Exploration Encounter [R]

There was sand literally everywhere, and when she said everywhere she meant absolutely everywhere. As to why she had chosen to explore this place was beyond her, though behind the haze of annoyance and complaints on the environment she knew why she had come. The idea of ruins had intrigued her and her adventurous outdoorsy nature had taken over and brought her here. Sadly she had thought of the dessert surrounding the ruins and engulfing them as something she could handle, and although she was still alive she wasn't exactly pleased. Shaking her head and wiping her face from the sand that hit her Kate and her three Digimon had rushed into the ruins without thinking much of it but from some form of protection from the sand and heat. Oh god the heat.

The ruins had fallen apart, making their appearance sad and forgotten to the girl but there were some spaces where she could hide from natures assault on her body. There, in some corner of what may have been a room back in its day, she dusted her long gray dress off. Her normal everyday clothing choice for the Digital World wasn't something made for heat. It had protected her from the assaulting sand that blistered her bare skin but the heat was something near unbearable for her in what she was wearing. Making note to shop for something a little less dark and long when she returned to her respective city Kate eyed her three Digimon near her, shaking their fur to get the fur off their pelts. Walking over she helped the best she could, softly panting from the elevated exhaustion this place was giving her.

The ruins were quiet, she could hear basically everything though majority of the noise was the wind rushing through holes and caved in walls. There was something that caught her attention, it sounded like a voice but with the loud whistling of the wind she couldn't really be sure if that was what she heard. “Guys...” Kate began, her voice low as she stood back up straight beside her Gabumon X, “Did you hear something or was it just me?” Her question was never really answered by those she asked, instead her eyes darted towards a fast moving object coming towards them. Letting out a small squeal Kate ducked down again, afraid whatever that was flying would hit her if she stayed standing. The Digimon she stood closes to was the first to attack the flying Digimon, despite its aim and move hitting a part of the wall it passed in quick speed. A burst of flame erupted from the snarling Digimons jaws, bursting against the wall in a small cloud of embers. “C-Calm down, I don't think it was trying to harm us. It's okay.” she said, her hand resting on her Digimons paw as she slowly stood back up.

“I don't... I don't think that thing would be living here. Maybe I did here a voice.” she whispered mainly to herself as she blinked in slight confusion, her hands dusting her dress down yet again.

Kate hadn't really excepted her assumption to be correct nor did she really expect to see another person standing before her. Her eyes met his figures before he spoke up to her; her Digimon all stared in the direction of the new company, her Gabumon X staying behind her legs as it's eyes turned away to look at the direct of where the flying creature had gone. Blinking twice at the boys words to her Kate simply laughed at the comparison to what he was trying to look for. Sonic the hedgehog? That was funny. She wasn't much of a gamer but even she knew what that was, and with a quick image popping in her head of the iconic blue hedgehog with wings Kate snickered again as she tried to calm her fit.

Settling down her laugh Kate thought for a moment about what he had actually said minus the humor of the example given. A flying creature, or rather not creature but a DemiDevimon. That could have been the thing that flew past her head and caused her to duck, and also be what Summer had shot at in defense. Placing her pointer finger on her chin, she tapped it twice before nodding to the blonde boy in front of her. “Well, there was something.” she began, “Something fast flew past me just a second ago but he was long gone before I was even able to catch a good look at it. It may be your DemiDevimon.” The fact being that it was his Digimon was yet again a guess, though from only seeing two of the three normal standard in a pack for CrossWire it was an easy assumption.

Turning a little bit Kate pointed her finger towards the corridor it had flew through, or rather the only pass it could have gone other then back or out one of the cracks and holes in the wall. “He went that way since it's... well, the only way to really go other then back the way it came.” she began, her point getting interrupted by her Psychemon piping up.

“It could have gone outside in that horrible sand.”

Laughing a little at the thought Kate simply rolled her eyes, “Why on earth would something or someone want to do that?” she said. “That's like setting yourself on fire.” Smiling down on her colorful Digimon Kate returned her attention on the boy, her smile going to him as she lowered her arm down. “I can help you find the little guy! It seemed pretty fast so it would be better if you had more sets of eyes to track it down!” she said, her voice beaming at the chance to do something she found fun, plus prolong her time in the shady system the ruins gave her. “My name's Katherine, but you can call me Kate!” Putting her hand out for the boy to shake she smiled again, hoping to get a good reaction while her three Digimon stared at the Muchomon and Lopmon near the boy, her Psychemon and Black Gabumon giving small smiles and slight bows of the head to them while her Gabumon X kept her eyes on the corridor she assumed they'd be going through.

