Author's Note: On names. I apologize for not explaining this before. I don't like the name 'Vamdemon." It's just too 'on the nose' for me, if that makes sense. I like how Myotismon sounds better. I think it's the 's', heh.
I use Piedmon, rather than Piemon, because, to me, Piemon sounds like it should belong to a cream pie with legs.
For evolution levels: Due to the use of Ultimate in the English-dub-speaking world, I use Perfect/Fully Evolved for the level above Adult. As for the final level, I use Mega. This is just for confusion's sake.
Otherwise, I'll pretty much stick with the Japanese names.
A
What happens if you place a large stone in a river? Not one large enough to block it, but one large enough to divert it? Which way does the water now flow? It's up to chance. The same with time. Each stone is an event, a choice, a decision made or not made. From those stones, the flow of time diverts. Some are large branches while others are small streams. In every stream, a Digital World exists, and in every Digital World, so does the Chosen Children.
A
The Mark of Millenniumon Prelude
The Light of Love
Chapter 2
Sora sat down on the sand and let the ocean water brush up against her feet. As she stared out over the water to the distant horizon, she could almost convince herself she was on one of the Kamakura beaches, could almost convince herself that her parents were a few feet behind her in their beach chairs, or that her friends were about to run over and ask to play volleyball.
But she wasn't back home. She was on a tropical island in the center of the Digital Ocean, watching for any sign of their enemies, hoping they were safe for the moment in their little sanctuary.
"Sora?"
She opened her eyes. Piyomon was standing next to her, giving her a strange look. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, just fine," she said, "What's up?"
"It's time for dinner."
Sora nodded and stood up. She brushed the sand off herself and followed her partner off of the beach and into the forest. Or was it a jungle? She'd have to ask Koshiro. The other Chosen and digimon were there, holding skewered fishes over the fire like marshmallows. "There you are!" Hikari said, running over to her, "It's time to eat!"
Sora couldn't help but smile at the younger girl. "So I've been told," she chuckled.
Hikari guided her to a spot next to Plotmon. Jyou pulled his fish on a stick out of the fire and gently bit into it. "So, now that we're all together, we should figure out what we're going to do next. What do you think, Sora?"
The redhead blinked. "W-well, I…" She didn't think she'd get put on the spot like this. "What do you think, Yamato?"
"We need to keep ahead of the Dark Masters right now," Yamato said. He glanced down at Gabumon, "At least until we can figure out how to beat them."
His partner frowned. "Like Piedmon said, we're not strong enough because we haven't fought in our Mega forms long enough."
"Yeah," Piyomon agreed, "We just need practice."
"But do we have that kind of time?" asked Jyou, "I mean, we got out of that last one by the skin of our teeth."
"Chuumon," Mimi whimpered. She was sitting away from the others with her chin resting on her bent knees while Palmon nibbled on a cooked fish.
Jyou hissed. "Mimi, I didn't mean-" He sighed. "I'm sorry."
Mimi sniffled and repeated. "Chuumon. He wanted me to save him and he saved me."
Palmon rested a hand on her partner's leg. "Mimi, it's okay."
Mimi pulled her head up. "We need to find other digimon."
"That's not a bad idea," Koshiro said between bites of his fish, "We could use them as reinforcements or something."
"No!" Mimi screamed, "We have to make sure they're safe!" She turned to Sora. "We're not gonna get more of our digimon friends killed, right?"
"No, of course not," Sora said. "But, Mimi, sometimes…" What was she supposed to say?
"We can't go looking for digimon," Yamato said, "I'm worried about them too but right now we need to focus on keeping ourselves safe."
"We need a base or something," Gomamon suggested. He turned to Sora. "Right? That's what we should do?"
"Y-yeah, I guess that's a good idea," she said. "Yamato, is that what we should do?"
He thought for a minute and then shook his head. "No, I still think our best bet's staying ahead of the Dark Masters right now. Even if we could find a base, it just means we'll be in one place when the Dark Masters come looking for us."
"But," Jyou countered, "If Gabumon and Piyomon need time to get stronger, wouldn't it be easier in one place? I mean, we don't have any idea how much time they'll need."
