Digimon Frontier: The Warrior's Return

Chapter 8: A Little Bat Told Me

Chapter 8: A Little Bat Told Me

You stood shyly next to Junpei, pretending to be a shadow. Meeting new people always made you nervous. Especially people your own age. But as you glanced at each face quickly your eyes lingered on Kouichi. He gave you a small reassuring smile and you felt a little better.

You took a deep, calming breath. "Hi, I'm Ally," you said. "Nice to meet you all." By the end you had started blushing, so your bow was a little stiff and awkward.

"I'm Kanbara Takuya," one boy with brown hair announced. He had on a yellow shirt with a black dragon surrounded by flames. He also wore jeans with some small rips and grass stains, and he had a pair of goggles on a strap around his neck. His hair was brown like Junpei's but longer and messier. His eyes were a darker mahogany and he was thinner than Junpei. All of them were actually.

You couldn't help but return Takuya's grin. His courage and friendliness seemed to be contagious.

"I'm Himi Tomoki," the other brown-haired boy said. He could've been Takuya's little brother, except that he had sea-green eyes. "Nice to meet you too, Ally-san."

He had hat-hair, though you didn't see a hat nearby. He was wearing cargo pants and a white shirt with a stunning picture of a group of polar bears on the front. Though he was nearly as tall as Takuya, you got the impression of an eager little kid. He reminded you of your two favorite cousins, brothers who loved to play with you, especially videogames. Tomoki had that same glint in his eye which made you smile too.

Next the girl in purple flashed you a smile. "I'm Orimoto Izumi," she said. She reminded you instantly of your own sister, self-confident and warm. You loved her blonde hair and green eyes; you assumed they were natural since she didn't seem like the type who colored her hair or wore colored contacts

You already knew Kouichi pretty well, so your attention went right to his twin at the end of the line. This guy had an air of mystery around him, but when you met his eyes, the illusion vanished. He had on a dark blue jacket over a black shirt and light blue jeans. Other than that, he was quite identical to Kouichi except for the ponytail and bandana.

Though there was one other difference which took you a minute to pinpoint. His eyes held an inner light that Kouichi's didn't. You could tell that both twins had seen the darker side of life before; but while Kouichi accepted it, Kouji wanted to change it. He believed that the darkness could be changed.

"I'm Minamoto Kouji," he said quietly. Something in his eyes altered however and you got the feeling he knew how you were judging him. You matched his stare, fear forgotten, and tried to decipher what he thought of you. Then the light changed again and his face turned friendly. "Thank you for keeping my brother safe."

You smiled too, but didn't relax your guard. "Sure, anytime. He was good company."

Kouichi had caught the silent exchange between you two, but he relaxed now. You sensed he was still worried though, so you made a silent promise to be nice.

"So! Where should we go now?" Takuya said enthusiastically. Apparently, he and the others had missed the tense moment.

"Flame Terminal," you and Kouichi said together.

The others looked surprised to hear that. "But we were just there," Tomoki protested.

"Yeah, think of a good idea," Junpei taunted you.

You ignored him and glanced at Kouichi - as he glanced at you. You lifted an eyebrow to ask your question. He smiled and made a 'go on' gesture.

"Where do I start?" you asked.

He thought for a minute. "Start at the beginning."

The others watched your brief conversation with both confusion and fascination. You nodded once as you chose where to begin.

"Well, in the beginning, there was this little thing of energy," you said, fighting off a grin. "Then the Big Bang happened, or so scientists say -"

"Boo!" Junpei heckled good-naturedly.

You emitted an exaggerated sigh. "FINE. I'll get to the interesting part." That took another thought or two. "Well then, I suppose that part starts with when I heard Beetlemon's spirit calling me."

That surprised them all, Junpei the most. "You what?"

"Well, I was walking in the forest wondering where to start looking for the spirits, and I heard a voice." As you talked, you watched your audience to see how they were taking the news. "It sounded funny and he said he was in the town, so I went exploring and found Kouichi. Then, when we were leaving, I heard the voice again. I followed some wires to this tiny building and the spirit was in there."

"But I found the spirit in the Wind Factory last time!" Junpei protested.

The little white Digimon cleared his throat. "Yes, but after you left, the spirits chose new hiding places in the Digital World. It's not a good spot if everyone knows about it, now is it?"

"So, we're going to have to look in new places?" Izumi asked, sounding shocked.

"Seems like it," Kouji said somberly.

"I guess that's why my D-Tector didn't react when we were in Flame Terminal," Takuya said sadly. Then he fixed you with a puzzled look. "So, why do you want to go there?"

"I'm getting to that," you said, annoyed. You hated interrupters. "Anyway, we headed back to Forest Terminal after I found Beetlemon, and we found a hurt Pipismon on the path. Then dogs attacked us, I healed Pipismon, and it told us there was a spirit hidden under Flame Terminal. So, here we are."

Except for Kouichi, the others were wide-eyed. "Why do I get the feeling that it was much more exciting than you're saying?" Izumi asked.

You grinned automatically. "Oh, it was."

"You left out some things too," Kouichi chided. "Like seeing the souls and hearing Pipismon in your head."

"Well, I didn't want them to think I was nuts!" you barked at Kouichi.

"I already know you're nuts," Junpei quipped. You pulled out the wad of foil and chucked it at his head. He caught it and gave you a grin in return. "But if you say we should go, we should go. You're usually right about things like this."

"That's good," the little yellow Digimon with red pants said. "I left my oven on."

"Bakamon!" yelled the white one. He snapped the yellow one's waistband.

You watched them with surprise. "Who are you two anyway?"

The white one faced you and coughed importantly. "I am Bokomon, keeper of the book of the ten legendary warriors."

"I'm Neemon," the yellow one said.

"What are you keeper of?" you asked.

Neemon pointed at Bokomon. "I'm the keeper of Bokomon!"

Bokomon snapped Neemon's waistband again. "Stop making things up!"

You all laughed. "Let's go!" Takuya cheered. "Back to Flame Terminal!"