Miles and Renamon

[Miles]

Name: Miles Preston
Gender: Male
Age: 9

Appearance: Miles is a small little boy, thin and weak-looking with pale blond hair that is almost white. It's fluffy all over and curls a little at the bottom, and appears wispy, just like him. He's got large, light blue eyes and pale skin, all giving him the appearance of a sort of spirit. He likes wearing loose clothes, long-sleeved shirts and sweaters in light colors. With that, he either wears pants or shorts, also in light colors or light denim.

Personality: Miles is quiet and always seems to have his head in the clouds; he lives life in a sort of haze, blowing from one day to the next and never really seeming to care much about anything. Every day, he does his schoolwork and goes outside to play, which for him means swinging on the swingset for hours on end, enjoying the breeze and the openness of the outdoors. When his parents call him in, he obediently comes. That's another thing about him - he's obedient, very obedient. He seems to understand very well who's in charge, and will listen to them over another child. All the schoolteachers love him, but they wish he'd speak up a little more. He doesn't have many friends, as he never takes the time to make them.

History: Miles is American and lives in South Carolina. He lives with his parents (he's just a kid!) and goes to elementary school. His mom is a stay-at-home writer and his dad is a businessman. He was born a little early, and due to this has a weak immune system. He was very sickly for the first half of his life, and hardly ever got to go outside, which is why, now that he's not sick any more, he spends all his time out in the sunlight. Despite this, his skin and hair never seem to gain any color.

Digimon: Reremon - Viximon - Renamon

Digimon’s Personality: Renamon is protective of the little boy she calls her partner and would do anything to keep him safe. Although she doesn't mean to, she underestimates him because of his small size and age, and has taken it upon herself to never let him leave her sight for fear of something happening to him. She's also a little quiet, but more talkative than Miles, and is more mature in thought - meaning, she isn't always in a fairytale land like he is, and understands better the danger they are in while in the Digital World. But she tries her best to keep him happy, always going out of her way to make him feel at home.

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The teacher told them to do something new today. They had to use a computer to make a crossword puzzle with their spelling words. She gave them a long name that was supposed to be typed into a special box on the internet and they could go there and fill out a form with words to make the puzzle. Then they had to print it.

Miles told his mom this, and she was happy to get it all set up for him. She put in the long name and found the form. Then she said she needed to cook and left him there with the form on the screen and the list of his spelling words on the desk beside him.

Miles looked up at the big screen, over at the paper, and then down at the many black keys.

He found the first letter, the "f" in "folder", and pressed it.

Before he could find the next letter, a pop-up showed up on the screen. He blinked and opened his mouth to call his mom, but stopped before any sound came out. On the pop-up was a picture of an egg. It was rocking back and forth slowly, and was pale yellow. He watched it for a few moments, entranced by its movement. And then he shifted his eyes to the button beneath it. Take it, it read.

He clicked it.

All of a sudden, the egg began to grow. Miles's eyes widened, but he didn't move a muscle. The egg continued to grow until it was about the size of Miles's head, and then it popped right out of the screen and landed on the desk.

Miles stared.

The egg just sat there.

Finally, the little boy shifted in the chair, folding his legs under him, and reached out to touch it. Its smooth shell was cool under his fingertips, but quickly absorbed the warmth he transferred to it and he could almost feel it pulsating beneath his touch.

Strange.

Miles picked it up, finding that it wasn't too heavy, and climbed out of the chair. He left his mom's office and headed towards his room, passing the kitchen as he went. Luckily, his mom didn't look up from the stove where she was cooking pork chops, and he was able to pass through unnoticed.

Or so he thought.

When he reached the door to his room, his mother called, "Did you finish it already?"

Miles froze. "Not yet."

"Then where are you going?" she asked him, slight amusement in her voice. She wasn't mad, just curious as to what made him stop doing his homework when he was usually so good about it.

"I forgot something," he said, a little stiff.

