Chapter 17: Those That Begin to Move
"Shadows move swiftly through the trees;
Forever running from the light,
And those that once move never stop.
Beware the blood moon,
They say that was night it all began;
The night the sky crashed down."
Year: June 2, 2308
Location: Avian Territory, Americanus South Pack
"Thunder! Thunder, where are you?!" An eagle-boy sat in a small grove at the height of the tallest tree, his bright eyes scanning the sky as he waited for the packs to gather.
A younger boy with wide falcon wings suddenly swooped out of the sky, landing silently on a branch just above the eagle. "Sorry alpha, I was up at the tri-border when your message came." he ducked his head slightly and shifted his gaze down below where the rodent packs were gathering, "Why bring them down from the horse plains though?"
"Why indeed…" a girl grumbled, taking the form of a turuiemon as she leapt up the tree to settle in a branch below the two avians, "My pack does not like such towering trees Farsight."
"We must bring the packs back together if we are to stop this threat…" the eagle paused as she resumed her human form, his eyes slightly narrowed, "What is wrong now Bunny?"
She sighed, leaning back against the tree trunk as she watched the avians, "My brother, he has gone missing and Alex won't use his stupid eye to tell me where he is."
"Alex has no such power, he has to keep the flow of time to the most desirable outcome…" Farsight turned back to Thunder after a moment and waved the scout away, "Go to Seana, the gypsy will join us for tea on the longest day."
The falcon nodded and took back to the skies, his angle north-east towards the ocean tribes.
Farsight watched him go before turning back to the other alpha, "I am sorry Bunny but if Alex refuses then it is for the best. Will your pack stay here 'til the meeting?"
"Yes, we will remain until then." Bunny dropped back to her pack then, effectively ending the conversation.
Farsight watched her go before turning his eyes back to the sky, his fingers curling around the strange feather necklace that hung from his neck now, "To summon all the evolvers, Alex had best be careful if he desires to keep the spirit packs following."
Year: June 3, 2308
Location: Jungle Island, Africaus Pack
"Halō nāyaka…" the strange voice was muted in the thick jungle, barely carrying up the trees to where the wolf slept.
The wolf-boy opened one eye, his silvery hair a mess as he scanned the jungle floor below. Finally, he sat up, pushing the hair back from his eyes and yawning, "Gāḷi, you're back already."
A harpy girl landed on the branch beside him, her wing-arms keeping balance as she turned to the wolf, "Yes nāyaka, it is as you guessed…the high rāja calls a meeting up north."
"Where are the others?"
"Still resting, Rekke calls again…"
The wolf sighed, leaning against the tree trunk as he regarded the harpy, "I have no sahāya for him yet, his sahōdari does well though."
Gāḷi nodded, her head cocked as she watched the ground below now, "Samaya is good…she will not fail in this."
"Is she fast enough though? The longer they stay gone the worse the situation gets…" a new voice joined them, followed by the sound of rushing wind and the flapping of leathery wings.
"Jvāle rakṣaka, she does not fully control her powers yet…" the wolf-boy turned to their visitor, his voice quiet now.
Gāḷi also turned to the newcomer, a dragon-boy the same age as her, and hissed, "Do not down bhāvisuttēve, we are the monsters in this world."
Jvāle snorted, his dark red tail curling around him angrily, "I do not down it skauṭ but this is not what we need. Only action will end this before it is too late."
"Stabdha, you are too loud for such early hours." the wolf-boy interrupted them, waving them both away, "We will go to the tea party, then we will decide…"
The harpy and dragon took off then, not desiring his anger, and he was again left in peace.
"I grow weary of these fights, what say you saṅgāti?" the wolf-boy turned then to regard a wolf digimon sheltering in a hole in the tree trunk beside him.
"Do not ask me Beḷaku, you are their nāyaka."
"Surely you have insight Sangloupmon. It is time the Gaṇya join the fight." Beḷaku laughed, laying a hand on his partner's side as he let the topic drop.
Year: DigiAge 0
Location: Lonely Peak, Ancient Digital World
The journey up the mountain was slow, the thick trees forcing the travelers to walk for much of the way until these finally gave way to the bleak stony slopes of the upper mountain. There they could finally remount their partners and pick up the pace. This slowed again though as they neared the peak, a wide bowl dipping before them and cutting the shape of the mountain.
Zev stopped as they came near the edge of this bowl, his garurumon turning to pad alongside it as the land sloped away before them.
"What is this?" Strike grumbled, after so long forced to camp in this strange time and view whatever events came to them he was growing bored with it all.
Ryan shifted, his arms around impmon and his eyes on the digimon at the bottom of the dip, "This seems familiar…Crystal mentioned a vision like this…"
Zev shifted his gaze from the two digidestined to the strange digimon, "I suppose this is why we came then…"
Down below a row of knight digimon were facing off against one the ancient dragons, the fire of the north sea Megidramon.
Time grabbed his arm then, her words quiet so the other two couldn't hear as she pulled his attention from the ongoing battle. "I can't open the portal, something's missing…"
"Hmm…stay here, I'll be back…" the wolf neko set her on the ground before turning garurumon and shooting off the way they had come.
"Hey, don't run off wolf-boy!" Strike twisted on firamon to watch them disappear, his hands clenched tight in his partner's mane.
"Watch…" Ryan muttered, his gaze not leaving the fight below them.
Location: Great River, Ancient Digital World
Koko sat on the edge of the great river, her makeshift camp just behind her as she munched on an apple she had found in the forest across the river.
"It's lonely here…perhaps we should go back…" shizumon's voice was quiet as she raised her head to study her partner, the cat digimon's twin-tails flicking against the desert sand.
Koko sighed, dropping the apple core as she turned towards the distant peak that rose high above the land. "I don't know…it's peaceful here…" she trailed off as she spotted a garurumon dashing across the land towards them.
The garurumon stopped about a foot from them, its rider jumping down to watch them. "Envy, was it? It's time to go back…" the wolf-boy's tail flicked behind him but he made no move to step closer.
"You again…" mikemon appeared beside her at that moment, the calico cat standing between her and the wolf, "What do you want?"
"Time can't reopen the portal until everyone from our time is present…" he laid one arm across his partner's shoulder, a kudamon curling around his neck, "I'm Zev by the way."
Koko stood carefully, shushing mikemon's protest, and stepped closer to the boy, "Do they know?"
"No, and they won't…Time will open the portal as soon as she sees me…"
Koko curled her wing in front of her, running her hand over the healed bruise, and nodded slowly, "I'll come…"