Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the plot and the original characters. I thank you all for your reviews and reading, it means a lot to me. Also I know that this chap and the one after it revolve around the Tamers as a whole but everything can't happen to Rika and Ryo and I want this to be a well rounded fic. Don't worry, plenty of loads of Rika/Ryoness coming up I promise. ^_^
Note of CONTEST: Hey, I am offering a reward for any pics from my fic, especially from the last chap of the digimon sleeping together. Anyone who's interested send it in and in return you get a one shot by yours truly. If interested can't wait to see what you come up with!
ALSO: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE ORIGINAL KAMI ^_^
It's Always the Quiet Ones
Heading out in their groups Takato and Jeri headed off with their charges and digimon towards the campsite while the other two groups headed out towards their areas which were close to each other. The older teens extremely silent Suzi had been doing her best to liven things up by trying to have a sing along as they walked. So far Calumon was the only digimon besides Lopmon who was interested and the girls were refusing to sing period. Moving on to one of her favorites hoped that they would make the effort because she was running out of ways to battle the underlying tension.
"Imagine me and you, I do. I think about you day and night, it's only right, to think about the girl you love and hold her tight. So happy together." Suzi sang out happily, trying her best to liven things up with the well known tune as her group and Rika and Ryo's walked towards their destination with their digimon.
"If I should call you up, invest the time and you'd say you belong to me, I'd lose my mind. Imagine how the world could be so very fine, so happy together!" Calumon said at the top of his lungs from Rika's arms, knowing the song well from listening to Suzi's diskman plenty of times and since she loved old 60s music this was one he knew well.
"I can't see me lovin' nobody but you for all my life. When you're with me, baby the skies will be blue for all my life." Henry and Ryo sang with laughter in their voices as they continued on their way. Alice and Rika were refusing to sing any of the songs Suzi had been trying to get them to join in on and it was funny to watch them struggle not to laugh. "Come on you two, you know the words." Henry said looking over at the two who were walking side by side. "Scared?" Ryo added tauntingly.
Giving him a dirty look Rika looked over at Alice and with a sigh the girls added in the next verse, their voices dripping with sarcasm. "Me and you, and you and me. No matter how they toss the dice, it has to be. The only one for me is you, and you for me. So happy together." The girls finished with dark looks and sarcastic smiles.
"Well wasn't that music to our ears." Suzi said with a shake of her head, her pigtails waving back and forth from the motion. She was trying to keep everyones minds off of the seriousness and admittedly a lot of it was for her benefit. She was really scared and she didn't want anyone to realize it. "You know you would both feel a lot better if you loosened up and tried to stay positive."
"So you've been telling us." Rika said with a smirk as she stretched her arms above her head before dropping them back to her sides. Personally she was in a dark and deep mood at the moment and the idea of singing happily and pretending everything was all right seemed wrong to her. Then again she was rarely in any kind of mood that resembled Suzi's current one though she imagined the girl was also in her way coping with her fear and anxiety. Odds were that was where the singing came in. "But from where I'm standing singing songs my grandmother listened to is not my idea of fun."
"They aren't that old and they're classics, they never go out of style." Suzi said with a sniff before sticking her tongue out at Alice who was smirking at her. At least the girls weren't walking in complete silence without saying anything anymore.
"So you're so fond of saying and while there were admittedly some good performers back then there are a lot better ones who actually managed to make their music without having to resort to chemical enhancement to do it." Alice pointed out before stopping where she was once she realized where they were.
