Heading for the Hills
“N-now hold on a minute! You’ve got it all wrong! I’ve never been a part of your tribe! Why, I don’t even know any of you!”
Hawkmon desperately tried to wriggle his way out of his bonds, struggling just as much against the piercing gazes of the gathered Aquilamon and their imposing leader as he was against the rope.
“You insult my intelligence, traitor,” the dinosaur spoke. “Every one of your species to be born in the Primary Village is brought here, and raised among our own. Feigning ignorance will fool no one.”
Hawkmon let out a very nervous laugh. “Ah... W-well, if it makes any sense to you, I don’t exactly remember the circumstances of my own birth....”
“Enough.” The chieftain’s voice abruptly cut Hawkmon off. “You have thus far proven to have nothing of value to say. You will remain here until I have decided upon a suitable punishment for your treachery. Pray that I will be merciful come morning.”
Without another word, he turned around, the circle of Aquilamon parting to allow his exit. As he left, the other Aquilamon followed suit, kicking up clouds of sand as they took to the skies. Only a single one of the native digimon remained, staring at Hawkmon with unblinking eyes.
Hawkmon coughed, expelling the lingering sand and dust from his lungs. “W-well, I suppose it’s nice to have some company, at the least...”
———————
“Hawkmon! Hawkmon, where are you!?”
The cries grew increasingly panicked as Yolei frantically ran across the town, zipping through the settlement with enough speed that her entire body was reduced to a blur. A second blur followed in the air after her, though it clearly struggled to keep up.
“Yolei! Slow down!” Davis called through pained, heavy breaths, leading the rest of the Digi-Destined in a desperate chase. The sun had already dipped below the horizon, and tracking down Yolei was made all the more difficult in the early hours of the night, lit only by the waxing moon and the light of distant stars. Despite his athleticism, Davis found himself quickly exhausted. His pace slowed to a crawl, and he leaned over with his hands on his knees, gasping for air.
A quick glance behind him showed that Veemon had collapsed as well, and the rest of the group had straggled behind them. Most had tired themselves out attempting to follow at Davis’s pace, though Starmon and Deputymon were nowhere to be seen. Ken and Wormmon remained the furthest behind, walking forward at a relaxed pace, in stark contrast to the sudden sprinting that Davis had led the other Digi-Destined into. As Ken approached, he glanced down at Davis with unflinching eyes and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“You shouldn’t tire yourself out like that, Davis. We need to conserve our energy.”
“I know, I know,” Davis replied between breaths. “But we can’t let Yolei just run off on her own! We’re in this together!”
There was a sound of hoofsteps against dirt, and Twilight soon had caught her way up to Davis and Veemon. Her breaths were heavy and her lavender coat was slick with sweat, though she appeared to retain a good deal of stamina.
“Hey, how come you’re not tired? Weren’t you trying to keep up with us?” said Veemon.
“As an alicorn, I have the increased physical endurance of an earth pony,” Twilight responded. “Plus I’ve also read plenty of books on running, and I’ve learned a lot on how to properly pace myself. Did you know I came in fifth place in the Running of the Leaves?”
“Huh,” said Davis. “I never figured you’d be the athletic type.”
Twilight blushed. “Well, uh... I wouldn’t go quite that far. But either way, I don’t think we’ll lose track of Yolei.” She pointed her hoof forward, towards two silhouettes in the distance, one of which was instantly recognizable by a six-colored mane bright enough to stand out even in the dusk.
Where Twilight was pointing was Yolei. She had collapsed onto her knees, kept from falling over only by her arms, which wobbled precariously as they held upper body above the ground. Yolei stared at the dirt, making a noise that was halfway between sobbing and gasping for breath. Beside her was Rainbow Dash, her wings hanging limply from her body as she stood beside the distraught human.
“Geez Yolei!” said Rainbow. “How did you even manage to move like that? I didn’t think it was possible for humans to run that fast!”
“Hawkmon... I... I have to find him!” Yolei spoke through pained breaths. “I-I can’t leave him behind!” Tears began to fall from her eyes, sliding off the inside of her glasses and pattering against the desert soil.
