Chapter 3 - Blood in the Snow

Aster lifted her face from the snow as Hail and his Icemon flunkies gathered around her while Edward clutched his noggin in pain from the sudden crash.

“You really are a stubborn idiot, aren’t you Aster?” gloated Hail as she strode forward with confidence before giving Aster a hard kick to the face, sending the female Renamon back to the frozen snow. “Without your Digivice constantly reminding you of the past you could have started a whole new life. Maybe meet a nice Mon, have a couple of eggs and settle down. But no, you just had to try and take it back, didn’t you?” tsked Hail as he gloated over Aster who scowled back in enraged defiance. “You could have been so powerful, but instead you quit the struggle and sided with that pathetic human trash.”

“Don’t you dare talk about Silas like that!” growled Aster, attempting to rise to her feet until another hard kick from the icy demon sent her crumbling back to the ground.

“I’ll talk about trash however I damn well please, and there isn’t anything you can do about it!” smirked Hail, preparing to stomp on Aster’s head before a loud crack echoed across the tundra.

But before Hail’s foot could impact Aster, the head from one of Hail’s nearby Icemon goons suddenly exploded, sending fragments of ice in all directions before the deceased Digimon’s body reverted into data. As Hail lifted his head towards the horizon, the initial crack was joined by a chorus of several more as the human and Digimon villagers from Bleakburrow emerged from the tree line with a vengeful yell, with a stocky woman carrying a large caliber hunting rifle in the lead.

Although the sudden assault only distracted Hail for a few seconds, it was all the time Aster needed to swipe with her legs, knocking Hail over before leaping on top of him.

With their leader occupied, the Icemon dove into various outcroppings of ice and snow for cover as the rifles continued to spew death towards them, injuring some and reverting others back to data. The Icemon began to return fire with their Ice Ball Bomb attack, limiting vision for both sides in the frozen chaos.

“Those filthy Digimon traitors! Siding with the humans! Damn them, Damn them all!” roared Hail as he struggled with the feisty Renamon, attempting to pry her off his lengthy frame. “Get OFF!” he yelled, grabbing Aster by her scruff and impacting her into the snow causing an outcry of agony.

Despite the agony rattling her body, Aster attacked again, slashing at Hail with an icy dagger she had formed in her paw. Her attacks were wild and unfocused, but with her increasing speed she managed to land a slash across the demon's torso.

“You little shit!” retaliated Hail as he socked the Renamon across the snout with his fist, sending a splatter of blood from her nose onto the snow beneath. “You just don’t quit, do you!?” roared Hail, pummeling the weakening Renamon as she held up her paws in a desperate attempt to lessen the blows.

Pain shot through Aster’s body as she felt herself fading under the relentless onslaught, her data growing weaker and weaker until her form began to grow fuzzy, threatening to break apart forever. Aster’s body throbbed with agony, her sensitive ears ringing as her vision blurred, her thoughts once again returning to her tamer she had lost not so long ago.

But before Hail could deliver the deathblow, pain erupted from his upper chest, as his body lurched from a sudden impact. Blue blood flowed from the wound as Hail gripped it with his spidery fingers, jerking his head around to find the location of his attacker, it didn’t take long. The young waiter was standing several yards away, his now reloaded revolver shaking in his young hands as their eyes met. “You defiant little worm!” bellowed Hail, focusing on his new prey since Aster was incapacitated.

Edward began to fire off his remaining rounds, most of them missing or barely grazing the icy demon which was charging at him. Realizing the cylinder was empty, the young man attempted to draw his knife which was easily batted away from the experienced demon.

“No, you don’t,” grinned Hail, latching onto Edward’s arms with his slender fingers before ramming his bony knee into the human’s stomach. “You’re just like every other human, weak and pathetic.” Growled Hail, his dark, pupil-less crimson eyes boring straight into Edward who was desperately squirming in a fruitless attempt to escape. “You humans are like parasites, all you do is abuse everything you can for your own benefit.” Mused Hail, giving Edward another heavy knee to the gut which brought forth a scream of pain from him.

Barely able to keep her eyes open, Aster watched in horror as Hail continued to beat the kind young man who had helped her. Anger boiled inside her as her sacred Digivice beside her began to glow faintly, a rapid string of text fluttering across the screen before it emitted a loud beep.

Suddenly, Aster’s motorcycle roared to life and shot towards Aster who held up her paws in defense at the sudden action. But as her faithful bike neared her, it fragmented into data dust as a light blue glow began to envelope Aster’s body. The data from the bike shot into Aster’s frame as her glowing intensified and the familiar calming sensation of Digivolving came over her. The throbbing pain faded as Aster’s data broke down and rearranged itself, warmth overtaking her as her vision temporarily left her. Then just as quickly as it had started, Aster’s Digivolution ended as her vision lurched back. However, as Aster tested out her evolved body, she realized it wasn’t overly different from her normal rookie Renamon form. Her body was slightly larger now and covered with a sleek, dark metal which resembled the color of her motorcycle. The white fur on her paws and ears had turned black. And Her gloves were now metallic gauntlets and her digitigrade legs were reinforced with armor.

Aster took a few moments to inspect herself until Edward’s screams of agony brought her mind back to the situation at hand. Getting into a runner's start position, Aster's new engine roars before she launches forward with all the horsepower of her bike. The armor accelerating her forward as she tackles Hail from behind, causing him to drop the injured Edward into the snow. The sudden speed came as a surprise both to herself and to Hail, whose spidery limbs were flailing about trying to remove the much heavier Renamon.

