Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ PhoenixDreams ❯ PhoenixDreams ( One-Shot )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. This plot is mine however.

Author's Note: I wrote this because lately I've become obsessed with
Ruki's character. And honestly, the majority of fics I've seen don't
portray her very well. They make her too weak!

This takes place somewhere after Episode 28, which hasn't been shown
in the USA yet. In order for most readers to understand the plot, I
have to provide a little background, which includes tiny spoilers.
They aren't big, but if you don't want to hear a spoiler then skip the
rest of this paragraph. Basically Rika (called by her Japanese name,
Ruki, in this story) and Takato's friends get separated from the group
in the Digital World. They somehow get stuck in the clouds, where a
Megadramon attacks. Ruki and Renamon get their butts kicked and this
other Tamer, Ryou (known as the Legendary Tamer), shows up and easily
beats the Megadramon. This makes Ruki mad for some reason and she and
Renamon leave the group.

There are two name differences in this story, because I like the
Japanese names better than the English.

Ruki = Rika (I hate the name Rika!) ^^

D-Ark = D-power (how'd the dubbers come up with that? What a weird
name for a digivice O_o)

Pretty much everything else is from the English version. I would like
to thank Silver for Beta reading. Enjoy the fic. ^_^*

Dedication: This is dedicated to Logan, who thinks Ruki is the
Anti-Sora. I intend to prove him wrong (or right, however you wish to
interpret it). ^^

I'm dying to know what you think of my work, email me at:
[1]daisukefire@yahoo.com

PhoenixDreams

By DaisukeFire

Her spirit burns itself,

Hoping to achieve dreams of perfection,

Killing the old with a fiery passion,

And birthing the evolution of desire,

From the ashes of dark death

She arises more beautiful than before,

Flames pouring from her body,

Her heart flowing with power...

The silver planet glowed brightly as it hovered in the sky above, an
occasion beam of scarlet light shooting from it and impaling the
landscape below. It was a beautiful and wondrous site. The moon that
hovered in the Earth's sky was just a tiny fraction the size of this
planet that dominated the sky. The girl stared at it, finding it hard
to believe that it was Earth. She lowered her head and stared off into
the distant horizon. A fraction of light glimmered from her amethyst
irises, shinning toward the mountain to her right. The slight, cocky
squint in her eyes complemented the frown that was always on her face.
If the shape of her lips ever changed, they would return to the frown,
as if by reflex. She wore a white shirt with turquoise sleeves and a
yellow, turtle neck-like collar. On the shirt was an oceanic blue
heart torn down the middle. She wore dark blue jeans and had a thick
leather belt rapped around her waist, and two more wrapped tightly
around her left thigh. Her shoes were red, with metallic plating at
each toe. A sharp wind caressed the cherry hair of her spiked
ponytail, as well as the glossy jade leaves of the tree she leaned
against. The bark of the tree was rough on her back, but not
unbearable.

She shut her eyelids as she thought of the event that had taken place
in the clouds, and her failure to defeat Megadramon. Technically it
wasn't her failure; it was her partner's. But since her partner drew
strength from her, the Tamer, it was her fault for the embarrassment.
The girl guessed she should be thankful; she and the others could be
dead right now. Dead... she almost wished that she were. Seeing that
boy with the spiky, brown hair and lame armor plating on his arm seal
the Megadramon back into its cloud prison with ease, while she and her
partner had barely survived, was a major blow to the honor she had
always felt. That was why she had left them...

"Stupid goggle-head... I'll show him," the girl mumbled spitefully to
herself. Then, just to rub it in, the boy had offered to accompany her
and the others. She could have taken care of the group just fine by
herself. On the other hand, her partner wasn't even able to stay in
Ultimate form for a long period, and couldn't even reach that stage
without that obnoxious -but cute- Calumon, while his Digimon was
perpetually an Ultimate. Obviously her partner was far stronger than
his at all levels, but even the strongest Champion Digimon still has
trouble competing with an Ultimate. So the problem lay hidden
somewhere in her, she was the weakness. If the `legendary tamer' had
been able to evolve his partner to that state permanently, without the
help of some hyper little baby Digimon concerned only with the
fun-factor of life, then why couldn't she?

The girl let out a sigh and called out, "Renamon, have you found
anything yet?"

There was a loud rush through the branches and leaves of the tree as
her partner landed in front of her with the grace of a ninja. A shower
of torn leaves followed, layering the ground. The azure eyes of the
creature stared deep into the girl's eyes. Its white chest ruff danced
with the wind, and its tail batted around non-rhythmically. There were
various twigs and shreds of leaf stuck in the yellow fur of the
humanoid fox. It wore thick, purple gloves on each of its hands. From
the ends of gloves protruded three fingers, each with razor sharp
claws embedded in them.

Renamon answered, "I didn't see anything over there," she motioned her
left arm in the direction away from the mountains. "And I saw a few
small pillars of smoke over there," she pointed towards the mountains,
"but that's it. What exactly are we looking for, Ruki?"

Ruki pulled some violet tinted shades from her pocket and covered her
determined eyes with them. She began to walk in the direction Renamon
had pointed, toward the mountains, and called back to her partner,
"Let's go, Renamon."

*******

Gray spirals of smoke rose from the shattered ruins of what was once a
Digimon village. Ruki monitored the details of destruction with
glacial eyes, searching for hints at what kind of villain might be
responsible for the attack. Splintered wooden planks were strewn over
the earth, many massed in heaps of burning rubble from what appeared
to have once been crudely built houses.

"Renamon," Ruki asked in a mechanical tone, "do you sense any living
Digimon."

Renamon closed her eyes, "No, whatever Digimon lived here have been
killed or have run away. It's empty."

"Well, whatever deleted all of these Digimon seems to have been
powerful."

"What do you want to do Ruki?"

