Author's Note: Well, here's Chapter Seven. And it's double the length on the average of the previous chapters. I actually broke 10,000 words with this one, people - thhis is the first time I have ever done that! I am so happy::weeps from joy:: On a side note, some of the major elements of the plot are finally jumpstarted; we've gotten rolling, people - there's no turning back now! Oh, and I'm just seven pages shy of 100 on my word document of this story, so that's another milestone coming up.

This story is turning out to have a lot of firsts for me, now that I think about it. Anyway, I once again want to turn your attention to Impkat, who has been working very very hard on a special mini-doujinshi for White Day. She's sworn to me that it will be posted by March 14th, 2008(tomorrow as I'm writing this), so be sure to check it out over at deviantArt! It takes place in the same context as the website "World of theGijinka"(the homepage link inmyprofile) and as such is set a good deal of time after this story. Other than that, I won't say anything else about it - you'll just have to see for yourselves!

Disclaimer: All characters that are recognizable from Digimon are obviously not mine. Others, including the Gijinka (with two notable exceptions, of course) are mine, although their Digimon forms are not. How would I explain that in court? o.o Oh well, you know it's not mine so please don't sue. All I have is a college meal card and a couple of lint covered pennies, so you wouldn't get much if you did!


The Last of the Gijinka

Chapter Seven

"It doesn't matter who you are! I won't let you hurt them!" Imouku heard himself scream, and he felt the pain of betrayal – betrayal of the deepest, most horrific sort. He half-noticed, out of the corner of his eye, that he was standing protectively in front of the Tamers – nearly all of whom were unconscious, while the few who were conscious were in no shape to stand, let alone fight. It was all up to him now; this burden rested on his shoulders alone. A dark figure loomed in front of him, and he couldn't clearly make out what it was. The only thing about its appearance that he could make out about the figure, with any certainty was the eyes, which he could see all too clearly. The angry –and slightly insane- green eyes glared down upon him, and he matched them with a stare of his own, determined to prove that he was not afraid.

His hair was soaked, sticking to his face and neck in sopping tendrils that had been darkened to the color of blood, and rainwater dripped into his eyes, mingling with the tears that ran down his cheeks. He glared defiantly at the monster in front of him, the one who had done this – who had betrayed him, who was even now attempting to destroy him. Somehow he would have to defeat his betrayer, despite his injuries, despite his fatigue – even with the broken arm that hung limp at his side, he had to defeat him, no matter how much it hurt to do so. His Tamers' –and the others'- lives depended on it.

He had to kill him for their survival. The Tamers would die unless he killed him! They had to live, they had to make it out of there and back to the Real World where it would be at least somewhat safer; he had no choice. The thought of his own escape was pushed to the back of his mind; it was unimportant; what mattered was that the Tamers – his friends – escape safely, that no more of them would suffer because of him.

He had to kill him. Even though it was like killing a part of himself.

"Little fool . . . do you really think you can stand up to me?"

Imouku only hesitated for a second before replying, with his head bowed toward his chest and the last of his tears dripping off of his cheeks, " Yes." Not really – how could he, trapped in this form with no way to Digivolve? He just wasn't strong enough –had never been strong enough - but he had no choice. He had to do this.

He had to.

There was nothing else to be done.

"Then you will pay for your foolishness – with your life!"

Imouku braced himself for one of the most difficult moments of his life.

The Gijinka came back to reality with a strangled cry, extremely aware that the entire group was staring at him with thinly veiled – in most cases - concern. He glared at them and huffed grumpily, adamantly ignoring their confused and concerned queries as he mumbled out the question,

"Again?"

At the collective nods of the group, Imouku let out a disgruntled sigh. This was the third time he had experienced strange waking dreams since the group had arrived in the Digital World nearly eight hours ago – he would simply freeze in place and he saw nothing and heard nothing but the dream. The first time he had nearly toppled over, and it was only because Renamon saw him falling and caught him before he hit the ground that he didn't snap out of it with a mouthful of dirt. Instead of thanking her, Imouku grumbled at her and ignored her every attempt to speak to him, only partially because he was still angry with her. He was more concerned about what, exactly, was happening to him. These dream-things were occurring far more frequently than any such things had been back in the real world, and it was bothering the redheaded Gijinka greatly – partly because it was the same waking dream every time.

He did not appreciate having repetitive visions of being the only one left standing to fight an incredibly powerful . . . something.

"Im-chan, will you be alright?" The twins chorused in unison as they stared up at him, hanging onto his hands. Imouku blinked down at them before eyeing the rest of the group. The other Tamers had started walking again, despite their concern for the redhead – they only had a short amount of time to rescue Hirokazu, after all, and they couldn't afford to wait any longer than absolutely necessary. Imouku was actually rather grateful for this, as it kept the others from asking him the questions he knew that he would eventually have to answer. Any reason to delay the inevitable was a good one, in his mind, although he couldn't help but feel at least a little guilty that he was benefiting from a situation that was kind of his fault in the first place. A pull on his hands caused Imouku to turn his attention from his thoughts and back to his Tamers; at the sight of their worried gazes, the Gijinka purposefully let the frown that had come from his dark thoughts fall away and he grinned at them, tugging his hands gently out of their grips.

"What are you two worrying about? I'm fine!"

Although Imouku felt like he was being less than convincing, for some reason his Tamers bought the fib and nodded, wandering off to the front of the group, which the redhead was admittedly lagging far behind. The Gijinka was extremely glad that over the last few years, the twins had developed the ability to tell when their partner wanted their company, or when he'd rather be left alone to his thoughts, such as now. He had a lot to think about lately, it seemed. The redhead listened to the conversation going on in front of him for a few moments, and then tuned it out again. The majority of the Tamers were discussing where they should be going – after all, none of them knew the location of the place they were supposed to be going to, let alone what they were supposed to do when they got there. Just giving them what they had asked for was unacceptable, of course, for none of them were willing to sacrifice one friend for another. Instead, they were convinced that somehow they needed to come up with an escape plan, only they couldn't do that without knowing what their destination was like, bringing them back to square one and starting the discussion over again.

