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Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy [Obs/Shroom]
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Post by Nobuhiko Yomi on Nov 26, 2018 23:49:23 GMT
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Day 1 Day 7? Entry 1
Sorry about the mix-up. It is hard to tell the difference between night and day, as there is barely any sun to go around. My name is Nobuhiko Yomi, and I am ... trapped here. This is my journal. I decided to start keeping one, in order to help center my thoughts. Also, in case of my untimely demise, maybe someone would find it and learn of what happened to me. If you find this journal outside of my possession, please return it to Tokyo, Shibuya Ward, Uehara District, Nishihara 3.
I don't know where to start... I'm trapped in this strange, dark place, surrounded by monsters. I only have a very vague idea where I am, and absolutely nowhere to go to. These creatures call themselves 'digimon', they live here. Most of them I have seen so far are frightening. They have claws and teeth, and spines and look like creatures from some sort of wretched fantasy land. Most of them live in Fragment Village, which is a glorified heap of rubble and scrap furnished into primitive buildings. A nice digimon named Cano brought me here. It's safer than out there, in the barren wilderness.
I have no idea how to return home. I haven't seen a single human around so far. I might be the only one. A kind Witchmon, Morwena, allowed me to stay at her inn, in exchange for me helping her around. I fetch drinks and do dishes, and wash the floors and tables, in exchange for food and board. It's the only thing I'm useful for, because I have small fingers that are less likely to drop stuff. Most of these creatures have claws.
I'm still hoping this is a dream of some kind... A very bad, very long dream. But dreams usually do not last that long. It's a nightmare. I cannot sleep, much. Whenever I close my eyes, I keep hearing voices.
Entry end.
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Ever since the whims of fate threw her here, Yomi was living a wretched existence. Frightened, desperate, and confused, she clung to what little remained of her sense of normalcy. Converting one of her school notebooks to become a makeshift diary. Something to fill out during her short breaks, or before sleeping. Cano, the Strabimon who she ran into in the Forgotten Wastelands, had dropped her off in the Fragment Village, like he promised. Even putting a word out for her to the local innkeeper, the Witchmon Morwena.
She was more than happy to take the girl in. After all, it was like having a free worker, ready and desperate to work for food and a cot. And so, Yomi did. Having a roof over her head felt like such a blessing. Morwena was a ruthless taskmaster, immediately piling up duties to keep her new 'helper' busy. But Yomi was happy to do it. Being busy helped keep her mind from falling into the pits of despair.
Most digimon living here were... wretched and malformed in some way. Looking like freaks from a runaway circus. Odd body proportions, bodies made up of junk data, some of them were literally goo monsters! After a few days, Yomi was still unable to get used to them. And they were giving the girl odd looks too. Still wearing her school uniform, which she tried to keep clean, the girl was an odd sight in such a seedy bar. Going back and forth delivering drinks and grub. Much to the delight of the Witchmon.
"My my, dear... You're such an excellent aide to have around here! Three days in, and not a single broken glass! That's far less than I did back when I had to run the show all by myself! If it isn't a stroke of luck you got dropped on my shoulders! Kukuku~" - Morwena chuckled, as she placed another bowl of grub and a drink on a platter, for Yomi to pick up.
"Of course, Morwena-san. I'm very grateful you're looking after me." - Yomi muttered the usual platitude, not wanting to get on the woman's bad side. But her eyes under those crackled glasses looked very sad. She picked up the plate, her shoes clacking against the wooden floor of the bar, as she went to serve another customer. Making sure not to step on a paw, a tail, or a tentacle.
I wonder what my friends are doing... They might think I'm dead... I might as well be...
Depressing thoughts kept spinning inside her head, as she approached a table where there were two weird creatures sitting. One of them looking like a freaky mouse, and the other - like a man in a gatomon costume.
"Here is your order, dear customers. Please, enjoy your stay at the Datavault. Call me if you need anything else." - Yomi mumbled before going back, to pick up another platter.
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Post by Katherine Jasso on Nov 27, 2018 17:46:01 GMT
Being a foreign student in Japan, Katherine was more than used to be blatantly stared at. In the school, street or restaurants, it was easy for her to raise everyone’s attention. Maybe because of her green eyes or her Hispanic features; whatever the reason was, all the eyes were on her more often than not. This is why the Dark Area being no different didn’t manage to bother her much. It was like these creatures had never seen a human, really. And, as a matter of fact, there weren’t any humans around, at least to be seen right now! She had disembarked Jazz’s Moosemon form upon reaching this odd village in the middle of nowhere, while her partner slide-evolved into her Chohakkaimon form; the green-haired girl wearing a pig costume Katherine had gotten used to seeing already. Her partner was still not able to go back to Lopmon; the cute bunny she had met upon reaching Rustport town over three months ago.
A sigh that denoted pure boredom escaped Jazz, while she looked at her surroundings. It was a very murky and creepy place. Everyone seemed to be about to start a fight and looked at everyone (especially at the human leisurely walking around town) with less than friendly intentions. Even the Tayichi’tai Stronghold looked better than this forgotten-by-god place. If this was the closest thing the Dark Area had to a city, then no wonder why Amelie had formed the Deeplane City Council.
