The Lion Sleeps Tonight [Open]

ICY_MOON

► Lorelei
► Salamon (Nayru)
► Psychemon (Farore)
► Gazimon (Din)
► I attempted to keep it rather short

ICY_MOON

► Lorelei
► Salamon (Nayru)
► Psychemon (Farore)
► Gazimon (Din)
► I suppose we begin

She expected the humidity to keep many trainers away from this area of the Digital World. While it wasn’t that big of a deal before, she was starting to see just why people stayed away from the jungle. After running through the jungle after their excited companion, she felt the heat beginning to take effect on her. Resisting the urge to fan herself with her hand, she instead pulled her hair to the side to give the back of her neck some air. At least she wasn’t sweating…yet. The faster they found this waterfall, the faster they could cool off in this hot tropical forest. Maybe they could even go swimming if it was safe enough in the waters. Verte didn’t explain much about the place.

The girl looked surprised to see her here as well so it appeared she wasn’t the only one. “I didn’t expect to see anyone out here as well. I heard many stayed away from this place because of the humidity. But we decided to come because Verte wanted to.” She motioned towards the Aruraumon who had finished being lectured and had walked forward to stand near Lorelei. The plant Digimon waved towards the others in a friendly manner, happy to see others traveling around. Noir was eyeing Din with interest. The Digimon looked to be a loner and disinterested in their group conversation. Noir was debating whether or not to ask Din for a battle while they waited for their tamers to finish…whatever they were talking about. But from the way Din was avoiding having to socialize with them, she might not be interested. After lecturing his companion who obviously did not listen to a word he said, Rouge flew over and stood by Lorelei, staring at the group with interest.

Ava introduced herself and each of her Digimon and Lorelei nodded at each of them. She smiled when the tamer called the Gazimon a grump which the Digimon threw a glare at Ava. From what she could tell so far, the girl was nice and she had a sense of humor. Overall, she was not one of the hard asses that she had seen on the forums lately. “Well Verte mentioned something about a waterfall that was here so it might be a good place for sightseeing.” She did not notice the way her Digimon tensed when the trees shifted behind the girl and her Digimon. Instead she kept talking but her eyes drifted behind Ava to see what exactly was causing the plants to move. “Plus it’s so humid out here I thought we could take…” Her voice trailed off when the cause of the rustling appeared from the brush. “Holy-”

It was…really, really ugly. Lorelei and bugs never got along actually. Usually when she and her mother found a bug in their house, they would scream, run around in a panic before playing a game of rock, paper, scissors to see who would be taking a shoe to whack at the thing. Usually it ended up being her because she sucked at rock, paper, scissors. Then at times her mother would draw the “I’m your mother so listen to what I say” card and force her to go kill the bug. It was a long process to killing bugs and it would leave her traumatized towards the end. She should have been used to it by now. But when there was a giant cockroach walking around the jungle and can potentially harm you and your friends, it made it hard to get over how horrible the experiences are.

The thing was huge and she could smell something strange coming from it. It drifted around the area causing her to cover her nose in disgust. It took a lot for her not to throw up. Whatever this thing was, it looked strong and she knew they would have a fight on their hands if it decided to attack them. The large roach…thing glared at all of them before data appeared around its body taking the form of objects. It was a bunch of junk ranging from bicycles to car parts… she was confused but it didn’t matter. What did matter was the fact that it began to throw some of the stuff towards them at rapid speed. “Junk Throw!”

Lorelei ran as fast as she could to avoid the objects that were being thrown at them, stopping near the edge of the clearing so she wasn’t in the main battle area. She glanced around to see if the others were okay and noticed that her Digimon were beginning to retaliate back.

