Campfire Stories [Got Full Real Fast]

    Surprisingly, Eldoradimon seemed like a fairly hot topic in this impromptu reunion. Somewhat fascinating considering that, interestingly enough, there were no humans present at the moment. Being a witness of the conversation thus far, Nami seized a rare opportunity to speak. “Confusion. I don’t see why changing Eldoradimon’s regime is a worthwhile thing to do. Sure, their policies might be outdated, but don’t they mostly keep to themselves? A human ending there isn’t going to have a good time, but there’s pretty much no chance for them to get there in the first place unless they seek the place on their own.” If anything, she’d label the place as something of little concern, considering how elusive the humongous digimon was in the first place. “Opinion. I believe the average patch of wilderness should be more dangerous in a more real way to the average human.”

    But, of course, that also came with the fact that the hairless Monmons could hardly defend themselves. Nami, on the other hand, seemed a lot more interested in the matter, especially in the part about overthrowing slash blowing the place up. “That’d be quite the sight! I’d love to be there if that ever happens, but I don’t know how scouring a city clean could teach anyone anything about tolerance, if anything, they’ll probably feel like their sentiments towards humans were justified! Then again…” She grinned from ear to ear. “If violence is not the answer to any given problem, it’s probably because not enough was applied.”

    Other than that, neither Meicoomon was too thrilled at the conversation about cities; places were as boring as they came, and most of the time they weren’t even worth the while. Food, on the other hand, was a topic she could do. Especially when it comes to savory foods! “It’s all in the preparation.” She mentioned to Gihai. “Any food can make you sick if the person preparing it has subpar talent! The mere fact of flirting with danger already enhances the flavor tenfold, you know? At least that’s what the person in this book said.”

    The feline reached into a particularly thick patch of fur by her shoulder and brought what looked like a Human World cookbook. She browsed its pages until she arrived on one, then showed it to the Guilmon; it was titled ‘Fugu’. “See? Humans see this thing as a delicacy, even though it’s super poisonous and there’s no known antidote to it!” By now, the excitement in the cat’s voice was fairly obvious. “Humans are usually fairly boring, but I can respect some of their views, like this one!”

    Ultimately, Mana ended up shrugging at Akane. “Not having a permanent residence also means you become less of a picky eater over time. As long as it gives me sustenance, chances are it’s less effort to eat it now and focus on more important things, like continuing our quest!”

    Speaking of which! It seemed like everyone was more or less on board with the sisters’ small hunt. Even if their help wasn’t precisely needed, that was great news! In any case, Nami stepped ahead, deciding to spare everyone her sister’s grandiloquence. “Briefing. We are tracking an escaped pterosaur from the Valley of Dragons. It’s been known to be heavily destructive during daytime, but passive during daytime, which leads us to believe it’s mostly diurnal and that it’s sleeping at the moment. Their species name is…”

    Nami wasn’t precisely good at remembering names, but hopefully her sister was able to come to the rescue! “It’s Shoutmon X3GM. They’re pretty rare, and pretty dangerous! Chances are it’s sleeping in a nearby cave or something, though. We should check those first.”

    Did they have an adventure within their hands? It surely seemed like it!

Everyone started talking about traveling and all that other boring stuff. At least, boring stuff to Mistral. Everywhere was all kind of the same if you really thought about it. Some places you had to wear a blanket when you slept, some days you had to lie in front of a fan where you slept. That's all there really was to it.

As for flirting with danger, well... Mistral had the answer to that. But she was gonna lie about it, anyways. "Danger is a very inconsistent chef who likes to prepare dangerous foods. He's incredibly lonely, though, since he poisons a lot of his friends by accident, so flirting with him makes him really distracted and makes him accidentally prepare dangerous foods."

"Shoutmon X3GM..." Mistral repeated, as if the name meant anything to her. She looked up at the starry sky in thought. "Didn't we meet that Digimon before...?"

"Buh." Buddy corrected.

