Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Diminished Light: Void's Assault ❯ Shaken Emotions ( Chapter 13 )

Diminished Light: Void's Assault

Chapter 13

Shaken Emotions

By

Sailor Janus

 

 

“Sora!” Yamato raced to his girlfriend's side and threw himself to the ground next to her. Gingerly, he touched her face then tilted her head to him and swore at the lack of perspiration on her beet red face. “Sora, wake up.”

 

Taichi skidded to a stop and stared down in horror at his friends. “What happened?”

 

“I-I….She-She…” The blonde was at a loss for words as panic set in. The fear shining in his normally calm blue eyes spoke loud and clear. It was one of the few times that Ishida Yamato was truly afraid and actually showed it.

 

“We need to try to loosen her clothing!” Rosa shouted, her deep brown eyes wide and serious. “It'll cool her off quicker because she has too many layers on.” The two young men stared at the foreign girl, not fully registering what she meant. She sighed and shoved them out of the way. “This is urgent!”

 

“She's right,” Iori agreed rushing forward. “That and cooling her off with water should work. Unfortunately that may deplete our water supply. But we have no choice.”

 

The Mexican teenager frantically but gently untied the sweatshirt from Sora's waist and removed it. Then she unzipped the unconscious young woman's vest and discarded it as well as her gloves while Iori worked on removing Sora's shoes and socks.

 

Taichi and Yamato only stared shock as the duo moved quickly then finally rushed to their bags and grabbed a couple bottles of water.

 

Rosa and Iori had just finished rolling up the red head's sleeves and pants legs when the two older boys sprinted towards their friend and splashed the icy water from the plastic bottles on her face and neck. “What do you think you two are doing? Estupido!”

 

“We were just trying to cool her off quicker,” the leader said innocently.

 

“And you could have made her choke,” Iori shook his head and snatched the water bottle from his stuttering comrade. He made a face at the bottle then lifted the scoop neck collar of Sora's shirt and poured the contents down inside, soaking her shirt in the process.

 

“What the hell are you doing?” Yamato glowered at the Kendo expert who merely lifted his emerald gaze towards the musician.

 

“Would you rather us strip her and sacrifice all her dignity? It's a little less embarrassing to be sopping wet rather than naked.”

 

The blonde calmed down and instead refocused on Sora as he quietly nodded. “Do whatever we have to. The last thing I want is for her to die.”

 

Rosa sighed. “It would be better if we could move her someplace cooler, but I don't know where that would be.”

 

Iori nodded as he continued drenching the unconscious young woman. A brief moment later a soft moan emitted from her dry lips. “Sora?”

 

“Ugh, my head is spinning… .Why am I wet?” Her brown eyes opened briefly and blinked at the others. “What happened?”

 

“Sora?” Yamato spun around and relief washed over his flushed face. “Sora, you're okay.”

 

“You passed out from the heat,” Rosa explained. “It was really bad and we had to cool you off.”

 

Sora looked at the brunette girl for a moment and tried to sit up, but stopped. “Bad idea.”

 

“Drink. It might help.” Iori handed her half a bottle of water. The redhead accepted it and thirstily drank it down. “I think it might be best for all of us to adjust our clothing to accommodate with this heat. Hopefully, no one else will pass out.”

 

The group nodded in agreement then rolled up their sleeves and pants legs as well as removed whatever unneeded extra clothing they happened to be wearing such as a vest or extra shirt in Yamato and Taichi's case or a pair of gloves.

 

Taichi grinned at realization of the unique feature of his cargo pants. “Cool! I have removable pants legs so one minute pants…” He reached down and unzipped the material below his kneecaps. “Next minute shorts.”

 

“Cheater,” Yamato scoffed.

 

The Mexican girl giggled as she finished tying off Sora's red hair into pigtails. “There. That should keep your neck cooler.” She glance up at the musician and snickered. “I'd offer to do the same for you, Yamato, but you'd look awfully funny in pigtails.”

 

“Ha ha,” he snorted snatching a band from the teenaged girl's hand and tied his hair back into a ponytail.

