Me: So this fic did end up being updated in the summer.
Tsubaki: Yeah, a YEAR later.Plus it's kinda DULL! T-T Can't help it… (cry) Had to make some parts up too…
Me: Eh.
This chapter is dedicated to digimaniac-falkor3, our most loyal reader and reviewer. If it wasn't for you, this fic wouldn't still be going.
Tsubaki: It would still be going…about 1 chap every million years! But, yeah. Thanks for the kick in the shin - …IT'S NOT MY FAULT IT TOOK SO LONG Q.Q DON'T KILL ME! (runs away from computer screaming…)
Me: Uh-huh… Anyway, one more thing I should mention – for the Digimon's attacks, I used the Japanese names. Unless I have no idea what they are in Japanese, I'll switch to the English ones.
A special thanks also goes out to israellac and Ancient for taking an interest in this fanfic.
Tsubaki: AKA, thank you, everyone .
Disclaimer: "Digimon" and "The Legend of Zelda" are properties of their respective owners.
The Tamers of Time
Chapter 4: The Sun's Song
As they entered the clearing in front of the graveyard, they saw a sign, some bushes, and a rock off to the right-hand side of the archway leading into the gravesite. Beyond the archway was a giant gravestone and fencing. The sign read:
Heart-Pounding Gravedigging Tour! From 18:00 to 21:00 Hyrule Time -- Dampé the Gravekeeper.
"Wonder what that's all about," said Terriermon, reading over the sign again.
The sign just bewildered Takato. "Why would someone want to take a tour of a graveyard?"
"They must have their reasons," Jen decided. "Maybe it's to honour those who passed away?"
Link shook his head. "I have no idea."
"Let's just keep going then," Navi pressed.
They walked over to the immense gravestone at the front of the cemetery. Engraved into the headstone was:
R.I.P.
Here lies the souls of those
Who swore fealty to the
Royal Family of Hyrule. The Sheikah, guardians of the
Royal Family and founders of
Kakariko, watch over these spirits
In their eternal slumber.
"What does 'fealty' mean?" Takato furrowed his brow at the unfamiliar word.
"I think it's like loyalty," Jen told him. "Swearing loyalty to the Royal Family of Hyrule."
"Oh, right." Takato wavered upon the fact that he probably should have been able to figure that out by the wording.
The group proceeded up a stone path that occasionally had patches of dirt amongst it. Heading left, Guilmon spotted three yellow butterflies with black markings on them.
"Takato, look at the pretty butterflies!" exclaimed Guilmon, running toward the fluttering insects. Takato turned to see Guilmon not paying attention to where he was going.
"Guilmon, watch out for that gravestone!" His warning came too late however. Guilmon tripped over the gravestone, falling to the ground. Takato ran up to Guilmon to see if he was okay, the others joining him.
"Guilmon, are you all right?"
The Digimon shot up, still gazing up at the butterflies. "See, Takato? Pretty butterflies!"
Takato sighed and sat next to Guilmon, gazing up at the butterflies as well. The grave had three yellow flowers in front of it, with red tipped petals, and spiky leaves.
Renamon took a brief study of the tombstone. "This grave is the only one that has flowers in front of it. The butterflies seem to only fly around this particular grave as well."
"Maybe there's something different about it?" Ruki suggested.
"What's so different about it?" retorted Terriermon. "Maybe someone in the village knows this person, and planted flowers in front of the grave for them. All butterflies like flowers, so that's why they only fly around this grave."
"That could be a possibility," said Jen, "but you never know. Perhaps there's a certain something special about it?"
"All right then." Terriermon grabbed on to the back of the gravestone with his ears. "Let's just see how different it really is." He started pulling on the grave, and it in turn budged.
"Terriermon, no!" Jen cried, taking hold of Terriermon. Terriermon held on harder as Jen tried to pry him off.
"Don't cause trouble!" someone shouted.
Both Jen and Terriermon stopped, turning to see a young boy standing in front of them. He had a tuft of light brown hair and a stick in hand. The youth wore blue shorts, a white shirt with blue trim pattern, and light brown shoes.
"A boy?" Ruki stared at him.
Takato wondered, "What's he doing in a graveyard?"
"I'll tell Dampé!" the boy threatened. The Tamer-Digimon pair let go of their grasp.
"I was just trying to prove a theory," Terriermon defended. "We're not causing any trouble."
The boy tilted his head away. "Yeah, whatever."
Terriermon frowned. "What's with that attitude?"
"There's no point in starting an argument with him," Jen told his partner. "If we do want to move this grave, this Dampé person should be supervising." Terriermon pouted and hopped on his shoulder. "May I ask what you're doing here?" Jen asked the boy.
The child stared at him for a moment. "Little kids can't go on the 'Heat-Pounding Gravedigging Tour' described on the sign. Since I can't do that, I'm just imitating Dampé the gravekeeper all day. But with my cute face, I'm not heart-pounding at all, am I?