Imouku felt more than a little annoyed that they were discussing this without him – after all, he was as much involved in this as they were! More, really, since it was him the crazy Gijinka had wanted, and it was his people doing this in the first place; he definitely deserved a place in the decision-making! Still . . . he didn't really feel like talking, let alone about what the crazy Elecmon Gijinka wanted with him – along with whatever other Gijinka were working with her, because there were more even if none of the Tamers or their partners had seen them. While, he would never admit it, Imouku did hope that Hirokazu would be okay; he didn't want another human to get hurt because of him; regardless of the person they were. That it was yet another Tamer just made it worse. The redhead gave a small, frustrated sigh and let his ears and tail droop.

" . . . Something on your mind?" Imouku jumped at the suddenness of the question and glared at Renamon, who had dropped back to walk beside him without him noticing her presence. Scowling, the redhead folded his arms huffily and glanced away, instantly on edge; he neither noticed nor cared that Renamon herself seemed a bit more tense than usual, and conveniently ignored the hurt in her expression that lingered from his earlier refusal to acknowledge her presence. He was still very angry with her, and was determined to let her know – if it hurt her, then that was fine with him and she should just learn to deal with it because he wasn't going to forgive her for a very long time.

Neither Gijinka nor faux-Digimon said anything for the next few minutes, but eventually the redhead's eyebrow developed a twitch from the continuing tension and he hissed out,

"Of course something's on my mind fox face." He paused for a moment and blinked in a confused and frustrated manner, before letting out a low mumble of, "Why do you care, anyway?" He watched out of the corner of his eye as Renamon turned slightly, watching him with an inscrutable look on her face. Her ears twitched once as she said, softly,

"I care because I am your friend, Imouku."

The redhead huffed in incredulity – how could he believe her after what she had done- and stopped walking, turning so that his back was to her while he scanned the horizon, not because he was trying to watch for anything in particular, but rather because he didn't want to have to see the hurt expression on her face when he replied with a not-quite-under-his-breath mutter of,

"Are you really . . .?"


Shurikasa whimpered, squeezing her ears tightly to her head with her fists as her face contorted in agony. This was by far the most severe punishment she had ever had inflicted upon her. Never before in all of her life had she endured such suffering; this was far worse than any torture she had ever undergone before, and there had been several occasions that she had once thought were impossible to top – a worse punishment could not have been inflicted on her short of death, of that the Elecmon Gijinka was entirely certain. The blue-haired Gijinka fell to her knees in agony, and she could no longer contain the scream she had been holding back.

"Shut up already!"

Sitting in the holding cell that Shurikasa was being forced to keep an eye on, Shiota Hirokazu simply grinned, adjusted his visor, folded his arms behind his head, and sang louder.

Having her ears - and sanity - viciously assaulted was not what Shurikasa had been expecting when she had delivered the human to the Citadel of the Forsaken earlier that day; in fact, she had thought she had finally seen the last of the human, who had thankfully been fairly quiet for most of the trip through the Digital World – even if the only reason he kept silent was because of the knife at his throat. The Elecmon Gijinka was not happy to hear that not only had her Lord already found out about her attacking the nosy human earlier that week, and was even less pleased when he had assigned her as the human boy's "caretaker" as punishment – the lowest position in her Lord's services aside from menial tasks like cleaning.

This position required her to keep an eye on the prisoner at all times, or she would not only be forfeiting her place in the Citadel, but her life as well. In short, if she left the human alone for any reason, or any length of time – even should she fall asleep, she would be killed. Even worse, she wasn't allowed to harm the annoying prisoner in any way – not through any kindness towards the brat on the part of her Lord, but rather to further punish Shurikasa by making it impossible for her to release the frustrations that always seemed to appear when she was forced to be around the Tamer. The Elecmon shuddered as Hirokazu hit an especially sour note, which was doubly painful on her sensitive hearing.

Why, oh why had he been the target? Why couldn't there have been a quiet idiot among the Tamers?

. . . Why hadn't she thought to get earplugs while in the human's world?

Shurikasa groaned, silently hoping that the human's friends were on their way with the Child – if they really took the entire eight days to get here, she would be insane long before their arrival. She whimpered at Hirokazu reached an impossibly painful note with the finale of his song, and decided that she did not really care if the human's friends arrived or not – all she wanted as of this moment in time, was to be blessed with temporary deafness.

"-ooooou! Hey, want to hear another one? I can think of a lot more!"

"No! No more! Stop singing!"

"Well, in that case. . . Here's one of my favorites!"

"Make it stop make it stop make it stop!"


"This is stupid," Ruki proclaimed, kicking a rock and watching it roll away through narrowed eyes. The Tamers, Digimon, and Gijinka had stopped to rest for a while, having unanimously voted that they needed a break from all the walking. Many of them were frustrated; the twins were just exhausted. Imouku couldn't have cared less either way; his mind was on other things. Ruki, for her part, was both tired and frustrated. When no one replied to her statement, the redheaded Tamer continued, "We can't just keep wandering around, hoping we'll find the place. If we keep this up we'll never find it at all, let alone with enough time to spare to figure out a plan." There were several groans and mumbles of agreement from other members of the group, but no one offered any alternative ideas.

Imouku twitched an ear in the direction of all the groans, but he mostly ignored the group, instead choosing to watch a spot halfway up a nearby rock formation that was large enough to be considered a miniature mountain. He had thought he had seen something move in that location a few minutes earlier. He had been watching for the last several minutes, ever since he first sensed motion, with no sign of anything happening; but for some reason he couldn't tear his eyes away from the immense rock formation. He was sure there was something there; he could feel it – almost like he had with the Digital Gate. This feeling, however, was slightly different in a way he couldn't – and didn't want to – explain.

