Of Father and Son [Owen] [Part 1]

It had been a rather exhausting but satisfying day in combat class at Rosewood that day. Rain had been predicted for tomorrow, so Owen had his class do as much as they could while the skies were still clear today. In the open parkland where he conducted his outdoor classes, he had the class practice their ranged attack techniques, with both stationary and moving targets. To the Gaomon’s delight, there was an ongoing improvement with most of the digimon. Even those with no ranged attacks of their own were becoming proficient with the practice crossbows they had been given to use.

After the final bell of the day had rung, Owen had retreated to his small office and proceeded to write down the results each student had achieved, comparing them with earlier target practice days. The best shot of the class was a young Koemon it seemed, but that was no surprise to him, they were renown sharpshooter digimon.

It was when he was just about finished that he heard a knock at the door. Supposing it was a student come to check in on how they were going, he put his pencil down and turned to it. “Come in.” he called, lightly.

The door opened and if Owen hadn’t already put his pencil down, he would have dropped it. He stared at the rough-furred canine digimon that stood there, his mouth open a little. “Steyr…” he whispered, blinking as though he couldn’t believe it. His son that had fled the family in shame of his inability to evolve was standing there, after all this time.

Steyr then asked for help. Owen stood up, trying to bring the words he wanted to say out, but he just couldn’t. That of course he would do anything to help him, that he had missed him dearly, to ask what the problem was, that he had been worried sick when he had heard he had gone missing in the woods from his previous job as a post deliverer, but he could say nothing. Instead, he slowly walked over and drew him into a hug, tears rolling down his face.

“Oh, Steyr…” he sniffled, full of emotion. He was so happy to see his son again. Eventually he found the means to speak. “What’s the matter, mate? What can I do to help?”

After initially failing to help Steyr evolve to Child level in the first place, he was eager to make up for that.

It was odd for a digimon of Owen’s height to see his son had grown taller. Steyr was about the height of an adult human now, while at 140cm, Owen was about a head shorter. Still, he looked healthy and strong, and that made the Gaomon feel proud.

Steyr asked if they could sit down and maybe have some tea. He had a lot to talk about, indicating the missing poster. Owen nodded, of course they had a lot to catch up on.

“Well you’re just in luck there, I’ve brewed up some nice green tea.” Owen said, cheerfully. “I’ll just warm it up again for a bit, should only be a minute or so.” he preferred green tea in the afternoon. Black tea would just give him insomnia when taken this late. That was also something Owen was thankful to his husband for – teaching him how to brew some good tea.

Once it was ready, he poured two cups and invited Steyr to sit down at his desk, moving the paperwork to one side for now. He then listened patiently to his story, his eyes widening with horror at every sentence. He even made a soft growl in anger as Steyr went over the details of the atrocities these digimon committed. If only he had been there… but he was not, and could not turn back time.

Then came the clincher. Steyr admitted he had evolved to the Adult level and slaughtered the digimon, losing control of himself as he had done so. And he had become that mysterious feral beast digimon of the forest. Owen had heard the rumours, of course.

When Steyr finished his story, Owen finished his own cup of tea and pondered what to say in response. It seemed there was an element of Steyr’s data that led to him becoming wild and feral when he evolved. Owen knew from experience that this happened sometimes. In fact, he had fragments of memories long ago when he had become feral on the field of combat, in his time as a soldier of the DWR. The first time it happened, when he had witnessed outlaw digimon committing atrocities, he had temporarily lost control himself and evolved in a rage, but the next thing he remembered was being pinned down by his superior officer, Lt. Colonel Ayenzi Etemon, who had used his quick wits to bring him down to earth and remind him that he was a civilized DWR soldier, not some barbarian like the bastards they were fighting.

Thinking back to that time, Owen remembered sitting down with the Lt. Colonel after it was all over, hearing him saying that it wasn’t so bad, he just had a bit of his dad’s data in him and he remembered being there when he had done a similar thing. Not Sten though, his other father, Bredis the Stiffilmon.

