Legend of the D-Knights

Chapter 10

Off to the digi-world!

Tai pulled the covers up over his face when the sun hit the window. "Oh man, it's morning already…." He opened his eyes and looked over the edge of the bed to see Shin who was still knocked out cold sleeping on the floor; of course both of them were now without armor thanks to the newcomer finally explaining how to take it off. Half of Tai's face was still covered under the blanket as he leaned over and tried to tap his friend. "Hey Shin….."

Shin simply snored in response. "Shin!" he said a bit louder. All he got was a louder snore and Shin stuck his head under the covers mumbling. "Five more minutes….."

Tai rolled his eyes, grabbed a shoe and flung it at Shin, who snorted and rolled, hitting his head against the bedpost. Covers still over his head, he muttered "You suck…" Tai chuckled and gingerly stretched. "You said bright and early dude, I didn't think you were any exception."

Shin yawned and nodded before he peeled the covers off of his face. His hair was a mess and he was still incredibly groggy. "We should get ready quickly, or else somebody may try to talk you out of this." Tai flung his legs over the side of the bunk bed, but hesitated on the jump down. "You mean Sora?"

Shin ran a hand through his hair, yawning as he shrugged. "Sora, Kari, either way, both have their reasons, but we have to do this." The two sat in silence until the smell of pancakes and bacon filled the air. Shin's mouth watered at the smell and he flipped up in an instant. "Food first though." He walked out, leaving Tai to shake his head, amused.

Shin walked into the dining room, which already had Gatomon, Agumon and Ryudamon seated around it awaiting their breakfast patiently. Kari had taken to cooking since Mrs. Kamiya's experimental cooking had left a few people with stomach problems, and was doing a marvelous job with it. Shin grabbed a chair. "Morning guys, mind if I sit down?"

Without turning around Kari said "Sure, you're probably going to need this." Shin sat down and relaxed on the chair. "Ah, thanks."

Ryudamon sipped from his orange juice before speaking. "You eat last Shin, I plan on actually eating a full meal." Those assembled chuckled at the dragon warrior's indignant expression. "I'll have you know that I am very concerned for your well-being Ryudamon." He said sarcastically, before leaning over and bopping his partner in the head.

"But that doesn't mean you can get away with the trash talk."

Kari smiled a little and started with the last of the pancakes as Tai walked into the room in his pajamas. "Morning everybody, what's to eat?"

"Pancakes and bacon Tai, your favorite." Said Kari with a smile, but the smile turned into a giggle as she saw what a mess her brother's hair was. "Could you do something about your hair before breakfast? It's even messier than usual."

Shin chuckled as Ryudamon and Agumon roared with laughter. Gatomon sipped her tea with a smirk and Tai pouted. Then Shin quipped "Seriously, I'm surprised that thing on your head didn't come to life and eat me last night."

Agumon and Ryudamon were in stitches on the floor after that last one. Between tears and gasps for breath Agumon said "It's like that every morning, but it's so ridiculous!"

"It's alive! It's alive!" said Ryudamon, raising his claws in a mock dramatic fashion. Shin had to hold on to the table to steady himself. "I can't breathe, HAHAHAHA." Tai rolled his eyes and sat down while Kari was shaking her head, still smiling though. "Boys….."

After the digimon picked themselves off the floor, Kari dished out breakfast and joined them around the small table. The guys wolfed down their food a little messily, but Kari enjoyed it when people appreciated her cooking.

Breakfast passed uneventfully, but as Shin picked the last bits of food from his plate he cleared his throat. "Right guys, we got to go."

Tai looked at his watch and then wordlessly finished off the last two pancakes in one bite, but the other two had long finished their meals. Adjusting his goggles and then pointing to the bag by the door, Shin uttered "Agumon, Ryudamon, get the bags out of the door if you don't mind." He motioned over to Tai "Come on Tai, we'll do one more check to see if we left anything."

Ryudamon hefted a pack over his shoulder. "Yeah, like your swords, you didn't bring those out…." Agumon opened the door and the two stepped out with the first couple of bags.

Shin huffed as he walked into Tai's room. "Of course not." He grabbed his sword and asked Tai "What kind of crazy person eats breakfast with a sword on their waist?"

