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Post by Unica & Birdie on Nov 1, 2020 19:24:38 GMT
 After weeks of trying to get back home, Birdie had finally made it to Terminus City. It wasn't an easy journey, but surely Testu and Gryz knew that when they banished her to the frozen north. The banishment, they presumed, would be a good chance for her to think about everything--about her relationship with Unica, about how she treated her partner, and how she viewed humans in such a negative light. Unfortunately for her assailants, she only thing she really came to learn was how to manipulate strangers more efficiently and why exactly she despised humankind so much. And yet, despite the burning hot rage she felt in her belly, she still struggled day and night to make her way back to Terminus City. Her travels weren't just in an attempt to get back to place she called home, but it was also an attempt to return to the Trailmon Station. The entire dilemma had started as a result of Unica losing the digivice at that train station. After finding the device, Birdie had admittedly lost her cool. She'd been blinded by the power the tiny machine promised, and so she had said a thing or two that upset the emotionally frail humans. It was a mistake to speak her mind in that moment, she'd realized upon hindsight, though that didn't mean she'd changed her opinion on the matter any. The conflict started and ended at the station, and the Trailmon there would ultimately be her means of making amends and getting things back on track. She needed to get to the human world, reunite with Unica, and work alongside the girl to obtain more power. With the lavender digivice clenched in her talons, Birdie glided over Terminus City, flapping her wings only on occasion to prevent herself from losing altitude. Before landing and going straight into the station, she needed to make sure that she wasn't going to get attacked the moment she descended. Folks in both the Northern Prominence and the Eastern Timberlands were well aware of Birdie's misdeeds, so it was only a matter of time before word of her aggression reached Terminus City itself. No, that wasn't right. Folks in Terminus City knew of her, but they either dismissed her as a weak, low-level Rookie or chose not to bother her because of her connections with Herald and The Last Chapter. Even still, Birdie was on high alert. It felt like there was a bounty on her head, so she wanted to be as careful as possible. After doing a few laps overhead, Birdie began to descend. She landed atop a tall building first, waited a moment to make sure she wasn't being targeted by law enforcement, then swooped down to a light pole. She perched atop the post and waited once more. After some time, she launched off the light and flew just above the crowd. In silence, she navigated the city streets, turned a few corners, and entered Trailmon Station. The building was large and accommodating; and yet, though the station was tall enough to house giant Ultimate and Mega Digimon, most of the individuals who were getting on and off the trains were humans or Digimon in their lower level forms. It also seemed as though most of the individuals were partners. Birdie gripped the digivice tighter as she landed and studied her surroundings.
561 / 500 word count (unedited)
1 out of 3 daily posts
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Post by Unica & Birdie on Nov 1, 2020 20:12:41 GMT
"Hello!" a robotic voice chimed. Birdie glanced toward the noise to see a Datamon standing nearby, his eyes meeting hers. "Beat it," she snapped back. "My name is Datamon, and you look lost," the mechanical 'mon said. Birdie huffed in annoyance before looking back at the large array of Trailmon pulling into the station. "Did you lose your tamer?" Datamon asked upon spotting the digivice in Birdie's talons. "If you would--" "No, I didn't lose my tamer." She shook her head in frustration. "Ugh, no! I don't have a tamer!" "Oh, dear!" the robot exclaimed. "Then are your perhaps looking for the Lost And Found bin? If you give the digivice to me, I will make sure to keep it safe until the--" He was once again interrupted when Birdie spoke up. "I'm on my way to deliver it right now. I don't need your help, so just piss off." In response, the Datamon fell silent. From the expression on his mechanical face, it appeared as though he was considering some deep mystery or impossible puzzle. After a long moment, however, he came back to his senses and said, "Understood. Perhaps I can help." "I'd rather you didn't." "Where are you trying to go?" It was Birdie's turn to go quiet. Where was she going? She knew she needed to end up in the human world, but there were so many Trailmon that she wasn't sure which one to get aboard. She knew that some Trailmon stayed in the digital world while others left this dimension entirely. The question was which one did what and where did they all go? Furthermore, where exactly did Unica live in the human world? Was Earth the same in the sense that there were continents, countries, and cities? Birdie knew virtually nothing about where her tamer came from, and she never even bothered asking. So instead, she told the Datamon all that she knew. "The human world, I guess." "Very good!" the machine said. "Where in the human world do you intend to go?" Birdie made a face of disappointment and annoyance before shrugging half-heartedly. "Oh, that's troubling," the Datamon sighed. "Might I see that digivice for a moment?" Birdie instantly became defensive and angry. "Why? Do you can steal it? So you can mock me for coming this far only to fail? I'm not letting it go, so you should just think again!" The mechanical Digimon stared at the pink avian in shock and fear before he finally gathered enough courage to speak again. "No, no, not at all! You see, each digivice is linked to a single human and a single Digimon. It has their data backed up inside of it, and if the tamer has used it at any Trailmon Station, we should be able to identify which one." Birdie was quick to offer a rebuttable. "She usually teleports." The Datamon nodded to show his understanding. "Then we should be able to pull that information too. If the digivice is here then that much mean she either teleported or took a Trailmon from the human world, we should be able to recover that data either way." With a sigh and a nervous glance down at the digivice in her talons, Birdie held the tiny machine out to the stranger. As he extended his hand to retrieve the device, Birdie pulled back and met the Datamon's eyes. With narrowed eyes and acidity in her tone, she said, "If you try anything funny, I won't hesitate to kill you here and now." Though the mechanical 'mon was an Ultimate and had nothing to fear from such a low level Digimon, he still looked frightened. He nodded and held out his hands, palms up. Reluctantly, Birdie gave up the digivice.
