Tundra_Wolfmane
U.A.M.
The guild master’s room was a simple room. It wasn’t meant for meetings with large groups or for anything other than paperwork, which is what the guild master usually did anyway. It was equipped with one simple armchair and a long desk full of drawers, papers, pens, documents and even a lamp. On the other side of the desk were two more chairs for any guests he would have had to entertain. The room was meant for administrative work. It wasn’t like he could do anything else, with his rather large bulk.
The guild master was one of the largest Digimon in the guild. He towered over many other Digimon, both with his tall watermelon red body and with his yellow protruding belly. He had a very prominent bellybutton, comically adorned with two bandages positioned into an x mark. Around his neck were many large leaves, and projecting from his shoulder blades and over his shoulders were two, large yellow horns that he usually used to gather the guild member’s attention. His hands and feet were large and webbed, although they had accustomed themselves to daily manual labor quite well. Above a big mouth, he had a red mustache that didn’t look like it suited him at all and a pair of yellow eyes with a glazed look that belied the intense focus that the guild master had. Finally, behind his head protruded a long thick stalk that bent over his head and ended with many purple frills. Geo Dornae, master of the Traveller’s Guild and one of the two leaders of the town, was a ShogunGekomon.
It was turning out to be another usual day until he heard a knock on the door.
“Harumph,” the large amphibious Digimon grunted, glancing at a reused-broken-then-fixed-again clock on the wall closest to him. “Too early for dinner, too late for mail. Either a guest or a guild member,” he noted as he turned back to the door. “Come in!”
The door opened slowly, and the head of a Floramon popped in.
“Rise, what is it?” Geo asked, putting down his writing pen.
“It’s Taranis Valthor, sir. He wants to speak with you,” the flowery Digimon said with a light tone.
“Taranis? Again?” the ShogunGekomon asked with a raised eyebrow. “What now?”
“He did not tell me, sir, but he says it’s important. And judging from the logs he just gave me, he has a very interesting story to tell,” the guildmaster’s secretary and head archivist said, a twinkle in her eye.
“It should be if he’s already coming to see me before his probation is over,” Geo told her, putting his large palms together. “Let him in.”
“Yes, sir!” the Floramon said, pulling away and closing the door behind her.
Whistling a carefree tune, she walked down the hallway and down a flight of stairs. At the end, Taranis was waiting nervously. “The guild master will see you now,” she told the insect Digimon. “Good luck,” she told him with a smile.
“Yeah, thanks Rise,” Taranis replied as he walked up the stairs and down the hallway towards the guild master’s office. With a deep breath, he rapped the door three times.
“Come in, Valthor,” came the guild master’s booming voice.
“Okay, relax,” Taranis told himself. “Don’t make any jokes about his horns again,” he reminded himself as he opened the door and coming in. The Beetlemon grinned at the ShogunGekomon even though he knew that the toad Digimon would not be able to see it behind his helmet.
“Good morning, master Geo,” he said, nodding as he walked over between the two chairs in front of the desk. He didn’t dare try to sit on either one, though.
“It would a better morning if you have any good news for me, Valthor,” the red Digimon said, looking at him and evaluating his person. He raised an eyebrow ever so slightly, too subtle for Taranis to notice even with his exceptional eyesight and memory, when he observed a change in the Beetlemon’s countenance compared to the last time.
“Well, it depends, which do you want first: the good news or the bad news?” Taranis tried with a chipper tone.
For one long, silent moment, the ShogunGekomon gave Taranis a long unnerving look. The Beetlemon was already half-ready to bolt out of the room before Geo could give him a weakened but nonetheless stinging “Horn Howling” attack that he always used whenever he got especially annoyed. The Beetlemon had already been at the receiving end of one a multitude of times.
“Let’s start with your bad news,” Geo suddenly said, the sound of his voice causing Taranis to cringe.
“W-what?” the Beetlemon said, blinking.
Geo chuckled and folded his arms. “The bad news first, Valthor. Then maybe your good news will make it seem less bad,” the ShogunGekomon said as he looked down at him.
“Oh! Uh, right!” Taranis said with a grin, letting out a sigh of relief in his head. One landmine down…
“Well, remember the new mapping materials and tools you just got me after the last incident in the port town?” he asked, rubbing the back of his neck. The guild master grinned.
“Ah, yes, paper made from top quality wood that will last long and absorb ink well, measuring tools made with the durable metal and with the most exact measurements, pens of various colors, thickness and depth to make optimal maps with, all made by our very best craftsmen with the very best materials,” Geo said with glee. It was obvious that he was proud of the accomplishments of his guild members when it came to them. “Have they served you well, Valthor?” he asked with a smile.
“Er, yeah,” Taranis replied with a nervous smile. “Up until I lost them anyway.” Geo blinked silently at him, his smile still on his face. After a minute of silence, Taranis had to say something. “S-sir?”
”You lost them!?” the ShogunGekomon shouted, standing up and slamming his palms onto his desks as his horns blared, sending a wave of sound that pushed Taranis off of his feet and onto the ground.
Taranis’ eye twitched as he pushed himself back up, knowing that downstairs, Rise had counted, “One.” He was determined not to get another ‘Horn Howling’ enhanced yell. He was especially determined not to be that month’s member who got the most Horn Howling Yells in one session with the master…again. Buri forbid he break the record of seventeen in one session, although he never really got that close.
“I’m sorry!” the Beetlemon apologized as he stood back up. “It was an accide- well, no, it wasn’t, but I have a very good explanation for it!” he said before Geo could prepare another yelling blast. He even bowed his head and clapped his hands together.
“Then explain,” Geo said, sitting back down and folding his arms over his large chest.
Then quickly and in detail, Taranis started to narrate the events that had happened since he entered his last target location, which was the Enigmatic Woods. He told the guild master about already starting to map things out – bringing out all his materials so that he knew what was where - before meeting with a Wisemon, being captured by the insects of the insect village, meeting an EmperorGreymon, and then getting escorted to the insect villages. He wasn’t allowed to bring his materials with him that time, and he lost his materials then. He was only able to bring his old mapworks and a few other old tools.
Then without meaning to, he started to talk about the events that had transpired in the forest. Silently, Geo listened to Taranis’ tale, not moving or talking once. He knew Taranis’ habit of telling a story like this one; it was usually best for him to listen until he gathered all the information he could get. It wasn’t until Taranis reached the part where he was invited by Tiwaz to join their group did they stop.
Taranis took deep breaths as he finished his story. He looked down and blinked; he hadn’t even noticed when he had taken a seat on one of the chairs.
“Hum…so to sum it up, you lost track of your materials,” Geo said with an unsmiling expression.
“Uhhhh,” Taranis muttered. He couldn’t really say anything to oppose Geo’s conclusion. “Y-yeah…I lost it,” he said lamely with a grimace.
“And you are on probation, Valthor,” Geo said, folding his arms and looking at Taranis harshly. “I hope you know what the consequences are.”
Taranis winced. “Y-yeah. I’m suspended from the guild for a whole year, and I’m not allowed to go on any guild jobs or use guild resources during that time,” the beetle Digimon said with a grimace.
The ShogunGekomon nodded. Then to Taranis surprise, he smiled. “That should give you enough time to travel with your new companions at your leisure without having to report back or deliver any logs for archiving,” he told the Beetlemon.
Taranis had to give a wide grin that could even be seen through his eyes. “Hey, you’re right!”
“That should pacify the need for you to be punished according to guild law, and with your…special memory, I am sure you will be able to map out every detail of your journey. And since you have made old maps, I am sure you will not need to use any of the guild maps, which also means you are allowed to make any additions or changes in them and only make new changes onto our maps when you get back,” Geo told the Beetlemon as if he didn’t know them. “Of course, since you are no longer a part of the guild for a one year duration, you are now a paying customer. I am sure you will be able to purchase supplies from our guild and other branches in other towns. Why, you might even pave way for more branches to be made in more towns… Yes, I am sure that you will become a valuable asset to your companions,” he then added with another nod.
Taranis had to chuckle. Even when he was supposed to be suspended, the guild master still had work for him to do. Not that he minded.
“Oh, and master Geo,” Taranis then said, garnering the attention of the ShogunGekomon. “The Enigmatic Woods should be safe to traverse now. Without them having to protect their artifact anymore, they don’t need to keep anyone out,” the Beetlemon said with a grin.
“They will also want to learn as much of the world which they have not visited in a long time,” Geo said, more to himself than Taranis. Then he grinned widely. “I will dispatch some of our members as soon as possible; I am sure that we will be able to learn from them as much as they will learn from us!” he decided.
The ShogunGekomon gave Taranis a proud smile. “You have done the guild a great service, Taranis Valthor.”
Taranis had to chuckle, blushing hard inside his helmet. It wasn’t every day that he the guild master praised him. “Thanks, but my friends did most of the work,” he told the ShogunGekomon. “Which reminds me, I think I should see how they’re doing. They’re planning on leaving as soon as I’m done here.”
“I see,” Geo said, folding his arms. “I would have liked to meet your friends, but if they are in a hurry to complete their quest, then I won’t keep you. Just keep yourself out of trouble, and don’t give them any trouble,” he told the Beetlemon.
“I won’t,” Taranis told his guild master.
For some reason, as Taranis told that to Geo, he had the strangest feeling that he didn’t really have a choice in the matter.
“Thank you very much,” Odie said, nodding to the man that took his letter. He hoped he had given an accurate and detailed enough direction for whoever would send the letter back to his village. He told them that his name would most probably get the postmen in, especially since he had become a bit of a novelty in the forest. He was travelling with the man- no, the men of the prophecy after all.
“You’re welcome, mister Hayashi,” the postman, a bird-like Digimon that he recognized as a Toucanmon, told him. The avian Digimon had black feathers, an overly large and colorful beak, short black wings that didn’t look like it could support flight, and a body that was encased by a red egg shell, which had been painted to look like overalls. On the top of his head was a postman’s cap, which Odie assumed was because of his occupation.
The Shurimon smiled and turned back to Pavamana, who was waiting by the door. As he walked towards the PileVolcamon, however, he noted a serious expression on his face.
“Is there s-s-s-something wrong?” the ninja asked.
“There’s something going on outside,” the larger blacksmith said, looking out the door. He was looking down a street where he could see a number of Digimon running away. He could faintly hear yelling and screaming that was slowly growing. From the looks of other people and storeowners, he wasn’t the only one that noticed.
Odie frowned and looked as well. “Should we g-g-go check?”
“I’m not usually curious, but Tiwaz and Cogwej must be influencing me,” Pavamana said with a small smile at the Shurimon. “Let’s go,” he then said, jogging out of the building and towards the commotion. Odysseus followed suit quickly, his hand shurikens falling from his leafy mantle before he grabbed them with practiced ease.
