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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Jan 24, 2021 23:39:58 GMT
Wandering the streets of Whitewater Mandrake and Lothar could still see the beach and glittering ocean but Mandrake wasn't paying the view much attention as it seemed strange for him and Lothar to be wandering around without their son LJ. Shortly after digivolving into his rookie form which was a purple Elecmon with red markings instead of blue and brown eyes like Lothar. LJ, now that he was capable of defending himself and was feeling confident, wanted to explore on his own recognizance.
"Mandrake, what's wrong? Is it LJ?" Lothar asked as he rested a hand on Mandrake's shoulder causing the Wizardmon to come to a stop releasing a sigh. Lothar had gotten real good at reading Mandrake despite lacking telepathic abilities it seemed.
"Your assumptions are accurate, old friend. Ever since becoming parents neither of us planned on what we would do when LJ was ready to head out on his own. I know it likely won't be the last time we see him but that doesn't stop me from worrying about him." Mandrake said as he leaned into his boyfriend for comfort. Though he could sense the minds of the digimon of Whitewater, none of them were close enough to even notice them and if they did none of them would likely care. Mandrake and Lothar had been working on being more affectionate in public settings seeing as it was a matter of time before someone spotted them if they continued their secretive behavior.
"Before LJ left he asked me to enroll him in a human high school while you were restocking on supplies for our first aid kit. At least he might make some new friends while at that school both human and digimon alike since you said you sensed digimon when we were driving to the school." Lothar said as he gently pulled Mandrake into a hug.
They stayed that way for several minutes until a fast approaching mental signature of a digimon caught Mandrake's attention and he pulled away from Lothar. Soon a Dorumon came running up to them with an alarmed look and said "Please help. My brother has hurt himself and I don't know if I can get him to the hospital in time."
An injured child had both Mandrake's and Lothar's attention instantly as they looked the Dorumon in the eye. He seemed newly digivolved which meant he was around their son's age. "Take us to your brother. Maybe we can help him."
Though this boy was young something about him seemed off to Mandrake but not wanting to risk the chance that there was actually a child needing help, he decided not to ignore the Dorumon's plea. Mandrake and Lothar ran just behind the boy as the went down a city street and saw what appeared to be an injured Dorimon laying on his side with his eyes closed and he appeared to be bleeding.
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Post by Hanako Hoshidate on Jan 25, 2021 2:30:06 GMT
Having travelled to Whitewater from Terminus City via Trailmon, Hana and her two partners, Hagurumon and Keramon were wandering the streets, taking in the view of the ocean. They weren't too worried about how far into the Digital World they travelled, since Hana had purchased a Digi-port app for her digivice while they were in Terminus.
"Wow, this place is so pretty! We should come back here later and have a beach day!" Hana exclaimed, eyes glittering with excitement. "Wouldn't it be fun to go swimming, you guys?"
"Keramon wants to swim! Swimming is fun!" Keramon gleefully added.
"I'll let you two do all the swimming. All that water would make probably me rust! Not to mention that sand is always a pain to clean out of my gears..." Hagurumon chipped in, muttering the last part under his breath.
As they were talking, Hana noticed a Dorumon running across the street a ways away from them.
"I wonder what's got them in such a hurry?" Hana thought out loud, alerting her partners to the Dorumon as well.
The three of them watched in curiosity as the Dorumon ran up to a Leomon and Wizardmon, and start talking to them. When the Dorumon mentioned his injured brother and ran off with the Wizardmon and Leomon following after them, their curiosity was replaced by concern and they took off running after them (or floating in Hagurumon and Keramon's case) in order to try and help. After catching up to the three Digimon, Hana let out a gasp upon seeing the wounded Dorimon before covering her mouth with her hand.
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Jan 25, 2021 3:57:19 GMT
Mandrake was mentally aware of the strangers following them before he and Lothar heard the human girl gasp bit his and Lothar's attention was primarily on the youngster. Kneeling down to the Dorimon, Mandrake's sapphire blue eyes looked carefully at Dorimon but as Lothar knelt down and brought out the Infini-Store he used to carry most of their stuff when Lothar began sniffing as if he picked up something strange in the air.
'Lothar, what is it?' Mandrake asked Lothar telepathically. He figured keeping this discussion private for the moment would be wise so he created a telepathic link with his boyfriend.
'Sniff the air, Mandrake, even with your human like sense of smell you can tell something is amiss.' Lothar answered back over the link shortly before Mandrake ended it.
