~Confession~

-Part I: The Dream-

It was twilight, just before dawn arose in the digital world. Two digimon, a Renamon and a Strabimon, were in a pair of tents that made up their, “home.” These two were Shadow (the strabimon) and Vixen (the renamon); a pair of tamer-less digimon who have sworn to protect the helpless in times of need. Vixen had already arisen at this time and quietly began her morning routine. Shadow meanwhile continued sleeping, where he was at the mercy of his subconscious’s whims…

In his dream, Shadow had arrived at a small marble enclosure had nothing, but a small pool in the ground that held water. Shadow knelt by the pool and cupped some of the water to splash in his face. As he let the cool water absorb into his face…

“HEY THERE FRIEND!”

Shadow flinched and let out a tiny yell as he desperately looked around to find where the voice came from.

“Who are you?? Who’s there?” he questioned. 

And as if to answer his question, a black humanoid figure emerged from the darkness. Absolutely no features could be seen on this mysterious being, save for a wicked little grin. 

“Oh ho ho ho, forgive me, but the opportunity was just…far too tempting!”

Shadow lowered his ears and snarled

“You! What are  you doing here again?” he asked. 

This being was, “The Angel.” He has appeared many times in Shadow’s dreams, usually to taunt him or sometimes to give him forewarning about a dangerous event that may occur in the future. This night however was a taunting sort of night. 

“Oh nothing too audacious! I merely just felt like joshing you for a bit. It’s awfully lonely here at times, and…well I just can’t but be giddy when you show up!” The Angel spoke with a sly grin on his face.

“Humph. Well then if you don’t mind, I’d like wash my face in peace.” 

The Angel simply grinned and bowed to Shadow, and then paced around the area. Shadow cupped some more water into his hands and splashed his face. It felt so relieving and so satisfying to have the cool water drip down from his face. The Angel laid down besides Shadow on his stomach and giggled lightly. 

“So Shadow, what do you think of your little friend?” He asked, with a sly little look on his nonexistent face. 

Shadow glanced at him, confused. 

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Your attractive little renamon partner? Do you like her?”

Shadow had an annoyed look on his face. 

“Vixen is practically my only friend! Of course I’m fond of her.”

The Angel’s grin widened with almost wicked glee 

“Ah, but do you…like her? In any special kind of way?”

“What? No! Don’t be ridiculous!” Shadow rose to his feet, “Vixen is just a very dear friend of mine. Nothing more, and nothing less!” 

Shadow began to walk away, while The Angel began to cackle with delight at his denial. 

“Oh admit it loverboy! You have a crush, don’t you~” 

“I most certainly do no you cretin!” 

The Angel floated on behind Shadow and morphed into Vixen. He clutched Shadow in an embrace. 

“Ooh Shadow! You’re so strong and so brave!” Mocked the disguised Angel. 

“Hey get off of me! Stop that!” 

Shadow furiously broke free of The Angel’s grasp. The Angel then snaked his way in front of Shadow, and gently stroke his face. 

“I think about all the time Shadow! I’m in love with you!”

Shadow lunged forward, trying to hit the fake Vixen. As he lunged, The Angel jumped away, and slipped between Shadow’s arms. He giggled before kissing him. 

“Ack! You..!”

The Angel jumped away, and reverted back to his silhouetted form, still cackling with perverse joy at Shadow’s annoyance. 

“Ha ha ha ha! Oh that was a good one! If only you could’ve seen your face!” said the Angel, in-between short bursts of laughter. 

“Grr, that’s enough you wretched pile of trash!” 

The Angel floated up to Shadow’s face and simply grinned at him. 

“You know, it’s dangerous to let these emotions bottle up inside of you. Eventually you’re going to have to let her know how you feel.”

“How I feel about what?! There’s nothing to tell her! We’re merely friends!” 

The Angel chortled with smug delight as he disappeared back into the darkness. Shadow gave chase, while the Angel’s laughter grew louder, and louder. The darkness around Shadow became thicker and heavier until finally…he awoke. His flashed open, as he sat up in his tent. 

“Aw man,” He groaned. “I hate that guy so much…!” 

-Part II: Frustration-

Shadow sleepily exited his tent and stretched out his body, making a tiny cracking noise. Vixen meanwhile was practicing her balancing skills on a nearby tree stump. She calmly and steadily balanced herself on one foot, before elegantly hopping on to the other. She glanced over and noticed Shadow. 

