Disclaimer: See first chapter
A/N: Sorry for the delay, it was the weekend and my family went out. Plus, I had a little bit of writer's block so I had to stop for every few seconds to think.
^________^ Glad you guys liked that chapter. Well, so for the results of the poll are rookie: 1 champions: 1. If it's going to end up as a tie I'll just have to mix it up. You know, some of the ten will be met as rookies and the others champions. We'll see. Here're my thanks.
Skittles the Sugar Fairy: Thanks. Personally, I liked the way that chapter turned out. Glad ya liked it!
OmnicromXR: You're welcome. Thanks for commenting. ^_^
Lavos: I'll see what I can do. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on my fic!
Dragi: Don't worry, Strabimon still has a bit more warming up to do before I can get to stuff outside their 'dwelling.' Shadmon? I can't seem to find that Digimon in the site I use. Could you post a bit more info on it? Thanks! ^^
Dragons star: Ah, questions. My favorite thing in your reviews. ^_^ Anywhoo, yeah, the thing you said about the chapter break is essentially what I've planned out so far. So far I still have to plan out how they're going to meet the others. About the fanfiction.net formatting thing, yeah, that happens to me when I read other fics too. But I double-checked my formatting and I couldn't find anything wrong with it except for the typos. Thanks for reviewing!
Now, on with the chapter!
HonouOne week has passed since Flamon had the dream about his past, and ever since Strabimon didn't seem as cold as he used to be. Plus, he seemed almost ready to accept the human types.
Strabimon's ears twitched at the sound of the door sliding open. He, however, didn't need to look at who entered, for he already knew who it was.
"I'm not gonna starve, you know." he said, tightening the bandage on his arm.
"If I left you to get food on your own you'd be eating once a day." Flamon countered, placing a tray beside Strabimon. "Besides, you sleep for so long that your breakfast and lunch are practically one meal."
"Whatever." said Strabimon, taking one meat apple and started eating.
Flamon sat Indian-style by the cot and leaned against the wall, his usual spot when visiting Strabimon. As the lavender rookie ate his meal, a comfortable silence descended upon them. That's how it has been for the two rookies. Flamon had been bringing the wolf Digimon his meals for the past days, and though Strabimon kept complaining on how Flamon brought too much, he always finished the food all the same, to the amusement of the other.
The red-clad Digimon felt as if a weight was lifted off his shoulders when Strabimon no longer ignored him. It started when Strabimon, in a way, comforted him after that dream, and since then the taller rookie never looked at him with hate again.
Hearing a rather loud sip he looked to find that Strabimon had already finished eating and was washing his meal down with the water.
"Too much to eat, huh?" he grinned.
"Ch." was all the response he got as Strabimon set the cup down.
"Oh, come on! I was only kidding!" Flamon said. "Besides, you always finish your food even if you say it's a lot."
"I never said anything and already you're taking offense." Strabimon commented, smirking slightly.
"Wha?" mused the other rookie.
"Slow on the uptake, aren't ya?" said the lavender Digimon, folding his arms.
"Hey!" Flamon exclaimed, pushing off from his leaning position.
Strabimon waved it off and yawned. Flamon slumped down while he pouted slightly.
"It's how you are." said Strabimon suddenly. "What makes you…well, you"
Flamon grinned softly even though the other still held a stoic expression as he said the statement. A soft rustle of leaves signaled a knock from the outside. Both glancing at the door they saw WarGreymon entered and looked at Flamon.
"I thought I'd find you here." he said. "Do you mind if I take five minutes of your time?"
"Not at all." Flamon replies. "See you later than, Strabimon-san?"
"Ja. And cut it with the 'san' thing." Strabimon replied.
"Hai." Flamon chuckled and followed WarGreymon out the room.
"What could I do for you WarGreymon-san?" he asked, looking at the mega level Digimon.
"There's a place in this cave that I stay in, other than my room of course." said WarGreymon. "Usually, it's dark and peaceful, but the other day, you passed the entrance of that area, and a stone that's placed on the farthest wall started glowing. Honestly, I never noticed it before, but when I tried to take out of its slot, it wouldn't budge."
"What can I do?" Flamon inquired.
"Since it reacted when you passed by, it's probably for you." WarGreymon explained. "C'mon, we're almost there."
They passed the entrance of the underground field they had, which had the few meat fruit plants and the stream, and went down a small flight of stairs that Flamon never knew existed, and entered the cave WarGreymon was talking about.
Flamon was speechless. All he could do was star at the sight before him. The area was dim compared to the other rooms, for the illumination crystals seemed to be crushed and scattered all around the ceiling, walls, and floor. It was like standing in the middle of a starry sky. The only thing out of place was a soft, crimson radiance coming from, like WarGreymon said, the far end of the cave.
"Come on." WarGreymon called, walking towards the glow.
Flamon followed and came to a stop beside the mega Digimon. WarGreymon pointed to a set of letters being revealed by the stone.
"This stone shall trigger the power of the chosen Honou Digimon." he read to the rookie. "Honou. Meaning Fire. Since I am technically a fire element Digimon, that's the reason I tried to move it. But…"
The taller Digimon tried to lift the stone, but it stayed in place. Turning to Flamon, he continued.
"As you can see, it won't move. Maybe you can take it out, your red fur singles you out as a fire element."
"If you can't move it, what more can I do?" Flamon asked doubtful.
