LEGACY OF DIGITA
Author's Notes: Part 4 comin' at ya!. Whew! There sure were a lot of lines in the last one. From now on I'm just going to write the story and add a little guide after the prologue that lists all borrowed content and sources. This chapter will build a little more on several character relationships including those of digimon. However, it's supposed to be more suspenseful than romantic but I'll let you be the judge. Anyway, on with the story.
Chapter 4- Race Against Death
Everyone gathered as Taichi slid the shield amulet from his father's neck and draped it over his own.
Hikari crossed her father's arms over his chest, then turned and threw herself into her betrothed's arms, letting the tears she was holding flow forward in torrents.
"Father," the young knight said out loud, "I will fulfill your dying request. Your death was not in vain. We have won and also vanquished a powerful enemy. May your soul be at peace." With that, Tai stood up and walked off, but not towards the palace. He went into the woods to be alone.
Mimi sighed as she watched Taichi leave. "Poor Tai. He's obviously only beginning to get through the initial shock." With this, the girl turned to the group. "Somebody better talk to him before he does something rash."
Matt raised a hand. "Augumon and I will go. He's my best friend. I can't let him go without saying something."
"No," Sora said, stepping forward. "If it is alright Yamato, I'd like to talk to him. Alone." She looked at Matt pleadingly.
The blonde bard nodded his approval. "Alright. Go talk to him."
"Thank you," the amazon smiled and walked off to find Taichi. She didn't have to search far. Not more than twenty yards into the forest, Tai leaned back against a boulder, tears running down his face. "Tai," she timidly called.
The young knight turned to face Sora. "Yes?"
"I'm so sorry about your father," Sora said approaching Taichi. "I lost my parents to a war, so I know what it's like."
Tai wiped the tears from his face and looked deeply into the amazon's red eyes. "I know my father would have wanted this. He said when his time came, he wanted it to be in battle." He reached a hand up and cupped her cheek. "Please say that you won't leave because of this."
Sora melted at his touch. "Why would I leave," she asked, confused as to why he would ask such a thing.
"Sora I have something very important that I've been trying to say all night." Tai's rich brown eyes began welling up with more tears. This wasn't the best place to say this and it was hardly the appropriate time, but he had to say it now.
Sora closed her eyes and listened closely, eager to hear what he had to say. Her world came to a halt, her heart nearly breaking when he suddenly jerked his hand from her cheek. Did he hate her? Why did he do that? The amazon desperately opened her eyes on the verge of tears but gasped in shock when she saw Tai staring wide-eyed at his arm. He had recoiled because his upper arm had been impaled by a black arrow, with raven feather fletching and a head coated in weaponblack. The young knight was in shock and was unable to even cry out in pain. Sora took out her bow and knocked an arrow, searching for whoever shot Tai. She soon spotted a cloaked figure with bow in hand running through the trees. Sora released her arrow and it landed in the figure's back, causing whoever it was to promptly drop dead.
Tai staggered backward and leaned on a nearby tree. He suddenly started yelling in pain. "My arm! It feels like its on fire!" He ripped his sleeve off and fainted in combination from the intense pain and the horrific sight before him. The flesh around the arrow was beginning to turn an unnatural color of purple.
**************************
One hour later, everyone was waiting outside of Tai's chambers for Jyou to give them news. Matt was pacing nervously while Mimi was wringing her hands. Kari was sobbing onto TK's shoulder as he held her close to him, trying to maintain his strong composure. Davis leaned against the wall and scowled, frustrated with the helplessness he felt. Lady Kamiya was beside herself. Lord and Lady Ishida were trying to console her but couldn't hide their worry. Izzy and Yolei sat quietly, nervous and scared, but doing better at remaining relatively calm than most of the others. Cody stood in the middle of the hallway, stone-faced.
Then, Joe emerged. Everyone at once asked what the situation was, if Taichi was going to be alright, and many more questions in a loud cacophany. "Everyone, please be quiet," Jyou ordered and the hall fell silent. "The situation looks grim," the blue-haired healer said solemnly. "Lord Taichi's been poisoned. I have seen the toxin only once before. Now I have good news and bad news."
"Well? Let's hear it," Lord Ishida said.
"The bad news is that the poison is lethal, which should be fairly obvious. With the medicines I have, all I can do is keep Lord Taichi alive until dawn." Joe pursed his lips and sighed. "His chances aren't good."
"Well what's the good news, then," Daisuke demanded.
"There is a way to cure him. Dragon's blood flowers."
Mimi looked up. "I know those flowers! They grow a short way north of here in abundance." Everyone was now looking at the magician girl now. "The nectar is said to be a potent antidote to almost every kind of ailment."
"Correct," Jyou nodded. "Someone's going to have to go get those flowers. We have about seven hours, and it's a long trip."
"I'll go," Mimi immediately volunteered. "I know where they are, I can get them easily."
"You're not going alone," Yamato said to Mimi. "Tai saved my life on several occasions. I could never call myself his friend if I wasn't willing to do the same for him."
Sora stood up. "I'm going too. Once we get those flowers, Birdramon can get me back here faster than Togemon or Garurumon can." The amazon was right, of course. Everyone agreed and it wasn't long before they were all preparing to leave.
