A Foggy Aftermath (Amelie)

He'd been trying to ignore the situation and keep his mind occupied all night. He'd tried to count the leaves on the trees and bushes, tried to count the amount of flying digimon that flew overhead - even thought about counting how many berries were laid next to him. Currently, he'd been trying to count how many small grey rocks were intermixed with the dirt underneath his head.

Yet how could he keep ignoring it, when Amelie was sharing the cave with him?

The fight had been strange and brutal, but he couldn't just ignore it and hope everything would be the same again afterwards. In truth, he'd been worried sick for her afterwards - and a little bit afraid too. He just about managed to carry her to the little cave, checked her for any injuries and just let her rest afterwards.

He tensed as he heard the sound of something stirring in the back of the cave. That would be Amelie. Or would it be that terrifying digimon? No, no, that was over now. Probably.

Rinji started drawing in the dirt instead, not really sure if he should go and greet her, or stay and stand guard. He didn't really want to move, so just kept drawing little pictograms. He found himself drawing a dog, and quickly scratched it out. That was a bad idea.

"G-good morning, Rin-Rin. H-How are you?"

He tried to say something, but ended up choking on his words a bit. He coughed and tried to clear his throat.

"I've been better, I guess," he said, still not looking at Amelie and just drawing symbols in the dirt. Then he finally turned to look at her. He checked her, head to toe, for any injuries he might've missed now that she was standing. She looked just as he remembered her in the human world, and for that brief moment when he'd seen her running through the woods.

"There's some berries and herbs," he pointed out, motioning his head to the two piles next to them. "I think the herbs are supposed to be painkillers." 

Was this what getting into a bar fight with a friend and having to deal with it the next day was like? He'd heard about Whitewater Digimon doing things like that. He just wished Elliot and Isaac were here now - they would've known what to do.

He tried to think of something to start a conversation. "I didn't know you were a Spirit User," he stated, and then realised that maybe it was too soon. Digivolution had just seemed like a good place to start a conversation.

Rinji saw the bite mark on Amy's arm again and cringed a bit. He barely even remembered giving it to her, having been shocked that he could even do something like that. He'd tried to clean the wound with leaves and water while Amelie was asleep for fear of giving her some kind of infection, although he couldn't confess to having done a great job.

The wound itself was still unbandaged and the water he'd used had been straight from the river. At least the water was clean and pure here, and he knew which plants were poisonous or not. She said she felt fine, so she'd hopefully be okay.

He watched her sit down on the ground next to him. In truth, she also seemed quite shaken by the whole ordeal. It wasn't a happy morning to say the least. It was still as misty and depressing as it was before Amelie had woken up.

Rinji thought back to that fateful day in the human world. It had been quite a while since they'd first met, hadn't it? For her to suddenly come wandering into this part of the forest and turn into a digimon... well, it had to be a long story, right?

"Well, I guess it's been a long time." He thought back again to the little adventure they'd all had when they first became friends. It was one of the few memories he still held fondly. Although he'd also liked Elliot and Isaac, he inwardly felt closer to Amy. She'd been the one that'd found him and carried him back to the terminal; one of his only friends apart from Coolmon and the aforementioned twins.

Humans were hard to keep track of, he realised. At least when you met other digimon, you could visit their home or bump into them during a trip to the city. But humans were a literal world away.

"I can listen," he told her, wanting to know what had happened since all that time. She hadn't asked for any of this... was it his fault for leading her to the Digital World?

Out of chance, Rinji looked into her eyes. Was she tearing up? Maybe he shouldn't have asked -

"I-It's okay," he stuttered, trying to comfort her. He really didn't want her to cry. After all, it was just a horrible accident, right? Accidents happened.

Speaking of accidents...

"I'm sorry about your arm as well," he admitted. He'd wanted to apologise to her about it for a while now, although he still couldn't quite remember how he'd done it. But there were no other Scolomon in this forest and he knew the bite mark matched up perfectly to him.

"I did try cleaning it... but I'm not very good with bandages," he referred to his forelegs. Sometimes it could be a real pain, having to alternate between picking things up with your mouth or trying to grasp things with arms that were really better suited for walking. And having to use your mouth to bandage someone wasn't really hygienic.

Hearing Amy recount her tale resulted in a kind of respectful silence from Rinji. Even when she threw her digivice onto the floor, he didn't say a word. He just watched it hit the ground and looked back to Amy. It was a solemn sight, both seeing and hearing the pain in Amelie's words.