Ruki frowned, "It's called spontaneity Renamon, we'll do the first
thing that comes to our minds. And right now I think we should rest.
Besides, if any of the villagers survived, then they might come back
her to see if they can salvage anything. That is when we'll find out
what happened here." The yellow fox nodded in agreement, and the two
lay down on some upturned dirt to rest.

The darkness had set. Most of the fires had calmed their rage and now
burned only as coals, sparking with a vicious red aura. Ruki had
drifted in and out of sleep, too much plaguing her mind to dream
peacefully. She lie with her head on Renamon's soft belly, staring at
the glowing planet that inhabited the sky. The cloth of Renamon's
purple gloved, folded paws pressed gently against Ruki's face. Ruki
ignored the touch.

"Ruki," Renamon whispered. Ruki turned her head towards her partner's
face, and noticed Renamon's ears twitching. "Listen," was Renamon's
only comment.

Ruki quietly lifted her head off Renamon's belly and strained her ears
to pick up on what it was Renamon was hearing. At first she heard
nothing. Then, gradually, she perceived the sound of steps, and
something that seemed like... dragging. The two waited silently for
what kind of Digimon might be approaching the ruined village. Ruki
peered over a mound of the upturned earth and watched the direction
the sound was coming from.

It was dark, but the light bursts from the fires provided enough
visibility to see the oncoming Digimon as they entered the village
from a mountain path. The first one to enter the ruins of the village
was a small creature made out of stones. It seemed to be forced to
march ahead of the creature to follow. Ruki checked her D-Ark, which
created a holographic image of the first creature. Gotsumon: Rookie
level, read underneath the image. The second creature appeared to be a
large tree that walked on its roots, creating the dragging sound as it
pulled the roots that didn't move along with it. The image emitted
from the D-Ark changed to a hologram of the tree: Woodmon: Champion
level The Woodmon was using one of its branches as a whip to slash at
the terrified Gotsumon. Ruki heard it laugh and demand, "Start calling
out to see if any of your companions who got away came back."

Another slash and the Gotsumon called out in a terrified voice, "I-Is
anyone here?" The Woodmon whipped him again and told him to add more.
"I-I managed to escape from them, did anyone else?"

There was no answer. Ruki's eyes burned with hatred. She had been
emotionless when she and Renamon entered this ruined town. They had
been to late to help as it was. But now that she saw the acts of
cruelty actually taking place, she realized that these creatures, that
were living things, didn't deserve to be treated with such cruelty.
She also wanted a good fight, something to build her bruised
confidence back up a little. Either way her heart moved her to help
the victim.

"No one's h-here," the Gotsumon choked fearfully to his torturer.

"Then you're of no more use," laughed the Woodmon, raising one of its
branches for a final deathblow.

"Hey ugly," Ruki called arrogantly from behind the creature's back,
Renamon kneeling, head bowed, at her side. The Woodmon turned around
to face her, a surprised look on its face. The Gotsumon bent a little,
trying to see around the tree Digimon, hoping to get a glance at what
the voice belonged to. The cherry haired girl's lips bent just a
little to form a smirk, her eyes staring detestably into those of the
Woodmon. "Why don't you try picking on someone your own size?"

The Woodmon glanced at the girl, and then to her partner Digimon, "You
want a fight, do ya?" he laughed and began waving one of his branches
in an inviting manner, "then bring it on beautiful!"

"Gladly," Renamon chuckled and quickly leapt toward her opponent, her
right paw drawn back for a powerful strike. The Woodmon's eyes widened
as if he hadn't anticipated a strike this quick. His reactions were so
slow that the only option he had was to try and cover himself with his
branches.

Ruki laughed inside, that could hardly be called a defense tactic.

Renamon blasted her paw hard into the Woodmon's face, breaking any
branches he had used to block her and tearing a large gash in his face
with her claws in the process. The tree Digimon crashed through the
air and back towards the forest, colliding into the trunk of a tree.
He lay there, dazed, for a moment. Then he got up and began to retreat
toward the path leading up the mountain. Renamon glanced at Ruki, who
nodded with approval.

Leaping high into the air, just slightly behind the Woodmon, Renamon
folded her arms across her chest and curled slightly into a ball, and
closed her eyes. Thousands of crystalline shards formed in the air
around her, each of them glowing with an icy texture.

"Please, mercy!" the Woodmon cried as he saw his attacker preparing to
delete him, fear rung in his voice.

The yellow fox ignored his plea, and burst out from her balled
position, crying, "Diamond Storm!" The Woodmon's eyes widened in
horror as the shards began to dash from her side in rapid succession.
Each of the darts deeply impaled his pulpy wood. A freezing pain tore
through the Woodmon's body, and then it became a consuming numbness.
His wooden lips curled, contorted and snapped as a raspy moan of
defeat escaped his lips, and then his body shattered into millions of
tiny data fragments. Renamon floated in the air, her chest heaved
forward and her eyes closed. A light blue aura formed around her body.
Each of fragments of shattered data were drawn toward the aura, as if
it were a magnetic field. They were absorbed into the aura. As
Renamon's body absorbed the last bit of data, the aura disappeared.
Renamon open her eyes, which were gleaming with the radiance of
victory, and landed lightly on the ground.

Ruki smirked; the fight had been too easy. That Woodmon had been
nothing but a cruel coward, and didn't deserve mercy from anyone. Yet
it had felt good to prove her superiority again.

"Excellent," she said as her partner journeyed back to her side. Then
she looked at the Gotsumon whom she and Renamon had rescued. It was
shaking violently against the stump of a tree, its eyes pouring out
fear. Ruki approached it and bent her face down to get a closer look.
"We're not going to hurt you, we just want some answers."

The Gotsumon gulped nervously and replied, "You shouldn't have done
that, now he's going to be angry."

The girl stared at him, her eyes dominated with annoyance, "Is that
the normal way you treat some who saved your life?"

