~ Metanoia ~
By: Vain 2.26.2001
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Notes and disclaimer:
This is for Nemesi sama's fic contest.
As this is my first contest fic ever, please excuse me if I don't follow etiquette (is there contest etiquette?). This is only the prologue and, as I just wrote it tonight, you can blame Herongale if it's terrible because she's the one who piqued my interest. ^_^ Hahaha!! Beware my entry, Herongale! * grins and hides from Heron behind pictures of chibi Ken*
Metanoia means a rebirth or a conversion.
This takes place after the episode "Ken's New Home" (the one where he moves to the Digital World) and will branch off from there.
I don't own Ken or Stingmon or Digimon and I'm not profiting from this. Please review and tell me whether I should continue or return to my nice little hole in the earth. *takes an Aleve and wanders off* Enjoy.
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- Prologue: Whither Shall I Wander -
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"Midway on our life's journey, I found myself
In dark woods, the right road lost."
~Dante
The Inferno
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Stingmon shifted slightly and exhaled into the inky darkness, trying to block out the faint tangy scent of human blood. Although he would have preferred to stand, the large vaccine was now resting on his haunches in a crouch and hunched slightly forward. His long iridescent wings were still unfurled behind him and, despite the fact that it was too dark for him to see anything clearly, he was strangely aware that they very close to the wall of the cavern and he was afraid to stand lest he crush the precious and fragile membranes. He wasn't used to this form anymore. His body felt large and light. Even his movements, emotions, and reactions were different. The newly evolved Champion was slightly disturbed by all these sudden changes in such a rapid amount of time.
They were standing on a sand bank of some sort and the cold, musty scent of stale water turned the air to a thick, brackish-smelling substance that made the digimon's antennae twitch. When the earth had opened up below him and his master and swallowed them both whole, the creature had thought that they were both going to die until he felt his human's arms wrap around him and hold him tight, shielding his weak rookie form from the falling debris. If he hadn't digivolved when he did, they most likely would be dead.
Now, however, hours had passed and he was beginning to lose his patience. Most of the hole that they had fallen through had closed up, clogged with debris that allowed only a few thin shafts of weak gray light in. He knew that they couldn't venture into the water because of the creatures that dwelled in there. One of them had tried to snatch his master away before Stingmon intervened. But despite the boy's sharp orders to stay still while he thought of a plan, his muscles were beginning to cramp painfully. He shifted again to find relief.
A hiss of disgust came from the slim figure leaning heavily on him as he fidgeted. "If you do not sit still," the boy growled quietly to his partner, "I will flog you."
Stingmon immediately stilled. His master's hand had been resting on his knee for quite some time and an unaccustomed heat seeped through his thick armor at the point of contact. He wished that the human would just let him lift him up. The idea of the boy being so close to the . . . whatever it was . . . in the water worried him a good deal. That was one thing that hadn't changed when he had digivolved: his devotion to his master. Now at least he was strong enough to act on his protective urges.
Something splashed nearby he felt his human flinch and unconsciously draw closer to him. The smell of blood became stronger.
Flogging or not, Stingmon refuse to let his human stay here in this condition. The boy was obviously hurt, exhausted, and in a good deal of pain. Plus there were those . . . things out there. The vaccine crouched down lower so that his mouth was closer to his master and he could whisper. "Master . . . Master, we cannot stay here much longer . . . You are not safe here. We—"
The hand on his knee trembled slightly.
The Digimon Kaiser's voice was so low that his partner had to strain to hear it in the silence. "Quiet! Do you want them to start up again?"
The question came just a little too late though as the rough scraping noise that had been their only companion for the last hour began again. It was a low grating sound that vibrated along the walls of the cavern and made Stingmon itch to release the long, rose colored spikes he knew were hidden in the armor that protected his forearms.
Ken cringed slightly, unable to prevent his body from reacting to the noise. It hurt. The sound was like a knife cutting him up from the inside out and it jangled painfully over his already over stimulated nerves, making every scrape, bump, bruise, and cut throb even more.
