Sorry it took so long to update. I was finishing up school, but now that we're on Summer vacation, I should be able to update quicker, based on reviews, suggestions, and whether or not I have to work that day.

Please read and enjoy! Sorry if it's crap!


"I once read in Myth Studies of a demon who wandered the earth in search of solace. 'I once found peace in the Minyou River,' it said, 'and the wolves were my fathers, the tiger my protector. The Sun of the Protector and Moon of the Fathers were conjoined in harmony for thousands of years, until a bitter argument over a mate. They crossed paths and fought, just as the Fathers and the Protector fought. They separated, forever in hatred of each other. Then I, the child, wandered alone and thus became a Demon.' The story… it's strange, but it makes me think of Karakin in way…." – Izzy, Orenda Ruins.

The Wheel of Fortune: This card signifies progress. Advancement for better or possibly worse. Luck. Godsend. Probability. Ultimate infinity. Fate. Destiny. Future. Unexpected events may occur. The entire sequence of the wheel suggests the course of events from beginning to end. Inevitability. Necessity. That which was, is and shall be remains the same so one must be alert to unexpected opportunity.

---

"T.K says you're from Ireland. Which part? Dublin, Kilkenny, Donegal?" Kari named off.

"Donegal." Sonya answered meekly.

"Ah. Is it nice there?" Kari asked.

She nodded her head.

---

'That pentacle is solid silver. Watch out for her.' Said Karakin in my head.

'Why? She's so dainty.' Kari asked her.

'She's the forest child. As gentle as she may be, she can be dangerous.' Said Karakin. 'You'll find out soon, if you're not careful.'

---

"I can feel your pain." Said the voice. Sonya's heart was beating quickly.

"You have lost a friend, one of many to come, and the betrayal you feel from your parents for selfishly keeping you to themselves." The voice said.

"Who are you?" Sonya questioned, still searching.

"Someone you can trust, a friend." It answered. Sonya shivered.

"There are others much like yourself; hurt, betrayed, needlessly punished."

Sonya swallowed hard and walked deeper into her room.

"They need help, you need help, and I'm here to offer it." It said.

---

'The Harvesters are harmless, you need not fear them.'

'You don't have to be afraid of these creatures. They can do you no harm.'

'The only thing that you should be wary of... Is me.'

---

Squawks, Howls, growls, pacing figures. The creatures argued amongst themselves over TK and the Fire Relic.

"Is it true? Has T.K gone insane?"

"I knew we couldn't trust him."

"We should have killed him with the Orenda long ago."

"Silence. The boy is still on our side. He still fights with himself. He only needs support."

"He only needs a kick to the head."

"His mind is lost, but not his motives."

"What do you mean, Tzadik?"

"I've watched T.K through the trees and the rocks. His wandering is a guise. He spies on the members within the castle, has set up support at the doors, and is leaking information to Sheba."

"You're saying he's just pretending to have lost track of his goal?"

"Yes."

"He hasn't gotten very far with it I hear."

"He has yet to be caught. He is on the verge, I can feel it."

"What does Sheba think of this?"

"Her faith has only strengthened for the boy."

"And yours as well, I suppose?'

"Yes."

"Why do you think the boy is trust worthy?"

"I Can hear his heart beat slower and slower the more he concentrates. He focuses for the love of Sheba. The only real Mother's love he's ever faced. He'll fight for it as long as he breathes."

...

"I must say this for him, his trickery is admirable. I have to wonder how he still breathes... After all this time."

"Yes, the bite Tzadik gave him was enough to kill several horses, and the venom could have wiped out the Satie establishment. Why is he still alive?"

"His immunity?"

"It's not an immunity, he's able to shift...."

"Then what? Not many humans are able to survive San Cen venom!"

"Tojima? Maybe his presence in T.K's soul is allowing him to withstand the pressure."

"Whatever the case, we need to stay on one track. T.K needs our support, and support we shall give. He is already so close to retrieving the Fire Relic."

"What are you talking about Nicoli? How do you know?"

"He just sent news through the guards. He knows where Shadow is keeping the pendant."

