Fire and Ice
Visionary
By the Empress of the Eclipse
Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon or the Norse Gods.
"This'll do," Tai said "I can't walk any further anyway."
There were several moans of exhausted agreement. They hadn't found any particularly suitable shelter so Tai had kept them all going far past their endurance points. This was the best shelter they'd found and it wasn't much. Two trees had grown interlocked together, forming a sort of canopy for them to sit under. Tai sat down with a thump and heard the others doing the same around him. The Digimon gathered some wood together, Sora ringed it with stones and Agumon puffed out a Pepper Breath, lighting the fire which flickered merrily, illuminating their tired faces.
"How's Joe?" Tai asked.
"I'm great," Joe said "A little queasy...terrified of heights for the rest of my life...and scared of snakes...but I'm great though!"
There were several tired giggles. Tai risked looking at Matt. Matt was rubbing his eyes futily, almost as though he was trying to remove contact lenses that didn't exist.
"Don't Matt, you'll make them sore," Tai said automatically.
"So what?" Matt said moodily "I can't see anything out of them anyway."
"It'll hurt," Tai said "You might be blind, at least you aren't in pain."
*Yet.*
Tai jumped slightly, hearing Matt's words distinctly in his head. Now he knew what it was, he didn't really know how he'd ever mistaken it for Matt's real voice. It sounded like it but there was something completely different in it. Almost a feeling....
It was the strangest thing but to Tai it felt/sounded like the noise water would make being slowly frozen into ice.
He didn't say anything about what he'd heard but Izzy had seen him jump and it reminded him of what had been happening.
"Was that that....thing again?" he asked.
"I guess," Tai said unhappily.
Everyone was looking at him now and glancing towards Matt. Tai was struck with a feeling of something being fundamentally wrong but before he could focus, Izzy was talking.
"You ought to try again," he said "Tai, close your eyes and talk to Matt."
Tai sighed and obeyed. He wasn't sure how to begin. He tried conjuring an image of Matt in his mind and imagining words going directly into Matt's ears. Matt didn't respond.
"This isn't working," Sora said eventually.
"Maybe they're trying too hard," Joe suggested "Tai, just act natural. Think naturally."
*How the hell do you think naturally?* Tai wondered irritably.
"Hey, I heard that!" Matt yelped.
"Tai, do whatever you just did again!" Izzy ordered.
Tai wanted to punch him. Once someone had said that, it was impossible. He didn't KNOW what he'd just done, he'd just thought...
*Tai can you hear this?*
There was that strange frozen ice feeling again.
*Try and answer in your mind. Just...don't think about me. Think of the answer. That's how I'm doing it anyway.*
Tai swallowed.
*Thinking an answer now.*
"I heard him!" Matt said "I can answer back!"
"This is freaky!" Mimi said "I mean, being able to talk to each others minds? It's like an episode of the Twilight Zone!"
"The Digiworld has ALWAYS been like an episode of the Twilight Zone," Kari pointed out.
"But it's getting worse!" Mimi moaned.
"Tell me about it," Tai said with a shudder "I don't want my private thoughts privy to all and sundry!"
"They aren't," Matt said irritably "I can only hear what you send at me and now you know how, you can control it."
Tai scowled, knowing Matt couldn't see his scowl. He didn't like this idea at all. It meant he was closer to Matt, the person he was trying to pull away from.
Now that the actual thought was voiced in his mind, it bothered him. He wasn't trying to pull away from Matt was he? Not really. He just didn't want...didn't want Matt to get the wrong idea. That was all.
"Could this be something to do with the Gods?" Sora was saying.
"Undoubtedly," Izzy said "But why would they give any of us extra powers? It doesn't make any sense."
"Can we all do it?" TK asked "That would be pretty cool."
Tai blinked. He was surprised that Davis hadn't said that, he'd always wanted more super-hero powers from this stuff...
He looked around.
"Er...where are Davis and Ken?"
There was a confused pause while everyone looked around as though expecting Davis and Ken to appear magically.
"Uh oh," Mimi said.
"We must have left them behind!" Tai said.
"Oh I don't believe it, I'll kill both of them!" Yolei said "I'm not getting up again!"
"You'll have to," Sora said with a sigh.
"Can't Birdramon or Patamon fly up and look over the trail?" TK suggested.
"It's not safe to split up, we know that," Sora said "The Gods always take advantage of that. We'll just have to go back for them."
"But they'll probably just catch up!" Yolei whined.
"What if they're in trouble?" Iori said, standing up miserably "We can't risk it Yolei. We have to go back."
"I'm going to murder both of them," Yolei muttered, scrambling to her feet.
Before they started walking again, Iori made them some makeshift torches out of the fire. It would last them a little while so they wouldn't have to walk in the dark. They slowly walked along the already walked path, each privately deciding on the horrible tortures that s/he would inflict on Davis and Ken when they found them.
They would have missed the place all together if Matt hadn't stepped on something squishy. Being unable to see it made him all the more worried and he yelped.
"What's wrong?" Tai demanded.
"I stepped on something," Matt said, a little sheepishly.
"Oh for crying..." Tai began irritably but Kari interrupted him.
"It's Minomon!"
Minomon was crumpled on the path, huddled up in a weak little ball. He hadn't stirred when Matt stepped on him, he didn't stir when Kari lifted him up.
"Ken?" she shouted "Davis?"
"Don't shout, you'll bring them here!" Iori said.
The torches were dying down now and it was hard to see. Agumon made another fire in the middle of the trail. It was rather dangerous but at least they had to light to see by. It was immediately apparent that there had been a fight. The terrain had looked nothing like that before.
"I can't believe we would have missed this if Matt hadn't found Minomon!" Yolei said.
"It's easy to make mistakes in the dark," Joe said.
"Yes, but this - "
"I've found Ken," TK said quietly.
Ken's face was white with blue tinges. He didn't move when TK shook him, or when Joe tested his pulse and breath or even when Izzy - seeing the cuts - hastily tipped the last drops of the antidote down his throat.
"He's alive anyway," Joe said.
"Where's Davis?" Kari whispered.
There was no sign of Davis anyway. They hunted around, even calling for him softly. Mimi knelt by Ken, ignoring her aching hands and gently tried to revive him. He didn't move at all. His eyes weren't even flickering.
"It's like the life's been sucked out of him!" Yolei said tearfully. She was obviously regretting threatening to kill Davis and Ken only twenty minutes earlier.
"We can't find Davis anywhere," TK said grimly "We found Chibimon though. He's unconscious too."
"Why were they so far behind?" Tai asked bitterly "We're supposed to stick together!"
