The plain plains

[shivdeeviant]

Yang jumped up and down excitedly.

"Yay! I knew you were a friend!" He cried in exultation, "Ok! Ok! Ok! How about... First, What do the goggles do? And Second..."

He twirled his hand in the air, bringing it down in a Phoenix Wright-esque point.

"Are you a partner?!"

He then looked thoughtfully at the diminutive rookie.

"Wow!" Yang cried, as though struck by an epiphany, "I just realized! You look just like Wizzy-wiz-san over there! If you had a hat instead of those goggles, you'd look just like him! I knew Wizzer-san had a good sense of style! Do you think if I looked like Wizammy-kun, I would be able to get close to Inori-sama?! How did you copy his look?"

Yang started jumping up and down in front of Alchemon, the glee obviously apparent on his face.

Shiv sighed, but allowed the show to continue because Yang had unexpectedly asked a question that he himself wanted to know the answer to. He put a warning hand in front of Yin. When Yin looked at him, Shiv shook his head minutely. Yin glared at the human, but understood the gesture. He was still readying himself to leap to Yang's aid.

[Dante]

Dante nodded at the mention of the gift of food given them just recently. That certainly made breakfast easy, didn't it? He was just reaching for his bag and the delicious items contained therein when he heard a sound that gave him pause: Yang speaking excitedly about Wizardmon. Regardless of who he was talking to or why the subject of Wizardmon came up, the fact that he was talking about it meant that trouble was brewing, especially seeing as he was definitely audible by the entire group. He didn't know much about the digimon who joined them recently, but if he was the one Yang was talking to, that potentially became extra bad, seeing as the digimon's motives were as yet undetermined. He picked up Nyaromon, reached into his bag long enough to grab a single vegetable for her, and moved as quickly as he could to within range of the conversation containing Alchemon.

"That can't be good," he commented to no one in particular as he suddenly became a flurry of motion.

Nyaromon also heard the conversation, but Dante was already moving by the time she could think of anything. She would have commented were it not for the vegetable being hastily crammed in her mouth.

I know I'm hungry, Dante, but would it kill you to take it easy on ramming food into my mouth? she thought indignantly as she chewed.

[Inori]

Wizardmon made an irritated grumbling sound at the various nicknames he was being given, but said nothing.

Alchemon adjusted his goggles, and shrugged. "The goggles keep things from getting in my eyes. As for if I am a partner to someone..." He paused momentarily. "That is yet to be determined." He said mysteriously, making matching hand gestures to go with it.

Inori frowned briefly to herself, but kept her attention away from Alchemon.

[shivdeeviant]

Yin huffed indignantly.

"You should not mock Yang just because he has a flair for the dramatic."

He floated over to his brother.

"Come on, Yang. I think I smell food over by the others."

Yang brightened even further. Had he been any more excited, one might even think he would digivolve again right there!

"Oh boy!" He cried, looking at Wizardmon, "I smell it from over there! Hey Zardykins! Can I have an apple?!"

Shiv sighed, realizing his own mistake in not taking some of Nohemon's food when it was offered. It was just that Yang was sleeping so peacefully at the time. Shiv had not wanted to shift him and his arms were too small to hold anything else. He looked at Alchemon, thinking about Yang's questions. It was possible that this newcomer was indeed a partner, but something about it just didn't ring true. The look in the rookie's eyes and the smile that he thought he hid so well sent shivers up Shiv's spine. He knew that look, he knew it from all of the bullies who ever tormented him in his life.

It was the look of a predator.

He shook himself out of his sullen thoughts and looked at his partner and companion. Yang was hopping up and down in from of Wizardmon, reaching for the zippers of Wizardmon's crazy pockets. He looked at Wizardmon with an apologetic look on his face and mouthed his apologies at the frazzled Champion.

[Dante]

Dante stopped himself as soon as he noticed that Alchemon seemed to be ignoring Yang's unintended taunts, and Wizardmon wasn't all that interested in what was going on. He stood there, wondering what exactly had happened there. He could have sworn that something was going to happen, and he'd wanted to be aware so he wouldn't get caught in the crossfire. Instead, nothing had happened, aside from Alchemon being creepy. Even that wasn't out of the ordinary, it seemed. Inori seemed to not be terribly comfortable with it, but aside from that, Alchemon being creepy seemed par for the course. So there Dante was, alone with his empty concerns and a Nyaromon in his arms that didn't appreciate having a vegetable crammed hastily in her mouth.

