But where will you go? [ambermon]

[Observer]

It's been a week since Renee was last here... A week, seems so little, yet much happened during it. Lillymon, Larry, revelations, reversion to being a renamon again... Lots of things. Lots of things to think about. But never the less, despite all this, she did not forget about her other duties. She did make some promises. Promises of helping out. And those she was going to keep.

It was the supply day again. She was supposed to bring ... let's call it humanitarian aid, to a certain spot. Like she promised. Some people were able to live in the forest without suffering from hunger, being able to feed off the ground. Some ... weren't. And these unfortunate ones she was helping. That was a kind thing to do, right?

After bringing around the last bucket, Renee looked around and swiped the sweat from her forehead. 2 buckets of berries, 1 of various vegetables, 1 filled with potatoes - this was more than enough to feed two for another week. Potatoes were especially good - one could survive on them for a long time, they needed not special commodities to be kept fresh, and very delicious when cooked. Mirei was a marvelous gardener, even more so when becoming a Lillymon. She deserved a large piece of cake for her efforts.

Renee sertainly enjoyed being a Renamon more than being a Kyubimon, mostly because it was her initial form, and because it had normal arms with fingers, which could be used to carry things, and make tea by herself. Bu that could wait for later - for now she was waiting for the tiny purple dinosaur to show up. Leaning to a tree, she closed her eyes ... erm, eye, allowing it to rest for a bit, but kept the ears perked for any kind of sound. From afar, it could appear that she were sleeping, but she wasn't. Just waiting, and there was not anything else to do anyhow...

[ambermon]

Dorumon had been searching for Renee most of the week since Amber had left him. Unfortunately the vixen digimon was a lot more elusive than he would have thought. He probably hadn't even been looking in the right places. They had gone so long without noticing each other after all. But now it wasn't a question of searching anymore. It was supply day, and he didn't have to search anymore. She'd come with supplies, then he could speak to her.

Dorumon had waited within the cover of a thick shrub. He wasn't so much hiding from Renamon though, as he was from Amber. He was all too aware of how close this spot was to the den, but this was the arranged spot. While he waited he could only wonder what the heck he was supposed to say. Renee! Bad news, I screwed up. Can I come live with you? That... couldn't be more pathetic. He had been too pathetic the past week.

Finally, his time to mull things over was up as a figure appeared. It certainly wasn't the Youkomon he had been expecting, but rather... a silver colored Renamon. He might have wondered if this was a different digimon or not, but the eyepatch she wore was unmistakable. "Renee?" He said in a low rasp as he began to step out of hiding.

Now revealed, it was obvious something was wrong, even with the fact that he was carrying his tamer's D-arc and cards aside, he looked little better than he had when Renee first found him. With the supplies she had brought the previous week in the den with Amber, he didn't have those precious goods to feed from. Looking over what had been brought, he sighed dolefully. "She probably won't need that much..."

[Observer]

Renee's ears perked upon hearing her name being called. She was not startled - the voice was recognizable, plus pretty much anyone who knew her name was a friend. She opened her eye and turned her head to the source of the sound. She soon focused on the image of the dorumon on the other side of the clearing, where he was calling from. About time too, she was growing bored from all that waiting. She soon went out there to greet him.

- There you are, Dorumon. I was waiting for you. - she stated, and gave a kind smile, upon kneeling down a bit to be on the same level with the other digimon. But as she looked closer upon the digimon, her smile slowly turned into a frown. The digimon did not look too well. He looked ... malnourished, like nobody was looking after him and such... Surely he could take care for himself, but still it showed. And as he spoke, more suspicions crept into her.

- Why so? Something wrong? - she asked, raising an eyebrow. Though she did not sound any more questions, her glare was speaking a lot more than words. She wanted to know everyhing, and was hoping it was not as bad as she was assuming... For she thought someone died...

[ambermon]

Well, Dorumon wasn't expecting Renee to not notice his condition, given how obvious it was. It made things a little easier though, not to have to announce it to get her to realize something was wrong was one less step. "Long story short, I screwed up, now Amber wants nothing to do with me." He confessed, clutching the black and purple digivice in his paws, and glaring at the ground in an attempt to discourage the tears that came every time he acknowledged that miserable fact.

Looking up though, he could tell the short version of the story wasn't going to cut it for the Renamon. Another deep sigh came as he went into the long version. "I had been trying to make friends, trying to show her that there were digimon and people who could be trusted. Nothing helped... Then BishopChessmon appeared. Causing senseless destruction to everything around him, the bastard hadn't changed a bit." The last couple of statements came with a snort. Even though his enemy was dead, he couldn't think about the one who destroyed his home with no anger.