"Alright then," said his mom, and he could hear her flip one of the 'chops.

Giving an inaudible sigh of relief, Miles continued into his room, closing the door behind him with his foot. He gently placed the egg on his bed, looking at it curiously. He wondered what it was; he'd never heard of an egg coming out of a computer before. Maybe it was special... Maybe he was special.

He would've stayed there and stared at it all day, but he needed to finish his homework. He turned to leave the room, but stopped, turned back around, and covered the egg with a blanket first.

When he got back to the computer, he noticed that something else had been left on the counter - a small Tamagotchi-like device with yellow accents. He pocketed it on sight, figuring that it came with the egg and was therefore his.

Once he'd finished the puzzle and printed out two copies, one for him to complete himself and one for the teacher, he called his mom back to turn off the computer. She arrived, and he was about to leave the room when a question came to mind.

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"What happens if something pops up on the screen when you're playing computer?"

His mom turned to him, tilting her head to the side. "Why do you ask that?"

"I don't know."

Then she smiled. "You just click the little X in the corner. If it tells you you've won something special, it's never real. They're just made to bother people."

Miles pondered this. It's never real.

"Okay."

"Alright. Dinner's in five minutes, I'll call you."

Miles nodded and left the room, all too aware of the bulge in his pocket that was the mysterious Tamagotchi-toy.

---

He went back to his room to complete the crossword after that, and spent the last of his five minutes staring at the egg. Then his mom called him to dinner and he left again, eating with his mom and his dad, who came home a few minutes after they'd began. When he was done, he went back to his room to sleep, putting the egg beside him on his pillow. The closer he held it, the warmer it felt.

It was so weird, how this had just happened. Nothing like this ever happened to him. His life was always the same thing over and over. And now... he had this egg...

He took one last look at the little device in his hand before closing his eyes and easily falling asleep.

---

It didn't last very long. Sometime during the night, the egg began to move. It began to rock like it had on the computer screen, bumping against his head and causing him to awaken with a start.

Then came the crack.

It was very loud, and the boy turned on his bedside lamp to see that it ran right down the center of the egg, splitting it directly in half.

Luckily, Miles's parents' room was on the other side of the house, so he was sure they hadn't heard it. But what if it hatched into... a monster, or something?

There was no more time for speculation; the egg was hatching, and it was hatching fast. Miles noted, as he sat up and dropped the Tamagotchi-toy on his pillow, that its screen was glowing faintly. Then the egg burst into a million pieces and in the middle of it all was a tiny yellow ball with a fluffy tail and a happy face.

Miles stared at it even more intensely than he'd stared at the egg.

Rerrrreh, said the creature, bouncing up from its spot on the pillow to land in his lap.

It was... cute. It was really cute. He found himself smiling as he ran his hand over it's head, petting its soft, smooth fur.

Rrrrerrrrreh, purred the creature, nuzzling against his stomach.

He figured it might be hungry, so he placed it on the pillow again and sneaked out of his room into the kitchen to find something suitable to feed it. He wasn't sure what it would like, so he chose what he liked the most - candy. He brought some Air Heads and a bar of Hershey's milk chocolate back to his room and sat on the bed, watching as the little yellow critter jumped up and down with excitement.

He peeled open the chocolate first, putting the rest of the candy on the bed beside him, and snapped off a corner, holding it out to the creature.

It immediately nipped it out of his fingers and swallowed it whole.

With a smile, Miles gave it the whole bar. While it ate, he cleaned up all of the eggshell-pieces, pushing them into his trash can. Once done, the creature was tired, and it plopped itself down by his head as he lay down beside it. It was really late, and his eyelids were drooping, so he turned off the lights and the two fell asleep together.

---

The next morning, Miles' mom walked in a sat on the edge of his bed, stroking his hair to wake him up.

"Miles... It's Friday, time for school..."

Miles shifted a little, then blinked open his eyes and looked up at his mom.