Buddy raised a good point. "That's right. That was Shoutmon X3SD. Totally different Digimon..." Mistral shrugged. She closed her eyes, sending out faint lines of light around her, getting a feel for her surroundings. "I can sense three lizards, three felines, a big bunny, a big dog, and four ninjas... no, wait... those are bushes. So... I'll need to get closer to sense one on my end." Super helpful talent, guys. I swear.

Meanwhile, Speed had the gall to ask Thog for food. The Angoramon stared at the Flamedramon OC as if he had just asked for Thog's firstborn. But after pondering for a second, the large bunny reached into a pocket of fur, and held out a surprisingly still-steaming burger. He brushed off little patches of fur, and handed it towards him. "Everybody gets one in life. This is yours. Don't waste it." And after saying eleven more words that he would have preferred, he rubbed his throat, then took another big bite of his own meal.

Yepyep. This group sure is contributing a whole bunch, ain't they?

    Ominous words! Gihai was surely getting into the conversation, wasn’t she? Mana looked at her, the feline’s eyes widening ever so slightly. “Somebody told me once that dark wings brought even darker tidings! You don’t have wings, but you might have as well! Those words you just said, they don’t look like they’re meaningless to me. I doubt I’d be the protagonist to anything happening in a city I couldn’t care less about, but I hope to witness those changes, should they ever happen!” She looked at her sister briefly, and she seemed to not be nearly as passionate about this as her. That was fine. “Are you planning anything yourself, Gihai-chan? You look like you do.”

    Of course, every ounce of seriousness the conversation might’ve had vanished instantly as soon as Gihai asked her next question and Mistral replied to it. Least to say, Mana guffawed at the exchange. “Mistral’s answer is definitely more entertaining than anything I could explain. I’m very tempted to keep it as it is.” The grin in her expression didn’t fade in the slightest, even after the clearer explanation. “It’s a saying! Flirting with danger means taking a risky approach to something when it isn’t needed. In this case, by eating food that might be poisonous when you can eat literally anything else. Humans love their dangerous foods despite the fact that most of them don’t care about hunting what they eat themselves! A bit ironic, if you ask me.”

    On the other side of the conversation, Nami listened attentively to what Speed had to say. She seemed deep in thought for some moments before she finally responded. “Ponder. I do agree that their views are backwards with how things are at the moment, but if that’s their territory, they have the right to manage it as they see fit as long as it doesn’t intrude in other territories’ matters, right?” Oddly neutral, but it wasn’t like she could be blamed. “Conclusion. I will withhold my opinion on humans for the time being, however. Besides bits and pieces Nee-chan shares at times, I haven’t interacted with nearly enough to have formed an opinion on them. At least in my eyes, they’re a bit like digimons themselves, in the sense they have as much potential to be beneficial as they have to be harmful. Separating them individually instead of throwing them all in the same basket seems like the intelligent thing to do. I know for sure I wouldn’t like to be thrown with the feral lot if anyone formed an opinion about myself.”

    Completely recovered from Gihai and Mistral’s antics, Mana gave Akane a brief look. “Oh. You’re mistaken, milady. It’s probably clear by now that I prefer to act rather than to plot, given how that’s my dear sister’s area of expertise.” For a couple of seconds, her expression grew somewhat somber. “However, I’m aware that idealism seldom triumphs over raw power, and that displaying that power physically as a means to attain and exercise authority is the most effective and old way to resolve conflicts since this world’s inception. That hasn’t changed, not even when civilizations sprang, or when the humans came. I hold no love for violence, but I am no pacifist either.”

    Neither sister had much to say in regards to a festival held on Ys, or about Speed’s wants for a more traditional meal or Thog’s certainly threatening answer at it. By now, it was time for action, and action was what they would have. As the group advanced as silently as they would, the gaping opening of a stony structure revealed that, indeed, there were caves nearby, and the unlikely posse was very near the felines’ quarry. The encounter was imminent now. “The cave doesn’t seem very wide.” Mana admitted. “We probably will need somebody to aggravate the pterosaur into emerging so we can all strike. Any volunteers?” The grin on her face made it obvious that she’d do it herself if nobody else was up to the task. “Of course, if you have any suggestions for the oncoming battle, I’m all ears.”