Lashana and Telca own only themselves, Tvashtar, Kadrith, the three dragons and Telca's cat. Every other character belongs to someone that isn't us.



The Elf and The Digimon

Chapter 3 : Battle Royal

This place is insane! Talking trees, psycho ginsu knife stalkers, spiders who ride in Jeeps! I must be dreaming! I must be... She pinched herself as she ran, wincing at the pain that followed. Ow! Okay. I'm not dreaming. Shaking her arm a little to try to get it to stop hurting, she ducked under a low branch, then hopped over a bush, never breaking stride as she put distance between herself and the two she had left behind.

She burst out of the forest and into a small clearing nearly half an hour later, and she skidded to a stop as she dropped to her knees and slammed her palms against the ground, gasping for breath. Still fighting for air, she rose a hand and shoved her bangs out of her eyes, glancing around her to make sure she was alone before she straightened, sitting back on her legs as she rose her gaze to the bright sky above her. Telca... hurry up and get me out of here. Please!

A footstep behind her made her heart leap into her throat, and she instinctively leapt forward, turning in mid-air to land facing a very familiar form. Now considerably not happy, she levelled a glare at him and growled. "What part of 'leave me alone' don't you comprehend?"

He frowned at her as he studied her, noticing the cut in her jeans and the slight smell of blood, the result of his previous attack. "You helped me. Why?"

"....it's my nature."

"Explain."

Sighing in annoyance, she folded her arms over her chest and frowned. "I'm an Elf... well, half-elf if you want to get technical. Elves protect. Both the forests and the people in them. At the time that happened to include you. Besides, that - whatever he was - was using me to distract you long enough so he could whack you one. It ticked me off, so I flash-froze him." She quirked a white eyebrow at him and smirked. "Now, what exactly do I have to do to get you to leave me the hell alone?"

"Fight me."

She blinked. "....excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"Now I know you're daft."

"You will fight me. I've been looking for a worthy opponent, someone that can stand against my power. No one has yet present a challenge as you have."

"Compliments will get you nowhere."

Blackwargreymon growled at her casual tone and rose a gauntlet to point at her. "I will hunt you to the ends of the Digiworld until you grant my request. You know this."

Lovely. "Well, since you asked so nicely, fine. But!" She met his gaze when he started to lunge forward. "Not here."

"What?"

"Weren't you listening before? I can't fight here, we're in the middle of a forest! Remember that whole 'protect the forests' thing?" An idea occurred to her, and she smiled slightly as she continued, knowing that she had him. "You won't get a full challenge if I'm holding back, now will you?"

How exactly, did she turn the tables on me? Reluctantly, he gave her an agreeing nod. "So be it. Three hours hike west from here is a desert wasteland. Is that sufficient?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Good." He turned to leave, then paused and shot a glare at her. "And don't try running again. I'll be watching."

"Glad to know I have my own private psycho stalker," she muttered sourly as she dropped her arms and spun to stalk back into the forest, hands clenched at her sides as she ranted, needing to vent. "You'd think that one of Telca's portals could send me somewhere relaxing. Like Hawaii. But nooOOOooo. I get stuck with the talking foliage and the spiders and bandage people and armoured wackos that want to kill me! Argh! I need a vacation!"

~*~

Three hours of hiking and fighting her way through dense underbrush did absolutely nothing to help her sour mood. In fact, by the time she reached the wasteland, she was actually looking forward to the fight - she desperately needed to fireball something, and here was a willing target, just waiting for her.

"Alright! Can we get this the hell over with already?!" Lashana yelled at the Digimon that was watching her from his perch on a tall boulder as she stomped out into the open, sneakers making little sound on the hard packed rocky ground.

He looked at her in slight surprise. "You'd hurry to your own death?"

A rather berserker grin spread over her lips, revealing her fangs. "I could ask the same of you." What am I doing?! Don't piss off the big psycho you idiot! Still, a part of her felt smug when she heard his angry growl, her gaze locking with his as he leapt off the boulder and landed only two meters away from her.

Neither moved for the longest time, each trying to stare the other down. Or more accurately, Blackwargreymon tried to stare her down. It wasn't working. She just returned his gaze calmly, as if she was growing bored with the whole scenario. The sight made his anger grow, and he snarled as he made the first move, lunging towards her with blades at the ready.

