Digimon Inheritance: A Heroic Lion's Turbulent Times (Finished)

Calling the vote. It was close but by 6-5 Wrath wins.

Winning Vote:

[] Pure Wrath overtakes the terror in your core. You rise up and snarl at the would-be torturer, anger pushing you to do something you'd never thought of before. Stand up to Gnaw.

===

Gnaw the Blackgabumon looms above you, his smile cruel and claws and teeth sharp. His threat weighs heavily in on your mind, but is at this moment the very thing keeping you prone. Half a second passes as you try to will your body to move, but it fails. Gnaws hand descends closer and you close your eyes, not wanting to see the strike land.

Th-this is g-going to h-hurt, wh-why is he d-doing this? W-why does h-he have t-to always do this. It's n-not fair! HE doesn't have to worry about being frightened all the time . GNAW doesn't have to live with someone else scaring him for no reason! GNAW DOESN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT BEING CRUSHED TO DEATH!

Molten fire pours out of your digicore, filling your formerly shivering body with new power. The fear invading your body finds itself completely incinerated as the new emotion fills up every inch of your body. You fly to your feet, eyes opening up only to twist into a deadly glare. A low angry snarl bursts out from your throat, the first one you've ever uttered. Gnaws left claw, the former instrument of instilling terror jerks back barely avoiding your sharp snapping teeth.

Gnaw actually takes a step back, his eyes widening in shocked surprise along with....something else. It's almost like he's horrified about something. The anger in your body slowly simmers down, and with it so does the newfound strength. Finally it vanishes altogether, leaving you nearly as scared as before.

W-what? What w-was that? Why did.....oh no.

It takes you a few seconds to fully realize what you'd just done, and who'd you'd done it to. Gnaw's feral stare pierces through you, as he reveals a grin full of sharp teeth. He takes a step forward, and as much as you wish to retreat, your body just won't obey. For a moment you try to glare at him again, only for him to simply shrug it off this time. You begin hoping that the same feeling of wrath from before would rise up again, but before it can be tested, a blazing comet slam into Gnaw.

Flamemon bowls the older rookie over, sending them both tumbling, with a mighty crunch, to the pebble-covered earth. The two scuffling rookies roll around in the rocks for a bit before Flamemon manages to pin the struggling Blackgabumon. He sits atop Gnaw, struggling to hold the older Digimon's arms down.

G-get him Flamemon!

You take this time to back far away from the fighting pair, not wanting to get hurt in the exchange.

"Don't do that again!" Flamemon shouts down at Gnaw. He lets go of the other rookies right arm and brings his hand back balling it into a fist-which proves to be a mistake as Gnaws now free arm darts out, grabbing Flamemon's head and jerking it down towards his own skull.

*Crack*

The younger rookie reels back in pain giving Gnaw more than enough chance to throw his attacker off. Flamemon scampers to his feet, and raises his hands up to fight, only to pause as Gnaw holds out a single open claw.

"Grr, clam down idiot! I wasn't going to hurt the stupid weakling"

Flamemon just continues glaring at him.

"Bah fine. Be that way! I've wanted to take a swipe at you for a while!" Gnaw snarls before crouching down.

*Ptui, Ptui*

Both digimon end up rubbing their heads in pain a moment later.

"Knock it off, Fufufu, The suns setting soon!"

Oh-oh no. We'll b-be out a-after dark!

"Crud" Flamemon breaks his glare on Gnaw and peers over to the horizon. The sun is nearly halfway sunk down below the skyline. He lets out another small cough, and then puffs himself up. "Enough of the petty squabbles! We must return to the village quickly!" The fiery rookie's face twists into a grimace, and he turns back to Gnaw. "I....apologize"

"Bah, forget it" Gnaw shrugs before his eyes narrow again, "Fu came up with the stupid plan anyway."

Sh-she did? I-I th-thought she l-liked me.

"Fu?"

"Grr, Lalamon. She chose a dumb name" The Blackgabumons words are quickly followed by another loud spit though he actually manages to duck the nut before it can hit him.

Flamemon freezes for a pair of seconds clearly unsure whether to laugh, or scowl. In the end he simply shakes his head and then turns away. Auger takes this cue to get up, from his resting position and waddle after him. You hurry after Flamemon, wanting to be as close to his comfort presence as possible. Thankfully he keeps his pace slow enough that you can keep up.

The last to follow are Gnaw and Fu. The former decides to leave you alone during the walk, instead choosing to walk shoulder to shoulder with Flamemon at the head of the group.

Your group quickly make their way down the gravel-covered hill, and then into the forest beyond. The shadows cast by the towering and green tree branches and fading sunlight nearly make you freeze in fright. But even as you pause for the first time, Flamemon is there putting a comforting hand down on your head to reassure you.

Night descends over the land much faster than any of you had expected, quickly leaving your path home bathed in darkness. Your eyes ability to see in the dark proves itself useful once again, keeping you from tripping over falling branches or, in Fu's case, bumping headfirst into a tree.

While you'd normally feel somewhat bad about seeing a friend injured, the fact that Gnaw's actions had been her idea... well it make you completely unsympathetic to her plight. In fact something deep inside your core actually feels a little....pleased about what happened.

After stubbing his toe again, Flamemon decides to help the entire group out by creating a ball of bright flame in his right hand in order to light the way for your group.

Half an hour passes in dead silence as your group continues onward, no one wanting to talk in the oppressive atmosphere presented by the dark forest. That perhaps makes things worse when a terrified SCREAM rips its way through the air.

