Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, I simply write fan fiction, so please don't sue me! Enjoy part five!
Part V: New Accusations
Sora woke the next morning feeling depressed. Tai hadn't gotten any better overnight; he still hadn't even woken up. This new evil business was really beginning to get to her. It was only a matter of time before somebody ended up being killed.
She recalled the events of the past few days with a shudder. TK had nearly drowned-it was by pure luck that Matt had managed to save him in time. Izzy had been poisoned, but he had recovered. Mimi had almost been stabbed to death-if the knife had only been a few inches closer to her body, she would have been killed. And now the fire... Kari had been hurt and Tai was still hovering between life and death.
Sora glanced over at the other Digidestined and realized she was the first awake. Silently, she slid out of her sleeping bag. It was cold-they needed a fire. Ironic that they would need something that had nearly killed two of them.
Shivering slightly, Sora tiptoed toward the woods. The forest fire had burnt out leaving charred stumps and blackened trees behind in the place of the lush, green trees that had once been there. She glanced over to her left, saw an area the forest fire hadn't destroyed and decided it would be a good idea to get a little fire wood from that area.
In the pit of her stomach, Sora knew it was a rash thing to wander off alone. Ignoring the tugging feeling in the back of her mind, she advanced toward the trees.
~*~
Izzy yawned and slowly sat up. The events of last night were still fresh in his mind. Thinking about them made him shiver, so he quickly pushed them to the back of his mind. He decided to work a bit more on the prophecy to help keep his mind off the danger they were all in.
As he reached for his laptop computer, Izzy noticed they were one person short. Sora, he thought. He decided it would be wise to wake the others, especially after all that had happened in the past few days.
"Hey, everybody, Sora's gone!" Izzy said in a voice just under a shout.
Joe groggily sat up and asked: "What do you mean Sora's gone?"
"Just what I said! Sora's gone," Izzy repeated.
Soon, everyone (except Tai, who was still unconscious) was wide awake.
"You don't think she's..." Mimi whispered.
"I hope not," TK whimpered.
Matt suddenly burst out: "OK, who stole it?"
"Stole what?" Kari wondered.
"My rope!" Matt shouted in frustration.
Everyone looked at each other in confusion.
"I found a rope after I saved TK and picked it up," Matt exasperatedly explained. "Now it's gone."
Matt looked expectantly around the group, but was met with no reply to his question. He decided to let the matter drop and sighed dismissively. He had other things to worry about, like Sora turning up missing. That almost certainly meant another attack-and more blame on him.
~*~
Sora walked into the forest enjoying the serenity of the place. It was so difficult to be relaxed after all that had happened in the past few days.
The trees were once again covered with a light sprinkling of dew. It slowly dripped off the leaves creating a pleasant mist in the forest. The air was cool and crisp, giving Sora a sense of security.
She began gathering up some brushwood staying alert in case anybody tried to sneak up on her. Though the woods seemed peaceful, Sora felt an underlying mask of something different-something evil. She shivered and surveyed the small pile of brushwood in her arms. She decided it was more than enough to start a fire and began to walk back to camp-slowly at first, then faster and faster until she was at a sprint.
When did I get so far into the woods? She wondered feeling panic edging into the back of her mind. Swallowing her fear, she slowed her pace and took a deep breath.
Nothing has happened yet, it's OK, Sora told herself. She knew she was being silly; just because she was alone didn't mean she would be targeted. . . But why did she have the nasty little nagging feeling tugging at her?
Something in the trees glinted. Eyes? Sora quickly wheeled around searching for the deadly blue eyes she had heard so much about, but saw nothing.
I'm really acting like a baby, Sora thought to herself. "Nothing's going to happen," she said out loud. The sound of her voice gave her more courage, so she began chanting quietly: "Nothing's going to happen" over and over.
"Nothing's going to happen, nothing's going to ha-" Sora was sharply cut off by a cold hand clamping over her mouth. . .
~*~
"Where do you think she could be?" Kari wondered aloud.
"I don't know," Mimi replied.
Izzy considered a moment before decisively saying: "Well, knowing how practical she is, she probably went to stock up on firewood."
"Then that means she's in..." Joe trailed off, his face becoming white as paper.
"We have to get her out of there!" Mimi shouted.
"Wait, who's going to stay here with Tai?" TK wondered.
"I will," Matt volunteered.
The five other Digidestined set off in search of Sora. . .
~*~
Sora let out a strangled shout through the hand over her mouth. The person was surprisingly strong, strong enough to drag her away. She saw the bright, almost glowing blue eyes shining out of a dark cloak they were wearing.