Everyone else stopping as well they looked at the valley where the majority of the attack had taken place, the grass littered with scorch marks and debris from the various attacks the digimon had used against each other. Each quiet with their own thoughts Rika and Ryo were thinking about the battle they'd witnessed there while Henry and Alice were thinking about what it had been like to arrive there and find two friends nearly dead with Ai crying by their side while Rika and Ryo struggled to keep things under control. Rika couldn't help remembering the fear she'd felt for Renamon when she'd realized how much danger Renamon was in. Her mind had gone so blank that she hadn't even thought of bio-merging, her mind solely on the horror of it all. She would not forget or lose control over her emotions this time. Ryo's thoughts were focused on the danger of it all and the danger they were right now. The gun was a comfort and he knew with dead certainty that he could use it to protect a loved one but would he be quick enough to save them? Henry as well was consumed with worry about the safety of everyone as they walked along. He'd just about had a heart attack when he'd seen the shape Kazu was in when they'd arrived, his data wavering back and forth, so unstable and there was nothing he could do but hope and pray. Alice couldn't help but think of the moments when she'd opened up her lap top and analyzing Kazu's data had realized how close he was to being deleted. Her fingers had flown across the keys as she'd struggled to repair damage but she had been so slow, it had been so hard to keep up with the deterioration. Suzi's smile gone she was thinking of what it had been like when they'd all appeared, their friends wounds appearing as they did so the ground of them began to stain red as blood dripped from their bodied to the floor. The faces of her brother and Ryo as they cradled their friends in their arms, blood staining their clothes red and their hands slippery. Rika and Alice, each holding one of Ais hands as the girl quietly weeped while the medical personnel surged forward to take the boys to the hospital.
The digimons thoughts were equally as dark. Renamon could still remember how it had felt to smell Kazu and Kenta in the air and the sounds of battle, to arrive to see the two laying on the ground so motionless, like dolls laying carelessly on the floor. Not that she'd ever seen dolls in Rika's room. Lopmon and Terriermon were thinking of the terror they'd felt when they'd heard what happened, worrying about their Tamers and the fact that they might never see them again knowing that Yamachi would try to stop them after what had happened. The very thought had been enough to start them crying alone with Marineangemon and Calumon. Needless to say it had taken Renamon and Leomon quite a while to calm them all down. Marineangemon, resting on Henry's shoulder as they walked wasn't buzzing around as was his tendency and was simply laying there, wondering if he'd see Kenta any time soon. If only he'd gotten there sooner. Thinking near identical thoughts Kazu's digimon was mentally kicking himself for not being there with his master. Kazu hadn't told him that he and Kenta were coming to the Digital World, if they had Marineangemon would have been there to protect their Tamers. Despite what the Tamers had said he had a feeling Kazu was a lot worse off then they were telling and if it weren't for the fact that it would shame his Tamer he would just sit down and cry. He had to protect Kazu's friends now, that's what Kazu would want him to do. Cyberdramon who walked beside him was mad that he'd missed the battle, especially if they were as powerful as Renamon said they were. Unfortunately by the time he'd arrived the Tamers were gone and Renamon and Impmon were recovering from their battle wounds. If they encountered more of these minions they would pay for what they had done with their lives.
"Well I guess this is where we leave you guys." Henry said finally breaking the silence as they stood there like statues or trees rooted to the spot. It was time they got to work and figured out exactly what they were dealing with so that they could figure out a course of action. "I'll call you guys when we reach the top of the hill then after that we'll do the ever ten minutes okay?"
"Roger that." Ryo said with a mock salute as he nodded his agreement, patting the cell phone in his pocket with a smile before giving Henry a thumbs up. "Good hunting and don't do anything I wouldn't do." Ryo added with a wink in Suzi's direction who grinned back at him.
"Like that means anything?" Alice said with a smirk as she stuck her hands in her jean pockets, Dobermon leaning against her side slightly though she found it reassuring as oppose to bothersome. "Why not change that to not doing anything Henry wouldn't do? That at least would make some sense." Everyone chuckling at this Henry, Alice, Suzi, Marineangemon and their digimon headed up towards the large hill overlooking the valley while the rest stayed behind to begin searching the area for clues.
"Cyberdramon, see if you can see anything unusual from the air." Ryo said as he turned to his digimon who nodded his agreement before taking off into the air to begin looking around for anything unusual or relevant. "Renamon and Guardramon, up to scanning and looking over the perimeter for possible threats?" Ryo asked, careful to look at both Rika and Renamon for confirmation since Rika was liable to kick his ass if he started giving orders without her input, especially orders aimed towards her digimon. Not to mention Renamon wouldn't take it well necessarily either, Ryo thought with a smirk..
"Understood." Renamon said with a nod once Rika had given her nod of approval to the idea. Bounding off she headed off with her senses alert to anything that didn't belong or might present a threat to their group, Guardramon heading off in the opposite direction of the fox with the same thoughts in his head.