Letting out a yelp of fear the Gotsumon tried backing further up the
tree. Ruki wanted to laugh at this pathetic, weak and tiny creature.
But as she looked into its tear-stained, yellow eyes, she felt
something. It was as if she had made some sort of connection with it.
She felt all the sorrow, pain and terror it was experiencing. It had
lost relatives and friends in the attack of its village. Death had
just barely passed it by a moment ago. And now she, this merciless
demon, towered over it, demanding it to forget all the troubles it had
undergone, and threatening it for answers it was afraid to provide.

Ruki stood up, and squinted angrily. She turned her back to the
creature and called over her shoulder, "I was just looking for
whatever Digimon destroyed this place. Renamon and I need a good
fight. But seeing as how you don't want to cooperate, we'll just have
to find a different powerful Digimon to fight." She walked away from
the Gotsumon. "Renamon," she ordered, and Renamon began to follow.

After a few seconds the Gotsumon cried out to her, "Wait!" Ruki and
Renamon turned around simultaneously, observing the movements of the
little rock creature as it ran towards them. "T-there are two really
powerful ones up in the mountains. They're the ones that destroyed our
village."

"Good," Ruki said coldly, "that's the kind of answer I was looking
for."

The Gotsumon nodded humbly, "Those of us that weren't destroyed were
taken up there as prisoners. The two up there and the one you just
destroyed are a band that defies the Sovereign. They attacked us
because we are a faithful village to the Sovereign."

Ruki held her hand up in a motion signaling the Gotsumon to stop
talking. She closed her eyes and said, "I didn't ask for details, and
I don't care about saving your little friends. You can do that after
I've defeated the two Digimon. But now you're going to be our guide."

The Gotsumon's jaw swung open and he cried, "But I can't go back up
there, please don't make me!"

"You're taking us up there whether you like it or not. I'm not about
to ask you for directions up a mountain." She sighed, "You won't be
doing any fighting anyways, that's all for Renamon and myself. So you
don't have anything to be afraid of."

The Gotsumon nodded and began walking toward the path up the mountain
saying, "It's this way."

Ruki and Renamon followed the stone creature. Renamon bent down and
whispered into Ruki's ear, "Are you sure this is a good idea? We have
no idea what's up there, and I can't Digivolve to my Ultimate form."

Ruki stared at the Gotsumon as it ran up the path, seeming to almost
ignore Renamon. "Do you doubt me, Renamon?"

"No."

"We'll be fine, you're strong enough to handle anything. And besides,
its not like we have anything else to do. I'm not about to go and try
to find those goggle-heads. Not yet, anyways."

Renamon nodded, "If that's what you want to do..."

*******

The path up the mountain was rough with foliage and various rocks that
were difficult to maneuver around. It had a steep gradient which made
the travel much more tiresome. The Gotsumon didn't seem bothered by
the roughness of the path. It was running, just to stay ahead Ruki and
Renamon. It weaved around stumps and boulders, hopped over any fallen
trees in the path, and it was wearing Ruki's nerves thin with its
constant thanks. She wished that they could just ditch the little
pain, but they did need a guide to the hideout of those Digimon.

A thin mist began to form as they made their way up the mountain. Then
the mist turned into a light fog. The glow from the planet above made
the youthful night seem eerie. Ruki loved it. This was the kind of
night that Ruki liked. It had a sort of dead feeling to it, a feeling
that would make most people uneasy. She loved the thrill of danger
lurking around every unknown corner. Just like the days when she had
hunted wild Digimon in the streets late in the night.

Her skin tingled as the cool mist hugged it. She wasn't tired from the
walking. In order to be a good Tamer, one must be in excellent
physical as well as mental health. Whenever she wasn't fighting or in
school, she was training, working hard to be come the best Tamer that
ever existed. She would prove that she was stronger than Ryo. She was,
after all, the "Digimon Queen."

She jetted to the side to avoid a rock that had appeared out of the
dark fog just an instant before. Renamon, who was just a few steps
behind, leapt over it with amazing reaction speed. She landed just a
few feet behind Ruki once again.

Ruki let out an annoyed sigh, it seemed like they had been walking for
hours. She called ahead to their guide, "Hey, are we almost there yet?
This is getting really boring. Do we have to walk all the way to the
peak or something rock-boy?"

Seeming to know that his clients were growing anxious, the Gotsumon
called back nervously, "It's not far from here, we should be there
soon!"

"We'd better," Ruki growled.

The Gotsumon hadn't lied. Just a few minutes later the group reached a
large cave that seemed to be carved deep into the mountain. All three
stepped into the cavern and checked to make sure that there were no
enemies waiting to ambush them.

Ruki and Renamon followed as the Gotsumon ran into the darkness and
quietly called back for them to follow. They traveled for a few
minutes into the cavern, which grew wider as they went deeper towards
the heart of the mountain. Eventually Ruki noticed a faint glow in the
distance, and it became brighter as they approached.

When they reached the source of the fire, Ruki peered around a curve
in the cavern that opened into an even larger cavern. There was a
large fire in the middle of the grotto, and on the other side was a
tunnel leading away from it. On one side of the room was a group of
seven Gotsumon, trembling in fear. On the other, sitting against a
wall, was what looked like a huge, yellow Gotsumon with spikes jetting
from its back and metal plates covering its face and hands. It had one
of the Gotsumon and was laughing as it tossed it up in the air like
some kind of ball.

"Heheh," it chuckled with a voice primitive and dumb, "what if I drop
you little man? Is your Sovereign going to save you then?"

Ruki checked her D-Ark, which read, Rockmon: Champion Level.

She clasped the D-Ark tightly in her hand, and with the other pulled
her shades from her pocket and placed them on her face. The thrill of
battle rushed to her brain. She turned back to Renamon and smirked,
"Let's rock!" She pushed the Gotsumon away and it fell to the ground.
It glared back at her angrily and she replied, "Get out of here before
you get hurt." Then she stepped out from behind the curve of rock,
revealing herself completely to the Rockmon.

