Chapter 3: The King's Apprentice

We head towards Shoutmons Castle, which is located at the heart of the Seven Lands. His castle is connected to all the kingdoms. For a person, it would have taken months to get there by merely walking, but it took the rest of the day for us since we had flown there via OmegaShoutmon, which was Shoutmon's digivolved form. His body was all mostly clad in golden armor, his legs resembled blades, and he had two cannons on his chest. He retained his old features, like his cerulean colored eyes, as well as the V crest on his head, only it was much longer now. His face was white, as well as the middle of his abdomen, and he had a black mark that ran down his eyes and cheeks. It was surprising that he was able to super digivolve without Taiki's Xros Loader. I asked him about it and he explained that Digimon could digivolve by themselves, however it'd take months, even years of intense training. However it he was king; if anyone can pull it off, he could. We arrived late in the night, most of the castle was enshrouded in the dark of night, so it was hard to tell what it looked like from outside, other than it was as huge as a town. We passed through the foyer. It had a black and white tile floor, a giant red carpet which slid down the huge staircase up to the front gate, as well as columns lined up to support the second floor, both of which were filled with different corridors to go through. We headed up the stairs, down one the hallway on the left of the second floor, passing by many different doors that all led to different rooms. We tread past the corridor and ended up on a tower yards away from the main castle and entered the first room we passed, which had a bed.

"Get rest. We'll talk tomorrow..." he advised. I looked at him, and under his exhaustion, he had a serious look on his face.

"Alright..."

He closed the door behind him. It was a simple guest room, only furnished for royalty, the bed was huge, with a brown blanket on it, and two pillows. There was a second room, which had a shower that was human size and another that was digimon size. I walked out to the balcony, which was made of marble and had a border to prevent anyone from falling, and looked up towards the night sky. The thought of Dorbickmon circled my mind. Why does he refuse to let me repay him? Why does he hate humans so much? All these questions needed answers, but it was better to hold off on them for now. Walking back in and going to sleep, the night felt rather quick, and when dawn rose there was a small rabbit on the bed staring.

"Gah!" it startled me, causing me to jump and fall off of the bed, hitting my head on the floor. "Ow..."

"He-he-he!" it laughed. Standing up and holding my head, the digimon looked like a pink bunny with black eyes, wearing white earmuffs, a magenta scarf & small red boots.

"Surprised you didn't I?" it smiled.

"You...you're Cutemon aren't you?" I asked the Digimon. It fit Shoutmon's description perfectly.

"That's right kyu!" he replied happily, "And that over there is Dorulumon!"

He pointed to the digimon by the door, who also fit Shoutmons description. He was a quadruped best digimon with an orange mane. His body was mostly white fur with an orange flame design near his feet, black claws and long saber-shaped teeth fangs. His tail was a giant yellow drill, he had yellow eyes and a sort of helmet with a drill on his fore head, along with two black spikes protruding out of its back and one shaped like a blade protruding form his chest.

"Are you the kid named Carlos?" he asked.

"Yeah..."

"Shoutmon wants to see you..." he motioned to follow him with his head.

"Ok..."

They watched me get up and clean the room before followed Dorulumon out towards the courtyard. The view of the castle in the morning was astonishing. It was built from bricks, but when I kneeled down to feel the ground, it felt harder than concrete. It was mostly a shade of brown and orange, with the roofs being red and the shape of an upside down cone. The courtyard itself was also gorgeous. It had flowers of all kinds, even the ones from Dragon Land, as well as many others, and from a bird's eye view in the sky, the bushes in the courtyard was trimmed to resemble the symbol of Xros Heart. Dorulumon led me to the farthest part of the castle, which was guarded by a huge wall made from the same material that enclosed it. We walked inside, climbed a long spiral staircase which led up to the fifth floor, and came upon a huge wooden door.

"Woah..."

"Alright, come on." Dorulumon advised. The gate creaked open as we entered the throne room. Stone pillars provided the support for most of the room, and a red carpet stretched all the way to Shoutmon's throne, which was colored red and gold, and adorned with jewels and the symbol of Xros Heard embroidered on it. Shoutmon was there, looking out the window of the tower when he noticed we came in.

