The Final Battle (Chapter Two)
Disclaimer: If I owned it, I wouldn't be writing stories about it.
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A/N: Originally, this chapter was going to be somewhere in the ballpark of forty plus pages. I've decided to cut it down into two more easily manageable parts. In which case, Chapter three is almost done and will be up soon. From here, you will see the main plot begin to move forward as opposed to chapter one where I went overboard with the character development of Takeru and Hikari. BTW, I'll warn everybody right now, what I have planned for their pairing is going to break quite a few paradigms set in the past.
Stick around and find out. ;)
Oh and if you care to see where I am as far as progress goes on these chapters, just check my profile in the Author's Page. I update it, maybe twice, every week.
Now, the story:
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In the shadow of the mountain, the wind was cold. Thankfully, he had a fire and thick fur to keep him warm. Raising his paws to the fire, the Digimon stared into the flames. His heart was filled with a strange type of hope that had been missing in his life for a great many years. For a great many years now, his only companions had been the sun and the stars and the moon and most of all, these eternal flames. All things considered, poor company compared to the friends he had left behind many, many years ago. However, now he might finally be among those friends again, without the crippling shame that had driven him away from them in the first place. And all it had taken was a dream to light this small flicker of hope.
There was a stir in the wind and he shifted his eight-foot frame and rose to his feet. Across the clearing, there was a white flash of light, gone as suddenly as it had appeared and then a tall muscular man wearing a long flowing black coat that came up to his ankles, was standing across the fire. He could not help it; unbidden, a grin crossed his face. The man grinned back.
"What have you been doing all these years, old friend?" The figure asked him.
"I ......" The words would not come. He had been alone so long.
The man nodded, understanding his struggle. "It was not your fault."
"I should have protected you."
"You couldn't protect me from life and in any case, I should have taken more precautions. Now, let's not talk of the past. I'm here now and that is all that matters."
"The others?"
"Hopefully, if all goes well, we'll see them soon."
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It was an old dream she had not had for years. Awakening on a bench in Odaiba Park, she stretched and rose to her feet. Right away she noticed that she was in her old high school dress. About to smooth down her skirt, she chanced to glance up and saw him approaching from a side trail. This was different and it made her apprehensive. As he got closer, he smiled at her. It was a smile that had sent the hearts of many a girl in Odaiba, aflutter. It was a smile that he had reserved especially for her. He opened his mouth to speak.
Sora's eyes opened and she winced, raising a hand to ward off the shaft of sunlight that had fallen across her bed. Glancing away, her eyes came to the dresser next to her bed and stopped upon seeing the locket resting on top. It was her only memento of him. The last present he had given her. The locket contained a picture of him and it also contained an artifact that had been entrusted to her: the Crest of Friendship.
Picking up the locket, she studied it for a moment and then put it around her neck. Rolling off the bed, she made her way to the bathroom. After showering and brushing, she grabbed a quick bite to eat and left her quarters. Entering her office, she found the Chancellor of the City of Flaim waiting for her. He was sitting in a chair opposite her desk, going over a sheaf of reports in his lap.
"Lee, don't you ever sleep?" Sora sighed crossing over to her desk and taking her seat. "Have the second wave of scouts returned yet?"
The twenty-year-old sitting across from her looked up. "Good morning, Lady Sora," he said formally.
Sora rolled her eyes. The boy was too prim and too proper. "When I gave you the title of Chancellor, I told you that you didn't have to call me by any honorifics."
Lee blinked at her. "Protocol has to be followed," he said by way of explanation. "I've intensified patrols around the city but have not yet received words from the second group of scouts although I still maintain that it is likely nothing serious." He passed the sheaf of reports across the desk to Sora.
Frowning, she stared down at the papers. There was something niggling at the back of her mind concerning the disturbance. It had occurred two days ago as a report had come in from the outpost of Farez concerning a possible sighting of dark Digimon at the hilly country to the west of the outpost. Any such sighting was disturbing since they had pretty much cordoned off the Undersea Master's influence in this continent to a small corner in the upper left portion. For some Digimon to have gotten past the primary outpost of Seona, whose duty it was to look out for such incursions, spoke of a dreadful possibility. She had sent out scouts but their reports had come back as inconclusive. Still, the feeling had persisted and she had learned to rely on such instincts over the years. Absentmindedly, she twirled the diamond ring on her finger.
"May I speak frankly?" Lee spoke up. No doubt he'd seen her subconscious gesture. Waving her hand, she motioned for him to continue. "You should have left for the summit yesterday with Lady Miyako. You worry too much. Even if there is something, we have the power here to handle it."
Sora thought about that a while. The summit was important and her presence there was required. She had put it off yesterday in case the scouts came back with something dire but they had reported that the region was as quiet as it had ever been. Still, because of her feeling, she had ordered more scouts out there and had instructed them to comb every inch of land.
"You're probably right, Lee." Sora said finally. "I will wait until the second wave reports back and leave for the summit if they have nothing important to say."
The rest of the meeting passed quickly as there was surprisingly little to discuss. Sora was a little amused by the fact that in anticipation of her leaving, Lee had pretty much organized the next two weeks around himself. It was a little daunting that she was that replaceable although Lee would have never said it to her face. She half- heartedly tried to steer the conversation towards some of the day-to-day duties that he was in charge of but he easily evaded the questions and in the end, she had to stop the meeting.
Afterwards, she had very little to do so she returned to her quarters and rechecked her luggage to make sure everything was where it should be. It took about two minutes and then she was right back where she had started. For the next five hours, she lounged around her quarters. She regretted sending Biyomon off with Miyako. Her partner hadn't wanted to go but Sora had been insistent. She didn't feel quite so insistent right now.
Around noon, word came that the second team of scouts had sent their reports. They had not found anything. Lee had her jet ready to go moments later. She should have felt annoyed at the presumption but the man was a more then adequate administrator and she allowed him his quirks.
The jets were another quirk of one of her friends. They had been designed by Koushirou and Ken to address the needs of transportation. The five continents of the Digital World were large and traversing them was more than any two Chosen could handle by themselves. They were necessary and didn't have much of a learning curve to them.
And so, half an hour after the reports came, Sora found herself aboard her own aircraft, preparing to journey to the small island to the north of her own Continent of Igniz. After running the required checks on her aircraft, she steered the craft off the launch pad and set off north.
Two hours later, she encountered the dark cloud a little ways north of the second outpost of Seona. She had to admit that it was a strange sight. The sky was cloudless except for that one black cloud that stuck out like a sore in the clear blue of the sky. The feeling of unease within her deepened and her inner senses started screaming at her in alarm. Calming her senses, she sent a mental probe in the direction of the cloud ...... and recoiled as she was assailed by images of death and destruction.
The cloud suddenly began expanding rapidly. Sora tried to turn her craft but it was too late. She was heading straight for the cloud. As she entered it, she saw a sight that horrified her. Under the cover of the cloud resided a host of dark Digimon. It was only her skills as a pilot that kept her alive. However, her craft was inevitably damaged as it was assailed from all sides. Still, she managed to steer in between a particularly thick patch of Digimon and broke through the cloud cover. Her craft had gone into a tailspin though and she had pulled back on the control stick with all her might. In the end, that action saved her life as the craft plowed into a lake.
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He had been on his way south to the City of Flaim when he saw the black cloud hanging in the sky. His partner had agreed with him regarding the obviously sinister aspect of that cloud and they had begun to track its movements. Thankfully, the mountainous region they were in provided plenty of cover. On the fourth such day, they had seen the engagement between the cloud and the aircraft.
Swearing under his breath, the man merged with his partner and started sprinting towards the site where the aircraft had gone down. In the end, the distance was not that far, especially in his bio-merged state. He arrived at the site to find that the aircraft was sinking fast into the lake. Jumping in heedlessly, he swam towards the craft and using his claws, ripped off the cockpit's roof. Water had begun to fill the small space and had drenched a familiar figure that lay slumped back in her seat. Her eyes suddenly opened but they were unfocussed. She was moments away from passing out but in that instant, she seemingly recognized him.
"Ya ...... Yamato." Her eyes rolled back and she fainted.
Yamato Ishida looked up at the sky and noticed that several dark Digimon had broken away from the cloud and were on their way down in pursuit of the craft. Slinging Sora's wet body across his equally wet shoulders, he started for the small cave that he had taken up residence in. They could hide out there until the Digimon passed them by.
Getting to the cave proved to be a bit problematic. There were more Digimon then he had thought. However, he was merged with Were-Garurumon and could call upon a wolf's natural senses to evade the frequent patrols he encountered. Eventually, he was able to make his way to the small cave but then another problem arose.
Her lips were turning blue. It had been cold outside and the breeze had not helped her condition. Sighing, Yamato settled her down and methodically stripped her until she was in her underwear. Her body had matured incredibly well from what he remembered. It was still as athletic as it had ever been; flat washboard stomach, toned arms and legs, broad shoulders tapering off to a slender waist. God, she was beautiful.
Shaking himself, Yamato de-merged and instructed Were-Garurumon to keep watch outside. Then, stripping down himself, he fashioned a crude pallet from his clothes and taking Sora's limp body into his arms, rolled, so she was sprawled over him. Getting to his coat proved to be a bit of a problem because it lay a little out of his reach. This was compounded by the fact that this wasn't some small, delicate woman he was holding. She was very nearly as tall as he was which was actually freakishly large for a full-blooded Japanese woman. Furthermore, she had enough muscle to make getting up a little difficult. He began to regret sending Garurumon away. Finally though, after a bit of stretching, he managed to snag the edge of the coat and dragged it closer to himself. Wrapping the coat around himself and Sora, he settled back.
Takenouchi, Sora. He remembered her; perhaps even more so then Takeru. It was hard to tell sometimes with his limited memory. She had been the wisest of them all on that first adventure to the Digital World. He had met her and Tai before that though, although he and Tai hadn't really become true friends until the adventures in the Digital World. Because of her deep friendship with Tai and out of respect to him, he had never made any overtures in her direction. So it had come as a tremendous shock when she had chosen him over Tai.
He remembered that fateful day and was glad that he did so. So many of his other memories had disappeared but that one was one of his most treasured. She had come to him backstage at his concert. He had been getting ready to go out and perform his bands first major concert when she had appeared and stopped him. The fact of the matter was that she had caught him unprepared. The shock had very nearly ruined that first concert. Of course, that was before she had kissed him softly and given him a gentle push towards the stage. After the concert and the subsequent Digimon attack, he had tracked her down......
Yamato frowned, pausing in his reminiscing. Had he talked to Tai before going to Sora? It seemed important to him that he should have but he couldn't remember. Either the memory didn't exist or he hadn't. Neither possibility was very comforting. He didn't want to think that he had betrayed Tai. They had been rivals and then the best of friends. That thought triggered its own memory; of the first day he had met the two people that had become so important in his life.
