Tamers: Hoshiko, James, and Andrea
Digimon: Deneb Odebu (Thunderbirdmon -->Shurimon)
Glen Elendra, The Kingdom of Nature
Deneb touched down some distance from the battlefield, close enough for them to get in, far enough that they weren’t immediately spotted and attacked by the Knights’ troops.
James dismounted second behind Andrea, Hoshiko following him. She seemed more reserved than ever, as though she too felt her partner’s absence keenly. But then if he and Artanis were inseparable, Hoshiko and Okatsu seemed more so. And he knew how she must feel, unable to do anything if her partner was in danger. They could only trust in their fellow Guardians to protect Artanis and Okatsu, something that felt quite alien to him.
Hoshiko scanned the trees, though her gaze didn’t stray far from where they had last spotted Gawain, James realized.
He turned to Andrea and Deneb. “Aria said something about hidden paths, right?”
“She did,” Andrea said, surveying the forest until she tilted her head at James, “there are shortcuts marked by shrubs with three pointed leaves and violet flowers which lead to hidden groves.”
“Don’t forget the hollow roots and tunnel systems connecting the Tree-Homes,” Deneb interjected, his voice made deep and more gruff as Thunderbirdmon. While the Tamers made plans, the Avian twisted and bobbed his beaked head around, keeping a vigilant watch.
“Like that?” Hoshiko asked after a few moments looking at the surrounding undergrowth. James followed her gaze to a bush which did indeed have three-pointed leaves and violet flowers adorning it.
“Nice spot,” he said, smiling at her. She nodded, her gaze slightly to the left of the bush. He knew that if he knew where Tristan was, he would be looking that way in case he could catch a glimpse of Artanis through the foliage and know his partner was still fighting. But he forced it aside, difficult though it was. No. They had their own job to do, one as vital as the fighting their partners and the other Guardians were doing even now.
They advanced into the bush and through it, into a tunnel of branches and leaves. The roar of battle grew louder with every few steps, and they walked cautiously in case they suddenly emerged into the fray. He could hear the cries of the wounded and the crackling of distant fires.
“Andrea, you know about how to set up evacuation routes, right?” Hoshiko asked. “What do you think we should do here to get the Tamers out of danger?”
Andrea took a slow steady breath. James and Hoshiko were looking to her to take the lead. No problem, just another day on the job. With the Royal Knights reshaping the landscape around them as well, nope, no big deal.
“A map would be nice,” Andrea said wistfully, “but with only four of us, our options are somewhat limited to coordination. More than anything we need to maintain constant communication.”
“Let’s sync up our digivices so we can track each other’s location and give regular updates every ten minutes,” the young woman instructed, raising her left arm. A soft fabric armband cradled her forest green digivice securely to the back of her arm. “If you run into trouble and can’t verbalize use the Ping function to send an alarm to the tracking system on the devices.”
“James, you’ll come with me and Deneb for now to start corralling survivors,” Andrea reached into her backpack and pulled out a packet of six unactivated glowsticks. “Hoshiko, your priority will be locating one of those hiding trees or hollows situated along this path and mark the way with these glow sticks. Once you secure a spot, monitor the area immediately along the path for any Tamers and digimon seeking shelter. The thicket is dense enough here to let you keep a low-profile.”
Andrea had noticed Hoshiko constantly glancing in the direction where Okatsu was fighting, better for her to stay in relative safety if she was somewhat distracted. “If either of you need help, I’ll send Deneb immediately; he can cover the most ground through the forest the quickest.”
The young woman flicked through to another menu on her digivice, scrolled through a few choices, and held her wrist up towards Deneb as the device shined. The green glowing crest of sincerity appeared above the Thunderbirdmon’s head, descending to engulf him in light. Once the light faded, a Shurimon stood in his place.
Deneb secretly beamed with pride at his beloved partner behind his cloth veil. Andrea hated being the center of attention, but when the situation called for it, any reservations went straight out the window.
