~ Well, here's the third chapter! I'm so sorry about that stupid little mix-
up with Chapter I, but I had my mother breathing down my neck and yelling
at me to get the heck off the Net, sorry again. And for the person who
asked, a botch is a mistake, basically, just a bit more stupid. Hope you
enjoy it, the couples thing might not seem very apparent right now, but I'm
doing the best I can without turning this whole adventure (for that is what
it is, of course) into a sappy little honeymoon. And to do that *starts
preaching a sermon to herself* I must never, ever write before bedtime,
never write right after I have just finished reading a romance-stuffed
book, never. Oh, I'm sorry, was I in the middle of an introduction here? I
do believe I was, anyway, R, E&R!!! ~
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The Shadow Realms: Part III - Snowed In
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Once again, the Tamers tumbled through the strange, eerie green dimension of glowing data marks.
'I wish we didn't have to go through this every time we went to the Digital World,' Takato thought queasily as they rocketed through the digital layers.
Finally, they fell the through the final layer and through a network of data islands. Then, just like last time, they all crashed into the ground. Luckily for them, they landed in a snowdrift, so no one was seriously hurt, but they did start an avalanche that flew downwards like a wild beast. They realized they had landed on a snow-covered cliff.
***
"Oh, great. The perfect place to land," Hirokazu remarked sarcastically, "So now what?!"
"Patience, Hirokazu," Ruki replied just as sarcastically, "Maybe if you stay in the way of those hurricane-force winds long enough, we'll all get our dearest wish and you'll tumble over the edge of the cliff."
"What?!" Hirokazu realized that he was teetering on the edge of the cliff.
Just then a gale-force wind swept up and Ruki's prediction came to pass. Juri let out a shrill cry and buried her face in her hands. As Hirokazu was tumbling over the edge, Jenrya, with the reflexes born from years of martial arts training, lunged out and grabbed his wrist.
"Hold on!" Jenrya tried to protect his face from the stinging, icy snow and the freezing wind with one arm while he pulled Hirokazu up from below the cliff with the other.
"Don't let go, pal, I don't wanna die yet!" Hirokazu grabbed the edge of the cliff with one hand and hoisted himself back up.
Jenrya flopped back in the snow, trying to catch his breath. The shock of seeing Hirokazu go over the cliff combined with the stress of pulling him up against the terrible winds had exhausted him.
"Hey, Jen, you okay?" Takato's face swam into view above him.
"Yeah." Jenrya sat up slowly.
***
Hirokazu was crouching beside him, looking unusually pale for himself, and Ruki had turned away to hide her relief at seeing Hirokazu safe and sound. She had had to stifle a cry of horror when he'd tumbled over the cliff, and wondered if she'd made that happen. After all, anything could happen in the Digital World.
'I hope something of that kind doesn't happen again anytime soon,' she thought shakily, trying to calm herself down, 'Lucky Jenrya acted so fast.'
She smiled, just a little. You could 'always' count on Jenrya (well, almost; he 'was' only human, after all), because of his level-headedness and his caring nature.
***
"Thank goodness you're all right, Hirokazu, you sure gave us a scare," Juri laid her hand on his shoulder, looking faint with relief.
"Yeah, buddy, I thought you were going to end up in a frame on a funeral casket for a moment there," Kenta wiped his forehead.
"Don't try that again, Hirokazu, it's unbecoming," Ruki put in, turning back to the group.
"You think I'd be crazy enough to do that again?!" Hirokazu exclaimed, pulling a face.
"Yes!" everybody proclaimed in unison, even Ryou.
"Hey, a guy's got feelings, you know," Hirokazu said, putting on a fake indignant expression.
***
"Enough," Jenrya said, still rather breathless, "We need to find shelter. If we stay out here too long we'll all turn into snowmen or ice blocks."
"Wouldn't that be a sight," Ruki remarked dryly.
"Uh-huh," Takato agreed, "We definitely need to find a place to hole up in."
"For once, goggleheads, you've actually come up with a plausible plan," Ruki nodded, "Let's start searching, shall we?"
The others agreed fervently. The cold was seeping into their bones.
***
Half an hour later.
"My fingers are totally numb," Hirokazu complained, staring at his stiff fingers with a woebegone expression.
'I wish I'd never come here. I want my warm, cozy room!'
"Quit whining, Hirokazu, we've got enough to worry about," Ruki snapped at him as she dug through the snow beside him.
'Though I can't blame him. Brrrrr. This cold. It's unbelievable.'
***
Just then, a little farther away from them, Jenrya collapsed into the snowdrift he'd been digging in.
"I'm all right," he smiled weakly as everyone immediately assembled around him, all of them with various degrees of concern in their faces.
He tried to stand and found that his legs refused to support him, "I guess I'm just a little worn out."
"Take a break, Jenrya, we don't need you overreaching yourself," Ruki advised with unusual gentleness.
'If he gets sick or something, where would we be?!'
"But." Jenrya began, trying to stand again.
"No buts, Jen," Takato forced him firmly down onto a blanket they'd spread in the snow, "Katou-san, you stay with him and make sure he's all right."
Juri nodded, "You can count on me!"
***
She sat down beside Jenrya and looked at him with concern as the others moved off in various directions, though making certain they didn't lose sight of the two.
"Jenrya, are you sure you're all right?" she asked quietly.
"I'm just tired," Jenrya said with a slight edge to his voice, "It's not illegal."
When Juri looked a bit hurt, he sighed.
"I'm sorry, Katou-san, I don't know why I'm not acting a bit like myself today," Jenrya said apologetically, putting his hand on her arm.
"That's okay, Lee-kun," Juri smiled at him, "We all get a bit cranky sometimes."
'Still, I hope he'll get back to normal soon. He's always been so reliable.'