He had been seven years old, entering his first day of middle school. His parents had gotten a divorce but had not wanted to put too much distance between himself and Takeru so they had stayed relatively close to each other. They still loved each other but sometimes love just wasn't enough. In any case, he had arrived at the new school in low spirits. He wanted to go across the street to the primary school and visit Takeru but wasn't allowed. At lunchtime, he'd gone outside and sat down under a tree overlooking a large soccer field. There had been a few guys out there playing......
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FLASHBACK
Yamato recognized the mood he was in. Things just hadn't been the same after his parents' divorce. He'd had a brother whose small earnest blue eyes had been the world to him. Every day for as long as he remembered, he'd gently shaken him awake in the morning so they could watch cartoons together. Even when he had started school, Takeru had not quit and had even burst into tears the one time he hadn't been awakened. Afterwards, he had woken up early and awakened Takeru and they had continued their tradition undisturbed. However, the divorce had broken this tradition and Yamato could not see any way to mend it. Just thinking about it put him in a state of melancholy. And so, he did what he always did when feeling this way; he pulled out his harmonica.
It was an interesting device, this harmonica. His father had bought it for him just a few months before the divorce. Its main purpose had been to encourage his musical talents but after the divorce, he had found that it helped him deal with his emotions, with his depression. Sitting under the tree, he began to play, unmindful of whoever was listening. He put his heart, his emotions into the melody. After a while, he closed his eyes gave himself over fully to the music. An eternity later he finally stopped and heard clapping coming from directly above him. He looked up and saw a girl with reddish brown hair sitting on a branch a few feet above him. So absorbed had he been in his thoughts that he hadn't even noticed her.
"That was really beautiful," she said jumping down and landing lightly beside him.
Yamato flushed, he had never played for anyone else before. "Thank you," he said softly.
The girl continued to stare at him and he found the gaze oddly unsettling. "My name is Sora," she said finally.
"I'm Yamato," he replied hoping she'd go away. He wanted to be alone right now. However, he had been taught to be polite.
"Oh, I know who you are," the girl, Sora, responded. "I saw you in the morning when you were coming into school. Since you're the only one with blonde hair in the whole school, everybody was wondering about you. Some girl, Takahashi Mai I think, said that your name was Yamato."
He knew the girl. She had been a classmate of his in primary school. "I'm half French," he said by way of explanation. "I got my mom's blonde hair."
The girl nodded as if that explained everything. "Why are you so sad?" She asked suddenly.
Yamato blinked at that. That was a rather forward question from someone he'd met just a few seconds ago. He gazed steadily at the girl and she blushed slightly, turning away.
"I'm sorry," she apologized.
He felt strangely bad about her apology. "Don't be," he replied quietly.
There was silence until suddenly, a soccer ball suddenly came flying out of nowhere. It barely missed him and crashed into the tree he was sitting against.
"Stupid Tai," the girl beside him muttered.
A boy with really thick brown hair and a pair of oversized goggles on his head came running up. "Sorry guys." He gasped, out of breath from his run.
"Watch where you're aiming that thing." Sora said indignantly.
The boy stared strangely at her. "Hi Sora."
The girl gave a small, "hmph," and started walking away.
"Oh come on, you've got to forgive me some time."
She didn't respond and kept walking.
"Come on Sora, I apologized for throwing up in your hat."
If anything, her shoulders became even stiffer as she walked away. The boy sighed, turning towards Yamato. Blue eyes met brown. After a moment, Yamato tossed the boy his soccer ball. He took it and wordlessly turned back towards the field.
END FLASHBACK
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He could feel her stirring in his arms finally. It brought a strange sort of apprehension in him. How exactly was he going to handle this? The past two hours had not been enough time to come up with a plan. Should he let go? Should he hold on? In the end, the decision was taken from him. She raised her head and froze upon seeing him.
"Uh, Hello," he managed sheepishly.
Her eyes went from confused to angry in seconds. He barely caught the right hook aimed his way. She hissed and pushed off him, getting to her feet. He followed up after her and she stared strangely at him. She looked down and seemingly noticed her state of undress for the first time.
"You bastard," she screamed and rushed at him.
Yamato held up his hands. "Wait Sora," and then she was on him. He dodged her blows, falling backwards. "Would you please listen?" He grunted, twisting nimbly aside from a kick aimed his way. He couldn't keep this up forever though. She was a more then capable fighter and the cave was too small for him to keep dodging. He had to respond and knock her out before they attracted undue attention from outside. Raising his hand, he fired off a small burst of ice at her feet. It was stopped as a nimbus of red light surrounded her. 'Damn, her shield.' He'd forgotten about that.
Suddenly, a pressure began to build within his head. "Sora wait, please," he managed before she began using her telepathic powers. He fought her tooth and nail but he knew he couldn't keep this up forever either. It was only a matter of moments before she overwhelmed his mind. The telepaths had always been the most powerful among the Chosen, especially because they had those damned shields.
His resistance was almost gone when suddenly a large figure tackled Sora from behind. It was Were-Garurumon. Yamato breathed a sigh of relied until Sora threw up her shield and his partner went flying through the air, crashing into a sidewall. He rushed forward but she suddenly glanced up and he froze in his tracks as the pressure within his head reduced him to his hands and knees.
He had only one chance left. "January 21, 2001." He managed to grunt out.
The pressure in his head gradually decreased. He looked up to find her standing over him, wearing his coat. "How did you know that?" She asked, staring down at him.
"I'm... Yamato," he gasped out.
Her leg crashed into his face sending him reeling to the floor. He tried to get up but her foot on his chest pushed him back down. "I don't have very much patience for this. Tell me the truth. How did you get my flight coordinates?"
"He's telling the truth, Sora." Were-Garurumon said from where he sat rubbing his head. The werewolf digimon rose to his feet and a nimbus of light surrounded him as his body grew smaller and he de-evolved to his rookie level. "You know me. A long time ago, I looked like this."
"Gabumon," Sora said wonderingly. She scanned him, her mind delving into his as he allowed her inside. She saw the truth of his words and the story behind Yamato's revival. Shutting off the connection, she took a deep breath. It was so unbelievable and yet, that was the story of her life.
"Uh, hey. Can you let me up now," Yamato said from underneath her.
Looking down, she flushed and removed her foot from his chest. He rolled to his feet and began donning his clothes. She observed him as he dressed. He looked exactly as he would have if he'd lived to see twenty- four. They had built this body for him and it was exactly like his old one. He hadn't been an especially muscular man but rather had had a wiry build that belied his strength. Of course that had been when he was sixteen. It seemed they had transferred that characteristic into his current body. He was muscular but less so then Tai or even Daisuke. That thought brought her to wondering how the rest of the Chosen were going to react to his return. Hell, she didn't even know what to think yet. Shaking herself, she turned to her own clothes. They were still damp but a quick bit of matter manipulation changed that. Dressing quickly, she turned to see him studying her. It seemed that this was going to be very awkward. She hated awkward and besides what did one say to her dead ex- boyfriend who'd just come back from the grave?
He smiled suddenly, her smile. "So, how've you been?"
"Don't..." Her words caught in her throat. She took a deep breath. "Just don't."
He looked sad for an instant but then a familiar mask slid over his face. That was painful in its own way. She remembered that mask from so long ago.
"They told me that you had my crest." His voice was soft, controlled. "Do you have it with you?"
Sora took off the locket around her neck. His eyes followed the locket but didn't seem to register its importance. Opening the locket, she removed a small runic carving shaped into the Crest of Friendship.
"Don't you think that's a little too 'out in the open' for an object of such importance." Yamato remarked.
Sora shrugged, looking up at him. "I can keep an eye on it this way. Nobody will ever suspect it being out in the open."
"A simple reason but I guess those work best sometimes." Yamato held out his hand. "Give it to me, please."
Sora stepped forward and grabbed his arm, pressing the Crest into his wrist. There was a small jolt of current running through his body and suddenly he felt energized, refreshed. Blinking, he looked at her. She smiled back although it looked a little forced, and opened her mouth to speak.
An explosion suddenly rocked the cave. Her shield was instantly around them, blocking the falling debris.
"They've discovered us," Gabumon spoke, voicing the obvious.
"It's time we did our thing then," Yamato muttered. By the time he'd finished talking, Gabumon had already begun to break up into data. Moments later the two were bio-merged.
"I'll go out there and distract them. You....." he paused as he saw Sora begin to concentrate. The air suddenly seemed to swirl together, rocks lifting off the grounds and joining it. Yamato watched the tableau in fascination; something seemed to be taking shape in the midst of the air. Minutes later, a cheap construct of Sora, complete with all her clothing stood in the place where the air and the rocks had come together.
"It's the best I can do under the circumstances." Sora apologized. "Take that with you and they'll think I'm with you also. It should allow me to get out of here."
"You know the terrain?"
"There isn't an inch of this continent, I don't know and I saw plenty before my craft crashed." There was another blast and more debris rained down on them. "Now get going. I'll contact you using my powers if I get into trouble or when this is over."
Nodding, Yamato ran out of the cave, cradling the construct of Sora in his arms. Immediately, blasts rang out around him as the various Digimon gathered around the cave began throwing blasts of energy his way. He ducked and weaved as best he could, making his way towards where the concentration of enemies was thinnest. As he ran, he began his transformation. Thick fur burst out on his arms and legs, his hands and feet extended into claws and his speed increased exponentially. Letting out a howl, he rushed the five or so Digimon that rushed forward to meet his charge. He sliced through them like a hot knife through butter, sending out random blasts of his Elemental Powers at other Digimon that were still far away. He needed to draw all of them away from the cave.
It seemed to work as nearly every Digimon around the cave gave chase. He was a little astonished at their numbers. This was quite a force. However, it would not stop him. He gave another howl and firing off a final burst of ice at the remaining Digimon, ran off into the hilly country surrounding the cave.
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"Oh come on," Takeru groaned looking at the cards in Hikari's hands. "I can't believe you keep winning. You've rigged this deck somehow."
Across from him Hikari raised an eyebrow. "Maybe you're just a really bad poker player. Try to at least keep a straight face. You always do this thing with your face when you think you're going to win."
"What thing?" Takeru said indignantly. "I've got a killer poker face. You can't tell anything I'm plotting."
"Sure," Hikari said rolling her eyes. She stretched in her seat. "We should almost be there."
"Can I fly it for the rest of the way?"
Hikari raised an eyebrow, smirking at him. "Still can't figure out how to turn the autopilot off," she taunted.
"This was not part of our deal," Takeru complained. "You were supposed to let me pilot the thing the whole way."
