Yang-Yin
Chapter Thirty-seven: "Cold Reminder"
Katsuharu cracked an eye open as the light of the rising sun came through the window of DarkTrailmon. Looking around, he could almost believe that it had all been a bad dream. Everything was the way it should be, the way it had been a thousand times before: a small room, everyone gathered around, Koichi…
Awake?
Surprised, Katsuharu blinked and sat up, shrugging off Teppei's arm, which had flopped over onto him sometime while they were asleep. Koichi was sitting on the seats across from them, practically sandwiched between a protective Teruo and Chiaki, who were still fast asleep. Koichi's eyes were on the sunrise behind him, and when he noticed the stirring out of the corner of his eye, he turned to see Katsuharu and smiled.
"What are you doing awake?" Katsuharu whispered. "After that fall, I thought you'd be out."
"Trust me, I've done enough sleeping," Koichi whispered back. "All that time before, when I was unconscious in the human world but walking around here? It's like I was in a dream."
"Yeah, I guess so," Katsuharu agreed.
"Besides," Koichi added, looking back toward the sunrise. "This time, I don't want to miss a thing."
As Koichi focused on the light in the distance, Katsuharu couldn't hold back a smile. There was no way they were missing out on anything again.
The barest light streamed through the windows of Ophanimon's castle in the Continent of Light, casting dawn shadows across the many bookshelves of the great library. Unlike Cherubimon's tower at the Rose Morning Star, the defenses were light, but it had no fear of attack. With Ophanimon's power and her Warriors at her side, no one would be foolish enough to mount an attack on the center of her dominion.
And so Takuya slept, unaware of the silent shadow creeping through his room before coming to a stop at the D-tector set atop a stack of unread books. Keeping out of the all-seeing light, the thief picked up the digivice and held his own next to it, releasing a stream of silver light that transferred a pair of Spirits into the second device. Takuya stirred for a moment at the light, and the thief froze, but the Warrior of Flame didn't open his eyes.
Breathing an inaudible sigh of relief, the thief slipped out of the room and made his way out of the castle. Once he was far enough away, he held out his hand, creating a ring of Fractal Code with a whisper of "Execute Spirit Evolution!" Kumamon emerged from a cocoon of Fractal Code soon after and summoned a pair of skis. Freezing the ground ahead of him, he set off in search of his destiny.
Takuya woke from a nightmare some time later and immediately noticed that his D-tector had been knocked to the floor. Knowing something was wrong, he burst out of the castle, searching the grounds. The ground squelched beneath his feet, and he knelt down to see the earth turned to cold mud and snow left on the pure white flowers that grew out into the horizon.
He ran back into the castle like a man possessed, and the others looked up at him in confusion. Just as he'd feared, Tommy wasn't with them.
"Takuya?" Zoë asked. "What's wrong?"
"Tommy's missing," he said breathlessly. "The flower field is covered in ice, and I can't find him anywhere. I think he might have taken his Spirits out of my D-tector and went out on his own."
"To fight?" J.P. asked incredulously. "No way, Tommy's not the kind—"
"He hasn't been himself since Sakkakumon!" Takuya argued. "Whatever happened shook him up, and it's been bugging him ever since. I think he wants to settle things with Teppei and Katsuharu once and for all."
"Good," Koji said. "Gets them out of our hair."
"But they've bullied him for years," Zoë reasoned. "Even without their Spirits, they know better than anyone how to hurt him."
"If he's not strong enough to take it, that's his problem," Koji replied, looking at the map they'd been strategizing over. "And even if they defeat him, so what? His Spirits didn't choose them, and we've got the other nine elements. MagnaGaururumon can pick up the slack without EmperorGreymon around."
Takuya glared. "This isn't a matter of Spirits! This is about our friend."
Koji matched his glare, and it would have been just like when they first met, except that Takuya was looking for that glimmer of insanity that kept appearing every now and again since the battle with Sakkakumon.
"Just what do you want us to do, Takuya?" Koji challenged. "Abandon Mother's plan? Sacrifice the entire Digital World just to find one lost little boy?"
Takuya felt his blood run cold. Koji was still under that bizarre delusion that Lady Ophanimon was his mother, and it made him blind to everything else.
"You know, you would have once too," he growled. Turning around, he ordered, "Stay here with the momma's boy. I'm looking for Tommy."
He didn't even wait for Koji's offended answer before he evolved to BurningGreymon and stormed out.
Katsuharu stretched as he walked around the clearing. His back was killing him after all the time in DarkTrailmon, especially when he was still recovering from that massive beating by Ophanimon.
