storymasterb
Knight of RPGs
Axis Mundi, the Free City
Some time ago
Tamers were mustered in Axis Mundi, warriors garrisoned in a central base from which they could reinforce their comrades across the globe, and refugees coming here to plead before the Council for aid. They were camped together, seeking sanctuary in numbers and comfort with those who shared their plight. Some sat alone in silence, grieving and nursing hearts broken when their partners were cut down by the relentless blades of the Royal Knights. Their worlds had broken like glass.
He watched and wished he could have saved their partners.
James Reeve looked down from the balcony which overlooked the camp, taking in the sights. A new group of Tamers had just arrived, scholars, archaeologists and treasure-hunters from the famed Hoshiko Guild near Ama. He couldn't imagine how far they'd marched to get here and how many battles they'd fought along the way. He had only witnessed the last of their battles, and fought there to try and get them that last step of the way. He'd managed that at least, but he picked out how many of their number stood alone with eyes full of grief and again he wished he could have protected them.
"That Yukimura woman is strong," Artanis Dawnflame commented from his side. "Have you seen her? She's exhausted from the march and yet she hasn't so much as sat down since she got inside the city, she's like a whirlwind, "find me a healer" and "I seek audience with the Council"."
James nodded idly, scanning the crowd in search of the woman they were discussing. She was nowhere in sight. "I knew she wouldn't go down without a fight. She made her guild a symbol of what Digimon and humans can achieve together, I didn't think she'd just let that go. Not after years of building it."
The Agumon looked up at his partner. "What do you think she'll do, though? Now that she's in a safe haven."
"Keep fighting."
The two turned back to see the topic of discussion emerge from the doorway to their left, her Gabumon X partner at her side. Hoshiko Yukimura cut a demure yet solid figure, dressed for exploration and with eyes both bright and hard. Her expression was one of determination.
James smiled. "It's good to meet you when we're not trying to avoid being cut in half." He chuckled and she smiled back for just a moment.
"I wanted to thank you," she said. "If you and your friends hadn't helped our group, I think we'd be mourning many more right now."
"I don't want to see people die," James said. "We've got to look out for one another, right? I couldn't just leave you to get killed."
"We appreciate it," the Gabumon said with a bow of her head. "I am Okatsu Sekishusai and I thank you for assisting my partner and those under her protection."
"Artanis Dawnflame," Artanis replied. "It was our duty to help you."
"James Reeve," his partner added, offering a hand. Hoshiko shook it and then returned her own hand to her side. "And you're Hoshiko Yukimura, of course."
Hoshiko laughed. "I see I've made a name for myself in that case. I just wish we were meeting under better circumstances." The atmosphere soured.
"We all do," James murmured. "But it's still good to meet you. And if you're going to be fighting, then I'm glad to have you on my side."
"I've heard of you," Okatsu commented. "You're the daredevil who risks his life putting himself between the Royal Knights and Tamer camps they're about to attack to buy time for evacuation. We rescued Tamers on our journey who told us about you around the campfire."
"Nice to know I'm making an impression," he said, his smile widening. "I'm just fighting the good fight, keeping people safe. It's what I'm here for."
"That's what I want to do," Hoshiko said softly. "Fight to keep the others safe." He looked into her eyes and saw the grief she was burying, the same grief that he hid behind his smile. The grief of his father's death and now the grief of the friends he had watched the Knights and their servants kill without mercy. Good friends slain, people he had laughed and joked with so many times cut down in an instant by an unstoppable warrior. He knew Hoshiko had seen the same terrible things. She had marched so far across the world that he was sure she had watched her friends die, whether by the swords of the Knights or from the harsh conditions she had marched through. For her to be standing here in Axis Mundi after all that was incredible.
His Digivice chimed, and he gave Hoshiko an apologetic smile before answering it. "James here."
"James, it's Alexis. We've got word of a small Tamer group making their way from the south, but they're being chased by a Coredragon and Wingdramon force."
James nodded, looking at Hoshiko. "On my way. I'll meet you on the way south." He cut off the call. "Duty calls."
"Go fight the good fight," she replied. "I'd join you, but I have to help my friends settle in and keep trying to get an audience with the Council."
"Maybe one day," he smiled as he raced away with Artanis in tow, Digivice ready to evolve his partner as soon as they had clear space to take flight.