Joe pressed a hand to Ken's forehead.
"He's got a temperature," he said quietly.
"We gave him all the antidote we had," Izzy said grimly "There's nothing else now."
"No one else get poisoned," Tai ordered with a sort of laugh.
"We'll have to camp here," Sora said "Ken can't be moved far."
They pulled Ken closer to the fire and set up watches. Tai took first watch, sitting silently and staring into the darkness.
Everything was falling apart around them. Before, it had been hard but...it had never collapsed like this! They'd all been friends - well, for most of the time. And no one had got sick like this. Kari had got ill once but she'd recovered quickly and had been just fine. Matt had been able to see what was happening and help Tai along...
Tai bent his head miserably. If he was honest, he knew that he was blaming Matt for all of this. It all seemed to start with Matt. That stupid night out by that stupid lake. Matt's stupid feelings. Tai's own stupid feelings...
He blanked his thoughts quickly before anything could go any further and just sat there, staring at the darkness and hoping nothing would come out of it.
* * * *
Morning was a quiet affair. Ken didn't seem to have moved once in the night and no one could really face hunting for any sort of breakfast.
"What are we going to do now?" Izzy finally asked.
"Perhaps we should take Ken back to Gennai," Mimi suggested.
"If he's even in the same place," Tai pointed out "He moves around a lot you know. And with those Gods around..."
"Well we can't separate again," Sora said firmly "Every time that happens, everything goes wrong. We have to stick together."
"We may have to separate," Yolei said quietly "Much as I hate it, these big creeps need taking down and even if Ken is sick, someone has to work on that."
"Iz, what do you know about these Norse Gods?" Tai asked "Like, how do you kill them would be good."
"I'm not sure," Izzy said slowly "In the myths, Fenrir was killed by Odin's son...cut up by a sword I think. Jormungard was destroyed by Thor's hammer. I don't think Hel was ever killed. Loki was killed by some guy called Hemindal or something like that. A sword again."
"Well if they can be killed with a sword and a hammer, that shouldn't be too hard, right?" Kari said hopefully.
"A gods sword. A gods hammer," Izzy said "We don't have either of those items."
"Perhaps we could ask the Gods for help," Joe said "If these Gods can pop up from somewhere, maybe the others can."
"How?" Izzy asked simply.
That stumped them all.
"Prayer?" Yolei suggested.
"Seems like a stab in the dark to me," Izzy said shaking his head "And these Gods didn't come from prayer. They just arrived."
"And who do we pray to?" Joe asked.
"Odin was the king of the Norse gods," Izzy said "Frigg was his queen. Thor was the god of thunder. Freya was the goddess of death and fertility...Odin or Thor would probably be best."
"Except that they probably can't hear us," Iori said.
"Well I'm going to pray," Yolei said "Any sort of help would go down really well with me!"
She moved a little way away and put her hands together, closing her eyes. Her lips began silently moving. Tai scowled with frustration.
"Who's Bartlebi?" he asked suddenly.
"That I don't know," Izzy said "I've never heard of a God using that name."
Tai frowned.
"That's weird."
Suddenly the air was rent by a piercing scream. It was Ken. He was struggling on the floor, kicking out blindly. Joe and Tai quickly held him down to stop him hurting them as much as anything else.
"Ken!" Yolei shouted "Ken, can you hear me?"
"Stop her!" Ken shrieked "Stop her, stop her, stop her! Dai-chan!"
He kicked again, his face twisted with a pained grimace. The others were adding their own support to holding him down. Yolei stroked his forehead gently.
"It's all right Ken," she cooed softly "You're safe now. We're here. Don't worry about a thing. It's all right..."
"Dai-chan!" Ken sobbed again. Yolei's approach seemed to be working though. He was slowly relaxing, not kicking as much.
"We'll find him," Yolei promised "Don't worry Ken. We'll find Davis. Why don't you just wake up and talk to us hm? It's all okay, but we need to talk to you now so wake up. Come on. Wake up."
Ken's eyes flickered open briefly. His eyes travelled over their faces and his limbs went limp suddenly. They backed away from him. A green blur shot past Tai, making him realise that Minomon had woken up.
"I'm sorry Ken!" Minomon squeaked "I tried to stop her!"
"S'okay," Ken mumbled "I know you did."
Then he passed out again.
"Well, he was awake," Sora said, trying to take heart in something "That's a good thing, right?"
"When did he start calling him Dai-chan?" Yolei muttered.
"What's wrong Yolei, scared Ken's going to turn out gay?" TK teased her "Don't worry, I'm sure it's just an...affectionate nickname!"
"It probably is!" Yolei snapped "Don't jump to conclusions!"
TK snorted.
"Come on Yolei, Ken just screams 'gay!'"
"No he does not!" Yolei said shrilly.
"Look at him! He's practically Kari!"
"TK, are you saying that I look like a lesbian?"
"No, I'm saying he looks like a girl and therefore looks gay!"
Matt turned his face away. He wished he couldn't hear this conversation. It was the last thing he wanted to hear. Had they all blanked out that he was gay? Was it something that they just wouldn't accept?
It was something Tai hadn't accepted.
Matt sighed. He couldn't think about this now. He had to just keep it all out of his mind. But it was so hard. Just being around Tai drove him crazy.
'I should probably thank my lucky stars I can't see him!' he thought bitterly 'Otherwise I'd REALLY go crazy.'
And now there was this mind talk thing. What the hell was that? How was it possible? And why, why, WHY did it have to be him and Tai? It was obvious that Tai didn't want to be around Matt. They just weren't friends any more. That was gone.
"If we could get back to the ORIGINAL subject," Tai said loudly "Ken has now woken up. Which is probably a good thing. And how are we going to defeat the Gods?"
Silence fell again. Matt blinked his sightless eyes, cursing his lack of vision that made interaction so much harder.
"We'll just have to use all the strength we have," Joe said at last "We've defeated Helmon after all."
"But never permanently!" Tai said.
"Well Rome wasn't built in a day," Sora said "And we never used to win against the other Digimon we've faced in one battle either. We've faced some pretty awful defeats in our time if you care to remember them."
"I block them out of my mind," Tai said dryly.
Sora laughed, making Tai feel a little better. At least Sora still had her sense of humour.
"I just hope Davis is all right," TK muttered, dampening the mood a great deal.
"He is," Ken croaked.
Everyone turned to stare at him. Ken was sitting up, his face pale and looking sick but healthier than before. Minomon was cuddled in his arms.
"How do you know?" Tai asked.
