A/N: Chapter 53... Still going... I think my brain is going to have a melt down over here. I'm behind on LOTH again so likely no update on that one today unless I get the chapter finished in time.
'kn4sakura' has joined our guild in DMO now along with Delfim, so if anyone is interested then make a character on the Lilithmon server and PM me the exact spelling of said character name and we will get you in. It's a lot of fun too, we mostly spend the time messing around chatting compared to anything else...
Anyway, here's a chapter, since that's all you really care about...
Digimon Tamers: Quantum Displacement Theory and Other Big Words
Chapter 53
Turned out that I was walking for three hours, in the dark, when I found the next data stream. I almost missed it because of the lack of light. But I found it and entered. Problem solved...
"Oh shiiiiiiiiiiiit!"
Thud. The beam had ejected me several feet in the air, letting me free fall to the ground. Contrary to when the tamers first entered the digital world in the original series, that hurt a lot. I winced as I rose, cradling my left arm close to my body. I had a funny suspicion that it was broken.
"Grrr. I'm going to kill that Maraxus! Why the hell wasn't I told I would be thrown into the air like that?"
"Because even I can't be sure of these streams Axel. However I am sorry for the pain you currently feel."
I noticed how he wasn't drawing me into my mind again. "You! When I get my hands on you I swear-"
"Focus Axel. We haven't arrived yet." I fumed as he cut me off. "Now, head north again until you leave the forest. A trio of data streams will approach. Take any of them, they all lead to the same place. Once you are through you will be in the core level. Then you should be fine on your own."
I stood still. "Wait, that's it? One more stream and I arrive? How am I going to defeat the D-reaper on my own?"
"Patience Axel. There is still time for the others to find you. You have your directions, I can do nothing more."
"Can I at least rest first?"
"Resting will make you miss the streams. Those are your priority at the moment."
I sighed but began my trek. I was tired and sore, not to mention pissed off. I began to mutter under my breath, cursing Maraxus' name.
"Miserable bastard..."
"Are you out of your mind?"
Rika wasn't impressed by Renamon's idea. It was day now as we stood on the edge of the level we were on, the night without Axel was difficult for me. Below us we could see the core, we were so close.
The vixen remained impassive. "It will work Rika. Trust me."
Ruin scoffed. "Trust you? You're proposing that we jump off this edge and fall to the core level! How can I trust that?"
Renamon gripped the redhead firm around her arm. "Because my grip is strong Rika. I won't let you go."
She looked at the paw holding her arm before sighing. "Are you sure of this as well Kiara?"
I shrugged. "I can't think of a better idea, and I trust in our abilities to make this work." I glanced down again. "There is a lake of some description below us, if we aim for that then we will be safe if something does go wrong."
She didn't seem to take much confidence from that, however she had no choice. Renamon swung her onto her back and gripped her tightly.
"Ready? Then let's go."
Poor Rika tried to protest... "Hold on, wait a minute-" ...but was cut off as we jumped off the edge.
We fell through that air, Rika trying her best not to scream, as we orientated ourselves legs first. The air rushed past us, muffling our hearing and messing our fur. The feeling of freedom was almost calming if it wasn't for what we had to do.
As soon as we were in the open air me and Renamon began phasing as far as we could downwards. The teleport jumps we made cut the distance we would fall, but we needed to make several before we arrived.
We were burning a lot of energy as well, phasing like we were to increase our chances of survival. Renamon was giving me a worried face, we couldn't turn back and we had a fair distance to go. The core level was further away than we first thought.
We pushed on, we had no other choice anyway, and kept phasing ourselves down. Rika was panicking more and more as we fell further and further. I could make out the details below us now, we were almost there. However I didn't have enough energy left to complete my decent. I would fall a fair distance to the lake.
I braced myself as my last phase took me several meters above the water, my speed way too fast for my liking. Renamon phased to the surface, impacting lightly as her and Rika submerged partially before returning to the surface. I wasn't so lucky. I hit the water hard, jarring my body and driving all the wind from my lungs. Instinctively I inhaled, drawing water down my throat and making myself panic. Unable to breathe or receive air my vision began to cloud over, feelings of fear and hopelessness engulfing me. Axel wouldn't even know if I died or not, if he still lived himself.
