Legend - Plain Version

The Legend of Garuru Pack

By maria the dreamer

**

Just a fun little story I wrote for some friends of mine! All the DigiD go to the Digiworld on Halloween. Special thanks to Blues Narf for the use of her digimon Zerogrowlmon and to Blue Wolf for the use of her digimon Wolvesmon.

**


The firelight flickered in Gabumon's big round eyes as he sat curled up next to Matt. Even though they had sat by many fires over the years, tonight it was especially eerie. Tonight was Halloween.

All the digidestined had come to the digiworld to celebrate this strange occasion, and now, much to Gabumon's dismay, they insisted on telling the scariest stories possible. Izzy was right in the middle of a terrifying tale.

"And so now the girl was sitting alone in the car, waiting for both her mom and dad to come back from the convenience store, when she heard this scraping sound on the back window." Izzy made his hand into the shape of a hook. "Skrrreeek, skrrreeek!" he screeched while moving his hand up and down.

"Oooooh!" Kari giggled as she looked around at the others.

"You're not too scared, are you, Kari?" Davis piped up. "I can put my arm around you if you want." He inched closer to her, just in case she said yes. Instead, she just giggled some more. Davis reached out his arm.

"Davis!" Kari complained as she swatted his hand away. "I didn't say yes!"

"Well, you didn't say no, either!" he declared.

"He's right, Kari," T.K. teased, as he leaned casually back on his hands.

"Who's side are you on, anyway?" she snapped.

"As I was saying," Izzy interrupted in a loud voice.

"We know. Skrrreeek! skrrreeek!" T.K. said, mimicking Izzy's hand.

"Yes, exactly," said Izzy. "So, at first she was too scared to look, but she couldn't help herself and when she did turn around, she saw a huge claw, and it was dripping with blood!"

"That sounds terrible!" Tentomon quivered.

Fast as a blink, Izzy had Tentomon's claw held up in the air.

"And the claw looked just like this one!" he said triumphantly.

"Oh, no!" Tentomon cried.

"But it wasn't just the one claw, there were more of them!" Izzy grabbed another of Tentomon's claws causing the digimon to topple helplessly over on his side. "She screamed, of course, but no one was there to hear her."

"Help! Help me!" Tentomon yelped.

Izzy laughed so hard he flopped over onto his hard-shelled friend.

"Watch the shell, Izzy, watch the shell!" Tentomon complained.

"I'm glad that wasn't my parent's store," Yolei said nervously.

Izzy crawled from Tentomon and headed menacingly towards Yolei. "But that's exactly where it happened"

"Don't say that!" she squealed.

"That wasn't really very scary, Izzy," Cody interrupted calmly.

"I agree," added Gomamon. "What we need is a monster with some personality."

"Are you saying I don't have personality?" Tentotmon protested.

"What we need" Tai corrected in a creepy sounding voice, "is a ghost story,"

Gabumon couldn't stop the shudder that rippled through his body.

"What is it Gabumon?" Matt asked, sensing the shudder rather than seeing it. "Have you ever seen a ghost?"

Everyone was suddenly quiet. Gabumon looked from one set of wide eyes to another.

As Gabumon's eyes settled on Matt's, Matt said reassuringly, "You can tell us, Gabumon. We're all friends here."

"Come on, Gabumon. If you can't tell us, who can you tell?" Biyomon added.

Gabumon bowed his head, and stared into the fire. He knew Matt was right, he didn't have to be afraid. Still, he had never told anyone about that night. What would they think of him?

Gabumon let out a long breath before speaking. "It was a dark and stormy night"

"Hey! Wait just a minute." It was Joe. "You can't be serious. That's like the classic first line in really bad mystery novels."

Gabumon looked innocently over at Joe. "But it was a dark and stormy night."

Matt, always protective, jumped in. "Joe, if Gabumon says it was a dark and stormy night, it was a dark and stormy night."

"Okay, okay, it was a dark and stormy night," Joe conceded, holding his hands up.

Gabumon spoke quietly. "May I continue?"

"Yes. Please. Let's hear it," Tai said.

"We were working at the restaurant with Joe and Gomamon," Gabumon continued. "Matt had gone down to the beach to play his harmonica after the restaurant closed, like he always did. Sometimes I would go with him. Sometimes he wanted to be alone. That night it was raining and"

"I remember that night," Gomamon interrupted. "It was definitely dark and stormy. Matt was going down to the beach and you didn't want to go because you didn't want to get your fur all wet."

"It was pouring," Matt added. "I remember that night now, too."

"Don't you remember that night, Joe?" Gomamon asked. "The clouds blocked out all the stars, so it was really dark."

"All right already!" Joe shouted. "It was dark, and it was raining, and I remember that night. Are you happy now?"

"Gee, Joe, you need to relax. You should try meditating, like I do. Ohmmmmm." Gomamon hummed.

