Author's Note: Well, here it is. The second part of my fic. I know that I have uploaded this fic for one of two reasons. 1) I received reviews telling me to upload the second part. Or 2) I received no reviews requesting I put this part up, but me being the nice person I am, I put the second part up anyway because I didn't want to be mean to anyone who did read this fic. Anyway, I won't babble this time. I'll just get to the fic, enjoy, and don't forget to review. ^_~
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Of Demons and an Angelbr
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From the beginning, from the point they set foot on Server, Toshiro and Raiko had found every reason in the world to argue. Making the others' journey that much more tiresome. The summer heat had long since began to beat down, making the trip even that much more unbearable. Then to make matters worse, Gennai, being Gennai, had sent them to the South West Peninsula, but he was off by a couple hundred miles. Sora was already beginning to grow exhausted, she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, as her and the others flew on their digimon across the full landscape. The tree canopy zoomed below them; the leaves made the ground below seem like and endless sea of green.
Sora looked behind her to Miyama who rode on Birdramon's back with her, her arms wrapped around Sora's waist, with Yokomon. She wasn't afraid to fly, like Sora had assumed she would be. No, Miyama looked as though she belonged in the sky, like she should have been born with wings from the beginning. Sora smiled, watching Miyama and Yokomon enjoy the beauty of flight was like watching herself fly for the first time. She remembered how she felt. The way the air blew past her face, it was a cool, refreshing feeling. Her hair looked like flames as the strands flared rapidly against the passing wind. Sora remembered how right it felt to fly above them all, to go up and down in altitude. She had belonged in the air, she remembered how she had secretly wished to have wings herself, that way she could have this moment of freedom whenever she felt. Maybe that was why she was named Sora, the sky, for in the sky when she flew with her digimon is when she felt her freest.
An Aquilamon flew up the right side of Birdramon. Otaru, Tai, and Agumon rode on the large eagle-looking digimon's back. It had taken Otaru a bit of time, but eventually he had grown used to flying through the air. It didn't seem as natural to him as it did to Miyama, but it did seem somewhat fitting. He still looked somewhat fearful at times, but Aquilamon would always reassure him that everything would be fine, and so he would relax and try to enjoy the moment. A second Birdramon flew fiercely fast past Sora. Raiko and Toshiro had purposely been paired together, seeing how no one wanted to put up with either one. Both of them had a strong since of pride that could become very annoying. It was ideal to put them together.
Toshiro wrapped his arms around Raiko tightly, and Rex held tightly to him. Tenshi had been flying quite recklessly, by order of Raiko. They wanted to, or more like Raiko wanted to get at Toshiro. She always did enjoy getting to people. But Toshiro and Rex were two stubborn characters, and regardless of Raiko and Tenshi's antics, neither one would show any sign of airsickness. Though Rex's scales were starting to become an ill shade of green.
"Sora, I can see the temples!" shouted Raiko from up ahead. Sora looked back to Otaru, signaling him to keep up, and then as if Birdramon could read Sora's thoughts, she sped up, Miyama's grip growing a little tighter in the process.
"See!" said Raiko as Aquilamon and Birdramon caught up to her and Tenshi. Sora glanced over the edge; the temples were coming up fast over the horizon. She looked back at Raiko, and then nodded as Birdramon went down for the landing. "Hang on." Said Sora to her two little passengers as Birdramon gradually began to lose altitude. Raiko smiled wickedly, she leaned in closer to Tenshi, and whispered something that Toshiro wasn't able too make out. She sat up once more and cut a glance to he and Rex. Both looked confused as to what she had planned, until suddenly Tenshi went down into a nosedive, startling Toshiro and Rex. Toshiro's grip on Raiko grew tighter as the giant bird raced to the ground. Raiko smiled to herself, knowing she had finally accomplished what she had been trying to do.
Otaru, Tai, and Agumon all shook their heads. "Really, I'm not even that immature." Said Otaru as Aquilamon also began to land.
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The temples on Server, were a mystery sense they had first been discovered those years ago. The resembled the old Indian Temples of Mexico, consisting of hundreds of stone steps that led to a small compartment at the top. They were old and worn, and small fragments of rock crumbled from the rotting edges with each step they took. The group walked silently up the eerie stairway. Vines clung to the edges like snakes wrapped around tree branches. There was a silence about the site that these temples were on that seemed wrong. Nothing could be heard for miles around. No bird-digimon chirping, not even the sound of Gekomon, which were known to inhabit this part of Server.
At the top of the huge stairs stood the partly razed compartment, the doorways being large square openings on all sides. Tai halted at the entranceway, the others all stopped cautiously behind him. "What's wrong Tai?" asked Agumon as he stepped closer to Tai. He didn't respond, instead he turned his ear near the entrance and listened. Sora and the other's all watched petrified that there might be something in there. Miyama clung to Sora's arm, startling her just a bit. "Me and Yokomon will hang on to you so you won't be scared Sora." Said Miyama slowly edging her way behind Sora's legs with Yokomon. Sora smiled as she looked down at the girl, and then diverted her attention back to Tai.
"Tai, do you hear something?" asked Toshiro as he approached the entrance. Raiko quickly grabbed him by his arm, while Tenshi pulled Rex back. Toshiro looked back confused, but his confusion was only answered by Raiko shaking her head in protest to him going anywhere near the entrance.
"Tai what is it?" asked Sora. Tai turned to look at everyone. "Be careful, there is something very strong inside." He answered. At that Miyama and Yokomon clung even harder to Sora. The digimon , not including Yokomon, all prepared themselves to digivolve at a moments notice.
Carefully they all walked inside. There was nothing, besides an alter in the center, stone, and vines that grew on the walls. "Are you sure this is the place?" asked Hawkmon as he protectively moved closer to Otaru. "This is where the energy source is coming from," answered Otaru, "Right Raiko?" he asked glancing back at that the older girl. Raiko reached to her pocket and pulled out her digivice, not taking her eyes of their surroundings. She gave a cursory glance to the device. "Yeah, from my reading this is the right place." She answered slipping the device back in her pocket.
"But there's nothing here." Said Tenshi as she approached the alter near the center of the room.
"You think I don't see that." Said Raiko looking back at her digimon. Tenshi, lifted herself off the ground and landed at the top of the alter. She took a better look around, still nothing. "This was a bust." She complained looking at Hawkmon and Rex. "You're telling me?" said Sora sarcastically.
Just then the sound of crumbling rock could be heard. Everyone froze as they listened to see where the sound was coming from. They all scanned their surroundings, but they could see no sign of falling rock anywhere. "Where is the sound coming from?" asked Otaru nervously. No one answered, and then he got a thought. Hoping he was wrong he looked down. "Unless it's..." The ground began to rumble, then the entire floor crumbled from beneath them. Quickly, Sora grabbed hold of Miyama and Yokomon as she felt the ground beneath her vanish, and then falling. "You've got to be kidding me!" shouted Raiko as they all fell helplessly down. Hawkmon, Biyomon, and Tenshi, being the only flying digimon were able to save themselves from falling, then they quickly dashed down into the dark abyss below after their friends.
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"My Lord, the chosen one is near." Said a deep, wicked voice. In a cavern, below the earth, and under the temples in secrecy, a figure in a dead-brown colored cloak kneeled obediently before what looked like nothing but darkness. Which it would have been, if not for the blue streaks of lightening that encased it. The lightening looked like a lifeless shade of blue, the shade ones face would turn after being deprived of air. It crackled and as at zipped from one end on the darkness to the next, a blast of cold radiated from it. The unholy blackness before the kneeling figure was actually round in shape, and though it seemed lifeless it was actually very much alive.
The alter it rested upon was barely visible, for the darkness was consuming. It devoured anything near it in a shroud of shadows like a panther eats its prey in the cover of a tar-black India night. To come too close to the energy would be sealing ones own demise. But regardless of these facts, the obedient worshipper stood closely and fearlessly before the threatening darkness.
A low rumble sounded throughout the room, or what seemed like rumbling. It was actually the voice of the evil. The worshipper looked up towards the black energy as he listened to what sounded like low, threatening growls. "Yes, my master," said the worshipper still hooded, "Your will shall be done."
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Cool air pressed against Sora's bare legs and arms as she lay still on the cold hard stone floor. It was refreshing compared to the unimaginable heat from outside the temple's labyrinth of tunnels and passageways. Slowly, she had regained consciousness. Her eyes gently opened, her vision still slightly blurred. Images of what looked like people and digimon were crowded around her as she slowly came back from being briefly knocked out.
"Oh, Sora-san, Please wake up." Pleaded a small voice.
Sora, after regaining her memory of what happened earlier, sat up, or at least tried to. She was still a bit dizzy, and her arms wobbled underneath her body. Before she could sit up good, she had lost her handling causing her to head back down towards the ground. That is until she felt two arms catch her before hitting the unwelcoming stone. She again focused her vision, and instead of a group of people, one lone figure took up her entire vision. A pair of dark colored eyes looked down from over her. They were brown, well they would have been in the light, but in the sudden darkness of the tunnels the seemed nearly black. The eyes were strong, and they emitted a powerful force that Sora had recognized. She looked into the eyes for a moment, losing herself in the security and protection that they ensured. This caused her to feel a sudden need for sleep, and giving into the need she allowed her eyes to slip close. That's when she was abruptly shaken.
