A Bounty of Moonstone [Toki/Makoto]

Nearby, Toki walked along the forest path, appreciating the quiet stillness as he stared at a slip of paper. He looked contemplative and wondered how he was going to deal with this. He was warned to keep his guard up around this Digimon. It confused Toki a bit. If they were such a high profile, dangerous target, then why did so few attempt to chase after them? There had to be some kind of reason. Maybe he was overthinking it. One thing was for certain, Toki was convinced there was more to this Shade than meets the eye.

Despite his musings, he seemed calm, collected, even happy. Things were picking up for him and he felt like he was actually making progress for the first time in a while. It was now time to see if he could keep this momentum going and actually make some kind of a difference. He shook his head at that thought. He's already made differences big and small. He shouldn't belittle himself or undervalue his achievements.

He looked up and felt the shift in weather. It was going to rain soon and the wind was starting to pick up. With no shelter, it would make for a rather uncomfortable night, so he picked up the pace to search for them. Perhaps if things went well, they would be able to use his home portal to get back to the monastery for a more pleasant place to stay.

Soon enough, he heard the sound of something rustling nearby and made his way through the foliage and trees. Near one of the larger trees was a campsite, and that made sense. It would provide a little more coverage from the weather. Occupying this makeshift campsite was the Digimon of the hour, Shade. He looked at the poster, which showed the appearance of several of the Digimon's forms. With a simple nod, Toki started to tear apart the poster "Won't be needing this anymore. Hello!" He called out, making no attempt to be sneaky or threatening.

He leaned against a smaller tree, his calm smile not faltering for a second near Shade. "I've heard a lot of hearsay about you. Shade, yes? However, I'd like to hear your side of things. With how chaotic the Digital World has been lately, it's hard to take a lot of things at face value..." He said with a quiet sigh. No Digimon partner in sight. This human seemed unnaturally confident in his interactions so far. "Oh, what's that you're doing?" He asked, looking at the clay. "Pottery? Figurines? That could be very nice to have around the monastery..." He mused.

Running his thumbs over the pot and somewhat keeping to himself as the day went on it wasn’t hard for shade to notice a new scent in the area. Nor was it difficult for his eyes to find the man that had approached him so easily. His eyebrows would furrow and the wraithgururumon slowly set the pot down; no sneaky tactics? No other scents in the area that he could tell were tied to this one. He’d growl out a small greeting of his own.

”Afternoon.”

An earflick and the wolfen digimon continued to work on his pot; slowly stopping as the human started to talk again. He’d blink slowly; the other had heard a lot about him? That was no surprise; he wasn’t exactly the sort that went unnoticed he figured. The mon sighed a bit and looked back up to the human.

”Human is here about whitewater nonsense yes? Shade does not know what you’ve heard so shade doesn’t know what to tell you.”

The wolf frowned a bit and considered his options here; with the young man being so far away the mon didn’t really feel in danger. But was that part of the trap? Was there other mons around? He’d squint his eyes at the human and set his pot aside.

”Shade makes pots for storing meat or the like. Don’t know what monastery human is talking about.”

The wolf sniffed at the air and furrowed his brows; there was another scent nearby but he couldn’t quite place where it was at. Casting about for a moment that frown would deepen and he’d eventually ask the human.

”If human’s partner is around he should call them out. Wouldn’t help anything if human is just looking to talk.”

The digimon didn’t seem bothered by the idea of the human having a partner; no he had dealt with a few of those type. Three to be precise; but one of them had quite a few mons of their own! Was the scent he was picking up tied to him? Or maybe it was just happenstance. The wolf would glance at where he thought the scent to be but; his nose probably wasn’t as acute as someone who grew up with one as keen as this. But the scents didn’t quite meet up so… happenstance?

”Maybe… not…”

Shade found himself mumbling and shaking his head. He had a few thoughts on the manner but maybe if he just relaxed… a bit he could just work through this and the human would leave him to trying to rebuild his life? Sighing to himself the wraithgururumon slowly stood up. For an ultimate sized digimon he wasn't quite as large as some but he definately dwarfed most humans. But to one such as toki that probably wasn't too surprising.

