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Post by ricochet9-Kima on Oct 14, 2021 2:19:36 GMT
"There are many ways humans and digimon are alike and not just from the instinctual level, Zack. Apparently since you had her since she was a hatchling she imprinted on you as her parent. Such behavior is not unheard of no matter what digimon hatches from the egg." Pumamon said catching a confused look from Kima.
Before he could even ask her what was on her mind, Kima asked "Wait, do all digimon come from eggs or something? I mean they have to be born somehow I guess."
"Yes Kima, all digimon hatch from eggs regardless of circumstances of the eggs creation. Even digimon like myself who look very human like in appearance." Jijimon answered before turning to face Zack and Marigold before he said "It seems you have done well with raising her despite your young age and somewhat reckless behavior. That and through your adventures you have probably met others wiser that could help you when you need advice." Then Jijimon seemed to freeze as another vision came to him. Today had been a busy day with those it seemed. "As for the bulky insect my newest vision shows that you will meet this individual soon, Kima, but it didn't give me anymore information other than the fact this digimon shadowy image I see seems to have a large horn."
"A bulky digimon with a large horn. At least that narrows it down somewhat as not all bulky insect digimon have horns. Today has been busier than normal for you visions usually you only seem to get the occasional vision once in a day." Pumamon said obviously noticing how many visions Jijimon had when he was around him.
"Yes it seems the spirits I seek for guidance sense such help is needed." Jijimon said while leaning back a bit.
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Post by supesman on Oct 14, 2021 2:38:19 GMT
"Well you're right on that count, I've had the good fortune to meet a bunch of folks who have helped me out. It's why I'm...passing it along now. It's in my nature, random acts of kindness and whatnot." he said, pushing himself to stand, wiping the last of the cold sweat from his brow, stretching.
Both Zack and Marigold got tense when they saw the vision taking over Jijimon. They weren't exactly the superstitious type so when they saw something that looked like an old man begin to freeze and jibber to himself for a few seconds their first knee jerk reaction wasn't "Prophecy" it was "Stroke". They both relaxed a little bit, calming their thumping heroic hearts
"A big horn, huh? Even if he's just a rookie like Pumamon any of the digimon that I can think of that fit that description are some tough customers. Let's just hope that all of these powers ended up in hands that are on the right side of history, if you know what I mean." He said, cracking his neck from one side to the other, making the audible pops even louder in the cavernous space around them, melding with the crackling of the fire. "I want to believe that all of your would be partners are going to be as prepared and noble about this as Pumamon and Jijimon here but we need to be realistic. If Jijimon doesn't even know who they are, let alone where, you should consider the possibility that they don't have the same context that Pumamon had. Trust me, sometimes getting people to do the right thing, even for global benefit, can be like pulling teeth. Hard, frustrating and painful." He said. he wasn't a cynic, not really, but the nature of his work as a hero confronted him with the truth of the existence of villains, both the truly evil kind and sometimes simply the shortsighted kind.
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Post by ricochet9-Kima on Oct 14, 2021 4:02:30 GMT
"Your worries regarding the animal powers are not unfounded, Zack. Hopefully the bearers are all good digimon or we could be wresting with potential problem we do not need regarding a certain evil digimon threatening to emerge again." Jijimon said in full agreement with Zack's concerns for who knew what the bearers were like except one.
"What about the bear though? We know at least she is a warrior with a gentle heart so maybe she would be easy to deal with or at the very least will listen to what we say before walking away from us." Kima said sounding hopeful that at least one of the animal spirits might be easier to get access to.
"The bulky big horned insect could be a digimon that is normally a champion form digimon but at rookie power as well." Pumamon theorized out loud.
The mention of levels again was making Kima curious and she said "Wait, you guys mentioned digimon have levels what does that even mean?"
"Sorry, Kima. I know digimon related things are new to you. To start with digimon hatch out of eggs into the stage known as fresh. From there they mature through the process of digivolution which is more akin to a swift metamorphosis as you would understand it. The remaining levels are in training, rookie, champion, ultimate, mega, and super mega. Digimon digivolution for xros generals works differently as to achieve digivolution digimon in a general's army they undergo a process known as a digi xros. The xros levels indicate the minimum amount of digimon needed to form said xros and indicates the level of the digimon involved. X2 forms are champions. X3 forms are ultimates. X4 forms are megas. The final xros levels, X5 and X7, are super mega forms." Pumamon explained in effort to clear things up.