To their fortune, both Pavamana and Odie were given a wide berth, which made it easy for them to pass through the crowd to see what was causing the commotion. Odie couldn’t help but think that the sounds of many loud footsteps should give him a clue of what was happening; it was definitely too loud and heavy to be the many Digimon running past them.
In front of him, Odie heard Pavamana say the word ‘Gah!’ and then skidded to a stop, turned to his back, and started running towards him. “The other way, Odysseus! Run the other way!” he called out.
Odie was too surprised by the sudden turn of event to react properly, and instead of doing what he was told to do, Pavamana quickly decided to grab the Shurimon by the torso. In quick succession, the PileVolcamon proceeded to carry him over his shoulder, careful not to impale the Shurimon on his spikes. It also allowed Odie to see what Pavamana was running from.
The Shurimon had to blink a few times to register what he was seeing. They were being followed by a stampede of Bullmon, cape-wearing, blue-armored and helmeted bull Digimon with large golden horns. Odie couldn’t even do a headcount of the Digimon. The dust they created made it hard to. They also left a trail of destruction behind them.
“O-oh dear,” was all Odie could say.
“We need to stop them!” Pavamana said the obvious, looking around. He just didn’t know how. He was physically strong, but even with Odie’s help, he couldn’t take all of them. “We need a plan!”
Odie bit his lip behind his mask. He looked around, trying to think of one that could help them. Then he saw what he needed. “I g-g-g-got one, but I don’t know if the people w-w-w-w-will approve,” he told the PileVolcamon.
“Their city is going to get destroyed. I doubt they’ll mind,” Pavamana told him.
“Okay,” Odie replied a bit shakily. “P-please let me go on ahead, and d-d-d-do not let them stray from this path,” the Shurimon said as Pavamana loosened his hold. It allowed the Shurimon to climb onto the PileVolcamon’s shoulder and vault himself onto the building’s rooftops. Pavamana had to admit; it took a lot of skill to climb onto his shoulders while he was running and then be able to jump off of them with faultless grace.
The blacksmith continued running, along with other Digimon beside him, down the path. He noticed a few other people turn to alleyways and inside buildings, but the Bullmon didn’t seem to follow them. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one that noticed, and others decided to do the same. It didn’t take long for him to be the only one left being chased by the stampeding Bullmon. He heard a few people tell him to get inside a building or an alleyway, but he didn’t listen. He didn’t know if the Bullmon would change direction with him if he did, and Odie told him not to let them move from the path. He trusted Odie enough to keep himself from getting out of the way, even if he felt the stampede get closer to him.
“Pavamana!” he suddenly heard.
The PileVolcamon turned his head to see Odysseys waiting inside another alleyway. “In here!” he called out with a raised hand. “Before they pass by!”
Pavamana had to take a deep breath. He would need to jump, but his legs were already tired from having to run for so long. If he didn’t time it right and give enough effort, he would get trampled. He gritted his teeth.
“Here goes,” he muttered before taking one long step and using it to steady both of his legs before jumping towards Odysseus with a loud yell. It only took a heartbeat before he found himself tumbling beside the Shurimon. He had to wince his eyes at the impact of his body meeting ground, but he would take that over getting ran over by a multitude of heavy and hard-footed bulls.
As he pushed himself up to a sit, he heard Odysseus give a triumphant cheer. He also barely registered a lot of surprised yells and the sounds of more bodies hitting the ground. He looked over his shoulder to see what Odie had done.
The scene outside of the alley was a sight. Bullmon were on the ground, on their sides, on their backs or bellies, some over one another and Pavamana swore that he saw one right-side up with his horns embedded on the ground. “What did you…?” the PileVolcamon started, glancing at the Shurimon.
“Tripwire,” the ninjamon said sheepishly, pointing at a thick rope made of twisted cords of black wire that looked vaguely familiar. It was connected to a tree trunk on the other side of the street, while the one on their side was connected to one of the electric posts. Then he realized where they came from. “You cut the electric wires?” he asked in surprise, turning to the Shurimon.
“L-l-l-like I said, I don’t know i-i-i-if the people would like it,” Odie replied with a mutter, looking down and tinting a bit. “I r-r-r-remember mister Uren telling me they were strong and d-d-d-d-d-durable, so I thought they could handle the force,” he informed the larger and older Digimon.
“We can explain it to them later,” Pavamana said, standing up. “We should incapacitate them before they start another stampede,” the PileVolcamon said as some of the Bullmon began to get up.
“H-h-h-how?” Odie asked, turning to him.
To answer his question, Pavamana dashed towards the nearest standing Bullmon and hammered the four legged mammal’s head with two fists clenched together, causing the Bullmon to slam back down on the ground. It was also apparent that the Bullmon was not going to stand back up anytime soon. Pavamana didn’t even look at his handiwork; he was already on his way to sending another Bullmon to lala land.
“P-P-P-P-Pavamana!” Odie couldn’t help but call out as he ran out of the alleyway, grabbing the thick cord of wire that he had used to trip the Bullmon. The PileVolcamon was going to need help if he was going to knock out around twenty Bullmon unconscious. And that was only a rough headcount. It didn’t help that the Bullmon were standing up faster than Pav could put them back down.
“Um, granny Cher?” Kaleth asked, looking around.
“Yes, Kale?” the Babamon replied, too surprised by her surroundings to correct the Knightmon.
“I might be wrong, but I think there’s something going on,” he told her, frowning a bit behind his helmet.
“Of course something is going on!” Cher replied, stamping the end of her broom against the ground. “Not only are my crafters asleep, but so is everyone else!” she cried, pointing at the scene before them with her broom.
It really was an unusual sight. Digimon everywhere around them were asleep, some on their stalls, some sleeping against walls or sitting on chairs but most were passed out right in the middle of the street. Whatever spell was cast upon the denizens of the craftsman and their clientele, it spared no one.
“What do you make of this?” Fenrir asked Cogwej. Unusual happenings were the Wisemon’s expertise, so Fenrir thought it apt to ask him.
“Hmm,” the cloaked Digimon sounded, walking over to one of the Digimon. The first thing he did was nudge the body with his foot. When that got him no reaction, he got into a crouch and poked the body in different places multiple times. He turned to look at Fenrir. “Well, they’re not dead! They’re all in a deep state of sleep!”
“We knew that, Cogwej!” Fenrir growled back, folding his arms.
“Then why did you ask?” Cogwej replied, walking over. “Why waste my time when you are already aware of the situation? And I had thought that between you and Treegas, you were the intelligent one. As much as I hate to admit it, apparently, I was wrong,” the Wisemon said, folding his arms and trying look dignified. Fenrir kept himself from reaching out to strike the Wisemon on the back of his head; he didn’t need him to go on another ranting spree.
Deciding that he needed to gauge the situation himself, the Beowolfmon walked past Kaleth and Cher towards the most concentrated part of sleeping Digimon. He then closed his eyes and took a big whiff of his surroundings, taking in the various smells and searching for any unusual or out-of-place scents. He frowned and opened his eyes just in time to see something white shooting towards him. His reflexes kicked in and he was able to duck in the last second, the white projectile flying past his head. He looked where it came from, but he failed to see the one that sent it towards him.
“Fendrear, I just recalled- bah! What is this offending ball of wool!? I have never been so insul-“
The next thing Fenrir heard was a body falling down to the ground followed by loud snoring. He looked behind him to see that the Wisemon had succumbed to the same spell that affected the other Digimon. “Cogwej!”
“Evade, wolf!” Cher called out, pointing behind Fenrir. The Beowolfmon knew better to look behind him; that would cost him valuable seconds. Besides, he didn’t have to be a genius to realize that it was the same kind of projectile that caused Cogwej to suddenly become narcoleptic. He immediately jumped to the side and into a roll that allowed him to unsheathe his Beo Saber. He had also come up in time to see something pink and short jump behind a large body of a sleeping Digimon. Fenrir growled; so that was why he wasn’t able to spot them.
“Show yourself! We know you’re there!” he called out, staying in a crouching position. He was a smaller target that way.
“Looks like the jig is up!” a squeaky voice called out, although this one didn’t come from behind the large body.
“We better come out before the big baaaaaaad wolf gets angry!” another one said, coming from a different direction. Then right in front of Fenrir, a number of Digimon came out from hiding.
They were all very short Digimon, and their body was hidden by a sphere of pink wool. They had black, hoofed legs with tufts of wool around their ankles. As their bodies suggested, they had black, sheep-like heads a pair of yellow eyes, and large, red, inward curled horns. Mounted on their backs were machinery that reminded Fenrir of a jetpack, although it looked like it had been customized to become some sort of miniature cannon. The base of the machine was a simple trapezoid, and on each side were barrels with fanned out ends and smiley-faced ports.
“Sheepmon! Just as I suspected!” Cher’s voice suddenly shouted from behind Fenrir.
“There’s a whole herd of them!” Kale said, also close by. Fenrir had to stand up; he needed to do a proper headcount.
“Fourteen,” Fenrir said, stepping back so that he and the other two were close. It looked like he couldn’t rely on Cogwej to wake up anytime soon.
“Watch out for their attack! One hit, and you’re a goner!” the Babamon said, her back towards Fenrir and Kaleth.
“Um, isn’t this a bad position?” Kaleth suddenly asked, taking out the medium sized blade from his hip. “I mean, we’re surrounded, and we’re also all huddled up together.”
“Kaleth, this is a bad time to become smart!” Cher shouted, realizing the same time.
“Incoming!” Fenrir shouted just as all fourteen Sheepmon aimed their cannons at them.
“Wool Grenade!”
Using their agility to their advantage, both Fenrir and Cher jumped into the air to avoid the balls of wool that were shot towards them. Not having the same kind of speed, Kale opted to run towards one of the Sheepmon in hopes that he wouldn’t get hit, only to trip on a sleeping Digimon’s leg and fall flat on his face with a large clang. Whether by fate or fortune, his fall helped him avoid the fire of sleeping projectiles. It also helped that he had a large shield strapped on his back.
“Baaaaaa, we missed!” one of the Sheepmon cried.
“Get baaaaaaack!” another yelled, prompting all the short Digimon to suddenly run all around.
Fenrir growled, his eyes darting from one Sheepmon to another. They surprised him with their speed. He would be able to catch them, but it would take a lot of considerable time. He couldn’t even attack properly; it would only take one good short for them to take him out of the battle.
“Just take one of them out!” Cher’s voice cried. “They’re fast, but they have absolutely no combat ability! Just unnerve them, and they’ll scatter like the squealing sheep that they are!”
Fenrir ran towards one of the closer Sheepmon, only to jump away as another Sheepmon shot another ball of wool at him. “Damn it,” he cursed.
“You’re a wolf aren’t you!? Scare these sheep into submission!” the Babamon shouted from across the street, avoiding balls of wool that were shot towards her as well.
