A Digimon Frontier Fanfic
By Sakura Martinez (a.k.a Haru Glory)
[A/N:
Well, it certainly took a while before I got this finished. This chapter may be a bit confusing (or not)…depends, really. Anyhow, I want to thank those people who continue to read and review this fanfic despite the fact that updates are delayed (most of the time, lol). I hope you guys continue to support this one, so with that said, enjoy this newest chapter of The Rabbit on the Moon!
The Rabbit on the Moon
If Tails, Despair; If Heads, Hope
A Carriage accompanied by four knights on horse back – two in front and two at the back, came to a screeching halt. It was the Knights, whose faces were all hidden underneath their iron-forged helmets, on horses that first got off. One of them opened the carriage doors to let out a balding man with a stern looking face and a scar on his right eye.
The man looked around, nodded, and accompanied by the Knights entered the mansion. He wore an aristocratic suit instead of the Generals' armor, and with it a Blue-colored cape. On the cape was the insignia of the Kimura Clan above the insignia of the Northern Corps. Kouichi followed him close behind wearing the same outfit.
As the two visitors entered, they were both greeted with a handshake by the Eastern Commander himself.
"I wish I could say that it is a pleasure to see you, General." Commander Orimoto said. "But with the situation that your grandson presented us with, I can say otherwise."
"Yes, of course." General Kimura said. "I deeply regret having to come here on an occasion such as this. But, you are partly responsible for what happened. I do hope you admit as much."
As the two talked, the younger ones found themselves in the lounge. The General and Commander had both agreed that they would need to talk about this matter in private.
"I should have been able to do something." Kouichi said out of the blue, "I can't believe grandfather would even go to lengths as to say that Commander Orimoto is partly responsible for what happened to Takuya."
"Well, we hate to admit it, but your grandfather is right, Sir Kouichi." Izumi said. "Father should have picked who he wanted to be in the mission instead of doing it in a random fashion and letting the Academy do the picking. But, father isn't entirely responsible. I am to blame as well."
Kouji sighed. "What's the point of blaming? How many times do I have to voice out that we shouldn't be blaming ourselves or each other. Tell me, Kouichi, does the General have any plans?"
"Not in particular that I know of. All he says is that we should try talking to the King." Kouichi replied. "Of course, I did mention the fact that the King may be behind Takuya's capture."
"So, does that mean that your grandfather also knows about what's been going on? About the Chosen Ones and all that?" Tomoki asked.
Kouichi nodded. "He had heard the whole story from Commander Orimoto. It seems that the rumors concerning the Knights of the Order are true."
"Rumors? You mean the one that they are taking sides?" Izumi asked.
Kouichi nodded. "It's more in a grand scale. At first, we all thought that this was only just between your father and Takuya's father, but the truth is far deeper than that. It seems that the Four Generals and the Four Commanders all know about the Ancient Powers and all that stuff."
"What are you saying then?" Kouji asked.
"Well, the two fractions – one bent on awakening the 'Power' while the other wants to protect it, are being led by the Royals. That's just the rumors, though, but with what's happening, I think there is more truth in it than just that." Kouichi explained.
"Well, we can already conclude that King Seraph is leading the group who wants to unlock the Ancient Power and use it for their own. Which means that talking with him about letting Takuya go with be out of the question." Izumi stated. "If we are going to say that the rumors of two Royals being the mastermind behind the two groups, then maybe we can find out who the member of the Royal Family is that is on the opposing group."
"That would be easier said than done, Lady Izumi." Tomoki said. "There would be no way that any of those people would admit going against the King."
"The kid is right, my lady." Kouji nodded in agreement. "Although, there might be another way since, it is obvious your father is on that opposing side, he must know who their head is."
"I doubt it." Kouichi said. "My grandfather is also on the same side as the Commander. If they do know who their head is, then, shouldn't my grandfather have proposed to talk to that person instead of the King?"
