Title: Return to the Frontier
Author: AikoNamika
Warnings: Original Characters (attempts not to make them Mary Sues/Gary Stus, but they're still original), language, occasional violence, an author who's often just making things up as she goes along.
Pairings: None at the moment, but knowing me...anything is possible! (That includes shounen-ai, shoujo-ai, and het – more detailed warnings will become available as I figure it out.)
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon: Frontier, or any of its related merchandise. They belong to rich people in big offices, while I'm just a girl with personality problems. However, all original characters, original Digimon, and the plot line belong to me, and there will be severe consequences if I see anyone stealing!
Note: I'm working with a combination of the English anime and what information I can glean off of websites – if something seems completely screwed up, well then you know why.
Additional Note: The little commentary-thingies at the end of the "episodes" will be done by my muse/plot-bunny wrangler, Nall. Just so you know who the heck he is. ::nods::
Nall: Takuya was fighting Moiraemon and things didn't seem to be going too well, until a black shield suddenly appeared around Moiraemon, and he realized that that was what was keeping her from returning to her human self. With an effort on both his part and hers, the two Digimon managed to return Moiraemon to her human self – now he's just got to deal with the human half of the Warrior of Earth...
Chapter 4: Finding Out About You
"Ouch..." The girl's voice was higher than that of her Spirit's, as was often normal for what they'd seen before. Her hair was bright red, and tied into a ton of braids that went only a little past her shoulders. As she levered herself up onto her knees, Agnimon devolved, and Takuya stepped forward, offering a hand to the black-eyed girl.
"Well, you did it – you freed yourself," he said quietly. Then he grinned as she looked blearily at his hand and then at him, and then at his hand once more as if trying to remember what it was there for. Shakily she shook her head, refusing his offer of help.
"I think that, for now, I'm safer here on the ground." She offered him a wan grin, and then groaned loudly, grasping her head. "Damn, what a headache – I can't believe I couldn't remember who I was; that I was human, for Christ's sake!" The girl who had neglected to introduce herself so far moaned.
"Well, you were trapped by a very powerful entity, or at least that's what Ophanimon said," Takuya offered. She looked up at him in surprise.
"You know Ophanimon?"
"Yeah, I met her about three years ago - my friends and I were summoned to return Cherubimon back to good, and then we had to deal with Lucemon," Takuya offered. Then he realized that she still didn't have a clue who he was. "Anyway, I'm Takuya Kanbara, Warrior of Flame."
"Chisato Ichiyusai, Warrior of Earth," she returned, and then continued on her previous line of questioning. "If you guys were here before, why were we summoned?"
"Hold on – I think you might be a bit more comfortable if we get some food into you first," he commented, walking over to where he'd dropped his bag and hauling it over to where Chisato sat. He dropped to the ground across from her, digging through his bag and then offering her one of Junpei's ubiquitous chocolate bars. She snatched it out of his hands with a hungry look in her eyes, downing it within seconds, a smile of pleasure spreading across her lips as soon as she finished.
"Thanks – I think I needed that. More than that, I haven't had chocolate since I've gotten here," the red-head confessed.
"How long have you been here? Do you remember?" Takuya was curious – he remembered the fact that his own trip had taken several weeks in the Digital World, but it had taken less than an hour in the Real World.
"I dunno – a month or two, maybe?" She didn't sound too sure of herself.
"Well, when did you leave?" She told him the date. He blinked, and stared.
"I knew the time difference was big, but I didn't think it was that big," he muttered, and then looked up and met her eyes. "You left the day before we did – and we got here yesterday."
Chisato snorted at him, not believing him at first. "No way – I know I've been gone for at least a month. There's no way that I've only been gone a day!" He nodded though, and she stared in shock.
"When I was here last, we were only here for a couple of weeks, maybe less – when we got back, less than an hour had passed."
"Okay, you've mentioned that you've been here before – what happened?" Chisato's question prompted Takuya to start telling the tale of his own journey through the Digital World – meeting each other, discovering their Spirits, fighting the enemy Legendary Warriors and purifying their Spirits, discovering Kouichi, beating Cherubimon, and then the final desperate battle against Lucemon – including nearly losing Kouichi when they discovered that only his spirit was in the Digital World, not his body.
"...and when we got back to the Real World, Kouji went to go and find Kouichi – and it looked like he was in a coma when we got to the hospital, and he wasn't breathing, and then our Spirits went and gave the last of their energy in the Real World to heal Kouichi and Kouji got him to wake up." Takuya pulled a bottle of water out of the small pile of food that had grown in front of them as he emptied his bag, drinking deeply to ease the dryness that had grown in his throat from talking so much. He stayed quiet, letting Chisato think about his story in silence. Eventually she laughed ruefully, shaking her head slightly.
"You make all that we did sound like we weren't doing anything," she explained. "I mean, we'd barely found our Human Spirits before we got trapped in them." She started to get to her feet and then, as soon as she started to stand, she wobbled and fell to the ground again, a frown crossing her features. "Why am I so weak?" she growled, slamming her fist on the ground. That seemed to just make her angrier, for she barely raised a puff of dust with the strike. "Arg! I can't stand this!"
