Crystal Crawl [Solo/Armour Hunt]

Being a travelling mailman just to pay the bills and put the food on the table wasn't easy. That's why Odin, the young, fledgling Peckmon, was at the Shining Seas that day. To sightsee, and to collect some loose crystals and other treasures to sell. After all

The Peckmon already was carrying a fair few loose crystals in his trusty satchel. And as far as he was concerned, he was going to be eating well tonight. He chuckled to himself as he shook the satchel, listening to the crystals jingle inside. As he carried on his way, a small glint caught his eyes, as a shining piece of armour, resembling a helmetm could be seen peeking out of the crystal. And Odin would not hesitate to run over to it to go get it.

But as he came closer, his smile drooped a bit, as he got closer. As it turned out, it was just a measly Digimental with a crest he never seen before, resembling a stylised knight helmet. He had no use for those sort of things, and something like this would be pretty hard to sell to others. But hey, it could be a good paperweight, as far as he knew. Shrugging, he was about to put the Digimental in his bag...

Only for a large, tiger shaped shadow form over him, and emitting a low, menacing snarl. Odin's heart started to skip a beat, as he turned around to see the monster overlooming him. He tried to keep a brave face, to show the beast he wasn't scared, but it wasn't working.

The gigantic, snarling monster's red eyes gazed menacingly and hungrily at his target, and while it's head leaned down, and it's snarling grew louder, Odin's demeanour evaporated rather quickly, as he realized the monster stood before him could easily kill him with one snap of snap of it's jaws. Nervously, Odin laughed, as he slowly got out the Digimental and held it in front of the monster's face, his arms trembling.

"Yours?"

---

For a place named 'Shining Sea', that name could not be farther from the truth. But lord it looked so beautiful. Being so close to Ys (or as Kenny and Skadi had nicknamed it, 'new home'), this place had been lingering in the duo's bucket list for a while now, but today, they had more than a good excuse to do so today. For you see, talks of a Digimental detected at the crystal lake had been popping up around Ys, and Kenny and Skadi wanted to get the jump on it as soon as possible. With a KIZNA mission looming on the horizon, and an upcoming tournament, Kenny and Skadi were pulling out all the stops to prepare for it.

Situated on her giant Canandemon form, Skadi was effortlessly carrying Kenny through the mysterious desert as a cool wind blew throughout, and the crystals dazzled in the bright sun. The young tamer was practically amazed; never would he think there would be a place, where crystals of all shapes, sizes and colours were scattered along the place, and Skadi, in a rare moment of tranquilly, looked on happily, letting herself be embraced in the calming atmosphere.

Yet, there was a tense feeling leaning on Kenny at this point, as he felt himself shiver a bit, even underneath the coat. The mission did propose heavy danger to both human and Digimon alike, and Kenny never did a whole tournament before, yet Skadi wanted to join, wanting to impress her senpai Valt, and Kenny too. He sighed a little, "Skadi, I... uh... I really hate to admit it, but, I'm feeling really nervous right now?"

"Hm?" Skadi tilted her head up in confusion, "Why? Are you OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Kenny quickly clarified, "It's just that... I'm worried I'm going to screw you over during the mission. I mean, I never done anything like that before. Like, Bezil's a solider. I'm more than sure he knows what he's doing, and you've been doing great under Valt." He paused and sighed again, before continuing, the only other sound that could be heard was the trotting of Skadi's feet, "I might just bog you down. What if I screw up and get us all killed? What if just slow you all down? What if-"

"Kenny!" Skadi interrupted his worrying partner, "Don't say that! Trust me, you won't screw anything up. In fact, I think we'll do great."

The young man smiled slightly. God, Skadi's optimism was starting to infect him again, "You really think so?" The ram responded with a friendly laugh.

"Of course, you silly billy. You know how much we achieved because of us?" Before Kenny even got a chance to answer, Skadi would interject, "We managed to achieve a lot of things! We fought off dangerous Digimon, we made our first steps in the Digital World, we became Valt's disciple, and we got to join KIZNA. That, in it of itself, is no mean feat. And if you ask me, I couldn't have done any of this without you. You should be proud of yourself."