"No, no, you gotta get up Sora, you might go into a concussion." Said Tai as he forced her to sit up. Sora was unwilling sat against the wall behind her and Tai. She shook her head a bit, trying to get over the little pain that pulsated in her head. "Wha, what happened?" she asked groggily as she looked around her surroundings. "You hit your head pretty bad." Answered Biyomon as she approached her friend, thankful that she had finally woken up. Sora placed her hand to the back of her head, it still throbbed but it wasn't as bad as when she first woke up.
"Are you okay Sora?" asked Otaru as he, Hawkmon, Miyama, and Yokomon all came in a bit closer. Sora slowly nodded. Her vision was finally completely together, and she was able to make out Otaru, Tai, and Miyama, each with their respective digimon along with Biyomon. "Where's Raiko and Toshiro?" she asked tilting her head back. "I sent them on a scouting expedition." Answered Tai. Sora looked to Tai, remembering the eyes she had first seen when she woke up. They were his eyes, and realizing how infatuated she had been with them a moment ago, she blushed. Thankfully to the darkness of the tunnels no one was able to see her.
"Why can't we go back up through the whole we came down. We'll just have Hawkmon or Biyomon digivolve and then..." Sora was cut short when Biyomon brought the pile of rock and rumble to the left of them to her attention. "While you were out, part of the tunnel began to cave in, Tai carried you and we all ran down one end of the tunnel. When the cave-in had stopped, the left side of the tunnel was caved in from this point to whole in the ceiling. So we're basically trapped." Explained Biyomon. Sora sighed in frustration, though she knew it wasn't right she couldn't help but blame Gennai for this, he was the one who had called her on this mission. And now they were trapped hundreds of miles beneath the surface in a tunnel with only one way to go.
"You jerk, guys think they know everything." Shouted Raiko from down the hallway.
"Oh please, if anybody thinks they know everything it's you! You've been playing boss lady since Sora went out!" retorted Toshiro.
"At least I know how to take charge of a situation. Instead of waiting for someone to tell me what to do like you or Miyama!" she replied even louder.
"Hey." Said Miyama in protest to that comment.
"We don't need you to take charge of anything, incase you forgot Tai is the original leader of the Digidestined. He's perfectly capable of taking care of things without your two cents." Said Toshiro even more angrily.
"Oh please Tai would be nothing without Sora anyway. Everybody knows she was second in command, what about the time Tai went back to the real world, who was the one to keep looking for him?" she shouted.
"Guy's this is really not the place." Said Rex trying his hardest to calm Toshiro down. "Yeah what if there is another cave-in, please quiet down Raiko." Agreed Tenshi.
"Not until this walking idiot figures out that he doesn't know everything." Replied Raiko to her digimon.
"Not until she figures out that..." Toshiro was cut mid sentence suddenly as the ground beneath gave way. Then Raiko slipped, falling in behind him. Luckily both of them were able to grab hold of the edge, before they could fall in completely. "Booby trap?" asked Raiko as she struggled to pull herself up. "I think so." Answered Toshiro. Luckily for Raiko, Tenshi was able to fly over the whole to her aid. But Rex hadn't been paying attention to where he was walking and he too fell in. Without thinking twice, Toshiro let go of the ledging with his right hand and barely grabbed the Agumon by his claw. Once Raiko had gotten back to ground level she immediately reached for Toshiro, who was now barely hanging on. "I gotcha." She said as she and Tenshi tried desperately to pull he and Rex up.
"What the hell have you been eating, and what are you feeding that Agumon of yours?" She complained as she and the Biyomon continued to pull. But it was to no avail. They were just a little to heavy for them, and to their dismay Raiko and Tenshi could feel their feet slowly sliding.
"You here that?" asked Sora as she stood beside Tai. Everyone grew even quieter; listening for whatever Sora could here. "What?" asked Yokomon. Sora smiled, "They're not arguing." She answered. "Maybe they can get along." Said Hawkmon.
"Tai!" shouted Toshiro.
"Sora!" screamed Raiko as her and Tenshi were pulled in, and the four of them fell helplessly down.
"Or maybe they can get themselves into trouble." Said Tai as he dashed behind Otaru and Hawkmon who had ran ahead.
Otaru ran as quick as his small legs could carry him, with Hawkmon flying by his side. "Raiko!" he yelled, but no response. Worried, he ran even faster, which was unfortunate for him. He too fell into the trap that had caught Raiko and the others, and as he did he reached for Hawkmon, pulling him down with him, "Sora!" he managed to yell out, before the trap door closed with a low thud.
"Otaru! Raiko!" Sora screamed, terrified by what may have happened to them. Her and Miyama ran until they met with Tai, who had found a torch perched on the side of the tunnel. He and Agumon stared angrily at the ground. Their eyesight focused on a star shape in the center of the stone tiled floor. "Why are you standing here?" asked Sora as she tried to push through Tai. He quickly grabbed her and pulled her back before she could make another step. "Look there." He said pointing to the shape on the ground. Sora annoyed, looked at the star on the floor. "Yeah, so." She replied mad that Tai had stopped in his pursuit. Agumon picked up a pebble by his foot, and then threw it on the star shape. The trap door opened once again. Miyama and Yokomon gasped as they figured what happened to the others.
"Are we going down after them?" asked Miyama slightly scared.
"We couldn't even if we wanted to," answered Tai. He threw another pebble down the whole, and listened. "It doesn't sound like there is any bottom for miles, they probably fell to a lower level or into a dungeon. We can't afford to get caught with them. We'll just have to find another way to go down and find them."
Sora stood horrified that she had let something like that happened to them. They were under her protection, and now three of them were missing. "I knew I should have taken them home, but Gennai insisted we had no time." She said banging her fist to the wall. It didn't hurt like you think it would have. Sora was stronger, physically, than what she once was. Albeit, not nearly as strong as to the point of no injury, but she could take more hits than the average woman. Maybe it was the digital part of her that gave her this enhanced strength, or maybe she had done it herself from all the training and working out over the years, but whatever it was the added strength had come in handy.
Tai placed his hand on her shoulder; he could feel her body trembling as she stood with her back to him. He knew that she was crying out of frustration. She was coming down on herself for not coming through for Raiko and Otaru like she felt she should have. She always was hard on herself, but it was only because she cared so much for people. She always did whatever she could to help everyone, no matter what the cost was to her. She was a selfless, loving woman; Tai had admired her for that quality. He smiled to himself, 'Raiko's right...' he thought. He always knew that Sora was a big part of his life, and over time he had concluded that he was the person he was because of her. For he had found the courage needed to be the warrior that he was now, because of her and for her.
"We will find them. I promise you that." Said Tai as Sora looked away from the wall. She had long since wiped away the few tears, she didn't want Miyama see her like that, she remembered how T.K. had always gotten so scared whenever he saw Sora cry. She didn't want Miyama to go through that.
"I know we will." Replied Sora as she stepped over the trap button and continued down the hall.
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The dark energy that was hidden deep within the bowels of the digital earth had grown immense in size, and was growing still. The darkness had long consumed the alter that it was perched upon, and now it seemed to swallow the room around it in it's hunger to devour all light.
The hooded figure still remained inside the room with the growing darkness and flashes of cold, blue lightning. It was obvious that this minion of evil had no plans on leaving. "Your will shall be done." He chanted over a large fountain of water. "Your will shall be done, my lord, my master, my savior." Said the figure as he swept his hands across the waters. His hand was scaly and a dark blue. Long nails grew like a hawks talons. They clawed out menacingly, it was obvious that they were capable of serious damage. Their tips were lightly stained with the dried blood of the poor victims that came across this demons path. "A sacrifice has been chosen for you my lord." He seemed to almost hiss out. In the dark waters before him, an image of a girl appeared. She was in trouble, and accompanied by two others who did not seem to interest the demon. "She is filled with a fire that should be most appetizing to you my Lord." Said the demon as he pulled his hood off. He was bald, and his head was also blue and scaled, the scales gleamed with iridescent colors in the light of a near by torch. His face was adorned with two eyes that were a sickening yellow and had thin black slits in the center. They resembled cat eyes. His lips were thin and were a lighter blue than on his scaled face. Two fangs sparkled in the crackling blue light of the darkness as he smiled evilly. His nose was nothing but two small slits on his face, barely even visible. The demon was a disturbing sight for anyone to lay eyes on.
The growling that had ceased for the time being began again. Filling the air with a coldness close to Death its self. The demon-worshipper reveled in this and he inhaled deeply as he took in the evil that was comforting for him in it's own sinful way. "Yes my Lord," he hissed out, a forked tongue slipping past his lips, "Your will shall be done." He swept his hand over the dark water again, "She shall make a superb sacrifice." The low rumbling emitting from the dark energy grew louder, as though it was responding to the words of the demon. The demon bowed humbly, "Yes almighty. Your will shall be done, my lord."
