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moon_blitzTitle: Interwoven Destinies, Chapter 1
Fandom: Digimon 02/Digimon Tamers
Genre: Fusion, Suspense, AU
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or anything associated with it
Characters: Takato, Ken, Kai
Warnings: Genderflipping
Summary: Takako's world is turned upside down when she is suddenly transported to a mysterious grey ocean.
Chapter 1: The Birth of an Empire
“Takako dear, how was lunch?” her aunt asked with a smile as she took away the half-eaten sandwich. Takako stared down at her lap, not wanting to lie to her aunt even though she hadn’t really enjoyed it. Food tasted bland now, and she had to force herself to eat.
“It was fine. Thank you.” Rising from the table, she bowed to her aunt and tried to smile back. “May I go to the park and play?” She desperately wanted to leave the house, the place that her parents were never coming back to, but she hadn’t been able to go out since the day of the funeral.
“Go ahead. The fresh air will do you good,” her aunt replied, and Takako nodded silently.
“H-Hey! I gotta come too! Wait for me!” Kai burst out, frantically cramming the remains of his sandwich into his mouth. Takako bit back a frown and patiently waited for him to finish. It wasn’t that she disliked her older cousin, but she felt no real connection to him or his parents. She was all alone now, with no one to look after her. Sure, her aunt and uncle said they would take her in, but she knew she was a burden on them - after all, they were moving all the way from Okinawa just to take care of her. They were moving because they had to, not because they wanted to.
“Alright, let’s go!” Kai cried, wiping crumbs from his face and pulling her out to the entryway. She tried not to look at the spot where her parents' slippers still sat as she put on her coat and shoes, knowing they would never wear them again.
The short walk to the park was a quiet one. Takako was distantly aware of the cool wind as it hit her face, turning her cheeks red quickly. The old her would have been delighted to chase the leaf whirlwinds the wind formed, but instead she just watched them blow by. Didn’t autumn symbolize death? Perhaps her parents should have died in this season, then, instead of in the spring.
Kai looked at her once they reached the park, clearly wondering what she wanted to do but being too shy to ask. All she really wanted to do was sit on a bench and stay there until she died, but that wouldn’t happen anytime soon. So instead she walked stiffly over to the swings and sat on one.
“Do you want me to push you?” Kai asked hopefully, but she just shook her head. He looked disappointed at her rejection and sat on a swing himself, slowly pushing back and forth to build up momentum. She stared at the ground in misery, the squeak of the swing-set the only sound beside the wind.
No, there was another sound. Takako lifted her gaze from the dead grass and looked around. It was odd, but she could have sworn she just heard the sound of waves. But the harbour was too far away from the park to be heard, and it was too cold for a wave pool to be set up. She looked over at Kai, but her cousin showed no sign of having heard the sound. And it was growing louder too, like she was coming closer to it.
Takako bit her lip, listening to hear where the sound was coming from. She had to be going crazy. People did that all the time when the people they loved died, the news said so. But she couldn’t let Kai know she was hearing things, because then he would tell his parents and she wouldn’t see them any more because the grownups would take her away and lock her up with the other crazy people.
“I’m going to play over there,” she said after another minute of listening, pointing towards the cluster of mushroom-shaped equipment that sat in the corner of the park. The top of the mushrooms were hollow inside so kids could play games or take shelter from the rain in them, but sometimes the older kids used them for doing other things too.
“Ok. Just shout if you need me.” Kai was smiling, but for some reason his eyes looked sad. Nodding to show she understood, Takako left her cousin to the swing-set and jogged over to the mushrooms. The sound of the waves grew as she got closer, but then she stopped suddenly. The grass was gone, replaced by grey sand, and it almost seemed like the mushrooms were standing in water. She blinked and realised they were, for the water shimmered as incoming waves went around them to lap at the sand just a few feet in front of her.
Takako turned around to see of Kai was watching, and gasped. The playground was gone. No, the whole city was gone! She now stood facing a cliff of dark grey stone, which loomed out of the fog that seemed to envelope her like a blanket. “W-Where am I?” she whispered, her stomach clenching in fear. Was she seeing things too, now? Had she died? Was her parents’ death and all of this just a horrible nightmare?
Turning around again, Takako stared at the grey ocean which stretched into the fog bank which hid the horizon. She was lost, and she didn’t know the way home, or even if there was a way home. Sniffling and sinking to her knees, Takako broke down and cried. She sobbed, her tears being soaked up by the grey sand as they fell. She sobbed for what felt like an hour, only stopping when her throat was ragged and her head pounding. Wiping her eyes, she sniffled and looked around again.
It was like all the colour had been sucked out of the world, because everything was either grey, black, or white. She had felt like she had been surrounded by such a world since her parents died, but she had no idea there was a literally grey world out there. Her gaze eventually landed on a black beam that cut through the fog every few seconds, and she realised there was a lighthouse of some sort farther along the beach. She had seen one once while visiting Kai. Maybe there were people there?