A few pebbles rolled down the slope, despite having no obvious cause. Imouku's eyes narrowed as he gazed at the spot they had been dislodged from, just a little below the place he had been watching so intently. Renamon also watched the spot, and the redhead Gijinka wondered if she felt the same thing he did, and almost asked her before he remembered that he was still angry with her. Then his attention was directed back to the rock formation, where more pebbles were dislodged and something let out a loud yell.

"Uuuuwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

The scream drew everyone's attention as a tiny Dorimon barreled down the slope towards the group, running as fast as it was capable of. It was breathing harshly, nearly panting for breath, and once it tripped and fell head over heels for a few feet before righting itself and continuing on its high-speed path. The Baby II's eyes widened in shock and it nearly reversed directions when it saw the group of strangers it was heading straight towards. Then, for some strange reason, it launched itself at Imouku and attached itself to his leg, nuzzling it and making cooing sounds. No one looked more surprised at this odd development than the redhead himself. The Gijinka blinked and stared at the Baby II for a second in surprise, then tried to shake it off his leg, without success. It continued to cling to him with a tenacity that nearly matched his own.

"Hey, get off!" Imouku growled, trying a little harder to shake off his new attachment, shooting a glare at the amused group surrounding him. "This isn't funny!" No one bothered to disagree, despite the humor of the situation.

The Dorimon nuzzled his ankle again, making a sound oddly similar to a purr, and Imouku winced – he was getting annoyed with this creature and the humiliation it was causing, however inadvertently. "Get off of me!" The Baby II made another cooing noise and refused to budge, staring up at him with adoring brown eyes. The twins exchanged a glance and giggled at their partner, who stuck his tongue out at them and continued his efforts to separate his leg and the Dorimon without success. His movements vaguely resembled some odd, arrhythmic dance as he tried to dislodge the small creature. "Come – on – get – off – of –me!" The redhead reached down and grabbed the Dorimon, attempting to pull it off; he tugged furiously at it for several moments while it continued to stick to his leg like it had been born there. He was almost ready to give up and let it stay there until it decided to stop imitating a leech, when to his complete and utter surprise, it let go and let him lift it into the air, where he glared at it, nose to nose.

It blinked innocently at him for a moment, then wriggled furiously - not trying to get down, but definitely making a nonverbal complaint about the way the redhead was holding it.

Imouku nearly dropped the Baby II when the Dorimon suddenly shifted to a hybrid form.

The tiny Gijinka staring solemnly at him out of big, chocolate brown eyes was barely out of infancy, with light blue, extremely thick hair that desperately needed combing – his bangs, however, were white. His clothes were, like most young Gijinka's clothing, very simple; a matching shirt and pants in a metallic blue color – or at least, they appeared so beneath the unusually thick layer of dirt coating them. He also was sorely in need of a bath, and Imouku's eyes nearly crossed at the sudden stench of unwashed toddler. The two Gijinka blinked simultaneously, surprise showing clearly on both of their faces. Abruptly, a large grin spread over the toddler's face, and he reached up with a pudgy hand and pinched Imouku's nose closed. The redhead spluttered in indignation and immediately tried to free his nose from the toddler's grip, while the Dorimon Gijinka giggled in delight. The rest of the group was equally amused by the actions of the Gijinka, albeit confused by the sudden appearance of the toddler – he was clearly too young to be by himself, and yet he appeared to be completely alone.

Several minutes later, Imouku had gotten his nose free from the toddler's grip – although it was still rather sore and he resisted the urge to rub at it- and set the little one on his feet, but the small Gijinka nevertheless remained close to him, refusing to go anywhere near anyone else. The rest of the group gathered around the two Gijinka to examine the tiny newcomer. The Dorimon Gijinka hadn't spoken a single word to anyone, simply clinging to Imouku like he was an extra limb and staring at the Tamers staring at him. He seemed rather intimidated by everyone but the other Gijinka, and would occasionally try and hide himself behind Imouku's leg without success. As a result, the rest of the group stayed at somewhat of a distance so as not to scare him too severely – with one notable exception.

"Hey there, little guy," Takato said, smiling warmly as he knelt down and reached a hand out to the toddler, who watched him warily. "Where did you come from?" Imouku blinked as the Dorimon Gijinka let go of his leg just enough to lean forward and get a good look at the Gogglehead, who smiled a little wider upon receiving the toddler's attention. "It's okay; we're not going to hurt you," the human continued, letting his hand close the distance to the little one rather than the entirety of his body. The toddler blinked curiously at Takato's extended hand, and smiled back, sniffing the limb curiously. Of the group, only Imouku – and perhaps Renamon - had any idea of what was going to happen next. There were some things that just were not a good idea to do around a young Gijinka, and this was one of them. What Takato was doing was simply asking for trouble. Feeling an extremely tiny bit sorry for the oblivious human, Imouku offered up a halfhearted warning.

"Eh, Gogglehead – I wouldn't do that . . ." Not that it really mattered to him one way or the other, really. The Gogglehead was probably just going to have to find out the hard way.

Takato blinked, "Why? He's just a little kid; what can he – owwwww!"

While he had looked away, the Dorimon Gijinka had latched onto his hand – with his teeth, which were much sharper than a human of the same age. The Gogglehead recoiled in an instant, clutching his wounded hand to his chest, as the little Gijinka let go, edging behind Imouku's leg again so as to try and get out of sight. The toddler proceeded to stick his fist in his mouth as far as he could and chew on it quite contentedly, while peering much more confidently at the people surrounding him. Takato, meanwhile, had backed away several feet and was staring at his throbbing – and in some places slightly bleeding- hand. "He bit me!" The expression on his face sent Imouku into a fit of laughter that lasted for half a minute, laughter that was echoed by the toddler holding on to his leg in babyish giggles.

Finally ceasing his laughter, Imouku grinned and declared, "I like this kid!"

