Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ The Legend of the Digital Warrior ❯ Chapter 1

"No matter the weather, it always is," the Unimon told her.

"It is truly breath taking," Melodi told her. "No wonder Biyomon loves to fly up here…"

"Did I hear my name?" asked a voice from Melodi's left. She whirled and saw Biyomon landing on the Unimon behind her. "What brings you up here and to my area?"

"News. What else, Biyo? I'm almost always busy with training to get out for a social call," Melodi smiled as they landed. She jumped off and thanked the Unimon warmly. Then she and Biyomon started to walk towards Agumon's area.

"Can you tell me or do you have to wait?" Biyomon asked her.

"Help me gather some fire wood, Biyo. Come on now, I haven't got but tonight here." They had just gotten the firewood gathered when Melodi heard footfall coming towards them and stood her hand going to her hilt instinctively.

"Melodi! Biyomon!" Agumon called as he came running up. "It's good to see you again, Melodi. It's really been a long time, hasn't it?" Agumon said as he hugged her.

"Yes it has, Agu… Mind lighting a fire for us?" she asked gesturing toward the firewood she and Biyomon had gathered.

"Sure. Pepper Breath!" And with that they had a roaring fire. Later that day, after the sun had disappeared from sight but the sky was still orange, the three friends sat by the fire eating their dinner.

"Melodi, now will you tell us what news you've come with?" Biyomon asked hopefully. Agumon nodded in agreement.

"Yes now I'll tell you," she smiled as she sat down her dish. "Gennai told me some very interesting information during training that was very shocking, but in a good way." Agumon and Biyomon were leaning toward her in anticipation. "The gate will reopen soon, in a fortnight actually if calculations are correct." The two Digimon cheered as Melodi laughed at their dancing.

"Tai's coming back! Tai!" Agumon shouted into the night.

"Sora! Oh, I just can't wait till I see Sora!" Biyomon cried excitedly.

"Hold on," Melodi said solemnly holding up her hand. The two Digimon stopped and looked at her. "They can't know that I exist till I make myself known. The real me, that is… This me."

"Mel… You have to hide?" Biyomon asked shocked.

"It's not hiding Biyomon, more like pretending to be someone else, right Mel?" Melodi shook her head.

"Biyo, Agu, you're both right. Gennai says to, so I must." Melodi unrolled her sleeping bag and got inside. "Get some sleep Agu, we're heading out at dawn."

"Good night Melodi," the two Digimon said as they lay down to sleep.

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"Melodi, my feet hurt! Can't we rest a minute? I think I have blisters on my blisters!" Agumon complained.

"Agu, you're acting like Mimi," Melodi told him as she slid down an incline. Agumon followed complaining all the way.

"Agumon!" a voice came over the rocks to them. Melodi instantly got into the ready position, hand near hilt. Agumon dashed toward the voice as she tried to grab him.

"Agumon, this isn't possible!" she said as she followed him.

"Its Tai! Tai!" Agumon cried as he ran around a corner.

"Agumon! Wait a minute! The gate isn't supposed to be open yet!" Melodi sighed as she sank to her knees. `Well, if you can't beat `em join `em, right?' she thought. When she got up her hair was brown and her eyes were storm gray. `I'll just listen in to make sure everything's okay.' Melodi peeked around the bend Agumon had disappeared around moments before.

"Agumon you look great! You guys haven't been fighting have you?" Tai asked his partner.

"Not really, things haven't been entirely peaceful but we've managed," Agumon told him. Melodi smiled, Tai was just as Agumon described; tall with a great bush of brown hair, she couldn't see his eyes, but she knew that they would be a warm amber brown. As Agumon and Tai were talking Melodi felt as if something was coming, a strong surge of some sort. Suddenly the ground beneath them trembled and lunged violently.

"Earthquake!" she yelled. She looked over as Agumon kneeled down to avoid falling but Tai wasn't so lucky. He flailed and fell as the ground beneath him shot up angled to the left. "Great Gaia! What in your name?"

