Digital
Chapter 10 - Shi
by Senashenta

One, two, three! All together now! Senashenta doesn't own Digimon or Lord Of The Rings! Not Takeru or Ken or Ruki or Legolas or Aragorn (though I'd kill to own most of them!) or Gimli or-

Digital Sword: When Aragorn originally suggested that "Renamon bring a computer here", Miyako mentioned that it might work as long as the computers Renamon brought were laptop/portable computers with battery packs. ^_^ That way they can use them out in the middle of nowhere!

~Digital~
~Chapter 10~

Something poked his ear.

Ken waved it away absently.

Something poked his ear again.

Ken waved it away absently.

Something poked-

"Daisuke!" Ken snapped, glaring at his long-time friend and Jogress partner, "will you cut that out already?!"

The redhead shrugged and poked at the point on Ken's ear once more. "It's just so cool."

Ken sighed, "Dai!"

Across the cave, Legolas gave a half-smile and continued working, after doing what he could with Ruki's bow, he had immediately set to work on Ken's. Now, still holed up in the mountainside, Ruki was standing, leaning against the rock wall with the blond Elf sitting on the ground next to her. Ken was currently seated with Hirokazu and Kenta, and, of course, Daisuke, who continued to-

"Seriously!" Ken smacked Dai's hand away for what seemed like the millionth time, and turned a raised eyebrow when Legolas....laughed? "What do you find so funny?"

"Nothing, or course." Legolas replied softly, continuing with what he was doing.

"Personally," Miyako called from where she was seated, across the cave from Ken and with Juri beside her, "I find the Elf ears cute," pausing, she continued, giving Ruki a sly look, "don't you agree, Ruki?"

Flatly. "I hadn't noticed."

But Ken noted with some amusement that her eyes flicked toward Legolas as she said it. The Elf didn't seem to notice, though. Shaking his head, Ken glanced over at Miyako, who grinned, and then-

"Dai! STOP!"

"Okay, okay." The goggled-boy chuckled and sat back, crossing his arms behind his head and stretching his legs out in front of him. "So how long do we have to sit our asses here? No offense, but I'm not exactly used to hiding."

"Yeah, well," Ken shook his head, "there's not much we can do until Renamon brings us that computer."

"I'm still," Legolas spoke up, "unclear on the concept of a 'computer'."

"Uh...." Juri smiled hesitantly, "they're kind of complicated."

"Hm." The Elf agreed easily, not one to raise trouble. "Perhaps you, Ruki, could explain them to me at a later time?"

The Tamer shrugged, "sure, why not?"

<Cute.>

Across the cave, Miyako smirked and Juri giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. Ken could only meet Frodo's gaze as he and Sam grinned over at him. The two of them found Ruki and Legolas' almost-relationship as amusing as he did.

Ryo was watching the two- who were still nonchalantly going about their own business- in silence, with a half-confused and partially-concerned look on his face.

<When Ryo showed up, I figured there was something with him and Ruki. Strange, but despite her attitude she was just....TOO ticked off when Dai and I brought him and Monodramon back with us.> It made him wonder, but he didn't want to dwell on it, and-

"Dai!" Ken's thoughts were cut off suddenly and he smacked Daisuke away again, exasperated, "will you quit it?! That has got to be the most annoying thing you've ever decided to be obsessed with doing!"

Daisuke laughed and settled back again. "Sorry, man. It's just too much fun. I had to do it one more time. Seriously, I'll stop now." Pausing, he stared at Ken for a moment before leaning forward and flicking the blue-haired boy's ear again, snickering. "It's just so cool! Man, I want to be an Elf, too."

Ken groaned.

"Hn." Ruki raised an eyebrow and spoke dryly, "would you like me to shoot him for you?"

"What was that?" Dai asked blankly.

Ken laughed, "no, Ruki, but thanks anyway."

"Yeah," Hirokazu added, "if it comes down to it, I'm sure Ken'd much rather do it himsel- ow!" Rubbing his arm where Daisuke had punched him (the redhead had kindly avoided his injured arm for that) Hirokazu pouted, "jeez, Chumly, I was only joking."

"Sure you were." This was Kenta, who was currently playing rock-paper-scissors with Monodramon.

The digimon was winning.

Ryo, who was standing by the cave entrance, seemed to be listening for something.

Ken tilted his head to the side curiously, "what is it, Ryo?"

The brunette glanced toward him. "Listen."

