I don't own digimon.

Chapter 1

A beginning of some kind

For the sleepy town of Aldia, things were relatively. Well, as normal as one can get for a town in the middle of nowhere. Night had already taken hold over this place, any light given forth by encased lanterns on metal poles scattered about the various streets and walkways. Guess not everyone can afford to have a magical artifact capable of producing enough light to be distributed across an entire academic complex. Which brings us to a quaint little neighborhood. If one counts the solitary shack off to the side from the big cluster of homes as one. Especially with the large fortress across from it. Quite a feat of stonemasonry. Probably don't have to worry about much piercing through their defenses.

"Home sweet home." a man whispered, pulling open the door to his shack. While not the biggest or comfiest places found in Aldia, the shack did the job nicely. For Blaze, that was all he really needed.

Four wooden walls and a stone floor were the first things to greet him. Followed by the makeshift heater/stove off to the side, then the blanket on the floor that pulled double duty as his bedding. A window had been carved in for viewing. But mostly so he could practice his dancing while viewing the drawings of dancers he aspired to be like. As for the boy, he was dressed in some variant of adventurer's garb - a cloth top with a set of trousers. What is that? I believe I can just make out a leotard of sorts underneath. Not that there's any problem here with me, Mister Lore Mage over here. If that's how he wants to dress, fine by me.

A pair of auburn eyes examine their surroundings, while a head of fiery red locks has been kept short. Almost looks to reach his neck. But that might be the light.

"Roasted carrots tonight, for better or worse." he muttered and set the veggies on top of the stove. After, he bent down and picked up a stray piece of flint. More than enough to light the burner in the process. The clothes come off, revealing the leotard underneath. Cherry red satin with almost pink accents, it looked handmade. Which was quite likely the case here as the fighter began to dance. Standard ballet stuff - a mix of splits, twirls and pirouettes. While all of it was rough, I can clearly see the passion of the person on full display here. Of the few acts the academy has brought in, they would all kill for someone like him. Especially if he's able to learn routines fast and solidly.

His performance wasn't meant to last, something echoing about from outside cutting him off.

"What was that?" the fighter shouted and ran over to the nearby window. Gazing through, he did a double take.

While the stars were twinkling brightly and things looked calm on the street, that didn't explain the large rock hurtling its way towards what I can only assume to be a meeting spot of some kind. Or at least, a place to relax after a long day of work or performing in this case.

Normally, Blaze wouldn't pay much mind to an event as strange as this. No, he would eat his dinner and then maybe head to bed. But something about the large rock was calling to him. Unlike anything he had felt in his lifetime, there was no refusing the call. Turning off the stove and stuffing the carrots into his pants, the fighter made a beeline for the door.

Outside, silence had taken hold of this town. Most people had already gone to bed for the night, the few that hadn't were trading stories and possibly blows at the nearby tavern. Blaze usually preferred to avoid those places. Too noisy for his tastes and the insistence on serving booze were the big turn-offs. That, and getting cat calls from dudes and sometimes the ladies was not something he liked happening.

"I'm coming big rock!" he announced, trying his best to skip his way down the pass. A form of strange exercise to hype him up for more dancing, perhaps? "Hello?"

The fighter let his skip become a slow jog as a fountain came into view. A generic art project built by the previous mayor, it had some charm to it. If the water functions actually worked and/or something wasn't blocking the supply from coming up.

Blaze took a bite into one of the slightly warmed carrots, a double take following. While he had caught up to the rock, that was the least of his worries right now.

Instead of finding the rock in one piece and somehow unharmed by the slow approach impact, it would seem as if the rock had shattered mid-flight. Five smaller rocks of similar size streaked across the sky, dropping a piece down right at the fighter's feet.

'Hello? Have you come for me?'

Blaze took a step forward, keeping his scimitar lowered for the moment. As traps went, this one felt quite obvious. But something about the egg was drawing him over. As his head shouted no from within, his feet walked forward until the fighter found himself right in front of the egg.