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"Why?" asked Raiko as she slowly pulled herself up after their lovely trip. She sat back against the stonewall, sighing as she rubbed her sore back. "Why what?" replied Toshiro as he too sat up. The stone hallways in the lower levels of the temples were much more darker than what they had been used to. In fact it was nearly impossible to make out anyone from the vast darkness that expanded outward from all directions. Only silhouettes could be somewhat made out, and even so that did not help at all. "The falling...I mean why with the falling, and the trap doors, and dark hallways, and..." she began as she slowly slid upward, pressing her back against the wall to make sure she wouldn't trip or fall over anyone. She passed her hands against the rough surface of the cool wall, trying to find a torch of some sort. "It is an ancient temple, wouldn't it make sense to have a few booby traps here and there?" said Toshiro sarcastically, as he sat against the wall opposite Raiko though neither one could see that. Raiko made an annoyed face, but then, realizing he wouldn't be able to see her, she stopped. She still searched for a torch against the wall, knowing that there had to be one somewhere. Luckily she was right, as she felt her hand go past what felt like a wooden handle. 'Anything wooden is good enough for me,' she thought to herself, 'As long as it's flammable.'
Toshiro felt nervous in the silence, the darkness hadn't bothered him much, just the silence. He never could stand the quite, unless he needed the element of surprise, but in these circumstances he wanted no silence. "What are you doing?" he asked trying to make his nervousness ease by starting some conversation. "I found a torch," replied Raiko happily, "or what might be a torch." She finished. She turned in the direction of Toshiro's voice, hoping that Rex would be somewhere near his partner. "Rex, come near my voice for a sec..." said Raiko, but in the process she slipped over a few fallen stone, dropping the wooden torch in her hand. Toshiro immediately reacted to the sound of the falling wood, and he jumped to catch Raiko before she had fallen face first into the ground, but his footing was bad, and as he felt her fall into him, he fell back to ground, hard. "Ooo, man that hurt." He whined as Raiko immediately pulled herself up. If there was any light, Toshiro would have seen Raiko's face. She was blushing ridiculously, surprised that he sprang so quickly to catch her. She fumbled around for the torch, still blushing. "Where is it?" she said reaching around to all sides. "Right here." Replied Rex, who had found the torch.
"Where are you?" asked Raiko, she turned to her right in the direction of the little digimon's voice.
"Here, I'm right here." Answered Rex trying to guide Raiko by his voice.
Raiko sat up on her knees and felt around in front of her, thinking Rex couldn't be much taller than that anyway. She waved her arms around violently, becoming slowly frustrated, until she heard two loud smacks, and an "Ow!" She had slapped Toshiro accidentally while looking for Rex. Instantly she reacted and scooted in closer to Toshiro, "I'm so sorry." She said placing her hands to his face, gently this time. "I didn't see you." She continued, her hands on each side of his face. Toshiro's face was guided in the direction of her's, but neither knew it for it was much too dark to see. That is until an exhale could be heard, and a flash of warm air flew quickly past. Rex stood just to the right of them, with Tenshi by his side.
The two digimons' jaws dropped as they saw how close Toshiro and Raiko were to one another. Toshiro's face was beet red, while Raiko had a light flush across her own face. Neither had realized how close their faces really were, and now that they did see, neither could react.
Finally after getting her head together, Raiko pushed away from Toshiro, and quickly stood. Tenshi and Rex both snickered under their breath as the saw how nervous she was. She heard this and gave both laughing digimon a death glare that would make anyone nervous, shutting them up instantly.
The four sat in the silence for a brief moment. Toshiro and Raiko being to embarrassed to speak, and Rex and Tenshi kept quite afraid that Raiko would pounce on them without any hesitation if they so much as thought a word. It was when the silence began to become unbearable for Toshiro, when Otaru and Hawkmon had finally come crashing in from the opening in the ceiling. Both boy and digimon hit the ground hard, leaving both slightly dazed. Realizing it was Otaru, Tenshi and Raiko quickly went to help them up. "How'd you get down here?" asked Raiko as she helped Otaru up. "I fell in behind you guys, when me and the others heard you yell for help." Answered Otaru, dusting himself off. "You okay, Hawkmon?" asked Otaru, looking at Hawkmon, who was rubbing his left wing. "I'll be alright, just a little sore is all." Answered Hawkmon. At that, the sound of a thud could be heard just above them. The six looked as the trap door they fell through had closed shut.
"Well going up is out of the question." Said Toshiro.
"Was it ever an option?" replied Raiko.
Sensing another argument brewing, Otaru decided to intervene and make another suggestion. "Well, let's choose another direction." He said stepping between the two.
"Fine let's go that way." Both Raiko and Toshiro pointed left, catching the other off guard.
Otaru smiled to himself, 'These two are hilarious.' He thought to himself. "Well it's good to see you two are capable of agreeing, let's go." He said walking to the left of the hallway with the digimon following behind him. Both Toshiro and Raiko gave each other a haughty glance, feeling that he or she had gotten the upper hand on the other, and followed behind Otaru and the digimon.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Yes, my lord." Said the repulsive demon as he listened to his master's hideous voice. "You want your sacrifice now?" he asked looking up at the darkness that continued to grow. "Your will shall be done, almighty one." He said as he walked towards the fountain of dark water. He looked into the reflective waters, past his own face and eyes that looked at him, and into something deeper. He smiled, fangs showing, as he found what he had been looking for. He held his breath for a moment, then let it go, blowing into the water. The water immediately began to turn to ice, crackling with every molecule that froze up. Again the demon looked at the water, or ice. "It's cold." He said looking down at the ice, "It's cold, so cold." He chanted as he looked down into the ice.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tai, Agumon, Biyomon, Sora, Miyama, and Yokomon walked cautiously down the stony hallway. Tai checked nearly every panel of the stone floor, trying to avoid the same fate as the others. The dim light provided by the burning torch in Tai's hand also, gave a small glimmer of warmth, a luxury that was diminishing as the ventured further down into the catacombs of the temples. Sora would shiver, due to the fact that shorts and a tank top was not adequate clothing for a journey like this one, and Miyama wasn't doing very well in her little sundress either.
Both girls clung tightly to each other, trying to muster what little warmth they could. Miyama had long sense gotten tired from walking, she wasn't used to going on long adventures anyway, so Sora carried the little girl, now half asleep, in her arms, hoping that together they could gather just a little more heat from one another.
The damp coolness of the hallways had begun to take an effect on Sora, which was out of the usual for her. Her bare legs had begun to slightly shiver as she took each step to walk. They felt heavier for some reason, like the cold was weighing them down. She struggled against the feeling of the cold around her, thinking that she was just a bit tired, that it was nothing more than exhaustion. But she couldn't stop the urge to sit, to relax for just a brief moment. Her body had felt drained, void of all energy. Like something was trying to suck what life energy was in her, and was succeeding. She pushed herself forward, trying to hide any signs of the abundant amount of exhaustion that had now claimed her body. But it proved to no avail. Sora could feel that she could not go on, that it was time for her to rest, and if she wouldn't stop soon she would pass out. So, finally she tried to tell Tai, but as she opened her mouth to speak, only a light cloud of heat passing through the cold air passed her parted lips. She had lost the energy to speak, to move, her entire body was completely, utterly, and totally void of any energy.
Feeling herself grow more and more light headed, she reached out for Tai from where he walked in front of them. She was only able to make a few staggering steps towards him and pull on the collar of his shirt, before she had completely let go allowed herself to fall. Regardless of the way she felt, she still held firmly to Miyama.
Biyomon was the first to notice Sora was passing out, and immediately called out her name in a fit of worry, "Sora!" she yelled, running to her friend. Tai reacted immediately to the bird-digimon's out cry, and he turned to catch a falling Sora in his arms, dropping the torch in the process. Surprised by her, he quickly helped her down and onto her knees, kneeling by her side. "Sora, Sora what's wrong?" he asked, tilting her face upward to look at him.
Sora stared into his eyes for a moment. She wasn't herself, and Taichi could see that nearly instantly. Her eyes were dull in color, not the same, beautiful scarlet hue that they normally held. Instead, they were a monotonous, lifeless shade that Tai had never seen in ones eyes before. It was like the glow that everyone held inside, the part of everyone that gave every persons eyes the will to shine, had left Sora's being entirely. Tai looked at her, still somewhat disturbed by her appearance. He placed his hands against her arms to help her sit up straight, but when he touched her he quickly drew his hands back, hissing from the sting that he felt while touching her.
"What is it Tai?" asked Biyomon, worried.
"She's like ice," he answered, "I can barely stand to touch her."
Everyone looked at Sora as she slowly leaned back to lie against the wall. She smiled a sleepy smile to Tai, who was now worried beyond belief. He was going to try to touch her again, when Miyama had crossed his mind. Quickly, he pulled her away from Sora. Almost immediately he could feel that the little girl was like a block of ice. He feared that the girl sleeping under such cold conditions could cause the worst, and he quickly looked at her to see any signs of waking up. Her tiny lips were a pale shade of blue, and her fingertips were the exact same shade. She had nearly frozen sleeping under Sora.
"Miyama, wake up." He pleaded, rubbing her tiny arms to warm her up.
"What's wrong with them?" asked Yokomon, as she approached Tai and Miyama.
"I don't know they're just cold. I mean extremely cold." Said Tai confused, still trying to wake Miyama up.
Sora sat quietly, watching as Tai tried to get Miyama to open her eyes. Her dull-colored eyes, that showed a weary person, masked the fact that she was actually very worried. She wanted to help Tai, but couldn't find the strength to do so, and so she sat watched.
