The Friends of the Stones

by Debbie Dai-chan

Finally, the Stories of the Ten Digidestined and a new enemy that has a role to play . . .

5. 5 The Separation

The Friends of the Stones:
Part 5: The Separation
By Debbie (Dai-chan) and Chicobo, too!


She didn't remember losing consciousness when she woke up. She was laying on her stomach, and she felt soft tickles of damp grass underneath her cheeks. She smelt something that was getting domestic to her. The musk of wet grass and moist muck. She opened her hazel eyes and silently scanned her surroundings.

Mimi was in blurred dimness, few pale rays of light - from the sun or the moon, she wasn't certain - peeking from between slits in a structure. Sitting up, she noticed that she was in some sort of dome, moderate and secure. It was made of statuesque, bulky grass, entwining securely. It was rather dark, but she could see three figures laying near, heard soft breathing.

She reached for the figure next to her that, with its appearance, she recognized as Frankie and shook him. He gave out a soft grunt and posed up, rubbing his eyes. He scanned around, a visage of befuddlement appearing on his face.

"Where are we?" he whispered.

She shook her head. "I don't know. I don't remember falling asleep or anything." She crawled over to Jyou as Frankie went for Hikari.

Jyou was also perplexed, but appeared undisturbed. Mimi was glad to be back in his arms, cherishing his comforted warmth. Frankie went to seat himself beside them, Hikari clinging in his arms. They huddled together in the dimness, frightened and anxious.

"What happened to us?" Frankie demanded, trying to calm a frightened Hikari, who sat in his lap, clutching on his shirt. Her tan eyes were wide with dread, her body shivering in his arms.

"I don't remember falling asleep," Jyou replied, grimacing lightly.

Mimi said, "I remember climbing, then this big Digimon came. The others, falling." Her voice grew troubled. "I hope they would be okay."

"I want my onii-chan," Hikari mewed, tears misting in her eyes.

"Hey, don't cry," Frankie soothed, drying the already falling tears. "You'll stain my shirt. I'm positive we will find Tai and the others. I just know it." He then smiled brightly. "I can be your temporary brother, Hika-chan."

Hikari timidly smiled back, snuggling in his arms.

Jyou stood up. "We have to get out of here and search for the others."

"But we don't know where we are. Who brought us here? And why?" Mimi questioned. Then she fell silent at the alarmed, pale face of Frankie. His hazel eyes were widened, staring at a point behind Mimi and Jyou. Then she heard rustling sounds and turned to see a hole forming in the grass wall as a huge Digimon stepped in.

They immediately recognized it as the snake-bear Digimon that attacked them back on the mountain. The kids huddled close, gazing with fright, caution, and rage as the Digimon stared back with savage hunger in its yellow eyes.

***

He moaned as he pushed another stone off his torso. He kept on blinking his eyes from the sunlight that seemed to continue to blind him. He crawled out from the awkward-built cavern he was trapped in and winced at the pain in his ribs.

Takeru remembered falling from the cliff, rolling like forever, then he blacked out as rocks enshrouded over him. He guessed he was only out for a moment because of the still fresh pain in his ribs and limbs. He struggled off his backpack and lounged on his back, again wincing at the pain. Every breath he took stabbed agony in his left side of his chest.

He bit on his lower lip to keep from bursting in tears. He never felt so despairing before in his life. He trembled with dread at the remembrance of his brother and friends who fell along with him into their rocky graves. No, he shouldn't cry. His brother told him to have hope in all kinds of situations, no matter how dark and pointless. After all, he bore the Crest of Hope.

Kneeling up, Takeru brushed a trembling hand through his fair hair and putted on his backpack. He took his green hat that was left beside him, and stood up. He was on a sea of stones, diverse in size and hues. He couldn't see any evidence of his friends anywhere. But he wasn't going to give up; he felt warmth radiating from his chest beneath his shirt, giving him strength and hope.

He faltered over rocks for a few moments before he was halted by a weak voice whispering from behind him, carried by the breeze. It sounded like it was trying to encourage someone. He quickly maneuvered toward the voice, until he saw a girl kneeling near a fissure, her voice heading for the inside of the fissure.

"Sora!" he shouted, joy leaping in his chest, along with the intense pain on his ribs. He winced, then scampered after her, who has gazed up in surprise at his voice, then beamed in relief. Takeru ran into her arms, hugging securely, then groaned agonizingly as the pain stung, leaving him almost breathless.

"Take-kun, are you okay?" Sora murmured, her hand touching his left side. Her dusty features grimaced. "I think you might have some of your ribs broken. Be careful."

Takeru nodded, feeling a bit better, then asked, "Have you seen anybody?"

Sora's face grew haggard with worry, her hand pointing downward to the fissure nearby. "Izzy's trapped in there."

