A/N: Apologies for the delay. Had a little bit of tooth trouble. Nothing serious, fortunately. No cracks or cavities anyway, but a hidden spot of tartar buildup on the back of a tooth apparently had some nasty bacteria in it that reached enough critical mass to alter the PH level around the tooth's gumline, becoming painful and making it difficult to focus on anything. A little trip to the dentist and some cleaning took care of it though.
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
Digimon Trinity
Chapter: 192/ Episode 28: Rising Wind
The chill wind from the black expanse of ocean played across Kari's hair, sending goosebumps rushing along her skin. Wrapping her arms about herself, she rose on her toes. The cold just ignored her clothes and dug deep into her bones with what felt like icepicks. And what was worse, was the sound of the waves. The slow crash and the drawing back of water, leaving a dark stain on the sand. She blinked, and in that second, she saw a distant castle, nestled deep in a forest of Dark Trees before it was gone, replaced again by the ocean. She whimpered at the half-buried memory. Her skin drew tight and her heartbeat rose with it.
Get a grip on yourself, Kari, she berated herself. Now's not the time to lose it.
"Weird," she heard Tai say behind her. Forcing the image from her mind, she turned to her brother. The man was spying out the place with his mini-telescope.
"What is, Tai?" Agumon asked.
"From what Kari told us, I thought things would look worse than this," Tai replied, panning about. "But so far things are about the same as they were from our last visit."
Kari couldn't help but agree with his assessment. So far, there was nothing about the beach that suggested a world under siege. Certainly nothing at all like what this world's shadowy denizens described.
"The black waves falter and are drained into the abyss. No more shall their sound echo upon the air. There is only sand now and the endless graves of an ancient world."
"The Dark Ocean's a big place," said Ryo unknowingly to Kari's thoughts. "Maybe whatever's going on hasn't reached this area yet."
"Great. So, we have to travel to wherever this 'key' is. We don't even know where to start!" Gatomon planted her paws on her hips and glared at the dark waves as they continued to lap at the edge of the beach. "I don't like this. It's bad enough that cats and water don't mix anymore than with dogs, but this place just positively makes my whiskers twitch. I wouldn't use this as a litter box if my life depended on it."
"Me neither," shivered Rei in agreement. Gatomon looked at the woman with a raised eyebrow but digital human didn't seem to find anything odd about what she had said.
"I've been in the human world for too long," Gatomon muttered to herself. "So where do we start? It's not like we can just ask the locals. They're not exactly friendly types around here. Especially to my kind."
"We can start with checking out our digivices," Tai said, drawing his out. The screen flickered to life, but nothing presented itself. Ryo took his out as well and nodded wordlessly to his partner. Cyberdramon took to the air, swiftly becoming a small dot in the sea of grey above them. A holographic circle rose above his digivice's screen, showing Cyberdramon's viewpoint.
"Say, that's a pretty neat trick!" Etemon remarked. "Where'd you get that, son?"
"This?" Ryo chuckled. "Call it a hand-me-down."
"The Tamers have digivices just like that," Gatomon said, approaching for a better look. "Yours even has the same slot for reading cards."
"You could call it Oikawa's sense of humor," Ryo replied before his expression softened in memory. "What's left of it."
"Did Takato, Rika and Henry get theirs from him?" Kari asked.
"He had to give them something," Ryo said. "I don't know why they got these models though. They're based on an antique. Not like I can ask him though. You know he can't talk like us anymore."
"Right." Kari frowned thoughtfully, continuing to gaze at Ryo's digivice. "You said antique. What did you mean by…?"
The beeping of her own digivice caught her off guard. Fishing it out of her back pocket, she lifted it and found a dot flashing on its screen. Familiarity crept in from the depths of her memory.
"It's…a digi-egg," she reported with surprise. Tai jerked to full attention at that.
"A digi-egg?! Here?"
"No question," Kari nodded. "It's weird though, isn't it? There shouldn't be any in this place."
Tai nodded reluctantly. "The Digi-eggs of Sin. But we sealed them, the Keys and the Crown after we rescued you."
"Maybe the seal got popped?" Gatomon suggested.
"Maybe." Tai pocketed his digivice and turned to look in the direction of the horizon. The wind rustled his hair. He brushed his bangs from his eyes. "Probably by whatever it is that's destroying this place."
"If this place is being destroyed," Etemon offered. "For all we know, this could be a trap to catch li'l missy here. I don't know about you, but I vote that we make tracks and fast! Hey, Alice? Why don't we… Huh?"
