Meeting
The young lieutenant was slowly awoken to a semi-conscious state. His vision was heavily blurred, but he could see the sky below him and the ground above him. He noted that the ground was moving. He also noted the warm mass he was hanging from. He surmised that he was being carried, fireman style. His rifle was not in his hands, not that he had much control of them, and it upset him. The person carrying him was covered in yellow fur, probably a large fur coat. Noting this, he concluded that he was being carried by a civilian, as no soldier would be wearing a yellow coat in uniform, both friendly or enemy. He could not recall ever seeing anyone who wore a yellow fur coat, at least not in Korea. He tried to remember how he had gotten himself into this situation.
I was on the objective, alone. My platoon … …
It pained him to remember his platoon had all died. He held himself to a moment of solemnity for their sake.
… I was… in a big room… with an arch. I radioed higher… they told me an airstrike was inbound. I ran, but stopped because… uh… … … I stopped in front of the arch because it opened a portal! …Did that really happen? I'm not so sure. And why did a portal open? It was because… of something I did. That device…
2LT Joseph tried to reach for the pouch, but he could not move his arm. He strained to do so, but passed out from the effort.
"—ir?" A muffled voice came through the silence. "Sir?" The voice came in clearer now, but 2LT Joseph's vision was blurred.
"Lieutenant!" Joseph's vision cleared, he saw one of his men looking him in the face. It was his RTO, SPC Quinnlen. They were walking along a paved road. The specialist was waiting for a response from the lieutenant.
"What… is it, Quinnlen?" the lieutenant asked. He was out of the loop on everything at the moment. He couldn't remember what he or the other men were doing other than walking along the road.
"Sir, Captain Derrick is on the line, he wants to know how the advance along Route 2 is progressing. What do you want me to tell him?" The lieutenant stopped walking for a moment. From farther back in the formation, his PSG noticed this, and raised his left hand, causing the entire formation to halt.
"Let me speak to the captain." the lieutenant said slowly, but dutifully. His RTO handed him the radio.
"Alpha Six, this is Alpha Three – Six Actual. Go ahead, over." The lieutenant was snapping back into things.
"Alpha Three – Six Actual. What is the present status of your advance? Over."
"Alpha Six. Advance is proceeding as planned. We have just passed phase line Budweiser and have yet to make contact with the enemy. Will report when contact is made. Out." The lieutenant handed the radio back to his RTO. He raised his left hand, and gestured forward. His men stood up, and continued to advance.
"Quinnlen, can you go check on the PSG? See if he has anything to report."
"Yes, sir." The specialist started jogging towards the rear of the formation.
When he got about 20 yards back, an explosion occurred in front of him. His legs got blown off.
"Quinnlen!" The lieutenant yelled out.
"CONTACT!" One of the men yelled out. "Mortars! Get off the road!"
The men began to run off the road, either into a drainage ditch on one side, or the embankment on the other. The lieutenant, however, ran to SPC Quinnlen. He slung his rifle onto his back and picked Quinnlen off the ground by grabbing him under his arm pits and started to drag him off the road.
"MEDIC!" he yelled. "Quinnlen, you're gonna be alright, you hear me?!"
Mortar shells continued to explode around them.
"Sir, I- ah…" He struggled. His breaths were heavily labored. "I don't think…" He coughed up blood. "…I will." He closed his eyes, and his body went limp.
"DAMNIT!" the lieutenant screamed as he clenched his eyes shut. Another mortar shell exploded close by.
2LT Joseph awoke in a cold sweat, finding himself in a bed. He looked around the room, and found it to be sparsely decorated. The room was made of wood, it had a wood ceiling, wood walls, and a wood floor. There was an open metal fire pit in the center of the room, with an opening in the ceiling to vent the smoke. The fire in it was burning well; whoever was tending it was not there, but could not have left too long before. There were crude wood furnishings within the room, a table with two wood stools, and a couple cabinets. There was a crude wood door in the wall farthest from him. There was also an open-air window in the wall to his right.
2LT Joseph was covered by a simple blanket that was stained in multiple spots. He lifted it off to find the bed was a mix of straw and torn fabric, and the pillow he was resting on a canvas bag filled with straw. Evidently, the owner of this place was rather poor, at least according to the lieutenant's standards.
I had no idea that the North Koreans were living like this. This is practically medieval!
Next to him he found his rifle, attached to him by a one-point sling. He was surprised that the home's owner had left him with the rifle. He was also in all his gear, including his helmet.
He could have at least taken off my helmet before he tucked me in. God, my neck is sore.
He took off his helmet and stretched his neck out. He unclipped his rifle and leaned it against the bedframe. He got out of bed and took off his plate carrier. Now unencumbered, he stretched his entire body. Once fully stretched, he moved to the window. Upon looking out, he saw that the building was about fifteen feet off the ground.
Woah, it's a treehouse!
He could see forest for miles. He was nowhere near Pyongyang. He stepped back from the window and walked to his plate carrier. He pulled out the radio and tried to use it. It was dead. He tried to remove the battery, but it was stuck. After a closer examination, he found the battery was fused to the radio; the electronics of the radio were fried.
Damnit.
He tossed the useless radio onto the bed, and decided to search the room. Walking to the table, he found nothing on it. He walked to the cabinets. He opened one, and found it was empty. He opened the other, and found on one shelf a simple brush, as well as some crude utensils. Below it he found some crude writing utensils and rough paper with drawings. They were childlike drawings of a fox and a man. They were smiling and seemed to be dancing about. He flipped the paper and found some writing.
"Someday I will find my partner. I will..." Wait, this is in English! How can that be?
He began to hear steps in the snow coming from below. He quickly, but quietly, placed the paper in the cabinet and closed it, grabbed his rifle, and moved to the window. He leaned out and looked below. He did not see anyone. Just then a dull thud came from behind the door. Startled, he turned and pointed his rifle at it. The door slowly opened and…
Holy shit.