"Cute face?" whispered Terriermon behind Jen's head. "Yeah, right."
Jen coughed to cover up what Terriermon was saying. "Well, alright. Thanks. Don't worry, we won't cause anymore trouble."
"Yeah, okay." The boy left them with that, limping off and swinging his stick.
They continued onward, following the stone path. About two thirds of the way up however, it began to rain. Everyone looked up at the sky.
"That's weird," said Link. "The weather changed so quickly."
"Link, look." Navi flew toward a Triforce mark made of grass in a patch of dirt. Walking up the rest of the way to the top, they found two tombstones at opposite ends, a monument between them in the background. The monument read:
Royal Family's Tomb
The crest of the Royal Family of Hyrule is inscribed here.
"Hey, look at this." Guilmon was staring at the gravestone to the left. It read:
Royal Composer Bros.
Sharp the Elder
R.I.P.
Emblazoned on the grave was a sun with wings. At the sides was writing, while the Triforce was situated at the bottom.
Renamon was examining the grave to the right. "There's another here." Engraved upon it was:
Royal Composer Bros.
Flat the Younger
R.I.P.
Instead of a sun, this one had a crescent moon with wings, but was otherwise similar to its counterpart.
Suddenly, what seemed like a ghost each appeared before Guilmon and Renamon. The two spirits spun around and cackled. Guilmon fell back from surprise, staring up at the ghost blankly, tilting his head. Renamon on the other hand jumped back and went into fighting stance.
The ghost that appeared in front of Guilmon was black in colour, fat, had pudgy light green eyes, a Triforce belt buckle, curly blond hair, a moustache, and a spike coming out from its left hand. In his other hand was a fancy lantern, and upon his head sat a large patterned hat with a sun mark in the middle. Its choice of clothing was a kind of red shawl, and a tattered tunic which was also patterned.
Renamon's phantom looked like the other one, except it was thin, had tall green eyes, and hair down to its neck which curved as well as a moustache. It was donned with a green shawl, and a grey patterned tunic, while his tall grey patterned hat displayed a crescent moon.
"AHHHH!" Takato wailed, startling the others. "GHOSTS!"
"Would you get a grip!" Ruki scolded exasperatedly.
"They're not ghosts specifically," Navi clarified. "They're Poes."
"P-Poes?" Takato stuttered.
"Takato, are you okay?" Jen looked at his quivering friend. "Just pretend they're Phantomon or something."
"Uh…huh…" the goggled Tamer replied weakly.
Guilmon's ethereal opponent's eyes turned red, starting to spin its lantern. It charged at Guilmon, the dino narrowing his eyes, and crossing his arms into an X to defend himself. The ghoul bounced back.
"Poe of the graveyard?" Navi thought out loud. "They must be the ghosts of the graves."
Link pointed from the Poe on the left to the one on the right. "So that's Sharp and that's Flat?"
Navi bobbed though the air. "Exactly."
Flat attacked Renamon, but she jumped out of the way and let out a "Koyousetsu!" Flat conversely laughed and spun around, disappearing from sight before the shards could strike him.
"What?" Renamon landed back on the ground.
Navi once again acted as the encyclopedia. "They have the ability to turn transparent. But you can still see the lantern they carry, so that's where they are."
"Of course." Renamon watched as the lantern hovered about, waiting in anticipation for Flat to reappear. As soon as he did, Renamon slashed it in the back with a well-placed chop. The Poe screamed, backing away from the kitsune.
Guilmon was having a little more trouble with Sharp; he kept hiding in the wall. The Digimon decided to hide behind the right side of his gravestone to lure him out. Just as expected, Sharp emerged from hiding. Guilmon blasted Sharp with a Fireball, the Poe screaming and in turn disappearing. Guilmon chased after Sharp in the direction he disappeared to, Terriermon jumping off Jen's shoulder to help him.
Terriermon conceal himself behind the back of Sharp's gravestone and lingered there, staring out from behind. Sharp laughed and reappeared behind Terriermon. The Poe's eyes transformed from green to red, swinging it's lantern around to charge at Terriermon.
"Terriermon! Behind you!" Jen cried. Terriermon turned to see the Poe coming at straight for him. Link dashed towards Terriermon, drew his sword, and cut though the Poe. Sharp screamed, taking cover within the walls.
"Th-Thanks," Terriermon huffed, still stunned.
"No problem," Link replied, staring at the wall. "If we're going to work together, we should look out for one another," he grinned. Terriermon returned it weakly.
Renamon defeated Flat with ease. The Poe screamed once more as it was attacked, and burned into flames. Ruki ran up to Renamon's side, watching the flickering light.
