Down the Rabbit Hole

[Thomas Cathal]

The best way to exit a port from home to an army base? Falling flat on your face! Okay so that isn't really a favorable entrance for anybody. Unless of course, said person enjoyed being in pain. However, this wasn't a case where a person enjoyed being in pain AT ALL. In fact, he already regretted leaving his nice, simple hut back in the forest. With an annoyed groan, Thomas opened his eyes and sat up on his knees. His eyes stung a little, but he quickly discovered that dirt was the cause of this. In response he merely took off his glasses, wiped his eyes of dirt and the like, until finally cleaning the lenses on his glasses. This took a moment, but the human managed to get his lenses the way he wanted them clean, putting them back on his face. Being able to see was always a fantastic situation! As such, his eyes looked around the area.

Next to him was Kamemon, who appeared to have been standing upright this whole time. Either the human boy wasn't paying attention, or this digimon was pretty good. "Aren't we clumsy? Not that I expected anything great to begin with.", the turtle digimon said plainly. The entire time the rookie merely stood there as he looked at the human. It was hard to tell if he could really see anything due to the helmet Kamemon had on his head. Considering how digimon were though, Thomas knew this wasn't something to really question at this point. Without much else to say, Kamemon glanced about the training grounds. The ones they were to talk to should be there soon, or the two couldn't spot the obvious.

With yet another annoyed sigh, Thomas finally stood up. He bent down however to brush dirt off his clothes. This may have been odd considering his clothes were a little bit torn up in some places. On the other hand it was easier to dust himself off than sew up every small hole in his clothing. Besides, the rips and tears weren't all that significant to warrant a fix. Looking down at the ground beneath him, it appeared he had dropped the digivice he was given. Simply enough Thomas bent down to pick this up. Almost immediately he began to examine the device again. Perhaps he would find some sort of USB port by which he could connect it to his laptop through a cable or by other means. It would likely take time to mess with the device however, as there was some business to take care of.

[Steve]

After a few moments a large lion digimon, Leomon came walked up to the battlefield followed by both Flaremon and Crescemon. They were walking in a triangular formation and every step was completely in sync with the others. They walked briskly, yet smoothly as if they were not in a rush yet they obviously were due to how quickly they were moving. They approached the boy and his digimon and stop about two yards from them and Leomon spoke the first few words to the boy. "Hello, and welcome to the resistance, we are glad that you chose our side and are looking forward to working with you and seeing you progress, we are the 3 leaders of The Resistance, I am Sir Knight Leomon, this is Flaremon and Crescemon they are the heads of Solar and Lunar division, I am the head of Eclipse. Flybeemon told us you were coming and we rushed down here as fast as we could."

Next Flaremon and Crescemon were bickering in the background about something, it was hard to make out what it was, but you could tell they were debating over whether the boy was cut out for the resistance or not, and the fact that he was standing there all torn up and his digimon seemed rather disgusted, they couldn't tell what to think yet. Leomon however you could see in his eyes that he was convinced the boy could do some good and they at there was a chance this boy could be useful. Well now that the formalities are out of the way, do you have any questions for us? Feel free to ask anything you wish.

[Thomas Cathal]

While the intimidating feeling wasn't so much that a large lion man was walking his way, although that was likely part of it, Thomas wasn't sure what to make of the digimon walking towards him. They were very much strangers to him, and on top of that he never really left his home throughout his life overall. Looking up at the lion man after the three digimon stopped walking, it was initially brought up that this was Sir Knight Leomon. Although this wasn't really so impressive to the boy. His thought process didn't involve much more than 'such and such digimon is powerful', and after a while so many digimon were considered strong that it became a mute point to him. Of course, he wasn't so careless about someone's strength either. In any case, Thomas merely listened to what the Resistance leader told him.

However, the teenager became momentarily distracted by the bickering of Crescemon and Flaremon. Exact words weren't heard by him, but it was obvious it was about how much worth Thomas would be to the Resistance. He looked a bit annoyed by this, but merely left his reactions as a thought, Figures some blokes would think me a no-hoper. Not surprisin'..." It was in this instance that Thomas payed no attention to Leomon's reaction to him. Perhaps the other chatter was too distracting that he completely missed the lion man's expression, or he was horrible at reading other people. Either way, the human was soon distracted by Leomon speaking up again. Turns out that there was not point in introducing himself, as apparently these guys knew Thomas already. For all he knew they were stalkers or something if they had a file on him with his full name and age.

But that's a thought for a different time, even if he felt uneasy about it. Everything was pretty straight forward so far as to who was who and that this was the Resistance. He knew something he could think of asking, but hesitated about doing such. Kamemon however was more than willing to say something. Pointing a finger in Tom's direction, he asked, "So, any particular reason you stuck me with the mute?" Apparently the human's supposed partner wouldn't have too many problems back talking about the human he was stuck with.

