Digimon Fan Fiction / Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Digital Fantasy ❯ Forever Rivals ( Chapter 2 )

IMPORTANT STUFF: Neither Digimon nor Final Fantasy Tactics belong to me, just this story.

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Part One: Forever Rivals


He browsed through the weapons brought out before him, carefully examining the wooden shaft and the sharp tip. He held it within his hands to get the feel of the spear, and then his grip tightened around the handle and he seriously thrusted it forward, nearly scaring the shopped owner out of his wits. The poor man froze against the wall as he watched the young blonde smile with great satisfaction.

"I'll take this one, sir!" Takeru chirped happily. He added the weapon to the pile of clothing, armor, and accessories he had aside. "I think that's it, so how much is all of this?"

"Let's see," the man began to calculate it together, "With the spear, it comes out to 3500 gils."

Looking apprehensive, Takeru peeked into his gil pouch and hestitantly reached in for the said amount. He sighed and paid for his equipment, thinking he had to make some money during his trip. When he left, his mother had given him 5000, not realizing he would spend most of it on a new weapon. But he just couldn't resist the excellent quality.

The owner thanked him for the business and bidded him a good journey. Takeru left the store with his equipment and walked over to his golden chocobo just outside the store. He carefully tied his belongings onto the creature, and as he strapped the spear onto his back, he heard commotion farther down the street. Curious, he stepped towards the edge of the road and found a familiar voice screaming at the runaway chocobo, "SLOW DOWN, RUNNER!! PLEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAASE!!"

As the rider and chocobo came closer, Takeru recognized the panicky brunette to be none other than his friend and rival, Daisuke Motomiya. He immediately grabbed the spear from his back and jumped in the middle of the street, waving the weapon at the creature. In surprise, it jumped to a stop, almost throwing Daisuke off, but he had a tight hold on the reins.

Takeru put his weapon away and held up his hand to the chocobo, slowly calming it down. It backed away from him, but Daisuke recovered from the bird's sudden flight and took control of it once more. He wiped the sweat from his head, "Whew, you're one crazy chocobo, Runner! Thanks, TC! TC? Huh? It's you!"

The blonde grinned, patting the chocobo, "Yeah, it's me, TK. So what are you doing with this crazy chocobo in the middle of the market street?"

Daisuke climbed off Runner, saying, "Going after you! You're not goin' on an adventure without ME!! Maybe Runner isn't so bad after all, if I was able to find you here."

Takeru frowned, looking very serious, "This journey isn't what you think it is. It's..." He couldn't find the right words to explain it to him without bringing his family affairs into the open, but it was just to dangerous out there for someone like Daisuke to come along. His friend was better off goofing around here instead of unknown territory. "I'm not going out there to make a name for myself. It's just something personal I have to do."

"Don't worry!" he waved it all away, "It's something I have to do too! But I AM making a name for myself! We can probably find treasures out there too! And who knows, we'll rescue beautiful maidens and become heroes!!" The ideas struck an enthusiastic Daisuke, whose face was so bright it probably out shine the sun, and it was that type of face that Takeru couldn't just shoot down and object too.

"A HERO! Imagine that, huh?? Oh yeah, I gotta get supplies! C'mon, TD!" He grabbed Takeru's arm and dragged the unwillingly young man into the store that he had just exit from.

It took them over an hour in the city before they left it altogether. Daisuke had dragged Takeru from one shoppe to another just for the PERFECT sword, but they eventually got through it at the seventh store. Takeru glanced over at Daisuke as they rode away from the city gates. The brunette was all smiles, looking forward on the trip, but Takeru wasn't so sure about having him along. On the other hand, it wouldn't be so lonely after all. Plus, Daisuke seemed to have the money on him, but between the two of them, they wouldn't see that money for long.

Runner suddenly had another of his fits until Takeru's chocobo, Sierra, warked at him like she was scolding him. Daisuke scratched his head in confusion, staring at the back of Runner's head. He shook his head and sighed. "What's wrong, Daisuke?" the blonde asked, wondering what was on his companion's mind, "Is it about Runner?"