Taking a brief sniff it seemed Lothar was right and from his position kneeling near the Dorimon he found it easier to pick up the smell Lothar caught. Reaching his hand out towards Dorimon he reached under the youngster gently pulling the source of the foul smell free. Lothar crinkled his nose since his sense of smell was more sensitive before Mandrake said "I think I've found the problem." Mandrake turned toward Lothar and Hana and her partners before he then showed a small, squished, and rather smelly tomato. "It is a rotten tomato." Mandrake said as he looked for the Dorumon. Due to Mandrake's telepathic abilities he knew the Dorumon was nearby but he wasn't visible.
Lothar felt a tug on the Infini-Store and he grabbed the Dorumon by the scruff of his neck holding the rookie in front of him and in view. "It seems this kid was trying to scam us so he could pickpocket us." Lothar said with an annoyed tone.
Suddenly Mandrake became mentally aware of several more minds as four more rookie digimon all of them dragon digimon. Suddenly the rookies launched attacks toward Lothar causing him to drop the Dorumon and cause the Dorimon to squeak in fright and hide behind a nearby trash can. When the dust settled it seemed the five rookie dragons were gone without a trace but nothing was stolen so Mandrake and Lothar were fine with it.
Then Mandrake sensed the Dorimon hiding behind the trashcan and crawled over toward him and said "It's okay little one. You can come out. No one will hurt you." The Dorimon remained right where he was afraid to come out of hiding.
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Post by Hanako Hoshidate on Jan 25, 2021 4:49:36 GMT
Hana was frozen in shock when she first saw the Dorimon, but visibly relaxed when the Leomon revealed that the "blood" was actually from a rotten tomato. She hadn't noticed the smell of the tomato, thinking it was coming from the nearby trashcan.
"Oh, thank heaven he's not hurt." Hana muttered to herself. She had closed her eyes and sighed in relief, but quickly snapped them back open when she heard the Leomon mention that the Dorumon had tried to pickpocket him.
When the other four rookie Digimon showed up, one of them ran past Hana and knocked her to the ground. Hagurumon and Keramon moved to protect Hana from the potentially dangerous rookies, but the five thieves seemed to have run off as quickly as they had appeared. Hana quickly got her feet and dusted herself off.
"Well, that was not cool. Trying to con people by faking an injury. Sheesh. Are you guys okay?" Hana asked the two Champion Digimon, turning her head to face them. As she did, she saw the terrified Dorimon hiding behind the trashcan while the Wizardmon tried to coax it out. Having an idea, Hana reached into her backpack and pulled out her ocarina, playing a soothing tune on it to try and calm the Dorimon down.
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Jan 25, 2021 5:36:48 GMT
Lothar merely dusted himself off as it appeared the attacks were just no more than a distraction before he said "I'm fine." He then began packing the Infini-Store back in his backpack and put it back on before watching Mandrake try to coax the Dorimon out of hiding.
The Dorimon didn't budge despite Mandrake's gentle words and looked at the blue eyed Wizardmon as if looking for signs of deceit. Then the sound of an ocarina was heard and the Dorimon began wiggling his ears in response to the pleasant sound. Then slowly, but on high alert, began coming out ready to run for it if need be. After he made it just out of arms reach of Mandrake he looked around before he asked "Where are the others? Why did they leave me behind?" His words came out as frightened sniffles as tears appeared in his golden eyes.
"I'm sorry but your brother and his friends seem to have forgot about you when they fled." Mandrake said gently as he tried not to upset the boy further.
"That Dorumon isn't my brother but they promised to look after me. I can't b-believe they abandoned m-me. They p-promised." the Dorimon said before breaking down into wordless sobs leaving both Mandrake and Lothar staring at the little one stunned into silence.
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Post by Hanako Hoshidate on Jan 25, 2021 14:28:41 GMT
Seeing the Dorimon come out from behind the trash can, Hana stopped playing the ocarina and returned it to her backpack. When the little Digimon broke into tears over being abandoned, Hana could feel her heart break over what the little Digimon had gone through. How could they do that? Manipulating a child, then just abandoning them at the first sign of trouble?! That is NOT okay!
Having another idea, Hana moved towards Hagurumon and whispered something to him. As his face lit up in understanding, Hagurumon purposefully reverted to his In-Training form, Kapurimon. Kapurimon slowly hopped forwards, attempting to get close enough to console the heartbroken Digimon while appearing as non-threatening as possible.
"I know you're scared and upset, but it's going to be okay, Dorimon. You didn't do anything wrong. I know what it's like, to be scared and alone." Kapurimon softly told the young Digimon, hoping . "But now I have Hana and my brother, so I'm not alone anymore. And you don't have to be alone, either. We can even be friends, if you want."