But Owen’s memories weren’t complete enough to know how to help his son with that. The Gaomon pondered what to do here. He couldn’t deny his son help, he had come directly to him for help in this.

“Well… I’m sorry to hear that all that happened.” he began, carefully, but as he spoke, he knew in what direction they had to turn. Like how his second eldest son Haku had brought his father Sten back to their family, it seemed likely that they would have to do that again, only with a more difficult digimon to deal with. “I don’t personally have the best means to help you though, son, but, I think I know of a digimon that can. And I think he’s still around.”

He looked at Steyr’s face, realizing just how much like Hikaru’s his eyes were.

“I think it’s about time we sought out to find your other grandfather. Bredis. It seems like your problem derives from the data you inherited from him through me.”

Owen chuckled and nodded as Steyr correctly recalled their habits about afternoon drinks. “Yeah, that’s right. I prefer to be able to go to bed early so I can be up at dawn.” He gave a nod and a smile as Steyr got caught up with a bit of emotion too, letting him be while he composed himself.

“Yeah, your papa would be pretty stoked to hear from you personally, even in a letter.” Owen agreed.

The gravity of Owen’s parents’ relationship was not lost on Steyr. He gave a grave nod. Upon receiving news that Captain Jaelin Gaomon had been declared killed in action, with no way to confirm if his data had been loaded, the marriage of his parents Sten and Bredis had shattered completely. Through one action or another, neither could live with the other with the knowledge that they had sent their only son to fight and die in war. And they took out their grief on each other, to an extent that they fell out permanently.

Since reuniting with Sten, Owen had only asked him about Bredis once, and the WereGarurumon couldn’t bring himself to talk about him at that time. ”Not now. Some other time… please… let me get to know my new family before I dwell on the old...” he had spoken with so much pain that Owen never felt it was the right time to bring it up.

Steyr then asked questions that brought Owen’s thoughts back into the room. “It’s probably for the best that Bredis sees us first, alone. We don’t need to bring papa Sten into this yet… hopefully that can come later.” the Gaomon answered.

Then the question was asked what to do next. Owen pondered. He only knew the general direction in which Bredis was, not his actual location. It would probably be an expedition of about a week, maybe two. The Stiffilmon’s last known whereabouts were the glacial mountains that separated the Northern Prominence with the Eastern Timberlands. And there was the matter of Owen’s classes. Even if it was raining tomorrow, classes were still planned. But he had his long lost son to help first and foremost, this would have to be the time to assign priorities.

“Skye’s son, Rory, he can take over classes for a while.” he answered. “Oh, Skye too, if she’s not too busy. I trust them both to handle that.”

Then there was the last matter, whether to inform Sten what they were doing. Even if they weren’t inviting him on the expedition, maybe it would be at least good to let him know what they were doing.

“I’ll send a message to dad to let him know what we’re doing, just in case Bredis wants to come back with us so he doesn’t attack him on sight.” Owen reasoned. “But for now, we should rest up for tonight and set out tomorrow. It’ll be a bit rainy, but I’m sure us digimon worthy of 7/71st Recon should handle that, right?”

And surely it would be possible that digimon of the 7/71st Recon would be able to track down an old Stiffilmon in the mountains to the North. Owen would then arrange for Rory to act as substitute teacher for his classes, with Skye to act in support as she saw fit.

Steyr mentioned that Bredis would hopefully see all he needed to understand once they saw each other, and Owen agreed. “Yeah. I’m counting on that too. Him seeing that Jaelin still lives, with his own eyes, that should be all he needs to see.”

For what purpose, Owen didn’t know. Would Bredis still reject them? Somehow… he thought it unlikely. While he had few intact memories of his Stiffilmon father, all of them were warm. While Bredis was somewhat of a carefree and wild digimon, he remembered that there was real love there with the old beast warrior.