“James, we’ll help whoever we find first. If they’re able-bodied or with a partner, we’ll direct them towards this path, if not you’ll guide them back and join back up with us if you can.” Andrea continued. The female tamer exhaled as she got ready to make her most important point. “Because you two are without your partners right now, if you find yourself in trouble with no other option: Make a Gate.”
Andrea looked the other two tamers in the eye for a long moment. She couldn’t stress this enough. “Make a gate. But First find cover and Try to let the immediate danger pass, because once you start the gating process you've got limited window of opportunity to use it. Gates are loud lightshows and take a moment to build the connection between worldsBut it’s an option to Get out of here and safely to Analog. You can always get back here at another time or location when the coast is clear. You’re no good to your partners and everyone else dead.”
The two nodded. “I understand,” James said. It only reminded him that Artanis wasn’t there. For the first time since they had become partners, really, he was in Saga and Artanis wasn’t just a room away. Once again, he was powerless. It made him feel incomplete, and he knew Hoshiko felt the same. It was why she seemed less focused right now, he was certain.
Hoshiko looked at Andrea with an expression James hadn’t seen. She seemed almost haunted, like there was something looming behind her. “So do I,” she said very softly. If before it was like Okatsu’s absence had reduced her, now it was like something about Andrea’s instruction had reminded her of something terrible. But what?
“Let’s get started,” he said, as much to try and distract Hoshiko as to do exactly as he said. “Every second we wait is another second the Tamers out there in danger.” He turned to Andrea.
Andrea missed the glance Hoshiko sent her way, the deep shade of thicket making it difficult to see. The young woman crept through the bushes to peer through to see if the way was clear. Hearing a break in the attack for a moment closest to them, Andrea gestured with a simple nod to Deneb. The Shurimon sprang stealthy into the upper branches, blending in with the foliage.
“Deneb will follow from above to warn us about any of the Royal Knight’s forces approaching us. I saw a row of Tree-homes a little ways ahead before we landed. Someone could be hiding there.” Andrea said in a hush tone as she ducked out of the thicket in a crouched run.
James looked at Hoshiko for a moment, pausing. “I know you’re missing her, but be careful, okay? I know how it feels to not have your partner there, I’m feeling it now too. But we need to keep it together for them.” He knew how to do that. He’d done it since the day he found out his dad was dead, compressing the grief, burying the pain. And every time something else added to the mountain of misery, he just forced it back behind his smile.
“I know,” she said quietly. “Go. Andrea’ll get too far ahead.” He nodded, and raced away, passing through leaves and branches. The sounds of battle grew closer, sounds that he knew intimately now. Defending Tamers against the Royal Knights had carved the sensations of a battlefield into his memory. As he raced after Andrea, he glimpsed Deneb in the trees above, the Shurimon racing through the foliage with barely a sound.
He caught up to her near the tree-homes she had mentioned.
“James,” Andrea nodded towards the Tree-home just ahead. The southern wall was sagging inward on the one side, the tree growing throughout the building just barely kept the structure from collapsing completely. The main entrance laid obstructed with heavy fallen limbs. “My digivice is picking up an unfamiliar tamer signal within, though it’s not very strong.”
“Deneb, try and find a way in at the upper levels, we’ll look around down here as well.” The young woman called out on her digivice. An imitated owl hoot was the returned acknowledgement. An explosion rocked the ground from a wayward attack not far from two tamer’s position.
Andrea looked to James, her heart racing as she steady herself against a tree, “Are the confrontations with the Knights always this bad?”
The female tamer had previously encountered digimon with prejudice against humans and their partners. Some digimon she and Deneb had to fight to get away from or to protect their rescuees. Even some digimon they’d come to rescue refused their help. The last ones hurt the most. Often, she’d have to grit her teeth and bear it. If there was anything she and Deneb could do to save a life, they’d do it, even if their help wasn’t asked for.
More explosions followed the first. The ringing clashes of swords were briefly drowned by the all-too-near roars before again becoming the music of battle. Unlike Andrea, however, James was not shaken. He knew these sounds too well. He had been closer to death than this, though always with Artanis right beside him.
