ｙｏｕ ｎｅｖｅｒ ｋｎｏｗ. [c]

I cannot tell whether the men of Oblivion were all rude or not. The Oblivion person asking for a fight did not appear rude at all so perhaps it was merely that single person. The fact was that whoever it was left a sour taste in my mouth. I am going to try not to take it out on this Oblivion person I'm fighting now but I would be lying if I said I was not thinking on it. I returned to the large starting town of the Infinity Team members and was reunited with my three digital pets. Really it was Nayru and Farore greeting me warmly and Din being the grumpy doggy that he was, but they were all still my pets and the sight of them was great for the heart. It was not a feeling I am accustom to but it was a nice feeling. Since I wanted to hurry up to the Coliseum, I swiftly swept the Salamon and Gazimon into my arms since they were fluffy and light enough to hold, much to Din's annoyance as she spat curses at me, and ran to the Locomon Station with Psychemon following lethargically behind. It did not take long to catch a ride and begin out travel to our destination.

Riding the Locomon or whatever it was felt weird to me. Possibly because I was accustomed to higher class traveling in real life rather than things like this, but I made do with what I had. Or perhaps it was due to the fact that this was not real. Regardless the message said I was supposed to meet this Oblivion member at the Coliseum and getting there was my top priority for the moment. Since this was a match against Oblivion I cannot let myself lose. I mean come on, infinity all the way. Oh, yeah, I should probably tell the digimon what we're doing. I put Nayru and Din down onto the seat next to me and tried to pet them like any normal pet. "I should probably mention-" "You found someone to battle while you were away right? That's why we're going to the Coliseum so suddenly."

I felt a smile creep onto my face. Nayru was good. "Yeah that's right." For once Nayru's expression dropped like a brick and Din's expression lit up like a candle. That was the first time since I arrived that I saw Din express any type of happiness or satisfaction. The expression swiftly disappeared as soon as it appeared however. "Finally some action. I was getting tired of loafing around like a buffoon." I could tell she was holding in some form of excitement or even amusement. Nayru on the other hand huffed at the thought which was surprising. She was usually receptive of anything we did.

"That is troublesome. This most likely will not even be worth it." With that Salamon curled into my lap affectionately. Nayru did not seem to approve but she did not deny participating if I asked so I took that as an okay from her. All that was left was Farore who as always did not appear like she wished to do much. Regardless when I looked at her she gave a prompted shrug. "I do not really want to either however if I must then I will fight for you." It was almost hard to believe that it was Nayru and Farore giving me a hard time this time and not Din but I suppose it made sense. It was almost laughable. “Whatever. Just do not get in my way.” I noticed Farore did not bother to respond and went into a resting position on the adjacent seat as Din focused on other matters.

While the travel was long and hard and I informed the three that this was a battle against an Oblivion player, none of them appeared too worried about the upcoming battle. Perhaps I was over thinking things. Nayru knew where she was going and directed us to the correct room where sparing was apparently located. As I entered the training area the feeling of both nausea and disgust filled my senses my features grimaced at the sight I beheld. Everything looked old and unkept, molded over even. I was used to being in libraries and libraries were definitely nothing like this. I had no desire to touch anything and out of slight concern I gazed over to my three pets, only one of which appeared to be affected and even then not by much. It was not long until I established eye contact with my Oblivion foe and I made an effort to be friendly to the enemy by waving. It was a female and the digimon she had looked similar to Farore which was strange. I looked to Nayru for some assistance however as I did I noticed that Din slunk away somewhere. She most likely did not move far and considering my initial encounter with Din she was most likely attempting a sneak attack. No matter.

“They are all from the same family line of Gabumon. If we manage to remove their fur they should lose their drive for battle making for simple targets.” Nayru whispered as her tail wagged slowly, almost warily. With that said it almost made me curious about Farore considering she looked exactly like one of the opposing digimon. As a psychemon she did not look any degree of concerned for the battle. A smile tugged at my lips as I found it almost funny how serious Nayru was about this. I mean for them it is a fight so it made sense but to me it was a game. Even if they lost it would not matter. They would recover normally and maybe have their pride injured. Still I have to represent infinity so I should focus too. “Go get them.” I snapped my ring finger to my thumb to signal the start of battle. Nayru took initiative and released a high pitched howl that rung into my ears. Again the realism was astounding.