***
Meanwhile, Ruki was digging with Ryou and Kenta on either side of her. "Ah." she gasped softly as her fingers became too numb to dig any further.
'This is not good. If we don't find shelter soon, we'll all get frostbite.'
"Ruki-san, are you okay?" Kenta looked over with concern.
Ruki managed to smile, despite her face muscles being forced to work harder than usual.
"Yeah," she nodded and Kenta turned back to his digging.
Ryou had not reacted at all, but Ruki noticed his keen gaze fix upon her. Just then he spoke.
"Maybe you should go hang with them for awhile," he said curtly, gesturing to Juri and Jenrya.
'We certainly don't need anyone getting frostbite from digging through this stuff for too long,' he thought, rubbing his own numb fingers before resuming his digging.
Ruki shrugged, nodded and joined the blanket group, both of whom were beckoning to her.
***
Over where Takato and Hirokazu were digging, the going was not much better. Takato's fingers were stiff and numb and he could barely see where he was digging. Twice he bumped into Hirokazu. Hirokazu, meanwhile, was complaining about not being able to keep his eyes open.
'It's been almost an hour, and not a sign of a nook or cranny where we might find shelter,' Takato thought, experiencing the beginnings of panic, 'We've got to find shelter! We've 'got' to!'
Just then Jenrya called him to join him, Ruki and Juri on the blanket. He went over, leaving Hirokazu with his thoughts.
'There's gotta be a way outta here,' Hirokazu thought with extreme frustration, 'If only one of the Digimon. Of course!'
He smacked himself on the forehead, not even feeling the smack as he turned and began making his way slowly through the waist deep snow towards the blanket group.
***
Kenta and Ryou had joined the blanket group when they saw that some sort of council meeting was going on.
Jenrya was saying to Ruki, Juri and Takato: "Guys, we should stop digging. There's no way we're going to be able to find 'anything' in an all-out blizzard like this."
He looked around and winced as icy snow was whipped into his face and eyes.
"You're right, Lee-kun," Juri said despondently.
Tears glimmered in her soft hazel eyes.
'It's so cold. I want to go home.'
Takato put his hand on her arm.
"Hey, it'll be all right, Katou-san," he said reassuringly, "We'll find a way outta here. Somehow."
Ryou sat down on Juri's other side and put a hand on her other shoulder. Sandwiched between the two boys, both emanating reassurance and comfort, Juri managed to wipe away her tears and smile weakly.
Ruki, meanwhile, was discussing the situation with Jenrya while Kenta looked on.
"Jenrya, we've got to get off this mountain!" Ruki cried.
"But it's far too dangerous," Jenrya replied anxiously, "In this kind of weather, you could walk straight off a cliff and not know until it was too late."
Ruki just shook her head and looked tense.
***
Just then Hirokazu came running up, his whole face lit up with excitement.
"What is it 'now', Hirokazu?" Ruki looked at him warily. She didn't trust his ideas, because they were often wild and completely crazy.
"Ruki, call Renamon!" Hirokazu told her, practically dancing on the spot in his excitement.
"Call Renamon?!" Ruki looked up at him quizzically.
"Of course!" Jenrya's face lit up too, "Why didn't 'I' think of that?!"
" 'Cus I'm the smartest of this group!" Hirokazu put his hands on his hips and beamed, "What do you think?"
"Dream on, Hirokazu."
Ruki looked from one boy to the other uncomprehendingly, getting more and more annoyed.
"Would you guys mind letting me in on your little secret?!" she finally cried, exasperated.
"Renamon can hear you calling no matter where you are, right Ruki?!" Hirokazu yelled over the howling winds.
A light went on in Ruki's mind.
'How could I not have thought of that?!'
"Renamon!" she called into the winds and blizzard, then turned back to Hirokazu, "You better be right this time, visorhead."
Hirokazu just chuckled and winked confidently.
***
A couple of kilometers away, on a rock formation in the desert, a tall, graceful yellow fox Digimon leapt up onto her hind legs, crouching and looking in all directions, her light blue eyes alert and her long, white- tipped ears quivering with surprise at the call that had reached her heart.
"Ruki?! Where are you?" Renamon stood up and lifted her head.
***
"Renamon. I'm here, on the mountain!" Ruki called into the rapidly darkening sky.
"Do you think Renamon will come?" Juri asked anxiously.
"Don't worry," Ruki smiled reassuringly at her, "Renamon 'always' comes."
Jenrya, hearing her pronounce these words and seeing her smile, allowed himself a small, proud smile. Ruki had come a long way from the frosty, introverted Digimon Queen he and Takato had managed, with much difficulty, to befriend. She had learned to trust her Digimon utterly. That was quite an accomplishment for her. It had taken Jenrya and Takato quite a while to win her trust, let alone her friendship.
'She's finally opening up to us,' Jenrya thought, 'Maybe someday. she can learn to trust us that much too.'
He looked thoughtfully at Ruki, whose fierce violet eyes were wide with anticipation.
'Renamon 'will' come,' Ruki thought with conviction, 'I know she will.'
***
Renamon, meanwhile, was speeding towards the snow-capped mountain in the distance, bounding as far with each step as her long, powerful hind legs would take her. On the way, she met Guilmon and Terriermon, who were playing tickle together.
"Come!" she called to them, "Ruki is here, and I believe the others are here as well!"
Guilmon and Terriermon looked up in shock.
"Yay! Yay! Takatomon's back!" Guilmon leapt to his feet, bowling Terriermon over.
"Momentie!" Terriermon cried, looking anything but easy himself, "Lead the way, Renamon!"
The three Digimon sped off to find their partners.
***
The Tamers huddled together, trying to warm each other and themselves. Juri was cushioned up between Takato and Ryou, as always, and Ruki was between Jenrya and Hirokazu. Kenta was squeezed in between Ryou and Jenrya.