The group of seven imprisoned Gotsumon murmured and gasped. Slowly,
the Rockmon tilted its head to look at her with hateful eyes. Ruki
stared back into his, her face sparkling with confidence. The giant
rock creature let out a gravely snarl, "What are you doing here?"

Ruki smirked at him and replied with a voice of steel, "Just looking
for a good fight is all. I was hoping we could find some data for my
partner here to upload." She motioned with her eyes to Renamon who
stood beside her, eyes closed and mind deep in preparation for battle.

"And you want these Gotsumon?"

"Of course not, stupid, I'm here to delete you!"

The Rockmon let out a feral growl and tossed the Gotsumon he had been
using as a ball into the group of the other Gotsumon, bringing all of
them down in a heap. The earth shook as it rose from the ground, its
height reaching nearly half the height of the room. It took a step
forward and said, "Just try it!"

Ruki flipped the D-Ark around her hand and said, "Renamon..."

The yellow fox's eyes burst open with an uncontrollable fire and she
rushed the giant. In one swift motion Renamon leapt into the air and
placed her left shoulder in front of the rest of her body. Her
shoulder made hard contact with the Rockmon's chest and the blow sent
him stumbling back a few steps, but did little damage. After he
recovered from the blow, the Rockmon swung one of his large fists at
her. Renamon leapt into the air and over the fist's trajectory. She
raised her arms and fired a Diamond Storm attack at the creature,
hitting it directly in the face. The shards seemed to bother him
little, except for those that penetrated his eyes, causing his sight
to be obscured. Renamon rebounded off the ground and placed a kick
right in the creature's jaw, but was batted away in his furry to get
the shards out of his eyes.

Ruki saw her partner take the fall, but her eyes remained cold. She
reached toward the cardholder on the back of the belt with her right
hand and opened it. She didn't even have to look at what card she had
pulled, for she knew the deck's order by heart. She held the card up
in front of her face and said, "Let's crush this guy." The she flipped
the card through her fingers and crossed both arms, then pulled them
together, swiping the card through the D-Ark. The D-Ark burst with
light as it received the information from the card and prepared to
transmit it to Renamon's body. "Digimodify..." Ruki yelled, the light
from the D-Ark flashing on her face. "Berserk Sword activate!" With
that the card and D-Ark separated and her hands flew out to the sides
of her body, as if she were preparing to fly.

Renamon jumped to standing position as the light shot from the D-Ark
and formed the silhouette of a sword in her hands. Then the sword
materialized. It was enormous, almost as big as Renamon herself. The
gold and silver-plating of the sword reflected the light from the fire
and caused it to shoot in all directions across the room. Renamon
pulled the sword back over her head and pounced at the Rockmon,
letting out a warriors cry. The Rockmon put up one of his arms to
parry the blow, but it did no good. The sword cut straight through the
rock and completely severed the arm at the elbow. The amputated
appendage fell to the ground and disintegrated back into data. Renamon
followed up with the combination of a vertical slash that was blocked,
and a horizontal swing intended to severe the beast's head. In a fury
and fit for his life, the Rockmon let out a blind swing to try and
check the attack. It clipped Renamon and the sword shot out of her
hands. It cascaded, point first, back in the direction of Ruki.
Without even a hint of surprise or fear, Ruki side-stepped to the left
and the blade flew past her, impaling deep into the wall behind and
then shattering into nothingness.

Renamon growled and jumped onto the Rockmon's face, tearing gouges in
the rock with her claws. The creature batted at her and knocked her to
the ground. He rubbed his torn face and looked down at the source of
his misery. He raised one of his legs to crush the life out of his
enemy. Ruki watched and for a split second fear shot through her
heart, the fear of losing Renamon. But that was all it lasted,
survival instinct took over and she ripped another card from the deck
on her belt. "Time to even things up!" she snarled as she violently
slashed the new card through the D-Ark. "Digimodify..." her arms flew
out again as light shot from the D-Ark to Renamon, "Digievolution
Activate!"

A spherical digital field formed around Renamon as she slashed her
claws and cried, "Renamon Digivolve to..." Then the process started.
The digital matter that made up Renamon disassociated and ripped from
the frame of her body. Then her data merged with the data she had
claimed from her victims and her frame began to change in shape. The
data then plastered back onto her frame. The digital field
disassociated with a loud blast, revealing an entirely new entity. It
was a yellow fox, no longer humanoid, with nine large tails, white
flaming fur at the end of each tail and around each paw. A red and
white striped ornament rounded her neck, forming two bows at each side
of her head and jetting out in front of her body. A series of diamond
chains hung from the ornament underneath her neck. Ying-yangs
decorated each of her legs, as well as one adorning her head.
"Kyubimon," the newly formed Digimon cried, and dodged out of the way
of the crashing leg meant to delete her.

Kyubimon landed next to the fire, and laughed. She then closed her
eyes, lowered her head, and raised all of her tails. The room seemed
to darken as all the light was absorbed into the tails and Kyubimon
cried, "Fox Tail Inferno!" The light in her tails transformed into
blue fire and shot forth from the tip of each tail. Each of the flames
seemed to have a life of its own, flitting back and forth around the
cave. But each knew its final destination, and in a synchronized
attack bombarded the Rockmon, blasting out chunks of his rock body in
the process.

The Rockmon let out a cry of pain and stumbled to his knees. Renamon
didn't even look at Ruki for the confirmation of her next move, she
knew all to well what to do next. Leaping once more into the air, she
cried, "Dragon Wheel." Kyubimon's tails began to burn with blue fire
and she did a roll through the air. As she did this, the fire formed
into the head of a dragon. The dragon's jaw opened, as if to eat the
enemy, and completely engulfed the Rockmon in a smoldering aura. The
Rockmon let out a cry of defeat and despair as his body lost its
structure and flowed into a stream of data. Kyubimon made sure to
absorb all of the data from her foe without thinking.

