Author Note: I do not own any of the characters used in this writing, they belong to their respective publisher, writers, etc. I, however, do own the made up character(s) and plot of this story. If you wish to use any part of it, just email me and tell me at . Thank you, also, please, R/R.
On the Way: We head North, then West, and then East
But none of us will ever forget
How lovely is
The life of the South
3,566 miles to go. Thoughts: Better get started.
2,666 miles to go. Another thought: This is the fastest horse we've got?
2,008 miles to go. Final thought: Get new instructor for the horses.
The scenery around me is passing by in a breeze, I see a mountain, but just for a second, then it's gone. Green, Brown, Blue, Red, all the colors go by in a blur. The horse barely misses another tree as I'm riding through the forest. I don't bother looking back at how narrowly we missed it, my mind on the upcoming hill that has to be jumped. Normally, a horse of this kind could go faster than this, but since they haven't been outside of training for such a long time, it's hard to get the kinks out when something happens.
Hikari….
Tears blur my vision even more than it is, and I unconsciously blink them away. I've got to stop thinking about her lifeless body on the marble cold floor. It isn't helping the situation, especially when I narrowly miss another branch.
1,999 miles to go. Yup, defidnently not helping the situation.
I have to think about something else….but what?
Love. She's gonna be really mad when she finds out about her bird. I know it wasn't the smartest thing to do, but still, the bird was there, Hikari in a pool of blood, and well, it didn't take a genius to guess what had happened.
But obviously I guessed wrong.
Love. I haven't seen her in years. 1,825 days to be exact. It's not that I didn't want to see her, it's just that building the palace, and then training, and….
Who am I kidding?
I didn't want to see her because I was afraid to tell her that I loved her. I know it's stupid, it's gotta be one of the most easiest things to say, but when it comes down to it…
My body presses closer to the horse, hoping to help the wind resistance that isn't the only thing slowing us down. If I wanted to make it there by tomorrow, I'd have to lose the luggage that they packed on here. I reach behind me for the cord that is holding the bag to the horse and in one easy twist, it drops to the ground.
But my mind is still on her. How do you say 'I love you' to the Child of Love? To her, who has been told more than on one occasion by anyone and everyone of both genders, of both digimon and human race, that I love her?
1,666 miles left to go. And it's sundown already…
Great. Just peachy.
Can I make it there in the dark? I can barely see my hand infront of me, until, and I thank Jedi for this, the almost full moon appears in the sky, brightening up everything around me. Stars shine up above, the brightest at my back, the one that I'm hanging my hopes on not to move before I find my way back to my sister. The horse is getting tired, and I whisper encouraging words to keep him awake.
I didn't notice before, but the air is becoming much more warmer than it was at home. Down here, it gets warmer than what most can stand, digimon and digidestined alike. Mostly the only digimon that lived on land here were bird, or fire types, which live for the heat alone. The waters were a totally different story, considering how well temperate it was. Even the coldest living monsters could survive in the water alone down here. A complete contradiction to the life on land.
999 miles left to go.
Inbetween volcanoes erupting, monsters dueling, and just living for a thrill, no wonder the area down here was hot. And I mean hot. If I wasn't half fire type in my blood, I'd be dying of dehydration right about now. It's a wonder that my horse is only sweating from the heat, but I'm thankful that at the pace we're going, the wind will cool us down.
567 miles left to go.
Whenever Love sent a messenger to the palace, requesting an escort, I'd usually send whoever was willing or not: Jyou (who is sometimes at the palace would go just to see how things were down there) , Yamato (he is rarely at the palace, but when he is, he is more than willing to go), TK (whom is often around the palace, with Yamato, or with Iori), Miyako (who would flat out refuse because she'd be going to Mimi to continue her studies or some other excuse, but I suspect that she just didn't want to get sucked into more training sessions), Daisuke (who would look happy to just get out and do something), and I was even suckered into allowing Hikari to go, who would beg me everytime.
When they'd come back, and I was alone with them, I'd ask them how it went, with which the answers were:
"She's doing just fine." -Jyou, smiling lightly.