Immediately, Legolas glanced up, already training his Elven ears to filter out the normal sounds. Ken was doing much the same, and Ruki seemed to be even tenser than she had been, if it was possibly.

"What-?"

Blue eyes narrowed as Legolas frowned slightly, "I hear nothing."

"Exactly." Ryo stated. "No birds, no animals, no insects...."

"So?" Daisuke asked, "what's it matter if it's quiet?"

"Too quiet." Ken told him, "there's always noise in a forest. Complete silence means there's something wrong."

"Oh."

"What could it be?" Sam wondered, "the Orcs again?"

"Maybe," the Child of Kindness stood and moved to where Ryo was standing. "But Orcs are loud. There would be some noise from them, if not from the animals."

"You're being paranoid." Hirokazu snorted.

"Shut up." Ruki snapped dryly. "Just be quiet for a MINUTE, okay?"

"Aw, come on...."

They were all quiet, though, as if sensing the tension from Ryo and those of their party who had the Elven hearing, Monodramon swiftly made his way to his Tamer's side to stare out across the trees below the cave opening.

Seconds ticked by, feeling like longer.

Still there was nothing from the forest beyond.

Silence.

Wind and leaves shifting in it.

<There's something, though....> even with the aid of Elf hearing, Ken had to strain his ears to pick up the faint sounds. <What...? Footsteps....almost....scratching? It sounds like scratching. But....it's not coming from....it's....coming from....> frowning in concentration, he turned to look back into the cave.

Scratching....

<There are more cave systems farther into the mountain. Not as grand as Moria, but somewhat like that.>

Upon finding the cave and making the decision to stay in it, Ken and Legolas had made a quick trip into the farther caves to assure their safety while Ruki remained with the others. The tunnels had been empty, hence their staying.

<But now....> his lips thinned and his eyes flicked to Ruki. "Ruki, you hear that, right?"

Ruki didn't reply, but her gaze moved to the back of the cave.

"There's something in here with us." Legolas murmured.

"What is it?" Juri asked, sounding worried.

"I know not." The Elf told her, standing. With inhuman grace and silence he paced over and handed the bow he had been working on back to Ken. "You may be needing this."

Ken nodded.

"Shall we go and see?"

The bluenette looked to Ruki, "can you watch them, again?"

"Fine."

She sounded almost annoyed. Not that Ken was surprised by it, as Ruki almost always sounded annoyed. She would probably have rather gone along with them, but Ken was more familiar with the Earth part of the world they were in than she would be, and Legolas was the resident expert on Middle Earth, so they were a good pair to go. Aside from that (and something that he would never have told her) Ken preferred to leave her to defend Frodo and the Ring.

<I don't know what Takeru was talking about, but from what he says the Ring has a pull on me....>

He didn't entirely understand it, but he trusted Takeru's judgment. Besides, Ruki was a pain in the ass, but she was tough as nails and would fight like a bitch to keep both Frodo and the Ring out of enemy hands, whether Renamon was with her or not.

<She has a strong sense of justice.>

"Well," Ken gripped his bow, "let's go."

This time, Daisuke didn't follow him as he and Legolas made their way back into the smaller system of caves, deeper in the mountainside. For his safety, Ken was glad that the Child of Courage and Friendship knew when to stay out of things.

"I'm also glad for the Elf eyes." This was muttered under his breath, a comment on the dimness of the farther caves, but still Legolas glanced at him.

"At times like this," he said, just as quietly, "so am I."

Ken gave a distracted smile, his steps slowing. Both he and Legolas stopped, they were only a dozen yards into the deeper cave system, and already the scratching was becoming louder. Really, it was more of a scraping sound, now....

"Digging, perhaps?" Legolas ventured.

Ken frowned. When they had explored before they hadn't found many open passageways. Most of what had once been tunnels between (they assumed) many cave systems had been blocked off, either naturally or unnaturally. Either way, they had been under the impression that there was no way in to the main cave from deeper in the mountain. So they had been safe from attack.

<From behind, anyway.>

Beside him, the blond Elf was giving an almost-scowl, and Ken could only assume that Legolas had come to the same conclusion he was in the process of coming to.

"Orcs?"

"I can smell them." Legolas growled. "Disgusting creatures."

If it had been a better situation, Ken would have laughed. Instead he nodded in agreement, "we should get back before-" he broke off, startled, when the sound of falling rocks sounded from somewhere in the catacombs. "That's-"

Scrabbling and scratching and footfalls on the stone.