From beyond the treeline, amongst the shadows, Makoto continued to listen to the two converse; relaxing and smiling to themself upon seeing that things weren't going too badly... At least, that was, until the human brought up incidents of Digimon being attacked by the Garurumon-type in Whitewater. This, paired with the unnerving vibes that the digimon gave off, would make their fur puff up a little; prompting them to begin grooming their tails back down with their claws.

Oh dear. Perhaps they weren't supposed to be here? Even as the two remained rather calm and begun discussing pottery, Makoto wondered about whether they shouldn't move on and leave these two to it or not; it wasn't like they would be able to protect themself very well, if a fight broke out, given their clear difference in levels. Though...

... Then again, there didn't seem to be any tension in the air, even as the subject was brought up. The Garurumon-type, though perhaps a bit wary, was otherwise calm and non-aggressive. And the human, too, was as friendly and relaxed as ever. Perhaps things would be fine, then; allowing Makoto to release a quiet sigh, as they flattened their fur out once more. Should they reveal themself soon? The answer, it appeared, to be a yes - the Garurumon-type would be able to sniff out Makoto's scent rather quickly; and upon being called out, the Renamon-X couldn't help a sheepish smile at themself.

Ah... They were busted, it seems; ahaha..!

Now was likely as good of a time as any, to come out; putting the finishing touches on smoothing their fur down, before emerging from the treeline. "I apologize, if I gave you a spook at all, dear." Makoto would greet Shade with a gentle smile; chuckling softly and good-naturedly. "I just didn't want to barge in blindly, until I better understood what was going on here." Glancing towards Toki, they'd nod to him in greeting as well; though their tone would become low and clearly interested, as they continued "Subject aside though, you both seem friendly enough; it's nice to meet a couple of good looking individuals, out in the woods, too~" with a wag of their two tails. "Must be my birthday~!"

Their demeanor - from their body language, to their tone, to their expression - was friendly and positively flirtatious, even though they had just met these two. The Renamon-X seemed to mean no harm at all, but they left no doubt in their interest in the duo - how would they react to being in Makoto's sights now?

Well, one thing was for sure; Makoto would first focus their flirting on Shade, as he was the closest one. Stepping closer to the wolf, they'd lean against Shade's side; the fact that he was almost twice as tall, and much much larger overall, not seeming to discourage them from getting close. "It really puts into perspective just how big you are, now that I'm this close - eheh~" A tail would brush along the back of his leg, as they smiled coyly up at him; mentioning "A cute-looking human, and a big strong digimon, out in the woods; who knew I'd hit a jackpot, out here~?"

Toki was not safe from Makoto's flirting, even if their attention was currently on Shade, however; at mentioning the 'cute-looking human', they'd smile and wink in his direction.

Upon Makoto's introduction, Toki just smiled and wasn't bothered by their presence. They seemed nice enough and definitely wasn't acting threatening in any way. Though as soon as the flirting began, Toki's calm demeanor cracked slightly as his smile quivered slightly. He crossed his arms behind him to hide the nervous trembling of his fingers. The man was capable of handling near god-like threats but was still incapable of really handling someone flirting with him in any way. He blushed and looked down slightly "Th-thank you for the compliments." He said to them.

He ran a hand through his hair and tried to focus on Shade's words. He wasn't necessarily uncomfortable, just extremely timid about the subject. He frowned as he listened to Shade's story "It sounds like you haven't felt safe in quite some time. So you feed on the memories and negative emotions of Digimon. Interesting..." He pondered for a moment, wondering how to continue this conversation. "I'm glad that you aren't killing any innocent people, that's for certain. That gives me one less reason to consider you a threat." He said with a nod.

He smiled softly and shrugged "I'd stand by my beliefs even if I wasn't as 'strong' as people perceive me to be. Voices deserve to be heard, respected, and protected. Conversation and change can't really happen if only the strong are allowed to talk. On that topic, what is strength, anyway? Certainly not just physical power. I don't consider that strength if it's used poorly." He stated plainly.

