'Secret' Training-Well, Not Anymore! (Open)

[Esmerelda Triane]

With a huff! of effort, Esme dropped from the branches of the tree she'd been climbing, her hair falling into place down her back as the emerald disc that weighed it down knocked into her back. She ignored it, more interested in the device that had appeared on the hilt of her sword, swinging from a string like some kind of talisman.

Unhooking it, she held it up, examining it for a moment-she didn't like surprises, and this was one she didn't need-not when she was in the middle of her training, at least. The thought crossed her mind to throw it away, but something stopped her, and, still frowning, went to reattach it to her sword-only to have it start beeping without any warning.

With a hiss of displeasure, she looked for a way to turn the device off, but then it started flashing, too, and she quickly dropped it on the floor before backing away into the bushes. Moments later, a red and yellow creature appeared, standing next to the device and looking around in confusion. "But... I know she was here... Esmerelda...? Where are you...?"

It was only when tears began to well in the creature's eyes that she stepped out of the bushes, one hand lifting to rub the back of her neck as her other hand reached for a throwing knife-just in case it was a trap. "I'm right here. Who the heck are you, hmm...?"

The tears disappeared immediately, and the creature bounced over to her surprisingly quickly. "I'm your Digimon! My name's Coronamon!"

She gaped, weapons briefly forgotten in her shock. "My what, exactly?!"

[Deleted]

Another trip to the forest was required. After Axel had met the young girl in the forest before, and fought her alongside Betamon, he had started to prepare for a possible trip outside of the walls, in order to find what he wished to do. The young father, with his partner, decided to leave for the forest early in the morning, in order to pass the day in the wilds once more. Packing a bag as he was being watched by Beta, Axel prepared some food and some blankets, in case they decide to rest outside for a bit. 

After gathering all the items, the duo went into the forest once more. More training wouldn't hurt and maybe Axel would be able to make Betamon evolve. He also needed to try his digivice relay and potential digidex again, since this would be quite useful in the near future. As they were walking in the woods, Betamon stopped walking. Axel turned around and looked at him.

"There a digimon nearby."

"Can you say if it's a wild one or one with a tamer?"

"Since i'm hearing two voices, i'd assume it's one with a tamer. Follow me."

Beta started running, if that could be said for him, through the bushes and dodging the trees on his path. Closely behind was his tamer. After a few minutes, they arrived in a small clearing, where was standing a orange-red digimon with flames on it's forehead and tail, and a ninja woman. Wait, a ninja? Axel looked at the ninja girl, wondering why she was dressed like that. Yeah it could help in hiding, but ninjas in the year 2117? That is quite weird... Just in precaution, Axel equipped his glove and earpiece and advanced slowly toward them.

"It's weird to meet a ninja in this era, especially one who doesn't know about a digimon and the digivice."

[Esmerelda Triane]

The male voice behind her made Esme's eyes widen in shock as she whirled around, her hand going straight for the hilt of her katana as she slid easily into a fighting stance. Green eyes assessed the man stood before her as she frowned, eyebrows drawn together. "I know what a Digimon is. My village and people were destroyed by one almost six years ago now."

Behind her, Coronamon made a sound of distress. "Does... does this mean you don't like me, Esmerelda...?" Sadness filled the little creature's eyes as she bent to pick up the Digivice Esme had dropped, then went to walk away-only to have Esme move to stop her.

"No, it doesn't. It means I have reason to be cautious, that's all. And besides..." Her gaze fixed on the man again, still frowning as she did. "We have bigger problems right now. How did you know what I am-and for that matter, what made you think that the ninja don't exist anymore?"

In moving to stop Coronamon, Esme had relaxed her stance, and she now used her sword hand to gently take the Digivice and reattach it to her sword hilt, tying it on firmly as she did-all while keeping the man in sight. She wasn't taking any chances with this one-if she had to, she would use one of the needles in her green hairpins to paralyze him so she and Coronamon could escape. She may not know why she had been chosen to be Coronamon's Tamer, but she certainly wasn't going to leave her in the forest alone with this guy around.

[Deleted]

When the ninja lady went into battle stance, Beta got in front of Axel, taking a battle position. Sparks began to run along his fin until Axel's voice could be heard.

"Stand down Beta, she won't do us any harm."

"But..."

"No buts. Calm down and remain that way."

The young man advanced slowly toward the ninja lady, explaining himself as he walked.