Three... two... one... Now! Lashana dropped to her knees as he neared her and slapped her palms against the ground. "Earth below me! Submit to my will! Dug Haut!" Spires of stone ripped through the ground, making a barrier between them, and she smirked as she hopped onto one of the rising towers, letting it carry her into the air as she readied another spell. Two spires fell in front of her, cut in half, and she smirked as she looked down at Blackwargreymon for a moment before whistling. "Up here! Mono Volt!"

He spun at the teasing call and barely managed to deflect the shot of lightning with a gauntlet, growling as he lowered it to glare up at her. "You'll have to do better than that if you want to stop me!" Moving with speed that had caught many an opponent off-guard, he flew straight at her, smirking when he saw her eyes widen in shock. "This fight is over!"

"Not by a longshot!" She yelled as she threw herself out of the way, making a sweeping gesture in his direction. "Val Flare!"

It felt like he had been hit at close range with one of his own attacks. The explosions hit him full force right in the chest, and he instinctively backed away from her, lowering a hand to touch the crack in his armour. She landed badly then, stumbling slightly, and he immediately took advantage of it, charging her and ramming into her, slashing at her with both gauntlets.

Fast... Lashana felt adrenaline flow through her as she frantically tried to dodge the inhumanly fast blows, crying out when he scored two deep gashes, one on her left thigh and the other on her right shoulder. Panicking, she rose her hands and yelled out the first spell that came to mind, closing her eyes as the ground exploded all around her, little slivers of stone cutting into her arms and face.

When the dust cleared, she saw that she was standing on a thin pillar of stone that stood in the middle of a deep crater, and that Blackwargreymon was standing a little ways to her left, breathing heavily. I need a plan here. He's more experienced than I am... Gritting her fangs, she tilted her head back a little and let the wind play with her hair, her voice echoing slightly as she spoke. "Winds of the frozen north, come to me! Bring the snows and ice of thy home, and let those who stand before me witness your frigid wrath! Howl Freeze!"

The Digimon grunted softly as he watched her, wondering what she was up to. Another attack probably, but in what form? His answer came with the winds, and he rose an arm to shield his eyes as he was enveloped in the most powerful blizzard he had ever seen, his armour immediately turning ice cold against his skin. He felt his fingers going numb with cold and frowned as he pulled energy to himself, gathering it between his hands, the heat of it deflecting the worst of the storm as he rose his arms. "Terra Destroyer!"

"Freeze Brid!"

A glittering blue ball of ice flew right into the heart of his attack, and his eyes widened when in surprise when the red sphere pulsed once before freezing solid, crashing into a million shards when gravity took hold and pulled it down to earth. Impossible! How did she do that?! Frowning, he rose his gaze to stare over at his opponent, seeing the triumphant smirk on her face as she gasped for breath. I've been in more battles than her. I'm a Mega! There's no way she can last much longer! "You can't hope to win."

"Sure I can. Cracked yer outfit, didn't I?" she said, grinning ferally. "'Sides, I've still got a few more dozen spells that you haven't seen, yet."

The condescending glint in her eyes sent a wave of rage through him, and he loosed a roar as he attacked, dodging three balls of fire before slamming into her again. "They can't stop me!" Her strength lies in her attacks, not in her body.

Lashana tasted blood as he rammed her against one of the stone spires and barely managed to move her head to the side before those blades sunk themselves into the stone, nicking the point of her ear. As he pulled back his left gauntlet, intent on finishing this fight once and for all, she punched him in the face, then grabbed his momentarily trapped right arm and swung herself up and around, lashing out with both feet to score a solid hit just above his elbow.

A howl of pain escaped him as white-hot agony lashed through his right arm, and he spun to backhand her away with his left gauntlet, sending her flying through the air to land heavily onto the ground ten meters away. Growling, he looked down at his right arm and tenderly probed the aching joint with his good hand, then moved a little higher, scowling when he discovered that his arm was broken.

Dazed from the hit, the Elf spent a good minute trying to convince her body that it absolutely had to get up, despite it's protests against her treatment of it. Slowly, rubbing at the stinging cut on her right cheek, she staggered to her feet and looked over at her attacker, frowning when she saw that he was favouring his right arm. Looks like I got him good. Could be broken... but if I had held back... "We don't have to continue this," she said softly, surprised at the sympathy that was rising in her.