"GYAAAAH! I'M DEAD AGAIN!" shrieked Flat. "… What? Somehow, you remind me of… Princess Zelda…"
"Yeah…" Ruki was getting tired of hearing this. "I've been getting that lately…"
"Hmm… Since you may have some connection with the Royal Family, I will tell you a little more of our tale. Back then, people called us the composers because of the many musical masterpieces we wrote. But we brothers were not just composers. We had a mission to analyze the mysterious powers of Hyrule's Royal Family. Our names should be a part of Hyrule's history if we could complete our research! We kept our study extremely secret until we completed it. To tell the truth, each of us was studying a different song, one to summon the sun and another to summon the moon."
Renamon considered this. "So that explains the sun and moon on their gravestones and hats."
"Mm…" Ruki agreed with this.
"If you were really sent by a member of the Royal Family, I will tell you about the results of our study," Flat added.
Link came to join Ruki and Renamon in listening to Flat's tale. "We were. We can assure you of that."
Flat coughed. "Well then… We inscribed it on the royal tombstone. As a messenger of the Royal Family, you should show your Royal credentials on top of the Triforce mark… Do you want to hear what I said again?"
"No thanks," Ruki answered. The flame of Flat laughed and vanished.
Terriermon was waiting impatiently for Sharp. "What is he doing in there!" he yelled. "Come out so we can knock your lights out, COWARD!" Terriermon breathed heavily, catching his breath.
"Terriermon," said Jen nervously. "Calm down." Terriermon sighed, sitting behind the back of Sharp's gravestone to lean against it.
Guilmon continued to watch the wall. "How do we get him to come out?"
"Navi," Link called. "Is there anything we can do to get Sharp out of the wall?" Navi flew to them.
"Well… no."
The three sighed. Unexpectedly, Sharp came out to see if they had gone away. Terriermon was the first to see Sharp and attacked with "Blazing Fire"! Link and Guilmon looked up to see Sharp smolder into a flame. They walked up to the glow.
"GYAAAAH! YOU KILLED ME…" Sharp hollered. "Unbelievable!" The Poe took another look at those around him. "Oh, what? You're not one of Ganondorf's men, are you? Because of my job as a ghost, I had to act like that. I apologize."
"That's okay," said Guilmon. He tried to pat the flame as comfort, but his hand went right through. "Yikes!"
"Guilmon, be careful!" Takato jogged up to his partner.
Sharp went on with his dialogue. "Now then, let me introduce myself. Ahem… I am one of the ghostly composer brothers of Kakariko Village. All the people in this village are born to serve the Royal Family, and were assigned to study the hereditary mystic graves of the family. Though we never could figure out the power of the Triforce we had completed our study of controlling time with the tones of ocarinas. Uh, I mean… Actually we did complete that study! We would have been famous if that hateful Ganondorf had not tried to steal our results. We could never let him reap the fruits of out research! That's why we gave our lives to protect the secret."
Terriermon swallowed. "You died so you could protect your research… now that's dedication."
"I'm not too sure I want to know how they died though," Takato gulped.
"Do you want to hear what I said again?"
"I see," said Link. "No thank you, I think we understand now."
"What was that all about?" Terriermon said blankly. With a cackle, Sharp's flame dissipated.
Jen had to reiterate what they heard in simpler terms. "I think he meant that there's a connection between time and the sounds ocarinas make."
Takato's eyes widened. "You mean we can use ocarinas to manipulate time?"
Jen nodded. "Yeah, exactly that. And remember when Princess Zelda said that the Royal Family had a treasure? She said it was The Ocarina of Time."
Link walked up to the Triforce symbol on the ground and stared at it. "Hmm… the Triforce."
"What is it Link?" Takato came to the boy's side.
"Oh, I was just wondering; the Triforce is a symbol of the Royal Family, right?"
"Yeah, I suppose so."
Link gazed down at the Triforce formed from grass. "I remember Impa saying something about the song she taught us having some mysterious power; and it will help to prove our connection with the Royal Family." Slowly, he took out his Fairy Ocarina and stared at it thoughtfully. "Do you think if I play it here, something will happen?"
"Only one way to find out," Ruki said from behind them.
Navi drifted over Link's head. "I say go for it, Link."
Nodding, the boy brought the ocarina to his mouth, replaying the melody Impa had taught him in his head. As he played it out, the others listened and watched for any signs of change. Link looked up when he finished the last note; apparently nothing had happened. Then suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck down upon the monument beyond the Triforce, causing it to explode. Everyone went flying and shouting as the force knocked them backwards, chunks of the statue whizzing by. The smoke from the wreckage began to settle, visibility becoming somewhat improved.
"Jeeeeez," moaned Terriermon, hanging off one of the fences. "You'd think the brothers could have warned us."
"Ruki, are you all right?" Renamon had grabbed Ruki when the lightning hit, shielding her Tamer from the blast.
"Yeah…" The girl gazed up at her partner. "Thanks, Renamon."
Takato sat up and rubbed his head. "Ugh… Who would have thought a lullaby would result in something so dangerous?"