"D-don't worry, guys, I'm sure Renamon will be here soon," Takato whispered, his teeth chattering.
But he was losing hope as his body lost feeling and heat and became almost entirely numb.
'Man, I'm freezing. What's taking her so long?!' he wondered unreasonably.
"Yeah, and she'll bring the others with her," Ruki added confidently.
The other Tamers' faces brightened slightly at this, then became somber again as another icy gale nearly swept them apart.
"Stay together!" Takato yelled over the blizzard's roar.
The children huddled tighter together. Juri felt a single tear slide down her cheek, to be quickly frozen. She put her arms around her legs and hugged herself tightly, wondering how they would ever come out of this alive.
***
Meanwhile, the three Digimon were going as fast as they could. Terriermon was flying, Guilmon was running, and Renamon was doing something between jumping and flying.
"Why do you think they've come back?" Terriermon asked Renamon as he flew a bit ahead of her.
"I don't know, but I think they're in trouble," Renamon replied.
'Hold on, Ruki!' she thought, unconsciously speeding up, 'I'm coming!'
***
Just then, they came upon Guardromon.
"Guardromon, Ruki is here!" Renamon called to him, "And I believe the others are as well!"
Guardromon's head snapped up in surprise.
"Really?" he said, "That is excellent news indeed!"
"Hey, could you take us there? Your rockets might come in useful," Terriermon alighted on Guardromon's shoulder.
"My pleasure!"
Guardromon jumped up at once, gathered up Renamon and Guilmon, and fired up the rockets on his back. In his wild state of excitement, the brown machine Digimon put an unusual amount of energy into the effort.
"WHOOOOAAA!!!!!!!!" the Digimon yelled as they blasted through the air.
"Look out!" Renamon yelled just in time to prevent Guardromon from splattering them all across a stone formation.
"Sheesh, don't you know how to drive?!" Terriermon was covering his eyes with his ears.
"I think I'm gonna get airsick," Guilmon gagged.
***
The Tamers had all worked together to dig a shallow hole in the side of a snow drift and had spread the blanket there. They huddled together, trying to stay awake.
Kenta was dropping off when Jenrya pinched him, hard.
"Ouch! What'd you do that for, Jenrya-san?!" Kenta asked in consternation, massaging his smarting arm.
"If you fall asleep in these conditions, you might never wake up again!" Jenrya replied over the fierce howling of the winds.
"This storm doesn't seem about to end anytime soon," Takato remarked, "I hope the Digimon get here before we freeze to death or all fall asleep."
"Renamon!" Ruki called out into the darkness.
***
An unimaginable distance away, deep in the darkest parts of the Digital World, where night knew no end, and evil hung thick in the air, a great, grotesquely twisted midnight-colored castle stood like an arrow pointing towards the sky on a small island in the middle of an eerily still, bottomless lake.
In a small room in a tower of this evil-filled place, some one laughed, a laugh that would have sent cold shivers through anyone who heard it, it was so icy, flat, devoid of all feeling.
"Yes, children. Call for your Digimon. When the time comes, you will hand them to me. whether you want to or not," the shadowy creature was bent over a small, ornate crystal oval mirror.
The voice was horrible, like nails on a blackboard. And the mysterious figure threw what might have been his head back and laughed the wild laugh of a maniac, as screechy as his voice. The castle trembled in its foundations.
***
Up on the mountain, the Tamers were startled and overjoyed to see a small speck in the distance, growing bigger and bigger. When it was close enough for them to see what it was, they all shouted and waved their arms.
"Guardromon!" Hirokazu called out.
Wild in his joy at seeing his partner again, he grabbed Juri and planted an impulsive kiss on her cheek. Juri gasped, blushed and giggled, all her sadness forgotten.
"Renamon!" Ruki cried, running out on his heels.
"Guilmon!" Takato ran out of the shelter, grabbing Juri by the hands and dancing around with her.
"Terriermon!" Jenrya was not far behind.
'He' hugged Ruki in his excitement, not realizing who it was because of the blizzard. Ruki didn't mind at all, because she was so full of joy she wouldn't have cared if she'd been hugged by a three-headed dog right then. She actually went so far as to hug Jenrya back, leaving him speechless with amazement when he realized just who he had hugged.
Ruki then turned and actually gave Hirokazu a hug.
"Thanks!" she told him, leaving 'him' speechless as well, which was quite an extraordinary feat.
***
Guardromon landed with a flourish, throwing up a sheet of snow that completely buried everybody. Laughing and hugging their partners, the Tamers dug their way out and reassembled on top of the snow pile. Kenta had thoughtfully recovered the blanket.
"C'mon, everyone!" Hirokazu yelled, straddled on Guardromon.
Everyone climbed onto Guardromon, who sagged under the weight but held. Firing up his rockets, Guardromon lifted off, raising another wave of snow that landed on the Tamers and himself.
***
The Tamers landed in a spot in the desert, and decided to spend the night in the cave where Guilmon and Terriermon had been residing together.
"Well, that was a close one," Jenrya said to Takato when they were all settled around a little campfire that night.
"Yeah," Takato shook his head, "Let's not ever do that again."
"Uh-huh," Jenrya nodded and laughed.
"So tomorrow, Tamers, we'll set out in search of the rest of the Digimon," Takato told everyone, "Is everyone with me?"
Juri felt extremely depressed at these words, but tried to hide it. She didn't want to ruin the moment for everyone else. Ryou, across from her, his blue eyes startling in his tanned face, fixed her with a searching gaze that made her want to squirm.
"Yeah!" Kenta raised a fist.
Ryou nodded, and the rest manifested their agreement, too, in various, and occasionally rather astonishing ways. Hirokazu cartwheeled around the cave and nearly fell in the fire, making Ruki laugh.