In any case, it seemed that Shade had taken a liking to Makoto as well, so there wouldn't be any tension in the air among them. That was good and he let out a relieved sigh, though he was still flustered by Makoto's behavior.  They definitely seemed happy and cheerful with people they had just met. To Toki, that was a positive trait...but it was still behavior that caught him off guard. Then, Shade asked for his name. "My name is Toki Akiyama." He bowed politely. He made no effort to explain his status as a spirit user. He'd rather not flaunt such a thing unless it was asked of him or if it was necessary. He approached slowly and sat down "Well it seems our conversations are off to a good start. I actually have a bit of a proposal for you, Shade. I could speak with the authorities and have them remove the bounty from your head...but I doubt they'll agree without a condition. That condition being...come with my and stay with my group at the Moonstone Monastery in the Blossom Isles. I have an idea on how you can use your abilities in a way that could benefit people."

Shade’s eyes rested on toki and he’d tilt his head; the other seem uncomfortable due to something? He wasn’t entirely sure so he just let that be. After sharing his story with the young man well… There wasn’t much more for him to really tell. He fed off of negative emotions and memories. That was a fact. There was no disputing it and if he needed to he’d prove it.

”Yes. Shade isn’t sure why they’d be addled. Maybe they should try stretching more?”

Perhaps the mon didn’t quite understand what the word addled meant. He’d give a small shrug at hearing the whole killing innocent people bit. Those feral beasts of the forest weren’t innocent nor were they really anything sentient past being animalistic. He was a tribal type mon… Or rather that’s what he was told.

”Why would shade go around and kill innocents?”

Shade tilted his head to one side. Even though his words made sense they came from something that the other believed gave him the right to think like that. He’d rub at his neck and give a small shrug. His eyes drifted down to makoto as they commented on the different types of strengths and also was something that the large beastman could consider. If not get behind.

”Shade just is saying what he thinks. Nothing more nothing less. But shade will agree with Toki in that vein. Else he would not have survived as long as he has.”

Shade gave a small shrug; he considered those venues of strengths and he wasn’t entirely sure how to explain it. He’d flick his ears forward and turn his head to toki. Then there was that suggestion; a proposal that he would speak to the authorities to have his b ounty removed from his head. The mon slowly blinked. Bounty? There was a bounty on his head?

”Bounty? Shade wasn’t aware of one. That could explain all the hunters that came after him. Thought they were just gun ho fighters with the way they kept coming after him.”

Shade looked confused for a moment upon hearing about the monastery. He had never been to a place called the blossom isles and had never heard of it. But the last part caught his attention and both of his eyes locked on the human.

”How?”

It was a simple question but feeling the renamon-x sidle up to his side the wolf blinked and turned his head down to look at them. Smiling openly and even resting a hand supportively on the other’s shoulder. If they were comfortable there then he shouldn’t really dissuade them should he?

”Shade’s name is indeed shade. Thank you Makoto.”

Shade flicked his ears a few times and took a seat; since that seemed to be the thing to do at the moment. He seemed to be more than comfortable sitting next to makoto. Blinking slowly as they suggested getting to know the two of them more. He’d tilt his head and smile sweetly.

”Shade does not see why not? Makoto fox is nice after all. What is term? Easy on mind and eyes? Shade thinks? He does know that Makoto's voice is like music yes yes.”

Shade scratched at his chin and gave a shrug; he didn’t quite know that sort of thing. It was something that the large mon never really got into but if someone was willing to talk and flirt like this who was he to say no? Especially with how it was bringing a fanged smile to his face and a full flush.

”So tell shade more about this Monastery and why shade should trust Toki human?”

They were earnest and honest questions; if he knew of his powers and how to make use of them in a positive manner this also meant that Toki would know just how destructive he could be. It was one of those things that the mon wasn’t entirely sure about.

”When shade was in whitewater, the scientists always talked about his abilities or the things that his body was comp… comp… composed of. They seemed to think his only use was fighting and shade would rather not be forced to do that unless he absolutely needs to.”