"But I'm afraid, Kari does as well...."

...

"She'll be battling him for it, no doubt with trickery. He must be on his guard."

"He won't be. Who would suspect their first love?"

---

"So, you think there was something done to you to cause this?" Asked Tai.

Jyou and Sora nodded their heads.

"I remember men in white jackets taking Sora and Jyou out of the room, or sometimes even doing things to them right there." said Mimi. "I saw them inject something into their blood several times. I remember thinking that you were going to die, so many times, Jyou...."

"That's possible. I wouldn't put it past Shadow to experiment with Genetic modification on humans. But why?" Izzy wondered aloud.

"Practice, I'd imagine." Said Jyou. "Scientists test medicines, diseases and antidotes on animals before humans. Maybe that what we were... Animals."

"But practicing for what? I don't get it...." Matt added.

"Don't you see?" came a dark feminine voice. The digidestined turned and saw Inca crouched on a fallen tree behind them. Her tail swished back and forth behind her, the fading light made her fur and eyes glow.

"The drugs they tested on you were for T.K and Kari."

"What? Why?" Tai demanded.

"I don't know why, Shadow's just sick that way, but I think it might have something to do with his paranoia. You already know he wanted body guards. So why not make them? He found Kari and T.K, two people who were deeply influenced by darkness, and decided to play with their souls. The serum he gave you was supposed to alter your DNA and cause you to become a stronger faster 'hunter.' The Perfect Guard. The effects must not have kicked in until now."

"What side effects?" Izzy inquired.

"Enhanced recovery, sight, smell, hearing, strength. I guess they thought it would never work on you, being mere human."

"How do you know?" Asked Sora with suspicion.

"I know many things, my dear. But who knows? I might just be crazy." the cat grinned at the brunette.

"What do you mean , 'influenced by darkness?'" Matt questioned.

"I'm not knowledgeable of everything, son. But perhaps struggles in the home? Abuse? Neglect? Or the previous loss of one's mind?"

"T.K isn't crazy!" Matt retorted.

"I wasn't referring to him." Inca grinned knowingly. The digidestined watched her curiously.

"Who is my leader? My master and commander?" she questioned them.

"...Karakin." Tai answered hesitantly, treading lightly for fear of a trap.

"That's right. Who is she influencing right now?"

The adults wondered for a moment and realized what the Cheetah meant.

"Your sister, I'm afraid she's lost. There's no helping her. No matter what that silly old prophecy says, you can't help her now. You can still save the twins, but you might as well forget about Kari. It'll be less painful later."

The outraged adults were ready to attack the Cheetah where she stood. Inca, seeing the rage and determination in the digidestined, softened a little. She smiled at Tai and gave a chuckle.

"You do what you must. To help a loved one, it just might be enough. But I warn you.... You will not like what you find at the end."

"Will you help us?" Asked Izzy.

"No. I cannot help you, but I will not stop you. Now Go. We will meet again soon. Good Luck" With that Inca turned and dissipated in the deepening darkness of the forest.

"Disturbance settled over the silenced Digidestiend. Tai was very shaken. 'Previous loss of one's mind.'

'She's lying. Kari's okay, she'll be okay.'

For some reason, he very much doubted himself.

---

They followed the scent down to the raw materials of the earth. The digimon rarely stopped, their pursuit for their partners growing more and more urgent by the passing moment. They found their trail, they found their prints. Gatomon refused to stop, though she could see nothing before her.

"Gatomon, we should stop here. You need to catch your breath." Said Tentomon. The others agreed.

"No. We have to keep going. I need to find Kari. I have to know she's safe…." And they solemnly continued.

Gatomon tried her hardest to ignore the invisible pains that shot throughout her body. She was sure there was nothing physically wrong with her, she knew she didn't hurt herself, but the pain! It was almost unbearable. She bit her tongue to silence her shouts, causing herself to seer into the soft tissue and bleed into her sensitive stomach. She tried to think of Kari and not the pain, but the pain! It was too terrible, her thoughts were wrenched away from her partner every time it shot through her head. Soon, it was constant and unceasing.

