Chapter 12: A well-deserved break
"Did everyone get that? We can't slip up here, you know." Gazimon reaffirms, repeating his question and plan for the second time already. The three of us nod our heads once more.
In the dense forest, where the fires rage and swallow, we're coming face-to-face with the fallen Queen of Data Forest for our last battle and, hopefully, get our well-earned break from all of this. My body has been urging my muscles to stop working and rest, but I've been pushing them to accomplish this last task. Shinsuke had already done his part, so it's up to us to put an end to this drawn-out fight.
Huh, monologuing like this actually relaxes my mind.
Laying the unconscious boy against a barren tree far from the flames, I return back to the group of Digimon, taking a glance at Okuwamon. The insect Digimon seems to be rising from the ground to its feet, though rather slowly, and Birdramon is starting to lose consciousness as well.
"Piyomon, Keita! Let's go!" With his call, the pink bird Digimon, identified as Piyomon, soars into the air, just as Gazimon and I rush towards the insect Digimon. As soon as we were close to it, we split away from each other, Gazimon taking the right direction while I take the other.
Okay, I'm up first. What can I say that would anger it?
"Hey, Okuwamon!" I shout at the top of my lungs, barely grabbing its attention as it turns its head towards me. "Your breath stinks!"
... That was the best I could come up with. You try shouting a random insult to this ferocious insect then!
"... Really? Of all the things, you choose my breath? What was that even supposed to accomplish?" Nevertheless, I manage to get Okuwamon to focus on me. In the front, Gaomon charges forward, dashing through the grass like a blue blur.
"Spiral Twister!" Piyomon yells out its attack, releasing a green flame which moves in a spiral direction. It hits Okuwamon square on the head from above, causing the insect Digimon to look up.
"You?! Didn't I tell you what happens to-" Before Okuwamon has a chance to finish its sentence, Gazimon begins his distraction phase, spitting out a yellow ball of electricity. It travels a distance before impacting with the Digimon's white wings, causing Okuwamon to jolt up from the impact. Its body thrusts out, the pincer's grip on Birdramon's neck loosening.
"Go, Gaomon!" The two of us cheer on the last Digimon for this plan, the one who brings it to its fruition. Gaomon reaches the pincer in no time and places his gloves on it. Leaning backwards, he uses his body weight to strengthen his pulling power.
"Hyaargh!"
... But, the pincer doesn't let go.
"... Ever since you came here," Okuwamon rises to its feet, spreading its wings out. "You insolent prey have been getting on my nerves. Trespassing into my territory, disrupting the order, and even made me kill my own children! I'll kill you all!" The insect Digimon goes into a frenzy, letting out a deep roar in the process. Before Gaomon had the chance to react, Okuwamon thrusts its mandibles vertically against the Digimon.
"Agh!" He flies from the top of the rubble to the bark of the unscathed trees, slamming right into the wood with a clear cracking sound. Gaomon slips to the ground, half-conscious. Okuwamon flies towards him, mandibles pointing forward, but Gaomon grabs them before they pierce, struggling to hold back the mandibles which were meters away from his body. Gazimon runs behind the insect Digimon, taking a sharp breath and shouting, "Electric Stun Blast!". He releases the same yellow ball of electricity at the Digimon, going straight at its wings.
"The same tricks won't work again!" With a beat from its wings, Okuwamon pushes his mandibles up, carrying Gaomon with them. Then, with a turn of its head, it throws him directly into the yellow ball, shocking the poor Digimon. He still accelerates in the air and smacks into Gazimon, causing both of them to tumble to the ground.
"Urgh..." The two of them stay down.
"Haha... Hahahaha!" Okuwamon suddenly laughs out of nowhere. It was a burst of crazy and deranged laughter, reminding me of how Keramon giggled back then. I freeze on the spot when Okuwamon turns its head to me, and despite being eyeless, I could feel its hidden eyes pierce into my soul and tear me from within.
