The Fate of the World: Endurance of Steel
by Creedogmon
edited by Godeerc VanDrey
Category: Digimon
Genre: Fantasy, Action/Adventure
Rating: PG
Language: English
Summery: Much of the prophecy has not been fulfilled, and time is of the essence. The already exhausted Cave of Destiny team faces still more trials. The others will soon encounter more.
A/N: Well, you know what a title like that means. I hope this is exciting for you, because for me, who has been piecing this story together for months, er, years, it seems contrived. Well, anyway, if I ever become a writer, and I redo this, somehow getting around the whole legal loophole that I'm using trademarked characters, then I will really whip this thing into shape. For now, you'll just have to enjoy what I've done so far. I really discourage you from reading these author's notes; you're not getting a lot out of them.
Chapter 14: Endurance of Steel
James looks up, his arm bound tightly to his chest, his eyes wide, his pupils small. The anthromorphic lion creature stares down at him with glowing black eyes and a sword raised high into the air. Jessica, Matt, and Daniel are paralyzed by fear. With a mighty roar, Leomon brings his sword down on James, only to cut over halfway through a root a foot thick. James scrambles up and retreats to the back, where Delcomon digivolves in front of him. James's digivice glows, emitting a beacon, illuminating the shore, which darkens as the blood red sun sets on the far horizon.
The light casts shadows on the scene. Spiremon's shadow is seen in the clouds above, which are slowly creating a blanket over the land. He watches the moving shadows of the Magistrate, who shadow is constantly intersected by the vines and shrubs his grows from the ground. The Champion's shadow is often overtaken by the large masses of earth that erupt from the ground. The Sister creates no shadow at all, hiding safely away until she can create a plan of attack, with a miraged double standing in her place, looking threatening, even moving around, but not coming in contact with the beast.
But it is the shadow of Leomon that amazes James the most. The sturdy legs of such a creature would create two long rows on the ground, but instead, a large sheet-shaped shadow emerges from Leomon's legs, touching both edges of his hind feet, but spreading outward, as if the shadow was created by a creature wearing a robe. As Leomon holds his sword into the air, James notices that the shadow arm holding the sword in bony, much unlike the thick, muscular arms of Leomon. It is then where James realizes the outline: it is of the dark creature that destroyed Westwood Junior High and Daphne Brighton Auditorium.
"Wait!" he cries.
Jessica comes up to him from behind, hissing, "James, are you crazy? This thing would sooner kill us! What's with the sudden misplaced mercy?"
"The creature is not evil; it's possessed by the monster."
"So was half the ocean until that light blast saved them all."
"Well, it's the same here," commented James.
Jessica becomes livid, "James, we don't know how that light appeared. I doubt you can just ask this guy to hold still until you figure it out."
Without another world, James walks forward, Matt and Daniel flying backwards on either side of him. James holds out his digivice, his good arm stretched, hand shaking, face grimacing. He watches as the sword comes down on him in a repetition from before. He hears the others cry out, knowing they won't have time to save him again.
James is drawn from his fear at the sound of metal clashing against metal not far from his head. James opens his eyes, seeing a translucent dome around him, glowing with crimson light. Leomon looks perplexed. The sphere melts away and he attacks again. James's reflexes throw his arm in front of him, and he feel the blade hit him, but is surprised how dull it is. He looks at his arm, fearing the worst despite the utter lack of pain and sees an irregularly shaped sheet of metal covering part of his forearm with a deep scratch through the middle. Eyes still in amazement, he jumps forward, grabbing onto Leomon's armed arm. Leomon throws his sword to the other hand at strikes hard at James, who falls, but with another layer of metal covering the better half of his left torso.
Jessica, Daniel, Matt, and Spiremon stand awestruck. They watch as James takes hold of the blade as Leomon brings it down. James grabs it halfway up and bends it completely over.
Leomon cries, "Master! The Cavalier has come. What must I do?"
James is engulfed in the familiar light and the other smile as they realize he his transforming into the Cavalier. The Cavalier, they find out, is an armored warrior. The arm that was broken now plainly isn't. A sleek layer of scale-like armor covers most of his body, including a one-piece hood-helmet that connects to his back and shoulders as well as protecting most of his face. This hood doesn't hinder his speech though.
