I don't own digimon.

Story 91

Centarumoning Around

Centarumon looked around their surroundings.

While they were one for roaming around wide open spaces, this was just ridiculous. Horses and riders as far as the eye could make out, all set against breathtaking mountains and plains that looked to go on forever. If they didn't know any better, the centaur digimon probably would've thought they were in one of Lily's horse movies. You know the ones, a girl meets an unruly horse, the pair get to know each other and then they head onto a place like this. Centarumon had thought that said place was made up. Guess they were eating pellets for the next little bit. If they could find their partner, of course. With the amount of girls here, that was likely to be a chall-

"Sir, miss, can I help you?" a voice called out and Centarumon gazed about in search of the source. Eventually staring down, he was treated to an older woman. Dressed in a slate gray bustle, a lacy white cloth hung near the woman's collar, making her gray bun and wrinkled face all the more striking. Add in her hazel eyes and light makeup, this was clearly the person in charge. Hopefully, she wouldn't have some kind of riding crop or similar instrument to use on them.

"Uh… I'm Centarumon. I'm looking for my partner, Lily." Centarumon inquired and got a sigh from the woman. Watching her look over to the other horses and their riders, she shifted her attention back over to the centaur digimon.

"As much as I could say which one of my many riders is your Lily, today's session has no less than five of them." the woman explained and Centarumon raised an eyebrow. Was Lily really that common of a name? Or was this just the universe being a dick to them. Hard to say. Could honestly be both at the same time. This universe seems to run on 'what is the most hilarious situation possible' energy. Because of course it did. Can't just have normal meetings around here. No, we need beat up mimes and/or find out your partner is now a furry. Though, it's kind of nice that there are so many different chosen/digidestined in the world. If you looked at the digitalverse, there were only a couple dozen of them, at most. Even then, they were more mercenaries than actual children having to save both worlds. Oh well. Hindsight is 20/20 like that.

"Uh… is that the most common name you have?" Centarumon inquired and the woman shook her head. Watching Centarumon raise the eyebrow back up, a chuckle followed.

"I have five Sora's. I'm not certain if this is some kind of practical joke by the parents or some weird coincidence." the woman explained and watched Centarumon laugh. Now, it was her turn to raise an eyebrow.

"I think I have a pretty good idea why. But it doesn't matter here." Centarumon explained and got a confused look from their audience.

"Come on. I would like to know." the woman begged and got a sigh from the centaur digimon. On one hoof, what they were about to say was very much speculation in every sense of the word. At the same time, a part of them could see the reasoning.

"Supposedly, one of the heroes that saved both worlds in the late 90s was named Sora." Centarumon explained and watched the woman bring her eyebrow back down. Holding in her laughter, she eventually let it out.

"I guess there are weirder reasons to name your daughter after a person." the woman explained and looked out to her riders. Shifting her attention back over to Centarumon, a sigh escaped her lips.

"You may talk with my riders, but I ask you to be careful. We're already having problems with those accursed clowns attempting to put our finest riders out of commission." the woman explained and watched Centarumon lean forward.

"Is there anything in particular that these riders have in common?" Centarumon inquired, the woman's hand coming to her chin. Staying there for a couple seconds, she eventually brought it back down.

"They were all writers or illustrators." the woman answered and Centarumon nodded. Trotting off in the direction of the horses and their riders, they took care to avoid running into any of them. The last thing they wished to do here was create further strife by accident. That was the last they wished to do here. Instead, they would try to take this in a calm, friendly fashion. Things usually went smoothly when they did that. Here, it felt different. Perhaps that was on account that they were a massive centaur digimon walking around far smaller horses. Clearly everyone had seen them by this point. But was there anything that was catching them off guard?

"Didn't one of these strange creatures attack a guy in South Africa?" a girl announced, chattering erupting forth around the pasture. Centarumon looked about, not completely certain what to make of this. They had not heard anything about an incident in South Africa. If they had, then they would've at least not shouted anything about it. No, they would've instead introduced themselves and then went from there. That made a lot more sense. But humans were fickle beings that liked to live on the unpredictable side of things. A fine quality to have if you asked them. Not that anyone ever would. No, their questions likely would be on the scope of how their body worked and whether they were more horse than human. Questions that Centarumon sadly didn't have answers too. They were a construct of digital data, after all. They were equally horse, human and digimon at the same time. While those ratios absolutely could change, there was little worry that they would. If anything, the only things that the centaur digimon needed to worry about was eating food and the occasional drink of water. Trotting about everywhere was hard work, after all.