Takeru gazed down in the fissure. Allowing some of the sunlight to illuminate the hollow, Takeru could make out a head of violet-streaked fiery red hair and the intelligent face of Koushiro. He looked quite waxen, full of twisted agony.

"He won't respond or anything. I'm getting worried that he might be unconscious or, worse, . . ." Sora trailed off. Takeru turned to see her twisting her blue hat in her hands, her head lowered.

Takeru reached to hold on her hands, and Sora looked up, silver streaks on her face left by teardrops. "Don't give up, Sora-chan. Remember when we have to run away from Piedmon, you told me to be brave and protect Kari? We can't give up. We must have hope. Izzy has to be alive."

Sora wiped her cheeks, making a small, weak chuckle. "Arigatou, Take-kun, for reminding me this." She glanced at the fissure. "We just have to get Izzy out of there and wake him. The hole is too narrow for me to get to him, but you can."

"What if he is hurt?" Takeru said.

Sora and Takeru's voices called for Koushiro, pleading him to wake. Eventually, they received an answer from the redhead - a soft pain-edged groan. His eyelids flickered, and Koushiro gazed upward, his black eyes hazed.

"Kou-kun, can you hear me?" Sora reassured. "Are you hurt? Can you crawl out? Izzy?" Her voice became frantic when Koushiro didn't answer, staring out.

Then Koushiro answered, "I . . . I can't move."

"Are you hurt?" Takeru asked.

Koushiro's face contorted in agony, tears streaming out from his clamped eyes. "My wrist . . . it's sprained, and I can't move because of the pain. The pain is too much . . ."

"You have to try, Kou-kun!" Sora said. "We won't leave you, but we can't find the others unless we move on." Koushiro answered with a weak shake of his head.

"Sora," Takeru turned to her, "I have an idea. I could take Izzy's pain from him so he could crawl out. You could say I'm a kind of a pain-killer."

Sora was taken back. "Is this what your power can do? Take pain?"

Takeru nodded unwaveringly. "That, and take life, too."

Sora was silent as the boy gazed with bold azure eyes, so sure of himself. Then she shook her head. "Iie, TK, I can't let you do it." She quickly paused Takeru's protest. "If you take his pain, you would be in pain, too. I can't allow that."

"It might be the only way to get Izzy out!" Takeru daringly insisted.

Sora began to disagree, then Koushiro's voice whispered out from the fissure. "Let him do it. He's right. It's the only way."

Takeru watched as the girl mentally battled with the suggestion, fear for him shining in her amber eyes. Finally, she gave in, sighing. "Be careful, onegai?"

Takeru nodded, then laid down on his stomach. He gingerly wriggled into the fissure inch by inch, fearing to bump on the wall that might collapse upon Koushiro. He saw Koushiro, much in pain, reaching upward with his right arm, the undamaged one. Takeru reached to grasp on his hand. Silently, he felt his power streaming through his body, his hand slowly brightening with the faint golden glow. Koushiro's hand was also covered with the glow.

Takeru felt piercing pain bursting in his body, most in his left wrist, almost like he was pained all over his body, even though the only pain he had was in his chest. Now he knew why Koushiro hesitated to move. He was almost dizzy with the pain, and Koushiro's face soothed down, incredible at the power streaming through his own body.

Sora pulled him out and asked if he was okay. Takeru weakly told her to get Koushiro out. He trembled with misery as Sora gingerly processed to bring Koushiro out to safety. Takeru tried to ignore the pain, but it was the only thing on his mind. He soon saw Sora aiding Koushiro to crawl out. The fiery-haired boy didn't look as much in pain as before, and he was hiding his left hand close to his stomach.

Koushiro turned to him, whispering, "TK, try to spread the pain all through your body. It won't hurt as much as before." Trusting on his word, Takeru did what he was told to, and he felt the pain lessening into a dull throbbing through his body and left him in a daze. He noticed that the pain in his left side wasn't as worse as before. Slowly, the pain diminished from his body, leaving him relieved.

"Better?" Koushiro said, and Takeru nodded with a feeble grin.

"Here, let me take your backpack," Sora suggested. Takeru let her take his pack. She pulled out a roll of bandages that Jyou spared for Takeru to keep them in his backpack for an emergency. Jyou was resourceful, had evenly divided his first aid kit among the kids who have packs to carry them in. Sora tended to Koushiro's left wrist. It looked, indeed, twisted, and Koushiro cringed and blanched as the girl carefully wrapped the bandages around his hand and wrist.

Takeru took himself in the fissure, reached for Koushiro's green backpack that was roughly tore from him during the fall. Miraculously, after checking for any damage, the laptop was in good shape. Koushiro appeared greatly relieved at that.

"I want to search for the others," Takeru said, standing up.

"It's hopeless, TK," Sora replied, closing her eyes. "Tai, Matt, and Kim are probably buried deep. There's no way to find them. Even though we find them, they would be injured, or . . ."