“Not always,” he murmured, just loud enough to be heard over the din. “Some of them have a bit more restraint than others. Not much more, but enough to make a difference.” He paused. “Not that it mattered much. I… we always lost, in a sense.”
"Because surviving - because this - isn't enough."
“People died,” he said. Matthew’s face was first to his mind’s eye, but it was followed by others. Too many others. “Human and Digimon alike. It wasn’t just the Knights doing it, it was the Digimon who’d always been there, hating us. When the Knights started this madness, those Digimon took it as a sign that they were right all along.”
Another explosion shook the ground as they moved cautiously around the tree-home. He wasn’t smiling now, both the danger of their situation and the grim conversation making it impossible.
“We couldn’t win,” he said softly. “All we could do was retreat fighting. That’s all we’ve done, and even that cost us so many lives.” The mountain was there on his shoulders, weighing him down like a pile of corpses stacked high upon his back. Both those who had been slain and those who had been banished, failed by him. Even when he smiled and joked, he felt the sheer weight of his failure and the pain of those he had lost, ever since his dad had died so long ago.
“Where have you been?” he asked, trying to force it away. “You’re reacting to all of this like you don’t know it.”
Andrea frowned as James described the struggle against the Knights. A futile fight against an overwhelming foe. In a way, she was reminded of the events of the past summer in trying to contain a wildfire that burned indiscriminately. Though James’s last comment made her pause in her search for an entrance.
“I knew the Royal Knights were starting to speak out against us, but I’ve been gone for the last five months,” Andrea bit down the edge of her retort, she couldn’t quite decided if James was accusing her or not of staying up to date with the situation. “I was fighting wildfires in the western United States and preventing human stupidity from causing them.” And trying to stay alive at the sametime.
She felt around the around the obstructed door, trying to loosen the jammed logs in front of it.
"Deneb, can I get an assist?" Andrea called through the device on her wrist. A second later, a giant shuriken sailed through the air. The young woman pushed James back with the length of her arm to grant the shuriken space. The large throwing star cut through the downed limbs like butter, clearing the entry way. "I couldn't exactly leave my post, when my fire crew could be called out at anytime."
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, picking up on the edge she forced back and only just realizing how barbed his question could have sounded. “I was just wondering. I’ve been here the whole time since this started, that’s all. I haven’t gone back, haven’t seen my mum or anyone…”
He followed her into the tree-home.
“It’s been hell,” he confessed softly. “Fighting like that when all we could do was hope someone else would end it. Just hanging on and hoping the Council would do something. I’m not used to that. I just do things, help people, save people.” It wasn’t the first time he’d hit this thought. He wasn’t used to having to rely on anyone except Artanis. He hadn’t had to since the two of them had become partners. But the Royal Knights couldn’t be defeated by one Tamer and one partner, nor perhaps by all the Tamers and partners there were. Alone, he and Artanis couldn’t even hope to defeat one Knight, let alone all thirteen. All he and the others could do was fight to save as many lives as they could and hope that the Host or the Council or someone would step in.
He looked around, eyes adjusting to the dark and seeking the Tamer Andrea’s Digivice had picked up.
Her empathic side ached for James , she really did. The confusion she felt when her crying mother handed her a set of warped and burnt dogs tags. She loved fiddling with those dogs tags, when sitting in her dad’s lap during the late evening hours on the family porch. But then he stopped coming home. The helplessness. The unknown that the future would bring. She didn’t know or understand at that age. Instead, she tried figuring it out for herself, rather than wait for someone to do it for her.
“I get it. I really do.” Andrea replied quietly, she’d seen her mother briefly after the fire season, but had high-tailed to Saga as soon as she could. The extra tight and prolonged hug from her mother didn’t escape Andrea. She returned the gesture just as strongly, even though she wasn’t much of a hugger. “A situation seems impossible and you have no choice but to reply on those at your back, when trying to suppress a force of nature.”
