Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Blue Card Diaries ❯ This Can't Be Real ( Chapter 1 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Two blue serpentine dragons soared above the silent forest, their red wings rustling the leaves of the forest below. Their skull heads scanned the area as if searching for something, their legless bodies waving lazily. While the forest seemed silent as if it were abandoned, the trees hid a variety of creatures, waiting for the dragons to pass them by, among them, a blue humanoid reptile with a gold V emblazoned on its head sat motionless with its tail drooped over the branch he was sitting on and watching the dragons pass. He looked like he was no bigger than a human toddler.
As the dragons passed out of sight, the lizard sighed in relief. For once, he thought he could relax for a change, the leaves surrounding him masking his presence well, at least from the two dragons. He suddenly noticed something and immediately grabbed the branch and swung down to where he was hanging from it, as a green spiral of fire rushed right past him. He looked up to see a pink bird that wasn't much bigger than he was perched on a nearby branch, looking visibly angry at him. "Leave or die, Dragon!"
"Tough choice..." the lizard muttered, as he started swinging. He suddenly let go of the branch as he launched towards the bird, kicking it square in the head and knocking it off its branch. The lizard then grabbed it around the neck with one arm and wrapped his legs around the bird's, punching it in the torso and causing it to fall even faster. The lizard let go upon impact with the ground, rolling away from the battered bird.
"Why...you..." it said, trying to push itself up.
"Piyomon, if you had left me alone, I would have eventually been on my way, but instead, you decided to try and kill me. I didn't do anything to you," the lizard said as he stood up under his own power.
"All you damned dragons are the same. You don't care about anyone other than yourselves and your stupid god. You deserve to die," Piyomon spat out, struggling to get up, using its wings as if they were arms for leverage. Then, he looked at the lizard and glared, and the lizard tensed, preparing for what was about to happen. "Magical..."
"V-mon Head!" the lizard suddenly launched towards the bird head first. He slammed into Piyomon with his forehead, shooting it at the tree trunk behind the bird. The bird dispersed into data where V-mon stood under it, absorbing what he could of the data into himself. As he did so, he heard voices coming from different places. They sounded either fearful of finding out a dragon was hiding among them, or angry that that dragon had killed one of their own. V-mon became more wary of his surroundings, then turned and bolted into the brush.
Blue Card Diaries
Entry 01: This Can't Be Real
Author: Izumi Ryu
Tamers Diaries Concept: Lord Archive
Disclaimer: Digimon belongs to TOEI animation.
The silence of the forest was disturbed as V-mon burst out of some brush and broke into a full sprint, fear showing in his eyes as he ran faster than he thought possible. Branches crumbled as a large insectoid creature resembling a green praying mantis gave chase hovering above the ground, its arms replaced for scythes. Red markings covered its face, but made you wonder how it could see without eyes. "What did I do to deserve this?" V-mon asked himself, not interrupting his run. With Snimon closing in on him. All he knew was that at any moment, he was going to be the bug's lunch.
A shriek of pain cut through the air, causing V-mon to stop and look at his pursuer. Masses of needles now impaled the insectoid, before the body simply blew apart into data particles. The small dragon started to panic as he looked around, trying to find which way he should run. Then he noticed the light being blocked in a circular pattern around him as two shadows surrounded him. V-mon slowly turned his head, knowing exactly who it was before he saw them.
"Interesting finding you here," one of the dragons spoke. V-mon glared up at them, hatred starting to overcome his fear.
"What do you want?" V-mon asked.
"We're just fulfilling our duty to your father and the Digimon no Kami. No need to be alarmed, you'll be home with your family soon," the second Airdramon told him.
"I don't WANT to go back!" V-mon yelled back. "That place is no home of mine! And they are NOT family!"
V-mon suddenly dove towards the left as a needle missed his right leg by less than an inch. The Airdramon glared down at the child. "You DARE speak of your father like that? Being away from home for so long has spoiled you. You know he will punish you for such disrespect."
"Like I care! How can I respect someone that would brutally murder one of his own?!" V-mon swore he could see their eyes gleam with realization upon telling them this, anger starting to show in their eyes..
The Airdramon growled harshly. The youth may be impressionable, but they still had no right to speak like that. "That wench was no longer one of us when she evolved. She was handed down a proper judgment. Why do you sympathize with the whore?"
