Mew: Put me down! This is humiliating!!
Which brings me to a very important point! For this chapter, I have something special... a dedication! Kewl! Alrighty, this chapter is dedicated toooooo.....
Megan Funk! Even though I haven't been emailing back (I'm so sorry! ^^"), you helped me break that writer's block! Thank you ever so much! ^_^
Now, on with the show!
A MAZE OF DIGIMON
by Ryuko DragonHalf
"Hey you! You're one of the Chosen, aren't you? Pleased to meet ya! We're the Numemon, and we know how to have a good time!" one of the blobs introduced the group, who began whooping and shouting excitedly. Miyako rose shakily to her feet, doing her best to ignore the burning in her leg. She had other things to worry about now! Like that awful smell, for one thing...
Okay, first rule of survival: don't seem threatening! the girl recited in her head. She gave the group surrounding her a friendly, albeit nervous, grin. "Numemon, huh?" she coughed out, muttering. "My, what a playful... pungent group you are... ahem!" Miyako raised her voice so all could hear. "I'm sorry, minna-san, but I'm on an important mission, and I can't stick around--"
"Can't stick around?! That's really impolite!" one blob shrieked at the Chosen, who promptly shrieked back in surprise. "We came all this way to play with you, and now you're gonna up and leave?!'
"Hey! No fair!" another piped up.
"Those Bakemon were hardly fun! We wanna play!" yet another chorused. Soon, every Numemon present was protesting, the cacophony causing Miyako to cover her ears.
"Oh great! I just KNOW I'm gonna hafta start running again!" Deciding there's no better time than the present, the girl chose a direction she hoped was towards the Kaiser's fortress, and tore through the feeble line of Numemon trying to block her.
"Hey! She's supposed to stay still!"
"What?? That's against the rules! Where's the referee?"
"Come on, come on!" Collecting as much... um, pink smelly goop they could carry, the mass of blobs gave chase. Miyako yelped as one projectile barely missed her ear, the odor causing spots to blur her vision for a moment.
"Does everything in this stupid maze have to chase me? It's like they know-- ow!" She stumbled briefly, catching herself with her good leg and continued on. "My gym teacher had better be proud of me when this is all done!"
~*~*~
Hawkmon watched in horror as the Kaiser chuckled at the fleeing girl, displayed from several angles on multiple screens. Her face held a mixture of annoyance, fear and pain. "Oh dear," the boy commented snidely, "we've run into some more trouble, haven't we? I do hope her leg doesn't give out on her."
"Kaiser! That's enough!" screeched Hawkmon, using his cast to beat against the bars of his cage. "I don't want to see her hurt! I'll do anything to protect her!"
Slightly irritated, the Kaiser spun his chair and glared up at his prisoner. "Will you give in to one of my Dark Rings without resistance?"
"If it would mean her freedom, yes! But I don't trust you for an instant!" the bird declared boldly, shooting his own defiant look back at the boy. He expected the Kaiser to ring him that very instant, after his comment, but he simply smirked.
"I would enslave you on a moment's notice, I'll have you know, you digital filth. No, I think I'll finish our little game first. It's quite amusing!"
"That's nauseating," muttered Hawkmon through his clenched beak.
"Besides, I'm impressed. You would make a fine servant, your loyalty and obedience to that girl astound me!" His eyebrows raised in surprise when Hawkmon laughed.
"Obedience? Servant? Those are words for a slave, which I am not. Miyako holds as much control over me as the wind! I am loyal to her only because I care for her."
The young emperor paused, allowing this information to register. This was interesting... the little bird cared? But that was impossible.. Digimon can't care, they're only stray bits of digital information, strings of random ones and zeroes. Emotion is foreign to them. Maybe he was programmed to care. But feelings can't be programmed, can they? They are a complex system of human thoughts..... which I've gladly abandoned. Feh! Emotions. They'll only make you weak! He turned his chair once again, with a bit more force this time, and called for his own servant. "Wormmon!"
Skitter, skitter. "You called for me, Master?" he asked quietly.
"Has the lure been dispatched?" he demanded, never turning away from the screens of Miyako running for her life.
