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Soul Bonds

Season 01: Legend's Legacy – The Soul Warriors!

Chapter 06

The Connection

Kanbara Daisuke knew what he did was reckless and stupid to leave the DigiDestined behind like that, but when it came about his little sister and his friends, he always allowed his impulses get the better of him. Over time he came to control it, but that had only happened because Ken had been there to keep him balanced. No matter how kind and friendly the DigiDestined were (well… except for TK, for some reason…), they weren't really his friends. The only reason he wasn't losing his mind had been because of Kari and that was because… well…

He sighed at the reason why Kari was keeping him sane. It wasn't because he had a crush on the girl. Although, he would admit that the girl was cute, but that was just about it. No, it had been because of the girl's friendship he had already forged a long time ago.

"Davis-kun! W-wait a moment, please!"

Daisuke turned around after pausing to see Kari running toward him with Tai, Sora, Izzy, TK, Yolie, and Cody right behind her.

"You shouldn't have left us behind!" Kari huffed with a small glare, but it lost its affect because of the worry glow overwhelming her annoyance in her eyes. "What if you ran into a Shadow Digimon? You could've gotten hurt,"

Like that's anythin' knew, Daisuke thought, but instead of giving Kari his sarcastic comment, he rubbed the back of his neck and gave her a nervous grin. "M'sorry Hikari-chan, I really couldn' wait. Th's 's my imouto-chan (younger sister) an' best friend we're searchin'. I don' wanna leave 'em along 'n th' DigiWorld withou' me bein' there," He said with a serious and determined expression.

Kari frowned at him, but didn't say anything else.

"I wonder where Agumon and the others are," Tai said, breaking the unusual silence.

"They should be comin' by soon from wha' Gennai-jiisan had told me," Daisuke said with a shrug and fidgeted impatiently to keep going.

"Hey guys, I think they're over here!"

The DigiDestined turned toward the voice while Daisuke had already tensed upon feeling the presence coming closer to their location for some time and narrowed his eyes further upon the unfamiliar voice. It wasn't until Agumon came into view with a white blur passing by, which went straight toward Cody's, did the young Kanbara faltered his tense posture. Agumon and Patamon enthusiastically ran (or flew in Patamon's case…) toward their partners while Tentomon and Gatomon were calmer than the other two male Digimon greeting their human partners. A Biyomon, most likely the DigiDestined of Love's partner, immediately launched herself into Sora' arms. Sora, in turn, looked to be holding onto her friend as if she will never let Biyomon go again.

"Sora! It's so good to see you again, after all this time!" Biyomon cried out happily.

"Oh, Biyomon!" Sora smiled wildly, looking both blissed and relieved.

Daisuke turned away from the heartwarming scene and was surprised to see two unfamiliar Digimon Rookies standing in front of a surprised Yolie and Cody. The two Rookies were a pair of Digimon he had never seen or encountered before, which led him to believe these were the two Digimon Wormmon, Ken's Digimon partner, had told him, his sister, and best friend. They were the Digimon the new DigiDestined were to be partnered with from what Gennai had told Wormmon before sending the Rookie Digimon to Ken.

Bu' if these two Digimon 're their Digimon partners… where's mine?

Shaking away the uncomfortable and worried thought, Daisuke managed to catch only a bit of Yolie's Digimon introducing herself to the surprised lavender haired teenager.

"—name's Eaglemon," a petite humanoid Digimon said with a graceful bow.

Eaglemon seemed to be a female Digimon with her long brown hair tied in a ponytail. Her ears were feathered wings with a golden hue to her brown feathered earns. She had tan skin while wearing golden ring bracelets around both of her wrists and golden ankles. She wore to what looked to be a navy blue, one piece swimsuit with a sky blue colored, fluttering skirt. On her shoulders were blue armor plates with blue belts strapped in an X formation on her chest and back. Both her hands and feet were more claw-like thanks to her gloves and boots. On each side of her cheeks was a yellow lightning bolt tattoos, but what really made Daisuke pale and shook him inside were… her eyes.