"Yeah, I had planned on taking Jumper, but I got him instead."

"Okay," he replied, uncertain of how to really answer that. Growing up with him, he knew Daisuke wasn't the brightest person on the face of the earth, but how could he get one chocobo when he wanted another.

"He and Jumper look so much alike."

"Oh," Takeru said quietly, adding silently how that explained everything.

"So where are we headed?" he asked.

"Hmm? Uuh, well south. Towards Riovanes Kingdom."

"Cool! We're heading to another kingdom already!!" he said excitedly. "How long till we get there?!"

"I don't know, Daisuke," he sighed. "This is the first time I've left home if you recall."

"Oh yeah." The conversation about the journey ended there, but during the hours of travel, they talked about other things, like the amazing scenery. Takeru had heard of stories of monster attacks on the road, but he stayed on the main one, hoping that the huge clearing would aid them in preparation just in case the situation came up. It would be his first experience against a monster, but there was some sort of excitement and anticipation in the thought that he was looking forward to. He had a feeling Daisuke was thinking on a similar thought too.

They had traveled and raced most of the day, and the orange, blazing sun could be seen setting against the dark forests in the distance. Takeru checked his map while Daisuke and Runner trotted not to far ahead. "Hey, TG!" Daisuke called, "There's a fork up ahead!" When he came closer and looked around, he spotted a wooden sign had fallen down. He jumped off Runner and went to pick it up.

Takeru rode up to them and asked, "What's that?"

"It's a sign post," he answered. Upon closer inspection of the sign, it appeared to have been clawed at the end. He looked around for the rest of the wood post in the ground and found a perfect fit for it near by. He brought it over to Takeru, to get another opinion. "What do you think made it fell?" he questioned.

"I don't know, but it doesn't look like an accident. It's a good thing I brought a map. Well, we've traveled pretty far--farther than I had expected. That road heads to Cirrus Town," he said, pointing to the west. "But we're heading southeast with this one, to Keklas Village."

Daisuke propped up the sign correctly for other travelers and then climbed back on Runner. He remembered what Takeru had said before mentioning the places and wondered who would cut down the sign like that. It was just strange and spooky to think about it at that time of day. He shrugged it aside and followed Takeru, noting the long stretch of forests. It seemed to go on forever. A little frightened, he had Runner quicken his pace up to Takeru and Sierra.

"Does that forest have a name?" Daisuke inquired. "It looks scary."

"Hmm? I think so." He looked at the map again. "'Phanala Forest', but..." he trailed off, appearing disturbed from the information..

"But what?"

"But it's better known as 'Phantom Forest'."

"WHAT?! THE Phantom Forest people talk about?!!! Where monsters live?!! Where people walk into and NEVER come out?!!"

"Yep, the one and only."

"This is TOO scary!!" He hurried along on Runner, "Even I'm not stupid enough to stroll along out here. Let's get away from here!" Sierra followed suit, but Takeru stared at the forest from one end and slowly moved along the enigmatic thickness as if he sensed something out there watching them. He had Sierra slow down because he just couldn't shake the feeling aside if he wanted to.

Daisuke glanced over his shoulder and saw that Takeru had stopped, staring towards the forest as if he was in a trance. "Takeru!" he shouted, for the first time calling his rival by his correct, first name. Before the blonde could turn around to him, a flock of ebony birds shot into the air from the forest depths, cawing from whatever cause them to take flight. Sierra in a panick threw Takeru off her back, and Daisuke rushed over to him, jumping down to his side, and helped him up. He looked back at Runner who strangely remained quiet throughout the situation, ruffing his feathers with his beak.

When Sierra ran towards him, Runner chased her and somehow managed to calm the restless creature. It was just too weird, and soon, the darkness would cover them, Daisuke noted. He opened his mouth to say something, but Takeru hushed him with a finger, too absorbed in the eerie silence around them.

"Do you hear that?" he asked, and all the could be immediately heard was the echoing of the birds in the distance.

"Hear what?" Daisuke whirled his head around, trying to listen, "What is it??!" He couldn't make out anything with the evening breeze picking up, chilling him to the bones. "I don't hear anything. Can we go NOW??"

