A Journey Beyond
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, I only own my own chars and locations.
Plot: AU. A young wolf-Lycan is transported to the Digital World, just before Gennai informs Tai and the others that there is an Eighth Child. But when Myotismon turns his attention to her upon her return to the Real World, will she be able to survive her journey?
I am Shavirin MoonShade, and I am a wolf-Lycan. Most people think that a Lycan is a werewolf, but a Lycan is any creature infected with Lycanthropy. Just thought I'd clear that up.
I am 17, but in wolf-Lycan years I'm barely older than a pup. I stand around 5'6'', I have long red-gold hair, my eyes are deep silver. I'm pretty good-looking too, or at least the male wolf-Lycans I've met over the years have said so. But men like to exaggerate things, so I usually ignore their howls.
One night, when the moon was full, I was running with the Pack (which consisted of my Mother, my Father, my two younger brother Kio and Pagii, my older sister Renia, and a few cousins), enjoying the feel of the wind against my fur. You should know that in my wolf-form, I'm about twice the size of a normal wolf. My fur is dusty brown with white spots around my eyes, which are amber.
We were following the scent of a deer that had wondered into the city, making sure to stay hidden in the shadows. After all, it never did a Lycan of any kind good for a human to see them. The deer knew we were on its tail, and fear was causing it to blindly run into an alley we knew was a dead-end.
My Father, whose name is Taikoto, gave a low growl as the deer slid to a halt, unable to go any further.
::Be careful now, my family. Fear makes a beast stronger, like anger.::
We nodded as we began to make a half-circle, closing in around the frightened creature. Its fear rolled off it in waves, its frantic heartbeat pounding in my ears, resonating in my skull. Its eyes were rolled white, and flecks of foam flew from its mouth as it jumped and desperately looked for a way to escape us.
It was hopeless.
With blinding speed, my Mother, named Kiiko, lunged forward. She landed on the deer's back, clawing at its haunches, forcing its rear to the ground. My Father then went for the throat, the most dangerous part of a kill. Deer have very sharp hooves, and there's always the risk that the one who goes for the throat will get sliced up. But Father was an experienced hunter when it came to deer, and he expertly dodged the flailing hooves as his jaws clamped around the deer's soft throat.
The doe bucked and gave a choked scream, while Mother and Father worked to bring it down. After it fell, Mother looked at us, her gold eyes flashing.
::Come now, it is almost time.::
The rest of us approached, waiting until the deer was dead and Mother and Father began to eat before joining. Wolves have a strict pecking order, with the Pack leaders, an Alpha male and female, eating first, then the pups and old ones, and finally the rest of the Pack. But we were a tight family, and we always ate together.
But something was wrong this night.
As I padded over to the deer carcass, growling in my throat as the hot scent of blood reached my sensitive nose, another scent wafted towards me. The rest of my Pack, already gorging themselves on hot flesh and blood, didn't notice it.
With a low growl, I turned from the Pack and the deer, sniffing the air. The scent was getting stronger. I looked over my shoulder, at my Mother and Father and the others, and decided they wouldn't miss me if I slipped away for a few moments.
With a feeling of excitement tightening my chest, I padded away from the feed and followed the strange new scent. I soon found myself in another alley, this one also a dead-end.
There was a strange, bluish-white light before me.
I knew it was some sort of portal. The scent coming from it was otherworldly. Pleasant, but bitter at the same time. I took a few cautious steps forward, a rumble rising in my chest. Suddenly, the portal flared. I yelped in shock and jumped back, but I was moving too slow.
The last thing I saw before the portal engulfed me was a blinding light.
When I was next on solid ground, I realized instantly I was in my human form. I gave a wolfish yelp, startled. How had that happened? I looked at my hands, feeling strange. Where was I?
I looked around, my keen eyes scanning the land. I was in a woods, near a large castle. Scents I'd never known rushed at me, causing me to sneeze. I heard strange calls, and, amidst them, the voices of people. I shook my head, wondering what to do.
I tried to change into my wolf-form, but I couldn't. That scared me, because ever since I could remember I was able to change at will. I looked at my hands again, fear worming through me.