Ember hawk-like eyes…

Miya…

It took every will of his being not to shake or throw up as he fought back the terrible memories threatening to take over the small sanity of his mind he kept a strong hold of after that Tragic Day… Unfortunately, this became almost impossible to do when he took a look at Cody's Digimon so he wouldn't have to look at those hauntingly familiar eyes.

"Finally I get to meet'chya! My name's the amazing Setsurōmon!" Cody's Digimon partner introduced himself with a carefree and slightly cocky tone.

Setsurōmon seemed to be a wolf humanoid Digimon. His head was a white, snow wolf with big (…too hauntingly familiar…) bright yellow, like the sun, eyes (Iro-chan's wide, serious, innocent eyes). He wore a green army patterned headband with a circle pin that held #01 inked on it. On his back was a long blue katana. He wore an unzipped black and green vest with a two black belts crossed like an "X" on his furred chest. For his feet was a pair of black army boots with his white wolf tail wagging happily behind him. He was a couple inches shorter than Cody.

Daisuke felt trapped, shaken, and sick upon seeing those eyes much like he felt upon seeing Eaglemon's. He had to take a few steps back and took deep breaths. He couldn't afford to draw attention to himself by throwing up over seeing a pair of ghosts of his past, and… the heavy weight of guilt scarring his painful and worn heart any further than it already was. Biting his bottom lip and shutting his eyes, Daisuke forced himself to calm down. He couldn't allow his past hold him back from protecting those that were still alive and there.

Pull yourself t'gether! Yer a Kanbara! Y' can't afford t' think dark thoughts! Kiki and Enny need me! Daisuke scolded to himself.

"Are you ok, Davis?"

It took a few seconds for Daisuke to react to the name he had given to himself. No matter how many times he hears it, he will never get used to it. He turned to face Tai's concerned expression especially in his normally warm eyes. For some reason, when Tai gently held a strong hand on Daisuke's shoulder… he felt himself relax upon the reassuring hand. The way he so easily (almost naturally…) relaxed upon Tai's presence astonished Daisuke. No one had ever made him relax or gave him a safe feeling except for his dad, mom, and…

Quickly trying to take his mind away from the memories of the person that brought so much joy and pain, Daisuke turned fully to Tai with a blank and confused expression.

"S'rry, wha' didya ask?" Daisuke grinned sheepishly at Tai, who gave an amused and concerned expression.

"I asked if you were alright. You looked like you were going to be sick," Tai answered, looking toward the younger brunet's ruby eyes.

Daisuke forced a fake smile. "I'm fine! Jus' a bit surprised seein' the new Digimon, 's all," He said with a facade of normality.

Shockingly, Tai didn't look that convinced. In fact, if Daisuke read correctly, Tai did believe him being surprised upon Eaglemon's and Setsurōmon's appearance, but he didn't believe Daisuke when he said he was "fine" from the beginning. Tai looked even more concerned and worried for Daisuke's well-being. This was something that shocked Daisuke since no one, not even Enny, could see passed his mask he perfected during the Dark War before and after the DigiDestined arrived and left the Digital World. He only met Tai for about a day, and yet… it was like the older brunet knew Daisuke better than his best friend.

He hated to admit it, but that scared him and at the same time… he felt safe. It was a feeling he hasn't felt since…

Upon feeling a comforting squeeze from Tai's hand brought Daisuke out of his thoughts and brought his attention back on the older Kamiya.

"I'm here if you need anything, ok, Davis? Don't lock everything in," Tai said softly.

Daisuke mentally flinched upon how accurately Tai saw through him, but he couldn't help himself to feel nothing but trust and safety from the older teen.

Now, feeling self-conscious despite being comfortable around Tai, Daisuke gave a weak smile that almost looked shy, probably. He was relieved that everyone else had their attention on their Digimon to notice the conversation between except for Agumon (although, he was an exception and was politely keeping quiet).

