Jungle run [mireil]

[tylomon]

It's been a few days since Tylo and Ciel left the waters of the ocean to make a first step into unknown territory that lied above the water. Well, for the angel digimon it was easier - ground was her preferred terrain, to the shark it was a bit harder though, but he managed. The hovering technique he used to travel along still wasn't quite perfect - it was intended for water, and not for air and soil, after all.

Tylo discovered many new things as they ventured deeper into the forest. Many new smells, sounds. The shark liked it here, regardless - he was itching for some adventure, although he tried to keep himself in line and act serious when around his "boss", as he now called her, which meant he wouldn't shoot random missiles at rocks, trees and whatnot just for lolz.

- Tis very odd... - the shark said, after slicing the tree that was in his way - he often had to do this, given size and all - sometimes trees were too close together to allow him to slip. - ... I have a strange feeling I was here before... But I swear I never ever left the ocean... Boss, ever been here before? - Tylo asked curiously. He hoped she would, or at least if she knew where she was going - last thing he wanted was to get lost...

[Ciel]

The new area in which they were was completely different compared with the ocean: It was rather warm and dry, a few volcanoes made sure things got hot there, colossal flora like giant flowers and huge trees decorated the places with vegetation and lakes and rivers presented a large amount of drinkable water as they brought life to the colossal vegetation. Truly it was a land tailor made to house large lifeforms that constantly required large amounts of food and water to survive, something like dinosaurs ...

Ciel looked at her companion and he looked back with questions for her. A small feeling of dejá vu was what the tylomon felt and sensed as if he once lived in this part of the digital world that imitated the conditions of the primitive world.

"It is the calling of your digi-core. You might live in the ocean, but you are part of the dinosaur digimon family. Even if you are away from the ocean, I guess you might feel comfortable in this area full of life fitting for dinosaurs"

Indeed, there was plenty of water and vegetation to feed off, the lakes were large enough to let even plesiomon-sized digimon like under their waters and the vast plains and extending skies gave those usually giant digimon the perfect place where to thrive.

[tylomon]

- The call of my digi-what? - Tylomon sounded a bit frightened, and looked all over his body with suspicion. He didn't even try hiding his confusion - he did not know what a digi-core was, so he assumed it to be some part of the body. One he had never heard of. - Such ... strange words you say... What is a digi-core? - he asked curiously. Tylo obviously didn't know much about stuff, but every time teacher opened her mouth she tended to say something he had never heard about, and was eager to listen to a story. And then the word about dinosaurs came around.

- A dinosaur? Wait, I thought I was a fish... Hold it, WHAT did you say again? - Tylo's eyes suddenly started glowing with excitement, for a few reasons, and a gleeful expression appeared on his "face". Though it was not because he was told to be a dinosaur - he still believed himself to be a fish, even though his fire-power, armor, muscles and sizes suggested otherwise. The reason for his excitement was much more ... quaint.

- You say there are real live dinosaurs in here? Let's go find one, Teach! - Tylo exclaimed with childish enthusiasm, and went on forward down the forest-covered hill, making a swash through the dense trees with his blades, leaving something of a road, a vista where he went on. And making a lot of noise while doing so. A destructive lil' fishie, isn't he?

[Ciel]

"A digi-core is the source of our life and where everything about us lies. All our information is inside it, things like our physical appearance, personality, abilities, everything about us is inside it and its destruction would cause our own permanent death. I guess that you had some dinosaur and aquatic digimon DNA within your digicore, and that is what caused you to be a tylomon in first place just like how my digicore has the digital DNA of the angel clan and determined my identity as an angel digimon since birth"

She may be a combat-type digimon trained to be a warrior, but she also received some intellectual training of the kind scholar-type digimon received. A strong body also needed a strong mind her mentor slash angemon used to say, and that was why all his pupils had to receive cultural and intellectual training as well and know about vital things like digicores.

Just as it was to be expected from the enthusiastic tylomon, he was more interested in finding dinosaurs than in her short lecture about digicores. The angel digimon found it rather cute and decided to let her pupil look for dinosaur digimon. That's it, being careful not to provoke them as it is unwise to face unknown enemies and they could be outnumbered in the case whoever they attacked had friend seeking for revenge ... or at least that was the plan because the jet of the ocean was anything but subtle and forced his way into wherever the dinosaurs were.