When Ruki rolled her eyes and muttered, "You would," the redheaded Gijinka made a face at her – which was copied by the toddler beside him. Ruki ignored it. "Where did he come from, anyway?" Everyone was mildly surprised when the toddler blinked and pointed a finger up the slope he had come down in an obvious attempt to answer the Tamer's question. The group looked where he was pointing, but didn't see anything unusual about the slope. It looked just like any of the other rock formations around the area, if admittedly just a bit larger. Apart from that, there was nothing about it that made it stand out in any way. Still, it was better than nothing; they at least had a direction to go in – a child so young could not possibly have gotten very far on his own, so there must be something relatively close by. After discussing it for a few minutes, the group agreed to head in the direction the toddler had pointed out.

Imouku, unable to walk with the toddler still firmly attached to his leg, shouted at the group as they started off, "Hey! What am I supposed to do?!?"

It was Renamon who answered him with no small amount of amusement in her voice. "He seems to like you; why don't you carry him?"

"Whaaaaat?"

"He's too small to climb back up by himself, and you're the only one he seems to feel safe with. Therefore, you will have to carry him," the faux Digimon replied, and although she was facing away from him, Imouku just knew that she was smirking at him. The redheaded Gijinka blew a raspberry at her, once again echoed by the toddler, and looked down at the watery brown eyes staring up at him. The toddler raised his arms in the air and made a grunting sound, "Un!" clearly wanting to be picked up. Imouku groaned,

"Great; I get stuck babysitting!" The Dorimon Gijinka just grunted again, staring up at the older Gijinka imploringly. Imouku rolled his eyes, and, glancing around quickly to make sure no one was staring at him, scooped the toddler up. "Fine, you get your way. Phew, ever heard of a bath, kiddo? You stink!" The Dorimon just grinned and planted a sloppy toddler kiss on his cheek. Imouku huffed. "Yeah, yeah; you're welcome."


Imouku was the last of the group to make it to the spot the Dorimon Gijinka had pointed to, hampered as he was by his rather smelly burden. By the time he had nearly made it there, the others had given up on hoping to find anything unusual about the place, and were staring at him expectantly. The redhead bit his tongue to keep from asking the others why they didn't just ask Renamon to investigate the area since she was Gijinka too – only ages old instructions from his mother, who had warned him to never reveal another's identity as Gijinka, even when faced with death, helped him to hold his tongue and continue climbing.

This did not, however, prevent him from otherwise complaining upon reaching the group.

"What are you standing around for – waiting on me? I'm not a weird stuff detector, you know!" He grumbled, glaring at the group. The toddler in his arms blinked curiously, then echoed his glare with an angry pout that ruined the effect of the redhead's ire, due to the cuteness of the expression. Imouku's glare intensified as he heard the scattered snickers barely being stifled by the Tamers (as well as several of the Digimon), and he huffed in irritation. "Sure, laugh at me – we'll see who's laughing when you're all stuck out here and I'm somewhere else eating everything in sight!"

The moans and complaints of "Don't mention food!" that followed this statement, accompanied by growling stomachs, made the redhead's point.

"We're sorry, Im-chan!"

"Yeah, we're sorry! Don't leave us behind!"

Imouku grinned and used his free hand – the one that wasn't supporting the wide-eyed Dorimon Gijinka – and ruffled each of the twins' hair in turn.

"All right, you two can come too." The twins giggled and nodded simultaneously as their partner, still carrying the other Gijinka, started poking around and investigation the spot the toddler had initially pointed at – which was also the spot that Imouku had thought seemed rather odd earlier. He paused when the toddler started tugging furiously at his sleeve and making frantic whining sounds. The redhead blinked and turned his head just in time to avoid something that came flying past his ear and hit the ground behind him, where it shattered. The entire group, Tamers and Digimon included, was instantly on the defensive, ready for any attack that might come. Imouku ran over to his Tamers and positioned himself in front of them, as well as the toddler Dorimon, who he placed on the ground between Ai and Makoto. However, he couldn't resist shouting an angry, "Hey, watch it!" at the unseen attacker.

For a few moments, no one moved. They simply waited for the attacker to show. After what seemed like a small eternity to the tense and battle-ready group, a cautious Gazimon poked its nose through what appeared to be solid rock. It squinted and blinked twice, rather blearily, at the group, and sniffed the air experimentally before its jaw dropped and it ran straight towards the Gijinka. Imouku tensed, ready for a fight to protect himself and his Tamers (As well as the unexpected guest), but was caught by surprise when the Gazimon tripped over its own feet and fell flat on its face, calling out and endless litany of,

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry –" without showing any sign of stopping. It continued this until the Dorimon Gijinka walked over to it and kicked it in the head, which caused it to bolt straight up with a cry. "HEY! OUCH! What did you do tha-" It cut itself off in the middle of its sentence by sniffing, and then squinting at the scowling figure staring it in the eyes. "Haseo, did you sneak out through the barrier again? What will your parents think!"

A cough drew its attention to Imouku, and it squinted again, obviously trying to see him. Then it leapt into the air with a screech and tried to run, but only fell over again before it had taken two steps, tripped up by the fact that Imouku had grabbed the end of its tail as it jumped. It babbled incoherently and wailed, not bothering to get up from its position with its tail higher than its head. At least, until Imouku couldn't take it anymore and shouted,

"Quit it already! You're making me deaf!"

Unfortunately, this only increased the tone of the Gazimon's wails. The Dorimon Gijinka gave a sigh that shook his entire tiny body and kicked the Gazimon again, which stopped crying at last, and he handed it something he had picked up from the ground. The Gazimon cracked open one ruby red eye, and dove for the item clutched in the hands of the toddler. Seconds later, the Gazimon had shifted to a hybrid form, revealing it to be a female Gijinka with messy black hair that hung down a few inches past her shoulders, and settled a pair of glasses – that had a crack across one lens and was entirely missing the other lens – on the bridge of her nose. She moaned pitifully to herself,

"That's the third pair in a row! And these things are so hard to get, too. . ." before blinking and taking in the features of the humans, Digimon, and Gijinka surrounding her. Her eyes widened and she nearly fell over herself again in an attempt to back away. "Aaaah, I'm sorry don't hurt me I didn't mean to throw my glasses at you – I'm just so clumsy they fly of my face all the time don't hurt me please and –" She stopped, cut off by Takato, who was smiling at her and offering her a hand to get back to her feet.