It had taken a moment but Miyama had finally woken open, Tai and Yokomon were relieved beyond measure, as they saw the little girl sit up still shivering. Miyama almost instinctively clung to Tai and the warmth that came from him. But Tai removed her, handing her to Agumon, so that he could get a further examination of Sora.
"Keep her warm." He told Agumon and the others, as he looked back at Sora. Those same eyes, greeted him, and he could feel himself cringe slightly as he looked at them. They were disturbing beyond belief because Tai had never seen that in anyone, but he shook the feeling off, remembering that it was still the same Sora he had loved and known all his life.
"Sora, what's happening? What's wrong? I want to help you but I can't touch you." He asked.
"I'm just a little cold Tai, and I need a nap...that's all." She answered nonchalantly, her words slurring, and her body falling towards the floor. Tai had forgotten entirely about the fact that she was still cold beyond belief and reached out for her, not allowing her to hit the stone floor. He held her tightly in his arms. The sting of his warm skin against her chilled skin was not an issue anymore. He was too worried to care about such a trivial matter.
"Sora, c'mon wake up." He said looking into her pale face. Her lips were an even deeper shade of blue than Miyama's once were; in fact her whole body had seem to take on a chilling blue tint. "Sora..." he said again, hoping she would regain consciousness. But he received no reply.
Tai looked down into her face. She was in a peaceful sleep, no pain. But Tai didn't want her to sleep at all. He was afraid that she wouldn't wake up, all he could think of was how he had wished they were back on the surface and not in these ridiculous tunnels, searching for who knows what. He wanted to be some place warm, so that maybe Sora could wake up. It was like she was fading out of existence, and he was powerless to stop it. Tai hated that feeling. Not being able to stop something from happening was a strain on his ego and his pride. But to see Sora lying before him, nearly lifeless, was beyond a strain on his ego or pride. It was more like a strain on his heart, more than anything.
"Taichi..." said a soft voice, breaking Tai from his trance of anger, hurt, and worry. Tai looked down at Sora, who had a smile planted across her face, but her eyes were still not open. "Sora?" asked Tai looking puzzled. There couldn't have been anyway for her to speak, he had already tried to wake her up. "Was that you?"
"It was Sora-san," answered Miyama, "I saw her mouth move."
"Taichi, I just wanted to say I have to go." Said Sora, her eyes still closed. Tai looked at Sora in disbelief, she looked like she was talking in her sleep, but she was very aware of everything around her.
"Go? Go where?" questioned Tai.
"You'll know soon e-" Sora was cut short, falling back into her sleep.
Tai could feel his heart pound in his chest. He didn't know what she was babbling about but it made no sense. He couldn't just let her "go" as she had put it, and just where in the hell was she going anyway? Nothing that had happened that day made any sense, and to hear Sora talking like this was the icing on the cake. "Sora, you are not going any..." but before Tai had had a chance to figure his thoughts and respond, she was gone.
Tai shot up immediately and looked down each end of the stone tunnel. He was beyond anger. But the irony was that he was angry with himself, for not stopping whatever had taken her away from him. Frustrated, he slammed his fist against the stonewall. It didn't seem to bother him; he didn't flinch from pain or anything. In fact it looked as though he had inflicted more damage to the wall than what the wall had done to him.
Tai was ready to dash off down the seemingly endless tunnel to search out Sora's abductor when, "Taichi-san, I'm scared." Tai stopped in his tracks. He had forgotten all about Miyama, and it was a good thing she had said something or else she would have been there by herself. He allowed himself to calm down, so not to startle her. Sora was right; it would have been best to leave Miyama and the others in the real world. He knelt down to meet the girl face to face, "We'll don't worry Miyama..." he said reassuringly, "We'll find Sora and the others, I promise." Miyama looked down, still unsure about the whole thing, but figuring she had no choice but to believe him, she nodded. "C'mon," he said holding his had out for her to take, "Let's go, okay?"
Miyama stood there for a moment, she knew he wasn't a bad person, and if Sora-san was okay with him, than she should be too. But it always takes children a minute to get used to a new person. Finally, she took his hand, and with a final glance to Yokomon, the four began to make there way down the tunnel.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Raiko!" screamed Toshiro as she fell to stone ground, her body shaking violently from being too cold. Her light brown skin had toke on a disturbing tint of blue, that would be near to lifeless had she not been shaking, indicating that she was very much alive. Toshiro struggled past the limbs that sprouted from out of nowhere from all corners of the walls, ceiling, and floor.
The disgusting appendages had sprung out at them without warning as the six made their way down the dark labyrinth of the underground tunnels. Before anyone knew it, an unknown enemy was attacking them, from all sides. This wouldn't have been such a problem, had it not been the fact that the digimon were practically useless against the stone limbs that shot at them. Digivolving wasn't even an option, as Otaru had pointed out earlier in the attack, "The digimon would be too big, and there would be a cave-in right on top of us." Toshiro remembered him saying as one of the stone limbs slammed into Hawkmon's stomach, knocking him so hard that he de-digivolved into a Poromon. Otaru was near to tears, as he saw his digimon lay unconscious on the ground.
Prior to the attack, Raiko had come down with a serious case of the chills. "It's probably because we're going deeper underground, plus it's not like you have on the warmest clothes around." Toshiro recalled saying to her. He remembered how she looked at her top, which had had her stomach out and was sleeveless. She quickly wrapped her arms around her waist, blushing adorably as Toshiro had recalled it. He didn't think much of her being cold at first, but once the attack came she had gotten worse. And now she lay helplessly on the floor, Tenshi had long sense de-digivolved back into a Yokomon, but she still fought bitterly and non-effectively against their opposing foe.
Now Toshiro and Rex were left in the game, and Toshiro was charging fiercely towards Raiko. Though she had protested, he knew that she and Tenshi needed help. He pressed on, dodging stone limbs and falling rock. A limb seem to "see" Toshiro racing towards Raiko, and quickly shot after him. Toshiro didn't even notice the oncoming stone, as his concentration and eyesight was fixated on Raiko. But luckily Rex did, and in a moments reaction, "Pepper breath" was called out, and a fire ball came wiping past Toshiro and into the oncoming rock. Toshiro could feel the heat of the fire as it exploded against the stone. He looked back to Rex, giving him a "Thank You" glance. But that was to his disadvantage, because as he turned to look ahead of him again, another limb came flying for him, this time it wasn't stopped by the onslaught of fire. It crashed brutally into Toshiro's left shoulder. Pressing him back, until his body was slammed violently against the opposite wall. Then another came out after him, holding his right shoulder up. Toshiro cried out in pain as he felt his body being pressed against the stone. He looked to Rex hoping his digimon partnered would help him soon. But Rex was being strangled by one of the other limbs, keeping his Pepper Breath out of commission.
When Toshiro and Rex finally had to quit their fight, the hallway quieted down. Only Toshiro and Rex's breathing could be heard for the moment. That is until Toshiro noticed that someone was chanting. He struggled to move his head to his right. He barely able to see her, but Raiko was still completely laid out against the floor. She was still shivering, and Tenshi was still by her side. Toshiro, focused in on Raiko, realizing that she was the one speaking. He lowered his breathing, and listened harder.
"It's cold..." Raiko whispered, "So very cold."
Toshiro couldn't have understood how she could still be cold, he and the others were starting to break a sweat, and she was shivering. Raiko laid there for a moment, just chanting the same words. But the moment was broken when more limbs came out of the stone floor. They appeared on all sides of Raiko, and hovered over her ready to come down on her in an instant. Toshiro struggled to break free, he was sure that she would have been killed. But the limbs pinning him to the wall pressed harder, and he stopped his struggle for the pain was too immense. The limbs over Raiko slowly lowered and wrapped around her thin, shivering body. Raiko opened her eyes one last time, only to see the limbs coming towards her. They terrified her, but she was too weak to move away. As they finally grabbed hold of her, she could feel them pulling down. The ground beneath began to feel a repulsive liquid-like texture. Raiko began to feel the fear over whelm her, but by the time she had finally felt the needed to run it was too late. She could feel her body being sucked in to the ground, the thick liquid like feel of the stone slowly engulfing her. The cold began to surround her, and she could feel her heart race with fear. Sudden pain began to take hold of her, the limbs that had claimed her were much to tight, and she felt as though she would be crushed. Tears just as cold as her body and the stone began to slide down her face, as her efforts to get away were useless. She was an utter pain, be did not know why, nor did she care.
"Toshiro...it hurts." She cried out, wishing he could come and save her. Her crying became louder as the pain and fear grew. A mix of her tears, crying, and horrific screams of pain filled the air, bringing Otaru to cover his ears as a limb held fast to his watse, leaving him suspended in the air. The idea of losing her without a fight was all too much, especially for Toshiro, who had streaming heated tears of anger runnig down his face. "Please, it hurts..." Raiko continued to plead as the others watched her slowly vanish from sight.
"Raiko!!" Toshiro screamed out, as he could see the last of her body vanish beneath the stone. The warm tears still came running down his angry face. The sound if her screaming out was muffled quickly as she slipped under the ground and out of sight.