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Jan 25, 2021 22:23:32 GMT
Lothar watched as Hagurumon dedigivolved back into Kapurimon before approaching the crying Dorimon. As the Kapurimon spoke to the Dorimon, the young furry dragon's sobs calmed as he opened his tear filled amber eyes before looking at Kapurimon and Mandrake. "It's not that I don't want friends but those kids claimed to be my friends then abandoned me when things went wrong." the Dorimon said with a hint of anger in his voice.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that young one. I know from experience how cruel children can be." Mandrake piped in catching the Dorimon's attention. Then a thought came to Mandrake's mind as he wondered why this child was on the streets being taken care of by roughly newly evolved rookies. "Where are your parents, little one?" Mandrake asked hoping the Dorimon would talk to him.
More tears started to flow before the boy said "I have nowhere to go. My parents are dead and so is my grandpa. They were killed by pirates but they spared me and I don't know why."
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Post by Hanako Hoshidate on Jan 25, 2021 23:19:18 GMT
Realizing his poor choice of words, Kapurimon backed up a bit and bowed his head in shame. "I'm sorry, I'm not good at talking to others. I was just saying I know what it feels like to be where you are."
Knowing that he was a bit out of his depth, Kapurimon turned and hopped back over to Hana while the Wizardmon spoke to the Dorimon. Hana wordlessly lifted Kapurimon into her arms and hugged him.
"It's okay, buddy. You did what you could." Hana whispered into her partner's ear, softly enough that the other Digimon might not be able to hear it. Kapurimon only nuzzled Hana's arm in response, both of their eyes starting to tear up from this whole mess. It pained them both when the Dorimon started talking about how his family had been killed by pirates, as neither of them knew what they should do at this point.
What a mess this is, huh?
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Jan 26, 2021 0:02:42 GMT
By the time Kapurimon returned to his tamer after the Dorimon spoke to him angrily, Mandrake and Lothar broke out of their silent stupor but Lothar remained silent as he wasn't known to be chatty at first with unfamiliar humans and digimon anyway. Mandrake remained still to not frighten off Dorimon as he said "I didn't know your family was dead. I'm sorry that I upset you."
Still crying, Dorimon looked up at Mandrake and said "It's not your fault. You didn't know I'm an orphan living on the streets."
No it wasn't Mandrake's fault but he didn't just want to leave this child alone with no one to care for him. "How long have you been on the streets?" Mandrake asked.
"I don't know exactly but it can't be more than a couple weeks." the boy answered after he appeared to think about his response for a minute or so.
"My name is Mandrake and the Leomon with me is my boyfriend, Lothar. Do you have a name, little one?" Mandrake asked hoping the young one would introduce himself.
Mandrake's hope for the Dorimon to introduce himself came true as he answered "Yes, I have a name. My name is Kshin." The boy was a bit calmer but didn't move towards the others though. Then he looked in Kapurimon's direction and said "I'm sorry I snapped at you. I wasn't mad at you and I know you were trying to help but other than bringing down the pirates that murdered my family, I don't know what you can do."
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Post by Hanako Hoshidate on Jan 26, 2021 5:41:48 GMT
"It's okay, Kshin. I understand how hard this has been for you. I went through a similar situation in my previous life, being abandoned and left to fend for myself." Kapurimon calmly explained, accepting the Dorimon's apology as he hopped down from Hana’s arms. "I ended up as a bitter Datamon who ended up dying alone, cursing his own misfortune. I wouldn’t wish that kind of pain and loneliness on anyone. Once I reverted to an egg, part of my data even split off and became my brother Keramon, just so I wouldn’t be alone anymore.”
Hana was stunned from Kapurimon’s revelation. Even though she had only known her partners for a short period of time, they had never mentioned anything regarding their past like this.
"Brother ..." Keramon quietly uttered, watching Kapurimon as he placed his hand on Hana's shoulder.
“I know trust isn’t built in a single day, so maybe we can start over, try to get to know each other, and just figure things out one step at a time? Kapurimon cheerfully greeted, extending a metaphorical olive branch to the Dorimon. “It’s nice to meet you, Kshin.”
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Jan 26, 2021 7:22:56 GMT
At Kapurimon's words Kshin thought for a minute before he said "I never thought being abandoned would hurt almost as much as losing my family but dying alone and bitter sounds awful too."
"If not for my father I could have easily wound up alone and miserable if I made it to champion. My mother was murdered when I was a fresh stage digimon. I doubt I was even a week old when my mother died. Fortunately my father was nearby and took care of me." Mandrake said causing Kshin to look at the Wizardmon in shock. He had no idea how much in common he had with Mandrake.
Then he looked at Lothar and asked "What about your boyfriend, Lothar? Does he talk?" Kshin's question made Lothar smirk in amusement.