"What's happening?" Agumon asked her. Then, as suddenly as it began it stopped. Melodi ran over to Tai who hadn't moved since his fall. "Is he okay, Melodi?"

"To tell you the truth Agu, I can't be to sure… Go get the horn I use to call for help and use it. We'll need to get him to someplace safer than this." Agumon ran to follow her orders. Melodi carefully lifted his head, but stopped her eyes wide as she pulled a hand from under his head. "Blood…" she gasped. Carefully she laid his head in her lap. She ripped her shirt so it exposed her mid-drift and used the pieces as bandages. As she brushed hair from Tai's face she wondered why she felt so upset. She was to help all the DigiDestined but she wanted to cry on the inside because he was hurt. `I need a real vacation, maybe visit the real world again….' A Falconmon landed beside her and startled her from her thoughts.

"Melodi, is that the knight of courage?" it asked. She nodded grimly, but before she could speak, "I'll return with more medical supplies for him."

"Thank you my winged brother," Melodi said as the Falconmon took off and flew towards Gennai's.

"Here's your cloak Melodi," Agumon handed it to her. She took it and placed it over Tai who was shivering slightly. "Are you sure he'll be alright, Melodi?" he asked noticing the makeshift bandages.

"All we can do at the moment is hope, Agu…" She said. Agumon nodded as the wind picked up and a Unimon landed. "Finally…" Melodi carefully climbed up with Tai and as soon as Agumon got up they were off. She urged the flying horse to fly quickly. When a waterfall was in sight, she had it land right in front of it. She carried Tai to the back of the waterfall and into a cave that it hid. As soon as they were deep enough that their fire wouldn't be noticed, Melodi laid Tai down on a pile of leaves and had Agumon light a small fire. He left to go watch the entrance as Melodi stayed to watch over Tai. Some time around Midnight she dozed off; knees to her chest, arms clasped around them, chin on her knees.

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`What a headache….' Tai thought as he started to wake up. The first thing he noticed was the pain; the second would have been the cool rock floor. He carefully sat up, wincing as his aching joints cried out for attention. He was just realizing he was back in the DigiWorld when he heard a faint sneeze. He looked around and saw a girl whom looked as if she had been watching over him and fallen asleep. As he walked over to her, she sneezed again and started to shiver. `She's gonna freeze because of me…' Tai carefully laid her down by the fire and covered her with the cloak that had been over him. He took one last look at her before going towards the entrance to the cave. Melodi noticed the change in temperature and bolted up right. She stood up and looked around, Tai was gone. She was about to grab her sword when she heard someone coming, she turned around and saw Tai.

"You're awake," he said smiling.

"You shouldn't be up yet! I haven't checked your wound." Melodi forced him to sit down as she unwrapped the bandages on his head.

"Listen Miss… uh…" Tai turned around to face her and got lost in her gray eyes.

"My name is Melodi," she giggled as she turned him around again.

"My name is-"

"Taichi Kamiya." She re-wrapped his head as she spoke. "The leader of the DigiDestined, keeper of the Crest of Courage, partner to Agumon, anything I left out save you being my guest and hurt?"

"I've got to find my friends and Gennai," he said as she as down by the fire and poked at it to bring it back to life.

"Of course. All in good time, Tai." Tai stared at her; she was way to calm about this.

"Listen, Melodi, I'm really grateful that you've helped me. Even though I'm not too sure how I got the wound," Tai realized. Melodi moved to sit next to him.

"What do you remember, Tai?" she asked.

"Finding Agumon… Then the ground began to lurch and I thought I saw…" he paused looking at her, "Never mind. I hit my head when I fell didn't I?"

"That seems reasonable," she nodded. "Come on. You've got to see the sunrise." She stood up pulling him up with her. She led him through some tunnels to the top of the waterfall, which hid many entrances.

"What's so special about a sunrise?" Tai asked her as they sat down.

"You don't observe the simple blessings do you?" she asked him smiling sadly.

"What do you mean?" She laughed heartily. "What's so funny now?"