Suddenly, they stopped walking. Sora struggled, but it was half hearted and useless. The person took their hand away from her mouth and reached into the folds of their cloak, giving Sora a chance to speak.
"W-w-who are you?" she quivered.
A cold laugh escaped the person.
"W-what do you want with us?" Sora demanded, still unable to get away.
The person drew out a rope from their cloak-a rope that was knotted into...
"A noose," Sora breathed.
The cloaked figure tossed an end of the rope over the branch of a tree and secured the noose end tightly around Sora's neck.
"No, no, please no," Sora pleaded. "Why are you doing this?"
Still the figure was silent.
"Answer me!" Sora screamed.
"Sheranamon lets no secrets out," the person murmured. Sora noticed that the voice was calm, cool, but decidedly feminine. It's not Matt, Sora realized with a shock.
She noticed the person walking to the other end of the rope and picking it up. She's going to hang me! Sora fearfully thought. She struggled against the bind, but it did no good.
"Help!" she screamed. . .
~*~
"Sora! Come on, answer us!" Mimi shouted into the forest. She was beginning to lose all hope of finding her friend.
"You don't think they've already struck, do you?" TK whispered.
"WHERE ARE YOU, SORA!?" Joe shouted.
The five children strained their ears for any sign of Sora. TK took a deep breath preparing to shout out again, but Kari stopped him.
"Listen! It's her!" Kari hissed.
Then they heard what Kari was talking about. Sora-and it sounded like she was in trouble.
~*~
Sora was shaking in fear. Why doesn't this person just do it already? She wondered. Sora suddenly realized that the cloaked girl was enjoying watching her being tortured.
She tightly shut her eyes, waiting for the snap of the rope that would signal the end of her life-but it never came.
"Sora!" she heard Izzy cry.
Sora slowly opened her eyes to see Izzy, TK, Kari, Mimi and Joe looking at her with a horrified look on their faces. She quickly surveyed the area, looking for the cloaked girl-but she was gone.
"There's Matt's rope," Joe bitterly said.
"I knew we shouldn't have left Matt alone," Mimi whispered, ripping the noose off of Sora's neck.
"Matt?" Sora quarried, dazed.
"Of course Matt," Izzy shot back.
"But-it wasn't," Sora murmured.
"What do you mean it wasn't?" Mimi inquired, giving Sora a quizzical look.
"It wasn't Matt. It was someone else," Sora explained, still a bit dazed.
A shocked silence followed this remark. . .
Part V: New Accusations
Sora woke the next morning feeling depressed. Tai hadn't gotten any better overnight; he still hadn't even woken up. This new evil business was really beginning to get to her. It was only a matter of time before somebody ended up being killed.
She recalled the events of the past few days with a shudder. TK had nearly drowned-it was by pure luck that Matt had managed to save him in time. Izzy had been poisoned, but he had recovered. Mimi had almost been stabbed to death-if the knife had only been a few inches closer to her body, she would have been killed. And now the fire... Kari had been hurt and Tai was still hovering between life and death.
Sora glanced over at the other Digidestined and realized she was the first awake. Silently, she slid out of her sleeping bag. It was cold-they needed a fire. Ironic that they would need something that had nearly killed two of them.
Shivering slightly, Sora tiptoed toward the woods. The forest fire had burnt out leaving charred stumps and blackened trees behind in the place of the lush, green trees that had once been there. She glanced over to her left, saw an area the forest fire hadn't destroyed and decided it would be a good idea to get a little fire wood from that area.
In the pit of her stomach, Sora knew it was a rash thing to wander off alone. Ignoring the tugging feeling in the back of her mind, she advanced toward the trees.
~*~
Izzy yawned and slowly sat up. The events of last night were still fresh in his mind. Thinking about them made him shiver, so he quickly pushed them to the back of his mind. He decided to work a bit more on the prophecy to help keep his mind off the danger they were all in.
As he reached for his laptop computer, Izzy noticed they were one person short. Sora, he thought. He decided it would be wise to wake the others, especially after all that had happened in the past few days.
"Hey, everybody, Sora's gone!" Izzy said in a voice just under a shout.
Joe groggily sat up and asked: "What do you mean Sora's gone?"
"Just what I said! Sora's gone," Izzy repeated.
Soon, everyone (except Tai, who was still unconscious) was wide awake.
"You don't think she's..." Mimi whispered.
"I hope not," TK whimpered.
Matt suddenly burst out: "OK, who stole it?"
"Stole what?" Kari wondered.
"My rope!" Matt shouted in frustration.
Everyone looked at each other in confusion.
"I found a rope after I saved TK and picked it up," Matt exasperatedly explained. "Now it's gone."