***
"Hey, Hiro," Kenta pulled his best friend away from the campfire as they all prepared to go to bed, "She totally digs you, man."
Hirokazu looked confused, "Who?"
Kenta threw up his hands in exasperation at his spiky-haired friend's cluelessness, "Ruki-san, of course!"
"Huh?!" Hirokazu shook his head violently, looking bewildered, "No way!"
"Way," Kenta nodded, "She always acts different around you. Not very different, but the difference is there. She's less, well, impatient with you - at Hirokazu's disbelieving look the spectacled boy added - compared to me, for example. She laughs when you do something that if I did it she'd probably yell at me for being stupid. And sometimes she even blushes around you. You mean you haven't noticed?!"
Hirokazu shook his head, "No. - Kenta stared at him in disbelief - What about it? Ruki's way cool, but why would she like a bozo like me, anyway?"
"Search me," Kenta replied, "But she likes you, you mark my words, oh yeah, she's totally into you, buddy."
With that the green-haired boy turned and left, leaving Hirokazu confused and full of questions that he never thought he'd be asking himself.
'Ruki- likes me?! That's impossible! Is it? Since when has Kenta been the master at reading people, anyway? He'd probably mistake angry red for a blush. Sheesh. Great. Thanks a lot, pal. Now I can't get this stupid idea outta my head. It's just totally crazy! I don't like Ruki, I mean, she's a totally awesome gal sometimes, but she's just not my type, ya know? Wait, why am I talking to myself? Argh! Enough of this, I wasn't cut out for intensive soul-searching sessions.'
Resolutely Hirokazu began to scan the cave in order to pick out a spot to curl up in and within moments he was tucked snugly into a small space at the back of the cave between two stalagmites that were warm, somehow.
'Probably an underground hot spring or somethin'...' was his last thought before he drifted off.
***
'I wonder how long it'll take to find the other Digimon,' Takato thought that night as he tried to sleep with Guilmon snoring beside him, 'And what'll we do when we find them? Where would we search for the threat, whatever it is? If there 'is' a threat. Ah, well. One thing at a time.'
He turned over and pulled his blanket over his head to muffle the sound of Guilmon's contented snoring.
***
'I wonder.' Jenrya was lying awake, too, 'What could be happening? That Darkblossomon didn't just 'happen' to appear and create a portal for us. I hope, whatever it is, it won't be like the D-Reaper.'
* Flashback *
Their fight with the D-Reaper had transpired in the deep canyons in the layer of the Digimon sovereigns. The D-Reaper was endangering the whole Digital World, and then it had captured Juri and thus had gained the power to emerge in the real world as well.
The Tamers had had to go after it in the Ark that Jenrya's father and his team of Monster Makers had sent them. There was a lengthy battle in the real world, in which the Tamers had lost ground little by little because the D-Reaper kept coming back in different and more powerful forms each time they destroyed one of its agents.
Finally Jenrya, Ryou and their respective partners had returned to the Digital World in order to try to find some way to defeat the less advanced form of D-Reaper, since according to the theory of the Monster Makers, a team of scientists who'd originally created Digimon, if they destroyed the D-Reaper in the Digital World, they'd destroy the one in the real world as well, since the two were linked by a single kernel of consciousness.
After what had seemed to be a hopeless fight alongside the sovereigns and their allies, it had only been the sacrifice of Cyberdramon that had freed an ancient force that had utterly destroyed the enemy, and allowed the Tamers in the real world to free Juri from the Kernel Sphere of the D- Reaper. Cyberdramon had gone back to his Digiegg, which had disappeared and to this day had not been found.
* Flashback ends*
Jenrya closed his eyes, turned over, and tried to sleep. When he didn't manage that, he walked outside and sat down on a boulder, looking up at the sky of the Digital World, at the ever changing greenish digital layer and the floating data islands, and the bright pink data streams traveling to and fro.
'It's so beautiful,' he thought, 'But at the same time. So dangerous.'
Just then he heard soft footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw Ruki standing there, her hair loose and swaying softly around her shoulders. She sat down beside him.
"Couldn't sleep either?" Jenrya commented.
"Uh-uh," Ruki replied, looking up at the sky, "How could I? It's like. It's been so long since I last saw Renamon, and now, well, she's back. Or I'm back. Either way, I just."
She stuttered to a halt, then sighed and shook her head, unable to find the words. But Jenrya understood. Ruki didn't want to lose a single second reunited with her partner, for fear that it might all be, well, not real. He himself felt much the same way. He nodded, his kind gray eyes looking deep into her beautiful clear ones, showing her he understood.
"It's so quiet here, huh," he remarked, his voice barely more than a whisper.
"Yeah," Ruki laughed softly, dropping her eyes, "Not like the city."
Jenrya looked at her slender profile against the luminous skies of the Digital World and smiled.
"It's beautiful, isn't it," he murmured, turning his thoughtful dark eyes to the heavens.
"Yes," Ruki said quietly, "I never knew data could be like that."
"Well, it's never too late to learn," Jenrya replied.
Ruki smiled slightly at that.
"I suppose you're right, Jen," she looked up at all those glows with a strange sadness and wistfulness that Jenrya glimpsed, for just a moment, before she turned away.
"It's never too late." he heard her murmur very, very softly to herself.
They lapsed into silence, sitting together admiring the skies of this strange and wonderful world.
***
Jenrya finally broke the silence, "Why do you think we've been called to the Digital World again?"
Ruki turned to stare at him.
"Called?" she asked.
"Yeah," Jenrya replied, not looking at her, "I mean, that Darkblossomon didn't just 'happen' to open up a portal in front of us."
"I guess you're right," Ruki said hesitantly, "I dunno. I guess we'll find out soon."