'What is your dream?'

The fighter looked down at his feet, trying to push the thoughts from before out. In place of the refusal of the egg's 'voice' were daydreams. Of days dressed up in leotards and other colorful and fancy dance costumes doing elaborate routines for audiences of all kinds. Just thinking about that brought a smile to Blaze's face. Enough to make him clear his throat.

"I wish to dance." the fighter whispered and stepped towards the egg. Placed a hand on the shell, he felt the warmth within. "To tell a story through my moves. That is what I want to do with my life."

The egg glowed red and cracks formed on the shell. A shockwave followed, knocking Blaze to the ground as light engulfed the area. When the light settled, a snake had taken the place of our egg. A bright shade of rouge, their gray eyebrows stick out severely against their serpentine green eyes.

"Hello, I am the prestigious Balamon." the snake greeted, watching what it assumed to be it's partner get up and slowly approached. "And you must be Blaze. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Blaze took a deep breath, carefully kneeling down to be on the snake's level. Was this the sort of thing that happened when people were drunk? Weird rocks falling from the sky, talking snakes without some kind of magical enhancement and the asking of one's dreams. He was fairly certain that his milk glass had not been spiked when he gulped it all down in one sitting. Maybe it had been? It was a possibility. Except for the fact he had said drink in a crowd of people. All of which were poured out of the same glass. So that couldn't be it. Maybe this was some strange dream brought on by the strange rock from earlier. Or perhaps this was truly happening, right before his very eyes.

"Yeah…" the fighter answered and placed a hand on his companion. The warmth felt quite good on his hand. Kind of like a hug of sorts. Which made the strange bracelet on his hand all the more noticeable. Nothing like any arm jewelry that the fighter had seen before, the band itself resembled that of the scarves he practiced with. The circular piece of metal on top was a complete mystery though. What use could that have here? A weird identifier to a great secret? Likely, but Blaze doubted that he had done anything extraordinary enough to catch the eyes of anyone of such renown.

"That is your digivice, the D-Venture." Balamon cooed, slithering their way up onto Blaze's arm. It felt kind of odd. But at the same time, pleasant. Wait. What's a digivice. I may be the one narrating, but that sounds like "We are partners. Both in the rhythm of dance and the battles against our enemies."

The words roll out of the snake's mouth, his partner's gaze swiveling down to him. While Blaze considered himself more of a dancer than that of a warrior, something about Balamon put him at ease.

"Sure?" he whispered and got a nod from the snake. The sound of electricity followed, figures making their approach to the pair. Clothed in strange white lab coats with hoods, blank white masks cover their faces. "What do you want?"

The figures remained silent. Instead, they choose to brandish black sticks towards the pair. Their weapons cackle slightly, more than ready to bring both human and snake to their knees All just to take what little life remained for their nefarious schemes.

"Uh… are these people with you?" Blaze whispered and felt Balamon shake their head. Carefully, he raised his scimitar up. In turn, the figures raised their weapons as well. A part of him had no clue what the fuck he had gotten himself into. If this was the path that he would need to take to his dream, so be it.

"Lend me your strength, so that we may dance about these fools."

Instinctively, Blaze put a hand on the bracelet. He could feel the energy surging within, this blazing passion that refused to be subdued under any circumstances. No real clue what was even going on, the fighter would just need to push through. Answers could come need to figure that out later.

"Infuse!" he shouted, a red outline forming around his body. Balamon jumped off, revealing what looked to be a gray outline around their body. "Ember!"

The word now spoken, the fighter's scimitar glowed with heat. Of course, that traveled up to Blaze's hands. So he tightened his grip to the best of his abilities.

"Material!" Balamon announced, the pair setting their sights on the figures who had gathered before them in this moment. Charging forward, Blaze pulling his scimitar back in the process. A swing followed as blade met cloth. While the material didn't burst into flames, one could tell that this particular grunt was less than comfortable at the moment. Letting out a chuckle, his weapon cackled in the silence.

