(I'm hoping to gain my character's first spirit form in this topic. Modding would be preferable, but if I have to solo it I will ^^')

Amanda ran her hands over her goosebump ridden arms as she trudged through ankle-deep snow. Her teeth chattered uncontrollably as she closed her eyes and forced herself to move onward, thankful that the skies were clear. Even though the sun shone brightly, however, she was still unable to stand the frigid weather.

"W-w-why'd I h-h-have to f-f-all asleep..." She spoke aloud, her lips, slightly blue from the cold, trembled from the freezing temperature, "I hope Q-Q-Quetzalmon realizes I fell...where c-could she be?"

The tamer gritted her teeth at her own stupidity. She felt so relaxed on Dorumon's new form...she had fallen asleep and unfortunately slid over the side of the serpent's metal back. She remembered waking up in a pile of powdery snow that had broken her fall, but no matter how much she scanned the skies, she saw no sign of her digimon. She realized with a sick feeling in her stomach that Quetzalmon was most likely unaware of her tamer's absence.

Amanda's eyes began to grow heavy as she staggered through the snow. It was so cold...she needed to find shelter, and fast, or else she'd freeze. Casting her eyes left and right, she tried to seek a cave of some sort where she could at least attempt to start a fire. Her katana clanked at her side, as if itching to create life-giving sparks. If only she had a semi-enclosed area to keep a flame in...

As she walked on, her jeans soaked right up to her thighs, she began to realize how tired she really was. Her breathing was growing slow, and she began to cough, feeling her throat itch with the cold. Her face stung, and patches of the skin on her bare arms were beginning to sting and burn. As she looked up one last time at the sky, she felt her legs give out beneath her and she fell onto the thick snow, feeling it wrap around her like a frozen blanket. A sickening feeling began to grow within her. If she didn't get up and get warm, she was going to die...but lying here was so peaceful and quiet. Her eyes began to close and she let out a weak sigh, feeling the cold slowly fade away as darkness began to overwhelm her senses.

(If you have any problems with this post, just tell me ^^)

"Nuzzz...." a mechanical voice sounded through the snowy plains. A large metal Digimon waded through the snow, scanning for life. Upon seeing a young human girl ling in the snow, he relayed the information to base and stepped forward. Realizing that the girl wasn't clothed in proper winter clothing that he had seen on humans before, he picked her up carefully and trekked back to base.
-----------------

"Why'd you have to bring the kid here?" bellowed a blue and white scaly lizard-like Digimon from the far side of a cave, lit up as if they were in any home with lighting. He was yelling at the Guardromon who had brought the girl in, just as he had protested when the robot placed her gently down on a makeshift bed and covered her in several blankets to get her temperature up, "You should have let her freeze!"

"Bzzzt.. Negative" the machine spoke, pointing to the fire that had been set up near the girl to warm her up, "Gizmo detected lowering life signs in human female."

"So what?" the Flamedramon said, shrugging his shoulders and gesturing violently. The cave they were in was large enough to have multiple chambers, and although the Flamedramon could create fire and warm them up, it didn't eplain why the entire cave felt like it had been warmed for years.

The darkness was slowly beginning to ebb away from her mind as the tamer heard the distant sound of voices. Her lips, now a gentle pink, parted to let a small groan escape from her mouth. Her head turned to the side and she was slowly aware of the plushy blankets that surrounded her. Her fingers, sore and stiff from the cold, grasped hungrily at the fabric, pulling it closer to her arms. She relished in the warmth, feeling energy return to her. Slowly, she cracked her eyes open, her pupils shrinking at the light within the cavern.

"Wh...what happened? Where am I?" She whispered, her eyes scanning the cave.

As both occupants of the main cave saw the girl awaken, a third occupant came out of a side cave, a long muscular dog-like creature with three heads, two of which composed its shoulders. Its long whip-like tail was the last piece of it to appear, and it glanced down the room to the newcomer with narrows eyes before moving off to go lay in a corner of the cave.

"Affirmation: Gizmo is "glad" to see you operational now." the Guardromon chanted in a monotone voice.

"Good, now she can get the hell outta here and leave us alone!" the Flamedramon spat loudly as he regarded the human.

