Chapter 9: The Matter of Trust (Part I)
"Are we there yet?" a voice asked tiredly.
"No," two annoyed voices replied in unison.
OuRyuumon sighed with boredom as he walked behind Alphamon and Omegamon, who were walking in step with each other.
It was the day after they had left their castle to go investigate the rumour that KaiserGreymon had mentioned to Alphamon. The three had been travelling for nearly two days since they had left in the middle of the night before. The town was northwards, near the middle of the continent, and was close to the midpoint between the Royal Knights' and the Warrior Ten's areas of operation as a result.
The tall, gold dragon trudged along a dirt path that was flanked by long, grassy fields on both sides. The fields and road stretched far, and there wasn't much else to look at. Up ahead, off to the left of the path, there was a small river that curved to the left, but that was about it.
The warm, afternoon sun beat down on his back, particularly on his black wings which doubled as blades. These wings - the Gaiba Daimeijin - were jagged, crescent-shaped, and had a large, ornamentally-designed, hollow slot in the middle of each wing. He kept his large, fearsome scimitars - the Gairyu swords - in a custom-fitted belt around his serpentine waist, since he got tired of carrying them in his hands. Due to his small legs, he was struggling to keep up with the black and white knights ahead of him.
Omegamon looked over his shoulder at the winged serpent lagging behind them. "You know, it would go faster if you flew," the white knight advised, looking down at OuRyuumon's stubby legs.
OuRyuumon folded his arms and frowned at him. "I've been flying for the past five hours," he replied, a little annoyed. "My wings need a break."
"We can all take a break after another kilometer's walk," Alphamon told them while stretching the unique looking wings on his back. "Okay?"
"That sounds fine," Omegamon agreed.
"Okay," OuRyuumon replied, speeding up to jog beside Alphamon. "So why exactly are we doing the Warrior Ten's dirty work? Their headquarters is closer to this village than ours is, even if it is still inside the Free Area. It's in one of the Free Area's border provinces, right?"
Alphamon nodded. "I wanted to see for myself," he replied. "Besides, KaiserGreymon said that they were too busy and he thought that it would be a wild goose chase anyways."
"And you don't think it is?" Omegamon asked, looking over at his friend.
The black knight didn't respond initially. He wasn't entirely sure what he thought. It could be meaningless gossip for all he knew. However, he had an instinctive, weighty feeling that something wasn't right. He couldn't quite place it, which was why he was reluctant to give a response.
"I'm not sure," he finally replied. He turned his head to the side to face OuRyuumon, who had started flying again after getting fed up with trying to keep pace with the two longer-legged Royal Knights. "Besides, I thought you wanted to come."
"I did, but I didn't expect it to be so far," OuRyuumon answered, glancing back at Alphamon.
"Just be glad you have wings," Alphamon teased, glancing back at OuRyuumon's short legs. OuRyuumon huffed and gave Alphamon a light punch on the arm, prompting a chuckle from the knight.
Omegamon looked over at the two digimon thoughtfully. Silently, he looked forwards, his blue eyes gazing down the road. It was then that he saw something in the distance.
"Alphamon," he spoke, looking back at him.
Alphamon nodded, spotting it as well. They saw several figures in the distance. At the range they were at, they could only see the silhouettes of the figures.
"What is that?" OuRyuumon asked, squinting his eyes and sticking his neck out to try and get a better look. The three sped up their pace slightly to try and get closer, hoping to scope out the situation.
After a minute of speed walking and flying, they could clearly see the situation that had unfolded. There was a large, wooden wagon stopped in the middle of the dirt road. The digimon who had been pulling the wagon was a Unimon: a large, white, winged unicorn with grey wings, a yellow mane, and red, metal, horned helmet over the top half of his face.
Next to the cart, lying on the ground was a winged serpent. Although he lacked the arms and legs that OuRyuumon had, he was draconic in nature. He had blue scales all over his body except of the two red wings on his back. Around his neck he had a roughed-up mane of what looked like orange fur or feathers. Somewhat similar to the Unimon, he had a helmet-like feature on the top half of his face. It was somewhat similar to bone. Two horns of the same material protruded backwards from behind his eyes, giving a menacing appearance. However, the nervous expression on the Airdramon's face was anything but intimidating.