"I can feel it," Ken said tersely "We were talking...Davis thought that the reason Matt and Tai can read each others thoughts is because they DNA-Digivolved once. Then Fenrirmon attacked us. I managed to talk to Davis in his mind and he could answer me. Fenrirmon drained me and took Davis away...I don't know where or why. But that's where he is. I can feel that he's still alive and that he's frightened...but I can't talk to him any more. Maybe he's too far away...but I can't reach him!"
He shivered and Yolei moved over and put an arm around him.
"At least we know he's alive," she said comfortingly "That's the main thing, right?"
Ken didn't look like he believed her.
* * * *
Davis opened his eyes to find himself crumpled on a stone floor. His body ached and he was too cold. He was lying in a huge stone room which was completely empty apart from himself. Slowly he sat up, trying to remember where he was.
He'd been captured by Fenrirmon. She'd kil - no, hurt Ken, Ken couldn't be dead, he just couldn't - and taken him away. He'd fainted at some point from the motion and now he was here - wherever here was.
[Ken? Ken-chan, can you hear me?]
There was no answer. Davis could sense a buzzing feeling at the back of his mind and was positive that Ken was still alive - but what good was that if they couldn't talk?
"Awake are you?"
It was Helmon. She was looking annoyed.
"Took you long enough to wake up," she said "Come on. Bartlebimon wants to see you."
She lifted Davis by the arm and dragged him bodily from the room. Davis let himself be led, resisting half-heartedly and trying not to panic.
"He's here!" Helmon sang out, pulling him into another room.
This room was larger than his cell had been and lit by a cheery fire. Fenrirmon was lying beside the fire, curled up like an extra large dog, apparently asleep. Jourmungardmon's head was peering out of the shadows, glittering in the firelight. There were two other figures, hidden by the shadows that even the fire didn't penetrate.
"That's the child of Courage and Friendship?" a pleasant voice said "Doesn't look like much does he?"
Davis felt a wave of annoyance washing over him. Didn't look like much? What did this person think he was?
Footsteps rang out over the floor and a man stepped from the shadows. Davis blinked. This wasn't what he'd really expected. When he'd found out that Lokimon and Bartlebimon were Gods, he'd expected...well, fierce fire God things. This man wasn't. He was quite tall and normal looking except that he was better looking than most people Davis knew. His hair was wavy and about the same colour as Izzy's, in a ponytail down his back. His eyes were brown and friendly looking and he was grinning a grin that Davis suddenly realised he often grinned, a grin that just screamed mischief. His clothes were pretty weird but not so weird as to scream out 'freak!' He was wearing a blue tunic with green and black leggings and a black cloak and boots. He didn't seem all that abnormal really. Or that scary.
"Which one are you?" Davis asked, slightly ruder than he'd intended. Helmon gripped his shoulder painfully and he winced.
"Lokimon," Lokimon said. He walked over and bent, staring into Davis's face "Perhaps there's more fire in you than I realised. Let him go Hel, Bartlebimon wants him in good condition."
Helmon sniffed and released him. Davis fleetingly considered running but Lokimon reached forward and took his wrist.
"Don't run away," he said "You won't get out and it'll make things far worse for you if you try."
Davis shrugged.
"How can it be worse?" he asked, trying to keep up his bravado "You're gonna kill me anyway, right?"
"I'm not," Lokimon said, looking offended "You're Bartlebimon's!"
"That helps," Davis said dryly.
"Besides, he won't be killing you," Lokimon said comfortingly "He just wants your energy."
"Oh great," Davis said weakly "Isn't that the same thing?"
"No. He can keep you alive for years taking your energy!" Lokimon said "If he hadn't captured you, he'd have just killed you...like Jourmungard was going to do to Reliability if he hadn't been rescued. But we captured you, so we'll keep you somewhere and Bartlebimon will take your energy when he wants it."
"Or he'll just kill you," Helmon predicted "I would."
"You lack all finesse Daughter," Lokimon scolded her "I certainly don't intend to kill any of my three."
"You mean you've shared us all out like sweets?!" Davis spluttered.
"Certainly," Helmon said, seemingly taking a spiteful delight in telling him "I get Friendship and Knowledge. Fenrirmon gets Light and Kindness. Jourmungardmon gets Reliability and LoveSincerity. Father - Lokimon to you - gets Courage, Love and KnowledgeReliability. Bartlebimon gets Sincerity and Hope - and you of course."
Davis kicked at her. Her spiteful tone enraged him and he wanted to kill her. His foot connected strongly with her fleshless knee, meaning he could actually see the bone going backwards, making his stomach twist nauseatingly. Helmon shrieked in rage and reached out for him. Davis instinctively cowered back against Lokimon, wanting support.
"Helmon!"
The voice that spoke was not Lokimon's. It sent chills down Davis's spine. Slowly, he turned to look.
Another man had come out of the shadows, although whether he'd been there all along, Davis didn't know. His hair was short and black, his eyes a deeper brown than Lokimon's. His face was twisted in a dark frown and he was dressed in black and alternating shades of grey. The most unnatural thing about him however, was the set of huge snowy white wings that extended from his back. Davis felt a sudden wave of deep fear and cowered back even further.
This had to be Bartlebimon.
"Is this CourageFriendship?" Bartlebimon asked.
"Yes," Lokimon said cheerfully "Don't be shy CourageFriendship. Say hello."
"My name's Davis!" Davis croaked "And I'm not bloody shy!"
He glowered at Bartlebimon, thinking that he'd rather face twenty Lokimon's that this guy. Bartlebimon walked over and leaned down like Lokimon had to stare into Davis's face.
"More strength that he seemed to have at first glance," he said.
Davis gulped.
[KEN!]
But Ken didn't answer. He could feel something in his mind. The buzzing had stopped, leaving just a feeling of anxiety, pain and fear. Ken was alive. But they couldn't speak to each other. Davis swallowed, feeling very alone.
"My friends," he said "Where are they?"
"Where Fenrirmon left Kindness," Lokimon said before Bartlebimon could speak "You didn't kill him very well Fenrirmon. He's still breathing."
Fenrirmon flicked her tail drowsily and ignored him. Davis glowered at her, willing a spark to jump out of the fire and ignite her coat.
The Bartlebimon rested a hand on Davis's head and the whole world twisted round. Davis wailed in pain, trying to pull away from Bartlebimon's hand but he couldn't move, he couldn't breathe and he was all alone...
No. He wasn't alone, Ken there still out there...
Davis kicked out with all his strength, screaming abuse at the God/Digimon before him, fighting furiously.