Tai was still conscious. There was absolutely nothing Jyou could give the young lord to sedate him, the poison cancelled out any drugs that could have given its victim temporary relief. The ugly purple color was beginning to spread across Taichi's body. It was now covering his whole arm and was creeping over his chest, upper back, and neck. "Davis," he called. His voice was hoarse and scratchy.
Daisuke walked up to his master's bedside and kneeled. "Yes, sir?"
"Recite the virtues of a knight." Tai looked up at the celing and listened to his squire. He needed something to distract him from his pain.
"A knight is sworn to valor, honor, truth, patience, courage, strength, justice, chivalry, trust, and loyalty." Davis spoke without pause. Since his defeat in the duel, the young squire had been trying harder than ever to live by the knight's code.
"Good," Tai smiled. "What are the knight's duties?"
"His blade defends the helpless. His might upholds the weak. His word speaks only truth. His wrath undoes the wicked." Once again Davis delivered perfectly.
Kari watched her brother with worried eyes while TK stood near the door. He reasoned that whoever made an attempt on Taichi's life might come back to make sure nothing went wrong.
Jyou was mixing a special green paste from some of the herbs in his healer's pack. Taichi winced as the blue-hiared doctor applied the mixture and a fresh bandage to his wound, but smirked when the medicine he was just given numbed the pain slightly. "This is only a quick fix," Joe said simply. "It will give you a little relief, though I need to apply a fresh bandage every hour."
Tai nodded his thanks. "I appreciate the help. Tell me, honestly, what are the chances that the others are going to make it back in time? If I'm going to join my father, I'd like to know."
Kari sobbed. "Please don't say that Tai," she choked out. "You're going to make it."
Joe sighed. "We can't be sure of that Lady Hikari. The chances of Lord Yamato and the others getting the flower to him in time are very slim."
"About one thousand to one," Izzy added. "I hate to say it, but those are the odds, and we must be prepared for the worst."
"One thousand to one," Takeru asked.
"Yes," Izzy replied solemnly.
"Then there's still a chance," the blonde lord said with a slightly lighter tone. "If you keep your hope and faith, then there will always be a beacon of light even in the darkest hour."
Miyako smiled lightly at his words. "Well spoken Lord Takeru. Well spoken."
"What we should be doing right now," TK continued, "is keeping our guard up and not fussing over every little detail."
"Why's that," Tai asked hoarsely.
"Whoever tried to kill you," the blonde lord frowned, "may try to finish the job if they hear about my brother going for the cure."
"Good thinking," Tai smiled
"We'll take shifts in pairs. Seems the best idea to me." It was Davis this time. "I'll stand first watch. Who's with me?" Part of Daisuke hoped Kari would volunteer, but the other side told him that she was in love with Takeru and he knew she wasn't going to have a change of heart.
"I'll stay with you." Everyone turned to see TK, a solemn look etched on his face. "A couple good swordarms should be enough for the time being. The room is too small, though, for our digimon."
"I have an idea," Hawkmon said.
"What is it," Yolie asked, looking down at her partner.
"Most of us can digivolve to champions with the ability to fly. We can keep a patrol around the castle." The bird-like digimon smiled and looked at everyone to get their response.
"Not a bad idea, but most of us are tired out from the fight," Gatomon replied, her ears starting to droop.
"She's right," Veemon added. "I may be a few swords short of a full armory, but I know well enough that I'm exhausted."
Hawkmon realized the flaw in his plan and hung his head. "Well," he said, "I don't suppose there's anything stopping me and Tentomon."
"He's right," the bug digimon replied. "The two of us will keep patrol around the castle until the rest of you can get your strength back."
"That's seems like a sound idea," Izzy added.
******************************
Patamon and Gatomon stood outside Taichi's door, keeping watch on the outside. They still had energy enough to fight back if anyone tried to break into the young lord's room.
"This just isn't fair," Patamon said after a long silence.
Gatomon looked up and sighed. She knew it wasn't fair. In one night Lord Kamiya was killed and his son may die in a few hours. But what couls they do except wait for the others to come back? It was very frustrating.
Cray came by, his eyes still watered with tears as he brought over a silver tray with food and set it before the two digimon. "For your strength," he said simply. The green-haired servant bowed and walked off, wiping a salty year from his eye.
"Poor Cray," Patamon frowned as he took a slice of bread. "He's pretty broken-hearted about all of this."
Gatomon nodded as she took a filet of fish. "He's been in the service of the Kamiyas since he was Tai's age. It must be painful to watch the people you grew to love as family die." The cat digimon sighed.
"Well," Patamon began as he looked at Gatomon, "if it is any consolation, I promise I'll never leave you."
Gatomon felt her cheeks redden under her white fur as she looked at the winged digimon beside her and met his gaze. "Taking advice from Takeru again," she asked playfully.
Patamon smiled as he and Gatomon leaned against each other sharing the food. "I might be." Right now, they both needed a reason to smile. Yamato once said it wasn't healthy to be constantly depressed.