There were four other digimon there. They surrounded the cart as well the Unimon and Airdramon. One was a burly, bipedal lion digimon garbed in black pants and a black gakuran jacket worn over his shoulders. A stem of a plant rested in his mouth, which gave the Unimon a fearsome, toothy sneer as he held a large tanto sword against the Unimon's throat.
"Keep him down," the BanchoLeomon said, turning to a large, bug digimon who stood over the Airdramon, pinning him down.
The bug was a giant, red beetle digimon with a red exoskeleton, a fearsome set of teeth, four arms which he used to hold down the winged serpent, and a large, axe-like horn that sparked with electricity. "Got it," the red AtlurKabuterimon replied.
In the back of the wagon there were two digimon rummaging through the freight's contents. One was a short, wooden digimon shaped like the stump of a fallen tree, except he had two large arms, two smaller arms, and four roots for legs. The other was a tall, lanky, brown rabbit digimon. He was garbed in white stockings, red armour around his waist, and puffy, white armour that covered his upper body and collar. The Antylamon was much more efficient than the Woodmon at sorting through the cart's inventory due to his long arms and bulky hands. The two digimon took valuables from the cart and threw them into bags.
"Highway robbers," Omegamon murmured to the other two, who nodded.
Through the protected eye slit of his visor, the Unimon noticed the three digimon down the road. However, he made as if he hadn't noticed them, not wanting to draw the brigands' attention to them.
"Stop stealing my client's belongings," he told the BanchoLeomon with as much courage as he could muster in the face of the Mega level.
"Shut up, pony boy," the BanchoLeomon ordered. He pressed the edge of the blade harder against the Unimon's neck, forcing the winged unicorn to grimace.
Alphamon turned to OuRyuumon and pointed upwards, towards the sky. OuRyuumon drew his Gairyu scimitars from his belt and nodded. With impressive height and agility, the ryu leapt into the sky. He flapped his bladed wings and soared in a circle before shooting upwards aerobatically.
The black-armoured Royal Knight then turned to his white-armoured companion. "Omegamon, let's go greet them."
Omegamon nodded and stepped forwards, stretching his arms out and pointing his gauntlets away from both himself and Alphamon. A long, impressive, black and silver sword suddenly extended from the mouth of the Greymon head-shaped gauntlet on his left hand. Likewise, a giant, black cannon swiftly emerged from the mouth of the Garurumon head-shaped gauntlet of his right hand.
Alphamon began walking next to Omegamon. He collected a small amount of emerald energy inside his palm as they travelled down the road towards the wagon.
The AtlurKabuterimon looked up from the Airdramon, sensing something. He noticed the two knights approaching them with care. "BanchoLeomon, we have guests," he told their boss.
"Oh?" BanchoLeomon said, looking over his shoulder. He raised his furry eyebrow upon seeing Alphamon and Omegamon and suddenly became guarded, his fur bristling slightly. He frowned and gripped his tanto tighter. "Are those...?"
The Woodmon and Antylamon also stopped what they were doing and looked over from the sides of the cart. The Airdramon hostage twisted his head to the side in order to look at them as well. Suddenly, the winged serpent shouted out to them. "Help! They're robbing us and taking all of my things! Stop- AGH!" The Airdramon's pleas were interrupted with a sharp punch to his side, courtesy of the AtlurKabuterimon.
Alphamon approached them slowly and in a seemingly nonconfrontational manner. "Is this true?" he asked, looking at the BanchoLeomon and easily deducing that he was the leader.
The BanchoLeomon slowly removed the blade from the Unimon's neck and pointed it towards the two Royal Knights. "What's it to you?" he asked with hostility, glaring at them.
The Woodmon and Antylamon jumped over the right side of the wagon. The latter of the two, the tall, fearsome rabbit, transformed his forearms into axes. He stepped ahead of the Woodmon and prepared for a fight.
Alphamon stopped a few meters from the wagon and he could sense Omegamon stand next to him. He stared at the BanchoLeomon bandit hard. "I'll get to the point. We're the Royal Knights and you're in violation of the law of the land. Specifically robbery with the use of deadly abilities and unprovoked assault. Either surrender or suffer the consequences," he told him with unquestionable authority in his voice.