I thrashed under the water, trying in vain to find something that could help me. Two strong arms wrapped around my wrists and yanked me upwards, leaving the lake in seconds and allowing me to empty my lungs of water. I felt myself touch dry land as I recovered the air I had lost, glancing to my left to see Rika and Renamon watching me. The vixen had pulled me from the lake, I was immeasurably thankful for her intervention.
"Thank... You..."
Renamon knelt beside me. "Are you alright Kiara?" I nodded feebly. "Good. I thought the worst when you didn't surface."
I forced myself to stand, checking myself over before drying my fur with my 'Power Paw' ability. Renamon eyed me critically but I shrugged her off. "We need to get moving, Axel needs us."
"Are you sure you're alright now?"
I nodded to Rika. "Well enough to move. Come on."
They weren't going to argue further, they knew what I was like when Axel was missing.
I was weary as I walked on. The night had been and gone with me still travelling towards wherever the hell I was going. At this point I had given up expecting to see Kiara or the others again, I had also given up on believing I had any chance of defeating the D-reaper on my own. It was a long shot before, but without Kiara I had no hope.
My arm was killing me. I still held it to my chest with my other arm as I trudged onwards, the pain only tainting my mood further. I had also been lucky in escaping a few wild digimon that tried to have me, lucky in the sense that I managed to get to places where they couldn't follow for various reasons. That had gained me a significant amount of injuries, some fairly serious, and drained a lot of my energy too. If I had to guess I might have been walking and running for two days straight, and through the night in between. I was ready to drop, which is exactly what I did.
I collapsed on the ground, my arm flaring as I landed on it and making me grit my teeth in agony. I tried to rise but my body refused my efforts, I was no longer in control of myself. My body needed rest whether I let it or not.
"You cannot stay here Axel. You need to move."
I growled in my head. "Piss off Maraxus! I can't move even if my arm wasn't broken! Leave me be!"
"You have a task to perform Axel-"
"Shut the fuck up! You're as bad as Aluna!" I think I felt him flinch from me. "I can't move, I need energy that I don't have! And even if I could I stand no chance whatsoever in defeating the D-reaper on my own! So fuck off, this fight is over! We all lost!"
Maraxus didn't respond as he left me. Good, he got the message. I was right though. I had no way of fighting the D-reaper without Kiara, Aluna's shard or not, so rushing to my inevitable death was a waste of time. I could die here just as easily.
A noise drew my attention. I looked to the source and laughed bitterly. Up ahead, heading straight for me, was a trio of data streams. Looks like I was heading to the core level anyway. I couldn't brace myself for the impending transport so I didn't bother. I just laid where I was, gritting my teeth further as one of the streams hit me.
I was whipped away in a flash of pink light. Have I mentioned how much I hate the colour pink? No? Well I hate it a lot. So now you know. As quickly as it took me I was deposited roughly upon hard ground, my arm twinging again. A glance around me showed nothing except rocky ground and the three streams racing away, leaving me alone in the middle of nowhere.
Aluna's guidance kicked in again, telling me I should head west from where I was. Not much use when I can't get up is it Aluna? Stupid fucking guardians. I could rant all day about those beings but I had better things to do, like lay on the ground and go to sleep. It wasn't like I had much choice in the matter, seeing as I had collapsed. However I was dimly aware of something else nearby...
I had recovered quickly once we were moving again. The lake we landed in was surrounded by trees in the middle of a lush green plain. In the distance I could see what looked like rocks covering the ground, turning into a rocky wasteland further ahead. Renamon had insisted we head that way since that area wasn't originally like that, perhaps this D-reaper had changed the landscape by deleting all living things? It sounded feasible actually, but whether it was true or not was a different story. I just hoped we found Axel soon, preferably alive.
I kept trying to convince myself that he would suddenly appear, waving to us with his cheery smile like he usually did. But that was me being delusional. We didn't part on the best of terms so I didn't imagine our reunion being much different. Here's to hoping.
