Digital
Chapter 7 - Tatakau
by Senashenta

Disclaimer: I'll take "people who don't own Digimon or Lord Of The Rings" for a thousand! ^^ (Who is fanfic author "Senashenta"?)

This chapter is dedicated to Digital Sword! Doumo arigato gozaimasu for the email you sent (who knows how long ago, while I was still in a slump :p) as well as the review! Also, thanks for recommending my story to your friends! =D It's especially nice when someone likes my writing enough to tell others about it. As with everyone else, thank you bunches for sticking with me through the five month dry spell! ^^;; Keep reading! I SWEAR I'll finish this story!

~Digital~
~Chapter Seven~

 

"Uhh...."

"Okay....ow...."

"Is everyone all right...?"

"I think I broke my head."

"Don't be stupid Pip!"

"Takatomon...."

"Yeah Guilmon...?"

"My tail has extra corners."

Groaning, Takeru pushed himself off the ground, spitting dirt and sand. <Ruki! Damn her! Why didn't she tell me getting zapped by a Digital Field hurt that much?> Standing, he blinked to clear the dust from his eyes, and looked around.

The first thing he noticed was that they seemed to be in the middle of a field. Though, if he really thought about it, it was more likely related to the plains that Renamon had told them about earlier. In any case, he couldn't see anything but grass and the occasional bush or rock formation all the way to the horizon.

The second thing he noticed was that not everyone was there; to his left, Takato was checking on Guilmon, who seemed to have broken a bone in his tail. The digimon was taking it well enough, though he whimpered occasionally. Beside them, Lee and Terriermon were checking each other for injuries as well.

Hikari was a little farther off, and Taichi was helping her to her feet. The frail girl took a moment to orient herself, and then began brushing dirt and grass from her hair. Taichi headed over to check on Merry and Pippin, who were in a Hobbit heap nearby.

Gimli was a few yards away, staring out into the horizon. He might have been trying to figure out where they were, which wasn't likely given that he'd never been to Tokyo before, even if it was a screwy-version of Japan.

Iori and Shuichon were dusting each other off, and Shuichon was attempting to figure out if she had a black eye or if the dark patch on her face- that Iori had kindly pointed out- was just dirt.

Finally, Aragorn was wandering from person to person, making sure everyone was all right and- with the exception of a bump or bruise, and Guilmon's kinked tail- uninjured. The Ranger seemed to have a good handle on the situation already, though Takeru couldn't boast to the same thing.

<It's just one thing after another, isn't it?>

The third thing he noticed- mostly because Shuichon pointed it out- was that he had landed on the bow and the quiver of arrows he'd been carrying at the time the Digital Field grabbed them from the school.

"Um, Takeru?"

"Yeah?"

"You've...." the girl paused, looking unsure of what to say, and then, "you've got an arrow in your leg."

Takeru blinked. "What?"

Aragorn, who'd been helping set Guilmon's tail, looked up. "She's right you know."

Looking down, the blond raised an eyebrow. Sure enough, an arrow was sticking out of his thigh, just above his knee, the flight had been broken off, and the arrowhead was halfway imbedded in his flesh.

"Well this just makes my fucking day." Sighing, Takeru reached down and yanked the arrow out, tossing it to the side in disgust. He looked up in time to see the others- save for Aragorn and Gimli- wince at his expense. "What? It's not like I've never been hurt before."

"O-kay...."

"Are you sure you're all right?"

Takeru grinned, amused by Takato's question. "Never better." Then, ignoring the confused looks from the rest of the Chosen and/or Tamers, he tore a strip of cloth from the hem of his shirt and (though the wound wasn't deep and was only bleeding sluggishly) wrapped it around his leg.

"Now." Picking up the bow and slinging it and the quiver of arrows over his shoulder, he straightened up. "Who're we missing?" Counting on his fingers, he began going over names, "Ken, Dai and Miyako from our world, then Ruki and Renamon, Hirokazu, Kenta and Juri from the Tamers universe and Legolas, Frodo and Sam from Middle Earth."

"So half of us are here, and half us are somewhere else." Iori stared. "But where?"

"Who knows?" Lee frowned. "Digital Fields are unpredictable at best."

"So what should we do?" Hikari wondered.

"I don't-" Takeru began, then paused as Aragorn interrupted him.

"Takeru-" the Ranger said gravely, "my suggestion....is that we run."

"Run?" Whirling, the Child of Hope was already reaching for his bow. "From what-?!"

His eyes landed on the Orc horde just as what looked like the last of them crested the horizon. Swearing violently, Takeru knocked an arrow. Beside him, Aragorn was doing much the same, having forgone his sword for the time being.

"No way!"