"Now what are you going to do, human prey?! Your friends are all down, and your own saviour is being choked to death by me. On your own, you are just a minor prey that can barely be seen or missed by the vast world! Tell me, what are you going to do?!" The monstrous insect grins, showing its sharp teeth in its smile. It moves over to me slowly and bends down towards me, keeping that same smile on its face.
"There's nothing you can do."
"Keita, don't come any closer! There's nothing you can do to help me!"
Just as the memory streams into my head, pain overwhelms my mind, noise akin to static blaring in my ears. I bend over from it, cupping my ears as I try to stop the pain and static. But it doesn't go away.
None of this is going away.
"H-Help..." I manage to muster out a quiet yelp. "P-Please..." My eyes close shut. "I can't take it anymore..." My knees wobble like jelly. "Kiyo..." Static overruns my ears, blocking out every other noise. "Gazimon..."
"-is this? You- stand? I'm impress-" The insect Digimon's words break apart in my ears, coming into my mind in parts.
"Heh... Even if there's a thousand of you standing in my way, there's no way I'd let anyone of you touch my partner." However, Gazimon's voice was crystal clear in my mind, despite the static. Forcing my eyes to open, I raise my head up and see my partner standing right in front of me. His back is filled with dirt and scrapes, blood oozing out of the critical wounds, and electricity running amock on his reddish-purple fur. Despite all of this, he didn't shake at all, not even in front of Okuwamon.
"No, Gazimon, stop!" I find myself shouting, reaching out to the Digimon. "Don't be reckless!" This is too much. I don't want him to get hurt any further because of me. I don't want to keep getting protected and being led by the hand all of the time!
"Don't worry, human prey. I'll make sure the both of you go down together!" The insect Digimon lunges forward with its mandibles, but Gazimon stands still, unwavering. My hand doesn't reach my partner in time, and gravity pulls me down, leaving me to shout in my head.
No!
"Spiral twister!" Just before Okuwamon reaches us, a group of Piyomon chorus their attack. They release a green, spiralling fire which concentrates on Okuwamon's pincer, a red-hot mark appearing on the silver skin.
"Ow! What-" Okuwamon turns its head to its pincer, only to see Birdramon flapping its wings away from the insect Digimon with a sharp glare in its eyes. The group of Piyomon follow behind Birdramon.
"Grrr, pesky Piyomon! I should have killed them earlier!" The insect Digimon curses, causing Birdramon to be even more furious. The flames on its body burned brighter, as a glint appears in the sapphire eyes of the phoenix Digimon.
"And here I thought you, of all Digimon, would know how it feels like to lose someone who was family." Birdramon speaks in a low tone. The insect Digimon flinches at its words, shaking its head vigorously and stepping backwards. "Grrrrargh!" Okuwamon roars again, spreading its wings out.
It then flies towards Birdramon, charging at it with its mandibles pointed forward. However, the Digimon doesn't flinch at all, only opening its own wings back and shouting,
"Meteor Wing!"
With a flap of its wings, Birdramon releases numerous fireballs, all colliding directly with Okuwamon's silver body. The flames ravage its body, swallowing it up as if it was just a tree. Within seconds, the flaming body falls to the ground from the air, the flames extinguishing to reveal a crispy black Okuwamon. It didn't even scream at all. The insect Digimon neither moved nor made a sound as it sprawls on the ground.
Did we do it? Is Okuwamon finally defeated?
"Finally!" Gazimon lets out a shout, pumping one arm in the air before he stumbles backwards. "The queen's finally down..."
"Gazimon!" I catch him just before he falls to the ground. His upper body lays against my arms, his soft yet sticky hair brushing itself on me. Half-open red eyes stare at me, exhaustion overtaking them.
"Nice catch, partner. Didn't know you were this warm..." Gazimon's words trail off as he gives me a toothy smirk, his body growing heavier on my arms.