Thwack!

An arrow bounced from an outcropping of rock beside Legolas, and instantly both he and Ken had their own bows out, arrows flying. The shrieking that followed signified that at least one Orc had been hit, even as the throng began to emerge from the shadows....Ken fired another arrow, and three more whirred from Legolas' Elven bow.

And, as always, there were too many.

<It was a trick! Of course! They never gave up looking for us, they just let us get comfortable and then came up on us from behind! And we FELL for it!> Cursing himself mentally for not thinking of it, the bluenette spun, "Legolas! Come on! We've got to get back to the others and get out of here!"

The Elf nodded, sending a final arrow toward the horde, and then the two of them were off and running with the Orcs right on their heels. Half a breath later the two of them burst into the main cave, surprising the others, who were still waiting for their- calm- return.

"We all need to get out!" Ken shouted, making everyone stare, "now!"

"Ken, what-?"

"Dai, just trust me on this-" the Orc shrieking broke through then, echoing in the caverns, and he glanced back over his shoulder, already knocking an arrow out of habit. "We HAVE to go, now!"

Thwack!

Another arrow bounced off of the cave rock, and Daisuke was instantly on his feet with the others right behind. Ken whirled and sent his own arrow flying. It stuck an Orc, causing the creature to scream in pain and rage, another arrow whirred over Ken's shoulder, this one coming from Ruki, and it was followed swiftly by a second. More shrieks, but they didn't stick around to see how many of the Orcs had been struck down.

"Let's go!"

Ryo and Ken lead the way out of the cave, with the others right behind and Ruki and Legolas bringing up the rear. Once they were outside, however, they were presented with another problem....

"Where do we go?" Juri cried, "we've got nowhere to run to!"

"No problem," Daisuke assured her with a wink (though Ken was certain he didn't actually feel as confident as he looked). Grabbing the girl's hand, he started down the slope of the mountain, following Ryo and Monodramon. "We'll just go after them, right?"

"I....guess...."

Ken stopped, watching Ryo lead the others on, and turned to look back at the cave. The Orcs were swarming out behind them now, with Ruki and Legolas attempting to keep them back- unfortunately, Ruki was already running out of arrows. They couldn't keep up. "Ruki! Legolas! Come on!"

"Fuck!" Ruki snarled. She loosed a final arrow and then took of running with Legolas on her heels.

Ken, assuming they would know better than to stop and attempt hand-to-hand combat, started down the mountainside once more, hoping to catch up to the others....they seemed to be heading for the clearing he and Daisuke had found Ryo in....

And there were both good and bad points to that plan.

<We'll be out in the middle of nowhere with no cover, but at the same time we'll be freer to fight....not that I expect most of them to be much help....>

"Ken!"

He slammed into Kenta's back, only a short way from the valley they were heading toward, "what-?!"

"Shit, why'd you stop?!" Ruki demanded, skidding in the leaves on the forest floor and giving them both a shove as she reached them. Whirling, she fired another arrow and then slapped Kenta upside the head. "You WANT to get killed?!"

"What....is....th-that?" Kenta stammered, ignoring the smack and staring upward.

The shadow of something large skimmed over the ground and both Ken and Ruki quickly turned their eyes skyward. Behind them, they could hear Legolas stop in his tracks, and the twang of his bowstring followed.

Above, a huge creature flew past, the wind from it's wake forcing the trees to bend and ripping leaves from the branches, Ken had to brace himself against it, holding onto his bow tightly, so he wouldn't fall or loose the important weapon. It was a dragon, maybe....or some other kind of monster....flying on huge membraned wings....and on it's back....

Ken gasped, "Ruki, it's-"

"What the fuck?!"

Behind them, Legolas shouted, "a winged beast! I had....only heard of them in legends!"

"Legolas," Ken said, shocked, "please tell me that's not a Nazgul riding it."

Instead of answering, the Elf looked to the sky, "I fear we are in greater trouble than I imagined."

<Wonderful.>

The Child of Kindness, normally soft-spoken and caring, gave Kenta a hard shove to get him going and quickly followed after him. The others, still following Ryo and Monodramon- and now Daisuke as well, who continued to pull Juri along- were just stepping into the clearing. Ken's eyes went to Frodo and Sam, as both Hobbits ran to keep up with their human companion.

<We can't lose the Ring!> He knocked another arrow, "Frodo! Sam! Get down! HIDE!"