Farore moved from Nayru’s side and did some twirling motion, as if this was some ballet, and out of nowhere these colored blocks materialized and formed this weird wall that shot out forward at the enemy and obscured my vision of them. I knew with this opportunity I could hide among the aisles of bookcases, even if I did not want to go anywhere near them. Thus I stole Nayru into my arms as she continued to howl and ran behind some of the bookcases. The ground was soft and went so while it was disgusting, my footsteps were muted for the most part. From the corner of my irises I saw Din on top of one of the bookcases and was releasing this purple smog thing into the aisle where I had seen the other digimon. With that blocky wall, I was pretty sure Farore was safe from it and whatever Din was cooking up was not going to affect Farore unless she actively tried. After a while Nayru stopped howling and jumped out of my arms onto my shoulder to whisper. “We should move for a flanking position.” Sounds like a plan.

This girl who called herself Kate agreed to return to the battlefield with me to finally watch the battle system at its finest. I listened to what the girl deduced to where our digimon had gone off to and found myself nodding. It was mere moments before that I had been at Nayru’s side thus I knew the general vicinity she was located. Assuming that Farore and Din did not wander off, I assume that they were near where we had initially entered. It was merely a matter of who we should check on first. “I do. Come on, we should check where we came in from first.” I reached my left hand out to grab onto the girl’s left wrist in a friendly tug. This way I was assured that she would be behind me and not wander off to do some shenanigans. I had practice with individuals comparable to that. For the most part it appeared that the girl put up little resistance as I led the way though to be fair I suppose I did not expect otherwise. As we continued the howling stopped to which I could not tell whether it was a good thing or a bad thing. I will simply have to trust Nayru for now.

Following that was a large crash rang into my ears that stunned me but had not caused me to halt my step. Kate spoke up then which caught my attention as my irises glanced over my shoulder to acknowledge her rather than the crashing noise. Her voice was rather curious however I paid it no mind. It was most likely due to something similar to my own concerns for our digimon. Nevertheless she had caught me off guard in her line of questioning. The question of respawning after death and feeling the pain. I must admit that I questioned that as well. The pain must be sudden and cause quite large amount of shock if not trauma if such a system was implemented. I doubt that such a program that forces us to perceive that exists due to that and the ethical repercussions Crosswire would be required to endure. “I have thought about it but I will worry about it when the time comes. For now none of us shall die today.” My words were assertive yet I would be dishonest if I did not say I thought of the possibilities. My thoughts began to diverge onto the possibility that it is installed however as earlier I felt the sense of heat at my toes when that digimon blew fireballs at my feet. If I could feel a hint of pain then it is conceivable that a large amount of it that could be the cause of my death would be probable as well. This is a beta test after all. Anything is possible. It hurt to think about.

Regardless it was then suggested that we head towards the noise which I believe we were heading towards initially. I agreed to that notion with a nod and decided to quicken my pace. As I exerted myself further I felt my heartbeat quicken and my breath growing heavy though I would pay those details little mind in the overarching perspective of things. Kate stated that she believed it was her own digimon’s doing to which amused me do to the tone of her voice. I personally doubted that the obstacles would bother anyone of my digimon except Farore and I doubted that she was responsible for whatever that noise was. Soon we approached the initial battle site and rounded the corner that was a bookshelf to behold a strange sight. Somehow I must have missed it from afar. All I saw was shattered pieces of wood and questionable arrays of worn books scattered on the ground, the air filled with loosened or torn pages from the volumes that have fallen. The scent of charred wood and smoke drifted my way. If I was more in control of my shock and thought, perhaps I would be more concerned with the fact that this was a rather large fire hazard. But no. The scene had me rather awestruck. I realized that my lips parted slightly at the sight. Among the scene was the two digimon that looked like Farore and the blue yellow dog looking one on the other side of the fallen shelves. Din was nowhere to be seen even though I saw her jump this way… Nayru was somewhere else. I swear this scene looked so dramatic. More so than it needed to be. I refrained from calling out to Farore in case doing so would distract her as she looked prepared to do something else.