"Come out for breakfast when you're ready, honey," she whispered, kissing him on the cheek before getting up and leaving the room.

Miles stared at the ceiling for a moment, trying to remember what had been so important the night before. Then it came to him - the egg. The egg that had come out of the computer and the thing that had hatched from it.

But where was it now?

It wasn't on the pillow next to him where he had left it. Neither was the little toy thing.

Maybe it had been a dream... Maybe he'd imagined all of it.

It's never real.

He sighed, and was about to get out of bed when something brushed against the exposed skin of his stomach. Something soft.

Then, out from under his covers popped the yellow creature from the night before, Tamagotchi-toy in its mouth. But it was different, now; bigger, the size of a stuffed animal, with ears and feet. Its eyes were open, and they were bright blue.

"Who was that?" it whispered to him urgently, "Why were they touching you?"

"That was my mom," he whispered back, and then added, "When did you grow legs?"

"I Digivolved overnight," the creature replied, "I can talk now."

Oh, yeah. He hadn't even realized that.

"What are you?"

"I'm a Digimon. Viximon."

"Vixi...mon?"

"Yes," it said, nuzzling against his chest. Its fur was really soft, he noticed, as he brushed his fingers over it. Its voice was feminine, and it reminded him of a girl in his class, so he assumed it must be a girl, too.

"I'm Miles," he told it - her.

Her little mouth became a smile. "Pleased to meet you, Miles. I'm your new partner. Once I get stronger, we're going to travel to the Digital World together."

"What's the Digital World?" asked Miles, confused and curious at the same time.

"It's where I came from," she said.

"The computer?"

"It's in there."

Just then, Miles's mom called from the kitchen. "Did you fall asleep again? I never saw the lights turn on."

"I'm coming!" Miles called back. Then he looked down at the yellow creature in his arms. "I have to leave you."

"No," she said stubbornly, "I'm coming with you."

Miles thought for a moment. It would be bad if his parents saw her, but his friends at school wouldn't care... even if they told a grown-up, they surely wouldn't believe them. So he picked her up and put her in his backpack, which was lying on the ground next to his bed.

"Stay here until I'm ready," he told her, putting a finger to her mouth to keep her quiet. She nodded eagerly.

He changed into his school clothes and went out to eat breakfast. Then he brushed his teeth, washed his face, put on his shoes, and went back to his backpack. Viximon was still there, waiting for him.

"Alright. I'm gonna close this now with a hole for you to breathe. You'll be okay?"

"I will. Let's go!"

Miles looked around at his room to make sure he wasn't forgetting anything. Homework, backpack, shoes, lunch...

Then he spotted the Air Heads mixed up with his bedcovers. He grabbed them and put them in the bottom of his bag with Viximon, then gently closed it up and put it on his back.

Time to go to school.

---

Everything went pretty smoothly that day. They did their math work, and then the kids traded crossword puzzles and did them. By lunchtime, Viximon still hadn't made a peep. Miles almost forgot about her...

He brought his backpack with him to lunch, sitting it down beside him. But hardly five minutes into their lunchtime, strange sounds began emanating from the bag. They were grumbling, moaning sounds.

The boy sitting across from him started giggling. "You shoulda brought more food. You sound hungry."

He frowned, glancing sideways at the bag.

"Uh... yeah..."

The other boy giggled some more.

"I gotta go to the bathroom," said Miles, getting up and cradling the backpack in his arms as he walked.

Once he was safely sitting on a toilet with its top down inside the stall, he put the backpack on his lap and opened it. Inside, Viximon cowered with a bunch of empty Air Head wrappers.

"Miles!" squeaked Viximon happily, attempting to sit up. But she collapsed a second later, panting.

"You ate all of them?" Miles asked incredulously.

"I was hungry," she whimpered.

Miles felt like he'd been stabbed through the heart. He should have fed her before he left! Duh!