“So this is basically a scouting visit, isn’t it, Jasso?” Jazz asked, her mouth wrinkling a bit, while they kept going through the ‘streets’ of Fragment Village. “That’s right. Amy wants us to see if we can find anything of interest around this place. Potential enemies, potential allies, we’re basically just looking for anything that might seem out of place, so keep those eyes open.” The teenager replied, her green eyes scanning the area carefully, trying to catch anything of interest.
“So… no fighting, huh?” Jazz asked, disappointment visibly seen in her face. “No, not for now.” Her tamer replied, trying to leave this as clear as possible. “Whatever we do, we should avoid causing a mess. After all, we’re alone in here, and we don’t know how dangerous these guys actually are.” She remarked, knowing her partner wouldn’t feel too pleased with such explanation. And, as a matter of fact, she didn’t. “Hphm.” She simply raised her head to the other side, showing nothing but the fact of being unconvinced by this.
“I know you have trouble to get this, but you can’t actually beat whatever you face. And you should know that already.” Ouch, right on that part of her pride the Luke had touched after that beat up. It wasn’t like the last mission had turned out to be piece of cake, either. The path they were following brought them to some type of Inn they immediately identified as the ‘Datavault’, thanks to a very abandoned sign by the entrance, that actually seemed to be in perfect harmony with the looks of the place: uncouth and appalling.
Without uttering a single word, both the teenager and her digimon partner took a seat in one of the tables simply scattered. Maybe someone could come here to take their order, right? This was a good opportunity to hear about rumors or gather any kind of information. “Remember. Let me know if you see som…” Katherine interrupted herself mid-sentence. Seeing something odd? What’s a bigger oddity than a girl around her age in a school uniform, apparently waitressing? Her green eyes had found the oddity themselves. Fixing her black synthetic leather jacket, she quickly whispered something to Jazz. “Look at that. It’s a human girl.”
“She is.” Jazz blinked a couple of times, a bit of disbelief taking over her countenance. “Is she wearing a… uniform?” Why? Why would she be wearing a uniform right in the middle of an abandoned place in the middle of nowhere? Who does that anyway? Other than…
“She looks exactly like you when you arrived into this world.” The hog-girl giggled. And she was actually darn right! Katherine had actually arrived at the Digital World wearing a school uniform and being in the middle of nowhere too. “I’ve got to talk to this girl.” The human muttered to her partner. “Then do it.” The Chohakkaimon replied, a deadpan on her face.
“No. That might get her in trouble. Let’s just wait for her to come here to take our order or something.” It was the smart move, wasn’t it? Jazz and Katherine had probably found what they were looking for in this place… something definitely out of the ordinary.
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Post by Nobuhiko Yomi on Nov 27, 2018 19:10:01 GMT
One good thing about this work was the automatism of everything.
Going back and forth and reciting the same line again and again did that to a person. There was a reason why such jobs were at the entry level. Anyone could do them. Even high school girls like Yomi, who did not have many, if any marketable skills. And schools did not teach any of those anyway. It was also a good way to distract oneself from the misery of the situation. Her aspirations were never high... But certainly better than being a waitress in a dingy bar, with smoke floating in the air, and everything smelling of cheap alcohol, grub, and who knows what else.
Another customer...
The thought barely registered as Yomi noticed the door opening and closing with the corner of her eye. Having delivered another platter, she took her pen and a small book, to write up the order, and approached the table the new entrants occupied. The girl's eyes dim and disinterested, as she approached their table, the lower half of her face hidden behind the notebook.
"Hello welcome to Datavault we are very happy to see you here what may I bring ..." - Yomi muttered the usual greetings without bothering to make pauses between words, but as she rose her eyes to briefly look at the clients, she found herself frozen in place. Right in front of her sat a digimon wearing a weird plush suit, and opposite to it was... a human! Another human! Out here! In a place where she was told no humans ever ventured! The girl froze in place, blinking a few times, the broken glasses almost sliding off of her nose. "... you.
Is it real?
Yomi had reasons to doubt it. Her mind had played plenty of tricks on her so far. But if it were... One could see those eyes becoming lively again, a glimmer of hope appearing in them once more. She tumbled from one foot to another, not sure how to approach this. This was possibly a chance to escape this place! And yet... the few interactions Yomi had with the locals taught her two things. That nothing was as it seemed, and that nothing was free. But she had to make sure.
"E-excuse me for the rude question, but..." - she said and leaned a bit closer, bringing her voice to a hushed whisper. "Are you a human?"
With the variety of forms digimon have displayed, she had to make sure.
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Post by Katherine Jasso on Nov 28, 2018 5:24:23 GMT
There was no doubt why this human girl (and even Katherine herself) stood out in a place like this. The environment was dull and gloomy. If a tamer accompanied by a pig digimon clearly raised some gazes, it was only logical a lady alone wearing a school uniform could stand out even more.
Even when, at first, Katherine had held her doubts regarding what the girl was doing here, once she approximated the table, it was crystal clear she was waitressing. The only question left now would be… why? Well, Katherine would find out something that might lead to an answer to this rather soon. After reciting something that seemed like she was just too used to saying, the teenager actually took her eyes off the book she was supposed to write the order on and looked at her. Katherine’s green eyes were affixed on the girl from the start, a bit more opened than what’s normal. A couple of seconds of silence ensued, while Katherine just stared at her and she seemed to be processing what she had just seen. Jazz blatantly stared at the human too. It was easy to get a lackluster feeling by looking at the schoolgirl into her eyes. Was it sadness? Despair? Or maybe… pure resignation.
