Natural Born Leader
A Digimon Fanfiction
By: Bekah-chan
Rating: PG-13
Note on Rating: This fic has become a little more violent than I had originally intended. So, I decided to up the rating, just to be safe.
Disclaimer: (Okay, here I go) *sniffle* I DO NOT *cringe* OWN *wince* DIGIMON *sniffle* (I did it!!!) I do, however, own (or came up with) most of the stuff that doesn't have to do with Digimon. So, HANDS OFF!!!! Thank you ^_^
Part III:
The salamander looked at the fire-lance in patent disbelief. This puny human was going to try and hurt it with it's own *element*. I could almost see it attempting not to laugh, but this reaction did not worry me. Was kind of expected, in fact. My glamor was one of the strongest of it's kind, and would hold my disguise even against another elf. My magic signature was harder to hide, but I did not think the salamander could tell the difference between human magic and elf magic. Magic, was magic, was magic to the creature. It didn't care what kind it was, it just wanted the power.
Besides this fire wasn't ordinary, it wasn't even magic-fire ordinary. It was a unique fire from my very soul, and I could do some very interesting things with it. I could see the fire-lance out of the corner of my eye, it's orange/red glow crackling with energy. Another moment of concentration on my part and the crackling stopped, the color shifted to white/blue, and the temperature dropped below zero. Quite a ways below zero. But this burning cold did not effect me any more than the burning heat had, it was still my fire, if in a different form.
I could tell that the salamander was getting a little worried now, maybe deciding whether or not to run. Cold things, I knew, scared made dragons, same as regular dragons, and I'd bet by now everyone in that hallway (except for Tai, who was still unconscious) could feel the cold rolling off the fire-lance in waves. I did not give the salamander time, however, to escape. As I launched the fire-lance with a magically-enhanced speed too fast for the eye to follow.
It gave me a grim satisfaction to see my fire-lance skewer the salamander just a foot or so from the area where Tai was injured. Fitting. Once the lance had come to a stop, with a screeching noise, with half it's length out behind the made dragon, and half still in front; I released the mental command that was holding my soul-fire in it's shape. The lance instantly disintegrated into rolling waves of flame, which started to burn the salamander from the inside out- Still with the same cold-burning heat, that easily overcame the dragon's fire-aura.
After that, it didn't take long. And I was moving again before the creature's ashes had a chance to settle to the floor. Now that the threat was gone, I could help Tai.
With only a moment of shocked hesitation, Izzy followed me.
"Davis," he demanded, "What *was* that thing? What is going on?"
"Not now," I waved him off, "We need to see to Tai." I knelt beside the form that was face first on the hallway carpet, his legs still trailing into the open elevator behind him. I tried to decide what to do. Surprisingly, I had never really been around a seriously injured human before. They really aren't that different from elves, I guess; But, even then, I was usually more concerned about how to *kill* them, and not how to put them back together.
It occurred to me, rather inappropriately, that many of the things I'd learned in the last 30 years or so, could only be used to destroy.
Depressing.
I resolved to learn human first-aid at my next available opportunity. Which, of course, did not really help me now, with Tai bleeding all over the floor.
Luckily my sister is skilled in both human first-aid (she had thought it a useful thing to know, I hate it when she's right) and injuries inflicted by magical creatures. So she could help him.
There was, of course, a little problem in that she was not here right now; But I could only handle one thing at a time. I carefully turned Tai over, glad to see he was still alive; Part of me had been afraid he wouldn't be... There was so much blood...
"How much blood can a human loose?" I asked Izzy, because I had no idea, "Before it's fatal, I mean?"
Izzy looked at Tai over my shoulder, and gulped, "Ummm, six units? I think."
Well, I was pretty sure a 'unit' was about a pint. I tried to estimate the amount of blood on the floor... How many pints were in a quart again?
Anyway, there was a lot of the red stuff on the floor, I greatly suspected that the salamander had at least nicked an artery.
"Should we put pressure on it?" Izzy demanded, frantically, "Or call someone?"
"He'd be dead before they got here..." I concluded.
Izzy didn't seem to hear me, he grabbed Tai's keys (which had dropped from his hand when he fell) and went to open the Kamiya's door- I assumed to call 911.
"Izzy, wait..."
He still wasn't listening. I gently picked up Tai (it must have looked strange, I'm half his size) and carried him after Izzy. I managed to get Tai on the couch in the livingroom (hopefully without jarring him to much) and walk over to Izzy before he finished dialing, "Did you think I was kidding?" I grabbed the phone away from him, smudging some blood on the 'off' button as I hung-up, "They can't help him now."
