Fallen Order『Ru-Ru』

    Being honest with herself, Manami didn’t even notice the passage of time as she assessed the terrain near her; she knew the clues that she sought were there somewhere, and was determined to find them. En-En, on the other hand? Her expression alternated between a pout and a frown, sometimes even a mix of the two; it would’ve been quite funny to behold, if there was anyone to see it. She busied herself practicing her sidewinder before space ruptured somewhat near her, making way to a portal. Manami turned in that direction as well, but given their positions, the Weathermon would find herself closer to the new arrivals.

    She gave them a long stare that wasn’t precisely unfriendly, but definitely not friendly either. The funniest part was that she hadn’t even let the yo-yos rest. Very threatening. “You must be the fil-the human.” Almost as if deeming the blonde unworthy of her attention, her gaze immediately shifted towards the digimon that was behind her. “And you should be little Amorie.” Derision was clear in her childish voice, but before she could give the women a piece of her mind, En-En was interrupted by her creator.

    “Hey~!” The disguised Trickmon greeted cheerfully. “I wasn’t precisely waiting for you, but it’s good you showed up!” Having said that, Manami threw a transparent can in Kurumi’s direction. Inside, there was… a carbonated liquid. Which one exactly? Considering it alternated between being sickly green and soft yellow, probably nothing Kurumi has seen before. “I created it yesterday, let me know what you think about it!”

    Oh, right. Pleasantries. Those were things that existed; Manami drew closer and patted En-En’s head. “She doesn’t have a name, so I’ve been calling her En-En for convenience’s sake. She’s little Amorie’s first younger sister, and she’s obviously very jealous of being second.” There was mischief in the digimon’s voice, something that was accompanied by her creation's face reddening.

    “I’m not jealous of her!” That one was obviously convincing, yep. “I’d never be the sister of somebody who serves a human, of all things.”

    “And she’s a bit of a brat too, you see. I explained to her that not all the humans suck, but she’s still working on that. But don’t worry! She means well… most of the time.” By now, En-En was fuming, but she kept quiet. She stored her yo-yos and sat on the ground, unmoving. “Anyway! How’s life been! You gotta tell me if you’ve managed to keep your higher forms stable! And if little Amorie has evolved already. We can begin working after that.”

    Sounded like a plan, right?

    Manami couldn’t help but chuckle as her eyes went from En-En to Mori. She couldn’t really say that this is how she predicted this would go, but it was fairly close, nonetheless! After confirming that the younger sibling wasn’t intending to outright attack her older sister, her gaze went back to Rumi.

    “Of course they aren’t! Which is one of the many reasons I’m proud of it.” She confirmed; that was an obvious remark to make. Hopefully, the blonde won’t be commenting on the sky’s blueness any time soon. “It has alcohol, so it’s obviously prone to combusting!” She made a small pause, recalling a very specific incident, then waved a hand in a dismissive manner. “But if you mean spontaneously combusting, that issue is fixed. Promise!”

    That sounded extremely reassuring, just like the beverage’s scent as it was opened. Thankfully, this time it wasn’t as overpowering or precisely unpleasant; kind of like a warm-ish fruit salad with the smallest hint of a durian’s strong smell. Hopefully, there would be improvements in the taste department too!

    Once again, Manami’s eyes shifted briefly to En-En location before addressing Rumi. This time, however, the loathing in her expression was fairly clear. “Ew. That’d be so gross. It’d waste my time less to create a giant pile of excrement and give it a glassy finish than to attempt a human.” Her expression returned to her normal cheery self right away as she brought out a sketchbook and showed a page to Kurumi. In it, there was a sketch of a small lion-plush-thing riding a cloud, not unlike a Lakitu! “En-En’s a Weathermon! She’s a fairly weak digimon and won’t evolve past that form, but I intended for her to be that way; since a guardian would be completely pointless for me to have, her usefulness lies elsewhere.”