"Calm Down, Arcturas." a deeper, more mature voice came from the side cave. All of a sudden, a huge figure that brought with it the entire warmth and light of the caves walked in, standing proud in red and silver Digizoid armor with claws on its hands and feet. a huge mane of yellow hair followed a path down from his neck, and a metal device that held a large glowing orb was situated behind his head. Flames occasionally jutted from his gauntlets. The Apollomon smiled in a friendly manner as he spoke ot the human, "This girl means us no harm."

Standing where he was, he surveyed the girl again as the Cerberumon watched with mild interest in the corner, "You are in my home, a small cave situated in the Glacial Plains. Do you remember how you got here?"

Amanda looked up at the fire-based digimon with a tired look. He appeared kind, and seemed like he would mean her no harm. Shakily pushing herself up to a sitting position, the girl rubbed her head and closed her eyes, "I...I remember riding on my partner's back. I fell asleep and I guess I must've slipped off..." Giving a sheepish laugh, the girl rubbed the back of her neck, "I'm not well-suited for the cold. Thank you for bringing me in...I probably wouldn't have lasted much longer out there."

As she looked at her reddened arms, she bit her lip in seriousness as she realized how close to death she had been. She had to find Dorumon to show she was okay...her digimon must've been worried about her.

"I...I probably shouldn't stay long...but I can't make it out very far in this cold." She looked out at the bitter wasteland outside of the cave, giving a small sigh, "And I'm exhausted, I don't think I could make the trip even if I could keep warm."

Hearing her story and her conclusions, the Apollomon nodded, "I agree. It is too fridgid out there for a human that it not dressed for this weather. If you need rest, take it. Arcturas will continue to keep the fire going for you."

A look of disgust from the Flamedramon was quelled quickly by a look from the Ultimate. Arcturas walked out of the room and out of right as the Apollomon said to the Guardromon, "Keep her safe."

"Confirmed: I'll do my best" the Guardromon gave a rusty salute then started patrolling.

"Don't mind Arcturas, he's just moody. He's the youngest one of us here." the God Man Digimon smiled reassuringly, "My name is Erebus"

The girl looked at the Apollomon and gave a weak smile, "Mine's Amanda...thank you for this...I wish I could repay you..." Falling back on the bed, she closed her eyes and felt the comfortable, almost home-like feeling the blankets gave her. She remembered being wrapped up on her bed back in the real world, the sounds of coyotes howling and crickets chirping sliding through her window. Even now, wind seemed to be kicking up outside and the sounds seemed familiar.

"Maybe I came to this place for a reason?" She murmered in nearly a whisper, "I feel like I belong here...like...it's a part of me..." She gave a small chuckle and whispered, "That's pretty corny..."

As the girl lay back down, the Cerberumon in the corner apparently gave a loud yawn and went to sleep. Nearby, Gizmo continued to stand eactly where he had been before, apparently content just to await for more orders. The Apollomon began to turn and leave back into his chambers to give the girl a bit of privacy.

There wasn't much to do, though occasionally the Flamedramon came in reluctantly and cast a bolt of flame from his gauntlet at the fire net to her, which had by then been reduced to embers, before adding more wood. He always turned and left back the way he had came, then the sounds of metal hitting metal could faintly be heard. Other then that, the random beeps and murrs from the Guardromon and the almost silent snoring from the Cerberumon were the only accompanying sounds to the crackling fire.

Amanda closed her eyes and realized in slight frustration that sleep wasn't having an easy time coming to her. Sitting up in bed, she rested her chin on her hand and let out a small sigh. She really hoped Quetzalmon was out looking for her...

Her eyes scanned the roomy cavern and fell upon the Cerberumon. A small smile came to her face at the sight of the dog-like digimon resting. She was so lucky, to have digimon in this world that actually seemed to care about her. Granted, the Flamedramon didn't seem too thrilled, but the others were amazingly hospitable.

Boredom was starting to get the best of the girl, so she threw the blankets off of her and climbed out of the comfortable bed, almost with some hesitation. She decided to explore a little bit. As she left the cavern, she took a left, soon travelling further into the deep caves.