"No, I only agreed to let you pilot the craft. I didn't say how long. You had your fun by nearly crashing the thing. And I still get my rematch."
Takeru opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a loud beeping sound. He looked back over his shoulder at the blinking dashboard. "What's that?"
"We're here," Hikari said getting up from her seat and walking up beside him. "Now, get out of the seat."
Wordlessly, Takeru abandoned his seat and moved back to the one Hikari had been sitting in. Hikari took the main seat as Takeru vacated it and thumbed a few switches.
"This is Alpha Two, reporting in." There was a burst of static from the comm. and then a familiar voice responded.
"Why are you flying that old model? Didn't you get my new design specs last year?"
"I needed the extra space Koushirou. You got the prophecies, you've probably already figured out why even if you haven't managed to drag it out of Iori. By the way, has he arrived?"
"Yeah, last night. He mentioned that you would be lagging behind. There's a little side bet going here concerning what was keeping you since this is the first time Yagami, Hikari has ever been late to a meeting. Oh, and hello Takeru, if you're in there."
"Uh, hello," Takeru responded hesitantly. If Koushirou knew he was here then so would Jyou. It would actually make things a little easier.
"Is everybody there?" Hikari questioned.
"Everybody except Sora. There was some trouble apparently. She decided to stay behind a while. Miyako arrived two days ago with the news."
"All right, now that we're all caught up. Open the bay."
"It's open." The reply came back.
Takeru's eyes widened as Hikari seemingly flew the aircraft straight towards a mountain located on a small island. "Hey, watch it," he warned. She ignored him and continued towards the mountain. Takeru sighed and leaned back in his seat. They came closer and closer and then suddenly the rock face was gone and they were inside the mountain. It was a hangar bay, Takeru realized as the craft they were in made its way to a landing spot.
"Are you ready?" Hikari asked, rising to her feet and facing him.
Takeru took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Not really," he admitted.
"Relax, it's going to be fine." She gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze and moved to a side hatch that led outside. Sighing, Takeru followed along behind her. The hatch opened, and a ramp extended to the floor of the hangar bay. Walking down the ramp, Hikari made her way to a door set at the end of the room. Takeru trailed behind her, observing his surroundings.
The hangar had not been shaped using the matter manipulation technique. He was almost sure of that. If it had, there would be no need for the steel or metal beams that bore the weight of the mountain, preventing a collapse. Both sides of the hangar were lined with aircraft.
"How did you find this?" Takeru asked as Hikari entered an access code into a keypad located beside the hangar's exit door.
"We ran across it when we first established an outpost on this island." Hikari replied distractedly. "There was nothing of any true value here but the base was ideal for covert meetings."
With a soft hiss, the door slid open and they walked into what appeared to be a large hallway whose sides and ceiling were made of glass. Takeru looked through the glass and his eyes widened. The mountain was completely hollow. From his vantage point, which seemed to be the highest point of the mountain, he could see a twisted warren of passages and hallways. There were large squares and rectangles too which he assumed to be rooms or judging by the size of one, an entire apartment complex.
"You can sightsee later," Hikari called out from the end of the hallway. "They'll begin to wonder what is keeping us if we don't hurry."
Takeru nodded, turning away from the window. As he was turning away he noticed a security camera set up in the corner of the hallway. Waving towards it, he walked up to Hikari. She lead him through several hallways, all of which he observed were monitored.
"Would you stop that," Hikari snapped finally after he had waved to his fifth camera. "You're probably getting on the nerves of whoever's on the other end."
Takeru chuckled. "Wanna give them a show," he said waggling his eyebrows.
Hikari snorted in amusement, unable to help herself. "Maybe some other time," she said just as the door in front of her pinged and slid open.
"You've got elevators?" Takeru asked walking up behind her.
"Yeah, this is a huge place as you saw from the hangar hallway. Without these elevators, traversing this place would be a difficulty."
Takeru nodded, following Hikari into the elevator. The rest of the trip was conducted in silence as he sank into his thoughts. How would the others react to his arrival? If the old days were any indicator, he'd get the usual collection of stares and then everybody would go back to their own business. He would be left alone, his opinion asked for when it was convenient. It wasn't a bad deal, all things considered. The old Takeru had lived with it but the old Takeru had also not cared. He couldn't say that about himself anymore. He had to do this, if not for himself then for Hikari.
The elevator's descent stopped and the doors slid open. In no time at all, they were standing before two very large doors inlaid with a decorative pattern depicting the nine Crests of the Digital World.
"We have no clue what this means." Hikari said in response to his questioning look. "Are you ready?"
Takeru smiled sadly. "No, but go ahead anyway."
Wordlessly, Hikari took his hand in hers and then stepped forward and pressed her palm against the Crest of Light. The symbol glowed briefly and then the door swung open. The room she led him into was large, its walls ringed by computer monitors. There was a large round table in the middle of the room on which was engraved a map of the Digital World. Around the table were the rest of the Chosen minus Sora. He looked at them all, gauging their reactions. He could see that he had been right before in thinking that Jyou had known of his return. The man didn't look especially surprised. He, Iori and Koushirou were the only ones though. The rest of the reactions were mixed. Miyako and Mimi had immediately noticed that Hikari was gripping his hand and had identical smiles on their faces. This contrasted well with the frown on the faces of Tai, Ken and Daisuke.
Takeru raised his hand awkwardly. "Hello everybody."
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Sora crouched under the tree, waiting. She stood at the edge of a thick forest. Around her were trees in late bloom, their leaves wilting and shedding in droves. Thankfully, there was still some cover to be had here. It appeared as if Yamato's gambit had worked. She had not been pursued and had found the forest easily enough. Now she waited for Yamato, having sent him a mental signal some time ago. She stiffened suddenly as she heard a branch crack nearby. Spreading her mental senses, she relaxed. Yamato had arrived. There was another deliberate crack and then he bounded into view.
Morphing back to his human form, he straightened. "I managed to lose most of them in the mountains but there are still a few behind me. I hope you know this forest well."
Sora nodded. "Yeah, I know the way through. The forest runs the width of this entire continent but if we travel southwest, we'll get to the outpost of Seona. We can be there in half a day or so if we ride Garurumon."
"Lead on then," Yamato said looking at the setting sun overhead. "We should have enough light for the next half hour."
Sora turned, leading them into the woods. They walked in silence as both were exhausted. Twenty minutes later, they stopped to make camp. The place wasn't exactly ideal but it covered them from above and provided reasonable assurance that nobody would be able to sneak up on them.
Leaning against a tree Yamato, de-merged from Garurumon. The giant wolf digimon sank down beside him and leaned down, resting against its great body. Sora lay down on the other side. They could not light a fire for fear of being discovered so the wolf's thick fur was the only reasonable way to stay warm this night. All three lay in silence, locked in their thoughts.
"Hey Yamato," Sora called out suddenly, "what happened to Takeru?"
"He returned here a little before I did." Yamato answered softly. "By now, he should already have met Hikari and Iori."
"Oh."
"I... I want to thank you for looking out for him." Yamato said quietly, his voice barely above that of a whisper.
"I didn't do such a good job, all things considered." Sora said bitterly. "He changed so much. You should really thank Hikari. She never stopped trying."
"Neither of you stopped trying and in his case, that required the patience of a saint most times. You shouldn't blame yourself for what happened to him."
"Did Hikari know about you?" The question was sudden, leaving him a little off balance.
"Yes," Yamato admitted after a moment of silence. "I had to reveal myself to her. It was the only way to save Takeru." He squinted over Garurumon trying to make out her face in the gloom. "How much did you see in Gabumon's mind?"
"Not much, I just saw the general story about what happened to you. How the Guardians put you in Takeru's mind and then these... Elders took you out and put you in a body they had constructed."
"How did you think to ask about Hikari?" Yamato questioned, a little puzzled.
"It was how she looked at me when she came back from talking to Takeru that one final time. I always wondered about that. She doesn't usually wear her emotions so plainly. It was gone in a flash but I saw enough to wonder. It wasn't up till now that I managed to place the look."
Yamato sighed. "I wanted to talk to you but..."
"You were forbidden. I know." Sora smiled sadly although he couldn't see it. "It's just as well that you didn't. I... I've moved on Yamato."
"I know," Yamato said softly. "I saw the ring on your finger but I didn't want to talk to you in that fashion. I just want you to be happy and I doubt you could be that with me."
"What do you mean?" Sora asked, confused.
Yamato peered over Garurumon again wishing he could see her face. "I've changed, Sora. I barely remember most of the other Chosen. All I have are names and faces and even those memories feel artificial somehow. Most of what I know, I learned while I was in Takeru's mind."
"What do you remember about us? You obviously remember our first date."
"Actually, I don't." Yamato admitted sheepishly. "I just remembered the day's date and that it was important somehow. How was it though, our first date, I mean."
"Don't put me through this Yama," Sora said sadly.
"I... I'm sorry. It's just that there's so much I don't know. So much that's missing."
"Do you really want to know about us though?"
"I don't know. I suppose I do, mostly because I remember feeling strongly about you. I mean I remember you as fondly as I remember my own brother. There's just so much I want to know but if you don't feel comfortable, you don't have to."
"It's just..." Sora snuggled deeper against Garurumon. "I just don't feel comfortable about all this. You're right, we did feel very strongly about each other but I moved on. Do you know who gave me this ring?" She asked suddenly.
"Taichi," Yamato said sighing. "I always thought you would end up with him someday. It's why I never made my own feelings for you clear at the beginning." He chuckled suddenly. "Did you know how much of a shock it was when you came to me that day at the concert."
"Yeah, I could see it in your face," Sora said wistfully. "I chose you because I fell in love with you Yamato. I'd always considered Tai to be like the brother I never had. It came as a shock to me that he had feelings for me. Did you know that he asked me out right before I came to see you."
"I might have but I don't remember anymore."
"I let him down easily but I could always see the pain in his eyes. After you were murdered, he was always there for me and it's so silly, but I fell in love with him."
"Why would it be silly? You two were as predictable a match as Takeru and Hikari."
"Nothing about love is predictable Yama. I know because I am the bearer of that crest after all." Sora paused, thinking of what to say. "I told you that I always thought of Tai as a brother. I had to get over all these feelings for him before I allowed myself to think of him as boyfriend material. Hikari never had that problem with Takeru. She had a brother, she didn't need another one. I'm simplifying the situation a bit but even their relationship, as deep as it was, was in doubt because of that last fight they had. He could have lost her for good if Daisuke had been a little bit more motivated and little bit less concerned with Hikari's feelings."
"You haven't changed much from what I remember." Yamato said wryly. "Still the wisest one among us."
"I would have thought that title would go to Jyou."
"Would it? I don't remember."
Sora sighed then suddenly sat up looking over Garurumon's midsection. "Hey, are you making fun of yourself?"