"No comment." -Yamato, who would provide a smirk to go with it, which I almost knocked off of him once.
"Just great!" -Tk, who said the words with such passion that I still wonder what was said between them.
"It was sooo cool!" -Dais, with a bright grin on his face.
"It's absolutly wonderful! Can I go back later?" -Hikari, with such a glow about her that I felt bad for telling her no.
Of course, she didn't come to the palace when she was requesting an escort any of those times, she was usually going anywhere that seemed fun, or that any of her escorts would be absolutely thrilled to accompany her with, and they always met at Firefly Town. She never forgot her manners, always sending a message that she was thankful for the escort's help, and hoped that it wasn't a burden for me. I knew that she could more than likely take care of herself, but I still wonder about her the last second before sleep engulfs me every night.
232 miles left to go.
Most of the time they would tell me where they went, what it was like, who they met, what great fun they had, but never what they talked about with Love. And I guess inbetween the smiles on their faces, how they usually glowed when they came back, and how they didn't mention anything that I didn't want to come right out and ask, well, I finally broke while questioning Daisuke about a trip 2 years ago. And finally asked the question that had been on my mind whenever one of them came back: "What did you two talk about?"
I was answered with a blush, diverted eyes, and a grin. All three making me want to choke him to death. When I got up and stood infront of his chair, I noticed how he got the 'deer in the headlight' look on his face. Knowing that brilliance wasn't one of my, nor Dais, better qualities, I finally asked (trying my hardest not to sound desperate, but not succeeding): "Did she say anything about me?"
The grin stayed, the blush was now gone, and his eyes were looking straight at me. We stared at eachother like that, both searching eachother's eyes for answers that we each wanted to know, until he finally blinked, and smiled a full smile then: "Tai, I can't tell you what we talked about because that would break the trust that I hold with her. It wouldn't be fair to her if I told you what was said, but I'll tell you this one thing that she asked me to tell you personally." With a dramatic pause in which Daisuke got up, walked over to the door, and with a great deal of character that I admired him for, turned to look at me, he said, "She says that she misses you."
099 miles left to go.
And then he had left, leaving me to ponder the statement which was added onto her normal 'thank you' message (all which were told by the escort). Maybe I was only reading inbetween the words, but I could've sworn that I still had a chance with her. She had sent for an escort several times after that, but I never could quite bring myself to go. Each escort after that had the usual 'thank you', with nothing added on to tell me. Each time I felt disappointed that she hadn't.
16 miles left to go.
We were back in a forest, and going much slower than we had started out going. The horse is breathing so hard that I'm positive it'll collapse soon. The sun had come up about 30 miles back, and was now halfway in the sky. My body is stiff, joints needing to move but not, and we're doing a trotting pace. It's quiet out here, few birds chirping, the crickets are quiet, and I can hear nothing but silence.
"AH!"
I thought too soon. Just what I need. The horse picks up his pace with a passion that I feel almost afraid that the attacker may not need to fear me, but fear the horse that I now have no control over. I barely manage to duck another tree branch as I see the a Flymon getting ready to attack a petite boy who was five feet away from him, his main attention on the unconscious second Flymon that he is standing ontop of.
I jumped off at the last second, and while the horse continues to ride onward, I collide with the monster who was about to attack the unsuspecting boy, hurling both of us to the ground. With one swift hit to the neck, the insect was unconscious. I gingerly get off of the attacker, my bones making a popping sound as I stretch to my full height, and then turn my attention to the boy.
Wow. My first thought, and probably my last for a few more minutes as I realize that it wasn't a boy that I helped, but a girl. Infront of me is a true beauty, red hair with blue streaks in it that brushes slightly above her shoulders, khaki pants which are cut off shortly past the knees, a green shirt that is defidnently too large, a small leather pouch tied to the waist (which also keeps the shirt from falling down), and bare feet, which has cuts all over them. My eyes tear to her face: nice red lips, cute nose, and black sunglasses on. Her body is facing me in a fighting stance, and we stand like that, looking at eachother.