“Don’t be like that, mister wolf!” one the Sheepmon cried as he ran away from the Beowolfmon. “Wool you not like a nice dream instead?”
“Gosh!” Kale’s voice shouted from another end of the street, using his shield to keep from getting hit from any wool balls. “These sheep are as baaaaad as Taranis!”
“Don’t make me come over there and whack you with my broom, Kale!” Cher shouted as she jumped from vending stall to vending stall, using the obstacles to make it hard for the Sheepmon to aim for her. “I hear enough puns from my craftsmen after Taranis came along!”
“Come on, they’re not that baaaaad!” Kale replied as he swung his sword at the nearest Sheepmon, only for the smaller and faster Digimon to avoid it easily.
‘They want bad? I’ll give them bad,’ Fenrir thought, his frustration finally peaking. He let out a howl that stopped the Sheepmon in their tracks. Surrounding Fenrir’s body was the light of digivolution, and the sheep Digimon weren’t able to act fast enough before Fenrir revealed his lither and flight-capable form that was MagnaGarurumon.
“MagnaGarurumon’s not as strong, but it’s fast,” Fenrir said out loud, taking to the air and glaring at the Sheepmon around him. “Start running,” he growled out, taking to the air and pointing his armaments at the trembling Sheepmon.
“Run awaaaaaay!”
“So basically, we usually get to pick out jobs and missions from the big black bulletin board, or the Four B which I like to call it, but if we get really popular, then some people might start asking for us specifically,” Rickshana told Tiwaz as she sat on the railing of a balcony, swinging her legs freely. She, her uncle and Tiwaz were on a part of the guild house that was usually frequented by air-able Digimon, although some Digimon like she and Ashe liked visiting the place from time to time.
“We’re still relatively new to the guild though, so that’s going to take a while,” Ashemon added, looking at the cityscape in front of him and holding onto the bars of the railing, which was actually too tall for him. It made him look like a caged rabbit, and it took all of Tiwaz’s willpower not to rush over and give the Gargomon a bone crushing hug.
“What about Taranis and the others?” Tiwaz asked, leaning against the wall across from them. He was folding his arms tightly to keep them from straying. It helped distract him by talking.
“What about buggy?” Rickey asked, looking over her shoulder, looking very cute.
“Do they get requested too?” he asked, his fingers twitching.
“Sometimes. It usually depends on how good their work is, and Taranis makes really really good maps thanks to his memory,” she replied.
“Of course, it also means he has a few enemies in the guild,” Ashe said a bit forlornly. “Well, you can’t really help it. Everyone here is trying to support themselves and their families, so if someone does a better job than you do, then he gets better pay than you.”
“That sounds…discomforting,” the EmperorGreymon said with a grimace.
“Isn’t it the same for you, though?” Rickey asked him.
“Uh…I guess so,” Tiwaz replied, blinking. He hadn’t really thought of it.
“Well then- heeeeeey, what’s going on down there?” the Turuiemon suddenly said, looking down.
“What?” Ashe asked, doing the same, although it was difficult for him to do so.
“There are a bunch of Grizzmon scaring away our customers and destroying public property!” Rickey said with a frown, pointing down at the said Digimon.
The Grizzmon were all bears, or rather, grizzlies as their name suggested. They all had large bodies with dark blue fur and imposing, clawed feet. Their backs and manes had tinges of white which contrasted well with their dark colored fur. On their shoulders were red shoulder pads with three iron studs, and on their forepaws were dangerous, red clawed gauntlets. Their heads were purely bear-like, with sharp teeth and narrowed eyes. Between their eyes was a white shape of a moon.
“That’s just bad for business! Come on, Ashe, let’s go teach them a lesson!” Rickey told her uncle, standing up on the railing.
“H-hey! That’s dangerous!” Tiwaz called out to the Turuiemon.
“Oh, I’ll be fine. I’ve done this hundreds of times before!” the rabbit Digimon replied, looking about ready to jump.
“We’re four stories high!” Tiwaz tried. It was more of his instinctual reflex to protect all rabbits than real common sense, considering that he knew a number of Digimon that could survive such a high fall.
“Hasn’t stopped her before,” Ashe said with a grunt as he too started to climb over the railing.
“Don’t be a slowpoke, Ashe!” Rickey said with a large grin. “I’m gonna go ahead!” she then said, jumping off the railing, Tiwaz shouting after her with large, shocked eyes.
“Hey, wait for me! I have to catch you remember!?” the Gargomon yelled as he tossed himself over the railing as well.
“But who’s going to catch you!?” Tiwaz yelled back, his hands on the railing. He was about to jump after them – who cared about a few broken leg bones? They would heal within a few months – until he saw that both the lapin Digimon were covered in light…the light of digivolution, Tiwaz realized.
The light around Rickshana melted off first. Her new body was taller and lankier and covered with brown fur, bar a thick bar of white fur between her eyes. She had long arms that reached all the way below her knees and had white markings. She seemed to have exchanged the yellow ninja suit for white armor on her shoulders and chest and red armor on her torso, and while her legs were adorned with pale pink pants. On her rabbit-like head she had three small horns and a purple scarf draped around her neck. Tiwaz recognized her as an Antyllamon.
Ashemon, meanwhile, still had a shorter body, although his new one was much thinner than his previous form. He was clad in green armor which covered his long and wing-like ears, upper body, pelvis, and feet. He also had white fur that could be seen on his exposed torso and legs. Instead of hands, he had two cannons, and he had a giant, black cylinder on his back that held twelve missile ports. On his rabbit like head, he wore a green helmet that left his face bare and had a large green horn. He had digivolved into a Rapidmon.
As Ashemon grabbed his niece by the waist, their descent also began to slow down, reminding Tiwaz that Rapidmon were also capable of booster-powered flight, much to his relief. That didn’t mean he was going to just stand by, however. At the very least, he wouldn’t have to jump down the balcony after them, and he dashed out of the balcony and back into the building.
Meanwhile, down below, Ashe had dropped Rickey on one of the unsuspecting Grizzmon.
“Hey there, big bears!” Rickey said as she slammed her fists onto the Grizzmon’s head, alerting the other ursine Digimon to her and her uncle’s presence.
“Let’s play!”
“Where are they!?”
Taranis groaned as he made what might have been his fifth round through the guild house’s main rooms. “It can’t take that long to give Tiwaz a tour around the building!” he said, folding his arms and looking around. He didn’t see scale or hair of the EmperorGreymon or the two rabbit Digimon that accompanied him. However, he did see a Toucanmon postman fly by frantically towards the guildmaster’s room. He could even hear the avian Digimon shouting ‘Emergency’ over and over again.
“Wait.” Taranis blinked. “Emergency?”
He grimaced. ‘Oh please, please, please don’t let it involve Tiwaz and the others!’ he thought, deciding to follow the Toucanmon towards the room just in case in did.
Before he could follow through with his decision, however, a loud gunshot rang loudly into the lobby, followed by a wall that suddenly broke into splinters. It also caused Taranis to dive for the floor and cover his head with a yell, something which a number of the room’s occupants did.
“Er, on second thought, I’m sure they can handle it!” he yelped, not planning on moving from his spot anytime soon.
“What is going on here!?” the loud voice of the guild master suddenly shouted. Taranis couldn’t help but turn his head to the side just to see the large and imposing amphibian appear, along with a few hopeful cheers.
“So you’re the guild master, eh?” another loud voice, this one Taranis didn’t recognize, said with disdain. “How could someone so fat and slow be a master of anything?” the voice taunted. The Beetlemon turned his head to look at whoever had the gall to insult their master.
It was a large Digimon of a man. He looked to be as big as the guild master, albeit with muscles instead of fat and dark violet fur instead of red skin. He had bear like features and extremely large limbs, and he also wore a black sleeveless vest, along with a pair of black pants. Underneath his vest and crisscrossing his chest were two yellow belts of bullets. His left arm ended with a large clawed hand, and his right arm had a triple-barreled gun mounted on it. Since he had large clawed hands, it was just as predictable that he had large clawed feet. His head was small compared to his body, and it had bear like qualities with a pair of bat-like ears. Although Taranis had never seen one before, he would soon be later told that he was a Callismon.
Flanking the Callismon’s sides were two more Digimon.
The one to his right was a black Digimon with a centaur-like body. His lower body was that of a bull, along with the tail and hooves of one, and had yellow markings all over it. Each ankle had a red bracer with gold rims. His upper body was that of a muscular man with red armor: a breastplate, shoulder guards, gauntlets and a guard on his pelvis. Connect to the guard was a long purple cloth that held two sheathed blades. He had the head of a bull, complete with two large curved yellow horns on the sides of this temple and one small horn between them.
The second one was white compared to the other Digimon’s black, although he too had a similar body type. His lower body belonged to that of a stout ram, albeit one with long legs that looked like it wore brown socks. He even had the round tail of a sheep. Unlike the other Digimon, he wasn’t quite as muscular, but he had long arms and a crossbow on one of them. He also had purple armor on his chest and arms, along with a red cloth belt and scarf. His head was that of a sheep’s, although the wool did not cover his black face. On the side of his head, he also had a pair of large purple horns – larger than his black counterpart’s – and a single purple horn in the middle.
Taranis recognized those two; they were the species of the so-called twelve devas of the land. They were a Vajramon and a Pajiramon respectively.
“Hey, you can’t call out master that!” one of the Digimon called out, only to squeak when the Pajiramon pointed his crossbow at him.
“Do you have complaints, lowlife?” the sheep-centaur asked in a dangerously low voice.
“I suggest you point that weapon away from my guild member if you do not want to get hurt, lamb,” Geo stated as he walked towards them with his awkward gait.
“Oooh, scary! You better do what he says, Micchie, or else,” the Vajramon said with a sarcastic voice.
“Don’t you want to see what he can to Richter?” the Panjamon asked, not pointing his crossbow away. “Besides, I don’t think he can stop me with that big fat body of his,” the sheep centaur said with a sneer.
“Shut up, both of you!” the Callismon said, glaring at them. “We’re not here to play with small game,” the bear Digimon told them, although his word were not sincere at all.
“Yes sir, Clive, sir,” both of the centaurs said with a grimace.
“I suggest you leave before you do,” the guild master said, folding his arms.
“I’m afraid we can’t do that, not yet,” Clive told the amphibian. “You see, we’re looking for someone, a group actually. They arrived here two days ago. They have something that we want. So if you can just hand him over, then we’ll leave,” the Callismon said, giving the ShogunGekomon a wide, evil grin.
‘Two days ago?’ Taranis thought to himself in panic. ‘Crap! Are these the bandits that Fenrir said were tailing us!?’
“You misunderstand, bear,” Geo said with a glare. “That was not a request.”