 

Sora laughed and slowly sat up. “I'm sorry for scaring everyone.” Suddenly a tiny object fell to the ground, landing at her feet just as Iori's D-terminal chimed. She frowned and leaned forward to see just what exactly it was. A gasp escaped from her throat as a familiar heart shape caught her eye.

 

Just then the earth began to shake as Iori pulled out his D-terminal from his bag and nearly dropped it in alarm. “Something's happening.”

 

“Is it an earthquake?” Rosa cried out in terror as the tremors grew more violent.

 

“This is bad. Really bad.” Yamato carefully pulled his girlfriend to her feet and grabbed the hand that was not holding the stone.

 

Taichi blinked at his friend in confusion. “What do you mean? It's just a tremor. Nothing to worry about.”

 

“Yeah, but this forest is practically dead which means the tree roots are frail and will cause the trees to fall if given enough force.”

 

“Good point.” Their leader snatched his bag off the ground and pointed out into the distance. “RUN!”

 

The others didn't even bother arguing as they too grabbed their things and began a frantic race through the collapsing forest.

 

*~*~*~*

 

“I really don't think now is the best time to sit down and take a break. We should be looking for the Power Stones.” Koushiro sighed and shook his head at the small group gathered in the circle against the mountain side as they munched on a snack.

 

“After that last scare, I think everyone needs a break so park it, dude,” Michael mumbled between bites of a protein bar.

 

Mimi nodded in agreement. “You try eating that crap they serve on airplanes and see how hungry you end up. It tasted like cow vomit.”

 

“Yeah, well, my mom's protein bars aren't much better,” the American wrinkled his nose in disgust and took another unenthusiastic bite.

 

“You know what cow vomit tastes like?” Takeru raised an eyebrow at them causing the French girl to choke at the question.

 

“No! But it couldn't have been much better,” Michael shrugged then glanced up at Koushiro who was still standing with his arms crossed. The blonde sighed and climbed to his feet then grabbed the irate redhead by the shoulders and dragged him back to the others. “Sit and join us in cow vomit and cardboard.”

 

The computer expert blinked as a plastic wrapped bar landed in his lap. He sighed and snatched up the item and tore the packing open. “Fine.”

 

“Hey, we're not asking you to enjoy it. Hell, we'd think there was something seriously wrong with you if you did,” Michael snickered.

 

“It does have a rather….odd taste,” Catherine agreed. She turned towards Takeru who was gnawing on a chunk of his bar that just did not want to tear away. She caught his eye but to her disappointment, he looked away.

 

“Yeah, well I kinda snatched them from my mom's stash. She's obsessed with them. I don't exactly see why though. If this is supposed to be coconut then they totally screwed up.”

 

Koushiro took a bite of his bar and made a face. “I see why you said it tasted like cow vomit. Yuck.”

 

“So, are we actually trying to socialize?” The pigtailed brunette addressed the group who fell into an awkward silence once again.

 

“I suppose so.” Takeru sighed and ran a hand through his thick hair. “I wonder if the others are having just as much difficulty as were are.”

 

“You mean finding the stones?” Mimi tilted her head thoughtfully at him.

 

Catherine however shook her head. “No, I believe what Takeru is trying to refer to is talking. We seem to be have a bit of a problem.”

 

“Oh.”

 

Just then Takeru's D-terminal began beeping from inside his bag. The blonde scrambled to his feet and grabbed the electronic device from its place.

 

“Who is it?” Michael inquired as the writer opened the message.

 

“It's from Ken. He says they have found two of the stones and that they are small, gray, and are marked with a symbol…. His had the Crest of Kindness which could mean ours would have our crests as well on them.” Takeru's eyes widen in horror as he continued to read. “He also says that they have experienced an earthquake, but no one is too badly hurt other than bruises and a few scratches.”

 

“Earthquake? But I have never heard of such a thing to occur in the Digital World. It's impossible,” Koushiro shook his head in disbelief.

 

“Apparently, the rules must have changed. Ken never struck me as a kidder.” The American balled up his wrapper and tucked it away in his bag. “I guess we definitely have to watch our butts here.”