"Hey, it's alright. We're not going to hurt you."

She blinked and exclaimed, "But everyone wants to hurt Gijinka!"

The Gogglehead, blinked, confused. "Why would we want to hurt you? You haven't done anything."

Imouku, from where he was standing, rolled his eyes. Sometimes he forgot the Gogglehead was so naïve. The redheaded Gijinka grumbled and walked over to intervene before Takato made things even more confusing – not that he really cared about the strange Gijinka's problems; it was just that they were in a hurry and he could tell she would just keep rambling on and on until someone shut her up. With this in mind, the redhead folded his arms in an impatient manner and interjected,

"Forget it Gogglehead, you won't get anything that makes sense out of her." A mumble of protest came out of the Gazimon Gijinka's mouth, but Imouku ignored her. "You can waste your time listening to her babble the rest of the day if you want, but you still won't get anything useful out of her if that's what you're trying. I'm not sticking around for it!" Having made his point, Imouku went back to his Tamers, who obediently grabbed his hands and started walking towards the place the Gazimon had come out of. He was just about to see if there was really anything solid about the spot in the rocks from this side when the Gazimon Gijinka darted over in front of him and squinted at him through her broken glasses.

"W-w-wait," she blurted out, peering into Imouku's face from an uncomfortably close distance. She reached out with the obvious intent to touch him, and the redhead leapt back and away from her with a strangled shout and a glare that could kill. He did not want or need her touching him, and he readied a Night of Fire attack in case she didn't get the message. Oddly enough, the Gazimon didn't even seem to notice, instead backing up a little, exclaiming, "Oh!" Her eyes widened and she started spluttering. "O-Oh; y-you're – oh, wow – oh, you – I – I ha – I have to – " A kick in the ankle from Haseo straightened her out, and she took a deep breath, continuing, "You have to come with me, all of you! If the scouts from the Citadel see you . . ." She shook her head. "Come on, hurry – the Combat Master will wish to see you all."

None of the group, save Ruki, noticed Renamon jump a tiny amount upon hearing the words "Combat Master."


The village of Gijinka that lay behind the barrier – if, indeed, one could call it a village- was clean and neat, but had a ramshackle look about it, as if the houses and other buildings had all been thrown together in a hurry. As the group entered the village, most of the inhabitants scattered and retreated to their homes, where they remained, peeking timidly at the strangers from their relatively safe position. The Tamers and their partners couldn't help but stare at their surroundings; even Imouku – he had never had the chance to see so many other Gijinka, having spent most of his time either alone or on the run with his family. His Tamers clung to his hands and stayed close to him; awed and somewhat frightened at the sight before them. The Dorimon Gijinka, Haseo, had continued to stick close to Imouku as well, occasionally pointing at various places and making a grunting noise to draw the redhead's attention to them – his version of a tour, perhaps.

A curious thing that all of the Tamers noticed was that the Gijinka were nearly all Virus and Data types. Only on very few occasions was there a Vaccine type to be found, and he majority of those were Vaccines with the potential to become Virus or Data types in one of their more advanced forms. The twins tugged on Imouku's hands and asked him about this strange fact, but he just shrugged and admitted that he didn't know, it had just always been that way. This caused the redhead to think for a moment, as he belatedly realized how little he knew about his own people. Admittedly he had spent most of his life without contact with them, but still, it seemed like an unforgivable fault to be so ignorant of the most basic understanding of his species. He didn't let his mind dwell on it, however, and was soon distracted by the events taking place around him.

A young-looking Shaomon Gijinka, a bit older than Haseo in appearance, darted out in front of the group from where she had been playing with some other Baby II Gijinka; she apparently hadn't noticed the group prior to this, and stood in front of them, frozen in terror, until a much older TobuCatmon Gijinka ran out of a building, scooped her up and ran back inside, shooting a fearful look at the Tamers as she slammed the door behind her.

"Why are they so frightened of us?" Takato spoke up from his position near the front of the group, his expression confused. "We haven't done anything, and we . . . . well, we don't look all that scary, do we?" The Gogglehead glanced around, never managing to make eye contact with any of the Gijinka, who always ducked out of sight when his eyes turned in their direction. He turned to Imouku, his eyes questioning. "Do you know why?"

Imouku shrugged and rolled his eyes, "Think about it, Gogglehead. It's not complicated – even you should be able to figure it out!" Takato protested that but quickly dropped into thought, trying to understand what was going on. He spent the remainder of the walk through the Gijinka village trying to puzzle out what was going on – much to the amusement of Imouku, who was making mental bets with himself about just how long it would take the Tamer to come to a conclusion, and whether or not that conclusion would even be correct. Thus he was reasonably entertained for the rest of the walk, and was able to divert his mind away from what he really should have been thinking about: what, exactly was happening and just how the group was supposed to get Hirokazu back.

After about ten minutes of walking, the Gazimon Gijinka – whom had introduced herself as Kiokure, with much stuttering – led the small procession to a building that startlingly resembled a large dojo. They hadn't even made it to the entrance before a blurry form raced towards the group and singled out Renamon, attacking in a whirl of limbs that was impossible for the ordinary eye to follow. Anyone caught off their guard by such an attack would have been knocked out (or worse) nearly instantly; Renamon, however, was prepared and leapt away from the attacking figure as well as the rest of the group, landing in a defensive stance a safe distance away from everyone else.