"It's those....THINGS....again!"

"What are we going to do?!"

"Go!" Aragorn shouted as the Orcs came into range. He loosed an arrow, which slammed into the shoulder of and Orc, making it stumble. "Go!"

"Where?!" Hikari wailed.

"Doesn't matter!" Takeru shouted, "just RUN!"

They didn't need any more convincing, and all of them were running before Takeru let his first arrow fly. Standing his ground, the blond reached for another arrow- beside him, Aragorn was doing the same. On his other side, Gimli shouted something incoherent and raised his axe as the first of the Orcs reached them.

"Shit!" Takeru swore, caught without a weapon. The bow might have been effective in long-range combat, but in close-range it was no good. He managed to parry the first blow with the spine of the bow, but had to fall back almost immediately.

"Guilmon!"

"Fireball!"

Gasping, Takeru stumbled back from the inferno as the Orc that was closest to him exploded into flames. Looking back over his shoulder, the Child of Hope glared toward Takato and Guilmon, "what the hell do you think you're doing?! Get out of here while you still can!"

"No way!"

"GO!"

"No!"

"Takeru! Watch it!"

"FIREBALL!"

<Shit....> scrambling back again, Takeru managed to get to his feet in time to bump into Aragorn, who silently handed him a spare sword. He made a mental note to thank the Ranger later and leaped back into the fray, slashing the throat of the nearest Orc on his way toward Takato and his digimon.

"Takato! Get out of here!"

"Takatomon-"

"We're not leaving you here!"

"Damn it!" Grabbing the goggled-Tamer's wrist, Takeru half-kicked Guilmon's side to get him running. "Let's GO!" He started to run, shoving Takato in front of him, "Aragorn! Gimli! COME ON!"

He made the assumption that they were following him as he ran, forcing Takato and Guilmon to run as well. Ahead of them, he could see the others racing for all they were worth, though they kept looking back....

"Keep going!"

Releasing Takato, Takeru shoved the sword into his hands and loaded his bow as if it was instinct. Three arrows were whirring toward the remaining Orc horde- those that hadn't been cut down already- before anyone could blink, then began to run alongside Takato again.

"Aragorn! Come on! Gimli, move it!"

"We can't keep running!"

"What do YOU suggest?!

"There's nowhere to run to!"

"If we fight we're finished!"

"We've been in worse before!"

<He's got a point.> Takeru had to concede, and despite the situation he began to grin. "So!" He reached to the side, yanking the sword from the Takato's hands (to the Tamer's confusion) and skidded to a stop. "Go, Takato!"

"But-"

A grim smile, "we'll be fine." Looking toward Aragorn, who had stopped only a foot in front of him and was holding his sword ready, he added, "right, Aragorn?"

"Of course."

"Let's kick some Orc ass!" Gimli roared, obviously in good spirits.

Leave it to a Dwarf to enjoy a bloodbath- Takeru shook his head, noting that Takato and Guilmon had finally decided to flee- and took a deep breath. Behind him, he could hear Hikari and Taichi shouting to them to run....

<But we could run all day and they'd still catch up to us. All day....>

This was the problem with the half-breed Orcs that Saruman had created, they could move in sunlight, unlike the original Orcs, and travel faster and farther as well. And they were stronger.

<Not that they aren't strong already....well, here goes....>

The first Orc slammed into him at full-velocity, forcing him back a step. Growling, he pushed it back from him and slashed across it's throat with the tip of the sword. It gurgled and fell, but was immediately replaced with another.

Beside him, Aragorn was managing to keep them back about as well as he was, and Gimli seemed to be doing better with his axe than they were with the swords, why? Maybe because the axe packed more of a punch.

"Argh!" Grunting, Takeru winced, disgusted, when a spray of the black liquid that passed for the creature's blood splashed across the front of his shirt. Gritting his teeth, he wrenched the sword from it's throat, bracing his foot against it's stomach to push it away and turning to face the next one.

As he was spinning, something slammed into his back and pain flared through his ribs. Snarling, he whirled- the blade of the sword that had been stabbed into his side ripped out- and thrust the blade of his sword into the Orc's chest.

Stumbling back, he pulled his sword free and clamped a hand over the wound that was currently bleeding freely.

<Shit....that hurt....> he winced, <oh well....I'll live....>

"Takeru! Behind you!" Aragorn swung his sword in Takeru's direction, and the blond dropped to the ground in time for the Ranger to slash through the neck of an Orc behind him. "Are you all right?"

Nodding, the Child of Hope stood, already clashing with the next Orc. "I'm fine."

"You're bleeding?"

