The plain plains

[Dante]

Dante glared at Shiv and spoke to Inori, though he made no pains to keep his words from the other boy.

"I'll protect you, but not because he said to. I'm protecting you because I want to."

He recognized that he had asked for a plan, but he hadn't meant for someone to start barking orders. After all, who died and made Shiv king of the group? He was bristling noticeably at the concept of Shiv having issued orders to him, but he kept his eyes out for the two digimon circling the group. As he'd said, he was protecting Inori because he wanted to. She was much better company than Shiv, and while he wouldn't be diving in the way and taking an attack for her, he'd still pull her out of the way rather than dive aside and just let her get hit.

Meanwhile, Salamon kept watching. She hardly noticed Shiv barking orders, and took even less notice of him referring to her as "digimon formerly known as Nyaromon." Dante was back there with Inori, and it was her job to protect him. He'd just started opening up to her a bit, and she'd see herself knocked all the way back to egg form before she let harm come to him, particularly because of these two, whomever they are.

[shivdeeviant]

Yin felt the shift in his opponents moves as the Fangmon Disappeared, he turned just in time to be too late.

"Watch out!" He cried.

But as stated before, his warning was too late.

"Hello, little one," The Fangmon whispered in Inori's ear, time seeming to dilate in the words, "You're going to be my dinner!"

After this message, the Fangmon disappeared again, retaking its place in the circle. There was a lock of Inori's hair in its mouth.

Shiv turned looked at Yin, not grasping what just had happened. The lightning fast move had happened in the span of a couple seconds. The Fangmon had returned to the edge of the firelight nary a second after Yin shouted his warning. Yin spun back around, his senses only barely tracking the interloper.

"We," he said solemnly, "Are in trouble."

[Inori]

Inori made a funny sort of noise and rubbed the back of her head where some of her hair had been pulled out. Her even tempered nature was more then useful in these sorts of situations. Unfortunately, Wizardmon's level-headedness sort of dissolved when Inori was in trouble.

Wizardmon was quick to move back towards Inori, despite her insistence that he keep his place with the others. He was a bit oblivious to the potential risks he was placing himself and the others in by changing his attention away from the Fangmon and towards Inori.

[Dante]

Dante heard the funny noise and turned around to look at Inori to see what had happened.

"What? What's going on?"

Salamon saw more. She knew that one of the Fangmon had attacked Inori, even in some small measure. She saw Wizardmon leave the line, and understood his feelings well enough that she didn't try to stop him. What she did do was provide a distraction so his absence wouldn't make a difference.

"Puppy Howling," she said, almost to herself. She didn't much care for the name of the attack, given that she was a cat, not a dog, but it was effective. Her next breath was a big one, drawn in and released in the form of a shrill howl, head thrown back, sustained for as long as her little body could keep it going. With any luck, the Fangmon had sensitive hearing, and the shrill sound would throw them off their game. Worst case scenario, they merely found it annoying and went for her first. Either way, her howl changed the equation well enough that Dante and Inori were safe for at least one more move.

[shivdeeviant]

The sonic wave washed over Shiv and his group, knocking them back a step with its sheer pitch and volume. All three fell to there knees in pain.

"Gah!" cried Yang, grabbing his ears, "Turn it off! Turn it off!"

"It's like I'm standing underneath a jetplane while its taking off!" shouted Shiv.

"Grrrr!" Yin uttered, gritting his teeth.

The Fangmon closest to the blast leaped backwards out of the range of firelight.

"Now, now," came the voice from the darkness, "Dinner shouldn't make a fuss. Or perhaps you're too rare?"

A flicker of movement and the Fangmon was suddenly right in front of Salamon. It spun around, kicking Salamon in a high arc that would put her into the campfire!

"Salamon!" Cried Yin, first to recover from the sonic attack.

[Inori]

Wizardmon shifted his direction suddenly, launching himself towards Salamon to catch her and keep her from crashing into the fire. It had been oddly convinient when Salamon started her attack as it had stopped Wizardmon from making it all the way to Inori...and placed in in an ideal position to save Salamon from a firey landing.