    In the meantime, Mori had closed the gap that separated her from En-En and showed that she had plenty of sisterly love to give by clasping her hands around her younger sister’s in what appeared to be a death grip. At least to the smaller of the two beings. “Wha… What are you doing!?” Chances are her face couldn’t be redder even if she tried. “Let me go! You’re weird!” Despite trying to yank her hands away, it was of no use. It seemed like all the arguments regarding Mori serving a human had poofed under the sheer amount of confusion the small digimon currently felt. Inadvertently, her hands began to slowly ooze a black, inky substance that’d no doubt soak into Mori’s own if she kept her grip. Oh well; the little sister was too flustered to even notice what was happening at the moment.

    It seemed like Ru-Ru’s life was pretty much as one would’ve expected it to be. “A weirdo gave you a thingy that lets you cheat harder? That’s kinda neat on their part, to be honest.” Manami wondered who this person was for a brief moment, only to realize she knew next to nothing about Rumi’s spirits, thus making thinking about the whole deal utterly pointless. “Seems like you’re a natural-born cheatyface, though! If you even get people to line up to give you cheat-things, that means you should be fairly good at it. Or at least that’s what I think. No idea really.”

    She nodded in approval at the progress Amorie was doing as well. It meant her creation had come up flawlessly! She probably needed some more work with her social skills but… the ones she had already seemed good enough. What about Manami herself, then? The disguised digimon grinned, then spoke.

    “We’ve been journeying this world far and wide, searching for interesting things or anything that’d give me inspiration, more or less! I’ve been thinking about setting up a semi-permanent workshop, or at least a place I can go back to if I ever feel like it, but no location seems pleasant enough. That’s why we’re here.” She made a sweeping gesture in the area behind her. “Look at this place. It’s as bland as it could be, but it holds a special story! Apparently, there used to be a pretty impressive structure called Vanadir Tower, or Wander Tower, or something like that. And then, out of the blue, it just poofed with everyone who was involved with it. Ain’t that amazing? I’ve heard there’s lots of places like this one, and I’m interested in what remains of them. If they were as impressive as people say, then I’m sure I’ll get lots of high-quality materials from them. Maybe something to help create the foundation of my very own place, or maybe enough material to create a new assistant! Maybe not enough for either, but I doubt I’m gonna leave empty-handed.”

    After waiting for some seconds and gauging Kurumi’s reaction to her words, she finally asked. “So, what do you say? Wanna help me?”

    Feedback was an interesting topic for Manami, at least for this occasion. On one hand, improving her craft was every artisan’s priority, yet, at the same time, pride was an evident player in the equation. It was true that not everyone could appreciate art, and that applied twice to humans; even so, what good was art for if it couldn’t be appreciated by inferior beings? Maybe the whole deal had to be progressive in order for them to acclimate to what actual good taste was. “And what color would you suggest?” She finally asked, after a few moments of silence. It’d be interesting to hear what humans considered ‘fancy’, at least when it came to this matter.

    Feeling like the being of infinite generosity she was, she observed as Rumi took a sip from her beverage. To the blonde’s probable surprise, this time the flavor of the drink matched its scent. Was that a good or a bad thing for her? Probably something to be found out soon enough. At least either result would end up in an interesting situation.

    Was Manami’s description too graphic? She shook her head at Ru-Ru’s words. “That’s actually a not-so-funny anecdote I have. It was the first job that I firmly rejected. You see, I was approached by a Vademon and they wanted this…” This time, her sketchbook flipped to yet another page, showing something less than pleasant. “Some people are truly tasteless degenerates who think they can freely disrespect artists. Had I not been so shocked at the proposal, chances are I would’ve killed the creep right there. Would have done the world a favor, methinks!”

    Since no one should suffer that sight for more than ten seconds at a time, Manami flipped back to En-En’s page right away. Least to say, she was extremely curious about Kurumi’s input in the matter. “A videogame? Like the ones we played at your house?” What was its name, even? Fatties running, or something like that? That whole episode was somewhat blurry in her mind.

    Brow quirked, Manami wondered from where anyone could even imagine Weathermons threw spiky stuff at things. That seemed pretty dumb. “Weathermons tend to have weather-related abilities. It’s in the name, you see?” Captain Obvious to the rescue! “She really likes using her yo-yos in her spare time, though. I can see her throwing them at you if she dislikes you enough and doesn’t have anything else to throw; Good thing it hasn’t happened yet! Or that those aren’t spikey.” Not like a normal yo-yo could cause a lot of damage, aside from a minor concussion, right? Sometimes, it was hard to know with humans.

