Malfunction?
Chapter Six – Tai starts to fall apart
"I think it's big enough now." Yamato took one final look at his
handiwork and passed the scissors back to Sora. She stowed them away in her pocket, and stared back at him with
wide eyes.
"This is really the moment
of truth, huh?" she said, her voice shaking slightly. He nodded grimly.
"I really wish we had a rope
or something; I could end up swinging at the full extent of my arms and find
I'm unable to get back." She shook her
head.
"I'll pull you back, don't
worry." Part of her mind had
dissociated slightly. Rope! It would indeed be useful to have something
to secure Yamato when he took his rather perilous climb into the dark. Would it be possible to ... No, she had to
concentrate: Yamato had already swung his legs over the edge of the slit in the
floor and was starting to lever himself through. Sora lay flat on the floor with her hands gripping his wrists
while Yamato squeezed through the narrow opening. He found – absolutely nothing. He swung his legs backwards and forwards until they were encompassing a
180 degree arc, but still no contact with anything at all.
"I'm going to let myself
down further – try to help me take the strain." He gripped the edge of the
aperture firmly and began to extend his arms downwards. Sora kept a tight grip on his wrists and
felt him began to swing again. Still
nothing.
"Quick!" he gasped, "Get me
back up – I can't hold on much longer." Sora didn't need telling twice: she hauled at his arms frantically and
he pulled himself laboriously back into their cell.
"Nothing." He managed to get
out between heaving breaths, "Nothing at all, no contact whatsoever. I'm gonna have to think this out." He walked a couple of paces away from the
hole and lay down on his back staring into space. Sora did not move. Presently she reached out to the ragged edge of the hole and began to
pull at the fibres surrounding it. Now
Yamato had slackened the glue, it seemed as though some of the fibres were
working themselves loose, coming unravelled. Curiously, Sora pulled at one; it came away in her hand. She flexed it carefully – it seemed pretty
strong, now where did it end? The
strand of fibre ran to the end of the split in the floor, then seemed to
disappear into the woven mass of webbing. Sora felt a wave of disappointment; she'd never manage to separate
enough of the stuff to make a useable rope. Disconsolately, she tugged at the strand, which started to move.
"Huh?" she exclaimed
quietly, then pulled again much harder this time. The piece of fibre slid slowly and stickily out of the weave,
inch by inch, foot by foot as Sora kept pulling.
"Matt, come here!" she
called excitedly. He was at her side in
a moment.
"Take this." She handed him
the end of the fibre strand. She
herself took hold of it a little further along its length. "Now pull, hard!" They both braced their feet against the floor and pulled
mightily. The fibre resisted but continued
to give, bit by bit, as they changed handholds several times.
"I should think we've almost
got enough, Sora!" Yamato said, eventually, "What a stroke of luck!" Without
warning, the fibre suddenly parted company with the webbing and Sora cannoned
into Yamato, knocking him to the floor. When she had regained her breath, she levered herself up and away from
him as quickly as possible, acutely embarrassed, then offered him a hand to
help him up from the floor. Yamato took
it politely and got up, but not before she had glimpsed a flash of amusement in
his ice-blue eyes and a lopsided smile at her discomfiture. Sora shrugged inwardly: I guess it is
pretty funny really, I mean, acting like that over a complete accident, when
earlier we were – well, I suppose I ought to try to work that one through
sometime. Just not now: we've got too
much to worry about already. Yamato
was quickly coiling the rope and roughly measuring it at the same time.
"I reckon we've got enough
rope here to explore fifteen/twenty feet before running out." He said in
satisfaction, then he looked at her. "How good are you at abseiling?" She shrugged.
"Pretty good, at least I
was. Haven't tried it recently
though. Why do you – Oh, no!" Yamato smiled grimly.
"'Fraid so!" he replied,
apologetically, "You see, you could never hold my weight for any length of
time, but you're a lot lighter and I'm a good deal stronger. I'm sorry, Sora, but you're going to have to
go down on the end of this rope." Sora
gulped and looked very frightened for a moment, then she steeled herself and
nodded tersely, grabbing one end of the fibre and starting to tie it around her
in the proper knots.