"Thanks," Daisuke said sincerely toward the DigiDestined Leader.

"Do ya know th' DigiDestined Leader, Genai-jii-san?"

"I can say that I have. Why do you ask, my boy?"

"I want t' know wha' th' guy was like,"

"Hmm, I suppose you can say… he's very much like yourself,"

"Me…?"

"Hnhnhn… that's right. In the beginning he was… naïve, innocent and hotheaded, but very protective and loyal to his friends, even to those he doesn't know. Over time though… he was realizing how dangerous things were going and was losing his innocence much faster compared to the other children, especially since he was the unofficial leader at the time,"

"What do ya mean by 'un'ficial leader'?"

"It's just as I said… The Child of Courage is a natural leader. The DigiDestined needed someone to lead them, and the Child of Courage was the only one more suited for the job. The way he leads his team… The DigiDestined trusts him and felt that warming safety in his presence. Despite his young age, the Leader of the DigiDestined was a natural as he grew into the role unlike most adults to go under the pressure of that role,"

As Tai gave Daisuke that soft, warm grin and ruffle his head, which had him whine toward the older boy about messing up his cap and goggles while Tai laughed in amusement, Daisuke finally saw what Gennai had meant about Tai. He only saw a glimpse of it yesterday when he first met the eight DigiDestined. The way the seven DigiDestined trusted Tai and the way their leader looked into Daisuke's eyes… it wasn't a normal, everyday teenage boy Daisuke was looking at in those warm (so filled with weariness, safety and strength) hazel-gold eyes. No, he was looking at the eyes of the DigiDestined Leader.

The trust, safety, and the unexplainable pull he felt toward Tai awed and frightened Daisuke. While he may trust and forgave others easily… the war and then being hunted down had left him wary to others (admittedly occasionally). The trust and safety Tai won over Daisuke so quickly… he didn't know what to do. He never wanted to get close to the DigiDestined, in fear that they would be in more danger than they ever were before (much like Enny and Kiki were at the moment).

Daisuke knew he had to distance himself from Tai, but… he didn't think he'll be able to.

Ken is going to kill me when he learns about this.

"Say Tentomon," he heard Izzy began, bringing him back to the present and automatically put back his mask on to hide his inner turmoil. "Do you know anything about the changes of our Digivices, and why the three new DigiDestined's are a little different than ours?"

At this, Daisuke carefully paid attention. It was something neither he nor Enny bothered to ask Wormmon since he never knew what the Digivices the DigiDestined of Virtues had looked like. Well… until now…

"That's because they're the ones who are mainly going to beat that Shadow bastard's ass, is why!" Setsurōmon said with a smirk.

Eaglemon smacked the smaller and arrogant Digimon's head (Th's Digimon 's nothin like his human partner, Daisuke sweat dropped.) with an embarrass expression upon her friend's rude response. "It doesn't mean the others aren't as important," She scolded the pouting wolf-humanoid Digimon, and smiled apologetically at Tai and the other Virtuous DigiDestined. "You do take part in helping defeat this new threat, Virtuous DigiDestined. It is why your Digivices have changed into the appropriate model for this upcoming war with the Shadow Digimon. This threat and the journey ahead of us is far more dangerous than the war against Apocalymon,"

"What do you mean by that?" TK frowned, looking concerned.

The older Digimon and younger ones looked at one another with a knowing glance.

"I think only Gennai can explain everything," Agumon said with a grim expression, which didn't seem to suite the carefree Digimon, yet… it seemed to fit especially with the small scars that could be seen from his yellow scales.

Daisuke frowned. Wha's Gennai-ojii-san hidin' tha' c'n only b' told by him 'n person? Why were th' DigiDestined all given different Digivice models?

That's when his Digivice (he and the others really need to give it a name for them) decided to chime, which jolted him and everyone else in shock upon the unexpected sound. Taking the Digivice out from the pocket of his shorts and brought it out to show his Digivice activated. Everyone, especially Izzy and Yolie, looked interested at the large screen that was on and seemed to show a map with a red dot about 12 miles away from where Daisuke and the others were at.