V-mon's pent up anger had reached a breaking point. He wanted so badly to attack them despite its futility. He couldn't stop thinking about how they had just degraded his sister. However, the two Airdramon about them decided what they had seen and heard was enough. V-mon's sympathy for the impure was enough to warrant a death sentence. The Airdramon reared back ready to hand down V-mon's judgment.
Without warning, one of the Airdramon erupted into flames before dispersing into data. V-mon stared up in surprise to see one of them dead. The second Airdramon turned to look at the source of the attack. "You!" the Airdramon called out. The ground trembled as a large orange foot slammed into the ground in front of V-mon. The child digimon slowly looked up, seeing the blue stripes that had wrapped around the dinosaur's back. The brown head looked menacing enough with three horns protruding from it.
Several questions ran through V-mon's head as he watched the spectacle. Greymon were respected even though they weren't true dragons by the cult. So why did he just attack the Airdramon?
The remaining Airdramon looked even angrier, as if a 'lowly' beast had just destroyed his friend. "Just because the Digimon no Kami allows your trash doesn't give you right to…"
"You talk too much," Greymon told the dragon. "And I don't care."
"Learn your place, dinosaur!" Airdramon called out, as he fired off another barrage of needles at the dinosaur. Greymon wasn't very fast and unable to move away in time to avoid getting hit…not that it mattered. The needles just bounced off of Greymon's tough hide, leaving Airdramon in shock. "How? You should be…"
"Not so tough without your pal, are you?" Greymon asked, flames starting to form once again in his mouth. "It's you who needs to learn your place." Greymon reared his head back so he could spit the fireball at its fastest speed. The Airdramon, too shocked by Greymon's display of power, he didn't think much as the fireball struck, obliterating him on impact.
With both Airdramon gone, V-mon still didn't relax as he looked up at his savior. If this Greymon was attacking other Dramon, he might be safe. But considering who V-mon's father was, the child digimon knew better.
Greymon looked down at the child digimon he saved. However, the smell on V-mon seemed to add more to the dinosaur's agitation. "Ummm...Thanks?" V-mon asked, not so sure if he was safe with Greymon glaring down at him.
"His brat," Greymon muttered. V-mon tensed at the fact that this Greymon recognized him, for the wrong reason no less. "I don't like killing small fry, but you're an exception."
"I'm outta here," V-mon remarked as he made a mad dash away from Greymon, another fireball impacting the ground where V-mon had just been standing. The ground trembled in a steady tempo as Greymon chased after him. V-mon only cursed his luck as he broke through some brush and found himself at the forest's end, entering a vast plain. Having run out of places to hide, V-mon desperately looked around for some sort of escape.
The trembling from Greymon's feet stopped. V-mon ignored it as he sprinted ahead. Then, he saw something coming toward him that made him run faster. Acting like some sort of tornado, a pink streak running towards the sky moved towards V-mon. While he didn't know where it would lead him, he knew the data stream ahead of him was his escape. Without a second thought, V-mon launched himself forward into the stream before vanishing from within it.
When V-mon got out of the warp, he found himself in a place like nothing he had seen before. The world around him was now nothing more than black space with thin green lines in a grid. Not wanting to get caught by whatever creature that could possibly live here, V-mon walked forward in hopes of finding some kind of shelter, even if he had to walk for miles. He just wanted desperately to get away from anything that wanted to kill him. Upon that thought, the world around him slowly brightened into a blinding white.
V-mon couldn't tell when, but the terrain below his feet became a hard, flat surface that reminded him of rocks, yet it was too smooth. The brightness began to dim as if a fog was lifting around him. The shadow of a figure became more visible, making V-mon tense. He had too many attempts on his life to trust anything, and he was starting to get tired of running. It came down to his life or theirs. As the last of the fog dispersed, V-mon charged towards the figure, a human boy that stood about two feet taller than him, staring at him with wide eyes.
The boy held up his hands in surprise, saying "Whoa!" V-mon ignored him and launched forward head-first. The boy backed up without paying attention to where he was moving. He suddenly dropped backwards at the wrong moment, sending V-mon flying over him as he hit the roof hard.
V-mon skidded across the roof and bounced up as he hit it. As he was looking down, he saw the hard surface drop sharply like a flat cliff with the ground several feet below. He suddenly reached out and grabbed the edge out of panic as his body fell down and hit the wall.
V-mon cursed his luck, now at the mercy of his new assailant. It wouldn't take much for the attacker to let him plummet to his death. Part of him wanted to let go of the edge, but his instincts wouldn't allow him to. Then, the child digimon felt something grab him by one of his arms. "Hang on," a voice told him as the hand slowly pulled him up. V-mon looked up to see the boy he had attacked looking down at him in honest concern, something he had never seen before.
