*Disclaimer* - I don't own the characters, never have done, never will do. Sueing me will earn you all of $5.36 and if you're really that desperate for cash then you can start saving money by getting the hell off the internet. Unless you have a completely free server of course. In which case I envy you greatly. Anyway, on with the fic...

A Love Born of Hate (Part Six)

Abroad in the Digiworld

Hurtling droplets of spray stung against my cheeks as I tumbled toward the churning waters below. Turning as I fell, I caught glimpses of the jagged rocks sticking out of the frothy pool below me, the moon highlighting their sharp edges. I shut my eyes and waited to be dashed into a million different pieces.

I landed heavily, but it wasn't on water and it wasn't on rocks. I clutched onto warm fur as I was carried across the rocks to the other side of the river. Gasping, I slid to the foor and opened my eyes. "Garurumon?"

"Matt, are you okay?" my digipartner growled. I nodded, weak with relief. "What were you doing, my friend? You could have been killed!"

I ducked the question. "What are you doing here?"

"Following you, of course. Sora mentioned that you seemed upset, so I thought I'd better follow you in case you got yourself into trouble." He shook his head, frowning. "That was a very foolish thing to do, Matt, especially in the dark. Why have you wandered so far from camp?"

I closed my eyes again, hardened my voice and my heart. "I'm not going back, Garurumon."

"Why not? You were just beginning to get along really well with the other digidestined... why leave now?"

"They don't need me. I only get in the way."

"What about Takeru? He needs you."

"No, he doesn't. Sora can look after him."

"He doesn't love Sora, he loves you."

"..."

"Matt?"

"He'll get over it."

"He won't accept it, Matt, he's the Child of Hope. He'll keep hoping that someday you'll come back, and when you don't and he eventually has to face up to the fact that he's lost you forever, it'll break his heart. All that innocence, destroyed."

"Quit with the guilt trip, Garurumon. It's not going to work."

"Very well. But I am going to stay with you and protect you."

"Garurumon..."

"As I said before, I am your digipartner and your friend. I am sworn to protect you, it is my duty, and I will not allow you to do this on your own."

I sighed and nodded. "Okay. Thanks, Garurumon."

"It is what I was born to do." He promptly de-digivolved to Gabumon. "Now sleep, you are tired. We will make further progress in the morning." I nodded and yawned... I was exhausted. It had been a long hard day and a long hard night before it, and I just wanted to rest. I was vaguely aware of Gabumon pulling his fur over me as I drifted off... "Goodnight, Matt. Sleep well."

* * * * *

When I awoke the next morning, Gabumon had reclaimed his fur and was taking a swim at the gentler end of the pool. I blinked lazily and considered joining him, but in the end I couldn't be bothered. I led back in the sunshine, revelling in the fact that I didn't have to look after anyone but myself. True, I had Gabumon, but he was more than capable of looking after himself. No plan to stick to, no goal to achieve. It felt like a holiday and boy, was I loving it. (Then why won't that little tight knot in your stomach go away, Matt?) Oh yeah, I was loving it to bits.

I sat and watched Gabumon until he realised I was there, then we both went to look for some breakfast. We found some nuts - peanuts, they looked like - and feasted on them. Not having to share, not having to ration out. (What is that tight knot in your stomach, Matt?) Just feasting.

After breakfast, I pondered on what I had to do today. I didn't have anything to do for the moment, except put as much distance as possible between myself and the rest of the digidestined. So I set about that task immediately, once again following the river that flowed out from the pool. (Is that knot *fear*, Matt? Is that what it is?) It felt amazing to be completely free.

As Gabumon and I wandered along, I found my thoughts turning to the future. Without the digidestined's help, it was unlikely that I would ever get back home, but then again what was there at home for me anyway? Yeah, I missed my Dad, but every kid has to leave their parents and live on their own sooner or later. (Come on, stop denying it. You're afraid. What is it that you're afraid of?) So I would be one of the ones who took that road a little sooner - no big deal. I could handle it.

"Matt, where are we going?" Gabumon asked me. I shrugged. Basically, I was going wherever the fancy took me. Just call me a tumbleweed blown in the wind. Maybe I would make a home and a name for myself in the digiworld, become someone important. A mighty ruler, or a sneaky underdog with a massive reputation. I could get to like it here. (It's the loneliness you fear, Matt. The thought of never seeing your friends again. They *are* your friends, Matt, you can't deny it.) I especially liked being alone. I like it, I told myself fiercely. It's what I've always wanted, what I'm finally going to have. Solitude.

"Matt!"