Tai shrugged and grabbed his weapon as well. He took one last look around his room and then saw the shirt with the crest of courage still on his bed. "Ooh, can't forget this one."

A look of disgust came to Shin's face. "Isn't that dirty?"

Tai brushed him off. "What of it? I like this shirt."

Letting his older teammate out before him, Shin just shook his head. "Whatever dude, remind me to dunk you in a lake when we get over there."

Tai shot him a death glare, but Shin innocently shrugged his shoulders with a smile as the two walked into the living room. Kari was waiting on the couch for them and their partners had already moved the packs outside. Tai stopped in front of his sister and opened his arms out wide.

"Well Kari, we're taking off."

Kari stood, but when she didn't hug him, Tai looked a little confused. "Something wrong?"

For a good 15 seconds she looked a bit pensive. Shin had already started inching towards the door, preparing the quick wave and departure, but then Kari spoke "I'm coming to say goodbye to Davis."

Tai's arms fell back to his side and, pale-faced, he looked at Shin. Correction, he now stared at the spot where Shin HAD been. Ryudamon had disappeared as well; all that greeted his sight at the door was a very disheveled-looking Agumon. No bags, no sound, just a small dust cloud.

Under his breath, Tai cursed his companion. "Shin, I'm going to kill you." Tai snapped his fingers as Agumon. "Where'd they go Agumon?"

Agumon stopped his head from spinning for a second and swallowed some nausea. "I-I'm not sure, but I've never seen anything move that fast."

Gatomon cocked her head. "Is that part of your powers too Tai?"

Tai shook his head as he motioned Kari and Gatomon to follow him. "No, in fact I don't even think that's part of HIS powers."

Kari crossed her arms. "He's probably going to warn Davis or something."

Tai shut and locked the door behind him and they started walking. "What makes you say that?"

"In case you haven't noticed Tai, that guy's got as big of a problem with me and TK as Davis probably does. He's enough like you where I can read him like a book."

Stepping into the elevator with a sigh, Tai chose his words carefully. "He just sympathizes with Davis, we all do, but as your older brother I can't tell you what to do. I'd be better off if you didn't date anybody." He grinned at her which she responded in kind.

"Aww, Tai's just a big softie." Gatomon snickered.

Agumon shot her a look. "I thought you knew that by now."

At this Kari started giggling and Tai's face was getting red. "Cut it out you guys."

The elevator stopped at the ground floor and the group departed on the way to school that they all knew like the backs of their hands.

"Now Kari, I expect you to behave while I'm gone." Tai wagged a finger at her.

Feigning indignant, Kari replied "Why Tai, whatever do you mean?"

Agumon and Gatomon started chuckling as Tai rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean, no funny business with TK or else I might have to barbecue your new boyfriend. You'll keep an eye on them right Gatomon?"

Gatomon nodded. "Yup."

"I don't think that's necessary Tai. Besides, he's not even really my boyfriend…..we just kind of kissed…." that last part ended in a whisper, which Tai didn't point out.

"Let's just get to the school; I'm way past ready to leave." Tai stuffed his hands in his pockets to protect from the cold. The quartet passed by Sora's building and Tai chanced a glance to her window, he saw her leaning up against the window. He stopped for a minute to see if she'd look at him

Unbeknownst to Tai, Sora was softly snoring with a nearly finished blue scarf in her hands. Tai's trademark crest of courage was stitched at each end in orange. Tai let out an aggravated snort and kept walking. Sora shivered against the cool glass and woke to see the group leaving her behind.

"Huh, Tai?" she looked at the scarf in her hands and quickly set to finish it. "Oh man, I must have dozed off! Almost done….."

The silent morning air was punctuated with their puffs of breath. "You're not just running away, are you Tai? You know mom raised you better."

"I guess it's my turn to ask "Why, whatever do you mean?"" Tai snickered.

Agumon cocked his head. "Tai's not running he's doing what he needs to. Now, if he had dragged me to the digital world for no reason, then I might be worried."

Gatomon snorted. "Mighty fine excuse to get away."

Arriving at the school, Tai breathed a sigh of relief. "Look, I don't want to talk about it. I need to focus on keeping my breakfast in my stomach. It's easier said than done today."

The other three laughed at him and Tai pouted. "I get no respect around here." A snowball curved, smashed him straight in the face, and knocked Tai onto his butt.