******************************
Garurumon was running at full speed. Gabumon had managed to shovel down enough food to feed five people in about five minutes. It was strength enough to get him to digivolve and stay that way long enough to reach the flowers. Palmon was sitting on his head, using her Poison Ivy vines to hold onto him. Biyomon was flying behind them, easily being able to keep up, though she would have to rest soon and ride on the wolf digimon's back as she did not have his endurance. Matt was holding onto Garurumon's neck as he sat on his back. Mimi and Sora were behind the blonde bard respectively, holding onto whatever they could grab to stay on. For Sora, this was large fistfuls of Garurumon's thick fur, much to the digimon's discomfort. For Mimi, this meant latching onto Yamato like a vice.
"So how long have you and Lord Yamato been partners," Palmon asked, trying to make pleasant conversation with Garurumon.
"I don't want to be rude," the wolf digimon said between breaths, "but I need to conserve my air. Once we're able stop, we can talk then. Alright?"
Palmon nodded, understanding that it must be hard to keep this pace when you're talking. "Alright."
"Mimi," Matt shouted, trying to make himself heard over the wind whipping through their ears. "How much farther until we reach the fields where these flowers grow?"
Mimi though for a moment, taking in the landscape. "If we don't stop or slow down we should make it in another hour.
"That leaves us with two hours to get back before it's too late," Sora said, fighting back tears. The situation did not look good at all.
From nowhere, a great fireball struck in front of Garurumon. The wolf digimon was able to leap over the smoking crater just in time, nearly losing his passengers. "Where the hell did that come from?!"
*****************************
"So," Davis began. He tried to find the words, but they refused to surface.
"You want to speak to me about Hikari, don't you." Takeru half-frowned and half-smirked. The brown-haired squire beside him was very predictable but this was not a subject TK was overly eager to speak to him of.
"Yes," came Daisuke's simple reply. "I want to know just how do you two feel. I left just after the unmasking at the party."
Takeru sighed. He really hated to have to be the one to tell Daisuke this. The brash squire had as many faults as the fields had rice, but he was still a friend, and TK knew the answer was going to be unpleasant for him. "Hikari and I are in love. We have been since we were betrothed, but it was always unspoken until tonight."
Davis sighed. Strangely, he didn't feel quite as badly as he thought he would. For the first time he realized just how foolish he had been acting. He realized how he had been blindly chasing after a girl without ever considering what anyone else was thinking. Daisuke nodded. "Congratulations. Once Lady Kamiya hears this she's going to be practically flying with all that energy she has."
Takeru chuckled lightly. He looked out the window, and a metallic glint caught his eye. TK tried to focus in on it, but knew instantly it was nothing good when Aquillamon started flying towards it angrily. "Get down," the blonde lord shouted. He quickly grabbed one of Tai's tower shields leaning against the wall and held it up to the window. Almost instantly, a hard thud was heard as an arrow landed in the wooden face of the shield. Had TK not reacted as he did, the arrow would have sailed through the window and struck the half-conscious Taichi.
Jyou got up form the floor looking worried. "This is bad," he said solemnly.
"You were right," Tai said, his voice faint. They all watched Aquillamon pick up a humanoid figure in his talons and proceed to disembowel the unfortunate attacker in mid-flight. "They know. This time, they're going to kill me out right. No slow sadism like this poison. They want the job done."
"That means," Daisuke said before pausing, his eyes going wide.
"The others," Takeru exclaimed. "My brother! Yamato!"
******************************
Mimi began chanting. Several more fireballs had struck recently and dodging them was getting harder and harder. The magician girl's eyes glowed a dazzling green light and she placed her hands on Garurumon's ribs.
The wolf digimon felt an incredible surge of energy and began running faster than ever, his lungs untiring.
"Why didn't you do that earlier," Matt asked, or rather shouted over the wind. He was slightly annoyed, but very curious.
"I can only do that spell so many times a day. It grants the subject a temporary burst of life energy, but it wears off after a short period of time, so I usually save it for when I need it," Mimi explained.
"Mimi," Palmon shouted. "The fields aren't far from here. This speed burst is going to shave about twenty minutes off of our journey.
"Good," Sora shouted. "Every minute helps."
"Sora," Biyomon called. "I can see the fields off in the distance. Palmon was right, we'll be there soon." The bird digimon took a quick look around for more fireballs or any other dangers. "I'm ready to digivolve at your word."
******************************
Jyou sighed as he replaced Tai's bandage again. "We have about two and one half hours left. I wouldn't get your spirits up."
Hikari sighed. She took over for Davis who was now patrolling the palace. She leaned her head against Takeru's shoulder and watched her brother sadly.
Tai turned his rich brown eyes to his sister and future brother-in-law. A weak smile crossed his lips. "Father would be proud. He probably is very proud of you two, watching from the heavens."
"Lord Taichi," Joe ordered, "try not to speak. You need all of your strength."
Kari just wiped a few more tears from her cheeks. She felt so helpless. All of her magic, her alchemical lab, her shelves upon shelves of tomes and spellbooks and the only thing she could do for her brother was a pain-killer that numbed the burning sensation caused by the poison. She frowned as she saw the ugly purple color had almost completely enveloped Taichi's upper body, tendrils of the unnatural color creeping up his face like sadistic claws.