She could still remember the wildfire roaring around her fire crew, the heat pressing on them. Breathing was difficult, sweat and dirt clung to her face and arms. Still she had to carry onward, for it was do or die. “Even when you think you’re prepared for the worst, most often you’re not. Sometimes all you can do is regroup and keep pressing forward. Just never stop.”
Andrea glanced at her digivice again, the signal was getting stronger, She flicked on a flashlight to see better.
“These things we do, so that others might live,” Andrea quoted quietly, her digivice gave off an alarm as she stepped carefully in the open room. With a slight frown, the young woman tapped her foot several times. A hollow thump echoed back. “Check the floor, I’m wondering if there’s a hidden door here.”
He nodded in answer and began checking it, searching for any trapdoor or moving panel. As he did so, he reflected on her previous words. “I don’t stop,” he murmured, as much to himself as to her. “I haven’t stopped since… not since that day, really.” He had just buried the pain and moved on, instead. No matter how heavy it grew atop his shoulders. Even Artanis didn’t see how hard it was, he thought. He didn’t let anyone see that, because they needed him to inspire them. That was how it had been since this madness began and he had become a hero.
He hadn’t set out to do it. He hadn’t thought he wanted to be famous. He just saw people suffering and in danger and stepped in like he had a hundred times before. But there was a difference between fighting a bandit somewhere or saving people from the aftermath of disasters, and facing off against the world itself. At times, it felt like that. The Royal Knights were so powerful and so respected that to fight them like he had was like making the world itself his enemy.
“So that others may live,” he murmured, echoing her words as… what? Justification? Explanation? He wasn’t entirely sure. Andrea seemed to understand him, he realized. Had she lost someone close the way he had? Had she felt the same pain?
He stopped searching as his fingers found a well-concealed catch in the floor. “Andrea,” he called. “There’s something here.”
The female tamer shone her flash light by James’s hand. Indeed, she could barely make out the outline of door blending in with the natural wood. She nodded at her current company. “Do it.”
A second later, the pair heard a soft click and a section of the floor sprung up an inch. “James, wait,” she stopped him kneeling down beside him.
“Hello, anyone down there?” She announced down through the dark gap between the hatch and floor. She really didn’t want to get hit by a protective digimon partner. “We’re tamers. I tracked your digivice to this spot. Are you alright?”
She held her breathe, when there was only silence. Then… “Yea, more or less…” a young girl’s voice trailed off.
Andrea bit her lip, that could mean anything. “My name’s Andrea and I’ll come to you. Tell your partner to stand down.”
A soft ‘It’s alright, Dorumon’ greeted Andrea as she opened the hatch the rest of the way. Handing the flashlight off to James to hold, the young woman descended a creaky ladder and knelt beside the terrified girl.
“What’s your name?” She asked, the child hiccupped, ‘Megan....”
“Alright, Megan, I need you to tell me what happened” Andrea said soothingly, looking the dust-covered child over.
“Dorumon and I were running to find shelter, when I tripped over a root,” the child expanded her left leg out. The ankle was terribly swollen and bruised. Andrea gently felt the injured foot and at one point pressed too hard in the wrong spot. The young tamer muffled a cry in her partner’s fur.
“Looks like a bad sprain or partial fracture,” Andrea muttered to herself, reaching into her backpack for her first aid kit. She wrapped the joint securely with the bandages she had on hand.
“Let’s get you out of here and away to safety.” She said, turning her back around and lifted Megan piggy back up on her shoulders.
“Really?” Megan said hopefully.
“Without a doubt.” Andrea said smartly, climbing back up the wooden ladder. Dorumon hopped through the opening a moment later at Andrea’s heels.
“Take her to Hoshiko,” the brunette said to James, passing the young Megan off. “Deneb and I will start searching the next house.”
Before Andrea turned away, she looked at James closely. She didn’t know him very well, but something about him reminded her of...her brother, Kyle.
“James,” she called out to him, “If...I don’t make it out of this, could you do me a favor?”
This wasn’t easy to ask.
