[Video]

[brokenground]

[It's a video. Terra's somewhere outside of HospiTown by the forest in the background; it's late but not so late where he can't be easily seen. He looks like he hasn't been sleeping well, but otherwise alert.]

Hey there. I don't know most of you and most of you don't know me, so ... I'm Terra. I've been told in some detail we're here to save this place, and I intend to get to it.

['Now', apparently.]

Minervamon said she'd be leaving more detailed information later on, but for now I know we need to find Titamon and find the ARCloner as some first steps. It's a lot better than nothing to work with at all, but this world's a lot larger--

[A lot larger than most worlds he's been to. He can't say that, and continues after a moment of thought.]

--Than I expected. There's a lot of ground to cover. So I'm hoping to find some people willing to do some traveling. ...A lot of traveling actually. And willing to share what they find when they're traveling with everyone else. If anyone out there's got experience with uh, scouting, reconnaissance, that sort of thing, and willing to help, I'd like to hear from you.

[It's pretty clear Terra's not used to doing this sort of thing, it's all pretty awkwardly stated, with a bit of fidgeting here and there too, but he manages to stay pretty calm. This was a thing he was sure would help. Now if he could find enough people willing to help..]

Comments

[proveyourmetal]

[That's a good haul, Terra. At least, he thinks they're a good haul. Whatever those things are...

In return for his question, Terra will put one of his newly learned hand signals to good use: Not sure .

There isn't any immediate danger that he can see, but it's worth getting up and moving to the edge of their camp to investigate. Vanguard starts to wander after him, but Bee reassures him and motions for him to tend to the food. With a certain amount of reluctance, he obliges Bee, though his eyes are more on Bee than what he's cooking.

Bumblebee steps up over the slight incline in the earth that outlines their makeshift camp.

His wanderings will take him to the edge of the treeline where he'll pause, brows rising in surprise and interest.

From this new angle, he'll see a rather large swath cut through the foliage. He kneels down to inspect the earth more closely. Not cut... but trampled? It's as if either a large digimon, or at least a herd of them, have trampled their way through the forest recently. In a hurry.]

[brokenground]

[They are onions and they are magnificent. One thing Terra was looking forward to already was introducing a robot to the wonderful world of millions of flavors. If there was one good thing about being human, it's tastebuds.

But that may have to wait, as there's more serious matters at hand. Like whatever it is that has Bumblebee so wary. He trusted his own instincts, which didn't seem to be ringing any alarm bells at the moment, but part of traveling with someone else is also relying on their senses. And if something might be up, it's best to be careful. The trampled treeline is noted only after Bumblebee makes it obvious that's what he's looking at, but it didn't seem terribly important unless whatever ran through the area came back. Some sort of herd?]

..Here, hold these.

[Almost absently, Terra hands the onions to Dorumon, who reluctantly takes the things - they smell awful to him.

Might as well get some height and look around. The divot they'd found was useful for temporary camps, with its ridges making for snug places to lean but it didn't make for good looking around. A tree on the other hand would be. So Terra goes climbing. A lot of practice means his wide-legged pants don't even get in the way much. A brief shower of leaves later and he pops out among the foliage, looking around alertly. There still.. doesn't seem much obvious, and nothing really looked out of place save the trail. Maybe it was a common travel path.. might not be wise to stay on it.]

I don't see anything from up --

[Swinging back down from his perch and onto a lower branch does, on the other hand, put their campsite into neat view.]

... Here. ... Is that a footprint.

[There's something in Terra's tone, its utterly flat question that isn't exactly like a question as he points straight down.]

[proveyourmetal]

[Bumblebee has yet to be introduced to Terra's culinary sensibilities. For better or for worse, he'll be very open to trying these magnificent things.

Whatever Bumblebee had heard from before is too faint now to really matter. They're surrounded by the regular, nonthreatening sounds of of the forest around them.

He watches Terra take the high ground, shielding his eyes from the early afternoon sun. He seems to know what he's doing, so any concern Bee might feel is quickly dismissed.

Vanguard just crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow, distracted temporarily from cooking. He throws Dorumon and his handful of onions a curious expression, his eyebrow raised]

He always do this kinda thing?

[Bumblebee's eyes widen all of a sudden, shifting from where he's standing and up to Terra again.

Another hand signal because he just can't believe what he thought he heard:

Repeat?]

[brokenground]

[Dorumon is not sure about this onion thing, and sets them down, vainly trying to get the dirt off his claws. The downside of white fur is it stains so easy..]

I don't know, we haven't been adventuring much yet.

[He can admit it! But maybe it's important! And ... this issue of footprints is a bit alarming, causing Dorumon to look around but everything seems fine to him. Except the onions. and the trampled ground, but whatever came through was gone, right?

Terra seems less certain things are any good.]

Footprint. Uh. Here, I'll show you, come here.

[Did Bumblebee know how to climb trees? Well it doesn't matter one way or another, Terra's got no issue at all swinging a little lower on his branch and offering a hand. One perk of spending years honing physical strength is having a whole lot of it eventually - if Bee takes the offered hand, he'll simply be hauled right up into the tree as well. It offers a much better view of camp.]