She didn't want Tylo to get into problems and die too soon, so she flew as fast as possible, dodging trees and stopped in front of the tylomon, slapping him in the cheek with enough force to make him realize he was acting like a little kid in a candy shop that needed to have some sense slapped in his head by his mother or elder sister.

"Stop right there. This is not like the ocean where your lord kept everything in order. I know from experience that most of the dinosaur digimon are as enthusiastic as you and more than eager to get into battle. They tend to be seasoned warriors as they live by the law of the survival of the fittest. Recklessly charge head on and you could end up like tylomon sushi, a fine meal for the usually big dinosaur digimon"

In the ocean the tylomon was a big fish in a small pond, but in the land of the dinosaurs where digimon like himself were a dime a dozen, he was nothing but a little fish in an ocean filled with deadly and giant predators.

[tylomon]

Tylomon stopped as soon as the palm went across his face, leaving a red and embarrassing mark on it. Really, what was he thinking? If he was a dinosaur, and he was pretty big, the other dinos may have been as big, if not bigger, and it was their environment, so they'd have the advantage. The shark felt stupid, stupid and ashamed of own foolishness. Thinking before doing something - this was something he needed to learn still. - Sorry, boss ... my bad. Won't happen again... - he sounded like a kid caught with his hand in a cookie jar.

Still, his charge through the forest managed to lead them somewhere anyhow. The line of trees was getting thinner and thinner as they made their way through it, until, finally, they came to ... a clearing of sorts. Or a road. One could not figure for sure. The trees were burned and crushed, and lots of footprints were in the ashes of whatever happened here. The footprints lead south, a really big group of digimon went on here. Who were they? One might never know.

- Uh-oh... - Tylomon said, after sniffing the air. His ability to smell things was still above the one of most earth-dwellers - sharks had very sensitive noses. And what smells he felt - made him wary. He may not have known all the smells in this world yet, but one particular he recognized for sure, and that was the smell of blood...

- I smell trouble. Legion-sized trouble. - Tylo said, all childishness tossed off, covered by a mask of seriousness, one which could be so rarely seen on his face. The fins moved violently. And a vicious glance appeared in his eyes. Training, all that was not serious enough, when faced with real danger, the shark would become at least a bit more sensible. - We pursue?

[Ciel]

The tylomon's reckless charge through the forest finished and the large digimon finally understood the foolishness of his actions. However, something good came out of his childish behavior: a path leading to an area that for a change wasn't part of a jungle .... although it wasn't a change for the better due the presence of battle damage in the area, most likely caused by a group of dinosaur digimon ahead.

"Let's keep out distance, a wise warrior studies its opponent first"

Even the battle seeking darcmon knew better not to fight against an unknown enemy. Choose the wrong the enemy and it's all over for you, and she wasn't ready to die yet, not until becoming strong enough to defeat parallelmon. That and more than her own safety, she was worried about the safety of her aquatic companion, she dragged him to a land unknown to him, and his complete lack of experience and hotblooded attitude would get him killed real fast if she weren't careful with controlling his enthusiasm.

"As a general rule, only fight against enemies that you can handle or that in the case of defeat, wouldn't attempt to take your life. Many times I fought against digimon that were vastly stronger than myself and despite the losses I got, I never died as they were honorable warriors who too pursued to excel through experience rather than through absorbing data"

Had she not met the tylomon, Ciel most likely would've challenged the lord of the sea zudomon for a battle. Many times in other worlds she challenged lords who could decimate her if they wanted and she always survived due she only fought against those known for not taking lives. Of course, previously she would've investigated if said lord was merciful first become engaging into battle.

[tylomon]

- How do we study the enemy if we don't find him? - Tylomon asked curiously as he hvered about the burned road thing, looking down at the ground. There were very many footprints, upon footprints upon footprints, so many the shark started to get dizzy from counting. Whatever force passed trough here must have been indeed tremendous. Not a group, but ... an army...

- Many passed through here... Tens, hundreds, ... Thousands of feet march to the beat. It's an army on the march... - the shark said quietly as he followed the trail up a small hillside, slowly... - Long way from home... Paying the price with young men's lives. - Tylo found a rhyme, as he made his way up the hill.

