. Was she flirting with him? No that would be crazy. Probably just his imagination. "Um well..." he didn't quite know how to answer the canine's question.
"Well I gotta thank you for freeing me and for feeding me those yummy yum yum meat apples!" Labramon continued to walk over to Sho. "Is there any more?"
"Yeah probably in the trees." Sho answered.
"Great! Then we can grab some more before we leave!" Labramon proclaimed.
"Leave? But how? DemiDevimon says there place is hard to get out of." Sho asked.
Labramon flashed a proud smile. "Yeah. But I bet he doesn't have my sniffer!"
"You're sniffer?" Chiisi inquired.
"Yep! My nosey nose! It can smell anything!" Labramon boasted that fact with the utmost pride. "I can sniff out the right path for us! For my hero Sho-chan! For DemiDevimon! And for... uh what's your name?" she asked Chiisi.
"Chiisi, Kodiro Chiisi." he greeted.
"Chiisi!" Labramon cheered. "All right! Just follow me and lets go everybody rrrruff!" Labramon held the front line, keeping herself in the front and ready to lead her newfound companions out of this realm. There was just one problem. A soft groan erupted from her gut. "Labramon is still pretty hungry." she whined. "Can we get some more meat apples?"
This whole day wasn't turning out like a normal day for the teenager. But still, he couldn't find anything else to say but, "S-s-sure thing. I'll jus head over to the tree."
Labramon let out a yip of joy. "Thank you Sho-chan!" then moving to Sho's leg, she rubbed against it. "I really appreciate this." her voice dripped with a sultry seduction. Then again, it may have just been Sho's imagination. Yet he was blushing. As Sho went off to gather more meat apples, Chiisi was left alone. A soft wince broadened his face as something landed upon his shoulder, talons digging slightly into the skin.
"You seem to be handling this all pretty well kid." said DemiDevimon.
"Grab a whole lots! I wanna eat till my tummy bursts!" Labramon's voice broke through the fog.
Chiisi looked down at his device, staring into its screen "Yeah." he replied.
And somehow, he just knew it wasn't over.