1687/Dream A Dream

Dream A Dream
Date of Scene:	28 February 2015
Location:	Pokemon Islands - Johto
Synopsis:	Alexis comes to learn the truth behind who Duke really is, but if it is wise to hide it from him can only be found out in time.
Cast of Characters:	Alexis, 695, Duke

---

Duke has posed:
Doran may have been worried about Duke for a bit, maybe. After all, Duke went off exploring, didn't come back that night but thankfully knew where to find Alexis for a place to rest and one can figure by the time morning rolled around, Duke let his dear friend know that he was 'safe' an where he was. There was probably also going to need to be some explaining too, huh?

Duke however had not left the barn, at least not much. He would poke his head outside, but wouldn't stray far. He ate when he was fed-- at least two to three servings. Slept also a great deal. By the time the sun was high in the air, his wounds were pretty much healed. Yet for this to work, to view his 'dreams', he need to go back to sleep.

That was something that was going to be hard, because he was rather wired. Anxious perhaps. Maybe even--- a little fearful. Because what if this didn't work? What if things went very wrong? What would they do?

So many questions. So little answers.

So Where was Duke now? Well-- he was burning off that energy, by running around the farm area and chasing after anyone who desired to be chased, pounce at, and generally was having some fun.

Alexis has posed:
Advantage to being on a ranch full of monsters: no shortage of anyone to 'play' with. Just don't bother the crotchety old 'farm dog' of a Tiger if he's trying to sleep. Chase? How about a Sandslash, what do you do when you chase a ball that's rolling only for it to stop and stick out a bunch of spikes? You probably don't want to pounce that. Go pounce one of the Slimes, they'll just squish and squash and reform after, smiling as derpily as ever. Go climb a tree!... or maybe not, you might climb a Treverant by accident and fall hard if it fades out on you. You'd have better luck trying to climb the (Monster Rancher) Golem that sits out back like a zen rock garden and barely ever moves.

Alexis meanwhile was standing on the balcony they had built from the old hayloft opening, sipping at a mug of warm cocoa. She watched Duke's romping for a bit, then turned to what looked like a large pink and purple floral patterned jellybean floating at her shoulder. "You sure you're up to doing this?"

"Musharna." <The only way to find answers is to pursue them.>

Alexis rolled her eyes. "I hate it when you get mystical sounding, Dreamcatcher. Just promise me if it starts to mess with your head because he's part digital, you'll back out."
"Sharna." The psychic replied with a nod that bobbed his whole body. <Of course.>

Doran (695) has posed:
It looks like they're taking Alexis up on her offer a lot sooner than Doran anticipated. Not a bad thing, mind, just unexpected.

Interestingly, he decided to take a different form to make the journey, knowing it would take more energy and more time to make the trip as his Dorumon form. Therefore, Alexis and Duke might catch sight of a relatively unfamiliar monster flying in. It matches Doran's general shape but bigger -- about 6' at the shoulder -- and with wide pteridactyl wings. Its furred coat seems to be black with jagged purple stripes, points and underside still tipped with white, and a large claw-like spike growing out of the tip of his draconic tail. Interestingly, the claws on his paws are red, like the triangular gem on his forehead.

Doran swoops around, getting a good luck at the ranch's layout before landing on the ground. He spots Alexis up on the balcony of the house and lowers his head in a greeting, still not entirely trusting her but not refusing her help -- for Duke's sake, at least. He then turns his head to watch Duke's antics.

Duke has posed:
The Guilmon X chased around the Sandshrew, maybe even dug with a few of them, because didn't you know? Guilmon species loves to dig. He probably had to avoid the old dog Tiger somewhere in all the chasing and probably didn't end up hanging out on the wrong tree, only to flail and fall into some mud of water.
After a shake off and possible swim, off to hang out around the golem and claim himself king of the rock-mon! Only to run back off when something else caught his attention. This attention catching would be soon changed when a large shadow passes over. The Digimon's head looks over as his ear fins perk up, "Hmm?"

He watches the large digimon come in and sniffs at the air. "..Doran?" Yes, he was rather confused and cants his head gently. With little hesitation, he runs over and pads in a touch slower as he gets in closer. His body moving down low as his ears fin back slightly. Confused at Doran's new look. "You..." He then raises up his head, one ear fin coming up slightly. "..When?" Was the next question with still puzzlement in his gold eyes.

Alexis has posed:
Even for someone who has spent her entire life around monsters of various kinds, a flying furry raptor with wolf ears was still pretty up there on the meter of unusual. That said Alexis was pretty use to large things flying around the ranch in general, and she just waves in greeting as he lands. "Doran, I take it. Huh, you actually look a bit similar in your evolution. With working wings." She sipped the end of her cocoa and set the mug aside, and then hopped over the balcony railing. Only for the Musharna to 'catch' her with telekinesis and float her lightly down to the ground. "Oh com'n Dreamcatcher, I could of made that jump easily."

<Now is not the time to risk your daredevil antics,> the psychic tsked as it floated down next to her.

