Chapter 8: Canyon of No Return
"It's okay, Kari. Just don't look down."
Gatomon's reassuring voice didn't seem to have any effect on Kari's nerves. "That's easy for you to say," she replied. "You're a cat!"
"I don't think it's so bad!" you piped up.
Your group had emerged from the shadowy mansion and managed to cross the Overdell. On the other side you all found an enormous canyon. The cliffs stretched down for what looked like a mile and a thin blue ribbon snaked down the center, reflecting back bursts of light. The walls were layers of colored sandstone from red to gold like stacked pancakes.
Currently you were all crossing a rickety rope bridge that spanned the canyon's width. It was narrow and swung back and forth in the high winds, but the only other option would've been to climb down the sheer stone walls and then back up the other side.
Personally the height and the wind didn't bother you as much as it seemed to bother T.K. and Kari. It was almost like flying. Of course, you would've felt better if you'd had wings like Patamon and Tsukaimon.
"Pick up the pace!" Tsukaimon shouted as he flapped along overhead. Then he yelped as a gust of wind blasted him sideways.
"It's hard enough just to hold on for dear life!" Gabumon shouted, clinging to the rope side.
As the bridge swayed your body instinctively flowed with it but you heard unhappy cries from T.K. and Kari behind you. Gripping the rope sides of the bridge, you looked back over your shoulder at them. They were huddled together in the center of the bridge as if afraid to be on their feet.
"It's okay, guys. I'll give you a hand." You took a couple of steps to get back to them and you held out your hands. They each took one and you pulled them up onto their feet.
"Let's go," you said. "Slowly. Hold tight to my hands and if the bridge sways move with it like I do."
You started to walk carefully backwards, guiding them steadily towards the far end of the bridge. Gatomon and Gabumon followed behind them while Patamon and Tsukaimon flew back and forth overhead. Once or twice a gust struck the bridge and you held the two kids upright as they tried to sway with it as you instructed. Progress was slow but eventually you all made it to solid ground again.
"Wow, that was scary!" T.K. said when you were safe.
"I guess a little," you admitted. "But I liked it! It was like being a bird!"
"I'll stick to being a person on the ground," Kari replied.
"Well, we've got plenty of ground to cover," you said, looking around. The flat top of the canyon zigged and zagged into the distance, broken up like islands and linked by more bridges (luckily they were made of metal not rope). The landscape was already beginning to shimmer in the rising heat and you thought of the river down below. If it got too hot you all would need water. "We need to go down to the river. We're going to get thirsty when the sun gets high."
The kids agreed and you all began walking along the canyon, keeping your eyes peeled for a path leading down. It was a strange place - from the Overdell it had looked completely natural but now in the thick of it you could see mechanical odds and ends poking out. At one point you glanced at a sign and stopped dead in your tracks.
"Elevator?!" You looked at Tsukaimon. "There's an elevator out here?!"
"Yeah, so?"
You just gaped at him and he stared back, obviously wondering what the fuss was about.
"That's just how this world is," Kari explained.
"It's all so weird," you sighed.
"You're weird!" Tsukaimon retorted.
"Yeah, that's a good argument," Gatomon said.
You all kept walking and sure enough you found the elevator. It was embedded into the rock as if it'd always been there, as if it'd grown from the rock itself. Suddenly there was a 'ding!' and you pulled the kids and Digimon behind a rocky outcrop. Peeking around the side, you saw the rusty iron doors open and a green, potato-shaped Digimon with vines for arms hopped out and headed away across another metal bridge.
"Come on, let's go!" Tsukaimon announced and he flapped towards the open doors. "This is the way down!"
"Are you sure?!" you called nervously. Your brother always told you not to go anyplace if you couldn't see the end. An elevator was the definition of a trap. "Maybe there's a safer way down!"
"She has a point," Gabumon said. "Things in Digiworld aren't always what they seem. It could be dangerous."
"But the Vegiemon was fine!" Tsukaimon protested.
"Well, he's not being chased by roaming darkness as far as we know!" you retorted. "We're the ones who need to be careful!"
"But what if that's the only way down?!" Tsukaimon demanded. "It's the fastest!"
"Fast doesn't mean right!" you argued. "I want to make sure that we don't stumble into a situation like the mansion again! You and the kids were nearly eaten!"
"We'll be fine!"
"Let's do it."
You looked at Kari in disbelief. "You can't be serious. With the darkness coming after us?"
"My brother Tai would've said the same thing," she said quietly. "Sometimes we needed to take risks in order to get the job done."
"I bet Matt would agree too," T.K. said. "We should try the elevator."
"Okay," you sighed. "But stick close. We don't know what'll be waiting for us."
"Great!" Tsukaimon darted to the elevator and hit the down button; the doors reopened immediately.
Your group piled into the car and you hit the button labeled 'BOTTOM' (the others were labeled '1' and 'ROOF'). It began to move; to your surprise generic elevator music started to play.
At the bottom the doors opened - the landscape was deserted. But just outside was a clearly marked staircase carved into the stone. The sign said 'Riverside' and another arrow-shaped sign pointed in another direction read something else but was unreadable due to graffiti.
