Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Fire From the Moon ❯ Meet Tenchi ( Chapter 3 )

The wind howled furiously, whipping sand and gravel across her hot, destroyed body. It had been days since she'd entered the digital world; days without food, drink, or shelter. And she was stranded in a desert, in the middle of a sandstorm. She coughed, turning her head so the sand wouldn't blow into her face… which was difficult. She had her goggles strapped over her eyes, but that wasn't doing any good. Like being locked underwater with leaky scuba gear.

She heard herself chuckle at that thought. After all, she WAS part marine creature… her long ears were pressed firmly down by her goggle strap… and this was quite difficult on her body as it was. Even without the torn clothing and scratches adorning her body… with them it was worse… it hurt so much worse…Her thoughts traveled to Deago… How many years has it been since she'd seen him? And what about her digimon…?

A sudden blast of wind and sand knocked her to the ground, and she gasped in pain, inhaling a large amount of dry sand. She coughed and sputtered, and her she felt lightheaded. Blackness began to take over her vision… Water… She needed water…

Before she blacked out, she could make out two figures standing over her body. She strained her eyes to see who it was, but before she could get a good look, she was out cold.

~*~*~

Liliy turned her head to one side, brushing away a loose strand of hair. She glanced to Rini and the digimon, who were attempting (with little success) to start a campfire. Rini had adapted very well to Konamon after she had revived, after she realized that, no, Konamon was not a possessed demon-species out to destroy her, and that yes, Konamon was her digimon (to which she replied: "COOOL!!!!!" and proceeded to poke and prod Konamon until Liliy tied her down with some rope they found). They had wandered for a while before coming to the very edge of a desert, at the very edge of the forest with the glowing leaves.

They walked through the desert for a while, for no particular reason… perhaps it was because they had nothing else to do. After a while, a sandstorm had cooked up, and they headed back for the safety of the forest, using Quixoticmon's sharp nose to find their trail back (how he found it beneath all that sand is still a mystery to her) and on their way had stumbled across someone.

Having no idea who it was, and seeing she (after finding out that this person was, in fact, a `she') was hurt, they picked her up and brought her back the mile or so to the forest. It had been hard, having the strong wind and sharp sand getting in their way, but they were with the wind, so it wasn't too horrible. They escaped with minor scrapes and watery eyes. Who ever this person was had been traveling perpendicular to the wind, and had a sufficient amount of scrapes on her left side. Whatever tracks she had left disappeared in the storm.

"Oh, Liliy!!" Quixoticmon called out in his singsong, something-happened-that-won't-make-you-happy-but-I-need-to-tell-you voice. Liliy looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"What did you do this time?" she asked. He turned and pointed to a very disgruntled looking Rini, with part of her hair singed. Konamon was cackling hysterically behind her, tears threatening to leak from her blue eyes. Rini glared at Quixoticmon who grinned nervously and inched behind Liliy.

"He burnt my hair!!" Rini growled. The tone of voice only made Konamon laugh harder. "He burnt my hair trying to start the stupid fire," at this, Liliy chuckled.

"Here... it'll fix in a few seconds…" Konamon said in between fits of laughter. About five minutes (and seven open-fire cooked fish) later, Rini's hair was fixed, care of "the mystical mysteries of the digital world" and when Quixoticmon had been forgiven, the mystery person they had rescued from the desert began to stir… Just as the rain started.

They instantly crowded around her, eager to find out where she was from but backed away as she jumped. The stranger scrambled to her feet and pressed her back to the nearest tree, glaring at the four companions with a look on her face that could kill an army. Or at least maybe a few bunnies…

"Who… Where…?" she stuttered shakily, taking deep breathes to shake off the shock. Everyone blinked at her. It was Liliy who spoke.

"We found you in the desert… you looked kinda beat up, so we brought you here. Your scratches are kinda deep… I don't know what hit you, but you should be healed soon," she grinned. The other looked at her quizzically, and nodded slowly.