Yamato's chuckle was her only answer. Grinning, she settled back against the giant wolf and closed her eyes. She was almost asleep when a faint presence touched her mind. It seemed that Tai had gotten worried about her.
'Yes Hikari, I'm here,' Sora thought inwardly, using her own powers to hold onto the weak connection. There was a vague feeling, as if of relief and then another mental image. 'I'm fine for the moment but I was ambushed. I'm proceeding to Seona. Tell Tai that I will be at the summit tomorrow. And I have a surprise for you all.' There was a faint hint of curiosity but then the connection slowly faded. It wasn't much of a surprise to her. Holding connections over such great distances was hard even for someone as strong as Hikari. At best, they could only get one or two sentences out before the connection terminated.
Closing her eyes, Sora tried to go back to sleep. Morning arrived too soon in her opinion. It seemed that she had only just closed her eyes when she was forced to open them again. Yawning tiredly, she checked the sky overhead and found that it was overcast. They could expect rain sometime later today. She looked over at Yamato and found him already awake and munching on what looked to be dry rations. He glanced towards her and she raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"I stocked up on supplies before I was sent here." He said pulling out another packet of rations from his coat pocket and tossing it to her.
Sora snagged the packet out of the air and opened it. It was mostly just dried fruit and nuts. Sighing, she tore into it and finished the meal quickly. By the time she was done Garurumon had stirred awake as well. Climbing onto the back of the giant wolf, Sora instructed him about which path to take that would get them to Seona. After she was finished, Garurumon leapt forward in a trot, deftly avoiding the trees of the forest.
They reached the outpost by midday. It seemed like someone had taken a crown and stuck it into the earth. There were sentries lining the battlements at the top, some even standing in the crenellations. The main gate itself was a high wooden drawbridge with a portcullis right behind it. The whole effect was rather Victorian.
Yamato stared at it bemusedly. "A Medieval Castle?" He turned his head back towards Sora. "And is that a moat surrounding it?"
"The Chief guy in charge here is named Tom Himi." Sora replied. "He's got some weird ideas but is a capable enough leader. The whole castle thing was his idea. Miyako had to construct it using plans he gave her. Still, they do have modern plumbing and the whole effect is charming in a rugged sort of way."
Yamato grunted turning back to look at the castle. As they neared it, the sentries up top began scrambling and moments later there were a sizable number of them lining the crenellations. Garurumon came to a halt right at the edge of the moat, facing the main entrance to the castle.
Sora stood up on Garurumon's back, grabbing Yamato's shoulders to keep her balance. "I want to speak to Tom Himi." She said formally. "Tell him it's Sora Takenouchi."
Her name seemed to cause a bigger stir among the sentries up top. There was a shuffle up top and then a short, stocky man was standing atop one of the castle's merlons. He squinted down at them then ran a hand through his chestnut colored hair.
"We've had a lot of attacks by Bakemon recently." He yelled down. "You're going to have to prove that you are who you say you are."
"Toss down a knife," Sora called up. "I can prove that both of us are humans."
In response, the leader of the fort, retreated and moments later a drawbridge came down over the moat. Behind the drawbridge, the portcullis swung upwards, opening. Five guards exited in all, each wearing brown and gray robes and waving what looked to be a blaster type attachment on their arms, at them. Right behind them came the man they had just conversed with.
Sora jumped down from Garurumon's back and motioned for Yamato to do the same. They exchanged a quick glance and then Yamato told Garurmon to assume a less threatening form. He responded swiftly and de-evolved to Gabumon. The act seemed to reassure the leader of the group who came forward and presented Sora with a small ornate dagger. Taking it, she swiped it swiftly across the palm of her hand and then passed it to Yamato. He repeated the motion. After they had proved they weren't Bakemon, they were supplied with bandages by one of the soldiers.
"I'm sorry, Lady Sora," Tom apologized. "We've suffered a high number of Bakemon attacks recently and have grown weary. They can disguise themselves completely as humans and even our digimon can't sniff them out." He looked at her strangely. "And I got word yesterday that you were on your way to the summit."
"I was attacked a little ways north of here by a relatively small army of Digimon," Sora explained. "Which leads me to wonder how they got past you and evaded the scouts we sent from Flaim."
"They must have some new way of cloaking themselves. Lord Koushirou's devices picked up nothing. If it wasn't for Farez, we would still be in the dark."
"I'll need two of your courier aircrafts," Sora said, cutting through the preamble. "The others need to know about this and you should intensify patrols around the castle. We encountered nobody when coming in."
"That may be a problem," Tom replied. "We only have two courier crafts at this fort. One of them was used to send you the reports concerning what your second group of scouts found. The other one had a malfunction earlier today. Our tech guys are still trying to get to the bottom of it."
Sora frowned. "How long till it's fixed?" She queried.
"It shouldn't take more then a day. You can stay in our guest rooms until the work is done."
Sora nodded. "Very well." She glanced towards Yamato who stood surveying the castle. "I'll contact Hikari and Mimi when we're settled in and let them know that I am safe and on my way to the summit."
Yamato grunted distractedly and went back to looking at something atop the castle. Sora turned back towards Tom and motioned him to lead them inside. However he seemed to be looking at Yamato and then followed his gaze. Sora frowned, looking up as well. There seemed to be nothing wrong from what she could see. All she saw was a sentry high atop the wall.
"Shall we?" Tom asked, his voice breaking through whatever Yamato was thinking.
"Of course," Yamato said blinking at Tom. "Lead on as the Lady said."
Tom turned towards the drawbridge, the soldiers behind him shuffling aside expertly and making room for him and the two guests. Crossing the portcullis, they entered a large courtyard and walked to the entrance of the castle. The two large doors which signified the entrance, swung open at a touch and they entered a large hall with wooden seating and an altar at the end. There was even a stained glass window high above the altar, depicting an image of a mass of people bowing before a black robed figure.
"A church?" Yamato said bemusedly.
"Yes," Tommy replied. "We have many men of faith here. I felt it was wise to give them some sort of release and provide nourishment for their faith."
"And are you one such man?" Yamato asked raising his eyebrow.
"Perhaps," Tom said. "One cannot live among such trappings and expect to escape faith for long."
"Perhaps," Yamato drawled, "if one is weak willed."
That seemed to stiffen the man's back. He led them silently to the back of the church and to a stair way set to the left of the altar. Traveling down the stairs, they came upon a small hallway. Tom led them quietly to a side door and opened it for them. Yamato entered first, studying his surroundings. There was a fireplace, a single four-poster bed and various furs carpeting the floor. Several of the thicker ones were sitting in front of the fireplace, at the foot of a large wooden chair, straight out of medieval times.
"How... rustic." Yamato remarked smirking.
"Enjoy your stay," Tom said stiffly, turning around and leaving the room. The door slammed behind him.
"He has a quick temper." Yamato spoke turning towards Sora.
"What was that all about?" She asked looking at him strangely. "Why did you get his back up like that?"
Yamato walked towards the chair and sat down. Gabumon moved in and sat at his feet. "There's something wrong with this place, Sora. It makes me uneasy. Outside, I chanced to look up and saw that sentry's arm bending in a most unnatural way. I think you better contact the others as soon as you can."
"This is crazy, Yama. If anything that bad had happened here, I would have heard about it."
Yamato turned to face her. "This is a frontier post, isn't it? I saw a map before the Elders sent me here. This outpost is right at the edge of the Undersea Master's territory. As good as your precautions are, there are bound to be slip-ups. Especially if they take the leader first."
This seemed to disconcert her a bit. "Are you sure?"
"At this point, no. I'm going on hunch alone and I didn't get that good a look. However, the way you were ambushed has me thinking, and isn't it a big coincidence that their only aircraft suffers a breakdown. Whoever ambushed you had to know that this would be your first stop if their initial plans failed."
Sora frowned, her brow creasing. "I could scan the castle and its inhabitants but my powers would be taxed. I won't be able to contact the others if that happens."
"You contacted Tai before you left?"
"Yes," Sora replied. "I had to let them know that I was on my way and last night Hikari contacted me to ensure that I was safe."
"I think that you should contact them now and let them know that you're safe... or not." Yamato chuckled humorlessly. "Show them where we are and tell them to get over here as soon as they can."
Sora nodded and closed her eyes sending her thoughts out into the void of thoughtscape. Her mind raced and ran into a resistance as she began to travel in the direction of the summit. She probed at the wall that had sprung up before her, traveling its length and breadth and determined that it surrounded the outpost of Seona. There was no getting past it unless her physical self left its confinement and she knew that would not be allowed if Yamato's suspicions were correct. Sighing, she broke the connection and returned to her mind.
Yamato looked up as her eyes fluttered open. "Well," he asked.
Sora shook her head. "You seem to have been right. This place has a barrier around it that I can't get past."
"What do we do now?" Gabumon remarked from his place on the floor.
Sora rose to her feet, walked towards the door and opened it. As she had been expecting, there were two sentries on guard outside. She tried to leave and they barred her way. "We have orders not to let you leave, Lady Sora." One of the guards said to her before pushing her inside and closing the door.
"That seems fairly bad behavior to exhibit towards the ruler of this Continent." Yamato said with a faint hint of sarcasm.
"We had to make some compromises when we first came here." Sora explained. "For a Continent of this size, we needed adequate facilitators. There were already quite a few people that had established themselves as leaders. We needed to make compromises and one of them had to do with how the outposts would be governed. While here, I have no real authority with the guards. Tom's orders supercede my own."
Gabumon rose to his feet. "We could try fighting our way out."
Sora shook her head. "I want to use that option as a last resort. We don't know just how many of these are actual humans and how many are Bakemon."
"None of which helps us." Yamato said rising to his feet as well. "Face it Sora, we have little to no choice here. For all we know, the whole base could be Bakemon and they could be waiting for reinforcements to arrive. I say we strike now while we still have the advantage of surprise."
"There is another way," Sora said quickly. She walked over to a far wall and began running her hands over it. "When us Chosen made these outposts, we decided to put in certain precautions in case we ever needed a quick escape. It was Tai's idea mostly and it came about because he didn't trust the sort of people we had to make compromises with. I'm glad he thought it up now." Her hand came into contact with one loose brick and there was faint glow from her heart. The brick responded to the glow and a small section of the wall slid back allowing an opening a person could step into. "There are secret tunnels that run throughout each one of our outposts. Opening them is dependant upon our crests so the risk of discovery is fairly slim." She walked into the opening. "Come along."
Yamato and Gabumon stared at each other before following Sora into the tunnel. The wall slid shut behind them.
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Alright, click that review button and tell me how awesome I am. ;)
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Next: Sora and Yamato find out just exactly what happened at the Seona Outpost and have to make a hard choice.
