Yelp. Back away while telling him we don't know, and ask where we are.

Blink, tilt head, and stare at him like we're almost completely slow. Then wave hello, and ask him where we are. :D

"Who the hell are you?"

>Welcome.
>To.Your.
>Chaotic.
>Destiny.

Oh boy...

Terminal!!D5ZTMvLGZl 2010/05/20(Thu)16:43 No. 180362 ID: 395ca4
File 127439901287.jpg - (193.85KB , 797x574 , 1f7bed232d61b5d0fea64aa56e38154964a0e6ab.jpg )

>>180353
"Yeah, yeah, nice try." he advances forward into the space you retreated from, circling slightly.

>>180356
"Does it matter?" he responds - and then moves forward lightning fast, leading with a left hook that threatens your temple.

>01011001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01100011 01100001 01101110 00100000 01100110 01101001 01100111 01101000 01110100 00100000 01101000 01100101 01110010 01100101 00100001 00100000 01010100 01100001 01101011 01100101 00100000 01101000 01101001 01101101 00100000 01101000 01100101 01100001 01100100 00100000 01101111 01101110 00100001

What do you do?

>>180362
>You can fight here! Take him head on!

Well, you heard the fucking Voice, FIGHT BACK!

Do we have a name? Also, Age would be something to clarify.

As for responding to the boy, come clean about our total confusion about the situation.

>>180362
Calmly turn shoulder and step into his attack, tug his punch over our shoulder and flip him like a punk. Then ask him where we are again, like he's NOTHING AT ALL. :D

>>180362

Oh right, posts.

Erm, block with Forearm and roll away, protesting innocence and general too-pretty-to-die-ness.

>>180362
Cockblock him with a revolver stake through the chest, followed by a volley of heavy claymores

Terminal!!D5ZTMvLGZl 2010/05/20(Thu)16:56 No. 180368 ID: 395ca4
File 127439979772.jpg - (15.70KB , 250x250 , choose_your_path.jpg )

>>180364
Not that you know of. You feel like you're about the same age as this boy, so... probably seventeen or so.

>>180367
You don't have a Revolver Stake.
You don't know what a Revolver Stake is, but it sounds *badass*.

>>180365
You attempt this, and -
WHAM.
He hits you about three times in quick succession, digging in to avoid the throw and laying into you with elbows and knees. You release his wrist, surprised, and he takes the opportunity to spin and kick you hard in the stomach; you stagger backwards and fall onto your rear, gasping for breath.

Oddly, he doesn't move in, instead gasping in shock. "That's...!"
You follow his eyes to your waist - there's a small device there, connected to the waistband of your pants by a small length of chain that's been forced around the band.
You frown and take it into your hand - it unclips from the clasp on the chain almost without your trying, like it wants to be in your hand - and stare at it.

What do you see?

>>180368
D-Power, silver base with red ring and buttons. Or the opposite. :3

>>180368
D-Tector ALL TEH FUCKING WAY

>>180368
God, I wish I remembered which was which.

Top right.

Also, you need to learn to fight. Seriously, that was sad.

Suggestion 2010/05/20(Thu)17:03 No. 180374 ID: d896d9
File 127440023671.jpg - (41.65KB , 400x300 , decadriveropen.jpg )

>>180368
This

Suggestion 2010/05/20(Thu)17:04 No. 180377 ID: 0f6751
File 127440027568.jpg - (22.67KB , 400x300 , Decadriver.jpg )

>>180368
How about this instead.

>>180368
Top left. It's in Ottawa colors.

>>180371
>>180374
>>180377
"Kuh, mimicking a Tamer, huh...?" he growls out. "That's pretty low, even for a virus -"

You slowly stand up, feeling the device throb with suppressed power in your hands. There's something wrong with this though... it feels odd having it as a device.

No sooner do you think this then it changes in your hands - wrapped in a stream of purple-and-blue lightning, it shifts, becoming a large-buckled belt.
You smile. This is what you wanted.
You place it to your waist - and a length of chain shoots from the sides, clasping at your back to hold it in place.

"Huh, now you're copying me..? You move fast." he says. You don't know why you didn't see it before, but you realise that he's wearing a similar device around his waist - only his is royal blue-steel, with white higlights.

You stare each other down for a moment - he's too shocked to continue his assault for the moment, and you have no idea what exactly you're meant to do with this; the divine inspiration you had moments ago has vanished.

What do you do? (If you want to talk him down, now is probably your last chance.)

>>180384
Say nothing.

HEN SHIN.

CHANGE, LUCEMON CHAOS MODE

>>180384
"Seriously Asshole, Back off... I don't want to fight, even if this weird voice in my head is telling me too..."

"I'm not that good at this fighting stuff. Can we go back to talking? Or hugging? Things that feel nice is fine, but I don't wanna get hurt again." Pouty face. If he charges us, destroy his groin with a knee or something.

>>180388
I'll second this.

Terminal!!D5ZTMvLGZl 2010/05/20(Thu)17:39 No. 180390 ID: 395ca4
File 127440235744.jpg - (51.11KB , 320x320 , Gaomon.jpg )

>>180387
>>180388
You manage a weird mix of these things and he snorts. "Nobody here'd be alive if we fell for the same tricks every damn virus used. Nice try though."
And he moves in fast again...