615 / 500 word count (unedited)
2 out of 3 daily posts
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Post by Unica & Birdie on Nov 1, 2020 20:47:16 GMT
Birdie followed the Datamon to a back room where a few station workers rested and conversed quietly among themselves. In the employee's only room, the Datamon used a cable to plug the lavender digivice into himself. Upon seeing this, Birdie became nervous and demanded answers. "Tell me what you're doing!" "I am connecting to the device," he explained. "I can see that," the Biyomon hissed in reply. "Tell me exactly what you're doing." The Datamon paused a moment, as if considering whether or not to give into Birdie's demands, then finally spoke again. "Other Digimon--non-Android Digimon--need computers and technological knowledge to access a digivice and understand what the code says. However, since I am an Android Digimon, I can do that all myself. By connecting the device to myself, I can download the data directly into my brain." Birdie didn't like the sound of that. Downloading data? That was the term used when a Digimon defeated an opponent and absorbed their data in order to make themselves stronger. It was the digital world equivalent of murder. So the idea of this strange "downloading data" from something like a digivice raised some major red flags. Without warning, Birdie reached out and snatched the tiny machine out of Datamon's hand, unplugging it from the cable in the process. The mechanical Digimon buzzed and twitched as the connection broke. "I said no funny business! You're trying to download all its data so I can never digivolve again, aren't you?!" she snapped. The Datamon stopped shaking and once again met Birdie's gaze. "Not at all, but no worries. I have the information you requested. The over of that digivice was last used at the Central Shibuya Train Terminal in Shibuya, Japan." Birdie exhaled a slow, steady breath as she listened to him speak. There was no telling if he'd interfered with the digivice itself in any way, but at least now she knew where to go to reunite with Unica. "Great," Birdie grumbled as she kept her eyes locked on the mechanical 'mon. "And which Trailmon do I get on to get there?" "I can show you, but wouldn't you like to equip your holosuit first? Humans are easily frightened and they may not take kindly to strange-looking Digimon," Datamon explained. Birdie's glare narrowed into a display of judgement and disregard. "I don't have a holosuit," she huffed. "I see. Then perhaps you would like to purchase one before--" "I would not," Birdie snapped. "Are you gonna show me which Trailmon goes to the Central Shibuya Train Terminal or no?" The Datamon paused another long moment, weighing the pros and cons of helping a Digimon access the human world without a disguise. He'd been around long enough to know that most non-tamer humans were rarely accommodating of Digimon. Though Birdie looked like a bird, her size, claws, and ability to speak were all dead giveaways that she wasn't a normal animal. And so, if she did something questionable in the human world, it would only contribute to the strained relationship that already existed between humans and Digimon. Though Datamon didn't want that kind of responsibility on his hands, he ultimately had a job to do: help passengers, and so he was duty-bound to help Birdie find what she was looking for. "Very well," the android said, "Follow me."
554 / 500 word count (unedited)
3 out of 3 daily posts
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Post by Unica & Birdie on Nov 2, 2020 20:06:29 GMT
With some hesitation, the Datamon led Birdie out of the back room, through the station, and to the end of a line that had formed in front of an empty track. "You'll want to take this Trailmon all the way to the other end," he explained. "Great. A line," Birdie grumbled as she took her place in the queue. "Yes, many people are looking to go the same place you're going," the android explained, as if the temperamental avian was too ignorant to realize how lines worked or why they existed. Birdie shot a glare at the Datamon and crossed her arms over her chest, the digivice still in her claws. "How long is this gonna take, huh?" she asked, her tone short and snippy. "It usually takes anywhere from five to ten minutes, provided nothing happened on the Trailmon's route to slow it down," the mechanical 'mon replied with a smile, seemingly proud of how fast and diligent the Trailmon at the terminal were. Birdie, however, didn't find any reason to smile. She's already waited so long to get back to Terminus City and now she had to wait even longer for a train to arrive... only for her to wait on the train itself to deliver her to her destination. "Now then, if there's nothing else--" the Datamon began in an attempt to excuse himself and get back to helping other passengers, but his words were once more cut off by the impatient Biyomon. "What about those?" she asked, nodding at some Trailmon who were lingering on a set of tracks some distance away from the crowd. "Doesn't look like they're doing anything," she pointed out. The Datamon looked toward the stationary trains and nodded when he realized what Birdie was asking. "Ah, yes." He glanced back at the pink avian before responding. "They are resting. Trailmon work hard for hours on end, so they deserve the occasional break, don't you think?" Birdie snorted and furrowed her brows in mild anger. "They literally rest every time they come to a stop at the end of a railway. If you made them actually do their job then there wouldn't be so many lines, ya know?" It was her turn to treat the Datamon like an ignorant fool. The android fell silent again as he processed what he'd just been told. Only after a solid minute passed did he finally come up with a rebuttal. "Maybe we would be more efficient if we didn't allow our workers to take breaks, but happiness is our top priority." "Happiness," Birdie repeated, disgust in her voice. "They're doing this all for free. Why don't you show some gratitude?" someone behind the duo said. Birdie snapped her head to the side and spotted a human. He was a young adult with a Gabumon-X companion by his side. "Mind your own business," she snapped. The tamer shifted his weight and opened his mouth to say something, but Datamon spoke up again. "Ah, yes! Very good points. Thank you for your feedback. We will take your concerns into consideration." It sounded like he was playing some per-recorded, automated message. Either way, both Birdie and the tamer grew quiet as they turned away from one another.