"My name is Tenchi…" she said slowly. Rini nodded, urging her to go on. "I came to the digital world six years ago, when all hell broke loose…

~*~*~

Algizamon blinked, and jumped up onto Krystle's chest. Krystle quickly caught her, then continued to stare at the back of the picture. "Hey...I think these ARE instructions…Let's see here…it says the party's at `Toves'…as in `Slithy Toves?' Kewl! I know where that place is! It's just a few blocks…" Krystle looked up at the sign next to her, "well…okay, more than a couple blocks east of here…"

Krystle glanced back at the scrawlings on the back of the picture, her eyes getting a bit wider as she deciphered, "Damn, though, we better hurry, come on!" Krystle took off, heading east, her various chains heard ringing down the streets, Algizamon still plastered onto her chest, holding on for her life.

About 5 minutes later (good time, all things considered, thought Krystle), they had frauded their way into `Slithy Toves' and were catching their breath in the `slow' music room. Algizamon looked around, taking in everything, from the wide assortment of people, to the music that made your skull vibrate, to the bartender `Gerard' who was serving up some hellishly odd looking stuff.

"My, my…do you come here often…?" Algizamon was stuck between the shock of taking it all in and amazement at how Krystle could seemingly ignore just about all of it.

Krystle shrugged, "Not that often, I guess…whenever my parents are out, and my friends can drive me here…" Krystle surveyed the room, looking for anyone she might know, but found no one. She shrugged again, "They're probably hitting `Bat Cave' or some place now…let's see if we can find this `Kane' of which Naki has spoken of…"

"Okay," Algizamon sensed Krystle's sudden change in behavior and attitude, going from friendly and confused to somewhat cold and glaringly sure-footed. Glancing around at some of the other people in the club, Algizamon decided to follow suit, glaring and occasionally growling softly at anyone who tried to follow Krystle.

"Hey, freak! That's a sic wolf-thang ya got there!" a familiar voice called from the DJ stand. Krystle turned and smiled coldly up at her friend, Possum.

"Yeah. She found me in an alley, and decided to join my pack. Careful, though, Poss, she doesn't like rabid strangers like you."

Algizamon, going off of the half-truths Krystle was telling, gave Possum a low growl for effect. Personally, she didn't see anything bad about the tall dark and mysterious stranger. She could even sense some kind of attraction between Krystle and himself, but didn't want to ruin the scene Krystle was setting.

Possum just laughed. "Kay, my friend. Just watch out for Jay and his crew, cuz they're all real pissed off at you for something. Said something about `the motherfucking bite marks'…"

Krystle nodded. "Thanks. You seen this kid, hereabouts?" She held up the picture Naki had given her of Kane.

"Yeah, is he sanguine?"

"No, he's meat. MY meat, though, so you leave him alone."

Possum put his hands up defensively, "I never said I was hungry. I have my sources, you know. It's cool. Your meat-boy's in the dark room." He pointed in the next room over. "One of Jay's guys was in there, but he's pretty fucked-up on something, so he probably won't even recognize you."

"Thanks. Come on, Algizamon," Krystle nodded to her companion as they stepped through the doorway into the dark room.

~*~*~

"… and here I am now. With you," Tenchi cast a sidelong glance at Quixoticmon, who was shuffling through her pack. He sensed her eyes on him, and zipped up and dashed next to Liliy, who sighed at her partner's incapability to sit still.

"So now you're looking for your digimon, ne?" Rini said, glancing nervously over to Konamon, as if she'd disappear.

"Yeah… we were separated again when the Dark Master ordered his war troops to attack us…" Tenchi's features became dark. "He'll pay for that…" she reached sideways into her pocket and pulled out a small gem. She stared at it for a while, before jumping up, and looking around. The digimon bristled, but didn't move. Rini and Liliy just blinked, and exchanged looks.

It glowed brightly, before turning into a sword, complete with sheath and buckle. She strapped it to her side, and pulled out the sword swiftly and with practice. The four others looked on with horror, confusion, and shock at seeing this new person draw a weapon.

"What… what's that for…?" Rini asked nervously. Tenchi turned and put her fingers to her lips.

"It's a human's only defense left against a digimon, when they don't have a partner!" she hissed speedily. "Now hush, or you'll bring attention to us!"

She took a fighting stance in front of them, daring who ever was lurking behind there to step out. The forest darkened with the fresh beginnings of night. Rini and Liliy sat together, near the fire, completely bewildered by the events. The digimon still kept bristled, each standing beside their respective partner. Tenchi shivered once, as the coldness of the air touched her skin. And with that, they were on her. <br><Br>