Disclaimer: I don't own either RWBY or Digimon.
A/N: So, this story still exists. Sorry for not updating in a while, between work and school, I've had neither time nor motivation to work on this much. I still want to write, its just hard. Another main problem with this story is that, I know where I want to take things, story beats I want to hit, and what I want to do with the characters (for the most part), but in trying to get from point A to point B, I'm having trouble writing the middle part. Like I know what I want to do in this chapter, what I want to accomplish, establish, and hint at, but connecting everything in a satisfying manner is hard. So while I'm still working on this, new chapters just might not come out as often as I want, at least until winter break, so please bare with me in the mean time.
The Forest of Whispers
It's been a few days since the group left Tokomon village. Since they left, the group traveled north, or what they believed was north. The forest became so dense, the trees practically blocked out the light; the forest seemed to be encased in an endless dusk. Currently, Sun and Herissmon were running ahead of the others, with Ruby not far behind them. Gabumon tried to stick with Ruby, but he couldn't keep up. Ren, Jaune, Agumon, and Falcomon were bringing up the rear, not nearly as energetic as the others.
"Jaaaaauuune! I'm hungry! Can we stop and eat?" Agumon begs, throwing his body onto Jaune.
"You're always hungry. And we can't stop, we gotta make it to the Steel Mountain and find Wisemon." Jaune pushed Agumon off and continued walking. Despite Jaune's determination, Ren could tell that the constant travelling was taking a toll on him.
"Perhaps we should take a small break. That way we won't be exhausted if something happens." Ren offered. During their early days of traveling, him and Nora often took numerous breaks throughout the day.
"Are you sure? I-I can keep going. And I think that e-everyone c-can too." Jaune really tried to put on a brave face, but it was becoming increasingly obvious that he was running out of steam.
"Ren is correct. As of now, you and Agumon are the only ones capable of digivolving to the champion level, so you must be in top condition." Falcomon reasoned, flying right up into Jaune's face. He glanced at Agumon, before looking back at Jaune with a mischievous look. "Besides, we could use the opportunity to look for more food."
Agumon's eyes lit up and he started wagging his tail. The sight reminded Ren of Nora, who would sometimes make a similar expression when she wanted something. With his thoughts turning towards his friend, Ren couldn't stop the overwhelming sense of sadness that accompanied them. 'I left her. We were all each other had, and I left her. I abandoned her. Now she's all alone. I...I...' As if by reflex, Ren activated his semblance, and his sadness and guilt were replaced with apathy, his colors fading as a result. Now calm, he deactivated his semblance just as quickly, his colors returning to normal. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Falcomon look at him strangely.
"A-alright. I get it, I get it. We'll take a small break, b-but after that we'll continue walking until we set up camp, with no more interruptions." Jaune gave in to their demands rather quickly, grateful for an excuse to take a break. "Hey! Guys! We're taking a break right here!" He called out to the other members of their group.
As Sun, Ruby, and their partners walked back to the group, Ren could tell that none of them were used to travelling long distances either, they were trying so hard to keep a brave face. He tried to tell them that walking was better, and that they needed to conserve their energy, but neither of them listened to him. Herissmon was just like his partner, and while Gabumon agreed with him, he still stuck close to Ruby.
Now that they were no longer moving, Ren took a more in-depth look at their surroundings, trees blocking almost all light from the sun with metal signs sticking up from the ground, and sometimes out of trees, all throughout the forest. According to both Ruby and Jaune, the signs are 'road signs' and they tell people what to do while driving a car. Ren knew they existed in Remnant, but until just recently, he's never seen them up close.
Jaune was the first to sit down, choosing to sit against a tree for support, with Agumon sitting next to him; Sun practically fell onto his back, Herissmon nuzzled up next to him; Ruby calmly sat down on a tree root, Gabumon practically hovering over her as always; and Ren also sat against a tree, closing his eyes, with Falcomon sitting on a branch above him. After days of constant traveling, having this small moment of relaxation felt nice: the soft breeze, and the shade from the trees, kept Ren from overheating, a constant affliction during his travels back on Remnant.
"Alright...I can't keep quiet anymore. Ren, what's with the all of that!" Jaune's voice pierced through the blissful silence, interrupting Ren's thoughts. He opened his eyes to all of the others staring at him, then he looked back down, his color's faded to almost gray, He didn't even feel his semblance activate. He quickly deactivated it, "I-I don't know what y-you're talking about." He denies, turning away from the others. He can feel his semblance attempt to emerge again, but tries his hardest to keep it at bay.
"You have a semblance?!" Ruby's exclamation silenced any questions the others had, as all of them turned their attention towards her, as she practically bounced up and down on her seat.
"You know what's happening to him?" Sun asked her, now sitting up from the floor, gesturing to Ren.
"Y-Yeah, he has a sem...blance..." When she noticed that everyone was paying attention to her, she lost all of her confidence, and Ren could see a small blush reach across her face.
"What's a semblance? Can you eat it? Does it taste good?" Agumon raised his hand, as if he was a schoolkid in class.
"Um...n-no. You can't eat a semblance. It's a, umm, a power that some people have, u-usually Huntsmen."
"I was unaware that humans had such abilities? Is it a common occurrence from your world?" Falcomon asked, gliding down from his branch to stand next to Ren.
"Well, kinda, I guess? In order to have a semblance, you need to have your Aura unlocked. And usually, only Huntsmen have their Aura unlocked."
"How do you know so much about this stuff anyway?" Herissmon asked, trying his hardest to balance on top of Sun's head, with Sun doing his best to help him.
"Well, my Dad is a teacher at a Huntsman school, and I want to be a Huntress when I grow up, so he's teaching me the basics." Ruby seemed to finally found her confidence again, at least that's what Ren thought, as she started speaking clearer, and wasn't stuttering as much. "Anyway, now that we all know what semblances are," she drew her attention back towards Ren, "Can you tell us what yours does?" She was once again bouncing in her seat, almost knocking Gabumon off their shared seat, despite his protest to calm down.
Ren could feel their eyes on him, "Well...um, it, um..." He struggled to put his thoughts into words. He never had to explain his semblance before, and he doesn't really know what it does; he has a generic idea, but not the specifics. "I...suppose my semblance...removes all of my negative thoughts and emotions? And when I use it, my colors fade. I can spread it to another person by touch, but I can only use it on one other person though."
