Lupine Laser: Oh mai gosh I am SOOOO sorry! My new school has been making me so busy and I have to stay back like almost everyday. Thus, I have entrusted the writing of this Fanfic to one of my fanfic friends, DD Leader Dark Heart of Water. I've been receiving lots of reviews so THANKS EVERYONE! I shall start my thanks now.
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Disclaimer: ... You obviously know I don't own Digimon.
The Legend of the Spirits
Chapter 10: Danger
Normal POV
"Ahhhhhhhh!" a long, ear-piercing scream echoed through the otherwise silent canyon. The rest of the Candlemon shuddered in fear. Another one of them was taken.
Cruelly.
Their captors - evil Fugamon - had come down into the valley in a troop of thirty. They were Champion Digimon while most of the Digimon there were Rookie level. Sure, there were some Wizardmon around, but there were less than ten of them. Now that Kumamon had returned to its Spirit, the Digimon in this valley were powerless.
"When we're done with this, we're going back aren't we? Why do we need these guys anyway? Look at how easily they were caught!" a Fugamon grumbled. These Fugamon were in charge of corrupting Digimon by a cruel method ordered of them by the Evil Lord.
They would extract the Digimon's Fractal code, then corrupt it, then form it back into the Digimon so it looked the same. But on the inside, they were NOT the same. They would even lose all their memories. For now, the encaged Digimon could only tremble in fear and hope against all hope that the Legendary Warriors would come before it was too late...
TK's POV
He couldn't stand them; either of them. The elder with his shy, deceiving smile and his protective tendencies towards his brother, concealing a hidden evil no one would have thought of him, the younger with his proud stance, blunt behaviour and cold looks to everyone not on his team...and even then his eyes only truly softened for Zoe and his brother.
Growling, TK redirected his gaze from the dark-haired twins to his shoes as Kouichi poked Kouji slightly, the different expressions on the identical faces enough to tell who was who, even without sparing a glance at their clothes.
Hearing someone clear their throat, TK glanced up to see Matt sit down beside him. The two sat in silence for a moment, both watching the darker haired brothers. Then Matt sighed, "TK-"
"Save it," TK retorted before Matt could even finish the sentence, his hands gripping the edges of the seat so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.
"No, TK," Matt narrowed his eyes slightly. "I know that you're scared of it, heck even I'm scared of it! But you don't need to hate them because of it."
"It's darkness," TK whispered, his vision blurring slightly. "It killed Patamon…"
"That was years ago," Matt protested. "Maybe…he represents a different darkness."
"Huh?" TK glanced up at his brother in confusion as Matt shrugged.
"Look at how different Kouji and Kari are, yet they represent the same element. I think that Kari represents the softer, kinder side of light while Kouji represents how harsh and proud it can be."
"Not a bad theory," TK shook his head slightly, "but that's light and they're both good. Darkness can only be evil."
For a few tense moments, Matt glared at his brother. Then, he sighed and stood up, walking back to Sora – which is who he'd been sitting next to beforehand – and beginning to whisper to her, both of them occasionally glancing towards the younger blonde.
Growling slightly, TK glared at the twins again, not even caring as – noticing him – Kouji threw TK a death glare of his own, putting even Matt's to shame.
He didn't trust either of them, and he didn't care how much anyone tried to get him to give them a chance.
He would never work with darkness.
Tommy's POV
Tommy grinned excitedly, hopping from one foot to the other as they exited Worm – who sighed in relief, "You guys come back when you're ready; I'll take you as far as Kuwagamon's old factory, but then I'm done."
"Thanks, Worm," Takuya smiled slightly, patting the Trailmon's side before glancing up at the darkening sky and then at the canyon's direction – which was easily two miles from the terminal that they were in. "I don't know about you guys, but I think we should wait until morning to search for Kumamon…"
"That's a waste of time," Kouji contradicted, eyes closed in a lazy fashion as though he were well used to arguing what was a waste of time and what wasn't with the leader. "We should keep going."
"I'm with Takuya on this one," Davis scratched the back of his head. "I'm pretty tired and from what you guys said, the path is really steep; I don't particularly want to fall twenty feet into a shallow river."
"What does that have to do with being tired?" Kouji quirked an eyebrow as Yolei supplied an answer.