Inori was covering her ears, but had stopped once she had seen Salamon kicked.
"You jerks!" She blurted out, shooting the Fangmon a very disapproving look. Not that she expected they would care, but it at least made her feel a little better

[Dante]

When Salamon unexpectedly started howling, Dante's hands could not reach his ears fast enough for his tastes. Whatever that was, it felt like it was scrambling his mind. Even with his hands pressed tightly over his ears, he could still feel the tone echoing through his body, erasing every thought from his mind before it could form. All there was in that moment was that one shrill note. Then, as suddenly as it had come, it ended. Dante opened his eyes just in time to see Wizardmon catch Salamon before she tumbled into the fire. He'd saved her? But what was his angle? What did he stand to gain from saving her? She hadn't contributed at all to the group's fighting yet, aside from giving everyone a splitting headache. Wizardmon had never baffled Dante more than he did in that moment, when he unflinchingly and without hesitation saved Salamon for seemingly no other reason than because if he hadn't she would have landed in the fire. More than that, he had observed, decided, and acted in the time it had taken Dante to recover his senses. What was that creature, who could do such things? For the first time since he'd come to the digital world, Dante couldn't help but look at Wizardmon, or any digimon for that matter, and see something so incredibly different from himself that he had no concept whatsoever of what he'd gotten himself into and what company he'd unwittingly kept in the meantime. Did they even sleep, or did they just look like they were sleeping to make their human partners feel better? What kind of world was this that contained such creatures and who was he, a mere human, to think that he stood a chance against this world's wonders, let alone its terrors? It was a sobering thought. He knew that no matter what skills or knowledge he'd brought with him from the human world, it was all worthless in this place, where all that could stand against the foes that lay ahead was his partner, who'd just been saved from incredible danger before he had even realized that she'd needed saving.

I'm afraid, he commented in the silences of his heart, the statement equal parts shocked observation and honest expression.

Meanwhile, Salamon had gotten the wind knocked out of her by the Fangmon's sudden strike. No surprise, given that she had gambled on the Fangmon not being able to deal with the sound of her howl. As she flew through the air, she cursed herself and her fate. Was she so weak? Did she really have so little power to protect her partner, one of the human children chosen to come to this world for the sake of both worlds? A sobering thought. It felt in that moment like she'd already failed in her charge. She'd been chosen, too, after all. She'd been chosen to fight alongside her human partner, to change the world, to save it. Did she really have so little to contribute? Before she could puzzle out the answers to any of her questions, she landed. It wasn't like she thought. Warm, but not hot. Soft, not hard. She opened her eyes and looked into the face of Wizardmon, her savior. When had he gotten there? It wasn't as though she had been paying a lot of attention to anyone's position while she howled, but she remembered Wizardmon heading over to mind Inori. Had he changed his course to save her? If so, why? Was she more important than his partner? That didn't make sense at all. Either way, her next course of action was clear.

"You saved me," she observed, having still not entirely come to grips with what had happened.

I meant to say 'thank you'...

[shivdeeviant]

Shiv's mind spun as he got up from the sonic attack. His thoughts bounced around his head as though they were on chocolate coated coffee beans. He smacked his head with the palm of his hand to knock them into place. One after another, his thoughts cascaded into a battle plan. Shiv took stock of the situation.

He and his two partners were now solely on the front line, about three quarters of the way out from the ring of light cast by the fire. Yang was shaken but had recovered quickly, while Yin was infuriatingly and yet fortunately unfazed. Dante was the next in line, with Wizardmon (Who was now holding Salamon) standing next to the fire and Inori just on the other side of it. The two Fangmon were on opposite sides of the circle from each other, keeping a steady distance so that they were at the edge of clear visibility. They had shown a clear tendency to use their high speed to penetrate the formation and disrupt the back line, so the chosen's current formation and battle plan was useless. The Fangmon's apparent goal was ultimately the defeat and consumption of the party, with intent to torment and harass until the group was too weak to fight back. Current battle variables, Salamon's unknown abilities since the evolution, and Alchemon being no where in sight. Due to the ineffectiveness of Salamon's most recent attack, she was probably not going to be useful, but the sonic attack had been startling to say the least. And Shiv doubted that the Fangmon were as unscathed as they acted. Also worthy of note, only the first Fangmon had done anything up to this point, what was the purpose of the other?

