Silence too Loud to Bear

Silence too Loud to Bear Part 1

By: Emily Ishida

A/N: The only character I own is Dokuekimon. "Dokueki" is Japanese for "venom."

Heart pounding, lungs gasping desperately for air, Sora ran through the hot, steaming tropical jungle. Leaves of ferns and low growing bushes slapped at her face, stinging her eyes and cheeks, mixing tears, dirt stains and sweat together. Dry leaves crunched noisily under foot, betraying their presence to all that heard, which was no one. She jumped over a root that was covered by leaves...but her lover wasn't so lucky. He stumbled and fell, landing hard in the dry, brittle leaves. Sora stopped instantly to help her friend.

"Come on," she panted, desperately tugging at her lover. The strange, inhuman hiss of a new enemy, an evil digimon, came from behind them. Both turned, frozen for a second, knowing it was Dokuekimon. Renewed energy came into Yamato and he sprang up. Once again they continued running.

"Why is he after us?" Yamato gasped out between breaths. His legs were on fire and it felt as if his chest would burst. Sora would of answered if she could but all her energy was put into out pacing whatever it was behind them. The ground started to slope down steeply. The two teens found it easier to run faster and instead of stretching to gain speed with every step, the two had to slow down. Yamato thought this a foolish idea and went as fast as he could.

Sora shouted out, warning him but Yamato took no notice. The leaves slid underneath their feet, making the trek dangerous as any of them could slip and break a leg. The land flattened out and ahead the two could see a large, black lake ahead of them. Its waters looked deep and forbidding.

A log had fallen part way in and created what could be called, a moss covered rotting jetty. Yamato hit flat level. Unfortunately he was going such a speed he couldn't stop. Sora saw it in slow motion ahead of her. The leaves slipped beneath Yamato's feet. Yamato tried to grasp something but failed.

He fell sideways, legs still trying to run. Yamato hit his side, skidded, and rolled over six times. Within seconds Yamato hit the base of the log and stopped suddenly. His eyes were closed and he was still. Dread washed through Sora and she strived to reach her boyfriend's side. Sora forgot her own warning and ran too fast. She wouldn't be able to stop in time.

Sora stooped down, as if to grasp hold of Yamato, and dug her feet into the rich, black earth, trying her best to slow down. Unfortunately she misjudged the distance and accidentally grasped hold of the rotting log. Her hands acted as the anchor and she flipped over her own self. The moist wood gave beneath the force of the pull and Sora found herself flying through the air. As she flew she kicked and waved her arms about, as if trying to swim. Scared and screaming her body twisted to the side and the dark, forbidding waters loomed before her.

Sora stared at the murky waters coming closer with each second. With a startled cry she raised her arms, trying to protect her face. She hit it head on. The water engulfed her as she was driven in deep. A shudder ran through her body, as the water was icy cold. Quickly she unfolded her arms from around her face and looked about. Strangely the water did not hurt her eyes. Shocked, she looked up and saw the sky. It looked as red as blood as the sun began to set in the horizon, so only twilight remained. Slowly she sighed inwardly and started to swim upwards. Her hair streamed back with every stroke. Actually she was surprised that she was under so deep.

The surface came closer and closer until it was only inches away. Suddenly, a burning hot ball of blue light appeared and was driven down deep. Sora stared in surprise as it was shot past her head. Another appeared and Sora had to move her arm quickly otherwise it would of hit it. Her lungs were burning but if she raised herself it would make her a perfect target. She couldn't hold out much longer. Quickly she swam that few feet to the surface and gasped in air painfully. Startled she looked frantically about for any sign of danger.

All was quiet and there was no movement except for the wind in the trees. Sora was confused. Something was shooting at her before so why not now? Now she was a clear target. Suddenly Sora thought of something and she dived down suddenly. A flash of blue came from her right and another ball of energy skimmed past her head. This time it was so close that she felt the scorching heat and knew it had singed her hair. She kicked furiously and tried to get down deeper so none of her showed above water. It was hard and painstakingly slow. Amazingly it was a wonder she wasn't hit.

After Sora reached down a satisfactory depth she felt safer. With a shocked expression she turned and watched the bright light show as more energy balls plowed into the water. They looked like little comets and for a second Sora thought she was floating in space. Her air was running out.