The path she was going down led to two doors, one of which was opened. From the inside, sounds of struggled grunting and the sound of scaly fists against metal of some sort could be heard. Another few moments, and a large crash sounded from the room. The door to the room was partially closed, and from what could be seen of the room it was cozy, the corner of a bed and a dresser being shown. There was a picture on the dresser.

The other door was shut tight, a sign on the door said "Bathroom" in engraved letters.

Amanda jumped at the crashing sound and decided to investigate the more interesting of the two rooms. Pressing her back against the wall, she shimmied closer to the door, hearing the sounds grow a bit louder. Turning her head, she tried to peer through the crack in the door, but nothing came to her eyes. Biting her lip, she reached out and slowly began to open the door so she was able to see who was in the room and what they were doing. As the door slid open, she winced as it creaked ever-so-softly.

Opening the door would reveal more of the room, namely a large, well-made, soft rug on the otherwise stone floor, a mirror propped in the corner of the toom, and Arcturas.

He had removed his armor; seeing as he was in his room and he was getting ready for sleep himself it would seem perfectly normal to him. He stood infront of a training dummy of sorts, made from wood, cloth, and pieces of destroyed Digizoid armor. He had taken a step back with his right leg, the muscles of his well-made body fleing as he brought his naked hands up and punched the dummy square across the side of its mishapen face. Recoiling, the look of focused battle-readiness gleamed across his worn face.

Hearing the door creak, he twirled, his tail landing another blow and causing another loud crash. standing just a few feet from his armor, he narrowed his eyes and said, "Who's there?"

Amanda felt her heart skip a beat as the Flamedramon's voice sounded. She opened the door a bit more and took a shaky step forward, ready to explain herself, "I...I just heard sounds of fighting. I...wanted to make sure you were okay." She studdered slightly and steadied one of her shaking arms with the opposite hand, "I'm sorry if I interrupted you. I'll be leaving now." Turning, she began to sneak out, hoping the Flamedramon would leave it at that. She was walking on thin ice with him as it was.

He had expected the human to go snooping around, though not so soon. HE barely even rememb ered that he was standing there without his armor on, revealing hir true face. A scar was perched there, between his eyes. It looked liek an old cut wound that had been deep. Another scar bore across his chest, longer, and it was no wonder that this Flamedramon was fierce and cold to others.

He felt like yelling at her, condemning her for sneaking into other people's rooms uninvited, but he didn't. Hearing her apoligize and try to move back out of the room, he said, "Wait... please."

His voice had temporarily lost its edge, and he just stood watching the doorway, watching her, "You don't have to apoligize. I don't understand where your concern for me comes from, but I guess I should be grateful that at least one human still knows I exist."

He curved his long tail and sat down o nthe bed, not facing the doorway. Whether she stayed or not didn't matter, though he didn't think he could look at her if she did, "You can come in, if you want. I don't know if I can provide much in the way of conversation, though." On the outside, he still felt hate towards the girl, but somewhere inside of him he knew it was either misplaced, wrong of him to think that way, or both.

The girl was taken aback by the sudden softness in the Flamedramon's voice. The cold attitude was still there, but it sounded as if it were being suppressed. His comment on his existence intrigued and confused her, and at his invitation she stepped into the room, her shoulders relaxing slightly. She took a seat on the floor before his bed and rested her back against the mattress, allowing her eyes to close, "What do you mean by me knowing you exist? Have you had experiences with humans before?" She looked up at him, and noticed he wasn't trying to make eye contact with her. Looking back away, she wrapped her arms around her legs and sighed, "And out of curiousity...may I ask where those scars came from?"

He lowered his gaze a little and turned his head back around as she sat down, hearing her questions. A part of him wanted to answer, the part that had been dormant, but he nearly stopped himself before hearing her soft tone, "Yes, I have."

Reashing back, stretching his lengthy body across his bed for a moment, he plucked the picture from the dresser and sat back up, looking at it. He heard her ask about his scars and swallowed, "It is a long and disturbing story. Why would a human care about what happens to us Digimon?"

(Apoligies for the short posts, but any more would just be babbling on my part.)