"Save your pity," he spat, glaring at her venomously as he charged again. "I have no use for it!"

"It's not pity!" Electricity flickered at her fingertips as she threw up her right arm, loosing a web of lightning at him and frowning when he effortlessly used his good arm to swat it aside. My Gods, we're going to end up killing each other. The thought was only halfway through her mind when he suddenly loomed over her, and she felt her ribs crack when he lashed out and viciously kicked her, following it up with a powerful backhand, knocking her backwards against the boulder he had been standing on at the start of all this.

"You're the first one who managed to hurt me. Take comfort in that, half-breed," Blackwargreymon snarled as he threw a full power Terra Destroyer right at her, the explosion shattering the ground and stone, burying her. Favouring his aching arm, he turned and headed back to the forest, intent on finding a quiet place where he could patch himself up in peace and reflect on the first fight that had actually forced him to push himself close to his limits.

Unfortunately for him, he had stumbled upon a timebomb that had been waiting to go off for all of twenty years, and he had just lit the fuse.

"FIREBALL!!"

Eyes wide, he spun and stared at the explosion, backing away a step when he saw a glowing form stalk out of the cloud of dust, the light coming from the aura of pure power that now enveloped the female in front of him. Her hands were fisted at her sides, the blood that was seeping out between her fingers proof that her nails had pierced her palms as her entire body trembled in reaction to the rage that was building within her. All in all, he was glad that her bangs were hiding her eyes at the moment, he had a feeling that had their gazes met, she'd have been able to kill him with a single glare.

"Half-breed? Half-breed?!" Lashana barely recognised her own voice, the rage that it held distorting it into something that echoed with immense power and anger. A part of her screamed at her to regain control, to stop this before she did something she'd regret, but it was quickly silenced by the memories that were rising in her.

Glimpses of her past where she had been alienated, loathed and feared by the people around her flashed through her mind, times when she had been forced to fight just to survive, just to have a bit of peace. Children laughing at her, adults looking at her in disgust... rocks thrown, blows, kicks, slaps... pain, fear, loneliness, sadness... agony...

Blackwargreymon felt something in him weaken at the sight of the tears that now streamed down her face, and as she rose her head to glare at him, he belatedly wondered if she was even aware that she was crying. Such pain... perhaps... akin to my own?

"You wanted a fight?!" She yelled, aura flaring as she rose her hands, revealing the half-moon shaped cuts in her palms. "Fine! You've got one!" Closing her eyes, she rose her head to the Heavens and pulled on her power. "Lord of Darkness of the Four Worlds! I call to thee! Grant me all the power you possess!" The spell lashed through her then, mingling with her anger as it rose her energy level to such a point that it felt like her very blood was on fire. Drugged, she spread her arms wide and rose her voice again, the rising wind lashing at her. "Darkness beyond twilight. Crimson beyond blood that flows, buried in the flow of time. In thy great name, I pledge myself to Darkness! Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed by the power you and I possess!"

Heart thundering in reaction to the power that was gathering before him, Blackwargreymon pushed the pain in his arm aside and rose his gauntlets, readying himself for the attack he knew was coming. On an instinctual level, he knew that whatever was coming his way was equal to, or perhaps greater, than any of his attacks, and a small part of him hoped that he'd survive, surprising the part of him that welcomed death.

Breathing heavily as she tried to control the magick swirling around her, Lashana gathered the energy into her hands and formed it into a sphere, staring into it's blood red light for a moment before she rose her gaze to the Digimon and threw her hands forward, loosing the spell. "DRAGON SLAVE!"

Oh Goddramon... The huge beam sliced through the ground as he took to the sky, seeking to try to outmanoeuvre the attack, only to growl softly when he saw it change course to follow him, it's light filling his entire vision. Instinct took hold, and he frantically gathered every ounce of his energy to himself, flying backwards to try to give himself more time to strengthen what could be his last attack... "TERRA DESTROYER!!"

The explosion that followed rocked the very world to it's core. The air became superheated as the ground cracked and split, chucks of it disintegrating into nothing. It was well over ten minutes later when the first beam of sunlight broke through the thick cloud of dust and debris that had blanketed the battlefield, the warm beam falling on the Elf that had crumpled to the ground, her hands covering her face as she cried, her rage having left her as quickly as it had come.