Author's Note: Okay, so I was wrong, this part is actually longer then the last part, but only by a page. I guess I should work on that. Anyway, what do you think? Is it coming along nicely? Does it make any sense? Uh, do you like it? Please let me know what's up, review. And thanks for taking the time out to read my fic.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Of Demons and an Angelbr
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
From the beginning, from the point they set foot on Server, Toshiro and Raiko had found every reason in the world to argue. Making the others' journey that much more tiresome. The summer heat had long since began to beat down, making the trip even that much more unbearable. Then to make matters worse, Gennai, being Gennai, had sent them to the South West Peninsula, but he was off by a couple hundred miles. Sora was already beginning to grow exhausted, she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, as her and the others flew on their digimon across the full landscape. The tree canopy zoomed below them; the leaves made the ground below seem like and endless sea of green.
Sora looked behind her to Miyama who rode on Birdramon's back with her, her arms wrapped around Sora's waist, with Yokomon. She wasn't afraid to fly, like Sora had assumed she would be. No, Miyama looked as though she belonged in the sky, like she should have been born with wings from the beginning. Sora smiled, watching Miyama and Yokomon enjoy the beauty of flight was like watching herself fly for the first time. She remembered how she felt. The way the air blew past her face, it was a cool, refreshing feeling. Her hair looked like flames as the strands flared rapidly against the passing wind. Sora remembered how right it felt to fly above them all, to go up and down in altitude. She had belonged in the air, she remembered how she had secretly wished to have wings herself, that way she could have this moment of freedom whenever she felt. Maybe that was why she was named Sora, the sky, for in the sky when she flew with her digimon is when she felt her freest.
An Aquilamon flew up the right side of Birdramon. Otaru, Tai, and Agumon rode on the large eagle-looking digimon's back. It had taken Otaru a bit of time, but eventually he had grown used to flying through the air. It didn't seem as natural to him as it did to Miyama, but it did seem somewhat fitting. He still looked somewhat fearful at times, but Aquilamon would always reassure him that everything would be fine, and so he would relax and try to enjoy the moment. A second Birdramon flew fiercely fast past Sora. Raiko and Toshiro had purposely been paired together, seeing how no one wanted to put up with either one. Both of them had a strong since of pride that could become very annoying. It was ideal to put them together.
Toshiro wrapped his arms around Raiko tightly, and Rex held tightly to him. Tenshi had been flying quite recklessly, by order of Raiko. They wanted to, or more like Raiko wanted to get at Toshiro. She always did enjoy getting to people. But Toshiro and Rex were two stubborn characters, and regardless of Raiko and Tenshi's antics, neither one would show any sign of airsickness. Though Rex's scales were starting to become an ill shade of green.
"Sora, I can see the temples!" shouted Raiko from up ahead. Sora looked back to Otaru, signaling him to keep up, and then as if Birdramon could read Sora's thoughts, she sped up, Miyama's grip growing a little tighter in the process.
"See!" said Raiko as Aquilamon and Birdramon caught up to her and Tenshi. Sora glanced over the edge; the temples were coming up fast over the horizon. She looked back at Raiko, and then nodded as Birdramon went down for the landing. "Hang on." Said Sora to her two little passengers as Birdramon gradually began to lose altitude. Raiko smiled wickedly, she leaned in closer to Tenshi, and whispered something that Toshiro wasn't able too make out. She sat up once more and cut a glance to he and Rex. Both looked confused as to what she had planned, until suddenly Tenshi went down into a nosedive, startling Toshiro and Rex. Toshiro's grip on Raiko grew tighter as the giant bird raced to the ground. Raiko smiled to herself, knowing she had finally accomplished what she had been trying to do.
Otaru, Tai, and Agumon all shook their heads. "Really, I'm not even that immature." Said Otaru as Aquilamon also began to land.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The temples on Server, were a mystery sense they had first been discovered those years ago. The resembled the old Indian Temples of Mexico, consisting of hundreds of stone steps that led to a small compartment at the top. They were old and worn, and small fragments of rock crumbled from the rotting edges with each step they took. The group walked silently up the eerie stairway. Vines clung to the edges like snakes wrapped around tree branches. There was a silence about the site that these temples were on that seemed wrong. Nothing could be heard for miles around. No bird-digimon chirping, not even the sound of Gekomon, which were known to inhabit this part of Server.
At the top of the huge stairs stood the partly razed compartment, the doorways being large square openings on all sides. Tai halted at the entranceway, the others all stopped cautiously behind him. "What's wrong Tai?" asked Agumon as he stepped closer to Tai. He didn't respond, instead he turned his ear near the entrance and listened. Sora and the other's all watched petrified that there might be something in there. Miyama clung to Sora's arm, startling her just a bit. "Me and Yokomon will hang on to you so you won't be scared Sora." Said Miyama slowly edging her way behind Sora's legs with Yokomon. Sora smiled as she looked down at the girl, and then diverted her attention back to Tai.
"Tai, do you hear something?" asked Toshiro as he approached the entrance. Raiko quickly grabbed him by his arm, while Tenshi pulled Rex back. Toshiro looked back confused, but his confusion was only answered by Raiko shaking her head in protest to him going anywhere near the entrance.
"Tai what is it?" asked Sora. Tai turned to look at everyone. "Be careful, there is something very strong inside." He answered. At that Miyama and Yokomon clung even harder to Sora. The digimon , not including Yokomon, all prepared themselves to digivolve at a moments notice.
Carefully they all walked inside. There was nothing, besides an alter in the center, stone, and vines that grew on the walls. "Are you sure this is the place?" asked Hawkmon as he protectively moved closer to Otaru. "This is where the energy source is coming from," answered Otaru, "Right Raiko?" he asked glancing back at that the older girl. Raiko reached to her pocket and pulled out her digivice, not taking her eyes of their surroundings. She gave a cursory glance to the device. "Yeah, from my reading this is the right place." She answered slipping the device back in her pocket.
"But there's nothing here." Said Tenshi as she approached the alter near the center of the room.
"You think I don't see that." Said Raiko looking back at her digimon. Tenshi, lifted herself off the ground and landed at the top of the alter. She took a better look around, still nothing. "This was a bust." She complained looking at Hawkmon and Rex. "You're telling me?" said Sora sarcastically.
Just then the sound of crumbling rock could be heard. Everyone froze as they listened to see where the sound was coming from. They all scanned their surroundings, but they could see no sign of falling rock anywhere. "Where is the sound coming from?" asked Otaru nervously. No one answered, and then he got a thought. Hoping he was wrong he looked down. "Unless it's..." The ground began to rumble, then the entire floor crumbled from beneath them. Quickly, Sora grabbed hold of Miyama and Yokomon as she felt the ground beneath her vanish, and then falling. "You've got to be kidding me!" shouted Raiko as they all fell helplessly down. Hawkmon, Biyomon, and Tenshi, being the only flying digimon were able to save themselves from falling, then they quickly dashed down into the dark abyss below after their friends.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"My Lord, the chosen one is near." Said a deep, wicked voice. In a cavern, below the earth, and under the temples in secrecy, a figure in a dead-brown colored cloak kneeled obediently before what looked like nothing but darkness. Which it would have been, if not for the blue streaks of lightening that encased it. The lightening looked like a lifeless shade of blue, the shade ones face would turn after being deprived of air. It crackled and as at zipped from one end on the darkness to the next, a blast of cold radiated from it. The unholy blackness before the kneeling figure was actually round in shape, and though it seemed lifeless it was actually very much alive.
The alter it rested upon was barely visible, for the darkness was consuming. It devoured anything near it in a shroud of shadows like a panther eats its prey in the cover of a tar-black India night. To come too close to the energy would be sealing ones own demise. But regardless of these facts, the obedient worshipper stood closely and fearlessly before the threatening darkness.
A low rumble sounded throughout the room, or what seemed like rumbling. It was actually the voice of the evil. The worshipper looked up towards the black energy as he listened to what sounded like low, threatening growls. "Yes, my master," said the worshipper still hooded, "Your will shall be done."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cool air pressed against Sora's bare legs and arms as she lay still on the cold hard stone floor. It was refreshing compared to the unimaginable heat from outside the temple's labyrinth of tunnels and passageways. Slowly, she had regained consciousness. Her eyes gently opened, her vision still slightly blurred. Images of what looked like people and digimon were crowded around her as she slowly came back from being briefly knocked out.
"Oh, Sora-san, Please wake up." Pleaded a small voice.
Sora, after regaining her memory of what happened earlier, sat up, or at least tried to. She was still a bit dizzy, and her arms wobbled underneath her body. Before she could sit up good, she had lost her handling causing her to head back down towards the ground. That is until she felt two arms catch her before hitting the unwelcoming stone. She again focused her vision, and instead of a group of people, one lone figure took up her entire vision. A pair of dark colored eyes looked down from over her. They were brown, well they would have been in the light, but in the sudden darkness of the tunnels the seemed nearly black. The eyes were strong, and they emitted a powerful force that Sora had recognized. She looked into the eyes for a moment, losing herself in the security and protection that they ensured. This caused her to feel a sudden need for sleep, and giving into the need she allowed her eyes to slip close. That's when she was abruptly shaken.
