Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon; however the guardians are my own creation. Just please don’t sue me.

 Digital Battle: The Fight for both worlds

by Dark River Empress

Chapter 6

 

Author’s Note: I made a mistake in the last chapter. The Legendary and Guardian Warriors were killed by Lucemon not Cherubimon. Sorry about that. Then as you know there was a time of peace and then Cherubimon went bad and the rest is history. Just wanted to clarify that for you.

 

            Four days later Koji sat with his eyes closed, thinking, in an overstuffed chair –which he and Renamon had dragged in from the living room- next to Riley’s bed as she continued to lie incapacitated. It wasn’t the most comfortable place in the world, but he did not want to leave her side for some reason. She seemed so familiar to him it was unnerving. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it but he could have sworn he had seen her somewhere before –other than in his dreams of course- and it was driving him insane. He didn’t bother to ask Renamon about it because she was about as hard to milk information out of as a rock. All he had been able to get out of her in the past four days was that that she and Riley had been really good friends since Riley had arrived in the Digital World. She would not tell him when that was though.

            Both he and Renamon had been disappointed when Riley had not woken up four days ago after she had begun to stir. Renamon figured that is was a bodily reaction to being uncomfortable and had nothing to do with Riley waking up. He rarely left Riley’s side after that. He wanted to be the first to see her arise when she finally did. Renamon had told him that her wounds were healing faster than she had expected and that the bones would completely mend after a couple more months. The only thing that Riley would have to remind her of her run in with the rabid Dobermon would be a scar on her leg. The Dobermon had returned to normal after Renamon had subdued him and the black mist –that none of them had a clue as to what it might be- left him. He actually turned out to be a pretty swell digimon in the end. He had apologized to Koji many times for attacking him. So many times, in fact, it was beginning to get annoying.

            Many things had been bothering Koji since his conversation with Renamon in Riley’s room four days ago. What was bothering him the most however was what she had said about the ancestors of the current Guardian Warriors fighting Lucemon with the Legendary Warriors and dying. If that were true then that would mean that the Guardian Warriors were not humans with spirits at all but real digimon just like their supposed ancestors. That was kind of weird yes, but what was really stumping him was how could the current Guardian Warriors have ancestors? Digimon didn’t breed. They were just reborn over and over again. He was sure that new Digimon were created and born in the Village of Beginnings somehow but he doubted any of them were related to the Guardian Warriors in anyway. Koji slowly opened his eyes. He had made up his mind. He was going to ask Renamon about it.

He slowly rose to his feet and looked down at the still unconscious Riley. He ran his fingers through her hair to tell her that she was safe and that he would take care of her. He doubted that she could actually feel his touch or know what it meant but he did not mind. As long as she made a full recovery… that was all that mattered to him. He turned and left the room.

It felt weird leaving Riley’s side for anything other the bathroom or food. He found Renamon sitting on the huge rug that covered almost all of her living room. She was meditating. He sat down across from her and stared at the river through the fake wall that was the entrance to the cave.

            “Yes, Koji?” Renamon asked with her eyes still closed. Koji snapped back to reality.

            “I wanted to ask you about the conversation we had a few days ago.” Renamon’s eye’s slowly fluttered open.

            “What about it?” she hissed, unable to hide her suspicion.

            “You remember what you said about the Guardian Warriors that fought Lucemon being the ancestors of the current Guardian Warriors?”

            “I did?” To Koji she looked slightly confused, like she didn’t remember saying it.

            “Yeah. You don’t remember?”

            “If I said that my information was completely inaccurate. What I meant to say was that the Guardian Warriors of today are humans with spirits just like you and the other five Chosen Children from fourteen years ago had. In that since the Guardian Warriors of late could be like ancestors to the Chosen Children of today.” She smiled. “I am sorry to have confused you.” Koji let all of the information sink in and then he laughed.

            “OH! Haha!” He set his hand on the back of his head and continued to laugh. He was completely embarrassed. “Sorry that I bothered you about something I could have easily figured out on my own. I thought that the new Guardian Warriors were digimon and not humans with spirits.”

            “Again I apologize. I should watch what I say. I guess I can confuse people easier than I thought.”

            “It’s okay. I just…” Koji’s sentence faded away as he heard movement behind him. He jumped to his feet and spun around landing in a fighting stance. He immediately dropped his hands when he saw who was standing before him. Riley was leaning in the doorway of her room, staring across the den at him. Her stance, he thought, was too casual for someone in her condition, and it bewildered him. She was acting like the bandages covering the entire middle of her body like a tummy-top with one strap on her right shoulder and the sling her arm was in were for show. Her badly ripped cardigan was draped over her shoulders and her pants had been reduced to mid-thigh shorts because Renamon had cut the shreds of what were once pants off. She was barefoot her gloves were gone and sure enough there was a large scar running up her right calf.

