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CHILDREN OF DESTINY
-CHAPTER THREE-
Jei had never regretted anything so much in his entire life. The three empty bowls in front of him which once were piled high with soft steaming rice seemed like such a good idea a little while ago when he was practically starving, but in hindsight, he probably should have stopped at one. Now, the only thing keeping him going was the thought of the warm bed that awaited him. It felt like forever since Jei had gotten any sleep, being that he hadn't gotten so much as a wink ever since he had arrived in the digital world.
"I can take those if you're done with them" came a voice from behind. "and, no offence, but you don't look so good human".
Jei wretched as his stomach groaned from being over stuffed. He turned his head to see a strange Digimon coming to clear the empty bowls in front of him. He was short, but looked strong. Most of his body was covered by armor, except for his feet which were stubby with sharp claws on each toe making the blunt wooden sword at his side seem pointless.
"Ugh, I just-" he started to say, trying his best to stifle a belch, "enjoyed the rice a bit too much, thats all".
"So I can see!" the digimon said happily "I'm glad you enjoyed it!"
"Wait, so you're the chef too?" Jei asked.
"Indeed, I'm actually quite new here" the digimon replied "Many digimon turned tail and ran when the virus showed up. I kind of took things over after they left. You may call me Kotemon!".
"So, this is your place then?" Jei said properly greeting the digimon "Well, it's nice to meet you Kotemon, I'm Jeishita, but everyone just calls me Jei. I'm new too, I just sort of ended up here".
"Say" Kotemon began "you aren't one of those chosen kids are you? What did they call them?".
"The children of destiny" Jei replied "and no, I'm not one of them. My friend Shion was, Veemon brought me here to rescue her".
"Thats just as noble in my books" Kotemon said "Risking everything to save your friend so that in turn she and the others can save our worlds!".
It was now pitch black outside. Jei guessed that is must have been at least a day and a half since his head had last touched a pillow. He thanked Kotemon for the meal and went on his way. Veemon was supposed to meet him at the restraunt, but he was nowhere in sight. Jei figured that he must still be getting in some last minute training at the gym, so he decided to head there first so they could go back to Jijimon's place together.
"Take the narrow road to the left" Kotemon had said "It will get you there much quicker".
The roads of file city were dead quiet, not that there was much activity during the day with most of it's citizens on the run from the virus. Despite this, Jei couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched from beyond the darkness. The further he went, the more paranoid he became, seeing every shadow as a hiding place for a potential stalker. The gym wasn't far now, so Jei decided to make a run for it. His footsteps began to echo through the streets, which he feared my draw unwanted attention. Jei stopped for a moment to catch his breath, but the footsteps kept going. His paranoia wasn't so unwarrented after all. He turned to see three Digimon moving toward him, spreading out and trying to surround him. Two of them looked like hares with enormous claws standing on their hind legs. The one that spoke was the strangest Jei had seen yet. It had greenish yellow skin, a sharp horn on the top of it's head, and wore another Digimon's fur like a cloak.
"So, another one has come to our world" the digimon said "you will probably abandon us too, just like the others! What are you doing in my territory?"
"Y-Your territory? What are you talking about!?" Jei said slowly backing away "And who abandon you!? The Children of Destiny were captured by corrupted digimon!"
"You really believe that coward Veemon's story?" the digimon asked "Theres no way he went anywhere near that virus! He's just covering for his deserter of a master!".
Jei found himself becoming less fearful, and more enraged by the digimon and his two goons that were slowly backing him into a corner. Shion a deserter? he though to himself She would never run away if she thought she could make a difference!
"Shut up!" Jei yelled "Don't talk about stuff you know nothing about, you big dumb-"
Before Jei could finish, he felt a sharp burning sensation across his face as the Digimon's sharp claws slashed deep into his skin. The blow dazed him, knocking him flat on his back clutching the bleeding wound that now stretched cheek to chin.
"Gabumon don't!" one of the digimon's rabit-like goons yelled, "he's just a kid!"
"Quiet Gazimon!" Gabumon said "We own this street!".
Jei felt helpless. He knew that he'd screwed up. The Digimon that stood before him was already agitated and he had further provoked him. He tried to sit up to face Gabumon, but found he lacked enough strength to lift himself and collapsed back onto the ground as the aggressors drew closer. All Jei could do was close his eyes and wait for it to be over.
"Hey you!" came a voice from behind Gabumon "Leave the kid alone or you'll have to deal with me!".
Jei recognized the voice instantly. The two rabit-like goons parted to make way for Jei's rescuer. It was Kotemon.
"K-Kotemon" Jei said weakly "Don't get involved, he's too strong".
"Don't worry kid" Kotemon said "I can hold my own against these bullies!".
"Well don't just stand there Gazimon!" Gabumon said to his two rabbit-like goons "Let's teach this little imp how wrong he is!".
Jei could tell that the two Gazimon didn't want to obey this command, they were to seemed too intimidated by Gabumon to defy him. Kotemon dodged the first swipe, sending one of the Gazimon tumbling into the wall of the building behind him. Unfortunately, second blow from the other knocked him off balance, and the third blow from Gabumon himself sent hurtling Kotemon into the same wall off of which he rebounded and fell to the ground. Gabumon stood over the injured Kotemon and raised his sharp claws high in the air for a devistating attack.
"Kotemon, no!" Jei yelled at the top of his lungs.
