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HA! I finally convinced Lyssie-chan I can do this! This is a story about...Blademon and Armadimon. =^-^=
Blademon is Lyssie's, Armadimon is Bandai's, Harimon is Lyssie's too. Dammit, Lyssie-chan owns everything. =>-<=
He opened his eyes slowly, the world vast and new to him. At least, on this day it was.
He was no longer in his cradle, rather he was outside of it. How did he get here? Had he been shoved or gently pushed?
Either way, it was time to embark on a painful process.
What was it again? Ah...growing up, that was the term. He had only been taught that it was painful.
Oh well...pain was a part of life. Wasn't it?
Wait that was another thing that he had been taught.
Ok...was there anything that he had discovered on his own, and not been taught?
Well...not much..
No, that wasn't true! He had discovered the digimon in the cradle next to him!
What was his name?
Er....ah....hmm..
He forgot.
Speaking of the other digimon, where was he?
"Shinka! Harimon!"
He blinked at the strange pink digimon, long arms flopped on the ground with claws slightly dug into the dirt. Red eyes focused on him and a big smile grew across his lips as he chirped brightly.
"Hi! I'm Harimon! You're that digimon I saw sneak into my crib once, right?"
He blushed from being recognized so easily.
"Ah, don't feel bad, I was happy for the company!"
He blushed further, wishing he could smile at the other digimon however found that his lack of mouth was preventing him from doing so.
"You can't talk, can you? I just remembered we don't have mouths when we're little.."
He shook his head as best he could, which was more like bouncing back and forth.
Harimon, on the other hand, came up to him and wrapped an arm around him. "Oh well, that's ok, you'll digivolve someday won't you? I'll just wait for you to digivolve so we can be friends!"
"I hate to interupt.." a second, foreign voice interupted their odd form of communication.
Harimon looked up. "You're...Elecmon...aren't you?"
"Yes.." the digimon sighed sadly and nodded. "I'm Elecmon, caretaker of this place, Primary Village."
"Well, that much I knew. I'm Harimon, nice to meet you!" Harimon offered a paw to the red rabbit like digimon.
Smiling, Elecmon took the offered paw and shook it firmly. "And as you know, I'm Elecmon! It's nice to talk to my babies." Elecmon looked nostalgic for a moment, glancing up to the sky full of hope and promises, however returned his gaze to Harimon with a grim face.
"What's the matter...?" Harimon blinked innocently, his arm still around the "digimon from the crib next to him". The other digimon merely blinked at the exchange between the two bigger digimon, wishing so badly to have a mouth to speak with.
"Now that you've evolved...you can't stay in Primary Village."
"Huh? Why not?" Harimon demanded, immediately getting defensive at the threat. The digimon next to him trembled with fear.
"Because Primary Village is a village created only for digieggs and baby digimon. As soon as you evolve, you're strong enough to survive on your own." Elecmon explained, obviously feeling guilty from being forced to split the two new friends up.
"Just like forcing a baby bird out of its nest..." Harimon pouted. "But...I wanted to stay here and wait for him..." Harimon gestured to the baby digimon in his arm.
"I'm sorry..it's just against the rules..." Elecmon replied sadly, looking to the baby digimon who was obviously upset by the sudden announcement.
Harimon looked sadly to the baby digimon. "We were going to be friends too..."
However, unknown to the two bigger digimon, the baby digimon was not only upset because of the sudden announcement Elecmon had made, it was also upset over a suddden, incredibly burning sensation it felt throughout it's entire tiny body.
Shutting its eyes to express the intense burning sensation it felt, the baby digimon finally let out a tiny squeak.
"Shinka! Upamon!"
Now, where the baby digimon had once stood, was a small white ball with pointy ears and little beady black eyes. The small mouth on it added to a rather cute appearance.
"YAY!" Harimon cheered, picking up Upamon and waving him around his head, jumping up and down. "You evolved, you evolved!"
"WAH!" Upamon cried, shutting his eyes. "Be careful! Please please don't drop me!"
After a few more minutes of cheering with Upamon being too afraid to open his eyes during those minutes, Harimon finally set Upamon down again.
And when he did so, gathered him into a hug which cause Upamon to blush.
"Now we can still be friends!" Harimon chirped happily.
"Yeah....maybe that's why I digivolved...." Upamon said softly. "So we could stay together."
"You evolved just for me?" Harimon's eyes became glossy with a substance Upamon did not recognize. "Aww, that's so nice!" Harimon caught Upamon in another hug.
Meanwhile Upamon was not only getting hugged every few minutes, he was also beginning to like them.
And Elecmon could not help but grin at them. 'Ah, young love!'
"So what do we do now?" Upamon blinked, staring at the strange world around him full of bright colours, toys and young life.
"I guess we could go on a journey and be heroes, or something!" Harimon smiled again, being a never ending fountain of enthusiasm.
"Ah, good, good..." Elecmon agreed with them, shoving them out of Primary village while they were merrily babbling about something or the other.
As soon as they hit the gate, Upamon and Harimon bounded off, still happily chatting away, never even saying goodbye to Elecmon because they were so busy talking.
'Those two...' Elecmon shook his head at them and smiled. 'Have got it bad.'
After merrily babbling for a good hour or so, Harimon had finally run out of breath and the two were hopping along the path to their destiny, or so Harimon had thought.
Upamon, on the other hand, while following along with Harimon, was deep in thought because their was something bothering him.
There was something nagging in the back of his mind, something telling him to search for something.
Somemone.
But who?
"Hey, are you ok?" Harimon finally asked, concern showing in his big red eyes. "I haven't heard you talk that much, unless that's because I've been doing all the talking. I hope I'm not annoying you..."
"What? Oh, no, no of course not." Upamon smiled at him to relieve his worries.