As one, the group tensed, with the exception of the Gijinka and, surprisingly, Ruki. For his part, Imouku honestly wasn't worried about the faux Digimon – she could handle herself. He was, however, trying to convince himself that if she did get hurt, he still wouldn't care either way. He wasn't succeeding. As for Ruki, the redheaded Tamer watched the fight without any sign of wanting to interfere on the behalf of her partner. In fact, she appeared quite relaxed about the whole situation, despite the fact that her eyes remained riveted on the events unfolding in front of her. She only tensed when a hit broke through Renamon's guard, which wasn't all that often and usually happened too quickly for anyone to notice anyway. Jenrya and Takato didn't understand why she was just watching the fight, and asked her why she wasn't trying to help. Ruki shrugged and answered,

"This is Renamon's fight. If I got involved it would only cause her problems."

"But what if she gets hurt?" Jenrya asked, concerned. Takato echoed him with a nod, and they both turned questioning looks to Ruki. Terriermon's Tamer continued, "This isn't like a normal fight – that's hand-to-hand combat; I'm not sure of the style but I know martial arts when I see them. How can she hold her own against that?" The worry in his voice was genuine, and Ruki would probably have answered his question, had someone else not spoken up before she could open her mouth to reply.

"Oh, foxface can do more than hold her own," Imouku broke in with a scoff, his eyes never leaving the fight that was taking place. "Believe me. Besides, it's not a real fight anyway – it's just a game." He winced as a particularly powerful blow managed to get past Renamon's guard and threw her back a few feet. She recovered quickly, however, and the battle resumed, with only a few blows getting past either combatant's guard. Finally, after the battle had lasted upwards of fifteen minutes, the two opponents broke apart, breathing harshly with exertion. Renamon's attacker was now plainly visible, and seemed to be a Shaujinmon Gijinka; he wore a smile on his face as he bowed in respect to her.

"You have improved since last we faced each other, Reisei Takeo-Himeki. Well fought, my friend."

No Tamer, save Ruki, managed to keep their jaw from dropping as Renamon, with barely a glance at the rest of group, calmly shifted into her own hybrid form and bowed in return.

"Thank you for your kindness, Combat Master Garundo. It has been a long time since we've last met."

Oddly enough, it was Terriermon who summed up most of the group's feelings at that moment.

"What? She's a Gijinka too?"


"Milord," said the shadowed figure as they knelt before the lord of the Citadel. There was no way to tell the species of the Gijinka reporting, as the darkness in the throne room was nearly total. "The Child has entered the new Refuge and is meeting with the Combat Master at this moment. He does not appear to have any knowledge of his own people beyond the most basic of understanding. It is also a fact, rather than a rumor, that he has not only been living in the human world, but has also formed a strong attachment to two of them." The figure winced as a low growl of displeasure emanated from the Gijinka on the massive black throne. "B-but he doesn't seem to have as strong of an attachment to any of the others, and it's possible that he could still be-"

"Silence," the lord growled, and the trembling figure fell silent immediately. "The Child is foolish to throw in his lot with the humans; he has not yet been forced to realize that his people are the only ones he can trust. The humans will betray him sooner or later, and he will come to accept his role in the undertaking."

"B-but milord – w-what if the h-humans don't-" The figure let out a squeak of terror and tilted its head downward, hiding its face within the folds of its long dark hair as the lord stood from his throne and walked over to where it knelt. Nothing good occurred when the lord left his throne to come to you, it had learned so from painful experience some time before. It trembled in fear as he rested his hand on its head, and even more so when he lifted its chin to look into its terrified crimson eyes. When he smiled, it nearly fainted from fear.

"Now, my dear, you don't really want to finish that sentence, now do you?" It shook its head rapidly, and flinched as his hand dropped to its right collarbone, tracing a line just above the location of the bone itself. "I see you still remember what happened the last time you withheld information from me. Tell me," he purred. "Is the scar still there?" It said nothing; its lord expected no answer. They both knew that the scar was there; as bright and large as if it had only been inflicted a month before, when in fact over a year had passed since the injury itself. "The humans will betray the Child; it is in their nature, as they are not Gijinka."

Then he paused, and appeared to think for a moment. "However, if they delay their betrayal for too long, I do believe it would be wise to. . . .hasten the action. Return to the Refuge, Spy. Observe the child, and do everything in your power to make him realize that the humans are not trustworthy."

"Y-yes, milord." The figure nodded, and breathed a sigh of relief as its lord returned to his throne.

"You may go," the lord stated, and the figure bowed hurriedly and scurried away, thankful to be leaving in one piece this time.


It was the next morning before the Tamers were able to speak to Combat Master Garundo; he had correctly assumed that they were tired, frustrated, and in no condition to do much of anything, and had showed them to a few rooms within his property – which turned out to be a large training complex with nearly one hundred Gijinka in residence- to rest. The toddler Gijinka, Haseo, had wandered off during Reisei's fight, presumably returning to his parents; none of the Tamers and their partners knew for certain. Very few of them noticed the way his eyes narrowed when he saw Imouku – the redhead in question was not among them-, and only one of those saw the concern and even the mild amount of worry in his guarded eyes as he looked at the redhead – and Reisei, who had remained in her hybrid form since shifting following her spar, vowed to speak with the Combat Master about that concern as soon as possible.

As for the redhead himself, he had been too focused on the thought of his next meal to notice anything unusual at all.

When the group met with the Combat Master the next day – after breakfast, at the insistence of a certain redhead - he gave no sign of even noticing Imouku among them, barely giving him a glance out of the corner of his eye. Instead, he led the group of the through his dojo, where several Gijinka of varying species were practicing and sparring, and continued outside to an area with large flat rocks arranged in a circle, that he asked them all to take seats upon.

Most of the group complied, but Imouku was in contrary mood, and resisted the twins' efforts to pull him into a seated position between them.

"Im-chan, please sit!"

"Please, Im-chan!"