"Are all humans from the real world this inquisitive?"

"You know a lot about me, but I only know your first name…"

"Ask away, Tai. I'll tell you what I am able to."

"Are you human?" he asked carefully.

"Yes," she said slowly. "Special… but human…" Tai was about to ask how so, but stopped when he saw her eyes misting over.

"How old are you?" She smiled a bit.

"Fifteen, almost sixteen. I'm an orphan, my mother died when I was born. I came here during the third grade…" She looked at him and said, "Music and sports."

"That's pretty much everything isn't it?" he laughed. Suddenly a roaring filled the air and Melodi jumped up. Tai rose too, looking around for the source.

"Look out!" she cried suddenly tackling him as a Gigadramon flew right where they had been standing. Agumon came running up to them and helped them up and handed Melodi something.

"Agumon, digivolve!" Tai said as he spun to face his Digimon.

"Tai, sorry to burst your bubble, but he can't! And not everything can be solved by throwing Agumon at it!"

"Now you sound like Matt…" he muttered as she moved in to get a better look at the Digimon. It roared again when it saw her. She drew a sword and looked ready to attack it. Tai ran up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I don't like the odds here, Melodi… You are human and he will kill you given the chance." She seemed to consider his words a moment. "Please lets just get out of here… Please Mel!" he pleaded.

"Okay, get going then…" she said.

"Not with out you Melodi. I'm not gonna let anything happen to my friends and that includes you," he told defiantly.

"Tai, I can't. I wish I could but you've got to get out of here safely. So just get going! I'll catch up I promise…" She heard him hesitating. "Please!" She then heard him scrambling behind her. The Gigadramon flew right over her and went after Tai. "Over here Pea-brain!!" she shrieked trying to get it's attention. It laughed and knocked her off the edge with it's tail, while Tai yelled something and tried to reach her.

Melodi was bracing herself for impact on rocks but instead she landed on something soft and was going up. "Garurumon!" she breathed. "Impeccable timing my friend."

"As always, Melodi." She turned around and nodded to Matt who was riding behind her. When they reached the top, Melodi jumped off and ran up to Agumon who was staring at the Gigadramon that held Tai in its claws.

"I will destroy the boy of Courage if you do not give me the one called Gabu-Luna by the Data/Vaccine Digimon," it said, loving the looks of horrors that it got.

"Who's that?" Matt asked confused. Melodi looked down at her sword that was strapped to her side.

"It is a nick name for the Digital Warrior," Garurumon told him.

"Melodi, what can we do to help Tai?" Agumon asked her. She started to walk forward no emotion on her face at all. "No Melodi! You can't, please don't do it!" Agumon cried.

"There must be some other way! You can't be so careless as to cut the thread so soon," Garurumon growled out. Matt looked at the Digimon and then to Melodi and back again, not entirely realizing what was going on.

"Silence!" she barked out. "It is my decision to make and my duty to follow through with what my destiny tells me to!" She looked at the Gigadramon defiantly, "I, Melodi Sakura, am the Digital Warrior. You seek me!"

"Really?" it asked applying more pressure to his hold on Tai causing the boy to yelp in pain. "A puny girl like you is the powerful warrior my master sent me to find?"

"Melodi! You, Matt, and the Digimon get out of here!" Tai yelled to her, voice filled with pain.

"Tai, I already told you that I can't!" she said, a frustrated tear trailing down her cheek. Her attention went back to the other Digimon. "Let him go." It laughed as it tossed Tai to them Melodi was about to reach him and help him up when the Gigadramon grabbed her in it's tight hold. Melodi growled in frustration and strained to get out of the iron grip.

"You don't want to make me mad little one for your life is literally in my hand," Gigadramon sneered at her. `Garurumon! Now attack him from behind!' Melodi cried in her mind. Garurumon did just as she thought for him to do. The surprise the Gigadramon felt caused it to drop Melodi, who landed with the grace of a cat.

