Fire and Ice
Sickness and Bitterness
By Starrysapphire, Taito Empress

Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon. Believe me, I don't.
As a note, I have NOT been playing Final Fantasy. Fenrir comes from Norse Mythology. So there. But thanks for noticing the name anyway. As an additional note, the Fenrir in Norse Mythology is male but there are already too many males in this programme! So I've changed Fenrir's sex. Sorry Fenrir! (So my grasp on reality is a bit warped. So what?)
Oh and I've discovered that there's an author called Lokimon but I did this BEFORE I knew that and I'm sure that they won't mind me using their name....

Tai stumbled over another tree root. Kari jerked in arms and whimpered. Tai whispered an apology to her and was even more careful. His toe hurt now and he was limping.
It had been two days since Fenrirmon had attacked them and Kari had been steadily getting worse ever since. Joe had been right, the black stuff on Kari's wounds had been poison and now Kari was getting sicker by the hour. She was burning hot and terribly weak. She couldn't walk anymore and Tai was carrying her. They were still aiming for Gennai. Maybe he could help her.
Tai swallowed and blinked, realising tears had come into his eyes. He couldn't cry, he couldn't. He had to look after Kari. It was his fault that she was even hurt. If he hadn't....
Tai shoved that thought away. Thinking about what had happened with Matt was just too confusing. He didn't like it. He didn't think of Matt that way, he didn't! He wasn't gay!
Tai was so busy thinking, he missed the next tree root and fell over it. Kari gave a groan.
"Oh no!" Tai gasped, ignoring the pain stabbing though his knees "Kari, are you okay?"
She looked at him. He noticed that her eyes were slightly glazed.
"Uh huh," she said "I'm just raring to go."
Tai swallowed.
"Tai I think somebody else should carry her," Izzy said quietly "You've done enough."
"No," Tai said "She's my sister, my responsibility."
"Don't be silly," Izzy said "We all know you want to look after Kari but you're tired. Someone else should take a turn."
"Most of you wouldn't be strong enough to carry her," Tai said.
"I can carry her," Matt spoke up "I'm okay."
Tai was surprised to hear Matt speak. Since that day Matt hadn't spoken to anybody except TK. He'd spent most of the time staring off into space, away in his own little world.
"No thanks," Tai said coldly.
Matt swallowed and slumped slightly. Only Izzy and Ken noticed this and both stored it up to think about later. Tai bent down to pick up Kari again. But Sora stopped him.
"No," she said firmly "You're not to Tai. You're tired and you'll hurt Kari even more. I'll carry her for a bit."
She hoisted Kari up into her arms. Kari just slumped against her. She seemed to be asleep. Tai swallowed unhappily but he didn't try to protest. He just started walking again, forcing his legs to continue. They hurt and glancing down, he saw that both his knees were bleeding. He had green stuff all over them as well where he'd hit the tree trunk and ground. He couldn't help limp a bit after a while.
"Tai?"
It was Matt. Tai ignored him but Matt suddenly called out.
"Stop everybody! Tai's hurt!"
Everyone turned and looked. Tai felt himself blush.
"Tai!" Yolei said "Why didn't you say?"
"I'm fine!" Tai snapped "They're just grazes!"
He turned and glared at Matt "Why'd you have to stick your nose in anyway?"
Matt's face slowly turned red.
"I was just trying to help," he said stiffly.
"Yeah? Well why don't you 'help' by pissing off and not shoving your oar in where it doesn't belong!" Tai shouted.
Matt's fists clenched.
"If you're hurt, you slow us down!" he shouted "If you want to help Kari as much as you say then you'll listen to us when we say things and stop acting like such a jerk!"
"I'm acting like a jerk?" Tai yelled "You're the jerk round here!"
"Me!"
"Yes you!"
"Come on you two," Joe began "Now's not the time..."
Both boys ignored him. They were glaring at each other murderously. Tai suddenly punched Matt with all his strength. Matt went flying and hit the floor with a thud. He stared at Tai in shock, then threw himself at him, catching Tai full in the face with a well aimed fist. Tai angrily fought back and in a few seconds they were rolling around hitting each other.
"Stop it!"
"Quit being morons you two!"
"That's enough!"
"Tai, let go of him!"
"Matt, Tai, stop it!"
The boys ignored all their friends, intent on beating the living daylights out of each other.
"Ahhhhhhh!"
Kari's faint scream cut though Tai's furious red haze. Jerking away from Matt he looked. Sora was trying to hold Kari down. She was kicking and struggling, her face while with fear.
"Stop them, stop them!" she was crying "Nooooo!"
"Kari!" Tai gasped. Forgetting Matt, he ran over "What's the matter with her?"
"She's hallucinating," Sora said grimly "Her fever's really, really high."
Tai pressed his hands to Kari's forehead. He'd never felt anyone so hot.
"Kari? Kari can you hear me?"
She looked at him but her eyes weren't focused. She screamed again.
"Get it away!" she cried "Get it away! It's a snake!"
"Me?" Tai said in a small voice "Kari it's me Tai, your brother!"
Kari continued to cry and wail and Tai backed off.
"It doesn't mean anything," Sora said "It's just that at this moment, she can see a snake instead of you."
"We have to do something now," Tai said "Joe, help her!"
"I can't," Joe said "The only thing we can do is to try and cool her down and press on."