“Ha!” Clive shouted in amusement. “And who’s going to make us? You? Or any of these pathetic lots?” the Callismon asked, swinging his arms to all the Digimon that were against the ground.
“Sir!” a female voice whispered behind Geo. “The adventurer branch is understaffed right now; all the adventurer guild members above two star are out on jobs, even the branch head! Reports also say that a group of Grizzmon are waiting outside of the guild and that they are also under their orders!”
“I can handle it Rise,” Geo mumbled over his shoulder as the Floramon went back to hiding. He then turned back to the trio. “Do not underestimate me just because of how I look. I’ll kick all three of you out of this town before you can even think of trying to cause trouble.”
“Well, I’m sorry to inform you, but you’re already too late,” the Callismon replied with a fiendish grin. “Oh wait, no I’m not!”
“My Bullmon are already stampeding down the streets as we speak,” Richter said.
“And my Sheepmon are sending all your townspeople to sleep,” Micchie added proudly. “By now, I bet that about one fifth of your town is already under our jurisdiction.”
“And if that doesn’t frighten you, I think my Grizzmon outside will change your mind,” Clive then bellowed, sweeping his arms around.
“Oh, they weren’t that tough,” a voice behind trio suddenly said.
Clive, Richter and Micchie all looked behind them to see who had said that, and all three saw a tall and lanky Antyllamon waving at them.
“Seriously though, if you’re going to threaten us, at least make sure you can back them up first,” Rickey said, folding her arms.
“Don’t be so mean to them, Rickey,” Ashe’s said from behind her. “It’s not their fault that they weren’t that strong. I really think that they thought that they were a formidable enough force.”
“You lie!” Richter called out, swinging his arm. “The Grizzmon force are our strongest group!”
“Guess that means you guys aren’t that strong, either,” Rickey said, sticking out her tongue at them.
“Hm…thank you Rickshana, Ashemon,” Geo’s voice suddenly called out, bringing attention back to him. “When this is over, I am promoting both of you to three star adventurers.”
The Antyllamon’s face suddenly lit up. “You heard that, Uncle Ashe!? We’re getting promoted!” she said, grabbing the Rapidmon by the shoulders and twirling them around happily.
“Gah! No spinning! Lemme go, Rickey! Lemme go, lemme go, lemme gooooo!” the Rapidmon cried, grabbing onto his niece’s arms and trying to pry them off.
“The fools! They have the gall to make fun of us!?” Micchie snarled, raising her crossbow at them.
“Didn’t I tell you not to point that at any of my guild members?” Geo’s voice suddenly called out dangerously.
“Or what, frog man!? You gonna croak me to death?” the Panjamon said, turning around, only to see that Geo was no longer a ShogunGekomon. The guild master had digivolved into a higher form.
His new form was decidedly smaller, although he looked more intimidating in it. His body had all but minimized into a spherical shape with spikes all over him, the only things coming out of it being a torn up fishtail behind him and two overly muscular arms with steel plated and spiked gauntlets, under which were red bandages. His left bicep was adorned with a yellow tattoo of an anchor, and his right was covered in white bandages. His spherical body was composed of his head and a number of spikes protruding from him, and on his head was a helmet with a number of sharp spikes and two holes for his red eyes. He was a pufferfish digmon that went by the name of Pukumon.
“A fish?” Clive suddenly called out with a grin. “I eat fish for lunch!” the Callismon called out, laughing. The next moment, he suddenly felt a painful sensation on the side of his face. He was also sent flying over Rickey’s and Ashe’s heads out of the building.
“Britain Punch,” Geo said, having crossed the room within the span of a second and slammed his spiked fist into the Callismon’s face.
‘So this is the strength…of a guild master?’ the bandit thought before falling unconscious.
Said guild master turned to look at the other two bandits left in the room.
“I warned you.”
“So these are your friends, Taranis?”
“Um, yeah, they are,” Taranis told the guild master, rubbing the back of his head. He, Tiwaz, Fenrir, Cogwej, Pavamana and Odysseus were all seated around a circular table, accompanied by Rickey, Ashe, Kaleth, branch head Cher, the innkeeper Uren, and Geo, all of whom were back in their original forms.
“You didn’t tell me that you were one of the guild’s branch heads,” Pavamana said to the Monzaemon innkeeper, who only chuckled in reply.
“I prefer to let my guests find that out on their own. It allows me to learn a bit about our occasional outside clients,” Uren, who was actually the merchant branch head, replied with a wink. “I, personally, am impressed that you and your young friend here were able to hogtie twenty seven Bullmon within an hour.”
The PileVolcamon shook his head and gave a small grin. “It was Odysseus who came up with the idea, and I just helped bring them down so he could do his work.”
The Shurimon blushed under his white mask. “I c-c-c-c-couldn’t have done it without your h-h-h-h-help though,” he told the older Digimon.
On the other side of the table, Kaleth was narrating the events that led to the Sheepmon’s submission. “You should have seen him, Ranis! He just started zooming all around, catching one Sheepmon after another before dumping them all in one big pile!” the Knightmon said, acting out with his hands what Fenrir had done to capture the sleep-causing Digimon. “Then he just hovered over them with that glare of his, and none of them moved a single muscle!”
“Heh, I guess Fenrir didn’t need to use the old wolf in sheep’s clothing trick. He must have some sheepdog in him,” Taranis replied, earning a glare from Fenrir. “Well, anyway, what I really want to know is how that happened,” the Beetlemon then said. He pointed to Cher and Cogwej, the latter of which was still sleeping in his seat while his arm was being clung on by the Babamon.
“Er, I really have no idea,” Kale replied, looking at the two.
A few seats away, Rickey was asking what Tiwaz had been doing while she, her uncle and the guild master took down the bandits. “Come on, Tiwaz! Tell me! Did you have to go to the potty? Or maybe you tripped and fell unconscious or something?” the Turuiemon asked, leaning close to him.
Blushing a bit, Tiwaz looked away and folding his arms. “I told you, I was helping someone in need!” he said, although that had been far from the truth. He had actually gotten lost on his way to the lobby. While Ashe and Rickey had done a good job showing him around, they had moved around too fast for him to figure out how to go where.
“Stop bothering him, Rickey,” Ashe said, sitting on the other side of the EmperorGreymon. “It was your fault for jumping all the way from the balcony.”
“She did that again?” Taranis suddenly asked from his seat.
“Please, Taranis, it’s Rickshana!”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing, Uncle Ashe,” the Turuiemon called out with a Cheshire grin.
“Silence!” Geo’s Horn Blastered enhanced voice suddenly commanded, and in an instant, the room suddenly quieted. “Finally, I can finally talk without getting interrupted by the noise.”
“Tut tut, Geo,” Cher said from her seat beside him. “No need to raise your voice; you’ll wake poor old Coggie-wojjie,” she said, caressing the snoring Wisemon’s arm.
“Trust us, that old geezer won’t wake up unless he gets hungry,” Tiwaz told her with a huff as he folded his arms. “Plus, somebody remind me what we’re doing here again? I thought we were heading out as soon as possible,” the EmperorGreymon said.
“That’s what we’re here to talk about,” the guild master said, rubbing his palms together. “After doing so much for the town, we couldn’t allow our honored guests to leave without any form of reward.”
“We don’t need it,” Tiwaz said with a grunt.
“Says the one who didn’t do anything,” Fenrir muttered.
“I heard that, mutt!” the dragon man said, glaring at the Beowolfmon.
“It would depend on the reward,” Fenrir then said, ignoring Tiwaz. He wasn’t going to pass up on making this journey easier and faster for them, not to mention it would be a warm welcome compared to how much Cogwej wasted during their market trip. “We can’t bring anything that would slow us down or anything else of the sort.”
“Actually, I suggested that we give you something that would help you on your journey,” Uren then said with a smile. “From what Pavamana had told me earlier, you are all headed to the port town of Frostholme next, correct?”
“Uh, is that what Cogwej said?” Tiwaz asked with a grimace.
“He pointed it out in one of Taranis’ maps,” Pavamana informed him. “It is the right name, I assure you.”
“Oh, thank Buri,” the EmperorGreymon muttered.
“What does that have to do with our reward?” Fenrir asked with a raised eyebrow.
“To get to the port town, you will have to cross the ocean. The trip will take you about two weeks, not counting the walk to the closest dock. If you walked there, it would take a month, unless you take a caravan, which would half your travel time,” Geo told them. “We’re inviting you to join one of the merchant branch’s caravan to the dock, as well as offering to pay for your boat fare.”
“And I’ll escort all of you personally!” Cher said, sighing as she hugged Cog’s arm. “More time to spend with my new beau!” she said, earning a few strange looks.
“That s-s-sounds reasonable,” Odysseus said with a soft smile. “That would mean it w-w-w-would only take one month’s time to get to our next destination.”
“It’s settled then?” the ShogunGekomon asked with a large smile.
“Well, I wouldn’t say no to a faster trip,” Tiwaz muttered, although he looked worried about something.
“We’ll take it,” Fenrir decided for them with a nod.
“By the way,” Pavamana cut in. “Did you find out what the bandits were doing here in the first place? I can hardly believe that they attacked a whole town just because Cogwej took a few pieces of fruit.”
Geo let out a short croak of a grunt. “Apparently, the two centaurmen think the same way, but they pretty much always follow what their boss, the Callismon, tell them to. And so far, he’s been rambling on and on about not knowing what’s going on ever since he woke up.”
“I guess you could say you knocked his brains out, along with his memory, with that punch of yours,” Taranis said with a large grin.
“Until he remembers, we’ll keep him confined behind bars,” the ShogunGekomon said with a grunt. “None of you have to worry about a thing.”
“Hmm…Frostholme, Frostholme, Frostholme,” Ashe muttered to himself, folding his arms and thinking. He had been doing that ever since the name had been mentioned. “Where did I hear that name before?”
“Oh, I know!” Rickshana told him, garnering everyone’s attention. “There was a job notice on the Four B! Someone wanted a guild member or two from the adventurer branch to deal with some local raiders!” she said excitedly.
“Hey, that means you guys might be able to come with us!” Taranis said happily.
“Hm…well, if it’s for the guild, then it’s certainly of no problem to me,” Geo said with a small smile. “But first, we need to pick someone for the job, but who…?”
“Ugh, typical bandits, can’t do anything right,” a feminine voice muttered in the shadows of an alleyway. “I bring them all the way in the city undetected, and they still get beat up.”
The silhouette of the figure that had followed the group since the forest pulled away from the wall she was leaning on. “And here I thought I finally had a chance to grab the relics once and for all. The Wisemon was even asleep! But the stupid idiots couldn’t even distract them for longer than two hours,” she growled to herself.
“Next time, the old man needs to be separated from the group,” she planned out as she started to walk out of the alley. “It’s only a matter of time before he does.”