 

Suddenly the ground began shaking, tossing the Chosen Children from one direction to the other as they tumbled into each other and the hard side of the mountain.

 

“Care to argue against this, Koushiro?” Mimi shouted and screamed as she was thrown into Michael.

 

Catherine grabbed a hold of Takeru as she shrieked in fear. “I don't like this. I want to go home!” Her speech quickly turned into rapid fire French as her panic increased.

 

The blonde teenager embraced the frightened French girl as tremors increased. “Vous serez bien,” he whispered in her ear reassuringly.

 

Her jaw dropped in shock at him, but before she could say another word, a sudden shout brought them back to reality.

 

A large boulder crashed a few feet from Koushiro, nearly crushing him as the impact jolted the redhead to the edge of the cliff. His dark eyes widen in disbelief and shock as a cloud of rocks and dirt pelted him, threatening to push him off the mountain.

 

“KOUSHIRO!” Mimi cried out when she caught sight of her friend in grave danger. Michael shoved her out of the path of more falling rocks then raced for the redhead.

 

“Shit,” Takeru murmured as Michael bolted past him. He looked at Catherine who was sobbing in his arms then at Koushiro. “Stay with Mimi, I need to help Koushiro.” Quickly he rushed after his friend before the French girl could even respond. However just as he had nearly reached them, the ground beneath his feet began to split and crumble, forming a slope through the cliff and down.

 

“TAKERU!” Catherine tried to race after him, but was held back by the older young woman.

 

“Don't. He-he'll be okay,” Mimi said shakily, her brown eyes brimmed with tears.

 

Michael slid to a stop in front of Koushiro. “Grab my hand,” he called out but just as the computer expert had reached up, a deafening crack rang through the air and the two boys found themselves falling.

 

“Michael… MICHAEL!”

 

*~*~*~*

 

 

Ken closed his eyes against the gentle ocean breeze. He couldn't help but wonder how the others were especially after the fright that he had miraculously survived all thanks to Wallace; the one person he had been loathing only moments before disaster struck. What is wrong with me? There is absolutely no reason for me to hate the guy. Miyako loves me. She was even worried about me when we were nearly crushed by that tree. So why do I still feel threatened by him? He shook his head and formed a fist with one hand.

 

“Hey Ken! Kenny boy!”

 

The dark haired teen blinked and glanced towards the voice belonging to the same blonde haired American who had become such an irritation.

 

Wallace smiled and waved him towards he and the other two Chosen Children. “I think I can agree with Miyako on you being a real space case, but there's no reason to brood, dude. We survived and that's what's important.”

 

Ken raised an eyebrow at him then headed towards to the group. Miyako who was sipping from a bottle of water grabbed his head as he neared them and pulled him down.

 

“You're worried about the others aren't you.” She looked at him with concerned brown eyes and sighed. “I know I am, namely Hikari and Daisuke wherever they may be.”

 

“Yeah.” He knew his girlfriend considered the sweet brunette girl as one of her best friends. In fact, before everyone had ended up parting ways, they all were like one big family. If someone had to relocate, everyone would stay in touch and visit when they could. One of Ken's most fond memories was when the group gave him a surprise visit to one of his soccer games after he had moved to Kyoto. He couldn't recall having played a better game than he did that day. After they had won, everyone went out and celebrated like old times.

 

“Ken?”

 

“Hmm?” His blue eyes flashed as if a thought struck him, but some unknown force or something was preventing him from actually acknowledging it. The realization made him feel very uncomfortable and anxious. An image of the Chosen Children before and just a few hours ago came next. The two groups seemed completely opposite of each other but yet, they were the same people. It was as if the crests had vanished. Courage, Friendship, Love, Purity, Knowledge, Faith, Kindness, Hope, Light, Miracles, even Fate were weakened and disappearing from the groups. This was not a comfort in the least.

 

Miyako smiled sadly and shook her head. “Nothing. I was just wondering what you were thinking about.”

 

“The crests.”

 

“What about them?”

 

“What if we have destroyed them by all of our pettiness?” He turned his attention to the sand, not wanting to see the shock on her face. “I was watching everyone when we met up at the park…. It wasn't the same as it formerly was with all the Digimon adventures. It was….different.”