"Nnnphmmmm."
The horse startles me out of my observation (if you can call it that), and I watch on as the horse comes to the girl, and nuzzles against her. As she pets it, I feel a sudden anger in me, part of me wanting to go over and hit the horse, while the other part is wondering why I feel this way. Weird.
"Are you alright?"
My voice breaks the silence, and she stops petting the horse and turns towards me. I can't tell if she's looking at me, especially with no hope in seeing through those shades. I unconsciously place a hand behind my head nervously, and try smiling the best that I can. Just as I'm about to get irritated with the silence, she tilts her head with a gracious smile at me. Why do I suddenly feel ontop of the worlds?
"I'm fine. Thank you for you help." Her voice is soft, and mostly soothing, and I'm a bit surprised to see that she actually understood my language. Most of the monsters down here couldn't even decipher one word, but rely on their own gibberish language to talk to one another. Nothing but a bunch of monsters down here: uncivilized and unkept. I watch as she stumples to take a step off of the body she's ontop, and I move with an ease that could only be learned, catching her before she even gets close to the ground, but her glasses lose to gravity, and fall without being caught off of her face.
"Then again, maybe not."
I laugh without thinking, but not feeling embarrassed as she is laughing too, and slowly bring her up, not quite ready to let her go from my arms. She's defidnently petite, but not like Sincerity (who I caught once, only for her bones to fee like a fragile doll). My hands are still around her waist, her face is facing my direction, but her eyes are closed to me, and it takes me a minute to get out of my own observations. Suddenly feeling uncomfortable at the silence that has came, I let go of her, and picked up her glasses.
"Uh….sorry about that. Here are your glasses." I drop them into her open hands, and watch as she puts them back on, mumbling a quiet 'thanks'. I look away from her, feeling heat rise to my face, and concentrate on the horse. He seemed alright, and wasn't dehydrated yet (or atleast not totally). Taking a few deep breathes, I'm ready to face her again. No more blushing, no more uncomfortable silences, I'm on a mission and I can't be distracted. I glance over her again, and notice that she has a nasty gash on her leg. I can't leave her here in the middle of nowhere, especially with her lack of equipment and injured!
"Where are you headed?"
"Oh…just south of here is a little town, it's called Firefly." She sounds a bit hesitant, and I understand without having to be told that you have to earn trust around here. Well, saving your life is one thing, but trusting someone with it is different.
"Alright, would you like a ride? I'm headed there as well…." I trail off as I notice how she's wringing her gloved hands on the bottom of her shirt, a nervous habit, I guess. She stands there for a moment, a soft blush on her face as she considers what I said, and then accepts my offer. I help her up onto the horse, trying my best to keep my mind from wondering, and then with one hand on her waist, and the other on the sattle's hem, I pull myself up behind her. She's a few inches shorter than me, which isn't much of a surprise since I'm about 5' 9", and gives me a good view over her head. As the horse picks an easy pace, and we leave the unconscious digimon behind us, I realize how dry my throat has become.
"Head to the left, there's a stream over there."
I glance down at her, she's facing straight ahead, and hasn't touched the reins in the least, but the horse is moving towards the left, having understood what she had said without being forced to do so. My throat hurts too much to even ask how she knew, and my stomach is aching, so I become content on just hearing the silence of the forest again, but it's not silent now. There are more birds, and animals making noise, much more going on than before. We appear infront of a small stream, the water is crystal clear, and by the time that I'm off the horse and putting my head into the water, the horse has already past me in drinking it.
The water feels cold, and I almost forget my need for air if not for the burning in my lungs. I pull my head out of the water, my hair slicked back in an odd order that must have been humorous because she's laughing at me. I spare a glance at her before plunging my head under again, drinking up as much as I can. When I come back up this time, she's right beside me, handing me a large piece of bread and cheese.
