A Digimon Frontier AU Fanfic

By: Sakura Martinez (a.k.a Haru Glory)

A/N: Well, first off, a very happy new year to everyone! Sorry for the delayed greeting but it seems that our internet service provider has yet to fix the problem with logging into the internet so I wasn't able to update sooner than I would have liked.

Next on the agenda for this post-author's note: I want to thank everyone who took time in greeting me a happy birthday, especially dogluv101. I'm touched, XD. Also, a whole lotta love and thanks to those who continue to support me in my works and for those who take time reviewing this story and reading it as well.

With that said, on to the next chapter. Hope you guys enjoy it!!!

The Rabbit on the Moon

Wandering Nothingness: The Buried City of Thieves

She had never walked so much in her entire life, she and her father had, after all,

went everywhere in their carriage unless they were going to a nearby house which was a walking distance away, this time however, she was forced to walk. She didn't want to complain for she might blow her cover or the others might become irritated at her, yet, it seems that she cannot hide her annoyance any longer.

"How long will we keep on walking like this? First that train breaks down and now this…what's next?" she had finally asked causing everyone's heads to turn.

"I'm sorry, Megumi," Kouji said, "as you can see, we can't get any ride from anywhere near here…we have to keep on walking a while longer until we get to a village or even a city."

"And how long is 'a while'…brother?" she asked, almost forgetting that she was supposed to be Kouji's younger sister. "As far as I can see there's nothing around here."

Sure enough, there wasn't anything to view. It was a vast wilderness with nothing more than some trees – both dead and alive, some animals suitable for the almost barren-like-dessert, mountains over the horizon and a small oasis a couple of miles off to the north.

"I think it would be fine if we rest for a while, Sir Kouji." Takuya said seeing that Megumi was already tired. "We had been walking for a while now sir, can we at least rest for a couple of minutes when we get to the oasis?"

"I agree with Shin, Sir." Kouichi said, trying to hide the fact that he was a little bit tired as well. "It wouldn't hurt to rest for a while, would it?"

Kouji sighed, this was the very reason why he didn't like hanging around and even being in charge with Knight Apprentices.

"Very well then." He finally said. "We'll rest once we get to the oasis."

"Thank you, brother." Izumi said as she smiled.

And once again, they began their hike. Their arrangement were as follows: the Vice Commander taking the lead with Kouichi to stop any sudden frontal attack by bandits which were rumored to be hanging around the area. They were followed by Izumi/Megumi and finally Takuya/Shin guarding their backs.

As they were walking, Izumi decided to slow down a bit to let Takuya catch up with her.

Noticing the sudden change of pace, Takuya asked worried, "Is there something wrong, Lady Megumi?"

"No, not really." She replied, "I just want to thank you and Sir Kouichi for making my brother change his mind."

"You don't have to thank us for that, my lady." Takuya replied earnestly, "It is a knight's duty to be of service to a lady."

"But your not a knight yet." Izumi pointed out, jokingly.

"True." He replied and at that he laughed along with Izumi while making sure that the Vice Commander and Kouichi would not be able to hear them.

Silence fell upon them as they continued to walk on and on. Hours seemed to have flown by until they finally reached the oasis and slumped down on the ground where shade is plentiful.

Takuya went on ahead and made sure that the oasis was free from any dangers that may harm them while Kouichi went on and refilled their water bottles and looked for food to forage. Izumi went on ahead and sat on the shade that was being given by the palm trees around the oasis while the Vice Commander Kouji perched himself on top of a large boulder to look out for any sign of immediate danger.

After Takuya and Kouichi had done their work, they sat down near Izumi to rest.

"Hey, Takuya, do you remember the map of this wasteland?" Kouichi asked in a low whisper.

"Not really." Takuya replied, "You should know by now that I am not really good at memorizing anything, I'm more of a fighter than a tactician, you know. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing really, I am just curious as to why we took this route rather than the most common route down Grand City."

"Grand City?" Takuya asked. "Maybe they liked to do it the hard way or something like that."

"Now you're the one who isn't serious." Kouichi said, "But you know what, I think I've seen Lady Megumi somewhere before, I just can't seem to remember where."

"Maybe you're just thinking way too much about this mission." Takuya retorted as he stood up.