He shook his head, "Nah; I don't want to."

"Im-chan," the twins pleaded, and would have continued to do so had the Shaujinmon Gijinka not chuckled and waved away Imouku's rudeness, saying,

"Let him stand if he wishes; you won't get that one to listen to you – he's every bit as stubborn as his mother." This comment had the effect that the twins' pleading had not – Imouku sat down immediately, his face displaying his shock. He blinked a few times and opened his mouth, but was unable to speak. The Combat Master chuckled again and said, "Don't worry, young one, we will speak of such things in their time." His expression turned grave as he continued, "Now, what is it that brings you to the Refuge; for I can see by your faces that you are here for a purpose - one that has many of your hearts anxious."

"A friend of ours was taken captive," Jenrya spoke up. "He's being held at some place called the Citadel, and we only have a week left to get him out of there."

The Combat Master gave a resigned sigh and closed his eyes. "The Enraged Ones have expanded their operations into the human world already . . . it seems that we have less time than I had hoped." He opened his eyes again, and they flashed a bright, glowing red for a moment before fading into a more human-like crimson. "Tell me, what do you know of the Citadel of the Forsaken?"

It was Ruki who answered, "The Gijinka who took our friend said to come to a place called the Citadel; I'm guessing that's the same as the place you just mentioned?" The Shaujinmon Gijinka nodded, and the Tamer continued, "We don't know anything else about it – we never even heard of it before then." Her eyes narrowed as she thought for a moment, before saying in a somewhat annoyed tone of voice, "I don't suppose you'd care to tell us what exactly is going on? You seem to know a lot about what's happening while we don't know anything, and I, for one, don't like being kept in the dark."

The Combat Master thought before a moment, before he nodded and began to speak, saying, "You do need to know what is happening, since the human world and the Digital World are both threatened by the Citadel."

"Right," Takato broke in, asking, "So where is this Citadel place, anyway? And how do we find it?"

The Combat Master closed his eyes for a long moment, and then began speaking.

"The Citadel is impossible to find unless you already know where it is, and is inaccessible to anyone trying to enter who is not in the company of a Gijinka. It exists in a separate plane unto itself, unlike the Refuge, which is merely masked from sight. If you go there, and I'm certain you will if it's necessary to save your friend, you must remember this: the plane the Citadel rests in, while admittedly very small in comparison to the other planes of the Digital World, can be very deadly to those who are not aware of its secrets." He watched the group's eyes widen collectively, and nodded grimly before continuing. "You see, the plane is unique in that it follows the will of the Citadel's master, and is directly tied to his state of mind. The landscape of the plane, even the very color of the sky is subject to his will – the only thing he cannot change, of course, is the sphere in the sky that represents your world. You must keep this in mind, for if you – any of you – manage to anger him, the entire plane will threaten your lives."

When the Shaujinmon Gijinka paused a moment for breath, Jenrya broke in with a question.

"If the plane itself is so dangerous, what about the Citadel?"

Imouku, still seated between the twins, was barely following the conversation. His mind was focused on what the other Gijinka had said about his mother. He didn't remember ever meeting this "Combat Master" Gijinka, but then, he didn't really remember anyone other than his parents - and more particularly his mother. He could barely recall his father; he wasn't even sure of what he had looked like. This thought caused his mind to drift, as he started wondering – why was he only dreaming about his mother? His father had been in one of the dreams, that was true, but by far the focus of his dreams was his mother. If the one who had locked him – probably the master of the Citadel place, from what he had managed to hear and comprehend – was giving him these memories, why just revive his memories of his mother? Why not both of his parents? Surely any memories containing his father would be as painful and difficult to remember as those with his mother, so why go to the trouble to leave him out? Try as he might, the redhead simply could not wrap his mind around it, despite the feeling he had that this was a very important detail in his attempts to figure out what was going on.

His thoughts continued in this manner, preventing him from focusing on Combat Master Garundo's answer to Jenrya's question.

"The Citadel . . . is not subject to the same rules as the plane it exists within. It has remained unchanged ever since it was first constructed. While it is the stronghold of the enraged Gijinka – for that is really all the ones you are facing are; Gijinka who have given into their rage, frustration and sorrow and desire revenge rather than peace – it is arguably much safer than the surrounding plane." He read a look on Jenrya's face and continued immediately, reading the question in his and the other Tamers' eyes. "Of the Citadel's Master, there truly isn't much that I can tell you, save that he is an Ultimate of great power . . . and greater madness. He is a twisted shell who desires the destruction of all races outside Gijinka, and even Gijinka themselves if they wish for peace. We of the Refuge have been preparing to strike against him, but did not expect the Citadel to be combat ready so soon, and I fear we will not be able to halt the mad quest for vengeance from overtaking the two worlds.

Everyone in the group turned their eyes to Takato as he stood up and declared, "We'll stop them!" The Gogglehead's eyes showed nothing but determination as he continued, "This guy is nothing compared to the D-Reaper; I'm sure we'll be able to beat him, and stop whatever plans he has before he hurts anyone else! Won't we, everyone?" He turned and looked around at the group, and smiled at the various nods and statements of agreement – apart from Imouku, who still had his mind occupied by other things. Takato blushed and looked embarrassed, however, as the Combat Master began to chuckle, and then applaud.

"Bravo, young human. Your confidence is inspiring. I do believe that, with your help, victory may be possible after all. Simple be aware of what awaits you once you enter the plane of the Citadel – nothing is certain save the Citadel itself. Always be on your guard; never let it drop for even a single instant if you value your lives." He paused, then continued, "I am afraid that, although I know the location of the Citadel, I am unable to guide you to its resting place – the Citadel is planning to attack this small Refuge and I can not afford to abandon my people to death at the hands of their brothers."

"But how will we find this place? We don't even know where to start looking," Ruki complained, eyes narrowed. Reisei frowned slightly at her Tamer's impatience, although she did understand her frustration.