Well, that managed to catch Kenny off guard. He blushed slightly, before he smiled, leaning down and hugging his partner's neck, "Thank you, Skadi. I'm glad I have someone like you." He let himself envelop his own body in the wool, and Skadi just didn't mind, simply raising her neck to accomidate for this, letting Kenny sink more into it.

This moment of euphoria, however, was quickly broken just a few seconds later, as loud firecracker explosions could be heard from a distance, followed by a deafing roar from nearby, coming from a rising cloud of smoke. Almost immediately, a large ostrich Digimon ran out from within the smoke, with a satchel hanging around his body, clearly with a panicked look on his face, and clutched in his hand was a small, oddly shaped Digimental tightly gripped within his palms.

Following out of the smoke was a giant skeletal beast Digimon. In lieu of any sort of flesh upon it's body, a dark aura surrounded this Digimon. 3 horns poked out from it's head, and 2 large fangs hung from its mouth.  A long bony tail swayed in the air, but the most telltale feature of the monster were 2 large draconic boney wings from it's back.



The giant SkullBaluchimon let out a powerful roar as it lifted it's front paw, aiming to crush the Peckmon alive. It stood tall, on par with the crystals, and it looked angry. The Peckmon jumped away as the paw crushed the ground, barely dodging it. That was what caught Kenny and Skadi's attention. Skadi's head peeked up, as Kenny leaned over to look at the commotion. This monster did not care who - or what was in the way. Whatever it wanted, it seemed to want the Peckmon dead.

"Heads up, Kenny. That's SkullBaluchimon. It's an Ultimate Digimon that just mindlessly attacks whoever crosses it's path." The words 'Ultimate' managed to make a shiver run down Kenny's spine. He already had to deal with Archanemon, who's mere scan managed to catch him off guard. "And he seems to be chasing that Peckmon down."

Kenny nodded, but started to shiver; Skadi couldn't digivolve to Ultimate yet; she already reached her Champion form. And unlike Cardinaldramon, he looked nowhere near friendly, "You think we need to save him?" The monster ram nodded, running up a bit closer to the battle/chase.

"You just read my mind." Skadi quipped as she leaned down, letting Kenny climb off lest he get caught in the ceasefire. "After all, a good hero never looks the other way when innocents are in danger." Like a bull, she scraped her hoof upon the floor, before charging up towards SkullBaluchimon, her horns glowing as she called "You leave that Peckmon alone!"

Both the Peckmon and SkullBaluchimon stopped in their tracks as the new Digimon ran in. The Peckmon just watched, and smiled, his fortunes turning for the better. However, the SkullBaluchimon quickly looked, before he felt a sharp pain in the chest, courtesy of Skadi ramming into the monster's chest. The monster skidded across the ground slightly, before it roared again.

Kenny was smiling as well; things were looking good for the good guys. He cupped his hands and yelled out "Attagirl, Skadi! You're doing great." That certainly grabbed the Peckmon's attention, who, while carrying the Digimental, ran up to the tamer. He was sweating everywhere, mainly from the panic attacks. But his own smile did not fade.

"Sorry we had to meet like this, buddy. But you're the friend of that wild girl over there, yeah?" The Peckmon pointed to Skadi, who was now using an Echo Bleat against the SkullBaluchimon, making it shake and wobble around, disoriented, as it snarled angrily.

"Uh, yeah. We are indeed friends. Tamers, even." Kenny replied, which made the Peckmon's smile grow wider. "We saw that you were in danger, and, despite our level differences, we decided to help save you. Are you OK?"

"OK? I'm elated! I didn't think anyone would come and save me! Thanks, kid, you guys are lifesavers." He threw an arm over Kenny, but that didn't stop the tamer from keeping his eyes on Skadi. But a glint shone in the Peckmon eyes.

"Hey kid, mind holding this for a second?" The Peckmon said, but before Kenny could ask, the Peckmon had quickly shoved the Digimental into Kenny's hand. Of course, the Peckmon didn't know that was what the duo were for that day, "Thanks, you're a pal!" He laughed, running off to rejoin the battle, leaving Kenny befuddled holding the silver helmet-like object in his hands.

