I don't own digimon.
Narrator switch: Trinity to Harlequin
Story 78
Fishy Business
In retrospect, Bearmon was kicking himself for not hitching a ride when those strange portals were sucking the evil digimon out. But no, he had to be a good bear digimon and stayed in a super convenient hiding tree. For that, his day was relatively boring. At least, compared to what had happened in Japan and the rest of the Human World a couple days ago.
"Feuch gum bi thu ceart gu leòr, Jack. (Please be alright, Jack.)" Bearmon told himself as he opened his eyes. Instead of getting treated to the interior of the hiding tree, the bear digimon found himself standing on the sidewalk outside of a police station. By no means where he expected to find himself today, this had to be the Digital World rewarding him for being patient… right? There was no other explanation here that worked. "Is dòcha gum biodh e comasach dha na daoine anns an stèisean mo stiùireadh thuige. (Perhaps the people in the station might be able to direct me to him.)"
Nodding to himself, Bearmon looked both ways. While this part of the world was not known for having many cars, it still paid to look both ways.
Crossing over, Bearmon took care to calm his nerves. The last thing he wished to do was to cause a scene. While bound to be helpful, that didn't change the fact that they were bound to be on edge after whatever mess that had occurred.
"Fàilte. Ma tha thu an seo leis gu bheil thu air tagradh a dhèanamh gu bheil thu a' faicinn Uilebheist Loch Nis, ceilpean agus/no creutairean a tha còir a bhith a' siubhal air a' Ghàidhealtachd seo, chan urrainn dhuinn do chuideachadh an sin. An àite sin, thathar air a mholadh gum bruidhinn thu ri neach-leigheis no neach-inntinn eile. (Welcome. If you're here because you've claimed to see the Loch Ness Monster, kelpies and/or supposed creatures that roam these highlands, we cannot help you there. Instead, it has been recommended that you talk with a therapist or other ment-)" a voice at the reception desk announced, only to cut themselves off mid-sentence. "neònach. Shaoil mi gun cuala mi an doras fosgailte. Feumaidh gur e mo mhac-meanmna a bh' ann. (Weird. I thought I heard the door open. Must have been my imagination.)"
Bearmon stopped and examined his surroundings. White walls met that of large black carpet squares. Why they had to section it off, was beyond him. Not helping matters was the large lip on the reception desk. Did all the people that came into this place tall or was he the exception that proves the rule? Didn't matter.
"Uh… hello, a dhuine! (Uh… hello, person!)" Bearmon announced as he headed over to the desk. Taking care to jump up and down a couple times, he eventually managed to pull himself up onto the desk proper. Staring through the window, he was met with what looked to be a kind, older man. The sort of folk who was more keen to be shoving the geese away than dealing with a desk job.
"Tha thu am measg nan digimon sin, nach eil? (You're one of those digimon, aren't you?)" the officer announced and Bearmon nodded. If he wasn't, what would he be then? Actually, that was probably not a question to think about here. We don't need philosophical debates for at least a chapter. Please? Okay, good.
"Ceart. 'S e Bearmon an t-ainm a th' orm! Tha mi a' coimhead airson mo chompanach, Jack. Co-dhiù, am faca tu e? (Correct. My name is Bearmon! I'm looking for my partner, Jack. By any chance, have you seen him?)"
The officer looked over to his computer screen. Typing something in, Bearmon couldn't see what was being typed in. Not that it mattered to the bear digimon. He had no doubt it was something about Jack. Hopefully nothing in relation to a cri-
"O ceart. Ghlèidh sinn e a-raoir. (Oh right. We booked him last night.)" the officer announced and Bearmon froze. Mistakes had very much been made here. Jack had always been a good boy. Clearly, someone had set his partner up to take the fall here. That had to be it. But, it was probably a good idea to at least check.
"Dè dìreach an eucoir a rinn e? (What exactly was the crime he commited?)" Bearmon inquired and the officer focused on his computer. Fingers gingerly tapping against the keyboard, it only served to make the anxiety bubbling to the surface of Bearmon's mind here. Couldn't this officer see here that he was just about ready to freak out? Probably not.
