Disclaimer:
Dragon Lady: Hello again! ^_^
Ken: We're back.
Dragon Lady: Hey! Wait a minute! Don't leave!
Ken: ^^;;;
Dragon Lady: We promise we won't be annoying. Really!
Ken: We won't waste anyone's time either!
Dragon Lady: We just want to make sure that the people who want to see more of my pitiful little story get the chance. ^^;;
Ken: So, DigimonDragonLady does not own digimon.
Dragon Lady: *nods in agreement* No. I don't.
Ken: And just about the only thing she does own are Katrina, Sean, and Jarrett, which are her three original characters that you have already stumbled across in this story. She holds hopes that they might make her some money some day, but the characters she borrows from digimon will not, so don't sue her.
Dragon Lady: And don't steal my characters!! ^_^
Ken: So…with that said…
Dragon Lady: Onto Part…um…
Ken: Five.
Dragon Lady: Oh yeah, of course! Part five. ^^;;; I didn't loose track of it…
Ken: Sure she didn't.
Dragon Lady: Go! Read! Enjoy! …Review? ^^;;
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Dangerous Games
By: DigimonDragonLady
Ken stared at his egg, which was beginning to shake slightly, in undisguised horror. "Oh no, oh no!" he moaned. "Why did you have to hatch today?" he demanded of the egg. "Couldn't you have waited three more days? Just three more days and I would be out of school…"
What could he do? It was plainly obvious that this thing, whatever it was, would hatch this day. Ken sighed in defeat. He'd have to fake an illness. He shot the rocking egg a withering glare. "You should know, that you've just ruined my perfect attendance record. I hope you feel proud of yourself."
Ken shook his head. "Okay, I'm loosing it. I'm talking to an egg."
He looked around his room. It was early. He always tried to get up earlier than his mother so he had time to check on the egg before he left for school. "If I'm going to be staying home sick mom will be in and out of here continuously until she leaves…so where can I hide you then…?"
Ken jumped a little when he heard a door open and close somewhere else in the Ichijouji apartment. His mother was already up. He thought he'd had more time…
He quickly settled for the closet, shoving the egg swiftly inside and shutting the door quietly behind it, before scrambling back into his bed in case his mother should open the door. He hated taking advantage of her trust in him…
He closed his egg and pretended to be asleep as the door opened. He knew exactly how he should go about this. "Ken? Ken, aren't you awake yet?" his mother asked. "Its time to get up now."
Ken sat up slowly. Good. Let her think he'd slept in later than usual.
He made sure to move at an extra slow pace that morning, being just a few minutes or so behind schedule, so that his parents would take notice. Looking at himself in the bathroom mirror he rubbed at his eyes with his palms until they were red enough and glassy looking.
After somehow managing to make his normally perfect long hair look messier than usual he dragged himself into the kitchen and slid into a chair. When his mother placed a plate of bacon and scrambled eggs in front of him, he avoided touching the bacon and pushed the eggs around with his fork.
An awkward silence had descended upon the kitchen. Ken's mother gave him a concerned look. "Ken, honey…is…something wrong?"
Ken looked at her, with what he hoped was a glazed expression. "Huh?" he asked, as if in a deep trance.
"Ken, are you feeling all right?"
"Of course…" Ken made certain to make himself sound like it was very obvious he was lying. He dropped his gaze, avoiding looking at his mother, then she'd definitely think something was wrong if he didn't want to meet her eyes. He had never been good at lying to her, and his eyes had always been what gave him away, so she was accustomed to having him avert his gaze when he was being dishonest.
"Ken…" Good. There was that semi-stern, disbelieving tone that he needed to hear in this situation.
"Well…I do feel a little ill," he said slowly. 'And that's not really a lie,' he told himself. 'I do feel somewhat sick over this egg…' "…But I'll be fine."
"Ken." The tone had that commanding "look at me" tone now. Ken raised his head, trying to make it look like he was reluctant to do so. His eyes still didn't completely meet hers.
"Ken, I don't want you going to school if you don't feel well."