Shin started chuckling nonchalantly tossing and catching another snowball. "Pow, right in the kisser!"

Agumon bent over his partner "you were saying Tai?" Kari and Gatomon were laughing as Tai lay in the snow for a few seconds.

The snow literally melted off of Tai's face and flames seemed to fly from his eyes. "I'm going to mess you up Shin."

Shin simply nailed him again in the face. "I'd like to see you try old man." He wiped his hands off and ran inside. Tai was hot on his heels and Shin dived into the computer lab "Sanctuary!" he cried as he held Davis up like a human shield.

"Shin, what the hell?!" was all Davis managed to shout before Tai crashed into them both. "AUGH! Motherf-!"

CRASH

The three wound up in a heap on the floor. Takato had jumped up onto a computer table and Takuya had shoved Zoe behind his back protectively. The assorted digimon had to sort out their swearing and bruised partners.

Ryudamon shook his head and left Shin face first on the floor. "You deserved that you moron."

Shin just shrugged and laughed, but Tai rolled onto his hands and feet and very nearly pounced on the snowball throwing goggle boy, but the door opened again as Kari caught up to them. Davis, still reeling from being caught between an unstoppable force and an immovable object, was rubbing his head as Veemon helped him to his feet.

"You guys are going to be the end of me" he joked. The room half laughed but when Davis looked up, his heart dropped. "Oh, hi Kari…"

"Hey Davis…"

The room was dead silent for a good minute, but Shin silently motioned for Zoe and Takuya to exit the room for a bit, as well as for Tai and Takato to jump into the computer ahead of the stragglers. "One moment, I have to put in the coordinates for our destination; it's pretty hidden unless you've been there already."

Takato nodded and ushered Guilmon over "Well Guys, It's been fun, but we've got to get this show in the road."

Shin held up his digivice "digi-port open"

As the flash brightened the room, Takato, Guilmon, Ryudamon and Shin were sucked in along with their bags. Annoyance grew on Tai's face "He keeps doing that." He sighed, grabbed his bag and walked over to the open computer. "Hey Takuya, don't be too long" he called into the hallway.

"Give me a break here! It's not easy saying goodbye to my girlfriend." he shouted back as Zoe giggled.

Tai chuckled and he put a hand on Kari's shoulder

"Kari, be on your best behavior for mom and no funny business while I'm gone" he gave her a hug and bent down to Gatomon's level "If something happens, keep the digimon organized, ok?"

Gatomon gave him the thumbs-up "Got it Tai."

"Alright then, Agumon, are you ready to go buddy?"

Agumon nodded "Yeah, let's kick it up."

A large CAW was heard outside the window and Veemon pointed out the window "Hey isn't that Birdramon?"

Tai dropped his bag and rushed to the window "Sora?"

Birdramon was in fact landing outside on the school grounds with Sora on her talon. Tai ran right out of the room, but caught Davis pointing his D-3 at the computer and popped it out of his hands on the way out "I'll take that."

"Hey!" Davis grabbed for the older digidestined but Tai had bolted with Agumon in tow "Wait up Tai!"

Davis looked at his empty hand disappointedly as he opened and closed it and then at Veemon who gave him a half-hearted smile. Gatomon grabbed Veemon by the hand and led him out "I almost forgot, I've got something for you Veemon."

Davis pointed at the retreating digimon questioningly, but all Kari did was shrug, "Your guess is as good as mine."

Davis laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his head "it's been a crazy couple of days huh?"

Kari crossed her arms with a gentle smile "Yeah, that's an understatement."

Again silence prevailed as neither was certain how to proceed. Davis would rather have been facing Malomyotismon again, alone and Kari, well, was pretty much the same. "So, are you nervous Davis?" she asked.

He looked out the window at the still snowy morning "You know I hadn't thought about it so much, but now that you mention it, I am kind of nervous."

"Sorry…."

Davis shook his head. "I know it's dangerous, but we have to stop doing this."

"What?" She cocked her head quizzically.

"We've apologized to each other like a million times in the last week." He shot her a small smile.

"Davis, we care about each other, it's only natural." She touched his arm lightly, a very warming sensation.

Davis shook his head. "I'm not sure what to say Kari, this is something really important we have to take care of, but for the first time, I don't know if I'll be good enough. I hoped this feeling were all about the mission though." He took a small shuddering breath. "I think I may be wrong."