Steyr then asked about his younger brother Lewis. Owen remembered now, Lewis had met Steyr alongside Sten, here in Rosewood in fact. Owen smiled. “Yes, Lewis has evolved, mate. He’s a fine and mighty Gabumon now. He spends most of his time in Ys, since he seems to like music and art, so he’s spending a lot of time with your siblings there.”

Steyr mentioned he had a friend that could prepare them some rations. “Excellent idea.” Owen agreed. “Some stacked rations would be ideal. Fresh ones we can eat first, then long-lasting ones we can move onto later. Leave nothing to waste.” That was what he was taught was most important when he first joined a Recon unit after all.

Owen then gave a solemn nod and a sigh about what Sten would make of this. “I think in the end it’d be better for him.” the Gaomon said. “At one time, I think Sten had the same feelings for Bredis that I felt and still feel for your papa Hikaru. Whatever quarrels they had in the past… I think enough time has passed for them to heal. At least I hope. If not, then, fine, that’s for them to decide.”

The Gaomon smiled as Steyr took his words to heart about being a worthy soldier. “I don’t doubt it, mate.” he said, by tradition returning the salute, as was the regulations for DWR officers. “Now then. Let’s go about our preparations.”

Steyr raised a good point. From what Owen knew of his father Bredis, he probably wouldn’t be too pleased to see digimon wearing the uniform of the old DWR army approaching, considering what he knew of the rift that had split him and Sten apart.

“That’s a good idea.” Owen said, then struggled to remember what he wore in the old world before he joined the military. Back then, young digimon often liked to dress themselves in a way similar to humans, with fun t-shirts and shorts or trousers with lots of pockets. Exploring the mountains in summer probably would mean that the chill wouldn’t be too big of a threat, not with their thick fur anyway. But still, Steyr’s point stood, Owen would have to keep his 7/71st tunic here.

Steyr mentioned the photo that Sten still had of their old family. Owen made a sound of delight as he remembered. “Yes, he did in fact…” he walked over to a corner of his small office where he kept his little personal items. It was covered with photos of the rest of his family. The centrepiece was a photo of himself and Hikaru at their wedding, but it was surrounded by pictures of his children and grandchildren. But in the corner was a copy of Sten’s old photo of the WereGarurumon with a Stiffilmon and a young Gaomon between them, wearing a black t-shirt featuring a crescent moon. “Hmm. I think I can get something like that in time for tomorrow.” Owen said.

He smiled at the subject of Lewis. “Yep, that’s right. He’s learning knitting with Perry, and he helps Jill as much as he can with her secretary work. And he’s made some designs for Bezil and Papa’s stained glass windows that are pretty impressive, so I heard. And he likes jamming to music with Matty and Jimmy.”

Steyr’s friend in mind turned out to be Max. Owen hoped that would be alright, he knew the Impmon-X was often busy, so he hoped it wouldn’t be too much of a burden on him to prepare their rations. But Owen had to insist on one more thing.

“Please call me ‘dad’ instead of ‘sir’ for this, Steyr.” he asked. “While I expect you’ll be just as effective as a soldier on the field out there, it’s just the two of us, I don’t mind if we drop formalities for the moment. And good call, we’d best make sure our clocks are ticking at the same time.”

After synching their clocks, Owen then proceeded to make his way to Skye’s house and inform her and Rory what they intended to do.

Owen took a closer look at Steyr’s camo vest. “Yeah, someone wearing something like that in the mountains shouldn’t be too provocative. Just as long as there’s no insignia or such like that.” Memories of Owen’s past reminded him just how important insignia was to the average soldier. What their rank was, which unit they belonged to, what war medals they had been awarded with. Owen knew from the stories that Bredis wanted nothing of that.

Owen couldn’t help but blush as Steyr said the picture of a young Jaelin looked chubby and cute. “Heh, well… I was doted on back when that was taken, I’ll admit.” he said. But Steyr had a good point in that he didn’t have to match that actual attire, just match the spirit of it. “Yeah, that’s true… oh, that gives me an idea, that should make things easier.” he remarked to himself. Steyr would see the results later.