The girl’s first question felt pretty normal, considering where they were. But the way she asked it lead Katherine to think she was more of a newcomer than what she originally thought! Truth be told, giving the surprise of such sight, the Spaniard had asked the same thing to herself for a second when she saw her. It was a weird place to find a schoolgirl at, no doubt. Katherine couldn’t avoid giggling a little after hearing her whisper. She had a soft, shy voice. The green-eyed leaned a little towards her too, maybe it was for the best to whisper? Was it a bad idea to confess she was a human out loud in a place like that. It wouldn’t be too surprising either.
“I am.” She replied, issuing a whisper too. “What are you doing in a placed like this?” Was the question that immediately followed her response. She could almost swear she could feel this girl didn’t want to be in this place just by looking into her eyes. The tamer then leaned back to her original position, realizing she had missed the most important part. “I’m Jasso Katherine.” She introduced herself, putting her last name first. “This is Jazz. She’s my digimon partner.” She said, giving a quick tilt of her head to a side, pointing at the digimon.
“Hi there.” Jazz raised her hand, still looking at the girl with the most inquisitive eyes possible, a little startled even, and constantly blinking.
“Are you alright? What’s your name?” Katherine continued whispering, but using as much of a kind, warm, and welcoming voice as she could. She needed this girl to know everything was going to be fine.
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Post by Nobuhiko Yomi on Nov 28, 2018 15:32:13 GMT
Yomi looked at the girl with a bewildered look, when she giggled, of all things, in reply to her quarry.
It looked surreal, in a way. That another human was here, and feeling so... comfortable about it. There was no fear, no disgust or wariness on the Spanish girl's face, she was perfectly alright with being here. And that is what was bizarre. Nothing like Yomi, who felt skittish and lowkey terrified of every visitor to come to the cantina. Once more, she doubted if all this was some kind of delirium she was trapped in, but that theory has proven to be unlikely. There were too many things she never even thought about, including this girl's face. There was no way her mind could've thought something like this out of nothing. Eventually, she snapped back into reality, jumping from her train of thought, as the two introduced themselves as Katherine and Jazz. The waitress girl bowed lightly, and replied, quietly.
"I'm Yomi... Nobuhiko Yomi. I'm uh... I don't know how I got here. One day I was just going home from school, and the next moment I end up in the middle of this... ghastly place. Morwena the Witchmon was nice to have me stay around here, but she..."
"Yomi! What's the holdup! There are customers waiting to be served, dishes waiting to be cleaned, and tables wiped, you know!" - Morwena's bark was heard from across the dining hall, making Yomi tuck her head into her shoulders. This position was her only safe space in this wretched place, and she wanted to hold on to it with all her strength. But... she wasn't sure if these people would even be able to help her. For all she knew, they could have been trapped as well.
"S-sorry! I'll hurry up!" - the girl replied back, before looking at Katherine with desperation in her eyes. "I'm very very sorry... I cannot talk more. There are chores to be done and Morwena-san is a strict task-master. Could I get you anything?" - Yomi passed them the menu to look through. There wasn't much to choose from, as all the choices were equally cheap and unappetizing. But being the only cantina in a 100 mile radius meant that nobody would complain. While the girl waited for the orders to be made, she managed to squeeze another sheepish question out of herself.
"Do you know how to get home?"
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Post by Katherine Jasso on Nov 28, 2018 23:56:09 GMT
Sometimes things are not what they seem. And especially with Digimon-related matters, looks can be deceiving. This was not the case of Nobuhiko Yomi. Just upon noticing her presence, the first thing Katherine thought was that the girl seemed lost, clueless and scared. And, actually, that was… exactly what she was! It didn’t take the green-eyed to listen to more than a sentence coming from her to be able to tell this. “It’s very nice to meet you, Nobuhiko.” The teenager uttered, bowing her head a little and adding the respectful ‘-san’ suffix as she would always do when referring to her. “That’s terrible.” Well, there was one thing Katherine and the girl with broken glasses didn’t share: Yomi hadn’t come here by her own will. And that made her situation, in all honesty, even worst. Katherine’s green eyes shifted towards Jazz, who was still staring at the waitress, just when Yomi finished her short tale.
“Of all places you could’ve ended up in, you got the Dark Area. Talk about though luck.” The pig-girl sighed, lowering her head. Yes, it really wasn’t a comment that helped her situation at all, but it wasn’t less true. The Dark Area was probably the worst place Katherine knew someone could end up inside of upon arriving at the Digital World.
Before she could throw any sort of reply to the girl, a voice had yelled from the other side of the place. Apparently her boss wanted Yomi to get to work, and that made perfect sense. “I understand.” Katherine nodded, and took a look at the menu. It all seemed… not really tasty. To be honest, she and her partner had only come here for the rumors their ears could catch during their stay, and now that they had actually found a human, anything else was irrelevant, including the food. “Maybe a glass of water?” Katherine asked, putting the menu down. She had seen multiple establishments have water in this world, even though they rarely put it in the menu. “I’m really not interested in anything else about this awful place” She added, whispering.
“Well… we are interested in you.” Jazz mentioned looking at Yomi, with a very non-chalant tone. “But she’s not on the menu.” Katherine rolled her eyes after hearing her partner’s comment. “She very well could be… this place looks like they can sell very creepy stuff. We have to get her out of here, Jasso.” The pig girl sighed once again. Katherine just shook her head at this first thought, regarding what they could see in here to then turn her head to Yomi again as she was addressing her.