Amanda frowned, "Why wouldn't I care? Digimon are just as real as any of us humans, and I do my best to care for whoever I meet, be it human, or digimon. I just want to do my best to help whoever I can in this world..." Her voice began to grow quieter and she nearly spoke in a whisper, "I don't like seeing others in pain..."

She remembered the terrible feeling of watching her mother slowly fade away because of cancer. The feeling of being helpless to do anything about it...The girl's arms began to shake and she tightened her grip around her legs, letting out a shaky breath, "I never want to sit helplessly on the sidelines and be unable to do anything...I don't want to lose anyone else...ever again." She was getting off track, but she couldn't help it. The memories were beginning to come back and she buried her forehead into the crook between her knees, gritting her teeth to force the tears back.

"That's what "she" said too..." the Flamedramon's red eyes were distant again, staring at the photo, "My tamer."

He had not even told the other Digimon in this cave what had happened, choosing instead to just tell them that he was lost and needed a home, and that he hated humans. Was he really prepared to tell a human his story when no one else had been worthy in his eyes?

"Her name was Sera. She was a young tamer, and we had only been together for abut a week. We travelled with these two other tamers through different places in the Digital World."

Reluctantly, he lowered the picture and offered it to her. It was the only picture he had of her. The sides were ripped to eliminate the two other tamers and their Digimon, but what was left was a tall girl with bright blue eyes, smooth brown hair put up in a spiky bun, and wearing a basic tanktop and jeans. The identifiable feature was the D-Ban on her left arm, blue and red, which stuck out from her personal style. There was an Agumon next to her, his arms crosed and glaring at the camera. His red eyes were noticable.

Amanda looked at the picture and felt a small smile coming to her face, "You looked pretty defiant back then...I guess that never wore off on you..." However, she could hear the strained tone in the Flamedramon's voice, and she slowly handed back the picture, "What happened...if you don't mind me asking...why only a week?" She felt terrible, prying like this, but she was curious now, and she wanted to be here for the draconic digimon.

Smiling, though it was more of a smirk, he said, " I didn't like the company we were in, and I really didn't like my picture being taken. I had good reason not to like those two though." He said grimly.

"They were very rude to Sera. They pushed her around and told her to carry their things, and they tried to make me do it too, but I refused." He halted and closed his eyes for a second before continuing, "One day, as we started up the mountains, Sera fell and sprained her leg. I helped her up and tried carrying her, asking the other tamers if they would help, but they refused, calling Sera a burden. They..." he stopped, his clawed fists clenching for a moment, "commanded their Digimon to evolve and pushed her backwards, towards the cliffs we had stopped on. I tried to stop them, but they gave me these." he gestured to the scars.

"I wasn't able to stop them from... pushing her off, but I was able to evolve and delete their Digimon... They ran away after that, leaving me and Sera..."

He opened his eyes, seeing the room he was in like it was brand new, "The rest is pretty much the same. I got her to a graveyard... then moved on to eventually come here. I still remember the faces of those humans, the ones who only craved power when my Sera only wanted friendship!" HE had raised his voice at the last sentence, fire bristling in his eyes. Realizing this, he calmed himself, "I guess I owe you an apology. These Digimon are the only family I have now, and I will not see another human hurt anyone else close to me again. Bringing you here could attract the attention of the natives, and there are many more of them then there are of us. Erebus is strong, but even he couldn't stop them all last time a raid happened. We lost two friends."

Amanda frowned and listened to his story with a heavy heart. She couldn't imagine how it must've felt...to have two people you travelled with suddenly destroy a life just because they were slowing them down...

"That...that's awful..." Her voice shook as she felt tears coming, this time, she let them roll down her face, "I can't believe someone would do something so selfish and cruel..." Without realizing it, the girl was now standing beside the bed and, before she could figure out what was going on, she wrapped her arms around the Flamedramon's waist and gave him a comforting hug, "I'm so sorry...for what they did to you. I...I just pray that I could change your opinion on humans...not all of us are bad...I'll do my best not to become a monster like those two have become."