"Let's get this over with
then." While she was constructing a
makeshift harness, Yamato was attempting to force another hole in the edge of
the matting, not too close to the edge, in order to have something to brace
with. By the time Sora was finished, he
was ready. They looked into each
others' eyes and Sora smiled.
"It's now or never." She
whispered, through her dry throat. He
nodded.
"Let's get this show on the
road!"
"Izzy, where are they now?" The redhead looked up from his ceaseless perusal of the laptop screen.
"They seem to have stopped,
at least for a while, Tai." He replied, "Their vital signs haven't changed for
a good hour. I suspect they might be
resting – speaking of which, we could probably do with a short breather. We're getting pretty close to them
now." Taichi signalled for a brief halt
without raising any objection. This in
itself was remarkable, Izzy realised, but when he simply sat with his head in
his hands, neither annoying Agumon nor pestering Izzy for information, then
there was cause for worry. It seemed
that Taichi was nearing the end of his tether. Izzy sat down next to him and, for once, closed his laptop. He felt rather awkward. There had never been any particularly strong
bond between Taichi and the red-haired boy, either of attraction, as with Sora,
or antagonism, as with Matt. Izzy had
just been there, the computer geek, the one with all the answers to the
difficult questions. He couldn't
remember a time when so much had been required of him in areas in which he felt
he had neither talent nor ability. He
sighed inwardly and looked towards the other boy. Geez, how thin Taichi had become! Was this a recent thing? – Izzy couldn't remember. His face looked grim and as black as
thunder. What was he brooding about?
"Tai? Tai!" Izzy placed a light hand on Taichi's
shoulder. The boy started violently and
glared at the intruder before registering who it was.
"Izzy. I was – miles away." He said,
apologetically. "Anything to
report?" Izzy shook his head.
"Nothing. I was just wondering if you wanted to –
well, talk a little." Taichi frowned.
"Talk? What about?" Izzy shrugged.
"I dunno. Life, the digiworld, Matt, Sora –
whatever. You seem distracted – that's
not like you." Taichi sighed and shook
his head.
"I just keep thinking,
Izzy." He ran his hands through his hair, "Sora. I – well, I never really asked her out, you know? It just sort of – happened one day. I don't know when I decided that Sora was my
girl – I'm not sure if I had even made that sort of decision, my head was too
full of the digi-world and Agumon digivolving and the need to protect
everyone. Sora and I went to look for
something to eat. Agumon and Biyomon
took off into the woods and we tried to follow them, but we got sort of turned
around and we couldn't find them. It
got dark and we still couldn't find our way back, so we decided to make our own
camp in a little cave we found. We'd
had reasonable luck with regard to food – some fruit and a few edible roots –
and we found enough brushwood to make a small fire. We were comfortable enough, but the fuel soon ran out, and we
knew the fire wouldn't last through the night, so we – well, slept huddled
together. For warmth, you know." Taichi was slightly embarrassed, even though
the memory was obviously one of his happiest. "You know, Izzy, I never even kissed her for weeks after that. We've been going together for four years,
and I've never even taken her to a movie, or even a party!" Izzy smiled.
"There aren't many drive-ins
in digiworld, but we could have a party if you wanted – you know, to celebrate
getting them back. If we found
somewhere with a good beach, enough fish and stuff for a barbecue, a nice
moonlit night – I could find some mood music on the Pineapple. Hey, maybe we could find out if Joe can
dance!" Taichi looked up at Izzy with a
grin of genuine enthusiasm.
"Hey, that's a great idea,
Izzy!" he exclaimed, "We could have a beach party! Hey, maybe we could get some of those red berries – you know, the
ones that make that really yummy juice. Sora always seems to be able to track them down …" The light in his face
dimmed.
"I miss Matt." He said,
suddenly, "I know we fight and argue and never seem to agree on anything, but
without him I'm so unsure of what I'm doing." He turned and put a hand on Izzy's shoulder. "You've been terrific, Izzy
– don't think I'm too dense to have noticed how much you've helped me – but
Matt's like my other half. I feel like
I've lost my right arm – and I most probably have." He sighed deeply.