"I told you he had strength!" he heard Lokimon laugh.
"Take him back to his cell," Bartlebimon ordered "A little time alone will cure him of THAT."
Davis was dragged kicking and screaming back to the stone cell. Lokimon pushed him inside.
"We'll send you some food," he said comfortingly "The Digimon are out gathering it right now. Don't worry about your friends, we'll probably have put them out of their misery soon..."
He closed the door, leaving Davis standing in the middle of his cell, trembling with rage, frustration and overwhelming fear.
He was all alone. And he was in big trouble.
* * * *
Ken suddenly gave a wail of pain and doubled over.
"Ken!"
Yolei caught Ken's arms, trying to support him as Ken whimpered.
"It hurts," he moaned "Oh God, it hurts us, it hurts us!"
"Hurts us?" Tai said "What's he talking about?"
"He means him and Davis," Sora said, her eyes anxious "The bond between them must be getting stronger. They're slowly becoming more like one."
"Is that going to happen to all of us?" TK asked.
Tai frowned. He looked at Ken who was relaxing slightly.
"It was so cold," he said "Like...ice being pushed through me. And Davis...he was so sad!"
"Tai, we have to work this out," Izzy said anxiously "Ken and Davis can feel each others pain now! We can't let that happen!"
Tai blinked at him, confused. Izzy pulled his normal exasperated face.
"If you start feeling Matt's pain," he said patiently "Not only would it distract you in battle, it would possibly incapacitate you! What if Matt's blindness started to affect you?"
Tai hadn't thought of that. The idea of being blind completely terrified him. Watching Matt being led along by the others scared him, another reason that he avoided going near his once best friend.
"But that hasn't happened!" he said "I can't feel Matt's pain! I never have!"
He saw Izzy bite his lip slightly and knew that Izzy was holding something back. Before he could inquire into it, Izzy was speaking again.
"I think we should move on," he said "We aren't safe here. We need to find a protected spot so we can practise these powers. If Ken and Davis and you and Matt can use them, chances are Yolei and Kari and Iori and TK have these powers too, and they ought to get practising. It might be a risk but it might also help us fight the Gods."
"Right," Tai said.
"Tai, you help Matt," Izzy ordered "I'll help Yolei with Ken."
"Wha - ? But I don't want - "
Izzy gave him a glower. Tai blinked.
"Okay, okay! Sheesh!"
He walked over to Matt who was staring off blankly.
"Come on," Tai muttered "Let's get going."
After a moment, he reached out and gripped Matt's hand. It remained cold and unresponsive in his grip, as though Matt was as reluctant for contact as Tai was.
They all walked along slowly, Izzy in the lead. Ken appeared to be okay, he was walking normally at any rate. Either Matt and Tai were going especially slowly or the others were going extra fast; at any rate they'd all drawn slightly ahead of them. They were going upwards now, a steady up-hill path that kept getting steeper. Tai was having to help Matt over everything in the way, something he wasn't enjoying very much.
"Can't you see anything at all?" he blurted "Not even...you know, light and stuff?"
Matt's forehead creased in a frown. He was either thinking, or annoyed about the question. Tai couldn't tell which.
"I can see different shades of black," Matt said eventually "Like when you have your eyes shut and then someone turns the light off and you know about it. It's like that."
"Oh."
Tai didn't know what else to say. They walked along in silence again.
*You hate me don't you?*
Tai jumped slightly at the voice in his mind.
"No," he said out-loud, his voice sounding insincere to his own ears "I don't hate you. Not at all."
*Liar.*
The mental voice was accusing, betrayed.
"I'm not a liar," Tai said "I don't hate you Matt! And talk out-loud will you? It's freaky when you do that!"
*I don't want the others to hear.*
It made sense. The others weren't that far ahead. And Matt didn't know they were ahead anyway. Tai sighed.
"They're in front of us," he said "They can't hear if we whisper."
Matt shrugged.
"Whatever."
They kept moving, Tai helping Matt across the path.
"Do you think Davis is all right?" Matt asked suddenly.
"Of course!" Tai said "He must be! Ken would know!"
"Would you?"
Tai went quiet. Would he know if Matt was hurt or dying? Would he feel it in his bones?
He thought back to when they'd first been in the Digital World. All the different times they'd been in trouble - he'd always known when Matt was. When the Garbagemon had attacked them - he'd known something bad was happening to Matt. And then Matt had showed up and tried to fight him.
Had Matt known when Piedmon was killing him? Had Matt felt it?
He remembered the tears in Matt's eyes, his arms around Tai, strong but shaking just slightly, as though with exhaustion or pain.
He'd known. He'd always known.
*Would you even care?*
The mental voice sounded deeply depressed. Tai had never heard anything sound so hopeless before.
"Of course I'd care!" he exploded "Don't you ever say that Matt! I care for you! You're part of the team! I...I don't know what I'd do...if you weren't there..."
The last part was a whisper. Tai was shaking, his hand gripping Matt's convulsively.
"Tai...I'm so sorry..."
"No," Tai whispered "I'm sorry. I've been such a jerk! About everything!"
The path blurred and Tai realised he was crying. He struggled to wipe the tears away, swallowing.
*Matt, I swear I won't let anything like this happen again* he said mentally, not trusting his real voice *We'll always be friends Matt. I promise.*
"OW!"Matt yell caused everyone to whip round, convinced that they were either being attacked, or Tai and Matt were having another fight. Matt was kneeling on the ground and Tai was staring at him."Are you two fighting AGAIN?" Izzy began, sounding annoyed.
"No," Tai said "I swear!"
"Matt, what's wrong?"
TK had already rushed to Matt's side.
"It's too bright!" Matt said "It hurts!"
"Too bright? What's too bright?"
"The sun!" Matt said "I...I can see again! But it HURTS!"
"That makes sense," Izzy said "You've been in blackness for a while now. It probably would hurt a good deal."
"Matt can see!" TK squealed "Matt can SEE!"
"But how?" Joe said, looking confused "Eye sight doesn't come back all at once like that. It's not natural!"
"This is the Digiworld," Iori pointed out "NOTHING is natural."
"I need shade," Matt croaked "I can't see..."
He laughed at that remark. TK carefully helped him to his feet.
"We'll keep going," Izzy said "Tentomon said that he saw a grotto up ahead. There's a good view of the land around us so no one can sneak up on us. We can rest there for a while."
Tai and TK both helping Matt (who had his eyes scrunched up from pain), they walked up the hill towards to grotto Tentomon had spied from the air.
End of Part 10.
Hey, I'm actually GETTING somewhere with this fic! A miracle!