His flinch was visible when she had touched him, and although he felt disgusted with himself for admitting it, he enjoyed telling the girl what had happened. Slowly, he allowed her to hug him, even going to far as to hug her back, or as best he could.

"Thank you for listening. Maybe I was wrong to hate all humans for the actions of few..." He barely whispered those words, but moments before he could say anything else, a loud bang and a crash of rocks came from the entrance corridor, followed by the howl from the Cerberumon that was sleeping near there.

Startled, he looked over the girl towards the door, fully alert once more. Gently moving Amanda aside, he stood and started relacing his armor quickly, flexing the long claws of his gauntlets before running to the door and out into the corridor, and he was gone.

Amanda gasped as the ground shook and she watched as Flamedramon took off without another word. Snapped out of her shock, her eyes narrowed and she ran after the digimon. Passing through the hall, she noticed her katana leaning against the tunnel wall. Grabbing the handle, she slid the blade out and left the sheathe behind before heading towards the source of the sound.

"Come on, Quetzalmon...where are you?" She whispered, feeling her heart beat quicken. She really hoped the threat wasn't anything too serious, not in the state she was in, and after seeing Flamedramon training, she wondered how tired he was as well.

The sound came from a large creature, easily standing almost to the ceiling of the cave. Its white fur and brown bare flesh on his chest, feet, claws, and face. The Blizzarmon bellowed as it brought its twin gigantic axes down upon the Cerberumon, who had been caught asleep. Yelping, it lay there, wounded. Gizmo was also there, laying face-down on the ground, cut marks on his metal frame and sparks issuing forth.

The Flamedramon entered and saw the creature just as the Apollomon came out of his chamber, "Step back, Erebus, you know you can't attack in here!"

Facing off against the Perfect, Arcturas leapt and ignited his gauntlets in fire, then his whole body as he shot himself towards the Blizzarmon, "Fire Rocket!"

It struck the Blizzarmon, who was still readying to attack the Cerberumon again, dead in the chest. It staggered backwards a step, interrupted, then refocused on the Flamedramon.

Arcturas flippedi n midair, flames dying down as he landed and turned to face off again.

Amanda tightened her grip around the handle of her blade and rushed forward. Flamedramon succeeded well in distracting the digimon enough for her to slip past the Blizzarmon to stand behind him. As Flamedramon crashed into the digimon's chest, causing Blizzarmon to stumble backwards, she drew a card from her pocket with her free hand and slid it through her D-Ban before whispering.

"Digimodify...Soul on Fire Activate..."

Her D-Ban unleashed a bright beam of light that soared forward and struck Flamedramon. Within an instant, he seemed to vanish from view, hopefully confusing the Blizzarmon as the girl swiftly put her card away and leapt up towards the digimons back, slicing her katana downward towards his spine.


((Name: Soul on Fire
Number: U28
Type: Single Target
Duration: 3 Turns
Effect: Turns the affected Digimon invisible.))

For a moment, Arcturas had felt a tingling sensation on his skin. The next thing he knew was that he had disappeared. He was still there, but yet he wasn't. It wasn't like anything he had experienced before, but yet he had to guess that it was a tamer's work that had done this.

The Blizzarmon blinked. One moment his target had been there, and the next he wasn't. Looking around, he tried to spot the Flamedramon with no success. Just as he was going to turn and continue to attack the Cerberumon, a strong pain came from his back and he roared out loudly. The katana wouldn't reach his spine, but it sliced a nice cut just inches away from it. It turned quickly, right axe blurring as it swept downwards at the girl.

Realizing who was behind the Blizzarmon, Arcturas rushed over, slidding around the Blizzarmon as it turned to attack her and leaping, extending one clawed gauntlet and catching the axe that was winging to hit Amanda, "Claw Express!"

The momentum of his leap pushed the axe aside, and Arcturas striked with his free claw, stabbing into the arm of the Perfect level that had just tried to harm the one human that had been as nice to him as his tamer did, and getting another roar of pain as a response.

Amanda gasped and backed away as the axe swung dangerously towards her. However, a clang of steel hitting digizoid armor drew her attention up as almost an invisible wall formed between her and the digimon. The axe of the Blizzarmon flung away from her and three wicked looking gashes appeared on his arm, caused by the unseen digimon.