"Then Lunamon showed up with his tamer of all digimon. Amber only ignored them long enough for us to take down the BishopChessmon. Once that was done, she..." Dorumon paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. "She ordered me to kill Lunamon." Even now, he pondered if he should have just killed him. Sparing the obnoxious rodent wasn't worth all this pain. He was the reason for her getting worse. He had it coming to him! Still his conscience leaned the other way. He had still been a friend to him before, and he was the last tie to his old home he had. "I refused, she called me a traitor, throwing her digivice and modify cards at me and she ran away."

"I tried running after her, but she just threw whatever she could at me. I didn't try again, and have been spending the days up to it, looking for you, as well as someone else who could help Amber. I found a human, Reijiro. He was absolutely clueless about digimon even though he had a Pawnchessmon with him, but he agreed to try and help her. So far he has kept to his word. He brought food for her this morning." He said. He still sounded tired and stressed, but he seemed more relaxed to get to a topic that made him a little more hopeful. He was fully aware that he hardly knew this kid, and under better circumstances he wouldn't be putting his trust in a complete stranger, especially not a human. He didn't really have anyone to turn to though. The only one's in this world he'd call friend were Amber and Renee, and he had already told Amber about Renee, so she wouldn't be able to help. He'd be lucky to find a digimon that knew enough about humans to be of help if he searched his entire life. Amber needed a human to help her, and Reijiro was the only hope he had.

"Being alone has been misery this past week. I've lost everything, my pack, my partner. You're the only friend I've made in this world other than Amber. I had been seeking you out, because, well, I have no one else to turn to." He finished his explanation ended rather... Pathetically. He sounded weak, he was weak. He was a pack digimon, he had lived in a close knit pack of digimon since he was born. Alone, he was completely lost, and the strong, proud and loyal pack leader type digimon was was reduced being little more than a lonely pup.

[Observer]

Renee just sat on the ground as she listened to dorumon's story, quietly, and with a frown on her face. From what he told her, everything went to hell over a week. And Lunamon was part of this mess too. Now, she was really, really angry at him. She warned him to stay way, she did, and that fukken moron did not listen! Why? Why nobody ever listened to what she was saying? Was she not convincing? Was logic too unpopular today? Renee refrained from giving advices on the matter she does not know, but when she did, she was always right. And now this...

- That good for nothing idiot... - she sighed out with much irritation, as she tried to regain her cool once more. This was ... one dumb situation. The poor kid lost everything, literally everything that day, because of stupidity, from both sides. Lunamon was one, but the deranged girl was a dumbass too. Such people belong to the asylums, not allowed to walk around freely. At least it was satisfying enough he did heed her advice to find a human to help ... AFTER this poophappened. Maybe things would have been different if he did it a little bit sooner...

- I'm sorry it ... ended up this way for you. It was most unfortunate... - Renee looked at the poor digi with genuine pity. In a way, she knew how it felt, she had the same emotions when she was ... kicked out of Hypnos. Not literally, but still. Because of a goof, because of a tiny help to the stranded digimon, she had to leave her ... family of sorts. And hide here. Larry, Khrys, the others ... she was very attached to them. This situation was similar... Or maybe even worse, the renamon did not know what she would have done if Larry abandoned her like this... She probably would have ceased existing.

- Describe that boy you found to help her out... I may seek him out when he gets here again. I know that all the provisions to sustain a person are very expensive in the city. I might transmit the goods through him, incognito... - she proposed. Renee indeed evolved from a heartless murderer to someone with compassion and a big heart - even after all she heard, she did not resign for the insane girl. It was not her fault that she was insane, right? And that's why she needed help, all kind of, even if she did not want, or deserve it...

Now, she returned to the dorumon. The poor guy really looked rather ... pathetic. His confidence was crushed, he looked beaten, defeated, and alone. She figured the words he said in a form of confession were hard for him to say, but judging on how he managed to say them, she figured his pride suffered too. She did not blame him, only pitied. Everyone needed pity from time to time. And she was willing to give all the pity required. That was ... a good thing to do. She evolved to be an atoner, of sorts...

- Well, I will repeat the words I had said when we first met, Doru. Our refuge is opened for anybody who needs help. You're free to stay with us if you wish... - we help the helpless. - the fox added in her mind, but did not sound it, knowing it could sound demeaning in a context. She did however, count the probability of him dismissing her proposal. She would help anyhow, no matter what he said. That too, would be a good thing to do. Hnh... If anyone knew how much would an assassin change over such a short time...