            As Koji’s eyes finally rested on Riley’s face he was blown away by the eyes that stared back at him. They were slanted with an almost evil element to them. They were also a beautiful, exotic, shade of blue that sent a chill racing down his spine. They harbored what looked to him to be a mixture of loneliness, but he saw a feisty yet caring soul in them. He found no trace of joy or love in them though. Her eyes just held a lonely protective look that he found attractive. He looked to her to be the type of person who would protect a friend’s life at the cost of her own. However, he also saw that the cause of that was extreme pain that Riley had suffered. He pitied Riley, but he still couldn’t help but find her eyes attractive… in a horrifyingly odd way.

            He didn’t want to stop looking at her eyes but he new it would be wrong to stare so he tore his gaze away from hers. He took a quick glance at her hair so he could get a full mental picture of her but he had to do a double take on what he saw. Not only was her hair all one length and up in a French Twist, but it had gone from being blue… to silver!

            As all of the information cycled though Koji’s head, Renamon dashed over to Riley like a stricken mother.

            “RILEY JUSTINE KUROHANA!” she screamed as she inspected Riley from head to toe. “Why are you out of bed!? Your injuries are too great for you to be loafing around like you are!”

            “I’m fine Renamon,” Riley said in a voice that almost made Koji melt where he stood. It was soft yet stern and it made him wish that she would never stop talking. Riley reached up with her left hand and removed a few bobby-pins from her French Twist. Her hair fell lightly down to the small of her back. “These little sprains won’t take more than a few days to heal. Also, please don’t use my middle name. You know it bugs me.”

            Riley finally directed her attention to Koji. As Renamon continued to fuss over her, Riley began to move towards him. When she finally reached him Koji realized that with shoes on, Riley would be the same height as he. She held out her good hand to him and - after taking a few seconds to realize what she wanted - he took it.

            “Thank you, for saving my life.”

            “Your welcome, but how did you know it was me and not Renamon who saved you?”

            “You wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t helped in my rescue. Renamon does not let humans other than my friends and myself into this cave. It is a sacred place to her. I am completely in your debt and I will do whatever you want to pay you back for your troubles.

            ‘If you go on a date with me that will be payment enough,’ Koji thought.

            “Nah…!” Koji laughed a little louder than he meant to. He released Riley’s hand and set his hand on back of his head, throwing his head back and continuing to laugh. Riley stood and stared at him, not quite understanding what was so funny. Koji finally snapped back to reality and looked down at Riley. “Forgive me… I thought about something funny and I couldn’t help but laugh. Anyway…. I just did what I had to do. I wasn’t about to leave you there.” He wanted to tell her about his dream but he decided against it, not wanting to sound like a psychotic freak. Suddenly his insides turned to ice. KOICHI! He had completely forgotten about his brother and the other Chosen Children coming to the Digital World after him. For all he knew they had been attacked by some rabid digimon and killed. He highly doubted that their cell phone’s had turned into D-tectors if his hadn’t.

             “Hello?” Riley’s voice finally got through to him and he snapped back to reality. “Are you okay?”

            “Um… yes, yes I’m fine.”

            “I was asking you for your name.” She sounded slightly annoyed with him.

            “It’s Koji Minamoto. I am…”

            “…the possessor of the Spirits of Light,” Riley finished for him.

            “Yes. That’s right. How did you know?”

            “When I came to the Digital World Renamon told me about the Legendary Warriors. Where are the others?”

            “See that’s the thing… I don’t know. I came here without them. My brother, Koichi, was going to go get them but I don’t know where they are or how long they have been here.”

            “Then we had better go look for them. Renamon, do you have any clothes that I can wear?” She began to remove her sling and splint on her arm.

            “Oh no,” Renamon yelled, “the Immortal Digimon will die before I let you leave in your condition. Your arm is broken and you have three broken ribs!” Riley turned to her.

            “Renamon…” Riley shook her head. “I told you I am fine. Koji needs to find his friends and only God knows what could have happened to them by now. SHE is not going to let any threat to his power walk though this world freely and it is only a matter of time until she finds them.”

             ‘She?’ Koji thought. ‘What is Riley talking about?’

             “Now I am going to leave whether you like it or not… but I need new clothes before I can do that.” Renamon sighed and nodded admitting defeat.

            “Look in the chest of drawers next to your bed. Pick what you want.” Riley strolled back into her room and closed the door with a snap. “I don’t know how she does it…”

            “Does what?” Koji inquired.

