Despite the fact that it took me a million years to update (I've been babysitting this summer, so minimal free time), this is probably one of my favorite chapters yet. I had SO much fun figuring out the order of each scene, exactly how to connect them, and in what ways I needed to phrase certain lines. Some of the scenes will contain important, yet subtle foreshadowing of events ahead. Others are purely fluff for the sake of fluff, but I tried to blend the two together so it'll be more difficult to tell what's actually "important" and what's merely a fluffy red herring.
Also...I think I'm starting to like writing Iori. I originally paired him with Xiaochun as a challenge to myself, knowing that they were the best duo to move the plot forward in the way I wanted it to. (In that she busts in like a wrecking ball and he has little power to stop her...for now...) Then I accidentally had a ton of fun playing off his Straight Man nature to her spontaneity and watching them draw out different sides of each other, and now I'm wondering why authors don't write them more often. It's not like I'm the first to crossover 02&03. And I definitely won't be the last.
o
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DIGIMON TRI: BALANCE
o
o
Iori pressed his hand against the tree, using its sturdy trunk to support the bulk of his weight. He leaned forward. His shoes toed the cliff's edge, sending loose dirt and pebbles down the gentle slope towards the village below.
Its residents were too preoccupied to notice.
A few meters to his right, Xiaochun was on her stomach. Arms folded in front, barely supporting her upper body weight, she lazily kicked the air behind her. Every so often, the wind carried excerpts of an unfamiliar melody she hummed to his ears. She was enjoying herself.
More accurately, she was enjoying the sight below: the most unusual, chaotic game of tag Iori had ever seen.
"It does look pretty fun," she commented.
Iori was tempted to (silently) agree.
Dozens of digimon participated. Each weaved in an out of the smallest village huts at seemingly random intervals. There were at least two types intermingling. Whenever the moon drifted behind a cloud, the brown digimon resembling extremely wide-eyed baby chicks let out a round of squeaks before dispersing. Upon its reemergence, the balls of fluff with long ears and a bushy tail collectively cheered before resuming the chase.
Between them all, it was nearly impossible to discern at any given time who was actually It.
"When you said you hear something happening, this was...not when I was expecting," he told her.
"Honestly? Me, neither." She giggled. "I really did think they were under attack. Which, I guess, they kind of are. Just not the kind of attack I was thinking."
One of the fluff balls managed to climb onto the roof of one of the medium-sized huts. It bounced rapidly around the domed surface, trying to follow the action below. A designated chaser had finally be established and was running after a small group of the baby chicks. Everyone seemed thrilled by this latest development.
"Those are Pinamon." Xiaochun motioned to the chicks. She then gestured towards the fluff ball on top of the hut. "And that's Kyaromon. Both of them have the ability to evolve into Elecmon. I wonder if that's why they live together." Her eyes turned upward in contemplation. "More importantly, I wonder if that means the Village of Beginnings is nearby."
"How do you know all that?" Iori lowered himself into a seated position, alternating between the village-wide game and Xiaochun.
"It was part of my training."
She pushed herself up and sat back, then reached for one of the small pouches attached to her belt. Inside were a pack of cards. Iori recognized them as similar to the ones Ruki showed Sora earlier in the evening. As she spoke, Xiaochun began shuffling through the desk in search of a particular name.
"Ryo-senpai's been teaching me how to play the game. I wanted Ruki-nee-chan to do it, but she's usually busy teaching Juri-san. I figured, the better I got at the game, the more I'd be able to learn about digimon in general. And the more I learned about digimon in general, the easier it would be for me to know what to Card Slash in battle."
Iori had no idea what a Card Slash was, but his interest was piqued when she pulled out Pinamon and Kyaromon's respective cards. The images on the front were identical in every way to the digimon below.
"Are all the digimon in our Dimensions the same?" he asked.
She shrugged. "Maybe." Her weight shifted so she could properly cross her legs. This allowed her to rest her chin in one hand. "I haven't met all the digimon in either yet. But I want to. This is actually my first time seeing a Pinamon in person. They're so much cuter than on the card!"
A Pinamon climbed on top of the same hut as Kyaromon. A dizzying chase began. Several of their friends gathered at the base, half cheering for the chaser and half cheering for the one being chased to escape.
Iori felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
Xiaochan was staring at him. And smirking. Her eyes briefly flickered back towards the village before fixating on his awaited answer.
Somehow, he understood what she was asking.
"No."
"Aww, come on, Iori-kun!"
"It's the middle of the night, Xiaochun-sa-"
"Xiao-chan," she corrected.
He ignored the correction. "I'm not going to play tag with you and a group of Baby II digimon at this hour."
She pouted. "Give me one good reason why not."
"Because..." he trailed off. Sensing the threat of flushed cheeks, his gaze averted. "Takeru-san and the others would find out."