"Uh… I don't know anything about that." Centarumon answered and waited a moment for everyone to get their looks in. Once they had, a couple of them decided that there wasn't anything else they needed from this conversation. Trotting off on their horses, that left a handful of riders to ask the centaur digimon questions. What questions exactly, remained to be seen.

"Are you with those 'never world' people?" an entirely different rider inquired and Centarumon brought a finger to their chin. They honestly weren't certain who this rider was talking about here, let alone how it was connected to Lily.

"Uh… I don't think so?" Centarumon answered, realizing right after how dumb they sounded at that moment. By no means ideal, that could hopefully be looked past here… right? He was the digimon of a proud rider. These other riders were bound to have heard stories about their deeds. If not, then they must have been immensely pissed off with them. All the more reason to smooth things over. Or at least try. Yeah. A perfect plan here. "I don't even know what 'never world' even means in this context. Is that some kind of book?"

For that response, Centarumon was met with yet more looks. This time, they weren't completely certain if this was in regards to their comment or their general ignorance when it came to this topic. Were they expected to know everything here? The centaur digimon couldn't say for certain.

"By any chance could you fill me in?" Centarumon inquired and was treated to silence. So much for that angle. Or were these riders just as clueless as they were?

"It was a big nasty event where some lady kidnapped a bunch of people. Some of which died because of her." a rider announced and Centarumon froze. Don't get them wrong. They were quite used to death. Far too many stories of digimon meeting their ends in farming-related accidents swirled around the workplace. One would think that would make management put in proper safety features and the like, but you would be mistaken. No, it was business as usual. Profits were at a record high and were showing no signs of slowing down. So what if a numemon occasionally got shredded to bits, that was the price of doing business.

For now, Centarumon shoved that thought away. Wasn't worth thinking about currently. Especially in the face of the losses these people might have experienced.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Centarumon answered and got a raised eyebrow from the rider. Was that not what they were supposed to say when you hear the passing of someone?

"Oh. That's rich." the rider announced, ignoring the looks they got from their companions. They were all rich. So what if someone died. Money solved all problems. Except death. That was still an issue. But given enough time, that would be solved and there would be nothing to worry about… right? Oh you make me laugh. Just because you can solve 'death', doesn't mean it can't still get you. If anything, that just makes the forces in place all the more eager to strike you down. Like what Zeus did to Asclepius for his troubles. But I'm an immortal being, so what do I know? Not much, that's for certain.

"Sorry. I just thought that you might have lost someone." Centarumon answered and watched the rider ride off. So much for that source of information. Perhaps the next line of questioning would be more fruitful here. Even if the number of riders could now be counted on one hand. "Anything else that you people wished to ask?"

One rider's horse trotted forward. Meeting their rider's gaze, the rider looked a touch anxious.

"Have you been in any movies?" the rider inquired and Centarumon's face glazed over. Forget starring in any movies, he hadn't even seen a movie since initially being forced to go back to the Digital World. A part of the centaur digimon wondered what was now 'in' when it came to movies. Probably something related to centaurs and/or horses from the sound of it. Maybe even both. Perhaps this girl could maybe clue them in on the title of the movie. Would be kind of nice to watch one. If it was out on DVD, of course.

"Uh… no. Why do you ask?" Centarumon inquired and watched the girl's eyes light up. Leaning forward on her horse, care was taken to not fall off.

"Wellmyfavoritecharacterinthewholesunrisefranschis-" the girl announced, her words getting jumbled right as she opened her mouth. Not that her horse trotting off helped matters in the slightest. Didn't stop Centarumon from at least looking in the direction that the pair was going and shooting out ahead of them. Getting the horse to turn around, the centaur digimon watched them head back to what they could only hope to be safe. Afterwards, a sigh escaped their lips. Staring forward, a young rider was the only one still here. Dressed in standard equestrian gear. Brunette locks met that of peridot eyes. In retrospect, perhaps it would've been a good idea to avoid that one question. But considering how much more suspicious that would've made them look, it was probably best that they answered.