“H-Hello? Hello!” she called, rising and walking in the direction of the lighthouse. “Is anyone there?” For a moment, there was only the sound of waves meeting the shoreline, then there was a distant shout. Convinced it was not an echo of some sort, Takako called out again.
“Hello! I’m over here!” Perhaps it was someone from the lighthouse who could tell her how to get home. Because now she wanted to go back; back to Kai, back to her aunt and uncle, back to her parent’s graves. The fog seemed to lift slightly, pulling back from the beach so she could see more clearly. A figure was running along the beach towards her and Takako broke into a run as well, eager to see who her rescuer was.
But as the person came closer, her faint hope died and she felt like crying again. It was only a little boy! He looked to be around her own age and had straight black hair and eyes with a heavy coat and sneakers. Everything he wore was some shade of grey, so perhaps he was a part of this colourless world. He looked just as disappointed to see her, slowing to a walk and then stopping not far away.
“You got stuck here too?” he asked, eying her with faint interest.
“Y-Yeah. I heard the waves and followed the sound. Then I was here,” Takako explained, wondering what to do now. Were they going to be trapped here forever?
“That’s what I did too,” the boy confirmed with a slight nod. “Ah…I’m Ken Ijijouji. Nice to meet you.”
She found it odd to be introducing herself to a stranger in a place like this, but her parents had raised her to be polite. “Pleased to meet you, Ken. I’m Takako Masuki.” They bowed to each other, then stood there awkwardly.
“What is this place?” she asked at last, looking inland towards the cliff. Perhaps there was a way for them to climb it and go find help.
“I don’t know,” Ken answered, sounding frustrated. “I was looking for my soccer ball when I heard the waves. If I don’t get home before evening, my parents will worry.”
“I left my cousin to go play at the other end of the park…He’ll get scared if I don’t get back soon.” Takako bit her lip, blinking back tears. As she did so, she saw a glimmer of light from the base of the cliff. “What’s that?”
“What’s what?” Ken took a few steps towards the cliff as she pointed towards the light, then walked quickly over. Following more cautiously, Takako peered around him to see two small devices lying on the rocks at the bottom of the cliff. They seemed to be a about the size of her palm and had a square centre screen with a large button on one side and two smaller buttons on the other side. A stubby antenna stuck out from the top.
“What are they?” she asked, joining Ken as he bent down to take a closer look. The screen on both devices was cracked, but they were still glowing faintly. It was that glow which had attracted her attention earlier.
“Not sure. Some sort of electronic device, maybe?” Ken replied, reaching out to pick one up.
“Don’t touch it!” she cried, grabbing his hand to stop it.
Ken turned to look at her, eyes narrowed in disdain. “I doubt they’re going to explode,” he said with a snort, jerking his hand out of hers and picking up one of the devices. Takako gasped with fright, but the device did nothing out then let out a low beep as the screen stopped glowing. “That was anticlimactic…” the boy muttered, examining the item more closely.
Still afraid something bad would happen, Takako carefully picked up the other one, stiffening as hers did the same things as Ken’s.
“Hmph. It appears to be broken,” Ken said dismissively, clearly not impressed with the device.
“I think it’s kinda cool…” Takako said, turning the item over in her hand a few times. It looked like a toy Kai might play with. Maybe he or his father would be able to fix the device. Of course, she had to get home for that to happen. A small rock clattered suddenly onto the rocks beside them, making her jump and huddle up next to Ken. “W-What was t-that?”
“Noth-No, wait.” Ken was suddenly alert, looking around at the cliff as if noticing something he hadn’t before. “Move back a little, Takako.”
The girl obeyed, somewhat pleased that he had called her by name, then gasped as more rocks fell from the cliff. “Is it an earthquake?”
“No…hear that sound? It’s like someone’s digging through the cliff,” Ken answered, sounding slightly annoyed for some reason.
Takako listened hard for a moment, then nodded. “Oh, you’re right. I hear it now.”
“Shhh!”
They stood in silence as the sound grew in volume, eventually becoming louder than the waves lapping against the shore. Ken stepped in front of her as more rocks were dislodged, then the cliff face to their right exploded in a shower of rocks and dust. Takako flinched, taking a few steps back and coughing from the dust.
“You did it! We’re out!” an unfamiliar male voice said, sounding elated.
“Told you I could dig through this stuff. Now let’s see where we are!” an equally strange female voice answered, tone smug.
Ken backed away as well as the dust settled, revealing two monsters straight out of a movie. Takako’s gaze was drawn to the large dinosaur-like creature, its red hide and golden eyes making it stand out against the dark grey cliff. As she watched, it shook its head and sneezed, rubbing its snout with a claw a moment later. Her eyes then dropped to the green caterpillar at the dinosaur’s feet, taking in its pink claws and bright blue eyes.