"So it stops you...from getting sad?" Herissmon asked, bringing his hand to his chin, and tilting his head.
"Something like that, but its not just sadness. It stops me from feeling angry, and other negative emotions."
"That's so cool! So you're able to stay calm in any situation, right? I can't tell you the amount of times I messed something up just because I got angry or sad." Jaune exclaimed, eyes lighting up in excitement. Ren watched the others nod in agreement, Falcomon even had a smug look on his face. He honestly didn't know how to respond. He's never received this much praise at one time before, and certainly not from strangers. And in recent history, he hasn't had much social interaction with anyone but Nora, and as a result, this situation is entirely new to him, and he couldn't stop his face from turning bright red.
"I thought normal humans didn't have special powers, are you some kind of freak?" Softly whispered a voice Ren didn't recognize.
When he heard it, all of Ren's excitement and joy was replaced with fear and doubt. Ever since he discovered this power, he's always asked that same question, and he needed his semblance in order to stop. He quickly looked around, scanning the area for who might've said that, but found no one but the others. He felt his semblance activate on his own, and this time he didn't try to stop it.
"Ren, is something wrong? Is there an enemy?" Falcomon asked, jumping into a combat-ready stance, scanning their location alongside Ren.
"Didn't you hear that whisper?" Ren, now under the influence of his semblance, calmly scanned the area free from his anxiety.
"I-I didn't hear anything...and I don't see anyone. Did you just imagine it?"Jaune chimed in, looking around with a worried expression. Ren looked at the others, and saw that they were also on edge: Ruby was standing on a tree root with Gabumon holding his arm out in front of her, a low growl emitting from his throat; Agumon had small flames spilling from his mouth, ready for any attack; and Sun and Herissmon started walking around the area, searching behind trees and in the bushes. Ren couldn't help but feel a little guilty, it was his panicked reaction that caused them to act this way.
"I'm sorry everyone, I must have ima-"
"Hey guys! Come look at what we found!" Ren's apology was interrupted by Sun running back to the group and urging them to follow him. He led them over to a small clearing where Herissmon was staring at something. In that clearing were 4 scarecrows, each with green tunics, and brown, leather boots, hats, and gloves. Bits of straw were poking out of their hats like hair, and a red scarf was keeping the head attached to the body. All four of them were haphazardly placed in a pile, as if they were thrown on top of each other.
"Are these scarecrows?" Ruby asked, keeping a safe distance from the pile.
"I don't know. After Ren said he heard some voices, me and Herissmon looked around, and we found these guys just laying here." Sun replied, about to walk up and touch one of the scarecrows.
"Wait!" Jaune shouted, rushing up to Sun and grabbing his arm. When he realized what he did, Jaune pulled his hand back and blushed in embarrassment. "S-sorry, I, um, acted without thinking. But you shouldn't just go up and touch them!"
"Why not?" Herissmon said, inching closer and closer to the pile, Sun not that far behind him.
"Because, what if its a trap, a ploy from some Digimon to attack us, or take our stuff. Like maybe they're hiding in the trees or something, waiting to drop down on us. Or maybe they're Digimon themselves, like a mimic. You see this stuff all the time in video games." He said, not even paying attention to Herissmon. His eyes were closed, and his hand was slightly pointed upwards. "What we should do is carefully look for any enemies in the surrounding area and the tree tops. After that we should grab a stick, and-"
"Hey guys, they don't move when we poke them!" Jaune quickly turned towards them in horror, and threw his arms up to his face, as if bracing for impact. After a second, he slowly lowered his arms, looking back at the pile of scarecrows, which remained unmoving at Sun's and Herissmon's touch.
Ruby couldn't help but laugh, "Hehe, not everything's like a video game." And joined in investigating the scarecrows.
Agumon solemnly walked up to his partner, and patted him on the arm, "There, there." Ren tried his hardest to not laugh at the scene, but couldn't prevent a small chuckle from escaping. Jaune looked at him in betrayal, but that only served to make Ren laugh a little more. Ren joined the others around the scarecrow, and Jaune followed behind him. Out of the corner of his eye, Ren could see that Falcomon and Gabumon stayed near the edge of the clearing, not looking away from the dense forest and tree tops.
"They look like normal scarecrows to me, but we don't really see them my town, so I don't know." Jaune said, poking one with a stick he picked up from the ground.
"Well, they aren't responding to anything we do, so unless they're really good at playing dead, I think they're just normal scarecrows." Ruby added, cautiously tapping a head with her foot.
"There don't appear to be any signs of others, so its safe to believe that who ever left these here are gone, and I don't think they're coming back." Ren replied, refraining from messing with the discarded scarecrows.
"Right, we should take this opportunity to look for more food, and maybe some fire wood." Jaune added, stepping away from the scarecrows and back towards their "camp."
"Why do we have to look for firewood, there are sticks all around us? Couldn't we just take some sticks from these scarecrows?" Ruby asked, gesturing towards the trees all around them, and towards the scarecrows.
"Unfortunately, normal sticks aren't useful for firewood. Instead, we should look for heavier, drier pieces of wood as our actual fire, with these smaller sticks as kindling." Ren answered her, meeting back up with Falcomon.
"Ok, so, um, how about we pair up with our Digimon, and look for either firewood or food? Since me and Ren know what types of wood are best for firewood, we'll look for that. And Ruby and Sun, you two can look for food. If no one minds that is?"
"But Jaaaauuuuune! I wanted to look for foooood!" Agumon groaned.
"If you looked for food, you'd probably eat it all before bringing it back to us." The small reptile gave his partner a betrayed look, while the others laughed at their antics, even Ren couldn't help but smile.
"But how are we gonna find our way back? This forest is pretty big, and unlike a city, doesn't have that many important places we can use to find our way around." Sun spoke up, bring up a concern that Ren never even thought of. While traveling across Mistral, Nora and him never thought about wanting to go back to some place they already visited; they only went from one town to the next, never looking back.
"Oh, Oh! How about we take a stick, and drag it behind us. That way, we can follow the trial back here!" Ruby shot her hand up like she was back in school, jumping up and down.
