This story is requested by retro mania. I do not own anything related to or of the Digimon series. This story is told in Hikari POV.
As the light of the early sun pierces through the window after a bath in the shadow of the tunnel, a young brunette girl with chocolate eyes bright up at the scenery before her. Greenfield runs across the horizon, contrast nicely against the blue sky that carried a cluster of light snow cover the orange sunlight as bright as the older boy next to her. Turn her head next to him, the boy is chatting with his classmates, laughing cheerfully at the story just been told, show off a smile as bright as the sun and the aura that bright up the entire bus, she cannot help but smile at him before looking back at the nature outside itself. Just then, an object with white and black hit her head, earn a grunt from her. The boy turns his attention to the sound beside, face morph into frightened as he quickly checks her head.
"Hikari! Are you all right?" the boy tone was full of concerned as he checks the spot that she rubs against then the others.
"It all right brother! It's just a bump on the head, that all." the girl answers back with a soft tone, a smile while not as brightly as the tanned boy, it was gentle and caring just like her. The older boy breath in relief, before the object that hurt her hit his feet. Notice the contact, he changes his gaze down and pick it up, then frown at what he saw. A ball.
"Sora! What did I say of not playing ball on the bus," he yells angrily at some girl, who runs quickly to the pair seat.
"I'm very sorry, Hikari-chan. It just slipped off when I throw it." Sora bow down to the girl, sincerity can be heard. Hikari smile back at her.
"It's okay, Sora-san. It's nothing big.".
"Nothing big?" the boy scream, "You just got hit by a ball, and why do you throw the ball on the bus?!".
"Sheesh! Taichi, Hikari is old enough to take a hit like that, right Hikari-chan!". Hikari makes a sound of agreement, grinning at Sora avoiding the glare from her older brother. The bus stop there, signaling the students to get down. Before she does, Sora smile at her:
"Well, see you guy later then. Have fun at the camp, okay Hikari-chan. And you too Taichi!"
As she walks swiftly back for her backpack, Taichi gets his and Hikari's bag then move out of the chair for her to follow Sora before he himself chase after them. Getting down to the campsites, Hikari was hit by the smell of fresh flowers, the cool air in the summer light, the line of trees as green as emerald and the lake as blue as topaz. So deep in the scenery that she doesn't realize her brother is calling her until she feels some contact on her shoulder. Turn back, she saw her brother look at her brightly, with a gentle smile that she always come to admire.
"Look like you love the place already."
"Why not!" she replied happily "The place is so beautiful with the trees and the sky. And your friends make it a lot more fun too. And with Sora-san here, you can even ask her out.". The boy blush light on his cheeks, mumble quietly which she couldn't hear. Two boys swoop up behind the tanned boy, one hugs his naked and pull it down while the other grasp his anti-gravity hair and yell to both ears in a unison:
"Hey Taichi, let's go have a match!". Taichi cover his ears, kneeling on the ground groaning from the penetrable sound while Hikari giggle, before lending her hand for him to stand up.
"Thanks, Hikari.". He then glares at his two classmates:
"I have my little sister to take care of, guys.".
"It's okay, big brother. You should have fun for yourself. I will come and watch."
"You can't. You didn't bring any hat for an occasion like this, and who knows what kind of weather going to strike us today. Where are we going to play anyway?". It true she thought. Though young, she is smart enough to understand many recent behaviors the weather is abnormal, at least she thinks that the right word. She recalls when she eavesdropping the TV news, stories of hail in the grassland of Sahara, sunlight that appear on the night of Mount Elbrus, sandstorm in the city of New York. She remembers the image of snow that cover the field of Malaysia, of tornado sweep through the island of Hokkaido and rain pour down the city of Sydney during winter. However, while her parent worried about the events and her brother astounded at its weirdness, she herself saw beasts in the midst of the catastrophe. A white bear wanders through the rice field, a devil stands sternly at the falling ice, a duo of giant birds fighting each other inside the tornado. She saw all of that, and she knew what they are, where they come from. The same place as he is.