A mild groan came from Thomas's throat as the turtle made this comment. He said nothing about it, although his expression showed he too wasn't exactly fond of the other. Looking around for a moment, he seemed to put himself into a deep thought process. Granted, it probably would've resulted in a simple, straightforward answer rather that something philosophical. After what seemed like ages, Thomas would finally speak, "W-What am I going to be doin', exactly... besides hearin' blokes knock me..." Obviously he wasn't expecting this to be easy, which in a sense was a good step on his part. Although later on it might get to him a bit too much.

[Steve]

Flaremon took a step forward at the boys brash comment about them knocking on him. I don't think you understand who you are talking to! We are your superiors and what we discuss is our business not yours!!! He was about to say something else and Leomon put his hand up silencing him, giving him a glare that without words said leave the boy alone. Leomon shook his head and looked down at Kamemon. We appointed you to this human because you are one of our finest rookies and we thought you two would make a good pair. Leomon turned and pointed at Crescemon and she nodded at him. Flaremon you and Leomon can go and I will talk to the boy more. He nodded and Leomon and him left leaving Crescemon standing there.

Crescemon looked at the boy. I don't know why Flaremon has to act like that all the time but he is actually a really good digimon. Give it time and he'll come around. But right now if you don't have any questions we have a training battle for you. It will get you used to helping command your digimon and it will give you guys some practice at team work. Whenever you are ready for it to begin here will be your opponent. Walking out from behind Crescemon came a Kotemon holding his wooden sword and wearing what looked like hockey gear.

The digimon stood there in a readied position getting geared up for the training session. He knew that this was only a fun spar to gauge how strong the digimon are, but he still took them all seriously. He was always in battle mode, he wanted to get into solar, and he was determined to get there at all costs.

[Thomas Cathal]

Immediately he cringed in fear at Flaremon's reaction. Thomas simply stared up at the Ultimate level digimon, awaiting whatever comments the beast had left for the boy. He was used to this hot headed sort of reaction though, having seen it numerous times with his surrogate father. Granted, the teenager wasn't exactly on the receiving end of it, but he still wasn't fond of that. Before anything else was said however, Flaremon was forced to stop talking. It was rather confusing to Thomas at first considering he never really had anyone to defend him growing up. Then again, there was Uncle Grizz to help considering the boy's surrogate father, but even that was a bit on the iffy side of things. In any case, it wasn't too long until Leomon and Flaremon were sent off, leaving Thomas and Kamemon with Crescemon.

On the flip side of things was Kamemon. He was given an answer to his question, albeit not necessarily one he enjoyed. Even with the compliment of 'one of the finest rookies' the turtle was still very much being pessimistic about this pairing. The rookie knew for sure that he wasn't exactly the nurturing type of digimon, and from the get go Kamemon thought this human as a momma's boy. He also wasn't given much of a chance to respond before two of the Resistance leaders left them alone. Grumbling to himself, Kamemon just went along with it. Besides, there was no way he would be able to physically fight his way out of this situation considering that at his very core, he was still a rookie digimon.

Quite frankly Thomas doubted the Solar leader would warm up to him. People weren't exactly trustworthy every day, and the human wasn't about to concern himself with making many friends if at all. Remaining quiet while Crescemon spoke, his brow raised a little at the mention of a training session. Now was definitely the case where he had more or less no knowledge on combat aside from 'Digimon have powers and can fight'. This was mostly due to his first and only reaction being run, and run fast! As such, Thomas looked really confused at the moment, until he was pushed to the sidelines by Kamemon. Looking down at his 'partner' he asked, "Wh-What do ya e-even do..?"

Groaning a bit, Kamemon turned around to face the Kotemon that would be his opponent. If one could see his face, that groan also came with an eye roll, "Just let me handle it, and go... do what a mute person does. Unless you magically have some better plan during combat. I sort of doubt it, especially since I wasn't told much about you." From experience, the turtle knew his options in combat, and it was definitely a rather diverse set of options! He was obviously ready to begin, and simply eyed the Kotemon across from him.

[Steve]

Kotemon raised his wooden sword and twirled it around and finally got into a fighting pose. He snickered at the thought of fighting a digimon that was going to be slower than him, but he analyzed the situation, though this digimon was slower he had considerably more defense due to his being a turtle. He quickly analyzed where he thought the weak points would be. His belly was not as heavily protected as his back and his head, but helmets do protect but if hit hard enough they will disorient the opponent leaving them dazed for a second or two, limbs were not covered so attacking those would be a good option.

Kotemon spoke up finally Begin! Was all he uttered as he dashed towards Kamemon making sure he didn't take a straight line, using his speed he zig zaged towards his opponent and as he started to get closer he clenched his sword and swung it at his enemy aiming for the legs. Take this you brat!!