The moment V-mon felt his foot brush the edge, he pushed off with it and tackled the human onto the ground, pinning him down by the shoulders. The boy cringed as the back of his head slammed against the roof. "Why did you save me?!" V-mon demanded as he stared down at the boy. "You could have killed me easily!"
"Why on earth would I do something like that?" the human asked with a groan as he opened his eyes, looking up at the Child level digimon. V-mon was even more confused as the boy looked at him in confusion, rather than in anger or hatred.
"What's going on? Where am I?" V-mon asked as he stood up and got off of the boy. He rushed towards the edge and looked out from it, seeing masses of buildings like the one he realized he was standing on. Down below, several box-like machines rushed past, while several humans walked by along each side of where those machines were traveling.
The human sat up as he rubbed his head. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked as he stood up. That was when V-mon's attention turned toward a steel stairwell. V-mon rushed towards the stairs, leaving the human behind yelling, "Hey, wait!" He ignored the boy as he rushed down the stairs. Once he got to the second floor, he jumped onto the rail and over into one of the few trees in the area. After grabbing onto a branch, he dropped himself onto the ground and landed within the crowd, where hardly any humans paid him any notice, more attentive to their own daily lives. He quickly got lost in the crowd, unsure of what laid ahead of him in this strange place.
David looked down the side of the building as the reptilian creature vanished into the crowd on the sidewalk. No hope to catching up, he simply waited for the crowd to clear to see he was gone. David sighed as he got up, his head starting to ache from hitting the roof. The boy just rubbed a head at his forehead, reminding himself to take some headache medicine before he ran errands.
The boy walked into the stairwell entry leading into the main hall to the various apartments below. Finally finding his floor, he rushed into the apartment and barely paid any attention to the room around him as he rushed towards the bathroom. He swung open the medicine cabinet and grabbed the bottle of ibuprofen, popping a pill into his mouth and taking a gulp of water to swallow it. The room was dim with a couple of lightbulbs out. David shook his head, wishing the apartment management would fix those sockets already.
Walking out into the room, you saw minimal decorations throughout the living room, just some old family photos David wished his father would just get rid of. The smiling faces reminded David how much better things were before, something he'd rather forget just to make the present easier to deal with.
David wasn't ungrateful for his life. His father did well enough to put a roof over their heads. The father even put in a game system in the room, hooked up to the TV. His father got it for him just to make up for what they've gone through. David rarely touched it, figuring his father was simply trying to replace the irreplaceable. The apartment was clean but only because the boy kept it that way. The place was almost always empty of people, and his father rarely ever stayed here for more than sleep.
David walked over to the dinner table where a list of groceries and other items was left, as well as a small stack of money. David read the list, ignoring the letter telling him to 'keep the change' and 'enjoy the summer.' He just pocketed the cash and the list and made a mental note of places he'd need to stop at to pick up what they needed. He wanted to wait a bit for the medicine to kick in, but his stomach growled in protest of that decision. He didn't need to look in the pantry to know it was almost bare.
David sighed as he pocketed the money and the list, giving into the demands of his stomach. He walked out the door, locking it behind him. He trudged down the inner stairwell of the apartment building and walked out the door, blending into the crowd. While he wanted to plan the trip to the different places he needed to go, he first scanned around him for a restaurant or food stand of some kind. The rising temperatures in the city as well as the large amount of kids that seemed to be mixed in with the crowd signaled the summer season in New York. Something David hadn't looked forward to in years.
He noticed a group of people walking into a small Italian restaurant as he rounded the corner. It seemed promising enough, sometimes smaller family restaurants provided better food anyway. He walked towards the entrance and saw the lunch special on the board. David's stomach growled with approval.
"Are you waiting on someone?" a young female voice asked. David spun to look at the Host station, surprised to see a girl that looked about his own age, dressed in the restaurant's uniform with a name badge pinned to her apron on the left side. Reading the name "Jessa" on the tag, he couldn't help but think this girl looked familiar, even the name.
"No, I'm on my own. Thanks," David finally responded.
"Right this way, please," Jessa motioned. She seemed cordial enough, but David could see in the way she held herself that it wasn't quite sincere. It was like she didn't want to be here. David didn't blame her. If this weren't some kind of family restaurant, she shouldn't be working at all, let alone here. "A waiter will be with you shortly, can I get you a drink?"