"I don't really not feel well…" Ken began.
"Ken Ichijouji, don't you lie to me young man."
"But…there are only three more days until we're out for the holidays…" he wheedled. "I can make it through all right…"
"All right, that settles it. You're going back to bed," his mother said firmly.
"But mom! My attendance…"
"Back to bed! Right now!" she ordered sternly. "You don't need to go making yourself feel worse over some silly little perfect attendance record! Honestly Ken, I've never seen a child with such an aversion to taking a sick day! Normal children would be jumping up and down right now…"
Ken retreated to the safety of his room where he wouldn't have to hear his mother rant about his strange, un-childish behavior. He was completely disgusted with himself. "Wonderful. So far today I've lied to my mother and going to miss an important day of school, and its not even eight o'clock yet! I knew this magic business was more work than its worth…"
* * *
Ken now sat cross legged on the floor of his room watching his egg rock back and forth on the ground. He'd been watching it in this fashion for quite some time now. His mother and father had left for work a while ago. His mother had been worried about leaving him home alone when he was sick, but he had persuaded her that he would be perfectly fine and that he'd call one of the neighbors if he needed anything.
Now he was bored. Just watching the egg rock. Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth…
He was so completely lost in his boredom that he didn't even hear the apartment door open, or his bedroom door after that. "Having fun?" an amused voice asked.
Ken jumped in surprise and spun around, forgetting for a moment that he was seated on the floor, and not standing, and promptly falling sprawled across the floor. Only laughter greeted this spectacle.
Ken grumbled a little as he righted himself and stared up at the intruder. "Daisuke Motomiya! What on earth are you doing here?!"
Daisuke smirked. "Its past lunch time, and you weren't at school today Ken. I know you. You wouldn't miss school for anything less than family death, or your own, a natural disaster, or some other life threatening event, and maybe not even then!"
Ken scowled playfully and stuck his tongue out at him. Daisuke just grinned. "So I came to the conclusion that you were forced to skip school because of your egg. Which meant that it had to be hatching. So…I wanted to be here with you."
"Yes but…you're cutting class?" Ken looked horrified. "You'll get in so much trouble, Daisuke…"
He shrugged casually, like that was no big deal. "I'm an average student, and I won't hurt myself by missing a day. And how many times am I going to have to tell you, Ken…I'm in trouble when I'm not in trouble."
"But skipping school, Daisuke!"
"No big deal, Ken," Daisuke merely shrugged again, and then shot him a sly look. "Besides. Technically, you're skipping too. You're not really sick, now are you?" he winked.
Ken stared at him and spluttered. "But…I…at least I'm pretending to be sick, and not just taking off in the middle of the day!" he declared.
"Relax Ken, don't worry about it."
Daisuke came and sat beside him. Together they watched the egg continue to rock in silence for a few minutes. Daisuke looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. "How longs it been doing that?" he asked.
"Since early this morning," Ken answered, not taking his eyes off the egg.
Daisuke glanced back at it. "So…any idea how soon its going to hatch?"
Ken shook his head slowly. "Not a clue."
There was another period of silence, before Ken asked, "What do you suggest we do now?"
Daisuke grinned. "I found a pretty little poem I thought you'd like to read," he winked and handed Ken a small, square card of paper with a familiar looking printing, that read…
Gift of Icarus and Oberon.
Dream of the earthbound -- Spin and flow
Fledge and flutter and fan and GO!
"What is this?" Ken looked up at Daisuke. "From your gift?" he asked.
Daisuke nodded. "Any ideas?" he asked. "I keep getting stuck. Especially at the first verse. Its confusing."
Ken's eyes light up. He grinned at Daisuke. " I've got it! I know what it does!" he exclaimed brightly.
"What?" Daisuke asked eagerly.
Ken gave him a mischievous look. "Perhaps I shouldn't tell you…" His voice took on a mystical, faraway tone; in perfect imitation of that same annoying tone that the Lady, Katrina, could use. "Perhaps if I interfere, terrible things will happen! It could very well be in your destiny to figure it out on your own…"
"Ken!" Daisuke protested, jumping at him quickly and pinning him to the ground by his wrists. "Tell me!" he demanded.
