Chapter Two
Ken followed the tracks for most of the afternoon, deeper and deeper into the forest before reaching a small mountain. Still, he kept going, climbing up the rocks and keeping the tracks in his sight. By the looks of the paw-like tracks, no doubt they belonged to a Beast Digimon. The only question: which one? What type of Beast Digimon would be brave enough to venture so close to the village, even with everyone up at the cave for the ceremony? Ken couldn't really think about it; his brother's words echoed in his head. I'll show him. I don't mess up everything. Yeah, this is my fault, but I'm fixing it! I'll get that basket and then shove it right—
He paused as he caught sight of something up ahead, and he hurried over to discover the basket of fish. Or, rather, what was left of it. The Beast Digimon that stole it clearly was smart enough to take the entire basket, but once it got a safe distance it completely shredded the woven basket beyond repair. Scraps of fish lay around it. Ken, his anger rising, growled to himself as he kicked at the broken basket pieces around him. He turned to march back to the village, wondering how he would escape Takeru's nagging when he found out his basket was trashed.
Ken froze at the sound of a growl, and he spun around to see a Digimon on the rocks several feet away from him. The beast turned just enough for Ken to see the entire thing, and he realized it was a Holydramon. The pink, dragon-like Digimon sniffed the air, obviously having caught whiff of Ken as the boy approached. Having finally caught up to the fish thief, Ken scooped up a rock and threw it at the Holydramon, missing his target but certainly catching its attention. Ken threw another rock, this time nailing Holydramon in the snout. The Beast Digimon snarled and hissed at the boy, its claws flexing and muscles tensing.
A little ways down the mountain, Yamato and Takeru followed the tracks that would hopefully lead them to their brother. Each boy carried a spear in hand, just in case. "Ken! Ken!" Yamato called. He sighed at the lack of response. "Where'd he go?"
"If we're lucky, far away." Takeru huffed, still mad at his younger brother. Takeru had never been good at weaving, but he was the one chosen to make that basket to keep their food safe and he worked so hard to do it right. Now, thanks to his moron little brother, all that work was for nothing. If that Digimon didn't give Ken a run for his money, Takeru would surely—"
"Aah!"
Takeru and Yamato looked up in surprise as Ken suddenly fell off a cliff above them, landing on a small ledge. Instantly, Takeru's anger turned to worry. "Ken!"
When Ken realized the limited space he had to stand, he immediately pressed himself to the rock wall and prayed the Holydramon didn't come after him. "Ken!" The boy looked up to see Yamato reaching down towards him.
"Yamato, no!" Ken urged. "Y-you got to get out of here!"
"What?" Yamato's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and worry.
"The Holydramon!" Ken called. "Look behind you!"
Yamato obeyed, only to fall flat on his back at the sight of said Holydramon, currently reared up on its back legs and roaring at him.
"Hey Holydramon!" Takeru shouted, throwing rocks at the Beast Digimon and drawing its attention to him. "Come on, over here! Come on, Holydramon, come this way!" The Holydramon, still snarling, dropped down to all fours and began advancing towards Takeru, the blonde boy backing up and giving Yamato the time he needed to haul Ken up on solid ground. The two of them grabbed their spears and charged towards Takeru and Holydramon, currently fighting atop a glacier attached to the mountain. Takeru swiped and stabbed his weapon towards the Digimon, but Holydramon swiped its claws and continued to roar. It managed to catch Takeru with its claws and sent him flying to one side, his back breaking through a thin patch of ice and leaving him dangling over a pit so deep he couldn't see the bottom. He kept a tight grip on his spear, desperately trying to climb back up. Yamato charged for Holydramon, beating it back towards the edge of the glacier while Ken ran towards his brother.
"Takeru!" Ken cried, jumping forward just as Takeru's spear broke and catching the boy's arm. "Hold on!"
"Come on, pull!" Takeru urged, trying to climb back up. Ken kept a tight grip on his brother, but both of them kept slipping on the ice and Takeru couldn't get the proper footing to climb out.
Yamato skillfully ducked as Holydramon's claws whooshed past his head. He smacked the Beast Digimon with his spear and jabbed the blade towards it, but Holydramon still came. Still, the Beast Digimon had to admit that this human was a much better fighter than some of the others it fought before. Yamato heard a cry and turned with wide eyes to see Ken still trying to pull Takeru from the hole. Unfortunately, that moment of distraction allowed Holydramon to slam Yamato into the ground, knocking the wind out of him and leaving him on the ice. Holydramon looked in the direction of Ken and Takeru, stalking over towards them and panting a little. Shaking, Yamato took his spear and struggled to lift himself upright. He looked towards Holydramon, watching it advance towards his brothers. He didn't know if the Beast Digimon would take off into the woods or attack the boys, but Yamato wouldn't take that chance. But how to stop it? The sound of something cracking caught his attention, and Yamato looked to see a perfect trail of broken ice leading towards the Holydramon. If he didn't act now, he'd lose his chance to save his brothers.
Shouting in effort, Yamato rose to his knees and raised his spear high, stabbing it down into the crack and jerking the staff to one side.
The force of it caused the ice to crack and break right under the Holydramon's feet, the Beast pausing and looking down in shock. Ken finally managed to haul Takeru up and the two of them stared in shock at what their brother just did. Said brother still sat at the edge of the ice, too far away to get to safety.