Takeru put an arm around Hikari's shoulders and she leaned into him.
Tai smiled "Hey, tonight's not a comlpete loss," he chuckled. "You two finally gave your hearts to each other." Taichi looked back up at the ceiling. He was trying to be optimistic, though was resigned to the fact that he may die in a few hours. "Though I'm not ready to be an uncle yet," he chuckled. "You better wait a couple years, you two." His protective side couldn't help surfacing with his attempt at humor.
"Lord Taichi," Jyou scolded. "For the last time: Don't speak. Conserve your strength." The blue-haired healer sighed. He had some difficult patients before, but this was getting very frustrating.
*************************
Finally, the field came into view. Thousands upon thousands of blood red flowers resembling a dragon's toothy maw (AN: Kinda like snapdragons on steroids.). Mimi and Palmon wasted no time and hopped off Garurumon, immediately grabbing as many blossoms as possible. Sora was quick to follow, shoveling the flowers into the satchel she carried while trying not to spill the nectar. Matt hopped off of his digimon partner as he devolved back to Gabumon and the two of them started helping to gather the flowers.
Biyomon soared in circles overhead, ready to digivolve in an instant. Suddenly, she spotted something. A flash in the distance, and a streak of light that seemed to be getting close. "The fireballs," she cried out.
All heads jerked to where Biyomon was pointing. Indeed a fireball was fast approaching. It would either strike them, or burn the fields. The three humans filled their satchels and Yamato and Mimi handed theirs to Sora, hoping they had enough flowers as there was no more time. Everyone managed to dive away just as the fireball struck and razed the fields.
Mimi and Palmon watched with horror as the forest around the fields began to burn. Mimi raised her staff and began an incantation. A sphere of water formed in front of her and erupted into a constantly flowing torrent of cold blue water.
Meanwhile, Biyomon had digivolved to Birdramon and was now carrying Sora on her back, flying as fast as she possibly could.
The two remaining digimon and humans stomped out the last burning embers and watched the increasingly small image of Birdramon vanish over the horizon. "It's all in their hands now," Gabumon said.
Matt nodded solemnly and looked over at Mimi. She and Palmon were looking over the damage to the surrounding woodlands with misty eyes. The blond bard sighed. He didn't know why, but it was especially painful to see Mimi so unhappy. "We better get going. If we hussle on foot we should make it back to the palace by dinner next week."
Mimi, turned to Yamato. She knew he was trying to lighten the situation, but right now, she just couldn't will herself to smile. The magician girl just nodded looked at his smiling face. She simply walked over to him and leaned against him, much to the young lord's surprise. She didn't care at the moemnt. Mimi just wanted the comfort of another human being.
Gabumon walked over to Palmon and put one of his big paws on her shoulder. "Let's get going. Standing here isn't going to do any good."
Palmon nodded, losing herself for a minute in Gabumon's eyes. He and Matt always had the ability to comfort people. "You're right. We have to get back and see if Sora and Birdramon made it on time."
*************************
It was only another hour until dawn as Takeru looked down at the floor with his arms crossed over his chest. No one had spoken in so long and it was beginning to work on his nerves.
Jyou changed the bandage yet again as the minutes seemed to drag by. He looked at the discoloration creeping across Taichi's body and grimaced. It was worse than ever, now, engulfing almost all of his body.
The silence in the room was enough to chill someone down to the bones, and the time dragged by at a snail's pace. One can imagine the surprise everyone felt when Sora leaped through the window in the room, especially since the room itself was situated fifty feet above the ground. Biyomon flew in next as Sora tossed the bag of flowers to a still shocked Joe. "Here's the flowers hurry cure him now we're going to lose him!!" Sora ran off several sentences at once without pause, moving slow enough so that only individual words could be distiguished from one another.
Jyou shook his head to clear it and immediately opened the pack. There were more than enough flowers and he immediately got to work pouring the nectar onto a previously prepared bandage with a thick red paste covering one side. The nectar from the blossoms turned the paste to a brilliant purple color, nothing at all like the unnatural color invading Taichi's body, but a soothing shade like the sky during twilight in mid-spring.
Tai cracked a weak smile. "Sora," he said his voice barely audible. "I knew you wouldn't let me down."
Sora's eyes were soaked with tears. She couldn't stand seeing him like this. It was hurting her deep down in her bossom and she could feel her heart scream as he did when Jyou placed the antidote on his wound.
Taichi began thrashing his head form side to side as he felt the twilight paste burn as it seeped into his wound. The pain was too great and he passed out. Almost immediately, before anyone could even gasp at seeing the brown-haired lord on pain and question whether or not the antidote worked, the unnatural discoloration began to vanish from the wound out. Lord Taichi Kamiya was going to live.
End of Chapter 4
In Legacy of Digita Chapter 5- Prophecies, Taichi has made a full recovery. He speaks to his mother about his father's amulet and the answer she gives him results in the unmasking of an ancient secret of the royal houses that started with Jubei Yagami and a man named Gennai. What could this secret possibly be? What did Jubei and Gennai start so long ago? The answers lie in the next chapter.