She then grunted.
“Frostholme port town…looks like it’s his turn,” she thought to herself as she stepped out into the bright sun and into the thick crowd of the city streets.
The guild master was one of the largest Digimon in the guild. He towered over many other Digimon, both with his tall watermelon red body and with his yellow protruding belly. He had a very prominent bellybutton, comically adorned with two bandages positioned into an x mark. Around his neck were many large leaves, and projecting from his shoulder blades and over his shoulders were two, large yellow horns that he usually used to gather the guild member’s attention. His hands and feet were large and webbed, although they had accustomed themselves to daily manual labor quite well. Above a big mouth, he had a red mustache that didn’t look like it suited him at all and a pair of yellow eyes with a glazed look that belied the intense focus that the guild master had. Finally, behind his head protruded a long thick stalk that bent over his head and ended with many purple frills. Geo Dornae, master of the Traveller’s Guild and one of the two leaders of the town, was a ShogunGekomon.
It was turning out to be another usual day until he heard a knock on the door.
“Harumph,” the large amphibious Digimon grunted, glancing at a reused-broken-then-fixed-again clock on the wall closest to him. “Too early for dinner, too late for mail. Either a guest or a guild member,” he noted as he turned back to the door. “Come in!”
The door opened slowly, and the head of a Floramon popped in.
“Rise, what is it?” Geo asked, putting down his writing pen.
“It’s Taranis Valthor, sir. He wants to speak with you,” the flowery Digimon said with a light tone.
“Taranis? Again?” the ShogunGekomon asked with a raised eyebrow. “What now?”
“He did not tell me, sir, but he says it’s important. And judging from the logs he just gave me, he has a very interesting story to tell,” the guildmaster’s secretary and head archivist said, a twinkle in her eye.
“It should be if he’s already coming to see me before his probation is over,” Geo told her, putting his large palms together. “Let him in.”
“Yes, sir!” the Floramon said, pulling away and closing the door behind her.
Whistling a carefree tune, she walked down the hallway and down a flight of stairs. At the end, Taranis was waiting nervously. “The guild master will see you now,” she told the insect Digimon. “Good luck,” she told him with a smile.
“Yeah, thanks Rise,” Taranis replied as he walked up the stairs and down the hallway towards the guild master’s office. With a deep breath, he rapped the door three times.
“Come in, Valthor,” came the guild master’s booming voice.
“Okay, relax,” Taranis told himself. “Don’t make any jokes about his horns again,” he reminded himself as he opened the door and coming in. The Beetlemon grinned at the ShogunGekomon even though he knew that the toad Digimon would not be able to see it behind his helmet.
“Good morning, master Geo,” he said, nodding as he walked over between the two chairs in front of the desk. He didn’t dare try to sit on either one, though.
“It would a better morning if you have any good news for me, Valthor,” the red Digimon said, looking at him and evaluating his person. He raised an eyebrow ever so slightly, too subtle for Taranis to notice even with his exceptional eyesight and memory, when he observed a change in the Beetlemon’s countenance compared to the last time.
“Well, it depends, which do you want first: the good news or the bad news?” Taranis tried with a chipper tone.
For one long, silent moment, the ShogunGekomon gave Taranis a long unnerving look. The Beetlemon was already half-ready to bolt out of the room before Geo could give him a weakened but nonetheless stinging “Horn Howling” attack that he always used whenever he got especially annoyed. The Beetlemon had already been at the receiving end of one a multitude of times.
“Let’s start with your bad news,” Geo suddenly said, the sound of his voice causing Taranis to cringe.
“W-what?” the Beetlemon said, blinking.
Geo chuckled and folded his arms. “The bad news first, Valthor. Then maybe your good news will make it seem less bad,” the ShogunGekomon said as he looked down at him.
“Oh! Uh, right!” Taranis said with a grin, letting out a sigh of relief in his head. One landmine down…
“Well, remember the new mapping materials and tools you just got me after the last incident in the port town?” he asked, rubbing the back of his neck. The guild master grinned.
“Ah, yes, paper made from top quality wood that will last long and absorb ink well, measuring tools made with the durable metal and with the most exact measurements, pens of various colors, thickness and depth to make optimal maps with, all made by our very best craftsmen with the very best materials,” Geo said with glee. It was obvious that he was proud of the accomplishments of his guild members when it came to them. “Have they served you well, Valthor?” he asked with a smile.
“Er, yeah,” Taranis replied with a nervous smile. “Up until I lost them anyway.” Geo blinked silently at him, his smile still on his face. After a minute of silence, Taranis had to say something. “S-sir?”
”You lost them!?” the ShogunGekomon shouted, standing up and slamming his palms onto his desks as his horns blared, sending a wave of sound that pushed Taranis off of his feet and onto the ground.
Taranis’ eye twitched as he pushed himself back up, knowing that downstairs, Rise had counted, “One.” He was determined not to get another ‘Horn Howling’ enhanced yell. He was especially determined not to be that month’s member who got the most Horn Howling Yells in one session with the master…again. Buri forbid he break the record of seventeen in one session, although he never really got that close.
“I’m sorry!” the Beetlemon apologized as he stood back up. “It was an accide- well, no, it wasn’t, but I have a very good explanation for it!” he said before Geo could prepare another yelling blast. He even bowed his head and clapped his hands together.
“Then explain,” Geo said, sitting back down and folding his arms over his large chest.
Then quickly and in detail, Taranis started to narrate the events that had happened since he entered his last target location, which was the Enigmatic Woods. He told the guild master about already starting to map things out – bringing out all his materials so that he knew what was where - before meeting with a Wisemon, being captured by the insects of the insect village, meeting an EmperorGreymon, and then getting escorted to the insect villages. He wasn’t allowed to bring his materials with him that time, and he lost his materials then. He was only able to bring his old mapworks and a few other old tools.
Then without meaning to, he started to talk about the events that had transpired in the forest. Silently, Geo listened to Taranis’ tale, not moving or talking once. He knew Taranis’ habit of telling a story like this one; it was usually best for him to listen until he gathered all the information he could get. It wasn’t until Taranis reached the part where he was invited by Tiwaz to join their group did they stop.
Taranis took deep breaths as he finished his story. He looked down and blinked; he hadn’t even noticed when he had taken a seat on one of the chairs.
“Hum…so to sum it up, you lost track of your materials,” Geo said with an unsmiling expression.
“Uhhhh,” Taranis muttered. He couldn’t really say anything to oppose Geo’s conclusion. “Y-yeah…I lost it,” he said lamely with a grimace.
“And you are on probation, Valthor,” Geo said, folding his arms and looking at Taranis harshly. “I hope you know what the consequences are.”
Taranis winced. “Y-yeah. I’m suspended from the guild for a whole year, and I’m not allowed to go on any guild jobs or use guild resources during that time,” the beetle Digimon said with a grimace.
The ShogunGekomon nodded. Then to Taranis surprise, he smiled. “That should give you enough time to travel with your new companions at your leisure without having to report back or deliver any logs for archiving,” he told the Beetlemon.
Taranis had to give a wide grin that could even be seen through his eyes. “Hey, you’re right!”
“That should pacify the need for you to be punished according to guild law, and with your…special memory, I am sure you will be able to map out every detail of your journey. And since you have made old maps, I am sure you will not need to use any of the guild maps, which also means you are allowed to make any additions or changes in them and only make new changes onto our maps when you get back,” Geo told the Beetlemon as if he didn’t know them. “Of course, since you are no longer a part of the guild for a one year duration, you are now a paying customer. I am sure you will be able to purchase supplies from our guild and other branches in other towns. Why, you might even pave way for more branches to be made in more towns… Yes, I am sure that you will become a valuable asset to your companions,” he then added with another nod.
Taranis had to chuckle. Even when he was supposed to be suspended, the guild master still had work for him to do. Not that he minded.
“Oh, and master Geo,” Taranis then said, garnering the attention of the ShogunGekomon. “The Enigmatic Woods should be safe to traverse now. Without them having to protect their artifact anymore, they don’t need to keep anyone out,” the Beetlemon said with a grin.
“They will also want to learn as much of the world which they have not visited in a long time,” Geo said, more to himself than Taranis. Then he grinned widely. “I will dispatch some of our members as soon as possible; I am sure that we will be able to learn from them as much as they will learn from us!” he decided.
The ShogunGekomon gave Taranis a proud smile. “You have done the guild a great service, Taranis Valthor.”
Taranis had to chuckle, blushing hard inside his helmet. It wasn’t every day that he the guild master praised him. “Thanks, but my friends did most of the work,” he told the ShogunGekomon. “Which reminds me, I think I should see how they’re doing. They’re planning on leaving as soon as I’m done here.”
“I see,” Geo said, folding his arms. “I would have liked to meet your friends, but if they are in a hurry to complete their quest, then I won’t keep you. Just keep yourself out of trouble, and don’t give them any trouble,” he told the Beetlemon.
“I won’t,” Taranis told his guild master.
For some reason, as Taranis told that to Geo, he had the strangest feeling that he didn’t really have a choice in the matter.
-
“Thank you very much,” Odie said, nodding to the man that took his letter. He hoped he had given an accurate and detailed enough direction for whoever would send the letter back to his village. He told them that his name would most probably get the postmen in, especially since he had become a bit of a novelty in the forest. He was travelling with the man- no, the men of the prophecy after all.
“You’re welcome, mister Hayashi,” the postman, a bird-like Digimon that he recognized as a Toucanmon, told him. The avian Digimon had black feathers, an overly large and colorful beak, short black wings that didn’t look like it could support flight, and a body that was encased by a red egg shell, which had been painted to look like overalls. On the top of his head was a postman’s cap, which Odie assumed was because of his occupation.
The Shurimon smiled and turned back to Pavamana, who was waiting by the door. As he walked towards the PileVolcamon, however, he noted a serious expression on his face.
“Is there s-s-s-something wrong?” the ninja asked.
“There’s something going on outside,” the larger blacksmith said, looking out the door. He was looking down a street where he could see a number of Digimon running away. He could faintly hear yelling and screaming that was slowly growing. From the looks of other people and storeowners, he wasn’t the only one that noticed.
Odie frowned and looked as well. “Should we g-g-go check?”
“I’m not usually curious, but Tiwaz and Cogwej must be influencing me,” Pavamana said with a small smile at the Shurimon. “Let’s go,” he then said, jogging out of the building and towards the commotion. Odysseus followed suit quickly, his hand shurikens falling from his leafy mantle before he grabbed them with practiced ease.
To their fortune, both Pavamana and Odie were given a wide berth, which made it easy for them to pass through the crowd to see what was causing the commotion. Odie couldn’t help but think that the sounds of many loud footsteps should give him a clue of what was happening; it was definitely too loud and heavy to be the many Digimon running past them.