"Then if it's not me, what is it?" Harimon asked carefully, being able to read through Upamon's cheerful expression.
"Well....." Upamon took a deep breath and let out a long sigh.
"Well, what?" Harimon was persistent, determined to light up the cute face which had suddenly become so sad.
"It's just....it's weird...but I feel like I have to look for someone." Upamon blinked, furrowing his brows to focus on these feelings in hopes to understand them better.
"You too?"
"Huh?" Upamon looked up, to see the same concentrated expression on Harimon's face.
"You feel like you have to look for someone too, huh?" Harimon asked, scratching its head in confusion.
"You feel like that too?" Upamon blinked, confusion in his eyes making his face look adorable. (Ok ok so I like Upamon, shoot me! =P)
"Yeah..." Harimon repeated, frowning for a minute in frustration, trying to understand this strange calling he felt. His expression then brightened as he smiled. "Well, that's easy! We'll just go look for them, simple!"
"Huh..?" Upamon blinked, Harimon's bubbling enthusiasm once again catching him off his guard.
"We'll just look for them in our journey! If we stay together, we can probably find them faster and at the same time we won't be lonely while we're looking! Sound good?" Harimon offered him a paw to shake.
When Upamon stared at the paw for a minute which caused Harimon to blush and pull it back, feeling rather sheepsih. "Sure, sounds great!"
Harimon paused for a minute before smiling broadly. "YEAH!"
Picking up Upamon and carrying him above his head, Harimon bounded off merrily down the road with Upamon constantly crying: "Harimon, Harimon, please don't drop me!!"
A hundred years later.....
'We've been together now for such a long time....'
The two friends were marching along the riverbank, following a trail which would lead them to their destiny.
'But these last ten years...'
However, one was beginning to feel as though it were more about his friend and his destiny as opposed to them both being in the friendship.
'He's getting so obsessed with being a warrior...'
Ten years ago, Harimon had digivoled from his in-training stage to his rookie stage, Blademon. Blademon was a digimon with a horn on his head and knives in the sheathes at his sides. A digimon meant to fight.
'I guess I'm just a bother to him...'
Blademon was a digimon who was a naturally born warrior. A warrior who lived for the thrill of fighting, for the pride and the power, for perfection of character and strength.
'But why won't he tell me to go away if that's the case?'
Upamon too had digivolved to his rookie stage, Armadimon. Armadimon was a digimon covered with armor. A digimon meant to defend.
'But don't I get in the way?'
Armadimon was a digimon who was a naturally born protector. A protector who upon his choice would rather flee than fight, anything to protect the one he was meant to protect, however if fighting needed to be done he would do it and do it well. Personally, Armadimon held no passion for fighting like Blademon did.
And that was the problem.
For the last ten years, Blademon had become obsessed with "the way of the warrior" as he called it. Which meant fighting whenever he could, wherever he could, all to improve his skill and character, or his stamina, or his bravery, or whatever attribute he chose to build on.
Either way, "way of the warrior" had changed the friend he had known so long ago.
Harimon was so gentle and kind, so nice to him. They were the best of friends and practically inseperable.
Now he wondered if they were friends at all. These days Blademon only cared about fighting, and would rarely speak to him. Armadimon felt like he was no more than a dog following around his master.
He might as well be. Walking on all fours dragging his tail between his legs while they walked.
Armadimon, even though his best friend was walking right beside him, was feeling incredibly lonely and isolated from the world.
'I wonder...I wonder if now that's he's a warrior, that he's too strong to hang around with someone who doesn't like to fight....'
'Maybe...' Armadimon glanced up at Blademon who had his gaze fixed on the ground ahead.
'Maybe he hates me....'
How long had they been walking along now, his gaze solemnly tracing the lines of the dirt in the ground.
He hated this. Following Blademon around just like a dog. 'I should just leave him and let him be, I obviously just slow him down.'
Blademon was able to walk on two legs and in great strids, while Armadimon walked on all fours which provided him with great stamina however lacking in speed.
At any rate, the silence between them was finally driving Armadimon insane so he finally convinced himself to say something. "Blademon?"
"Hn?" the brief, gruff reply came. Dark grey eyes met the green ones of Armadimon.
Armadimon smiled a little at him. "Sorry, am I interupting your warrior training to always be so deep in thought?"
"Hn." was the brief, emotionless reply.
Armadimon cringed inwardly as though Blademon had struck him with one of his knives. "So where are we going, anyhow?"
"Gigabyte City." another gruff, heartless reply.
"Oh? What for?" a rather unecessary question for they both knew why they were going to that city. At least they both knew what the purpose of going there was.
"There's a fighting tournament there."
"Oh? Are you going to enter?"
A nod from the warrior was his answer. He knew it was pointless to question Blademon about what he was doing anymore, because it was always the same thing.
Fight and become strong.
However Armadimon had hoped that maybe, one of these days, when he attempted a conversation with Blademon that maybe he would respond. That maybe he would drop his new found ice cold exterior and talk to him again. Be his friend again.
Be Harimon again.
Armadimon shook his head gently and chided himself. 'Harimon isn't ever coming back. He's Blademon now...'
Armadimon had never been albe to understand how Harimon had been so kind and friendly, and when he became Blademon that he was so cold and distant.
What had caused such a change in him? No matter how many times Armadimon reviewed their life together in great detail to pinpoint any clue, any hint of the change that Blademon would bring, or anything that might of caused him to change.
As a matter of fact, he was constantly reviewing in his mind the very day Harimon had become Blademon.
Upamon was fairly easy to depress, something which often drove Harimon up the wall.
Because there were days Upamon would complain about being lonely even though he knew Harimon was right besides him. Even though he knew that he and Harimon would always be together.