"Maybe not that long," Tentomon said, "I've noticed that I seem to get stronger faster than I should, especially after evolving for the first time. I took out Vadermon pretty easily."
The other digimon nodded. "Yeah," Palmon nodded, "As Lillymon, I stood my own against Myotismon."
"And I took out MegaSeadramon in one shot," Gommamon added.
"So what are you saying?" asked Sora.
"That something about us being Chosen digimon makes us get stronger faster. I bet, even as strong as those Dark Masters are, you and Gabumon evolve a few more times and it'll be no sweat."
"All right, fine," Yamato said, "But we need to keep moving in the meantime."
"Should we do that, Sora?" Koshiro asked, "Or should we stay here and train our digimon?"
"Well, um…" Sora said. Why did they keep asking her?
Hikari cleared her throat. "Um, I...I know I'm new here and everything."
Sora gave her a reassuring smile. "Go ahead, you're one of us now."
The girl nodded. "Um, shouldn't someone be in charge to make these kinds of decisions?"
Silence fell over the group, the only sound was the crackling of the fire. Sora knew everyone was thinking of Taichi. He had been the one to make those decisions. They didn't always agree with him, but they still followed him.
Sora thought of her friend; his wild hair, his big goofy grin. She bit back tears and turned to Hikari. The younger girl hadn't cried over her brother since she and Angewomon deleted Myotismon. How much was she holding inside?
The silence stretched until Jyou nodded. "So, does anyone want to volunteer?"
There was still silence. Sora noticed that Yamato was fidgeting in his seat. She thought that was strange since Yamato wasn't afraid to speak his mind. Maybe he was just too embarrassed or bashful to admit he wanted the position. Sora might describe Yamato as grumpy and a loner but not arrogant. She cleared her throat. "I think-"
Mimi cut her off. "I think we should take a vote."
Sora regarded her but Koshiro nodded. "Yes. I think that would be the most democratic thing."
"Are there candidates?" Jyou asked, "Or should it just be a secret vote for whomever?"
"I think the second one," Hikari said.
Sora studied Yamato again and then said. "Can we vote for ourselves?"
Koshiro nodded. "Since it's anonymous, I guess you can."
She gave Yamato a quick smile, hoping that he understood she had just given him away to volunteer himself.
Mimi pulled a notebook and a pen out of her bag. "We can use this." She tore out sheets and ripped them into smaller scraps. Everyone wrote their choice and then dropped them into Mimi's hat. "Jyou, you can be the scorekeeper," she said as she thrust the hat into his arms.
"Uh, sure." He started reading from the paper scraps and writing the tally in the notebook. "Okay. Ready."
"So how about you, Jyou?" Gommamon asked, "How many did you get?"
Jyou cleared his throat. "Well, since you asked. Um, unsurprisingly, I didn't get any. Um, moving on." He read from the notebook, "Yamato had five votes."
Sora turned to the blonde boy. Only five? She voted for him; the other four must have been Takeru, their partners, and himself. If Jyou didn't get any votes, who got the rest? Probably Koshiro. He was the smartest one and-
Jyou continued. "And with nine votes, Sora."
Her mouth dropped. "M-me?" She jumped to her feet. "I can't be in charge."
Hikari looked up at her. "Yes you can, Sora. You'll be great at it."
She shook her head. "This isn't like joining a sports team! It's too much for me to handle!"
Piyomon brushed her wing against Sora's hand. "Sora, you-"
"I can't!" she protested again.
"Just do it, Sora!" Mimi cried.
She stared at the other girl. Mimi had tears running down her cheeks. "I'm so tired of running and hiding and watching our friends get hurt and killed! I just want this blasted fighting to be over!"
Sora stared, unable to say anything except, "Mimi…" She turned to regard the others. Everyone was staring at her with shimmering, hopeful eyes. Taichi had been hyper and didn't always think sometimes but he had been a rock for the Chosen to rally around. Even though Takeru had the Crest of Hope, Taichi always made them feel like everything would be okay. They needed that again.
"O-okay."
A little after midnight, Sora and Piyomon found Gabumon watching the ocean while sitting on the beach. Yamato marched like a soldier on patrol. Sora smiled. "You're relieved of duty for the night."