“Good morning Shadow.” She greeted. “I trust you had a pleasant night’s sleep?” 

Shadow looked away with a slightly annoyed look on his face. The dream he had last night was still fresh in his mind. 

“Mm, I’d rather not talk about it.” 

Vixen was perplexed by his answer. Perhaps he had a nightmare? 

The rest of the day played out like normal. The pair of them went out, doing some training, gathering food and taking strolls through the digital world. However, something was different this day. Shadow seemed to be awfully quiet, rarely speaking a word to Vixen. Eventually the two were returning home by mid noon. There was a painful silence between the two of them. 

“Shadow…are you alright?” Vixen questioned. 
Shadow was lost in his thoughts. He couldn’t stop thinking about that dream with The Angel. Feelings for Vixen? Well, deep down Shadow always cared for her and her well being but as far as romantic ideas go he wasn’t-

“Shadow? Did you hear me?” Vixen’s voice suddenly cut through Shadow’s thoughts. 

Shadow glanced over at Vixen with a blank expression on his face. 

“Huh, what? No, I’m fine! I’m fi-whoa!” 

While busy talking, he failed to notice a rock in his path, and subsequently tripped onto his stomach. He groaned as he slowly rose. Vixen knelt down beside him tried to help him up.

“Easy there. Are you hurt?” She asked

“Gah! I’m okay, I’m fine, I’m…” Shadow paused before gazing into Vixen’s eyes. A slight blush appeared on his face, as he lost himself in her gaze. After a brief moment, he snapped himself back into reality, and quickly got up to his feet. 

“I’m fine! I don’t need help…” He hastily replied as he stomped off back to their home. 

Vixen was still for a second, trying to understand what was wrong with her partner. She eventually got up and followed behind him. 

Soon, the two were back at their little clearing in the woods. Shadow rested up in the hammock set up near the fire pit while Vixen began to meditate on a nearby stump. Shadow was completely and utterly lost in his little world, trying to clear his mind. He thought about his combat strategies, some training routines before thinking about…Vixen. His heart started race ever slightly as he started thinking about her. He tried shaking that little thought off, by thinking about the night sky, some of the locations he’s been too and…

“…Her eyes…” he suddenly thought. There was something alluring about her gaze. He dwelt on this for a few seconds before rolling over and thinking about something else. 

He thought of the enemies he’s fought. All the evil digimon, and all the run ins he’s had with Hunter and Kumiho, and-

“…She was always there with me…” Again his mind drifted back to Vixen. This time though, he couldn’t push her out of his mind. He suddenly thought about all the times they had together. All the times they spent training themselves, all the times she’s saved his life. He thought about all the places they visited together, and all the lives they‘ve helped. He thought about how nice her voice sounded and how elegant she was. A slight blush came on his face as he continued to think about her. Vixen was, without question, his most dear and trusted friend. But deep down in his subconscious, he had deeper feelings for her…he loved her. 

Finally after tossing about in the hammock, he got up and walked over to the nearby pond to splash his face. Vixen meanwhile was lost in her own thoughts as she meditated. She was concerned about Shadow’s unusual behavior. Something was clearly on his mind. Did Vixen perhaps say something that hurt him? Did he have a terrible nightmare last night? Perhaps he was sick? Either or, she wished there was something she could do to ease her partner’s rash attitude. 

As she began to think of someway to help, her mind began to drift as she thought of the moments the pair of them shared. Her first memory was when they met for the first time. Shadow had no clue who he was, or where he had came from, but Vixen graciously offered him to stay with her. The next memory was of their first battle together, where they were taking on a group of blackagumon. The pair efficiently made short work of them, but Vixen was almost jumped by a stray blackagumon had Shadow not intervened. And finally there was that time a while ago, where she grieved for her missing tamer. Shadow had woken up and offered comfort for her. Much like Shadow, she too was very fond of her partner. She did have some romantic feelings for him, but she chooses to keep the feelings in check. 

After she was finished meditating, she got and stretched out her back. She noticed Shadow behind her was washing his face. 

“I mustn’t disturb him,” she thought “but at the same time…” 

She walked over to Shadow and lightly tapped on his back. 

“Everything alright?” 

Shadow looked up at Vixen, and again caught himself in Vixen’s gaze. His mind began to race, and his heartbeat quickened. 