"Earrann 22 de Achd a' Bhradain 1986. (Section 22 of Salmon Act 1986.)" the officer announced and Bearmon raised an eyebrow. Harlequin is with him here.
"Uh… chan eil sin a' freagairt mo cheist. (Uh… that doesn't answer my question.)" Bearmon remarked, doing his best to meet the officer's gaze. This had to be some kind of strange dream he was having here. No, dreams didn't have to make sense. This kind of did, but didn't at the same time.
"Rug sinn air a' làimhseachadh bradan gu mì-laghail, ann an teirmean laoigh. (We caught him illegally handling a salmon, in layman's terms.)" the officer explained, Bearmon trying his best to make sense of what he was just told. That can't be the whole law, right? Or at least, the whole section.
"Dè cho mì-laghail sa tha sinn a' bruidhinn an seo? (How illegal are we talking here?)" Bearmon continued and was met with a shrug from the officer. Was it really that much of a bother to tell him how exactly it had happened? Or was this just a case of him not knowing and not wanting to spread false information to the best digimon. While nice of him to do that, he still had so many questions that were unanswered. For now, he needed to figure out a way to at least visit Jack. Once he accomplished that, the rest should fall into place. At least, Bearmon hoped it would work out like that. Whether or not it actually would, remained to be seen.
"A bheil dòigh ann air am faic mi co-dhiù mo chompanach? (Is there a way I can at least see my partner?)" Bearmon inquired and watched the officer look away. If Bearmon had to take a guess, that was likely the other officer on duty. At least, the bear digimon hoped. Would be bizarre if it somehow wasn't. Then it would be clear that he was getting punked.
"Is urrainn dhuinn sealltainn dhut, ach chan eil gnìomhachas èibhinn ann. Ceart gu leor? (We can show you, but no funny business. Okay?)" the officer explained and Bearmon nodded. Taking care to get down off the desk, his landing left a bit to be desired. Nonetheless, he dusted himself off and waited for the officer to come back around.
"Tha mi a 'gealltainn a bhith air mo ghiùlan as fheàrr, oifigear. (I promise to be on my best behavior, officer." Bearmon added, just catching a look from the officer as they headed past the desk. Approaching a rather plain white door, Bearmon watched the officer pull out a keyring. Looking through the various keys that hung on it, he eventually settled on a rather plain silver one. Sliding it into the lock, Bearmon could only wonder why they were keeping their cell block locked. Either it was so unused that they forgot that they had even had it or did they just not trust Jack to not walk around?
The answer, as it turned out, was a mix of both as the pair stepped in. Dust seemed to cover a majority of the surfaces, making the rather crude iron bars that were being used as the very thing that held 'prisoners' in much to be desired. It was here that Bearmon found Jack. Quite a tall, british man, spiky brunette hair met that of a pair of hazel brown eyes. Bright orange waders proudly hung over what looked to be a green sweater and tan trousers. Not that it actually explained why a large duffel bag sat at his feet. Likely filled with fishing equipment and/or stuff related to his job, that probably should've been something taken off of the fisherman's hands before being thrown into the slammer. Considering what was going on at the time, perhaps it was for the best.
"Madainn mhath, Bearmon. Ciamar a tha thu air a bhith? (Good morning, Bearmon. How have you been?)" Jack called out, surprisingly chill about the fact that he had just been thrown into jail. Was this a normal occurrence for him or were the circumstances so weird that it hadn't even fazed him? The bear digimon couldn't say for certain.
"Tha mi air a bhith... nas fheàrr. (I've been… better.)" Bearmon answered, doing his best to find the words to articulate how he felt here. This had to be a nightmare. There was just no way that his partner was in jail for illegally handling a salmon. No, he had to be missing some context here. "Uh… dè cho fada 's a dh' fheumas tu fuireach air cùl bhàraichean? (Uh… how much longer do you need to stay behind bars?)"
Jack opened his mouth, only to close it right after. As much as he wanted to say something here, it would be best to keep his mouth and wait this out. At least, until his situation changed in some meaningful regard.