Yamato cast a glance. "Getting into the leader role already, huh?"
Sora winced. "I was just trying to make a joke. I didn't mean anything by it."
Yamato just motioned to Gabumon. "Come on, time to get some sleep."
His partner stifled a yawn. "Good. I'm about to fall asleep right here."
The duo passed by Sora and Piyomon. "You know," she said, "I didn't want this job. I voted for you."
Yamato paused before looking over his shoulder at her. "It's fine. I don't really care."
The tone of his vote suggested he did. "I have no idea what I'm doing," she added, "I'd like your help."
"Like an advisor or something?" he asked. She imagined that he only just held back a sneer. His tone dropped to almost a whisper. "They didn't want me. It's fine. I can handle it."
Sora hesitated. "Yamato-"
He fully turned to address her. "Look. I know what I think is best. You're the leader now, you need to decide what you think is best."
She was silent as he and Gabumon walked back to the sleeping group. Sora turned to stare across the ocean to the horizon. She really wished she was in Kamakura.
"Sora, what are you going to do?" Piyomon asked.
"I don't know," she answered. She fell onto her rear and continued staring out over the water.
How could she be in charge? She had no idea what to do. They were being chased by the Dark Masters, their digimon friends were being deleted, and their partners were not strong enough. Would they be safer in a base to launch attacks or would it be better to keep moving? If they kept moving, would they find enough food and water? If they made a base, would it be strong enough to defend them against the Dark Masters? If they kept moving, should they look for digimon to help?
She rubbed her temples. It felt like an orchestra in her head!
Taichi would have known what to do. Well, maybe that was a little too much of a stretch. Taichi sometimes thought of plans but usually, he just did whatever he popped into his head, which usually turned out to be the right thing to do. Either Taichi was some tactical genius or he was just lucky; probably a little of both.
"Sora?" Piyomon asked, "What's so funny?"
"Nothing," Sora said, dropping her smile.
Piyomon fidgeted for a moment. "I can tell that you don't want to be the leader."
She pulled her knees close to her chest. "It's not that. I just don't think that I can."
"If it helps," Piyomon said, "I believe you can do anything."
"Yeah, thanks," she said, almost muttering.
"I mean it," her partner emphasized, "Just believe in yourself."
Sora rubbed the back of her partner's head and stared over the ocean again. The thoughts in her mind started turning.
The sun had risen to just over the horizon when the others started waking. Hikari ran down to her. "Sora, come on. Let's have breakfast."
As they walked up the beach to the area where the other Chosen and digimon were munching on coconuts and bananas, Hikari asked, "Do you know what we're going to do?"
Sora hesitated for a moment and then nodded. "Yeah, I think so."
Hikari squeezed her hand. "Don't worry. I'm sure Taichi would be proud of you no matter what."
Sora felt her heart flutter. Hikari ran ahead. "Everyone! Sora's gonna tell us what to do!"
"She's excited, isn't she?" asked Piyomon.
Sora thought of the sad and brooding girl that had been with her when they defeated Venom Myotismon and entered the Digital World. "Yes, yes she is."
The others were studying her with expectant, eager eyes. "So," Jyou said, "What's the plan?"
She hesitated. What if it was the wrong decision? What if it only made things worse for them, for the Digital World?
She held her breath until she saw Hikari staring at her with shining eyes. "Okay," she exhaled, "I think we need to keep moving. We've never had a base before, and we've always done okay, right? So, we'll wander around and keep our eyes open for any digimon that are in trouble. We'll help them as best we can and hope that they can help us in return. Once Piyomon and Gabumon are strong enough, we'll take on the Dark Masters."
She held her breath again. The Chosen and Digimon regarded each other. Yamato nodded. "All right. If that's what you want us to do, then that's what we'll do."
The others nodded in agreement. "But I have one question," Patamon said, "Where are we going?"
Sora blinked; she hadn't thought of that. She looked to the left and then to the right. It was the same expanse of beach, water, and thick trees in either direction. She thought of Taichi, with his big goofy grin.
She smiled and with a shrug gestured to the right. "Down that way."