 

“Well, yeah it's going to be different. People change. It's just human nature.”

 

“It wasn't like that.” Ken ran a hand through his hair as he struggled to put his thoughts into words. “You saw Hikari and Daisuke, right?”

 

Miyako flinched. “Yeah, like who didn't.”

 

“I'm not certain, but it looked like they were dying. Both of them. It especially worsened when everyone appeared. There was something there that wasn't before.” He drew a breath and held it. “Something happened, to all of us, not just them. I'm just not sure what. There has to be a reason why time went back three years. Something that has to change or something.”

 

The lavender haired teen glanced at Jyou and Wallace napping on the sand then turned back to her boyfriend. “Like what? What would have happened three years ago that we have to change?” She made a face and shook her head. “Normally I would call you crazy Ichijouchi Ken, but you make sense. I'm just not sure where to go with it from here.”

 

Ken stared at her for a moment then dropped his gaze to the sandy ground. He pulled out his Power Stone from his pocket and looked at it closely. “Whatever it is, this may be a key to fixing things.”

 

Miyako nodded slowly. “I've been horrible. I didn't even greet Hikari and Daisuke as a friend would. Instead I stared at them as if they were something abnormal and picked fights with everyone.” Her eyes began to tear up slightly. “And the digimon are gone…. Then you were almost killed….”

 

“It's okay, Miya,” he whispered softly his pet name for her.

 

She however shook her head ferociously. “No, it's not. I'm not suited for this. I shouldn't even be here. I can't do the stupidest little thing right.”

 

Ken reached out his hand to comfort the upset young woman, but she pushed it away and stood up. “Miyako.”

 

“No. No. I don't deserve anything. And that includes you.”

 

Blue eyes widen in shock as the girl spun around and bolted away. “MIYAKO!”

He quickly leapt to his feet and sprinted after her. Where the hell did that come from? He gritted his teeth and sped past his other two comrades who woke abruptly from their slumber.

 

“Whoa! Kenny, where is the fire?” Wallace rubbed his eyes and looked at the urgent Chosen Child.

 

“Miyako's run off!”

 

“Miyako?” Jyou blinked away the blurriness in his vision and brushed a sandy hand against his pants. A small glittering object next to his shoe caught his attention. Curious, he picked it up and found the symbol of Faith engraved on the cool gray stone. “I think I just found another Power Stone.” When the med student looked up for the others however, he discovered that he was talking to no one. “Hey! Wait for me!” Jyou cried out as he scrambled to his feet and raced after the two teenaged boys.

 

*~*~*~*

 

Hikari and Daisuke dodged through the deadly hail, darting from one direction to the next as the assault intensified. The pair fought their way through snaking tree branches, thick snow, and massive bushes.

 

“This way!” Daisuke tightened his grip on the girl's hand as they wove their way around a tree. He looked up and gasped, jerking her towards him and out of the way of a large shard of ice that shot into the hard tree bark like a dart to a target. They both gaped at the knife-like chunk of frozen water, and bolted away from the tree.

 

“I'm scared,” Hikari whimpered as they continued practically running for their lives.

 

“It'll be okay,” he replied weakly, not trusting his own words to be the truth. A small chunk of ice flew down and cut into his jacket sleeve. Daisuke swore and pulled Hikari along with him in the opposite direction. “I've never seen hail like this before!”

 

Suddenly the brunette girl screamed in pain as a large sliver of ice sliced into her left thigh. Blood dripped from the wound, staining the pristine white snow. Tears stung her eyes as another shard stabbed into her arm.

 

“Hikari!”

 

“I'll….be okay,” she assured him through gritted teeth.

 

The soccer star however clenched his jaw and he searched through the storm for a suitable shelter, but could only see trees peeking out through the white haze. He inwardly cursed as a large frozen ball plummeted towards them. He roughly grabbed Hikari by the shoulders and shoved her to the ground and threw himself on top of her. Daisuke glanced up long enough to witness the ball soar over their heads and barrel into the ground a few feet away. He breathed a sigh of relief and gathered himself off the frightened girl. “Are you okay?”