The beginnings of a strategy flipped into being in Shiv's mind, with the preceding thoughts rifling through his head in the course of a few seconds. But first, he needed a weapon.

"Yang!" said Shiv loudly, probably a little too loudly as his ears still rang, "Throw three discus in a triangle around you!"

Yang complied instantly, cupping his hands one on top of the other.

"Rock Fist!" He shouted thrice, each time his hands becoming a smooth rock in the shape that they had held. The discs fell at even intervals around Yang's position, the Fangmon eying the turn of events with curiosity.

"Yin! Now!" Shouted Shiv.

Yin shot out and went to grab one of the discs.

"Snipe Steal." A malevolent voice drifted over the campfire, and then two of the discs were gone, and Yin had to scramble for the last.

The Fangmon looked as though they had never moved, but now both had a disc in their mouths. With a grin that seemed to spread to the tips of their ears, they simultaneously crunched down on the rocks, which subsequently crumbled to dust in their powerful jaws.

Yin gave Shiv the only collected discus. At least he had a weapon now, and more information on the Fangmon.

The Fangmon giggled.

"Our turn."

There was a flicker of movement beside Wizardmon.

"Snipe steal." Said the first Fangmon as it went for Wizardmon's staff.

[Inori]

Wizardmon's grip tightened on his staff and Salamon, uncertain as to which they would be going after. What else of value would he have after all? Had it been any other situation, Inori probably would have chuckled but given the circumstances, hatless Wizardmon was not nearly as entertaining. Said Wizardmon however, took the brief moment after his hat had been stolen to respond to Salamon's comment.

"So I did." He noted, keeping his attention on his surroundings.

As soon as one of the Fangmon was visible again, Wizardmon formed moved his staff to the other hand, and formed a ball of electricity to throw at the not-Salamon cat digimon. "Thunder Ball!"

[Dante]

Dante was confused by Shiv's move. One second the kid had a plan, next he was feeding the enemy rocks? Was indigestion his master plan? Dante shook his head lightly to himself, but kept his watch. The Fangmon were fast, but maybe he'd get an opening. If he did, he'd need to stay vigilant in order to take advantage of it. Not only that, but if Salamon needed help again, he shouldn't rely on Wizardmon to bail her out too much, even if he was watching Inori.

Salamon suddenly felt like a burden when Fangmon came for Wizardmon's staff. She felt his grip tighten around her and saw him grip his staff. Was she so important to him, that he didn't want her stolen away either? Or was he simply seeing to it that he didn't have to save her twice in succession? Either way, she would have tried to get free of his grasp if she'd thought she had anything she could do against foes this fast. As it was, she didn't see the point in being useless outside Wizardmon's grasp when she was just as useful until he decided to put her down. Also, if she let herself be protected like this, it would give Dante less to worry about, and judging by the day they'd had, he could use every excuse to have one less burden on his mind.

[shivdeeviant]

Shiv heard Wizardmon's cry of attack and guessed the direction in which he would fire. His mind rifled through possibilities in a split second. His hand gripping his rock tightly, he shouted quickly at Yin, hoping the small beast would understand his meaning.

"Yin!" He said loudly, "Reflect! Yang! Behind me!"

Yin took only a moment to realize what was meant and looked at the Fangmon that had recently reappeared with Wizardmon's hat in its mouth. Gritting his teeth, he charged the creature. Yang jumped behind Shiv, facing outward, with little room for an ambush.

The Fangmon now had two threats to process. Obviously though, the answer was to dodge the Lightning and the Rookie at the same time, hopefully causing the the rookie to get hit as well. Smiling maliciously, the wolf-like digimon dodged to the side, just out of the ring of firelight. Its eyes caught those of its sibling, and a shared understanding passed between the two of them.

Yin reached the Fangmon's former position just before the ball of lightning. In a fraction of a second the whirling energy would be upon the much weaker rookie. But the plan was hopefully enough to work. Oh please let it work.

"HELMET RETURN!" roared Yin, putting all his emotion into the call.