            “Heals as fast as she does. She has four broken bones and yet she says they have almost completely healed.”

            “Maybe she is exaggerating.”

            “Doubt it. When Riley says something she is rarely ever kidding. She is a rather serious person. She will laugh and smile, but they are normally just for show. Her expressions of joy are that of quite a sad person trying to be happy. I am forbidden to tell you anymore than that. I swore to Riley that I would never tell anyone about her past.”

            “But…”

            “If you want to know,” Renamon snapped to stop his objection, “you will have to ask her yourself. The word of a digimon is never broken under any circumstances. I am not about to break Riley’s trust or the digimon code.” Koji shrugged.

            “Fair enough.” Koji threw himself onto the sofa and Renamon looked at him like she could barely stomach his laziness. He leaned forward, resting his elbow flat on his knees and letting his hands drop between his legs. “So… How long have you known her?” Renamon flashed him a rare smile because of his persistence and sat down cross-legged on the floor at the coffee table in front of him.

            “I will tell you everything that I am within my boundaries to tell. I have known Riley for three years in my world so one Earth year.”

            “How old is she?”

            “Fourteen I believe.”

            “Wouldn’t she be older than that if she has been in your world for three years?”

            “No.” She rested her elbow on the table and rested her cheek on her fist. Renamon gave Koji a look he did not quite understand. It looked like a sympathy/annoyance hybrid to Koji. “You will age in Earth years unless you were born in the Digital World.”

            “That makes sense I guess…”

            “It should.” She pointed at him with her free hand. “You and your friends didn’t get any older when you were here 14 Digital years ago and yet you were here for possibly a year or more. It is common sense, Koji.”

            “Yeah. I’m sorry. I’m really tired so my brain isn’t working too well.” He hit his head with the palm of his hand and smiled.         “Hey,” he sat up like scientist who had just made a breakthrough, “how did her hair change from blue to silver and grow to be all one length?” Renamon closed her eyes and turned her head away blowing air out of her pursed lips in a ticked off manner.

            “That hideous hair cut and color that you saw was actually a wig. She tries to hide her true identity when traveling outside of the group.”

            “Group?”

            “Yes.” Renamon turned to him. “She is one of the Guardian Warriors. Why else would she be here?”

            “I don’t know…” The door to Riley’s room suddenly opened and Riley stepped out. Her wardrobe had completely changed and Koji was shocked. She was in red pants that were sagging over black boxers, a red denim jacket (which only came to the middle of her body leaving her midriff exposed), black biker gloves, leather biker boots, a black tube-top and a plain black cap that she was wearing backwards. Her hair was in a French braid and she had two locks of silver hair protruding from the ponytail hole and leaning slightly to the left in the front. She also wore a pair of rimless sunglasses.

Riley whistled and there was suddenly a loud pounding outside. Koji jumped to his feet spun around in fear of what was coming. To his amazement, standing outside were Dobermon and another digimon that Koji did not recognize. It was a huge black dog with flames on the back of its neck and running down to the middle of its back, flames covering its feet, a tail of flames and blue eyes. Riley walked through the barrier and mounted the unknown digimon. Koji and Renamon followed. Koji was astonished. Riley was sitting right on the flames on the digimon’s back, but she didn’t even seem to notice.

            “Caninemon’s flames won’t burn anyone she trusts,” Riley said giving the great dog digimon a playful scratch behind its right ear.

            “Hello, Koji,” the digimon said, turning its huge head towards him and focusing his blue eyes on his own. Koji was taken aback. 

            “H-h-how do you know my name?” he stuttered.

            “It is me, Dogémon. Well actually, as Riley told you, I am Caninemon now.”

            “Dogémon?” Koji eyed the digimon suspiciously. ‘How could such a small digimon grow to be so massive?’ Koji wondered.

            “In the data. I am in my Champion form of Caninemon.”

            “You can ride Dobermon, Koji,” Riley said. Koji nodded and positioned himself in front of the huge spikes on Dobermon’s back.

            “Sorry I attacked you, human,” Dobermon said in a low growl. “And you too Riley.”

            “It’s fine,” Koji and Riley chorused. Koji sounded a lot more annoyed with Dobermon’s apology than Riley.

            ‘That has to be the hundredth time he has apologized to me!’ Koji shouted in his head.

            “Hope to see you soon, Renamon,” Koji said. Renamon waved as Dobermon and Caninemon crouched and sprang into a full out run. The ride was smoother that Koji expected it to be, quieter as well. For massive digimon, Dobermon and Caninemon made little noise. They rode off into the distance in search of the others. Koji just hoped they were okay...

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