"An excellent suggestion! While maybe not using a stick, perhaps us Digimon could mark our path, as your arms are more capable of holding the firewood and food?" Falcomon replied, gesturing to his wings.
"I'm fine with that, but I say that we don't come back here. These things are giving me the creeps." Gabumon said, pointing towards the pile of scarecrows.
Ren could see Ruby's eyes light up as she walked up to her partner. "Wow Gabumon, I didn't know you were such a scaredy-cat." She started petting the Digimon on the head, "There, there. Ruby's gotcha, I'll protect you from the mean, old scarecrows."
Gabumon flushed red in embarrassment, "I'm not a scaredy-cat! I'm just...I just don't trust this place. L-Like Jaune said, this could be a trap." He tried to swat Ruby's hand away, but she refused to stop petting him.
"If it makes Gabumon feel better, then I see no harm in choosing a different spot. Unless someone has a valid reason to stay here?" Falcomon intervened. He waited for a few moments, and when no one said anything he said, "Then its decided, we'll choose another spot."
The group agreed to meeting up at their original resting spot, and set out in different directions.
Shortly after the group left the small clearing, voices broke the silence.
"Heh, I thought they'd never leave." The first voice said, a figure emerging from the pile of scarecrows.
"No thanks to you. They almost caught us because you alerted that black-haired kid." A second figure said, pointing at a third.
"I was doing my job, and scared him. Did you see the look on his face, priceless. Heh, heh." The third voice said, cackling much to the annoyance of the second voice.
"You almost got us into a fight!"
"So what, I'm not supposed to do my job because you're scared of a little tussle? Tough luck. Maybe if you weren't such a little coward, you might've gotten promoted, instead of being stuck with us henchmen. I'm going places, and you'll be stuck at the bottom, eating my dust."
"Say that to me one more time, I dare you."
"Enough!" A fourth voice interrupted. "What's done is done, and nothing can change that. Now that they're splitting up, each of us will tail one of them, and sow some discord! Do I make myself clear?" None of the other voices spoke up at the fourth's demands. "Good, now pull yourselves back together, you're supposed to be soldiers, so start acting like it. You don't want her knowing we failed, do you?" Once again met with silence, the fourth voice pulled himself up, and the others followed suit.
"Hey, that's my arm."
"How can you tell?"
"I marked the back."
"Oh, you're right."
"Has anyone seen my leg?"
"The small rat thing threw it over there."
Sun swung from tree to tree, looking for any hint of Meatapples, or anything that can be considered food. Herissmon closely followed behind on foot, almost managing to keep pace with the faunus. The two of them kept running in a straight line, with the small Digimon occasionally throwing quills at trees to mark their path. After a few minutes, Sun suddenly dropped down from the trees, and Herissmon ran head-first into him, knocking them both to the ground.
"Oof. Hey, watch where you're going." The faunus said, wincing in pain as Herissmon's quills jabbed into his stomach.
"Sorry Sun, but you dropped down in front of me, and I couldn't stop in time. Not to mention, its too dark to see where I'm going." The Digimon replied, getting off his partner. "Why'd you stop anyway?"
"Because this isn't going anywhere! I don't think we'll find any Meatapples in this place!" Sun threw his arms up in the arm in annoyance. His arms fell back beside him, and he closed his eyes deep in thought.
"Man, I don't think you even lasted 5 minutes. What would the others say? How would your friends react if they learned that you were too lazy to look for food? You must be useless, aren't ya? I bet your parents didn't even want ya!" A whispering voice interrupted Sun's thoughts. He opens his eyes wide, instantly jumping to his feet, startling Herissmon, who was just starting to lay by his side.
"Sun?! What's wrong?" His companion asked, looking at his partner in worry, sparks of lightning bouncing between his quills.
Sun looked back at him, with a bewildered expression. "You didn't hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"That whisper! It felt really close, like it was right next to me." Sun explained.
Herissmon looked around and sniffing the air before saying, "That's impossible! Its only been you and me here. If anyone else were here, I would smell them before they get anywhere close to you." The small Digimon continues to sniff the air, "And all I smell is you, me, wood, and...I think I smell food!" Before Sun could respond, Herissmon was already running off further into the forest. Sun chased after, trying to remember to mark their path, but the whisper still lingered in the back of his mind.
Jaune picked up another stick from the ground, and inspected it. "Hmmm, it feels dry, and firm. Good enough, I guess." He puts the stick underneath his other arm, with others he deemed 'good enough'.
"Jaaaauuuuunnne, how long until we eeeeaaaaat! I'm huuuuunnnnngrrrry!" Agumon whined, stretching out each vowel as he clawed at another tree.
"Shouldn't be too long. Since we'll just be cooking some Meatapples, we won't need a large fire, so we only need a couple sticks. Then after we eat, its back on road for Steel Mountain." He replied, looking at another stick, before tossing it back to the ground.
"But we aren't on a road?"
"Its a figure of sp...You know what, nevermind. Help me look for some wood. The sooner we're done, the sooner we can eat."
"Don't gotta tell me twice!"
As the pair continued walking, Agumon kept bringing sticks up to Jaune, who'd judge them. Unfortunately, Jaune wasn't paying attention to where he was walking, and his foot ended up sliding into a small hole.
"Argh!" He fell to the ground, dropping all his sticks, and brought his hands to his ankle, wincing in pain.
"Jaune, are you ok?" Agumon rushed to his side, unsure of what to do.
"Y-Yeah, I just...didn't pay attention, and its dark out, and I tripped in a small hole. I think I sprained my ankle, or something. I s-should be fine." He tried to put on a brave face as he slowly got up. But the moment he applied pressure to his foot, pain flared and he fell back to the ground. "S-sorry, I don't think...I can walk anymore today."
"W-What should I do?" The Digimon asked.
"Just grab the sticks we've collected already, and we'll head back to camp. I'll have to lean on you when we walk though." When Jaune saw Agumon's look of worry and concern, he hastily added, "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I got you to protect me after all." Jaune gave a small smile, which was enough for the the Digimon, who went about re-collecting their firewood.
