Posted on: August 22nd, 2008

Fc: PLEASE DON'T SHOOT! -hides- I've had the majority of this done for weeks. It just took longer than expected (due mostly to playing in Flash, playing Spore, and RPing) to refine this piece. This one is NOT Betaed... well maybe half of it is. I got impatient and wanted to post this.

The next chapter may take longer due to school picking up again in two mondays from now. For now, enjoy!

Chapter 8
Living Legends


"So that's one Spirit down, seven to go…" Kouichi said aloud.

They hadn't gotten far from the Temple of Wisdom. Halsemon had been able to tell them where the children might find some of the other Temples of the Ancients, but he wasn't entirely certain. He did know of one, the Temple of War, which was not too far away.

The team set off almost immediately afterwards, heading West as Halsemon had instructed. The three moons had risen high overhead, casting shadows through the leaves of the tall trees.

"Is it just me or is it getting colder?" JP asked quietly.

The others agreed with the temperature drop. "That and look how dense the trees are getting." Kouji point ahead, "We shouldn't try to go that way." A murmur of agree passed amongst the group. Takuya was about to open his mouth to make a suggestion when a voice cut through the night air.

"HALT!" a chilling masculine voice commanded.

The eight children froze, as a large orange, winged horse approached the group from the highly dense area of trees.

"You! You are trespassing on scared grounds!" he snorted.

Zoe stepped forward, "We didn't mean to trespass; we're only passing through."

"We're looking for the remaining Five Temples of the Ancients." Kouji explained.

The Digimon watched the Digidestined, "You seek six of the ten Temples of Balance. You have found one, The Temple of Wisdom. There are no temples here."

"How did you know that?" Takuya asked, knowing the chosens hadn't mentioned which temple that had found.

The winged Digimon focused on Takuya, with his fierce gaze. "You, Warrior of Flame-you are perceptive. Yet not nearly as much as I. Young chosen ones, I am Pegasusmon, one of the Twelve Guardians to Ancients' ways."

The seven other Digidestined looked hopeful. "Then you know where we can find the next temple?" Kouichi asked.

"That… I do not know…you had better get moving."

JP, Kouichi, and Tommy looked slightly crestfallen. The group was tired and had trekked a long way just to get this far.

Takuya sighed, turning to his team, "Alright guys, let's keep moving."

Pegasusmon watched as the group began to leave. They filed past him and were about to disappear into the woods, when his senses sparked with realization, "You! Human girl."

Sam and Zoe jumped. "Me?" they asked in unison.

Pegasusmon shook his head, "Not you, Warrior of Wind. Her." He raised an armored hoof, pointing it at Sam. Kouji and Takuya glanced at each other, unsure what Pegasusmon was up to.

"What do you want with Sam?" Danny asked fiercely.

Pegasusmon ignored him. "You- you have a bright aura. You have come at last, Warrior Lost to Time." Pegasusmon bowed, extending one leg forward.

"What? I think you have me confused with someone else…" Sam said, feeling very uneasy.

Pegasusmon swished his tail, "Follow me… All of you. Then you shall see what you already know to be true." Pegasusmon turned, beckoning the group to follow him deeper into the woods. Seven children exchanged uncertain glances as Sam went to follow the large orange horse.

"Sam! Wait!" Danny called after her, but she had vanished with the winged guardian.

Kouji groaned, as they clambered into woods after Sam and Pegasusmon. The orange guardian wasn't hard to follow in the moonlight, as the light seemed to make his fur illuminate the dark. They followed Pegasusmon and Sam for a while in the dark forest.

"What do you think Pegasusmon meant by, 'Warrior Lost to Time?" Kouji asked anyone who was listening.

Takuya shrugged, "Not sure, but I have a feeling-"

He was cut off as Pegasusmon and Sam stopped in a moon lit clearing ahead. "We have arrived, Warriors."

Everyone gasped as they left the cover of the trees. They stood around a large, crystal clear, pool of water. The water reflected the moon light, making the crystalline bottom shimmer.

"Wow…."

"Bellisimo…" Zoe breathed.

Pegasusmon cantered to a cliff face that sheltered the pool's rim. He gracefully leapt to a ledge and looked down on the eight Digidestined. "Young warriors. Welcome to the Life Oasis."

The Digidestined gaped in awe as they took in the pool's undying radiance.

"Warrior of Life, it is time." He said, directing his words at Sam.

Sam looked fearful. "Me? What?"

"I must test you. I need to know if you are worthy." He leapt from his perch, gliding across the undisturbed waters.

He landed and stood beside Sam, "Do not be afraid," he said kindly, "Answer this question honestly. Why does Life exist?"

Sam gaped at her. "I don't know that!"

Pegasusmon laughed quietly, "Think about it. You know the answer."