"No," Takeru said firmly, getting to his feet, "I hear it. Someone's voice. It's very faint, like it's being carried within the wind. Just listen carefully. Concentrate, Daisuke."

Daisuke closed his eyes and focused on the wind, like his mind was trying to embrace the invisible waves. "Don't try to grab it," Takeru's voice came through, "You have to relax, and let IT come to you." He took the advice, no longer forcing himself to pinpoint the wind's whisper, and relaxed himself. Gradually, various sounds came through, but there was one that seemed louder than the others.

'Someone... HELP US!' the female voice screeched desperately in his ears, as if she was just meters away. He could almost see the helpless girl before him, reaching her arms out for his aid. Her hands were so small and pale, like a ghostly figure blurring against the darkness. It was this frightfully vivid image that caused him to stumble to the ground with wide eyes staring about his surroundings. A hand touched his shoulder, startling him out of his alertness.

"Hey Daisuke, it's only me," Takeru reassured him. He helped the brunette onto his feet, and they made their way over to the chocobos.

"Just what was that anyway?" he asked and realized Takeru didn't have the same reaction as he did when he heard the voice. "And how come you're not surprised about it at all?"

"The message in the wind is a type of communication spell. I heard about it when I was studying a little bit of white magic." He stroked Sierra's feathers, soothing the creature's soul, and climbed onto Sierra as Daisuke did the same on Runner. "We're taking a detour," he announced, ushering his chocobo towards the Phantom Forest.

"No way! You're joking, right?!!" Daisuke didn't budge from his spot yet as he watched Takeru trotting away. "What if it's just a trap?! It's probably a ghost or something!"

The blonde looked back at him, "But what if it's not, and someone's in trouble?"

"Bu-But..."

"You can wait here, if you'd like."

Daisuke pouted, angry at his assumption of being a wuss. "Hey! Don't go and try to be a hero!" he warned, "You'd probably be monster food before even seeing a squirrel!"

Takeru chuckled, waving him off, "Well I can't really overlook this now. I'll see ya later then."

He frowned, watching the blonde trot away. A few minutes later, he turned away and observed his lonesome environment, not liking the silence nor darkness. It was then that he decided that having a companion would be safer than none at all. "Hey TC!" he yelled, hurrying Runner after him, "Wait up! I changed my mind!"

He could hear Takeru chuckling, "Only because you're afraid of being by yourself!"

"No way!" he retorted, after having caught up. "I thought you could use some help! And maybe we get to rescue a pretty girl too."

"Daisuke, you're too much."

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The smell of fresh blood filled the night air, scaring away the aviary watchers. The trail of crimson stains burrowed deep into the thick forests, inticing scavengers from their dwelling to feast on the bloody corpses. To the human eye, it was a repulsive sight as the creatures gnaw at the limbs of the female bodies. The sounds of bones cracking between teeth echoed in the forest dome, only disturbing the restless dead.

Blood dripped from their sharp teeth as they tore through the flesh, digging deeper into the human cavity to reach the lifeless organs. They were inferior but dangerous when eyes of scarlet flashed in the night--a sign of possession by the damned souls. Those crossing Phanala Forest, whether by day or night, were unfortunate.

"AAAAAHH!" a girl screamed, "Hikari, you're bleeding!" She cowered behind the young priestess, who was busy holding up her spell from the grisly monsters attempting to break the barrier. The creatures of darkness continued to pound against the shield, determined to devour the rest of their victims.

"Uugh, I-I'll be fine..." Hikari struggled against the strength forced upon the barrier, but she could still withstand against the darkness. During her concentration, she didn't realized she was hurt, but the minor wound couldn't compare to what would happen to them if she failed. She had to be brave for the both of them and couldn't give up without a fight.

Only she and her friend were the sole survivors of their group. They were on their way to Cirrus Town, but as they went through a tiny part of Phanala Forest, a few of the girls disappeared. As a search began for them, deeper and deeper into the forest was the mistake the nuns made, having lost several lives to the evil spirits even if they were under the protection of the holy powers.

