Power of the Crests: Part Eleven?
Fire of Ice
By Celestra (Les; her maniacal look-alike twin with a warped sense of humor ::a warped everything!::J)
Hello again, digi-fans! (Or, what little fans I *might* have ^_~) Thank you so, so, SO much, Debbie (Dai-chan), for telling me that you actually like my addition to your hit series! It really means a lot to me when you review because you are my absolute IDOL! J This is the last part to the series (and my newbie parts), unless Debbie adds more parts! ^_~ Yes, Yokata, I DID start on the #7, like I said, but I couldn't illustrate for a long time because dad wouldn't scan it at first. Oh, by the way, I actually illustrated this chapter with my very own drawings! (My favorite drawing is the one of Kate when she gets her power) Can you please, please, please read, review and tell me what your favorite drawing is? In case you didn't get that, R&R & tell me your favorite drawing! It's a command! Tell me!
"Or else!"
Thank you for that conclusion, Les.
"Do as she says, or beware . . . dun dun dun, My Warped Sense of Humor! Bwahahahaha!"
That's enough candy for one night, Les.
"L."
*I've* occupied your eyes long enough. Go ahead! Read and review!
"Are we there yet, are we there yet?!" Kate jokingly complained.
"Shaddup, Kate, you know we have to walk until night so that we can camp out, hopefully away from Metalseadramon."
"Mr. Leader!" Kate complained at Tai, for real that time.
"Ha, now you know how I felt before I got my power!"
"Shut it, Cat, I really am tired."
Cat, with a mischievous look on her face, moved her lips in a whisper and raised her arms slightly towards the sky. Suddenly, a billowing black cloud flew overhead Kate, and heavy rainwater fell towards her. Elanna, Sora, and Mimi giggled, Izzy, Joe, Matt and TK laughed out loud, and Tai, Davis and Cat laughed hysterically. Kate, dripping with water, laughed, and then tackled Cat to the ground in a joking gesture. Everybody laughed louder at that, and louder again as they began to roll around in the dust, each making loud squeals of laughter as the play-fight turned itself into a tickle war.
Then, Elanna jumped in (on top of Kate), and began to tickle Kate under the armpits. Tai jumped in after her, pulled off Elanna's shoes, and began to tickle the smalls of her feet. While Tai was busy, Matt in turn tickled Tai, while TK skipped around him to tickle Cat. Joe, after heaving a sigh of exasperation, went in after him and began to tickle TK as well.
Izzy shut down his laptop, and with a small grin on his face, he dived after Joe and stroked his bare leg, causing him to stop tickling to be tickled. Davis dived under the pile of laughing, tickling and squealing kids to manage to tickle Cat on her bare arm, at the same time as she tickled Kate. Sora leaped after him, giggling like a schoolgirl, as she caught Matt behind his ears.
Mimi sighed, and decided to join in, catching Izzy instead of Cat, who lay at the bottom of the wriggling, laughing pile of kids. Each digimon in turn leapt after their partners tickled them in which place they could, seeing as everybody kept moving lest of laughing.
It seemed to be a full-fledged tickle war, each kid/digimon for him/herself. The air rang with shouts, laughter, giggles and squeals. It seemed hard to remember that just a short while ago, Cat had found her power, and saved the rest of the Digidestined.
"Wait, guys, I've got to stop, I've got a nosebleed!" Joe shouted. Soon, instead of laughter, the air rang with heavy panting, with an occasional giggle.
"They made a mistake in giving Cat a weather power," Kate wheezed as she clutched a stitch in her chest.
"Defintely," Matt panted from behind her.
"Hey, you laughed!" Lasdamon said indignantly.
"So?" Matt said, his breath regained. "Whatcha gonna do, cat?"
"I'll show you cat!" she said jokingly, and she playfully leapt at him and clung from his pants with her claws.
"Hey, get off!" He shook his leg vigorously until she leapt off, rather than being shook off by a slightly pissed off blonde.
"And that is the punishment of complaining," Gomamon quipped.
Kate leapt at Gomamon, who dived into a nearby pond, Kate nearly getting thrown into the water as well.
"Hey, Kate, everything's happenin' to you!" Davis joked.
And she heard it. Listening intently, Kate heard it. A hollow sounding voice sang a soft tune. The voice sounded sort of like the 'a' note being played on a recorder. (I'm sorry, Yokata, I couldn't help it!)