She writhed and cried out. She fell beside the small river that ran past them. Blood seeped lightly from her lips and into the clear waters. Everyone stopped and surrounded the sick creature.

"Gatomon, are you alright?" asked Biyomon gingerly. Gatomon held her tongue, but shook with the pains. She couldn't hold it in for long. She cried out once more, then caved. She collapsed to the rhythm of the pain, rocking and panting to it's sensation.

"L-leave… me." She stuttered.

"What? No! Are you crazy? We aren't going to leave you like this." Said Gomamon courageously.

"We're going to find the others, then Kari. Remember? You can't just give up." Palmon persisted, hoping her words would cause the cat to continue.

"I'm of no use to anyone now." Gatomon said, biting her lip. "Please, just find Kari, keep her safe for me…" She coughed, sputtering blood onto the ground.

The others didn't want to leave her, they stuck around until she growled up at them, her blind eyes flaring.

"GO!"

The digimon solemnly, dejectedly, turned and slowly left the ill creature by the river.

Only the song of the babbling river gave her company. She listened, twitching with the pains and the heartache. She would never see her friend again. She would never see her live, never see her fulfill her dreams and change the world.

At least she wouldn't have to see her die. If it were the case....

Gatomon released her quick-held breath, her tail flicking into the water painfully. For another hour, she lay in blind agony, unknowing of how long she'd have to wait for death's hand to lead her away. She wanted to see it come to her and take her to a faraway place, to watch Kari from afar.

She hoped she would....

She thought of the land that lay ahead for her. Maybe she would be able to live without fear and have the comfort of knowing Kari would be safe.

She hoped she would....

In her mind, Gatomon desperately clung to this thought as the excruciating pains washed over her shaking body. Her faded eyes stilled and her breathing began to cease as she faded into darkness.

Her hope was never granted.

---

Night in that land of death and hatred.... Unknowing, apathetic, lonely.

The song of the dead and dying rocked Kari's mind nearly into sleep. A shudder of pain, a gasp, a piercing shot through her ears. Everything span around the room, taking Kari along with them. When everything slowed down, a pain remained in her heart. A hole, something missing.

Kari put a hand to her heart dizzily, wondering for a moment what happened.

"Are you alright?" Asked T.K from his writer's desk.

"She's gone...." said Kari faintly, looking to the ground, thinking.

"Who?"

"Gatomon."

"How do you know?"

"I just... I can feel it. It's like a shot through the heart." Kari looked up at the apathetic boy, knowing his lack of sympathy for the cat. In fact, a smile began to form over his face as a laugh swelled in his throat.

"What are you chuckling at?" the brunette asked.

"Nothing, Kari. Just nothing." T.K answered and went back to his work, smiling. Kari knew what 'nothing' was. A pain of resentment swelled in her bosom and she glanced at the boys face. Amusement was etched there, but it seemed hollow.

'Amusement, none-the-less.'she thought bitterly. She rested her head on his shoulder and watched him write. His small script filled the page with red and black ink, the red likely coming from his 'patients.' Kari watched the words flow like water on the page. Words she couldn't read or understand.

She found a word she could distinguish, however. Necrosis.

'He wants to add necrosis into his symptoms?' Wondered Karakin in Kari's mind. 'This boy certainly has a good idea. We can use this, my dear.'

'How?' Kari asked.

'Give him what he wants.'

Kari could feel the thick air around her grow heavy. She smelled the rank illnesses of the people behind the drawn curtain and felt it penetrate her senses. She felt strange then. Something was happening to her.

T.K noticed her arm twitch and he looked over at the brunette beside him.

"You alright?" He asked lightly. Kari nodded her head, but didn't look at him. She glanced at his eyes briefly, but felt a heat wave rush through her body, burning her cheeks a blazing red. For a brief moment, everything went white. She saw two figures in the snowy vision, she couldn't make them out very well, but she knew what was happening. A couple, holding each other as if they would never meet again, stood in a meadow surrounded by trees. The vision was gone as soon as it came, leaving Kari to wonder about what she saw. She wrapped her arm around T.K's and nestled into this thinning shoulder. T.K looked down at her with love, confusion, hesitation.