>>180386
Almost of their own accord, your hands drift to the belt at your waist.

>01010100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101000 01101111 01110111 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100111 01101100 01101100 00100000 01100110 01101001 01100111 01101000 01110100 00101110

The words come from your lips almost unbidden.
"Evolution... Drive...!"

http://www.mediafire.com/file/dmkilmmzmi1/TamerQuest%20-%20Shinka%21%21.mp3

You push the 'sides' of the beltbuckle closed; there's a loud SNAP noised followed by a flare of rainbow light - it blows your opponent back across the clearing, then wraps around you. You feel your body changing... not in a painful way... instead, you're full of energy, better than you've ever felt in your life.

When the light clears, you've definitely changed... a look down at yourself reveals that you've become some oddly-humanoid wolf, wearing the remains of what must have once been proper fighting gloves.
Oh, and a nice headband. Can't forget that.

>>180390
This is how you'll fight.

Terminal!!D5ZTMvLGZl 2010/05/20(Thu)17:52 No. 180395 ID: 395ca4
File 127440314842.jpg - (24.66KB , 290x290 , Strabimon.jpg )

>>180390
Your opponent picks himself up off the floor, growling at you. "Jesus, what *are* you?" he asks through gritted teeth. "New type, I guess... think you're special..."
He stands up, copying your motions from a moment ago (or is it the other way around?).
"Evolution Drive!"

When he clasps his belt shut, though, it *talks* -
>D-D-D-DRIVE
- and the ensuing light show is in shades of blue and white, unlike your own rainbow one...

Similar to yourself, he's changed - but his form is different, sleek, mean. The name jumps into your head unbidden: Strabimon.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/wvwmenhztzr/TamerQuest%20-%20Rock%20the%20Clock.mp3

That's the last time you have for serious thought; he hurls himself at you, moving low to the ground at an incredible speed - but this time you can *see* him - both sets of claws glowing brilliant white, leaving a trail of light behind him.
"Licht Nagel...!"

What do you do?

>>180395
The name comes to mind . . "Double backhand!"

Spin around really fast to create our little shockwave tornado with our punches, to push him away! Or punch him lots in the face, if he gets too close before the ability resolves.

>>180397
The words leave your lips as you step in to meet him, spinning to get the maximum power out of the blow - you CLASH with him, your attacks hitting each other and cacelling out.
You both hang there for a moment, hearing leaves falling back to the ground around you in a low rustle.
"Guess that's not gonna work," he says, and promptly drops low, charging shoulder-first into your stomach and attempted to score a double-leg takedown on you -

What do?

...a sweep attack eh...
Gutter Trash
-Forward, down, down-forward, Punch-
"JET UPPERCUT"

>>180408
Sprawl backwards, kick your legs out behind you and lean forward.

Maybe knee him in the face while he's still getting up. Or just shove him to the ground during your sprawl.

Keep reiterating you're not hostile.

Terminal!!D5ZTMvLGZl 2010/05/20(Thu)18:39 No. 180417 ID: 395ca4
File 127440596436.jpg - (48.42KB , 600x750 , shoryuken.jpg )

>>180415
He's past the point of listening, unfortunately.
You kick back your legs and go into a perfect sprawl; he growls and tries to rise out of it and you let him partway - and then knee him in the face. His head snaps back and he staggers, bleeding from his nose -

>>180413
"Jet - UPPER!"
You clock him *right* in the nose and blow him upwards into the air! A spiral of leaves on the ground follows him, caught in the updraft of the blow.

He lands hard on his back and lays there for a moment - a long moment, almost until the leaves have settled back onto the ground - then curls up his legs and kips up to his feet, wiping the blood away with the back of his hand.
"... you're pretty good, for a virus." he admits.

What do you do?

>>180417
At that point we've already bolted like the Fist of the North Star.

>>180417
"Virus? What the hell are you talking about?"

keep your guard up.
he may try something.
maybe you can get him to say something about where you are? maybe a simple question like "why are you here" will get him to reveal your current location. or you could ask what he means by "virus".

So, do we look exactly like a Gaomon, or is it different somehow?

>>180423
ALso, GTFO

>>180423
Identical, albeit the gloves are worn through and broken - your fingers are free to move.

>>180420
"Yeah, yeah, nice try." he snorts; seems like he's pretty convinced.

>>180421
"To stop people like you from getting in," he responds, then hurtles forward and throws himself into the air - the same light-show as before accompanies him, this time focusing on his leg; he spins once in the air to deliver a crushing, scything kick, aimed towards your head. "Licht Bein...!"

WHAT DO?

>>180431
HADOKEN!

>>180431
Duck under the kick, then turn around and AUTO RYTHM the bastard (kudos to those who know what I'm referencing.)

>>180437
Drop to the ground under him and HADOKEN! him from below.

Suggestion 2010/05/20(Thu)19:12 No. 180442 ID: b71223
File 127440796476.gif - (76.35KB , 292x139 , DudleyCross-Counter.gif )

way I see it you have two options here.
A) dodge roll out the way and hope to god he misses
B) drop guard and when he hits "Cross Counter!"
(pick related)
option B is only if you believe you won't have enough time to dodge.