The BanchoLeomon stalled for a few moments before scowling and gripping his sword tightly in his hand, turning to face the two knights fully. "Eat shit, ponces!"
Alphamon looked at him carefully. "...So be it," he answered. The knight raised his left hand high into the air.
The four bandits tensed up and braced themselves, expecting him to be starting an attack of some sort. However, they were surprised when no attack came.
"The hell?" BanchoLeomon said with a mocking laugh. He spat out the twig in his mouth and gave a toothy grin to the Lord of the Empty Seat. "Is that it? Cool. Then why don't you-"
"Surprise!" a voice shouted from behind them.
OuRyuumon swooped down from the sky and landed behind the Woodmon. Before he even touched the ground, he slashed his dual scimitars vertically and split the tree stump digimon right down the middle. The Woodmon didn't have so much as a chance to react before he burst into a cloud of data. OuRyuumon then soared through the Woodmon's dispersing data and assaulted the Antylamon.
The rabbit bandit was hardly given the chance to defend himself, let alone widen his eyes at his comrade's sudden deletion. He raised his axe arms and defended against OuRyuumon's initial attack, blocking his blades and then responding with a desperate slash of his own.
OuRyuumon nimbly swerved to the side, avoiding the slash, and he twisted his long, serpentine body so that his upper body was behind the Antylamon. Just as the rabbit was turning, he savagely plunged his swords into the robber's armour and through his body. The Antylamon gave a cry of pain before joining the Woodmon in a cloud of data particles.
"What?!" BanchoLeomon demanded, his eyes widening at seeing the third attacker.
"Damnit!" the AtlurKabuterimon swore, his crackling horn now brimming with electricity. "Horn Buster!"
Omegamon promptly raised the cannon of the Garuru Arm and aimed it at the AtlurKabuterimon. "Garuru Cannon!"
The cannon exploded with a blast of blueish-white power. The Airdramon let out a cry of fear when he saw the beam sailing towards both him and the aggressive insect bandit. He shut his eyes tightly when it closed in on them, and he felt the cold bite of the blast against the scales of his underbelly. The noise of the beam passing over him drowned his scream, but, much to his surprise, he felt no pain. When the noise and the sense of cold faded, the Airdramon slowly opened his eyes. To his shock and pleasure, he was unharmed. On the opposite end, the AtlurKabuterimon who had been on top of him was nowhere to be found.
Omegamon lowered his smoking cannon and turned to Alphamon, who stepped towards the BanchoLeomon calmly.
BanchoLeomon nervously stepped back until he felt his back against the wood of the wagon. He glanced around. To his left was the Unimon and to his right was the grass off the path, leading to the rushing river. It looked like a good escape route; however, he knew that OuRyuumon was right around the corner of the wagon.
He looked back at Alphamon, who walked towards him. The Royal Knight's hand suddenly became shrouded in intense brightness as he threatened to summon his holy sword of light - the Seiken Grade Alpha. "I won't ask you again," Alphamon spoke imposingly, narrowing his eyes.
BanchoLeomon snarled and pressed his back harder against the wagon. "Damnit..." he whispered, knowing he had to get out of this somehow. Suddenly, he got an idea. He turned to the Unimon and slashed his upper front leg with his sword. A streak of red quickly formed in the Unimon's grey fur, following the wake of his blade.
Feeling the burning pain of the fresh cut, the Unimon reared up and whinnied in pain, kicking his front hooves and causing a distracting commotion. BanchoLeomon then sprinted to the right, heading off the road and onto the grass, towards the river.
"HEY!" OuRyuumon shouted, flying after him swiftly. The dragon slashed with his right sword towards the lion man digimon.
Anticipating this, BanchoLeomon threw off his gakuran jacket, which sat on his shoulders, letting it fly into OuRyuumon's sword and face.
As the OuRyuumon tried to throw the jacket out of his vision, Alphamon saw that the bandit had a chance of getting away. He charged after quick digimon, running at an impressive speed under all of his armour. A green aura built up in Alphamon's hand as he chased BanchoLeomon.
"Digitalize of Soul!" Alphamon called out.
As a pillar of emerald power pulsed from Alphamon's hand towards his foe, BanchoLeomon lunged off of the grassy bank and dove into the river. Alphamon's beam tore a trench through the bank and ripped over the top of the river.