"Oh no, I couldn't -" I'm cut off from my stomach growling, and instantly blush at how it won the conversation. She just smiles at me as I take it, and then goes back over to the horse, giving it the rest of the bread and cheese. It eats nearly as bad as I do, but I'm too hungry to notice. She pets the horse with absolute ease, and it doesn't seem to have any complaints about it either. She turns back towards me, and waits until I'm finished eating to say anything.
"When was the last time you ate?"
"Oh….about….", it takes me a minute to think back, nope, not yesterday, not even breakfast, so it must have been, "the day before yesterday."
"No wonder your hungry! I don't have any more food on me, but when we get to the village, I'll make sure they give you something to eat. Why didn't you eat anything?"
She seems absolutey apalled to think that I haven't eaten since then, and part of me wants to keep her wondering about how or why I didn't. I look back to the water, and see my reflection. It's a good thing that she is blind, seeing a person like me wouldn't help any on the trusting level. I have on a no-sleeve tan shirt, and a pair of brown riding pants that I had barely been able to put on before jumping on the horse and going off. Even with my brown hair back, it's out of order and the golden streaks in it can still be seen. My face isn't all that bad, but my eyes have that orange spark in them from my crest. That and the tatoo markings on my body seems to get the most stares if I'm in a nice looking place. Yup, I'll make a really good impression on the natives.
"I'm sorry. Didn't mean to ask anything personal."
"We should get going if we want to make it there soon." It's the only thing that I can think of to say, and I get back up to help her back onto the horse. I had to get there, find Love, and get to Reliability, and still make it back within a week. I think that someone upstairs doesn't like me much.
We ride on in silence, and finally come within the view of the village. It doesn't seem very busy, having a little over 10 digimon out at the moment, fixing up the outside of the house or in the garden or doing something. The horse comes to a stop right before entering the village, and I look around to see what stopped him. Seeing nothing, I click my tongue, making the sound that tells him to go on. We enter even more slowly, one slow step infront of the other. One of the small villagers, a Yokomon, looks towards us, and then turns over to her partner and whispers something. The other Yokomon looks over at us as well, and a whisper spreads throughout the town.
"Sky! Sky's back! Sky!"
The Yokomon that yelled it comes running straight at the horse, and I barely keep the horse from running away as it comes to stop infront of us. Soon Yokomons start coming out of the houses, all of them chanting "Sky!", but not in the same rhythm, making it sound like a bunch of gibberish. Feeling more confused than ever, I look down at the girl in my arms to see her smilig down at them. Sky? Well, I've heard weirder names, like Pronego, and Lesticius. Their making a circle around the horse, whom is becoming quite agitated, and I dismount to calm him down. After helping her down, I take the horse's reins in my hands and watch the scene unfold before me.
Sky is on her knees with them all around her, just chanting her name, and seem to be having a blast at it. Suddenly it becomes very quiet, and they part like the Red sea, an elderly grandmother looking Yokomon walk through it towards Sky, looking terribly grave.
"Child, you have come back! He's been asking for you…"
"You didn't really think that I wouldn't, did you? He'll be alright, I've got it right here!"
She sounds so enthusiastic, half clutching and half holding the pouch from her waist in her hands, to the old woman. The old woman breaks a smile, a very small, barely visible smile, and takes it from her. She must have had some herbs in there, that's why she was so far from the village! But she had gotten this for some man? Maybe her boyfriend? Her husband? Part of me felt crushed that such a beauty had someone already…..Why were the pretty ones always taken?
"You bring a stranger among us. Is he -"
The old woman isn't even able to finish her sentence before Sky is up, and has taken my hand in her own, fingers intertwining one another. The grandmother looks satisfied, as the rest of the younger Yokomon are smiling and chattering to one another. I look at the girl holding my hand, but a different image flashes through my head as she smiles at me.
One of the girl that I love, of Love, who the day before we parted five years ago, had taken my hand just like this, and had kissed me on the cheek. I blushed at the memory, and bring myself back to the present to notice her pulling me towards a house. The old woman had disappeared, and the Yokomon were playing with the horse, whom seemed to be having just as much fun. I allow her to drag me off, but my mind kept lingering to her soft grip on my hand, and to the memory that had resurfaced.