Ruki placed the cards she'd used back into the holder, making sure
that they were at the back of the deck. Then she clipped her D-Ark
back onto her belt and walked to Kyubimon's side. She placed her arm
around the fox's neck and said, "You did great, Kyubimon, as always."

*******

Ruki and Kyubimon decided that it would be best for Kyubimon to stay
in her Champion form for the moment, at least until they defeated the
last member of the gang. The herd of Gotsumon surrounded the two
warriors and constantly thanked the two for rescuing them. Ruki
clenched her eyes shut and stretched her lips in annoyance.

Kyubimon asked the Gotsumon where the final member of the gang was.

One of them replied, "He's down that tunnel," pointing to the carved
hall on the opposite side of the cavern that they had entered from.
"He went down there to sleep."

The Gotsumon returned to their praise of Ruki and Kyubimon, saying
that they would leave the Sovereign and forever worship them.
Kyubimon, seeing Ruki's frustration, ordered the Gotsumon to go back
to their village. When they refused to cooperate, the large fox chased
them out of the cavern, and then returned to her Tamer.

Ruki stared down the rough walls of the tunnel, probably hewn from the
trickles of rain that seeped through cracks in the surface for
uncounted years. There was no light at the end of this tunnel to guide
them. A faint trickling echoed off the walls and vibrated into her
ears. The tunnel seemed to have a dark, foreboding feeling to it. She
was tempted to turn back and leave the cave. But then she shut her
eyes and clenched her fist. She was no coward, and she wasn't about to
run from a fight because of some itch in her gut. Kyubimon could
handle anything, as long as she too was fearless and strong.

Kyubimon stepped to Ruki's side, and asked, "Are you sure you want to
do this?"

Ruki opened her eyes and cocked her head with a smirk, "Of course,
Kyubimon. He can't be any more powerful than the others, and we need
as much fighting experience as we can get."

"And what about the Gotsumon?"

"What about them?" She reached carefully toward the fire, and pulled a
thick piece of burning wood from the flames. Though the part she held
had not been burned, it was still hot from the energy absorbed from
the coals. She held it above her head to use as a torch. Kyubimon said
nothing.

Solemnly, the two friends began to make their way through the tunnel.
The previous tunnel they had traveled had had a layer of dirt and
ground stone padding their footsteps, keeping them from alerting their
enemies to early. But the floor of this tunnel was pure rock, and with
each step Ruki took the metal toes of her shoes clinked on the stone
and echoed down the hall. Despite an effort to walk on the heels of
her feet, in hope of dimming the melody of metal rubbing against rock,
it was no use. After they had gone just a few steps down the tunnel,
Ruki decided it would be best if she just rode on Kyubimon's back.

The tunnel was wide and tall, yet it still managed to make Ruki feel
somewhat claustrophobic. There wasn't a lot of room to fight in here,
should their enemy attack. She hoped that the leader of the gang
wasn't some dinosaur that would shoot fireballs out of his mouth. If
it were, both she and Kyubimon would be at risk of incineration if a
fireball came their way. There was no side to dive to, and no boulders
to hide behind. They would have to face the brunt of the fireball with
stern hearts and rigid bodies. Ruki patted the card deck on her
pocket. There was always the possibility that she could block the
attack with one of the cards... if she had enough time.

As time passed and they traveled further down the tunnel, the dripping
sound became louder. The sound began to separate from that one single
sound, to many in some chorus of dripping. The rhythm was mixed, some
drips sounding more frequently than others.

Then the tunnel widened into another cavern. This cavern was far
larger than the one they had just visited. The path on which they
traveled curved along the side of an underground lake, heading up
toward the continuation of the tunnel. Beams of light from the torch
reflected off the water illuminated the entire cave with a fiery glow.
Sharp stalactites peered from the ceiling of the cavern like the teeth
of some large beast.

Kyubimon stepped over a small stream that flowed from the lake, over
the path, and down a crevice that led deep into the earth. Ruki's
heart raced when she heard a splash in the water, but she quickly
calmed herself, thinking that it was only some kind of fish, if there
were fish in this dreamlike world.

They left the drowned cavern, the dripping continuing to echo behind
them, and it was just a short distance till the tunnel opened up into
another cavern. This cavern wasn't nearly as large as the one with the
lake. At its center was a large pit. In the bottom of the pit, using a
large rock as a pillow, was the final member of the band, sleeping and
oblivious to the threat of deletion that now haunted him.
It was a giant, much bigger than the Rockmon they'd just defeated.
Shaggy blue hair cascaded from the top of its head and down to its
shoulders. A hideous, gray skull mask covered its face. It had a
humanoid form and its shirtless chest had a muscular build that even
the best body builders could only dream of achieving. Heavy iron
chains were wrapped around its chest and arms. It had black pants with
stripes of red fire traveling up them. Enormous black boots shielded
its feet. White skulls were painted on the tip of each boot. A fiery
aura burned around its body. It let out a loud snore that shook the
room.

"Whoa, he's ugly," Ruki whispered to Kyubimon as she quietly leapt off
and held up her D-Ark. The holographic image of the Digimon in front
of them shone from the screen. Underneath the image read,
SkullMeramon: Ultimate level.

Ruki growled quietly in frustration. She had hoped that this one would
also be a champion level, which would almost guarantee them a win.
Fighting an Ultimate would be difficult without Taomon. If she fought
this monster, Kyubimon could get hurt or killed, and she could too.
She thought about the Gotsumon. The little colony of stone creatures
could accompany them, and just leave behind the threat of this
Digimon. She gritted her teeth angrily. She hated more than anything
to walk away from a fight, but it wasn't worth it if they didn't come
out of the fight alive. They had no other choice than to retreat. Ruki
turned her back to the SkullMeramon and hung her head.