“Uh, um, yes! I just…I just need to…be alone for a few minutes…”

Shadow got up and walked off, deeper into the surrounding woods. Vixen watched him leave with a slightly disappointed look on her face, before she went to gather some firewood. 

-Part III: Hunter-

A sly and almost devilish figure was moving in and out of the underbrush. He carefully observed his surroundings, ready to strike anyone that came near. This mysterious being was Hunter; a dreaded yasyamon, who was a deadly assassin for hire. Routinely, evil digmon would call him up to do their dirty work for him. He was trying to lay low, trying to regroup with a trio of devidramon in the woods. Finally he spotted a clearing where the trio were, and appeared before them.

“Ah, friends” he said in a slimy tone of voice. “How nice to meet you here at this time!”

“Spare us your sarcastic kindness, Hunter!” One of them snarled. “You’re late! For claiming to be the digital world’s greatest assassin, you have unbelievably poor timing!”

“Poor timing? Bah! I’m just fashionably late my friends!” 

“Humph! Well either way, what’s the plan?” 

“Well since today’s been a slow day for ‘contracts’, I figured that I…I mean we could benefit greatly from robbing some unsuspecting digimon of their mony”

The devidramon trio chuckle amongst themselves

“Ha ha ha! That sounds like a great plan! Where too first?” 

“Well…wait, shh!”

Hunter began to hear the sound of someone approaching. He motioned them to hide, as he leapt up into the trees, and they in the underbrush. As the figure came into view, he saw it was his arch-rival Shadow. Hunter has had a long history with Shadow and Vixen. He even knows some of Shadow’s past, though he’ll never tell to him. Hunter suddenly got rather furious that Shadow was out and about. 

“What’s that little purple idiot doing around here?” he thought. “And where’s his stupid girlfriend?” 

Suddenly a wicked thought crossed his mind. Once Shadow was out of view, he jumped down into the brush to speak with the devidramon about a new plan. He explained that because Shadow was here alone, this may an excellent time to finally rid himself of these two’s meddling. 

“So what I need you three to do is go find his girlfriend and get rid of her, while I deal with this purple loser.” he explained in an unsettlingly joyful tone. 

The devidramon nodded in agreement. 

“You got it Hunter!” and with the, the three left, while Hunter went on ahead to stalk Shadow. 

And speaking of Shadow, he was still grumpy and brooding over his emotions. He was in denial that he had any sort of romantic feeling for Vixen…and yet he just couldn’t drop these intense feelings. He simply cared about her too much to deny his inner feelings. 
“Come on Shadow” he spoke to himself, “Vixen is just your friend! She’s just a dear…sweet…loving…gah! This isn’t working!” 

As he continued to wander around, desperately trying to clear his mind, he suddenly felt the presence of someone nearby. He immediately tensed up and took a fighting stance. 

“Who’s that? Who’s there?? Show yourself!” He shouted. 

Then to answer his “friends” curiosity, Hunter sprung forth, punching Shadow in the face. Shadow reeled back, dazed before steadying himself. 

“Surprise my good friend! How nice to run into you on this day this!” 

Shadow coughed and growled once he laid eyes on Hunter. 

“Hunter! What are you doing here? Up to no good, I presume?” He snarled at him. 

“Ha ha ha! Why Shadow, I’m hurt! You know I’d never willing do bad, unless the right ‘mon has the right job, and the right amount of money on hand~!” Hunter said with a delighted tone in his voice. 

Shadow, being one to be rash in a situation like this wastes no time fighting with Hunter. He leaps forward, claws outstretched, but unfortunately for him, Hunter was faster and dodged his attack. As he got our of the way of Shadow’s attack, he brought down his fist, knocking him to the ground. 

“Heh heh, as you can see my dear friend, I’m clearly more suited for combat than you are!” Hunter gloated as he stood over Shadow. 

A slight oversight though, as Shadow rolls onto his back and Hunter in the face as he’s gloating. 

“You also forget,” he retorted, as he got back onto his feet “I don’t waste time fighting my opponent!” 

Meanwhile, as the two of them fought, Vixen was out looking for firewood, trying to figure out her partner’s sudden irritated attitude. 

“I do wish Shadow was more open with me about his feelings” She said to herself. “It’s just not healthy to bottle up emotions…”

As she began to collect twigs and small chips of wood, she suddenly heard what sounded like a faint little growl. She paused and stood still for moment, before spinning around with a flying kick. And true to her keen senses, her kick contacted with the face of a devidramon. The devidramon yelped in pain as it lurched backwards. 