539 / 500 word count (unedited)
1 out of 3 daily posts
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Post by Unica & Birdie on Nov 2, 2020 20:08:48 GMT
Mere moments after Datamon had intervened and the two stopped bickering, a brown and grey Trailmon pulled up. "Watch out, watch out!" the train hollered as it approached the end of the line. "Stand behind the yellow line and wait until everyone had disembarked before getting aboard!" Birdie huffed and cringed a little in response to the Trailmon's constant screaming. The passengers were right there; there was no need to yell all the time. Those aboard the train stepped off, and once everyone was off, the queue began to move as humans and Digimon alike began to step inside the noisy Trailmon. Birdie had to admit that this was all new and strange to her. She'd never ridden on a Trailmon before. If she needed to get somewhere, she either walked or flew, so the idea of riding inside of a digital creature was a bit... unsettling. And yet, she followed everyone's lead and entered the train car. This particular Trailmon had long seats that lined both walls, plenty of standing room, and a few metal poles positioned throughout the center of the car to provide passengers with something to hold on to. Birdie watched as those who entered before they scattered and found places to sit or stand. Birdie took the hint and did the same. Without a word, she climbed onto one of the cushioned seats and nested by tucking her feet underneath her body and folding her wings against her sides. She watched as other passengers climbed aboard and made themselves comfortable. Although she didn't bother looking out the windows to verify, she had a suspicion that the other train cars were being occupied the same way this one was. There was about one foot of sitting room between each passenger with only about three opting to stand instead of sit. It wasn't exactly "at capacity" when the doors shut, but that was okay by Birdie. She didn't care for crowds anyway. Too many people. The Trailmon announced that they were about to depart and suggested that everyone hang on. It was only then that Birdie realized why the train had been screaming so loud previously. With the doors closed, it proved more difficult to hear what was going on outside; and so, to ensure the passengers who were aboard could hear, the Trailmon had to speak loudly or else have it voice drowned out. Just as Birdie made the realization, the train lurched and she hurriedly unfurled her wings to prevent herself from falling over. After the initial jolt, however, the rest of the ride went smoothly. The car grew dark as they entered a tunnel, but a few lights began to shine as Digimon equipped their holosuits. By the time the Trailmon had left the darkness of the tunnel, every Digimon except for two had assumed a human appearance. Birdie was one, for she had no holosuit to wear, and the other was a Wanyamon who hid in its tamer's purse. This fact didn't bother Birdie much, but she had become increasingly aware of how many eyes were on her. To avoid acknowledging how much she stood out, Birdie closed her eyes and tried to enjoy the rest of the ride.
536 / 500 word count (unedited)
2 out of 3 daily posts
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Post by Unica & Birdie on Nov 2, 2020 20:50:12 GMT
The sound of a train's horn startled Birdie and caused her to open her eyes. Just outside the window opposite of her, the lone Biyomon could see that they were no longer in the digital world. This one looked similar but different. To get a better view, Birdie stretched her wings and stood up on the seat before turning around and looking out her own window. The Trailmon was pulling into another station, but this one looked much different than the one in Terminus. There were no Digimon in sight and beyond the chain link was a swarm of humans who bustled to and from, hardly even making the strange Trailmon any mind because it was out of the way. The doors on the train opened and passengers began to gather their belongings. Birdie once again followed their lead, hopped off her seat, and headed to the train car's exit. As she did, two teenage girls stepped in her way. "You should really put on your holosuit," one of them said in a quiet, timid voice. Before Birdie could come back with a rude retort, however, they turned and left the train. With a huff of irritation, the Biyomon left the train too and watched as the passengers passed through a key-pad secured gate in the fence surrounding the Trailmon. They were using their digivices to get through, it seemed. And though Birdie had the digivice and could've waited in line to get through like everyone else, there was a much faster way to get what she wanted. There was a sizeable gap above the fence... a gap large enough for someone to climb or fly over. Without wasting any more time, Birdie transferred the digivice from her claws to her talons, beat her wings, and took the air. In a blur, she crossed over the fence and swooped overhead of all the humans in the station. There were a few gasps of horror and shock as a large, pink bird zipped by, but it didn't cause Birdie to stop or apologize. Instead, she continued flying in an attempt to find an exit. Fortunately, it took her no time at all. By following the flow of the crowd and heading in the direction where most the humans were coming and going from, she found the stairs leading outside. With a dive and swoop, Birdie found herself in a massive city. It was like Terminus in many ways, but significantly different in others. For one, there was a obvious lack of Digimon--no wonder it was known as the "human world" and not the "material world." The streets were also densely populated with machines. Cars and buses, to be more precise. Vehicles existed in the digital world too, but folks didn't tend to ride them in cities. Transportation was used almost exclusively when traveling across a large distances, like from one city to another. Not within a city itself. As Birdie hovered a few feet above the crowd, taking in all the sights there was to see, a small voice exclaimed, "Birdie!" from the street below. A surge of joy and excitement flooded through the Biyomon as she looked down, anticipating to find Unica standing there with arms wide open. The truth of the matter was that the person who had called out to Birdie was a young child, perhaps a year or two younger than Unica herself, but was not Unica herself. What a disappointment. The child reached up in an attempt to grab Birdie out of the air, but failed when the pink avian ascended and began to fly between the skyscrapers in search of her tamer.