"What is it?" Elanna looked over at Kate. She seemed to notice Kate's look of concentration as she fought to keep hearing the voice.
"D'you hear it?"
"Hear what?" Raimon hopped in front of Kate with a questioning look on her face.
"Yesh, what?" Veemon said with his usual lisp.
"That voice . . . it sounds like Mrs. Marchione (Pronounced Mark-ee-o-nee) when she does the 'a' note her recorder." She said this mostly to Cat, Elanna, Mimi and Izzy, but Joe, Matt, Tai, Davis and Sora understood. TK, not going to their school said nothing, but he looked at Kate in a way that showed he hoped she would continue.
"As long as it's not a talking cat who hisses poetic prophesies in your ear, I'm fine with it," Cat said. However, she wasn't joking or being sarcastic.
Kate didn't continue, a little to TK's chagrin. She listened more intently, if possible, as if to hear more, to hear what the voice was singing. She longed to hear it. It seemed to stir something deep within her soul, as if the tune was something she once knew but long forgotten. But she knew, she knew she had never heard it before.
"Come . . .," it said. "Come to me . . . I can help you . . . I can bring you home . . .," She felt as though this voice was something to trust. She believed in its power to bring them home, thought she had hardly heard a sentence of it. However, when she told the others ("It just said to come to it so it can help us!"), Tai was very distrustful about it.
"How can you believe it?! What if it's a trap?! What if you're leading us to our deaths?!"
"Yeah, Tai?! What if I'm not? Since I'm the only one who can hear it, I have to lead!"
"So?! You can lead all you want! But you may as well be leading yourself to death!"
"Yeah? Well I'm the only one going home because I'm the only who can take us there!"
"Like I wanna go to some voice!"
"Fine, Tai, stay here! It may call me to my power, I may defeat the Dark Masters! It may be able to strengthen all of our powers!" She stormed off, leaving the others. Lasdamon trotted after her.
Davis started to go after her, but Elanna gently touched his arm to hold him back.
"Let me go, I know her better."
"And I," Cat said.
Matt started to follow, but Elanna stopped him too. "Please, Matt."
Cat hurried after Kate, with Foximon running swiftly alongside her. Elanna glanced at Tai, who stood with his back to the receding girls, positively fuming in anger over Kate's disruption.
"Elanna, are you sure? Metalseadramon may be about," Tentomon said.
"Let her cool off with the people she knows best," Elanna said.
"Okay, but use the digivices if you get into trouble."
"I'm sure three ultimates can hold off anyone long enough for you for get wherever we are."
"Okay."
Elanna turned, and with Raimon following, she jogged to where she saw a fleeting glimpse of Cat ahead.
When Elanna was completely out of sight, Matt turned to Tai, who hadn't moved, or tried to stop Cat and Elanna from following the furious Kate. Matt savagely grabbed his collar and pulled him towards him. Surprised, Tai fought back by grabbing Matt's.
"What the heck d'you think you're doing, Matt?!" he hissed.
"If they get hurt, Tai, it's all your fault!"
"My fault?"
"If you hadn't shouted at Kate, she wouldn't have run off, and Cat and Elanna wouldn't have to follow her. They're practically unprotected from Metalseadramon, Tai!"
"I didn't mean-"
"Listen! We won't move from this spot until they come back!"
"So you're the leader now?!"
"STOP!" TK shouted. Tears welled up in his eyes. "Don't yell like that! It's no one's fault. We'll just stay here and wait for them to come back!"
"Yeah!" agreed Patamon.
"Hmph." Matt and Tai let go of each other, crossed their arms turn their backs to each other.
* * *
Kate stomped away from the others, not looking back. She stomped to a small clearing in the partial jungle. There was a log. She sat down on it, using it as a bench. Smoke was positively coming out of her ears. There was a lingering thought in her head, that she might just follow the voice alone with Lasdamon, perhaps find her power, and leave the Digiworld. But the thought vanished in an instant. She knew she couldn't make the sacrifice of leaving her friends here, even Tai.
Though sacrifice was the meaning of her crest, it wasn't supposed to be like that.
She heard a soft scratching noise, and Leadsman had jumped onto the log-bench. "You okay, Kate?" She asked.
