Ominous Flame

Chapter 8

Author Notes: Hey guys, sorry it took me so long to dish this chapter out, I got sick. But i'm more or less ok. Ok and ready to get this story rolling. Now I do not own Digimon.

3rd P.O.V

It was a new night, but same pattern as Takuya rested his arms behind his head, trying to get comfortable on the tree branch he was perched on. He stifled a yawn, not wanting to draw any attention his way as he peered down below. Koji was working on a fire for the group, making sure to glare his way every once awhile.

Even though Takuya had gone and helped the group of heroes, Koji still didn't trust him. He had every right to be weary, but the pyro would feel a lot better if the blue bandana wearing boy would quit it with the looks. Because it was only a matter of time before-

"What's wrong Koji? You keep looking over towards the trees." At this point both boys were ready to roll their eyes. "Nothing. I'm going to scout the area for a bit." Oh hell no. He was in no mood to have another conversation with him.

Not right now anyways. His body was in agony for reasons unknown to him, and frankly the last thing that needed to happen was a fight. Especially after the beat down all of them took from Grumblemon. "Be careful!" Koichi waved him off, a concerned gleam in his eyes. "H-hey Koichi? Can I do first watch?"

For a moment there was stunned silence as everyone looked toward Tommy. He was fidgeting in place, not able to look anyone in the eye. Despite the surprise, Koichi offered him a soft smile. Something that caught Shagumon off guard.

Carefully he maneuvered his way to the edge of the branch, balancing his weight. "Of course. I'll stay up with you if you want?" Immediately Tommy shook his head. Moving so fast that it was amazing his hat stayed on.

"No-I mean. I want to start doing more. To prove myself without help." A surge of pride hit Takuya as he watched on. "If that's what you want to do, I don't see any problems. If you get tired, make sure to wake me and I'll switch places with you."

He couldn't help but grin as he glanced down below. "You bet!" Slowly but surely, the kid was growing confident, independent. However, his out of the blue request made him curious. Just what brought it on? The warrior of flame had a hunch, but he decided to wait it out.

Keeping his eyes peeled for Koji as well as any potential digi-threats. It's a quiet, peaceful night, but he could hear chatters in the distance. It wouldn't take much time for trouble to brew. So he waited, hearing for awhile only the rhythmic inhales and exhales.

"Pss! Hey...are you there?" It seemed Takuya was right once again. Tommy wanted to talk to him. Either the younger child was more perceptive than anyone gave him credit for or Shagumon was getting sloppy with his sneaking.

Still, he figured at this point there was no use in hiding from the ice warrior. Especially with Koji gone. "Isn't it past your bedtime?" Rolling off the branch, he landed gracefully in front of the roaring fire keeping the group warm for the night. "So you Were here! Why did you go into hiding after we fell off the mountain?"

"Damn." There was nothing anyone could do as the fractal code keeping the area intact got engulfed by the evil minion. Everyone watched in horror as the mountain and the good chunk of the area disappeared just like that. "Ahhhh!" Before all of them were swallowed into the depths of darkness.

One by one they fell, unable to brace themselves as they got closer to smashing into hard ground. There was no way Takuya was going to let that happen. Within a matter of moments he digivolved, taking advantage of his reflexes, strength and gravity itself to catch each unconscious member of the little group.

It was a huge relief as Shagumon managed to gently lower them to the ground without much trouble. However that sense of happiness was short lived as he clutched his chest again. He couldn't stop groaning as his body convulsed. Once more he was forced to turn back into his human form.

Sighing as the pain left instantly. It was starting to become harder and harder to stay as a digimon. And when he does manage to shift forms he's immediately struck with an intense pain that grips him from head to toe-driving him to either change back or become completely immobile.

'What's happening to me?' This cycle was definitely becoming a problem. One that he was struggling to come up with solutions for. 'Ugh...oww.' His eyes widened in shock as he turned. Already some of the individuals he rescued were starting to wake up.

His legs moved before his brain processed what was going on. Heading straight towards whatever he could find to hide.

Back then he hadn't so much thought as he did react. And it was really hard to come up with a plausible explanation without going into too much detail of his issues. But at the same time he couldn't say nothing or lie to Tommy.

It just wasn't something he wanted to do. "Let's just say I have some issues going on with me. I couldn't really stick around." Shagumon watched on as the boy's face scrunched up with confusion and concern.

"Are you still injured from the last time I saw you?" Well...it was somewhat true as he nodded, not really saying anything else on the subject. "Looks like you and the group are getting along a lot better than what you were telling me before." It was safer to switch topics.

He can't just go and say 'To tell you the truth I don't really know what's going on with me, but I get these really bad headaches or flares of pain in my chest.' Immediately Tommy would recommend that Bokomon character checking up on him, or offering to see if they could find a doctor to help.

Even if he knew what was wrong(and to an extent he had an idea) he didn't trust anyone-let alone have them check his body and give him some sort of cure. As if there was a cure for what ailed him. It wasn't like Ophanimon had offered him something when they had last seen each other.