"Uh… is everything alright, horsey?" the sole remaining rider announced and Centarumon sighed. Meeting her gaze to the best of their abilities, it just dawned on them that they hadn't even asked the question they had been planning to ask in the first place. A part of the centaur digimon felt dumb for it not even crossing their mind. Oh well. Just would need to rectify it now of all times. Hopefully, this lone girl wouldn't mind.

"Kind of? I'm currently looking for my partner. Her name is Lily. Ring any bells?" Centarumon inquired and got a confused expression here. Not that they blamed the girl for feeling that particular way. After all that had been talked about, they were just now getting back to the matter at hand. Even if she didn't have information, perhaps their conversation could steer them in the right direction.

"Uh… I have a friend named Lily, but I don't think that's what you meant." the girl answered and Centarumon nodded. Keeping their gaze on the girl, they decided to trot alongside the horse. That felt like the right option.

"Correct. I don't exactly know how I've been in the digital world, but I'm fairly certain that most humans grow and age." Centarumon explained and watched the girl nod. Shifting her helmet ever so slightly, it looked a touch loose. While they were tempted to reach out and fix it, that would definitely look creepy. No, he would just keep an eye on it and pick it up should it fall off. Turning his focus ahead, the centaur digimon could just make out a figure on the hill. The details were blurry, but they looked intent on hurting people. Not that Centarumon could put a hoof on why he got that feeling. Oh well. Hopefully, it will come to pass without incident.

"Do you have school, Centarumon?" the young rider inquired and Centarumon looked away. Had he ever been to school? Lily had never been the sort to brag she had a digimon. Let alone one that aligned with her interests.

"No, but occasionally we have groups of younger digimon on field trips with their teachers." Centarumon explained and watched their companion light up. Leaning towards them, the horse took that as a cue to speed up. Catching their rider by surprise, she managed to adjust herself to take control once more. Looking back over to her companion, a smile hung to her face.

"That sounds so cool." she cooed and Centarumon nodded. Shifting his attention back ahead, a far clearer view of the figure from earlier could be made out. Dressed like a rodeo clown, they were twirling a lasso about in anticipation of something.

"Uh… by any chance do you know anything about this 'Sunrise' movie?" Centarumon inquired and watched the girl shrug. Oh well. They expected this kind of answer at some point. Not every movie was bound to be appreciated by everyone. That was the greatest part about humans in Centarumon's book. Not all digimon saw it that way. No, they instead saw a flaw to be corrected. Those were the worst kind of digimon. Especially when they wanted to use the farm. Never during the off-season, always during the peak of their season. Oh well. The extra digi-dollars kind of made up for it.

"It's some kind of teenage romance with a guy having to decide between a female centauress and an ogress." the young rider explained and Centarumon raised an eyebrow. They swore a similar movie was being made (supposedly). Except the protagonist was a girl who had to decide between a vampire and a werewolf. Said digimon expected it to be a success for some reason. Perhaps they were onto something that the centaur digimon just didn't know. Very likely.

"Oh. Good to kn-" Centarumon started, only to be cut by the rodeo clown attempting to wrangle their companion's horse. Missing, that provided the perfect opportunity to grab at the rope. Giving it a tug, that was enough to catch their possible opponent by surprise. Knocking them to their feet, the sound of gritted teeth and muttered swears echoed forth. Standing back up, the rodeo clown pointed in their direction. "Uh… it might be a good idea for you to get behind me."

The young rider nodded, pulling on the reins for her horse to stop. The horse did just that, shooting their rider a look once they had done so. Getting a pet to their main, the young rider shifted her gaze over to Centarumon.

"Is there anything else I can do for you here?" she continued and Centarumon shook their head. The last thing they wished to do here was put a child at risk. Instead, they would close the distance and perhaps bring a swift end to this situation.

Or at least, that was the plan. An entirely different lasso wrapped around the rodeo clown's body, bringing with it a woman on a horse. Dressed in cowboy garb, black hair met that of striking green eyes. Gaze more on Centarumon than that of her target, she got off of her horse. Closing the distance, a hug followed. All while remaining a grip on the rope.

"It's been too long, pardner." Lily cooed and Centarumon's face went red. Looking over to their companion, a chuckle escaped her lips. While not the way that they were expecting to meet up with their partner, this worked just as well. "Also, it's clear you've met my newest pupil."

Centarumon froze. Looking away for just a moment, they let out a chuckle. Leave it to them to pick the one girl that their partner was teaching. Oh well.

Harlequin's Notes:

I'm not sorry about that pun.