----
Axis Mundi, the Free City
Temple of the High Council
Now
Hoshiko stood in the chamber, seeing the beaten and wounded all around. The warriors had returned from a battle she had not taken part in, for she had been occupied with new Tamers settling in and those among them who needed to be taken to a healer. The failures across the face of Saga had displaced more Tamers, it seemed, and those allied with the Knights were just as ruthless. A young boy had come in, not older than fourteen, crying about the partner he had seen slain before his eyes. She remembered holding him close and letting him cry into her shoulder and she could still feel the damp where his tears had soaked into her shirt.
It reminded her of the guild hall burning and the screams she had heard that first day. Of the screams that had continued on the long march from Ama to Axis Mundi. She remembered fighting desperately through mountain passes and forests, Okatsu's glaive tearing through the enemies who threatened them, but some foes slipped past the circle of warriors and innocents were taken. She kept seeing it in her dreams and was reminded whenever new Tamers reached the city, inevitably with the wounded and the grieving among their number.
James was among the crowd, somehow wearing his brave smile in the face of defeat. She was sure he'd gone out to fight. They'd met in passing once or twice since he had raced off from their talk on the balcony, with him always in a hurry to go somewhere and save someone. That just seemed to be his way of dealing with what was happening, she supposed.
"Perhaps we should have joined them," Okatsu murmured from her side.
She wished they had joined the assault. After marching for mile after mile with thoughts of blood and fire and hatred for the Royal Knights searing through her, she might have found fighting them soothing in some strange way. She had come all this way to try and get the Council to help, only to find them doing something on their own initiative, and circumstance had kept her from eagerly joining the fight. But now, perhaps, she was needed.
An angelic Digimon emerged from the crowd, one she had at least heard of. Michael, the Archangel. A demonic figure leaned on the doorway behind him, one she didn't know. She wondered if the two were on familiar terms by some oddity, or if the crisis of the Knights called for such a desperate alliance. She listened as Michael spoke, curious about what he would propose.
"Not all the Knights are equipped to handle same types of combat. Assemble a team with varying skillsets, armaments, and abilities. Match them against the Royal Knights in a way that is tactically advantageous--we know their strengths. They do not know ours."
She exchanged looks with Okatsu, the pair nodding, and then glanced at James to see him smiling wider. She already knew what his answer would be should Michael ask the question she was expecting. She knew he wouldn't be dissuaded because everything she knew about him, about his reputation, said that he wasn't going to let defeat break his spirit and that he'd keep fighting until he won or until the Knights forced him to stop by killing him. If James Reeve had a limit, no one she talked about about him knew what it was.
He caught her stare and met her gaze, nodding to her as though to confirm that yes, he was going to keep fighting.
Michael declared his intent to join the group he had proposed, followed by Thor and Svarog. The two gods were familiar in reputation, the former more so, but Hoshiko had never met them. She had visited the realms to which they belonged and to some degree studied their histories, but only for short times before other finds came to her attention.
"Who else? Who stands with us?" Michael's words echoed around the room, heavy as iron blocks somehow. She had thought for so long about wanting to fight the knights, about wanting to protect others the way James fought to do and those who fought beside him had. But she knew, better than perhaps any other Tamer, what it meant to oppose the Knights. She had read their tales, found shrines dedicated to their heroic deeds and murals depicting their great battles. She had read so many accounts of their glory and heroism. A thousand songs proclaiming their prowess. A thousand tales of grandeur and might. That was what they were fighting. Not simply warriors, but legends, as famed as the Great Ten. For the longest time the Knights had been guardians and protectors, and to oppose them was to face the paragons of martial valor on Saga. Warriors trained day and night in the hopes of becoming even a fraction as glorious as the Knights, she had read about those who sought to join their ranks.
To face such beings was to face legends themselves.
"I stand with you," James called, stepping forward with Artanis at his side. "I've seen death and suffering caused by the Knights. I've seen Tamers and partners butchered without hesitation, and I will fight to my last breath to stop any more innocent people from dying at their hands."
"And you have my aid as well," Artanis declared. "James and I decided the moment this madness began that we would fight. Standing with you is just another step on that path."
Hoshiko had expected him to step forward immediately. Of course he had. Others were too. And even though she knew so well how fearsome the Knights were as enemies, from both the legends she had spent years studying and from the night her guild was burnt away, she had watched too many of her friends die and seen too many grieving Tamers and Digimon alike to meekly step back now. The fires and the screams were etched in her memory. And the knowledge that if they failed, then all that awaited her was death by the sword or by despair in a world where she had nothing. She couldn't refuse now.
"I will go to war," she declared. "I marched all the way from Ama to save my friends from the Knights' madness. I will not stand idly by and allow the suffering to continue."