“What are you?” Ken asked challengingly, shifting to stand in front of Takako again. Both monsters looked over then, apparently not having noticed them before.
“A-Ah! You must be Ken! I’m your partner, Wormon!” the caterpillar exclaimed, revealing himself to be the male who had spoken first.
“And I’m Guilmon. Pleasure to meet you, Takako,” the red dinosaur said pleasantly, then added, “We are Digimon, which is short for Digital Monsters. We live in a place called the Digital World.”
“Digimon? Digital World? What are you talking about?” Ken sounded confused, but Takako blinked as the words sparked a memory.
“Wait…are you connected to that weird movie that was on the internet this summer?” She had been online, trying to forget that her parents had just died in a horrible car accident, when a strange movie had popped up on her screen. Try as she might, it hadn’t gone away, so she had watched the battle shown and assumed it was a promotion of some kind.
“Movie? Oh, that thing. Why do you think they’re related?” Ken asked, turning slightly to look at her.
“Er, well, I think I remember the monsters’ names ending in ‘mon’,” she replied hesitantly, unsure if she was saying the right thing.
The red dinosaur - Guilmon, she supposed she should call her - smiled and nodded. “I don’t know the details of that, but if the creatures you saw had ‘mon’ at the ends of their names, they were Digimon.”
“Ok, so say they were these Digimon things. What does that have to do with us? And how do you know our names?” Ken asked sharply, facing the two Digimon again.
“As I said before, Ken, we are your partners. You were chosen to help the Digital World in the future, and we were the ones chosen to protect you. We’ve known ever since we were born that you were coming, so we’ve been waiting for you to arrive.” Wormon said gently, moving forward a few steps and looking up at the boy with wide eyes.
Ken took a step backwards at that, and Takako stepped around him to approach Guilmon. “So is this the Digital World?”
Guilmon frowned and shook her head. “No, it’s not. I have no idea what this place is…except it smells bad.”
Takako had to keep herself from smiling at her comment. She shouldn’t smile anymore, not with all that had happened to her. “That’s just the smell of the ocean, you’ll get used to it eventually.” Then a thought occurred to her. “If we’re supposed to help your world when we grow up, what are we doing here?”
“I don’t know,” Guilmon said with another frown. “You came too early I think, but it all worked out in the end. We found you and you got your Digivices. When you’re needed, you’ll be called back.” Takako thought the Digimon looked worried, but didn’t understand why. Everything was fine, wasn’t it?
“So we’re to help you guys in the future, huh? If that’s what these things are for, then forget it. They’re broken.” They all turned at Ken’s words to see him staring intently at the device in his hand.
“Is it? Oh dear, that’s not good at all. Your Digivice is the most important thing you have as a DigiDestined…” Wormon moaned, tapping his front claws together anxiously.
Takako froze as Guilmon came forward to sniff at the one she held, then spoke. “It might fix itself if you put it in water.”
“Seriously? How dumb do you think I am? Water destroys electronic things, not fixes them!” Ken snapped, and she flinched at the harsh tone in his voice.
“B-But…” she stammered, stopping for a moment when he glared at her, “I-If this isn’t home or the Digital World, maybe water works differently here?”
“Exactly what I was about to say. See, we’re meant to be partners!” This time, Takako did smile at Guilmon’s words. For some reason, being around the creature made her feel better.
“This whole thing is crazy. Digimon. Digivice. DigiDestined. Digi, digi, digi. Digidumb, I say.” Ken scowled down at the device in his hands, then sighed. “Whatever. Maybe this crazy world runs on crazy logic.” With that, he turned and marched towards the ocean, ignoring Takako and the Digimon.
“Ken, wait!” Wormon called, scuttling after him.
“Let’s go too.” Guilmon said quietly, and Takako nodded. She didn’t want Ken getting hurt if things went wrong.
They caught up the Ken at the water’s edge, and he gave her a sideways look. “Ready to get wet?”
“Yeah.”
Together, they stepped into the grey sea, walking unto the water was up to their waists. Ken held up his Digivice in both hands and Takako did the same, and they plunged their arms into the water at the same time.
“Fix yourself. Fix yourself and give me the power I need,” he muttered softly, almost to himself. Takako focused on the cracked screen of her Digivice, trying to channel her thoughts the way some people on TV did to make things happen. Power. Power would be nice. If she had had power five months ago, perhaps her parents wouldn’t have died and she would have a loving home to go back to instead of strangers. If Guilmon and this Digivice could grant her the power to stop things like that from happening, then yes, she wanted it to be fixed.
For a long minute, nothing happened. Then Takako felt something inside of her break open, and the water around her Digivice grew murky. She watched in amazement as the crack in the screen sealed itself up and the grime and dents on the device disappeared. It was working!