Noir first noticed the Roachmon when his tamer was distracted with talking to the team they had met. It was an ugly thing too but he could sense how strong it was from the moment it walked into the clearing. It had to be at least champion level. An eerie smirk appeared on his face at the possibility of a challenge. While he knew for a fact that with all of them here they would defeat the Roachmon, they had to be careful to avoid many of the attacks. No matter how ugly the thing was, it was still dangerous. “Bloody Howling!” Taking a deep breath, Noir unleashed a powerful screech that sent red pulses of energy towards the Roachmon who was still flinging junk at whoever was in its sight. The pulses hit which caused it to stagger slightly and cease its attack for a moment. “He’s open!” the Dracmon shouted towards the others for them to attack.

Rouge, seeing the chance to attack, took the feather off his head which began to glow with a white light. Now almost as hard as steel, Rouge aimed and threw it towards the Roachmon’s eyes in an attempt to blind it. “Beak Buzz Saw!” But despite its dizziness, the champion was able to dodge the attack by moving out of the way during a stumble. The feather flew back to Rouge who attached it back on his head with a frustrated sigh. Verte also took advantage of the opening and extended the vines on her hands to wrap around the arm of the champion to cease its struggling. “Hungry Hand!” The vines glowed as they began to drain energy from the champion and transferred to her.

Finally recovering from the screech that stunned it for a few moments, the Roachmon grabbed the vines and pulled hard enough to swing Verte to the side. Verte flew forwards before being thrown to the side with a pained cry. She rolled a few feet and stopped with a groan. While she wasn’t hurt too badly, it would be a pain if that happened again. “I’m okay!” She shouted cheerfully to Lorelei who was watching her with worry from afar. This was their first real battle where some of them could get seriously hurt. They would just have to focus and be prepared for whatever this thing had for them.

Electricity began to form around the Roachmon’s body as it charged for its next attack. Releasing a beam of electricity, it didn’t aim for anyone in particular, just attacking with beams in random directions. While it was good that it was not attacking anyone directly, it was troublesome because which directions the beams were going was hard to judge. Noir barely managed to dodge one of the beams that came a little too close for comfort. Rouge swooped in the air to avoid being shocked out of the sky, knowing the electricity and the impact with the ground will do a great amount of damage to him. Lorelei glanced to Ava to see if she was okay or if she had a plan on how to beat this thing.

Lorelei noticed Ava make her way over along with her Salamon when the Roachmon became confused. She was glad to see the other girl okay and smiled when she made her way next to her. She appeared to be alright so she was not too concerned. This was just a game after all and any damage taken was not real.

Glancing towards the field, she noticed that the one called Din had unleashed a cloud of black smoke that covered the entire field. It would be good since the champion was shooting powerful beams of electricity everywhere in an attempt to hit them. She turned back towards Salamon once it began to give information on whatever that thing was. As she listened, she thought about the information Nayru was telling them. None of her Digimon were Vaccine types nor did they have any fire based attacks. Her gaze traveled to look at Rouge who was flying overhead. While he did not have any wind based attacks, he did have feathers to attack with. But she was pretty sure that they were two different types of attacks. So no vaccines, no fire, and no wind. Her team would have a little trouble then during this battle. She hoped Ava had something in her team that might make the battle easier for them.

Lorelei’s eyes glanced down towards the Salamon who had lowered her ears when her tamer looked at her. It was a cute sight even though she knew the movement usually meant sadness or something along those lines. Guess they were in the same boat as them. Lorelei glanced over towards the battle to see how the others were faring. The Roachmon was aiming inside the cloud in an attempt to hit whoever was hiding inside. Verte and Noir had left the cloud of smoke to avoid the electrical attacks that were within. The two were standing off to the side but could hear what the Salamon was saying from where they stood. Rouge was still in the sky above the smog to stay clear of it. He was also listening to what the Salamon was saying and had an impressed look on his face. She guessed it was because the Digimon seemed to know a lot about their enemy and was book smart. The two had that in common.

Nayru continued on and began to explain that close combat was not a good idea against this thing. So it had toxins that could cause harm to them? This was worse than a cockroach. Could it fly? She didn’t want to think about that. For now, she was happy that it was on the ground and away from their group. It was stunned and confused at the moment which gave them enough time to come up with a strategy on how to beat the thing.