"Spiremon, come!" Spiremon leaps in to the air, taking flight. As a golden necklace forms around James's armor, he kneels to the ground, he grabs something on the ground. It is the handle of a sword, which he pulls from the ground. He holds it up, turns sideways as he jumps onto the beak of the diving Spiremon, who cocks his beak, aiding James's in his leap onto Spiremon's back. His avian steed hovers above the ground as James calls out to the possessed Leomon, "Creature of Darkness! You have taken control of much of this world, but no longer shall you. The DigiDestined have come, and they are well-prepared. You will not succeed!"
Matt nudges Daniel, "Kinda corny speech, don't you think?"
Daniel rolls his eyes, "Yeah, but, come on, that's what you do when you're fighting evil."
James throws his sword down, and the blade lunges deeply into the ground. The entire sword is steel gray, completely unadorned, only the rounded hilt and long blade, which stands up like a cross.
"Missed, foolish Cavalier!" Leomon taunts.
James simply cries out, "Endurance of Steel!"
His newly formed crest and digivice glows, shining upon the sword, which absorbs the light until it too glows red-hot. The digivices and crests of the Sister, the Champion, and the Magistrate also feed the glowing weapon until it shines with white light.
Leomon falls to his knees before the cross, the blackness leaving his irises, before he falls face first into the dirt. The glow leaves the sword, leaving it irreparably tarnished.
James falls backwards on Spiremon's back, who lands and dedigivolves, his partner safely asleep on the ground.
: : :
James's eyes slowly focus and he immediately tries to leap back, but he's flat against the ground. The first thing he sees is the faces of his friends and Leomon, his eyes white, with pupils.
In a deep, gruff voice, Leomon says to James, his arm extended, "Thank you, Cavalier. You have saved me."
James takes his paw and is jolted by the lion's strong arm lifting him up. "No problem," he replies, catching his breath.
"I believe this is yours," Leomon says, pulling out the Cavalier's nondescript sword, which James's jumps away from.
"Thanks, why don't you keep it?" James asks, holding his hands up.
"Thank you," Leomon says, giving it a few thrusts, which are too close for James's comfort. "I will use the Light of the Cavalier within it to free those under the control of the Darkness." With this, he puts it in his sheath. "My friends, the Cave of Destiny is just beyond that mountain. You will get there before dark if you leave now. I shall leave you now. I have faith that you shall succeed." Without another word, Leomon walks in the opposite direction of the Cave of Destiny.
Daniel smirks, "Did he say we would get there before dark? There's maybe half an hour's worth of light left," he comments, looking at the sky, which is merging into purple.
Matt states, "Let's get a move on, but first, James, let's check out that Crest of yours."
The Crest of Righteousness is a crowned shield on a crimson background, a blade dividing it vertically, a small triangle at sinister chief (top left) and a small circle at dexter chief (top right). The lock of hair by James's right temple is the color of fresh blood, much darker than his crest, very noticeable against his straw-colored hair. Also, both of his irises are a similar red color, a dramatic change from their former teal hue.
Leomon wasn't kidding. The sun's last rays of sunshine of the day show the DigiDestined the entrance of the cave. Matt holds his arms out, blocking the others.
"Jessica, the cave is guarded, right?"
"Heavily. The three strongest digimon that Aneramon could find guard it with extreme vigilance, and extreme prejudice."
Matt's brow wrinkles, "Then we make camp and go for it in the morning." Daniel shoots him a look, "James is weak, as is Delcomon. None of us is at full strength. And we're all tired. We make camp, and we go after the Cave of Destiny tomorrow morning. Hopefully, this Cave of Destiny that needs to be renewed is open to the DigiDestined. I've had enough fighting digimon without having to face the three that auditioned for Best in Show and got the blue, red, and yellow ribbons."
"So, where we set up camp?" James asks.
Matt replies, "Not far from here. We want to be ready in case the Outer Triad comes after us."
After several minutes of surveying the ground, he finally chooses a campground based on Jessica's expertise: the spot where she collapses onto the ground, dead asleep. Matt conjures up a picture-perfect fire pile, looking up at the night sky. He whispers to James and Daniel, "No sunlight; how do I light this thing? I'm not rubbing sticks together. Guys, about 'bout some flint and steel?"
"Where you gonna…?" Daniel asks, before realizing his potential and walking over to the bluff, searching for a deposit of flint, his eyes closes, his hand grazing the surface of the cliff. Meanwhile, James rubs his hands together and giving Matt the fruit of his labor, a lumpy pole of steel. Matt eyes it and James, seeing this, whispers, "I've had these powers for an hour! You're lucky I conjured that!"