Kima seemed to be understanding as she looked as if she was processing the info well before she said "So that means a Xros General has an army of at least seven digimon, maybe more. Wow."
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Post by supesman on Oct 14, 2021 19:48:56 GMT
"if you think back to some of the bad TV or books you've watched Kima." He says, winking, again making the attempt to relate to her through shared human experiences that most of the Digimon around them would be able to relate to. "You'll remember that very often, prophecies that seem as clear as day when you first hear them will often have double meanings or unexpected wrinkles in the fine print." He said, sighing. He hated this sort of metaphysical thinking. He was a man of strong ideals and strong actions, he wanted to get as many details about a problem as he could, make a decision and then follow that through. He felt lost basically stumbling in the dark, having to try and find something for Kima to even go on at this point.
"Yea, I've never been sure about how Xros Digimon feel. That's probably one of those "bias" things that my dad was talking about." She said, taking up a hunched over position and beginning to be swallowed in a white light that clung to the edges of her body, when it faded she was sitting, cross legged on the floor in her Stingmon form. "Digimon like me just digivolve back and forth into forms as we get stronger and our relationship to our partners get stronger. That part is true of all Digimon really. The closer you become with your Digimon the stronger you both get." She said, that flash of light whirling around her like a dust devil for another moment before she had shrunken down again, even past the smallness of her FanBeemon form into her Puroromon form, Zack sitting down so she could walk up and hop softly into his lap. "I don't know how I would do having to share my did with six other Digimon."
"She means it, she generally does her best to play well with others but my god she can be a little needy when we're at ho-OW!" He yelped, the tiny stinger on the rear end of the baby digimon digging into the material of his pants, Marigold growling up at him with playful "anger"
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Post by ricochet9-Kima on Oct 14, 2021 22:21:00 GMT
Thinking back to some of those shows she snickered before she said "You have a point, Zack. I guess it might be good that Jijimon's visions have been vague for the most part. I would hate to see what kind of problems that would cause in real life. At least the good shows with prophecies keep them vague so figuring out the meaning is engaging." Then she looked at Jijimon and said "No offense to the spirits who seem to guide you of course."
"None taken, Kima." Jijimon responded with a warm chuckle before he said "Though my visions are vague they have made my life interesting over the years." Then he looked over at Marigold when she digivolved to Stingmon and replied "One thing, Marigold, that tamers and xros generals do share in common is the concept of unity. Without some form of it digivolution in any form with the two is unlikely."
When Marigold dedigivolved back into Puroromon and climbed into her Zack's lap, Kima almost melted at the sight as it was so cute. Looking back over at Pumamon she tried imagining what he may have looked like in younger stages which caught the red feline's attention as he asked "What is it, Kima?"
"Oh I was just trying to get an idea of what you may of looked like as a cub, that's all. I know you weren't always as large as you are now."
"That's true. As hard as it is to believe, I was really small once. If I remember what I was told right, I could of fit comfortably in the palm of the average adult human's hands with just a tiny bit of room to spare. I was also poofier and had no limbs like most baby digimon do." Pumamon explained.
"That does sound adorable." Kima said with a smile before a thought suddenly came to her head before she said "You said earlier that some digimon choose their names. Why haven't you done so, Pumamon?"
Pumamon shrugged as he said "I don't know, Kima. I guess I just never found one that suit me." It was an honest enough answer since ever since he was small he could never find a name he liked.
"Maybe I can help with that. That is if that's alright with you, Pumamon." Kima said and after a moment Pumamon nodded giving her silent permission. Entering deep thought for a while, Kima tried to figure out a perfect name for her partner. They would soon be working with others as well so she needed something that not only sounded nice but was also fitting as well. Then it came to her. "How about Takoda? In Native American it means friend to all. Since you will hopefully be not just an ally but a friend to the others and since I'm half Native American. I think it has a certain charm to it."
Pumamon pondered over the name and it did sound nice given his friendly nature. Looking back at Kima with a smile, he said "I like it. Takoda it is then."
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Post by supesman on Oct 15, 2021 0:18:13 GMT
"Half Native American huh? What nation are you coming from. Back where I'm from is only about thirty-ish minutes away from the Penobscot Nation. I want to take Marigold there someday. There's a lot of good food and that put on amazing festivals and just...community stuff yknow?" He said, showing a side of himself that was engage and involved not only with his own work but also with the community and culture that he grew up in. Many young men of his general age wouldn't really be the type to engage with a community affair like that but it seemed to fill him with all sorts of warm and fuzzy memories.