I didn't mention that 'they' probably couldn't help him anyway, even if he wasn't bleeding to death. Wounds from magical creatures were different.
"But, Davis! He's dying--"
"I'm fully aware of that." I told him, putting the cordless phone on the coffee table on my way back to the couch. I swallowed to keep from vomiting when I saw the wound up close for the first time. I'd certainly seen various nasty wounds before, but it had been a long time since someone I knew, a friend, had been this badly hurt in my presence. It brought back the memories of my final night in the Elven Kingdom; Of my parents' bodies lying in rivers of blood...
I quickly shook off my morbid thoughts, I needed to focus here, Tai was dying.
"Davis--"
"Quiet," I cut him off again, "We only have one shot at this. My sister can help him, but he won't even last until she gets here unless I do something now."
"How can *your* sister help him!?!"
"Quiet," I reminded him, "I'm thinking."
"But--"
"You saw what happened in the hall, right?"
Izzy blinked, and nodded.
"I can handle this," ~At least, I think I can~, "Let me think"
Izzy reluctantly subsided, although he eyed the phone, longingly.
I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly to center myself, and thought very quickly. My first idea was to freeze Tai, or maybe the time around him. But I didn't think I could hold a spell like that very long, and I didn't know what side-effects it would have on a human's physiology; I thought about cauterizing the wound to stop the bleeding. But wounds, from magical creatures, released the magical equivalent of toxins into the bloodstream. These toxins had to be removed from the entrance site, or the victim would be dead within 24 hours; Then I remembered what Izzy had said about putting pressure on the wound (I assumed to stop the bleeding). And, while that would not stop bleeding from an artery, it made me think of how they use clamps to block veins during surgery; And, while I couldn't do that, I was fairly sure I could put a magic patch on the damaged part of the artery... I would have to be able to see it first, though.
All right then, we had a plan.
I sat on the coffee table within easy reach of Tai, and reached under the cuff of my long-sleeved shirt to remove the small knife I had in a sheath on the inside of my left fore-arm. Then I got Izzy, who had been quite shocked to discover I was carrying concealed weaponry, to help me cut Tai's shirt away from his shoulder and side. After that I had to remove some bone fragments and blot away blood with paper towels, before I could see the damaged veins (I tried to ignore the mangled muscles and tendons). I had been right about the artery; it was only nicked, and the other veins involved weren't big enough to cause much of a problem on their own. This was good because it would take much more concentration for me to put a patch on more than one capillary at a time.
Soon, said patch was in place over the worst of the bleeding, and I heaved a sigh of relief. Next on the list; I picked up the phone again and dialed one-handed before putting it to my ear. I listened to it ring, and waited for Jun to pick-up.
I counted ten rings, then eleven... Why wasn't Jun answering the phone? I thought about hanging up and trying her cell phone, but I knew she was home. At least, I was pretty sure she was. I hoped she wasn't out chasing Matt again; A situation which greatly confused and concerned me. My sister and I have both made adjustments to our appearance and personality to 'blend in' to the teenage crowd, but I sometimes thought that Jun blended in a little too well. Take this whole Matt crush thing, for instance: Even I, who have known her all her life, could not tell if Jun's feelings for the young man were genuine or contrived.
"Hello, is this Matt?" my sister had finally answered the phone.
I smacked one hand to my forehead in disbelief at her salutation, and corrected her, "No, it's your brother."
"Oh, well get off the line! I'm waiting for Matt to call."
"Jun," I told her, keeping my voice serious, and trying not to be annoyed, "I need you to come over to the Kamiya's apartment right away."
"You 'need me to'? Excuse me?" Jun returned in perfect aggravated-older-sister tones, "Why should I take orders from you--"
"Junita!!" I yelled, "This is an emergency! Someone was hurt by a salamander, and they need your help. You *will* get supplies together and use the Rings to get here Right Now! Understand?"
Stunned silence. It had been at least a decade since I'd addressed her by her full name. "Yes, brother." If I hadn't known better I would describe her voice as meek.
It was only after I hung up the phone and met Izzy's startled gaze, that I realized the tone of voice I had been using myself. In my frustration with my sister, my voice had gone straight from; Davis-the-slightly-dumb-11-year-old; to Davainer-last-heir-to-the-Royale-House-of-the-Fey... Whoops!
To Be Continued ^_^