Matt looked expectantly around the group, but was met with no reply to his question. He decided to let the matter drop and sighed dismissively. He had other things to worry about, like Sora turning up missing. That almost certainly meant another attack-and more blame on him.
~*~
Sora walked into the forest enjoying the serenity of the place. It was so difficult to be relaxed after all that had happened in the past few days.
The trees were once again covered with a light sprinkling of dew. It slowly dripped off the leaves creating a pleasant mist in the forest. The air was cool and crisp, giving Sora a sense of security.
She began gathering up some brushwood staying alert in case anybody tried to sneak up on her. Though the woods seemed peaceful, Sora felt an underlying mask of something different-something evil. She shivered and surveyed the small pile of brushwood in her arms. She decided it was more than enough to start a fire and began to walk back to camp-slowly at first, then faster and faster until she was at a sprint.
When did I get so far into the woods? She wondered feeling panic edging into the back of her mind. Swallowing her fear, she slowed her pace and took a deep breath.
Nothing has happened yet, it's OK, Sora told herself. She knew she was being silly; just because she was alone didn't mean she would be targeted. . . But why did she have the nasty little nagging feeling tugging at her?
Something in the trees glinted. Eyes? Sora quickly wheeled around searching for the deadly blue eyes she had heard so much about, but saw nothing.
I'm really acting like a baby, Sora thought to herself. "Nothing's going to happen," she said out loud. The sound of her voice gave her more courage, so she began chanting quietly: "Nothing's going to happen" over and over.
"Nothing's going to happen, nothing's going to ha-" Sora was sharply cut off by a cold hand clamping over her mouth. . .
~*~
"Where do you think she could be?" Kari wondered aloud.
"I don't know," Mimi replied.
Izzy considered a moment before decisively saying: "Well, knowing how practical she is, she probably went to stock up on firewood."
"Then that means she's in..." Joe trailed off, his face becoming white as paper.
"We have to get her out of there!" Mimi shouted.
"Wait, who's going to stay here with Tai?" TK wondered.
"I will," Matt volunteered.
The five other Digidestined set off in search of Sora. . .
~*~
Sora let out a strangled shout through the hand over her mouth. The person was surprisingly strong, strong enough to drag her away. She saw the bright, almost glowing blue eyes shining out of a dark cloak they were wearing.
Suddenly, they stopped walking. Sora struggled, but it was half hearted and useless. The person took their hand away from her mouth and reached into the folds of their cloak, giving Sora a chance to speak.
"W-w-who are you?" she quivered.
A cold laugh escaped the person.
"W-what do you want with us?" Sora demanded, still unable to get away.
The person drew out a rope from their cloak-a rope that was knotted into...
"A noose," Sora breathed.
The cloaked figure tossed an end of the rope over the branch of a tree and secured the noose end tightly around Sora's neck.
"No, no, please no," Sora pleaded. "Why are you doing this?"
Still the figure was silent.
"Answer me!" Sora screamed.
"Sheranamon lets no secrets out," the person murmured. Sora noticed that the voice was calm, cool, but decidedly feminine. It's not Matt, Sora realized with a shock.
She noticed the person walking to the other end of the rope and picking it up. She's going to hang me! Sora fearfully thought. She struggled against the bind, but it did no good.
"Help!" she screamed. . .
~*~
"Sora! Come on, answer us!" Mimi shouted into the forest. She was beginning to lose all hope of finding her friend.
"You don't think they've already struck, do you?" TK whispered.
"WHERE ARE YOU, SORA!?" Joe shouted.
The five children strained their ears for any sign of Sora. TK took a deep breath preparing to shout out again, but Kari stopped him.
"Listen! It's her!" Kari hissed.
Then they heard what Kari was talking about. Sora-and it sounded like she was in trouble.
~*~
Sora was shaking in fear. Why doesn't this person just do it already? She wondered. Sora suddenly realized that the cloaked girl was enjoying watching her being tortured.
She tightly shut her eyes, waiting for the snap of the rope that would signal the end of her life-but it never came.
"Sora!" she heard Izzy cry.
Sora slowly opened her eyes to see Izzy, TK, Kari, Mimi and Joe looking at her with a horrified look on their faces. She quickly surveyed the area, looking for the cloaked girl-but she was gone.
"There's Matt's rope," Joe bitterly said.
"I knew we shouldn't have left Matt alone," Mimi whispered, ripping the noose off of Sora's neck.
"Matt?" Sora quarried, dazed.
"Of course Matt," Izzy shot back.
"But-it wasn't," Sora murmured.
"What do you mean it wasn't?" Mimi inquired, giving Sora a quizzical look.
"It wasn't Matt. It was someone else," Sora explained, still a bit dazed.
A shocked silence followed this remark. . .