"Do you have root beer?" David asked without looking at a menu for the drinks.
"Yes, we do. I'll be back with it," Jessa said with what David thought was a forced smile.
He watched Jessa walk behind the counter to get the drink. She was approached by a middle aged woman, and David couldn't help but watch as a small argument seemed to have started. David started to realize with dread who this family was. Jessa was someone he knew in passing both in school and in his apartment. She lived somewhere above his apartment and would often hear her and her mother arguing. The yelling was muffled through the floor, but he knew it usually ended with the slamming of a door.
The woman took the drink from her after Jessa filled it and marched towards David's table. "I'm so sorry. It's her first day and…"
"I can't say I know much about working at a restaurant but she did fine by me," David told her. David didn't like the way this woman sounded, talking down on the girl as if she couldn't do anything right.
The woman seemed perturbed for a moment before she said, "Of course. Did you want to order something to eat?"
David ordered his meal, waiting on it, he couldn't help but watch the spectacle between this woman and Jessa. The food was great, but he didn't like the atmosphere this family provided. He half expected for Jessa to act up, but not her mother.
When he left, he left a regular tip for the waitress. Then, as he passed the station, David slipped a five in front of Jessa on the host table. Jessa looked surprised but he told Jessa, "Don't let your mother have this," David winked as he left. As good as the place was, with the family acting up like it did in front of him, he didn't want to go back there again. Then again, he considered going back just one more time to aggravate the mother.
As David left the restaurant, he swore he caught a glimpse of a flash of light blue. He jerked his head to look down an alley, but found nothing there. David just shook it off and continued down the street to the first store he needed to go to.
V-mon sat in the shadows as David walked into another store, eating a hot dog he took from a vendor cart. There was something different about the boy that had earned his interest, especially among other humans. Even though he followed David from place to place, he quickly noticed how the smaller, younger humans were never truly alone. If they weren't already with a much larger and older human, they were in groups of other humans their own size.
David on the other hand, stuck by himself. Sure he talked with others, but those were short exchanges, as David exchanged small pieces of paper for much larger items, including food. As the sun started to go down, David suddenly carried everything into the building they first met. V-mon figured he must have lived here like he's seen some digimon settled in their villages and caves.
V-mon opted to climb up the outside of the building. Finding the fire escape, He climbed up a nearby tree before jumping onto it. He remembered seeing David climb up the stairs inside, so he started jumping and climbing window ledge to window ledge, trying to find him. On the third story, he peeked in an open window and saw David put away the last item he bought.
David looked at the window, seeing V-mon standing there. "Oh, you came back," David said. "Come on in."
V-mon tentatively climbed down into the apartment. "I'm gonna be making dinner soon, so feel free to rest."
"Why are you alone?" V-mon asked. "Don't you have a family or parents of some kind?"
"I do," David said. "My father's busy all the time, either that or he's drinking at some bar most nights to avoid coming home." David sighed at this. "And my mother, the less said about her, the better."
V-mon partly understood, not wanting to talk about his family, too.
"Why all the interest?" David asked.
"I've been watching you. You don't behave like other humans your age," V-mon said. "You always seem to be alone."
"I'm used to it," David told him. "I barely even notice anymore."
V-mon walked up to him, seeing how honest and sad David really seemed at this. He felt that this shouldn't be happening, not with anyone, let alone this boy. "Do you mind if I…"
"Stay here?" David asked. "I'm fine with that I'll even leave my bedroom window open in case you want to leave for any reason."
"You don't have to do that," V-mon told him.
"Actually, yes. It's getting hotter this time of year and we need to cool off as much as we can," David told him. "It saves on the AC anyway."
V-mon nodded, not understanding fully what he was being told. He shared a meal the boy cooked throughout the evening. V-mon started to feel more relaxed. He attacked this boy and the boy saved him, he owed the boy more than just the accompaniment. However, David felt more relaxed with even just that.
As the sky turned darker, both David and V-mon started to yawn at the same time. "I'm going to get some sleep for tomorrow," David said, leaving some excess money and a note telling his father of the change. "C'mon. You can sleep with me tonight."
As David entered a room with just a single bed and a chest of drawers, David started to take off clothing, a peculiar behavior to V-mon. As promised, David opened the bedroom window so V-mon could leave if he ever wanted to. At that, David climbed under the sheets, leaving the comforter hanging down so he could remain cool. V-mon crawled onto the bed with him. He didn't know what to do in this world, but had a feeling staying with this boy would help him find something.
