-Chapter 10-

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<Digital World Continente Server> <PoV - TK>

"Gotcha!" I exclaimed as I gripped a Tunomon tightly in my hands and lifted him over my head with a victorious smile. "And with you I now have them all!"

"Hahaha! Got me! Got me!" The Tunomon laughed out loud as it wiggled in my hands. With a smile I put it back down as I watched the other Tunomon gather around it. "Shall we play another round?"

"U-Um... I think we should stop for today..." I spoke as I caught my breath, even if it didn't seem like it the Tunomon were pretty fast. "I'm a little tired from running..." 

"Too bad... Well! See you later!" the Tunomon said as the others nodded at his words and quickly scattered through the village.

"Hehehehe..." I laughed embarrassedly as I scratched my head as I watched them leave.

I paused for a moment as I remembered that Noah also usually scratches his head when he's nervous or uncomfortable with something, it was quite similar to how my brother acted when talking to mom.

'Come to think of it... Noah's attitude reminds me a bit of my brother's. While it's annoying that they both saw me as a child, I'm perfectly capable of defending myself! Plus now I have Tokomon to fight by my side!'

Pouting slightly at the thought I headed back towards the courtyard of our house where I found Tokomon playing with Herissmon...or not.

Now on the kick it was just Tokomon sitting on the grass with his eyes closed as he let the sun hit him directly on the back, I remember he had told me he liked the feel of the sun but I think he just likes the warmth.

Tokomon's ears twitched slightly upon hearing my arrival causing the pink Digimon to open his eyes to look at me. "Hello TK!"

"Hello Tokomon! Do you know where Herissmon is?" I asked curiously as I looked around the small backyard of the house, there wasn't much to it, well it was better to say there was nothing but grass and dirt.

'Maybe I could ask Noah to help me make a small soccer field' I thought excitedly as my mind played out an imaginary match between Noah and I against Herissmon and Tokomon.

"He ran off to the house, he said Noah had woken up."

Tokomon spoke softly as he stood up and stretched for a moment before jumping at my head making me wobble for a moment before regaining my balance with an amused chuckle.

"I knew he would wake up! Let's see it!" I smiled as I quickly started walking towards the front door of the house.

For some reason even though we had a yard there was no back door so you had to go all the way around to enter the house. At first it was a little difficult for me to adjust to this house because of how different it was compared to my own but I had already begun to grow fond of it.

A sudden movement in my head made me stop before I looked up to see Tokomon's head looking at me sheepishly.

"Hey TK- agh" Tokomon started before biting his tongue which elicits a laugh from me and a pout from Tokomon. "Don't laugh! I... um, I wanted to go check on Gabumon he seemed to be in a really bad mood after that flash of red light."

I grimaced thoughtfully as I tried to remember yesterday. We went to the beach next to the Village, I seem to remember Noah and Herissmon wanted to train their attack or something when Gabumon came out of nowhere and suddenly joined us.

After I got in the water... I don't remember much, I remember a big red light along with having a very bad feeling and a strange voice announcing something. After that I remember dreaming of a happy dinner with Mom, Dad and my Brother, they were talking about something I couldn't understand but they encouraged me for some reason.

And before I knew it a grumpy Gabumon was dragging me and Noah to the village along with some unconscious Tokomon and Herissmon.

I don't know what happened but since then Gabumon has been grumpier than usual.

'Good! Let's help Gabumon with his mood! That's what Noah would have done!' I nodded slightly before looking at Tokomon.

'You're right! Let's go see Gabumon!"

***

<Outside of the village...> <PoV - Gabumon>

"Petit Fire!"

"Little Horn!"

"Hidden Knock!" 

"Haa... Haa..." I took a shaky breath as I looked at the large stone in front of me which was full of scratches, burns and holes all over the place, despite all the damage received the large stone stood its ground against my attacks almost as if it was taunting me. 

I let out a loud annoyed grunt as I glared at the stone in anger.

"Hmph! Good! You asked for it!"

I exclaimed as I took a low runner-like stance with one of my hands touching the ground while the other was brought to my back where I brought my claws together to form a sort of blade. I could feel an unpleasant energy begin to fill my whole arm.

"Blac-"

"Gabumon!"

A voice pulled me out of my concentration putting me on alert as I mentally kicked myself for not keeping an eye on my surroundings before starting my training, instinctively I turned my body towards the voice as I squinted my eyes with murderous intent and showed my claws.

Looking in the direction of the voice I let out a sigh as I saw that it wasn't any attacker but it was the Lesser Human -TK as I had managed to memorize- along with Tokomon.

"Hey Gabumon how are you?" TK greeted me with a smile as he set Tokomon down on the ground. "I haven't seen you since yesterday!"

"...What are you guys doing here?" I replied curtly as I folded my arms and squinted my eyes. "Shouldn't you be watching Noah?"

"Well... yes! But Herissmon said Noah had already woken up so... I guess it's okay! So-"

He was tempted to point out that quite possibly that wasn't the case but he wasn't petty enough to tell TK that.

'Let's just get this over with so we can get back to training...' I thought to myself as I ignored most of the Lesser Human's chatter. 'Oopss... I left him hanging for a while didn't I?'

"-so we came to see what had you so upset!"

I raised an eyebrow at that as I let out a snort. "I'm not upset!"