"I'm fine," Kate lied through her teeth. Besides her fight with Tai, she thought she might not get her power. She knew she had fulfilled the requirements to be able to wear her crest and make Lasdamon digivolve to ultimate. She made the sacrifice to block a blast aimed at Tai, and Shugamon, the champion form, became Dagamon, a silver and blue dragon digimon. Tai. Tai was a best friend to her, but there were times when she fought with him. Like now.
She heard soft snoring beside her, and she saw that Lasdamon had gone to sleep. She sighed, and looked down to her crest, the portal to her power, Elanna had said. Would she have to sacrifice herself again to find her power? Would her power save her from death?
"Kate?" A voice said. Looking up, she saw Cat, who looked uncertain whether to come nearer to the log where she sat, because she knew how Kate could get when she became overly angry, as she was now. Foximon trotted beside her, and seeing Lasdamon asleep on the log, she jumped on it too so that she could join her in her slumber.
Kate moved over on the log; Cat supposed that meant she could join her.
"Cat? Kate?" came Elanna's voice from where cat had appeared moments before. "Oh, there you are." She went over and sat beside Cat.
"How're you feeling, Kate?" She said softly. At that moment, Raimon jumped up onto Elanna's lap, and she too began to snooze. Elanna gently lifted her off her lap and placed her on Lasdamon's other side.
"I'm okay. It's just, why can't Tai believe me this time? I mean, he believed me when I told him I saw monsters when I was younger."
"I think that's because he saw them too. We all did, probably, because they were probably digimon." Elanna said.
"Okay, bad example. But he always believes me when I'm telling the truth! It's like intuition!"
"Well, maybe we don't know the whole truth, and if it's intuition, like you said, then maybe that's why he doesn't believe you now," Cat said logically. She shifted in her seat, and accidentally landed on Foximon's tail. She didn't yelp with pain, but she stirred and woke.
"Are we leaving now?" She said sleepily.
"No. I think me and Tai should cool down first," Kate said. She roused Lasdamon and asked," Can you and Foximon find us some food? It's almost nightfall and we should hurry."
"A'ight." Fully awake now, Foximon and Lasdamon wandered off to where their noses told them there was food.
"Cat, Raimon, can you get those trees over there to bend down so we have a shelter in case we have any unwanted visitors or weather?" Elanna asked.
"Yeah," they said together as they walked off to see how they could fit it to bend (AKA builder-stuff).
"Kate and I will find some wood for a fire," Elanna said, as she stood and pulled Kate out of her seat.
"C'mon, let's get to work."
* * *
Metalseadramon frowned darkly. "The Master does have the legendary Leader Intuition. So there is reason why he is the Master. It is a shame that you didn't lure the Fighter properly, servant."
A dark shadow stirred. "I'm sorry my Lord, it won't happen again." it said in but a whisper.
"Do you know that I can't attack her even now because she has the Keeper with her?"
"Yes, Master."
"Well, we can continue the plan, and you're lucky of that."
"Shall I start, then, with the other group? It will be all the better, see, because I heard, if there was trouble, they would summon them to help."
"Perfect. Begin immediately." Metalseadramon's golden form slithered out of sight while the dark shadow moved in the opposite direction, still not being seen.
* * *
Terrified screams filled the campground. Swishing sounds were heard, then dull thuds, and muffled shouts. Before the chaos happened, Sora pulled Tai aside, and acting on a hunch, told him to run. He had to, Agumon was captured. He ran, but stopped; he had no breath. He clambered up a tree, and fell asleep, safe, for time being.
Matt scrambled behind a tree and grabbed his digivice. He quickly used it to try to summon Elanna. ("Please come soon, please, please come soon") he thought desperately. Now all he had to was wait, but-
"Hiding, are we?" The dark whisperer who conversed with Metalseadramon appeared, still dark. Matt was captured like the others, but he alone was pushed into the eternal black bliss of unconsciousness for trying to escape.
Yet the shadow was happy when he saw what the blonde boy had been doing. "It's a matter of time," he whispered. "The Fighter who caused me the grief of anger to Lord Metalseadramon will meet her fate."
* * *
Kate sat on the log, with Cat, Elanna, Lasdamon and Foximon, eating the nuts and berries that Foximon and Lasdamon had grubbed. "They're not bad," Kate had said. She and Elanna had prepared a roaring fire for the small group. Raimon sat near the fire, warming herself up and trying to roast a few of her berries and nuts.
Cat and Elanna chatted noncommittally with each other, each having the feeling that they shouldn't talk to Kate, because she seemed deep in thought.