Jenrya nodded. That was what he was afraid of.
***
~ So how was the third part of this fanfic? I'm afraid I might be slipping with the personalities and stuff. Gimme comments or reviews, please, oh and I know Ryou is still out of character, I promise I'll soothe the nerves of all the Ryou fans out there as soon as I can. Sorry! ^^ ~
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The Shadow Realms: Part III - Snowed In
---------------------------------------------------
Once again, the Tamers tumbled through the strange, eerie green dimension of glowing data marks.
'I wish we didn't have to go through this every time we went to the Digital World,' Takato thought queasily as they rocketed through the digital layers.
Finally, they fell the through the final layer and through a network of data islands. Then, just like last time, they all crashed into the ground. Luckily for them, they landed in a snowdrift, so no one was seriously hurt, but they did start an avalanche that flew downwards like a wild beast. They realized they had landed on a snow-covered cliff.
***
"Oh, great. The perfect place to land," Hirokazu remarked sarcastically, "So now what?!"
"Patience, Hirokazu," Ruki replied just as sarcastically, "Maybe if you stay in the way of those hurricane-force winds long enough, we'll all get our dearest wish and you'll tumble over the edge of the cliff."
"What?!" Hirokazu realized that he was teetering on the edge of the cliff.
Just then a gale-force wind swept up and Ruki's prediction came to pass. Juri let out a shrill cry and buried her face in her hands. As Hirokazu was tumbling over the edge, Jenrya, with the reflexes born from years of martial arts training, lunged out and grabbed his wrist.
"Hold on!" Jenrya tried to protect his face from the stinging, icy snow and the freezing wind with one arm while he pulled Hirokazu up from below the cliff with the other.
"Don't let go, pal, I don't wanna die yet!" Hirokazu grabbed the edge of the cliff with one hand and hoisted himself back up.
Jenrya flopped back in the snow, trying to catch his breath. The shock of seeing Hirokazu go over the cliff combined with the stress of pulling him up against the terrible winds had exhausted him.
"Hey, Jen, you okay?" Takato's face swam into view above him.
"Yeah." Jenrya sat up slowly.
***
Hirokazu was crouching beside him, looking unusually pale for himself, and Ruki had turned away to hide her relief at seeing Hirokazu safe and sound. She had had to stifle a cry of horror when he'd tumbled over the cliff, and wondered if she'd made that happen. After all, anything could happen in the Digital World.
'I hope something of that kind doesn't happen again anytime soon,' she thought shakily, trying to calm herself down, 'Lucky Jenrya acted so fast.'
She smiled, just a little. You could 'always' count on Jenrya (well, almost; he 'was' only human, after all), because of his level-headedness and his caring nature.
***
"Thank goodness you're all right, Hirokazu, you sure gave us a scare," Juri laid her hand on his shoulder, looking faint with relief.
"Yeah, buddy, I thought you were going to end up in a frame on a funeral casket for a moment there," Kenta wiped his forehead.
"Don't try that again, Hirokazu, it's unbecoming," Ruki put in, turning back to the group.
"You think I'd be crazy enough to do that again?!" Hirokazu exclaimed, pulling a face.
"Yes!" everybody proclaimed in unison, even Ryou.
"Hey, a guy's got feelings, you know," Hirokazu said, putting on a fake indignant expression.
***
"Enough," Jenrya said, still rather breathless, "We need to find shelter. If we stay out here too long we'll all turn into snowmen or ice blocks."
"Wouldn't that be a sight," Ruki remarked dryly.
"Uh-huh," Takato agreed, "We definitely need to find a place to hole up in."
"For once, goggleheads, you've actually come up with a plausible plan," Ruki nodded, "Let's start searching, shall we?"
The others agreed fervently. The cold was seeping into their bones.
***
Half an hour later.
"My fingers are totally numb," Hirokazu complained, staring at his stiff fingers with a woebegone expression.
'I wish I'd never come here. I want my warm, cozy room!'
"Quit whining, Hirokazu, we've got enough to worry about," Ruki snapped at him as she dug through the snow beside him.
'Though I can't blame him. Brrrrr. This cold. It's unbelievable.'
***
Just then, a little farther away from them, Jenrya collapsed into the snowdrift he'd been digging in.
"I'm all right," he smiled weakly as everyone immediately assembled around him, all of them with various degrees of concern in their faces.
He tried to stand and found that his legs refused to support him, "I guess I'm just a little worn out."
"Take a break, Jenrya, we don't need you overreaching yourself," Ruki advised with unusual gentleness.
'If he gets sick or something, where would we be?!'
"But." Jenrya began, trying to stand again.
"No buts, Jen," Takato forced him firmly down onto a blanket they'd spread in the snow, "Katou-san, you stay with him and make sure he's all right."
Juri nodded, "You can count on me!"
***
She sat down beside Jenrya and looked at him with concern as the others moved off in various directions, though making certain they didn't lose sight of the two.
"Jenrya, are you sure you're all right?" she asked quietly.
"I'm just tired," Jenrya said with a slight edge to his voice, "It's not illegal."
When Juri looked a bit hurt, he sighed.
"I'm sorry, Katou-san, I don't know why I'm not acting a bit like myself today," Jenrya said apologetically, putting his hand on her arm.
"That's okay, Lee-kun," Juri smiled at him, "We all get a bit cranky sometimes."
'Still, I hope he'll get back to normal soon. He's always been so reliable.'
***
Meanwhile, Ruki was digging with Ryou and Kenta on either side of her. "Ah." she gasped softly as her fingers became too numb to dig any further.
'This is not good. If we don't find shelter soon, we'll all get frostbite.'
"Ruki-san, are you okay?" Kenta looked over with concern.
Ruki managed to smile, despite her face muscles being forced to work harder than usual.