He was as confident of that as he was of anything. Takeru and Miyako had that weird sixth sense of theirs when it came to certain social interactions between genders. Hikari was literally empathetic. She would just know. The way Iori's luck was going that night, even Daisuke would eventually figure something out, promptly misinterpret the situation in the worst possible way, and then it would be all over. He would never hear the end of it from any of them.
Xiaochun had to cover her mouth with both hands to keep from laughing too loudly.
"Ow!"
A cry rang out from below, where Rooftop Pinamon was hopping up and down on one claw, visibly favoring the other.
"Not fair! Not fair! Using piripiri spark is against the rules!"
Kyaromon took the opportunity to hop down from the roof, disappearing behind the hut. The friends cheered the continuation of the game as Pinamon was designated the new It.
Xiaochun went still.
Iori noticed. "What's wrong?"
The smile had vanished from her face entirely. Her brows furrowed, nose scrunching as she pushed herself to a stand. Her mind was a whir with thoughts. Twice, she glanced down at the cards in her hand.
"Something's not right. Only two of them were up there, but Pinamon's the one who said he was shocked."
"Kyaromon don't have electric attacks?"
"No. They don't." A quick scan of the stats on each card told her everything she needed to validate her confusion. "Kyaromon's bodies are basically like rubber. They shouldn't be able to conduct electricity like that. And on top of that, piripiri spark is a Pinamon attack." Her eyes narrowed. "Unless..."
Kyaromon reappeared from behind an adjacent hut. Its body hovered low to the ground. Its teeth were bared. Snarls erupted. A visible charge of electricity crackled at the tip of its tail.
The sparks were pink.
Xiaochun's eyes widened. "I knew it! He's a Glitch!"
"A what?"
Ignoring the question, Xiaochun took three wide steps back before dashing towards and over the cliff's edge. She slid down the incline, knees bent to maintain balance. Dust flew up behind her. Rocks hit her shoes. It took her less than ten seconds to reach the base before she took off at full speed towards the infected digimon.
Only a few of the villagers were still running along the outskirts, unaware. Most gathered around their friend. Whispers arose at the sudden strange behavior. Noting the wobbling legs and frantically swaying tail, as if trying to shake something off. Confused by the twin glowing eyes the same color as those strange sparks.
A growl. A shift in weight. Then, it lunged for the nearest Pinamon.
Xiaochun met it in the air halfway with a solid kick, sending the infected Kyaromon flying
Confusion and fear spread before either of them hit the ground.
"A human?"
"What's she doing here?"
"Why'd she kick Kyaromon?"
"Rude! She's not a soccer ball!"
Xiaochun landed in a low crouch, an arm extended to maintain balance.
"I don't have time to explain," she called over her shoulder. "It's not safe. Try to get inside if you can, and don't touch-"
More screams.
She spun on her heel.
A second Kyaromon collapsed. Pink sparks were emitting from the Pinamon next to it. And the one behind it. Both sets of eyes glowered. Their bodies trembled with rising adrenaline. Friction from the subtle movement generated even more charge from the dry air. Yellow static mingled with the pink sparks. Each seemingly vying for dominance as a literal internal battle waged within the electric digimon.
Behind her, the original infected Kyaromon stirred.
Three sets of glowing eyes surrounded her. No...four. Five.
They all attacked without warning.
Xiaochun was barely able to dodge the first. She parried the second while clumsily punting the third before diving to the ground. Numbers one and three collided mid-air as she rolled to safety.
Chaos erupted. The crowd burst into an array of screams, fear, and cries naming their friends. Some ducked inside the nearest huts, shutting the door tightly behind them. But these only hosted single digimon on a typical day. No more than two fit, leaving the remaining scrambling for larger shelters. The Pinamon still atop the roof bounced on one claw as it flickered between directing traffic and fighting off the influence of the infection.
Xiaochun rolled herself into a low crouch before pausing to catch her breath. She scanned the area for a count of visibly infected.
Nine.
So far.
"Where did it come from?" she wondered aloud. It helped her thought process. "They're isolated. They can't have infected themselves...I don't think. Which means-"
"Xiaochun-san, behind you!"
There was no time to correct him. She ducked.
A sickening crack reverberated in her ear as Iori swung the thick tree branch right in Pinamon's face, sending him flying.
He twirled the makeshift shinai around his wrist several times, getting a proper feel for its weight and balance. His eyes hardened as he slipped into a traditional chudan stance. Right foot forward, knees bent, spine straight. He gripped his weapon with both hands just above waist level. There, he stood in watch as three newly infected digimon approached. Two Kyaromon and a Pinamon.
For a single moment, all was still.
A cool breeze tickled his bangs.
Then the attack came; in rapid succession, he blocked the swing of the first Kyaromon's tail, following through before it had a chance to grab the branch out of his hands, then came back around and parried away the second before meeting another attack from the first. The second Kyaromon tried to head butt him in the stomach. He saw this in time to spin out of the way, simultaneously raising the branch over his head to bring it down in a solid men strike between Pinamon's eyes.
