A/N: This is my first story, though I've been working on things like this and related to this for a bit. This story is the first part (chronologically) of a longer saga that spans two accounts. The first, mine, will follow the adventures of a first- a Tamer group in America. Taking place in the same continuity and relative timeline of the 3rd season of Digimon, this series will include stories written by myself and my sister (link/screen name to follow). My fics will primarily follow the characters in the following story, whilst my sister's will focus on another group in Japan coming at a later time.
For now though, that's all the details needed- enjoy, read, and review.
The events of this fic take place approximately a year and a half before the events of Tamers (season 3). In this version of continuity, Tamers begins in the spring of 2004 with the introduction of Guilmon in April or so, and conclude in November of 2004 with the defeat of the D-Reaper.
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon; however, I do own the original characters and Digimon (list to come later). My sister owns Kaio.
Legends Saga: Rise of the Tamers
Chapter 1- Beginning of a Legend
Early morning; September 22nd, 2003
Location: Unknown
"Are you sure about this group? They seem a bit…rough around the edges." The first commented, frowning.
"Was not the first group?" The second being countered, taking an equal footing with the other.
"True…but they at least had something in common. These ones…they seem more at random."
"As do the others you've suggested in Japan."
"Well, yes…but…" The first replied, chewing his words carefully.
"You don't know them? They're not from Japan? If you're measuring them against the original groups, it won't be easy." The second's words seemed to hit the mark, causing a shrug and look of minor annoyance on the other's features.
"I know, I know…it's just this will be the first set of Tamers here…in this portion of Real World."
"Which is exactly why we have to go for different parameters here- we don't know what they will be facing yet."
"Alright, alright…I'll go. But this one in particular," the first said, waving a folder of information, "Is no Kamiya Taichi."
The second chuckled a hearty laugh. "No one can be another Tai Kamiya. In many ways that's both good and bad."
A nod. A sigh. A look of defeat and resentment. "I just hope you're right about this group."
"That makes two of us my friend."
7:07 a.m.
Vernon Hills, Illinois; United States of America
"Devon! What did you do with my CD player?"
"I didn't touch it, Kaio," Devon Griffen, nearly 14, replied. "Wherever it is, you put it there."
"But didn't you have it last?"
Devon rolled his eyes, tying his shoe and grabbing his bag for school. "Not that I remember, sis. See you after school!"
"Devon!" By the time the younger sibling of the Griffen household yelled her protest, Devon was already out the door. With fairly short brown hair and brown eyes, his face held primarily a reserved look that sometimes changed to show a quick expression of a smile. Standing slightly over average height at 5'8" and with a normal but well-kept build, Devon was the typical American teenager by appearances. Adorned with baggy cargo pants, navy blue t-shirt, and gray Converses, he fit the description fairly well.
"I wish she could learn to keep track of her own stuff," Devon muttered half a block away from his house. It seemed to be a knack for the two of them- his sister couldn't find her things, she asked him where they were, he shrugged in response, thus causing her to continue to bother him. Not that he didn't have his moments as well of course.
A right turn and a few blocks down later, Devon saw his friend, Ani Derajavan struggling to tug his sneakers on, half-walking, half-hopping down the sidewalk. Ani, 13, was slightly shorter than Devon and a bit less possessing in build, but was generally a bit quicker than his older friend. Laying to heritage from India before moving to the United Kingdom, and finally to the United States, his darker skin contrasted his black hair and dark blue eyes. "Coming, Ani?"
"Shortly, yeah," Ani said, still hopping down the sidewalk to get his second shoe on. Devon just shook his head, smiling slightly. "What do you think about basketball today after school?"
"Maybe- I was thinking a movie for the evening."
"Good idea. Plus, we could invite that other girl along…I keep forgetting what's her name again?" Ani asked, thinking through their classmates.
"Catherine," Devon supplied fairly quickly. Covering for such a quick response, he continued on, "We could get them both to come to a movie instead of having Christie watch us play basketball the whole time."
"Complaining, Devon?" Ani replied, waggling his eyebrows and baiting his friend, prompting Devon to roll his eyes.
"Here I thought she was interested in you," Devon retorted, quickening his pace a bit and hiding a smirk.
"Wha? Really?" The comment had the disarming effect Devon hoped it would have, allowing him a quick and victorious glance at Ani's blink and surprised features. "Seriously?"