>>180437
>>180442
You tuck up your shoulder and roll under the kick, but as you come up, you discover to your dismay that he landed facing you, meaning that he's an infinitely better position that your own - he stands and lashes out at you with an outside roundhouse kick that you're either going to have to block, or try and counter; there's no time to dodge.

What do!?

>>180445
CUROSSU COUNTAH!

"Gutter trash."

Block, grab the leg. sweep the other one and get on top of him were going MMA on him.

>>180445
Funny thing about a roundhouse kick, if you get in close enough to the assailant it does jack shit. So move in close, and FALCON PAWNCH!

>>180451
>>180447
You step in and your fist hits his cheek hard, though he tucks in his leg and turns his kick into a solid knee that slams into your ribs; you twist sideways, hissing in pain, while at the same time you force him to look away, opening up a gash on his cheek.
"Gutter trash."
"Same to you...!" he responds, moments before -

>>180449
- you step in further and sweep out his pivot leg, going down with him into open guard up, fists at the ready -

What do?

Punch like the Motha F-ing fist of the northstar!
TO THE FACE

Terminal!!D5ZTMvLGZl 2010/05/20(Thu)19:55 No. 180463 ID: 395ca4
File 127441053012.gif - (10.38KB , 222x300 , Justimon.gif )

>>180458
You start laying into him, though he manages to get his hands up and does an adequate job of defending himself; you eventually overextend and he uses the opportunity to twist to the side, dodging the punch, and tucks up his legs, pushing off against the chest to force you off.

You both spring to your feet and start to move in to each other again, and -

"STOP!"

- you both freeze, turning to the owner of the new voice.

He's tall, humanoid, though his face is obscured by a mask; what breeze there is causes the twintailed scarf around his neck to flap.
He folds his arms, sighing at the Strabimon. "Did you forget what I told you? Viruses. Don't. Get. Digivices. Stop fighting, Josh."

Your opponent winces like he's been slapped but sighs, his hands moving to his belt; with a slight spinning motion he revokes his transformation, returning to human form.

After a moment, you do the same.
The tall one - 'Justimon', again, you know the name without thinking about it - looks over at you. "Name's Justimon," he says unnecessarily, "and you, newcomer?"

You open your mouth to respond and realise that you don't know.
What do you do?

>>180463
"I don't know..."

Say you don't know...
Then come up with a name on the spot...
maybe Excel...or Rhea.

>>180463
Tell him just that... WE don't know.

We just kinda came too here and heard a Voice say "Welcome to your Chaotic Destiny" and then Skippy over there attacked us. We can't remember anything before that.

Angelica.

Dont tell them how we got here. We need to know more about them first. But what about a name?

>>180471
I'm partial to Tierney myself.

>>180477
Oh, and I agree that we shouldn't say how we got here. A bit paranoid, but a bit of paranoia goes a long way.

>>180477
That sounds good. Lets go with that.

>>180466
>>180480

You wisely don't mention how you got here, but you come up with the name with only the slightest hint of hesitation - Josh misses it, but you see Justimon tilt his head to the side.
"... fair enough." he says after a moment. "Come; we'll treat you to a meal for having Josh try and beat the crap out of you."

Josh folds his arms across his bare chest and looks away, clearly pissed off.

What do?

>>180482
At Josh:

"So, you greet all the ladies this way, or just the cute ones?"

>>180483
He rises to the bait: "I'd say 'just the cute ones', but I greeted you, so it'd be a lie."

What now?

>>180489
Whatever. You owe me a meal. What are you two up to, anyways?

>>180489
Give a big smile and turn to Justimon.

"Real Charmer ain't he? So where we going to eat?"

Call Josh a tool, because he is a tool.

>>180495
"Long story. Come along." Justimon intercedes and you figure you may as well follow him.

It's actually quite a short walk, only twenty minutes or so, and you find yourself coming out into a large clearing - Digimon of all shapes and sizes milling around buildings that have been carved out of trees and the like.
"This is what we're guarding - one of the few Primary Villages left." Justimon stops on the outskirts and you stop with him - it's mostly small, cutesy-looking ones in the place. "You'll have to forgive Josh; he lost his partner to a Rover."

Josh shoves his hands in his pockets. "Don't even start." he growls. Justimon shrugs him off.

What do?

>>180498
"I think you'd best start by giving me an explanation of your terminology. I'm afraid I'm kinda... clueless."

>>180500
"... you what?"

There's a long pause as Justimon stares at you. "Where are you FROM, T?"

Uh oh. What say?

>>180498

"Dunno what a Rover is, but since I'm apparently not one, his attitude seems completely unwarranted."

So no, we don't have to forgive him. He's being a douche for no reason than because he was an idiot.

>>180505
"Aah! I don't know! I just woke up in the forest and then that kid was attacking me!"

>>180505
How would you react if I said I had no clue?

>>180505
That's a very good question.
Not here, that's for certain.

>>180505
"Um, damned if I can recall. First thing I can remember is landing in front of Josh here."

>>180507
You get the impression that Justimon is frowning behind his mask. "You don't remember *anything*?" he presses, sounding suspicious.

What do?

Shrug adorably. "I remembered . . Strabimon's name. Yours too. That's something right?" Be adorable.

>>180525
There were also other words... Those were harder to make out though...

I TRIED to tell him this, but...