At first, the teenager just blinked at her peer, a little astonished by such question. “Of course.” She nodded her head repeatedly. “It… won’t be easy from here, but I can help you.” This ensued as a whisper. “Maybe you should talk to her boss first.” Jazz suggested, her chin resting on her right hand, and throwing a glance to the other side of the dining hall, trying to actually see Morwena. “I guess you’re right.” Katherine frowned, denoting a bit of worriedness. She then realized she was actually planning about getting the girl out of here without asking her first! “We can help you go back home, but you would need to leave this place, Nobuhiko.” Knowing Yomi probably didn’t have much time left before going back to work, she only threw one question. “Do you want to come with us?" “Should we try and talk to this Witchmon or you want to do it yourself?” Jazz had her light brown eyes affixed on the human. This was probably a situation to be careful with.
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Post by Nobuhiko Yomi on Nov 29, 2018 6:42:19 GMT
"... Yeah, it is..."
Yomi would not argue about her situation being terrible. For all means and purposes, she was basically slaved to the kitchen, forced to work for food and board alone. It was better than dying out there in the outskirts of the village, but... it was not a long-term solution. This place was not her home, it was filled with monsters, and the girl just wanted to go home back to her friends and parents. But then the strange digimon said something about interest, which made Yomi's cheeks flare red.
"Interested in me? How?"
And the very next moment, as she heard the answer, her eyes started to sparkle with excitement. For the first time since the beginning of Yomi's bizarre adventure, did she meet someone willing and wanting to take her home. A few digimon she met, including Cano and Morwena, were kind enough to keep her alive... but neither was willing to spend time, effort, and resources to go anywhere beyond that. And that was... understandable. The Dark Area was a harsh place. Resources were scarce. Those who did not pull their weight perished... So meeting one of her own kin willing to help brought a wide, goofy smile on Yomi's face. Her first chance of going home! Escaping this nightmare and returning to where she belonged! Whatever 'plan' this land had for her, she wanted no part in it!
"Please, please help me get home... I'll do anything to get out of here... Two glasses of water coming right up!"
Saying that out loud, the waitress girl scurried to the back of the tavern, to get what she was ordered. A little bit of small talk between her and the Witchmon sitting at the counter, and she returned, carrying two glasses of water in the tray. The happiness on her face looked deflated now, somewhat, her confidence as if shot through the foot. Truth to be told, she did not dare to ask lady Morwena, just yet. It would've been the right thing to do, but at the same time...
Placing the glasses of water on the table, Yomi sighed a little.
"If you could ask Morwena-san for me... She took me in after I came to the village, when nobody else would. I ... kind of owe her for her kindness. But I don't have anything to repay her with... or you."
The girl tucked her head into the shoulders. If need be, she'd run from here, but... it felt wrong somehow to just ditch like that. Fixing her broken glasses on her nose again, Yomi looked at the two with a pleading stare. She really was a stick caught in the torrent of a rushing stream, wasn't she?
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Post by Katherine Jasso on Nov 29, 2018 16:20:42 GMT
Nothing else to argue, then. This girl wanted to go back home and she had all the right to do it! Even if… Well, they’d probably talk about that later, right? It was not the time to muse about other things right now. The main priority should be getting Nobuhiko Yomi out of the Datavault.
Katherine and Jazz chatted while the girl went to get the water for them. “I wonder what she is.” Jazz muttered, staring at the girl going behind the counter. “That’s a good question.” The green-eyed made a pause, trying to reach an answer but, to be honest, everything from this point on would be a supposition. “You could think she’s not a tamer since there’s no digimon by her side, but it is possible for a tamer to spend some time in this world before finding their partner, I think.” It was impossible to say anything with certainty right now. Maybe talking with her further regarding this matter could get them somewhere. “In any case, our top priority should be getting her out of here.” Seeing her smile for the first time felt nice, it was heartwarming for Katherine, and it only made her more interested in helping her get out of this place.
Once the teenager was back, her smile had worn off and she seemed a bit preoccupied. “Don’t worry, I understand.” A shook of the curly-haired girl’s head accompanied these words. “You don’t need to repay me with anything at all. But it probably wouldn’t be nice to just escape from this place, after everything Morwena has done for you.” Without mentioning one could only wonder about the consequences that would bring. The best idea would definitely be speaking to Morwena directly about this.
“Let’s go, Jazz.” Katherine stood up, leaving her glass of water half-full (or half empty). The Chohakkaimon had finished hers and just followed the girl. “I’ll do the talking now. Please, just stay back.” The teenager warned her partner. She knew this form of Jazz wasn’t at all good with the talking and was definitely more skilled when it came to crushing.
Followed by the pig-girl, Katherine approached the counter, where a blonde digimon wearing a red velvet suit and hat was casually sitting. “H-Hi there, Miss Morwena.” Katherine gave a small bow to the innkeeper. “My name is Katherine.” She could only hope it wouldn’t be too obvious she was very nervous. “As you can see, I’m a human, just like Nobuhiko, your waitress.” She started explaining, making small pauses to carefully choose her words. “You probably know she doesn’t belong to this world, so I would like to take her back to our world, if that’s possible.” Another brief silence ensued. “I-I know she’s your waitress here, so I would like to know what it’d be needed for me to take her with me. Maybe I can repay you with money or something like that. What would you like?” The table was set, now it was time for Morwena to set the conditions to free her employe.