"He gets twice as clumsy when he's tired."
"Why don't we split up then?" Tai suggested, but his contribution to the argument was immediately shot down.
"Did you not see the last battle? It took three spirits to defeat Cyberdramon, and if the three of us with spirits go with Tommy, you won't be able to protect yourselves!"
"Alright, fine!" Tai held up his hands in a surrendering gesture as Kouji turned his glare to him. "Just a suggestion…"
As Takuya and Kouji continued to bicker, Tommy's headache that he had developed due to the heat from the last battle continued to grow until he couldn't take it any longer, "SHUT UP!"
Everyone froze, turning to stare at Tommy – whose eyes were narrowed, "This is getting us nowhere."
"Tommy's right," Cody agreed after a moment, glancing at the two bickering warriors. "Maybe we should take a vote."
After a moment, the tension in Kouji's shoulder's seemed to relax – although the warriors knew that it was forced, "Fine. All those who want to find the spirit tonight, raise your hands."
He along with Zoe raised their hands while Izzy and TK joined them and Yolei's hand shot up seconds after Kouji announced the vote.
Counting the hands, Takuya smirked slightly, "Only five out of eighteen. Looks like we're staying here for the night."
Tommy sighed in relief, not having raised his own hand due to his fatigue.
Slowly, everyone crowded around Joe for their share of food before lying or sitting down wherever they could and falling asleep.
Kouichi's POV
Kouichi sighed as he stared up at the dark sky, the only light provided by the three moons; Seraphimon's cold and yet habitable blue one, Cherubimon's uninhabitable red one and Ophanimon's warm and welcoming yellow one.
He never could sleep properly at night in the digital world; if he could, he'd stay awake all night and then sleep during the day, but it would be impossible unless they somehow managed to come back for a holiday once their mission was complete.
At least I'm actually here this time, he reasoned, turning onto his side and closing his eyes. No more worrying if I'm dead or alive…
For a few minutes, he lay there in silence, hoping that sleep would overcome him, but before it could, the rustling of leaves reached his ears.
Slowly – so as not to draw attention to himself – Kouichi turned over, watching as TK stood up and began walking in the direction of the canyon.
I wonder what he's up too… Kouichi frowned slightly before following the elder blonde, tensing slightly as Kouji shifted in his sleep. Whatever it is, it's not safe for him to go alone… I'd better go with him.
Tommy's POV
Tommy groaned as his eyes shot open to see Kouichi standing over him, "Wha-?"
"TK's going towards the canyon," the fourteen year old explained quietly, nodding to where the blonde's figure could still be slightly seen. "Your spirit's there; I thought it might be safer if we went after him."
Internally groaning, Tommy nodded before standing up and running after TK with Kouichi, stopping a few metres short of the elder man so he wouldn't see them. He was still tired; if anything, the hour of sleep had made him even more tired.
But Kouichi was right; it wasn't safe for any of the DigiDestined to go somewhere alone, especially in the middle of the night when enemies took their domain.
It was at that moment the scream rang through the night.
TK's POV
He didn't know who – or what – screamed, but he did know that he needed to help them. He couldn't just leave them suffer; he knew that scream.
That was the scream someone screeched when in the ultimate pain.
He had screamed like that when Angemon had died and now he had to help whoever was in that pain.
As he reached what was obviously the canyon where the spirit of ice was found, TK looked down, jaw dropping in shock at what he saw.
Dozens of Candlemon were caged and chained, thin, worn and most likely parched. Several Fugamon were piecing together the data that TK had come to know as Fractal Code. Candlemon with green flames and Wizardmon wearing black or grey capes sneered at their captured brethren as they were pulled out and attacked continuously until their fractal code appeared.
"No," TK whispered only to yelp slightly as someone pulled him back.
"Get down!" a voice that made TK's blood boil whispered close to his ear, one hand on his chest.
"They're in trouble," TK protested angrily, easily pushing the younger boy off of him. "We need to help."
"And how are we supposed to do that if you get caught?" Tommy argued back as Kouichi sat up, shaking his head slightly. "You'd be a liability."
Angrily biting his lip, TK ignored the twelve year old and ran back to the edge as another scream filled the air, "Hey! Leave them alone!"