So if he had such knowledge, why would he complain about feeling lonely? Harimon just could not understand it. Neither could Upamon. At any rate, Harimon was always determined to make Upamon smile whenever he was depressed. Or even if he was happy.
Harimon, actually, had claimed that his purpose in life was to make sure that Upamon was always smiling, because "you look so cute when you do" Harimon would often claim.
So once again, Harimon was bouncing happily along, carrying Upamon above his head.
"Harimon, please let me down! You know how scared I get whenever you carry me!" Upamon cried miserably. His tone was miserable, however if you looked up at his face you could see the broad grin that had grown there.
"You always say that! And everytime I set you down you pout! So no!" Harimon grinned up at him, his red eyes sparkling.
"Well yeah...but still..." Upamon pouted, causing Harimon to laugh. "Hey, it's not funny!"
"Yes it is, you're always fussing over something or the other!" Harimon laughed.
"Am not!" Upamon retorted, sticking his tongue out at Harimon, causing the digimon to laugh more.
Soon the two were caught up in an arguement which consisted of laughter, snorting, and petty insults. All friends fight of course, and it was the same with Upamon and Harimon. The only difference with them was the fact that they never fought seriously.
"Well....well you smell!" Upamon finally surrendered and starting to laugh uncontrollably, his whole body shaking with laughter.
Laughter which soon rubbed off on Harimon, throwing him into hysterics as well.
All that was left of the arguement now was two friends hopping along the trail, one carrying the other, a bond which could last forever. A moment which would last for eternity.
Until a gang of Gizamon were coming up the road, laying their eyes upon their prey with every intention to attack.
While the two friends remained obvilious to anyone outside their own selves, completely content in one another's company.
The Gizamon gang soon stopped in front of the friends, leering at their prey.
While the two friends continued along until they bumped into an obstacle, knocking them both backwards.
Harimon, while normally bright and cheery with all digimon, glared at the new ones, not being able to understand the strange feeling of anger he felt for the first time.
While Upamon was as peaceful as ever. "Oh, sorry! We were so busy giggling we didn't see you there! We're very sorry about that!"
"Speak for yourself..." Harimon muttered under his breath, his glare never leaving the Gizamon. 'This feeling....this feeling....I feel like we're in trouble.....'
The Gizamon merely snickered. "You should watch where you're going, you could hurt somebody!"
"We're very sorry..." Upamon closed his eyes in a form of bow, apologizing, ignoring Harimon's comments. 'Why is he so violent all of a sudden?'
"Hmph." the Gizamon snorted. "I think we should teach you a few things about courtesy...don't you think so boys?"
The other Gizamon nodded their heads, dark gleams in their eyes.
Harimon stepped in front of Upamon, ready to fight. 'If you hurt him....'
Upaomon blinked up at Harimon. 'What's going on? Harimon should be helping me apologize to them, why is he so angry all of a sudden..?'
'I won't forgive you...'
"Spiral saw!" the Gizamon cried, all of them turning into spinning spheres with sharp spikes attack, rolling straight at Harimon and Upamon.
Harimon threw Upamon out of the way, hopping to avoid the the spinning Gizamon, anger growing like a fountain in his heart.
Meanwhile Upamon had a head on collision with one of the Gizamon, drawing a small line across his cheek from which blood spurt forth.
Harimon saw this and was enraged, prepared to make the Gizamon pay for touching his friend.
His Upamon.
Harimon felt a sudden surge of power deep within him, and opening his eyes with his new found wrath, gave a battle cry. "Harimon shinka! Blademon!"
The once pink floppy armed digimon changed drastically as the energy surged within him. For now he stood on two legs, tough grey skin covered a naturally born warrior's body, sheathed knives lay at his sides and a horn gleamed on his forehead, a gleam which was nothing compared to the gleam in dark grey eyes, fueled with anger.
Leaping into the air, the Gizamon which had struck Upamon had only a moment longer to live as a knife was thrown into his backside with deadly accuracy.
The other Gizamon cried out as one of their own was slain, and with a loud shriek, charged towards the more defenseless of the two, the intent to kill clearly heard in their cries.
Upamon could only gasp in fright, unsure of what to do.
Until Blademon stepped between Upamon and the other Gizamon, throwing knives wildly and defending Upamon from their onslaught.
The Gizamon stepped over Upamon, knocking Blademon into a neary tree. (Damn trees there's always one or two conveniently there)
Upamon cried out for his friend as he watched him be ruthlessy attacked. Blademon threw three more knives which hit three more targets, however he would not be able to withstand all of them attacking at once.
'But I'm too little to attack! What should I do...' Upamon thought miserably, his mind racing with ideas. What could he do, what could he do?
Seeing Blademon throw off one Gizamon only to be hit by another, his doubt faded instantly.
Charging forward as fast as he could, Upamon felt energy flow into him as he was ready to sacrifice all to save his friend.
"Upamon shinka! Armadimon!"
The Gizamon which was attacking Blademon was soon knocked, more like rolled, into another tree with such force that his life instantly left him.
Leaving only two Gizamon left.
Blademon glanced, somewhat shocked, to the armored golden armadillo, whose lips were slightly curled to display a set of white fangs, ready to strike.
The remaining two Gizamon yelped and turned around, running for their lives.
Blademon and Armadimon stared eachother up and down, confusion running through Blademon's gaze, and happiness through Armadimon's.
Finally not being to stand the silence, Armadimon perked up. "So what do you think? How do I look?"
"Fine..." Blademon said softly, looking him up and down.
"What's the matter?" Armadimon's cheerful expression sobered, concern in his voice.
"I've never felt like that before...." Blademon's gaze grew dark, staring after the retreating Gizamon.
"I'll say! What came over you? I've never seen you get angry before!"
"I...I don't know...."
From that moment on, Blademon grew cold, never allowing close to him, not even Armadimon, as his purpose in life turned from smiling to fighting.