Doran (695) has posed:
Doran shakes his head at Duke. "I always have." His voice, though still /his/, is a little deeper-pitched than his Child form. He looks down at a front paw and flexes the pads, the long red claws grinding against themselves at the movement. "But..."

As Alexis hops over the balcony railing and Dreamcatcher helps her float safely to the ground, Doran hunches down as his wings fold in over his back. His form becomes a glowing mass of energy before dissipating, revealing his Dorumon form in the same pose as his Adult form Dorugamon. He straightens up a bit and exhales heavily, looking quite tired and a bit woozy. "I can't hold it long. Any of my Digivolutions." He sounds worse than disappointed, and the child-like pitch doesn't quite match the seriousnessness of it.

A low rumble gives him pause, and he plops down on his butt while his arms wrap over his stomach. "...Now I'm hungry..." Travel + Digivolution = Appetite.

Duke has posed:
Duke watches as Doran goes back to his Child like form and hrms. His ear fins dropping a bit. "I guess we are more alike then we both let on, huh?" Seems maybe they share the same curse, though suddenly the need of food makes Duke actually snort out a laugh.
Then he laughs a bit more before he playfully pounces onto of Doran and gently nips at his ear, before just as quickly gets off and slides around with a big, dumb grin on his muzzle. The Guilmon X's tail moving side to side in a playful fashion. "Hehe."

His eyes then goes over to Alexis once she touches the ground and he stands up more straight. "Mm. I think she would have landed fine. You should have seen her at the bank! She was amazing!" Though after he says this his ears fins go back a bit, as he looks away.
This is followed by a gentle sigh, before shaking his head softly. Then works on cleaning off his claws of some dirt. Not seeming to be worried about the 'dirt' taste. It was a greater evil for clean claws you know. He does speak between this momentary grooming, "Doran.. Alexis' friend there is going to look into my dreams. I.. know I wasn't very clear. But I've been having the same dream over and over again."

He then looks at his claws, before he looks at Doran, "..maybe with her help, we may be able too get a clearer picture and maybe.. maybe these dreams are.. are like photos to my past! Right?"

Alexis has posed:
Alexis laughs at the food remark as well. She was use to that coming up even before Digimon started crashing at her place. She turns her head and holds up a hand to shout back towards the loft. "Hey Spikes, are those sandwhichs ready!" The Nidoking with a bow behind one ear sticks his head out from the balcony. <Well of course they are!> "Bring 'em down, then."

Then she walks over to open the doors of the barn. "Dreamcatcher is a Musharna," she explains to Doran. "They can read, even feed from, dreams. Hopefully digimon minds won't be too different that we can't take a peek of what's going on at least."

<A dream is like an old photograph. Sometimes the seer does not remember the details clearly, or in the actual context.> chirrups the floating psychic.

"But she helped me when I had a similar issue with nightmares, so she knows what she's doing." Alexis pushed the door open and stepped aside for the two digimon. "Tossed a matress in the stall along with the hay, give ya something a bit more comfortable to lay down on."

Doran (695) has posed:
Doran acks as Duke bowls him over and nips his ear, and scrambles back to his feet as the Guilmon X slides away. "Why you--!" He has a grin of his own on his square muzzle though, and his entire body language implies playfulness.

Alexis' mention of food grabs his attention from the impending playfight, his stomach growling again to accentuate the point. This also lets him listen to the explanations from both about what's going on exactly. "Memories," he says thoughtfully to Duke, referring to the 'photos of the past' comment. "That would be the hope."

He tilts his head at Dreamcatcher, ears twitching as he thinks. "So you're like a Bakumon. They could do something similar." His head tilts the other way, his gaze turning a little distant, but shakes it off. No need to bring up the Old Digital World now.

Doran trots after Alexis, the promise of food overriding his usual caution. "Thank you." That simple statement means to encompass everything -- the food, the mattress, even her help.

Duke has posed:
The Guilmon X follows Alexis, with a hop step and bumps his shoulder playfully into Doran. Though when the Digimon name comes up he hrms softly. His ear fins drop back, showing an indication that the name is going over his head.

Duke however does flop on the mattress and rolls onto his backside, looking at everyone upside down. "I.." He says this with a minor pain in his voice, "..should not eat. I will just get hyper again." Yeah, he understands the importance of all this.
"So eat what you want, Doran!" He says with a far more glee in his voice, before rolling back over onto his stomach and just-- lounging like that. "..also comfy." Then buries his muzzle slightly into the bed while sing-songs about comfy. This though doesn't last long as he flops over to his side and his ear fins drop back slightly.

He then looks over to Alexis, "..You had nightmares too?"

Alexis has posed:
Spikes tromps down the stairs from the loft and passes the plate of sandwhichs to Alexis, who takes one and then passes the rest of the platter to Doran. She just made sure to get one beforehand. "Eh. I've been through a lot of crap in my time. Some of that stuff just builds up inside, you try to not let it bother you, so it lurks around in your subconcious instead." She pauses to take a bite and chew it down. "Only real difference is that I didn't have trouble remembering what it was from, and that just made dealing with it all the harder."

