A Fate Cracked Open [NPC] (Content Warning)

The Village of Beginnings was quite the idealistic place, one without a real parallel in the Human World. Apart from having the appearance and feel of a giant nursery, where the floors and buildings had the occasional feel of an actual trampoline, it was truly the main source of life in the Digital World. Several Swanmon made it their duty to both protect and endear the children here - even the one that walked by, giving a chuckle as she carefully scolded Haru:

"Oh, careful there, my dear! You have to hold this one more upright." Her wings would slip around, carefully moving Haru to better cradle the Digimon in her arms. "Otherwise, he's liable to just slip right out of the arms. There we go..." With a chuckle, she'd take a step back at her work, before shooting a small glance towards the Meicoomon. Briefly, that smile left the avian Digimon's face, giving a small tilt of the head, before she gave a shrug, and stepped away. The exchange lasted only a second - perhaps too fast for Haru to notice - but maybe Tawna was used to a dirty look or two.

Well, maybe it wasn't without reason. In such a peaceful and well protected place as 'The Village of Beginnings', not much stood out, and provided a young'n wasn't shrieking its brains out, one could hear a pin drop on a nonexistent concrete surface, from miles around.

As such, a curious sound would slowly fill the air, coming from the shadows of a nearby trampoline house. At a glance, maybe it sounded like... an engine? Something grinding on a grate? No, no, there was a certain rhythm to it.

A purr.

And it wasn't coming from Tawna.

Of course it was easy to have one's guard lowered around here - why not? The Village was protected on all ends by robust guards, just far enough beyond the horizon so as not to scare or unsettle the newborn Digimon. The Swanmon were also more than capable enough in their own right. so even if a tyke managed to run off, well, they'd still be safe, and they probably wouldn't get very far!

As Haru casually walked and turned the corner, she'd see a rather interesting sight - another Meicoomon, one that might even make her double-take and make sure that the other maine coon was still following behind! The purr was much clearer, radiating warmly from her chest, as she had her arms wrapped around another Digimon - a Nyaromon. At a mere glance, well, maybe the scene would look cute: the smiling cat was giggling, her arms hugging around that smaller feline Digimon, a hand scritching at its back. Oblivious to the human watching, the feline gave a nibble, pulling right at the Nyaromon's ear.

At a glance? One might not think twice.

At a second glance? It would look very much off. Underneath that yellow fur was a Nyaromon in distress, tail frayed out with fur as it desperately gripped around the Meicoomon's arm. One of the coon's claws gripped right around the smaller digimon's mouth, desperate mewlings unable to carry beyond the bouncy castle - and a decidedly red tint stained the Nyaromon's yellow fur, several scratches already dug deep into its sides.

Despite all this, the Meicoomon herself simply casually flicked her tail behind, nonthreatening in pose towards the two onlookers.

"Mmm.~"

Completely oblivious, in fact - the Meicoomon there was simply enjoyed its catch!

It was just, perhaps, a few moment's hesitation... but that span might have marked one of the biggest regrets of Haru's young life.

As both kind words and muffled screams were presented to this strange feline, the Meicoomon seemed completely ignorant of Haru's presence - or perhaps she simply thought that the words of a mere human weren't enough to stop her. Nonetheless, as the tamer stood stunned, the feline simply moved the process along. Looking down at the panicked Nyaromon, she gave a chuckle, and a small lean back of her head...

... Before diving right forward, her fangs effortlessly slipping into the hapless in-training's back. Her scream only echoed out for a fraction of a second, before her frame dissolved into a mass of red data - a color that lasted only for a moment, as it had effortlessly turned blue, loaded directly into the Meicoomon's chest.

Mere feet away from the tamer. Heck, maybe she'd even feel the data pass by her face.

Only afterwards would the Meicoomon even notice Haru, and with a curious tilt of its head, it would simply try and move to walk around her... before she would lock eyes with Tawna. Her eyes widened, expression brightening as she gave a warm chuckle:

"Mei! Mei! Another Mei!"

Her tone wasn't that of malice or aggression - no, these were the words of a child who had found a fond playmate! She gave an excited giggle, running on all fours to playfully circle around the other Meicoomon!

Yes, if the motions had just been a few seconds apart. If Haru and Tawna had not witnessed the act that had just happened, Tawna might have just been awkwardly trying to push away an overly friendly Meicoomon, while Haru chuckled in the distance. But as it stood, this wasn't the case.

The tamer's presence continued to be entirely ignored by the cat - she wasn't important, not in the face of another Meicoomon! The cat simply continued to slip around, giving occasional steps forward, before jolting back and circling around in the opposite direction. She seemed more like an energetic kitten than a menace, genuinely happy and curious to see another one of her own kind around. Only one glance was shared to Haru - a passing look over the shoulder, given right when Tawna shot a look to her tamer.