All we know is that this crazy 8-bit ascii voice keeps barking binary at us.

>>180523
"I'm sorry, when did memory trouble become something worrisome to anyone OTHER than the one suffering from it?

*Motion to Josh*

Or is chuckles going to try to beat me up for THAT, too, in addition to my earlier crime of being here?"

I get the feeling that knowing weird things and hearing strange voices might be much more incriminating than just not knowing anything, here.

>>180529
Maybe, but if we hid it and they found out, it would just look worse.

>>180531
It's not like they're exactly trustworthy, themselves. I seem to recall someone trying to kill us for deigning to exist.

>>180532
Agreed. And it's not like they can easily find out she's hearing voices.

>>180525
>>180526

Josh winces. "Sounds like a faulty transfer to me." he grimaces. Justimon shrugs.
"It's possible you got screwed when you were brought here. To the Digital World, I mean."
"Try Terminus..." Josh butts in. "Weird things happen when you're brought here..."

You have NO idea what they're talking about.
What say?

>>180543
01010100 01110010 01100001 01101110 01110011 01100110 01100101 01110010 00111111 00100000 01010100 01100101 01110010 01101101 01101001 01101110 01110101 01110011 00111111 00100000 01001001 00100000 01100100 01101111 01101110 00100111 01110100 00100000 01110101 01101110 01100100 01100101 01110010 01110011 01110100 01100001 01101110 01100100 00101110

>>180543
"You've lost me again. When I said I remembered nothing, I meant it. I don't know what this Digital World stuff is, I don't know who, what, or where Terminus is, and I don't know what you mean about me being transfered here."

>>180545
>>180544
"... wow. Okay. Yeah. I'll -"

Justimon looks up as one of the Digimon, an Elecmon, comes running over to him; they have a muted conversation and Justimon finally straightens and sighs.
"I have to deal with something... Josh, you explain."
"Why me?" Josh complains and Justimon 'glares' at him. The boy sighs and relents.

He leads you over to what appears to be the center of the village - the remains of a bonfire, the kind that you see get relit every night; you have an image of a crowd sitting around a fire like this singing into the night.
"Where to begin?" Josh complains under his breath, sitting down on a log near the unlit fire; you do the same.

"Digital World's where we are now - it's a world like, well, the 'Real World'... everything here is made of data, though. You may have figured it out by now... in reality, it's a bit more complex than that, but that's deep lore that nobody really needs to know." he tips his head back. "As for Terminus? Terminus is where we are now. Nobody can get in or out, from the looks of things, so I guess you're stuck here - it's kind of a 'faulty' part of the world, I guess; there's a rumour that it's The Programmer's first playground, but nobody can confirm that."

Josh seems a lot more comfortable with you now that you're confirmed for human.
"Anything else?"

What say?

>>180559
The Programmer? I'm guessing that's whoever made this place?

>>180559
More info on viruses?

"So, what exactly do these Digivices do?"

>>180561
"So it seems, but nobody really knows for sure." Josh shrugs.

>>180564
He sobers up, grimacing hard. "Yeah, viruses... nobody knows, to be sure... we get Rovers, who are... disgusting, but they're like footsoldiers, but what we worry about are 'Entities', who are viruses that pretend to be Tamers or Digimon... I'm sure you can understand the danger."

What say?

>>180571
"Right. That explains a lot."

Insert >>180568 here

>>180571
"So why was it you thought I was a virus at first?"

>>180577
"Last week... we had an Entity come in. They were here for almost four days before a Surveyor came by, sensed them, and wiped them out." he shudders. "I mean, jesus, I had - nevermind." Josh shudders again and shakes his head.

>>180575
"Oh, these? Only Tamers get 'em, for better or wose." he leans back on his hands; the logs are sized for Digimon, not humans, so it's not much of a stretch. "Yours seems like mine - it lets you borrow the spirit of a Digimon rather than tying you to a partner Digimon, like some others do."

Now what?

>>180579
What do these entities do when they get in?

>>180579
So do you remember your life before coming here?

>>180593
"Hm? Of course I do." Josh gives you an askance look; his eyes are dark under the quickly-fading evening light, and you get the impression that he doesn't want to mention it.

>>180588
"They smoke your cigarettes and eat your food." he deadpans. "Viruses, we think, just want to kill people... this one appeared to be doing a scouting run. Do note that I don't mean Virus-attribute *Digimon*." Josh cocks his head to the side. "They're not all bad. These are viruses as in 'malicious code'. As near as I can figure? They want us all dead. But nobody knows for sure. Oh, move back."

You both scoot the log back a little way as a number of small Digimon come through, beginning to set light to the massive bonfire in order to give light and warmth back to the clearing.

What say?

Look at the digimon.
If they are cute, squeal with girlish delight.

>>180601
"So, what's Justimon's relation to all this, exactly?"

>>180601
"So, there's the viruses that want to kill everyone, and there are also virus digimon that don't? I hope you can see why I'm a little lost here."

>>180607
They are cute, and the cuteness overload coaxes a muted sound of 'girlish delight' from your lips.
Josh gives you an odd look. "*Girls*," he sighs, but you sense that he's amused rather than mad.