“Talk to Theo. I’m worried about him.”
_______________________
Andrea Mercer and Deneb Odedu (Shurimon → ?)
Glen Elendra, The Kingdom of Nature
VS Royal Knight Sir Tristan (Gallantmon)
They had found Aria’s hidden paths and began extracting hidden or injured humans and their digimon partners.
The pair worked in tandem in extracting injured humans and digimon from collapsed homes or caught under fallen trees. Deneb, as Shurimon, sprung agilely through the thick woods and cut a path through the debris to clear a path for the evacuees. Andrea directed Tamers towards the hidden paths away from the fighting, occasionally assisting those too injured to move themselves. As they escorted another group to safety, a powerful red beam scorched a path through the trees not far from their location. Andrea rose slowly from behind the deep roots she’d taken safety behind.
“Deneb, I need a lift!” Andrea called out to her partner hidden among the canopy. A plant-like spring gently wrapped around her extended hand and recoiled, dragged the young woman off the hard ground. “Where did that come from?” She asked, slightly winded from the swift change in elevation.
“Sir Tristan’s shield,” Deneb pointed out somberly, he hovered closely behind his Tamer to grab her in case another stray shot came their way. “Tristan and the other Guardians are slowly approaching our position as they fight.”
“We need more time,” Andrea muttered, trying to come up with a solution,”just a little more time and I think this section of Glen Elendra will be cleared.”
Deneb looked to his partner and back at Aria making a pass at the Royal Knight, her vine whips arching through the air, “I’ll go.”
“What?” Andrea asked startled, a note of surprise creeping on her face. “Deneb, you nearly pass out when I volunteered us to join the Guardians, that’s why I was fine with you deciding our role on the team.”
“You’re right, I am afraid. I’d much rather sing songs of brave warriors greater than I in battle” the Shurimon sighed, watching the ongoing battle with growing dread. His beloved Andrea was willing to risk life and limb, yet she held back from joining the fight directly for his sake“ Yet, I can’t envision how we might walk away from this fight without doing so. Not without possibly losing you.”
“Deneb…” Andrea whispered at a loss.
“My beloved Andi, I fear losing you even more,” Deneb leaned his forehead into his tamer’s back, seeking strength in her comforting presence. The plant ninja exhaled a shaky breath he’d been holding onto. “You are my shadow as I am yours. Opposite sides of the side coin. My stories and songs were my only company until I met you. Your heart, your song, harmonizes with my core. You are my partner, friend, and sister, when I stood alone in my tribe. For you alone, I can muster up the courage to fight.”
Andrea turned around and touched foreheads with her partner in a sense of closeness she hadn’t felt since her father passed away and she and her brother drifted apart. A single tear slid down the female tamer’s cheek.
“What other choice do we have, other than to fight to survive,” she muttered, pulling away, the roar of the wildfire advancing on her fire crew as they desperately worked to finished the last leg of the fire line and stopped the wildfire’s advance on their side of the mountain sang in her memory. It had been too close of a call. She quickly checked the settings on her digivice. “I’ve got your back.”
“You always have,” Deneb reaffirmed. “I have never doubted that.”
His arms trembled at the prospect of facing the Knights, but he reminded himself he wasn’t going at it alone. Andrea and the other Guardians shared the same fight.
“James, Hoshiko,” Andrea called out to the other two over her digivice, “the Guardians fighting Tristan are getting too close to our location. We’ve going to help them out.”
Cutting off the transmission, a bright light emitted from the device and around Deneb, becoming a swift-footed Silphymon. Deneb scooped his partner up in his arms and leapt through the trees with great force to close the distance to Sir Tristan and the other Guardians. As they neared the battle ground, Deneb let Andrea down in a sturdy Elder Tree to stay at a safer distance and to observe the battle.
The Silphymon jumped high into the air and spread his arms to catch the thermals flowing through the skies. At the peak of his flight, Deneb brought his arms forward, energy forming between his hands. “Static Force.” The energy ball was sent soaring towards Sir Tristan, when Lord Michael disengaged and barely raised his own shield in time against the Knight’s counterattack. However, Deneb’s sphere just barely hit the Gallantmon’s shield with little effect.