"Huh?" I spun round so fast I nearly fell over. They've found me! I panicked. They're gonna drag me back and watch over me and there'll be no getting away!...

"Watcha doing all the way out here on your own, kid?"

"You!" I clenched my fists at the sight of DemiDevimon. "What do you care?"

"Hey, don't get mad at me. I was just following orders when I kidnapped you. I don't work for Myotismon anymore."

"The only way you'd end up not working for Myotismon anymore is if he killed you. You're too cowardly to try and escape from him."

"Look who's talking! Not exactly Mister Bravery yourself, are you?"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" I demanded. DemiDevimon chuckled.

"I've seen the rest of the digidestined, none of them knows where you are. You've obviously run away. So who are you to be calling me a coward? You can't even face your own friends!"

"I have my reasons!" I yelled defiantly.

"Oh really?" he replied lazily. "Such as?"

"Why should I tell you?"

DemiDevimon shrugged as well as a little furball of a digimon like him was able to. "Fine, don't. Doesn't really bother me. It's easier to pick you off one by one anyway. You've separated yourself, the others are talking about splitting up to find you. As I believe some famous guy on your world once said, 'divide and conquer'. Those crests and digivices are as good as ours. I'll just take yours now, shall I?"

"Not a chance in hell, you overgrown ear-muff! Gabumon, get him!"

"Blue Blaster!" DemiDevimon dodged the attack and swooped closer, but Gabumon wouldn't let him near me. Teeth bared, eyes flashing, he stood guard and snapped and snarled and Blue Blastered until DemiDevimon was forced to retreat.

"Just you wait, kid!" he called back over his shoulder. "Just you wait until Myotismon sends in reinforcements to give me some backup! You'll be sorry you ever heard of the digital world!" Cackling, he flew up and away into the sky and was gone.

Gabumon looked up at me enquiringly. "Matt?"

"What?" I asked shortly.

"We have to go back."

"Why?"

"Didn't you hear what DemiDevimon said? The fate of the digidestined is in our hands! We have to go back and warn them."

"He's trying to trick us into going back. I don't know why, but that's what he's doing. If that was really their plan, do you think DemiDevimon would share it with us? No, he wants us to go back to the rest of the digidestined."

"Why would he want that, when we are stronger as a group? You know what a babbler DemiDevimon is, he couldn't keep a secret if his life depended on it. We should go back and warn the others, just in case."

"Go on then, but I'm staying here," I informed the striped digimon stubbornly. "Myotismon probably told DemiDevimon that was the real plan, just so the little rent-a-gob would blab to us. I still think it's a trap, and I'm not falling into it. Myotismon wants us all together for some reason, although I don't have a clue why. You go and warn them while I stay here. That way the digidestined will be ready for whatever's coming, but I won't be there so we won't have fallen into Myotismon's trap."

"I don't like it, Matt," Gabumon replied doubtfully. "You shouldn't be out here on your own."

"Oh come on, Gabumon. I can look after myself for a couple of days. And besides," I added cunningly, "Think how pleased the others will be to hear that I'm all right. Think of Takeru's face. Takeru's hope."

"All right, Matt," sighed Gabumon. "You win. But be careful, okay?"

"I will," I answered him cheerfully. "Bye!"

Gabumon trotted off, and I began to look for food. I wasn't really hungry yet, but I might be by the time I found something to eat. Rooting around in a particularly interesting looking patch of tomato-ish plants, I suddenly became aware of voices nearby. I froze... the digidestined? No... a deeper voice... and a quite high-pitched one... and a feminine voice I didn't recognise. But the other two had to be - yes, they were. DemiDevimon and Myotismon. Whatever they were talking about was bound to be interesting. If I was going to live as a rogue, I could trade the information with someone for something valuable.

"...a fool!" Myotismon was admonishing. "Can you not keep your mouth closed for a few meagre hours, DemiDevimon? Now the Child of Friendship will wish to re-unite with the other digidestined, and our plan will be ruined! Incompetent fool!"

"Yeesh, Master! I'm sorry!"

"Enough of your piteous whining! Kelimon will not fail me, as you have often done. She is a powerful ally, she will crush the digidestined in an instant, but first we must find the Child of Friendship before he finds the rest of the group and alerts them to my plan! When he does not return, the digidestined will execute their plan, which is to split up, henceforth rendering them even more vulnerable to our attack!"

"Great plan, Master!" grovelled DemiDevimon. "What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing, fool!" Myotismon snapped. "You have caused enough damage. Kelimon will find the Child of Friendship and take him captive. I shall once again relieve him of his digivice and crest, and everything shall go according to plan. DemiDevimon, leave us! We have important matters to discuss."