Something splashed even closer now and Stingmon growled protectively. Ken sagged against the armored digimon and groaned in pain as the grating sound became louder and the splashes drew closer. The cool humid air seemed to thicken and the Champion drew the boy closer to him and glared out into the thick darkness. The despot's lack of response worried him even more than whatever else was occupying the pit with them.
"Are you just going to hide in the darkness or show yourselves and fight?"
The vaccine's challenge echoed off the stones for several moments and all other sound died down until the only thing that could be heard was a faint whimper of pain that Ken was unable to hold in. The return of the cramped silence was a blessing in comparison to the rasping grating it had replaced.
Stingmon let out a silent breath he hadn't known he was holding when he received neither an answer from the things in the water nor a sharp upbraiding from the Kaiser. He still held Ken close to his side. "Master?"
The boy didn't move.
"Kaiser?"
Still there was no response and for the first time since they had fallen into this damnable hole in the earth, Stingmon felt a sinking sensation in the center of him. The digimon experimentally moved his hand to see if the boy would support himself, but the Kaiser instead immediately went limp and began to slide away from him. Quick hands moved to gently lift the young dictator up in his arms and draw him close so that one of the creature's long antennae rested on the child's chest, monitoring him.
The boy's heartbeat was rapid and his breathing was shallow, but even. He was unconscious. It was with no small amount of anxiety that he noted that Ken was shaking slightly and felt unnaturally warm. After and moment of cradling his boy to him indecisively, the vaccine shifted forward and gingerly moved to stand up. He had to get his master out of here. And if his master decided to punish him for his disobedience . . . then so be it.
But how was he supposed to get him out of here?
Stingmon shook his head. Wormmon, he knew, was not clever like Ken chan was. Wormmon was not fast and agile like Ken chan was either. But now . . . now he was Stingmon. And if Stingmon's body was more like the master's, then maybe his mind was too . . . The thought was tantalizing.
In his arms, the boy-Kaiser groaned and shifted slightly, seeking warmth that his digimon's armored shell could provide very little of. Stingmon held the boy closer and stepped gingerly into the water.
He was up to his waist in water when two very disheartening things occurred to him. The first was that he wasn't too sure whether he could swim even when he wasn't carrying something. The second one, the one that he cursed himself for not considering before, was that he didn't know if the creatures would attack him . . . and he certainly couldn't defend himself while holding Ken in his arms. He could feel the cold seeping through his armor plating as he hesitated.
His wings twitched slightly. They had already determined that the ceiling was too low for true flight, but maybe he could skim across the top of the water . . .
His wings happily began to beat, buzzing loudly in the underground cavern. He felt his body lift up ever so slightly until only his ankles were in the water. He hovered there and tried to reach out his newly enhanced senses.
. . . It was somewhere . . . very, very far away . . . He could smell fresh water.
The Champion immediately started off in that direction, hoping it would lead to an opening of some sort. Maybe he could get to the surface and signal for some troops to come help them. Ken twitched in his arms and muttered something in a garbled language Stingmon didn't recognize and the digimon picked up the pace.
He was so intent on getting his boy out of the cavern that he didn't hear the whispers that had started when his wings has begun to beat. It began as a soft sound—thousands of voices muttering, overlapping one another. By the time he was too far away to hear it anymore it had become a roar, then an angry scream. The splashing in the water increased until it reached a frenzy—the pool could have been boiling.
show yourselves and fight are you just going to hide darkness or show yourselves hide in the darkness just going to hide and fight you just going to hide
Something rough and serpentine drug itself through the water after the retreating pair and the hot scent of blood, its scales grating harshly against the wet stone. A deep noise rattled out of it, closer to a growl than true speech. "Are you just going to hide in the darkness . . .?"
The other voices stilled as its question echoed weirdly in the cavern.
"Are you just . . . going to hide in the darkness?" it ground out again. Only the cruel scrape of its body against the earth replied.
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- Chapter One: The Color of Hollow -
A picnic, a distracted Daisuke, and a really, really big hole in the ground.
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