Just as he approached his boney adversary, the SkullBaluchimon had recovered, and had breathed out a powerful cold black smoke, engulfing Skadi inside, making her feel weaker and cold. She heard Kenny calling her, but what was he saying? As she tried to recover from that attack, a giant foot came down upon her, crushing her onto the floor, as Kenny and the Peckmon looked on in horror.

"SKADI!!!" Kenny cried out, as the SkullBaluchimon raised it's foot again. To his slight relief, Skadi hadn't been completely deleted. However, her body was weak, glitching out a little bit, as she moaned weakly. But that didn't stop Kenny's heart from racing hard, and tears starting to stream, as he started to utter, "No... no... no... Skadi... please don't die..." However, unbeknown to him, the Digimental was starting to glow a bright white, and his D-Nexus in his jacket pocket started to rumble, and glow, as it disappeared from his hands. His heart pounded even faster as he pulled out the D-Nexus. His old D-3 used to do that the first time Skadi digivolved to Weatherdramon.

Meanwhile, SkullBaluchimon snarled as it leaned over Skadi. As it's jaws opened to bite onto the Rookie Digimon, suddenly, a barrage of firecrackers hit it's back, as smoke emerged from it following the attack. Growling, it turned around, to the sight of a smirking Peckmon, his second wind regained.

"Hey bonehead! Pick on somebody your own size!" He called out to the monster, taunting him. The SkullBaluchimon snarled at the remark, as it turned from Skadi, and started to charge directly at the Peckmon. Despite the fact it was charging at it's adversary at high speed, the Peckmon grinned, and stepped out of the way, leaving the boney beast to run head first into a crystal. Growling in pain, it failed to notice as the Peckmon had flown up into the crystal, and had now jumped down onto it's spine, before back onto the floor, making it growl again.

As for Kenny and Skadi, the D-Nexus in Kenny's palms rumbled, before a bright light shot out again, and hit Skadi. This time, the crest on the Digimental glowed on the D-Nexus as well, as she stood tall once again. Kenny again could only watch in awe as the digivolution started, and even the Peckmon caught a glance.

"Valaismon, armour digivolve to..." This time, as her formed changed, she grew, but not to Canandemon-levels of large. Her size was more comparable to Ophelia's Himamon form or even the Peckmon, who was casually sidestepping the SkullBaluchimon while he watched, often turning back as it rammed it's head into another crystal. Her body became clad in armour, as her tiny hooved feet transformed into clawed animal feet, her body grew long and thin, and two long mantles appeared out of her shoulder guards. And a long cape flowed from her body.



As the light dissipated, Skadi's cuddly sheep form had been replaced by a more metallic form. Her armour gleamed a bright sliver, with some patches of blue, most noticeably from the flowing cape, but some patches of blue, most noticeably on her shoulders. The knight stood tall and proud, having found her own second wind like the Peckmon beforehand. The SkullBaluchimon snarled as it slowly turned around, it's eyes meeting the shining warrior before it, brandishing 2 long rapiers in her hands. "SilverGrademon, the Reflective Knight!" Kenny was starting to cry heavy tears of joy as her partner had managed to achieve her newest form.

The Peckmon could only chuckle. "I knew I made the right choice."

The SkullBaluchimon, however, was not amused. Roaring loudly, it charged quickly at Skadi, who simply leapt over it's head, forcing it to ram into yet another crystal. As it tried to recover, a smirk crossed the SilverGrademon's face, as she ran over, and leapt again, thrusting a sword into the monster's skull, making it roar loudly, shaking around and swinging Skadi off, as she landed on her own two feet. As it roared again, the Peckmon ran from behind and rammed another kick into it's open wound.

Leaping off the SkullBaluchimon's head, and near where Skadi stood, he grinned at the newfound warrior, "Gotta admit, lady, you're not half bad."