"Yeesh! She's hardly been here five minutes and - I mean, yes, your mightiness. Of course, at once," DemiDevimon finished meekly, quailing under Myotismon's terrifying glare. He fluttered off without another word, and I turned my attention back to the two remaining digimon in the clearing.

Kelimon was a fairly large digimon, coming up to about Myotismon's shoulder. She was a human-type digimon, but there were other parts thrown in... catlike ears, a bushy foxtail and an impressive set of dragonfly wings. Slim and graceful, there was a quiet menace about her that seemed to chill the air around her. I shivered as fingers of ice seemed to scuttle across my back. She spoke, and it was a high tinkling sound that hung in the air like droplets of pure clear glass.

"You wish me to leave on the search for the Child of Friendship immediately?" she enquired.

"A moment of your time, my dear," Myotismon requested, his voice dripping with honey. "You look so beautiful this morning."

My jaw dropped. He was chatting her up! Kelimon smiled coyly at his compliment. "I don't look beautiful most mornings, then?" Myotismon hurriedly corrected his error.

"Of course, sweetness. Just more so today."

"Why thank you, Myotismon. It is a relief to know that I do not go unnoticed."

"It is an impossibility, my dear Kelimon, for you to go unnoticed. You have the most unusual eyes."

Kelimon laughed, a sound that would freeze fire. "You can say that again."

Whoa, whoa. Time out. This is not Myotismon here. Christ, he's not that kind of guy! And yet... here he is, practically drooling over some dame. Sure, she was pretty enough, but that wasn't the point. Had Myotismon lost his mind?! Apparently, he had. Wrapping his arms around Kelimon, he leaned in to kiss her lips. I shuddered and choked down on bile. It was like... well, Alaskan Queen meets Boy George! But Kelimon pulled back at the last moment, with a playful smile. "I should find the child..."

"The child can wait, my dear. Surrender yourself to me..."

"The child will not wait, Myotismon. Now, I must leave. I will return."

"I cannot wait." Myotismon captured Kelimon's hand in his and kissed it. Kelimon smiled, but Myotismon could not see that smile. If he had, he would have probably screamed and ran. I nearly did myself, and I was a good twenty feet away. It was ice and daggers, cruel and sly... pure, unadulterated evil that clutched at my insides with a hand of frozen flame. I couldn't breathe, I could barely see. That's what that smile did to me from a distance of twenty feet. It would probably have killed Myotismon.

"I must leave." So saying, Kelimon spread her wings and hovered above the forest floor. "Until my return."

"I wait with bated breath until the time I see your beautiful face once more." Make me hurl! But Kelimon just smiled sweetly and whizzed away, a cold turquoise haze of wings shimmering behind her. Myotismon gazed longingly after her, then stooped to pick a flower before vanishing into thin air. I was left alone.

Well! That was an interesting development, to say the least. Myotismon... and a girl... I pushed the thought firmly away. It made me feel quite ill. But I had to get back to the digidestined, that much was certain. There would be a lot of questions to face and a lot of pride to overcome, but my friends were in trouble and I was the only one who knew it. It was all up to me.

Juuuuust great.

Kelimon was my main problem now, she made Mytoismon look about as powerful as Kermit the Frog. If she found me, I wouldn't make it back to the digidestined, of that much I was sure. I would have to be very careful and very quick if I wanted to live to see the rest of the digidestined again. I made my way swiftly through the forest, in the direction of the river. Then I stopped. The river ran through open space, I would stick out a mile to the airborne Kelimon. I'd have to find my way through the forest instead. Gritting my teeth, I began to jog.

"Gotcha!" The tinkling voice behind me was unmistakable. I spun around to face Kelimon... but it wasn't me she had found. She was holding a squirming digimon that I didn't recognise, and she hadn't noticed me. I dived behind a bush and watched.

"You! Tell me if you have seen any of the digidestined recently!" she ordered. Her voice was no longer droplets of glass but shards of metal, slicing through the air with a deadly quality. I gulped.

"Digi... destined?" squealed the poor digimon. "No! No, I haven't!"

"You'd better not be lying to me!"

"I - I'm not! I swear!"

Kelimon narrowed her deep blue eyes. "Well, we'll see, won't we? Look at me!"