"Of course."
Armadimon jumped when he heard Blademon's thoughts interupt him.
"P-pardon?"
"Of course I'll enter the tournament at Gigabyte City." Blademon said again, raising his eyebrow at Armadimon.
"O-oh...." Armadimon replied, his heart sinking further into his chest and closer to his feet as they walked. Blademon would never change now. If he ever evolved again he would probably open his own school of fighting.
And forget him.
However, it was not as though Blademon was remembering him now as they traveled place to place looking for places to fight, people to fight, how to improve fighting...
Fighting. Just fight. And not do much else.
'That's all he does..' Armadimon's tail dragged along the dirt in his sudden depression. 'He fought then, and still does now. He always does. That's all he does. That's all he cares about.'
"Armadimon?"
Armadimon jumped again when he heard Blademon's voice. 'He's actually speaking to me! This is amazing! I must of just grown a third ear or something.' "Yes?"
"Is something wrong?"
'Why would you ever think that? I've been incredibly depressed because I swear you absolutely hate me now and for the past ten years you've been pushing me farther and farther away. Why would anything be wrong?' "No, no I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
'That you hate me? Yup, pretty much. I wish I knew why...' "I'm sure."
"Well....let's stop for the night, we've gone far enough for the day." Blademon sighed, turning off from the road towards the trees along the riverbank to light a fire for a campsite.
"Whatever you say..." Armadimon whispered, following behind Blademon. Always being behind him, always following him, always knowing that he was nowhere near being Blademon's equal, nowhere near being his friend anymore, or anything in his heart anymore.
The fire that Blademon had lit was burning brightly as Armadimon stared into its blaze, his eyes wandering along the black coals along the base.
Black.
Much like Blademon's heart, which once pumped with blood was now frozen like ice, the life had drained from it, leaving nothing but a black lump of ice.
Armadimon glanced over to his friend of so long, who had become nothing more than his master over time, following him around like a dog. Nothing more than a dog, a posession. An asset, no, rather a liability..
Something that he was better off without.
Alone...
He was always alone.
Armadimon's head snapped up. Where had that come from?
Lonely..
'I must be talking to myself too much...' Armadimon shook his head and laid it down on his paws, his gaze never leaving the fire. 'These strange thoughts....I'm not alone, I'm with Blademon...'
'But Blademon, though he walks next to me, is always so far away...'
'So I guess then...maybe I am alone...' Armadimon sniffed, letting a single tear slide down his cheek. 'All by myself, Blademon doesn't care about me anymore...he doesn't care about anything...'
Another tear rolled down his armored yellow cheek. 'Heh....despite my armor, I can't defend myself from Blademon, can I? Why do I let him hurt me so much...' Two, three more tears. 'He doesn't care anymore, he's a warrior now. It's just the way of the warrior to have a heart of ice if Blademon writes it.'
A muffled sob came from his own throat, and he cursed himself for not having better control. 'Blademon would probably hate me more if he saw me crying over him....stop it, stop it!' Armadimon buried his face in his paws. 'Nobody cares about you when you cry, especially not Blademon.'
More tears continued to come, spilling out of Armadimon's eyes much like blood from a wound. However, physical wounds heal, and emotional ones...
Another sob slipped past his throat.
Emotional ones were more fatal than any physical wound, and may take years and years to heal. Especially if it was a wound of the heart.
Then there was another sob. However, it was not from Armadimon's.
His ears instantly perking to the sound, Armadimon lifted himself off the ground and followed the noise to the source.
"I'm...I'm sorry..." the pink creature pleaded, fear showing in his wide red eyes.
"You nearly knocked me over! What if my flame had gone out? I would of died!" the menacing white wax one snarled, anger and intent showing cleary in his.
"I...I didn't mean it...." the pink creature was cowering in fear, backing up towards the trail, hoping to hop away for dear life.
"You didn't mean to purposefully fall out of a tree, knocking me to the ground, nearly snuffing out my flame! What would of happened if I had died?!"
"Uh-oh...." a new voice entered the scene, causing the two already there to turn around.
"What the heck are you?" the flaming white one sneered, glaring at the new comer.
"I'm Armadimon, that's who the heck I am! I'm an armadillo with covered with a tough armored shell. Now how about who're you?"
"I'm Candlemon, a candlestick which was left alone for too long just for the sake of becoming haunted! I throw fireballs at anyone who crosses me, so you better not piss me off!"
"And you..." Armadimon turned towards the third digimon and gasped. The floppy arms attached to a small pink body struck a cord of painful remembrance in the armadillo's heart.
"Umm...I'm Harimon..." the pink digimon said shyly, terror evident in his eyes as he glanced back and forth between the two rookie digimon.
Armadimon stared at the pink in-training digimon for a few moments before returning his gaze to the walking talking candle. "What do you want from him?"
"That thing-" Candelmon said cruelly, pointing to Harimon "nearly killed me!"
"Oh? You were attacked by an in-training digimon?" Armadimon smirked. "And that's why you're so upset?"
Behind him, Harimon covered his mouth with both of his paws, giggling.
"N-no!" Candlemon blushed. "That little fluff ball was conveniently sitting up in the tree there-" he pointed to the offending tree "and when I was walking along, he conveniently fell down right on top of me, nearly snuffing my fire out! You know what happens if my fire gets snuffed out? I die, that's what! And if he had killed me then what? I mean he would of been in big trouble, I would of-"
"But it's true!" a small squeak from behind Armadimon interupted Candldemon's sad story.
Armadimon turned towards the Harimon and smiled gently at him. "How about you tell me what happened?"
"Well...." the Harimon blushed and and smiled back smally. "Well um..."
"C'mon, it's alright, I won't hurt you." Armadimon kept his comforting smile on his face, causing the Harimon to blush further.