"Thanks Dorulumon" he told the beast. Dorulumon nodded and left. Shoutmon looked to the digimon next to him, "Knightmon, please wait outside. I'd like to speak to him alone..."

Knightmon had blue eyes, and was clad in silver armor, he had a huge shield on his back, and a sword on his left hip. His chest had a strange symbol on it, as did the tarp he had covering his groin. He nodded and left as well as the gate closed behind him.

Shoutmon turned, "Alright, now tell me, what were you doing following Dorbickmon?"

I took a deep breath, and replied, "He saved my life..."

The reply took Shoutmon for a bit of a surprise, but he kept his composure.

"He did...?" Shoutmon asked, "How?"

At that point, Shoutmon was informed of everything that happened up to the point where we met at Dragon Falls.

"...I see." he glanced back, absorbing the story into his head. He looked out the window again.

"...he saved my life Shoutmon...as hard as that is to believe...if it wasn't for him I wouldn't be here..." he heard me restate.

"He let you drown and nearly hit you had I not intervened...he hates you..." Shoutmon muttered.

"He doesn't hate me...at least not yet, he hates that I'm human...he must have developed that after what happened at Dragon Land with that Kiriha kid."

Shoutmon stayed quiet.

"Please..."

He turned back to look at me.

"I can't..." he replied, "At least not right now..."
"Wait...so...does that mean?!"

"...if you can wait until tomorrow night...I can help."

"Thank you Shoutmon."

"For the time being I want you to stay inside the borders of this castle. I don't want you getting hurt out there."

I nodded, then walked back to my room.

"...you're one insane kid..." he muttered to himself.

The rest of that day was spent waiting in the room given to me. The next day luckily didn't start with seeing Cutemon staring again. I cleaned the room, making sure to leave no mess for them to clean up, the royal treatment was nice, but not necessary. Grabbing an apple from a basket on the desk and walking out to the balcony to look around, there were many Digimon walking from place to place, minding their own business. In the courtyard a Knightmon was training a group of digimon. The group considered of many black and white digimon that looked like the pawns in chess, with spears in hand.

"Pawnchessmon huh..." I took a bite of my apple.

"Gah!" someone shouted. Looking over, a purple dragon Digimon was struggling to get up. He had long ears, as well as teal colored eyes, an X shaped scar on his forehead, and wore red rubber-like armor on his chest. His tail was shaped like a hammer on the end of it, with a yellow ring around it. His face, arms and belly had white fur on it.

"I'm guessing that's Gumdramon? Who's he fighting?"

Looking over, his opponent wore black boots, black pants and a black belt, some golden chains, cuffs of what looks like steel on his arms, a skull pendant around his neck, and some skulls on his shoulder. The digimon resembled a monkey, whose fur was white and skin brown, his eyes were yellow and he wielded a bō staff, wearing a strange looking crown on his head.

"Looks like Gumdramon isn't doing so well..."

"Hmph, is that all the wild child can muster?!" the monkey scolded. Gumdramon stood up.

"Damn it...I've barely landed any hits on him." Gumdramon muttered.

"You've let defeating Quartzmon go to your head!"

"I have not Gokuwmon!" the small dragon yelled.

"So his name's Gokuwmon..."

"Then show me!" Gokuwmon shouted. Gumdramon charged at him.

"Fire Vortex!" Gumdramon's tail was engulfed in a flame as he jumped up and performed a series of somersaults in the air, each time increasing his speed as he charged at his opponent. Gokuwmon easily jumped out the way as Gumdramon hit the ground. Gumdramon used the momentum to jump up using his hands.

"Jacked Hammer!" he attacked with his tail. Gokuwmon blocked the attack with his bō. The two struggled, however Gokuwmon managed to fend off the attack and hit Gumdramon in the face.

"Gah!" Gumdramon yelled in pain as he hit the ground.

Gokuwmon sighed, "You've lacked in training..." and walked off, leaving Gumdramon there.

"Damn it..." Gumdramon muttered, "Every day so far...it's the same result...no matter how hard I try..."

"Poor kid..." I finished my apple and walked back inside, unaware that he looked over.

"Who's that...?" he wondered as he rose to his feet. "Tagiru and Taiki haven't returned from the human world yet...unless..."