The latter fell. The rest were still in recovery. He straightened. His breathing remained light and unlabored.
Xiaochan stared. Blatantly.
"We so need to spar together sometime."
He sent her an odd look.
Three more infected Pinamon came to stand beside their fallen peers. Four Kyaromon approached Xiaochun. Two were eyeing Iori.
Iori retreated until he and Xiaochun were at each other's backs. A look of understanding passed between them. They nodded once in synch. He resumed his chudan stance, the grip on the makeshift shinai tightening. Xiaochun dipped low into a Snake stance, left hand extending in front of her and right arm stretched out behind.
"Goburi Bomb!"
Xiaochun had less than a second from when she first saw the large fireball to react. Twisting her body around, she slammed into Iori, sending them both rolling to one side. The heat from the attack warmed the skin of her cheek as it flew just overhead, setting two Kyaromon's tails on fire.
Iori recovered first, rolling himself into a low sonkyo stance. A glance to his right told him Xiaochun had landed on her back, limbs splayed, and was voluntarily frozen in place.
"There may be a slight chance I didn't think this through."
"Only slight?" he echoed dully.
"Goburi Dash!"
A green-skinned troll digimon headed straight for the pair, wildly swinging a large club more than half its size. When Iori held up the branch in attempt to defend himself and Xiaochun, it shattered on impact. He was thrown back. Pain shot up his tailbone. Wincing, he bit his tongue to keep from crying out and tasted copper. His eyes watered.
Through blurred vision, he saw a mass of green and brown hovering over them both. Along with a flicker of pink.
"Iori-kun!" Xiaochun pulled herself to a crawl, grabbing any rock she could pick up within reach to chuck at the offending Goburimon. "Leave him alone, you stupid Glitch!"
The first rock bounced off Goburimon's head. It turned in search of the source, only to have the second smack it right in the face. Howling in pain, it clutched at its nose with its free hand, hopping from one foot to the other in a vain attempt to escape the pain. Glistening fangs appeared as it bared them in anger.
"Goburi Strike!"
Xiaochun had no idea where the giant boulder came from. Only that it was heading straight for her.
"Saint Punch!"
The two attacks collided, showing her with harmless dirt and pebbles.
"Fox Card!"
Ten paper charms flew through the air. Each claimed a Baby II Glitch. Pinamon tails shot straight up as their internal systems short-circuited. Kyaromon fur stood on end. Two of the latter started chasing their own tails to the point of exhaustion before unceremoniously collapsing.
Sakuyamon appeared, hovering several meters off the ground in all her elegant glory. She need only glance at the situation below before reaching for her staff, using it to swing at Goburimon. The infected digimon flew high into the air; that was Saintgalgomon's cue to grab it by its club, swinging it around around in a mega twister variation. The force propelled Goburiomon directly into the ground, leaving a small crater in its wake. It did not get up again.
Iori took advantage of the opening to rush to Xiaochun's side. She was on her knees, partially keeled over with her hands on her head. Tentatively, he offered a comforting hand on her shoulder and tilted his head to meet her gaze.
"Are you alright?"
Her reply came in the form of a series of curses in two languages. One he did not speak.
"I'm never going to live this down," she muttered.
"Diamond Realm Mandela!"
The rings of Sakuyamon's staff head jingled. An ethereal glow enveloped her whole self, reflecting off her golden armour. It shone brighter than moonlight. Rings of light emerged. Interlocking circles that expanded outward until they filled the entire area. Cherry blossoms rained down from an unseen source.
Iori held out one hand. A single, delicate petal touched his palm, leaving a faint tingling sensation before it dissolved.
The light faded.
Every Glitch in the village was fast asleep; loud snores erupted from Goburimon's crater.
Saintgalgomon and Sakuyamon shared a nod of satisfaction before descending. As they touched ground, twin glows surrounding them faded into four distinct figures. Human and digimon partner alike bore identical looks of disapproval. Ruki and Jian's arms were folded. Terriermon's hands were on his hips. Renamon's nose turned up.
Xiaochun begrudgingly pulled herself to a stand. Her hands tucked behind her back. She lifted her head wearing what she hoped was an innocent smile. It came off almost as forced as the weak laugh that followed.
"Funny seeing you here. Did you go for a late night walk too?"
Ruki raised an eyebrow. Jian tapped his foot.
Xiaochun winced. "Would it help it I said I genuinely didn't mean to end up in the middle of a fight?"
"Not remotely," Jian shook his head. "Even you should know better. If you're going to keep wandering off, at least bring Lopmon with you. No one should be traveling the Digital World alone."
"I wasn't alone," Xiaochun pointed out.
"Unless Iori-kun here can evolve into a Holy Beast, he doesn't count."
"Please. Don't blame Xiaochun-san too harshly." Iori cut in. Stepping in front of the girl in question, he placed both hands at his sides and bowed in apology. "This was my fault. I was unable to sleep, so she tried to help me by-"
Ruki's fist came down on the top of his head. Not hard enough to hurt, but with enough force to get her point across.