We Lycans of all kinds have various powers. Ki usage, levitation, transforming between human and Lycan form. Some of us have magick and psychic abilities. I myself was adept at ki and flying. So, I tried to levitate, and found I was unable to. I concentrated, and was relieved when a ball of ki appeared in my hands. I let is absorb back into my body and then concentrated more on my hands and body. I found I could induce a slight change: fingernails becoming claws, teeth into fangs, my muscles reforming slightly, my hair becoming somewhat mane-like. It was nothing close to a full change, but it was something.
I reverted back to full human form and tested my strength, speed, and agility. All had been severely reduced. After a few minutes, I stopped.
"I have made a large mistake," I muttered to myself. Then I remembered that there were others here. Maybe they could tell me where I was and how to get back home.
I headed off, following the voices until I came to a wall of the castle. There were seven kids and seven strange looking creatures with them, surrounding a holograph of an old man. None of them noticed me as I emerged from the trees.
"The bad news is Myotismon also knows of the Eighth Child and will be heading to Tokyo," the old man was saying. "You seven must get to the Child before he does!"
"Tokyo!" a boy with spiky hair and a pair of goggles exclaimed. "How are we supposed to get to Tokyo?"
"Find a way!" the old man said. Then he happened to glance in my direction. The others noticed his attention on me and turned as well.
"Oh great! Don't tell me you're here to make us even more miserable!" A young man with blue hair and large glasses moaned. A little white creature with a red mane and strange markings patted his leg. I blinked.
"Uh...no. Actually, I was bought here by a portal. Err...where am I?"
"This is the Digital World," said a little orange lizard by the boy with the goggles.
"And what are you?"
"We're Digital Monsters, or Digimon for short. I'm Agumon, and this is Tai, my Partner."
"There will be time for introductions later!" the old man said as I tentatively joined them. "Right now you HAVE to stop Myotismon from getting to the Real World!"
"Right!" Tai said. "Alright gang, let's head out and move in!"
"Um, Tai, we need to find a way in first," said a young woman with a blue hat. A pink bird was standing beside her.
"Yeah, that's true," Tai admitted.
"Leave it to us!" Agumon said. A small, plant-like Digimon with a flower on its head nodded.
"Me and Agumon will get you guys in!" With that, the two Digimon ran into the castle.
"Be careful!" cried a girl in pink, so much pink it made me sneeze.
"Good luck!" the old man called after them.
"And that's how it happened. Pretty amazing, huh? We've been here for months! Let me tell you, this world takes some getting used to," Tai said. I smiled and nodded.
"It certainly is, and I'm sure it does take getting used to." Tai had just finished introducing the other children and the Digimon, and telling me of their journey so far.
"Hey, maybe YOU'RE the Eighth Child!" Mimi, the girl in pink, said. The boy with blue hair and the glasses, whose name was Joe, shook his head.
"Gennai already said the Eighth Child is in Tokyo."
"Oh yeah, I forgot."
The others sighed. TK, a young boy wearing a green hat, looked up at me as I stood against the wall of the castle.
"So how did you get here?"
I watched him, then looked at the others. I hadn't told them about myself yet. I wondered how they would take it.
"Well, see, I'm a Lycan, for starters."
"A what?" the others inquired. Izzy, the brains of the group, shook his head.
"A Lycan is any creature affected by the Lycanthropy disease. Animals infected can shift between their human forms and their Lycan ones."
"Like a werewolf?!" Tai cried. I scowled.
"Not exactly," I answered. "Unlike a werewolf, I can transform at will, and I look like a normal wolf except I'm much bigger. I'm a wolf-Lycan, if that last comment didn't tell you. Anyways, I was hunting with my Pack...my family...when I smelled something I never had before. I left the Pack because I wanted to find it. I found a portal, and when I tried to leave, it sucked me up and plopped me here."
"Wow," TK said. "I bet you miss your family huh?"
"I'm not so much worried about that, as I am about what the Pack will do when they realize I'm gone."
"Yeah, I bet all our families are freaking out right now trying to find us," Matt, another young man with blonde hair, said softly. There was silence for a moment, then Tai looked up, scowling.
"Agumon and Palmon sure are taking a long time..."
"I'm sure they're fine," Sora, the girl with the pink bird Digimon Biyomon, said. Just then, we heard a call from above us."
"Tai, we're good! Come on up!"
We looked up to see Agumon and Palmon leaning over the top of the castle wall. Palmon extended her vine-like fingers and lowered them to us. She wrapped them around Tai and Mimi, then lifted them up to the top of the wall. It took a few moments, but finally we were all on top of the castle. I was last to go.