Shade didn’t like fighting really; it wasted energy and made it harder to survive if you went around just beating up everything. It had taken him quite some time to figure out where to reside here and if the monstrous wolf could find somewhere peaceful to settle down… Maybe just maybe this monastery would be the answer. But he hid his hope behind some questions; as light or heavy as the human would take them...

As Toki frowned, and mentioned how he struggled to accept survival of the fittest, Makoto would smile sheepishly and shake their head a bit. "I apologize, dear - I suppose I didn't articulate myself very well, there." They'd begin, smiling a bit more gently. "I agree with you; everyone deserves a chance at life. I was more explaining what survival of the fittest is supposed to mean - the definition it was given when it was coined - as opposed to what people think it's supposed to mean; in comparison to how people only ever focus on one facet of strength, and call it the golden standard without considering the other facets."

"You said it very well yourself; everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses, and I don't think any one person has the authority to decide whether or not someone deserves the life they have."

Next though, Shade would comment on Makoto's appearance and voice; both of which would make Makoto smile and laugh in a pleasantly surprised fashion. "Oh, darling; you're gonna make me blush, too!" They'd remark, giggling as they nuzzled against Shade's side, tails swishing with a hint of giddiness. It was safe to say, that Shade's reciprocation was putting this pretty fox in a good mood!

(This didn't mean that Toki was gonna be safe from Makoto's flirting, though; not when his reactions were this cute..! They were quite polyamorous, and enjoyed being able to share affection with everyone around them, after all!)

Before long though, Toki and Shade would be talking about Shade coming to the Monastery, as well as why Shade should trust Toki in all of this. Makoto, all the while, would be simply listening - not wanting to interfere in a conversation that wasn't any of their business, after all. The talk of how Shade's abilities could be used to aid others, particularly those coping with traumatic memories, though... This seemed to prompt a change in Makoto's demeanor.

They were indeed interested like before, yes; but... The talk about being stuck, unable to move on, seemed to strike a chord in them for a brief moment as they thought to moments in their past lives. A slight shudder - nearly imperceptible, but Shade might've been able to feel it where they were still leaned against his side - would run through their body like goosebumps, and they'd promptly change their train of thought before the tight feeling in their chest got any tighter, and before it spiraled down darker memories.

Toki's words sounded genuine to them, in any case - and he seemed like a truly well-meaning young man. Glancing up to Shade, they would offer him a gentle and reassuring smile - waiting to see what he thought of all of this before they spoke up.

Toki understood completely that this was a difficult subject for many people, including Makoto and Shade. To talk about it meant opening old wounds, leaving oneself vulnerable. Not everyone was comfortable doing that. Toki knew firsthand what it was like to feel such pain and close himself off for so long. When he lost Tsusagimon, he felt completely alone for the first time since he came to the Digital World. If it wasn't for Aylin spending so much time with him, he probably wouldn't have recovered as well as he did.

It seemed that the three of them were on the same page once things were clarified, which was relieving. As the conversation continued, Toki thought about what they could do. It seemed that Shade really did want to learn how to use his abilities to benefit people. When Shade agreed to come along with him, Toki smiled "Well getting there is easy. I have my digivice synced to its location so we could be there in a matter of seconds whenever you're ready to go." He explained.

The monastery was going to be a pretty busy place soon. So many people showed interest in being a part of the group he was forming. Speaking of, he should probably let them know about that "I'm the leader of a small group called the Moonstone Travelers. You'll likely meet the others sometime down the line, but it'll be alright. We're a group dedicated to aiding the Digital World in any way we can. With how difficult times have been right now, it's easy to lose hope for a better future...well, we want to help people reach out for that again. Whether it be by saving others, fostering healthy relationships, or having a place to rest your head, we'll do what we can to support people during these trying times. Secondary goal? Working on better relationships with the human world...though that part's going to be trickier than anything else I think." He said with a bit of a sigh.

He clapped his hands once "Anyway, there's my impromptu advertisement. Sorry for the long-winded ramble. We can get going now, or we can remain here for a bit and talk some more if that would be more comfortable for you."