Sam glanced at her friends for help, all of them looking about just as or more clueless than she did. She stood there, gazing into the still water. She thought deeply about the riddle. Life exists as long as it has the will to live…Where have I heard that before? "Life exists as long as it has the will to live."

Pegasusmon nodded, "Well spoken. It is time the Ancient Spirit was awakened!" He reared up, pawing the air. The surface of the water trembled and bubbled. The water lapped at the shore from the disturbance. A bright shining light emerged from the water. The light died off, revealing a shimming set of light blue armor that seemed to be bowing.

Sam held out her D-Tector,and the armor flew towards her. The light blue D-Tector absorbed the spirit and a silvery blue symbol shone on the screen, "I have a Spirit?"

"I can't believe you have a spirit Sam! That's so cool!" Tommy said with a smile.

Zoe nodded, "Finally! Another girl on the team! I'll bet you'll be great fighter!"

Sam couldn't help but beam. She felt great being able to protect herself for once, instead of having Danny saving her all the time. "Better watch out Danny, I can defend myself now!"

Danny smiled weakly and turned to face Pegasusmon again. "Why have you brought us all here?" Danny asked, still wary of Pegasusmon.

The great Pegasus gazed at Danny, "It is time you understand your purpose here. Step forward warriors of Flame, Light, Ice, Wind, Thunder and Darkness. Peer into the waters, what do you see?"

The six original spirit holders stepped to the water's edge and looked into the glassy surface. They gave a unified gasp. Their reflections showed not their human forms, rather the human spirits of the Ancient Warriors.

Takuya looked into the glassy surface. Instead of seeing his usually warm brown eyes, messy brown hair, hat and goggles; He saw fierce blue eyes, long spiky blonde hair and a red, horned mask."That's- Our Spirits!" Takuya said amazed to see Agunimon looking back at him.

"The Balance has been recalled here to revive the Cycle. You two- step forward, it is time you learned of your presence here."

Danny glanced at Sam. She smiled and beckoned him to the water's edge. They peered into the silvery water simultaneously. Two unfamiliar faces were staring back at them.

A young female, pale skinned, black haired elf with shining blue eyes was staring back at Sam, unblinking. A masked warrior with almost glowing, bright green eyes, and white bangs of hair stared back at Danny.

"What does this mean?" Danny asked.

Pegasusmon continued to stare at the group. "It will make sense in time, Young one. You see, the Ten Legendary Warriors represent the balance of the elements of this world. When they first defeated Lucemon, they were avenging their murdered parents, the creators of the Digital World and Digimon alike. The Ten Legendary Warriors were brothers and sisters. Lucemon killed their parents to frame the warriors and rise to power where no one could oppose him. However, the Ancient Warrior of Wind, AncientIrismon, witnessed Lucemon's deed. She raised the alarm.

"The warriors tracked Lucemon down and faced off with him until only the Ancient Warriors of Light and Flame, AncientGarurumon and AncientGreymon, were left. They were able to defeat the wicked angel. When Lucemon rose to power again, the power of the Ten Legendary Warriors stopped him once more, but he learned something that only few knew before his death. He learned that the Spirits of AncientGaiamon and AncientSeishinmon were never reawakened.

"You, Sam, are the Warrior of Life. You now possess the powers of half of the Cycle, those of AncientGaiamon. You, Danny, do not have your spirit yet, but you shall inherit the spirits of AncientSeishinmon. You must stick together; the worlds' fate rests with all of you. My task ends here. Good Luck." Pegasusmon spoke firmly, as he took off towards the moons and vanished amongst the stars.

Sam looked down at her D-Tector. She had a spirit just like Zoe and the others, and so did Danny. She could fight now, and not worry about getting in the way. Yet, something nagged at her. With great power, comes great responsibility. Danny knew that and learned it well as Danny Phantom. He knew how to tell when he was becoming overly confident or too reckless. Sam could only guess that the original chosen had learned this lesson as well.

She would have to learn and quickly in order to keep up with everyone. Sam didn't want to become a liability or an easy target in battle. Sure she had no idea what types of evils they were up against, and she was no newbie to a fight after helping Danny time and again, but the idea of becoming a Digimon felt very weird to her. Is this how Danny felt, or maybe still feels when he becomes Danny Phantom?

"You okay?" She jumped as a hand rested on her shoulder. She looked and saw Danny standing beside her, eyes thoughtful.

"I guess so…" she whispered.

Zoe walked up beside her, "Don't worry, It's a bit scary the first time you evolve, but it'll become second nature to you. We'll help you along the way!"

Sam smiled as her friends; she did consider everyone here a friend now, grinned back at her. Maybe being a Digimon Warrior wouldn't be so bad.