Luckily for BanchoLeomon, he had been underwater at the time, and was already swimming downstream as fast as he possibly could.
Omegamon ran over to the bank and aimed his cannon at the lion, who was getting further and further since he reached a point where the river curved away from the initially parallel road. "Garuru Cannon!" he spoke.
Alphamon ran up beside him and raised his hand. "Digitalize of Soul!"
The two attacks burst from the respective knights' right hands and soared into the river, creating a huge explosion of water. However, there was no indication that they hit BanchoLeomon with their attacks.
"Did you get him?! We shouldn't let him get away!" OuRyuumon said, running over.
"There's no point chasing him," Omegamon replied, lowering his cannon. "He's too far now and I doubt we'd be able to catch up."
OuRyuumon glanced at them, not completely satisfied with Omegamon's answer. "What do you think, Alphamon?" OuRyuumon asked, turning to him.
Alphamon frowned and watched the river. "As much as I'd hate to leave someone like that out there... Omegamon's right. Besides, he isn't our mission, and we can't leave that guy like that," Alphamon replied, turning towards the wounded Unimon.
OuRyuumon sighed. "Can I at least fly after him a bit while you two stay here? If I can't reach him I'll come straight back."
Alphamon complied with a glance to the dragon. "Just don't go far," he told him. "And be careful."
OuRyuumon nodded and took into the air, flying over the river.
Omegamon looked at Alphamon and then turned, walking back to the wagon. Alphamon watched OuRyuumon for a few moments before following Omegamon.
"Thank you, thank you!" the Airdramon spoke, bowing his head as Alphamon and Omegamon returned to them. "I thought those guys were gonna kill us!"
"Think nothing of it," Alphamon answered, walking over to the limping Unimon. He examined the bloody gash staining the digimon's upper right leg. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"I've been better," the Unimon replied, grimacing with pain as he looked down at his leg, which he was forced to raise to take pressure off of it. A few trickles of blood dripped down from the gash all the way to his knee.
"I'll get you some water and something to bandage your wound," Alphamon told him. He turned around and started walking back towards the river.
"Thank you," he replied hoarsely.
Omegamon retracted his Grey Sword and Garuru Cannon and proceeded to remove his gauntlets. He walked over and put his hand against the wound to try to staunch the bleeding. "What happened?" he asked them as he put pressure on the gash.
The Airdramon flew over to Omegamon's side. He made a point not to look at the gory wound by looking at Omegamon's face; he didn't want to embarrass himself by passing out in front of the Royal Knight. "W-Well, I'm moving to a new town to the south of my old village. The problem is that I can't carry all of my things on my own, for obvious reasons." He nodded with his head to his two wings, noting his lack of limbs to carry anything that heavy. "So I hired Unimon here to move everything for me. We were travelling down this road when those bandits jumped out from that river bank and ambushed us," he explained. He looked at Omegamon sheepishly. "You have really good aim, by the way."
Omegamon smiled a bit. "At that close range, maybe," he said with a humble tone.
Meanwhile, Alphamon kneeled by the river and filled his canteen with water. When it was more or less filled, he pressed his left palm underneath the metal canteen. A green aura radiated weakly from his hand, heating up the metal bottle and boiling the water within to purify it. Once steam started rising from the mouth of the canteen, he dipped the bottle back into the river to cool it down again.
After placing his thumb over the mouth of the bottle, Alphamon stood up and looked down the river. He saw the familiar form of OuRyuumon flying towards him.
"Any luck?" he asked as OuRyuumon closed in and descended, although he already knew the answer.
OuRyuumon landed on the riverbank and sighed, shaking his head with disappointment. "He's gone," he replied, panting a bit.
The serpentine dragon walked over to Alphamon, a smirk growing on his face. He circled around and approached Alphamon from behind. Before Alphamon could begin to turn around, he placed his claws on Alphamon's wings, rubbing them gently. The tall OuRyuumon leaned his head over Alphamon's shoulder and whispered in his ear. "But my adrenaline's pumping. Isn't yours?" he asked, his hands slowly snaking down from Alphamon's wings to caress his sides.
"OuRyuumon, stop it," Alphamon quickly said, turning around sharply and moving his body away from OuRyuumon's claws as a result. He frowned and delivered a meaningful stare into OuRyuumon's eyes. "Not in public..."