"Yes Master, he's heading towards the girl as we speak."
"Very well. That is all." He dismissed the caterpillar with a wave of his gloved hand.
"I await your next order..." Wormmon paused, then added quietly, ".. Ken-chan." He bowed and left before the Kaiser could react. The boy in question kept an emotionless facade, thankful for the glasses; they hid his eyes as they widened slightly, considering.
... Ken-chan..?
~*~*~
As luck would have it, Miyako found herself running ragged towards the rocky face of a cliff. She was completely spent, her lungs desperately gasping whatever oxygen was available, and both legs becoming numb with the strain. The wound was starting to bleed now, not too much, but enough to sting like a few hundred wasps.
Seeing the entire situation labeled as "Hopeless", she slowed and leaned against the rock, eyes squeezed shut as she panted. Her ears barely picked up the sound of the approaching Numemon, who had an infinite amount of energy it seemed, and still wanted to play.
"Leave me alone!" Miyako cried, her voice wavering due to a dry throat. That didn't deter the little blobs at all. Their cries grew even louder instead.
"Aw c'mon, little lady! It's just a game!"
"Nobody got hurt playing games, did they?"
"That's all we do! And it smells so nice!"
"Lovely perfume for a lovely little lady!"
The lavender haired Chosen sighed, too tired to do anything except slump against the cliff, finally sitting. "What's the use now? Maybe the smell won't be so bad, I'll get used to it after a few decades..."
As the Numemon became visible, Miyako thought she could feel the rock behind her shifting slightly. She believed she was losing it at last. She didn't care anymore, she'd lost...
"Hey kiddo!" The sound was faint, coming from the cliff above. That sounded like... oh great, now I'm hearing voices, she thought. The Numemon were just a few feet away, let them come...
"Earth to Chosen, what're you doing? Oh forget this, just pick her up, Rocky!"
In the space of a moment, Miyako suddenly felt herself being picked up in the palm of a massive hand, made completely of rock! She could only manage a squeak, and her stomach lurched as the treetops lowered to her eye level. The hand tilted, and she tumbled off, landing on what was the top of the cliff. She didn't mind the somewhat rough landing; those Numemon couldn't get her now! "A... arigatou, whoever you are!" she called to the hand as it dropped out of sight.
"No, thank you, Chosen," a deep voice boomed, causing the ground to vibrate beneath her. "I am simply repaying you."
"Wha.." Miyako slowly realized that she was now resting on the back of a gigantic Digimon. Looking towards the front and tilting her head slightly, she recognized the face of the rocky Digimon she had saved from the Bakemon, grinning back at her. "Oh, it's you! Rockmon!"
"Don't forget about me!" a familiar voice piped up behind her. Miyako turned, and resting on his own two feet was the little bowling ball with wings. "I'm the one who lead this big lug to ya! Don't I deserve some credit?"
"Demidevimon!" the girl smiled, leaning over to give the virus a hug. He jumped out of the way.
"Gah! No need to get all mushy!"
Any further conversation was interrupted by a low growl from Rockmon. The pair blinked and looked over the edge. Sure enough, the Numemon had gathered at the base of the "cliff", which Miyako now realized was Rockmon's arm. They were demanding that thier playmate be returned to them.
"That's our Chosen! We found her first! We wanna play with her!" They readied a volley of Digi-Dung, but just as they were about to fire, the giant let loose a deafening roar.
"GRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!"
Miyako and Demidevimon covered their ears, watching the Numemon panic below. "AAAAAHHHHHH!! The cliff's moving!!"
"And roaring! We don't wanna play with you!"
"Come on, let's go find those Bakemon again!" They whooped and hollered, retreating into the brush. Their cries slowly became distant, eventually fading out of existence.
When all was silent, Miyako tried to cheer, but coughed instead. "Oh man, I'm so tired... and I could use a drink or something," she croaked.
Demidevimon perked up. "Really! Well, if you're hungry, I know of some fruit not too far from here, we could-- WAK!!" He was interrupted by the Chosen, who had decided to pounce on him in a grateful glomp.
"Ooohhh, doomo arigatou Demi-chan!" she cried. "You're being so nice! Had a change of heart?"
