Series: Sanguine Bindings||Story Title: Ruler of the Shadows
Characters: Ken, Daisuke||Romance: Ken x Daisuke/Daisuke x Ken
Chapter: 20-40||Chapter: 500||Total: 10,000
Genre: Supernatural, Romance||Rated: PG-13
Notes: In the setting of this story, these are the differing points: the Chosen are roughly five years older than in canon, meaning that Ken, Daisuke, Takeru, & Hikari are sixteen, while Miyako is seventeen, and Iori is fourteen. There are some other differences, but those will be revealed during the course of the story. Except for this: this story will involve vampires. It begins in episode 2, once Daisuke's been captured.
Summary: On his second trip to the Digital World, Daisuke is captured by the Kaiser. Time to learn a little about the guy he's just started fighting. Like the fact he has sharp, pointy teeth and a thirst for more than conquest.
Koushirou stared at the e-mail Iori sent, not entirely certain of what to think of all of it. He didn't think for a moment that his young friend was trying to lie. It wasn't remotely in Iori's personality to try that, even if it had occurred to him in the first place.
He brushed off his surprise. He didn't have time to be surprised, not now. Fingers moving quickly, he forwarded the mail to all the rest of the Chosen. They didn't have a lot of time to debate about this, and any second could be their last.
One thought thrummed strong in the front of his mind: if they delayed too much, not only would Daisuke pay for it, but the younger Chosen could as well, and the Digital World itself definitely would. The problem was simple: they needed to find a way to take down the Kaiser once and for all, and he had one of their own and was a vampire.
Koushirou didn't want to think about Vamdemon. He'd done his best to put that thought out of his mind for the last three years. It shouldn't have been a thought he had to think at all.
Reality seldom conforms to one's desires.
He had no time to think more on it, as the answers to his e-mail started to flood in. The wordings were all different, but the sentiment remained the same: I'm on the way.
They would have to hurry. They would meet Mimi in the Digital World; there wasn't any way that she could get to Japan to talk to them otherwise.
But the Chosen were past masters of adapting to changing situations. They couldn't have survived the Digital World the first time if they hadn't been able to regroup at a moment's notice. They did need breathing room and they'd need to have it soon, but the choice they made now wasn't a choice at all.
He had something to do while the others were taking care of their business. He called up his parents.
"Mom?" He mentally swallowed. Among his hopes had been that he'd never have to do this either. "Do you remember the Digital World?"
They'd seldom spoken of it. But his parents knew, as did Yamato and Takeru's, Hikari's and Taichi's, Jou's brother, Mimi's parents, and Sora's mom. Most of them did their best not to talk about it at all.
He explained that he and the others would return when they could, but there wasn't any choice they could make that wasn't going to help save Daisuke and free the Digital World from the Kaiser's grip. He avoided speaking of the Kaiser as a vampire. They'd worry enough from what he did tell them. And he still wanted to verify it for himself. He didn't think Iori could lie, but the Kaiser could be deceiving them somehow.
Once done, he waited for the others to arrive. In some ways, it felt like the longest wait of his life.
To Be Continued
Notes: We've reached the halfway point. The rest of the story will circle around Ken and Daisuke, with possible V-mon and Wormmon. The greater tale of the Chosen, old and new, and their continuing battle against the Kaiser will be told in another story.