>>180608
"He's the guy in charge, basically. Nothing gets by Justimon if he doesn't want it to... we hope." he gnaws on his lip. "Primary Villages are where Digimon 'respawn' if they die - with no memories, mind you, and often reformatted entirely. Humans? Heh, we aren't so lucky."

What say?

>>180614
>Nothing gets by Justimon if he doesn't want it to... we hope

"You hope? Do you not trust him or something? Or do you just doubt his abilities?"

>>180621
"Ha, nice try! Of course I trust him, don't be a tool." Josh says; you have half a mind to call him out on being a dick. "But viruses can be just downright ridiculous, and he's obviously much more powerful than I am..."

What say?

>>180627
"Best pray that no Entities decide to masquerade as him, then."

>>180631
That makes Josh shut up for a few seconds before shaking his head. "No... we'd know if they tried. We would."
But he doesn't sound convinced.

You're interrupted by the Elecmon from before, who hands you both... what appear to be steaming pasties. Josh takes his with hesitation, prompting you to do the same - you take it, cautiously; it's hot in your hand, but not dangerously so.
"Enjoy." The Elecmon bows and scurries off again.

Josh sighs. "Eat it if you want, but it's not going to taste good. For some reason, Tamers don't need to eat - and our sense of taste slowly vanishes, too."

You shrug and work on the pastie, chewing daintily - contrary to his suggestion, it tastes fantastic, almost vibrant; it's some kind of beef stew with vegetables chucked in to temper the flavour.

All conversation halts over dinner; Josh seems to be eating to be polite, and you do your best to copy him so as not to stand out.

He's silent once he finishes, and next thing you know a bunch of residents of the village have hauled out a set of drums and are beginning to play - Songs Around The Campfire thing, you assume (again, wondering where that came from).
Josh grins. "Fun fact. Digital World instruments can make some... interesting noises. Things that shouldn't be made with a physical instrument."

http://www.mediafire.com/file/oljmmmij1km/TamerQuest%20-%20A%20Party.mp3

He's completely silent while you listen to the first song - partly watching the small dance that has sprung up around the bonfire, but partly thinking to himself.

When the last beat dies down and the Digimon stop to catch their breath, he looks at you with his arms in his lap. "Um, sorry for being a dick."

What say?

>>180637
"Ahh, don't worry about it. Let's just get along from now on, 'k?"

>>180639
"Speaking of which... what are you going to do from now on?" Josh asks. "I'll understand if you don't want to stay here; we're a pretty boring place to be. I'm only here because... let's just say I owe Justimon."

What say?

Josh whooped our ass in the fight, I'd say we ask how to get stronger.

>>180658
"Train. Travel. Practise. You'll find you're faster, stronger, just BETTER than you were back home." Josh clenches his fists. "If you really want to get better..."
He stands up, turns, points at the skyline - you refocus and *see it* - a giant mountain, so tall that the peak fades out of your view.
"There's a guy who lives up there. He'll teach you if you ask rightly..."

What now?

>>180686
The right way? I take it it's not quite as easy as just heading up there and asking for training then, it it?

>>180722
At this, Josh gives a mysterious little smile. "It might be," he says, "it might be."

>>180735
Is there anything between here and there I should be worried about for when I eventually head that way?

>>180736
"Oh, just everything." Josh doesn't sound concerned. "It's actually... well, you'll be fine as long as you pick your fights. But you don't need to eat or drink here, for example... as long as you're breathing you'll live. You might get uncomfortable, but that's it. Deserts, for example, are no longer a problem."

That's comforting, you think.

>>180737
"Might be better if I stay around here with you for now then... No reason for me to run off and get myself killed on some crazy quest just yet.

So, what do you normally do around here?"

>>180737
"Have you ever been up there yourself?" Cross legs, head tilt, obviously resist urge to cuddle adorable itty bitty digimon. "You're really strong, so I imagine you learned to fight with that guy, right?"

>>180760
That gets a snort out of him. "Of course not. He's not a fighter. He's still stronger than you'll ever be, though."

>>180742
Josh shrugs. "Not much. Relax, patrol. There's only usually action every few weeks if that. Pretty boring, really."

>>180761
Well, in that case, I guess we should just look around Terminus.

>>180857
Lets talk to some of the Digimon.

>>180909
You excuse yourself to Josh and stand, looking around the camp.
There's two groups that seriously catch your eye:

A squad of Gazimon (little humanoid creatures that look like evil bunnies) sitting in a circle around a board, playing a game based on tiles - looks like gambling, to you.

The Elecmon from before is moving around a set of tables that have the appearance of an open-air kitchen, directing a small team of Gotsumon (little rock-men... Gotsumen, maybe?) around as they finish clearing up the scraps from dinner.

There's also a noise from slightly beyond the clearing... a rhythmic 'woosh' followed by a number of voices letting out a sharp, but muted, yell.

What do you do?

>>180961
Lets see what the commotion is.

>>180961
Go see what it is, and be ready to fight.

>>180991
>Be ready to fight
>Blatantly obvious that its a group of people training
Herp derp.

Still, we should check it out.

>>180961
Nobody but me wants to gamble?