Instantly, his helmet grew to the size of the Ryudamon. The ball of Lightning sheared against the side of the metal. Had it hit dead on, it would have surely torn the shield asunder. But Shiv's plan had not been to block the attack head on, merely to deflect it to the side. The side that the Fangmon had dodged no less. For Ryudamon's charge had caused the Fangmon to predictably dodge to one side, just into the realm of darkness beyond the ring of firelight. It would not expect Yin's ability to sense blood lust to tell him the true direction of the enemy. The Lightning crackled against Yin's helmet, losing some of its power, but still obediently rebounded in the proper direction. For a brief moment, the Fangmon was illuminated in the harsh white light of the electric rage, its eyes wide with surprise. Then only its silhouette was visible in a pillar of white light as the excess energy crackled skyward through the digimon's body. And just as it had begun, the attack was over and the land was returned to darkness.

"Dante!" ordered Shiv sternly, "Don't move an inch!"

Shiv, who hadn't even been watching the attack, threw his disc at Dante with all of his track team granted might. The rock whistled, spinning wildly as it careened through the air.

The Second Fangmon, momentarily distracted by the brutal success against its sibling, was standing right behind Dante in Dante's blind spot.

[Inori]

Wizardmon loosened his grip slightly on Salamon, taking advantage of the brief lull to calculate his next move.

Inori's attention was in the direction of where the first Fangmon had been, wanting to know the results of the attack on it. If the first one was down, then at least this meant they stood more of a chance then originally vocalized.

[Dante]

Salamon felt Wizardmon's grip loosen as he looked around. Something seemed not right to her about the assault of the Fangmon. They were Champion level digimon if she read them right. At their strength, she should have been hurt worse by their attack. Unless...

...they're not serious...

Dante heard Shiv's yell and turned to see what he was talking about just in time to see a rock flying towards his face! The thing almost traveled in slow motion as his mind processed its presence and obvious trajectory. At its current distance and speed, he could do exactly nothing to avoid getting hurt by it. All he could do was watch and attempt to mitigate the damage. It was headed directly for his face, but it seemed off somehow. His mind flooded with the idea of his face being broken because he couldn't get away from the betrayer quite fast enough. All he could do now was try to make the blow glancing instead of crushing. His head began to move entirely too slow to one side, only vaguely imperceptible motion being achieved before the stone discus reached a point where it would have hit his face.

He missed? Dante mused as he noted a total lack of damage on his part, He prepared that discus just now. He must have had practice with the thing, or he wouldn't have bothered, much less gotten it so near my head. Still, it seems like he should have hit me...

It changed nothing. Shiv was dangerous. He needed to get both himself and Inori away from him as soon as he could manage it. He didn't understand why he would try to complete his betrayal at exactly that moment, however. Didn't they have bigger problems than each other at that moment? Literally?

[shivdeeviant]

The discus flew over Dante's shoulder, just as Shiv had aimed. It was a good thing too. Had Dante moved at all, it would have ruined the effect. The Fangmon behind Dante was unable to see the discus coming as Dante's own body was blocking it from view. Thus the Fangmon did not have time to dodge out of the way.

The hefty rock caught the errant Wolf across the jaw, knocking his head back and stunning him momentarily. Fangmon let out a yowl.

Shiv only smiled.

Yin trudged into the firelight again, his helmet (Now back to normal size) was smoking a little from the rebounded attack.

Damnable Virus! thought Yin, I'd be able to tell where they all were if he weren't setting my senses off all the bloody time!

He looked just as the rock caught the other Fangmon. He guessed what had happened by Shiv's stance.

Impressive.

[Inori]

Inori blinked, and switched her attention as she noticed a rock flying by and smack the other Fangmon in the face. She was feeling horribly useless at the moment.

Wizardmon turned towards the Fangmon that had just been momentarily stunned and made a calculated move. For the moment, holding Salamon wasn't getting in his way, and she hadn't made any sort of move to get away...as such his grip on her remained unchanged.
Making certain he wasn't at an angle where anyone was in the way of his attack, Wizardmon began gathering electricity in his free hand.

"Thunder Ball." He muttered in a quieter then usual tone before firing the electricity at the stunned Fangmon.