Lowering his sunglasses, Etemon looked about rapidly. Not a single sign of the blond-haired girl or her dog could be found anywhere.
"What kind of fan deserts a superstar as soon as he parks in a bad part of town?" he asked, shaking a fist furiously.
"She does her own thing," Ryo said. "Anyway, I don't think that this place is after Kari right now." He turned to the Digidestined in question. "What do you think?"
Kari glanced down at her digivice and then up in the direction that the dot indicated.
"No," she said carefully. "I don't think they were either. They've had plenty of chances for it and I know that they can bring me directly here if they wanted."
She closed her eyes and brought her digivice close to her chest, a thought having occurred to her. The Crest of Light had been the primary reason for the Darkness' desire for her. The attribute aside, the crest offered a connection to the entity known as Homeostasis. This connection brought power, but was that all there was to it? If there was something destroying the Dark Ocean, that power could be seen as useful and, more, restorative to their world.
Something tickled at the back of her mind. In her mind's eye, she saw herself standing before a towering creature, blue-skinned with tentacles bound together with chains and a Holy Ring, giving it a mimicry of the human form. Bat-wings protruded from its back. He was looking right at her, staring into her soul. She felt herself recoil, horrified at how naked she felt underneath his cold, merciless gaze. It was as if his eyes were boring into her, seeing every little thing she ever kept to herself and bringing it all to the surface. Her stomach heaved and a shudder ran through her body.
Kari's digivice fell to the ground just then as she clutched at the sides of her head.
"Kari!" Tai shouted, running over to her. He was quickly joined by Gatomon, who scurried up her leg and onto her shoulder.
"It's alright!" the feline digimon soothed, running her paws through the woman's hair. Kari bit her lip, retreating from the memory. "It's alright! We're here!"
"We shouldn't have come here," Tai frowned. "Dammit! Where'd that Alice kid go?"
"I-I'm fine!" Kari snapped, forcing her eyes open. A red gleam touched them briefly, but swiftly receded before anyone could notice. "It's…This place. It's just bringing back a lot of bad memories."
"The reason why you were brought here," Ryo said, causing the others to all look at him.
"You know?" she asked.
"Come on. We all know why the Darkness kidnapped you," said Tai angrily, hating this place all the more now that the Band-Aid had been ripped off.
"Well, we were only half right at the time," Ryo replied. "Getting power to win the never-ending contest was only one of the goals of Darkness. But not the only one."
Tai's frown became one of confusion, but Kari hugged herself, fearing the answer.
"What-What was it? What else did they want?"
Ryo was silent for a moment before shaking his head. "It's better for you to figure it out. Too much information coming at you too fast can cause problems."
"Ryo, don't you dare pull that kind of crap with me!" Tai roared, starting toward him. Before he had taken more than a single step, a massive shadow fell over him and the earth shook violently, sending the Digidestined of Courage stumbling back. Cyberdramon loomed before him, claws flexing. The cyborg Ultimate let out a deep, guttural growl.
"Just try to hit him," he snarled. "I'll turn you into fish bait."
"You'd better watch out, Milleniummon!" Tai spat, snatching out his digivice. "Agumon!"
"Tai! Tai!" Rei's shout broke across the rising tide of anger and she dashed in the center of the group, hands held out wide as if she could keep them apart with her own strength. "What's gotten into you?!"
"The Dark Ocean, that's what." Kari placed a gentle, calming hand on Tai's shoulder. "Come on, Tai. Calm down. You know what this place is like."
Seething, Tai looked around him. A fire smoldered in his eyes. Etemon stood at the ready, but he seemed confused as to what was going on. Ryo gazed head on at him, arms at his side while Cyberdramon stood as tense as a steel wire, the promise of violence trembling within his claws. Rei, with her pleading eyes and Agumon, likewise confused about the situation.
Kari's own sorrowful, pleading expression was what calmed him, or at least banked the flames he felt inside him.
"Right. Sorry." He glanced at Ryo. "What happened when you told her the full story?"
Ryo pressed his lips together tightly and a shadow fell over his eyes. For a moment, he looked older than he appeared.
"Okay," Tai nodded. "I think that says all I need to know. Sorry again."
"Don't mention it," replied Ryo stiffly.
"Thank goodness," Rei breathed, the tension going out of her body and out of the rest of the group as well.
"We've got to be careful," said Agumon, wiping a claw across the top of his head. "This place can really get under your skin if you let it."