"Now that you've got a moment, Dante," she commented, "Perhaps you'd like to say something to me?"

Dante rolled his eyes, but realized what she was getting at.

"Sorry about that. I thought there was going to be a fight, and I figured you wouldn't want to fight on an empty stomach."

"So you rammed a vegetable down my throat?"

"Yes, I rammed a vegetable down your throat. I was kind of running on auto at the time. Wasn't really thinking things through very much. I'm sorry I crammed a vegetable down your gullet. Would you like another, more slowly this time?"

An observer might or might not note the slight strain in his voice as he apologized. He and Nyaromon had become close in the short time they'd known each other, but Dante's pride still didn't allow for much room to be sorry, particularly in matters pertaining to the common defense, as it were. In his mind, he'd reacted properly, despite the fact that hastily shoving food in someone's mouth wasn't exactly the best way to address an empty stomach. Even so, with the crisis passed, he could turn his attention to matters of breakfast and ensuring that his loss of face in the little digimon's eyes was minor at best. He looked at Inori on his way back to his bag and raised an eyebrow.

"You okay?"

[Inori]

Alchemon gave Yin a lazy sort of look. "If I were mocking him, it would be blatantly apparent. That, was not mocking." The alchemist digimon shrugged, then turned his attention elsewhere.

"For the last time..." Wizardmon stated in a deadly serious tone, staring at Yang. "Stop giving me rediculous nicknames. My name is Wizardmon. W-I-Z-A-R-D-M-O-N. If you're going to make a request, you should at least try to be polite about it."

The champion level digimon let out a frustrated sigh, then rubbed his face. He had a feeling that this was going to be a very long day.

Inori smiled quickly at Dante, and nodded. Whatever was bothering her, she did not seem inclined to share.

[shivdeeviant]

As Yang opened his mouth, Yin shot his tail over it.

"Wizardmon," asked Yin very politely, "I apologize for my brother, perhaps with a little food he might level out?"

Shiv seriously doubted that this would be the case. But on the other hand, the last time Yang ate he passed out. He looked back at the rookie. Now that Yang said it, it was kinda true. The similarities between Alchemon and Wizardmon's were mildly uncanny. Shiv wondered if Wizardmon's previous forms were similar to this. Anyway, the thinking on it was enough to keep him occupied. He wasn't very hungry anyway.

[Dante]

Dante heard Yin's assertion, but chose not to comment. It was probably best to let people have their delusions in this case, particularly seeing as a fight over breakfast was no way to start a morning. As a matter of fact, Dante made a point of not really paying attention to anything that happened with the other two and their partners for the rest of breakfast, eating and packing up in silence. It wasn't that he didn't feel like talking, but rather there was nothing to say. Shiv had to beg Wizardmon for food, as the Adult digimon was carrying by far the largest amount of food, and Shiv hadn't grabbed any, and Inori had enough to think about in Alchemon. Nyaromon was pleased to take the rest of breakfast more slowly, then veg a bit on Dante's bag as he rolled up his bedroll, then got everything situated to go once the others were ready. When he'd finished his work, he sat next to his bag, Nyaromon on his lap, and scratched her head absently as he waited for the others to be ready to continue.

Once these two jokers are ready, we can head towards that mansion Nohemon mentioned and see what kind of crazy we're in for today. With any luck, we won't meet anyone we need to be nice to...

[Inori]

Wizardmon reached into one of his pockets, and pulled out some food for those who did not have some already. He shot Yang a look before handing the smaller digimon some food. Alchemon remained quiet when Wizardmon offered him some food, though the look on Wizardmon's face clearly indicated he did not want to do this.

Inori murmured her thanks to Wizardmon when he handed her some food, but kept to herself. She seemed more interested in what the others were doing.

((sort of scatterbrained post, sorry...))

[shivdeeviant]

"Yay!" Cried Yang in exultation as he dug into the food.

"Thank you." said Yin, the apology still apparent in his eyes.

"Hey Shiv!" shouted Yang, "Do you want some food?!"