He glanced back at the hollowed-out tree where the others were still asleep. Better to let them sleep, even though he was restless. They'd have a long walk along the tracks to the Village of Beginnings, unless they found another Trailmon along the way. But with no stops until then, chances were that they'd have to make that whole trek on foot.
"We'll rest more when we get there," he promised them quietly. They needed and deserved that time to recover.
A hard ball of ice and snow struck him in the back, and he staggered forward before whirling around, getting in a low crouch before pulling out his D-tector. Silently, he cursed himself for being so stupid. He'd forgotten the danger, and on top of that, he'd forgotten that he didn't have his Spirits to get him out of it. With reluctance, he slipped his D-tector back in his pocket.
"I know you're out there, Tommy," he said evenly. "You're the only one I know of with that attack. Show yourself."
A blast of icy wind went over his head, hitting the tree behind him. He ducked and rolled out of the way just as the bright silver light of evolution shone, and an ax cut clean through the frozen tree trunk, toppling it where he'd stood.
"Pretty cowardly attacking someone unarmed!" Katsuharu challenged.
"Shut up," growled Korikakumon as he stepped into the light. His ax came flying back to him like a boomerang, and he deftly caught it, brandishing it before Katsuharu. "I'm tired you and Teppei always bullying me. This ends now."
Katsuharu watched the gleaming axes and Korikakumon's imposing form.
"I guess it does," he answered calmly in the face of death.
He stood up and got into a defensive stance as Korikakumon charged. Very quickly, he jumped back from the first ax slash, and as the second came for him, he let himself drop flat on the ground. The ax missed him, but despite his size, Korikakumon was swift. He brought both axes over his head and swung down, and Katsuharu rolled out of the way to dodge them. He leapt to his feet as Korikakumon charged again. He used a tree to block the next attack, which cut through it. Pushing with all his might, he managed to throw off the tree's momentum, downing it toward Korikakumon, giving him enough time to scramble up the next tree. The fallen tree, however, didn't deter Korikakumon for long, and he cut through the tree Katsuharu was hiding in, forcing him to leap to the branches of another for safety.
"Who's the coward now?" Korikakumon asked. "You're not even fighting! You're just running away!"
Though he was hiding in the tree, Katsuharu shouted back, "If you want me to fight, give me something I can fight against!"
"Not a chance!" Korikakumon cried, cutting through Katsuharu's tree.
He didn't have the chance to escape, and the tree toppled with him still inside. He managed to maneuver that he didn't wind up with the tree right on top of him, but he still hit the ground hard, tangled in broken branches and dazed from pain. He barely had the strength left in him to move out of the way of the next attack and run for cover. As he hid among the trees, he took a moment to clutch his aching ribs. Even if he had his Spirits, he was too beat up to fight.
"Quit hiding!" Korikakumon demanded, cutting into a tree.
Katsuharu flinched before realizing that it was far enough away that he was safe, for the moment at least. He knew it was ironic that the former bully was being hunted by his victim. Maybe it was even appropriate. But he needed to survive. Taking a chance, he darted farther into the forest.
Tommy heard him run and threw his axes, toppling trees throughout the woods. But still, Katsuharu didn't show himself.
"Where are you?" he yelled.
Katsuharu took a breath. He couldn't fight. His only hope would be to try to reason with Tommy. If ever there was a moment when he needed one of Ophanimon's Warriors to wake up, this was it.
"Tommy, I know you're mad about what Teppei and I did to you. You've got every right to be."
"You bullied me!" Korikakumon raged. "You picked on me for no reason! Just because I was smaller than you!"
"Yeah, I know," Katsuharu answered, closing his eyes momentarily as he accepted the shame. "Believe me, I know how bad I was, and I'm trying to make up for it. But this isn't right, and you know it."
"Of course it's right!" Korikakumon shouted, slashing through more trees as he searched for Katsuharu. "I'm going to make sure you never bully anyone else again!"
"By bullying others yourself?" Katsuharu asked. "Look at what you're doing—you're attacking Digimon and people who never did anything to you. They don't even know you. And you're destroying this world just because somebody else thinks you should!"
"Shut up!" Korikakumon cried, throwing his axes again. This time, he managed to hit Katsuharu's tree, and Katsuharu threw himself against the trunk as he kept low, trying not to be seen. "What do you know, anyway?"
"I know because I know you," Katsuharu said. "You never would have done this back home. You would have stood up to me another way, not by attacking others." He could hear Korikakumon coming closer. There weren't enough trees left to make his voice echo. It was easier to track him down. Thinking fast, Katsuharu came upon something that he figured Teruo probably knew, even if he hadn't said it yet. "You're supposed to be the heroes of this story, not us."
