Winning Vote
[] Yes, maybe… Maybe some digging will help you take your mind off what happened.
===
Turning away with tears streaming down your face, you slowly begin to walk back towards the rest of the group. Gnaw's actions and absence have left a strange pain in your chest, almost like someone had physically struck your core itself. Not wanting to think more on the subject, you turn your attention towards the Goblimon you'd trapped just a few minutes prior. Considering how none of them had surfaced by now, you're pretty sure that they're actually unable to do so. Unwilling to leave them to suffocate and be deleted, you rev up your drills, look for the disturbances in the ground that show where you'd dug and begin boring into the surface. You go carefully so as to avoid accidentally hitting the mon you're trying to rescue, though keeping your paws steady in this situation is proving difficult.
A-and besides maybe… maybe digging will help with- well. With what happened.
While you start digging, Flamemon has his many injuries attended to by Gramps, who's once again dug a salve out from the magical bag hung around his neck. Sparks meanwhile doesn't seem to know what to do, as he just stays silent in his Mechanorimon not trying to interact with anyone.
Having priory removed the studded club stuck to your claws, digging through this terrain once again proves to be an easy task. Finding the two buried rookies isn't very difficult either, though pulling the unconscious Goblimon back up proves to be a bit more problematic. Your paws are not suited to actually grabbing onto things, so you're forced to move underneath them, then use your tired and injured body to push them back up. Already being worn out from the prior fights, you're left nearly gasping for air by the time things have finally finished.
Shortly afterwards, Gramps starts his at this point standard routine waking up the defeated enemies one by one before threatening them into giving a promise to never come back. You still have no idea what he's threatening them with, but it must be horrifying considering how scared they all look after his whispers. When he finally gets to your beaten foes leader, the small red Elecmon does something strangely different, first dragging him away out of sight into the nearby trees. When he gets back from the woods a few minutes later he's alone and sporting a heavy frown upon his scarred face. Considering recent events you decide not to ask him about it.
From there it's a matter of Gramps leading the downtrodden party around while he takes any loot he can find. Surprisingly, the inside of the main shaft proves to be the most mined out of all of them, and a dozen small tunnels actually break off from the heavily expanded and reinforced main passage. Four very large holes in the stone are present as well, clearly spots where Mechanorimon had been buried.
There's actually a massive crate, easily twice the height of the ones you'd found before, filled to the brim, with green crystals just inside the main mine piled nearly as high as a Mechanorimon. Gramps' small bag isn't able to fit it all and even after filling your own to the brim there's still too much to take. That is where Sparks' mechanical champion comes into play, grabbing the box with its massive claws and hefting it up. Considering how he'd only gotten the mech yesterday his skill with it is a little off-putting. What little mining equipment remains has to be left behind, but Gramps mutters something about "trading" and "Sorcerymon".
On the journey back towards the village both Flamemon and yourself are both fairly listless. The tall fire-type rookie is not his normal talkative self and spends most of the time merely staring ahead with clenched fists and a sad, pained grimace, most likely caused by the still fresh if somewhat treated claw wound marked from his left shoulder to right hip. Sparks on the other paw manages to get over what happened fairly quickly and talks most of the journey back, making sure that you know about his
"Awesome heroic victory". In turn you make sure to not walk under the crate his mech is carrying and try to just focus on the fact that the period of violence is over now. Despite the aching sadness, knowing that the Goblimon threat is ended does put a smile on your face, albeit only a small one.
Upon entering the village's open gates once again, your small group is treated to a very odd sight. Namely a crying Fu behind trapped inside several interlocking walls of ice. You're surprised and more than a little frightened by that development and Flamemon even rushes forward to try and start melting her free. The village's caretaker is about to start helping out when Sorcerymon runs up to Gramps and quickly begins explaining the situation as to prevent a potentially violent misunderstanding. After Sparks' recent escape under his supervision Sorcerymon had decided to keep a closer watch on the villages rookies and because of this had actually spotted Fu as she tried to make a break for the gate. He had to resort to restraining her in ice in order to prevent the Lalamon from coming to your aid. With that, the strangely accented mon waves his hand mutters a few sentences at surprising speeds and then the sturdy ice which to this point had refused to so much as weaken under Flamemon's fire simply disperses into thin air.