OuRyuumon rolled his eyes and retracted his hands. "Yeah, yeah..." he responded with a flat, unamused voice. "Yggdrasil forbid that somebody finds out you're attracted to guys along with girls."
Alphamon folded his arms and raised an eyebrow at OuRyuumon accusingly. "And how many digimon – not counting myself – know you're gay, exactly? Well?"
The tall, gold dragon flushed. He folded his arms as well and glanced away in a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment. "Y-yeah, well... Whatever," he murmured. His violet eyes returned to looking at Alphamon. "I know we 'have' to keep our relationship a secret, but I don't understand why. I mean, I'm not comfortable with digimon knowing I like guys, but that's a personal decision. I don't understand why you can't be open about it."
"It's complicated," Alphamon answered, looking away.
"Is it?" OuRyuumon asked. "RhodoKnightmon is openly gay. Really, really openly gay. But the other knights hardly care. Sure, it makes Duftmon and some of them uncomfortable when he flirts with them and stuff, but it doesn't make him any less of a knight in anybody's eyes."
"It's different for me," Alphamon told him firmly. "I'm not just a member of the Royal Knights. I'm the leader of the Royal Knights. It's expected that I'm..."
"'Normal'?" OuRyuumon asked, frowning at Alphamon.
Alphamon stalled before finally giving a sigh. "In the eyes of somebody like Duftmon... yes," he answered, a slight bit of shame gracing his voice. "He already tries to undermine me every chance he gets. It would be the straw that breaks the camel's back. It's not just him either. I don't know how the other knights would react. Craniamon, Dynasmon, Examon, Sleipmon, maybe even Dukemon or Magnamon. Not to mention the rest of the members of the castle and the digimon of the continent."
"Honestly, Alphamon, who cares?" OuRyuumon asked, staring at him hard. "Okay, maybe I shouldn't be talking, but still!"
Alphamon returned OuRyuumon's stare, looking at him with a serious gaze. "Why do you hide your sexuality?"
OuRyuumon blinked, taken aback by the question initially. "Because... well, I don't want people sticking their noses in my business!" he replied sharply, folding his arms.
"...And why else?" Alphamon asked knowingly. He was well aware that there was more to it than just that.
The dragon's eyes slowly looked away and he felt blood rush to his face. "...I don't want anybody making fun of me," he muttered in a barely audible voice.
"You think people will think less of you if they know..." Alphamon mused, a point hiding behind his words. "Now, imagine you're the leader and the public face of a team whose task is to protect the Digital World. Having a label is the last thing I need. The Royal Knights need to be taken seriously."
"But RhodoKnightmon-" OuRyuumon protested.
"Is RhodoKnightmon," the black armoured Royal Knight replied. "And I'm Alphamon, the Lord of the Empty Seat. I was the first one that Imperialdramon Paladin Mode came to when we founded the order. I'm the one who has to look after the other Royal Knights, settle their differences, deal with all sorts of digimon on a daily basis among other things."
"And you think that being bisexual changes that?" the dragon asked.
"Yes... Not everybody is open-minded."
OuRyuumon sneered. "I know, but being bi is just one aspect of your personality. You're still noble, brave, kind, fair, loving..." the dragon spoke, his gaze softening warmly as he looked at Alphamon. "It doesn't define you."
"Just like Examon being a dragon doesn't define him in Duftmon's eyes?" Alphamon said dryly, giving OuRyuumon a bland look. "A label's a label. Besides, that isn't the only reason... How would it look if everyone knew you and me were lovers? They'd think you received your position for that reason alone."
OuRyuumon grumbled, annoyed that he had a point. "Yeah, fine. I get it..." he muttered in response. He looked at Alphamon carefully. "And those are the only reasons?"
"Yes," Alphamon replied quickly and succinctly. He turned and started walking up the riverbank towards the grass, heading back to the Unimon with the water he promised him.
Omegamon looked over, seeing the black knight approaching. "Alphamon, you took awhile," he said, moving his hand off of the Unimon's wound.
Alphamon walked over to the wagon and looked at the bloody gash on the limping Unimon. "Sorry. OuRyuumon returned and reported what he found – or didn't find, rather," Alphamon told his friend, although not looking at Omegamon and focusing solely on pouring the water over the wound as he replied.