While the tomboy is talking Dreamcatcher drifts over to settle on one of the low walls of the stall, just above Duke's head, leaning over to look down at him. A few puffs of Dream Mist manifest from the mark on her forehead, smelling of a soothly, slightly lilac-like aroma. Just to help him relax so he can doze off.

Doran (695) has posed:
Doran accepts the platter as he plops back down on his butt on the floor, tail tip wagging from side to side. His hind legs stretch out straight in front of him as he rests the platter on his knees, and he's able to actually curl his neck and position his muzzle just right so he can eat like a human. Instead of, you know, having to bend over and eat directly from the plate. It seems the Dorumon has been paying attention to human habits and manners while scavaging about.

"Uh kn we--" He pauses for a moment to swallow his mouthful of sandwich. Right, no talking while eating. "Sorry. I can relate, Alexis." He doesn't elaborate for the moment, suddenly enthralled by watching Dreamcatcher above Duke's current spot on the mattress.

Duke has posed:
As the pleasant scent of aroma falls around the Guilmon X, he finds his eyes becoming heavy and then his head lays down. It isn't long till Duke has fallen asleep and he sleeps very soundly. Beyond that minor tail tip twitch. Agitation perhaps? But why is anyone's guess.

The dream starts to unfold, for the psychic pokemon it is clear, but there is a bit of static, including a faint hum of it as well. A combination perhaps of the fact it is a thinking mind, like any living person, but at the same time-- not quiet.
In the dream world the fields of grass are green and its all from Duke's prospective, from his eyes. The breeze can be felt on the air and the trees can be seen in the distance, along with mountain ranges. It is a beautiful sight. Though a few places it can be seen trying to glitch out, where it becomes heavier in static as if the mind is having trouble capturing it.

He starts to walk forward and as he does, the images clip slightly. One moment peaceful, next moment war within the darkness. Then back again. The trees 'burn', then back to normal. Yet as it returns back to being peaceful, on the horizon can be seen a shadow of darkness off in the distance.
Then a figure comes to land down beside him, yet he doesn't look that way, but the voice is much deeper. More authoritative. "They will come soon.." yet the rest is formed in static, before the images clip again.

Then there is suddenly in the air, above it all. In the warzone and coming right at him is Beelzebumon, clawed hand extended-- glowing brightly. But soon even that begins to flicker around, before back to the grass once more on the ground. This time where Duke seems to look over at the other figure, but the image of the other fuzzy at best, static at worst. A white armored figure, with one shoulder have a gold pauldron, while the other is purple. Duke speaks about then, his voice much like he was when he was Medieval Dukemon, "And the people?"

The other Digimon looks away.

Alexis has posed:
As Duke drifts off into dreamland Dreamcatcher settles into place, her eyes glowing softly. He might even faintly feel her presence on the dreamscape, but it's little more than a faint echo. She's only obserbing and transmitting, not actually 'eating' as it were. Contrary to what some might think of her kind, as least she is capable of choosing if she does nom on them or not.

A larger plume of dream mist waifs up from her forehead mark, swirling a bit into enough of a congealed unit to function like a psionic screen of sorts, projecting what she's seeing from Duke's dream onto it.

"... Well, that explains maybe why he reconized Beelzebumon," Alexis muses between sandwhich bites.

Doran (695) has posed:
Doran pauses mid-bite as the 'smoke' from Dreamcatcher's forehead congeals and becomes a semi-solid screen, allowing himself and Alexis to see what the Pokemon is picking up from Duke's dreams. "Bakumon couldn't do /that/," he comments, clearly impressed. With the edge taken off of his appetite, he puts aside the platter for now and becomes fully enraptured by the images. There's only a sandwich or two left by this point, anyways.

His ears prick alertly when the Authoritive Voice speaks. "Is that...?" His eyes narrow, a ripple rustling through his fur. "Of course... they were..." Beelzemon's sudden appearance does make him jump a bit, tiny wings flaring, but at least he doesn't go run and hide... yet. "Yeah, looks like they've definitely met before." Perhaps an understatement, but what else can he say to Alexis?

Seeing the heavily out-of-focus white figure just makes him 'hrm' audibly. "I thought so..."

Duke has posed:
As the dream continues, it becomes ever so much darker. The figure of the fuzzy Digimon almost becomes black, before suddenly its back in the air over the battlefield. Duke seems to be in a hard battle with Beelzebumon and it almost seems to swirl around them both. As it flickers again, the Digital world can be seen slowly deteriorating into pixels. Duke starts to look over towards where the pokemon may be, but it quickly shifts.
The sounds of screaming can be heard shortly after when it flickers over to the deteriorating world fully, before it flickers back to apparently Duke fighting Beelzebumon again and being impacted in the head, before it flickers back to that other location of a sword being slammed right through Duke, with the white Digimon being there, his image flickering in and out. Duke's hand can be seen extending out toward him, a white humanoid armored hand.