Never would he think that learning of and becoming part of the Digital World would be so painful for her. Perhaps if he'd have just turned right back when he realised he was in the human world... he could've saved her so much trouble. Or better yet, if he had just never taken the wrong Trailmon and went to Terminus City like he'd meant to.

The question of whether it would've even made a difference still rested gently on his mind. It also seemed like there was far more to the story than what met the eyes - and he briefly wondered who the mysterious person she'd met at the mall was.

Amelie mentioned totems... so that must've been what happened yesterday. He'd hardly even heard of them before, but now it seemed sort of obvious, really.
They were mysterious objects with mysterious powers; he daren't touch them out of respect and fear.

It partly explained why he'd seen her running so desperately through the woods like that - and why he'd immediately thought something was wrong. She had seemed so disorientated. He nodded to her as she continued her story, not wanting to interrupt her.

It was no surprise to hear that Amy had travelled to the Digital World after their little adventure. Rinji had thought about doing the same thing ever since, albeit to the Human World instead.
One world was a big place, two worlds doubly so.

A look of concern creased his face as she mentioned waking up randomly, in different parts of the world. Had nobody been looking after her? It must've been terrifying.

Trying to imagine what it would be like not to be in control of your own actions...

"Yeah... I'd hate it," the Scolomon admitted sympathetically. There could be nothing worse. It was one of the reasons why he was still so shaken from the fight: he himself had lost control. It had been like falling asleep and waking up to find out someone else was playing your body on autopilot.

These spirits didn't sound very friendly at all. They explained a lot, and he found himself wishing that he could've helped Amelie more. Instead, all he'd done was sit on his laurels in a forest until she'd eventually turned up on his doorstep. If he was still her friend, he was a pretty bad one.

"I'm just glad everything turned out okay," he tried reassuring her, wanting to be here for her now, even if he hadn't been before. "Well, at least you know where I live now!" He tried lightening the mood with a small joke, hoping to cheer Amy up.

A small span of silence followed before she continued explaining about the strange spirits. It was definitely odd how that digimon was so aggressive... even that poor Labramon... It wasn't really Amy's fault at all. If they were all like that...

Rinji quietly let Amy pet his carapace, almost like she had when he was Chilomon. She likely didn't know, but he still had feeling in his armour, even if it didn't look like it. The tension from earlier started to leave him as he tried not to think too hard about the day before or the injury that Amy was currently trying to avoid.

An apologetic look encompassed his face as she mentioned the injured arm again and how he... should've just abandoned her in the woods!?

"I-I could never just leave you there!" His mellow voice rose in passion, still not quite enough to be considered shouting. “I mean, maybe you would’ve been alright, but I couldn’t just let you get hurt.”

He didn’t see himself as a hero, but to let a friend get hurt? Never. Not in a million years. He’d done it once and he’d do it a thousand times more if it meant saving his friends.

“Besides… I’m a Digimon, I’m supposed to fight. Sometimes we do get hurt,” he smiled sadly, “but it eventually gets better.”

“Wait, what are you doing?” He asked curiously as Amy suddenly got up from her sitting position. What was she up to?

Well, it seemed that his attempt to find a small ray of sunshine in the whole situation had worked, to an extent. "Actually, this whole area of forest is kind of where I live... normally I sleep in the trees though," he clarified, hoping he hadn't confused her earlier. "Caves aren't really my thing." Too damp and suffocating - he'd much rather be in the fresh air. "I don't think anyone lives in this cave though." He quickly interjected, not wanting to alarm her. The cave had smelled clean of any digimon - in all likeliness it was abandoned.

Rinji was quite proud of Amelie's compliment though. He loved this forest, even saw it as his own. Knowing Amy had seen it for herself left him feeling a little bit joyous about it.

What Amelie said next came seemingly out of the blue. Was... was he really an amazing friend? "I-I..." He fumbled for words. He hadn't really expected his little speech to elicit such a reaction. Of course, he wanted to be a good friend, to be there for Amy. He really hoped he wasn't blushing. "Th-thank you..." It was the most gracious thing he could think to say. Yet inside, he was beaming.

Even if things were strange and scary, and yesterday had been awful, he still very much adored Amelie. He'd be her friend till the end, if push came to shove. Maybe it was being faithful to a fault, but he couldn't help it. He believed in her.

The Scolomon watched her carefully unpack and handle what he assumed were bandages. Realisation dawned on him. He'd never been bandaged before.