Author's Notes: Part 4 comin' at ya!. Whew! There sure were a lot of lines in the last one. From now on I'm just going to write the story and add a little guide after the prologue that lists all borrowed content and sources. This chapter will build a little more on several character relationships including those of digimon. However, it's supposed to be more suspenseful than romantic but I'll let you be the judge. Anyway, on with the story.
Chapter 4- Race Against Death
Everyone gathered as Taichi slid the shield amulet from his father's neck and draped it over his own.
Hikari crossed her father's arms over his chest, then turned and threw herself into her betrothed's arms, letting the tears she was holding flow forward in torrents.
"Father," the young knight said out loud, "I will fulfill your dying request. Your death was not in vain. We have won and also vanquished a powerful enemy. May your soul be at peace." With that, Tai stood up and walked off, but not towards the palace. He went into the woods to be alone.
Mimi sighed as she watched Taichi leave. "Poor Tai. He's obviously only beginning to get through the initial shock." With this, the girl turned to the group. "Somebody better talk to him before he does something rash."
Matt raised a hand. "Augumon and I will go. He's my best friend. I can't let him go without saying something."
"No," Sora said, stepping forward. "If it is alright Yamato, I'd like to talk to him. Alone." She looked at Matt pleadingly.
The blonde bard nodded his approval. "Alright. Go talk to him."
"Thank you," the amazon smiled and walked off to find Taichi. She didn't have to search far. Not more than twenty yards into the forest, Tai leaned back against a boulder, tears running down his face. "Tai," she timidly called.
The young knight turned to face Sora. "Yes?"
"I'm so sorry about your father," Sora said approaching Taichi. "I lost my parents to a war, so I know what it's like."
Tai wiped the tears from his face and looked deeply into the amazon's red eyes. "I know my father would have wanted this. He said when his time came, he wanted it to be in battle." He reached a hand up and cupped her cheek. "Please say that you won't leave because of this."
Sora melted at his touch. "Why would I leave," she asked, confused as to why he would ask such a thing.
"Sora I have something very important that I've been trying to say all night." Tai's rich brown eyes began welling up with more tears. This wasn't the best place to say this and it was hardly the appropriate time, but he had to say it now.
Sora closed her eyes and listened closely, eager to hear what he had to say. Her world came to a halt, her heart nearly breaking when he suddenly jerked his hand from her cheek. Did he hate her? Why did he do that? The amazon desperately opened her eyes on the verge of tears but gasped in shock when she saw Tai staring wide-eyed at his arm. He had recoiled because his upper arm had been impaled by a black arrow, with raven feather fletching and a head coated in weaponblack. The young knight was in shock and was unable to even cry out in pain. Sora took out her bow and knocked an arrow, searching for whoever shot Tai. She soon spotted a cloaked figure with bow in hand running through the trees. Sora released her arrow and it landed in the figure's back, causing whoever it was to promptly drop dead.
Tai staggered backward and leaned on a nearby tree. He suddenly started yelling in pain. "My arm! It feels like its on fire!" He ripped his sleeve off and fainted in combination from the intense pain and the horrific sight before him. The flesh around the arrow was beginning to turn an unnatural color of purple.
**************************
One hour later, everyone was waiting outside of Tai's chambers for Jyou to give them news. Matt was pacing nervously while Mimi was wringing her hands. Kari was sobbing onto TK's shoulder as he held her close to him, trying to maintain his strong composure. Davis leaned against the wall and scowled, frustrated with the helplessness he felt. Lady Kamiya was beside herself. Lord and Lady Ishida were trying to console her but couldn't hide their worry. Izzy and Yolei sat quietly, nervous and scared, but doing better at remaining relatively calm than most of the others. Cody stood in the middle of the hallway, stone-faced.
Then, Joe emerged. Everyone at once asked what the situation was, if Taichi was going to be alright, and many more questions in a loud cacophany. "Everyone, please be quiet," Jyou ordered and the hall fell silent. "The situation looks grim," the blue-haired healer said solemnly. "Lord Taichi's been poisoned. I have seen the toxin only once before. Now I have good news and bad news."
"Well? Let's hear it," Lord Ishida said.
"The bad news is that the poison is lethal, which should be fairly obvious. With the medicines I have, all I can do is keep Lord Taichi alive until dawn." Joe pursed his lips and sighed. "His chances aren't good."
"Well what's the good news, then," Daisuke demanded.
"There is a way to cure him. Dragon's blood flowers."
Mimi looked up. "I know those flowers! They grow a short way north of here in abundance." Everyone was now looking at the magician girl now. "The nectar is said to be a potent antidote to almost every kind of ailment."
"Correct," Jyou nodded. "Someone's going to have to go get those flowers. We have about seven hours, and it's a long trip."
"I'll go," Mimi immediately volunteered. "I know where they are, I can get them easily."
"You're not going alone," Yamato said to Mimi. "Tai saved my life on several occasions. I could never call myself his friend if I wasn't willing to do the same for him."
Sora stood up. "I'm going too. Once we get those flowers, Birdramon can get me back here faster than Togemon or Garurumon can." The amazon was right, of course. Everyone agreed and it wasn't long before they were all preparing to leave.