Omegamon nodded, having no reason not to believe him.
"So... that bandit's still out there?" the Airdramon asked nervously.
"He is, but the rest of his gang is gone. He'll be licking his wounds for awhile, and we'll see if we have him in our database whenever we return the headquarters," Alphamon told him. He reached behind himself and grabbed his cape, tearing a piece off and wrapping the blue and white fabric tightly around the Unimon's wound. "This is the best we can do, I'm afraid. Can you make it to the next town?"
"Thanks," the Unimon said, wincing slightly. He looked down at his tensed, bandaged leg and gave the ground an experimental tap to gauge the pain. He grimaced. "I can fly there, but I have to leave the wagon. I can't pull it like this..."
"What am I supposed to do now?" the Airdramon asked with worry. "I'm not strong enough to pull this thing!"
Both Alphamon and Omegamon started to think about a possible solution while OuRyuumon came walking over.
"...Unimon, are there other digimon with your job at the place you came from?" Omegamon asked, looking at the winged horse.
"Back at the town, yes," he replied, craning his head to look at Omegamon. "At Auguria, I mean."
"Auguria?" Alphamon asked, looking at him with mild surprise. "That's where we're headed."
"Lucky for us," Omegamon said while using what was left in his own water bottle to wash the blood from his hand. "We can get to the village and hire another haulier to come back here and move the wagon. Unimon, you can come with us. I'm assuming there's a physician in Auguria?"
Unimon nodded, grunting a bit as he got himself out of the harness that allowed him to pull the wagon with his whole body. "There is," he gave a slight, though somewhat pained grin. "There's a few witch doctors this time of year too."
"Witch doctors…?" Alphamon asked, raising his eyebrow with confusion.
"The Spring Festival's going on right now," he explained to the knights. "Some real characters turn up at festivals like this. Lots of show offs and attention seekers."
Omegamon sighed and looked at Alphamon, wondering if he too realized the implications of what Unimon said. "Fortune tellers and psychics too, I'm guessing."
"Allegedly," the Unimon said, flapping his red wings and pulling himself off the ground with a grunt.
"…We'll see when we get there," Alphamon said, avoiding Omegamon's look.
Omegamon nodded, although he was no longer expecting to find anything important once they arrived in Auguria. They at least had to escort the Unimon there, though.
"H-Hey!" Airdramon said, looking at them nervously. "What about me? What if that BanchoLeomon guy comes back madder than ever?!"
Before Alphamon could do anything, the white knight beside him turned to OuRyuumon. "OuRyuumon, do you mind staying here with him and his wagon?" Omegamon asked.
OuRyuumon, who was busy wiping the blood and sap from his sword onto the nearby grass, stood up and glanced over at him. "Nah. I need to rest my wings and legs anyways," he replied offhandedly.
Alphamon frowned slightly. He gave an uncertain glance at Omegamon before turning back to OuRyuumon. "And can you wash those in the river instead?" he asked, to which OuRyuumon rolled his eyes.
"I'm ready when you all are, Royal Knights, sirs," the Unimon told them, evidently not really sure how formally he was supposed to address them.
"Okay, let's get going. Lead the way, Unimon," Alphamon said, turning around and walking past the wagon. Omegamon looked at Alphamon and walked after him, trailing quietly as they followed the Unimon down the road.
The two Royal Knights walked for a good thirty minutes down the path. Their Unimon guide managed to be flying alright, but they could tell he was still in pain. It was around that time that they could see the village of Auguria less than a kilometer ahead of them.
It seemed like a fairly standard village from the outside. There were no noticeable landmarks, aside from the river that ran beside the left end of the small community. It was the same river that they had seen earlier, when they came across the wagon. Unfortunately for them, the town was upstream from the river, so they couldn't hope to find that BanchoLeomon bandit that escaped down it.
There were about two hundred to three hundred buildings in the town. They were all of various sizes, but none were big enough to particularly stand out against the rest of them. However, as they drew closer to Auguria, they did notice a series of colourful tents and booths off to the south and east ends of the village, as well as all sorts of decorations and stands within the village itself. The whole village seemed to give off the vibe of good cheer and celebration.
"So that's the Spring Festival?" Omegamon asked, looking up at Unimon.