    What about her actual talents? That was a very good question! “I’ll show you once those two are done with their sisterly time. They look like they’re enjoying themselves, aren’t they? It’d be a shame if we interrupted.” By now, it was fairly obvious that the digimon didn’t seem to mind how flustered her latest creation felt in regards to her older sister. At least for the time being, she focused on the remainder of the conversation. “Crap being scared out of you sounds inconvenient. Did you have to clean your clothes afterward?” Maybe this wasn’t the expression to introduce a digimon to idioms! Even so, she didn’t dwell on that too much. “He doesn’t sound like a very pleasant person, but if he survived being stabbed it either means your stabs are fairly weak, or that he’s a digimon and wouldn’t care a lot about those either way.”

    Obvious comments were obvious. Was there really a need to remark on them? Apparently! Response to him seemed fairly straightforward though. “You just tell him you want to meet with him? It doesn’t seem that hard.” Maybe Rumi was afraid? That could be a possibility since she mentioned she had been scared at first. An idea illuminated the digimon’s mind right away. “You could always ask him if you can bring friends if you’re doubtful about it. Little Amorie could probably vaporize most digimons without a lot of effort. I could even accompany you! The person you’re talking about sounds fairly interesting.”

    Was that a good idea? That was debatable; good thing the ultimate decision was on the blonde's part. What about this place, then? While Kurumi’s suggestion made sense, Manami knew better. “Nah, I’m sure it’s not a thing anymore.” Or, at the very least that the tower didn’t exist anymore. “The organization that used to operate there was very into being flashy and those things, I even think their name was related to a flower or something. To be extra fancy, I think.” A shrug followed suit. For somebody who had been researching, a lot of the names seemed very vague. “Why it ceased to exist from one moment to the next is a mystery that we mightn’t uncover, but one we only care about tangentially. We’re here after the goods, after all!”

    The glint of greed in the holosuited digimon’s eyes was impossible to conceal, but it wasn’t like she cared about that at all. A nod was given both at Ru-Ru’s affirmative response and her question regarding drunkenly questing. Just as the ‘girl’ turned in order to face in the direction Amorie and En-En were facing. “It’s decided, then! We’ll begin at once.” After a pause, she corrected herself. “Well, in a bit, actually! Gotta show you what En-En can do, after all.”

    In the meantime, it seemed like En-En and Amorie were having the time of their lives. Or, well, Amorie at the very least. The Weathermon wasn’t used to this kind of contact, and the fact that she was both flustered and expelling ink like a humanoid squid was fairly easy to appreciate. “No, I’m not happy. Let me go!!” Those words didn’t carry a lot of strength with them. This situation was no doubt taking its toll on the small digimon. Luckily, just as the situation was reaching an unsustainable point, a window was provided and the digimon could finally yank her hands free. “I don’t need anything from you! You… you weirdo!” She said while blowing a raspberry to Mori. That wasn’t very polite, but it was clear that those words were a far cry from the initially-calculated speech she had given.

    No one could ask for a more perfect moment for Manami to intrude into the sisters’ reunion! Without acknowledging anything that had transpired between the two, she gave the smaller digimon a look. “Say, En-En. Could you use your ability on little Amorie? Ru-Ru over here is interested in seeing it.”

    Given how the digimon had just recovered from a majorly agitating situation, she was going to open her mouth to protest. Both on using that on Amorie and on its point being to show it to her human. However, it took her a second to realize that the look on her parent’s eye didn’t give room to negotiate. She sighed, trying to calm herself down while deactivating her holosuit. Floating a few feet above the ground, she stared at her older sister. “Amorie.” The amount of derision in her voice was still fairly evident. “I need for you to turn off your disguise and look at my eyes. Think that you can do that, or that’s too hard for you?”

    Rebellious til the end! Little did En-En know that she wasn’t quite ready to see Mori’s true form.