"Hikari! Hey, Earth call Hikari!". Snapped out of her thought, she sees her brother is waving in front of her. Smile sheepishly, she replied:
"Sorry, just thinking.". Chuckling, Taichi ruffles her hair:
"What were you dreaming about, little sister?"
"I'm in thought," she smiles lightly "but first what do you want me for, big brother.". He looks over to the side only to find an empty spot. Frowning, he looks around before yell out loud irritated:
"Koushiro! Where are you?" his eyes, follow by the pair same as him, lock on a spiky red hair boy with a lighter shirt, a pale skin with the body too short for a 4th-grade student. The boy seems unheard by the yelling, the fingers in the yellow glove typing consistently at the yellow computer. As the boy occupies in his mind, Taichi sneaks up behind him, clapped his hand together and startled the boy. Looking around frantically, Koushiro meets Taichi gaze.
"Taichi-san, don't startle me like that!".
"Do you remember something!?". The young boy look at him confuses, tilting his head while close his eyes contemplate about it. Notice the sound of footsteps, he open his eyes and find Hikari, face flushed before mumbling sorry. Sighing, Taichi put his hand on the boy, squeeze it gently.
"I didn't mean for you to just stop with your activities, Koushiro. This is summer we are talking about, and that means you can do what you like." Taichi grinned brightly, earn Koushiro a sheepish smile in return "But I don't want Hikari to just stand there seeing me having fun while she's not, so could you at least company her through until noon okay?" the messy hair boy pleading to the pale one, who fidgeting his fingers while changing his gaze from her to the one on the opposite boy worriedly. He then breaks the silence.
"I don't think I am a person for the jobs, Taichi-san. Why don't you ask Sora-san?".
"I hear that she will play with big brother, Koushiro-san." Hikari jumps in and informs him. Seeing the shock look on his face, she giggled lightly.
"I'm not going to disturb you, Koushiro-san. I also interest in what you are doing.". Koushiro light up at what she just say, hug his laptop tightly before holding her hand and pull to a spot under the shade of a tree. Taichi smile at the two, waving his hand before turn back to the opposite direction.
For the next hours or so, Hikari watches solemnly at the moving cloud above her. The shape of a house, of a cat, of bird, and sun float slowly through her eyes. But sometimes, she caught him rolling with the cloud before bath in it. She misses him and till this day still don't know where has he went. Glance over, she still sees the red hair boy typing on the keyboard with deep concentration on the screen. Her interest on what Koushiro work on quickly died down as soon as she saw code and number and line appear on the screen in a clutter she becomes dumbfounded, and many attempts to talk end with her get a one or two word before he turns back to his computer. Sighing, she looks at the cloud and sees a pair of brown eyes stare back at her and a smile that brighter than her brother.
"Um ... hello?". Koushiro glance at her before turning his full attention to the girl that have been staring at Hikari.
"Mimi-san!" he yells sharply "Where have you been? Our teacher have been asking for you since we get down. And your friends are also worried about your sudden disappearing."
"Come now, Koushiro-kun," Mimi giggle at the annoyed boy "it summer and where would I go instead of the lake over there. And who is this cute girl anyway? Your cousin?".
"It's Taichi-san sister, Mimi-san," Koushiro said with an exasperated sigh. Curious, Hikari turns to face this Mimi person here and find her to be a nice girl. Her hair is much lighter than her and her brother, a red dress with a pair of gloves the same color as her hair. The most eye-catching piece of clothing she saw is an oversize pink cowboy hat. Catching her stare at the hat, Mimi giggles loudly before take it off and hand over to her.
"You can wear it, come on try it." the girl said enthusiastically with Koushiro now stare deeply at the girls, whereas Hikari grip the brim tightly, examine it with the inquisitive look. She then hesitated put it on her small head, only for it to blind her and fall down in front of her. Koushiro grasps it quickly while chuckling, whereas Mimi holds down her laugh cause Hikari to blush madly, face hidden behind the hat. Koushiro gives her a bitter look.