"No, no, you gotta get up Sora, you might go into a concussion." Said Tai as he forced her to sit up. Sora was unwilling sat against the wall behind her and Tai. She shook her head a bit, trying to get over the little pain that pulsated in her head. "Wha, what happened?" she asked groggily as she looked around her surroundings. "You hit your head pretty bad." Answered Biyomon as she approached her friend, thankful that she had finally woken up. Sora placed her hand to the back of her head, it still throbbed but it wasn't as bad as when she first woke up.
"Are you okay Sora?" asked Otaru as he, Hawkmon, Miyama, and Yokomon all came in a bit closer. Sora slowly nodded. Her vision was finally completely together, and she was able to make out Otaru, Tai, and Miyama, each with their respective digimon along with Biyomon. "Where's Raiko and Toshiro?" she asked tilting her head back. "I sent them on a scouting expedition." Answered Tai. Sora looked to Tai, remembering the eyes she had first seen when she woke up. They were his eyes, and realizing how infatuated she had been with them a moment ago, she blushed. Thankfully to the darkness of the tunnels no one was able to see her.
"Why can't we go back up through the whole we came down. We'll just have Hawkmon or Biyomon digivolve and then..." Sora was cut short when Biyomon brought the pile of rock and rumble to the left of them to her attention. "While you were out, part of the tunnel began to cave in, Tai carried you and we all ran down one end of the tunnel. When the cave-in had stopped, the left side of the tunnel was caved in from this point to whole in the ceiling. So we're basically trapped." Explained Biyomon. Sora sighed in frustration, though she knew it wasn't right she couldn't help but blame Gennai for this, he was the one who had called her on this mission. And now they were trapped hundreds of miles beneath the surface in a tunnel with only one way to go.
"You jerk, guys think they know everything." Shouted Raiko from down the hallway.
"Oh please, if anybody thinks they know everything it's you! You've been playing boss lady since Sora went out!" retorted Toshiro.
"At least I know how to take charge of a situation. Instead of waiting for someone to tell me what to do like you or Miyama!" she replied even louder.
"Hey." Said Miyama in protest to that comment.
"We don't need you to take charge of anything, incase you forgot Tai is the original leader of the Digidestined. He's perfectly capable of taking care of things without your two cents." Said Toshiro even more angrily.
"Oh please Tai would be nothing without Sora anyway. Everybody knows she was second in command, what about the time Tai went back to the real world, who was the one to keep looking for him?" she shouted.
"Guy's this is really not the place." Said Rex trying his hardest to calm Toshiro down. "Yeah what if there is another cave-in, please quiet down Raiko." Agreed Tenshi.
"Not until this walking idiot figures out that he doesn't know everything." Replied Raiko to her digimon.
"Not until she figures out that..." Toshiro was cut mid sentence suddenly as the ground beneath gave way. Then Raiko slipped, falling in behind him. Luckily both of them were able to grab hold of the edge, before they could fall in completely. "Booby trap?" asked Raiko as she struggled to pull herself up. "I think so." Answered Toshiro. Luckily for Raiko, Tenshi was able to fly over the whole to her aid. But Rex hadn't been paying attention to where he was walking and he too fell in. Without thinking twice, Toshiro let go of the ledging with his right hand and barely grabbed the Agumon by his claw. Once Raiko had gotten back to ground level she immediately reached for Toshiro, who was now barely hanging on. "I gotcha." She said as she and Tenshi tried desperately to pull he and Rex up.
"What the hell have you been eating, and what are you feeding that Agumon of yours?" She complained as she and the Biyomon continued to pull. But it was to no avail. They were just a little to heavy for them, and to their dismay Raiko and Tenshi could feel their feet slowly sliding.
"You here that?" asked Sora as she stood beside Tai. Everyone grew even quieter; listening for whatever Sora could here. "What?" asked Yokomon. Sora smiled, "They're not arguing." She answered. "Maybe they can get along." Said Hawkmon.
"Tai!" shouted Toshiro.
"Sora!" screamed Raiko as her and Tenshi were pulled in, and the four of them fell helplessly down.
"Or maybe they can get themselves into trouble." Said Tai as he dashed behind Otaru and Hawkmon who had ran ahead.
Otaru ran as quick as his small legs could carry him, with Hawkmon flying by his side. "Raiko!" he yelled, but no response. Worried, he ran even faster, which was unfortunate for him. He too fell into the trap that had caught Raiko and the others, and as he did he reached for Hawkmon, pulling him down with him, "Sora!" he managed to yell out, before the trap door closed with a low thud.
"Otaru! Raiko!" Sora screamed, terrified by what may have happened to them. Her and Miyama ran until they met with Tai, who had found a torch perched on the side of the tunnel. He and Agumon stared angrily at the ground. Their eyesight focused on a star shape in the center of the stone tiled floor. "Why are you standing here?" asked Sora as she tried to push through Tai. He quickly grabbed her and pulled her back before she could make another step. "Look there." He said pointing to the shape on the ground. Sora annoyed, looked at the star on the floor. "Yeah, so." She replied mad that Tai had stopped in his pursuit. Agumon picked up a pebble by his foot, and then threw it on the star shape. The trap door opened once again. Miyama and Yokomon gasped as they figured what happened to the others.
"Are we going down after them?" asked Miyama slightly scared.
"We couldn't even if we wanted to," answered Tai. He threw another pebble down the whole, and listened. "It doesn't sound like there is any bottom for miles, they probably fell to a lower level or into a dungeon. We can't afford to get caught with them. We'll just have to find another way to go down and find them."
Sora stood horrified that she had let something like that happened to them. They were under her protection, and now three of them were missing. "I knew I should have taken them home, but Gennai insisted we had no time." She said banging her fist to the wall. It didn't hurt like you think it would have. Sora was stronger, physically, than what she once was. Albeit, not nearly as strong as to the point of no injury, but she could take more hits than the average woman. Maybe it was the digital part of her that gave her this enhanced strength, or maybe she had done it herself from all the training and working out over the years, but whatever it was the added strength had come in handy.
Tai placed his hand on her shoulder; he could feel her body trembling as she stood with her back to him. He knew that she was crying out of frustration. She was coming down on herself for not coming through for Raiko and Otaru like she felt she should have. She always was hard on herself, but it was only because she cared so much for people. She always did whatever she could to help everyone, no matter what the cost was to her. She was a selfless, loving woman; Tai had admired her for that quality. He smiled to himself, 'Raiko's right...' he thought. He always knew that Sora was a big part of his life, and over time he had concluded that he was the person he was because of her. For he had found the courage needed to be the warrior that he was now, because of her and for her.
"We will find them. I promise you that." Said Tai as Sora looked away from the wall. She had long since wiped away the few tears, she didn't want Miyama see her like that, she remembered how T.K. had always gotten so scared whenever he saw Sora cry. She didn't want Miyama to go through that.
"I know we will." Replied Sora as she stepped over the trap button and continued down the hall.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The dark energy that was hidden deep within the bowels of the digital earth had grown immense in size, and was growing still. The darkness had long consumed the alter that it was perched upon, and now it seemed to swallow the room around it in it's hunger to devour all light.
The hooded figure still remained inside the room with the growing darkness and flashes of cold, blue lightning. It was obvious that this minion of evil had no plans on leaving. "Your will shall be done." He chanted over a large fountain of water. "Your will shall be done, my lord, my master, my savior." Said the figure as he swept his hands across the waters. His hand was scaly and a dark blue. Long nails grew like a hawks talons. They clawed out menacingly, it was obvious that they were capable of serious damage. Their tips were lightly stained with the dried blood of the poor victims that came across this demons path. "A sacrifice has been chosen for you my lord." He seemed to almost hiss out. In the dark waters before him, an image of a girl appeared. She was in trouble, and accompanied by two others who did not seem to interest the demon. "She is filled with a fire that should be most appetizing to you my Lord." Said the demon as he pulled his hood off. He was bald, and his head was also blue and scaled, the scales gleamed with iridescent colors in the light of a near by torch. His face was adorned with two eyes that were a sickening yellow and had thin black slits in the center. They resembled cat eyes. His lips were thin and were a lighter blue than on his scaled face. Two fangs sparkled in the crackling blue light of the darkness as he smiled evilly. His nose was nothing but two small slits on his face, barely even visible. The demon was a disturbing sight for anyone to lay eyes on.
The growling that had ceased for the time being began again. Filling the air with a coldness close to Death its self. The demon-worshipper reveled in this and he inhaled deeply as he took in the evil that was comforting for him in it's own sinful way. "Yes my Lord," he hissed out, a forked tongue slipping past his lips, "Your will shall be done." He swept his hand over the dark water again, "She shall make a superb sacrifice." The low rumbling emitting from the dark energy grew louder, as though it was responding to the words of the demon. The demon bowed humbly, "Yes almighty. Your will shall be done, my lord."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Why?" asked Raiko as she slowly pulled herself up after their lovely trip. She sat back against the stonewall, sighing as she rubbed her sore back. "Why what?" replied Toshiro as he too sat up. The stone hallways in the lower levels of the temples were much more darker than what they had been used to. In fact it was nearly impossible to make out anyone from the vast darkness that expanded outward from all directions. Only silhouettes could be somewhat made out, and even so that did not help at all. "The falling...I mean why with the falling, and the trap doors, and dark hallways, and..." she began as she slowly slid upward, pressing her back against the wall to make sure she wouldn't trip or fall over anyone. She passed her hands against the rough surface of the cool wall, trying to find a torch of some sort. "It is an ancient temple, wouldn't it make sense to have a few booby traps here and there?" said Toshiro sarcastically, as he sat against the wall opposite Raiko though neither one could see that. Raiko made an annoyed face, but then, realizing he wouldn't be able to see her, she stopped. She still searched for a torch against the wall, knowing that there had to be one somewhere. Luckily she was right, as she felt her hand go past what felt like a wooden handle. 'Anything wooden is good enough for me,' she thought to herself, 'As long as it's flammable.'