"Takato, lookie!" Guilmon was up and standing by the place where the statue had been. "It's a hole!"
"A hole?" Takato got up to see what his Digimon was talking about.
Jen was already over there, crouched over looking down the gap. "At least the monument exploding was able to reveal this."
"A square hole?" Link peered down to see if he could find where it lead.
"Guess it's time to go down there, then." Without waiting for a reply, Navi flew down the hole, leading the way for the others with her light.
Things were going fine as they each went down one by one – until Guilmon got stuck. Takato was still behind him, waiting for him to go down. So to try and aid in the process, he began pushing down on him.
"Gu-Guilmon," Takato strained, trying to shove Guilmon down. "Br-Breath in."
"O-kay." Guilmon did as he was instructed, and the result surprisingly worked well. It was so surprising in fact, that Takato fell right behind him.
"AHHHHHHHHHH," the Tamer screamed, right before he fell face-first onto the floor.
The others turned around to see that Guilmon had somehow landed on his feet, but then Takato crashed on top of him, causing both of them to fall flat on the floor.
"Ungh… thanks, Guilmon," Takato groaned, struggling to get up.
The Digimon merely replied, "Guilmon, squished," as he too attempted to get up. Ruki and Jen sighed. How did those two always manage to end up like that?
"Hurry up," said Ruki, putting her hands on her hips.
"Trying to," they replied in strangled voices.
Fed up, Ruki sighed again and started walking down the path, leaving the others behind as Renamon followed her.
In the conjoining room, there was water dripping down from the ceiling, forming puddles on the floor. Bones laid everywhere on the left and right side. At the other end was a locked door, with two unlit torches on either side of a big stone pillar with markings all over it. Leading up to the door were three ridiculously large steps. Renamon noticed some bats flying around the chamber, and a couple sitting near the torches.
By now the others had caught up with Ruki and Renamon. Takato looked nervous seeing all the bones scattered on the floor.
Ruki glanced at him. "I'll admit they're creepy, but don't get scared stiff."
"I-I'm not scared," replied Takato nervously.
"Sure." Ruki turned her attention back to the room. Takato sighed anxiously.
"There are so many bats around here," observed Jen.
More technically, Navi said, "They're actually called Keese."
"Yeah, well there are a lot of them," Terriermon agreed with Jen. He started grinning. "Let's each take one." He jumped off Jen's shoulder, scampering towards one of the Keese. "Blazing Fire!" He shot at it, causing the Keese to fall to the floor and vanish. All the bat-like creatures in turn reacted to the fight and took off after Terriermon.
Guilmon jumped up as high as he could and slashed at one of them. "Rock Breaker!"
Renamon meanwhile defeated two at once with a well-placed, "Koyousetsu!"
Link whipped out his Fairy Slingshot and loaded a deku seed. He aimed at one of the Keese and fired, knocking it into oblivion. All the Keese were gone, and the bars on the door retracted, unlocking it.
"Link," called Navi, who was flying over a pile of bones. "Look at this."
'Shine light on the living dead…'
"L-L-Living dead?" stammered Takato.
"You really are scared," said Ruki staring at him.
"Well, who wouldn't be?"
Ruki was looking at him with an expression he couldn't tell if it was annoyance or disbelief. She turned to face the wall. "… Stop being so scared."
Takato blinked. "Huh?"
"There's no point in being scared. You've gone through scarier things than this. What makes it any different?"
Takato stared in the distance and thought about what she said. He decided she was right.
"Thanks, Ruki." He smiled at her.
His unexpected gesture caused her to falter. Turning away slightly, she attempted to hide the blush daring to rise. "Whatever… just don't be scared anymore."
"Kay," he continued to grin.
Link and Jen stared at them. Navi bumped into Link's face, causing him to fall over, Jen looking away. The Tamer saw Terriermon staring at a skeleton lying against the wall.
"HEY, JEN!" Terriermon shouted. Jen ran up to Terriermon and covered his mouth.
"Shhhhh!" he hushed his Digimon.
Takato and Ruki came out of their daze and glanced over at Jen. He noticed this and let go of Terriermon, laughing weakly. Terriermon just stared at Jen, raising a questioning eyebrow.
"Uh… okay…" Terriermon muttered, still confused. "Anyway, look at this." He pointed at the skeleton.
'Those who break into the Royal Tomb will be obstructed by the lurkers in the dark.'
"What both of these bones tell is related to the same topic," Renamon said thoughtfully.
"Hm…" Jen was lost in his own thought. "It's probably trying to tell us something important." He looked up abruptly. "The last one sounds like a warning."
Link walked up to him. "And the first one is the solution?"
"Sounds reasonable," Navi mused.
Jen looked worried. "But then the lurkers in the dark are… the living dead?"
"Takato!" cried Guilmon. Everyone turned to see Guilmon standing in front of the unlocked door. "Are we going through this door soon?"