On the Way: We head North, then West, and then East
But none of us will ever forget
How lovely is
The life of the South
3,566 miles to go. Thoughts: Better get started.
2,666 miles to go. Another thought: This is the fastest horse we've got?
2,008 miles to go. Final thought: Get new instructor for the horses.
The scenery around me is passing by in a breeze, I see a mountain, but just for a second, then it's gone. Green, Brown, Blue, Red, all the colors go by in a blur. The horse barely misses another tree as I'm riding through the forest. I don't bother looking back at how narrowly we missed it, my mind on the upcoming hill that has to be jumped. Normally, a horse of this kind could go faster than this, but since they haven't been outside of training for such a long time, it's hard to get the kinks out when something happens.
Hikari….
Tears blur my vision even more than it is, and I unconsciously blink them away. I've got to stop thinking about her lifeless body on the marble cold floor. It isn't helping the situation, especially when I narrowly miss another branch.
1,999 miles to go. Yup, defidnently not helping the situation.
I have to think about something else….but what?
Love. She's gonna be really mad when she finds out about her bird. I know it wasn't the smartest thing to do, but still, the bird was there, Hikari in a pool of blood, and well, it didn't take a genius to guess what had happened.
But obviously I guessed wrong.
Love. I haven't seen her in years. 1,825 days to be exact. It's not that I didn't want to see her, it's just that building the palace, and then training, and….
Who am I kidding?
I didn't want to see her because I was afraid to tell her that I loved her. I know it's stupid, it's gotta be one of the most easiest things to say, but when it comes down to it…
My body presses closer to the horse, hoping to help the wind resistance that isn't the only thing slowing us down. If I wanted to make it there by tomorrow, I'd have to lose the luggage that they packed on here. I reach behind me for the cord that is holding the bag to the horse and in one easy twist, it drops to the ground.
But my mind is still on her. How do you say 'I love you' to the Child of Love? To her, who has been told more than on one occasion by anyone and everyone of both genders, of both digimon and human race, that I love her?
1,666 miles left to go. And it's sundown already…
Great. Just peachy.
Can I make it there in the dark? I can barely see my hand infront of me, until, and I thank Jedi for this, the almost full moon appears in the sky, brightening up everything around me. Stars shine up above, the brightest at my back, the one that I'm hanging my hopes on not to move before I find my way back to my sister. The horse is getting tired, and I whisper encouraging words to keep him awake.
I didn't notice before, but the air is becoming much more warmer than it was at home. Down here, it gets warmer than what most can stand, digimon and digidestined alike. Mostly the only digimon that lived on land here were bird, or fire types, which live for the heat alone. The waters were a totally different story, considering how well temperate it was. Even the coldest living monsters could survive in the water alone down here. A complete contradiction to the life on land.
999 miles left to go.
Inbetween volcanoes erupting, monsters dueling, and just living for a thrill, no wonder the area down here was hot. And I mean hot. If I wasn't half fire type in my blood, I'd be dying of dehydration right about now. It's a wonder that my horse is only sweating from the heat, but I'm thankful that at the pace we're going, the wind will cool us down.
567 miles left to go.
Whenever Love sent a messenger to the palace, requesting an escort, I'd usually send whoever was willing or not: Jyou (who is sometimes at the palace would go just to see how things were down there) , Yamato (he is rarely at the palace, but when he is, he is more than willing to go), TK (whom is often around the palace, with Yamato, or with Iori), Miyako (who would flat out refuse because she'd be going to Mimi to continue her studies or some other excuse, but I suspect that she just didn't want to get sucked into more training sessions), Daisuke (who would look happy to just get out and do something), and I was even suckered into allowing Hikari to go, who would beg me everytime.
When they'd come back, and I was alone with them, I'd ask them how it went, with which the answers were:
"She's doing just fine." -Jyou, smiling lightly.
"No comment." -Yamato, who would provide a smirk to go with it, which I almost knocked off of him once.