"Don't know, maybe it slipped my mind," Devon said, grinning in full now.
Ani tried to catch up to his friend as Devon started off in a run the last couple blocks to school. "Hey, you can't just leave me hanging with that- Devon!"
9:12 a.m.
Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
"Crazy Americans," muttered a young man with spiky brown hair. Being Japanese in origin, he had an excellent command of the English language, making it sound like his first. Granted, the circumstances that prompted that particular talent had other side effects, some of which he lived with to this very day. Wearing a dark red sweater and black jeans, he made his way through one of the largest cities in the United States.
This wasn't his first time in the States, but it would certainly be his most memorable to date. He didn't completely understand why he couldn't have just gone the simple way of travel to the suburb of Chicago, a town of a little under 30,000. Three simple presses of a button would have opened a Gate to what had become his second home, and another press would have placed him in Vernon Hills. He knew that his colleague had stressed upon him the necessity of maintaining a low profile, and even he had to admit that appearing out of nowhere, possibly in a crowded area, would not hold to that principle.
The teen checked his watch, followed by a quick glance at the train timetables flashing on the electronic boards above the central portion of Union Station. Grabbing the bag he had brought with him for the next few days, the young man set out for his northbound train, hoping that the 9:30 out of Chicago would be running on time.
11:41 a.m.
Vernon Hills, Illinois, United States of America
Why can't geography be more interesting…, Devon thought, taking in the voice of his teacher. It wasn't that Ms. Tupelos was a bad teacher…it's that Devon's attention was drawn elsewhere. Thank God today's a half day. Only 5 more minutes and we're outta here.
To his left, Ani and Christie were making subtle gestures and whispered comments next to each other, including the new student from Ireland in their conversations. Christie was a few inches shorter than Devon, no more than 2 inches shorter than Ani. Dark brown hair fell just past her shoulders and brown eyes sparkling with a smile in them, capturing the attention of whoever was speaking with her. Her naturally tanned skin (coming a partial Italian background), coupled with owning a fairly slim build, though not without curves, made her quite attractive.
The three of them, Devon, Ani, and Christie, had been friends for the past 5 years when Christie had moved to Vernon Hills. The slight glint in her eye when she talked to Ani was not missed by the observing Devon, nor the slight mix of tension and flirtation between the two on after school excursions.
The new student, who's name escaped Devon at the moment, was easily identified as being Irish in descent- if not by the accent he spoke with, then definitely by the auburn hair dipping past his ears, slight splattering of freckles on his face, and blazing green eyes. A certain energy seemed to radiate off him through his gazes and more than a few times comments from either the Irishman or Ani rose just loud enough to draw a quick glance from Ms. Tupelos.
Devon also noticed glances from the red-haired Irishman towards another person in the class- one that Devon's attention was mostly drawn to.
Her name was Catherine and the two of them had been friends since the end of the last school year, with their friendship blossoming over summer.; about the same height as Christie, though with a build not as elongated, Catherine has blue eyes a shade darker than ice and light brown hair that brushed the bottom of her shoulder blades. Seated a pair of seats forward and one to his right, Devon could see she was also a bit hazy on the current listen, tapping the eraser end of her pencil against the desk. Devon couldn't take his mind off the frost blue of her eyes, despite not being able to see them at the moment…
"Devon, do you have the answer?"
"Huh?" Devon asked, tearing his gaze away from Catherine's back. Blushing a bit unconsciously, Devon sat up, hoping few had seen the source of his distraction.
"The question was," Ms. Tupelos continued, shooting a glare at Devon. "What climate feature keeps Great Britain warm despite being at higher latitudes? Daniel, how about you?"
"The North Atlantic Current, ma'am," the Irishman replied. Ms. Tupelos nodded, satisfied with the answer, just before the bell rang, ending class.
"Worksheets on European capitals due Monday class- have a good weekend."
Ani glanced at his friend, a slight smirk to hide laughter aimed at Devon. "Very smooth, Devon. At last, I have something to remind you of whenever I get caught." Devon merely rolled his eyes.
"So we're off to the movies?" Christie popped up from behind them, throwing her arms around the two boys. "I hear Pirates of the Caribbean is still playing at Showplace." Ani perked up at this, especially considering the fact that Christie had her arm around him- even if it was just a friendly way…
"Sure," Devon replied. Spying Daniel (now that he actually knew his name) and Catherine talking a bit in the hall a few feet in front of them, he moved a half step faster than the other members of the trio, catching up to Catherine and Daniel. "Hey, Catherine- Daniel, right?"