"Would you two cut it out!" Sora yelled. "Thank you," she continued sweetly. "Now, go on, Gabumon."

"Matt went down to the beach even though it was raining. I never liked to leave him, so even when he wanted to be alone, I would follow him and watch from the forest."

"You would follow me?" Matt exclaimed. "I never knew that."

"I can be pretty sneaky if I want to be," Gabumon chuckled.

"You didn't want to go out in the rain that night, but you went anyway, just to keep on eye on me," Matt said warmly, putting him arm around Gabumon's shoulder. "Thanks, Gabumon."

"I'm your Digimon, Matt. Any of us would do the same."

"Not me," muttered Veemon.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked a startled Davis.

"Oh, did I say that out loud?" Veemon ducked nervously, and quickly changed the subject. "So, Gabumon, what happened when you went outside? Is that where you saw the ghosts?"

Gabumon continued. "I went straight into the forest for cover, so Matt wouldn't see me. Luckily, the trees provided excellent shelter from the rain."

"That is lucky," congratulated Hawkmon.

"I wondered why you weren't smelly that night when you came back," Gomamon said thoughtfully, his eyes turned up and head tilted to one side as he recalled the evening.

"I was very pleased to be dry," Gabumon said with a smile. "I continued through the forest, watching Matt through the trees. But as I walked, I had a strange feeling I was the one being watched."

"Were you being watched?" a nervous Patamon asked.

Gabumon nodded. "At first I saw nothing. It was very dark. Then, I noticed a flash of blue. I almost missed it - it was gone so quickly, but as I focused, I began to make out the shape of a white furry Garurumon-like Digimon, only smaller, about the same size as me, without the wings, but with long blue claws. The blue came from a jewel in her forehead and her eyes were luminous green."

"Wait a minute, Gabumon." Yolei interrupted. "How did you know it was a female? If it was so dark and all."

A splash of red ran across Gabumon's nose. "A Digimon just knows such things, Yolei."

"Really?" Agumon wondered out loud. "We can do that? How come I can't do that?"

Now Gabumon was even more embarrassed.

"There must have been something special about that digimon," Gatomon suggested. "After all, she did have white fur just like mine."

"The cutest Digimon all have white fur," Gomamon agreed. "So, did you get her name?"

"No," Gabumon answered. "She turned and disappeared into the trees."

"What did you do then? Did you follow her or stick with Matt?" Yolei asked.

"I, um, followed her into the forest." Gabumon said guiltily.

"You left me on my own on a dark and stormy night to follow a cute Digimon into the forest!?" Matt teased.

"I wasn't planning to be gone for long," Gabumon claimed in his defense. Then, his shoulders sagged. "But soon I realized I didn't know where I was anymore."

"Gabumon lost! I can't believe it!" Biyomon wailed. "Tell me it isn't true!"

"It is true," Gabumon admitted. "And I could no longer see the white Digimon. That is when I started to get worried. First I worried about Matt, all alone. Then, I worried about myself."

Tentomon shuddered. "This is terrible! Without Matt, you wouldn't be able to digivolve. What if an evil digimon was lurking in the forest?"

"Calm down, Tentomon," Izzy said calmly. "Gabumon is fine, he's right here. Whatever happened in those woods that night, he survived to tell us about it, right?"

"Yes, of course. You're right, Izzy. He is here isn't he. I feel much better now. Thank you," Tentomon sputtered nervously.

"Glad to help," Izzy said, rubbing Tentomon's shell.

"But Tentomon is correct, Izzy," Gabumon said softly. "There was something horrible in the forest."

"Ahhh!" Tentomon jumped. "There was?"

"What was it?" breathed Patamon.

"It was me," Gabumon replied.

"Excuse me," Agumon piped in. "But how could you be the horrible evil digimon you met in the forest?"
"I didn't know it was me at first," Gabumon answered.

"Now I'm completely confused," Agumon moaned.

"Don't worry, my friend," Hawkmon said encouragingly. "You'll catch on sooner or later. Pray continue, Gabumon."

"Yes, yes, tell us what you saw!" Biyomon exclaimed.

"I was thinking I had let Matt down, I wasn't a very good Digimon, and that is when I saw..."

"What! What!" Patamon cried.

"It looked like a Darkseadramon, with eyes that burned like fire. It's body was thick and scaly, and it was much larger than I remembered Seadramon to be. It was staring down on me as it stretched to it's full height, which was taller than the tallest trees. I thought of that first night, the night I digivolved into Garurumon. I didn't remember being afraid. But facing Darkseadramon alone, without Matt, I was very afraid."

Gabumon paused, expecting to be interrupted yet again, but all was silent.

"Darkseadramon threw it's head back and shot a long blast of fire into the sky, lighting up the whole forest. It swung around, it's red eyes glaring down on me, and I knew it was going to attack. I also I knew I was no match for it."