"Yeah, that's it," Unimon replied, turning his head and looking around as they started to enter the festivity's area. "It doesn't really interest me personally, but maybe you'll find something you'll like."
"Perhaps…" Omegamon said thoughtfully as they started walking by the first of the tents. The whole area was bustling with smiling and rambunctious digimon all of whom were enjoying the fun.
There seemed to be plenty of food stands and festival games set up all around the area. There were several tents of various varieties, including palm reading and fortunetelling. Omegamon couldn't help but become further suspicious about the credibility of this rumour.
He also noticed things like a wrestling competition, an archery competition, ring tossing and ball throwing games and the like. There were many other attractions like a kissing booth and he saw the draconic form of an Imperialdramon Dragon Mode who was flying around both kids and some adult digimon for exciting, airborne rides. Omegamon also noticed that there was a large tub of water with a plank over it which was set up as a dunk tank. He dreaded what OuRyuumon would do when he arrived there. "If that dragon signs me up for either the kissing booth or the dunk tank, I might just have to stretch out his body and use it for a noose," he thought with a worried grimace.
They continued walking past the tents and stands. While the area was lively, Omegamon knew that the Spring Festival was much bigger in more populous areas. It didn't take them long before they started to enter the actual village.
To his surprise (and relief), he and Alphamon went largely unnoticed, except for the occasional stare, double-take, and whisper. Everybody else seemed too enraptured in the festivities to pay them much attention. Perhaps they thought they were somebody else or maybe dressed up in costume for the festival.
He and Alphamon walked past several buildings, still following the Unimon. Now that they were in the actual village of Auguria, things had calmed down a bit, though it was still relatively lively.
"Out of curiosity, what brings you here?" the Unimon asked, glancing down at them as he headed for the transportation business he worked at.
"Just unofficial business," Alphamon replied, sounding like he was being intentionally vague.
It was then that Omegamon began to wonder about his friend. Until he spoke, Omegamon had nearly forgotten that Alphamon was with him, since the knight had been so silent the whole time. He turned to Alphamon curiously. "Is everything okay, Alphamon?" he asked him, taking the digimon by surprise. "You've been quiet since we left the wagon."
"Yes, Omegamon," Alphamon replied, although it took a few seconds to look him in the eye. "I've just been thinking."
"About whether or not the rumour's true? And if it is, whether the Baronmon has any credibility?" Omegamon questioned.
Alphamon nodded. "Still… we've come all this way; it would be a waste not to check it out," he responded.
"I guess that's true," Omegamon said.
Ahead of them, Unimon flapped his wings in front of him to stop himself from flying forwards. He turned and looked at the two knights. "I can go ahead and find someone to pull the cart. Then I'll go and see the doctor. Why don't you two go do whatever you came to do, knights, sirs?" he said to them.
"We're going to wait for our friend before we do that," Alphamon replied, looking up at him.
"In that case, why don't you go and wait at the inn? I can pay for your rooms and expenses," Unimon suggested. "It's the least I can do for you guys driving off those thieves."
"That's very generous of you," Alphamon said, smiling slightly behind his helmet. "Thank you. We won't be staying more than a night."
The Unimon nodded. "Okay. The inn's just over there," he replied, nodding with his head in the direction of the building. "I'll get my friend to tell your friend where you guys will be staying."
"Thank you," Omegamon replied. When the Unimon flew off in a different direction, he turned to Alphamon. "Should we wait there for OuRyuumon? …Or do you want to go play some carnival games?" he asked with a small grin.
Alphamon gave a soft chuckle. "Let's just go to the inn. We never did get to have that break," he replied, beginning to walk down the simple dirt road.
Omegamon followed him. He preferred that option much more than the other one anyways. They walked to a large building about three stories high. It was clearly defined by the large sign that read "Come Inn". The two couldn't help but exchange glances at the awful pun.
"Let's… go in…" Alphamon said, though he suddenly felt kind of dirty for playing into the sign's wishes with his response.
"Let's…" Omegamon agreed, walking with Alphamon towards the front entrance. Due to his gauntlets covering his hands, Omegamon stood back so Alphamon could open the door for them.