The digimon suddenly stopped struggling, and went limp in Kelimon's grasp. He was staring, mouth slightly open, into Kelimon's eyes, as though they held the answers to all the secrets of the universe. I wasn't far away, even I could see the mystical quality those eyes had taken on. They had become infinitely deep and clear, and though it was a funny thing to say about blue eyes, they seemed warm and inviting... cozy... mmmn... I snapped myself out of it, with an effort. If she was closer, and she was looking at me, I wouldn't have stood a chance. "Do not resist," Kelimon was whispering softly. "You are so tired, poor thing. Just sleep... put your head down and sleep..." Even her voice had become mesmerising, I had to concentrate on not looking back up and gazing into those infinite pools of pure blue. "Lose yourself in me..."

At that point, I did look back up, my eyes dragged up to meet hers by an invisible, irresistible force. All the muscles in my body began to relax as Kelimon's power worked itself unknowingly upon me. I felt incredibly exhausted, I just wanted to sink into those eyes and sleep for all eternity... And then those eyes snapped back into focus as the digimon's head dropped to his chest, and the blue satin brushing around me, lulling me into sleep, faded away. I shook my head to clear it and watched to see what would happen.

"Now, tell me," Kelimon ordered in a voice of steel. "Have you seen any human children pass this way?"

The digimon replied distantly. "One..."

"Which was it? The Child of Friendship?" I held my breath.

"Don't know... a boy..."

"What did his crest look like?"

"Didn't see..."

"Ugh!" Kelimon threw her arms in the air exasperatedly. "Where did he go?"

"Down the river..."

"WHEN?"

"Five minutes ago... maybe ten..."

Kelimon abruptly dropped the digimon and flew away in the direction of the river. I scrambled to my feet and followed. Whoever that boy was, it wasn't me. It could be Jyou or Koushiro, or Takeru... or even Tai. I ran faster. I had to warn him.

A couple of minutes later, I skidded out of the trees just in time to see Kelimon carrying a screaming Takeru up into the sky. Angemon was following behind them, an expression of utter blankness on his face. He'd been hypnotised. "TAKERU!" I yelled. "You BITCH, put my brother DOWN!"

Kelimon stopped and turned her head. Fool that I was, I stood my ground. "Matt!" Takeru was wailing. "Onii-chan, help me! Get me down!" Kelimon smiled that smile again, and my insides quailed.

"Child of Friendship!" she called. "You really think you stand a chance against me? Do you know who I am?"

"I know what you're gonna be if you don't put him down RIGHT NOW!" I roared defiantly. "I mean it!"

Kelimon snarled and let Takeru go. He plummeted shrieking to the ground, and I ran forward to catch him. I reached him just in time. "Wait here," Kelimon ordered Angemon, and swooped down, snatching Takeru up again just before he reached my arms.

"NO!"

Kelimon flew back up to Angemon. "Hold him." Angemon complied, and Kelimon fluttered back down to the ground before me. "You really think you can stop me? Where is your digimon, Child of Friendship? You cannot defeat me with him, so what hope do you have without?"

"I'm not going to let you take my brother away!"

Kelimon rolled her eyes. "Oh please, you have about as much power as a drunken gnat in a room full of insecticide. And besides, you can barely keep your eyes open, you're so tired..."

Shit! Suddenly her eyes had become deep again, stretching away forever into the distance. I shut my eyes and pressed the lids together, gritting my teeth.

"Look at me!"

"Not on your life."

"But you *want* to," Kelimon crooned. All I could think of was those mesmerising eyes. "You want to sink into my blueness, and lose yourself there forever..."

It was strange, my eyes weren't opening against my will or anything. That voice was actually making me want to gaze into Kelimon's eyes. I tried thinking of the digidestined, of Takeru, but it was a crazy need that couldn't be ignored. Just a peek...

Again, my whole body relaxed as I sunk into Kelimon's hypnotic gaze. I was much closer, and everything happened much faster this time. I felt so sleepy, my whole body felt like it was holding a thousand pounds on my shoulders. My eyes, which had a moment ago been begging to let me open them, were once again sliding closed.

"Sleep, Child of Friendship... sleep..."

Yeah... sleep...

"Matt! Help me! PLEASE!"

Takeru! I struggled with my eyelids... have to... save ... Takeru...

"Do not resist... do not fight... you want to sleep, Child of Friendship... just sleep... I will return for you later, and you can sleep within my eyes for all eternity. Let yourself go..."

I was being wrapped around in soft blue velvet, and I was sinking into those eyes... sinking... warm... sleepy. Yawn... nighty night. Mmmn...

I was lost.

~~~~~

Ooh, a bad digimon! (Not even I saw Kelimon coming, she just kinda wrote herself into the story.) Anyways, you'll be seeing a lot more of her in part seven, so watch this space! :) -Kae Ti xx