"You twisted your ankle? You can't walk anymore? That's just too rich! Weren't you the reason your friends stopped in the first place? They must hate you! You got tired to soon, you can't even get firewood right. You're useless! I bet you're doing this on purpose. No one can be this worthless on purpose, right?" Came a rough whisper, violently disturbing the otherwise quiet moment.
Jaune whipped his head back and worth, looking for the source of the whisper, but found that Agumon was the only other person around. He wanted so badly to run away, to flee from their constant barrage, but all he could do was close his eyes and block them out. But try as he may to ignore the insults, even covering his ears with his hands, the whispers still burrowed deep into his mind, taking up all his focus and attention. He felt a hand graze across his shoulder, "Aaaahhhhh!" Looking to his side, Jaune could see the small figure of Agumon, now holding most of the sticks they've collected, staring at him with concern and worry etched across his face.
"Jaune, are you ok? I tried talking to you, but you wouldn't answer."
Jaune takes a moment to collect his thoughts before saying, "Y-Yeah, I-I'm fine. Just lost in thought, y'know, um, t-thinking about my family...and stuff." Jaune has never been that good at lying, in fact he usually gets caught before he can even finish the lie. But seemed to believe him, as he went right back to his normal, excitable self.
"What was I saying before? Oh, right! So, I was thinking, I think I like the steak Meatapple more than ribs, but nothing can surpass the burger one. So if you happen to get one, do you think we can trade?" The Digimon rambled on and on, talking about anything that crossed his mind, not that Jaune minded, preferring anything over thinking back on those whispers. Slowly, the two of them traveled back to their designated camp ground.
"Ruby! Slow down!" Gabumon shouted out, struggling to keep up with the small child, who is currently running all over the forest.
"Oh, sorry Gabumon!" Ruby slowed down enough for her partner to catch up with her.
When he finally caught up, he leaned against a tree, trying to catch his breathe. "I...told you...before...How am I...gonna protect you...if you keep...running off?" He managed to say.
"Heh heh, sorry." She sheepishly said, scratching the back of her head as a blush creeped across her face. "B-But can you blame me?! I'm in another world, surrounded by monsters other than Grimm, no offense. This stuff only happens to heroes in stories!" Her face lit up, beaming at the Digimon, who could've sworn he saw actual stars in her eyes. "I wanna experience everything I can here!"
"But that doesn't mean you should run off on your own. Especially in the dark."
"I know, I know." Ruby waved the Digimon off. Gabumon could only sigh as they continued walking, albeit at a slower pace, with him occasionally scratching a tree to mark their path.
"So, like, are there any Meatapples here anyway? I haven't seen any since we left Tokomon village."
"I don't know, but all we can do is keep looking."
They continued to walk in silence for a few minutes, before Ruby suddenly groaned, "Uuuuuugh! This is so booooring! And I'm sooooo huuuungry! I just wanna eeeaaaat!" She started kicking rocks and sticks against trees, while Gabumon just watched her, a sweat drop forming on the back of his head. "That's it! I'm gonna find some food if its the last thing I do!" And she started running off in a random direction.
"Ruby wait!"
"This might've been a mistake." Ruby said, looking around at forest. In her haste, she managed to lose Gabumon, and had ended up lost in an unfamiliar part of the forest.
"Hello! Anyone there! Gabumon?" She shouted out, starting to get worried. 'I shouldn't have ran. I should've listened to Gabumon! Oh, I hope I find him soon.' She tried her best to retrace her footsteps, but couldn't remember the exact way she came. Ruby could feel time passing, and the longer she stayed alone, the more worried she became. Old, almost forgotten, memories began surfacing: vague images of a forest and a wagon, shadows emerging from behind trees, and fear tightening in her chest.
"Well, what do we have here? A lost child? I'm sure someone told her not to run off, but she refused to listen. Such a disobedient girl, her parents must be ashamed. And for what? Food that might not even exist?" Ruby could hear a deathly calm voice whisper in her ear, their words burrowing deep into her head.
"Doesn't she wonder why her friends would ever suggest leaving such an incapable child by herself? I know why; its because they'd hate to play her babysitter. They would much rather abandon her, leave her to rot as they return home without the dead weight."
"That...that's not true..." She tried to argue against the voice, but her own barely came out as a whisper. "Anyone out there? Please, help me! Y-Yang, Uncle Q-Qrow!" She began crying out, tears threatening to fall down her face. Her body started moving on its own, trying to escape the taunting whispers, running past the ever present trees. Eventually she tripped, falling into the mud. She looked back at what she tripped on, and couldn't help but scream. There, sticking out of the ground, was a bone, white as snow.
"RUBY!" Suddenly, Gabumon bursts out from the trees, immediately running over to the fallen Ruby. "Are you alright? What happened? Were you attacked? Who did this to you?" He began a barrage of questions, not giving her any time to answer. By the time his sudden interrogation was over, Ruby had managed to calm herself down, at least a little bit.
"I-I'm fine. I just...got lost, and I was scared no one would find me. But you're here now, so there's no need to worry." She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes, and gave Gabumon a large smile.
"Are you sure? Because I heard you scream."
"O-Oh, yeah. I...um, saw a bone sticking out of the ground." She pointed to the small piece of white amongst the fields of dark browns and greens. The Digimon walked over to the bone, bent down, and started sniffing it. "Ah, don't smell it! Who knows where its been, or who it belongs too?" She rushed to her partner, and tried to pull him away.
"Ruby, this isn't just a bone."
She stopped at his words, "What do you mean?"
Ren wasn't having the best day: his companions discovered his secret power and he's hearing voices that no one else can. Currently, he and Falcomon were walking in silence, neither one making so much as a grunt. Both of them had collected an armful of sticks, and were now returning to their resting spot.
"Ahem. Ren, may we speak for a moment?" Ren looked at the bird in surprise, this was the first time either of them had spoken since leaving the group. He stops walking, and turns to the Digimon, who does the same. "I must confess, your actions from earlier distressed me greatly, and I'm afraid it hasn't left my mind. I know you would prefer to ignore it, but as your partner, your safety is of the upmost importance to me, and I must address any threat to that."
Ren didn't know how to respond to the Digimon, as neither he nor Ren were one for long conversations. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"I'm referring to when you were hearing voices, and gave everyone quite the scare. You may have convinced the others you were fine, but I wasn't fooled. Please Ren, if something's bothering you, speak to me." The Digimon fidgeted in place, clearly uncomfortable with speaking for this long, but he pressed on, his worry for Ren overriding any other emotion at the moment.