Kyubimon approached her, "What do you want to do Ruki?"

Ruki quietly sighed, "We're leaving, he's too powerful."

Kyubimon nodded and bent down for Ruki to mount her back. Ruki jumped
on, and stared into the darkness ahead, her face hot with the
humiliation of having to retreat. The nine-tailed fox walked away from
the pit, heading toward the exit that would lead back to the flooded
room. But as Kyubimon passed close to a wall, an overhanging rock
snagged Ruki's backpack, and pulled her off the Digimon's back. Ruki
hit the ground with a loud thump and let out a groan of pain and
surprise, dropping the torch, which clattered down into the pit. The
grown, though she had tried to muffle it, and the noise caused by the
torch, echoed loudly through the cavern.

Ruki gasped in horror as the eyes of the SkullMeramon shot open. The
monster stood to its feet and glared at the two intruders. A deep,
guttural growl rumbled from its lips. It jumped and landed just a few
feet in front of the intruders. Ruki had expected it to say something
dumb, but instead it just raised its fist in preparation to crush her.
Her eyes widened as the fist accelerated toward her. She heard
Kyubimon yell, "Ruki!" Then she felt something crash into her chest,
lifting her and carrying her away from the targeted ground, which was
shattered by the fist's blow.

Kyubimon set Ruki down and quickly turned around to face the enemy.
Ruki didn't take anytime to reflect on her narrow escape of death, but
threw her backpack down and got into fighting stance, pulling her
D-Ark from her belt and unbuttoning her cardholder.

There was no turning back now, they were caught in a fight they
couldn't back out of. They had to win, there were no losers in this
game because only the winners survived. "Let's get him Kyubimon!" she
screamed angrily.

Kyubimon nodded and leapt towards her enemy. She rolled into a ball
and began to glow with the cool blue fire that formed into the
dragon's head. "Dragon Wheel!" Kyubimon cried as the dragon's mouth
went to engulf the SkullMeramon. The SkullMeramon countered with a
smack at the fire, extinguishing it. Kyubimon landed, growling angrily
that the attack had failed.

Ruki pulled a card from the deck on her belt. She slashed it through
the D-Ark and cried, "Digimodify... Accelerator activate!"

A green glow formed around Kyubimon and she shot from the ground. Her
speed had quadrupled, and she was nothing but a yellow blur as she
ricocheted off the walls of the cavern, appearing behind the
SkullMeramon's back. Before the enemy had a chance to turn around,
Kyubimon used another Dragon Wheel attack. This time the attack
connected, crashing into the back of the enemy's head. He was sent
sprawling to his knees, and grunted more from surprise than pain.
Kyubimon land again behind the SkullMeramon, and raised her tails.
"Fox Tail Inferno!" The fireballs shot from her tails towards the head
of her enemy, who had enough time to deflect the fireballs back at
her.

"Kyubimon!" cried Ruki as her partner dodged the series of blasts,
only to be hit in the back by a stray one.

The SkullMeramon bent back his neck and cried, "Metal Fireball!" A
spray of crimson flames shot from his mouth, heading straight for the
dazed Kyubimon.

Ruki pulled the next card out of the holder and swiped it as fast as
she could, "Digimodify... Brave Shield activate!"

A large, golden shield with the Crest of Courage formed in front of
Kyubimon. The stream of fire hit the shield, and blasted apart,
dealing Kyubimon no damage. The SkullMeramon bent back in surprise and
cried with a husky voice, "How can you do this?"

Ruki, overcome with confidence, laughed, "Because you're a pathetic
weakling!"

The SkullMeramon growled angrily, and then dropped a length of chain
from one of his arms. With furious strength, he began to swing the
chain in a circular motion. Then he yelled, "Heat Chain!" and brought
the chain down on top of the shielded Kyubimon. The shield shattered,
and the blow sent Kyubimon crashing into the cavern wall. She bounced
few times and then came to rest on the hard stone.

Kyubimon lay battered and bruised, not moving. Ruki gasped. The
SkullMeramon, thinking his foe defeated, turned to Ruki. He began
swing the chain again, aiming at the Tamer.

Ruki was paralyzed with terror. Her brain told her legs to run, but
they only responded by shaking. The SkullMeramon grinned and sent the
chain in her direction as forcefully as he could.

The blow hit the ground and rent a large pit where the girl was
standing. Yet her body was not there as evidence of his victory.
Kyubimon had dashed in just in time, and Ruki had grabbed onto the
fox's back. The two friends were now fleeing from the battle.

Ruki yelled to Renamon, "Thanks, we have to get out of here!"

"I don't know how much energy I have left, Ruki. I'm not sure I can
make it," Kyubimon replied as the two dashed down the tunnel, away
from the SkullMeramon.

There was a loud crash, and Ruki looked back to see the enemy
following them. She yelled at Kyubimon to try and run faster, but the
enemy was quickly catching up. They entered the cavern with the lake
in it. Kyubimon's feet sent water spraying as she rushed down the
path.

"Heavy Metal Fire," cried the SkullMeramon behind them. Ruki stared in
horror as she saw the blast of flames come crashing toward them. She
had little time to react, and did the only thing she could think of.
She ripped the entire cardholder off of her belt and threw it and the
D-Ark as far ahead of them as possible. Then the fireball hit them.
Ruki was thrown from Kyubimon's back, her entire body coated with
fire. The shades on her face fell to the ground and shattered. She
didn't feel the searing pain of flesh burning, only the sorrow of the
end. Time seemed to slow as she flew through the air. Her eyes
twitched to see Kyubimon, covered with flames, go crashing into the
water. The fox did not rise and float on the water, but sank, too
weary to swim. Ruki closed her eyes in defeat. They had lost, and now
both of them were going to be deleted into the darkness of death. She
felt hatred for the SkullMeramon. He would probably go down and
destroy the surviving Gotsumon now. Sorrow burned her heart. Though
she had never thought it possible, she longed to see the faces of the
friends she had recently. She had never acknowledged them as friends,
and now it was too late to do so. She wanted to see her Grandmother
again, and apologize to her mother for not being the model daughter
she desired. Her last thoughts were of Kyubimon, and how she wished
that at least her friend could escape alive. Then she crashed into the
ground, her head hitting the wall of the cavern in the process.
Consciousness left her, and she faded into the blackness...