Crescemon watched them battle and shook her head at Kamemon, he had been so negative since he joined the resistance, this was bad this was bad, the partner he had was bad, there was never a happy note out of him. She quickly disappeared and reappeared beside Thomas. You don't have to take that from Kamemon... Listen most of the digimon here don't know this yet, but the reason we need tamers like you is because tamers are the key to power... Digimon who have Tamers reach new levels faster than wild digimon or even those who do not, look at me and Flaremon we had to train non stop everyday in order to get to where we are and you and Kamemon could essentially have him fighting at mega level in a month. In spite of how he treats you, you are the boss, he has to follow your orders... not you follow his. She stopped and pointed as the battle began. In her mind she knew that Kotemon was one of their digimon they specifically picked to train their new recruits because of his intelligence in battle no matter what Kamemon believed it would take both him and Thomas to beat Kotemon.

[Thomas Cathal]

With a grin Kamemon merely stared at Kotemon from across the field. He knew quite well that the digimon in the Resistance were trained intensely, but the turtle himself was one of those same digimon. From what he could tell the wooden sword was made for mostly melee combat. On top of that, Kotemon was also well protected except for the limbs and parts of his body. Therefore, in a sense this was a pretty even match up. Even still the turtle digimon wasn't going to back down. Without much hesitation, an attack was coming right towards him! This didn't cause Kamemon to step back at all, in fact, he merely stood there for a few moments. Close to the moment the attack would hit, Kamemon went into his shell, "Cora Guard!" Since his body was no longer supported by his legs, the shell would simply drop to the ground. Upon impact with the shell, the sword attack's power would be reflected back towards Kotemon. The attack's power wouldn't necessarily be much, but it was at least something!

Patiently watching the battle, Thomas looked rather uncomfortable by this point. Especially when Crescemon decided to vanish and appear next to him. He jumped a bit in surprise at this, being caught unaware of this digimon's abilities. Backing up a step or two, he managed to hear what she told him. What he kept in his mind was how tamers gave digimon the ability to digivolve faster, but that wasn't necessarily what he was concerned about. Rather, it was more so how the boy was the boss of Kamemon, not the other way around. Quite frankly he wasn't ready to reply to her at first. Plainly he just turned to watch the battle go on. He got a thought however, and managed to speak up, "Th-That bloke knows wh-what he's doin'. I'd ratha n-not ruin it. I'm o-only 'ere to get this w-war done and git home." Reaching up to his face, Thomas took off his glasses to inspect them. Some dirt was on the lenses, and as such he merely cleaned them right up. Apparently the boy didn't have too many expectations other than 'finish the war and go home'.

[Steve]

Kotemon's attack soared against the shell and it's vibrations stung his hands slightly but he didn't even flinch at it only chuckled at the quick defense of his opponent, he knew this was a possibility but he was not going to sit there and wait around for the enemy to make a move instead he took a step back and lunged into the air and swung down with his sword. THUNDER GAUNTLET the sword became engulfed with electricity, even the shell wouldn't be able to stop all of the electric. Kotemon was swinging his sword down thinking to himself that he had to lure the creature out of his shell, and that this digimon couldn't win by being defensive, so he had to buy his time and wait for his chance to strike.

Cresemon shook her head and chuckled at Thomas's statement. To say that Kamemon knows what he is doing is laughable, he is very talented but he has no emotion, he is bland personality wise... We had a Tamer with us for a short time, he and his digimon were the best duo we've seen yet, they helped one another, and cared for one another and were best friends... We've hoped to find another duo like them, but it hasn't happened yet. She paused and watched the battle for a moment thinking about the tragic events that happened a short time ago, but she shook it off and turned towards Thomas again realizing the last part of his statement. I know you mean well Thomas, but you are aware that this war will never end... Sure we may beat The Tamer in time, but it never ends, for as long as there is powerful digimon in the world, one of them will always fight to rule the digital world, and some even the world you come from. War is not a choice you make, it chooses you.

The day was young and the weather was bright, the digimon were battling and Crescemon was trying to get the boy to understand his place in the grand scheme of things, though his surrogate father chose not to join the resistance and instead keep his village safe, this boy chose to come and defend the digital world, that took guts, and Crescemon was going to make sure that his potential was not wasted.

[Thomas Cathal]

Although the shell protected him from the actual sword's impact, the lightning did manage to get through and shock the turtle quite a bit. The first response was Kamemon jumping out of his shell in surprise. Despite the fact that he had fairly good defensive measures, that counter attack was only good for the first attack. However, even though his body was vulnerable now, the turtle figured he wasn't going to be in his shell for long. In fact, remaining in that shell of his would have been a terrible idea considering it wasn't going to defeat his opponent. Or at least, not by itself. In any case, a grin appeared on Kamemon's face as he was now right next to Kotemon. Pointing at the wooden sword user, the turtle digimon spoke, "Pointer Arrow!" An arrow shaped missile was shot from his hand, and surged towards Kotemon.