Tai was still conscious. There was absolutely nothing Jyou could give the young lord to sedate him, the poison cancelled out any drugs that could have given its victim temporary relief. The ugly purple color was beginning to spread across Taichi's body. It was now covering his whole arm and was creeping over his chest, upper back, and neck. "Davis," he called. His voice was hoarse and scratchy.
Daisuke walked up to his master's bedside and kneeled. "Yes, sir?"
"Recite the virtues of a knight." Tai looked up at the celing and listened to his squire. He needed something to distract him from his pain.
"A knight is sworn to valor, honor, truth, patience, courage, strength, justice, chivalry, trust, and loyalty." Davis spoke without pause. Since his defeat in the duel, the young squire had been trying harder than ever to live by the knight's code.
"Good," Tai smiled. "What are the knight's duties?"
"His blade defends the helpless. His might upholds the weak. His word speaks only truth. His wrath undoes the wicked." Once again Davis delivered perfectly.
Kari watched her brother with worried eyes while TK stood near the door. He reasoned that whoever made an attempt on Taichi's life might come back to make sure nothing went wrong.
Jyou was mixing a special green paste from some of the herbs in his healer's pack. Taichi winced as the blue-hiared doctor applied the mixture and a fresh bandage to his wound, but smirked when the medicine he was just given numbed the pain slightly. "This is only a quick fix," Joe said simply. "It will give you a little relief, though I need to apply a fresh bandage every hour."
Tai nodded his thanks. "I appreciate the help. Tell me, honestly, what are the chances that the others are going to make it back in time? If I'm going to join my father, I'd like to know."
Kari sobbed. "Please don't say that Tai," she choked out. "You're going to make it."
Joe sighed. "We can't be sure of that Lady Hikari. The chances of Lord Yamato and the others getting the flower to him in time are very slim."
"About one thousand to one," Izzy added. "I hate to say it, but those are the odds, and we must be prepared for the worst."
"One thousand to one," Takeru asked.
"Yes," Izzy replied solemnly.
"Then there's still a chance," the blonde lord said with a slightly lighter tone. "If you keep your hope and faith, then there will always be a beacon of light even in the darkest hour."
Miyako smiled lightly at his words. "Well spoken Lord Takeru. Well spoken."
"What we should be doing right now," TK continued, "is keeping our guard up and not fussing over every little detail."
"Why's that," Tai asked hoarsely.
"Whoever tried to kill you," the blonde lord frowned, "may try to finish the job if they hear about my brother going for the cure."
"Good thinking," Tai smiled
"We'll take shifts in pairs. Seems the best idea to me." It was Davis this time. "I'll stand first watch. Who's with me?" Part of Daisuke hoped Kari would volunteer, but the other side told him that she was in love with Takeru and he knew she wasn't going to have a change of heart.
"I'll stay with you." Everyone turned to see TK, a solemn look etched on his face. "A couple good swordarms should be enough for the time being. The room is too small, though, for our digimon."
"I have an idea," Hawkmon said.
"What is it," Yolie asked, looking down at her partner.
"Most of us can digivolve to champions with the ability to fly. We can keep a patrol around the castle." The bird-like digimon smiled and looked at everyone to get their response.
"Not a bad idea, but most of us are tired out from the fight," Gatomon replied, her ears starting to droop.
"She's right," Veemon added. "I may be a few swords short of a full armory, but I know well enough that I'm exhausted."
Hawkmon realized the flaw in his plan and hung his head. "Well," he said, "I don't suppose there's anything stopping me and Tentomon."
"He's right," the bug digimon replied. "The two of us will keep patrol around the castle until the rest of you can get your strength back."
"That's seems like a sound idea," Izzy added.
******************************
Patamon and Gatomon stood outside Taichi's door, keeping watch on the outside. They still had energy enough to fight back if anyone tried to break into the young lord's room.
"This just isn't fair," Patamon said after a long silence.
Gatomon looked up and sighed. She knew it wasn't fair. In one night Lord Kamiya was killed and his son may die in a few hours. But what couls they do except wait for the others to come back? It was very frustrating.
Cray came by, his eyes still watered with tears as he brought over a silver tray with food and set it before the two digimon. "For your strength," he said simply. The green-haired servant bowed and walked off, wiping a salty year from his eye.
"Poor Cray," Patamon frowned as he took a slice of bread. "He's pretty broken-hearted about all of this."
Gatomon nodded as she took a filet of fish. "He's been in the service of the Kamiyas since he was Tai's age. It must be painful to watch the people you grew to love as family die." The cat digimon sighed.
"Well," Patamon began as he looked at Gatomon, "if it is any consolation, I promise I'll never leave you."
Gatomon felt her cheeks redden under her white fur as she looked at the winged digimon beside her and met his gaze. "Taking advice from Takeru again," she asked playfully.
Patamon smiled as he and Gatomon leaned against each other sharing the food. "I might be." Right now, they both needed a reason to smile. Yamato once said it wasn't healthy to be constantly depressed.