"I-" Ren wanted to ease Falcomon's mind, assure him that he was fine, and was just tired from traveling, but couldn't. "I-I'm not sure. I thought I heard a voice whispering in my ear, but no one was there. I don't think I imagined it, but I can't think of another way to explain it." Ren confessed to his partner, much to his own surprise.
"But its the truth...I'm just a figment of your imagination, fitting for a freak like you. Everyone must think you're crazy, hearing voices in your head." The whispers once again invaded Ren's mind, silencing the words he was about to say.
Activating his semblance once again, "You don't hear them? I heard them just now, right in my ear, mocking me." He asked his companion, looking around for any sign of someone else.
Falcomon got into a combat-ready stance, "Perhaps its the ability of a nearby Digimon? With the forest providing ample cover, it'd be easy for an attacker to hide away, and pick us off from afar." He carefully looks around, seeing nothing but the surrounding trees. "Tch. We were foolish to dismiss this so easily, and all because we became distracted by those scarecrows."
Ren noticed that the Digimon became so annoyed, he stopped speaking in his usual style, but decided not to question it. Ren then widened his eyes in realization, "The scarecrows! I thought they were out of place, but just used the Digital World as an excuse. But what if they weren't natural? Maybe they were a trap, just like Jaune said."
"If that's the case, then anyone back at camp will be in grave danger!" Falcomon replied, and Ren's face paled at the thought.
"We must get back to the others, and warn them!" Ren turned to run back, but after taking a few steps...
"I can't let you do that! William's Arrow!" A voice shouted, and Ren saw something shoot out of the forest. Using what little reaction time he had, he pulled his leg back, just as an arrow sped past, slightly cutting him right below the knee. Ren bent down, checking his cut, 'Its bleeding, but its shallow. I should still be able to run, but I don't think I'll get the chance.' He looks up, trying to find his attacker, but there's too many trees, and not enough light could pierce through the dense canopy of leaves, leaving most of the area blanketed in darkness.
Falcomon ran up to Ren, and shielded him from their mystery assailant. "Ren, I may have a plan on how to escape this fiend, but it will require your absolute trust, and you must do what I say. Is this acceptable?" He whispered. Ren simply nodded his head, to afraid to speak. "Good. On my mark, flee towards the camp, and don't stop, even if you can't see me. Keeping running until you find the others, and alert them of our plight." Falcomon takes a deep breath, and steps forward.
"William's Arrow!" A voice cried out from behind the trees, an arrow following swiftly.
Falcomon twisted his body to simultaneously dodge the arrow, and throw something towards the arrow's origin, "Firecracker Smokescreen!" Ren could hear small pops coming from where Falcomon's attack landed, similar to the small fireworks the other kids from his village had, and saw a large cloud of smoke building up in the forest. "Now!" Falcomon shouted, pushing Ren back towards the camp.
Ren ran, and ran, and continued running, never looking back, but comforted by the sound of Falcomon flying beside him.
Jaune and Agumon were the first to arrive back at camp. Agumon carefully helps the limping Jaune over to a large tree root, and the two sit and wait for the others to arrive, but they didn't have to wait long.
"Watch out!" Jaune heard a familiar voice yell out, before being knocked to the ground. Pushing himself up, he saw Sun sitting next to him, holding his head in pain. "Duuuuude, why didn't you move? I warned you, didn't I?" Sun moaned in pain.
"Warned me? You shouted something like 3 seconds before slamming into me!" Jaune got to his feet, trying hard to not move his ankle that much, and helped Sun back up, who joyfully accepts.
"Well...maybe you should just be better." Sun retorted.
"Yeah, sure. And you should just watch where you're going." Jaune said, limping his way back to a root.
Sun noticed Jaune's limp, and instantly grew concerned. "Hey, I didn't do that right?" He asked, feeling guilty.
"No, I tripped awhile ago, and it still hasn't healed up yet." Jaune tried to cheer up his fellow blonde. "Anyway, where's Agumon? He was right here."
"Hmmm? Herissmon's gone too. He was right behind me." The two blondes looked for their partners, growing increasingly worried at their absence.
"Mmmh, mmmh. Shooooo goooooood. Mmmmh."
The two could hear vague mumbling coming from just behind the trees. Slowly creeping closer, the two saw something strange: both Agumon and Herissmon with their backs turned, followed by the sounds of chewing. Sun accidently stepped on a stick, and the two Digimon snapped their heads at them. Sticking out of Agumon's mouth was a bone, and in Herissmon's paws was a large slab of meat with a bone through it. Both parties didn't speak for a moment, until Herissmon broke the silence, "Uuuuuh, I can explain."
"Herissmon! You guys ate all the food?! What're we gonna eat?!" Sun yelled, picking the small Digimon up and shaking him.
"Really Agumon, you couldn't have saved us even a slice?" Jaune asked, disappointed in his partner.
"Sorry Jaune, I was hungry. You know I can't control myself around food." Agumon replied, not looking ashamed in the slightest. Jaune could only sigh at the response, not really expecting anything different from the small dinosaur.
"Hey guys, what's up?" The group turned back, and standing behind them was an amused Ruby, with Gabumon standing at her side like always. Both of them were carrying armfuls of meat.
"Oh, you guys found some too?" Sun asked, no longer shaking his partner.
"Yeah. We found a whole field of them." Ruby replied. Agumon and Herissmon started drooling at the thought, and Gabumon almost joined them, but barely managed to keep his composure.
"What do you mean a field of them?" Jaune asked, fully confused.
"They were kinda growing out the ground, I guess? Its weird, but that's what Gabumon said." Ruby answered, still in disbelief herself.
"I feel like I should be more surprised, but that's not the weirdest that's happened in the past few days, so I'm just gonna ignore that." Jaune said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I guess we'll wait for Ren and Falcomon to show up before eating. Then we'll rest here for the rest of the day."
"Sounds good, I could use a break." Sun said, climbing into a tree and resting on a branch.