"Yes, tell him how you tried to assassinate me, you murdering little-"
"Hey, do you ever catch a break?" Armadimon interjected. "How about giving him a chance, hmm?"
"HMPH!" Candlemon crossed his waxy arms, turning his nose up in the air.
"Well...." Harimon continued. "I'm...I'm a in-training digimon and I really don't stand much of a chance against bigger digimon...so whenever I go to sleep at night, I climb up trees so I can be warned if there are any big digimon after me." Harimon gestured towards the same tree. "When Candlemon was walking by, a biyomon flew by and knocked me out of the tree and that's when I fell on Candlemon...." Harimon squirmed uncomfortably under Candlemon's gaze.
"FELL! HARDLY! You little murderer! Plot! Killer, I should-" Candlemon began his rant about his near-death experience.
Until Armadimon lost his cool and snapped. "Hey! Would you shutup already?! He didn't do anything!"
"Oh do you REALLY want to contest my word?" Candlemon snarled back, glaring at him.
"Maybe if you keep that tone up!" Armadimon curled his lip, showing a flash of white sharp fangs.
Harimon could only look on in shock, surprised that anyone would so readily defend him.
The staring contest continued for a few more minutes until Candlemon broke the silence.
"Flame bomber!" Candlemon shot a fireball at Armadimon and Harimon.
"Look out!" Armadimon shoved Harimon out of the way of the attack, allowing his back to catch fire.
"Armadimon!" two voices cried out in unison.
Armadimon only winced for a minute before turning back around to launch himself at Candlemon. "Rolling stone!"
The force of the attack knocked Candlemon down against the dirt, causing a bit of earth to knock against the flame on top on the wick ontop of his head to go out, ending his pre-formed life.
"T-t-t-t-t-thank you..." Harimon said nervously, still blushing.
Armadimon turned around and smiled at him again. "Don't worry about it! Anything to help out a friend, you know?"
"A...friend...?" Harimon blinked.
Armadimon turned towards the other voice he had heard call out his name. "Blademon, why are you awake?"
"Because it's not every day I hear you threatening digimon?" Blademon rubbed at his eyes. "What happened out here?"
"Some stupid Candlemon was picking on this poor little guy." Armadimon gestured towards the sniffling pink digimon.
"Oh....a Harimon...?" Blademon stared at the little pink digimon, seeing a reflection of himself before he had changed..
More like been changed.
"I'm....well.....I'm sorry about that..." Harimon sniffled, cowering in fear at the sight of Blademon.
"Aw..." Armadimon grinned, walking over to Harimon and nuzzling him slightly. "Don't be afraid, Blademon's a friend of mine. Right, Blademon?"
"Yeah, right..." Blademon eyed the two carefully.
"Umm...." Harimon was still blushing, however was happy to have Armadimon being so nice to him.
"So what're you doing out here anyways?" Armadimon questioned, his bright smile never leaving his face. 'He's shy....not like the Harimon I knew...' he glanced back at Blademon for a minute before returning his gaze to Harimon. 'But that was a long time ago...'
"I was....I was going to Gigabyte city..." Harimon replied, still shy under Armadimon's warm gaze.
"Gigabyte city? Are you going for the tournament?" Blademon raised an eyebrow, his interest being peaked.
"Umm...tournament?" Harimon blinked, confusion showing in his eyes.
"The fighting tournament? Aren't you going to compete in the tournament?" Blademon asked again, his tone sharp and demanding.
"No...I was just going because I heard they offer shelter to in-training digimon..." Harimon replied meekly, afraid of his rookie counterpart.
"Well, we're going there too! How about you come with us?" Armadimon said brightly, getting a look of surprise from both of the other digimon.
"Huh...?" Harimon blinked.
"Come with us, the more the merrier, right?" Armadimon smiled, his bright tone never wavering.
'I haven't heard him so happy for awhile now..' Blademon narrowed his gaze at the smaller digimon. 'Is it....is it just because of...because of him?'
"But...I wouldn't want to intrude.." Harimon glanced nervously back at Blademon.
"Nonsense! I'd be happy to have you along." Armadimon nuzzled Harimon again. "So c'mon, what do you say?"
"A..." Harimon glanced up at Blademon who was giving him a scrutinizing look, then at Armadimon who was giving him an inviting smile. "Alright..."
"Great!" Armadimon chirped, pushing Harimon along, ushering him towards camp. "So c'mon! Let's get to sleep so we can get an early start tomorrow!"
Harimon had no time to object as Armadimon shoved him off towards their campsite, smiling away.
While Blademon watched them go, pondering Armadimon's sudden change of attitude towards going to Gigabyte City. 'He suddenly perked up, didn't he? Just because of that Harimon....just because of him...'
Blademon followed them back to camp, his fists clenched tightly in anger...
Or something else...
As soon as Harimon had joined their company, anyone who had known Armadimon would of seen the sudden lift in his spirits. He smiled more, talked and laughed more.
All with Harimon, of course. He never even complained about feeling lonely for no reason at all.
All of this, of course, was not lost on Blademon, who had noticed the change and the conversations between his two companion digimon. Which was the cause for his sudden interest in everything Armadimon did or talked about, in noting every detail about him now.
Things which he had noticed before, however now there were different with this new Harimon around who had so drastically changed Armadimon's mood.
He was happy now.
Armadimon was perfectly happy now with Harimon around.
Had he been so happy when Blademon had been Harimon?
Musing over his thoughts Blademon allowed himself to sink into himself while Armadimon and Harimon merrily chatted with eachother, Blademon would constantly glance over at Armadimon. He would see the happy gleam in his eyes, a gleam which he had not seen since the other was Upamon and would turn away with regret.