Visionary
By the Empress of the Eclipse
Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon or the Norse Gods.
"This'll do," Tai said "I can't walk any further anyway."
There were several moans of exhausted agreement. They hadn't found any particularly suitable shelter so Tai had kept them all going far past their endurance points. This was the best shelter they'd found and it wasn't much. Two trees had grown interlocked together, forming a sort of canopy for them to sit under. Tai sat down with a thump and heard the others doing the same around him. The Digimon gathered some wood together, Sora ringed it with stones and Agumon puffed out a Pepper Breath, lighting the fire which flickered merrily, illuminating their tired faces.
"How's Joe?" Tai asked.
"I'm great," Joe said "A little queasy...terrified of heights for the rest of my life...and scared of snakes...but I'm great though!"
There were several tired giggles. Tai risked looking at Matt. Matt was rubbing his eyes futily, almost as though he was trying to remove contact lenses that didn't exist.
"Don't Matt, you'll make them sore," Tai said automatically.
"So what?" Matt said moodily "I can't see anything out of them anyway."
"It'll hurt," Tai said "You might be blind, at least you aren't in pain."
*Yet.*
Tai jumped slightly, hearing Matt's words distinctly in his head. Now he knew what it was, he didn't really know how he'd ever mistaken it for Matt's real voice. It sounded like it but there was something completely different in it. Almost a feeling....
It was the strangest thing but to Tai it felt/sounded like the noise water would make being slowly frozen into ice.
He didn't say anything about what he'd heard but Izzy had seen him jump and it reminded him of what had been happening.
"Was that that....thing again?" he asked.
"I guess," Tai said unhappily.
Everyone was looking at him now and glancing towards Matt. Tai was struck with a feeling of something being fundamentally wrong but before he could focus, Izzy was talking.
"You ought to try again," he said "Tai, close your eyes and talk to Matt."
Tai sighed and obeyed. He wasn't sure how to begin. He tried conjuring an image of Matt in his mind and imagining words going directly into Matt's ears. Matt didn't respond.
"This isn't working," Sora said eventually.
"Maybe they're trying too hard," Joe suggested "Tai, just act natural. Think naturally."
*How the hell do you think naturally?* Tai wondered irritably.
"Hey, I heard that!" Matt yelped.
"Tai, do whatever you just did again!" Izzy ordered.
Tai wanted to punch him. Once someone had said that, it was impossible. He didn't KNOW what he'd just done, he'd just thought...
*Tai can you hear this?*
There was that strange frozen ice feeling again.
*Try and answer in your mind. Just...don't think about me. Think of the answer. That's how I'm doing it anyway.*
Tai swallowed.
*Thinking an answer now.*
"I heard him!" Matt said "I can answer back!"
"This is freaky!" Mimi said "I mean, being able to talk to each others minds? It's like an episode of the Twilight Zone!"
"The Digiworld has ALWAYS been like an episode of the Twilight Zone," Kari pointed out.
"But it's getting worse!" Mimi moaned.
"Tell me about it," Tai said with a shudder "I don't want my private thoughts privy to all and sundry!"
"They aren't," Matt said irritably "I can only hear what you send at me and now you know how, you can control it."
Tai scowled, knowing Matt couldn't see his scowl. He didn't like this idea at all. It meant he was closer to Matt, the person he was trying to pull away from.
Now that the actual thought was voiced in his mind, it bothered him. He wasn't trying to pull away from Matt was he? Not really. He just didn't want...didn't want Matt to get the wrong idea. That was all.
"Could this be something to do with the Gods?" Sora was saying.
"Undoubtedly," Izzy said "But why would they give any of us extra powers? It doesn't make any sense."
"Can we all do it?" TK asked "That would be pretty cool."
Tai blinked. He was surprised that Davis hadn't said that, he'd always wanted more super-hero powers from this stuff...
He looked around.
"Er...where are Davis and Ken?"
There was a confused pause while everyone looked around as though expecting Davis and Ken to appear magically.
"Uh oh," Mimi said.
"We must have left them behind!" Tai said.
"Oh I don't believe it, I'll kill both of them!" Yolei said "I'm not getting up again!"
"You'll have to," Sora said with a sigh.
"Can't Birdramon or Patamon fly up and look over the trail?" TK suggested.
"It's not safe to split up, we know that," Sora said "The Gods always take advantage of that. We'll just have to go back for them."
"But they'll probably just catch up!" Yolei whined.
"What if they're in trouble?" Iori said, standing up miserably "We can't risk it Yolei. We have to go back."
"I'm going to murder both of them," Yolei muttered, scrambling to her feet.
Before they started walking again, Iori made them some makeshift torches out of the fire. It would last them a little while so they wouldn't have to walk in the dark. They slowly walked along the already walked path, each privately deciding on the horrible tortures that s/he would inflict on Davis and Ken when they found them.
They would have missed the place all together if Matt hadn't stepped on something squishy. Being unable to see it made him all the more worried and he yelped.
"What's wrong?" Tai demanded.
"I stepped on something," Matt said, a little sheepishly.
"Oh for crying..." Tai began irritably but Kari interrupted him.
"It's Minomon!"
Minomon was crumpled on the path, huddled up in a weak little ball. He hadn't stirred when Matt stepped on him, he didn't stir when Kari lifted him up.
"Ken?" she shouted "Davis?"
"Don't shout, you'll bring them here!" Iori said.
The torches were dying down now and it was hard to see. Agumon made another fire in the middle of the trail. It was rather dangerous but at least they had to light to see by. It was immediately apparent that there had been a fight. The terrain had looked nothing like that before.
"I can't believe we would have missed this if Matt hadn't found Minomon!" Yolei said.
"It's easy to make mistakes in the dark," Joe said.
"Yes, but this - "
"I've found Ken," TK said quietly.
Ken's face was white with blue tinges. He didn't move when TK shook him, or when Joe tested his pulse and breath or even when Izzy - seeing the cuts - hastily tipped the last drops of the antidote down his throat.
"He's alive anyway," Joe said.
"Where's Davis?" Kari whispered.
There was no sign of Davis anyway. They hunted around, even calling for him softly. Mimi knelt by Ken, ignoring her aching hands and gently tried to revive him. He didn't move at all. His eyes weren't even flickering.
"It's like the life's been sucked out of him!" Yolei said tearfully. She was obviously regretting threatening to kill Davis and Ken only twenty minutes earlier.
"We can't find Davis anywhere," TK said grimly "We found Chibimon though. He's unconscious too."
"Why were they so far behind?" Tai asked bitterly "We're supposed to stick together!"