There was very little doubt that she was well aware of the problems he was dealing with. "Huh? O-oh yeah, I guess. I've been trying to help out more with them, t-to talk more too. Zoe and Koichi are really nice."

It looked like the eight year old was taking his advice a lot more seriously than Takuya originally thought. "That's great. Glad for you." He spared a moment to take a glance at the group, all of them still sleeping peacefully. Undisturbed.

The two of them were keeping their voices hushed. And the fire that was in front of them helped with keeping their conversation at a reasonable level. But he still kept an eye out. After spying on them for the last...few weeks or so, he could confidently say that despite the flaws he could see that this was a good bunch.

However that didn't mean he was willing to fully introduce himself and become a part of the group. "Are you going to join us? Everyone was asking about you before." Not that was going to stop Tommy from asking.

Silently pleading with his eyes. "Not too sure if that's a good idea buddy. I'm not the best person to be really be around right now." Until this mess with his digivolution is situated or hell-even just the control Cherubimon has over him is completely gone-it's better he stay at a distance. Keep to the shadows.

If for no other reason than to prevent anymore blood to be spilt. Shagumon...no, Takuya has caused more than enough damage since his arrival into the digital world. But, despite his feelings on the matter, Tommy didn't seem to happy with that answer. Dare he look, determined?

"But why? I know Koichi wants to thank you for what you did. And if the looks Kojis' been giving the forest every time he has a chance-you've been close by anyways. Would it really be so bad hanging out?" Ohhh this guilt trip felt so familiar it wasn't even funny as Takuya silently moaned into his hands.

'Come on Takuya...Pleaaaasseeee?' Shinya really needed to drop acting class at school...because he was getting way too good with the crocodile tears he was taking advantage of. 'No! For the last time.' Takuya loved his brother-he really did but this was seriously unfair.

With the overblown eyes, fake tears and whining tone he was quickly losing his resolve. And it didn't help when their parents got involved to put their two cents in. 'Go on Takuya. It won't hurt going to the movies together this one time.'

What was once an slightly balanced one on one battle now became a seriously rough three on one. It wasn't like he didn't Want to go to the movies with Shinya. But rather they couldn't agree on which movie to watch. And he said no just so he could Avoid this mess.

'We never do anything together anymore Takuya. Just this once let's go have fun.' And that there was the clincher in the argument. The weight that finally broke the camel's back and he was not happy about it. 'Fine...'

Just like that Shinya's expression took a one-eighty. From frowns to full blown sunshine smiles and it actually irked the older sibling. 'Yes~ I'm gonna go get my shoes!' Like he thought before...completely unfair.

This was one argument the fire warrior could not afford to lose. Not with how he was. "I'm not...the safest to be around Tommy. My powers are going out of control. Like you thought i'm still injured from our last encounter and it's effecting my abilities. I don't want to risk you or the others getting hurt."

He hated how he sounded just then. Vague, slightly true but full of excuses. Still he had to push himself onwards, to nip whatever protest or argument that could possibly come out. Making sure to glance at the sleeping figures, Takuya continues.

"I like you Tommy, but even if Koichi wanted to talk to me-the group won't be ok with me just waltzing in and joining. I know for a fact Koji wouldn't be down for that." No matter what Takuya had to be the bad guy.

Whether it was working with the big bad villain himself or convincing a little kid that he couldn't stick around it didn't matter. Both of them sucked, and he felt so bad watching the younger boy deflate. Tommy heard the conviction in his choice loud and clear.

And he was also well aware that he was right and Koji would protest to the moons and back. That still didn't stop him from sighing in disappointment. "Can...we still have nights like this though? Where we can just talk? We can still be friends right?"

Damn this kid was reminding him more and more of Shinya every day. It hurt so much, but...he couldn't help giving him a soft smile. "Yeah. Just you and me kiddo. I'll always be around if you need me."

It was so easy to fall into the role of older sibling and protector. As natural to Takuya as it was to just plain breathe. "You mean it?" For a moment he could pretend that everything is fine as he ruffles with the overly large hat on his head.

"Definitely...you remind me a lot of my brother. I'm sure if he were here-the two of you would be best friends." If only...things were different. "Really? What's his name? What's he like? Is he cool like you?"

The warrior of flame was ironically playing with fire doing this. "The coolest. His name is Shinya..." It was only a matter of time before things went horribly wrong. But for right now he ignored his instincts to step away.

Until he senses Koji's inevitable return, he would stay, reviving his humanity one story at a time.

to be continued

Author Notes: A short little chapter but still so wholesome to me. Why? Because brother bonding between Takuya and Tommy just makes me feel all warm on the inside. It helps that this is a rather chill chapter.

We'll see how things go next time as we're going to see some more interactions between the characters. Should be fun. But that's it for now folks. Thanks for reading and feel free to fav/follow/review as it would mean so much to me. Tchao for now.