Those words drew her attention right back. And at them, the Meicoomon stopped, confused, tilting her head. "What am I doing? Silly - the same as you!" The feline then moved to the edge of the castle, peering around the corner, before looking right back to Tawna:

"Chase off the birds! I'll give you half of what I get!"

Well, wasn't that curious! "You're not? Then why are you here?" The Meicoomon, more confused than anything else, simply gave a disappointed turn of her head. Honestly, this other Meicoomon was starting to seem quite strange to her - what made Tawna act like this? As Tawna continued to speak, though, a bright light of realization flashed into the Meicoomon's eyes. Yes, she realized:

Tawna simply didn't have enough data yet! "Its only dangerous until we're stronger than them!" Her response was paired with a chuckle, truly thinking that Tawna was just being silly, and perhaps even a bit of a coward. It was just natural to the Meicoomon: if you couldn't handle a threat now, you could handle it later. It might just take a few more 'notches' on the belt to get there.

Like this, the Meicoomon thought that she was giving a convincing answer to her new friend. 'Come along', she thought, 'let's hurry and make those fears of weakness melt away'! They had a lot of easy data to round up - and then they could go after the Swanmon, and then the surrounding guard. The plan was foolproof, in her mind - but Tawna's last point didn't match anything that was said before.

'If she tried and continued this'? She tilted her head: what else was there? "You strange." The somber expression on the other Meicoomon was absolutely foreign to her - and at that realization, the Meicoomon would pad on forward. She didn't attack - she'd merely try and poke at Tawna with her paw.

"Did something happen? Maybe Mei can help! Let me look!"

Why was the Meicoomon important? More than any other of Tawna's points, that first line just earned a confused and curious tilt of her head. "... But that doesn't answer..." No, no, this other Meicoomon wasn't going to answer her.

More interesting to the Meicoomon was the next point: her ears stood on end, and she gave an elated smile! "Oh, so then we can skip up to them! I'll catch up to you real quick, don't worry!" She would let Tawna boast - but if she was telling the truth, then she could start with more substantial meals already! Well, provided the other coon would cooperate.

Which seemed far and far less likely each moment. Indeed, the Meicoomon was naive, but she had quite a curious nature about her: a mere touch at Tawna's frame proved useless, as the other cat had no idea what to look for in this sort of thing. But there was definitely something off, from at least her perspective. But there was one word she did understand:

Change.

There was a variable. And the Meicoomon wanted to know what it was: for the first time...

... Her eyes met Haru's. "Is this what made change?" Regardless of Tawna's answer, the Meicoomon would start to approach, padding right over in the tamer's direction, a curious-yet-disappointed look in her eyes. Was she really taking Tawna at face value?

Or was she thinking of Haru's value as another meal?

Well... well, that was actually a question - one that boiled down to 'why was the Meicoomon seeking power at all'? The feline gave a chuckle, figuring Tawna as just her 'silly self' for another few moments: "Oh, that's easy! I'll..."

Her tone came to a dead stop, a red tint entering her cheeks from embarrassment. Briefly, the feline would sit down, crossing her hands, thinking as hard as it could at the question at hand. Heck, one could almost think that steam was coming up from her head. "I... guess I'll know when I'm stronger?" Even now, she seemed unsure...

But her curiosity in Haru was far greater than that simple question. She'd step quite a few yards forward, up until Tawna would step into her path - the Meicoomon's head even bumping against the other cat's leg! "Nyah... I look because you made this one different!" Shaking out her head from the bump, her ears flicked at another interesting question. Did she feel guilty? "Guilt? Guilt is feeling... when data left behind, right?"

Tawna managed to interject another question: what was friendship? What was her name? The coon blinked blankly in Tawna's direction, tilting her head. "You not friend?" Her voice even seemed a little sad at the tone... but if anything, Tawna's words were slowly starting to chisel through whatever shell was here. If they had a little more time-

"Haru! Tawna! Where are you two at?" Echoing from around the bouncy castle, the Swanmon's unfortunately-timed call reached their ears. "Visiting time is over! I need to take you two back to the gate!"

BIRD! Hearing the delicious sound of a distracted Swanmon, Meicoomon seemingly forgot entirely about Tawna and Haru's existence, and instead made a beeline to the bouncy castle. Left uncontested, it would start to scale the wall, climbing upwards, attempting to greedily sneak a peek around the side. The stinger on its tail gave a twitch, the predator in pursuit of its next target.