When the dawn's light filled the room the next morning, David would find V-mon still sleeping peacefully next to him. David felt relieved that he could spend time with someone that actually wanted to be with him. While David didn't know what to expect with the digimon, he knew that he could look forward to a little more eventful summer.
As the dragons passed out of sight, the lizard sighed in relief. For once, he thought he could relax for a change, the leaves surrounding him masking his presence well, at least from the two dragons. He suddenly noticed something and immediately grabbed the branch and swung down to where he was hanging from it, as a green spiral of fire rushed right past him. He looked up to see a pink bird that wasn't much bigger than he was perched on a nearby branch, looking visibly angry at him. "Leave or die, Dragon!"
"Tough choice..." the lizard muttered, as he started swinging. He suddenly let go of the branch as he launched towards the bird, kicking it square in the head and knocking it off its branch. The lizard then grabbed it around the neck with one arm and wrapped his legs around the bird's, punching it in the torso and causing it to fall even faster. The lizard let go upon impact with the ground, rolling away from the battered bird.
"Why...you..." it said, trying to push itself up.
"Piyomon, if you had left me alone, I would have eventually been on my way, but instead, you decided to try and kill me. I didn't do anything to you," the lizard said as he stood up under his own power.
"All you damned dragons are the same. You don't care about anyone other than yourselves and your stupid god. You deserve to die," Piyomon spat out, struggling to get up, using its wings as if they were arms for leverage. Then, he looked at the lizard and glared, and the lizard tensed, preparing for what was about to happen. "Magical..."
"V-mon Head!" the lizard suddenly launched towards the bird head first. He slammed into Piyomon with his forehead, shooting it at the tree trunk behind the bird. The bird dispersed into data where V-mon stood under it, absorbing what he could of the data into himself. As he did so, he heard voices coming from different places. They sounded either fearful of finding out a dragon was hiding among them, or angry that that dragon had killed one of their own. V-mon became more wary of his surroundings, then turned and bolted into the brush.
Blue Card Diaries
Entry 01: This Can't Be Real
Author: Izumi Ryu
Tamers Diaries Concept: Lord Archive
Disclaimer: Digimon belongs to TOEI animation.
The silence of the forest was disturbed as V-mon burst out of some brush and broke into a full sprint, fear showing in his eyes as he ran faster than he thought possible. Branches crumbled as a large insectoid creature resembling a green praying mantis gave chase hovering above the ground, its arms replaced for scythes. Red markings covered its face, but made you wonder how it could see without eyes. "What did I do to deserve this?" V-mon asked himself, not interrupting his run. With Snimon closing in on him. All he knew was that at any moment, he was going to be the bug's lunch.
A shriek of pain cut through the air, causing V-mon to stop and look at his pursuer. Masses of needles now impaled the insectoid, before the body simply blew apart into data particles. The small dragon started to panic as he looked around, trying to find which way he should run. Then he noticed the light being blocked in a circular pattern around him as two shadows surrounded him. V-mon slowly turned his head, knowing exactly who it was before he saw them.
"Interesting finding you here," one of the dragons spoke. V-mon glared up at them, hatred starting to overcome his fear.
"What do you want?" V-mon asked.
"We're just fulfilling our duty to your father and the Digimon no Kami. No need to be alarmed, you'll be home with your family soon," the second Airdramon told him.
"I don't WANT to go back!" V-mon yelled back. "That place is no home of mine! And they are NOT family!"
V-mon suddenly dove towards the left as a needle missed his right leg by less than an inch. The Airdramon glared down at the child. "You DARE speak of your father like that? Being away from home for so long has spoiled you. You know he will punish you for such disrespect."
"Like I care! How can I respect someone that would brutally murder one of his own?!" V-mon swore he could see their eyes gleam with realization upon telling them this, anger starting to show in their eyes..
The Airdramon growled harshly. The youth may be impressionable, but they still had no right to speak like that. "That wench was no longer one of us when she evolved. She was handed down a proper judgment. Why do you sympathize with the whore?"
V-mon's pent up anger had reached a breaking point. He wanted so badly to attack them despite its futility. He couldn't stop thinking about how they had just degraded his sister. However, the two Airdramon about them decided what they had seen and heard was enough. V-mon's sympathy for the impure was enough to warrant a death sentence. The Airdramon reared back ready to hand down V-mon's judgment.