Koushiro, who was silent the whole time, spoke up, "Sora, are you giving up? You can't! We can't surrender right now. They are alive. I know it."

Sora gazed to him. "How? How could you know that they are alive, Izzy?"

Koushiro fell silent, and Takeru could see the vivid light glinting behind his onyx eyes, almost as sharp as the rich violet strand in his hair. "I don't know how, but I just know."

Takeru beamed with hope. "Do you think they will be okay? We will find them?" Then he felt confident when he saw the certainty on the computer ace's face. Koushiro wouldn't lie to them if the kids were dead. He wasn't the one who would lie to anybody.

Sora was slow to believe Koushiro, but somewhere in her heart, the kids must be alive. Convinced, she agreed with Koushiro and Takeru that they should hold on hope that the others were alive. Together, the trio settle for a route down the rubble.

Takeru caught a flash of gold among the dark brown rocks. He wasn't sure if it was real or a reflection of the sunlight against a stone. Then he saw it again, a flicker of bright yellow near him, glimpsing from behind a boulder. Glancing at his friends, who were hiking downward, Takeru then walked over to where he saw the flash.

Takeru was awed as he found a small grey-brown stone resting among the rugged stones. What made it different was that it was a perfect sphere. He picked it up and found that it was printed with his crest symbol of a sun above a pyramid on both sides, small to fit in his palms. He saw a twinkle of gold among the lines of the symbol, but then he wondered if it was just a trick of light.

He heard Sora's voice calling his name, and, hastily putting the sphere stone in his backpack, Takeru ran for his friends.

***

Through his hazy languor, Taichi could hear two whispered voices, like they were conversing or something. They were too quiet, but he almost recognized them, yet he wasn't sure. He couldn't think through the dull throes in his head, coming from the right side of his forehead.

He tasted the air, which was dusty and stale. He could feel soft heat radiating from the voices, one fading from his left side until it was gone. The voices stopped, but he could sense a mild wave of heat, as if someone else was remaining beside him.

Taichi yearned to see whoever or whatever the voices and the body heat belonged and cranked to open his eyelids. There was a grey light, even muted, pained his weak eyes, adding to the pain in his head. He groaned quietly, lolling his head to a side, waiting for the pain to vanish.

He heard the voice again; it was masculine, whispering to him. His name was being called several times, and finally Taichi opened his eyes into a slit to avoid the grey light.

The pearly glow illuminated the concerned features of Yamato as he knelt near. Taichi craned his head, murmuring indistinctly, then recoiled from the throbs in his head.

"Hey, take it easy, man." A hand gently touched his forehead, and his head rested back on something soft that he didn't notice until now.

"You had a nasty hit from a rock on your head. It's a surprise and relief that you didn't have a concussion," he heard Yamato saying.

Taichi blinked his eyes and gazed over to Yamato. "What happened?"

Yamato looked all right, except for the grime and the distressed grimace smeared his face. "We got trapped by the rocks." His steel blue gaze raised upward. "It must be a miracle because somehow, the rocks formed a cave around us. Anyway, I woke and found you hurt. Kim is all right."

"Kim?" Taichi murmured, trying to sit up. "Where is she?"

"Hey!" Yamato hastily soothed him back to calmness. "I swear, you will be the death of me." He then pointed to somewhere that Taichi couldn't see from his laying position. "She's in the tunnel we dug. Our digivices have glowed, and, for some reason, the glow directed us to where we started removing stones to make a tunnel. I know it's risky because the cave is kind of shaky, but we must be out soon."

Taichi saw that the muted glow has came from the two digivices near him - Yamato's and his. Kimika must have hers with her. He wondered how could the digivices ever glow, but he closed his eyes wearily; his head hurt too much. "How long have we been trapped? How long have I been out?"

"I don't know, Tai. I really don't know, being trapped from the sun. I think we have been under the cave for maybe a day, give or take a few hours. You were really hurt in your head and were out as long. Kimika was so worried that you might never wake up . . . Tai? Are you awake?" Then a hesitant hand touched on his shoulder. "Taichi?"

"I'm awake, Yama-kun," he answered, his eyes still closed. He heard a heavy exhale from the blond, sounded like it was full of relief. "My head does hurt. I'm really tired, man."

"I know how you feel. My body still hurts from the fall, but we will be fine."

Taichi heard silence from him, was silent himself, too. He felt fatigued, but comforted by the heat Yamato was radiating. The boys were quiet for a few moment until Taichi smelt something new. He smelt a draft of pure fresh air that was effective against the stale air. He opened his eyes, puzzled, as he breathed in more of the fresh air, easing the pain in his head. Yamato was his knees, staring at the tunnel in surprise.