"Yamato…" Ken breathed. "Yamato!"
"Yamato!" Takeru screamed.
Yamato looked up, his eyes full of apology and love, and he tightened his grip on his spear.
The ice finally broke apart and began cascading down into the water below. Holydramon desperately tried to escape the avalanche of ice, but missed a jump and could only scrape at the ice with its claws before falling down with Yamato. The ice crashed into the lake at the bottom of the mountain, the reverberating sound scaring some bird Digimon from their spots in the trees. Takeru and Ken hurried to the edge of the glacier, staring down at the carnage.
"Yamato?" Takeru tried to shout, but his voice cracked.
Holydramon suddenly burst from the water, gasping a bit and roaring. It looked up to the boys and roared, as though irritated with them, before climbing up to the shore. Shaking itself of the water, the Beast Digimon roared at them a final time and then disappeared into the forest.
The shock of what happened left as fast as it came. "Come on!" Ken urged, leading the way as the boys hurried down the cliff side. Once reaching the water, they immediately jumped in and began calling for their brother. Ken was the first to find the broken shaft and head of Yamato's spear, but they continued searching. They didn't care that the water become colder and colder as the sun began to set. All they cared about was finding their brother.
Takeru jumped over a chunk of ice, looking around before freezing. "Ken!"
Ken whipped around and ran over to join his brother, both of them staring at something in the water: a black-furred cape. Ken hurriedly waded over to it, lifting the cloth into his hands. But at the sight of the large tear in the cloth, he realized his brother was not attached to it. His fists clenched around the soaking wet fabric. "No…" He tossed the torn cape aside and kept wading in the water. "Yamato! Yamato!"
Takeru lifted the torn cape into his hands, and the realization dawned on him. Their brother sacrificed himself to save them. They'd never find him again, and if they did, it wouldn't be a happy reunion. Takeru bowed his head, closing his eyes to keep the tears at bay.
Yamato was dead.
The funeral was held a few nights later, after Takeru and Ken returned home to report what happened. A group of the villagers returned to the spot to find Yamato's body, but all they could find was his totem.
The night of the funeral, everyone in the village carried torches up to the cave to light the way. Renamon created a funeral pyre, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. Takeru and Ken walked through the aisle of people, handing Renamon the only things they had left of Yamato: his broken spear, torn cape, and Wolf of Guidance totem. Renamon wrapped them all together nicely, the totem hung over the top. She sprinkled the items with a strange dust before taking it to the pyre, gently setting it amongst the wood and antlers. Takeru and Ken stood with Renamon before the fire, watching as it was lit and took the offering with it. Renamon made a few motions with her hands, and sparks from the fire flew up towards the Sovereign Lights that danced above them, giving Yamato's spirit to the Sovereigns. Ken watched the sparks go and disappear, and suddenly his anger returned. He marched off, leaving Takeru as the blonde mourned for his elder brother. Takeru remained at the burning pyre, even after everyone else left and the flames smoldered down into burning embers. Renamon patted the blonde's shoulder comfortingly, walking off to mourn herself. In Takeru's mind, he wondered what could've been done differently to stop this from happening. It could have been anything, from Yamato choosing to not crack the ice to Takeru not getting so angry at Ken to Ken just remembering to tie up the basket.
"You ready?"
Takeru jumped a little and turned to see Ken standing behind him, holding two spears in his hand. "For what?"
"We're going after the Holydramon." Ken replied simply, tossing his brother a spear.
Takeru caught the weapon, but he only sighed. "I know what you're feeling, but…but killing that Digimon is wrong." He tossed the spear to the ground.
"Wrong?" Ken repeated angrily. "Our brother is dead and it's because of that monster!"
"I don't blame the Holydramon, Ken." Takeru snapped.
Ken seemed surprised, but took a good guess that Takeru partially blamed him for Yamato's death. The raven-haired boy's eyes fell into a glare. "I see.
Takeru looked away, regretting his words. He gently took a hold of the spear in Ken's hand. "Killing that Holydramon won't make you a man."
Ken jerked away from him. "Oh now you're trying to be wise?"
"I'm trying to follow my totem!" Takeru shouted. "Why can't you do the same?!"
"You really think love has anything to do with being a man?" Ken scoffed. "A man wouldn't just sit here and do nothing." He turned to march off, but Takeru caught his arm.
"Ken, don't upset the Sovereigns." Takeru warned.
Ken scoffed again. "Sovereigns. Thanks for your wisdom." He pulled away and turned to walk off, only to stop at the sight of Renamon. The fox Digimon stared at Ken worriedly, but the boy took out his totem and tore it free from his neck, tossing it into the embers before hurrying off. Renamon stared after the boy for a moment, picking up his discarded totem and gingerly brushing it off. She looked to Takeru.
The blonde stared back, unsure what to do. But it soon became clear. "I've got to stop him." He took Ken's totem from Renamon and scooped up the spear he previously rejected, running after his brother.
Renamon stared after them, her heart heavy. She looked to the sky. "You left too soon, Yamato. Your brothers need your guidance." She felt a soft wind blow through her fur, and the Sovereign Lights appeared in the sky once more.
A/N: What do you think? Look good so far? Just wait until the next chapter!