[ambermon]

Dorumon shook his head at Renee's remark about Lunamon. The more Renee agreed with him, the more unable he was to push the blame for all this on his former friend, despite how much he wanted to. He was the one that screwed up. He had stated that right off the bat, and he knew it was true. "No, I was the one who screwed up, not him. That BishopChessmon was the bastard that attacked our home and killed our neighbors and comrades before we ended up in the human world. Lunamon wasn't looking for me, he just happened to be there. I offered to fight along side him. I should never have even taken on that fight, but I let my own desire for vengeance cloud my judgment. If he hadn't there, I would have lost even more than I have now."

That was all definitely true. Whatever the case was, he wouldn't have been able to walk away from that fight, and if Lunamon hadn't been there to help him, he would never have been able to defeat the ultimate level digimon on his own. He would have been killed, and then the BishopChessmon would have likely went and killed Amber too. No matter which way he looked at it, it was his own fault. He should have just ran. Take everything from the den and flee as far away as possible. He sacrificed everything for his vengeance, and he knew it wasn't. "I'm the idiot, I don't need you to tell me." He said, looking away. It probably wasn't really fair to assume she would call him out on it, but Dorumon wasn't exactly entirely of clear mind when it came to discussing his own mistakes.

"That would probably work out better for him." He continued on when asked about the human he had found to help Amber. "Reijiro. Brown hair and eyes, tall and scrawny. I'm not entirely sure if the BlackPawnChessmon that was with him was his partner or not."

He didn't quite want to look up at Renee with her staring at him like that, with such pity in her eyes. He didn't want pity. He didn't want to recognize just how pathetic he was, but there be no escaping it. This was a major downpoint in his life, and he needed to pick up what pieces. He just needed help to get over this bump. "Thanks. I won't be a burden." He promised. No, he was a pack digimon, and he helped those within his pack, not sit back and let them slave over him.

[Observer]

So the whole fuss was about Bishopchessmon in the first place... It was not just a random evil digimon, it was THE evil digimon, who purged homes and destroyed families. And who had crossed both. Renee remembered wizardmon telling her than his home was purged by an unknown army and all that... That was experience Renee did not know and hopefully would never experience on her own skin... Her anger towards Lunamon ebbed away, it seemed nobody was to blame for this misfortune ... or was it?

- It would have been better if I had found him before you two did... Then I would have had disposed of him and none of this would have happened. I cannot be in all places at once, unfortunately... - she sighed out. No, she did not think dorumon was an idiot, for she was sure she would have done the same in his situation - anger is a very, very powerful emotion, and behind her calm facade, the renamon knew she could not control it entirely... yet.

- You won't be a burden Doru. Everybody must help each other out through hard times. Pal... Lillymon helps with the gardens, Golemon lifts heavy things and generally helps around when strength is needed, I find people and ward off threats. You could help me with the latter, unless you have any special talents I do not know about. - she shrugged. Renee understood that being useless was a great blow for one's pride, since few would like to find themselves in a position of damsel in distress, especially if said few were males. Their ego was always big and fragile that way. Renee chuckled a bit to her thought.

- And ... you're not an idiot. - Renee added as she picked up one of the buckets - no point in leaving them here if nobody would be coming for them - it would be a waste of good food, leaving them to rot like this. - You're brash and fiery. I used to be that way too. - she added as she picked up more and more stuff in her hands and on her back. She was a strong renamon, had little problem with pulling weight, but she sure would have not said no for a couple of spare hands.

- Still am to be honest... And vengeance is a dish better served cold...

[ambermon]

"Maybe it would, maybe it wouldn't have. Hindsight won't change anything though." Dorumon simply shrugged. He didn't even know how he would have felt if his nemesis was killed by anything but his own claws. It was part of what made him rush in in the first place. He wanted to be the one to killed him, or at the very least leave a mark the BishopChessmon would never forget. Even if Renee was there he wouldn't have stopped fighting, and whether things would still end the same or not solely depended on whether or not Lunamon fled the battle.

Renee went over the jobs each of them did, also naming each of those in her group off at the same time. Lillymon he knew, from a couple encounters, but Dorumon definitely had no talent in gardening. Golemon he hadn't the slightest clue who he was, and heavy lifting wasn't exactly his strong suit, if only for his lack of a suitable set of arms and height, and complete lack of in his champion form. Now finding people and warding off threats? That leaned more into his strengths as an unmatched tracker and skilled fighter, and Renee had clearly guessed that too, though also added the question of what other skills he might possess. "You're right, I could help you with your tasks, though if it was ever needed, my digivolved form has the ability to melt into shadows, which is useful for both stealth and spying." He said.

He wasn't quite sure why Renee had de-digivolved to her rookie form. Himself was from a combination of his sullen mood, and his desire to search out both the human to help Amber, whom he was certain would have definitely fled if they came face to face with a Sangloupmon, and Renee, who he didn't want mistaking him for someone different.