"It's okay. Hey, Daniel, wha'cha doin' over there?"
"Dude, I can't create rock out of thin air like Colossus over there. I gotta find a deposit and bring it to the surface. There," and he comes back with a decent chuck of black stone, which he hands to Matt, who whacks it against a nearby rock. Daniel cries, "What's up with that?"
Matt sighs, "Flint breaks along flat cleavage…" A giggle escapes Daniel's mouth. Matt continues, "…resulting in a sharp blade-like fragments, which are extraordinarily good for creating sparks," which the last syllable, he strikes the flint blade hard against the steel chuck, creating a small fireworks show, which causes the fire to start. Before long, Matt has a softly roaring fire going, impressing the two friends who are awake.
Jessica's breathing pattern, which before was regular, suddenly alters as she gasps in her sleep. The boys look in her direction, but she resumes softer breaths… for a moment, and then makes a small grunt-like whimper. Her nightmare sounds continue, and Daniel attempts to rouse her. "Jessica, you okay?" but she remains deeply asleep, with the occasional whimper.
James's face becomes serious, "You think she's having such sort of nocturnal vision?"
Daniel raises his shoulders, "I don't know. This is why I wasn't crazy about splitting up. I know I suggested it, but the group dynamic was nice. I was coming to appreciate Justine's thin-air revelations."
Matt, who has moved toward Jessica, comments, "Guys, she's still dreaming, and she's not coming out of it. Should I be worried?"
James sighs, "Be worried all you want. Pray. Not else you can do." He's almost cut off but an unmistakable hushed scream from Jessica.
: : :
The projection of Anna on screen bursts into flames as she floats into the air. DigiCode labels points to various parts of her body, and I see air flow arrows showing me her sustained propulsion. Fascinating, I think. Suddenly, Hawkmon flies by my head, pursued by Katmondu and Salamon. I look up to Diana, who smirks, "They're playing tag."
I laugh, "Who's It?"
"Me," she replies, tapping my shoulder and running off. I click the Standby button on my laptop and run after her. For the most part, I'm not too athletic and don't enjoy sports, but I've always had a gift for short distance running. In no time, I've already caught up with Diana, who looks back and screams. Right as I'm about to catch her, I am slowed down by a gust of wind as Diana starts to giggle. I sigh, knowing Katmondu will easily outrun me, being both quick and agile. Hawkmon can fly. I figure Salamon can't be too quick, so I go in pursuit of him. His feet are ill-equipped for running, and I easily catch him.
He goes after Diana after I sprint away. Turns out he's pretty crafty and his quick turns and false sprints get Diana's legs tied up in knots. She trips over her own feet, laughing like an eight-year-old, before getting up and chasing Hawkmon. Though I think she's hasn't a chance, a downward gust pulls Hawkmon closer to the ground. Diana makes a magnificent leap, no doubt aided by an updraft, but Hawkmon dives out of reach until Diana lands gracefully on the ground, and Hawkmon is already soaring again.
She turns her energy to Katmondu, blowing him backwards, but the wind suddenly ceases as a bitterly cold gust of wind hits her from behind, and a shiver weakens her momentum. By now, I have stopped running, but make a sudden, awkward sprint towards Katmondu. My legs are sore, but I have a plan. Katmondu, again frightened by his pursuers, creates another cold draft. Diana suddenly finds herself with patches of ice. She falls to the ground, exhausted and laughing. I go over to help her; the frozen drizzle that covers her body disappears by my command. A warm wind cycles around us. For a moment, amidst the laughter of everyone, we forget where we are. We forget our quest. We forget everything.
But deep in my mind, I hear a scream, and the smile on my face disappears into horror.
"Christopher…?" Diana whispers, "What is it?"
"Jessica…"
The setting sun gives us enough light to get back to the cave. I sit down and close my eyes, "I'll see what's happening real quick." Jessica's voice becomes clearer; images begin to form around me, creating a scene. I find myself in the desert. In the distance, I hear her screaming, and begin to run toward it.
I can't help her physically, but at least I'm connected…
: : :
A/N: Whew, this is becoming exhausting. Sit tight; I know what I'm doing. Anyway, the next chapter promises to be a big one, so don't give out on me yet.
(Sonriso) - You know, Creedog, for someone who is working on their foreshadowing, I haven't heard the slightest mention or hint of how the Herald of Sarcasm is going to save the day.