“Ha! It is most unwise to try and sneak up on me.” She informed the devidramon

“Gah! You may have caught me off guard, but you’re surrounded!” 

And right on his cue, two other devidramon appeared around Vixen. Using her quick thoughts, she stayed still, keeping her eyes focused around her. Suddenly all three moved in to attack, but she jumped away at the last minute, causing all three of the to collide. She the tossed a diamond storm at the group, weakening them further. 

“Augh! You yellow witch! You’ll pay for that!” shouted one of the devidramon as he rushed forward to attack. 

Unfortunately for him, Vixen hit him hard with a kick, causing him to fall onto his back. Vixen was about to unleash another diamond storm, when a devidramon slashed at her back, causing her diamond storm to scatter. She was about to turn around and deck him in the face, when the third devidramon came up and slashed at her face. The three of them attempted gang up on her, but she blew all of them back with a little spin attack. 

Meanwhile, Shadow and Hunter were solidly locked in combat, almost taking turns beating each other. Finally after awhile, Hunter stumbled a little bit, letting guard down, which gave Shadow ample time to knock him down. He swung with a kick to Hunter’s torso, knocking the air out of him, and making him collapse to his knees. Shadow stood above Hunter as he started to wheeze. 

“*Cough!* *Gack!* That was…a good hit…” hunter chocked. 

“I’ll give you one last warning Hunter! Leave now, or I will kill you!” 

Hunter began to cackle again. 

“Ha ha ha! It doesn’t matter…One of you…is going die anyway!”

Shadow was annoyed at this remark. 

“And what on earth to you mean by th-” A sudden chill went down his spine as he suddenly thought about Vixen. 

“Oh no! Vixen!!” 

Without hesitation he ran off to find her. 

-Part VI: Confession-

Shadow began running as fast as he could. He lamented in his mind leaving Vixen alone. 

“I shouldn’t have been so distant” He thought. “I shouldn’t have been so wrapped up in my thoughts! Oh Vixen hold on. I’ll be right there!” 

Vixen meanwhile was hold her own pretty well, despite being clearly outmatched. She had knocked one onto his back and was engaged in combat with another one. As she was busy punching him away, the third one leapt up behind her, ready to strike when suddenly he got a face full of Shadow’s foot. Vixen swung around, surprised. 

“Shadow! What have you-”

“No time to talk now Vixen,” Shadow explained as he cut her off, “we need to get rid of these devidramon! 

And without a word the two began to team up on the devidramon. Shadow rounded them up with his high speed kicks, while Vixen shot at them with diamond storms. Eventually, one by one, all three of them were defeated and turned into raw data. Shadow and Vixen paused for a bit to catch their breath. Shadow walked up to Vixen to see if she was injured. 

“Vixen? Are you okay? Are you hurt?” 

“I’m…I’m fine Shadow. Just some scratches, that’s all.” 

“Ah…that’s a relief-ACK!” 

Suddenly from nowhere, a wooden sword flew right through Shadow’s shoulders. He collapsed to his knees Vixen gasped, before the sound of laughter caught her attention. She looked toward the location of the laughing to see Hunter triumphantly standing away from them.  

“Heh, now that was a good hit! Poor loser didn’t see it coming!” 

Vixen lowered her head and started to snarl at Hunter. She didn’t even greet him, only instead charging at him. She lunged forward to slash at his torso, but Hunter jumped out of the way and kicked her to the ground. 

“Better luck next time sweetheart!” He boasted. “Now then, while you’re weakened, I’ll just off you right here!” 

He readied his sword, when suddenly Shadow appeared behind him and stabbed him with the sword that was embedded in his shoulder. Hunter cried out in pain and clutched his bleeding shoulder. 

“Guh! What on earth is with you two?! Don’t you ever tire out??”

“I’m always ready to fight when my friends are on the line!” Shadow said with a slightly smug tone in his voice. 

Hunter was about to retort, when Vixen suddenly came up and uppercutted Hunter, knocking him onto his back. Utterly defeated and outmatched by these two, Hunter wisely decided to retreat for today. Shadow looked on triumphantly, before remembering he was stabbed with a blunt sword. A sudden jolt of pain came throbbing from his shoulder as he bent over and clutched it. Vixen placed a hand on his back and on his chest. 