    At least when it came to this situation, Manami took Kurumi’s input to heart. Be as it may, the actual color of the beverage wasn’t something that was at the forefront of the digimon’s priorities. As long as the taste was on the right spot, she could progressively work on the less important aspects of her creation.

    Commerce, on the other hand, was something of an interesting topic for her. “That might be an option, but I doubt I’d ever maintain a stable stock of these; probably something I’d sell on request, though? I hold no interest in the soulless process that mass-production is. I feel like it robs any creation of its identity.” Not to say that mass-produced goods tended to drop in quality by a fair deal. For Manami, that was something non-negotiable. She’d rather end her existence on the spot before aiming at anything less than excellency, especially for something as trifling as profit.

    Much like Kurumi herself, the Trickmon wasn’t really keen on continuing the topic of the Vademon; these so-called human ‘games’ proved to be a more interesting and engaging line of conversation, anyway. “Maybe you should show me that game at some point. I’d love to compare ideas and designs with it.” Weathermons were hardly something original to Manami, even if sight of one wasn’t exactly something common either, at least relatively speaking. A development of a similar being, albeit in parallel, would be a fascinating study case.

    Those thoughts, however, stopped on their tracks at the colorful descriptor that the blonde decided to use on En-En. “I… don’t think she’s spicy.” With utter confusion, she stared at the human. “When did you attempt to eat her? That’s a bit… strange. I didn’t know humans did that.” By now, Kurumi probably should’ve known that idioms weren’t going to work all that well in conversation. Unless her goal was to confuse Manami; in that case, they were doing that job wonderfully.

    Hoping that the misunderstanding would be clarified, the digimon nodded at the following description. “That sounds like a digimon to me, or an extremely weird human. The latter are rarely so nonchalant about what transpired right there, not to say that some digimon enjoy being cryptic for whatever reason.” The possibility was very real, even if not quite guaranteed. Nonetheless, this strange visitor had no doubt piqued her curiosity. “I’d rather get some answers before killing him if that’s what has to be done, but sure. Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve dealt with an annoyance.”

    Unearthing the mysteries of this place was something that wasn’t as easy, that’s for sure. “Overconfidence tends to be the downfall of these organizations more often than not. It’s true that they tend to be a cut above most ragtag groups, but just like you said, that doesn’t mean they’re invincible or something of the like. It’d be nice if we could find the exact reason why this place doesn’t exist anymore, though!”

    There was a stark contrast between the otherwise placid conversation happening between completely unrelated beings and the two sisters just… ‘getting along’. En-En had to wonder why Amorie’s common sense was so faulty, and just how she managed to be as insufferable as she was right now. Doing her best to avoid the tissue that was aimed squarely to her face, she just sighed. “Did the human drop you when you were a baby or something? You should stop being such… such a dummy!” The Weathermon’s immaturity was easy to see, even if quite frankly, this situation completely overwhelmed her. At least it was a good thing that she was willing to listen, even if she couldn’t avoid scoffing when she had to tacitly ask the human for permission to do things.

    It was only then when the disguised digimon’s body flashed and grew… quite a bit, honestly. Given how En-En was a small digimon herself, and how she had only seen Manami’s most basic forms, the sight of an enormous digimon was nothing short of breathtaking. Despite their apparent closeness, for the first time ever, the Weathermon didn’t seem to mind her sister’s presence. She stared in awe for several seconds before recomposing herself.

    “I see she’s grown correctly, and looks very healthy. Good going, little Amorie! Have you engaged in a battle yet? I’d be interested in hearing how that went.” Quality control questions aside, En-En’s eyes glowed faintly before she broke contact. “Now you can activate it again.” She did the same, and surprisingly enough, the smaller digimon now looked just like Mori did moments ago. If the Mitamamon did as she was told, she’d now be the smaller one, given that she’d be borrowing her younger sister’s disguise.

    “That’s her main talent. I’m strong enough to do what I want as long as it requires brute force, but deception like that ain’t my strong suit? Little En-En over there at least partly takes care of it. Of course, she’s just the beginning. Chances are she’s gonna have a very big family!”