"And my blade shall join the cause," Okatsu added.
Some time ago
Tamers were mustered in Axis Mundi, warriors garrisoned in a central base from which they could reinforce their comrades across the globe, and refugees coming here to plead before the Council for aid. They were camped together, seeking sanctuary in numbers and comfort with those who shared their plight. Some sat alone in silence, grieving and nursing hearts broken when their partners were cut down by the relentless blades of the Royal Knights. Their worlds had broken like glass.
He watched and wished he could have saved their partners.
James Reeve looked down from the balcony which overlooked the camp, taking in the sights. A new group of Tamers had just arrived, scholars, archaeologists and treasure-hunters from the famed Hoshiko Guild near Ama. He couldn't imagine how far they'd marched to get here and how many battles they'd fought along the way. He had only witnessed the last of their battles, and fought there to try and get them that last step of the way. He'd managed that at least, but he picked out how many of their number stood alone with eyes full of grief and again he wished he could have protected them.
"That Yukimura woman is strong," Artanis Dawnflame commented from his side. "Have you seen her? She's exhausted from the march and yet she hasn't so much as sat down since she got inside the city, she's like a whirlwind, "find me a healer" and "I seek audience with the Council"."
James nodded idly, scanning the crowd in search of the woman they were discussing. She was nowhere in sight. "I knew she wouldn't go down without a fight. She made her guild a symbol of what Digimon and humans can achieve together, I didn't think she'd just let that go. Not after years of building it."
The Agumon looked up at his partner. "What do you think she'll do, though? Now that she's in a safe haven."
"Keep fighting."
The two turned back to see the topic of discussion emerge from the doorway to their left, her Gabumon X partner at her side. Hoshiko Yukimura cut a demure yet solid figure, dressed for exploration and with eyes both bright and hard. Her expression was one of determination.
James smiled. "It's good to meet you when we're not trying to avoid being cut in half." He chuckled and she smiled back for just a moment.
"I wanted to thank you," she said. "If you and your friends hadn't helped our group, I think we'd be mourning many more right now."
"I don't want to see people die," James said. "We've got to look out for one another, right? I couldn't just leave you to get killed."
"We appreciate it," the Gabumon said with a bow of her head. "I am Okatsu Sekishusai and I thank you for assisting my partner and those under her protection."
"Artanis Dawnflame," Artanis replied. "It was our duty to help you."
"James Reeve," his partner added, offering a hand. Hoshiko shook it and then returned her own hand to her side. "And you're Hoshiko Yukimura, of course."
Hoshiko laughed. "I see I've made a name for myself in that case. I just wish we were meeting under better circumstances." The atmosphere soured.
"We all do," James murmured. "But it's still good to meet you. And if you're going to be fighting, then I'm glad to have you on my side."
"I've heard of you," Okatsu commented. "You're the daredevil who risks his life putting himself between the Royal Knights and Tamer camps they're about to attack to buy time for evacuation. We rescued Tamers on our journey who told us about you around the campfire."
"Nice to know I'm making an impression," he said, his smile widening. "I'm just fighting the good fight, keeping people safe. It's what I'm here for."
"That's what I want to do," Hoshiko said softly. "Fight to keep the others safe." He looked into her eyes and saw the grief she was burying, the same grief that he hid behind his smile. The grief of his father's death and now the grief of the friends he had watched the Knights and their servants kill without mercy. Good friends slain, people he had laughed and joked with so many times cut down in an instant by an unstoppable warrior. He knew Hoshiko had seen the same terrible things. She had marched so far across the world that he was sure she had watched her friends die, whether by the swords of the Knights or from the harsh conditions she had marched through. For her to be standing here in Axis Mundi after all that was incredible.
His Digivice chimed, and he gave Hoshiko an apologetic smile before answering it. "James here."
"James, it's Alexis. We've got word of a small Tamer group making their way from the south, but they're being chased by a Coredragon and Wingdramon force."
James nodded, looking at Hoshiko. "On my way. I'll meet you on the way south." He cut off the call. "Duty calls."
"Go fight the good fight," she replied. "I'd join you, but I have to help my friends settle in and keep trying to get an audience with the Council."
"Maybe one day," he smiled as he raced away with Artanis in tow, Digivice ready to evolve his partner as soon as they had clear space to take flight.