"Maybe," he agreed. "You better go and talk to Sir Kouji, if we don't leave soon we might find ourselves in the middle of this wilderness after dark and that might prove a problem to us."

"Right."

And that was what Takuya did. He went over to the large boulder where the Vice Commander was sitting watching over the surroundings.

Seeing Shin moving towards him, Kouji asked, "Is there something that matters?"

"Nothing really, Vice Commander," Takuya replied, then added, "it's just that, shouldn't we be moving out, sir? We may find ourselves in a lot of trouble if we are caught in this place when darkness falls."

"You may be right." The Vice Commander replied, "However, it doesn't seem that my sister is ready yet…or for that matter capable of walking for a couple more hours."

At that, Takuya looked over at the direction where Megumi was sitting and there he understood what his superior meant. Lying under the shade of one of the palm trees surrounding the oasis was Megumi slumbering peacefully.

"I guess we can still make it to a nearby village after dark." Takuya said, still looking over at Izumi.

Kouji nodded. "I seemed to have forgotten the fact that she hadn't walk such a long distance in all of her life."

"That's not surprising, sir." Takuya said as he took his eyes away from the young lady. "I couldn't imagine the younger sister of Frontiria's youngest renowned Knight walking to get to someplace. It must be hard having a younger sister."

"Hard?" The young Vice Commander asked, "What makes you say that? Do you have a younger sibling as well?"

Takuya shook his head. "No sir. I am the only son of my father. I just can't help but wonder what it is like to have a younger sibling."

Kouji found it hard to answer Shin/Takuya's query. For one, he doesn't really have a younger sister and the fact that he sometimes also wonders about the same thing didn't help either.

But it seems that at times like these, silence is the best reply as Shin/Takuya suddenly changed topics…

"Vice Commander, can I ask you a question about this mission?"

"Well, it depends on what the question is." Came the reply.

"Well, Kouichi and I just can't understand why we have to take this dangerous road to Ciel." Takuya began, "Couldn't we just have passed over Grand City then take another train to from there to Ciel then board another train from Ciel to Guara?"

"That would have been an option if it wasn't for my status as the Eastern Corps Vice Commander." Kouji replied. "You already know about the uprising on some parts of the Kingdom, right? Well, you don't have any idea how hard it is for someone close to the Eastern Corps Commander to just waltz around somewhere much less travel."

"I bet it's hard…sorry, Sir Kouji, I seemed to have forgotten that fact." Takuya said.

Kouji couldn't help but wonder what that meant, but he soon shook the thought off of his mind. What he said wasn't really a lie although there is more to the truth than just being the Vice Commander of the Eastern Corps and that concerns the young lady currently sleeping peacefully under the shade of a palm tree.

"Well, it's best that we all rest." The Vice Commander suddenly said. "We still have a long ways to go before we reach Ciel and it's would be best for all of us if our bodies and minds aren't tired.

Takuya nodded in agreement. "Yes, sir!"

He then walked over to where Kouichi had also fallen asleep, his back lying on another large boulder close to the small body of water. When he got there, he sat down and looked over at the direction that they would soon be walking towards. He could not help but wonder about some things.

He did not know when exactly, but he soon found himself sleeping as well. It must have been because of all the walking they did, but whatever the reason maybe, it made him fell asleep.

When Kouji saw that everyone was sleeping, he could not help but sigh. He was tired. It was tiring to lead a such a group and act like somebody else's brother at the same time. He could not help but make a mental note of every single lie he had said concerning Izumi's background for fear that his two other companions might notice something or that he may say something to blow off the cover.

His eyes and his thoughts then lingered to the two companions in question. He could not help but admire those two. He was a bit older than the two of them but they seem to know as much as he does and they are also very much observant.

"I'm lucky these two aren't any more observant than that," He thought. "if they were, they would have found us out already."

He smiled. Then looked over at the Eastern Commander's only daughter. He could not help but admire her beauty even as she sleeps.

He sighed. He had already tried courting her long before he was even a Vice Commander and she had refused him. He didn't understand why then, and he still couldn't help but wonder why up until now. But like every other sensible gentleman, he accepted her decision without question.