    How did Amorie feel now, being the smaller one in comparison to her younger sister? Would that change their dynamic any? Sides the disguised Weathermon looking a fair deal more smug, if the Trickmon had to bet on an answer, it’d probably be ‘no’, but one truly never knew.

    While pondering the scenario, Manami found a pure-white brick. It might’ve been part of a structure at some point, even if it looked mostly untarnished. On it, there was an inscription; ‘Knights of the Ros-’. As if it were the most natural thing in the world, she showed it to Kurumi. “Know anything about this? Seems like a clue to me. Chances are we'll find more of these if we keep on advancing.”

    That was one less worry out of the way. “Oh.” At least it was a good thing that Kurumi hadn’t tried to eat En-En. The ramifications of such a situation would’ve been far-reaching. “I like to describe her as a critical thinker. Full of prejudice, sure, but those have a somewhat solid foundation, or at least that’s what I’d like to think. If anything her main flaw might be that, she takes her own opinions a tad too seriously. But that’s just how she protects herself, you know? You’ve probably realized this already, but this world is a fairly hostile place!”

    Least to say, the road paved ahead of the small Weathermon would be a long one, filled with various hardships, and an attitude like the aforementioned was an asset to ensure her success at treading through it.

    What about the strange digimon that was Ru-Ru’s newest fan, then? That was an interesting question. “Well, you’ve met your fair share of them already. I’d trust you’re able to draw your own conclusions!” a question like that one was fairly subjective anyway, even if the most likely answer was most likely a quite resounding yes. “I’ve never been involved with the antics of the so-called cheatsy humans, so getting to know a little more about them sounds like a delightful time to me!” It was true that curiosity was one of the main motivators that moved the Trickmon, but who could blame her? The whole deal seemed fairly exciting.

    The blonde’s opinion on En-En’s personality was quite… accurate, all things considered. She most definitely had a spicy personality, but it was a good thing that Amorie’s own personality didn’t get affected at all by it! In a sense, it felt almost as when Kurumi and Manami themselves talked; every five seconds or so, there was a misunderstanding regarding what one of them meant. It was a good thing that in this case, that was beneficial.F

    There was a frown in Manami’s face at the negative regarding engaging in a fight. “That’s disappointing. But no matter! I’m sure that’s something bound to happen sooner or later. Keep me up to date, whenever it does though!”

    With the topic out of the way, En-En showcased her own special ability… just to get another more-than-fitting response from her ‘older’ sister. “Dwarf!?? That’s outrageous! I’d rather you call it petite instead of using such a… burly term.” As the initial outrage subsided, she could further elaborate on the actual questions being asked to her. “I don’t use my disguise all that frequently, but when I do, yes. That is how things are; and it’s not like you get that many perks by being half a meter or so taller, if you ask me. As for the size, people tend to underestimate smaller beings, and donning that appearance doesn’t bother me all that much.” It more than likely boiled down to preference. Absent-mindedly, she lifted Amorie up, and placed her above her shoulders. “I heard that this is what older sisters do for their younger siblings. How does it feel?” Did it feel humiliating? The Weathermon surely hoped so.

    “I get the same feeling.” Manami concurred at Kurumi’s statement, stopping for a couple of seconds to watch the scene. “I feel like those two are going to get along fairly well eventually, too. Or… that’s what I hope, at least!” Quite the hopeful statement, even if only time could tell if it’d come to reality. Regarding the actual question, though! “There’s plenty of cogs missing, or functions I’m performing at the moment that I could delegate. When establishing a position in a world you barely know, all the help you can get is fairly valuable; not to say that there’s also another world that has my curiosity piqued. I might be extremely talented, but being at two or more places at the same time is a skill I haven’t acquired yet.”

    Good thing she could create proxies or envoys of herself, right? As the two beings advanced, a tattered piece of cloth did a good deal at reinforcing the blonde’s position. The disguised digimon approached and picked it up. “These look like the remnants of some kind of banner or uniform.” It was black and red, with a somewhat simple pattern embossed on it; somewhat of a hybrid between form and function. “I could’ve done something better myself, but that’s beside the point. Judging by the fabric and how it’s worn, I’d say the base of operations of these knights had some kind of propulsion. Maybe it was even airborne.”