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Post by Nobuhiko Yomi on Nov 29, 2018 21:07:03 GMT
The Witchmon Morwena was probably the most human-looking digimon in the bar, besides the two humans already there. She wore a bright red dress, with a big conic witch hat, and had a cat-like tattoo on her shoulder. She also had a cat, which often wandered about the place, or sat on top of her hat, which the owner paid no heed to. The only thing that gave away her digimon nature was a pair of huge hands, which were three times larger, and covered with red gloves. She smiled, seeing the two approach the counter, and leaned forward, resting her bosom on top of it, giving the girl the most mischievous grin, looking her over.
"Oh my oh mine... Another human! I haven't seen your kind in a while, but then here you are, popping from under the snow... like daisies! Are you looking for a place to stay too? Somewhere safe and warm to hide from the cold, cruel world outside? I could certainly use another pair of capable hands around here. It's so hard to handle tiny glasses and bowls with these..." - the witch giggled, wiggling her large fingers towards Katherine.
"You are not like the other one though... You look like you have a... hmm... what do they call it... A stick up your ass? No, that's not it. Ah yes, a backbone."
The last comment was both a joke, and a mean jab at Yomi, who was fiddling behind with her orders and pretended to be busy. Hearing out why Katherine was here, Morwena smiled, and showed another difference she had with humans. her teeth were triangular and looked very, very sharp. She clapped her hands together, fingers intertwining.
"So! You're here to take away my cute little human waitress, and sentence the Datavault to the doom and gloom of broken plates and dishes, are you? I suppose it would be a shame to have her slowly whittle away in this place. She is a pretty young lady, even by digimon standards. Kukuku. But why isn't she here? Lets hear what she has to say, shall we? Yomi-chan! Yomi-chan! Come here for a second!"
Yomi heard that call, and soon appeared, holding the platter in her hands and having her head tucked, looking away, timidly, as the appeared by Katherine's side. She really wanted to avoid this talk, but it seemed that there was no way around it.
"Yes, Morwena-sama?" - she asked. The digimon stood up from her seat and walked out of the counter. Nonchalantly walking behind the two, her large hand brushing over Yomi's shoulder, making her shiver.
"Your friend told me you wanted to leave my precious cantina, and I wanted to hear it from you. Are you certain that is what you truly desire? I did not lie when I said that most humans were very far away from here. This woman is... an oddity, to say the least. Someone you know for about five minutes. She promises to bring you home, safely. But for what reason, mm? There are all sorts of dangers out there in the wilderness. You were lucky to run into Cano, when you did. It could have been so much worse. Those lakes of blood aren't there for show, you know~" - the digimon whispered into Yomi's ear, as she stood still, feeling absoultely petrified, as those sharp, taloned fingers passed against her back. "So... what shall it be, dear? Would you trust these strangers? Or would you rather stay here, where it is safe? I will take good care of you~" That tone was almost motherly, if it wasn't for a subtle sinister undertone to it.
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Post by Katherine Jasso on Nov 30, 2018 1:43:54 GMT
It wasn’t hard to see Morwena’s interest in Nobuhiko Yomi or any kind of human aid around the bar, actually. After all, she seemed to be on the winning end of the deal, having the girl waitress inside her inn just in exchange for some food and a roof. The next thought probably didn’t have much to do with the whole matter but that didn’t stop it to go through Katherine’s head: her hands were huge.
While the witch continued her speech, both Katherine and Jazz just remained silent, listening to every word. It was definitely not the time or place to look for trouble. Then, another unrelated thought appeared: her teeth were scary.
It was only logical the innkeeper wanted to bring Yomi into the conversation. Jazz just turned her head and stared at the girl while she walked to the counter area. Wasn’t “doom and gloom of broken plates" a little too much, anyways? Well yes, probably, but it was still not the time to say anything about it. Katherine took a step to the side to be right next to Yomi, trying to physically tell her everything was going to be fine.
Jazz’s mouth wrinkled as she saw the hatted lady stand up and walk behind the two humans. She didn’t feel too comfortable having her that close to her tamer, but there wasn’t much that she could do right now without getting in trouble.
What Morwena was doing now was crystal clear: she was trying to scare Yomi regarding the things she could find outside the Datavault so she wouldn’t want to leave. Was she lying? Not really. The Dark Area was definitely a scary and dangerous place, and not many humans could be found around. It was not a certainty that the witch didn’t care at all for Yomi; probably she did, but the fact that all of these words were attempting to deter her intentions of leaving was pretty obvious. Katherine just lowered her gaze, while she heard the witch tell all of this to the girl with broken glasses, before finally asking the decisive question.
A brief silence engulfed the place. Morwena was right, wasn’t she? How could Katherine ask this girl to trust her, when they only knew each other for around five minutes? Being inside the Dark Area, a place where so many dangers lurked, it was only logical she wouldn’t want to risk going into the wilderness just because of the crazy premise that she could go back home. A sigh escaped the green-eyed, accompanied by a sad countenance that just didn’t leave her face. She was starting to give up.
… No. Not like this.
“Hey! Listen…” Katherine raised her arm, interrupting Jazz mid-sentence. It was nice to know her partner was here to support her in a moment like this, but she had to do this by herself. The Spaniard’s sad expression had rapidly turned into a firm, confident one.