"But most of all, I miss
having Sora near me so much. I can't
sleep without knowing she's there; I keep thinking I see her in the corner of
my eye, yet I know she's missing; everyone's morale's so low at the moment, and
I'm certain that's because my Sora isn't there to make everyone feel wanted and
needed." He looked up, his eyes shining
and not bothering to hide the fact, "I – I love her, Izzy; I love her so much,
but I know she always has to goad me into telling her so. I feel so unworthy of her; I try to show her
how much I love her, but somehow I always seem to get it wrong. And now, I can't find it in me to believe
we're really going to get her or Matt back. I can't do it without Matt, Izzy. Strange that, isn't it? I can't
rescue Matt without Matt to help. Oh, Geez!" Taichi buried his head in his hands. Izzy's blood ran cold. If Taichi
Kamiya, bearer of the Crest of Courage, had lost faith in himself and in the
rest of the digidestined, then truly things looked bad. Izzy couldn't for the life of him think of a
single thing to do or say to make the situation any better. But someone else could.
"Don't say that, Tai, don't
say that!" Takeru had approached
silently from behind Izzy and had heard the last part of what Taichi had
said. Taichi looked up at him
hopelessly and shook his head.
"TK, I'm sorry but I just
can't see how we're going to come out of this one alive and intact. I wish I felt otherwise, but I just think
it's hopeless." Takeru paused for a moment,
then put his hand on Taichi's arm.
"This is the very worst
adventure we've ever had in digiworld." He said, quietly, "We've been in some
more dangerous circumstances, but we've never had to travel in such a horrible,
scary situation before. And you know, I
think that's part of it. Yeah, I think
that whatever's in charge here is making us feel this way, using its power to
sap our strength and our faith in ourselves and each other. But we're not going to let it beat us! I am the bearer of the Crest of Hope, and
while my crest is with us, we won't lose sight of what we need to do here. Now, Tai, let's go: we gotta rescue Sora,
and my brother, and the longer we stay here letting the darkness seep into our
bones, the weaker we're gonna be when it comes to the crunch!" Taichi stared at Takeru for a moment, then he
got to his feet.
"You're right, TK." He said,
his voice gaining some of its old authority, "I keep thinking you're still nine
years old – I forget that you're almost all growed up now. Thanks – for reminding me of my job!" Takeru gave a slightly ironic grin and
slapped Taichi lightly on the shoulder.
A flash of white in Taichi's
peripheral vision made him turn his head quickly. As he did so, he heard a sigh of relief followed by Kari's low
voice.
"Gatomon! Oh, thank goodness you're back! You've been gone so long – I was
worried." Gatomon rubbed her head
apologetically against Kari's arm.
"I am sorry." She replied
softly, "I had some difficulty getting back to you. Not everywhere here is covered with these convenient walkways –
most areas are just criss-crossing fibres of spider silk. I'm very good at negotiating difficult
places, but not that good!"
"Did you see anything?" Taichi had come up quickly to her side. Gatomon fixed him with a cool feline stare
and shook her head.
"Nothing. No sign of life at all, which is strange in
itself. The Arachnamon seem to have
gone to sleep or into hiding – there is no sign of them at all along our
route." Taichi nodded and turned
away. Izzy moved over to him.
"This sounds bad, Tai; there
ought to be at least a few sentries, or some use of what seems to be a major
thoroughfare."
"What do you suggest we do,
Izzy?" Taichi's brow was furrowed, "If
Gatomon can't walk on these sticky fibres, then we certainly can't. As far as I can see it, we have no other
choice but to carry on the way we're going, and hope that we've got enough
firepower to beat the pants of anything that's ahead." Izzy had nothing to add, so Taichi began
rounding up the rest of the digidestined to start moving.
"Did you discover anything
else?" said Kari in a low voice to her digimon. Gatomon growled softly and shook her silky head.
"I still do not know what it
is that disturbs me. It is familiar,
and yet not the same. I am certain I
have encountered this intelligence before, a long time ago when I served
Myotismon, but it is not he, nor is it any of his servants." The cat-like digimon looked up at her
mistress.
"I am sorry, Kari, I can
tell you no more." Kari said nothing,
merely stroked Gatomon's head gently.