Disclaimer: If I owned it, I wouldn't be writing stories about it.
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A/N: Originally, this chapter was going to be somewhere in the ballpark of forty plus pages. I've decided to cut it down into two more easily manageable parts. In which case, Chapter three is almost done and will be up soon. From here, you will see the main plot begin to move forward as opposed to chapter one where I went overboard with the character development of Takeru and Hikari. BTW, I'll warn everybody right now, what I have planned for their pairing is going to break quite a few paradigms set in the past.
Stick around and find out. ;)
Oh and if you care to see where I am as far as progress goes on these chapters, just check my profile in the Author's Page. I update it, maybe twice, every week.
Now, the story:
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In the shadow of the mountain, the wind was cold. Thankfully, he had a fire and thick fur to keep him warm. Raising his paws to the fire, the Digimon stared into the flames. His heart was filled with a strange type of hope that had been missing in his life for a great many years. For a great many years now, his only companions had been the sun and the stars and the moon and most of all, these eternal flames. All things considered, poor company compared to the friends he had left behind many, many years ago. However, now he might finally be among those friends again, without the crippling shame that had driven him away from them in the first place. And all it had taken was a dream to light this small flicker of hope.
There was a stir in the wind and he shifted his eight-foot frame and rose to his feet. Across the clearing, there was a white flash of light, gone as suddenly as it had appeared and then a tall muscular man wearing a long flowing black coat that came up to his ankles, was standing across the fire. He could not help it; unbidden, a grin crossed his face. The man grinned back.
"What have you been doing all these years, old friend?" The figure asked him.
"I ......" The words would not come. He had been alone so long.
The man nodded, understanding his struggle. "It was not your fault."
"I should have protected you."
"You couldn't protect me from life and in any case, I should have taken more precautions. Now, let's not talk of the past. I'm here now and that is all that matters."
"The others?"
"Hopefully, if all goes well, we'll see them soon."
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It was an old dream she had not had for years. Awakening on a bench in Odaiba Park, she stretched and rose to her feet. Right away she noticed that she was in her old high school dress. About to smooth down her skirt, she chanced to glance up and saw him approaching from a side trail. This was different and it made her apprehensive. As he got closer, he smiled at her. It was a smile that had sent the hearts of many a girl in Odaiba, aflutter. It was a smile that he had reserved especially for her. He opened his mouth to speak.
Sora's eyes opened and she winced, raising a hand to ward off the shaft of sunlight that had fallen across her bed. Glancing away, her eyes came to the dresser next to her bed and stopped upon seeing the locket resting on top. It was her only memento of him. The last present he had given her. The locket contained a picture of him and it also contained an artifact that had been entrusted to her: the Crest of Friendship.
Picking up the locket, she studied it for a moment and then put it around her neck. Rolling off the bed, she made her way to the bathroom. After showering and brushing, she grabbed a quick bite to eat and left her quarters. Entering her office, she found the Chancellor of the City of Flaim waiting for her. He was sitting in a chair opposite her desk, going over a sheaf of reports in his lap.
"Lee, don't you ever sleep?" Sora sighed crossing over to her desk and taking her seat. "Have the second wave of scouts returned yet?"
The twenty-year-old sitting across from her looked up. "Good morning, Lady Sora," he said formally.
Sora rolled her eyes. The boy was too prim and too proper. "When I gave you the title of Chancellor, I told you that you didn't have to call me by any honorifics."
Lee blinked at her. "Protocol has to be followed," he said by way of explanation. "I've intensified patrols around the city but have not yet received words from the second group of scouts although I still maintain that it is likely nothing serious." He passed the sheaf of reports across the desk to Sora.
Frowning, she stared down at the papers. There was something niggling at the back of her mind concerning the disturbance. It had occurred two days ago as a report had come in from the outpost of Farez concerning a possible sighting of dark Digimon at the hilly country to the west of the outpost. Any such sighting was disturbing since they had pretty much cordoned off the Undersea Master's influence in this continent to a small corner in the upper left portion. For some Digimon to have gotten past the primary outpost of Seona, whose duty it was to look out for such incursions, spoke of a dreadful possibility. She had sent out scouts but their reports had come back as inconclusive. Still, the feeling had persisted and she had learned to rely on such instincts over the years. Absentmindedly, she twirled the diamond ring on her finger.
"May I speak frankly?" Lee spoke up. No doubt he'd seen her subconscious gesture. Waving her hand, she motioned for him to continue. "You should have left for the summit yesterday with Lady Miyako. You worry too much. Even if there is something, we have the power here to handle it."
Sora thought about that a while. The summit was important and her presence there was required. She had put it off yesterday in case the scouts came back with something dire but they had reported that the region was as quiet as it had ever been. Still, because of her feeling, she had ordered more scouts out there and had instructed them to comb every inch of land.
"You're probably right, Lee." Sora said finally. "I will wait until the second wave reports back and leave for the summit if they have nothing important to say."
The rest of the meeting passed quickly as there was surprisingly little to discuss. Sora was a little amused by the fact that in anticipation of her leaving, Lee had pretty much organized the next two weeks around himself. It was a little daunting that she was that replaceable although Lee would have never said it to her face. She half- heartedly tried to steer the conversation towards some of the day-to-day duties that he was in charge of but he easily evaded the questions and in the end, she had to stop the meeting.
Afterwards, she had very little to do so she returned to her quarters and rechecked her luggage to make sure everything was where it should be. It took about two minutes and then she was right back where she had started. For the next five hours, she lounged around her quarters. She regretted sending Biyomon off with Miyako. Her partner hadn't wanted to go but Sora had been insistent. She didn't feel quite so insistent right now.
Around noon, word came that the second team of scouts had sent their reports. They had not found anything. Lee had her jet ready to go moments later. She should have felt annoyed at the presumption but the man was a more then adequate administrator and she allowed him his quirks.
The jets were another quirk of one of her friends. They had been designed by Koushirou and Ken to address the needs of transportation. The five continents of the Digital World were large and traversing them was more than any two Chosen could handle by themselves. They were necessary and didn't have much of a learning curve to them.
And so, half an hour after the reports came, Sora found herself aboard her own aircraft, preparing to journey to the small island to the north of her own Continent of Igniz. After running the required checks on her aircraft, she steered the craft off the launch pad and set off north.
Two hours later, she encountered the dark cloud a little ways north of the second outpost of Seona. She had to admit that it was a strange sight. The sky was cloudless except for that one black cloud that stuck out like a sore in the clear blue of the sky. The feeling of unease within her deepened and her inner senses started screaming at her in alarm. Calming her senses, she sent a mental probe in the direction of the cloud ...... and recoiled as she was assailed by images of death and destruction.
The cloud suddenly began expanding rapidly. Sora tried to turn her craft but it was too late. She was heading straight for the cloud. As she entered it, she saw a sight that horrified her. Under the cover of the cloud resided a host of dark Digimon. It was only her skills as a pilot that kept her alive. However, her craft was inevitably damaged as it was assailed from all sides. Still, she managed to steer in between a particularly thick patch of Digimon and broke through the cloud cover. Her craft had gone into a tailspin though and she had pulled back on the control stick with all her might. In the end, that action saved her life as the craft plowed into a lake.
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He had been on his way south to the City of Flaim when he saw the black cloud hanging in the sky. His partner had agreed with him regarding the obviously sinister aspect of that cloud and they had begun to track its movements. Thankfully, the mountainous region they were in provided plenty of cover. On the fourth such day, they had seen the engagement between the cloud and the aircraft.
Swearing under his breath, the man merged with his partner and started sprinting towards the site where the aircraft had gone down. In the end, the distance was not that far, especially in his bio-merged state. He arrived at the site to find that the aircraft was sinking fast into the lake. Jumping in heedlessly, he swam towards the craft and using his claws, ripped off the cockpit's roof. Water had begun to fill the small space and had drenched a familiar figure that lay slumped back in her seat. Her eyes suddenly opened but they were unfocussed. She was moments away from passing out but in that instant, she seemingly recognized him.
"Ya ...... Yamato." Her eyes rolled back and she fainted.
Yamato Ishida looked up at the sky and noticed that several dark Digimon had broken away from the cloud and were on their way down in pursuit of the craft. Slinging Sora's wet body across his equally wet shoulders, he started for the small cave that he had taken up residence in. They could hide out there until the Digimon passed them by.
Getting to the cave proved to be a bit problematic. There were more Digimon then he had thought. However, he was merged with Were-Garurumon and could call upon a wolf's natural senses to evade the frequent patrols he encountered. Eventually, he was able to make his way to the small cave but then another problem arose.
Her lips were turning blue. It had been cold outside and the breeze had not helped her condition. Sighing, Yamato settled her down and methodically stripped her until she was in her underwear. Her body had matured incredibly well from what he remembered. It was still as athletic as it had ever been; flat washboard stomach, toned arms and legs, broad shoulders tapering off to a slender waist. God, she was beautiful.
Shaking himself, Yamato de-merged and instructed Were-Garurumon to keep watch outside. Then, stripping down himself, he fashioned a crude pallet from his clothes and taking Sora's limp body into his arms, rolled, so she was sprawled over him. Getting to his coat proved to be a bit of a problem because it lay a little out of his reach. This was compounded by the fact that this wasn't some small, delicate woman he was holding. She was very nearly as tall as he was which was actually freakishly large for a full-blooded Japanese woman. Furthermore, she had enough muscle to make getting up a little difficult. He began to regret sending Garurumon away. Finally though, after a bit of stretching, he managed to snag the edge of the coat and dragged it closer to himself. Wrapping the coat around himself and Sora, he settled back.
Takenouchi, Sora. He remembered her; perhaps even more so then Takeru. It was hard to tell sometimes with his limited memory. She had been the wisest of them all on that first adventure to the Digital World. He had met her and Tai before that though, although he and Tai hadn't really become true friends until the adventures in the Digital World. Because of her deep friendship with Tai and out of respect to him, he had never made any overtures in her direction. So it had come as a tremendous shock when she had chosen him over Tai.
He remembered that fateful day and was glad that he did so. So many of his other memories had disappeared but that one was one of his most treasured. She had come to him backstage at his concert. He had been getting ready to go out and perform his bands first major concert when she had appeared and stopped him. The fact of the matter was that she had caught him unprepared. The shock had very nearly ruined that first concert. Of course, that was before she had kissed him softly and given him a gentle push towards the stage. After the concert and the subsequent Digimon attack, he had tracked her down......
Yamato frowned, pausing in his reminiscing. Had he talked to Tai before going to Sora? It seemed important to him that he should have but he couldn't remember. Either the memory didn't exist or he hadn't. Neither possibility was very comforting. He didn't want to think that he had betrayed Tai. They had been rivals and then the best of friends. That thought triggered its own memory; of the first day he had met the two people that had become so important in his life.