His breath hitched as she tied the cloth and leaves around him. "Stings a bit," he admitted. It was nowhere near intolerable though. When she finished, he inspected himself. She'd definitely done a better job than he could ever achieve. He only wished he could've done the same for her - but at least she wasn't bleeding.

Amelie caught his attention again, this time with a proposal. "Yeah?" What would she ask? It sounded serious.

"A trip around the Digital World?" The idea was surprising. Yet her explanation made a lot of sense. "You think they want something?" He paused, pondering over the possibilities. Over what the spirits could possibly want - and over the places Amy might want to go.

"No. I don't want you to get hurt." A solemn determination overtook him. "If you're going to do something like that... I want to come with you." Never mind that she was probably more worried about him than herself.

"I won't cause any trouble; I can get my own food and I can sleep anywhere." Really, he could look after himself! He didn't want to give her a single reason to say no. When she had admitted to waking up and wandering the Digital World alone, he'd been inwardly horrified.

What would it be like to travel the world alone with potential danger at every corner? And this trip, it sounded like she'd be visiting dangerous areas. At the very least, he would've wanted her to have some sort of mercenary digimon, if not himself.

His injury be damned, he wanted to protect her.

"So... did you have any places in mind?" The wielder of the spirits would have the best idea of what they wanted, wouldn't she? Neither did he really have a map on him, although he did have a self-professed knowledge of the Digital World's areas. If she gave him any clues as to what they were looking for, he could easily point the two of them in the right direction.

They definitely were lucky to find an empty cave here. What would he have done if it hadn't been here? Imagining trying to drag Amy up a tree to safety with the injury on his back was painful enough.

He blushed again when Amelie smiled. Being so lost for words had actually made her smile at him? He felt even more embarrassed now! "Y-you really don't have to repay me for anything." Besides, he couldn't even think of anything he wanted that could be paid. He was a digimon with a simple life and simple desires. Or he was, before humans started to get tangled into his life.

However, that wasn't something he would ever complain about. Sometimes, he had to admit, his life was boring. Amelie had, in a twisted way, made it more interesting. It was also a lot more difficult. Truthfully, he was a bag of mixed feelings.

A bag of mixed feelings that was definitely rustled when Amelie asked him if he really wanted to go. Was he being overprotective? In all honesty, he'd almost expected her to deny him from going with her. When she reminded him how he'd be putting himself in danger and he'd be away from home...

Sure, he was scared. Scared of her, scared for her... "I know." He looked down, still feeling a bit guilty for being so abrupt and headstrong about wanting to go with her. "But I don't mind." About the danger or missing his home. "My home will still be here when I get back, and to be honest I've been in more dangerous situations that I'd like to admit..." Living in the Digital World practically required it. Even travelling to the city could be a journey fraught with danger.

It was only his hard-headedness that had gotten him so grievously injured with Amy anyway. In hindsight, he should've hung back and let her tire herself out. Jumping in with no idea what he was doing or what was going on had been a recipe for disaster.

"I'll know better this time as well." Rinji looked at Amy curiously, "do the spirits eventually tire themselves out?" He was sure that they did. That was exactly what happened when Amy had de-digivolved. She hadn't really been defeated - only tired out from the fight.

The Scolomon stared out from the cave again, pondering over anything else he could do. Surprisingly, he still couldn't digivolve. It had never really bothered him, but he was really starting to see the utility in being able to become stronger. "It's funny..." He started, "when we first met, you were just an average human, right? But now you're probably stronger than me. Guess I'll just have to get good at running." It was a light attempt at humour. All in all, his voice was more amused than upset.

"Bloody hell... I really will have to get good at running, won't I?" It was a realisation he'd whispered to himself. He wasn't really sure if Amelie had heard him.

Anyway, they still needed a plan for where to go. You couldn't just decide to go on a trip without a location. It would be like having a digimon without an attribute. "Buying a map from Terminus? I know they sell maps in the shopping centre."

"Do you think it'll help you get a better idea of where to go? 'Cause I have a pretty good idea of all the areas in the Digital World. You can tell me if any of them jog your memory. There's uh..." Trying to recollect all the main areas of the Digital World was hard. "This area, the Eastern Timberlands, which is mostly nature. But if you're already here, then wouldn't the spirits have already found what they wanted?" He still wasn't exactly quite sure how spirits worked, after all.

"I know to the north of here there's the cold regions." He shivered just thinking of them. "They call it the Northern Prominence, but I've never been there."