"Yeah," Tai nodded. "When we were here during the war, it was all we could do to keep from dark digivolving. Everyone needs to keep a check on their emotions while we're here."
"I'll help you with that," Rei said, taking Tai's hand into her own and giving him a small smile. Tai blushed, looking suddenly like a schoolboy all over again.
"R-Right. I'll do the same for you. We've got each other's back, like usual."
Kari felt a tinge of jealousy watching the scene. Forcing herself to return her attention back to her digivice, she considered the digi-egg it was detecting. Her lips thinned and she frowned. The dot on the digivice screen looked like any other dot that had been a digi-egg in the past. It offered no information on what type it was. Not even a clue. Such were the limits of the old D-3 digivices.
And Ryo says that the Tamers' digivices are based on an antique? That doesn't make sense.
Kari tilted her head and then glanced in the direction that the digivice was indicating. The horizon offered no clues for her either, yet she felt unsettled by the distant presence. What would they find out there?
Did they dare to go in that direction to find out more?
I didn't come all this way just to get cold feet, she thought. Leaning forward like a bull about to charge, she started forward.
"Kari?" asked Tai and Gatomon simultaneously.
"I'm going to see what's out there. Maybe it'll help. Maybe it won't. But I'm done waiting for the Darkness to come to me. This time, I'm going to it."
###
While not ideal, they continued on foot. Their lack of knowledge of the terrain and the areas local inhabitants gave them a certain caution with their travel. One did not tread lightly in the realm of the Dark Ocean after all. Not if they wanted to leave in one piece. Before too long, they left the confines of the beach and drew near to a forested area. The trees, strangled by vines, cast a deep gloom about them. Picking up a stick, Agumon lit it with his Pepper Breath and passed it off to his partner. The glow of the grey flame looked small and feeble in the darkness. They stood at the entrance to the forest, contemplating it. There was no way around it that wouldn't add days to their travel.
"No one touch the trees while we're here," Tai said, gathering up some more wood from off the ground. "Some of them aren't very friendly."
"Know that from experience?" Etemon asked. Grimacing, Tai rubbed unconsciously at his neck.
"You could say that," he replied, handing off some of the wood to Rei. "Everyone stay close. Let's try not to get lost in here."
Without further discussion, they stepped into the shadows of the forest. The light of their torch seemed to shrink in response. Agumon hastily lit up some more and passed them about. No one argued and they pressed on.
In spite of the heat from her torch, Kari found herself shivering. The 'day' never seemed to get warmer no matter how much it lengthened.
It feels like it's always autumn here, she thought, rubbing her forearms to get her blood warmed up. Her effort was negligible. Hoping to distract herself, she checked her digivice. Her eyes widened ever so slightly as the dot on the screen suddenly began to march away.
"The signal's moving," Kari reported.
"Moving?" Tai's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Are you sure?"
Kari glanced at the dot again. "Positive," she nodded. "It's not moving very fast, but it's definitely moving."
"Digi-eggs don't exactly walk on their own," said Etemon. "Someone must be carrying it."
"Maybe we ought to pick up the pace," Tai suggested, taking out his own digivice. "The longer we stay here, the more of a chance we'll draw unwanted attention."
"I'm not so sure about that."
Tai glanced down at Agumon.
"What do you mean?"
"Well…" The orange dinosaur cupped a claw around an ear. "Maybe it's just my imagination, but it's been pretty quiet ever since we got here. I mean, not counting the ocean waves and the wind, there hasn't been a single sound of anything since we got here. Usually there's always something."
"Now that you mention it, it has been awfully quiet," Tai agreed. "The last time we were here, there was always something in the background."
"As far as I'm concerned that's a good thing," chimed in Etemon.
"Maybe." Gatomon frowned. "Or maybe there's a bigger cat out there getting ready to pounce."
"Why'd you have to ruin my new beat?"
"Maybe we should have one of us go up above the tree line and have a look around?" Rei suggested. All eyes turned toward Cyberdramon and Ryo. The boy grinned and climbed onto his partner's shoulder.
"Sounds like a plan. We'll be back soon."
Without further ado, the cyborg Ultimate launched them into the air. The tree branches drew back, allowing them their exit without any hassle.
"Well, that was weird," Tai remarked as, once the pair were gone, the branches flexed and returned to their previous positions. "They didn't try to make a grab at him."
"Maybe they sense Milleniummon's in there?" Agumon offered. Tai shrugged.
"Maybe. I guess all I can do is worry about it until we're out of here. Not much to do, since I don't speak tree."