"Your attire, as well as the weapons your have, give you away quite easily. If you really wished to hide, you'd have to use normal clothes so that nobody could guess what you are. As for the reason why I thought they were instinct? I heard of that digimon attack you mentioned, and later on learned from a friend who lived in that village, and assumed that the ninjas were mostly gone. It is also due to technological advancement and the "unity" that humanity shows toward the common threat that is Milleniummon that made me assume that they could've disbanded or abandoned their lives of secrecy for one with the people."

Axel stopped a few steps before Esmeralda and crossed his arms on his chest, awaiting her reply. He knew that if she tried to do a move, Betamon would react, and potentially Coronamon, said to have a strong sense of righteousness. (Unless he evolves Into Apollomon Whispered. That's something else.)

[Esmerelda Triane]

Esme blinked, and then smiled in response, her body relaxing completely at his response. "Axel Heartnet. I should have known. Most people automatically assume I'm cosplaying as a ninja, which suits me just fine, really. As for disbanding, I'm afraid not-my mother would roll in her grave if I let her clan fall apart just because our village was destroyed. All it did in the end was give us the push we needed to move to the city instead."

Keeping one eye on the Digimon next to Axel, she settled on a fallen log, patting the wood next to her to invite Coronamon to join her. The Digimon didn't hesitate, jumping up and sitting down happily next to her. "As for the rest... Well, we do help out in the community, of course. Any Tamers in the clan do their duty, just as I will with Coro. We haven't abandoned our secrets-if anything, we've become even more secretive."

She frowned a moment, worry briefly flashing through her mind. "Too secretive, perhaps. Your friend hasn't reported in for a few days, and I'll admit, it's one of the reasons I'm out here in the first place-she always calls in when she's expected to, and yet, no-one's seen her since she last came in..."

[Deleted]

('The girl said his name casually, which made him raise a brow. He never met her before, so how could she... With the words that followed, the young man understood why she knew him. She was the new head of the Ninja community from which his friend originated. That explains her knowing about him and going laid-back all of a sudden. Judging from the explanation she gave, the clan moved into the city later then everyone since they believed that they would be fine, until that sudden digimon attack. They surely didn't have many tamers in their clan, as far as he knew at least. The young man removed his earpiece as she mentioned that his friend had not reported for duty. Of course she didn't... Beta walked up to him, staying on guard and right beside him.

"Good thing you've met me then, because I'll save you further looking. She's dead. Last time I contacted her was two weeks ago and had said she had found something on Milleniummon, yet when I went to meet with her, all I found was a digi-egg as well as a note saying "Sorry" covered in blood."

Betamon raised his head, looking at his tamer. Two weeks ago, he was still a digi-egg. Could his digi-egg be the one that Axel mentioned? The young man looked at Beta and nodded, knowing what his digimon must've thought. His eyes gazed back to Esmeralda and he showed the glove to her.

"I went out to search for her at some point, but this glove is all I found. It may or may not be hers, but it was what I needed in order to test something. A few days later, a corpse had been found which fitted her description and was brought in the scientific department of the police force in order to find out what happened to her. Right now, no information was leaked regarding what she suffered."

[Esmerelda Triane]

Esme took one look at the glove and only just held back a few choice curses when she recognized it. "It's hers, yes. Blast it all..." Her hand flipped one of her knives out of its sheath, and she plunged into the wood of the log in frustration. "She was one of our best, as well. I only let her try to find that information because she wanted to do it and she promised me she wouldn't take any risks!"

Coronamon's eyes went wide, and she tugged on Esme's sleeve gently. "Esmeralda? Why are you so upset...? Won't she just be reborn from her digi-egg?"

The green eyed woman glanced down at her new Digimon, and sighed. "No, Coronamon. I'm afraid that that doesn't happen with humans. How old are you, exactly...? You can't have hatched very long ago."

"I'm not sure. I just woke up and knew I had to find you. So I started looking, and then there you were." Coronamon frowned, and Esme smiled at her sadly before looking back at Axel.

"Anyway, thank you for telling me about what happened. I can set my people onto getting the police report, now. You should know-she asked before she left on her last mission for you to be considered a member of the clan. You always were, really, because we had to be certain you wouldn't leak any of the information she told you, but... She wanted it to be more official."

[Deleted]

Axel observed the female ninja's reaction without moving. As she took out her knife, he did not even flinch, knowing full well what she was going to do. She needed to vent her anger on something, and the trunk she was sitting on was the unlucky target. She explained the situation to Coronamon, who thought humans would simply return to digi-eggs like they do. If only that was the case, they wouldn't be scared of fighting Milleniummon and taking some sacrifices. Humans didn't have that luxury. And that was partially why their hope rested on the tamers with digimons. Suddenly, Esmeralda went and mentioned how their common friend wanted him to join the clan. That was like here alright, trying to associate him with other group of people. Axel sighed and looked at the ninja leader.