Ignoring Ruki, who had fallen back to help Legolas keep the Orcs back (he was still assuming that they could defend themselves), he sprinted after Kenta, sliding down the last few feet of the slope on the fallen leaves of the forest, and dashed into the clearing. Without a word, he grabbed Frodo, tucking him under an arm (making both he and Sam utter surprised exclamations) and dropped the Hobbit near the edge of the trees at the other side of the glade. Sam scrambled to follow. Shoving them both less-than-delicately (he knew from experience that Hobbits were hard to hurt) under a low-falling tree branch for cover, he turned back to the clearing in time for Ruki and Legolas to burst from the trees, followed by several dozen shrieking Orcs.

"Stay there!" He shouted back over his shoulder, already running to join his comrades in their fight.

Thwack!

An arrow struck the ground by his left foot as he stopped next to Ruki, sticking in the dirt, but he simply stepped to the side, ignoring it. Two arrows of his were out and flying before he had time to think about the danger. Beside him, Ruki was firing arrows as fast as she could, and a few feet away Legolas was doing the same. Despite their barrage, though, the Orcs kept coming.

Thwack!

"Fucking hell!" Ruki snarled, "where the hell are their archers?!"

She was right. Ken hadn't seen their archers yet, and they were going to be a problem, arrows continued to strike the ground all around them, and behind them the others could only stand as far back as possible and try not to get hurt.

But-

"Monodramon!"

Ken whirled when Ryo's voice sounded just as the Orc horde surged forward. Above, the winged creature, controlled by one of the Black Riders, wheeled in the sky and began a frighteningly fast dive downward.

"Monodramon Shinka! Strikedramon! Strikedramon Shinka! Cyberdramon!"

Two evolutions in such quick succession weren't unheard of, but still it was a surprise to most of the Chosen Children and Tamers present. Monodramon's evolutions were aided by Ryo's amazingly choreographed slashing of his cards, but it was still impressive.

And just in time.

"Cyberdramon!" Ryo ordered, shouting, "stop that thing!"

Snarling, the digimon reached up just as the winged beast and it's Nazgul rider reached him. Claws entangled with claws and the beast screamed, enraged, as did Cyberdramon. He roared, clamping his teeth into the flesh of the creature's leg and making the Rider hiss angrily.

Cyberdramon released one of the winged beast's legs long enough to slash at it's thin wings with long and sharp claws, and then reared back, "ERASE CLAW!"

An ear-piercing shriek, and the creature wrenched away, barely avoiding Cyberdramon's attack. It flapped up and out of reach uncertainly, and it was obvious that it was injured. It uttered a bellowing roar, which was answered a second later as another beast- complete with Shadow Rider- appeared in the sky above them.

Cyberdramon snarled, flexing his claws-

"Look out!"

The bluenette jerked his attention back to the Orcs, barely avoiding having his head lopped off. As it was, he twisted to the side and the edge of the Orcish sword caught his elbow. Wincing, he dropped down and rolled, only to scramble up, not worrying about his arm, and reach for an arrow.

<What-?!>

There was none.

<I'm out of arrows!>

Panic had begun to set in. He'd known, not having an Elven bow, that he would run out of arrows....they were all but surrounded, with Orcs in every direction, and he was out of arrows. There was....nothing....but....

Something bumped into him and he jumped, spinning, to face Legolas.

The Elf began to hand him a dagger, and-

"Ken! Watch it!"

Thwack!

Almost before he could blink, Daisuke was in front of him. The goggled boy shouted, then was slammed violently backward, colliding with Ken and knocking him down. Ken gasped, struggling to push himself up on his elbows, hindered by Daisuke's weight.

"Daisuke!"

A soft gurgle and a cough.

Ken stared in horror at the thick arrow that was protruding from his best friend's chest.

"DAI!"

Around them, silence fell. The Orcs were still and silent, waiting for something, watching the sky, Legolas kept his bow trained on them, and Ruki faced the horde with only a dagger, growling. Cyberdramon started toward them, only to be intercepted by another winged beast, and-

<Oh God, Dai....>

The arrowhead had snapped off and was laying in the grass next to them. Blood poured from Dai's back, puddling on the ground beneath him. In an attempt to stop it, Ken quickly removed the arrow shaft from the other boy's flesh and clamped his hand over the wound.

Daisuke coughed, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. "Shit...."