Toshiro felt nervous in the silence, the darkness hadn't bothered him much, just the silence. He never could stand the quite, unless he needed the element of surprise, but in these circumstances he wanted no silence. "What are you doing?" he asked trying to make his nervousness ease by starting some conversation. "I found a torch," replied Raiko happily, "or what might be a torch." She finished. She turned in the direction of Toshiro's voice, hoping that Rex would be somewhere near his partner. "Rex, come near my voice for a sec..." said Raiko, but in the process she slipped over a few fallen stone, dropping the wooden torch in her hand. Toshiro immediately reacted to the sound of the falling wood, and he jumped to catch Raiko before she had fallen face first into the ground, but his footing was bad, and as he felt her fall into him, he fell back to ground, hard. "Ooo, man that hurt." He whined as Raiko immediately pulled herself up. If there was any light, Toshiro would have seen Raiko's face. She was blushing ridiculously, surprised that he sprang so quickly to catch her. She fumbled around for the torch, still blushing. "Where is it?" she said reaching around to all sides. "Right here." Replied Rex, who had found the torch.
"Where are you?" asked Raiko, she turned to her right in the direction of the little digimon's voice.
"Here, I'm right here." Answered Rex trying to guide Raiko by his voice.
Raiko sat up on her knees and felt around in front of her, thinking Rex couldn't be much taller than that anyway. She waved her arms around violently, becoming slowly frustrated, until she heard two loud smacks, and an "Ow!" She had slapped Toshiro accidentally while looking for Rex. Instantly she reacted and scooted in closer to Toshiro, "I'm so sorry." She said placing her hands to his face, gently this time. "I didn't see you." She continued, her hands on each side of his face. Toshiro's face was guided in the direction of her's, but neither knew it for it was much too dark to see. That is until an exhale could be heard, and a flash of warm air flew quickly past. Rex stood just to the right of them, with Tenshi by his side.
The two digimons' jaws dropped as they saw how close Toshiro and Raiko were to one another. Toshiro's face was beet red, while Raiko had a light flush across her own face. Neither had realized how close their faces really were, and now that they did see, neither could react.
Finally after getting her head together, Raiko pushed away from Toshiro, and quickly stood. Tenshi and Rex both snickered under their breath as the saw how nervous she was. She heard this and gave both laughing digimon a death glare that would make anyone nervous, shutting them up instantly.
The four sat in the silence for a brief moment. Toshiro and Raiko being to embarrassed to speak, and Rex and Tenshi kept quite afraid that Raiko would pounce on them without any hesitation if they so much as thought a word. It was when the silence began to become unbearable for Toshiro, when Otaru and Hawkmon had finally come crashing in from the opening in the ceiling. Both boy and digimon hit the ground hard, leaving both slightly dazed. Realizing it was Otaru, Tenshi and Raiko quickly went to help them up. "How'd you get down here?" asked Raiko as she helped Otaru up. "I fell in behind you guys, when me and the others heard you yell for help." Answered Otaru, dusting himself off. "You okay, Hawkmon?" asked Otaru, looking at Hawkmon, who was rubbing his left wing. "I'll be alright, just a little sore is all." Answered Hawkmon. At that, the sound of a thud could be heard just above them. The six looked as the trap door they fell through had closed shut.
"Well going up is out of the question." Said Toshiro.
"Was it ever an option?" replied Raiko.
Sensing another argument brewing, Otaru decided to intervene and make another suggestion. "Well, let's choose another direction." He said stepping between the two.
"Fine let's go that way." Both Raiko and Toshiro pointed left, catching the other off guard.
Otaru smiled to himself, 'These two are hilarious.' He thought to himself. "Well it's good to see you two are capable of agreeing, let's go." He said walking to the left of the hallway with the digimon following behind him. Both Toshiro and Raiko gave each other a haughty glance, feeling that he or she had gotten the upper hand on the other, and followed behind Otaru and the digimon.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Yes, my lord." Said the repulsive demon as he listened to his master's hideous voice. "You want your sacrifice now?" he asked looking up at the darkness that continued to grow. "Your will shall be done, almighty one." He said as he walked towards the fountain of dark water. He looked into the reflective waters, past his own face and eyes that looked at him, and into something deeper. He smiled, fangs showing, as he found what he had been looking for. He held his breath for a moment, then let it go, blowing into the water. The water immediately began to turn to ice, crackling with every molecule that froze up. Again the demon looked at the water, or ice. "It's cold." He said looking down at the ice, "It's cold, so cold." He chanted as he looked down into the ice.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tai, Agumon, Biyomon, Sora, Miyama, and Yokomon walked cautiously down the stony hallway. Tai checked nearly every panel of the stone floor, trying to avoid the same fate as the others. The dim light provided by the burning torch in Tai's hand also, gave a small glimmer of warmth, a luxury that was diminishing as the ventured further down into the catacombs of the temples. Sora would shiver, due to the fact that shorts and a tank top was not adequate clothing for a journey like this one, and Miyama wasn't doing very well in her little sundress either.
Both girls clung tightly to each other, trying to muster what little warmth they could. Miyama had long sense gotten tired from walking, she wasn't used to going on long adventures anyway, so Sora carried the little girl, now half asleep, in her arms, hoping that together they could gather just a little more heat from one another.
The damp coolness of the hallways had begun to take an effect on Sora, which was out of the usual for her. Her bare legs had begun to slightly shiver as she took each step to walk. They felt heavier for some reason, like the cold was weighing them down. She struggled against the feeling of the cold around her, thinking that she was just a bit tired, that it was nothing more than exhaustion. But she couldn't stop the urge to sit, to relax for just a brief moment. Her body had felt drained, void of all energy. Like something was trying to suck what life energy was in her, and was succeeding. She pushed herself forward, trying to hide any signs of the abundant amount of exhaustion that had now claimed her body. But it proved to no avail. Sora could feel that she could not go on, that it was time for her to rest, and if she wouldn't stop soon she would pass out. So, finally she tried to tell Tai, but as she opened her mouth to speak, only a light cloud of heat passing through the cold air passed her parted lips. She had lost the energy to speak, to move, her entire body was completely, utterly, and totally void of any energy.
Feeling herself grow more and more light headed, she reached out for Tai from where he walked in front of them. She was only able to make a few staggering steps towards him and pull on the collar of his shirt, before she had completely let go allowed herself to fall. Regardless of the way she felt, she still held firmly to Miyama.
Biyomon was the first to notice Sora was passing out, and immediately called out her name in a fit of worry, "Sora!" she yelled, running to her friend. Tai reacted immediately to the bird-digimon's out cry, and he turned to catch a falling Sora in his arms, dropping the torch in the process. Surprised by her, he quickly helped her down and onto her knees, kneeling by her side. "Sora, Sora what's wrong?" he asked, tilting her face upward to look at him.
Sora stared into his eyes for a moment. She wasn't herself, and Taichi could see that nearly instantly. Her eyes were dull in color, not the same, beautiful scarlet hue that they normally held. Instead, they were a monotonous, lifeless shade that Tai had never seen in ones eyes before. It was like the glow that everyone held inside, the part of everyone that gave every persons eyes the will to shine, had left Sora's being entirely. Tai looked at her, still somewhat disturbed by her appearance. He placed his hands against her arms to help her sit up straight, but when he touched her he quickly drew his hands back, hissing from the sting that he felt while touching her.
"What is it Tai?" asked Biyomon, worried.
"She's like ice," he answered, "I can barely stand to touch her."
Everyone looked at Sora as she slowly leaned back to lie against the wall. She smiled a sleepy smile to Tai, who was now worried beyond belief. He was going to try to touch her again, when Miyama had crossed his mind. Quickly, he pulled her away from Sora. Almost immediately he could feel that the little girl was like a block of ice. He feared that the girl sleeping under such cold conditions could cause the worst, and he quickly looked at her to see any signs of waking up. Her tiny lips were a pale shade of blue, and her fingertips were the exact same shade. She had nearly frozen sleeping under Sora.
"Miyama, wake up." He pleaded, rubbing her tiny arms to warm her up.
"What's wrong with them?" asked Yokomon, as she approached Tai and Miyama.
"I don't know they're just cold. I mean extremely cold." Said Tai confused, still trying to wake Miyama up.
Sora sat quietly, watching as Tai tried to get Miyama to open her eyes. Her dull-colored eyes, that showed a weary person, masked the fact that she was actually very worried. She wanted to help Tai, but couldn't find the strength to do so, and so she sat watched.
