14 Butterflies | Video

[strengthinkindness]

[Choco's grinning face could be seen as soon as the screen lights up.]

Hi everyone! I'm back! It's been a long time, huh? Things have been really crazy...

Oh, but I wanna show you guys something. It's really important...

[He digs around off to the side for a moment before pulling back up, holding a golden tag with a pink crest.]

Tadah! Fluttershy finally got her crest! Isn't it neat? Kindness really does suit her the best...



Choco, what are you doing?

[He pouts at the Floramon.] I'm just showing everyone Fluttershy's new crest...

[She rolls her eyes.] Would you stop goofing around? Gimme that...

[She starts to take the D-Terminal from him, but Choco holds on, and there's a shaky view of the ceiling as the two start tugging at the device.]

No, leggo! This is what I do - !

[Please excuse as the feed cuts out.]

Comments

[beingthecreature]

Sometimes yeah. I guess.

I wish we didn't have to deal with them at all, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

[strengthinkindness]

Mm...[Fluttershy nods, understanding how that is.] It does get difficult at times.

B-But...it's things like that that can make the good moments...more rewarding.

[beingthecreature]

Yeah, that's it exactly.

Man... I wish I could save the day.

[Chris glances aside at Nes and chuckles, giving him a nudge.] You may get your chance.

I hope so! I wanna go in fighting- pew pew boosh! -and I wanna be a hero, and save the damsel in distress and get kisses! [He giggles, grinning a little sheepishly at that last one. Chris can't help but laugh warmly.]

Yeah I could see that, but saving the day doesn't always mean a big gesture, yaknow.

It doesn't?

[strengthinkindness]

Right...saving the day could be all the little things you do all the time.

It could even be as simple as cheering up someone who's been having a bad day.

[beingthecreature]

[He glanced aside at Fluttershy's comment, then smiled and nodded.] Yeah, she's right. So don't worry Nes, you'll get your chance, I'm sure of it.

[The Dracomon tilts his head, not entirely convinced. But getting to be a hero sounds good to him so he grins all the same.]

[strengthinkindness]

You have a name already too! That's cool!

[Choco says this with a bit of a small aside at Floramon, who pouts a little.]

[beingthecreature]

[Chris has a momentary eyeroll at that glance, but then smiles brightly.]

Yeah, this one was my idea. It's taken from 'Indonesia,' the native habitat of the draco lizard and where we had one of our adventures.

[Another, more prominent eyeroll.] Martin prefers to call him 'Nessie' though, after a legendary beast back in our world.

[strengthinkindness]

...A draco lizard?

[She's not sure she's heard of that one.]

[beingthecreature]

Oh-ho, yeah! One of the coolest creatures around. They're small, only a few inches long, and they look like almost any other sort of arboreal lizard you'd find, except for one important difference.

They glide.

[strengthinkindness]

[Her eyes just light up.] They glide? Really? How?

[beingthecreature]

Wings! [Really now, that's an obvious answer.]

Almost! 'Cept lizards back home don't usually have wings. [He snickers, then thinks for a moment. Holding up an index finger in a 'Wait' gesture he spends a few seconds rooting around in his pack, then pulls out a small notebook usually used for creature observation notes. The D-Terminal is propped up nearby and he starts drawing something on one of the pages, holding it up when he's finished. It's two quick sketches, one of a draco lizard similar to this, and another with the 'wings' expanded, like this.]

All draco lizards- like Draco volans, the one we spent the day with -have adapted the ability to spread their ribs out with skin stretched between them, giving them the ability to glide. Helping this are flattened back legs and neck flaps for additional stabilization in the air. Some glides have been as long as 200 feet, and even longer!

[strengthinkindness]

Oh wow...! That's amazing!

[beingthecreature]

Yeah! Definitely gets my vote for one of the coolest creature powers around.

[strengthinkindness]

That's really incredible! It must have been fun getting to spend time with them!

[beingthecreature]

[For just a moment there his smile slips, giving him an odd expression. Then he apparently shakes himself out of it, his look just as bright as before.]

It was! Definitely an experience I wouldn't have wanted to miss.

[strengthinkindness]

[Fluttershy pauses, looking at him curiously. She had caught the small falter of his expression, and she couldn't help wondering about it.]

Did...you almost miss it?

[beingthecreature]

Oh, uh. [He looks a little unsure, running a hand back through his hair.] Almost, yeah.

[strengthinkindness]

[She frowns, a little hesitant. He seems like he doesn't want to talk about it.

Unfortunately, her Digimon don't seem to notice.]

How come?

[beingthecreature]

[He glanced at Floramon, then seemed to mentally shrug after a moment.]

Martin and I were up in the tree tops of the Indonesian rain forest to study draco lizards when I raced ahead of him. I was moving through the canopy just fine, up until I misjudged a leap and wound up falling into a mud wallow waaaayyy way way way at the bottom. It knocked me for a loop for a little while, and afterwards I came down with a temporary bout of acrophobia. [Looking aside, he notices Nes' confused face.] Fear of heights.

[Chris sighed lightly, clasping his hands together before holding them apart as he continued talking, a wan smile on his face.] Unfortunately, losing the ability to climb- which is pretty much my signature thing -came at the worst time, because one of our other villains was going through collecting draco lizards for one of her own plots, and she wound up accidentally kidnapping Martin as well. With a little inspiration from a hatching nest of draco lizards I'd happened to come across I was able to get the courage to climb back, and we even got draco power out of it. But it was looking a little sticky for a while, especially because at the time all we knew Martin was gone, we didn't know where he'd gone or why.

[strengthinkindness]

G-Goodness...that really does sound like it would be difficult.

I'm glad everything worked out though...

[beingthecreature]

Yeah. Difficult is one way to put it.

[strengthinkindness]

But you're all better now, right?

[beingthecreature]

Oh yeah, no worries! 100% now.

[strengthinkindness]

That's good. I didn't think so, since you don't seem afraid of anything.

[beingthecreature]

[Chris is silent for a few moments, longer than you might expect, before he smiles slightly.]

Thanks but, everyone's afraid of something. Even me.