607 / 500 word count (unedited)
3 out of 3 daily posts
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Post by Unica & Birdie on Nov 3, 2020 19:43:18 GMT
If finding her way back to Terminus City and then identifying which Trailmon to take in order to reach the human world was problematic in and of itself, locating a seven-year-old girl in a sea of humans, towering buildings, and vehicles was going to be a really challenge for Birdie. It was like finding a needle in a haystack. No, it was like finding one particularly tiny needle in a massive pile of needles. From so high up, Birdie could see most of the city. The humans so far below looked like bustling ants (not that Birdie had ever seen ants before), and it was then that she realized she was way out of her league. She had underestimated this world and she had overestimated her own ability to do what was necessary to get what she wanted. "Argh!" Birdie shouted in frustration. Tears began to prick the corners of her eyes and the reality of the situation started to set in. This wasn't fair! Just when she had learned what sort of the power the digivice contained... just when she had learned to tolerate Unica... and just when she was on her way to achieving her ultimate goal, Tetsu and Gryz had banished her to the frozen wastelands. "AUGH!" She screamed, the tears welling up. She wanted to get stronger to ensure that she could never be pushed around again. But before she had the chance to do that, those two had banished her. And now, flying over the city of Shibuya, Birdie was starting to realize that she may have completely lost her ability to get stronger. Without Unica, she wouldn't be able to digivolve. At least, that's what everyone around her had been saying. It's true that she managed to evolve into her Rookie form by herself through hard word and determination, but as much as she had tried to gain access to her Champion form, she couldn't. The only time she had managed to evolve to Harpymon was when Unica was on the battlefield with the digivice. "Ugh!" she grunted as she felt hot tears begin to streak down her cheeks. It wasn't fair! What had she ever done to deserve this life? Why did all higher level Digimon think it was okay to throw their weight around? Why were humans, of all things, the key to Digimon getting stronger? Why did bad things always happen to her? And why was she so angry all the time!? Birdie shook her head in frustration, confusion, and disappointment. The truth of the battle was that most Digimon were born with an innate desire to dual. While some scuffled for fun, other did it to get stronger. The reason for why Digimon wanted to get stronger varied from one individual to the next, but that was the crux of why Birdie viewed the world the way she did. Yes, she had a foul temper and wasn't very good at communicating, but she ultimately blamed the world for hardening her and making her that way. She wanted to grow more powerful in order to spit in life's face and to make all those high-level Digimon pay for holding their strength over lower-level Digimon's heads. At least, that's how it started. As time passed, her anger spiraled out of control and latched onto anything it could sink its teeth into. She grew to hate everyone and everything. Those who were stronger were idealized for their strength but also hated out of envy and a desire for revenge, those who were weaker deserved to be defended but also deserved to perish for not being strong enough to survive, and tamers were the greatest offenders of all. They were unstoppable slave-owners, holding the power of evolution in their hands while being such frail, helpless beings. The rationale in Birdie's brain was jumbled and made little sense to those looking from the outside. On occasion, her logic would contradict itself, and so she would grow angry upon getting confused. So instead of dwelling on why she did what she did, she instead gave into primal urges and continued to strive in order to get stronger. When she was strong then she could do whatever she wanted. She could get revenge on the world, if she wanted, or she could become the defend of the weak. But that was putting the cart in front of the horse. First thing's first. Birdie needed to find Unica. But where was she?
744 / 500 word count (unedited)
1 out of 3 daily posts
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Post by Unica & Birdie on Nov 3, 2020 20:06:08 GMT
Just as Birdie's emotions were reaching a fevered pitch, the digivice in her talons began to squeal and was almost dropped as a result. While continuing to flap with one wing and using Digimon magic to keep her airborne, Birdie used her other wing to wipe the tears from her eyes and look down at the lavender device that was glowing and blinking with a blue light. In order to better examine what was happening, the pink avian landed on a nearby rooftop and held with digivice in the claws. On the tiny screen, there appeared to be something that looked like a sonar system. A pulsating blue ring expanded away from a dot in the center on the display and spread out in all directions across the screen. Another dot pinged near the top of the screen before fading away. "If that's me..." Birdie began while tapping one of her crimson claws against the middle dot, "Then is that Unica?" She tapped the same claw against the dot that continuously disappeared and reappeared. As if in response to her question, the digivice turned on and the screen went dark. "No, wait!" she explained in a panic. Frantically, she clicked the buttons, tapped the screen, and shook the device in an attempt to turn it back on. "Ugh, stupid thing!" she huffed before slipping it into her talons and taking to the skies again. With a vague idea of the direction she needed to go, Birdie began flying while keeping her eyes out for children with long blonde hair. She flew for roughly three minutes before the city started to disappear and was instead replaced by a few warehouses and apartments. The farther she went, the more decrepit things got. In some ways, it remembered Birdie of her own home back in Old Terminus. The glaring difference was how both places were treated. Whereas Old Terminus was rundown and largely vacant, the Greater Shibuya region looked lived in but poorly maintained. While walls in Old Terminus were crumbling and overgrown, the walls here were covered in spray paint and grim; and while the roads of Old Terminus were covered in dirt and rubble, the roads here were covered in trash and potholes. Both were poorer communities living on the fringes of a larger city, but there were glaring differences between the way Birdie and Unica lived. The Biyomon may have been surprised upon learning about these living arrangements if she hadn't already learned from Coolmon not to judge a book by its cover. Either way, this residential area seemed like a more appropriate (and easier) place to find Unica rather than in the middle of a densely populated crowd. Birdie flied slowly along the streets, eying each building she passed by and peering into each apartment in search of her tamer. Ultimately, it wasn't her eyes which spotted Unica, it was the digivice which alerted her to the young girl's presence. It began to squeal again and a beam of light shot directly into a nearby window. The handheld machine was far more helpful that just allowing Birdie to digivolve, it seemed. As the pink Digimon flew closer to the window, the light dispersed and the squealing stopped.