"Yes you are! Now you're more like, 'Grr... I'm annoyed! I'm frowning with annoyance because I'm annoyed!' before it was more like, 'Hmph! You think that strength is enough to do anything to me?'" TK started doing what I guess are imitations of me, though it seemed to be more of an Agumon's imitations than mine. "You're no longer... what do I call you Noah?.... Tsundere I think?"

I frowned hard ignoring the growing blush on my cheeks as I made a mental note to smack Noah upside the head as soon as I saw him. 

Taking a deep breath I swallowed my personal dictionary of insults at TK's completely incorrect and false imitation of me amazing me, and instead simply let out a sigh that sounded more like a growl than anything else to my personal annoyance. 

"Fine! I'm annoyed so what?" I growled as I raised my voice in anger before looking at Tokomon's slightly frightened expression and letting out a sigh. "Haa...I realized that I've been seriously neglecting my training in the past few weeks-"

"That's another thing I don't understand!" TK interrupted me as he looked at me suspiciously leaning forward a bit. "Why are you and Noah are looking to get stronger? I don't see the point! Everyone here has always been friendly!"

I opened my mouth to respond before closing it like a fish as I thought of a suitable response, I couldn't tell him it was simply for survival and I don't think Noah would be amused if I revealed that to him.

That idiot Noah is strangely protective of TK when it comes to the world outside the Village for some reason. It's not like I'm not with the Tunomon, though....

"Whatever..." I replied shaking my head, there was no point in thinking about it anymore. "The point is, I need to become strong to protect the Tunomon... and keep my promise to Garurumon."

"Oh..."

It was at that moment that a gleam of understanding shone in Tokomon's eyes as he looked at my jacket made of Garurumon's fur, the small pink Digimon simply sank to the ground with his ears drooping.

Instead, the Lesser Human tilted its head in confusion as it looked at Tokomon with a raised eyebrow. "Garurumon?"

I took a deep breath before sitting down abruptly on the ground with my arms crossed giving TK a deep look.

"Tunomon Village wasn't always located in a valley like it is now, not so long ago the Village was located deep in the forest" I explained as I pointed to the not so distant forest before taking another deep breath and letting it out as a sigh, I remember Noah mentioning that it was helpful to keep calm. "Back then we lived in peace along with several other groups of Digimons like Palmon's and Lalamon's. It was during that time that Garurumon was the guardian of Tunomon Village."

I smiled slightly as I remembered a large wolf with white and light blue fur along with large blue stripes playing with several Tunemon as I watched silently from a distance.

"He was very, very strong!" I exclaimed loudly as I threw a punch into the air remembering of Garurumon's awesome power. Blue flames so hot they could turn any unsuspecting Digimon to ashes, overwhelming speed that I couldn't follow with my eyes.

"But-" I interrupted myself with a mocking, condescending tone even if some amusement was mixed in my voice. "- he was also a very relaxed and rather lazy Digimon when no one was watching."

You remembered how the big wolf loitered in places where he thought he wouldn't be seen just to give him a little scare every time you appeared out of nowhere. You remembered the big lecture he had given you for scaring him which only served to taunt him for weeks.

"But then where is Garurumon now?" asked TK as he tilted his head to the side. "Why isn't he in the Village?"

The memory of a maddening mocking laughter echoed in my ears making me snarl as my vision turned completely red, anger and helplessness danced in my code a crazy dance that filled my entire being.

"It's all the fault of that big son of a bitch Ogremon and his little green shits!" I responded sharply as I took a step towards TK without realizing that at some point Tokomon stood between us looking at me in fear. 

"Those little green rats came to the Village one day without warning and started destroying everything!" I turned quickly before hitting the rock once more with all my might, I hit it again, and again, and again. "Those damn pests burned down the entire Village as they hunted the unsuspecting Tunomon!"

I kept hitting the stone hard even as my hands began to ache.

"They had no mercy... everything we had painstakingly built was gone from one moment to the next..."

"What happened to Garurumon?" TK's terrified voice made me shudder.

I looked down at my aching hands as I took a deep breath.

Distant memories of dying gasps echoed in my head like a broken record, a few mocking words, a pep talk and a promise were the last words from the one who for me was my figure to follow.

"...died fighting Ogremon" I muttered under my breath as I shook my head.

"Gabumon-"

"That's why- that's why I need to become stronger than Garurumon to protect the whole Village! I promised myself that I would surpass Garurumon! That I would succeed where he failed!" I exclaimed as I looked deep into TK's eyes, this was the promise I had made to him, a promise that had been my reason for being where I am, a promise that was everything to me... and yet....

"But look what I've been doing! Just relaxing and lounging around while I play the kindly guardian of some useless Humans!"

Silence filled the valley.

Mentally chiding myself for my childish outburst I turned my gaze to TK as guilt filled me as I looked into the wounded eyes of the Lesser Human and Tokomon.

I looked down at the floor in shame unable to look TK in the eye. "I... I- I'm sorry...-"

FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Suddenly a stunned sound echoed throughout the place causing me to cover my ears tightly from the loud sound of the horn.

'Wait a minute...' My eyes widened like saucers 'Horn?...'

A feeling I hadn't felt since Garurumon's death made its way through my code.

Fear came to my throat like a razor as the realization settled in my mind.

Ogremon was here.

...

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