Series: Division of Destiny||Story: Reign of the Undead King||Chapter: The First
Characters: Piemon, Vamdemon, Chosen Children, others||Pairings: Ken x Daisuke/Daisuke x Ken, Mimi x Sora/Sora x Mimi
Chapters: 30-40||Words: 2,841||Total: 79,580
Genre: Romance, Drama||Rated: PG-13
Summary: Vamdemon and Piemon rule supreme. Only now, ten years after their victory, are things about to change. For good or for ill.
"Look! It's the Digital World!" He held the picture close to his chest for a few moments before spinning around, eyes wide and wet with tears that he didn't want to admit were there. "We're really here, Hiroki! We made it!"
There wasn't any answer. There never was one; Hiroki had always been the quiet type, and even more so these days.
Oikawa knew very well why that was. He wasn't stupid. But he didn't like to think about it very much, so he kept the picture close and that was good enough. At least for now. They'd survived the last horrid decade on Earth, and made it here. He couldn't think of anything that would make this moment any better.
Which was why he kept moving on to new moments, to leaping through the fields of grass and flowers, darting through tall trees of types he had never seen before, leaping over rivers, trying not to notice eyes of various kinds looking at him from all manner of lairs and hiding places.
He was here. They were here, in a place where he'd almost given up hope of ever being. The Digital World.
I wish we could've done this together. He shoved the thought away as quickly as it came. They were together, as together as they'd ever be. His grip tightened on the picture, but he warned himself to be careful. He didn't have anywhere he could take it if the glass broke.
He hadn't had anywhere he could take it for the last ten hellish years, so he had a lot of practice in not breaking this. He'd brought along his favorite blanket to wrap the picture in when he slept, just so nothing would happen to it while he couldn't watch it personally.
At the back of his mind there lurked the promise he'd made to the others; he needed to find two children. He didn't forget, really, he hadn't. He just had trouble remembering that he needed to do it at the moment. He breathed in and out, almost squealing at the thought that this was digital air, air that Digimon breathed. Everything he touched or saw or heard was digital, part of the world that he'd all but given up hope of seeing again.
He leaned his head against a tall, slender tree trunk and sighed, the picture still clutched close to him. He wanted to explore around forever. There would be Digimon looking for him – and he couldn't deny the thrill that such a thing gave him, to have actual Digimon looking for him, aware of his existence! - and it would probably be better if he found somewhere he could stay for a while.
Oikawa wasn't even certain anymore of how long he'd been here. The sheer pleasure of being here overwhelmed everything else. From the way his stomach rumbled on occasion, long enough to have missed a few meals at the very least.
There has to be food I can eat here. He couldn't be sure if he would recognize it if he saw it. Maybe if he waited to see what some of the local Digimon ate?
Did Digimon cook their food? Surely some of them did. He'd never gotten close enough to any of those who made their home on Earth to ask. He didn't think any of them would've answered him even if he had.
A part of him wondered if perhaps he hadn't thought this trip all the way through. When Ishida and Takaishi wanted someone to search for their sons, he'd volunteered almost before the words finished falling from Ishida's lips. The thought of finding them hadn't been nearly as important to him as seeing this world with his own eyes.
Now that he was here, though, Oikawa found another thought prowling through his mind: what did he do next? What could he do here? Finding those two boys came to mind, but saying he'd come do that and doing it were two different matters. He didn't even know where to start looking for them.
He glanced over to one side. He wasn't sure if that was where he'd come from at all, but somewhere around here was the gate where he'd crossed over. He'd fled the area almost as soon as he'd set foot here, not wanting any of the Digimon on guard there to trap him. They hadn't seemed to know what to do with a human on their side of the gate, which was the only reason he'd been able to escape in the first place.
They're looking for me. That still gave him a shiver and he thought it might be a better idea if he didn't think about it very much.
The more time he spent there, the more everything seemed to be a little different around him. The sky a little more blue, the grass and leaves greener, everything richer and more vibrant. He breathed in silently, fingers of his free hand flexing against the tree he leaned against.
Food. Water. Shelter. A place where he could start looking for the boys. He wanted to carry out the mission he'd come here for. He'd have to find a way to get in touch with the others back at the base as well. Maybe if he found Yamato and Takeru then they would know a way?