538 / 500 word count (unedited)
2 out of 3 daily posts
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Post by Unica & Birdie on Nov 4, 2020 19:42:26 GMT
 Birdie followed the light, slowly and cautiously. Although the digivice had been nothing but helpful up to this point, the human world was still a strange place and Birdie wasn't sure exactly what she was getting herself into. Fortunately for her, as she neared the window, she could see Unica standing on the opposite side, staring through the glass panes at her Digimon partner with a surprised and pained expression. The beam of light which had originated from the screen of the handheld machine ended at Unica's chest, as though it were connected to her very heart and soul. However, the moment the two locked eyes, the light disappeared, having successfully accomplished its goal of reuniting the partners. "Unica!" Birdie exclaimed, a hint of joy and relief in her tone. The young girl frowned but said nothing. "Look! I've got the digivice. Now open this window and we can get back to the digital world. I don't wanna spend another second in this terrible place," Birdie said, largely unaware of Unica's unwillingness to budge... unaware until there a long moment of silence, that is. The blonde tamer didn't so much as move in response to Birdie's words, which of course rubbed the already temperamental Biyomon the wrong way. "Stop staring at me and open this window!" she growled, clearly losing her patience. Either frightened by the command or choosing not to ignore the lone bird, Unica stepped forward, unlocked the window, and pulled it open. Birdie dove inside the tiny apartment and landed on the couch with a satisfied "Oof!" Without sitting down and getting truly comfortable, the Biyomon released her tight grip on the digivice and held it out to Unica. "Here." The girl didn't bother closing and locking the window before waddling over to the couch and taking the lavender device from her partner's claws. "Thank you," Unica muttered, half under the breath. "Now open a portal and get us back home, will ya?" Birdie ordered, but the young tamer once again didn't move. Instead, she simply stared at her digital partner with conviction. "No," Unica stated, though the tremble in her voice made it instantly obvious that she was afraid of Birdie. "Yes," the pink avian retorted, shooting a glare at the child in an attempt to intimidate her. "No!" Unica shouted while stomping one foot on the ground in defiance. "You're a big meanie! You're not a guardian angel! You're not a partner! You're just a big meanie!" Birdie ruffled her feathers and was instantly reminded of why she hated children. "Stop being so selfish and open the goddamn portal already!" " You stop being selfish!" Unica shot back, "And don't say bad words!" Birdie snapped mere centimeters from the young tamer's face. In the past, this act of hostility was enough to shut Unica up and make her bow to her digital partner's ever whim in a desperate attempt to avoid being harmed. But not now. Birdie's behavior only seemed to serve as more reason for the child to dig her heels in and stand her ground. "Oniichan said--" the girl began to say, but her words were instantly drowned out. "Screw Tetsu! I don't care what that brat had to say! He's the one who separated up! Don't you remember? Or are you more stupid than I thought?" She knew exactly what to say to grate on Unica's nerves, but the child tamer breathed steadily and tried to stop tears from streaming down her cheeks. Unfortunately, her attempts proved unsuccessful.
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1 out of 3 daily posts
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Post by Unica & Birdie on Nov 4, 2020 20:10:53 GMT
Before Birdie could spit out any more hateful rhetoric or Unica could think of an effective rebuttal, an adult woman's voice sounded from down the hall. "Unica, what did I tell you about yelling in the house?" Birdie turned around in time to see an elder human stepping around the corner and into the living room. In many ways, she looked very similar to Unica--namely in terms of the blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. But being unfamiliar with the concept of family or parents, Birdie was confused about why there were such similarities before the two ladies of the house. Dumbfounded as to the reason why there was an older version of Unica standing directly behind her, Birdie fell silent and stared on in shock and confusion. Before the young tamer could answer her mother's question, Maria gasped and grabbed the front of her shirt in surprise upon seeing such a massive and odd-colored bird in her living room. "Oh my god!" the woman managed to utter as she tried to figure out what was happening. Her first instinct was to race past the creature, grab her baby girl, hide away in her bedroom, and call her boyfriend or pest control, but something stopped her from acting so hysterical. Unica had mentioned a pink and blue bird many times before. Though Maria had tries to discard such claims, Unica had continued to insist that the bird, apparently named "Birdie," was bigger than normal birds and could speak. At the time, Maria had chalked it up to her daughter's wild imagination, but now she wasn't so sure. "Is that..." the woman croaked while pointing at the Biyomon, "Birdie?" Both Unica and Birdie stirred at Maria's question. While the young tamer smiled and nodded frantically, excited at the fact that her mother could finally experience Digimon with her own two eyes, Birdie was irritated. Her wide eyes narrowed into a glare as she turned to face Unica. "You told her about me? Do you realize how much danger that puts the digital world in? You stupid little--" "Oh my god," Maria whispered, her face turning a shade of pale green. "I think I need to sit down." As the woman lowered her trembling hand and moved toward the reclining chair, Unica put the digivice on the coffee table and raced over to help her mom. Birdie watched in silence. Once Maria was settled, Unica headed to the kitchen to get a cup of water. In doing, she left her mother alone with Birdie, the angry and still-confused Biyomon. Birdie kept her beak shut and stared at the woman with a level on intensity in an attempt to assert her dominance. Maria stared back--not in an attempt to intimidate the pink and blue bird, but instead to try and suss out if everything her daughter had told her was, in fact, true. "You're Birdie?" Maria asked again, hoping that she could handle hearing the answer now that she was sitting. An annoyed expression crept across Birdie's face as she crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. "Yeah, and who're you?" Maria didn't respond right away. Instead, she continued to stare. In fact, she stared so much that Birdie began to feel self-conscious. "What are you?" the woman asked, seemingly unaware of the fact that she hadn't answered Birdie's question. "What, Unica didn't tell ya?" Maria shook her head slowly, her eyes never leaving Birdie's. "I'mma Digimon, short for Digital Monsters." "Digimon," Unica's mom repeated, as though she were trying out the word for herself.
