Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, or most of the characters that appear in this work. The poem is "Ulalume" by Edgar A. Poe, and the chapter titles come from "The Song of Everlasting Sorrow" by Po Chu-i.

Chapter 4: Winds of Spring

And now, as the night was senescent
And the star-dials pointed to morn--
And the star-dials hinted at morn--
At the end of our path a liquescent
And nebulous lustre was born,
Out of which a miraculous crescent
Arose with a duplicate horn--
Astarte's bediamonded crescent
Distinct with its duplicate horn.

The path Tora and Opalmon took meandered gently through flowery meadows crisscrossed by crystalline springs. The leaves in the trees were bright and new, some barely more than buds. Light grey clouds occasionally blocked the sun, bringing shifts in warmth and cold.

Opalmon stopped suddenly and looked around.

"What is it?" Tora asked.

"I'm not sure...something's here..."

'Something' was indeed there, and the next moment, without warning, it snatched Tora and dragged him into the bushes.

"Tora!" The digimon was after him in a flash. The moment she caught sight of the perpetrator—a fire-orange tigermon—she attacked. "Fire Opal!"

The tigermon was knocked off balance, and dropped the human.

"Nacre Beam!" Opalmon's weaker attack sheered off a tree branch that fell on the tigermon. "You do not mess with my partner," Opalmon informed it.

"I'm the strongest digimon there is," Tigermon growled. "I will 'mess' with whomever I want!"

"Strength doesn't always ensure victory, Tigermon. I thought you learned that the last time we fought."

"If I remember correctly," Tigermon said smuggly, "I won."

"Only because that traitor Catmon switched sides..."

Tigermon laughed. "Just because she decided your precious Fireshield League isn't always right."

"What are you doing here, anyway?" she asked. "You're a digimon; you don't belong in the Underworld."

"Neither do you, Opalmon," Tigermon pointed out. "And what are you doing with a human? I thought the Fireshield League didn't like humans."

"News flash," Opalmon stepped closer to stand in front of Tora protectively, "I'm a digidestined digimon now."

Tigermon smiled menacingly. "Isn't that interesting..."

"Answer me, Tigermon: what are you doing in the Underworld? Does it have something to do with Daemon?"

The sun emerged again from behind a cloud, and Tigermon's yellow stare took on an eerie gleam. "You have no idea what kind of power you're up against. Burning Blair!" a glaring light paired with a high-pitched buzz issued from Tigermon's jaws.

Opalmon threw herself over Tora. His digivice began to glow.

"Opalmon digivolve to...Lazulimon!" The giant blue feline digimon pounced on Tigermon. "Lapis Claw!"

Tigermon cowered beneath her, and tried to wriggle out of her grasp.

"It looks like you're not the strongest, after all."

"What are you going to do to me?" he asked.

"I'm going to tell you to return to the digiworld, and never bother me or my partner again." She released him. As he ran away, she added, "Daemon is dangerous! If he prevails, no one will be safe, not even those who help him now!"

When Tigermon was out of sight, Lazulimon turned to Tora. "Climb on my back. We can go faster, and I'm not confident that Tigermon was alone."