She felt a tad bit bad that she couldn't have fully confirmed if what she had seen and ducked from had been the DemiDevimon he was looking for. If she could have given him a better description she would have but sadly with her fear of getting hit in the face with whatever was flying so fast and her moment of dodging it she hadn't exactly had her eyes on it the whole time. If anything her Digimon had gotten the best look, mostly Summer being she had been the one to try and strike it down after her small scream, and even then. A part of her felt a little guilty for not being able to help fully and give the boy a one hundred percent guarantee on a wild goose chase he was sure to be on, thus why she had offered to help in his search. Of course there were other reasons as to why she had offered her hand, mostly being she had nothing better to do and she wanted to look through these ruins herself anyways. Killing two birds with one stone, or blue hedgehogs since he was looking for something that resembled sonic.

Although this was a game and though it was usually custom to share a username rather then their real name Kate had never gotten used to doing so. It wasn't as if she had forgotten she was in a game, loosing herself in the extreme reality trip it brought on, but rather it was due to her lack of gaming experience in the past that made her treat this like meeting someone new at a party. If it wasn't for the BBS system installed on CrossWire she probably would have forgotten it and thrown it in the back of her mind with all the other information she never used. On the upside to using her actual name most of the time she was given theirs back, it was a friendly gesture after all or so she assumed.

The smile she wore bounced on her lips as the boy replied with his introduction, sharing his first name as well as what his username was. She was happy he had given her his actual name in response and not just his username, she never really like addressing people by it unless they could be made into cute nicknames or sounded like names already. For his it would have been difficult: Nameless, she couldn't even think of anything to make that even remotely normal to say in a sentence. Grabbing his hand in a soft hold before he could pull it back Kate nodded happily, pulling gently forward as she began their way towards the corridor entrance. “It's very nice to meet you Theo!” she said, making sure she wasn't too far ahead or pulling too much. “Nameless huh? That's an interesting username to go by, I like it. Mine's CryWolf, not as cool or clever but I myself like it a lot.”

Looking down at her three Digimon Kate motioned forward, Valar and Nymeria staying behind while Summer darted forward away from the crowd. Hearing his question about her Digimon Kate's smile grew, feeling a little proud to be told they were the first he's seen. It made her feel original and happy. “They're sub-species to Gabumon, so yeah they are related in some way. Those two in the back are Valar, a BlackGabumon, and Nymeria, a Psychemon.” Kate said, nodding to what he had said before motioning behind them where the two Digimon stood. “And the one in the front's a Gabumon with the X-Antibody, Summer.” When she motioned to her two Digimon behind her eyes fell to Theo's team, or rather what was left of the usual three. She knew of the rabbit-like Digimon, her friend Ryan had chosen one as part of his team as well, but the orange one she couldn't place a name on. “So... is the DemiDevimon we're looking for part of your team right?” she asked, despite already knowing the answer through assumptions. “And that one over there, the orange bird-like Digimon. What's that one called? I know the cute little rabbit one is a Lopmon.”

She hoped he didn't mind her grabbing his hand and pulling him towards where she assumed the little devil bat had gone; of course if he did he wasn't reacting like it. Her hand was still holding his and he hadn't made any attempt to give her a hint – subtle or not – to stop what she was doing so her worries were pushed out of her head. Rolling her eyes in a friendly manner to his comment of being able to come up with clever things Kate bit her tongue to stop the need to laugh. She wasn't sure if he was serious or not but either way she found what he had said funny, though with evidence of his user name it was hard to disagree her could think of something clever. “You think it's cool? Yay!” she said, a short laugh escaping her lips. “Coming from someone who can think of clever things naturally that's quite a compliment.” Her tone was playful, teasing even, which made her hope she wasn't crossing a line with her small fun, they had just met after all.

Nodding slightly to his comment about the DemiDevimon they were on the hunt for Kate smiled in amusement hearing the way the boy talked about his Digimon. The way he described the little guy made her wonder if this wasn't the first time it had wondered about to do its own thing, leaving its Tamer and team mates behind to either search or wait for its return. If that was the case she understood why Theo had used the word “nuisance” to describe it, she would as well if her Digimon pulled the same stunt. Luckily she didn't have to worry about such things; her Digimon had their faults, quite a lot of them to be exact, but they were obedient to near everything she said and they stayed put where she was unless to check if the coast was clear or entering a battle they wished for her to stay out of for safety reasons. They nearly always stayed within eyesight of her, for her sake or theirs she never really knew nor brought up to know the answer.

