Beware the Eastern Sun
Chapter 17
"His words are my truths.
His thoughts
are my mission.
His actions are
my justice."
-Duty and Loyalty, by Gabumon
Kari stood up and walked on her legs,
stiff from disuse. She had finally gotten well enough to do some exercise, so
there she was, in the garden. Picking up a trowel, she pushed the dirt this way
and that way, uprooting legumes that were ready and caring for the crops that
grew. It seemed to remind her of home, somehow, the whole idea of working with
plants. Maybe the action had its maternal implications, but it seemed that this
was something that she would be doing with her mother.
By the afternoon, she was sweating
from exertion. It felt good to be active once again, and it took her mind off
of the lot of troubles that have been weighing her down of late. Instead she
could just focus on getting the task before her done. Gatomon was beside her,
also having just recovered. Perhaps no one else noticed, but Kari could tell
there was something different about her. She didn't seem to have that
enthusiastic flare that she used to, almost as if the recent tragedies had
broken her spirit. She did try approaching her before...
"Gatomon, is there something
bothering you?" Kari asked.
"No. Why do you ask?" was
her simple reply.
"Gatomon," she said, in a
semi-scolding tone, "I know you're hiding something."
"I'm not."
"You are. Tell me. I'm your
friend."
Gatomon looked away. "And what if
I am? I'm entitled to my own feelings."
"What's bothering you."
"Nothing!"
"It's the battle isn't it."
That was pushing it. She could see the
hackles rise on her neck. "Don't you ever talk about that again," she
said slowly, pausing slightly between each word. Her eyes flashed in anger with
a fire that she had never seen before. Silently, she withdrew.
That was perhaps a week ago. She could
only hope that perhaps Gatomon would deal with the problem herself or she would
open up enough to talk about it. But for now, there was the garden.
She rubbed the sweat off of the back
of her neck as she squatted to rest for a moment, closing her eyes against the
bright sun. Suddenly, she felt cooler. Opening her eyes, she noticed that a shadow
had fell upon her. Looking up, she saw the eclipsed figure before her-it was
large and powerful, and it made its presence well known with its posture.
Standing up, she shaded her eyes from the sun.
"Leomon?" she asked in
bewilderment.
Leomon remained silent for a moment,
as Gatomon jogged over and posted herself besides Kari. Finally, he spoke.
"Yes, it is I. But I come with dire news. Where are the others?"
"Oh, they left a few days
ago."
"Then we must hurry," he
said quickly.
Kari looked concerned. "What's
wrong?"
Leomon looked around, scanning the
camp. "There is another with you. They would not leave you alone. Who is
taking care of you?"
"Mimi. She's..."
"Take me to her."
Unquestioningly, she led Leomon to the
huts where Mimi was found making some repairs. As they approached Mimi saw them
and dropped her tools. She came running towards them with a smile on her face,
but when she saw their grave faces, her smile turned into a questioning frown.
"Is there something wrong?" she asked intuitively.
"Yes," Leomon responded
laconically. "Your friends. They're being led into a trap."
"A trap?" Mimi asked. She
rubbed her chin, and then turned towards Leomon. "But weren't you the one
who told us to go?"
"I'm afraid I have fallen into
his trap as well. I hope you can forgive me." Lemon quickly returned to
the point. "But we must find them at once. Matt knows that you are
coming. He is preparing for you."
"Then we have to find the others
quickly," Mimi said.
Leomon nodded. "Prepare yourself.
We leave tonight."
Agumon pulled Biyomon into the
shadows, covering her beak so she would not make any noise. "I told
you!"
"What?"
"I told you!"
"I don't understand you
Agumon." She shook off Agumon's harsh grip.
"I knew there was something
more."
"Well of course. It is a
prophecy."
"We need that book."
"That's for sure."
A pause.
"Look, Agumon. What's wrong with
you?"
"Wrong, wrong?" he jittered.
"Nothing, nothing of course."
"Really. You're not you
anymore."
"I...I don't know. Maybe it's the
tension. Yeah, yeah, that's it. Just a little tension."
"Well if you don't get it
together, I think you're going to snap."
"Snap? Snap? Me? No, no. Never
me. I'm Agumon. I can't. I..."
"Agumon, you're doing it again.
"Doing what?"
"The ranting thing."
"Oh yeah, yeah. Gotta stop. Gotta
stop," he muttered. He began shaking.
Biyomon grabbed Agumon and shook him a
little. "Relax. Relax! What' happened to you?"
Agumon cracked. He began sobbing and
muttering. Biyomon looked around to be sure no one was near, then pulled Agumon
deeper into the woods. "Look, Agumon. They can't see you like this. Things
are bad enough..." That didn't seem to make things any better. If not, it
made them worse.
"Agumon. Agumon!" Biyomon
was nearly shouting, but Agumon continued to mutter. Drawing back her wings,
she smacked him twice across the face. That stopped his muttering, but he was
still sniffling a little. "Agumon, we've got to deal with this now."
He was not receptive. He continued to
sniffle and rock back and forth slightly. "Agumon. Agumon? Are you
there?" He did not respond. Biyomon looked around. "Agumon, I can
only do so much for you. The rest you've got to do. Now I can't help you until
you return to reality. It's up to you. Take the first step and I'll help."