In front of him, Odie heard Pavamana say the word ‘Gah!’ and then skidded to a stop, turned to his back, and started running towards him. “The other way, Odysseus! Run the other way!” he called out.
Odie was too surprised by the sudden turn of event to react properly, and instead of doing what he was told to do, Pavamana quickly decided to grab the Shurimon by the torso. In quick succession, the PileVolcamon proceeded to carry him over his shoulder, careful not to impale the Shurimon on his spikes. It also allowed Odie to see what Pavamana was running from.
The Shurimon had to blink a few times to register what he was seeing. They were being followed by a stampede of Bullmon, cape-wearing, blue-armored and helmeted bull Digimon with large golden horns. Odie couldn’t even do a headcount of the Digimon. The dust they created made it hard to. They also left a trail of destruction behind them.
“O-oh dear,” was all Odie could say.
“We need to stop them!” Pavamana said the obvious, looking around. He just didn’t know how. He was physically strong, but even with Odie’s help, he couldn’t take all of them. “We need a plan!”
Odie bit his lip behind his mask. He looked around, trying to think of one that could help them. Then he saw what he needed. “I g-g-g-got one, but I don’t know if the people w-w-w-w-will approve,” he told the PileVolcamon.
“Their city is going to get destroyed. I doubt they’ll mind,” Pavamana told him.
“Okay,” Odie replied a bit shakily. “P-please let me go on ahead, and d-d-d-do not let them stray from this path,” the Shurimon said as Pavamana loosened his hold. It allowed the Shurimon to climb onto the PileVolcamon’s shoulder and vault himself onto the building’s rooftops. Pavamana had to admit; it took a lot of skill to climb onto his shoulders while he was running and then be able to jump off of them with faultless grace.
The blacksmith continued running, along with other Digimon beside him, down the path. He noticed a few other people turn to alleyways and inside buildings, but the Bullmon didn’t seem to follow them. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one that noticed, and others decided to do the same. It didn’t take long for him to be the only one left being chased by the stampeding Bullmon. He heard a few people tell him to get inside a building or an alleyway, but he didn’t listen. He didn’t know if the Bullmon would change direction with him if he did, and Odie told him not to let them move from the path. He trusted Odie enough to keep himself from getting out of the way, even if he felt the stampede get closer to him.
“Pavamana!” he suddenly heard.
The PileVolcamon turned his head to see Odysseys waiting inside another alleyway. “In here!” he called out with a raised hand. “Before they pass by!”
Pavamana had to take a deep breath. He would need to jump, but his legs were already tired from having to run for so long. If he didn’t time it right and give enough effort, he would get trampled. He gritted his teeth.
“Here goes,” he muttered before taking one long step and using it to steady both of his legs before jumping towards Odysseus with a loud yell. It only took a heartbeat before he found himself tumbling beside the Shurimon. He had to wince his eyes at the impact of his body meeting ground, but he would take that over getting ran over by a multitude of heavy and hard-footed bulls.
As he pushed himself up to a sit, he heard Odysseus give a triumphant cheer. He also barely registered a lot of surprised yells and the sounds of more bodies hitting the ground. He looked over his shoulder to see what Odie had done.
The scene outside of the alley was a sight. Bullmon were on the ground, on their sides, on their backs or bellies, some over one another and Pavamana swore that he saw one right-side up with his horns embedded on the ground. “What did you…?” the PileVolcamon started, glancing at the Shurimon.
“Tripwire,” the ninjamon said sheepishly, pointing at a thick rope made of twisted cords of black wire that looked vaguely familiar. It was connected to a tree trunk on the other side of the street, while the one on their side was connected to one of the electric posts. Then he realized where they came from. “You cut the electric wires?” he asked in surprise, turning to the Shurimon.
“L-l-l-like I said, I don’t know i-i-i-if the people would like it,” Odie replied with a mutter, looking down and tinting a bit. “I r-r-r-remember mister Uren telling me they were strong and d-d-d-d-d-durable, so I thought they could handle the force,” he informed the larger and older Digimon.
“We can explain it to them later,” Pavamana said, standing up. “We should incapacitate them before they start another stampede,” the PileVolcamon said as some of the Bullmon began to get up.
“H-h-h-how?” Odie asked, turning to him.
To answer his question, Pavamana dashed towards the nearest standing Bullmon and hammered the four legged mammal’s head with two fists clenched together, causing the Bullmon to slam back down on the ground. It was also apparent that the Bullmon was not going to stand back up anytime soon. Pavamana didn’t even look at his handiwork; he was already on his way to sending another Bullmon to lala land.
“P-P-P-P-Pavamana!” Odie couldn’t help but call out as he ran out of the alleyway, grabbing the thick cord of wire that he had used to trip the Bullmon. The PileVolcamon was going to need help if he was going to knock out around twenty Bullmon unconscious. And that was only a rough headcount. It didn’t help that the Bullmon were standing up faster than Pav could put them back down.
-
“Um, granny Cher?” Kaleth asked, looking around.
“Yes, Kale?” the Babamon replied, too surprised by her surroundings to correct the Knightmon.
“I might be wrong, but I think there’s something going on,” he told her, frowning a bit behind his helmet.
“Of course something is going on!” Cher replied, stamping the end of her broom against the ground. “Not only are my crafters asleep, but so is everyone else!” she cried, pointing at the scene before them with her broom.
It really was an unusual sight. Digimon everywhere around them were asleep, some on their stalls, some sleeping against walls or sitting on chairs but most were passed out right in the middle of the street. Whatever spell was cast upon the denizens of the craftsman and their clientele, it spared no one.
“What do you make of this?” Fenrir asked Cogwej. Unusual happenings were the Wisemon’s expertise, so Fenrir thought it apt to ask him.
“Hmm,” the cloaked Digimon sounded, walking over to one of the Digimon. The first thing he did was nudge the body with his foot. When that got him no reaction, he got into a crouch and poked the body in different places multiple times. He turned to look at Fenrir. “Well, they’re not dead! They’re all in a deep state of sleep!”
“We knew that, Cogwej!” Fenrir growled back, folding his arms.
“Then why did you ask?” Cogwej replied, walking over. “Why waste my time when you are already aware of the situation? And I had thought that between you and Treegas, you were the intelligent one. As much as I hate to admit it, apparently, I was wrong,” the Wisemon said, folding his arms and trying look dignified. Fenrir kept himself from reaching out to strike the Wisemon on the back of his head; he didn’t need him to go on another ranting spree.
Deciding that he needed to gauge the situation himself, the Beowolfmon walked past Kaleth and Cher towards the most concentrated part of sleeping Digimon. He then closed his eyes and took a big whiff of his surroundings, taking in the various smells and searching for any unusual or out-of-place scents. He frowned and opened his eyes just in time to see something white shooting towards him. His reflexes kicked in and he was able to duck in the last second, the white projectile flying past his head. He looked where it came from, but he failed to see the one that sent it towards him.
“Fendrear, I just recalled- bah! What is this offending ball of wool!? I have never been so insul-“
The next thing Fenrir heard was a body falling down to the ground followed by loud snoring. He looked behind him to see that the Wisemon had succumbed to the same spell that affected the other Digimon. “Cogwej!”
“Evade, wolf!” Cher called out, pointing behind Fenrir. The Beowolfmon knew better to look behind him; that would cost him valuable seconds. Besides, he didn’t have to be a genius to realize that it was the same kind of projectile that caused Cogwej to suddenly become narcoleptic. He immediately jumped to the side and into a roll that allowed him to unsheathe his Beo Saber. He had also come up in time to see something pink and short jump behind a large body of a sleeping Digimon. Fenrir growled; so that was why he wasn’t able to spot them.
“Show yourself! We know you’re there!” he called out, staying in a crouching position. He was a smaller target that way.
“Looks like the jig is up!” a squeaky voice called out, although this one didn’t come from behind the large body.
“We better come out before the big baaaaaaad wolf gets angry!” another one said, coming from a different direction. Then right in front of Fenrir, a number of Digimon came out from hiding.
They were all very short Digimon, and their body was hidden by a sphere of pink wool. They had black, hoofed legs with tufts of wool around their ankles. As their bodies suggested, they had black, sheep-like heads a pair of yellow eyes, and large, red, inward curled horns. Mounted on their backs were machinery that reminded Fenrir of a jetpack, although it looked like it had been customized to become some sort of miniature cannon. The base of the machine was a simple trapezoid, and on each side were barrels with fanned out ends and smiley-faced ports.
“Sheepmon! Just as I suspected!” Cher’s voice suddenly shouted from behind Fenrir.
“There’s a whole herd of them!” Kale said, also close by. Fenrir had to stand up; he needed to do a proper headcount.
“Fourteen,” Fenrir said, stepping back so that he and the other two were close. It looked like he couldn’t rely on Cogwej to wake up anytime soon.
“Watch out for their attack! One hit, and you’re a goner!” the Babamon said, her back towards Fenrir and Kaleth.
“Um, isn’t this a bad position?” Kaleth suddenly asked, taking out the medium sized blade from his hip. “I mean, we’re surrounded, and we’re also all huddled up together.”
“Kaleth, this is a bad time to become smart!” Cher shouted, realizing the same time.
“Incoming!” Fenrir shouted just as all fourteen Sheepmon aimed their cannons at them.
“Wool Grenade!”
Using their agility to their advantage, both Fenrir and Cher jumped into the air to avoid the balls of wool that were shot towards them. Not having the same kind of speed, Kale opted to run towards one of the Sheepmon in hopes that he wouldn’t get hit, only to trip on a sleeping Digimon’s leg and fall flat on his face with a large clang. Whether by fate or fortune, his fall helped him avoid the fire of sleeping projectiles. It also helped that he had a large shield strapped on his back.
“Baaaaaa, we missed!” one of the Sheepmon cried.
“Get baaaaaaack!” another yelled, prompting all the short Digimon to suddenly run all around.
Fenrir growled, his eyes darting from one Sheepmon to another. They surprised him with their speed. He would be able to catch them, but it would take a lot of considerable time. He couldn’t even attack properly; it would only take one good short for them to take him out of the battle.
“Just take one of them out!” Cher’s voice cried. “They’re fast, but they have absolutely no combat ability! Just unnerve them, and they’ll scatter like the squealing sheep that they are!”
Fenrir ran towards one of the closer Sheepmon, only to jump away as another Sheepmon shot another ball of wool at him. “Damn it,” he cursed.
“You’re a wolf aren’t you!? Scare these sheep into submission!” the Babamon shouted from across the street, avoiding balls of wool that were shot towards her as well.
“Don’t be like that, mister wolf!” one the Sheepmon cried as he ran away from the Beowolfmon. “Wool you not like a nice dream instead?”