It was like this for days, happy Armadimon with Harimon, happy on their travelling, a friendship which would survive a lifetime and then some obviously being forged.
And while the conversations were usually happy..
A certain one today was different....
As usual, caught up in a happy conversation with his new-found friend Harimon, Armadimon was oblivious to the world in his happiness.
Harimon talked about everything, from birds to why the sky is blue and other such things. Such things which were trivial, however were brought up for the sake of hearing eachother's voice, for the sake of talking together.
Pointless things that friends did for the sake of being together, spending time together..
Friends..
Just like when he and Blademon were friends.
`More like when Blademon was Harimon and we were friends...' Armadimon thought soberly, a small pout forming on his lips.
"Ne, Armadi-kun?" Harimon perked up, looking down at him.
Armadimon did his best to look up, however it was hard to look up to your back when you were an armadillo. "Hai?"
"I wanted to ask you something...." Harimon asked from ontop of his throne on Armadimon's shelled back.
"Oh, what?" Armadimon replied, smiling. `Must be another one of those silly questions he loves to ask...'
"Why are you going to Gigabyte City?"
A simple question, really. One that he could answer. Well, one that he should be able to answer. However, when he opened his mouth to reply, nothing came out.
"We're going to compete in the fighting tournament there." Blademon answered for him confidently, his answer firm and final.
"But....Blademon..." Harimon said softly. "That's why you're going, isn't it? You've talked about nothing but this tournament for the whole while we've been travelling, but Armadi-kun hasn't said a thing about it so I don't think he's competing, is he?"
"..........." Blademon turned away, keeping his gaze focused on the road ahead.
`He's right....I'm not competing, why am I going?' Armadimon thought, glancing up at Blademon. `I'm going just because I'm following Blademon wherever he goes.....'
"Are you going just to relax and eat like me, Armadi-kun?" Harimon asked again, his innocence covering the pang of guilt he felt for asking Armadimon his reasons. It had not taken him long to see the problem between the two rookie digimon, after all.
"Uh...hai, that's it, Hari-kun." Armadimon replied brightly, hiding the darkness which existed in his thoughts. `To eat and relax while Blademon fights, just like always, and when Blademon wants to leave I will follow him much like the loyal dog that I am to him.'
`A dog...a pet that just follows him around.....'
`And nothing more than that...'
The journey continued on in silence, the three digimon lost in their own thoughts. One was pondering his purpose for being there, another was pondering if there was any way he could help the obvious trouble between two friends, and the last was pondering the hidden darkness in his heart.
Was any of this really worth it in the long run was the question which haunted all three minds.
Later that night at camp, Harimon had curled up against Armadimon for warmth while he slept, snoring softly.
Blademon was sharpening his knives and the horn on his head, preparing for the upcoming tournament. He wanted to be at his sharpest point after all.
Armadimon was staying up staring into the depths of the fire Blademon had lighted for camp, as usual, his thoughts preventing him from going to sleep.
Thoughts which had been stirred into consciousness from a single, innocent question from earlier.
"Why are you going to Gigabyte City?"
`Because I have nowhere else to go, nowhere else to be. No one else to be with.' Armadimon's thoughts whirled around in his head, leading back to the same answer no matter how hard he tried to change it. `Because he's my best friend and we've been together for years, because I'm going for the sake of being with him, because I......I...'
`Because I love him, he's my best friend. My only friend..... Blademon...' Armadimon heaved a sigh in unison with one of Harimon's loud exhales.
"He certainly snores loud enough, doesn't he?" Blademon snorted, sharpening the horn on his forehead.
`Blademon's actually talking to me!' Armadimon was shocked. "Yeah, just like you when you were Harimon.."
"I snored like that?" Blademon looked shocked at the prospect of ever having a fault.
"Yeah, you did. You never knew...?" Armadimon giggled. `When was the last time we talked like that?'
"No. You never said anything." Blademon looked up at the green eyes of the golden armadillo digimon, to find that they were shimmering. "Is something wrong?"
"No..just thinking...." Armadimon allowed a small smile to appear on his lips. "I never said anything about your snoring because it always comforted me whenever I heard it. I wouldn't fall asleep until you started snoring."
"Oh...? What do you mean...?" Blademon blinked.
"Because I was afraid of the dark, still am." Armadimon sighed and let a single tear fall from his eye. "I was so afraid of waking up one morning and still being in the dark, by myself. When I heard you snore I would fall asleep because I knew you were there with me..."
"Armadimon...." Blademon said softly, ignoring the slight tugging he could feel at his heart.
"But you don't snore anymore.....so I just stay awake until my eyelids fall asleep on me..." Armadimon's voice grew quiet and sad.
"That's why you're always so tired in the morning....." Blademon looked thoughtfully into the fire. "You never told me you were afraid of the dark..."
"Well, you always snored at night so there was no need to. But when you stopped snoring I just didn't tell you because I didn't want you to think I was chicken....."
"...." Blademon paused before hearing another snore from Harimon. "You don't stay up so late these days, you actually fall asleep before I do. Is it because Harimon snores?"
"Huh?" Armadimon glanced up at Blademon, whose gaze was fixed solely on the fire before him. However his tone of voice...was rather harsh...
"You certainly seem a lot happier with him around..." Blademon said again, a slight growl in his voice as his gaze began to smother the fire.
"Blademon...?" Armadimon blinked at him. `He's acting strange again.....he seems angry..'
"Well, aren't you happier with Harimon around?" Blademon looked up into the gentle green eyes with his sharp grey ones.
Armadimon gasped at the intensity in Blademon's eyes. It was dark, like fire, and seemed to burn with anger...or something very similar to it. "Blademon..."
Blademon finished sharpening his horn and rubbed at his eyes. "Feh, I'm going to sleep. Goodnight, Armadimon." With that Blademon turned around and lay down, going to sleep.