"Just great!" -Tk, who said the words with such passion that I still wonder what was said between them.
"It was sooo cool!" -Dais, with a bright grin on his face.
"It's absolutly wonderful! Can I go back later?" -Hikari, with such a glow about her that I felt bad for telling her no.
Of course, she didn't come to the palace when she was requesting an escort any of those times, she was usually going anywhere that seemed fun, or that any of her escorts would be absolutely thrilled to accompany her with, and they always met at Firefly Town. She never forgot her manners, always sending a message that she was thankful for the escort's help, and hoped that it wasn't a burden for me. I knew that she could more than likely take care of herself, but I still wonder about her the last second before sleep engulfs me every night.
232 miles left to go.
Most of the time they would tell me where they went, what it was like, who they met, what great fun they had, but never what they talked about with Love. And I guess inbetween the smiles on their faces, how they usually glowed when they came back, and how they didn't mention anything that I didn't want to come right out and ask, well, I finally broke while questioning Daisuke about a trip 2 years ago. And finally asked the question that had been on my mind whenever one of them came back: "What did you two talk about?"
I was answered with a blush, diverted eyes, and a grin. All three making me want to choke him to death. When I got up and stood infront of his chair, I noticed how he got the 'deer in the headlight' look on his face. Knowing that brilliance wasn't one of my, nor Dais, better qualities, I finally asked (trying my hardest not to sound desperate, but not succeeding): "Did she say anything about me?"
The grin stayed, the blush was now gone, and his eyes were looking straight at me. We stared at eachother like that, both searching eachother's eyes for answers that we each wanted to know, until he finally blinked, and smiled a full smile then: "Tai, I can't tell you what we talked about because that would break the trust that I hold with her. It wouldn't be fair to her if I told you what was said, but I'll tell you this one thing that she asked me to tell you personally." With a dramatic pause in which Daisuke got up, walked over to the door, and with a great deal of character that I admired him for, turned to look at me, he said, "She says that she misses you."
099 miles left to go.
And then he had left, leaving me to ponder the statement which was added onto her normal 'thank you' message (all which were told by the escort). Maybe I was only reading inbetween the words, but I could've sworn that I still had a chance with her. She had sent for an escort several times after that, but I never could quite bring myself to go. Each escort after that had the usual 'thank you', with nothing added on to tell me. Each time I felt disappointed that she hadn't.
16 miles left to go.
We were back in a forest, and going much slower than we had started out going. The horse is breathing so hard that I'm positive it'll collapse soon. The sun had come up about 30 miles back, and was now halfway in the sky. My body is stiff, joints needing to move but not, and we're doing a trotting pace. It's quiet out here, few birds chirping, the crickets are quiet, and I can hear nothing but silence.
"AH!"
I thought too soon. Just what I need. The horse picks up his pace with a passion that I feel almost afraid that the attacker may not need to fear me, but fear the horse that I now have no control over. I barely manage to duck another tree branch as I see the a Flymon getting ready to attack a petite boy who was five feet away from him, his main attention on the unconscious second Flymon that he is standing ontop of.
I jumped off at the last second, and while the horse continues to ride onward, I collide with the monster who was about to attack the unsuspecting boy, hurling both of us to the ground. With one swift hit to the neck, the insect was unconscious. I gingerly get off of the attacker, my bones making a popping sound as I stretch to my full height, and then turn my attention to the boy.
Wow. My first thought, and probably my last for a few more minutes as I realize that it wasn't a boy that I helped, but a girl. Infront of me is a true beauty, red hair with blue streaks in it that brushes slightly above her shoulders, khaki pants which are cut off shortly past the knees, a green shirt that is defidnently too large, a small leather pouch tied to the waist (which also keeps the shirt from falling down), and bare feet, which has cuts all over them. My eyes tear to her face: nice red lips, cute nose, and black sunglasses on. Her body is facing me in a fighting stance, and we stand like that, looking at eachother.
"Nnnphmmmm."