Melodi drew her sword and held it in front of her as she recited the words, "Oh great Glaive that my birthright holds, lend me the power of the fiery sun crest… Courage Blaze destroy the warrior of evil's plight!" she cried as the crest of courage caught aflame and shot forward towards the shocked Gigadramon.

Garurumon was behind her letting Agumon, Matt, and Tai climb on his back. Melodi looked up at them after the digital dust that was the evil Digimon disappeared, "Are you guys okay?" Tai nodded as did Matt. Agumon was silent, as was Garurumon, who looked very unhappy about something. "Alright then let's get to Gennai's before anything else happens…" Melodi walked over to the edge and hopped down, ledge to ledge.

"What is she?" Matt asked sarcastically. "Part wolf or big cat?" Tai shrugged as Garurumon made his way down to the bottom of the cliff. When they arrived, Melodi was talking with a Falconmon. "How did you find her anyway Tai?" Matt asked as they climbed down and Garurumon de-digivolved to Gabumon.

"When I found Agumon we were caught in the Earthquake. I was knocked out and when I woke up, Melodi was there watching over me. I've lost the bandages since then," he replied. The Falconmon flew off and Melodi motioned for them to follow her. Agumon and Gabumon ran up to her and started to talk to her. She shook her head and walked a little faster. "What did you say to her?"

"We asked her why she chose to risk her life. She's never pulled a stunt like that to get out of trouble before. We're just a little worried about what could be wrong," Agumon confessed.

"Melodi! Since you live here and all, maybe you could tell us what's going on? We are only called when there is trouble, so what's happened?" Tai asked when she stopped and looked at him.

"You have a new evil tyrant to face, what else?" Melodi seemed upset over something so Matt came up to her other side.

"Is there something wrong, Melodi?" Matt asked concerned. She shook her head as the reached the lake. As they descended they heard Mimi's voice whining something. "Mimi, you okay?" he asked as they came in.

"I'll be better when Sora gets here. I'm so worried about her…" Palmon was trying to calm her down. Matt, Tai, and Agumon took their seats near her as Melodi leaned against a wall. Gabumon hesitated looking at Melodi who had her eyes closed, the main sign that she was thinking, and then sat down by Matt. He didn't question his Digimon's actions because he had been told about her relationship to all the chosen Digimon after the DigiDestined had left. She'd enabled them to cope being without their partners.

"Welcome, Matt and Tai. We have much to tell each other don't we? I hear that you have had some trouble when you arrived Tai and Matt has joined up with you," Gennai said as he entered the main building. Noticing that Melodi was still there he added, "And you have met, in sorts, my student. This is Melodi Sakura. She is the Digital Warrior, trained by me and very successful in battle. Just ask your new enemy sometime what it's like for Melodi to foil his plans all the time. Alas, I had to summon you all back again because it has become too big a problem for Melodi to handle on her own." Melodi nodded and left, only pausing to look over her shoulder when she heard Gabumon's voice in her head, `Where are you going Melodi?'

`To my room Gabumon,' she thought as she turned back around and walked out. `I'm a bodyguard, not a DigiDestined.' She closed the door and walked to the farthest building and entered grabbing a bag as she started to pack to leave once again.

"Gennai, what's going on?" Tai asked. Matt nodded in agreement, after the battle he had watched there were just a few questions he was going to have to ask Melodi when he got the chance.

"A boy recently came here and declared himself the Digimon Kaizer. He and Melodi have exchanged blows on more than one occasion. He wants to bend the entire digiworld to his will and for the better part recently has been succeeding. Melodi was severely injured not to long ago and he took advantage of it. His name is Sam Ichijouji. He's very intelligent but he thinks that this world is just a game that he can press restart on if he loses. We may not be able to entirely convince him of that. Melodi will be leaving again soon to find the rest of your team," Gennai filled them in on everything up to the present.

"Not that finding everybody else is a bad thing, Gennai," Matt spoke up to the elderly `mon before them, "but no one minus us here, knows Melodi. You can't expect everyone to willingly follow her back here." Tai nodded solemnly, Matt had a very good point.