"Hey, calm down! You just spent a ton of time as a Digimon, plus two battles in less than two days – you're probably almost completely drained, even if you did just have a ton to eat," Takuya said, holding his hands out in a placating gesture. She simply glared at him, and he grinned back.
"Well, even if I can't stand up for too long, we do need to get to the Trailmon Station – I need to find out what happened while I was trapped, and I need to make sure the others are alright!" Chisato said, this time using a rock to help herself to her feet. Takuya nodded, searching about the small corpse of trees near them to see if he could find a stick that could double as a walking staff. Once he found one, he offered it to his erstwhile companion, who accepted it with a grudging grace.
"Well then – let's start walking!" Takuya shoved everything back into his backpack, shouldering it and turning to head back down the way he'd come. The entire journey had taken a lot less time than he thought it would have, but he wasn't complaining in the least. At least he didn't have to spend weeks wandering around in the mountains, slowly running out of food or ideas.
And with that, the two started their return to the Forest Terminal and Seraphimon's castle.
---
It had been fairly uneventful so far, and Takuya and Chisato had talked quietly for most of the way, though they often had to pause for the red-head to catch her breath. However, the longer they walked (and snacked) the faster she began to regain her energy. It was a pretty good thing, because that meant they could pick up the pace and possibly get back to the Trailmon that much faster, though Takuya knew that they'd have to spend at least one night out here.
During one of their pauses, Chisato eventually got around to explaining how she'd been called to the Digital World, and Takuya nodded slightly to himself to hear the similarities between their stories.
"I was heading home and I got a text message on my phone asking me if I wanted to play a game. I said yes – it wasn't like I was just refuse to play a game, y'know?" She smirked challengingly at him. He'd discovered that there was very little she'd refuse to do, and he appreciated that, though he was a little worried that she didn't seem to actually take time to think things through. "Anyway, I followed the directions and got on one of the trains – Trailmon, I mean – with a bunch of other kids. I guess most of the rest went home, because I was told there were three others who stayed, but there was more than three even on the Trailmon I took."
"So you haven't met the others?" Takuya interrupted, remembering the close bond that he'd found with his friends as they'd traveled through the Digital World.
She shook her head. "No – Ophanimon said that they had a better idea where the human Spirits were, so they sent us out to get them as soon as possible, because they wanted us able to defend the Digital World really fast." He nodded at that; it made sense. "Anyway, I got here and the Trailmon took me to the Crystal Castle to meet Ophanimon, and she explained what she could. Then I headed out to look, and got caught once I did found my Spirit, and you know the rest of the story." The red-head sighed in vexation. "I just wish I could have done more!"
"Hey, calm down! You were on your own in an unfamiliar world, and-" Chisato cut him off before he could finish.
"That doesn't matter! I still should have been able to defeat the bad guy, not just get trapped right away!" She glared at him, black eyes flashing furiously, and the brunette dropped the subject.
"Okay, okay..."
A long period of silence passed, with the two simply walking along side-by-side for the moment. Takuya was about to try and start the conversation up again when a rustling in the bushes distracted him. He glanced over to his right, away from Chisato, and then fell back with a yell of surprise as a Kuwagamon came crashing through, it's huge pincers aimed directly for them.
"Get down!" He yelled, grabbing Chisato's arm and yanking her to the ground as the insect-type Digimon buzzed overhead. It was strange – the creature was totally silent other than the buzzing of its wings, where he was used to Digimon such as this yelling and roaring as they attacked. The Kuwagamon turned back, its armored head fixating on them as the brunette reached into his pocket and pulled out his D-Tector, eyes shining fiercely.
"EXECUTE! SPIRIT EVOLUTION!" Flames and data surrounded him as his human self dropped away once more. "Agnimon!" The fire Digimon leapt forward, flames surrounding his hands as he attacked.
"Burning Salamander!" It seemed to have little effect, but the big bug did stumble to the side and away from its target. However, one hand came around at high speed to whack Agnimon, sending the blond Digimon flying away and into the side of the mountain, knocking the air out of him and disorienting him as the larger Digimon made to attack the downed fighter.
Chisato broke out of her frozen resolve, her dark eyes narrowing in anger as she too pulled out her D-Tector, the colors tan and dark reddish-brown instead of the black and red of Takuya's. "I don't think so! HEY BUG FACE, OVER HERE!"
As the attacking Digimon once more turned to face a new opponent, a ring of Digicode appeared around Chisato's left hand, and she lifted her D-Tector, slashing it down across the ring of data.
"EXECUTE! SPIRIT EVOLUTION!" Agnimon blearily watched her as she was surrounded by her Digimon data, wondering if it was different from his group's evolution – but it looked the same to him, and he was satisfied that there wasn't going to be some huge difference in power.