He walked into the castle. There was a knock on the door a few minutes later. Opening the door, it turned out to be Gumdramon.

"...can I help you?" I asked him. He simple came in anyway and ignored the question. Gumdramon started checking me out, even looking at me straight into the eyes. It was a very awkward moment

"Um..."

"...you have weird hair..." he commented.

"I do...?" I responded, grabbing a mirror. It didn't look any different from before. It was still it's flat top self spiked up slightly near the top, as well as the same brown colored eyes and face. Whether or not that was an insult was to be put into question.

"So you walk into this room...just to make fun of my hair...?"

He then jumped onto my shoulder, "...no"

His strange behavior confused me. "Then why-?"

"Whats your name kid?" he interrupted.

"...Carlos...and I'm not a kid, I'm sixteen."

"...weird name" he responded.

"Does everything I tell you come off as weird?" I asked, slightly irritated.

"...maybe" he turned around. His attitude made me sigh.

"So what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Waiting."

"For?" he tilted his head slightly.

"...Shoutmon"

"...Why are you waiting for Ou-sama?" Gumdramon asked again.

"Because he told me he'd help me"

"Help you do what?"

The more he asked the closer he got. All these questions he asked for details made it feel like it was an interrogation.

"...is there a problem between us...?"

"Did you know he already has a human partner?" he interrupted again, though it helped figure out why he's asking all this.

"...yes, Kudou Taiki. I'm not here to replace anyone Gumdramon. I'm here because Shoutmon told me he'd help in something that's too dangerous to do alone."

After that fact, he got off my shoulder and looked up, "I see...but how do you know my name?"

"Shoutmon told me about you, as well as about your partner Tagiru, Xros Heart and everything in between these events."

"Oh..." he mumbled. I nodded my head.

"Would you like some DigiNoir?"

"Sure..." he responded. He watched me walk over, grab a container of it and give it to him. He took it and ate it in all in one bite.

"Ah...thanks." he smiled for once.

"You're welcome."

He went over and sat on the bed, "So when did you get here?" he asked.

"The night before yesterday."

"I didn't see you yesterday though." he tilted his head again in confusion.

"I stayed in here. I don't like attracting attention."

"I see..."

"Yeah...I saw your fight with Gokuwmon."

When he heard that, he tilted his head down in shame.

"Oh..." he muttered. I walked over and sat next to him.

"Its nothing to be embarrassed about..."

"Yes it is..." he responded, "I saved both worlds from Quartzmon and yet I can't put up a decent fight with Gokuwmon..."

"Different stakes were on the line Gumdramon. You can prove Gokuwmon wrong."

"...you think?" Gumdramon asked.

"I know so."

He looked up at me with a slight smile, "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

For the rest of the day, Gumdramon showed me around the other parts of the castle. He started with the kitchen, which was huge, and run by many Toucanmon, which as the name states, was a digimon that looked like a toucan. They all had a similar look; their body was in a red egg-like shell, feathers were a dark brown, the beak was yellow and blue, and they had red and yellow shoes. The dining room was the same, with a seat for everyone who was part of Xros Heart. The whole tour took all day, with Gumdramon's favorite room being the last, which was also the place where the members of Xros Heart could relax, play a game of cards, and even get a massage.

"They have a masseuse?" I asked Gumdramon.

"What? Don't be silly! They have three!" he smiled. After a long day, we headed back to the room Shoutmon let me settle in.

"And that's the whole castle, what do you think?" he asked.

"...I think I'm gonna need a map the next time I visit."

Gumdramon laughed at the reply. We walked out to the balcony to get a glimpse of the night sky.

"Its a beautiful night..." I told him.

"Yeah..."

"Admiring the night sky?" we heard a voice ask us. We turned around to see a familiar king.

"Shoutmon!"

"You two seem to be getting along well."

"Yeah..."

"Well, are we gonna look for Dorbickmon or not?" he asked. My response was a simple nod.

"Can I go with you guys? Gumdramon offered to help. The king nodded in agreement.

"We've got all day tomorrow..." Shoutmon advised us.

"Alright." I told him. We followed him, grabbed some supplies for safe measures, and headed off into the night.