But that wasn’t the end of it. Her Digivice changed shape then, the bottom part bulging out and widening a little. The entire Digivice lost its bulky edges, smoothing into a near oval shape. The buttons shifted position and changed shape along with the screen, and handgrips formed along both sides. The antenna also changed slightly, growing longer and sliding down to poke out just above the right-side handgrip. Finally, the Digivice turned from a light grey to black.
“Wow…” she breathed, wide-eyed and the changes. Guilmon had been right, the water had worked! Ken made a similar sound of surprise, and she glanced over to see that his had undergone the same transformation. Lifting their Digivices out of the water, they examined the others’ silently. The only difference Takako could see between them was that her handgrips were dark red while his were grey.
“That’s a little bit cool,” Ken said, and she was surprised to see a slight smile on his face. In fact, his entire demeanour seemed to have changed along with his Digivice - there was a spark in his eyes that she hadn’t noticed before, and he was standing a little bit straighter.
“Yeah,” she agreed, giving him a smile in return as they walked back to their partners. Takako suddenly felt alive in a way that she hadn’t been since the accident, and it felt kind of good. “Do you want to go home together?” After what they had just been through, she didn’t want to leave him just yet.
Ken hesitated before nodding, and she hoped she hadn’t made him mad. “Yeah, sure.”
“Oh good, they’re fixed.” Wormon looked pleased as they held out their Digivices for their partners to see, then added, “Alright, let’s get you home. I’m pretty sure the tunnel Guilmon dug will take you back.”
“Great, let’s go,” Ken said briskly, and Takako nodded in agreement. It was time to leave this place and go home.
“It was nice to meet you, Guilmon.” she said hesitantly as they walked towards the spot where the two Digimon had appeared.
“It was nice to finally meet you too, Takako. Take care of yourself, ok?” Guilmon answered, surprising the girl by nuzzling her shoulder lightly.
“I will,” she promised. She had to if she was going to help out Guilmon’s home someday.
“You’re not going to be like this in the future, are you?” She looked over at Ken’s slightly irritated tone to see Wormon clinging to the boy’s leg, face pressed against his knee.
“I’ll try not to be, Ken. I’m just so happy to have finally met you after so long.” the Digimon replied, releasing his partner and instead tapping his foot with a claw.
“I see.” Ken didn’t look entirely convinced by the promise, but he let the matter slide and motioned to Takako to go into the tunnel. “Ladies first.”
With a small wave goodbye to her smiling partner, Takako entered the tunnel, pleased that she was able to stand up straight in it. Walking into the darkness was a bit scary, but she knew Ken was right behind her in case something happened. They walked for what seemed to be miles, and then the tunnel grew smaller, forced her to crouch, then crawl. But soon she saw light up ahead and hurried towards it, eager to leave the grey ocean behind.
She emerged inside one of the playground mushrooms and blinked a few times before going to the hole in the floor and dropping to the ground.
“Takako! There you are!” She turned to find her cousin jogging towards her, relief apparent on his face. “Were you hiding in there the whole time?”
“Uh…yeah. I didn’t mean to scare you…” she answered, quickly shoving her Digivice into her coat pocket. If asked, she could just say she found it in the park.
“Jeeze, I was starting to think you ran off…Huh? Did you make a new friend?” Kai asked, peering around her curiously.
Turning to look as well, Takako was surprised to see Ken standing behind her, looking just as surprised and a little lost.
“Yeah. This is Ken. Ken, this is Kai, my cousin,” she said quickly, hoping Kai would assume they had met up in the mushroom and wouldn’t ask any weird questions.
“Pleasure to meet you Kai,” Ken said with a bow, and her cousin returned it with a smile.
“Come on, we better get going. I was thinking of watching a movie once we get home - do you want to pick which one?” Takako was surprised by her cousin’s offer, and nodded hesitantly. It might be good to get closer to him while she waited to be called back to the Digital World.
“I’ll be there in a minute, ’kay?” Kai accepted her words with a nod and moved off to let her and Ken talk. Turning to the boy behind her, she said, “This is a park in Tamachi. Is your home far?”
“Oh, I recognize this place now. Sam used to bring me here sometimes.” Ken’s face clouded over for a moment, but then he answered her question. “No, I’m just a few blocks over. Want to meet here tomorrow after school and exchange addresses?”
“Sure!” she agreed with a nod, then smiled and took a step back. “I better go. See you tomorrow, Ken.”
The boy smiled back and nodded. “See you then, Takako.” Nodding one final time, Takako gave him a small wave and turned to go back to her cousin. Until the day she and Ken got called to the Digital World, she would keep her promise to Guilmon and take care of herself, and that meant living again. It would be hard, but she would do it.
Master Post || Chapter 2
Fandom: Digimon 02/Digimon Tamers
Genre: Fusion, Suspense, AU
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or anything associated with it
Characters: Takato, Ken, Kai
Warnings: Genderflipping
Summary: Takako's world is turned upside down when she is suddenly transported to a mysterious grey ocean.
