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Sea of Trouble

The evening passed quickly. Rocked gently by the calm sea I fell into a deep slumber. For that brief period, I forgot everything... forgot where I was, what was happening, even forgetting who was with me. It was like being back home in my own bed, drifting in and out of a world of dreams and nightmares, embracing one, fighting back the other.

When at last I woke again, the sun was just beginning to rise. Its first golden rays just barely filtered through the barrier of morning fog that surrounded us. I opened my eyes and sat upward, groaning as I stretched my stiff back. I blinked a few times in an attempt to clear my vision. Up ahead, I could see the opaque brown shapes of the Bukamon as they and the still-submerged dolphimon pulled the raft along. To my left, Shori and Okami slept huddled together. It seemed the girl was attempting to use her partner's fur to ward off the naturally chilly sea breezes. Looking back, I noticed Riina standing still as a statue, her arms crossed. "Did you get any sleep last night?" I asked her.

"No, but I am sufficiently rested regardless," she said plainly, "I prefer not to be caught asleep when danger shows itself." I sighed. I doubted that even if Riina was downright exhausted she would show it. Reunited with her long-time rival, Okami, it was as if Riina was trying to prove something, to herself as well as to him.

I slowly stood up and moved to her side. "You need to get some sleep before we reach Server," I said, "I'll keep watch for a little while. I wouldn't be a proper partner if I let you go into battle while your energy reserves are still half depleted." Riina looked at me, her gaze seeming to ask whether I was truly serious. It looked as if she might refuse.

She never got the chance. It started as a subtle thing: a shift in the air pressure around us, a gathering of thick black storm clouds in the sky above. The formerly-rocking sea suddenly grew eerily still, causing even Shori to stir from her slumber and sit up, her eyes glancing warily around us. The chattering of the dolphimon fell silent. Suddenly I felt cold... ice cold, but it wasn't the sea breeze I was feeling. No. It was something else.

Cautiously, I moved toward the edge of the raft and glanced down into the water. For a moment it seemed there was nothing down there but the dolphimons' shadowy forms. I breathed a sigh of relief... until a gargantuan serpentine shape crossed beneath them. The dolphimons' chattering began anew, this time frightened. The ropes they had formerly been holding abruptly went slack. As the serpent's form circled around toward us the dolphimon scattered, each heading off in a different direction. The serpent's form followed one of the dolphimon far to port.

Without warning, the dolphimon's fin disappeared beneath the water. An instant later a great beast the likes of which I had never before seen erupted from below the surface, clenching the frightened creature in its gaping jaws. A single wailing note came from dolphimon's lips before it fell limp, only to disolve into floating data, just as Goburimon had the previous day. This time however, instead of floating free, the data was absorbed into the blue, leathery hide of its killer: Seadramon! With a roar, Seadramon turned its sun-colored nose downward, darting like a torpedo into the water below. The last we saw in that instant was its crimson, leaf-shaped tail.

I would be lying if I said it didn't come to me as a surprise that Seadramon had defeated another aquatic champion so easily, but belive me when I tell you that based on its sheer size, which would make the fabled Leviathan jealous, it was nearly ready to digivolve. Perhaps that explained its motives for attacking so, but of course, all that came later as hindsight. For the moment, we only knew one thing: It was stronger than any digimon across which we'd yet come.

The wake caused by Seadramon's dive quickly reached our raft, causing me to lose my fitting and fall backward onto it, and waking Shori and Okami. The little girl sat up, wide-eyed. "What's happening?!"

Okami sniffed the air, and then growled. "Seadramon."

The water serpent made another pass at one of the dolphimon. The small water mammal digimon managed to evade his jaws... only to be crushed by his powerful tail. Shori looked as if she might cry. "We can't just let him hurt all those innocent digimon!" she sniffed, "Okami, you've got to digivolve and help them!"

Okami tensed, curling his fists into balls and narrowing his eyes, but a moment later, he loosened up. "I'm sorry Shori," he said, "I can't seem to digivolve again."

Shori fell to her knees and grabbed the wolf puppy's shoulders. "Okami, that's not funny!" she cried, "You can do it! You can digivolve and help those poor dolphimon!" Tears streamed down her eyes, but try as he might, Okami could do little more than tense and growl.

By now, the dolphimon appeared to have had enough. A few of them turned around, swimming their way back toward Seadramon. Even the bukamon, weak as they were, set aside their fears and rushed forward, firing miniature pink bubbles from their mouths. Unfortunately, while they crashed against Seadramon's thick-scaled hide, they were completely ineffective against the mammoth. "The dolphimon and bukamon cannot do this on their on Cheisu," Riina said as she stood again, "And if we cannot help them, I fear our quest has ended before it has even begun."

"But Okami can't digivolve!" I pointed out, "And he doesn't have the attacks he needs to fight in this environment. Can't you do something?"