“Deneb, I don’t think direct attacks are going to work, your Silphymon form doesn’t carry that much power.” Deneb could hear Andrea, but not in the normal sense. He knew she was speaking to him through the digivice that connected them both. “Maybe we can slow him and create an opening for the others. Drop down to the forest floor.”
The Silphymon acknowledged by immediately doing so. A huge relief came over him with a touch of guilt. He’d promised Andrea he would fight the Knights, but his hands had shook uncontrollable when he’d released the energy orb and throw off his aim. Deneb couldn’t help but wonder if his tamer realized this and changed their approach. He touched down on the ground disheartened.
Aria joined the fray, her various attacks seeming to have some effect at first. However, the Gallantmon seemed to brush them off with ease. However, the Rosemon didn’t cease in her course of attack.
Deneb held his breath in wonder as the Rosemon dived fearlessly at the Royal Knight as she released a maelstrom of black roses, a thick pollen covering the knight. Here he was camouflaged among the trees and the flower maiden fought with all her might. He curled his clawed fists.
The bird man felt the tingle of digivolution creeping over his nerves. Deneb knew which form Andrea had selected, each path felt different. “Andrea, stop.”
“Deneb, what’s wrong?” Concern carried over in her words. The flow of energy stopped.
“I need to assume the Warrior form,” Deneb stretched his feathered arms upward away from his body in the Position of the Rising Eagle with his eyes closed. A meditative posture taught to all the young braves in his tribe to quell a troubled spirit.
“Are you sure?” The question came quietly.
“Yes, Andi, please,” the bird man pleaded earnestly.
A new flow of energy overcame the Silphymon and he let it take him. Reddish brown wings sprung from his back, his hair changed to blonde and grew in length. His arms and legs thickened, becoming more muscular and his overall size increased tremendously. His head-mounted display morphed into a hardened keratin beak.
“Garudamon!” A much deeper voice yelled as the light cleared away to reveal the Winged Warrior. Deneb swept his massive wings, quickly rising through the forest canopy. Swiftly achieving a higher altitude, the Garudamon lit up with a red fire and divebombed Sir Tristan, who was currently surrounded by Aria’s black roses. “Wing Blade!”
The fiery silhouette of a ghostly bird continued in a straight path as Deneb ducked lowered with a different target. The flaming bird struck Sir Tristan’s Aegis shield, but not before he succeed in ripping loose a Lightning Joust in return. The lightning just barely glazed Deneb’s feather back, eliciting a pained cry from him. But the bird man held true to his path as he rapidly descended. He slammed both hands upon the ground in a closed grip.
“Boulder Breaker!
The ground beneath the Royal Knight’s feet ripped open with a tremendous quake. The surrounding trees shook, some falling down to the ground as their roots lost their anchoring. Deneb took to the air once again with great effort to wait for an opening to attack again.
******************
Later….
Sir Tristan was relentless. Four against one and still he held them at bay. Occasionally, they got a solid hit in and threw the Royal Knight off his footing. However, the Crismon Knight would quickly recover and retaliate with a countermeasure. The Royal Knights were Saga’s greatest protectors for a reason.
“Deneb! I need your eyes! Where are those three going?” Andrea yelled into her digivice over the roar of the fighting and weapons clashing.
The massive Garudamon peered his telescoping eyes towards a Quilinmon, MegaKabuterimon, and a DoruGreymon flying boldly past the Guardians fighting Sir Tristan. Their partners riding alongside encouraging them onward. The three sets of partners quickly gave chase on the heels of the retreating Jesmon.
“****! They’re just going to get in Thor’s way!” Both partners remembered the pure display of power the Odinson wielded back at Kaladesh. There was no way to warn them. The pairs were too far away and not linked up to Andrea’s digivice. Moments later, Deneb saw only the quick flash of metal reflecting in the distance. Three times.