“I’m sorry Mrs. Morwena, but it’s now like that.” She blurted, raising her tone of voice just a little bit. “I know the Dark Area is a very dangerous place for a human girl to be alone, and that’s exactly why I need to get Nobuhiko out of here. This is not a territory alien to humans anymore. My group is now in the Dark Area and I’m not going to leave a human out on her own in a place like this. The Deeplane City Council is here to stay.” Her speech was determined, not a single trace of doubt could be felt in her voice.
“Nobuhiko might have been lucky so far and I’m very thankful for you giving her a place to stay but…” It was time for her to demonstrate she had changed. She was not the scared girl that arrived into the Digital World three months ago, she wasn’t scared of getting close to people anymore. Of course, it still wasn’t easy, she still had trouble bonding with humans and the recurring feeling that she wasn’t going to be accepted was still there. But if she wanted to make an impact on people, on this world, she had to face those insecurities. “…I won’t allow her to stay here any longer. She’s scared and lost, and I’ve got to help her. And even if we’re in a pretty dangerous environment, I promise…” Katherine then reached for Yomi’s hand and held it tightly, intertwining her fingers between hers. “… Jazz and I would never let anything bad happen to her!”
A brief silence ensued until Jazz promptly broke it. “That’s right!”. It always filled her with pride and zeal when she got to see her partner talk liked that. Katherine shifted her gaze towards Yomi, looking at the girl into her eyes, giving her a warm smile
After everything that had transpired, after losing that battle against Luke and getting into the Council, a new Katherine had been born. If she wanted to defeat the enemies she had targeted, she needed to face herself first. Was she less afraid of getting close to other people? No. But she was sure as hell she was willing to face those fears.
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Post by Nobuhiko Yomi on Nov 30, 2018 7:28:21 GMT
Yomi was... unsure.
She stayed silent during the lengthy exchange between the two, feeling those large claws on her back, before turning around and denying her 'employer' the opportunity to do so. It was just creepy, the touching, just like pretty much everything about this place. Morwena's words made much sense, of course. It was ... a safer choice to stay here. Back home, mom always told her never to go anywhere with strangers. And back home, she would have thought twice about trusting anybody who she'd known for so little.
But... things were different now. For all of Morwena's niceties, she was one of them, the digimon. Creatures who, in Yomi's mind, were talking monsters still. Katherine was the first human she met in this ghastly place. A new anchor of normalcy. A promise that everything would be as it was, before. That there is an escape from this dark and gloomy place, where the most of her aspirations would have been limited to being a waitress and a dishwasher. And that lent the girl all the credibility she needed. But there was another thing too...
Morwena was not about to give up so easily, though. Her eyebrow quirked at the mention of the Deeplane City Council. It did ring a bell, somewhat.
"A Deeplane City, hmm?" - the Witchmon sounded rather incredulous. But then, she remembered something. "Ah, that name rings a bell. A visitor to my tavern told me once about it. A bit of a stretch to call it a city, dear girl. More like a... dug-out, with a few tents, and less than a dozen inhabitants. Have you even managed to muster a fence?" - she chuckled, not really believing in the success of the endeavor. And purposefully belittling their accomplishments to make the option less attractive. Yomi looked at her very intently, as if trying to see something on the digimon's face. But then, she felt that hand taking hers. It was... probably what sold her to the idea.The girl with the broken glasses blinked a few times, but then tightened her own grip around that hand.
She heard all she needed to know.
"Thank you for your kindness, Morwena-sama. I will not forget it. But Katherine is right, I need to get back. I have friends and family back home. I cannot leave them behind. I must go."
The Witchmon looked at the two, back and forth, before her eyes went down, noticing hands holding together, a very smarmy-looking grin appearing on her face. She gave a wink, and shrugged, turning around and returning back to the counter.
"Ah, oh well. You win some - you lose some. Alright, you can have Yomi all to yourself if you want to. But you are taking away my most prized employee, who can handle all sorts of tiny delicate things with those beautiful fingers of hers. So... a compensation is in order! I'd say about... 1000 bits. And you can go wherever you wish!"
Sly witch Morwena was going to squeeze out the last bit she could, out of this situation.
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Post by Katherine Jasso on Nov 30, 2018 12:27:23 GMT
The only thing Katherine’s smile did after hearing those words coming from Yomi was widening up a lot more. Seeing how her burst of determination to convince the girl and stop Morwena’s deterrents worked felt good, very good. At first, she had mustered that smile only to make the girl feel comfortable, to give her some confidence, even though she was scared she might say no. But now it was different, she was genuinely happy to listen her say she was going with her. Of course, there were still some things that needed to be said, but those could wait until she was alone with her new peer. And, of course, until she had paid Morwena.
In all honesty, 1000 bits was not a very high amount of money in any other part of the Digital World. However, she had learned from her time around the Dark Area that the economy here was different. Which seemed like crumbs in other locations, could get you a long way in this area.
Now that everything seemed settled, Katherine let go of Yomi’s hand to take her D-Terminal out.
“Why don’t you use money from the group’s vault? I know we got some after Tayichi’tai and Kara-nam.” Jazz asked, showing an inquisitive expression.
“I’m not supposed to use that if it’s not for Council related stuff.” The green-eyed rushed to explain. “I’ll just use that to pay for the glasses of water and I’ll use my money to pay for what Morwena is charging us regarding Nobuhiko.” It would be as easy as transferring the money from her D-Terminal to any kind of money-receiving-machine the witch had in there. Once that was done, Katherine’s gaze would shift back to Yomi.