---

The other Psychemon asked Farore a question inquiring about the meaning of her words to which most would have concluded to have most certainly been a stall tactic. Farore on the other hand was rather forgiving and decided without thought to explain and offer kindness, even to the foe. After all, after this was over and done with she did not want to be amidst hostilities and if the Psychemon retired, it was less work for her. “I would never ask for you to speak on behalf of your pack on such a decision in a battle like this. The choice involves you and you alone.” Farore appeared to have paused as she thought over what to say. This Psychemon was the same species as herself and doing unnecessary harm was not something she wished to do. It had already taken a brunt of attacks from both her and Din so the best decision in her opinion was to retire and not interfere longer in case of further unneeded injury. “I do not wish to harm you unnecessarily and in one way or another we are kin so I will assure you that if you retire from this battle then I will pledge that me and my teammates will not harm you for the rest of this battle.” This statement may have caused Farore to appear a tad hypocritical as she had just spoken for the rest of her team herself. While that may be the case her words were merely honorable ones, ones that she was sure that her entire team would respect. Din would be the lone exception however Din would not openly refuse an order from her tamer Avalyn as Farore was sure that Avalyn would agree to such honorable terms. After all Farore was half certain that all Avalyn wished to gain, though would not openly state it, is a victory and this was one way to achieve it. “The same courtesy extends to the rest of your teammates however I am doubtful they will reciprocate such an offer.”

Suddenly the bookshelves to the side had begun to creek, the Psychemon of Avalyn’s gazing over to the source producing the noise. Farore, though not as smart as Nayru, was able to deduce in some way that this was the doings of the digimon from before and that they were plotting to topple the shelves. If it was Din in her position, there was almost a large degree of certainty that Din would have pushed the other Psychemon towards the falling bookshelves with no hesitation. Farore however was more honorable than that and thus had placed a paw on the other Psychemon to prevent it from wandering any closer to the bookshelves. If they had gone any closer then they would have gotten flattened in seconds or at the least hurt as the shelves fell on top of them. "Your teammate is rather rowdy." Farore felt the need to comment. As for Din, it would require a borderline deaf digimon to not hear the sounds of a toppling bookcase thus Farore was not worried about the grey dog digimon over the one with her currently. As she had, she began thinking over her next courses of action as after this, she was sure to be open for attack along with the other Psychemon. In reality Gazimon had indeed heard most of the creaking and redirected her attack elsewhere. If anything, this would further catch her prey off-guard.

Within moments a large crash occurred that echoed throughout the room, the impact sending a shockwave through the air that caused Farore to wince slightly. As she recovered the sight of the fallen bookcase that could barely hold itself together in a tattered state. All the blackened smoke that Gazimon had created had spread from below the bookcase but for the most part had dissipated after a few seconds so that Farore could undoubtedly see the Gabumon X. Without a second thought her priorities shifted where she began to move fluidly in a dance, several colored blocks materializing as she had done so, to block off the area between the Gabumon X and herself. The blocks stacked on top of each other as before and swiftly built a wall that appeared to be built with lego blocks, slowly moving to propel the Gabumon X away and into the other bookshelf behind it.

---

Nayru wanted to scoff in disgust. Looking at this beast, no matter how much of a resemblance it bore to her fellow teammate Farore, only angered her and reminded her of Din. In fact when she saw the look upon the BlackGabumon’s face she became rather satisfied and wanted to continue. However it appeared that he had apparently lost sight of her so she stopped in an effort not to give away her location. She intended to attack him on a blind spot after all. Rather than begin wrecking everything like she anticipated the barbarian to do, he spoke. His words sounded as if they were attempting to debate the intelligent pup and Nayru could not help but sneer at the words. Within moments the sound of a wooden crash and the sound of scattered paper stole her attention momentarily as her ears twitched to receive the sudden sounds. She pondered what was happening on the other side but decided to allow Farore to handle such matters. It appeared she was there and it only solidified her initial thought of this team consisting of mannerless vandals that she did not wish to deal with.