"Yes, Guilmon," Takato said, sighing. "Wait for us first."
"Okay."
"Takato." Jen put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Be careful. I think there might be something up ahead waiting for us."
"Uh – O-Okay…"
Once they climbed the three stairs, they went through the door. They all froze once they heard moaning.
Ruki was the first to voice everyone's thought. "What's that?"
"It must be what the bones were describing," Jen figured darkly.
"Everyone, be careful," Renamon warned.
They slowly went down the pathway, an eerie green smoke becoming visible. It was coming from a green liquid in several rectangular pools. There were also even more bones in a corner of the chamber. Positioned throughout the room were three mud-coloured, scrawny figures, which had holes for eyes and mouths.
"Navi, what are those?" Link asked cautiously, peering at a zombie-like figure standing motionless from the side of the doorway.
"It's a ReDead. Its gaze will paralyze you. If it bites you, do anything to escape."
"B-Bite?" Terriermon chattered nervously, and gulped.
Renamon suggested, "We should strategize on what we're going to do beforehand."
"I'm with Renamon," said Jen. "We can't run straight out or they'll see us. The left way looks like the best way to go, since there's only one ReDead. All we have to do is get past that one ReDead, and then without the other two seeing us."
"Right," said Ruki.
"OKAY!" shouted Guilmon, and ran up to the ReDead.
"Guilmon, wait!" Takato cried, but Guilmon had already blasted the ReDead with a "Fireball!" The ReDead let out a big moan, and fell to the floor. Everyone stared at Guilmon, then at the limp ReDead, dumbfounded.
"Zombie go bye-bye!" said Guilmon proudly. Takato sighed, both a breath of relief and exasperation. Everyone walked past the fallen ReDead, Guilmon remaining where it was, waiting for Takato.
"Guilmon, you should stop doing such dangerous things."
"Sorry, Takato."
Link was waiting for Takato to catch up to the others, when the Tamer noticed him standing behind.
"Oh, sorry, Link," Takato apologized, turning to him.
"Huh?"
"Am I in your way?"
"No, I was just –"
"Takato!" called Terriermon "Hurry up, you can lecture Guilmon later."
"I'm not lecturing him," Takato called back, walking towards the others. Link and Guilmon followed.
When Link passed by the ReDead, it twitched. Navi stopped and stared at it. Suddenly, the ReDead sprouted up and turned to Link.
"Link!" Navi yelled. "Watch out!" Everyone turned to see the ReDead up again. Link spun around, becoming paralyzed as he locked eyes with the ReDead's petrifying gaze. The ReDead lumbered toward Link slowly, grabbing him.
"Ack!" Link bellowed, trying to get the ReDead off of his head. The ReDead lurched back, preparing to bite.
Takato ran towards him. "Link!" He had to do something to help him. He wasn't sure what, but he had to do something. He latched on to one of Link's arms, trying to pull him away from his captor. "Let go of him!" The ReDead was moaning in protest.
"Takato!" Jen shouted. "Don't look at it!"
Screwing his eyes shut, Takato planted his foot at one of the ReDead's sides. It felt terrible under the sole of his foot, but he pushed it aside. "I said – let – go – of – HIM!" Takato grasped at Link's left hand with his own. All of a sudden an intense luminosity surrounded them, engulfing the entire room. The others shielded their eyes as multiple groans, grunts, and shouts were uttered.
Link fell to his knees, gasping for breath. Beside him was Takato, trying to recover from the initial shock of what just happened. As the light dimmed down, they were able to see what had happened to the ReDead. All three of them were white and still like statues, the one by Link and Takato crumpled up on the floor. The two of them backed away in alarm as they were just inches away from the ReDead.
When Takato bumped into the wall, he realized that there was something strapped to his back. "Wha?" He tried looking over his shoulder to see what was there. About the only thing he could make out was a handle sticking out from behind. "I-Is that a -?"
"It's a sword," Navi finished for him. Having a momentary lapse in amazement, the Fairy nudged Link in the shoulder. "Hurry and get up. They won't be down for long." Takato and Link quickly got up and scurried to where the others were waiting. "I didn't think that the ReDead would get back up. I'm sorry."
Jen raised his eyebrows. "ReDeads can get back up?"
"Only a few I think."
"Of course," said Terriermon. "They're called ReDeads, so they probably can't die again."
Link turned to Takato. "Thank you for saving me."
"Uh – no problem," Takato replied awkwardly, still surprised by what happened. He pointed at his back as he faced it towards Link. "Do I really have a sword?"
The other boy gaped. "And a shield. They look exactly like mine!"
"Really?" Takato clumsily pulled them off his back to see for himself. "Wow… I can't believe it! How – uh." He stopped mid-sentence upon catching sight of the back of his left hand. The triangular piece of the Triforce which had been half filled in was now glowing as a whole. "What… what's going on?"