"That's one thing I don't get about humans, you all talk like you're different things. When all the humans I've met seem more like each other than not." She said, her voice tiny and musical as she sat in his lap like the twinkling of tiny bells through the air. Zack patted her with his fingertips and gave Kima a smiling, gentle look.
"Out of the mouths of babes, huh? Man if only everyone else could see that that easily. Yea, bug. You're right, people always have more in common than we could ever have making us different it's just...sometimes people don't see it that way for one reason or another." He said, looking apprehensively down at her. The deep, murky mire of human division and hatred obviously not a subject he had brought up and fully explained to her yet.
She was still in a very innocent stage, especially because of the kind of exposure her father had granted her to the outside world. He was a hero, he fought bad guys, bad guys were people who wanted to hurt other people. For her, in this moment in time it was just as simple as that. Zack wanted so badly to agree with her and he did, in a sense, he wasn't exactly the kind to play devil's advocate. He didn't want to be the one to pull the rug out from under her and show her just how much evil lurked within the hearts of men. Marigold looked at Takoda and Jijimon, a childish confusion in her eyes, the kind of confusion that could only exist in a young person who hadn't truly had one of life's heavy bubbles burst for them yet.
"Dad said I'll understand why people are like that when I'm older." She said, tucking her hands in her lap and kicking her feet in the air as she sat in her father's lap, looking like a child sitting in a chair that was too tall for them.
"No, bug, I said I would TELL you about it when you were older. I pray to every god that could hear me that you never UNDERSTAND why people think that way, because I know for a fact I don't understand it at all." He said, leaning down to kiss her on the head, a father wanting to keep her innocent, to cradle her for just a little while longer.
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Post by ricochet9-Kima on Oct 15, 2021 1:34:00 GMT
"My father is of the Shoshone tribe making me half Shoshone and half Japanese. I carry my mother's surname as they wanted my name to represent both cultures." Kima answered before she said "Now that I think about it, it's a lovely thought."
"Sounds like with digimon, humans make up different tribes each with their own languages." Takoda said in regards to Zack's words. "However, as ridiculous as it seems, digimon also don't always handle differences very well even though it's our differences that make us unique and interesting."
Catching on to what Zack was really talking about with Marigold, Kima said "A lot of this behavior is based on fear and ignorance but what is more puzzling by far is the ones who choose to remain ignorant."
"One would think with so much in common humans and digimon would get along quite well but be aware, Kima, that some humans fear even the gentlest of digimon to the point of wishing the destruction of digimon themselves." Jijimon said. Though his words were calm and gentle there was a note of fear in his tone of voice. "There are also digimon who are very like the humans I warned you of. Sad really since the two worlds are meant to coexist with each other."
Hearing this Kima said "Sounds like cruelty of all kinds is another thing both humans and digimon share in common."
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Post by supesman on Oct 15, 2021 1:40:03 GMT
Jijimon's words about human beings seeking reprisal on gentle digimon seemed to awaken something in Zack. His body tightened, images flashing in front of his mind's eye. A man in a mask, much like hos own, dressed in the blacks and white's of a chess set. Evil hidden behind a visor that reflected the blackness of his soul. Impotent strikes...and his friend Psych vanishing in a flash of dust and rock. He stood up, fast enough the Marigold was jarred from his lap. He pressed himself back against the wall hard enough that the slapping sound his skin made against the surface was enough that anyone else in the room could tell how much it hurt. He could still see him, The Grandmaster, the villain who had stolen someone else's life in Zack's place. He gasps, his face stretched in shock and fear that had taken root in some back part of his brain.
"Dad!" Marigold shouted, picking herself up from the floor and charging over to him, digivolving into her FanBeemon form in mid stride, hovering up to his head height and wrapping her arms around him, clutching him tight. "It's ok...it's ok...it wasn't your fault." She said, her voice full of tears. This kind of breakdown had evidently happened before now, leaving him soaked in cold sweat, shivering in the dark as he remembered events that he couldn't change. He wrapped his arms around his daughter as if trying to convince himself she wasn't part of the nightmare. His breathing steadied, but only slowly.
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Post by ricochet9-Kima on Oct 15, 2021 2:00:52 GMT
Zack's reaction to Jijimon's words resulted in a reaction Kima, Takoda, and Jijimon weren't prepared for when Zack's body froze his body tightening. "Zack, are you alright?" Kima asked before Zack stood up so swiftly that little Marigold was joustled from her perch. Kima and Takoda sprung to their feet as Zack proceeded to be undergoing a traumatic episode right before their eyes and the sudden movement made Takoda hiss in pain but he felt that wasn't important right now.