"Noble," she declared with more than a hint of irony. "But the problem with trying to cover for someone is that said someone never learns her lesson."
She sent a pointed look in Xiaochun's direction. The younger girl immediately proved her point by indiscreetly hiding further behind Iori.
While she was back there, she then muttered, "And didn't I already tell you a million times to call me Xiao-chan?"
Iori felt his cheeks grow warm. The complaint was meant for his ears, but easily loud enough for their two seniors to hear. Including her brother.
To his surprise, however, Jian merely shrugged.
"You might as well." Contrast to a moment prior, his tone was strangely calm. As if he were used to the subject. "She has everyone call her that. Even Makoto, and he's only nine."
Once again, Iori had no idea how he was meant to react to any of that.
He was saved by a creaking door.
Hushed whispers reached the Tamers and Chosen. Dozens of blue and brown eyes emerged from the shadows of fear. Wide-eyed and blinking, they focused heavily on Ruki and Jian in particular, occasionally darting between them and the digimon at their sides.
Ruki crouched down. "It's alright. You can come out. Just be careful not to touch any of them. We still don't know whether it spreads in their sleep or not."
At first, only a few appeared. Three Pinamon. Each with their tail alert and ready to strike. Yellow electricity crackled from the tips of the feathers as they crept towards their fallen friends. One reached for a stick long enough to poke an unconscious Kyaromon with.
"You mean,,,they're not dead?" it asked, eyes brimming with the threat of tears.
Jian shook his head. "Just sleeping. Sakuyamon's purification can knock out a Baby II level Gli-I mean, digimon for several hours."
"Sa...ku...yamon..."
The name bounced off several tongues. Foreign to all. This came as little surprise to the Tamers, given the nature of Sakuyamon's existence. They waited with great patience as the Pinamon and Kyaromon eyed Ruki and Renamon up and down several times, the image of their combined form still fresh in their young minds.
A digimon. And a human. Combined?
It was something they had never experienced before. Not even in a past life.
Well, except for...
"Do you think they're a Twinsoul?"
"Don't be stupid Pinamon. Twinsouls aren't real!"
"Are too!"
"Are not!"
"What's a Twinsoul?" Terriermon cut in.
The Pinamon and Kyaromon looked to one another, then back at Terriermon.
"It's a story Elecmon used to tell us." Pinamon told him. "Back when we first hatched."
Kyaromon took over. "According to him, there was once a digimon who wasn't actually a digimon. Except it had to be a digimon because it appeared in the Village of Beginnings like a digimon. Only it didn't hatch from an egg. It appeared already at Baby Level. And here's the most ridiculous part...it came from the Digital World, but also from a completely different World entirely! At the same time! I told you it didn't make any sense!"
"A creature from both the Digital World and another World?" Iori echoed. "That almost sounds like some sort of paradox."
Ruki's eyes met Jian's. The look on his face told her he was thinking the exact same thing:
"Or like a Child of Two Worlds."
o o o
o o o
o o o
Miyako stiffened a yawn, then used the same hand to shield her eyes.
The sun was barely peeking over the tops of the trees. Given their heights, she figured it had to be somewhere between 10:00 and 11:00 in the morning. Less than three hours since their arrive in the Pina-Kyaro village (Mimi's choice of name). And two since she had last seen Iori.
"This place isn't that big. Where could he have gone?" she questioned aloud, turning to her immediate right. "What do you think, Ken-ku..."
No one was there.
She'd gotten so used to him being by her side during their time in the Tamers' Dimension that to look and not see him there felt...strange.
Laughter rang from the adjacent garden.
A major source of food for the village, it was currently being seen to by most of the youngest Chosen boys. Takeru and Wallace were crouched down, twin blonde messes amid an array of unripe vegetables in need of extra watering. Daisuke and Ken were a few meters behind them. Both inexplicably covered in dirt. Daisuke was scratching sheepishly at the back of his head. Whatever he said (or did) left Ken smiling brighter than Miyako had seen from him in a long while.
"Looking for someone?"
Mimi stood with a hand on her hips and a knowing smirk. She gave Miyako little opportunity to respond before gesturing for the younger girl to follow.
Their journey took them halfway through the village. Past the several baskets of harvest already gathered from the garden. Weaving through several of the tiniest houses, a few of which had soft snores emitting from them. Beyond the largest huts gathered in the very center, where Jou and Yamato had spent the last half hour securing the gathered infected digimon inside. (Not the ideal solution, in Miyako's opinion, but better than immediately resorting to deleting them.)
Twenty meters later, Mimi spun on her heels. She pressed a finger to her lips and gestured behind one of the moderately-sized houses on the edge of the village border. It stood just over two meters above eye level, leaving Miyako to peek around the side to see what Mimi wanted to show her.
Her heart melted at the sight.