Keeping her eyes on the orange penguin like Digimon she had asked about Kate nodded again, smiling at the creature before turning her head to face forward again. “I like him, his coloration is pretty. Very bright, but in a good way!” she said before giving Theo's hand a soft squeeze as her tone softened. “Don't worry, I'm sure he hasn't done that. We'll find him fast, kay?” As they kept going Kate let the silence fall between them only to be interrupted by Theo's question. She doubted it was asked to be answered by her, and if it was she wouldn't be able to answer it seriously or with any specific information. Shrugging her shoulder a bit Kate rubbed her eyes with her free hand, fixing her glasses as she brought it back to her side. “I'm not sure really but I'd imagine far, that is if the sand hasn't buried the rest...” she began, her attention and eyes tracing the corridor they had walked into, shivering a bit at the thought of the blistering sand she had escaped from. “At least there's light though, it would be hard to find our way if there wasn't...”

Keeping quiet as she listened to the Lopmon perched atop Theo's head as it talked she couldn't help but compare the Digimon to the first Lopmon she met in this game. It was a Digimon of one of her friends from before; it was female, or at least that's what she assumed given the way it acted, and a pretty cheerful one at that. Theo's Lopmon didn't give off the same first impression as that one had, though it was pretty easy to assume every Digimon – even those of the same species – had their own personalities that set them apart. That aspect about Digimon was always intriguing. On one hand they were made up of data and numbers, yet they held personality, thoughts, and aspirations like people. In truth the whole topic was both intriguing and confusing to Kate; if she thought too much of it she'd end up getting a headache and contradicting her own ideas and hypothesis.

Nodding to what Theo said in regards to this excursion not being much of a problem due to the amount of eyes looking for the rambunctious DemiDevimon Kate took a small breath, her eyes peering into the distance the best she could for hopes of some sign of the Digimon or something interesting they could go up to on the way for a moment. “Yup, plus my Digimon have a good sense of smell. Especially Summer over there.” she said, pointing towards the Gabumon X that kept its distance in the front, its head rearing from side to side as it surveyed the corridor and ruins. “Think of them like tracker-dogs, even if two of them aren't actually beasts.” What she had said was true; Summer was the only actual beast/ dog-like Digimon she had in actuality. Though Valar and Nymeria appeared like canines they were actually reptiles hiding their bodies under fur; in the beginning she hadn't known this and the surprise of finding out had scared her in a surprise-party/ loud noise/ slender static type of way. Of course that didn't mean she loved them any less, it was those odd quirks that made her find them rather adorable despite never using that word out loud.

Shivering again at the reminder of the heat they had both escaped from Kate was reminded to never wear what she was to this place ever again. Though the long sleeves and length of the dress had kept her safe from the sand the dark, heat storing colors of the fabric had made the trip outside unbearable and frankly annoying. She had been lucky to find a place in the broken down ruins where she could hide from natures assaults, take a breather if not for a moment, and dust off the sand that seemed to stick to her. In the back of her mind she made a note to take some form of a bath or jump in water; she had yet to try out that function in this odd game. She wondered how it would effect her actual body since all of this was triggered and broadcaster in her mind... or something. In truth she wasn't listening to the technical stuff they had told her when registering nor really looked into it herself, it was all too elaborated and detailed enough to make her just nod along.

Tilting her head a bit she looked at Theo as he asked his question about why she had come to the ruins. “Um...” her gaze drifted from the blonde boy to what was in front of her as she pondered the reasoning for coming to the ruins. She had heard about the possibility of treasure or something of equal value hidden in the ruins but no one had actually documented finding what they talked about. A part of her knew those rumors had triggered her curiosity quite a lot, the idea of being the first person to find something amazing and show it off had sprang to her mind every so often. “I guess you can say that... I mean, I wasn't really set on finding something today though it would have been cool! I just wanted to explore really... I don't exactly like the feeling of being in a cramped space, you know?” she said, nodding her head as she mentally accepted and agreed with her answer. “Even if it's a game I don't want to feel like I'm just crammed in my room. If that was the case I would never have come here! Plus this Digital World place is pretty cool... it's like traveling the globe in less then a week and with non of the bills to pay for it!” Smiling at the boy she cocked her head a little to the side, “What about you? Did you come to find some treasure?”