"Sadly, I will have to decline that invitation. Surely you know what happened in my past, you can guess that I don't want to join with others for a while."

Betamon looked at his tamer before lowering his head. The digimon knew what he was mentioning through these words: Anna's death, his wife. Axel seemed to have a problem trusting a community of people now, especially knowing that it was humans that killed her. How could he go and trust another bunch of humans after those sad events? Surely the ninjas weren't the same, but Axel couldn't help but stay on guard regarding communities. Looking at the lady, the tamer and his digimon awaited her reply.

[Esmerelda Triane]

Esme sighed, but she nodded her understanding. "Yes, I know. If there's anything my people are proud of, it's how thoroughly they do their jobs. When I first read the report..." Her voice trailed off as she carefully retrieved her knife, returning it to its sheath as she stared into space for a moment. "I don't anger easily, but... that was one time I did lose control. My family always has had hot tempers."

A slight understatement-she'd read the report, and had been silent for long enough that her people had left the room as quickly as they could, not wanting to draw her attention when she finally began throwing knives around the room-a bad habit when she lost her temper. But it meant she understand why he didn't want to get too close to anyone, and she didn't blame him, either. If that had happened to her, she would be leery about other people, too.

"We'll still consider you a member, Axel, if we may, and if you ever feel ready, just let one of us know. There'll always be a member of the clan in these woods, so you can contact us here." One hand went to Coronamon's head, as if seeking support from the creature. It surprised her just how close she felt to the Digimon already, almost like the bond that she had formed with one of her mother's pet cats when she was little. That cat had followed her everywhere in the end, and she had a suspicion that Coro, as she was starting to think of her, would be doing the same.

"Also, any news we hear on what happened to our friend we'll pass on to you, as well. Sometimes knowledge of what exactly happened can help." And she would also set some of her people onto tracking what had happened to Axel's son, to see if he could be found. Perhaps that was going too far, but Axel seemed like the kind of person that would just be glad to have a part of his family returned to him-or at least, she hoped so.

[Deleted]

The way she spoke about her reaction toward his past, as well as when she learned of the death of their comrade, did prove she was hot-tempered. He had a feeling that what she meant by losing control was meaning that she wrecked havoc in the room she was in at the time. After saying her clan would still consider him their ally, she said she would relay all information regarding the death of their comrade to him. Hearing this, the young man shook his head negatively, which made Betamon wonder why he did this.

"What's wrong Axel?"

"I'd prefer not hearing anything regarding that case. Knowing myself, I'd hunt the person that did this even if it puts me in danger, and it's best not doing so right now."

Axel moved toward a trunk and sat down, to which Beta joined him and installed him. Axel sighed and raised his head toward the sky, observing the clouds moving. What he said was true: he didn't care about his life so much, he would only seek revenge and make the person who did this suffer, just like he would to those who killed Anna and his son. A though passed by his mind and he closed his eyes. Simple analysis of her actions recently as well as her reaction that she described, plus knowing she was the leader of a Ninja clan to which she tried to recruit Axel... He did hope she wasn't going to search for his son. He didn't need any false hope. His son was dead and that was the end. It was best to voice his opinion now.

"Just before the idea cross your mind, I would prefer that you don't investigate about my son either. I don't need to start hoping about a small possibility of him being alive..."

A tear ran down his left cheek. What would happen to him if he were to start hoping, only to see that hope crushed? That would destroy him for good. As if he wasn't devastated already. Betamon went closer to Axel and leaned on him, trying to comfort him. The tamer passed his hand on his digimon's side, as if to say he liked the effort.

[Esmerelda Triane]

Esme looked over at him at that, understanding all too well just what exactly he meant. She would still have people looking for the child, but she would make sure that they knew to keep their inquiries as quiet and as far away from Axel as possible. "Hope is sometimes the only thing a person has left, though. After the attack on the village, it was my hope of rebuilding the clan that kept everyone together, Axel."

Standing, she smiled ruefully as she patted Coro on the head, the Digimon blinking up at her in confusion-the conversation was clearly a bit much for her, yet. "Besides, you'd be surprised just how strong hope can be. It can bury itself deep, deep inside, and not show itself for years on end-until the moment that you least expect it to appear. There is always hope-all it takes is accepting that it's there." She'd always hoped her mother would pick her as clan leader, but hadn't acknowledged it until the moment her mother had drawn the hair pins from her hair and handed them to her-a day that she knew she would never, ever forget. Different to his circumstances, yes, but also similar in that it was buried deep in her heart.