She sensed the darkness radiating from the monsters, and it was that great power that was being bombarded against her weakening shield. She just hoped someone had heard her plea for help and come. She didn't know how long she could hold out.

'PLEASE HURRY!'

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Takeru frowned at the urgency of the voice as he pushed Sierra onward. Daisuke was following close behind, but it appeared he didn't hear the voice this time. They moved swiftly through the forest, both sensing the devilish atmosphere around about to pull them into its clutches. He had no idea where the source of the message was, but the flow of the dark energy was centralizing at one point, and he was certain that was their destination.

At one instant, Takeru thought he saw a leg limb dangling from a tree branch, but he couldn't be sure since Sierra was going pretty fast. He brushed the image aside as the dark energy became stronger. They were closing in on the area when they heard the monstrous roars, followed by a girl's scream. "DAISUKE, HURRY!" he yelled, grabbing the spear from his back.

"YEAH!!" Daisuke urged Runner to hurry, pulling a sword from its sheath strapped on the saddle. They could see the sparks in the distance as the monsters strike their claws a their target. "LEAVE HER ALONE, UGLY!" he shouted, charging towards it. The huge creatures turned around, and Daisuke flew by and sliced one across its face. It fell back, screeching into the night, as the black blood spurted through the air.

The other beasts growled at their fallen companion and focused on killing the intruders. They were fast for their size, but not quick enough for a chocobo. They were looping through the trees with the monsters on their tail, but one swing of a claw sent Takeru and Sierra suddenly flying across the forest floor. He was pinned to the ground by the dark energy emanating from the monsters. He struggled against it, clutching the spear tightly till his knuckles bared white.

"TAKERU! WATCH OUT!" came Daisuke's warning as a beast leapt at the blonde. Takeru in the rush of the moment threw his armed hand upwards in defense, only to pierce the creature through its chest. The blood oozed down the shaft and onto Takeru's hands, but he didn't bother with it, using his foot to kick it off his weapon.

Takeru spotted his pouch that had fallen off Sierra in the distant and had to quickly roll away before his body was a bloody impression in the ground. He grabbed his bag and got to his feet, breaking into a run. Sierra was no where in sight, and he knew he couldn't outrun them.

"Over her! Quickly!" one of the girls called to him. He dived towards them, holding the bags close to his chest. The long-haired girl helped him sit up as she asked her friend, "What are we gonna do, Hikari? There's too many of them, and they're just too strong."

Takeru noted the brunette's appearance, "You're a white mage. You don't know the Holy spell, do you?"

She shook her head, "No, I haven't gotten that far yet."

It was too bad. If they had that spell, they could easily hit them with it. Takeru rummaged through his bag finding some potions and a few phoenix downs. If what his father did worked for him back then, then now would be a good time to use them. If they could just get the evil spirits to leave their hosts, then Daisuke could then slashed them all down from the chocobo.

"I don't have enough potions or phoenix downs, but with your white magic, we can defeat them," he told Hikari.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Cast your cure magic on them."

"WHAT?! ARE YOU CRAZY!" the other girl shouted.

Hikari thought for a moment, understanding what he was planning, "No, it will work. The magic of light will purged the dark spirits from. Okay, but the barrier spell will only hold out for a few seconds, and we're vulnerable."

"It's okay. I've got that covered," he said, giving the no-name girl half his phoenix downs. He kept the rest, especially the potions because it would only hurt them a bit. "Just throw them at the monsters. On my say so." He watched as Daisuke made his round through a grove and came pushing out to the right side. He put the bag of potions across his shoulder and held the spear in one hand. "DAISUKE! THIS WAY!" he waved. In his other hand was a phoenix down, ready to be thrown. "NOW!" he shouted to the girls.

Hikari let the barrier spell go and began to cast her highest cure spell. Takeru charged forward, aiming the item at the first possessed monster, but he could hear Hikari's spell from behind, "Life's refreshing breeze, heal from the sky! CURE (2)!" He threw another phoenix down along with the other girl, as the sky lit up in a bright light and the beam came down upon the horde of monsters. They roared in pain at the pure light and collapsed to the ground.