Rainbow’s eyes immediately went wide. “H-hey, no! Don’t do that! Don’t cry! We’ll find Hawkmon, I promise!” She reached up to place a reassuring hoof on Yolei’s shoulder, only to let out a startled yelp as she was forcefully pulled into a tight hug. Her initial shock subsided almost immediately, and she returned the gesture, wrapping her front legs around Yolei’s torso.
“You folks alright?”
Yolei looked up at the sound of the sheriff's voice and found Starmon approaching her alongside Deputymon. From another direction, the rest of the Digi-Destined and their partners made their way over, until the two groups had converged around Yolei and Rainbow.
Rainbow Dash let go of Yolei, pulling herself back onto the ground on her hooves. Yolei lifted her glasses and rubbed her eyes on her sleeve with a delicate motion, being careful not to let her eyes be irritated by the sand.
“Please, please tell me you’ve seen Hawkmon!” said Yolei. “Please! I just don’t know what I’d do if something happened to him!”
Starmon’s eyes somehow managed to gleam even in the darkness. “Well, Ah’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is that we’ve seen your pardner.”
Yolei gasped. “Hawkmon’s alive!? Where is he? Please, you have to tell me!”
“Ah’m afraid them’s the bad news,” Starmon continued. “We got multiple witnesses. By all accounts, he’s been taken alive by them natives.”
———————
Hawkmon fidgeted nervously under the ironclad gaze of the Aquilamon that stood guard. The ropes that tied him to the post were far weaker than he had initially expected them to be, and in time he was certain that he could break free.
But as long as the much larger and more powerful digimon stood watch, he knew that escape was impossible. One wrong move, and he was as good as dead. The most he could do was wait and hope for a rescue.
Hawkmon cleared his throat. “So, then... I don’t believe we’ve introduced ourselves. My name is Hawkmon. I’m assuming you go by Aquilamon?”
The Aquilamon raised what passed for an eyebrow, but said nothing.
“Ah... yes, that’s a silly question, isn’t it? So them, what exactly do you do for a living? I personally see myself as a bodyguard of sorts, perhaps even a knight... Oh dear, I do hope Yolei isn’t too worried about me!”
Once again, Hawkmon was met with nothing more than a stern glare. The larger digimon’s eyes pressed down on him with an almost crushing weight. For minutes, Hawkmon sat against the post, fidgeting nervously. Neither he nor his captor spoke a word.
As the time passed and the night grew older, Hawkmon became vaguely aware of a voice on the edge of his hearing. At first it was indistinguishable from the gentle whistling of the desert breeze, but as the sound grew, it became clearer. It was a gentle sound, one that flowed in harmony with the winds, carrying with it the soothing calm of a desert night. Hawkmon yawned, and his eyelids began to grow heavy.
Before he knew it, he had already fallen asleep.
———————
“They did what!?”
“N-now, calm down, miss,” said Starmon, desperately trying to soothe the increasingly distraught Yolei. “It might sound bad, but there ain’t nothing to be gained by panicking.”
“You don’t understand, Hawkmon’s in danger!” Yolei shot back. “We can’t just do nothing! Where did they take him?”
“Well, Ah reckon they took him back to their home beyond the Themthar Hills,” Starmon replied, “but y’all would have to have a death wish to go up there all by yourselves.”
“Relax, we can handle it!” said Rainbow Dash. “We’ve dealt with all kinds of dangerous enemies. We’ll go in there and get him out with no problem.”
“You sound like you’re expecting there to be a fight, Rainbow,” said Cody. “I’m not sure if that’s necessarily the case here.”
“What are you talking about?” said Rainbow. “They kidnapped one of our friends!”
“No, he’s right,” said Applejack. “Ain’t this whole thing about a territorial dispute over gems in them thar hills?”
“You mean the Themthar Hills,” said Deputymon.
“Whatever! Point is, we’ve found ourselves smack dab in the middle of a conflict that we ain’t never been involved in. Ah reckon there’s some kind misunderstanding here. If we can convince those Aquilamon that Hawkmon ain’t got nothing to do with this, we might be able to get him back without a fight.”
