Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon so please refrain from suing me for writing fan fiction. Thanks and enjoy!
Fate—Chapter 6
Hikari was still running down the dried ditch-bed as the first morning light lit the Digital World. The sunlight was not at all cheerful, as huge black clouds that colored it an ugly gray mostly blocked it. She was exhausted, but she didn't dare stop, afraid that she would be unable to start running again if she had to. Her legs felt like lead weights with every step she took and even in the cold morning air she was sweating profusely. It seemed almost natural when the rain came, adding another hardship to her growing list.
The raindrops were huge and they came so fast they stung when they hit her. As if this wasn't enough, strong winds blew the falling water into her face, forcing her to squint to keep it from entering her eyes. It felt like a tropical storm of some sort.
And the ditch-bed wasn't so dry anymore, either. Soupy mud was beginning to build around her ankles, sucking at her feet every time she lifted them. It became harder and harder for her to move in the increasing amount of mud until she reached the point where she couldn't pull her feet out of the sticky mud.
Desperately struggling to free herself, she thrashed about—until she realized that this was only making her sink farther. She was now buried up to her mid-thigh in the mud and she was continually sinking. Quickly, she stopped moving and muttered to herself: "don't struggle, you're just making it worse."
She looked at the side of the dike that was closest to her and saw a large, sturdy root sticking out of the packed dirt. Even though the dirt was changing into mud as she watched, the root seemed to be strong.
Hikari reached quickly grasped the root with both hands and pulled…to no avail. "No hurry," she reminded herself. "No hurry."
As if in direct contradiction to the statement that had just left her mouth, she heard people walking about up on top of the dike. Somebody was coming and judging by the sound of hundreds of feet marching, they weren't friendly. There was a hurry.
The thick mud lazily sloshed against her fingers and Hikari gasped sharply, panic taking over. She struggled again to escape the mud, but this only caused her to sink until her elbows were submerged in the heavy liquid.
Abruptly, she stopped moving and yanked her arms out of the mud. She once again held on to the root and pulled. With a loud sucking noise, the mud allowed her to pull herself a couple of inches out.
"Check down in the ditch," she heard a voice shout.
No! Not yet! She silently pleaded.
"Who would be crazy enough to go down there during a monsoon? Everybody knows it'll flood," another voice matter-of-factly answered.
"Well, just check, will you? I don't want Corth mad at us because we weren't thorough."
With a burst of adrenaline, Hikari was able to pull herself the rest of the way out of the mud. Unfortunately, it made a very loud squelching noise, which she was sure would give her away.
Nervously, she looked up to the top of dike—to come face to face with a Ghoulinthian. For a moment, the two of them stared at each other. Then he turned away to alert his buddies of her presence.
His shouts were blocked out by the sound of rushing water. That was when Hikari realized the importance of the Ghoulinthian's words. "Everybody knows it'll flood." She looked behind her, terrified just in time to see the huge wall of muddy water before it was upon her.
The water was moving quickly, leaving her helpless against it. Occasionally she would bob to the surface, coughing and choking on water that had entered her mouth to hear shouts from the Ghoulinthians, but she was never above the surface long enough to pick out what was being said. Once she thought she saw Takeru and another time she could have sworn she'd seen Ken, but it had only been for a moment and in the confusion of the roaring waters nothing was certain.
The only thing she knew for sure was that the water, though dangerous, was carrying her away from the Ghoulinthians. That was a good thing.
Her previous exhaustion was beginning to take its toll and she was unable to fight her way back to the surface as easily as at first. Her legs felt like rubber as she slipped under the surface again and began to sink in the swirling, dirty water. No, I can't drown! She thought. With a final burst of strength, she kicked to the surface and drew a deep breath. And then she sunk back under the surface, too weak to fight the current any longer and everything went black.
~*~
Voices drifted to Hikari from far away:
"Geez, two near-drownings in less than twenty-four
hours."
"It's a wonder she managed to escape the
Droglidites. I would like to know how
she did it."
"I'm just glad you found her, Gennai."
Hikari snapped open her eyes and sat up quickly with a gasp when she noticed she was inside a house and lying in a bed. For a moment she was frightened, then she noticed that Miyako, Daisuke, Taichi and Gennai were all standing beside the bed.
"Taichi! Daisuke! Miyako!" she cried out. "I—I thought they got you, too!"
"Nope, we've been here pretty much ever since we came back to Digiworld," Daisuke replied.
"I'm glad to see that you're safe," Taichi whispered to his sister. "You had me worried for a minute there."
"How did I get here?" Hikari inquired. "Is this your house, Gennai?"
Gennai nodded and was about to explain when Miyako broke in with: "you came in from the ditch and ended up in Gennai's lake. He brought you down to his house as soon as he realized you were out there."
For a moment Hikari was confused, at Miyako's explanation, then she remembered that Taichi had told her Gennai's house was under a lake. She was about to ask what they were going to do next, but decided against it. For the moment, all was peaceful and she could just rest and she was going to take advantage of it while it lasted.
~*~
Braul grinned to himself. That promotion is so close I can practically taste it, he thought. He had found Gennai's house. Even if it was by an accident, he had found it.
When the Digidestined girl was washed down the ditch, he pursued her until she drifted into a large, calm lake. She was still and facedown in the water and he was just about ready to leave her, satisfied that she was dead when the waters parted and Gennai himself appeared on a stairway that had been concealed underwater.
He hadn't stayed long enough to watch him take the girl down to his house, but what he'd seen was more than enough. So now here he stood, face to face with Corth. Taking a deep breath, he blurted: "I have news that will interest you immensely, sir! I have found the location of Gennai's house…."