"Crud," Kouichi's eyes widened as TK drew the attention of the Digimon.
"The Child of Hope," a Fugamon grumbled before glaring at several corrupted Wizardmon. "Don't just stand there! Get them!"
Nodding, a single Wizardmon shot up to greet the trio, quickly turning invisible and knocking all three of them over the head with his staff.
Still TK's POV
TK groaned as his eyelids slowly opened, his vision blurry for a brief moment before he could register his surroundings.
He was in a cage – although quite a spacious one – with Kouichi who was leaning against the bars of the cage, his head bowed as though asleep. Beneath them, ice coated the floor and several metres in front of them was the exit of the cave. Just out of reach was also a plate filled with bread and a bowl of water.
"Jerks," TK muttered under his breath, jumping as Kouichi raised his head.
"So you are awake."
Unwilling to talk to the warrior of darkness, TK nodded and silence filled the cave for a minute until – noticing the youngest warrior missing – the latter could stand it no longer, "Where's Tommy?"
"I…don't know," Kouichi gritted his teeth slightly, hating the fact that he had no idea where his friend was. "He wasn't here when I woke up…but he's in the canyon."
"So…the Fugamon might be…" TK trailed off as Kouichi struggled to find a word that wouldn't sound as horrifying.
"Interrogating him."
The damage was already done however. Now, neither of them could get the image of the Fugamon torturing Tommy out of their heads.
Uncomfortable, TK struggled to find something to take his mind off it, but could think of nothing other than the inevitable question, "How can you stand it?" When Kouichi didn't reply, TK assumed that the raven-haired boy didn't know what he was talking about. "Being the warrior of darkness; using evil powers."
"Darkness isn't evil," Kouichi sighed after a minute. "It just…attracts evil at times. But darkness itself is neither good nor evil; just like light."
"Right," TK snorted slightly. "Which is why that dragon at the train station two years ago was a light Digimon."
"Lucemon," Kouichi involuntarily shuddered at the recollection of the Demon Lord, "was a Digimon of light… or at least he was in his rookie form."
"Wait, the Digimon that enslaved this world was a rookie?!" TK's eyes shot open as Kouichi nodded.
"In this world, a Digimon's powers aren't really based off whether they're a rookie or a mega."
TK nodded in understanding before scowling again, "Still, darkness has to be evil."
"As I said; darkness itself is neutral," Kouichi argued slightly. "Darkness helps you mask your flaws; it's like a blanket that can protect you from your enemies while light reveals your weaknesses and flaws. Enemies who are light based can be more dangerous than those with powers over darkness."
This made TK stop for a moment and stare at the boy in shock; he had never actually thought of darkness in that way.
For him, it had always been light is good, dark is evil. But here, a fourteen year old with the powers of the element that he considered to be evil had shown him a new way of looking at it.
Smiling slightly at Kouichi, TK nodded in thanks only to yelp and push himself towards the back of the cage as a Fugamon stomped towards them and opened the door.
Smirking, the Digimon made to grab TK only for Kouichi to step between the red hand and the blonde.
Growling, Fugamon abandoned TK and grabbed Kouichi by the chin, holding the boy up as the latter struggled to breath, "Hm; darkness. Perfect."
Before Fugamon could do anything more however, a large snowball hit him in the back, causing him to drop Kouichi – who landed on the ground, gasping for breath, "What the hell?"
"Leave him alone!"
Glancing behind the Fugamon, TK smiled slightly seeing Kumamon pointing his snowball-loaded gun at Fugamon's head, "Crystal Freeze!"
Abandoning his gun, he breathed ice-cold air at the Digimon, freezing it solid before turning to TK and Kouichi, "Come on!"
"What about the Candlemon?" TK protested as Kumamon pulled him outside.
"Already taken care of," the bear pointed to the fleeing Digimon before stiffening as whipping around, teeth bared.
"Only one?" a voice that almost paralysed Kouichi from fear sighed in disappointment. "What a pity; I thought there would be a bit more of a challenge."
"Duskmon!" the raven-haired boy stammered, eyes wide as Duskmon glanced at him briefly.
"Sadly, my master has ordered me not to kill you yet…"
That explains why he hasn't attacked yet, TK scowled yet, his muscles tense as every instinct in his body told him to run for his life.