"Yeah," she nodded and Kenta turned back to his digging.
Ryou had not reacted at all, but Ruki noticed his keen gaze fix upon her. Just then he spoke.
"Maybe you should go hang with them for awhile," he said curtly, gesturing to Juri and Jenrya.
'We certainly don't need anyone getting frostbite from digging through this stuff for too long,' he thought, rubbing his own numb fingers before resuming his digging.
Ruki shrugged, nodded and joined the blanket group, both of whom were beckoning to her.
***
Over where Takato and Hirokazu were digging, the going was not much better. Takato's fingers were stiff and numb and he could barely see where he was digging. Twice he bumped into Hirokazu. Hirokazu, meanwhile, was complaining about not being able to keep his eyes open.
'It's been almost an hour, and not a sign of a nook or cranny where we might find shelter,' Takato thought, experiencing the beginnings of panic, 'We've got to find shelter! We've 'got' to!'
Just then Jenrya called him to join him, Ruki and Juri on the blanket. He went over, leaving Hirokazu with his thoughts.
'There's gotta be a way outta here,' Hirokazu thought with extreme frustration, 'If only one of the Digimon. Of course!'
He smacked himself on the forehead, not even feeling the smack as he turned and began making his way slowly through the waist deep snow towards the blanket group.
***
Kenta and Ryou had joined the blanket group when they saw that some sort of council meeting was going on.
Jenrya was saying to Ruki, Juri and Takato: "Guys, we should stop digging. There's no way we're going to be able to find 'anything' in an all-out blizzard like this."
He looked around and winced as icy snow was whipped into his face and eyes.
"You're right, Lee-kun," Juri said despondently.
Tears glimmered in her soft hazel eyes.
'It's so cold. I want to go home.'
Takato put his hand on her arm.
"Hey, it'll be all right, Katou-san," he said reassuringly, "We'll find a way outta here. Somehow."
Ryou sat down on Juri's other side and put a hand on her other shoulder. Sandwiched between the two boys, both emanating reassurance and comfort, Juri managed to wipe away her tears and smile weakly.
Ruki, meanwhile, was discussing the situation with Jenrya while Kenta looked on.
"Jenrya, we've got to get off this mountain!" Ruki cried.
"But it's far too dangerous," Jenrya replied anxiously, "In this kind of weather, you could walk straight off a cliff and not know until it was too late."
Ruki just shook her head and looked tense.
***
Just then Hirokazu came running up, his whole face lit up with excitement.
"What is it 'now', Hirokazu?" Ruki looked at him warily. She didn't trust his ideas, because they were often wild and completely crazy.
"Ruki, call Renamon!" Hirokazu told her, practically dancing on the spot in his excitement.
"Call Renamon?!" Ruki looked up at him quizzically.
"Of course!" Jenrya's face lit up too, "Why didn't 'I' think of that?!"
" 'Cus I'm the smartest of this group!" Hirokazu put his hands on his hips and beamed, "What do you think?"
"Dream on, Hirokazu."
Ruki looked from one boy to the other uncomprehendingly, getting more and more annoyed.
"Would you guys mind letting me in on your little secret?!" she finally cried, exasperated.
"Renamon can hear you calling no matter where you are, right Ruki?!" Hirokazu yelled over the howling winds.
A light went on in Ruki's mind.
'How could I not have thought of that?!'
"Renamon!" she called into the winds and blizzard, then turned back to Hirokazu, "You better be right this time, visorhead."
Hirokazu just chuckled and winked confidently.
***
A couple of kilometers away, on a rock formation in the desert, a tall, graceful yellow fox Digimon leapt up onto her hind legs, crouching and looking in all directions, her light blue eyes alert and her long, white- tipped ears quivering with surprise at the call that had reached her heart.
"Ruki?! Where are you?" Renamon stood up and lifted her head.
***
"Renamon. I'm here, on the mountain!" Ruki called into the rapidly darkening sky.
"Do you think Renamon will come?" Juri asked anxiously.
"Don't worry," Ruki smiled reassuringly at her, "Renamon 'always' comes."
Jenrya, hearing her pronounce these words and seeing her smile, allowed himself a small, proud smile. Ruki had come a long way from the frosty, introverted Digimon Queen he and Takato had managed, with much difficulty, to befriend. She had learned to trust her Digimon utterly. That was quite an accomplishment for her. It had taken Jenrya and Takato quite a while to win her trust, let alone her friendship.
'She's finally opening up to us,' Jenrya thought, 'Maybe someday. she can learn to trust us that much too.'
He looked thoughtfully at Ruki, whose fierce violet eyes were wide with anticipation.
'Renamon 'will' come,' Ruki thought with conviction, 'I know she will.'
***
Renamon, meanwhile, was speeding towards the snow-capped mountain in the distance, bounding as far with each step as her long, powerful hind legs would take her. On the way, she met Guilmon and Terriermon, who were playing tickle together.
"Come!" she called to them, "Ruki is here, and I believe the others are here as well!"
Guilmon and Terriermon looked up in shock.
"Yay! Yay! Takatomon's back!" Guilmon leapt to his feet, bowling Terriermon over.
"Momentie!" Terriermon cried, looking anything but easy himself, "Lead the way, Renamon!"
The three Digimon sped off to find their partners.
***
The Tamers huddled together, trying to warm each other and themselves. Juri was cushioned up between Takato and Ryou, as always, and Ruki was between Jenrya and Hirokazu. Kenta was squeezed in between Ryou and Jenrya.
"D-don't worry, guys, I'm sure Renamon will be here soon," Takato whispered, his teeth chattering.
But he was losing hope as his body lost feeling and heat and became almost entirely numb.
'Man, I'm freezing. What's taking her so long?!' he wondered unreasonably.