The horse startles me out of my observation (if you can call it that), and I watch on as the horse comes to the girl, and nuzzles against her. As she pets it, I feel a sudden anger in me, part of me wanting to go over and hit the horse, while the other part is wondering why I feel this way. Weird.
"Are you alright?"
My voice breaks the silence, and she stops petting the horse and turns towards me. I can't tell if she's looking at me, especially with no hope in seeing through those shades. I unconsciously place a hand behind my head nervously, and try smiling the best that I can. Just as I'm about to get irritated with the silence, she tilts her head with a gracious smile at me. Why do I suddenly feel ontop of the worlds?
"I'm fine. Thank you for you help." Her voice is soft, and mostly soothing, and I'm a bit surprised to see that she actually understood my language. Most of the monsters down here couldn't even decipher one word, but rely on their own gibberish language to talk to one another. Nothing but a bunch of monsters down here: uncivilized and unkept. I watch as she stumples to take a step off of the body she's ontop, and I move with an ease that could only be learned, catching her before she even gets close to the ground, but her glasses lose to gravity, and fall without being caught off of her face.
"Then again, maybe not."
I laugh without thinking, but not feeling embarrassed as she is laughing too, and slowly bring her up, not quite ready to let her go from my arms. She's defidnently petite, but not like Sincerity (who I caught once, only for her bones to fee like a fragile doll). My hands are still around her waist, her face is facing my direction, but her eyes are closed to me, and it takes me a minute to get out of my own observations. Suddenly feeling uncomfortable at the silence that has came, I let go of her, and picked up her glasses.
"Uh….sorry about that. Here are your glasses." I drop them into her open hands, and watch as she puts them back on, mumbling a quiet 'thanks'. I look away from her, feeling heat rise to my face, and concentrate on the horse. He seemed alright, and wasn't dehydrated yet (or atleast not totally). Taking a few deep breathes, I'm ready to face her again. No more blushing, no more uncomfortable silences, I'm on a mission and I can't be distracted. I glance over her again, and notice that she has a nasty gash on her leg. I can't leave her here in the middle of nowhere, especially with her lack of equipment and injured!
"Where are you headed?"
"Oh…just south of here is a little town, it's called Firefly." She sounds a bit hesitant, and I understand without having to be told that you have to earn trust around here. Well, saving your life is one thing, but trusting someone with it is different.
"Alright, would you like a ride? I'm headed there as well…." I trail off as I notice how she's wringing her gloved hands on the bottom of her shirt, a nervous habit, I guess. She stands there for a moment, a soft blush on her face as she considers what I said, and then accepts my offer. I help her up onto the horse, trying my best to keep my mind from wondering, and then with one hand on her waist, and the other on the sattle's hem, I pull myself up behind her. She's a few inches shorter than me, which isn't much of a surprise since I'm about 5' 9", and gives me a good view over her head. As the horse picks an easy pace, and we leave the unconscious digimon behind us, I realize how dry my throat has become.
"Head to the left, there's a stream over there."
I glance down at her, she's facing straight ahead, and hasn't touched the reins in the least, but the horse is moving towards the left, having understood what she had said without being forced to do so. My throat hurts too much to even ask how she knew, and my stomach is aching, so I become content on just hearing the silence of the forest again, but it's not silent now. There are more birds, and animals making noise, much more going on than before. We appear infront of a small stream, the water is crystal clear, and by the time that I'm off the horse and putting my head into the water, the horse has already past me in drinking it.
The water feels cold, and I almost forget my need for air if not for the burning in my lungs. I pull my head out of the water, my hair slicked back in an odd order that must have been humorous because she's laughing at me. I spare a glance at her before plunging my head under again, drinking up as much as I can. When I come back up this time, she's right beside me, handing me a large piece of bread and cheese.
"Oh no, I couldn't -" I'm cut off from my stomach growling, and instantly blush at how it won the conversation. She just smiles at me as I take it, and then goes back over to the horse, giving it the rest of the bread and cheese. It eats nearly as bad as I do, but I'm too hungry to notice. She pets the horse with absolute ease, and it doesn't seem to have any complaints about it either. She turns back towards me, and waits until I'm finished eating to say anything.