******************************
Garurumon was running at full speed. Gabumon had managed to shovel down enough food to feed five people in about five minutes. It was strength enough to get him to digivolve and stay that way long enough to reach the flowers. Palmon was sitting on his head, using her Poison Ivy vines to hold onto him. Biyomon was flying behind them, easily being able to keep up, though she would have to rest soon and ride on the wolf digimon's back as she did not have his endurance. Matt was holding onto Garurumon's neck as he sat on his back. Mimi and Sora were behind the blonde bard respectively, holding onto whatever they could grab to stay on. For Sora, this was large fistfuls of Garurumon's thick fur, much to the digimon's discomfort. For Mimi, this meant latching onto Yamato like a vice.
"So how long have you and Lord Yamato been partners," Palmon asked, trying to make pleasant conversation with Garurumon.
"I don't want to be rude," the wolf digimon said between breaths, "but I need to conserve my air. Once we're able stop, we can talk then. Alright?"
Palmon nodded, understanding that it must be hard to keep this pace when you're talking. "Alright."
"Mimi," Matt shouted, trying to make himself heard over the wind whipping through their ears. "How much farther until we reach the fields where these flowers grow?"
Mimi though for a moment, taking in the landscape. "If we don't stop or slow down we should make it in another hour.
"That leaves us with two hours to get back before it's too late," Sora said, fighting back tears. The situation did not look good at all.
From nowhere, a great fireball struck in front of Garurumon. The wolf digimon was able to leap over the smoking crater just in time, nearly losing his passengers. "Where the hell did that come from?!"
*****************************
"So," Davis began. He tried to find the words, but they refused to surface.
"You want to speak to me about Hikari, don't you." Takeru half-frowned and half-smirked. The brown-haired squire beside him was very predictable but this was not a subject TK was overly eager to speak to him of.
"Yes," came Daisuke's simple reply. "I want to know just how do you two feel. I left just after the unmasking at the party."
Takeru sighed. He really hated to have to be the one to tell Daisuke this. The brash squire had as many faults as the fields had rice, but he was still a friend, and TK knew the answer was going to be unpleasant for him. "Hikari and I are in love. We have been since we were betrothed, but it was always unspoken until tonight."
Davis sighed. Strangely, he didn't feel quite as badly as he thought he would. For the first time he realized just how foolish he had been acting. He realized how he had been blindly chasing after a girl without ever considering what anyone else was thinking. Daisuke nodded. "Congratulations. Once Lady Kamiya hears this she's going to be practically flying with all that energy she has."
Takeru chuckled lightly. He looked out the window, and a metallic glint caught his eye. TK tried to focus in on it, but knew instantly it was nothing good when Aquillamon started flying towards it angrily. "Get down," the blonde lord shouted. He quickly grabbed one of Tai's tower shields leaning against the wall and held it up to the window. Almost instantly, a hard thud was heard as an arrow landed in the wooden face of the shield. Had TK not reacted as he did, the arrow would have sailed through the window and struck the half-conscious Taichi.
Jyou got up form the floor looking worried. "This is bad," he said solemnly.
"You were right," Tai said, his voice faint. They all watched Aquillamon pick up a humanoid figure in his talons and proceed to disembowel the unfortunate attacker in mid-flight. "They know. This time, they're going to kill me out right. No slow sadism like this poison. They want the job done."
"That means," Daisuke said before pausing, his eyes going wide.
"The others," Takeru exclaimed. "My brother! Yamato!"
******************************
Mimi began chanting. Several more fireballs had struck recently and dodging them was getting harder and harder. The magician girl's eyes glowed a dazzling green light and she placed her hands on Garurumon's ribs.
The wolf digimon felt an incredible surge of energy and began running faster than ever, his lungs untiring.
"Why didn't you do that earlier," Matt asked, or rather shouted over the wind. He was slightly annoyed, but very curious.
"I can only do that spell so many times a day. It grants the subject a temporary burst of life energy, but it wears off after a short period of time, so I usually save it for when I need it," Mimi explained.
"Mimi," Palmon shouted. "The fields aren't far from here. This speed burst is going to shave about twenty minutes off of our journey.
"Good," Sora shouted. "Every minute helps."
"Sora," Biyomon called. "I can see the fields off in the distance. Palmon was right, we'll be there soon." The bird digimon took a quick look around for more fireballs or any other dangers. "I'm ready to digivolve at your word."
******************************
Jyou sighed as he replaced Tai's bandage again. "We have about two and one half hours left. I wouldn't get your spirits up."
Hikari sighed. She took over for Davis who was now patrolling the palace. She leaned her head against Takeru's shoulder and watched her brother sadly.
Tai turned his rich brown eyes to his sister and future brother-in-law. A weak smile crossed his lips. "Father would be proud. He probably is very proud of you two, watching from the heavens."
"Lord Taichi," Joe ordered, "try not to speak. You need all of your strength."
Kari just wiped a few more tears from her cheeks. She felt so helpless. All of her magic, her alchemical lab, her shelves upon shelves of tomes and spellbooks and the only thing she could do for her brother was a pain-killer that numbed the burning sensation caused by the poison. She frowned as she saw the ugly purple color had almost completely enveloped Taichi's upper body, tendrils of the unnatural color creeping up his face like sadistic claws.