Kari looked a little hurt, but took a deep breath and fixed Davis's collar. "Davis, I never expected things to happen like this. I thought you and TK just had a silly crush on me. I thought you'd move on to prettier girls, smarter girls."

Davis sighed lightly before giving her a grin. "Prettier? Smarter?" His eyes lit up slightly in amusement. "Kari, no girl could hold a candle to what you mean to me. I think you are the prettiest girl I've ever met and you're one of the smartest too."

Kari couldn't hold back a look of surprise. "Me? Why?"

"I looked at you because I could always tell myself 'it'll all be worth it Davis, as long as she's safe.' Even during our final battle, it killed me to break you out of your dream because you looked so happy. I knew I had to protect you though. It's why I'm doing this whole mission thing; I need to keep you safe, so you can really be happy."

Kari averted her gaze, though she was unable to hide the small smile that graced her lips. "What about you Davis? You're diving in headfirst thinking of me, making the sacrifice for the rest of us without question. You could die out there. Don't you ever think about yourself? You've fought the darkness just as hard as the rest of us, don't you deserve a rest? "

To her surprise, he took her hand gently. She raised her gaze in response, meeting comforting eyes that burned brightly with determination. "I can take it Kari, I've done this so many times it doesn't bother me anymore. I've managed to be the guy at the end of the fight to have just enough strength to finish it, even if I feel like keeling over and dying."

Kari pulled Davis into a tight embrace, which surprised him. He could do nothing but hug her back. She buried her head in his chest. "Davis, I miss that goofy smile you crack even during times when I knew you were hurting. You might not believe this but whenever I saw it, I knew everything would be ok. I know you might be hurting but I want you to go out there and show them why we put so much faith in you."

Davis put his chin on her head. "I'll do my best Kari, I guess I'll see if I'm good enough won't I?"

Kari squeezed him softly. "You've always been good enough…."

Davis shrugged "I know you're probably right Kari." He squeezed her a little tighter, she saw his homemade chain around his neck and she felt warmth start to grow in her chest. "Just promise me you'll stay safe while we're gone, that'll be good enough for me."

Kari nodded and Davis reluctantly let her go. "Alright then, wish me luck."

"You've got all the luck in the world Davis, just hold onto it." She pulled out a gleaming silver chain from under her shirt and Davis's eyes lit up. There, around her delicate neck, was fastened the pendant he'd made for her. "I know I will."

In that moment, Davis had the biggest, goofiest grin he'd managed to crack all week.

He cleared his throat "Well, I'd better get going." He reached at his pocket but remembered Tai had taken his D-3. "Oh right, your stinking brother took my digivice"

Kari smiled and touched Davis lightly on the arm "I'll go get him, see you Davis." Kari jogged out of the room and once she turned the corner, Veemon came stumbling into the room with a look rivaling his partner's.

Davis cocked an eyebrow "everything alright?"

Veemon nodded happily "couldn't be better."

A gust of air from the open window called their attention and they turned around just in time to see Birdramon take off from the school yard, leaving Tai and Agumon standing together in the snow waving goodbye.

Davis looked closely and saw that Tai now sported a dark blue scarf of some sort he hadn't seen on him before "I wonder what that was all about."

Takuya strolled into the room as Zoe shouted "See you guys, good luck!" on her way down the hall. Takuya patted Davis on the back earnestly "It's a new day Davis, seems like little miracles follow you everywhere."

Davis look at him oddly "What do you mean by that?"

Takuya whistled nonchalantly as he pulled up a chair and sat down "Oh nothing, it's just that that lucky Veemon over there got a pretty LONG going away present from his catty friend."

Amusement graced Davis's features as he looked at a blushing Veemon. "You didn't….."

Veemon grinned widely and nodded "I did, she dang near took my breath away."

Tai and Agumon entered and Tai tossed Davis's D-3 back at him. "Alright guys, let's hit it"

Davis caught the digivice and in one fluid motion pointed it at the screen "Digi-port open!"

The light swept the three remaining digidestined and two digimon into the digital world to begin their new journey.

DIGITAL WORLD

They wound up in a heap in a cave simply lousy with icicles. Shin rolled off the heap and shook off the landing. "I should be used to landing like that, but not with heads as hard as mine."