"In the west there's desert and cliffs. I went there once... they call it the Western Flatlands

"To the south there's a huge jungle and some beaches, so I'm told. I think the name wasn't very imaginative... Southern Tropics, that's it. There's a city there too, it's similar to Terminus."

"There are some harder locations to get to too: The Dark Area and the Empyrean Skies. I've never wanted to visit the Dark Area, but it's not impossible you could find a spirit there... The Skies are also hard to get to. You'd have to ask a flying digimon to give you a lift. Even then... I'm not sure if I'd be allowed in?" Virus types weren't exactly welcome, but he wasn't sure if they were still allowed in the city. There again, it wasn't obvious that he was a virus-type and his kind were rare enough.

He wracked his brain, trying to think of more places. "El-Doradimon. It's a giant Digimon that walks around or something... I don't really know much more about it than that though. I think they don't accept humans in their walls. I have no idea why."

"Alright, I think that's it. Other than Terminus itself... I'm not sure if you'll find much more on a map, but maybe I'm wrong. If you see a map it might be better than just hearing it from me."

"I don't mind visiting Terminus again anyway. It's not that bad of a city." Some digimon hated Terminus, but Rinji actually didn't mind it so much. It didn't seem like Amelie disliked the city either, as she'd suggested they both go there first to get a map.

"It'll give us a chance to stock up on supplies too. We're definitely going to need food and water." Generally speaking, going to Terminus first would be a good plan. "And uh... medical supplies too," he added, remembering the pain in his back. It certainly wouldn't be worth getting caught without those.

Well, that was that. Although he still wasn't sure how Amelie would 'repay' him. "Well, if you say so..." Still, the conversation had turned into a rather light-hearted exchange. Slowly but surely, their friendship would recover, right? But who could truly tell what the future had in mind for the duo? They were going to have to take a leap of faith, and hope for the best.

Rinji thought about journeying away from his home. It wouldn't be the first time, but seldom did he ever travel for longer than a few days at a time. Although this time was different. Amelie would be with him.

"Just... Thank you for letting me come, Amy." At the very least, she respected his decision to go with her. Even as he realised she was worried about his safety just as much as he was worried over hers.

For the both of them to worry for each other was a good sign.

Amelie's answer to Rinji's question about the Spirits puzzled him; they were equally clueless. He could only offer up theories in return.  "Well... I don't think I've ever seen humans walking around disguised as Digimon. Even where humans are more common." Although how would he ever know if a human was disguised as a Digimon? "So maybe it's because you do tire out? It makes sense," the energy to evolve had to come from somewhere.

"It's a bit fuzzy, but I remember seeing the Spirit Digimon you turned into just suddenly stop fighting. It was kind of like it just gave up." Had the Spirit Digimon not given up, they likely wouldn't still be here talking to each other. "It was after it did some sort of... hallucination attack? It kind of messed with my memory." Recounting the fight was giving him a bit of headache and that was probably why.

"I guess we're both still new to this." After all, being a digimon didn't give him all knowledge of everything related to the Digital World and how it worked. So how would Amelie know?

Now he felt kind of bad for suggesting that Amelie was stronger than him. She wasn't quite like other spirit users, was she? A troubled look crossed his face. 

"Right, sorry. I just thought... nevermind." It was more like she was being possessed by spirits instead of becoming them. He knew now that she didn't have control over her own actions, that the spirits were basically their own individuals in a strange way, but he couldn't quite grasp it. It was just a strange thing for a Digimon to try and understand; whenever he digivolved, he was still the same 'mon. Personality, temperament, and maturity could change along the way - but he was always still himself.

At least the both of them now had a good run-down on what they were going to do. "Better to try than to do nothing," he agreed with her, a look of determination on his face. Standing on the sidelines wasn't something either he or Amelie were going to do, it seemed.

"Sounds like a plan to me." So it was all settled then; the two of them were going to visit Terminus, stock up on supplies, including a map, and cross any other bridges when they got there.

"I... think that's everything." He paused, hoping to remember if anything else needed doing. Although it wasn't like he had any ovens to switch off or doors to lock. Any possessions of his were already safely stored in the gaps under his armour.

His home would be fine.

"So... does that mean we set off now? I've already got everything I need. Unless there's something you need to do in the human world?" Thinking back, Amelie's flat did have locks and keys. The thought she would've been in such a hurry not to lock her doors was far-fetched, though. Other than that, they would be ready to set off and take the nearest Trailmon.