They soaked Kari's socks in a nearby stream and draped them over her forehead. Then they grimly carried on, Tai carrying Kari's shoes. He walked on ahead of everybody, party so that they couldn't see his tears.
* * * *
The night was a fraught one. Kari got increasingly worse, crying out a lot of the time. Tai heard Joe saying to Izzy when they thought he was asleep that he didn't rate Kari's chances much if they couldn't do something soon. Tai just lay awake.
Why had he gone off that night? If he hadn't done that, maybe Kari wouldn't be like this. Kari couldn't die....could she?
Kari had gone quiet now. Tai could see that Matt was sitting with her. Frowning, he walked over. Matt looked up at him, then back at Kari.
"She's resting now," he said quietly.
Tai said nothing.
"Listen Tai....I wanted to apologise for shouting at you before. I didn't mean..."
"Shut up," Tai interrupted brutally. He heard Matt give a small gasp but he continued "I don't care why you did what you and I'm not interested in your apologies. As far as I'm concerned, I don't know you. If it was up to me, you wouldn't even be in this group."
He kept watching Kari so he didn't have to see Matt's face. He knew that his former friend would be looking betrayed and unhappy but he didn't care. This was all Matt's fault.
"Why do you hate me?" Matt said, his voice barely above a whisper "Why do you hate me?"
"Because," Tai said "Because you're foul and unnatural and if it wasn't for you, my sister wouldn't be dying!"
He turned and glared at Matt as he said this but he wasn't prepared for what he saw in Matt's eyes. They were filled with horror and utter desolation. He hunkered down, making himself smaller.
"You can go to sleep," Tai said flatly "I'll watch over Kari."
Matt crept backwards. He went over to Gabumon and buried his face in the Digimon's fur. Tai heard the Digimon mumble something unintelligible before going silent. Tai sat beside Kari, stroking her hair gently. He blanked out the strange little whimpering noises which he knew was Matt crying.
* * * *
"Hello."
Tai blinked. He must have fallen asleep. He forced his eyes open and looked up.
"Gennai!"
His yell woke everybody except Kari. She wasn't moving. Even her chest was barely rising and falling anymore. Tai felt another stab of fear.
"Gennai it's good to see you!" Sora said.
"It's nice to see you too," Gennai said calmly "But I heard one of you was sick."
Tai pointed to Kari. Gennai looked down at her.
"Hmmm. This was Fenrirmon's poison?"
"Yes," Tai said "Can you make her better?"
"I can try," Gennai said "And I can tell you what's happening. Come on."
He took them to a small hut which wasn't where he'd lived before. Apparently, he'd moved house. They all sat down while he gave Kari some sort of drink. She sputtered a lot but finally it was all down.
"Now we'll just have to wait and see," Gennai said "She's a strong girl, she should pull though just fine." "So who's Fenrirmon?" Davis asked promptly.
Gennai sighed.
"A little while ago, five new Digimon entered this world," he said "Nobody knows exactly what they really are but the sky split open and out they came. They look like Digimon but they aren't. Not really. They have different attacks, strange attacks. And they never eat or drink. They never actually consume anything as far as we know. But they kill Digimon for sport and they're strong, far stronger than any Digimon I've ever seen before."
"Who are the others?" Iori asked.
"There's Fenrirmon, the one you've met. Then there's Jormungandmon, Helmon, Lokimon and Bartlebimon," Gennai said "It's further proof they don't come from here. The names are so strange. Jormungandmon is a serpent type Digimon who lives in the sea. The others roam wherever they like but Lokimon and Bartlebimon are rarely seen. They prefer to live in their castle."
"And we have to defeat them?" Ken said quietly.
"Yes," Gennai said "You must wait until Kari is fit and well and then you must fight them. But be careful. Fenrirmon, Jormungandmon and Helmon all have poisons of one type or another. I can give you an antidote but use it sparingly. It's very difficult to make."
They all nodded. Gennai looked at them all.
"Now you must all rest," he said "I'll wake you when the time is right."
They all found themselves a floor spot and curled up in it. Tai slept quickly, absolutely exhausted after the action of the past several days. He slept soundly.
Matt wasn't so lucky. He lay awake long after the others were sleeping.
Foul? Unnatural? He wasn't any of those things was he? Okay, so he liked guys not girls. And he loved Tai. But that didn't make him....
Matt could feel his tears running down his face. Why did Tai hate him so? He'd only tried to show Tai his feelings. It wasn't his fault what had happened to Kari. Why did Tai have to hate him? Why?
Matt drew himself into a ball. He was stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Of course Tai hated him now. Why had he told him? Tai was right, he was foul and unnatural and disgusting. He was a fool. Hoe could he have ever thought that Tai could love him back? No one had ever loved him. Not even his parents. Only TK and even TK didn't need him anymore. He was a freak.
Matt brushed his tears away and pressed his face into his knees, trying to doze off. He loathed himself. No wonder nobody loved him. He was a freak and ugly and stupid. How could anybody love anyone like that?
Matt dozed off into a sea of dark nightmares, his mind filled with bitterness.

The end of Part 2
Anything you wanna say? Suggestions are welcomed as is all positive feedbag. Flame me even (it's not like I've ever cared).