"Why're you talking like that?! Don't die on me, Gazimon!" I cry out, trying to shake him awake. However, it doesn't work. I could feel his body going limp on me, his weight increasing in my arms.
"I'm not dying... I'm just tired. Wake me up in a bit, would ya?"
Without any further words, the canine Digimon's arms slip to the side and, his full body weight falls onto my arms, red eyes closing along with them. Okay, no worries, Keita. He's just sleeping. He said it himself. This isn't like those scenes in those shows where people died when they said they were going to sleep.
I've been convincing myself that he was sleeping for a very long minute, standing completely still and letting Gazimon sleep in a very awkward position. In fact, I didn't even notice that Gaomon had walked past me until I hear his voice yelling, "Shinsuke!"
I turn my head to see a fully awake Shinsuke standing in front of me with a very shocked expression on his face. With nearly boggling eyes and an open mouth, he walks over to us slowly, while Gaomon holds him by the hand. The boy doesn't even notice the Digimon.
"I... What? What happened?" He asks me, a look of pure confusion on his face. I was about to tell him when I noticed the flames behind him. They were making their move already, eating up the trees and reaching towards us.
"We'll talk later! The place is on fire and, we need to go!"
Shinsuke whirls around and lets out a yelp when he sees them. "Flames?!"
"Ride on me, humans!" Birdramon calls out to us as it lands on the ground. "I can take you out of Data Forest."
"A p-phoenix?! Where did that-... Oh god, nothing makes sense anymore." The boy says, giving up on figuring out this situation.
Welcome to my life, Shinsuke, where I knew nothing about the world for 2 months.
I try to shake Gazimon awake, but he still continues to sleep, so I had to carry him by my back. Pain starts to jolt down my spine, and my movements stagger as I move towards Birdramon. Shinsuke and Gaomon follow behind me in haste.
When I reach the Phoenix Digimon, I was about to climb on to its body when Shinsuke calls out to me, "Wait, wait! You're planning to climb onto that?!"
"Yeah." I answer simply, then proceed to climb onto it again. Shinsuke yanks my arm and pulls me away, nearly causing me to drop Gazimon.
"What was that for?!"
"If you haven't noticed, you're trying to climb onto a bird clothed in flames! What makes you think we won't get burned when this forest is being incinerated by its very flames?" He says, pointing to the flames behind us, then to Birdramon.
"I assure you, human. The flames on my body are safe. I have carried injured Piyomon before on my back." Birdramon reassures, looking over to us. However, Shinsuke still holds a dubious look on his face.
Sigh, I've never met someone so uptight in my life. Or maybe I have. He's almost like Gazimon, in the sense that both of them just want to keep me safe.
"Shinsuke! It's all good up here!" The two of us turn to Gaomon, who sits upon the bird Digimon's back with a gleeful look.
"G-Gaomon?! When did you- What?!" He looks to the side, then to Gaomon multiple times with another shocked face. I almost pity the boy. He's as lost as-
CRASH!
One of the tree trunks falls into the flames, starting to burn the grass we were standing on.
Okay, now we really don't have time!
After pushing Gazimon's unconscious body on top of Birdramon's body, I quickly place both my hands on its wings. The flames produce a warm feeling against my fingertips, nothing close to burning hot. Using my legs and hands, I push myself up and nearly roll off its back.
"Whew..." I sigh, already tired from that mini-climb.
Shinsuke climbs up in an instant, sitting comfortably on Birdramon's flaming body. He then proceeds to touch the flames, probably out of curiosity, and lets out another yelp as he did. But, he kept his hands there longer.
"This is just... weird." He simply says, looking everywhere and at everyone.
"Hold tight! I'm taking off!"
Birdramon takes a few leaps off the ground before flapping its wings, rising above the ground, then the trees, all the way into the cotton clouds in a matter of seconds. Kunemon's Bed now looks like several green specks with smaller orange dots rushing through them, while the rest of Data Forest still seemed quite big. Despite being high in the sky, trees surrounded most of my vision, until I see a blanket of blue with brown crystals beside it.