Before that all fades and the ground comes fast before it seems to fall into a fit of static and snow, almost like a TV screen locating the wrong channel. Yet flickers of images move from time to time in between the distortion. It soon comes back together, Duke can be heard saying something, but its hard to make out. The room is black-- there is a ton of gold lines and a bunch of data flying around.

That white figure can be seen walking away, the cape moving. There are some others as well, but they seem to be standing about, some looking as if they are trying to ignore all this, others looking confused-- but they are highly distorted. Yet some words come clear, "...Really the will of..." then becomes hard to make out, but there was indeed anger in those words. Only followed by more clips of images, more battle-- more flames-- more destruction... so much screaming, begging for help, and the sound of children...

In the real world, the Guilmon X can be seen almost curling up, his teeth clenching together. There is a bit of smoke rising from his nostrils, as his sharp claws dig into the bedding a bit. The fabric easily tearing. Though he does start to relax a bit, Spikes may recognize some of this from when he was sleeping here before. Perhaps understandably with the dream now seen.

Alexis has posed:
Alexis actually stops eating the sandwhich to stare at what is being shown. Bits and pieces of things. But without knowing more of their version of the Digital World, the best she can make of it is guesses. Other than how serious it looked in general. "Did.. did we just see the 'end' of your world, as it was put?", she asks, looking at Doran.

Doran (695) has posed:
Doran doesn't tear his eyes away from the 'screen', but he swallows thickly at Alexis' question. "...No. Not yet." He inhales shakily. "It's... mashed together. Out of sequence. The scenes with Beelzebumon are during the war between the Demon Lords and Royal Knights, which came before. It was... horrible. A lot of damage, a lot of Digimon lost. The part with the stabbing sword and screaming children, though..." He closes his eyes tightly and his voice drops to a whisper. "...That was during The End... and I was one of those voices."

He shakes his head violently, as if to steer his own mind away from those memories. "The white figure... all of those figures in that black room with gold lines... I think I know... but I'm not sure yet." He refocuses on the screen with newfound determination. "But is that the entire dream...?"

Alexis has posed:
<I cannot tell for sure,> Dreamcatcher comments, her psionic voice sounding a little distance as she is in some ways two places at once right now. <He is still alseep and in a dreamlike state, but even I cannot make out all the images. Considering your partially digital nature, those may very well be the actual 'breaks' in his memory code.>

Duke has posed:
The image clears up again as once more Duke seems to be up on a hill, floating over it slightly. The shadow on the ground showing a humanoid shape coming from him and a cape moving. It a little detail that could almost be missed. "..Is this really the will of Yggdrasil? Is this the power of Proj.." The voice cuts out as the image shifts, this time with him walking toward a Digimon, looks to be an injured Allomon, but something was different about it. Doran would pick up it was a X type digimon quickly.
The Allomon looks like its begging, pleading almost, however its eyes go wide, as the pupils thin out as it looks like by Duke's next stance. A lance can be seen diving directly into the chest of the Digimon and right through the core.

Yet static words play over all this, "Is this really the will..."

"They are just children!"

        "Omegamon..."

"Are we not all Digimon?"

        "Omegamon!"

The image cuts sharply to his falling form once more, his hand extended up, as everything seems like its shattering apart. The floating figure the same white digimon as before. Watching him fall. Watching him fade into the darkness. Words from that authoritative figure almost clear, but muffled. "I told you what would happen.."

+++BADUM+++

Duke snaps awake and almost roars out, those eyes thin slits, he snarls his teeth. His body is tense, before he seems to relax and the Guilmon X's eyes return back to normal. He then flops back over and curls up into a tight ball. Tail curling up close to his muzzle.

Alexis has posed:
Even Alexis jumps back a bit when Duke snaps awake so violently. But before she can do anything else Dreamcatcher, well, it's hard to tell if the Musharna actually teleports or just moves so fast she can't be seen doing so, but in a blink she's hovering in front of Duke, remaining calm. <The nightmare is over. You are awake now. There is no need to get tense.>

When he huddles back on the ground she turns back to Alexis and Doran, and actually crinkles her little trunk-snout. <That nightmare left a terrible taste in my mouth. Like something that has sat and festered for a long time.>

Alexis lets out a short sigh. "Any idea why he's having them?"

<Best guess is that the way his code and/or mind is fragmented as you put it, the memories are there but in the wrong order. Since he can't 'remember' them properly, the tramatic events appear confusing and more terrifying.>

Doran (695) has posed:
Doran vaults to his feet upon Duke's violent awakening, head lowering and spine hunching as if ready to fight. He's already been through this a few times with Duke in the past, so he's ready to do whatever he has to in order to keep Duke from hurting himself, anything, or anyone around him until he calms back down.

...Only that isn't necessary this time. Whether because of Dreamcatcher's influence or Duke's own will, the Guilmon X doesn't lash out. Doran doesn't question it, and pads over to sit next to Duke once he flops back down again.

"Possible," he replies to Dreamcatcher's analysis. "He's had them off-and-on since we've met. But it's been consistant since he Digivolved to that human-like knight form Alexis mentioned." His eyes narrow. "So recent events are still there... just jumbled up in the wrong order..."