"Goodnight...." Armadimon breathed to the night air, laying his head down on his paws, the snores of Harimon lulling him to sleep.
While Blademon lay awake, his mind trying to overcome the burning fire in his heart.
The three woke up the next morning, confusion hovering in the air around them, all three wondering about the emotions that existed between them.
Armadimon could not understand how Blademon had suddenly started to care about him again ever since Harimon showed up. `Is he jealous..?'
Harimon was trying to understand the glares and sharp voiced words he was getting from Blademon. `What did I do to make him so angry?'
Blademon was constantly glancing back at the two enviously, narrowing his eyes. `They're so happy together....'
The walk continued on in silence, each consumed by his own thoughts and feelings, his own reasons not to speak.
Each unaware of the danger about to befall them.
The ten Gizamon were hopping down the path, marvelling in the pride of their pack, enjoying the rush of power they felt just being together.
The two in the lead were the reason that the pack existed, for they had been the two to recruit all the members they could after their original pack had been destroyed by the two rookie digimon of the past.
As they marched along in their pack, picking up random scents and embarking upon random hunts to prove their pride.
And so their march continued until the two senior Gizamon picked up a familiar scent. A scent which had been beaten into their memory, a scent they would never forget.
Halting and turning their direction to follow the scent, the Gizamon continued down their new path, gleams in their eyes as revenge burned in their minds.
Harimon started to shiver from atop Armadimon's back, clinging to Armadimon with his long floppy arms.
"Hmm....?" Armadimon stopped and turned his head around to face Harimon. "Is something wrong, Hari-kun? You're shivering..."
"I just feel like we're in trouble..." Harimon shivered again, snuggling up to Armadimon's shell.
"Ah.....you sense it too?" Blademon interjected, glancing to Harimon, ignoring the snag he felt at his heart when he saw the smaller digimon snuggling up to Armadimon.
"Yeah...like we're being watched..." Harimon trembled. "I'm scared...."
"Shh, it's ok." Armadimon smiled comfortingly at the pink digimon. "I'll protect you."
"........" Blademon glanced around them, trying to find any source which would threaten them, doing his best to ignore the words of Armadimon to Harimon.
Soon enough, Blademon's eyes met with a pair of black ones before they disappeared. Stepping back he drew his knives from his sides. "Be on your guard, we are definitely not alone here."
Armadimon whipped his head around, trying to locate the danger Blademon spoke of in hopes to prepare to defend Harimon, who was still huddled close to Armadimon in his fear.
"Blademon...Armadimon.... been awhile..." a low, ominous voice snickered at them. "Remember us...?"
"That voice..." Blademon hissed, whipping his head around as they were surrounded by the Gizamon gang. The two rookies backed up against eachother, each frowning at their opponents.
"Ah...so you do remember us?" one of them stepped forward. "You destroyed half our pack a few years ago, yes?"
"That's because you attacked us first in our in-training stages!" Armadimon barked at them, anger in his eyes.
"That was only because you bumped into us on purpose, dog." another Gizamon snarled, equal fury in his eyes.
"Why you..." Blademon gripped his knives, waiting for the appropriate moment to strike at their foes. `Surrounded, even with our skills the odds are not in our favour..'
The game of staring eachother down continued for only a moment longer until one of the Gizamon snapped and striked, advancing on Blademon.
Blademon threw a knife at him, blocking his assault and charged at him, swiping and slashing.
Another launched himself at Armadimon, who threw him off in the direction of a tree. "Harimon, stay out of sight!" Armadimon ordered as he launched himself at his opponent. "Rolling Stone!"
Harimon hurried off to the protection of a nearby tree, watching anxiously as his friend battled off the Gizamon.
Having defeated one, Blademon whipped his head around just in time to see another pounce on him, knocking him to the ground. Raising his legs up to counter, he kicked off the attacking Gizamon and jumped into the air, glowering down upon the enemy. "Dagger Strike!"
The Gizamon was heard no more as the knife struck him with deadly accuracy, ending his digital existence.
Meanwhile Armadimon was constantly being jumped by the Gizamon, throwing one after the other off of him, ramming them with his shelled body. "Rolling Stone!" could be heard time and time again as he destroyed one enemy after the other, constantly glancing back to see if his friends were ok.
He was so concerned about the safety of his friends, and the defeat of his oncoming attackers.
That he had not noticed one which lay in the shadows, awaiting the perfect moment to seek and destroy.
One which Harimon had been keeping his eyes on, never striking yet his gaze never leaving him.
He gasped when he realized who had become this one Gizamon’s target.
"Spiral Saw!" the Gizamon cried, launching his body forward at his unsuspecting enemy.
Blademon had kicked off another of the Gizamon just in time to see the Gizamon speeding towards Armadimon. "Armadimon!!!"
Armadimon turned his own head around just in time..
To see Harimon throw himself at the attacker, taking the full force of the blow.
"AAAH!" Harimon yelped, falling to the ground a bloody mess.
"Harimon!!!" Armadimon cried, launching himself at the still attacking enemy. "ROLLING STONE!"
The force of a rolling stone against the spiralling menace broke the saw in the force, throwing the enemy back against a tree, destroying it.
The other Gizamon, realizing that seven of their own had been killed, turned to flee as rolling stone in their directions finished them off one by one.
Then they were alone, the three companions stood there pondering their next action briefly before one jumped forward. "Harimon!"
Blademon continued to stare at the one spot where the retreating Gizamon had been in disbelief. ‘They were retreating and he killed them! Armadimon would never do a thing like that....’ He glanced back to the teary eyed Armadimon who was nuzzling the bloody Harimon. ‘Unless he cared a great deal for the person they hurt......’