Terminal!!D5ZTMvLGZl 2010/05/21(Fri)21:09 No. 181078 ID: 395ca4
File 127450134480.jpg - (28.56KB , 267x395 , Yashamon.jpg )

>>180968
>>180991
>>180999

You wander off, following the noise, and find... what appears to be an open-air dojo, of all things, with a classful of Rookie-level Digimon practising what appears to be kendo.
Heading the class is a tall Digimon wielding no less than two shinai - Yasyamon, the name jumps into your head, though you have the oddest feeling that you might be pronouncing it wrong - and he looks at you expectantly from behind his creepy oni-mask as you approach the boarded floor of the small clearing.

What do you do?

>>181078
"May I observe your lesson?"

>>181081
He gestures to a plush cushion up towards one end of the dojo; you leave your shoes by the 'door' as appropriate, padding barefoot across the sprung boards to the cushion and lapsing onto it with your feet folded beneath you.
The Yasyamon looks at you approvingly and you sense that you've done something correct in the way you've moved.

There isn't much left of the class, and they're mostly doing a routine centered around vertical strikes - the same one, over and over again.
A quote jumps into your head -
>"I fear not the man who has practised ten thousand kicks once, but the man who has practised one kick ten thousand times."
- seems relevant enough.

When the class is near it's end, you're surprised to see the Yasyamon gesture for the students to move to sit at the sides of the dojo; he looks to you and gestures to the floor - and you suddenly realize that he is inviting you to spar with him.

What do you do?

Accept his invitation with an appropriate bow.

Terminal!!D5ZTMvLGZl 2010/05/22(Sat)15:39 No. 181374 ID: 395ca4
File 127456795910.jpg - (11.43KB , 243x283 , Kotemon.jpg )

>>181292
You stand and bow, placing your right fist against your left palm; the Yasyamon cocks his head quizzically to the side but accepts you. He gestures to a pair of Kotemon among the students and they bring a long, leather case to you, laying it on the floor at your feet and opening it -

Inside are three shinai, like the ones Yasyamon holds... well, not quite.
The first is an ornate thing, with the handle inlaid with what appears to be ivory and something like gold streaks are laid into the 'blade' itself, giving it a fiery impression.
The second is almost the exact opposite; it looks old, chipped and worn and covered in battlescars; it's handle is wrapped in aged leather which is starting to fall apart.
The third is a completely ordinary shinai, identical to the ones used by all the students.

Which do you take?

>>181374
The one for students of course.

>>181374
Lift the ornate one, admire it for a bit...

...then put it back and take the ordinary one.

>>181376
Indeed. We're no better or worse than them. Possibly less experienced with a sword, but still.

>>181379
this

>>posts

The ornate shinai is annoyingly heavy in your hands and quite uncomfortable to hold.
You return it to the box and retrieve the student's shinai instead.
To your surprise, it's much lighter and comfortable to hold, and you find yourself moulding your hands to the grip as though you've done this before.

The Kotemon pair with the box retreat and a third slips out of the crowd, untying the Yasyamon's left-hand shield and shinai and offering the former article to you.

You accept it's offer and it helps you bind the shield around your right forearm, giving you more defense on that side - you can always parry to the left, but it would be a little harder to go right; you and the Yasyamon are almost mirror images at the moment - though he's much taller than you, obviously.

There's a brief moment of pause, silent except for the whispering wind that blows a small leaf across the space between you.
The one of the students sounds a small gong and it's on.

The Yasyamon steps forward and strikes vertically, the same strike that you've seen being practised all night.

What do you do?

>>181390
Jump back and throw your shinai at him!

>>181416
WHAT!? NO!
obvioulsy we should side step the vertical and horizontal slash him. I don't know much about sword fighting I suggest we keep on the defensive for most of the time and counter only when we have a sure hit.

>>181416
>>181433
You see the slash coming at you almost slowly; Yasyamon tenses to pull it if you don't block.

You're having trouble making up your mind, though.
What do?

>>181433
This

>>181470
I agree

>>181470
>>181491

You step out to your left; the blade stops at the point in the air where you'd been a second ago - if you hadn't moved it would have landed exactly where the neck meets the shoulder.

Following your dodge, you strike out horizontally, planting your feet and twisting to add force to the blow.
The Yasyamon blocks with their armguard and steps sideways to help neutralize the force of the blow.

You both turn and step back to neutral positions, though you get there a little faster, enough that you have the edge.

What do you do?

>>181565
Press an attack. Anything will do now that we have the initiative.

>>181587
Your foot comes forward and down even as the Yasyamon's back foot returns to the neutral position and you return the downwards strike with devestating power -

The Yasyamon suddenly switches their grip on the shinai, holding it one-handed in reverse grip and lashes upwards, smashing the blade of your own with the squared-off pommel and then bringing the wooden sword whipping around to the side; despite the force, it touches your neck so lightly that you barely feel it.

The Yasyamon, without looking, holds their hand out and catches your shinai by the blade and holds it back out to you.

The match is over.
What do you do?

>>181708
Congratulate him, ask him what exactly they were doing here.

>>181708
"Wow, that was quick. Could you show me that move again, if its not too much trouble?"

Terminal!!D5ZTMvLGZl 2010/05/24(Mon)16:08 No. 182412 ID: 395ca4
File 127474251221.jpg - (5.02KB , 173x158 , TakatoDArk2.jpg )

>>182061
He holds up his hand, asking you to wait, then moves his hand to the mask, gripping it as though to take it off -

Oh wow.
As the Yasyamon pulls to the side, the mask transforms into a small device, one you feel that's like your own - and their form changes... splitting into two, actually.
The first is another Kotemon, though this one wears white armor.