He had been seven years old, entering his first day of middle school. His parents had gotten a divorce but had not wanted to put too much distance between himself and Takeru so they had stayed relatively close to each other. They still loved each other but sometimes love just wasn't enough. In any case, he had arrived at the new school in low spirits. He wanted to go across the street to the primary school and visit Takeru but wasn't allowed. At lunchtime, he'd gone outside and sat down under a tree overlooking a large soccer field. There had been a few guys out there playing......
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FLASHBACK
Yamato recognized the mood he was in. Things just hadn't been the same after his parents' divorce. He'd had a brother whose small earnest blue eyes had been the world to him. Every day for as long as he remembered, he'd gently shaken him awake in the morning so they could watch cartoons together. Even when he had started school, Takeru had not quit and had even burst into tears the one time he hadn't been awakened. Afterwards, he had woken up early and awakened Takeru and they had continued their tradition undisturbed. However, the divorce had broken this tradition and Yamato could not see any way to mend it. Just thinking about it put him in a state of melancholy. And so, he did what he always did when feeling this way; he pulled out his harmonica.
It was an interesting device, this harmonica. His father had bought it for him just a few months before the divorce. Its main purpose had been to encourage his musical talents but after the divorce, he had found that it helped him deal with his emotions, with his depression. Sitting under the tree, he began to play, unmindful of whoever was listening. He put his heart, his emotions into the melody. After a while, he closed his eyes gave himself over fully to the music. An eternity later he finally stopped and heard clapping coming from directly above him. He looked up and saw a girl with reddish brown hair sitting on a branch a few feet above him. So absorbed had he been in his thoughts that he hadn't even noticed her.
"That was really beautiful," she said jumping down and landing lightly beside him.
Yamato flushed, he had never played for anyone else before. "Thank you," he said softly.
The girl continued to stare at him and he found the gaze oddly unsettling. "My name is Sora," she said finally.
"I'm Yamato," he replied hoping she'd go away. He wanted to be alone right now. However, he had been taught to be polite.
"Oh, I know who you are," the girl, Sora, responded. "I saw you in the morning when you were coming into school. Since you're the only one with blonde hair in the whole school, everybody was wondering about you. Some girl, Takahashi Mai I think, said that your name was Yamato."
He knew the girl. She had been a classmate of his in primary school. "I'm half French," he said by way of explanation. "I got my mom's blonde hair."
The girl nodded as if that explained everything. "Why are you so sad?" She asked suddenly.
Yamato blinked at that. That was a rather forward question from someone he'd met just a few seconds ago. He gazed steadily at the girl and she blushed slightly, turning away.
"I'm sorry," she apologized.
He felt strangely bad about her apology. "Don't be," he replied quietly.
There was silence until suddenly, a soccer ball suddenly came flying out of nowhere. It barely missed him and crashed into the tree he was sitting against.
"Stupid Tai," the girl beside him muttered.
A boy with really thick brown hair and a pair of oversized goggles on his head came running up. "Sorry guys." He gasped, out of breath from his run.
"Watch where you're aiming that thing." Sora said indignantly.
The boy stared strangely at her. "Hi Sora."
The girl gave a small, "hmph," and started walking away.
"Oh come on, you've got to forgive me some time."
She didn't respond and kept walking.
"Come on Sora, I apologized for throwing up in your hat."
If anything, her shoulders became even stiffer as she walked away. The boy sighed, turning towards Yamato. Blue eyes met brown. After a moment, Yamato tossed the boy his soccer ball. He took it and wordlessly turned back towards the field.
END FLASHBACK
______________________________
He could feel her stirring in his arms finally. It brought a strange sort of apprehension in him. How exactly was he going to handle this? The past two hours had not been enough time to come up with a plan. Should he let go? Should he hold on? In the end, the decision was taken from him. She raised her head and froze upon seeing him.
"Uh, Hello," he managed sheepishly.
Her eyes went from confused to angry in seconds. He barely caught the right hook aimed his way. She hissed and pushed off him, getting to her feet. He followed up after her and she stared strangely at him. She looked down and seemingly noticed her state of undress for the first time.
"You bastard," she screamed and rushed at him.
Yamato held up his hands. "Wait Sora," and then she was on him. He dodged her blows, falling backwards. "Would you please listen?" He grunted, twisting nimbly aside from a kick aimed his way. He couldn't keep this up forever though. She was a more then capable fighter and the cave was too small for him to keep dodging. He had to respond and knock her out before they attracted undue attention from outside. Raising his hand, he fired off a small burst of ice at her feet. It was stopped as a nimbus of red light surrounded her. 'Damn, her shield.' He'd forgotten about that.
Suddenly, a pressure began to build within his head. "Sora wait, please," he managed before she began using her telepathic powers. He fought her tooth and nail but he knew he couldn't keep this up forever either. It was only a matter of moments before she overwhelmed his mind. The telepaths had always been the most powerful among the Chosen, especially because they had those damned shields.
His resistance was almost gone when suddenly a large figure tackled Sora from behind. It was Were-Garurumon. Yamato breathed a sigh of relied until Sora threw up her shield and his partner went flying through the air, crashing into a sidewall. He rushed forward but she suddenly glanced up and he froze in his tracks as the pressure within his head reduced him to his hands and knees.
He had only one chance left. "January 21, 2001." He managed to grunt out.
The pressure in his head gradually decreased. He looked up to find her standing over him, wearing his coat. "How did you know that?" She asked, staring down at him.
"I'm... Yamato," he gasped out.
Her leg crashed into his face sending him reeling to the floor. He tried to get up but her foot on his chest pushed him back down. "I don't have very much patience for this. Tell me the truth. How did you get my flight coordinates?"
"He's telling the truth, Sora." Were-Garurumon said from where he sat rubbing his head. The werewolf digimon rose to his feet and a nimbus of light surrounded him as his body grew smaller and he de-evolved to his rookie level. "You know me. A long time ago, I looked like this."
"Gabumon," Sora said wonderingly. She scanned him, her mind delving into his as he allowed her inside. She saw the truth of his words and the story behind Yamato's revival. Shutting off the connection, she took a deep breath. It was so unbelievable and yet, that was the story of her life.
"Uh, hey. Can you let me up now," Yamato said from underneath her.
Looking down, she flushed and removed her foot from his chest. He rolled to his feet and began donning his clothes. She observed him as he dressed. He looked exactly as he would have if he'd lived to see twenty- four. They had built this body for him and it was exactly like his old one. He hadn't been an especially muscular man but rather had had a wiry build that belied his strength. Of course that had been when he was sixteen. It seemed they had transferred that characteristic into his current body. He was muscular but less so then Tai or even Daisuke. That thought brought her to wondering how the rest of the Chosen were going to react to his return. Hell, she didn't even know what to think yet. Shaking herself, she turned to her own clothes. They were still damp but a quick bit of matter manipulation changed that. Dressing quickly, she turned to see him studying her. It seemed that this was going to be very awkward. She hated awkward and besides what did one say to her dead ex- boyfriend who'd just come back from the grave?
He smiled suddenly, her smile. "So, how've you been?"
"Don't..." Her words caught in her throat. She took a deep breath. "Just don't."
He looked sad for an instant but then a familiar mask slid over his face. That was painful in its own way. She remembered that mask from so long ago.
"They told me that you had my crest." His voice was soft, controlled. "Do you have it with you?"
Sora took off the locket around her neck. His eyes followed the locket but didn't seem to register its importance. Opening the locket, she removed a small runic carving shaped into the Crest of Friendship.
"Don't you think that's a little too 'out in the open' for an object of such importance." Yamato remarked.
Sora shrugged, looking up at him. "I can keep an eye on it this way. Nobody will ever suspect it being out in the open."
"A simple reason but I guess those work best sometimes." Yamato held out his hand. "Give it to me, please."
Sora stepped forward and grabbed his arm, pressing the Crest into his wrist. There was a small jolt of current running through his body and suddenly he felt energized, refreshed. Blinking, he looked at her. She smiled back although it looked a little forced, and opened her mouth to speak.
An explosion suddenly rocked the cave. Her shield was instantly around them, blocking the falling debris.
"They've discovered us," Gabumon spoke, voicing the obvious.
"It's time we did our thing then," Yamato muttered. By the time he'd finished talking, Gabumon had already begun to break up into data. Moments later the two were bio-merged.
"I'll go out there and distract them. You....." he paused as he saw Sora begin to concentrate. The air suddenly seemed to swirl together, rocks lifting off the grounds and joining it. Yamato watched the tableau in fascination; something seemed to be taking shape in the midst of the air. Minutes later, a cheap construct of Sora, complete with all her clothing stood in the place where the air and the rocks had come together.
"It's the best I can do under the circumstances." Sora apologized. "Take that with you and they'll think I'm with you also. It should allow me to get out of here."
"You know the terrain?"
"There isn't an inch of this continent, I don't know and I saw plenty before my craft crashed." There was another blast and more debris rained down on them. "Now get going. I'll contact you using my powers if I get into trouble or when this is over."
Nodding, Yamato ran out of the cave, cradling the construct of Sora in his arms. Immediately, blasts rang out around him as the various Digimon gathered around the cave began throwing blasts of energy his way. He ducked and weaved as best he could, making his way towards where the concentration of enemies was thinnest. As he ran, he began his transformation. Thick fur burst out on his arms and legs, his hands and feet extended into claws and his speed increased exponentially. Letting out a howl, he rushed the five or so Digimon that rushed forward to meet his charge. He sliced through them like a hot knife through butter, sending out random blasts of his Elemental Powers at other Digimon that were still far away. He needed to draw all of them away from the cave.
It seemed to work as nearly every Digimon around the cave gave chase. He was a little astonished at their numbers. This was quite a force. However, it would not stop him. He gave another howl and firing off a final burst of ice at the remaining Digimon, ran off into the hilly country surrounding the cave.
___________________________________
"Oh come on," Takeru groaned looking at the cards in Hikari's hands. "I can't believe you keep winning. You've rigged this deck somehow."
Across from him Hikari raised an eyebrow. "Maybe you're just a really bad poker player. Try to at least keep a straight face. You always do this thing with your face when you think you're going to win."
"What thing?" Takeru said indignantly. "I've got a killer poker face. You can't tell anything I'm plotting."
"Sure," Hikari said rolling her eyes. She stretched in her seat. "We should almost be there."
"Can I fly it for the rest of the way?"
Hikari raised an eyebrow, smirking at him. "Still can't figure out how to turn the autopilot off," she taunted.
"This was not part of our deal," Takeru complained. "You were supposed to let me pilot the thing the whole way."