"Ah! We're heading into Shellmon's Territory. Land us there, Birdramon!" Gaomon orders, looking happily towards the ocean with an exciting look. Shellmon? The name is ringing a few bells in my head...
Birdramon looks over to us concerningly. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, yeah!" Gaomon nods his head vigorously.
"I'm in no position to say this, but are you really sure?" Shinsuke asks, doubtful of the Digimon's intentions. The blue dog Digimon pouts and crosses his arms.
"Of course! I've been here longer than you have, Shinsuke. I would know this stuff."
I still can't wrap my head around why the name sounds familiar. Argh, why do the important ones have to sleep when we need them?! Gazimon would surely know about this!
Sigh, I just have to place my trust in Gaomon's sense of direction and knowledge...
"This may be a bit far from Shellmon's area, but it's safer to land here." Birdramon says, landing at what seems to be the outskirts of Data Forest. The brown pathway ends just where the brown crystals of sand lay, but they couldn't sparkle under any sun. The world was covered in blue darkness, something I couldn't have seen from Kunemon's Bed or the clouds in the sky. I didn't think the Digital World could ever have night time.
"It's so dark out here." Shinsuke says my thoughts out, slipping down from Birdramon's back and walking around. I follow his actions, bringing Gazimon down carefully. The canine Digimon snores in my arms and nuzzles his sticky fur against them. I place the sleeping Digimon against one of the rocks, before walking towards the boy, who stares at the purple sky.
"We must have been in Kunemon's Bed for a long time." I say, walking beside Shinsuke.
He turns to me, an evident glint in his eyes. "I haven't forgotten yet! You're going to tell me everything that transpired there from the moment I went out!" He says in a rather angry tone.
"Okay, but why are you mad?"
"I'm not mad!"
"You're yelling at me. Isn't that supposed to mean you're mad?"
"N-No it doesn't! I just..." His words trail off as a shade of red appears on his face. Ah, there's more evidence of him being angry! But, if I point that out, he's going to be even worse.
"Haha! Your bickering really reminds me of some past humans I've met." Birdramon's words cause both of us to stare in disbelief at it.
What did it just say? Past humans? Birdramon has met humans other than us? That must mean...!
"Have you seen a little girl?!" I rush over to the phoenix Digimon, not caring about whose voice I was speaking through. The bird Digimon gets startled as I clasp its face with my hands, bringing me closer to it. "Did you see Kiyo?!"
"N-No... I have not seen a 'little girl'. The humans I had met were scientists."
Scientists? No, that was not what I wanted to hear! Birdramon should be telling me about where she is, not about a couple of scientists I don't care about!
"Keita, calm down." I feel Shinsuke's hand on my shoulder. I was about to shrug his hand off when I saw the look he had on his face.
"Brother, calm down!" A soft voice says, accompanied by an embrace from behind. I whirl my head to the side. A pair of concerned eyes, holding some semblance of fear, stare back at me. Why does she look so scared of me? What is this sticky feeling in my hands? Ah... Blood.
The same static noise comes back again, as my body shakes back and forth, along with the world. My pupils move down and see Shinsuke being the one shaking the world. His mouth keeps opening and shutting, but I couldn't hear anything.
"Keit- Keita!" His voice finally registers in my head, gaining volume in an instant.
"Ngh... What?" My head throbs as I speak. "Why are you shouting again?"
"I'm not shouting, I was only calling your name out. More importantly, what was that all about?"
It takes me a moment to figure out what the boy was referring to. Ah right, the earlier outburst... To be honest, I'm not even sure myself. I wasn't the one who initiated it, that would be the other one within me. But if I say all of that to Shinsuke, would he think I'm weird? Crazy, even? No, no, I don't want to destroy our friendship because of that! It took so much effort to get on Shinsuke's nice side, so I don't want to ruin that.