“Is there something you need to take with you? Were you carrying a bag or something when you arrived?” They were probably not coming back to this place, ever. So it was time for her to pick whatever she had around here, if anything.
“By the way…” However, it seemed like Jazz had something else to say. The pig-girl raised her finger to the sky to then lower it pointing at the Witchmon. “The fact that you’ve heard of us already tells us we’re on the right path. We’ve managed to do much more than a fence, and you’ll see the results very soon.” She just couldn’t not say the last word, could she? “The Dark Area is about to change forever, and you’re going to witness that for yourself.” A confident grin made its way to the digimon’s mouth as she uttered these words.
“Let’s go, we don’t want any trouble.” Katherine just muttered. She knew her partner was telling the truth, but it was probably a waste of time to engage in an argument about that right now. In her Lopmon from, Jazz would have known better than getting into this type of exchange, but once she got to the Chohakkaimon form, she was a very different creature.
Once the trio was out of the Datavault, they started walking towards the exit of Fragment Village. It was likely Yomi would have some questions regarding what was next, or how was she going to go back home. When it came to Katherine, it was time for some important questions to make herself. First, and foremost…
“So tell me, Nobuhiko.” She reached for the right pocket of her blue jeans to take out a small, purple and pink gadget, with two arrow-shaped buttons and a small screen. “This is a digivice. Have you ever seen one? Do you own one of these or something of the sorts?”
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Post by Nobuhiko Yomi on Nov 30, 2018 20:18:00 GMT
"Cha-ching! Congratulations, Yomi-chan! Someone bought you!"The Witchmon grinned, teasing the girl one last time, before accepting the money. All-n-all, this was a good deal for her. She got a week's worth of service to her cafeteria for free, and got to sell what she did not own in the first place for a 1000 credits. And in a place where barter remained common and few valuables were found, a thousand credits was a lot. Hearing the words of grandeur from the pig-costumed digimon, she laughed, and wiggled fingers at her. "Come back when your city's more than a few tents and a well, sweetie. Maybe I'll consider opening a bar there." - Morwena said endearingly, but patronizingly as well, not believing in this venture too well. "Wouldn't be the first city people tried building out there. Its remains usually end up here, in the fragment village."It did not take Yomi long to pack up her things. The only bag she had was her schoolbag, still full of her books and notes and pens she clung to desperately, as if scared that without these items from the material world, she would lose all connection and get stuck in here forever. Waving to the Witchmon for the last time, she ran out of the tavern, after Katherine and her digimon. So many questions were in her head. Who is she? What is Deeplane council? Do humans really have a city around here? How far away it is? Will they help me get home?But all of these questions would have their time and place. For now, all she knew was that this Katherine freed her from indentured service... And that she paid money for it too... Or whatever weird currency these creatures were using.Finally caught up and panting lightly, the girl with the broken glasses walked beside her two saviors. She was willing to answer almost everything, though one thing needed to be corrected first. "It's Yomi. Yomi is my first name... Nobuhiko's my last name, actually, eh-heh..." - Yomi chuckled, scratching behind the back of her head. "Thank you for saving me. If I get home, me and my family will be eternally grateful. I just want to get out of this terrible place..." - her shoulders began to shudder as she barely kept herself from bawling again. The emotional numbness of the past day crashing down with a vengeance. Though, she was distracted when Katherine pulled out her own digivice, presenting it to her. Yomi fixed her glasses back on her nose. "Huh... you have this thing too? I have one... One second..." - the girl dug in her backpack, before presenting her own. It was similar, yet different at the same time. There were fewer buttons, and those that were there resembled a pair of googly eyes and a toothy maw. It made an impression as if though the device stared at Katherine and her digimon. The color was different too. Black, with a contour around the screen, white,like covered in bone. There were ridges along the handle, like clawmarks. Not a very friendly device, if anything. "Do you know what this thing is? I mean... aside from identifying digimon and telling me of various ways they could disembowel me with... it doesn't do much." - Yomi shook the device a few times, making the googly eyes spin. "For how long you and your ... uh, friend have been here? And... why are you still here?" - the last part Yomi said quietly. It came to her only now, but... if this girl knew how to get home, why would she choose to stay in this miserable place full of creatures of wicked strength and power? It did not make sense.
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Post by Katherine Jasso on Dec 1, 2018 6:37:49 GMT
Even if Jazz wouldn’t have any trouble arguing during much more time with the Witchmon about Deeplane City and if it was a lost cause or not, Katherine knew it was a waste of time. She just took her digimon partner by the hand and dragged her out. Yomi had everything she had originally brought with her so they were ready to part.
“Morwena is definitely a character.” Katherine closed her eyes in relief from finally being out of the Datavault, while they walked through the ‘streets’ of Fragment Village.
“I can tell you which type of character she is.” Jazz’s mouth wrinkled while she frowned, looking back at the building they had just got out of. Her tamer decided to ignore this, and paid more attention to what Yomi was telling her.
“Oh. I know that.” Katherine blinked, staring at her peer, a little confused. “I just figured it would be weird for me to call you by your first name if I just met you.” She explained. There was a trace of surprise in her expression too. “I-I mean… as you can probably tell, I wasn’t born in Japan.” She waved her hands a little nervous. “But I do know people there might feel awkward if you call them by their first name just like that and I thought that since you are actually Japanese you could feel…” This always happened. She had spent almost a full year of her time living in Japan trying to get accustomed to NOT calling people by their first names and since she had gotten into the Digital World everyone wanted her to call them by their first names! Of course it was hard to change her mentality now.