“Gosh!” Kale’s voice shouted from another end of the street, using his shield to keep from getting hit from any wool balls. “These sheep are as baaaaad as Taranis!”
“Don’t make me come over there and whack you with my broom, Kale!” Cher shouted as she jumped from vending stall to vending stall, using the obstacles to make it hard for the Sheepmon to aim for her. “I hear enough puns from my craftsmen after Taranis came along!”
“Come on, they’re not that baaaaad!” Kale replied as he swung his sword at the nearest Sheepmon, only for the smaller and faster Digimon to avoid it easily.
‘They want bad? I’ll give them bad,’ Fenrir thought, his frustration finally peaking. He let out a howl that stopped the Sheepmon in their tracks. Surrounding Fenrir’s body was the light of digivolution, and the sheep Digimon weren’t able to act fast enough before Fenrir revealed his lither and flight-capable form that was MagnaGarurumon.
“MagnaGarurumon’s not as strong, but it’s fast,” Fenrir said out loud, taking to the air and glaring at the Sheepmon around him. “Start running,” he growled out, taking to the air and pointing his armaments at the trembling Sheepmon.
“Run awaaaaaay!”
-
“So basically, we usually get to pick out jobs and missions from the big black bulletin board, or the Four B which I like to call it, but if we get really popular, then some people might start asking for us specifically,” Rickshana told Tiwaz as she sat on the railing of a balcony, swinging her legs freely. She, her uncle and Tiwaz were on a part of the guild house that was usually frequented by air-able Digimon, although some Digimon like she and Ashe liked visiting the place from time to time.
“We’re still relatively new to the guild though, so that’s going to take a while,” Ashemon added, looking at the cityscape in front of him and holding onto the bars of the railing, which was actually too tall for him. It made him look like a caged rabbit, and it took all of Tiwaz’s willpower not to rush over and give the Gargomon a bone crushing hug.
“What about Taranis and the others?” Tiwaz asked, leaning against the wall across from them. He was folding his arms tightly to keep them from straying. It helped distract him by talking.
“What about buggy?” Rickey asked, looking over her shoulder, looking very cute.
“Do they get requested too?” he asked, his fingers twitching.
“Sometimes. It usually depends on how good their work is, and Taranis makes really really good maps thanks to his memory,” she replied.
“Of course, it also means he has a few enemies in the guild,” Ashe said a bit forlornly. “Well, you can’t really help it. Everyone here is trying to support themselves and their families, so if someone does a better job than you do, then he gets better pay than you.”
“That sounds…discomforting,” the EmperorGreymon said with a grimace.
“Isn’t it the same for you, though?” Rickey asked him.
“Uh…I guess so,” Tiwaz replied, blinking. He hadn’t really thought of it.
“Well then- heeeeeey, what’s going on down there?” the Turuiemon suddenly said, looking down.
“What?” Ashe asked, doing the same, although it was difficult for him to do so.
“There are a bunch of Grizzmon scaring away our customers and destroying public property!” Rickey said with a frown, pointing down at the said Digimon.
The Grizzmon were all bears, or rather, grizzlies as their name suggested. They all had large bodies with dark blue fur and imposing, clawed feet. Their backs and manes had tinges of white which contrasted well with their dark colored fur. On their shoulders were red shoulder pads with three iron studs, and on their forepaws were dangerous, red clawed gauntlets. Their heads were purely bear-like, with sharp teeth and narrowed eyes. Between their eyes was a white shape of a moon.
“That’s just bad for business! Come on, Ashe, let’s go teach them a lesson!” Rickey told her uncle, standing up on the railing.
“H-hey! That’s dangerous!” Tiwaz called out to the Turuiemon.
“Oh, I’ll be fine. I’ve done this hundreds of times before!” the rabbit Digimon replied, looking about ready to jump.
“We’re four stories high!” Tiwaz tried. It was more of his instinctual reflex to protect all rabbits than real common sense, considering that he knew a number of Digimon that could survive such a high fall.
“Hasn’t stopped her before,” Ashe said with a grunt as he too started to climb over the railing.
“Don’t be a slowpoke, Ashe!” Rickey said with a large grin. “I’m gonna go ahead!” she then said, jumping off the railing, Tiwaz shouting after her with large, shocked eyes.
“Hey, wait for me! I have to catch you remember!?” the Gargomon yelled as he tossed himself over the railing as well.
“But who’s going to catch you!?” Tiwaz yelled back, his hands on the railing. He was about to jump after them – who cared about a few broken leg bones? They would heal within a few months – until he saw that both the lapin Digimon were covered in light…the light of digivolution, Tiwaz realized.
The light around Rickshana melted off first. Her new body was taller and lankier and covered with brown fur, bar a thick bar of white fur between her eyes. She had long arms that reached all the way below her knees and had white markings. She seemed to have exchanged the yellow ninja suit for white armor on her shoulders and chest and red armor on her torso, and while her legs were adorned with pale pink pants. On her rabbit-like head she had three small horns and a purple scarf draped around her neck. Tiwaz recognized her as an Antyllamon.
Ashemon, meanwhile, still had a shorter body, although his new one was much thinner than his previous form. He was clad in green armor which covered his long and wing-like ears, upper body, pelvis, and feet. He also had white fur that could be seen on his exposed torso and legs. Instead of hands, he had two cannons, and he had a giant, black cylinder on his back that held twelve missile ports. On his rabbit like head, he wore a green helmet that left his face bare and had a large green horn. He had digivolved into a Rapidmon.
As Ashemon grabbed his niece by the waist, their descent also began to slow down, reminding Tiwaz that Rapidmon were also capable of booster-powered flight, much to his relief. That didn’t mean he was going to just stand by, however. At the very least, he wouldn’t have to jump down the balcony after them, and he dashed out of the balcony and back into the building.
Meanwhile, down below, Ashe had dropped Rickey on one of the unsuspecting Grizzmon.
“Hey there, big bears!” Rickey said as she slammed her fists onto the Grizzmon’s head, alerting the other ursine Digimon to her and her uncle’s presence.
“Let’s play!”
-
“Where are they!?”
Taranis groaned as he made what might have been his fifth round through the guild house’s main rooms. “It can’t take that long to give Tiwaz a tour around the building!” he said, folding his arms and looking around. He didn’t see scale or hair of the EmperorGreymon or the two rabbit Digimon that accompanied him. However, he did see a Toucanmon postman fly by frantically towards the guildmaster’s room. He could even hear the avian Digimon shouting ‘Emergency’ over and over again.
“Wait.” Taranis blinked. “Emergency?”
He grimaced. ‘Oh please, please, please don’t let it involve Tiwaz and the others!’ he thought, deciding to follow the Toucanmon towards the room just in case in did.
Before he could follow through with his decision, however, a loud gunshot rang loudly into the lobby, followed by a wall that suddenly broke into splinters. It also caused Taranis to dive for the floor and cover his head with a yell, something which a number of the room’s occupants did.
“Er, on second thought, I’m sure they can handle it!” he yelped, not planning on moving from his spot anytime soon.
“What is going on here!?” the loud voice of the guild master suddenly shouted. Taranis couldn’t help but turn his head to the side just to see the large and imposing amphibian appear, along with a few hopeful cheers.
“So you’re the guild master, eh?” another loud voice, this one Taranis didn’t recognize, said with disdain. “How could someone so fat and slow be a master of anything?” the voice taunted. The Beetlemon turned his head to look at whoever had the gall to insult their master.
It was a large Digimon of a man. He looked to be as big as the guild master, albeit with muscles instead of fat and dark violet fur instead of red skin. He had bear like features and extremely large limbs, and he also wore a black sleeveless vest, along with a pair of black pants. Underneath his vest and crisscrossing his chest were two yellow belts of bullets. His left arm ended with a large clawed hand, and his right arm had a triple-barreled gun mounted on it. Since he had large clawed hands, it was just as predictable that he had large clawed feet. His head was small compared to his body, and it had bear like qualities with a pair of bat-like ears. Although Taranis had never seen one before, he would soon be later told that he was a Callismon.
Flanking the Callismon’s sides were two more Digimon.
The one to his right was a black Digimon with a centaur-like body. His lower body was that of a bull, along with the tail and hooves of one, and had yellow markings all over it. Each ankle had a red bracer with gold rims. His upper body was that of a muscular man with red armor: a breastplate, shoulder guards, gauntlets and a guard on his pelvis. Connect to the guard was a long purple cloth that held two sheathed blades. He had the head of a bull, complete with two large curved yellow horns on the sides of this temple and one small horn between them.
The second one was white compared to the other Digimon’s black, although he too had a similar body type. His lower body belonged to that of a stout ram, albeit one with long legs that looked like it wore brown socks. He even had the round tail of a sheep. Unlike the other Digimon, he wasn’t quite as muscular, but he had long arms and a crossbow on one of them. He also had purple armor on his chest and arms, along with a red cloth belt and scarf. His head was that of a sheep’s, although the wool did not cover his black face. On the side of his head, he also had a pair of large purple horns – larger than his black counterpart’s – and a single purple horn in the middle.
Taranis recognized those two; they were the species of the so-called twelve devas of the land. They were a Vajramon and a Pajiramon respectively.
“Hey, you can’t call out master that!” one of the Digimon called out, only to squeak when the Pajiramon pointed his crossbow at him.
“Do you have complaints, lowlife?” the sheep-centaur asked in a dangerously low voice.
“I suggest you point that weapon away from my guild member if you do not want to get hurt, lamb,” Geo stated as he walked towards them with his awkward gait.
“Oooh, scary! You better do what he says, Micchie, or else,” the Vajramon said with a sarcastic voice.
“Don’t you want to see what he can to Richter?” the Panjamon asked, not pointing his crossbow away. “Besides, I don’t think he can stop me with that big fat body of his,” the sheep centaur said with a sneer.
“Shut up, both of you!” the Callismon said, glaring at them. “We’re not here to play with small game,” the bear Digimon told them, although his word were not sincere at all.
“Yes sir, Clive, sir,” both of the centaurs said with a grimace.
“I suggest you leave before you do,” the guild master said, folding his arms.
“I’m afraid we can’t do that, not yet,” Clive told the amphibian. “You see, we’re looking for someone, a group actually. They arrived here two days ago. They have something that we want. So if you can just hand him over, then we’ll leave,” the Callismon said, giving the ShogunGekomon a wide, evil grin.
‘Two days ago?’ Taranis thought to himself in panic. ‘Crap! Are these the bandits that Fenrir said were tailing us!?’
“You misunderstand, bear,” Geo said with a glare. “That was not a request.”
“Ha!” Clive shouted in amusement. “And who’s going to make us? You? Or any of these pathetic lots?” the Callismon asked, swinging his arms to all the Digimon that were against the ground.