“Get off of me you stupid bitch!” cursed Hail, socking Aster across the face before scrambling out from under her and regaining his footing. “H-how did you do that, how did you Digivolve!? Your tamer is dead, it shouldn’t be possible!” spat Hail, his bullet wound starting to take it’s toll as his warm breath rose upwards towards the clearing sky. The battle around them had begun to slow, with the villagers’ superior numbers gradually overwhelming the entrenched Icemon.

But Aster refused to dignify Hail with a response, unleashing a flurry of kicks and punches with renewed vigor as her engine roared with power. This time it was Hail who held his hands up for protection, his stamina running low as he exhaustedly blocked Aster’s assault. The enraged Renamon continued attacking, knocking Hail into the frozen ground before continuing as a blood curdling scream came from the demon’s thin lips along with fresh blood from every hit. The screams intensified with every punch until they suddenly stopped as Aster’s armored fist broke through Hail’s face, splattering his head across the unblemished snow. Aster panted heavily as she glared at Hail’s remains which had begun to decompose into data, creating a flickering dark mist around her. Although most Digimon would never pass up an opportunity to absorb more data and grow stronger, Aster allowed Hail’s essence to fade away into nothingness, the greatest dishonor one Digimon could do to another.

“Y-you all right?” coughed Edward as he hesitantly approached Aster from behind, clutching his left arm and wincing as he hobbled over.

“I’m not sure,” replied Aster slowly, glancing down at her blood stained paws and the snow which bore testimony to Hail’s demise. It took the young Renamon a few moments to collect herself as the commotion of the battle began to die down. Aster then rose to her feet before surveying the outcome through her upgraded visor.

The Icemon had taken severe casualties, small splatters of dark blue blood indicating where they had fallen amidst the snow before reverting back to data. The remaining Icemon had surrendered and were being bound with rope and cloth by the surviving villagers who had fared significantly better thanks to the element of surprise, though were not entirely unharmed. Many of the survivors, both human and Digimon had been wounded while others had paid the ultimate price for their actions, family members, friends, co-workers now lay dead or dissipated amidst the tundra. But despite all the blood and data that was spilt, snow continued to descend gently from above, gradually erasing the heinous actions of Hail and his minions and the valiant sacrifice of the villagers.

“I don’t think any of this is all right actually,” grunted Aster as she straightened up, several small tears running down the side of her muzzle before they joined their brethren on the ground. “I got my Digivice back, but I’m not sure it was worth all this…all this death.” She muttered, the burden of guilt weighing heavy upon her as her focus shifted mournfully to the ground.

“Aster, I know Hail took something very precious from you, but he’s also been taking things from Bleakburrow for a long time. And yeah, I’m not excited about learning who didn’t make it, but I also know they choose to come here and repay Hail for everything he’s done to our village. They came to help because they were tired of living under his foot, that’s why I followed you at least.” Explained Edward between coughs, his skin turning a pale shade of green.

“You came along because you were threatening to throw my motorcycle’s keys in the outhouse if I didn’t let you come,” chuckled Aster, giving a sad smile in reply as the energy reserve for her armored evolution began to deplete. She changed back to her normal Renamon self, the tips of her ears and tail and paws shifted from black to their normal white. Her body’s data began to separate from that of her motorcycle until each was back to normal and side by side. A slight dizzy spell came over the Renamon as she brought a paw to her aching noggin, releasing a small groan as it dissipated.

Edward took a hasty step forward, but immediately regretted it as his adrenaline began to wear off and the awareness of the pain in his arm caused him to keel over and vomit.

Aster winced at the sudden smell before giving her eyes a roll and moving to inspect Edward’s injury. She carefully palpated up the arm until Edward winced and shut his eyes when she reached the upper forearm. Gently, Aster felt around which confirmed her initial guess, Edward’s arm had been broken by Hail.

Suddenly, a voice booming with judgment and doom like a wrathful deity thundered across the tundra as Edward’s mom came barreling over the tundra. “Where’s that damned sultry fox and my good for nothing son?!” she shouted, still clutching her rifle in her hand, momentarily thinking Hail wasn’t the final boss to defeat on this adventure.

But as Aster turned to escape her impending demise, she was suddenly overtaken from behind as the round innkeeper pulled her into a tight embrace. “Thank you, thank you so much for protecting my precious son and for freeing us from that horrible menace! I thought I’d never see him again when I discovered you two were missing,” sobbed Edward’s mother, her emotions letting loose as tears flowed freely down her face and onto Aster’s shoulder who was struggling for air.

“And you! Don’t ever do anything so utterly stupid...and foolishly brave ever again!” cried the innkeeper, releasing the poor Renamon who was grateful to breathe once more. Edward's mother then knelt down in the snow and embraced her injured son, taking great care not to aggravate his arm. “You’re becoming more and more like your father every day, not afraid to risk himself to help others. Even though I never want you to do something like this again, I couldn’t be more proud of you.” she sobbed, rocking her beloved son gently in her arms as she stroked his hair with a motherly touch.

Several hours passed before all the injured and dead, along with the items Hail had hoarded, were gathered up and brought back to Bleakburrow. The injured were brought to the inn. The dead were mourned by family and friends before the deceased humans were buried and the names of both fallen Digimon and Human alike were engraved on a crude wooden cross placed in the village graveyard. Finally, the items which Hail had pillaged were returned and distributed amongst the survivors as there was need, the entire community pulling together in support.

But as Aster watched the bedsheet wrapped corpus enter their final resting place, she still couldn’t disperse the thread of guilt and regret which tugged at her heart. Digimon and humans alike had died to help her retrieve her Digivice, and Aster was certain more would follow her to a similar fate until her goal was completed.

---

Sorry for the delay on this one. But we're finally at chapter 3.

Character design and story outline by  AtticusKotch
Story written by ThornWolf33 on DA (https://www.deviantart.com/thornwolf33)