"What are you talking about?" Korikakumon demanded. "We are—"
"No, you're not," Katsuharu argued. "And you know it, if you'd just think about what you've done for a minute. When's the last time you actually saved something? You've done nothing but destroy!"
"Katsuharu?"
The voice made his heart drop. Teppei. Risking a glance, Katsuharu peered around his hiding place to see Korikakumon turning to face Teppei.
"Tommy?" Teppei asked in shock as Korikakumon crossed his axes in front of him.
"Teppei, get out of here!" Katsuharu ordered. "He'll kill you!"
"Both of you at once," Korikakumon noticed. "This is perfect."
He swung at Teppei, who barely ducked out of the way. Knowing he had to do something, Katsuharu grabbed a stick and stood up.
"Hey!" he shouted, throwing the stick at Korikakumon. It struck his hide, barely doing a thing, but it did draw his attention. He turned as Katsuharu said, "Come and get me!"
Korikakumon threw his axes, narrowly missing Katsuharu. But they arced around and hit the top of the tree behind him. He looked up just in time to see it coming down on top of him. He fell immediately, practically disappearing in the leaves, but it was clear he wasn't moving.
For a moment, both Tommy and Teppei were silent in shock. But when he saw that Korikakumon wasn't making any move to attack him or finish off Katsuharu, Teppei darted over to his best friend's side.
"Are you okay?" he demanded, but Katsuharu wouldn't answer, his eyes closed. "Answer me! Katsuharu!"
Katsuharu was still, and Teppei backed away in horror. "No, no, no, this can't be happening."
"Is he…" Korikakumon started.
Teppei turned to him with an icy glare. "You did this."
"It was an accident!"
"No, it wasn't!" Teppei shouted, rising to his feet. "You've tried for all this time to kill us, and now you've done it. Are you happy with yourself?"
Korikakumon could feel tremors in the ground underneath his feet. Around Teppei, small bits of wood and rock were shaking, like they felt his fury and could sympathize.
All of a sudden, the ground split underneath Korikakumon's feet. He staggered back as a canyon formed where he once had been. The ground continued to split, leading all the way to Teppei, who just glared at him, his fists clenched. He shouted in rage and agony, and a spire of rock formed in the ground just off to the side of Korikakumon. The near miss made it hard to tell whether Teppei was in control of the earth or not, but there was no doubt that it was responding to his pain.
Boulders came flying at Tommy, most impacting into the ground around him. One hit him in the stomach and sent him flying, landing on his back and devolving suddenly. He stared in terror as another came flying overhead, and he leapt to his feet to try to avoid it. It crashed into the ground behind him, and the force threw him a couple of feet forward before he lay sprawled in the ruined earth. Everything was shaking, and he couldn't tell if the pounding he heard was his heart or the ground.
"Teppei!" Chiaki called suddenly, and both boys turned to see the rest of the Warriors approaching. Chiaki was a little ways ahead of the others, as Teruo was supporting a limping Koichi, but all three were struggling to keep their footing.
"Stay out of my way!" Teppei shouted.
"You have to stop!" Chiaki insisted. "You're destroying everything!"
"He just killed Katsuharu!" Teppei spat. The others froze. "What would you do?"
"Not this," Koichi argued quietly, looking away.
"It's not the way we do things," Chiaki added firmly, giving a cautious and comforting look toward Koichi. "No matter who dies."
"You're out of control," Teruo reasoned. "Don't lose yourself like I did that time."
Teppei began breathing heavily, and slowly the ground began to calm. Finally, he dropped to his knees in defeat, crying. While he'd been too terrified to act before, Tommy knew this was his opportunity to run. He got up, giving everyone a look of horror as he staggered off and began to run. Teruo made to chase after him, but Koichi shook his head.
Chiaki came over to Teppei and wordlessly helped him to his feet. Slowly, Teruo and Koichi also walked over, and the next thing Teppei knew, all four of them held each other in a circle, their heads bowed in sorrow.
"I'm sorry," Teppei whispered, almost inaudibly, and his friends moved toward him a little closer.
"Glad to know I'd be missed."
"Katsuharu?" Teppei asked, looking over his shoulder. As the others let him go, they turned to see their leader standing some feet away, looking none worse for the wear.
"You're okay," Teruo said in disbelief, and Katsuharu nodded.