"Co-dhiù airson a' chòrr den latha. Air sgàth an t-suidheachaidh bhon taobh a-muigh a bha na tachartasan nuair a thog sinn e, b' e seo an rud as fheàrr as urrainn dhuinn a dhèanamh. (At least for the rest of the day. Due to the external circumstances that were the events when we picked him up, this was the best that we can do.)" the officer explained and Bearmon shot him a look. While the amount of time difference between both worlds was not something he knew off the top of his head, it had to be close to being in sync. If it was, then his partner had been in the slammer for a couple days.
"Tha thu ga bhiadhadh co-dhiù ... ceart? (You are feeding him at least… right?)" Bearmon inquired, his attention turning to that of the officer. Getting a nod, the bear digimon breathed a sigh of relief. That was one less thing that he needed to worry about here. Not that it helped the anxiety echoing about his head. "Okay. You still haven't explained how exactly my partner managed to 'illegally' handle a salmon. He's a fishery employee. Handling salmon is a big part of his job.
"Gu dearbh. Carson a tha thu a' toirt dhuinn? Uilebheistean? (Of course. What do you take us for? Monsters?)" the officer inquired, his joke falling on deaf ears. Though, that isn't something you want to joke about. The world is bad enough without people like you even suggesting that.
"A bheil urras no rudeigin as urrainn dhomh a phàigheadh no a bheil feum air cùis-lagha an seo? (Is there a bail or something that I can pay or does there need to be a trial here?)" Bearmon added and watched the officer bring a hand to his chin. Holding it there for just a moment, the bear digimon treated him to a look.
"Chaidh càin de £2,500 a chur air. Mar sin mura tachair gu bheil comas agad airgead a tharraing a-mach à èadhar tana, chan eil thu fortanach. (He's been fined £2,500. So unless you happen to have the ability to pull money out of thin air, you're out of luck.)" the officer answered and Bearmon let out a sigh. Pulling off his cap, his card had to be somewhere in here. Digging into the cap, Bearmon took care to not accidentally pull out something that might create a further incident in the police station. "Fuirich. Dè a tha thu a' dèanamh? (Wait. What are you doing?)"
Bearmon stared up. Paw still in his cap, he did his best to split attention between his cap and the officer.
"Faigh mo chairt a-mach, oifigear. (Getting my card out, officer.)" Bearmon answered as he pulled out a rectangular piece of plastic. Decorated with a picture of the forest, silver numbers expected of a card reflecting back. While not showing the backside, I assume that it has the stuff expected of such a card. "A bheil ATM ann an àiteigin as urrainn dhomh a chleachdadh gus càin mo chom-pàirtiche a phàigheadh dheth? (Is there an ATM somewhere that I can use in order to pay my partner's fine off?)"
The officer raised a hand to his mouth. Chuckle still coming through, it took everything in Bearmon's power to not punch. Not because this offer deserved it (he very much did), but more because he had the balls to think that it was hilarious for a digimon to have a credit card. Was it really that odd? Tons of digimon had a credit card of some kind. Just because you can pay for damn near anything with a door didn't make finding a door that wasn't illegally brought and/or walking into a Royal Knights stakeout. Shoving that thought out, he did his best to look up at the initial officer as the second entered.
"A dhuine bhig, a bheil thu cinnteach nach eil thu a' sèideadh deatach suas ar n-asail? (Little guy, are you certain that you're not blowing smoke up our asses?)" the second officer announced and Bearmon nodded. Perhaps his luck would be better with this guy than the first. He could only hope so.
"Tha. Feumaidh mi a dhol gu ATM airson an airgead a tharraing a-mach. A bheil fear faisg air làimh? (Yes. I just need to go to an ATM to pull out the money. Is there one nearby?)" Bearmon inquired and got an eyebrow raise from the second officer.
"Chan eil gin dhiubh sin againn. Tha damn faisg air a h-uile duine air a dhol a-null gu bancaireachd didseatach. Bhithinn a' smaoineachadh ma tha thu nad aon de na digimon sin, gun dèanadh tu an aon rud… ceart? (We don't have any of those. Damn near everyone has gone over to digital banking. I would think if you're one of those digimon, you would do the same… right?)" the second officer answered and Bearmon looked away. One would think that the answer for why would be obvious. All their money was on the card to begin with. What point was there to keep imaginary money in the cloud when they had all their money at their fingertips?