Without warning, one of the Airdramon erupted into flames before dispersing into data. V-mon stared up in surprise to see one of them dead. The second Airdramon turned to look at the source of the attack. "You!" the Airdramon called out. The ground trembled as a large orange foot slammed into the ground in front of V-mon. The child digimon slowly looked up, seeing the blue stripes that had wrapped around the dinosaur's back. The brown head looked menacing enough with three horns protruding from it.
Several questions ran through V-mon's head as he watched the spectacle. Greymon were respected even though they weren't true dragons by the cult. So why did he just attack the Airdramon?
The remaining Airdramon looked even angrier, as if a 'lowly' beast had just destroyed his friend. "Just because the Digimon no Kami allows your trash doesn't give you right to…"
"You talk too much," Greymon told the dragon. "And I don't care."
"Learn your place, dinosaur!" Airdramon called out, as he fired off another barrage of needles at the dinosaur. Greymon wasn't very fast and unable to move away in time to avoid getting hit…not that it mattered. The needles just bounced off of Greymon's tough hide, leaving Airdramon in shock. "How? You should be…"
"Not so tough without your pal, are you?" Greymon asked, flames starting to form once again in his mouth. "It's you who needs to learn your place." Greymon reared his head back so he could spit the fireball at its fastest speed. The Airdramon, too shocked by Greymon's display of power, he didn't think much as the fireball struck, obliterating him on impact.
With both Airdramon gone, V-mon still didn't relax as he looked up at his savior. If this Greymon was attacking other Dramon, he might be safe. But considering who V-mon's father was, the child digimon knew better.
Greymon looked down at the child digimon he saved. However, the smell on V-mon seemed to add more to the dinosaur's agitation. "Ummm...Thanks?" V-mon asked, not so sure if he was safe with Greymon glaring down at him.
"His brat," Greymon muttered. V-mon tensed at the fact that this Greymon recognized him, for the wrong reason no less. "I don't like killing small fry, but you're an exception."
"I'm outta here," V-mon remarked as he made a mad dash away from Greymon, another fireball impacting the ground where V-mon had just been standing. The ground trembled in a steady tempo as Greymon chased after him. V-mon only cursed his luck as he broke through some brush and found himself at the forest's end, entering a vast plain. Having run out of places to hide, V-mon desperately looked around for some sort of escape.
The trembling from Greymon's feet stopped. V-mon ignored it as he sprinted ahead. Then, he saw something coming toward him that made him run faster. Acting like some sort of tornado, a pink streak running towards the sky moved towards V-mon. While he didn't know where it would lead him, he knew the data stream ahead of him was his escape. Without a second thought, V-mon launched himself forward into the stream before vanishing from within it.
When V-mon got out of the warp, he found himself in a place like nothing he had seen before. The world around him was now nothing more than black space with thin green lines in a grid. Not wanting to get caught by whatever creature that could possibly live here, V-mon walked forward in hopes of finding some kind of shelter, even if he had to walk for miles. He just wanted desperately to get away from anything that wanted to kill him. Upon that thought, the world around him slowly brightened into a blinding white.
V-mon couldn't tell when, but the terrain below his feet became a hard, flat surface that reminded him of rocks, yet it was too smooth. The brightness began to dim as if a fog was lifting around him. The shadow of a figure became more visible, making V-mon tense. He had too many attempts on his life to trust anything, and he was starting to get tired of running. It came down to his life or theirs. As the last of the fog dispersed, V-mon charged towards the figure, a human boy that stood about two feet taller than him, staring at him with wide eyes.
The boy held up his hands in surprise, saying "Whoa!" V-mon ignored him and launched forward head-first. The boy backed up without paying attention to where he was moving. He suddenly dropped backwards at the wrong moment, sending V-mon flying over him as he hit the roof hard.
V-mon skidded across the roof and bounced up as he hit it. As he was looking down, he saw the hard surface drop sharply like a flat cliff with the ground several feet below. He suddenly reached out and grabbed the edge out of panic as his body fell down and hit the wall.
V-mon cursed his luck, now at the mercy of his new assailant. It wouldn't take much for the attacker to let him plummet to his death. Part of him wanted to let go of the edge, but his instincts wouldn't allow him to. Then, the child digimon felt something grab him by one of his arms. "Hang on," a voice told him as the hand slowly pulled him up. V-mon looked up to see the boy he had attacked looking down at him in honest concern, something he had never seen before.