"I'm sorry, Matt, I just can't reach anything at all. It's like we're suspended in a basket over
the edge of a cliff!" Sora's voice was
muffled. Yamato braced the rope again
and sighed.
"I can only give you a
couple more feet at the most." He responded, and proceeded to lower her a
little further into the abyss. A little
later her voice floated back.
"Still nothing. I think you'd better reel me in."
"Okay." In great disappointment, Yamato began the
laborious process of hauling Sora back into their cell. Thwarted, they sat by the hole in the floor
and stared at each other, trying to think of something else.
"If we could only see what
was down there, we might stand a sporting chance!" muttered Yamato savagely,
slamming his hands down on the webbing in frustration. Sora's mouth opened in surprise.
"Light!" she whispered,
excitedly, "Light! A torch!"
"Do you have one?" Yamato
turned quickly. She shook her head,
fumbled at her belt and held out her digivice.
"Light!" she said again, "A light
to banish all darkness, Centarumon said." Curiously, Yamato took out his own device.
"This?" he queried,
doubtfully, "D'you think it'll work?" Sora leaped up smiling grimly.
"There's only one way to
find out – lower me over the edge again, Matt, I shan't be too long this time!"
Sora was only just below the
hole when she took out her digivice with a shaking hand. If this failed, she was totally devoid of
any other ideas, and time was getting short. Please help us, just this once, give me some light - please! She begged silently. As if in answer, a beam of light shot from
the digivice, illuminating everything within reach and causing Sora to wince
and turn away reflexively.
"Sora! Sora, are you okay?" Yamato had felt the jerk on the rope. Tears of pain at the sudden brightness after
so much dark erupted down Sora's cheeks all at once, doubly blinding her.
"Wait up, Matt." She called,
trying to blink them away. She angled
the digivice downwards and saw absolutely nothing; empty space, no fibres, no
walkways, no other structures at all. She couldn't see the bottom, but she didn't doubt that it was a long way
down and the landing would not be soft. He spirits fell to rock bottom, and additional tears, this time of
defeat, sprang to her eyes. However,
her mind would not let her give up so easily. She swung the digivice round carefully, and discovered that indeed her
guess about the location of their prison was right: they were suspended,
probably at the lowest point over the abyss. Therefore their captors, when they visited, had to have come from
above. She angled the light carefully
above her head and examined the outside of the cell. With a leap of spirits which threatened to dislodge her from the
rope, she realised that it was covered from top to bottom with woven fibres;
fibres knotted and glued together in a repeating pattern, which resembled
nothing so much as a series of rope ladders. Holding on to her elation, she peered further and further upwards, to
discover a broad, woven structure, which looked suspiciously like a rope
bridge.
"Bingo!" she said softly,
then replaced the digivice in her belt and proceeded to climb back into the
cell.
Within a very short time,
Yamato and Sora had secured the middle of their fibre rope to the edge of the
hole and had constructed makeshift harnesses of a slightly different sort for
both of them out of the two ends of the rope.
"At least if one of us
slips, we'll have a fighting chance of climbing back without pulling the other
one with us." Said Yamato, tightening the knots, "Come on, Sora, we've wasted
enough time in this place." And with
that, he swung himself head first out of the hole, scrabbling for hand and foot
holds on the thick, fibrous rope. The
climb proved to be ridiculously easy for two high school athletes – it could
have been built for them – and it was a very short time before they were
standing on the roof of their erstwhile prison, checking out the terrain before
they set foot on the rope bridge. Sora,
who had been holding her digivice as a torch, suddenly withdrew the light and
put it in her pocket.
"Hey, what didja do that
for?" protested Yamato in a whisper.
"We can't use it, Matt,
it'll be a total giveaway – as good as standing up and shouting 'Here we
are!' And if we're going to walk in the
dark, we need to take a few minutes for our eyes to become accustomed to the
lack of light." The two waited on the
bridge until their night vision kicked in. They could make out the rope bridge plainly, and certain other as yet
unidentified structures came into dim view. The coast was clear.
"Okay." Yamato whispered,
fiercely, "Now let's get as far away from here as possible!"