"I'm sorry," he said, biting his lip. So this is why his parents never let him get a pet.

"It's alright, Miles - I'll be fine..." She smiled, but she was trembling under his touch.

He thought about what he could do to make it better. He couldn't take her to the nurse's office, which is what he did when he had a tummy ache... But usually the nurse made him go to the bathroom. So...

"Do you want to use the potty?" he asked her.

Viximon blinked up at him. "Do you think that'll work?"

"It works for me..." he said, a little embarrassed.

Viximon thought for a moment, and then replied, "Okay."

Miles got her situated on the toilet so that she wouldn't fall in, and then left the stall, closing the door behind him and standing by it.

While he was waiting, another little boy came in and asked, "Whatcha doin'?"

"Door's broke," said Miles, "They told me to hold it."

"Why didn't they just use one of the other ones?" asked the boy, looking around at the empty bathroom.

"Umm... I dunno."

The boy shrugged, walking off to one of the other stalls.

Then Viximon hissed, "I'm done."

"Can you flush? Just press the little handle thingy..."

"Okay, one second..."

The toilet flushed, and there was sound of little paws hitting the ground as she jumped off the seat.

Miles opened the door and scooped her up, walking her over to the sink.

"What now?" she whispered, looking at it.

"You wash your hands."

"I don't have hands."

So he washed them for her, using the soap and water on her little paws.

He heard another toilet flush and figured that the other boy had finished, so he quickly dried her off and and put her back in the backpack.

"Feel better," he murmured as he zipped it up again.

"Who were you talking to?" asked the boy, but Miles left before he could finish the question.

---

During recess, he let Viximon out, and she watched him from the bushes as he swung on the swingset. She couldn't come with him, since the teachers might see her, but he promised that after school he'd let her swing with him.

So once they were let out for the weekend, he picked up his backpack and started walking to the park. Every Friday his mom let him go hang out for a few hours there after school and then came to pick him up. She knew he liked the alone time outdoors, and since the park, his home, and his school where all very close, she didn't need to worry about him being kidnapped or something. Besides, there were always other moms and kids at the park to look after him. His mom had a lot of friends.

He let Viximon walk beside him, now, as no grown-ups were in sight.

"Do you feel better?" he asked her.

"Much." Her little paws moved quickly over the pavement.

Miles was quiet for a moment, looking up at the clear blue sky.

"What's the Digital World like?"

"Well," Viximon admitted, "Since I just hatched, I don't really know. But I was born with instincts that tell me it's beautiful."

"Is that why we need to go?"

Viximon was silent. "I don't know why we need to go. But it's important."

"Are we... are we gonna come back? My parents will miss me if I leave. I'll miss school." These were the things he worried about.

"We'll come back, Miles. I'm sure we will."

They were at the park, now. Miles picked up Viximon from the ground and left his backpack in the sand, heading to his favorite swing. Viximon sat on his lap as they swung back and forth, giggling and laughing as the wind tugged at her ears. Miles had never really laughed while on the swing before, but the fact that they were there and together and her happiness was infectious made him laugh, too.

He realized that, for the first time in his life, he'd really made a friend.

He'd always been to quiet, or too shy, or too weird, or too white. Everyone was just acquaintances to him. No friends.

Until this little yellow Digimon had popped out of his mom's computer.

They stayed there until the sun was getting low in the sky. They didn't just swing, they played in the jungle gym and they went down the slides and Miles even tried to get Viximon to try the monkey bars, but she ended up hopping along the tops of the bars as he swung beneath her. They built a Viximon-sized castle in the sand and fed the leftovers of Miles's peanut butter and jelly sandwich to the ants.

By the time Miles's mom came to pick them up, Miles was exhausted. He'd never played so much in his life, nor had he ever had so much fun.

He was smiling when he got in the car, cradling the backpack that held his best friend.

"Have a fun day?" asked his mom, smiling back at him.