The second is a woman - probably a couple of years older than you, she wears black hakama with a sleeveless white kimono top, leaving her toned, tanned arms bare. She lowers her device and hands it to the Kotemon; they briefly bow to each other and the Kotemon scurries off, leaving her alone with you.

She turns back to you, running a hand through her hair - short and dark, like her eyes - and smiling. "Not bad at all. We were training, obviously... think like a civilian militia..." there's a brief pause and she looks slightly downcast. "... for all the good it'll do..."

>>182077
That makes her brighten right up. "Oh, sure! It's called Teacher's Revenge; it's not really that hard, but you gotta get the timing right..."

... it must be well towards sunrise by the time you're both done, but you're confident that you've got the move downpat now. She bows to you, and you return it, and that concludes the lesson to your understanding.
"We should get some sleep; it's pretty damn late, huh?" she grins ruefully. "Sorry to keep you up."

What do you do?

"Dunno, got anywhere to stay?"

Uh, get her name at some point.

"Sleep? . . Oh! Right, sleep. . . Where do we sleep?" Adorable head tilt.

>>182426
"Huh? Oh! It's Tsurugi." she tilts her head to the side gently. "And yours?"
You tell her and she blinks. "Pretty name. I'm kinda jealous." Tsurugi grins and you get the impression that she's joking.

>>182422
"Oh, most of the time people just sleep by the fire; it's warmer than you think." Tsurugi nods. "Though you can come crash with me if you'd prefer a roof over your head."
You briefly finger the hold of your shinai as you ponder.

What do you do?

>>182434
"I'll crash with you, I guess."

>>182434
Think for a moment, then remember one of the most fun words ever! "Sleepover!"

>>182434
We get to keep the shinai? Sweet.

>>182442
You get the feeling that it might be better to leave it in the dojo for now.
Besides, walking around with a shinai right now would be clunky.

>>182438
>>182436
Tsurugi gives you an askance look. "Uh, sure, if you want to call it that..." she looks... slightly nervous, and you suddenly get the impression that Tsurugi never had a lot of friends.

What do?

>>182450
Is something the matter?

>>182459
Tsurugi blinks and shakes her head. "Not at all. Not used to people." she looks left and right kinda shiftily, then makes to leave. "A-anyway, are you coming or not?"

Do you follow Tsurugi, or find somewhere else to camp for the night?

>>182469
Why not? It'll be safer, and she's obviously fairly used to this place if she's training a militia. She would be a good ally to have.

I don't see why not. let's follow here.
today was if nothing else a pretty eventful time.
we should get some rest.

>>182469
"Sure, why not?"

Also, in the morning we need to socialize with the various digimon around here and get the lay of the land. For example, what varieties of Digi-destined are there around here?

>>182469
Sure. One, it's safer, two, it's more comfortable, and three, we can do some bonding with her ^_^. She needs a friend. We need friends. We'll be her friend! It's all good!

>>182482
>>182483
>>182485

Tsurugi lives in one of the houses-carved-from-trees, apparently; she leads you inside and shuts the door behind her. It's very modest, with only a single bed, one chest of drawers, a low table, and a couch; she crosses to the chest and retrieves a thick blanket from it.

"Sleep on the bed." Tsurugi says firmly, beginning to untie her hakama from her hips.

What say/do?

>>182510
"If you insist. It's your house, I don't want to impose. I'm absolutely fine with the couch."

And I suppose start undressing too, while we're at it.

>beginning to untie her hakama from her hips.

i like where this is going.

>>182517
Of course you would, but I don't think we're NEARLY at that level of relationship.

>>182510
Sleep

>>182514
She's actually wearing black shorts underneath it; Tsurugi curls up on the couch under the blanket before you can voice any alternative suggestions.

You sigh and slip off the overcoat... shirt... whatever the top qualifies as, exposing the white undershirt beneath it; then you crawl beneath the covers and curl up, falling asleep almost instantly.

---
>01000001 01100011 01110001 01110101 01101001 01110010 01100101 01100100 00100000 01010100 01100101 01100001 01100011 01101000 01100101 01110010 00100111 01110011 00100000 01010010 01100101 01110110 01100101 01101110 01100111 01100101 00100000 00101000 01000010 01100101 01100111 01101001 01101110 01101110 01100101 01110010 00101001
---

You're awakened shortly after sunrise by a rhythmic sound floating in through the open window - a short yell, Tsurugi's voice you thinkg, followed by a 'whish' and a 'clack'.

What do you do?

>>182547
Go outside to check on what's happening. Be prepared to make use of Digivice in case something bad is going on.

sounds more like she is cutting wood.
ask if you could try some.

>>182559
This, but be sneaky. If it's nothing go back to sleep, and if somethings up you've got surprise on your side.