"Trust me, some items in the Digiworld have the power to make sure that only their rightful owner would be able to lift them." WarGreymon stated. "Go ahead."
"Okay…"
Flamon hesitantly stepped up to the stone and reached for it. Gripping it with one hand, he effortlessly took it out of its slot.
"Wow." he said. "Now what?"
Before the other could answer, the stone and the letters below its slot glowed bright scarlet. The rock in his hand shattered into pieces and the letters detached from the wall and surrounded Flamon. Some bits of the lettering circled his waist and formed a belt while the rest of them arranged themselves to form the belt buckle with the Digimon symbol for fire. Data then emerged from the slot of the stone and surrounded WarGreymon briefly, before flying to engulf Flamon's body and disappearing into the fire Digimon, merging with the rookie's data.
The next stage was what was appalling to WarGreymon and painful to Flamon.
The stone splintered into shards, making a loud noise in the process, and flew to Flamon's face and upper body. Four shards embedded themselves into the rookie's cheeks and made 'T' marks. The remaining shards then shot to Flamon's font left side, sinking in his coat, forming into a unique symbol. The splinters, however, were extremely scorching as they touched his skin, making him scream in agony.
WarGreymon then came to his senses and rushed to Flamon's side. However, as he tried to touch the rookie, his arm hit an invisible barrier and prevented him from going further. He couldn't do anything.
The armor-clad Digimon was forced to do nothing but watch.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Strabimon flopped back on his cot when Flamon exited his room. Bored, he started the mess with his bandages again, loosening them slightly and tightening them again.
"You know, it's going to take a longer time to heal if you keep fumbling with those."
The rookie turned to find Stingmon standing by him.
"I'm bored, what do you expect me to do?" Strabimon replied.
The champion Digimon pretended to think for a moment.
"Nothing." he said finally. "That's what one who's trying to get better does."
"Hn, thanks for nothing." Strabimon muttered.
The insect Digimon chuckled at the younger ones attitude.
"Don't worry, in just a few days you'll be healed completely." Stingmon stated. "Besides, you have Flamon to help you pass the time. You seem to be getting along with him well for the past week."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Last week you said that there was an unlikely possibility that you could cope with Flamon." Stingmon explained. "And look at the situation now."
"Which is…?"
"It's a known fact that Flamon brings you your meals everyday, Strabimon, and that he also spends most of his time here." said the insect warrior.
"So?"
Stingmon had an amused glint in his eyes as Strabimon kept denying the statements. He coughed slightly before continuing to answer.
"If you had stayed true to your statement I'm guessing that you would have never let him stay for as long as he does."
The smaller one just grunted and stared up at the illumination crystals at the ceiling and reflected on the past week. He remembered when Flamon nervously entered his room the morning after he had the dream, carrying a tray of food.
~*~*~FLASHBACK~*~*~
Strabimon looked at the fire Digimon who placed the tray by him.
"You okay?" he asked suddenly, astonishing them both.
"Yeah." Flamon replied. "Thanks."
Strabimon raised an eyebrow at the other's nervousness.
"You can relax." he said. "I'm not going to attack you or anything."
Flamon seemed to relax as he heard this.
"Um, do you mind if I stay here?" the fire Digimon asked timidly. "If it's alright with you…"
"What would you want to stay here for?" Strabimon asked. "Surely there are other more interesting things to do."
"Yeah, but I thought I'd keep you company." Flamon answered. "Being alone's not much fun. Trust me, I should know."
Flamon looked downcast once more, the expression on his face making Strabimon frown slightly.
"Fine by me." he said. "But only if you stop thinking about that. I told you last night. What's done is done."
Flamon obviously brightened up at this.
"Un!" he grinned.
Flamon plopped down to the ground and leaned on the wall, not breaking the stillness of the room, respecting Strabimon's preference in his room.
~*~*~END FLASHBACK~*~*~
At first they would just sit in silence, but lately Flamon has been attempting to strike a conversation with him. Though not leading to much, Strabimon astounded at the other's enthusiasm. A few moments of silence passed as he contemplated this before he heard a rather loud crash of some sort. Strabimon pushed himself up into a sitting position.
"What was that?" he asked.
Before Stingmon could answer, a cry full of pain was heard. Strabimon's eyes widened as he recognized the voice.
'FLAMON!'
"Wasn't that…?"
Stingmon wasn't able to finish his question as Strabimon stood up and ran towards where the yells could still be heard.
"Strabimon, be careful!" shouted Stingmon, following the rookie. "You might open your wounds!"
However, the lavender Digimon ignored the warning as he dashed down the corridors. As he neared the entrance to the 'basement' cave, the screaming stopped. Terror then filled him.
'What happened?' he thought.
Seeing the entrance, he darted down the stairs, adrenaline pumping through his veins. Reaching the bottom, he stopped completely. Startling Stingmon who was right behind him.
"What is it?" Stingmon inquired, then looked at the figures at the far wall. "Oh no."
"There was a barrier. I couldn't help him." WarGreymon explained, sounding distraught.
Strabimon couldn't believe his eyes. He was so shocked that he didn't even hear the mega level Digimon.
On the floor was a horrible sight.
…
There lay Flamon, unconscious and bleeding where the shards pierced his skin.
A/N:
Translations:
Ja – later
Honou – Fire (I hope)
Wah! I can't believe I did that to Flamon! T_T But I nedded to explain the symbols on his body in a way!
Hopefully this chapter is enough to pay for the slight delay I had. Sorry again! R&R pls!