"A map? How interesting. So these new Digivices have more software and technology than the other Digivices we used to have. I wonder if I can hook them to my laptop like my old Digivice to get a scan on what other software they may have…" Izzy muttered, his black eyes shining in excitement and curiosity.

Daisuke ignored the Child of Knowledge and turned to Eaglemon (no matter how much he didn't want to). "Do ya know wha' th's dot blinkin' means?" He asked while trying not to look into her eyes.

Eaglemon took a closer look. "Hmm, it could mean anything to be honest. Something important your Digivice must have located for you to go find, or maybe picked up another Digivice is found nearby where that dot is—" Eaglemon's explanation was cut off by Daisuke abruptly brought his Digivice closer and turned around.

"You mean we found Enny from this Digivice?" Daisuke inquired, his voice filled with hope and excitement. Without waiting for Eaglemon's confirmation, Daisuke searched through the forest and immediately left to where his Digivice was directing him toward.

"Oi, m-matteo (wait) Davis!" Tai shouted after him with his sister and the rest of the DigiDestined (both new and old) raced after Daisuke.

Daisuke was deaf of the older boy's voice, but again… he felt that same comforting and warm feeling upon sensing Tai's unique presence. Shaking his head and he mentally scolded himself to pay more attention to his Digivice than the DigiDestined Leader, even though he…

NO! I… I shouldn' feel safe an' comf'rtable when Enny and Kiki 're 'n danger!

Yet, Daisuke couldn't help but embrace Tai's warm presence behind him and wondered to himself… could he, just this once, allow himself to be selfish to relish the familiar safe comfort he hasn't felt for so long?

As Davis led Taichi and the others where his Digivise was possibly leading them to his missing friend and younger sister, Yagami Taichi kept walking to a close pace toward the other goggle head boy. His brows were furrowed as he expressed his concern for the boy in front of him, especially upon seeing Davis's expression upon seeing Eaglemon and Setsurōmon's appearance.

But that's not all what's bothering Davis, Taichi thought, his eyes expressing his worries toward the boy in front of him.

The goggle head leader wasn't sure how he knew this for a fact, but he was confident something else was bothering the auburn haired boy. It surprised Taichi how easy it was to read the younger boy when the others could not. It was like… like he had known the younger boy far longer than his younger sister, and he had known how to understand her more than anyone else especially since she once communicated everyone with just a whistle (which Taichi had given to her long ago).

Also…

Taichi glanced at the determined, concentrated Motomiya. Davis may hide it very well to the others, but Taichi easily saw through Davis's mask. The moment he placed his hand on the younger auburn haired boy's shoulder, or was anywhere close to the boy… Davis seemed more relaxed. What concerned yet intrigued the older Yagami were the conflicted emotions behind those ruby colored eyes.

Thos eyes showed scars of sadness, guilt and pain that were very well hidden, but… the moment his hand rested on Davis's shoulder… Taichi saw shock which then reduced to comfort… A comfort and safety the older DigiDestined Leader could see was something Davis hasn't felt for a long time. For how long Davis went without feeling safe since he was trapped in the Digital, Taichi didn't know, but he immediately knew how disturbed and confused Davis felt for those emotions. Not like Taichi was any better.

But…

…It felt natural for the DigiDestined of Courage to give the emotion of safety and comfort to the younger goggle head.

He quickly shook his thoughts away to pay attention especially when the sounds of a battle faintly heard a couple miles away.

"Ange, it's time to digivolve if we have any chance to hold out until the DigiDestined arrives! Rossetta Stone! Nngh… quickly!"

"Let's do it, Neferti!"

"Nefertimon digivolve to… Taowomon!"

"Angemon digivolve to… MagnaAngemon X!"

