The huntress stumbles backwards, clawing futilely at the silver protrusion. The Tamers can only watch as she grabs it, but it doesn't budge as strength flees her body. She collapses to one knee, then to both, before finally falling to lie on her back. Her body twitches in death throes before stilling.
"What the hell…" Takato gasps. He looks around, trying to pinpoint where the projectile had come from. "What just happened?"
"Do you know what you've just done?" Henry asks whoever is nearby.
"Yes," a voice from the shadows answers, "I just sealed her fate and mine." Both heads turn to face the speaker, still hidden in the shadows.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Takato says angrily. "She was our friend! We could have saved her!"
"No," Renamon replies, stepping out from the darkness of the alley. "She was beyond saving." She crosses over to kneel next to the corpse of the huntress, closing its eyes for the last time. Gripping the silver object, she pulls it out, revealing the bloody blade of a silver dagger.
"Wait, Renamon, what?" Henry splutters. "But… but if you're there, then who…"
Renamon pulls over a blanket, draping it over the corpse even as the fur begins to retract into the skin and the claws shrink to nails. Lying there, with a bloodless wound over her heart, is Rika. Renamon pulls the blanket up to Rika's neck, tears in her eyes.
"A few nights ago," Renamon explains, stroking Rika's hair, "during a walk through the park, Rika just collapsed and began to transform into what you saw. I tried to stop her from hurting anyone, but her new form was too strong for me. She started attacking people, and there was nothing I could do to help."
Renamon stops, tears falling to the ground and mixing with the blood. Breathing heavily, she continues. "Fortunately for the both of us, human blood seemed to reverse the effect. She was never able to kill."
"It was a shock to her system," Henry reasons. Renamon nods absently.
"When she woke up the next morning, she assumed that she had fallen asleep. She had no memory of anything that had happened, and I had no intention of telling her. But then, the attacks started getting worse. Her victims would have died had I not carried them to the hospital." She looks at her hands, remembering the lingering blood stains on the short fur.
Renamon straightens up, staring into the night sky. "It's beautiful, isn't it? The moon I mean. For the longest time, it was my only companion, but now it's responsible for taking Rika away from me. The fuller the moon became, the harsher the attacks. And tonight the moon is at its peak, so there was nothing to stop her from killing. Once she did, there was no turning back." Renamon picks up Rika's corpse and turns to the Tamers. "I had no choice."
"Renamon… What's going to happen now?" Henry asks as Takato checks on Guilmon. He still can't believe that one of his friends is dead… It all seems like a dream he should wake up from at any minute…
Looking down at the corpse cradled in her arms, Renamon shakes her head sadly. "She was in the park when a man attacked and murdered her. The murder weapon, a bloody knife, was found on the scene. The beast will never be seen again. For most life will go on."
"But what about you?"
"You've been a true friend, Henry," Renamon says. "All of you have." She crouches and quickly leaps to the roof of the building and away down the street.
"Renamon, wait!" Henry calls chasing after her, but she's too fast. "No… C'mon! We have to stop her before she gets to the park!" Without waiting for an answer, he runs out of the alley.
It takes Takato a second to realize what's happening, but he quickly springs into action, Guilmon following close behind.
******
Renamon soon arrives at the park where she carefully lays Rika's body out. It has to look like she was the victim of a random crime. She just wishes it didn't have to end this way.
"Goodbye, Rika," she whispers. "I only hope that in the next life you can truly be happy."
Gripping the dagger, Renamon takes one last, long look at the moon before plunging the weapon into her own breast. Her breathing grows heavy and raspy as life slips from her body and she lies down next to Rika. She gives the girl one last lingering kiss on the cheek.
"I will always love you…" she whispers before her data fades into oblivion.