"Mimi-san, stop making fun of her.".
"But it really funny, the way the hat fall down beside her cute face." she squeals. "I should have brought another hat if I knew there would be another cute girl like her, am I right Hikari-chan?". Hikari face is now completely red as tomatoes.
"It's okay, my head is too small for the hat."
"Nonsense, I will have another hat just for you. Come on, Koushiro-kun. Let's give this girl here something to wear." the light brown hair girl pull the red hair boy only for him to snap them away.
"I can't just leave her here, its almost noon," he glances over his laptop "and Taichi-san is gonna be here any minute.".
"Well, we can just explain to him later, but this poor girl here gonna get a sunburn if we don't give her something to protect.". Mimi huffed while Koushiro looks agitated, face frown at the annoyance of the girl. He looks at her with a tough face she never sees at him before.
"Hikari-san, can you wait next to my laptop." his voice have an authoritative tone in it. She nodded then move to the laptop, while the other two start to argue with each other. She saddens, knee close to her face and her hand hugs herself tightly.
One of the clouds fall down and touch at her nose. Look up, she saw many more piece of the cloud fall down at her, before the hard wind-swept at all three and come with it, snow storm. In the midst of the storm, Koushiro takes hold of her hand and pull her, while Mimi yells behind to hold the laptop. As the storm swept through the campsite, covering the tree in white snow, the lake almost freezes and as her brother held her hand and guide her to the nearest temple on the hill, she saw it again, a beast that stands on the lake. Its height is the same as the tree, it skin cover by bark that as old as the crumbling tree cover in white snow. Four arms, two on each side, sprout out claws that blue as the sea. The lower half is devoid of legs or thighs, but instead, roots that tangles each other and stuck deep down the water. A bush with purple flowers spread on the monster spread the scent that attracts her to its. When the monster looks back at her, its face, its presence terrified her. Under the white silk hood is nothingness, cold and empty as the beast.
As the wind dies down, Hikari catches a glimpse of a man wearing a tattered jacket. His blood lust eyes jump from her to the others before disappear when the door slides open, welcoming the light to pour through and brighten the whole room. Stand at the door is not the man nor the beast that stand on the river, but instead, her brother stands strong and still with the light surround him, like a leader. The image awestruck her so much that she didn't realize everybody have already left the room until a pile of snow pouring down on her head by a smirking Taichi.
"Brother, don't do that!?"
"Sorry, sorry!" ruffle her air playfully, Taichi then lead her outside. The world outside, for her, has been painted in milk as the smell of sweetness hit her nose strongly and the ground is in deep white. When she steps down from the platform, her foot sinks into the soft snow that isn't cold but instead warm. Looking up, the sky is still blue and the sun still shines strongly as if the phenomenal in the last few hours didn't happen. As she looks at the cloud before her, a boy steps in front of her and waving.
"Hey, my name is Takeru. What is your name?". Look at the boy in front of her, she notices few features that stand out of him. His eyes are color in light blue that of the morning sea, warm and pleasant. He wears a green hat that shares the same shade as his shirt. But his blond hair is what stands out the most, as she never saw a person with the color like that. As she opens her mouth, an older version of him step behind Takeru and put both of his hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Takeru, don't frighten her like that." the tone in the older blond seem almost gentle, which startled Hikari when his look gives him this cool, loner type person. Yet in the eyes, she could see the caring and love directly at the younger blond. Smiling, she speaks:
"My name is Hikari Yagami, Takeru-kun. Is this your big brother?". The young boy nodded happily as he chirped up.
"This is Yamato, my big brother." he then took her hand "Do you want to play with us? Maybe we could play hide and seek, or building snowman, or maybe, um ... ".
