Digimon Sundial

Chapter 31: Moonlight on the Mask

The night fell, the moon shone over the sea as the boat advanced through the darkened water, noise being heard from the interior as the Green Wind Digimons chatted inside.

From past experiences at the Central Sector to the significant victory in Suzaku, anecdotes and themes of conversation weren't lacking between all these Digimons.

One of them, though, was lonely and silent, out of the noisy interior, prefering to stay at the bow of the ship outside, watching the sky with his arms crossed.

A human was just passing as they saw the Digimon standing there, this human was Miura, and, although at first surprised to see the lonely creature in the silence of the night, he quickly knew the reason why.

"Hey... Hope I'm not annoying" -Miura says as he catches the attention of the Digimon, it was Ventomon, who turns to see him.- "...You're okay?"

"Oh, Miura." -Ventomon tried to give a recomforting smile to the human, but it was hard to hide his ashamed frown, the insect was looking down.- "I just needed to take a breath outside, don't worry."

Ventomon looks at the sky again, with Miura getting at his side and doing the same.

A short silence passed before the human spoke.

"It's hard, isn't it?..." -Miura muttered, Ventomon turning to see him.- "...What happened to that Dolphmon."

"..." -Miura guessed, that was the reason Ventomon was there, no longer needing to hide his saddened expression, the insect replies.- "...Growlmon, the other members, even I warned myself about the risks of doing this... Well, the risks of being the leader in general, having to take care of my members, having to make them risk their life for me... Having to deal with losing them."

Ventomon clenches his fist as he again watches the sky, trying to find any comfort to the guilt and sadness he was feeling inside.

"...But it never gets easier, I feel their pain, they still weight on me." -Ventomon's voice was almost unaudible at this point, it was hard for him to keep on explaining what he was feeling.

"I know... That's the first thing I noticed in you..." -Miura talks as well, with his hands in the pockets.- "...You really care for your members, at first I was worried that the resistance would've vanished by the time I came back to the Digiworld, all this violence and conflict, this hostility MAGAMI and the warlords are causing... But when I saw you ready to take off as soon as you heard Tentomon being tortured through the speaker of those guards, I knew it... I knew that there were still honorable and caring Digimons out there, especially you."

"You're so kind." -Ventomon looks at Miura, a slight smile appearing in his face as the mantis got a bit closer to him, appreciating the sincerity- "...You know... Tentomon was one of the first Digimons I've met, even before I formed the resistance. He's actually really good when it comes to things like cooking, or fishing... Whatever having to do with food or manipulating artifacts... He could've been a great engineer or chef for Suzaku, maybe even the whole South Sector."

Ventomon turns to watch the cabin of the ship, he couldn't see it due to the moonlight reflected on the windshield, but a sleepy Tentomon was still there with a bottle at his side.

"...But when I decided to take the fight to the warlords, and then MAGAMI, he followed me, and look at where he is now." -Ventomon sighs- "...He had to pay a price I deserved, he may claim his wing got better since the torture, but I don't believe in instant recoveries, your wireframe may heal, but the memory of all that pain can change you... Growlmon, Agumon, Dolphmon, they're all the same, they all have dreams, but need to fight for me."

"...Ventomon..." -Miura looks at the cabin as well and, after taking a deep breath, he kneels at Ventomon's height, placing an arm on the mantis's back.- "...You're putting too much weight on your back... Not even you can deal with that way of thinking."