Deputymon scoffed. “Bah! There ain’t nothing worth talking to those dang dirty savages for! Our destiny lies in those hills, and anyone who tries to keep us from it is our enemy! We’ve worked hard finding our own fortunes, while they’ve done nothing! Those gems rightfully belong to us!”
Pinkie Pie bounced over towards Deputymon with a wide grin on her muzzle. “Sounds like somebody needs to learn to get along!” She stepped back and leaned onto her hind hooves, doing an approximation of a high-kicking dance. “You gotta–”
Pinkie Pie could only sing the first two notes of her song before she was forcibly silenced by a white hoof in her mouth.
Rarity looked Pinkie in the eye and winced. “Please don’t,” she whispered.
“Sowwy,” Pinkie mumbled.
“We can worry about this territorial dispute later,” said Ken. “Right now we need to find out how to get Hawkmon back. The longer we wait, the longer he’ll be in danger.”
T.K. gave Ken a pensive glance. Just when it looked like he were about to say something, he looked away. “...No, you’re right. We should head out as soon as we can. Ready, Patamon?”
“Mmm-hmm!” said Patamon.
T.K. nodded to the other Digi-Destined and held out his D-3. With steely-eyed determination, he let out the familiar call.“Digi-Armor Energize!”
———————
“Psst. Hey!”
“Mmm... yes, I’ll have the makizushi...”
“Hey! Wake up!”
“Hmm?” Hawkmon blearily opened his eyelids, which still hung heavily over his eyes. The sound of anxious whispering had forcibly snatched his conscious mind from the depths of his own dreams and pulled it into the waking world.
He blinked rapidly, rubbing his eyes with his wings before stretching. As his mind cleared itself of grogginess, the first thing he noticed was that the rope tying him down had been undone.
The second thing he noticed was that there was another Hawkmon right in front of him, distinguishable from him by a much lighter coat of brown feathers and deep green eyes.
“Bwuh? What–”
“Be quiet!” the other Hawkmon shushed. It was a female voice, one that was both youthful and firm, carrying in its timbre an air of absolute confidence.
“R-right, sorry,” Hawkmon replied, lowering his voice to a whisper. “But who–”
“No time to explain,” the counterpart replied. “We need to get you out of here before the guard wakes up. Follow me.”
Hawkmon looked over towards the Aquilamon that had been stationed nearby. Sure enough, the guard that was watching with both figurative and literal eagle eyes had curled onto the ground and fallen into deep slumber.
“This way,” said the other Hawkmon, gesturing for her counterpart to follow.
“N-now you wait just a minute!” Hawkmon interjected, struggling to keep his voice down. “As much as I appreciate your help, you still haven’t told me anything! Just who are you?”
A smile crept its way across the doppelganger’s beak, glinting in the starlight as though she had expected the question. “My name is Braveheart.”
———————
The skies above the Hills were immaculately clear, letting the dim light of the waning moon and its starry companions wash over the landscape. Under the cover of night, the trees covering Themthar Hills shrouded them in a blanket of foliage, making them appear nearly as dark as the sky itself.
Davis clung tightly to the shoulder of ExVeemon as they flew over the expanse of hills, with Twilight Sparkle likewise wrapping her own hooves around the massive reptilian’s other shoulder. To his side, obscured by darkness, was the silhouette of Ken being carried by Stingmon, and Even further were the shapes of Pegasusmon, Nefertimon, and Digmon, each carrying their human and pony passengers. Rainbow Dash had instead opted to follow on her own wings, her wings moving very little as she leisurely glided on the warm desert air.
“Hawkmon! Hawkmon, where are you!?” Yolei’s voice came from atop Nefertimon’s back.
“I’m not sure he’d be able to hear us from way up here, Yolei,” Kari replied. “Nefertimon, do you see anything yet?”
“The forest on the Hills is too thick,” Nefertimon said. “Even with my vision, I can’t see what’s beyond those trees.”
“Um, duh! That’s because you’re looking the wrong place!” Rainbow Dash interjected.
“What do you mean?” said Nefertimon.
“What are you, nuts?” said Rainbow. “They’re birds! If we’re going to find anyone in their territory, we’ll find them in the air first! I’ve been watching the skies this whole time and you mean to tell me you’ve all just been staring at the ground?”