The first part of Crescemon's response more or less went in one ear and out the other. He wasn't going to say anything of it, but the look on Thomas's face showed that he didn't care all that much. Looking for someone with personality wasn't a priority for him. The fact that another tamer had been around wasn't too big a deal either. "I mean well? This sheila is heaps optimistic..", the human thought to himself. He had a look of agitation and worry on his face, as social situations weren't exactly his forte. Heck, Thomas was surprise he hadn't cut the conversation off earlier. Then again Crescemon would probably try and find something else to discuss considering the pep talk she was giving him. Or at least, he thought this was a pep talk.

In any case, the teenager briefly looked up at the digimon next to him. Soon enough his gaze went back to wandering the training field. This was a foreign thing to him, as though he fell down a hole trying to chase something that meant nothing to the boy. Looking back up at the Ultimate level digimon, he finally responded, "This d-deal with The Tamer i-is all I'm tryin' to settle. A-After that, I'm goin' home. Just l-leave it at that."

[Steve]

The missile rocketed towards Kotemon swirling as it approached him, it was only a split second but Kotemon planted his feet and braced himself holding his sword tight to his chest and tucking his head down, the Missile impacted him and knocked him back a few feet, he wasn't as badly damaged as one would think due to his armor, but he was still shook by the attack and had to shake his head before getting himself back into an attack stance. He was thinking up his next move, this Kamemon was going to be a little harder to rattle than he originally thought, but none the less, he was a warrior and warriors always found ways to overcome their enemies, but now knowing that this was one of Kamemon's attacks in Kotemon's mind he was not going to be hit by one again, he would not allow his enemy to make the same move on him twice.

Kotemon looked forward and put his head down then lifted it back up as his mask and head burst into flames. He charged forward since they were still in close combat he yelled HOT HEAD as he lunged forward dropping his head and attempting to head but his enemy, even if he went into his shell the flames would hopefully still do some burn damage, and Kotemon would be able to knock him back if the hit landed, allowing him to prepare for the missile again.

Crescemon just sat there watching the battle and pulled out a notebook and pen, she wrote a few notes down and put it back wherever it was that she had been hiding it. She turned and looked at Thomas, then back at the battle as if she was going to talk to him but didn't she admired a lad who had made up his mind, but if he really thought that the things that were coming were just going to end with The Tamer, he was sadly mistaken, there was not end to this war, for when The Tamer falls something far more powerful will inevitably take it's place, and eventually after enough powerful beings even The Huts who have been able to stay so neutral would not be able to just stand and watch, all who can fight will someday have to fight. Leomon of all people could explain just how much "winning" really meant, he had won The Great War, and look at where he was now, he couldn't just walk away, so how could Thomas or anyone.

[Thomas Cathal]

Looks like the battle proved to not be one-sided, which was good for Kamemon. Kotemon had apparently been hit by the attack, albeit tucked into a defensive position. While there wasn't much time to take advantage of this, the turtle knew for certain that he should. He was about to get up off his belly, although when his opponent rushed he had a much better idea. Granted, his head would probably have at least a headache for a while. In any case, Kamemon was determined to show his opponent that he didn't mess around. Or at least, not all the time. Tucking his head so that his helmet faced his opponent, the ball on his abdomen began to charge up rapidly. Soon, Kamemon was charged forward due to the ball's speed, insisting on headbutting his opponent right back as well, "Met Tackle!" If an impact was made, the turtle would take some burn damage, but the knock back would give him the opportunity to stand right back up.

Quite frankly Thomas knew that the Digital World would still be a mess after the whole 'The Tamer' deal was over with. Perhaps he was misled, but he took the note from his mystery acquaintance as a one time only situation. Besides, once he was safely back at the Huts, he wouldn't have to worry about much else unless it affected that area. To him being in the Resistance meant nothing more than getting some 'debt' off his back and nothing else. He didn't do this to be a hero, and he definitely didn't fight for their cause out of the goodness of his heart. It was mostly the lack of confidence talking there, and his choices were always meant to keep his life as simple as possible.

Watching the battle continue on, the boy sighed for a moment. He knew that it wouldn't be this simple for long, and some random event would happen to put him through a loop. Or rather, one event would soon, but it was a pretty familiar one. Feeling his throat tighten up, Thomas knew he had an asthma attack coming. Quickly he dug through his satchel for an inhaler, starting to cough a little. He managed to get the medication into his mouth with a push of a button, and sighed in relief. This was going to be a hassle, and he was certain that more stress equaled more inhaler usage. It was plainly one of those things he was going to have to deal with.