"So we're just slowing it down?" They could do that. If stamina was the problem, it would be good to take away the champion’s energy and weaken it. Nodding towards the Salamon, she glanced up when Rouge flew over to stand next to them. “Verte’s poison based attacks can handle one part of the strategy. If any of you have poison attacks as well, it will be good to combine attacks to make them more potent. If the gas is strong enough, it will give us the opportunity and opening to defeat Roachmon once and for all.”

“That sounds like a plan to me.” Lorelei chimed in and smiled down towards the Salamon. “You’re really good at this kind of thing.” Turning around, she called out to the plant Digimon. “You know what to do Verte!”

Verte, hearing what she had to do, ran forward and faced the champion Digimon. “I got it! Gloom Dust!” From the flower on her head appeared a purple dust cloud filled with poison gas. The smog was wide spread and floated towards the champion who had finally broken out of its confusion. It floated around the Roachmon who stumbled and cringed in pain as it inhaled the toxins. It was beginning to weaken but she was not sure if it was enough. If they continued to stun and poison it then everything will work out in the end right?

Noir was a little mad that he could not get up close and personal with Roachmon but he would go along with what the Salamon was saying. It made sense even though he was reluctant to admit it. Dark energy balls appeared in his hands and with a smirk, he began to juggle them swiftly. Then one by one, he threw them towards the Roachmon who managed to dodge most of orbs of dark matter. It then cried out when sharp feathers began to rain down from above. Looking up, the Roachmon frowned when he saw the Hawkmon above shooting down at it.

Angered at the barrage of attacks hitting it at once, the wings on its back suddenly sprouted out and it took off into the air straight at the Hawkmon. A jolt of fear went through Lorelei when the champion flew into the air straight for Rouge. She hated that she was right about that thing. Why did it have to fly? Now that just made the battle even more troublesome.

The champion grinned as it stopped a few feet above the bird Digimon and began to spin in a spiral downwards. Rouge saw the incoming attack and tried to dodge out of the way to avoid the powerful blow. Barely managing to dodge it in time, Rouge was still swiped by the blow which made him cry out in pain. The force and power behind it caused him to fall out of the sky and make a painful impact with the ground.

Lorelei cried out in fear when she saw her Digimon get knocked out of the sky. She was hoping that no one would get injured in this battle. She watched as the Roachmon flew down and landed in front of the struggling Hawkmon who was trying desperately to get up. Electrical shocks began to envelop its body as it prepared for another Electro Shocker attack from close range. Verte saw her companion was having trouble and unleashed Nemesis Vines in an attempt to slow down the attack for Rouge to get away. The Roachmon only flinched from the toxic vines but still charged his attack to finish off at least one of the opponents that was irritating it.

It was just a game. She had to keep reminding herself of this fact as she watched the Roachmon close in on Rouge. She had played many games before with her dad. There were ones where you send your characters out to dangerous battles to defeat the villain that was doing something to destroy the world. Throughout the game, you grow attached to the characters and unknowingly grow to love them for their personality, skills, or whatever the game does to grab your attention on these characters. But in some games, one of the characters dies in battle or in some silly plot twist that can leave you stunned. The heart reaches out to the loss and you feel sad, angry, or helpless to stop it because it was written in the story to push it further along or character development for the other members in your party. But no matter what one’s reaction is to the loss, everyone knew that it was just a game in the end. The next day someone could be playing a new game and forget about what happened in the previous one. None of it was real.

This was her first time in a virtual reality game. Everything still felt so real to her. She could feel her heart racing in her chest as she watched Rouge fall down to the ground and the Roachmon close in on him. She knew that Rouge would be okay even if he was “killed”. He would turn back into a digiegg and hatch again to work his way back up to his current state. No one could truly die in this game. She could walk over and take a direct punch from the Roachmon and “die”. The only thing that would happen to her is being sent straight back to the home server with her life points down by one. She did wonder if she would feel the full effect of the painful hit or if there was a limit to how much pain one could feel if they did happen to die in this world. But in the end, nothing horrible would happen to either her or her Digimon. Maybe slightly affected by the experience but okay in the long run.