Duke has posed:
Duke just lays there, his eyes tightly closed. These are the nightmares he speaks of and while it was hard to explain them, they were now laid out on the table. He can hear Alexis and Doran talking about it, but he is even mentally drown them out, as much as his own thoughts.
Yet in his silence, he sniffs a bit, sounds like he is trying to hold back tears. Tear of fear, anger, frustration, it can be all types really. Though he does break from his silence. "..I hate them.." he says softly. "..whoever did this to me.. I hate them.. its their fault..." he opens his eyes faintly. "..but... a part of me also can't.." He growls softly.

He then rotates himself around and flops on the other side, turning his back to everyone. "..I feel... so.." He doesn't even finish it. The Guilmon X places his clawed 'hands' over his muzzle. His eyes closing tightly once more. "...please leave me alone..."

Alexis has posed:
Alexis picks up a pillow from the floor near her and tosses it to Duke. "Here, get some rest. Dreamcatcher, I know ya ain't gonna want to eat those nightmares, and you can't block em out, but see if you can't help him get some amount of rest without being too shook up?" The digimon nodded before settling back on the divider. "I know he says he wants to be alone, but I don't think being entirely alone is going to help him either." She glances over, but unsurprised to find that Spikes slipped back upstairs already when things got a bit too intense in the dream view. He was a bit of a wimp at times, but she couldn't really blame him for beint disturbed.

She reachs over to give Doran a nudge. "Com'n, I don't want to leave him entirely alone, but he probably wants some peace and quiet."

Doran (695) has posed:
Doran dips his head and looks torn for a moment. He really doesn't want to leave Duke's side... but this is the usual fallout. Always has been... and at least this time there is someone who's going to stay around. Reluctantly, he scoots back to his feet and his tail swishes worriedly. "If anything happens, let us know," he says to Dreamcatcher before following Alexis out. He looks noteably more somber than before, and somehow older at the same time. Not quite depressed, but certainly upset.

Alexis has posed:
Alexis slides the barn door shut behind them, then leans back against it and folds her arms across her chest. Her typical posture when she was puzzling over something she didn't have an immeadiant answer for. Which eventually culminated into a huff into her bangs. "Well, I can't say we exactly got answers, but we did get a better grasp of what's goin' on in his head. I dunno if its the trauma or whatever happened when he fell 'out' of your world when it fell apart, but something has broken his... code for lack of better phrasing to the point it can't be remembered right."

Doran (695) has posed:
Doran pauses at Alexis' words, seeming to mull over something himself. Perhaps a better word is 'debating'... and it has nothing to do with the platter of sandwiches left behind. Duke can have those if he gets hungry again. "...It was the trauma. Definitely the trauma..." He turns his head to look back at the closed doors. "But not here. Duke has been through enough. I don't want him to overhear anything more..."

He sighs deeply, looking all the world like the weight of the world is on his shoulders. "Is there someplace..." he looks around a bit, "...less open... where we can talk?"

Alexis has posed:
Alexis pushes herself off from the side of the barn and starts walking around the side of the barn towards the back. "Yeah, we can go down by the river. If something does turn up Dreamcatcher will let us know."

A few meters behind the barn turned ranch and apartment loft is a low incline, leading to a small country side river. It wasn't very big, and as Johto's winters weren't very harsh it wasn't frozen over, but the water was still cold and pretty still. Likely not a lot of fish-mon swimming today. "I might have a hunch where some of this is gonna go, but I'd rather hear what you got to say than just go off hunches."

Doran (695) has posed:
Doran pads after Alexis, eventually falling into step next to her but about a pace behind, like a pet dog given the 'heel' command. Though bring that up to him now and you might get cannonballed.

He leans down and sniffs at the river-water for a moment before he takes a drink, the cold water numbing his snout while washing down the last of the earlier sandwiches. Refreshed, he stretches his body a little bit before settling down.

"I appreciate that." He exhales for what feels like the thousandth time today. "As I said before, there was a war between the Demon Lords -- such as Beelzebumon -- and the Royal Knights, who were the chosen soldiers of Yggdrasil, a being we considered our god." He lifts a shoulder. "As casualties mounted on all sides, Yggdrasil decided to use a virus to wipe out the Demon Lords, their soldiers, and anyone not protected by himself. But it didn't really work as intended -- the Demon Lords were too strong for it to kill them, and a tiny group of Digimon were either naturally immune," he taps his chest, indicating himself, "or developed immunity upon exposure. The few survivors were known as X Digimon."

He absently scratches at the fur on the back of his neck. "Yggdrasil subsequently enacted a new plan -- the Royal Knights would destroy any survivors while the protected ones were moved to a new Digital World. I was a part of a group of survivors, mostly Child-level and all of us X Digimon... and that's when two of the Royal Knights found us."