“Yeah, Lewis is keeping himself busy. And dad, I mean, Sten likes taking care of the family when he can.” Owen said in response to that, but a worried expression crossed his face. “I just hope Bredis has a similar experience when after we meet him.” Owen rather worried that Bredis might end up just rejecting them altogether. But he knew he shouldn’t entertain such a terrible result as a certainty. They just had to try first.

Owen smiled at Steyr’s sheepishness about what to call him. “That’s fine, mate. I’m sure you’ve got a lot of skills that’ll make me proud. I look forward to seeing them.” In fact he intended for Steyr to take the lead in their expedition to give him the full confidence he thought he deserved, and would only speak up if he thought Steyr was making a mistake. But even then, he’d make it a discussion rather than a lecture, to see which was the right decision in the difficult paths ahead.

He was surprised to be hugged again tightly, but he quickly recovered, hugging his son back. “I feel the same, mate.” he replied, then when they separated, would make their preparations once they synced their devices.

---

Max was a little startled when Steyr suddenly approached him and asked for help, but, the Impmon-X didn’t expect too big of a crowd tonight and would probably have enough time afterward to fulfil the request of his friend.

“So, you’d like me to prepare rations for you and your dad for a hiking trip for about a week or two.” Max summarized when Steyr approached him for assistance. The Impmon-X paused for a moment while he thought out a plan, then eventually smiled and nodded. “Okay, I can do that for ya overnight. And I’ll make it as light as possible so you’re not weighed down too much, but you’ll need to source your own water for them. Not to worry though, it’s gonna rain tomorrow so there should be plenty around for it. But just remember, you’ll have to consume these rations in order, the fresh food comes first, the preserves come last. I’ll even add instructions for how to make the meals as good as possible.”

With Max thinking of Steyr as a good friend, he was happy to do this favour for free. He was just glad to have him back after the months of being missing. Max had a feeling from the urgency of his expedition that it was to help prevent something like it happening again, so he would happily chop onions past midnight to prepare them for a packaged stew to be consumed as rations later on. But as he did so, not all the tears were from the fumes. He really had missed the HavocGaomon’s companionship in his absence. Max would be sure to give him a feast to remember when he returned from this trip for good.

---

Owen meanwhile was glad to receive similar eager help when he knocked on Skye’s door.

“Substitute teacher?! Really, Mr. Owen?” Rory asked, excitedly. “Well… of course I’d be honored!”

“With your mother’s help at the side, of course.” Owen clarified. “Skye is my trusted Lieutenant, so I’d be thankful if she could be on hand to help out when needed too.”

“Of course I would, Owen.” Skye answered. “But… are you sure you’d be okay with just you and Steyr with meeting your father?”

“I’m sure.” Owen answered firmly. “I wish I could give you more solid proof than that, Skye, you’ve always advised me to go with my brain than my gut in this, but in this case, I think the gut decision will have better results.”

“...given the brain decision involves full backup of everyone you know who can evolve to Perfect and Mega, I suppose I’ll have to go by your judgement.” Skye replied. “But Owen… sir, if your father repels you with attacks, please retreat. That’s all I can advise.”

Owen gave a sigh, knowing that Skye was speaking with the levelled logic he had always known her for. “Alright, Skye, I promise I’ll do that.” he said, truthfully. There was every chance that Bredis was no more, that he was a wild digimon with a kill-or-be-killed instinct now. But he had to try and see for himself what he had become.

---

There was one more thing to deal with before Owen would rendezvous with his son, and that was to deal with clothing. Owen returned to his office, and raised his D-MR at the wall. After five minutes, he would open a portal to the human world, and at the other side was a rather anxious looking Colin James.

“Hi, Owen, is something the matter?” the young human asked.