“Takako dear, how was lunch?” her aunt asked with a smile as she took away the half-eaten sandwich. Takako stared down at her lap, not wanting to lie to her aunt even though she hadn’t really enjoyed it. Food tasted bland now, and she had to force herself to eat.
“It was fine. Thank you.” Rising from the table, she bowed to her aunt and tried to smile back. “May I go to the park and play?” She desperately wanted to leave the house, the place that her parents were never coming back to, but she hadn’t been able to go out since the day of the funeral.
“Go ahead. The fresh air will do you good,” her aunt replied, and Takako nodded silently.
“H-Hey! I gotta come too! Wait for me!” Kai burst out, frantically cramming the remains of his sandwich into his mouth. Takako bit back a frown and patiently waited for him to finish. It wasn’t that she disliked her older cousin, but she felt no real connection to him or his parents. She was all alone now, with no one to look after her. Sure, her aunt and uncle said they would take her in, but she knew she was a burden on them - after all, they were moving all the way from Okinawa just to take care of her. They were moving because they had to, not because they wanted to.
“Alright, let’s go!” Kai cried, wiping crumbs from his face and pulling her out to the entryway. She tried not to look at the spot where her parents' slippers still sat as she put on her coat and shoes, knowing they would never wear them again.
The short walk to the park was a quiet one. Takako was distantly aware of the cool wind as it hit her face, turning her cheeks red quickly. The old her would have been delighted to chase the leaf whirlwinds the wind formed, but instead she just watched them blow by. Didn’t autumn symbolize death? Perhaps her parents should have died in this season, then, instead of in the spring.
Kai looked at her once they reached the park, clearly wondering what she wanted to do but being too shy to ask. All she really wanted to do was sit on a bench and stay there until she died, but that wouldn’t happen anytime soon. So instead she walked stiffly over to the swings and sat on one.
“Do you want me to push you?” Kai asked hopefully, but she just shook her head. He looked disappointed at her rejection and sat on a swing himself, slowly pushing back and forth to build up momentum. She stared at the ground in misery, the squeak of the swing-set the only sound beside the wind.
No, there was another sound. Takako lifted her gaze from the dead grass and looked around. It was odd, but she could have sworn she just heard the sound of waves. But the harbour was too far away from the park to be heard, and it was too cold for a wave pool to be set up. She looked over at Kai, but her cousin showed no sign of having heard the sound. And it was growing louder too, like she was coming closer to it.
Takako bit her lip, listening to hear where the sound was coming from. She had to be going crazy. People did that all the time when the people they loved died, the news said so. But she couldn’t let Kai know she was hearing things, because then he would tell his parents and she wouldn’t see them any more because the grownups would take her away and lock her up with the other crazy people.
“I’m going to play over there,” she said after another minute of listening, pointing towards the cluster of mushroom-shaped equipment that sat in the corner of the park. The top of the mushrooms were hollow inside so kids could play games or take shelter from the rain in them, but sometimes the older kids used them for doing other things too.
“Ok. Just shout if you need me.” Kai was smiling, but for some reason his eyes looked sad. Nodding to show she understood, Takako left her cousin to the swing-set and jogged over to the mushrooms. The sound of the waves grew as she got closer, but then she stopped suddenly. The grass was gone, replaced by grey sand, and it almost seemed like the mushrooms were standing in water. She blinked and realised they were, for the water shimmered as incoming waves went around them to lap at the sand just a few feet in front of her.
Takako turned around to see of Kai was watching, and gasped. The playground was gone. No, the whole city was gone! She now stood facing a cliff of dark grey stone, which loomed out of the fog that seemed to envelope her like a blanket. “W-Where am I?” she whispered, her stomach clenching in fear. Was she seeing things too, now? Had she died? Was her parents’ death and all of this just a horrible nightmare?
Turning around again, Takako stared at the grey ocean which stretched into the fog bank which hid the horizon. She was lost, and she didn’t know the way home, or even if there was a way home. Sniffling and sinking to her knees, Takako broke down and cried. She sobbed, her tears being soaked up by the grey sand as they fell. She sobbed for what felt like an hour, only stopping when her throat was ragged and her head pounding. Wiping her eyes, she sniffled and looked around again.
It was like all the colour had been sucked out of the world, because everything was either grey, black, or white. She had felt like she had been surrounded by such a world since her parents died, but she had no idea there was a literally grey world out there. Her gaze eventually landed on a black beam that cut through the fog every few seconds, and she realised there was a lighthouse of some sort farther along the beach. She had seen one once while visiting Kai. Maybe there were people there?
“H-Hello? Hello!” she called, rising and walking in the direction of the lighthouse. “Is anyone there?” For a moment, there was only the sound of waves meeting the shoreline, then there was a distant shout. Convinced it was not an echo of some sort, Takako called out again.