Kari and Yolei shared a passing look at each other. “You know, she’s got a point,” said Kari. “Nefertimon, do you see, anything in the air?”
“No, not yet,” Nefertimon replied. “I’ll keep an eye out for... wait, what’s that?”
“Do you see something?” said Kari. “There’s two digimon in the distance!” Nefertimon replied. “And they’re approaching us fast!”
———————
“Wouldn’t it be easier for us to simply fly? I don’t see why we have to travel on foot.”
Braveheart simply rolled her eyes. The two hurriedly traveled across the rocky hills, beneath the boughs of the many trees that covered the landscape.
“Our scouts are patrolling the sky at all times,” she replied. “Our best chance is through the most wooded areas of the hills.”
Sure enough, as they traveled the two of them had passed numerous clearings where the rocky faces of the hills were exposed to the night sky. Some of them were natural, while others appeared to have been artificially created, as evidenced by the multiple tree stumps and the large holes dug into the hillside. As he followed Braveheart’s lead, they wove around the clearings in a winding path that rolled up and down the elevated terrain.“You know, I’ve been meaning to ask you,” said Hawkmon. “Why are you helping me? Aren’t you with the natives?”
Braveheart closed her eyes, her head lowering towards the ground. Her pace slowed, and Hawkmon followed suit. Soon the two had come to a complete stop, and Braveheart stared wistfully at the sky through the treetops.
“Is something wrong?” said Hawkmon.
“No... it’s nothing you need to worry about,” Braveheart replied. “My father and I don’t always get along. I told him it was wrong to hold you captive, but he didn’t listen. That’s why I helped set you free.”
Hawkmon’s eyes went wide. “F-father? Now hold on a minute! Are you saying that mean-looking dinosaur chieftain is your father? The last time I was aware, digimon aren’t even supposed to have those!”
Braveheart smiled, the lip-like corners of her beak twitching as she visibly struggled to contain her amusement. “See, I knew I was right about you. Everyone else believes that you’re a traitor to our tribe. But someone so naive couldn’t possibly have ever been one of us.”
“Wha... Buh... Naive?” Hawkmon sputtered. “I beg your pardon?”
Braveheart burst into laughter, her giggling cutting sharply through the dry hillside air. “Ah... I’m sorry, but it’s just so funny! My father is so confident that you’re one of us, he hasn’t even noticed that you know nothing of our traditions!”
“Again with the father! Just how in heaven’s name is that supposed to work?”
Braveheart took a deep breath, and in nearly an instant she had already regained her composure. “Unlike those settler brutes, we understand the importance of family. Every one of our own kind is taken from the Primary Village and appointed a parent. Allomon, our chieftain, has taken care of me across the span of dozens of lifetimes.”
“D-dozens?” said Hawkmon. “You mean to tell me...?”
“I am far older than I appear, yes,” Braveheart replied. Her smile had disappeared, replaced with a very dissatisfied frown. “I have fought and died multiple times to protect our kind from the Digital World’s greatest evils, including the Dark Masters themselves. Yet my father still treats me like a child.”
Hawkmon looked into Braveheart’s eyes, their vibrant emerald color shimmering in the dim starlight. “Perhaps he’s afraid that he’ll lose you forever,” he replied. “Even as we speak, dark powers threaten the Digital World’s natural balance. Should they ever succeed, the cycle of death and rebirth could be broken forever. Would you truly sacrifice your life again if you knew you may not return?”
Braveheart averted her gaze, turning her eyes towards the stars. Several seconds passed where not a word was said between the two.
“...I’m aware that there is danger,” she said. “Travel to the Primary Village when Vespimon controls most of the Server Continent is perilous. But even the Dark Masters’ corruption could not prevent my rebirth forever. And compared to the threats we have faced before, the colonial settlers are barely a threat. Had my father not foolishly spent so much time seeking peace, we would have utterly destroyed them by now.”
“Well, I don’t mean to offend, but your father didn’t seem very peaceful when holding me captive,” Hawkmon grumbled.