"No, I only agreed to let you pilot the craft. I didn't say how long. You had your fun by nearly crashing the thing. And I still get my rematch."
Takeru opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a loud beeping sound. He looked back over his shoulder at the blinking dashboard. "What's that?"
"We're here," Hikari said getting up from her seat and walking up beside him. "Now, get out of the seat."
Wordlessly, Takeru abandoned his seat and moved back to the one Hikari had been sitting in. Hikari took the main seat as Takeru vacated it and thumbed a few switches.
"This is Alpha Two, reporting in." There was a burst of static from the comm. and then a familiar voice responded.
"Why are you flying that old model? Didn't you get my new design specs last year?"
"I needed the extra space Koushirou. You got the prophecies, you've probably already figured out why even if you haven't managed to drag it out of Iori. By the way, has he arrived?"
"Yeah, last night. He mentioned that you would be lagging behind. There's a little side bet going here concerning what was keeping you since this is the first time Yagami, Hikari has ever been late to a meeting. Oh, and hello Takeru, if you're in there."
"Uh, hello," Takeru responded hesitantly. If Koushirou knew he was here then so would Jyou. It would actually make things a little easier.
"Is everybody there?" Hikari questioned.
"Everybody except Sora. There was some trouble apparently. She decided to stay behind a while. Miyako arrived two days ago with the news."
"All right, now that we're all caught up. Open the bay."
"It's open." The reply came back.
Takeru's eyes widened as Hikari seemingly flew the aircraft straight towards a mountain located on a small island. "Hey, watch it," he warned. She ignored him and continued towards the mountain. Takeru sighed and leaned back in his seat. They came closer and closer and then suddenly the rock face was gone and they were inside the mountain. It was a hangar bay, Takeru realized as the craft they were in made its way to a landing spot.
"Are you ready?" Hikari asked, rising to her feet and facing him.
Takeru took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Not really," he admitted.
"Relax, it's going to be fine." She gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze and moved to a side hatch that led outside. Sighing, Takeru followed along behind her. The hatch opened, and a ramp extended to the floor of the hangar bay. Walking down the ramp, Hikari made her way to a door set at the end of the room. Takeru trailed behind her, observing his surroundings.
The hangar had not been shaped using the matter manipulation technique. He was almost sure of that. If it had, there would be no need for the steel or metal beams that bore the weight of the mountain, preventing a collapse. Both sides of the hangar were lined with aircraft.
"How did you find this?" Takeru asked as Hikari entered an access code into a keypad located beside the hangar's exit door.
"We ran across it when we first established an outpost on this island." Hikari replied distractedly. "There was nothing of any true value here but the base was ideal for covert meetings."
With a soft hiss, the door slid open and they walked into what appeared to be a large hallway whose sides and ceiling were made of glass. Takeru looked through the glass and his eyes widened. The mountain was completely hollow. From his vantage point, which seemed to be the highest point of the mountain, he could see a twisted warren of passages and hallways. There were large squares and rectangles too which he assumed to be rooms or judging by the size of one, an entire apartment complex.
"You can sightsee later," Hikari called out from the end of the hallway. "They'll begin to wonder what is keeping us if we don't hurry."
Takeru nodded, turning away from the window. As he was turning away he noticed a security camera set up in the corner of the hallway. Waving towards it, he walked up to Hikari. She lead him through several hallways, all of which he observed were monitored.
"Would you stop that," Hikari snapped finally after he had waved to his fifth camera. "You're probably getting on the nerves of whoever's on the other end."
Takeru chuckled. "Wanna give them a show," he said waggling his eyebrows.
Hikari snorted in amusement, unable to help herself. "Maybe some other time," she said just as the door in front of her pinged and slid open.
"You've got elevators?" Takeru asked walking up behind her.
"Yeah, this is a huge place as you saw from the hangar hallway. Without these elevators, traversing this place would be a difficulty."
Takeru nodded, following Hikari into the elevator. The rest of the trip was conducted in silence as he sank into his thoughts. How would the others react to his arrival? If the old days were any indicator, he'd get the usual collection of stares and then everybody would go back to their own business. He would be left alone, his opinion asked for when it was convenient. It wasn't a bad deal, all things considered. The old Takeru had lived with it but the old Takeru had also not cared. He couldn't say that about himself anymore. He had to do this, if not for himself then for Hikari.
The elevator's descent stopped and the doors slid open. In no time at all, they were standing before two very large doors inlaid with a decorative pattern depicting the nine Crests of the Digital World.
"We have no clue what this means." Hikari said in response to his questioning look. "Are you ready?"
Takeru smiled sadly. "No, but go ahead anyway."
Wordlessly, Hikari took his hand in hers and then stepped forward and pressed her palm against the Crest of Light. The symbol glowed briefly and then the door swung open. The room she led him into was large, its walls ringed by computer monitors. There was a large round table in the middle of the room on which was engraved a map of the Digital World. Around the table were the rest of the Chosen minus Sora. He looked at them all, gauging their reactions. He could see that he had been right before in thinking that Jyou had known of his return. The man didn't look especially surprised. He, Iori and Koushirou were the only ones though. The rest of the reactions were mixed. Miyako and Mimi had immediately noticed that Hikari was gripping his hand and had identical smiles on their faces. This contrasted well with the frown on the faces of Tai, Ken and Daisuke.
Takeru raised his hand awkwardly. "Hello everybody."
__________________________________
Sora crouched under the tree, waiting. She stood at the edge of a thick forest. Around her were trees in late bloom, their leaves wilting and shedding in droves. Thankfully, there was still some cover to be had here. It appeared as if Yamato's gambit had worked. She had not been pursued and had found the forest easily enough. Now she waited for Yamato, having sent him a mental signal some time ago. She stiffened suddenly as she heard a branch crack nearby. Spreading her mental senses, she relaxed. Yamato had arrived. There was another deliberate crack and then he bounded into view.
Morphing back to his human form, he straightened. "I managed to lose most of them in the mountains but there are still a few behind me. I hope you know this forest well."
Sora nodded. "Yeah, I know the way through. The forest runs the width of this entire continent but if we travel southwest, we'll get to the outpost of Seona. We can be there in half a day or so if we ride Garurumon."
"Lead on then," Yamato said looking at the setting sun overhead. "We should have enough light for the next half hour."
Sora turned, leading them into the woods. They walked in silence as both were exhausted. Twenty minutes later, they stopped to make camp. The place wasn't exactly ideal but it covered them from above and provided reasonable assurance that nobody would be able to sneak up on them.
Leaning against a tree Yamato, de-merged from Garurumon. The giant wolf digimon sank down beside him and leaned down, resting against its great body. Sora lay down on the other side. They could not light a fire for fear of being discovered so the wolf's thick fur was the only reasonable way to stay warm this night. All three lay in silence, locked in their thoughts.
"Hey Yamato," Sora called out suddenly, "what happened to Takeru?"
"He returned here a little before I did." Yamato answered softly. "By now, he should already have met Hikari and Iori."
"Oh."
"I... I want to thank you for looking out for him." Yamato said quietly, his voice barely above that of a whisper.
"I didn't do such a good job, all things considered." Sora said bitterly. "He changed so much. You should really thank Hikari. She never stopped trying."
"Neither of you stopped trying and in his case, that required the patience of a saint most times. You shouldn't blame yourself for what happened to him."
"Did Hikari know about you?" The question was sudden, leaving him a little off balance.
"Yes," Yamato admitted after a moment of silence. "I had to reveal myself to her. It was the only way to save Takeru." He squinted over Garurumon trying to make out her face in the gloom. "How much did you see in Gabumon's mind?"
"Not much, I just saw the general story about what happened to you. How the Guardians put you in Takeru's mind and then these... Elders took you out and put you in a body they had constructed."
"How did you think to ask about Hikari?" Yamato questioned, a little puzzled.
"It was how she looked at me when she came back from talking to Takeru that one final time. I always wondered about that. She doesn't usually wear her emotions so plainly. It was gone in a flash but I saw enough to wonder. It wasn't up till now that I managed to place the look."
Yamato sighed. "I wanted to talk to you but..."
"You were forbidden. I know." Sora smiled sadly although he couldn't see it. "It's just as well that you didn't. I... I've moved on Yamato."
"I know," Yamato said softly. "I saw the ring on your finger but I didn't want to talk to you in that fashion. I just want you to be happy and I doubt you could be that with me."
"What do you mean?" Sora asked, confused.
Yamato peered over Garurumon again wishing he could see her face. "I've changed, Sora. I barely remember most of the other Chosen. All I have are names and faces and even those memories feel artificial somehow. Most of what I know, I learned while I was in Takeru's mind."
"What do you remember about us? You obviously remember our first date."
"Actually, I don't." Yamato admitted sheepishly. "I just remembered the day's date and that it was important somehow. How was it though, our first date, I mean."
"Don't put me through this Yama," Sora said sadly.
"I... I'm sorry. It's just that there's so much I don't know. So much that's missing."
"Do you really want to know about us though?"
"I don't know. I suppose I do, mostly because I remember feeling strongly about you. I mean I remember you as fondly as I remember my own brother. There's just so much I want to know but if you don't feel comfortable, you don't have to."
"It's just..." Sora snuggled deeper against Garurumon. "I just don't feel comfortable about all this. You're right, we did feel very strongly about each other but I moved on. Do you know who gave me this ring?" She asked suddenly.
"Taichi," Yamato said sighing. "I always thought you would end up with him someday. It's why I never made my own feelings for you clear at the beginning." He chuckled suddenly. "Did you know how much of a shock it was when you came to me that day at the concert."
"Yeah, I could see it in your face," Sora said wistfully. "I chose you because I fell in love with you Yamato. I'd always considered Tai to be like the brother I never had. It came as a shock to me that he had feelings for me. Did you know that he asked me out right before I came to see you."
"I might have but I don't remember anymore."
"I let him down easily but I could always see the pain in his eyes. After you were murdered, he was always there for me and it's so silly, but I fell in love with him."
"Why would it be silly? You two were as predictable a match as Takeru and Hikari."
"Nothing about love is predictable Yama. I know because I am the bearer of that crest after all." Sora paused, thinking of what to say. "I told you that I always thought of Tai as a brother. I had to get over all these feelings for him before I allowed myself to think of him as boyfriend material. Hikari never had that problem with Takeru. She had a brother, she didn't need another one. I'm simplifying the situation a bit but even their relationship, as deep as it was, was in doubt because of that last fight they had. He could have lost her for good if Daisuke had been a little bit more motivated and little bit less concerned with Hikari's feelings."
"You haven't changed much from what I remember." Yamato said wryly. "Still the wisest one among us."
"I would have thought that title would go to Jyou."
"Would it? I don't remember."