Iori and Xiaochun were slumped against the same tree. Both fast asleep. His chin rested on his chest, bangs falling loosely over his eyes. Armadillomon curled against his side, supporting enough of his weight to keep him from falling over. To their immediate right, Xiaochun cuddled Lopmon contently. Smiling in the bliss of a peaceful slumber
"Okay, that's adorable," Miyako agreed.
"I talked to Ruki-san," Mimi explained, keeping her voice soft so as to not disturb the sleeping children. "She said they were up most of the night helping the villagers. They even stood up against the infected digimon to protect those that were left."
"By themselves?" Miyako's brows rose.
"Completely by themselves. They didn't even have Lopmon or Armadillomon with them."
Miyako had questions. So many of them. Starting with why Iori would have gone anywhere without his digimon partner and not even close to ending with why he had been with Xiaochun. Without his digimon partner. In the middle of the night. Fighting off infected digimon. How did they even know where to find a village with infected digimon to fight off?
"You know," Mimi spoke again, breaking Miyako's bullet train of thought. "He's usually so stoic and serious when he's awake. I don't think I've even seen him look so peaceful. Is he always like this when he's asleep?"
It wasn't an unreasonable question. Iori had spent countless nights at her family's apartment over the years. Most of them when he was younger, but as recently as four months ago, when his mother and grandfather had to leave for some kendo conference overseas. They'd made an entire week of it. She'd crashed on the couch, while he would curl up in the recliner.
Yet...the more Miyako thought back to those nights...she realized she didn't actually have an answer to Mimi's question.
She turned back to her sleeping friend. Observing him as she rarely had before.
"He looks..." she began, pausing until the right words came to her in a flash of realization: "...young. He looks...really young." His slouched posture. His shaggy hair. That round face and large eyes lined with thick lashes. It was as much a surprise to her as anything. "They both do."
"They are young." Mimi pointed out. "But then again, so were we." She pressed her back against the hut, tucking a few highlighted strands behind her ear. "You were eleven your first time, weren't you? And I was ten. Younger than they are now."
"But we never went up against a group of infected digimon without our partners."
Mimi chuckled. "No. I suppose not."
Armadillomon muttered something indecipherable in his sleep. His legs twitched, nose wrinkling in reaction to a dream without witnesses. He stirred. Just when it seemed that he would awaken, however, the movement caused Iori's arm to slide down his shell, hand resting atop his head. It was enough to settle the Child level digimon.
Miyako smiled. "We should let them sleep. I can cover Iori-kun's share of the chores. They've earned it."
Mimi nodded her agreement.
Xiaochun chose that moment to shift. A breath of air passed through her lips as she unconsciously settled herself into a more comfortable position. One that left her close enough for her pigtails to graze Iori's shoulder.
Mimi and Miyako shared a look. Twin smirks appeared as they simultaneously reached for their camera phones.
o o o
o o o
"...Hikari?"
Tailmon was moderately concerned. The girl in question had not moved for more than a minute. Not even swaying as she stood in the morning sun. Her eyes remained unfocused, but this time she was listening.
"Should we worry?" Tsukaimon wondered. "Not that I am or anything. But...you know..."
"There."
A single word was Hikari's only clue before she headed for the grassy field to the west of the village border. It spanned just over 300 meters before the edge of the forest. Vast and wild, with tall unkempt grass that swayed in the breeze. Except for a small section that rustled outside the wind's influence. From there, a faint chirping sound emitted.
Hikari made it all the way to the perimeter before two large eyes peeked a face. One indecipherable in its a body. It trembled. Barely. A near indiscernible movement she recognized only after the realization that her body was trembling as well. Mirroring the fear it felt in its heart.
She knelt, calling to the Pinamon by name.
The moment that followed felt like an eternity. Pinamon remained unmoving, at one point sinking further back into its grassy retreat. Hikari held out her hand and waited. Like a cat, Pinamon eventually slunk forward as it eyed the tips of her fingers. Sizing the girl up and down multiple times before contemplating any further decisions.
It took a step forward. Its beak was within reach. She could have easily extended her arm further. Instead, she waited. Another step. Pinamon ducked its head down low, curling itself right under Hikari's hand.
Her smile softened as she felt the digimon's silky feather's caress the palm of her skin. She stroked its back several times, each time adding a little more pressure until the tension in its body eased. Pinamon looked up. Their eyes met, and in a flash, Hikari felt a familiar sadness radiating from the creature's heart.
Too late did she notice the flash of pink.
Electricity crackled in the feathers of its tail. In an instant, the energy coursed through its body, shocking Hikari's palm. She fell back onto her rear, clutching her fist with her opposite hand. Her cry of pain startled the infected Pinamon into fleeing back into the field, this time making a beeline for the forest.
Tsukaimon watched the whole thing. He saw Red.
"How dare you hurt my Hikari!"
His wings became a blur as he dove after the offender.
"Your Hikari?" Tailmon echoed indignantly, scampering after them both.