The teenager just sighed, feeling a little hopeless. “I’m sorry.” She closed her eyes, trying to calm down. “’I’ll try calling you by your first name, if that makes you feel more comfortable. You can call me by my first name too, if you’d like.” She raised her gaze and, with a soft tilt of her head, mustered a smile to the girl.
Regarding more important matters… “Don’t mention it. You will get home. I would take you there myself, but the portals in my digivice had been malfunctioning. They could probably take us anywhere but where we want to go.” Her green eyes were affixed to the gadget she was holding as she let go another sigh. “I need to get this fixed.” Then, the reveal came.
“IT’S A D-TECTOR!” Jazz jumped in front of Yomi, holding the digivice with both hands, holding the girl’s hands too while she was at it. “What kind of digimon can you become!? How’s your spirit? This one is so creepy! I love it!”
“Jazz, stop! You’re making her nervous.” Katherine interjected. The frown on her face slowly vanished and she showed a smile. “That’s a D-Tector. It’s a different kind of digivice from mine. It means you can become a digimon by using it.” It was impossible to deny the curly-haired also thought spirit wielders were awesome. “It means you’re a spirit wielder. Jazz and I are kind of fans of the whole concept. We just find the whole process of becoming a digimon… amazing!" It was hard for her to hide her excitement regarding these subjects.
“Now that I think about it…” It was time to go back to reality. “… you probably don’t know what I’m talking about, do you?” The girl asked, mustering a dubious expression. “I am sorry!” She gave a short apologetic bowed to her new acquaintance, while they kept walking. Jazz eyes were still glimmering, while she was giving very low personal space to the girl.
“I think it’s better if you tell me what do you know about this world and about digimon before I can start explaining stuff.” Katherine raised her gaze, a finger over her lower lip. She then decided to answer Yomi’s inquiry. “It’s hard to answer that kind of question. See, time here goes faster than in our world. Exactly seven times faster, actually. If you spend seven hours here, just one hour passed in our world meanwhile. If you spend one week, just a day passed. It means if you spend two months here, that’s about a week inside of our world.” It was the first time she had to explain something like this, so she hoped she was doing it right. “So I think I’ve been inside this world for around three months in total, but it has just been a little more than a week since I found my digivice in our world.”
Katherine continued to elaborate on this. “Regarding the reason why I’m still here…” She then again made a pause to collect her thoughts, raising her gaze. “At first, I was just curious to know more about this world and these creatures. I hated my life inside our world so I just wanted something new and exciting. Later, I wanted to know why had I been chosen to enter a place like this. And while I was on the road to discovering that, I made friends I care about and who I must protect, so I can’t leave until I fulfill certain objectives."
“And of course, not until we discover everything this world has to offer to its fullest!” Jazz clenched a fist, excited, to then put it up in the air. “That’s what we call undying curiosity!” She roared. “Say, do you have undying curiosity, Yomi?”
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Post by Nobuhiko Yomi on Dec 1, 2018 13:08:53 GMT
"De... tector?"
Yomi did not expect such excitement about her seemingly useless toy.
And yet, the two almost jumped her upon seeing the strange thingymabob she had with herself. They were talking together, and there was so much the girl was having trouble puzzling it together. She looked exasperated, as her broken glasses slid back to the tip of her nose, making her readjust them and refocus the lenses. Spirits? Digimon? What?
"I uh... I have no idea what you guys are talking about. I cannot turn into a digimon! And if I could, I probably wouldn't! No offense there." - Yomi replied and shivered a little. So far, aside from the Witchmon who ran the show, everyone she had seen was ... monstrous. Slime, goo, deformed creatures and digimon that looked like they've been assembled on a scrapheap... The Strabimon she met at first was strange. Animalistic yet not revolting, in a weird sort of way. Either way, becoming one was not a prospect of excitement to her.
Though, looking at the Spaniard girl, Yomi could catch that she was a bit sad, mentioning home. Looking around here, this desolated place, the one with the broken glasses could not even imagine what kind of life did it had to take to choose this barren landscape and these strange creatures over real people. She could think a few examples, but decided just... not to go there. Not wanting to make assumptions of her gracious saviors. Instead, she just sighed, wrapping her arms around the schoolbag.
Briefly, she looked at the digimon in a pig suit jumping about, asking her if she had curiosity. And... a little part of her did. After all, nothing like this ever happened to anyone she knew! But at the same time... nobody would believe it either. And this was not an adventure, this was more akin to a nightmare. To be trapped and have so little control over her fate. The only reason she survived that long was because of the kindness of others. She shook her head.
"Undying curiosity? Uhhh... no. I barely ventured outside of my own district at home, in all my life. I understand why you'd want to stay here. But... I have family and friends who would want me back. It'd be... selfish of me to just leave them behind. I must get back home and... be a good daughter or something."
With that, the two girls and the digimon would continue their walk away from the village. Yomi was a bit quiet, wondering if she said anything wrong, there. Maybe rejecting all the knowledge like that was rude of her... So, she tried to fix it by asking some questions instead.
"Hey... You mentioned that you and some other humans were building a city somewhere... Helm's Deep, was it? Can you tell me more about it?"
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