Kouji shook his head trying to get all those thoughts out of his mind, he was in the middle of an important mission and such thoughts would only get in the way with it. He surveyed the surroundings one more time before deciding to cook something for he was certain that when his companions wake up they would certainly be hungry.

Hours passed before everyone was up and about. After eating Kouji's cooking and repacking their things, the group went on with their journey towards Ciel.

It was already dark when they found themselves wandering around what seemed like a deserted city with only their oil lamps to guide them through the dark surrounding.

Broken paving stones crunched under their feet as Kouji led the way into the city. The entire city was broken, what they all could see of it, and as abandoned as it was broken.

Not so much as a pigeon moved, and weeds, mainly old and dead, sprouted from the cracks in walls as well as pavement. More buildings had roofs fallen in than had them whole. Tumbled walls spilled fans of brick and stone into the streets. Uneven rubble hills with a few stunted trees growing on their slopes could have been the remains of an aristocrat's house or of entire blocks of the city.

"Are you guys sure that we took the right path?" Izumi asked, a slight hint of fear evident in her voice. "This place looks like a ghost town."

"I'm quite certain we made no wrong turns." Kouji said.

"The Vice Commander is right." Kouichi agreed. "I guess we must be in that rumored 'Buried City' that the merchants had been talking about."

"Buried City?" Izumi asked.

Kouichi nodded and began to explain, "If I'm not mistaken, this place used to be known as Riverside Village – a thriving small village that was well known for catching the tastiest river fishes."

"Riverside? Does that mean there's a river somewhere here?" Izumi asked.

It was Kouji who answered her query. "There used to be, but not any more."

"Why what happened?" Takuya questioned.

"Bandits attacked and pillaged the whole village destroying everything in their path, the river was no exception. As far as I have heard, the bandits buried the river with sand when the villagers did not agree to give them anything." Kouichi replied.

Takuya listened intently at Kouichi's explanation, just then, from the shadows of the dead village, he saw something move. Quickly he turned to that direction and raised the oil lamp higher over to that direction to see what it was.

When the Vice Commander, Izumi and Kouichi saw him do it, they can't help but be startled and worried at the same time.

"What is it, Shin?" Kouji asked, his hand already at the hilt of his sword which was strapped around his waist.

"I think I just saw something move from over there, sir." Takuya replied, his other hand on his sword's hilt as well.

"Are you sure that this place is deserted, Kouichi?" Izumi asked.

"Yes. The bandits have long left this place, maybe it's just some nocturnal animal searching for food or something or maybe it was just Shin's imagination." Kouichi replied.

"Maybe." Kouji said then added, "But don't let your guard down, people, we don't know what the darkness may hide."

Everyone nodded and they went on their way. Kouji as well as Takuya and Kouichi were all holding their oil lamps on one hand and their swords on the other making sure that if whatever it was that the darkness was hiding, they were prepared somehow.

On and on they walked.

They were already halfway through the deserted village when Takuya felt something. He knew that it was not his imagination this time. The back of his neck prickled. Something or someone was watching them from the darkness in the columns.

He spun around, staring at the buildings across the way. He could feel eyes on him from there, too. His grip tightened on his sword hilt. Watching eyes seemed to be everywhere. The others looked around warily; he knew they could feel it, too.

"We stay in the middle of the street." Kouji said hoarsely. They met his eyes, they looked as frightened as he felt. He swallowed hard. "We stay in the middle of the street, keep out of shadows as much as we can, and walk fast."

"Walk very fast." Takuya agreed ferverently.

The watchers followed them. Or else there were lots of watchers, lots of eyes staring out of almost every building. Takuya could not see anything move anymore, hard as he tried, but he could feel the eyes, eager, hungry. He did not know which would be worse: thousands of eyes, or just a few, following them.

As they walked hurriedly through the city, they, from time to time, squinted their eyes nervously into the darkness that always seemed to lay ahead. None of them was eager to enter the shadows; no one was really sure something might not be waiting. The watcher's anticipation was a palpable thing whenever shadows stretched across the street, barring their way. They ran through those dark places shouting, as if trying to make it seem that there were more of them than there really are, and all through out, Takuya thought he could hear dry, rustling laughter.