Alexis has posed:
As Doran starts to explain Alexis stoops down at the riverbank and picks up a random rock from it, then stands and flicks it up and down in her hand a few times. "We saw images of fighting against Beelzebumon. We saw images of I'm presuming other Knights. And what gave the impression of some sort of betrayal."

She pauses to wind back and pitch the rock across the river, skipping it off the surface of the water a good four times before it finally plunks and sinks with the loss of speed. "I was getting the impression of him... or who he was... in some way working with the Knights." Pigtails swayed as she turned to look towards Doran, lips pursed a bit in thought for a moment. "I know from my previous experiences that Digimon, depending how badly they are hurt, or even 'killed', and can regenerate. Or being reborn..." She waits to see if she's on the same track Doran seems to be getting to.

Doran (695) has posed:
Doran nods slowly. "You're on the right track." He noses around on the bank, no longer really wanting to stay still. "Critically injured Digimon can degenerate -- go from a powerful form to an earlier stage, like I did when I flew in earlier. You've probably seen this as well with Beelzebumon."

His eyes narrow as his tail thrashes. "The way it used to be... a Digimon who 'died' would be reborn in a Digitama -- a DigiEgg. Sometimes they would retain their memories, sometimes they wouldn't. The virus changed that, though... Digimon who were killed after it was released simply disintegrated, regardless of how they died." He kicks at a rock without honestly trying, barely getting it to tumble into the frigid water. "I don't even know what will happen to us out here in the Multiverse if we get ourselves killed."

He chuckles humorlessly. "Alexis, he wasn't just working with the Knights. Remember where I left off my story -- my group of survivors being found by two Royal Knights?" He motions back up to the barn. "Duke was one of them."

Duke has posed:
Meanwhile in the barn...
The Guilmon X continues to lay there, unaware of the conversation going on outside. He does however at last get up and notices the remaining sandwhichs. He sniffs at them, before swiping them and chowing down. Though in those gold eyes, mixed emotions were still running through his mind.
He wanted to remember, click it all together. Beelzebumon told him if he got stronger and won a fight; It was win a fight right? He would tell him what he wanted to know.

Lute suggested that Digimon with a human partner could get stronger. As he chewed on on the last sandwich he looked around the barn, then hopping up to his feet, he went to open the barn door to look outside-- unless one of Alexis' pokemon stopped him.

Alexis has posed:
"Yeah." Alexis replied as she picked up another rock. "I had considered that, but I didn't want to just out and say it. It might of sounded like.. an accusation? Though." She tossed the rock, but this one only got two skips as she wasn't focusing on that. "I.. I'm not sayin' it was right, because it definately wasn't, but I get the impression most of the Knights were doing their job. They didn't -know- an alternative to it. And when someone did realize it." She turns her gaze towards the barn a moment, where as far as they knew Duke was still resting. "... 'You are no longer worthy to us'." She turns back to Doran. "Am I still on the right track?"

Back at the barn, Dreamcatcher merely watchs as Duke gets up, then proceeds to unsurprisingly stuff his face. Then pace towards the door. Now she's hardly a pokemon that would be able to hold him back, but that doesn't mean she doesn't float after him. <You are suppose to be resting, Duke. Why do you want to go outside?> Despite being a psychic type, she's not really any good at dealing with thoughts when it comes to someone being awake.

Duke has posed:
The Guilmon X looks over at the dream pokemon. His gold eyes stare at her, the pupils were slightly narrow, not as wide has common. "Just want some air." he says firmly, before looking away, there was a low rumble. "..please?"

"I wont run off, just-- need some air. Need to move."

Doran (695) has posed:
Doran gets an oddly pained look in his eyes. "It didn't used to be like that..." Alexis could probably barely hear that whisper, but the next part is much more audible. "...You're exactly right. The Royal Knights are, for the most part, not evil and never intended to be evil. But I've heard an interesting saying in the Multiverse... 'Be careful of fighting monsters, lest you become one yourself', or something like that." He snorts. "It's oddly appropriate."

He nods slowly. "Yes. Yggdrasil's orders were absolute. To not enact an order, or even to question the logic behind an order, is looked upon poorly at best. Duke -- then known as Dukemon -- actually attacked his fellow Royal Knight to protect us, branding himself a traitor in the process. We scattered, but it's hard to escape a fight between two Ultimate-level Digimon so some of my group was killed anyway. Dukemon was defeated by the other Royal Knight -- Omegamon -- and was stripped of both title and protection from the virus due to his actions. That's the betrayal Duke feels, I believe."

He emits a low growl before suddenly firing a small metal orb across the water, not quite skipping it but not exactly that far above the water's surface either. "He almost died that day. I'd almost started to believe that he /did/, that who he was had been deleted when I gave him the X-Antibody..."

Alexis has posed:
<Ah, of course.> Dreamcatcher does that bobbing nod that she has. That was a normal request from someone that's had difficult sleeping. <Some fresh air would probably do good. Just please do not strain yourself needlessly. I will go let Alexis and your friend know you are feeling better.> And she floats out the door and off around the barn. If he wanted to Duke could follow her pretty easily.