So the group waited for their friends to show up, passing the time by playing games with each other and making small talk. Suddenly, Ren and Falcomon came out running, bursting from the forest, breathing heavily and covered in dirt and sweat. "No time to explain! We're under attack, and need to exit the forest immediately!" Falcomon shouted, turning to face the direction they came from.
"W-What? Ren, Falcomon, what's going on?" Jaune asked, hesitantly getting to his feet, the other's doing the same.
"Do you recall when I heard a voice, but was convinced it was just my imagination." Ren could see the others nod in the corner of his eye as he looked around for his attacker. "That voice turned out to be a Digimon, and tis attacking us right now. We managed to escape it for now, but there's no telling if they found us, or even how many there are. We should leave, quickly but quietly."
Sun nodded his head, and started to walk towards his friend. But the moment he took his first step, an arrow shot out and embedded itself into the tree next to him, missing him by less than an inch.
"How about you stay right there?" A voice called out. "I'd rather not make a big spectacle, so just sit tight, alright?" Ren could practically hear his smug expression. The voice, though different from the one Ren encountered previously, was in control of the situation, and everyone knew it.
"I would suggest you play along with him. He might seem laidback, but he won't hesitate to go for the kill." Another voice spoke out, again different from the first. "Everything shall be revealed in due time, please be patient as we wait for everyone to show up." He commanded.
As the two groups waited, Ren could overhear the others quietly whispering behind him. Taking a look at their Digimon, none of them looked to be in a talking move: Falcomon was battered and bruised heavely; Gabumon only gave a small growl as he placed himself in front of Ruby; Herissmon stood combat ready, small sparks of lightning bouncing between his quills; and Agumon stood in front of all of them, small licks of flame escaping his closed jaw.
"Do you guys know what's going on?" Sun asked, trying his hardest to keep up a poker face.
"Not really, but I know that first voice." Jaune whispered back, his attempt at hiding his emotions, while still miserable, was better than the other blonde's. "I heard him whispering in my ear after I tripped."
Ruby, who was doing better than the other two at keeping her emotions in check, replied, "Yeah, the second voice did the same for me, after I got lost in the forest."
"So we all heard voices in our heads?" Sun asked, fully dropping his feeble attempt at remaining stoic. "Good to know I wasn't going crazy."
"What're you all mumbling about? If you got something to say, then speak up!" A third voice arrived, and judging by Sun's reaction, Ren could guess which of them was targeted by this voice. When the voice was met by silence, he gave a small laugh. "Ha! That's what I thought!"
A tense silence enveloped the two groups, Ren could almost feel the pressure building up, until finally, "Well, I guess you guys started the party without me." The voice that chased after Ren arrived.
"Tch, about time you showed up." The third voice replied, clearly annoyed.
"Urrgh, the stupid bird threw smoke, knives, and everything else at me. What'd you expect me to do?" He retorted.
"Not let your two go? I thought that was simple?" The first voice spoke up.
"Why you-"
"Enough!" The second voice interrupted, "Cease your squabbling. If you fools can't remember, then let me remind you. We are on a mission and that takes priority over everything else. You may continue your quarrel after."
"I can't take it anymore! Who are you guys! Why are you attacking us!" Sun yelled out in impatience. He walked right up next to Ren, and dramatically pointed his finger at the forest. "Stop hiding like cowards, and show yourselves!"
"Hmm. Not many in your position would dare make such a request, but very well. We shall honor you bravery, and reveal ourselves to you." With the second voice's command, all the voices stepped out from the shadows.
"I told you! I told you it was a trap!" Jaune loudly whispered, pointing at their now seen assailants: the four scarecrows from earlier, each now put together, with a bow in one hand and a crow on their shoulder.
"We are called Nohemon, and we have come to eliminate you. Please, do not resist, it'll be easier for all of us."
"Thanks for giving us a target! Herissmon now!" Sun ordered.
"Gabumon, you too!" Ruby shouted.
"Needle-Point Dive!" Herissmon curled into a ball, and rocketed towards one of the Nohemon.
"Blue Blaster!" Gabumon began building blue flames in his maw.
"Delusion Crow!" Suddenly, the crows on the Nohemon's shoulders began muttering and laughing. As Gabumon tried to release a torrent of flames, he only managed to exhale smoke, and Herissmon began swerving and slowing down, and by the time he reaches Nohemon, his attack barely pushed him. Nohemon kicked the small Digimon back into Sun, knocking him to the ground. Another shot an arrow at Gabumon's pelt, pinning him to a tree. Ruby ran up to her partner, and tried to remove the arrow from the tree. "That was your plan? Man, I thought you were stupid before, but even a rock could come up with a better plan than that!"
"Hey, Herissmon, are you okay? What happened?" Sun gently nudged his partner.
"Sorry Sun, I tried, I really did. But when I attacked, I heard all these whispers and laughs and stuff, and I just didn't have the energy to attack anymore."
"Okay, that's it! You guys are going down!" Jaune said, walking up to Ren. "Agumon, lets, uh, digivolve, like before!" His device started glowing in a radiant light.
"Right!" Agumon was similarly enveloped in a blinding light.
"Delusion Crow!" Two of the Nohemon's crows started laughing and mumbling.
"Agumon digivolve to...Agumon..." When the light died down, Agumon still remained. "Sorry Jaune. The whispers were too distracting."
"Agumon, you too?" Jaune asked, sounding a lot more dejected than usual.
"William's Arrow!" One of the Nohemon fired an arrow from his bow, knocking Agumon into a tree.
"Oh man, this is too easy! We shoulda just done this from the start!" One of them mocked.
"When I heard that humans were in the Digital World, I had hoped you would be more challenging. Perhaps my hopes were misplaced?" The leader of the Nohemon said.
'Falcomon is already injured; Gabumon and Herissmon tried to attack, but failed; and Agumon couldn't digivolve. Why didn't anything work?' Ren thought over everything that's happend in the battle. 'Everything was going well until the crows started whispering. They appear to be able to stop attacks with them.' Ren felt the sweat dripping from his brow. Deep within him, he could feel semblance bubble up, eager to calm his raging fear and unease. 'Wait! If those whispers are anything like before, then my semblance might be able to stop them! But I can only help one person, so it has to be...'