"Just because you Digivolved into your ancient Ultimate forms doesn't mean you'll hold out for much longer! Both myself and my partners are those with the Shadows by our Master. Every Dark and Holy type Digimon fall to our feet!"

"That's what you like to believe. We're powerful enough to hold out! Soul Vanisher!"

"Shadow Scythe!"

The shouts and destruction of a battle could be heard to where Taichi and the others stood despite how far away the voices and the battle was coming from.

"What was that?" Kari asked, worried.

"A battle it seems," TK muttered with a concentrated frown.

"By the sounds of it, the Shadow Digimon and their 'Master' are involved," Izzy added with a calculative expression.

Taichi glanced at Davis's quiet form. He winced in sympathy upon seeing his worry and fear hidden behind his mask that showed determination and anger. He knew why the younger boy held those emotions that were hidden from the others. If Davis's Digivice was leading him to his best friend and his younger sister, which was having them straight toward the battle they were all hearing; then that would mean…

No, Taichi expressed with a grimace, he didn't blame Davis for feeling worried and scared. He knew that if he was in the same position as Davis… He didn't know how or why, and he didn't question it, but he could see that the ruby eyed boy was close to cracking, which was why he immediately took into action.

He doesn't know what or why Davis hid behind his smiles (when he was in so much pain), but Taichi respected his privacy (no matter how much he wanted to help ease the pain that still haunted the boy more so than even Davis never seemed to realize).

"Davis, lead the way! The two Digimon won't last for much longer if what you told us about the Shadow Digimon against Holy type Digimon!" Taichi ordered in a strong, confident voice. He instinctively knew Davis needed someone strong and knew what they're doing to get him going.

Sure enough, Davis snapped out of it and then turned to meet his eyes. Taichi didn't hide his brotherly warmth and reassured comfort he usually reserved for Kari to give her the confidence and safety she needed most. He watched with a small smile how Davis relaxed and held his genuine confidence back, and nodded to the younger boy with understanding which prompts a grateful grin from Davis.

"Right! Th's way, minna (everyone)!" Davis led everyone back on track and headed closer to the battle ahead.

Unfortunately, there was a problem that still worried Taichi that he never been able to address toward the others.

Are we really strong enough to defeat these Shadow Digimon, especially powerful leveled ones, even with general Digimon when we can only have our Digimon reaching only to Champions? We had gotten lucky with Parrotmon because he was already weakened by Davis…

By Izzy's expression, Taichi knew he wasn't the only one thinking along the same problem.

He was definitely not comforted to know about the Child of Knowledge's troubled expression. This only had him more on edge.

I just hope we're not in over our heads.

We're way in over our heads! Takenouchi Sora thought in dismay as Birdramon dodged another one of the Shadow Digimon Ultimate's deathly attack.

About 2 hours ago…

The DigiDestined finally arrived their destination thanks to Davis leading the way with his Digivice. When they gotten closer to their destination, it was thanks to Tai and Davis's warning that everyone managed to dodge one of the Digimon's attack with most of their Digimon partners taking most of the blast. Sora and, surprisingly, Cody pushed a shocked Yolie out of the way.

CRACK!

BOOOOM!

Once she was sure neither of the new DigiDestined were injured and seeing their injured Digimon were in no danger from the attack (much to her relief), Sora looked around and noticed everyone was more or less fine except for (she could feel fear painfully gripping her heart)… Tai. Her heart constricted upon the bloody burn she could see from his scorched burn shoulder with Davis under Tai, who looked up at the older brunet in shock, worry and fearful horror.

"Tai!" Sora, Davis and Kari shouted in shocked horror, and had Sora and Kari running toward the two goggle wearing boys with everyone else slowly following.

"I… I'm fine," Tai said between his gritted teeth and then bit his bottom lip as if to hold back from screaming upon the obvious pain he was going through, "Check… check on Agumon,"

"I'm fine, Tai! You're the one who needs to be looked at," Agumon said, exasperatedly while Biyomon fussed over his burned back.