Sigh, I'll just do it this way.
"That was just... I got a little too excited. You see, I came into the Digital World to find my sister but didn't get much luck in the long run. So when Birdramon mentioned meeting other humans, I just wanted to know if it saw my sister!" What started out as a fake emotion turns into real anxiety for me as I spoke. The boy's face softens at my words, and it just plunges the knife further into my heart.
"O-Oh... I'm sorry, Keita. I-I didn't know."
Please stop looking at me with that guilty expression! Any more and the knife is just going to stab me through my body.
In an attempt to avoid his gaze, I turn to Birdramon, who was startled at the sight of me, taking a few steps back. Geez, that other person really messed things up for me here!
"Uh, you can let go of me now."
"Ah! Right..." The boy loosens his grip on my shoulders and steps away from me, giving me space to move. My body ached terribly from legs to the spine to even my head, barely giving me a break from today's torture and suffering. But, I couldn't rest just yet. I turn to Birdramon.
"I-I'm sorry about earlier!" I give a light bow, only bending my head down. "I shouldn't have reacted like that."
The phoenix Digimon seems to ease up at my words, recovering the distance between us. The Piyomon fly beside Birdramon as it slowly walks towards me. With its wing, it raises my head and meets with my eyes. Then, the azure eyes shift between Shinsuke and me.
"You two really look like the humans I've met..." It mutters to itself, but my ears catch its words. Sadly, my brain didn't want to process those words and left it to go out of my head.
"Keita and Shinsuke, was it? It was a pleasure meeting the both of you here today. I'm sorry for the trouble I caused back in Kunemon's Bed, I certainly wasn't going to let Fly- Okuwamon get away so easily. Anyway, I hope your journey in the Digital World goes smoothly!" The phoenix Digimon says in a cheery tone, taking a few steps back.
Just as Shinsuke walks beside me, Birdramon lifts itself off the ground with a giant flap of its wings, rising to the sky once more. The Piyomon chorused a farewell to us as the two of us waved our hands at them. Among the flock, I could catch the Piyomon we were with during our planning session, seeing that it couldn't fly properly. It was staring at Shinsuke with a rather solemn expression, but the boy didn't notice at all.
I can't tell if he's sharp or dense.
"Thanks for your help!" I give a final yell, just as the flock of bird Digimon disappears into the clouds, leaving the four of us in sandy grounds. Well, that's that.
The day was finally coming to an end, and the night was dawning on us with its starry sky and deep purple colouring. I spent a good 15 minutes explaining to Shinsuke the events that took place in Kunemon's Bed, as we sat by our partner Digimon by the rocks. Unexpectedly, the boy remained calm through our conversation, despite all the bizarre things I mentioned, which tempts me to talk about my situation too. But, I kept that topic hidden.
During our conversation, Gazimon and Gaomon were sound asleep, the canine Digimon still keeping his loud snores. They didn't wake up at all, not even when I was just shouting some parts of the story to Shinsuke. I guess they really must have been exhausted. It was no surprise, seeing how hard they fought against the Kunemon, Flymon and even Okuwamon. Despite all of the heroic acts they do, they still can get tired.
Just recently, Shinsuke asked me more about Kiyo, to which I happily answered. I told him about what she was like, what she had done for me and even about her kidnapping, leaving out the amnesia parts. That was something I would tell him about next time. His replies were sympathetic, just like earlier. Then, he let slip some information about his family life, like how he had two older siblings and a single mother. But, he was reluctant to go any further, so I didn't push him.
All of that leads to now as I lay on the sandy grounds, staring at the twinkling sky. Shinsuke had already gone to sleep much earlier, which left me to be the only one awake. My thoughts drift as my eyes close.
"Kiyo, please be safe." I mutter before going to my well-deserved sleep.