594 / 500 word count (unedited)
2 out of 3 daily posts
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Post by Unica & Birdie on Nov 4, 2020 20:26:07 GMT
At about that time, Unica had returned with a plastic cup filled to the brim with water. She walked slowly and with a sense of precision, each step made with careful consideration and patience as to not spill the water which threatened to spill if Unica wobbled even a little. "I've never heard of such a thing before," Maria said, daring not point out that she didn't have a high-level education or much of a grasp on the Japanese language, and so there were many things she hadn't heard of before. "Uh, yeah. No duh," Birdie scoffed, as though she were talking to a full-blooded moron. "There's a good reason for that. We try to keep a low profile 'cause our kinds don't really have all that great a history." "Our kinds. You mean Digimon and humans?" Maria asked. Birdie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Digimon and humans." Maria grew silent as she considered it, but after a few moments, her eyes widened and she remembered an incident in which she believed she had met a Digimon before. "Do all Digimon look like you?" she asked Birdie. "No. I'm whatcha call a Biyomon. There are all sorta of us. Dogs, cats, dragons..." "Bunnies!" Unica added as she finally reached her mother's side and handed over the cup of water. "Thank you, hun," Maria said quietly while turning her attention to her daughter. "Do you remember that time we went to the park, and there was a big ol' lizard with wings, and mommy got really scared when she say you playing with it? Do you remember that?" Unica smiled at the memory and nodded. "Uh-huh!" she exclaimed. "He was really sad because no one liked him." "Mhm. Was that a Digimon, Unica?" The young tamer put an index finger to her lips and considered it for a moment before nodding frantically and giggling. "His name was Mommy-dinosaur-mon!" "Mommy...?" Maria mused aloud before her voice trailed off as her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. These monsters had very peculiar names indeed. "Monodramon?" Birdie piped up, taking a stab in the dark about what the child could've really meant. "Yeah!" Unica chimed with a massive smile on her face. She was giddy at the fact that her mommy now knew everything. It was like sharing a really juicy secret (after being given permission to share it, of course). The correct pronunciation of the creature's name was of little concern to Maria, however. She was more fascinated by the fact that monsters actually existed. "Great, now that everyone knows each other... Unica. Portal. Now," Birdie said, clapping her wings in an attempt to get her tamer's attention. Unica, however, had other plans. She frowned, groaned, and grabbed the arm of the recliner in defiance. "Portal?" Maria asked as she reached out and stroked the top of her daughter's head. Then it clicked. Unica had said that she used portals to travel between world in order to meet up with Birdie. With the realization that these stories were true, Maria put the cup of water beside the digivice on the coffee table and brought both hands to her face as she closed her eyes and wrapped her head around the fact that Unica hadn't been playing with local children as she had previously believed. Instead, her child had literally jumped between worlds in order to play with monsters. Literal monsters. Strangers were bad enough, but flesh-and-blood monsters... "Mommy?" Unica's quiet voice shattered the silence and brought Maria back to her sense. With a sigh, the elder woman removed her hands from her face and forced a brave smile. "I'm okay, baby girl," Maria muttered.