"Yep," Daniel replied first, the tones of his Irish accent coming out. "Tha's me. Nice move in class today." Devon's face warmed slightly at the mention of his moment of distraction- especially in the presence of the source of said distraction.
"Hi, Devon. What's up?" Catherine replied, smiling a bit. Devon, ignoring the minor flutter in his midsection, continued with his intended purpose.
"Well, Ani, Christie, and I were going to catch a matinee of Pirates of Caribbean at Showplace- you two feel like going?"
"Sounds grand, mate."
"Sure, love to." Devon once again ignored the distinct feeling of flapping wings in his stomach at the last comment, and replied merely with a grin.
"Great. Feel up to walking?"
"Knew there was a catch," Daniel muttered good-naturedly. "Onward then."
The five them made their way down the halls of students, soon making their way out to the sunny and warm September day. Christie and Ani conversed with Daniel at the front of the group, arguing between the two of them with Daniel occasionally making a point and glancing between them. Meanwhile, Devon and Catherine naturally took up a place behind the trio, quietly commenting back and forth.
"The Cubs are going to pull it out this year- I can feel it," Christie commented to the two guys, always the avid believer. With the Cubs up 3-2, it might just happen this year though.
"Christie, they're the Flubbies. They always blow it," Ani stressed.
"Here they go again," Catherine whispered to Devon. "Now for the retort…"
"At least the Cubs got in the playoffs this year- How'd the Sox do again?"
"Can it, Christie!"
"Never fails," Devon said, shaking his head. "They argue so much, it's hard to see how they like each other."
"Well, I kind of think that's one reason why they do," Catherine mused. "Besides, I'm pretty sure they don't even realize it."
"Ani's definitely clueless about it. I made a quip this morning, he had no idea what I meant."
"And with Daniel caught in the middle of it," she added. "I'm just glad he's keeping those two from going at each other."
Devon snickered. "Would they have bruises or hickeys after that though?" Catherine giggled for a moment, and then broke out laughing as the thought played out. Devon soon joined her, nearly doubling over in amusement. Daniel just glanced over his shoulder with a confused look on his face.
Dealing with the intrusion in a different manner, Ani and Christie responded by shouting "What's so funny?", prompting the two of them to look away from each other and blush after a moment of catching each other's glance. Daniel merely muttered something that sounded like "Damn Yanks..." and continued on with the other two as Devon and Catherine exploded into another round of laughter.
Ani and Christie stayed relatively quiet for the next 5 minutes, avoided each other's gaze while Daniel attempted (strong stress on attempted) restart a conversation, much to the continued amusement of Catherine and Devon behind them. Devon covered the price of tickets; though paying for even a matinee tapped him out of cash on hand. The trio in front was talking again, this time firing questions at the Irish immigrant about his home country.
"It really rains all the time?" Christie asked incredulously.
"You think I'm this pale by choice?" Daniel retorted with a smirk. "My first week here, I burned so bad I look like a lobster. I saw more sun in that first week than I saw in 9 months back home in Ireland."
"Original or extra-crispy?" Ani quipped, taking the popcorn from the counter and chuckling at the Irishman, receiving a glare from the shorter yet stronger teen.
"Oh, be nice Ani," Catherine chimed up from the counter, ordering for her and Devon, despite Devon's insistence to the contrary. "Besides, we're going to be late for the movie."
"You mean the 15 minutes of previews that come before it?"
Christie rolled her eyes, sparing a moment to give him a slightly sour look. "Come on you- your wit's been getting enough of a workout today." She tugged him along by his sleeve, Daniel smiling at the quick change in manner when Christie made her opinion known.
"You don't have to get me anything," Devon insisted, still trying to sway Catherine from her choice.
"You bought tickets- besides, I feel like repaying the favor some days. You're the one who usually pays for things with us anyway," she pointed out, handing him a drink.