The entire group halts mid-step as what must be a feral digimon cries fearfully out into the night. Several seconds later those screams suddenly end, cut off mid-cry. With lightning speed you slump down to the ground and quickly use your front paw to cover your eyes. A few seconds pass as you quiver uncontrollably, then a hand grabs you by the scruff of the neck and pulls up.

"Owowow"

"Run!" Flamemon roars, "Just run! We're almost there!" With that he lets go of your neck and breaks into a run.

O-Okay, yeah g-good idea.

A couple minutes of frenzied sprinting later sees the group coming into sight of the villages wooden walls and more importantly the open wooden gate gleaming with the promise of safety. Gnaw manages to reach it first breaking free from your group to disappear inside. Fu runs in next and Auger third. Safety looms less than a dozen meters away, and with Flamemon by your side, you're confident enough to keep running.

You take a look up just in time to see something blurring down towards Flamemon. You see a flash of quickly flapping short wings, dark cruel looking claws and a pair of overly large red circular eyes which star. The monster reaches out to grasp the two of you and-

Nononono

"Sparkling Thunder!"

*Zap*

-is interrupted as a bolt of lightning erupts from the gate and collides with the attacking digimon. It smashes against the attacking mon, stunning it momentarily. Then a second bolt is launched, finally knocking it away. The mysterious mon let's loose a pained cry of "Hoot" before flying back up into the dark sky. It turns into a blur once again, the is suddenly gone from your line of sight.

As it leaves, a very annoyed voice erupts from the entrance to the village.


"By the ten, why is it that I have to deal with one of you every batch" Gramps grumbles, even as he hops into Flamemon light. "Now get the heck inside right this instant!" Neither you nor Flamemon do anything to protest his words, and instead run past him finally making it to safety. The other three members of your group prove to be huddled just inside, carefully watching to see what was happening. You flop down on the ground once again, panting heavily from the exhaustion.

W-we did it! We're s-safe!

However you don't get to rest long as Gramps slams the gate shut, and then angrily hops over to stand in front of the entire group. You slump down, and for once the others follow suit, shrinking in on themselves as the Elecmon stands up on his hind legs. The eldest rookie in the village spends a minute silently glaring at the group as a whole before he even bothers speaking. Flamemon steps forward, and opens his mouth to speak.

"Gramps-" He stats, only to me immediately cut off as Gramps starts shouting.

"No! Ten Above No! No Talking! Just Listening! I warned you, I warned all of you not to stay out after dark!" He turns his head slightly to gaze over at the Blackgabumon in your group. The scarred rookie stops himself from shouting, instead taking several deep breaths as he calms himself down. "Supper has been ready for a while now, it's cold but still tasty. Lalamon, Auger, you can go. Gnaw, Verge, Flamemon. Stay here for now."

"Thanks Fufu!"

"Mmmm. I am hungry"

Neither of them so much as look back as they head towards the firepit on the opposite side of the village.

Once the pair of rookies have left, Gramps rounds on Gnaw. The Blackgabumons ears lower down to the back of his head as he looks ashamedly down at the ground.

"I expected better of you Gnaw. As the oldest besides myself, it was your job to make sure they didn't do anything too dangerous. " The black-furred rookie doesn't reply, only slumping down further. "You're lucky I'm so nice. Grab a bite to eat then go right to your hut. Don't let this happen again!"

"Yes Gramps" Gnaw mutters with no small amount of shame. Then he slowly moves to turn around then begins traveling to join the other two rookies.

Finally the villages leader focuses on Flamemon.

"I know you're the ringleader in all this." he growls. "By the Ten, mon like you are all too common, thinking of nothing but yourselves." The red digimon gestures his right arm to point at you. "Verge almost died because of your recklessness!" Flamemon glares back at Gramps, not moving an inch in response to the accusations.

N-no. He a-saved me. I-It was the cave-ins fault!

You try to speak up, to say something, but all that comes out is a pitiful squeak. Gramps shakes his head before letting out a tired sigh.

"Okay. Just go to bed then. Maybe an empty stomach will teach you a lesson." Flamemon pivots around to face the small wooden building that is his personal shelter, and then bursts into a run. Once he's gone, the scarred Elecmon lets out another sigh. "Just go ahead Verge, eat up while you can." The elder digimon takes another deep breath, this time leading into a prayer. "May the spirits of earth make me strong enough to deal with Flamemon. I've lost enough of his kind already."

W-what does he mean?

Something about the situation seems....wrong. But you know that even if you could explain the whole situation to Gramps, he probably wouldn't change his mind. So instead of talking you shuffle back, and head towards the large cauldron overhanging the fire pit.

===

Choose One:

[] You try to get as much meat as possible in your bowl, it's tasty and according to Gnaw helps mon grow stronger. (Bonus to Strength and Fortitude)
[] You prefer to get a nice mixed dish with equal amounts of every ingredient. Gramps told you before that balance is important. (Small bonus to all stats)
[] You aim to get as many vegetables in your bowl as possible. Fu told you that they help digimon gain more energy. (Bonus to Endurace & Agility)

===

Choose One:

[] You decide to circumvent Gramps' order somewhat. He never said that you couldn't bring Flamemon chow! So you'll grab a bowl of stew and make sure Flamemon gets something to eat tonight. He's your friend after all, and more importantly he saved you from being deleted twice (Devotion)

[] You decide that it would be best to eat and then exercise before going to bed. It's a habit that you've been wanting to pick up in order to become stronger. While one session might not have much effect you really hope that it will pay off in the long run! (Diligence)

=== Stat Change:

• Strength: 22->27
• Fortitude: 24
• Endurance: 25
• Agility: 14
• ???
• ???

AN: Wrath wins by 1 vote, boosting strength. If Will had won, Fortitude would have received the 5 point boost. I will update the character sheet with this soon.