So Lorelei took a deep breath in and out to calm her nerves. Panicking and running towards the fight was not going to help them and she would only get in the way of the fight. Her eyes watched as vines dripping with toxin sprouted from under the Roachmon and wrapped around its frame in an attempt to stop it. Verte was doing her best to keep the champion back but it was determined to finish off at least one of its opponents. It continued to charge its next attack and was ready to fire it when something happened. Lorelei watched in surprise as the little Salamon had charged forward into the battle to help. She had thought the Salamon was going to stay back most of the fight. A deafening scream sounded through the area which caused her to wince. Whatever was happening, she knew the Digimon would handle it. From the noise, she almost did not hear what Ava was saying but managed to catch some of it. “Yeah let’s go. I’m sure it will be safer to get closer now.” She was also worried about Rouge as well. Most of the poisonous gas was gone now and she was sure that Rouge and Nayru would make their way back towards them once they got out of the line of fire.



Rouge was in pain. Although he did not take a direct attack from the champion leveled Digimon, the swipe of the punch and the impact with the ground still left him stunned and injured. He knew the bug Digimon was closing in on him but he couldn’t move at the moment. His body protested any movement he happened to make. He could almost feel the electricity that was surrounding the large roach as it walked close to him. Struggling to move, Rouge tried desperately to get up but unable to at the time. He knew the others were trying to give him time to move out of the way but the Roachmon was determined. Closing his eyes to brace for the attack, his ears instead picked up a very high pitched scream. That wasn’t the attack he was waiting for. Opening one eye in pain, he was surprised to see the Digimon called Nayru jump up and tackle the champion head on and knock it over. He was surprised and stared in shock as the bug was sent toppling over and away from them.

While the others took advantage of the moment of weakness, Nayru attempted to help him up and ask if he was okay. Honestly he was still hurting from the blow but he could manage to hop back to his tamer if need be. “I’ll be okay in ju-” But the two seconds were up and the Hawkmon felt a bite on his wing before he was dragged back to the tamers. “Ow ow ow ow…” he groaned in pain as he was dragged across the ground. Not only was he still hurt from the attack, he was also being bitten on wing and dragged across the ground. But it was for the best since Roachmon was beginning to get up again.

Once the two appeared out of the main area of the battle, Lorelei ran forward to help Nayru get Rouge. “Hey are you okay?” She quickly asked after helping it up. Rouge grinned and turned towards Nayru with a look of gratitude.

“It was a close call but thanks to Nayru, we managed to get out of there. Although the trip back was rather painful.” Lorelei shook her head with a smile, glad to see the Hawkmon would be just fine. She turned to Salamon with her own look of gratitude as well. “Thank you Nayru.”



Verte sighed in relief when Rouge was saved by Salamon. Who knew what would happen if Rouge had taken a direct hit by the champion. She did not want to see anyone harmed in this fight. She hated fighting but if Roachmon wanted to harm her new friends then she would fight to stop it once and for all. She could see the toxin was beginning to affect it since its movements were slower and it was dodging less attacks from the other Digimon. It was time to end this once and for all. “Poison Ivy!” Vines once again came out of her hands and began to hit Roachmon mercilessly along with adding more poison to its body. In retaliation the Roachmon threw more junk towards them but its aim was off, throwing slower and half the distance as usual. At times, the junk did not even reach their target, stopping only a few feet away. “Nemesis Ivy!” More vines laced with toxin sprouted from the ground and wrapped themselves around the Roachmon again. “Finish him off!” She called to the others.