"Yeah," said Miles, "Lots of fun."

---

The next day, Miles asked his mom to bring him back to the park. They replayed the events of the day before, and even tried some new things, like the teeter totter. If Viximon jumped hard enough, she was able to lift Miles up a couple of inches in the air. Pretty strong for a little yellow foxcritter.

While they were on the swings, a little girl came up and asked Miles, "What kind of pet is that?"

"A bunny," said Miles impulsively. Viximon wasn't sure what sound a bunny made, so she just smiled.

"I don't think that's a bunny," said the girl suspiciously.

Then Viximon began to jump up and down on Miles's lap, making loud barking sounds. The little girl screamed and ran away. Miles found himself laughing at how silly it all was.

The days progressed like that for almost a whole week. Miles brought Viximon to school with him on the school days and asked his mom to let him go to the park every day he could. His mom assumed he'd made a friend and was going to see them, so she was happy to let him go.

Their conversations were simple; they talked about the events of the day, about which toys they liked best and which toys they didn't, and about what they'd do the next day. All the while there was the notion that one day Viximon would bring Miles to a magical world inside a computer, but that day wasn't now.

It was coming sooner that Miles thought.

It was a short week that time; they had Friday off. So on Friday morning, Miles asked if he could go to the park again.

"Since you've been going so much, I decided to get you a cell phone," she told him, "I know none of the kids in your class have one, but it will be useful so I can call you and ask when you want to be picked up instead of just coming to get you."

For Miles, this was great. This meant no more hurriedly hiding Viximon at an unexpected moment, and his mom would never come too early and ruin their playtime.

"Go get your stuff together and I'll give it to you."

He went and got his backpack from his room. Viximon hopped in, and he shoveled in some chocolate (which he now hid in his room to feed Viximon), his first aid kit (which his mom had given him after he'd scraped his knee at the park that week; he told her it was fine, and it was - Viximon had licked off the blood at made it better - but she insisted.), the lunchbox his mom had packed for him, and, on second thought, dropped in the little Tamagotchi-toy that Viximon had called a "Digivice". When he came out of his room, his mom handed him the cellphone and taught him how to call her. She told him it could also play music and connect to the internet.

When they reached the park, Miles ran towards the swings, as usual. But Viximon didn't follow, this time. He waited for her, but the backpack lying on the ground didn't move. Had she already gotten out? Where they playing hide and seek? Where'd she go?

And then he heard something behind him, and a large, yellow and white fox creature melted out of the shadows in the bushes at the back of the park. It was tall, much taller than him, something like six feet as opposed to his four and a half, with strange purple sleeves and white feet. Its eyes were blue, just like... Viximon.

"...Viximon?" asked Miles, eyes wide.

"Renamon, now." Her voice was deeper, more mature.

"Renamon..."

She held up the phone that his mom had given them. "We have to go to the Digital World." She sounded a little sad.

"I thought it was in the computer."

"It's on the phone, too. Anything that can connect to the internet."

The internet, from his understanding, was this huge, intangible network of information that was in all electrical devices. He didn't really understand it.

"...Why do we have to go now?" asked Miles.

"I'm strong enough, now. Strong enough to protect you," said Renamon, "I love you."

Miles was quiet, looking up at the sky.

"Are there swings in the Digital World?"

He could almost hear Renamon smile. "I'll find you one."

She began to push the swing for him, allowing him to go higher, to feel the wind in his hair and the sun on his skin, just the way he liked it.

"It's time to go," she whispered, and the breeze picked up around them, and Miles closed his eyes as it all turned white.

---

"Mommy, look at that big fox thing pushing that boy on the swing!" said a little girl, tugging on her mother's hand.

The woman looked up and sighed. "That's an empty swingset, love. It's never real."

The little girl looked at the ground again, ignoring how the swing was moving by itself even though the breeze had stopped, knowing that her mom wouldn't believe.