And Kate was deep in thought. About her crest. About her power, if she had one. She remembered something from a little while ago. Sanimon. Sanimon had said her power was ice. Icy power with fire.
"She has the power of ice, yet the fire from her makes her seem as though she have fire instead. Fire-ice girl. It's a pity I cannot destroy her while she is powerless, for I detect a great power in her that will surge out very soon . . . "
She had spoken to herself, and none of the others had heard her, but Kate had. Kate looked down at her crest, her face contorted with a depressed expression. She gazed at her Crest of Sacrifice solemnly. She looked at the polished brass tag, and the glass screen that protected the silver hued crest inside. The image on it was a horizontal half circle with a small tear-drop inside it.
Why was that the image of the Crest of Sacrifice? Did represent the inside her heart, the tear for sacrifice? She didn't know.
"You guys!" Elanna stood up very suddenly. "The others! They've been captured or something! I've got to go help!"
Cat also stood up. "I'm going too! Kate, are staying here?"
Kate nodded. She still felt as though she needed to cool down. Besides, if she left, and they came back . . . all would be a chaotic mess.
* * *
As Elanna, Cat, Raimon and Foximon ran to the others, the swishing noise sounded. So did the thuds. And Elanna, Cat, Raimon and Foximon didn't even have time to scream . . .
"She wasn't among them. But now she's alone . . . "
* * *
Tai awoke. He knew he had to warn Kate. He alone knew the full story, being able to escape. The dark, whispering shadow of a digimon was Occulemon, an octopus/squid-like digimon. He had red eyes full of hate, and a green insignia over his eyes. He was colored beige-grey and had very long tentacles. And teeth. And he was after Kate, for Metalseadramon.
Tai made his way towards the place where he had seen Kate disappearing the day before. He saw the clearing Kate and the others had been before. He saw the fire, now burnt into ashes. He saw the log, and he saw Kate and Lasdamon lying on it, using it also as bed.
"Kate! Kate! Come on, wake up! Kaaaa-te!"
He vigorously shook her arm until she was completely awake.
"Tai? Tai! Are you okay? Because Matt said something-"
"Kate, listen to me, we don't have much time. There's this digimon known as Occulemon. He's a henchman for Metalseadramon and he's after you. He wants to destroy you, because of your power. He's got the others, Elanna and Cat too."
"Whoa." Kate stood, transfixed, horrified by Tai's news.
Suddenly, something beige-grey, something that look suspiciously like a tentacle swept over Tai. He was completely surrounded by it, and it pulled him away from Kate and Lasdamon with a strangled yell," It's up to you now!"
Kate felt utterly alone, even in Lasdamon's presence. But then again, she became utterly alone. The thing came back, snatching up Lasdamon. Lasdamon seemed to understand what was happening.
"Follow!" She called.
Kate now felt empty, as though when Leadsman and Tai were snatched away, so was her soul. Blinking back tears that were threatening to form in her eyes, she muttered under her breath, but she was angrier then the sad tears she had blinked back.
"Damn," she muttered. "Tai, Lasdamon, where're you?" She knew there was going to be no answer. She swatted an insect away from her arm as she made her way through the jungle. She came to another clearing and stopped. She nearly screamed.
All her friends and the digimon, including Lasdamon, were bound tightly to tree trunks with what looked like the thick rubbery tentacles that had snatched Tai and Lasdamon. And they were all unconscious.
"Ah, you've finally arrived," came a whispery voice. Out of the shadows came what looked like an octopus-squid, with red eyes and ten long, thick, rubbery tentacles.
"Hello, Fighter. I see you are repulsed by my looks, like all the others. Good. All the easier to frighten you with. 'Twas I who sang and lured you. Lured you to your doom!" And Kate truly was repulsed by his hideous appearance. She guessed that this was the Occulemon Tai had spoken of. Speaking of Tai, she saw he was nearest to her, and the hideous Occulemon.
"You know who I am?"
"Y-yes." Kate fought to keep her courage and her wits; she knew she'd need them. "You're Occulemon." Her courage fully back, and her anger raging like fire inside of her, she shouted with the very courage of her soul," Occulemon, you're disgusting! Release my friends!"
Occulemon seemed to be enjoying his hold over her. She knew there was a hold, because he could do what he wanted, and she would be helpless to stop him.