"Come on guys!" Matt said. "We have to stop Myotismon!"
We walked for a while, sometimes getting split up in the odd corridors, which appeared to be upside down or sideways at times. When we finally managed to get back together for about the third time, we were all feeling a little ill. Joe looked like he was in need of one of those bags airplanes offer you, in case you get airsickness.
"This is too much for my stomach," he moaned, leaning over the rail of the corridor we were standing in. Gomamon was patting his leg, trying to help make him feel better.
"Now what?" Matt muttered. "We're getting so lost it isn't funny. I can't tell if I'm up or down anymore!"
"I'm just confused," TK said. His Digimon, a little cream-and-white Digimon with wings on his head whose name was Patamon, nodded in agreement. It was then I heard voices. I looked around and saw dark silhouettes moving in a large group in the direction we were moving.
"Look!" I hissed, waving my hand to them. The others watched for a moment, then Tai nodded.
"Let's go!"
"By the way," I added, realizing I'd forgotten to mention it earlier, "I'm Shavirin Moonshade. Nice to meet you all!"
We soon came to a large stairway. I could hear voices echoing up towards us from below.
"I hear someone talking," I said, listening closely. The voice sounded cold and smart, and the person was going on about "celebrating in the glory of our new world." But to the others, who were only human after all, the voices were muted and muffled. They watched me as I listened.
"Well? What are they saying?" Tai asked after a moment. I waved a hand to silence him, but the speaker had fallen silent.
"Something about...a new world and celebrating in the glory, or something like that." Then I heard the person talking again.
"These cards no longer pose a mystery to me. Now! Open the gates to my destiny!" I repeated these words, and Matt narrowed his eyes.
"That would be Myotismon!" he said, a fire burning in his gaze. The others nodded and we began to run down the stairs.
"Not so fast!" Tai cried as we dashed.
"Who is it? If you work for me can't you see I'm busy?" came the irritated reply. After a moment we were back on level ground, and I got my first look at Myotismon.
I have to admit, I was impressed by his regal appearance. Not to be stereotypical or anything, but a lot of the time, the bad guy has a habit of looking ridiculous. Not so with this guy. He turned to face us, but he didn't seem to notice me at first.
"You're too late, I've already opened the gates to the Real World!" Myotismon said, smirking.
"Hey!" cried a sudden voice. It took me a moment to locate the source. A black-and-blue bat-like creature was flapping around above our heads. "Boss! There's another kid with them!" Myotismon looked up at the little Digimon, then followed his gaze to me. He smiled faintly.
"Indeed there is..."
"Agumon! Digivolve!" Tai cried out a small device on his belt began to glow.
"Right! AGUMON DIGIVOLVE TO...GREYMON!" A glow surrounded Agumon, and when it faded, he was much larger. He had blue stripes on his body now, and a bony plating covering his upper skull. Two horns protruded from the sides of this plating, and a horn curved from Greymon's snout as well.
"Us too!" cried Gabumon, a Digimon that looked like a dog with a horn on his head and an Easter egg decoration on his chest. "GABUMON DIGIVOLVE TO...GARURUMON!"
"PALMON DIGIVOLVE TO...TOGEMON!"
"TENTOMON DIGIVOLVE TO...KABUTERIMON!"
"BIYOMON DIGIVOLVE TO...BIRDRAMON!"
"GOMAMON DIGIVOLVE TO...IKKAKUMON!"
Garurumon resembled a giant, blue wolf. Togemon looked like a giant cactus with boxing gloves. Kabuterimon was a giant insect Digimon whose body was covered in a hard, blue exoskeleton with metal covering over his upper head. Birdramon was a large, orange firebird whose maw was filled with sharp fangs. Ikkakumon looked like a giant, white seal with a horn on his head. The six of them stood between us and Myotismon. I shot Patamon a look, wondering why he hadn't Digivovled, an action which Tai had also explained to me earlier.
"All right guys! Let's put an end to this!" Matt said, and the Digimon gave cries of assent.
"I don't think so!" a cat-looking Digimon with yellow gloves and a large, golden ring around her tail cried suddenly. I wondered where she came from as the ring around her tail began to glow. "DeviDramon, come to life!"