"Hari-kun...Hari-kun...please wake up...." Armadimon’s voice was choking and spaced out, trying to swallow each and every sob as it came, nuzzling Harimon gently. "Please, please, you have to wake up!"
Harimon finally opened his round red eyes and looked up at Armadimon, a smile breaking across his features. "Armadi-kun....are you ok...?"
"Nevermind me! You were hurt...." Armadimon parted his lips to let a red tongue lick the blood off the wounds, causing Harimon to squirm slightly.
"Don’t bother....it’s too late, Armadi-kun..."
"Don’t say that!" Armadimon let out a sob. "Please, please don’t talk like that! It’s never too late!"
"Armadi-kun....don’t cry, Armadi-kun....." Harimon reached a gentle paw up to stroke Armadimon’s snout.
Armadimon looked into those red eyes to find simple caring there, caring for him. Armadimon let out another sob. "Please, don’t.."
"I’m glad we met, I’m so happy we were friends....." Harimon said softly, his smile never dying. "And....I had a lot of fun........"
"Hari-kun...." Armadimon sobbed again, knowing what was coming.
"Goodbye..." was the final word which fell from his lips, as his body began to disappear.
"Harimon...." Armadimon sobbed, shutting his eyes, not wanting to watch his friend leave him.
A the last parts of Harimon’s body vanished, heart broken sobs could be heard coming from Armadimon, his eyes shut tightly as the tears flowed freely, his heart aching in his chest.
Blademon merely watched him cry for a few minutes, hoping that the tears would dry up, however when they did not ceased he finally walked over to his side and cleared his throat.
Armadimon looked down to the ground to see the shadow of Blademon hovering over him. ‘Great, now I’m going to be scolded for crying!’
"Armadimon....." Blademon took a deep breath before continuing. "Armadimon, you shouldn’t cry over him."
‘Who saw that coming...’ Armadimon thought grimly, his teeth set in sheer anger.
"Harimon sacrificed his life to save yours, and he told you not to cry over him." Blademon stared at the spot where the pink digimon had once existed. "He died fighting, as a warrior, there’s no better way to die, Armadimon."
‘Again with the warrior ways...’
"He died fighting with his heart. When you’re fighting you should fight with purpose in your heart and tactics in your head, something which Harimon ignored. He would of died sooner or later with his fighting style. So you shouldn’t cry over him because in the long run there was nothing you could do."
Armadimon snapped his eyes open and stared up at Blademon for a minute before he pounced on him, knocking him to the ground.
"Armadimon!" Blademon stared up at Armadimon, who was glowering over him, tears streaming down his cheeks and onto Blademon’s own.
"You don’t understand!!!" Armadimon hissed. "He died to save my life! Do you even care about that?!"
Blademon was shocked into silence.
"He died to save my life, a life....a life I don’t want anymore!!!" Armadimon growled. "Do you understand the concept of self sacrifice for a friend or anything anymore?"
A few more tears dripped down Armadimon’s cheeks, splashing on Blademon’s who lips refused to react.
"You don’t care, do you?" Armadimon glared at him. "I forgot, you’re the mighty warrior Blademon now! And to be a warrior means to care about no one or nothing except yourself, it seems. You don’t care...you never did...." Armadimon jumped off Blademon and charged off, tears streaming down his cheeks and pain aching in his heart.
Leaving Blademon to sit up and stare after him, in complete silent shock.
Later that night, while Blademon had been staring into the depths of the fire, pondering what to do about Armadimon, Armadimon himself had come strolling through the bushes, his eyes dry and red.
Staring at eachother for a few minutes without saying a word, Armadimon finally sighed and lay down, curling his body into a peaceful slumber.
Blademon continued to stare at him, wanting so badly to say something, anything, to defend himself from Armadimon’s claims, to tell him that he was wrong, so very wrong, that he did care. However, the words to do so never came, and he finally decided to go to sleep, the decision in his mind that first thing in the morning he would risk everything he held dear and tell Armadimon the truth.
However, that morning of truth telling would never come.
Armadimon opened his green eyes and stared into the fire. He had been asleep for two hours at the most, and the stars were still twinkling. Stretching and forcing himself to his feet, he stepped quietly over to Blademon’s sleeping form.
Watching him sleep peacefully for a few minutes, a teasing thought came to his mind from his heart, and he sighed and shook his head. "Who am I kidding, right?"
Armadimon continued to stare at Blademon, his best friend for how many years he had lost count. A best friend who no longer needed him around. "You don’t care.....you never did, did you? I just wish that you had told me so I could of left you sooner. I never meant to get in your way, Blademon."
A gentle exhale of breath was his only reply.
"I’m sorry for being in your way this whole time, your warrior training is very important to you and as your friend I should respect that."
Armadimon turned around and walked towards the bushes again, intending to disappear. For a minute he stopped and looked over his shoulder back at Blademon. "But even though you hate me.....you’ll always be my friend, Blademon."
With his final words being said, Armadimon trudged off towards the darkness, never intending to return to his friend.
Blademon woke up the next morning to find the fire burned out and Armadimon nowhere in sight.
Jumping to his feet, Blademon did a quick look around the campsite, trying to find any trace of Armadimon, pick up his scent, find footprints, anything that would point to his whereabouts.
However nothing but loneliness was his reply. He was alone.
Blademon leaned against a tree, rubbing his temples with a grey battle-worn hand, pondering the words he had heard in his dream.
"You don’t care.....you never did, did you? I just wish that you had told me so I could of left you sooner. I never meant to get in your way, Blademon."
‘He’s not here now....so it obviously wasn’t a dream, Armadimon must of actually said that to me in my sleep...’ Blademon thought, his eyes growing dark with emotion as he turned around and set a firm punch into the tree he was leaning against.
"DAMMIT!!! Armadimon....is that what you really think...?"
The end