We made some progress towards the barren ground ahead of us, Rika and Renamon both uncharacteristically quiet as we walked. I was alone with my thoughts, conjuring various images and scenarios of things going wrong with Axel. Him being injured or worse, him being angry with me and splitting us apart. I don't know what I feared more, Axel's death or his rejection of me and our relationship.
I was brought out of my thoughts by a wild digimon appearing before us. It took me a moment but I recognised it as a Strabimon, more specifically the same Strabimon who's glade we rested in. He frantically waved to us as he ran our way.
"Good... I found you..." He seemed out of breath.
"You! Why are you looking for us?" Rika took it upon herself to respond to him.
He struggled to regain his breath. "The other human... Axel... Is up ahead... You must hurry..."
My eyes widened. "Where? How is he? Is he injured?"
Renamon's paw touched my shoulder. "Kiara, calm yourself. We will find out soon enough."
Strabimon wasn't calm though, so something had to be wrong. "He's just up ahead... But he's not moving. A data stream... Deposited him where he lays. He won't... Respond to my words."
That was it. I grabbed the wolf with a paw round his neck. "Take me to him! Now!"
"Kiara! Calm yourself!"
I snarled at Renamon but the wolf digimon responded first. "I was going to take you anyway... If you release me I'll lead you to him, but we must hurry..."
I released the Strabimon, his paws rubbing his throat briefly before he turned around and ran from us. We followed without hesitation, if it meant finding Axel then I didn't care if he was trying to trick us.
We soon entered the rocky wasteland but the wolf showed no signs of slowing down. We kept up with him easily enough, my eyes darting around for a glimpse of Axel. It wasn't for another few minutes until I saw something ahead.
Disregarding anything else I raced off, passing the Strabimon as my eyes fixated on the shape on the rocks. I began to make out details but I knew it was Axel by the colour of his clothing. The way he was face down on the ground was more than worrying for me as I closed the distance. I called his name but no answer came back, he didn't even move. I pushed myself faster, covering the distance with a few phase shifts to get to him quicker.
He was just laying there, unmoving with one arm at an awkward angle. Hot tears welled up in my eyes as my worst scenarios looked like they were coming true. I knelt beside him and lightly touched his shoulder. Nothing. My paws found his neck, searching for a pulse. At first I felt nothing, panic taking over before my paw shifted slightly and I felt one single beat. Then another. Axel was alive, but barely.
His clothing was battered and torn in places, numerous bruises and cuts visible on his body. His arm looked broken, evident by the abnormal angle it was positioned in. My heart virtually broke when I saw him properly. It was my fault.
I carefully picked him up, weary of his injuries and his broken arm, and turned back to the others who had almost caught up. They saw me holding Axel and quickened their pace, rejoining me with Strabimon. The wolf gave a curious look over Axel but a warning growl from me deterred him from anything else.
"Will he be alright?"
I gave the wolf a worried look. "I don't know. I hope so but I don't know what we can do for him in this world. Humans can't heal how we do."
"But he's in the digital world so he's data. What's to say he can't load some data to revitalise himself?"
He had a point. But we could also biomerge and he would heal then, possibly. I looked Axel over again, I hated seeing him like that. "We could try, but we don't have any data for him to load."
"You have mine."
My eyes shot towards the wolf. "What do you mean?"
Strabimon's eyes turned calm, almost accepting. "I can see how he feels for you, and how you feel for him. Such a bond is rare these days, especially between a human and a digimon. I would hate to see such a thing be torn apart so if I can help keep the two of you together then I will gladly do so. Even if it is a long shot."
I nodded in respect to the Strabimon who simply nodded back. Rika and Renamon had virtually reached us when the wolf turned white and dispersed, his data flowing of its own will into Axel.
I watched on as his wounds sealed, his arm snapping back into position. It reminded me of Calumon's healing thing he did before on Axel's leg, even if a diginome was involved. There were no such creatures here though, just me and Axel and a rapidly fading Strabimon.
The process was complete after a few minutes but Axel still didn't wake. His pulse was stronger though and he seemed much better. It should only be a matter of time before he woke...