'It's a nice illusion...' he thought as he went back to his research. He have it soon. He was so close to his goal, he couldn't be distracted by his infected imagination.

Kari's mind washed over with thoughts, fascinations, memories. Her first day of school, first meeting T.K, The hardships. Oh the hardships. she remembered the misery Ashely and her friends brought to her, how Kari exacted her revenge and how good it felt to desecrate the girl's face. She remembered her friends at the school, who were once her friends, either way. How oddly her heart beat when she thought of them, whether or not they were okay. How oddly her blood rushed through her veins as she thought of the state of her world, a hidden knowledge of its demise seemed buried in the crevices of her mind. Kari thought of times she shared with T.K and Sonya and the others. The time when she thought of them as her friends. She loved T.K, but she felt the incessant need to kill him, to strip his bones of his flesh. The other digidestined, she felt betrayed by them. Their disloyalty, their attempts to kill her, to strip her of her foundations. They gave her to the Orenda, the Orenda humiliated and tried to kill her. She could never forgive Page, or the digidestined. She couldn't understand why they would do it, she wasn't sick, she wasn't crazy or evil. Not then, anyway. So why? She would feel her revenge break their bones one day. Perhaps, on the road, she would come to understand their motives.

Kari didn't want to understand. She just wanted to kill.

Starting with the bastard she once called her brother.

---

"Reports of these fortresses are growing more and more urgent. All communications to the inner regions of the walls are cut off, leaving loved ones outside to worry. Military units are on the way to negotiate entry, but so far results are dim. Officials believe that force will soon be necessary to tearing down the walls."

"There's no need to build any 'quarantine' areas. They're swallowing up whole cities, there's something very wrong here!"

"Eye-witness testimony states hordes of animals walking like humans are overrunning the major cities and killing off the people inside. Police are still baffled by the consistent story, but no real leads have been made."

"Citizens centered around 421 East Hirotama Lane as Police uncover the grisly slaughter of the residence in the apartments. Among these are prominent businessman Mitsu Haru, his wife Sarah-lee Haru, and their son Saktan Haru. Each body within the complex seems to have been stricken with some sort of virus, causing the flesh peeling away from their bones at a rapid rate."

"Donegal, Ireland. A considerably quiet and peaceful town, now shaken by the sudden loss of prominent Town's head Patrick Ross and his wife Mairead Ross. Authorities found the Ross family's home in ruins. The livestock were slaughtered, their heads placed on the Picket fence along the trail to Town. Reports are in on their missing daughter, Sonya Ross. Authorities suspect foul play, and fear for the life of the young girl."

"Police found contact into Brooklyn this afternoon and are now trying to communicate with survivors of the mysterious quarantine."

"Several bodies were found this morning in Shibusu Park, Odaiba. Police have identified Kira Shultz, Mya Tsumi, and Odiaba high school teacher Amy Crlymoto as three of the the victims. Speculators feel that these murders are related to those of the Apartment Slaughter just three days ago. Similar murders have been happening all around the globe, causing experts to think this is world-wide Genocide."

"More reports of anamorphic felines walking the roads of America, and now in Europe? Experts believe this may be a cause from genetic experimentation on animals."

"Along-side big cats, werewolves seem to be roaming the streets of Caracas."

"These animals seem to be carrying machine weaponry."

"Stay in your homes and bar your doors and windows, folks."

"This is not just coincidence, ladies and Gentlemen. The Apocalypse seems to be on the verge. Plague has begun to spread throughout Canada and parts of New Zealand."

"The Death Toll is rising dramatically."

"So... Many Dead...."

"God only knows what's next.... God only knows...."


Do you remember some of these people at the end?

I kinda like tyhe new flashes at the end. New reports and interviews from all around the world. I can only speak and write in English, so lets pretend everyone else can, too. Tee Hee. Please review and tell me what you think! The more reviews I get the happier I am, the faster I review! And remeber, I will take any suggestions into consideration. If I find it to fit in the plot line somewhere, I will consider it!Thanks for reading. See you next chapter.