"Yeah, and she'll bring the others with her," Ruki added confidently.
The other Tamers' faces brightened slightly at this, then became somber again as another icy gale nearly swept them apart.
"Stay together!" Takato yelled over the blizzard's roar.
The children huddled tighter together. Juri felt a single tear slide down her cheek, to be quickly frozen. She put her arms around her legs and hugged herself tightly, wondering how they would ever come out of this alive.
***
Meanwhile, the three Digimon were going as fast as they could. Terriermon was flying, Guilmon was running, and Renamon was doing something between jumping and flying.
"Why do you think they've come back?" Terriermon asked Renamon as he flew a bit ahead of her.
"I don't know, but I think they're in trouble," Renamon replied.
'Hold on, Ruki!' she thought, unconsciously speeding up, 'I'm coming!'
***
Just then, they came upon Guardromon.
"Guardromon, Ruki is here!" Renamon called to him, "And I believe the others are as well!"
Guardromon's head snapped up in surprise.
"Really?" he said, "That is excellent news indeed!"
"Hey, could you take us there? Your rockets might come in useful," Terriermon alighted on Guardromon's shoulder.
"My pleasure!"
Guardromon jumped up at once, gathered up Renamon and Guilmon, and fired up the rockets on his back. In his wild state of excitement, the brown machine Digimon put an unusual amount of energy into the effort.
"WHOOOOAAA!!!!!!!!" the Digimon yelled as they blasted through the air.
"Look out!" Renamon yelled just in time to prevent Guardromon from splattering them all across a stone formation.
"Sheesh, don't you know how to drive?!" Terriermon was covering his eyes with his ears.
"I think I'm gonna get airsick," Guilmon gagged.
***
The Tamers had all worked together to dig a shallow hole in the side of a snow drift and had spread the blanket there. They huddled together, trying to stay awake.
Kenta was dropping off when Jenrya pinched him, hard.
"Ouch! What'd you do that for, Jenrya-san?!" Kenta asked in consternation, massaging his smarting arm.
"If you fall asleep in these conditions, you might never wake up again!" Jenrya replied over the fierce howling of the winds.
"This storm doesn't seem about to end anytime soon," Takato remarked, "I hope the Digimon get here before we freeze to death or all fall asleep."
"Renamon!" Ruki called out into the darkness.
***
An unimaginable distance away, deep in the darkest parts of the Digital World, where night knew no end, and evil hung thick in the air, a great, grotesquely twisted midnight-colored castle stood like an arrow pointing towards the sky on a small island in the middle of an eerily still, bottomless lake.
In a small room in a tower of this evil-filled place, some one laughed, a laugh that would have sent cold shivers through anyone who heard it, it was so icy, flat, devoid of all feeling.
"Yes, children. Call for your Digimon. When the time comes, you will hand them to me. whether you want to or not," the shadowy creature was bent over a small, ornate crystal oval mirror.
The voice was horrible, like nails on a blackboard. And the mysterious figure threw what might have been his head back and laughed the wild laugh of a maniac, as screechy as his voice. The castle trembled in its foundations.
***
Up on the mountain, the Tamers were startled and overjoyed to see a small speck in the distance, growing bigger and bigger. When it was close enough for them to see what it was, they all shouted and waved their arms.
"Guardromon!" Hirokazu called out.
Wild in his joy at seeing his partner again, he grabbed Juri and planted an impulsive kiss on her cheek. Juri gasped, blushed and giggled, all her sadness forgotten.
"Renamon!" Ruki cried, running out on his heels.
"Guilmon!" Takato ran out of the shelter, grabbing Juri by the hands and dancing around with her.
"Terriermon!" Jenrya was not far behind.
'He' hugged Ruki in his excitement, not realizing who it was because of the blizzard. Ruki didn't mind at all, because she was so full of joy she wouldn't have cared if she'd been hugged by a three-headed dog right then. She actually went so far as to hug Jenrya back, leaving him speechless with amazement when he realized just who he had hugged.
Ruki then turned and actually gave Hirokazu a hug.
"Thanks!" she told him, leaving 'him' speechless as well, which was quite an extraordinary feat.
***
Guardromon landed with a flourish, throwing up a sheet of snow that completely buried everybody. Laughing and hugging their partners, the Tamers dug their way out and reassembled on top of the snow pile. Kenta had thoughtfully recovered the blanket.
"C'mon, everyone!" Hirokazu yelled, straddled on Guardromon.
Everyone climbed onto Guardromon, who sagged under the weight but held. Firing up his rockets, Guardromon lifted off, raising another wave of snow that landed on the Tamers and himself.
***
The Tamers landed in a spot in the desert, and decided to spend the night in the cave where Guilmon and Terriermon had been residing together.
"Well, that was a close one," Jenrya said to Takato when they were all settled around a little campfire that night.
"Yeah," Takato shook his head, "Let's not ever do that again."
"Uh-huh," Jenrya nodded and laughed.
"So tomorrow, Tamers, we'll set out in search of the rest of the Digimon," Takato told everyone, "Is everyone with me?"
Juri felt extremely depressed at these words, but tried to hide it. She didn't want to ruin the moment for everyone else. Ryou, across from her, his blue eyes startling in his tanned face, fixed her with a searching gaze that made her want to squirm.
"Yeah!" Kenta raised a fist.
Ryou nodded, and the rest manifested their agreement, too, in various, and occasionally rather astonishing ways. Hirokazu cartwheeled around the cave and nearly fell in the fire, making Ruki laugh.
***
"Hey, Hiro," Kenta pulled his best friend away from the campfire as they all prepared to go to bed, "She totally digs you, man."
Hirokazu looked confused, "Who?"
Kenta threw up his hands in exasperation at his spiky-haired friend's cluelessness, "Ruki-san, of course!"