That hill happened to be the tallest spot in the area - from it one could see at least what was going on from afar. And there ... there was battle. Two masses clashing against one another. It was too far off to figure anything more, but the sizes of forces must have been considerable. And behind the lines there was something that looked like a town. Intact, for now.

- Thousands of feet march to the beat, tis an army in despair. Knee - deep in mud... - the shark said, as it became clearer the smaller force was defending the city, while the larger - trying to break through the lines to reach it. Whoever was going to win - was anybody's guess, it was always easier to defend than to attack.

- Stuck in the trench with no way out. - Tylo finished, and looked at the angel, awaiting orders.

[Ciel]

"Excellent job, you are a fast learner when you put effort behind your actions"

Once Tylo got serious, he acted like a professional warrior: in no time he completely assessed the situation and flawlessly investigated what happened without being detected by the large marching group of digimon just by looking at footsteps and noises between other things. The Darcmon really felt like the tylomon was born to become one of the top warriors of this universe and expected great things from him.

Following the trail towards the destination of the large group of digimon, they soon found that their target was a settlement from which a small group of digimon emerged to defend their home. The still in "serious mode" tylomon then asked her boss with his eyes what to do next and now it was when they were going to prove their worth in a real battle.

"Lets attack from behind whoever looks like the leader of the attacking team. Obviously the defending team has the odds against them and we would obtain nothing from beating them while we are bound to obtain something if we defeat the leader of the invading forces, the city inhabitants could provide us with information regarding this world's status and maybe offer us a reward and indications where to find stronger enemies."

Not because she wanted to do a good deed but due it was the more profitable option, the Darcmon decided to act in behalf of the defending side. Whoever was capable of forming an invading force was bound to be a lot stronger than a bunch of digimon struggling to defend their city, and fighting against such strong opponent would provide them with the much needed fighting experience they wanted.

[tylomon]

- Oh ok. I can do that... What was the name for it again... - the shark nodded and scratched his head with his long fin, trying to remember at least something from those books he was supposed to read, but never actually did, or did not pay enough attention anyhow. Vivid images blurred in his mind, diagrams, plans, explanations. Finally, he managed to remember something, and was pleased with it.

- I think it was called ... a raid. - a somewhat malicious grin appeared on his face. Yes, raids he liked, fast, and devastating. And since they helped the besieged settlers, they were "the good guys" which certainly relieved his conscience - he'd have trouble explaining to it why he didn't protect the weaker, as a good officer should, according to code of honor.

In an attempt to think up or remember something that could help, the shark hovered around, with a thoughtful expression on his face, before looking at a nearby bush. The next moment an idea came around, as he went for the bush and cut them down with his razor-sharp fin. Then he brought the bushes in his mouth to the teacher, and dropped them unto the ground.

- Can you place these on me? Tis just that ... blue and white, over green back ground is ... you know, highly visible? Or something. Don't remember the word, they told me it is called ... como, ... cama, coma... camo-something... - he could have shrugged, if he had any shoulders...

[Ciel]

"It's called camouflage, and I doubt it would be useful in this situation in particular."

Certainly, one could see even from distance that the invading digimon were so confident in their one sided superiority that charged head on against the city without covering their backs with a rear guard, a grave tactical mistake that was implied to be born from their overconfidence ... and because most likely they never expected somebody to actually attack them from behind.

"We can use their lack of a rear guard to get close without being spotted. Now all we have to do is to find the leader and either separate it from its army ... or fight right there in front of its minions. The former is the safest choice with no drawbacks while the latter would cause an even greater demoralizing effect on the enemy troops and we could use the chaos and friendly fire that might happen in the case the enemy army recklessly attacked us to get the enemy to reduce it's own numbers. As this is your first important battle, I will let you decide what course of action is most fitting for your fighting style, you could even offer a third option, and you also need to learn about strategy anyway"

Stealth wasn't needed at all under the current circumstances, so all that was left now was to find the leader of the invading digimon and separate it from the rest of the troops for an easier victory ... although the alternative to that plan was riskier and sexier, ensuring a huge humiliation for the enemy army. Ciel didn't really care about how they would deal with them, so it's was up to the tylomon to decide what to do. Not engaging into battle was fine as well, but then neither of them would be stronger and any profit that might be obtained from the battle would be lost.