He responded with a slight moan, but
otherwise remained unchanged. Biyomon shook her head. "I'll be at the camp
if you need me." She rose and left him sniffling in the woods. She looked
back once before she left and thought to herself, I wish there were some
other way.
"Exactly where did they go?"
Leomon pressed.
"Well, they said they were going
to visit Gennai and then go to the castle, but that was a little over a week
ago."
"Let's see," Leomon thought.
"Gennai is...what, some three and a half days away? And it's slightly
northwest of here. More north. That would make them a little over a week away
from the castle. And they are, let's say three days a head of us, to be optimistic.
We'll still be hard pressed." Leomon thought hard, putting a fist to his
chin.
"The river," Mimi said.
"They were following the river."
"Of course!" Leomon said.
"And we can ride the river to catch up with them because it flows
downstream to the castle."
"But we need a raft."
"Which we can build. But it will
take time."
"It think we can do it
tonight."
"Then we'll have to leave at
first light tomorrow."
Mimi rubbed her hands together.
"Then let's get started."
Mimi, Palmon, Gatomon, Kari, and
Leomon headed off into the woods and began felling trees. Before long, they
were tying together the logs securely together. The design was crude-a mere
platform of logs-but that was all they needed, for the current was with them.
Time was of the essence, so they did not bother with fanciful details. Still,
they did not want the raft to quit on them after only a few days. By the late
evening, they were testing the raft on the water.
"We'll have to travel by day
then," Leomon said. "It's far too dangerous to travel by raft at
night. Especially with a waning moon. I'd hoped to use the cover of night, but
it seems we have no choice."
Mimi and Kari were seated on the
opposite side of the fire, each tending to their own thoughts. Equally grave
were Palmon and Gatomon, who sat beside their friends. "Rest well, my
friends," Leomon said as he rose. "These next few days may be very
portentous. We must be ready."
"I am ready."
T.K. held his sword with a firm double
grip. A dozen paces in front of his was Matt, who was also armed with a sword.
T.K. shifted his footing, hearing the jingling of his heavy chainmail armor. He
never really liked the weight of all that steel on him, but it had proven its
use many a time. Perhaps he would learn to live with the stink and the heat of
it, and then it would become more tolerable. For now, it was a burdensome
nuisance.
Matt stepped forward tentatively with
the fluidity of a dancer. His eyes and his body remained fixed, not betraying a
single one of his moves. When he came within range, T.K. stepped forward with a
quick lunge. Matt sidestepped and parried the blow, quickly bringing his sword
around for a strike at him. T.K. was barely able to swing his heavy sword up in
time to deflect the blow. He used his momentum against Matt's blade to send it
flying backwards, following up with a slash to the leg, which Matt pulled back
from a moment too late.
"Good! Now press on!"
T.K. gathered himself up for another
attack, but Matt was already upon him. "Remember," he began to
lecture between blows. "Attacking may be successful, but never leave
yourself open for longer than you have to." Matt was darting in and out,
testing T.K.'s defenses. T.K. easily deflected each blow, but he was tensely
waiting for the one which he knew Matt would follow up with. "Don't
forget. If you know an attack is coming, one strategy is to
counterattack," Matt said just before he came in with a flurry of quick
blows. T.K. was gave ground until he was pressed against the wall. Matt swung
hard, but stopped the blade just before his neck. "And never give
ground if it does not offer you a tactical advantage."
Matt withdrew back to the large
painted circle in the center of the arena-like training facility. T.K. was
beginning to breathe hard, but Matt seemed relaxed. "Loosen up, T.K. Feel
the energy flow within you. Breath. Focus." Matt raised his sword to
signal the beginning of another round. This time T.K. immediately launched the
offensive.
"Good!" Matt shouted as T.K.
made a lunge and then a quick backslash. "Combine your moves and
techniques." T.K. came slashing diagonally downwards and missed slightly,
but spun around and reached out with a back kick catching Matt in the stomach.
"Surprise attacks are the best! Lead your opponents eyes away from your
attacks!" T.K. faked a lunge, and then another, which sent Matt back a few
steps. Then he took a large step and swung down hard. Matt stepped aside as
T.K. redirected his momentum after Matt by circling his blade to a backswing
which sliced his armor. "Be aggressive!" T.K. then pressed forwards
with a flurry of blows. A forward slash. A lunge. A backslash. A high swing. A
low swing. Each time Matt retreated, getting closer to the wall. "Press
your advantages!!!" T.K. then began swinging with all of his might. Each
time Matt blocked with his sword, sparks flew. Mindlessly, T.K. pressed
forwards hacking at Matt until he was pressed up to the wall.
Then Matt reached
up with his right arm and caught the blade in mid-swing. It took T.K. a moment
for him to realize that his blade was no longer mobile. Upon realizing this,
T.K. leaned over, letting Matt hold the sword by the blade. He was breathing
hard. "Good. Very good." Matt walked over calmly to a side table
where towels and water lay. He wiped his hands and the sweat off of his neck
and took a quick swig from a water bottle. "I can see that you will be a
great warrior T.K."
As Matt left the
room, T.K. looked after him, wondering if he should be ashamed that he felt
proud.