Panting while the feet moved as fast as possible within the forest, two shadows moved through the leaf covered ground, not stopping or pausing. They heard voices behind them, distant but following them. They jumped down a descent within the forest, slithering down to not slow down and sprinted off once they reached the deepest point, hoping to have won precious seconds. As they run they came across a river and decided to take the risk and follow it within the water, fighting to not being washed away in the torrents. They moved and saw that the river ended in a cave, due the trees not visible from the riversides, only from within the river. They swam over and went in, hiding in the shadows.
The two panted and they waited… neither of them knew how long they were waiting but they heard the voices of their pursuers, moving past the cave they were hiding in, not able to see it. Still, the two held their breaths and waited another long time before they heard the return of them, their voices suggesting that they assumed that the two had moved up the river. The male of the two moved carefully out of the cave, looking if they were out of sight before nodding towards his female companion and they moved down the stream once more to get as much distance as possible.
As the afternoon sun was lowering, the male of them, Lennier, a Dorumon spoke, "I think we lost them for now… better we try and get out of the water or we won't be dry before night falls."
His companion, a Renamon with a sheathed sword strapped on a belt around her waist, named Laurie looked up at the sky before looking at the direction they came from, "I think you are right on that account, Lennier," and they moved out, shaking their fur to get the water out.
" Damn bounty hunters," muttered the Renamon. "We could not get any supplies in the village before we had to run."
"That means we have to search for food again," sighed Lennier, tired that they were near constantly on the run, especially for a crime that didn't happen. These were one of the few times he asked himself why he bothered to be involved with her… but he took a decision and stick with it.
"Let us find us a good spot to camp for the night," suggested Laurie. "Once we have a spot, I look for food while you collect fire wood.
Accepting the terms, the two began exploring the nearby surroundings but there was nothing… but as in a the distance the forest went upwards, they guessed that something suitable might be in that direction.
They walked along the path and came across some bushes with berries. Lennier took one and rubbed it on his arm, waiting for a reaction. As he had to scratch himself he said, "Better not eat that."
"Mind explaining why not?"
"I watched before we had to run again a video about how to survive on an a lost island… and thought some of the tips could be applied to us. One of them was: rub fruit on your skin. If you have an allergic reaction, don't eat it," sweatdropped the Dorumon.
The Renamon nodded in acceptance, as she didn’t have much else to say and they kept moving. After a while they found a hole and upon checking it, they saw that they will be protected from the wind during the night, so Lennier stayed to set the place up to have some sort of camp there while Laurie went to collect food.
While she found some fruits and plants the two could consume, she didn't have the luck of finding anything they could eat for meat and also the river they had been didn't offer any fish. as she returned to the camp, she saw in spite of Lennier prepared a somewhat comfortable spot, he hadn’t tried to setting up fire.
"Why are you not trying to get us a fire? We already know that in this part of the world, the night gets freezing cold," complained Laurie while she placed down the collected food.
"I couldn't! The first reason that fire makes smoke and somebody might run into us, but the other and heavier reason is simple: the wood here is too wet! Don't forget that we only got into the village because it started to rain. And the time we had been running wasn't warm enough to dry up. It is too wet to try and set aflame."
Laurie was gritting his teeth upon that. The male had a point, but she still wasn’t very happy about the outcome that could mean will have to freeze tonight… perhaps they are lucky and their furs provide enough warmth against the cold. Else it would be a long night and a tiring day.
The sun is setting down as they sat there, eating their meals before they tried to keep themselves warm. Lennier curled in while Laurie was hugging her legs but it wasn't enough… the two are still freezing together.
Lennier lifted his head and looked at Laurie, seeing her freeze like that. Although he was freezing himself, he couldn't watch her freeze… so he rose up and slowly moved to her.
The Renamon noticed him coming over… she was about to do the same as she realized what they would have to do to not freeze to death: snuggling together to share their body warmth. However, what she didn't expected was that he digivolved to his Dorugamon and that he wrapped himself around her, making her to lay down and used one of his wings as a blanket for her.
"Lennier?" Laurie asked. "What are you doing?" since while she would have it somewhat warm, he would still be freezing.
The Dorugamon replied, "Well… since we are freezing, I thought if we shared our warmth we might have less trouble getting through the night."
"But Lennier! That way-"
"I will be fine. Just trust me, okay?"
She looked at him for some seconds before she gave in, "Fine" she countered and she snuggled closer to him, glad that he was willing to share the warmth… and dozed off with the time.
Lennier was still cold, but he was glad to know that Laurie had it warm at least… he looked at her now sleeping form, snuggling at the warmth she was now receiving. That made the Dorugamon warm in his hearth, resting down his head, trying to doze as well but not fall asleep for the reminder of the night, which wasn't easy, but he knew if he falls asleep, nobody would be able to tell if he would wake up again.
But again… he had a tiring day and his tired body demanded… rest… so his eyes… closed… and his mind drifted off.
On the next day Laurie began waking up. The eyes opened slowly and the first thing she noticed was snuggling against purple fur and something covering her body. It took a moment before she realized that she was still leaning against Lennier’s body and she pushed the wing off, and rose up. Looking at his head, she noticed that his eyes were closed and his head lying on the ground.
Her mind raced at this sight, as the memory of the freezing night came back and she pressed her ear against the side of the champion-level. A sight of relief came from her as she heard a steady heartbeat and a constant breathing. Pulling her head away, she looked at the sleeping digimon and blushed slightly at the thought of how well he looked when he sleeps… and how he was always looked after her well being.
Deciding to use the moment, she went out the hole and made a few morning exercises to get her body awake and went to collect their meal as well as a few herbs, as she was guessing that the male could have caught a cold from this night…
Upon return, she saw that Lennier wasn't a Dorugamon anymore… only back to his Dorumon form and was curled in, shivering, the cold of the night catching up in his body. Laurie kneeled down to him and stroke over his shaking head… he gave his warmth to her so she wouldn't shiver anymore. And while it was early in the morning, she decided to repay the favor.
Putting the collected fruits and herbs aside, she stood there and concentrated for a while before she glowed, falling on all four and turning into a Kyubimon, a nine-tailed fox with flames on the tail ends.
Inspecting herself about if everything was in the right place, she pressed herself on his body, while her tails covered him, sharing her stored warmth with the freezing beast-type, warming him slowly while he slowly stopped freezing, getting comfortable in his slumber.
Laurie watched him sleep and knew, if she hadn't awoken before him, he would have done his best to hide his discomfort in front of her, not wanting anything in return for his gesture. A blush appeared on the cheeks on the thought of him so protective of her and she petted him on the head, causing him to snuggle closer to her.
Laurie blushed a bit more… and wondered if they had met under different conditions… how their relationship would be right now…