Now free, Fu tries to spit a seed at the champion… only for it to bounce off of his hat harmlessly. Gramps immediately starts scold her both for trying to go against his command to stay in the village and for attacking the merchant. However, your friend refuses to give in, merely trying to cross her little green arms and when that fails because of their length just turning away and spitting again, this time at the ground. However, her tone quickly changes after Gramps threatens to withold both lunch and supper from her unless she apologizes. Once she's finishes giving perhaps the most insincere "sorry" you'd ever heard in your life, Fu breaks the news that Auger finally woke up whilst your group was gone.
Then, much to your discomfort, she asks the one question you really didn't want to hear, if not in the exact way you imagined it.
"Fufufu, where's Gnaw? I want to show everyone what I learned today Fufu!"
You turn away and try to hold back further tears as Gramps explains to the small digimon what happened. Fu... Well, she takes it in a way you would never have expected. She doesn't shout, cry or make a horrified face. Instead she just... goes completely silent and still. It's a full minute and thirty-seven seconds of waiting with bated breath, afraid of trying to interact with her before Fu moves again. Slowly but surely she steps towards Flamemon and pulls him away off to the side to talk in private. You don't what what she says, but when your best friend comes back he has a strange smile on his face. Gramps watches the procession with interest, then after making sure Fu won't do anything drastic like run off to try and find your absent friend, quietly heads off to make lunch.
Flamemon meanwhile goes up to Sorcerymon, asks to be healed, and then after his wounds are taken care of runs back to his hut for the purposes of additional training. You're left utterly baffled at how he could ever want to exercise after the events of today, but you suppose that's just a fundamental difference between the two of you. You decide to follow suit, albeit for the purposes of napping instead of working out, only to run into Lunamon halfway to your hut. The small rabbit-like rookie hug-tackles you once again and it takes a few seconds of trying not to cry out from the uncomfortable and still scary feeling before you can move again.
"I'm glad you're safe. Oni-Chan. I-I was scared that you-that you'd be..." She breaks off into a near sob and buries her face into your grey underfur.
"B-but it's over now, right? No one has to fight anymore? "
That-that might be true if... The Shamanmon didn't mention an M-ploy-er and that... I don't think it sounds good. I-is it really...
"Ye-yeah Lunamon, it'll- it, uh will be be nice for things to be normal again." you reply, forcing a grin onto your face, though it only last half a moment before an aching thought rips it free from your face and plasters a sad frown there instead.
Just without Gnaw.
"Yay! Wanna play tag?!"
=== That night you have another strange dream:
[] A tall and wide figure looms above, covering you with its shadow. The air itself seems to radiate a pure overwhelming anger, but for some reason it's not scary. Rather the bulky figure just feels… disappointed.
[] Something scary hovers above you, some sort of hooded digimon with two leathery wings sprouting from its back and a horn sticking out of either side of its head. The… thing looks down upon you with a pair of sharp, predatory, frightening blue eyes and lets out an amused laugh.
===
Over the next week your daily schedule consists of: (Pick three, plus digging which is mandatory)
[X] Digging. The Goblimon are finally gone, so you're free to dig in peace once again. After everything that's happened you need some time to relax. (Locked In)
[] Trying to learn fighting techniques from Flamemon and Gramps (Counts as sparring X3, does not count as multiple options)
[] Attempt to learn a bit of healing magic from Sorcery, it can't be that complicated… Right?
[] Fu has been acting odd ever since Gnaw left, she's taking it harder than you might have thought, trying spending some time with her.
[] You haven't spent that much time with Sparks, perhaps in the next week you could try to interact with him more.
[] Gramps is once again preparing for the festival, but you're curious about something. The "Ten" he keeps on invoking.
[] Auger has finally woken up, and for once he's motivated to give something his all. Maybe you could help him evolve back into being a rookie?
[] Now that the fighting is over you'll spend some time taking it easier. Play some games with the rest of the village's inhabitants and try not to worry too much about anything vital.
=== Stat Changes: (Forgot to record the boost from last breakfast. Sorry)
- Strength: 72.50->74.25
- Fortitude: 76.75->78.50
- Endurance: 68.00->69.75
- Agility: 59.0
===
Bits gained by the time everything is said and done:
- 1350 bits (From looted Goblimon, both from this encounter and the last)
- 1600 from last mineshaft (Gramps gives it to verge later)
- 3150 from main mineshaft
- Current Total Bits: 11050
===
Authors Note: I'm going to be trying something a bit different today. Expect another update today, this one focused around the dream which shouldn't be too long I think. Anyway a fairly large chunk of this update is option so... Sorry about that.