Patamon followed not long after, weakly calling out reminders about avoiding physical attacks that required directly contact.
"That won't end well for at least one of them."
Takeru was at her side. Hikari hadn't heard or sense him approach, but she wasn't surprised by his presence.
"Are you alright?"
She did not answer. Her fist remained firmly clasped. The pain from the shock was already beginning to subside, but the vicarious one in her heart lingered. She stared after the digimons' retreating forms until long after they faded from view. Wondering what would become of the poor Pinamon she couldn't help but pity.
"He was sad," she finally stated. Her voice carried that distant tone Takeru had come to recognize. The one he was never fully certain whether or not he was meant to understand. "It was only for a moment. When I was petting him, he felt...lost. Scared. He knew what was happening, and he just...let it. Like he gave up. And it fed on that hopelessness..."
Takeru suppressed the unsettling feeling threatening his stomach. Refusing the thought that one could be so utterly without Hope as to let it consume them so completely. Not again.
Never again.
Hikari subconsciously flexed her fingers. The movement was stiff.
"Let me see."
The command was enough to draw her back to him. Her head tilted in confusion.
"Your hand," he explained, holding out his. "Let me see it."
She briefly considered otherwise before relenting, placing her hand in his, palm facing upward. He was gentle as he shifted closer, closing much of the space between them. He leaned in for a better look. There were no outward signs of injury. No bruising. No burn marks. His fingers grazed the tender skin. She let out a soft gasp; it tickled, but at the same time, it didn't.
Takeru continued the inspection. He traced along her heart line. She watched his every movement. The way his eyes followed his finger down the head line, crossing over the fate and sun lines before doubling back to the head line. She tensed, unable to resist a small shudder.
Fueled by her reaction, he then brought the palm to his lips, kissing the affected area.
Her cheeks flushed. Their eyes met. She was left both breathless and without words.
He risked a half grin. "Too corny?"
His enchantment over her still allowed the freedom of a nod.
"Do you mind?"
Her expression didn't waver as she shook her head. A warm smile appeared. He mirrored it. Together, they resisted the urge to burst out laughing.
o o o
"I'm proud of you, Taichi."
Sora's voice brought him back to the present. He blinked twice, sending away any mental images threatening his current focus, and awkwardly adjusted the large stick across his shoulders. Twin buckets of water hung from either end. Sora was carrying an identical setup.
She was also giving him the same look as the one on the day he'd first put on Koushiro's modified goggles.
A subtle jerk of her head returned his attention to the far field. He knew then she had been referring to Hikari and Takeru. The young couple were still sitting together on the ground, engaged in a conversation too distant to reach his ears. It wasn't an unfamiliar sight. In fact, it was the normalcy of it all that had struck him then. How little seemed to have changed, despite so much changing in the last 48 hours.
"If there was anyone I'd bet on freaking out over his little sister getting so close to a boy, it would have been you."
Taichi thought he had a clever retort. Then he remembered he was talking to Sora, and instead opted for a shrug.
"It's Takeru," he stated, as if that explained everything.
For Sora, it did.
She knew Takeru as well as he. The little boy who'd been with them since their earliest days in the Digital World. Whom they'd seen at both his worst and lowest, watching him emerge from tragedy after tragedy as the kind, sweet young man who was ever the paragon of his Crest's namesake. He'd proven himself time and again to not only be a formidable ally in battle, but a loyal friend willing to put his life on the line to protect his most precious people. And there were few people in his life more precious to him than Hikari.
"You know..." she continued, feeling a sudden, inexplicable rush of impishness overtake her. (She chose to blame Takeru's influence.) "If they ever got married, that would make you and Yamato brothers."
Taichi's face fell. "You really know how to ruin the moment, don't you?"
Sora bit her lower lip to keep from laughing. Then again to contain a sharp squeal as drops of cold water hit the bare skin of her arm. Taichi was grinning, a playful glint in his eye. She knew at once she had to do something to fix that. So she flickered some water from her bucket back at him, hitting the side of his cheek.
Taichi was all too ready to return fire.
A splash battle ensued.
o o o
o o o
Ruki loved her (human female) best friend. Truly.
But sometimes, she had to remind herself of that fact.
"I'm not lying!"
A sigh escaped her. Had it been anyone else, she would have long ago gotten vertigo from rolling her eyes so often during the exchange. A hand came up to her ear, pressing the piece enough to block out any external distractions. What she heard caused her to frown.
"No, you're twisting my words to-" She was cut off. Long enough to take a slow, deep breath before continuing. "That's not even close to what happened." Another pause. Followed by a wince. "I knew you'd hold that against me. I wasn't-wait, you know what? Hold that thought."
Pulling the piece out of her ear, she returned to the group. Most were still in roughly the same positions as when she'd left to answer Juri's call. Ryo was still kneeling in front of a group of Pinamon with images of the Prophecy translation. Jian and Koushiro were to his right, the latter visibly deep in thought. Takato was on the far left, closest to her. As such, he was the first to notice her reappear and subsequently rose an eyebrow in silent question.
