113A No Ordinary Bounty (COMPLETE)

She had been sitting within her room at the student dorm, playing upon her cello, practising her latest assignment in front of a simple web camera. The footage was being recorded, intended to be both a submission to her professors but also another video for her own YouTube channel. It was just one of those things she picked up years ago to serve both as a record of her progress but also a means to augment her income just a little bit.

Yet! The entire world changed around her, the camera unleashed a painfully white light that seared into Svetlana’s eyes. She was forced to clamp her eyes shut, dropping the bow of her cello as the instrument slipped from her grip. Then, a sudden sense of weightlessness gripped her, a gust of wind assaulting her. She opened her eyes and saw a clear blue sky surrounding her as well as the ground below, rapidly approaching.

She was falling and could do nothing about it. The earth was swiftly approaching, the threat of crushing death weighing down upon her. Oh dear. Was this truly how it was going to end for her? Falling through the sky, watching her cello and its bow string tumbling down with her. However…she felt surprisingly relaxed. She hummed a simple tune to herself, closing her eyes, disappointed that her journey was going to end oh so very soon but…satisfied.

“Say…could someone catch me please?” And yet, despite her apparent willingness to face her own death, that was not the same as desiring it to happen. It was why she called out for help, her lungs filling with oxygen as she shouted as loud as she possibly could. Hopefully someone could catch her or put a trampoline down or something, anything, to save her life!

(301 words)

Her descent came to a sudden stop. She bounced and wobbled against the sticky substance but she was still alive? How? Should a sudden stop upon the earth not spell her death? Indeed, it should have but it was not the ground she had landed on. Both the Russian and her delicate Cello found themselves stuck in a web. An utterly gigantic web, far far larger than a web made by any single spider on Planet Earth could possibly be. Did this mean there was a gigantic spider around that wanted to eat her? Perhaps!

“Hello? I can hear you speaking below me but I am unable to meet your eyes. This web is rather….adhesive. Could you get me down please? Before the owner of this web decides to arrive…” Svetlana knew little about the hunting behaviour of arachnids but logic dictated that movement and vibrations would only attract the attention of the web’s owner so she did not move. She stayed completely and utterly still, holding her breath in strained lungs. It did not help how, like before, she spoke in Russian. 

However, despite desiring to keep her body perfectly still she did at least turn her gaze towards her cello. It was perfectly intact, both it and the bow. That was a great relief given the circumstances. It was a gift her parents had bought her almost a decade ago now, a celebratory thing to congratulate her for passing an exam. As such, its sentimental value could not be understated.

(244 words)

She pulled herself free from the sticky web and sat up, reclaiming her cello before carefully making her way over towards the makeshift ladder, looking down at both the very strange collection of creatures below and the ground. A giant lion man, a cosplay that looked like a wizard from a video game and what seemed to be a small child with pale skin. How interesting. How strange. How utterly out of the ordinary. Perhaps this was a dream?

While the ladder was appreciated she did have one sliiiight issue: How to get her cello down. Her case had not fallen with her and so, she would again be forced to rely on the generosity of these strangers in this strange land. She cleared her throat and began to speak, holding the cello and its bow string over the webbing’s edge. She was still wobbly on her feet though, struggling to retain her balance on the silk below.

Would you be willing to catch these for me? And please, be extremely careful with them.” Once given a confirmation that the Digimon trio would catch the instruments, she dropped them off the edge before taking the ladder down to the ground. She jumped the last few steps, shoes sending up a small cloud of dust. With a couple gestures of her hands, she dusted her clothing down before smiling towards the collection of Digimon.

“Thank you for assisting me…I do hope I have not interrupted anything.” A polite and well rehearsed smile, albeit one devoid of any real sincerity or much of any emotion at that, decorated Svetlana’s lips as she spoke, albeit in her heavy Russian accent and the language of the motherland.

(286 words)

Now that she was back on Terra Firma, or Terra wherever she was, Svetlana adjusted her clothing to straighten out any wrinkles while giving herself another quick dust down. All to ensure she had gotten rid of any dust or other unpleasant things stuck to her body. However, bringing her appearance back up to scratch was all well and good but she was still faced with the sliiiight issue of being a stranger in a strange land with equally strange lifeforms surrounding her. One of them was even a baby too!

“Thank you for your assistance.” The musician reclaimed her Cello and its bow, holding them as best she could in spite of the difficulty from not having its carry case around. Alas though, that was back in her room…or so she thought. It suddenly fell down from the sky, bounced off the web and landed next to her with a heavy thud. Convenient. Her brow still furrowed a little as she looked around, wondering where she was.

“A bounty?” She bent down over her case, opening it up, and going to store her Cello inside. However, she spotted a strange black and white device within. She tilted her head sideways but beyond finding it a curiosity, even if the D-tector would have had far more significance to the Digimon present, really did not think much of it. The device was simply stored away inside one of her shirt’s inside pockets as she put her cello into the case, wearing the case on her back as if it was a simple backpack.

“....I do not wish to impose on you but I have little clue where I am. I feel it is a wise assumption to make that you are familiar with this land? I wish to accompany you, until I find a way to return home.” She smiled in her classic reserved manner, waving at the little pale skinned child.