Suddenly, statues of large, black, Dragon Digimon with four red eyes leapt to life. Four of them, to be exact. They instantly began to attack Greymon and the others. I was watching when I realized Myotismon was looking at me. I faced him, feeling the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck rising. The reek of Vampire clung to him. If I had been in my wolf-form, my hackles would have been up. He gave a little smirk, and then began walking towards me.
"Stop!" Tai cried as he stepped before me. Matt and the others, even TK, followed suit, so the seven of them were standing in front of me, as if by sheer will alone they could keep Myotismon back. He only gave a cold chuckle and continued forward.
"So you found someone to help you, did you? I can assure you it won't do you any good. Soon I will be in the Real World, and I'll find and destroy the Eighth Child!" He kept approaching, and I could feel a growl beginning in my chest. It moved and grew until it was a loud, angry sound that made Tai and the others jerk. Myotismon paused for a moment, regarding me. "Quite frisky, eh?" He laughed and took a few more steps forward. Without thinking, I shoved forward between Tai and Matt.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Joe asked as I moved forward. The growl was still going; I couldn't stop it, instinct was telling me this being before me was pure evil. Myotismon watched me as I stopped about two feet away from him.
"You're either remarkably brave or incredibly stupid," Myotismon remarked. I snorted softly.
"I don't know you or how strong you are, so maybe it's a mix of both," I offered. Myotismon smirked.
"Either way, it won't help you. But I'm curious as to exactly how you got here, and why you seem to enjoy growling at me."
"I don't really know how I got here, and I'm growling at you because I can. I guess humans don't growl at their opponents though, do they?"
"Ahh, so, you aren't human?"
"Not even close."
Myotismon laughed a little. "Well, if you aren't human, perhaps I should do away with you now and save myself the hassle of dealing with you, if you should find a way to the Real World?"
"Try me, I'm all for a good fight. After all, deer aren't very strong compared to one of my kind!" I snapped. I could tell he was toying with me, but it didn't matter. I was trying to give Greymon and the others time to destroy the gates to the Real World. I didn't know how I was going to get back to the Real World, if these gates ended up being destroyed, but even after just a few moments of knowing him, I knew I had to help the others stop Myotismon. This evil could not be allowed to run rampant!
"Stop! You don't know what you're doing!" Tai cried. "Please Shavirin!" The others were echoing his cries for me to step down, but I wasn't about to. Lycans, especially wolf-Lycans, never back from a challenge.
"You should listen to your pathetic friends!" Myotismon said as he lifted a hand. Red energy crackled to life and lengthened into a long whip. "CRIMSON LIGHTENING!" He slashed the whip of red lightening-energy at me, and I nimbly jumped over the attack. I landed and darted forward, letting my claws replace my nails as I charged forward. Myotismon seemed somewhat surprised by my speed as I lunged for him, thrusting my claws at his chest. Just before I would have hit him, though, he shifted and I flew by him. I landed in a crouch and whirled, growling deeply.
"For a child, you're quick," Myotismon said. I smirked.
"You haven't seen anything yet!" I held out my hands as blue-gold energy formed between them. The energy shimmered as I narrowed my eyes. "BLITZ CANNON!!!" I cried, letting loose the ki beam. Myotismon crouched slightly, crossing his arms over his chest as the attack hit him dead-on. A cloud of smoke kicked up, and I looked around. It couldn't have been that easy.
"NIGHTMARE CLAW!" A burning sensation flamed between my shoulders and spread across my back. I gave a cry and staggered forward, then turned. Myotismon smirked, one hand outstretched, his fingers ending in deadly claws. Blood dripped from them, my blood. I could feel the hot liquid soaking the back of my shirt. Tai and the others cried out when they saw what were apparently pretty bad injuries. Myotismon laughed softly.
"You let your guard down," he said as the claws vanished. I growled angrily.
"You're getting cocky," I snapped, then charged forward, slashing at him. Myotismon dodged each blow, until suddenly he hit a wall. He shot a look behind him, startled. I snarled and slashed at him again, this time catching his midriff as he managed to dodge to the side. He gave a growl of anger as he stood, blood trickling from the three gashes.
"Well, I must commemorate you. I have never been struck before, at least not with such a physical attack."
"If you think flattery is going to help, you're going to be really disappointed!" I answered.
"NOVA BLAST!"
"ELECTRO SHOCKER!"
"HARPOON TORPEDO!"
"METEOR WING!"
"NEEDLE SPRAY!"