"It must be the whole situation about us dressed as those searching for the Triforce," Jen decided. "Probably when you helped Link, it caused that sort of reaction."
Takato and Link were in awe of this new "connection" Jen had found.
"Hmm…" Terriermon glanced at Ruki thoughtfully. "Hey, now you're the only one who's defenseless, Ruki." Terriermon laughed, but stopped abruptly at the sight of the malevolent look Ruki was giving him. The small Digimon coughed.
"Takato, you okay?" Guilmon asked him.
"Yeah," he grinned. "I'm okay."
"Oh, good. Now you can look at this." Guilmon was examining a wall with markings all over it, and Triforce at the top.
"I guess we continue through here?" Takato gazed up at the opening.
Navi flew by his head. "Let's go then."
They walked up the path and ended up in a room with those green pools of liquid on either side again, a stone path leading up to some stairs. A platform resided at the other end with lit torches on both sides accompanied by more bones. Upon reaching the platform, there was writing near the top which read:
'This poem is dedicated to the memory of the dearly departed
members of the Royal Family.'
Something else was etched into the wall near the bottom.
Jen bent down to take a better look. "It looks like a musical score."
Link blinked. "Shall I… play it?" He took out his ocarina once again.
Straightening back up, Jen replied, "Go ahead."
"As long as nothing blows up again," Terriermon muttered as he backed away, along with the others at hearing his comment.
Link glanced over the scale before preparing to play. He blew into the instrument, stretching his fingers across the holes. When the music softened at the end, a beam of light shone down on him, and the ocarina shimmered.
"Whoa," said Terriermon. "What just happened?"
"Link learned a new song," Navi answered evidently. "The Sun's Song."
"The sun has a song?" Terriermon thought out loud.
"It's just a title," Ruki pointed out with a testy tone. "It was the song the composer brothers made."
"Ohhh," Terriermon voiced, hiding behind Jen at the sight of yet another glare from Ruki.
"I think we're done here," said Navi. "Let's get out of here." Everyone nodded and started down the path out, but paused at the room with the ReDead. "Link," Navi whispered to get the boy's attention. "Play the Sun's Song. I think it will paralyze the ReDead like how that light from before did."
Nodding, Link pulled out his ocarina out and played the Sun's Song. As Navi predicted, the ReDead turned white and frozen as stone. They all ran out as fast as they could, past the ReDead, through the door, and up onto the platform leading them out of there. Once they were outside, they were surprised to discover that it was nighttime.
"Wow, how long did we take?" Terriermon wondered out loud. "It's already night."
"I don't know," said Jen. "It looks like we lost track of time." As they were leaving, Terriermon noticed the boy was gone.
"All right," Terriermon smirked. "That kid is gone. Now I can prove my theory." Terriermon ran up to the grave with flowers, grabbed the back of it, and pulled. Jen noticed Terriermon was missing and looked around to see that he was at the grave again.
"Terriermon, what are you doing?"
The others turned to see Terriermon fooling around with the headstone. By the time Jen caught up to him he had already forced it back. Terriermon jumped on top of the stone to see what he had done. A square hole was revealed in front of him. "So, there was something different about this grave. Darn, so I was wrong." Leaning on the gravestone's slant, Terriermon slipped down into the hole. "WAHHhhhhhh…!"
"Terriermon!" Jen jumped into the hole, following his partner. When the others saw this, they ran to the grave.
"Jen!" Takato called down. "Are you two okay?"
Another voice echoed up the pit. "Yeah, we're fine. But there's something down here."
Takato gulped. "Something alive?"
"No, it's – well, why don't you come and see for yourself."
The brown-haired Tamer exchanged glances with Link. They both went down the abyss along with Navi, leaving Ruki and the other Digimon above ground.
Once the two boys were on their feet, they could see a platform with lit torches, bones on either side, and a backing similar to in the Royal Family's grave. The thing about this one however was that there was nothing written there – only a large, brown stone wall, with Terriermon and Jen staring at a chest. Takato and Link went straight down and up a few stairs to the platform.
Takato's eyes set on the chest. "What's in there?"
"Well, we didn't open it, so we don't know," Terriermon retorted. "So here goes." He put his paws upon the cover and lifted it up. Inside was an ornate shield – a Hylian Shield.
Terriermon held it up in his ears. "A shield?"
Jen stared at the shield, and then turned to Link. "I think it should be yours."
"Mine?"
"Mm. Is that all right with you, Takato?"
The Tamer started. "Uh – yeah, sure." He pointed at his back. "I just got these, so I guess I should practice before getting something like that."
"Yeah, okay," Terriermon groaned. "Just someone take this thing!" It looked like Terriermon's legs and ears were about to give out at any moment.
Link took the shield off Terriermon's ears. "Um… thank you."
"You're welcome I guess," said Terriermon sadly, having hoped that there would be ruppees inside.