    Funnily enough, the digimon hadn’t looked far enough. At the distance, what looked like a partially demolished basement-esque room was pretty easy to discern. The walls seemed to be in varying degrees of wear, and it was missing a roof, but otherwise it seemed to have withstood the ravages of time and whatever befell this place fairly admirably.

    Now that was a ‘spicy’ question, wasn’t it? Manami actually had to stop for some moments to think about that one. “She’s been given the ability to be, just like little Amorie. Whether they actually cultivate that ability or not, that’s entirely up to them; both are living beings like you and me, after all.” Given how the two were interacting, the answer to whether they’d develop their ability to be smart or not was an extremely big question mark. Not like the Trickmon cared all that much about it, though.

    Being hurtful with words was, indeed, a very interesting statement. “Not an intended feature, but as long as it works for her, that’s her decision! But, wouldn’t you agree that sometimes, words can be even more destabilizing and subtler than most kinds of overt actions? Little En-En is still quite far from that level of eloquence, but who knows!” Until then, being plain insulting and opinionated would have to suffice.

    Manami gave both Kurumi and Amorie a nod, just before the focus was transferred to the antics between the two sisters. “Because that is how dwarves are, don’t be dumb. They are burly and have beards and drink a lot of alcohol. And I’m very far from that! For one, I got a lot more class.”

    Shin-kicking wasn’t a tactic that the Weathermon had considered, but it was probably quite effective against humans that let their guard down. When it came to digimons, though? Some didn’t even have shins in the first place. “You could say so, yes. I’m glad you’re finally observing the breadth of my intellect!” Maybe ‘little Mori’ wasn’t so bad after all. It was like having a small sister… that wanted to be the older sister.

    Or maybe it wasn’t. Sometimes, and inexplicably so, she just felt the need to face palm at the ridiculous comments. Still. “I have a cloud for traveling. Neither height nor mobility are issues. besides, that’d imply somebody else around being willing to do it.” Which was the biggest problem; who even went and gave piggyback rides out of the goodness of their hearts? At least En-En knew none.

    Good thing that the sisters were getting along. That meant they’d have a very fruitful relationship, right? Especially given the completely perceived propensity of the younger one to get in trouble. And it also gave the other two some time to actually check what was exactly happening in this place. “I have some plans already; having an envoy of sorts in the Human World seems like a smart idea at the moment, and the idea already makes me realize that, once everyone is spread out, I’ll probably need some sort of communications anchor or something of the sort. But as you said, short-term needs and long-term goals are both liable to change, just as what I need to accomplish them! It’d be dumb not to be flexible in a situation like this one.”

    Of course, that conversation ground to a halt as soon as the Trickmon found the banner/cloth piece; the following question should’ve been borderline offensive, but being in awe with one’s skill could also open a path to disbelief, especially when it came to humans! “That’s easy enough. Since at high altitudes the air is less dense, the way it wears fabrics or other materials differs from wear the nearer you are to sea level. And, of course, the speed of the winds these materials are subjected to affects the degree of wear they suffer. Any decently skilled craftsperson could very easily discern what I’m telling you.”

    It was only then when she noticed the place the blonde was pointing at, and an undoubtedly excited smile bloomed on the disguised digimon’s face. “Would you look at that!” She exclaimed. “Seems like you’ve found the jackpot. That was probably a room that fell off the main structure and crashed into the ground. I wonder if we’ll find anything of value there or if it has been looted already.” Given the nature of the Digital World, it was quite likely that the second was the case, but given how she was more interested in things that weren’t of much value, maybe the looters left something for them to peruse through.

    Having said that, she closed the distance at quite the pace before beginning to examine the outside of the room. “Before whatever caused the descent of this room, it seemed like the place was relatively well-maintained. Maybe it was attacked by a foreign force? It isn’t super unlikely.” Then again, that was just the first theory. Those seldom were the right ones.

    What was actually inside the building was probably an assortment of what you could find in a warehouse or storing room, but maybe there was something else to be found.