“Shadow! Are you alright?” 

“I’m…I’ll be okay. I just got to get this bandaged up. I’ll be fine” 

Shadow looked up at Vixen and smiled weakly. The two walked back to their home in the woods. Later that evening, Shadow was out watching the sunset. He was still lost in thought about Vixen and about how much he cared about her. 

“…I can’t get her out of my head” he thought. “Do I finally admit to her how I feel?” 

As he was pondering on these thoughts Vixen walked right next to him and watched the sunset. 

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” She said.

“Hmm…indeed.” 

“How’s your shoulder by the way? Is it healing fine?” 

“Mm, what? Oh yeah, yeah, it’ll be fine. I just got to be easy with it” 

“Okay. I’m glad you weren’t seriously hurt.” 

“Yeah…I’m glad you were okay too…”

Shadow tilted his head down slightly.

“Uh Vixen? I uh…I want to apologize for being rude earlier…”

“Oh? It’s okay Shadow. Did you have a rough night of sleep?”

“Uh…sorta. I just had this dream where…” Shadow paused for a second, trying to find the right words for his explanation. “…well I was just being taunted and all that…it was nuts.” 

Vixen nodded, acknowledging him

“I understand. I’ve had similar dreams myself.”

The pair of them continued to stand there and watch the sunset. Shadow’s mind started to drift as he began to think about Vixen again. This was the opportune time to say what he wanted to say. This was the best time to finally pour his heart out. 

“Uh…Vixen?” He asked as he turned towards her. “I…uh…um…I have something I’ve been meaning to say to you for awhile now…”

Vixen became a bit curious. 

“Mm, what is it Shadow?” 

“Well I…um…” He found himself lost in Vixen’s eyes. His heart began to race and he started to blush. “It’s just that I…well…Oh, f-forget it, n-never mind.” 

He began to walk away, flustered when Vixen stopped. 

“Wait, what is it? You can tell me Shadow. Something clearly on your mind. You know it’s never good to bottle up your thoughts…”

Shadow gulped as he began to tremble ever so slightly. 

“It’s just that…I…I like you a little bit more than just a friend…I…I love you.” 

Vixen is a tad surprised at this. 

“I…I know were friends and everything, but deep down…I just feel very deeply about you. You’re the only real friend I’ve ever had thus far so I mean…I don’t know, I guess it’s obvious I would feel this way…” his expression suddenly became slightly saddened “Oh what am I saying? I’m sorry. I’m being foolish.” 

He began to walk away when Vixen stopped him. 

“Shadow, it’s okay! You’re not being foolish. To tell you the truth…I…” her face began to blush “I love you too, Shadow!” 

Shadow’s face turned bright as she said that. His heart started beating ever faster. Vixen stepped in closer and threw her arms her companion. Shadow was stunned for a second, before he put his arms around her as well. This is what the pair of them always wanted. This wasn’t out of comfort, this wasn’t because one was in pain. This was out of love and for love only.

“You’ve always been so loyal to me Shadow.” Vixen whispered. “I don’t think there is a single other digimon who would treat with the same amount of respect and loyalty as you Shadow…”

“And I don’t there is a single digimon out there that is as kind and as compassionate as you, Vixen…”

The stood there, embraced for few moments before the broke away, holding each other’s hands. 

“Shadow, I know I don’t usually show my affections towards you, and neither do I.” Vixen began to explain. “I feel it’s much safer for us if we kept our feelings on a pure friendship basis…but nevertheless, I don’t think it hurts to let go and express our feelings towards each other every now and then.” 

“I agree. I’m…sorry I didn’t talk to you about this sooner, Vixen…”

“Mm…it’s okay Shadow. You were just nervous.” 

Vixen gave Shadow a kiss on the cheek, causing him to turn even redder. The simply stood there, holding each other’s hands and resting their heads on each other’s shoulders.  

“It’s getting really late. We should head back home.” 

As the sun went down, the two lovers returned to their little domicile in the woods. Vixen had prepared a little bon fire in the first, and they both had a seat near it. After awhile, Vixen leaned over and propped her head on Shadow’s shoulder. Shadow nuzzled her with his snout and continued to watch the fire burn. As the night went one, the fire eventually burnt out. And the two eventually fell asleep right next to each other, under the starry sky…

~The End~