Just when they thought that they were safe and away from the watchful eyes, an arrow was suddenly shot at their direction, Kouji managing to dodge it. As he did so, he was able to determine where the arrow came from.

"Are you alright, Vice Commander?" Takuya and Kouichi asked in unison.

"Brother, are you alright?" Izumi asked at the same time.

"Yes." He muttered before adding, "Why don't you all lie down a bit for a moment." His three companions gave him a questioning look.

"We should break for it, Vice Commander." Kouichi said.

"Not until we learn who it was that tried to shoot an arrow through my head." Their superior retorted, and with that, he faced the direction where the arrow came and shouted, "Why don't you be a man and show your face!"

"That's a lot of nerve coming from someone who's just leading a bunch of kids." Came a reply, but the voice came from somewhere near.

"I thought you said that this place was deserted." Izumi whispered over to Kouichi.

"It was supposed to be deserted, my lady." He replied.

"If we're just a bunch of kids as you say, why don't you show yourself and face us? Or are you scared of being beaten by us 'kids'?" Takuya shouted back, annoyed at being called 'kids'.

"If yainsist."

Just then, the group found themselves surrounded by a larger group of people with all sorts of weapons ranging from swords, bows, lances and daggers.

"Why the heck did you went on an provoked them to do just that?" Izumi asked.

"Don't worry, Megumi." The Vice Commander said in a reassuring voice, "He did a good thing by provoking them."

"What do you mean, brother?"

"Lady Megumi, look." Kouichi said as he looked over at the people that were encircling them. "If Shin didn't go ahead and do just that, we wouldn't know just how many we are supposed to be facing."

Kouji nodded, "That's right, and from the looks of these people I'd say their the bandits that we had been hearing much about."

"I bet you're scared now, aren't ya?" said the same voice whom they have now seen as the biggest man around with a large axe slumped on his back. "Ya kids are facing the well-known and fiercest bandits around, the Scavengers!"

"Well-known?" Takuya asked in a mocking tone, "If you guys are so famous, then how come we haven't heard about you thugs before?" He then looked over at Kouichi trying to tell him something.

Having been around Takuya long enough to understand such gesture, Kouichi went on ahead and said to the Vice Commander in a hushed voice, "Vice Commander, I think we should make a run for it when Takuya gives the signal."

"What?" Kouji asked, "I don't think we'll make it if we do that."

"Don't worry, sir." Kouichi said reassuringly, "Shin knows what he's doing. This isn't the first time that he had faced such a number of enemies at the same time. Trust him."

Kouji saw the earnestness in Kouichi's eyes, and he nodded. "We better split up in groups of two as well if we are going to run for it. This village seems to be a straightforward village, but if we are ever separated will make our way to Ciel and meet there. Understand."

"Yes, sir."

"I hope you guys do know what you're doing." Izumi whispered.

Takuya could very well hear what they were talking about, his hands slowly made its way into one of his many pockets and from there drew out two small, black circular objects.

"Ya talk big, but can ya fight?" the leader asked.

As he did so, Takuya threw the two circular objects into the ground as a whiff of smoke erupted from it hiding the four travelers from the views of the bandits and their leader.

Seeing as that was their chance to escape, everyone made a dash for it grabbing someone's hand as they break for the exit. Takuya managed to grab hold of Izumi's hand and Kouji managed to grab hold of Kouichi's hand.

As the smoke was so thick, they did not realize whom they were with or where they were going, all they cared about was getting away from the bandits in their seemingly endless numbers.

To be continued…

A/N: Finally I managed to finish this chapter. I have only a week left before our classes resume so I would use it to update this fanfic and hopefully finish it…though that seems rather vague at the moment.

Anyways, I hope you guys liked that chapter. This chapter was really meant to be written a bit earlier on but I had a small problem with cutting my chapters. Anyhow, problem solved now, so, no worries. By the way, I couldn't help but putting a bit, a really, really small bit of TAKUMI moment here…lol….more of that coming next chapter.

I can't help but notice how few reviews are coming in. It is kind of disappointing, but the story must go on! And for that fact I thank all those who read and review this fanfic and the same goes to those who have no time to review it but still reads it.

With that said, I take my leave saying please push the review button and keep those reviews commin'.

Until next time guys! Ja ne.