 

A shaky wide-eyed nod was all he received for a reply as he pulled her back to her feet. She gripped his hand even tighter as they took off at a sprint again.

 

Just when it seemed like they were about to reach a clearing however, the two teens found their feet slipping out from under them as they landed hard on their backs, skidding a few feet away.

 

Daisuke stared up at the sky in a daze then rubbed his head. The sudden solid coolness on his back alerted him that he was not lying in the powdery soft snow. He lifted his head and glanced towards Hikari. She seemed to be in a similar state of confusion as she simply blinked at him. He slowly sat up then shouted in surprise. “Shit. This isn't good.”

 

“What?” She too looked at the ground and gasped. “We-we're on ice?”

 

“Be careful. We don't know how thick it actually is.” He quickly scanned the glassy surface for cracks, or holes but found none. He also realized that they were sitting in the middle of a massive lake of some sort. He couldn't even see their trail of footsteps. Something else was missing he realized as he turned his face towards the sky. “The hail has stopped.”

 

The teenaged girl hesitantly climbed up to her knees. “Are we safe?”

 

Daisuke open his mouth to reply but a low rumbling interrupted him. He immediately froze, staring in horror at the ice. “It can't be.”

 

“What?”

 

“Shit, you have got to be serious….” His gaze intensified as he turned towards Hikari.

 

“Daisuke?” Her breath caught in her throat at the teenaged boy's determined yet nervous expression. Suddenly the rumbling grew louder as the ground began to shake.

 

“Run.” He snatched up her hand as he rose to his feet, pulling her up in the same instance. Together they tried to do exactly as he said on the iced surface, slipping and sliding along the way.

 

Hikari shrieked as her feet skidded out from under, nearly bringing Daisuke down with her. He struggled to get them both upright but a chilling sound forced him to stop his desperate effort.

 

“Damn it!” The ice around them began to crack and sink into the freezing cold water below. He shoved Hikari away as the ice split and broke off even more.

 

“DAISUKE!” Hikari gasped as he tried to follow after, but the ice beneath his feet fragmented, forcing him to plunge into the water below. She screamed out his name again and tried to grab his hand as she too met the same fate as the once solid surface became no more.

 

*~*~*~*

 

A chilling whisper of a breeze danced through the cool stone walled corridors, swaying and weaving through the rooms of the large foreboding fortress. Sharp footsteps echoed as a darkly cloaked figured stalked towards a set of large metallic doors.

 

Sapphire blue pools studied the unique carvings before pushing through the threshold and into a small room filled with glowing candles and sparkling crystals of many colors.

 

They crept to one in particular, cast in a brilliant turquoise sheen. Oddly a plain gray stone sat idle amongst the shining crystal, cold and completely void of anything.

 

“You will not find anything of use in here. Not until we have what we need,” A voice droned from a darkened corner of the room as shadows seemed to grow and dance.

 

The figure however said nothing, and continued to stare at the crystal. When they at last spoke, a voice full of spite was all that broke apart the calmness in the chamber. “All I want is what I deserve and nothing more.”

 

“Then that you shall have.”

 

Blue eyes sparkled as the mysterious person nodded. A small eerie smile spread across their lips. “I will finally be rid of them once and for all. There is nothing anyone can do about it. I've waited too long for this.” Gloved hands balled into threatening fists. “Way too long. They will fall one by one like the pathetic idiots they are. I will destroy them all.”

 

*~*~*~*

Author's Note: Much of this chapter was unexpected. The most surprising were Miyako and the guys falling off the cliff.

 

Regarding the languages, Rosa called Taichi and Yamato stupid and Takeru told Catherine “You will be alright.” More on the reason why certain characters can speak certain languages will be explained as the story continues on. After all, Michael seemed to have no problem understanding everyone in 02. It would only make sense that he would learn Japanese from somewhere. So yes, there is a slight language barrier, it's just not as big as most would expect. Mainly because of how many years have gone by as well as their personal relationships.

 

 

I hope you enjoyed my newest chapter and thank you for reviewing.