Davis shivered a little. "Speak for yourself, I'm afraid I'll break a bone when I land with you guys."

Takato chuckled, large puffs of air visibly exiting his body before he hugged himself. "Oh man, why is it so cold?!"

Guilmon was curled into a ball, shivering. "Takato, I don't like the cold."

Tai shook his head at the two. "You know Shin, thinking about our powers, shouldn't we be training somewhere warmer?"

Shin shook his head and summoned a flame into his hand, which brought some warmth to the group. "Only the strongest flame can survive, we need to be tested, tempered, like our steel." He made the flame larger and soon his whole body erupted in a blaze. "This is just a taste of what we can do" He looked over the group and then dismissed his fire. "However, even something like this requires training, so I brought some clothing to help us out."

Shin withdrew a few cloaks from his pack, along with a few ski caps and some facemasks. Davis put on his facemask and breathed out a large cloud of steam. "You know, I think we look kind of shady with this gear on."

Shin waved him off. "Do you want to stay warm or not? It'll take time for you guys to learn to use your breath to keep your body heat up."

Davis frowned and extended his hand, he attempted to create a fireball and he managed a small one, but it quickly exploded into cinders, which Davis shook off of his hand. "Man, I'm never going to get this right…."

Shin patted Davis's shoulder "You will, give it time my friend." He exited the cave "let's go guys, Talon's reach waits."

Tai bundled up and followed Shin out, as did the rest of his companions. "So Shin" Tai said "What exactly is Talon's reach?"

Shin pointed at a modest settlement a mile or so ahead of them, which rested at the base of a looming mountain. "Talon's reach is one of the first outposts settled by both digimon and humans alike; it's become one of the major trading hubs in the digital world despite its small size. It's nestled safely here among the sleeping dragon mountains, right at the base of Musashi, the tallest one."

The digimon and their partners looked up at the mountain as they walked toward it with awe. Takato 's eyes focused on a large monument closer to the mountain, it was a large humanoid dragon digimon, covered in ancient samurai armor and wielding two bent, wicked looking swords. "Who's that?"

Guilmon looked on as well, mesmerized by the large, heroic looking warrior. "He's big."

Agumon nodded. "That's Gaiomon, legend says he was the first heroic dragon digimon to break away from the evil armies of a digimon who wanted to take over the digital world."

"How long ago was this?" asked Davis "weren't there digidestined partners to fight back then?"

Veemon nodded. "There were a few select that had partners, and these were ancient and powerful digimon, the original angels and phoenixes, beast kings and ladies of the forest."

Takuya trudged through the snow, breathing slightly heavily. "So why did Gaiomon split from the evil army?"

Ryudamon piped up "The dragon legions of the overlord's armies were powerful, but unlike many of the ogres and demons that they fought with, Gaiomon kept the dragons fighting honorably. This angered many of them, like the airdramon and metaldramon, but the greymon followed him the most loyally. He believed that he fought for order and that his lord was looking out for the best interest of the digital world."

Tai cocked an eyebrow. "I guess that changed?"

Shin nodded. "From what I read in Gennai's archives, there were two digimon that influenced him and one human. Gaiomon fought toe to toe with the beast king on more than one occasion and each time they came out of it, it was either a draw or one of them came out with a lasting injury, but it was always an even score, so over time, they began to respect each other as rivals."

Takato queried "So who was the other digimon and the human then and what happened?"

Shin continued "The human's name was lost to history, but it was told that he was a legendary swordsman that could fight on even footing with some digimon, the other digimon was none other than the lady of the sky, an ancient Phoenixmon. Bound to serve his lord because of his honor, he watched as day after day, the battlefield was littered with corpses of good and evil, his dragon brothers were dying."

Ryudamon picked the story up. "Gaiomon had long had a distaste for using his dragon brothers for seemingly less than honorable purposes as with each land conquered, his master's cruelty increased."

Shin continued as he played with a ball of flame in his hands. "As legends tell, his love for the Phoenixmon and his honorable rivalry with the beast king drove him to turn on his lord during a pivotal moment in a climactic battle. Because of Gaiomon, and the partnership he developed between the samurai, the forces of light won. Afterwards, what happened to him and the Phoenixmon was unknown, but their legacies lived on.