"Yes he talks. He just doesn't instantly speak with those he doesn't know. It isn't personal." Mandrake explained to Kshin.
The answer seemed to satisfy Kshin and he began wagging his bushy tail before looking at the human and her partner digimon before he asked "What about you three, what are your names?" Mandrake and Lothar smiled though Mandrake's smile wasn't visible due to his cape. It seemed young Kshin was in a bit of a better mood but Mandrake remained where he was just to make sure he wouldn't startle the child away.
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Post by Hanako Hoshidate on Jan 26, 2021 13:37:25 GMT
"Well, I have my brother and Hana now, so I'm doing a lot better than I used. When I was a Datamon I went by the name Cog, but I don't really feel like that name fits me anymore. You can call me Data, if you want." Kapurimon said, a thoughful look on his face.
"Keramon likes 'Rush'! Zoom, zoom!" Keramon added with a grin.
"Don't worry about Rush. He may look scary on the outside, but he's a loveable pushover on the inside. He wouldn't hurt a Botamon." The newly named Data added, grinning at his brother.
"And I'm Hana! I'm their partner, although Rush seems to think I'm his mom for some reason. But, that's beside the point." The Tamer excitedly chimed in, completing the set. She quickly pulled her partners in for a group hug. "I'm so proud of you both. I love you both so much! Oh, I'm being rude, aren't I?"
Hana quickly broke up the group hug, and turned to Kshin. "Do you want a hug too, Kshin? It's okay if you don't want one."
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Jan 26, 2021 23:00:37 GMT
"Yeah Cog probably doesn't fit you since you and your brother were once the same digimon. It's still nice to meet you, Data, Rush, and Hana." Kshin said as he was trying to figure the trio out, Rush especially since he seemed a bit strange. "Rush doesn't seem so scary to me. Those pirates who killed my family were scarier." Kshin then said.
Then Hana and her partners had a brief group hug and afterward Hana asked if Kshin wanted a hug. "Sure a hug couldn't hurt." Kshin said as he moved past Mandrake the Wizardmon turning round keeping an eye on the Dorimon.
As Dorimon moved completely past Mandrake the Wizardmon said "I hate to upset you again, Kshin, but you mentioned that the pirates were scarier. Is there anything you remember about them. Maybe Lothar and I can track them down with enough information."
Kshin stopped briefly before he said "One thing I remember is that they were dragon digimon led by a female Ouryumon."
As Kshin reached Hana Lothar finally spoke up as when he said "Ouryumon is a mega digimon. Tracking her down and bringing her and her goons in will be hard since we have only reached as far as our ultimate level forms."
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Post by Hanako Hoshidate on Jan 27, 2021 0:20:00 GMT
"Right, sorry. I keep putting my metaphorical foot in my mouth. A lot of Digimon are unnerved by Rush, so it's become a force of habit. I think his data didn't configure properly when we split, which is why he behaves a bit strangely." Data apologized, rubbing his helmet with his tail.
Rush wasn't bothered by his brother's words, as he was too busy watching Hana reached down to pick Kshin up and give the young Digimon a gentle hug. Hearing about the pirate's leader was making Hana a bit nervous, but she did her best to try and hide it from the Digimon in her arms. "A mega Digimon? I'm honestly not sure how much we can help with that. Data and Rush haven't even reached champion level, so they wouldn't stand a chance in a fight with her. They'd get shredded in a heartbeat. Maybe the three of us could distract the crew while you take down the captain? That's all I got so far. Sorry"
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Jan 27, 2021 0:44:57 GMT
"Maybe nothing is wrong with your brother, Data, maybe he's just goofy on purpose." Kshin said as he patted the Kapurimon gently on his helmet. "Wait, since you're Rush's twin wouldn't there be something up with your data too?" Kshin asked knowing that twins were born from the same egg.
Shaking his head, Mandrake said "Not always, Kshin. Sometimes one twin could be born like Rush while the other can be what could be considered normal. That doesn't mean Rush is necessarily unhealthy by any means. Not all examples of improperly configured data are dangerous to a digimon."
When Hana mentioned wanting to help, Mandrake said "Odds would not be good for either Lothar or myself since we can only reach ultimate. That and we don't know the levels of her minions."
"Not only that, we also have to track her down and she could be anywhere in the Digital World by now." Lothar said scratching his chin in thought.
Kshin hopped out of Hana's arms and said "Wait, my family and I were looking for a treasure when the pirates killed them. Maybe the pirates were looking for the same treasure. Shame I don't know anything about the treasure though or I could be more help. I don't even know what it's called."
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