The moment V-mon felt his foot brush the edge, he pushed off with it and tackled the human onto the ground, pinning him down by the shoulders. The boy cringed as the back of his head slammed against the roof. "Why did you save me?!" V-mon demanded as he stared down at the boy. "You could have killed me easily!"
"Why on earth would I do something like that?" the human asked with a groan as he opened his eyes, looking up at the Child level digimon. V-mon was even more confused as the boy looked at him in confusion, rather than in anger or hatred.
"What's going on? Where am I?" V-mon asked as he stood up and got off of the boy. He rushed towards the edge and looked out from it, seeing masses of buildings like the one he realized he was standing on. Down below, several box-like machines rushed past, while several humans walked by along each side of where those machines were traveling.
The human sat up as he rubbed his head. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked as he stood up. That was when V-mon's attention turned toward a steel stairwell. V-mon rushed towards the stairs, leaving the human behind yelling, "Hey, wait!" He ignored the boy as he rushed down the stairs. Once he got to the second floor, he jumped onto the rail and over into one of the few trees in the area. After grabbing onto a branch, he dropped himself onto the ground and landed within the crowd, where hardly any humans paid him any notice, more attentive to their own daily lives. He quickly got lost in the crowd, unsure of what laid ahead of him in this strange place.
David looked down the side of the building as the reptilian creature vanished into the crowd on the sidewalk. No hope to catching up, he simply waited for the crowd to clear to see he was gone. David sighed as he got up, his head starting to ache from hitting the roof. The boy just rubbed a head at his forehead, reminding himself to take some headache medicine before he ran errands.
The boy walked into the stairwell entry leading into the main hall to the various apartments below. Finally finding his floor, he rushed into the apartment and barely paid any attention to the room around him as he rushed towards the bathroom. He swung open the medicine cabinet and grabbed the bottle of ibuprofen, popping a pill into his mouth and taking a gulp of water to swallow it. The room was dim with a couple of lightbulbs out. David shook his head, wishing the apartment management would fix those sockets already.
Walking out into the room, you saw minimal decorations throughout the living room, just some old family photos David wished his father would just get rid of. The smiling faces reminded David how much better things were before, something he'd rather forget just to make the present easier to deal with.
David wasn't ungrateful for his life. His father did well enough to put a roof over their heads. The father even put in a game system in the room, hooked up to the TV. His father got it for him just to make up for what they've gone through. David rarely touched it, figuring his father was simply trying to replace the irreplaceable. The apartment was clean but only because the boy kept it that way. The place was almost always empty of people, and his father rarely ever stayed here for more than sleep.
David walked over to the dinner table where a list of groceries and other items was left, as well as a small stack of money. David read the list, ignoring the letter telling him to 'keep the change' and 'enjoy the summer.' He just pocketed the cash and the list and made a mental note of places he'd need to stop at to pick up what they needed. He wanted to wait a bit for the medicine to kick in, but his stomach growled in protest of that decision. He didn't need to look in the pantry to know it was almost bare.
David sighed as he pocketed the money and the list, giving into the demands of his stomach. He walked out the door, locking it behind him. He trudged down the inner stairwell of the apartment building and walked out the door, blending into the crowd. While he wanted to plan the trip to the different places he needed to go, he first scanned around him for a restaurant or food stand of some kind. The rising temperatures in the city as well as the large amount of kids that seemed to be mixed in with the crowd signaled the summer season in New York. Something David hadn't looked forward to in years.
He noticed a group of people walking into a small Italian restaurant as he rounded the corner. It seemed promising enough, sometimes smaller family restaurants provided better food anyway. He walked towards the entrance and saw the lunch special on the board. David's stomach growled with approval.
"Are you waiting on someone?" a young female voice asked. David spun to look at the Host station, surprised to see a girl that looked about his own age, dressed in the restaurant's uniform with a name badge pinned to her apron on the left side. Reading the name "Jessa" on the tag, he couldn't help but think this girl looked familiar, even the name.
"No, I'm on my own. Thanks," David finally responded.
"Right this way, please," Jessa motioned. She seemed cordial enough, but David could see in the way she held herself that it wasn't quite sincere. It was like she didn't want to be here. David didn't blame her. If this weren't some kind of family restaurant, she shouldn't be working at all, let alone here. "A waiter will be with you shortly, can I get you a drink?"
"Do you have root beer?" David asked without looking at a menu for the drinks.
"Yes, we do. I'll be back with it," Jessa said with what David thought was a forced smile.