"Ù… chan eil. Chan eil beachd agam nuair a thig e gu bancaireachd didseatach. Cha chuala mi a-riamh iomradh air a leithid anns an t-Saoghal Didseatach. (Uh… no. I don't have a clue when it comes to digital banking. I never even heard of such a thing in the Digital World.)" Bearmon remarked and shifted his attention to the first officer. Both of these officers had been quite a bust here. One would think that there would be someone here that could help him here. No, that was asking far too much here. At this point, it would be easier to just break his partner out than actually deal with these officers any longer than he already had. At the same time, getting into a fight with people who were more than willing to arrest someone over the illegal handling of salmon and/or similar fishes. Especially when it felt like he hadn't gotten the full story. Perhaps that was a good place to start here. "Jack, dè dìreach a thachair? (Jack, what exactly happened?)"
Jack sighed. As much as he wanted to avoid the embarrassment here, there was no getting around it.
"Thòisich an t-uabhas seo feasgar nuair a thionndaidh na speuran dearg agus thòisich puirt a 'nochdadh anns na speuran. (This whole mess started in the afternoon when the sky turned red and portals began appearing in the sky.)" Jack started and closed his eyes. The details flooded back in.
.
As days went in Scotland, it was alright. Slightly less cloudy than normal, but not enough sun to really call it warm. But that didn't really bother Jack here as he watched the fish runs. By no means the most interesting job in the world, it was the sort of thing he loved to do. Which was the only thing that mattered to him he-
Or at least, would've been. Had it not been for the sky turning red and portals appearing in the sky. Dumping forth all the evil digimon that the Digital World had on offer, said digimon were bound to be quite hungry.
"Feuch nach tig thu gu m' amhaich den choille… (Please don't end up in my neck of the woods…)" Jack muttered as he stared up to the sky. Watching the digimon come down, this was very much not good in the slightest. But that goes without saying.
"Hi! Seall air na h-iasgairean ùra sin uile! (Hey! Look at all these fresh fishes!)" a voice announced and the fishery employee spun around. There, a vilemon had taken notice of all the fish. More specifically, the Atlantic salmon. Picking one unlucky enough to be passing through to breed, they took a bite out of it.
"Leig às am bradan sa mhionaid seo! (Drop the salmon this instant!)" Jack announced and charged for the vilemon. Ignoring the onlookers at the moment, an attempt was made too snatch the salmon away. But all that accomplished was a second salmon being grabbed. The vilemon bit into that one as well, holding it out for all to see.
"Dè tha thu dol a dhèanamh mu dheidhinn sin? (What are you going to do about that?)" the vilemon announced and Jack rolled his eyes. Snatching one of the salmon away, he pulled back with all his might. Smashing the fish into the Vilemon, that gave him enough time to grab the other salmon and swing it into Vilemon. Killing him with ease, it also brought with the sound of sirens. More specifically, police sirens.
.
"Agus sin mar a chrìochnaich mi anns a' chill seo. (And that's how I ended up in this cell.)" Jack explained and opened his eyes. Looking over to his partner, he found Bearmon looking over to the police officers. Shooting them a glare, he put his hat back on.
"Mar sin tha seo nas motha na cùis Jack a' sgrios iasg na bhith a' làimhseachadh bradan gu mì-laghail, nach eil?! (So this is more a case of Jack destroying fish than illegally handling a salmon, isn't it?!)" Bearmon announced as he pointed a claw in their direction. But considering the height difference here, the effect was very much lost on them.
"An ìre mhath. (Pretty much.)" the officer announced and Bearmon sighed. By no means the answer he was expecting to hear here, it was good enough.
"Ma tha feum agad orm, bidh mi nam shuidhe ann an cathair. (If you need me, I'll be sitting in a chair.)" the bear digimon announced, taking everything in his power to not flip out. Easier said than done, but Bearmon would manage…
Harlequin's Note:
Section 22 of Fishing Act 1986 relates to knowingly poaching salmon and their possible destruction in Scotland. The more you know.