"Ah, but you see, I need at least one being. But, twenty-three are better than one, one being you."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the Fighter obviously fights for her friends, and you, being the Fighter of Sacrifice, would sacrifice you to save many people. But you wouldn't do it. You aren't the Fighter. You wouldn't be willing. And that is why I am going to destroy you, after I destroy your friends. Before you find your power that will aid you. You are worthless"
Kate felt bitter, icy. She felt like ice. She used to be flowing, and always courageous, but this digimon seemed to zap it out of her, freezing it. But she also felt a fiery rage. She would sacrifice herself, she knew she was willing, her friends deserved to live. She felt her anger burning inside of her. Her fire-rage unfroze her courage. She knew she would. She knew what to do.
"I will," she said, as Occulemon raised a tentacle to strike an unwary Tai. Occulemon paid no heed. Seeing this, Kate raced to where Tai was, and she felt the full blow of the heavy rubbery substance that was Occulemon's tentacle. She cried out in pain.
Occulemon, hearing Kate's cry, and seeing the intense pain on her face, raised his tentacle for another blow, harder this time.
"I will take it for my friend. My friends. For them all." She said through clenched teeth.
"Nooooooo!" she cried alongside of the swish of the heavy tentacle.
Suddenly, flaring flames rose up from the place where the tentacle had first struck. The flames were angry, and they licked the tentacle, stopping it from scoring another blow on Kate's slender but strong shoulders. The tentacle was burned off of Occulemon, who cried out in pain and rage.
"No! It's not possible!" He shouted.
Kate glared at him, half of her body tinted orangey-red and yellow-gold, because of the flames. Suddenly, ice sprang up around the part of her body that was not surrounded by flames. Ice-blue icicles and cold, icy wind sprang around her, and just a cold, blue aura amid icy things went on her other side. The other half of her body was tinted blue.
Kate glared at Occulemon again, and she was raised slowly into the air, still in her fire-and-ice aura.
"I am the Fighter of Sacrifice. I fight for friends, and for what I believe in. I am ready to make the ultimate sacrifice. Because of that, I have found my power. I don't need to now, because I will destroy whoever disbelieves the friendship sacrifice can give. I will destroy you! Fire of Ice!"
A portion of the fire energy jumped to the middle of her body, as did a portion her icy energy. The ice began to spiral slightly. The fire spiraled around the ice as the ice beam shot at Occulemon. At the touch of the ice energy, Occulemon froze, and at the touch of the fire energy, he began to sizzle. The air rang with shouts and screams of pain, all on Occulemon's part, for then flames licking Kate's body did not burn her, nor did the ice freeze her.
As Occulemon dissolved, she felt her own energy rapidly draining. But in order to free her friends, she knew what else she to do. She directed her attack towards all the rubbery, rope-like tentacles. She knew her friends were free now, but of all else she didn't know as she fell into the black world of unconsciousness.
* * *
"Is she alive?"
"Of course she is."
Kate heard those voices, and she longed to open her eyes, to see whom those voices belonged to. She felt she was lying on the ground. She opened her eyes, and she was right. The concerned faces of TK and Elanna filled her vision.
"Hey, she's awake!" came Lasdamon's voice.
At this, the concerned faces of every one of her friends filled her vision. She shut her eyes, then opened them again.
"Where's Occulemon?" She whispered. Then she remembered. She blasted him into oblivion. With her power!
"You guys!" She sat up." I found my power! And I . . . saved you."
"Yeah!" Agumon piped up.
"You did a good job," Gabumon said.
Tai slid his hand under her arm to help her stand.
"Thanks, Kate. You showed true courage. But I was right, Occulemon was trying to lure you to him so he could kill you."
"Alright, alright, you were right." Kate agreed. She stood. She heard whispering from behind her, and she saw Palmon and Biyomon talking to each other, Biyomon pointing at Kate.
"What?" she asked.
"Your hair!" Biyomon squeaked.
Kate, startled, took a handful of her dark brown hair, and, stunned, she saw that she had several glints of gold in it.
"Cool," she said.
"So you really did find your power," Veemon said.
Izzy looked up. "We all have our powers, but some of us won't be able to use them for a while. I think we'll all be able to use them again one day, but not for a little while."
They group, reunited again, walked on, to defeat the Dark Masters, and to save the world.
*******NEVER THE END!!!!********
Well, here you have it. Yokata, I hope you liked it! And you too, Debbie!