Takeru put an arm around Hikari's shoulders and she leaned into him.
Tai smiled "Hey, tonight's not a comlpete loss," he chuckled. "You two finally gave your hearts to each other." Taichi looked back up at the ceiling. He was trying to be optimistic, though was resigned to the fact that he may die in a few hours. "Though I'm not ready to be an uncle yet," he chuckled. "You better wait a couple years, you two." His protective side couldn't help surfacing with his attempt at humor.
"Lord Taichi," Jyou scolded. "For the last time: Don't speak. Conserve your strength." The blue-haired healer sighed. He had some difficult patients before, but this was getting very frustrating.
*************************
Finally, the field came into view. Thousands upon thousands of blood red flowers resembling a dragon's toothy maw (AN: Kinda like snapdragons on steroids.). Mimi and Palmon wasted no time and hopped off Garurumon, immediately grabbing as many blossoms as possible. Sora was quick to follow, shoveling the flowers into the satchel she carried while trying not to spill the nectar. Matt hopped off of his digimon partner as he devolved back to Gabumon and the two of them started helping to gather the flowers.
Biyomon soared in circles overhead, ready to digivolve in an instant. Suddenly, she spotted something. A flash in the distance, and a streak of light that seemed to be getting close. "The fireballs," she cried out.
All heads jerked to where Biyomon was pointing. Indeed a fireball was fast approaching. It would either strike them, or burn the fields. The three humans filled their satchels and Yamato and Mimi handed theirs to Sora, hoping they had enough flowers as there was no more time. Everyone managed to dive away just as the fireball struck and razed the fields.
Mimi and Palmon watched with horror as the forest around the fields began to burn. Mimi raised her staff and began an incantation. A sphere of water formed in front of her and erupted into a constantly flowing torrent of cold blue water.
Meanwhile, Biyomon had digivolved to Birdramon and was now carrying Sora on her back, flying as fast as she possibly could.
The two remaining digimon and humans stomped out the last burning embers and watched the increasingly small image of Birdramon vanish over the horizon. "It's all in their hands now," Gabumon said.
Matt nodded solemnly and looked over at Mimi. She and Palmon were looking over the damage to the surrounding woodlands with misty eyes. The blond bard sighed. He didn't know why, but it was especially painful to see Mimi so unhappy. "We better get going. If we hussle on foot we should make it back to the palace by dinner next week."
Mimi, turned to Yamato. She knew he was trying to lighten the situation, but right now, she just couldn't will herself to smile. The magician girl just nodded looked at his smiling face. She simply walked over to him and leaned against him, much to the young lord's surprise. She didn't care at the moemnt. Mimi just wanted the comfort of another human being.
Gabumon walked over to Palmon and put one of his big paws on her shoulder. "Let's get going. Standing here isn't going to do any good."
Palmon nodded, losing herself for a minute in Gabumon's eyes. He and Matt always had the ability to comfort people. "You're right. We have to get back and see if Sora and Birdramon made it on time."
*************************
It was only another hour until dawn as Takeru looked down at the floor with his arms crossed over his chest. No one had spoken in so long and it was beginning to work on his nerves.
Jyou changed the bandage yet again as the minutes seemed to drag by. He looked at the discoloration creeping across Taichi's body and grimaced. It was worse than ever, now, engulfing almost all of his body.
The silence in the room was enough to chill someone down to the bones, and the time dragged by at a snail's pace. One can imagine the surprise everyone felt when Sora leaped through the window in the room, especially since the room itself was situated fifty feet above the ground. Biyomon flew in next as Sora tossed the bag of flowers to a still shocked Joe. "Here's the flowers hurry cure him now we're going to lose him!!" Sora ran off several sentences at once without pause, moving slow enough so that only individual words could be distiguished from one another.
Jyou shook his head to clear it and immediately opened the pack. There were more than enough flowers and he immediately got to work pouring the nectar onto a previously prepared bandage with a thick red paste covering one side. The nectar from the blossoms turned the paste to a brilliant purple color, nothing at all like the unnatural color invading Taichi's body, but a soothing shade like the sky during twilight in mid-spring.
Tai cracked a weak smile. "Sora," he said his voice barely audible. "I knew you wouldn't let me down."
Sora's eyes were soaked with tears. She couldn't stand seeing him like this. It was hurting her deep down in her bossom and she could feel her heart scream as he did when Jyou placed the antidote on his wound.
Taichi began thrashing his head form side to side as he felt the twilight paste burn as it seeped into his wound. The pain was too great and he passed out. Almost immediately, before anyone could even gasp at seeing the brown-haired lord on pain and question whether or not the antidote worked, the unnatural discoloration began to vanish from the wound out. Lord Taichi Kamiya was going to live.
End of Chapter 4
In Legacy of Digita Chapter 5- Prophecies, Taichi has made a full recovery. He speaks to his mother about his father's amulet and the answer she gives him results in the unmasking of an ancient secret of the royal houses that started with Jubei Yagami and a man named Gennai. What could this secret possibly be? What did Jubei and Gennai start so long ago? The answers lie in the next chapter.