"Well, yeah…"
"Good, that's settled then." Catherine replied with a grin. "Let's get some seats before we really are late." The two of them sat down a few rows behind Ani, Christie, and Daniel in a practically empty theater, just as the opening previews began to roll. Taking a bite every now and then, Devon felt a slight chill go down his spine as the light dimmed in the theater. What was that? Glancing around the nearly empty theater, he shook it off as the temperature in the room. Yet, the prickling at the top of his spine nagged his conscious mind that it wasn't just the air condition overworking itself…
Devon pushed those thoughts into the back of his mind as the opening theme from Pirates of the Caribbean started playing. Noticing with a slight smile that Ani and Christie had stopped arguing, Devon observed his two friends interactions; Christie had settled into the seat comfortably, leaning over slightly towards Ani. He only wished he could see his friend's expression at the moment, wondering how Ani was reacting, especially by the time she came to rest her head on Ani's shoulder.
Halfway through the movie, just after Captain Barbosa delivered his famous "You best start believin' in ghost stories missy- you're in one!" line, Devon felt Catherine shiver slightly next to him. Leaning over slightly, he whispered briefly to his friend. "Cold?"
"Kind of," she replied in similarly whispered tones, rubbing her arms. "Just had a bit of a chill come over."
"Probably just the air conditioning," Devon suggested, not knowing what else it could be.
"Yeah…probably," Catherine agreed, consciously shifting over towards warmth, coming to rest that her arm and Devon's were touching a bit. Devon personally was glad that the theater was dark; that way, she couldn't see the slight coloring of his cheeks caused by the warm, tingling feeling that originated from her touch.
The movie went on as such for the most part; the impressive special effects and swordplay bring Devon to watch with excitement despite knowing the outcome. As the lights came up in the theater, Daniel came to a stand and stretched out first, cracking his stiff neck in the process. Christie quickly realized the potentially compromising position she found herself in, sitting up and off Ani's shoulder rather swiftly, coming to her feet before he noticed she was missing from next to his head.
Devon, in an interesting turn of circumstance, found himself in a delicate situation. On the one hand, he was quite comfortable and not unhappy in the least. On the other, while he didn't have anything against Catherine's head on his shoulder, he was fairly certain he was about as red as one person could get. Add that to the fact that he knew Ani would never let him hear the end of it if he saw him, he nudged Catherine lightly, murmured into her ear.
"Catherine?"
"Mmm." Not exactly what I was looking for…
"Cat?"
"Mmm?" Getting a bit better…
"Movie's over."
"So?" She replied sleepily.
"Um…I kind of have to get up."
"Why don't you then?" Catherine asked, her eyes still closed and her head still resting on his shoulder.
"You're sort of sleeping on my shoulder…"
This brought Catherine's eyes open rather quickly, a rapid blink and soft "oh" coming before her head came up and off Devon's shoulder. "Oh...sorry," she elaborated slightly, and now she was the one flushing as her cheeks turned pink.
"S'ok," Devon replied, standing up slowly like a heavy flag unfurling in the wind. "It was a bit cold in here anyway," he added, hiding most of a smile behind a slightly embarrassed appearance. Though quite comfortable with you on my shoulder…
"Yeah…" Catherine agreed half-heartedly to his statement, not his unheard thoughts.
"Always better the second time through," Ani said, interrupting the gathering tension between the two. "Don't you think Catherine?"
"Yeah, especially Johnny Dep," she added with slight smirk, covering for the continuing confusion going through her own thoughts. Devon merely rolled his eyes and smiled as they made their way out into the lobby.
"Was it foggy when we came in?" Daniel asked in a nonchalant tone, pointing to the glass doors in the front of the theater.
Devon frowned, another chill running down his back. "I didn't think so…" Looking around outside as he stepped out, Devon saw practically nothing but fog all around him, barely keeping sight of his friends to his right. That is, until some of the fog cleared away and he caught sight of a large, green…thing that looked like a giant bug. With a set of nasty looking teeth and standing over 15 feet tall, Devon almost didn't notice the most fearsome portion of the creature; A pair of long, sharp blades that took the place of its arms.
"This isn't good," Ani said briefly as the bug starting walking in their direction. Then it growled.
"This is really, really not good," Christie confirmed. And then things went from bad to worse.
"Twin Sickles!"
A/N: And now, onto Chapter Two…give it a few days, maybe a week. Digimon will come next chapter, promise- sorry for all the chatter and stuff, but I had to get the character development in there somehow. Next Chapter'll move faster, promise.
Read, review, comment, flame, and anything else- most of all, hope you enjoyed the first part of my first fic!