"I'll go with her," he said. Matt blinked at him, Mimi did the same, and Gennai raised his brows in question. "I'm the leader. They all know me and I would hope after all this time trust me. So if I go with her, we'll be able to bring everyone back here to safety." Gennai nodded.

"Then come with me Tai. Agumon, you stay here." The Digimon nodded as Gennai led Tai to one of the other buildings in the compound. "Melodi has a lot of pride in her abilities, Tai. She may not be good company in the beginning."

"She seemed fine when we met," Tai said almost as if in her defense.

"There are four new digidestined. Most of them are from the area that you and Kari live in. As a matter of fact you may know them," the wise `mon said. He typed in a few commands and three pictures appeared and Tai recognized them almost immediately.

"Davis, Yolei, and Cody. They attend school with Kari. What about the fourth one Gennai?" Tai asked.

"He lives in Tamachi." Tai turned to where he heard the voice; Melodi stood in the doorway, an unreadable expression on her face. "His name is Ken Ichijouji, younger brother to Sam, the Digimon Kaizer. The poor boy is afraid of his elder it seems. I'll have to try and talk him out of hiding." `Melodi and Matt are so much alike it's starting to be a little scary… She's got some of the same expressions that he does… I'm over thinking this. So they act a lot alike, big deal Taichi. Davis acts like you on occasion skip that almost all the time...'

"Talk him out of hiding?" Tai said confused. Melodi nodded as she searched through handheld maps. Gennai noticed that she wasn't going to elaborate so he did so for her.

"He is inside a temple here in the digital world. The one in honor of the digivice." Tai nodded. "Melodi, Tai will be going with you. You two should be leaving at dawn tomorrow that way you have a little rest before you go." Melodi sighed as she nodded. Tai noticed she wasn't thrilled. "I'll see you both at dinner tonight." Gennai gave Melodi a look that enforced the statement into reality as he left.

"Melodi, is there something wrong?" Tai asked as he walked over to her.

"No. Why?" she responded with no emotion at all.

"The way you've been acting since the fight, it sort of hints against the `Everything's okay' area," he said as he tried to look her in the face.

"I'm fine. You're over reacting, Courage…" she said looking away. He put his hand on her shoulder.

"No, you're not. So I know that I'm not." Melodi looked at him defiantly.

"If you know that something's wrong then tell me what it is since I obviously don't know what it is," she snapped as she picked up what appeared to be the right map.

"Melodi, I don't want to fight with you," he said, leaning on the table. "Why can't you just tell me what's wrong?"

"Because… You wouldn't understand," she whispered. Tai walked over to her; her back was to him. He spun her around to face him as he spoke,

"Tell me why I wouldn't understand." He looked at her as she tried to avoid his gaze as she murmured her response.

"You have a family… and friends that are a family to you as well…. Back at the orphanage we may seem to be like a family, but they leave… You never know when your best friend will not be there, and once they leave, you never see them again." Her eyes shown with unshed tears. "My parents will never come back for me… They say my mom died. I know that's a lie… I can't prove it but I know it. I'm `Little Orphan Annie' without the happy ending. I have no real family. I live alone and that's what I have come to accept as my fate. It's my job to be alone anyway. I'm to take Gennai's job when the time comes and then I have to be alone. Might as well get used to it when I'm young so it won't hurt later." She pulled herself out of his grip and ran out; leaving a very surprised Tai to wonder what he could do to change her mind about being alone.

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Matt followed Melodi silently as she walked towards her quarters. `If she hurts Tai…I'll hurt her.' All Matt had to do was look at his best friend to see what someone meant to the young leader and he could tell that Tai had automatically taken strongly to the dark haired girl, maybe even as more than a friend. Melodi looked around her as she paused outside of the farthest building. As she opened the door, a shimmer enveloped her and she disappeared inside. Matt walked up to the door and listened to what was being said inside.