Listening to Theo state there was a lot of hidden knowledge about this world Kate merely nodded in agreement. The Digital World and the CrossWire game itself seemed like something that could easily be classified as “too good to be true”. Of course a lot of things had advanced over the years, or at least that’s what her parents told her. She had been born in this day and age and all the “advanced” technology was normal to her, but even so this virtual reality game seemed too real. The Digimon that were supposedly creatures made of data seemed just as real as a living puppy or cat; the way they entered this larger than life world was amazing and something straight out of the comics. It all was just so... confusing.

As they walked Kate turned her attention to the two Digimon behind her and Theo, her eyes gazing upon the BlackGabumon and Psychemon that had stayed quiet the entire time they had been here. It was normal for that to happen, or rather when people were talking; she assumed Nymeria or Valar's silence had been caused by both the group of strangers around them and the continuous chit chat the two Tamers had been doing since stumbling upon each other. She wouldn't – nor couldn't even if she tried – to force her Digimon to speak to the Muchomon or Lopmon within ear shot. They'd speak when they wanted and if they decided to keep quiet until they left then so be it. Giving them a small smile Kate turned her attention back forward, watching Summer sniff the air and steadily walk forward. She was really trying to find anything before it found them, or so it seemed to the girl.

She was happy to hear Theo agreed with her reasoning for coming to the ruins as well as understand where she was coming from. Feeling cooped up in a confined space made her feel anxious, made her remember things she didn't want to remember and cause her to have a bad taste in her mouth. That was why she was nearly always out and about except when she returned to her Home Server to rest. She slept so much here... they had warned her activity in the Digital World would bring on exhaustion faster but even so it still felt like she slept more then the average Tamer here. “This place really does have depth... It all feels so real, it's hard to believe it's some form of g-...”

Her sentence was cut short though her message was clear. Her attention had drifted to the Lopmon as it spoke then to Summer in front of them. The Gabumon X had begun to growl as it's nose stayed raised in the air with ears perked to the sky; she hadn't caught the growling when she was in thought or talking but now that she paid attention she wondered how she had drowned out the noise. “Summer, stay. Don't go on ahead anymore.” Kate spoke up to her Digimon, stopping her step as she felt a small tug against her dress from behind. It was Valar, his claws wrapped around the black fabric before letting go once the two made eye contact. “We have caught the scent of something, proceeding with caution should be our next step.” Giving a quick glance to Nymeria who nodded in approval of the BlackGabumon's plans Kate nodded at her Digimon, turning her attention to Theo to relay the message only to hear his small comment and watching him run ahead.

“W-What...” Kate blinked, slowly registering the Tamer once beside her going off before shaking her head. “Theo! Theo you can't just rush into things!” Whimpering as she looked to her Digimon and the direction the blonde had went Kate rushed the way Theo had gone, trying to catch up with the boy the best she could. “Theo wait up!” she called, her Digimon following behind the girl as she dashed forward.

It hadn't taken that long to catch up with the male Tamer and her Digimon, her breath slightly winded as she stopped a few steps behind him. “T-Theo... you can't just run off like that.” She said, taking small breaths in as she eyed the backside of the boys head before her gaze ventured off to what was ahead of them. The tall beastly figure of a upright bull came into her vision, her body taking a subconscious step back as her mind tried to wrap around what she was looking at. “T-Theo...” she whispered, forcing herself to walk forward before taking the boys wrist in her hands gently. “We should leave, that thing is huge, it can kill us. Let's go...” She could feel the fur of her Digimon's pelts rub up against her clothes as they got close to her, willing to attack the Minotarumon if necessary but holding off at the moment. “Theo...”

Despite the dangers presented to Tamers who visited the untamed Digital World and the many warnings given Katherine had never found it that dangerous. The environments presented within this world were the only threat she found, or at least had ever found until up to this point. She had never really ran into wild Digimon who appeared threatening with an aura that made her freeze in her steps and made her fear for her life. Maybe she didn't explore as much as other Tamers thus making her rather ignorant to the dangers preached to the testers like a daily chorus. Deep within her slow, near halted thought process her inner self agreed with the statement of that being the answer to why she overlooked the danger notices she had gotten. A part of her cursed her ignorance and charge forward but the other part merely found the idea of shooting down her actions as idiotic and uncaring. Theo had ran forward before she was able to stop and slow his movement and if she hadn't gone after him he'd be facing this... beast alone.