He watched Jessa walk behind the counter to get the drink. She was approached by a middle aged woman, and David couldn't help but watch as a small argument seemed to have started. David started to realize with dread who this family was. Jessa was someone he knew in passing both in school and in his apartment. She lived somewhere above his apartment and would often hear her and her mother arguing. The yelling was muffled through the floor, but he knew it usually ended with the slamming of a door.
The woman took the drink from her after Jessa filled it and marched towards David's table. "I'm so sorry. It's her first day and…"
"I can't say I know much about working at a restaurant but she did fine by me," David told her. David didn't like the way this woman sounded, talking down on the girl as if she couldn't do anything right.
The woman seemed perturbed for a moment before she said, "Of course. Did you want to order something to eat?"
David ordered his meal, waiting on it, he couldn't help but watch the spectacle between this woman and Jessa. The food was great, but he didn't like the atmosphere this family provided. He half expected for Jessa to act up, but not her mother.
When he left, he left a regular tip for the waitress. Then, as he passed the station, David slipped a five in front of Jessa on the host table. Jessa looked surprised but he told Jessa, "Don't let your mother have this," David winked as he left. As good as the place was, with the family acting up like it did in front of him, he didn't want to go back there again. Then again, he considered going back just one more time to aggravate the mother.
As David left the restaurant, he swore he caught a glimpse of a flash of light blue. He jerked his head to look down an alley, but found nothing there. David just shook it off and continued down the street to the first store he needed to go to.
V-mon sat in the shadows as David walked into another store, eating a hot dog he took from a vendor cart. There was something different about the boy that had earned his interest, especially among other humans. Even though he followed David from place to place, he quickly noticed how the smaller, younger humans were never truly alone. If they weren't already with a much larger and older human, they were in groups of other humans their own size.
David on the other hand, stuck by himself. Sure he talked with others, but those were short exchanges, as David exchanged small pieces of paper for much larger items, including food. As the sun started to go down, David suddenly carried everything into the building they first met. V-mon figured he must have lived here like he's seen some digimon settled in their villages and caves.
V-mon opted to climb up the outside of the building. Finding the fire escape, He climbed up a nearby tree before jumping onto it. He remembered seeing David climb up the stairs inside, so he started jumping and climbing window ledge to window ledge, trying to find him. On the third story, he peeked in an open window and saw David put away the last item he bought.
David looked at the window, seeing V-mon standing there. "Oh, you came back," David said. "Come on in."
V-mon tentatively climbed down into the apartment. "I'm gonna be making dinner soon, so feel free to rest."
"Why are you alone?" V-mon asked. "Don't you have a family or parents of some kind?"
"I do," David said. "My father's busy all the time, either that or he's drinking at some bar most nights to avoid coming home." David sighed at this. "And my mother, the less said about her, the better."
V-mon partly understood, not wanting to talk about his family, too.
"Why all the interest?" David asked.
"I've been watching you. You don't behave like other humans your age," V-mon said. "You always seem to be alone."
"I'm used to it," David told him. "I barely even notice anymore."
V-mon walked up to him, seeing how honest and sad David really seemed at this. He felt that this shouldn't be happening, not with anyone, let alone this boy. "Do you mind if I…"
"Stay here?" David asked. "I'm fine with that I'll even leave my bedroom window open in case you want to leave for any reason."
"You don't have to do that," V-mon told him.
"Actually, yes. It's getting hotter this time of year and we need to cool off as much as we can," David told him. "It saves on the AC anyway."
V-mon nodded, not understanding fully what he was being told. He shared a meal the boy cooked throughout the evening. V-mon started to feel more relaxed. He attacked this boy and the boy saved him, he owed the boy more than just the accompaniment. However, David felt more relaxed with even just that.
As the sky turned darker, both David and V-mon started to yawn at the same time. "I'm going to get some sleep for tomorrow," David said, leaving some excess money and a note telling his father of the change. "C'mon. You can sleep with me tonight."
As David entered a room with just a single bed and a chest of drawers, David started to take off clothing, a peculiar behavior to V-mon. As promised, David opened the bedroom window so V-mon could leave if he ever wanted to. At that, David climbed under the sheets, leaving the comforter hanging down so he could remain cool. V-mon crawled onto the bed with him. He didn't know what to do in this world, but had a feeling staying with this boy would help him find something.
When the dawn's light filled the room the next morning, David would find V-mon still sleeping peacefully next to him. David felt relieved that he could spend time with someone that actually wanted to be with him. While David didn't know what to expect with the digimon, he knew that he could look forward to a little more eventful summer.