"Falcomon, I have an idea on how to fight them, but you need to trust me." Ren said. Falcomon just nodded, a determined look in his eyes. "Alright, whenever you hear them about to whisper, take my hand and don't let go no matter what." With that, Ren allowed his semblance to wash over him as his colors began to fade, blocking out all of his anxiety and fears, leaving only his determination.
"Ninja Blade!" Falcomon threw hardened feathers from his wing at the Nohemon, but they didn't appear to have any affect.
"William's Arrow!" A Nohemon nocked an arrow into his bow, but Falcomon was ready.
"Firecracker Smokescreen!" He threw small bamboo firecrackers at the Nohemon, clouding his vision with dense smoke. The Nohemon released his arrow in surprise, hitting one of his companions in the process.
"Watch it! You're supposed to attack them not us!"
"Then don't get in my way!" He readied another arrow. "Make yourself useful, and drain his fighting spirit!"
"Delusion Crow!" The other three Nohemon's crows began whispering, but Ren reached out toward Falcomon, enveloping him in his semblance.
"Wind Blade!" Undisturbed by their attack, Falcomon flapped his wings, sending blades of winds right towards all of them.
"Rrrrrrgh! I don't get it? No one's managed to resist two of us at once, much less three! And he keeps going! This doesn't make any sense!"
"Its not the Digimon that resisted our combined might. Notice how he retreated to the human during our attack. The human must have someway to negate our 'Delusion Crow'. Take him out, and our victory is assured." The more level-headed of the group said, pointing towards Ren. "Focus your fire at him, all other targets are secondary."
"Gladly! William's Arrow!" Ren barely had any time to dodge the oncoming attack, but he ducked, and the arrow only managed to slightly cut his cheek. But the Nohemon didn't relent, and continued to fire arrows at Ren. Falcomon tried to use his feathers to knock the arrows out of the sky, but some managed to whiz pass him, just barely missing Ren, who continued to run around the forest, staying close to Falcomon. The others could only look on, as any attempt to help them would be negated by the Nohemon. But unfortunately, Ren tripped on an exposed tree root, falling to the ground.
"Ren!" Within seconds, Falcomon was over him, covering him from the Nohemon, who now circled around them.
"Nowhere to run now!"
"Any last words bef-"
"William's Arrow!" The level-headed one was cutoff by one of the others, firing an arrow aimed right for the downed Ren. Falcomon put himself in the arrow's path, hoping to stop it's approach.
"No!" Ren reached and grabbed Falcomon's leg, and tried to pull him out of the way, but was too weak. Suddenly, the device in Ren's pocket emitted a bright light, and Falcomon glowed with that same light.
"Falcomon digivolve to..."
"Delusion Crow!" All the crows started whispering and laughing, but the light continued growing. When the light receded, a much larger bird Digimon took Falcomon's place. Resembling an ostrich, he had spiky red feathers on his head, tail, and the ends of his wings; his face and rest of his wings were covered in bright yellow feathers; red and yellow talons; and he was dressed in stereotypical ninja attire: a purple headband, a purple shirt, purple boots, a black undershirt, and a yellow scarf.
"Peckmon!" With absolute ease, Peckmon kicked the arrow out of the air. Ren looked at his digivolved partner, while nowhere near as large as Greymon, Peckmon towed over both Ren and the Nohemon.
"What?! He digivolved? That should take years! And it should've been impossible in his condition!" The Nohemon were completely shocked.
"Hmm, could humans be able to induce digivolution?" The Nohemon leader just shook his head. "Idle thoughts are no place for a battlefield. But perhaps this merits more study."
"Falco-I mean, Peckmon. You digivolved..." While the Nohemon were distracted, Ren managed to get to his feet.
"Indeed. While you were in danger, I felt this warm feeling bloom from within my chest, and power coursing through my limbs." Peckmon lowered himself, and motioned for Ren to climb on his back. "Now, I'm big enough to fight without separating from you."
Ren climbed on, and hugged Peckmon's neck, spreading his semblance as their colors faded. "Now their whispers won't affect us."
"Well, would you look at that. You think that just cause you digivolved you're a match for us? News flash! Its still 4 against 1! William's Arrow!" One of the Nohemon got over his shock, and fired an arrow at the duo. But Peckmon easily sidestepped the attack, and rocketed forward.
"You may excel at ranged combat, but how do you fare in melee? Thousand Beaks!" Peckmon launched a barrage of pecks at the scarecrow, leaving afterimages in his wake.
"Tch, Willi-"
"Lightning Quills!" The Nohemon was interrupted by several lightning-coated quills hitting him in the back.
"Blue Blaster!" The quills were quickly followed up by a torrent of blue flames. The scarecrow looked behind him, and noticed that Herissmon and Gabumon, who removed the arrow from his pelt, stood ready for a fight.
"That's for messing with us, you big bully!" Ruby taunted.
"Just like Jaune said! They were so busy with Ren and Peckmon, they forgot about us! I think I'm insulted." Sun smirked, more determined than ever to fight.
"Tch, you think you gotta shot? Wanna repeat of before?" The Nohemon prepared to nock an arrow, only to find an empty quiver.
"Looking for these?" Sun mocked the scarecrow, holding an arrow in hand. Behind him was a large pile of arrows. The other Nohemon looked down, and saw the same, nearly empty quiver.
"Give those back!" A Nohemon rushed forward...
"Maegeri!"
...only for Peckmon to launch a powerful kick, sending him flying.
"Perhaps you need to be taught a lesson. Delusion Crow!" Once again, the leader's crow began mumbling, but a fireball slammed right into it, causing it to lose its balance, and almost fall off.
"Sorry, but you aren't the only ones who can figure things out in a fight." Jaune said, Agumon standing right beside him with smoke trailing from his jaw. "After watching you fight, I realized that your crows can only focus on one person at a time."
"How clever. Not only did you discover our weakness, you were the only one who realized our trap. After I eliminate you, I shall commit our battle to memory."
"Maybe you should focus on your friends, they could really use your help."
"What?" Turning his head, he saw Peckmon engaging all three of his comrades in close combat. He was nimbly dodging all of their feeble attempts for punches, and countering with powerful kicks. The lack of faded colors indicating that Ren's semblance was active.
"Ren, are you managing to hold on tightly?" Peckmon asked, swiftly stepping aside another punch from the Nohemon.