Alexis chuffed softly and nodded. "And that is why he doesn't look like the Guilmons I'd seen in the MMO then I take it. Maybe why he evolved into something different than they're said to, too. Maybe somewhere inside his code he doesn't WANT to evolve into the same thing... But I can see why you didn't want him to overhear. It could be too much of a shock in his state..." She frowned a bit. "And not like he would necessarily believe it, either. Until his memory sorts out there's not really any proof he was -that- Dukemon."

She reachs over to rest a hand on Doran's shoulder. "Don't worry. I won't tell him until we know he's ready. The last thing he needs is more trauma right now.." And she trails off a moment, glancing over her shoulder. It was a long honed knack to notice when her pokemon were coming and going nearby. "I'm going to assume he either went back to sleep, or he's feeling better and/or more stubborn and not wanting to lay down." She chuckles a little at the last part, amused by it. Reminds her of a lot of her pokemon, and even herself. She doesn't like to sit around doing nothing most of the time.

Duke has posed:
Once the dream eating Pokemon takes their leave, Duke huffs out a bit of smoke from his nostrils and goes to walk outside the barn. He doesn't exactly follow the pokemon, but he does notice where they go off too. His gold eyes trailing over to Alexis and Doran down by the stream.
This causes the Guilmon X's tail to flick before he starts to walk across the open area of the farm, finding a rock and starting to kick it gently, his arms crosses over his sleek chest, as he continues to kick the rock in his own frustration. "..Remember.. remember.. if I could only remember.." he huffs out to himself.

"..something important." He says at the end before giving the rock a hard, swift kick-- only to yelp because he pulls a Charlie Brown and flips himself over and lands on his back with an 'Ouf!'

Doran (695) has posed:
Doran headtilts a bit. "Em-em-oh?" It takes him a few moments to put two-and-two together on his own. "Oh, a game, right?" He shrugs a little bit. "The X-Antibody does change appearances, make you stronger, but I hadn't heard of it changing one's Digivolutions." He pauses thoughtfully. "Though... given circumstances, I'd understand if that was the case."

He actually doesn't flinch away when Alexis rests a hand on his shoulder, either too absorbed in his thoughts to notice or giving her the benefit of the doubt. She'd already gone this far for them, after all. "Thank you."

He blinks, then turns his head to follow her gaze back up the hill. "Probably the latter..." He catches a glint of red close to the barn... which means he spots Duke's utter failure to kick the rock. He plants a front paw over his muzzle, somehow horrified and amused all at once, and takes a moment to recompose himself. "Duke! You OK?"

Alexis has posed:
Alexis tries really really hard not to snicker. Instead she holds up a hand to her mouth to shout. "When kicking doesn't work, that's when you pick it up and throw it!" Then shrugs a little as she starts to walk in that direction. "At least he seems to bounce back quickly. Or the overlaying 'youth' kicks back in... though he's shown that he doesn't -forget- things that happen. Thankfully."

Duke has posed:
Duke sits up on his back and huffs a bit of fire from his nostrils, as he stares at the two and then yells back, "Yeah I am fine!" He then jumps back up to his feet, glaring at the rock as if to go: How dare you insult me. When Alexis suggests to throw the rock, he picks it up and goes to do just that...
Only it hits a tree and comes right back at him!

This causes the Guilmon X to yelp in surprise and then duck as it flies past and smacks into the barn. He stays down, before slowly raising up his pawed hand off his head, his ear fin perks up, before he sits up. Then huffs out a sigh of relief. "..stupid rocks.."

Doran (695) has posed:
Doran winces at the further antics of Duke Versus Rock, covering his eyes with his front paws. He peeks between his fingers to make sure nothing had gone terribly wrong, but he isn't apprehensive for long. "Duke!" He sounds like he's trying to scold, but is just barely holding in laughter. "Don't damage Alexis' house!"

Alexis has posed:
When the rock bounces off a tree Alexis does facepalm this time but not for the same reason persay. "Hardwood..."

At the slightly scolding tone in her voice the 'tree' shifts, rising up on its roots like several feet and portions of its trunk and largest branchs 'cracking' apart to show a shadowy blackness between the sections, before a single open 'opens' towards the top. Other than the cycloptic eye and that he actually has foliage growing in places, he could almost be similar to a Woodmon.

"Okay, actually, that was kind of funny. I know pranks are a ghost thing, but next time, not the head. Okay?"

The treverant rustles like one would expect leaves in the wind to do as he nods, and then shuffles over to offer a now arm-like branch to the Digimon to help him up.

Alexis shakes her head a little. "I don't know if I should feel sorry or be impressed that you managed to hit the one Treverant in the whole grove.

Duke has posed:
Duke yells back at Doran, "I wasn't trying too!" though he scowls at the tree pokemon, until it comes over to give him a hand. The Guilmon X takes it and gets back up on his feet. "..thanks.." He says softly, before his tail flicks, then he goes to join with the other two.
As he comes over there, he cants his head to the side. "Yes, yes funny. Ha ha." He sticks out his tongue at Doran, before he smiles at them both. "I'm ok. See! Just... needed to vent out some frustration." This is said with a nod of his head, as his ear fins perk up.