As both Kima and Takoda approached Zack as he was leaning against a wall suffering from PTSD right before their eyes. Marigold digivolved into Fanbeemon hugging her father tight and was trying to talk him down. Before both Kima and Takoda got to close, Jijimon said "Stay right where you are you two. Zack is not in a stable mental state and there is no telling how he'll react to being crowded. Let Marigold handle her father. My guess is our discussion has unwittingly sprung this episode out of him."
"What happened to him for this to be happening?" Kima asked tearing up and sounding out right scared since there was little she could do to help.
"I don't know but judging from what Marigold is saying, Zack blames himself for whatever event he is reliving."
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Post by supesman on Oct 15, 2021 2:09:56 GMT
Zack clutched at Marigold like his only floatation in an endlessly dark ocean. She was the only point of light that he could still see and hear that would bring him out of the episode as it passed. he could hear the dull thumping of his heart running away from him as he came back to himself, sliding along his back to his knees, hugging her tightly, trying to to get his breathing under control before he tried to speak.
"There was this...bastard..." He said, not picking up his head from Marigold's shoulder, huffing and wheezing, nuzzling himself into her arms so he could wipe the tears away from his face before they were seen. "Called himself the Grandmaster wanted to...to hurt Digimon. He was...he was insane but he was...stronger than me. I wasn't able to take him down and...someone else died in my place. I...still see it sometimes...and I can't stop it from being tattooed behind my eyes." he said, slowly relaxing his grip on Marigold, letting her slowly let go too now that he was convinced that she wasn't some dark mirage meant to pull him back into the nightmare.
"Psych new the risks, same as you do whenever you step out in your colors. He died with his boots on, just like you always said you want to."
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Post by ricochet9-Kima on Oct 15, 2021 2:40:57 GMT
After awhile Zack seemed to be coming out of it as he dropped to his knees still clutching Marigold like the lifeline she was willing to act as. Gradually he worked on getting his breathing under control and soon he spoke of someone called the Grandmaster and that he hurt digimon. Although Zack didn't mention how, it was up to him if he opened up more. Then he mentioned someone dying in his place.
"Sounds like this Psych was a good person who didn't want others to be harmed." Takoda said not noticing the state Kima was in.
That was until, Kima sobbed "Zack, I hope I didn't cause you to, you know, have an episode." Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she clenched her chest.
"Kima, if anything I think it is I that was responsible for what happened, however inadvertently. I am sorry, Zack, if my words caused you such pain. I assure you that was not my intent." Jijimon said before he got up and rooted through his supplies bringing out what seemed to be food. "I will be preparing some food for all of you. You can have some when you're ready, Zack."
Kima, meanwhile, was still crying but she was not sobbing anymore while Takoda moved closer to her gently bumping his head against her leg just like a housecat as if he was trying to calm his general down some more. He didn't know why but his instincts seemed to be telling him that this might at least help one of the humans in the room.
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Post by supesman on Oct 15, 2021 2:58:13 GMT
"No I...hnn...I'm alright it's not...it's not anything anybody said. Not really." He said, standing up and throwing his jacket over his shoulder, zipping it up. It was managable in the cooled down temperature at the heart of the cave and it always made him feel braver and more on the level to be the Digi-Rider, if only for a second, in some small away or another. He walked over to Kima and placed his hand on her shoulder, leaning in and wrapping her up in a hug. "Don't cry for me...please? Because if you start crying then I'm gonna start crying and both of our partners are gonna see us turn into messes." He said, pulling back from the hug with a jovial smile and wiping away his tears with the heel of his hand, using his index finger on his other hand to wipe away some of hers.
Marigold was sniffing and wiping her face, crying happy tears as she saw her father come out of his shell to help someone else. That was always when he shined, when he was able to put the rest of the world away for a moment to lift someone else up. It was easy to see that it was what he was born to do and even if he had never gotten the chance to be a hero in the big, dramatic ways he had always dreamed of, nothing in this life would ever have stopped him from making the world a better place from his first breath to his last on.
"Let's all just eat like pigs ok? Today has been one of those days where I just realized how starving I am after all of my emotional nerves have been rubbed raw."