"HOWLING BLASTER!"
Six attacks suddenly converged upon Myotismon, and when they collided, the explosion rocked the castle. A huge billow of dust kicked up, and I wondered if this was it. Then I remembered how many times the six Champion Digimon (as I remembered them being called by Izzy, who explained the various levels of Digivolution to me) had attacked Myotismon before, and how some of them had Digivolved to Ultimate, and that hadn't been enough.
Just as I was wondering how long this smoke was going to keep flying around, a crimson streak zipped by. I cried out as an electric pain coursed through me and I was sent flying backwards. I landed on my back, which caused the wounds to flare in pain. I growled as I struggled to my feet, in time to see the whip slam into Garurumon and the others. The Champions fell back, and when the smoke finally cleared, I saw a carriage was beginning to move through the open gates. Myotismon was standing in the doorway of the carriage, smirking at us as the bat-Digimon landed on top of it.
"Farewell, DigiDoomed!" he mocked, laughing as the carriage vanished through the doors.
"Quick!" Tai cried out. "We need to get through those gates before they close!" Which was going to be soon, as they were beginning to shut rapidly.
We ran forward, but suddenly two DeviDramon slammed down before us.
"NOVA BLAST!"
"HOWLING BLASTER!"
"HARPOON TORPEDO!"
The attacks shot by us and collided with the DeviDramon, and Greymon slammed into one of them and started to wrestle around with it, trying to knock it over as Garurumon lunged for the second one.
"Go!" Matt shouted as we continued on, running under the fighting Digimon. Before we even got a couple feet ahead, though, two more DeviDramon came at us.
"No!" Sora cried, staring at the two huge Digimon. "We have to get to the gates!"
"METEOR WING!"
"NEEDLE SPRAY!"
"ELECTRO SHOCKER!"
Again, the attack shot overhead, slamming into the DeviDramon. Togemon charged one of them and threw a punch to its gut, while Birdramon kicked at the other with her talons.
"Get moving!" Kabuterimon called down to us.
"On it!" Joe replied as we began to run again. Then I noticed the little cat-Digimon, standing in the inside of the doorway, watching us with an amused expression.
"Gatomon!" Tai shouted.
"Come on, you don't want to leave already do you?" she asked in a mocking voice, the ring around her tail glowing once more. Three more DeviDramon sprung to life and crashed down, blocking out path.
"We'll never make it at this rate!" Mimi cried.
"Keep running!" Izzy replied. "We waste more time each time we stop!"
"HOWLING BLASTER!"
"HARPOON TORPEDO!"
"NEEDLE SPRAY!"
"NOVA BLAST!"
The four attacks all hit the three Digimon at the same time. We didn't bother to stop as smoke billowed around us, obscuring our view. Then the dust settled, and as I saw the gates closing, I knew we weren't going to make it.
"Tough luck, you little brats!" Gatomon called "Have fun while we find the Eighth Child and destroy him!" She laughed as the gates finally slammed shut just as Tai reached them. Despite his best efforts, Tai couldn't stop in time and ended up crashing into the closed doors.
"Argh!" he cried as he fell back, falling onto his rear. Sora and Matt knelt by him and helped them stand. "No!" he cried, pulling from the two of them and going to the gates, pounding on them with both fists. "No no no no NOOO!!!"
"Come on Tai, stop it before you hurt yourself," Sora said softly. I nodded.
"Beating the doors until you break your hands won't do anyone any good."
"Now what do we do?" TK asked softly.
"We have to find some way to open these gates again," Izzy replied.
Greymon and the others de-Digivolved back to their Rookie forms, joining us a moment later. Agumon put a paw on Tai's leg.
"Come on, let's get out of this place and come up with an idea."
"Not only that, but Shavirin needs to have her back looked at," Patamon said. I gave a little laugh.
"I'm fine, really."
"Well, your wounds do need to be cleaned and dressed to prevent any infections from setting in," Izzy said. I shrugged.
"I have a much better immune system than a human, but I don't know what kind of nasty little things might be lurking in this world, so I guess you have a point."
"Well, let's go then," Biyomon said. We all looked at Tai. He said nothing for a moment, but then nodded.
"Yeah, let's get out of here."
Well, here is chapter one. What do you guys think? Be honest now, no one likes bad criticism, but it's one of the best tools a writer can use. So lemme know! Skips off to start chapter two.