Oh, brother… Kari checked her digivice again and found the dot continuing to plod along. It didn't appear to be in any particular hurry, which was a good thing as far as she was concerned. That meant they could keep pace with it without trouble.
Minutes later, the branches again parted and Cyberdramon dropped down from the sky. Upon landing, Ryo hopped off.
"The area looks clear," he reported. "Not a sign of anything except trees. I think it's safe to fly the rest of the way."
"The sooner we get out of here, the better," Tai agreed. "What do you think, Kari?"
The woman was silent for a moment before nodding reluctantly. She didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention to their presence here, but the longer they were here the more she felt that there was something off about this place. Something more than the silence Agumon reported. More than the memories that haunted her. More than the darkness itself. The chill in the air bore into her like an animal seeking shelter from an approaching storm. It felt almost afraid of something, and the silence was merely the quiet before it struck. The more she thought about it, the more certain she felt of this.
"Yeah," she nodded finally. "We need to hurry. Gatomon? Are you ready?"
"Always am," the feline reported, standing at attention.
Lifting her digivice, Kari shouted the words that would digivolve her partner.
"Digi-armor Energize!"
Light burst about Gatomon as the digi-egg of light enveloped her; a light that was followed by Agumon as he warp-digivolved up to his Mega level form of WarGreymon. Within seconds, they were transformed and everyone took a flying partner. Tai and Rei sat behind Kari on Nephertimon and WarGreymon took Etemon. Leading the way, Cyberdramon and Ryo cleared a path and they were soon out of the shadow of the forest and into the clear greyness of the sky. The branches waved at them, seeming to urge them on.
Flee, oh Queen of Darkness. Escape.
Kari looked down at the black forest, her eyes watching the black leaves, wondering if she had just heard them speak to her.
"D-Did anyone hear…?"
"Hear what?" Rei asked. Kari shook her head and checked her digivice.
"Nevermind," she said. "This way."
Taking the lead once more, Nephertimon flew off in the direction indicated. The minutes passed, and soon it became nearly half an hour when the signal stopped in place. It was another fifteen minutes before they saw the telltale sign of smoke and the glimmer of a small campfire from down below.
And there, huddled in front of it, wearing a battered and torn, disheveled robe, was a man, dark of skin with mouse-brown hair and indigo-colored eyes. His face was grim, scraped and lined with dirt. But even at a distance, he was immediately recognizable to all.
"Gennai!" Kari exclaimed in shock.
###
"Here," said Jijimon, holding out a book toward Rika. The girl lifted an eyebrow at this and looked up at him.
"Uh, what is it?"
"A little something to remember us by," Jijimon replied with amusement. "And something to keep you from being bored on the long journey. Don't worry. I got plenty of copies. This is the 5th edition, so it's up to date and everything. Personally, I prefer the 3.5 edition, but that's just me."
"The Book of Taji?" Renamon panned over the cover. It was simple in adornment, leatherbound with no imagery save for the digi-code that supplied the title.
"We noticed that you were outside listening in last night, so after you had gone back to bed, we figured you might like a copy to pass the time with," Babamon beamed. "Don't worry about it. You taught my husband a new song. It's the best thing he's done in years!"
"At least I can carry a note," Jijimon huffed with no anger behind it. Rika blushed a little at having been caught spying, but as the couple didn't appear to be at all bothered by it, she let it pass.
"Thank you," she said, bowing politely. Taking the book carefully, she stowed it in her now restocked backpack. It was a difficult fit, but nothing that was worrying. "And thank you both for your hospitality."
"You can still stay as long as you want," Babamon said, her smile slipping into sorrow. Rika felt her heart grow heavy at the sight, but she reminded herself of her mission and of the family still waiting for her back in Shinjuku.
"We have to, our friends are waiting," Rika replied.
"Too bad…" Jijimon and Babamon said together. That seemed to be enough. Bidding them goodbye once more, Rika turned and started up the stairs, followed by Renamon. Exiting the house, they closed the stone door behind them. The air was calm for now, but from Jijimon and Babamon's stories, it wasn't something that would last for long.
"What we need now is a place to scope out the area properly,"Rika said. Her eyes drawing up to the tall, rock spires, she pointed to one. "That one will do."
"Leave it to me," Renamon nodded. Scooping her partner into her arms, the vulpine digimon immediately bounded up to the top of the spire. Setting the girl down, Rika unshouldered her pack and pulled out her binoculars. She panned about. There were many, many more such spires in all directions. And still, higher up, stood the sphere of the real world. Here, Rika grasped just how huge their search for Calumon truly was.