Shiv shook his head softly, mumbling something about not being hungry. Soon he was packing up his bedroll and preparing to set out. After noticing that the rudimentary roll was lacking an easy way to transport it, Shiv tore off a strip of material from the bottom of the bedroll and attached each end of the strip to each end of the roll.

With a makeshift bag created, Shiv tested the strap on his shoulder for comfort. He found the results to be satisfactory. He set the roll back on the ground and then sat upon the roll as he waited for the two in-training Digimon to finish there meal.

Yang was done first, with Yin finishing shortly after. Yang's bright smile was very broad.

"Wow! That was good! It's like Wizwoz-san's pockets have a make food better spell on them! I feel like running! I'm so full of energy!"

As Yang hopped up and down, he began to once again shine with a light that seemed to come from within his body!

"Shinka! Motimon Digivolve to... Gotsumon!"

Yang jumped up and down a few more times before stretching a little. He then ran over to Shiv.

"That's better! My legs are longer now so I can run faster!"

"That is what longer legs tend to mean," said Shiv coolly, before he looked to Inori to see if she was ready to leave.

[Inori]

Inori ate the food she had been offered, then glanced to her own bedroll...which Wizardmon was in the process of rolling up.

"I do not think I can fit this into my pocket so easily." He stated idly, glancing to Inori.

"I'll take it." Alchemon offered, catching Wizardmon by surprise. Without waiting for a responce, the alchemist digimon grabbed the bedroll with his scarf, wrapping it up to hold it on his back.

"Ah, thank you." Inori smiled, then turned her attention to Shiv and Dante. "I am ready when you two are."

[shivdeeviant]

Shiv took a deep breath and stood up, hoisting his bedroll over his shoulder.

"Right!" he said, "So I think that the scarecrow said something about other children heading to the manor a few days that way."

Shiv gestured in the direction that the scarecrow had indicated the night before.

Yang looked in the direction his partner pointed, trembling slightly with excitement. Adventure!

Yin grumbled at the thought of more humans joining their group.

Shiv looked forward to trying out the ideas he had dreamed up the night before.

"Shall we be off?"

[Dante]

Dante stood, gathering up his pack and Nyaromon, and nodded.

"I'm ready."

How true was that simple saying? Very much so. He was ready to see more of the world they found themselves in. He was ready to see Nyaromon fight and win. He was ready to see what kind of human children had been pulled to this world along with them. Okay, maybe not that last one, but he was ready to have a better day than the previous one, although that wasn't hard.

Nyaromon, too, was ready, but she was much more lax about it than her partner. She wanted to see more of that fire in Dante's eyes. She wanted to know what it meant when he got so fired up, and what he was really responding to. She was fairly certain that it wasn't the same thing the rest of them were preparing themselves mentally for, just based on what she'd discovered about him so far. It wasn't that he was selfish, but rather that something in his past made him so wary of fully trusting other people that he looked to all sides for betrayal, even when none was in evidence. Her partner was possessing of a strange sort of self-centered paranoia that was far from aggressive and sometimes not even noticeable, but always present. This curious madness that overtook him sometimes puzzled her, and interested her. It wasn't that she was concerned so much as curious. Only in getting to know him further could she begin to discover some of the answers she sought, and she was very much looking forward to the journey.

[Inori]

"To the manor then!" Inori stated, making one very quick check to make sure she truely did have all of her things before starting to walk in the general direction of the manor.

Alchemon remained a few steps behind Inori, catering to his preference to remain out of sight, without actually remaining out of sight. His interests seemed far more vested in observing the situation then offering much interaction at the moment.

Wizardmon on the other hand, took his place walking (or hovering) at Inori's side.
"Did you all rest well?" He asked, glancing briefly to the others, sans Alchemon.

"I did...the fire was nice to have this time." Inori replied quickly in a cheerful tone.

[shivdeeviant]

Shiv, Yin and Yang followed behind Inori. Shiv looking out over the vast fields. Yang was humming an incessantly catchy tune that bore minor resemblance to any particular jingle that Shiv could remember. Yin sullenly watched Alchemon, observing what Yin believed to be the greatest danger to the party at the moment.

The bloodlust that Yin perceived coming from the diminutive rookie was beyond words. It was messing with Yin's ability to perceive threats from around the party. This rookie was already being a detriment to the group. Yin grumbled.

He would just have to be more vigilant in his watch.