Then they heard the girl's voice calling out from inside the tunnel. "I found the entrance, Yamato! We can finally get out of here!" Kimika appeared in the cave, a triumphant grin on her murky features. She took a glimpse over to Taichi, and her eyes widened. "Tai-kun, you are okay!" She slunk to him, embracing him so hastily that he had to bite on his lip from yelling at the pain in his head.

Yamato gently removed Kimika from Taichi's body. "He's all right, but he's really tired and in pain, Kim."

Kimika brushed the black braids from her face; the red sunglasses were missing. Kimika wasn't appearing worried about it. She nodded at Yamato's wise words. "Okay. You rest, Rascal, until you get well enough to move. I'm really glad you are alright."

Taichi weakly grinned, but the exhaustion overtook him. Soon, he was released from the tense grip of Torture, his body soothed by the relaxed touches of Sleep.

Kimika took off her digivice, putted it near the two digivices. The grey light intensified, bathing the three children in the glow. Kimika took an anxious look at her friend's head; it was bandaged, but slightly bloodstained. The rock didn't cause serious damage, physical or mental. There was nothing wrong with him so far, except that he was really spent from the battle with Agony.

She felt Yamato's arms caressing around her, she settling in his lap. She was contented by his embrace. There were rare times that she would lay back in his arms and just relax. But this time, there was something that made her dubious about Yamato whenever she looked into his sharp eyes. Behind those eyes, he appeared . . . complete. Complete of what?

"What are you looking at me like that?" Yamato grinned warmly, tightening his embrace around her.

Kimika sat upright, her brown eyes unclear. "Yama-kun, can you remember anything that happened to you during the fight with Phalomon?"

Yamato blinked in puzzlement. "What do you mean?"

"Try to remember, Yama-kun."

"Well, I don't remember very much. All I know was that you were in danger by Phalomon and . . ." He quieted, his gaze moving down at his hands. "It's strange. I felt my hands burning . . then that was it. I don't remember anything after, except that I was in your arms, dizzy and blood on my face." He creased his face in disgust at the memory.

Kimika wondered abut the burns, then she recalled. She quickly held on one of his hands, putted off his glove, and her eyes went soft at the Crest of Friendship's symbol's burn marks on his otherwise smooth palm. But how? How could those burns change Yamato into a wolf? She entwined her fingers in his, resting her head on his shoulder.

"What's the matter, Kimi-chan?" Yamato whispered.

Kimika's voice was hushed. "You wouldn't believe me if I tell you."

"Tell me."

"I know what I saw. You changed into a golden wolf and bit on Phalomon's neck, bleeding him. That's how you got blood on your face. You killed him, and changed back into yourself. You said you couldn't remember anything. The others didn't know what happened. Only I saw what happened."

Yamato was silent, although she could feel a tightening hold around her. "Are you sure that happened to me?"

"Hai, I'm certain."

Kimika felt his cheek resting against the top of her head, both quiet. Kimika forgot about what happened to Yamato earlier, just glad he was all right. She cuddled in his arms, closing her eyes, tired after a long time establishing the tunnel. At least, Yamato and Taichi will be fine, and, as soon as they got out of the cave, they will go search for the others, Kimika thought with a gentle yawn.

***

Taichi woke from a refreshed and sound sleep. The pain was almost gone from his head, just a fuzzy ache. He sat up, stretching his body, which was sore from sleeping on rough stones. The three digivices nearby were still glowing with the mellow grey light. He did a hidden, mild smile as he eyed Yamato leaning against a rock wall, dozing as Kimika rested in his loose arms. Taichi hadn't any doubts about Yamato; he knew he will be gentle with Kimika. Taichi hated to see his best friend being harmed, and he will make that someone pay for her harm, even if it was Yamato. Taichi was devoted to Kimika in some sort of way.

Looking around, he saw a small shaft leading out that the two kids built. It looked a bit unstable, but it should be okay. He was pondering if he should wake the lovebirds to leave the cave, when he caught a glimpse of dark orange flash. It came from inside the shaft. Curious, Taichi grabbed on his digivice - he knew it was his because he has scratched his name on it - and gingerly slid inside, toward the flash. He kept his digivice in front to see any reflection of the grey light.

Soon, he arrived at the halfway of the tunnel, he assured, when he saw the orange flash reflecting off the light. He reached for it, and took a surprised look at it. It was a stone, but an odd-looking one. It was the shape of a four-pointed star, the points so sharp that Taichi jolted his careless hand from one of them and saw a drop of blood on the webbed part between the thumb and the index finger. (He had his gloves off, perhaps taken off by Yamato or Kimika.) And there was his crest symbol of an eight-pointed star on the both sides, just like Yamato and Hikari.

And what made it strange was that the stone was plain grey-tan, and Taichi would swear that he did see an orange twinkle from among the lines. It could be tricks playing on his eyes. He gingerly putted the stone in one of his shorts pockets, nursed the cut, and crawled back to rouse his friends.

To be continued . . .