*******

The blackness, that's all there was. She opened her eyes and looked at
the setting around her. She was in the cavern. The water was still
trickling. There seemed to be a light breeze, and she thought of how
abnormal that was considering how far into the mountain they were.
There was no sign of the SkullMeramon, or of Kyubimon. The cavern
seemed dark, darker than it would have normally been, even without the
torch. She rose to her feet and then remembered the fire that clung to
her body. She bent to brush it out, but it wasn't there. She was in
her normal clothes, and there wasn't a singe on them.

That was when she noticed the glowing. She looked to her feet and
gasped. There was a body there, still burning in the red flames. It
was not being consumed, the flesh did not melt and the hair did not
crackle. The cherry hair was mangled and the eyes on the face were
closed. She realized that the body was her own. Did this mean she
was... dead?

Tears began to form at the corners of her eyes. She wanted to scream,
fight or even plea her way out of this nightmare. But she couldn't
bring herself to do anything. "W-where am I?" she managed to quietly
choke.

Then, as if on cue, a light formed at the top of the cavern. Shards of
light began to fall like snow, hitting the water and making small
splashes. The girl stared in amazement and fear at the raining light.
Then a new radiance, not the same as the falling shards, but similar
to the brilliance of the sun formed.

There was a low rumble and then a male voice called to her, "What are
you doing here?" The voice echoed, but differently than if it had
echoed off the walls of the cavern. It had an almost dreamlike tone to
it.

"I-I don't know," she replied after a short hesitation.

"Do you know where you are?"

"No. Who-who are you?"

"That does not matter."

"Oh." She hung her head at the reprimand.

"What are you searching for, what was it that drove you here?"

Her face became stern, "I want perfection."

"Why?"

She thought for a moment, "Because I'm weak."

"How?"

She answered angrily, "I can't even get Kyubimon to Digivolve without
the help of Calumon!"

"You are more powerful than you realize, Ruki. Deep in your heart lies
the passion you share for those you love. You have a desire to help
those weaker than yourself. You can never reach perfection, no one
can. Your weakness is your desire for perfection. Use your strengths
for purposes other than those that benefit yourself. You are among the
most powerful souls to live, use it to help others, not dominate them.
Did you really come here for more fighting experience? Or did you come
because you really wanted to help those weak creatures out there?"

Ruki thought about this and answered, failure twisted in her voice, "I
guess that when Ryou did a better job of taking care of Takato's
friends than I did, I felt worthless. So when I saw that these
Gotsumon needed help, I felt like I was being given a second chance."

The voice seemed to chuckle with approval, "Yes. You seek perfection
so that you will not fail others when they need you. You are a
guardian, Ruki. A very rare soul destined to be the protector of the
weak. Do not forget that..." The voice began to fade and the echoes
died.

"Wait," she cried, "Who are you and why are you helping me?" There was
no answer. The rain of light into the water began to lessen, and then
stopped entirely. Then the cavern was pitch black once again.

The girl peered through the darkness around her. Was she really some
kind of guardian? She had never thought of that. For some reason, she
had always sought only to become stronger. She had preyed on the weak
in the beginning with a cruel and hard heart. She had done that to
prove her superiority. But now she realized it. One who is truly
powerful serves others, and not themselves. That was what she was, a
guardian. It was up to her to protect those Gotsumon from the
domination of that SkullMeramon.

A loud roaring sound flooded the room and Ruki's eyes widened as the
water from the lake began to swirl into a column. The wind inside the
cavern raged and Ruki had to fight not be blown into the water. The
spiral of water hovered in the air for a few moments, and then crashed
down on her like a tidal wave. Everything went white...

*******

Her eyes flashed open, and she stared at her glowing enemy. He was
standing victoriously over his battered enemies. Ruki realized that
barely an instant had passed for the dream. She stood to her feet and
looked down at her body, which was glowing with blue flames. The fire
had completely burned off all of her clothes, which were nothing but
ashes at her feet. She had risen from the ashes. Surprise took her for
a moment as she realized that she should be burned to a cinder by the
flames. But as she stood there, completely naked and blue flames
spiraling from her body, she realized that the flames were being
generated by her, not consuming her.

Then she remembered Kyubimon, and looked to the water. It was rippling
in the spot where she had sunk. She didn't think of the D-Ark or
Modifying cards, only of the fastest way to save her friend. The fire
from her body began to thrash violently and she cried, "Kyubimon!"

The cavern began to rumble, and the SkullMeramon gaped at the girl.
She had closed her eyes and the flames were leaping from her body
uncontrollably. Then the water from the lake began to form enormous
waves. These waves began to weave themselves together into one giant
column that reached the entire height of the cavern. It hovered there
for a moment, and then the waves came crashing back down into the
water. Remaining was a fox unlike Kyubimon. This one was much more
humanoid than Renamon. It wore a baggy white and purple robe with a
large ying-yang embroidered on the chest. There were black stripes
painted under its eyes and diamonds tattooed on its forehead.

"Taomon!" Ruki cried with joy.