"Y-Yeah, somehow." Ren clutched Peckmon's neck tightly, refusing to let go.
"Good, but you'll need to hold on tighter for what I have planned."
"W-What do you mean?" Peckmon didn't answer, but instead crouched down low to the ground.
"Spiral Claw!" And launched high into the sky. Once he reached the apex of his leap, he started spinning at an incredible rate, and rocketed down at one of the Nohemon. Colliding with his target, Peckmon kept spinning and spinning, until the Nohemon exploded into a cloud of data. Everyone stood in shock at what just happened, and Peckmon didn't waste his chance.
"Maegeri!" He slammed his leg into another of the Nohemon, sending him flying into a tree, and after colliding with it, the scarecrow turned into data. "Thousand Beaks!" He continued his assault on another, until the second Nohemon exploded into data.
"H-How? We had every advantage! Everything was in our favor! So how?!" The normally calm Nohemon leader had lost his composure and yelled in rage. Nocking his final arrow, he fired at the exposed Ren on Peckmon's back, "William's Arrow!"
"Kunai Wing!" Without looking, Peckmon threw harden feathers from his wings at the arrow, and hitting both it and the Nohemon.
"Urrgh!" The last Nohemon fell to one knee, his body glitching out, and starting to turn into data. "I...can't...accept this! The victory...was ours! She...S-She was wrong about you...you were supposed...to be...an easy targ-" Exploding into data, he didn't get to finish his sentence.
"Woohoo! We did it!" Herissmon jumped up and down, excitedly running around.
"Whew, I didn't think we'd make it out of that one." Gabumon sat down, out of breath.
"Let's eat to celebrate!" Agumon cheered, pumping his fist into the air.
W-Wait what?" Jaune looked at the Digimon dumbfounded. "P-Peckmon just killed a bunch of people, and you want to eat like nothing happened?" The Digimon just looked at him, confused.
"If I may," Peckmon said, walking up to the others. "They aimed to kill us, and I was defending ourselves."
"But you didn't have to kill them! You could've knocked them out, and we could've escaped." Ruby protested.
"And if they continued to chase after us when they wake? What would we do then?" Peckmon retorted. Ruby opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn't.
"I-I think he's right guys." Sun spoke up, causing Jaune and Ruby to look at him in shock. "Wait, let me explain. Back in Vacuo, I had to do a lot of things to survive, some of them I'm not really proud of, but I had to do it anyway."
"Well, I don't like it." Jaune said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"And no one is asking you to enjoy it. But you're applying the values from your world in an alien environment; here in the Digital World, only the strong survive." Peckmon bowed down, allowing Ren to get off, before reverting back into Falcomon.
"Jaune, Ruby, let's not argue about this, please. Its over, we killed the Nohemon, and nothing can change that." Ren pleaded.
Ruby looked at Ren, then to Jaune, and then to the Digimon. "I still feel horrible, but if we can't help it." She bit her lip before continuing, "But we'll only k-k-kill as a last resort!" She struggled to say 'kill', as if saying such a violent phrase was against her very nature.
"I think that's acceptable." Gabumon spoke up, trying to defuse the situation.
"I agree, all in favor of using killing as a last resort." Falcomon said, raising up his wing. Slowly, the others began raising their hands, some more hesitant than others, until only Jaune was left. He only sighed, but raised his hand too, going along with the majority vote.
"Now that the heavy stuff is dealt with, how about that feast? I'm soooooo hungry." Agumon joked.
"Heh, is that all you think about?" Jaune walked to a comfortable place to sit down. "Save some for the rest of us this time."
"I can't make any promises."
With that, everyone had a laugh, and ate to their hearts' content. The events of this day still fresh in their minds, but they get ready for tomorrow, refocusing on their goal to return home.
"Huff...huff...huff." A tiny figure panted, tiredly clutching onto a tree. "Good thing...those brats...never...figured out...the scarecrow...was only a puppet." The tiny crow, the real form of Nohemon, gasped for air. "I swear, my revenge will be sweat."
"Oh, what have we here?" A female voice spoke out, startling the Nohemon.
"Who's there! I warn you, I might not have my puppet, but I'm still powerful!"
"Somehow, I doubt that. Especially when 4 of you couldn't take down a couple of brats and their pets!" A giant hand, clothed in a silky red glove, came crashing down next to him.
"Ahh!" He squawked out, stumbling back. "Y-Y-You're..."
"That's right, and I must say, your group's performance was quite disappointing." The hand moves back into the shadows.
The Nohemon starts begging on his knees, "Please, I swear I'll do better. I'll get stronger! And faster! And-and-an-" The hand shoots out from the darkness, and gently holds him in its palm.
"Oh, I know that you'd get stronger." The Nohemon's head perks up. "But," he flinches, "I have no need of you." The hand slowly starts to squeeze.
"W-What? How can that be? I thought, I thought that we were you're best foot soldiers! How can you kill your own army!"
"Normally, you'd be right. It'd be harder to replace you, but that's no longer a problem." The Nohemon could barely make out the shape of a gear in the darkness, slowly spinning in the air, before the hand crushes him completely. When the female figure opened her hand, only data remain, which then moved towards her as she absorbed it. "Just you wait children. If you thought this battle was tough, then you don't know true battle. But you will. Soon. Very soon."
A/N: And its done. Its finally done! God this took longer than I thought, or wanted. But its done. This chapter had sorta became a boogieman to me, always stalking me in the dark, begging me to finish it. One of the biggest reasons this chapter was hard to write was because I just couldn't get all the plot points to meld together in a satisfying way. But I hope you enjoyed this chapter, lots of things happened (there had better been a lot considering its 10k long): the group discovers Ren's semblance, Falcomon digivolves, they get their first kill, and a mysterious figure is, somewhat, revealed behind the scenes. Who is she? What does she want with the kids? You gotta wait to find out. But in all honesty, when I first had the idea of this fic, one of the first things that came to mind was Ren fighting a group of Nohemon, so I'm glad to finally get it written down. But please tell me what you think of this chapter: what you like, what you didn't, and what can improve. I really want to make this the best it can be for you. And tell me your theories on who this mysterious figure is, I won't tell you if you're right or not, but its fun to speculate.