Joe pressed a hand to Ken's forehead.
"He's got a temperature," he said quietly.
"We gave him all the antidote we had," Izzy said grimly "There's nothing else now."
"No one else get poisoned," Tai ordered with a sort of laugh.
"We'll have to camp here," Sora said "Ken can't be moved far."
They pulled Ken closer to the fire and set up watches. Tai took first watch, sitting silently and staring into the darkness.
Everything was falling apart around them. Before, it had been hard but...it had never collapsed like this! They'd all been friends - well, for most of the time. And no one had got sick like this. Kari had got ill once but she'd recovered quickly and had been just fine. Matt had been able to see what was happening and help Tai along...
Tai bent his head miserably. If he was honest, he knew that he was blaming Matt for all of this. It all seemed to start with Matt. That stupid night out by that stupid lake. Matt's stupid feelings. Tai's own stupid feelings...
He blanked his thoughts quickly before anything could go any further and just sat there, staring at the darkness and hoping nothing would come out of it.
* * * *
Morning was a quiet affair. Ken didn't seem to have moved once in the night and no one could really face hunting for any sort of breakfast.
"What are we going to do now?" Izzy finally asked.
"Perhaps we should take Ken back to Gennai," Mimi suggested.
"If he's even in the same place," Tai pointed out "He moves around a lot you know. And with those Gods around..."
"Well we can't separate again," Sora said firmly "Every time that happens, everything goes wrong. We have to stick together."
"We may have to separate," Yolei said quietly "Much as I hate it, these big creeps need taking down and even if Ken is sick, someone has to work on that."
"Iz, what do you know about these Norse Gods?" Tai asked "Like, how do you kill them would be good."
"I'm not sure," Izzy said slowly "In the myths, Fenrir was killed by Odin's son...cut up by a sword I think. Jormungard was destroyed by Thor's hammer. I don't think Hel was ever killed. Loki was killed by some guy called Hemindal or something like that. A sword again."
"Well if they can be killed with a sword and a hammer, that shouldn't be too hard, right?" Kari said hopefully.
"A gods sword. A gods hammer," Izzy said "We don't have either of those items."
"Perhaps we could ask the Gods for help," Joe said "If these Gods can pop up from somewhere, maybe the others can."
"How?" Izzy asked simply.
That stumped them all.
"Prayer?" Yolei suggested.
"Seems like a stab in the dark to me," Izzy said shaking his head "And these Gods didn't come from prayer. They just arrived."
"And who do we pray to?" Joe asked.
"Odin was the king of the Norse gods," Izzy said "Frigg was his queen. Thor was the god of thunder. Freya was the goddess of death and fertility...Odin or Thor would probably be best."
"Except that they probably can't hear us," Iori said.
"Well I'm going to pray," Yolei said "Any sort of help would go down really well with me!"
She moved a little way away and put her hands together, closing her eyes. Her lips began silently moving. Tai scowled with frustration.
"Who's Bartlebi?" he asked suddenly.
"That I don't know," Izzy said "I've never heard of a God using that name."
Tai frowned.
"That's weird."
Suddenly the air was rent by a piercing scream. It was Ken. He was struggling on the floor, kicking out blindly. Joe and Tai quickly held him down to stop him hurting them as much as anything else.
"Ken!" Yolei shouted "Ken, can you hear me?"
"Stop her!" Ken shrieked "Stop her, stop her, stop her! Dai-chan!"
He kicked again, his face twisted with a pained grimace. The others were adding their own support to holding him down. Yolei stroked his forehead gently.
"It's all right Ken," she cooed softly "You're safe now. We're here. Don't worry about a thing. It's all right..."
"Dai-chan!" Ken sobbed again. Yolei's approach seemed to be working though. He was slowly relaxing, not kicking as much.
"We'll find him," Yolei promised "Don't worry Ken. We'll find Davis. Why don't you just wake up and talk to us hm? It's all okay, but we need to talk to you now so wake up. Come on. Wake up."
Ken's eyes flickered open briefly. His eyes travelled over their faces and his limbs went limp suddenly. They backed away from him. A green blur shot past Tai, making him realise that Minomon had woken up.
"I'm sorry Ken!" Minomon squeaked "I tried to stop her!"
"S'okay," Ken mumbled "I know you did."
Then he passed out again.
"Well, he was awake," Sora said, trying to take heart in something "That's a good thing, right?"
"When did he start calling him Dai-chan?" Yolei muttered.
"What's wrong Yolei, scared Ken's going to turn out gay?" TK teased her "Don't worry, I'm sure it's just an...affectionate nickname!"
"It probably is!" Yolei snapped "Don't jump to conclusions!"
TK snorted.
"Come on Yolei, Ken just screams 'gay!'"
"No he does not!" Yolei said shrilly.
"Look at him! He's practically Kari!"
"TK, are you saying that I look like a lesbian?"
"No, I'm saying he looks like a girl and therefore looks gay!"
Matt turned his face away. He wished he couldn't hear this conversation. It was the last thing he wanted to hear. Had they all blanked out that he was gay? Was it something that they just wouldn't accept?
It was something Tai hadn't accepted.
Matt sighed. He couldn't think about this now. He had to just keep it all out of his mind. But it was so hard. Just being around Tai drove him crazy.
'I should probably thank my lucky stars I can't see him!' he thought bitterly 'Otherwise I'd REALLY go crazy.'
And now there was this mind talk thing. What the hell was that? How was it possible? And why, why, WHY did it have to be him and Tai? It was obvious that Tai didn't want to be around Matt. They just weren't friends any more. That was gone.
"If we could get back to the ORIGINAL subject," Tai said loudly "Ken has now woken up. Which is probably a good thing. And how are we going to defeat the Gods?"
Silence fell again. Matt blinked his sightless eyes, cursing his lack of vision that made interaction so much harder.
"We'll just have to use all the strength we have," Joe said at last "We've defeated Helmon after all."
"But never permanently!" Tai said.
"Well Rome wasn't built in a day," Sora said "And we never used to win against the other Digimon we've faced in one battle either. We've faced some pretty awful defeats in our time if you care to remember them."
"I block them out of my mind," Tai said dryly.
Sora laughed, making Tai feel a little better. At least Sora still had her sense of humour.
"I just hope Davis is all right," TK muttered, dampening the mood a great deal.
"He is," Ken croaked.
Everyone turned to stare at him. Ken was sitting up, his face pale and looking sick but healthier than before. Minomon was cuddled in his arms.
"How do you know?" Tai asked.