Only slowly did he realize how little he knew of this world and the beings that were in it. The small images he'd seen on his computer screen as a child didn't begin to compare to what he saw here now.
He kind of wished, the more he thought of it, that he could have guides here. Perhaps even a partner of his own?
That idea flickered warmly through his mind and heart. A Digimon partner of his own.
Most humans he knew wouldn't have wanted a Digimon as a partner if their lives and souls depended on it. But Oikawa Yukio had always known he was a little bit different from everyone else. He didn't see any reason to stop now.
Whoever he was, he didn't have the first idea of how to survive on his own in the Digital World. Yamato's lip curled at the sight of the human as he wandered here and there, his small treasure clutched close to him. The blond hadn't been able to get close enough to see what it was, but he could tell the other valued it more than anything else just by the way he kept it close.
We could probably leave him here and if he didn't starve to death, someone would end up eating him inside of a week.
Without their partners, that would've been their fate almost from the beginning, he knew, and this human, adult or not, wasn't any different. If anything, he was worse off, because he was alone, and they'd at least had each other back then.
Yamato bit his lip for a moment, then turned his thoughts firmly away from that. Those days were long gone, and he didn't need to distract himself from work now.
Garurumon lifted his head a little, turning his nose to the prevailing wind, then glanced toward his partner. "Takeru's coming." He kept his voice pitched low enough so the human wouldn't be likely to hear them. They were far enough away that he likely wouldn't have heard them anyway, but caution dictated matters anyway.
Yamato nodded, shifting himself to get more comfortable underneath his chosen hiding place. The thought of spending a few hours, if not days, tracking this human and finding out if he was in any way connected to Gennai, along with his brother, seemed a perfectly suitable way to spend his time. He and Takeru didn't get nearly enough quality time together. Neither of them liked leaving Piemon on his own, knowing there were far too many people in the castle who would take a chance to strike at him without one of the two humans who watched his back.
But they had seen what he did to those who tried that anyway. It had been very...educational. And messy. Piemon could handle himself more than well enough.
That didn't mean they liked it, but it did mean they could do it. If he'd had any disagreements on Yamato's request, he would've expressed them himself. There was nothing to worry about here.
Two shapes fluttered down from above, one his long-limbed brother, the other Takeru's partner. He didn't stay evolved long, shifting back to Patamon in a heartbeat. If they needed his blades, then Musyamon would be back just as swiftly.
"Well?" Takeru contained so much in one single word. He could convey almost as much as Yamato could like that, really. They'd learned well from each other over the years.
Yamato flicked one finger to where the human still wandered around the clearing, intent on hunting food if the way he examined the leaves and branches were any clue. Or maybe he just wanted to exclaim over them some more. Yamato had seen him doing both in the last couple of hours.
Takeru bent down, peering through the concealing branches, before he settled down to where he could keep a continuous watch on the stranger. "Any ideas yet on who he is?"
Yamato shook his head, moving over to settle beside his brother. He sorted through everything he could think of and how best to let Takeru know. In the end, he turned toward Garurumon, one hand thumping the ground lightly in a bit of frustration.
"We've watched him for a while now," Garurumon spoke up. "He hasn't done much other than wander around, and speak to that picture he holds. He's used the name 'Hiroki'."
Takeru's eyes narrowed; the name was similar enough to the father they'd known on Earth to give them both pause. After ten years, neither of them considered Ishida Hiroaki to actually be their father in any significant fashion any longer. But hearing a name so much like theirs brought back all but forgotten memories for both of them.
Yamato closed his eyes and shook his head a fraction. Takeru knew without needing any translator what that meant. Work now, play in the past later. He looked back at the stranger.
"He could be connected to Gennai."
Yamato nodded, tracing a small design on the ground between them. There weren't many ways for humans to cross between the worlds, which could only mean that either Gennai or some Digimon was involved, and there weren't many Digimon who could arrange for that crossing either. The only one either of them knew about was Vamdemon, and if he'd sent the human, then Piemon would know about it.
A small smile suddenly touched Takeru's lips and he leaned a bit closer to Yamato. "Maybe Vamdemon sent this one as a trade for Pinnochimon?"
Laughing was as hard for Yamato these days as speaking was, but he managed a small choked cough that sufficed. He shook his head; even Vamdemon would send a better trade than this human, who looked barely to understand where he was more than half the time. And he would've been sent directly to the palace anyway.