The wooden door opened after a light push. They walked in and were immediately greeted by the warm, cozy atmosphere. There was a large room filled with several tables and booths arranged in a tidy, accessible manner, as well as a well stocked bar on the opposite end. Around the room were several lanterns, though none of them were lit yet. The knights could hear the low chatter of socializing digimon filling the air.
Off to the right of them was the front desk. There they noticed a portly, golden bug digimon sitting behind the desk, doing several things at once with his three pairs of hands. The Kongoumon looked up at them and smiled as the two Royal Knights walked over. "Hello, there. What can I do for you this afternoon?" he asked. His red eyes looked between Alphamon and Omegamon curiously. "Are you… Royal Knights?" he asked.
"We are," Alphamon told him. He began to notice his nervousness around them. It wasn't an unusual response to their presence. Many digimon, both innocent and not-so-innocent ones, were anxious around the Royal Knights, worried that the Royal Knights were there to arrest them or something. "Don't worry. We're just here for a place to stay. Three single, medium rooms, please. For myself, Omegamon, and OuRyuumon. Unimon said that he'd cover the bill?"
"Oh, of course," the Kongoumon innkeeper said, smiling at them. He used three of his hands to pick out three keys and handed them to Alphamon. "Rooms fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen. Second floor, at the end of the hall. Please enjoy your stay."
"Thank you," Alphamon replied, taking the keys and handing one to Omegamon.
They walked over to the stairs beside the front desk and headed up to the second floor of the inn. The stairs led to a long hallway with several halls branching off from it, leading to several different rooms. Alphamon and Omegamon walked down the main hallway to the very end and then turned left down a shorter corridor. At the end of it there were three rooms with their designated numbers.
"Which room do you want?" Alphamon asked, walking down the hallway and unlocking each of the three doors. There was a door on the left wall, a door on the right wall, and a door at the end of the hall. Upon opening the doors and looking inside, it looked like they were all the same size with the same amount of furniture and accommodations. The only differences were the placement of the furniture and the bathrooms.
"It doesn't matter to me," Omegamon replied. He turned and looked at the room on the left wall. "I guess I'll take fifteen."
"I'll take sixteen, then," Alphamon said. "Which leaves OuRyuumon with seventeen." He took Omegamon's key ring in his fingers and hung it around one of the horns on Omegamon's Grey Arm. He then nodded at Omegamon and walked into room sixteen, the one at the end of the hallway.
Omegamon smiled a bit and followed Alphamon into his room. Inside, it wasn't a particularly lavish set up. The basic necessities for a bedroom were there. There was a large, comfortable looking bed with warm bed sheets and soft pillows. There was also a table with two chairs and a door leading to the bathroom.
Alphamon sat down at the table and Omegamon seated himself across from him. Omegamon adjusted his cape so that he wasn't sitting on it and he began removing his gauntlets. "What do you expect we'll find here, Alphamon?" he asked the black knight while looking at him.
"I'm not sure," Alphamon admitted, leaning forwards on the table and staring down at the smooth wood surface. "Possibly nothing. We'll find out for ourselves when OuRyuumon arrives…"
Omegamon nodded. For a few seconds, he stared at Alphamon quietly. "And you're sure everything's alright?" he asked, inspecting him carefully. "You would tell me if something was troubling you, correct?"
Alphamon closed his eyes. It took all of his willpower not to wince or look away or show any admission of guilt, despite how he really felt. "Of course, Omegamon. You know I would," he assured him, opening his eyes and finally looking up at the knight. "I'm fine, really."
Omegamon nodded at him and stood up. "In that case, I'm going to head to my room and get out of this armour until OuRyuumon gets here," he explained, collecting his gauntlets in his arms. Omegamon smiled at his friend. "Though it's possible he might get distracted by the festival games on the way here."
"True," Alphamon replied with a grin. "I'll just be in my room. Or downstairs, asking the patrons about where we can find the Baronmon."
Omegamon nodded. "Good idea." With that, he walked out of Alphamon's room and went into his own room, closing the doors behind him.
Once Omegamon had left, Alphamon looked down with a soft frown. "I hate lying to you," he thought silently to himself.
He exhaled weightily and stood up, walking over to his bed and sitting down on the soft mattress. It felt good to try and relax, as they had been on their feet all day. Still, he glanced at the door that Omegamon had left through.
"Well, what he doesn't know won't hurt him."