"But he did ask me to tell you," Duskmon added slowly, pausing to add dramatic effect, "that not all data is as it seems."
"What's that supposed to mean?" TK growled as Duskmon shrugged.
"Why should I tell you; besides, this will make the hunt that much more interesting."
Eyes narrowing as Duskmon leapt out of the canyon and out of sight, Kouichi relaxed his muscles, "We should go back…"
Kouji's POV
Kouji glared lightly at the three returning figures, anger blazing in his eyes as the sun rose steadily over the few trees around them, "Where have you been?"
"Canyon," Kouichi replied shortly, slight fear still laced in his voice.
Frowning – and seeing a large bruise on his brother's head – Kouji grabbed Kouichi's chin, forcing him to turn his head so his twin could examine the bruise.
Growling, Kouji glared at TK, "Are you going to explain that?"
Before TK could do anything, Matt leapt to his brother's defence, "Hey, cool it! Who said it was TK's fault?"
"Let's see," Kouji hummed in mocking thoughtfulness. "Because he voted that we should have looked for Tommy's spirit last night, Kouichi and Tommy didn't, Tommy never wakes up before ten unless one of us wakes him, Kouichi wouldn't have woken him, and Kouichi would have seen him leave because he's nocturnal."
"That makes sense," Mimi mumbled under her breath only for the enraged younger twin to turn on her.
"What does?"
"Leave her alone," Joe snapped, glaring at Kouji. "She only meant that it makes sense that Kouichi's nocturnal because he has the spirits of darkness."
"And how do we know that it wasn't Kouichi?" Tai argued. "He's the warrior of darkness and all of our encounters with darkness have ended badly."
"So you're judging him based off of impressions that Digimon in your world gave you," JP summed up, angering Zoe as well – who thought of most of the guys as her younger brothers.
"That's terrible!" she clenched her fists, glaring at the DigiDestined – most of whom had the decency to look ashamed, even if they hadn't been involved in the argument. "He hasn't done anything to deserve your prejudice against dark Digimon! Ever since Duskmon, he's gone out of his way to make things right!"
Kouji elbowed her slightly, but the damage had been done. "What do you mean 'ever since Duskmon'?" Yolei inquired, raising an eyebrow at the suddenly silent blonde.
"Nothing… forget I said anything…"
"You guys are making this really difficult when you hold back information," Izzy warned as Kouichi gulped slightly.
"Kouji…"
The younger twin looked at his brother – who nodded slightly, "Tell them…"
"You're joking," Kouji's eyes widened as Kouichi shook his head. "You can't be serious!"
"I am," the fourteen year old mumbled, lowering his head. "They're right; if we're going to save the Digital World, we can't keep secrets."
"If you're sure," Kouji muttered hesitantly after a moment before nodding at Takuya – who blinked in surprise.
"Uh…okay, then. Well, the truth is that… Kouichi used to be Duskmon." There were gasps and cries of shock and outrage as Kouichi's head lowered even further, his body rigid and Takuya raised his hands in a silent command for everyone to quieten. "Not by choice; you know how Lucemon corrupted Cherubimon – who had five of the spirits. Well, the spirits of darkness were one of those. Cherubimon tested them with countless Digimon, destroying them and then Ophanimon called out to everyone. Kouichi… wasn't in the best circumstances right then so Cherubimon decided to cut his losses and give the spirits to him."
"So he didn't force them onto him," Cody concluded. "He gave Kouichi an option…"
"That's even worse!" Tai yelled, fists clenched as he glared at Kouichi. "How can we trust him?"
"I don't expect you to…"
Nobody expected the raven-haired boy to speak and so froze in shock, turning to see him trembling slightly, his eyes squeezed shut, fists clenched. "I…"
He shook his head slightly before turning and running off, leaving the DigiDestined and warriors calling his name.
"See what you've done?!" Kouji yelled angrily at the DigiDestined before running after his brother, shortly followed by Kari, Zoe and surprisingly TK.
Before they were even out of sight however, a shadowy creature shot towards them and circled each of them once, leaving nothing where they had been standing.
After realisation had settled in and the shadowy creature had left, Takuya glared at the DigiDestined, "You guys really screwed up this time…"
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