"Yes, among other things." Grunting, Takeru hacked though the arm of a final Orc, then spun and slashed with the sword, chopping it's head from it's shoulders in one sweep. It fell with a thump and he dropped his arms down again, almost losing his grip on the sword, and held his hand over his side again. "Ow...."

"Takeru-" grabbing his shoulder, Gimli steadied him, "are you sure you're all right?"

"Hm." He nodded, wincing. "Just a flesh wound." Chuckling, he added, "I always wanted to say that."

Aragorn laughed, "you'd make a good Ranger, Takeru."

"Maybe."

"Certainly." Sighing, Aragorn patted his shoulder, "let's go."

Almost half a mile away they managed to catch up with the others. Takeru sat down heavily, leaning on hit uninjured side and trying to catch his breath, Hikari was at his side in an instant, worriedly patching him up with strips of cloth from Aragorn's cloak (the Ranger had kindly donated it without question).

"Hikari?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you're my best friend."

The girl smiled, "you're just glad I know first aid."

"Thank God for Jou, ne?"

"Yup."

Takato, who was sitting, leaning against Guilmon, glared at him. "I TOLD you we should have stayed and fought!"

"Nah."

"You got hurt!"

Stretching, the Child of Hope worked his arm and inspected the semi-bandage that Hikari had managed to make. "This looks great, Hikari." He grinned, standing, then addressed Takato, "there'll be more people hurt by the end of this, I'm sure, and probably worse than I am."

"But-"

"Listen, boy!" Gimli snapped, "you can't do anything without weapons and training!"

"Guilmon's strong!" Takato protested, "we can fight!"

"Takato," Lee sighed, "it wasn't a good time. Guilmon's good against digimon, but we've never fought against Orcs before." He smiled at his friend, "don't worry about it. Obviously they can handle themselves."

"Obviously," Taichi repeated, eyeing Takeru, "you've certainly changed, Takeru."

"Middle Earth made me grow up." He replied seriously, then grinned at his long-time friend. Picking up his sword again, he looked around at everyone else as he began to wipe the blade clean. "So I think we can safely say that these are the plains that Renamon was talking about."

"Probably." Taichi agreed.

"Weren't those pretty far away?" Merry asked doubtfully.

"Yeah," Shuichon nodded, "but that's what Digital Fields do, right Jen?"

Her brother made an agreeing noise. "They can transport digimon from one world to another, that's for sure. And apparently they can transport people between dimensions." He paused to think, then, "though I get the feeling it wasn't normal Field that brought us here."

"And it wasn't a normal Field that scooped us up out of the school and dropped us in this field." Terriermon added.

"Beautiful." Takeru turned to Aragorn, "can you figure out where we're headed? We need to find some shelter, and try to get in contact with the others. Hopefully we'll be able to get them over the D-Terminal."

Aragorn nodded and gestured to Gimli. "We'll go scout. Stay here."

"Good." A curt nod and the Child of Hope looked around again, "Taichi and Hikari, you stay here with Merry and Pippin, and Takato and Guilmon and try to catch the others on the Terminal. If we're lucky, Miyako and Ken-" he broke off, worry flashing through his mind at the thought of the blue-haired boy, then, "-if we're lucky, they're trying to get to us right now. Lee and Terriermon, and Iori and Shuichon, you guys are coming with me."

"Um, where?"

Takeru smirked. "We're going back to salvage what we can from those Orcs."

Terriermon gaped. "Are you KIDDING?!"

"No. They've got weapons and armor that we don't, and we could use it. My guess is that Aragorn and Gimli will tell us that fortress is over the rise the Orcs came from, and if we're going to be that close to their...." he searched for the word, "....base, then I want to be armed and protected, don't you?"

"Yeah...."

"So let's go."

"Well," Lee laughed, "you heard him."

Terriermon sniffed, pouting and followed his Tamer.

**********

Me: Whee! Another new chapter! When it rains, it pours!

Terriermon: Don't be happy about it. YOU got us stuck out here.

Lee: Terriermon, behave.

Terriermon: *sticks his tongue out*

Me: ^_^

Hikari: Is Takeru going to be okay?

Me: Of course!

Taichi: He's a lot stronger than I remember.

Me: You would be, too, had you been in his shoes in Middle Earth.

Aragorn: The boy would make a good Ranger.

Takeru: So you said....

Guilmon: My tail huuuurts!

Takato: *pats his head* You'll be okay, boy.

Me: *pats Guilmon's head, too*

Shuichon: So what are we doing next?

Iori: She won't tell you.

Me: Hee, hee! ^^

Takeru: I want to know how the others are doing....

Gimli: *claps his back* You want to know how KEN is doing!

Takeru: Don't make me shoot you.

Me: ^^;;

 

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