Emotion swelled to the breaking point in Teppei once again, and he ran at his best friend, swinging wildly. Katsuharu gave him a look of shock before a punch sent him to the ground. He weakly raised his arms in self defense as Teppei jumped on him, mercilessly beating him with his fists.
"You asshole!" he shouted. "Do you know what you put me through? All so you could freak Tommy the hell out!"
"Get off, get off!" Katsuharu cried, and it took both Chiaki and Teruo to pull Teppei off him. Finally able to get to his feet, Katsuharu said, "That's not what happened at all!"
"What did happen?" Koichi asked, sounding a little accusatory. Katsuharu failed to meet his eyes and winced.
"I didn't really have a plan," he confessed. "I just had to wing it and hope that tree didn't kill me."
"What happened?" Chiaki reiterated, keeping a firm hand on Teppei, even though he made no move to try to finish what he'd started.
Katsuharu shrugged. "I don't know. It was like the tree…refused to hurt me. All the branches curved around, avoiding me."
"Is that even possible?" Teruo asked, but Katsuharu shrugged.
Once sure that Teppei wouldn't attack Katsuharu again, Chiaki made her way across the destroyed forest and examined the tree Katsuharu had been trapped under. Now that she was close to it, she could see a distinct bend in the branches closest to the ground on one side, several of them broken, but all of them shaped in a way that would accommodate a twelve-year-old boy.
"He's right," she said. "Everything's broken or curved so it wouldn't crush him. There's no way this tree just happened to be like that in the first place."
"Just like whatever happened with Teppei," Koichi realized.
"What was that?" Katsuharu asked.
Teppei turned away. "I don't know. You tell me." Moving over to Koichi, he said, "I'm getting you back to camp. I don't know about you, but I need a nap." Koichi glanced over his shoulder with an apologetic look at Katsuharu as Teppei lead him away.
Katsuharu sighed, only to feel Chiaki's hand on his shoulder. He looked over at her, and she gave him a reassuring smile.
"Give him time to cool down," she insisted. "I've argued with him enough to know that."
"I hope so," he answered. "Otherwise, this is a great start to the second half of our journey."
"What do you mean?" Teruo asked as Chiaki gave him a confused look.
"Something inside Tommy broke when I went down," Katsuharu said. "I think right there, he saw what he was turning into, and he couldn't take it."
"You think it's enough to break the spell?" Chiaki asked.
Before Katsuharu could answer, Teruo said, "It has to be. Or we're never going to be able to get through to them."
Katsuharu nodded before looking up at the sky. They needed to wake the others from the nightmare and fast. There was no way they'd be able to save the Digital World without it.
BurningGreymon soared overhead, desperately looking for any trace of Tommy in either of his forms. Finally, he caught a glimpse of an orange dot on the run, and he knew he'd found him.
"Tommy!"
The familiar voice made the boy freeze in his tracks, and he backed up in fear as BurningGreymon came close to the ground, devolved, and landed as Takuya.
"Where have you been?" Takuya asked. "I've been looking all over—"
"Stay away!" Tommy cried.
"What?" Takuya asked in surprise. "Tommy?"
There were tears in Tommy's eyes, and he fought them as hard as he could as he begged, "Please. Go."
"What happened?" Takuya asked, his protective instincts kicking in. "What did they do?"
"Nothing," Tommy answered, the tears spilling out. "It's just… No."
Takuya was at a complete loss for what to do. Tommy said that Teppei and Katsuharu hadn't done anything, but then why was he crying? What was so bad that he was telling Takuya to go away?
"What do you want me to do?" he asked softly, unable to do anything more.
Tommy fished out his D-tector and handed it over. "Take it. I can't do this anymore."
Though shocked, Takuya did as he asked. "Why not? Tell me what happened."
"I can't!" Tommy cried. "Just go!"
Takuya was completely still and silent for a moment, but finally he said, "Okay. Just…" He felt a sudden lump in his throat and swallowed it down. "Take care of yourself, okay? You're still my little brother."
To his shock, Tommy turned and ran off. Takuya held out a hand to try to stop him, but he knew there wasn't anything he could do. As Tommy disappeared, Takuya gripped the two D-tectors tightly and let out an animalistic scream of anguish for the brothers he couldn't save.
Chapter title comes from the song by Dayplayer. As for what Teppei and Katsuharu did? Remember the hints about their elemental sympathy way back in the start of the story? Neither did I until now. Major thanks to Ryan Griffin for the idea of Katsuharu playing dead, though it turned out different from what we planned years ago. Apologies again for this chapter taking time; real life has been kicking my ass lately, and it's only barely letting up.