Silence was the answer to Kouichi's query. It was quite obvious now that whoever the other member of the Royal family was, has no plans of letting his (or her) cover being blown.
Just then, Tomoki heard something. Without thinking twice, and as if on reflex, he stretched his hand to the direction of where the sound came from and let out a small amount of his power in the form of a cold wave of air.
As he did so, everyone was surprised as they all heard a muffled scream from that same direction.
"Tomoki, what was that?" Izumi asked.
"A little precaution, Lady Izumi." Tomoki replied. "I heard something over there, and I have been feeling a presence."
"So you're saying someone has been listening in to our conversation?" Kouji asked.
As Kouji spoke, he walked over to the open window where Tomoki fired his magic attack. It took a couple of minutes before everyone heard him sigh.
"It's alright, everyone." He said, which made everyone follow towards where he was at and what they saw there was Junpei frozen solid, obviously listening in to their conversation.
"This guy is really something…" Tomoki whistled at the 'statue' which was Junpei. "Does he always do this when you're talking with somebody, Lady Izumi?"
"I don't really notice." Izumi replied. "But this may cause trouble for you Tomoki, I bet he's going to explode when he returns back to normal…He will be released from his frozen state, right?"
Tomoki nodded. "In about four hours at most."
"I should really punish him for doing so." Kouji said. "It is against a Knight's principle to listen in on conversations that obviously are personal."
"I think this may be punishment enough for him, Vice Commander." Kouichi said.
Just then, the doors of the lounge opened to reveal Kouichi's Grandfather and Izumi's father. When they saw them all huddled by the window, the two grown-up men could not help but ask what was so interesting. With no one wanting to talk, the two looked for themselves and found the same frozen Junpei.
"What happened to him?" Commander Orimoto asked.
"Well Commander, to put it simply, Junpei was caught by Tomoki listening in to our conversation and well…" Kouji began to explain.
"I ended up freezing him. It's a reflex thing, sir." Tomoki finished.
"So this is what you can do, boy?" the General asked.
"A fraction of it, yes, sir."
"Well, it's quite impressive."
"So, have you decided on what action to take, Father?" Izumi asked.
Her father nodded. "For now, we have but one option, and that is by talking it over with the King."
"But the King is behind it." Izumi said. "You really can't expect him to free Sir Takuya with just a talk. It is his plan to capture every possible Chosen Ones after all."
"Lady Izumi is right." Kouichi chimed in. "Grandfather, there has to be another way, a more certain way of saving Takuya's life."
"You can try busting him out of the King's Dungeon, but that would only make matters worst." General Kimura said. "I know how you all feel, after all, he did help in bringing to light some things that have been bothering us. But there is no other option so far."
"What about talking to the rumored royal who is against the king?" Kouji asked.
"It would prove unfruitful." Commander Orimoto said. "We already have a vague idea of whom this royal is, but the King may suspect something if the General of the Southern Corps and myself would suddenly ask an audience with her."
"Her?" the children asked in unison.
"Yes. Her."
"Who is this royal, then?" Izumi asked.
"I'm afraid we cannot tell you that information, it is strictly confidential and apart from that, we are still unsure if such information is true." General Kimura said.
Silence filled the room, a silence that was only broken when Kouichi suddenly spoke.
"Grandfather, there's something that is bothering me." Kouichi said.
"What is it?" his Grandfather asked.
"Takuya has already been labeled as a traitor, correct?" He asked.
The older Kimura nodded.
"It has also been announced to the council of his betrayal."
"Yes, it has been." The General nodded once again.
"If that is so, then the people and the council will be expecting Takuya to be hanged sooner or later."
"Well, that is a certainty, after all the people would surely not want to see any favoritism or to let this one slide just because he is the son of a Commander." Commander Orimoto was the one who spoke.
"Father!" Izumi said in disbelief hearing his father say something like that.