"What's my job! What's my job?" Calumon demanded to know from Rika's arms, the guy practically vibrating in Rika's arms. Then again the little guy had more energy then a class of five year olds on a sugar high, Rika thought with a smirk as she struggled slightly to keep the guy from wiggling out of her grasp. "What do I get to do?"
"You are going to be searching the grounds with Rika and I for any clues." Ryo said gravely as though he were giving Calumon a big and important job to do though it was more of the job that made watching over the little guy the easiest. "Think you can handle it? It will be hard work and you have to be paying attention to everything around you very carefully."
"I can do it, I can do it!" Calumon said nodding his head so fast it was a blur as Rika set him down on the ground where he began to jump up and down with eagerness to help. "We'll find out who did this and teach them a lesson. Where do you want me to look?" Calumon asked as he looked up at Ryo questioningly, his big eyes full of eagerness.
"Why don't you start over there." Rika said as she pointed to a nearby area and off like a light the little guy was there, bent over as he carefully looked around. After five minutes of him calling their attention to every little thing in his path Rika was nominated to help him look full time.
A while later
Having arrived on the hill the group spread out began to look around for anything suspicious. They found some foot prints in the dirt but that was all that they could come up with. Taking pictures of the prints they continued to look, calling to each other every ten minutes to make sure that everything was okay in the various areas. When it was time for them to head back they began trudging down the hill wearily, disappointed that they hadn't found more. They were basically at the bottom of the hill when Dobermon suddenly picked up an unfamiliar sent. With a growl he suddenly spun around on his heels to growl up at the hill. Turning around The Tamers and their digimon saw four men that looked to range in age from about late twenties to possible forties though with their various sunglasses on it was hard to tell. Moving beside her digimon to protect him Alice's eyes went wide in shock as one of them lifted a hand and holding something similar to the guns they had began firing at them. Turning on their heels to race for cover Alice fell as a beam went completely threw her shoulder sending her tumbling to the ground in a heap. Only vaguely feeling Dobermons teeth bit into her shirt the digimon dragged her into the wooded area where the other two Tamers and digimon were.
"Alice." Henry yelled out in fear and agony as he tried to get to Alice, the beams making it impossible for him to get close to her. It had been so quick, he'd been shoving Suzi towards the tree she was currently hiding behind when he'd seen Alice fall out of the corner of his eye. He was between the two girls now, Terriermon with his sister, Lopmon and Marineangemon and Dobermon with Alice. Alice had the cell phone for communications. Cursing under his breath he looked over at his sister who was looking at him with shock then back over to Alice who lay so still with Dobermon Standing over her, shielding her with his body. Hearing Suzi shriek he saw that they were firing at the tree, bits of bark and leaves flying everywhere. Feeling a coldness running through his veins Henry's eyes went dark and blank, his hand going to his back where he'd shoved the gun. "Suzi, when I draw their fire away get to Alice and call in for help." Ignoring her screams to stay put Henry tensed once then moving from his hiding place went running towards and up the hill, dodging what he needed to, not even seeming to notice the blasts that missed him by basically nothing as he charged them with pure heat and retribution in his flashing dark eyes.
Screaming her brothers name Suzi forced herself to suck it up and using her D Arc evolved Lopmon into Antylamon, ordering her to go protect her brother. Grabbing Marineangemon and Terriermon in her arms the girl took off running towards Alice, dodging the few blasts that weren't aimed at her brother.
Not even hearing her screams Henry ignored the pain caused by the blast that had skimmed him or even hit him. His mind was solely focused on protecting his loved ones. Feeling something pick him up he looked up to see Antylamon's face as she stood on the hill so that he was now over the heads of the shoots, the men shooting Antylamon desperately. Swearing down at them Henry drew the gun and began to shot back at them, catching them totally by surprised. One of his blasts caught one of the men directly in the chest so that he went staggering back and bumping into one of his comrades sent the man rolling down the hill and past Henry. The others, ignoring the welfare of their fallen comrade took off running away from Henry and to Henry's amazement one took out some sort of device out of his pocket which caused the ground to shift and rumble beneath their feet. Antylamon, losing her balance went crash backwards, her hands forming a pocket to protect Henry as she fell to the ground with a crash.