>>182559
>>182617

You slip outside slowly, making your way across the dew-wet grass with nary a sound; it takes you a little way out into the forest behind the house.
Sneaking up behind a tree, you discover the source of the sound:

Tsurugi is working over a training dummy with the chipped and splintered shinai that was lying spare yesterday. She's dressed lightly, just in a light t-shirt and cargo shorts - both clothes and her hair are plastered to her, and her bare arms and legs gleam with sweat; she must have been out here for hours.
Tsurugi keeps working away at the training dummy, working in quick spins and cuts that don't seem to be a part of the kendo she was teaching - she doesn't seem to have noticed you yet.

What do you do?

>>182706
Watch silently. I don't think surprising her in the middle of weapons practice is likely to end well.

>>182706
"Nyoro~n" Head tilt, finger to lips, stare until she notices us.

>>182707
>>182709

You wait almost twenty minutes before she finally lets out a sharp roar and drives the bamboo blade hard onto the dummy's head, scoring a solid *dent* there.

For a moment, there's almost silence, the clearing filled with nothing but the sound of her heavy breathing, and then Tsurugi turns, looking at the tree you've ducked behind. "Come out," she pants, "I saw you."

What do?

Pop out, sheepish/adorable grin. "I heard you, and woke up. You're really strong."

>>182730
Yeah. This.

>>182730
>>182735

"I know."
She doesn't say it arrogantly, but more like nonchalantly, as though she's used to hearing it. "Sorry to wake you up, though."

What say?

"it's okay. hey maybe you can train me a little? just a few tips like stances and stuff."

>>182746
"Kendo isn't that easy, though... I mean, I make it look easy, but it's not as easy as teaching you stances and things like that..." Tsurugi looks surprisingly apologetic, like it's her fault.

What say?

>>183051
Do we really want to be restricted to a sword based style?

Ask her for general tips in self-defense.

>>183056
Tsurugi grins. "I'll give you the two best pieces of advice you can have. The first: 'The best way to win a fight is by a hundred metres'. The second: 'Don't think'. Y'follow?" she asks, resting her shinai over her shoulder.

>>183067
I kinda got the second one, but the first went WAY over my head. Sorry.

>>183069
I think she's talking about shooting them.

>>183070
Makes sense.

Also, another question for the OP, can we choose what Digimon we become, or is it preset? Just wondering.

basically 'be certain of victory before the first blow'

>>183075
She means that it's better to avoid a fight. Why would a kendoka be talking about shooting someone?

>>183076
Not sure yet. I have a line in mind, but I'm willing to change up.

So, what do you do?

"Don't think, feel!" Adorable is good at remembering random stuff. It's probably time to choose a random direction and wander off, after giving swordgirl a nod of thanks. Probably find weird plants to eat and stuff.

>>183094
Thank her for the place to stay. Eventually make our way back to the village, where we might find some food.

GIVE HER A HUG! QUICK!

>>183234
I second this.

Also OP, how does Guilmon sound? Would that fit?

>>183226
>>183235
Tsurugi looks flustered at the sudden hug, but she doesn't throw you, so you must be doing something right. "*That's* what you were feeling?" she asks, and you get the feeling that she's teasing you gently.

>>183234
You wander back to the village; it's so early that only the absolute early-risers are up and moving, and you're interested to note that you aren't hungry in the least despite the workout and passage of time. Come to think of it, Josh mentioned that Tamers don't need to eat; it seems like he was right.

You do see the Elecmon that was leading the kitchen last night scurrying around - but you also notice Justimon, starting to head off into the woods, roughly in the direction you arrived from yesterday.
Come to think of it, you also left your shinai back at the dojo.

What do you do?

>>183364
Possibly. Probably.

>>183396
Well, the shinai wasnt anything special. We can always get another one later. Lets talk to Justimon and Elecmon and see whats up.

>>183401
True, it's not special, but you can't help but think of it as 'yours'.
Which one first?

While it might be better to get the Shinai, we DO have our 'digivice' so it's not like we're helpless. Plus, if we take the time to go back, we might lose Justimon. Follow him!

>>180627
>>183396

Didn't Josh mentioned some kind of incredibly powerful guy up a mountain? Perhaps a visit is in order so we can train.

>>183466
I think we should save that for AFTER we have aquainted ourselves with the area and stuff more. Talk to some inhabitants, see whats up, current events, ect.

>>183425
He doesn't go far out, only about to where you 'landed' yesterday; he's snooping about the ground as though looking for something, and doesn't seem to have noticed you.

What do you do?

>>183646
Start looking for anything out of the ordinary. If nothing found, engage in a conversation.

>>183752
Maybe we should be sneaky about it. If he knows he is being observed he will act differently because of it. That being said, if he's just doing nothing a conversation would be fine.

Totally leap and hug him from behind, and be all adorable and stuff, with a cute "Hello~!"

It'd be more effective if we had a bigger bust, but this'll be fun just the same. :3

>>183752
There doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary; you get the impression that he's looking for clues as to your sudden arrival.

>>183783
"Guh -!"
Justimon stiffens like he's about to attack and then he realises that it's you and relaxes, heaving an irritated sigh. "Don't *do* that!"
You let him go and step away, suitably chastened.

What do?

Sooorry~ Find out anything?

>>185351
"Nope."
Justimon is short with you, almost business-like. At least he gave you a straight answer.

Now what?

>>185360
Thank him, and ask if there is anything we can do to help.

>>185360
Just wanted to know if there was anything I could do to help.

This quest continuing any time soon?