She took the opportunity to shove the earpiece in his unsuspecting hands.
"Here. Tell your wife that I'm not lying."
His ears promptly turned red. "R-ruki! I already told you, we're not married!"
"Not legally," Ruki waved a dismissive hand in the air. It doubled as a means of shooing him off to do her bidding.
Takato made a point of avoiding all eye contact as he stammered a semi-coherent reply before walking off. The earpiece was tucked into his ear. He then headed in the nearest direction that would take him far away from Ruki.
Jian remained mostly unaffected by the odd exchange, long familiar with the ongoing joke. Koushiro was torn between watching Takato's retreating form, Ruki's smirk of satisfaction, or the ongoing conversation Ryo was having with the digimon. Ryo continued to act as if she wasn't there at all.
Shetried not to overthink the reason why.
"Do either of these look familiar to you at all?" he was asking.
There were two papers. One, a clean copy of the stone carvings. One of the HYPNOS visual technology experts had edited the image by increasing the contrast and sharpness to provide a better view of the digital print. The other was the same image overlapped by a Japanese translation of the first, second, seventh, and eighth lines.
Pinamon hopped forward, large eyes staring at each of the pages in turn. It shook its head.
"No. I'm sorry."
"Might I, perhaps, take a look?"
Leomon approached, announcing his otherwise silent presence. One hand continued to rest over the hilt of his blade while the other extended; Ruki couldn't help stare at the thick bandages covering his arm. Her eyes briefly flickered towards Takato's distant figure. She hoped he was having better luck convincing Juri of the situation.
Ryo stood, passing both sheets of paper over.
Leomon accepted them with a graceful nod. He alternated between them for a time, thought his focus lingered on the untranslated copy. His expression remained stern as he scanned each visible line, pausing at the appropriate times to fill in the blanks accordingly.
"These are old," he explained. "Very old. I'm impressed your Dimension possessed the knowledge, let alone the technology, to offer even a partial translation, given there are so few left in this World who still read or speak Ancient DigiCode."
"Ancient DigiCode?" Koushiro had previously memorized the images, pulling them to the forefront of his mind's eye. "But the symbols look just like the ones we see around the Digital World now."
"It is the same alphabet, yes, but speaks of a legend centuries old." He returned the papers to Ryo. "Languages evolve over time. Memories fade. Perhaps that is why those still unable to recall times of yesteryear do not yet recognize such a script."
Jian's brows rose. "Centuries?" He turned to Koushiro. "How old is your Digital World, exactly?"
Koushiro's lips pressed together in a thin line. It was a question he both did and didn't have an answer for. The contradictory nature of such Knowledge tugged at the very heart of his Crest.
"Once, Taichi-san disappeared from the Digital World," he told them. A memory he would never forget. "The circumstances of his departure are only tangibly relevant, but in the interest of remaining concise, let's say that he inadvertently traveled through an unstable inter-World portal and re-materialized back home in the Real World."
Ruki made her way towards Jian so she could mutter, "Reika-san would love him."
The corners of Jian's lips twitched in amusement.
"We later compared notes with regards to relative duration of time and discovered that the Digital World and Real World, at that point, ran at two vastly different speeds along the space-time continuum. It had been months since our arrival to the Digital World, yet upon his return, Taichi-san learned it has been the very same day we left. Stranger still, he traveled through a second portal mere hours later, only to discover he had been again gone for months', Digital World time."
"That's an awful lot of words to say you don't know," Ruki impatiently tapped her foot against the dirt.
Koushiro tried not to look offended. Or slightly intimidated.
"What I'm attempting to explain is how, parallel to our World's timeline, it's quite possible the Digital World could have come into existence as little as a couple decades prior, while millennia of existence actually subsisted."
Ruki blinked.
"He's saying that a thousand years in the Digital World could equal maybe a decade in the Human World," Jian translated. "Give or take."
"That makes sense," Ryo agreed. "Worlds and Dimensions have shifted in an out of sync before. The first time I came back, it had only been a year in our World, but in theirs, more than three had passed."
Koushiro sent him a questioning look.
Ryo quickly shrugged it off. "Long story."
"So what I'm hearing," Ruki's tone was dry. "Is that there's an increasingly good chance this whole thing is a waste of time stemming from an outdated prophecy?"
"Not necessarily," Leomon and Koushiro stated in unison, startling the latter.
Leomon took over. "This prophecy of yours...perhaps old and unfinished, yes, but it speaks of a memory that has weighed on the edge of my mind for several lifetimes."
The Tamers stiffened.
"You've seen the Child of Two Worlds?" Jian asked.
"With my own eyes." Leomon's gaze turned upward. He watched clouds drifting along a seat of blue, staring at something beyond. Something no human could see or discern the way a digimon could. "We are all data. From data we were created, and to data we return upon death. It is one of the most natural processes of our World. So much so that, most often, we barely register the subtle shifts in air when a fresh burst of data returns to the Village of Beginnings."