"Down that way." You pointed to the staircase.
You all made it down to the side of the river quickly; the elevator had brought you almost all the way to start with. Once by the water, you looked up. It was almost like looking down into the canyon - steep stone walls with a ribbon of blue down the center. One key difference though - the sun was directly overhead blazing down onto all of you. It was like an oven, and you were broiling. You could tell by their expressions that the kids felt the same and poor Gabumon must've been dying under that furry pelt.
You were right; Gabumon immediately rushed to the river and bent down to drink.
"It's so hot, T.K.," Patamon said.
"I know, Patamon."
"Let's find a cave," you suggested. "We can wait out the heat and I'll fill T.K.'s thermos with water."
"Okay," the kids agreed.
And so there was even more walking. But you all didn't have to suffer the heat for very long. You located a cave just above head level and after a quick check for bugs or snakes you led the kids and Digimon inside.
"Okay, you all cool down here," you instructed. "I'll go fill up the thermos and be back in a jiffy."
"Mmm…" T.K. mumbled as Patamon curled up with him. Kari and Gatomon were already dozing and Gabumon and Tsukaimon had spread out on the cool stone with their eyes shut.
You smiled at the sight and at the same time you were a little in awe. These kids and Digimon already trusted you enough to fall asleep in your presence. Because of the reputation of you and your brother, kids in your neighborhood generally didn't trust you. And Digimon? Well, you'd only known about them for what, a day or two? And they trusted you already.
Then you would do your best! You scampered back down to the riverside path and found a low outcropping that poked out into the deeper water. You crouched and opened the thermos, taking a quick look before rinsing it out. You started to refill it when a loud 'THUD' from behind distracted you.
You started to turn, expecting one of the Digimon, probably Tsukaimon. Suddenly hands came out of nowhere to grab your arms and cover your screams.
~T.K. POV~
With a tremendous sneeze I came awake. It had gotten cold in the cave and it was very shadowy - the sun must've gone down. I saw Kari and Gatomon curled up nearby and Tsukaimon was next to Gatomon. Gabumon was asleep next to me with his arm draped over me, and his fur was keeping me warm. But I didn't see Shar.
"Hey, Patamon?" I whispered. "You awake?"
He trembled and stretched with a massive yawn. "'Morning T.K."
I laughed. "It's not really morning, Patamon. It's almost night."
"Well then, good night!" he said cheekily.
"T.K.?" Our talking had woken Kari up and she was looking around and blinking sleepily. "Shar?"
"Shar isn't here," I said. Inside I was confused - Shar said she'd been right back when we first got here. It was way later now and she still wasn't back.
"We should go look for her," Gabumon suggested. "The darkness might've found her."
We filed out of the cave and I looked around. The canyon was shadowy because the sun had gone down; maybe that had let the darkness chase after Shar. I remembered how it'd moved, like black water. The river looked like that right now: it was a deep, dark gray and it lapped at the shore hungrily. Then a spot of color caught my eye.
"Hey, what's that?" I asked.
Tsukaimon had also seen the thing and he landed next to it and picked it up. It was my thermos - the one I'd given to Shar.
"That's not all that's here," Gatomon added. "There are lots of prints in the mud. And it looks like Shar might've been dragged away."
Gabumon bent down and sniffed. "She's right, Shar was definitely here. And she was afraid."
"The prints go over this way," Patamon announced. He was hovering over the rocks by the path leading to the stone stairs.
"Come on!" Tsukaimon said. "We gotta find her!"
~Shar POV~
You woke. Immediately you were aware that you were in a room, but nothing was in focus. You must've fainted or something.
But that was when you realized that your hands were tied behind your back and there was a cloth stuffed in your mouth. The realization was like an electric current down your spine and you instinctively jerked against your restraints.
Raspy cackles assaulted your ears. "Hey, the human is awake!"
The room was packed with little green-skinned Digimon that looked like trolls or gremlins. Each held a club and had an orange mohawk. Now that you'd woken they were all staring at you - you were surrounded by eyes.
Then they came closer and one with a nose ring sneered down at you. "The boss said humans were tough! But you ain't so tough!"
He poked you with his cub and your temper flared up. Quickly you twisted around and pistoned your dominant foot directly into his face. It made a fleshy 'WHOCK!' and he fell back spraying blood from his nose.
The group of trolls made a dull noise of surprise and looked confused like they couldn't believe what they'd seen. There was a long pause and you just waited for another of them to come within reach.
"Well, this is boring now," another of the trolls muttered. "Let's go get some grub."
The whole gaggle of trolls left through the heavy doors, including the one you'd bloodied; he gave you a look of death. The door shut and there was silence again.
As soon as they were gone you started to fidget your hands, rubbing your wrists against one another and pulling frantically on the ropes trying to loosen them. But your fingers couldn't bend right and the tips couldn't get far enough under the ropes to pull them off. Still you kept trying; you needed to get them off and get out of here. Back to T.K. and Kari.
And back to Tsukaimon.