A bipedal yellow fox walked in. It was carrying a large amount of meat in its arms. Its eyes were wide open.
"Oh…um…Hello." A clearly feminine voice carried her words out of her mouth.
"H… Hi." 2LT Joseph responded. His eyes were wide with disbelief.
"Well…I did not expect you to awake while I was gone." She placed the pile of meat onto the table. She seemed unfazed by the rifle he was pointing directly at her. "I wanted to be here when you awoke, but I had to get the food I had left where I had found you." She started to walk towards him.
"STOP, or I'LL SHOOT!" She stopped.
"Why, what's wrong? Have I done something to upset you?" Her inquiries were sincere.
"Who… and what, are you?" His face softened, but his rifle was still trained at her head.
"Oh, forgive me, I have yet to introduce myself. I am Renamon, and I am a digimon." She extended her paw-like hand slowly forward in a respectful gesture of introduction. 2LT Joseph watched cautiously, and reluctantly obliged, lowering his rifle.
"Second Lieutenant Michael Joseph, P-L, Third Platoon, Alpha Company, Second Battalion, Twenty-Second Infantry, First Brigade Combat Team, Tenth Mountain, U.S. Army…Ma'am." He shook her hand.
"You have quite a long name, Second Lieutenant Michael Joseph, P-L, Thir-"
He interrupted her. "You can just call me Lieutenant Joseph…" He paused. "Or Mike. Now, what is a digi-uh… digi-thing?"
"Oh, sorry. I was just so excited, I forgot that most humans do not know about us." She sat down on one of the stools.
"Yeah…" He interjected, with an air of uncertainty in the present situation, and in what he had believed. He moved over and sat in the other stool.
"Well, digimon are beings, like myself, that live within the digital plane. There are many varieties of digimon that live all across the world. This world is our home."
"Digital plane? What do you mean? I haven't ever heard of you before, how can you guys live across the whole world, how is it 'your' world? Do you own the world?"
"Well, digimon make up the majority of the sentient beings living on this world, so in a collective sense, I suppose we do 'own' the world; much like you humans 'own' the real world."
"What do you mean the real world? This is the real world… unless I'm dreaming." He pondered the thought a little, then slapped himself across the face. "I have to wake up!"
"Please, just listen." She commanded in a firm tone. "This is not the world you come from. This is the digital world. It is the world that was created by your telecommunications networks, the internet." She paused. "How did you get here?"
"What? No, that can't… be…" He stopped and pondered again. He started to piece together the facts.
That isn't the worst explanation for all this weird shit going on. I'm talking to a goddamned fox right now. I gotta take this all at face value.
"I… I fell through some sort of portal and got knocked out. Then I woke up here."
"Where did the portal come from?"
"I… don't know. I just remember it was caused by something I had… Let me think…" She waited in earnest for his answer.
He stood up and walked over to the bed. She stood up as well, and followed him. He knelt onto the bed and rifled through his plate carrier. He opened a certain grenade pouch that no longer held a grenade, but a strange device. Looking over his shoulder to Renamon, he held it up.
"It was caused by this." Kneeling right behind him, leaning onto his back, she examined it from a close distance with her eyes widening with astonishment.
"Do you know what this is?" She asked, with a voice full of eagerness.
"No, what is it?"
"It is a digivice! That means you are a tamer! Do you have a partner yet?" She inquired, poorly hiding a brewing smile.
"Tamer? And what do you mean a partner?"
"Tamers develop a special relationship with a digimon partner, that goes with them and protects them from harm. They are bonded with a digivice." 2LT Joseph raised an eyebrow.
"Then no, I guess I don't have a partner." Renamon got off the bed and lowered a knee, in a respectful gesture of honorable submission. 2LT Joseph turned around, confused.
"Second Lieutenant Michael Joseph, P-L of the Third Platoon of the Alpha Company of the Second Battalion of the Twenty-Second Infantry of the First Brigade Combat Team of the Tenth Mountain of the U-S Army, may I, Renamon, be your partner, humble protector and companion? You would have my utmost loyalty, and I would defend your honor and your life with my own." She bowed her head.
The lieutenant was caught off-guard by such an audacious request from someone, a digimon, he had just met. He was confused, but understood the gravity of such a request.
Hearts and Minds, Mike. I'm alone in a completely alien world, it's best I make friends where I can.
He got off the bed stood in front of her.
"Stand up. I'm a soldier, I'm not a king. You don't have to kneel in front of me to show respect." She stood up, keeping her head bowed, waiting for an answer. He stood silently for a few long moments. "Yes. I accept." She looked up at him with watery eyes.
"Thank you." She managed a whisper from her crackling voice, overfilled with joy.
"But listen, I think I'm going to be the one defending you, not the other way around. I'm the trained soldier here, one with combat experience." He paused, recalling his recent experience in combat. "I won't risk losing you under my command, I've lost enough already. My platoon…" He stopped.
The digivice was now glowing brightly, much like when it opened the portal. They both watched as it floated out of the lieutenant's hands and rose to above them both. Two beams of light shot out of the digivice in opposite directions, one connecting with 2LT Joseph's head, and the other with Renamon's head. The light beams passed energy through both individuals, causing both to tense up. It only lasted a couple seconds. Once the beams ceased, the digivice beeped, and in a robotic voice, spoke.
"Tamer, Michael Joseph. Digimon, Renamon. Partnership created." The device's glow slowly faded and it floated back down into 2LT Joseph's hands. It had changed colors, now sporting a yellow body with purple accents, matching Renamon.
"Wow…" The lieutenant stood astonished. "That was… uh… something!"
"Yes, now we are officially partners." Renamon observed.