609 / 500 word count (unedited)
3 out of 3 daily posts
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Post by Unica & Birdie on Nov 6, 2020 19:41:22 GMT
"Yeah, see? She's fine. Unica, let's go," Birdie huffed, annoyed at how long it was taking to get the young girl to do what she wanted. It had never taken this much effort before. All she had to do in the past was look angry, threaten to get physical, and maybe throw in a cuss word or two. But something was different this time around. Unica was more stubborn, more confident in her ability to stand up to bullies, and was brave enough to talk back. And this time was no different. "No," the young girl said. She didn't scream or wail, she merely said the word with conviction and stared at her partner with a look of unwavering determination. Birdie almost felt intimidated. Maria looked between the two in silence, trying to play catch-up as to the history behind their relationship and, in turn, their conversation. She slowly recalled all the fanciful stories her daughter had told her and attempted to suss out which ones were applicable. "Ugh, not this again!" Birdie snarled. "We've got training to do, so let's get back to it." Unica crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head in defiance. The pink and blue feathers on the Biyomon's chest began to ruffle in frustration. "You listen here, and you listen good," Birdie began again as she began to walk forward, closing the distance between herself and her tamer, "You do as I say or I swear to all that's holy that I'll peck out your eyes and--" "Noo!" Unica screamed, balling her hands into fists at her sides and stomping one foot against the ground. "Yes!" Unica turned on her heels and darted down a nearby hallways, hoping that if she hid in her bedroom then she wouldn't have to hear anything else Birdie had to say. As she did, the pink avian shouted, "Get back here! Right now!" Birdie raced after the young girl, but was stopped when something grabbed her wing. She stopped with a jolt and snapped her head to look at her assailant. It was the older human. And she looked mad. Before the woman could say anything, though, Birdie glared and pecked at her hand. In shock and pain, Maria let go and recoiled. Birdie took her chance to continue racing down the hallway. It took no time at all to locate Unica's room, for it was the only one with a closed door. From the small slit underneath, Birdie could see shadows moving. "Unica!" she cawed while reaching up and jiggling the doorknob. Once again, her plans were thwarted when Maria grabbed her--not by the wrist this time, but around the torso. It was the same action Unica had done in an attempt to stop Birdie from attacking an Impmon back in Terminus City, but unlike Unica, Maria was much taller and stronger. She was able to hold Birdie tightly to her chest, like a stuffed animal... or a small child having a temper tantrum. Birdie, clearly not liking the way she was being handled, began to peck and drag her claws along the woman's arm, but still Maria didn't let go. She sucked in breaths through her teeth and grunted softly in an attempt to fight back the pain, but still she held the Digimon to stop it from going after her child. "Let go of me!" Birdie ended up screaming as she flapped her wings and kicked her legs in a feeble attempt to break free. Hearing this, Unica slowly opened the door to see Birdie and her mom fighting against one another. And there was blood. A lot of blood. Panic and fear coursed through Unica's tiny body, but it also drove her to act. "Birdie, no! No! Don't be mean!" "BITE ME!" Birdie screamed rather hysterically. "I won't help you train if you keep being mean!" Unica shouted back. There were a few seconds of Birdie continuing to lash out before she stopped struggling, having really taken the words to heart. Intimidation clearly wasn't working, and all this violence was just making Unica even more stubborn. Ultimately, Birdie needed to understand that she did need the child, and the only way she was going to get the girl on her side was by behaving herself, even just a little.
717 / 500 word count (unedited)
1 out of 3 daily posts
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Post by Unica & Birdie on Nov 6, 2020 19:53:09 GMT
As a silence and relative calmness settled over the trio, Maria continued to hold the hostile bird tightly against her chest. "Now say you're sorry," Unica commanded. Birdie glared at how familiar this all was. It seemed as though the seven-year-old tamer had been taking lessons from Tetsu. "Sorry," the Biyomon said. "Now say you're sorry to mommy." There was a moment of silence before Birdie turned her head slightly to one side, tearing her gaze from Unica and staring down the hallway with a look of frustration and defeat. "I'm sorry," she grumble. "Good," Unica said. With some reluctance, Maria slowly lowered Birdie back to the ground and let her go. Everything seemed to freeze as both Unica and her mom watched the Digimon with anticipation. They both expected to hear insults or foul language, or to see Birdie lash out while their guard was down. But neither happened. Instead, the Biyomon stared at Unica with malice. "Okay," Maria finally said, breaking the tension. "I'm going to go clean up. Unica, would you please come with me?" She definitely didn't like the idea of leaving her daughter alone in a room with such an aggressive monster, even if said monster did appear to be pacified. Unica agreed to accompany her mom to the bathroom where the woman sat on the toilet seat and began to bandage her wounds. Birdie, meantime, followed in silence. She stood in the bathroom doorway and watched Maria without so much as a peep--that is, until Maria asked a question. "Birdie, could you please give us a minute to talk?" The Biyomon got the message, sighed in annoyance, and rolled her eyes. But she conceded, turned, and left the room. Once again, Maria looked down at Unica and offered a weak smile to let the young girl know that she would be alright. "Baby, does Birdie act like that a lot?" Unica frowned and nodded, and Maria's smile vanished. "Does she ever hurt you? Make you bleed like she did with mommy?" This question caused Unica to stop and consider before answer. "No, but sometimes she pushes me and my dress gets really dirty and it hurts," she finally replied. Maria nodded slightly, actually taking in what her child was saying instead of dismissing it as another fictional story. "When you told me you were going to 'go out and play with friends,' you were really going to Birdie's world, weren't you?" Maria asked, doing her best to put all the pieces together from what she could remember Unica had told her in the past. With a smile, the young girl nodded. "And how do you go to the other world?" Unica's smile wavered as she looked around and realized that she didn't have the digivice on hand. "There's a funny looking phone. Umm..." there was a moment of silence as she tried to remember it's real name, "Uh, a digivice! It's magic! It makes a door like WHOOSH! And it's a door to the other place!" "Digivice?" Maria asked, the word sounding strange and foreign in her mouth. Was that the device she saw sitting on the coffee table earlier? How could such a tiny machine have the power to open literal wormholes? Perhaps her daughter was wrong about some of the facts and Birdie could help enlighten her. After another moment of silence, Maria clapped her hands and turned to face Unica. "Good as new!" she chimed, "How about we get some lunch, hm?" Unica smiled and eagerly followed her mom out of the bathroom.