Then he looks to Alexis. At least his gold eyes look normal, "I know.. Doran and I are out exploring but... I got to thinking." Oh boy, Duke is thinking hard. Run for the hills! "..as much has I don't trust Lute, there was something he said I wondered if it was true.. which are digimon stronger with human... partner."
Duke tilts his head faintly, before looking away, then back to Alexis. "We never had humans around us, until we came here," He looks to Doran for confirmation if some part of his memory was correct on that. "...so the idea of working with humans was never thought about, but... if it makes us stronger., then maybe... working with you, I could get stronger faster, and maybe... you know... get better control over my forms."

"Maybe not regenerate so quickly!" Duke says with a smile. The Digimon's ear fins drop back, "And you done a great deal for not only me... but us both... you never lost faith in me and... you were kind to Doran." He taps his index claws together, "...and I'm not sure how long...." How long what?
He doesn't exactly get into those details.

Alexis has posed:
Alexis lets out a short sigh when Lute is brought up for a moment. "Lute may of been a manipulative jerk... but this version of him isn't so stupid. Other than the digimon from your world, every other time they've shown up they've been paired with humans in some way and form. So it does seem to be a regular thing. Your world hasn't had contact with humans before, so it's hard to say if it does or does not apply... on the other hand, you're not -in- your world so it might be a moot point if it did there or not."

The tomboy crouched down a bit to get closer to Duke's height, putting one hand on his shoulder. "REally, it is a moot point. Because I think regardless of how it worked there or here, some actual training and experience would help you. If nothing else, help you toughen up more and focus better. Experience with dealing with things other than Digimon. And I would be more than happy to help you. Doran too, if he wants."

Doran (695) has posed:
Doran falls silent after the encounter with the Treverant, staring at the ghostly-tree Pokemon like it had just grown legs and walked away... oh wait. He'd peg it more like a Jyureimon (Cherrymon) instead -- now if only Hardwood had a leafy mustache, multiple arms, and carried a wooden cane.

After getting over his initial shock, his ears swivel as Duke and Alexis talk about the whole issue of partnership. He does chuckle softly as he's included in the offer, but shakes his head. "I appreciate that, but I'll decline on the training part. It won't do me much good anymore." He bobs his head from side-to-side in thought. "But learning about the Multiverse and having a safe place to return to? That's different."

Duke has posed:
Duke listens to what Alexis has to say and gives a nod of his head, in silent agreement to each point. When she gets to the last part he looks away a bit in thought His tail moves side to side, before he closes his eyes, inhaling deep, before he lets out a soft sigh.
Those gold eyes open once more to look directly into her own, he doesn't move away from her touch on his shoulder, but seems to relax further by the contact. Though his silence holds, even as Doran says his peace. He needs to train and he loves to explore. Same time, he knows Doran will be find on his own-- himself? That was another story.

The Guilmon X lowers his head gently, his voice soft. "I would like to train with you, Alexis.. and I want to explore with Doran too. Maybe we could work out something? Like.. I stay here for a bit-- then go with Doran." The Digimon's ear fins perk up, "..maybe meet some of your friends as well? So I can see what the others are alike... I mean, beyond you. Cause your nice... but... meeting others you know... and being around them too... that be a good way to learn how things work too... right?"
Duke then nods his head gently, before looking at her. "That way, one day, I'll.... I'll... know who to really trust, beyond you, and where to go as well, encase your not around, because... You can't be around all the time, right?"

Alexis has posed:
Alexis laughs a bit. "Oh you two can come and go as you like. But when you're here and you wanna train, we'll train. Or maybe I'll go with you guys some time. It's been a while since I've just gone, y'know, exploring." She nods a bit as she stands back up when Doran declines training but is interested in learning more about the Multiverse. "It's like I said in the alley, the only way to really learn about the world is to go out and experience it. But that doesn't mean you have to go out uninformed and unprepared any more, either."

Doran (695) has posed:
Doran grins. "I get it now." He seems quite relieved on multiple fronts, and his eyes sparkle a bit as his body language matches something far closer to the Child-level he's supposed to be. What was all that seriousness about earlier, then? "That sounds good to me!"

He pauses for a moment, then suddenly POUNCES Duke, nipping an ear-fin before trotting away. "That's for earlier!"

Duke has posed:
Duke nods his head to Alexis with a smile, "Ok!" Sounds like a deal has indeed been made and perhaps, at last-- not only can the Guilmon X get the training he needs to start to get a control on some of his forms, maybe even hold them for a longer time, but Doran-- looks like Doran has also found some friends as well in this world.

Things are looking up!
And when Doran pounces on Duke, the Guilmon X backs up a bit to get bounced. He acks as his ear fin gets nipped and rolls over, even as Doran runs away, "Hey! Get back here!" He says with a laugh and goes chasing after the other Digimon.

Also looks like its time for playtime on a lovely day on Alexis' Ranch.