"So who votes we continue for a little longer, just until we're out of the denser woods?" Takuya asked. Almost everyone, save for Danny who disagreed with Takuya on a regular basis now, agreed. The team returned to their traveling, hiking back through the trees the way they came in. The trees thinned out and the group was able to travel side by side, rather than single file.

Tommy yawned, Kouichi did the same. Everyone was exhausted; finding two spirits in one night were tiring events. Kouji glanced at Takuya, who nodded. "Let's stop and make camp for the rest of the night, and continue in the morning." Kouji suggested. No one argued, and they had a small fire going in no time.

"So who's up to taking first watch?" Takuya dared to ask to sleepy group. Several glares clearly asking 'are you completely nuts?' were shot in his direction. The brunette shrank away, "Okay Okay! I'll do it! Sheesh don't kill me."

"Don't give us a reason to." Kouji replied coolly, earning a few snickers from the team. Takuya scowled as he went to take the first watch. Of course, trouble naturally turns up when no one wants it.

"Wind Seeker!"

A gust of strong wind blew from the tops of the trees, blowing the campfire out and knocking the standing members of the team into the hard earth. A white object ascended from the trees, hanging in front of the moon for moment. It then pelted towards the ground below, swooping past the Digidestined.

"You just had to bring up the watch thing!" JP shouted over the wind. Takuya glared as he turned to see a white winged Digimon hanging over them. It had bright, blood red talons, a silver chest plate, and gold tipped white feathers.

Zoe jumped to her feet, "You ready for your first lesson Sam?" Sam nodded also leaping to her feet. "Follow my lead!" the blonde girl held her left hand out in front of her. A single blue ring of data, similar looking to a bar code, appeared around her hand. She held up her D-Tector to the data, the symbol of wind appearing on the brightly lit screen, letting the data ring run across the scanner on the top.

"Execute! Spirit Evolution!" The data erupted, flowing around the girl's body. Silver, pale green, and light lavender colored armor formed around Zoe's body. A silver visor covered her eyes as two large translucent fairy wings sprouted from her shoulder blades. Her hair turned violet in color and grew significantly in length.

"Kazemon!" she shouted as the data vanished, leaving a beautiful fairy type warrior standing in Zoe's place. Danny and Sam gasped as Kazemon leapt into the air to engage the harpy Digimon in battle.

"My turn," Sam did the same as Zoe had, holding her hand out. Nothing happened. Sam's screen remained clear, despite being illuminated. The others glanced at Sam with confusion. Was there something wrong with the device?

Kazemon ducked as Harpymon slashed at her with its talons. She aimed a well placed kick to the creature's stomach stunning it momentarily. "I could use a little help here!" she shouted with slight panic.

"Technical difficulties Z! You're on your own at the moment!" Takuya shouted back.

Danny shook his head, "duh, Half ghost. I can help!" He resisted the urge to slap himself and took up a battle stance, "Goin' Ghost!" he shouted. Two white rings appeared around his body, and promptly fizzled out. "What?! I can't go ghost!"

Harpymon lunged at Kazemon, claws open. "Hurricane Wave!" Kazemon held up her hands, creating little, pink, twisters from her fingertips. She hurled them at Harpymon, knocking it from the air. Harpymon hit the ground hard.

The white Digimon wasn't through yet. It crossed its wings in front of its chest. "Wind Seeker!" it shrieked again. It opened its wings, and hurled a sharp gale at Kazemon, nailing the fairy warrior. She cried out in pain, clutching her side.

Kazemon shot down from the air, ready to take the white harpy on. She jumped up, and landed on her hands, and spread her legs apart. "Tempest Twist!" She began to spin rapidly, striking Harpymon multiple times. The Digimon shrieked in agony as its body darkened, and fractal code appeared.

Zoe held up her D-Tector once more, scanning the data. "My soft breeze will purify you; Fractal code! Digitize!" Harpymon's shadow disappeared as the data was absorbed into Zoe's D-Tector. Shimmering egg shaped data floated in the Digimon's place before flying into the night's sky.

Zoe fell to her knees, reverting to her human form. "That- was a lot harder than I remember. What happened?"

The rest of the team shrugged in confusion. "I don't understand. Sam's D-Tector theoretically should have worked." Kouichi said quietly.

"So should my powers…" Danny muttered darkly, "I feel defenseless without them…"

Kouji stood beside Sam and Danny, "Let's not worry too much about the D-Tector failing. It might just have been a first time error- no offense."

"None taken," Sam replied warily. Danny scowled but said nothing.

My powers don't work in this world… Sam couldn't Spirit evolve either… Something's not right…


HEY for those of you interested, I have posted that interview on Youtube. There's a link on my profile near the top (I won't make you scroll!)

I'd also like to see what you guys think Danny and Sam's Spirits with look like. I did give a rough description, I want to know what you guys think they may look like! (I'll reveal my pictures of the pair later on!)

Until next time, review please!