“The settlers forced us to abandon diplomacy!” Braveheart hissed. “One of their leaders attacked us during negotiations! Do you honestly think my father wouldn’t be hostile if he believed you betrayed us for them?”
Hawkmon threw his wings up. “But I did nothing of the sort!”
“I know you didn’t!” Braveheart said, barely able to keep herself from shouting. “I could tell as soon as I saw you that you weren’t a part of either side! That’s why I’m trying to save you, you idiot!”
Hawkmon opened his mouth as if to retort, but his words did not even have a chance to leave his beak before the sound of an attack cry was heard in the distance.
“That sounds like one of our scouts!” said Braveheart.
Hawkmon let out a gasp. “O-oh no! No, no, no! This is not good, this is not good at all!”
“Come on, we have to hide!” Braveheart suddenly grabbed Hawkmon’s wing, forcefully tugging at it in an attempt to drag him away. The effort proved fruitless as Hawkmon firmly planted his feet in the ground.
“You don’t understand!” said Hawkmon. “There’s no way Yolei would turn her back on me when I’m in danger! She must have tried to come and rescue me herself! We have to help her!”
Hawkmon yanked his wing out of Braveheart’s grip, leaving his stunned companion behind as he sprinted towards the source of the noise.
———————
“Blast Rings!”
Nefertimon and Rainbow Dash both banked sharply, swerving to the side to avoid the deadly attack. Several dozen yards away were a pair of Aquilamon facing the group of Digi-Destined, and closing the distance rapidly.
“We'll deal with them!” said Nefertimon. She turned her head and called to another one of her airborne companions. “Pegasusmon, are you ready?”
“Right!” Pegasusmon replied.
“Golden Noose!”
Coordinating their flight paths, Pegasusmon and Nefertimon both shot forward, a ribbon of golden light appearing between their two pairs of hind legs. They circled the hostile Aquilamon from both sides, and the ethereal noose wrapped around them both. The ends of the noose detached, and the two Aquilamon were sent plummeting to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust as they crashed onto a rocky clearing on the hillside.
———————
In the cloud of panic that enveloped his mind, Hawkmon didn’t even notice that his feet were no longer touching the ground. He remained at a low altitude, weaving between the trees and through multiple rocky clearings as he followed the straightest path possible to the location where he’d first heard the sounds of battle.
A second noise echoed through the hillside, one that was much closer to the ground; the unmistakable sound of something large falling to the earth from a high altitude. His heart skipped a beat, and without even thinking his speed nearly doubled.
———————
In the aftermath of the battle, the Digi-Destined and their remaining partners had landed on the hillside where the native Aquilamon had crash-landed. As soon they touched down onto the ground, Yolei immediately jumped off of Nefertimon’s back, her entire body seething. The two Aquilamon were still wrapped in golden light, lying prone in the middle of rocky hillside, with the dust from the impact still hanging in the air. Yolei immediately bolted past her companions and towards the two eagle digimon, standing mere inches away from both of their faces.
“You! Stupid! Dumb! Jerks!” Yolei punctuated each of her words with a kick. The Aquilamon on the receiving end of the assault flinched, grimacing in mild annoyance, while the other snickered at his misfortune. After several assaults, Yolei’s stamina gave out. She slumped over, her arms hanging limply by her side, her body heaving in large, painful gasps.
“You must be either very brave or very foolish, human,” one of the Aquilamon spoke, a small bruise on his forehead roughly the size of Yolei’s foot. “Even with our wings bound, either of us could kill you easily.”
“I... I don’t care,” Yolei spoke between breaths. “If you’ve done anything to hurt Hawkmon... I’ll never forgive you!”
The two Aquilamon turned their heads towards each other, and shared a puzzled look.
“That makes no sense,” said the first Aquilamon. “Why would we hurt one of our own kind?”
“Wait, does she mean the traitor?” the second Aquilamon replied. “If he’s with a human, does that mean he’s bound to one of the Digi-Destined? Could he have been telling the truth?”
“Yolei!”
Davis’s voice called out towards her friend, and Yolei turned her head to see that everyone else had followed after her. All the partners of the other human Digi-Destined had reverted to their base forms, though they were no less tense as they approached.