"Ruki…" The redheaded Tamer just shrugged off the mild reprimand and raised an eyebrow expectantly at the Shaujinmon Gijinka, who chuckled again.

"My, my, Reisei; if this is your human partner I can certainly see why – she is very much like you were before you started training under me all that time ago."

Ruki shot her partner a surprised look, but the Renamon Gijinka remained as tranquil as ever – although the Tamer later swore she had seen Reisei's left eyebrow twitch just a little. The Combat Master, with an eye on Ruki as he spoke, continued, "I will, of course, be sending a guide with you. You remember Kiokure, the Gazimon Gijinka you all met yesterday?" He watched for their acknowledging nods, and spoke again, "While she is not the ideal companion for this journey, she is, regrettably, the only one with knowledge of the citadel and its plane that I can spare to send with you. If you can deal with her . . . odd mannerisms, she will be of great aid to you. But now," he paused, "I seem to have talked the morning away, and I presume that you all are hungry." More than a few faces nodded and two or three stomachs growled in chorus – one of which was Imouku's-, causing much embarrassment. The Shaujinmon Gijinka smiled and waved them off.

"Go on, then. There are meals waiting for you in your rooms. Take all the time you need to prepare for your journey; there's no point in leaving until tomorrow morning anyway, as the journey will only take two days at the most." As the group nodded and got up to leave, breaking off into smaller clusters of twos and threes, the Combat Master made a quick signal with his right hand, one that no one noticed save the one whose eyes it was for. Imouku stood up and stretched, scratching idly at an ear as he followed his Tamers away from the circle of stones, not noticing the way the Shaujinmon Gijinka's eyes followed him the entire time.

Reisei caught the hand signal out of the corner of her eye and paused. She turned to her Tamer, and spoke to Ruki in a low voice, saying, "You go back to the room and eat, Ruki. I have a few things to discuss with the Combat Master. I will join you shortly." The redheaded Tamer raised an eyebrow, but nodded. If her partner needed to stay behind, she had a good reason, and there was no sense in keeping her from what might be an important discussion of some sort. Ruki did, however, remind herself to ask her partner about the event later if there was anything she needed to know.

A short time passed, and soon Reisei and the Combat Master were the only ones in the clearing. She bowed politely to him, and asked in a quiet tone, "You wished to speak with me, Combat Master?"

He nodded, his face grave. "Are you aware of the events surrounding the Impmon Gijinka you are traveling with?"

Reisei shook her head, her eyes narrowed as she answered, "No, I'm not. Is there something to be concerned about?"

The Shaujinmon sighed and passed a hand over his suddenly very worn-looking face. "That child is in a great deal more danger than any of the rest of us, Reisei. Am I correct in assuming that he has been locked away from his third form?" She nodded, and he sighed, continuing. "Then it is far worse than I had feared. Reisei," he barked in a far more commanding tone of voice. "Do you remember what happens to a Gijinka that has one or more of its forms sealed away?"

Her eyes darkened, and her head and ears drooped. "Yes, Combat Master. I do," she sighed, sadly. "They become mentally unstable and disoriented, and will eventually go completely insane." Then she straightened and looked the Shaujinmon in the eyes, her own like blocks of ice as she stated, "I have been watching him closely from the moment he was sealed; he hasn't shown any signs of deterioration yet." This caused him to close his eyes in relief, until she continued. "However, he has been having headaches for reasons I can't explain – they began several days before he was sealed and have continued intermittently ever since."

"Has he been having nightmares, or waking dreams?"

Reisei nodded. "He has – I watched him once when he fell asleep on the roof, and he has been having waking dreams at least since we entered the Digital World, and probably for some time before that. These are . . . significant?" She asked, in a mildly bewildered tone. Combat Master Garundo nodded, his face grave.

"They are a sign that the Master of the Citadel has already begun manipulating him, twisting his mind to meet his own desires. Reisei Takeo-Himeki," he growled out, "I hereby request of you to do everything in your power to keep Imouku Youkano-Anikana safe, and prevent him from entering the Citadel of the Forsaken at any cost. If they get their hands on that Child . . . then all hope for his mind will be lost. Better for him to die than to lose his sanity in such a manner as I fear." Reisei bowed in acquiescence, her eyes displaying her fear openly, as her guard was dropped completely by both the suddenness of the request, and the seriousness of her friend's – for she still considered him a friend, regardless of his opinion of her at the moment - predicament. If it had the Combat Master worried enough that he would ask her, albeit subtly, to kill Imouku if necessary, then it was undoubtedly a far more serious situation that she had believed until now.

"I shall protect him with all of the power at my disposal, Combat Master. I swear it."

The Combat Master smiled, and replied, "I am certain you will, Reisei. Succeed in this task, and you will have proven yourself at last worthy of the title of Combat Mistress." He chuckled as her eyes widened slightly from surprise, and continued, "Go back to your human partner, Reisei. I believe she's expecting you – and I think her friends might have some questions for you, judging by the way they looked at you last night."

Reisei nodded, and walked off.

The Combat Master, alone at last, sighed tiredly and slumped with his head in his hands. It was all happening too quickly, far too quickly. Things were spiraling out of control much sooner than he had anticipated, and if he could not manage to keep up, then the Gijinka would be facing the worst disaster to befall them since the likes of Kuuhei Hirota-Serano walked the planes of the Digital World. He passed a calloused hand over his eyes, trying to burn away the image that had appeared before them, and whispered quietly, "I hope to all that is good in the two Worlds that I have not just sent even more of my people to their death, and one still so very young . . . But if the Master of the Citadel is truly who I believe him to be, and he managed to take that Child for his side, then Anikana would never forgive me for failing her and her son."

Across the village grounds, a certain redheaded Gijinka merrily stuffed his face while listening to the twins chatter about all of the interesting things that they had seen thus far, his mind for the moment totally, blessedly untroubled by all that was occurring around him.

-TBC-