[proveyourmetal]

[Vanguard may be initially alarmed at the revelation, but he'll cautiously return to cooking. It's a suitable distraction, and helpful in keeping his composure]

If it is a footprint, it's probably a hundred miles away by now. [He gives the little campfire a little encouragement, using his abilities to work up the fire. Almost finished. It'll be ready as soon as Bee and Terra are finished monkeying around. The last bit is said ridiculously loud, loud enough that Terra and Bee will hear it.] It's fine. So long as they don't break their necks and waste this food I so lovingly crafted! FROM SCRATCH.

[Bumblebee is well accustomed to getting to high ground for a good vantage point. But he's never been small enough that the good vantage point was on a tree of all things. Terra's hand is actually very helpful, and once he's up, he'll survey the sight himself.

Well that's nothing short of alarming. He'll have to fetch his D-Terminal for a more detailed answer.]

That. Is definitely a footprint.

[He squints, making out the earthen imprint of muscled feet and holes in the ground where claws have dug in. For their entire camp to be dwarfed by the footprint means that they're looking at something ridiculously large. Well... large compared to them, anyway. The track they'd found isn't nearly as defined, or freshly disturbed.]

Recent. Within past two or three days maybe? Wherever it was going, it was going in a rush.

[Bee's eyes search out their origin, and from where they stand, Bumblebee can just barely make out a patch of disturbed forest, where a violent altercation looks to have taken place. There are what appear to be blackened areas that look suspiciously like scorch marks and deep gouges in the wood.]

[He'll lightly tap Terra's arm and motion towards it.]

[brokenground]

Don't jinx it.

[Dorumon doesn't want whatever made those prints to find them, no sir. That would only end badly. A digimon that could make a print that big had to be at least the size of a tyrannomon!

Terra meanwhile is comfortable on his branch and unlikely to fall off and break his neck. But maybe there really was something to the digimon needing them for more than just a power source. Neither Dorumon nor Vanguard seem much interested in investigating what could be a serious danger ... just himself and Bumblebee.

And back to text. It conveyed a lot more than rude handsign did.]

And it's heading in the same direction we are. I want off its trail as soon as we're finished with our meal. It might take a bit longer but if this thing backtracks I don't want to be here when it does. Better safe than sorry. If it has to go through trees and not this path we'll hear it coming at least.

[Especially leaving clawmarks and burnmarks that high..

It seems until now Vanguard's blatant yelling has been ignored, but finally Terra swings down from his perch. Where'd his onions go?]

No shouting from here out unless it's an emergency, and that goes for you, Vanguard. We're not set up to deal with hungry digimon taller than the trees are, and little digimon surrounded by the smell of cooking food being noisy might attract the wrong kind of attention.

Do you think it'll come back?

Maybe. Not a lot of predators that don't like an easy meal.

[A glance back at Bumblebee; he's been in plenty of hazardous situations himself, but the Autobot turned human was probably older and more experienced. If Bee agreed, then all well and good but if not, maybe there would be alternatives..]

[proveyourmetal]

[Vanguard's expression sours.] Jinxed? Don't tell me you actually believe in that stuff.

[Bumblebee's lips are set in a thin line as Terra speaks. He doesn't know what would make tracks like that, but he'd rather not find out. He stays up for a little longer than Terra, eyes scanning the landscape. Thinking to himself.

Vanguard also makes a small, choked sound at the realization that to a large digimon, he really is a tasty little morsel standing next to a very aromatic campfire topped with cooking food.]

I get it I get it. I'll keep the lips zipped.

[Bee finally steps off the branch and lands lightly next to Terra. He does have quite a bit of experience scouting and navigating unfamiliar territory, but most of his experience comes from very different worlds. He values a second opinion when he can get it, particularly someone like Terra.]

Agreed. Let's get off this trail.

You thinking about taking any routes in particular?

[brokenground]

Since the Chosen have arrived and begun discussing their worlds, there's not a whole lot I'll question anymore.

[Dorumon's being quiet now, and subtly kicking the onions away. If not stinking was part of their plan, then those things needed to go elsewhere, and now. Terra manages an almost-encouraging smile as Vanguard seems to realize the potential danger of their situation, and nods. It's best... to be careful.

Better careful than eaten.

Bumblebee's hop down is watched, just to make sure he can handle the difference between robot and human when it comes to hopping off things and not breaking an ankle.]

Not really. We've been taking a direct route north-east til now, but that seems the approximate path this trail's headed. Maybe we could cut straight east til we hit the cliff and follow it northwards, see if it gets us where we're going. If not, we'll see where it does go and backtrack from there?

[It's an idea. It's not much of one, but it's better than standing around.]

..But first, let's eat so Vanguard's work doesn't go to waste. Clean up then move. Just keep your senses peeled. If anything seems weird, anything at all, just notify someone.

[That goes for all of them.]