----
Axis Mundi, the Free City
Temple of the High Council
Now
Hoshiko stood in the chamber, seeing the beaten and wounded all around. The warriors had returned from a battle she had not taken part in, for she had been occupied with new Tamers settling in and those among them who needed to be taken to a healer. The failures across the face of Saga had displaced more Tamers, it seemed, and those allied with the Knights were just as ruthless. A young boy had come in, not older than fourteen, crying about the partner he had seen slain before his eyes. She remembered holding him close and letting him cry into her shoulder and she could still feel the damp where his tears had soaked into her shirt.
It reminded her of the guild hall burning and the screams she had heard that first day. Of the screams that had continued on the long march from Ama to Axis Mundi. She remembered fighting desperately through mountain passes and forests, Okatsu's glaive tearing through the enemies who threatened them, but some foes slipped past the circle of warriors and innocents were taken. She kept seeing it in her dreams and was reminded whenever new Tamers reached the city, inevitably with the wounded and the grieving among their number.
James was among the crowd, somehow wearing his brave smile in the face of defeat. She was sure he'd gone out to fight. They'd met in passing once or twice since he had raced off from their talk on the balcony, with him always in a hurry to go somewhere and save someone. That just seemed to be his way of dealing with what was happening, she supposed.
"Perhaps we should have joined them," Okatsu murmured from her side.
She wished they had joined the assault. After marching for mile after mile with thoughts of blood and fire and hatred for the Royal Knights searing through her, she might have found fighting them soothing in some strange way. She had come all this way to try and get the Council to help, only to find them doing something on their own initiative, and circumstance had kept her from eagerly joining the fight. But now, perhaps, she was needed.
An angelic Digimon emerged from the crowd, one she had at least heard of. Michael, the Archangel. A demonic figure leaned on the doorway behind him, one she didn't know. She wondered if the two were on familiar terms by some oddity, or if the crisis of the Knights called for such a desperate alliance. She listened as Michael spoke, curious about what he would propose.
"Not all the Knights are equipped to handle same types of combat. Assemble a team with varying skillsets, armaments, and abilities. Match them against the Royal Knights in a way that is tactically advantageous--we know their strengths. They do not know ours."
She exchanged looks with Okatsu, the pair nodding, and then glanced at James to see him smiling wider. She already knew what his answer would be should Michael ask the question she was expecting. She knew he wouldn't be dissuaded because everything she knew about him, about his reputation, said that he wasn't going to let defeat break his spirit and that he'd keep fighting until he won or until the Knights forced him to stop by killing him. If James Reeve had a limit, no one she talked about about him knew what it was.
He caught her stare and met her gaze, nodding to her as though to confirm that yes, he was going to keep fighting.
Michael declared his intent to join the group he had proposed, followed by Thor and Svarog. The two gods were familiar in reputation, the former more so, but Hoshiko had never met them. She had visited the realms to which they belonged and to some degree studied their histories, but only for short times before other finds came to her attention.
"Who else? Who stands with us?" Michael's words echoed around the room, heavy as iron blocks somehow. She had thought for so long about wanting to fight the knights, about wanting to protect others the way James fought to do and those who fought beside him had. But she knew, better than perhaps any other Tamer, what it meant to oppose the Knights. She had read their tales, found shrines dedicated to their heroic deeds and murals depicting their great battles. She had read so many accounts of their glory and heroism. A thousand songs proclaiming their prowess. A thousand tales of grandeur and might. That was what they were fighting. Not simply warriors, but legends, as famed as the Great Ten. For the longest time the Knights had been guardians and protectors, and to oppose them was to face the paragons of martial valor on Saga. Warriors trained day and night in the hopes of becoming even a fraction as glorious as the Knights, she had read about those who sought to join their ranks.
To face such beings was to face legends themselves.
"I stand with you," James called, stepping forward with Artanis at his side. "I've seen death and suffering caused by the Knights. I've seen Tamers and partners butchered without hesitation, and I will fight to my last breath to stop any more innocent people from dying at their hands."
"And you have my aid as well," Artanis declared. "James and I decided the moment this madness began that we would fight. Standing with you is just another step on that path."
Hoshiko had expected him to step forward immediately. Of course he had. Others were too. And even though she knew so well how fearsome the Knights were as enemies, from both the legends she had spent years studying and from the night her guild was burnt away, she had watched too many of her friends die and seen too many grieving Tamers and Digimon alike to meekly step back now. The fires and the screams were etched in her memory. And the knowledge that if they failed, then all that awaited her was death by the sword or by despair in a world where she had nothing. She couldn't refuse now.
"I will go to war," she declared. "I marched all the way from Ama to save my friends from the Knights' madness. I will not stand idly by and allow the suffering to continue."
"And my blade shall join the cause," Okatsu added.
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