Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Dark Guardian: A tale of Rika and Renamon ❯ Chapter 11

Part Eleven

"You aren't seriously considering accepting the challenge, are you?" Rika demanded. The little redhead looked up at Renamon worriedly, then at the letter from the master of the assassin's guild that the kitsune still held in her hands.

Renamon smiled grimly, "I have little choice, Rika."

"What do you mean?" Rika frowned.

Renamon sighed softly before the fox-woman continued, "This sort of challenge is intended to be a double edged sword, m'love. If I do not choose to accept it he will simply go after you, at a time and place of his own choosing."

Rika paled slightly. With Renamon as her bodyguard she had gotten an education in the arts of the assassin, and she knew how hard it was to stop a determined killer. "How do we know he won't attempt some treachery?" Rika asked.

"He won't," Renamon smiled. "He may be an assassin, but m'lord has a reputation for facing his foes honorably," she explained.

Rika met her bodyguard's eyes and knew that the taller woman had already made up her mind. "When do you have to go?" she finally asked her softly.

Renamon smiled, relieved that Rika wasn't arguing any longer. "A few hours," she said softly, "he wants us to face each other at midnight." Rika made a face and she had to smile back , "More than a bit melodramatic, true."

"Come here," Rika sat down on the side of her bed.

With a quizzical look on her face Renamon paced over to the younger woman's side. With a surprising swiftness Rika grasped her arm and pulled her down to her level, wrapping her arms around her neck and planting a firm kiss on her. They parted most reluctantly, leaving Renamon feeling more than a bit breathless.

"Rika, I.." Renamon barely managed to form words.

Rika reached out to put her finger to Renamon's lips. She smiled at the fox-woman and said, "You are going to come back to me." She tugged the kitsune down beside her on the bed, "And I'm going to give you lots of reasons to."

The kiss this time wasn't gentle, filled with unrestrained passion even as two bodies pressed closer together. Rika all but flipped the taller Renamon, looking down at her on the bed. She let her hands freely explore the furry body even as she brought her lips close to Renamon's ear.

"I've wanted to do this for weeks you know," Rika murmured softly into that ear, "weeks..."

Renamon slid out of the bed, trying not to disturb the soundly sleeping young woman. Today had been a revelation to the kitsune, in so many ways. Emotionally she had accepted the depth of her feelings for Rika, but neither of them had chosen to cross that physical line. Now they finally had, and it was a glorious thing.

Renamon looked down at the sleeping girl, silently swearing that she would do whatever she must to protect her. Rika shifted, her eyes opening up sleepily and Renamon softly said to her, "Go back to sleep."

Rika sat up, pulling the blanket around her shyly. "It's time for you to go," she sighed softly. She fixed Renamon with an intense gaze, "Come back to me, my love."

Renamon walked over to the window before giving Rika a slight smile, "I will, I promise you." With that she leapt out the window, letting the night air ruffle her fur as she dropped. Smoothly she jumped to a nearby roof, then another, silently bounding across the town at night.

The full moon glowed down at her, the cold white light giving the little town an eerie effect. She leapt from shadow to shadow, moving with assurance to the battlefield the letter had specified. Just beyond the town fields of wheat swayed, the golden plants almost ready to be harvested.

As Renamon dropped into the middle of the field she heard a calm voice utter, "Right on time." He seemed to simply appear from the shadows, the tall man all ion black. A long cloak, a bit ragged around the edges swirled about him, his face unnaturally pale in the moonlight. His eyes were piercing, an odd redish tint making them seem to glow.

"Lord Devimon," Renamon nodded slightly in respect. The master of the guild had earned his title, and even though she knew the tricks he used, she was still effected. 'Chalk and oil pales his face, the cloak is ragged intentionally to obscure his motions, his eyes changed by a certain medicine,' she reminded herself, but still it was unnerving...

"You surprised me," Devimon admitted, standing there almost casually. "I knew that you were good, but to defeat Lady Devimon, Angel and all those others? I was certain that one would have slain the pair of you by now," he smiled.

"I wish it hadn't been necessary," Renamon said simply, a bit surprised to realize it was the honest truth. Some of those slain had been her friends once, only their various duties putting them on opposite sides.

"Well said," Devimon nodded. "If I win, both your and Lady Rika's lives are forfeit. What stakes do you demand of the guild?" he asked.

Renamon had spent the entire run here considering just that question. By ancient custom the guild had to allow her to name the stakes, and she chose her words very carefully. "If I win," Renamon said, "the contract on Rika is canceled, and instead a contract is taken out on Lord Takato. If Rika dies by anything other than old age, his life is forfeit."

Devimon's lips twitched in a surprised smile, then he actually laughed aloud. "A wonderful move," he agreed, "with such a contract Takato would strive to protect Lady Rika, lest he die! Most devious. A lieutenant waits nearby, if I fall it will be done."

"Lady Rika is a good teacher," Renamon answered.

Devimon straightened, his face becoming serious once again. "Our battle will be to the death, student," he said softly, "are you ready?"

And with that, he was gone.

Renamon searched, her vision questing into the shadows, but there was no trace of him. Quelling her fear she closed her eyes, abandoning unreliable vision. Step by step she slowed her heartbeat, quelled her rapid breathing, and finally stood there in a pool of utter silence, perfectly attuned to any out of place sound.

It may have been the cracking of a single twig, the soft swish of a cloak, or any one of a dozen things, but Renamon moved in that instant. The silvery blade flew unerringly from her hand, and a soft cry was heard in the darkness. Opening her eyes she saw Devimon holding his shoulder, a bit of red soaking the dark fabric.

"A few months ago," Devimon murmured, "you would have fallen for that." A knife gleamed in his hand as he suddenly charged her, "To the death."

Renamon answered the charge, running at him. The knife in his hand gleamed, then as they neared he flung something in her eyes! Renamon howled, eyes burning as she backpedaled, feeling the burn as the knife swept across her arm.

Coughing and choking Renamon wiped at her eyes, trying to clear her vision of the burning substance. 'Pepper,' she realized, eyes watering. Devimon paced towards her, his figure blurry in her vision, then Renamon was struck by an inspiration.

"What.." Devimon blurted as Renamon shimmered, then shrank. The orange haired woman grabbed him by the collar, flipping him backwards in one smooth motion.

Her fingers found the blades in her arm guards with the ease of long practice. Renamon threw, the blades flying soundlessly, and with a wet thunk they struck home. One penetrated through the eye into the head, the other straight in puncturing the throat. Either wound would be fatal, both almost guaranteed it.

The young man stepped from the trees as Renamon checked for a pulse and found none. He was already growing cold, no longer looking like some supernatural creature of evil, but instead simply a man, his face chalky white.

"I heard the stakes that you demanded of the guild," the red haired young man said gravely, "and it will be done. The contract on Rika is null and void, and the arrangements that you asked for Takato will be instituted."

"Good," Renamon murmured, cupping the bloody wound on her arm. Her eyes narrowed, "I suspect that m'lord had an agreement with this Takato. That agreement is worth nothing now, so I would advise whomever controls the guild to move it, quickly."

"It will be done," the young man gently collected Devimon's body and was gone into the darkness of the forest.

To be continued....