Now that Rouge was out of danger, they could finish this thing off once and for all. Noir didn’t want to admit that he had been worried for his teammate’s safety. He had been too far away to be of any help and to keep the champion at bay. But now that the Hawkmon was out of the way and the champion was weakened from all the poison, it was time to go all out. Taking a deep breath, Noir once again let out a piercing scream to add to the deafening noise that the Salamon already did. It sounded throughout the area and crippled the Roachmon even more than it already did. As he did this, the dark orbs charged in his hands once again, crackling with energy. He wanted this thing to gone already. He didn’t want anyone else to be injured by this thing. Adding more energy than usual, the Dracmon juggled the orbs swiftly and began to throw each one by one. The attack made contact with the help of Verte holding the giant bug still.



Each attack hit its mark and before long, the Digimon fell to the ground in defeat. It began to dissolve into data and ribbons, making a interesting display. Lorelei stared in amazement as each of the Digimon absorbed the data as it shot towards them. She had never seen anything like it. While it was a pretty sight, it felt like she was watching someone get devoured. Granted it was data, the fact that it was still…disturbing in a way. The fact that it was a giant roach didn’t help in the matter either. But whatever

Before long, Noir jumped up and pumped one of his fists into the air with a cheer. “Aww yeah we kicked that thing’s digibutt!” He laughed loudly and gave a thumbs up to the others. While Verte was happy that they had finally defeated their enemy, she was still worried about Rouge. She practically ran over to where they were with teary eyes, asking hundreds of questions in one breath to the point where no one could understand what she was saying. Rouge waved his wing with a wince to show that everything was okay with him. He was just injured and wasn’t dying at the moment. “Thanks again.” He turned to Nayru with a nod.

Lorelei figured her Digimon could handle themselves for a moment and turned tto look at Ava with a smile. “We make a pretty good team. Who knows what would have happened if we didn’t run into each other here.” It was true. She wasn’t sure if they could have handled the champion on their own. They had only battled in the arena where everything was easier and safer. This battle gave her a true insight into what to expect from the Digital World. They would have to be more careful from now on. “To think this all started with the search for the waterfall…Thanks for the help.” She nodded to Ava and her Digimon. “Maybe one day we can all come back together one day without the..you know…wild Digimon trying to kill us.”

Lorelei shook her head at the girl’s modesty. If they had not been there, their injuries could have been a lot worse. They might have even fled and be chased through the jungle by a giant roach, something that almost caused her to shudder. In addition, Rouge would not even be here at the moment if it was not for Nayru rushing in and saving him. There were many what ifs and possibilities that could have happened but she was just glad she ran into Ava when she did. “You and your Digimon helped a lot during the battle. It would have been harder without you guys here.”

She liked the idea of them all meeting up and traveling together once again. But for now, she needed to focus on getting Rouge back to the home server to rest up. Everyone else looked a little tired as well so they would have to leave their adventuring for another day. While she was a little disappointed that they did not find the waterfall after all, they still met a new friend which was not all bad. Technically it was thanks to Verte for running off in excitement to find the waterfall that they met Ava and her Digimon.
So far she had only met about three others here and the more friends the better.

The Psychemon, Faorse if she remembered correctly, suggested that they should head back to the city before another champion decided to show its face. It was a good idea and it was surprisingly met with no complaints. She was amazed that even Noir did not complain about heading back. Usually he would be the one to say that they were fine and they could keep going if they wanted to. It showed that even hotheaded ones like Noir could get tired. “Yeah, we should leave before another one of those things decide to fly in.” She really needed to stop thinking about that thing. It was just going to give her nightmares.

Ava pulled out her D-Terminal and suggested that they should exchange numbers. “I would love that.” Lorelei reached into her own pocket and took out her D-terminal and began to type in Ava’s number. “Mine is 5712. Contact me if you need anything or if you just want to hang out.” After she was done, she placed it back into her pocket before bending down to lift Rouge up into her arms. The bird winced at the movement but seemed relieved he did not have to fly back to the gate. “Well we’ll be going now. It was nice to meet you all.” And with that, the four of them turned and headed in the direction of the portal that would take them back to the city.