Series: Knight Tales||Title: Birth of a Knight
Characters: Shou, Barbamon||Romance: N/A
Chapters: 9-9||Words: 1,489||Total: 13,019
Genre: Drama, Angst||Rated: PG
Notes: This is an AU. A nice fantasy one. Written for remi.
Summary: Shou is the only survivor of the bloodthirsty raid on his hometown. Not even Peckmon made it. Desire for revenge keeps him going and the assistance of Barbamon gives him the tools he needs to gain what he searches for. For as Barbamon's Knight and Champion, he can make it all right again.


Kahara Shou.

The name – his name – echoed in his mind. Shou didn't think he opened his eyes, let alone moved, but he knew someone watched him. There wasn't anything but darkness in every direction, folding all around him, keeping him safe, fueling that burning need for vengeance and justice.

Why do you hate so much, Kahara Shou?

Who was that? He didn't recognize the voice. If he didn't know them, then they wouldn't know that he couldn't speak. How could he answer them?

You don't need to talk. Think of your answers and I will know them.

Oh. Was this a dream? That could happen in dreams. But if it were a dream, wouldn't he be able to talk there?

He tried to open his eyes – surely he could do that too if this were a dream – but nothing changed. He couldn't move at all, either.

Why do you hate?

Oh. He might not be able to speak, but he could at least answer the question. He could feel the power behind those words and he'd long ago learned to respect power.

Because they killed everyone. My mother. Peckmon. The whole village. He hadn't always liked everyone in his old home, but that didn't matter. They were all dead. They shouldn't have been dead. They shouldn't have been dead like that.

He'd always intended to leave when he got older, to explore the world with Peckmon by his side. Shou would have been thrilled to never see any of them again, so long as he'd always known that it was there, whether he chose to return or not.

And you intend to kill all of the raiders in return. It wasn't really a question. Shou nodded. He would trust Barbamon-sama to find them and guide Shou to them.

Barbamon is a Demon Lord. Should he help someone, it's only for his own advantage and nothing more.

Shou wanted to laugh. He thought he might have, in a silent way.

I know. He told me that years ago. It hadn't been long after he'd begun his training with Musyamon. In point of fact, Musyamon made certain he understood that he would be tolerated only as long as he remained useful.

So Shou went out of his way to be useful. To learn and grow and be able to do more that would earn him the help that he needed.

Shou cast around for more words. Whoever this was, they needed to understand.

He saved my life. Without him and without Sorcerimon, I would have died there. For that alone, I would do whatever he said. But he also helped me. He found people who taught me. He's going to help me find them so I can kill them all.

There wasn't an answer for a few moments.

You truly trust him to do this? You believe this is the right thing for you to do?

Yes.

You would sell your soul to a demon for your revenge?

For this? A thousand times. A million times. You think I don't know what he is? I know. And I'm his Knight.

Shou could not have said it any more plainly. He knew the kind of power that Barbamon-sama used. He couldn't have spent the last six years growing up with him and not known. None of the Digimon he'd grown up around had ever seen fit to hide matters from him, especially as he got older.

And none of it mattered. No one else had ever been there to offer him help. There hadn't been any grand saviors arriving to defeat the raiders that burned his village to the ground. Barbamon-sama and Sorcerimon saved his life. Musyamon and many others taught him, preparing him for the battles to come.

Whatever the cost, he would pay it gladly.

The treasure you are here to seek. Do you know what it is?

No. Only that Barbamon-sama wants it.

It is a treasure that can revive a Digimon. Once and only once. A Digimon whose data has been destroyed can be revived by its power.

Shou stiffened at the words. Somewhere – he didn't know if his body existed in this strange dark place – he could almost feel his hands clenching into fists. A single word thrummed through him.

Peckmon.

I truly can't say if he could be revived with it. It has been some time since he fell. He may already have been reborn elsewhere. But this item can restore any Digimon, even one whose data has been scattered. What do you think Barbamon wants it for?

Over the course of the last six years, Shou had grown used to not being able to speak. But even now, with that question, he could feel words of rage hovering on his lips. He slowly shook his head instead.

Why do you keep trying this? I'm never going to turn away from him! I don't know why he wants it. But he's going to help me! That's what I know! That's what I care about! And you can't! Even if you could, where have you been all this time?

A long stretch of silence, followed by a low breath of a sigh.

Should you ever change your mind and seek a new path, then return here. I will be here. I will help you.

Who are you?

That, I will not say. But you will find the treasure when you awaken. Remember that, Kahara Shou. Remember.


Shou opened his eyes, blinking, confused for a few moments. He'd dreamed… something. He wasn't sure if he remembered it at all, save for a vague certainty that today he would find that treasure.

He pushed himself to his feet, looking around, half expecting to see someone there. There had been someone here, hadn't there been? He could have sworn it.

And yet, there wasn't. Everything remained as it had been before he slept. Not even a hint of another person having been there.

He started to search again, not bothering to eat. The idea of finding that treasure glowed in the front of his mind far too clearly. He searched every room that he'd missed the day before, until he came to the largest room of all.

There in the center, on a small raised pillar, he saw a sphere of silver. Circling the pillar was a ring of dust that glimmered gold in the morning light. Shou gave it careful examination before he removed his cape and draped it over the golden dust. Nothing at all happened. Shou stepped over it, wary with every movement. When nothing more continued to happen, he stared at the sphere before he reached out to take it.

It rested in his hand without any sort of protest.

Barbamon-sama will be proud of me. Shou smiled. He'd succeeded in his first ever mission. Or he would, once he returned home and delivered this.

And the sooner he did that, the better.


Mistymon, hidden behind a veil of magic, watched in silence as Kahara Shou, Barbamon's Knight, headed out of the ruins, the sphere safely tucked away in his pocket.

Did I do the right thing? He suspected he would wonder about that for a great deal of time. He'd tried his best to at least introduce doubt in Kahara Shou's mind, to remind him that Barbamon could never be completely trusted.

He himself didn't know all of Barbamon's plans. That would involve getting far too close to the Demon Lord. But he had his own ways of gaining information and he would continue to watch. Someone had to keep an eye on Barbamon before he did too much that couldn't be undone.

Kahara Shou had a good heart, he suspected, buried underneath years of anger, hate, the undying desire for vengeance, and so much ingrained loyalty to Barbamon. Mistymon could only hope that something would break through all of that to help him, sooner or later. Right now, he knew that he couldn't. He'd seen how deep that inner darkness rooted in Shou's heart. Barbamon did everything that he could to encourage it as well.

Justice was one thing. Revenge was something else altogether. Mistymon hoped that Shou could learn the difference.

I think he'll need help. And I think I know the help that he will need.

What he did not know would be where to find that help. Or even if the help truly existed anymore.

But Mistymon wasn't one to give up hope, not even a hope as thin as this one was. He'd already completed his task here, of guarding the treasure until it could be guarded no more. So now he dropped his veil of concealment and took to the air.

There were many places where a Digimon could revive. And he would search all of them if he had to, until he had the answer that he wanted, and the help that the lost Knight needed.


The End

Notes: So, the end of my first NEXT fic. There will be sequels. This is now a series. Shou has revenge to accomplish, a partner to be reunited with, and other tasks for his liege to carry out. And maybe he needs to learn a better place to put his loyalty? Well, future fics will see if he does that.

Also, I meant to post this last week, but I ended up getting sick and I haven't had more than minimal energy to do anything. But I'm getting better now so here's the ending!