Takato whistled "That's an awesome story, what happened to the human?"

Shin shrugged. "His story is even more mysterious than Gaiomon's, but there is one thing for sure, once they became partners, the two became immensely powerful and that's where the line of the D-Knights started.

Tai patted the Katana at his side. "So you mean this isn't new?"

Shin shook his head. "There are techniques, powers, and abilities that have been lost in time, but at the top of Musashi is rumored to be the Dragon Sanctum, where the records of every heroic dragon digimon and their partners have been stored, and maybe some answers."

Davis looked at him quizzically. "So we're going to risk our lives flying up that mountain to get to a place we're not even sure exists to maybe find something that can help us." He stopped as he finished his sentence. "How sure are you that we're not wasting time? The enemy is practically kicking down our door and we're over here chasing stories instead of protecting our friends and families?!"

Shin turned on him suddenly. "It's our only option, if only for a short time, they need to fend for themselves." Then he continued at the head of the pack. Davis let out a growl and tackled him into the snow. "You bastard!"

The two tussled in the snow as their teammates tried to pry them apart, but Davis gained the upper hand and pinned Shin to the ground by pressing his forearm to the throat. "So help me god, if anything happens to Kari, or my family I'll…"

Shin fixed his stare to Davis's and the intensity shook Davis's anger slightly. "You'll do what?! You don't even have the armor yet, you hardly know what you're doing." His voice lowered to barely above a whisper. "If you think you can do better on your own, then go. All you'll accomplish is alerting the enemy to your presence, and if you can't protect your loved ones from the powerhouses they'll send after you…." Shin punched Davis in the ribs and flipped him off of himself.

He left the statement hanging in the air for a few seconds as Davis landed in the snow behind him, Katana clattering next to him. Shin rose to his feet and dusted off his cloak. "…you'll just be the first one to die."

Davis rolled to his hands and knees, picked up his Katana with a huff and considered tackling his fellow knight but paused and walked directly in front of Shin, their faces right in front of the other. "Shin, I'd rather die trying than live having done nothing."

Tai swore, grabbed the two and split them apart, grabbing the two by their collars. "Neither is an option right now! All of this arguing is wasting our time. So, let's put a lid on it and get down to business." He released Shin. "What do we need to do now?"

The group had gotten to just outside the gates of Talon's Reach and Shin took a map out of his pack. Motioning for the others to gather around him he started pointing out destinations and supplies they needed. "Davis and Tai, I need you to take your partners and head for climbing supplies at this stall, we need everything on the list." He pointed to a hut that had been circled in red on the map. Tai, Agumon and Veemon nodded but Davis crossed his arms and grumbled to himself.

Shin sighed. "Ok, Takato, Takuya and Guilmon, I need you guys to head over to these stalls and get everything on the list I give you for food." He handed lists to the two teams as well as a pair of credit cards. "Gennai said we should be able to get supplies on his credit. Once you guys are ready, meet me at the gate closest to the mountain. If we run into trouble, send up a warning flare with your powers and get to the rally point. I think you guys can manage that even without training."

Takato grabbed the list and card. "What are you going to do?"

Shin tucked the map back into his pack and held up a key. "Gennai told me I had to pick something up that was stored somewhere; he said we'd need it when we got to the top of the mountain. So is everyone clear what we need to do?"

Those assembled raised a chorus of "Yes!"

Shin grinned, drew his sword and pointed to the town. "Alright, no time to waste brothers, let's go!" The party moved along and dispersed into town.

A short while later, a young woman with wavy red hair and fierce brown eyes arrived at the gates with a red falcon digimon next to her. A tai chi straight sword hung by her waist and she had a pink and white d-3 clutched in her hand. "We're getting close Gustmon, I know it."

She took out a crumpled photo from her pocket. There were three friends in the photo, a young blonde man with long hair and ice blue eyes, herself and Shin. Shin was smiling and so was she, but the young blonde man wasn't, even as he had his arms around her. "I know he's alive, even if the others don't agree..." she let a single tear slip as she stowed the picture and placed her cloak's good on her head to protect from the incoming storm. "Shin….I hope you're ok."

Story's picking up, sorry the updates have been few and far between but I tihnk I can have two more chapters up before the week's up, so stay tuned