With as much force as she could muster Sora swam back to the surface and she noticed that the sky looked black. She could no longer tell the difference between the water and air. The sun had fully set and all was dark. Now the only light came from the moon that was hidden behind thick clouds, causing long periods of darkness. Whatever was chasing her had ceased firing and the water was still again. Sora let only her eyes and nose above water and, ignoring the desperate need to breath in noisily, controlled her breathing so it could barely be heard. Actually she was surprised to see she was so close to the bank. Luckily it was only four feet away. A large shadow suddenly took off into the bush at a run. It was the noise and movement that attracted Sora's attention. Yet it also caused something strange, almost invisible like a ghost, to chase it.

After a few seconds Sora thought this a perfect time to escape. She exploded out of the water and dashed towards the hill. Her wet hair swung around wildly and slapped her in the face, and her wet clothes seemed plastered to her body, causing the leaves she ran through to stick to her. Sora reached the base of the hill. It loomed above her and seemed eerie and forbidding in the silvery moonlight. Quickly she grasped hold of a jutting out rock and heaved herself up. With surprising quickness she managed to climb a few feet before slowing down. The leaves in front of her erupted in a shower of sparks and blue light.

Poor Sora froze, for only a second, before turning around and dashing back down. She felt the gaze of something hidden watching her and knew it was near. It wasn't that far and soon the water was in front of her, the moonlight reflecting off its glistening surface. Sora dove in, without hesitating and soon the cool, murky water had engulfed her again. An idea came to her and Sora swam to the log. Frantically she latched onto it underneath, her nails digging in to the soft, puffy bark. There she waited, her face hidden between the branches sticking out. Sitting there as silent as darkness Sora waited for what seemed like hours, terrified of being discovered. Gradually her mind began to wonder to other thoughts, like why was he chasing her, and why was it here.

I thought we destroyed him. She mused. Must have been more than one. Slowly she remembered back that day, when she first saw it. Her father's friend Ron owned a cabin in the jungle covered mountains and had invited her and Yamato to come. At first it was fun to wake up to the sounds of the jungle every day, to birds calling and monkeys screaming. The walks to the river weren't bad as well. It flowed close by the cabin, just out of eyesight. Here, the two splashed about and had fun. They were walking back to the cabin. When they came into sight of the house they saw the door smashed in. No matter what Sora couldn't remember anything else. Sora was tired and on the edge of sleep. That's all she wanted to do…sleep.

Something tickled the end of her nose. Sora couldn't help but sneeze. "ACHOO!" The noise sounded like a gunshot in the quiet night. After she sneezed Sora froze, petrified. As fast as she could she tried to push off from the log. Her joints were stiff and wouldn't work properly. Taking a breath she tucked her legs up and shot away from the log. She was too slow. Too fast to even see clearly, the log exploded in a shower of splinters and sparks. The shock wave sent Sora tumbling forward. In a matter of seconds she was pushed through the water by a giant wave. It lifted her up and smashed her against soft mud, pounding the breath out of her.

Sora groaned and stirred slightly, trying to get her bearings. It took her a few minutes to realize that she was face down on the bank. Painfully Sora tried to will herself to move, to hide again but she was just too tired. There was a squelching noise as heavy footprints landed in front of her. With as much effort as she could Sora looked up, without moving her head, but saw nothing. Slowly, two large feet appeared, materializing from nowhere.

Sora couldn't lift her head up further to see the rest of him. She dug her hands into the mud and tried to lift herself up, to look her attacker in the face. Yet she barely pushed herself up three inches before her hands slipped and she fell. After her effort Sora closed her eyes. Please be quick, she hoped. God please let there be no more pain.

After a bit Yamato shook his head and slowly got up. All of the splinters fell off him, the only remains of the log. He looked about for his girlfriend in the metallic-like silver light. He gasped and stared for a second when he saw what looked like a ghost, dragging something behind it. The leaves folded back and they disappeared. Yamato listened for anything but there was no sound. There was nothing…the forest was silent...it was a silence too loud to bear.

A/N: Liked it? Hated it? I got the idea somewhere...don't know where...but I liked the thought and started writing. R&R please!