"Why, thank you." Skadi reciprocated; despite her new, more mature looking form, it was still the same friendly sheep underneath. "Watch this." On cue, she snapped her fingers, and 3 other SilverGrademon emerged from her body. They all ran up to the SliverGrademon in file, as SkullBaluchimon raised it's foot. It effortlessly crushed the first one, only to explode underneath it's feet, making it roar again, while the second one slashed at it's feet. In response, it crushed it too, only to explode and hurt it more. The third one just stood there, swords unsheathed, as it leaned down it's head to crush it's opponent beneath it's jaws, only to be met with two slashes of it's own rapiers, holding it back in a little pushback battle. SkullBaluchimon won however, as it's jaws bit into it. However, it exploded as well, breaking one of the jaws, and making the monster stumble and fall, struggling to get up.

Kenny, Skadi and the Peckmon could only watch in amusement at how easily the monster was succumbing. Finally, it was time for the coup de gras. As both the SilverGrademon and Peckmon stood there and watched, as the monster tried to go for one last charge, Skadi only looked at the Peckmon and said, "Stand back." He complied, taking a few steps back as Skadi held out her palm, as a white light emerged in her palm, aimed at the monster's chest.

All of a sudden, the light shot out into a powerful beam, piercing into the monster's chest. SkullBaluchimon let out one last pained roar as the beam consumed it, and it's bones started to crack, white light shining out of it. After a few moments, the Digimon was completely engulfed and exploded in both a brilliant flash of light, then a flow of data. Like BlackGarurumon before it, Skadi could only watch as the data flew away once again, before briefly turning to the Peckmon and nodding, who gave her a thumbs up with a chuckle.

Kenny felt the happy tears well up again, as he saw his partner approach him. The Peckmon followed, staying behind to let the two have their moment. The tamer tried to keep his composure as the SilverGrademon came down on one knee and looked at him, "See what I mean, Kenny? If it wasn't for you being here, I would've been dead. You really gotta stop worrying about everything."

"But I didn't do anything..." Kenny pointed out, before being interrupted by Skadi ruffling his hair, just the way he did when he ruffled her as a Valaismon. It felt weird to be on the opposite end of the spectrum of that, as he blushed a bit.

"Don't be silly," The SilverGrademon added, "Remember what you told me when I lost to Valt as Cardinaldramon? That we're always learning, and growing. We're partners, and the important thing is that you're OK, I'm OK, and we've become better." She then outstretched her arms, "Now how about a hug?"

Wiping a tear from his eye, Kenny nodded, as he walked into Skadi's arms and accepted the hug. He shivered as the cold metal touched his body, but it was countered by her warmth. Skadi could only laugh as her form glowed again, slowly shrinking back to her Valaismon form, hugging her partner tightly as she could. Kenny smiled and tightly hugged his partner back, only to look up as the Peckmon approached him.

"Hey, Kid! That wasn't actually half bad of your partner. Gotta admit, I'm impressed." He grinned at the befuddled tamer, "What's your name?"

"...Kenny?" He answered, "And that's Skadi. I'm sorry your Digimental up and vanished into my Digivice. Do you want me to get it out and-?" He was already trying to pull out his Digivice as the Peckmon raised a hand.

"Nah, you can keep it, kid. I didn't want it anyways. Besides, consider it a gift for saving my life. My treat." He responded. "The name's Odin, by the by." He smiled at the tamer while outstretching his wing for a handshake, which Kenny happily reciprocated, still carrying Skadi in his hands. "May I join you as a personal bodyguard on my days off? I do owe you for saving my life, after all."

Kenny grinned, he just made a new friend. "Yeah, sure. Hey, can you do us a favour? Can you take us back to the Trailmon station please? Skadi's kinda exhausted." She was practically starting to doze off in her tamer's arm. Odin just gestured to them.

"Of course. Get up there." He told the tired tamer. And with that, Kenny had climbed up onto Odin, as he started to trot off back to the Trailmon. Kenny defiantly owed Skadi a treat now. Especially as they bagged themselves an important tool for the mission.

And on the way there, Odin turned his head and asked, "Who's Valt?"

THE END

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Word Count: 3148