A footfall made her raise her head from her hands, staring up at the Digimon that stood over her though her tears. His armour and helmet were cracked, one gauntlet nearly shattered, the shield that had been strapped to his back in shambles. She didn't move. Even if she hadn't been completely exhausted from the battle, she simply couldn't bring herself to fight him anymore.

Though it seemed the Fates were with her this day. Despite the fact that Blackwargreymon didn't break gazes with her, he slumped to his knees in the dirt, staring at her a moment longer before collapsing onto his back next to her, his chest heaving with his gasps for breath.

They both lay there for what seemed to be an eternity, and it was only when Lashana was certain that she had regained a semblance of control over her turmoiled emotions that she spoke, her voice a ragged whisper of sheer exhaustion. "I'm sorry."

"What, you think this fight is over? Just wait, when I get up, I'm going to finish what I started."

She turned her head and blinked at him before chuckling softly, resting a hand on her ribs when they protested.

"You think that's funny?"

"You can't even move! What are you doing to do, glare me to death?"

He looked at her, holding her amused gaze for a moment, then chuckled.

"Aha. The mighty warrior has a sense of humour. Very good, there's hope for you yet," she teased gently as she moved arms that felt like they were weighed down with lead, pushing herself up into a sitting position. "Oooh, my aching everything.... What the hell is that armour made of anyway?! I think I broke my hand on your face! Damn." She rose her good hand to work at the crick in her neck and grimaced when she saw a cloud of dust on the horizon. "Aw no... not now...."

"What?" When he didn't get an answer, he grunted and rose himself on his good elbow, looking past her and following her gaze to the Jeep that was heading their way. "I am so sick of those two. Wait, what are you doing?"

"Standing... I think," she muttered between clenched teeth as she pushed herself to her feet, staggering with exhaustion as she held out her right hand, narrowing her eyes. "Not gonna let those two try to run me over with that damned Jeep of theirs again... ugh... medic..."

He growled when she dropped down onto one knee, a grimace of pain appearing on her face. Of all the bad timing. The way I am now, I can barely manage another Terra Destroyer. A hiss of pain drew his attention back to the female, and he frowned as he watched her raise her hands, sparkles of energy forming at her fingertips.

One last spell. Better make it count. Shifting slightly, she dug the toe of her left sneaker into the dirt, trying to brace herself for the backlash of the spell. Closer, closer.... There! "Bomb di Wind!" The air in front of her erupted, the gale force winds knocking her over as they rushed towards the oncoming Jeep, and she smirked as she watched the spell pick up the car and throw it, the vehicle arching across the sky before landing almost a mile away. "I think I love that spell."

"We can't stay here," he told her after a few minutes of watching the horizon to make sure there weren't any more unwanted surprises.

"I don't think I can move right now. That last spell drained me. 'Sides, I'm frighteningly comfortable."

"Night's coming. Neither of us is in any shape to defend ourselves from anything that poses a real threat."

"Nuuugh."

"What was that?"

"My body's opinion of the idea of trying to move."

"Digitamamon's hotel is nearby."

"A hotel? Here? Did one of those fireballs hit you in the head?"

"That's not funny."

"I should hope not. I was serious. And what's with this 'we' thing?"

"You think either of us can make it somewhere safe on our own?"

"Point."

"Besides, I.... I have questions."

"Alright, alright." She grimaced and slowly pushed herself up so that she was in something resembling a sitting position, sighing as she looked over at him where he lay beside her. "I take it we have a truce?"

"....yes."

"Good." Groaning, she once again staggered to her feet, clutching at her ribs with her aching left hand as she tried to convince herself that it really would not be a good idea if she passed out. After taking a quick look around, she turned and held out her good hand to him, seeing his eyes widen at the gesture before he hesitantly reached up with his good arm and grasped her hand. She didn't even blink when she realised that his hand was almost twice the size of hers, instead, she dug her heels into the ground and somehow managed to haul him to his feet, gasping in pain as she did so. "Hotel. Where?"

Blackwargreymon looked down at her, then pointed back to the forest. "Half an hours walk."

"Nuuugh."