“Deneb.” She said only his name, but with it came a heavy question. One he didn’t want to answer.
“The digimon partners are gone, their data dispersed,” Deneb whispered, his heart and digicore weighed heavily. He choked on his next words, “I-I can’t see the tamers, they dropped below the tree line. Sir Lamorak is simply standing there... where they fell.”
Long silence.“I don’t know what to do.”
The bird man clenched his eyelids shut with silent tears with the shared admission.
“What else can we do, Deneb? What else do we have?” A sense of loss leaked over the connection. Deneb jerked his beaked head with surprise at his tamer’s direction. Seldom did he see his partner’s rock-steady composure break. All the scenarios they’d encountered before paled in comparison to now. He didn’t think Andrea was asking him this, but rather herself. He didn’t have an answer, but he did know one thing.
“We still have each other.” The one Absolute. The greatest Truth of any Partnership.
“You’ll really let me fight with you, Deneb?” Surprise filtered through the link.
“Yes.” Deneb whispered with a heavy heart. Over the years, and as much as he disliked fighting, he'd kept Andrea at a safe distance for the worst situations. He knew he couldn’t keep her from the danger forever. But he saw now, this battle was greater than just themselves. They were fighting to stay together and not just for their lives."
“I just hope it will be enough.”
“We wouldn’t know unless we try, my dear,” Deneb reassured her, he strengthened her now. For all the years they’d been together, Andrea had been his rock and foundation. Now, he needed to return the favor. He couldn’t let his fear of losing her stop them. Deneb took to heart the phrase his dear Andrea always quoted: these things we do, that others might live.
“Okay, all or nothing then. We put everything on the line.”
The large garudamon drifted back through the air from the battle with Sir Tristan. A serene feeling passed over him amidst the battle. His ever present fear receded. All other sounds faded away, only a faint heartbeat pulsed all around him and throughout, filling him with a familiar presence. He and his tamer saw one another, but it was like they were seeing more of the other than ever before. A ribbon of light reached out from their depths of being, entwining the pair together in mind, body, and soul. An overwhelming green aura engulfed them and exploded outward in real space.
A beeping alarm sounded off in another part of the forest not far from Deneb’s position. A computerized female voice announced: Biomerge Digivolution
His and a young feminine voice cried out together.
“Biomerge ACTIVATE!”
“Deneb biomerge to…!”
The green light grew and grew in the open air above the trees, expanding at an alarming rate. Within the glowing nova of energy, a vague form began taking shape. Massive wings swept the air into strong gusts; a mature tree like club smacked away at a Royal Knight soldier approaching to attack; column-like feet made of stone and wood skimmed the top of the forest canopy; a colossal maul opened wide and gave a terrifying and deafening cry: “Ceresmon.”
The monstrous bird Ceresmon hovered it's impossible weight in the air as numerous vines shot out from its earthen body and connected with the trees and plants below. “Hunger.”
The forest directly below Ceresmon came alive. Shrubs and short trees bent over protectively of tamers hiding, roots erupted from the ground to cut off soldier giving chase, vines wrapped around the feet of unsuspecting attackers,effectively trapping them.
The section of forest Ceresmon influenced grew slowly with each passing second, searching out the Royal Knights attacking its inhabitants.
A graceful and serene figure stood atop an Elder Tree overseeing Ceresmon’s conduct. The gentle giant of a bird was a destructive force when angered, the rational mind connected to the bird giant mitigated just how much energy the manipulated vines and branches drained their trapped foes. The Medium/Andrea did not wish for anyone’s death, only to stop the fighting.
The task was laborious. Her/Their sense of awareness and interdependence was extensive. Was that her changed hand holding her steady to the Elder Tree, the great wings somehow keeping her aloft, or the vine wrapped tightly around an enemy soldier’s leg.
The Medium could not quite decide where she/they started or ended. Instead, she focused on the mighty bird, seeking the gentle spirit of her Deneb. Together, they sought a means to an end.