"It's a bit big for you though Link," Navi commented. "But maybe it will come in handy sometime."
They left the secret hole and were greeted by the others. While Link explained what happened, Jen, Terriermon, and Takato pushed the gravestone back over the hole.
As they traveled from the graveyard back to the village, a thought entered the goggled one's mind. "Hmm… Where are we going to stay for the night?"
"Why don't we try that women's house?" Ruki suggested. "She did offer us to stay before."
"Oh yeah, let's see if she'll still have us stay."
With that in mind, they walked past a well full of water, with a metal ladder going down the inside. There was a sign in front of it. It read:
'Dark! Narrow! Scary!
Well of Three Features'
"Well of Three Features?" Takato read bemusedly. "What does that mean?"
Jen looked at the sign as well. "Don't know."
Terriermon raised an eyebrow at his Tamer. "There's a first."
"Let's just keep going before it gets any later," Ruki sighed.
They continued toward the woman's house, where Terriermon found his cucco.
Suddenly Guilmon noticed something. "Who's that?" He scampered toward the tree that was situated near the front of the village. Choosing to once again chase after the Digimon, they found a figure sitting slouched over on a red block underneath the tree where the carpenters' boss had been. The group discovered it was a man, though very malnourished looking. He wore yellow pants, black wristbands and shoes, with a ring on each of his middle fingers. With no pupils, hair, and thick eyebrow muscles, he looked quite a pitiable creature indeed. A small bag sat to his left, though no one conjured up what might be inside. His face gave the impression that he had lost all hope in life.
"Hi!" Guilmon said in a tone which contradicted the man's being. "Who are you?"
He gave no response other than a slight twitch of his facial features.
The space between Jen's eyebrows shrunk just a bit as he thought uncertainly. "Are you… the carpenter's son?" His question surprised the others.
The man finally reacted with a distasteful grunt. "People are disgusting," he muttered.
Ruki blinked at him. "What?"
"My own father and mother are disgusting."
"You shouldn't say those things about your parents," Takato mused sadly.
The disgruntled male glowered at the group. "You must be disgusting, too!"
"WHAT!" Ruki shouted. "Where do you get the right to call us disgusting!" The others stared at Ruki in shock. "Just because you find your parents disgusting doesn't mean everyone is!" They saw this was going to look bad, so Takato and Jen took her by the arms, and dragged her away towards the woman's house against Ruki's protests.
When they came in, they saw a table by the window with two chairs, another table off to the side, and a square table in the middle off the room with two chairs. The carpenters that were supposedly working in the town earlier that day were staying in the woman's house, lounging around the room. The place smelt of a mingled scent of sweat and cooking food.
Making a face that was tired and repulsed, Ruki murmured, "Okay – forget what I said earlier."
"We don't have much choice," Jen stated. "We have to stay here."
They walked up to the women in order to ask permission for staying the night.
"Well, make yourself at home." She smiled but sounded exasperated. "The food isn't ready yet, though."
"Okay, thanks," Takato nodded.
Sighing, Ruki headed for the door. "I'm going to get some air." In response to her Tamer's wishes, Renamon phased from the others' sight.
Takato and Link took a seat at the middle table, Jen pulling up a chair from the table by the window to join them. Terriermon perched himself on Jen's shoulder while Guilmon plunked himself down on the floor by Takato, Navi glowing overhead. Waiting there, the group was able to pick up on what the rest of the guests were saying.
"I'm starving! Isn't inner ready yet? It's 00:00 already!" the worker on the farthest bed whined.
The worker off to the side joined in by complaining, "I'm starving! Let's eat dinner, right now!"
"Knock it off, you bums!" their boss roared. "Dinner will be ready when it's ready!" He let out a breath of annoyance, turning to his wife to make some grumblings of his own. "Those guys each do the work of half a man, but they still want a full man's portion! They're lazy slackers, I tell you!"
"Nice company," Terriermon said sarcastically to the others.
Jen however wasn't paying much attention to the carpenters. His mind was on a more pressing matter, only revealed when he voiced it voluntarily. "I wonder how much time has passed since we've been away."
Takato looked at him. "You mean back home?"
"Yes. How fast does time pass at home as opposed to here?"
"So… you mean like how in the Digital World the days went by so quickly compared to the Real World?"
"Mm. Except, what if while we're here, time is faster at home?"
Terriermon's eyes widened. "You mean, by the time we get back, Shuichon could be like a teenager or something?"
"No way…" Takato paled. "Which is worse; not getting home or going back to find everyone grown up?" He swallowed. "Katou-san could be… could be…"
Link and Navi looked at their new companions. They were in such a depressed frame of mind, all because they were worried about home.
"No matter what…"
The Tamers and Digimon looked up at the boy from the forest.
"No matter what, I'm going to make sure you guys get home."