"I can feel it," Ken said tersely "We were talking...Davis thought that the reason Matt and Tai can read each others thoughts is because they DNA-Digivolved once. Then Fenrirmon attacked us. I managed to talk to Davis in his mind and he could answer me. Fenrirmon drained me and took Davis away...I don't know where or why. But that's where he is. I can feel that he's still alive and that he's frightened...but I can't talk to him any more. Maybe he's too far away...but I can't reach him!"
He shivered and Yolei moved over and put an arm around him.
"At least we know he's alive," she said comfortingly "That's the main thing, right?"
Ken didn't look like he believed her.
* * * *
Davis opened his eyes to find himself crumpled on a stone floor. His body ached and he was too cold. He was lying in a huge stone room which was completely empty apart from himself. Slowly he sat up, trying to remember where he was.
He'd been captured by Fenrirmon. She'd kil - no, hurt Ken, Ken couldn't be dead, he just couldn't - and taken him away. He'd fainted at some point from the motion and now he was here - wherever here was.
[Ken? Ken-chan, can you hear me?]
There was no answer. Davis could sense a buzzing feeling at the back of his mind and was positive that Ken was still alive - but what good was that if they couldn't talk?
"Awake are you?"
It was Helmon. She was looking annoyed.
"Took you long enough to wake up," she said "Come on. Bartlebimon wants to see you."
She lifted Davis by the arm and dragged him bodily from the room. Davis let himself be led, resisting half-heartedly and trying not to panic.
"He's here!" Helmon sang out, pulling him into another room.
This room was larger than his cell had been and lit by a cheery fire. Fenrirmon was lying beside the fire, curled up like an extra large dog, apparently asleep. Jourmungardmon's head was peering out of the shadows, glittering in the firelight. There were two other figures, hidden by the shadows that even the fire didn't penetrate.
"That's the child of Courage and Friendship?" a pleasant voice said "Doesn't look like much does he?"
Davis felt a wave of annoyance washing over him. Didn't look like much? What did this person think he was?
Footsteps rang out over the floor and a man stepped from the shadows. Davis blinked. This wasn't what he'd really expected. When he'd found out that Lokimon and Bartlebimon were Gods, he'd expected...well, fierce fire God things. This man wasn't. He was quite tall and normal looking except that he was better looking than most people Davis knew. His hair was wavy and about the same colour as Izzy's, in a ponytail down his back. His eyes were brown and friendly looking and he was grinning a grin that Davis suddenly realised he often grinned, a grin that just screamed mischief. His clothes were pretty weird but not so weird as to scream out 'freak!' He was wearing a blue tunic with green and black leggings and a black cloak and boots. He didn't seem all that abnormal really. Or that scary.
"Which one are you?" Davis asked, slightly ruder than he'd intended. Helmon gripped his shoulder painfully and he winced.
"Lokimon," Lokimon said. He walked over and bent, staring into Davis's face "Perhaps there's more fire in you than I realised. Let him go Hel, Bartlebimon wants him in good condition."
Helmon sniffed and released him. Davis fleetingly considered running but Lokimon reached forward and took his wrist.
"Don't run away," he said "You won't get out and it'll make things far worse for you if you try."
Davis shrugged.
"How can it be worse?" he asked, trying to keep up his bravado "You're gonna kill me anyway, right?"
"I'm not," Lokimon said, looking offended "You're Bartlebimon's!"
"That helps," Davis said dryly.
"Besides, he won't be killing you," Lokimon said comfortingly "He just wants your energy."
"Oh great," Davis said weakly "Isn't that the same thing?"
"No. He can keep you alive for years taking your energy!" Lokimon said "If he hadn't captured you, he'd have just killed you...like Jourmungard was going to do to Reliability if he hadn't been rescued. But we captured you, so we'll keep you somewhere and Bartlebimon will take your energy when he wants it."
"Or he'll just kill you," Helmon predicted "I would."
"You lack all finesse Daughter," Lokimon scolded her "I certainly don't intend to kill any of my three."
"You mean you've shared us all out like sweets?!" Davis spluttered.
"Certainly," Helmon said, seemingly taking a spiteful delight in telling him "I get Friendship and Knowledge. Fenrirmon gets Light and Kindness. Jourmungardmon gets Reliability and LoveSincerity. Father - Lokimon to you - gets Courage, Love and KnowledgeReliability. Bartlebimon gets Sincerity and Hope - and you of course."
Davis kicked at her. Her spiteful tone enraged him and he wanted to kill her. His foot connected strongly with her fleshless knee, meaning he could actually see the bone going backwards, making his stomach twist nauseatingly. Helmon shrieked in rage and reached out for him. Davis instinctively cowered back against Lokimon, wanting support.
"Helmon!"
The voice that spoke was not Lokimon's. It sent chills down Davis's spine. Slowly, he turned to look.
Another man had come out of the shadows, although whether he'd been there all along, Davis didn't know. His hair was short and black, his eyes a deeper brown than Lokimon's. His face was twisted in a dark frown and he was dressed in black and alternating shades of grey. The most unnatural thing about him however, was the set of huge snowy white wings that extended from his back. Davis felt a sudden wave of deep fear and cowered back even further.
This had to be Bartlebimon.
"Is this CourageFriendship?" Bartlebimon asked.
"Yes," Lokimon said cheerfully "Don't be shy CourageFriendship. Say hello."
"My name's Davis!" Davis croaked "And I'm not bloody shy!"
He glowered at Bartlebimon, thinking that he'd rather face twenty Lokimon's that this guy. Bartlebimon walked over and leaned down like Lokimon had to stare into Davis's face.
"More strength that he seemed to have at first glance," he said.
Davis gulped.
[KEN!]
But Ken didn't answer. He could feel something in his mind. The buzzing had stopped, leaving just a feeling of anxiety, pain and fear. Ken was alive. But they couldn't speak to each other. Davis swallowed, feeling very alone.
"My friends," he said "Where are they?"
"Where Fenrirmon left Kindness," Lokimon said before Bartlebimon could speak "You didn't kill him very well Fenrirmon. He's still breathing."
Fenrirmon flicked her tail drowsily and ignored him. Davis glowered at her, willing a spark to jump out of the fire and ignite her coat.
The Bartlebimon rested a hand on Davis's head and the whole world twisted round. Davis wailed in pain, trying to pull away from Bartlebimon's hand but he couldn't move, he couldn't breathe and he was all alone...
No. He wasn't alone, Ken there still out there...
Davis kicked out with all his strength, screaming abuse at the God/Digimon before him, fighting furiously.
"I told you he had strength!" he heard Lokimon laugh.