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Post by ricochet9-Kima on Oct 15, 2021 3:28:02 GMT
Zack seemed to start acting more like himself by the time he got up and put on his jacket. When Zack pulled Kima into a hug she was surprised by it but it and Takoda's comforting gestures combined seemed to mostly calm the teen down by the time Zack pulled away from her. Wiping some remaining stubborn tears from her eyes, she said "I'm sorry. I've never seen someone experience PTSD so it understandably frightened me more than anything else in life I've ever experienced. If it's scary to those watching I can't imagine what you went through in that nightmare."
"It seems Kima is a compassionate person even if she seems to struggle with self confidence. Looks like the Digital World chose a good person to be a Xros General after all since being able to lead isn't the only thing important." Takoda said causing Kima to look down at him seeing he was in visible pain but it didn't look serious at least.
Kima caught the smell of food cooking and turned seeing a large pile of food that just blew her mind. Seemed a bit much for their group but she didn't know what kind of metabolisms digimon had. "I see the food has surprised you, Kima. It is not uncommon for digimon to have large appetites but, in the Digital World, we tend to hunt and forage for ourselves as we are taught to at young ages. Some of the food here is some that I helped Jijimon bring in."
"So does the Digital World have restaurants in their villages or are all digimon just wandering hunters that pick up their villages and move as food runs low?" Kima asked wondering how civilzed digimon were.
"Yes." Takoda said heading back to his pillow before carefully sitting down and Kima followed him sitting on her own as well before he continued "It isn't uncommon for non feral digimon to live in cities and town though gigantic cities seem rare."
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Post by supesman on Oct 15, 2021 14:58:03 GMT
"There is one pretty large city that you're going to run into before too long. Where all the "magic" happens. Big wigs who talk out of their asses, muggers in the alleyways and a fat chunk of digimon just trying to get by. Feels just like home." He said, winking at her. Terminus City really was just like any other city of its size in the human world which is why he felt so at home there as a vigilante, like Batman to Gotham or Spiderman to Manhattan it was easy for him to do some real good when he was tucked into the nooks and crannies of a place large enough that superstition could spread in the criminal element, though he hadn't been too evidently successful at that part of it so far.
"Yea, Digimon take lots of energy. Digivolving is a big drain on it in particular but really our bodies are just data and information in pure energy form made solid. Keeping that internal fire burning takes a lot." She said, spearing her leg through a large meat bun in the pile and beginning to chomp it off of her leg like a shish-kebab.
"I wouldn't worry about the preparation too much either. Not only can anything happen in the digital world, meaning all of the pre-made food could literally have grown on trees, the Digital world doesn't seem to have any germs, not as we would understand them anyway." He said, proving his point by very conspicuously reaching into the core of the pile, pulling out a large citrus looking fruit covered in dirt and dust. He wiped the dust off on his jacket and simply bit into the fruit, no washing, no heating, no nothing. "I think the only reason digimon even cook food in the first place is because it tastes better..." He said, his voice slurred somewhat by the food in his cheek. "Unlike humans, whose main reason for cooking things is to make them safe to eat. In the Digital World it seems like food items exist to BE eaten, rather than as a product of something else."
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Post by ricochet9-Kima on Oct 15, 2021 22:01:35 GMT
"Sounds like you're talking about maybe Terminus. I myself wouldn't mind seeing cities in both the Digital and the Human World since I've spent most of my life living out here in the desert." Takoda said using his tail to pluck some food out of the pile. Though not fully prehensile it was enough to grab some items from food to necklaces but not smaller things. "Remember, Kima, digimon tend to be strong enough to be a threat to humans usually by the in training level even if it is merely swarms. Fortunately many digimon aren't aggressive." Kima then nodded before she grabbed some food for herself.
"Digivolution takes up a lot of energy, huh? Sounds like digimon are like the equivalent of growing children for humans. Growing seems to take up a lot of energy for us humans too so sometimes kids eat like locusts." Kima said before she bit into a piece of fruit she grabbed from further up the pile as she looked at some curious apples being cooked over the fire. "Why are those apples being cooked and the other fruit aren't?"
"These are called meat apples, Kima. They grow on trees throughout the Digital World and not only take on the flavor of various meats but have to be cooked because, like humans, many digimon dislike the taste of raw meat. That and it's healthier." Jijimon explained as he occasionally checked on the meat apples.
"Then are there also regular apples here as well?" Kima asked getting a chuckle in response from Jijimon.
"Yes but since they'd be hard to distinguish the difference for humans it is fortunate most digimon can tell the difference based on smell alone." Jijimon replied after his chuckling finished and Kima didn't seem offended in the least.
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