Ken smiled innocently up at him, and the mischievous twinkle remained in his eyes. He tried to raise himself up to kiss Daisuke's lips, but Daisuke drew back just far enough to make this an impossibility.
"No kiss until you tell me what you know, genius boy," he told him wickedly.
"Cruel creature!" Ken laughed. "All right, all right. I'll talk. Just let me up already."
He sat up once more as Daisuke slowly released him. "Look! And pay close attention, you just might learn something." he pointed to the poem verse. "First line. 'Gift of Icarus and Oberon'. Oberon was the husband of Titania, and the fairy king. Icarus was the sun of Deadalus, who made them both a pair of waxen wings."
Daisuke nodded slowly. Ken moved his finger along the card to the second line. "And line two. 'Dream of the earthbound --' What did Icarus and Oberon have in common?"
Daisuke's eyebrows drew together. "Um…"
"They could fly, Daisuke! They could fly!"
Daisuke gave him a horrified look. Much the same as the ones Ken had given him every time they discussed his egg, and Ken smirked in understanding. Daisuke stammered. "So…if I follow those directions on the bottle…and say that…I'll…get wings?!"
Ken's smile merely widened in reply.
"Wings?!" Daisuke howled. "My grandmother will definitely notice if I come home one day with a pair of wings! I'm doomed, Ken!"
Just then, they were distracted from Daisuke's present crisis by a loud cracking noise from behind them. Ken and Daisuke both whirled around. An enormous crack was traveling down Ken's egg, and shattering and branching off from it was a spider web of little ones. It splintered suddenly, sending egg shell shards flying in all directions, and Ken and Daisuke both stared at the little creature that had pushed its way out.
"It's a…lion?" Daisuke asked. "Or…is it an eagle?"
"It's a griffin…" Ken breathed in awe.
"Its awfully funny looking," Daisuke commented, and then put his hands over his ears in protest when the newly hatched griffin began to shriek in a shrill tone. "Where's the "off" button for that thing?" he complained.
Ken merely raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "I don't think it has one, Daisuke."
"Well its making a horrible noise! What does it want?!"
Ken looked at the griffin, and was not surprised when the little animal raised its head and looked straight into his eyes with its own fierce looking amber colored ones. Its eyes were whirling at him, and he seemed to know exactly what it wanted.
"He's hungry," he said, as if it were the obvious answer.
"Oh, is that all?" Daisuke rolled his eyes. "Does he have to be so loud about it?"
Just then, they both heard the apartment door open, and then close, and the sound of someone moving around inside. "Ken, honey," his mother called out. "I'm home."
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Dragon Lady: Dun dun DUN!
Ken: -_-;
Dragon Lady: *giggles* Sorry. I couldn't help it. ^^;;
Ken: *sighs* Of course you couldn't. *shakes head*
Dragon Lady: Seriously. *giggles again* The urge was just too strong. ^_~
Ken: Dl…you and cliff hangers really don't mix.
Dragon Lady: But…look! It's the absolute perfect place to leave this chapter!!! I couldn't help it!! The temptation was just too strong to resist I tell you! ^^;;
Ken: *sighs again* Whatever.
Dragon Lady: So. There's that chapter done. Six will be along shortly.
Ken: Maybe. Took her long enough to get this one up. I mean…the last chapter was up on the second! What's today…? The ninth!! Seven days without an update. That's torture dl.
Dragon Lady: Its only seven days Ken. Really…you're blowing it all out of proportion.
*stony silence is heard from readers*
Dragon Lady: Or…maybe not. Sorry! The next part will come sooner!
Ken: So she says.
Dragon Lady: What's going to happen with Ken's mother? When will Daisuke get his wings? Will Ken's griffin ever shut up? Find out next time on Digim--
Ken: *clamps hands over dl's mouth* That's quite enough out of you.
Dragon Lady: ^^;;
Ken: Read and review please, before this rant gets longer than the chapter itself…