His words and confidence were refreshing enough to lighten their spirits. Nodding, they all exchanged assuring smiles with one another.
"Look at this, kids!" One of the carpenters who had been sitting on the floor came up to them, slapping his arms onto the table. "My beautiful, smooth hands are all worn out from working," he sobbed. He leaned towards Takato. "Don't you feel sorry for me?"
"Um… uh… y-yes." He inched away from the abrasive being. "Um… I'm going to go outside for a bit." He was about to ask Guilmon to join him, but noticed that the red dino was eagerly sniffing the air for wafts of food.
Leaving them with the overly dramatic carpenter, Takato walked out into the crisp night air. Right away he could tell that it was a lot fresher outside than inside. That's when he remembered Ruki earlier coming out here for just that. Scanning around the area however, he couldn't see the girl anywhere. He stroll a little further, taking note that the boss' son was still sitting by that tree by himself. Vaguely wondering if Ruki desired the same thing at the moment, he turned to go back.
Takato's mindset changed when he saw the lookout tower stationed nearby. He had seen it going into the village, and had admittedly thought of what the view from there must be like. Seeing this as his chance to do just that, he headed for the bottom of the tower, taking a firm hold of the ladder as he ascended. It was only until he had nearly reached the top when he realized that falling from such a height would not be a pleasant experience. Before he could contemplate going back down before such a thing could happen, his eyes caught sight of someone already at the top of the tower. Someone familiar… His curiosity pushed him on to reach the summit; and when he did, that was where he found her.
She had chosen to remove her headdress, a decision which just about stunned the boy, though now he was allowed to watch as the wind freely played with her ginger strands. She could tell someone else was there, so when she turned her hair brushed against her face, violet eyes shining through the night. She was just as surprised as he was.
"Takato?"
"Um… hi… Ruki." He clambered the rest of the way up onto the landing.
Ruki pushed her hair out of her face, tucking it back underneath her headdress. "What are you doing here?"
"I just wanted to see what the view from here was like," he answered quietly. Takato gave her a withdrawn look. "Is it good?"
She stared at him momentarily. Tilting her head back to the scenery, she murmured, "Yes."
Takato approached Ruki with caution as he came to stand beside her.
"So I'm guessing dinner isn't ready yet?"
"No. We passed the time by talking about home."
"… I see."
The boy hesitated in responding. For a moment he considered letting Ruki in on the details of the talk about home. Jen's theory still weighed on his mind, despite the hope that Link's little pep talk provided. If he told Ruki, what would she say? If her reaction was what Takato was feeling, maybe he shouldn't say anything.
"I wonder if our parents have realized we're missing yet." Ruki took the opportunity to speak before he came to a conclusion.
She had taken him off guard by that thought. Takato stared down upon the darkened village. "Mm… I don't know."
Ruki swayed from her original mindset. "What would my mother say, seeing me dressed in this like a princess?" She probably meant for it to be something humorous. Takato however, must not have noticed.
"But, part of your name means princess, doesn't it?"
She stared at him incredulously. "What?" she said, as though she must not have heard him correctly.
"Well… doesn't it?"
Ruki blinked. With a lengthened, but wary tone, she replied, "Yes…"
"Then it fits how you're dressed like that… right?"
She squinted at him through the dimness. "What kind of idiotic conversation are you trying to start here?"
"Huh? N-No, I was just –"
"Look, I don't know where you're going with this, but I don't like it, understand?"
"Uh, o-okay!"
"And another thing; mention this dress or conversation ever again, and I'll –"
"Dinner's ready!" A ball of light suddenly zoomed into view, making them jump in surprise.
"N-Navi!" Takato huffed. "You nearly caused us to fall off!"
"Oh, sorry. Were you really that deep in conversation?"
"Um…" He looked at Ruki leaning on the banister across from him. She had a sour, but startled expression on her face. "No, not really."
"O-kay then!" the fairy replied in a crisp tone. "Then you'd better hurry and get down before those workers suck up all the food." With that last remark, Navi flew back down and into the house. This once again left the two Tamers alone.
Unsure of what to say, Takato mumbled, "Um…" but Ruki was already walking past him, preparing to descend the tower.
Before she disappeared from his sight, she glared at him briefly before withdrawing.
He took it as a hint not to say anything to her. Sighing, Takato took one last gaze at the sublime view from the tower. 'I guess it's time for dinner.'
Me: And that's the end of that chapter… huh, that sounds like some famous quote…
Tsubaki: A very normal quote -.-'
Me: But it sounds famous.
Tsubaki: Not .
Me: Whatever!
Tsubaki: --
Me: Anyway! Next chapter they go to Death Mountain!
Tsubaki: Hope it doesn't seem boring again q.q
Me: With falling boulders and monsters everywhere? Plus the Gorons!
Tsubaki: True. Wonder how that's gonna work…
Me: Yeah, well we'll see.
Tsubaki:P