“Yeah… sorry to barge in with a portal like this, but, I was wondering if you could help me.” Owen said. “If possible, could I please borrow a t-shirt and jacket that you have that no longer fit you?”

“Um… odd request, I’ll admit.” Colin answered. “What for, can I ask?”

“Just I need some human clothes that aren’t military.”

“And… why have you asked me for this?”

“Because I’ve known you for several years and you’ve grown at least a foot in that time, so unless you sold every piece of clothing in that time, you probably have some left over.”

“Heh. Fair point.” Colin admitted. “Alright, I’ll give you one of my old shirts and jackets. I don’t suppose you’ll tell me more about what this is about though?”

“It’s family matters.” Owen said. “But if something goes wrong, would you be able to pick up the signal of my D-MR aboard Daedalus?”

“...yes, I could.” Colin assured him. He then disappeared for a few minutes, then returned with some garments of clothing. A black t-shirt with a Fullmetal Alchemist motif, and a green wool jacket with pockets. Both were a couple of sizes too big for Owen, but they suited his purposes enough.

“Thanks a bunch, Colin, I’ll tell you all about this later.” the Gaomon assured him, and they bade each other goodbye. Now then. All that was left was to meet up with Steyr at the right time.

Owen looked at Steyr’s dog tags and gave a thoughtful murmur at what they meant to him. They were the true sign of a soldier, crafted in duplicate in hard metal. In the human world, they would be worn at all times, and if the soldier was killed, one copy would be removed to record their death, the other left to identify their body.

With digimon it was of course a different matter, but the DWR had adopted it in their military regardless. One copy to be removed for records, the other left behind to identify the location where the digimon had been destroyed.

“You wear those as long as you want, mate. I doubt Bredis would take offense to them.” Owen told his son.

The Gaomon smiled as Steyr said he was happy when being taken care of. Owen remembered those days, resting Steyr as a Wanyamon on his lap as he read from his human fairy tale book, as he did with all his children. A main reason he did that was because Bredis did that to him when he was a child, albeit not human fairy tales, but, stories that roughly were inspired from the other world in that time.

Owen agreed that it would probably not go well if they took Bredis straight back to Ys if he agreed to end his isolation. “Yeah, would be good to ease him back into the present gently.” he nodded. “Somewhere on the outskirts of Rosewood would be ideal.”

---

As Max accepted Steyr’s request, he listened to his words as he helped prepare their meals. The Impmon-X tried to remain as stoic as possible, with having his friend back for only a short time, but he was grateful that Steyr understood his feelings.

“Yeah, that’s all okay, pal, I’m just glad to see you again.” he replied. “And of course you need to figure out what went wrong in the first place so it doesn’t happen again. That’s all fine, I fully support you in all this.”

Steyr asked if he should carry a lot of water in the first place. Max shook his head. “That shouldn’t be a problem. If I know your dad well enough, he’ll be following a stream up into the mountains, which should be well dripping from their glaciers now in the middle of summer. Owen of all people should know that the rivers flow reliably through the Eastern Timberlands from the mountains to the bayou. Some extra empty bottles just in case would be a good idea though.” he added.

Eventually Steyr said he had to meet up with his dad. Max nodded and waved him goodbye, happy to spend the night preparing their food, agreeing to prepare some ginger drinks too. In fact… it made him think of his relationship with his own father. Max was never this close to Bellamy as Steyr seemed to Owen. Perhaps… maybe he should think about changing that?

---

Owen met Steyr at the agreed spot at the agreed time. He had changed out of his khaki tunic and replaced it with Colin’s old shirt and jacket. Steyr asked if he was done sorting things out.

“Yep, things on my end are sorted out for now.” he assured him. “Now, how about we head home for a bit of supper before bed? We should be up at dawn so we’ve got as much light as possible, although that shouldn’t really be a pressing issue given it’s the middle of summer now. I’ll cook you up whatever you like, although I can’t claim to be as good as Max.”