"By the looks of it, it is probable that the burn is more powerful than Parrotmon's attack from your back," Izzy analyzed with a concerned frown. "You really shouldn't go any further with that injury,"

"He's right, Tai!" Davis, after snapping out of his shocked, horrified state, fussed over Sora's best friend with guilt expressed eyes. "Ya need ta rest,"

Tai, the stupid reckless leader Sora and the other DigiDestined knew, shook his head and stubbornly stood up. "There's no time! The two Holy Digimon don't have much time before they get overwhelmed," He said strongly. "All of us DigiDestined have been hurt much like this four years ago. Plus, there's a possibly your friend and younger sister is in the middle of that battlefield! Davis, are you really going to leave them in the middle of that Chaos?"

Sora (and most likely the other DigiDestined and their Digimon partners) watched the two goggle wearing boys looking into each other's eyes. She wasn't sure if it she was imagining it or not since it came and went in a second, but… Tai's beautiful hazel-golden orbs and Davis's slightly lighter colored ruby which turned regular ruby red orbs—had both turned into pairs of two different shades of gold. Tai's eyes turned into a beautiful, breathtaking golden bright ember, while Davis's eyes turned into bright golden amber.

If they're eyes changed or not, the DigiDestined of Love was transfixed by what's going on between Tai and Davis. She… didn't know how to explain it nor could she understand it, but as the two boys looked into each other's eyes… there seemed to be some sort of connection between them. A connection no one would ever understand.

Sora watched in amazement as Davis's expression softened, and the worries… the guilt vanished. It was as if Tai was emotionally healing something no one could ever hope know within the ruby eyed boy. The flame red eyes shined brightly with understanding, determination and comfort toward Tai's warm eyes and his knowing warm smile.

"You're right… Enny an' Kiki need me 'f they're out there," Davis said as he stood up and walked in front of Tai, who now held a grin as if he knew the younger boy's answer and reaction. And maybe… he did, Sora mused. "I won't lose th'm t' those Shadows!"

Tai and Davis smiled at each other. There seemed to be an understanding between them that no one could ever come close to understanding except… for each other.

Sora was once again struck upon the resemblance just like the time when she first saw Davis yesterday.

When Davis first appeared, Sora couldn't help feeling shock, and stare at the boy as he was help into sitting down on the seat Joe was once preoccupying. Even though it wasn't possible… and yet, as she glanced first toward Davis and then Tai… and by Matt's expression, he too noticed the same thing as she did that the others (except maybe Izzy) did not take any notice of it. Sora was surprised the other DigiDestined, especially Kari, didn't notice what she and Matt (and most likely Izzy by the very subtle glance between the two goggle wearing boys in the room) had noticed between their leader and the ruby eyed boy.

Davis…

…looked too much like Tai.

It wasn't only by their appearance that they almost shared in common, but also their presence. If she didn't know any better…

…she could have mistaken them… mistaken these two leaders of their own right as…

…brothers.

As Tai and Davis quickly led Sora and the others to the battle field, she found herself the thought of them being brothers seemed to… fit.

She shook her head to get her attention to the battle ahead.

xxHinaAngelxx: "Ok… first thing, I want to apologize for the long wait you've all been waiting for!" Bows with her forehead hitting the floor. "…ow. Anyway, I've changed and shorten my original chapter, which changed the amount of chapters for the first season of this story. Now we will be having 40 chapters in total. I decided to shorten this because the chapter was going to long and it will take even longer to finish this chapter!" TT_TT

"Hopefully you all enjoyed the chapter! I just hope I didn't hint too much to what I have planned, especially since Season 03 is going to be with that certain particular plot line…" Looking at the long list of chapters… =3= "Either way… Hope you all enjoyed how things are coming. We'll finally have the action get started in the next chapter and get things rolling!" "I'm looking forward to this! Until next time everyone~!"

Next time on Soul Bond – Chapter 07: Only the Beginning! The Second Shadow War!