Regardless now she had little choice. The BlackGabumon persisted to speak and the longer he had the more that Nayru’s expression shifted to one of annoyance and displeasure. What she had perceived from what the digimon had said was that he saw his tamer as an unnecessary risk. Unneeded. A thing that merely held them back in their presence in battle and only there for compassion outside of battle. Nayru saw this as despicable. Even in a battle like this, she believed the presence of a tamer is important. In some way or form Nayru was a rather large advocate of love into strength, believing the presence of loved ones would aide you in battle. In the case of tamers, namely Avalyn, Nayru thought back on the times that she had gone out of her way to help in battle. How she warned them of dangers or perhaps even her presence will invoke the willpower of everyone to persist. Yet all Nayru could focus upon was the lout that preferred to battle away from their tamer due to what he called an unnecessary burden to protect. “Such a barbarian.” Nayru hissed the words under her soft and low growling. Nayru wondered why her tamer had agreed to battle such low lives. She had rather hoped it was to teach them a lesson however with the way this match was going she was beginning to hesitate.

Then the black digimon began speaking of how his own tamer could most likely take on another tamer. In this case it would have been Avalyn to which Nayru shook her head. Nayru had known Avalyn to be an athletic human and one that could most likely defend herself in combat if given the means. In some part of her mind, Nayru knew even Din had thought highly of their tamer. The three of them had no doubts in their mind that Avalyn would get into much trouble even without them. Nevertheless this statement had caused the pup to worry for her tamer as her sapphire eyes shifted to search for her tamer from afar. She surely had not died for if that was the case then Nayru knew she would have materialized out of the battle. Still the thought had caused her great anger as she decided now would be the time to strike. Baring the pain of her hind legs, she lept off of the bookshelf for another Sledge Crash and had her forepaws rose for Petit Punch to follow up this time. Her sapphire eyes were fixated on her opponent as she soared downwards in the air and her words managed to slip in the process. “You underestimate my tamer as well? No matter." She had hoped that her attack would hit and there were no more hidden cards as if there were there was a high chance that she would lose this battle without the help of her comrades in arms. Nevertheless she intended to give this her all to prove her words true, knowing well that this was a do or die gamble. “This battle will end now.”

I merely watched as Farore appeared to be standing with the other one that looked like her and then the one that looked more like a canine lunging towards her after the defensive attack she shot. My mind instantly jumped towards the question of where Din had gone as my eyes were focused on the two Psychemon digimon pet things. That is what they were called I think. Regardless my question was answered as I saw a claw reach upwards from the ground behind where Farore and the other stood. This claw slowly grew out to become Din who looked rather infuriated as she appeared with furrowed eyes and claws outstretched.

She had shoved Farore out of the way as her claws were poised to attack and trap the other digimon and use them as a... meat shield I suppose would be the operative term for it. I was surprised that any of them were able to fight in this chaotic mess however they supposedly had experience in such a thing. Nevertheless it appears that the fellow tamer felt that this was enough and called off her digimon. I suppose that I should call Din off as well. "Same for us. Stand down Din." I saw Din's ruby glare piercing into my eyes as she turned her eyes to me instead of the other Digimon. I cringed slightly but I recovered before she could notice.

My concern was more to Farore who had turned back to the other digimon and there was a strange look upon her face. Almost a look of betrayal showed on Farore's face however knowing her she swiftly replaced it as she returned to her feet and her brave face returned in its splendor. I knew she did not even wish to participate but part of me wondered if that was the only thing that happened or if something else was plaguing her mind. Din growled in anger before dropping her claws away from the other Psychemon and walking to Farore's side who gave the grey dog a halfhearted glare.

As the other digimon were returning to Kate, I thought it best to return to my own. As I released Kate's hand and walked towards Din and Farore, I overheard their conversation. "I told you not to do anything foolish yet you turned your back to the enemy." I slowed down and looked to Farore who turned away from Din. Slowly it began to get pieced together. Regardless Farore appeared to refuse to speak any further on the matter. Din, being the war monger she is, felt the need to continue lecturing the passivist despite that. "Trusting your enemy will be your downfall. There is no honor among thieves. You must learn to be efficient in battle above all else if you wish to be any type of use." Again Farore did not respond and Din simply accepted it for now. I knew this conversation would appear at a later date.