"It is a fact, Izumi, that all traitors are hanged. If the King would not hang Takuya, then it would give an impression to the people that there is a bias in the rule of the one who governs them. The King would not let something like that happen." Commander Orimoto explained. "I am guessing that when they can no longer extract any information from Takuya, when they cannot find a way to get a hold of his power and when they fail to make him cooperate, they will certainly hang him."
"I find it cruel." Tomoki said. "After they torture him, if they cannot have what they want, they would still kill him…"
"That is the iron hand of justice that the King and those who follow him believe." General Kimura said. "It has been like that since time immemorial. Anyway, why do you ask this, Kouichi?"
"I was thinking, why not wait for such a time?" Kouichi said. "I mean, if we manage to free Takuya by force during the time when he is to be presented to the public before he is hanged, then it would seem like it was a group of sympathizers who freed him. It would be hard to find any evidence that we were the ones behind it, after all, I doubt that the King or his father would even imagine Takuya being rescued by Commander Orimoto's men and for the General of the South to butt into such an affair."
"But if we were to wait for that to happen, then it would only be a one-shot plan." Kouji said. "A plan that we cannot afford to fail."
Kouichi nodded. "Also, the people who would rescue him would have to be those that have not been reported to have been with us during the siege on Ygdrassil. That way, it would really seem like an unknown group saved him."
The Commander and the General began to think Kouichi's proposed plan through for a moment.
"If that is so, then we would have to pick people who are trustworthy enough to aide us in this, and those people would have to seem like they have no connection with us." Commander Orimoto said.
"That would be quite hard, sir." Tomoki said. "But I think I can manage to drag someone to help us."
"You know of someone willing to do something like this?" General Kimura asked.
Tomoki nodded. "Yes, sir. But I would have to really talk this over with him, he is a member of our Tribe, so to speak."
"Well, that's one person. We need at least five people for this operation." Kouji said.
"Five, huh?" The Commander thought. "I think we can use Junpei for this."
"What?" Izumi exclaimed. "Father, are you serious? You cannot possibly mean that."
"Well, neither the King nor Kanbara has met nor seen Junpei, so I can see no problem with it."
"But he is Junpei Shibayama!" Izumi said as if making a point with just saying his name.
"We don't have much of a choice with this, Lady Izumi." Kouji said. "Although I too would not propose to have him on this mission, we can't be picky and the Commander does have a point."
"Then it's settled." Commander Orimoto said. Then he faced the General and asked. "General Kimura, perhaps you can spare someone as well into this mission?"
"I can't say no, can I? After all, Takuya is my grandson's closest friend." The General said. "Very well, leave the rest to me, I may have three people to spare for this."
"Alright." Commander Orimoto said. "I hope this plan of yours work, young Kouichi, for your friend's sake and for our sake as well."
Kouichi nodded to that, he could not think of anything to say. But in the back of his mind he could not help but think how big a gamble this mission would be – a gamble in which Takuya Kanbara's life would be at stake.
To be Continued…
[A/N:
Whew, that was some typing I had to finish just so I could upload this one up. Anyhow, the title of the chapter might not make sense at first, but I hope you guys found the sense in it after reading this chapter (uh, does that make sense?)
By the way, although this is just a side note, I am currently working on a Digimon Frontier game, a fan game to be exact, that follows the story of the series with an added extra on it. Why am I telling you guys this? Well, because I need help with some of the things for this game. I have been having problems with our internet connection as of late, so I am not able to search for these things myself.
These things are actually full body images of some of the characters. I need images of Kouichi, one where he is wearing a cap and another without the cap as well as Takuya's mother and brother, Izumi's classmates, Koji's and Kouichi's parents, Junpei's friends, Tomoki's brother and the other Spirit Shinkers. If there are those who are reading this that could help, then please send me a link or an email as to where to find said images.
Well, that is out-of-track, anyhow, that's all for now (hey, wow, that rhymes!). I hope you guys did enjoy reading this chapter. Please review and continue to read it. You can expect the next chapter to be released sometime this week (hopefully). And with all that said, this is Sakura Martinez saying "PEACE" and signing out! Ja ne!