The little Digimon's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "YECH! No way! I'm still a virus through and through!" He roughly tore himself free of Miyako's grasp, huffed and perched away from her, his back turned.
The girl huffed in return, brushing a stray lavender hair out of her face. "Well, I hope you're a bit more friendly, Rockmon," she called to the huge head of the Digimon. It turned so that Miyako could make out an angled profile of his face, which was smiling amusedly, eyes twinkling.
"Of course, I'm no virus," he rumbled. "Now, I imagine you are a bit tuckered out after your marathon. Allow me to transport you for a time, so that you can get some much needed rest."
Miyako looked as if her birthday had come early. "Oh, that would be great!" She suddenly had a thought, and she glanced at her watch, hiding under her sleeve. It always came with her digital outfit, keeping track of time in this world. She never really bothered to use it. "Should've used this more often.. oh no! I've only got five and a half hours until I lose Hawkmon forever!" she wailed.
At this, Rockmon began to lumber forward, causing Miyako and a sulking Demidevimon to cry out and find their balance. "We'd best get going then! I know of a shortcut we could take to the Kaiser's fortress. It will only be an hour or so."
"Rockmon, you're a blessing!" she cheered, relief sweeping through her. Then she felt a wave of fatigue. Her eyelids started to droop slightly, and she fought down a yawn. "I'm going to sleep for a bit, okay?"
"Not a problem," came Rockmon's reply.
The girl searched for a secure nook to lie in, so that she wouldn't fall off. It was hard to find a comfortable spot in Rockmon's back, but Miyako was diligent, and she was soon fast asleep in a crevice, curled in a ball.
Demidevimon decided to follow suit, tightening his grip on the rock and closing his wings to his sides. This was one heck of a day for him! First the Micro-Pixiemon, then the Bakemon, then... ah, he didn't want to think about it right now. Before he drifted off, he snuck a quick glance at Miyako. A foreign emotion passed through him briefly, but he snorted it off and closed his eyes, Rockmon's rhythmic gait lulling him to sleep.
~*~*~
Meanwhile, the Kaiser was absolutely livid, seething and clenching his fists as he glared at the screen glowing faintly in front of him. He had failed! The insignificant little bug had failed! She needed to eat that fruit...
Wait a second. This could work to his advantage. "Wormmon, scan the girl's subconscious. We could use this dream information for the Dream Spheres later."
"Yes, Master," the insect obeyed, tapping a few controls on a holo-pad. In the Digi-World, any dreams were generated digitally, using information from the subject's thought processes. They could be completely random, but in some cases, they functioned like regular dreams in the physical realm. The Kaiser was acting on chance. Maybe they'd get lucky.
As Wormmon retrieved the valuable information, one screen zoomed in on the sleeping girl's form, bars and waves appearing on the side and registering the info. The young boy watched, satisfied, as it all downloaded into the main computer.
Then his gaze averted from the binary code to her face. And he stared. She was so.. peaceful. Her eyelids fluttered as she entered deep sleep, and she took slow, even breaths through slightly parted lips. He didn't realize he had been staring until Wormmon's wavering voice brought him back.
"The download's complete, Master."
The boy jumped, tearing his eyes away from her. "Very good... you know what to do next.." he said absently.
The green Digimon blinked, noticing his companion's odd behavior. "Yes, Master. I'll review the information and prepare a Dream Sphere right away." He bowed, gave the emperor a confused look, and skittered out of the room.
He turned to the screen again, which had zoomed out once more, giving him a full view of the Rockmon ambling through the trees. He could barely make her out. This... disappointed him. He removed his glasses, hoping that would offer a clearer view. Well, they were less blue.
"Oh, what am I doing?" he berated himself, shoving the glasses back on. He whirled away from the conn, trying to shove all thoughts of the girl out of his mind as he left the room.
Above it all, Hawkmon kept silent. "Hmmm..."
~*~*~
*phew* Okay! That was good! Kinda slow, but good! ^^" And lookie, I've started the romance on Ken's side! WOOHOO!! Next time: the infamous ballroom sequence! I promise to make it good! Ja ne for now, RnR please! ^_^