Amanda took this chance to quickly rush behind the Blizzarmon again and leap up towards his back. She reached out, grabbing one of the long braids that hung from the back of his head, and began to climb up towards his shoulders. She found herself nearly being thrown off by the digimon's movements, but she held firm. Grasping onto the braid with one hand, she drew her katana back and stabbed it towards the beast's shoulders as hard as she could.

Entering into a sort of rage, the wold Blizzarmon released its grip on the axe in its wounded arm and slamming it into the nearby wall. Unfortunately, the claws that had wounded that arm were still stuck, and Arcutas gave a great heave of pain as the Blizzarmon pulled back its arm and caught him. Invisibility or no, the Perfect knew something was there and was going to make it pay.

Feeling anotherpainful wound on its back, the Blizzarmon slung its captured prey hard through the entrance hall, as proven by an unseen force smashing into the ground in a cloud of dust and the slightly opened and chipped door beyond bursting open. the Blizzarmon next shook itself violently to relieve itself of the pain and whetever was causing it, running out towards the entrance as well. As it burst into the open, a heav fit of snow had begun to drift downward. The Blizzarmon was more then equipped for winter conditions, and it tipped on its side and rolled over in the snow before straightenign up, whether Amanda was still there or not. the cold loosened the pain of his back wounds, as well as his arm.

Amanda clung on for dear life as the digimon burst outside. She immediately felt the freezing weather, her breath came out in fog-like whisps as she felt heavy flakes of snow fly into her skin. Her fear grew as the Blizzarmon pitched to the side. The girl barely had enough time to leap off before she would have been crushed beneath the digimon's weight. Clutching her blade and breathing heavily at the close call, she began to back away from the enraged beast, hoping desperately that he wouldn't see her. She took a quick glance back to see if the Flamedramon was okay, but him being invisible, it was impossible to tell.

She looked up at the snowy beast and gritted her teeth. She had to keep him from going back into the cave...the digimon couldn't fight well in the tight quarters. Ignoring all instinct to turn and run, the girl rushed forward head-on towards the beast and held her blade at her side, the point facing towards the monster's chest. Gaining enough momentum, she leapt towards the monster and stabbed her blade right towards him, using the force of her body to power the blade forward.

Out of confinement, the best medicine to pain, or at least pain caused by someone stabbing you in the back.

The Blizzarmon leapt to the side of the human. even in his rage, he could see clear enough to dodge out of the way of a little sword, especally now that she didn't have the upper hand. This was HIS territory.

"Knuckle Fire!"

Bolts of fire sprang from one of the hills of snow, pelting the Perfect lefel in the shoulder as it turned towards the girl. Arcturas had regained his footing in the snow, fire apparently sprouting in midair as he said, "You wont harm her!"

The Blizzarmon put out its flaming shoulder, wincing in pain, as it breathed heavily. The Flamedramon was beginning to become visible, only as an outline at first, but slowly. With a lurch, it charged, the one axe it still held brought up above its head. It totally ignored the girl.

Amanda gasped as the digimon ran towards the Flamedramon, who seemed to be losing the effect of the card. As she ran as fast as she could towards the beast-like digimon, she slashed another card through her D-Ban at lightning speed, "Digimodify...Platinum Sword activate!"

An aura of light began to appear within her hand, slowly extending to match the length of her katana. When the light cleared, a gleaming silver sword took its place. Holding both the blades at her sides, the girl leapt between the Blizzarmon's legs and spun around, bringing both swords upward across each other so that his axe would not land on Arcturas, but right in the crook of the two blades. Amanda grunted at the sheer force of the digimon's attack, but kept a tight hold on the two handles, pulling them outward like scissors to keep the digimon from pulling the axe away.

"Attack him now!" She cried out to the Flamedramon, feeling her knees shake as she held the axe in place.

((Name: Platinum Sword
Number: U56
Type: Weapon
Duration: Duration of the battle
Effect: Summons a sword that can be wielded by either the user or their Digimon. This sword is capable of causing thirty points of damage, and can also be used to block physical attacks.))