"Huh?!" Hirokazu shook his head violently, looking bewildered, "No way!"
"Way," Kenta nodded, "She always acts different around you. Not very different, but the difference is there. She's less, well, impatient with you - at Hirokazu's disbelieving look the spectacled boy added - compared to me, for example. She laughs when you do something that if I did it she'd probably yell at me for being stupid. And sometimes she even blushes around you. You mean you haven't noticed?!"
Hirokazu shook his head, "No. - Kenta stared at him in disbelief - What about it? Ruki's way cool, but why would she like a bozo like me, anyway?"
"Search me," Kenta replied, "But she likes you, you mark my words, oh yeah, she's totally into you, buddy."
With that the green-haired boy turned and left, leaving Hirokazu confused and full of questions that he never thought he'd be asking himself.
'Ruki- likes me?! That's impossible! Is it? Since when has Kenta been the master at reading people, anyway? He'd probably mistake angry red for a blush. Sheesh. Great. Thanks a lot, pal. Now I can't get this stupid idea outta my head. It's just totally crazy! I don't like Ruki, I mean, she's a totally awesome gal sometimes, but she's just not my type, ya know? Wait, why am I talking to myself? Argh! Enough of this, I wasn't cut out for intensive soul-searching sessions.'
Resolutely Hirokazu began to scan the cave in order to pick out a spot to curl up in and within moments he was tucked snugly into a small space at the back of the cave between two stalagmites that were warm, somehow.
'Probably an underground hot spring or somethin'...' was his last thought before he drifted off.
***
'I wonder how long it'll take to find the other Digimon,' Takato thought that night as he tried to sleep with Guilmon snoring beside him, 'And what'll we do when we find them? Where would we search for the threat, whatever it is? If there 'is' a threat. Ah, well. One thing at a time.'
He turned over and pulled his blanket over his head to muffle the sound of Guilmon's contented snoring.
***
'I wonder.' Jenrya was lying awake, too, 'What could be happening? That Darkblossomon didn't just 'happen' to appear and create a portal for us. I hope, whatever it is, it won't be like the D-Reaper.'
* Flashback *
Their fight with the D-Reaper had transpired in the deep canyons in the layer of the Digimon sovereigns. The D-Reaper was endangering the whole Digital World, and then it had captured Juri and thus had gained the power to emerge in the real world as well.
The Tamers had had to go after it in the Ark that Jenrya's father and his team of Monster Makers had sent them. There was a lengthy battle in the real world, in which the Tamers had lost ground little by little because the D-Reaper kept coming back in different and more powerful forms each time they destroyed one of its agents.
Finally Jenrya, Ryou and their respective partners had returned to the Digital World in order to try to find some way to defeat the less advanced form of D-Reaper, since according to the theory of the Monster Makers, a team of scientists who'd originally created Digimon, if they destroyed the D-Reaper in the Digital World, they'd destroy the one in the real world as well, since the two were linked by a single kernel of consciousness.
After what had seemed to be a hopeless fight alongside the sovereigns and their allies, it had only been the sacrifice of Cyberdramon that had freed an ancient force that had utterly destroyed the enemy, and allowed the Tamers in the real world to free Juri from the Kernel Sphere of the D- Reaper. Cyberdramon had gone back to his Digiegg, which had disappeared and to this day had not been found.
* Flashback ends*
Jenrya closed his eyes, turned over, and tried to sleep. When he didn't manage that, he walked outside and sat down on a boulder, looking up at the sky of the Digital World, at the ever changing greenish digital layer and the floating data islands, and the bright pink data streams traveling to and fro.
'It's so beautiful,' he thought, 'But at the same time. So dangerous.'
Just then he heard soft footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw Ruki standing there, her hair loose and swaying softly around her shoulders. She sat down beside him.
"Couldn't sleep either?" Jenrya commented.
"Uh-uh," Ruki replied, looking up at the sky, "How could I? It's like. It's been so long since I last saw Renamon, and now, well, she's back. Or I'm back. Either way, I just."
She stuttered to a halt, then sighed and shook her head, unable to find the words. But Jenrya understood. Ruki didn't want to lose a single second reunited with her partner, for fear that it might all be, well, not real. He himself felt much the same way. He nodded, his kind gray eyes looking deep into her beautiful clear ones, showing her he understood.
"It's so quiet here, huh," he remarked, his voice barely more than a whisper.
"Yeah," Ruki laughed softly, dropping her eyes, "Not like the city."
Jenrya looked at her slender profile against the luminous skies of the Digital World and smiled.
"It's beautiful, isn't it," he murmured, turning his thoughtful dark eyes to the heavens.
"Yes," Ruki said quietly, "I never knew data could be like that."
"Well, it's never too late to learn," Jenrya replied.
Ruki smiled slightly at that.
"I suppose you're right, Jen," she looked up at all those glows with a strange sadness and wistfulness that Jenrya glimpsed, for just a moment, before she turned away.
"It's never too late." he heard her murmur very, very softly to herself.
They lapsed into silence, sitting together admiring the skies of this strange and wonderful world.
***
Jenrya finally broke the silence, "Why do you think we've been called to the Digital World again?"
Ruki turned to stare at him.
"Called?" she asked.
"Yeah," Jenrya replied, not looking at her, "I mean, that Darkblossomon didn't just 'happen' to open up a portal in front of us."
"I guess you're right," Ruki said hesitantly, "I dunno. I guess we'll find out soon."
Jenrya nodded. That was what he was afraid of.
***
~ So how was the third part of this fanfic? I'm afraid I might be slipping with the personalities and stuff. Gimme comments or reviews, please, oh and I know Ryou is still out of character, I promise I'll soothe the nerves of all the Ryou fans out there as soon as I can. Sorry! ^^ ~