"Takeru," Yamato chuckle "Maybe we should ask her adult first. Who takes you here, Hikari?". Hikari look around, trying to find the presence of her brother. Her eyes land on the pair of that sitting on the platform of the temple. She points to her brother, who is looking at Koushiro's computer.
"There he is. The one sitting next to Koushiro-san.". When she looks back, she sees Takeru's eyes bright up brightly before said.
"His hair is so cool. Brother -"
"No, Takeru, you can't."
"But why?" Takeru sulking, while his brother trailed off, try to find a word to explain.
"Because it would look weird on you.". Takeru looks back at her, tilting his head while Yamato mouthing 'thank you' at her, which she replied which a smile.
"Why would it look weird on me?"
"Because ... that hair is only fit my brother. I have seen people try to grow hair like my brother, and most of them cut it down a few days later. And besides, if my brother saw another person with the same hairstyle as him, he will try to shave it.". Takeru pales lightly, his hand cover his head while she and Yamato giggle at him. She then moves up to him, ask.
"So, do you want to play with me?". Takeru brightens up, nodded crazily while looking at his brother with an infectious smile.
"Can I, brother? Can I!". Sighing in defeat, he gives him a soft smile.
"Okay, but don't go too far." he then turns to her with a stern face "I will talk to Taichi about this, Hikari.". Before she could reply, Takeru pulls her to the side, while Yamato walks to his brother.
'The preparation has finished. Your journey now began. Good luck, the Chosen Children'.
Open her eyes slowly, she sees a bright light shine at her. Cover her eyes, she winced as she gets up, brow furrowed tightly with pain shot through her head. Two pair of hand push her slowly down to the ground, causing her to look at the person. His black eyes look directly at her through his big glasses with a serious face.
"Don't get up yet, Hikari-chan. Look like you got yourself got a headache. Are you alright?". Groaning, she put her finger on her temples, rubbing it while the pain still throbbing in her head. Looking up, she sees that is past noon. She looks over at the big boy, who is checking something in his oversize bag.
"Um ... what is your name, mister?".
"Huh!? Oh, it Joe. Joe Kido. I'm from 6th grade.". Notice the questioning look on her face, Joe gives her medicine before asking:
"Hikari, do you remember anything happen before?". Look back at the sky, she squeezes her eyes as events before play out before her.
"Well, I remember Takeru pull me to the side to play with me. Then suddenly ... ". She recalls feeling something, someone, talking to her. Not the white old beast or the tattered jacket man but a light, many dots of light, trying to communicate with her. Then her mind went blank, all events, all the talking blur into one as than disappeared. Open her eyes, she looks at Joe guilty, who gave back with a sympathetic look.
"That okay, Hikari." he patted her head lightly. A few minutes later, as her pain had died down, Joe guide her to the ground in front of the temple. The first person she sees is Taichi, who hugs her tightly.
"Hikari! Thanks god your all right.". She returns his embrace with her, then looks back to see Takeru run to her with worried.
"Are you sure you all right, Hikari.". Notice the distraught, she smiles back and nodded.
"I'm okay, Takeru-kun. Just hurt in the head a little bit."
"I don't know what symptoms are that.". Hikari look over and see Joe is engaged in conversation with Sora, who look slightly worried, and Yamato, who share a disbelief look as Taichi.
"You never see this type of sickness before?".
"I'm pretty sure it not even a type of sickness.". Just then, she heard the voice again. The voice of a million man and women, talk in unison in incomprehensible words. But there are words that stick out to her. 'Light ... apocalypse ... beginning ... towers ... '. She then heard the sound of falling objects, as the wind rush through the trees and the cloud running away from this place.
"Hikari-chan, what wrong?" Takeru looks at her scare. She points up to the sky, guide him to the point.
"Something coming.". At that moment, eight light came crashing in front of all of them. When the dust is clear, she sees a blue metallic object are on the ground. Before realize what has happened, a giant wave swells over their head, pick them up and send them through a tunnel of light.
I hope you enjoy the chapter and appreciated for any criticism you have for the story.