592 / 500 word count (unedited)
2 out of 3 daily posts
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Post by Unica & Birdie on Nov 7, 2020 20:17:58 GMT
While Maria and Unica pulled out different ingredients from the pantry and refrigerator, Birdie sat on one of the chairs and watched the two humans flutter about. After a few moments of awkward silence, Maria spoke up. "So, Birdie..." The Biyomon perked up and looked toward the elder woman, "Tell me about yourself." "What do you wanna know?" Maria opened up a bag of lettuce. "Everything, I guess. Tell me about where you come from." It was clear from the tremor in Maria's voice that she was still intimidated by the strange monster in her kitchen but she was still doing her best to break boundaries and get to know her daughter's "partner" better. "I come from the digital world," Birdie huffed, sounding annoyed at the very fact that she was having to explain this to some ignorant human. "Mhmm, okay. Tell me about that," Maria mused as she poured the lettuce into a bowl. The Biyomon made a face before cocking her head and looking up in consideration. She needed to remember that most humans didn't know anything about Digimon or the digital world, and so she needed to explain it in a way a layperson could understand. The problem was that Birdie herself didn't know much about the logistics behind her world either, so she instead explained the basics about what she knew. "Whenever humans make or use technology in this world, digital data from it makes my world, or something." There was a moment of silence, and Maria nodded to show that she was still listening. "I've always thought of it as shedding," Birdie said. In response, she got a puzzled look from Unica's mom and had to go on to explain. "Like when humans make phone calls, most of the data gets sent through but some of it gets shed off along the way." "Like a puppy!" Unica explained as she emerged from the pantry holding a bag of croutons. Birdie rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Sure," she grumbled, "But where does that extra data go? My world. The digital world." Maria nodded again and took the bag of croutons from Unica. "Okay, so you live in the telephone lines?" she asked, still confused about the concept of a parallel world. "Yes and no," Birdie quickly replied. "I took a train to get here, so..." This only served to confuse the woman even more, for she stopped what she was doing and stared intently at the Biyomon with furrowed brows. "You took a train," she repeated, hoping that by saying it as a statement rather than a question, it would offer some insight. It didn't. Birdie narrowed her eyes and scowled at the confused human. "The digital world is a physical place. If it helps, think of it like another planet, okay? You just can't reach it without a digivice. It came into existence and continues to grow because of the technology humans use here." Maria's expression relaxed as she nodded again, seeming to understand what the avian was telling her. "Okay, I think I get it," she said.
525 / 500 word count (unedited)
1 out of 3 daily posts
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Post by Unica & Birdie on Nov 7, 2020 20:42:19 GMT
"So you come from the digital world, and Unica sometimes visits you by using something called a digivice," Maria said, speaking slowly in an attempt to make sure she got all the details right. Unica was the first to pipe up. "Yep! And I get to see all my friends, like Kitty, and the pizza man, and dinosaur-man!" Maria forced a smile and looked to Birdie for answers, but the Biyomon had none. "Okay," the woman said slowly. "Tell me about your relationship with my daughter." Birdie looked puzzled and Maria returned to sentiment, unsure what she had said that caused the avian to get so confused. "You mean Unica?" the Digimon asked. Maria paused a moment before smiling. "Yes, Unica," she said. It hadn't occurred to her before, but if the digital world and the Digimon living within it were created by data runoff then that would mean they didn't have any families, parents, or children. The very idea of "mother" or "daughter" was a foreign concept to the otherworldly monsters. "We're... partners. I guess," Birdie grumbled, obviously not a fan of the term. "We're sisters!" Unica exclaimed. "No," the Biyomon was quick to interject. "It just means that our lives our bound to each other." Maria once again stopped what she was doing and grew alert upon hearing this. Seeing the panic and confusion on the elder woman's face, Birdie went on. "Some humans, for some stupid reason, are born with a connection to the digital world. With the help of a digivice, they are able to harness their innate abilities to control Digimon." Maria continued to stare, seemingly waiting for Birdie to continue explaining. "Look, all it means is that I can't digivolve unless Unica's with me, okay?!" the pink and blue avian snapped, clearly overwhelmed with the fact that she was in the spotlight. Maria nodded slowly again, once again trying to wrap her head around what she was hearing. In silence, she looked back at the bowl in her hands and continued preparing the dish. After a few long moments of silence, she spoke again. "What is digivolve?" she ultimately asked. "Pfft, 'course humans wouldn't know what digivolving is," Birdie huffed with another roll of her eyes. "Birdie can turns into a big birdie with a funny mask!" Unica giggled. Maria feigned shock even though she had no idea what her daughter was trying to say, and Birdie outright ignored the child. "It's the very core of what being a Digimon means. Do you know what evolution is?" the Digimon asked. The elder woman chuckled. "Yes, I know what evolution is." "It's like spontaneous evolution. It's how Digimon survive. We evolve into more powerful form in order to fight off enemies and protect ourselves." Maria muttered something to Unica then and the young girl raced over to a drawer. "And Digimon need humans to digivolve?" she asked, once again turning to face to Birdie. "Not all of us. Most of us can digivolve on our own, but it takes time and a lot of downloads." Unica's mom looked confused again, and Birdie dismissed the silent inquiry with a shake of her head and a dismissive swat of her wing. If Maria was anything like her daughter, she'd throw a fit and become hysterical at the idea of Digimon killing one another. Best not risk it. "Some of us are stuck with a human partner who holds the key to our evolution." "A digivice?" "A digivice," Birdie confirmed with a single nod.
586 / 500 word count (unedited)
2 out of 3 daily posts
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