As the Renamon went on, dismissing the thought that he was an idiot as well as pointing out a few things they shared in common, Dorumon felt a bit better. It seemed they had quite a bit in common with eachother, and it put him a bit at ease. "Here, I'll carry a couple." He said, grabbing the handle of one of the buckets in his jaws. However, the aforementioned issue Dorumon had with lifting things was present, even with this bucket of berries. His height made it quite awkward to carry, having to stand up almost completely straight just to get it off the ground.

"Well, one I guess. Next time I digivolve I'm not going back." He mumbled. He definitely could have carried two if he was Sangloupmon still, but he wasn't, and digivolving wasn't possible for him right now. He was far too hungry to pull that off, so he resigned to simply do his best carrying the one bucket.

[Observer]

- It would. Will help avoid mistakes in the future. - Renee retorted to statement about hindsight. Or, at least, that was her understanding of the word. She too, had her errors, and spent a lot of time analyzing it, and what could she had done to make things different. The results were obvious... Even though her knowledge of what she shouldn't do won't be useful to her any time soon...

She couldn't help but chuckle a bit when the tiny dorumon tried carrying a bucket. It was extremely uncomfortable, since, well, he was small, and did not have any hands suitable for grabbing and carrying, but Renee did not stop him - she knew that it would be better to let him carry the thing, even if he had trouble with it, to make him feel he's doing something. She knew people hated to feel useless, especially proud ones.

- You should stay in whatever form you're comfortable with. I changed to this one, because ... well, I am more used to it, and it has normal hands with which I can open a fridge, hold a teacup or a spoon, the usual. If we don't have those items now... - Renee sighed a bit. - That, and I'm not used to walk on all fours. No offense. - she added. Indeed, she did miss the commodities she had back when she was part of Hypnos... Infinite amount of tea, full fridge, the TV set, comfy chair, Khrys' glomps... Wait. Yeah, them too. And at times her mind drifted away a bit, like right about now. She returned back soon enough though.

- I do use it when I seek out digimon. Because the latter would unlikely do something stupid and will think first before attacking a fire-blazing youkomon... But the trick is not to look too intimidating, or you might scare them away. Unfortunately, me being alone, it is hard to come across a spawned digimon in time, and not always they are peaceful... - steely intonations were heard in her voice upon saying the last sentence. But she figured Dorumon had other, heavier thoughts on his mind at the moment, and she just bothered him with her concerns, so she tried cheering him up, at least a bit...

- So we can help each other out, until that boy you found will cure your tamer girl, and you could return to her ^^

[ambermon]

Dorumon simply shrugged. He was talking about the past, not the future. But she was right about it being important to learn from his mistakes, he knew that much. What he screwed up in the past, he could hopefully avoid in the future. Right now though, he didn't think the knowledge he gained from this particular error would help in the foreseeable future. The chances of Amber ever wanting him back were slim, and he wasn't going to get himself mixed up with any more mentally unstable humans. He was no good at handling those issues. Well, that's one lesson he was putting to use at least.

"Doesn't make much difference for me. I might as well be on all fours right now, but my arms are too stubby even for that." He remarked. Right now, the only thing his arms were useful for in carrying the bucket was keeping it steady so the berries inside didn't fall out. "I definitely prefer being Sangloupmon. I'd digivolve right now if I could." He snorted, a noise that was then followed by a miserable sounding growl from his stomach. He was starving... and carrying a full bucket of FOOD. What was he doing? "Damn it, I'm starving!" He said, dropping the bucket, and proceeded to gorge himself.

By the time he finished, he had ate about a sixth of the bucket before the taste finally got past his desperate hunger. He hated berries with a passion. He was no omnivore, he loved his meat more than anything, and while he tolerated vegetables, the berries were just too sweet for his taste. If he wasn't starving he wouldn't have touched the stuff. Once he was finished he picked the bucket up again and continued walking. On the brightside, it was now somewhat lighter than before.

Yeah, perhaps he could have used stealth better to his advantage when he was out trying to make nice with spawning digimon. He thought back to that Icemon he fought, pondering if things would have been different if he had just stayed in the shadows. ... No. He would have come in contact with Amber eventually and that was the problem he had that he just wouldn't get over. Amber...

Renee was obviously trying to be comforting, but the fox said one single word that struck him in a very bad way, He stopped dead, dropping the bucket on the ground. He looked like he might explode on her, but instead his words were in a intimidatingly low snarl. "Do not call her tamer." The final word spat out as if it was some foul curse word. "Tamer's whip animals into doing their bidding. I am no animal and she is no tamer."