Still, it was good for a few chuckles.
He rubbed his hand over his sword-hilt, wondering if it would be best to simply go out and take the human to Piemon or to wait and see what he had in mind. If the stranger did have some connection to Gennai, and he couldn't imagine how he wouldn't, then an interrogation could lead to Gennai's whereabouts.
That led to a very delicious mental image of finally being able to put an end to Gennai, and eventually to Vamdemon. Yamato liked that thought, far more than he could remember liking anything at all.
Takeru brushed his fingers across the back of Yamato's hand to get his attention. "What do you say to playing a little?"
Yamato cocked his head at that, a slight frown forming. Takeru grinned, a swift slash of upturned lips that few who'd known him as a child would've imagined he could make. And the idea that he spelled out sang to both of them.
Piemon truly would approve.
Oikawa wasn't certain of what was going on. For the last couple of days, food seemed to almost appear. He still had to look for it, but when he did, strange Digimon – and never the same one twice – lurked and crashed in the bushes and trees, sending him skittering in various directions, until he either encountered a tree thick with fruit or a stream that held various kinds of fish.
It did make staying here a little easier, but it also put him on edge. Something, or someone, somewhere watched him. And they saw fit to make certain he had food, but not to show up themselves.
I don't like this. He didn't know what to think of it, other than to be wary. On Earth whenever food appeared mysteriously, it was better to avoid it altogether, in case it was a plant by the vampires. That kind of thing had happened more than once. He'd never known anyone it happened to, but stories spread, especially when one lived with a group of former reporters.
But there weren't any vampires here, not so far as he'd heard. The Digimon here were ruled by Piemon, whoever that was. He'd heard Ishida and the others talking about him, but he hadn't paid very much attention to them. He almost wished now that he had. It might have made what was going on here more understandable.
But now he stared at a pile of fruit that resembled nothing on Earth, and tasted nothing like it either, but which would keep him going for another few days, and his eyes narrowed in quick, harsh thought. He glanced at the picture of Hiroki, then looked up and around.
"Who are you? What do you want? Why do you keep giving me these things?"
Silence was the only answer he gained at first. He thought it would go on forever, and wondered if those who'd brought it here were gone already. That would be just his luck, that he asked at last, and they weren't there.
Then a voice spoke. "We could ask you the same questions. This is our world, not yours. You don't belong here."
Oikawa looked around even more quickly, hand dropping to the knife he carried. It wasn't a good knife; he thought it had been a steak knife in the long ago past, bent and it never had taken a good edge. But it was what he had.
Wind whispered somewhere and he turned around to see a young man in front of him. The sword he carried was as much unlike his own knife as it could be, long and sharp and perfectly balanced, and from the set of his shoulders and the determination in his eyes, he knew well how to use it.
What surprised Oikawa more than anything else was the silvery mask that covered this stranger's features from forehead to lips. Faint burn marks could be seen in a few other places as well.
"I wouldn't move much, if I were you. My brother can skewer you where you stand, and neither one of us would lose sleep over it." The same voice that had spoken before did so again, and this time it came from behind Oikawa. "Now, are you going to tell us who you are? We've been watching you. We have a few other questions we want to ask as well, and you'd better tell us the truth."
Oikawa swallowed, wishing he could move to see the other speaker. From the cold, remote look in this masked man's eyes, he would indeed drive his sword through someone, and never fret a moment over it. "My name is Oikawa Yukio. I was sent here from Earth to try to find Ishida Yamato and Takaishi Takeru."
The armed man's gaze flicked for no more than a heartbeat to someone behind him, then back to Oikawa. His lips moved, a single word falling from them, harsh as stone grating against stone. "Why?" This was not a voice that spoken often or well, and Oikawa wondered why he had for this.
"Their parents are my friends. They sent me to look for them."
Oikawa could feel another presence at his back, but still didn't dare move. He heard the light brush of feet through grass, and then someone moved past him to stand beside the masked one. Both of them were blond, with nearly identical cold blue eyes, and had to be related to each other. They were also human, not Digimon.
He swallowed. Oh, no. This could not be.
The masked one raised his sword. Before he could make a move with it, another voice spoke, sharp and high and sending a happy thrill that Oikawa didn't recognize through him.
"You leave my partner alone!"
To Be Continued