“Hello! I’m over here!” Perhaps it was someone from the lighthouse who could tell her how to get home. Because now she wanted to go back; back to Kai, back to her aunt and uncle, back to her parent’s graves. The fog seemed to lift slightly, pulling back from the beach so she could see more clearly. A figure was running along the beach towards her and Takako broke into a run as well, eager to see who her rescuer was.
But as the person came closer, her faint hope died and she felt like crying again. It was only a little boy! He looked to be around her own age and had straight black hair and eyes with a heavy coat and sneakers. Everything he wore was some shade of grey, so perhaps he was a part of this colourless world. He looked just as disappointed to see her, slowing to a walk and then stopping not far away.
“You got stuck here too?” he asked, eying her with faint interest.
“Y-Yeah. I heard the waves and followed the sound. Then I was here,” Takako explained, wondering what to do now. Were they going to be trapped here forever?
“That’s what I did too,” the boy confirmed with a slight nod. “Ah…I’m Ken Ijijouji. Nice to meet you.”
She found it odd to be introducing herself to a stranger in a place like this, but her parents had raised her to be polite. “Pleased to meet you, Ken. I’m Takako Masuki.” They bowed to each other, then stood there awkwardly.
“What is this place?” she asked at last, looking inland towards the cliff. Perhaps there was a way for them to climb it and go find help.
“I don’t know,” Ken answered, sounding frustrated. “I was looking for my soccer ball when I heard the waves. If I don’t get home before evening, my parents will worry.”
“I left my cousin to go play at the other end of the park…He’ll get scared if I don’t get back soon.” Takako bit her lip, blinking back tears. As she did so, she saw a glimmer of light from the base of the cliff. “What’s that?”
“What’s what?” Ken took a few steps towards the cliff as she pointed towards the light, then walked quickly over. Following more cautiously, Takako peered around him to see two small devices lying on the rocks at the bottom of the cliff. They seemed to be a about the size of her palm and had a square centre screen with a large button on one side and two smaller buttons on the other side. A stubby antenna stuck out from the top.
“What are they?” she asked, joining Ken as he bent down to take a closer look. The screen on both devices was cracked, but they were still glowing faintly. It was that glow which had attracted her attention earlier.
“Not sure. Some sort of electronic device, maybe?” Ken replied, reaching out to pick one up.
“Don’t touch it!” she cried, grabbing his hand to stop it.
Ken turned to look at her, eyes narrowed in disdain. “I doubt they’re going to explode,” he said with a snort, jerking his hand out of hers and picking up one of the devices. Takako gasped with fright, but the device did nothing out then let out a low beep as the screen stopped glowing. “That was anticlimactic…” the boy muttered, examining the item more closely.
Still afraid something bad would happen, Takako carefully picked up the other one, stiffening as hers did the same things as Ken’s.
“Hmph. It appears to be broken,” Ken said dismissively, clearly not impressed with the device.
“I think it’s kinda cool…” Takako said, turning the item over in her hand a few times. It looked like a toy Kai might play with. Maybe he or his father would be able to fix the device. Of course, she had to get home for that to happen. A small rock clattered suddenly onto the rocks beside them, making her jump and huddle up next to Ken. “W-What was t-that?”
“Noth-No, wait.” Ken was suddenly alert, looking around at the cliff as if noticing something he hadn’t before. “Move back a little, Takako.”
The girl obeyed, somewhat pleased that he had called her by name, then gasped as more rocks fell from the cliff. “Is it an earthquake?”
“No…hear that sound? It’s like someone’s digging through the cliff,” Ken answered, sounding slightly annoyed for some reason.
Takako listened hard for a moment, then nodded. “Oh, you’re right. I hear it now.”
“Shhh!”
They stood in silence as the sound grew in volume, eventually becoming louder than the waves lapping against the shore. Ken stepped in front of her as more rocks were dislodged, then the cliff face to their right exploded in a shower of rocks and dust. Takako flinched, taking a few steps back and coughing from the dust.
“You did it! We’re out!” an unfamiliar male voice said, sounding elated.
“Told you I could dig through this stuff. Now let’s see where we are!” an equally strange female voice answered, tone smug.
Ken backed away as well as the dust settled, revealing two monsters straight out of a movie. Takako’s gaze was drawn to the large dinosaur-like creature, its red hide and golden eyes making it stand out against the dark grey cliff. As she watched, it shook its head and sneezed, rubbing its snout with a claw a moment later. Her eyes then dropped to the green caterpillar at the dinosaur’s feet, taking in its pink claws and bright blue eyes.
“What are you?” Ken asked challengingly, shifting to stand in front of Takako again. Both monsters looked over then, apparently not having noticed them before.
“A-Ah! You must be Ken! I’m your partner, Wormon!” the caterpillar exclaimed, revealing himself to be the male who had spoken first.
“And I’m Guilmon. Pleasure to meet you, Takako,” the red dinosaur said pleasantly, then added, “We are Digimon, which is short for Digital Monsters. We live in a place called the Digital World.”