"Take him back to his cell," Bartlebimon ordered "A little time alone will cure him of THAT."
Davis was dragged kicking and screaming back to the stone cell. Lokimon pushed him inside.
"We'll send you some food," he said comfortingly "The Digimon are out gathering it right now. Don't worry about your friends, we'll probably have put them out of their misery soon..."
He closed the door, leaving Davis standing in the middle of his cell, trembling with rage, frustration and overwhelming fear.
He was all alone. And he was in big trouble.
* * * *
Ken suddenly gave a wail of pain and doubled over.
"Ken!"
Yolei caught Ken's arms, trying to support him as Ken whimpered.
"It hurts," he moaned "Oh God, it hurts us, it hurts us!"
"Hurts us?" Tai said "What's he talking about?"
"He means him and Davis," Sora said, her eyes anxious "The bond between them must be getting stronger. They're slowly becoming more like one."
"Is that going to happen to all of us?" TK asked.
Tai frowned. He looked at Ken who was relaxing slightly.
"It was so cold," he said "Like...ice being pushed through me. And Davis...he was so sad!"
"Tai, we have to work this out," Izzy said anxiously "Ken and Davis can feel each others pain now! We can't let that happen!"
Tai blinked at him, confused. Izzy pulled his normal exasperated face.
"If you start feeling Matt's pain," he said patiently "Not only would it distract you in battle, it would possibly incapacitate you! What if Matt's blindness started to affect you?"
Tai hadn't thought of that. The idea of being blind completely terrified him. Watching Matt being led along by the others scared him, another reason that he avoided going near his once best friend.
"But that hasn't happened!" he said "I can't feel Matt's pain! I never have!"
He saw Izzy bite his lip slightly and knew that Izzy was holding something back. Before he could inquire into it, Izzy was speaking again.
"I think we should move on," he said "We aren't safe here. We need to find a protected spot so we can practise these powers. If Ken and Davis and you and Matt can use them, chances are Yolei and Kari and Iori and TK have these powers too, and they ought to get practising. It might be a risk but it might also help us fight the Gods."
"Right," Tai said.
"Tai, you help Matt," Izzy ordered "I'll help Yolei with Ken."
"Wha - ? But I don't want - "
Izzy gave him a glower. Tai blinked.
"Okay, okay! Sheesh!"
He walked over to Matt who was staring off blankly.
"Come on," Tai muttered "Let's get going."
After a moment, he reached out and gripped Matt's hand. It remained cold and unresponsive in his grip, as though Matt was as reluctant for contact as Tai was.
They all walked along slowly, Izzy in the lead. Ken appeared to be okay, he was walking normally at any rate. Either Matt and Tai were going especially slowly or the others were going extra fast; at any rate they'd all drawn slightly ahead of them. They were going upwards now, a steady up-hill path that kept getting steeper. Tai was having to help Matt over everything in the way, something he wasn't enjoying very much.
"Can't you see anything at all?" he blurted "Not even...you know, light and stuff?"
Matt's forehead creased in a frown. He was either thinking, or annoyed about the question. Tai couldn't tell which.
"I can see different shades of black," Matt said eventually "Like when you have your eyes shut and then someone turns the light off and you know about it. It's like that."
"Oh."
Tai didn't know what else to say. They walked along in silence again.
*You hate me don't you?*
Tai jumped slightly at the voice in his mind.
"No," he said out-loud, his voice sounding insincere to his own ears "I don't hate you. Not at all."
*Liar.*
The mental voice was accusing, betrayed.
"I'm not a liar," Tai said "I don't hate you Matt! And talk out-loud will you? It's freaky when you do that!"
*I don't want the others to hear.*
It made sense. The others weren't that far ahead. And Matt didn't know they were ahead anyway. Tai sighed.
"They're in front of us," he said "They can't hear if we whisper."
Matt shrugged.
"Whatever."
They kept moving, Tai helping Matt across the path.
"Do you think Davis is all right?" Matt asked suddenly.
"Of course!" Tai said "He must be! Ken would know!"
"Would you?"
Tai went quiet. Would he know if Matt was hurt or dying? Would he feel it in his bones?
He thought back to when they'd first been in the Digital World. All the different times they'd been in trouble - he'd always known when Matt was. When the Garbagemon had attacked them - he'd known something bad was happening to Matt. And then Matt had showed up and tried to fight him.
Had Matt known when Piedmon was killing him? Had Matt felt it?
He remembered the tears in Matt's eyes, his arms around Tai, strong but shaking just slightly, as though with exhaustion or pain.
He'd known. He'd always known.
*Would you even care?*
The mental voice sounded deeply depressed. Tai had never heard anything sound so hopeless before.
"Of course I'd care!" he exploded "Don't you ever say that Matt! I care for you! You're part of the team! I...I don't know what I'd do...if you weren't there..."
The last part was a whisper. Tai was shaking, his hand gripping Matt's convulsively.
"Tai...I'm so sorry..."
"No," Tai whispered "I'm sorry. I've been such a jerk! About everything!"
The path blurred and Tai realised he was crying. He struggled to wipe the tears away, swallowing.
*Matt, I swear I won't let anything like this happen again* he said mentally, not trusting his real voice *We'll always be friends Matt. I promise.*
"OW!"Matt yell caused everyone to whip round, convinced that they were either being attacked, or Tai and Matt were having another fight. Matt was kneeling on the ground and Tai was staring at him."Are you two fighting AGAIN?" Izzy began, sounding annoyed.
"No," Tai said "I swear!"
"Matt, what's wrong?"
TK had already rushed to Matt's side.
"It's too bright!" Matt said "It hurts!"
"Too bright? What's too bright?"
"The sun!" Matt said "I...I can see again! But it HURTS!"
"That makes sense," Izzy said "You've been in blackness for a while now. It probably would hurt a good deal."
"Matt can see!" TK squealed "Matt can SEE!"
"But how?" Joe said, looking confused "Eye sight doesn't come back all at once like that. It's not natural!"
"This is the Digiworld," Iori pointed out "NOTHING is natural."
"I need shade," Matt croaked "I can't see..."
He laughed at that remark. TK carefully helped him to his feet.
"We'll keep going," Izzy said "Tentomon said that he saw a grotto up ahead. There's a good view of the land around us so no one can sneak up on us. We can rest there for a while."
Tai and TK both helping Matt (who had his eyes scrunched up from pain), they walked up the hill towards to grotto Tentomon had spied from the air.
End of Part 10.
Hey, I'm actually GETTING somewhere with this fic! A miracle!