---

Nayru's eyes widened as she saw the barrier rise. She knew she was unable to stop herself in mid attack and was destined to crash into the barrier that the Blackgabumon was able to manifest. Her body was thrown into the barrier, her face morphing into one of pain as she felt the impact of her body as well as her previous injury flaring up. Because of the impact she rebounded off the barrier and crashed into the floor with her right side first. Soon enough she knew that her opponent was going to come after her and cause her data to become temporarily deleted until she respawned. Even then she would have to face the fact that she had failed her tamer. That she had lost and in turn her points would become lessened in value. That she would not be able to look upon her teammates the same.

She heard her opponent taunt but had generally ignored her foe's words. Her mind was too busy rushing through possibilities and the resulting consequences while dealing with the pain. The only thing she could do was call for Din for help or prolong this with a scream to give her time to retreat. While her pride would be injured in any of her choices, she opted to attempt an escape towards Din and Farore. After all she still had the power and even if the hit made contact she would simply be beat up. She was overexaggerating slightly about being deleted however the pain she felt was truly real. She inhaled deeply to flush out and endure her pain in preparation for the scream, however something called out and then following that the projected voice of her tamer entered her ears. Her mind linked the fact that the battle was called off by both parties causing her to release the breath in her chest. Her foe taunted her again as she turned over to stand on her feet and with heavy reluctance began to follow suit and return to her tamer.

---

"Din, stop. That is enough." I interjected as I placed my right hand on Farore's head and rubbed over her fur coat. She did not appear to appreciate it as much as any other time I attempted however. Instead Farore moved away from me and I saw her emerald eyes shoot over to where Kate's digimon assembled. I followed her gaze to see that her third digimon has gone to her side with Nayru rounding the corner appearing worse for wear. I wanted to rush to her side and aide her however with Farore experiencing similar feelings I did not wish to leave her side. Thus I was rooted in place watching Nayru slowly approaching us in abundantly clear pain. For once in her life I saw Din leave my side and swiftly catch Nayru as she began falling on her last step. I could not tell if this was out of pity or if this was out of kindness. Either way Din's face remained still and motionless as she spoke with an air of dominance.

"You look inches away from deletion." Nayru's sapphire eyes shot to her fellow doggy however I could tell that as much as she greatly disliked Din for what she had said that she could not deny the accusation. With how much they both argued I was shocked they were able to get along at times such as this. "Silence yourself." Nayru hissed. It appeared as she said that she allowed herself to relax in Din's grasp. Farore joined the duo and I could tell that Nayru saw her battle as a loss while Farore felt weakened and useless. I doubted Din regretted anything. "You are lucky the fights were called off when they were. I suppose I am too. I would not wish to clean your messes." As much as I could tell Nayru wished to argue, she could not. In an effort to alleviate this I reached into my pocket and took out my Digivice D-arc whatever it was to degenerate Nayru into a younger form. She may despite these measures however I felt it was necessary.

Nayru's body glowed blue and in a flash she was changed into a small yellow fox that Din was able to carry on her back if she wished. She did not say anything for a long time however and remained silent which was rather strange. "Whatever the case it is over. Let's move on." Din huffed however picked up Nayru to pass to me while the other two remained silent on the topic. I almost felt bad for them. In the instant I heard Kate call out to me which caused me to look up from my Digimon and up to where Kate stood. As much as it pained me to say it, she was correct. While Din could continue as well as Farore, my priorities should be focused on having Nayru recover. I hated losing, especially to an enemy player, even a tie is bad but I had no choice in the matter. I raised my voice to project so that Kate could hear me. "Agreed. We should call it quits and say we tied."

Din held a disappointed look among her neutral features and I could tell immediately that she wished to walk away. I shot her a look to tell her to remain nearby at my side and while Din remained silent she had obeyed. "We should do this again one day." So I could get my revenge and come out victorious next time. In my heart I knew all my digimon except maybe Farore felt the same. "Until then, why don't we hang out?" I felt all my digimon almost glaring at me and I understood why. My digimon were all sore at what had happened and while I could not blame them, you know what they say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Plus Kate herself was rather nice even if she was Oblivion. Definitely someone I could keep close as a safety measure. "I will send you my D-terminal number over BBS so contact me." I felt Nayru tug at my ribbon softly so I took that as a cue that I should leave. "I will see you around Kate." With that Din took the lead to leaving in the opposite direction we came followed by me. I noticed that Farore glanced back at the opposing team and then followed behind sluggishly. I should treat them all to something to get them to cheer up.