Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon so please refrain from suing me for writing fan fiction. Thanks and enjoy!
Fate--Chapter 7
Sora yawned and rubbed her sleep-heavy eyes with the dirty palms of her hands. She knew she should try to sleep--the Ghoulinthians would be in to put them to work soon--but sleep seemed impossible after what she had witnessed.
It had been an extremely long night. She along with Ken, Takeru, Jyou and Iori had been dragged across the Digital World on the Ghoulinthian's search for the escapee. All night all they had done was walk, walk, walk without any breaks. They walked until the first gray rays of morning sunlight filtered through the thick clouds above. That was when the monsoon came. Icy water from the heavens pelting against her bare arms and unprotected feet. It made her wish she were wearing something heavier than a pair of shorts and a tee shirt with no shoes.
And her friends hadn't been any better off than her. The ones that had been lucky enough to have shoes were forced to take them off and give them to the Ghoulinthians. Why? She had no idea. Probably just to make matters worse for them than they already were.
So there they were in the midst of a regiment of Ghoulinthian soldiers, chained together to discourage any ideas of escape, cold, wet and generally miserable. It was enough to almost wish they could just find the person that escaped the Droglidites just so they could get out of the awful rain and cold. Almost. She could never wish what she and her friends were going through on somebody else.
They walked through the harsh wind and rain until they came to a dried up ditch bed that was set far down into the ground. That was when Hikari was found. Before any of the Ghoulinthians could get down to her, a wall of water washed her down the ditch bed, away from the Ghoulinthians. All she could do was hope and pray that Hikari had survived.
That was over an hour ago. Now she was lying on her back on the hard, cold floor of her cell thanks to the power of teleportation that the Ghoulinthians apparently possessed. Sleep? Who was going to sleep after something like that?
Maybe someone else is awake, too. Might as well find out. Talking is definitely better than laying here awake, she thought as she got up and walked to the barred door of her cell.
"Is anyone awake?" she half-whispered, hoping that somebody would answer. "Anyone?"
"Sora?" came a tired reply. "You're still awake, too?"
"Yes, Takeru," she answered, glad that she wouldn't have to lay in her cell in that awful silence.
There was a long stretch of quiet and Sora was startled when Takeru inquired: "where do you think Hikari is now, Sora?"
"I'm not sure."
She heard Takeru sigh before saying: "well, I hope she made it."
Another awkward pause, then: "I'm glad it was her."
"Hmm?" Sora sleepily grunted.
"I'm glad she was the one that escaped."
Sora yawned again. She was tired, too tired for real conversation. In the cell across the hall she heard Takeru yawn deeply and she drowsily said: "go to sleep. You're tired. I am, too."
"Goodnight, Sora," Takeru replied through another yawn.
"Goodnight, Takeru," she answered. She moved away from the door of her cell and lay back down on the cell floor, eyes open, staring at the half-rotten ceiling. She was tired, but she didn't sleep. Not at all.
~*~
Miyako's eyes snapped open as Daisuke shook her awake from a sound sleep. For a moment she was confused as to where she was, then it all came back to her: the war between the Droglidites and the Ghoulinthians, the fact that most of her friends were being held captive, Gennai…everything came flooding back to her.
It took her a second to realize that something was wrong. She didn't know exactly what it was, but something in Daisuke's eyes told her that something was not right. He looked nervous and afraid.
"Daisuke, what's going on?"
"Shh!" he hissed. "We've got to get out of here." His voice was breathy and taught. Something was definitely going on.
"Where's Taichi and Hikari?" she demanded, noticing that the two of them were missing.
"Waiting for us. Get up. Hurry."
Miyako narrowed her eyes, but swung her legs to the ground and got out of bed. She allowed Daisuke to lead her out of the room. Once outside the room, he began running down the twisted hall, pulling Miyako behind him.
"Daisuke, what is going on?" she requested as they ran.
"The Ghoulinthians know we're here. They're trying to get to us. Last I heard they were almost inside. Hurry up!"
Miyako didn't bother to explain that she was already running as fast as she could and nearly collided with Daisuke when he stopped abruptly in front of her.
"What are you doing?" she skeptically inquired. If the situation hadn't been so serious, she would have laughed. Daisuke was stomping on the tiled floor as hard as he could.
He didn't answer and his actions quickly explained themselves when a panel on the floor suddenly came loose.
"Go," he muttered.
Miyako jumped down and Daisuke quickly followed, pulling the panel closed behind him. They were now in a well-lit earthen cavern that Miyako assumed to be under Gennai's house.
"Daisuke, Miyako! Over here!" Hikari's voice came to them, echoing in the cavern.
Miyako followed the voice to find both Hikari and Taichi waiting for her and Daisuke, as Daisuke had earlier said. Gennai was also with them. All three of them were standing next to a large lock of some sort that was composed of a type of metal. About three feet from the ground was a large hole in the lock that appeared to lead to the opening of a pipe.
"I'm sorry you have to leave like this," Gennai apologized, "but it is certainly better than the alternative."
"Thanks for helping us, Gennai," Taichi replied. "Are you sure you'll be OK?"
"It's you the Ghoulinthians are after. Not me. I'm going to send you out in a mini-sub. It might be a little cramped, but it should be large enough to accommodate the four of you. I have it on auto-pilot, so all you need to do is go through the pipe."
Nobody made a move to get into the pipe and Gennai irritably ordered: "go. Now. Before they catch you."
Miyako sighed and had soon disappeared through the pipe, then Daisuke Hikari and Taichi. The pipe was surprisingly short and as Gennai had said the submarine was a little cramped. Somehow, the four of them managed to squeeze inside and the door automatically slid closed after them. The next thing they knew, the submarine was moving away from Gennai's house under the lake and away from the only safety that they had had.
~*~
Yamato pressed his cheek against the cold stone floor of the cell he was in. The cold felt good against his hot face and he closed his eyes. His throat still felt as though it was on fire every time he took a breath, but he was recovering from the torture. When he had been unceremoniously dumped into his cell, he had been too weak to move. It seemed that even blinking was an effort. But gradually, ever so gradually, he regained the strength to sit up on his elbows and then stand up. He felt sick and lightheaded. The injection that had forced him to stay conscious through the operation was beginning to wear off.
Not that he didn't want it to. He was actually looking forward to being able to go unconscious. At least it would allow him to escape from the awful pain that stabbed through his throat with every slight breath.
The lightheadedness was becoming worse. It felt strange. The only way to describe it was fainting in super slow motion, but even that fails to really depict it.
From far away, Yamato heard footsteps. But they were so far away…. He felt dizzy and he gritted his teeth, hoping he wouldn't throw up. The sound of a key in a lock come to him and like the footsteps they were far, far away. He was vaguely aware of he door of his cell opening and somebody entering, but it didn't seem to matter anymore.
Somebody grabbed his arm and it took a minute for his fuzzy train of thought to register that whoever was holding his arm was trying to get him to stand up. He didn't care. It felt like he was floating.
Whoever had hold of his arm jerked him to his feet. The room whirled around him and then he was finally able to go unconscious and escape from the fiery pain that plagued him….