A moment of silence passed.
Human and digimon alike looked to the heavens. Invisible journeys of countless souls continued on.
"On that day, however, something was different. I could not tell you if it was wrong or unnatural, but the data was like none we had ever encountered before. Or since. Nor could I tell you from where it originated. Why it appeared. To this day, the only certainty I possess is that the creature we laid eyes upon was of no digimon type or form known to any of us. Elecmon assured us the Child was healthy and that we had little to fear from its manifestation...yet, even then, we knew there was more to this Child than we could comprehend."
Ruki's mouth twisted in thought. "It wasn't a human baby, was it?"
Leomon shifted awkwardly. "I...have not laid eyes on a human baby. Though I have been led to believe that humans are not typically born from data." He shook his head. "No, the tiny creature I witnessed for mere moments was neither human nor digimon in nature."
"Then what was it?" Ruki asked, mostly to herself.
"More importantly, how do we find them?" Jian placed a hand under his chin, frowning in thought. "How do we even know they're still alive? If more than a hundred years have passed in the Digital World, they could have died. Or been reincarnated. If they're even still in the Digital World at all."
"The Prophecy." Koushiro turned back to Leomon. "Do you remember the rest of the passage?"
Leomon was hesitant, allowing time to search his memories for words unspoken for several lifetimes. Even as they came to mind, they seemed foreign. Until he opened his mouth, when they flowered as naturally as the purest forest stream:
The Child of Two Worlds
Will be Protected by Two of One
Neither Human nor Digimon
But a Bridge between Hearts
Tempted by Shadows
Hidden in the Dark
Until the Sun sets on the final day...
"...and the truth will finally be revealed." Koushiro echoed his earlier recollection of the translation.
Confusion overtook Leomon as he silently repeated Koushiro's echoing. A glance towards the papers in Ryo's hand confirmed his suspicions. He nodding, albeit with great hesitation.
"Yes. That is to say, the broad meaning is not inaccurate. though a more direct translation would be 'the Truth will-'"
A loud crashed echoed.
Taichi and Sora were on the ground, both soaking wet. Beads of water dripped off the tips of his hair and from the bottom of her chin. Empty buckets rocked back and forth beside them. One of Taichi's rolled away entirely. Realizing the number of eyes on them, they promptly pointed the blame at each other.
Yamato groaned. Between the three of them, he hated it when he had to be the mature one.
"Nice." His tone was as dry as they weren't. Before he could extend a hand to help either of them up, a flicker of light drew his attention. He frowned. "I think you might have shorted them out or something." He motioned to his own head, indicating the goggles on Taichi's. "They're acting weird."
Pulling himself to a slightly more dignified position, Taichi crossed his legs and set the goggles over his eyes. The world outside was a blur of water trails, but the internal screen flashed in sequences and patterns he only barely understood.
Then a warning flashed.
Taichi's eyes widened.
"Oh, shit."
o o o
At the same time, Hikari gasped sharply
o o o
The skies above darkened. Clouds loomed. A chilling gust of wind blew through the trees. Concentrated energy crackled in the air.
Jou looked down at his arms, finding the tiny hairs standing on end.
"Where's it coming from, Taichi?" Sora asked nervously. She remained close to him while searching the immediate area for her partner.
"I...can't tell."
He roughly pulled the goggles off his head, using the hem of his shirt to dry them off. When he realized why that proved a useless endeavor, he reached for the hem of Yamato's instead. The blonde used the last of his willpower to not murder his little brother's new girlfriend's brother in front of them, patiently waiting until Taichi was done before stepping out of his reach.
Lenses dry and re-secured, Taichi resumedhis attempt to make sense of it all. The readings were nothing like the day of the festival. Then, it had remained concentrated in a single, easily discernible source. But now...
"It's almost as if it's coming from...everywhere?"
Thunder boomed.
Mimi and Miyako screamed.
Sora found herself reflexively clinging to Taichi's arm. He didn't seem to notice. His attention was focused directly above them. She followed his gaze and saw the air warp in on itself multiple times until it formed a concentrated center.
By the vegetable garden, the same thing was happening.
As well as the grassy fields near Hikari and Takeru.
And right in the center of the village.
But it was the fifth reading that send a chill down Taichi's spine:
"Leomon, look out!"
The Great Beast King's instincts heeded his call; he dove to the ground in time to sense an unnatural gust tease the ends of his mane. Following the source led him to a large wooden club buried several decimeters in the nearest tree. Rising to a low kneel, he turned back in time to see a shadow appear in the midst of a crackling portal. Its shape was all too familiar.
Ogremon stepped into the light of day. He growled low and ferociously as he lifted both fists in the air. They sparked pink.
Leomon brought himself up into a defensive stance, reaching for his sword. He nodded grimly.
"I understand. If this is where we must continue our battle...then so be it."