“Sir!” a female voice whispered behind Geo. “The adventurer branch is understaffed right now; all the adventurer guild members above two star are out on jobs, even the branch head! Reports also say that a group of Grizzmon are waiting outside of the guild and that they are also under their orders!”
“I can handle it Rise,” Geo mumbled over his shoulder as the Floramon went back to hiding. He then turned back to the trio. “Do not underestimate me just because of how I look. I’ll kick all three of you out of this town before you can even think of trying to cause trouble.”
“Well, I’m sorry to inform you, but you’re already too late,” the Callismon replied with a fiendish grin. “Oh wait, no I’m not!”
“My Bullmon are already stampeding down the streets as we speak,” Richter said.
“And my Sheepmon are sending all your townspeople to sleep,” Micchie added proudly. “By now, I bet that about one fifth of your town is already under our jurisdiction.”
“And if that doesn’t frighten you, I think my Grizzmon outside will change your mind,” Clive then bellowed, sweeping his arms around.
“Oh, they weren’t that tough,” a voice behind trio suddenly said.
Clive, Richter and Micchie all looked behind them to see who had said that, and all three saw a tall and lanky Antyllamon waving at them.
“Seriously though, if you’re going to threaten us, at least make sure you can back them up first,” Rickey said, folding her arms.
“Don’t be so mean to them, Rickey,” Ashe’s said from behind her. “It’s not their fault that they weren’t that strong. I really think that they thought that they were a formidable enough force.”
“You lie!” Richter called out, swinging his arm. “The Grizzmon force are our strongest group!”
“Guess that means you guys aren’t that strong, either,” Rickey said, sticking out her tongue at them.
“Hm…thank you Rickshana, Ashemon,” Geo’s voice suddenly called out, bringing attention back to him. “When this is over, I am promoting both of you to three star adventurers.”
The Antyllamon’s face suddenly lit up. “You heard that, Uncle Ashe!? We’re getting promoted!” she said, grabbing the Rapidmon by the shoulders and twirling them around happily.
“Gah! No spinning! Lemme go, Rickey! Lemme go, lemme go, lemme gooooo!” the Rapidmon cried, grabbing onto his niece’s arms and trying to pry them off.
“The fools! They have the gall to make fun of us!?” Micchie snarled, raising her crossbow at them.
“Didn’t I tell you not to point that at any of my guild members?” Geo’s voice suddenly called out dangerously.
“Or what, frog man!? You gonna croak me to death?” the Panjamon said, turning around, only to see that Geo was no longer a ShogunGekomon. The guild master had digivolved into a higher form.
His new form was decidedly smaller, although he looked more intimidating in it. His body had all but minimized into a spherical shape with spikes all over him, the only things coming out of it being a torn up fishtail behind him and two overly muscular arms with steel plated and spiked gauntlets, under which were red bandages. His left bicep was adorned with a yellow tattoo of an anchor, and his right was covered in white bandages. His spherical body was composed of his head and a number of spikes protruding from him, and on his head was a helmet with a number of sharp spikes and two holes for his red eyes. He was a pufferfish digmon that went by the name of Pukumon.
“A fish?” Clive suddenly called out with a grin. “I eat fish for lunch!” the Callismon called out, laughing. The next moment, he suddenly felt a painful sensation on the side of his face. He was also sent flying over Rickey’s and Ashe’s heads out of the building.
“Britain Punch,” Geo said, having crossed the room within the span of a second and slammed his spiked fist into the Callismon’s face.
‘So this is the strength…of a guild master?’ the bandit thought before falling unconscious.
Said guild master turned to look at the other two bandits left in the room.
“I warned you.”
-
“So these are your friends, Taranis?”
“Um, yeah, they are,” Taranis told the guild master, rubbing the back of his head. He, Tiwaz, Fenrir, Cogwej, Pavamana and Odysseus were all seated around a circular table, accompanied by Rickey, Ashe, Kaleth, branch head Cher, the innkeeper Uren, and Geo, all of whom were back in their original forms.
“You didn’t tell me that you were one of the guild’s branch heads,” Pavamana said to the Monzaemon innkeeper, who only chuckled in reply.
“I prefer to let my guests find that out on their own. It allows me to learn a bit about our occasional outside clients,” Uren, who was actually the merchant branch head, replied with a wink. “I, personally, am impressed that you and your young friend here were able to hogtie twenty seven Bullmon within an hour.”
The PileVolcamon shook his head and gave a small grin. “It was Odysseus who came up with the idea, and I just helped bring them down so he could do his work.”
The Shurimon blushed under his white mask. “I c-c-c-c-couldn’t have done it without your h-h-h-h-help though,” he told the older Digimon.
On the other side of the table, Kaleth was narrating the events that led to the Sheepmon’s submission. “You should have seen him, Ranis! He just started zooming all around, catching one Sheepmon after another before dumping them all in one big pile!” the Knightmon said, acting out with his hands what Fenrir had done to capture the sleep-causing Digimon. “Then he just hovered over them with that glare of his, and none of them moved a single muscle!”
“Heh, I guess Fenrir didn’t need to use the old wolf in sheep’s clothing trick. He must have some sheepdog in him,” Taranis replied, earning a glare from Fenrir. “Well, anyway, what I really want to know is how that happened,” the Beetlemon then said. He pointed to Cher and Cogwej, the latter of which was still sleeping in his seat while his arm was being clung on by the Babamon.
“Er, I really have no idea,” Kale replied, looking at the two.
A few seats away, Rickey was asking what Tiwaz had been doing while she, her uncle and the guild master took down the bandits. “Come on, Tiwaz! Tell me! Did you have to go to the potty? Or maybe you tripped and fell unconscious or something?” the Turuiemon asked, leaning close to him.
Blushing a bit, Tiwaz looked away and folding his arms. “I told you, I was helping someone in need!” he said, although that had been far from the truth. He had actually gotten lost on his way to the lobby. While Ashe and Rickey had done a good job showing him around, they had moved around too fast for him to figure out how to go where.
“Stop bothering him, Rickey,” Ashe said, sitting on the other side of the EmperorGreymon. “It was your fault for jumping all the way from the balcony.”
“She did that again?” Taranis suddenly asked from his seat.
“Please, Taranis, it’s Rickshana!”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing, Uncle Ashe,” the Turuiemon called out with a Cheshire grin.
“Silence!” Geo’s Horn Blastered enhanced voice suddenly commanded, and in an instant, the room suddenly quieted. “Finally, I can finally talk without getting interrupted by the noise.”
“Tut tut, Geo,” Cher said from her seat beside him. “No need to raise your voice; you’ll wake poor old Coggie-wojjie,” she said, caressing the snoring Wisemon’s arm.
“Trust us, that old geezer won’t wake up unless he gets hungry,” Tiwaz told her with a huff as he folded his arms. “Plus, somebody remind me what we’re doing here again? I thought we were heading out as soon as possible,” the EmperorGreymon said.
“That’s what we’re here to talk about,” the guild master said, rubbing his palms together. “After doing so much for the town, we couldn’t allow our honored guests to leave without any form of reward.”
“We don’t need it,” Tiwaz said with a grunt.
“Says the one who didn’t do anything,” Fenrir muttered.
“I heard that, mutt!” the dragon man said, glaring at the Beowolfmon.
“It would depend on the reward,” Fenrir then said, ignoring Tiwaz. He wasn’t going to pass up on making this journey easier and faster for them, not to mention it would be a warm welcome compared to how much Cogwej wasted during their market trip. “We can’t bring anything that would slow us down or anything else of the sort.”
“Actually, I suggested that we give you something that would help you on your journey,” Uren then said with a smile. “From what Pavamana had told me earlier, you are all headed to the port town of Frostholme next, correct?”
“Uh, is that what Cogwej said?” Tiwaz asked with a grimace.
“He pointed it out in one of Taranis’ maps,” Pavamana informed him. “It is the right name, I assure you.”
“Oh, thank Buri,” the EmperorGreymon muttered.
“What does that have to do with our reward?” Fenrir asked with a raised eyebrow.
“To get to the port town, you will have to cross the ocean. The trip will take you about two weeks, not counting the walk to the closest dock. If you walked there, it would take a month, unless you take a caravan, which would half your travel time,” Geo told them. “We’re inviting you to join one of the merchant branch’s caravan to the dock, as well as offering to pay for your boat fare.”
“And I’ll escort all of you personally!” Cher said, sighing as she hugged Cog’s arm. “More time to spend with my new beau!” she said, earning a few strange looks.
“That s-s-sounds reasonable,” Odysseus said with a soft smile. “That would mean it w-w-w-would only take one month’s time to get to our next destination.”
“It’s settled then?” the ShogunGekomon asked with a large smile.
“Well, I wouldn’t say no to a faster trip,” Tiwaz muttered, although he looked worried about something.
“We’ll take it,” Fenrir decided for them with a nod.
“By the way,” Pavamana cut in. “Did you find out what the bandits were doing here in the first place? I can hardly believe that they attacked a whole town just because Cogwej took a few pieces of fruit.”
Geo let out a short croak of a grunt. “Apparently, the two centaurmen think the same way, but they pretty much always follow what their boss, the Callismon, tell them to. And so far, he’s been rambling on and on about not knowing what’s going on ever since he woke up.”
“I guess you could say you knocked his brains out, along with his memory, with that punch of yours,” Taranis said with a large grin.
“Until he remembers, we’ll keep him confined behind bars,” the ShogunGekomon said with a grunt. “None of you have to worry about a thing.”
“Hmm…Frostholme, Frostholme, Frostholme,” Ashe muttered to himself, folding his arms and thinking. He had been doing that ever since the name had been mentioned. “Where did I hear that name before?”
“Oh, I know!” Rickshana told him, garnering everyone’s attention. “There was a job notice on the Four B! Someone wanted a guild member or two from the adventurer branch to deal with some local raiders!” she said excitedly.
“Hey, that means you guys might be able to come with us!” Taranis said happily.
“Hm…well, if it’s for the guild, then it’s certainly of no problem to me,” Geo said with a small smile. “But first, we need to pick someone for the job, but who…?”
-
“Ugh, typical bandits, can’t do anything right,” a feminine voice muttered in the shadows of an alleyway. “I bring them all the way in the city undetected, and they still get beat up.”
The silhouette of the figure that had followed the group since the forest pulled away from the wall she was leaning on. “And here I thought I finally had a chance to grab the relics once and for all. The Wisemon was even asleep! But the stupid idiots couldn’t even distract them for longer than two hours,” she growled to herself.
“Next time, the old man needs to be separated from the group,” she planned out as she started to walk out of the alley. “It’s only a matter of time before he does.”
She then grunted.
“Frostholme port town…looks like it’s his turn,” she thought to herself as she stepped out into the bright sun and into the thick crowd of the city streets.
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