“Yolei, what were you thinking?” said Davis. “You can’t just run off all by yourself like that!”
“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash added. “And especially not straight towards two digimon that were trying to literally murder us not even five minutes ago!”
“Now wait a minute,” said Cody. “I think we need to cool our heads for a moment here. If you remember, these native digimon are just trying to protect their home from hostile forces. They could have only mistaken us for an enemy.”
“Yeah, but they still took Hawkmon, didn’t they?” Armadillomon added. “Ah don’t think none of this will go nowhere until we find out where our friend is at.”
“Yolei!”
A blur of brown and white feathers burst from the edges of the clearing. With alarming speed it collided with Yolei, sending her falling onto her backside with a move that was simultaneously a tackle and a hug.
As Yolei came to her senses, she saw that Hawkmon’s wings were very tightly wrapped around her midsection. She returned the gesture without hesitation, and the two shared an embrace, the tension they shared washing away with the tears that streamed down their face.
“Yolei! I was so worried about you!” Hawkmon cried. “How could I have protected you when you were all alone? I should have been there, I’m so dreadfully sorry!”
“Hawkmon, you dummy, I’m the one who was supposed to be worried about you!” Yolei replied, her voice cracking with fatigue and muted by her sniffles. “If anyone did anything to you, I... I...” Her voice trailed off into an incoherent sob, carrying more meaning than any words she could think of would have ever expressed. Joy, sorrow, relief, fear, anxiety, frustration, and anger all at once were sounded in a wail of raw emotion.
Then, just as soon as it had happened, it was over. The two of them stared at each other and smiled contentedly, before both helping each other off of the ground.
As the two stood to face the other Digi-Destined, the ground suddenly began to shake. A powerful stomping sent waves of vibration through the earth.
The stomping vibrations came to a climax, as Allomon’s massive body pushed itself through the trees to the edge of the clearing. Straggling behind him was Braveheart, hanging her head low.
“Hawkon, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean–” said Braveheart.
“Quiet,” Allomon interrupted, “you have interfered enough.” His eyes narrowed as he turned his head to face the Digi-Destined. “As for you, you will all come with me.”
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Hm, why do I get the feeling this is going to play out in a similar matter to Pocahantos?
that was both a tackle and a hug.As Yolei came to
1. Forgot your spacing.
Y'know, the concept of Father and Child for the Digimon never really hit home on how... unique their relationship would be. This chapter certainly highlights it and points out how most would live their lives. But then again, there is also the memories carried over... Unless there are those that lose them in the process of rebirth and begin anew or something like that. It's interesting to think about.
8301561
Thanks for catching that. Google docs importing still messes up line breaks sometimes, apparently.
8301560
Eh, not really. I won't spoil but that specific narrative is one that I want to avoid and/or subvert by the end of the arc because that movie has really not aged well.
It's a pretty big coincidence, but the very same day I uploaded this chapter, Lindsay Ellis made a video that explains in pretty good detail why I really don't want to do "Pocahontas, but with Digimon."
8302541 Good, because in all honesty that story has become kind of overdone, especially within the conflict of "Settlers v.s. Natives".
8302546
Yeah. The next chapter is going to focus much more heavily on interpersonal relationships between characters, and while the "settlers vs. natives" will still likely be a thing, I can tell you it probably won't be in the way that most people would expect. I set out to write this arc to avoid my biggest pet peeve with "Over a Barrel" getting a bit too "both sidesy" with what was a pretty one-sided issue by most historical accounts.
That said, I definitely do want to avoid it being too preachy. Considering MLP is a series that's largely about preaching, it's tough to avoid that altogether, but I don't want it to be too obnoxious.
In case you couldn't tell, this has proven to be a particularly difficult story arc to write.
I like the idea of a family concept in Digimon.
love it, whens the next chapter supposed to be up? by the way, are the ponies ever going to get stronger digimon forms?
8321840
I've been busy with job training so I can't guarantee any consistent schedule, unfortunately. You can bet I'll be continuing to work on this for the foreseeable future, though.
As for stronger Digimon forms... well, I can't say exactly, but you can find a hint somewhere on the fic's synopsis page. 😉