“Digimon? Digital World? What are you talking about?” Ken sounded confused, but Takako blinked as the words sparked a memory.
“Wait…are you connected to that weird movie that was on the internet this summer?” She had been online, trying to forget that her parents had just died in a horrible car accident, when a strange movie had popped up on her screen. Try as she might, it hadn’t gone away, so she had watched the battle shown and assumed it was a promotion of some kind.
“Movie? Oh, that thing. Why do you think they’re related?” Ken asked, turning slightly to look at her.
“Er, well, I think I remember the monsters’ names ending in ‘mon’,” she replied hesitantly, unsure if she was saying the right thing.
The red dinosaur - Guilmon, she supposed she should call her - smiled and nodded. “I don’t know the details of that, but if the creatures you saw had ‘mon’ at the ends of their names, they were Digimon.”
“Ok, so say they were these Digimon things. What does that have to do with us? And how do you know our names?” Ken asked sharply, facing the two Digimon again.
“As I said before, Ken, we are your partners. You were chosen to help the Digital World in the future, and we were the ones chosen to protect you. We’ve known ever since we were born that you were coming, so we’ve been waiting for you to arrive.” Wormon said gently, moving forward a few steps and looking up at the boy with wide eyes.
Ken took a step backwards at that, and Takako stepped around him to approach Guilmon. “So is this the Digital World?”
Guilmon frowned and shook her head. “No, it’s not. I have no idea what this place is…except it smells bad.”
Takako had to keep herself from smiling at her comment. She shouldn’t smile anymore, not with all that had happened to her. “That’s just the smell of the ocean, you’ll get used to it eventually.” Then a thought occurred to her. “If we’re supposed to help your world when we grow up, what are we doing here?”
“I don’t know,” Guilmon said with another frown. “You came too early I think, but it all worked out in the end. We found you and you got your Digivices. When you’re needed, you’ll be called back.” Takako thought the Digimon looked worried, but didn’t understand why. Everything was fine, wasn’t it?
“So we’re to help you guys in the future, huh? If that’s what these things are for, then forget it. They’re broken.” They all turned at Ken’s words to see him staring intently at the device in his hand.
“Is it? Oh dear, that’s not good at all. Your Digivice is the most important thing you have as a DigiDestined…” Wormon moaned, tapping his front claws together anxiously.
Takako froze as Guilmon came forward to sniff at the one she held, then spoke. “It might fix itself if you put it in water.”
“Seriously? How dumb do you think I am? Water destroys electronic things, not fixes them!” Ken snapped, and she flinched at the harsh tone in his voice.
“B-But…” she stammered, stopping for a moment when he glared at her, “I-If this isn’t home or the Digital World, maybe water works differently here?”
“Exactly what I was about to say. See, we’re meant to be partners!” This time, Takako did smile at Guilmon’s words. For some reason, being around the creature made her feel better.
“This whole thing is crazy. Digimon. Digivice. DigiDestined. Digi, digi, digi. Digidumb, I say.” Ken scowled down at the device in his hands, then sighed. “Whatever. Maybe this crazy world runs on crazy logic.” With that, he turned and marched towards the ocean, ignoring Takako and the Digimon.
“Ken, wait!” Wormon called, scuttling after him.
“Let’s go too.” Guilmon said quietly, and Takako nodded. She didn’t want Ken getting hurt if things went wrong.
They caught up the Ken at the water’s edge, and he gave her a sideways look. “Ready to get wet?”
“Yeah.”
Together, they stepped into the grey sea, walking unto the water was up to their waists. Ken held up his Digivice in both hands and Takako did the same, and they plunged their arms into the water at the same time.
“Fix yourself. Fix yourself and give me the power I need,” he muttered softly, almost to himself. Takako focused on the cracked screen of her Digivice, trying to channel her thoughts the way some people on TV did to make things happen. Power. Power would be nice. If she had had power five months ago, perhaps her parents wouldn’t have died and she would have a loving home to go back to instead of strangers. If Guilmon and this Digivice could grant her the power to stop things like that from happening, then yes, she wanted it to be fixed.
For a long minute, nothing happened. Then Takako felt something inside of her break open, and the water around her Digivice grew murky. She watched in amazement as the crack in the screen sealed itself up and the grime and dents on the device disappeared. It was working!
But that wasn’t the end of it. Her Digivice changed shape then, the bottom part bulging out and widening a little. The entire Digivice lost its bulky edges, smoothing into a near oval shape. The buttons shifted position and changed shape along with the screen, and handgrips formed along both sides. The antenna also changed slightly, growing longer and sliding down to poke out just above the right-side handgrip. Finally, the Digivice turned from a light grey to black.