"This is stupid," she grumbled. "How are we supposed to find one little digimon in this crazy place? There's so many different layers, it's ridiculous."
"He better not just be playing hide and seek." Renamon said sarcastically. Rika simply hmphed.
"If he is, he doesn't need to do a really good job at it. This world is too big. I don't know how the Devas expect to find him now. I don't even know how to find him." She bit her lower lip. "I don't even know how to find the others."
"Don't lose hope, Rika. We'll find them. According to Ryo, we did before."
Rika hmphed again, not at all liking hearing his name.
"I don't think he knows anything. If he really was time traveling and trying to fix things, things would be fixed. I don't care what he says, his whole explanation is stupid. We'll find a way without his stupid advise."
Renamon sighed inwardly, deciding not to turn this into an argument. She didn't understand why her partner got so worked up about the Digidestined.
Then again, she's become more difficult to understand since we were separated from the others. Perhaps if we reunited with them, that will change.
Rika's gasp brought her out of her thoughts. Turning toward her partner, she saw the girl's mouth agape as her binoculars were focused on the real world sphere in the sky.
"If we got up there, would we be able to see Takato, Henry and the others?" she asked.
"We would," Renamon replied swiftly, not wanting her partner to lose this sudden flash of hope. The terrain was similar enough to what they left behind that they likely were back in the same level. Of course, this was assuming that they were in that level at all and not just a very similar one.
One thing at a time, Renamon thought.
Rika lowered her binoculars, contemplating the problem.
"But it doesn't look like we can climb that. How can we get up there?"
A breeze, light, but strong enough to rustle the girl's ponytail, brushed against her, and with it, a tattered piece of cloth flew up from down below. A thought came to Rika's mind and she turned back toward the houses. The cloth on the rooftops, used to gauge the wind, was starting to rise as well. The thought in Rika's mind solidified.
"The wind… That's it! We could fly up," she said, feeling the puzzle pieces click into place. "We're going to need a lot of cloth, but I bet I know where we can get some."
###
They worked quickly, making use of what they could find from the various debris that had been blown around. The wind had blown up more than a furniture store. Just about every thing they needed was scattered about. One of the cabinets held a box of sewing needles and thread – useful and it quickly found a home in Rika's bag – and plenty of sticks with which to tie the cloth to. Within the hour, they made themselves a giant, makeshift kite, and just in time, as the wind was now starting to pick up. Rika felt her heart drum a nervous beat inside her chest.
If this doesn't work, we're going to end up splattered all over the canyon. But, it's not like there's a whole lot of choice for us. Time for a leap of faith. Literally.
"Are you ready?" Rika asked, raising her voice over the growing roar of the wind.
"Always!"
"Then let's…go!"
As one, the pair stepped off the ledge and for half a second, Rika's heart plunged into her stomach as the kite began to fall. A sudden surge of wind caught them and lifted them up. And up they were going at a rapid pace! The ground began to recede and the houses became little more than dots far below. Rika let out a loud whoop and a laugh.
"Yeah! We did it!" she yelled. Next to her, Renamon chuckled, glad to see her partner's mood improved to such a degree. The rest they had at Jijimon and Babamon's home had been good in many ways for her, but this was a victory that she desperately needed.
The wind continued to carry them, leaving Renamon to briefly wonder if they would ever be able to get down. She dismissed the thought for the time being, opting instead to focus on their new mission; see if they could locate the others. The desert didn't offer much with regards to details, and that was something she hoped would work in their favor.
They flew for some minutes, spotting very little in the landscape save for rock formations and desert sand. The landscape varied little, and after a while, Rika began to sweat a little, the thermals starting to replace the wind as their mode of transportation.
It won't last long, she noted, seeing that the ground was starting to close in toward them. We're too heavy for thermals. Well, at least it should slow us down so we can land instead of crash for a change.
In the distance, motion caught her eye. Looking up, she spied what appeared to be two glowing lights falling from the sky and toward the sand. They hit the ground, sending a plume of dirt into the air.
"Did you see that?" she asked, turning toward her partner. Renamon nodded.
"Yes. Should we investigate?"
"We'll be landing pretty close to it so we might as well. It's not like there's much to do out here and if it's a digimon, maybe they'll have some news about Calumon or the others."
That's what Rika hoped, but remembering the state her friends had been left in when the data stream grabbed her, hope, she knew, was going to be hard to come by.
8