Riina shook her head sadly, closing her eyes. "I am strong Cheisu, but without the ability to digivolve, I am afraid that even I cannot stop this beast... The only one who can save us now is you."

"But how can I-"

I broke off as the dolphimon opened their mouths, releasing a piercing screech. For a moment, Seadramon's body disappeared, obscured by waves and mist. When everything cleared he was gone. For a moment, we breathed a sigh of relief... Too soon.

Seadramon burst from the water, only a few feet from our raft. His long, powerful body fully departed the water before he came back down. The shockwave from his landing crashed against our raft, throwing us back, nearly causing the makeshift craft to capsize. We all fell backward, and Shori nearly fell into the water. "Shori!" Okami leapt forward and grabbed Shori, pulling her back just in time. She landed hard against the raft, crying as pain shot through her body.

The case at her hip burst open, sending cards scattering: some into the water; some over the surface of the raft. Suddenly an idea burst into my head. "Riina, maybe you can digivolve afterall! Shori, did you happen to have a digivolution card in your deck?!"

The girl looked up, nodding. "I... I think so," she said, "But-"

"Just trust me on this!"

Seadramon turned his attentions toward us now, apparently sensing a threat to his easy meal. Frantically I flipped over every card I could as the sea serpent quickly sped toward us. "Cheisu! Hurry!" Riina yelled. Seadramon lunged forward and opened his mouth. A hail of icicles hurtled through the air. "DIAMOND STORM!" Riina leapt into the air, firing her energy shards, which intercepted the miature projectiles just in time. The two attacks cancelled one another out. "Cheisu! Now!"

"It's got to be here somewhere!" My heart pounded as I began to throw unneeded cards into the water. "C'mon! C'mon! YES!" I found the card and held it up triumphantly, but in that moment, I'd forgotten about Seadramon. His tail lanced outward, catching Riina's body and tossing her downward toward the water.

Riina!" I grabbed the digivice from my hip. "This time, it's personal!" Quickly I located the slot in the side of the device. "Here goes nothing... DIGIMODIFY!" I slashed the card through the reader, eliciting a series of beeps and whistles. "Digivolution, activate!"

It was almost too late. Riina's body landed in the water with a dull splash. For a moment, I feared I was too late. I've never been more happy to be proved wrong! An instant after the digivice's chirping ended, a blinding light filled the water at the exact place where Renamon had landed. "RENAMON, DIGIVOLVE TO..." She leaped from the water, "KYUBIMON!"

Riina's body flew through the air like a spear, and I found myself amazed. Everytime I played the Digimon game when I was a child, Kyubimon looked the same: a yellow, fox-like digimon with a white underbelly, muzzle and fur tufts... But this....

Riina growled as she latched onto Seadramon's hide with her teeth, giving me a chance to get a good look at her. She maintained the same basic shape as most common kyubimons: a kitsune digimon almost four meters in size with seven white-tufted, fluffy tails, but what truly set her apart was her main fur color. Instead of Riina's sunrise-yellow fur, I found myself awed by her metallic silver fur... a rare sight indeed on a Kyubimon. Rather than a mystical blue, the flames that surrounded her paws and tailtips burned a powerful red, while the yin-yang symbols emblazoned on her forehead and shoulders glowed faintly. It was a sight both beautiful, and yet, strangely frightening.

My mind was pulled back toward the fight as, unable to shake his foe free, Seadramon dove beneath the waves once again, pulling Riina with him. "Riina, don't give up!" I yelled, clutching my digivice harder. For a moment, everything was still.

With a splash Riina's body emerged from the water, flying upward into the air, followed by a gigantic icicle almost as big as her entire body, but Riina was ready. She threw herself into a cartwheel, and crimson flames enveloped her. "DRAGON WHEEL!" A beast of fire emerged from her body, swallowing the icicle in its jaws, dissolving it into little more than steam. Seadramon breached the water one more time. Riina turned her body to the side, allowing her foe to miss her by mere centimetes. Her body fell back toward the raft. "FOX-TAIL INFERNO!" The flames around her tail grew brighter, taking on ghostly faces before lancing out toward the sea dragon, impacting against his scales and scorching him badly. Seadramon yowled and fell back toward the water, slowly dissolving into mere bits of data as he did so.

Riina landed on the raft, rocking it for a moment but not quite so badly as we'd already endured. "Riina." I moved to her side, reaching up to examine her, but she flinched.

"I am not badly injured, Cheisu," she said, "But, I will require...rest before we reach our destination. This fight has taken a lot out of me." She was right. Almost as soon as she was finished, the kitsune fell to her knees, surrounded by a bright light. She shrank in size and changed in shape... When the light was gone, she was Renamon again.

I quickly knelt beside her and draped my arms around her body. "Riina... you did... great." She couldn't respond. Instead, she closed her eyes and laid back against my chest... and finally, Riina slept.

I couldn't help but smile at her. "Sweet dreams, Riina."

Coming Soon- Part Seven: "Rivalry's Failure"