Her hope now was that she could reunite Axel's family, as well as destroying Milleniummon at some point. The sight of the tear running down his cheek told her more than he probably realized, though-the hope he spoke of was already there, just waiting to reveal itself. "I won't keep you informed to our investigation, as you wish, but I will say this-when we find out the truth, I'll be going after her killer myself. I don't take my people's deaths lightly..."

[Smiffzilla]

WARNING!
Wild Digimon Appeared!

Centaurmon! Level: Champion Attribute: Data Health: High

It was unusual for his daily patrol to actually be eventful. This particular Centaurmon was newly evolved, a youngster amongst his heard of fellow Digimon, and was often sent out to patrol the lesser known areas of the forest as training. Admittedly, the Data type had grown board doing the same thing everyday with little to no results yielded. That was why when he caught sight of the two Tamers, he wasted no time in attacking them. He had not yet been educated that not all humans were bad - and so, the naive young Centaurmon charged headfirst into the fray.

"Humans! Prepare yourself for battle!" he yowled. To say he had tact would be the overstatement of the century. Hell, he could hardly place his own hooves in front of one another to gallop properly. "You have trespassed in our mighty forest! Jet Gallop!" His pace increased until he was going at such a high speed that the impact was bound to leave some bruising - if it even hit the Tamers and their two Digimon. Centaurmon hadn't been hanging around for long enough to realize that they were well-trained ninjas.

[Deleted]

She really wanted him to hope, even if it was just a little. But it didn't seem like she knew the feeling of despair really well. Hope could easil;y change to despair, and the father did not need to feel this again. But before he could even reply, he heard a noise. Steps. Seemed like a horse was coming through the forest, and quite a heavy one at that. Betamon looked in the direction of the noise, electricity starting to run along it's fin. That would mean... it's a digimon. Which one? Axel did not know. Suddenly, the enemy digimon came into view, yelling at them to get ready. A centaur form digimon. But recently evolved it seems, since he wasn't steady on his legs. 

Even though he wasn't steady, he was still charging at them. Axel made a sign to Betamon, making him stop his electricity on his fin. The tamer grabbed his digimon and rolled out of the way of the opponent, evading his stampede attack. The young man released his grasp on his digimon and replaced his earpiece. It was time to fight.

"Beta, Formation Avalon."

"Dengeki Biririn!"

Electricity ran once more on Betamon's fin before being launched toward the enemy digimon. Maybe the attack wouldn't do much to the centaur, but it would at least do some damage.

[Esmerelda Triane]

Coro squeaked at the sound of the hooves crashing towards them, and Esme didn't hesitate to grab her and jump for the trees, grabbing a branch to swing herself up and out of the way of the Centaurmon's attack-just in time, as well, as Axel directed his Digimon to attack in return.

Setting Coro down on the branch, Esme reviewed her weapons-katana, hair pins, throwing knives, and stiletto heel blades, none of which would work on Digimon. She muttered a curse under her breath-she didn't even know what attacks Coro was capable of yet! "Coro, quickly, what's your best attack?!"

"C-corona Flame, but I won't be able to do anything after... Esme, I'm scared!"

"You'll be fine. We just need to defend ourselves, that's all."

Coro's eyes widened at that, and then she was jumping in front of Esme, knocking her back as she cried out "Petit Prominence!" Esme cried out in surprise as flames sprang up around Coro's body, and she faced the Centaurmon head on.

"Coro, no!"

[Smiffzilla]

WARNING!
Wild Digimon Appeared!

Centaurmon! Level: Champion Attribute: Data Health: High

Damn! His attack had missed both the Tamers and their Digimon. No matter! He would try again... and again... and again! Until his forest was safe from harm! And then his herd would surly see his full potential!

He was charging too fast to turn around and attack again so soon, so he found himself hurtling into a tree. Crack! Bark and splinters went flying about all around the Centaurmon. He was slightly disoriented. Who knew his own hooves could carry him so fast? Who knew this form was so powerful? A rush of excitement suddenly coursed through him. His other attacks must be just as powerful - maybe even more!

He held his canon-fused arm out in front of him when the two Rookie Digimon attacked, "Solar Ray!" he shouted. Sparks surrounded the weapon on his arm as it heated up with energy. This much power... this much destructive power was bound to send his opponents running! He launched it at Betamon and Coronamon... or, he had been intending to - but his lack of experience and balance messed with his aim, and the attack simply soared over his targets into another tree.

Which promptly burst into flames.

In the next instant, he felt pain. Electricity and fire burned his usually tough skin. Never had he felt pain like this before. Then again, he had never been in a real fight either. "Augh! Y-you'll pay for that! J-... Jet Gallop!"