Arcturas had to admit as he reappeared, the girl had some impressive moves, especially with swords in her hands. Catching the flame on his gauntlets, he allowed himself ot be fully enveloped and increased the temperature of those flames. He would have to do some serious damage soon, or the Blizzarmon would wear them both down.

"Fire Rocket!" Arcturas yelled as he leapt upwards, then forwards at the Perfect, the shining blade on his helmet driving towards the Blizzarmon and stabbing into its midsection. The yowl of pain was followed by the creature backing up, resting its hands on the snow as it doubled over in agony.

The long braids of hair attached to sharp blades on its back came around as it slung its head, shooting for the Flamedramon who had been just on the verge of recovering his balance. Unfortunately for Arcturas, it was more then enough. The six or so arrow-like blades pierced his body, cracked his armor, and pushed him backwards.. Blood ran from the wounds, although only digital blood, it ran all the same. Arcturas grasped at the braids and tried pulling them away, but failed.

Realizing that the next thing the Blizzarmon was planning to do wasn't to attack him, but Amanda, the Flamedramon roared in a vain defiance, enflaming his body again, "See you in hell!" The flames shot onto the hair, through the braid, and onto the Blizzarmon's back. Catching the fur on fire easily.

Screaming, the Perfect level retracted what braids had not already broken and ran quickly, rolling several times as it dissapeared into the haze of heavy snowfall.

With that, Arcturas fell backwards into a soft pile of snow, and his flames were extinguished.

Amanda looked back and felt her heart wrench as she saw the blades dig into Flamedramon. She twisted around, eyes wide as the digimon prepared to attack her. As she backed away, she saw flames run along the braids, catching the Blizzarmon on fire. She looked back only to see Arcturas fall backwards from his wounds. Her heart sank, and she cried out to the Flamedramon, her voice lost over the snow-ridden wind.

Her platinum blade clattered to the floor as she rushed over to the digimon's side, adrenaline rushing through her. Kneeling at his side, she slid one arm beneath his neck, feeling the bitter cold of the snow against her skin as she lifted his upper body up and supported it with her knee, "Are...are you okay? Please...please be alright!" She shouted over the wind, as if yelling would make everything okay. He was going to make it...he HAD to make it.

He had slid his hands from the gauntlets, too heavy to hold up anymore. He shakily removedhis helmet. There were deep gashes on his stomach, his side, his chest, and his right arm, while his armor protected against the rest of the blades.

When he heard her concern, he merely smirked, "Humans and their worrying... You're just like Sera." He chuckled, a bad idea in his position. Even as Apollomon found his way finally to the entrance of the cave and saw the carnage, Arcturas did not acknowledge that he was gravely injured until he had had his laugh.

"I wanted this. My body is strong enough to heal from this, and the cold is nulling any pain, but my heart tells me I belong elsewhere."

Amanda looked at the fallen warrior and blinked, feeling her throat constrict, "I...I don't want you to give up...you have to keep fighting. What about your family here?" SHe blinked, feeling tears coming on, "Come on...you can pull through, you just have to get to your feet...we can patch you up inside..."

Her heart was beating. The helpless feeling was beginning to come again, just as it had did those few years ago. She bit her lip and gave the digimon a gentle hug around his neck, pressing her forehead against his warm scales, "Please, Arcturas...I don't want to lose another friend."

Letting another chuckle reach him, he said, "You hardly know me, and yet you show this much concern for me."

He set his red eyes upon her for a little longer then "breifly" would do justice for, pointing up at the sky, "My family is up there..." Whether he meant Earth, which was believed to be a parallel world above the skies of the Digital World, or what humans called heaven was a mystery. He dropped his hand ot her shoulder and said, "You have proved me wrong. Thank you for giving me the opportunity of having a tamer again, even for a short while."

For a Digimon, he was talking weird. When a Digimon is destroyed, its data is eventually reassembled as a Digitama, its memories are erased, and it is reborn. However, what was the use of a Digimon graveyard then? wh would the world need Digimon to watch over the dead if they all get reborn in the end? For this, the Flamedramon seemed sure.