"Moiraemon!" With a shout the Earth Warrior exploded from her data, twirling her sword around and then bringing it to a "ready" position in front of her. The gray eyes narrowed behind her helm as she prepared herself to take the brunt of the attack on the blade of her sword. When the Kuwagamon slammed into her she slid back several feet before finding her footing and exerting pressure back. With a snarl, she pulled back a bit and then slashed at the larger Digimon, allowing power to ripple off the blade.
"Boulder Slice!" With a shriek the Kuwagamon fell back, one pincer gone entirely from its head, severed by Moiraemon's attack. She smirked fiercely behind her helm, and prepared to finish it off; before she could move, the beetle-Digimon turned and slashed with its remaining pincer at Agnimon, who was still pulling himself out of the mountain.
"Aack!" He shoved himself away in a leap, and then turned the leap into his attack, bringing his flaming self down onto his opponent's head even as Moiraemon attacked its midsection.
"Burning Salamander!"
"Boulder Slice!"
With a shriek the Kuwagamon reared back, and then disintegrated completely. However, unlike the Sneemon which had attacked the Trailmon on the way into the Digital World, there was no egg at all – instead a sphere of red light hovered where the heart of the Digimon would have been for a moment, and then it shot off into the air faster than the eye could follow.
"What was that?" Takuya asked as he devolved from Agnimon, glancing with confused eyes toward Chisato. She was eying the sky speculatively with her D-Tector in one hand, having returned to her human form as well (with a lot less difficulty than the last time).
"I'm not too sure what they are – I saw a lot of them as a Digimon when I was fighting those who kept attacking me, and I think they've got something to do with whoever we're up against..."
"Well, whoever it is, I hope they don't try attacking us again anytime soon! I'm bushed!" Takuya yawned, and Chisato echoed him a moment later with a yawn of her own and a tired nod.
"Yeah...Got any more food?"
---
It wasn't too long after that they reached the Trailmon station and boarded the waiting Trailmon, who loudly and cheerfully welcomed them aboard with a broad grin. As it backed down the mountain with much "woo-woo!"-ing, the two travelers leaned back on the seat and let themselves drift off to sleep. They'd be back at the castle soon, and they'd be able to deal with this situation just a bit more easily once they had all ten Warriors together...
-tbc-
Nall: Phew! One down, three to go – will the rest of our heroes be able to find and deal with their assignments with as much ease "ease" as Takuya? Or will they have less trouble...or more? Find out, in the next chapter of Return to the Frontier!
(Offstage)
Nall: Wow...Takuya's part is finally over. Now all Aiko has to do is figure out how the rest of the gang will fare. Anyone got any ideas? She's got a few, but she always welcomes reader input...I can't believe she got this out so fast, though! It was just bang, bang, bang, bang, and there was the chapter!
Aiko: That would be because I had four fifths of it written already when I decided to turn chapter three into two chapters.
Nall: ...right. I knew that. I'm the muse, after all!
Aiko: Uh-huh. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter – I have to tell you, the rest probably won't be coming out quite as fast, though I'm making no guarantees. I'm a High School Senior, so I don't have the most free time in all the world – plus NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is coming up, and I'm going to be devoting quite a lot of time to my novel! But I promise you I'll see what I can do, and I won't give up on this fic!
Nall: So please review, and tell us what you think!
Reviewer Responses: So many already! I have fans!! ::teary sniffle::
Scarred Draconia – Geeze...Now that I look at it, it does look kinda weird, doesn't it? ::gryns:: Oh well, at least you figured it out. ::gives you Chocolate Drop Cookies::
Bluesakuramon – Heeeeeere's Chisato! I hope you like her – she's gonna be fun to write in the future, I think...And as for the others...Well, you'll just have to find out later, won't you? ::evil grin:: ::hands over Apple Turnovers::
Dragi – I hope you liked this chapter, and that it lived up to your expectations! I'm not sure how soon the next chapter will come out, though...::tosses you a slice of Key Lime Pie::
Dragons Star – I'm just glad I've got as many people reading it as I do now! It is really wonderful! And I know that I tend not to read OC fics too often because they're too easily messed up – the new people are Mary Sues and overly powerful, overly perfect, and the canon characters are left staring in wonder and falling all over their feet to fall in love with them... That doesn't characterize all OC fics, though! I'll make sure to take a look at yours, though...You've been so sweet about mine!! ::hugs you and gives you Chocolate Meringue::
CustomMagnum – I'm glad you're enjoying the story! Thank you for reading! ::gives you oatmeal raison cookies:: I hope the fic remains at high standards – I'll be editing all the attacks as soon as I get the chance. You wouldn't, by the way, happen to know Chakmon's attacks? The site didn't have them...
Wedge – Glad you like it! As to the "please update more quickly" thing...As I said above, I'm in my Senior year of High School. That means advanced classes, tons of homework, a lot of time doing college work, and plenty of other things. Plus, NaNoWriMo is coming up. I have to say, you're lucky you're getting this chapter so soon. But please don't give up on this fic! I may be a slow updater, but this is one fic I want to finish! ::nods firmly:: ::hands you a lollipop::