It had taken a moment but Miyama had finally woken open, Tai and Yokomon were relieved beyond measure, as they saw the little girl sit up still shivering. Miyama almost instinctively clung to Tai and the warmth that came from him. But Tai removed her, handing her to Agumon, so that he could get a further examination of Sora.
"Keep her warm." He told Agumon and the others, as he looked back at Sora. Those same eyes, greeted him, and he could feel himself cringe slightly as he looked at them. They were disturbing beyond belief because Tai had never seen that in anyone, but he shook the feeling off, remembering that it was still the same Sora he had loved and known all his life.
"Sora, what's happening? What's wrong? I want to help you but I can't touch you." He asked.
"I'm just a little cold Tai, and I need a nap...that's all." She answered nonchalantly, her words slurring, and her body falling towards the floor. Tai had forgotten entirely about the fact that she was still cold beyond belief and reached out for her, not allowing her to hit the stone floor. He held her tightly in his arms. The sting of his warm skin against her chilled skin was not an issue anymore. He was too worried to care about such a trivial matter.
"Sora, c'mon wake up." He said looking into her pale face. Her lips were an even deeper shade of blue than Miyama's once were; in fact her whole body had seem to take on a chilling blue tint. "Sora..." he said again, hoping she would regain consciousness. But he received no reply.
Tai looked down into her face. She was in a peaceful sleep, no pain. But Tai didn't want her to sleep at all. He was afraid that she wouldn't wake up, all he could think of was how he had wished they were back on the surface and not in these ridiculous tunnels, searching for who knows what. He wanted to be some place warm, so that maybe Sora could wake up. It was like she was fading out of existence, and he was powerless to stop it. Tai hated that feeling. Not being able to stop something from happening was a strain on his ego and his pride. But to see Sora lying before him, nearly lifeless, was beyond a strain on his ego or pride. It was more like a strain on his heart, more than anything.
"Taichi..." said a soft voice, breaking Tai from his trance of anger, hurt, and worry. Tai looked down at Sora, who had a smile planted across her face, but her eyes were still not open. "Sora?" asked Tai looking puzzled. There couldn't have been anyway for her to speak, he had already tried to wake her up. "Was that you?"
"It was Sora-san," answered Miyama, "I saw her mouth move."
"Taichi, I just wanted to say I have to go." Said Sora, her eyes still closed. Tai looked at Sora in disbelief, she looked like she was talking in her sleep, but she was very aware of everything around her.
"Go? Go where?" questioned Tai.
"You'll know soon e-" Sora was cut short, falling back into her sleep.
Tai could feel his heart pound in his chest. He didn't know what she was babbling about but it made no sense. He couldn't just let her "go" as she had put it, and just where in the hell was she going anyway? Nothing that had happened that day made any sense, and to hear Sora talking like this was the icing on the cake. "Sora, you are not going any..." but before Tai had had a chance to figure his thoughts and respond, she was gone.
Tai shot up immediately and looked down each end of the stone tunnel. He was beyond anger. But the irony was that he was angry with himself, for not stopping whatever had taken her away from him. Frustrated, he slammed his fist against the stonewall. It didn't seem to bother him; he didn't flinch from pain or anything. In fact it looked as though he had inflicted more damage to the wall than what the wall had done to him.
Tai was ready to dash off down the seemingly endless tunnel to search out Sora's abductor when, "Taichi-san, I'm scared." Tai stopped in his tracks. He had forgotten all about Miyama, and it was a good thing she had said something or else she would have been there by herself. He allowed himself to calm down, so not to startle her. Sora was right; it would have been best to leave Miyama and the others in the real world. He knelt down to meet the girl face to face, "We'll don't worry Miyama..." he said reassuringly, "We'll find Sora and the others, I promise." Miyama looked down, still unsure about the whole thing, but figuring she had no choice but to believe him, she nodded. "C'mon," he said holding his had out for her to take, "Let's go, okay?"
Miyama stood there for a moment, she knew he wasn't a bad person, and if Sora-san was okay with him, than she should be too. But it always takes children a minute to get used to a new person. Finally, she took his hand, and with a final glance to Yokomon, the four began to make there way down the tunnel.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Raiko!" screamed Toshiro as she fell to stone ground, her body shaking violently from being too cold. Her light brown skin had toke on a disturbing tint of blue, that would be near to lifeless had she not been shaking, indicating that she was very much alive. Toshiro struggled past the limbs that sprouted from out of nowhere from all corners of the walls, ceiling, and floor.
The disgusting appendages had sprung out at them without warning as the six made their way down the dark labyrinth of the underground tunnels. Before anyone knew it, an unknown enemy was attacking them, from all sides. This wouldn't have been such a problem, had it not been the fact that the digimon were practically useless against the stone limbs that shot at them. Digivolving wasn't even an option, as Otaru had pointed out earlier in the attack, "The digimon would be too big, and there would be a cave-in right on top of us." Toshiro remembered him saying as one of the stone limbs slammed into Hawkmon's stomach, knocking him so hard that he de-digivolved into a Poromon. Otaru was near to tears, as he saw his digimon lay unconscious on the ground.
Prior to the attack, Raiko had come down with a serious case of the chills. "It's probably because we're going deeper underground, plus it's not like you have on the warmest clothes around." Toshiro recalled saying to her. He remembered how she looked at her top, which had had her stomach out and was sleeveless. She quickly wrapped her arms around her waist, blushing adorably as Toshiro had recalled it. He didn't think much of her being cold at first, but once the attack came she had gotten worse. And now she lay helplessly on the floor, Tenshi had long sense de-digivolved back into a Yokomon, but she still fought bitterly and non-effectively against their opposing foe.
Now Toshiro and Rex were left in the game, and Toshiro was charging fiercely towards Raiko. Though she had protested, he knew that she and Tenshi needed help. He pressed on, dodging stone limbs and falling rock. A limb seem to "see" Toshiro racing towards Raiko, and quickly shot after him. Toshiro didn't even notice the oncoming stone, as his concentration and eyesight was fixated on Raiko. But luckily Rex did, and in a moments reaction, "Pepper breath" was called out, and a fire ball came wiping past Toshiro and into the oncoming rock. Toshiro could feel the heat of the fire as it exploded against the stone. He looked back to Rex, giving him a "Thank You" glance. But that was to his disadvantage, because as he turned to look ahead of him again, another limb came flying for him, this time it wasn't stopped by the onslaught of fire. It crashed brutally into Toshiro's left shoulder. Pressing him back, until his body was slammed violently against the opposite wall. Then another came out after him, holding his right shoulder up. Toshiro cried out in pain as he felt his body being pressed against the stone. He looked to Rex hoping his digimon partnered would help him soon. But Rex was being strangled by one of the other limbs, keeping his Pepper Breath out of commission.
When Toshiro and Rex finally had to quit their fight, the hallway quieted down. Only Toshiro and Rex's breathing could be heard for the moment. That is until Toshiro noticed that someone was chanting. He struggled to move his head to his right. He barely able to see her, but Raiko was still completely laid out against the floor. She was still shivering, and Tenshi was still by her side. Toshiro, focused in on Raiko, realizing that she was the one speaking. He lowered his breathing, and listened harder.
"It's cold..." Raiko whispered, "So very cold."
Toshiro couldn't have understood how she could still be cold, he and the others were starting to break a sweat, and she was shivering. Raiko laid there for a moment, just chanting the same words. But the moment was broken when more limbs came out of the stone floor. They appeared on all sides of Raiko, and hovered over her ready to come down on her in an instant. Toshiro struggled to break free, he was sure that she would have been killed. But the limbs pinning him to the wall pressed harder, and he stopped his struggle for the pain was too immense. The limbs over Raiko slowly lowered and wrapped around her thin, shivering body. Raiko opened her eyes one last time, only to see the limbs coming towards her. They terrified her, but she was too weak to move away. As they finally grabbed hold of her, she could feel them pulling down. The ground beneath began to feel a repulsive liquid-like texture. Raiko began to feel the fear over whelm her, but by the time she had finally felt the needed to run it was too late. She could feel her body being sucked in to the ground, the thick liquid like feel of the stone slowly engulfing her. The cold began to surround her, and she could feel her heart race with fear. Sudden pain began to take hold of her, the limbs that had claimed her were much to tight, and she felt as though she would be crushed. Tears just as cold as her body and the stone began to slide down her face, as her efforts to get away were useless. She was an utter pain, be did not know why, nor did she care.
"Toshiro...it hurts." She cried out, wishing he could come and save her. Her crying became louder as the pain and fear grew. A mix of her tears, crying, and horrific screams of pain filled the air, bringing Otaru to cover his ears as a limb held fast to his watse, leaving him suspended in the air. The idea of losing her without a fight was all too much, especially for Toshiro, who had streaming heated tears of anger runnig down his face. "Please, it hurts..." Raiko continued to plead as the others watched her slowly vanish from sight.
"Raiko!!" Toshiro screamed out, as he could see the last of her body vanish beneath the stone. The warm tears still came running down his angry face. The sound if her screaming out was muffled quickly as she slipped under the ground and out of sight.
Author's Note: Okay, so I was wrong, this part is actually longer then the last part, but only by a page. I guess I should work on that. Anyway, what do you think? Is it coming along nicely? Does it make any sense? Uh, do you like it? Please let me know what's up, review. And thanks for taking the time out to read my fic.