Sora sighed then suddenly sat up looking over Garurumon's midsection. "Hey, are you making fun of yourself?"
Yamato's chuckle was her only answer. Grinning, she settled back against the giant wolf and closed her eyes. She was almost asleep when a faint presence touched her mind. It seemed that Tai had gotten worried about her.
'Yes Hikari, I'm here,' Sora thought inwardly, using her own powers to hold onto the weak connection. There was a vague feeling, as if of relief and then another mental image. 'I'm fine for the moment but I was ambushed. I'm proceeding to Seona. Tell Tai that I will be at the summit tomorrow. And I have a surprise for you all.' There was a faint hint of curiosity but then the connection slowly faded. It wasn't much of a surprise to her. Holding connections over such great distances was hard even for someone as strong as Hikari. At best, they could only get one or two sentences out before the connection terminated.
Closing her eyes, Sora tried to go back to sleep. Morning arrived too soon in her opinion. It seemed that she had only just closed her eyes when she was forced to open them again. Yawning tiredly, she checked the sky overhead and found that it was overcast. They could expect rain sometime later today. She looked over at Yamato and found him already awake and munching on what looked to be dry rations. He glanced towards her and she raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"I stocked up on supplies before I was sent here." He said pulling out another packet of rations from his coat pocket and tossing it to her.
Sora snagged the packet out of the air and opened it. It was mostly just dried fruit and nuts. Sighing, she tore into it and finished the meal quickly. By the time she was done Garurumon had stirred awake as well. Climbing onto the back of the giant wolf, Sora instructed him about which path to take that would get them to Seona. After she was finished, Garurumon leapt forward in a trot, deftly avoiding the trees of the forest.
They reached the outpost by midday. It seemed like someone had taken a crown and stuck it into the earth. There were sentries lining the battlements at the top, some even standing in the crenellations. The main gate itself was a high wooden drawbridge with a portcullis right behind it. The whole effect was rather Victorian.
Yamato stared at it bemusedly. "A Medieval Castle?" He turned his head back towards Sora. "And is that a moat surrounding it?"
"The Chief guy in charge here is named Tom Himi." Sora replied. "He's got some weird ideas but is a capable enough leader. The whole castle thing was his idea. Miyako had to construct it using plans he gave her. Still, they do have modern plumbing and the whole effect is charming in a rugged sort of way."
Yamato grunted turning back to look at the castle. As they neared it, the sentries up top began scrambling and moments later there were a sizable number of them lining the crenellations. Garurumon came to a halt right at the edge of the moat, facing the main entrance to the castle.
Sora stood up on Garurumon's back, grabbing Yamato's shoulders to keep her balance. "I want to speak to Tom Himi." She said formally. "Tell him it's Sora Takenouchi."
Her name seemed to cause a bigger stir among the sentries up top. There was a shuffle up top and then a short, stocky man was standing atop one of the castle's merlons. He squinted down at them then ran a hand through his chestnut colored hair.
"We've had a lot of attacks by Bakemon recently." He yelled down. "You're going to have to prove that you are who you say you are."
"Toss down a knife," Sora called up. "I can prove that both of us are humans."
In response, the leader of the fort, retreated and moments later a drawbridge came down over the moat. Behind the drawbridge, the portcullis swung upwards, opening. Five guards exited in all, each wearing brown and gray robes and waving what looked to be a blaster type attachment on their arms, at them. Right behind them came the man they had just conversed with.
Sora jumped down from Garurumon's back and motioned for Yamato to do the same. They exchanged a quick glance and then Yamato told Garurmon to assume a less threatening form. He responded swiftly and de-evolved to Gabumon. The act seemed to reassure the leader of the group who came forward and presented Sora with a small ornate dagger. Taking it, she swiped it swiftly across the palm of her hand and then passed it to Yamato. He repeated the motion. After they had proved they weren't Bakemon, they were supplied with bandages by one of the soldiers.
"I'm sorry, Lady Sora," Tom apologized. "We've suffered a high number of Bakemon attacks recently and have grown weary. They can disguise themselves completely as humans and even our digimon can't sniff them out." He looked at her strangely. "And I got word yesterday that you were on your way to the summit."
"I was attacked a little ways north of here by a relatively small army of Digimon," Sora explained. "Which leads me to wonder how they got past you and evaded the scouts we sent from Flaim."
"They must have some new way of cloaking themselves. Lord Koushirou's devices picked up nothing. If it wasn't for Farez, we would still be in the dark."
"I'll need two of your courier aircrafts," Sora said, cutting through the preamble. "The others need to know about this and you should intensify patrols around the castle. We encountered nobody when coming in."
"That may be a problem," Tom replied. "We only have two courier crafts at this fort. One of them was used to send you the reports concerning what your second group of scouts found. The other one had a malfunction earlier today. Our tech guys are still trying to get to the bottom of it."
Sora frowned. "How long till it's fixed?" She queried.
"It shouldn't take more then a day. You can stay in our guest rooms until the work is done."
Sora nodded. "Very well." She glanced towards Yamato who stood surveying the castle. "I'll contact Hikari and Mimi when we're settled in and let them know that I am safe and on my way to the summit."
Yamato grunted distractedly and went back to looking at something atop the castle. Sora turned back towards Tom and motioned him to lead them inside. However he seemed to be looking at Yamato and then followed his gaze. Sora frowned, looking up as well. There seemed to be nothing wrong from what she could see. All she saw was a sentry high atop the wall.
"Shall we?" Tom asked, his voice breaking through whatever Yamato was thinking.
"Of course," Yamato said blinking at Tom. "Lead on as the Lady said."
Tom turned towards the drawbridge, the soldiers behind him shuffling aside expertly and making room for him and the two guests. Crossing the portcullis, they entered a large courtyard and walked to the entrance of the castle. The two large doors which signified the entrance, swung open at a touch and they entered a large hall with wooden seating and an altar at the end. There was even a stained glass window high above the altar, depicting an image of a mass of people bowing before a black robed figure.
"A church?" Yamato said bemusedly.
"Yes," Tommy replied. "We have many men of faith here. I felt it was wise to give them some sort of release and provide nourishment for their faith."
"And are you one such man?" Yamato asked raising his eyebrow.
"Perhaps," Tom said. "One cannot live among such trappings and expect to escape faith for long."
"Perhaps," Yamato drawled, "if one is weak willed."
That seemed to stiffen the man's back. He led them silently to the back of the church and to a stair way set to the left of the altar. Traveling down the stairs, they came upon a small hallway. Tom led them quietly to a side door and opened it for them. Yamato entered first, studying his surroundings. There was a fireplace, a single four-poster bed and various furs carpeting the floor. Several of the thicker ones were sitting in front of the fireplace, at the foot of a large wooden chair, straight out of medieval times.
"How... rustic." Yamato remarked smirking.
"Enjoy your stay," Tom said stiffly, turning around and leaving the room. The door slammed behind him.
"He has a quick temper." Yamato spoke turning towards Sora.
"What was that all about?" She asked looking at him strangely. "Why did you get his back up like that?"
Yamato walked towards the chair and sat down. Gabumon moved in and sat at his feet. "There's something wrong with this place, Sora. It makes me uneasy. Outside, I chanced to look up and saw that sentry's arm bending in a most unnatural way. I think you better contact the others as soon as you can."
"This is crazy, Yama. If anything that bad had happened here, I would have heard about it."
Yamato turned to face her. "This is a frontier post, isn't it? I saw a map before the Elders sent me here. This outpost is right at the edge of the Undersea Master's territory. As good as your precautions are, there are bound to be slip-ups. Especially if they take the leader first."
This seemed to disconcert her a bit. "Are you sure?"
"At this point, no. I'm going on hunch alone and I didn't get that good a look. However, the way you were ambushed has me thinking, and isn't it a big coincidence that their only aircraft suffers a breakdown. Whoever ambushed you had to know that this would be your first stop if their initial plans failed."
Sora frowned, her brow creasing. "I could scan the castle and its inhabitants but my powers would be taxed. I won't be able to contact the others if that happens."
"You contacted Tai before you left?"
"Yes," Sora replied. "I had to let them know that I was on my way and last night Hikari contacted me to ensure that I was safe."
"I think that you should contact them now and let them know that you're safe... or not." Yamato chuckled humorlessly. "Show them where we are and tell them to get over here as soon as they can."
Sora nodded and closed her eyes sending her thoughts out into the void of thoughtscape. Her mind raced and ran into a resistance as she began to travel in the direction of the summit. She probed at the wall that had sprung up before her, traveling its length and breadth and determined that it surrounded the outpost of Seona. There was no getting past it unless her physical self left its confinement and she knew that would not be allowed if Yamato's suspicions were correct. Sighing, she broke the connection and returned to her mind.
Yamato looked up as her eyes fluttered open. "Well," he asked.
Sora shook her head. "You seem to have been right. This place has a barrier around it that I can't get past."
"What do we do now?" Gabumon remarked from his place on the floor.
Sora rose to her feet, walked towards the door and opened it. As she had been expecting, there were two sentries on guard outside. She tried to leave and they barred her way. "We have orders not to let you leave, Lady Sora." One of the guards said to her before pushing her inside and closing the door.
"That seems fairly bad behavior to exhibit towards the ruler of this Continent." Yamato said with a faint hint of sarcasm.
"We had to make some compromises when we first came here." Sora explained. "For a Continent of this size, we needed adequate facilitators. There were already quite a few people that had established themselves as leaders. We needed to make compromises and one of them had to do with how the outposts would be governed. While here, I have no real authority with the guards. Tom's orders supercede my own."
Gabumon rose to his feet. "We could try fighting our way out."
Sora shook her head. "I want to use that option as a last resort. We don't know just how many of these are actual humans and how many are Bakemon."
"None of which helps us." Yamato said rising to his feet as well. "Face it Sora, we have little to no choice here. For all we know, the whole base could be Bakemon and they could be waiting for reinforcements to arrive. I say we strike now while we still have the advantage of surprise."
"There is another way," Sora said quickly. She walked over to a far wall and began running her hands over it. "When us Chosen made these outposts, we decided to put in certain precautions in case we ever needed a quick escape. It was Tai's idea mostly and it came about because he didn't trust the sort of people we had to make compromises with. I'm glad he thought it up now." Her hand came into contact with one loose brick and there was faint glow from her heart. The brick responded to the glow and a small section of the wall slid back allowing an opening a person could step into. "There are secret tunnels that run throughout each one of our outposts. Opening them is dependant upon our crests so the risk of discovery is fairly slim." She walked into the opening. "Come along."
Yamato and Gabumon stared at each other before following Sora into the tunnel. The wall slid shut behind them.
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Next: Sora and Yamato find out just exactly what happened at the Seona Outpost and have to make a hard choice.