At first nobody knew what was happening. Kotemon was suddenly emitting a strange light, similar to the one that Jei had seen when he had first entered the digital world. It completely enveloped Kotemon and brought him back to his feet looking even stronger than before, but Jei noticed something strange. He was beginning to change.
"Kotemon, digivolve to..." Kotemon started as his voice deepened "Dinohyumon!".
Kotemon emerged from the strange light a completely different digimon than before, bigger and stronger than he was.
"Huh" Dinohyumon grunted "how did this happen?".
Dinohyumon was now a tall lizard-like creature, his mask replaced by a headband with a single feather in the back, and large bladed weapons in place of his blunt wooden sword.
"Well" Dinohymon said clutching his fists "don't look a gift unimon in the mouth!".
Dinohymon payed Gabumon and his two Gazimon goons back in full force, knocking all three to the ground with one powerful swipe. He took once step forward, expecting a return attack, but the attackers were now scrambling to their feet and scuttling off down the street, the two Gazimon whimpering as they fled.
"This isn't over!" Gabumon yelled behind him as he too fled the scene "Not by a long shot!".
Jei looked up at Dinohyumon as he offered him a hand. Jei grabbed ahold as bit as the large Digimon pulled him to his feet.
"H-How did you do that?" Jei asked "How did you change like that?!"
"I'm not sure how" Dinohyumon replied "but it I digivolved".
"Well, thanks Kote-" Jei started "uh, Dinohyumon, but did you know I was in trouble?".
"I uh..." Dinohymon mumbled.
Suddenly, Dinohyumon began to shrink back down to his normal size, the sharp blades disappearing, replaced by his old blunt wooden sword as he returned to his former self.
"Wait... have you been following me since I left the restraunt?" Jei asked
"I was closing up anyway" Kotemon replied back in his original form "and it's late, I wanted to make sure you were okay, some of the Digimon here aren't so friendly".
"No kidding" Jei remarked.
"C'mon kid, let's get that mark on your face patched up" Kotemon said "Where did you say you were staying?".
Jei stayed as close as possible to Kotemon as he showed him the way to Jijimon's hut. The wound on his face from Gabumon's claws hurt even more now, and he was unsure of how much blood he had lost, but it seemed like a lot. The color was completely drained from his face, he looked sickly and pale as a ghost. As they neared the wooden hut, Jei could see Veemon heading up to the front door, no doubt just getting back from the gym. He must have taken the main road and passed eachother Jei thought to himself.
"Jei, you're back too!" Veemon said as he noticed them walking toward him, "wait, whos that with you?".
It was then that Veemon noticed the blood dripping down Jei's cheeks like thick red tears and the armored digimon close beside him.
"Jei, what happened!?" Veemon yelled as he ran to meet them "did he do this to you!?".
"No, it wasn't me" Kotemon said "It was Gabumon and his two Gazimon lackeys".
"It's not that bad, really" Jei said weakly
"You're tough kid, but you took quite a beating" Kotemon said "Veemon, help me get him inside".
Veemon and Kotemon lifted Jei's head up off the pillow while Jijimon wrapped the wound in soft strips of cloth laced with some kind of medicine as the human slept soundly.
"It should heal quickly" Jijimon said "but the scar will be remain for the rest of his life, he's lucky it wasn't worse. Thank you for helping him Kotemon".
"But Jijimon" Veemon asked "how was Kotemon able to digivolve? Jei doesn't even have a digivice!".
"I can't be certain" Jijimon said "but the digivice is just a tool to make digivolving easier. When Kotemon came to rescue Jei in Gabumon's territory, it's possible that it created a bond powerful enough to allow him to digivolve".
"Wait a second" Veemon said turning to Kotemon "what was Jei doing in Gabumon's territory?".
"I..." Kotemon started "I told him to take that road".
'What!?" Veemon yelled as he lept on top of Kotemon, pinning him to the ground "what the heck is wrong with you!? He could have been killed!".
"I didn't know!" Kotemon said trying to shake Veemon off of him "I have only been here a short while, I just knew it was a faster way to the gym, he went there to find you when you didn't meet him at my restraunt".
"Huh?" Veemon said surprised as he tumbled off of Kotemon "but that means... This is all my fault!".
Tears began rolling down Veemon's cheeks. It's Shion all over again Veemon thought to himself I'm a terrible partner.
"It's okay Veemon" Kotemon said "It's nobody's fault except that no good Gabumon and his gang of Gazimon goons".
Kotemon whiped the tears from Veemon's face and together the two digimon sat to watch over Jei as slept, but the they were exhausted as well, and it wasn't long before everyone was asleep.
The sun was beginning to rise, the orange dawn light creeping in through the windows of Jijimon's hut were a blessing after such a long, horrible night. Jei whiped the fogginess out of his eyes, suddenly remembering his encounter as he felt the soft bandaging around his wounds. Veemon and Kotemon were both fast asleep beside his cot, and Jijimon was nowhere in sight, so he decided to lay back down for a while. He didn't want to go back to sleep, so he just lied there staring out the window at the sunrise, partially blocked by the virus slowly growing in the distance. He thought about how angry he had gotten the night before when Gabumon had called Shion a deserter, and how far away she seemed. In this moment, he found that all he could think about was saving her, and he began to wonder, does Shion mean more to me than just a friend?