"You could do it, Gabumon," Cody quietly said. "I know you could."

"I didn't believe I could, Cody. But then, I thought about Matt, and I didn't want to give up without a fight. I attacked with my Blue Blaster."

"Hooray!" Cody cheered.

"Go Gabumon!" Kari added.

"Did you get him?" Yolei asked.

"Yes. And no." Gabumon continued. "My Blue Blaster went straight through Darkseadramon."

"Straight through?" Armadillomon asked. "You mean there was no impact?"

"There was no impact at all. And yet, Darkseadramon dissolved into digital matter."

"So you won, then," Davis concluded. "That's all that matters, right?"

"No, Davis, winning isn't all that matters," T.K. corrected. "I thought you'd have learned that by now."

"How can I learn about winning not mattering when I'm always winning, T.B.?" Davis challenged.

"I can't believe you still don't understand this isn't all about winning, gogglehead!" shouted T.K.

"Would you two please be quiet," Kari interrupted sweetly. "I'm trying to listen to Gabumon." And that was enough to shut them both up.

"What happened next, Gabumon?" Cody asked.

"For some reason, the digital matter was like millions of tiny stars, lighting up the forest, and I saw them," Gabumon explained.

Cody gasped. "What did you see?"

"The forest was filled with Garurumon," Gabumon said. "Maybe ten or twelve of them, each one a different colour than the next."

Matt was alarmed. "What do you mean? I thought you were the only Garurumon?"

"Apparently not," Gabumon explained. "And they weren't the only ones. Standing right in front of me was a Digimon that almost looked like a Garurumon, except with black and white fur that gleamed with silver. He had no wings on his back, but instead had ears that were silver wings. The white Digimon was there, beside the bigger Digimon, and she spoke to me."

"What did she say?" Joe asked quietly, almost as though he didn't realize he was talking aloud.

"She said, 'I'm Wolvesmon, and this is Zerogrowlmon. We are here to welcome you to the Garuru Pack.'"

"The Garuru Pack!" Matt exclaimed.

"Unbelievable!" Tai added.

"It sounds kind of scary to me," Patamon said in a small voice.

"I was afraid, but strangely she said 'Don't be afraid Gabumon, the Garuru Pack lives in you, just as it lives in us,' and she looked up at Zerogrowlmon. I told her I wasn't afraid, but she just looked at me sadly. I don't think she believed me. Then, Zerogrowlmon spoke in a deep voice, saying 'Darkseadramon was a manifestation of your fear. When you let go of your fear, you were able to defeat him. When you run with the Garuru Pack, there is no reason to fear. The power of the Pack is always with you.' Zerogrowlmon looked at the Garurumon surrounding us, and as he did, the Pack let out a howl. The music from their voices filled my heart. I could feel them inside me, and I felt strong. I closed my eyes and joined them in the song."

"That's so beautiful!" Sora sighed.

"As the song began to fade, I opened my eyes to see that the Pack was also fading away. It was then I realized they were ghosts, the spirits of Garurumon that had gone before me. Soon, all that remained was myself, Zerogrowlmon and Wolvesmon, and they began walking into the darkness. Before they disappeared, Wolvesmon turned and whispered 'Remember the pack.' And I was alone again."

Gabumon sat quietly at the end of his tale, as everyone stared at the flames in silent thought.

It was Davis who broke the silence. "So, you didn't have to fight anyone? There wasn't a big fight with holy water and crosses and all that?"

"There was no fight, Davis," Gabumon replied.

"Well, what kind of a ghost story was that?" Davis complained. "It wasn't even scary!"

"It wasn't a ghost story, or a vampire story, Davis," Yolei explained. "It was a true story."

"How do you know it was true?" Davis said, jumping to his feet. "Maybe Gabumon was making the whole thing up! He could of done that.."

Davis didn't finish his thought, because an incredible howl filled the air. Everyone looked to Gabumon, but it wasn't Gabumon howling.

"What was that?" Gomamon exclaimed, as he turned to look at the surrounding trees.

Out of the darkness came first one Garurumon, then another, until they were surrounded by the gleaming ghostly figures of the Pack. The Pack gazed intently at Gabumon. Suddenly, Gabumon lifted his head back, letting out a melodious howl worthy of Weregarurumon. The sound echoed loudly, and the pack joined him in a song that filled the night.

Matt smiled a crooked smile and said, "You know, that kind of looks like fun!" And he let out his own howl.

It wasn't long before the whole group was howling to the sky. As Gabumon became aware of his friends joining with the Pack, he thought perhaps Halloween was not so bad after all.

The end

That's it! I know, it's kind of silly, but hey, it's Halloween! The silliest day of the year! (and my personal favourite!) Please review, it's always great to get a review!

maria