"LET'S GO, DAISUKE!" He and the brunette ran towards the fallen monsters with their weapons and thrashed all the creatures until they were dead or couldn't move a limb. After that, Takeru fell to his knees, clutching his painful side. He looked at it and saw blood seeping through his clothing. His body was in an adrenaline rush that he hadn't even registered the pain.

Hikari and Daisuke rushed up to him and helped him up. "Whe-where's Sierra?" he asked, knowing they should really leave the place as soon as possible. Daisuke searched around for both chocobos while Hikari cast a small cure spell on him that barely stopped the bleeding.

"I'm sorry," she said, "that's all I could do, after I spent most of my energy on the other spells."

"No, I should really thank you. If it wasn't for your white magic, we wouldn't have made it out alive."

"But it was YOUR idea," she insisted.

"Oh! Here they come!" the other girl shouted happily. Takeru helped Hikari onto Daisuke's chocobo when he noticed from the corner of his eyes something moving from the pile of dead monster corpse.

Hikari gasped at the sudden burst of dark energy, "WE HAVE TO HURRY!" It completely absorbed into a half-dead monster, giving it a jolt of power to revive it from its fallen state. The thunderous roar shook the whole forest grounds, and its red eyes were flowing with blood as it took off straight for the group.

"GET GOING!" Takeru shouted, slapping Runner to take off. Takeru grabbed the remaining girl's hand as he tried to stay on his feet from his own injury. He climbed onto Sierra, glancing at the shrinking distance between them and their predator, and reached out for the girl's shaky hands. "HURRY!" he shouted as she grabbed onto his, but Sierra panicked and took off. "SIERRA! STOP!! PLEASE!!" he ordered, dragging the girl some distant. He tried really hard to hold onto her, but Sierra wouldn't stop. The girl desperately begged him to not let go, but their grasp was slipping.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" he cried, as she fell from his hold to the ground. The creature pounced on her, crushing her to death.


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Hi, everyone! Didja enjoy this part? I hope it was a bit suspenseful, and action was to your liking. I don't think I do it much justice, since I'm more into romance and drama-type writing. Anyway, I see new and more reviewers?! YAAY! Thank you so much!! Back to some responses to reviews!

To Selena: JyoMi is okay to me and I support it too, but I like MiMato MORE. Umm, I'm sure I'll get to some JyoMi interactions some time.
To Strawberry Dream: We like the same couplings??!! Just awesome! [joins hands with SDream and dances around in circles
To Butterfly: Aaawe, I feel special--if you don't like MiMato, but are willing to put up with it in my story! A really BIG thanks, for your many reviews too! And yes, you guessed right! Jyou and Miyako will indeed meet up... and get chased. [snickering]
To Kazumi Tachikawa: Hiyas, Kazu-chan! *hugs* It's been a while, but I hope you're doin' well!! Well, romance won't begin right away... [glances back at the part above] Uuh, kinda here. Hee.
To Lee: Hi! Well, if you've played Final Fantasy Tactics , then you'd understand why Sora CAN be a monk in this story. But really, I don't hate you for the comment. I apologize, but I'm not doing any RARE couplings, mostly the popular ones that most people enjoy: TaiOra, TaKari, MiMato... so forth, but you'll see lots of interaction between all sorts of pairs--that I promise! Thank you for the name suggestions!! I had planned to use Shiro in Koushiro's chapter, but I'll probably do it later on.
To RockerStarlight: R-KUN!! *hugs* Waaai, you're still reviewing?!! Awesome!!! Thanks!! I know you like TaKari's, so how was this part?!
To Poisonrose: Jyou's chapter is your fave, ne? Cool! I happen to like his a lot too, and I like how it turned out.

Wow, that's a lot of replies. If you have any questions, feel free to email. I'll respond, but depending on the question, I won't give away too much of the storyline (like I KNOW what the main plot of this piece is). *sweatdrop*

And once again, THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!!! Catch Jyou and Miyako in the next part: Chasing Bullets and Arrows! Uuh, I might change the title--who knows. I'm so unpredictable. Lotsa love! ~ k-chan o>_<o ~