"There is no place for you, your dance or your stupid snake thing." the grunt announced in a tone that sounded like something like a and smashed their stick into Blaze. "So let us beat it out of you."

The fighter crumpled to the ground and muttered something to himself. Thankfully, the shock he took wasn't nearly enough to take him out. Standing back up, his grip tightened on his scimitar.

Material Bite!

Balamon bit into the grunt's ankle, their attention shifting over to the snake. They swing their rod down that way, only to miss Balamon entirely. That was all Blaze needed to go on the offensive - swinging his scimitar. The blade connected and knocked the grunt to the ground. Got the attention of their friends. Not in a good way, I

Backstepping, the fighter pulled his scimitar back. A risky maneuver, but well worth the possible disarming properties. He swung it around in a twirl and caught the arm of a grunt. Little embers appeared on the fabric of the lab coat, growing in number quite rapidly. Especially if you're unfamiliar with any techniques to expel such flames. Or just don't know any spells to create water from thin air.

Material Rattle!

Balamon shook the back of his tail, mouthing the associated sound. Once more, the snake found all eyes on him. So he stood up and began to shake his body. The dance didn't quite have the effect Balamon was looking for. Instead of keeping focus on the four or so grunts intent on killing the pair, their focus was now on booking it out of here. Cowards! At least grab your

"Come back here!" the wounded grunt announced and sat himself up, focusing on Blaze and Balamon. "Just end me. That's how it needs to go, right? We attacked you, tried to end your life. Just do it! If you don't, we'll just destroy this town and everything you love."

Blaze hung his scimitar to his side and knelt down. Carefully, the fighter grabbed hold of his opponent's mask. After a little bit of tugging, the mask came off and was set to the ground.

Underneath, we have a man around his age. Shaggy blonde locks set against obsidian eyes and tan skin, it wasn't like anything that Blaze had seen before in his life. A strange

"Do you have a name?" the fighter whispered and watched the man look away. Sitting down, he focused on them. "It's alright if you don't want to tell me."

Their opponent looked away, muttering a low word - 'Dave'. Interesting name. Not the one I would've thought. Cheeks now on fire, he scooted back a tiny bit. Absolutely obvious

"You're cute, by the way." Dave muttered and watched Blaze freeze up. Letting out a chuckle, he took the time to blow a kiss and head off. Not entirely sure where he's going. But definitely going to keep an eye on him going forward. If nothing else, our fighter here should be happy. He's gotten himself an admirer.

"Do you want to see my home?" Blaze inquired and got a nod from his partner. Bending down, he watched the snake thing slither his way up. Taking a seat on the shoulder, it looks quite comfy.

.

Outside one of the many buildings within that large fortress, an orc barbarian stumbles her way over to a door. As long of a night patrolling it has been for her, the thought of rest is comforting. Especially as she reached out for the rough knob and twisted it open. Heading through, that was not what she found herself facing.

Something that simple as that wasn't in everyone else's immediate plans. For starters, she was being faced down by a strange rock in the middle of the room. Said rock had created a hole in the roof. Which was on top of the scent of cherries over everything in the room, meaning that 'she' had already headed out without even anything in the way of a 'welcome home' or a 'how was your day'. No, that was too much to give Yvonne. Even in this stage of their relationship. She should be better than this.

"Crud." the orc muttered, making a mental note of what numbered attempt this was to just return that teddy bear. Reaching down into her armor, she pulled the bear out. "Tomorrow, little guy."

Notes:

Not going to lie, it feels amazing to start a new series. Especially one in a place I don't think I've seen digimon really be in - a full-on fantasy world.

Edit - 10/7/20: This is more of a note in regards to this chapter being revamped to fix a lot of the early installment weirdness not present in later chapters.

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Next Time: Orcs, succubi and a ghost monkey. Oh my.