Her breath was caught in her throat as her emerald eyes continued to scan the monstrous figure before the two Tamers and their teams. It was large, that was for sure, but not only in height but in girth as well; whatever they had stumbled upon was strong just from appearance and threatening just by sight. She half hoped that Theo would agreed immediately to leave with her before the beast took aim for them, her hand clenched onto his both in fear and urgency to find a form of shelter. As the boy she had followed pulled away from her hands Kate blinked as she stared at the boy in confusion. He told her Oswald was in trouble and that he couldn't just leave him; her eyes blinked at the statement, her confusion taking over her fear for the split second as her mind registered the name to the DemiDevimon this search had centered upon. The creature was here?

For the moment when her confusion took over she looked around the room, desperately trying to avoid the beast before them until she found the body of the small navy blue bat like creature on the ground. She could only assume that what she was staring at was Oswald, possibly injured from the large humanoid beast man that toppled over her and Theo with a snarl. Returning her eyes to the blonde Kate's hands retreated to her chest as she finally let her small breath escape her lips. She understood now why Theo didn't agree with her plea to leave for safety, she hadn't known the partner he had been searching for was here. An apology rang in her mind, forming on her tongue but she couldn't speak the sorry she wished to; her eyes had drifted back to the massive Digimon and with it her ability to speak and breath freely froze.

In silence her ears picked up on his Lopmon's voice, the brief image of moments prior appearing before her like a blissful reminder, before hearing Theo's voice afterward. She watched in a daze as the Lopmon attacked the Minotarumon at the command of the boy then the Muchomon following up after the Lopmon's moves hit. Should she help? Her eyes went to that of her Digimon circled tightly around her legs in protection, a orchestra of growls emanating from each of them at the wild Digimon that had appeared. She wasn't worried about her Digimon not being able to get into the sudden battle vibe, they liked to fight – much more then she had expected upon entering CrossWire – but it was more so that she was worried in the way a family member would fear for the safety of their loved one going off to war. She didn't want her pack to experience pain but despite that she didn't want Theo and his party to stick this out alone; she liked the boy despite the short time of knowing him, if you could call small talk getting to know someone.

Blinking twice to what Theo was saying about him going to get Oswald and the Lopmon looking back at her as he spoke Kate merely managed a small nod to the Digimon. Half of what it said registered in her mind but she had gotten the gist of the meaning: she would help them however way would be the most effective. Watching Theo dart towards the DemiDevimon still on the ground her attention drifted to the Lopmons second hail of attacks then to the Minotarumon who seemed to stray its eyes from them to just Theo. Her eyes narrowed in a glare at the lack of attention they were getting from the beast, “Dammit...” she muttered to herself as she bit down on her bottom lip in frustration. Trying to think of a way to gain its attention quickly to give Theo enough time to grab his partner a small idea popped into her mind. Bringing her fingers to her mouth Kate whistled as loud as she could, the noise echoing and bouncing off the walls as it evaded everyone’s hearings in the general area of the room. Her Digimon all stared at her in confusion but her attention was set on them; her eyes met the turning head of the Minotarumon before it let out a loud roar of irritation from the noise she made. The plan to gain its attention had worked.

Wincing at the roar Kate felt her Digimon brush against her clothes and legs as they moved in front of her, taking their positions near Theo's Digimon as the Minotarumon raised it's Demon Arm to thrust into the earth. Before it could the three sub-species of Gabumon shot their attacks towards the large Champion in attempt to damage and stop it from making an attack. Valar, her BlackGabumon, opened its jaws as a fury of fireballs shot towards the Digimon before exploding on impact of its normal arm; Summer did a similar attack, shooting fireballs at the beasts shoulder and forearm that carried the massive metal appendage replaced for its hand. Nymeria on the other hand stayed put without attacking, being stopped from doing anything by the small touch of her Tamer to get its attention. “If we can get you close we might be able to slow it down with one of your attacks... but...” Kate began, her voice trialing off at the loud sound of the Minotarumon taking a heavy step back from the attacks dealt to it. She tried to find Theo within the mess of attacks but as her eyes caught the blondes figure a quick moving fog blocked her sight. A small whimper emerged from her lips as she backed away slowly, her eyes squinting and catching the image of the Minotarumon spearing the fog from its mouth. “Cover your mouth! Don't inhale this stuff in.” the voice of her BlackGabumon shot through the foggy area, Kate's hands immediately covering her mouth at his command.