The SkullMeramon yelled furiously and leapt into the air. It swung its
chain in Taomon's direction. Taomon disappeared right before the chain
would have hit her. It soared on and hit the ceiling, tearing a few of
the stalactites down crashing into the water. The SkullMeramon landed
back on the path and then slammed his fist into the wall of the
cavern. Vibrations rung loudly through the cavern and all of the
remaining stalactites on the ceiling began to fall. Taomon
rematerialized by Ruki's side and cried, "Talisman Spell!" A ying-yang
appeared beneath the Digimon and Ruki as a shield formed around them.
Each of the stalactites that would have hit them crashed into the
barrier and shattered. Some of the falling spikes headed toward the
SkullMeramon who punched them with his fist to avoid being impaled.

When the spikes had stopped falling, Taomon left the protected circle,
which began to disassociate. She flew toward the center of the cavern.
Once there, she continued her attack. "Thousands of Spells," she cried
and hundreds of cards began to shoot from the sleeves of her arms. The
shower of cards hit the SkullMeramon, each exploding as it hit his
chest. The series of blasts pushed him back against the wall, and he
grunted angrily.

He cried out in frustration, "Heavy Metal Fire!" and sent a spray of
fire from his mouth. Taomon dodged the attack, but was still clipped
by the flames on one of her sleeves. But she did not faulter, and
remained concentrated on the battle.

Ruki stood firm, the blue flames continued to poor from her body. She
could feel her strength transferring to Taomon. She felt every move
that Taomon made, and every pain that Taomon suffered. She refused to
give up and let her friend get hurt. She yelled, "You can do it
Taomon!"

"It's time to end this," Taomon answered. She pulled a paintbrush
almost the length of herself from one of her sleeves and held it out
in front of her. With a few brisk strokes, a black paint coated the
air in the form of a Japanese symbol. "Talisman of Light!" cried
Taomon as the black paint turned white and shot a beam of light toward
the SkullMeramon. The SkullMeramon gasped as the beam of light tore
through his chest and burned into the wall of the cavern. He dropped
to his knees, choking in agony. Then his body began to dissolve into a
stream of data. Taomon glowed and absorbed the data.

Ruki stared at her partner and best friend as the fox landed next to
her and began to glow. Then Taomon reverted into Renamon. The blue
fire that had been emitted from Ruki's body calmed and then died.
Ruki's naked skin now felt damp and chilled.

"Are you alright?" Renamon asked.

"I'm fine, Renamon, thank you."

"You were on fire, why aren't you burned?"

"I-I don't know. Some one helped me I guess."

Renamon smiled, "Interesting, I'll have to thank them someday. You
gave me the strength to Digivolve Ruki. I thought all was lost as I
was floating towards the bottom of that lake, but then I felt an
incredible amount of power surge through my body."

Ruki smirked, "We did it together, Renamon." She walked across the
path to where her D-Ark and Modifying cards lay, neither had been
harmed by the fire attack. The two partners went back to the cavern
where the SkullMeramon had been sleeping and found Ruki's backpack.
She opened it and pulled out some extra clothes she had brought.

*******

The two emerged from the cave. It was now morning and the light was
shinning brightly across the land. Ruki glanced up at the planet
inhabiting the sky. It was a little smaller now, as if it had moved a
little during the course of the night. They were greeted with cheers
and thanks from the Gotsumon.

Ruki glared at the small, rock Digimon and said coldly, "I thought I
told you to go back to your village and start rebuilding it."

"We couldn't leave you," one cried as the group dropped to their
knees. "You are truly a goddess and we are your humble servants!"

Ruki rolled her eyes, "Whatever, I'm not a goddess and I don't need or
want your service." The Gotsumon continued to praise her. Ruki sighed
in frustration. "If you want to be of service, go back and start
rebuilding your home. Do yourselves a favor, forget about me and keep
supporting the Sovereign so he doesn't turn against you."

One of the Gotsumon looked at her, "Will you help us rebuild?"

She shot an icy glare at the Gotsumon, "I'm a guardian, not an
architect. Renamon..." Renamon chased the Gotsumon down the path to
the ruins of their village and then returned to Ruki. "Let's go," Ruki
said as the two began to head in the opposite direction of the
village.

*******

The Gotsumon were digging through the rubble of their houses, trying
to find any building material that might have been salvageable. One of
the Gotsumon sighed and stared up at the floating planet. It was hot
and hard work digging through the rubble. Then he glanced towards the
woods and saw two lone standing figures. One was a tall, yellow fox
Digimon. The other was a girl with her arms crossed, and whose cherry
hair swayed in the breeze. He let out a cry of joy and called to the
other Gotsumon as he ran towards the figures. "Our goddess, you've
come back!"

Ruki smiled as the Gotsumon approached. "I guess we could help you
rebuild," she offered. Then her smile faded back into the usual tough
frown she always wore. "But just for a little while. You're lucky I'm
in a good mood. And one last thing... call me Ruki." The Gotsumon
laughed joyfully as group returned to the village and began the
tedious task of rebuilding. They danced and sung in celebration for
the return of their goddess.

Sharp eyes perched on top of the mountain watched the celebrating take
place below. They had been watching her ever since her coming to the
Digital World. The crimson and orange fiery feathers of its many wings
danced with the wind. Its scaly, red tale slashed back and forth like
that of a dog. The creature leapt of the peak and flapped its wings
violently through the air. It kept its fierce eyes fixed on the girl
below, but it would have to take them away for a while. "The Sovereign
will not be pleased that she is growing so powerful," the creature
hissed to itself. It fluttered towards the planet in the sky, and then
cut down toward a distant forest. Then it disappeared into the distant
horizon.

Author's Note: What do you think? This was my portrayal of Ruki, who
is probably the most complex character the show has ever produced.
What do you think of the way I portrayed her? I hope that I didn't
make her too soft in the end. This is supposed to be a short story,
but I added that little thingy at the end in case I ever want to
expand it. I hope that you liked it. ^^

References

1. mailto:daisukefire@yahoo.com