"Stupid, stupid girl! You are alone for a reason. You got dealt the bad karma get over it! You idiot little blonde!" Matt bristled at the attack on his hair color. `Why would she say something about being a blonde? She sure doesn't act like one. She's no where near that color anyway…' "You are supposed to protect the digidestined not break the heart of Courage! Gods I just about crumbled! Melodi you swore that if no one ever knew than no one could ever hurt you or become close and you hurt them… Who could care for me anyway…? I'm just too different…" Matt carefully opened the door and crept in. In the fading lamp light, he saw a blonde girl exactly Melodi's height and build. She was the only one in the room besides him.

"Okay Melodi… I think you have some explaining to do…" he said, causing her to jump and turn to face him.

"Don't you know how to knock?" she asked in surprise.

"Only when I'm in the mood. Which is the real you?" he asked, demanding to know the truth.

"This," she seethed as she gestured to herself, "is the real me. Gennai said you weren't supposed to see so I had to hide from everyone…."

"Me.. You had to hide from everyone because of me?" He obviously didn't believe her.

"Yes. If you fully saw me now and I'll tell you right now that you're not going to, you'd laugh in my face and call me a liar." Her voice was harsh, as were her words. Matt growled as he grabbed her ready to pull her into the light. "Please don't.. Please…" He pulled her out but she hung her head trying to avoid looking at him and letting her hair hide her eyes. Matt lifted her face and his eyes opened in shock. "See… Even to see is not to believe…"

"No Melodi… I don't think you're lying… I think that it's almost impossible for it to be coincidence…" She looked up to him an unreadable expression was on her face as she turned away and sat on the small bed a short distance away from the still shocked Matt. When he had looked right at her he almost thought that she was clone. She looked exactly like him, to the last facial detail! The only real difference was she was a girl…

"You think that too?" she asked as she fiddled with something around her neck.

"What's that?" he asked sitting down beside her.

"The locket that my mother and father gave me when I was born. I couldn't wear it yet so it was around a little stuffed bear…" Melodi said smiling at the small charm. Something popped in his mind; something his mom said before TK was born. This was something he wished he didn't know so that he would never have wonder about. "We bought them little matching bears… each had a musical note on it and they were pink and blue. The locket was lost as well as her bear… I still wish that could have had that since we couldn't have her… I just don't think Matt should know… If he knew it might hurt him and he is the only child I have… I wish that he wasn't alone… He wasn't meant to be alone, not Matt. He's too friendly to be left alone…" `Could that be… Could Melodi really be…'

"Can I look at it Melodi?" he asked. Melodi looked at him wide eyed. Obviously no one cared too much about the locket to ask about it. He realized he was either the only other one that knew about it or the only one to ask about it. She hesitantly nodded and took it off, handing it to him with obvious reluctance.

It was a small silver circle, about the size of a quarter. Engraved on the front was a musical note, with three gems as well. To Matt's surprise, the stones were his birthstone, his mother's birthstone, and his father's birthstone. He glanced at her silently asking permission to open it, and received a small head bob in consent. Inside two familiar faces smiled up at him. "Impossible…" he breathed. `Mom… and Dad…'

"What? Do you know them?" she asked hopefully. If Matt knew them maybe he could convince them that their little girl was alive and needed them.

"Yeah… Melodi… Umm… A couple of questions first, okay?" She nodded. Anything to hopefully find out something about her family. "You've lived in the orphanage for how long?"

"My whole life… Too long in my opinion, why?" she asked.

"And you're what fourteen?" he asked.

"I'll take that as flattery. I'll be sixteen in a few months, thank you." She held her head high, `Fourteen in deed.' Matt sighed heavily, the similarities were too many… But how to tell her about the possibility…?

"Well Melodi… This is kinda hard for me to say and please don't ask me to explain because that's gonna be almost impossible, okay?" She nodded eagerly to him and was almost wishing she could read his mind to find out who they were and get it over with! "They're… my parents…"

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That my friends, is the end of chapter one. Hope you liked it. I know I have way too many fics going at once but I'm working on them! Please Review! Thanx for reading! And please don't spoil the story for those who read the reviews first… ^_~

~ Lia ~