"When was the last time you ate?"
"Oh….about….", it takes me a minute to think back, nope, not yesterday, not even breakfast, so it must have been, "the day before yesterday."
"No wonder your hungry! I don't have any more food on me, but when we get to the village, I'll make sure they give you something to eat. Why didn't you eat anything?"
She seems absolutey apalled to think that I haven't eaten since then, and part of me wants to keep her wondering about how or why I didn't. I look back to the water, and see my reflection. It's a good thing that she is blind, seeing a person like me wouldn't help any on the trusting level. I have on a no-sleeve tan shirt, and a pair of brown riding pants that I had barely been able to put on before jumping on the horse and going off. Even with my brown hair back, it's out of order and the golden streaks in it can still be seen. My face isn't all that bad, but my eyes have that orange spark in them from my crest. That and the tatoo markings on my body seems to get the most stares if I'm in a nice looking place. Yup, I'll make a really good impression on the natives.
"I'm sorry. Didn't mean to ask anything personal."
"We should get going if we want to make it there soon." It's the only thing that I can think of to say, and I get back up to help her back onto the horse. I had to get there, find Love, and get to Reliability, and still make it back within a week. I think that someone upstairs doesn't like me much.
We ride on in silence, and finally come within the view of the village. It doesn't seem very busy, having a little over 10 digimon out at the moment, fixing up the outside of the house or in the garden or doing something. The horse comes to a stop right before entering the village, and I look around to see what stopped him. Seeing nothing, I click my tongue, making the sound that tells him to go on. We enter even more slowly, one slow step infront of the other. One of the small villagers, a Yokomon, looks towards us, and then turns over to her partner and whispers something. The other Yokomon looks over at us as well, and a whisper spreads throughout the town.
"Sky! Sky's back! Sky!"
The Yokomon that yelled it comes running straight at the horse, and I barely keep the horse from running away as it comes to stop infront of us. Soon Yokomons start coming out of the houses, all of them chanting "Sky!", but not in the same rhythm, making it sound like a bunch of gibberish. Feeling more confused than ever, I look down at the girl in my arms to see her smilig down at them. Sky? Well, I've heard weirder names, like Pronego, and Lesticius. Their making a circle around the horse, whom is becoming quite agitated, and I dismount to calm him down. After helping her down, I take the horse's reins in my hands and watch the scene unfold before me.
Sky is on her knees with them all around her, just chanting her name, and seem to be having a blast at it. Suddenly it becomes very quiet, and they part like the Red sea, an elderly grandmother looking Yokomon walk through it towards Sky, looking terribly grave.
"Child, you have come back! He's been asking for you…"
"You didn't really think that I wouldn't, did you? He'll be alright, I've got it right here!"
She sounds so enthusiastic, half clutching and half holding the pouch from her waist in her hands, to the old woman. The old woman breaks a smile, a very small, barely visible smile, and takes it from her. She must have had some herbs in there, that's why she was so far from the village! But she had gotten this for some man? Maybe her boyfriend? Her husband? Part of me felt crushed that such a beauty had someone already…..Why were the pretty ones always taken?
"You bring a stranger among us. Is he -"
The old woman isn't even able to finish her sentence before Sky is up, and has taken my hand in her own, fingers intertwining one another. The grandmother looks satisfied, as the rest of the younger Yokomon are smiling and chattering to one another. I look at the girl holding my hand, but a different image flashes through my head as she smiles at me.
One of the girl that I love, of Love, who the day before we parted five years ago, had taken my hand just like this, and had kissed me on the cheek. I blushed at the memory, and bring myself back to the present to notice her pulling me towards a house. The old woman had disappeared, and the Yokomon were playing with the horse, whom seemed to be having just as much fun. I allow her to drag me off, but my mind kept lingering to her soft grip on my hand, and to the memory that had resurfaced.