"I want to give you something to remembering me by, something to help you in battles. You have a strong heart." he smiled and put a claw to his midsection. where a glowing sensation turned into an orb. Data particles floated in the red sphere without a care in the world.

"My Digi-Core, a collection of my being. This is what would eventually recompile my data and reborn me, but I don't want to be reborn..." he had a tear in his eyes too at this point, seeing her with tears and memories rushing past all at the same time were getting to him.

"I want to see her, and i'm sure we'll end up in the same place, even if for just a while..." he held the orb out to her with a weakening grip, "Live for me in this world. Use my spirit to protect the ones you love."

His body had begun to break apart in particles, as was his armor and even the blood on the snow. It was all slowly rising towards the sky, but didn't disappear like normal. It drifted up until it was swallowed by the sky.

The orb, once taken, would ripple with color then condense to form a small statue-like object flowing with energy, a little Flamedramon perched on a pedestal. It would then sink into her D-ban.

Arcturas closed his eyes and waited as he slowly broke apart into data and drifted upward. The final world heard from him before he fell completely to data was, "Sera..."

Amanda was speechless as she watched the digimon slowly fade away. She was honored at the gift he bestowed upon her, and wondered if she had done the right thing, waiting with him as he gave up his spirit instead of bringing him in for healing. She realized that this is what he wanted all along, to be reuinited with his lost tamer. As she watched him go, she had a gentle smile on her face. She felt snowflakes fall upon her face and closed her eyes as she gently whispered, "I hope we may meet again when my time comes...please tell my mom I send her my love..."

She didn't know if he could hear her last request, but she bowed her head and clasped her hands together, praying in her head for the digimon who showed her that even a hardened heart could be given compassion and love. As she stood up, brushing the snow from her jeans, she looked ahead to where the Blizzarmon disappeared, "I'll protect your family, Arcturas...that digimon won't come back here again, I promise..."

Crossing her hand to her D-ban, she tapped a button and closed her eyes as light began to surround her. She felt her bones lengthen, and a strange warmth spread over her skin as soft flesh began to form into smooth, sapphire scales. Armor began to form over her body, gleaming within the light of the sun. The new Flamedramon closed her slitted eyes and removed her gauntlets before setting them down on the ground. She lifted her helmet from her head and did the same before picking up the mask that belonged to the fallen digimon. Setting it upon her head, she looked down with determination at his gauntlets and placed them on her hands, feeling them meld around her arms in a perfect fit.

Casting a glance back at the cave, she gave a gentle bow of her head towards it and turned her head forward, "I'll come back soon..." With a strong leap, she surged forward, following the large footprints of the snowy beast, feeling anger and rage beginning to grow within her.

Erebus watched the final moments, watched the girl transform into that which had been given to her, and watched her streak off before turning to return to the cave. He had never seen a Spirit in action, though he was glad he had this day. For now though, he had ot tend to the wounded.

The Blizzarmon had finally extinguished the flames as it charged through the snow. Finally stopping in an outcropping of rocks that formed a ring, it heaved in pain as it felt its weakened body tremble in the cold and burns across its back and shoulder.

Amanda stopped behind the Blizzarmon, the gauntlets of the fallen Flamedramon beginning to glow with fire. A low growl escaped from her lips as she felt a bestial instinct rise within her. This creature killed without reason, and he was going to pay dearly for that.

"Blizzarmon...I cannot allow you to live after what you did." Her voice sounded more mature, with a growl-like quality to it that was inhuman. She gave an angry swipe of her tail and crouched in preparation to leap at the beast, "I'm afraid you're attacks end here. I cannot let you destroy the lives of digimon who have done nothing but tried to survive in this wasteland..." Leaping into the air, the draconic warrior was soon engulfed in flames. Arching her body in midair, the girl dived down and soared towards the injured digimon while unleashing an ear-shattering roar "Fire Rocket!"

The Blizzarmon was struck off-guard, and although it could hear her words, it neither cared nor understood them. The flaming attack struck in the previously wounded area on its chest and made it reel backwards off balance. It landed on its back in a fit of pain and confusion, grasping at its remaining axe and swinging it towards the female Flamedramon with all of its remaining strength.