Dust

Jessica Ishida

WARNING This story is AU, Alternate Universe. The digidestined mostly know little about each other, except for the related ones. No shounen-ai either… sorry… the only relationships will be Hichi Junsuke and Yamakeru for brotherly and sisterly moments.

AGES Yamato/11-Taichi/11-Sora/11-Jyou/12-Mimi/11-Koushiro/10- Takeru/7-Hikari/7-Daisuke/7-Miyako/8-Ken/7-Iori/na-Jun/11

Disclaimer I do not own digimon… Clear? I'm not making any money off of this either… Got that? You sue, You're through… I do know how to aim and fire a gun… Quite well too…

Sidenote There will be a contest announcement at the end of each chapter, I'm putting them up for other people and not myself, that is the only part in this fic where I am making money, off of my friends who pay me to advertise their contests.

Summary Young children start to go missing, mysteriously, in and around the old town of Rickety. Their parents, soon after, begin losing memories of them, as well as their friends. Some people remain conscious of the fact that children are disappearing, and begin a search for them. A search, where all signs point to one man.

Dust Chapter One Licorice, Sourballs, and Gloves

Takeru Ishida began walking into town, several weeks after the end of school. He had such a craving for a giant sourball, and he couldn't resist the urge. He had pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth… No he didn't, it seemed as though it were floating, on the water which seeped into his mouth any time he thought of the word 'sour'. That word had such an impact on him… him and his fetish for anything sour.

"Just two more miles… Not that far…" Takeru spoke to himself. He did that often, when He felt lonely. Mostly late at night. Yamato would be sleeping, sometimes breathing only once or twice a minute… he had big lungs… Takeru used to worry, that Yamato might not make it through the night… so he would lie awake, telling himself that Yamato was okay, and that he shouldn't have to worry about him because he himself was the little brother. Yamato was the older brother. Supposed to be watching out for Takeru was his job. Nevertheless, where was Yamato now?

"I've never walked this far on my own… I wonder if I can beat mommy and daddy into town… The look they would have on their faces when they saw me, standing outside the store would be the best!" He called out to the wind, talking to no particular particle. He heard the distant rumbling of a car engine. He turned around and saw a blue truck. A Ford. The type of car the Ishida's drove. He was just over a mile away from the town, he could see it, and he wanted to beat his parents to it. He started running.

Takeru pressed hard on his growing muscles for the next two minutes, and found Rickety growing farther away with every step he took. "Huh?" He turned around, noticing that the car was stopped, directly behind him.

"Hello there, young man. Where are you headed?" A figure asked as he stepped out of the car. Takeru eyed him, suspiciously. The man's face appeared to be of pure white skin, smooth as a baby's bottom. He had a mat of deep brown hair, flattened to his head. He wore a pair of pitch black glasses, along with an overcoat, and a pair of Levi's. Takeru didn't quite see hands, instead, he saw a pair of leather gloves. His eyes darted back to the Levi's. People only ever wore their Levi's on Sunday for church, or if they were important business men. Takeru may have only been 7, but he knew that if somebody was wearing Levi's on a Tuesday, he must be an important business man. His eyes darted, back to the gloves and coat. What day was this? August the eighth? What kind of person wears gloves and a coat on August the eighth?

A chill ran down Takeru's spine. He looked down at his own clothes, suddenly feeling quite cold. He himself was wearing a pair of brown shorts, held up by a pair of suspenders, worn over a blue button up. His typical outfit. He wondered for a moment, if he had been transported to a winter world. Yamato always seemed to be talking about other worlds…

"Sonny, Where are you going?" The man asked again. Takeru obviously hadn't realized he had been asked a question.

"Oh, sorry sir. I'm heading for Rickety to buy some sour balls…"

"Bet you wanna beat your folks to town today, don't you? Why don't I help you? I could give you a ride, if you wanted me to…"

Takeru willed himself to stay put. His parents had always told him not even to talk to strangers, and he had already broken that rule. He would be in a lot of trouble if he got into a strangers car. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly, and shook his head violently, although he could already feel himself being steered into the front seat of the car.*

"You like sourballs, don't you?" The man asked, lowering one foot onto the gas pedal. Takeru looked out the window, seeing tumbleweeds rush by at an amazing speed.

"Yeah… I was just going to buy some…" Takeru gave up trying not to break any rules.

"You shouldn't eat too many sourballs… They'll give you wrinkles… Make you look old… You wouldn't want to be old, would you?" He asked, revealing red eyes. "Would you believe me if I told you that I have never been young?"

Takeru simply nodded. He watched as the man slid off one of his gloves. "Um… Shouldn't we be in Rickety by now?"

"We're not going to Rickety…" The man said as he placed a bony hand on top of Takeru's head. Takeru felt as though he was being cleansed… He had never felt this way before… He struggled to break free of the man's firm grip, but it was useless. Takeru's eyes floated and dan ced, unable to focus on anything.

He managed to notice the man smirk, before loosening his grip. Takeru drew a ghastly breath, and with a 'pop' he was gone.

* No pun intended

Sidenote Please Review

CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT For Kinae Ichijouji – Wanna get a site spotlite award? Then write me a story entitled "The Doorknob". All entries will be considered, but one catch… You can't name it "The Doorknob and go on to talk about something else… The Doorknob must be involved somehow… And It also must have at least one YAOI coupling.