“Wow…” she breathed, wide-eyed and the changes. Guilmon had been right, the water had worked! Ken made a similar sound of surprise, and she glanced over to see that his had undergone the same transformation. Lifting their Digivices out of the water, they examined the others’ silently. The only difference Takako could see between them was that her handgrips were dark red while his were grey.
“That’s a little bit cool,” Ken said, and she was surprised to see a slight smile on his face. In fact, his entire demeanour seemed to have changed along with his Digivice - there was a spark in his eyes that she hadn’t noticed before, and he was standing a little bit straighter.
“Yeah,” she agreed, giving him a smile in return as they walked back to their partners. Takako suddenly felt alive in a way that she hadn’t been since the accident, and it felt kind of good. “Do you want to go home together?” After what they had just been through, she didn’t want to leave him just yet.
Ken hesitated before nodding, and she hoped she hadn’t made him mad. “Yeah, sure.”
“Oh good, they’re fixed.” Wormon looked pleased as they held out their Digivices for their partners to see, then added, “Alright, let’s get you home. I’m pretty sure the tunnel Guilmon dug will take you back.”
“Great, let’s go,” Ken said briskly, and Takako nodded in agreement. It was time to leave this place and go home.
“It was nice to meet you, Guilmon.” she said hesitantly as they walked towards the spot where the two Digimon had appeared.
“It was nice to finally meet you too, Takako. Take care of yourself, ok?” Guilmon answered, surprising the girl by nuzzling her shoulder lightly.
“I will,” she promised. She had to if she was going to help out Guilmon’s home someday.
“You’re not going to be like this in the future, are you?” She looked over at Ken’s slightly irritated tone to see Wormon clinging to the boy’s leg, face pressed against his knee.
“I’ll try not to be, Ken. I’m just so happy to have finally met you after so long.” the Digimon replied, releasing his partner and instead tapping his foot with a claw.
“I see.” Ken didn’t look entirely convinced by the promise, but he let the matter slide and motioned to Takako to go into the tunnel. “Ladies first.”
With a small wave goodbye to her smiling partner, Takako entered the tunnel, pleased that she was able to stand up straight in it. Walking into the darkness was a bit scary, but she knew Ken was right behind her in case something happened. They walked for what seemed to be miles, and then the tunnel grew smaller, forced her to crouch, then crawl. But soon she saw light up ahead and hurried towards it, eager to leave the grey ocean behind.
She emerged inside one of the playground mushrooms and blinked a few times before going to the hole in the floor and dropping to the ground.
“Takako! There you are!” She turned to find her cousin jogging towards her, relief apparent on his face. “Were you hiding in there the whole time?”
“Uh…yeah. I didn’t mean to scare you…” she answered, quickly shoving her Digivice into her coat pocket. If asked, she could just say she found it in the park.
“Jeeze, I was starting to think you ran off…Huh? Did you make a new friend?” Kai asked, peering around her curiously.
Turning to look as well, Takako was surprised to see Ken standing behind her, looking just as surprised and a little lost.
“Yeah. This is Ken. Ken, this is Kai, my cousin,” she said quickly, hoping Kai would assume they had met up in the mushroom and wouldn’t ask any weird questions.
“Pleasure to meet you Kai,” Ken said with a bow, and her cousin returned it with a smile.
“Come on, we better get going. I was thinking of watching a movie once we get home - do you want to pick which one?” Takako was surprised by her cousin’s offer, and nodded hesitantly. It might be good to get closer to him while she waited to be called back to the Digital World.
“I’ll be there in a minute, ’kay?” Kai accepted her words with a nod and moved off to let her and Ken talk. Turning to the boy behind her, she said, “This is a park in Tamachi. Is your home far?”
“Oh, I recognize this place now. Sam used to bring me here sometimes.” Ken’s face clouded over for a moment, but then he answered her question. “No, I’m just a few blocks over. Want to meet here tomorrow after school and exchange addresses?”
“Sure!” she agreed with a nod, then smiled and took a step back. “I better go. See you tomorrow, Ken.”
The boy smiled back and nodded. “See you then, Takako.” Nodding one final time, Takako gave him a small wave and turned to go back to her cousin. Until the day she and Ken got called to the Digital World, she would keep her promise to Guilmon and take care of herself, and that meant living again. It would be hard, but she would do it.
(no subject)
6/10/12 20:27 (UTC)I did have some more questions to ask you at first (like character ages), but they were all resolved at later points in the narrative. If you do continue this, I'll be plenty curious to see where it goes.
(no subject)
7/10/12 01:13 (UTC)Yes, I am working with the 02 Digital World rather than the Tamers one, because that was the nature of the prompt that inspired this fic - the Tamers cast become DigiDestined, and Takato is born a girl instead of a guy. Background information: Takako and Ken are both 9, and it's near the end of September when this chapter takes place. Takako's parents died in a car crash back in may, and Ken' brother died in August.
Feel free to ask me questions as you read, I'll do be best to answer them just so long as the answer doesn't reveal future developments. Thanks for reading!