“I am Svetlana. It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Hopefully her earnest request would be enough to win over these three.

(346 words)

It was all rather a lot to take in. The lion, the wizard in their big hat, the pale skinned child with telepathy, the gliding dragon, the fact this was seemingly an entirely different world all very much gave Svetlana pause. She blinked, staring blankly at the family of digital creatures before her, before letting out a soft sigh. I see. That’s what this was about. She was surely dreaming. No matter. Let’s play along with it. It was a surprisingly simple conclusion for her to reach and Svetlana took it all in a rather remarkable stride, not that all of her questions were answered mind you.

“The Digital World? I have questions…Many questions.” Surprisingly, one may have expected her first question to be how to get home but no. Svetlana was far far more interested in the very nature of this Digital World and those that inhabited it. Plus, she was going to go out on a limb here and assume that Mandrake’s mention of humans “coming here from time to time” was a sign that there was some way home. It was enough to lay her concerns to rest.

Still, Svetglana’s curiosity was aroused. Mandrake and Lothar being a couple? Raising a child between them? One had even called the other their husband. It was a…strangely human term for it and made Svetlana ponder. Ponder whether they were simply borrowing the name to try and explain the idea or if their relationship was something entirely foreign to a human experience. Not that Svetlana knew what married life was like. She really only had her observations of her parent’s relationship to go off.

“Namely, what are Di-” Then she was cut off, the sound of the gliding dragon’s roar cutting her off. Her gaze darted towards the skyline, staring at the form of the distant dragon as it glided around, altitude decreasing. It was seemingly coming down to land….near them? That was problematic. Svetlana was grateful she had encountered such helpful natives of this strange world but….she had an issue: How could she keep herself safe given the dragon?

“...That is a rather interesting story regarding Circe’s story but…with that dragon approaching, I trust you will not mind if I find somewhere….out of the way to hide? I am a musician, not Bulat the Brave….Would you like me to keep an eye on young Circe?” Regardless of what answer she was given, Svetlana would either retreat with Circe or without. She took up position within the trees nearby, taking cover behind a particular sturdy looking tree as the dragon grew ever closer.

(447 words)

While Svetlana had been fully expecting to simply carry little Circe around, and keeping a rather close eye on them at the same time, but it very much seemed like the exact opposite was going to be the case. Little Circe bolted almost instantly, releasing her father and bolted for the nearest tree. Smart idea one thought and that one was Svetlana, watching as the spider made their way into the tree’s branches.

However, that did leave Svetlana with a problem. A rather small problem really: she could not climb into a tree and seeing the draconic Digimon approach was enough to make her believe that hiding behind the tree was simply not a feasible idea. Her gaze darted around, scanning for something or somewhere safer to hide. There were a few options but none of them were ideal.

There was the tree she was already behind of course but that was very exposed. There was a different tree a little while away, one with a deep exposed thicket of roots that provided significantly more cover from vision yet….it was still a tree and trees were rather flammable. In fact, was that even true in the Digital World? For that matter, did Dragon Digimon even breathe fire? So many questions, so few answers.

The final option for a hiding place was a bunch of rocks, lopsided and loosely thrown together. Significantly less flammable for sure. Yes. It was a much safer bet. Let us just hope that there were no insects, venomous or otherwise. God knows how effective human medicine would be vs insect bites from an entirely different world.

“Little Circe. Please, come with me. We will be safer amid the rocks” Svetlana broke out into a sprint, clearing the distance between the hiding place behind the tree and the cluster of rocks. She wedged herself into them, wiggling into the gaps between them, before turning her eyes back to Circe’s tree. Hopefully they would have agreed with Svetlana’s suggestion and hidden among the dark embrace of the rocks.

(344 words)

Little Circe’s nervousness was to be expected. They were still a child, one that seemingly loved to cling to their parent’s backs for safety, and Svetlana was a complete and utter stranger. It was good for them to be wary around strangers, for the world was rather dangerous at the best of times. However, even though it took a bit of time, Little Circe did muster up the confidence to clamber down from their hiding spot and scamper over to the rocks as fast as their little legs could carry them.

Svetlana would welcome them as best as she could but given the fact she was wedged into a collection of wet moss covered rocks, all she could really do was pat her lap and offering it to Little Circe. It was drier and a lot warmer than the wet ground for sure. Svetlana wished she had some sort of blanket or throw she could wrap around the child. She may not know much about caring for children, or even Digimon children at that, but keeping them warm had to be a good thing, yes?

“Worry not little Circe. I’m sure your parents can handle it. They’re strong, da? Tell me, do you like music?” Her smile was technically rather warm and welcoming, soft and gentle, yet behind those eyes was a profound void of sincerity, almost as if her gestures and behaviours were simply a set of extremely well rehearsed acts she was simply carrying out. Still, what was wrong with something being fake?

Svetlana’s ears perked up at the sound of the dragon roaring, a beastial cry that threatened to shatter the skies with its fury, loud enough to compel Svetlana to wince in pain and yet…..it was a sound unlike any she had ever heard before. It tickled her fancy, it awoke her artistic sensibilities, it spawned her creativity and suddenly realisation struck. This was an entirely new world full of entirely new things, new creatures and new sounds. Yes….such a vast repertoire would add much to her compositions.

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