"Dai, you-"

The redhead smiled weakly, his breathing labored and his eyes glazed. Ken could feel the blood from the exit wound soaking into his own clothes and stifled a sob. The wound was a bad one. His ears were picking up the gurgling of a punctured lung, and the irregular thumping of an injured heart.

"Well...." another cough and he spit up a mouthful of blood, "I couldn't....let....them...."

"Come on, Dai-" pressing his hands down, Ken still tried to slow the bleeding. "You can't-"

"S'okay....fucking hurts, but...." Daisuke reached a shaking hand into the pocket of his blood-soaked jacket and grasped his D3 and Terminal. Withdrawing them, he held them up, "you take these....for now...."

"For-?" Ken blinked, feeling as if he might cry. But of course he couldn't. "You can't! I can't!"

Forcefully. "Take them."

The bluenette shook his head. He couldn't speak.

Thump-thump, thump-thump.

Dai's heart was slowing.

Thump-thump, thump-thump.

The Child of Courage and Friendship continued to take racking breaths, his eyes glazed with pain.

Thump-thump, thump....

"Daisuke!"

Dai's hand dropped to his side, his D3 and Terminal clattering on the ground.

"Dai!"

Nothing.

<Oh no! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! Dai!> Ken sobbed dryly, into his friend's hair.

As an Elf, he was unable to cry, but his heart wept freely. He didn't even see when the Orcs moved back, or when the winged beast that had been clashing with Cyberdramon withdrew. He ignored them.

"Ken!"

And then there was something digging into his shoulders, a terrible pressure, and he was lifted off the ground-

<What-?>

Dazed, he suddenly realized he was in the grasp of the second winged beast.

"Fight back you fucking idiot!"

This could only be Ruki, shouting at him as the creature lift him into the air and flap it's huge wings, carrying him over the trees. He struggled the best he could, suddenly enraged. Daisuke was dead. They had killed him. They had-

"LET ME GO!"

His struggled were in vain, and the creature simply tightened it's grip.

"Fuck!" Ruki shrieked, throwing the dagger Legolas had given her to the ground.

"Ruki, the Orcs-"

Glaring, she realized with a start that they were gone, crashing back through the forest. And then she noticed that none of them- the Orcs, the winged beasts or the Nazgul that were riding them- had even TRIED to reach Frodo and Sam.

"They were after Ken all along." Legolas stated. "Why?"

"How the hell should I know?!"

Turning angry red eyes to the others, she watched Juri kneel beside Daisuke, tears already spilling from her. She had, for some unknown reason, developed a strangely strong caring for the goggled boy, and now that he was....

Hirokazu and Kenta....they were....in shock....horrified. Ryo was bringing Cyberdramon under control, making him de-evolve to his child form. Frodo and Sam ventured from the foliage, staring wide-eyed and Daisuke's body and the pool of blood that surrounded it.

"Ruki?"

She realized she had been staring.

"Are you....all right?" Legolas sounded sad, as if grief was choking him.

He couldn't cry either.

"I saw this." She muttered, as Miyako began typing chat addresses into her Terminal.

"Saw it?"

"In Galadriel's mirror." The Tamer told Legolas flatly. "I saw Daisuke die. I saw....and now it's happened. I saw him die."

"Ruki-"

Turning slowly, Ruki walked to the edge of the clearing, brooding. Legolas began to follow, then hesitated, changing his mind, and watched her sadly. Around him, the others attempted to comprehend the fact that their friend was....gone.

"Miyako?" Taichi's voice came through the D-Terminal, sounding both tired and surprised. "What- is it? What's happened?"

"They've taken Ken." Miyako told him, her voice shaking, choked, and her eyes brimming with tears. "And- Daisuke." She paused, a sob working from her throat. She cut it off and continued softly, "we've lost him. Taichi....Daisuke's dead."

**********

Me: *cowers* I'm soooooo sorry, everyone! ;_; If you read "Company", though, you may have seen it coming. Not a very good Christmas present for everyone, but.... ^^;; Merry Christmas anyway, and thankies to Lady Fox who wished me a Merry Christmas too. *bows* Gomen gomen....

Ruki: (flatly) Will the other things I saw come true as well?

Me: ..........

Ruki: WILL THE OTHER THINGS I SAW IN GALADRIEL'S MIRROR COME TRUE AS WELL?!

Me: I....

Legolas: Ruki....

Ruki: *leaves*

Me: ..........